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Legendary singer Mubarak Begum dies Details on page 6
Naperville to host India Day Parade Details on page 16
Indian-origin MP in new UK Cabinet Details on page 36
Diverse slew of artists to perform at FOG Music Fest Details on page 21
INDIA POST SURVEY survey@indiapost.com This week’s question
Is Turkey safe for Indians? Last week’s result
Should India talk with Kashmiri separatists? YES 16%
NO 84%
VOL 22, No. 1138
July 22, 2016
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CHILDREN, OFFICIALS IN TURKEY SAFE
NEW DELHI: All 148 Indian children and 38 officials who are in Turkey for World Schools Sports Meet are safe, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said today. Turkey is witnessing violence after an attempted military coup in which at least 250 people have died. "There are 148 Indian children and 38 officials in Trapzon, Turkey. They are all safe. "The games are on. They will start returning in batches from 18th July," Swaraj tweeted. India has been closely following the developments in Turkey and has advised its nationals to stay indoors until the situation becomes clearer. "India calls upon all sides to support democracy & mandate of the ballot, & avoid bloodshed," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted. The Indian Embassy has also set up emergency helplines to assist Indian nationals in Ankara (+905-3031-42203) and Istanbul (+905-305671095).- PTI
Chandan Gavai and his wife
Sushma Swaraj assures help to Chandan family Details on page 5
Ministry rushes eye specialists to J&K Details on page 32
Presentation on Ayurveda by Dr Sehgal at MIT Details on page 26
Start-up Village to launch free online course Details on page 5
CONTENTS Bollywood ---------------------- 28-29 Classifieds ------------------------- 48 Community Post -------------- 16-24 Date Book -------------------------- 47 Edit Page --------------------------- 54 HealthScience Post --------- 32-35 Horoscope ------------------------- 13 Immigration Post ------------- 44-46 Life Style ----------------------- 50-53 Philosophy ------------------------- 49
MADE INDIA PROUD: Star Indian boxer Vijender Singh celebrates after beating Australia’s
Publisher’s Diary ------------------ 4
Kerry Hope and won the WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight Championship at Thyagaraj Sports Complex in New Delhi on July 16. (Details on page 5)
Real Estate -------------------- 25-27
Certified by “CIRCULATION VERIFICATION COUNCIL Readership 117,765”
TechBiz Post ------------------- 36-39 Travel & Hospitality Post ---- 40-43
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Cover Story: All safe in Turkey All 148 Indian children and 38 officials who are in Turkey for World Schools Sports Meet are safe
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Immigration: Sessions agrees with Trump ``You have asked for 30 years, and politicians have promised for 30 years, to fix illegal immigration. Have they done it?''
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Swaraj assures help to family which lost 3 members in US NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today assured help to a Kalyan-based family which has been unable to bring back or cremate bodies of
its three members killed in a road accident in Long Island in the US. Swaraj said she was in touch with Indian Consulate General in New York which was providing all
Chandan Gavai and his wife
assistance to the family. 38-year-old IT professional Chandan Gavai and his parents -Archana Gavai (60) and Kamalnayan Gavai (74)-- were killed when the vehicle they were travelling in was hit head-on by a truck on July 4. "I am monitoring this case personally and I have all the details. The last rites of parents is possible. But US laws do not permit cremation of Chandan as his wife is in coma and unable to give consent. "CG New York is in regular touch with me. She is providing all assistance to the family," Swaraj said in a series of tweets. Chandan's 32-year-old wife suffered life-threatening burns and head injuries while the couple's 11-month-old son survived the crash and is under treatment. The family is from Maharashtra. PTI
Start-up Village to launch free online course KOCHI: The recently launched SV.CO, the digital makeover of Start-up Village, will launch a free online course on all aspects of entrepreneurship on August 15. The course is aimed at bringing the best start-up industry practices to engineering students for building world-class start-ups. "Students can register online at www.sv.co/startincollege for
intensive six-month Silicon Valley Programme for ambitious students to build a real product and launch it to customers while in college. Sanjay Vijayakumar, Chairman, Startup Village, said. Being online allows the digital incubator to increase its capacity to provide online courses to five million students in 3,500 engineering col-
the free course that will be launched on August 15. The online registration will be absolutely free. Students in any year can take the course," said a release here. To create high quality start-ups from campuses, SV.CO has also designed a highly competitive and
leges across the country on the skills required to set up an enterprise straight from colleges. Billed as Phase 2 of Kochibased Startup Village that was set up in 2012, the digital incubator was launched by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at Thiruvananthapuram on July 13.
"While Start In College creates mass awareness, the Silicon Valley programme helps bring the best startup industry practices to engineering students to build world-class startups," said Vijayakumar, who set up MobME, one of the first college startups in India. The Silicon Valley course structure is different from mainstream education as only teams are accepted; there are no textbooks to learn from or any exams to write. SV.CO can take up to 100 Teams to Silicon Valley in its first year. "In the world of internet, students don't have to learn formulae by heart or write exams but can show real products using real technology to real customers. A global exposure to Silicon Valley will tremendously enhance confidence of our youth that they can build truly global Indians companies," he pointed put. -PTI
President, PM congratulate Vijender on clinching Asia title NEW DELHI: President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi today congratulated Vijender Singh on clinching the WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight title, saying that the star boxer has made the country proud with his feat. Vijender scored a dominating win over Welsh-born Australian Kerry Hope in a 10-round bout here last night.
tweeted Olympics bronze medallist Mary Kom, who also watched the bout last night. "Congratulations to the talented @boxervijender for winning the WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight title. #Haryana is proud of you!," Haryana CM Khattar tweeted. "Congrats @boxervijender," wrote Delhi CM Kejriwal. Sehwag, who himself was
Indian boxer Vijender Singh gets his arm raised after beating Australia’s Kerry Hope for the WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight Championship
"Hearty congratulations present at the Thyagaraj Stadium @boxervijender, you have made last night, was effusive in his whole nation proud with victory praise of Vijender. in WBO Asia Pacific champion"Many congratulations ship," President Mukherjee wrote #VijenderSingh, Thok Daala Tau! on his official twitter handle. Australia ka Hope fuss in front of PM Modi lauded Vijender for our Tope @boxervijender," he his immense skill, strength and tweeted. stamina while dismantling his opHe tweeted earlier, "Mukkon ki ponent to win the Asia Pacific title. dhardhar Barsaat happening by " C o n g r a t u l a t i o n s our #RingKaKing @boxervijender for a hard fought and well deserved win. It was yet PM Modi lauded Vijender for another display of immense skill, strength & his immense skill, strength stamina," Modi wrote on his personal Twitter and stamina while dismanhandle. tling his opponent to win the Indian cricket limited overs captain Asia Pacific title Mahendra Singh Dhoni, star boxer Mary Kom, former India cricketers @boxervijender." Virender Sehwag and V V S Laxman, said, "CongratulaLaxman, and Haryana and Delhi tions @boxervijender ??You deChief Ministers Manohar Lal serve every bit of the WBO Khattar and Arvind Kejriwal were title??Great sporting news for Inamong those who congratulated dia." Vijender on his achievement. IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla, "Saw a full mch of boxing after who also watched the bout last yrs. thks @boxervijender for mkg night, tweeted, "Great Spirit. INDIA proud, it's just the start ur @boxervijender once again made hrd wrk, dedication and sacrifice India proud. Congrats for winning paid off," Dhoni tweeted. the WBO Asia Pacific Champion"Congratulation@boxervijender," ship." -PTI
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Indian-origin MP in new UK Cabinet LONDON: British lawmaker Alok Sharma has been named Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), becoming the second Indian- origin minister in Prime Minister Theresa May's Cabinet. The 48-year-old MP for Reading West, who had previously served in a special role of Infrastructure Envoy for India in the David Cameron led government, was named in the latest set of junior ministerial posts announced by Downing Street yesterday. He was first elected to the British parliament in May 2010 and was re-elected in May 2015 from Reading West. In his new role in the FCO, Sharma will work closely with newly-appointed foreign secretary Boris Johnson and is likely to be handed the charge of Indian
affairs. The minister who previously held the position, Hugo Swire, has resigned from the government along with Indian-origin peer Bar-
Alok Sharma
oness Sandip Verma, who had served as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Depart-
ment for International Development in the Cameron government. The new Secretary of State in charge of DfID had been announced as Priti Patel last week. While Patel had been a vocal supporter of Britain's exit from the European Union (EU), fellow Indian-origin MP Sharma had campaigned for Remain and even set up a cross-party group called British-Indians for IN. Their presence in the Cabinet reflects May's broader attempt at balancing her Cabinet with pro and anti-Brexit campaigners as her government begins the process of the UK leaving the economic bloc. -PTI
Will not stop construction in SCS: China tells US BEIJING: China will not stop construction on the islands in strategic South China Sea which was awarded to the Philippines by an international tribunal, a top Chinese admiral today said, dismissing the pressure from Washington. "We will never stop our construction on the Nansha (Sparatly) Islands halfway. The Nansha Islands are China's inherent territory, and our necessary construction on the islands is reasonable, justified and lawful," commander of the People's Liberation Army Navy Wu Shengli
China, which boycotted the tribunal's proceedings, rejected the verdict questioning its legality. Describing the security situation in waters around China as "complicated and sensitive", Wu said Richardson's visit will be beneficial for the two countries to strengthen communication, promote trust, resolve doubts and avoid misjudgments. "We will never sacrifice our sovereignty and interests in the South China Sea," Wu was quoted as saying by the state-run Xinhua news agency. He stressed that it is China's
"We will never stop our construction on the Nansha (Sparatly) Islands halfway. The Nansha Islands are China's inherent territory, and our necessary construction on the islands is reasonable, justified and lawful," told his US counterpart Admiral John Richardson during their meeting here. A tribunal appointed by the Permanent Court of Arbitration acting on a petition from the Philippines quashed China's claim of historic rights on the South Chinas Sea last week and upheld Manila's claims over the islands.
"core interest" and concerns the foundation of the ruling Communist Party's governance, the country's security and stability and the Chinese nation's basic interests. Wu said that China will not recede over territorial sovereignty or fear any military provocation, which the Chinese navy is fully
prepared to cope with. He stressed that "no matter what country or person applies pressure," China will push forward and complete island construction as planned. Wu said China will never be caught off guard, and the number of its defence facilities is completely determined by the number of threats it faces. He vowed that China will never give up its efforts to solve the South China Sea issue peacefully, despite "many negative factors at present," but warned that "any attempt to force China to give in through flexing military muscles will only have the opposite effect." The Chinese admiral hoped that the two countries' air and maritime forces will fully follow the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea and the Rules of Behavior for the Safety of Air and Maritime Encounters to avoid strategic misjudgment or exchange of fire, and jointly ensure the peace and stability of the South China Sea. Wu called on the two sides to promote strategic mutual trust, seek common ground, expand the scope of cooperation and create new momentum for China and the US to develop a new type of major-power relations between the two countries. -PTI
Mubarak Begum dies at 80 MUMBAI: Legendary singer Mubarak Begum, best known for crooning the title track of 1961 romantic-drama "Hamari Yaad Aayegi", has passed away after prolonged illness. She was 80.She died yesterday at her residence in suburban Jogeshwari here. "Mubarak Begum is no more with us. She passed away at her residence in Jogeshwari. She was unwell from quite sometime," a family member told PTI. Begum, who gave scores of Hindi film songs and ghazals mainly during 1950s-70s, had not been keeping well for the last few years. She made her Bollywood singing debut with 1949 film "Aiye" in which she had a solo track, "Mohe Aane Lagi Angdai Aaja Aaja", and "Aao Chale Sakhi Wahan" with melody queen Lata Mangeshkar. Through the 1950s and 1960s, Begum worked with the best music directors in the film industry-S D Burman, Shankar Jaikishan and Khayyam-- on movies that starred screen legends like Sunil Dutt, Nargis and Rajendra Kumar. She sang "Woh Na Aayenge Palat Kar" in Bimal Roy's Devdas with music by Burman. Roy used her voice once again in Madhumati (1958), where she
sang "Hum Haal E Dil Sunaenge" for music composer Salil Choudhury. "Kabhi Tanhaiyon Mein Hamari Yaad Aayegi", the title song of Tanuja-starrer "Hamari Yaad Aayegi", remains one of Begum's most remembered tracks. "Neend Ud Jaaye Teri", "Mujh ko Apne Gale Lagalo" and "Humein Dum Daike" with Asha
Mubarak Begum
Bhosle are among her other known songs. "Saanwariya Teri Yaad Mein" from 1980 comedy "Ramu To Diwana Hai" was one of her last tracks. In 2011, the Maharashtra government had sanctioned a financial aid of Rs one lakh for treatment of the singer. Her last rites will take place today, family sources said. -PTI
Separatist Kashmiri groups demonstrate near UN NEW YORK: Separatist Kashmiri groups have held demonstrations outside the premises of India's Permanent Mission to the UN here protesting against the Indian forces in the Valley and demanding UN intervention in the Kashmir issue. The Kashmir American Council led the three-hour protests yesterday attended by women and children as well. Holding banners and placards that read 'Indian Forces Out of Kashmir', 'No Democracy Without Self-Determination' and 'Time to Resolve Kashmir Dispute Now', the protesters shouted slogans demanding "freedom" for Kashmir and its people. The demonstrators also shouted slogans in support of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, who was killed this
month by Indian forces in Kashmir. "The US and other western countries must intervene to stop the human rights violations in Kashmir," Shaheen Khalid Butt, Chairman of the Kashmir Mission USA, said. Ghulam Nabi Fai of World Kashmir Awareness said India and Pakistan must sit at the negotiating table "without any condition from any party" and keep "their horizon open" to find a solution to the Kashmir dispute. Fai has served two years' imprisonment in the US on the charges of working on behalf of Pakistan's ISI. The protesters, demonstrating a few yards away from the UN headquarters, also demanded intervention by the world body to settle the Kashmir issue. -PTI
July 22, 2016
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Kashmiris are our own people: No ban on newspapers in Jammu and Kashmir Rajnath Singh NEW DELHI: Asserting that Kashmiris are "our own people" who are being "misguided", Home Minister Rajnath Singh today ruled out 'plebiscite' and blamed Pakistan for the unrest in the valley while saying that the government will take everybody along in dealing with the issue. Replying to a debate in Rajya Sabha on the Kashmir situation, he affirmed that while militancy will be dealt with sternly, there should be "no instant" use of bullets while dealing with mobs which should first be tackled by the use of teargas and water cannons. The use of pellet guns, which have been blamed for most civilian injuries, would be looked into, regarding which he will talk to Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, Singh said after the discussion during which the opposition parties slammed the government and pressed for a political solution, instead of a use of "the barrel of gun". Singh said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and he himself had asked security forces to exercise maximum restraint in dealing with mob violence which started after the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani in an encounter on July 8. The Home Minister said he had, on Saturday last, expressed desire to visit Kashmir and have a dialogue with the people directly. Mehbooba, while welcoming the offer, told him that after the situation normalises a bit, she will come
are 'na-pak' (not pious)." Referring to the demands for 'plebiscite', he ruled it out, saying it is "outdated" and people of Kashmir are being "misguided" on this issue.
NEW DELHI: Jammu and Kashmir government has told the Centre that there is no ban on publication of newspapers in the Valley, amid the alleged clampdown on media in Kashmir. Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Venkaiah Naidu spoke to Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti last night and sought details of the matter. "Mehbooba Mufti spoke to Venkaiah Naidu last night with regard to the reports of a ban on newspapers in the state. The CM clarified to the Minister that there is no such ban on publication of newspapers in the Valley," a senior I&B official told PTI. Local newspapers have failed to hit the stands for the last three
days in curfew-bound Kashmir after the government's alleged clampdown on media in the wake of widespread protests in the Valley. No local daily--English, Urdu or Kashmiri--was available. Jammu and Kashmir Police had on Friday allegedly closed down the offices of at least two printing presses after seizing plates of newspaper and printed copies in Rangreth Industrial Estate in the outskirts of the city here. Yesterday, Mufti's advisor Amitabh Mattoo had said the decision to ban publication of newspapers in the Valley did not have the consent of the Chief Minister and might have been taken at the local level for which "heads will roll". -PTI
Rajnath Singh
"Kashmiris are our own people. We will bring them on the right path... We will make them aware of the reality," he said. With regard to pellet injuries, particularly the eye injuries, which was raised by Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad, the Home Minister said he will look into the damage caused by it and could not say anything off-hand. He, however, cited some study which had said that in the year 2010, six people had been killed, 198 were injured and 5 blinded because of the use of pellet guns. He said a team of eye specialists has already been sent to Kashmir and the central govern-
Singh said the central government is ready to extend all help to the state government in meeting the situation, including the provision of essential commodities in the curfew-bound valley to Delhi and have a meeting with him to discuss in what format talks can be held, he said. Invoking Atal Bihari Vajpayee's famous remarks of 'Kashmiriyat, Jamhooriyat and Insaniyat' (kashmiriyat, democracy and humanity), he said "If there is any place for Kashmiriyat in 'Jamhooriyat' (democracy), it can be only on the basis of 'Insaniyat' (humanity) and not 'Haivaniyat' (devilish acts). Those believing in Kashmiriyat and Insaniyat, cannot give space to haivaniyat." The Home Minister asserted that "Whatever is happening in Kashmir is Pakistan-sponsored. The name is 'Pakistan', but its acts
should not interfere in India's internal affairs. Slamming Pakistan for its "irresponsible" role, Singh questioned its claim to be the "protector of Islam", asking, "How can a coun-
ment is ready to send even a special plane to airlift any number of people requiring specialised treatment for eyes as also other injuries. Singh said the central government is ready to extend all help to the state government in meeting the situation, including the provision of essential commodities in the curfew-bound valley. With regard to prohibitions on newspapers and mobile internet in Kashmir, he said it should not happen and that he will discuss this issue too with the Chief Minister. He asserted that militancy will be dealt with sternly and Pakistan
try claim to be protector of Islam when it was born on the basis of religion, when it is witnessing bloodshed in the name of religion." He questioned how Pakistan could claim to be concerned about Muslims in India when it itself could not remain united despite being a Muslim nation. "It is for the government of India to look after minorities of India and we will do so, whether it is Muslims, Sikhs, Christians or anybody," Singh asserted, asking Pakistan to lay off. He asked the minorities to "keep faith" in the government, cautioning that there are a "lot of people out to misguide them." "If we remain united, India is in such a position that it can become the world power," he said. Responding to demands by opposition for holding an all-party meeting on Kashmir, Singh said, "I want to assure Rajya Sabha that any action to be taken in Kashmir will be taken after taking everyone in confidence. We don't do politics for forming government, we do politics to make the country great." Blasting those who celebrate the killing of security forces, Singh said, "it is reflective of Haivaniyat (devilish behaviour)." In this context, he criticised those who have described the gunning down of militant Burhan Wani in an encounter as "extrajudicial killing", saying such a mindset is "perverted". "This mindset has been seen whether in the case of Dantewada, Bastar or Kashmir. If security forces are killed, there are celebrations. Such is the perverted mind. We will address it," he said.-PTI
Separatists are stooges of Pakistan JAMMU: BJP Jammu and Kashmir Spokesperson Virender Gupta today claimed that separatists are stooges backed by Pakistan. "People like Sayeed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Yasin Malik are not the stake holders as being proclaimed by some pseudo intelligentsia they are basically stooges of Pakistan," Gupta said in a statement here. He claimed the real stake holders are the refuges from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK),
Kashmiri Pandits and people of Jammu and those of valley and Ladakh. "The present situation in Kashmir valley is the result of the wrong policies pursued by the Congress party at the Centre and National Conference and Congress alliance government in the state," Gupta said. The BJP leader claimed that Congress leaders have not uttered a single word in favour of security personnel to boost their morale. -PTI
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Indian wins CPJ International Press Freedom Award WASHINGTON: A freelance Indian journalist, who was recently attacked and harassed in Chhattisgarh, has won the prestigious 2016 International Press Freedom Award, it was announced today. " M a l i n i Subramaniam, a freelance journalist from India, was attacked and harassed after she reported on human rights abuses and the conflict between Maoist groups and state forces in Chhattisgarh. Earlier this year, Subramaniam fled her home state after being repeatedly harassed and threatened," the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said. Three other journalists -- Mahmoud Abou Zeid, an Egyptian photojournalist also known as "Shawkan", who has been imprisoned since August 2013; Can D ndar, editor-in-chief of the Turkish daily Cumhuriyet, who was sentenced in May to five years and 10 months in prison on
charges of revealing state secrets; and Oscar Martinez, an investigative reporter for the online newsmagazine El Faro in El Salvador -- have also been selected for the award.
Malini Subramaniam
"These four brave journalists have risked their freedom and their lives to report to their societies and the global community about critical news events," said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. Christiane Amanpour, chief in-
ternational correspondent and anchor at CNN, will receive the Burton Benjamin Memorial Award for extraordinary and sustained achievement in the cause of press freedom. "One of the most respected figures in journalism, Christiane Amanpour has reported from the world's major hot spots and has interviewed many world leaders. She has consistently used her own journalism and worked behind the scenes to defend the rights of journalists and uphold press freedom all over the world," said CPJ Chairman Sandra Mims Rowe. "We are proud to present her with the Burton Benjamin Memorial Award, which recognises a lifetime of dedication to her colleagues in the field," he said. The awards would be presented in New York on November 22, 2016. -PTI
India launches 15 India International Skill Centers NEW DELHI: The government is launching 50 India International Skill Centers (IISC) across the country, which will support the youth in getting foreign placement. It introduced 15 centers on Sunday in Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Jharkhand, Bihar, Andhra Pradhesh/Telangana, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Punjab and Rajasthan, Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship said in a statement. The government, which is celebrating its anniversary the first anniversary of Skill India drive, said it would bridge the global shortage of labour force in the coming years by reaping the demographic dividend of young Indian labour force. "In a phased manner we will launch 50 IISC centers in the country, out of which 15 centers are being introduced on Sunday in the states of UP (6), Kerala (2) and one each in Jharkhand, Bihar, Andhra Pradhesh/Telangana, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Punjab and Rajasthan," Minister
of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajiv Pratap Rudy said. The proposed IISC will be set up through the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and implement the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY)
ing, which includes language and soft skills training modules, it added. "Through this initiative, our government intends to create a cadre of highly skilled individuals who are recognized and respected in different parts of the
and Pravasi Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PKVY) to youth seeking global mobility for jobs. Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) shall provide support for Pre-Departure Orientation Train-
world and make India s Flag fly high," Rudy added. IISCs are envisaged to provide complete training and certification programme to youth intending to migrate overseas for work. -PTI
India, Malaysia to tackle ISIS jointly NEW DELHI: India and Malaysia today agreed to proactively cooperate with each other in combating the menace of ISIS, which is growing its spread in the two countries. In a delegation-level meeting with the visiting Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Dato Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi here, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said India is concerned about the danger of increased ISIS activities in democratic countries like India and Malaysia. "They (ISIS) have started using our countries as recruiting
port, he said India continues to be concerned about terrorists who plan their terrorist activities from abroad. Recalling the repeated terrorist attacks from across the border, including the attack on the Pathankot IAF Station and the attack on a CRPF convoy at Pampore, Singh said such acts, even if perpetrated in our neighbourhood, certainly have broader repercussions since they feed into the larger terrorist activities taking place worldwide through Al Qaeda, ISIS etc. Expressing satisfaction on the close bilateral security coopera-
Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister of Malaysia, Dato Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi meeting the Union Home Minister, Rajnath Singh, in New Delhi on July 18
grounds and attract our youngsters with their extremist ideology," he said. Singh said if democracies do not address it internally and if countries do not cooperate with each other through strong intelligence sharing, it will be increasingly difficult to stop this ideology from poisoning the minds of youngsters. "India is also interested in knowing more about Malaysia's radicalisation programme," he said. The Home Minister proposed more regular meetings of the Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crimes besides those under ambit of the MoU on Cyber Security Cooperation signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Malaysia last November. The Home Minister said MHA is studying the comments of Malaysia on the draft MoU on Combating Transnational Crime and expressed hope it would be signed expeditiously. Singh expressed hoped the MoU on Transfer of Sentenced Prisoners will be fast-tracked. Seeking Kaula Lumpur's sup-
tion, especially over counter-terrorism, Singh lauded Malaysia for its cooperation over the last few years in apprehending some of the terrorists who were wanted in India. "We appreciate the close cooperation between our security agencies, particularly the Malaysian Special Branch on CounterTerrorism which has been working closely with the Intelligence Bureau," he said. The two sides also discussed the issues such as Extradition Treaty and Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN). The visiting delegation presented a copy of the Integrated Rehabilitation Module for Detainees in Malaysia. The Indian delegation comprised the Ministers of State for Home Affairs Gangaram Hansraj Ahir and Kiren Rijiju and Senior Officers of MHA while the Malaysian delegation included Deputy Secretary General (Bilateral Affairs), Dato Muhammad Shahrul Ikram Yaakob, High Commissioner of Malaysia to India, Datuk Naimun Ashakli Mohammad and other Officers. PTI
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Gadkari addresses GITPRO in Silicon Valley India Post News Service
SILICON VALLEY, CA: Global Indian Technology Professionals Associaton GITPRO organized a welcome reception for Mr. Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways; and Shipping, Govt. of India in Silicon Valley. Gadkari appealed Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and professionals to bring innovation and technology to connect with Startup India, Make In India and Digital India. GITPRO founder, Khanderao mentioned that GITPRO is committed for the mission of connect-
construction per day had been 2 km per day and it has now reached to 20km per day and he promised that by next April it would be 41km per day. He also announced that
ing Startup India. During his address to hundreds of tech professionals and entrepreneurs, he high-lighted various achievements under his leadership. He said that average road
his ministry ordered equipment from Australia to construct a road to Manas Sarovar from Uttarakhand via Himalaya. He mentioned that the logistic overhead in India is 18% that he plans
Chandigarh,Sikkim parks amongst UNESCO's World Heritage list ISTANBUL/NEW DELHI: UNESCO today listed Chandigarh and Sikkim's national park home to the world's third highest peak Mount Khangchendzonga among its World Heritage Sites, approving all three nominations linked to
Corbusier's works - including the Indian city of Chandigarh which he planned in the 1950s - among its World Heritage Sites. It said the 17 sites spread over seven countries are a "testimonial to the invention of a new archi-
India this session. Today's approval is besides the archaeological site of Nalanda Mahavihara (Nalanda University) in Bihar entering the list at the 40th session of The World Heritage Committee meeting in Istanbul. The meeting had resumed for a day today, after being suspended a day earlier due to a failed coup bid in Turkey which claimed over 260 lives. The Paris-based body listed Franco-Swiss architect Le
tectural language that made a break with the past". "The Complexe du Capitole in Chandigarh (India), the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo (Japan), the House of Dr Curutchet in La Plata (Argentina) and the Unite d'habitation in Marseille (France) reflect the solutions that the Modern Movement sought to apply during the 20th century to the challenges of inventing new architectural techniques to respond to the needs of society.-PTI
to reduce to 8% by expediting Expressway networks. He provided a solution that he is working on Delhi traffic congestion and pollution by providing bypass expressways around Delhi connecting the neighboring states. He emphasized that Sagar Mala is one of the key initiates from his ministry for a low cost transportations via rivers. He also mentioned how the government plans
to use waterways as a mode of transporting cargo and people within the country. While emphasizing a philosophy behind the governance he said, politics is an instrument for socio economic transformation. Fast track decision making, transparency, innovation, team work and corruption free execution is the mode of governance under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi.
Mr. Gadkari's work in converting "waste to wealth" and "knowledge to wealth" are helping in projects related to waste management, power generation to name a few. Mr. Gadkari was accompanied by senior delegates from the ministry and Consul General of India: Sri. Venkatesan Ashok. Over 325 professionals had atteded the event.
Horoscope
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July 22, 2016
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July 22nd - July 28th 2016 Please send your birthday, place of birth and time, so I can give you your zodiac sign, according to Vedic astrology. Send to Jaysastrology@gmail.com
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rofessional matters may face obstructions. Health of the spouse is better. Health of father starts improving. Handle relationship matters with patience. Continue to work with patience up to September, 2016. It is better to avoid haste, conflicts and unnecessary driving.Take care of your health and don't get involved in arguments. Obstructions are likely in income up to September, 2016.
he professional matters look up.Some of you may be rewarded or your work gets recognition.If birth planets are strong those who are expecting promotion, may get the same.Social interaction increases.The new professional opportunities are likely.Avoid conflicting situations during 2016, and take due care of your health. Exercise patience and avoid over ambitiousness.
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he professional matters continue to face stress.Handle relationship matters with patience.Child may need help. Avoid haste, conflicts, speculation, aggressive behaviour and unnecessary driving. Conflicts and financial concerns are likely to continue. Take care. Enemies are likely to trouble. Conflicts will put you to harm. Manage obstructions with due patience.
he professional matters look good.Handle relationship and property matters with patience.Take care of the health of the parents and children.The social interaction increases.It is better to excercise patience and avoid conflicts and unnecessary driving. Mental peace at home is disturbed, sudden setback and obstructions remedy is staying calm avoiding being at wrong place at wrong time.
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he week is good for those who are in job and for students.Some of you are likely to get promoted.Those who are appearing in selections may get good results. The new professional opportunities may be rewarding.The week brings some good news for the family.The child may also bring some happy news.Work with patience.
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rofessional matters look good and some additional income is likely.Some of you may be rewarded or promoted. Some stress is likely.Some health concern is likely for parents. Incidence of difficulties is indicated for those who are in foreign lands.Better to avoid unnecessary driving. Work with patience. Take care of your relationship matters.Some immune disorder is likely.
he professional matters may face difficulties. Things are likely to improve on this front after a month. Some sudden expenses and losses are likely.Business ventures may develop some problem.Eye and Dental problems may arise. Changes in status or trouble to status. Losses and expenses may arise for those in foreign land. Focus on father and spiritual leader.
rofessional matters are looking up.Better mental peace is seen.Some additional income is likely.Stay away from manipulations. Take care of your health. Avoid aggressive behaviour and haste up to September, 2016.Silence is golden for you.Better to avoid driving and conflicts. Issues with abdominal areas may arise. Debts,theft and fire, litigation problems may be seen.
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he professional matters look good.Some additional income is seen.Keep new ventures pending. Work with patience. The mental stress eases.Take care of your health. Avoid haste, conflicts, unnecessary driving/ travel.Handle obstructions and relationship matters with care up to September, 2016. Some additional expenses are likely. Focus on younger brother or sister.
he professional and in come matters face obstructions. The new professional opportunities should be put on hold.The child may need special attention upto September, 2016.Avoid speculation. Patience is the best medicine during this year. Avoid starting new venture, focus on younger siblings. Losses and expenses due to business especially those in foreign land.
he professional matters look good.Some new gainful opportunities are likely.Manage/avoid conflicts in family matters with patience.Health of parents cause concern. Relationship and business partners may face dispute and conflict handle with patience. Avoid starting conflicts and arguments. May face sudden setback and obstructions, delays and loss of inheritance.
he professional matters continue to face concerns and conflicts. Some health concerns are likely.The incidence of conflicts, obstructions and sudden setbacks continues. Health of spouse may cause concerns.It is better to avoid unnecessary driving.Manage persisting difficulties with patience. Relationship avoid conflict and arguments with partner and also business partners.
This weekly horoscope is more focused and accurate as these are based on ascending signs. The ascending sign is worked out on the basis of your date, time and place of birth. You will find the predictions at other places based on your Sun sign or Moon sign. The Sun remains in one sign of zodiac for one month whereas the Moon remains in one sign for about 54 hours. It is the ascending sign, which changes every couple of hours." That is how this site offers you more focused predictions.
JATIN P - ACHARYA MIHIR • JAYSASTROLOGY@GMAIL.COM • 630-675-7148
July 22, 2016
India Post 13 www.indiapost.com
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July 22, 2016
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Killing of Ahmadis is celebrated in Pakistan
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he Ordinance promulgated by the President (of Pakistan) on April 26, 1984, goes a long way in accepting the most extreme demands and transforms much of the daily life of the Community into a criminal offence. -Yohanan Friedman, Prophecy Continuous (1989) On June 4, 2016, an Ahmadi doctor, identified as Dr. Hameed Ahmed (65), was shot dead by unidentified militants in the Islam Colony area of Attock District of Punjab. Dr Hameed had been facing threats and intimidation on account of being an Ahmadi. In 2014, his clinic had survived an attempted arson attack. On May 25, 2016, another Ahmadi, identified as Daud Ahmad (55), was killed in a targeted attack while he was waiting for his friend outside his house in the Gulzar-e Hijri area of Gulshan Town in Karachi, the provincial capital of Sindh. On March 2, 2016, in another such attack, an Ahmadi, identified as Qamarul Zia (35), was killed for his faith in the Kot Abdul Malik city of the Sheikhupura District of Punjab. Zia was killed while he was leaving his house to fetch his children from school. Zia's murder marked the first killing of an Ahmadi in 2016. Zia had survived several attacks in the past. Six months ago, he was attacked by cadres of the Majlis-e-Tahaffuz-e-Khatm-eNubuwwat (MTKN/Organization for the Preservation of the End of Prophethood.) Zia had also been attacked by some religious clerics in 2012. According to Persecution of Ahmadis, an organization that documents violence against Ahamdis in Pakistan and rest of the world, at least 194 Ahmadis have been killed in Pakistan since 2001 [data till 2015]. Two Ahmadis were killed in 2015, 11 in 2014, seven in 2013, 10 in 2012, five in 2011, 99 in 2010, 11 in 2009, six in 2008, five in 2007, three in 2006, 11 in 2005, one in 2004, three in 2003, nine in 2002 and 11 in 2001. According to South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP) data, at least three Ahmadis have been killed in targeted attacks in 2016, thus far (Data till June 19, 2016). In the worst ever attack on the Ahmadis, at least 86 worshippers of the community were killed and another 98 were severely injured in a suicide attack at Darul Zikr and Baitul Noor mosques in the Model Town and Garhi Shahu areas of Lahore, the provincial capital of Punjab, on May 28, 2010. Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack and congratulated Pakistanis, calling people of the Ahmadiyya community "enemies of Islam and common people". The outfit urged Pakistanis to take the "initiative" and kill every such person in "rage". Ahmadis differ with other Muslim sects over the finality of Prophet Muhammad as the last Prophet. The Ahmadi branch of Islam was founded on March 23, 1889, by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in Qadian town of prepartition Punjab. They believe in the Prophethood of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, and have endured discrimination and violent persecution for holding this belief. An estimated 10 to 20 million Ahmadis live all over the world, representing 1 per
AMBREEN AGHA
cent of the total Muslim population. The core community lives in Pakistan, mainly in Punjab and Sindh Provinces. The estimated population of Ahmadis in Pakistan is 2-4 million out of the total population of over 192 million, amounting to 3.1 per cent to 4.2 per cent of the total. The campaign against Ahmadis started soon after Independence in 1947, when religious clerics in the newly created Pakistan demanded that Ahmadis be declared a nonMuslim minority, and that Pakistan's first Ahmadi Foreign Minister, Muhammad Zafrullah Khan, be removed from the cabinet for adopting Articles 18 and 19 of Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR, 1948), providing for the freedom of conscience and freedom to change one's religion. Khan had then argued that these articles were compatible with and recognized under Islamic Law (Shariah), and declared the adoption of the provisions of the UDHR as an "epoch making event." Article 18 of UDHR influenced Article 20 of the then Pakistan Constitution, which read: Subject to law, public order and morality: (a) every citizen shall have the right to profess, practice and propagate his religion;
cifically restricting the activities of Ahmadis. Zia-ul-Haq issued the last two laws as part of Martial Law Ordinance XX, on April 26, 1984, suppressing the activities of religious minorities, specifically including the Ahmadis, by prohibiting them from "directly or indirectly posing as Muslims." Since then, a number of Ahmadi Muslims have been jailed for either reciting the Qur'an, or praying like a Muslim, or identifying themselves as Muslims. Even as the persecution of Ahmadis was legalized and institutionalized in Pakistan, the hard-line Islamist clergy demanded a systematic purge of the Ahmadis. Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) aggressively pushed this agenda and its leaders boasted of the anti-Ahmadi initiatives as the Party's most noteworthy achievement. Indeed, even today, former Prime Minister and PPP leader Raja Parvez Ashraf, speaking at a political rally in Kotli, Azad Kashmir, on April 29, 2016, declared, No one has been able to compete with Pakistan People's Party, if someone has served Islam! Only the Government of Martyr Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto did it. 90 Year Old Problem, the Problem of Qadianis [Ahmadis]
The anti-Ahmadi culture and sentiment thrives with the unchecked circulation of hate literature. The anti-Ahmadi text 'Tohfa Qadianiat' written by Maulvi Yusuf Ludhianvi, in which he urges ' true Muslims' to "not to leave a single Qadiani alive on earth", is openly sold across Pakistan (b) every religious denomination and every sect thereof shall have the right to establish, maintain and manage its religious institutions. Violence against Ahmadis started in March 1953, engulfing Punjab to claim over a dozen lives. However, the persecution of Ahmadis was systematically institutionalized on September 6, 1974, when the Pakistan National Assembly under the leadership of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto declared them as a 'non-Muslim minority'. The process to dilute the provisions of Article 20 was, in fact, initiated by Bhutto, in 1974. Later, in 1984, President General Zia-ulHaq issued an ordinance to amend the Objectives Resolution of 1949, in an effort to placate Muslim clerics and establish the principal of religious conformity in Pakistan. Under this resolution, Pakistan was to be modeled on the ideology and democratic faith of Islam and all rules and regulations were to be framed in consonance with Islam, allowing a greater role to the Ulema, who felt emboldened by this recognition. Thereafter, five Criminal Ordinances explicitly or principally targeting religious minorities were passed by Parliament in 1984. These new laws restricted the freedom of faith for Ahmadis, among others. The five ordinances included a law against blasphemy; a law punishing the defiling of the Qur'an; a prohibition against insulting the wives, family or companions of the Prophet of Islam; and two laws spe-
who challenged the Prophethood of Prophet Muhammad PBUH, (PPP) shut them up, broke their neck and buried the [Ahmadi] Problem (sic). The rally was also attended by PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and another former PPP Prime Minister, Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani. Such statements by a former Prime Minister reek of hate and intolerance and are a demonstration of the dangers of religious prejudice and persecution that are nurtured by the Pakistani establishment and that have now travelled beyond Pakistan's borders. The ideology of intolerance and hate, which triggered the growth of extremism in Pakistan, also operates within the Pakistani Diaspora. The hatred for the Ahmadi has thus been exported to western countries as well. Recently, in an unprecedented antiAhmadi incident in the UK, an Ahmadi shopkeeper, identified as Asad Shah (40), was stabbed to death by another British Muslim in Scotland on March 24, 2016. Shah's killer was identified as Tanveer Ahmad, a 32-year old Pakistani Muslim. Ahmad expressed no regrets for killing Shah and claimed that he had committed the act because Shah had "disrespected Islam," and was a blasphemer. Significantly, Ahmad received praise from radical Sunni groups for this "courageous act". The Aalmi Majlis Tahaffuz Khatm-eNubuwwat (AMTKN / International Organization for the Preservation of the End of
Prophethood), the sister organization of the MTKN, congratulated all Muslims on Asad's cold-blooded murder on its Facebook page, in a gloating message "congratulation to All Muslims." Further, on April 10, 2016, leaflets calling for the killing of members of the Ahmadi sect were found in the Stockwell Green Mosque located in south London. The leaflets warned Ahmadis to either convert to 'mainstream Islam' within three days or face "capital punishment" [death]. Back in Pakistan, a Canadian cardiologist, identified as Mehdi Ali Qamar (51), was shot dead on his return to his home in the Chenab Nagar town (also known as Rabwah) of Chiniot District in the Punjab Province on May 24, 2014. Qamar had come to Pakistan on a short visit to render voluntary service to the Tahir Cardiac Hospital and was killed outside the Ahmadi graveyard located in Rabwah. Shah's murder in Glasgow and the targeted sectarian killings in Pakistan bring an embedded culture of sectarian hatred to the forefront. This culture is fostered by organizations like MTKN that have gained political, legal and constitutional legitimacy in the 'Land of the Pure'. MTKN was established by its mother organization, Majlis Ahrar Islam Pakistan (Organization for the freedom of Islam in Pakistan) prior to the 1953 anti-Ahmadi riots and soon after the partition of the subcontinent. It declares on its website, Its sole aim has been and is to unite all the Muslims of the world to safeguard the sanctity of Prophethood and the finality of Prophethood and to refute the repudiators of the belief in the finality of Prophethood of the Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad. The MTKN cult of violence against the Ahmadis, which includes endured discrimination, violent persecution, criminalization of identity, vandalizing of mosques and homes; and desecration of graves, has been transported to the west. A 2010 AMTKN calendar read, "The only cure of Qadianis (Ahmadis): Al Jihad, Al Jihad." The anti-Ahmadi culture and sentiment thrives with the unchecked circulation of hate literature. The anti-Ahmadi text 'Tohfa Qadianiat' written by Maulvi Yusuf Ludhianvi, in which he urges ' true Muslims' to "not to leave a single Qadiani alive on earth", is openly sold across Pakistan. Significantly, on June 10, 2011, the All Pakistan Students Khatm-e-Nubuwwat Federation, the student wing of the MTKN, issued pamphlets branding members of the Ahmadiyya community as "wajib-ul-qatl" (obligatory to be killed). The pamphlet, circulated in the Faisalabad District of Punjab Province, read, "To shoot such people is an act of jihad and to kill such people is an act of sawab (blessing)." Worse, in an outrageous attempt to further restrict the religious freedom of Ahmadis, the Government of Punjab on May 10, 2015, banned more than 90 books and publications by the members of the Ahmadi community. These books primarily include the whole body of work by the founder of the community. The writer is Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management
July 22, 2016
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India Post 15
Desi News 2016 South Asian Spelling Bee winners India Post News Service
ATLANTA: The South Asian Spelling Bee, now sponsored by Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company with its acquisition of MetLife's Premiere Client Group, continues its legacy in its ninth year. In the Spelling Bee's quest to find the best spellers in the South Asian community, families arrived this past weekend to participate in the daylong regional's in Atlanta and Charlotte. In the Atlanta Regional, Sreeniketh Vogoti (13) of Saint Johns, Florida was the regional champ, Navya Murugesan (14) of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was the first runner up, and Pavani Chittemsetty (10) of Bentonville, Arkansas, was second runner up. Details on page 18
FOG highlights severity of sex crimes JUSTIN (JASPREET) SIDHU
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exual crime against youth is a press-ing and unfortunately ubiquitous issue that continues to draw major attention worldwide. Its causes and effects extend beyond cultural boundaries of region, religion, race, gender, or age. This problem is simply occurring anywhere and everywhere. For example, in the United States, one in five girls and one in twenty boys fall victim to sexual abuse. This may sound disturbing, but it is nowhere close to the extreme cases of the problem; in India, surveys and studies have shown that over half of the subjects have been victims of sexual crimes. Details on page 21
COMMUNITY ACROSS AMERICA
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Yoga and Ayurveda at Harvard Symposium
July 22, 2016
Details on page 22
Naperville Indian Community to host India Day Parade RAMESH SOPARAWALA & HARISH RAO
CHICAGO: Naperville Indian Community Outreach(ICO) in association with City of Naperville and Indian Consulate will be hosting the second grand India Day Parade and celebration on August 14, 2016 (Sunday) to mark the 70th anniversary of India's independence. Announcing this at an ethnic Indian media press briefing, Krishna Bansal, the Outreach President said that they expect anywhere between 10,000 to 15,000 Several thousand people from Chicago and suburbs to attend the event which is being held in downtown Naperville. This event has the distinction of being the 2nd India Day Parade backed by any city in America, he added. Naperville Mayor Steve Chirico and Consul General of India in Chicago, Dr. Ausaf Sayeed, will be chief guests, Sunidhi Chauhan, Indian's sensational singer will be the Parade Marshal. The India Day Parade will serve as a showcase of India's rich and diverse culture with estimated 100 parade entries, said Viral Shah,the Outreach Treasurer. Colorfully decorated floats organized by Indian cultural associations, local businesses and political organizations along with multiple colorful dance performers will be the highlight. Spectators will be treated to
a rich variety of Indian cuisine, ethnic arts, apparel and jewelry. The Parade will be followed by a concert with a top Bollywood singer from India, Sunidhi Chauhan and her troupe. It will be the first India Day in America with a concert of this kind with the free entry for everyone, Shah said.
chairman, Krishna Bansal, has been appointed by the Mayor of Naperville. Bansal said that he and his team are excited to have the ICO organize this pioneering event. "Indian Americans are now a significant part of Naperville's population, both in numbers and im-
fessionals which is over 70 percent are first generation immigrants from India. Several South Asian community leaders, restaurants, businesses and cultural organizations have come forward to support the event. While Ashfaq Syed, Member of the Organizing Committee
ICO Organizers addressing media meet From to Right, Nimesh Jani, Viral Shah, Krishna Bansal, Ashfaq Syed and Vinod Vashisth
The ICO is a non-partisan and a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to preserve and promote the cultural heritage and contributions of Indian Americans while promoting their integration in the growth of Naperville. Its
pact," he said. The community which has seen a dramatic growth since the nineties, now comprises of over 10 percent of the suburb's total population. Moreover, with the recent influx of information technology workers and other pro-
said that among other dignitaries invited include the Governor, Senator, Congressman, State and Local elected representatives and prominent leaders of the Naperville community. Cont’d on page 19
July 22, 2016
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18 India Post
Community Across America
July 22, 2016
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2016 South Asian Spelling Bee winners India Post News Service
ATLANTA: The South Asian Spelling Bee, now sponsored by Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company with its acquisition of MetLife's Premiere Client Group, continues its legacy in its ninth
In the Atlanta Regional, Sreeniketh Vogoti (13) of Saint Johns, Florida was the regional champ, Navya Murugesan (14) of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was the first runner up, and Pavani Chittemsetty (10) of Bentonville, Arkansas, was second runner up.
Atlanta Winner (Left to Right): Rahul Walia, founder of The MetLife South Asian Spelling Bee, Sreeniketh Vogoti, regional champion, Navya Murugesan, first runner-up, and Pavani Chittemsetty, second runner-up
year. In the Spelling Bee's quest to find the best spellers in the South Asian community, families arrived this past weekend to participate in the daylong regional's in Atlanta and Charlotte.
In Seattle, Snehaa Ganesh Kumar (13) from Folsom, California was named regional champ, Siyona Mishra (12) from Orlando, Florida was first runner up, and Akshra Paimagam (13) of Char-
lotte, North Carolina, was the second runner-up. The South Asian Spelling Bee is designed to attract top talent and new spellers and to encourage participants as young as five to interact with other spellers; gain stage confidence; acquire camera savvy; and compete for coveted prizes and titles. The event is open to children of South Asian descent up to 14 years of age. It gives them the opportunity to test their spelling skills within their core peer group. Interested spellers should have their parent or guardian register them online at www.SouthAsianSpellingBee.com. Organized by Touchdown Media Inc., the South Asian Spelling Bee is conducted in 12 locations across the United States starting June 11. Regional level events will be held in Los Angeles, the Bay Area, Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Seattle, Atlanta, Charlotte, Washington, D.C. Metro, New Jersey, New York and Boston. In addition, Accra, Ghana, was announced as the thirteenth location from which spellers of South Asian descent will qualify for the finals. All events are free to attend and open to the public. "It's been a great experience building this platform, and we as a team now look forward to this new inning with MassMutual to further expand and create a veritable platform for the community," said Rahul Walia, founder of the South Asian Spelling Bee and CEO of Touchdown Media Inc. "We are excited to be part of the Spelling Bee program," said Wonhong Lee, Assistant Vice President, Diverse Markets, MassMutual Financial Group. "We understand this event emphasizes the importance of education within the South Asian
community. It naturally aligns with MassMutual's mission to provide financial education and promote financial health in the communities we serve." The top two spellers of each regional competition will advance to the August finals in New Jersey. As in previous years, the $10,000 champion's grand prize will be awarded to the top winner. Along with MassMutual, food brand Britannia came on board as a sponsor of the event. Britannia Industries Limited is India's leading food company and marketer of cookies, dairy products and bread.
ing healthy, fresh and delicious food, Britannia is a household name among South Asian consumers. This unique platform will help Britannia to reach out to Generation Z and showcase some of its popular brands like "Milk Bikis" and the new introduction, "Milk Bikis Creams," which are perfectly suited for the budding spellers. "Kawan is proud to return as a sponsor and we have tremendous faith in contributing towards crucial family time for the community. We look forward to getting to know the spellers and their families through this wonderful jour-
Charlotte Winner (Left to Right): Rahul Walia, founder of The MetLife South Asian Spelling Bee, Siyona Mishra, first runner-up, Snehaa Ganesh Kumar, regional champ, and Akshra Paimagam, second runner-up
In addition, Kawan, the world's most popular Roti paratha brand, returned as a sponsor. As always, SONY Entertainment Television Asia is the exclusive broadcast partner for the MetLife South Asian Spelling Bee and will be airing the series across 120 countries. Britannia is extremely happy and excited to continue its association with this platform as a presenting sponsor. With its 120-plus years of golden heritage of mak-
ney," said Tim Tan, Managing Director, Kawan Food. "Year over year, the South Asian Spelling Bee has made for great programing that gels with our ethos of compete family entertainment. We are all about family values and encourage platforms such as these that highlight the talent of our community," said Jaideep Janakiram, Head of North America, Sony Entertainment TelevisionAsia.
Fremont Temple appoints new head priest RITU MAHESHWAR India Post News Service
FREMONT, CA: Over the years, Fremont Hindu Temple has been expanding its services and reach to the devotees. There has been an increasing number of prayer services, personal support to devotees in supporting their religious needs. In order to streamline temple pujas, and ensure ample coverage, Pandit Viswaprasad Kristipati was appointed as head priest to facilitate various Puja offerings. To celebrate the occasion, Dr.
Romesh Japra, Chairman and Founding member, temple trustees; Rajesh Verma, Manorama Joshi, Deepak Chhabra, priests;
Kalyan Sharma, Kumar Swami, Ravikant; devotees were there at the Fremont Hindu Temple and offered their tributes.
Community Across America
July 22, 2016
India Post 19
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Gandhi Samaj celebrates annual picnic Asian Media USA
CHICAGO: Chicago Gandhi Samaj of Chicago celebrated its 32nd Annual Summer picnic with fun, games, social and great food with over 300 members and their families participating. Summer picnic was the first event of the year after last year's Diwali program and it started with traditional style Fafda Jalebi, Marcha and Chutney and Tea in morning . Tea was sponsored by Rajnikantbhai Kumudben Bharucha family. Adults and Kids kicked off with popular musical chair and lemon spoon race. They had so much fun with these games, and it has be-
Gandhi Samaj of Chicago celebrated its 32nd Annual Summer picnic with fun, games, participated by kids and youth alike
come one of the rituals for our summer picnic" said Roma Bhagat,
Hiren Ghayal and Hiral Gandhi, from the games committee.
Samanvita glides through historic dance performance
Special lunch was served which include eggplant, potato curry, okra, tomato ,vegetable, and masala chicken was cooked on site by Sankalp restaurant. Soon after lunch another round of games for kids was organized such as sack race and limbo. Kids were
distributed water guns as the game prizes. Everyone enjoyed the beautiful weather and socializing with each other. The day ended with sundae cones ice-cream for everyone. Keyur thanked Ashwin Gandhi for arranging the ice-cream. Picnic was also attended by several FIA dignitaries.
ANITHA NAGENDRA
ST LOUIS: A Midwest city, St Louis had a beautiful Kathak (a classical Indian form of dance) performance on Saturday, July 9. by a 14 year old Samanvita Kasthuri, a student of Parkway
small dance numbers praising the god of dancing, Shiva in the form of Nataraja in "Pashunam Pathi and Nataraja Kshitiraja". The songs described the beauty of celestial dancing of "Nataraja", the creator
Tabla virtuoso, Guru Naren Budhkar giving excellent support
School district with live music in the state of Missouri. Born into a family of dancers, musicians, authors and Yoga practitioners, dance and music have come easily to the talented young artist who gave her first dance recital at age four. Her long dedication came to fruition last Saturday when she danced brilliantly with extreme grace, alacrity and ease during Rang Pravesh. Trained by her father and Guru Prasanna Kasthuri for the last ten years, she began her Rang Pravesh recital with a Rang Pooja, a salutation to the stage and to the deities of dance. In the opening dance number itself, Samanvita seemed completely in control of her extremely movements, exemplary rhythms and understated expressions, She continued with a couple of
of dance. Samanvita was extremely tranquil with the next lyri-
furled as she delicately performed the message of oneness with God and nature. A pure technical number "ShuddhNritya" followed next proving The dancer and the tabla virtuoso - Guru Naren Budhkar exchanged complicated rhythmic patterns on the tabla and footwork. The complex rhythmic patterns in three and four speeds in combinations of dadra (6 beats), Teen taal (16 beats) and Dhamaar (14 beats) proved the brilliance of this art form and the mastery of the young dancer. This dance number showed the taalim (practice) she endured during her preparation time. Samanvita also proved that she had an exceptional flair for enacting a crucial part of Kathak, facial expressions, in the next two lyricals, a bhajan JhoolathaRadha sang Giridhari and thumri -
Samanvita Kasthuri presenting beautiful dance performances during her Rang Pravesh
cal, 'Tenavina' a poem by Indian National poet - Kuvempu, from Mysore. The superb dance choreography of Guru Prasanna un-
ChedonaNandkesunahu. Both songs were based on the popular Hindu god Krishna. Cont’d on page 20
Presdient Keyur and V Presdient Hitesh
Naperville Indian Community to host India Day Parade Cont’d from page 16
Nimesh Jani, board member ICO and leader of event logistics explained that parade will begin at Naperville Central High School in Naperville at 5 pm and end at Knoch Park, 724 S West St, Naperville where the celebration/ concert will kick off. While providing outline of the event, he emphasized this to be an excellent opportunity for local businesses and groups to partner, participate and gain visibility. The parade may be seen as a symbol of the rapid growth of the Indian American community in the Chicago suburbs. From 1990 to 2010, Indian-Americans became the largest Asian ethnic group in Illinois, according to data from the last census. Demographers and Indian community leaders say they expect that the figures will
increase even more as highly educated Indians continue to fill jobs in the computer industry and change the face of the suburbs. Ashfaq Syed pointed out that Naperville is home to more than 15,000 Indian-Americans, making it the suburb with the largest & growing population of the community in the area outside Chicago. Indian-Americans have been contributing greatly in the fields of business, medicine, information technology and as the leaders of large corporations. Vinod Vashisth and Ashfaq Syed emphersized the importance of getting second generation Indian Americans to participate in this type of events. Vashisth further added, that in the last year India Day Parade, hundreds of second generation Indian Americans volunteered and this year the number should be still higher.
20 India Post
Community Across America
July 22, 2016
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No "Persuasion" needed to see this gem.... ARCHANA ASTHANA
P
ulled from ordinary situations, Jane Austen's final play, "Persuasion" was deftly presented by seasoned actors from the Livermore Shakespeare Festival (LSF), under the direction of the talented Mary Ann Rodgers and performed at the verdant Wente Estate Winery and Tasting Room in Livermore. As with any outdoor performance, the plot, characters and scene setting obviously play a big role; however, the scenic vineyard and the unique raised, circular stage with access for actors from four radiating entry boardwalks increased audience engagement by providing unrestricted viewing from any angle. The period costumes and language, the sometimes rapid movements on stage certainly fully commanded audience's rapt attention. Tasty bites of pizza with interesting toppings, along with dainty sips of Wente's Reisling (among other offerings for sale) added to the ambience. If one really needed to find faults, we can blame the chilly evening, but most viewers were
well prepared and tucked cozily in blankets during the performance. I hope the adrenaline of the actors kept them warm! As it was a Family Night Preview, the audience had its fair share of all age groups...children.....young, and not so young, parents, uncles, aunts and grandparents, equally delighted to be bonding and sharing this enjoyable evening. To set the stage, in the networking hour before the performance, to use Silicon Valley parlance, several costumed persons mingled and engaged with the audience and showcased the Jane Austen Society of Northern America. A charming older couple, dressed as residents of Uppercross, a locale in the play, regaled us with stories of how the costume was put to-
gether as part of their participation in the Greater Bay Area Costume Guild, Sufficiently charmed by these interactions, we were fully prepped for being swept up in the old English plot and characters of "Persuasion". This being one of Jane Austen's last play, published posthumously in 1818, reflects the growing maturity of her body of works. Of course, like all her other works, this too focuses on marital situations and happy endings. She subtly brings out the flawed characters of the titled upper class, and the ridiculous situations they find themselves in with great wit, humor and satire. In a conversation with Jennifer LeBlanc, who adapted the original for the stage, she emphasized how important it was to preserve the most Jane Austen-esque parts alive, and display the humor in the human condition and the flaws of the characters. One of those is, Sir Walter Elliot, endearingly played by Malcolm Rodgers, who, along with his daughters, is forced to rent out his family's ancestral home, Kellynch Hall because of his
wasteful ways, and move to Bath to keep expenses under control. The renters turn out to be Admiral and Mrs. Croft, who,meet the high society standards of Sir Elliot. Mrs. Croft's brother happens to be the Captain Frederick Wentworth, commandingly acted by Patrick Kelly Jones, the man that Sir Elliot's daughter, Anne had fallen in love with eight years ago, but chose not to marry after being persuaded by Mrs. Russell, a trusted family friend that he did not rank high enough in society of the time to be worthy of her. Majority of the action in this play takes place in the towns of Bath, Lyme and Uppercross, conjuring up images of the charming and rustic English countryside, although no actual visuals could
be presented in the outdoor venue. Anne visits her sister at Uppercross, the impulsive Mary Musgrove, acted by the personable Caitlin Everson, and interacts
In a final twist, the star crossed and separated lovers unite after Captain Wentworth expresses his undying love for Anne that has endured during the separation of
with her sisters in law, Louisa and Henrietta. Inevitably, Captain Wentworth, upon returning from the sea visits his sister, Mrs. Croft at Bath and runs into Anne. However, she finds him paying copious attention to the Musgrove sisters, charmingly played by Deborah Lagin as Louisa, and Wenona Truong as Henrietta. In fact, when Louisa takes a bad fall on a trip to Lyme, he stays back to nurse her back to health, leaving Anne fretting. Meanwhile in Bath, Anne, receives the sole attention of Mr. Elliot, the rakishly handsome Thomas Gorrebeek, a cousin of hers, and an heir to the baronetcy; who has reconciled differences with his uncle and her father, Sir Walter and apologized. As the plot thickens, Anne learns of Mr. Elliot's past mistreatment of her old school friend, Mrs. Smith, who reveals that he does not have honorable intentions with regards to wanting to marry Anne. His motives seem to be about ensuring a path to the baronetcy through marital alliance with Anne, as he fears that Sir Walter might marry Mrs. Clay, with whom he spends a lot of time, and sire an heir. In typical Jane Austen maneuvers, both Musgrove sisters announce their engagements, Henrietta to a cousin of hers, and Louisa to a Captain Benwick, who happened to be also staying at Lyme. Anne receives the news with much relief, as now, unencumbered by the spurned Mr. Elliot, she shows real interest in being reunited with Captain Wentworth, who has, by now become quite jealous of Mr. Elliot's lavish attentions towards Anne.
the past eight years, and proposes to her again. Fortuitously, he has also become a much richer man in these years, and is included in the social circles of Sir Walter's upper class gentry. The cartoonish aristocracy and their misguided upper class sensibilities is the perfect foil for both Captain Wentworth and Anne Elliot. Lily Narbonne, as the leading lady, Anne Elliot had the tremendous responsibility on her nubile shoulders, of depicting a mature woman (almost twenty seven
years of age), who once shunned her engagement on grounds of snobbery and was swayed by elders whose wishes she respected. However the decision torments her for eight long years, in which her heart betrays the real feelings she continues to harbor for her Captain Wentworth. The conflict of reuniting with her jilted lover and accepting her true feelings with joy is emoted sweetly by the couple, free to express their tender feelings once again towards each other. As the intended couple is reengaged in the end, it is not without the ironic observations of the comical nature of the titled, and their constraints. The Elliots and Musgroves, act comically foolish in their attempts to gain the friendship of a Mrs. Dalrymple, a woman of some social consequence; just as Sir Elliot fawns over personas who command respect through title, even if it were a scheming Mr. Elliot; the family shuns Mrs. Smith who has fallen on hard times as another peek into the barely disguised snobbery. In the end, Jan Austen succeeds in revealing the very human flaws of all her characters, whether they be of guile, deceit, conceit or regret of past decision, and eternal hope. We expect LSF will continue to delight audiences with such productions in years to come.
Samanvita glides through historic dance performance Cont’d from page 23
Story telling was highlighted in the next dance drama, 'Parvathi Kalyan'. The story of how Parvati was reborn and she wins Shiva's love was beautifully depicted. Huge stage settings added to the dramatic effect of the dance drama. The recital ended with a traditional taraana, a beautiful combination of musical melodies and rhythmic phrases. The dance that began with a slow tempo gradually increased speed and ended with a sawaal-jawab(QuestionAnswer) and a grand tatkar-tihai.? Samanvita was ably assisted by an erudite group of musicians. Senior tabla player, Pandit Naren Budhkar excelled with his brilliant technique. Sitar player Indro Roy Chowdhary music interludes and clever following added color to the evening. Vocals by Divya Khandekar, Dyuthi Kharod and
Guru Prasanna Kasthuri himself, Harmonium by Vikas Falnikar and flute by Chethan Anant exemplified the divine experience of the dance debut.? The exceptional mega stage banners set an excellent backdrop for all the repertoires, be it the sacred Kailasa Parvatha where Lord Shiva resides according to Hindu belief, or the beautiful Brindavana gardens that once occupied all over India or the Indo-Persian architectural that depicts the amalgamation of two architectures. Added to this were the elegant lobby and stage decorations. Dance performancelasted 180 minutes was attended by more than 400 art lovers; many dance gurus such as Guru Smitha Rajan, Guru Shailaja Akula, Guru Sushma Mohan (Los Angeles, CA), Guru Pulikeshi Kasthuri (Bangalore, India), Guru Vidya Anand graced the event and blessed the new dancing star.
Community Across America
July 22, 2016
India Post 21
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FOG highlights severity of sex crimes JUSTIN (JASPREET) SIDHU
S
exual crime against youth is a pressing and unfortunately ubiquitous is sue that continues to draw major attention worldwide. Its causes and effects extend beyond cultural boundaries of region, religion, race, gender, or age. This problem is simply occurring anywhere and everywhere. For example, in the United States, one in five girls and one in twenty boys fall victim to sexual abuse. This may sound disturbing, but it is nowhere close to the extreme cases of the problem; in India, surveys and studies have shown that over half of the subjects have been victims of sexual crimes. That is a one in two rate of a child being wrongfully raped, molested, or abused, and it goes far beyond being a jarring figure. The severity of this issue is being called to light by several members of the local and international communities. Locally, the Federation of Indo Americans (or FIA) has placed sexual crimes as the central charitable cause for its annual Festival of Globe (formerly Festival of India). An extension of last year's focus on female empowerment, this concentration aims to educate the youth about the severe issue facing the world and get them involved in raising and spreading awareness about it. Internationally, Bollywood film star
Diverse slew of artists to perform at FOG Music Fest JUSTIN (JASPREET) SIDHU
T
he Festival of India and Parade has been a staple of the culture in Fremont, California for over two decades. Within the past two years, the nonprofit organizing this event, the Federation of Indo Americans Northern California (or FIA) has attempted to make the annual festivities more culturally inclusive in hopes of bridging the gap between the various ethnic groups that exist within the San Francisco Bay Area. This
year, the newly launched FOG Music Fest hopes to bring this effort to a new level by featuring several megastars of current mainstream American music. The lineup for the first annual FOG Music Fest includes French Montana, Rick Ross, Mally Mall, Anjali World, Berner, and newly announced headliner Fetty Wap. This vibrant mix of worldwide superstars, musical legends, and quickly rising local acts is sure to deliver on all fronts. Each artist will bring their own unique flavor to the high profile concert. Fetty Wap is a mega-successful rapper who ruled the American mainstream radio airwaves in 2015 with his seemly endless slew of hits. Cont’d on page 23
Raveena Tandon is starring in the upcoming Bollywood film "Maatr - The Mother." "Maatr" is a story that speaks on the institutionalized blind-eye practice of India's criminal justice system towards sexual crimes on women and children. In the film, Tandon plays a mother who is gang raped along with her daughter and subsequently fights against all odds for justice. "Maatr" is having its world premiere
within the month-long Festival of Globe extravaganza this August. The movie's theatrical debut will be accompanied by a meetand-great, Q&A panel with Tandon and director Ashtar Sayed, and public forum. It will take place at Camera 12 Cinemas in San Jose, California on August 12th, 2016. Tickets to the event are priced at $50 each. More details on the event can be accessed at www.fogsv.org.
Through this aggressive campaign on raising awareness against sexual crimes, FIA hopes to influence not only the Indo-American culture, but also those surrounding it in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond towards positive change. This change will lead to actions that will break down the systemic issues surrounding the central problem of ubiquitous sexual crime against children. The Festival of Globe's international focus aims to bring multiple cultures and perspectives together to solve such deeply varied issues through global cooperation.
Community Across America
22 India Post
July 22, 2016
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Yoga and Ayurveda at Harvard Symposium GEETHA PATIL
B
oston A one-day Symposium on Integrative Medicine and the Role of Yoga and Ayurveda was convened by multiple organizations headed by the Indo-American Health Initiatives at the Gordon Hall of Harvard School of Medicine, Boston on Wednesday June 29. Experts in the field of research, integrative practice of Yoga and Ayurveda discussed the current status, challenges and the future growth of Integrative medicine. The purpose of this symposium was to address the solutions to some of the key issues in current the healthcare system such as access, rising cost, standardization and quality control and incorporate an integrative approach by bringing the ancient systems of Ayurveda and Yoga into the conventional medicine via research and development, high level educational exchanges and entrepreneurial business partnerships. Kanchan Banerjee, the Vice President of Global Indian Business Council and the Co-Convener of the Symposium, as a chair of the inaugural session described the initial objectives of the symposium and how the West can integrate these ancient practices into its healthcare system.In his welcome address Dr. Darshan H. Mehta, Medical Director of Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Harvard Medical School, expressed his pleasant surprise over the intensive use of Yoga and Ayurveda in the practice of Western medicine. Shripad Yasso Naik, Minister of State for Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy, (AYUSH), Government of India, in his video message, promised full support for the advancement of knowledge and practice of Ayurveda and Yoga in healthcare worldwide. He also said that this event would be a historic
Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana (SVYASA) University, Bangalore, who showed a list of significant
L to R: KanchanBanregee, a conference member, the health commissioner Dr. Monica Bharel and Pramit Maakoday
scientific researches done in the past 30 years, and requested scientists and physicians from the United States to join hands with
Monica Bharel, who emphasized the use of Ayurveda and Yoga in the holistic healthcare system. A session reviewing basic re-
Healthcare at Boston University, suggested that Ayurveda and Yoga will become popular when researches ensure their safe and effective uses. Dr. Ariana Vora, Harvard Medical, Spaulding Rehab and Mass General Hospital (MGH), urged to have a continuous exchange and education between conventional medicine and traditional systems. The next session focused on the current works in these areas in terms of prevention and therapy. It was chaired by Dr. David Mischoulon, Psychiatrist from MGH. Several experts presented in this session. Dr. Lisa Conboy, Health Researcher, Osher Center for Integrative Medicine Brigham and Women's Hospital: Clinical research on Ayurveda/Yoga. Dr. John Denninger, Director of Research, Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine, MGH: Conceptual and procedural hurdles for the acceptability of Ayurveda and
The Conference team
the Indian scientists and experts in the fields of Ayurveda and Yoga to demonstrate agreeably the hidden scientific approaches used in these ancient Indian practices. Dr. Greg Fricchione, the Director of Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine, suggested that stress management through yoga has been verified at the biol-
The organizing team
step forward for Integral Medicine. This was followed by keynote addresses, firstly, by Dr. H R Nagendra, the Chancellor of
tion is growing immensely. The session concluded with a presentation by the State Health Commissioner of Massachusetts Dr.
ogy level. He also added that traditional sciences' approaches and understanding of human dynamics in relation to energy and func-
searches in Yoga and Ayurveda was chaired by Dr. Dinesh Patel, Associate Clinical Professor at Harvard Medical School and Ortho surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), said that access, quality, safety and affordability of Healthcare and welfare measures to millions should be the mission of health care professionals. Several speakers spoke on various related subjects. Dr Manjunath S K, Director International Affairs & Director R&D, S-VYASA, Bangalore: Research and funding status on Ayurveda & Yoga in India and worldwide. Dr. Sara lazar, Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School:Impact of Meditation on brain, body and mind. Dr. Richard Fletcher, Mobile Technology Group at MIT D-Lab: Mindfulness Research. Dr. Robert Saper, Chair of the Academic Consortium of Integrative Medicine and
Yoga. Dr. Pratibha Shah, Ayurveda Expert, :Ayurveda in the US, realities and potential. A panel discussion on, 'Strategies and Steps for Advancing Ayurveda &Yoga in Healthcare' was chaired by Dr. Bal Ram Singh, President, Institute of Advanced Sciences, Dartmouth, MA. Various expert panelists shared their knowledge and experience
Mehta,Co-Founder of Navitas International Corporation: Ayurveda 2016: Bedside to Bench to Bedside. Dr. Margrit Mikulis, Secretary, Board of Director of National Ayurvedic Medical Association (NAMA): Legal status, educational standards and practice of Ayurveda in United States - ways to move forward, and Prof. Satbir Khalsa, Harvard Medical School: Yoga in Healthcare - The Science and the Research Evidence. Dr. Anusha Sehgal, faculty of Ayurvedic Health Education also talked about her integrative medicine approach and the importance of standardized Ayurvedic Education.In the Concluding session Jagat Guru Amrta Suryananda Maha Raja, the President of Yoga Portuguese Confederation from Portugal talked about how modern science is coming closer to the sciences of India. The Art of Living founder and Spiritual Guru Sri Sri Ravishankar sent his and said that it's the right time to bring the benefits of Yoga and Ayurveda, which is the tested ancient health science to the millions of Western world. He also added that we should look at Ayurveda and Yoga with modern scientific angles. Yoga is a proven best tool for the prevention of many illnesses and Ayurveda is a recognized medicine that helped millions to recover from various ailments. Pramit Maakoday, Co-Convener of the event gave the vote of thanks to distinguish faculty, visitors from overseas, sponsor: Vipul Amin of PARAM, a Health care company based in New Jersey, attendees and Harvard medical school for providing this wonderful opportunity and allowing this event to happen in Gordon Hall. The event was organized by the Indo-American Health Initiatives based in Boston which plans to promote collaboration between the two countries in the Healthcare
Two speakers PM Yoga Guru and Dr. Greg Fricchione
with these ancient Indian practices. Dr. Bindiya Thakkar, Endocrinologist, Hallmark Health System: Nutrition and Community Health Diabetes and Obesity. Dr. Sharmila Mudgal, Occupational Primary Care Orthopedics, & Parag
sector. Its primary goal is to take technology to India and bring Indian healing systems to the US. The supportive organizations included S-VYASA India; Institute of Advanced Sciences in Dartmouth MA.
Community Across America
July 22, 2016
India Post 23
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Guru-Shishya-Parampara: Still Alive GEETHA PATIL
G
uru Purnima which falls on Tuesday 19th July, is observed on the full moon day during Ashadha month of the Hindu calendar. This is a day when we pay obeisance and homage to both spiritual Gurus and academic teachers. We feel proud that this civilization of India, the
knowledge of knowing who we are, what qualities we have,how to nurture and use them for the benefit of all living creatures,how to relate to the world and people around us, how to become a real human being and achieve true success in life. Most importantly, the spiritual Guru will teach us how to transcend in life and reach the abode of infinite bliss which is the hallmark of excellence. On this day we rededicate and re-connect ourselves with our present and past Gurus and academic teachers. The combination of a teacher's wisdom and the energy of a guru-shisya-parampara or mentor- student go towards making a viprotégé-tradition or teacher-stu- brant, progress in a society. Todent everlasting relationship is day, due to the influence of Weststill active and unbroken in this ern culture and modernity, stumodern day. dents tend to undervalue their The guru removes the teachers' role in their own lives but sicknessof ignorance that is preva- celebration of this festival helps lent in us and gives us the light of them to restore their derailed values and maintain balance between our traditions and Guru, the Guiding Light modernity and ilA Guru is not just somebody logical western inHe is a parallelogram of knowledge Who splits wisdom into gamut of info fluences. Like a solid prism Everyone needs That separating white light to understand the Into a spectrum of colors importance of a Guru in every walks A Guru is a compendium of characters He is not just an instructor of our lives. A Guru Who teaches reading and writing molds our energies He is more of a mentor into positive and Who instills in young ones newer insights useful talents And sows good seeds of acumen through his rigorHe is a real scholar in life ous training and Who learns ceaselessly enlightens us and He is a genuine master in the world makes us good huWho trains his pupils well man beings by And enriches their lives means of his with apt grains of knowledge, knowledge and He also behaves as a parent teachings, as a Who cares for your future He becomes a true pal of yours Who shares the secrets of life He brightens the paths of his students With millions of useful tips and advices
ing sages who have appeared in every generation and made Indians to keep this unique tradition of offering gratitude to Gurus forever. In the Guru-Shishya-Parampara there is a Pranipata or total surrender to the guru as one of the foremost qualifications of a student but this does not imply blind following of a Guru or school of thought/s. and helps them to excel in their sport competitions. A prominent musician's talent is recognized and honored by the training and dedication he/she received from an able mentor as in the spiritual or educational fields a good student is spotted or identified by the training, guidance and the enlightenment he/she obtained from the capable Guru who really removes the
Guru Ved Vyas
ignorance in the seeker's mind. The teacher-student relationship is conferred paramount importance in Indian philosophy. A Guru in our culture occupies the same pedestal given to God. Academic or spiritual growth is impossible without the help of a Guru who is established in the state of Godly Realization and has the teaching skills to impart the subtle spiritual
He is a generous patron Who supports creativity and passions He is a brilliant lawyer Who argues on your behalf and yanks his internes away, far away From the dangerous events in life He acts as an erudite physician Who heals your wounds And does not let the scars to show up He serves as a compassionate nurse Who asses the your problems and needs And implements a right treatment plan A Guru is always venerable as holistic teacher Who for sure stands above all in the world Who finds himself in the soul of his disciple In short, he is the living God on this earth Who is leading us in our journey of life And helping us to reach our destinations --Geetha Patil
coach makes his sport students' to acquire perfections in their natural gifts and skills under his expertise and strict trainings
or abstract concepts or creating artificial intelligence or robots for remote control systems and produces a rare generation of people who acquire these stringent qualifications. India has been blessed with extraordinary and outstand-
Diverse slew of artists to perform at FOG Music Fest Cont’d from page 21
Shakur, E-40, and Mac Dre were the gateway for the Bay Area to the modern rap scene. To this day, he is constantly credited and name dropped in big songs such as "The Motto" by Drake. Anjali World is an upcoming Bay Area Pop/R&B singer who has collaborated with rappers such as Tyga, the Bay's own Sage the Gemini and IAMSU!, and fellow FOG Music Fest attendee French Montana. Her club-centric music is sure to excite any given crowd and will truly electrify that at the FOG Music Fest. Her affiliation with the Indian cultural sphere has also earned her the respect and aspirations of countless Indian youth in the Bay Area. Last, but not least, Berner is a rising Bay Area rapper who has been crafting hit songs with famous artists like Wiz Khalifa, Juicy J, and Chris Brown. In fact, Berner's promise shows through the fact that he is signed to Wiz Khalifa's Taylor Gang record label.
From "Trap Queen" to "My Way" to "679," the list goes on. Fetty and his frequent collaborator Monty were launched into fame due to the viral success of "Trap Queen" on YouTube. Their collective ear for catchy melodies and lyrics has brought millions of people together to enjoy the music. Fetty Was has been praised by the likes of Kanye West for his impressive "overnight" takeover of the rap scene and of the music scene. French Montana is an internationally known rapper who has collaborated with hip hop legends such as Drake, DJ Khaled, Wiz Khalifa, Nas, Kanye West, Chris Brown, and JAY Z throughout his career. He began his rap career in 2002 but made it big in 2010 with his smash hit "Choppa Choppa Down." Since then, he has been on a hot streak of successful singles with the aforementioned artists. Some of these songs include "Ain't Worried About Noth- These artists will bring their ing," "Pop That," musical might to the grand "Loyal," and "Figure it Out." French has also stage of the FOG Music Fest worked with fellow FOG on August 13, 2016. This Music Fest performers jam-packed event will take Anjali World and Rick place at the SAP Center Ross. Rick Ross is a Southern rap legend and icon who be- Such a high accolade should speak gan his career in 2001 and has for itself alongside Berner's alsince launched into rap ways-growing list of Bay Area rap superstardom. He is the owner of anthems. his own record label, Maybach Each of these artists will bring Music Group, which has signed their musical might to the grand artists such as Meek Mill, Wale, stage of the FOG Music Fest on French Montana, and Omarion. August 13, 2016. This jam-packed His most famous songs include event will take place at the SAP "Stay Scheming," "Hustlin'," Center in San Jose, California, and "Aston Martin Music" and "Sanc- the festivities will begin with a red tified." carpet ceremony starting at 5:00 Mally Mall is a Bay Area rap- PM. The extravaganza will last per whose music, connections, until 11:00 PM on the same night. and collaborations helped foster Tickets can be found at the growth of the local rap scene ticketmaster.com and more inforback in the 90s. His work and rela- mation on the show can be located tions with artists such as Tupac at fogsv.org.
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Community Across America
July 22, 2016
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Music Nite In Boston GEETHAPATIL
BOSTON: The Sub-continental Drift (SubDrift), organized their amazing monthly "open mics" program on Friday, Jul 15 at Danger!Awesome, Cambridge to showcase the basement talents by South Asian Americans. This event brought two featured artists to audience, namely Ganavya Doraiswamy (vocalist) and Rajna Swaminathan (Mrudangam). Both are accomplished artists in the field of South Indian classical music presented wonderful performance. Neel Agrawal is a multi- percussionist who incorporates Nina Vasu reading poem various styles of world music including fusion, Indian and Western classical, world music, jazz, rock, and theatre into his own unique style. He offered a brilliant performance of drum-
ming and also showed how the basic compositions of Tabla lessons are built and variations are created to the audience. He also encouraged audience to play with him with their hands. Several new and old open mic performers also exhibited their hidden talents and creativity by singing, reading poetry and playing various Indian, Egyptian, and Western instruments in an amazing way. The first SubDrift open mic series started in Washington, DC in 2007 and the concept has spread to New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Boston. In Boston it started in August 2012 and is a part of the national movement that came up to build and sustain creative community amongst local South Asians, and the very name Subcontinental Drift reflects the hybrid identities the Desis inherit in America between different cultural and geographic spaces. Maitrya Das sing Bengali song on his The organizing Guitar committee of SubDrift thanked the owner of Danger! Awesome for
Audience at Drift
Rajna Swaminathan playing Mrudangam with her accompanists
letting them to use their workplace and the whole community at EMW Bookstore for their incredible support and partnership over the years. SubDrift embraces everyone and enunciates enthusiastically, "No matter what is your background, or what is your experience level as a performer, there
is a stage for you at SubDrift," say organizers. An incredible Friday night with talented open mic performers had the support from AdiNochur, Michael Dwan Singh, Sapan Modi , Shilpa Srivastava and Simone Labbance.
"Unity in Diversity Memorial" at Benedictine University SURENDRA ULLAL
LISLE: In light of the tragic events of the ger, safer and just community. past weeks, the African-American Islamic Benedictine University, The Du Page community, Sikh Americans community and Diversity Committee and the Du Page the Du Page County Chiefs of Police Asso- County Chiefs of Association hosted The ciation joined together to remember the lives of the civilians and Dallas police officers who were recently killed. More than 200 people attended. The event was held on July 16, at Raj Mago addressing Unity in Diversity Meet in Lisle Benedictine University in Lisle Illinois, a suburb of Chi- Du Page "Unity in Diversity Memorial," a cago. solidarity vigil. Most of the Du Page County The purpose of the event was to foster villages Police Chiefs attended the memobetter understanding between minority rial. Cont’d on page 26 groups and law enforcement to build a stron-
July 22, 2016
Community Across America
India Post 25
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Rathyatra by Jagannath Society in Aurora KRISHNA RAJ RAJDA
CHICAGO: Jagannath Society of Greater Chicago celebrated its annual fest RathYaatra on Saturday July 9 in Aurora a southwest suburb of Chicago with great pomp and vigor. The event which lasted three hours was participated by hundreds of devotees of Lord JagannathJi. The chariot of Lord Jagannath is known as Nandighosha/ Garudadhwaja/ Kapidhwaja. It can be identified
by yellow and red color canopy and it is also the largest of the chariots. The height of the Chariot is 45 feet and it has 16 wheels. The diameter of each wheel is 7 feet.The Chariot has 4 horses and the color of the horses is white. It also displays the Sudarshana Chakra emblem. The guardian deity of the chariot is Garuda and the charioteer is known as Daruka. Name of the. RathYatra in Aurora
Chariot procession in Uganda India Post News Service
KAMPALA: Uganda, The annual RathYatra (Festival of Chariots) Organized by International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON); was held in Uganda's capital Kampala on July 2.
This chariot procession, led by a band, marched from Hare Krishna Temple on Dewinton Road to Shree Sanatan Dharma Mandal Hindu Temple in Nakasero, carrying images of various Hindu deities; concluding in prayers, cultural program and a community dinner. Accompanied by live instrumental music, participants danced and clapped with chants of "Hare Krishna" and
"Hare Rama". It was like getting a taste of India and Hinduism without leaving Kampala, felt many participants. RathYatra is said to be the oldest known parade in the world and it is believed that pullers of this Lord Jagannatha's chariot re-
ceive immense spiritual benefit. Popularized outside India by ISKCON founder A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, this annual parade festival has reportedly been held annually in major cities of the world since 1960s. The original RathaJatra is held on a grand scale in Puri (Odisha, ), where the presiding deities of Sri
Mandira-Jagannatha, Balabhadra and Subhadra-with celestial wheel Sudarshana are driven on the chariots to about two miles north Gundicha temple in an elaborate ritual procession, where the huge colorfully decorated chariots are drawn by thousands of devotees. After a stay for seven days, the deities return to their abode in Sri Mandira. A glimpse of Lord Jagannatha on the chariot is considered to be highly auspicious and even a touch of the chariot is believed to yield benefits equivalent to several pious deeds. Many poets have written its glories. Rajan Zed president of Universal Society of Hinduisms, points out that ancient Hindu scripture Katha Upanishad talks about the concept of chariot, where soul is the deity, body is the chariot, and intellect the charioteer. SkandaPurana glorifies RathJatra's sanctity. The Kampala Hare Krishna Temple conducts daily aartis, besides discourses and a Sunday community lunch. It also runs pure vegetarian Govinda's Restaurant & Takeaway.
Charge against Akhlakh for Cow Slaughter SURENDRA JAIN
SURAJPUR :The Vishwa Hindu Parishad welcomes the order of the judiciary to file an FIR against Mohammed Akhlakh and his family for Cow-slaughter in the Bishadaepisode making it crystal clear who the real culprit is. It has turned out that the man who was supposed to be at the receiving end was actually the real criminal. On the other hand, the Hindu society, which was being portrayed as the perpetrators of the crime were the ones who were the victims. The villagers had been shouting from roof-tops from day one, saying that a calf had gone missing a day before the death of Akhlakh and that Akhlakh's
brother had been seen slaughtering the calf. The villagers had only gone to Akhlakh's home to elicit informa-
The forensic report had established that the meat obtained from the house of Akhlakh was beef. The Akhilesh government
It has turned out that the man who was supposed to be at the receiving end was actually the real criminal tion but the situation got out of control only due to the bad behavior of Akhlakh and his family. Unfortunately, in the din of the secular mafia of the country, truth was buried and instead the Hindu society was shown as if they were the perpetrators of the crime of killing Akhlakh.
should have then and there taken back the case against falsely-implicated Hindus and taken action against the Akhlakh family. They must apologise to the nation for their misdemeanor. TheUttar Pradesh Government not tryto sweep this issue under the carpet in the name of vote-bank politics.
Lord Jagannath Puja
Guru-ShishyaParampara: Still Alive Cont’d from page 23
The seekersor students must question, probe and analyze the truths taught to them so as to understand, absorb and transform his personality or knowledge to the higher realms. And finally acquire a sense of service or seva bhava to the whole humanity and nature, which will become a trademark of an outstanding student. Guru Purnima is also referred to as Vyasa Purnima in recognition of the vital role played by Vyasa in the preservation of our Vedanta. Vyasa was the one who organized the Vedas. The seat from which any spiritual or Vedic teaching is imparted is referred to as Vyasapeetha in recognition of Vyasa's immense contribution to Vedanta. All teachers bow to Vyasa before taking the seat. He is revered as the first guru although the guru-sisya parampara started long before his time. He represents the combination of sagely wisdom and the practical approach of a fisherwoman. It is essential to cultivate both to excel in life. The'Purnima' denotes illumination and Vyasa
Purnima points to spiritual enlightenment.Vyasa is considered to be the incarnation of Lord Visnu because apart from codifying the Vedas, Vyasa wrote the great epic Mahabharata consisting of almost one lakh verses. It is referred to as the fifth Veda. He also composed the Puranas and Brahma sutras. He was the last Veda Vyasasof 28 such Veda Vyasas. All the scholars in the world wonder till today, how this great sage Vyasa carried all this knowledge in his small head - to whom we offer our respects and SashtangaNamanason the day of Guru Purnima. This tradition instills in all of us a spirit to carry forward the Guru-Shishya-Parampara and to remember and pay homage with full reverence to our spiritual Gurus and academic teachers and our first Guru - Janani (birth mother) as they are working hard to channelize our energies into positive practices and help to shape our personal, social, familial, and spiritual lives. Seek knowledge, advice, and training from them and not anyone else.
Community Across America
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July 22, 2016
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Presentation on Ayurveda by Dr Sehgal at MIT GEETHA PATIL
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r. Anusha Sehgal, BAMS. MD (Ayurveda), presented a brilliant and educational talk on, 'Metal Toxicity and the Controversy Surrounding Ayurveda' on 13th July in at MIT, Cambridge. She said that in the recent times, some of the traditional Ayurvedic therapies and practices have been globalized, modernize ,and integrated in complementary or alternative medicine and general wellness despite some of the controversies surrounding Ayurveda. Dr. Anusha's journey from USA to India to become an Ayurvedic doctor and back to USA to practice Ayurvedic medicine is an inspirational one. "I was born and brought up here in Massachusetts. As most of the Indian young high school girls, I used to dream about becoming a doctor, but the some of the controversies surrounding Ayurvedic medicines in the media that time created a strong interest in me to go to India to get trained as an Ayurvedic doctor. Because, my father and I thought that this medical system would not have survived for such a long time if Ayurvedic medicines have not had any curative or heal-
ing results. Now, I am teaching Ayurveda in many medical colleges of Massachusetts, Rode Island, and New York." says Dr. Anusha, who is a fully trained Ayurvedic doctor in America. "Welcome to Ayurveda Medicine World" says Dr. Anusha in a successful voice that fills the room with her electrifying energy. She talked very elaborately about its history and ambiguity in the interpretation of names and description of drugs found in the books, such as Charaka Samhita, Sushruta Samhita and other books. Original Ayurvedic treatises are in Sanskrit and also hand written. Western scientists of the nineteenth century were divided in respect of the utility of Ayurveda: some scholars were of the opinion that this
old system of medicine is based on empiricism rather than science and no benefit can be derived from it, whereas some others argue that Ayurveda uses scientific approaches as it is built by the rationale of observation, experiment, and of induction and deduction. Now, U.S. National Center for
Dr Anusha Sehgal
Complementary and Alternative Medicine also says that Ayurvedic medicine combines the use of numerous modalities, such as herbal medicine, massage and special diets, to promote wellness and prevent illness. There are broadly two common practices in Ayurveda: herbal medicine alone or herbal medicines combined with metals and gems, a practice known as Rasa Shastra. In rasa Shastra, herbs are combined with metals such as lead, mercury, iron and zinc, and gems such as pearl. Those that practice this type of Ayurveda believe it is safe and therapeutic to use metal based medicines. But, sometimes, she feels these practices are seriously called into question due to the variations in the acceptable limits on the use of metals in medicines set by different countries. Dr. Anusha also said that FDA has not currently set a
maximum level allowed for lead, mercury and arsenic in dietary supplements. In herbal medicines, due to lack of scientific names in
the original texts, under one name, different plants are known in different parts of the country as per the description, which makes the drug controversial as well. Ayurveda suggests such medicines should be taken under strict prescription by a trained doctor and in small quantities with washout periods in between if repetition of medicine required. It is not the Ayurveda or Ayurvedic medicines but the over or under dosing and longtime use of such medicines without a washout period and without a prescription written by a trained doctor by patients in the Western word lead to some recent controversies as wellshe said confidently. Dr. Anusha talked in detail about how ancient cultures utilized metals as medicines, controlled toxicity of metals through purification processes, and pharmaceutics of Ayurveda. She gave a very convincing and scientific presentation on her field of research, Rasa Shastra (science of Alchemy), especially about the Naga Bhasma - a medicine made of lead. She narrated the general purification of metals, liquids used in the purification, specialized purification of lead, Jarana of lead, incineration of lead and findings of Naga Bhasma as an end product. She also engaged the audience for the whole time in a very informal and interactive discussion. Q.How difficult was studying Ayurveda in India? A. "Although the medium instruction in the Indian Ayurveda colleges is English, Ayurveda books use lots of Sanskrit words, definitions, Shlokas. So it was very challenging for me. I had to work harder to learn Sanskrit and understand the meanings of every Sanskrit word and to learn native languages of different states. I got lot of support from the teachers and friends to get through my training. I was happy and my studies went well as my family and I expected" Q It is not often that Indian American children go to India to study Ayurveda and want to practice Ayurveda in America. How has the journey been? A "My journey was not easy. It was always full of challenges and opportunities. I thoroughly enjoyed the journey. I work hard. I like Ayurveda and proud to be an Ayurvedic doctor in America. Sometimes I feel that I am not making that much money others are making but I never regret but
teaching Ayurveda in the American well-known medical colleges like Harvard and Boston University and other colleges gives me immense satisfaction" says an en-
thusiastic Dr. Anusha with a bright big smile. Q. How to overcome these controversies surrounding Ayurveda? A. "There is a huge surge in Ayurvedic plant research for various aspects. There have also been substantial efforts to standardize the Ayurvedic crude drugs as well as finished Ay u r v e d i c medicines. The proper nomenclature of all crude drugs and establishing their exact botanical origin is a must because sometimes plants are collected by skilled but many a times by unskilled collectors and due to improper identification of correct species of plant/organ and collection methods lead to a state of con-
fusion, and thus a controversies crop up. It is vital to generate parameters of identification as well as differentiation among different plant sources having a similar name. These controversial sources sometimes lead to inefficacious preparation as well. Presently, some amount of legal sanction exists for use of plants as one can use only plant drugs mentioned in one of the 56 authorized books by Drugs and Cosmetic Act, 1940 of India. However, for global acceptance as well as providing safe and effective Ayurvedic products, it would be required to identify particular botanical entities to be used to have regulatory compliance. Ayurvedic scholars, plant taxonomists, and regulators need to work together on this. Different
countries around world need to work on standardizing acceptable limits of metals in the medicines instead setting their stands in isolation" says Dr. Anusha as few solutions.
"Unity in Diversity Memorial" at Benedictine University Cont’d from page 24
Many Sikh American community members attended the memorial. Rajinder Singh Mago of Sikh Religious Society of Palatine, was one of the speakers who spoke about equality and social justice as an essence of Sikh faith. He also spoke about the Sikh principles of Unity of the Divine, Brotherhood of Mankind, and Strength in Unity in Diversity. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the Dallas police officers fallen in the line of duty, and all other innocent lives lost in senseless violence," said Rajinder Singh Mago. As guest speaker, Lisle Police Chief Anderson stressed that in
order for change to happen a bridge of trust must be built. "The public has a right to know and should know that their law enforcement officers are following the law and protecting us and keeping us safe, I continue to believe that Du Page County is the gold standard when it comes to law enforcement and the criminal justice system," said States Attorney Robert Berlin. As a way to build bridges, and honor men and women in police uniform the community thanked local law enforcement for their services, in a social setting by hugging, shaking hands and taking pictures with each other. Both parties took the time to say hello and get to know one another.
July 22, 2016
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TOP TEN HINDI FILM SONGS
1 Jag Ghoomeya: Sultan 2 Sab Tera: Baaghi 3 Baby Ko Bass Pasand Hai: Sultan 28 India Post
July 22, 2016
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4 Ud-Daa Punjab: Udta Punjab 5 Salamat: Sarbjit 6 Chitta Ve : Udta Punjab 7 Bol Do Na Zara: Azhar 8 Kar Gayi Chull :
Anushka Sharma's first home production NH10, will be directing Kaneda as well
Kapoor & Sons 9 Cham Cham : Baaghi 10 Ikk Kudi : Udta Punjab
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ast year, Anushka Sharma tried her stint in producing movies and made a gritty dark drama NH10 which was highly applauded. Recently, Anushka Sharma also wrapped her second home production Phillauri and is now ready for the third one. Anushka Sharma will be starring in the film tentatively titled Kaneda. According to reports, Arjun Kapoor is in talks for the lead actor and was approached with the script. Though Arjun is yet to sign the contract, it seems like he is going to be the one. Navdeep Singh, who last directed Anushka Sharma's first home production NH10, will be directing Kaneda as well. According to sources, Kaneda is inspired from the Punjabi- pronunciation of Canada and will be an intense drama.
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he shooting of Sanjay Dutt's upcoming untitled film with Siddharth Anand has been delayed as the director has asked for more time for pre-production work. In the meantime, the actor will start shooting for another project. "Siddharth has asked more preparation time for the movie as it involves complex action scenes. He is the captain of the ship and it's not wise to hurry him into the shooting process. So in all probability, we will be going ahead with another film of mine first," Sanjay said in a statement. Anand, who has previously directed films like 'Salaam Namaste', 'Anjaana Anjaani' and 'Bang Bang!', said: "A film of this scale and budget needs more preparation and accomplished crew. I have requested Sanjay for more pre-production time and he has agreed to that. It's unfai
f all goes well Parineeti Chopra will reunite with her 'Shuddh Desi Romance' co-star Sushant Singh Rajput for director Homi Adajania's upcoming venture. A source informed a daily, "So far, Pari has only 'Meri Pyari Bindoo' with Ay u s h m a n n Khurrana in hand. But she is in talks for at least three more projects, one of which is Homi Adajania's next with Irrfan and Sushant. The film is a romantic drama about a rockstar (Irrfan) and his protege (Sushant). Parineeti plays Sushant's love interest and inspiration. It is expected to roll this year." It will most likely be a busy year for Parineeti Chopra, who will sign four films this year. The actress who was last seen in 'Kill Dil' will also be doing an item number in 'Dishoom'. The song will showcase sizzling chemistry between Varun Dhawan and Parineeti in a lavish set up.
July 22, 2016
Bollywood
India Post 29
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A
lia Bhatt believes in keeping her personal life away from the lime light, as she does not want to be the focus of attention because of it. In a recent interview, 23-year-old Alia said, "Keeping my personal life away from the public glare just saves me from any further damage. It's more a way of caution rather than getting hurt. I feel when you start talking about it, your entire life revolves around that." She added, "I admit that it does happen by default but I am here to work and be known as an actor and not someone who has a happening personal life." On the work front, Alia, who has given back to back hit movies 'Udta Punjab' and 'Kapoor and Sons' this year, will next be seen in Karan Malhotra's directorial 'Shuddhi' opposite Varun Dhawan.
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iara Advani, who will be next seen as Sakshi Dhoni in 'MS Dhoni - The Untold Story', is currently making the most of her visit to Georgia. The actress, who is there for a marathon schedule of her new film, has been exploring the place when she is not busy shooting. From Tbilisi's theme park to the tea gardens and even Mestia's mountain tops, the Fugly girl seems to be leaving nothing unseen during her stay there.
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iger Shroff, who was rumored to be dating model Disha Patani, has quashed the linkup rumors by branding Disha as just his "good friend". When the 26-year-old actor was asked about his equation with Patani, he said, "I love her, but as a friend. We are only good friends. We like spending time. We go for dance rehearsals together. I love to eat and so does she." The 20-year-old actress said, "Yeah, we like spending time together. We go to dance rehearsals and gym together. We both are foodies." Tiger and Disha were recently spotted at the launch of their music video 'Befikra' in Mumbai.
Realty Tidbits
Indiabulls Real Estate raises Rs 25 cr via NCDs NEW DELHI: Indiabulls Real Estate said it has raised Rs 25 crore through issue of non-convertible debentures on private placement basis. Last month, the Mumbai-based company had announced that it proposes to raise up to Rs 200 crore through issue of NCDs on private placement basis. So far, the company has raised Rs 131 crore in three tranches. In a filing to the BSE, Indiabulls Real Estate said that "the operations committee of the Board of Directors of the company has allotted NCDs aggregating Rs 25 crore". -PTI
Real Estate 30 India Post
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July 22, 2016
Rohan Lifescapes launches new website MUMBAI: Noted as one of the premier real estate companies specializing in redevelopment, Rohan Lifescapes announced the launch of its brand new website under the aegis of the various digital initiatives that the company has decided to adopt as part of its Vision 20:20 corporate program. The newly developed website is a result of thorough research conducted by the team keeping in mind the consumer online navigation patterns, Google analytics & Google validated guidelines for search engine optimization and global trends in design. -PTI
Seven deal-breakers that can sink a home sale STEVE MCLINDEN
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n the huge capital outlay that is a home purchase, you can never
be too meticulous about the things that matter. Dozens of little poten-
tial deal-breakers can wreck even the most well-constructed deal. So holster that checkbook or cashier's check for a moment and ponder these deal-breakers before you go home-shopping. Buying near an ocean, lake, river or creek is a fanciful notion. But check the home's address with the Federal Emergency Management Agency's flood-map database. By the way, homeowners insurance typically won't cover most flooding; only flood insurance will. "People are finding with the FEMA updates that a home is suddenly in the flood plain - and that flood-insurance premiums have nearly doubled," said Jim Maibach, a 30-year general certified real estate appraiser with Arlington, Texas-based Peyco Southwest Realty. Moreover, prospective homeowners are discovering that even if a small portion of a residential property is in a
that the burden of researching this typically falls on the buyer, because sellers rarely must disclose it. The U.S. Justice Department operates the National Sex Offender Public Website, which allows users to search by name or by radius around an address. Typically, an offender lives within a few blocks of most addresses in highly populated areas, even in well-to-do neighborhoods, where parents may be harboring a troubled adult child. Know the differences between Tier 1 offenders and the more serious Tier 2 and Tier 3 types (some states use threat levels of "low," "medium" and "high" instead). Read the nature of the offense and victim's age(s) before you back out. And verify. Sometimes, listings are outdated or inaccurate. This is a should-be dealbreaker. Repeat exposure to nearby vehicle emissions or power plants
flood plain, lenders require flood insurance, he said. Flash flooding is a different force majeure: Even if a home is set at high elevation, have your inspector (or even a surveyor) determine how its slope (grade) directs water to or from the place. Then there are drainage easements. Many homeowners don't even realize there's one on their properties until a title search by the buyer reveals it, Maibach said. "The result?" he said. "A dealbreaker. This lands on nearly everyone's no-deal list, especially if an offender lives next door or across the street from the seller. But know
and other too-close sources of fine chemical particles cause lung and cardiovascular disease. Early symptoms are sometimes confused with allergies or other ailments. And those high-voltage power lines overhead are dicey at best. Studies show more cancer in adults and children who endure long-term exposure to them. Why risk it? Depending on buyer tastes, wants and needs, both the absence or inclusion of these below features can create impasses: Pool: • Splash! Great for parties and late-night relaxation. Cont’d on page 31
Real Estate Post
July 22, 2016
India Post 31
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BancorpSouth fined $10.6 mn for redlining NEW YORK: The Department of Justice and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau fined Mississippi-based BancorpSouth $10.6 million, alleging the bank deliberately discriminated against minorities in its lending practices. BancorpSouth, a medium-sized regional bank with $13.9 billion in assets and 239 branches in eight states, deliberately avoided building branches in minority neighborhoods in Memphis, Tennessee from at least 2011 to 2013. The bank also denied more loans to African Americans and other minorities when compared to neighborhoods with smaller minority populations, the Justice Department and CFPB said, and minorities who were approved for loans were given higher interest rates when compared to non-minorities. While BancorpSouth is based in Tupelo, Mississippi, the case deals with BancorpSouth's presence in Memphis and stems from a 2014 investigation into BancorpSouth by the Justice Department and CFPB. The bank had 22 branches in the Memphis area between 2011 and 2013, all of which were located outside neighborhoods with large minority populations. Maps pro-
vided by the regulators also showed nearly all BancorpSouth's loans originated outside minority neighborhoods of Memphis as
Richard Cordray in prepared remarks. BancorpSouth during this period required its employees to treat
well. ``BancorpSouth's discrimination throughout the mortgage lending process harmed the people who were overcharged or denied their dream of home ownership based on their race, and it harmed the Memphis minority neighborhoods that were redlined and denied equal access to affordable credit,'' said CFPB Director
applications based upon a potential borrower's race, color and national origin, according to the complaint filed in the case. Minority applicants were to be denied loans more quickly than white applicants, and minority applicants who were considered borderline for approval were denied based on race. In a stark example of the discriminatory culture at
Seven deal-breakers that can sink a home sale Cont’d from page 30
• No pool, please: I have toddlers and like low water bills. Big garage: • Perfect for all 3 of our SUVs! • You mean obtrusive garage! Why should this airplane hangar be the dominant architectural feature? No carpeting: • Easy to clean up after my pets and kids, good for allergies. • No carpeting? Nothing to sink my toes in. Seems kind of barren and sterile. Many neighborhood children: • Feels just like a neighborhood should. • So many kids! Let's go look at restricted seniors-only housing. School down the block: • Hey, the kids can walk to school! • Delinquents loitering near the
house every day? No, thanks. These have become the nouveau deal-breakers. Buyers think they've lined up a fair, market-priced purchase and ... boom! The lender's appraiser, sometimes a novice, values the place at $40,000 less than the agreed-upon price. The seller's response: "Tough." The buyer then scrambles around looking for other lenders. It looks great, feels right, it's got everything I want, you say. But it sure seems, well, loud. And what's that smell? Visits to the neighborhood at varying hours may unveil some unwelcome realities: drag racers, airport landing pattern, loose or barking dogs, loud parties, 1 a.m. train whistles. Or maybe there's landfill or feedlot in the area or persistent smells from nearby manufacturing or waste-processing plants. While some deal-breakers are relative calls, buyers are far more prone to walk away if they discover: • Mold. • Shoddy roof.
• Unpermitted modifications. • Lack of central air. • Outdoor laundry rooms. • Termite infestations. • Poor or no insulation. • High-crime stats. • Ancient plumbing. • Old septic tanks or old sewer lines. • Acoustic popcorn ceilings. • Marketing misrepresentation. • Outdated or inferior wiring. Other less onerous but potentially irreconcilable issues include excessive grime, clutter, strong pet odors, looming water towers, low neighborhood homeownership rates, long commutes, small/outmoded kitchens (or even kitchens without windows over the sink) and trashy neighbors. Then there's always poor curb appeal, lack of natural light, illogical floor plan, mediocre or bad school districts, and a low "walkability" factor such as no sidewalks. Older buyers may back out if a home's design is not ageor handicap-friendly. -Courtesy Bankrate.com
BancorpSouth at the time, bank employees were audio-taped using racial epithets, followed by laughter, when discussing the possibility of hiring of an AfricanAmerican employee, according to the documents released by Justice Department and CFPB. The U.S. banking industry has such a long documented history of discriminating against minorities who want to borrow to the point there's a term to describe it: redlining. The term stems from a time when banks would outline minority neighborhoods in red marker as places where loans were to be denied. The practice cut off entire neighborhoods to capital, and many housing experts blame redlining for why large minority neighborhoods decayed and slipped into poverty in the second half of the 20th century. It also cut off minorities from home ownership, one source of wealth generation for the U.S. middle class. Even decades after the civil rights movement, banks are still regularly caught in redlining cases. The most recent example came in September 2015, when Hudson City Savings Bank agreed to pay $27 million to settle redlining allegations stemming from its op-
erations in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. Three months before Hudson City Savings, Wisconsin-based Associated Bank agreed to finance $200 million in mortgages to minority populations to settle its redlining allegations. If approved by the court, BancorpSouth Inc. will provide $4 million in direct loan subsidies in minority neighborhoods in Memphis, spend at least $800,000 on community programs and minority outreach, $2.78 million to African American customers who were overcharged or denied loans as well as a $3 million penalty. In a statement, BancorpSouth said it has agreed to settle all claims against the bank, without admitting guilt, and that the bank had already addressed the discriminatory practices and recently hired an executive to do outreach in minority and other neighborhoods. ``BancorpSouth is dedicated to a culture of respect, diversity and inclusion in both our workplace and communities,'' said BancorpSouth Chairman and CEO James Rollins, in a statement. ``We have a longstanding commitment to equal treatment and any form of discrimination will not be tolerated.'' -AP
US home prices climbed in April WASHINGTON: U.S. home prices scaled new heights in April, with seven cities - including Boston, Charlotte, Portland, Oregon, San Francisco and Seattle - setting record highs. The Standard & Poor's/CaseShiller 20-city home price index increased 5.4 percent in April compared with a year earlier, just a tick down from the 5.5 percent annual gain in March. Home values are now just 9.6 percent below their peak nearly a decade ago, according to the report. Shrinking inventories of homes for sale have boosted prices, while a healthy job market and historically low mortgage rates have kept demand from potential buyers strong during the spring months associated with the highest volume of sales. The number of listings has fallen 5.7 percent from a year ago, the National Association of Realtors said. Home prices rose in all 20 major housing markets, with doubledigit annual increases in Portland
and Seattle. ``While strong price growth in these markets should help increase inventory in the coming months, homes will be significantly less affordable for homebuyers than this time last year,'' said Ralph McLaughlin, chief economist at the online real estate service Trulia. In addition to the other five cities at record home values, Dallas and Denver, continue to be well above their historic peaks. Overall home ownership rates have dropped near a 48-year low in the aftermath of the housing bust that began in 2007. But sales have improved as the broader economy has slowly healed. Sales of existing homes improved 1.8 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.53 million, the best pace since February 2007, according to the Realtors. Providing the foundation for much of that growth has been a solid 4.7 percent unemployment rate that points to a stable period for workers. -AP
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No criminal probe into faked lab results DENVER: No criminal investigation is planned after a worker at a federal laboratory in Colorado was accused of intentionally manipulating test results, potentially tainting research on energy and toxic chemicals, officials said here. The Interior Department, which oversees the lab, would have to first conduct an additional review before it could request a criminal inquiry by the Justice Department, said Gillian Carroll, a spokeswoman for the Interior Department's Office of Inspector General. Interior has no plans for another review because the employee no longer works at the lab, she said. The initial review was intended only to give the U.S. Geological Survey - an Interior Department agency that runs the lab - details of the incident, Carroll said. It wasn't clear if the employee resigned or was fired. His name hasn't been released. The inspector general's office reported last month the manipulation occurred at the USGS Energy Geochemistry Laboratory in the Denver suburb of Lakewood. -AP
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SAN DIEGO: A lawsuit has been filed seeking to overturn California's strict new law requiring mandatory vaccines for school children. The suit filed by a group of parents and the nonprofit Education 4 All was filed in San Diego federal court, the day the new law took effect. It says that the law violates the children's right to an education as guaranteed under California's constitution, and asks for a judge to suspend the law while the suit plays out. The law ``has made second class citizens out of children who for very compelling reasons are not vaccinated'' according to federal regulations, plaintiff's attorney Robert T. Moxley said in a statement. ``We are hoping the court will grant us an injunction while the judicial process takes place to see if this law is constitutional, which it most certainly does not seem to be.'' Gov. Jerry Brown signed the vaccine measure, SB277, into law last year amid fierce opposition from some parents groups who argued the state should not force their children to be vaccinated. -AP
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Health Ministry rushes team of eye specialists to Jammu & Kashmir NEW DELHI: The Union Health Ministry has rushed a three member team of eye specialists from AIIMS in New Delhi to Jammu and Kashmir to assist the state in treating people who have been injured following violent unrest after killing of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani.
Jammu and Kashmir to assist the state in providing medical care to the persons injured in the on-going law and order problem in the State," an official statement said adding that the team has reached the state. The move comes after former Jammu and Kashmir chief minis-
„ Cal new vaccine requirements challenged
July 22, 2016
High-tech approach to inmate health care
Every time a cop shoots at unarmed youngsters, he is aggravating the alienation of the people of the Valley, as if telling them that the stone-thrower and the cop are different.
"Health Minister J P Nadda has directed a three member high level team of eye specialists from AIIMS in New Delhi to be sent to
ter Omar Abdullah urged the Prime Minister to send specialist doctors to the Valley for treating the injured.
Nadda has also assured all support to the state government. Violent clashes erupted following the killing of Wani after which curfew was imposed in many parts of the valley even as the death toll in clashes between protestors and security forces climbed to 34. According to reports, hundreds of people have been injured while nearly 100 people have undergone eye surgeries due to excessive use of pellet guns by the security forces to control the protesters. Earlier in the day, Abdullah said it was the time to reach out to the Valley with a healing touch and had requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to send specialist doctors to the Valley for treating the injured. "Hon (Honorable) @narendramodi ji. After Kerala fire you carried a plane load of burn specialists with you. Please send eye/trauma specialists to Kashmir," he said.
Delhi forms panel on drug addiction NEW DELHI: The Delhi government has formed a panel to suggest ways to tackle the drug menace and expand de-addiction facilities. The four-member committee, comprising the secretaries of Social Welfare department, Health department, one doctor from AIIMS and representative of an NGO has been asked to submit a report. The panel, that has already held a meeting, has also been asked to reach out to vulnerable groups such as street children found in and around Connaught Place and Nizamuddin, among other areas, and suggest ways to rehabilitate them. "The panel will also chart ways on expanding medical facilities for addicts - in terms of
outpatient as well as inpatient departments in hospitals and health care centers. "Its focus will also be on sensitizing teachers across schools to nip the menace in the bud," a senior government official said. The Social Welfare depart-
The government runs a deaddiction centre at its shelter for beggars at Lampur, located in the northern outskirts of the national capital. This assumes importance as Delhi's ruling AAP has repeatedly targeted the BJP-SAD alli-
The four-member committee, comprising the secretaries of Social Welfare department, Health department, one doctor from AIIMS and representative of an NGO has been asked to submit a report. ment is the nodal agency that coordinates the measures undertaken by various governmental and non-governmental agencies in this regard.
ance in Punjab over its "failure" to handle the widespread use of drugs, especially among the youth. Punjab is going to polls early next year.-PTI
"Please don't let the fact that these youngsters people have been injured in protests stop us from giving the best care possible.Thank you jenab," he said. CPI(M) MLA Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami had also earlier
Health Minister J P Nadda
said that the Centre should have dispatched doctors and medicines instead of more troops to Kashmir Valley in the wake of largescale violence.-PTI
Rabies warning in Rhode Island WESTERLY, R.I.: Two Rhode Island agencies are warning the public of a possible exposure to rabies after a report of an animal biting several customers at a Walmart in Westerly. Officials from the state Department of Health and the Department of Environmental Management say at least two customers were reportedly bitten by the animal. Officials say the two individuals haven't come forward to seek treatment. The departments say that anyone who had physical contact with a small black mammal inside or around the store should contact the DOH for an assessment. The animal has not been tested but officials are operating under the assumption that it could have rabies. The agencies say that once symptoms appear, rabies is fatal in people and animals.-AP
July 22, 2016
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Illinois to shut down failing insurance co-op CHICAGO: An Illinois health insurance co-op with 49,000 policyholders in the state has become the latest casualty among a dwindling group of nonprofit alternative insurers set up under the Affordable Care Act. Illinois regulators took steps to shut down Land of Lincoln Health, a 3-year-old
startup that lost $90 million in 2015 and more than $17 million through May 31. Illinois Department of Insurance officials announced they are seeking a court order allowing the state to take over Land of Lincoln Health and prepare the company for liquidation. The department's acting director, Anne Melissa Dowling, will work with the federal government to establish a 60-day special enrollment period for Land of Lincoln policyholders to find and purchase new health coverage. During the transition, policyholders must continue to pay their premiums to maintain their coverage and health care pro-
viders must continue to honor their contracts for service to patients, according to a department news release. Land of Lincoln is a nonprofit co-op, one of 23 established under the Affordable Care Act. Nationwide, more than a dozen of the original co-ops have closed. Last month, Dowling tried an unusual maneuver to help the company by blocking it from paying a $31.8 million bill to the federal government. Dowling wrote in a June 30 letter to the federal government that she has ordered Land of Lincoln Health not to pay until it gets what it's owed by the feds - nearly $73 million - under a separate provision of President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act. That didn't work, according to the Illinois department's news release, which said the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services would not suspend the company's risk adjustment program liability. ``It's an unfortunate day for Land of Lincoln members and for competition in the Illinois insurance market,'' said Land of Lincoln spokesman Dennis O'Sullivan. ``It's unfortunate that CMS chose not to work with the state of Illinois as it went above and beyond with a plan to help consumers.'' Land of Lincoln was formed under the Affordable Care Act's nonprofit health insurance co-op provision and funded by low-interest federal loans. The co-ops were intended to increase competition among insurance companies and lower prices for consumers. -AP
USM expands enrolling kids in health care HATTIESBURG, Miss.: Officials at the University of Southern Mississippi's School of Social Work will continue with efforts to enroll underprivileged children in health care now that the school has received a $910,000 grant from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid. The Hattiesburg American reports the Connecting Kids to Coverage grant will expand on the success of the school's work with Hattiesburg on an initiative that enrolled more than 3,000 residents in Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program. Grant brings health insurance to 3,000 in Hattiesburg Project director Laura Richard, an assistant professor of social work, says the latest grant will cover the nine counties of State Public Health District 8. That district includes Covington, Forrest, Greene, Jefferson Davis, Jones, Lamar, Marion, Perry and Wayne counties. ``There's an estimated 16,000 (individu-
als) eligible (for Medicare and Medicaid) but not enrolled in District 8,'' she said. ``We are going to try to reduce that by 15 percent.'' Richard said the majority of people enrolled would probably be children, but the grant targets adults, too. Out of about 200 eligible applicants, the school was one of only 38 nationwide to receive the grant. Tim Rehner, director of the School of Social Work, said its past efforts with community engagement led to the award. ``It's a great opportunity for the School of Social Work to be involved in accessing children to health care,'' he said. ``It's a continuation of the success we had with the city.'' Rehner said getting children qualified for health care can influence every aspect of their lives from school to play. ``Just going for children who qualify and aren't covered - how do we get kids healthy and how do they get to doctors and get somebody to pay for it?'' he said. -AP
Health insurance in Wyoming up 7 percent CASPER, Wyo.: Some Wyoming residents will pay more for health insurance next year as rates rise 7 percent on average from the state's lone provider under the federal health care program, but people who receive subsidies to offset insurance costs could see little to no increase in their payments, officials involved with the program say. Wyoming Insurance Commissioner Tom Glause defended the Wyoming increase as lower than rate hikes for other states. ``Given the increases we've seen across the nation, I felt pretty good about the 7 percent increase,'' Glause told the Casper Star-Tribune. Rates on average will rise nearly 60 percent in Texas and 44 percent in Vermont. Blue Cross Blue Shield is the only company selling policies for Wyoming on the Affordable Care Act exchange in 2017 after WINHealth shut down its operations in December, he said. Wendy Curran, a vice president at Blue Cross, said the 7 percent increase reflects the increasing cost of health care. Many people using the exchange haven't had health coverage for years, and research nationwide shows that patients on the ex-
change use more medical services and receive more in-hospital treatment than those who don't need the federal program, Curran said. ``We pick up more care from people who didn't have insurance,'' she said. ``And because they hadn't had routine care, there are often a lot of sort of pent-up medical conditions that during the first year you see the doctor and you have to take care of it.'' Costs are also rising because of new requirements for covering preventative care, such as colorectal exams, Curran said. While the government previously mandated that insurance companies on the exchange cover colorectal exams, surgery to remove polyps found wasn't covered before and is now. Nearly 24,000 Wyoming residents paid for plans on the exchange this year, according to recent data. Rate hikes won't affect everyone equally because most Wyoming residents qualify for subsidies that reduce the costs of their premiums, said Tracy Brosius of the Wyoming Institute of Population Health, an exchange education group affiliated with Cheyenne Regional Medical Center. -AP
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High-tech approach to inmate health care COLUMBIA, S.C.: South Carolina's prisons agency is taking a high-tech approach to inmate health care, a change officials say will both save money and cut down on potential security risks. The Department of Corrections and the Medical University of South Carolina are announcing a telemedicine partnership this week. Using tools including videoconferencing, doctors at the Charleston hospital can examine inmates remotely, doing routine exams and even diagnosing illnesses from hundreds of miles away. The partnership with MUSC Health, according to Corrections director Bryan Stirling, saves money in the costs of transporting inmates to hospitals, an effort that typically requires at least two officers, plus a driver. But, officials say, it also reduces possible security risks to physicians that come every time inmates are taken out of prison. ``Every time the fence opens and an offender goes out, there's chances for bad things to happen,'' Stirling said in a recent in-
terview with The Associated Press. ``This will allow us not only to better serve this population, but also it's a public safety thing. Keeping them behind the fence just makes sense.'' Many prisons are in rural areas, so the nearest clinic or hospital could be hours away. Some
ity health care. Dr. Jimmy McElligot, MUSC Telehealth's medical director, says the tools available through telehealth, like home video, messaging systems and digital medical record sharing, allow doctors to help diagnose and treat thousands of South Carolinians who might not
``Every time the fence opens and an offender goes out, there's chances for bad things to happen,'' Stirling said in a recent interview with The Associated Press. of the state's institutions have their own health care facilities, but most aren't staffed in evening hours. Fewer correctional officers are on duty during those hours also, a combination that Stirling says makes it even riskier to transport an inmate at night. MUSC Health is part of the South Carolina Telehealth Alliance, a collaboration of academic medical centers, community hospitals and providers that aims to improve access to qual-
otherwise get to see a physician as easily. McElligot says treating more people remotely benefits patients and care providers alike, as fewer patients in the emergency room mean shorter wait times and less over-worked providers. Moreover, doctors and nurses can spend more quality time with patients on a regular, check-in basis, rather than in a single, often rushed, visit. ``When are you more likely to miss something? When you are
VA health care still has 'profound deficiencies' WASHINGTON: Two years after a scandal over long wait times for veterans seeking health care, the Department of Veterans Affairs still has ``profound deficiencies'' in delivering health care to millions of veterans, a congressional commission says in a new report. The Commission on Care says in a report that the VA delivers high-quality health care but is inconsistent from one site to the next, and problems with access remain. The panel says the VA needs to improve its service to veterans, adding that the VA's health care operations ``require urgent reform. America's veterans deserve a better organized, high-performing health care system.'' Congress created the 12member commission in 2014 after approving a landmark law overhauling the VA in the wake of the wait-time scandal, which also revealed that VA employees were covering up chronic delays with false paperwork and secret waiting lists. As many as 40 veterans died while awaiting care at the Phoenix VA hospital, according to an investigation by the VA's in-
spector general. President Barack Obama said in a statement that the commission's report includes a number of specific proposals that he will review closely in the coming weeks. In the meantime, ``We will continue to work with veterans, Congress and our partners in the veteran advocacy community to further our ongoing transformation of the veterans' health care sys-
tem,'' Obama said. ``Our veterans deserve nothing less for their sacrifices and their service.'' VA Secretary Bob McDonald also hailed the report and said he was pleased to see that many of the panel's recommendations are in line with ongoing efforts to transform the VA into what McDonald calls a ``veteran-centric organization.''
Work on that effort has been underway for two years and has resulted in increased access to health care and a better experience for veterans, McDonald said. In March, the VA set a new record for completed appointments: 5.3 million in VA hospitals and clinics, 730,000 more than in March 2014. The VA also issued twice as many authorizations for government-paid, private care than in a comparable period two years ago, McDonald said. Nearly 97 percent of appointments are now completed within 30 days of the veteran's preferred date, McDonald said, a huge improvement over past performance. But the report said the VA has a long way to go and singled out a ``Choice Program,'' authorized by Congress to make it easier for veterans to get private care, as significantly flawed. The report recommends replacing the program with community-based delivery networks that it said should improve access, quality and costeffectiveness. -AP
rushed to get to everything in 15 minutes,'' McElligot said. ``Would you be better off making five-minute visits every week? We're probably looking at briefer intervals of access to patients but overall more time and attention.'' Prison health care is expensive, particularly as inmate populations continue to age. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, inmate health care comprised $7.7 billion out of the overall $38.6 billion spent on corrections in 2011. That year, South Carolina spent $2,933 per inmate on health care, less than half of the national average. To combat these costs, at least a dozen other states utilize telehealth in their prison systems, according to South Carolina's Corrections
Department. Before the program can officially get started here, inmate medical records are being digitized, an effort Stirling says is being paid for with existing budget month. Otherwise, funding for the telemedicine project comes from the state legislature to the Telehealth Alliance, founded by MUSC Health and which now includes the Corrections Department. Corrections' initial agreement with MUSC Health currently covers inmates in four prisons across the state - Kirkland Reception and Evaluation, as well as Evans, Turbeville and Lee Correctional Institutions - and hopefully will expand. ``Our state has been wise to invest in this,'' McElligot said.-AP
'Motorists obstructing ambulances to be fined NEW DELHI: Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has said motorists obstructing the way of ambulances carrying patients to hospitals in the national capital would have to pay a penalty of Rs 2,000. Sisodia, who along with Health Minister Satyendar Jain, flagged off a fleet of ambulances equipped with state-of-the- art gadgetry as part of Delhi government's 'Home to Hospital Care' emergency medical response service, said people should be sensitive towards such emergency situations. "It's equally important for people to be sensitive towards such emergency situations. Each ambulance will have a camera to
vice, has procured 110 new ambulances having life-saving equipment. Each ambulance has been provided with tablet computers for easy navigation and to enter patient details enabling advance notice to the hospitals about the patients. "This is the first time in India that such a world-class technology-led control room has been set up. It will coordinate the working of the ambulances and provide real-time management of emer-
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia
record the vehicles in front of it. Those who do not give way to a rushing ambulance will have to pay Rs 2,000 as penalty," he said. He also inaugurated a hightech control room in Shakarpur here which is capable of handling 5,000 medical distress calls daily. Centralized Ambulance Trauma Services (CATS), the nodal agency for the project to provide free emergency ambulance ser-
gency situations for people of Delhi," Sisodia said. He also said the government was planning to bring the fire brigade service and other disaster management services under the aegis of the new control room for a coordinated response to emergencies. The emergency response system can be reached with mobile app 'Call 102'.-PTI
July 22, 2016
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Govt survey to enumerate drug addicts NEW DELHI: After a hiatus of 15 years, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, in collaboration with the National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre (NDDTC) of AIIMS, will conduct a survey to compile national and state level estimates of people involved in drug abuse. The two year-long survey will map the presence of services and interventions for drug dependent individuals and identify the gaps in service delivery.
"The study will include a household survey to determine the proportion of people who use drugs and people who are drug dependent. The last such survey was conducted in 2001 and the data were published in 2004. The project is estimated to cost around Rs 22.41 crore. India's place is shown as vacant in the annual World Drug Report, with no data available for the last several years. "The need for the survey was felt in the absence of a nation-wide data on people who use drugs and people who are drug dependent. "Additionally, India being a signatory (to various international conventions on drug abuse) is expected to report to inter-
national agencies (like United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and World Health Organization) on questions related to data on extent of substance use in India. In such instances, government has to rely on the 15-year-old data," said a senior Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry official. According to the official, the earlier survey did not provide any data on prevalence of substance abuse at the state-level, neither did it provide data on prevalence of drug problem among women population. The drugs include all those listed by the World Health Organization (WHO) in its International Classification of Diseases, 10th Edition (ICD-10) and has categories like alcohol, tobacco, opioids, sedative-hypnotics, cannabis, stimulants, hallucinogens and inhalants, said Dr Atul Ambekar, additional professor at NDDTC and principal investigator of the survey. "The study will include a household survey to determine the proportion of people who use drugs and people who are drug dependent. "Besides, there will be focused thematic studies on specific topics or vulnerable populations which will include studying the pattern of drug abuse among the homeless, prison residents, transgenders, female sex workers, transport workers (truck, taxi drivers, cleaners etc), said Ambekar. The questions during the interview will pertain to socio- demographic data, substance abuse pattern, its consequences, availability of services, and knowledge and attitude towards the problem. -PTI
Kulaste, Anupriya take charge as MoS Health NEW DELHI: Newly appointed Ministers of State for Health Faggan Singh Kulaste and Anupriya Patel have assumed charge. Both the ministers were welcomed by Health Minister J P Nadda who said they would work together in the service of the
"Making this our priority, we would try to take this to every common man of the country," Kulaste said after assuming charge. Nadda also thanked Modi for "assigning" two Ministers of State. "I welcome my colleagues MoS Sh.Fagan Singh Kulhaste & Smt.Anupriya Patel as they assumed their assignments in MOHFW. "I thank respected PM for assigning two MOS to the Health ministry. Jointly we will work together in the service of nation " he said in a series of tweets. In a major reshuffle, Patel and Kulaste were inducted into the government. Anupriya Patel Faggan Singh Kulaste The 35-year-old Patel is a nation. Lok Sabha member from Mirzapur in Uttar Kulsate and Patel thanked Prime Minis- Pradesh. She won on a ticket of Apna Dal, ter Narendra Modi for the responsibility and a party founded by her father and Kurmi said they would work to increase the reach leader Sonelal Patel which later split, with of healthcare to the common masses. the larger faction siding with her mother, The target of the government and the who expelled her from the party. Prime Minister is to provide healthcare to Kulsate is a Lok Sabha member from each and every human being. Madhya Pradesh. -PTI
2 Gurgaon labs sealed for overcharging CHANDIGARH: The Haryana Health Department has issued show cause notices to three private laboratories hospitals in Gurgaon and sealed two of them over allegations that they were over-charging for dengue tests. Health Minister Anil Vij said here show cause notices have been issued to the three labs attached with hospitals, which were allegedly charging more than Rs 600 fixed by the state government for dengue tests at private laboratories. Two laboratories have been sealed and their records seized and an inquiry has also been ordered to into it, he added. He said the Sub-divisional Magistrate, along with officers of the Health Department, visited the laboratory of a private hospital recently as a decoy patient and was asked to pay Rs 1,725. "He was given a receipt for the same amount, on the basis of which the laboratory was sealed and its records seized," Vij said. The Minister said orders have been issued to civil surgeons across the state to conduct raids and maintain strict vigil over such laboratories in their respective dis-
tricts. He said the health department had earlier fixed rate of Rs 600 for dengue test and had also issued orders to laboratories to
Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij
display the rate list for tests. He said orders have been issued to teams of health department to conduct raids in this regard across the state. Vij also urged people to lodge a complaint with the local civil surgeon in case they are over-charged. The Haryana government was setting up advanced laboratories at Gurgaon, Bhiwani, Hansi and Panchkula, he added.-PTI
Tech News 'Mallya not involved in daily affairs of KFA' NEW DELHI: Liquor baron Vijay Mallya was not involved in day-to-day affairs of Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) and cannot be held liable in several cheque-bouncing cases filed against him by Delhi airport operator DIAL, his counsel told the Delhi High Court. The submission was made before a bench of Justice P S Teji where Mallya's counsel sought setting aside of trial court orders summoning him as an accused in the cheque bounce cases by citing that there was a full-time CEO. "It is an admitted fact that respondent (DIAL) was well aware about the status of petitioner (Mallya) qua KFA and still chose not to proceed against him (earlier). "It was obviously because DIAL was aware that he was a nonresident Indian for the purpose of tax and foreign exchange regulations in India and his role was restricted to directing matter of policy on behalf of KFA and he was not involved in day-to-day operations of KFA as there was a full time CEO (accused no.2)," senior advocate Ramesh Gupta, who was representing Mallya, submitted. The trial court had summoned Mallya as accused following a complaint by Delhi International Airport Ltd, which operates the capital's IGI Airport, claiming that a cheque for Rs one crore issued by KFA on February 22, 2012 was returned to them a month later containing the remarks "fund insufficient".-PTI
Gap Inc. adding 100 jobs in Sumner County NASHVILLE, Tenn: State officials say clothing retailer Gap Inc. plans to add 100 jobs at its Sumner County distribution center as part of a $3.1 million investment into the facility over the next five years. Officials said most of the investment into the center in Gallatin will go into technology upgrades as the company expands online capabilities in middle Tennessee. The company says the new hires are needed to fulfill increasing online orders from its websites. Gap operates more than 2.8 million square feet of distribution space among its three warehouses in Gallatin. San Francisco-based Gap Inc.'s clothing and accessory brands include Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Athleta and Intermix. -AP
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Employees give CEO a new car SEATTLE: The employees of a company whose boss gave them a well-publicized big raise have bought him a new Tesla. The Seattle Times reports that Gravity Payments CEO Dan Price posted the news of the gift on Facebook, saying ``Gravity employees saved up and pitched in over the past six months and bought me my dream car.'' Gravity spokesman Ryan Pirkle said the gift was thought up and organized by an employee who was one of those most impacted by Price's decision last year to raise to $70,000 the annual salary for all the more than 130 people who work at the company that processes creditcard payments. At the time Price said he would also make $70,000, dropping his salary from more than $1 million annually. -AP
Rajan's formidable reputation helped stabilize Re, says Ex-Governor MUMBAI: Former Reserve Bank Governor Duvvuri Subbarao has credited his successor Raghuram Rajan's "formidable reputation" for bringing sanity to the forex market when the rupee had lost nearly 25 per cent amid 'taper tantrums' in the summer of 2013. He has also blamed then Finance Minister P Chidambaram's reluctance to accept that the rupee was bleeding more because of domestic issues and less due to external factors like the taper tantrums - a reference to the US Fed's gradual withdrawal of stimulus measures for the American economy following the global financial crisis of 2008. "I had several conversations with Chidambaram on this, but found him reluctant to face up to this inconvenient truth. He is too intelligent not to have seen the point; I suspect he found it politically convenient to point to an external scapegoat rather than call attention to domestic structural factors," Subbarao, the bureaucrat-turned central banker, has written in a book. He has also blamed Chidambaram who "wholeheartedly supported his appointment" to the Mint Road for undermining the autonomy of RBI and putting pressure on him to cut interest rates. On the impact of the appointment of Raghuram Rajan as the new Governor on stabilizing the rupee, Subbarao says "the scheduled leadership change at the Reserve Bank and the formidable reputation of my successor, Raghuram Rajan, helped restore confidence in the Indian markets". The book 'Who Moved My Interest Rates- Leading the Reserve Bank of India through Five Turbulent Years' is a tell-tale 352 page memoir by Subbarao. Published by Penguin Random House, the book will be formally launched next month. “In fact, as chief economic adviser to the government, Raghu was on board all through the exchange rate turmoil and was more actively involved in all the deci-
sions after he was named in early August as my successor," he notes in the book, which he began penning in the middle of last year. On the radical measures that
nosis and remedy if we did not acknowledge that at the heart of our external economy problem were domestic vulnerabilities," he says in his book. Chidambaram's reluctance to
Former Reserve Bank Governor Duvvuri Subbarao
Rajan announced on assuming charge, Subbarao says soon after Rajan came to RBI as an OSD, they both had agreed on those steps like raising forex through NRI deposits. "Raghu was kind enough to offer that I announce these measures before signing off. But I thought that the measures would be more effective if he announced
put the house in order happened, writes Subbarao, "even as we were engaged in a fierce exchange rate defense, one issue that troubled me all through was the narrative that was taking shape about the origin of the problem." "The government, in particular, was attempting to paint the rupee problem as caused entirely by external factors...But global factors
"Both Chidambaram and Pranab Mukherjee were piqued by the Reserve Bank's tight interest rate policy on the ground that high interest rates were inhibiting investment and hurting growth," he writes them as the incoming governor. At least on this issue, my judgment worked!" he says in a chapter titled 'Rupee Tantrums 137'. Blaming the plight of the rupee primarily on structural imbalances like high current account deficit (CAD) driven by non-productive imports like gold, Subbarao says Chidambaram was not ready to accept this. "My concern was that we would go astray in both the diag-
were just the proximate cause for our exchange rate turmoil; the root cause lay in our domestic economy where, for years, we had been heaping pressure on the rupee, an issue that the Reserve Bank consistently raised in its monetary policy statements. "An implosion was inevitable; it was incidental that the trigger came by way of the taper tantrums," he says. On whether the RBI Governor
is free or not, Subbarao, who in the book admits that both his bosses in the North Block put pressure on him to cut rates, and is also a fan of the great existential philosopher JP Sartre, says every "Reserve Bank governor is a creature of the circumstances in which he is called upon to perform. He has to make choices and decisions based on his own learning and experiences. The governor is condemned to be free!" Both interfered Subbarao alleged that ex-finance ministers P Chidambaram and Pranab Mukherjee interfered in the functioning of the central bank, especially on setting interest rates, and the differences even led to two of his deputies not getting extensions. "Both Chidambaram and Pranab Mukherjee were piqued by the Reserve Bank's tight interest rate policy on the ground that high interest rates were inhibiting investment and hurting growth," he writes. The book narrates how Chidambaram and Mukherjee, as finance ministers during his term at the central bank, often made public their differences with the RBI on decisions on policy rates. According to Subbarao, there was not only pressure on him from Chidambaram and Mukherjee to cut interest rates, but his refusal to do so cost him dearly. "I have been asked several times if there was pressure from the government on setting interest rates. There certainly was, although the precise psychological mechanics of pressure would vary depending on the context, setting and personalities," he has written in the book. He goes onto say that he had to pay the price for not falling in line as the government turned down Subbarao's recommendations to give extension to two of his deputy governors - Usha Thorat during Mukherjee's tenure and Subir Gokarn when Chidambaram returned to the finance ministry. Cont’d on page 38
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Jaitley warns black money holders of consequences NEW DELHI: Asking domestic said there will not be second winblack money holders to take ad- dow for the disclosure of foreign vantage of the ongoing scheme to black money. come clean, Finance Minister Arun "I don't think the intension of Jaitley said those who have not the government ever was to reyet declared their undisclosed for- open that. Having closed the date, eign assets will face the conse- one should not reopen the winquences. "One of the objectives behind 2015 black money law was (providing) an opportunity to assessees to comply...some people made use of that opportunity and I can tell you with almost certainty that those who did not, have taken a big risk because this is one area where world is opening out now with G-20 Finance Minister Arun Jaitley initiative, US domestic law," Finance Minister dow. That I think would be FM's Arun Jaitley said at an event or- view also," Adhia said when asked ganized by Ficci here. if the government is considering Finding out details is not diffi- to provide another window for cult once there is a real-time shar- declaration of foreign black ing of information, he said, add- money. ing, "those who have missed the With regard to Income Disclobus certainly have missed a lot". sure Scheme (IDS), Jaitley said the Speaking on the occasion, Rev- government wants more and more enue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia people to use this.
The four-month window under the IDS 2016, which closes on September 30, allows domestic black money holders to declare their ill-gotten wealth by paying a tax and penalty totaling 45 per cent. "This Income Disclosure Scheme is part of the strategy where we want people to clean up their books," he said. Hinting that the tax department has information about the black money, Jaitley said the technology is a facilitator even to taxmen. Detection of tax violation will get easier with improvement in technology, he said, adding, implementation of GST will also help check evasion. Talking about various tax initiatives, Jaitley said the government has sort out a few cases of retrospective taxation. "We are trying to maintain stability of tax policy and one of the efforts is that corporate tax must be brought down to globally competitive rate because assessees world over are going to look over before investing," he said. The government proposes to bring down corporate tax rate in a phased manner from the existing 30 per cent to 25 per cent over a period of four years beginning this fiscal. -PTI
Black money ad spending limit raised NEW DELHI: With the government pulling out all the stops to make the one-time black money compliance window a success, the Income Tax Department has now hiked financial powers of its supervisory officers for publicity of the scheme by up to 50 times. Till now, the regional heads of
Dispute Resolution Scheme. As per fresh directives, the regional Principal Chief Commissioner of I-T (PCCIT) can now spend up to Rs 50 lakh as compared to Rs 1 lakh while the comparative figures for CCIT and PCIT rank officials have been enhanced to Rs 30 lakh and Rs 20
It has also sought regulation of leaves of all tax department officials over the next three months in order to provide as much time as possible for the success of IDS the tax department could only spend Rs 1 lakh per annum under the 'advertising and publicity' head. But it has now been hiked keeping in mind the extensive media campaign for the ongoing four-month domestic black money widow, the Income Declaration Scheme (IDS), and the ambitious
lakh, respectively for ensuring publicity of the two schemes exclusively. While IDS is operational between June-September for people who want to disclose their domestic stash, DRT is aimed at reducing litigation between the taxpayer and the taxman by December 31.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has recently ordered the Income Tax department to step up publicity of the ongoing one-time black money compliance window by advertising it at posh markets, clubs and showrooms and ensure full privacy of those making disclosures for better collections. It has also sought regulation of leaves of all tax department officials over the next three months in order to provide as much time as possible for the success of IDS. CBDT has so far issued four sets of clarifications or Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) to clear doubts and answer queries about IDS. The government had earlier extended the deadline for payment of tax and penalty under the black money disclosure scheme and allowed declarants to pay the amount in three installments by September 30 next year, making an extension of one year. -PTI
South India has become power surplus: Goyal CHENNAI: Centre plans to enhance the power transmission capacity in the country by almost three times by 2020, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said, adding that South India has achieved power surplus status due to various initiatives. "We have brought solar revolution in a big way to India. In the last two years, there was highest ever renewable energy capacity expansion in wind and solar. In fact, solar energy capacity, which was 2,400 MW in 2014, has now crossed 7,000 MW," the Coal, Power and Renewable Energy Minister told reporters here. Stating that gasbased power plants which were lying idle for lack of fuel have now started operations, he said most of these plants are in South India. The minister said as much as 71 per cent of transmission capacity from the Northern and Eastern grids have been connected to South India. "All these steps put together have led to South India becoming power surplus. They have the ability to provide power 24/7 throughout South India," he said.
"With all the thrust we are giving to renewable power, we are focusing to further increase the transmission capacity to make it nearly three times more than what it is today, by 2020," he added. Referring to the purchase of power between states, he said, "Two years ago when a state like Tamil Nadu had to buy power, it was around Rs 8, Rs 10, Rs 12 or even Rs 14 a unit, particularly in
Piyush Goyal
summer months." "I am delighted to share with you now that on most days, power is available at the same price in North India as in South India...," he said without elaborating. "In earlier days, South India had to buy power at five times the cost of Northern India. Now, we have almost got it on par," he said.PTI
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Good Europe, India show pushes TCS net up MUMBAI: In its best performance in six quarters, IT giant TCS has reported 9.9 per cent jump in net profit at Rs 6,317 crore for the April-June period, buoyed by multi-billion dollar deals in Europe and North American markets. In dollar terms, net income stood at USD 944 million for the quarter under the Indian Accounting standards, or Rs 32.06 per share. Consolidated gross revenue on constant currency terms
enue rose just 3.1 per cent. However, Chandrasekaran described net profit as "the best in six quarters as the key numbers driving growth has been allround." "The very strong growth was driven by multiple factors with all our key vertical and markets, especially continental Europe, doing extremely well. "Europe, excluding England, clipped at 2.8 per cent, against 2.5
"Europe, excluding England, clipped at 2.8 per cent, against 2.5 per cent growth that North America saw. For Europe, this was the best quarter in over a year. Also, we had the best year in India at a growth of 8.5 per cent," he said jumped 14.2 per cent to Rs 29,305 crore or USD 4.36 billion, Chief Executive and Managing Director N Chandrasekaran said. The numbers, however, are not so robust on a sequential basis. While net profit slipped 0.4 per cent due to forex volatilities and other externalities like 8-12 per cent salary hike impacting margins, rev-
per cent growth that North America saw. For Europe, this was the best quarter in over a year. Also, we had the best year in India at a growth of 8.5 per cent," he said. While net income slipped 0.4 per cent from the fourth quarter of last fiscal, revenue inched up a paltry 3 per cent, the company said. Gross margins declined steeply
Centre to set up seed processing unit in J&K JAMMU: A seed processing acres of land for this purpose near unit will be set up in Jammu and Kathua city. Kashmir to help farmers in procurKathua is an important nucleus ing high quality seeds for cultiva- center of his parliamentary contion and generate employment in stituency and in the last two the state. years, it is credited for having been "The first-ever modern and ex- bestowed with several "firsts" in clusive seed processing unit in Jammu and Kash- Kathua is an important mir will be set up at Kathua and the letter to nucleus center of his parliathis effect has been is- mentary constituency and in sued by Union Agriculthe last two years, it is credture Minister Radha Mohan Singh," MoS for ited for having been bePMO Jitendra Singh stowed with several "firsts" in said during a function in the state, Singh said Kathua. He further said with the setting up of this unit, not only the state, Singh said. the farmers in Jammu and Kashmir "For example, the first bio-tech but in the neighboring states like park of the state is to come up at Himachal Pradesh will be able to Gati near here and the gameprocure high quality seed for cul- changer Keediyan-Gadhiyal tivation. bridge near Lakhanpur is the first "In addition, the unit will also of its kind inter-state bridge. generate employment avenues for Similarly, the seed processing the youth", he added. unit to be set up here will also be Singh said the district adminis- the first of its kind in the state," he tration has also identified two said.-PTI
to the tune of 98 basis points to 25.1 per cent. On an annual basis, the dip in margins was steeper at 122 bps, Chief Financial Officer Rajesh Gopinathan said. Net profit margin also declined both sequentially as well as annually by 73 bps and 69 bps, respectively to 21.6 per cent, Gopinathan said. He attributed the fall to currency fluctuations and the 8-12 percentage points salary hike announced in the beginning of the fiscal year. "The salary hike alone shaved off almost 200 bps from margins," he said, and parried a question on margin outlook, citing company policy. Chandrasekaran attributed the good set of numbers to strong execution and accelerating customer adoption of cloud, big data and analytics which led to a broadbased growth across key markets and industries. Revenue from its largest market North America inched up 2.5 per cent to USD 2.33 billion, while that from England bettered at 3.8 per cent to USD 650 million. Continental Europe fared even better at 4.6 per cent at USD 500 million. -PTI
FOKIA seeks night operation at Kandla airport VADODARA: The Federation of Kutch Industries Association (FOKIA) has sought permission from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to allow night operations at the Kandla airport in the west Indian Gujarat state's Kutch district. FOKIA, in a letter addressed to Director General of DGCA, has requested for permission for night operations at Kandla Airport, Nimish Phadke, managing director of FOKIA told PTI. "Industrialization in the Kutch region has grown exponentially over the years where investment of Rs 1 lakh crores has taken place. Today, Kutch is credited with Kandla, Mundra and Tuna ports as the gateway for maritime cargo for the western and northern India," Phadke said. Industries in the Kutch region are facing challenge of air connectivity, which is hampering the exploitation of their potential, he said.-PTI
Jet to operate Boeing on Mumbai-Dubai route MUMBAI: Private carrier Jet Airways has said it will operate one of its daily flights to Dubai from here with a wide body Boeing aircraft to meet growing demand on the route, starting next month. The change in aircraft type will help Jet Airways fly an additional 178 seats on the route. The city-headquartered full service carrier currently operates 10 daily flights between India and Dubai or 70 flights per week on this high traffic density route. Starting August 6, Jet Airways flight 9W 544 from Mumbai to Dubai and the return leg flight 9W 543 from Dubai to Mumbai will be operated on the wide-body jetliner, Boeing 777300ER, replacing the narrow-body B737-800, Jet Airways said in a statement. "Dubai is amongst our most popular destinations for business and leisure travelers and it was only logical to increase capacity
on flights to this key market. Deploying the 777-300ER aircraft will give our guests flying on the Mumbai-Dubai route the opportunity to sample our signature First Class hospitality for the first time, while also delivering a more superior flying experience for guests in all classes," Jet Airways whole Time Director Gaurang
Shetty said. Jet Airways B777 in three class configurations offers a total of 346 seats with eight first class suites, 30 premier (business) seats and rest 308 in economy. Deploying a Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft with a bigger belly space, enables uplifting double the cargo consignments daily, on the route, it added. -PTI
Rajan's formidable reputation helped stabilize Re, says Ex-Governor Cont’d from page 36
Subbarao recalls that throughout his five-year term, the government was very uncomfortable with the RBI for raising interest rates and blamed this for falling growth rates. "The logic of why the Reserve Bank should compromise its judgment so as to become a cheerleader for the economy never appealed to me," he writes. Subbarao also suggests that Chidambaram had broken a tacit agreement between the government and the RBI to keep such differences behind closed doors and painfully recalls how the then FM rebuked him publicly. In October 2012, after he left the policy rate unchanged, Chidambaram unveiled a fiscal road map just before the RBI policy meeting. Soon after the RBI's policy statement, Chidambaram said: "Growth is as much a concern as inflation. If the government has to walk alone to face the challenge of growth, we will walk alone." Not just that, Subbarao recalls, in the chapter titled 'Walking Alone', less than a week after this
statement they were together in Mexico for the dinner hosted by the Indian ambassador on the sidelines of the G20 meeting and Chidambaram "greeted everyone, but pointedly ignored me all through the evening, leaving me with an uncomfortable feeling". Chidambaram went further and threatened to "walk alone" to "face the challenge of growth" if the central bank did not realize the importance of growth. On his trial by fire baptism into central banking, within a fortnight of his joining office, the world was plunged into a crisis following the Lehman Brothers' collapse pushing the global financial sector into what he calls a "near-death experience", and within the same month, "Chidambaram had clearly overstepped into the RBI turf as liquidity management is a quintessential central bank function". "Not only did he not consult me but he had not even informed me of this before the notification was issued," he claimed. But, Subbarao adds, "Little did I know that this set the tone for what would be an uneasy relationship between us in the last year of my term." -PTI
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Companies bail out on GOP convention SAN FRANCISCO: Donald Trump has promised to liven up this year's Republican National Convention. But some of America's biggest corporations are bailing on the party. Apple recently became the latest company to give the GOP's presumptive nominee the cold shoulder; it won't contribute money or products to the Republicans' big shindig in Cleveland this month. HP Inc. is also withholding support, while Microsoft is giving products only, not cash. Beyond the tech industry, Ford, JPMorgan Chase and United Parcel Service have opted to withhold support. Most of these companies are also taking a pass on donating to the 2016 Democratic convention. In previous election cycles, though, several of them have given Republican organizers more _ sometimes far more _ in cash or donated products than they have the Democrats, making their pullback from the Republican gathering this year more dramatic.
aimed at persuading companies to withhold support for an event celebrating a candidate who's campaigned with incendiary proposals , racial rhetoric and harsh comments about immigrants and women. ``Of course it's because of Trump,'' said Larry Sabato, a University of Virginia political scientist who has studied party conven-
WHY COMPANIES ARE UNEASY The reasons aren't completely clear. None of these companies publicly described its decisions as a repudiation of Trump. Several declined to discuss their thinking, while others said their sponsorship plans were decided months before Trump emerged as the front-runner for the GOP nomination. In many cases, however, their decisions became known after civil rights groups launched a public effort _ including billboards, letters and online messages _
tions for more than 30 years. Business executives, he said, don't want to alienate customers who may be offended by Trump's statements. ``Just as candidates don't get votes from people they insult,'' he said, ``corporations don't get business from people they insult.'' Even so, Republican convention organizers say their fundraising is going well. More than 100 donors have contributed a total of $57.5 million, or about 90 percent of what's needed, said Emily Lauer of the Cleveland 2016 Host Committee. She declined to provide a list of sponsors. Trump's
campaign did not respond to requests for comment. APPLE AND THE REPUBLICANS Apple made headlines after Politico reported the tech giant won't support the GOP convention because of Trump's divisive statements. Apple declined to comment on its plans for either convention
DOWN IN THE VALLEY Another well-known tech company, Hewlett-Packard, gave a total of $1 million in cash and tech gear for the two previous GOP conventions. While organizers of the 2012 Democratic convention didn't accept corporate cash, HP gave $100,000 to the Democrats' gathering in 2008. HP has since split into two corporations; neither is donating to either convention this year. Meg Whitman, the chairman of HP Inc. and CEO of spinoff Hewlett Packard Enterprise, has been a prominent Republican fundraiser over the years. But she has called Trump ``a dishonest demagogue'' and said his nomination would be disastrous for the party.-AP
Auto Ingress sets up assembly unit in TN Donald Trump
this year, although Lauer confirmed to The Associated Press that the company isn't a sponsor for the GOP gathering. A spokeswoman for Democratic organizers declined to comment. Apple CEO Tim Cook has publicly supported diversity and fair treatment of immigrants. Trump, meanwhile, has publicly blasted the company for manufacturing its products abroad and for resisting FBI demands to help unlock an encrypted iPhone used by an extremist killer in San Bernardino, California. As if to underscore that Apple's
Lulu to invest Rs 7,000 cr in India NEW DELHI: Buoyed by relaxation of FDI norms, NRI tycoon Yusuffali M A, who heads the Dubai-based retail conglomerate Lulu Group, has announced investment of over Rs 7,000 crore in India for setting up shopping malls and hotels. Ali said his group will invest Rs 4,650 crore in Kerala, Rs 1,000 crore in Uttar Pradesh and Rs 1,410 crore in Telangana in the hospitality and retail sector. Complimenting the NDA government for raising FDI cap for various key sectors, Ali estimated that investment to the tune of USD 150 billion will flow into India's retail, aviation, tourism and manufacturing sectors from the Gulf countries in the next few years. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's outreach to a number of Gulf
dispute is with Trump, but not the GOP, Cook hosted a California fundraiser for House Speaker Paul Ryan and other congressional Republicans last week. Ryan has endorsed Trump, but opposed his call to temporarily ban foreign Muslims from entering the country and criticized a Trump remark as ``the textbook definition of a racist comment.'' Apple hasn't been a big cash donor to past conventions, although it gave $165,000 in computers and other tech gear for the 2008 GOP gathering and $140,000 worth of products to that year's Democratic event. It also loaned iPhones to organizers of the 2012 Republican convention.
nations coupled with new initiatives to attract foreign investment have made India the most talked about FDI destination in the region
Yusuffali M A
which is eying to broaden its nonoil investment. "There will be a tremendous push from Gulf investors into India as they are looking to broaden their non-oil investment," he said.
Ali's Lulu Group, having an annual turnover of USD 6.3 billion, has already made major investments in retail, hospitality and food processing sectors in India. The Forbes magazine had last year listed Ali, a first generation migrant to the Middle East, as the 30th wealthiest Indian and the 737th richest in the world. Ali said the company will initially invest Rs 1,000 crore for setting up a shopping mall and a five star hotel and convention centre in Lucknow. The site for the project has already been identified and construction work will start by December. In Telangana, Ali said his group is investing Rs 500 crore for establishing a food processing plant, while a shopping mall will be set up with an investment of Rs 900 crore in Hyderabad.-PTI
CHENNAI: Manufacturer of automatic sensor doors Auto Ingress has set up its first assembly unit at Maraimalai Nagar near Chennai with an investment of Rs 12 crore. The unit will assemble sliding, swing, revolving, telescopic, hermetic doors and gate accessories serving both residential and commercial segments, a company statement read. The unit, set up at SIPCOT Industrial Park, is spread across 20,000 square feet and will produce automatic sensor doors priced between Rs 50,000 and Rs 3 lakh per unit. "We are delighted to make inroads into the Indian market with
our first assembly unit. With an investment of Rs 12 crore, we chose Chennai for our first operations as the city is well connected," Auto Ingress Group MD Robert Donald Jessen said. The factory will have an initial capacity of producing 4,000 units a year operating in a single shift, he said. The company plans to convert the factory into an automatic operator manufacturing plant in coming years. With the assembly unit, the company expects to increase its revenue by 40 per cent as sales in India contribute 50 per cent to its total pie. The company has set a sales target of 3,500 units over the next two years.-PTI
40 India Post
D
andeli is a small town situated in Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka. It is located amidst lush green forest ranges of the Western Ghats along the banks of River Kali. Dandeli is famous for its adventure and eco-tourism. As per ancient texts, Dandeli is the mythical "Dandakaranya" mentioned in the epic Mahabharata. The name 'Dandakaranya' was derived from the word 'Dandvalli' (green bamboo). Dandeli lies at a varying
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altitude of 100m to 970m and is intersected by river Kali and a large number of streams. Dandeli is a popular destination as it rears rare species of flora and fauna, which are typical of Western Ghats. This place consists of Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary, which is the second largest sanctuary in Karnataka. Set in the heart of dense deciduous forests of Western Ghats, Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary is home to about 200 varieties of avian species. Spread along a sprawling area of 834. 16 sq km, Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary was declared as Dandeli Anshi Tiger
Reserve, in the year 2006. Dandeli also holds the designation of being a Hornbill reserve and Crocodile reserve. The town of Dandeli is an emerging educational and industrial hub in the South. It is also
July 22, 2016
termed as 'Mini-India' as majority of the inhabitants here are migrants from across India, who have settled here for employment. Hindi, Kannada, Konkani, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam are the commonly used languages at
Dandeli. Dandeli tourism offers a wide array of activities that range from jungle safari, trekking, white water rafting, canoeing, ab-sailing, rappelling, fishing, boating, swimming, bird watching and coracle rides. Cont’d on page 42
July 22, 2016
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Pay less for flight ticket cancellations NEW DELHI: Air passengers have a reason to smile as the revised norms that caps ticket cancellation charges and bars airlines from levying additional amount for refund process are coming into force from August 1. "Cancellation amount not to exceed basic fare plus fuel surcharge; all statutory levies and taxes to be refunded under all circumstances," Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said here as he announced that the new cancellation norms for fare refund would become effective from August 1. Issuing the revised regulations, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) also made it clear that airlines cannot levy additional charge to process the refund.
The move would come as a relief to air passengers against the backdrop of many carriers hiking the cancellation charges in recent times. The regulator said carriers should refund all statutory taxes and User Development Fee (UDF)/Airport Development Fee (ADF)/Passenger Service Fee (PSF) to the passengers in case of "cancellation/ nonutilisation of tickets/no show". "This provision shall also be applicable for all types of fares offered including promos/special fares and where the basic fare is non-refundable," DGCA noted. The changes were first proposed by the Civil Aviation Ministry in June as part of putting in place passenger friendly measures.
Arrangements for smooth Amarnath yatra JAMMU: Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Minister Priya Sethi has reviewed the arrangements of the ongoing Amarnath yatra and said the state government has made elaborate arrangements for its smooth conduct. "The Jammu and Kashmir government
has made elaborate arrangements for a smooth yatra," she said. The minister took a tour of the facilitation points for pilgrims set up by the administration. She started the tour from Yatri Niwas, Bhagwati Nagar and later visited Sangam
Palace, Vaishnavi Dham, railway station, Purani Mandi temple and Mahajan Hall. After interacting with yatris at Bhagwati Nagar, Sethi said the government is well equipped to ensure a smooth yatra and foolproof arrangements have been put in place to ensure safety and security of pilgrims. She directed the administration to ensure that registered yatris are cleared for the onward journey to the cave shrine as also their comfortable stay at Yatri Niwas. "Due to the unfortunate incidents in the Valley, the yatra had to be suspended for some time, but now that the government has made all required arrangements, it has resumed," she said. Sethi said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has chaired a high-level meeting and extended all the necessary support to the state for improving the law-and-order situation. She went around the dormitories, langar hall and other facilities at Yatri Bhawan and directed the JMC Commissioner to ensure proper hygiene and cleanliness there. -PTI
138 pc growth in e-tourist visa arrivals NEW DELHI: Over 36,900 people arrived in India on e-tourist visa in June as compared to 15,557 during the corresponding month last year, a growth of nearly 138 per cent. Among the countries availing e-tourist visa facility, the USA continues to occupy the top slot, followed by the UK and China, the Union Tourism Ministry said in a statement. "A total of 36,982 tourists arrived in June on e-tourist visa as compared to 15,557 during the month of June, 2015 registering a growth of 137.7 per cent," it said. Launched on November 27, 2014, the facility was initially available for citizens of 113 countries arriving at 16 airports in India
till February 25. It was extended for citizens of 37 more countries from February 26. During January-June, a total of 4,71,909 tourist arrived on e-tourist visa as compared to 1,26,214 tourists during January-June 2015, registering a growth of 273.9 per cent. Among the top 10 source countries availing the facility in June, the US' share was maximum with 23.22 per cent, followed by the UK (14.16 per cent), China (6.91 per cent), Australia (5.59 per cent), France (4.10 per cent) and Germany (4.03 per cent). The share of Canada was 4.02 per cent, while that of Singapore 2.62 per cent, Malaysia 2.53 per cent and Spain 2.4 per cent. PTI
These norms would be effective from August 1, according to the Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) issued by DGCA chief
M Sathiyavathy. In a tweet, Raju said the process of refund would be completed within 30 days even when booked through travel agents or online portals. "Cancellation charges to be clearly dis-
played on every ticket. The policy to be prominently displayed on the website of the airline," Raju said in another tweet. N o charges can now be levied by airlines for corrections in errors of names of the passengers, he added. Separately, DGCA has also revised the rules with respect to persons with disability and reduced mobility whereby airport operators should make provision for such people to embark or disembark from a flight without inconvenience. -PTI
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Cont’d from page 40
There are also many sightseeing attractions in and around Dandeli like Naghjari view point, Ulavi, Syntheri rocks, Maulangi, Kulgi nature camp, Supa dam, Supa catchment area, Ganeshgudi, Shanmukha view point, Vincholli falls, Magod falls etc. Dandeli is located at a distance of 125 km from Goa and 480 km from Bangalore and is easily accessible as it is well connected by road with all the major destinations within the state of Karnataka. The vicinity of Goa, Belgaum, Karwar, Dharwad and Hubli makes Dandeli a favorite destination of holiday makers. Best time to visit Dandeli would be October to June.
distance of 25 km from Dandeli. Tourists will have to trek some thousand steps through a dense forest to reach Kavala caves. These caves are revered as the abode of Lord Shiva - the Hindu god of Destruction. Kulgi Nature Camp: Kulgi Nature Camp is located at a distance of around 14 km from the Dandeli National Park. This camp has small museum, nature interpretation centre. It is located on the Ambika Nagar - Yellapur Road. Main highlight of this museum is the stuffed remains of a 13-ft king cobra which was caught few years back in this area.
Rafting/Kayaking/Canoeing, Camping, Jeep Safari ride, Trekking in the forest, bird watching. Other nearby places to visit includes: Kavala Caves, Syntheri Rocks, Sykes point, Siroli peak. Dandeli Wildlife sanctuary is very calm and peaceful. It nestles some very rare birds and animals. It has unspoilt and not much explored hidden treasure of wildlife, which can surely leave any nature lover speechless. Rafting: Kali River is a great location for the rafting. There is a route of around 9-14 km for rafting. This route is of class III and continues for around 2 to 3 hours.
What to do Dandeli Wild Life Sanctuary and Anshi National Park is dominated by river Kali, be it from its banks or from atop a mountain. The ac-
Getting There Air: Closest airport: Belgaum (110 kms), Hubli (75 kms) and Goa (150 kms). Air Deccan has daily flights from Mumbai and Banga-
Road: Dandeli is well connected to Bangalore, Mumbai (Bombay), Goa, Belgaum, Karwar
and Dharwad, Hubli by road. Several buses ply to Dandeli everyday.
36 more nations to get e-visa facility
What to see Kavala Caves: Ancient Kavala caves are a perfect destination for tourists to visit while their trip to Dandeli. This place is located at a
tivities at this national park includes: Coracle Rides (in water, would be able to spot crocodiles, hornbills and other birds), Rock Climbing (small), Mountain Biking,
lore to Belgaum, Goa and Hubli. Train: Closest rail head: Alnavar (32 kms), Londa (48 kms), Dharwad (57 kms), & Hubli (75 kms).
NEW DELHI: Terming the evisa initiative as a "game-changer" for tourism sector, Tourism Ministry has asked Union Home Ministry to extend the facility to the citizens of 36 more countries, including Turkey, Italy, Saudi Arabia and Morocco. "E-visa has proved to be a game changer. We have recently written to the Home Ministry to consider granting e-visa to the citizens of 36 more countries which are important from tourism point of view," Secretary, Tourism Ministry, Vinod Zutshi said. The Home Ministry has informed that the request was being processed, he said, and expressed the hope that soon these countries would be in the list of nations availing of the facility. Launched in November 2014, the scheme was initially available for citizens of 113 countries. It was extended for nationals of 37 more countries this year, taking the total to 150. Some of the names of the coun-
tries which have been recommended for granting the e-visa facility include Maldives, Iran, Nigeria, Egypt, Ethopia, Qatar, Bahrain and Kazakhstan, Zutshi said. "These are the source countries...If e-visa is extended to these countries, it would lead to increase in footfalls from such nations," he added. Stating that e-visa has received a "great response" from visitors, he said there has been an increase of whopping 273 per cent at 4.71 lakh tourist availing of the facility during January to June this year as compared to 1.26 lakh during the corresponding period last year. Last year, the facility was available for 113 countries but it was increased to 150 in February this year, whose full impact would be seen in the coming days, he said. Under the e-visa scheme, an applicant receives an email authorising him or her to travel to India after it is approved and he or she can travel with a print-out of this authorisation. -PTI
July 22, 2016
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Spared gas tax hike, holiday travel spurts TRENTON, N.J.: Hundreds of thousands of people were traveling the roads in New Jersey, thankful they had been spared a potential 23-cent-per-gallon hike in the state's gasoline tax. Many were headed to family events or weekend getaways, trips that some thought they would have to reconsider due to the fear of higher prices at the pumps. Several drivers said they understand why a gas tax hike is needed and are willing to pay it if it means improved roads and bridges, but they also sharply criticized the way state officials have handled the issue and questioned why any increase wasn't phased in over the past few years instead of being pushed on residents all at once. There also were questions about how the state would now pay for transportation projects. Republican Gov. Chris Christie has issued an executive order calling for state transportation officials to develop a plan to start shutting
down projects by 11:59 p.m. Saturday, but no details on the plan had been announced. The proposed hike fell through when the Democratic-led state Senate scrapped any votes on
percent to 6 percent over nearly two years. It was part of a deal Christie had reached with Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto. The proposal had passed in the Democrat-led As-
Gov. Chris Christie holds a press conference at the Statehouse to answer questions about the Assembly proposal to increase the state's gasoline tax 23 cents per gallon
Christie's plan to hike the gas tax while cutting the sales tax from 7
sembly. The increase would have sent New Jersey's current gas tax
of 14.5 cents per gallon from second-lowest in the country behind Alaska to roughly equal that of Connecticut, which has the sixthhighest at 37.51 cents, according to the Tax Foundation, an independent tax policy research organization. The funds raised through the gas tax hike would have been used to replenish the state's transportation trust fund, which pays for road, bridge and transit work. It is unclear how many projects will now be affected, but Christie said transportation trust fund money shouldn't be spent on any projects that aren't ``absolutely essential.'' ``The gas tax hike was definitely something we were concerned about while we decided whether or not to make this trip,'' Doug Martin said while gassing up his family's minivan in Freehold Township. Martin, his wife and their five children were headed from their Manalapan home to Westchester
County in New York for a weekend family gathering. ``With five kids between 4 and 13, we do a lot of driving for sports, ballet lessons, etc., and I'm driving an hour each way to get to work,'' Martin said. ``The cost of gas starts to add up and, with a tight family budget, you look to save where you can. But since it seems like (a gas tax hike) won't be happening any time soon, we figured we could - and would - make this trip.'' Other drivers said the state has mishandled the situation for years. ``If they had raised (the gas tax) gradually over the last few years, we could have gotten a lot of work done and it wouldn't have seemed like such a stiff shot to the wallet,'' said George Tucker, 44, of Jackson. ``No one wants to pay more, obviously, but this is work that needs to be done. They don't raise it for years, then they sock you with a big boost all at once. Stupid that's what it is.''-AP
Aurangabad to host J&K awaits nod on permit SAARC Tourism Summit for foreigners SRINAGAR, JK: The Jammu and Kashmir government has said a reminder has been sent to the Centre on its proposal to permit foreign tourists to visit some hitherto restricted areas in Nubra valley bordering Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and China in the Ladakh region. The state government has requested the Ministry of Home Affairs to extend the inner line permit for foreign tourists further from Panamik to Warshi, including Yarma-Gompa and YarmaGonbo monasteries in Nubra val-
ley, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said in a written reply in the state Assembly. Replying to Congress MLA Deldan Namgyal's question about steps taken to extend the inner line permit for foreign tourists up to Yarma Gonboo monastery, Warshi village of Yarma valley and Thang Tyakshi village of Turtuk valley of Nobra sub-division, she said the first request was made to the Centre on February 12, 2015 and a reminder was sent on May 24 this year for its early consideration.
"A response from the Ministry of Home Affairs is awaited," said Mehbooba, who also holds the portfolio of state Home Ministry. She said the state government, on February 28, 2014, had submitted a proposal to the Centre to permit tourists to travel till YarmaGonboo, Tyakshi-Pachathang and Thang areas in Nubra valley to encourage tourism in the Ladakh region. However, the Union Home Ministry had accorded permission only for Indian tourists, she added.-PTI
MUMBAI: Central Maharashtra town of Aurangabad, where the world famous AjantaEllora caves are located, will host the country's first SAARC Tourism Summit that will explore opportunities in tourism promotion.
Manali cottages - peace away from crowds MANALI, Himachal Pradesh: Cottages nestling amid pear, plum, walnut and apricot orchards on the outskirts of Manali are catering to the niche tourist clientele which seeks some time away from the hustle and bustle that defines Mall Roads of almost all hill stations in the country. One such option is the Manali Treehouse Cottages, located barely 18 kilometers from Manali city. The family-run enterprise, which is approved by the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Department, offers the unique experience of a tree
house stay with a breathtaking view of the hills. "Gone are the days when people used to come to hill stations only for sightseeing. Now, a lot of people are coming just to relax and unwind, they don't like being in the crowd at the Mall Road. We cater to them and the unique experience is reflected in our service," says owner of the cottages, Ambrish Upadhyay. The service that Upadhyay refers to includes vegetarian food prepared at his own home, which is located inside the resort.
And if one is not keen on trying that, the cottages have fullyequipped kitchens to let the guests do their own cooking. "Some guests enjoy this, they like to make their own food. Having fully-equipped kitchens inside cottages has been appreciated by a lot of guests," he said. Besides, the owners also offer jams and juices prepared from the fruits of their orchards. And given the location of resort, even the hustle and bustle of the town is not too far if one has had enough of solitude.-PTI
The two-day meet will be organized in the second week of October. The summit is also aimed at tapping FDI under 'Make in India' and 'Make in Maharashtra' schemes, a senior official said here. "The Ajanta-Ellora caves have always remained the biggest tourism attraction in the State among foreigners and Indians. The historical silk route and connect of the place with the Buddhist circuit across world, including China, is significant. These are reasons for Aurangabad to be the preferred choice (of tourists) in
Maharashtra," the State's Tourism and Culture Principal Secretary, Valsa Nair Singh, said in a release here. On the first day, she said officials from SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) countries Nepal, Afghanis t a n , Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka - will attend the conference. On the second day, the Tourism Ministers from these countries and from Indian States would participate, she added. "The coming two years are very important for the progress and prosperity of the tourism sector. 2017 will be celebrated as 'Visit Maharashtra Year' and in 2018, we will be celebrating completion of 200 years of the discovery of the world heritage Ajanta Caves by British officer John Smith." Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation is also planning to set up a Buddhist Centre on its 900-acre land at Ellora during the summit, she said.-PTI
In Brief Sedgwick passes illegal immigrant resolution WICHITA, Kan.: Sedgwick County commissioners approved a resolution asking the Kansas Legislature to stop people living in the U.S. illegally from receiving in-state tuition or from receiving nutritious food through a federal program. The nonbinding resolution passed 3-2 after almost two hours of sometimes heated debate, with most speakers opposing the move, The Wichita Eagle reported. Karl Peterjohn, Richard Ranzau and commission Chairman Jim Howell voted for the resolution while Dave Unruh and Tim Norton voted against it. ``This is not local, this is arbitrary; it's unnecessary, and it just looks like it's mean-spirited,'' speaker Roger Hughey told the commissioners. Ranzau argued the resolution was about respect for the country. ``This has nothing to do with race, has nothing to do with being unkind or uncompassionate,'' Ranzau said. ``It is about the law.'' Commissioners who supported the resolution said they want a clear directive from state lawmakers about how to deal with issues involving those in the country illegally. State law allows the immigrants to receive in-state tuition if they attend a Kansas high school for three years and graduate. And federal law allows the state to determine who is eligible for the Women, Infants and Children program. -AP
„
Hartford rally against immigration deadlock HARTFORD, CONN.: Protesters in Hartford are calling for a moratorium on immigration-related deportations after a U.S. Supreme Court deadlock that effectively killed President Barack Obama's plan to help millions of immigrants living in the country illegally. City police arrested several demonstrators outside the Abraham A. Ribicoff Federal Building. The Supreme Court had voted 4-4 on the president's plan to spare millions of immigrants living in the country illegally from deportation, leaving a lower court ruling against the plan in place. Up to 4 million immigrants who are parents of U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents are affected by the lower court's decision. Immigrants were among the Hartford protesters who blocked Main Street and called for a moratorium on deportations, detentions and raids. -AP
Immigration 44 India Post
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July 22, 2016
France may pressure Britain over migrants Details on page 46
VP hopeful Sessions in step with Trump on immigration MONTGOMERY: He was the first U.S. senator to endorse Donald Trump. And like Trump, Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions has for years espoused views on immigration and trade out of step with prevailing Republican powerbrokers. ``You have asked for 30 years, and politicians have promised for 30 years, to fix illegal immigration. Have they done it?'' Sessions asked at a February campaign rally in his home state. To a thunderous ``No!'' from the crowd, he promised: ``Donald Trump will do it.'' The alliance between the fourterm senator, a measured Southerner known for his down-to-earth demeanor, and the freewheeling, over-the-top Trump at first seemed unexpected, at least in terms of style. But Sessions, now sometimes mentioned as a possible vice presidential pick, has provided valuable policy support and advice to Trump's campaign. Sessions, 69, is perhaps best known outside of Alabama as an ardent hardliner on immigration. He fought the 2013 ``Gang of Eight'' bipartisan bill that sought to create a path to citizenship for millions of immigrants now in the country illegally and was an early
advocate of additional fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border. At the Alabama rally, he also criticized the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade agreement supported by many GOP leaders, as ``Obamatrade.''
sions graduated from the University of Alabama in 1973. He served as U.S. attorney for 12 years during the Reagan and Bush administrations and was Alabama's attorney general. Also like Trump, he has faced
Donald Trump And Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions
``He doesn't waver on things. He doesn't take a poll and see what people are thinking,'' Alabama Republican Party Chairwoman Terry Lathan said of Sessions. Jefferson Beaureguard Sessions III grew up in a small town outside of Selma. He now calls the port city of Mobile home. Ses-
criticism on issues of race. Sessions was nominated for a federal judgeship in 1986 by President Ronald Reagan, but the nomination was derailed after Democrats criticized his record on civil rights as U.S. attorney and accused him of making racially insensitive remarks. A black assistant
prosecutor testified that Sessions had called him ``boy,'' an accusation Sessions vehemently denied. Other confirmation hearing witnesses accused him of describing civil rights groups as ``un-American.'' Sessions said those opposing his nomination were trying to distort off-hand remarks and retaliating for a voter fraud prosecution his office had pursued. He was elected to the U.S. Senate 10 years later, in 1996, winning the seat of retiring Alabama Sen. Howell Heflin, who had voted against his judicial appointment. Sessions, now with two decades in the U.S. Senate, brings to the table experience in Washington, a resume Trump lacks. But Sessions, who does not hold a committee chairmanship, has not wielded the clout of some other Republican senators. Marty Connors, a former state GOP chairman, said what Sessions does offer are ``conservative credentials'' to conservative Republican voters harboring doubts about Trump. ``The thing about Jeff is, he's a Boy Scout,'' Connors said. ``What Jeff would do is bring conservative credentials to all those swing states.'' -AP
Sanctions sought against Arpaio's office PHOENIX: Lawyers challenging identity theft laws that were used to charge hundreds of immigrants in Arizona are asking a judge to sanction Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's Office for a sergeant's destruction of notes from his discussions with prosecutors about enforcing the statutes. The attorneys said in court records that the destruction of the notes denied them the chance to show that the sheriff's office failed to change how it handled federal employment eligibility documents during raids of businesses. Immigrant rights advocates say federal law prohibits local officers from using the I-9 forms
and that authorities have used the records to charge workers with using fraudulent IDs to get jobs.
ecutors and the sheriff's office from offering testimony on the subject. They also are seeking
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio talks with workers after an immigrations raid on a busuness in Phoenix
As a punishment, they have asked a federal judge to bar pros-
unspecified attorney fees for litigating the issue.
Prosecutors say they have filed work-related ID theft cases by using documents other than the I-9. They say they have revised their policies to bar prosecutors from relying on the I-9 as evidence and, as a result, have gotten dismissals in some pending ID theft cases. This isn't the first time immigrant rights advocates have sought sanctions against Arpaio's office in an immigration-related case. In late 2011, Arpaio's office was sanctioned by a federal judge for its acknowledged destruction of records in a racial profiling case that protested the sheriff's signature immigration Cont'd on Page 46 patrols.
Immigration Post
July 22, 2016
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Attorney general won't sue over refugees NASHVILLE, Tenn.: Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery won't sue the federal government
One is that federal officials are not properly consulting with state and local officials, as required by law.
Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery
over its refugee resettlement program. A General Assembly resolution passed earlier this year had demanded legal action. Gov. Bill Haslam allowed it to take effect without his signature in May. ``I have constitutional concerns about one branch of government telling another what to do,'' Haslam wrote to lawmakers at the time. In a letter to the clerks of the state Senate and House of Representatives, Slatery outlined what he sees as lawmakers' two concerns about refugee resettlement.
The other is that the federal government is confiscating state resources by coercing Tennessee to accept refugees. Slatery notes in the letter that the consulting issue already has been dismissed in federal court. He says the coerced spending issue is an untested legal theory that is unlikely to succeed. To address lawmaker concerns, Slatery suggests state officials request quarterly meetings with federal officials and begin attending the meetings conducted by Catholic Charities, which runs the Tennessee Office for Refugees. He
also suggests state officials insist upon better information about refugees in Tennessee, including long term tracking of their assimilation. And he says a community can request a moratorium on new refugee resettlement if the community lacks the capacity to absorb them without harming existing residents. The director of the federal program is required to take such requests into account. The letter delegates authority to sue over refugee resettlement to the General Assembly's staff attorneys, should lawmakers still wish to pursue legal action. Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition Director Stephanie Teatro issued a statement urging lawmakers to drop the matter. ``If the legislature proceeds with SJR467, we will not only be turning our backs on refugee families fleeing violence and persecution but also the advice of our state's highest ranking legal officer,'' the statement reads. But Sen. Mark Norris, the resolution's sponsor, said he plans to interview at least two law firms that are interested in taking the case for free. He said he believes the suit can ``clear the air of a lot of suspicion and anxiety around the program.'' As to Slatery's suggestions for meetings with federal officials and Catholic Charities, he said lawmakers are willing but so far have not found either to be forthcoming. -AP
Danish police seize valuables from migrants COPENHAGEN, Denmark: Valuables have been seized from migrants for the first time since a controversial law went into force five months ago, Danish police said. National police spokesman Per Fiig says the two men and three women carried dollars and euros worth a total of about 129,600 kroner ($19,300). They were arrested at Copenhagen's airport for using forged passports. Fiig said the group, aged 26-35, immediately sought asylum. ``Danish police are every day attentive to asylum-seekers and foreigners staying illegally who could have valuables that could help to finance the costs of their
stay,'' Fiig said. ``Now police have found valuables that can be seized. Police seized 79,600 kroner ($11,860) as each person was allowed to keep 10,000 kroner ($1,490), Fiig said. Under the law, refugees and other migrants must hand over valuables worth more than 10,000 kroner. It was intended to help cover migrants' housing and food costs while their cases are being processed, but also an attempt to reduce Denmark's appeal to migrants. Critics say the legislation that was presented by Denmark's center-right government and backed by a majority in Parliament is degrading and inhumane.
``In my opinion it is reasonable that you pay if you can take care of yourself when you seek asylum here,'' Denmark's immigration minister Inger Stoejberg said. She noted that Danes also have to sell valuables worth more than 10,000 kroner before they can receive any welfare benefits. The nation has also extended the period that family members must wait before joining a refugee in Denmark from one year to three. Some German states also take assets from refugees, in line with laws regulating Germans receiving social assistance, and Switzerland requires asylum-seekers to hand over cash of more than 1,000 francs ($996) for similar reasons. -AP
Citizenship Act may be amended for refugees NEW DELHI: Keeping its promise to provide succor to refugees from neighboring countries, the NDA government is contemplating to amend the Citizenship Act so that Hindus and Sikhs, who had entered India without valid documents could be granted Long Term Visa and citizenship. The issue was discussed threadbare at a high-level meeting chaired by Home Minister Rajnath Singh and attended by Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar besides others. There are thousands of Hindus and Sikhs who have entered India after facing religious persecution in countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan without any valid document. These refugees have been facing difficulty in getting Long Term Visa (LTV) or Citizenship and the existing law does not allow anyone granting Indian nationality if he or she can not show proof of documents on country of birth. "Hence, the government plans to amend the Citizenship Act so that such refugees could be granted LTV and citizenship without any hindrance," a Home Ministry official said. In its election manifesto before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP had declared India as "a natural home for persecuted Hindus" who "shall be welcome to seek refuge". Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during the campaigning in 2014 had made a distinction between Hindu and Muslim refugees from Bangladesh and arguing that the former should be accommodated. "We have a responsibility towards Hindus who are harassed and suffer in other countries. India is the only place for them. We will have to accommodate them here," Modi had said. Ever since the Modi government came to power, several con-
cessions have been offered to the persecuted Hindus and Sikhs of the neighboring countries that include issuing Long Term Visa, allowing such people to buy residential properties, procuring PAN cards, Aadhar card, driving license, opening bank accounts, lowering of visa fees besides others. Besides, the Home Ministry
In its election manifesto before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP had declared India as "a natural home for persecuted Hindus" who "shall be welcome to seek refuge" also organized special camps at district level in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana and NCT of Delhi for granting LTV and citizenships. Children of refugees on LTV are allowed to take admission in schools/ colleges/ universities/ technical and professional institutions under foreigner quota without permission from the state government/UT administration. State governments/ UT administration are empowered to grant permission to such people to engage themselves in employment of purely private nature. State governments/UT administration delegated powers for services like grant of visit to additional places, grant of No Objection to Return to India (NORI) and grant of permission to change in mode of travel and port of exit.PTI
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France may pressure Britain over migrants PARIS: Concern about immigration and a wish for stricter border controls were important factors in Britain's vote to leave the European Union. But the mayor of Calais in northern France hopes the neighbor's decision to quit the bloc can have a reverse effect and eventually help unravel a deal that has kept migrants attempting to reach Britain trapped on the French side of the English Channel. The French-British bilateral Touquet Treaty was signed in 2003 with the aim to stop migrants from crossing the channel. It effectively moved Britain's southern border to northern France, allowing British police, customs officials and their sniffer dogs to operate around Calais. Bilateral deals aren't legally affected by a British exit from the EU and French leaders haven't shown any appetite to undo the Touquet Treaty for now, but Calais Mayor Natacha Bouchart hopes they can use the June 23 referendum result to gradually start chipping away at the deal and squeeze
more concessions out of Britain in its hour of vulnerability. Because of the agreement, Calais' economy and image have suffered, Bouchart says. A fortress-like defense system has been mounted against the thousands of migrants, from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Eritrea and elsewhere, living in dire conditions in a Calais slum camp and nearby towns as they try to hop into freight trucks headed to Britain, via the Channel Tunnel or the huge ferry port. High barbed wire fences stretch along the urban landscape, trees and bushes have been razed to eliminate hiding spots and flashing police lights illuminate the night sky. ``We can't take it anymore. We don't want it anymore. We're sick of it,'' Bouchart said after she and other regional officials met with Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve to discuss the next steps after Britain's EU vote. Cazeneuve noted that chucking the treaty would require a twoyear notice and would further worsen the humanitarian situation in Calais. He said it would encour-
age smugglers attracted by easier passage across the channel, risk an increase in deaths of migrants trying to cross and add an extra burden on the hundreds of French police posted around Calais. However, he suggested the referendum result could help France put more pressure on Britain to help out. ``We've already increased cooperation in a tough dialogue, and
Britain has never been part of Schengen zone, and has tried to protect its borders from illegal immigration via other EU states. Amid an migrant influx since 2014, France pressured Britain into pumping more than $111 million into helping secure Calais and house some migrants. the choice of the British on June 23 must make us become still tougher,'' Cazeneuve said without elaborating. He said he was seeking a meeting this fall to discuss the issue with regional officials and his British counterpart Theresa May - a contender to become new prime minister after
Court upholds immigrant's sentence MADISON, Wis: Immigrant advocates criticized the Wisconsin Supreme Court for upholding a drunken driver's 15-year sentence that advocates say unduly took into account the man's lack of citizenship. Leopoldo Salas Gayton, a Mexican immigrant who is in the U.S. illegally, pleaded no contest to charges of homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle and causing death while operating without a license after he killed a woman in 2011 while driving the wrong direction on a Milwaukee freeway while drunk. At a sentencing hearing in July 2011, Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Dennis Cimpl mentioned Salas Gayton's immigration status multiple times, saying his status as an ``illegal alien'' is a minor factor but relates to his character. In a post-conviction motion, Salas Gayton argued the court improperly considered his immigration status in giving him the maximum sentence, but the circuit court and the 1st District Court of Appeals said that wasn't the case. The high court affirmed those courts' decisions. The Wisconsin Supreme
Court's opinion doesn't clearly answer whether a sentencing court may rely on a defendant's ``illegal immigrant status'' as a factor in fashioning a sentence. It does emphasize the circuit court's reliance on issues other than Salas Gayton's immigration status, concluding the harsh sen-
Advocates for immigrants in Wisconsin argued that the circuit court imposed the maximum sentence for Salas Gayton based in part on his status as a noncitizen. tence was imposed because of his ``dangerous conduct operating a vehicle while intoxicated and the tragic consequences of that act.'' ``The fact that you're an illegal alien doesn't enter into the serious nature of the crime or the need to protect the community,'' Cimpl said, according to a transcript in-
David Cameron's resignation. Britain has never been part of Europe's travel-free Schengen zone, and has tried to protect its borders from illegal immigration via other EU states. Amid an exceptional migrant influx since 2014, France pressured Britain into pumping more than 100 million euros ($111 million) into helping secure Calais and house some migrants.
cluded in the opinion. ``It goes to character. It's a minor character flaw very honestly.'' Justice David Prosser wrote for the majority that it's acceptable for the circuit court to include Salas Gayton's prior disregard for federal immigration law and his subsequent inability to obtain a driver's license in its assessment of his character. Advocates for immigrants in Wisconsin argued that the circuit court imposed the maximum sentence for Salas Gayton based in part on his status as a noncitizen. ``We continue to believe that sentencing a defendant based on immigration status or national origin, rather than on any specific actions, is an Equal Protection violation,'' Matthew Pinix, a volunteer attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin, said in a statement. Justice Ann Walsh Bradley wrote in a concurring opinion that the law on whether sentencing courts can rely on immigration status ``is not well-settled,'' pointing to some courts that clearly prohibit relying on immigration status to increase a penalty and others that are far less clear. -AP
Numerous adjustments have been made to the Touquet Treaty, and France may now push for more. ``We want some arm-wrestling around a table with the new British government'' that will replace Cameron's team in the fall, said Calais mayor Bouchart, who is also vice president of the northern region. She wants ``to clarify the Touquet accords ... We want at least fairness, sharing, a refugee camp opened in Britain. We want the British government to assume its responsibility.'' President Francois Hollande
has said it ``makes no sense'' to put the agreement in doubt under the pretext that Britain has voted to leave the EU, instead of suggesting ways to ``improve the situation.'' But even if Hollande's government doesn't pull out of the border treaty, an eventual successor could. The Socialist is in political difficulty ahead of presidential elections next year, and some leading conservative candidates are already complaining about France's role as a depot for migrants. Popular far-right candidate Marine Le Pen is actively campaigning to leave the EU, the euro currency and the borderless Schengen zone. One potential conservative candidate, former Prime Minister Alain Juppe, said it's ``obviously necessary'' to reconsider the treaty. ``It was true before Brexit,'' he said on BFM-TV. ``It is even truer today.'' Fear alone should be enough to prompt the French state to rethink the Touquet Treaty, suggested Xavier Bertrand, conservative president of the northern region. Small militia-like groups have already attacked migrants in recent months, and ``we don't want one day to have clashes between Calaisians and migrants,'' he said. ``It's that we want to avoid.''-AP
Sanctions sought against Arpaio's office Cont'd from Page 44
The latest sanctions request arose in a lawsuit by immigrant rights advocates that alleges the work-related identity theft laws are trumped by federal immigration statutes. The request says Sgt. Dmitrius Whelan-Gonzales, the leader of the sheriff's squad that conducted the business raids, had acknowledged destroying the notes, but added that he did so after he had transcribed them or was done with the task at hand. In a deposition, Whelan-Gonzales said he was told during the meetings that the federal form wasn't admissible in state court. The Maricopa County Attorney's Office, which prosecuted the work-related ID theft cases, declined to comment on the sanctions request. The ID theft laws were used in Arizona for seven years until a judge barred their enforcement in
early 2015. But an appeals court reversed that decision in early May, creating an opening for authorities to enforce the laws again. The laws were part of a package of legislation that sought to confront employers who hire immigrants who are in the country illegally - and are blamed for fueling the nation's border woes. Critics say the enforcement of the laws focused too much on workers and not enough on their employers. Prosecutors say the laws were effective in holding people accountable for causing hassles for victims of identity theft. Most of the work-related ID theft cases have been brought against workers who are in the country illegally. But prosecutors say U.S. citizens also have been prosecuted under the laws in cases unrelated to immigration status, such as wanting to conceal a worker's criminal record from an employer. -AP
Datebook
July 22, 2016
NEW JERSEY Upcoming
NEW YORK
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
Upcoming
Upcoming
Sat, Jul 23
Sun, Aug 7
• KSHAAM-E-GHAZAL
• IFMP Annual Summer Picnic
Venue: Empire Meadowlands Secacus, 2 Harmon Plaza, Secaucus, NJ 07094 Contact: 732-900-4200
Venue: Mercer County Park East, 1346 Edinburg Rd, West Windsor Township, NJ 08550 Time : 11:00 am
Sun, Aug 7 • IFMP Annual Summer Picnic Venue: Mercer County Park East, 1346 Edinburg Rd, West Windsor Township, NJ 08550 Time: 11:00 pm
Sun, Aug 21 • Dream Team Star live Concert 2016 Venue: Prudential Center, 25 Lafayette St, Newark, NJ 07102 Time : 7:00 pm
Sat, Aug 13 • DesiParty Featuring Bollywood Beats By Dj Harsh
Fri, Jul 29 • Whats Done is Done Venue: Valencia High School Auditorium, 512 Bradford Avenue, Placentia, CA 92870 Time: 07:30 pm
Sat, Jul 30 • Natyanjali School of Dance Presents Sri Ram
Venue: LEXICON, 226 E 54th St, New York, NY 10022 Time : 10:00 pm
Venue: Clarke Theater, 1100 North Grand Avenue, Walnut, CA 91789 Time: 5:00 pm Contact: 626-322-7092
Sun, Aug 14
Mon, Aug 8
• Gurdas Maan ‘Ki Banu Duniya Da’ Tour Venue: Colden Center, 65-30 Kissena Blvd, Flushing, NY 11367 Time : 8:00 pm
• Little Music Academy Sri. RamaChary Music class Venue: Bay Area Telugu Association, 39120 Argonaut Way, Fremont, CA 94538 Time: 1:00 pm
Fri, Aug 12 • Roaring with DJ - Akbar Sami from Bollywood in Hollywood!! Venue: Project Club LA, 6356 Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90028 Time: 10:00 pm
Sat, Aug 20 • Dream Team Star Show - The BIGGEST STAR Venue: The Forum, 3900 West Manchester Boulevard, Inglewood, CA 90305 Time: 07:30 pm
Sat, Aug 13 • Dream Team Star Concert 2016 Venue: Oracle Arena Oakland, 7000 Coliseum Way, Oakland, CA 94621 Time: 07:00 pm
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Upcoming Sun, Aug 14 • Independence Day Celebrations Venue: Rainbow Park, 6155 Rainbow Drive, San Jose, CA 95129 Time: 12:00 pm Contact: 408-573-7307
Sun, Aug 21 • Kailash Kher Live in Concert 2016 - Bay Area Venue: Performing Arts Center - Chabot College, 25555 Hesperian Boulevard, Hayward, CA 94545 Time: 07:00 pm
ATLANTA Upcoming Sat, July 23 • Bollywood Monster Family Day and Finale Venue: Mississauga Celebration Square, 300 City Centre Drive, MISSISSAUGA, ON L5B 2G6 Time: 2:00 pm Contact: 9054560422
Sat, Jul 23 • Desi Dance Convention (DDCON) Venue: Georgia Tech Hotel & Conference Center, 800 Spring Street Northwest, Atlanta, GA 30308 Time: 8:00 am
Mon, July 25 • World renowed spiritual leader visit to Houston Venue: Stafford Civic Center, 1415 Constitution Ave, Stafford, TX 77477 Time: 6:30 pm
ILLINOIS Upcoming 1st and 3rd Sunday of Month • Chicago Children's Bal Mukund Character Building Program and Hindi Literacy Classes Venue: Vogelei Center, 650 W. Higgins Road, Hoffmann Estates, IL 60192 (Next to Nissan Dealership) Contact: Ajay & Arti Chandhok @ 630-561-4807
Mondays and Fridays • Free ESL - English as Second Language Classes Metropolitan Asian Family Services Venue: 9015 N Milwaukee Ave, Niles, IL, Time: 10:30am to 12:30pm Contact: 773-465-3105
Mondays and Fridays • Free ESL - English as Second Language Classes Where: Metropolitan Asian Family Services Venue: 9015 N Milwaukee Ave, Niles, IL, Time: 10:30am to 12:30pm Contact: 773-465-3105
Swami Ishatmananda • Bhagavad Gita: Philosophy of life Venue: Public Library-95th Street 3015 Cedar Glade Rd Naperville IL 60564 Time: 1st friday of every month 7-8 pm Contact: 630-637-0662
• India Eternal: From the Vedic Age to the Present Venue: Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago 10915 N. Main Street Glendale Heights, IL 60139 Time: 10:00 pm Contact: 630-655-8822
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uru Purnima is the day the first guru was born. In the yogic culture, Shiva is not seen as a god, he is seen as the Adiyogi, or the first yogi. Guru Purnima is that full moon day when the first yogi transformed himself into the Adi Guru - the first guru. This is the time of the year when his attention fell upon the now celebrated Saptarishis - his first seven disciples. Over 15,000 years ago, when the solstice had shifted from the summer solstice to the winter - that is, when the Sun's run with relation to this planet shifted from the northern run to the southern run; on that day, Adiyogi looked at the Saptarishis and saw that they had become shining receptacles of knowing. They had done some simple preparation for 84 years and he could not ignore them anymore. He observed them closely and when the next full moon rose, he decided to become a guru. That full moon day is known as Guru Purnima. He turned south and the transmission of yogic science to the seven disciples began. The yogic science is not about how to bend your body or hold your breath. This is the science of understanding the mechanics of the human mechanism and to be able to dismantle or put it together. Adiyogi made a dimensional change in the way people perceive CARL G.JUNG
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an, as we realize if we reflect for a moment, never perceives anything fully or comprehends anything completely. He can see, hear, touch, and taste; but how far he sees, how well he hears, what this touch tells him, and what he tastes depend upon the number and quality of his senses. These limit his perception of the world around him. By using scientific instruments he can partly compensate for the deficiencies of his senses. For example, he can extend the range of his vision by binoculars or of his hearing by electrical amplification. But the most elaborate apparatus cannot do more than bring distant or small objects within range of his eyes, or make faint sounds more audible. No matter what the instruments he uses, at some point he reaches the edge of certainty beyond which conscious knowledge cannot pass. There are, moreover, unconscious aspects of our perception of reality. The first is the fact that even when our senses react to real phenomena, sights and sounds, they are somehow translated from the realm of reality into that of the mind. Within the mind they become psychic events, whose ulti-
and understand the existence and the source of creation. And he made himself a bridge between a simple piece of creation and the source of creation. He said, "If you walk this, there will be no distinction between you and that which you refer to as the creator." The journey is from creation to the creator. Breaking boundaries When Adiyogi spoke, he was not speaking religion, philosophy or dogma. He was talking about a science, a scientific method
boundaries of self-imprisonment. I am not just talking about the psychological boundaries that you set for yourself. I am talking about the boundaries set by nature for your protection and wellbeing. But human nature is such, you cannot experience true wellbeing unless you transcend the limitations of boundaries set upon you. This is a human predicament. When you are in danger, you want fortresses around you. The moment the danger is gone, you want it all to collapse
Shiva's work was to bring the tools of awareness that will allow you to transcend these boundaries - tools that will allow you to keep the fortresses to the extent they serve their purpose and make them vanish when you don't want them. How to build this magical fortress that only those forces which are dangerous for your existence see, but you yourself cannot see? Using the basic illusory nature of nature itself, he came up with many incredible methods to build that magical fortress that you can
The journey is from creation to the creator Shiva's work was to bring the tools of awareness that will allow you to transcend these boundaries - tools that will allow you to keep the fortresses to the extent they serve their purpose and make Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev
them vanish when you don't want them.
through which you could undo the boundaries that nature has set upon human life. Every boundary that we set has the purpose of protection to start with. We build a fence around our house with the intent or protection. But once you become unaware as to why you set up these boundaries, the boundaries of self-preservation also become
and disappear. But if the boundary that you set for your self-preservation does not go down when you wish, you feel imprisoned and suffocated because once you have come with a discerning intellect, a limitation or that which confines us to something is the worst thing. Human beings will suffer confinement more than torture.
walk through but no enemy can penetrate. This day is in celebration of this, that something so sophisticated and phenomenal began for the human race for the first time. Excerpted from isha.sadhguru.org. Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev is a humanitarian who speaks on spirituality, about life & work. As a yoga guru, he shares spiritual thoughts & mystic quotes.
mate nature is unknowable (for the psyche cannot know its own psychical substance). Thus every experience contains an indefinite number of unknown factors. Then there are certain events of which we have not consciously taken note; they have remained, so to speak, below the threshold
unconscious as a sort of afterthought. It may appear, for instance, in the form of a dream. As a general rule, the unconscious aspect of any event is revealed to us in dreams, where it appears not as a rational thought but as a symbolic image. As a matter of history, it was
common phrase) two personalities within the same individual. But this is exactly what it does imply-quite correctly. And it is one of the curses of modern man that many people suffer from this divided personality. It is by no means a pathological symptom; it is a normal fact that
Unconsciousness is common inheritance of mankind consciously taken note; they have remained, so to speak, below the threshold of consciousness. They have happened, but they have
of consciousness. They have happened, but they have been absorbed subliminally, without our conscious knowledge. We can become aware of such happenings only in a moment of intuition or by a process of profound thought that leads to a later realization that they must have happened; and though we may have originally ignored their emotional and vital importance, it later wells up from the
the study of dreams that first enabled psychologists to investigate the unconscious aspect of conscious psychic events. It is on such evidence that psychologists assume the existence of an unconscious psyche. though many scientists and philosophers deny its existence. They argue naively that such an assumption implies the existence of two "subjects," or (to put it in a
O Almighty! You are the infinite; the universe is also infinite! From infinite the infinite has come out! Having taken infinite out of the infinite, the infinite remains! -Ishawashya Upanishad
O Brahma, lead us from the unreal to the real. O Brahma, lead us from darkness to light. O Brahma, lead us from death to immortality. -Brhadaranyaka Upanishad
Most humbly we bow to You, O Supreme Lord. At Your command moves the mighty wheel of time. You are eternal, and beyond eternity. -Artharva Veda
There are certain events of which we have not
been absorbed subliminally
The all-knowing Self was never born, nor will it die. Beyond cause and effect, this Self is eternal and immutable. When the body dies, the Self does not die. -Katha Upanishad
Carl G.Jung
can be observed at any time and everywhere. It is not merely the neurotic whose right hand does not know what the left hand is doing. This predicament is a symptom of a general unconsciousness that is the undeniable common inheritance of all mankind. Excerpted from 'Man and his Symbols' by Carl G.Jung. The 141st birth anniversary of Carl G.Jung will be observed on July 26
The one who loves all intensely begins perceiving in all living beings a part of himself. -Yajur Veda
The human body is the temple of God. One who kindles the light of awareness within gets true light. -Rig Veda
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July 22, 2016
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akistan's social media sensa tion Qandeel Baloch, who was shot dead by her brother in Multan, has always claimed to be a rebel, fighting the set norms of the society. Her last Facebook post was no different. 'No Matter how many times i will be pushed down under,,But I m Fighter I will Bounce back..'#'Qandeel '#'Baloch is "One Women Army".. #Qandeel #Baloch inspiration to those ladies who are treated badly and dominated by the society..I will Keep On Achieving and I know You will Keep On Hating..DAMN but Who Cares #Qandeel #Baloch '#'Women '#'Power '#'Inspiration '#'Society '#'Pakistani '#'Media '#'Bigg '#'Boss '#'Season10 '#'BB10 '#'Bigg_Boss_Season10 '#'Bollywood '#'Colors_TV,' it read, along with a photo
of the model. Known for posting risque videos and selfies on Facebook and Instagram, the Pakistani model was easily the most talked about and controversial star of her time. Never seen without her make-up, the 25-year-old gained popularity in recent months for her controversial selfies and subsequent televised spats with a noted Pakistani cleric and her widely trolled 'twerk' video, Ban, among other things. As mystery shrouds the social media sensation's death and her personal life,
Qandeel Baloch, who was shot dead by her brother in Multan, has always claimed to be a rebel, fighting the set norms of the society. here's a look at why Qandeel was the queen of controversy and some of her shocking moments. 1 In June, Qandeel uploaded selfies on her Facebook and Twitter accounts with cleric Mufti Abdul Qavi, which went viral. The Facebook celebrity and Mufti Qavi made an unlikely pair, but that's not the only reason why their selfies stirred up a storm. The photos made headlines when their 'controversial' nature led to Mufti Qavi's suspension from the religious Ruet-e-Hilal Committee as well as the National Ulema Mushaikh Council.
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July 22, 2016
India Post 51 www.indiapost.com
3 installations celebrate iconic Glass House NEW CANAAN, Conn.: Philip Johnson's Glass House, built in this leafy corner of Connecticut in 1949, was always about more than architecture. While Johnson and his partner David Whitney lived in the house, they turned it and the grounds into a haven for avant-garde art. Artists like Andy Warhol, Donald Judd and Frank Stella were encouraged to experiment and take creative risks on the 49-acre estate - which along with the house includes a pond, neoclassicalstyle pavilion in concrete and other small structures. In keeping with that tradition, the Glass House has commissioned three outdoor installations by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, whose works Johnson collected. The works surround the house, which is a national historic landmark, and highlight its art-world legacy in celebration of its 10th tourist season and the 110th anniversary of Johnson's birth. ``Kusama is an artist Johnson both collected and admired,'' said Irene Shum, curator and collec-
tions manager at the Glass House. The new works are meant to ``playfully engage the entire site, creating a celebratory mood.''
The Glass House shows part of the art exhibit titled "Yayoi Kusama: Narcissus Garden," at The Glass House in New Canaan, Conn.
Johnson and Whitney, both of whom died in 2005, ``were great patrons of the arts, and art inter-
ventions like this are in complete alignment with our history,'' she said. NARCISSUS GARDEN The highlight is a landscape installation, ``Narcissus Garden,'' which Kusama first created for the 1966 Venice Biennale. It is comprised of 1,300 stainless-steel spheres, each about a foot in diameter, drifting and bobbing on the newly restored 1957 pond, built by Johnson in a little valley just below the Glass House. The mirrored surfaces of the paperthin spheres reflect viewers and the scenery around them, including the Pond Pavilion (1962), also by Johnson. The spheres skitter across the surface with the passing breeze and make a slight pinging sound when they bump against one another. You can see them glinting in the sunlight from much of the estate. Versions of the installation have appeared in Australia, France, Britain, Brazil and, in 2004, New York's
Central Park. In this version, the spheres are larger, more numerous and unrestrained. Before its restoration, the pond ``had never been dredged and was in danger of becoming a wetland and disappearing as a pond,'' Shum said. When ``Narcissus Garden'' was first installed, ``the frogs were croaking and jumping and singing,'' said Christa Carr, a spokeswoman for the Glass House. ``It was a truly joyful moment.'' PUMPKIN Tucked on a hillside of native grasses just above the Glass House is one of the 87-year-old Kusama's most recent works, ``Pumpkin'' (2015). Made of red, glittering steel, the pumpkin is over 4 feet tall. ``In Japanese, a `pumpkin head' is an ignorant man or a pudgy woman, but for me, I am charmed by its shape, form and lack of pretension,'' says Kusama, who grew up on a farm. Both installations are to remain on view through Nov. 30.
DOTS OBSESSION An additional Kusama installation, ``Dots Obsession - Alive, Seeking for Eternal Hope,'' will open Sept. 1 and run through Sept. 26. It will cover the outside of the Glass House with red vinyl dots of various sizes - the first work ever to be installed on the house itself. ``It will be installed in the fall when the leaves are all turning, so that it can really play on the surrounding colors,'' said Carr. All three Kusama works can be viewed from inside and outside the house, and ``Dots Obsession'' is meant to temporarily transform it into what Kusama has dubbed an ``infinity room,'' featuring both the dots and the shadows they create. ``My desire is to measure and to make order of the infinite, unbounded universe from my own position within it, with polka dots,'' Kusama says. ``In exploring this, the single dot is my own life, and I am a single particle amongst billions.'' -AP
Ask a Designer: snazzy staircases
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e give lots of thought to decorating rooms but often overlook the staircase, despite the fact that in many homes it's the first thing people see when they walk in the door. Staircase areas can be ``a great spot to introduce your personal style,'' says Brian Patrick Flynn, who designed HGTV's ``Dream Home 2016,'' the design network's annual house giveaway. A bold paint color that might be overpowering in a large living room can be perfect used on the tiny risers between steps. And a rug pattern that ``might seem kind of wild in a room'' can add a nice pop of style when used as a slender runner down the center of a staircase, says Bethany Willard, lead designer and founder at the Pittsburgh-based interior design firm Studio 1049. ``The simplicity of a staircase allows for a bit of fun,'' she says. Here, Flynn, Willard and designer Roric Tobin of the New York design firm B&T Global share advice on creating an inviting, stylish staircase that blends with the rest of a home's decor. ASSESS THE BANISTER It doesn't have to be expensive to replace a boring banister with something snappier. ``If it's something historical that
has beauty, there's no sense in ripping it out,'' Tobin says. But if it doesn't serve the space, change it. Or consider painting or otherwise updating the banister. ``Just putting some thought into that detail, Willard says, ``can really personalize the space.'' SHOWCASE YOUR FAVORITES ``Stairwells, often considered dead space, are ideal for showcasing collections,'' says Flynn. ``I prefer to mix different frames in a variety of wood finishes and metals, and then throw in three-dimensional objects as well to break up the rigid lines. ``When all else fails, I say stick with black-and-white photos, and if you're using art, pay close attention to how palettes play between each piece. If you have 11 pieces and eight of them have similar palettes, maybe use the other three in a different room.'' For an entrance stairway, Tobin suggests aiming for a look that's appealing but not overpowering. Perhaps three or four prints by the same artist, he says, that form ``a cohesive, pared-down collection ... not too distracting.'' EMBRACE BOLD PATTERNS AND COLOR Tobin recommends using bold,
large-scale print wall coverings to ``really draw your eye up the staircase.'' Homeowners often assume that small-print patterns will look best, he says, but they can be boring. One option he likes is a flocked
Willard has a client who chose to paint her risers in various shades of green - lightest at the top and darkest at the bottom, in a sort of ombre effect. Flynn is a fan of wallpapering risers, then covering each one with
A staircase designed by Brian Patrick Flynn for HGTV.com. In this entryway the stair risers are wallpapered in contrasting patterns, bringing a dose of style and personality to a space that is often overlooked in many homes.
wall covering with some metallic sheen, which offers warmth and classic style but can also look contemporary if the print is modern. Bold patterns are also great for stair risers (the portion of the stairway perpendicular to the steps). You can stencil a pattern on the risers with paint, which can easily be painted over if you decide the pattern isn't for you. Or paint them one or several rich colors.
a sheet of clear acrylic for durability. And if you're sure that patterned risers are for you, go for an even more permanent approach by adding ceramic tile work in a pattern you love. BLEND STYLE AND FUNCTION Runners and stair treads are another place to add color or pattern. ``Stairwell runners in masculine prints are becoming popular in all sorts of homes,'' says Flynn. And they serve a practical purpose: Bare wood can look good but be noisy and slippery. Most of Tobin's clients opt for stair runners or treads to eliminate noise. These are traditionally made of carpet, but Tobin suggests considering other materials. For a client in Mexico City, he added leather stair treads. -AP
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July 22, 2016 www.indiapost.com
California pot exhibit aims for debate OAKLAND, Calif.: It's known as Mary Jane, ganja, Chronic and even the sticky icky and has been featured in countless movies, including one that warned of its dangers, ``Reefer Madness.'' Now, marijuana is the subject of a contemporary history and science exhibit. ``Altered State: Marijuana in California,'' a one-of-its-kind museum exhibition focusing on the topic, is open through the summer at the Oakland Museum of California. Set against the backdrop of a California ballot measure this year asking voters to legalize marijuana's recreational use, the exhibition features artwork, political documents and posters, scientific displays, and interactive and multimedia exhibits all meant to provoke questions and conversations about the provocative plant. ``We have designed an open and participatory experience to engage anyone who has an opinion or wants to learn more about the complex issues and information about this topic,'' said Associate Curator of Natural Sciences Sarah Seiter. ``We're interested in presenting a forum for all sides of deep community conversations about marijuana, its history, politics, culture and impacts on our state,'' Seiter said. The exhibit comes at a time when 35 states already have medi-
cal marijuana laws on the books and four states and Washington, D.C., have legalized weed for recreational use. It is organized into 10 different areas of focus _ Cannabis Science, Medical Marijuana, Profitable Pot, Sacred Ganja, Criminal Dope, Cre-
museum, a walk-in installation by artist Cybele Lyle that alters viewers' perspectives of space and time, and a ``Cannabis Confessional'' that allows visitors to share their private, anonymous thoughts about marijuana. ``All of us as individuals and
Richa Chadha working for rescued women
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ctors with a social con science are a rarity in Bollywood. But Richa Chadha believes in going against the grain in an industry with its
lifornia" exhibit at the Oakland Museum of California, looks at Cannabis indica marijuana plants on loan from Dark Heart Nursery in Oakland, Calif.
ative Grass, Evil Weed, Politically Loaded, Youth and Weed, and Recreational Reefer. It was a twoyear project with about 100 collaborators. ``Weed has a lot of fans,'' Seiter said. ``We didn't want to open ourselves up to criticism. We wanted to do our homework.'' Highlights of the exhibition include live and preserved specimens of cannabis on loan to the
as staff have very personal and emotional reactions to pot,'' said Lori Fogarty, the museum's director. ``I think a lot of that depends on where you are in your life and your own personal experiences. What we were striving to do is move the conversation beyond those purely emotional reactions to a broader understanding.'' The exhibition runs through Sept. 25. -AP
high glam quotient and unstoppable rumor mill. She has pledged her support to a campaign called A Bungalow on The Hill, whose main aim will be to provide shelter to rescued trafficked women. The actress has discovered
common ground in actor Kunal Kapoor's online crowdfunding platform to raise money for an NGO named Purnata that enables rescued women to learn essential life skills. "Since there are comparatively fewer NGOs, which help in rehabilitation of trafficked girls, we needed to find a way to ensure that these rescued women sustain themselves in an expensive city like Mumbai,'' the actress was quoted as saying in a report. Talking about Purnata, she says it teaches lifescapes, embroidery, reading, writing and other basic vocations to the trafficked girls. "They will also be taught how to use an ATM card, take a bus etc. The good news is that two women have already left the shelter and started their new lives. While one got married and works in a bag showroom, the other woman now works as a hairstylist," says Richa. According to Richa, human trafficking is a global menace. "It's like modernday slavery. I may not be able to prevent a million girls or boys from being trafficked, but I can at least help out 10-15 people I know," says the actress. Richa will be next seen in an Indo-American project titled 'Love Sonia' which is based on human trafficking.
Nadella book on Amitabh's voice for Steven transformation, change Spielberg film
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fter the last power-packed Oscar nominated movie, Bridge of Spies, the visionary and celebrated filmmaker Steven Spielberg is back with fantasy adventure film The BFG. Well, the rumors indeed have been true. Big B has come on board to voice the good giant aka The BFG (The Big Friendly Giant) itself for the Hindi dubbed version, which is played by prominent actor Mark Rylance in the original version. He also admits that he'd love his grand-daughter Aaradhya to see the film even though, growing up, he never befriended any mythical monsters. Gulshan Grover and Parineeti Chopra have already been roped
in to dub for the same. While Gulshan lends his voice to the Bad giant- The Fleshlumpeater, Parineeti voices for the female protagonist of the film Sophie, played
by a 12 year-old Ruby Barnhill. Reliance entertainment has a Pan India release for this friendly giant movie in 4 languages - English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.
Amitabh Bachchan will lend his voice to The BFG.
NEW YORK: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is writing a book. Harper Business, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, announced that it had acquired Nadella's ``Hit Refresh'' and will release it in fall 2017. According to Harper, Nadella will combine stories of his ``personal journey of transformation'' with ob-
servations about Microsoft and the need for everyone to find time ``for new energy, new ideas, relevance and renewal.'' In a statement released through his publisher, Nadella says the book is not a memoir or ``howto'' guide, but a story of ``change.'' The 48-year-old Nadella succeeded Steve Ballmer as CEO in 2014. -AP
July 22, 2016
India Post 53 www.indiapost.com
Qandeel Baloch controversies Cont'd from Page 50
The Facebook star claimed the Mufti had contacted her numerous times and she met him on his request. 2 In March, Qandeel announced her intention to perform a strip dance for Pakistan cricket captain Shahid Afridi if he succeeded in leading his team to victory in a World T20 match against India. (She's not called Pakistan's Poonam Pandey for no reason, eh?) She even launched a "trailer" of her performance before the match, promising "a full film" upon Pakistan's victory. The video ap-
peared to be the tipping point for Facebook users in Pakistan. Many seemed to have reported her page for nudity, resulting in a temporary block on her page. What's more? After the Men in Blue edged out Afridi's side, Qandeel took to social networking site Facebook and posted a video blasting the Pakistan team for their poor performance. She even went on to ask Afridi and his boys to not return home after losing to MS Dhoni and co yet again in a World Cup match. 3 In April, 2016, she shifted her attention from Afridi to Indian cricketer Virat Kohli. She made a
steamy video where she bluntly asked Virat to leave his rumoured girlfriend, Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma, and be with her instead. Expressing her love for Virat, she called him "very charming". "Virat Kohli is so charming, he is so handsome. During the India versus Pakistan match in Kolkata, the way he played I went crazy. Seriously, he should leave Anushka and think about me (in a very seductive tone). I would love to be with him. Virat I love you baby. Please, please, please, please leave Anushka. Leave her," Baloch said in her video, where she signed off with her kiss.
4 It's safe to say Qandeel was the second social media sensation from Pakistan (after Taher Shah) to be trolled outside the country. You might have missed it, but Qandeel was all over the internet and trending on Twitter for her controversial video, Ban. Qandeel Baloch and young singer Aryan Khan dropped a music video in early July, and it was everything people in Pakistan hoped it wouldn't be. It featured her dancing suggestively to the song, which goes "Tere thumke de lag jaana ban". That means, "your hip-shaking will be banned." Featuring twerking (well, almost), a
slashed bodysuit and lots of lace, the music video was classic Qandeel: very OTT (over The Top, if you will). 5 Recently, the internet sensation accepted that she had been married previously and had a child from that marriage. Speaking to Dawn, a man called Ashiq Hussain claimed early in July that he married Qandeel in 2008 and that the couple had a son who now lives with him. He also said that Qandeel's real name was Fowzia Azeem. Ashiq says the marriage ended in 2009 and that, contrary to Qandeel's claims, he never physically abused her. 6 Qandeel has also been in the news for her 'love' for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief and Oxfordlearned former cricket captain, Imran Khan. She had showed up at his house in Lahore's Zaman Park after his rally in May and was quoted by media to be heartbroken after Khan did not meet her. After Khan's third marriage rumours surfaced recently, Baloch didn't agree that it was the right move for PTI leader and even said that he must have chosen her as his life partner. 7 When Qandeel was not being hailed as Pakistan's Poonam Pandey, or making headlines for wanting to strip dance for the Pakistan cricket team during the World Cup in March, or exposing a mufti or engaged in a war of words with her former husband or openly expressing her love for Imran Khan, she talked about Amitabh Bachchan. In a recent interview, she said, "India mein main ek hi bande ki fan hoon - Mr Amitabh Bachchan. Virat Kohli is charming and handsome, but I would strip only for Mr Bachchan." -Courtesy DNA & HT
Corporate clothing line by Shilpa Shetty Shilpa Shetty Kundra, who has put her entreprenial skills to good use, has a successful line of clothing. She takes a keen interest in the line that manufactures saris and jeans and now going a step further, Shilpa is planning to add corporate clothing too. The designer corporate line of clothing is meant to be a combination of style and comfort and Shilpa who is holidaying in London has already started work on the same. She has been meeting designers in London and getting
her research in place so that once she is back in India she can brief her designers to get the work started. The designer corporate line of clothing is meant to be a combination of style and comfort and Shilpa who is holidaying in London has already started work on the same.
America Welcomes 'Rustom' Akshay Kumar! Akshay Kumar and ZEE Studios unveiled the trailer and the first song of his movie 'Rustom'. During this event Akshay Kumar, who plays the role of a Parsi naval officer Rustom Pavri in his upcom-
Thank you for your wishes for 'Rustom'," Akshay posted on Twitter along with the photo. NeerajPandey's 'Rustom' starring Akshay Kumar, Ileana D'Cruz and Esha Gupta produced by ZEE
ing film, met and had lunch with the Parsi community of America and Canada. During the event, the community felicitated him with Farvahar, one of the symbols of Zoroastrianism. The "Rustom" actor tweeted a photo, in which he is seen holding the Faravahar pendant. "Blessed to receive this Faravahar from the Zoroastrian community in New York and New Jersey!
Studios, KriArj Entertainment and Friday Filmworks, in association with CAPE OF GOOD FILMS, set in 1959 is inspired by real life incidents. 'Rustom' is a gripping tale about Pride, Passion and Power, and a man who must uphold his own integrity and that of the nation. Akshay Kumar's romantic thriller 'Rustom' to release on the weekend of India's Independence Day 2016; 12th August, 2016.
Folk art show at Crystal Bridges Museum BENTONVILLE, Ark.: After five years of showcasing works by well-known American artists like Georgia O'Keeffe and Andy Warhol, an Arkansas museum founded by a Wal-Mart heiress is presenting ordinary objects made by unsung craftsmen, quilters and painters. The exhibit ``American Made'' opened during the Independence Day weekend at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. The show runs through Sept. 19 and draws on the collection of the
American Folk Art Museum in New York. Folk art is billed as the United States' ``alternative art history.'' Items in the special exhibit range from 4-inch figurines depicting soldiers and horses from the post-Revolutionary War period to an 8-foot, hollow copper weathervane featuring a Delaware Indian leader. Wal-Mart heiress Alice Walton opened Crystal Bridges in 2011. The museum is near the company's Bentonville headquarters. -AP
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India-Japan deal on Chabahar could be game-changer
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ollaborating with Tokyo on the port project could serve as a springboard for New Delhi to develop credible partnerships with external stakeholders, and elevate its political and economic profile in the region. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent visit to Iran drew a great deal of interest, largely on account of the tripartite agreement for the development of the Chabahar port, a deal that lay in waiting for over a decade. For India, the collaborative
KANCHI GUPTA
collaboration between New Delhi and Tokyo on Chabahar could potentially reinforce the port project's economic viability and strategic value. More importantly, however, the project could serve as a springboard for New Delhi to develop credible partnerships with external stakeholders, and elevate its political and economic profile in the region. Dialogue between New Delhi and Tokyo on enhancing regional connectivity is not unprecedented. The expansion of the In-
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Meets Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
venture with Iran and Afghanistan would not only boost its economic ambitions in Afghanistan and Central Asia, but also circumvent Pakistan in regional trade activities and counter its China-operated Gwadar port. What received less attention post the agreement, however, was Japan's offer to develop the port with India. According to media reports, Tokyo seemed eager to partner with New Delhi in a composite infrastructure project at Chabahar, including the construction of a port and an industrial complex. Apparently, so keen is Tokyo to build stronger ties with Tehran that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe hopes to finalize a deal on the port, among other infrastructure projects, during a planned visit to
dia-Japan partnership to the West Asian region finds context in the joint statement announced at the conclusion of Abe's visit to New Delhi in December 2015. The two prime ministers decided to "develop and strengthen reliable, sustainable and resilient infrastructures that augment connectivity…between India and other countries in the region". The statement also included references to "closer cooperation in safeguarding the global commons in maritime, space and cyber domains" as well as "partnership in combating terrorism, including through increased sharing of information and intelligence". Significantly, Japan has already been assisting India in the setting up of maritime infrastructure. To-
A Wall Street Journal article speculated that India, US and Japan were shaping a "new Asian maritime-security order…to contend with a more-assertive and well-armed China" the Iranian capital later this year. Japan's desire to participate in the project stems not only from its need to protect its energy interests in West Asia, but also from its desire to chart a course in the region independent of the US. In recent years, Japanese policymakers have emphasized Tokyo's geopolitical stakes in West Asia and the importance of strengthening its profile beyond the Asia Pacific. From an Indian vantage point,
kyo and New Delhi are in discussions for the installation of a 15megawatt diesel power plant on the South Andaman Island and there is speculation that Japan might finance a chain of underwater surveillance sensors off the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Moreover, there has been a strengthening of bilateral naval ties in recent years. Japan is now a permanent member of the Malabar exercises, formerly a bilateral engagement between the
Indian and American navies. Pertinently, a growing convergence between the two key Asian maritime powers could impact the security architecture of the Indian Ocean Region. A Wall Street Journal article speculated that India, US and Japan were shaping a "new Asian maritime-security order…to contend with a more-assertive and well-armed China". Co-development of the Chabahar port could, therefore, provide the foundation for more active roles for India and Japan in the Indian Ocean. Rising convergences in the economic, political and security realms make New Delhi and Tokyo natural partners in linking the scope of their cooperation to securing common interests in the Persian Gulf. Japan's own interests in West Asia are noteworthy. Like India, Japan is one of the prime exporters of hydrocarbons from the Persian Gulf. Its energy dependency on the Gulf accounts for 80% of its total hydrocarbon imports. Until the 1990s, Japan's relations with the Gulf States remained largely restricted to the economic dimension. It was after the entry of other Asian competitors like China and India that Tokyo recognized the importance of strengthening ties with the oil producing monarchies. The shift in Japan's West Asia policy after 2000 saw the country to be more amenable to security cooperation with the Gulf States and concerns such as securing the sea lines of communication (SLOCs), piracy, terrorism and the Iranian nuclear issue topped the agenda. Supplementing Tokyo's unsuccessful efforts to join the Middle East Quartet, the Iran nuclear negotiations and the non-military fight against ISIS, Abe has displayed considerable diplomatic activism with visits to Turkey, Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Kuwait, the UAE, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain since 2012. As both countries look to ramp up their share of investment opportunities in Iran, Japan's technical expertise can be leveraged to secure contracts for the development of oil fields. Japan is looking to develop the Azadegan oil fields, in which it held 10% stake until 2010, and India is vying for the contract to develop the Farzad B gas field. Beyond the economic imperatives of trade and infrastructure, India-Japan cooperation could be a game-changer in the power dynamics of Asia. Kanchi Gupta is a researcher at the Observer Research Foundation.
India Post Misuse of Governors
T
he BJP has been trying to behave like the Congress of old which used to use governors with impunity to bring down opposition-led governments. But it has failed miserably and the gainer, ironically, has been the Congress. The BJP has been shown up as an amateur in this game. When the Congress used to bring down governments with the help of governors appointed by it, the BJP or any other party in the opposition did not have the guts to move the courts against the misuse of the office of the governor. The Congress today however is much more experienced and knows the mischief it had been doing could be challenged. Also, the BJP lacks the cleverness of the Congress. It acted prematurely in Uttarakhand by first instigating a revolt in the Congress ruling party disregarding disqualification of rebel MLAs by Speaker of that Assembly and quickly imposing Central rule. Chief Minister Harish Rawat did not submit meekly but protested by going to the High Court which stayed operation of Governor's rule, thus restoring the Rawat government. The Supreme Court heaped further humiliation on the Modi government by holding Central rule as unconstitutional and criticizing the role of the Governor. A similar revolt in the ruling Congress party of Arunachal had been earlier instigated by the Central government through its Governor who had a government led by Congress rebels installed with support from the small number of BJP MLAs. Once again the wily Congress went to the court and in a recent judgment the Supreme Court of India announced the role of the Governor in advancing the Assembly session vote as unconstitutional. The Governor could not usurp the role of the Speaker. This judgment will have universal implications cutting across party lines as the court has asserted: "it's not 'within governor's realm to embroil himself in any political thicket… The governor must keep clear of any…horse trading, and even unsavory political manipulations, irrespective of the degree of their ethical repulsiveness. Who should or shouldn't be leader of a party is a political question to be…resolved by the party itself. The governor cannot make such issues a matter of his concern." The constitution bench also ruled that the governor has to function at the 'aid and advice of the council of ministers' and does not have any discretionary power to summon the legislative assembly. Some commentators have pointed out that though the Supreme Court verdicts are often legal, they may not always be just. In an ideal world, Arunachal Governor would have had no business to intervene in a matter which fell strictly in the domain of the Speaker. But what the court failed to appreciate was the deviousness of the Speaker, who upon realizing that the Congress Government had lost majority support, expelled as many as 14 MLAs. Thus, he sought to artificially arrange majority for the beleaguered CM. Besides, the refusal to convene the House early was only meant to give time for horse-trading. Under the circumstances, Governor Rajkhowa had good reason to advance the session by a month, though as the Supreme Court said, this was not how the Constitution had envisaged his role as the ceremonial head of the State administration. But it is true that extraordinary situations call for extraordinary prescriptions. In order to break the unity of the dissident group, the Speaker had expelled only 14 of the 21 Congress rebels. Indeed, though the apex court decision in the Uttarakhand case as well had led to the restoration of the Harish Rawat Government, the fact that the floor test took place after the Speaker had expelled nine Congress dissidents made even that decision controversial. The truth is that though the Speaker is supposed to be fair and impartial, he invariably acts as an agent of the government. So the misuse of their position by politicians is not confined to governors, it is widespread.
July 22, 2016
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July 22, 2016