Vol-9-Issue-3 May 14 May 20, 2016

The South Asian Times
e x c e l l e n c e
Vol.9 No. 3 May 14-20, 2016 80 Cents
i n
j o u r n a l i s m
New York Edition
China, Pak nexus to block

India's entry into NSG
Washington: China and Pakistan

are closely coordinating moves to
blo ck India's entry into the
Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).
Beijing is using Pakistan's non
starter position with the NSG to
block India's application in the
name of parity, stating that it
would either support NSG entry
for both India and Pakistan, or
none of them.
Talking about the China
Pakistan grand strategy to stall
India's admission into the NSG ,
well placed US sources who work
with the NSG said that it does
appear that the two are coordi
nating closely to stop the Indian
entry. The sources pointed that
when India sought an information
session
w ith
the
NSG
Participating Governments (PGs)
at the recent NSG Consultative
Group meeting on April 2526,
where it would have made a for
mal presentat ion to the NSG
Group in support of its member
ship, Pakistan requested for a
similar discussion slot with the
NSG PGs.
Sources said that even though
Pakistan was fully aware that its
request would be rejected, it

made its application at the cue of
China, in order for Beijing to look
evenhanded when it sought the
rejection of both requests on
grounds of parity.
Providing an insight into the
ChinaPakistan plan to stall India,
sources say that Pakistan is now
going to write to all the NSG PGs
about its wish to join the group.
This is being done in anticipation
of an application by India for NSG
membership at the forthcoming
plenary session of the group in
June. The Pakistani application,
added sources, is "just a decoy"
for China to reject both applica
tions on grounds of parity. China
Continued on page 4
Dr Ajay Lodha & Dr Rekha Bhandari

conferred Ellis Island medals
NYbased Dr Bhayani is eminent
physician, businessman and
community leader.
Dr Raj Bhayani to
receive Atal Mithila
Award in India
The two accomplished New York doctors received the prestigious

award for immigrants at a glittering ceremony on May 7 on Ellis Island.
(See page 15 for details.)
US AFFAIRS 9
TRAVEL 18
SPORTS 22
New York: Eminent physician and

community leader Dr Raj Bhayani
has been named for the inaugural
Atal Mithila Award to be presented
to him in Delhi on May 22. The
awards are named after former
Prime Minister Atal Bihari
Vajpayee, who had special ties
with Mithila region in north Bihar
bordering Nepal. Dr Bhayani is
winner of the US Congressional
Continued on page 4
SPIRITUAL AWARENESS 30
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Presumptive GOP nominee for President

Donald Trump arrived at the Capitol Hill
Thursday for a meeting with House
Speaker Paul Ryan. (Photo courtesy AP)
GOP moving
to accept
nominee
Trump
TRUMP, RYAN TOUT UNITY
IN WAKE OF MEETING
Washington: Donald Trump and
House Speaker Paul Ryan conclud
ed their highly anticipated meeting
Thursday amid signals that the
Republican Party will work to
piece itself together after a frac
tious primary.
"While we were honest about
our few differences, we recognize
that there are also many important
areas of common ground," Trump
and Ryan said in a joint statement,
reported CNN. "We will be having
additional discussions, but remain
confident there's a great opportu
nity to unify our party and win this
fall, and we are totally committed
to working together to achieve
that goal."
Ryan, speaking with reporters

during his weekly press briefing,
sought to portray his openness to
Trump, despite withholding his
endorsement. "This is our first
meeting, I was very encouraged
with this meeting, but this is a
process. It takes some time, you
don't put it together in 45 min
utes," he said. The speaker called
Trump's achievement of earning
more votes than any Republican
candidate in history "really kind of
Continued on page 4
Exclusive: Dr AD Amar,
President of IndianAmericans
for Trump 2016, on 'The way to
Trump Presidency' >> page 11
excellence in journalism
May 14-20, 2016
TRISTATE COMMUNITY
May 14-20, 2016
Congress in power can solve problems of Punjab and of NRIs

Melville, NY: Punjab Congress
president and former CM, Captain
Amarinder Singh, addressing a
huge rally here on May 7, said,
Punjab is undergoing difcult
times, and these difculties can
only be resolved and progress put
back on track when Congress gov
ernment comes back to power.
On the last leg of his visit to the
US, he was speaking at the Hilton
Hotel at an event organized under
the aegis of Punjabi NRIs of US and
supported by the many other
orgnizations.
In Punjab, he said, inattention to
agriculture, joblessness and drug
addiction by youth were among
the major problems which
required careful and urgent social
and governmental intervention. He
alleged that key departments
including education in the state
were failing to deliver even mini
mum services and his party appa
ratus was already preparing to
uplift and improve them to a high
er standard of efciency. He said
Punjab was in a dire need for a cre
ative and farsighted government
and the Congress will be able to
deliver that.
The former Maharaja of Patiala
warned Punjabis about Aam Adami
Party and said that Delhi adminis
Punjab Congress chief Capt

Amarinder Singh addressed a
big rally on Long Island.
tration has gone down under AAP
and if their failed policies and
practices are adapted in Punjab, it
will collapse.
Amid applause and shouts of
Captain
Amarinder
Sing h
Zindabad!, and Captain le aao,
Punjab batchaao! from the audi
ence, he lamented that Badal fami
ly had ruined Punjab with corrup
tion. The backbone of Punjab, the
farmers, he said, are in such dire

shape that they are being forced to
commit suicide in alarming num
bers. Singh informed the gathering
that the February 2017 election
will be his last and like a warrior
who hangs his sword after a cer
tain period, the time had come for
him to pass the baton to younger
leaders after he serves for the next
5 years
ExSenate leader Dean Skelos

gets 5 years in prison
Albany, NY: Former state Senate
Majority Leader Dean Skelos was
sentenced Thursday to ve years in
federal prison, while his son, Adam
Skelos, was sentenced to 61/2
years. Skelos, 68, and his son Adam,
33, were convicted in December of
eight counts of bribery, conspiracy
and extortion, days after former
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver
was convicted of similar corruption
charges.
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara con
rmed Dean Skelos' sentence, issu
ing a statement castigating the
state's culture of political corruption.
According to various media reports,
Dean Skelos was also ordered to pay
a $500,000 ne, while the father
and son will jointly pay more than
$300,000 in forfeiture.
U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood
issued her sentence in Manhattan
federal court.
Dean Skelos
and son
Adam, who
too has been
sentenced.
(Photo
courtesy AP)
"The nearly simultaneous convic

tions of Sheldon Silver and Dean
Skelos, whose corruption crimes
were laid bare during fair and public
trials, have no precedent," Bharara
said in his statement. "And while
Silver and Skelos deserve their
prison sentences, the people of New
York deserve better."
Dean Skelos, a Nassau County
Republican, was convicted of using
his powerful position to secure more

than $300,000 for his son from New
York City realestate developer
Glenwood Management, an environ
mental rm with strong ties to the
developer and a medicalmalpractice
insurer on Long Island.
The environmental rm, AbTech,
ultimately won a $12 million con
tract from Nassau County, where
Skelos was a power broker.
Discussing with many attendees

directly among the 2,000 strong
crowd, Amarinder Singh listened
to their personal issues and
general complaints. He declared
that the properties of NRI Punjabis
that have been illegally occupied
or conscated will be given back to
the rightful owners.
Congress government will put in
place new rules and procedures to
resolve NRI problems, he prom
ised.
Sangat Singh Gilzian, MLA from
Tanda who was in Capt. Amarinder
Singhs team from Punjab, also
made a case for why Punjab needs
a great leader like Capt. Amarinder
Singh to save it from going under.
Indian Nat ional Overseas
Cong ress USAs President
Mohinder Singh Gilzian lauded the
huge numbers that came to the
event. Gilzian, George Abraham,
INOC (USA) chairman, and
Harbachan Sing h, Secretary
General, had a separate meeting
with the Captain.
Gurmit Singh Gill announced
that he would take thousands of
Punjabi NRIs from USA to Punjab
to canvass for Congress in the
2017 elections.
INOC (I) chairman Shud h
Parkash Singh spoke about the
development under the previous

government of Amarinder Singh
and his love for NRI Punjabis. He
also recalled his Chalo Punjab
Initiative in the last election, which
was supported by the All India
Congress Committee (AICC), and
how the NRI team of Chalo Punjab
was received by the Captain. He
assured that the youth of Punjab
will see a better future under the
Cong ress government led by
Amarinder Singh.
Those who played an active role
in organizing the event included
Karamjit Singh Dhaliwal, President
of Malwa Brothers Association.
The AICC from New Delhi sup
ported the event. Senior most lead
ers of Congress party sent best
wishes for the success of the event.
Party Vice President Rahul Gandhi
in a letter wished that Punjab will
see better days ag ain under
Captain Amarinder Singh's leader
ship. He also congratulated the
Indian diaspora in building strong
USIndia relations.
Dr. Karan Sing h, MP and
Chairman of Foreign Affairs Dept
of AICC, hoped in his message that
Captain Amarinder Singh will
again lead the Congress Party to
victory in the Punjab elections
next year.
US federal judge rules

in favor of Republicans
against 'Obamacare
Washington: A federal judge on
T hursday ruled in favor of
Republican lawmakers in their
lawsuit against the health care
reform known as "Obamacare",
saying that the US government is
unconstitutionally using public
funds to make access to health
services less costly.
Judge Rosemary Collyer said
the federal government has no
authority to spend public funds
without the specic approval of
Congress.
The decision will remain on
hold, however, and Obamacare
will remain in place since the
government will le an appeal.
Collyer ruled that the adminis
tration may not spend billions of

dollars in federal funds to pay
insurance companies to reim
burse them for cuts that the law
requires them to make to cus
tomers' outofpocket medical
payments.
Republicans hailed the ruling
as "a critical step" in defense of
separation of powers, in the
words of Kevin Brady, who heads
the House Ways and Means
Committee.
However, the administration,
which says that the authorization
for the spending is contained
within the 2010 Affordable Care
Act, announced that it will imme
diately le an appeal.
May 14-20, 2016
Pak admits
relations with US
under stress
Lahore: Adviser to the Prime Minister on
Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz stated that rela
tions with the United States have been
under stress for the past three months
because of conditions attached by
Washington to the funding of F16s sale.
According to Dawn, the adviser admitted
this while winding up a debate in the
Senate on an adjournment motion on the
US decision to withdraw proposed subsidy
on the sale of F16 fighter jets to Pakistan.
Aziz said that PakistanUS relations had
come to a standstill in 2011 because of
incidents of WikiLeaks, Raymond Davis,
Abbottabad operation, Datta Khel and
Salala.
Since 2013, he said Pakistan`s relations
with the US had witnessed an "upward tra
jectory".
"In the past three months, however, this
upward trajectory in relations has wit
nessed a downward slide, as reflected in a
decision of the US Congress to block partial
funding for eight F16 aircraft," he said.
Aziz said that the action by the US might
have been caused by concerns raised by
Washington on the nuclear issue which had
been firmly rejected by Pakistan.
"We have also rejected frequent
demands, especially by the US Congress,
for the release of Dr Shakil Afridi. The US
officials, Congress, thinktanks and media,
in tandem with our adversaries, have also
been blaming Pakistan for supporting the
Haqqani network without giving any con
crete evidence to enable us to take addi
tional action against it or other terrorist
organizations," he added.
Asserting that the Haqqani Network issue
remained the top US concern at the
moment, Aziz said that Indian lobby in the
US had not been cooperative especially
after the Pathankot incident.
However, he assured the Senate that in
view of the importance of the issue,
Pakistan had been making allout efforts to
finalize the F16 deal with the US adminis
ANI
tration.
TURN PAGE
GOP moving to accept
nominee Trump
Continued from page 1
unparalleled," and clearly hopes to channel
the support for the presumptive nominee
into support for a conservative policy agen
da writ large.
"The question is ... how we unify it all?
How do we keep adding and adding and
adding voters while not subtracting any vot
ers?" he said. "Most Americans do not like
where this country is headed."
Trump tweeted his thoughts while his
plane taxied on the runway before taking
of f for New York, "Great day in D.C. with
@SpeakerRyan and Republican leadership.
Things working out really well!"
"I thought it was a great meeting," Trump
said in a Thursday evening interview on Fox
News with Sean Hannity.
Trump suggested the two sides would
eventually come together.
"I don't mind going through a little bit of a
slow process," Trump said. "We're getting
there."
Republican National Committee Chairman
Reince Priebus who helped broker the
meeting told CNN's Dana Bash the meet
ing was "great," and "a good first step
toward unifying our party."
Speaking later in the day to CNN's Wolf
Blitzer, Priebus said Trump and Ryan plan
to be back in contact and that could be as
soon as Friday.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
told reporters his meeting with Trump was
"constructive" and that they spoke about a
"variety of things, both campaign related
and issues.
The meeting at RNC headquarters marked
a watershed moment.
For Trump, the meeting tested his ability
to reconcile with the Washington establish
ment that he and the voters have scorned.
For Ryan, it will help shape his own future
with a party increasingly impatient to get
behind its nominee and win back the White
House.
A top Trump aide had said there are "no
expectations at all" of an immediate Ryan
endorsement, describing the Thursday ses
sion as an "opening conversation" in an
ongoing process of party unification.
Senators who met with Trump said they
discussed a range of issues from immigra
Chairman and Co-Founder

Kamlesh C. Mehta
Associate Editors:
Hiral Dholakia-Dave
Co-Founder: Saroosh Gull
Contributing Editors: Meenakshi Iyer,

Nilima Madan, Melvin Durai,
Dr Prem Kumar Sharma, Ashok Vyas,
Dr Akshat Jain, Ashok Ojha
President: Arjit Mehta
tion to tax policy and were impressed at

how "genial" and "affable" he was in person.
Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn said he
understood that Trump is more of a "show
man" in public.
He said he suggested to Trump that he
find a new way to talk about immigration,
and referenced his experience as a border
state senator.
According to a source familiar with the
meeting, Trump told House leadership he
would come out with a list, assisted by con
servative groups The Federalist Society and
the Heritage Foundation, of judicial nomina
tions he would make if he had the opportu
nity to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court.
Trump also said the members present at the
meeting should submit names to him and he
would put them on the list.
A few of the House leadership members
pushed Trump on abortion he has voiced
views to the left of the GOP on the issue
and Trump confirmed repeatedly that he
was not interested in changing the party's
Source: CNN
platform.
China, Pak nexus to block India's

entry into NSG
knows that Pakistan does not stand a
chance at the NSG, and most of the states
will reject Islamabad's application.
By taking the lead in re ject ing the
Pakistani application along with that of
India, China would like to project its posi
tion as "neutral" when in reality it is "work
ing in tandem with Pakistan to stall India's
application ".
US sources are disappointed with the
Chinese tactics of "using Pakistan's non
credentials with the NSG to settle scores
with India". Informed sources say that this
strategy is not a secret and during Pakistan
President Mamnoon Hussain's visit to
China in November 2015, China revealed
its hand when it told President Hussain
that if India is allowed to get NSG member
ship, China would ensure that Pakistan also
joins the group.
US sources have seen through China's
game of "either both or none" in the NSG.
They say that India's nonproliferation cre
dentials can never be compared with
Pakistan's, as Pakistan has a history of
"selling nuclear technology to rogue states
like Libya". They point to the father of
Pakistan's nuclear bomb, Dr A.Q. Khan, and
his global nuclear trade. Added to this his
tory, is the fear in the West that Pakistan's
nuclear weapons, especially the tactical
version that it is now in the process of
developing, can easily find their way into
the hands of terrorists, as Pakistan's
nuclear command is extremely vulnerable
to penetration by Islamic hardliners. ANI
Dr Raj Bhayani to receive Atal

Mithila Award in India
Achievement Award for dedicated commu
nity service, renowned surgeon and entre
preneur with passion for hospitality and
real estate investments.
Dr Bhayani completed his ENT residency
from Columbia University and completed
Facial Plastic & Microvascular Surgery fel
lowship from Oregon Health Science
University. He has done extensive research
in medical field and published over 50
research paper all over world.
Healthcare Leadership and other posi
tions held include:
4Director of ENT services at Flushing
Hospital
4 Chie f of ENT Division Interfaith
Hospital
4Director of Facial Plastic Surgery at
Wyckoff Heights Medical Center
4 Director of New York Institute of
Otolaryngology and Aesthetic Surgery
His business, hospitality and real estate
profile includes:.
4 Director Board of REXCHECK.COM
Real Estate Global Exchange, a technology
Start Up for next generation real estate
transactions.
4 President and CEO Unity Capital
Holdings LLC A Real Estate Investment
Start Up in Commercial Real Estate.
4 Early Investor in Navika Capital,
Hospitality Real Estate Investment.
4.Member of AAHOA Asian American
Hotel Owners Association.
Dr Bhayani was Convention Chair for
Chaalo Gujarat July 2015 and Finance
Chair for India Day Parade, Long Island
August 2015. He served as cochair on
finance committee for Prime Minister
Narendra Modis historic visit to Madison
Square Garden, New York in 2014.
Jaipur (India) Bureau

Prakash Bhandari
Prakash@TheSouthAsianTimes.info
IANS Washington Bureau

Arun Kumar
arun.kumar@ians,in
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TRISTATE COMMUNITY
Raj Shah to lead Defense

Departments tech incubator DIUx
efforts, and Douglas
New York: The U.S.
Beck, Apple's vice
Department
of
president
for
Defense is expanding
Americas
and
its work with tech
Northeast Asia.
startups, bringing
Shah provided an
tech executives to
example of the kind
work at its Silicon
of tech block that the
Valley lab and plan
DIUx hopes to solve.
ning a new of fice in
As an F16 pilot, he
Boston to tap into
Former F16 combat
flew combat mis
research happening
pilot turned tech
sions in Iraq but his
in that area.
entrepreneur Raj Shah
aircraft didn't have a
The expansion fol
(Photo courtesy: fcw.com)
GPS system that pro
lows the early suc
cess of the Defense Innovation Unit vided a moving map. That is partic
Experimental (DIUx) of fice, an 8 ularly important when flying near
month old Silicon Valley incubator borders, because U.S. aircraft did
that is a key part of Secretary of not want to inadvertently stray into
Defense Ash Carter's push to Iranian airspace. The solution for
rebuild ties between the military some pilots was to strap an iPad to
and tech industry according to a their knees, because commercial
news report published on GPS apps could do something it
would take the DOD millions of dol
pcworld.com.
DIUx will be led by Raj Shah, a lars and months to accomplish, he
former F16 combat pilot, director said. Carter opened DIUx, in
of security at Palo Alto Networks Mountain View, California, to gain
and now a tech entrepreneur. Other early access to new technology, and
members of the team include Isaac in the hope that Silicon Valley's
Taylor, who ran Google X and has unique way of thinking would rub
worked on Google's Glass and VR off on the Pentagon.
May 14-20, 2016
Bharat Jayakumar wins first

MoneyGram Cricket Bee
Edison, NJ: At a game show like set
of the MoneyGram Cricket Bee on
May 7th, Bharat Jayakumar of
Sunnyvale, California bagged the
title of Champion and $10,000
prize money.
Jayakumar answered Australia
as the winners of the first U19
title the right option of his champi
onship question to become the
first ever Champion of the
MoneyGram Cricket Bee.
The second runner up, Auroshish
Mishra of Belmont, California was
the runner up having missed the
right answer to his question and
took home the $2,000 prize
money.
The MoneyGram Cricket Bee was
launched earlier this year and is a
game of Cricket Trivia that is con
ducted in a bee format, which is
the miss and out basis. Over 800
people registered to play the con
test and to qualify through the
rounds and secure one of the 9
slots at the Finals.
We are pleased to be able to call
the first annual MoneyGram
(Left to Right): Rahul Walia, founder of the MoneyGram Cricket Bee, Ivy
Wisco, MoneyGram, Bharat Jayakumar, National Champion of the
MoneyGram CricketBee, HR Shah, CEO of TV Asia, Aurosish Mishra,
National Runner Up of the MoneyGram CricketBee
Cricket Bee a success, said Ivy
Wisco, MoneyGrams marketing
director. Congratulations to the
winners and all of the contestants.
It is an honor to support commu
nity events like the Cricket Bee
that unite friends and loved ones
around the world.
Contests were held in Edison, NJ,
Hayward, CA and Toronto, Canada
from where the top three were
invited to the finals. Cash prizes of

$500, $300 and $200 were given
out at the regional levels as well.
MoneyGram, along with its mar
keting agency, AAAZA, commis
sioned the idea for the Cricket Bee
from leading multicultural agency
Touchdown Media in an effort to
engage and connect with the more
than 10 million cricket fans in
North America.
Rajat Gupta not giving up legal

battle to overturn conviction
Guests at the event (right) Presentation by a member of Tagore Society
NY Consulate celebrates 155th Birth

Anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore
New York: The Consulate of India
in association with the Tagore
Society of New York organized an
event at the Consulate to celebrate
the 155th birth anniversary of
Rabindranath Tagore on May 7.
The event was attended by a large
number of enthusiastic crowds
owed by the life and times of one
of the greatest sons of India.
T he evening began with the
singing of Indian national anthem
composed
by
the
g reat
Rabindranath Tagore followed by
presentation of other Tagore songs
by members of Tagore Society of
New York. Consul General
Ambassador (Mrs.) Riva Ganguly
Das during her address recollected
some of her personal involvements
surrounding Tagore during her
postings as a diplomat in various
countries and noted how Tagore's
ideology was recognized and the
af fection people have for him

around the world. The program
featured Glimpses of Rabindra
Sangeet, a presentation by mem
bers of Tagore Society.
The program ef ficiently com
pered by Renee Lobo, community
activist and TV journalist and New
York City Commission on Human
Rig hts had variety of singers
devoted to Rabindranath Tagore
and ended with a dinner.
New York: Indiaborn former

Goldman Sachs director Rajat
Gupta, a free man now after a 2
year jail term on insider trading
charges, has approached a US
court to overturn his conviction,
arguing that there is no evidence
to show that he "received even a
penny" for passing confidential
boardroom information to his
friend.
In an exhaustive brief filed in the
Second Circuit Court of Appeals
yesterday, 66yearold Gupta's
team of lawyers argued that the
judgement of the Manhattan dis
trict court finding Mr Gupta guilty
of insider trading "should be
reversed" and his "convict ion
should be vacated."
Gupta's appeal comes on the
back of a landmark ruling by the
Manhattan appeals court that for
an insider trading conviction pros
ecutors must show that a defen
dant received a personal benefit
for passing illegal tips. Gupta's
lawyers have cited the ruling that

led to the reversal of insider con
victions of hedgefund managers
To dd Newman and Anthony
Chiasson in December 2014.
"As this Court has noted, not
every disclosure of corporate infor
mation violates the insider trading
laws. Given the stakes in a criminal
case, and the apparently boundless
use being made of the securities
laws by prosecutors, this Court in
Newman imposed a clear rule: The
tip must be shown to have been
part of a quid pro quo agreement,"
the lawyers wrote in the brief.
"Rajat Gupta was severely preju
diced by the erroneous instruction.
The government lacked evidence
showing Mr Gupta received even a
penny from his alleged wrongdo
ing. There was no quid pro quo,"
they said.
Gupta was convicted in 2012 of
passing confidential boardroom
information to now jailed hedge
fund founder Raj Rajaratnam. (PTI)
May 14-20, 2016
TRISTATE COMMUNITY
IN BRIEF
India Center hosts Ninth Annual

Natraj Indian Folk Arts Festival
Four IndianAmericans
charged with
H1B visa fraud
our IndianAmericans have been in
dicted for hatching a plot to commit
H1B visa fraud, use of false docu
ments and mail fraud among other of
fences, the US federal prosecutors said in
an official statement.
The couple Sunitha Guntipally and
Venkat Guntipally, Pratap "Bob" Kon
damoori and Sandhya Ramireddi, alleged
ly used three California corporations to
orchestrate the improper submission of
more than 100 H1B specialtyoccupation
work visa applications, said the statement
from the US Attorney's Of fice Northern
District of California.
In a 33count indictment filed last week
end, all the four are charged with con
spiracy to commit visa fraud, false state
ments, mail fraud, obstruction of justice,
and witness tampering and aiding and
abetting these offences.
The defendants submitted to the gov
ernment, or caused to be submitted, H1B
visa application materials stating that the
foreign workers named in the applica
tions would be placed at specific compa
nies in the US, the statement read.
Mallakhamb items presented by the Mallakhamb Federation USA

he India Center hosted the Ninth
Annual Natraj Indian Folk Arts
Festival on May 7 at Manhattan
Neighborhood
Network.
Lalitha
Cosme, a dancer, instructor and chore
ographer trained in Kathak, Odissi, In
dian folk, ballet and contemporary
dance styles presented a dance on holi
and a Rajasthani dance. Mallakhamb
Federation USA presented Mallakhamb
which is a combination of Yoga, Mar
tial Arts, and Gymnastics. Ninaad Haar
sole who since his school days has
done choreography and performed
various forms of dances performed a
dance on Ganesha along with Swa
roopa Haarsole.
Pradnya Navalgundkar and her stu
dents presented Yoga. Somreeta
Mukherjee, a software designer who
works in the finance industry and is
trained in Indian classical music and

Rabindra Sangeet sang songs by Ra
bindranath Tagore on the occasion of
his anniversary. Dr. Bindeshwari Ag
garwal teaches Hindi at New York Uni
versity and is a famous Hindi poetess
known for her satirical work. She is a
member of Akhil Vishwa Hindi Samiti
which hosts Hindi Poetry festivals in
New York. She presented Hindi poems
about the immigrant experience.
Neena Wahi teaches Hindi at Boston
University. Born and raised in India she
completed her Master's Degree from
India and did Master's of Education De
gree in the US. Her poems have been
published in various publications in
cluding the book "Pravasini Ke Bol,"
which was published in 2006. She pre
sented Hindi poems on her immigrant
experience.
UCLA study endorses yoga to

reduce Alzheimers risk
niversity of Califor
niaLos
Angeles
(UCLA) study finds
that yoga and meditation
can help minimize cognitive
impairment, according to
UCLA release issued on
May 10.
To
reduce
risk
for
Alzheimers, skip Lumosity
(games claiming to improve
memory, etc.) and get onto
the yoga mat, this study by UCLAled
team of neuroscientists and funded by
the Alzheimers Research and Preven
tion Foundation, adds in the release.
It further says: If you or your rela
tives are trying to improve your mem
ory or of fset the risk for developing
memory loss or dementia, a regular
practice of yoga and meditation could
be a simple, safe and lowcost solution
to improving your brain fitness.
According to US National Institutes
However, those companies either did

not exist or never intended to receive the
foreign workers named in the defendants'
applications.
The indictment alleges that through
their ownership, direction and control of
two companies DS Soft Tech and
Equinett the Guntipallys generated net
profits of about $3.3 million and gross
profits of approximately $17 million from
20102014.
According to the indictment, the hus
bandwife team founded and owned DS
Soft Tech and Equinett where Venkat
served as president and Sunitha as vice
president of both the firms.
Kondamoori from Nevada is alleged to
be the founder and owner of SISL Net
works and Kondamoori's sister, Ramired
di from Pleasanton, is alleged to have
been the human resources manager and
operations manager of all three compa
nies.
In addition, Kondamoori, Sunitha Gun
tipally and Ramireddi are charged in con
nection with alleged efforts to conceal the
(IANS)
defendants' conduct.
I earned Social Security

and Medicare, and when I
couldnt afford healthy food,
SNAP HELPED.
- ANDRES, RETIRED BUSINESS OWNER
East Harlem
WATCH MY STORY AT FoodHelp.nyc
of Health, yoga may help one to feel

more relaxed, be more flexible, im
prove posture, breathe deeply, and get
rid of stress. According to a recently re
leased 2016 Yoga in America Study,
about 37 million Americans (which in
cluded many celebrities) now practice
yoga; and yoga is strongly correlated
with having a positive self image.
Yoga was the repository of some
thing basic in the human soul and psy
che, Zed added.
online at
a
itss easier to apply
Now it
Now
dHelp.nyc
Food
FoodHelp.nyc
Call 311 for more info

ACCESSNYC
India, US hold talks on

hike in work visa fee
New Delhi: India and the US
held a twoday bilateral con
sultation May 1112 under
the aegis of the WTO over the
American move to impose
high fees on temporary work
ing visas.
In March, India dragged the
US in WTO's dispute settle
ment body against the latter's
measures imposing increased
fees on certain applicants for
L1 and H1B categories.
India has stated that the
move would impact Indian IT
professionals.
It said India hopes that the
US will constructively engage
to address its concerns
regarding recent US meas
ures which impair the ability
of both USbased Indian com
panies and Indian profession
als to supply services in
America. The H1B and L1
categories of nonimmigrants,
for which there has been a
signicant fee hike, corre
spond with the categories of

specialists and intracorpo
rate transferees, both of
which are part of US' commit
ments under the WTO's
General Agreement on Trade
in Services.
These are also the same cat
egories that are most exten
sively used by Indian service
suppliers, especially in the IT
sector, supplying services in
the US.
The request for consulta
tions is the rst step in a dis
pute at the dispute settlement
system
of
the
WTO.
Consultations give the parties
an opportunity to discuss the
matter and nd a satisfactory
solution without proceeding
further with litigation.
If consultat ions fail to
resolve the dispute, the com
plainant may request the
Dispute Settlement Body to
establish a panel of experts to
study the dispute.
(PTI)
Neera Tanden leads Clinton campaign

in slamming Trump's policies
Washington, DC: Indian American
Neera Tanden on Wednesday led the
Hillary Clinton campaign in slam
ming the economic policies of Donald
Trump, Republican presidential pre
sumptive nominee, and alleging that
this poses threat to the economic
future of women and families.
"Make no mistake: Trump's divisive
comments about women's health are
a direct threat to our dignity and eco
nomic security," said Tanden, presi
dent of the Center for American
Progress Action Fund.
"Trump is now trying to cover up
the bald spots in his economic plan
but women can see for themselves
and women can see through his
comb over," said Tanden who was
joined by Senator Barbara Mikulski
of Maryland.
The two said that the trillions in tax
cuts for millionaires, billionaires and
corporations laid out in Trump's tax
plan would be an enormous boon for
the top one per cent of earners, made
at the expense of working families,
seniors and the health of the econo
Neera Tanden, president, Center for

American Progress Action Fund
(Photo: Twitter)
my. Trump's plan would give $ 3 tril
lion over 10 years or more than 35
per cent of its tax breaks to million
aires, enough money to ensure
Medicare and Social Security's sol
vency for the next 75 years, repair
the ailing infrastructure, or raise
every person now living in poverty
up to the poverty line. Trump would
give multimillionaires in the top 0.1
per cent like himself a raise of $1.3
Ami Bera's father admits illegal

campaign contributions
New York: IndianAmerican Congressman
Ami Bera's 83yearold father has pleaded
guilty to illeg ally funne lling over
$260,000 to his son's congressional cam
paigns in violation of the US federal law.
Babulal Bera, who could be jailed for up
to 30 months, pleaded guilty in
Sacramento before US District Judge Troy
Nunley in the Eastern District of
California.
A resident of California's La Palma,
Babulal is scheduled to be sentenced by
Nunley on August 4.
He admitted that in 2010 and 2012, he
made the maximum allowable individual
contributions to his son's congressional
campaigns in two of California's districts
during these years.
Babulal said that he solicited friends,
family members and acquaintances to
make contributions, which he then reim
bursed with his own funds to make cam
paign contributions in excess of the contri
bution limits established by federal law.
The government has identied over 130
improper campaign contributions involv
ing approximately 90 contributors in the
two elections. So far, the government has
May 14-20, 2016
NATIONAL COMMUNITY
Babulal Bera
(Photo courtesy: sacbee.com)
identied over $ 220,000 in reimbursed
contributions relating to the 2010 cam
paign and over $ 40,000 in reimbursed
contributions relating to the 2012 cam
paign.
Ami Bera is the only IndianAmerican
lawmaker in the current Congress and is
currently facing a tough reelection cam
paign against Sacramento Sherif f Scott
Jones to keep his seat in the state's 7th
congressional district.
A report in the Los Angeles Times said
quoted the lawmaker as saying that he
was incredibly saddened and disappointed
in learning what his father did. He said
that neither he nor any campaign aides
were aware of the activities until being
contacted by federal prosecutors.
"While I deeply love my father, it's clear
that he has made a grave mistake that will
have real consequences for him," Ami said
in the statement.
He said since he rst learned about the
investigation from authorities, his team
and he have cooperated fully with the US
Attorney's Ofce.
T he report also quoted Act ing US
Attorney Phillip Talbert as saying in a
news conference that "Congressman Bera
and his campaign staf f have been fully
cooperative in this investigation" and so
far there is no indication "from what we've
learned in the investigation that either the
congressman or his campaign staff knew
of, or participated in, the reimbursements
of contributions.
Babulal had immigrated to the US from
(PTI)
Rajkot, Gujarat in 1958.
million a year, or $100,000 a month.

Tanden alleged Trump's ideas are
not the only risk his presidency
would pose for the economic future
of women and families around this
country.
"His tax plan gives $3 trillion to
millionaires that's enough to make
Social Security and Medicare solvent
for 75 years. Women, who rely dis
proportionately on Social Security,
can't af ford such an irresponsible
giveaway," Tanden said.
Tanden and Mikulski said Trump
still opposes raising the minimum
wage because he believes "wages are
too high" and recently said he doesn't
favor a federal oor for the minimum
wage, which could leave many work
ers subject to a lower minimum
wage. At a time when twothirds of
minimum wage workers are women,
this issue is critical to working fami
lies, they said. "I'm with Hillary
because I know that she's the only
candidate who will make ghting for
women and families her priority,"
(PTI)
Mikulski said.
2,100 INDIANS
GRANTED
ASYLUM IN THE
US BETWEEM
201214
New Delhi: Over 2,100 Indians have
been granted asylum by the Obama
administration between 2012 and 2014,
as per a report by the Homeland Security
of the US.
Minister of State for External Affairs V
K Singh gave details of the Indians pro
vided asylum by the US while quoting
from the report in reply to a question in
the Lok Sabha.
He said according to latest edition of
Annual Flow Report, 425 Indians were
given asylum in 2012, 1,042 in the year
2013 and a total of 716 Indian nationals
were granted it in 2014. The total comes
to 2,183.
"The US government does not share
any information with our mission or our
Consulates on the number of Indians
who have sought or have been granted
asylum or the grounds on which the US
government has granted them asylum,"
(PTI)
Mr Singh said.
May 14-20 2016
NATIONAL COMMUNITY
Elementary school teacher

Revathi Balakrishnan
honored at White House
Washington, DC: Indian American elementary
teacher Revathi Balakrishnan was among 56
State Teachers of the Year honored by
President Barack Obama at the White House.
The president honored the teachers May 3.
Balakrishnan is a talent and gifted specialist
teacher at Patsy Sommer Elementary School in
Austin, Texas, and was chosen as the Texas
Teacher of the Year by the Council of Chief
State School Officers as part of the National
Teacher of the Year Program.
In addition to being chosen to the CCSSO
honor, Balakrishnan in 2016 was named Patsy
Sommer Elementary School Teacher of the
Year, Round Rock Independent School District
Elementary Teacher of the Year and Region
XIII Elementary Teacher of the Year, as well as
Texas Teacher of the Year and Texas
Elementary Teacher of the Year by the Texas
Association of Supervisors and Administrators.
The University of Madras and Northeastern
University graduate, earning a bachelor's and
master's in economics, respectively, was also
Revathi Balakrishnan
(Photo courtesy: ndtv.com)
honored in 2011 by the Texas Association for
Gifted and Talented as the Region XIII Gifted
and Talented Teacher of the Year.
The National Teacher of the Year Program
identifies exceptional teachers in the country,
recognizes their effective work in the class
room, engages them in a year of professional
learning, amplifies their voices and empowers
them to participate in policy discussions at the
state and national levels.
Bobby Mahendra running

for Senate seat in Nevada
Washington: An IndianAmerican public
accountant is running for a Senate seat in
the US state of Nevada by employing a non
conventional anticorruption campaign
which promises to get "dirty money" out of
politics.
Bobby Mahendra is pinning his hope on
the grassroots campaign he built to replace
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, 76, who
has held the position uninterrupted since
1987.
Mahendra, 42, claimed he had "achieved
the real front runner status" by building a
grassroots campaign on the Facebook and,
unlike other candidates, has not taken a sin
gle penny from corrupt sources.
"I am the most liked politician (on
Facebook) in the State of Nevada. One of my
main goal is to help get dirty money out of
politics," Mahendra told PTI. "I always want
ed to be able to give back to the Community
through service to country, and I knew that I
would run for of fice one day; however, I
never expected it to be right now! I looked at
the candidates that were of fered on the
political landscape, and I didn't feel that any
candidate offered what I wanted," Mahendra
said. Mahendra, whose father Narendra Lal
Mahendra is from Gwalior and mother
Sunita Mahendra from Punjab, is pitted
Bobby Mahendra
against three other candidates including the
frontrunner Catnerine Cortez Masto, the
former Attorney General of Nevada, in the
Democratic primary seat vacated Mr Reid.
Reid, who is not seeking a reelection, has
endorsed Masto to replace him.
The State primary is scheduled on June 14
and the general elections on November 8.
Mahendra now has 21,000 supporters on
his Facebook page as against less than
15,000 of Masto. Republican Senate race
front runner Congressman Joe Heck has less
than 17,000.
Mahendra, who has lived in Las Vegas
since 2011, said he is running a noncon
ventional campaign and hopes this would
(PTI)
yield results in the June primaries.
California lawyer elected

to key Republican post
Washington, DC: An Indian
party of Abraham Lincoln
American Sikh woman from
and Harriet Tubman, the
California has been elected
party of liberty and opportu
to a key posit ion in the
nity," Dhillon said after here
Republican party at the
election.
national level. Chandigarh
Following her clerkship
born Harmeet Kaur Dhillon
with Paul V Niemeyer of the
was elected as the newest
US Court of Appeals for the
national committee woman
Fourth Circuit, Dhillon's prac
of the Republican National
tice in New York, London,
Committee by thousand plus
and the San Francisco Bay
Harmeet Kaur Dhillon
votes in attendance at the (Photo courtesy: dhillonlaw.com) Area has focused on federal
California Republican Party
and state commercial litiga
convention. She was earlier the vice chair tion and arbitration, with a particular
man of the California GOP.
emphasis on unfair competition/trade secret
She was the first woman elected to this misappropriation, intellectual property
position of vice chair of the California (including trademark litigation and internet
Republican Party. A nationally recognized torts), complex contractual disputes, and
trial lawyer, Dhillon, 47, was born in India, First Amendment litigation. "I could not have
but raised in rural North Carolina after her done this without the support of a huge
Sikh parents moved to the US. "A little girl number of friends old and new and my fami
from Chandigarh, India, the Bronx, and ly, who have brought me to where I am
Smithfield, North Carolina back in the day, to today. Thank you to my parents Parminder
being one of California's three votes on the Kaur Dhillon and Tejpal Singh Dhillon for
RNC. For the next four years starting in late instilling conservative values in me. I am
July, I will help shape the policies of the truly honored," she said.
(PTI)
Most Americans don't

agree with Donald
Trump: Kal Penn
New
Delhi:
Indian
g rant", "misog ynist",
American actor Kal Penn,
"racist" and "worse."
who served in the Barack
During the event, Penn's
Obama administration,
2007
film
"T he
feels most Americans don't
Namesake", which also
agree with Republicans'
stars Bollywood actors
presumpt ive nominee
Irrfan Khan and Tabu, was
Donald Trump's racist
screened.
views.
Sharing his experience
"I seriously believe that
about campaigning for
most of the Americans
Obama, Penn said that it
don't agree with Donald
would not "weird" for him
Trump over his racist, anti
to shift from acting to pol
women, antiLGBT prac
itics.
t ices. We are not that
"For me it was an honor
country. Hopefully elec
to get a chance to serve
t ions w ill prove that,"
Kal Penn speaking at American for your country," said
Penn, who was associate
Penn, whose real name is
Center in New Delhi
director in the W hite
Kalpen Suresh Modi, and
House Of fice of Public Engagement from is best known for his role of Kumar Patel in
2009 to 2011, said at the "Cultural the popular "Harold & Kumar" film franchise.
Connections in USIndia Relations" at the He has also appeared on TV shows like
American Center here.
"House", "How I Met Your Mother" and "The
Trump, who is expected to clash with Big Brain Theory".
Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton in
Penn is in India for the shooting of Guneet
November, has been opposed by peoples and Monga's upcoming project "The Ashram."
(IANS)
critics, and often been tagged "antiimmi
Trump catches up with

Hillary in opinion poll
Washington: Republican Donald
Tr u m p p u l l ed e v e n w i t h
Democratic rival Hillary Clinton
in a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll
re leased on Wednesday, in a
dramatic early sign that the Nov.
8 presidential election might be
more hotly contested than first
thought.
While much can change in the
six months until the election,
the results of the online survey
are a red flag for the Clinton
campaign that the billionaire's
unorthodox bid for the White
House cannot be brushed aside.
Trump's numbers surged after
he
e f f ec t i v e l y
won
the
Republican nomination last
week by knocking out his two
remaining rivals, according to
the poll. T he national survey
found 41 percent of likely vot
ers supporting Clinton and 40
percent backing Trump, with 19
percent undecided. The survey
of 1,289 people was conducted
over five days and has a credi
bility interval of 3 percentage
May 14-20, 2016
US AFFAIRS
Presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks at a

campaign rally last week. (Photo courtesy AP)
points. "Very happy to see these
numbers," Trump said in a writ
ten comment to Reuters. "Good
direct ion." A spokesman for
Clinton's campaign did not
respond to requests for com
ment on the poll.
A Reuters/Ipsos survey con
ducted in the five days to May 4
h a d t h e f o r m e r s ec r e t a r y of
state at 48 percent and the New
York magnate at 35 percent.
Republican strategist Dave
Carney said the Reuters/Ipsos

poll showed the vulnerability of
Clinton, who is still battling U.S.
Senator from Vermont Bernie
Sanders for the Democratic
nomination.
Trump has his own problems,
though. He is struggling to bring
some senior Republicans behind
his campaign after primary elec
tion battles in which his fiery
rhetoric rankled party elites.
Reuters
Trump mulls setting up

commission on Islamic terrorism
Washington, DC: Donald Trump is
considering the possibility of set
ting up a commission to "take a
very serious look" at radical
Islamic terrorism and his propos
als to temporarily bar Muslims
from entering the United States,
even floating the name of former
New York City mayor Rudy
Giuliani to spearhead the opera
tion.
"We have to be extremely care
ful," Trump told Fox News in a
phone interview Wednesday
when asked about his calls for a
Muslim ban. "In fact, I'm thinking
about setting up a commission
perhaps headed by Rudy Giuliani
to take a very serious look at this
problem. But this is a worldwide
problem. And we have to be
smart."
Giuliani, who was New York
City's mayor during the terrorist
attacks that hit the World Trade
Center on September 11, 2001,
endorsed Trump last month,
ahead of the New York primary.
Meanwhile, Republican party's
presumptive presidential nomi
nee Donald Trump has demoted
his proposed Muslim immigration
ban to a mere "suggestion".
In a radio interview with Fox

News' on Wednesday, Trump soft
ened his call to temporarily pro
hibit Muslims from entering the
US.
"We have a serious problem. It's
a temporary ban. It hasn't been
called for yet. Nobody's done it.
This is just a suggestion until we
find out what's going on," Trump
said.
But Trump did not mince words
in linking Muslims to the prolifer
ation of terrorism around the
world, Politico reported.
"We have radical Islamic terror
ism all over the world. You can go
to Paris, you can go to San
Bernardino, all over the world: If
they want to deny it, they can
deny it. I don't choose to deny it,"
he said.
Trump's comments came a day
after he claimed he would make
an "exception" for London's first
Muslim mayor, Sadiq Khan, to
enter the US.
But Khan has rejected Trump's
of fer. This isnt just about me
its about my friends, my family
and everyone who comes from a
background similar to mine, any
where in the world, Khan said.
'Lots' of Republicans want to Sanders defeats Hillary

help my campaign: Clinton
in West Virginia
Washington: Democratic frontrunner Hillary
Clinton said that since Donald Trump became
the Republicans' presumptive nominee, she
has been hearing from Republicans interested
in supporting her presidential campaign.
"For a lot of people, again, who take their
vote seriously and who really see this as a
crossroads kind of election, I am asking peo
ple to come join this campaign," she told CBS
News' "Face the Nation" on Sunday.
"And I've had a lot of outreach on
Republicans in the last days who say that they
are interested in talking about that."
Despite her campaign already going hard
against Trump in the days since he effectively
secured the Republican nomination, Clinton
said she was not going to run an "ugly" race
against him.
"I'm not going to run an ugly race. I am
going to run a race based on issues," she said.
"And what my agenda is to the American peo
ple. I don't really feel like I'm running against
Donald Trump. I feel like I'm running for my
vision of what our country can be."
Hillary Clinton campaigning in

Los Angeles May 5. (Photo: IANS)
Asked whether she was making claims
about his "stability", Clinton said she is only
talking about the statements he's made as a
candidate.
Clinton noted the discord in the Republican
Party, with top leaders like House Speaker
Paul Ryan saying they were not ready to back
Trump, and others, like South Carolina
Senator Lindsey Graham, vowing they will not
back him at all. Clinton was also asked to
explain which "hard questions" she thinks
Trump needs to answer as he enters general
election mode.
Washington: Democrat hopeful Bernie

Sanders won the primary in West Virginia
a state where rival and party frontrunner
Hillary Clinton had won in 2008.
With 61.7 percent of precincts by Tuesday
evening, Sanders led Clinton 51 percent to
36.7 percent, Politico reported.
"With our victory tonight (Tuesday night)
in West Virginia, we have now won primar
ies and caucuses in 19 states. And let me be
as clear as I can be: We are in this campaign
to win the Democratic nomination," Sanders
told a cheering crowd of supporters in
Salem, Oregon, which will go to polls on May
17. In a separate statement released by
Sanders' campaign, the Vermont senator
thanked "the people of West Virginia for the
tremendous victory they gave us today in a
state that provided a landslide vote for
Hillary Clinton in 2008."
Clinton beat then Senator Barack Obama
by 40 points in 2008, a stark contrast. "West
Virginia is a workingclass state and many of
the people there are hurting. They know, like
Bernie Sanders (Photo courtesy AP)

most Americans, that it is too late for estab
lishment politics and establishment econom
ics. They want real change," Sanders said.
So far, Clinton is leading Sanders by 1,705
to 1,415 in pledged delegates and 523 to 39
in superdelegates, an overall lead of 2,228 to
1,454. With only 926 pledged delegates
remaining, Sanders' hopes rest with
superdelegates deciding to abandon Clinton
in large numbers. Meanwhile, Republican
presumptive nominee Donald Trump, whose
last remaining competitors exited the race
after Trump's victory in Indiana last week,
also won in West Virginia on Tuesday, easily.
10
May 14-20, 2016
OP-ED
Donald Trump drives the conversation
By Arun Kumar
irst he drove the economists

into a tizzy by suggesting he
would be open to renegotiat
ing US public debt; then Donald
Trump said the US would never
default on its debt as it can "print"
money. And as the pundits were
shaking their heads over how the
selfstyled "king of debt's" talk of
US default could send the global
economy spinning, he suggested
the wealthiest Americans were like
ly to pay more taxes under his
administration.
While the experts discussed how
'The Donald' was deviating from his
past promise to slash taxes across
the board, the presumptive
Republican presidential nominee
called his likely Democratic rival an
'enabler' of her husband Bill
Clinton's infidelities.
And lo and behold the long for
gotten Monica Lewinsky af fair
between the then President Bill
Clinton and a White House intern
in 1995 and 1996 was back on
centre stage with TV talking heads
Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump. (Photo: IANS)

discussing was it fair for a thrice
married Trump to rake the private
life of an opponent.
Trump stuck to his guns saying
his comments were a 'retribution'
for Clinton playing "the woman's
card to the hilt" and suggested
while he was focused on trade,
immigration and veterans issues,
the media had built up a "small
amount" of his speech "like it's the

biggest thing in the world."
"But it is a big thing," Trump
added in the same breath. "Hey,
look, he was the biggest abuser of
women, as a politician in the histo
ry of our country. He was
impeached."
Hillary Clinton herself declined to
take the bait saying she would not
comment on "how he's running his

campaign," but "a lot of his rhetoric
is dangerous."
But Democrat Senator Elizabeth
Warren responded to Trump's
Twitter assaults taunting her as
"goofy" by calling him a "bully",
fue lling speculation about her
becoming a running mate for
Clinton, who is said to be looking
for someone who can act as an
attack dog.
And as the pundits were left
yakking about whether this or that
would help or hurt Trump, the mas
ter manipulator turned his atten
tion to mending fences with the
Republican Party establishment
still smarting over his harsh rheto
ric against it.
He distanced himself from 2008
Republican vice presidential candi
date Sarah Palin's call to oust
House speaker Paul D. Ryan over
his refusal to endorse Trump's can
didacy ahead of a summit Thursday
with him and Republican National
Committee chairman Reince
Priebus. On his part, Ryan, who will
serve as chairman of the party's
convention in July to formally

anoint its standardbearer, was still
not ready to support Trump but
acknowledged "He's the nominee.
I'll do whatever he wants with
respect to the convention."
He also offered to step down as
convention chairman if Trump so
wanted even as the likes of former
presidents George H W Bush and
George Bush, his brother Jeb Bush
and the Republicans' last presiden
tial nominee Mitt Romney, still
refused to support Trump.
But the 2008 Republican nomi
nee John McCain, whom Trump had
once declined to call a war hero for
being taken a prisoner during the
Vietnam War, said it was "foolish"
for the establishment to ignore the
will of millions of Republican vot
ers.
And as the pundits wondered
whether the tactics that have
brought the Republican nomination
in Trump's grasp would work with
a more diverse electorate in the
November presidential poll as well,
the conversation once again
revolved around The Donald.
The scariest reason why Trump is winning

Trump is not a conservative, but then a majority of Republicans too are no more conservative. Why?
The answer lies in Americas biggest and scariest problem: Most Americans no longer know what
America stands for. For them, America has become just another country, a place between Canada
and Mexico. But America was founded to be an idea, not another country.
By Dennis Prager
here are many reasons Donald Trump

is the presumptive Republican presi
dential nominee. The four most often
cited reasons are the frustrations of white
workingclass Americans, a widespread
revulsion against political correctness, disen
chantment with the Republican establish
ment, and the unprecedented and unrivaled
amount of time the media afforded Trump.
They are all valid.
But the biggest reason is this: The majority
of Republicans are not conservative.
Conservatives who opposed Trump kept
arguing indeed provided unassailable
proof that Donald Trump is not a conserva
tive and has never been one. But the argu
ment meant little or nothing to two types of
Republicans: the majority of Trump voters
who dont care whether he is a conservative,
and the smaller number of Trump voters
who are conservative but care about illegal
immigration more than all other issues,
including Trumps many and obvious fail
ings.
So, then, what happened to the majority of
Republicans? Why arent they conservative?
The answer lies in Americas biggest and
scariest problem: Most Americans no
longer know what America stands for. For
them, America has become just another
country, a place located between Canada and

Mexico. But America was founded to be an
idea, not another country. As Margaret
Thatcher put it: Europe was created by his
tory. America was created by philosophy.
Why havent Americans over the past three
generations known what America stands
for? Probably the biggest reason is the influ
ence of leftwing ideas. Since its inception,
the Left has opposed the American idea, and
for good reason. Everything the American
idea represents undermines leftist ideas. And
the Left, unlike most Americans, has always
understood that either the Left is right or
America is right. America stands for small
government, a free economy (and therefore
capitalism), liberty (and it therefore allows
for libertys inevitable consequence, inequali
ty), the melting pot ideal, and a Godcen
tered population rooted in JudeoChristian
values (so that a moral society is created by
citizens exercising selfcontrol rather than
relying on the state to impose controls).
Only America was founded on the idea of
small government. But the Left is based on
big government. America was founded on
the principle that human rights come from
the Creator. For the Left, rights come from
the state. America was founded on the belief
that in order to maintain a small govern
ment, a Godfearing people is necessary. The
Left opposes Godbased religions, particular
ly JudeoChristian religions. Secularism is at

the core of Leftism every bit as much as egal
itarianism is. It took generations, but the Left
has succeeded in substituting its values for
Americas.
T he American Revolution, unlike the
French Revolution, placed liberty above
equality. For the Left, equality is more impor
tant than all else. T hats why so many
American and European leftists have cele
brated leftwing regimes, no matter how
much they squelched individual liberty, from
Stalin to Mao to Che and Castro to Hugo
Chvez. They all preached equality. It took
generations, but the Left has succeeded (pri
marily through the schools, but also through
the media) in substituting its values for
Americas.
While the Left has been the primary cause,
there have been others. The most significant
is success. American values were so success
ful that Americans came to take Americas
success for granted. They forgot what made
America uniquely free and af fluent. And
now, its not even accurate to say forgot,
because, in the case of the current genera
tion, they never knew. While the schools,
starting with the universities, were being
transformed into institutions for leftwing
indoctrination, American parents, too,
ceased teaching their children American val
ues (beginning with not reading to their chil
dren the most popular book in American his

tory, the Bible).
Schools even stopped teaching American
history. When American history is taught
today, it is taught as a history of oppression,
imperialism, and racism. Likewise, there is
essentially no civics education, once a staple
of the publicschool system. Young
Americans are not taught either the
Constitution or how American government
works. I doubt many college students even
know what separation of powers means, let
alone why it is so significant. So, then, thanks
to leftism and Americas takenforgranted
success, most Americans no longer under
stand what it means to be an American.
Those who do are called conservatives
because they wish to conserve the unique
American idea.
But conservatives now constitute not only
a minority of Americans, but even a minority
of Republicans. That is the primary reason
Donald Trump a nationalist but not a con
servative is the presumptive Republican
nominee. As I noted from the outset, I will
vote for him if he wins the nomination
because there is no choice. But the biggest
reason he won is also the scariest.
Dennis Prager is a nationally syndicated
radio talkshow host and columnist. He is the
founder of Prager University. 2016
Creators.com
The views expressed in Op Eds are not necessarily those of The South Asian Times.
May 14-20, 2016
OP-ED
11
The way to Trump Presidency

TRUMP HAS ATTRACTED AMERICANS BECAUSE HIS AGENDA IS FOCUSED ON THE
ECONOMY AND IMMIGRATIONTHE KEY SOURCES OF AMERICAS PROBLEMS.
By Dr A.D. Amar
ecause of the kind of decline
America has had over the last
few decades, it is not surpris
ing to see Donald J. Trump contest
ing for the presidency on a revolu
tionary agenda, and Americans
embracing it, even when it is fuzzy,
lacking clarity. They are yearning
for the change that will bring their
country back from a course of
steady decline. They understand
that there have to be drastic
changes, because only drastic
changes will bring about the revolu
tion essential to undo the wrongs of
the past several administrations.
They do not like anything to do
with the statusquo. Politicians, they
believe, have failed them and those
politicians who have any associa
tion with the current state of the
country remind them of failure, and,
hence, do not get their support.
Trump has attracted Americans
because his agenda is focused on
the economy and immigrationthe
key sources of Americas problems.
He wants to help American econo
my through better management of
its foreign trade and deals. His goal
is not to reduce trade but to force
countries that heavily export to
America to start buying from it to
reduce their trade deficit. It is con
sistent with the economic theory of
foreign trade that encourages coun
tries to specialize, consolidate glob
al consumption, increase productiv
EXCLUSIVE
The author, Dr Amar, endorsing Donald Trump for President at New

Jersey Conservative GOP conclave.
ity, bring down prices and increase
availability of goods and services to
all people around the world.
However, it is not supposed to be a
oneway street that results some
countries to become exporters and
the others to be importers, as some
countries are doing to America.
Good foreign trade should result in
a balanced trade among counties.
Trump will start trade negotia
tions by targeting those countries
that cause huge trade deficits with
America, such as China, Japan,
Mexico, Germany, and South Korea.
Take China. Its trade deficit in
2009, when Obama took over the
White House, was about $227 bil
lion, which, as of 2015, has bal
looned to $368 billion. The obvious
question Americans are asking is,
Where has been Obama
Administration? Why it allowed
China to amass such a huge trade

surplus with America? Americans
also fault trade deals that have
brought about this dependence on
imports and dominance of foreign
transplants in America. Trump has
said that he will renegotiate
Americas trade deals. This will
result in America producing more
of its consumption domestically, or
producing and exporting enough to
pay for its imports. By bringing
trade balance in line, we will be able
to keep about a trillion dollar home
for recirculation in our own econo
my.
The second major item of Trumps
agenda is immigration. He agrees
with Americans when they say that
there are too many illegal immi
grants in the US, and that they must
be required to return home, have
their visas processed there, and if
clean, should be given visa and

brought back to the USA. To solve
permanently the problem of illegal
immigration, he wants to build a
wall along Americas southern bor
der, the one with Mexico, as that is
the major source of illegal immigra
tion. A control on illegal immigra
tion will allow America to bring in
high skilled workers, such as engi
neers, scientists, the IT profession
als, and doctors that America needs
to allow expansion of its economy.
Politicians fail to achieve what
they promise to do, primarily
because they cant act against the
will of their donors who fund their
elections. It is for this reason that
Trump has announced that he will
not accept any funding from special
interest groups. Trump is setting
himself free of not only these
donors, but is also threatening
other politicians in power, known as
the establishment. It will result in
many special interest groupsthe
donorslosing their clout in
Washington. This will also hit many
established politicians whose sur
vival depends on this money. This is
the reason politicians do not want
to lose the donor groups, and so
they oppose Trump. When Speaker
Paul Ryan, the highestranking
Republican, says that he is not
ready to endorse Donald Trump, or
the three BushesGeorge HW,
George, and Jebdeclare that they

will not vote for Trump, their goal is
to maintain their control of the
party. Trump wants to act free of all
politicians who have brought about
the mess in America. Voters like this
approach and are flocking to the
polls for the last eight months to
vote for Trump.
As this reality is dawning on more
voters, they are overwhelmingly
voting for the disruptive candi
dates, such as Donald J. Trump and
Bernie Sanders. This is expected to
continue until June 7 when the
Primary season comes to a close.
However, while it is already too late
for Sanders to win Democratic nom
ination, the situation is so oppor
tune for Trump. The general elec
tion is shaping up to be between
Trump and Clinton. Moreover, since,
Clinton is a politician associated
with the current state of the coun
try, voters from both parties will
flock to Trump as the savior. Based
on the exit interviews conducted at
the May 10 West Virginia primary,
CBS finds that Trump will take away
as many as 43% of Bernie Sanderss
voters in November, and, thus, will
sail to victory and be the next
President of the USA.
Dr. A.D. Amar (Amar Dev Amar) is
a business professor at Seton Hall
University, South Orange, NJ, and
president of IndianAmericans for
Trump 2016 that he cofounded in
December 2015 after learning of
Trumps agenda.
Weighing in on Trumps pluses and minuses

By Nilima Madan
o we want Donald Trump as
President of the United States?
This all important question has
to be answered today keeping in
mind America and Americans,
not just his slogan, Make America
Great Again. Especially, if the
route he takes is bringing 'cof
fee shop' conversation to the
public without mincing words.
But, it is very possible that
his attributes will change
if he did become the
President. Although, in
hindsight there may be
remorse, regret, or even an
apology. Albeit that may not take
away the deep hurt, disrespect and discrimi
nation Trump inflicted on women, Muslims,
Hispanics and other rival candidates where
the very modus operandi has been the basis
of a Republican divide.
Words have been said such as, women
This time, more than any other election for White House, it is becoming
a political game not about a powerful candidate, but a
conundrum of brick bats and volley of words that has
marred clarity of the US public as to who to plump
hundred percent for the countrys next President.
should be punished
for getting an abor
tionbuild a Mexican
walldefund Planned
Parenthood much
about US debt and
about NATO. He has
been flipflopping so
much, for example
on taxes and mini
mum wage that a clear
Presidential vision is amiss.
Trumps confidence, business acumen, pow
erful personality, negotiation skills, global
connections, etc. are likely to work well in
politics. As observed, he is strongly opinionat
ed, dominating and not easily manipulated.
His views on free enterprise and less regula

tion of the market may appeal to many. His
past dealings of the Trump empire are both
famous and infamous. His reputation of trust
worthiness, not to mention what he says and
does, is questionable. Often times, his finan
cial and business dealings have attracted
much criticism. We can also debate on his
lack of experience on Foreign Policy, trade
agreements and proposals, valuation of the
Dollar, China policy, relations with the Middle
East, Mexico or Russia as components which
can affect our global standing and bilateral
relations.
The wealthier class can afford to pay more,
yet then there are those who have to work
harder to pay for health insurance and basic
bills. Therefore, a balance with all levels of

income and needs have to appeal in order for
a vote in favor. Because voters look for
answers to many questions that af fect the
general population related to their daily liv
ing and lifestyle. Health insurance, salaries,
college funding for kids, safety and overall
wellbeing are all issues that are taken into
account while deciding on a decisive candi
date. Fulfillment of promises that bring jobs
back, reduce healthcare costs, help students
achieve a higher education, and putting fami
lies back in their homes with a stable econo
my are of key importance.
One's views may be left or right, but ulti
mately, it's he or she that does good by
majority which counts, a lot like Mr. Narendra
Modi has attempted in India. This time, more
than any other election for White House, it is
becoming a political game not about a power
ful candidate, but a conundrum of brick bats
and volley of words that has marred clarity of
the US public as to who can be a hundred per
cent clear choice for the countrys next
President.
12
May 14-20, 2016
INDIA
President's Rule goes, Rawat AGUSTA: NEVER MET

SONIA, MANMOHAN,
back as Uttarakhand CM
New Delhi/Dehradun: A day after

ousted Chie f Minister Harish
Rawat won the trust vote, the
union cabinet headed by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi revoked
President's Rule in Uttarakhand to
pave the way for the Congress gov
ernment's return in the state.
The cabinet decision came after
the BJPled central government
told the Supreme Court that Rawat
got 33 votes while 28 legislators
voted against him in the Tuesday
floor test supervised by the apex
court.
Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi
told Justices Dipak Misra and
Shiva Kirti Singh that there was
no doubt that Rawat had the leg
islative strength to head the state
government.
It is clear (Rawat) has proved
the majority, Rohatgi said.
The court asked the central gov
ernment to revoke forthwith the
order of pro clamat ion of
President's Rule to let Rawat
return as the chief minister, adding
it had ordered the floor test on
"concession by the parties". "We
may hasten to add, we directed for
floor test on concession of the par
SAYS MICHEL
Ousted Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat being greeted by

people in Dehradun. (Photo: IANS)
ties and we had varied the order
today on a prayer being made by
the union of India," the court said.
Rawat's victory, which was
already known but of ficially
announced, sparked jubilation in
the Congress camp in Dehradun as
well as in Delhi.
In Delhi, the Congress said it was
the victory of democracy.
Hope Modiji learns his lesson.
People of this country and the
institutions built by our founding
fathers will not tolerate the mur
der of democracy, Congress vice
president Rahul Gandhi tweeted.

But Rawat, 69, said he had no
acrimony with the BJP government
and needed its support for the
state's progress.
"It has been a tense period, a
period of uncertainty and the state
suffered losses. But all is well that
ends well," an elated Rawat told a
crowded news conference in
Dehradun.
The return of the Congress gov
ernment,
however,
awaits
President Pranab Mukherjee's
proclamation.
Trupti Desai prays at Haji

Ali, trust spurns threat
M u m b a i : Bh u m a t a B r i g a d e
President Trupti Desai and a few
a c t i v i s t s p r a y ed a t t h e w e l l
known Haji Ali Dargah shrine on
T hursday amid heavy police
security.
After prayers, Trupti served a
15days ultimatum to the
D a r g ah t r u s t ee s t o p e r m i t
women right upto the sanctum
sanctorum, failing which she
vowed to launch an agitation.
However, a Haji Ali Dargah
t r u s t ee, S uh a i l K h a n d w a n i ,
spurned her demands.
"We follow the laws of the
land. She came like any other
n o r m a l d e vo t ee t o d a y a n d
nobody has stopped her. As for
her demands, we shall not be
cowed down by such threats,"
Khandwani told IANS.
Shortly after daybreak, accom
panied by a posse of police,
Desai and her supporters walked
through the halfakilometre nar
row bridge on the Arabian Sea to
reach the Dargah with scores of
other devotees.
She followed the prevalent cus
toms and respectfully prayed
outside barely four feet away
from the inner sanctum, as per
mitted by the dargah trust and
departed a few minutes later.
Bhumata Brigade president

Trupti Desai with other activists
prays at Haji Ali Dargah in
Mumbai. (Photo: IANS)
"I have prayed that women
should be allowed to enter the
sanctum sanctorum of the dar
gah as was the case till 2011 ...
N e x t t i m e, w e sh a l l m a k e
attempts to pray there," Desai
told mediapersons later.
S h e t h r e a t e n ed t o l a u n ch
protests if the trustees did not
allow women to pray till the spot

where men were allowed.
"This is a fight to ensure gen
der equality at religious places.
Today, we witnessed the point
w h e r e m e n a r e a l l o w ed a n d
w o m e n a r e n o t p e r m i t t ed .
W i t h i n 1 5 d a y s , t h e d a r g ah
trustees must allow women till
the spot where men are permit
t ed , f a i l i n g w h i ch w e sh a l l
protest," Desai said.
Joint Police Comissioner Deven
Bharti said: "Desai and others
visited the dargah around 6.00
a . m . a n d l e f t a f t e r of f e r i n g
p r a y e r s . We h a ve d e p l o y ed
police at the venue."
Thursday's visit to the dargah
was a followup to the aborted
agitation carried out by Desai
and other NGOs on April 28
under the banner "Haji Ali For
All".
In view of a potentially sensi
tive situation and entry of politi
cal parties on the scene, the
police intervened and did not
permit Desai to enter the dargah.
The shrine trustees reiterated
that permitting women upto the
tomb of Pir Haji Ali Shah Bukhari
would be "antiIslam" and
claimed immunity as it was a
"minority trust".
Delhi lawyer Gautam Khaitan. (File Photo: IANS)

New Delhi: Christian Michel,
one of the middleman in the
AgustaWestland chopper deal,
has said in an interview to a
news channel that he "never
met Congress president Sonia
Gandhi and former prime min
ister Manmohan Singh" and
that neither the Congress nor
the present NDA government
"interfered in the deal".
In an interview to India Today
TV, Michel also said that Delhi
based lawyer Gautam Khaitan,
f o r m e r b o a r d m e m b e r of
Aeromatrix, was the brain
behind the scandal. He said that
the only person he had met
related to the Agusta deal was
former Indian Air Force chief
S.P. Tyagi.
The BJP stepped up its attack
against the Congress alleging
that the Italian court judgment
on AgustaWestland helicopter
g r a f t c a s e h a d m e n t i o n ed
names of Congress president
Sonia Gandhi, Ahmad Patel, and
former IAF chief S.P. Tyagi,
among others.
Firms
F i n m ec c a n i c a ,
AgustaWestland, IDS Infotech
Ltd (India) and Aeromatrix
India are the accused compa
nies booked by the CBI in the
First Information Report (FIR)
lodged in March 2013 in con
n ec t i o n
with
the
AgustaWestland case.
T he AgustaWestland case
refers to alleged bribery and
corruption involving several
senior of ficials and helicopter
manufacturer AgustaWestland
surrounding the purchase of a
new fleet of VVIP helicopters
by India.
Khaitan, former Aeromatrix
board member, and Tyagi were
questioned by CBI in recent
days.
"No, never. I have never met
S o n i a G a n d h i . N e ve r m e t
Manmohan Singh or (former
defence minister) A.K. Antony.
Congress never interfered in
the Agusta deal. I avoid meet
ing leaders, my expertise is
implementation," Michel told
the TV news channel, which
tracked him down in Dubai.
"Modi government has never
i n t e r f e r ed i n t h e d e a l , " h e
added.
"Gautam Khaitan is certainly
the brain behind the scandal.
He was responsible for moving
the money. He knows every
thing," he said.
He said that to even imagine
leaders like former prime min
ister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and
Manmohan Singh involved in
the deal was "ridiculous".
"I think Indian leaders did
their job. But to say that a man
like Vajpayee, Dr Manmohan
Singh or A.K. Antony is involved
is ridiculous. No one would
believe that," added Michel.
On meeting former IAF chief
Tyagi, Michel said: "I probably
met S.P. Tyagi in Gymkhana
Club. I met Tyagi and others,
but I wasn't keen on them.
"I think Tyagi was used as a
tool for (another middlemen
Guido) Haschke to get inside
AgustaWestland. I don't think
he can play any major role. I
can't say there were no kick
backs," he added.
Asked about the allegations
made by BJP Rajya Sabha MP
Subramanian Swamy, Michel
said: "Subramanian Swamy has
b ee n m i s l ed o n A gu s t a
specifics. He has authenticated
(documents) what was given in
the CAG report.
May 14-20, 2016
INDIA
13
Onefourth population, over 1 lakh villages droughthit

New Delhi: Over one lakh villages in
313 districts of 13 states, sheltering
roughly onefourth of India's popu
lation, have been af fected by
drought and scarcity of drinking
water, the Lok Sabha was informed
this week.
Making a brief intervention dur
ing a general discussion under Rule
193, Rural Development Minister
Birender Singh said that going by
statistics, it appeared that nearly 25
percent of the country's population
was droughthit.
The governments in Bihar and
Haryana have so far not declared
the two states droughthit, the min
ister said.
"Even the Gujarat government has
not declared the entire state as
affected by drought. They are call
ing it drought only in some parts,"
Singh said amid repeated interrup
tions and sloganshouting by
Congress members.
The minister said all droughthit

states collectively have at their dis
posal a total of Rs.3,800 crore for
relief, including central contribu
tion of 50 percent.
"Of the dedicated drought funds
of Rs.3,800 crore, the state govern
ments can spend 25 percent inde
pendently and take all necessary
steps to provide relief to the peo
ple," the minister said.
Earlier, Congress members sat in
silence in the Lok Sabha well to
protest against Prime Minister
Narendra Modi's comments at elec
tion rallies in Kerala and Tamil
Nadu regarding Congress president
Sonia Gandhi's "Italian connection"
in the AgustaWestland chopper
scam.
But as soon as the rural develop
ment minister stood up to make the
brief intervention and answer
queries raised by members,
Congress parliamentarians started
raising antigovernment slogans.

Minister
of
State
for
Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Pratap
Rudy said the Congress members
were preventing the house from dis
cussing an important issue concern
ing the rural folks and farmers.
"This is being antifarmers," he
said, a remark countered amid the
din by Congress leader Mallikarjun
Kharge.
When repeated plea from Hukum
Singh, who was in the chair, did not
calm down the agitating members,
the minister said: "It's my right to
make intervention and answer
questions raised by members.
"I know the Congress people pret
ty well. If you do not allow me to
answer, I will bring privilege motion
against you all," said Birender
Singh, who was earlier in the
Congress but left to join the
Bharatiya Janata Party on the eve of
the 2014 parliamentary polls.
MODI DEGREE: Did DU have

computers in 1978?
New Delhi: Launching an
attack on Delhi University
over Prime Minister
Narendra Modi's degree,
the AAP sought to know if
the university had comput
ers in 1978.
Again highlighting the
"discrepancies" in the grad
uation degree and mark
sheets of Modi, AAP leader
Ashutosh said: "The name
and marks of the candidate
were printed in Mo di's
marksheets released by the
AAP leaders Ashutosh and Ashish Khaitan showing
BJP. "However in the docu Naremdra Modi's college marksheet during a press
ments of other candidate
conference in New Delhi. (Photo: IANS)
who passed out in 1978, the name and Galgali in 2015 asked for a list of all the
graduates of 1978, DU responded they
marks were handwritten.
"Similarly, the university logo on don't keep three to four decades old
Modi's degree is printed in modern font records.
"Either the university lied in the RTI or
while the original degrees had simple
font. This clearly shows that the degree it lied yesterday because if there were
no records how did they verify it?"
is fake," he told the media here.
He asked the university to comply
The Aam Aadmi Party also countered
the university's claims that the degree w ith the Central Informat ion
Commission order asking it to make
was original and it had verified it.
Referring to DU's response to an RTI Modi's degree public.
"Delhi University is a prestigious uni
filed by Maharashtrabased activist Anil
Galgali, Ashutosh said the university versity. They should be loyal to the con
then said it did not keep records as old stitution of the country, not to the lead
ers of the ruling party," said another
as three to four decades old.
"T he reg istrar of the university AAP leader, Dilip Pandey.
A group of AAP leaders visited the uni
claimed they have verified the records
versity on Tuesday to check Modi's B.A.
and that Modi's degree was original.
"However, when an RTI filed by degree but could not the vice chancellor.
All droughthit states collectively have at their disposal a total of

Rs.3,800 crore for relief, including central contribution of 50 percent.
(File photo)
Don't teach us nationalism,

Nitish tells BJP
Varanasi: Bihar Chie f
and Chandrasekhar Azad gave their
Minister slammed the BJP
lives for the country, they (BJP and
and the RSS, saying those
RSS) were not there.
who were never part of
"But today they are preaching
the freedom movement
nationalism," the Janata DalUnited
have no right to preach
leader said. He quickly added: "We
what nationalism means.
don't need nationalism lessons
"Today the BJP is talk
from them."
ing about nat ionalism
The chief minister, making his
whereas the veterans of
first visit to Varanasi after the 2014
the BJP and the RSS
Lok Sabha battle, alleged that the
played no role in the inde
central government had failed on
pendence movement," Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. every front.
Nitish Kumar told a rally in
"They promised to bring back
(Photo: IANS)
Prime Minister Narendra
black money in 100 days. Have
Modi's constituency Varanasi. "When Bapu they delivered? "They delivered Love Jehad,
(Mahatma Gandhi) was fighting against the Ghar Wapsi and during the Bihar elections they
British, when freedom fighters like Bhagat Singh raised the issue of beef," he said.
Bankers to strike against government policies, inaction

Chennai: Around 10 lakh
bankers will go on strike on
July 29 against the govern
ment's varied actions and inac
tion pertaining to the banking
sector, said a top leader of All
India
Bank
Employees'Association (AIBEA).
The decision to go on strike
on July 29 was taken in the
meeting of the United Forum of
Bank Unions (UFBU) compris
ing all the nine unions in the
sector AIBEA, AIBOC, NCBE,

AIBOA, BEFI, INBEF, INBOC,
NOBW, NOBO, he ld in
Hyderabad on Wednesday, he
said.
"The central government is
going ahead with the measures
that would weaken the public
sector banks, inadequate capi
tal infusion, consolidation and
merger apart from issuing new
bank licences, privatisation of
IDBI Bank and permitting more
private capital in regional rural

banks," C.H.Venkatachalam,
general secretary, AIBEA told
IANS on Thursday.
According to Venkatachalam,
the total bad loans in the bank
ing sector has risen to Rs.10
lakh crore.
Bulk of these bad loans are
due from big corporate busi
ness houses and no serious
action is being taken to recover
the money, he said.
14
May 14-20, 2016
OP-ED
Two years of the Modi government:

By Amit Kapoor
PLUSES AND MINUSES
he Narendra Modi government has

been in office for almost two years.
There have been some strong areas
of performance and other areas where the
government has not had stellar perform
ance and much needs to be done.
Let us start from the traditional responsi
bilities of the nation state like security,
health and education, among others.
In the case of security both domestic
security and foreign policy play a key role.
The Modi government has been keen on
the kind of vigour and agility that it has
brought to the foreign policy discourse.
However, the institutional capacity regard
ing the number of diplomats and missions
to different countries has been a limiting
factor. The existing framework for the for
eign policy implementation for a country
the size of India is far smaller than what is
required.
Also, the kind of depth reg arding
research and experts which is needed is
missing. T his is where a systemat ic
improvement concerning capability and
numbers is required. The Modi govern
ment, to its credit, has touch based with
130 countries in the two years but this will
have to be substantiated with ongoing
processes and engagements rather than
oneoff meetings.
On internal security and home af fairs,
the performance has been on a par with
the previous regimes. Though some inci
Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

(Photo: IANS)
dents did take place which were "commu
nal killings" especially like that of a man
lynched in Dadri for consuming beef (an
unfortunate incident), the situation is simi
lar to the previous regimes.
The Maoist movement remains a potent
threat to the peace and stability in many
districts of India as it had during the previ
ous regimes. The only way to neutralise

this menace is mainstreaming the Maoists,
who are misled about the nature of the
Indian state.
On health and education, the govern
ment is seen shifting the responsibility
more on the states. This is because of the
government's acceptance of the proposals
of the 14th Finance Commission, which
increased the allocation of states from 32
percent to 42 percent of the divisible
funds. This is a welcome step but the prob
lem still pertains to the capability of the
states to understand and have the capacity
to use the funds for health and education.
With respect to education at the school
level, the Annual Survey of Education
reports (ASER) consecutively point to the
g laring inadequacies with respect to
attainment of basic skills like reading and
arithmetic. In the healthcare domain, the
challenges seem to increase with changing
disease patterns, especially with the com
ing of lifestyle diseases like diabetes and
the like. The aim of a productive popula
tion can only be fulfilled in a diseasefree
society. In this context, the Swachh Bharat
Abhiyan (Clean India Programme) was a
positive step. However, how much of an
impact it has had on people littering on the
streets/maintaining cleanliness is not very
well documented/understood.
A lot in the future will depend on how
social programs such as these find conso
nance with people. Only then can the coun
try move ahead. The government's role
here is to facilitate preventive healthcare

and help provide facilities for treatment
(health) and upliftment of the people (edu
cation).
A field in which the government has not
been able to do much and which came to
the fore recently has been water. Here, due
to two years of deficient monsoon, the
buildup was there and this has led to a
condition of drought in several parts, most
notably in Marathwada in Maharashtra.
The government has done well to avert a
crisis by sending water trains to people in
Latur and other areas.
However, the best strategy is to find
longterm solutions. In this year's budget,
the finance minister talked about several
irrigation schemes to be put on a fast
track. Though the IMD is predicting an
aboveaverage monsoon this year, it would
be wise to continue with the irrigation
projects well into the future so that the
farmers and people do not face the
droughtlike situations in the future that
we see today.
Another achievement of the government
has been its ability to keep a tab on high
level corruption. Apart from this, the direct
devolution to the cities for the Smart City
development programme is another posi
tive of the government.
On balance, the government has done
well in trying to govern well over the pre
vious two years. How successful its pro
grams and policies will be, only time can
tell.
Education not diminishing Indias preference for boys

By Tanay Sukumar
oung graduate mothers gave birth to
899 girls per 1,000 boys, lower than
the national average of 943, according
to an IndiaSpend analysis of Census data.
Higher education levels have helped in bet
ter family planning, but they do not eliminate
the preference for boys, the analysis reveals.
The reason, experts said, could be that the
educated are more likely to afford sexselec
tive abortions to kill chances of giving birth to
girls. Sexselective abortion was outlawed by
India in 1994.
T he Census 2011 data for fertility of
women based on education levels also show
that educated mothers gave birth to fewer
children, IndiaSpend reported.
Urbanization and better education appear
to correlate with a worsening sex ratio (num
ber of females per 1,000 males). The sex ratio
of children everborn (that is, including chil
dren who died at birth or later) to all women
was 895 in rural areas but 878 in urban
areas.
Preference for sons is no lesser among the
educated, according to Tulsi Patel, Delhi
University professor and editor of the 2007
book Sexselective Abortion in India.
With better control over fertility and
reproductive outcomes, also comes the con
% H W W H U ( G X F D W LR Q & R U U H OD W H V :
/ LWH U D WH E X W
E H OR Z S U LP D U \
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E H OR Z P LG G OH
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R U V H Q LQ J 6 H [ 5 D W LR
0 LG G OH E X WE H OR Z
D WU LF V H F R Q G D U \
0 D WU LF V H F R Q G D U \
E X WQ R WJ U D G X D WH
* U D G X D WH D Q G
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5 X UD O
8 UE D Q
(1) These data are for all children ever born to these women, and include children who died at birth
or later. (2) This graph presents data only for mothers who were between 20 and 34 years old at the
time of census, as it gives a more contemporary trend. (3) The age group All ages in the census
data includes age not stated, and hence, the above numbers may not capture each and every
woman between 20 and 34 years old.
viction of dispensability of daughters, she

said. The one positive trend is that younger
women (between the ages of 20 and 34)
reported a better sex ratio than women in
older age groups. Mothers between 20 and
34 gave birth to 927 girls per 1,000 boys,
whereas the average for all women was 890.
This indicates that although younger moth
ers are less likely to prefer male children than
before, education and urbanization do not

appear to be helping.
Discrimination against girls, selective
female feticide, and low sex ratio are more
common among the educated and the pros
perous part of the society throughout India,
said this study by two Leiden University
researchers Kamlesh Madan and Martijn
Breuning.
The study also noted that when abortion

was legalized in 1971, it was used extensive
ly in urban areas for sexselective abortions.
Also, the equipment, being expensive, was
available mostly to the affluent and the well
informed part of the population in the cities.
The trend, it seems, has not changed even
today with lesser costs and higher incomes.
Another 2011 study, published in The
Lancet, pointed out that there was decline in
sex ratio for a secondborn child if the first
born was a girl. Declines were much greater
in mothers with 10 or more years of educa
tion than in mothers with no education, and
in wealthier households compared with poor
er households.
Selective abortion of girls, especially for
pregnancies after a firstborn girl, has
increased substantially in India, the study
concluded.
While the sex ratio dipped for more educat
ed mothers across India, the opposite was
observed in Kerala, the state with the best sex
ratio (1,084).
Illiterate women in Kerala (between the
ages of 20 and 34) gave birth to 940 girls per
1,000 boys, and this went up with education:
950960 girls for more educated women,
going up to 971 girls for graduates and
above.
IANS in association with IndiaSpend.
TRISTATE COMMUNITY
May 14-20, 2016
15
Dr Ajay Lodha & Dr Rekha Bhandari

honored with Ellis Island Medals
The two accomplished New York doctors received the prestigious award
for immigrants at a glittering ceremony on May 7 on Ellis Island, NY.
Dr. Rekha Bhandari

r. Rekha Bhandari, who was honored
with the prestigious Ellis Island Medal
of Honor on May 7, is an internist in
Brooklyn, NY, and is affiliated with Brooklyn
Hospital Center and Kingsbrook Jewish
Medical Center.
Dr Bhandari was born and raised in India.
She obtained her MBBS degree from the
Adichunchanagiri Institute Of Medical
Sciences in Mysore. She completed her resi
dency training in Internal Medicine at
Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in Brooklyn
and became chief medical resident. She sub
sequently attained her fellowship training in
Geriatrics at North Shore University Hospital
in Manhasset, ultimately becoming board
certified in Internal Medicine, Geriatrics,
Hospice, and Palliative Medicine.
T hroughout her medical career Dr.
Bhandari has contributed to various publica
tions and received numerous recognitions.
Her administrative responsibilities showcase
her commitment. Since 2001, she has served
as the Vice President at Glenridge Medical
Associates, a medical group of physicians in
Ridgewood, Queens, providing care in inter
nal medicine, family medicine, and geriatrics.
From 2005 to 2012, she also served as a
Director of the Division for Geriatrics and
Palliative Medicine at Wyckof f Heights
Medical Center. As the chair of the Nursing
Home Committee for Elder Care Services at
Wyckof f, she focused on reducing hospital
readmissions and established open relation
ships with nursing homes.
Throughout her career, Dr. Bhandari has
been affiliated with multiple nursing homes,
many of them with fivestar ratings from
CMS. She has worked primarily in Queens
and Brooklyn as the Attending and Medical
Director and as chair for the ethics commit
tee at these institutions. As the Medical
Director she is actively engaged with nursing
home staffs to establish clinical pathways for
early recognition and management of
patients to decrease ER transfers and
strengthen the partnership between health
care providers at the nursing home and hos
pitals, thereby reducing readmissions.
Since 2012 Dr. Bhandari has also served as
Chief of Geriatrics at Kingsbrook Jewish
Medical Center and Director of Palliative
Medicine at The Brooklyn Hospital Center.
As Director of Palliative Medicine at The
Brooklyn Hospital Center, she is currently
leading GNHYA Bundle Project, focusing on
patients with advanced dementia from nurs
ing homes and local communities.
Dr Bhandari has been panelist speaker on
Aging Best Practices at the United Nations.
She also served as panelist speaker at CCLC,
Greater New York Hospital Association on
Dr. Ajay Lodha

r. Ajay Lodha, PresidentElect of
American Association of Physicians
of Indian Origin (AAPI), the largest
ethnic medical society in the US, was hon
ored with the prestigious Ellis Island Medal
of Honor on May 7. Dr. Lodha, the past
president of RANA, Rajasthan Medical
Alumni Association (RAJMAAI) and AAPI
QLI, received the award during the 30th
annual Ellis Island Medals of Honor cere
mony held on Ellis Island in New York.
I am humbled for being chosen to
receive this prestigious award, Dr. Lodha
said soon after receiving the award. I feel
there are lot more Indians here in the US,
who are doing outstanding job and make
us feel very proud. This award is for all of
them.
Dr. Ajay Lodha with the Ellis Island
Dr. Lodha, a former Chief Medical Officer
Medal of Honor
and Senior VP of Caritas Health Care
System representing St. John's Hospital and and take a more active role. His vast expe
Mary Immaculate Hospital, is an Internist rience in organizing conferences and meet
by profession. A graduate of RNT Medical ings will help to bring AAPI members
College, Udaipur, Rajasthan, he completed together and attract new members, which
his residency at Flushing Hospital, NY. H is vital to the success of the organization.
Dr. Lodha lives on Long Island with his
has a primary care practice with two loca
wife
Dr. Smita Lodha and their two children
tions serving Queens, NY since 1995 and is
Amit
and Shweta.
a partner in Hillaire and Nesconset Nursing
Ninety distinguished individuals were
homes and is a partner of ACO.
In 2008, Dr. Lodha was part of a coalition presented the Ellis medal this year, among
that built a stateoftheart 11bed Surgical them five were of Indian origin..
To date, nearly 2,000 U.S. citizens have
Intensive Care Unit for the Government
Hospital in Udaipur where free care is received the medals. The National Ethnic
given to all the patients. In his commitment Coalition of Organizations (NECO) awards
to the health of the community, he has also Ellis Island medals to Americans who
organized numerous Health Fairs, Blood embody the spirit of America in their cele
Pressure Screenings, and Medical bration of patriotism, tolerance, brother
Awareness programs as well as the deliv hood and diversity. NECO recognizes indi
ery of educational materials at churches, viduals who have made it their mission to
temples and senior centers. Dr. Lodha was share with those less fortunate their wealth
appointed a member of the Nassau County of knowledge, indomitable courage, bound
Comptroller George Maragoss MWBE less compassion, unique talents and self
less generosity; all while maintaining the
Advisory Council last year.
Dr. Lodha will assume of fice as AAPI traditions of their ethnic heritage as they
President during the AAPI Convention on uphold the ideals and spirit of America.
July 3. His vision for
AAPI is to increase
AAPIs
g lobal
awareness. I would
like to see us lobby
Congress for an
increase in the
number of available
Residency Positions
so as to help allevi
ate the shortage of
doctors.
T hat
younger physicians
and MSRF mem
Dr. Lodha with his wife, Dr. Smita Lodha,
bers feel fully inte
and their two children Amit and Shweta
grated into AAPI
Dr. Rekha Bhandari with her Ellis Island

Medal of Honor.
Dr. Bhandari with her husband, Prem

Bhandari, after the award ceremony.
topics such as Avoidable Hospitalization,
Palliative Care in SNF.
Dr Bhandari currently heads the medical
team at Allure Group as the Corporate CMO.
She has focused on various quality assurance
and performance improvement initiatives.
She strives to implement change in health
care delivery in the skilled nursing facilities.
These programs include, Cardiac rehab, Vent
/ Respiratory rehab, TBI, and Ortho rehab.
She is also a strong proponent of treat in
place, avoidable hospitalizations and pallia
tive/hospice care for long term residents in
nursing home. Dr. Bhandari is also a member
of several medical societies such as American
College of Physicians, American Geriatrics
Society, Center of Advanced Palliative Care
and American Association of Hospice and
Palliative Medicine.
16
May 14-20, 2016
ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD
American TV more diverse than films: Kal Penn

I
ndianAmerican actor Kal Penn,
who has been playing pivotal roles
in the American entertainment
industry for over a decade now, feels
their TV industry is more diverse as
compared to their films when it comes
to portraying Indians in a stereotypi
cal manner.
Penn believes that the American TV
industry has become very diverse in
the last decade as compared to earlier
times.
"Stereotypes stand overall but,
American TV has advanced a lot, even
more than American movies in the last
10 years," Penn said at the "Cultural
Connections in USIndia Relations"
event, which took place
at the American
Center here.
He further stated
that there are shows
like "New
Girl",
"Mindy Project" and "Master of None",

which are helping American TV indus
try to become more diverse.
Apart from TV, Penn feels streaming
sites are also big plat
forms that are
showcasing diverse
content.
"(Actorcomedi
an) Aziz Ansari is
crushing it every
where. I mean he
is amazing... his
stand
up
is
incredible. TV is
chang ing in a
big way.
Films are slow to change and there are

a number of reasons for that but there
is a reason that cutting edge digital
platform is the place for a lot more
diversity," Penn said.
"Priyanka's (Chopra) show is on
ABC. I have a new show coming in
fall which I am very excited about.
Bigger networks are also taking
the lead... In the upcoming years
TV will become more diverse. Same
will happen with films," he added.
Penn is in India for the shooting of
Guneet Monga's upcoming project
"The Ashram".
Directed by Ben Rekhi, the
Englishlanguage spiritual
fantasy thriller also stars
Me lissa Leo, Sam
Keeley, Hera Hilmar
and Radhika Apte.
Indian
American
actor Kal
Penn.
ctor Emraan Hashmi, who is gear
ing up for the release of "Azhar",
says he had to essay former
Indian
cricketer
Mohammad
Azharuddin's role in a more dramatic
fashion in the film.
Q. Were you a cricket player before
you did Azhar?
A. I wasnt a hardcore cricket buff, but I
be lieve cricket is a part of every
Indians DNA. We cant escape cricket. I
also played cricket. But not the profes
sional cricket that the captain of the
Indian cricket team is expected to play
after experience of 20 years. I had to
observe Azhars batting style and try to
play like him without aping him. This is
by far the most challenging role Ive
done so far.
Q. How faithful have you remained to
Azharuddins character and career?
A. I wouldnt call this a faithful biopic.
Azhar is inspired by the events in
Azharuddins life. But weve taken cine
matic liberties by making it a fullon
masala fare. At the same time, weve
remained faithful to basic facts in
Azharuddins life and career. So far
weve never seen Indian cricket players
up, close and personal sharing their
jokes and hiccups. At the point when all
the controversies were happening he
was very quiet. The film speaks up on
his behalf.
Q.
Azharuddin
seems very sup
portive of the
film.
A. Yes, he
was sup
portive
from the
word go.
M
y
director
T o n y
dSouza
and I had to
do nothing
major to win
over his confidence.
He was very frank and
honest about the incidents in his life. He
was very clear about the way the film
would be made and we were also very
clear about how we wanted to make the
film.
Q. Did you faithfully imbibe all of
Azharuddins traits?
A. I had to play him more dramatically.
There were dialogues and heightened
emotions that had to be brought in. But
at the same time, we havent dramatised
the actual incidents and events to the
extent that the original is unrecognis
able. Weve kept the proceedings real
while giving it a Hindi film twist.
Q. Has the film taken sides on the
Interview
I had to
play Azhar
more
dramatically:
Hashmi
Actor Emraan Hashmi.

question of Azhars guilt/nonguilt in
the matchfixing allegations?
A. This is a story that has never really
been told. We read about it. But we
never knew what Azharuddin actually
went through. We had to enhance the
dramatic impact by maybe 20 percent
to ensure audiences attention.
A scene from "Captain America: Civil War.

(Photo: movieweb.com)
'Captain America:
CIVIL WAR'
GETS GOOD
START IN INDIA
New Delhi: The superhero team up in "Captain
America: Civil War" has struck the right chord at the
Indian box office. The film, starring Chris Evans
and Robert Downey Jr, minted over Rs.27
crore in its opening weekend.
The Disney and Marvel superhero adven
ture released in India on May 6. According to
a statement from the makers, "Captain
America: Civil War" collected Rs.9.81 crore on
Sunday with a growth of 10 percent over
Saturday. The cumulative total so far is
Rs.27.13 crore.
The collection is on the basis of
business of both English as well as
Hindi version of "Captain
America: Civil War", wherein
Bollywood actor Varun Dhawan
has voiced the character of
Steve Rogers aka Captain
America.
Directed by Joe and
Anthony Russo, the film sees
an ideological showdown
between Iron Man (played
by Downey Jr) and
Captain America
(Evans) and is packed
to the brim with other
superheros. Trade
guru Taran Adarsh is impressed with the business of
the film. He tweeted: "'CaptainAmerica: Civil War'
Friday Rs 8.53 crore, Saturday Rs 8.79 crore, Sunday
Rs 9.81 crore... Total Rs. 27.13 crore nett...Excellent".
"Captain America: Civil War" promises the specta
cle of watching Captain America square off against
Iron Man. It also introduces Tom Holland as Spider
Man and marks the first appearance of Chadwick
Boseman as the Black Panther.
ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD
May 14-20, 2016
17
Aish still cherishes her first Cannes outing

International
A
ishwarya Rai Bachchan's tryst with the

Cannes Film Fest ival beg an w ith
Devdas and she will be completing
15 years of going to the prestigious film fest
this year. The actress says she still cherishes
her first outing at the gala, adding that no
one in the world can take away that" from
her.
Devdas, inspired by Sarat Chandra
Chattopadhyays 1901 novel, featured Shah
Rukh Khan as Devdas, Aishwarya as Paro and
Madhuri Dixit as Chandramukhi.
The Sanjay Leela Bhansali directorial was a
cinematic marvel with revelry of dance,
music hoopla and a trag ic love story
splashed with myriad emotions.
Ask her how has the perspective about
Indian cinema changed at the foreign films
festival with time and she said: I dont know
how much I can underline that or validate
that but I would definitely say that my first
experience was truly memorable and exceed
ingly special. It wasnt for an individual but
the entire team of 'Devdas' and it meant a lot
to us because it was quite unexpected.
Because we were showcasing our film and
getting that kind of reception that we did
was truly overwhelming, Aishwarya told
IANS. She added: So the first makes it so
memorable imagine to have first experience
and one like that so that is something and I
dont think anyone in the world can take
away from us and that is something that will
always make us feel thankful for having that
experience for us to cherish and recount for
ever. The mother of one, who is the brand
ambassador of LOral Paris, will represent
perception
about India has
changed: Irrfan
Filmmaker Omung Kumar, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Randeep Hooda during the film
Sarbjit integration with Saregama Mumbai.
the cosmetic giant at the upcoming edition
of the film festival, scheduled to be held from
May 11 to May 21.
She will walk the red carpet on May 13
and 14. Reminiscing about the time at the
gala, the Jazbaa star said: It was a night
screening...we always heard about how the
duration of our cinema can sometimes be a
bit overwhelming for the audience beyond
the shores and 'Devdas' by that measure is a
long film. They made the reception so won
derful by actually creating this little ride up
in a horse carriage... The three (Aishwarya,
'One Night Stand'

conveys
colors of hope,
desire
Actor Sunny
Leone.
here is no saying where a onenight

stand can lead you. It could even
make you a part of a film which has
all the makings of a new kind of erotic
thriller. A Sunny Leone film with a heart
and some soul.
Stirring up this soul curry, debutant direc
tor Jasmine Moses dSouza pitches us three
main characters. Urvil (Tanuj Virwani) is
the kind of guy who can think as much with
his head as his crotch. He lets the latter
take over completely when he meets Celina
(Sunny Leone).
They have a wild night of sex in aestheti
cally shot love scenes, so done perhaps

because a female director understands the
need to take the love making beyond the
physicality.
The plot unfolds partly as a thriller and
more prominently as a drama of disinte
grating domesticity.
The director keeps a confident hold over
her three characters even as two of them
lose grip over their emotions. There are
some unexpected twists in the second half.
Shah Rukh and Bhansali) of us went up and

we truly felt like we were representing us. It
just felt glorious from the first step on the
red carpet.
T he film was showcased and earned
applause in 2002. T he w ife of actor
Abhishek Bachchan became a jury member
at the film gala in 2003. She then took her
talent overseas by working in Hollywood
starting with Bride & Prejudice in 2004.
Aishwarya, who will next be seen on the
silver screen on Sarbjit, shared that the
response was more than overwhelming.
Not all of these surpris
es work.
While Tanuj Virwani
does his greyish role of
a man who cant take
no for an answer, sure
handedly, the film clear
ly belongs to the two
women.
Newcomer
Nyra
Banerjee as Simran, the
philandering husbands
devoted sweet and inno
cent wife, is a pleasant
surprise. She makes her
presence felt although the focus is clearly
on Sunny.
"One Night Stand" is easy on the eye and
not heavy on the heart despite the dramatic
potential of the plot. This is an erotic emo
tional excursion that makes me curious to
see what the debutant director would
attempt next. Hopefully a companion film
about a female stalker who wont take no
for an answer.
(Photos: IANS)
Actor Irrfan Khan.

ctor Irrfan Khan, who recently
completed a decade in
Hollywood, says the perception
of moviegoers across the globe about
India, especially its cinema, has
changed with time.
"The perception of international
audiences has changed with time
about India, especially its cinema.
Right when we as an industry started
growing and Indian films picked up
the pace in film festivals around the
world, the popularity grew," said
Irrfan, who has featured in Hollywood
films like Slumdog Millionaire and
Life of Pi.
"There are growing instances where
Indian films have even done great
business at the international box
office. Now the audience isn't only
restricted to Indians residing abroad,
there is a growing population of west
erners who are keeping a close eye on
Indian films.
"Now they recognise Indian actors
and are welcoming them with a lot
more than just caricaturish roles. Our
films are truly making a difference
from a content perspective and is
changing India's perception of being a
land of song and dance and snake
charmers". Irrfan will be next seen in
Hollywood film Inferno alongside
Tom Hanks.
18
May 14-20, 2016
Moscow: Firing Kalashnikovs, fly

ing gunships, stomping about in
tanks and sweating it out in army
fatigues, that's Russia's cutting
edge arsenal of ideas for attracting
tourists. Amid the annexation of
Crimea and the conflict with
Ukraine, "military tourism" appears
all set to boom in Russia.
Inbound tour operators are
of fering tourists a quasicombat
experience, be it firing AK47
assault rifles in underground firing
ranges, roaring on in T90 tanks or
an edgeofthespace flight in a
MiG29.
And tourists like Japan's
Toshihiro Yokoi and his friend,
who are willing to she ll out
upwards of 15,00018,000 euros
for a spin in the MiG29, are relish
ing the opportunity.
"The emotions (we felt) during
the suborbital flight were both
exciting and interesting," Mr Yokoi
said, shortly after the flight, where
he experienced the 9G (Gforce).
Next on his agenda is a zero
gravity flight experience in a four
engine IL76 at Nizhniy Novgorod
TRAVEL
Tourists who are willing to shell out upwards of 15,00018,000

euros for a spin in the MiG29, are relishing the opportunity.
(Photo courtesy: flymigsolol.com)
in the Volga federal district.
For those who would feel peevish
in a fighter jet and more at home
close
to
land,
there's
Uralvagonzavod, one of the world's
largest manufacturers of tanks
located around 1,000 miles (1,600
km) from Moscow, which has been
of fering tourists a ride in the
mighty T90 from April this year,
or a visit to the armor museum in
the national capital, where tanks

from the great war, armory and
other military equipment are on
display.
For those with vintage taste and
World War buf fs, Russian leader
Joseph Stalin's bunker in Moscow
is now a tourist attraction too.
If one wishes to have a live and
feel about what's it to be like in the
army, a new tourism circuit allows
you to spend a day in a military

training camp and train with sol
diers in fatigues.
The objects of war and the thrill
of handling tanks and weapons is
catching up as a tourism offering.
Three years ago Russian Defense
Minister Sergei Shoigu even
of fered to organize a new sport
military show a tank Biathlon for
tourists, which involves a speed
race through maneuvers and tak
ing precision shots from the tank's
canon.
"All guests can witness military
flight, fireworks, military music
and tanks across many models.
The military museum is also pop
ular with Russian and China
tourists during summer," Marina
Solokov, of the Moscowbased
Indigo Tour, told IANS.
Paresh Navani of the Russian
Information Center, says Defense
Tourism in Russia is just about to
zip off the blocks.
Chinese tourists, who top the list
of tourists visiting Russia with a
million of them visiting Russia in
2015, have already cottoned on to
military tourism and are driving

the demands, says Pavel Kretov of
Academservice, an inbound tour
operator based in Moscow.
"It (military tourism) has just
started. Chinese tourists are very
interested. It was started because
of the demand fue lled by the
Chinese tourists," Kretoc says,
adding that in Moscow there are
numerous shooting galleries where
one can spray a few live bullets
from a pistol to an AK56.
However, while the guns and
tanks await, revved up for tourists,
there's one issue which continues
to niggle the tourism administra
tion, which can prove to be a
dampener to takers of such
tourism: pricing.
It is something which Valery
Korovkin, head of the International
Deve lopment division of the
Federal Agency for Tourism,
believes will be leveled out over a
period of time.
"You have to start with some
thing. It's expensive now, but in a
year it can go down if there is
enough demand," Korovkin said.
Bangladesh: A journey of shared history and

common destiny with India
By Ritu Sharma
Dhaka: In a quest to explore shared
culture and history of all the terri
tories that once formed part of an
undivided Indian subcontinent, I
chose the easiest one Bangladesh.
First, because a Pakistan visa was
unlikely to come by, considering
my family's history deeply steeped
in Indian defense forces.
After fending off the questioning
looks of friends and family, as I
applied for the visa, I was confront
ed with a familiar question "Why
Bangladesh?"
"Tourism," I replied. The official
looked unconvinced but I was not
denied the permission.
The AgartalaDhaka bus, started
in 2015 and which was supposed
to be a daily service, has been
reduced to thrice a week because it
found few passengers.
I decided to enter Dhaka by land
which also helped me to acclima
tize to the sweltering heat there. I
crossed the border on foot. The
IndiaBangladesh border is quite
unlike the famous Wagah one
between India and Pakistan. Here
border guards discourage people
from jingoistic sloganeering during
Liberation War Museum gives you a sneak peek into the 1971
Bangladesh liberation movement, where the Indian Army fought along
side Bangladeshs own Mukti Bahini. (Photo courtesy: panoramio.com)
the flaglowering ceremony.
After entering the country, which
appeared familiar for an Indian, I
took a CNG (as Bangladeshis call
their autorickshaws) to Akhoura
and thereafter a bus to Dhaka.
The double whammy of heat and
humidity sapped my energy reser
voir in the "first class bus".
The next two days in Dhaka were
nightmarish. And it seemed familiar
too with huge traffic snarls.
I somehow managed to visit
Sonargaon (the golden city), the
administrative and commercial
centre of preBritish rulers that
finds mentions in the travel mem
oirs of IbneBatuta and Ralph Fitch.

It also has Panam City which hous
es a cluster of around 52 mansions
inspired by European architecture,
built in the 19th century. Hindu
cloth merchants stayed there once
upon a time.
But today an eerie silence wells
up from the locked premises.
World's Monument Fund has put it
under the 100 most endangered
sites. The next on the list was the
Liberation War Museum for a
sneak peek into the 1971
Bangladesh liberation movement,
where the Indian Army fought
alongside the Bang ladeshi
Liberation Army named "Mukti

Bahini". The museum doesn't seem
to have fared too well. But appar
ently, a new one is under construc
tion. The next stop on the itinerary
was Sylhet, in the northeast of the
country, surrounded by beautiful
tea estates and hills. The city is also
a source of a staggering number of
Bangladeshis abroad who con
tribute a major portion to the coun
try's remittances.
Re ligiously, it seems more
diverse. The city is dotted with
many temples with idols of
Goddess Kali and her consort Shiva
being commonly sold on pave
ments. I entered a temple which
looked more like an armored
bunker. I was immediately identifi
able as a stranger. After a few
queries, I was ushered into the
room of the head priest.
"When the Babri Masjid was
demolished in 1992, our temples
were razed to the ground here," a
priest said. "T his temple was
demolished completely and lots of
Hindus were killed. We collected
funds and have rebuilt it. And the
strong grills around the temple are
for protection," he said, requesting
not to be named.
"Both the communities (Hindu

and Muslim) love Hindi serials and
movies. But whenever something
happens in India, reverberations
are felt here in Bangladesh," he
said. This simple statement coming
from a temple priest in Sylhet
underlines the intertwined fate of
the people of the two countries that
were part of the same history and
political geography once upon a
time. Modernising India and
Bangladesh too have to move for
ward together.
Sylhet, apart from being a major
tourist attraction, was a part of the
1971 war theater. It was the scene
of the first heliborne operation of
the Indian Air Force. It was here too
that Gorkha Rifles won the day for
the Indian Army in the Battle of
Sylhet.
My travel to Bangladesh turned
into a walk down the lanes of histo
ry and I felt as if the two countries
continue to be linked through an
umbilical cord. They continue to
define themselves on the basis of
the other. After celebrating the
Bengali New Year in Dhaka with
delectable Hilsa I bade goodbye to
the country.
IANS
May 14-20, 2016
DIASPORA
19
London gets its first Muslim Mayor Sadiq Khan

London: Newlyelected London
Mayor Sadiq Khan gave an effu
sive thank you to supporters on
Twitter after his emphatic win, as
British Pakistanis erupted in joy
at a fe llow Pakistaniorig in
national winning the top post.
Welcome messages also poured
in from prominent Pakistanis as
#SadiqKhan trended on twitter.
Thanking supporters after his
historic win, Khan tweeted: "A
huge thank you to everyone who
voted Labor, volunteered today
or campaigned with us."
"T hank you. To day was an
amazing victory for hope over
fear and for unity over division,"
he posted (@SadiqKhan).
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, son of
Sadiq Khan (Photo courtesy: merinews.com)

former prime minister of
Pakistan Benazir Bhutto and
Indian woman techie

wins sexism lawsuit
against Wipro
milliondollar
Bengaluru: Shreya
contracts for the
Ukil, a 40yearold
firm and received
Indian
woman
numerous per
who was formerly
formance awards,
a techie at the
started raising
Wipro of fice in
concerns
in
London, has won a
2012,
which
landmark lawsuit
went unheeded.
in a British court
Ukil sued the
ag ainst the IT
Bengalurubased
major for sacking
Shreya Ukil
outsourcing firm
her on grounds of
(Photo : independent.ie)
in October 2015,
gender discrimi
nation, unequal pay and victim see king one million pounds
compensation for gender dis
ization.
"The Wipro leadership team, crimination, unequal pay and
including its (then) chief execu harassment.
Sacking Ukil and her superior
tive T.K. Kurien, conspired to
push Ukil out of her job and her Manoj Punja, 54, the company
role in Britain," her counsel had then said that they were
Slater Gordon said in a state relieved from service after an
ment
from
London
on internal inquiry established that
they were into a relationship but
Wednesday.
The court observed that the did not report about it to the
direction (to sack Ukil) had company as a policy.
Ukil, who was the sales and
come from the very top and was
followed through with consider market development manager
for Wipro's back of fice opera
able resolve.
"Ukil was vict imized by tions in London, filed the lawsuit
Wipro's leadership for speaking with the central London employ
up about sex discrimination, ment tribunal, claiming she was
unequal pay and a culture of forced into an affair by Punja, a
married man, who was head of
sexism," the statement said.
Ukil, who worked with Wipro its business process outsourcing
for almost 10 years, won multi (BPO) office in London. (IANS)
chairman of Pakistan People's

Party (PPP), was quick to recall,
on twitter, his interaction with

Khan. He called him a role model
for British Pakistanis.
"Congratulations @SadiqKhan
for being e lected mayor of
London. I remember he and I
spoke at Salmaan Taseer's
memorial. British Pakistanis need
a positive role model," tweeted
Bilawal (@BbhuttoZardari).
Mushahid
Hussain
(@Mushahid), a Pakistani journal
ist and polit ician tweeted:
"Pakistan takes pride Sadiq Khan
shines on global stage."
"Sadiq Khan as Mayor of
London, bus driver's son beats
billionaire scion: Great victory
for multiculturalism as race/reli
gion bigotry rejected," Hussain
tweeted. Sadiq Khan, the son of a

Pakistani bus driver, was on
Saturday declared the mayor of
London, becoming the first
Muslim mayor of the UK capital.
His election as the mayor of the
biggest and most dynamic city in
western Europe assumes signifi
cance in the backdrop of growing
Islamophobia in the continent.
Many Londoners, including
from the Muslim community,
have welcomed his win.
Khan's father came to Britain
from Pakistan and for 25 years
drove London buses. He lived in
a small council house with his
parents, six brothers and sister
another aspect of Khan's life peo
(IANS)
ple admire him for.
Murali Pillai elected to

Singapore Parliament
Singapore: An Indianorigin man
from Singapore's ruling People's
Action Party (PAP) was on last
Saturday elected member of the
parliament following his victory in
the byelection held at suburban
Bukit Batok constituency.
Murali Pillai garnered 61.21 per
cent of the votes, while Singapore
Democratic Party's Chee Soon Juan
got 38.79 per cent of votes.
The Elections Department said a
total of 24,192 votes were cast,
including 622 rejected votes, which
made up 94.03 per cent of the
5,875 Indian workers died in Gulf

countries in 2015: Government
New Delhi: As many as 5,875

Indian workers died in Gulf coun
tries last year with maximum num
ber of deaths of 2691 reported
from Saudi Arabia, the Indian gov
ernment said.
Saudi Arabia was followed by
UAE which reported 1540 deaths
in 2015, Minister of State for
External Af fairs V K Singh said
while replying to a written ques
tion in Lok Sabha. While Qatar
reported 279 deaths, there were
520 Indian workers who died in
Oman, the minister said, adding
223 deaths happened in Bahrain,
611 in Kuwait and 11 in Iraq.
(PTI)
25,727 registered electors.

Chee, a vociferous opposition
leader, had challenged the ruling
party in the oneonone contest.
President Tony Tan Keng Yam
had issued the writ of election on
April 20.
The Bukit Batok single seat was
vacated when previous PAP MP
David Ong resigned in March, fol
lowing an alleged extramarital
affair with a PAP activist.
PAP, led by Prime Minister Lee
Hsien Loong, has absolute majority
in the house.
(PTI)
Murali Pillai
(Photo : todayonline.com)
Rabindranth Tagore Project

launched in London
London: On Rabindranath Tagore's
155th birth anniversary, a new
crowdsourced initiative to make
his works accessible worldwide has
been launched here in the UK.
'T he Tagore Project' is a
Wikipedia style attempt, aimed at
global mobilization of Tagore fans
through
a
web
platform
(http://thetagoreproject.org) and a
mobile app.
The brainchild of Indian IT pro
fessional Subhanjan Sarkar, the
project is designed so that anyone
with knowledge of Bengali can
choose a portion of his works and
submit recordings to the open

audio library, including his 2,200
songs.
"The Tagore Project is based in
the Wikipedia model; nothing like
this exists anywhere for any artiste.
We are not collecting any donations
but partnering with the Akshay
Patra Foundation," Sarkar said at a
launch event held at the Nehru
Center in London earlier this week.
The project is a way to preserve
Tagore's works as well as make
them available to the world, for
free. This year also marks Tagore's
155th birth anniversary.
(PTI)
20
May 14-20, 2016
SUBCONTINENT
'Retired Pak Army officers were involved in 26/11'

New Delhi: Husain Haqqani, a for
mer Pakistani ambassador to the
US, says that an exchief of the ISI
spy agency had admitted that
"some retired Pakistani Army offi
cers" were involved in the 26/11
Mumbai terror attack that
claimed 116 lives and injured
hundreds of others in 2008.
Lt. Gen. Shuja Pasha, who then
headed Pakistan's InterService
Intelligence (ISI) agency, made
the admission to his CIA counter
part, Gen. Michael Hayden at a
meet ing in Washington in
December 2008, Haqqani writes
in his new book, "India vs
Pakistan: Why Can't We Just Be
Friends".
T he publisher, Juggernaut
Books, says there is a specific ref
erence to the Pakistani Army in
the book, a noholdsbarred
analysis of the IndiaPakistan
relationship by Haqqani, adviser
to four Pakistani prime ministers,
including Benazir Bhutto.
In the analytical book, Haqqani
quotes a secret, hitherto unpub
The 26/11 Mumbai terror attack claimed 116 lives. (File photo)
lished letter from Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif to the US secretary
of state, complaining that while
Pakistan was accused of assisting
terrorism in Kashmir and Punjab,
the US silence on "terrorism being
carried out by the Indian govern
ment in Kashmir" was difficult to
understand. T he letter also
accuses India of "terror, subver
sion and sabotage" in Pakistan's

Sind and Punjab.
In the book replete with revela
tions and anecdotes, Haqqani also
describes how an inadvertent
intelligence tipoff through phone
intercepts from Indian saved the
life of then president Pervez
Musharraf. T he attack was
planned for December 15, 2003
Nepal denies rumors of

expelling Indian ambassador
Kathmandu: Nepal has rubbished
rumors of plans to expel Indian
Ambassador Ranjit Rae following
the cance llat ion of President
Bidhya Devi Bhandrai's visit to
New Delhi and the recall of its
envoy from New Delhi.
Rumors were in circulation in
Kathmandu from Sunday that the
government was preparing to
declare Rae, who was said to have
breached several diplomatic norms
including the Vienna Convention
persona nongrata (PNG), mean
ing his diplomatic immunity would
be withdrawn.
The rumors gained ground after
Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli
cancelled Bhandarai's visit and
recalled Nepal's Ambassador to
India Deep Kumar Uphad hya
apparently in retaliation of India's
supposed hand in toppling his gov
Nepalese Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli.

ernment. After some media outlets
reported that a closed door meet
ing at Oli's residence discussed
possibility of declaring Rae PNG,
this simultaneously created tur
moil in New Delhi and Kathmandu
prompting Deputy Prime Minister
64 killed in Baghdad
car bombing
Baghdad: At least 64 people were killed and 87

others injured on Wednesday when a parked car
packed with explosives went off in a Shia area in
the Iraqi capital, authorities said.
The Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for
the deadly attack, saying it was targeting Shia mili
tias, CNN reported. Police said the massive blast
occurred when a boobytrapped car exploded at a
popular outdoor market in the Shia bastion of Sadr
city district. Many of the victims included women
and children. Several of the injured were said to be
in critical condition and the death toll was likely to
go up.
and Foreign Minister Kamal Thapa

to issue a statement saying: "Some
media speculation regarding Nepal
government mulling expulsion of
Indian Ambassador Rae is baseless
and is aimed at damaging Nepal
India relations."
Obama to visit Vietnam

Hanoi: US President Barack Obama will visit Vietnam
from May 22 to 25, the foreign ministry said.
The White House had said on Tuesday that Obama
will meet Vietnam's leadership to discuss ways for
the USVietnam Comprehensive Partnership to
advance, Xinhua news agency reported.
The White House had said Obama would also dis
cuss cooperation across a wide range of areas includ
ing security, human rights as well as global and
regional issues.
In capital Hanoi, Obama is expected to deliver a
speech on USVietnam relations.
Obama will also meet members of the civil society,
entrepreneurs and the business community.
and thanks to the tipoff, the ISI

could foil it and nab the perpetra
tors, he said.
In the book, the former diplo
mat also quotes an ISI briefing
that contended that the objectives
of Indian spy agency RAW were
"to divide Pakistan on ethnic and
sectarian basis; to disprove and
ridicule the twonation theory;
and weaken Pakistan to the
extent that it ceases to pose any
threat to Indian hegemonic
designs".
Haqqani also states that the
reason why Kashmir remains a
problem that is neither solved nor
set aside lies with Pakistan ...
Pakistan's claim to Kashmir has
never been accompanied by a
coherent strategy or a wellcon
sidered endgame to get it.
Haqqani say every schoolchild
in Pakistan learns that 'Kashmir is
Pakistan's jugular vein' asking "is
it really Pakistan's jugular vein if
the country has survived for 69
years without Kashmir?"
He also examines the key pres
sure points in the relationship

between the two countries
Kashmir, terrorism and the n
bomb and points out where
both sides were to blame.
Pakistan developed, and con
tinues to develop, its nuclear
bombs as a direct response to
India, nothing more, nothing else
... Pakistan's nukes are centered
on India, the book says.
Haqqani goes on to establish
how, under the military's influ
ence, Pakistani nationalism had
evolved as antiIndianism and
how Pakistani textbooks continue
to reinforce these feelings among
the youth. Pakistan was not like
other countries that raise an army
to deal with threats they face; it
had inherited a large army that
needed a threat if it was to be
maintained and the only threat
that could be invoked was India ...
Pakistan has continued to nurture
a national narrative of grievance
against India, says the book.
The book is available on the
Juggernaut app.
BANGLADESHI
ISLAMIST LEADER
NIZAMI EXECUTED
Policemen stand guard in front of the Supreme Court

during the verdict announcement in Dhaka.
Dhaka: Bangladesh executed a top
Islamist leader for crimes commit
ted during the war of independ
ence from Pakistan in 1971, the
law minister said.
Motiur Rahman Nizami, 72, was
hanged after he lost his final
appeal against the sentence.
Nizami led Bangladesh's largest
Islamist party, JamaateIslami.
Previous executions of party lead
ers have sparked violent protests.
He was convicted of genocide,
rape and torture, charges the
defense said were not proven
beyond reasonable doubt.
Security was tightened across
the country ahead of the execu
tion. Supporters of Nizami protest
ed outside Dhaka's Central prison,
where the sentence was carried
out. Nizami was the fourth leader
of the JamaateIslami party to
have been executed since Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina set up a
war crimes tribunal to look into
abuses during the independence

war.
A former government minister,
Nizami was one of the most
important figures to be found
guilty.
He was convicted of setting up a
militia which helped the Pakistani
army identify and kill proinde
pendence activists.
Supporters and some rights
groups said the executions were
politically motivated.
Nizami will be buried in his vil
lage home in the northern part of
Bangladesh.
His family met him briefly
before his execution but left with
out speaking to the media,
Bangladesh's Daily Star reported.
T he hanging comes amid a
spate of killings of liberal activists,
secularists, foreigners and mem
bers of religious minorities that
the government has blamed on
Islamists.
May 14-20, 2016
INTERNATIONAL
21
China warns US against shows of strength

Beijing: China expressed "resolute opposi
tion" to a US warship patrol in the South
China Sea, and said it will continue to take
"measures to safeguard our sovereignty and
security".
The US warship, USS William P. Lawrence,
illegally entered Chinese waters near the
Nansha islands without the permission of
the Chinese government, Foreign Ministry
spokesman Lu Kang said, adding that the
warship was monitored, tracked and issued
with a warning, reported Xinhua.
According to a press release from the
defense ministry, two J11 fighter jets and a
Y8 naval patrol plane flew over the waters
on patrol. A destroyer, a missile frigate and
a frigate identified the US warship and
warned it. It is reported that Bill Urban, the
spokesman for US Department of Defense,
said the freedom of navigation operation
was a direct challenge to "excessive mar
itime claims of some claimants in the South
China Sea".
But Lu said: "The action by the US threat
Two J11 fighter jets and a Y8 naval plane flew over the waters on patrol.
ens China's sovereignty and security, endan
gers the safety of people and facilities on the
reef and harms regional peace and stability."
"China strongly opposes such action by the
United States and will continue to take
measures to safeguard our sovereignty and

security," he said, adding that China and
other coastal states in the South China Sea
have been working together to keep naviga
tion and overflight free in the South China
Protests against labor

reforms in France
Paris: Fierce protests broke out

across France after the govern
ment forced through controversial
labor reforms.
Hundreds of demonstrators ral
lied outside the National Assembly
in Paris, calling for President
Francois Hollande to resign, with
the protests continuing late into
the night, BBC reported.
T he government said the
reforms are essential to help cut
high levels of unemployment. The
changes would make it easier for
employers to hire and fire but
opponents fear they w ill also
enable employers to bypass work
ers' rights on pay, overtime and
breaks.
Police used tear gas against pro
testers
in
Grenoble
and
Montpe llier. Lille, Tours and
French President Francois

Hollande.
Marseille also saw demonstrations.
In Toulouse, two young protest
ers were injured in clashes with
police, according to Le Parisien
daily.
The decision to invoke an article

of the const itut ion to force
through the reforms was made
after the government failed to
reach a compromise on the bill
with a group of rebel MPs within
the country's largest Socialist
Party.
This tactic has only been used
once be fore under President
Hollande, again to push though
disputed economic reforms.
The only way the bill can now be
stopped is by the motion of cen
sure a vote of no confidence that
was filed by two rightwing parties.
Between them they have 226 of
the 288 votes needed to topple the
government.
Fresh protests are set to be held
soon to coincide with the confi
dence vote.
Impeachment against Brazil's

Rousseff annulled, new vote called
Rio de Janeiro: Attempts to
impeach Brazilian President Dilma
Rousseff were stalled as the acting
speaker of lower house of the
Congress annulled the impeach
ment process and called for a new
vote. T he decision by Waldir
Maranhao who came into of fice
last week according to RT online,
comes as the impeachment process
was passed to the Senate for a
vote, following last months deci
sion in the lower house.
Procedural irregularities were
detected during the April vote that
ended with the lower chamber
accepting impeachment charges
The motion to impeach Rousseff

was first initiated in December.
against Roussef f, Maranhao said,
according to Reuters.
It still remains unclear whether
his decision could be overridden

by the Supreme Court, the Senate,
or a majority of votes in the house.
The leftist Rousseff, who denies
any wrongdoing, may face trial on
a charge of breaking budget laws.
The Senate had been expected to
vote in favor of putting Roussef f
on trial. At that point, she would
have been suspended from her
of fice for a period of up to six
months, w ith Vice President
Michel Temer taking over in the
interim.
Maranhao is an ally of Governor
Flvio Dino, one of the main sup
porters of President Rousseff.
Sea for a long time. In fact, freedom of navi

gation and overflight have never been prob
lems.
According to Lu, the US introduced free
dom of navigation operations in 1979
before the signing of the UN Convention on
the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), a treaty to
which the US is still not a party. The purpose
of these recurring "patrols" is to disrupt the
order of the seas and oceans without adher
ing to the UN convention. The US sends mili
tary vessels and aircraft on surveillance mis
sions against China as simple acts of provo
cation, said Lu, adding that the US actually
considers itself above the UNCLOS and these
activities are opposed by many countries.
Lu said that the flexing of US military mus
cle in the name of freedom of navigation is
the biggest threat to peace and stability in
the area. China will strengthen naval and air
force patrols and reinforce defense capabili
ties to protect national sovereignty, security
and the peace and stability of the South
China Sea, Yang said.
British PM calls
Afghanistan, Nigeria
'fantastically corrupt'
British PM Cameron was speaking to the Queen

about anticorruption summit in London.
London: British Prime Minister
David Cameron described
Nigeria and Afghanistan as "fan
tastically corrupt" in a conversa
tion with Queen Elizabeth II.
The conversation took place at
Buckingham Palace during an
event to mark the Queen's 90th
birthday, attended by political
leaders and other public gures.
T he prime minister was
speaking to the Queen about
this week's anticorruption sum
mit in London, BBC reported.
"We've got some leaders of
some fantastically corrupt coun
tries coming to Britain... Nigeria
and Afghanistan, possibly the
two most corrupt countries in
the world," he was overheard
saying.
After Cameron's comments,
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin
Welby intervened to say: "But
this particular president is not
corrupt... he's trying very hard,"

before Speaker John Bercow
said: "They are coming at their
own expense, one assumes?"
In response to Cameron's
comments, Nigerian President
Muhammadu Buhari said his
government
was
deeply
"shocked and embarrassed" by
the premier's comments.
Meanwhile, the Afg han
embassy in London said tack
ling corrupt ion was one of
President Ashraf Ghani's top
priorities and "bold" action had
been taken. "We have made
important progress in ghting
systematic capture in major
national procurement contracts
and are making progress on
addressing institutional issues
as we ll as issues re lated to
impunity... Therefore calling
Afg hanistan in that way is
unfair."
22 May14-20, 2016
SPORTS
Independent Manohar elected Will be surprised if

Dhoni continues till
ICC chairman unopposed
Dubai: Former BCCI president
Shashank Manohar was elected
unopposed as the chairman of the
International Cricket Council (ICC).
He is the first to bag the post with
out any board affiliation.
Manohar stepped down as the
head of the Board of Control for
Cricket in India (BCCI).
He will commence his twoyear
term with immediate effect.
"I look forward to working with
all stakeholders to shape the
future of cricket, which has a
proud history and rich tradition,"
Manohar said in a statement after
being elected. "It is an honour to
be elected as the chairman of the
International Cricket Council and
for that I am thankful to all the ICC
directors who have put their faith
and trust in my abilities.
"I also take this opportunity to
thank all my colleagues in the
BCCI who have supported me dur
ing my recent time as the BCCI's
president.
"These are exciting times for
international cricket as we are
presently carrying out a compre
hensive review of the 2014 consti
tutional amendments which is
aimed at not only improving gover
nance structures, but cricket struc
tures as well," Manohar said.
"T he ultimate objective is to
g row our sport and eng age a
2019: Ganguly
Shashank Manohar stepped down as the head of the Board of Control

for Cricket in India (BCCI). (Photo: IANS)
whole new generation of fans and I
look forward to working with all
stakeholders to shape the future of
cricket, which has a proud history
and rich tradition."
Manohar's second stint as the
BCCI boss only lasted for seven
months. He took over following
the death of Jagmohan Dalmiya in
October 2015 and, by virtue of
that position, has held the role of
the ICC chief since then.
He was elected the chairman fol
lowing ICC Full Council's approval
of constitutional amendments pro
posed by the Board following its
April meeting that suggested the
abolition of the post of president.
According to the e lect ion
process, ICC directors were each
allowed to nominate one candi

date, who had to be either a pres
ent or past director. Nominees
with the support of two or more
full member directors would have
been eligible to contest the elec
tion, which was scheduled to have
been concluded by May 23.
Manohar was the sole nominee
for the position and the ICC board
unanimously supported his
appointment.
The election process was over
seen by the independent Audit
Committee chairman Adnan Zaidi.
He declared the process complete,
and Manohar the successful candi
date. Manohar served his first stint
as the BCCI president from 2008
11.
New Delhi: Former India skipper

Sourav Ganguly does not think that
current limited overs captain
Mahendra Singh Dhoni will last till
2019 and feels that it is high time
Indian selectors appoint a new cap
tain to lead the side in the next ICC
World Cup.
Ganguly, who heads the Cricket
Association of Bengal (CAB), further
said that Test skipper Virat Kohli is
the best man to replace the Ranchi
stumper, under whom India won
the ICC World T20 in 2007 and the
50over World Cup in 2011.
"Every cricket team in the world
plans their future. But my question
to the selectors is threefour years
down the line, do they see M.S.
Dhoni as captain of India?," Ganguly
was quoted as saying by 'India
Today' channel.
"Dhoni has been captain for nine
years, which is a long period. Does
he have it in him to go for another
four years? He has already given up
Test cricket and now plays only
ODIs and T20s. So the selectors
need to find an answer to whether
they see Dhoni leading India in
2019? If the answer is no, then find
a new captain. If the answer is yes,
which I will find very very surpris
ing, Dhoni continues," he added.
Former India skipper Sourav

Ganguly. (Photo: IANS)
Hailing the 27yearold's onfield
attitude, Ganguly feels that Kohli is
the best in the world in terms of
consistency. Kohli has already led
India in 17 matches, scoring four
centuries.
"Virat Kohli is getting better every
time. He is probably the best in the
world in terms of consistency. His
mental energy, tenacity is unreal.
His attitude on the field is superb.
His record as Test captain has been
good," the 43yearold said.
"Decision on appointing Kohli as
captain should go in terms of where
MS goes from here? There's no dis
regard to him, he's been one of the
greatest captains of the country,"
Ganguly added.
Pollard, Buttler guide Mumbai Indians to 6wicket win

Bengaluru: Mumbai Indians' mid
dle order batsmen Kieron Pollard
(35) and Jos Buttler (29) guided
the team to a six wicket victory
with eight balls to spare, in the
41st match of Indian Premier
League (IPL) Season Nine match
here at the Chinnaswami
Stadium.
It was Pollard and Buttler who
assuredly played in the crucial
moments, pro ducing regular
boundaries to earn the victory.
Pollard hit a much needed 19
ball35 supported by Buttler's 11
ball29. The former struck two
sixes and three fours while the
latter blasted three sixes and a
four in the winning effort.
The big hitting duo constructed
a partnership of 55 runs in 21
balls, and plugged the fall of
wickets to seal the win.
Earlier, Ambati Rayudu laid the
foundation for the victory with a
47ball44, which also included a
couple of fours and sixes.
Opening the chase for MI, cap
tain Rohit Sharma hit arunaball
24 while his partner Parthiv Patel
managed to score only one run.
After the fall of Patel, Sharma
and Rayudu built a partnership of
Jos Buttler and Kieron Pollard of Mumbai Indians celebrate after win
ning the IPL match against Royal Challengers Bangalore. (Photo: IANS)
58 runs.
Requiring a run rate of 7.6 at
the beginning of the chase, MI
gradually reduced the asking rate

to 75 runs in 44 balls, 55 in 30,
44 in 24 and 16 in 13 balls.
It made the most of 17th over

bowled by Shane Watson to col
lect 18 runs and another 16 runs
in the next over off Chirs Jordan.
Buttler finished the match with
a cracking six of f Aaron in the
19th over.
RCB bowling department pro
duced mixed results for the team,
Stuart Binny 0/2, Sreenath
Aravind 1/23 and Yuzvendra
Chahal 1/16 proved economical
with the ball.
Chahal produced a magnificent
bowling performanceof with an
economy rate of just four. He
continues to be a bowling main
stay for the team.
W hile Chirs Jordan, Shane
Watson and Aaron leaked runs
heavily w ith a economy rate
north of 10 runs.
Earlier, w ith top Royal
Challengers batsmen misfiring,
the team could manage a score of
only 151/4 in 20 overs.
Skipper Virat Kohli (6), Chris
Gayle (4), Shane Watson (15) and
Abraham De Villiers (24) did not
live up to the day and only lone
ranger K.L. Rahul saved the day
for Royal Challengers with a defi
ant 53ball68, remaining unbeat
en.
Losing Kohli and Gayle quickly,
Royal Challengers lost the
momentum to find themselves in
a slow paced oneday internation
al kind of situation.
Even after six overs, RCB man
aged to score only 25/2.
Despite being dropped in the
last IPL match played at
Bengaluru, Gayle is consistently
continuing his 'unit score innings
streak'. He misfired in the fourth
over of f Tim Southee to be
caught on the long on.
T houg h De Villiers looked
promising after the early jolt RCB
received with the loss of quick
wickets, he too fizzled with a low
score but managed to hit a six
and a four.
The same fate awaited Shane
Watson (15). He looked formida
ble with a six and four but was
caught short of the crease in a
runout effected by Rohit Sharma.
It was Rahul who saved the day
for Royal Challengers to put a
somewhat decent total for the
team. Proving to be a vital cog in
the wheel, he played a responsi
ble role, peppering his innings
with four sixes and three fours.
May 14-20, 2016
SPORTS
23
Jwala and I have good chance to

win medal at Rio: Ponnappa
Mumbai: Top Indian shuttler
Ashwini Ponnappa is confident
that she and her women's doubles
partner Jwala Gutta have a strong
chance to clinch a medal at the
forthcoming Olympics at Rio de
Janeiro in Brazil.
Jwala and Ashwini, currently
ranked World No.14 in women's
doubles, have won laurels such as
gold at the 2010 Commonwealth
Games, a historic bronze at the
2011 World Championships and a
silver at the 2014 Commonwealth
Games.
A total of seven Indian shuttlers
have made the cut for the Rio
Games, eclipsing the previous high
of five taking part in the 2012
London Olympics. T he Rio
Olympics will be held from August
521.
"I think we (AshwiniJwala) have
a very good chance to do well and
win a medal at Rio. We both are
working hard and training to get
ready for the Olympics. We are
making sure we prepare ourselves
well for the big challenge ahead
for us. So we need to get ourselves
right on track for the games and I
hope all things fall in place and we
can win a medal there and make
the country proud," Ashwini told
Top Indian shuttler Ashwini Ponnappa with women's doubles

partner Jwala Gutta. (File photo: IANS)
IANS in an interview. The duo will
make their second appearance at
the Olympics, having taken part in
London in 2012, and Ashwini
be lieves that having previous
experience of competing at the
Games will help them perform
even better. "I think having an
Olympic experience is always a
fair advantage when you are going
for the second t ime that we
already know how it is going to be
and everything else," she said.
Ashwini, who has been support
ing and participating in the Indian
edition of Wings for Life World
Run, a global run that takes place

simultaneously across 34 locations
in six continents, expressed satis
faction over the good number of
shuttlers in the Indian contingent.
"It will definitely increase the
chances for clinching as many
medals as possible in Rio. So now
we have even better chance this
time around compared to London
to do well with seven shuttlers par
ticipating," the Bangaloreborn
said.
Leading the women's singles cat
egory for India will be London
Olympics bronze medallist and
Stephen Curry honored with

first unanimous NBA MVP
New York: It was a historic day
as Warriors superstar Stephen
Curry reached a pinnacle when
he was honored with the NBA's
Most Valuable Player (MVP)
award for a second straight sea
son.
Curry, the Warriors' dominat
ing guard who has bent the
boundaries of longdistance
shooting, became the first player
to win an MVP by a unanimous
vote in the 61year history of the
award.
Curry received 131 firstplace
votes from sports writers and
broadcasters, plus one fan vote
in the landslide, media reported
this week.
"I looked at the list of every
bo dy who has won an MVP
before, and they're legends,"
Curry was quoted as saying.
"Guys that their names are
household names, and they jump
off the page. And to be the first
unanimous MVP award winner is
something that I don't even know
how to put into words, he added.
Curry became the 11th player
Warriors superstar Stephen Curry.

to win backtoback MVP awards,
joining Magic Johnson, Michael
Jordan and Steve Nash as the
only guards to have done it.
Curry led the Warriors to a
recordbreaking 739 season and
smashed his own singleseason
record by making 402 3point
ers.
He led the league in scoring,

averaging 30.1 points per game
while also collecting the most
steals.
He shot 50 percent from the
field, 45 percent from 3point
range and a leagueleading 90.8
percent from the free throw line.
He redefined dominance.
World No.8 Saina Nehwal along

side No.10 P.V. Sindhu.
Saina will be representing India
in her third Games while Sindhu
will make her maiden appearance
and Ashwini believes that with
Olympic experience and medal
already in her kitty, Saina will defi
nitely be the best bet to clinch a
medal among the Indians.
Besides the women's singles and
doubles, Kidambi Srikanth has
qualified in the men's singles cate
gory alongside Manu Attri and B.
Sumeeth Reddy, who made the cut
in the men's doubles category.
"I think there is a great chance
this time around, as we have two
women's singles players aiming
for medals. I hope both Saina and
Sindhu will be able to do well and
excel. Saina has already won a
medal at Olympics, so she has that
much more experience and confi
dence going into Rio this time," she
said.
"I think not only Saina, but
Sindhu and others also have a
good chance of winning.They have
been doing really well lately."
Commenting on India's new dou
bles coach Tan Kim, Ashw ini
praised the Malaysian as a good
inclusion.
"He (Kim) has been a doubles

specialist over a long period of
time. He is helping the doubles
pair with his experience. It is
always good, helpful and nice to
have someone experienced in your
team. Having him is making the
training and preparations for the
Olympics much easier."
When asked which women's pair
could be a tough opponent in the
upcoming Games, Ashwini without
any hesitation named the Chinese
and Japanese.
"I think the Chinese and
Japanese would be tough opposi
tions. Everyone will give their best,
but the Chinese and Japanese are
the toughest," she said.
Ashwini also said that top shut
tler Parupalli Kashyap not being
able to recover in time for Rio
qualification due to knee injury
was an unfortunate one.
"I don't think it is just Kashyap,
but we also had other players like
HS Prannoy, Ajay Jayaram who
could have made it to Rio. Both of
them worked hard. But it is unfor
tunate that Kasyap could not make
it to Rio but Prannoy and Ajay,
either of these two, had the capa
bility to make it," Ashwini conclud
ed.
ICC clears Sri Lanka's

Perera of doping charges
Dubai: The International Cricket
Council (ICC) withdrew discipli
nary charges against Sri Lankan
batsman Kusal Perera and lifted
the provisional suspension
imposed on him for doping.
"Perera is, therefore, now free
to return to domestic and inter
national cricket without restric
tion and with immediate effect,"
the ICC said in a statement.
T he ICC made the decision
after the World AntiDoping
Agency (WADA)accredited labo
ratory in Qatar withdrew its
orig inal Adverse Analy t ical
Finding following further inves
tigations.
ICC Chie f Execut ive David
Richardsons said: "We are seek
ing an urgent explanation from
WADA and the laboratory in an
attempt to understand what has
transpired and what will be done
to ensure it does not happen
again.
"No evidence that Perera has
cheated through the use of per
formance enhancing substances.
"We wish to make it clear that
there is no evidence that Perera
has ever used performance

enhancing substances and we
wish him well in his future crick
eting endeavours."
In November 2015, the WADA
accredited laboratory in Qatar
reported to the ICC that urine
samples collected outofcompe
tition from Perera had tested
posit ive
for
19
Norandrostenedione, an anabolic
steroid prohibited under WADAs
prohibited list.
Since then Perera was involved
in a legal fight with the ICC on
the suspension.
The withdrawal is the result of
a sustained challenge from
Perera's leg al team, which
according to the ICC "in a recent
letter" had "suggested for the
first time that the Qatar labora
tory might have misidentified
impurities in the samples".
As part of those ef forts, the
ICC sought further information
from the Qatar laboratory and
granted various extensions of
time to the players legal team to
allow it to carry out additional
analysis and investigation.
24
May 14-20, 2016
BUSINESS
Vijay Mallya can't be deported: Jaitley

New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley
said the UK has turned down India's
request for deportation of liquor baron
Vijay Mallya, but added that he can be
extradited once a chargesheet is filed
against him.
Jaitley, who is Leader of House in Rajya
Sabha, was speaking after Janata Dal
United ( JDU) member Sharad Yadav
raised the issue in the house.
"Government has said we will get him
back. UK has clearly denied it and said
there is no question of sending him back.
This man took so many things from here
and government was sleeping," Yadav
said. Jaitley, in response, said that his
deportation was sought by the investiga

tive agencies, but was turned down by the
UK. "Investigative agencies are probing
the wrongdoings. In course of the investi
gation, since his diplomatic passport has
been canceled, the investigative agencies
sought his deportation," Jaitley informed
the elders.
The minister, clarifying that he is still
collecting information, said: "What I have
got to know so far is that deportation is
not allowed when a person entered on a
valid passport and then the passport is
canceled." "The process is that when a
chargesheet is filed, we seek extradition. It
is another legal process," he said.
SETBACK FOR SENIOR

BACHCHAN IN
KBC TAX CASE
New Delhi: In a set
back to Amitabh
Bachchan,
the
Supreme
Court
uphe ld a plea by
income tax authori
ties challenging the
Bombay High Court
order permitted the
mega star tax relief
in earnings made
from 'Kaun Banega
Crorepati' (KBC).
An apex court
bench comprising
Just ice
Ranjan
Gogoi and Justice
Prafulla C. Pant
said: "We are of the
opinion that the
present is a fit case
for exercise of the
suo motu revisional
powers of the CIT
(Commissioner of
Income Tax) under
Section 263 of the
Amitabh Bachchan. (File photo: IANS)
(Income Tax) Act."
Restoring the income tax order dated December 29,
commissioner's order, the 2006 had not been tested on
bench set aside the August 28, merits, the assessee would be
2007 order of the Income Tax free to do so, if he is so inclined
Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) and and so advised."
T he matter re lates to the
the August 7, 2008 order of the
assessment order passed on
high court.
Disposing of the plea by the March 30, 2004 in respect of
income tax department, the the star's income from the pop
bench said: "However, we have ular quiz show KBC in the fiscal
to add that as the reassessment year 200102.
Jaitley added the UK has done it in the

past as well.
T he British government has turned
down India's request to deport Mallya and
has called for requesting mutual legal
assistance or extradition.
"They have asked the Indian govern
ment to consider requesting mutual legal
assistance or extradit ion," MEA
spokesperson Vikas Swarup said in a
statement.
Mallya was a member of Rajya Sabha
before he sent his resignation last week.
The resignation came as the ethics com
mittee of the upper house had recom
mended that he should be expelled.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. (Photo: IANS)
Call drop penalty waived,

telecom firms relieved
New Delhi: Te lecom operators

under their umbrella association
heaved a sigh of relief with the
Supreme Court striking down the
watchdog's order to compensate
subscribers for call drops, and said
the real issues need to be fixed now.
"We are very pleased with the
Supreme court Verdict. It af firms
what we have been saying all
along," Rajan S. Mathews, director
general of the Cellular Operators'
Association of India, told IANS,
alluding to a host of factors being
responsible for the menace of call
drops.
"Now, let us move forward and fix
the real issues like having more
cell towers, af fordable spectrum
and working with the local authori

ties to get the infrastructure in
place," Rajan said, just ahead of the
next round of auction for airwaves.
In its ruling, the apex court bench
of Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice
Rohinton Fali Nariman struck down
the December 16, 2015 notification
of the Te lecom Regulatory
Authority of India (TRAI) on call
drops, as it set aside a Delhi High
Court judgement that had upheld it
earlier.
Unreasonable, arbitrary and non
transparent were the reasons
assigned by the apex court.
Te lecom operators had been
maintaining that the watchdog's
order was not only populist but also
sought to penalise them to accom

modate the customers, although
there were several reasons for the
same and many not in their hands
entirely.
The watchdog had been arguing
that the penalty was the least inva
sive way to deal with the issue and
told the apex court that the service
providers must enhance their
investments in infrastructure as
they were earning huge revenues.
The watchdog had directed that
the operators credit one rupee to a
mobile users' account for every call
drop starting January 1, 2016
restricting such penalty to three
occurances per subscriber per day.
(IANS)
Indirect tax collections in April

total Rs.64,000 crore
New Delhi: India's indirect tax col
lections for April rose 41 percent
to Rs.64,394 crore mainly on
account of a spike in central
excise realisations, a finance min
istry statement said.
The figure was Rs.45,417 crore
in April 2015. "Central excise col
lections were Rs.28,252 crore
during April 2016, compared with
Rs.16,546 crore in the correspon
ding period the previous year,
thus registering an overall growth
of 70.7 percent," the statement
said. Service tax collections grew
by 27.9 percent to Rs.18,647

crore in April 2016, as against
Rs.14,585 crore in the same
month last fiscal.
Overall growth in revenue col
lections, after discounting for
additional revenue mobilisation,
is 17 percent.
Customs duty collections grew
22 percent to Rs.17,945 crore in
April, as against Rs.14,286 crore
in the same month a year ago.
The indirect taxes collection tar
get for the 201617 fiscal has
been set at Rs. 7,78,000 crore.
Meanwhile, listing the steps

taken to curb black money within
and outside India, the government
on Tuesday said it has uncovered
indirect tax evasion of Rs.50,000
crore and undisclosed income of
Rs.21,000 crore in the last two
years.
"Enhanced enforcement meas
ures have resulted in the
unearthing of tax evasion of
approximately Rs.50,000 crore of
indirect taxes and undisclosed
income of Rs.21,000 crore," the
ministry said.
May 14-20, 2016
BOOKS
25
Gandhis killing was an act of Love Jihad

Describing Mahatma Gandhi as arguably the greatest Hindu of modern times, the author is more
interested in the fuller ramifications of his death than the mere details and circumstances of the
January 30, 1948 assassination. The Father of the Nation died to stop hatred and bloodshed -- that
was his love jihad. Killing him could not eliminate his influence or presence.
By M.R. Narayan Swamy
profoundly moving and grip
ping book, this is an attempt
to understand not only
Mahatma Gandhis life and message
but also the idea of India by inquir
ing into the meaning of his death.
Nathuram Godse may have fired
three bullets into the frail, 79year
old Gandhi, but Makarand
Paranjape holds that the Mahatma
martyred himself. And this foiled the
assassins attempt to make Hindu
majority India a mirror image of just
born Pakistan.
Describing Gandhi as arguably
the greatest Hindu of modern
times, the author is more interested
in the fuller ramifications of his
death than the mere details and cir
cumstances of the January 30, 1948
murder. What did Gandhi die for,
asks Paranjape. What is the signifi
cance of his death?
Godse may have pulled the trigger
and a large number of Hindu nation
alists may have cheered him, but the
author is firm that many more peo
ple, including a sizable section of the
Congress, cannot be totally absolved
of their liability in the crime. And to
the extent that innumerable ordi
nary people approved of or partici
pated in hatred and violence against
The Death and

Afterlife of
Mahatma Gandhi
by Makarand R
Paranjape
Random House India
Pages: 331;
Nathuram Godse (right) shot Father of the Nation

on January 30, 1948 in New Delhi.
fellow countrymen during Indias
partition all of which Gandhi
strongly opposed we were all
complicit in Nathurams crime.
Paranjape is equally insistent that
Gandhi was killed because Hindu
nationalists thought he was the
greatest obstacle to their goal to
bring about a Hindu rashtra and to
militarize Hindus. But the killing
marked a fundamental rupture from
the general Hindu tradition. It was
a radically unHindu act. Gandhi
was not just the Father of the Nation
but a holy man too. Spilling his
blood was highly polluting for
the whole country and its inhabi

tants.
The author goes into great details
to prove that Gandhis critics were
wrong in alleging that he was partial
to Muslims or incapable of facing
the reality of what was happening in
newly created Pakistan. If there is
any Muslim who has gone mad and
who secretly keeps machine guns in
his house, we would punish him. But
no one can touch the Muslims who
are loyal to the country, Gandhi
would say. He repeatedly denounced
the atrocities heaped on innocent
Hindus and Sikhs in Pakistan. He
also urged Muslims to realize and

admit the wrongs perpetrated under
Islamic rule. Gandhi even approved
of the army being sent to Kashmir to
push back the invaders.
The lie that Gandhi favored the
Muslims or wished to appease them
was created and became an excuse
to kill the old man, says Paranjape.
Gandhis final 133 days he spent in
Delhi (after dousing communal
flames in Bihar and Bengal) only
prove that Nathurams defense was
an elaborate tissue of lies, a deliber
ate fabrication of halftruths and
allegations whose sole purpose
seems to be to justify the unjustifi
able. In the end, Gandhis murder
put paid to any ambition the Hindu

Mahasabha and its followers may
have had of using Indian independ
ence as a pretext to turn India into a
Hindu nation. The Mahatmas mar
tyrdom, in the sense, was a mighty
and potent act of love jihad he died
to stop hatred and bloodshed.
The Hindu right, the book says, is
still uncertain and ambivalent about
Gandhis Hinduism. Gandhi never
hid his love for Hindu religion. I
have been imbibing Hindu dharma
right from my childhood. Do you
want to annihilate Hindu dharma by
killing a devout Hindu like me? he
asked. Godse and his coconspira
tors had other ideas. They did what
they thought was right. But as
Paranjape says, killing the Father is
not the same as eliminating his
influence or presence. Mahatma
Gandhi lives on.
TAGORE AND HIS WOMEN CHARACTERS

By Somrita Ghosh
orn in 1861 to Debendranath Tagore
and Sarada Devi, Rabindranath Tagore
started writing at the age of six and
went on to become
the first Indian
and the first Asian
to win the Nobel
Prize for literature
for "Gitanjali".
Known vividly for
his vast collection
of poems, prose,
plays, stories and
novels, Tagore put
women in the fore
front in his works Tagore writing cam
to convey femi paigned for women's
liberation, equality,
nism very strong
freedom, justice,
ly. Being a pro
power and dignity
gressive thinker,
his writings often and rights. A tribute
on his 155th birth
were based on
anniversary (May 8).
bold subjects that
were far ahead of
the time. He strongly believed in fighting for
women's upliftment using his pen as a
weapon. Focusing largely on emancipation,
his writing campaigned for women's libera
tion, equality, freedom, justice, power and

dignity and rights.
Take Charulata of "Nashtanirh", a wife who
remains secluded within the walls of her
house and finds solace in her brotherinlaw.
Amal not just comforts her and bring her out
of boredom but also influences her to write
for newspapers. Charu's confrontation with
her husband about her inclination towards
Amal shows how Tagore put boldness in his
characters.
In "Noukadubi", Hemnalini refuses to
marry her brother's friend after Ramesh, her
love interest, marries another woman.
Another protagonist Kamala in the same
story, when discovering that the person she
is staying with is not her husband, immedi
ately abandons his home and goes searching
for the person she was actually married to.
The female characters are shown strong
enough to stand for their rights.
Tagore took up the deprived life of a
widow Binodini and her sexual emancipa
tion in a love quadrangle tale "Chokher Bali".
A story of distrust, adultery and lies, the
novel also highlights the dictatorship of a
patriarchal society where young girls were
married off to much older men and left to
become widows at an early age that caged
their route to freedom. Tagore brought into
Tagore took up the deprived life of a

widow Binodini and her sexual
emancipation in a love quadrangle tale
"Chokher Bali". Aishwarya Rai played the
lead in the movie version.
the forefront the sexual desires of a woman,
which even today is considered taboo,
reflecting his liberal approach to the topic.
"Shesher Kobita", probably his most lyrical
novel, presents Labanya as a strongwilled,
highlyeducated, freespirited woman who
hails from a middle class family. A woman
with high ethos, Labanya falls in love with
Oxfordreturned Amit. Though their love
blossoms, Tagore, through Labanya, raises
questions about the very institution of mar
riage as the ultimate goal of a love affair.
Tagore travels inside the traditional Indian
concept of an arranged marriage through
the life of Haimanti, the lead protagonist of

the book of the same title.
The story takes on the whimsicality and
hypocrisy of the 19th and 20th century mid
dle class society that restricts Haimanti's
free spirit.
Taking another dig at the patriarchal rules
that probably still persist, "Strir Patra" voic
es the struggle of selfidentification that
Mrinal faces in her life. The story revolves
around a letter sent to a husband by his wife
for the first time in 15 years conveying how
her intelligence became a hindrance to her
livelihood and led to misery, and how writ
ing poetry gave her solace and made her feel
free from the patriarchal bond. Through
Mrinal, Tagore reflected how a woman's life
was meant not to be restricted within the
inner walls of a home.
Not just on paper, but Tagore's stories and
novels have been brought alive a number of
times on celluloid. Satyajit Ray went on to
make a number of movies based on Tagore's
writings. So did Rituparno Ghosh and the
legacy is still being carried on by other
directors. What will be remembered forever
about Tagore is his contribution to literary
society and his attempt to create a world
"where the mind is without fear and the
head is held high".
IANS
26
May 14-20, 2016
HEALTH
Give to mothers what they really need

By Dr Sudha Kashmiri
others have long been
recognized as the best
caregivers. Looking after
parentsinlaw, spouse, kids, and
extended family leaves them with
no time for themselves. Even at
modernday work places women
take on more than what they
ought to. When it comes to their
foo d, we llbeing and health,
women tend to sacrifice more
than anyone else in the family.
A look at advertisements and a
visit to the mall around Mother's
Day (which fell on May 8 this
year) gives the impression that
modernday marketers believe
that all that a mother needs is a
nicely packaged gift on this day.
Having been a practising gyne
cologist and a proud working
mother for decades I have met
over 300,000 mothers and I can
say with some conviction that
what a mother needs is not an
expensive or a gimmicky gift, but
empathy, advice, care and emo
tional support. It's time to give
back for the sacrifices she made
in your growingup years.
So Mother's Day is the best
time to spend the day talking to
them, their unexpressed needs
and their longoverlooked health
issues that are often swept under
the carpet.
What a mother needs is not an expensive or a gimmicky gift, but

empathy, advice, care and emotional support. It's time to give back for
the sacrifices she made in your growingup years. (Courtesy: shutterstock)
T here are plenty of health
issues that most mothers in their
forties and fifties tend to suf fer
from, albeit silently. One of the
most prevalent is Calcium and
Vitamin D deficiencies, leading to
osteoporosis. Stress at home or
work coupled with improper diet
and lack of regular exercise
could sometimes lead to severe
health complications. Hormonal
changes in the middle age can
Salt room therapy beneficial

in asthma treatment: Doctors
s deteriorating air quality
can lead to increase in asth
ma cases, health experts
have suggested salt room therapy
as highly beneficial in the treat
ment of the respiratory illness.
According to them, salt room
therapy has been tested in vari
ous parts of the world. It is com
pletely natural and can provide
symptomatic relief to patients
suffering from respiratory prob
lems.
"Dangerously high level of pol
lution has taken a toll on the res
piratory health of the people. Not
just older people and children,
but youths and apparently
healthy people are also falling
prey to rising pollut ion.
Treatment like Salt Room
Therapy which is a natural form
of treatment can provide sympto
matic relief to the patients," said
Animesh
Ray,
Consultant
Pulmonologist at Fortis Vasant
Kunj. Explaining the therapy, Dr
Ray said that patients are asked
to relax in a room with walls
thickly lined with salt. Light air is
cont inuously blown into the
room, helping the minute salt par
ticles mix in the air which is
breathed by the patient.

According to doctors, the salt
particles after reaching the nose
and the respiratory tract remove
all debris and bacteria. They also
he lp in the abatement of
bronchial inflammat ion and
strengthening of the immune sys
tem that decreases allergic reac
tion to pollen.
Varsa, another city based respi
ratory expert, said the basic sci
ence behind the salt therapy is it
normalizes the passage of air
through the bronchial tubes, lead
ing to widening of the airway pas
sages and restoring the normal
transport of mucus and unclog
ging blockages in the bronchi,
thereby helping control asthmatic
attacks.
Agreed, Anju Chandra, founder
of Salt Room Therapy, and said:
"Salt room therapy is a drugfree
treatment for asthma, chronic
bronchitis, sinusitis, allergic and
skin ailments.
I am hopeful that this initiative
will not just help people with res
piratory and skin conditions but
will offer them an effective drug
free treatment option to fight the
rising pollution all around us."
cause mood swings, insomnia

and depression.
Conditions like anemia are
often mistaken for weakness and
tiredness, hence ignored. Onset
of menopause leads to hot flash
es, palpitations, weight gain, irri
tability and vaginal soreness.
With age, the incidence of breast
or cervical cancer also increases
and a woman needs to watch out
for this.
What can the offspring do for

their mothers?
4See to it that routine health
checkups and yearly tests are
conducted. A halfyearly visit to a
good gynecologist is a great pro
tocol to follow.
4 Frequent tests for Bloo d
Pressure (120/80 normal range),
Cholesterol and Diabetes man
agement (fasting sugar of 70
110 normal range).
4Watch for signs and symp
toms of cancer, especially breast
cancer (lumps in the breasts,
pain or swelling of breasts, nip
ple retraction, nipple discharge).
Routine Mammography and Pap
Smear tests for cancer detection
need to be conducted for early
diagnosis and treatment.
4Ensure that a healthy and
balanced diet is maintained. Diet
must include plenty of salads
be fore meals. T he follow ing
seven foods should be consumed
daily by mothers:
4Nuts: Rich in proteins and
minerals
4Green Tea: Full of antioxi
dants
4Flax Seed: High on fiber and
good fats. Reduces cholesterol
4Yogurt: High on proteins and
probiotic in nature. Cools the
body and keeps one slim
4Oats and leafy greens: High
on fiber and beta glucons
4Kidney Beans: Rich in pro

teins and fiber
4 Apple
Cider
Vinegar:
Regulates glucose levels in the
body.
4Encourage your mother to
exercise regularly. Enrol her for a
yog a class, and pract ise
pranayam. Accompany her for
early morning walks. Take her to
a gym, it is never too late.
Most importantly, give your
mother the emotional support
that she needs. At this time in
life, mothers are emotionally vul
nerable due to the multitude of
changes happening health and
otherwise. It's easier for a daugh
ter to connect with her mother
on an emotional level.
Hence try and be her best
friend. Make time from your
busy schedule, talk to her regu
larly, keep her happy by respect
ing her likes and dislikes.
He lp in the housework and
take the burden of f your mom.
This will release time for her to
pursue a hobby and make her
fee l important and precious.
Mothers are the backbone of a
family and deserve support and
care from the entire family.
(Sudha Kashmiri, a veteran gynae
cologist, is chief medical officer
and board member of Zoctr, a
home healthcare aggregator. She
can be reached @zoctrhealth)
Keep healthy this summer with

easily made smoothies
uffering from dehydration this
summer? Here are some easily
made recipes from nutritionist
Suvidha Raibole of Care24 for
homemade smoothies that will
instantly cool you down and keep
you fresh and healthy.
Smoothie for digestion: Green
Smoothie
T his jadegreen smoothie has
antiinflammatory, stomachsooth
ing foods such as ginger. It also
includes probiotic rich yogurt.
Ingredients
41 cup Cubed honeydew melon
41/2 cup Cucumber, peeled,
seeded, and cubed
41/2 cup Kale
41/2 cup Plain yogurt, prefer
ably organic
41 tsp Fresh ginger, grated
41 tsp Lemon juice
4Dash of ground cloves
We llblended, this alkalizing
smoothie improves your digestion
and boosts nutrient absorption.
Ginger settles the stomach, while
the flax seeds provide omega3s
and fiber.
Smoothie to increase metabolism:
Yummy Tropical Smoothie
This one has so many yummy
These smoothies make sure you stay healthy and happy this Summer.
(Picture courtesy Thinkstock Images)
tropical fruits that you may just
want to enjoy one every day. While
it does help to boost your metabo
lism, it also has Vitamins A and C
and zinc so it helps to boost your
immune system as well.
Ingredients
41/2 cup Cantaloupe, cubed
41/2 cup Mango, cubed
41/4 cup Pumpkin seeds, finely
chopped
41/2 cup Pineapple, cubed
Enough water to thin again, this
is dependent on how thin or thick
you want your drink. Just blend all
of the ingredients together and
enjoy.
Smoothie for healthy hair:

Spinach and berry smoothie
Ingredients
41 cup Baby spinach
41/2 cup Frozen mixed berries
41 tbsp Chia seeds
41/2 Banana, cut into chunks
41/2 cup Unsweetened vanilla
almond milk
435 Ice cubes
Mix all ingredients in a blender
until smooth and frothy.
Berries are a great source of
Vitamin C, which helps the body
absorb iron. Spinach provides folate
and Iron that helps red blood cells
transport oxygen around the body.
Air rage a product of

class difference
Toronto: Apart from the usual jet
lag, the stress associated with air
travel also includes air rage
aggressive behaviour provoked in
a passenger on board an aircraft.
Initially thought as the result of
long flight delays, shrinking seats
and a general decline in civility, a
new research claims that air rage
occurs because of class inequali
ty, that is, the division between
business and economy class in
the aircraft.
"Air rage incidents are more
likely when the plane has a first
class cabin," said lead researcher
Katy DeCelles, associate profes
sor at the University of Toronto
in Canada.
The findings showed that sim
ply having a firstclass compart
ment made an air rage incident
nearly four times more likely,
equivalent to the effect of a nine
hour flight delay.
Also, the odds increase when
economy passengers have to pass
through first class to get to their
seats, reinforcing the inequality.
In addition, the bad behavior
was higher not only for economy
passengers, but for those in first
class too.
Other factors such as crowded
ness, alcohol consumption and
long flights can also contribute to

d i s r u p t i ve
incidents,
the
researchers said, but added that
their impact was smaller than
one might expect.
T he study, published in the
journal of Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences,
has implications for any physical
environment where dif ferences
in class or status are apparent
such as a tiered stadium or a
workplace where lowerleve l
employees have to pass by execu
tive of fices to get to their cubi
cles. Further, it also shows that
Ocean-facing house linked to

relaxed life, better mental health
New York: Wish to
lead a relaxed life with
a seafacing house?
Here's another reason
for you to save for a
beachfacing house as
the sight of water is
linked to less stress
and improved mental
health, researchers
say. The findings revealed that
even after taking into account
residents' wealth, age, sex and
other neighborhood factors, hav
ing a view of the ocean was asso
ciated with improved mental
health.
"Increased views of blue space
are significantly associated with
lower levels of psychological dis
tress," said Amber L. Pearson
from Michigan State University's
water science network in the US.
"However, we did not find that
with green space," Pearson added.
Using various topography data,
the team studied the visibility of
blue and green spaces from resi
dential locations; green spaces
included forests and g rassy
parks. The national survey used
the Kessler Psychological Distress
Scale, or K10, which has proven
to be an accurate predictor of
anxiety and mood disorders.
T hey found a strong link
between health and the visibility
of water, which the researchers
call blue space. Visibility of green
space did not show the same
calming effect.
"It could be because the blue
space was all natural, while the
green space included human
made areas, such as sports fields
and playgrounds, as well as natu
ral areas such as native forests,"
Pearson said.
Designating a proportion of
highrise buildings or af fordable
homes in locations with ocean
views could potentially promote
mental health.
The study is scheduled to be
published in the May issue of the
academic journal Health & Place.
May 14-20, 2016
LIFESTYLE
even temporary experiences of

inequality can have negat ive
effects.
The team used a database of
thousands of documented disrup
tive flight incidents over several
years for a large international
airline.
T he incidents were serious
enough to be considered a threat
to onboard safety, such as pas
sengers refusing to sit down,
yelling obscenities at a flight
attendant or interfering with
smoke sensors so they could
sneak a cigarette.
Daily yoga can

help reduce
multiple sclerosis
symptoms
L o n d o n : Yo g a a l o n g w i t h
aquatic exercises can have a
positive influence on certain
symptoms of multiple sclerosis
(MS) like fatigue, depression
and paresthesia, a significant
study has found.
T he findings showed that
these symptoms significantly
improved after an eightweek
program of yoga and aquatic
exercise. MS is a chronic pro
gressive autoimmune disease
in which the immune system
attacks the nervous t issue,
potentially resulting in move
ment disorders. Other typical
symptoms of MS include physi
cal and mental fatigue as well
as faintness, depression and
paresthesia such as pins and
needles, itchiness and numb
ness. "Exercise training pro
grams should be considered in
the future as possible comple
ments to standard MS treat
ments," the researchers wrote
in a paper published in the
journal Medicine & Science in
ONLINE BULLYING UPS

AGGRESSION IN KIDS
New York: Have you ever been bul
lied in school, college or social
media? A new study shows that the
combined effect of both facetoface
and cyberbullying may increase
the risk of aggressive behavior in
teenagers.
These teenagers were twice as
likely to show aggressive behaviors
themselves like verbal hostility,
physical fighting and damaging
property.
Teenagers who were victims of
both facetoface and cyberbully
ing, representing three percent of
the youth, were more than twice as
likely as those experiencing just
one form of bullying to engage in
aggressive behaviors.
"Victims who had been subjected
to multiple forms of peer aggres
sion were at increasingly greater
risk of showing aggressive behav
iors themselves," said senior author
Andrew Adesman from Cohen
Children's Medical Center of New
York. "These behaviors may involve
retaliatory measures against their
aggressors, acting aggressive in
order to fend of f future bullying
attempts, or worse, learning by
example and engaging in bullying
of previously uninvolved peers,"
27
Adesman added.
The team analyzed adolescents
between ages 10 and 17 on how
they behaved after experiencing
facetoface bullying, cyberbullying
and both.
The results revealed that overall,
43 percent of the teens in the study
reported having been the victim of
facetoface bullying, while seven
percent reported that they experi
enced some form of cyberbullying.
The teenagers who experienced
both forms of victimization, 38 per
cent showed aggressive behavior,
compared with 15 percent of those
who were cyberbullied and 4 per
cent of those were victims of face
toface bullying.
"This phenomenon may lead to a
vicious cycle whereby bullies create
bullies out of those they victimize."
The study was scheduled to be
presented at the ongoing Pediatric
Academic Societies 2016 Meeting
in Baltimore. (News source: IANS)
Sports & Exercise.

T h e t e a m a n a l y s ed 5 4
women with MS with an aver
age age of 34 and were
a s s i g n ed t o o n e o f t h r ee
groups: yoga, aquatic exercise
or no exercise.
Before and after the trial,
patients were asked to com
plete a questionnaire about
their symptoms.
All patients continued with
their existing treatment,
i n c l u d i n g a n y m ed i c a t i o n
taken to regulate the immune
system.
The results revealed that in
comparison to the control
group, fatigue, depression and
paresthesia were significantly
reduced in patients who took
part in a threetimes weekly
training program.
In the nonexercising group,
the likelihood of moderate to
severe depression was 35fold
higher than in the groups who
had done yoga or aquatic exer
cise.
A third of autistic kids

likely to wander away
New York: More than onethird of

US children with autism spectrum
disorders have wandered away
from a safe environment within
the past 12 months, new research
shows. "Elopement, or wandering,
places children with autism spec
trum disorders at risk of serious
injury or even death once they are
away from adult supervision," said
senior invest ig ator Andrew
Adesman, chief of developmental
pediatrics at Cohen Children's
Medical Centre (CCMC) of New
York. Autism spectrum disorder
(ASD) referes to a group of com
plex brain development disorders
characterised by dif ficulties in
social interaction, verbal and non
verbal communication and repeti
tive behaviors.
"Despite its clear relevance to
the safety of these children, there
has been little research on elope
ment," Adesman pointed out.
The researchers examined data
from a Centre for Disease Control
and Prevention survey of parents
and guardians of more than 4,000
children aged six to 17 diagnosed
with ASD, an intellectual disability
or developmental delay. For their
studies, analysis was restricted to
only those children with ASD.
28
May 14-20, 2016
HUMOR
Funny Side by Nury Vittachi
Hate your leader? Start your own enclave
HEN A VISITING Westerner airily

dismissed Asia as a region of nat
ural disasters and incredibly nasty
leaders, I was really upset.
The truth hurts.
***
A similar point was made in the shape of
a request I received from a reader who did
not want his name or address printed:
Dear Mr Columnist Person, nobody likes
our government. Can we form an enclave?
Yes, you can. Enclaves are hot right now.
Many people recommend the quick and
easy Beijing system of territorial expan
sion, where you just build stuff in the sea
and look outraged when anyone complains.
***
But be warned. Enclaves, city states and
territories are often independentish bits of
OTHER peoples countries, so the whole
issue can be VERY touchy.
*
Look at a map and you can see that
Singapore is really just a teensy bit of
Malaysia, but it is not polite to say that.
* Malaysia itself is half in Thailand and
half in Borneo, but you must never say
that, either.
*
Hong Kong is part of China, but the
residents think they are a separate city
state, and no one has the heart to tell them
the truth.
***
This summer, sadly for people who love
micronations, arguably the strangest
enclave on the planet has just disappeared
in a deal between two countries.
Dahala Khagrabari enclave was legally a
piece of India, but it was inside an enclave
of Bangladesh that was itself inside an
enclave of India that was surrounded by
land which was definitely Bangladeshi.
This is not a joke.
Nor was it a joke for residents, who tech
nically crossed numerous borders every
time they took their bullock cart out for a
spin.
CHILD: Are we nearly there, Daddy?
DAD: Were st ill in India, son. No,
Bangladesh. No, India. No Bangladesh.
***
A European colleague tells me that an
odd enclave exists in his region: a splodge
of land inside the Netherlands that is legal
ly part of Belgium.
The boundary runs right through lots of
actual buildings. In the past, legal closing
t ime for bars was earlier in the
Netherlands, so when it got late, drinkers
simply moved to tables on the Belgian side
of the room and ordered another beer, he
said.
***
But back to the reader who wants to start
his own country.
The Beijing system is to grab a bit of land
and then announce that it has belonged to
you since the earth formed from interstel
lar dust.
W hen Beijing used this line in East
Turkestan, the residents complained that
they had lived there for centuries before it
became a newly acquired territory for

China.
Beijing vehemently denied this, but its
argument was severely undermined by the
fact that it renamed the area Xinjiang,
which is Chinese for newly acquired terri
tory. (This is also not a joke, believe it or
not.)
***
Column done: time to vacate my desk or,
as I prefer to call it, my personal enclave.
Laughter is the Best Medicine
BEST
RATE
FOR
INDIA
AND
PAKISTAN
New York Head Quarter
422S Broadway
HICKSVILLE
NY 11801
5168271010
by Mahendra Shah
Mahendra Shah is an architect by education, entrepreneur by profession, artist and
humorist, cartoonist and writer by hobby. He has been recording the plight of the
immigrant Indians for the past many years in his cartoons. Hailing from Gujarat,
he lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
ASTROLOGY
May 14-20, 2016
29
Chandigarh, India: +91-172- 256 2832, 257 2874

Delhi, India: +91-11- 2644 9898, 2648 9899
psharma@premastrologer.com; www.premastrologer.com
By Dr Prem Kumar Sharma
MAY 1420, 2016

ARIES: A long pending decision gets
finalized at professional front. Enjoying a
picnic with family will not only bring joy
but also help in clearing misunderstandings.
Investment in antiques & jewelry brings mone
tary gains and improvement in financial posi
tion. Romantic imagination would keep you in a
jovial & cheerful mood. Good time to divert
attention to spirituality to enhance mental
toughness. Take some time to travel with your
spouse for romance and seduction. Selling your
plot might increase your bank balance. You
combine personal charm with positive & pow
erful thinking to win adversaries.
TAURUS : Plans for new ventures get
streamlined with the help of seniors.
Charming nature and pleasant personal
ity would make you the attraction of family
function this week. Long pending arrears and
dues will finally be recovered. The company of
love partner makes you forget about the work.
A pleasure trip gives the muchneeded tonic to
health. You can make your vacation extra spe
cial by planning it with your family and friends.
Buyers will get attracted to your property as
your property value is good. Dont get surprised
if you are appreciated for helpful nature.
GEMINI: Female colleagues lend a help
ing hand in complet ing important
assignments. Family members appreci
ate the changes made in & around the house.
this week investment concerning residence will
be profitable.
Sudden romantic encounter will lift your spir
its. Cutting down the number of parties and
pleasure jaunts would help in keeping in good
mood. Spiritual vacation is a quest for life, plan
it and enjoy it with your family. If you wish to
achieve a good deal in property then try at
commercial basis.
CANCER: At work you will be a part of

something big, bringing appreciation &
rewards. Friends and family members
would encourage to work harder. Financial has
sles seem to get over as someone lends a timely
helping hand. Attending a social event/family
function brings a romantic encounter. A benefi
cial week to work on things that will improve
your health. Vacation full of beauty and history
as well as exciting is waiting for you. Develop an
attitude to be successful on your property
investment plans. Sticking to beliefs & faith, you
can expect things in your favour.
LEO: You are likely to establish yourself a good
manager on managing people and situa
tion without any problem. You are likely
to hear a good news from close rela
tives. Promising week to invest surplus money
in real estate. Your physical charm would catch
the attraction of opposite sex. Your confidence
and energy will be high this week. Traveling on
your own, with a friend or with the whole fami
ly will be exciting and comfortable too. If you
are looking for a surefine method to earn on
your property, student rental could be exactly
what you need. You are likely to make serious
efforts to bring changes in behaviour.
VIRGO: You will be successful in realising your
targets at professional front. An old
friend makes a pleasant visit later in the
week. A sound financial health would
enable to invest on lucrative schemes. Love life
blossoms paving the way for lovely times
ahead. A week when smile will perpetually be
on your face and strangers will seem familiar.
Travel in comfort with kids to an adventurous
place might be possible. Looking to buy proper
ty, then go for commercial one. Involving your
self in different kind of activities would bring
enjoyment.
LIBRA: With your high confidence you

will be able to cross all hurdles at pro
fessional front. Evening enjoyed with
family and close relatives brings immense
pleasure. Your brilliant ideas would help in
bringing financial gains. A romantic encounter
is likely to add spice to life. Your energy level
will be high. Better to channelise it in a positive
direction. A trip that stimulates and gives
opportunity for work is coming ahead. Good
time to purchase a property. You maintain a
distance from gossip & talking ill about others.
SCORPIO: Timely help of associates will
not only pass difficult times at work but
also help in regaining professional edge.
You are likely to plan a short trip with family. A
promising week to earn profits in real estate
and financial transactions. Romantic partner
would try innovative methods to catch your
attention. Positive outlook impresses those
around you besides keeping you fit & fine. A
luxurious getaway type vacation with your
spouse waiting for you. A good deal for your
new property is ready to be made. Best period
to explore new travel opportunities to take
firsthandexperience.
SAGITTARIUS: A promising week to
start a new venture in partnership. All
are likely to be benefited. Unexpected
visit by old friend could give you a pleasant
surprise.
An improvement in monetary position makes it
convenient to purchase essent ial items.
Initiatives in love bring positive results as you
catch the desired attention. Charity work
undertaken will bring mental peace & comfort.
Thrilling experience is on your way, as your
trip is full of excitement Buying overseas prop
erty will be beneficiary for you. You strive to
mould orthodox thinking to benefit you.
CAPRICORN : Your technical expertise

gives a decisive edge over competitors
at work. Good advice from family mem
bers will help in reducing mental tension/pres
sure. This week longterm investment would
enable to make substantial gains. Your gener
ous attitude would contribute much in your
love life this week. Meditation and selfrealiza
tion prove beneficial. Pack your bags as a
happy, funfilled holiday is looking forward.
You can apply for your home loan. Giving an
ear to what others have to say about your
actions would benefit you.
AQUARIUS: Hard work of the past
brings rich dividends. However contin
ue enhancing your skills/adopt tech
niques for further development. Sudden good
news in the evening will bring cheers for the
entire family. Financial hassles will be eased
out with the help of your friends. Extremely
supportive & loving partner would help in with
ering away your troubles. You will have ample
time to do things to improve your health. An
enriching vacation full of fun is what you need.
Your search for a house is towards its final des
tination. Paying heed to others suggestions
would immensely benefit.
PISCES: Dedication & loyalty at work
would bring desired results. Your
ef forts bring success & happiness at
family front. Certain important plans will be
executed, bringing fresh financial gains.
Romantic vibrations from someone unknown
would lift your spirits taking imaginations to
scaling heights. Sound physical health will
enable to participate in outdoor activities. Time
to make your vacation a dream come true. Your
personal loan plans for property could be in
progress. Turning thoughts towards love and
fun would immensely benefit.
ANNUAL PREDICTIONS: FOR THOSE BORN IN THIS WEEK

14th May, 2016
Ruling planet: Mercury Ruled by no: 5
Traits in you: You are blessed with intelligence and
a very sharp memory. Mercury being your ruling
planet makes you realistic, emotional, honest, help
ful, and diplomatic. You always want to make your
life happening by filling it with lots of joy and
excitement. You are very much interested in explor
ing new places and meeting new people. However,
you need to refrain yourself from getting nervous
as it may be counted as a short coming in your rich
personality. You will be appreciated by your near
and dear ones for showing your emotional side and
helping nature.
Health this year: You will be enjoying a very good
health this year despite lot of stress.
Finance this year: The second half of the year will
be the ideal time to finalize your financial deals as it
would bring you excellent returns. However, you
need not invest in a partnership. You may face loss.
Career this year: You should concentrate on your
goals set for this year and work hard to achieve
them. If you can achieve the goals, you will gain lot
of financial rewards. You may have to face losses
and public embarrassment due to your lack of abili
ty to gather accurate information. It is advised to
concentrate on everything you do.
Romance this year: If you are in a romantic relation
ship, you may decide to get married this year.
Lucky month: December, February and March
15th May, 2016
Ruling planet: Venus Ruled by no: 6
Traits in you: The influence of your ruling planet
Venus makes you adorable, independent, ambitious,
and charismatic. You are a huge believer of love,
peace and harmony. Your attractive personality and
friendly nature allows you to make friendship with
strangers easily. However, you should be more care
ful in your life. Work had to get a control over your
mood swings. It will help you improve as a person.
Health this year: This year will take you to new
heights by of fering you with an excellent health.
You will be enjoying a better health this year as
compared to the previous year in spite of following
a more hectic work schedule and taking lot more
pressure in the first few months of the year.
Finance this year: You may end up spending much
more on your luxury and entertainment. This year
you may purchase valuable assets such as furniture,
television, washing machine and so on.
Career this year: You will be rewarded for your efforts

and people in your professional circuit will recognize
you. You will be able to handle tougher things with
your improved confidence and steady determination.
Romance this year: Casual friendships may turn into
strong romantic relationships this year.
Lucky month: June,September,November, January
16th May, 2016
Ruling planet: Neptune Ruled by no: 7
Traits in you: Being ruled by Neptune, you are the
master of all the positive characteristics. You are
reliable, loving, caring, creative, and very much
emotional. Whatever may be the situation, you
always smile and that makes your nature an attrac
tive one. You can easily make friends. Despite being
very intelligent, you do not have control on your
arrogance and stubbornness. To become an
improved individual, you need to work on your neg
ative characteristics.
Health this year: You will enjoy a sound health this
year. However, sickness of a family member will be
the reason of concern for you.
Finance this year: You need to work hard this year
to get maximum benefits from your previous invest
ments. You will get enough support from your fami
ly members if you suffer losses and they will also
help you take crucial financial decisions. If you
want financial growth, you should visit overseas for
the same. You will get chances to meet popular and
influential individuals during your foreign trips.
Career this year: You will be successfully complet
ing you previous pending projects and works and
this will bring you satisfaction and mental peace.
Romance this year: You will be deeply involved in
the romantic relationship you are currently in. You
may decide to get married this year.
Lucky month: June, August and December
17th May, 2016
Ruling planet: Saturn Ruled by no: 8
Traits in you: You are the master of the characteris
tics such as energy, discipline, and originality. Being
ruled by Saturn, you are trustworthy and hardwork
ing. You are very much orthodox who believes in
ancient customs and values. You have not let western
civilization ruin your beliefs. You are very helpful and
reliable. However, behaving prude and stubborn does
not suit your personality. You need to leave being a
pessimistic and welcome optimism to your life.
Health this year: You need to take extra care of
your health this year as you are expected to fall sick

frequently and that may hamper your work.
Finance this year: Financially you would remain
stable. However, minor sickness of your family
members may make you spend lot of money.
Career this year: You have to enhance your knowl
edge and skills to succeed in your profession. You
need to followup with higher government officials
to get your work done. This may prove to be very
frustrating for you as your work will progress very
slowly. However, your previously created contacts
will come forward to help you in this matter to get
your work done. Some of you may visit abroad for
studies or business later this year.
Romance this year: You may get involved in a new
romantic relationship though it will be for a short
period of time.
Lucky month: August , September, Dec., March
18th May, 2016
Ruling planet: Mars Ruled by no: 9
Traits in you: Mars being your ruling planet blesses
you with intelligence, courage, energy, enthusiasm,
and so on. Your have strong decision making capa
bilities and your decisions always stand correct. You
have strong analytical skills and you are very much
diplomatic to handle any kind of problems in your
personal and professional life. You should control
your temper to improve as a person.
Health this year: You should avoid alcohol and
smoking to remain healthy and physically fit.
Finance this year: You will be hugely benefited from
your past investments as it will earn you unexpected
money. Your legal matters may settle down and you
will be benefited from it. You may receive gifts from
your friends and relatives to hold your confidence
high. You will start your business with a high note.
Career this year: You need to concentrate on your
career this year by putting your maximum efforts.
You may get satisfactory results for your efforts.
Romance this year: You will enjoy a happy personal
life during this year with love and support from
your spouse or partner.
Lucky month: July , August and September
19th May, 2016
Ruling planet: Sun Ruled by no: 1
Traits in you: As you are influenced by the Sun, you
possess the nature to become strong, truthful, reli
able, confident, responsible and creative. You are
devoted to your father as you consider him to be
your friend, mentor and inspiration. Despite of

being a well mannered individual, you are stubborn
and careless. You need to work on your negative
characteristics to improve as a human being.
Health this year: You will find peace of mind if you
follow spirituality.
Finance this year: You may go for transaction of
your properties. You may go for constructing new
house or renovating old one.
Career this year: Association with creative individu
als will help you gain a lot of knowledge, money
appreciation, and recognition. This year your per
formance will be exceptional and you can easily
impress your seniors and higher management. You
will be able to showcase your responsibility taking
capacity in your profession and that will allow you
grow and reach new heights.
Romance this year: Your romantic life would be
extra ordinary this year. You will not find your
spouse to be supportive enough. You may suffer a
lot in your personal life as well.
Lucky month: June , September and October
20th May, 2016
Ruling planet: Moon Ruled by no: 2
Traits in you: Under the influence of your ruling
planet, you have obtained characteristics such as
creativity, emotions, honesty, simplicity and generos
ity. You are very good at understanding critical situ
ations and act according to the demand of the criti
cality of the situation. You are also an eternal learner
as you believe learning is a never ending process
and ever helpful. Though you have an attractive and
pleasing personality, you also have shortcomings as
a human being. You should not show your mood
swings as that creates a negative impression.
Health this year: As far as your health is concerned,
it will be sound. However, your parent's health may
degrade and make you a bit worried.
Finance this year: You may plan frequent business
trips this year and all your trips will be successful
as they will earn you a lot of money and business.
Career this year: You will be confident enough to
fight any adverse situation or take any challenge in
your life this year. If you are looking for a job
change, the middle months of the year will be ideal
to do so as you may receive exceptional job offers.
Romance this year: You will enjoy an exceptionally
good time with your partner. You may plan for mar
riage this year as well.
Lucky month: July , October , November and April
30
May 14-20, 2016
SPIRITUAL AWARENESS
Healing the body through meditation
By Sant Rajinder Singh

Ji Maharaj
octors and scientists have
been studying the body
mind connect ion and its
relationship to physical health.
Medical researchers have linked
certain illnesses to our state of
mind and to our emotional condi
tion. They have found that when
we undergo mental stress or emo
tional pain or depression, our
physical resistance to disease
drops. We become more suscepti
ble to contract ing a disease
because our ability to keep our
immune system in top working
order decreases.
Science has pinpointed certain
diseases such as digestive prob
lems, breathing problems, heart
disease, and migraine headaches,
to name a few, that are sometimes
stressrelated.
Meditation can help us in several
ways. First, it can lessen our stress,
and in turn, reduce our chances of
developing a stressrelated illness.
In this hectic world, our mind is

often agitated by stress and pres
sures. Life has become so compli
cated that people seem to have too
much to do and not enough time to
do it. Some people hold jobs that
require long hours and too much
responsibility. Other people work
two jobs and raise a family. Too
much pressure often causes people
to seem to snapthey become irri
table, of fbalance, and stressed
out. They begin to act in ways that
are not themselves. Sometimes
they take out their frustrations on
their loved ones and hurt those
they should love the most.
Meditation is a way to eliminate
the lack of balance caused by the
mental stresses of life. By spending
time in meditation, we create a
calm haven in which we restore
equilibrium and peace to our men
tal functioning. Researchers have
to stressrelated ailments.
Second, meditation can lift our
attention to a higher level of con
sciousness so that we do not feel
the pinching effects of any illness
we do develop. Through medita
tion, we come in contact with a
stream of bliss and joy within that
takes our attention away from the
pains of the world. Through mas
tery of meditat ion, we have a
refuge of bliss and peace within,
safe from the ravages of physical
pain.
Although at times we may get
sick because we break natural
laws, meditation can help us rise
above the discomfort and find sol
ace and peace above the con
sciousness of bodily pain. We have
only to look at neardeath experi
ences to see how people who
undergo excruciatingly painful
accidents were lifted above their
Recent medical studies

are drawing a correla
tion between patients
who pray and meditate
before and after surgery
and those who do not.
Early studies find that
patients heal and recov
er more quickly from
surgery when they pray
or meditate before sur
gery or after surgery.
By Sant Rajinder Singh

Ji Maharaj
recorded that the brain activity in

people who meditate reflects a
state of deep relaxation. Their
mind becomes calmer. Meditation
also calms the body. If we could
spend some time each day in medi
tation, we would find our stress
levels would be reduced and our
health would reach a more opti
mum level.
Besides reducing stress during
meditation, there is a carryover
ef fect. We can maintain more
peace of mind as we continue our
activities throughout the day. As
we perfect our meditations, we can
maintain that calm state of mind
even in the midst of turmoil and
strife. We would be more in control
of our reactions and would main
tain an even keel in the face of
other people's conflicts. Reducing
our stress throughout the day can
reduce the risk of becoming victim
rue friends are those who stand by you

always. They will sacrifice themselves
for you, and are people on whom you
can always rely. True friends listen to your
problems and share your burdens. Truly, if
we have even one real friend in life, we are
lucky. If we think about our childhood
friends, how many are still with us now?
Have we parted ways already? Perhaps they
have moved away, or we have lost contact
with them. Let us consider our close friends
today. Can we imagine that they, too, will one
day be parted from us just as those friends
from our childhood are gone?
Even if we have one close friend, or even a
few, they can only be with us up to our last
breath, or their last breath. They can only
remain with us in this life and cannot help us
in the moment of our greatest needthe
time of death.
In this connection, there is an interesting
story from the Hindu scriptures. There was a
learned pundit who was the personal minis
ter of King Prikshat. Each day the minister
would read out the scriptures to the king.
The particular scripture said that whoever
hears the scriptures will receive spiritual lib
eration and enlightenment. Month after
month, the king listened to the scriptures
read by the minister. However, he did not
attain liberation.
pain when they temporarily left

their body. They could see their
body with injuries and trauma
lying below them, but they no
longer experienced any physical
pain until they returned to the
body. This is one analogous situa
tion to give us an idea of the power
of protection from pain afforded to
us when we perfect our medita
tions.
Recent medical studies are
drawing a correlation between
patients who pray and meditate
before and after surgery and those
who do not. Early studies find that
patients heal and recover more
quickly from surgery when they
pray or meditate before surgery or
after surgery.
Spending regular, accurate time
in meditation has been shown to
reduce stress. Many medical cen
ters and hospitals offer classes in
meditation as a way to reduce
stress and eliminate certain illness
es. Many people have requested to
learn our introductory meditation,
called Jyoti meditation, taught at
our Science of Spirituality centers
throughout the world as a way to
reduce stress.
As you continue to meditate, you
will experience the inner peace
and bliss. As you do this, you
will experience a reduction in
stress. Meditation is an ef fective
means to help us reduce stress and
increase a sense of calm and peace,
which can he lp us heal our
physical body.
FINDING A TRUE FRIEND

One day, the king sat down and thought,
Here I amlistening to these scriptures
every day, and I am not yet spiritually liber
ated. The scriptures say that whoever listens
to these holy writings will receive salvation
once and for all, but I have not.
Therefore, the king called the minister and
said, Look here. I have heard these scrip
tures so many times and have not attained
liberation. I will give you one more chance to
read these scriptures to me from end to end.
If I am not liberated after that, you will be
put to death. Trembling in his shoes, the
minister began the task of rereading the
scriptures to the king. By the sixth day he
was nearing the end of the scriptures, and
the king was not satisfied. Fearing that on
the seventh day he would be put to death,
the minister sat down in his home and start
ed to cry.
Why are you so sad? asked his daughter
when she saw him.
The ministered explained the situation to
her, The scriptures say that whoever reads
them will be liberated. However, I know that
the king is not liberated, nor am I liberated.
Therefore, tomorrow, I will be put to death.
The daughter was wise and had an idea.
Do not worry, she said. Tomorrow I will
speak to the king. On the following day, the
ministers daughter asked for an audience
with the king.

Why have you come? he questioned her.
She told him, I have come to reply to the
question that you have asked of my father.
But to do this, you and I must go together to
the wilderness. The king was perplexed, but
agreed to go along with her plan. The girl
then sent for her father. She brought along
two ropes and when they reached the wilder
ness she tied the king to one tree and her
father to another tree. Both were then bound,
hand and foot. The king was wondering what
all this meant when the girl asked, Father,
can you kindly unbind the king over there?
The minister replied, I am already bound!
How can I free him?
The girl asked, Your Majesty, will you
kindly unbind my father?
The king replied, Foolish girl, dont you
see that I am bound? How can a bound man
unbind another?
That is all she wanted to hear and said,
Then how can you expect my father, who is
not free himself, to liberate you spiritually?
The king himself had answered the dilemma
in which he had placed the minister. With
that understanding, the king spared the life
of the minister.
At the time of death, we all depart by our
selves. No friends of this world can help us.
They can sit by our bedside and hold our
hand, but they can neither protect us from

death nor accompany us. Knowing this, we
still put our reliance on people of this world.
Looking back at the friendships we have
had in our lives, how many of them led us
closer to God, and how many of them have
taken us away from God? What kind of
friend should we look for then? To be truly
awakened spiritually, we should seek the
friendship of the Lord.
We have only a set number of breaths to
reunite our soul with God. Let us do every
thing possible to attain that goal. The best
way to reach the Lord is through meditation,
sweet remembrance, and selfless service.
These activities safeguard us from being
pulled away by distractions of the world. If
we do these things, then we will be ready at
the time of our death. Having mastered the
art of rising above bodyconsciousness (by
meditating daily on the inner Light and
Sound of God) , we will know what awaits us
in the Beyond. Befriending God makes our
spirit soar. Waves of divine love make our
soul rise to the eyefocus where we see
tremendous Light. Is there any love or
friendship of the world that can bring us to
the eyefocus and make us rise above physi
cal bodyconsciousness? Only the love of the
Lord can make us wide awakenot only in
this world, but wide awake into the Beyond.
May 14-20, 2016

Vol-9-Issue-3 May 14 May 20, 2016

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The South Asian Times

Vol.9 No. 3 May 14-20, 2016 80 Cents

New York Edition

China, Pak nexus to block

Washington: China and Pakistan

request would be rejected, it

Dr Ajay Lodha & Dr Rekha Bhandari

The two accomplished New York doctors received the prestigious

New York: Eminent physician and

Presumptive GOP nominee for President

Ryan, speaking with reporters

May 14-20, 2016

May 14-20, 2016

Congress in power can solve problems of Punjab and of NRIs

Punjab Congress chief Capt

farmers, he said, are in such dire

ExSenate leader Dean Skelos

"The nearly simultaneous convic

his powerful position to secure more

Discussing with many attendees

development under the previous

US federal judge rules

tration may not spend billions of

May 14-20, 2016

Chairman and Co-Founder

Co-Founder: Saroosh Gull

Contributing Editors: Meenakshi Iyer,

President: Arjit Mehta

tion to tax policy and were impressed at

China, Pak nexus to block India's

Dr Raj Bhayani to receive Atal

Jaipur (India) Bureau

IANS Washington Bureau

Photographs: Gunjesh Desai/

Printing: Five Star Printing, NY

Photo Journalist: Sandeep Girhotra

Chief Operating Officer:

West Coast Correspondent

Art and Design: Vladimir Tomovski

Managing Editor: Parveen Chopra

New Delhi Bureau

Web Editor: B.B.Chopra

Raj Shah to lead Defense

May 14-20, 2016

Bharat Jayakumar wins first

invited to the finals. Cash prizes of

Rajat Gupta not giving up legal

Guests at the event (right) Presentation by a member of Tagore Society

NY Consulate celebrates 155th Birth

af fection people have for him

New York: Indiaborn former

lawyers have cited the ruling that

May 14-20, 2016

India Center hosts Ninth Annual

Mallakhamb items presented by the Mallakhamb Federation USA

trained in Indian classical music and

UCLA study endorses yoga to

However, those companies either did

I earned Social Security

of Health, yoga may help one to feel

Call 311 for more info

India, US hold talks on

spond with the categories of

Neera Tanden leads Clinton campaign