35_vol4_epaper

Op Ed 14

Bollywood 18

Diaspora 21

Spiritual Awareness 30

NEW YORK EDITION Vol.4 No.35 December 17-23, 2011 60 Cents Davan Maharaj to take over as editor, LA Times

Chaotic, charismatic, restless, relentless Delhi New Delhi Centenary, Page 16-17

Nassau County Executive celebrates Leaders Appreciation Breakfast 500 who’s who attend the breakfast sponsored by TheETutor.com

County Executive Ed Mangano, Linda Mangano, Preeti and Harry Aurora, and Kamlesh Mehta at the event.

Woodbury, NY: Nassau County’s 2nd annu- county, joined the speakers at the event in al Leaders Appreciation Breakfast was host- applauding his leadership for protecting resied by County Executive Edward P. Mangano dents from higher taxes as well as natural at The Woodlands here Thursday. The 500 disasters.

Continued on page 4 attendees, comprising who’s who of the

Follow us on Pakistan free to shoot down American drones

Vikram Seth writing sequel to ‘A Suitable Boy’

Subcontinent, Page 22

Features, Pages 26

Ravi Batra appointed to NY State ethics committee New York: In a proud development for the Indian community, eminent attorney Ravi Batra has been appointed to New York State's Ethics Committee that acts as an independent corruption monitor. He is the only Indian American to be named to the powerful 14-member Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE).

Headed by District Attorney of Westchester County Janet DiFiore, the commission will oversee both the executive and legislative branches, as well as lobbyists, and has broad new enforcement powers.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo called JCOPE “an independent monitor that will aggressively investigate corruption and help maintain integrity in state government."

PM in Moscow, to focus on energy, economy during summit Moscow: Amid political unrest over the Russian parliamentary elections, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived here Thursday evening on a 3-day visit for a bilateral summit with President Dmitry Medvedev. The two sides will discuss proposals to ramp up their strategic relations and sign agreements in defense, health and science and technology.

Manmohan Singh is also slated to meet Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who is at the centre of the political storm.

India and Russia are likely to discuss their civil nuclear cooperation, in particular the setting up of units III and IV of the Kudankulam nuclear plant in Tamil Nadu with Russian reactors.

Before leaving for Moscow, Manmohan Singh said in New Delhi that India would seek to substantially expand bilateral trade with Russia from the current $8.5 billion, while enhancing ties in a host of areas such as defense, energy, space technology and health.

The prime minister said his talks with the Kremlin

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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh being received by the Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia, A.H. Borodavkin, on his arrival with wife Gursharan Kaur in Moscow on Dec 15. leadership will also cover multilateral issues, notably on ways out of the global economic slowdown.

Continued on page 4

Ravi Batra, Commissioner, JCOPE Responding to his appointment as Commissioner of JCOPE, Ravi Batra said, Continued on page 4

RBI intervenes as rupee slides to new low New Delhi: Under pressure from the global financial uncertainty and weak domestic economic data, the Indian rupee sank to a record low for the fourth straight day Thursday, hitting 54.30 against the dollar, but recovered later as the central bank intervened.

As the rupee fell to another low, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) nudged state-owned banks to sell dollars. However, the quantum of intervention is not known.

The continuing slide has pushed importers and investors to buy the US currency amid speculation of further capital outflows and raised concerns that it may hit profitability of many firms.

The Indian currency recovered from the low and closed the day at

53.71 a dollar. The Indian currency has weakened over 20 percent against the dollar since the beginning of 2011.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had blamed the huge capital outflow for the recent slide in rupee.

"While the Indian economy faced excessive capital inflows in the aftermath of the global crisis leading to appreciation of the domestic Continued on page 4

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December 17-23, 2011

State Dept sends South Asian comedians to India for better ties

Washington: Three US-based comedians of South Asian descent are heading to India for a 7-city tour in January at the invitation of the State Department. "Make Chai Not War," starring Hari Kondabolu, Azhar Usman and Rajiv Satyal is part of a program to promote better relations between the two countries. The comedians will perform in Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Ranchi and Patna from Jan 4-19.

"Make Chai Not War" has been breaking down cultural barriers since 2007, when it premiered at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., to a predominantly Hindu-Muslim audience.

The following year, a sold-out performance in neighboring Arlington, Va., caught the attention of

Hari Kondabolu the State Department.

The shows in India will include Hindu and Muslim comedians because of the historical relationship between those faiths in South Asia, a press release said.

Ohio-based Satyal said he was

Azhar Usman excited to go on this tour. He created the show with Usman, who is from Chicago. "Sharing a laugh is universally one of the most powerfully positive experiences on the planet,” he said.

Usman is widely recognized as

Rajiv Satyal America's top South Asian Muslim standup comedian. As co-founder of the internationally acclaimed "Allah Made Me Funny – The Official Muslim Comedy Tour," he has performed in many countries.

Born to Indian immigrant parents,

Consul General of India Prabhu Dayal and Mrs. Chandini Dayal hosted a reception at the Consulate’s Ball Room on December 7 for about 150 guests to celebrate the Holiday Season. Eminent people from the Indian American community, senior executives, figures from the art and culture and leaders and representatives of the local and ethnic media attended the reception and shared their festive sentiments.

US website to identify credible Indian NGOs Washington: The State Department is partnering with an Indian non-profit to create an online searchable database of credible Indian NGOs to work with potential American donors to build publicprivate partnerships.

The database will include all those Indian NGOs that have been vetted by an independent third party to ensure they are accountable, transparent and keep only a small percentage of a donation to cover their expenses so the maximum can go to the intended beneficiaries, according to Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, Robert Blake.

This site will also list all the interme-

diary institutions which can facilitate tax-deductible donations, he said at the annual fund raising gala dinner of American India Foundation. Former President Bill Clinton serves as its Honorary Chair.

"By matching a list of certified Indian NGOs with potential American donors, we hope to create an efficient philanthropy marketplace that will grow the overall sector, making it a win-win proposition for all, including AIF," Blake said.

"In today's budget-constrained environment, such public-private strategies strengthen not only our international

economic development efforts, but also the crucial people-to-people ties that bind our two great countries," he said.

The State Department was also partnering with AIF on a project to build inter-cultural understanding and engage citizens across Punjab through digital storytelling and the creative arts, Blake said. The program aims to create a selfsustaining Indo-Pakistani Young Education Professionals Network, a global network of Punjabi youth from India, Pakistan and the US, and a "Punjabi Cultural Connections" publication for educators available to institutions and communities across Punjab and the US.

he grew up in Chicago.

Kondabolu was born and raised in Queens, NY. A former immigrant rights organizer in Seattle, he also has a master's in human rights from the London School of Economics.

Kondabolu has appeared on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," Comedy Central's "Live at Gotham," John Liver's New York Standup Show and at the 2007 HBO US Comedy Arts Festival.

Satyal's act covers everything from racial issues to soap bottles and politics. He has been featured on national TV and radio, in The Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times. He does standup at over 40 colleges annually and appears regularly at major comedy clubs in Los Angeles.

Lowe's caves in, pulls out of ‘All-American Muslim’ reality show New York: The Florida Family Association, a conservative evangical group, has opposed TLC's reality show "All-American Muslim" that portrays many Muslim families in Dearborn, Mich., as they go about their lives of doing ordinary jobs, engaging in ordinary family conflicts and having ordinary hobbies.

FFA shared its concern with members, saying, "Clearly this program is attempting to manipulate Americans into ignoring the threat of jihad and to influ- The critics say the show tries to maence them to believe that be- nipulate the image Americans have ing concerned about the jihad of jihad and Muslims. threat would somehow victimize these nice people in this ‘sucked’, in the words of its marketing chief. show."

The TV series follows the daiFFA is claiming that 65 out of 67 show advertisers pulled their ly lives of five Lebanese Amerads from the show. Lowe's ican Muslim families in Dearhardware chain has confirmed born, Michigan, the largest that it did bow to pressure and Muslim community in the US. pulled its advertising. Travel It premiered last month and has website Kayak is also stopping been created by some of the advertising on "All-American same team behind “Real HouseMuslim" because the show, wives of New York.”

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Community

December 17-23, 2011

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US war in Iraq officially over Baghdad: Almost nine years after the first US tanks began massing on the Iraq border, the Pentagon declared an official end to its mission here, closing a protracted conflict that affected American politics and left a bitter legacy of anti-American sentiment across the Muslim world.

As Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta marked the occasion with a speech in a fortified concrete courtyard at the Baghdad airport, helicopters hovered above, a grim reminder of the challenges still facing a country where insurgents continue to attack American soldiers and where militants with Al Qaeda affiliation still regularly carry out deadly attacks against civilians.

“Let me be clear: Iraq will be

tested in the days ahead — by terrorism, and by those who would seek to divide, by economic and social issues, by the demands of democracy itself,” Panetta said. “Challenges remain, but the US will be there to stand by the Iraqi people as they navigate those challenges to build a stronger and more prosperous nation.”

Those words sounded an uncertain trumpet for a war that was begun in 2003 to rid Iraq of weapons of mass destruction that proved illusory.

The conflict was also cast as an effort to bring democracy to the Middle East — another pretext that rang hollow during Iraq’s worst sectarian bloodletting, and that hampered Washington’s

Nassau County Executive celebrates Leaders Appreciation Breakfast

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efforts in the past year to support the peaceful protesters of the Arab Spring.

For Americans, the ceremony on Thursday marked an uneasy moment of closure, with no clear sense of what has been won and lost. As of last Friday, the war had claimed 4,487 American lives, with 32,226 more Americans wounded in action, according to Pentagon statistics.

Those losses — and the humiliating collapse of American claims about Iraq’s WMDs — helped turn sentiment at home against the war, contributing to a crash in the popularity of President George W. Bush during his second term and to the election of Barack Obama, who opposed the invasion in 2003.

Continued from page 1 Mangano, who completes two successful years this monthend, honored 12 community leaders. Among them were two Indian Americans: Harry Aurora, whose education portal TheETutor.com was launched; and Surinder Chawla, Chairman of the Plainview Sikh gurdwara. Over 40 prominent Indian American community leaders and businessmen were present at the breakfast on a working day. Most of the major sponsors were from the IndoAmerican businesses in Long Island.

Diverse attendees were also seen enjoying Jalebi-Galub

Jamun-Upma & Khaman and other Indian delicacies catered

by Rasraj along with sumptuous breakfast catered by Woodlands, owned by Harendra Singh, who is known as the Restaurant Mogul.

The breakfast, the souvenir, which carried tens of photos of Indian-American programs, Kamlesh Mehta, Director of N a s s a u C o u n t y O ff i c e o f Business & Economic Development, The ETutor.com, list of major sponsors and desi attendees left a major impact of Indian community’s presence at the Leaders Appreciation Breakfast.

More pictures and report on page 15.

Ravi Batra Story Continued from page 1 “I am grateful to, and honored by Senate Democratic Leader John Sampson and the Senate Democrats for reposing their trust in me to discharge my obligations honestly.

Ultimately, the honor of being appointed as an impartial and independent voice on JCOPE is only realized if everyday New Yorkers feel honored to have JCOPE bring back integrity to Albany, and beyond.”

Batra, who has private service, has been a professor of business law at Pace University, and also served as Chair of the Judicial Independence Committee of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association. He received his law degree from Fordham University and his bachelor of business administration degree cum laude from Pace University.

JCOPE was created as part of Governor Cuomo's ethics reform package passed earlier this year to address major inadequacies in the state's ethics system and to restore public trust in government.

PM in Moscow Story Continued from page 1 Manmohan Singh said India's bilateral relations with Russia were based on "mutual trust, friendship and shared interests" and encompass diverse sectors, including nuclear energy, defence, space, science and technology, hydrocarbons, trade and investment and people-to-people exchanges.

The two countries, in 2009, decided to target $20 billion worth of bilateral trade by 2015 with a focus on energy, pharmaceuticals, IT, steel, hydrocarbons, aerospace and agriculture.

Manmohan Singh said during his talks with the president, he would also focus on increased consultations with Russia in international forums.

"I will discuss with Medvedev how to further enhance our consultations

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in international forums like the UN Security Council, G20, BRICS as well as the East Asia Summit which Russia has recently joined."

He said he would also hold "indepth exchange of views with the Russian leadership on the crisis facing the global economy and the political developments in our extended neighborhood".

This, the prime minister said, included the situation in the "Gulf and Afghanistan and the impact of all this on peace and stability in the world."

"The perspectives of our countries on these developments are marked by a high degree of convergence."

RBI intervenes Story Continued from page 1 currency, with the unfolding of the eurozone crisis, the matter of concern at present is reversal in such flows leading to increased currency volatility," Mukherjee said. Foreign institutional investors, in fact, sold stocks worth $91.66 million Wednesday and over $10 million Thursday, according to data available with the SEBI. Traders expect the rupee to depreciate further to about 54-56 rupees to a dollar in the near term. Before Thursday the RBI had not made any significant intervention in the currency market in December to control the slide of the rupee like it did in September and October. But the apex bank said it would make a "definitive statement" on the rupee at the mid-quarter monetary policy review Friday.

According to data available with the central bank, the RBI had sold dollars worth $845 million and $943 million in September and October, respectively, to support the currency.

C. Rangarajan, chairman of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council and a former RBI governor, said the central bank could intervene to combat fluctuations in the currency if the factors affecting it were from

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December 17-23, 2011

Tearful adieu to legendary star

By Ashok Ojha/SATimes Edison, NJ: Three generations of Indian immigrants, ranging from men in their 70s to young people in their 20s, paid tearful tributes to the Dev Anand, Bollywood’s legendary actor who entertained movie goers for more than six decades. He passed away in London Dec 3 at the age of 88.

Early Indian immigrants to the US in the 1960s and ‘70s brought with them vivid nostalgia of romantic heroes of Hindi cinema, the most Three generations of Indian American fans paying homage to Dev Anand in Edison, NJ. (Photo by prominent of them was the evergreen Gunjesh Desai) Dev Anand whose romantic flings “Dev Saab was a man in hurry, even in his with pretty women they cherished like dream moments. HR Shah, of TV Asia, 80s,” said Rohit Vyas, news anchor with recalled his fond memories of Dev Saab, as TV Asia. “It was always inspiring to listen he was called by close friends and fans to him.”

Anand was also remembered for his alike, and described him as a prolific author as well. Shah hosted many events in 2007 social and political messages in movies like for ‘Romancing With Life,’ an autobiogra- ‘Hare Rama Hare Krishna’ and ‘Des phy of Dev Anand. A video clip of such Pardesh.’ He even formed a ‘National Party events was screened at the condolence of India’ after the emergency in late 70s, meeting. In one of them Anand says, “I which was later disbanded.

To the younger filmgoers, the recipient of lived and breathed movies for 62 long years, then I wanted to test my skills as an Padma Bhushan and Phalke Award was an author. As a result of which I wrote, eternal ‘lover boy.’ “He acted with heroines fit to be his granddaughter,” commented ‘Romancing with Life’.”

Ramesh Patel recalled how Dev Anand one woman.

Those who spoke at the meeting included was down to earth as Grand Marshal at India Day Parade in New York in 1986. “He Ram Gadhvi, Chandrakant Trivedi and Peter Kothari. never behaved as if he was a celebrity.”

Community activist urges illegal gas probe

By Vikas Girdhar/SATimes Hicksville, NY: Former Nassau County Deputy Commissioner of Consumer Affairs and activist James Reed has been trying to expose illegal gasoline issue on Long Island.

The gasoline, being transported from New Jersey in tankers through the George Washington Bridge or Verrazano Bridge into Brooklyn, is associated with two fraudulent elements making its entry into New York illegal.

The first is that gas stations in New York are buying gasoline from New Jersey because it is not only cheaper there but an excise tax does not have to be paid. New York gas station owners found an illegal way to get around paying local taxes.

The second is that this gasoline is also lined with a carcinogen and gas additive that is banned in New York but not in New Jersey. MTBE, methyl tertiary butyl ether, was first discovered to be problematic in 2005. Underground gas station tanks had leaked into the water table, the source of Long Island’s drinking water.

Reed, who said a sting operation was conducted 5-6 years ago confirming fraudulent activity is still waiting for an end to the fraud.

“They check the gas stations once a year,” says Reed. “They don’t check to see that you paid the taxes. They just check to see

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that the pumps and meters are working properly. A lot of these culprit stations are the smaller ones, and they change the ownership often so that if they are caught, authorities have to go looking for the other person or the other entity. I don’t think the government is that motivated to do the extra work.”

Reed, who suggested an investigation by the county in April, believes that a main reason behind the successful sale of illegal gas in Nassau County is that owners are always looking for a deal. Some gas stations selling the MTBE-containing gas set their prices a few cents lower than others and then charge cash to get around the system.

The first investigation that confirmed such activity was conducted in 2006. Four gas stations were found selling illegal gas: Gas Corp in Elmont, Express Gas in Floral Park and Mineola and Friendly Auto Care in Freeport.The then Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi said, “Once MTBE is in the groundwater, it spreads rapidly and is almost impossible to remove. We need to keep a wary eye on illegal activities of this sort to protect not only our deep artesian wells on Long Island, but to protect the health of our friends and families as well.”

Approximately 40 cents per gallon in NY taxes and 7 cents per gallon in county taxes are being lost due to the sale of the illegal gas.

Homeland Security officials assure South Asians on bias

By Ashok Ojha/SATimes Edison, NJ: Leading members of Sikh and Muslim communities lodged strong protests with Homeland Security officials against cases of religious discrimination by law enforcement officials and their cultural ignorance at a community outreach meeting held here.

“Our people are unnecessarily harassed and targeted on suspicion for simple acts of religious expression like wearing turbans.

Our women are sometimes separated from their kids for screening at airports.” These were some of the comments to the officials who came from Washington to the meeting organized by Indo American Cultural Society and the Church of Coptic Christians, Central New Jersey.

The officials from various agencies tried to project their community friendly face while assuring those assembled that sincere efforts were being made by the Obama administration to protect civil and religious rights of all citizens. “Our efforts to protect homeland can’t succeed without protecting the civil rights of ordinary citizens,” asserted Jannah Scott, Deputy Director, Center for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnership.

Scott said that her department was committed to safeguarding the cultural and religious identities of minority communities.

The officials made presentations about

their efforts to respect cultural symbols, dress codes and other visible signs of people from various faiths. They said that Homeland Security employees are given special training in cultural competencies and articles of faith before assigning them at sensitive spots like airport security.

Drew Lieb, Deputy Director, Division of Operations, NJ’s Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, pointed out that his department closely worked with local law enforcement officials to prepare for keeping communities safe from terrorism.

“We intend to maintain close contact with local community to understand their concerns and ensure a healthy relationship with them.”

The officials provided information about various offices that work under the Homeland Security Department so that ordinary citizens could easily contact them for providing tips on suspicious activities in the neighborhood and sharing any concerns.

The Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties works for preserving individual liberty, fairness, and equality under law.

They communicate with individuals or communities whose civil rights may be violated

by Department activities. “Anyone can access our website and file complaints if they experienced violations by officials,” said Ehsan Zaffar, an official working in the office.

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Tristate Community

December 17-23, 2011

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Star TV promises 4 US produced shows in '12

By Jinal Shah/SATimes New York: Come 2012 and Indian television programming in USA will undergo a major shift with many locally produced shows aimed to consolidate South Asian viewers.

Like Sony Entertainment Television’s Andaaz (a popular lifestyle talk show), other Indian channels are also eyeing a bigger share of the subscriptions pie with shows based here. Star television network is set to produce four shows in 2012 in USA. “We are working on a big project with a budget of up to a quarter million dollars. If that happens, I see that being transported back to India.

Our idea is to work on quality programs made in USA and broadcast in India,” said Rajan Singh, executive vice president, international business, of Star network in an interview with SATimes in News Corp (parent company of Star) office in Manhattan.

Indian TV shows’ popularity is growing in the US, as seen in many

Locally produced Indian TV shows to be transmitted to India

Rajan Singh, executive vice president, international business, Star network viewers from this part of the globe participating in Indian reality shows like Just Dance, Dance India Dance, Sa re ga ma pa. Producing shows here will add to the channel’s cache.

“We have commissioned reports on three more programs that will be

broadcast weekly. First is a women only half hour weekly chat show on issues that affect women in US. Second would be a reality show.

And the third show would be ‘Think local go global’ that will have events and happenings here

Patel community hosts Christmas party New Jersey: The South Gujarat Patel Pragati Mandal held its Christmas party on Saturday, December 10, 2011 at the Royal Albert’s Palace, Fords, NJ. Weather was just perfect for the party. Over 700 guests jampacked the ballroom at about 6:00pm.

The Christmas party had everything that one would ask for: Santa , magician, gifts, dance, music, food and drinks to keep the spirit high. Right from the word “go” it was fun and frolic and the mood soon shifted into party mode with the arrival of Santa Claus & the magician, who gave out gifts to children.

As the clock ticked away the party gathered momentum.

The crowd was entertained by some music and dances organized by youth performers – all belonging to South Gujarat area.

Community Leaders Piyush Patel, Sandip Patel, NJ State Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula, Woodbridge

The audience dancing to Hindi film music dished out

by DJ Jay Rana Councilman Jim Major, Atma Rana, Thakor Bulsara, Isverlal Singh, Harkesh Thakur, Mukesh Patel, Prakash Chauhan and Kashiwala, Suresh Dalal, more than 40 chief guests went Chandra Patel, Preyash Patel, on the stage for an honoring cerDominic Sequira, Ashish Desai, emony.

President Viru Patel stressed Raman Shah, J. P. Patel, Anil Patel, Christine Overton, about “The Youth Conference,” Mukund Thaker, Staff members which is planned in June, 2012. of Haridham, Ex- President of He appealed the youth, 18 and Honor Legion Al Sabo, Bharat above to register for the event.

broadcast globally,” said Singh.

Star is also trying to revive its once most watched channel Star One. “It’s all down to numbers and Star One didn’t meet the hoped for TRPs and sits around sixth. Star Plus is No. 1 and Colors, Zee and SET are fighting for second, third and fourth spots, followed by Sab TV and Imagine and then Star One. Our target is to get Star One to first or second position. We are going through a complete rebranding of Star One. It may not even be called Star One,” said Singh adding, “The idea of targeting youth with fresh and interesting shows still remains the core. In addition Sach Ka Samna is returning with the channel.”

Star has also tied up with Aamir Khan Productions for a show that will be aired in the first half of 2012. “It is going to be ground breaking. The theme is inspirational, it will be based on true stories,” said Singh.

Despite the high quality programming, low ad support remains a problem. Star is working on it.

“The solution is to get mainstream companies realize the importance of Indian community.

The likes of Walmart and KFC are all realizing the need of Indian channels to reach this section of community. Many insurance companies are also slowly focusing on the Indian community primarily because of the spending power.

Tapping these advertisers will generate revenues for the channels,” said Singh.

When asked if the recent phone tapping scandal involving Rupert Murdoch’s media properties in England affected Star in India, Singh said, “No, it has not. India is far removed from the controversy.

We are kind of an independent group that’s working for Star Plus and Star Network. We are not a newspaper industry, we are in the business of entertainment.”

Mom who threw baby in Hudson river pleads not guilty New York: An Indian-origin woman, who tossed her infant daughter in a New York river before jumping in herself has pleaded not guilty for reasons of mental illness under a plea deal that could see her sentenced to a psychiatric facility. Silvia from Tamil Nadu plunged into the Hudson River with her 21-monthold daughter, Jessica Prithiviraj, in May 2010 in a suicide attempt.

Unable to swim, they drifted into the centre of the river where they were separated and nearly drowned before rescue teams scooped them out of the water, with baby Jessica not breathing. She has, however, fully recovered since. Prosecutors said 34-year-old Devi Silvia, in an agreement with the Manhattan district attorney's office, pleaded not guilty because of mental disease as she was suffering from a bipolar disorder. She pleaded "not responsible by reason of mental defect" for nearly killing her 18-month-old girl, the 'New York Daily News' reported. Assistant Manhattan District Attorney Kevin Wilson said Salvia told her rescuers that

"her baby was dead and she wanted to die."

Psychiatrists for the defence and prosecutors agreed that Salvia suffered from a bipolar disorder that had never been diagnosed. Wilson said Silvia was unable to sleep in the days before the suicide attempt, saw lights, thought God had cleaned her dishes and heard voices telling her to jump into the river.

The medications have kept Silvia stable ever since but if she went off them, she could be "quite dangerous", Wilson said. When Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro asked Silvia if she threw her daughter into the Hudson river, she said, "Yes but I didn't know what I was doing." Carro told Silvia that doctors of the state department of mental health must examine her and that they may order her to enter psychiatric facility. Silvia said she understood. Beaming, Silvia left the courtroom with her husband Dominic Prithiviraj, who had his arm around her small shoulders. Their two children -both Jessica and an elder daughter -- remain in India with family.

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December 17-23, 2011

Indo-Americans most inspiring diaspora: Blake Washington: With more than three million in numbers, Indian Americans are not only the most inspiring diasporas in the US but their unmatched activism has made sure their political influence too has grown tremendously, a senior Obama administration has said.

US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Robert Blake, said in his keynote address to the Washington DC annual gala of the American India Foundation (AIF) that Indians were today seen at every public platform, be it politics, academics or business.

"There is no diaspora community that is more successful and inspiring than the Indian-American community," he said.

Founded in 2001 at the initiative of the

US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Robert Blake then US President, Bill Clinton, AIF is the leading developmental organization focused on helping Indians. Clinton serves

Senator Kirk wants India to send its troops to Afghanistan Washington: With the gradual withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, time has now come for India to send its military inside that country, a top American lawmaker has said.

“It makes sense for the two largest democracies to be military allies.

On Afghanistan, India, as you know, as a security establishment, is already fighting over 30 insurgencies or guerilla operations,” Senator Mark Kirk said at a discussion forum organized by Washingtonbased think tank, Foreign Policy Initiative.

“The Indian security establishment well understands this challenge. I think can correctly perceive that moving terror from North or South or general parts of Dafatan into secured bases around Kabul with the fall of the Karzai government would represent a long-term real security threat for India,” he said.

Blasts in Afghanistan at Muhraam were one of the worst terrorist strikes in the country this year.

“Remember, if you have terror bases operating against India from Pakistan, Pakistan is subjected to pressure from India. If Pakistan could offload that terror training and operations into metropolitan Afghanistan, it makes it much harder for India to pressure for the end of those operations,” Kirk said.

The US Senator said over the long term, it makes sense for India to send a key signal to Afghan politicians— “look, we know the Americans are leaving. We know

Senator Mark Kirk the Haqqani’s are bidding, but we are now stepping in here. We will bank roll you.”

Asked whether India had given any indication on willing to bank roll, Kirk said, “Our indications are the senior a number of Indian politicians said you have to start the discussion, and then we will respond in Indian fashion to you starting the discussion, and I was only too happy to do that.”

The Illinois Senator said that the concerns about safety of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenals were well founded.

“I think it’s a danger. It’s probably a substantial arsenal. Pakistan as a country has a couple of key decisions to make, whether it’s a de facto military dictatorship or whether it is a true civilian government, and whether it is mainly a base for Jihad first against the Afghan government and Indian government and later against the West, or whether it is to enter into true economic competition to stay up with India,” he said.

as its honorary chair.

Indian Americans have among the highest if not the highest per capita incomes of all groups in the United States, he said.

"Indian Americans are increasingly seeing their influence grow, whether by election of political stars such as Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana or Governor Nikki Haley of South Carolina, you see people at every single level of government, at the highest level --- business, academia and everywhere else," Blake said in his address at the event that honored eminent Indian American Ranvir Trehan with its philanthropy award.

"So there influence is extremely farfetched. More importantly now, if you look at the growth of India caucus, it is the most

influential caucus on the Capitol Hill. The reason for that is the activism and the energy of the Indian American community," he said.

Blake, who had earlier served in India and Sri Lanka, and now is the US government's pointsman for South and Central Asia said his experiences in India and elsewhere in South Asia taught him that there are tremendous opportunities for the US to work more closely with the diaspora to try to leverage their talent and resources.

"So one of the first things I did as Assistant Secretary was to hire a new senior advisor position in the South and Central Asian Affairs Bureau to focus on engaging with the Diaspora and other external groups," Blake said.

Davan Maharaj to be LA Times editor Los Angeles: Trinidad born Davan Maharaj has been named as the new editor and executive vice president of the Los Angeles Times. He will take the place of Russ Stanton, 52, under whose leadership the paper expanded its digital reach to more than 17 million readers each month and won three Pulitzer Prizes, including this year's Public Service award for exposing corruption in the city of Bell.

Maharaj is going to be the 15th editor of LA Times. Currently the managing editor of the newspaper, 49-year-old Maharaj has worked at the paper for 22 years, including as a correspondent in Africa.

His six-part series "Living on Pennies," which explored extreme poverty in sub-Saharan Africa, won the 2004 Ernie Pyle Award for Human Interest Writing, and his

Davan Maharaj investigation into the dubious practices of a Leisure World probate attorney prompted changes in California law.

He holds a political science degree from Tennessee and a Masters degree in law from Yale and has worked at the paper for 22 years

with a short stint in Africa.He has also been an assistant foreign editor and then business editor before becoming the paper’s managing editor in 2008. Maharaj’s series on poverty in sub-Sahara won him the 2005 Ernie Pyle award.

He holds a political science degree from the University of Tennessee and a master's degree in law from Yale, Maharaj became Business editor in 2007, emphasizing greater coverage of consumer issues and personal finance. He has been managing editor for news since 2008, with responsibility for the foreign, national, metro, sports and business staffs."I am humbled and honored to lead one of the most talented and resilient newsrooms in the nation," Maharaj said. "Our commitment to delivering high-quality journalism remains unwavering."

Fareed Zakaria to receive 2012 Justice in Action Award New York: The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) will honor Fareed Zakaria, CNN host and Time editor-at-large, Parkin Lee, Vice President, Chief Legal Officer, and Secretary of The Rockefeller Group, and Yale Law professor Jean Koh Peters with the 2012 Justice in Action Awards at its Annual Lunar New Year Gala on Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at Pier Sixty, Chelsea Piers, in New York City.

The co-emcees for the evening are Juju Chang, Emmy Award-winning correspondent for ABC News

Nightline and Sree Sreenivasan, Dean of Student Affairs and digital media professor at Columbia Journalism School.

The AALDEF Justice in Action Awards recognize exceptional individuals for their outstanding achievements and contributions in advancing justice and equality. Past recipients include the late civil rights icon Fred Korematsu, David Henry Hwang, Harold Koh, Mira Nair, Deval Patrick, Salman Rushdie, Seymour Hersh, Charles Ogletree, Jr., Nicholas Kristof, Sheryl Wu Dunn, Harry Belafonte, Margaret Cho, and Yoko Ono.

Fareed Zakaria Over 600 leaders of the civil rights, legal, business, and arts communities are expected to attend AALDEF’s 2012 Lunar New Year Gala celebrating the Year of the Dragon.

8

National Community

December 17-23, 2011

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Indian newlyweds killed in helicopter crash near Las Vegas Las Vegas: A honeymooning couple was among five people killed in a sightseeing helicopter crash near Las Vegas. Lovish Bhanot, 28 and Anupama Bhola, 26, both from suburban Gurgaon, India, were honeymooning in the US following their large November 6 wedding in New Delhi.

The aircraft went down in a twilight crash last Wednesday in a remote canyon.

The aircraft was operated by Sundance Helicopters of Las Vegas. The others killed included a Las Vegas pilot married six months ago and a Kansas couple celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary.

Bhola worked as a flight attendant for an unspecified Bhanot was the managing director of Lyca Investment Ltd, a family-owned real estate company in Gurgaon. and his wife was a stewardess for Air India. The couple knew each

Parents to sue the chopper company

Lovish Bhanot and Anupama Bhola married in November other for about three years before getting married, friends said. They were midway through a three-week U.S. trip that included a visit to Los Angeles before arriving in Las Vegas about a week before the crash. They also had planned to visit New York before returning to

India.

Radar logs and maintenance records show the helicopter made a sudden climb and sharp turns moments before a steep plunge from an altitude of about 3,500 feet, NTSB Board Member Mark Rosekind said speaking to AFP.

Yuvraj Duggal raises 22,000 Belize dollars for Zoo New York: On December 2, 2012 Yuvraj Duggal a Junior at Lyons Township High School was honored for his achievement at the Belize Zoo. Yuvraj presented the Belize zoo with 22,000 Belize dollars that he raised through fundraising in the United States for the endangered species.

Dozens of people gathered at the Belize Zoo for a short ceremony including the Ambassador of the United States, to Belize, Vinai Thrunallapally and his wife who had nothing but praise for Yuvraj. The director of the Belize Zoo Sharon Matola was also present. Matola expressed her gratitude by stating “All I want to say is that we are head over heels over this donation.” In appreciation a group of tumblers then performed an acrobatic routine. An observer at the presentation also stated that “If every kid could learn from Yuvraj about giving and helping like this. It would make a big difference in the world!”

The event was covered by several local Belize media outlets including Channel 5 TV, Love radios

station, newspapers and National Geographic who filmed for a later episode to be telecast.

Later that day Jasmine Ramos, representative of the Belize Forest Department honored Yuvraj with a reception. Ramos expressed that the exhibits will be rebuilt and the endangered species will be taken care of because of Yuvraj’s hard work and dedication.

Yuvraj humbled by the experience said, “Everyone can follow their dreams and visions if they believe in the cause and keep focused. I love the people of Belize.”

The wreckage was found near the bottom of a 150-foot deep canyon about 4 miles west of the Lake Mead reservoir on the Colorado River, and 12 miles east of McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas.

The aircraft underwent routine maintenance the day before the crash, including replacement of the engine and mechanical actuators in the tail and main rotor, Rosekind said. But Rosekind said investigators could not draw immediate conclusions about the crash from the erratic flight pattern.

Authorities said the crash came about midway through a 40-minute flight over Hoover Dam and the Las Vegas Strip. It was the fourth flight for the helicopter following the maintenance work, including one test flight and two previous

tour flights.

Meanwhile the parents of the couple are suing the chopper company involved for negligence, lawyers said Wednesday.

The legal action came after an initial investigation report said that the aircraft, operated by Sundance Helicopters, had inexplicably veered off course in the last minute before it crashed in a ravine.

"The families are heartbroken by these deaths and they want answers," said Robb, a specialist in helicopter crash litigation, who is based in Kansas City, Missouri.

"This is every family's worst nightmare, than an occasion of joy and celebration would turn into a needless tragedy," he added, saying the families hope that, through legal action, future similar crashes can be avoided.

Indian American hoteliers win civic leadership posts New York: Two Indian American hotel owners on opposite ends of the country have recently won campaigns to fill key political and economic development posts in their communities.

B. Bart Patel is one of two new city council members in El Monte, CA. He has owned America’s Best Value Inn and Suites on Garvey at 5-points for 16 years. Patel unseated an incumbent in the November election.

On the East Coast, Paresh ‘Perry’ Patel, a Choice Hotel owner (Country Inn & Suites and Comfort Suites) in Newark, DE, was named to serve on the New Castle County Delaware Historic

Review Board.

Being appointed to the seat is one of many accomplishments in Perry Patel’s career. He is chairman-elect of the Delaware Hotel & Lodging Association, where he serves on several committees, and he is a member of the AH&LA’s Governmental Affairs Committee.

The DH&LA named him Hotelier of the Year in 200, which honors a GM and hotelier who has contributed outstanding service and leadership in civic affairs. He also has served in many capacities on the Choice Hotels Owners Council for more than 14 years.

And he is on the board of directors of the Chestnut Run Federal Credit Union.

It's 'band, baja, barat' time in DC too!

From custom designed 'mandap' to 'ghodi' for the groom and zari embroidered 'lehnga choli' for the bride, one stop ‘desi’ wedding planners can provide it all right in the American capital.

Washington: It's the marriage season for Indian Americans too. And those who wish to marry in the traditional style - and who don't - can do so with 'band, baja, barat' et al right here in the American capital!

Be it the 'sherwani' or the 'ghodi' for the groom, zari-embroidered 'lehnga choli' for the bride, or the 'mandap' for the marriage ceremony and the horse buggy for the 'doli'- one can get it all from one

stop 'desi' wedding planners.

Depending on how much bang you want for your buck, one can get married in desi style for anything from $1,500 to $50,00060,000, says Ved Mehta who with spouse Manju Mehta has been running one such shop called 'Shagun Weddings' in the Washington metro area for the last 10 years.

"Every Indian gets married in the traditional style," Mehta said at a recent Bridal Expo bringing together wedding decorators, event planners, photographers, videographers, DJs, caterers, makeup artists and what not under one roof.

"It's a very good business but it's tiring because it's lot of work," said Mehta who organises three-four weddings every week all the year round except during 'shradh' time (remembering the dead). "The

number is also a bit low in JanuaryFebruary when it's cold; otherwise every month is busy, especially over the long weekends."

"Yes, people like 'ghodi' a lot, say about 40 percent," said Mehta, who has three, four vendors who can provide the traditional groom's ride. "If the customer wants an elephant, we bring the elephant. If they want to come by helicopter then we can do that too!"

"But now the trend is changing," he said as lots of people now get married in waterfront hotels and many a groom's party arrives by boat. Others come by car or even by helicopter."

The Mehtas import their basic material from India and get the 'mandaps' made in various colors and styles custom designed by Manju. It takes a couple of months

to put the whole show together but Mehtas with a trained staff of 9-10 people can do last-minute weddings too. "Manju started it as a hobby. She just wants to make people happy," said Mehta.

Like the Mehtas, Reena Aggarwal too gets the embroidered material from India and turns them into suits, sarees, and lehngas, stitched to size. The cost: from a few hundred to a couple of thousand. From complete bridal ensembles to gold, silver and costume jewelery to traditional apparel for men and children, her one-stop Reena's Boutique has everything.

And to record it all, there is always Bobby Singh, who offers special wedding packages from $2,000 to $8,000 with fancy albums with digital pics from 'shagun' to 'mehndi' to marriage.

National Community TheSouthAsianTimes.info

December 17-23, 2011

Guaranteed a laugh, or money back!

Washington: Watch it. If you like it, you pay for it. If you don't, you get your money back! That's the offer made by an India-born doctor, who also dabbles in film making, for his third movie released on DVD. "It's no gimmick," says 43year-old Ravi Godse, a top internal medicine specialist in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, about his film, "Help Me Help You", a low budget comedy that raises the question whether people should help those who don't wish to be helped.

After a doctor is told he has only six months to live, he sets out to try to improve the life of six of his friends. But he ends up creating more trouble for them.

The film received "excellent response" during a theatrical release in Pittsburgh.

DVDs of the film are getting sold across multiple outlets.

Online response is equally brisk on www.HelpMeHelpYouMovie .com, he said.

"So far, there were only a

Indian American "Dr Ravi" plays himself in his new film, “Help Me Help You”, a low budget comedy that raises the question whether people should help those who don’t wish to be helped. few requests for money-back, Steve Guttenberg ("Diner", I would say two percent," "Cocoon"), Richard Kind Ravi said. "They were ("Spin City", "Curb Your refunded promptly. One of Enthusiasm"), comedian and them thought that the script Disney sitcom star and direcwas weak. Another said that tor Rondell Sheridan and the effort was good but he Sabrina Bryan, a former daywould still like the money time soap star and member of back."

"The Cheetah Girls."

"The response overall is Yet Godse managed to keep gratifying. This is a very dif- the cost down to $200,000 by ferent brand of humor. It is finishing the shoot in a mere not high-brow and intellectu- 10 days. Additionally, the al," said Godse, who earlier cast and crew too "gave me a stuck to local talent for his break and charged most of Pittsburgh-based films. their fees as part of ownerThis time he hired widely ship in the movie because known TV and movie stars - they believed in the script."

Gurdwara in US locked down after violation of safety rules Chicago: The authorities have locked Gurjot Parkash Sahib gurdwara, located in the suburb of Island Lake for violating safety rules and putting safety of the visitors at risk.

The authorities found that fire exit doors of gurdwara were locked from inside with deadbolt and there were also sleeping rooms in its basement.

The gurdwara also got embroiled in another controversy when some members were not allowed to prepare meal for the devotees by its head Baba Daljit Singh, resulting in a tiff

9

between them. The community members alleged that Baba was not letting certain Sikh congregation members participate freely in the religious activities of the gurdwara.

Baba has also been allegedly accused of mismanaging the gurdwara funds and not following rules of Sikhism.

Since the gurdwara opened in 1998, Baba Daljit Singh has been stating that he owned the property, while it reportedly belongs to the Guru Nanak Sikh Mission of America Inc.

University of Maryland Baltimore County Hindu Students Council and University of Maryland College Park Hindu Students Council partnered up with members of the community at the Shri Shiva Vishnu Mandir on Saturday, December 10, 2011 to prepare sandwiches, which get delivered to Martha's Table.

Indian-American student stands 3rd in Siemens Science Team Competition Washington: Vickram Gidwani, a junior at Horace Mann High School in the Bronx, N.Y., along with Blake Smith, a senior at Oceanside High School in Oceanside, N.Y., won the third prize for their biochemistry project in the team competition at the Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology. They will split a $30,000 scholarship.

The year's highest science honor for high school students was awarded on Dec. 5 to biochemistry research on cancer stem cells and an innovative use of gaming technology in the area of leg injuries and prosthetics in the 2011 Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology, America's premier science research competition for high school students.

Administered by the College Board, the Siemens

Vickram Gidwani Competition is a signature program of the Siemens Foundation, which supports science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education. The thirteenth annual awards were presented this morning at The George Washington University, host of the 2011 Siemens Competition National Finals. Six individuals and six teams competed at the National Finals past

weekend after winning one of six regional competitions in November. They presented their research to a panel of judges comprised of nationally renowned scientists and mathematicians.

Vickram is a senior member of his school’s fusion club and has competed in the Science Olympiad, Physics Olympiad and JETS (Junior Engineering Technical Society) Competition. This high school junior divides his extracurricular time between music and tennis as a saxophonist with two school bands and a tennis player on two teams. He hopes to major in business and engineering and to become the CEO of his own company.

“I am awed by the level of detail we, as humans, know about our bodies and the tools and methods we have developed to study them," says Gidwani.

10

US Affairs

December 17-23, 2011

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Gingrich ahead in US poll, but slipping in Iowa Washington: Republican White House hopeful Newt Gingrich has surged ahead of rival Mitt Romney nationwide, but his lead in Iowa has faded ahead of the January 3 caucuses, two new polls showed.

Gingrich, the former speaker of the House of Representatives, and Romney are seeking their party's nomination to take on Democratic President Obama in the November 2012 election.

The Iowa vote, which kicks off the Republican presidential nominating process, will be seen as a crucial test of strength for Gingrich, who only weeks ago took the lead from long-time frontrunner Romney.

Gingrich now has 40 percent support among likely Republican voters nationwide, far ahead of the 23 percent support for Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll.

National polls are not decisive in a contest fought on a state-bystate basis, but do reflect the tem-

Obama gains from Republican fight Washington: President Barack Obama's top campaign strategists said on Tuesday that the increasingly heated Republican primary battle between Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich is helping shift the national political landscape back to Obama's advantage.

Their comments reflected growing confidence among Democrats, who only months ago worried that the sputtering economy and a lack of enthusiasm among core voters would doom Obama's reelection. Even some Republicans are starting to

express concern that GOP's nominating process could leave Obama in a stronger spot than his weak polling numbers might suggest.

That view has come about in recent weeks with the rise of Gingrich, viewed by Obama strategists as a weaker general election foe, and the struggles of Romney.Republican strategist Mike Murphy said the changing political dynamic has given Obama's team reason for new optimism. He described a Gingrich nomination as a “train wreck” for Republicans.

The Protester is Time’s Person of the Year Mitt Romney’s wife, Ann, has been drafted into the campaign to soften his image. perature of national opinion of a particular candidate.

In Iowa, Gingrich tops a Public Policy Polling survey of likely Republican voters with 22 percent support, just slightly ahead of Texas Congressman Ron Paul with 21 percent -- a major drop from the nine-point lead he enjoyed in the previous PPP survey one week ago.

Romney's support in Iowa -- a largely rural midwestern state which barely figures in the general election but is key as the first official nominating contest -- was unchanged at 16 percent since last week.

New York: Time’s “Person of the Year” for 2011 is … the Protester. The magazine announced Wednesday that “no one could have known that when a Tunisian fruit stand vendor set himself on fire in a public square, it would incite protests that would topple dictators and start a global wave of dissent.” The magazine mentions uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, Libya, Britain, Spain, Greece—and of course, the US’s own Occupy movement. The issue

also profiles 10 protesters from different movements around the globe. The magazine also profiled four runners-up for the honor: Navy SEAL Captain William McRaven, Chinese dissenter Ai Weiwei, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan and Kate Middleton. "These are folks who are changing history already and will change the future," Time editor Richard Stengel said on the Today show, while unveiling his magazine's selection.

Payroll-tax spat threatens shutdown Washington: Federal workers may be in for a rough holiday: a government shutdown is looming once again as debate over a payroll-tax extension threatens to derail a separate government-funding compromise. While Republicans and Democrats have mostly agreed to terms on a deal to fund the government through

next September, Democrats are withholding their signatures until a compromise is made on the payroll tax. Otherwise, Republicans could pack up for the holidays, forcing the Dems to either let the payroll tax expire or to swallow the version the House passed Tuesday, which President Obama has threatened to veto for linking the tax-extension to the construction of the Keystone XL

pipeline.

A few issues also remain to be settled in the government-funding bill: whether to ban Washington, D.C., from using taxpayer money to provide abortion services; whether to reverse an Obama administration decision making it easier for Americans to visit family in Cuba; and whether to block new standards for incandescent light bulbs.

1 in 5 women in US claim they were assaulted Washington: An exhaustive government survey of rape and domestic violence released on Wednesday affirmed that sexual violence against women remains endemic in the US and in some instances may be far more common than previously thought.

Nearly one in five women surveyed said they had been raped or had experienced an attempted rape at some point, and one in four reported having been beaten by an intimate partner. One in six women have been stalked, according to the report. “That almost one in five women have been raped in their lifetime is very striking and, I think, will be surprising to a lot of people,” said Linda C. Degutis, director of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which conducted the survey.

“I don’t think we’ve really known that it was this prevalent in the population,” she said.

The study, called the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, was begun in 2010 with the support of the National Institute of Justice and the Department of Defense. The study, a continuing telephone survey of a nationally representative sample of 16,507 adults, defines intimate partner and sexual violence broadly.

The surveyors elicited information on types of aggression not previously studied in national surveys, including sexual violence other than rape, psychological aggression, coercion and control of reproductive and sexual health.

They also gathered information about the

physical and mental health of violence survivors.

Sexual violence affects women disproportionately, the researchers found. One-third of women said they had been victims of a rape, beating or stalking, or a combination of assaults. The researchers defined rape as completed forced penetration, forced penetration facilitated by drugs or alcohol, or attempted forced penetration.

By that definition, 1 percent of women surveyed reported being raped in the previous year, a figure that suggests that 1.3 million American women annually may be victims of rape or attempted rape.

That figure is significantly higher than previous estimates. The Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network estimated that 272,350 Americans were victims of sexual violence last year. Only 84,767 assaults defined as forcible rapes were reported in 2010, according to national statistics from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

But men also reported being victimized in surprising numbers.

One in seven men have experienced severe violence at the hands of an intimate partner, the survey found, and one in 71 men — between 1 percent and 2 percent — have been raped, many when they were younger than 11.

A vast majority of women who said they had been victims of sexual violence, rape or stalking reported symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, as did about one-third of the men.

India Newswire TheSouthAsianTimes.info

11

December 17-23, 2011

Lokpal bill: No consensus at all-party meeting New Delhi: An all-party meeting called to evolve a consensus on the Lokpal bill ended inconclusively, as Team Anna warned it might resume its protest campaign for a strong ombudsman law on Dec 27 either in Delhi or in Mumbai.

The ruling and the opposition parties failed to break the deadlock even after three hours of free and frank discussion, indicating major differences of opinion.

There was no commitment from the government on the passage of bill in this session, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Ramvilas Paswan said after the meeting.

A political party leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the government had informed the parties at the meeting that it was willing to bring the prime minister under Lokpal with exception about his work relating to internal security, public order, atomic energy, space and external affairs. However, he said there were reservations to bringing the lower bureaucracy in the Lokpal.

The government also told the parties about the views of the CBI,

There was no commitment from the government on the passage of bill in this Parliament session, Lok Janshakti Party chief Ramvilas Paswan said. whose director A.P. Singh had ear- Lokpal. There were suggestions lier met prime minister. that Lokpal should have an invesThe leader said the status of CBI tigative mechanism to emerge as in Lokpal had emerged as a major an effective anti-corruption sticking point with the parties giv- ombudsman. ing different formulations.

Two senior opposition leaders While there were demands that said after the meeting that the govCBI should be an independent ernment appeared not keen to body, there was also a view that bring Group C government corruption cases of the investigat- employees and the CBI within the ing agency should be under Lokpal ambit and had also reser-

Civic polls: Congress-NCP win in Anna's home district Mumbai: People in Anna Hazare's home district voted largely in favor of the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party in the civic body elections, the final results of which were declared here.

In Hazare's Ahmednagar district, of the total 173 seats spread across eight civic bodies, the Congress has bagged 80 while the

NCP got 37, totaling to 117, virtually retaining their existing positions.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) got 14 seats while Shiv Sena got three, a paltry 17 total.

However, smaller registered parties got 30 seats and nine seats were bagged by independents or rebels, totaling to 39. (117+17+39 = 173 total seats in the dis-

trict).

In Ahmednagar district, while the Congress has gained control over Rahata-Pimpals, Sangamner and Shrirampur civic bodies, its ally the NCP has bagged Pathardi, while in Kopargaon it would have to ally with smaller parties to rule the 26-strong civic body.

CPM for inclusion of PM in Lokpal purview New Delhi: Communist Party of IndiaMarxist (CPI-M) leader Sitaram Yechury said the government should come with solid proposals on Lokpal bill and emphasized that his party wanted inclusion of prime minister in the purview of the proposed ombudsman.

Coming out of the all-party meeting convened by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Yechury told reporters: "Till the time we get firm proposals from the government, it is not possible to give our views."

He also said the CPI-M favored inclusion of prime minister with certain conditions and group C employees in the proposed anti-corruption ombudsman.

The party also favored bringing conduct of MPs on the floor of house in situations such as vitiated trust vote under the Lokpal, he said. He said the government may convene another all-party meeting or come up

Sitaram Yechury. with its proposals in the form of modified bill which will be debated in the parliament.

Party leader Basudeb Acharia said that the party wanted inclusion of prime minister in Lokpal purview with exceptions to his work related to public order and internal security.

vations over inclusion of prime minister's office.

If the logjam is not resolved at the earliest, parliament would fail to pass a consensual effective Lokpal Bill in the current session ending Dec 22, setting the stage for another show of strength by Team Anna.

Before the meeting began, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the government was "committed" to implementing in "letter and spirit" a "good and effective ombudsman bill based on political consensus."

But three hours later, the picture was anything but rosy.

"They have not come out with solid proposal. Till the time we get firm proposals from the government, it is not possible to give views," Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Sitaram Yechury told reporters after the meeting ended.

He said the government may convene another all party meeting to convey its proposal or bring them in the form of amended legislations.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)

Sushma Swaraj echoed the same sentiments. "On contentious issues, we reiterated our stand on the lines of the dissent note submitted by our members to the standing committee," Swaraj further tweeted.

The BJP has asked for inclusion of the prime minister, Group C government employess and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) under the ambit of the Lokpal. They also want a citizen's charter under the Lokpal.

Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Ramvilas Paswan said members of different political parties at the allparty meeting had said that the government should not work "under extra pressure" and "no decision should be taken in a hurry".

He also said the government had not given a commitment that the Lokpal bill will be passed in the ongoing winter session of parliament.

Communist Party of IndiaMarxist (CPI-M) leader Gurudas Dasgupta said that the party wants the prime minister to be under Lokpal with certain exceptions.

Team Anna wants PM, CBI under Lokpal New Delhi: Team Anna stuck to its demand for bringing the prime minister and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) under the anti-corruption Lokpal and indicated that venue of its planned protest from Dec 27 could be shifted to Mumbai if it is too cold in the national capital.

"On Dec 27th, there will be a guaranteed public discussion either as a fast or as a celebration.

Keeping in view the weather conditions in Delhi at that time, we have applied for the booking of Mumbai's Azad Maidan as an alternative," Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal told reporters after a core committee meeting.

"It's being said that the bill will be presented in parliament on Dec 20. So on 20th, all the members of the core committee will go to parliament to observe the debate from the visitors' gallery," he said, ahead of an all-party meeting convened by the government to discuss the issue.

Prashant Bhushan said inclusion of prime minist e r, C e n t r a l B u r e a u o f

On Dec 27th, there will be a guaranteed public discussion either as a fast or as a celebration, said Team Anna.

Investigation, l o w e r doing so, it seems, the bureaucracy and citizen's government is trying to charter were critical bully the parliament," issues for Team Hazare.

Kejriwal said.

Kejriwal said that two He also refuted allegaresolutions were passed at tions by Congress that the the core committee meet- a l l - p a r t y d e b a t e o n ing. "We had passed a res- Lokpal at Jantar Mantar olution on Aug 27 that the was an insult to parliac i t i z e n ' s c h a r t e r a n d m e n t . " We d o n ' t a g r e e entire bureaucracy will be with this...We accept the brought under the Lokpal supremacy of the parliajurisdiction. PM wrote a m e n t b u t d e b a t i n g a n y letter to Anna agreeing on issue is not a sole right this matter. But Abhishek reserved by the parliaM a n u S i n g h v i , a c t i n g ment," he said. through the standing comOn inclusion of CBI mittee, has insulted the under Lokpal, Kejriwal nation by not obeying this s a i d Te a m A n n a h a d suggestion," he said. always made the demand.

He said the cabinet had "We feel that lokpal withapproved a separate law out its own investigation concerning citizen's char- arm which can only be ter. "The cabinet has also CBI, is just an empty tininsulted the parliament, In box," he said.

12

India Newswire

December 17-23, 2011

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Cabinet nod for NRI doctors to practice in India New Delhi: NRI doctors are a step closer to be able to practice or teach medicine in India. The Cabinet has cleared the National Council of Human Resources in Health (NCHRH) Bill that allows doctors who hold the Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) status to work in India. They can also join medical college as faculty.

The move has been initiated primarily to reduce the country's acute doctor shortage.

India has one doctor for 1,953 people, or a density of 0.5 doctors per 1,000.

The Planning Commission says the country is short of six lakh doctors, 10 lakh nurses and two lakh dental surgeons.

Union health secretary P K

The move has been initiated primarily to reduce the country's acute doctor shortage. India has one doctor for 1,953 people, or a density of 0.5 doctors per 1,000.

Rahul vs Akhilesh in battleground Uttar Pradesh

The "Rahul vs. Akhilesh" face-off seems to have arrived with the upcoming assembly polls.

Lucknow: Rahul Gandhi dragged Akhilesh Yadav on his antiMulayam radar, dubbing him a symbol of his father's anti-English hypocrisy and reigniting the personalized rivalry between the political scions that started with Ferozabad by-polls two years ago.

On a campaign trail in SP chieftain's pocket borough, Rahul ratcheted up pressure by saying that the region's backwardness was because of Mayawati's corruption and Mulayam's outdated ideas, like his opposition to technology and English.

"Mulayam Singh says you all don't need English. Lekin Akhilesh ko to angrezi sikha di (English is good for Akhilesh, but not you)," he

said, seizing on the controversial SP manifesto unveiled during the 2009 Lok Sabha polls.

The attack, made at a packed park in Badaun's Dataganj, a SP stronghold, was significant because Rahul has avoided naming Akhilesh since engineering his wife's defeat in Ferozabad by-polls with a surprise personal intervention. The young Samajwadi was bitter with his Congress counterpart with whom he had friendly equations, seeing it as a betrayal.

The "Rahul vs. Akhilesh" face-off seems to have arrived with the upcoming assembly polls. Rahul's raid on Mulayam's turf, an OBCMuslim belt, spread across Sambhal-Budaun-FarrukhabadKannauj-Shahjahanpur, comes when the young here are still talking about the response generated by Akhilesh's kranti rath, the campaign he is leading with his father taking a backseat.

Akhilesh's appeal, as a young Yadav leader who is urbane and foreign educated, reflects hope among loyalists that any passing of political baton generates. The Gandhi family scion would not have missed the ubiquitous wall writings welcoming Akhilesh during his last two days in the region.

Somewhere, Congress strategists have concluded that the party's antiSP strategy has to focus on Samajwadi future as much as its past.

Pradhan said, "We expect the Bill to come up in Parliament next week since it got cleared by the Cabinet. It will then go to the standing committee."

The Bill also brings in penal provisions against authorities running private medical colleges who fudge figures like bed strength, number of faculty members or infrastructure to get registration.

At present, the only punishment they face is the institute's derecognition.

However, the Bill stipulates that errant authorities will face three years of imprisonment and a fine of Rs 25 lakh.

"False patients and faculty members are brought in hordes in buses on the morning of the

inspection by event managers for those who run the colleges to show the inspection team that they have the required faculty, manpower and infrastructure to run a medical college," an official said.

According to the Bill, an overarching body will have under it the Medical Council of India (MCI), Pharmacy Council of India (PCI), Nursing Council of India (NCI), Dental Council of India (DCI) and the proposed Central Councils for Paramedical and Allied Medical Sciences Education.

The Bill makes it mandatory for state councils to maintain live registers of the available strength of nurses and doctors. This will help correct regional imbalance of human resources.

Hookah bars banned in Jaipur

By Prakash Bhandari/ SATimes Jaipur: Tourists visiting the Pink City will not be able to enjoy hookah as the police has banned all hookah bars here. The police stormed into the hookah bars last weekend and broke all the hookahs, taking the owners and customers by surprise.

Haryana was the first state to put a ban on the hookah bars.

Police commissioner BL Soni said section 144 of the Cr PC has been imposed to ban the hookah bars which were serving Bacco molasses containing nicotine, which is a health hazard. "These hookah bars were illegally run and frequented by young boys and girls.

We have banned them till February and would review the situation then,” he said.

The owner of Cafe Cuba, Jai

Nandini said that without giving notice, the police came and broke the hookahs. The bars, she said, were a place where tourists came and spent their time and the ban would hit the tourism industry hard.

The police is now also targeting the mushrooming beauty parlors and health clubs in the Pink City. They feel that many of these have become joint for sex trade, which should be curbed.

CBI chargesheet delinks Ruias from Raja, 2G scam New Delhi: The third Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) chargesheet in the 2G spectrum scam accuses the Ruias of Essar of cheating and criminal conspiracy, but steers clear of linking them to Andimuthu Raja or booking them under the Prevention of Corruption Act – as the Reliance ADAG, Swan and DB Realty businessmen were.

The CBI’s main claim is that the Ruias are the real promoters of Loop Telecom – something the policy forbids since they were already promoters in rival Vodafone Essar.

The chargesheet is no small gain for the Ruias, since it means they weren’t involved in the 2G scam.

But the CBI still maintains that their “crime” is not any lesser under section 120B read with section 420 of the Indian Penal Code, because the Ruias could face up to seven years of jail if proved guilty.

It also means that the Ruias could face arrest when the case comes up for hearing at the CBI Special Court on 17 December.

The Ruia brothers of Essar.

Opposition heckles Chidambaram, Sibal New Delhi: Continuing with their move to boycott the home minister in Parliament, BJP and AIADMK MPs vociferously heckled P Chidambaram whenever he rose to answer queries put to him during the Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha.

Demanding Chidambaram's resignation for his alleged role in

irregularities in allotment of the 2G telecom spectrum when he was the finance minister, BJP and AIADMK members shouted slogans whenever the minister stood up to answer queries on issues like the November 8 stampede in Haridwar, rising crimes against minorities and deaths in police and judicial custody.

Chidambaram did patiently reply to all the queries, unfazed by the protests, but was barely audible.

Rajya Sabha chairperson Hamid Ansari said he was ''perplexed'' over whether the MPs wanted to continue with the Question Hour but to no avail.

BJP MPs like Balbir Punj and Gyan Prakash Pilani refused to ask

their listed ''supplementaries'', while R N Pany rushed into the well at one point but was later escorted back to his seat by one of his party colleagues.

BSP MP Naresh Agarwal also staged a walk-out after holding that he was not at all satisfied by Chidambaram's reply that the government was not considering the

release of prisoners in judicial custody, who were above 70 years.

Meanwhile, in the Lok Sabha education minister Kapil Sibal was at the receiving end of taunts by the opposition benches on the monitoring of playschools and deemed universities, a day after he was forced to withdraw the copyright bill from the Rajya Sabha.

India Newswire TheSouthAsianTimes.info

13

December 17-23, 2011

Gehlot government completes three years in office

By Prakash Bhandari/SATimes Jaipur: Rajasthan’s Congress government led by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has completed three years in office. Gehlot had formed the government in 2008 even though Congress party failed to get a clear mandate.

With the support of Independents and later the crossing over of 6 Bahujan Samaj Party legislators to Congress, the Gehlot government could survive with a clear majority.

In his first innings as chief minister from 1998-2003, Gehlot took the party’s manifesto as Bible and all the promises made in the manifesto were fulfilled. On completion of the third year in his second term as CM, Gehlot celebrated the occasion and stressed that his government was committed to the people and would fulfill all the promises made in the party’s poll manifesto.

The chief minister claimed that welfare schemes like free medicines for all, specialized medical care for expectant mothers, cheap wheat and affordable housing for those below poverty line were the major achievements of his government. The housing alone would entail an expenditure of Rs 340 million.

To help the poor who were suffering because of high inflation, the state government is offering 25 kilos of wheat per month at an abnormally low rate of Rs 2 per kilo, thus giving an annual subsidy of Rs 30 million. This program was launched under the

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot claimed that his government would fulfill all his party's poll promises. food security scheme. The government also waived value addition taxes on wheat, rice, pulses, paddy, wheat flour, maida, suji and all the kerosene products to help the poor.

Gehlot claimed that his government took major decisions to make the state self-sufficient for its energy needs and through special efforts nine 7,750 MW projects were launched and five projects worth 3,400 MW were launched by private player in the state.

Thus a total of 11,190 MW of power would be generated in the state in future.

The Thar desert of Rajasthan spread on several thousand miles in western Rajasthan would become the world’s biggest power house for producing solar power. In its underbelly, the Thar has millions of tonnes of gas and oil, which is being explored now and on the Thar sky the sun that shines is not

an ordinary sun, but is capable of producing trillions of units of electricity. The Thar desert on an average basks in an average of 320 days of sunshine in a year and often it receives up to 6.4 KW per hour of solar energy per square meter every day, which is the highest in the world and could be compared with the northern part of Africa.

The rush for setting up power plants in Rajasthan stems from the incentives offered by the state government and the Union government on each unit of solar power produced.

“We have already cleared 11 proposals.

Most of the independent power producers have chosen the SPV technology and would produce 5 MW of power each. But I hope they would go for thermal technology with higher capacity in future,” said NP Gangwar, energy secretary.

Because of the high cost per megawatt involved in purchasing plants, the solar power cost would be very high. The Union government’s ministry of renewable energy had announced a policy to offer generation incentive at the rate of Rs 12.33 per unit to the solar power producers and the state government power companies that would purchase power from these solar power producers would pay Rs 3.67 per unit and additionally 78 paise per unit for a few years before incentives start reducing.

Gehlot said the state government would fill over a hundred thousand vacant posts in a

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year and it has already provided jobs to 29,778 youths.

In the IT sector, Rajasthan government scaled new height paving the way for better e-governance. The IT policy has aimed at investment opportunities and increasing employment opportunities in a knowledgebased economy. Rajasthan is the first state in the country to allocate 3% of its plan budget to all departments for citizen-oriented e-governance. Under the affordable housing schemes 500,000 houses would be built in seven cities and the construction of 12,000 houses has already began.

The Delhi-Mumbai corridor is being developed for major economic activities that would attract large scale investments. The state government has offered to build a specialized zone for overseas investors like the Japanese zone in Neemrana on Jaipur-Delhi highway.

Rajasthan Congress chief Dr Chandrabhan credited the Gehlot government for bringing down the state's crime rate by 2%. He highlighted the right to information (RTI) Act among the Congress's path-finding achievements. Gehlot alleged that the previous Raje government was the "breeder of corruption" in the state.

Reacting to the 3-year Congress reign, former chief minister Vasundhara Raje said the Gehlot government was the most inefficient and corrupt government that ever ruled the state.

14

Op Ed

December 17-23, 2011

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Retail FDI: India's myopic politicians derail reforms

By Amulya Ganguli ndia is passing through a dystopian nightmare. The scene is as gloomy as it can possibly be. High inflation, low investment, falling growth rate and a widening gap between the rich and the poor, as testified by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), have been compounded by the government's policy paralysis which has been diagnosed by an unnamed Congress minister as a symptom of Parkinson's disease.

What has deepened the murkiness is the government's ignominious retreat on permitting foreign direct investment (FDI) in the multi-brand retail sector under pressure from an opportunistic opposition and shortsighted allies. The backtracking appeared to be even more unfortunate since FDI in retail

I

By Prasanto K. Roy

was heralded as the beginning of the long-delayed big ticket reforms.

Now, all these hopes have turned to dust. What is even more worrisome is that it isn't only the FDI in retail which has been kept on hold, but the possibility of the entire 20year-old reform process being derailed. The reason for the fear is that the opposition parties and intransigent allies like Mamata Banerjee have smelt blood. They have realized that if they stand firm, the government will retreat.

Moreover, it can be expected to do so because it does not have either the courage of conviction to stand by its decision or to call the bluff of the opponents by ignoring their threats and implementing the decision. The government's succumbing to the pressure is strange because both the Trinamool Congress and the DMK had let it be known that they would not vote

against the government if there was an adjournment motion on the FDI issue in parliament.

There must have been a deeper reason, therefore, for the government's withdrawal from the battlefield. And, it is undoubtedly related to the by now well known differences between the "neo-liberal" Manmohan Singh and the "left-ofcentre" Sonia Gandhi. Her studied silence on the subject of FDI during a Youth Congress rally the day after the decision was announced was the first indication that the prime minister and the Congress president were not on the same page on the subject.

The difference can have portentous consequences, for it can permanently stall the reforms process for two reasons. First, since there is little likelihood of the government acquiring a majority in parliament in the near future, it will continue to be at the mercy of an unscrupulous

FDI in retail was heralded as the beginning of the long-delayed big ticket reforms in India. opposition and stubborn and shortsighted allies. Secondly, there is no unanimity in the Congress about the reforms, which have always had detractors in the party belonging to the camp of Nehruvian socialism.

But, if the Congress is unable to make up its mind about an open or a closed economy, the opposition is concerned solely with ways to embarrass the ruling coalition irrespective of the merits or demerits of

the case. Both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Left - the communalists and the communists - are united on this approach except for the fact that while the comrades are guided by their anti-American worldview, the BJP, which has no such angularities, is interested only in making trouble for the Congress.

(The views expressed by the author are his own).

Why India cannot censor Internet

n just 24 hours, in the Facebook alumni group of St Stephen's College, Communications Minister Kapil Sibal's ratings crashed faster than that of US President Barack Obama or what former telecom minister A. Raja, now in judicial custody over second generation (2G) spectrum case, ever had.

In a survey to pick star alumni for a big debating clash with counterparts from the rival college across the road, Sibal was on the top five a week ago -- among other stellar Stephanians like Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, former federal minister Mani Shankar Aiyar or former UN diplomat Shashi Tharoor. No longer!

As the #Idiot hash-tag topped Twitter trends, some withdrew their votes for Sibal, and there were posts like "Chuck him across the road" -- a scathing insult, equivalent to the Parsis' excommunication.

Just a preview of the global firestorm over the next two days!

The fire wasn't from anonymous teens.

Seasoned analysts blasted Sibal. Investor Mahesh Murthy posted: "Censor this! :) !

Five of the top 10 Twitter trends in India

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Why is this bright star from Harvard Law School and St. Stephen's college now sounding so anachronistic in the Internet age? right now are: #IdiotKapilsibal, #KapilSibal, #Censorship, #FreeSpeech and #FreedomOfSpeech."

All this, for just one statement from a politician not unknown for his foot-in-mouth disease? Not quite. For, he has the power to misuse and try to make it happen.

So here's a five-point Internet 101 for the illustrious Mr. Sibal.

1. The Internet cannot be edited: Duh! In an early Dilbert strip, the pointy-haired boss demanded that Dilbert "download" the Internet and fax it to him. A decade down,

it's not so funny anymore.

The Internet is not traditional media.

India's 1975 emergency and the media clampdown was possible because of the linear, broadcast nature of the old media. New media is distributed. No copy desk or censor board can "fix" it. There is no editor to arrest. And, most content is hosted outside India's jurisdiction.

2. User-generated content cannot be filtered: That would slow down the global Internet to a crawl, with posts appearing after days -- even assuming so many "editors" could be hired by, say, a Facebook or a Twitter.

3. Peer review works: Wikipedia is the best example. Who could have imagined that a user-created encyclopedia could be so objective, and comprehensive? Yes, anyone can go in and edit anything (barring entries like "Kapil Sibal", which have been locked due to vandalism!).

If you make an inappropriate change, someone will come in and correct it. And so it is on Facebook or Twitter. Abusive posts will be reported, blocked, and the individuals knocked out of the site.

4. Draconian controls are not necessary: In this age of global cooperation on terror, com-

panies cooperate. A rational request from India to Google or Facebook to bring down offensive content will be heard -- regardless of jurisdiction.

5. Yes, there are precedents for Internet control, but...: Such censorship is in countries India doesn't want to be -- China, Pakistan, Myanmar or Saudi Arabia.

Pakistan became a laughing stock when it issued a list of banned words for SMS messages.

Kapil Sibal knows all this, right? So why is this bright star from Harvard Law School and St. Stephen's college now sounding so anachronistic in the Internet age? Is it the old "thou shalt display higher loyalty to the royal family than the prince himself" mantra?

If Kapil Sibal is to defend himself against the charge of sycophancy, he is on a weak footing. There were many prior potential triggers for tackling social media, including fanatic religious posts, derogatory comments

by Pakistan sympathizers, Anna Hazare, and more. That he finally picked a post that targeted Sonia Gandhi suggests that this was not out of serious, objective concern about India's stability, security or secular fabric.

(Prasanto K Roy is chief editor at technology publishers CyberMedia)

The views expressed in Op Eds are not necessarily those of The South Asian Times.

Leadership TheSouthAsianTimes.info

15

December 17-23, 2011

Mangano honors 12 at Nassau County’s Leaders Appreciation Breakfast Woodbury, NY: Nassau County’s 2nd annual Leaders Appreciation Breakfast was hosted by County Executive Edward P. Mangano at the classy Woodlands here Thursday.

The 500 attendees included who’s who of the county. Mangano, who completes two successful years this month-end, honored 12 community leaders including two Indian Americans: Harry Aurora, whose education portal TheETutor.com was launched at the gala event and which was the main sponsor; and Surinder Singh Chawla, Chairman of the Plainview Sikh gurdwara.

In his address to the sizeable and appreciative audience, Mangano said two years ago he did not know many in the audience, “but now they are all friends and I am impressed by their volunteerism. Unmindful of the negative comments, people just roll up their sleeves and work to make the county better.”

Mangano recognized many County officials, including Kamlesh Mehta, director of county’s Business & Economic Development, and Herb Flores, Director of Minority Affairs, who had put together the impressive show. Linda Mangano also gave an inspiring speech. A moving invocation was read by Rev. Allen Ramirez of Brookville Reform Church.

Speakers unanimously praised Mangano for being a leadership role model, and for the way he has protected residents from higher taxes and natural disasters like Hurricane Irene.

Harry Aurora, Founder President of ETutor.com, who along with his wife Preeti Aurora and their team took one year to develop ETutor.com, said that the portal was absolutely state-of-theart and offers online tutoring in math and languages such as Spanish, French, Italian and Mandarin as well as a few Indian languages including Hindi. A video presentation about the portal was made.

Mangano presented citations to the honorees. From various communities they were: Randi Shubin Dresner (Island Harvest), Mary Brennan (INN), Gina Faustin (Kompa Guide), US Marine Chuck Kilbride (Toys for Tots), Bishop Ronald H. Carter (Refuge Apostolic Church of Christ), Paule Pachter (Long Island Cares Inc), Pastor Carlos Luis Vargas (Freeport Bible Center), Rev. Allan B. Ramirez (Brookville Reform Church), Leo Fernandez (The Fernandez Agency), and Pastor Lesley Gomez (Iglesia Cristiana Unidad de Hempstead).

Besides Etutor.com lead sponsor, other major sponsors were Xavier Medical University, Aruba, Jagadeesan Poola, Dr. Dev Ratnam, Habib American Bank, Sushil Goyal, Porteck, Stuart Thomas Manor and other Indian businesses. The souvenir was produced by Malak Designs.

County Executive Ed Mangano gave the citation for TheE-Tutor.com to Preeti and Harry Auora. Kamlesh Mehta, director of county’s Business & Economic Development, and Comptroller George Maragos are also in the picture.

Surinder Singh Chawla, Chairman of the Plainview Sikh gurdwara, seen with wife Lajwunder, was honored by the County Executive.

(Photos: Michael Tamborrino)

Nassau County First Lady Linda Mangano, who gave an inspiring speech, was felicitated with a bouquet by Eliza Gonsalves, director of CASA (Coordinated Agency for South Americans). Also in the picture Kamlesh Mehta and Herb Flores, Director of Minority Affairs.

County Executive Ed Mangano said that working together with leaders like those present at the breakfast meeting, “we will revitalize our economy, create jobs and provide opportunities to all those who seek the American Dream.”

12 honorees, who happen to be leaders from different communities, and County officials posing for a picture with the County Executive.

Dr Azad Anand, Animesh Goenka, Ed Mangano, Kamlesh Mehta and George Maragos.

A view of the gathering of who’s who of the county at the exquisite banquet hall of The Woodlands in Woodbury.

16

Delhi turns 100, celebrations begin

December 17-23, 2011

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Delhi, the political and cultural capital of several empires including the Mughals, has added yet another chapter to its glorious history as it marked 100 years of its re-emergence as modern India's capital on December 12. For a city Delhi's age, 100 years is a blip. But the century gone by mirrors all that India's capital stands for — a metropolis that is chaotic and charismatic, restless and relentless.

Delhi's centenary: A walk down Kingsway Camp ne hundred years ago, India - which was a colony of the British empire - spent nearly one million pounds sterling to host King George V at the coronation durbar at Kingsway Camp in the capital on Dec 12.

The day marked the beginning of a journey for the ancient city of Delhi - the mythical Indraprashtha of the Mahabharata - as a modern, cosmopolitan capital.

The foundation of the new city was laid on Dec 15, 1911 - three days after the coronation durbar.

The capital was named New Delhi in 1927 and was formally inaugurated on Feb 13, 1931.

Two British architects Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker laid out the architectural map of the city.

Commemoration of 100 years of the coronation durbar of King George V may not be a mega social event on the government's calendar - but the centenary of

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In this photo, the royal procession moves towards the Jama Musjid Mosque in Delhi, India in 1911.

New Delhi has become a private pilgrimage down the lanes of the country's colonial past for many.

"The government of India feels that if it commemorates the coronation durbar - it might legitimise colonial rule in India," said writer, journalist and heritage activist Sunil Raman, the coauthor of a new book, "Delhi

100 years since Kolkata lost the 'Capital' crown got the recognition only after 1911, with Tagore becoming the first Asian winner of the award just two years later," said Nair.

The establishment of the country's first Indian Institute of Management in 1961 was a case in point, he said.

Calcutta, then capital of undivided Bengal, was a The Delhi Durbar or Court of Delhi. hotbed of the revolutionary Coronation of King George V as Emperor movement and the transfer of India. came only months after the hundred years have passed British government had to annul its since India's capital was plan to partition Bengal, following shifted to Delhi from intense protests led by the Indian Kolkata. Some say the transfer was National Congress and also Tagore. a 'blessing in disguise', but many "Bengal, especially Calcutta, had say it turned this city into a 'colo- been politically very conscious. nial relic' and hampered its devel- The revolutionary movement and opment. King Emperor George V the overall freedom movement had on Dec 12, 1911 at the Great its seeds in Bengal. To counter this, Coronation Durbar at Delhi they shifted the capital and the fact announced: "We have decided upon that Delhi was centrally located the transfer of the seat of the gov- also helped," said Nair. ernment of India, from Calcutta to Economist Bipul Malakar said the ancient capital of Delhi..." the transfer of capital turned the Historian P.T. Nair, called the city into a 'colonial relic'. "The city 'Chronicler of Calcutta' who has and the state have suffered the most penned over 50 books on the city, in infrastructure. said the decision was a blessing in Had it continued to be the capital, disguise and gave the city space to all the development that Delhi has grow educationally and culturally. seen over the years would have "Indian Nobel laureates, from been here. Kolkata is nothing more Rabindranath Tagore to Amartya than a colonial relic now," said Sen, are from the city and they all Malakar.

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Durbar - 1911: The Complete Story".

The biggest change that the grand coronation durbar of Dec 12, 1911, brought in to the city "was the decline of the old city of Shahjahanabad".

"Delhi had always been a capital - except for a short while (when the East India Company

Two British architects Edwin Lutyens (in the photo) and Herbert Baker laid out the architectural map of the city. was headquartered in Kolkata).

But after the coronation durbar, the old city of Shahjahanabad was virtually abandoned. The British regent wanted a new capital city," Raman told IANS. "The coronation durbar - hosted in a tent city and attended by 100,000 people - was the first event outside UK to be covered

in color films," Raman said.

Spread over 72 acres, the coronation camp hosted more than 2,140 people in 2,000 tents, Raman said.

The king and the queen had a suite of six tents in two rows of three. The high point of the camp was the great state reception tent, located below the Flagstaff Tower of the Delhi ridge.

The coronation - a show of opulence and ostentation - elicited a mixed reaction from the then nationalistic and British-owned media.

"The nationalist press and the American press commented on the food shortage (and the famine-like situation) in India.

But the British-owned Pioneer and Times of India dealt with it in great detail," Raman said.

The requisition and expense list is mindboggling - as is the behind-the-scenes correspondence between the political agents in the royal provinces and the British viceroy's office.

Delhi's grandeur: From 1630 to 20th century New Delhi: The grandeur of Mughal and colonial India lives in a spacious library-cum-gallery and a boutique shop at a home in a Delhi neighborhood where antique art collector and dealer Rajiv Jain and his daughter Rashi struggle to add to the family inheritance.

The repository at the Southex Books & Prints Pvt Ltd, in the capital's South Extension Part II, spans nearly 500 years - from 1630 when the first printed books on India appeared in English to 20th century masters like the signed first copies of Rudyard Kipling's "Jungle Book" and his complete collection of poems.

"It has been a long journey. We exhibited our collection in 1984 at the World Book Fair after moving from Kolkata to the capital. My father, G.C. Jain, began collecting antiquities - inspired by his association with noted artist Subho Tagore (a nephew of Rabindranath Tagore).

The association took shape in 1967," Rajiv Jain said.

The Jain family has now brought a part of their precious collection out to celebrate 100 years of the capital.

The rows of vellum, parchment and regular leather-bound books inscribed in gold - some frayed with years and some restored to look spanking new - are complemented by mounted British East India

A Himalayan bird painted and printed by naturalist John Edward Gray in 19th century.

Company art, mostly rare lithographic prints and aquatints dating between 1750-1930.

The oldest book in the Jain collection is a leather bound "Discoverie of the Sect of the Banians: Containing their Histofy (read 'f' as 'r'), Law, Liturgie, Cafte (read 'f' as 's'), Cuftomes and Ceremonies" published in London

by T&R Cotes. The language is a version of early modern English.

"This comes from a great American collector - from whom we bought the book. We (Indians) were not in the habit of recording histories - the British brought in the system of recording. Our flora, fauna and major events were recorded by the British, they were great lovers of India and they never

thought that they had to leave the company heritage."

The Jains cater to an exclusive clientele, which include high-end private collectors like the Imperial Hotel and government institutions like the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) whose core collection of rare antiquities has been sourced from the Jain's family archive.

One of the striking volumes in Jain's collection is an illustrated book, "Six Principal Ragas With a Brief View of Hindoo Music" by "Sourindro Mohun Tagore" (an ancestor of Rabindranath Tagore) printed by the Calcutta Central Press Company on Council House Street in 1877.

The book was gifted to the Duke of Albany by Tagore in 1878.

Jain places a large and hefty leather bound volume on a marble table in his temperature controlled archive. It is one of the few existing copies of "66 Prints of the Hindoo of the East With Their Respective Profession", amongst the earliest illustrated volumes in the country in 1799 by Belgian coach painter Francois Balthasar Solvyns.

"The entire Solvyns series, printed in Kolkata, has 250 engravings I have only a small part of his work.

The book was later replicated in Britain in 1804 and in France in 1808," Jain said.

Delhi turns 100, celebrations begin TheSouthAsianTimes.info

17

December 17-23, 2011

Witness a Capital change

By Sidhartha Roy/ Manoj Sharma fter 20 years of construction work, New Delhi was unveiled to the world in 1931. But the spanking new Capital, with its grand buildings and wide vistas, remained a ghost town for almost a decade.

The older part of the city, on the other hand, was bursting at the seams. Earlier plans to build the new Capital envisaged a harmony between it and the existing city.

This idea, however, was junked with the British determinedly cutting off the mingling of the two except for buffer areas like Paharganj and Daryaganj. What was the city before 1911, had become ‘walled city’ by 1931.

Though the new city had everything chalked out to take care of the needs of an imperial government, it lacked life. This is where Connaught Place came into the picture. Work on Connaught Place, New Delhi’s own Piccadilly Circus,

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began only in 1929, when all the other major buildings were already taking shape. The complex started gaining popularity during mid1930s. The contours of New Delhi also changed with the advent of the Second World War in 1939. New industries came up to cater to the needs of war and with it came migrant laborers. Hutments came up near the Secretariat for war time offices. In mid-1940s, housing for government employees also came up in the Lodhi Colony area.

Timeline 1932-1969 Independence and Partition acted as a catalyst for Delhi’s drastic change. Nearly five lakh refugees poured into the city, which was not prepared for the population explosion. The refugees moved into every inch of available space and took up any work they could find.

Despite odds, the Punjabi spirit was indomitable. The enterprising refugees boosted trade and once settled, the new residents of Delhi stamped their cultural dominance on the city.

The post-Independence era of 1950s also saw a slew of construction activity. The public buildings and mass housing projects that came up in this period gave shape to the New Delhi we know today.

Apart from the challenge of creating infrastructure for New Delhi’s growing needs, there was also a need to create indigenous architecture that would express the progressive ethos of the time. Utilitarian modernism became the template for almost all government buildings built at the time and the acute fund crunch also resulted in the austere façade of these structures.

Post-Independence, the city also witnessed a cultural renaissance thanks to Prime Minister Pandit Nehru, who took a keen interest in promoting Indian classical arts and theatre. The 1950s and ’60s inarguably, the defining decades of New Delhi as the cultural Capital of the country, saw the building of several top class auditoriums and art galleries such as Sapru House and Rabindra Bhavan.

THEN AND NOW: the two pictures of Old Delhi.

Iconic buildings: Enhancing city living Iconic buildings that came up in the 1970s and '80s added to the character and life of the Capital.

Have a look: The iconic Connaught Place

Lotus Temple

The architectural wonder of Delhi, the Bahá'í house of worship, popularly known as the Lotus temple, recently celebrated its 25th anniversary.

The temple, built in 1986, was designed by Canadian Bahá'í architect Fariborz Sahba who found his inspiration in India's national flower, the lotus.

Six hundred Indian and foreign workers took six years to built the temple. The white stone used in the construction of the main hall was imported from Greece and the cost of building at that time came out to be Rs10 crore.

Since its inauguration, the tem-

ple has drawn more than 70 million visitors, making it one of the most visited edifices in the world.

On an average, 10,000 people visit the Bahá'í House of Worship each day. There are only seven Bahá'í temples in the world. Bahá'í population in India stands at 2 million and in Delhi, there are only 2,000 Bahá'í followers.

Jeevan Bharti building Jeevan Bharti building, designed

by Charles Correa, was completed in 1986.

The building boasts of an atheistically pleasing facade of sandstone, metal and glass, and is considered one of the finest works of Correa.

The modern office complex of LIC serves both as a proscenium and a backdrop to the colonial colonnades of CP as well as the modern skyscrapers surrounding it. The faceted glass building houses two singular twelve storey structures.

Jeevan Bharti building is divided into two levels - the two lower levels consists of retail spaces and the second level has the office space. A long pergola runs along the top of the building, serving as a canopy. It is held together by masonry piers and a single column that are in fact the main architectural features of this building. The pergola gives a western look to a building, carved in sandstone.

Chanakya cinema One of the most iconic movie theaters of New Delhi, the

Chanakya Cinema started on December 17, 1970, premiering Raj Kapoor's Mera Naam Joker.

A generation of Delhiites have grown up watching Hollywood and art house movies at Chanakya Cinema, which introduced them to legends such as Akira Kurosawa and Stanley Kubrick. Though more well-known for the movies it screened and the famous eateries nearby, the architecture of the cinema hall is also considered ahead of its times.

The design of the cinema - that of eminent architect PN Mathur was selected through a national competition. Constructed in reinforced cement concrete, the Chanakya Cinema was an architectural example of the post Corbusier modernist period.

Despite protests by architects and prominent Delhiites, the hall was closed down in 2007 and the building was razed to the ground.

Sri Ram Centre for Performing Arts

The Shri Ram Centre for Performing Arts is one of the most

prominent cultural organizations of the Capital.

An independent society started in 1975 by Panna Bharat Ram, the centre has been operating since 1976 from a magnificent building designed by architect Shiv Nath Prasad at Mandi House.

The building is unique in its architecture: its base is shaped like a cylinder on top of which sits a horizontal rectangle. The ground floor and first floor are within the cylindrical half of the building. Its auditorium on the first floor - The Shankar Lal Murli Dhar Auditorium - is designed for theatre music performances.

The auditorium, which boasts of a proscenium stage, has a seating capacity of about 556 people at two levels. The main hall seats around 403 and the balcony seats around 153 people. It has played host to the finest of plays and music performances over the last three decades.

Kashmere Gate ISBT The Kashmere Gate Inter State Bus Terminal (ISBT) serves as one of the major entry points to Delhi. It was also the first ISBT to be built in the Capital.

Built in 1976, based on the design of architect Rajinder Kumar, the architecture of the building follows the principles of modernism.

The unique design of the building allows adequate ventilation inside the structure. Nearly 2,200 buses to seven different states ply from the Kashmere Gate ISBT.

This includes Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. Around one lakh passengers visit the ISBT everyday.

The ISBT has also become a major transport hub with an interchange Delhi Metro station next to it. The ISBT, however, is in a bad shape and there are plans to renovate the structure.

Nehru Place After the 1960s, Connaught Place -the central business district - was not enough to cater to the Capital's growing needs.

The Master Plan of 1962 for Delhi proposed seven district centres across the city. The first one to be built among these was Nehru Place, which came up in the early 1980s. The architecture of Nehru Place follows the tenets of utilitarian modernism with a functional look.

While constructing the district centre, pedestrian and vehicular traffic were neatly segregated and the seemingly congested towers were turned into large open areas or internal plazas. Though the district centre now houses all kinds of offices, it is known more as the electronics and software hub of the city. From big showrooms of IT giants to roadside peddlers selling pirated software, Nehru Place has them all. Despite its popularity, the centre is plagued by lack of maintenance with betel nut stains marring its inner walls and staircases in a shabby condition.

18

Ultimate Bollywood

December 17-23, 2011

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Farhan Akhtar to get Aishwarya to return a makeover with Shah Rukh

ctor Farhan Akhtar, who is set to reprise the role of Milkha Singh in Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's " Bhaag Milkha Bhaag", will start growing a beard and wear a turban to perfect his look as the legendary athlete.

Starting January 2012, Farhan will start growing his beard as he has refused to resort to an artificial one, said a source.

"Farhan is extremely excited to work on this project and wants his character to look completely real.

That's why he is also going through intense training to get an athlete's body. After the release of 'Don 2', he will throw himself into the project completely," said the source from the film's unit.

Director Mehra confirmed the news. "We will start shooting the film in mid-2012. So, for the next few months, Farhan will be working towards achieving his look in the movie. Both Farhan and I want his character to look as close to Milkha as possible," he said.

In the meantime, Farhan has already started working on his role.

He not only met the athlete for tips, he has even taken Urdu lessons from his writerfather Javed Akhtar and Punjabi lessons from lyricist Gulzar for the film.

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ost the much publicized delivery of her baby girl, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s fans are eagerly awaiting to see her comeback on-screen.

Though hoards of filmmakers must be queuing outside Ash's door, it is Sanjay Leela Bhansali who takes the cake and the cream away.

Bhansali has managed to finalize the deal with her for the lead role in his long pending dream project 'Bajirao Mastani'.

The filmmaker reportedly had a meeting with Aishwarya at her residence in Mumbai and sealed the deal. Bhansali was keen to repeat his 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam' cast – Salman and Ash –but since that combination is now out of question, the movie has fallen into the lap of

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The actor will grow a beard and wear a turban to get his look perfect for next film.

But before everything else, he is concentrating on the release of his directorial "Don 2: The King Is Back", starring Shah Rukh Khan, Boman Irani, Priyanka Chopra and Lara Dutta. The film will release Dec 23.

Filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhasnsali has managed to finalize the deal with her for the lead role in his long pending dream project 'Bajirao Mastani'. his 'Devdas'-hero, Shah Rukh Khan!

Shah Rukh has been approached and the star seems to be giving the project a serious thought.

However, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan also wants to give priority to her

daughter, so the film will probably go on floors only in the second half of 2012.

If everything goes as planned, this would be Aishwarya’s fourth film with Shah Rukh after 'Josh', 'Devdaas' and 'Mohabbatein'.

Ultimate Bollywood TheSouthAsianTimes.info

19

December 17-23, 2011

'Don 2' SRK's best action movie this year: Priyanka ere are the excerpts from an exclusive interview with actor Priyanka Chopra, who is opposite Shah Rukh Khan in highly-anticipated film 'Don 2.'

How is your role in 'Don 2' different from 'Don 2'?

Don 2 is a cool role for me. It's an action film of another level in Bollywood. I am more angrier in this one. I've done a lot of fist fighting that I didn't do too much of in the earlier Don. I went through intense rehearsals for my action with guidance from Farhan and Shahrukh who often pulled my leg. I don't play a damsel in distress and so missed all the dance and frolic I've been doing in my other movies. Don 2 is one of those rare movies where I have to be serious all the time. I can't even sport my foot long smile. But that's what's good about Don 2. It makes me do things I've never done. That's one advantage of playing a cop but it's got disadvantages also as I've mentioned in the start of the answer.

What is your relationship like

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Interview

Priyanka Chopra with SRK in 'Don 2.' with Don? Don cannot be predictable. By that I mean Don as a person. You can never tell

what his next move is going to be. He is one bad guy you can't mess with. Don is cold blooded and such people are really

Aniston should marry Theroux, feels her dad

ctress Jennifer Aniston's father John likes his daughter's boyfriend, actor Justin Theroux, and wants them to marry soon.

“Justin and John got along great from the moment they met. John feels that Justin has been wonderful for his daughter and says he's never been Jen happier," a source told National Enquirer.

"John would love nothing more than to see them walk

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down the aisle. He's told Justin he's willing to do whatever he can to help," the source added.

John is so impressed with his daughter's beau that he and his wife Sherry are planning to spend the festive season with the couple, news reports say.

"Now that Justin and John have hit it off so well, they are really looking forward to spending the holidays together.

And of course John is thrilled that he'll have Jen around more," he added.

John is so impressed with his daughter's beau that he and his wife are planning to spend the festive season with the couple.

Tyra Banks splits from boyfriend upermodel and TV host Tyra Banks has ended her four-year relationship with banker John Utendahl.

The 38-year-old, who was dating Utendahl since 2007, is on a "spiritual trip" in Bali to get over her break-up.

"Tyra (Banks) has gone away with a female friend and has been island-hopping, visiting Bali and taking a spiritual retreat," femalefirst.co.uk quoted Banks as saying.

However, after the separation, the banker was reportedly spotted with a Russian model at New York night spot Catch.

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The 38-year-old was dating banker John Utendahl since 2007.

dangerous to deal with. Roma has such a relationship with him, hot and cold as she is hell bent on taking her revenge and wants Don at any cost. It's a cat and mouse chase.

What is 'Don 2,' unique selling point?

Don 2 has redefined slick in Bollywood.

It's suspense to another level too. Music is also rich but the film is so huge in itself that music will stand out once the movie is released.

You will get to the groove of the songs once you see the film. Don 2 is Farhan's best work I have seen.

What sets Shahrukh Khan apart from any other star?

Shahrukh Khan can live up to anything.

He is a man who believes in challenges at this point in his career. He puts in more than one needs to put in his movies.

There are very few actors who are like that. 'Don 2' is SRK's best action movie of 2011 I feel.

Big B to play common man hirish Kunder and Farah Khan's next film, Common Man, will have Amitabh Bachchan playing the central character.

Says a source, "Shirish's Joker, starring Akshay Kumar and Sonakshi Sinha, is almost complete with only post production work left now.

Post that, he was to start ‘Kick’ with Salman Khan. Now, he will start a dramedy called ‘Common Man’ with Bachchan in March 2012.

A younger actor who plays his son will soon be finalized."

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Filmmakers Shirish Kunder and Farah Khan will start a dramedy called ‘Common Man’ with Bachchan in March 2012.

Emraan not interested in Sunny Leone! mraan Hashmi has no intentions of working with the adult film star Sunny Leone in Jism 2. The actor denies rumors of the two being cast in the sequel saying he is not the lead actor opposite Sunny in the movie, according to news reports.

Jism 2 is going to be Pooja Bhatt's baby and is a sequel to the 2003 hit, Jism which starred Bipasha Basu and Dino Morea.

"I have recently done Murder 2. And I guess one erotic film is enough for a long time, I have no intentions of working in another one, as of now," Emraan was quoted as saying.

"I need to take a break as I wish to explore other genres of films," he added.

The Dirty Picture with Vidya Balan too was an "erotic" genre film. But perhaps the star has some untrodden path in mind for his next. Good luck with that!

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The actor denies rumors of the two being cast in ‘Jism’ sequel.

20

Travel

December 17-23, 2011

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Haven for a summer-weather lover, Antigua, an island four hour flight away from New York, boasts scenic beauty and tropical beaches.

By Vikas Girdhar/SATimes had made the walk back to my friend’s rented house in Antigua at least a dozen times by the time I came across a sight that startled me. In the pitch black night stood a frog—its glowing eyes fixed on me and its tiny body blocking entry to the house.

This amphibian would not budge no matter how much I stared back or yelled at it. I finally got a clear entry to the gate when I threw a rock at a nearby wall to scare it off.

Thankfully, the locals in Antigua were much friendlier and welcoming to me.

The perfect getaway for a summer-weather lover, Antigua is an island in the Caribbean that boasts scenic beauty and several tropical beaches. While many couples vacation there for a romantic getaway or honeymoon, I was prepared to stay in the not-so-developed part of Antigua.

My main purpose for taking the four-hour flight to this particular island was to visit my friend enrolled in the medical school there, the American University of Antigua.

Kamran Siddiqui, 23, of North Bellmore, NY, had made arrangements for my weeklong stay at the house he and his friends were renting.

Upon exiting Antigua’s airport on arrival, I noticed the palm trees lining the streets as I waited for Kamran to pick me up. On the way to his house, the road and environs

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reminded me of some of India’s more underdeveloped parts. Windows had to be rolled up to keep out the cloud of dust and dirt raised by our car’s tires and every few yards would present a deep pothole.

I was prepared for this, of course. I knew I was not going to a resort, although I did manage to experience the most renowned aspects of Antigua during my vacation.

I was staying in the Cedar Valley town.

Anywhere we asked the cab driver to take us was no more than 15 minutes away. One of those destinations was Sandal’s Beach, more specifically Sneaky Pete’s. The warm sand and clear blue waters at Sandal’s was the most beautiful beach I had ever been to—and this was just one of many on the island to choose from. Jet skiing was a major attraction for many at Sneaky Pete’s.

Basketball is a major sport for AUA stu-

Munnabhai returns!

'Ladies vs Ricky…', an engaging con caper lease don't look for another "Band Baaja Baaraat" from the Ranveer SinghAnushka Sharma-Maneesh Sharma team. And chances are, you will come away from "Ladies Vs Ricky Behl" with a feeling of having seen a smoothly-sculpted con caper about a suave charlatan who wins over 31….or is it 32?...women and then breaks their heart while running away with their bank balance.

We only see the con man, played with sly suaveness by Ranveer Singh hoodwink four women. The first three episodes where Ricky Behl (yup, that's his name but we know it only at the end) cons first a bubbly loud Punjabi business family's funloving girl (played with endearing effervescence by Parineeti Chopra), then a uptight hoitytoity business executive (Dipannita Sharma, accomplished) and then simple widow from Lucknow (Aditi Sharma, sweet) are cut beautifully, like a well-tailored roomy band-gala sherwani. Suresh Sharma's editing moves through Ranveer character's various escapades with a direct deftness that leaves no room for loose moments.

However, a bagginess creeps into the narration in the second-half

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dents. We played at the ‘Rooftop’, which refers to the basketball court on Old Pharm Road and is a popular spot for both locals and non-locals to gather, socialize and compete.

There is one major general store we visited around the area, Epicurean. From inside it looks exactly like a Wal-Mart and there’s no indication that it’s located on an island 200 miles from America.

The best part of my vacation was taking in the sights, sounds and food at Shirley Heights. Shirley Heights is known for its lookout over a major body of water that, when seen, make the rocks over it look a bit like a crocodile shape. We went at sunset and the view was marvelous.

While many think of tropical beaches when they think of the Caribbean, I was fortunate enough to experience both the scenic beauty of resorts as well as the lifestyles of locals away from the vacation spots. Highly recommended for anyone who loves warm weather.

REVIEW

Anushka and Ranveer sizzle in a still from the movie. when Ranveer meets his match (in more ways than one) in Goa. Here, the chemistry is more labored than luminous.

Though Goa is captured with pristine picturesqueness, the Ranveer-Anushka relationship in the second-half falters due to a lack of inner conviction. Though the writing is smooth textured and layered, the mellow momentum is forfeited once it's payback time for the con man.

Anushka Sharma's predictable

bubbly-on-the-prowl act here often seems self-conscious and repetitive. Could we please see this bundle of energy do something else? And really, her introductory song is more a homage to Ram Gopal Varma's "Rangeela" than a panoramic look-see at Anushaka's character's heartland.

The songs and choreography are more erotic diversions.

Ranveer Singh gets his act together with great care for details. Each step of his con game is charted carefully with the right physique, body language clothes and accessories. Yup, this actor works hard on getting it right and succeeds. If the highlight in "Band Baajaa Baraat" was the sequence where Ranveer's character blurted out his love for Anushka, here too Ranveer gets the love-confession sequence just right.

As for Anushka she is a fearless actress, not afraid to let her emotions overrule her makeup. At the end of the film when she dresses up as Santa Claus to smooch Ranveer Singh in shopping mall, there isn't that same feeling of breathless exhilaration we felt when Ranveer and Anushka kissed in their previous film together.

Indian cinema's most popular franchise, the Munnabhai series, is back with a bang.

t's confirmed: the 52-yearold Sanjay Dutt will reprise his most endearing role in 2012 Producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra and director Raju Hirani have made up their minds about what they're going to be working on next. Indian cinema's most popular franchise, the Munnabhai series, is back with a bang.

And despite all the stories swirling in the media, there are no surprises in the casting.

Sanjay Dutt will return as Munna, as will Arshad Warsi as his beloved sidekick Circuit.

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This time around, the film will be titled Munnabhai Ki Aatma Katha.

Vinod Chopra confirms, saying, "Sanjay and Arshad are returning to play Munna and Circuit.

We are developing the script right now, and the film should start in 2012."

Interestingly, it is a wellknown fact that Chopra was offered a huge amount of money by a Hollywood studio to part with the super successful franchise, but he hasn't bitten the bait yet.

Diaspora TheSouthAsianTimes.info

21

December 17-23, 2011

Indian-origin British lawyer fights for Kargil martyr Palampur : Twelve years after the Kargil conflict between India and Pakistan, a new 'battle' is on - to get justice for an Indian Army officer who was tortured by Pakistani troops for days before his mutilated body was handed back.

British lawyer of Indian origin Jas Uppal has launched an international campaign to highlight the plight of Captain Saurabh Kalia, who was killed, along with five other soldiers, in the 1999 conflict in Jammu and Kashmir.

She is demanding the blacklisting of Pakistan for the purpose of giving international aid.

"I am campaigning to discover the plight of the Indian prisoners of war captured and

Captain Saurabh Kalia

Indian origin lawyer Jas Uppal

Two NRI money launderers in UK transferred £4.6 million London: Two Indian origin businessmen in Leicester, UK, are facing money laundering charges.

Fifty-five-year-old Harish Patel and 50-year old Ravindra Patel transferred 4.6 million pounds in cash to India and Dubai. But the two Patels have denied the charges against them.The Leicester Crown Court, which is hearing the case, was on Monday shown CCTV footage of Ravindra taking the money into a local branch of the Bank of Baroda in a suitcase on wheels and with a rucksack stuffed with cash on his back.

According to reports, Harish allegedly used his legitimate family-run electrical company as a front for transferring the money to India and Dubai.

Luke Blackburn, prosecuting lawyer, said together “they acted as money launderers over the course of five months, involving millions of pounds.”

It was also added that the source of the money was not clear. It was also not clear as to what happened after it was converted into either American dollars or Indian rupees and landed in business bank accounts abroad.

Several Sikhs join Imran Bihar to survey non-resident Biharis Khan's party Islamabad: Several members of the minority Sikh community in Pakistan Tuesday joined cricketer-turned politician Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, a media report said.Sikh leader Sahib Singh made the announcement at a press conference at the

Peshawar Press Club, Online news agency reported. Sahib Singh said he and his community expect security of the rights of the minorities.

Shaukat Ali Yousafzai, political advisor to party chief Imran Khan, welcomed the newcomers.

Patna: Bihar will begin in March next year its first survey of non-resident Biharis (NRBs), an official said Wednesday.

The survey will collect information about their socio-economic condition, education level and other details. The survey will be conducted by the Patna-based A.N. Sinha Institute and Bihar Foundation along with the ministry of overseas Indian affairs.

Shrien Dewani resists extradition to South Africa London: The life of Indian-origin businessman Shrien Dewani, suspected of ordering the murder of his wife during their honeymoon, would be at risk if he is extradited to South Africa for his trial, his lawyer has claimed.

The 31-year-old Dewani denies masterminding the murder of 28year-old wife Anni on their honeymoon in Cape Town in November last year.

Dewani, who has been detained under the Mental Health Act, would suffer "inhumane and degrading treatment" in prison in South Africa and might commit

suicide, his lawyer was quoted as saying by The Sun. The Indian-origin businessman from Bristol has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.

Barrister Clare Montgomery told the high court that Dewani was being detained because it was feared he might kill himself if allowed to go free.

His "fragile" mental condition would get worse if he is extradited, Montgomery said.

Anni was shot dead after the taxi she and her husband were traveling in was hijacked near Cape Town.

detained by Pakistan during the Indo-Pak war in the 1970s. Yet again (in Saurabh's case) the government of India failed to seek justice (at the international level)," Uppal said. Saurabh, of the 4 Jat Regiment, was the first army officer to report incursion by the Pakistani Army on Indian soil. He and five soldiers - Sepoys Arjun Ram, Bhanwar Lal Bagaria, Bhika Ram, Moola Ram and Naresh Singh - were on a patrol of the Bajrang Post in the Kaksar sector when they were taken captive by Pakistani troops May 15, 1999.

They were tortured for weeks before being killed. Their mutilated bodies were handed over to the Indian authorities June 9, 1999.

Lord Swraj Paul conferred Life Time Achievement Award London: Business tycoon Lord Swraj Paul has been conferred with the Life Time Achievement award for his outstanding contributions in various fields.

Instituted by Powerbrands, the award was presented to Lord Paul at the Mariott Hotel here by Subrata Roy, chief of the Sahara Group.

Lord Paul, Chairman of the Caparo Group, dedicated it to the “ordinary people of India who have so little but never complained.”

Eighty-year-old Lord Paul is the chancellor of the University of Wolverhampton and the University of Westminster.

Paul was awarded the Padma

Lord Swraj Paul Bhushan by the Government of India in 1983. He was elevated to the British Peerage in 1996.

26 years jail to Bangladeshi man for killing 2 Indians over parking dispute in UK London: An Indian-origin uncle-nephew duo was gunned down by a 20-year-old Bangladeshi national following an argument over his car being blocked by a van parked outside the Indian family's hotel, a court has heard. Ayub Khan shot dead 52-year-old hotelier Amarjit Singh Tiwana and his 25-year-old nephew Rajinder Singh Tiwana at point-blank range with a MAC-10 pistol capable of firing 1,000 rounds a minute, the Daily Mail reported.

The incident happened in August 2003 when the Indian duo parked their van outside their hotel in Forest Gate, East London.The drivers of two other cars began blowing their horns after they could not get out. Amarjit moved the van and one motorist drove off.

Khan, however, was "furious". He returned 10 minutes later with two other Asian men and started damaging the van. He then pulled out a pistol and opened fire,

killing both Amarjit and Rajinder, the Woolwich Crown Court heard Monday.He then turned the pistol on Amarjit's daughter Harjinder but did not fire, probably because the gun had jammed. Harjinder identified Khan in the court as the gunman. "I will never forget the face of the man who murdered my father," she told the court.

Khan had argued with Amarjit and Rajinder, and shouted 'look what you have done to my car' and pointing to it as if it had been damaged. A witness said Khan pushed Rajinder in the chest.

When Amarjit tried to explain, Khan said: "I don't give a f***".

Khan later fled the country to Bangladesh but was extradited in 2010. The court found him guilty of double murder and sentenced him to a minimum of 26 years.

Khan had earlier been convicted for robbery and possession of cocaine with an intent to supply.

22

Subcontinent

December 17-23, 2011

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Pak military free to shoot down US drones Islamabad: Pakistani military will shoot down any US drone that intrudes the country's airspace under a new defense policy in which troops have been given greater liberty to respond to incursions by Nato and allied forces in Afghanistan, according to a media report.

"Any object entering into our airspace, including US drones, will be treated as hostile and be shot down," a senior unnamed Pakistani military official was quoted as saying by NBC News. The defense policy was changed after a Nato air strike on two military border posts killed 24 Pakistani soldiers on November 26.

Following the air strike, army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani issued a communiqué that gave troops in the field full liberty to respond to any future attacks without consulting their superiors.

Kayani issued multiple directives since the November 26 attack,

base in Balochistan province and the facility had been "completely vacated" by the Americans, the InterServices Public Relations said.

"The control of the base has been

US House passes legislation to freeze Pak aid

The Pakistan army took over Shamsi airbase in the country's southwest after it was vacated by US forces in line with a deadline set by the government. including orders to shoot down US with a deadline set by the governdrones, senior military officials said. ment following a cross-border Nato Shamsi airbase vacated: The attack that killed two dozen Pakistan army took over Shamsi air- Pakistani soldiers. The last flight base in the country's southwest after carrying US personnel and equipit was vacated by US forces in line ment had departed from Shamsi air-

Panetta on surprise visit to Afghanistan Kabul: US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta arrived in this capital for a surprise visit to meet President Hamid Karzai and Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak The US Embassy in Kabul said that during his three-day visit, Panetta will discuss the situation in neighboring Pakistan, now in a deep crisis with the United States, following the November 26 NATO attack that killed 24 soldiers near the border with Afghanistan.

Panetta will also meet with highranking officers from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF), and will tour some military bases.

taken over by the (Pakistan) army," it said. Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani told the media that the US has vacated the airbase within the time limit given to it.

During his three-day visit, the US Secretary of Defense will discuss the situation in neighboring Pakistan.

Washington: The US House of Representatives approved a billion dollar defence bill, which, among other things, freezes the $700 million in aid to Pakistan untill the country offers greater assurances to Washington to contain the spread of Improvised Explosive Devices. The National Defence Authorization Act (NDAA) 2012, as passed by the House, freezes nearly $700 million in aid to Pakistan pending assurances that it has taken steps to thwart militants who use IEDs against US-led

forces. The Republican-led House of Representatives voted 283-136 yesterday to approve the $670 billion Defence Authorisation Bill that also slaps harsher sanctions on Iran and endorses indefinite imprisonment of suspected terrorists. "This freeze includes the majority of the $ 1.1 billion in Pakistan Counterinsurgency Fund," the House Armed Services Committee had said in a statement early this week, after members of the House and the Senate reached an agreement on the bill.

Chinese PM Wen’s Nepal visit canceled Kathmandu: In a development that has come as an embarrassment for the government of Nepal, China has called off a three-day visit by Prime Minister Wen Jiabao to the country that was scheduled to begin from December 20.

Chinese ambassador Yang Houlan sought an appointment with Deputy Prime Minister Narayankaji Shrestha to hand over a letter “cancelling the trip”. However, Nepal is officially stating that the trip has only been postponed and not cancelled. Shrestha said, “The Chinese side gave no hint of their intentions.” “Premier Wen Jiabao has also cancelled his proposed visit to Myanmar and it only proves that the trip has been cancelled not because of us, but because of the developments in China,” Shrestha added.

The Nepal government has faced flak from China over the announcement of the timing of the trip without consultation with Chinese officials. Diplomatic etiquette calls for both sides to announce a trip simultaneously.

“Yes, the Chinese were not at all happy when Prime

The Nepal government has faced flak from China over the announcement of the timing of the trip without consultation with Chinese officials.

Minister Baburam Bhattarai disclosed before the media the date of Wen Jiabao’s trip much in advance without consulting the Chinese side,” a senior official of the Foreign Ministry said.

Over 50 children rescued from Pak seminary Karachi: Over 50 boys under 18 years of age, who were kept chained in a basement of a seminary and allegedly sexually abused, have been rescued in Pakistani port city of Karachi, police officials said.

Even though officials said seminary's administration was running a "detoxification unit" for drug addicts, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the police had been told to investigate thoroughly if the seminary had any link to the Tehreek-e-Taliban and if the children were being imparted terrorist training.

Police carried out the raid after receiving a tip-off that Mufti Dawood, the custodian of Jamia Masjid Zikria, had been keeping several students chained in the basement of the madrassa in Afghan Basti and subjecting them to torture and sexual abuse,

Police carried out the raid after receiving a tip-off the custodian of Jamia Masjid Zikria, had been keeping several students chained in the basement of the madrassa in Afghan Basti and subjecting them to torture and sexual abuse.

Superintendent of Police Muhammad Altaf Sarwar Malik said.

A cleric named Qari Muhammad Usman and two others were arrested during the raid and the mosque

and madrassa were sealed.

However, Dawood managed to escape. All the boys found in the basement were under 18 years of age. Other police officials said the youths were drug addicts and the

seminary's administration was running a "detoxification unit".

A signboard at the seminary said drug addicts were treated there.

The officials said the boys had been brought to the seminary by

their families for treatment of addiction. However, keeping them in chains was objectionable and illegal, police said. Most of the boys were from Karachi while a few were from Peshawar.

International TheSouthAsianTimes.info

23

December 17-23, 2011

Anti-Putin wave sweeps Russia Moscow: Tens of thousands of Russians gathered peacefully in central Moscow to shout "Putin is a Thief " and "Russia Without Putin," forcing the Kremlin to confront a level of public discontent that has not been seen here since prime minister Vladimir V Putin first became president 12 years ago.

The crowd overflowed Bolotnaya Square, forcing stragglers to climb trees and watch from the riverbank opposite. It included liberals, nationalists and communists, but could best be described as the urban middle class, a group that has grown richer and larger during the Putin era.

An hour into the event, police estimated the crowd at 25,000, which

Calls for protest have been mounting since the recently held parliamentary elections. would make it the largest anti-government action since the fall of the

Editor sacked over anti-Putin photo he editor of a prominent Russian news magazine said he had been fired after the weekly printed a photograph featuring an obscene message addressed to Vladimir Putin as part of extensive reports on alleged fraud in a December 4 parliamentary election.

Maxim Kovalsky said he had been dismissed as editor of Kommersant-Vlast over the magazine's recent edition, which included several articles examining alleged electoral violations favoring Prime Minister Putin's United Russia party.

The cover featured a photograph of Putin and a headline

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Maxim Kovalsky with a play on United Russia's name that suggested ballot-stuffing , and the following subhead: "How the elections were falsified: eyewitness accounts".

Soviet Union. But the estimates of protest organizers ranged from

other cities. The authorities had been trying to discourage attendance, saying that widespread protests could culminate in a disaster on the scale of the Soviet collapse, 20 years ago.

Organizers have put forward two main demands: release of those arrested this week during the protests, and the scheduling of new parliamentary elections.

Others are calling for the ouster of Vladimir Y Churov, who heads the central election commission; for rewriting the election law; or for the registration of so-called "nonsystem" opposition parties, ones that have been unable to win seats in Parliament or put forward presidential candidates.

Iran snubs Obama, won’t return drone Tehran: A US drone captured by Iran is now the property of the Islamic republic, defense minister Ahmad Vahidi said, dismissing a request by US president Barack Obama for its return.

"The American espionage drone is now Iran's property, and our country will decide what steps to take regarding it," Vahidi was quoted as saying by ISNA news agency.

"Instead of apologizing to the Iranian nation, it (the United States) is brazenly asking for the drone back," Vahidi also said, according to another news agency, Mehr. Iran "will not back down from defending the nation or its interests," Vahidi declared.Obama acknowledged that

Marzouki elected Tunisia's president Tunis: Tunisia's veteran opposition leader Moncef Marzouki was elected president, a month and a half after the North African country held its first post-revolution election.

The fierce opponent of ousted dictator Zine el Abidine Ben Ali was elected with 153 votes in the 217-member assembly, with three of the 202 deputies present voting against, two abstaining and 44 casting blank ballots.

The 66-year-old leader of the Congress for the Republic Party, dressed in his usual grey suit with a white shirt but no tie, thanked the assembly, saying he was "proud to carry the most precious of responsibilities, that of being the guarantor of the people, the state and the revolution."

His first order of business will be to name the prime minister, with Hamadi Jebali, the number two of the Ennahda party that came in first in the October 23 legislative poll with 89 seats, expected to get the nod.

Marzouki's election came two days after the assembly adopted a provisional constitution allowing the country to name a government.

The vote -- 141 in favor, 37 against and 39

40,000 to 80,000.

Calls for protest have been mounting since the parliamentary elections held recently that domestic and international observers said were tainted by ballot-stuffing and fraud on behalf of Putin's party, United Russia. Putin's announcement in September that he intended to return to the presidency in the March elections, extending his rule as Russia's dominant political figure by another six years, appears to have worsened an already sour mood in the country, and many middleclass Muscovites said that this week was a turning point.

Some 35,000 people had pledged on Facebook to attend the Moscow rally, and smaller events occurred in

The 66-year-old leader of the Congress for the Republic Party was dressed in his usual grey suit with a white shirt but no tie. abstentions -- came after five days of often tumultuous debate which saw hundreds of people demonstrating calmly outside the assembly building shouting slogans demanding "Freedom and Dignity".

Obama acknowledged that Iran was holding the reconnaissance drone - a bat-winged RQ-170 Sentinel.

Iran was holding the reconnaissance drone - a bat-winged RQ-170 Sentinel - by saying, "We've asked for it back. We'll see how the Iranians respond."

Iran last week displayed on state television what it said was the drone. A lawmaker said the Islamic republic was unlocking the aircraft's software and was going to reverse engineer the drone.

"It seems he (Obama) has forgotten that Iran's airspace was violated, spying operations were undertaken, international laws were violated and that Iran's internal affairs were interfered with," ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told his regular media briefing.

Qaeda men escape from Yemeni jail

Aden, Yemen: About 15 al-Qaeda prisoners escaped from a Yemeni jail in the southern port city of Aden, a security official said.

The local security official said on condition of anonymity that about 15 al-Qaeda prisoners, including five prisoners who had been sentenced to death, fled the central jail in the al-Mansoura district in Aden after digging a small underground tunnel.

Some other inmates fought their way out of the jail along with the alQaeda prisoners, according to the official.

The escaping al-Qaeda prisoners were convicted on terrorism charges, the official said, adding that the police have launched enquiries.

The inmates fled the central jail in the al-Mansoura district in Aden after digging a small underground tunnel.

An opposition official, who claimed that the prison break was “orchestrated," accused local security forces and prison police of "supporting the al-Qaeda prisoners'

escape."

Earlier this year, more than 62 al-Qaeda prisoners broke jail in al-Mukalla, the provincial capital of the southeastern province of Hadramout.

24

Business

December 17-23, 2011

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

China's $300bn fund a Why rupee falls to record lows against dollar wake-up call to US Beijing: China's plan for a new $300 billion sovereign wealth fund is as much a warning to Washington as it is a body blow to Brussels.

It's the clearest sign yet of Beijing's waning faith in bonds issued by Europe and the United States. Europe's festering debt debacle, record low yields on US Treasuries and a depreciating dollar all add weight to the view in China that the time is ripe to change investment tack.

"China has decided that real assets are better than broken debt fix promises and low interest rates," says Paul Markowski, president of MES Advisers and a longtime external adviser to China's monetary policymakers on global financial markets.

Beijing has watched for two years as Europe's crisis has choked growth and demand in China's biggest export market and stoked default risks on the near

It's the clearest sign yet of Beijing's waning faith in bonds issued by Europe and the United States. $800 billion of euro zone the United States, making government bonds it is esti- China in aggregate the mated to own. It has been a world's biggest sovereign painful lesson. wealth fund investor. The After all, China had active- plan originated before ly bought euro assets to Europe's debt crisis, sources guard its $3.2 trillion reserve said. That gels with compile against over-exposure to ments from investment U.S. dollars, which have lost sources with links to China's about a third of their value in monetary authorities and forthe last 10 years as U.S. eign reserve managers who Treasury yields have sunk to detect a clear desire in record lows.

Beijing to acquire real assets Reuters reported last week in return for supplying fresh that the People's Bank of funds to bridge U.S. deficits China plans to create the and recapitalise European new vehicle with two funds, financial institutions and one for Europe and one for governments.

Mumbai: India's central bank is being forced to forsake the rupee at record lows not merely by a shortage of ammunition to defend the currency but also by a compulsion to relieve stresses in the local debt market.

The Reserve Bank of India's hands-off approach is a factor that has pushed its tumbling currency to new lows each week.

Its options are limited. Only about 6 percent of its $314 billion reserves are freely usable to intervene in currency markets.

Even if it intervenes, that dollar-selling could take rupees out of an already tight and stretched banking system.

Yet intervene it must, else a plunging currency will not only push the near-doubledigit inflation even higher but also set off a negative spiral of capital outflows that will end in a severe balance-of-payments crisis.

Trading at a record low of 53.64 per dollar, the rupee is close to the 55-level that market participants regard as a line in the sand. That is the level at which a creeping sense of anxiety over the balance of payments could give way to panic and distress.

Analysts suspect the RBI is buying time. It can conserve FX reserves by waiting, and then step in with a combination of rupeebuying intervention and repos or other open market operations (OMOs) to replace the rupees it is soaking up.

"The RBI's capability of intervening in the FX market has been severely hampered by the tight liquidity conditions in the money market," said Abheek Barua, chief economist

The rupee has dropped 19 percent against the dollar since July, as much as it did during the worst of the Lehman crisis. at HDFC Bank. "This is now proving to be a problem with the rupee hitting record lows.

To ease the liquidity cash crunch, it may start boosting the size of its OMOs as it will give it some much-needed headroom to intervene on the rupee."

That is where intervention policy gets tricky. India's central bank has been providing increasing amounts of cash to its banking system. But it is doing so in phases to put a lid on surging bond yields and smooth a massive government borrowing.

With annual inflation still running at above 9 percent and barely weeks after it raised rates for a 13th time, the central bank has to be careful how much cash it pumps in.

The rupee has dropped 19 percent against the dollar since July, as much as it did during the worst of the Lehman crisis. The RBI's presence in the market has been sporadic and fleeting, giving analysts the impression it is prepared to risk being behind the curve.

'Freeze on Kingfisher accounts lifted' New Delhi: India's tax authorities have lifted a freeze on Kingfisher Airlines Ltd.'s 11 bank accounts after the carrier paid part of its service tax arrears, a senior tax official said.

"Kingfisher paid 90 million rupees ($1.71 million) yesterday toward its service tax dues, and has agreed to clear its arrears in installments by March 31," said S.K. Solanki, commissioner of service tax in the Mumbai commissionerate of the Central Board of Excise and Customs.

The move comes as a

The move comes as a muchneeded relief to billionaire Vijay Mallya's loss-making Kingfisher Airlines. much-needed relief to billionaire Vijay Mallya's loss-making Kingfisher Airlines, which recently canceled dozens of flights and stopped low-fare flights to drastically cut costs. India's carriers have

been hit severely by expensive jet fuel, high interest costs on debt and mounting losses in a slowing economy.

All airlines except one-IndiGo--are making losses.

Solanki said Kingfisher owed 700 million rupees in service tax for the AprilNovember period.

The service tax department had last week frozen 11 bank accounts of Kingfisher and 10 of state-run Air India Ltd. for non-payment of tax. It lifted the freeze on Air India's accounts Friday after the carrier paid 80 million rupees.

Asia stocks down as Fed holds new stimulus Bangkok: Asian stocks fell after the Federal Reserve offered no new initiatives to help a slowly recovering U.S. economy.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 0.6 per cent to 8,498.63. South Korea's Kospi lost 0.5 per cent at 1,854 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.7 per cent to 18,326.98. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.2 per cent to 4,184.80.

Benchmarks in Singapore and Taiwan fell while mainland China rose.

U.S. stocks gave up gains after the Fed released a policy statement that made clear it was not offering any new steps to

help the economy.

The Dow dropped more than 70 points in the last hour of trading and had risen as high as 126 points after two strong auctions of European debt. The Spanish government was able to sell short-term debt at much lower interest rates compared with a month ago, a signal that markets are becoming less fearful about the government's ability to repay its debt.

Still, investor sentiment remained fragile amid threats by Standard & Poor's to downgrade the credit ratings of 15 countries that use the euro because of the region's debt crisis.

Sports TheSouthAsianTimes.info

25

December 17-23, 2011

India series to be highly competitive: Warner New Delhi: Australian opener David Warner, who made his maiden Test century and was named man-of-the-match against New Zealand in the second cricket Test at Hobart, is looking forward to being selected for the Test series against India and expects it to be highly competitive series.

India are scheduled to play four Test matches, beginning from December 26, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, besides two Twenty20 Internationals and a triangular ODI series involving Sri Lanka.

"It was nice to get to the milestone of a Test hundred but it was disappointing not to be able to help Australia over the line," Warner said from Hobart, hoping that the century and the show of character would secure him a

David Warner. India are scheduled to play four Test matches with Australia, beginning from December 26. place in the side against India. much intensity during India's last "The Boxing Day Test match is tour of Australia and does not always special and, more so, expect the coming series to be against India. Hopefully we can very different. play well."

"That some of us have played Warner recalled that there was in the Indian Premier League

Nimbus loses telecast rights, puts off hockey league New Delhi: It was a double whammy for Nimbus Sports. The Indian cricket board terminated its telecast rights contract for defaulting on payments and it was also forced to put off its much-touted World Series Hockey (WSH) till after the Olympic qualifiers in February.

There was speculation for quite some time that Nimbus would not only lose the TV rights but also may not be able to fund the WSH. It may be a setback for Nimbus as far as telecast rights are concerned, but the postponement of the league must have come as a big relief at this juncture when it has to sink in a huge amount to run it.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), contrary to expectations that it would give Nimbus a little more time to make the payments, chose to scrap the deal and look for a new contract.

Nimbus' contract, which was renewed in 2009, was to run till 2014.

Nimbus, which has first signed a four-year deal in 2005-06 and renewed it after being offered first right of refusal, said it would react only after hearing officially from the BCCI.

The organizers have postponed the highly hyped Rs 10 crore professional hockey league to February 29-April 1.

"They have defaulted, they have not made the 50 percent advance payment for both the England and the West Indies series and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had no choice but to terminate the deal," said Rajiv Shukla, chairman of the Indian Premier League.

Another member stated that Nimbus paid Rs.24 crore Monday morning, but still owed Rs.85 crore to Rs.88 crore and the BCCI did not want to continue with a defaulter.

The immediate offshoot of the decision is that there will be no telecast of domestic tournaments. A big casualty is the next round of Ranji Trophy matches which will not be telecast.

With no international cricket matches scheduled

in India for the next eight months, the board has apparently felt it was the right time to terminate the contract and enter into a fresh deal.

Unlike the cricket imbroglio, Nimbus will get breathing space to reschedule the WSH league.

The league, a joint venture of Nimbus and the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF), was to kick off on December 17 here, but with almost all the India players deciding to join the Dec 11-Jan 15 national camp in Bangalore for the Olympic qualifiers, the organizers had no choice but to postpone the highly hyped Rs 10 crore professional league to February 29-April 1.

The Olympic qualifiers will be held February 16-25.

(IPL) over the last four years will surely help the players understand one another better but I don't think that this familiarity will take the edge away when we are on the field," he said.

"Lots of things were going on when India toured Australia the last time in 2007-08 but that is what makes cricket. Everyone likes to play very seriously and that alone should ensure that none changes the attitude on the field. There are always a couple of players who like to chat up a bit and get under people's skins," he said.

The 25-year-old from Paddington fondly remembered the encouragement he has received from Delhi Daredevils captain and India star Virender Sehwag and other team-mates over the last three years.

"Playing for Delhi Daredevils has obviously helped me as I worked with a set of world class players like Sehwag, Daniel Vettori, Glenn McGrath and others like GG (Gautam Gambhir), Morne Morkel, Ashish Nehra and Dinesh Karthik. They have all egged me on with their comments and feedback and that has allowed me to mature as a player," he said.

"I will not forget how when I joined Delhi Daredevils, Sehwag told me that I would be a better Test cricketer than a Twenty20 player when I had not yet played first class cricket.

When I asked him how he could predict that, Sehwag shared his theory of how everyone would be in the slips and I could play my shots freely," Warner said.

Oz top order attends batting camp Melbourne: Concerned with the poor performance of the top order, Cricket Australia (CA) has asked skipper Michael Clarke, Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey to attend a batting group camp here Dec 20-22. The effort is to fine-tune their preparations ahead of the Test series against India starting here with the Boxing Day Test Dec 26.

CA general manager Pat Howard said that besides the trio, Shane Watson, Shaun Marsh (fitness permitting), Brad Haddin and Dan Christian will also attend the camp.

"The camp is designed to complement rather than duplicate the preparation of those batsmen playing in the Chairman's XI in Canberra, which includes David Warner, Phillip Hughes, Usman Khawaja and Ed Cowan," said Howard in a statement.

"This camp has been scheduled prior to the Australian Test squad being announced and then coming together on December 22.

We continue to monitor Shaun Marsh and are hopeful he will be available for this camp," he added.

Will Di Resta continue with Force India?

London: Force India driver Paul di Resta has been kept in the dark by team principal Vijay Mallya about his future with the team.

Di Resta, however, said he would be "proud" if he is kept on with the team for the 2012 Formula One season. Mallya is likely to make an announcement on the driver line-up for 2012

by Thursday.

Di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg, a reserve and test driver, could be given the two race seats with Adrian Sutil making way.

Sutil could join Williams or Hispania Racing Team.

"I can't say anything. The only thing that I can say is that I am still working closely with the team and helping with the new car,"

Force India driver Paul di Resta. he told F1's official website. "I will do some simulator work over the next week and hopefully by then Mallya and his board will have made up their minds about their 2012 driver line-up," said Di Resta.

"Certainly I would be very proud to stay with them for another year.

They have shown a lot of respect for me and a lot of faith in me. They've given me the opportunity of a lifetime and I am very thankful for that."

26

Features

December 17-23, 2011

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Suitable names for sequel to Seth’s opus

Vikram Seth is writing a sequel to ‘A Suitable Boy’ ovelist Vikram Seth, who is writing a sequel to "A Suitable Boy", may not name his new book "A Suitable Girl" as everyone was led to believe. It could even

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be named "An Unsuitable Boy".

"I wrote 'A Suitable Boy' many years ago and it was set in India in the early 1950s when the British had just left. A few years

ago, I thought to myself, 'well you know, part of the reason why you have not followed it up is because you think it will be a bit boring and obvious going back to the 1950s and delve into newspapers and research... Why don't you write about the present'. In other words, it is a sequel but a jump sequel - 60 years on," he said in a recent interview to The Daily Telegraph in London.

The sequel revolves around Lata - who was 20 in "A Suitable Boy" and is now 80.

"Lata was 20 years old then, (she) is now 80," calculated Seth. "So it is not just India (that) has changed, but the aspect of the full life lived, look back upon, look forward to as well; and may be it's for her grandson who can't communicate with his parents for one reason or another, but can talk to his grandmother - (his) confidante - talk to her about a suitable girl," he said.

"Indeed, that's what's on the cards on him.

But I have not decided whether I should call

it 'A Suitable Girl' or 'An Unsuitable Boy', which could be another possible sequel title," he said. "A Suitable Boy" written in 1993 was contexted in post-Independence India. It followed the destinies of four families.

Sources say Penguin which acquired the rights to the sequel with a bid of 1 million pounds in advance might also contribute to the name of the title.

The writer recently bought a spacious country home in England which was once owned by contemporary poet George Herbert. "...And even now I think it was dumb that I bought it, but I am glad I did," Seth said.

The India born poet, novelist, travel writer, librettist and children's writer attained fame and acclaim with the first of his novels, The Golden Gate (1986). In verse it is about the lives of some young professionals in San Francisco.

Mario Miranda exits life's canvas

The cartoonist-illustrator with a unique quill; and two of his creations he bronzed, sinewy toddy tapper will never slither down a coconut palm with ease. Nor will the buxom, cleavage showing, big hipped fisherwoman hunch over her fish basket with slapstick charm. Master Indian illustrator Mario Miranda, who created both the cartoon characters, died in his sleep in his Goan village on Sunday after a prolonged illness at the age of 85.

The artist breathed his last at his 300-year-old ancestral home in the quiet village of Loutolim, 35 km from capital Panaji. He is survived by his wife Habiba and sons Rahul and Rishad.

"He had been ailing for long and he passed away peacefully in his sleep," Habiba said.

Minutes after the villagers learned of his death, the bells of the local church pealed in his honor.

His mortal remains will be cremated as per his wishes after a mass Monday morning, and not buried according to Catholic tradition, family sources said.

Mario Joao Carlos do Rosario de Britto Miranda was the man who first creatively transported the languid imagery of Goa, its people, its

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quaint market places, roof top homes and crowded taverns to the world.

He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2002 for his exemplary work.

State Chief Minister Digambar Kamat said that the artist's death was a setback to Goa. "Miranda was one of the greatest artists the century ever produced. In all his artistic work, he had always portrayed Goan character to the world.

He held several exhibitions in almost all continents wherein he displayed his talents and laid emphasis on Indian culture and particularly Goan ethos."

Mario's first big break came in the Illustrated Weekly of India, a once popular magazine, before sketching for other publications including The Afternoon, Current, Femina and 'MAD', one of the most popular satirical illustrated magazines in the world.

Vivek Menezes, an art aficionado based in Goa who has been following Miranda's work as a child, recalls his first tryst with the cartoonist's work.

"He knew my parents well from

the 60s. My own lifetime has been marked by indelible associations with his art. I vividly recall his delightful children's illustrations for a book of rhymes that was literally one of the first books I read," Vivek recalls.

Filmmaker Shyam Benegal was inspired by Miranda into making "Trikal", about the Portuguese community in Go that won him a national award for best direction in 1986. "Mario was a quintessential Goan - laid back and talented, who did not want to show off. His family was genteel - full of wonderful people," Benegal said.

While Mario's cartoons and characters like Miss Nimboo Pani and Bundaldass are what made him popular, it was his illustrations of people, landscapes and places which catapulted him to the league of creative geniuses. Mario's pictorial renditions of his travelogues across the major cities of the world stand out as masterly impressions even today.

Ashwin Tombat, former editor of the newspaper Herald, said that while Mario as a political cartoonist in a newspaper was "all right", his

illustrations “were impeccable. And his travelogues and the beautiful impressions of the cities he traveled made him legendary."

Mario's trademark sketches of the Goan lifestyles, especially proponents of traditional occupations like the toddy tapper, the fisherwoman and personal lifestyles of suited gentlemen and parasol-toting genteel ladies are legendary for their reflection of reality and fine nuances of everyday life in Goa. According to Menezes, Mario was the greatest ambassadors for Goa, its art and culture who left behind the "best, widest and most unforgettable body of images ever created of the state and its people".

He said, "I don't think we lost Mario. His work is like a banyan tree, and will remain standing for

generations even if the main trunk has been lost. His legacy is intact.

History will not forget Mario de Miranda."

Uddhar Sawkar, one of the most hilarious contemporary newspaper cartoonists in Goa, said he was first inspired by Mario's work after he saw some of the master's works at a cartoon exhibition in 2007.

"Mario had a unique style of drawing. Right from my childhood I used to see his cartoons on our text books. He was the idol of all cartoonists of Goa. He worked very hard to get the recognition by drawing cartoons for national magazines and newspapers but he never lost his touch of Goa," said Sawkar, whose popular cartoon strip 'Iddhar Uddhar' comes out in the Herald, a local English daily.

28

Humor

December 17-23, 2011

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Humor with Melvin Durai

Joining forces to fight baldness f you’re completely bald or have a receding hairline or an evergrowing bald spot like me, I have some good news for you: scientists are getting closer to a cure and it doesn’t involve a spray can. It may even happen in our lifetimes, which means we could have all our hair back within a few decades, just in time to charm all those ladies at the retirement home.

Actually, there’s only one lady I want to charm and she doesn’t seem to care that I have a bald spot. If anything, she’s pleased that at least one part of me is thinning.

I’m perfectly okay with having a bald spot, really I am. And if you don’t believe me, just ask anyone in my Bald is Beautiful support group.

We get together once a month to share our stories of hair loss. There’s Al and Bruce and Pedro and Salman and a few other guys. We have varying degrees of baldness. For example, I have a bachelor’s degree and Salman has a PhD (prominent hair deficiency).

Our last meeting began, as it usually does, with a little sharing. We sat in a circle and shared a bottle of wine. It always helps the guys open up. Al took a sip and said, “Yesterday, while I was at the laundromat, I met this pretty woman who told me she’s a cancer survivor.

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So I said, ‘Really? Well, I’m a baldness survivor. Maybe we can go out sometime.’ And she slapped me.”

Pedro shook his head. “People just don’t understand what baldness does to a man. When I started losing my hair, my so-called best friend kept saying, ‘You’re going bald, Pedro,’ as if I didn’t already know. As if I didn’t look in the mirror every morning and take attendance.

Ricardo, here. Enrique, here. José, here. Alfredo … oh no, I lost another one.”s Bruce laughed. “You named your hair too?”

“Of course. When you have so few, you grow close to them.

They’re like family.”

“Ain’t that the truth,” Bruce said.

“We need to educate people about this. We need to make them more aware, so that our sons and grandsons don’t have to endure as much baldism as we have. Wouldn’t that be great?”

“Sure would,” Salman said.

“That’s why I’m starting a petition online to get President Obama and other leaders to declare the third Saturday of March as Baldness Awareness Day (BAD). We could organize a lot of BAD activities that day, maybe even get Obama to give a BAD speech for a change.”

“Good idea,” Bruce said. “We could honor all the great bald men in history, such as Dwight Eisenhower, the first bald man to be elected president of America, Tom Stafford, the first bald man in outer space, and Seal, the first bald man to marry a supermodel.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to call it Bald Man’s Day?” Pedro said.

“That way, we could get our family and friends to give us cards and gifts.”

“I like that,” Al said. “Forget the petition, Salman -– let’s write to Hallmark instead.”

“Speaking of cards,” Pedro said, “we should send a ‘thank you’ card to Dr. George Cotsarelis of the University of Pennsylvania for all his great research on baldness. I was so thrilled when I heard that we bald guys have just as many stem cells on our heads as the guys with hair.

All we need to do is figure out a way to get them to be active again!”

“Does beer help?” Al asked.

“No,” Pedro said. “I’ve tried that.

Rum doesn’t help either. It just makes my head sticky.”

“I’ve never heard of Dr. Cotsarelis,” Bruce said. “Is he one of us?”

“No,” Pedro said. “He’s got hair.

But he’s a strong advocate for the bald.”

“We need to help him,” Bruce

said. “I’m sure he needs money for his research.”

“I’ve got an idea,” Salman said.

“Let’s organize a fundraiser. We can call it the Walk-a-thon to Cure Baldness. We can get our family and friends to walk five miles and raise thousands of dollars.”

“Sounds good,” Al said. “But do I have to walk too? Can’t I just drive

Laughter is the Best Medicine

by Mahendra Shah Mahendra Shah is an architect by education, entrepreneur by profession, artist and humorist, cartoonist and writer by hobby. He has been recording the plight of the immigrant Indians for the past many years in his cartoons.

Hailing from Gujarat, he lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Tech Life

Soon, a TV that can be carried in your pocket!

Sydney: A new technology developed by British scientists has brought the dream of television screens that can be rolled up and carried in a pocket closer to reality.

The researchers have developed a new form of light-emitting crystals, known as quantum dots, which can be used to produce ultra-thin television sets, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. The tiny crystals, 100,000 times thinner than a human hair, can be printed on flexible plastic

sheets to produce a paper-thin display, or on to wallpaper to create giant room-size screens.

According to Michael Edelman, the chief executive of Nanoco, a spin-out company set up by the scientists behind the technology at Manchester University, the firm was working with "major Asian electronics companies."

It is believed that Sony, Sharp, Samsung and LG are working on the quantum dot television technology.

BlackBerry slammed over failing to block child porn

London: Smartphone maker BlackBerry has come under fire after it emerged that its customers were able to access illegal sex content on the internet, including child pornography.

BlackBerry has failed to provide internet blocks that protect users, including children, from accessing a list of banned websites, the Daily Mail reports.

Britain's telecoms regulator Ofcom said it was 'very concerned' about the issue and that it was talking urgently to Canada's Research in Motion (RIM), own-

ers of BlackBerry, over solving the problem.

According to the paper, a spokesman for RIM said that by

the end of 2011, they would have a solution in place that blocks access to these sites.

All mobile phone operators in Britain are signed up to a code of practice, which ensures they apply a block on access to sex sites on the internet.

A spokesman for the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre pointed out that all service providers have a responsibility to help safeguard the online environment and close down any opportunities for offenders.

Astrology TheSouthAsianTimes.info

December 17-23, 2011

By Dr Prem Kumar Sharma Stars Foretell: December 17-23, 2011 Aries: You are likely to become highly ambitious, determined and enthusiastic this week. Your high energy level would bring enormous gains and enhance your reputation.

Financially you would become more comfortable and have plenty of time for recreational and other activities. Members of the opposite sex would be source of inspiration and will help you in need of the hour. Some tension might arise with close friends or relatives.

Taurus: For those of you who have not been going out lately, you will have plenty of opportunities to meet and build new alliances.

Anxiety and indecisiveness that has plagued you in the past seems to end, as optimism and confidence seems to take control. Financial gains likely but you need to be extra careful before entering into any new partnerships. House ladies are likely to be more involved into embroidery, cooking or other creative activities. Children and youngsters will look up to you for inspiration.

Gemini: Though progress has been slow and not rewarding on financial front, some news will bring happiness and boost your morale.

Business decisions and investments need to be made very carefully, as speculation will only bring major losses. Close relative might make an unexpected visit bringing gifts and presents. These pleasant and memorable moments bring happiness and harmony at home. Your interest in religious and spiritual activities would make you seek divine knowledge.

Cancer: Finish your pending jobs that have been hovering over your head before you pick up any new assignment. Work pressure might leave you irritated and exhausted, but you should remember that harsh words and erratic behaviour would only bring disregard and criticism. Financial gains seem likely as you recover delayed and pending payments. Children would need careful handling and proper attention. Try to meditate to calm inner conflicts.

Leo: Improvement in relationship with important and influential people would bring a change in your personality. Your confidence and determination would be upbeat and you are likely to win plenty of favours with your charms and pleasant personality. However deception from a close associate and losses due to hasty investment cannot be ruled out. Encourage children to spend their extra time with creative activities and sports. Spouse in a loving and caring mood banishes your troubles away.

Virgo: You might be bestowed with rewards and recognition for your recent achievements. The appreciation you receive will have major contributions from your family members and friends. Religious feeling will arise, making some of you embark on a pilgrimage. Journeys and travelling that you undertake during this period would be highly rewarding and educating.

Though gains of luxury items are foreseen, but few losses due to hasty speculation cannot be ruled out.

Libra: This week you seem to possess the Midas touch. Gains from investment and speculation would be beyond expectations. New plans and offers would dominate the week. For those at service new job opportunities or some sort of monetary benefit cannot be ruled out. Domestic

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happiness and new romance will flourish.

Despite such a prosperous time and financial gains, some tensions due to careless actions of your domestic servants, co-workers or working partners cannot be ruled out.

Scorpio: A brilliant week for creative as well as literary activities. Your imaginative talent will prove to be highly lucrative. Financial gains are also expected from investments that you have made recently. New contacts and friendships will develop through social activities. Uncertainty regarding career opportunities of your children will seem to bother your mind, seek advice from an academic counsellor if necessary. Do not overspend on friends and spend more time with family members.

Sagittarius: This week you should set your goals and make the best of your efforts to reap the rewards. Your confidence and ability to work on projects, which require high responsibility, would bring you benefits in the long run. This period is also good for building ties with influential people and important govt. officials. A short trip for pleasure later in week cannot be ruled out. Nuptial knots for some lovebirds.

Capricorn: This week opportunities to travel should not be turned down. There would be improvement in your business as well as professional skills. Certain legal matters would need immediate attention, therefore seek an advice of a lawyer if necessary. Financial gains will accrue throughout the week, but you need to control your tendency to be extravagant, in order to save. Friends and relations will be helpful to complete pending jobs.

Aquarius: Despite some tensions and botheration that you might have experienced last week, this period start on an optimistic note. Excitement and gaiety marks this week with plenty of gains in whatever you do. New ventures and assignments would improve your financial conditions. Your interest in outdoor activities will see you go out on short trips, outings and other entertainment activities. Children are likely to win laurels in extra curricular activities.

Pisces: This week you will benefit provided you are willing to take bold decisions at workplace.

Your determination and confidence will yield favourable results with each passing day. Money position improves as pending payments get cleared. Your life partner will bring you immense pleasure, but would behave highly possessive.

During this period you should go out and build new relationship and contacts, but avoid strangers and people that you have ignored in the past.

Before you consult... i) Accurate Data: Please make sure Date, Time and Place of birth is accurate. ii) Careful: Did you check background of the astrologer before disclosing your secrets. iii) Fee: Discuss the charges before, don’t feel shy. It’s his business. iv) Expectation: Expect the best, if the outcome is not as desired, never give up. v) Consult: Take second opinion before spending thousands on cure/remedies.

Chandigarh, India: +91-172- 256 2832, 257 2874 Delhi, India: +91-11- 2644 9898, 2648 9899 psharma@premastrologer.com; www.premastrologer.com

Annual Predictions: For those born in this week December 17 Ruled by number 8 and the planet Saturn, you are dynamic, practical, responsible, hardworking, authoritative and highly disciplined. For you your duties and responsibilities take precedence over everything else, but you need to check your tendency to behave stubborn and jealous at times. This year you can look forward to major changes in your professional career. A long due transfer or a promotion can be expected towards the middle of the year. Those undertaking a foreign trip in the second half of the year will have a highly pleasurable and a very exciting journey. Do not spend lavishly on luxuries. Financial difficulties and health problems will mar peaceful atmosphere at home. Despite few initial problems earlier in the year, your financial position will become much better as new moneymaking projects will be undertaken. Spiritual gains for some later in the year. The month of August, December, March and Dec will be highly significant.

December 18: Governed by number 9 and the planet Mars. You are dignified, sensitive, courageous, confident and diplomatic person. You are simple and very helpful, but you need to control your tendency to behave impatient and short-tempered at times. This year you will complete many of your pending jobs in hand. New money making opportunities will be highly promising, but will require you to give in your best. Speculations however will not be beneficial, therefore strictly not recommended. Investment in a house or land will bring you long term benefits. Relation with your spouse during this period will be cordial and on an even footing. Children will bring you good news and you will be proud of their achievements. Romantic alliances will prosper and strengthen. The months of July, November, February and Dec will be important.

December 19: Influenced by number 1 and the Sun. You are active, energetic, authoritative, brilliant, systematic and a talented person. You always welcome new ideas and thoughts, but you need to check your tendency to behave spendthrift and dominating at times. This year you will feel more secure with your prevailing job and your monetary position will also improve. Money transaction however should be made carefully. Some losses due to speculation or hasty decision during this period cannot be ruled out. Businessmen will sign new and important contracts. Overseas ventures will be highly lucrative. This might not be the perfect year for matters relating to your heart and forming a matrimonial alliance. The latter half of the year will see you undertake a pilgrimage, which will bring you mental comfort and peace. The months of October, December, February and April will be highly result oriented.

December 20: Ruled by number 2 and the Moon. You are imaginative, smart, trustworthy, generous and authoritative.

You have good command over your work and people look up to you for advice and support, but you need to check your tendency to behave selfish and moody at times. The coming year will promise many new opportunities for growth. Your acumen in business will really do wonders, but you need to plan your budget well in advance and it will be wise not to go beyond it. Investment made in the past will bear fruits, making your financial position much comfortable. Property/legal disputes will settle to your satisfaction. Health definitely needs more attention. Med-

itation and Yoga should be practiced for spiritual gains as well as physical gains. Some exhilarating news from your children will boost up your spirits.

Travel and journey, most likely overseas for some will ensure pleasure and excitement. The months of July, October, January and March will be eventful.

December 21: Governed by number 3 and the planet Jupiter, you are intelligent, dignified, jovial, generous and an optimistic person. You are good at everything you do, which in return brings lots of appreciation and rewards for you. But you need to control over your tendency to behave spendthrift, dominating and vindictive at times. The coming year promises many new surprises and rewards for you. Financial benefits will flow through various sources. New sources of income will improve your financial position and ongoing projects will get a major boost. Journeys undertaken for work purpose will be beneficial and highly rewarding. Investment in a house and selected stocks recommended. Sudden expenses due to health problem in the family will bother your mind. Legal matters will prove expensive. Purchase of a property or a mode of transportation will be high on your agenda.

The months of September, December, February and Dec will enhance prosperity.

December 22: Influenced by number 4 and the planet Uranus, you are energetic, methodical, systematic and possess an attractive personality. You are highly social and helpful, but you need to check your tendency to behave jealous, self centered and destructive at times. A year of gifts and rewards. New proposals and assignments will boost your morale and confidence. Property transaction will bring you good returns and will also help raise money. Travel will be undertaken for building important relationships and monetary gains.

Overseas journey or business transaction for some.

Wedding bells will ring for some later in the year, and others will find romance to keep them going. Chronic patients need to take extra care for their health.

Avoid lending and borrowing money. The months of September, November, March and Dec will be highly eventful.

December 23: Ruled by number 5 and the planet Mercury, you are active, intelligent, sensible, systematic and highly courageous. You are a great admirer of music and literature, but you need to curb your tendency to behave moody, spendthrift and careless at times. This year success in whatever you do will keep you happy. Past investments will fetch you handsome returns and long pending judicial disputes will settle in your favour.

The latter half of the year will see you getting closer to a spiritual person who will make a remarkable difference on your thinking and personality. Unexpected gains in cash and kind from near ones and friends through out the year. Stress and tension might lead to some minor health problems. The months of August, November, March and Dec will prove to be significant.

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Spiritual Awareness

December 17-23, 2011

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Distractions keeps us from achieving our goal Concluding part of the discourse ‘Stay still for God’

By Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj he mind is a great tool to use to achieve a goal. All the great inventions, innovations, and creations have come about due to the power of the mind.

The question is, why can’t we control our mind to sit still to concentrate within?

For success in any field, we need a ruling passion and commitment.

When we do not succeed at a task it is because we take it as a low priority. Then, we do not have the will to do it. We are focused on all the other aspects of life. Success requires us weeding out those timewasters or distractions that keep us from achieving our goal.

In this connection, there is a story from a novel that illustrates this point well. Five people were being held in a prison camp during a war. They found there was only one way for them to escape. They had to escape in a hot air balloon.

They were able to escape to an area where a hot air balloon was being kept and were able to lift off before the guards discovered them. As they sailed off, they discovered to their horror, that the wind was blowing them over the ocean. They drifted further and further away from land and were fearful of how long the hot air balloon would stay up.

They drifted for many hours over the ocean waters and then discovered that the balloon was descending, getting closer to the water’s surface.

One of them said, "We are going

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to crash into the ocean unless we either heat the air in the balloon or get rid of some weight." Another said, "We have no way to heat the air in the balloon so we have to reduce the weight by throwing something overboard."

They took stock of what they had with them. They decided to throw overboard their shoes, coats, and weapons which they had smuggled out with them when they escaped.

As they threw these items into the ocean, they each took a sigh of relief as the balloon rose higher.

Hours more passed. Soon, they realized the hot air balloon was descending again. What were they to do now?

As they neared the ocean’s surface, they discussed what to do. All they had left to throw overboard was their small supply of food.

With no choice, they threw overboard their food.

As one said, "It is better to be hungry than to drown." They figured they could live for days without food, whereas if they kept the weight of the food, it would mean certain death for all five of them by drowning if the hot air balloon fell into the ocean.

The balloon rose again and all were relieved.

Hours more passed. Again, the solution to throw overboard the food was only temporary. Without heat for the air in the balloon, it started flying lower and lower, again nearing the surface of the water.

"Now what?" they wondered.

There was nothing left to throw overboard.

Finally, one of the men had an idea. It was their last resort. They could cut the ropes that held the basket in which they were riding.

The basket was heavy, strong enough to hold five men and their supplies. If the balloon did not have that weight to carry, it could stay aloft.

"But how will we be saved?" asked one of the other men.

The man with the idea said, "We will each tie all the ropes together strongly to form a basket out of the ropes, and we will sit on the ropes hanging from the balloon once we

release the basket from the ropes."

The men knew they would have to hold on to the ropes for their lives, but there was no other hope for them.

The men began to cut away the basket beneath their feet and tie the ropes together as support for them.

As they did so, the hot air balloon had less weight pulling it down and it rose up again.

As they sat, sitting on the support of the ropes only and holding on for their lives, a welcome sight greeted them. They were nearing land. As their hot air balloon reached close enough range for them to swim to land, they jumped off and swam to the island safely.

The story has an instructive lesson. Each time they were faced with the possibility of their death, they had to toss out something they considered the least necessary.

They first decided that their lives were more important than their clothing. Next, they had to choose between their lives and food. They decided they could live without the food for a few days. Finally, they had to decide between their lives and the comfort of the basket. Each time they had to discard something less necessary than what their chosen goal was.

For success in life, especially on the spiritual path, we must do the same. In our case, it is a matter of discarding time-wasters. What are those things that are keeping us from our chosen goal?

Sant Darshan Singh Ji Maharaj said beautifully in a verse: Begin to live your life according to your aspirations, And step towards your chosen goal.

Our trouble is that we have not yet made up our mind what our aspirations are. One day we say we want God, but the next day we want to make a lot of money. Then, the next day we want to have a physically fit body. Then, the next day we want to travel and see the world.

We do not stick with one goal long enough to have success. We allow the chatter of the world to sway us from our goal.

If our goal is to find God, we need to stay still, physically and mentally, in meditation. This requires us to quiet the distracting voices that call to us from the world outside and from our own mind. We need to set our sights on our spiritual goal and silence all other distractions.

We do not realize what a great gift simran is. We do not have to worry about silencing our mind by ourselves. We can repeat the five Charged Names given to us at the time of our holy initiation as a way to silence the mind. While repeating the five Charged Names, our mind is automatically silenced. The Names do not allow any space for our own thoughts to distract us.

Simran is a powerful tool given to us by the attention of the Master to help us silence our mind. All we

Our trouble is that we have not yet made up our mind what our aspirations are. One day we say we want God but the next day we want to make a lot of money.

The next day we want to have a physically fit body. Then we want to travel and see the world.

We do not stick with one goal long enough to have success. We allow the chatter of the world to sway us from our goal. need to do is make a decision. What is that decision? We need to decide that we want to find God and that we are willing to put in time to meditate. If we make that choice, then all we need to do is sit still and keep quiet. Five magic words—sit still and keep quiet. Repeating simran helps our mind stay quiet. In this way, we will be still long enough for God to have a chance to meet us and greet us. God will have a chance to bathe us with the Light and Sound. Absorbed in the Light and Sound, we will rise on that Current to meet the radiant form of the Master. The Master will then guide us through the higher spiritual realms until our soul reunites with God. Let us stay still for God. If we can do so long enough, we will find we can achieve our lifelong goal and desire—to be one with the loving Lord.

Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj is an internationally recognized spiritual leader and Master of Jyoti Meditation who affirms the transcendent oneness at the heart of all religions and mystic traditions, emphasizing ethical living and meditation as building blocks for achieving inner and outer peace. www.sos.org.

Olympics of meditation

By Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj uring the Olympics, competitions are held in many sports to find out who should earn the gold medal.

For example, in the summer Olympics, people compete from all over the world for the gold medal in swimming, racing, gym-

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nastics, volleyball, basketball, table tennis, hurdles, diving, relays, and many more. Everyone wants to go for the gold to show they are the best in the world.

If we analyze what sets apart a gold medal winner from those who win the silver or bronze medals or who never even make the Olympics, we find there are certain qualities that make some-

one great.

For example, there is the story of a football coach who sent a scout to recruit new players. The scout said, "What kind of players are you looking for?"

The coach said, "Well, there are players that when you knock them down, they stay down."

The scout said, "We don’t want that kind of player."

The coach agreed, "Absolutely not. Then, there are players that when you knock them down, they get up, but if you knock them down again, they stay down."

The scout said, "We don’t want those either."

The coach replied, "Right.

Then there are those if you knock them down, they get up, and you knock them down again and they

get up, and you knock them down and they get up."

The scout said, "That is the kind of player we want on the team, right?"

The coach said, "Wrong. We do not want that player either. I want you to find the guy who’s knocking everyone else down.

That’s the guy we want!"

(To be continued....)