The South Asian Times

e x c e l l e n c e

Vol.9 No. 31 Nov 26-Dec 2, 2016 80 Cents

i n

j o u r n a l i s m

New York Edition

Trump hiring picks up pace

Internal rift over Romney or Giuliani for Secretary of State
Washington: Presidente lect
Donald Trump has begun assem
bling his administration giving
the country first indication of how
he will govern from the White
House.
His declared intended nominees
include Alabama Senator Je f f
Sessions for attorney general,
Kansas Rep. Mike Pompeo for CIA
director, South Carolina Gov. Nikki
Haley for ambassador to the UN,
and Republican donor and school
choice activist Betsy DeVos for
education secretary.
Trump has also named retired Lt.
Gen. Mike Flynn his national secu
rity adviser in the White House, a
position that doesn't need Senate
confirmation.
There are also leading con
tenders for other roles, including

Transition team reportedly may seek Mitt

Romney to publicly apologize for his
strong criticism of Donald Trump.
billionaire investor Wilbur Ross for
commerce secretary, retired Gen.
James Mattis for defense secretary
and retired neurosurgeon Ben
Carson to lead Housing and Urban

Record sales posted

for Black Friday
Online sales account
for $3 billion, $1 billion
from mobile apps
New York: Shoppers lined up at stores
and flocked to their computer screens in
search of bargains
on Black Friday,
putting the retail
industry on track
for what it hopes
will become a record sales weekend.
Shoppers appeared ready to open their
wallets, buoyed by a generally strong
economy and rising stock market. And
major store chains did their part, offering
dramatic discounts on their trafficbuild
ing "doorbuster" opening specials.
As a result, shopping center operator
JLL says 73% of the 15 of its malls sur
veyed were reporting sales that were
equal to or better than last year. And
online sales looked even more vigorous.
Black Friday sales Continued on page 4

Concern about Rudy

Giuliani is that he may not
get Senate clearance
because of his foreign
business ties.

Development. Trump is said to be

weighing Rudy Giuliani or Mitt
Romney for secretary of state,
which is causing dissent within his

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PM Modi defends
DEMONETIZATION
as backlash
mounts
8

Manmohan Singh argues Indias GDP

growth will reduce by 2%

However, rating agencies predict

longer-term benefits to India

Continued on page 4

Nikki Haley to be
US envoy to UN
New York: Presidentelect Donald
Trump announced on Wednesday
that he w ill appoint South
Carolinas Indian American
Governor Nikki Haley to be the
United States ambassador to the
United Nations, a cabinetrank
position, marking a historic break
through for Indian Americans in
politics. Announcing the appoint
ment, Trump said, "She will be a
great leader representing us on
the world Continued on page 4

A bank employee applying ink to a customer on exchange of

500 and 1000 rupee currency notes.
South Carolina Governor
Nikki Haley will hold
cabinet rank position

Cuba strongman Fidel

Castro dies at 90
Havana: Cuba's former leader Fidel
Castro has died at the age 90, accord
ing to Cuban state television. T he
death of Fidel Castro was announced
by his brother and current leader Raul
Castro Friday evening. Fidel Castro,
was a politician and revolutionary who

Continued on page 4

New Delhi: Indias prime minister,

Narendra Modi, has lashed out at
critics of his ban on highvalue
currency notes, saying they are
frustrated at being caught out with
illicit cash themselves.
Those criticizing demonetiza
tion dont have a problem with the
governments preparedness, he
said at a function here on Friday.
They have a problem because
they didnt get time to prepare.
New Delhi tightened its curbs by
ending overthecounter of
exchange of the banned Rs 500

and Rs1,000 notes at banks,

despite earlier assurances from
the Reserve Bank of India that
small sums of the now invalid cur
rency could be swapped in this
way until the end of the year. The
cancelled banknotes can still be
deposited directly into bank
accounts, exchanged at the RBI, or
used to pay back taxes or other
services from staterun entities,
such as petrol pumps and public
hospitals. Mr Modi faces a grow
ing backlash against his overnight

Continued on page 4

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Nov 26-Dec 2, 2016

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Nov 26-Dec 2, 2016

TRISTATE COMMUNITY

Ranju & Ravi Batra testify in favor of

Diwali holiday in city schools
By SATimes Team
New York: The Committee on Education of
City Council met on November 22 under
Committee Chair Daniel Dromm to discuss
the agenda of establishing Diwali as an
official holiday for NYC public school stu
dents..
Ranju Batra, Chair Diwali Stamp Project
who has led the campaign prompting USPS
to release the Diwali stamp last month, tes
tified at the meeting making a case for
Diwali holiday in schools. Eminent attorney
Ravi Batra, Chair of National Advisory
Council for South Asian Affairs who sup
ported Ranjus stamp campaign, also testi
fied.
Ranju Batra congratulated the Education
Committee and Chairman Dromm for tak
ing up Res. No 568 in the finest tradition of
American Values so that Hindu, Sikh, Jain
and Buddhist school kids no longer have to
choose: whether to go to school and ignore
their faith, or stay at home to observe their
faith and miss school. She called it an
improper and unfair choice forced upon
our families.
Ranju argued, While my kids were in
school, we ce le brated Christmas,
Hanukkah, Kawanza and Eid. But there was

Ranju and Ravi Batra who had spearheaded

the successful Diwali stamp project are now
pressing for Diwali as school holiday.
no school holiday for Diwali. So, I sent my
kids to school at the cost of celebrating our
most important religious holiday. This is
wrong, even if another family made the
opposite choice. Having to choose between
learning and religion is an unfair and harm
ful choice, as other faiths most important

holidays are observed in school. She also

told the committee that we had personally
supported the NYC Diwali Parking Holiday
led by then Transportation Chairman John
Liu and then Finance Chairman David
Weprin.
And, of course, Ranju recounted her jour
ney since 2010 to secure the release of the
Diwali Stamp by USPS last month with
part icular he lp from many
Congress members. She
noted that Diwali
Stamp is now the #1
Bestseller in USPS his
tory.
Ranju then pointed
that Res. No. 568 under
states the affected popula
tion in the US there are
over 3 million IndianAmericans and close
to 500,000 Asian Indians, and many, many
more from the Caribbean countries.
Ravi Batra in his testimony argued that
the choice forced upon families to send
kids to school for more education rather
than stay at home and learn their faith is
both illegal as it is unconstitutional.
Ravi held Mayor Bill de Blasio account
able for NOT having a Diwali School
Holiday in BOE schools. To argue that the

BOE posit ion is unconst itut ional, he

explained: The Constitution has two com
peting clauses: Equal Protection of the Law
and Separation of Church & State. New
York City has two options mandated by our
cherished Constitution, either: i) Honor
Equal Protection Clause and
acknow ledge the Diwali
School Holiday w ith all
speed, or ii) Eliminate all
school religious holidays
per the mandate of
Separation of Church &
State.
But he continued, Since
In God We Trust, and we love
our Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza and
Eid, the better option is to honor the Equal
Protection Clause, rather than face harsh
mandate of the Separation of Church &
State. Ravi Batra concluded by urging the
committee to pass a Bill, with support of
the Speaker, and in the event of a mayoral
veto, override the Veto, as this Council did
for the Diwali Parking law. It is beneath the
BOE and a New York City Mayor to play
politics with our Constitution and force
upon our families an unconstitutional
Hobsons Choice: Ignore School or Ignore
Religion.

Greens seeking recounts in key US states Rubin Museum

Washington: Presidential hopeful
Jill Stein's fundraising push to pay
for recounts in three rustbe lt
states that were crucial to Donald
Trump's surprise victory over
Hillary Clinton in the November 8
election has already exceeded its
original target, the Green Party said
on Friday.
After initially asking for $2.5 mil
lion, the recount ef fort has so far
collected more than $4 million, EFE
news agency quoted Stein's cam
paign website as saying.
The money on hand is sufficient
to pay the $1.1 million needed to
request a recount in Wisconsin and
the campaign plans to submit a for
mal application on Friday, the last
day to ask for a review in that state.
Stein also wants recounts in
Michigan where Trump leads
Clinton by some 10,000 votes as
the tabulation continues and
Pennsylvania.
To cover the entire cost of filing
fees, attorneys and observers, the
Greens have set a new fundraising

Green Party
candidate Jill
Stein who
received about
1% of the popular
vote has denied
that she is trying
to overturn the
election result in
Hillarys favor.

target of $7 million.
Winning Pennsylvania and
Wisconsin assured the Republican
of exceeding the 270 electoral
votes needed to secure the presi
dency, even though Clinton won
the nationwide popular vote by a
margin of more than 2 million,
according to the latest figures.
Stein, who received a little more
than 1 per cent of the popular vote,
denies that she is trying to overturn
the election in favor of Democratic

candidate Clinton.
Pointing to what she described as
evidence of "anomalies" in the vot
ing in Michigan, Wisconsin and
Pennsylvania, Stein said that wor
ries over whether the e lection
results are reliable "need to be
investigated before the 2016 presi
dential election is certified".
All three of those states voted for
Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012.
Clinton's camp has remained
silent on the recount initiative.

installing
OM Lab in city
New York: The Rubin Museum
of Art (RMA) in New York is
turning its sixth oor on
February 3 into OM Lab, a
participatory space where visi
tors can step into a recording
booth and offer their chant of
the Sanskrit mantra OM.
Thus collected recordings
will be remixed by acoustic
consultants and featured in the
RMAs upcoming exhibition
The World Is Sound, opening
June 16.
In OM Lab, visitors w ill
learn about the lasting impor
tance of this sacred syllable,
and then become a part of its
history by offering their voices
to the collect ive chant, a
release says. It will include a
stateoftheart recording

booth.
After the OM Lab closes on
May 8, the recorded voices will
be joined together to form a
single chant and played back
to visitors in the upcoming
exhibit ion, T he World Is
Sound. RMA will also host sev
eral events and programs in
the OM Lab, including a two
day OMIn on February 24
and 25 with music, perform
ances, artmaking, meditation,
etc. Commending RMA for
Om fo cused installat ion,
Hindu statesman Rajan Zed
said that Om was the mysti
cal and powerful Sanskrit seed
syllable containing the uni
verse, which in Hinduism was
used to introduce and con
clude religious work.

Nov 26-Dec 2, 2016

TURN PAGE

Modi says will stop

water flow to Pak
New Delhi: Marking a toughening of stance, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said he was
determined to stop the flow of river water "on
which India has its right" into Pakistan and supply
it instead to farmers in Punjab and Jammu and
Kashmir.
Directly taking on Islamabad on the issue of river
water sharing and tension along the border, Modi
said he is determined to tackle the issues.
"The water on which India has its right is flowing
into Pakistan. I am determined to stop that water
and supply it to our farmers in Punjab, Jammu and
Kashmir and the rest of India," he said at a public
rally near Bathinda town after laying the founda
tion stone of an All India Institute of Medical
Sciences (AIIMS) there. Expressing his surprise
that the watersharing issue had not been
addressed by previous Indian governments, Modi
said: "The governments in Delhi were sleeping in
the past. Our farmers kept crying and the water
kept going to Pakistan. We will fight for the rights
of our farmers. "The Indus water treaty, Sutlej,
Beas, Ravi the water of all three rivers, over which
our farmers have their right, is not available to
them. The water of these rivers is the right of India
and our farmers. This water is flowing through
Pakistan and into the sea. Neither Pakistan uses it
nor can our farmers use it. "I am moving ahead
with conviction on this and have set up a task
force on Indus Water Treaty," he said.

Senior journalist Dileep

Padgaonkar passes away
New Delhi: Senior journalist Dileep Padgaonkar
passed away on Friday in
Pune at the age of 72. He
was a former editor of The
Times of India. He began his
career in journalism at the
age of 24 and joined Times
of India as its Paris corre
spondent after receiving a doctorate in humani
ties from the Sorbonne in 1968.
He served as its editor for six years from
1988. From 1978 to 1986, he worked with
UNESCO in Bangkok and Paris. Recently he was
among the Kashmir interlocutors appointed by
the UPA. Demise of the renowned journalist was
mourned by many on Twitter.

PM Modi defends DEMONETIZATION

as backlash mounts
Continued from page 1
scrapping of 86 per cent of Indias cash
supply, as economists begin to try to count
the costs of an experiment with few prece
dents internationally and for which
India, and its central bank, have been inad
equately prepared.
Economists say the duration of the slow
down triggered by the abrupt withdrawal of
most of Indias cash will depend on how
fast it can be replaced. But the dispensation
of new notes has moved slowly, hindered
by technical and logistical constraints. For
now, Indians are being subjected to a form
of currency rationing, with strict limits on
how much cash they withdraw from their
bank accounts.
Speaking in parliament this week, former
prime minister Manmohan Singh, the mild
mannered economist who designed Indias
1991 economic liberalization, slammed Mr
Modis administration for its monumental
mismanagement of the demonetisation
process.
Mr Singh estimated the current liquidity
squeeze will reduce Indias GDP growth
rate by 2 per cent, with agricultural pro
duction, small industries and the vast, cash
driven informal sector, which employs mil
lions of youth, hardest hit. Businesses are
quietly warning of potential job losses in
labourintensive manufacturing industries
as well.
Those who say that this measure will do
harm or cause distress in the short term
but be in the interests of the country in the
long run should be reminded of what John
Keynes said once. In the long run, all of us
are dead, Mr Singh told parliament.
Both Moodys and Fitch, the rating agen
cies, say that the demonetization will
depress Indias economy for several
months, though the magnitude and dura
tion of the slowdown was dif ficult to
quantify. The impact on GDP growth is
clearly going to be negative in the short run
and depends to a large extent on how long
the cash crunch is going to take, said
Thomas Rookmaaker, a director in Fitchs
AsiaPacific sovereign ratings group. But
the rating agencies also say the dramatic
exercise could bring longerterm benefits to
India, boosting bank deposits, and pushing

more businesses into the formal sector,

bringing them into the tax net. The govern
ment is also under fire for repeatedly
changing the rules governing the now
banned Rs500 and Rs1,000 notes, as it
tries to close loopholes that it believes
could be exploited by those seeking to laun
der illicit money, while responding to the
needs of lawabiding people.
Courtesy: Financial Times

Trump hiring picks up pace

Continued from page 1
own ranks. Romney remains popular with
Republicans and both Trump and Romney
spoke positively of a meeting the two had
over the weekend. But other Trump sup
porters like Gingrich and former Arkansas
Gov. Mike Huckabee have spoken out
against Romney as a possible selection. A
lack of foreign policy experience is a criti
cism of both Romney and Giuliani as candi
dates for the post. Giulianis foreign ties
are a concern.
On Romney, there were reportedly internal
talks in the transition team about possibly
making Romney publicly apologize for the
strong criticisms he lodged against Trump
during the presidential race.

Record sales posted for

Black Friday
Continued from page 1
online are expected to surpass $3 billion
for the first time ever, Adobe Digital
Insights said, hitting $3.05 billion in
online revenue, up 11.3% over last year.
With Thanksgiving Day sales added in,
consumer online spending is expected to
approach $5 Billion, an 11.4% increase
over 2015, Adobe said.
Sales generated from smartphones and
other mobile devices alone will top $1 bil
lion for the first time, Adobe said. Walmart
and Target said 60% of their online orders
came from mobile.

Nikki Haley to be US
envoy to UN
Continued from page 1
stage." Haley is thus the first woman and
nonwhite appointed to a highlevel post in
Trump's incoming administration.
"Governor Haley has a proven track
record of bringing people together regard

Jaipur (India) Bureau

Prakash Bhandari
Prakash@TheSouthAsianTimes.info
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,
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President: Arjit Mehta

TheSouthAsianTimes.info
less of background or party affiliation to
move critical policies forward for the bet
terment of her state and our country,"
Trump added. "She is also a proven deal
maker, and we look to be making plenty of
deals." Accepting the position, Haley said,
"Our country faces enormous challenges
here at home and internationally, and I am
honored that the Presidentelect has asked
me to join his team and serve the country
we love as the next Ambassador to the
United Nations."
Born Nimrata Randhwa, Haley is the
daug hter of Sikh immig rants from
Amritsar. Her appointment capping the
e lection of five Indian Americans to
Congress this year has been welcomed by
the community as a sign of its political
emergence.
Shalabh Kumar, the founder of the
Republican Hindu Coalition, described
South Carolina governor's appointment as
the "Third Diwali" after the festival itself
and Trump's election.
Shekhar Narasimhan, Democratic Party
activist and fundraiser, said, Her appoint
ment shows that we have made it as a
community. We dont have to agree on
everything, on policy, but we can celebrate
the fact that we now have a place at the
most important table in Washington: the
cabinet. One of the pioneers of nonparti
san community act ivism, T homas
Abraham of GOPIO said:
It is a historic moment for the Indian
American community that one of its own
has been appointed to a toplevel position.
As a dealmaker, she will do very well to
negotiate terms with UN membercoun
tries.
The first Hindu elected to Congress,
Tulsi Gabbard, a Democrat from Hawaii, is
also under consideration for a job in the
Trump administration.

Cuba strongman Fidel Castro

dies at 90
Continued from page 1
governed Cuba as Prime Minister from
1959 to 1976 and then as President from
1976 to 2008. Under his administration
Cuba became a oneparty socialist state,
industry and business were nationalized.
Under him, CubaUS relations remained
broken for five decades.

IANS Newswire Services

IANS Washington Bureau
Arun Kumar
arun.kumar@ians,in

Photographs: Gunjesh Desai/

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TRISTATE COMMUNITY

Nov 26-Dec 2, 2016

Indian-Americans hail Nikki Haley's nomination as US envoy to UN

Washington, DC:
Indian
Americans have hailed the nomi
nation of Nikki Haley as the US
envoy to the UN, say ing this
would further strengthen IndoUS
ties under the incoming Trump
administration.
If confirmed, Haley, 44, would
be the first ever Cabinetlevel offi
cial to ever serve in any US presi
dential administration.
This would not only bring the
IndianAmerican community clos
er to the Republican party, but
further strengthen IndiaUS rela
tionship, said Sampat Shivangi, a
Republican leader, who holds the
distinction of attending the last

four
Republican
Nat ional
Convention.
"This is a masterstroke. Now
India has a friend at the highest
world body. May be in securing
India's rightful place at the UN
Security Council and other impor
tant matters. One thing to admire
about Haley she has not forgotten
her roots or heritage," Shivangi
said. Haley is a great choice for
the UN Ambassador post, said M
Rangaswami, a Silicon Valley
based IndianAmerican entrepre
neur. "She has had prior experi
ence in South Carolina with for
eign companies and governments.
Nikki has been to India and has a

good re lationship with Prime

Minister Narendra Modi," he said.
"The IndianAmerican communi
ty is excited that we now have
someone at the cabinet level in
the US government for the very
first time!" he added.
"It's a proud moment for all
IndianAmericans on President
elect Trump's choice of Governor
Nikki Haley as US ambassador to
the United Nations," said Puneet
Ahluwalia, who was advisor to the
Trump Campaign on Asia Pacific
Islanders committee.
"Haley's appointment her
Indian and Sikh heritage is a
clear indication of inclusivity for

City Council honors Ranju Batra for

her efforts to secure Diwali Stamp
New York: Successful business
women, community leader and
chairperson of Diwali Stamp
Project, Ranju Batras journey to
create the first Diwali US postal
stamp started in 2010. She dis
cussed the idea of a Diwali stamp
with community leaders only to
learn that many had already tried
to create this stamp without any
success. But this did not deter
Batra. She was able to get support
from mult iple members of
Congress and collected thousands
upon thousands of paper petitions.
T he
thenConsul
General
Dnyaeshwar M. Mulay authored
the of ficial poem of the Diwali
Stamp Project and during the
United Nations General Assembly
in 2015, Batra asked Prime
Minister Mo di to support the
stamp and the Prime Minister

Ranju Batra, chairperson, Diwali Stamp Project being awarded City

Council citation for her efforts to get the Diwali stamp.
(L to R) : Neeta Jain, CM Rory Lancman, honoree Ranju Batra,
Assemblyman David Weprin, Ravi Batra and CM Peter Woo.
wrote to President Obama, as well
as to the Postmaster General. The
efforts were successful: On August
23, 2016, she jointly announced
that the Diwali Stamp was
approved. On October 5, 2016 at

the Consulate General of India, his

tory was made and Diwali Forever
Stamp was unveiled at an official
function of the USPS jointly with
Consulate General of IndiaNY and
Diwali Stamp Project.

Democratic Rep. Gabbard meets Trump

Washington, DC: Hawaii Democratic
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard met with
Presidentelect
Donald Trump
and his transi
tion
team
Monday.
Gabbard, who
b a c k e d
Tulsi Gabbard
Vermont Sen.
(Image politico.com)
Bernie Sanders
in the Democratic primary, is being
considered for jobs at the Defense
Department, State Department and

the United Nations, reported CNN.

Gabbard stepped down from her
post as a vice chairwoman of the
Democratic National Committee ear
lier in the year to support Sanders
and fight Hillary Clinton in the pri
maries. She stood by Sanders
through the Democratic convention,
only announcing she would vote for
Clinton days after the convention
ended. "Presidentelect Trump asked
me to meet with him about our cur
rent policies regarding Syria, our
fight against terrorist groups like al

Qaeda and ISIS, as well as other for

eign policy challenges we face,"
Gabbard said in a statement. "I felt it
important to take the opportunity to
meet with the Presidentelect now
before the drumbeats of war that
neocons have been beating drag us
into an escalation of the war to over
throw the Syrian government a
war which has already cost hundreds
of thousands of lives and forced mil
lions of refugees to flee their homes
in search of safety for themselves
and their families.

the incoming administration,"

Ahluwalia said.
Welcoming the appointment of
Haley, Ashok Mago from Texas
said this is just the beginning.
"Governor Haley has done a
tremendous work as South
Carolina's first female and Indian
American Governor and she will
surely succeed as the top diplo
mat at the United Nations," said
Sanjay Puri, chairman of the US
India Political Action Committee
(USINPAC).
USINPAC has been working with
the Trump transition team to
make sure that qualified Indian
Americans have the opportunity

to serve in the Trump administra

tion, Puri said.
Last week, USINPAC had hosted
Congressman Lou Barletta, and
Matt Keelen, a republican strate
gist and consultant for the Trump
campaign, for a google hangout.
In addition to Haley, Keelen had
said Trump is also considering the
former Indianorigin governor of
Louisiana Bobby Jindal for a posi
tion in his administration.
Keelen said Trump understood
the importance of USIndia ties, as
the two nations share the same
values, face the same issues with
terrorist attacks on their soil.
(PTI)

Entrepreneur Anand
Shah elected to Prospect
Park, NJ City Council
New Jersey: Anand Shah was elect
ed as the first Indian American City
Councilmember in Prospect Park,
N.J. Shah, a Democrat, was up for
one of the two open threeyear
termed seats in the council, along
with Democrat Adnan Zakaria and
Republican Thomas F.X. Magura.
Zakaria, with 1,503 votes, took
the top spot in the election, claim
ing the other seat. Shah was less
than 50 votes shy of equaling
Zakaria with 1,455 votes. Magura
was a distant third with 464 votes.
It should be noted that not only
am I the first ever Indian American
councilman in Prospect Park, I will
be also the first ever Indian
American councilman in Passaic
County as well, Shah said in an
Observer report.
Now, being the first anything
does not mean anything, if you can
not deliver. With that being said, it
is quite known that many Indian
Americans are not as involved in
the public affairs or politics. I hope
I can change the narrative in the
sense that many more youth will
get involved, he added in the
report.
Shah credited the election to the
boroughs diversity, calling it an
area with cultural and ethnic diver
sity that helps foster more
engaged and openminded identi
ty. Shah added that the voters
were not swayed by culture, but by
the candidates potential for bring

Anand Shah
(Image : New York Observor)
ing progress. A resident of Prospect
Park since 2007, Shah became
involved in public service in 2015
as a member of the zoning and land
use board. Shah is the owner of
more than 15 franchise restaurants
including Subway and Papa Johns
Pizza. The Indian American said he
never intended to pursue politics
but wanted to do whatever he
could to help give back to the com
munity. Among the issues he want
ed to help grow in the community
are recreation and youth services,
business development, increased
governmental transparency and
accountability.
All throughout my work in lead
ing my businesses or volunteering
to be on committees and boards, I
felt that I was ready to take it to the
next level and maximize my efforts
to mobilize Prospect Park in a new,
better way, Shah said in the
Observer report.

Nov 26-Dec 2, 2016

TRISTATE COMMUNITY

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

IN BRIEF

Madhu Saran named Global

Ambassador of WED

BiharJharkhand Association of North

America celebrates Diwali 2016

adhu Saran, a leading social en

trepreneur from Chennai was
named Women Entrepreneur
ship Day Global Ambassador of India by
Wendy Diamond, Founder Women's En
trepreneurship Day (WED) at a glitter
ing function held in the United Nations
headquarters on Friday.
Womens Entrepreneurship Day is cel
ebrated in 144 countries and 110 uni
versities/colleges internationally reach
ing over 1.4 million people. New York
State Governor Andrew Cuomo and New
York City Mayor Bill De Blasio have pro
claimed Womens Entrepreneurship
Day an official day.
Our mission is to empower the 4 bil
lion women across the globe to be cata
lysts of change and uplift the 250 mil
lion girls living in poverty globally. We
are committed to gathering a think tank
of inspiring women leaders who can
amplify our message of expanding

women in business in communities

around the world, said Diamond.
Saran has over 16 years of business
experience which includes software,
construction, beauty industry, media
and social services.

300 attend IHCJ Annual Health Fair

ndian Health Camp of New

Jersey held their 12th Annual
Health Fair at Shree Swami
narayan Temple in Secaucus, NJ
on November 13. More than 300
people received comprehensive
health screenings; more than 50
women received free digital
mammogram.
The health fair was organized
by the Indian Health Camp of
New Jersey in collaboration with
Secaucus Temple.
The health fair was open to all prereg
istered participants above the age of 40
without any medical insurance or people
who are underinsured with high de
ductible to receive preventive
screening, education and counseling on
medical, dental and mental health disor
ders. The comprehensive health screening
included blood test, EKG, vision screening
for glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy,
physical examination, dental screening,
cardiology and physical therapy counsel
ing, various types of cancer screening and
prevention education, women disorders,
chronic diseases screening for diabetes,
hypertension, cardiovascular disorders
and mental health disorders. Many other
ancillary screening and counseling were
also provided to include dietary counsel
ing, medication management counseling
and physical therapy counseling from var
ious providers. The physicians, dentists,
mental health providers and other allied
health care professionals from various
specialties of internal medicine, cardiolo
gy, ophthalmology, gynecology, physical
therapy, dietary and nutritional specialist,
pharmacist, phlebotomists, EKG techs,
medical assistants, nurses, social workers
and medical students provided their serv
ices on this day to screen and educate pa

iharJharkhand Association of North

America (BJANA) celebrated Diwali
2016, at Royal Albert Palace, Edison,
New Jersey with great joy and enthusiasm.
About 300 people of Bihar and Jharkhand
origin came from the North Eastern states
of the US which included residents of Penn
sylvania, New Jersey, New York , Connecti
cut, Delaware and Virginia.
BJANA is a 41 year old not for profit or
ganization. In her speech the president of
BJANA, Anjali Prasad, talked about the
achievements of the organization and char
ity work for Bihar Flood Relief. She said it
was due to the dedicated efforts of her ex
ecutive committee members and volun
teers that BJANA was now beginning to
emerge as a well known organization
across the US and also in the states of Bihar
& Jharkhand. In her speech BJANA Presi

dent also talked about their participation in

India Day Parade in New York and success
ful Meet & Greet event with Chief Minister
of Jharkhand Raghubar Das. On request of
the committee members, Jharkhand gov
ernment is working on setting up NRI cells
in the state of Jharkhand. She thanked Bill
Horan, from Smile Train and his wife
Sharon who had joined the celebrations
and announced the continued partnership
of BJANA with Smile Train to sponsor free
cleftlip surgeries for poor in Bihar &
Jharkhand.
BJANA committee members welcomed
Deputy Council General of India, New York,
Dr. Manoj Kumar Mohapatra who in his
speech praised the efforts of the BJANA
community and the vibrant team. BJANA
committee also felicitated renowned Hema
tologist and Oncologist, Dr. Chitra Kumar.

Indians in Glen Rock and

Ridgewood host Diwali Mela 2016

tients on diabetes, hypertension, cardiac

diseases, high cholesterol, prostate cervi
cal, colorectal and breast cancer screen
ing and education and other chronic de
bilitating diseases specifically targeted to
the South Asian population.
Many local health care organizations
and county health clinics provided their
services to include free digital mammo
gram on site to more than 50 women on
this day. The mental health education and
counseling were provided by mental
health experts to recognize and treat de
pression, stress, anxiety and many other
disorders which are common but not dis
cussed in South Asians due to social taboo
and denial.
The blood test reports will be reviewed
by the physicians and mailed to all partic
ipants with a counseling note, if any ab
normalities are detected in the test. The
dedicated team from the State of New Jer
sey Commission for the Blind provided
thorough eye screening to qualified pa
tients to promote their noble cause of pre
venting blindness in the community.
Indian Health Camp of NJ and their ded
icated committee members and volun
teers provided their selfless and dedicat
ed service to support the health fair activ
ities on this day.

he Ridgewood Indian
Community (RIC) and
the Glen Rock Indian
Community (GRIC) in collab
oration with the Community
Relations Advisory Board
(CRAB) hosted Diwali Mela
2016 an entertainment
packed evening showcasing
the rich Indian culture and
heritage through a variety of ethnic per
formances. The evening, which marked the
celebration of Diwali was well attended by
both the enthusiastic Indian and nonIndi
an communities from the neighboring
towns of Ridgewood and Glen Rock. Diwali
signifies the victory of light over darkness,
knowledge over ignorance, good over evil,
and hope over despair and is observed
around the fall season every year.
The event was hosted at the Central
School, Glen Rock,New Jersey on November
19. The celebrations were kicked off by
lighting of the auspicious lamp by guest of

honor for the evening, Gayatri Devi Ji, an

accomplished Bharata Natyam dancer,
teacher and choreographer. She is one of
the senior most and outstanding disciples
of late Rukmini Devi Arundel, the founding
director of Kalakshetra, the College of Fine
Arts, in Chennai, India. The evening was
also graced by Bruce Packer Mayor of
Glen Rock, Susan Knudsen Mayor of
Ridgewood, Jeff Voigt councilman from
Ridgewood, Sanjiv Ohri Board of Educa
tion for Glen Rock, Jan Phillips Chairper
son of CRAB, and Nischaya Lalka VP of
IDB Bank.

Bruhud New York Seniors leaders Shashikant Patel/Gopi Udeshi organized celebration of
Diwali Festival of Light at 5Star Banquet Hall, Long Island City Queens on November 18th.
Senator Tony Avella and Council Member Barry S. Grodenchik also graced the event.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Trump strategists
remarks on Asian CEOs
draw strong reaction
Los Angeles: Indians have done
very we ll at all places that
require hard work and risktak
ing, an IndianAmerican entre
preneur has said as he criticized
the remarks of Presidentelect
Donald Trumps chief strategist
Steve Banon who had expressed
dismay at the number of Silicon
Valley executives immigrating
from Asia. The more the rest of
the country becomes Silicon
Valley the better it is for the
country. If you want to create
jobs, if you want to create pros
perity look at Silicon Valley as a
model, Venktesh Shukla, presi
dent of TiE Silicon Valley, told
PTI. TiE is the top entrepreneur
body of Indian Americans in
Silicon Valley and the US.
T he reasons there are so
many South Asians in Silicon
Valley because it is a meritocra
cy and quintessential American
values of risk taking, hard work
and entrepreneurship. Indians
have proved to be quite good at

it. Thats why they are success

ful, he said in response to
remarks by Banon.
In a previous interview resur
faced last week, Bannon had
suggested that Silicon Valley has
too many Asian CEOs and that
international students in the US
should go back to where they
came from.
When twothirds or three
quarters of the CEOs in Silicon
Valley are from South Asia or
from Asia, I think Bannon had
said. Shukla said the reason why
Silicon Valley is so important to
the US because of the culture of
merito cracy that it fosters.
Silicon Valley is a shining star of
the US, he said adding that inno
vation in US is driven by Silicon
Valley.
T hese are the things that
need to be uploaded that the US
manages to attract the best and
brightest from all over the world
who come here to make America
(PTI)
successful, he said.

Indian economic reform poised to

accelerate IndoUS ties: Royce
Washington, DC: A top American
lawmaker has said the economic
reforms unleashed by India would
not only boost its growth but also
accelerate the IndoUS relationship.
"Reforms put in place has helped us
realized this impressive growth. I
see an opportunity here to acceler
ate this (IndiaUS) relationship,"
Congressman Ed Royce, Chairman
of the powerful House Foreign
Relations, told a global meeting of
Hindu businesses and entrepre
neurs here. Royce, a Congressman
of 24 years and one of the key
founders of House India Caucus,
said the Modi Government has
taken "impressive steps" to "boost
growth; increase and investment"
and double export. He said he
would continue to strengthen this
relationship. The top Republican
Congressman was speaking on "the
contribution of Hindu entrepre
neurs to US economy" at the World
Hindu Economic Forum here in Los
Angeles.
Into its fifth annual event, the
World Hindu Economic Forum is an
effort to bring Hindu entrepreneurs
from across the world together, said
its media coordinator Sushil Pundit.

Sharath Narayan wins

$100,000 in 'Jeopardy!
Teen tournament'
Washington, DC: An Indian
American teen has won
$100,000 in a top US quiz show.
Sharath Narayan, a sophomore
from Madison, Alabama, won
'Jeopardy! Teen tournament', the
most coveted quiz show of the
country by defeating two other
finalists Alex Fischthal and
Michael Borecki, who came sec
ond and third, respectively.
Hosted by longtime host Alex
Trebek, "Jeopardy!" attracts 23
million viewers each week and is
in its 33rd season.
Sharath won the game by the
slimmest of margins: one dollar, a media
release said.
"I'd still like to go on a trip to Europe with
my family (maybe Italy or Germany!), but
the majority of it will probably go towards
taxes and college tuition," he said after win
ning the award.

Nov 26-Dec 2, 2016

NATIONAL COMMUNITY

Sharath Narayan
(Image courtesy: India.com)
"I'm definitely more confident now since I
won the tournament, and it showed me that
I'm able to surprise myself and accomplish
things that I never would have thought pos
sible," he said.
The finals was taped earlier this year, but
was broadcast Monday and Tuesday. (PTI)

Congressman Ed Royce,
Chairman, House Foreign
Relations
(Image : Washington Times)
Nearly 500 delegates from across
five continents have gathered here
to cooperate and collaborate global
ly and help each other with market
access, technology, innovation, and
competitively priced capital for suc
cess in business. Prominent among
the participants at this threeday
conference are Mohandas Pai,
Gururaj (Desh) Deshpande, Vandana
Tilak and Mukesh Aghi. Founded by
Swami Vigyananand, the previous
WHEF meetings have been held in
Hong Kong (2012), Bangkok
(2013), New De lhi (2014) and
London (2015). "Hinduism is not a
stagnant thing. It is something that

gets redefines," Deshpande said. "I

am hopeful that Hinduism would
continuously get redefined... My
hope is that out of all this one day
we would one get a Vivekananda
who would come and lead the world
and bring about the much needed
peace and harmony that the world
needs at this time," he said.
Addressing
the
gathering,
Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, the
first Hindu lawmaker to the US
Congress, said there has never been
the kind of excitement to realize the
full potential of IndiaUS relation
ship.
Gabbard underscored the impor
tance of spirituality and seva by the
business and entrepreneur commu
nity. "We have an opportunity to
make our offerings as actions," she
said as she shared her own practice
of karma yoga has taught her how
to view success. In his remarks,
Royce praised the contribution of
the IndianAmerican community.
"The contributions made by Indian
Americans have changed the per
ception the most ' whether it is the
IT sector, whether it was in the hos
pitality industry, or whether it is in
the physicians community," he said.

Foreign Secretary
S Jaishankar meets Trump
transition team members
New Delhi: Foreign Secretary S.
Jaishankar met members of US President
elect Donald Trump's transition team dur
ing a visit to Washington last week, a sen
ior official here confirmed on Thursday.
"Foreign Secretary did visit the United
States as part of regular bilateral consul
tat ions," External Af fairs Ministry
spokesperson Vikas Swarup said during
his weekly media briefing here.
"He met with the members of the cur
rent administration and had meetings in
the US Congress. It is also my understand
ing that Foreign Secretary interacted with
very senior levels of the Trump transition
team," he said.
T he spokesperson also we lcomed
Trump's naming of South Carolina
Governor Nikki Haley, a person of Indian
orig in, as the new US Permanent
Representative to the UN.
"We know Governor Haley well and rec

ognize her as a very strong and commit

ted advocate of close IndiaUS ties," he
said.
"She had called on Prime Minister Modi
during his visit to the United States and
had also recently visited India. We warm
ly welcome her appointment as PR to
UN."
Asked about the role of threemillion
Indian diaspora in bolstering IndiaUS
ties under the new Trump administration,
Swarup said that the diaspora in the US
constituted "a very vital, a very living
bridge" between the two countries.
"Their contribution to the progress and
wellbeing of the United States has been
very well appreciated," he said.
"It is a model immigrant community as
far as we are concerned and this has been
appreciated across the board by all sec
tions of the United States population," he
(IANS)
added.

Nov 26-Dec 2, 2016

NATIONAL COMMUNITY

USINPAC: Opportunities abound

for those wanting to work with
Trump administration
Washington, DC: Adhering to its
bipartisan approach in represent
ing the Indian American communi
ty, the USIndia Political Action
Committee (USINPAC) hosted a
Presidential dialogue series with
members of Presidentelect Donald
J. Trumps election campaign and
transition team. The interactive
dialogue, was attended by a cross
section of Indian Americans from
across the country. Listeners eager
to know more about the incoming
administration fielded questions to
Congressman Lou Barletta, repre
sent ing Pennsylvanias 11th
Congressional district and Matt
Keelen, a republican strategist and
consultant for the Trump
campaign.
As a former businessman,
Congressman Lou Barletta spoke
from personal experience when he
lamented banking regulations and
taxes that hurt businesses today.
Donald Trump, with his business
experience would work to enable
businesses to make profits, which
would then be invested back, buy

more equipment, hire more people,

which would generate more pay
roll taxes.
Regarding healthcare reform the
Congressman supported repealing
and replacing the Affordable Care
Act, making it af fordable for
employers too. Free market would
drive prices down, individuals
would be able to buy healthcare
across state lines, have health sav
ings account.
Congressman Barletta lauded the
relationship between India and the
United States saying, India is the
worlds largest democracy and
United States is Indias second
largest trading partner. We have
much in common. I believe under a
President Trump the relationship
will get even stronger as many
who come from India to the United
States will be able to find a better
opportunity to start a business,
grow a business, and invest into
this economy because this econo
my will take of f under President
Trump.
Republican strateg ist Matt

Keelen opined that Presidentelect

Trump understood the importance
of USIndia ties, as the two nations
share the same values, face the
same issues with terrorist attacks
on our soil.
President Trump would promote
bilateral ties as President Bush
had.
Keelen encouraged more Indian
Americans to run for Congress,
especially those with experience as
small business owners and to con
sider being part of the Trump
administration.
Sanjay Puri, Chairman of USIN
PAC thanking Cong ressman
Barletta and Matt Kee len for
engaging with Indian Americans
remarked, We look forward to
working close ly with the new
administration and providing qual
ified candidates who are looking to
work in this administration.
Indian Americans desiring to
work with the incoming adminis
tration should send their resumes
to trumpadmin@usinpac.com or
visit USINPAC to apply.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Indianorigin Muslim woman

wins key local election
Washington, DC: A MuslimAmeri
can woman, whose parents are
from India and Pakistan, has won a
key local election in Maryland
which was dominated by antiimmi
grant and antiMuslim rhetoric.
Raaheela Ahmed, 23, won the
school board race in Prince
George's county of Maryland by de
feating a longtime system adminis
trator by an impressive 15 per cent
vote difference.
She had unsuccessfully run for
this position four years ago in
2012. Her father is from India and
mother from Pakistan. Her victory
gains significance as her district
has 80 per cent of AfricanAmeri
can population.
She was endorsed by the former
Republican National Committee
Chairman Michael Steel.
"It's interesting that on the same
day Donald Trump was elected as
president of the US, I as a hijabi
Muslim young woman was also
elected to serve in a public office. I
think that speaks volumes about
the diversity of American opinion,
and that American dream is still
well and alive," Ahmed said.
"I'd like to act as a form of inspi
ration for other minorities that they

Raaheela Ahmed
(Image: themuslimtimes.info)
can achieve what they will, given
prayer, circumstance and hard
work. This win would not have
been possible without the support
and belief that other people had in
me," she said.
"For my young minority women,
please know that at the end of the
day, you are worthy of your highest
inspirations. You have to believe
that you are able to achieve them,
even if societal structures do not
yet allow for that. Because one day,
those glass ceilings WILL break.
And who knows?" Ahmed said.
(PTI)

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel pays obeisance to Mahatma Gandhi

Chicago: The timeless Gandhian
ideals in the rising sea of discord
and the moral imperative to em
brace these Gandhian values of
tolerance, peaceful coexistence,
harmony and love were profound
ly reflected at the Mahatma Gand
hi BirthAnniversary Luncheon
hosted by Chicago Mayor Rahm
Emanuel under the aegis of the
Delhi Committee of the Chicago
Sister Cities International attract
ing prominent corporate, commu
nity, business leaders at Westin
Hotel in downtown Chicago on
November 15th.
Presiding over the stately lunch
eon, Smita N. Shah, Chair, Chicago
Sister Cities International Delhi
Committee welcomed the august
gathering and outlined the far
reaching indelibly deeprooted
global influence of Mahatma
Gandhi and his noble ideals that
till today bear sustained relevance
which, she added, bears a message

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel receiving Gandhi portrait presented

by Niranjan Shah, Smita Shah who were joined by Keerthi Kumar
Ravoori, Babu Patel & Sonal Patel
of common humanity.
Chicago Sister Cities Interna
tional DelhiChicago Committee
Chair Smita N. Shah brought forth
the historical reference of Henry
Thoreaus philosophy of civil dis
obedience which she said was
reaffirmed by Mahatma Gandhi

applying the principles of nonvio

lence and civil disobedience which
led to Indias tryst with destiny of
independence and freedom.
Shah expressed heartfelt grati
tude to Mayor Rahm Emanuel for
hosting the luncheon in obser
vance of Gandhi Jayanthi and ap

plauded the Mayor for making

City of Chicago a warm welcoming
city for all the immigrants regard
less of their origin, faith and color,
which she added, best exemplifies
Gandhian character.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel
paying rich tributes to Mahatma
Gandhi eulogized the apostle of
peace for his enduring values of
peace, nonviolence and tolerance.
Mayor Emanuel commended
Chicago Sister City International
for honoring Mahatma Gandhi
with this commemorative event
and added that this serves as a
reaffirmation of who we are as
Chicagoans. Mayor Emanuel un
derlined the ideals of Mahatma
Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Martin
Luther King jr. and how their time
less values need to be espoused by
the succeeding generations. May
or Emmanuel recalled his grand
fathers migration and how he
would like to see Chicago as a wel

coming city amidst sustained ap

plause. Mayor Rahm Emanuel ac
knowledged Niranjan Shah & Smi
ta Shahs family and applauded
them for their valuable contribu
tion in the cultural enrichment of
Chicago city.
Later, Mayor Rahm Emanuel
was presented with a portrait of
Mahatma Gandhi with a Gandhian
inscription which was presented
by Niranjan Shah, Smita Shah,
Keerthi Kumar Ravoori, Babu
[Marsha] Patel and Ms. Shah. Ear
lier, Jeff Malehorn, President &
CEO of the World Business Chica
go welcomed the guests and the
Mayor. Earlier in the luncheon, the
students from Loyola, East West
and Columbia University per
formed A cappella a medley of
melodious songs to set the tone
for the afternoon celebrations.
The event concluded with an ele
gant stately lunch at the Michigan
Ballroom.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

NATIONAL COMMUNITY

Trump meets IndianAmerican CEO

of health policy consulting co.
Washington, DC: Donald
negotiating the financing
Trump met an Indian
plan with the states hospital
American founder and CEO
association, developing the
of a health policy consulting
federal waiver, supporting
company, amid reports that
federal negotiations, and
the US presidentelect was
leading the implementation
making an ef fort to replace
of the program, including
Obamacare, one of his elec
the operational design.
tion promises.
T he meeting is seen as
"Meet ings for to day
part of Trumps e f fort to
include Dr Seema Verma, the
repeal
and
replace
founder and CEO of SVC,"
Obamacare, one of his elec
Sean Spicer, chief strategist
tion promises.
Seema Verma, CEO, SVC
of the Republican National (Image courtesy: graonline.org)
Verma has also developed
Committee told reporters.
many of the recent Medicaid
No further details were immediately avail reform programs including waivers for Iowa,
able. According to her companys website, Ohio, Kentucky and he lped design
Verma is the architect of Healthy Indiana Plan Tennessees coverage expansion proposal and
(HIP), which has been billed as the countrys also provided technical assistance to
first consumerdirected Medicaid program.
Michigan as they implemented their 1115
Based in Indianapolis, Verma has supported Medicaid waiver. She and SVC also supported
Indiana through the development of the his Iowas Medicaid transition to managed care, as
toric program since its inception in 2007, well as supporting Medicaid strategy efforts
(PTI)
from development of the enabling legislation, in Maine.

Rajat Gupta now chairman

of a nonprofit
New York: Former Goldman
Global Fund to Fight
Sachs director Rajat Gupta
AIDS, Tuberculosis and
has assumed a new role as
Malaria."
chairman of a U.S.based non
His profile further
profit organization, a gradual
adds that the IITDelhi
return to a normal life after
and Harvard Business
completing a twoyear prison
School alumnus and
term on insider trading
former McKinsey head
charges.
is a "leading Indian
Gupta, 67, is chairman of
American businessman
the
WHEELS
Global
and philanthropist"
Foundation, a nonprofit
and is "widely regard
organization focused on
ed as one of the first
Rajat Gupta
applying technology to uplift (Image courtesy: Thehindu.com) Indians to successfully
rural communities and pro
break through the
vide technological solutions to global chal glass ceiling, as the first Indianborn CEO of
lenges in six areas; water, health, education, a multinational corporation (not just a con
energy, lifestyles and sustainability.
sultancy)." Gupta was one of the highestpro
The nonprofit was founded in 2013 by a file defendants convicted in the govern
group of alumni from IIT, all prominent ments crackdown on insider trading and
entrepreneurs and financial executives.
was sentenced to two years in prison.
A source told PTI that the Indian American
He served his term in a federal prison in
executive assumed the role of chairman in Ayer, Mass., and walked a free man in March
October this year. According to his profile on this year after completing his sentence.
the WGF website, he "serves on its board as a
Prosecutors had accused Gupta of passing
key strategist in defining direction and focus confidential boardroom information about
of the nonprofit organization." It said Gupta Goldman Sachs to now jailed hedge fund
brings his "considerable skills to WGF, along manager Raj Rajaratnam.
with his leadership associations and adviso
Gupta is still fighting in an appeals court to
ry roles to many other nonprofits such as have his insidertrading conviction thrown
the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and The out.

Nov 26-Dec 2, 2016

Embassy of India hosts

dedication ceremony of
Diwali Forever Stamp
Washington DC: Embassy of
India, in collaborat ion w ith
United States Postal Service,
organized a ceremony to dedi
cate the Diwali Forever Stamp as
part of the Diwali celebrations at
the Embassy on November 18th.
Ambassador Navtej Sarna and
Ronald Stroman, Dy Postmaster
General and Chief Government
Relations Of ficer unveiled the
Diwali Forever Stamp during the
event which was attended by
Ambassador Navtej Sarna and Ronal Stroman,
members of Indian American
Dy Postmaster General and Chief Govt Relations
Community, Administrat ion
officer unveiled the stamp at the event
Officials, Congressional Staffers,
Senior Officials of USPS and the Press active support from the Administration
Corps. The Diwali Forever Stamp was and Congress. During the dedication
formally launched by the United States ceremony, Ambassador Sarna and
Postal Service in October this year after Mr.Stroman outlined the essence of
sustained work by members of the Diwali and acknowledged the efforts of
Indian Community, Embassy of India all concerned in realizing a long cher
and United States Postal Service with ished dream of a Diwali Stamp.

Interfaith award winner

offers Gandhian healing
mantra to Americans
Washington, DC: Invoking
and his many contributions
Mahatma Gandhi, Indian
to the arts and higher edu
American entrepreneur and
cation.
philanthropist Frank Islam
"We must continue to
of fered Americans of all
fight for a fairer and
faiths the mantra of "creeds,
stronger America. We are
seeds and deeds" to heal
stronger together. And,
after one of America's most
together, we can help shape
divisive presidential elec
a better future," he said.
tions. Mahatma Gandhi told
"We can do that through
us, "You must be the change
our creeds, through our
you wish to see in the
seeds, and through our
Frank Islam
world," he recalled receiving (Image courtesy: frankislam.com) deeds. "Being a Muslim has
the prestigious Interfaith
taught me many things but
Leadership Award here Sunday from a group the most important is that the whole purpose
bringing together eleven historic faith com of religion is to provide justice and a path to
munities.
justice for all of us," Islam said of his creed.
"I try to live my life in accordance with
"Our seeds are support to institutions that
Gandhi's advice and to practice what I provide "students access to presentations by
preach," said Islam who grew up in a religious leading experts in areas such as international
family in India.
affairs, arts, politics, and economics and edu
Created in 1978, the InterFaith Conference cates, informs and helps to shape those stu
of Metropolitan Washington (IFC) to promote dents," he said. "It plants seeds."
dialogue, understanding and a sense of com
"Our creeds and our seeds lead to our
munity includes the Baha'i, Buddhist, Hindu, deeds," said Islam who serves on the Advisory
Islamic, Jain, Jewish, Sikh and Zoroastrian Board of the US Institute of Peace, an organi
communities. Maryland State Senator Jamie zation devoted to the nonviolent prevention
Raskin presented the award to Islam for his and mitigation of deadly conflict around the
support of interfaith dialogue and education world.

10

Nov 26-Dec 2, 2016

Open mind on
quitting climate
accords, says
Trump
New York: Donald Trump has said that he has
an open mind about pulling out of world climate
accords and admitted global warming may be in
some way linked to human activity.
I think there is some connectivity. Some,
something. It depends on how much, he told a
panel of New York Times journalists.
Asked whether he would make good on his
threat to pull the United States out of UN climate
accords, he said: Im looking at it very closely. I
have an open mind to it.
But he said he also wanted to see how much
the Paris climate accord will cost our companies and its impact on US competitiveness.
The Republican billionaire businessman has
earlier called climate change a hoax perpetrated
by China and threatened to pull out of the agreement on limiting greenhouse gas emissions.
The accord was reached in Paris in December
2015 after negotiations involving 195 countries. The worldwide pact to battle global warming took effect on November 4.
The agreement sets a goal of limiting the rise
in global temperatures to 2 degrees Celsius over
pre-industrial revolution levels.
The United States, the second biggest emitter of greenhouse gases after China, ratified the
accord in early September, with strong backing
from President Barack Obama.

I am an
economic
nationalist:
Trumps chief
strategist
Steve Bannon

New York: Steve Bannon, Donald Trumps selection for White House chief strategist, on Sunday said that he was an economic nationalist
and he rejects racist and anti-Semitic elements
of the nationalist alt-right movement.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal,
Bannon cast himself as a strident opponent of
globalism -- including free trade deals that
Trump has bemoaned, CNN reported.
Im an economic nationalist. I am an America
first guy, Bannon was quoted as saying.
And I have admired nationalist movements
throughout the world, have said repeatedly
strong nations make great neighbors. I have
also said repeatedly that the ethno-nationalist
movement, prominent in Europe, will change
over time. Ive never been a supporter of ethnonationalism, he added.
Bannon said that the black working and middle class and the Hispanic working and middle
class, just like whites, have been severely hurt by
the policies of globalism.
He noted that he had urged Trump to reach out
to minority communities on the campaign trail.
I was the one who said we are going to Flint,
Michigan, we are going to black churches in
Cleveland, because the thrust of this movement
is that we are going to bring capitalism to the inner cities, Bannon said in the interview.

US Affairs
New York: US President-elect Donald
Trump outlined plans on Monday for his
first day in office, including withdrawing
from a major trade accord and investigating abuses of work visa programs,
and met with Cabinet hopefuls at his
Manhattan office tower.
Trump met with Oklahoma Governor
Mary Fallin, Democratic US Representative
Tulsi Gabbard and former Texas Governor
Rick Perry. But he announced no further
appointments, keeping candidates and the
public guessing about the shape of the administration that will take office on January 20. Fallin, Gabbard and Perry were
the latest of dozens of officials who have
made their way across the opulent lobby
of Trump Tower for talks with the Republican president-elect in a relatively open
and unconventional transition process
since his election victory on November 8.
Trump, who has not held a news conference since his election, issued a video
on Monday evening outlining some of his
plans for his first day in office, including
formally declaring his intent to withdraw
from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or
TPP, trade deal, which he called a potential disaster for our country.
The 12-nation TPP is President Barack
Obamas signature trade initiative and was
signed by the United States earlier this year
but has not been ratified by the US Senate.
The president-elect said he would replace the accord with bilaterally negotiated trade deals that would bring jobs
and industry back onto American shores.
My agenda will be based on a simple core
principle: putting America first. Whether
its producing steel, building cars or curing disease, I want the next generation
of production and innovation to happen
right here on our great homeland, America, creating wealth and jobs for American
workers, he said. Japanese Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe said on Monday the TPP would
be meaningless without the United States.
Trump said he would cancel some restrictions on producing energy in the
United States on his first day in office,
particularly shale oil and clean coal,
which he said would create many millions of high-paying jobs.

Trump outlines his

priorities in video

He promised to direct the Labor Department to investigate abuses of visa

programs for immigrant workers. The
main US visa program for technology
workers could face tough scrutiny under
Trump and his proposed attorney general, US Senator Jeff Sessions, a longtime
critic of the program.
Trump had sent mixed signals during
the campaign about his views on visa programs including the main H-1B visa for
high-tech industry workers. Trump has
so far picked two Cabinet members and
three top White House advisers, but aides
said he was not expected to make further

announcements in a hurry.
Trump held an off-the-record meeting
with a group of television anchors and
executives on Monday. The Washington
Post reported that four participants at
Mondays meeting described it as a contentious but generally respectful session.
They told the Post that Trump singled out
reporting of his campaign by CNN and
NBC that he considered to be unfair.
Trump also returned to Twitter on
Monday night, saying many people
would like to see Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage as British ambassador to the
United States. He would do a great job!

American voters want Donald Trump to stop tweeting

Washington: American voters want
President-elect Donald Trump to stop
tweeting, showed a new poll. The national
poll by the Quinnipiac University showed
about 59 per cent believe Trump should
actually shut down his personal Twitter
account, cbs news reported. Voters told
Trump, Youve got the job. Now be a leader not a tweeter, said Tim Malloy, assistant

director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.

Were watching to make sure you put the
country, not the Trump brand, first, said
the voters. Majority voters said they were
optimistic about the next four years with
Donald Trump as president.
About 52 per cent of voters said
Trumps policies would help the US economy, 31 per cent said they would hurt.

As for the calling to be a united American nation, 49 per cent of voters said
Trump would do more to divide the country while 47 per cent said he would unite.
Most of the voters believed that Trump
would take the country in the right direction.
The polls were conducted from November 17 to 20 when pollsters interviewed 1,071 voters nationwide.

Clintons popular vote lead surpasses 2 million

Washington: Hillary Clintons popular
vote lead surged above 2 million on Sunday
night, with millions of votes still to count.
Clintons lead keeps rising on her
strength in California, where her margin
stands at 29 percentage points, up from
President Obamas 23 percentage points
2012, The New York Times reported.
However, she has failed to close the
gap in any of the swing states she lost.
Trumps lead in Michigan has dwindled
to 11,612 votes.

Florida certified its results on Sunday,

sealing Trumps margin of victory at 1.2
percentage points. Third-party candidates
in Florida easily took enough votes to swing
the results. Meanwhile, Americans seem
prepared to give Trump a chance. A new
poll found that 46 per cent of registered
voters view the president-elect favorably,
the same number that see him unfavorably.
Just before the election, 37 per cent
of voters viewed him favorably, while 61
per cent viewed him unfavorably.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Trumps Education
Secretary pick backs
private schools
Washington: Presidentelect
Donald Trump on Wednesday
tapped Betsy DeVos to be his
Education Secretary, the first
woman to be appointed to his
cabinet and a de fender of
allowing parents to use public
funds to send their children to
private or religious schools.
"Betsy DeVos is a brilliant
and passionate education advo
cate," EFE news quoted Trump
as saying in a statement.
"Under her leadership, we
will reform the US education
system and break the bureau
cracy that is holding our chil
dren back so that we can deliv
er worldclass education and
school choice to all families,"
he said in the statement.
DeVos, 58, was president of
the Republican Party in
Michigan and currently heads
the American Federation for
Children, a group that is push

ing for expansion of the option

allowing parents to use public
funds to send their children to
schools of their choice, whether
they be private or religious
institutions.
She is also a strong opponent
of teachers' unions, which she
has called a formidable
"enemy".
DeVos accepted the offer of a
Cabinet post, saying in the
same
statement
Trump
released that "I am honored to
accept this responsibility to
work with the Presidentelect
on his vision to make American
education great again."
"The status quo in education
is not acceptable. Together, we
can work to make transforma
tional change that ensures
every student in America has
the opportunity to fulfil his or
her hig hest potent ial," she
added.

US AFFAIRS

Donald J. Trump and New York Times Publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. and others at Mr. Trump's meeting
with editors and reporters on Tuesday.
New York: Presidentelect Donald
Trump disavowed the altright in
an ontherecord interview with
the New York Times on Tuesday.
He also responded to questions
about the possibility of prosecut
ing Hillary Clinton (He will not),
his commitment to the First
Amendment, his plans for Syria,
and infrastructure investment in
the United States.
The question about the altright
comes after Trumps appointment
of Steve Bannon, the former exec
utive chairman of Breitbart News,

Trump met Mitt Romney last week. (right) Rudy Giuliani

after his searing criticism of Mr.
Trump during the campaign. But
Mr. Trump himself has told aides
that he be lieves Mr. Romney
looks the part and would make a
fine secretary of state, a senior
Trump official said on Thursday.
Mr. Trump, who is always difficult
to read and is capable of changing
his mind at any minute, has also
praised Mr. Giuliani in recent con
versations with acquaintances.
Even Thanksgiving did not pro
vide a reprieve from the extraordi
nary public ef forts to cast doubt
on Mr. Romney. Mr. Trumps cam
paign manager, Ke llyanne
Conway, said on Twitter that she
had received a deluge of concern
from people warning against pick

11

Trump disavows
altright in NYT chat

Republican rift over Romney or

Giuliani for Secretary of State
Washington: Rival fac
tions of Republicans are
locked in an increasingly
caustic and public battle
to influence President
elect Donald J. Trumps
choice for secretary of
state, leaving a promi
nent hole in an other
w ise quickly formed
national security team
that is unlike ly to be
filled until next week at
the earliest.
The debate inside Mr.
Trumps wide circle of
formal and informal
advisers pitting sup
porters of one leading contender,
Mitt Romney, against those of
another, Rudolph W. Giuliani
has led to the kind of dramatic air
ing of differences that character
ized Mr. Trumps unconventional
and often squabbling campaign
team.
And it traces the outlines of the
enduring split in the Republican
Party between establishment fig
ures who scoffed at Mr. Trumps
chances of victory and the grass
roots insurgents who backed him
as a disrupter of the Washington
power structure.
The most publicly vocal faction
has been the group opposed to
Mr. Romney, which has ques
tioned whether he would be loyal

Nov 26-Dec 2, 2016

ing Mr. Romney, the 2012

Republican presidential nominee
and former Massachusetts gover
nor.
Those raising concerns about
Mr. Giuliani, the former New York
City mayor and an early and loyal
supporter of Mr. Trump, have said
they fear that his tangle of foreign
business ties could lead to a dam
aging confirmation battle. They
are also worried that Mr. Giuliani
lacks the vigor for the globetrot
ting job.
Both Mr. Romney and Mr.
Giuliani have made their interest
in the role known to Mr. Trump.
But the dilemma for Trump may
lead to a third person getting the
nod.

as his chief White House strate

gist. Bannon himself has called
Breitbart the platform for the alt
right.
The altright is a white national
ist grouping that aims to preserve
white identity, block multicultural
ism and promote socalled
European values. T he group
holds bigoted views and is associ
ated with NeoNazism.
Trump and several members of
his team attended a meeting with
reporters, editors and columnists
at the newspapers headquarters

in Manhattan.
In another reversal, after
months of calling for torturing ter
rorism suspects, Trump suggested
he now did not support bringing
back torture tactics. He said his
change of stand came after his
meeting with retired Marine Corps
General James Mattis, who was
being "seriously considered" to be
the next US DefenceChief.
"He (Mattis) said, 'I've never
found it (torture) to be useful,"
T he Times quoted Trump as
saying.

Trump Jr attended meeting

that considered Russia's
support to halt Syria war
Washington:
Donald
Trump Jr., the older son
of the US Presidentelect,
in October participated in
a private meeting in Paris
at which the possibility of
support ing
Russian
efforts to halt the war in
Syria was discussed, The
Wall Street Journal
reported on Wednesday.
The meeting took place
on October 11 at the Ritz
Hotel in the French capi
tal and included diplo
mats, politicians and busi
nessmen, some of the partici
pants confirmed.
Among the participants was
Randa Kassis, who is a member
of one of the Syrian opposition
g roups that was created in
Moscow and which, according to
the Journal, is being supported
by the Kremlin in the search for
a end to the war that erupted in
Syria five years ago, EFE news
reported. T he meet ing was
organized by Kassis's husband,
Fabien Baussart, the President of
the French Centre for Political
and Foreign Affairs, a think tank
that often organizes internation
al meetings on subjects on the
world agenda. According to the
Wall Street Journal, the younger
Trump's participation at the

Donald Trump Jr
meeting stirred controversy
about the role of the nowpresi
dentelect's family members in
af fairs of state and his stated
desire to cooperate closely with
Russian President Vladimir
Putin.
Kassis confirmed to the paper
that Trump's son had participat
ed in the meeting, saying that he
had emphasized the importance
of having Russian cooperation in
Middle Eastern conflicts such as
the one in Syria.
In an earlier message posted
on her Facebook page, Kassis
had said that the Syrian opposi
tion was sure that Russia and the
United States could reach an
agreement on the conflict thanks
to Trump's presidential victory.

12

Nov 26-Dec 2, 2016

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

INDIA

BJP smiles after first elections

post demonetization
New Delhi: In the first elections after the
government's demonetization, the BJP won
bypolls in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and
Madhya Pradesh while the Trinamool
Congress, one of the most bitter critics of
the currency spike, triumphed in West
Bengal. The AIADMK swept all three assem
bly constituencies in Tamil Nadu and the
ruling CPIMled Left Front in Tripura wrest
ed one seat from the Congress and retained
another. The Congress' lone success came in
Puducherry.
Byelections for the 10 assembly and four
Lok Sabha constituencies in the states and
Puducherry. In Madhya Pradesh, the ruling
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the
Shahdol Lok Sabha and Nepanagar assembly
seats defeating Congress candidates by huge
margins. The BJP's Gyan Singh won from
Shahdol and Manju Dadu from Nepanagar.
The Congress came second in both places.
BJP candidate Pradan Baruah won the
Lakhimpur Lok Sabha seat in Assam that
was vacated by Sarbananda Sonowal after
he became the Chief Minister. The ruling
party's Mansing Rongpi won the
Baithalangso assembly seat, where the
Congress candidate, who had won in May,
joined the BJP.
In Arunachal Pradesh, Desingu Pul, the
wife of former Chief Minister Kalikho Pul,
who committed suicide in August, won from
Hayuliang assembly constituency as a BJP
candidate.
The BJP said its victories signaled people's
support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's
decision to scrap large currency notes in a
move to curb black money and corruption.
"T he people of India are with Modi,"
Parliamentary Af fairs Minister Ananth

Noted Carnatic
musician
Balamuralikrishna
dead

Trinamool Congress MPs protest against demonetization in New Delhi.

Kumar said in the Lok Sabha.
But Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, an
opponent of the demonetization that has led
to a massive cash crunch, said the landslide
victory of her Trinamool Congress in West
Bengal was "people's revolt" against New
Delhi. "People have revolted. This is symbol
ic. It is a vote against demonetization. In a
democracy, people vent their anger through
votes," Banerjee said after the Trinamool
won the Monteshwar assembly seat and Lok
Sabha constituencies of Coochbehar and
Tamluk.
Trinamool's Partha Pratim Roy won Cooch
Behar while his party colleague Dibyendu
Adhikari triumpged in Tamluk. Saikat Panja
of the Trinamool won the Monteshwar seat.
T he ruling AIADMK, which has also
denounced the demonetization, swept the
bypolls in Tamil Nadu where elections were

he ld for T hanjavur, Aravakurichi and

Thirupparankundram assembly seats, whihc
went to M. Rengasamy, Senthil Balaji and
A.K. Bose respectively.
In Tripura, the ruling Communist Party of
IndiaMarxist (CPIM), which has disparaged
the government for spiking the currency,
wrested the Barjala and retained the Khowai
assembly seats.
CPIM candidate Jhumu Sarkar defeated
BJP's Shista Mohan Das, a former bureau
crat in Barjala, while Biswajit Datta trounced
Trinamool's Manoj Das in Khowai. Congress
candidates in both the seats came distant
four. In Puducherry, Chief Minister V.
Narayanasamy won the Nellithope seat in a
consolatory victory for the Congress.
Narayanasamy, who had to get elected to
the house within six months of taking office,
trounced his nearest AIADMK rival.

Chennai: Carnat ic music legend

Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna passed
away here.
He was 86 and was not well for some
t ime. Apart from being a singer,
Balamuralikrishna was also a composer,
actor and multiinstrumentalist.
He was also good at playing musical
instruments like violin, viola, kanjira and
mridangam.
Balamuralikrishna started his musical
career at the tender age of six and had
given over 25,000 concerts worldwide.
He had composed over 400 compositions
in Telugu, Sanskrit, Kannada and Tamil.
Balamuralikrishna was conferred the
Padma Shree, Padma Bhushan and Padma
Vibhusan awards by the Indian govern
ment.

Balamuralikrishna was conferred with

Padma Vibhushan in 1991.

India, Switzerland ink accord

Zakir Naik's NGO provided
for info on account holders scholarship to IS sympathizer: NIA

New Delhi: From

September 2019,
India will start get
ting information
automatically about
accounts he ld by
Indians in Swiss
banks.
An
Automatic Exchange
of
Information
(AEOI)
accord
signed by the two
countries facilitates
this.
"Fighting
the
PM Modi with the President of the Swiss
menace of black
Federation Johann SchneiderAmmann.
money stashed in
of fshore accounts has been a key to receive from September 2019
priority for the present govern onwards the financial information
ment," a Finance Ministry release of accounts held by Indian residents
in Switzerland for 2018 and subse
said here.
Central Board of Direct Taxes quent years on an automatic basis,"
(CBDT) Chairman Sushil Chandra it added.
The government's recent demone
and Deputy Chief of Mission in the
Swiss embassy here Gilles Roduit tization of highvalue currency
signed the joint declaration for notes has provoked calls from
implementation of Automatic opposition parties for the govern
Exchange of Information between ment to act also against black
money stashed abroad, particularly
the two nations, the statement said.
"It will now be possible for India in Swiss banks.

Mumbai: The National Investigation Agency (NIA)

said controversial NRI preacher and televangelist
Zakir Naik's Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) had
provided Rs 80,000 scholarship to an Islamic State
(IS) sympathiser last year.
An official of the antiterror agency said IRF had
provided the scholarship to Abu Anas, a resident of
Tonk in Rajasthan, in October 2015. "Anas had
planned to go to Syria to fight along with IS in the
same period but he was arrested by the NIA in
January this year and later chargesheeted," an NIA
official said on the condition of anonymity.
The agency conducted a fresh raid at another
property linked to him and his NGO after it lodged a
case against him and his IRF under various sections
of the Indian Penal Code and Unlawful Activities
(Prevention) Act. The agency has raided 21 proper
ties of Naik, his office bearers, his immediately fami
ly members and others holding various posts in his
NGO and private television channel.
"During the search operations, video tapes and
DVDs of Zakir Naik's public speeches, documents
related to property and investment, financial trans
actions, foreign and domestic funding of the pro
scribed IRF as well as its associated companies, and
electronic storage devices have been recovered," the
NIA official said.
The investigation has revealed that the proscribed

Activists stage a demonstration against

controversial Islamic leader Zakir Naik in Mumbai
IRF has close connections with some private organi
zations comprising Harmony Media Private Limited,
Longlast Constructions Private Limited, Right
Property Solutions Private Limited, Majestic
Perfumes Private Limited and Alpha Lubricants
Private Limited.
"Documents pertaining to inflow and outflow of
foreign and domestic funding, which have been
recovered during search operations, are being scru
tinized," the official said.
Naik is currently out of the country, and reported
ly believed to be somewhere in Africa.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Nov 26-Dec 2, 2016

INDIA

13

Pak's top diplomat to visit India US rate hike fears

amid border tension
plunge rupee to

New Delhi: Pakistan has of ficially

confirmed to India that its top diplo
mat will attend a global conference
on Afghanistan in Amritsar early
next month amid intensifying dead
ly military tensions between New
Delhi and Islamabad.
External Af fairs Ministry
spokesperson Vikas Swarup said
Islamabad confirmed that Sartaj
Aziz, foreign policy advisor to Prime
Minister Nawaz Sharif, would visit
India for the December 34 Heart of
Asia Istanbul Process event.
The conference on development
and security in Afghanistan is likely
to be addressed by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi and Afghan
President Ashraf Ghani.
Aziz said last week that he would
go to India. But Swarup pointed out
then that India had received no offi
cial confirmation from Pakistan
about it.
The de facto foreign policy chief's
participation in the Afghanistan
conference comes amid heightened
border and diplomatic tensions
between the two countries.
Three Indian soldiers were killed
on the Line of Control (LoC) in
Jammu and Kashmir. India vowed
revenge after one of the bodies of
the soldiers was found mutilated at
the de facto border in the Kashmir
Valley. Pakistan rejected the allega
tion as "baseless".

record low

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup.

The border tension continued
with Pakistan alleging that at least
nine persons were killed when
crossborder shelling from India hit
a passenger bus in Pakistanadmin
istered Kashmir.
"At least nine people have been
killed and seven wounded," Speaker
of Pakistani Kashmir's Assembly
Shah Ghulam Qadir said, accusing
the Indian Army of "deliberately tar
geting" civilians.
The bus, according to Qadir, was
hit as it was traveling from Kel to
Muzaffarabad in the Neelum valley
region of divided Kashmir.
On this side, the Indian Army said
crossborder firing at various places

on the LoC continued for hours on

Wednesday and three Border
Security Forces (BSF) troopers were
injured. Firing exchanges and a bit
ter diplomatic war between the two
neighbors have continued and
grown after the September 18
killing of 19 Indian soldiers in a ter
ror attack at a border military base
in Kashmir.
In New Delhi, an ailing External
Af fairs Minister Sushma Swaraj
informed the Lok Sabha in a written
reply that Pakistan had made a
"crude attempt" to tarnish India's
image by leveling spying allega
tions against Indian High
Commission officials in Islamabad.

Mumbai: Heightened chances

of a US rate hike and continued
outflow of foreign funds from
equit ies and de bt markets
plunged the Indian rupee to its
new record low of 68.86 to a
US dollar during the midafter
noon trade session on
November 24.
Besides, political bickering
over the demonetization drive
and a stalemate on the con
tours of the Goods and Services
Tax (GST) framework led to the
erosion in rupee value.
However, an apparent inter
vention by the Reserve Bank of
India (RBI) arrested any further
fall in the Indian currency.
On T hursday, the rupee
plunged to its new record low
of 68.86 to a US dollar (at 1.14
p.m.). The Indian rupee weak
ened by 22 paise to 68.7879
(2.30 p.m.) against the US dol
lar from its previous close of
68.5657 to a greenback.
"The Indian rupee touched its
record low level of 68.86 to a
US dollar post 1.00 p.m. due to
heightened chances of a US

rate hike," Anindya Banerjee,

Associate Vice President for
Currency Derivat ives w ith
Kotak Securities, told IANS.
"Apparent intervention by RBI
has arrested further falls and
stabilized rupee be low the
68.86mark."
According to Hiren Sharma,
Senior Vice President and
HeadForex Advisory at Anand
Rathi Financial Services,
rupee's fall was insync with
other currencies which have
declined against US dollar.
"Yesterday's US data and
FOMC (Federal Open Market
Committee) minutes have
strengthened the rate hike sce
nario in December. Offloading
of debt and equity by FPIs (for
eign portfolio investors) has
declined rupee," Sharma said.
"But RBI this time around has
taken an aggressive stance to
halt a complete one way rout.
Forward premiums have cor
rected immense ly. In fact,
November month, which still
has four trading sessions to go,
is negative."

Demonetization 'plunder' can drag

India's GDP by 2%: Manmohan
New Delhi: Describing the implemen
tation of the demonetization drive as
"monumental mismanagement" and
a case of "organized loot and legal
ized plunder", former Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh said it will also
drag the country's GDP by 2 percent
age points.
"The national income, that is the
GDP of the country, can decline by
about 2 percentage points as a result
of what has been done. This is an
underestimate, not an overestimate,"
said Manmohan Singh, a former
Finance Minister and Reserve Bank
of India Governor, during a debate in
the Rajya Sabha.
"W hat has been done can also
weaken and erode our people's confi
dence in the currency system and in
the banking system," he said, as both
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley lis
tened to the former head of govern
ment's 7minute intervention.
"It is no good that everyday the
banking system comes up with new
rules. It reflects very poorly on the
Prime Minister's Office, the Finance
Minister's Of fice and the Reserve

Former PM Manmohan Singh.

Bank of India."
The Indian economy had expanded
by 7.2 percent during the third quar
ter ended December 31 of last fiscal
year, and by 7.6 per cent for the year
as a whole.
Manmohan Singh's GDP estimate
comes against the backdrop of a host
of economists, experts and think
tanks revising downward their

growth outlook for India, with the

most pessimistic forecast being a
mere 0.5 per cent growth by Ambit
Capital for the sixmonth period end
ing March 31, 2017. The former
prime minister wondered if the gov
ernment was aware of the extent of
hardship that demonetization of Rs
500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes
ordered by Prime Minister Modi had
caused small businesses, the com
mon man and the rural economy.
Towards this, he reminded the gov
ernment that 90 per cent of the work
force is in the informal sector and 55
per cent of those in the agriculture
sector are in distress.
"I would like to know from the
Prime Minister the names of any
country he may think of where peo
ple have deposited their money in
their banks, but they are not allowed
to w ithdraw," Manmohan Sing h
queried during his statement in the
upper house of parliament.
"In the process of demonetization,
monumental mismanagement has
been undertaken about which there
are no two opinions in country as a
whole," he said.

Modi will participate in

demonetization debate
New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley assured the Rajya
Sabha that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in
the debate on demonetization.
Replying to the opposition demands that Prime Minister
Modi should be present in the House during the debate,
Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha P.J. Kurien said: "How can
the Prime Minister always sit here. He is also a human
being." The Prime Minister was present in the Rajya Sabha
to attend the debate on demonetization till lunch break.
Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad
said: "The Prime Minister should be present in the House for
the debate to go on."
Hitting out at Azad, Finance Minister and Leader of the
House Jaitley angrily said: "It has become very clear that the
opposition doesn't want a debate. Now they are finding dif
ferent ways to run away from the debate. Now, this is a new
method.
"The debate should continue. The Prime Minister will par
ticipate in the debate. Keeping in mind the traditions of the
House, the PM will come to the House and participate in the
debate," he added.
Jaitley added: "There is no tradition that if the debate goes
on for 15 hours, he will be there for that long."

14

Nov 26-Dec 2, 2016

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

OP-ED

Demonetization a makeorbreak
venture for Modi
l

By Amulya Ganguli

here is an element of spas

modic jerkiness about some
of Prime Minister Narendra
Modi's policies.
In foreign af fairs, this uneven
ness was seen in his interactions
with Pakistan, which swung from
warm friendliness to hostility, rais
ing fears of a war.
In domestic matters, the sudden
outlawing of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000
notes has caused a turmoil in all
sectors of the economy, resulting
in severe inconvenience to individ
uals and throwing trade and agri
cultural activity out of gear.
Understandably, no advance
notice could be given about the
demonetization of highdenomina
tion currency in case the hoarders
of black money took advantage of
the disclosure. But the transition
from one type of legal tender to
another could have been managed
in a far more smooth manner.
Since no forethought was appar
ently given to the impact on the
ordinary people of the withdrawal
of the notes, which constitute an
estimated 86 per cent of those in
circulation, banks and ATMs have

A foreign tourist stands outside an out of cash ATM kiosk in Amritsar.

(Photo: IANS)
had to face an unprecedented rush
with some people even dying
while standing for long hours in
queues. Because of the prevailing
misery outside banks and ATMs,
the initial reaction of the people
has changed from welcoming the
move because of its intention of
curbing black money to deep
unease and even anger about the
government's deplorable failure of
implementation.It was only when
the disorderly scenes inside and

outside the banks threatened to

jeopardize the government's initia
tive that belated efforts were made
to ensure separate queues for the
elderly. But it is clear that it will
take wee ks for order to be
restored.
If the Prime Minister thought
that his latest move was yet anoth
er surg ical strike Cong ress
leader Kapil Sibal has called it car
pet bombing which will boost the
government's image, he must have

realized that it is not being seen in

the same positive light as the earli
er one.
Unless the banks can begin to
function with a modicum of ef fi
ciency, the Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) will have to pay an electoral
price.
The first test will be in Uttar
Pradesh when the assembly elec
tions are held early next year. It is
a poll which the BJP cannot afford
to lose since its victory in Assam in
the far corner of the country has
not been enough to erase the stain
of its defeats in Delhi and Bihar.
The party's fears will be all the
greater since it is now admitted
that the economic situation will
get worse before it can improve.
It is the period when the GDP is
expected to fall by nearly one per
centage point, which will be of
considerable worry to the BJP
because the opposition parties will
not lose this opportunity to pillory
the government.
From this standpoint, the other
w ise bold and muchneeded
demonetization has come as a god
send to opposition parties like the
Congress, the Trinamool Congress,
the Aam Admi Party and others,

which care more about scoring

brownie points than about taking a
holistic view.
Some of the BJP's allies like the
Akali Dal and the Shiv Sena have
also joined the dissenters, proba
bly to emphasize their distinctive
ness visavis Big Brother rather
than to seriously oppose the move
since they have prefaced their crit
icism by hailing the move.
The Bahujan Samaj Party's join
ing of the naysayers is clearly
intended to reap electoral benefits
in the forthcoming contest in Uttar
Pradesh, where it has a more than
average chance of success.
The BJP will be grateful, there
fore, that at least some parties
have seen the bigger picture and
decided to support demonetization
despite the severe inconvenience
faced by the ordinary people.
These include the Janata Dal
United, the Biju Janata Dal, the
Nationalist Congress Party, the
DMK, the Telugu Desam and the
Telangana Rashtra Samithi.
To retrieve the situation, the gov
ernment has to act more resolutely
to alleviate the distress of the ordi
nary people by revving up the
creaking banking sector.

DEMONETIZATION: It cannot be business as usual any more

l

By Amit Kapoor

he Prime Minister's move on

demonetizing Rs 500 and Rs
1,000 notes is now slowly
playing out. Apart from inconven
ience which the move is causing, it
is still early days to say what this
really means for a large section of
the population.
But nonetheless, some things are
becoming clear. First, the move is
one of the most radical experi
ments in trying to solve the black
money and counterfeit currency
conundrum in not just India but
across the world. Second, there is
expected to be a demandside
shock which has the potential to
impact business activity in particu
lar sectors in the coming months.
Third, with the parking of funds
with the banking sector there is
expected to be a drop in interest
rates and moderation in prices in
the medium to longterm. Fourth,
the move will also see a change in
habits of people, probably reducing
dependence on cash. Another
change will be dependence on gold
and housing as a stock of money.
Finally, the move could have been
done better and the inconvenience
somewhat reduced.

People wait in a queue at Reserve Bank of India in New Delhi. (Photo: IANS)
The fact that it is one of the most
unprecedented events is clear. The
fact is no other country has tried
this kind of radical demonetization,
especially when the economy was
growing at more than seven per
cent relatively consistently and
inflation was in control.
The sectors of the economy which
transact more in cash are expected
to be the most impacted. These
include supply chain and logistics,
agricultural farm produce and,
most of all, sectors like real estate

where 60:40 is the norm. Apart

from this, the consumer durables
as well as FMCG sectors are expect
ed to see a slowdown in consump
tion. This is expected to slow down
growth in the economy with no
money to buy goods and services in
the short term.
Also, people are trying to get
around the problem and sometimes
transactions are also being done on
the basis of trust/barter. However,
if the banking system is not able to
efficiently recalibrate the economy,

the Supreme Court has noted there

"could be riots".
Already the people, post the
announcement, have replaced a
large stock of their cash. The Prime
Minister quoted a figure of Rs 5
lakh crore of cash being deposited
in banks which could be used to
give loans to entrepreneurs and
common people. The banks seeing
incoming money are likely to cut
interest rates.
This is likely to have a positive
impact on growth in the medium

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

to longterm. The impact of this

needs to be greater than the
demandside shock for this gamble
to pay off economically. Most econ
omists are divided on this, but it
likely seems to be a step in the
right direction.
An interesting outcome will be the
move of people to reduce depend
ence on cash. This is expected to
bring more transactions into the
formal economy and most likely
increase the tax base. In India,
roughly two per cent of the people
file their tax returns. Tax evasion is
thus a significant problem. So far,
the transitioning from cash to a
cashless economy was incremental
in nature but in the coming months
this is expected to increase expo
nentially.
The kirana stores will most likely
move to using credit card machines
and mobile wallets have benefited
from the move. Besides this, people
will also move away from holding
cash as a source of money. They
will most likely move money into
gold or real estate.
At the root of corruption is our
penchant of not complying due to
bad systemic design. If that can be
addressed over the coming decade,
the war on corruption can be won.

TELEVISION

Nov 26-Dec 2, 2016

15

Indians in US get their own sitcom

Brown Nation, a satirical comedy about the lives of Indian
Americans, is showing on Netflix, and the world is watching.
By SATimes Team

Brown Nation is the first ever all Indian

show with an all Indian cast about an Indian American family living in New York
City. A sort of Everyone Loves Raymond, but
about desis in America. The 10-part Season
1 of the satirical comedy with a heart premiered on November 15 on Netflix, available in 190 countries where Netflix plays.
Starring actor-comedian Omi Vaidya
(3 Idiots), Melanie Chandra, (Code Black),
Shenaz Treasurywala (Delhi Belly) and New
York-based theater artist Rajeev Varma are
among other talented cast members.
Brown Nation is directed by Abi Varghese
and produced by Atit Shah and Prakash
Bare. The series was shot in New York City.
Brown Nation revolves around the everyday life of Hasmukh, a hilarious character who is dealing with a failing IT company
in Queens, New York. Other than holding
his dysfunctional office together, Hasmukh
also has to navigate various personal relationships: with his struggling artist wife,
live-in father-in-law and a dog.
The show is about the daily quirkiness
that we have, Varghese said. You know,
issues like marriage, five-year anniversary,
little things like slices of life. We have tried
to incorporate a lot of that which will be
relatable to the major audiences.
In an attempt to reignite his business,

Hasmukh brings in Balan Shri Ramakrishnan

from India, played by the ubiquitous comic
actor Omi Vaidya. I wanted to do something
different and Abi approached me with this
role of Balan, Omi Vaidya said about his role.
He is really terrible at English, and he tries
to communicate, but he struggles. He is dimwitted but he has a very warm heart.
The premise of the first episode, titled,
Farewell Papaji, has been: Grandparents
from India are coming to the US to stay with
their daughters family. That day, they find
out their grandson is gay and have difficulty
dealing with it. Netflix also airs Aziz Ansaris
Master of None, loosely based on Ansari,

who plays Dev, a 30-year-old actor trying to

make his way through life in New York City.
Comparisons have been made, but unfazed
director Abi Varghese says he is inspired
by Ansaris top-rated comedy-drama rather
than considering it a competition. Varghese
is best known for directing a popular sitcom
in Malayalam that aired on Kairali TV for
three years titled Akkara Kazhchakal.
Master of None is an inspiration. Both
the series have a lot of similar ideas. But
I feel Brown Nation is a lot quirkier than
that. I feel we have something pretty new
in terms of the design of the show. The other show is more like a drama-comedy, ours

Brown Nation is a slice-of-life

series revolving around the
life of a struggling small IT
business owner in New York.

Omi Vaidya of 3
Idiots fame stars
in the series.

Catch Meet The Patels on TV

By SATimes Team

eet the Patels, a cross-cultural romantic comedy made by siblings

Geeta V. Patel and Ravi V. Patel,
was completed in 2004. The documentary
has since created lot of buzz and won many
accolades including Audience Award at the
Los Angeles Film Festival. Now it will showcase Independent Lenss new season documentaries series on December 26, 2016 on
PBS. Independent Lens airs Monday nights
at 10:00 PM on PBS and all films are available for free online streaming the day after
broadcast on the Independent Lens website.
The film explores the expectations surrounding marriage in the Patels firstgeneration Indian immigrant family and in
wider American society.
Meet the Patels is the unlikeliest of success stories. It began as a home movie and
ended up a warm and funny feature. It
turned one mans culturally specific journey
into a lively and engaging universal story
made with an unmistakable sense of fun.
But Meet The Patels is more than just a
hoot. Its candor and empathy allow it to make
keen points about love, marriage, family and
the unexpected complications that American
freedoms can bring to immigrant lives.

is comedy, Varghese told PTI.

When we started this project, we didnt
know where it was going to go, firstly because it is Indian and also in America. We
were looking for the right platform for it. In
the past one year Netflix has opened up its
doors. They watched a few episodes and were
thrilled by it. They promote more diversified
content, Varghese said, adding, We have
tried to develop universally appealing humor by using situations of a quirky business
owner working to make it in the competitive
world of New York. With diversity of talent
and stories making impact, this series holds
potential to reach out to multiple audiences.

Front and center in this endeavor is Ravi

Patel, whose story this is and who co-directed
the film with his sister Geeta (who is also the
cinematographer) and costars in it with his
parents Champa and Vasant. Meet The Patels is a family affair from beginning to end.
Before we meet the Patels in person, the
film begins with an animated part with Ravis cartoon version bringing us up to date
on the back story of his life. Ravi reveals
that just before filming began he broke up
with his first serious girlfriend, the redhaired, non-Indian Audrey.
Ravi Patel went on a lot of dates while
filming the documentary Meet the Patels.
Here he gives us his best dating tips. And
his disclaimer: Hes bad at dating.
Not only that, Ravis immigrant parents,
fixated on his marrying an Indian, were never told of Audreys existence, so in Mom and
Dads eyes, Ive never had a girlfriend. To be
approaching 30 without ever having had marriage prospects is a family crisis of the first
order. As father Vasant tells him, Not getting married is the biggest loser you can be.
A working actor and comedian who has
an antic presence and a fine deadpan face,
Ravis sharp and funny voiceover (heard both
over the footage his sister shot and speaking
to the audience in the animation) is a highenergy component that unifies the film.

Ravi and Geeta Patel have have a deal

with Fox Searchlight Pictures to write and

direct a narrative remake of the film.

Ravi Patel is a comedian and actor who
worked in one episode of the Aziz Ansari
series, Master of None. From 2015 to
2016, he was on the John Stamos TV series,
Grandfathered.

Ravi Patel made Meet the Patels with his sister Geeta. It is a feature length
cross-cultural romantic comedy chronicling his search for a bride with his
parents help. It will be shown on PBS on next month.

16

Nov 26-Dec 2, 2016

Mallika Sherawat beaten' in Paris

I
ndian actress Mallika Sherawat was
attacked with tear gas, beaten and
robbed by three masked intruders out
side her Paris apartment block, a report
said. A criminal investigation has been
launched.
The police revealed about the incident,
which happened on the night of November
11 just a month after reality TV star Kim
Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint here,
reports dailymail.co.uk.
The 40yearold and a male partner
French businessman Cyrille Auxenfans
were attacked with tear gas and punched.
The alleged assault took place when the two
arrived at her residential building in the
16th arrondissement of the French capital.
According to Le Parisien newspaper, the
criminals wore scarves across their faces
and "without saying a word, sprayed their
victims with tear gas before punching
them". They then fled, leaving a shocked
Mallika and her friend to call the emergency
services. A criminal investigation has been
launched, with detectives working on the
assumption that this was an attempted rob
bery. Mallika is known for her bold portray
als in Bollywood films and for sharing
screen space with Jackie Chan in "The
Myth".

Akshay
Kumar real
hero of '2.0':
Rajinikanth

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD

Sunny Leone among

BBC's 100 most
inuential women

Sunny Leone at a party in Mumbai.

Mallika is known for her bold portrayals in Bollywood films.

'Tum Bin 2':

Lifeless,
without the
performances

uperstar
Rajinikanth said
he was quite
tempted to play Akshay
Kumar's role in his
upcoming Tamil sci
encefiction actioner
"2.0". He said Akshay is
the real hero of the film.
"If given a chance, I
would have played
Akshay's character. He is
the real hero of the film,"
Rajinikanth said.
Akshay Kumar plays
the prime antagonist in
the film, which will hit the
screens worldwide during
Diwali 2017.
Talking at the event,
Akshay said: "Director
Shankar said my role will
be difficult but I enjoyed
it. The subject is very
shay Kumar's
Evil has a new face Ak
unique. I'm sure this film
.
villainous avatar for 2.0
will reach the standards of
Hollywood."
Also starring Amy Jackson, Sudhanshu Pandey and Adil Hussain, the
Rs 350 crore mega budget film is produced by Lyca Productions. It is
being completed shot in 3D.
A sequel to the 2010 Tamil blockbuster "Enthiran", the film is being
made on a lavish budget of Rs 350 crore. Akshay will be essaying the
prime antagonist in the film as an eccentric scientist called Richard,
while megastar Rajinikanth returns as scientist Vaseegaran.

A still from the movie.

n oldfashioned love story about selfless love,
friendship, forgiveness and sacrifice, Anubhav
Sinha's "Tum Bin 2" is a sequel to his earlier
film "Tum Bin", made in 2001. The setting is differ
ent, the faces new, but the story line is almost the
same. Taran (Neha Sharma) and Amar (Aashim
Gulati) are in love and on a holiday together, when
while skiing in the Alps, Amar meets with an acci
dent and goes missing.
While the emotional quotient of the film's
theme is high, the pace drags and somewhere,
it fails to involve you as the momentum is
lost. You do not empathize with the charac
ters. The film recourses to several clichd
dialogues and situations and is predictable
from word go, with no element of surprise.
The performances of the lead cast are praise
worthy as of the other supporting characters.
Aditya Seal as Shekhar shines with his subtle histri
onics and charms you immediately. His acting style
is strongly reminiscent of Akshaye Khanna. Neha
Sharma as Taran is natural, emotes reasonably well
and is endearing, while debutant Aashim Gulati
appears confident, but seems filmi making an
earnest effort to act. He lacks spontaneity.
Overall, "Tum Bin 2" had the potential of being a
love story that could warm the cockles of your
heart, but somehow this one does not, despite the
strong performances by Aditya Seal and Neha
Sharma.

his year's BBC 100 women list marks the

fourth year of the season. They are once
again a mixture of highprofile and influen
tial women including entrepreneurs, engineers,
sportswomen, business women, fashion icons and
artistes.
Sunny, who is celebrating her fifth year anniver
sary in Bollywood, started in Indian showbiz by
participating in the controversial reality TV show
"Bigg Boss" in 2011.
She went on to star in Bollywood films like "Jism
2", "Jackpot" and "Ek Paheli Leela".
Apart from the actress, the list also includes four
Indian names Gouri Chindarkar (Sangli), Mallika
Srinivasan (Chennai), Neha Singh (Mumbai) and
Saalumarada Thimmakka (Karnataka), read a
statement.

Brad Pitt thinks his children are

being turned against him
ctor Brad Pitt thinks his children are being
turned against him. He reportedly stormed
out of a meeting with his children. The
"Allied" actor is concerned that his estranged wife
and actress Angelina Jolie is trying to turn
their six children Maddox, 15,
Pax, 12, Zahara, 11, Shiloh, 10,
and eightyearold twins
Knox and Vivienne
against him and have even
stopped calling him daddy,
reports femalefirst.co.uk.
Kris Herzog, a bodyguard
who works for both the fami
ly and Jolie's father Jon Voight,
says that Pitt's two super
Pitts two supervised vised visits with his brood
visits with his kids have not gone well. "Brad is
have not gone well. so angry. From what I've
heard from Brad and Jon, even the kids are turning
against him. He's alleging they won't even speak to
him and they won't call him daddy or father.
They've had two meetings with Los Angeles family
services and in both none of the kids would talk to
him," Herzog told Grazia magazine. "He stormed out
of the second one really angry, it was the straw that
broke the camel's back. This fight is going nuclear
now," he added.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Nov 26-Dec 2, 2016

ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD

Dangal is my
wedding gift to
Geeta Phogat: Aamir

17

Don't have problem working

in Hindi lms: Freida Pinto

Sbased Indian actress Freida Pinto, who

rose to fame with the Oscarwinning film
"Slumdog Millionaire," says she has no
problem working in Hindi films. "I have no
problem working in Hindi language films. In
fact, I worked in a half Marwari film 'Trishna'
when I couldn't even speak the language. I had
to learn it," she said. "The thing is not that who
is in the film. It's the story which is important
for me," she added.
Freida was recently speaking at an event
where Google unveiled virtual exhibits
"Women in India: Unheard stories".
About her upcoming film, the 32yearold
said: "I've a fantastic film coming out next year.
It is directed by Tabrez Noorani, who is an
Indian. He was one of the producers of
'Slumdog Millionaire'. He has done a fantastic
film called 'Love Sonia'. It also has Anupam
Kher and Adil Hussain. So, yes, I am doing
Hindi language films. Also, I do speak in Hindi."

Freida Pinto rose to fame with the

Oscarwinning film Slumdog Millionaire.
The film is slated to release on Dec 23.

ollywood actor Aamir

Khan attended the wed
ding ceremony of interna
tional wrestler Geeta Phogat in
her ancestral village near this
Haryana town and termed his
upcoming film "Dangal", based
on her and her family's life, his
wedding gift to her.
"'Dangal' is my wedding gift to
Geeta," Aamir said, adding that
he would have gifted her the
bridal gown but for "traditional
reasons".
"It is traditionally given by the
maternal uncle," he said.
Sporting a red color Haryanvi
turban and a half jacket, Aamir,
who plays the role of Mahavir
Singh Phogat, the father of
medalwinning athletes Geeta

and her sister Babita, in his next

film "Dangal", arrived in the
Balali village to wish Geeta and
her family.
Meanwhile, Geeta, who mar
ried fellow wrestler Pawan
Kumar, took an extra eighth
'phera', which she dedicated to
the "Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao"
initiative, intended to curb the
incidence of female foeticide in
the country, which has led to a
skewed sex ratio. Haryana is
one of the worstaffected.
"Dangal", produced by Aamir
Khan, Kiran Rao & Siddharth
Roy Kapur under Disney and
Aamir Khan Productions, is
directed by Nitesh Tiwari and is
slated to release on December
23.

'Force 2' mints Rs 20 crore in rst weekend

elebrity children, including little ones of Sanjay

Dutt and Akshay Kumar, got together here to
celebrate the birthday of Aaradhya Bachchan,
daughter of star couple Abhishek and Aishwarya Rai
Bachchan.
Aaradhya, who turned 5 on November 16, hosted
the party. The Btown children were in
full attendance with their parents.
Actress Sonali Bendre was spot
ted with her husband Goldie Behl
along with their son Ranveer, pro
ducer Kiran Rao with son Azad,
and filmmaker Sanjay Gupta
turned up with his daughter at the
party. Actor Sanjay Dutt's twins
Shahraan and Iqra turned up with their moth
er Manyata. Former actress Neelam, who is married
to actor Samir Soni, attended the party with their
daughter Ahana.
While action star Akshay Kumar was busy with the
launch of the firstlook poster of his character from
"2.o", his wife Twinkle joined the other stars and
their children at the party with her daughter Nitara.
Following the pinkthemed party,
Aaradhya's grandfather and megas
Aaradhya turned five on
tar Amitabh Bachchan sported a pink
November 16.
outfit.

Starstudded
birthday party
for Aaradhya
Bachchan

ohn Abraham and

Sonakshi Sinha star
rer "Force 2" has col
lected Rs 20.05 crore in
the first weekend of its
release despite the
demonetization.
"Force 2" raked in a
total of Rs 20.05 crore
with Rs 6.05 crore on
the first day of its
release. The next day, it

Actors John Abraham

and Sonakshi Sinha
promote Force 2.

Demonetization
hit box ofce
now sees
better days
ahead

ilms released in past two

weeks may not have gar
nered the revenues anticipat
ed by trade gurus because of
demonetization, but the situation
is improving now, experts main
tain. Trade experts say the situa
tion is relatively normal com
pared to the previous week and
that audiences have started to
walk into theatres. Singlescreen
theatres are the ones that had to
bear the burnt, as the bulk of the
audience prefers to buy tickets
with cash and not online.
"There has been a huge dip. I
feel sorry for the film 'Rock On 2'

made Rs 6.50 crore and

later the film collected Rs
7.50 crore at the domestic
box office, read a state
ment from the film's publi
cist. "Force 2", which is the
second installment of the
"Force" franchise, also
stars Tahir Raj Bhasin.
The Abhinay Deo direc
torial is based on the
intention of one man who
wants to kill agents of
India's intelligence agency
the Research and
Analysis Wing (RAW).

A cinema hall in Jaipur.

which released the week when
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
made this announcement. But this
Friday was relatively better. I
can't say good, but it was decent,"
Manoj Desai, Executive Director of
Gaiety Galaxy and Maratha
Mandir Cinema, said.
This weekend "Force 2" and
"Tum Bin 2" had a clash at the box
office. But the John Abraham star
rer managed to pull in a fair
amount of business. The director
of the film "Tum Bin 2", Anubhav
Sinha, is happy with Modi's move,
he is also hugely disappointed as
his film has been affected.

18

Nov 26-Dec 2, 2016

Indian Ocean as seen from Morne Blanc,

the highest peak here

l By Aroonim Bhuyan

t was raining heavily when the inau

gural Sri Lankan Airlines flight from
Colombo touched down on the Indian
Ocean archipelago nation of Seychelles
and one could hardly make out the water
cannon salute from inside the aircraft.
As the passengers deboarded at the
Seychelles International Airport on Mahe
island, each of them were handed out
umbrellas by ground staff waiting at the
end of the stepladder to get to the small
arrival terminal a few steps away.
The sheer exoticness of the country will
never fail to hit a firsttime visitor, as this
IANS correspondent was as he was trans
ported from the airport to the resort on
an island connected by a small bridge. A
neat, we ll maintained twolane road
flanked by tropical trees greenery in all
its grandeur connected the airport with
the resort.
The quaint houses on the way mostly
re flected the French architectural
style.Though the Seychelles was colonized
by France and later by Britain until inde
pendence in 1976, the people of the coun
try mostly retained the French culture.
Of the 115 islands that comprise the
archipelago around 1,500 km from the
African mainland, only the three largest
ones are inhabited in a big way Mahe,
Praslin and La Digue. Mahe, the largest, is
home to most of the country's 93,000odd
population.
A visit to the Seyche lles Nat ional
Botanical Gardens on Mount Fleuri on the
outskirts of the capital Victoria starts with
an interesting bit of trivia a popular
myth in the country is that the coconut
tree has male and female forms. And that
myth has been given official recognition
as shown by the immigration stamp on
the passport, the contours of which repre
sent the female form of the tree.
The wood of the Takamaka coconut tree
is considered to be the most expensive in
the Seychelles, according to Sandra, the
guide assigned to our group of journalists.
"The French extract oil from the roots of
this tree and 50 ml of this is sold for 300

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

TRAVEL

Captive Aldabran giant tortoises

euros," she said, adding that

the oil is mostly used for skin
care products.
Landscaped and beautifully
maintained, the five acres of the
gardens are also home to exotic
and endemic tropical plants and
a variety of spice and fruit trees.
Fruit bats can also be seen hang
ing from the trees.
And then came the most antici
pated event a visit to the giant
tortoises enclosure. One look and
you will surely do a double take.
Tortoises. Giant ones! Distributed
across the Aldabra Atoll in the
Seychelles, giant tortoises are herbi
vores that feed on leaves, fruits and
low hanging tree branches.
"The world's longest lived animals with
a lifespan of nearly 250 years, Aldabran
giant tortoises are one of the two last
existing species of giant tortoises," a
board at the enclosure reads. "Their abili
ty to survive nearly three months without
food or water contributed to their vulner
able status providing live meat for ships
travelling the Indian Ocean during the
16th to 18th century," it stated.
Sandra, the guide, explained that it took
three days by boat to reach the Aldabra
Atoll, a Unesco World Heritage Site com
prising four coral islands, and only seven
visitors are allowed on the atoll on any
given day.
Covering an area of 20 sq km, Victoria
must be one of the smallest and quaintest
national capitals in the world. Neatly
maintained twolane streets crisscross the
town which is dotted with pretty, brightly
colored houses with slanted roofs given
the tropical rain forest climate of the
place, and modern commercial buildings.
The Victoria Clock Tower is a focal
point of the town. Erected in 1903 as a
memorial to Queen Victoria who died in
1901, the clock is a replica of the one
erected in London in 1897.
With the Seyche lles as a hig hend
tourist destination, world's top hotel
brands are all here.
Beach time and Sandra immediately

ictoria.
wntown V
o
d
in
r
e
Clock Tow

Where is Seychelles?
ocated in the
Indian Ocean,
Seychelles abuts
the continent of
Africa and is near
Madagaskar. It is
about 5 hours flight
from Delhi. Many
airlines from USA fly
to Seychelles too.
Seychelles boasts
the highest nominal
per capita GDP in
Africa and has a high
Human Development
Index. The currency
here is the Seychelles
Rupee (SCR).

informed her guests that all beaches in

the Seychelles were public. "That is the
law," she said.
North East Point Beach is one such.
Stretching over 1.5 km, the windswept
beach is popular with tourists, especially
surfers. Beach rocks masses of sand that
have turned into rocks under pressure
are indicative of how old the beach is.
Farther ahead is the Beau Vallon beach,

once considered the best beach in the

world and even now among the top 10.
On to Morne Blanc, the highest peak
here, from where one can get spectacular
panoramic views of the Indian Ocean and
see tropical birds.
A local meal at a Creole homestead that
comprised steamed sea fish, chicken curry
and lentils, or dhal as they call it, complet
ed the experience.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

DIASPORA

Nov 26-Dec 2, 2016

19

Patel most common Indian surname in UK: Dictionary

London: Patel has emerged as the most
common Indian surname in the UK,
according to a new Oxford dictionary
release.
T he 'Oxford Dict ionary of Family
Names in Britain and Ireland' has put
together the origins of nearly 50,000 sur
names in one of the UK's largest studies
of its kind.
"One of the most common Indian sur
names, Patel, was a status name from a
Hindu and Parsi name for a village herds
man. It is one of the most common Indian
surnames in Britain, with over 100,000
bearers recorded in the 2011 census," it
said. Other Indian surnames to find a

place in the new dictionary include

'Chakrabart i', which derives from
Sanskrit 'Cakravarti', meaning "wheels
rolling" and used metaphorically for a
ruler whose chariot wheels roll every
where without obstruction. The fouryear
study of British and Irish records dating
back to the 11th century to analyze fami
ly names was conducted by linguists and
historians.
"Our research uses the most uptodate
evidence and techniques in order to cre
ate a more detailed and accurate
resource than those currently available,"
said Richard Coates, professor of linguis
tics at the University of Western England

(UWE) in Bristol.
About half of the 20,000 most common
names are locative, meaning they come
from places and a fifth are nicknames.
About 8 per cent are occupational,
including less familiar ones such as
Beadle (church of ficial), Rutter (musi
cian), and Baxter (baker).
The study concludes that nearly 40,000
family names are native to Britain and
Ireland, while the remainder reflect the
diverse languages and cultures of immi
grants who have settled since the 16th
century, including Indian, French
Huguenot, Dutch, Jewish Arabic, Korean,
Japanese, Chinese and African arrivals.

Mauritius to set up
Ayurvedic hospital
Panaji: Maurit ian Prime
Minister Anerood Jugnauth
on Wednesday said that the
island nation could soon be
coming up with an Ayurvedic
hospital.
Jugnauth, who was speak
ing at a function organized by
Sandu Pharmaceuticals in
Pilerne, near the state capital,
also said that Mauritians felt
at home in India and vice
versa. "I will do my best to see
to it that an Ayurvedic hospi
tal is established in the very
near future in Mauritius," the
Prime Minister said.
He also wished that the val
ues, merit of the Vedic medi
cine be known and appreciat
ed all over the world.
Jugnauth also said that

PM Anerood Jugnauth
(Image : fairscloud.com)
Mauritians were proud of the
shared heritage with India.
"W hen you come to
Mauritius. You feel at ease,
you feel at home because you
get the feeling that you are in
some part of India and for
this we are very proud.
"We are indebted to our
ancestors who have left such

memorable values for us," he

also said. Jugnauth also said
that Ayurveda treatment was
of fered free in Mauritius, in
accordance w ith the free
medical services policy in the
island nation.
"Now, Ayurvedic medicine...
You know many people don't
realize how valuable it is. I
have always believed in it. I
have always tried to promote
it in Mauritius...
"The medicines are being
given free to patients, why?
Because medical services,
medical care is free in
Mauritius and therefore, we
could not do otherwise. It is a
service integrated in our med
ical service," he said.
(IANS)

Government to showcase social innovations at PBD

New Delhi: In the runup to
next year's edit ion of the
Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD),
the foremost conclave of the
Indian diaspora, the govern
ment is organising a national
contest to identify the top 25
social innovations that can be
showcased to expatriate
Indians, a senior official said
on Thursday.
External Af fairs Ministry
spokesperson Vikas Swarup
said at his weekly media brief
ing here that the contest was
being org anized by the
Economic Diplomacy Division

of the ministry with the sup

port of Atal Innovat ion
Mission, Niti Aayog.
The PBD 2017 will be held
in Bengaluru from January 7
to 9. "The objective of the
National Contest on Social
Innovation is to identify a
pool of social impact innova
tors that have developed or
are developing commercially
feasible solutions to the socio
economic problems of India,"
Swarup said. "T his would
facilitate the creation of a
community of innovators,
entrepreneurs, investors,

grant bodies, and mentors to

support the selected startups
for commercialization and
scaleup."
The key focus sectors for
the contest include clean tech
nology, education, health,
housing, public transport, skill
development and livelihood,
waste management, water and
sanitat ion, and women
empowerment "The 25 best
innovative startups with a
social impact will be show
cased to Pravasis participat
ing in the PBD through an
exhibition," Swarup said.

Each entry includes the frequencies of

the name at the time of the 1881 and
2011 censuses, its main location in
Britain and Ireland, its language or cul
ture of origin, and, wherever possible, an
explanation supported by historical evi
dence for the name.
Much of this evidence is new, drawn
from previously untapped medieval and
modern sources such as tax records,
church registers and census returns. The
research for the four volume dictionary
was funded by the UK's Arts and
Humanities Research Council, led by a
team at UWE and published by Oxford
(PTI)
University Press (OUP).

TiE London launches

women entrepreneurs wing
London: The Indus Entrepreneurs
(TiE) London, part of TiE Global,
the worlds largest nonprofit net
work for entrepreneurs, recently
announced the launch of TiE
Women Entrepreneurs (TWE). On
Thursday November 17th, the
organization held a gala dinner at
the Intercontinental Hotel in
London where the announcement
was made.
TWE will be the chapters female
focused division; promoting and
encouraging the core TiE values
among its female members.
TiE Londons President Dinesh
Dhamija, a BritishIndian serial
business entrepreneur, best known
as the founder of the successful
online travel agency Ebookers
(LR) Farzana Baduel, Founder Curzon PR, Dinesh
said, I am very pleased to
Dhamija, Tie London President, Radhika Seth,
announce the launch of TWE and
Founder Sequoia London
announce that we have appointed
as cochairs; Farzana Baduel, Founder and laborate and encourage each other, the
CEO of an awardwinning, global strategic PR greater chance we will have in changing the
agency Curzon PR and Radhika Seth, gender imbalance within the business com
Founder and CEO of International Interior munity.
Radhika Seth added, Networking is crucial
Architecture and Design company Sequoia
London, two inspiring women who are great to the success of so many business leaders,
examples of successful female entrepreneurs and in knowing the value of this skill I'm
showcasing how hard work and dedication eager to encourage more people, women in
particular, to build circles that will nurture
can lead to being masters of your craft.
Farzana Baduel said,TWE gives women their professional development.
As an extension of a global community
making strides in their business activities, a
community that will champion their efforts, with over 12,000 members consisting of 61
support their endeavors and inspire others chapters in 18 countries, TWE is going to be
to break the glass ceiling in the entrepre a huge force in uniting women not only from
neurial field. Networking is one of the most across London but on an international scale.
powerful tools for broadening our knowl The range of events, support and mentoring
edge and sparking exciting collaborations, programs which will be available to TWE
particularly in an era where everything is members is an exciting trait of the associa
developing at a faster pace. The more we col tion.

20

Nov 26-Dec 2, 2016

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

SUBCONTINENT

Pakistan in search of new army chief

Islamabad: The countdown has begun in Pakistan to appoint the next
Army Chief with Gen Raheel Sharif set to step down on November 29.
The ball is now in Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's court to choose his
successor among the top four generals.
If sources are to be believed Prime Minister Sharif has already made
up his mind over who will succeed Gen Sharif, but has so far kept his
cards close to his chest. The word in political circles is that Lt. Gen
Ishfaq Nadeem Ahmed, who is currently serving as Multan corps com
mander, will be named the next army chief.
Lt Gen Zubair Mehmood is likely to be appointed chairman of the
joint chiefs of staff committee, according to reports.
Others in contention for the top military post include Bahawalpur
Corps Commander Lt Gen Javed Iqbal Ramday and Inspector General
Training and Evaluation Lt Gen Qamar Bajwa.
All four generals are from the Pakistan Military Academy's 62nd
Long Course, but have had different career trajectories.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has said that completion of ongoing
counterterrorism operations would be the responsibility of the new
army chief.
The war against terrorism, the situation along the border with India,
and alleged "Indian aggression in Pakistan through Afghanistan" will
be among the major responsibilities the new army chief will have to
focus on, Asif said.
Nawaz Sharif's choice will be important in the context that the new
army chief would have to oversee the transition of the army from
counterterrorism assignments to its conventional role of defending
the borders.
The formal process for nomination starts with the General

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has already made up his mind over
who will succeed Gen Raheel Sharif.
Headquarters in Rawalpindi sending a list of the seniormost generals
to the Prime Minister via the defence ministry, but without making
any formal recommendations.
The Prime Minister then will hold informal consultations with the
outgoing Army Chief before announcing his decision.
Gen Sharif initiated his farewell meetings at the Lahore Garrison on
Monday, where he told a gathering of officers and men from the army
and Rangers that he was leaving the country "more secure and stable",
with a "sense of greater hope and direction" and ready to thwart all
challenges.

Solution to Kashmir
issue vital for regional
peace: Aziz

Pakistan's foreign policy chief

Sartaj Aziz.
Islamabad: Pakistan's foreign poli
cy chief Sartaj Aziz said that solu
tion to the Kashmir issue was vital
for peace in South Asia.
Speaking at a conference on
'Strengthening Peace and

Cooperation in South Asia:

Incentives and Constraints', Prime
Minister Nawaz Sharif 's Foreign
Policy Advisor Aziz also spoke
about "possible threats" due to
"Indian brutality" in the area,
Dunya News reported.
He accused India of continuous
ly "violating" ceasefire on the Line
of Control despite peace initia
tives by Pakistan and committing
"atrocities" in Jammu and
Kashmir.
Aziz said both countries should
sort out issues through mutual
negotiation and cooperation.
He said "Pakistan believes in
peaceful coexistence based on
mutual respect for sovereignty
and territorial integrity but at the
same time it can not remain aloof
from the prevailing situation in
the region".

Ramdevs Patanjali group sets up factory in Nepal

Kathmandu: The Patanjali Group, founded by yoga guru Ramdev,

opened its new factory in Nepal on Thursday, aiming to produce vari
ous fastmoving consumer goods. Part of the total investment of over
Rs 1.6 billion also came from Nepali businessman Upendra Mahato.
Nepal President Bidya Devi Bhandari inaugurated the factory at a
function in Bara in southern Nepal. She said: "Nepal is rich in biological
diversification and it is the need of the hour to conserve herbs that are
produced in the country." The industry's establishment has helped fur
ther consolidate the NepalIndia ageold relations and create jobs in
the country, the President added. She was accompanied by Ramdev
and his close aide Acharya Balkrishna.
Minister for Agriculture Gaurishankar Chaudhary said Nepal's high
lands are home to a number of herbs and called for their proper uti
lization. Indian Ambassador to Nepal Ranjit Rae said Patanjali has
helped further strengthen NepalIndia bilateral ties.
The venture produces 55 types of essentials, including food and
cosmetic items, with materials mainly imported from India.

Sri Lanka sees no

threat from Indian
nuclear power
plants
Colombo: Sri Lanka sees no threat from
nuclear power plants in India, a Minister
said. Deputy Minister of Power and
Energy Ajith P. Perera said Sri Lanka has
monitoring stations in several parts of the
country and if there is a threat of radia
tion it can be detected, Xinhua news
agency reported.
Sri Lanka has the capability of monitor
ing any possible threat from nuclear
power plants in the region, he said.
According to the Minister, Sri Lanka is
working with the International Atomic
Energy Agency to identify a suitable loca
tion for a nuclear plant, although the
country has not decided on whether to
have one.
Sri Lanka currently depends on
hydropower, thermal and coal power.
Perera said that as an alternative Sri
Lanka is also looking at Liquefied Natural
Gas (LNG).

Quake hits Japan, tsunami

warning downgraded
Tokyo: An earthquake measuring
7.4 on the Richter Scale hit
Fukushima in Japan, the weather
agency said, leaving at least 12
people injured.
But the Japan Meteorological
Agency downgraded the tsunami
warning for northeastern prefec
tures of Miyagi and Fukushima to
advisory. The epicenter of the
quake was at a latitude of 37.3
degrees north and a longitude of
141.6 degrees east and occurred
at a depth of 30 km.
The temblor was centred in the
waters of fshore of Fukushima,
which borders the Pacific Ocean

and is to the northeast of Tokyo.

Over 3,000 people fled to evac
uation centers in Fukushima, the
Japan Times reported.
"The sound of sirens brought
back memories of the huge earth
quake (of 2011)," said Tomomi
Nagakubo, 48, who drove in her
car to an evacuation centre in
Ibaraki with her 13yearold son.
At 8.03 a.m, 1.4metre tsunami
were observed at Sendai port in
northeastern Miyagi prefecture,
following the first wave of tsuna
mi at coastline 20 km east of
Iwaki city in Fukushima.
The weather agency warned of

further tidal waves of up to three

meters for Fukushima and one
metre for other parts of the
coastline facing the Pacific.
T he jolt was fe lt in central
Tokyo and also shook other
northeastern Japanese prefec
tures including To chig i and
Ibaraki. Train and flights services
were part ially suspended or
delayed in northeastern Japan
while power outage af fected at
least 1,100 households in
Fukushima and Niigata.
Water supply was cut of f at
some parts in Fukushima and
Sentai.

UNGA adopts Pakistan's

resolution on selfdetermination
United Nation/Islamabad: A United
Nations General Assembly (UNGA)
pane l unanimously adopted a
Pakistansponsored resolution
reaffirming the universal right of
people to selfdetermination as a
fundamental condition for the
ef fective guarantee and obser
vance of human rights.
The resolution, cosponsored by
72 countries, was adopted without
a vote in the 193member assem
bly's Third Committee, which deals
with social, humanitarian and cul
tural issues, a Foreign Office state
ment said.
Political observers say the reso
lution, which Pakistan has been
tabling since 1981, serves to focus

the world's attention on the strug

gle by peoples for their inalienable
right to selfdetermination, includ
ing those in Kashmir and Palestine.
The resolution is expected to
come up for the General
Assembly's endorsement next
month.Present ing the draft,
Pakistan's Ambassador to the UN
Maleeha Lodhi said the right to
selfdetermination was a funda
mental principle of the UN Charter
and international law.
"Exercise of this rig ht has
enabled millions across the world
to emerge from the yoke of colo
nial and foreign occupation, and
alien domination," she said.
"Many of us present here today

are proud inheritors of this strug

gle," Lodhi said, adding that the
very struggle has enabled genera
tions "to achieve a life of dignity
and honour as free citizens of
independent states."
Pakistan's commitment to the
universal right of peoples to self
determination remains "firm and
abiding", Lodhi said.
Under its terms, the Assembly
deplored the plight of millions of
refugees and displaced persons
who have been uprooted as a
result of human rights violations
and reaffirms their right to return
to their homes voluntarily in safety
and honor, the Foreign Of fice
statement said.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

INTERNATIONAL

Iraqi forces retake six

villages from IS terrorists
Mosul: Iraqi security forces
recaptured six villages in
southeast and north of the
city of Mosul, while special
forces continued heavy
clashes with the Islamic
State (IS) terrorists to clear
the districts freed earlier
from the terrorists in the
eastern part of the city, a
security source said.
The army's 9th armored
Division continued their
advance toward Mosul
and managed to free the
Iraq's counterterrorism forces in Mosuls Bazwaia town.
three villages of al
Salamiyah, alHmeirah and Twajnah al River, but met resistance of the militants,
Jadida, which are located some 20km south who are fighting in small groups who fre
east of Mosul, after sporadic clashes with IS quently infiltrated behind the advanced CTS
terrorists, Xinhua quoted a statement from forces using tunnels or sneaking through
the Joint Operations Command (JOC) as say dozens of houses and buildings.
The troops and explosive experts also
ing. In north of Mosul, the army's 16th
Division and allied Sunni paramilitary units defuse dozens of boobytraps planted earli
freed the villages of alAbbasiyah, Ortta er by the terrorists in the freed districts.
After more than a month of military oper
Kharab and alSalam after heavy clashes,
bringing the troops closer to the northern ations against IS terrorists inside Mosul,
almost 65,000 civilians have fled their
edge of Mosul, the JOC statement said.
The security forces have been fighting to homes and the number went up every day,
push deeper into the eastern side of the city, according to the Iraqi Ministry of Migration
locally known as left bank of the Tigris and Displaced.

Pentagon confirms
Al Qaeda leader's
death in Syria
A soldier
on patrol
in Syria.

Washington: The US Ministry of

Defense confirmed that a senior
Al Qaeda leader was killed in a US
air strike near Sarmada, Syria, last
week.
Abu Afghan AlMasri, an
Egyptian who joined Al Qaeda in
Afghanistan and later moved to
Syria, died on November 18,
Xinhua
quoted
Pentagon
spokesman Peter Cook as saying.
"He had ties to terrorist groups
operating throughout Southwest
Asia, including groups responsible
for attacking US and coalition
forces in Afghanistan and those
plotting to attack the West," said
Cook.
The US has carried out sporadic
strikes in the past against veteran
AlQaeda members who migrated

to northwestern Syria from

Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Earlier this month, US President
Obama ordered the Pentagon to
deploy more drones and intelli
gence assets against an AlQaeda
linked military group in Syria, for
merly known as Jabhat alNusra
and now called Jabhat Fatah al
Sham or Front for the Conquest
of Syria.
The move highlights Obama's
concern that it is turning parts of
Syria into a new base of opera
tions for AlQaeda on Europe's
southern doorstep.
During his campaign, US
Presidentelect Donald Trump
said he would be even more
aggressive in going after militants
than Obama.

Nov 26-Dec 2, 2016

21

Russia says UN
sabotaged Syrian
peace negotiations
Moscow:
Russia
Damascus and oppo
accused the United
sition groups both in
Nations of sabotag
Syria and in exile
ing peace negotia
were seriously study
t ions between the
ing the possibility.
Syrian regime and
He said even the
rebels.
g roups closest to
Addressing a press
Saudi Arabia were
conference in Minsk,
aware that refusing
Russian
Foreign
to negotiate until the
Minister
Sergey
beleaguered Syrian
Lavrov said UN spe
President Bashar al
cial envoy Staffan de
Assad stepped down,
Mistura had been
was a dead end.
Russian Foreign Minister
s a b o t a g i n g
At the end of April,
Sergey Lavrov.
Resolut ion 2254,
the High Negotiation
which stipulates the organization of peace Committee the main Syrian opposition
talks, Efe news agency reported. He said representative in Geneva abandoned
this left the Syrian government no choice the peace talks unt il Moscow and
but to accept the patriotic opposition's Damascus ceased all military operations
initiative and organize Syrian dialogue in Aleppo. Russian aviation suspended its
itself.
aerial attacks against Aleppo over a
According to Lavrov, Moscow would month ago, but last week launched a mass
support the celebration of such talks in attack against Islamist positions in Syria.

Egypt court
overturns
Morsi's life
sentence

The ousted pesident has

received several jail sentences.
Cairo: An Egyptian court over
turned the life sentence of for
mer President Mohamed Morsi
in the Hamas espionage case
and ordered a retrial, the media
reported.
The Court of Cassation, the
highest degree court in Egypt,
has ordered that Morsi and 21
codefendants, including the
supreme guide of the now out
lawed Muslim Brotherhood
Mohamed Badie, will also be
retried, Xinhua news agency
reported.
Morsi was sentenced to life
imprisonment for 25 years in
June last year for allegedly deliv
ering secret documents to
Palestinian group Hamas,
Lebanese Hezbollah group and
the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
T he court last week over
turned the only death sentence
against Morsi in a jailbreak case.
Morsi no longer faces execution.

S Korea's opposition to
begin President's
impeachment process
Seoul: South Korea's main opposi
tion, the Democratic Party
announced that it will initiate
impeachment proceedings against
President Park Geunhye, if she
does not step down after having
been declared an accomplice in a
corruption case.
"Park must step down. Under this
stance, we will review her impeach
ment and the issue of forming an
interim Cabinet at a proper time,"
opposition leader Choo Miae said
in a meeting with party members.
Choo added that the party will
immediately start the necessary for
malities for the impeachment
process in parliament although she
warned it could take up to six
months, according to a statement
issued by the party. The announce
ment comes a day after prosecutors
said Park acted as an accomplice in

a corruption and influence peddling

case that has sparked strong indig
nation in the country and intensi
fied demands for her resignation.
The prosecutors said that Park
colluded with her close friend and
confidant, Choi Soonsil, and anoth
er two former aides to pressure
over 50 companies to donate a total
of $65.7 million to two foundations.
Until now, the main opposition
parties, who have a majority in the
parliament, had not raised the pos
sibility of initiating an impeachment
process believing it would be reject
ed by the Supreme Court at the last
moment. The socalled "Choi Soon
sil Gate", which came to light a
month ago, has caused Park's popu
larity ratings to plummet to a
record low and led the opposition
and a large section of society to
demand her resignation.

Protesters attend a rally calling for the resignation

of South Korean President.

22

Nov 26-Dec 2, 2016

BUSINESS

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

In emotional speech, Modi defends currency move

New Delhi: In an emotional speech
to parliament members from his
ruling BJP, Prime Minister
Narendra Mo di vehemently
de fended the demonet izat ion
move, saying it was done for the
benefit of the people.
Addressing
the
BJP
Parliamentary Party meeting here,
Modi urged the members to count
er what he called was "misinforma
tion" being spread by the opposi
tion parties on the demonetization
of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency
notes. "We came to power for the
poor, not for our own sake," the
Prime Minister said in his speech,
according to Parliamentary Affairs
Minister Ananth Kumar.
"The poor, the lower middle class
and middle class have been suffer
ing since the last 70 years due to
corruption and black money."
"This decision is in favor of the
people and against black money,
corruption and counterfeit curren
cy. Our target is fight a long battle
ag ainst all these," said Mo di,

The BJP Parliamentary Party also passed a resolution backing the

government's decision to spike the high value currencies.
according to Ananth Kumar.
According to sources, the Prime
Minister said that demonetization
decision is just a "beginning of
government's crusade against
black money and corruption", and
such type of actions will be contin
ued. Sources also said that Prime
Minister asked party leaders not to
use the word "surgical strike" for

demonetization. "Don't call it a sur

gical strike. Only a soldier can do
that," a source quoted Modi as say
ing at the meeting.
Incidentally, BJP President Amit
Shah, in his first reaction after
demonet izat ion scheme was
announced, had dubbed the move
as surgical strike on black money
and corrupt ion. T he BJP

Demonetization helped
banks improve their fund
situation: Jaitley
New Delhi: Union Finance Minister
Arun Jaitley said the demonetization
move allowed banks to collect huge
amounts of money that would help the
government undertake welfare meas
ures. He also indicated that there could
be more relaxations for the farmers in
the coming days.
Addressing a meeting here of the BJP
parliamentary party, he said that as a
result of the demonetization decision, a
"huge amount" of money has come to
the banking system which will help the
exchequer and the banking system.
"Such inflow of huge amount only
helps to increase the banks' ability to
invest more in development works and
to give loans for agriculture and rural
development. It is hence only natural
that the loan interest rate will be less,"
Jaitley said, adding that the banks have
already started reducing the loan inter
est rates.
Jaitley also took on Congress Vice
President Rahul Gandhi referring to his
recent speech in Mumbai.
"Some people say even the Finance
Minister did not know of this deci

sion, and then they say the party knew

beforehand," he said.
Jaitley, Leader of the House in the
Rajya Sabha, said: "We took the opposi
tion by surprise in the Rajya Sabha and
said we were ready for the debate
immediately. Caught unawares now,
the opposition has changed their strat
eg y and are running away from
debate."
He also said the situation is normalis
ing in the urban areas and also indicat
ed that there could be more relaxations
for farmers.
"In the next few days, the focus will
be on the rural areas so that farmers
have enough funds because it is rabi
sowing season. A few decisions were
taken yesterday (Monday) night which
will be made public," said Jaitley.
He also said that the digital economy
will also get a boost by the decision.
"It's a very big decision. It required a
lot of courage for the government to
implement it. It's a historic step. The
entire nation is welcoming it. this move
will help eradicate pverty," Jaitley
added.

Parliamentary Party also passed a

resolution backing the govern
ment's decision to spike the high
value currencies. The resolution
was moved by Home Minister
Rajnath Singh.
Ananth Kumar told the media:
"The Parliamentary Party unani
mously passed a resolution on the
historical demonetization decision
of November 8."
"The Parliamentary Party unani
mously we lcomes the historic
announcement made by PM with
drawing the legal tender value of
currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs
1,000 and compliments the Prime
Minister, the government and the
Reserve Bank Of India," the resolu
tion said.
"T he parliamentary party is
supremely confidant that this bold
initiative will achieve the intended
objectives cutting of f financial
support to terrorists and extrem
ists organizations, address the
problem of counterfeit currency
besides checkmating unaccounted

money in the system and serving

as a serious warning to those
indulging in corruption," it added.
It also acknowledged the initia
tive as a national project of cleans
ing the system and of great signifi
cance that will usher in behavioral
and attitudinal changes encourag
ing honesty in personal and public
life, particularly political life.
"This will benefit the poor and
the common man in several ways.
Over the last 70 years, common
man has resigned to grudgingly
accept the foul ways of these in
power and close to power, to
exploit the system and make ill
gotten wealth," it said.
The resolution condemned "mali
cious efforts" of some political par
ties which are "desperate to pro
voke violence and chaos" having
been rattled by the widespread
support of the people to the gov
ernment's initiative and bent upon
disrupting the proceedings of
Parliament on one pretext or the
other".

Wadia threatens Tata

Group with legal action
Mumbai : Independent direc
less, false, defamatory and
tor on three Tata Sons group
libellous and have been made
companies and wellknown
with the intention of harming
industrialist Nusli Wadia has
my reputation," Wadia said
sent personal notices chal
in the personal notice signed
lenging the allegations lev
by him and sent to all the
elled against him as "false".
directors.
While one personal notice
Terming the special notice
was sent on Monday to Tata
as devoid of any factual ref
Steel, another similar one was
erences or evidence, he said
reportedly sent on Tuesday to
it has lowered his image in
Tata Chemicals, and a third is
front of his colleagues in
Industrialist Nusli Wadia.
likely soon to Tata Motors
Tata Steel and the public
the three companies on which Wadia is an inde shareholders who would purportedly benefit by
pendent director.
his removal.
Wadia has questioned the contents of a spe
Wadia demanded that Tata Steel should pro
cial notice of November 11, of Tata Steel and the duce all proofs, evidence, documents and infor
item No. 2 on the agenda 'Removal of Nusli mation to support its allegations pertaining to
Wadia as Director'.
all the points it has raised in its special notice.
He took strong umbrage to six allegations in
He further asked the company to either prove
the special notice, that he (Wadia) was acting in its allegations or withdraw its special notice
concert with Cyrus Mistry, has been acting within two days, failing which he would be at
against the interests of the Tata Group, has been liberty to initiate criminal or civil proceedings.
acting in a manner designed to cause harm to
Wadia is an independent director on the
the Tata Group, was not conducting himself boards of Tata Chemicals, Tata Steel and Tata
independently and acting prejudicially, his Motors for long but varying periods.
actions could gravely jeopardize the company,
The notice seeking his removal was served by
its future and its employees, and that the share Tata Sons, accusing him of backing former
holders had lost faith in him and sought his group chairman Cyrus Mistry who was sacked
removal. "These allegations are absolutely base on October 24.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

SPORTS

Sindhu wins maiden China Open

Fuzhou (China): Olympic silver
medalist P.V. Sindhu battled past
Chinese Sun Yu to win her first
BWF Superseries Premier title at
the China Open badminton tourna
ment here. The Indian seventh seed
won the first game 2111 but lost
the next 1721 before registering a
2111 triumph in the final game to
clinch the title.
The final lasted an hour and nine
minutes. It was 21yearold
Sindhu's maiden title. This win also
was double World Championships
bronze medalist Sindhu's third in
six games against Sun.
Sindhu looked on the of fensive
from the beginning and quickly
raced to a 72 lead that became 11
6 at the midgame interval.
Moving sharply within court, she
showed her repertoire of strokes to
bag five consecutive points that
made it 177. She then comfortably
won the first game 2111.
Going by Sun's performance in
the first g ame, it seemed like
Sindhu will seal the match in the
second game. But it wasn't to be.
Sindhu continued her strong
game and led 117. But 2014 Asian
Games champion Sun slowly upped
her game and the home crowd did
play a part in her revival. She
matched the Indian stroke for

Olympic medalist P.V. Sindhu.

stroke and equalized at 14all with
the help of a sixpoint streak which
also gave her the lead at 1614.
Then, Sindhu made it 17all but
Sun bagged the game by taking
four straight points.
In the final game, the momentum
shifted as Sindhu again went on an
attacking spree. Her ability to play
long rallies wore down Sun, who
even though she fought hard till
the sixpoint mark, Sun crumbled
under pressure. Sindhu then hardly

looked back, rattling points one

after another to sit at a 169
advantage. Thereafter, it was a
cakewalk for the Indian.
Meanwhile, fourth seed Jan 'O'
Jorgensen of Denmark shocked the
home crowd when he defeated
2016 Olympic champion Chen
Long of China 2220, 2113 in 46
minutes. It was the Dane's only sec
ond win in 10 encounters against
twotime reigning world champion
Long.

Nov 26-Dec 2, 2016

23

Lodha panel
recommends dismissal
of BCCI top brass
New Delhi: T he R.M. Lodha
committee recommended the
sacking of all office bearers of
the Board of Control
for Cricket in India
(BCCI) and its
state asso cia
tions while also
suggesting the
appointment of
former Home
Secretary G.K.
Pillai as an observ
er in the apex body.
In a fresh status report
filed to the Supreme Court, the
pane l asked that Pillai be
appointed as observer with
power to appoint an auditor,
and guide the BCCI administra
tion, particularly on the award
of contracts and on transparen
cy. The recommendations by
the SCappointed Lo d ha
Committee are the latest devel
opment in the ongoing stand
off between the apex court and
the Anurag Thakurled national
cricket board over the running

of the game in the country.

T he latest report makes a
mention of "continued non
compliance by the
of fice bearers of the
BCCI".
"Direct
and
declare that all
officebearers of
the BCCI and
the state associ
at ions who are
disqualified by
virtue of the norms at
Para 4 (above 70, Minister
or government servant, holding
a post in any other sports body,
has been a BCCI of ficebearer
for a cumulative period of nine
years or has been charged by a
court for criminal of fence)
above cease to hold of fice
forthwith," the Lodha panel's
status report said.
The panel also directed BCCI
Chief Executive Of ficer Rahul
Johri to look after all adminis
trative and management mat
ters of the board.

India beat England in second Test

Visakhapatnam: India rode on a
superb bowling performance to
beat England by 246 runs in the
second cricket Test at the ACA
VDCA Stadium here, to lead the
fivematch series 10.
Chasing 405, Eng land lost
wickets at frequent intervals on
the fifth and final day to end
their second innings at 158.
Rookie of fspinner Jayant
Yadav enjoyed a memorable Test
debut with figures of 330 while
star of fspinner Ravichandran
Ashwin also bagged three wick
ets. Fast bow ler Mohammed
Shami and le ftarm pacer
Ravindra Jadeja claimed two
wickets each.
England skipper Alistair Cook
top scored for his team with 54
runs. Jonny Bairstow remained
unbeaten on 34.
India captain Virat Kohli, who
has been in excellent form with
the bat in recent t imes, was
adjudged the Man of the Match.
Kohli had scored 167 runs in
the first innings and 81 in the
second.
Ashwin was the most success
ful among the Indian bowlers
with a total of eight wickets in
the match.
Resuming at the overnig ht
score of 87/2, England lost Ben
Duckett in only the sixth over of
the day.

T he le fthander went for a

sweep off an Ashwin delivery but
was outfoxed by the extra
bounce as the ball looped up for
an easy catch to wicketkeeper
Wriddhiman Saha.
Duckett's dismissal triggered a
middleorder collapse for
England.
Moeen Ali was the next to go,
defending patiently to score a
mere two runs of f 31 balls
before Jadeja induced an edge to
Virat Kohli at backward short leg.
Ben Stokes joined Root in the
middle and continued with the
English strategy of adopting an

overtly defensive strategy in a

desperate bid to stave off defeat.
He battled for 33 deliveries for
his six runs but Jayant Yadav put
an end to his innings with a
delivery that turned in sharply
after pitching and beat the out
side edge before crashing into
the stumps.
England suf fered another cru
cial in the very next over when
Joe Root also went back to the
pavilion.
Root, who lasted 107 deliveries
for his 25 runs, was trapped leg
before by an inswinger from
Shami.

Virat Kohli celebrates after winning the second test match against
England in Visakhapatnam.

Kohli vaults to career-best

No.4 in ICC Test Rankings
Dubai: After helping India regis
ter a 246run win over England
in the second Test at
Visakhapatnam, skipper Virat
Kohli vaulted 10 spots to a
careerbest fourth spot in the
International Cricket Council
(ICC) Test Rankings.
Besides Kohli, whose scores of
167 and 81 fetched him the
Man of the Match performance,
middle
order
mainstay
Cheteshwar Pujara also moved a
spot up to the 9th position while
pace spearhead Mohammad
Shami gained five spots to reach
a career high of No. 21 among
the bowlers.
Kohli, currently topranked in
Twenty20 Internationals, has
never moved above the 10th
place in Tests. However, his sub
lime form in the longest version
of the game has he lped him
move up further as he crossed
the 800point mark for the first
time, becoming only the 11th
India batsman to do so. The 28
yearold's ef forts that helped
India gain a 10 lead in the five
match rubber has earned him

97 points and now trails New

Zealand skipper Ken Williamson
by 16 points and secondranked
Joe Root of Eng land by 22
points. Australia skipper Steve
Smith retained the top spot.
Among other gainers, England
pair of wicketkeeperbatsman
Jonny Bairstow and allrounder
Ben Stokes have also made sig
nificant gains.
Bairstow has moved up four
places to reach 12th position
after scoring 53 and 34 not out,
while Stokes has moved up five
slots to 28th position after scor
ing 70 and six. Meanwhile,
among the bowlers, Shami's con
sistency in giving India the early
breakthrough helped him gain
five places to reach a career
high 21st while leftarm spinner
Ravindra Jadeja has moved up
one position to sixth place.
India's premier of fspinner
Ravichandran Ashwin continued
to lead the bowlers in the list.
For England, Stuart Broad (up
one place) and Moeen Ali (up
four places), have achieved fifth
and 23rd positions, respectively.

24

Nov 26-Dec 2, 2016

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

BOOKS

Shivshankar Menon's book throws

light on India's foreign policy
ormer Foreign Secretary
Shivshankar Menon has
p e n n ed
an
insiders
account of the decisionmaking
process of Indias foreign policy
in his new book, "Choices: Inside
the Making of Indias Foreign
Policy", that hit the stores this
week.
T he of ficial book launch is
scheduled on December 2 at
India International Centre in
New Delhi.
In the book, Menon, who was
also India's National Security
Adviser, looks at "five absolutely
crucial moments in recent histo
ry" that have had a great impact
on present day India.
In this book, published by
Penguin, Menon describes some
of the most crucial scenarios

Shiv Shankar Menon was Indias National Security

Adviser from 2010 to 2014.
that India faced during his long
career in government and how

key personalities often had to

make choices based on incom

The lost glory and

charm of Bangalore
ften referred to as the Silicon
Valley of India for being the
hub for information technolo
gy (IT) companies in the country,
the city of Bangalore (now
Bengaluru), according to the argu
ments put forth in this book, has
lost its traditional charm at the
hands of modernity and enterprise.
Askew may be a rather uncon
ventional title for this scholarly
work, but the authors attention to
detail in chronicling the journey of
Karnatakas capital, from a paradise
for pensioners to an El Dorado of
the future, will live to tell the many
unknown tales of the old city.
The authors focus on those who
have contributed to the city in
ways both good and bad vividly
narrates the stories of the planners,
writers, intellectuals, actors, politi
cians, entrepreneurs and their chil
dren, theatre artists, the IT sector,
hoteliers and even the commoners.
Looked at through the lens of a
Wordsworth poem, George writes,
Bangalore in its youth began in
gladness but thereof came in the
end despondency and madness.
After careful research and citing
historical evidence, the book pres
ents a blowbyblow account of
Bangalores rise to modernity and,
at the same time, its continued
march towards losing the ageold
charm associated with the city.
This is not a recent phenomenon.
Even in the 1980s, when George
embraced the glorious city, he
often heard the earlier residents
complaining of similar changes.

Askew A Short
Biography
of Bangalore
By T.J.S. George;
Publisher: Aleph;
Pages: 116;
Price: Rs 299
They would tell me how in the
1950s telephone numbers were in
easy fourdigit configurations, how
the city bus service went to outlying
areas, and how an air ticket from
Bangalore to Bombay cost Rs 285.
T hese imageries fascinated
George, but he thought it was unfair
of the oldtimers to imply that the
citys charm was gone. In his
Bangalore, the traffic was civilized,
the parks were green and the trees
full of birds. Not surprisingly, by
2015 it was Georges turn to grieve
over the lost glories of Bangalore.
In all probability, George writes,
what bothered me were nonissues
to Bangalores new citizens just as
what bothered folks in the 1950s
and 1960s were nonissues for me

in the 1980s.
The most significant argument
that George makes is that even
though Bangalore had etched a nar
rative of growth throughout history,
the speed at which IT altered its
sociology and economy made the
city unbearable. The old agree
able Bangalore was now replaced by
an aggressive Bangalore where no
one had time for his neighbors.
Everyone was chasing success as
measured by a new consumerist
value system, asserts George, while
also narrating the horrors caused to
the citys ecology. Why did moderni
ty and enterprise make Bangalore
unbearable?
The answer is that Bangalores
elected leaders, administrators and
builders disobeyed Kempe Gowdas
mother.
Kempe Gowda, the fabled founder
of Bangalore, was given two instruc
tions by his mother in the 1530s
before setting out to build his dream
capital:
Keregalam
kattu,
marangalam nedu (Build lakes, plant
trees). Gowda created a hundred
lakes and lined the pathways with
wide, leafy trees. Fastforward to
modern times. George, with visible
sarcasm, regrets that politicians and
land dealers of today were born to
dif ferent kinds of mothers as, in
just about three decades, 2,000
hectares of lakes were filled up and,
in the late 2000s alone, 50,000
trees felled. The short book makes
for a fascinating case study on what
Bangalore used to be and what it is
today.

plete informat ion under the

pressure of fastmoving events.
Menon, who was Foreign
Secretary from October 2006 to
July 2009, mentions some
major Indian foreign policy deci
sions, in which he either partici
pated directly or was associated
with.
T hese include the IndiaUS
nuclear agreement; the first
ever boundaryrelated agree
ment between India and China;
India's decision not to use overt
f o r c e a g a i n s t Pa k i s t a n i n
response to the 26/11 terrorist
attacks in Mumbai; the 2009
defeat of the brutal civil war in
Sri Lanka; and India's disavowal
of t h e f i r s t u s e of n u c l e a r
weapons.
Menon examines what these

choices reveal about India's

strategic culture and decision
making, its policies toward the
use of force, its longterm goals
and priorities and its future
behavior.
"Choices will be of interest to
anyone searching for answers to
questions about how India, one
of the world's great, rising pow
ers confronts and arrives at
decisions on the world stage,
a n d t h e t o u g h ch o i c e s t h a t
sometimes have to be made,"
Penguin said in a statement.
A career diplomat, Menon has
served as India's envoy to Israel
(199597), Sri Lanka (1997
2000), China (200003), and
Pakistan (200306). He was the
NSA from January 2010 to May
2014.

Jaipur Lit Fest to support

emerging writers

or the first t ime, Jaipur

BookMark, the B2B segment
of the Jaipur Literature
Fest ival, w ill invite budding
authors to share a synopsis of
their work, which w ill be
assessed by a panel of literary
agents, publishers and critics, it
was announced on Thursday.
Those shortlisted will be invited
to take part in "The First Book
Club", the New Writers'
Mentorship Program, a special
oneonone session for advice
from industry experts, the organ
izers of the January 1923 Lit
Fest said. The fourth edition of
Jaipur BookMark will open the
Jaipur Literature Festival's pro
ceedings with a full day of indus
try focused programming on
January 18 at Diggi Palace, fol
lowed by special sessions during
JLF 2017.
Jaipur BookMark's focus on the
art of translation is set to contin
ue in 2017 with over 25 lan

guages represented in works

spanning the country's literary
landscape as well as international
translations in a bid to preserve
the diverse range of culture and
stories.
One example of this focus will
be a session on 'Voices from the
East' which will discuss how
Rabindranath Tagore and
Mahashweta Devi in translation
initiated a dialogue between the
dif ferent languages and litera
tures of the region. A panel of
leading writers and publishers
will explore the subject.
This year's subjects of discus
sion at JBM across six days will
include celebrating booksellers
and the art of curating reading
lists, the languages of East India,
a debate around self publishing, a
look at the politics of literary
translation and a session on how
online platforms are providing
digital knowledge resources.
Source: IANS

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

LIFESTYLE

Nov 26-Dec 2, 2016

25

How WhatsApp is giving wings of freedom

to housewives in India
New Delhi: A year ago, when 28
yearold Soma Chatterjee Maiti
started using mobile messaging
app WhatsApp, she did not know
that one day the platform would
economically empower her.
Living in the small town of
Khorda in Bhubaneswar, Maiti is a
school teacher and sells suits and
sarees via her WhatsApp group
during her spare t ime. She
informed her friends about the
idea and they helped her get more
customers from across the coun
try.
"The group currently comprises
30 people belonging to dif ferent
cities like Delhi, Bangalore and in
West Beng al, among others.
Moreover, it's been just six months
since I started this business. Every
now and then, my friends intro
duce me to new members to whom
my products can be sold," Maiti
told IANS.
Creating a group is not where
her job ends. Maiti has to make
sure that the group remains active,
for which she keeps on following
up, like asking the members if the

package was delivered properly.

Besides, she keeps on posting the
pictures of her products in the
group, so that the sales do not
slow down.
"Whatever material I have, I click
its pictures and post it in the
group. If a person likes a product,
she directly contacts me over
phone and the deal is taken fur
ther," Maiti added.
W hatsApp is becoming an
opportunity for homemakers to
earn as well as stand on their feet,
while not restricting themselves to
just being "homemakers."
Just like Maiti, 30yearold Pooja
Srivastava, who lives in Ghaziabad,
has also created a g roup on
WhatsApp called "Bend the Trend."
The name suggests breaking the
general trend of shopping in the
malls or via online portals,
through a dailyuse app, making
the process easier.
There are 76 members in the
group who hail from various met
ros of India, along with some
be long ing to countries like
Canada, Singapore and the US. Her

group also exists on Facebook

which helps her get customers
from abroad.
Srivastava se lls all sorts of
apparel, artificial jewellery, kids
wear, fashion accessories, etc., and
earns around Rs 30,000 in a
month.
Prior to starting her business,
Srivastava was an Assistant
Professor at the Sun Institute of
Management and Technology in
Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh.
"I used to teach a few years back
and even before that I was an HR
professional. However, after get
t ing married, I shifted to
Ghaziabad and it was dif ficult to
find a new job here. Thus, I decid
ed to start my own business," she
added.
According to Anoop Mishra, a
Lucknowbased social media ana
lyst, technology is becoming an
enabler for homemakers these
days.
"Onetouch mobile accessibility
of social applications is playing a
wider role in making ideas visible
and viral. Easy accessibility of

Spending on experiences than on

material may make us generous
New York: Experience rather than
possession is more likely to give
individuals a greater sense of
gratitude, and will also make
them more generous towards oth
ers, a study involving an Indian
origin researcher has found.
Our deeds mean more to us.
"We feel more gratitude for what
we've done than for what we
have," said T homas Gilovich,
Professor of psychology at the
Cornell University.
"T hink about how you fee l
when you come home from buy
ing something new," Gilovich said
in the study published in the jour
nal, Emotion.
"You might say: this new couch
is cool, however, you're less likely
to say: I'm so grateful for that set
of shelves.
"But when you come home from
a vacation, you are likely to say: I
feel so blessed I got to go," he
said.
"People say posit ive things
about the stuff they buy, but they
don't usually express gratitude
for it, or they don't express it as
often as they do for their experi
ences," Gilovich added.
T he researchers looked at
1,200 customer reviews, half for
experient ial purchases like
restaurant meals and hotel stays
and half for material purchases
like furniture and clothing.

(Image courtesy: hindustantimes.com)

Reviewers were more likely to
spontaneously mention feeling
grateful for experiential purchas
es than material ones, the study
suggested.
"One of the reason for this
increased g rat itude may be
because experiences trigger fewer
social comparisons than material
possessions.
"Consequently, experiences are
more likely to foster a greater
appreciation of one's own circum
stances," said Jesse Walker,
Researcher at the Corne ll
University.
The researchers also looked at
how gratitude for experiences
versus material purchases affect
ed prosocial behavior.
In a study involving an econom

ic game, they found that thinking

about a meaningful experiential
purchase caused participants to
behave more generously toward
others than when they thought
about a material purchase.
"This link between gratitude
and altruistic behavior is intrigu
ing," said Amit Kumar, Researcher
at the University of Chicago.
"It suggests that the benefits of
experiential consumption apply
not only to the consumers of
those purchases themselves, but
to others in their orbit as well,"
Kumar said.
Fee ling gratitude increased
happiness and social cohesion,
better health outcomes, and even
improved sleep quality, the study
(IANS)
revealed.

(Image courtesy: editplatter.com)

technology and costef fectiveness
are encouraging homemakers day
by day," Mishra told IANS in an
email interview.
Yashmalika Singh, a resident of
De lhi, has also been using
WhatsApp for quite some time. She
has a pay ing guest house
(Ashirwaad PG) for girls in Dwarka
and whoever lives there, she easily
connects with them through this
app.
"Whenever she has to inform or
ask something, she would send a

text in the group she has created

on WhatsApp, instead of calling
the person individually," informs
Riya Singh, who lives there.
It's true that technology is evolv
ing every day and with its evolu
tion, people are also looking for
possibilities to make their lives
better.
In an era where we talk of gen
der equality, a tool like WhatsApp
is he lping these homemakers
attain their own ident ity and
freedom.

Breast cancer can

have symptoms other
than lump: Study
London: Nearly onesixth of women
(17 per cent) diagnosed with breast
cancer go to their doctor with a
symptom other than a lump, which
is the most commonly reported
symptom, new research has found.
Breast symptoms, other than a
breast lump that may be a sign of
cancer known as 'nonlump'
symptoms include nipple abnor
malities, breast pain, skin abnor
malities, ulceration, shape abnor
malities and an infected or inflamed
breast.
"Our research shows around one
in six women diagnosed with breast
cancer have symptoms other than a
breast lump. T hese women are
more likely to delay going to the
doctor compared to women with
breast lump alone," said Monica
Koo from University College
London (UCL).
"It's crucial that women are aware
that a lump is not the only symptom
of breast cancer. Diagnosing cancer
earlier really is key in order to
increase the chances of survival,"
Koo suggested.
In the study, researchers from
UCL examined the data of more
than 2,300 women diagnosed with
breast cancer in England in 2009
2010. They found that, although
most women with breast cancer
sought help quickly, those with

Breast symptoms, other

than a breast lump that
may be a sign of cancer -known as 'non-lump' symptoms -- include nipple
abnormalities, breast pain,
skin abnormalities, ulceration, shape abnormalities
and an infected or
inflamed breast.
'nonlump' symptoms were more
likely to delay going to their doctor
compared with women with a
breast lump alone.
Women with both a breast lump
and 'nonlump' symptoms were also
more likely to delay seeking help.
"This research shows that, all too
often, women are delaying going to
their doctor with symptoms of
breast cancer. T his could be
because people are simply unaware
that breast cancer can present in
many dif ferent ways, not just
through the presence of a lump,"
added Karen Kennedy, Director of
the The National Cancer Research
Institute (NCRI) a UKbased
research organization.
The study was presented at the
2016 National Cancer Research
Institute (NCRI) Cancer conference
in Liverpool, recently.

26

Nov 26-Dec 2, 2016

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

HEALTH

HEMATOCON 2016: Experts share challenges & successes

The maha-kumbh of
medicine saw
experts discuss
fascinating developments in hematology,
oncology, stem cell
transplantation and
gene therapy
Jaipur: The pink city of Jaipur wit
nessed a ste llar collect ion of
national and international experts
in the field of blood disorders
(hematology), cancer (oncology),
stem cell transplantation and gene
therapy from Nov 913th.
World renowned experts from
the US (Stanford, Duke, Memorial
Sloan Kettering , Weill Cornell,
Emory Harvard University, to
name just a few), UK, France,
Germany Australia , South East
Asia among national leaders from
Tata Memorial Hospital, CMC
Vellore, PGI Chandigarh, AIIMS,
Kokilaben Ambani, Narayana,
Manipal Hospitals and more joined
in ce lebrating the fascinating
developments in this field.
Eager audience from medical
professionals to families of
patients suffering from these dis
orders and midlevel providers
participated enthusiastically in

Dr Akshat Jain, a renowned pediatric stem cell transplant expert

from New York chairing the pediatric cancer session
sessions meant for all, in an
extremely well organized confer
ence under the leadership of
Professor Hemant Malhotra, a
world renowned leader in
Oncolog y from SMS Medical
College, Rajasthan.
With as many as 35 sessions
going at the same time and over a
thousand delegates attending from
world over, the HEMATOCON
2016 was a remarkably well exe
cuted event and a rare feat for the
Indian medical fraternity.
Leaders from USA, Australia and
India got on the same podium to
intensely analyze the challenges
and successes in caring from chil

WHO no longer
considers Zika a
global health
emergency
New York: The Zika virus that has spread to more than
50 countries is no longer considered an international
public health emergency, the World Health Organization
declared Friday. But the change in designation does not
represent a downgrading of Zika's importance, officials
said.
The WHO labeled Zika an international emergency in
February primarily to understand what was causing the
"extraordinary clustering" of microcephaly cases in
Brazil, the epicenter of the outbreak, said David
Heymann, who chairs the expert panel that made the
recommendation. When the emergency was declared, he
said, researchers had not yet proven that the mosquito
borne virus causes the severe birth defect characterized
by an abnormally small head and underdeveloped brain.
Studies have since established the link between Zika
and microcephaly. Now, the best way to tackle the virus
and its serious complications is for the WHO to manage
"this significant and enduring public health challenge"
within the organization, Heymann said. That will allow
for a more sustained focus, with more dedicated
resources and expertise, he added.
The virus, which is primarily transmitted by the Aedes
aegypti mosquito, can be passed from a pregnant women
to her fetus and cause a host of grave birth defects
beyond microcephaly. These problems are collectively
known as congenital Zika syndrome. The degree of fetal
risk when a pregnant woman has been infected is still
unknown.

dren in India and neighboring

countries.
Chairperson Dr Akshat Jain, a
world renowned pediatric stem
cell transplant expert from New
York invited Dr Sripad Banavali,
Head of Oncology at the topmost
TATA Memorial Hospital, Mumbai
to speak on Lymphoma. The ener
gized talk laced with the latest
world data on the cure rates and
treatment options for the disease
got many in the audience thinking,
and leaving on an optimistic note
for a successful cure reaching the
Indian shores not far from now.
Dr. Marina Cavazzano, Professor
of Medicine at Paris Descartes

Dr Sripad Banavali with the team of presenters and moderators

University, Research Director at
the Centre for Clinical Research in
Biotherapy (Necker Hospital,
Paris), who was recently presented
with the Woman Scientist of the
Year Award for her pioneering sci
entific achievements in the therapy
of immune deficiencies and inher
ited hematologic diseases, shared
her nove l work using Gene
T herapy to cure patients with
Thalassemia by snipping out the
defective gene and giving the
patients a new disease free popula
tion of stem cells. Dr Cavazzano
has already had great success in
over 20 patients at her center and
now she hopes to bring this cure to

mainstream for allowing patients

another shot at a disease free life.
Research leader Christopher B.
Doering from Emory University
shared his remarkable work in
gene therapy using a similar con
cept but for patients with a life
threatening bleeding disorder
Hemophilia.
Both speakers and the modera
tor Dr Alok Srivatava, from CMC
Vellore, a world renowned special
ist in bleeding disorders answered
insig htful quest ions from the
august audience and shared their
prospective work for the patients
suf fering from these disorders in
India.

'Miracle baby' weighing lighter than iPad born in UAE

Abu Dhabi: Doctors in a UAE hospital
are celebrating the successful delivery
of its smallest patient, a baby girl,
weighing lighter than an iPad, just
631 gm.
The "miracle baby" was born after a
26.5week gestation, said Govinda
Shenoy, head of the Neonatology Unit,
Medeor24x7 Hospital.
Shenoy pointed out that the mother
was carrying a growthretarded fetus
with oligohydramnios, which creates
lack of amniotic fluid around the foe
tus, and absent end diastolic flow,
which is a condition that increases the
risk of fetal and neonatal mortality.
"The timely intervention and deliv
ery of the baby was important, as the
mother, who had a high risk pregnan

cy, came to us displaying symptoms of

sever preclampsia, which is a pregnan
cyrelated complication that is accom
panied by high blood pressure and
potential damage to organs," media
reports quoted Shenoy as saying.
The baby was successfully delivered
by a Lower (uterine) Segment
Caesarean Section (LSCS) procedure,

after which both mother and infant

were kept under careful observation.
"The baby was placed under the care
of the expert neonatology team in the
stateoftheart neonatal unit," said
Shenoy, who set up Medeor 24x7 Abu
Dhabi's Level 3 NICU, with all its mod
ern facilities and equipment.
Mary Roberts, Senior Obstetrician at
Medeor24x7 Hospital, said the mother
and 'miracle baby' have so far made an
extraordinary recovery.
Roberts added that the baby, who
the parents wanted to remain anony
mous, has no apparent comorbidities
and is safe and sound. "They really
consider her a miracle baby. She is
getting stronger."
(IANS)

Vitamin D may reduce respiratory infections in the elderly

New York: High doses of vitamin D are
likely to reduce the incidence of acute
respiratory illness in older adults, sug
gests a study led by an Indianorigin
researcher.
The study found that among those
who took higher doses of vitamin D,
there was a 40 per cent reduction in
acute respiratory illness one of the
leading causes of serious illness, debil
itation and death among patients in
nursing homes and other longterm
care facilities.
"Vitamin D can improve the immune
system's ability to fight infections
because it bolsters the first line of
defense of the immune system," said

lead author Adit Ginde, professor at

the University of Colorado, Denver, US.
"This is a potentially lifesaving dis
covery. There is very little in a doctor's
arsenal to battle ARI, especially since
most are viral infections where antibi
otics don't work. But vitamin D seems
able to potentially prevent these infec
tions," Ginde added.
In older people that first line of
defence is often impaired. But vitamin
D can reinforce it and prevent illness
es like pneumonia, influenza and
bronchitis, Ginde said.
It may also prevent infections and
exacerbation of chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease (COPD) like

emphysema.
Conversely, Ginde found that those
who received higher doses of vitamin
D also saw an increase in falls.
The falls were lower in those given
smaller doses rather than higher
monthly doses of vitamin D.
For the study, the team looked at
107 patients with an average age of
84 over a 12 month period.
Those who received higher doses
saw acute respiratory illness cut near
ly in half, but also had over double the
incidence of falls, the study said.
T he study was published in the
Journal of the American Geriatrics
(IANS)
Society.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Nov 26-Dec 2, 2016

SCI-TECH

27

Facebook, Google announce new

policies to fight fake news
Under fire over fake news possibly affecting the election outcome,
they will keep advertising dollars away from fake news sites.
San Francisco: Two of the worlds biggest
internet companies, Google and Facebook,
are taking new steps to fight the rising tide
of fake news in other words, conspiracy
theories and misleading information from
noname sites masquerading as news
that exploded on their platforms during
this campaign cycle.
The problem has grown to the point that
it is now too big to ignore. Both companies
have come under fire for widelyshared
fake news stories that spread false informa
tion about the candidates.
In a move disclosed last week, Google
said it will withhold lucrative digital ads
from appearing on any sites that misrepre
sent, misstate, or conceal information. The
new policy could give news and informa
tion sites greater incentive to avoid false
headlines or risk losing revenue.
Google was on the defensive after it was
discovered that the top search result for
final election numbers, final election
results, who won the popular vote and
similar phrases, directed users to a fake
news blog called 70news which falsely
claimed that Donald Trump had won the
popular vote by 700,000 votes. In fact,

although Trump won the Electoral College,

he was losing the popular vote.
As for Facebook, in the immediate after
math of Donald Trumps election, the com
pany minimized the role fake news played
in shaping public opinion in this unprece
dented and vitriolic election cycle. Speaking
at a conference in Half Moon Bay, Calif.,
CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the idea that
fake news on Facebook influenced the elec
tion outcome is pretty crazy.
Now, Facebook appears to be turning a
corner and taking a more direct approach
to curb the tide of fake news. The company
confirmed that, like Google, it will work to

keep advertising dollars away from fake

new sites.
We do not integrate or display ads in
apps or sites containing content that is ille
gal, misleading or deceptive, which includes
fake news, a Facebook spokesperson told
CBS News. While implied, we have updated
the policy to explicitly clarify that this
applies to fake news. Our team will contin
ue to closely vet all prospective publishers
and monitor existing ones to ensure com
pliance. T he statement applies to
Facebooks Audience Network policy,
which covers ads on thirdparty mobile
apps and sites that generate revenue for
partners and for Facebook. The clarifica
tion does not af fect fake news content
shared by individuals on their own News
Feeds.
For the worlds largest social network,
fake news is proving to be a complex dis
ease with no easy cure. And its a significant
concern since a 2016 Pew study found that
44 percent of Americans read or watch
news on Facebook.
This presidential campaign coincided
with the meteoric rise of hundreds of high
ly partisan, Facebookonly pages that

attracted millions of views and extremely

high levels of user engagement, and often
trafficked in halftruths and outright fabri
cations. A New York Times investigation
called these hundreds of Facebook pages,
from Occupy Demo crats to FedUp
Americans to RightAlerts to Addicting Info,
the most disruptive, least understood force
in media.
Facebook has had other missteps involv
ing false information in its Trending
Topics section. In August, Facebook apolo
gized after its Trending section promoted a
fake story claiming Fox News had fired
anchor Megyn Kelly for being a closet lib
eral who actually wants Hillary to win; it
came from the rightwing website End The
Fed.
On the eve of the election, President
Obama specifically pointed to the role of
social media to help explain the current
political climate.
People, if they just repeat attacks
enough, and outright lies over and over
again, as long as its on Facebook and peo
ple can see it, as long as its on social
media, people start believing it, he said.
And it creates this dust cloud of nonsense.

Word 'jugaad' resonates with Israeli President Symantec

Chandigarh: Hindi word 'jugaad' has clearly resonated with the
visiting Israel President Reuven Rivlin who on Sunday sought to
connect the colloquial term to the Jewish state of Israel and its
style of inventing and working.
India's President Pranab Mukherjee, on his part, lauded Israel's
conviction in making a mark in agriculture through innovation
and technology solutions.
The term 'jugaad' used by or known to many Indians
means an ingenious way of getting around a problem or bottle
neck.
"Jugaad is the way we think, the way we invent, the way we
work," Rivlin said while evoking images, memories, and emotions
among the audience as it burst into peels of laughter.
He was speaking after inaugurating the 12th edition of CIIs
biennial agrotechnology and business fair, Agro Tech 2016,
here along with the Indian President.
"During my visit to India, I learned a new word called 'jugaad',
which means a clever solution born out of trouble. If you know
Israel and Israelis, you can guess how quickly I fell in love with
this word," Rivlin said as the audience laughed. "Just imagine a
small nation, suffering for being different. The State of Israel is
Jugaad! Jugaad is the way we think, the way we invent, the way
we work," he added. The Israeli President said people in his
country had worked hard to make technological innovations and
advancements. "We in Israel were concerned about homeland
security, but India taught us to think about food security. And
this is why we are all here today. India and Israel are both old
new nations," he said. Rivlin said food security is not only about
surviving it's about thriving. After inaugurating the event,
Mukherjee said: "There is much to learn from Israel, a country
which has converted its disadvantages to advantages with
courage, conviction and fortitude. I am happy to share the plat
form with the President of Israel, a country that has made a
mark in agriculture through innovation, technology solutions

acquires Lifelock
for $2.3 bn

Israel President Reuven Rivlin with Indian President Pranab

Mukherjee at Agro Tech 2016 in Chandigarh.
and converting its knowledge into value additions."
He said Israel had created water and food surplus by success
fully using technology.
Talking about his experiences during his ongoing visit to India,
Revlin said he visited Karnal in Haryana, where Indians and
Israelis are developing new varieties of cherry tomatoes, which
are an Israeli invention.
"When Indian and Israeli experts place solar panels on truck
roofs to use solar energy to keep food inside fresh and prevent
food waste, they are doing magic together. When Israeli compa
nies and Indian farmers create professional and financial net
works to help farmers keep growing crops, they are doing magic
together."
Mukherjee and Revlin went around a section of the fair, which
showcases technological innovations potentially beneficial for
the agriculture sector at the Parade Ground here.

Mountain View, Calif. & Tempe, Ariz: Symantec

said it would acquire US identity theft protection
services company LifeLock for $2.3 billion, in a
deal that it hopes will propup sales at its Norton
cybersecurity unit. Symantecs security software
often comes bundled with personal computers.
As a result, the company has suf fered as con
sumers use mobile devices more than traditional
computers. While Norton remains profitable, its
sales have been falling.
(Norton) had been declining with the declines
in PC market share. This acquisition brings $660
million in revenue to the consumer business and
returns it to longer sustainable g rowth,
Symantec Chief Executive Greg Clark said in an
interview.
Symantecs purchase of LifeLock is in line with
its efforts to diversify its offerings. In August, it
bought Blue Coat, which helps firms maintain
security over the internet, in a $4.65 billion deal.
Clark previously held the top job at Blue Coat,
and made the switch after the deal closed.
Based in Tempe, Arizona, LifeLock offers serv
ices such as monitoring new account openings
and creditrelated applications in order to alert
consumers about unauthorizd use of their identi
ty. It also works with government agencies, mer
chants and creditors to remediate the impact of
identity theft. Lifelock has 4.4 million members.

28

Nov 26-Dec 2, 2016

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

HUMOR

Humor with Melvin Durai

How to survive a Trump Presidency

O

n Jan. 20, 2017, Donald J. Trump will

be sworn in as the 45th president of
the United States. If you are one of the
63 million Americans who voted for Hillary
Clinton, you are probably wondering how you
will possibly survive the next four years. It
wont be easy, but here are some options to
consider:
1. Move to Canada. Some Americans are
certainly considering a move to the North,
partly because Justin Trudeaus Liberal Party
is in power in Canada and partly because you
can find an abundant supply of American
beer there. But immigrating to Canada legally
can be tricky and may take a few years. The
best thing to do is visit Canada, find
Conservatives who look like you and ask
them if theyd like to trade identities. They
move here, you move there problem solved.
(Just dont tell them about Americas health
care system.)
2. Buy a virtual reality headset. Companies
such as Samsung and Sony have developed a
variety of virtual reality headsets. For a few
hundred dollars, you may be able to find one
that allows you to live in a virtual reality in

W. Bush seemed terrible at the time, and he

led America into the Iraq War, but he seems
like such a lovable character in retrospect.
Take a few minutes during the next four years
to write a letter to Bush: Dear George, we
thought you were terrible, but we didnt real
ize how terrible terrible could be. Please
save us! You invaded Iraq and got rid of
Saddam Hussein. Can you do the same over
here?

which men who grope women are not elected

president. Better yet, find a virtual reality in
which countries such as India, Sri Lanka,
Bangladesh and Pakistan can say to America:
Congratulations! After 240 years, you finally
gave a woman a chance to lead your country.
Welcome to the Civilized World!
3. Dont force yourself to say President
Trump. If youre having trouble saying it,

thats okay. Nobody is putting a gun to your

head, at least not yet. America has freedom of
speech, after all. You can call him President
Butt, if you wish. But if you dont want to
of fend your Trumpsupporting friends, just
say President Rump. It will sound just like
President Trump, but youll know what you
mean.
4. Reminisce about the Bush years. George

5. Tear down some walls. Donald Trump

has pledged to build a wall between America
and Mexico, but its the invisible walls that
are more harmful, the walls that Trump is
erecting between people of different religions
and races. Those walls need to be torn down
and each of us can help do it. Please go out of
your way to promote and celebrate diversity.
Make sure you participate when your com
munity organizes its annual Hug a Muslim
day. And dont stay silent if the Trump
Administration discriminates against Mexican
immigrants. Grab a MexicanAmerican friend
by the hand and hit the streets in protest.
(Just dont do any hugging or grabbing with
out permission unless you plan to run for
president.)

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.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

ASTROLOGY

Nov 26-Dec 2, 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

NOVEMBER 26DECEMBER 2, 2016

ARIES: With your high confidence you
will be able to cross all hurdles at profes
sional front. Your generous behaviour
would enable to enjoy some lovely moments
with family. Improvement in finances is certain.
A promising week for romance when your inno
vation infuses a new spirit in it. Pleasure trip
would help in maintaining sound health this
week. Time for a vacation, sit back and relax. A
good week to make some investment on kitchen
items. You get a golden opportunity to enjoy
some recreational activities.
TAURUS: Timely help of associates will
not only pass difficult times at work but
also help in regaining professional edge.
Friends and family members would lend a help
ing hand. Speculation coupled with some unex
pected gains improves financial health. Partner
brings immense romantic pleasure even if work
pressure occupies your mind Yoga and medita
tion would help in keeping in shape and mental
ly agile. If you are thinking of escaping from the
hectic daily routine plan a trip. You might be
purchasing a refrigerator or any other gadget
for your house. You will be highly benefited by
your sense of humour.
GEMINI: A promising week to start a
new venture in partnership. All are likely
to be benefited. An unexpected message
from a distant relative brings happy news for
the entire family. A new source of income will
generate through influential contacts. Romance
rules heart & mind this week. Blessings of a
saintly person give peace of mind. Your travel
experience is going to be an extent of sharing
your knowledge and communication.
Purchasing of electrical appliances can be done.
Some decisions going in your favour would put
you on the top of the world.

CANCER: Your technical expertise gives

a decisive edge over competitors at
work. Parents are likely to be coopera
tive despite your erratic behaviour. Investment
made this week would enhance prosperity and
financial security. Romantic imagination occu
pies mind forcing to go out of the way to please
partner. Chances of recovering from physical
ailment are high. Excitement for a vacation is
not enough, planning is also required. A good
deal for residential property is ahead. this week
nothing is impossible for you provided you have
the will.
LEO: Hard work of the past brings rich
dividends. However continue enhancing
your skills/adopt techniques for further
development. Relatives are likely to give some
valuable advice regarding personal life. An
improvement in financial position would enable
to make important purchases. Cupids arrows
would make your heart flutter high.
Inexhaustible energy enables to participate in
outdoor activities. Its time for a vacation after a
long and hard year at work. Time to make
investments on farmlands. A long wait for inter
esting things happening in life is likely to be
materialise this week.
VIRGO: Dedication & loyalty at work
would bring desired results. You receive
care and af fection from family mem
bers. You are likely to earn monetary profits
through most unexpected sources. You are like
ly to enjoy a pleasure trip that will rejuvenate
your passions. You attain a bloom in health on
sharing happiness with others. Time to relax
and unwind for few weeks. Your investment
plans are at full boom and you might succeed in
them. Pleasure trip undertaken with friends
would be satisfying.

LIBRA: New ventures start on a positive

note. Matrimonial alliance for eligible
bachelor in family brings joy to all. A
sudden inflow of funds will take care of your
bills and immediate expenses. Romantic entan
glement would add spice to your happiness. A
cheerful state of mind would allow enjoying the
perfect health. Weekend getaway to enjoy pubs
and clubs is on your way. Your girlfriends
desire for an apartment might lead to its desti
nation. Your ability to easily convince others
will benefit you.
SCORPIO: You succeed in completing
projects efficiently provided you put in
all your ef forts. A new outlook will be
the source of laughter at family front this week.
Monetary position is likely to improve on recov
ering of delayed payments. Chances of your love
life turning into lifelong bond are high on the
card. Divine knowledge from a saintly person
provides solace & comfort. A short trip with lav
ishing experiences is the right thing for you.
Time to plan a gift for your parents may be their
dream home. You succeed in completing long
pending construction work to your satisfaction.
SAGITTARIUS: Hard work putin the
past will yield handsome rewards in
business this week. Enjoying a picnic
with family will not only bring joy but also help
in clearing misunderstandings. Investment in
antiques & jewelry brings monetary gains and
improvement in financial position. Exciting
week as your long pending wait for affirmation
is going to materialize. Meditation and yoga
prove beneficial for spiritual as well as physical
gains. Pack your bags and be ready for an amaz
ing holiday. Its high time to think of purchasing
a new office. A desire to do something different
makes you innovative.

CAPRICORN: Business partners behave

supportive on executing strategies to
sort out pending problems. Charming
nature and pleasant personality would make you
the attraction of family function this week. Long
pending arrears and dues will finally be recov
ered. Enjoying the company of partner in a lively
restaurant would bring immense romantic pleas
ure. A very healthy week when your cheerfulness
gives the desired tonic and confidence. Just take
a walk in the countryside and experience new
things. It might be the right time to sale your
empty plot as property rates are at peak.
AQUARIUS: Innovative ideas & technical
expertise would enable to win the confi
dence of seniors at professional front.
Family members appreciate the changes made in
& around the house. this week investment con
cerning residence will be profitable. The presence
of love would make you feel life meaningful. You
are likely to maintain good health that would also
give you success. Time to go for a memorable
trip. Your plan for a new house will be in process
very soon. By merely observing others you are
likely to learn a lot this week.
PISCES: Service people, artists and those
in creative field will get several new
opportunities. Friends and family mem
bers would encourage to work harder. Financial
hassles seem to get over as someone lends a
timely helping hand. Love life brings some
memorable moments that you could cherish rest
of your life. A continuous positive thinking gets
rewarded as you succeed in whatever you do
this week. Time to spend money on not a vaca
tion but a luxury vacation. Your loan procedures
for pursuing a plot will be in process. this week
you involvement in voluntary work will enable
to bring fame to you.

ANNUAL PREDICTIONS: FOR THOSE BORN IN THIS WEEK

26th November, 2016
Ruled planet: Saturn Ruled by no: 8
Traits in you: Your governing planet Saturn makes you
confident, unique, creative, dynamic, and intelligent. You
are determined enough to perform any task assigned to
you. So you always remain a step ahead from others.
Along all your good characteristics, you have few nega
tive characters as well. You need to work on your unreli
ability, insensitiveness, and selfishness.
Health this year: You should take your prescribed med
ication in spite of a better health. The health of your par
ents may make you a worried person. You will remain fit
and fine throughout this year. However, the health
issues of your family members may put you in immense
pressure. You need to secure the health of your family
member by investing some money every year.
Finance this year: Your financial condition will be pretty
good as the movements of your stars are favorable for
making money this year. You may go for any investment
on real estate or gold. Do not trust anyone when part
nerships are concerned. You should not lend or borrow
money as it will create disputes.
Career this year: You will be establishing yourself as a
very efficient and important resource in your organiza
tion this year. Your performance will influence your
peers, seniors and higher management. It is the best
time to look out for a new job as it will help you grow
both professionally and financially.
Romance this year: You may go through minor personal
disturbances and these could be solved by talking more
to your partner. Do not let the distance grow. Get some
time to talk to your spouse. You may plan a long trip
with your partner to strengthen your relationship.
27th November, 2016
Ruled planet: Mars Ruled by no: 9
Traits in you: Your ruling planet Mars makes you strong,
determined, courageous, enthusiastic, intelligent, ambi
tious, & motivated. You have a strong dislike towards fake
people & fake emotions. You are a huge fan of truth and
cleanliness. You need to work on your nature of showing
dictatorship and being rude and stubborn at times.
Health this year: Your health would remain very good
this year. However, you need to go for regular yoga exer
cises. You should not ignore your healthy diet plan to
remain in shape. Go for regular medical checkups to
avoid any hiccups further.
Finance this year: You may go for a property transaction
this year and this will bring you a lot of money. You need
to be decisive to invest on real estate or gold as there are
risks involved. Do not trust any of your new partners as
they may cheat you. You may spend enough money on
buying a vehicle or renovating your property.

Career this year: With an enhanced confidence and

brushed up skills, you will become very successful pro
fessionally. You will do justice to the role assigned to
you. You may get promotion or a hike in your current
salary. If you are in creativity field, this year will bring
you much more success and recognition.
Romance this year: Your relationship with your partner
or beloved will be strengthened as day passes. You may
decide to get married this year if you are in a long term
relationship.
28th November, 2016
Ruled planet: Sun Ruled by no: 1
Traits in you: Due to the positive effects of your ruling
planet Sun, you will have the characteristics of a good
human being. By nature, you are accountable, unique,
courageous, committed, competitive, coordinated and
intelligent. You should work on your negative personali
ty traits such as selfishness, dependency and pessimism.
Health this year: You will enjoy a good health through
out this year but provided you go for regular medical
checkups and take proper medication prescribed by the
doctor.
Finance this year: Your financial conditions will be very
good this year as you will be working hard to reach your
goal. Your past property dispute will get solved and it
will earn you a lot of money. If you are into business,
you may go for new ventures as those seem to be very
profitable this year.
Career this year: You will enjoy a good professional
atmosphere this year. You will be appreciated by your
seniors and higher management. This may bring you
promotions and salary hike. You need to concentrate
more on your work to get a better position in your pro
fession. You may go for a job change this year. However,
you should not decide anything hastily.
Romance this year: You will share a good relationship
with your spouse. You may decide to turn your relation
ship into marriage if you are not married yet. However,
you need to understand your beloved and provide the
required emotional support for the betterment of your
relationship.
29th November, 2016
Ruled planet: 2 Ruled by no: Moon
Traits in you: As you are under the influence of the
Moon, you are generous, courteous, caring, cooperative,
decisive, and determined. Being a very friendly person,
you make friends easily and you believe in loyalty for
friends. You should not behave stubborn and dishonest
at times for the betterment of your personality.
Health this year: You will enjoy a pretty good health this
year though you may go through few minor diseases. Go
for regular medical checkups to retain your good health.

Take care of the health of your family members. Do not

ignore any health related issue as it may lead to further
disturbances.
Finance this year: You will be fortunate enough this year
to be among financial gains. All you need to do is to grab
opportunities to earn money. You will find plenty of
earning opportunities around you. However, you have to
work hard to gain that money. Overall, this year will give
you financial stability and security.
Career this year: You will gain a lot of professional
knowledge this year. You may think for a job change this
year. You may not get the job satisfaction in the organi
zation you currently work for. You may not get the
expected appraisal, which would urge you to switch to
another company.
Romance this year: You may get some good news from
your spouse or partner later this week. This will make
your relationship grow stronger. You may have to travel
to distant places to spend time youre your partner and
maintain a good relationship.
30th November, 2016
Ruled planet: Jupiter Ruled by no: 3
Traits in you: As your governing planet is Jupiter, you
are intelligent, dignified, dynamic, simple, ambitious,
and optimistic. You are very whimsical towards your
work. However, you need to eradicate few negative char
acteristics such as jealousy, rude, irresponsibility.
Health this year: You may go through few minor health
issues, which will create unwanted tensions for you
throughout the year. To avoid falling sick frequently,
you need to get your medical checkup done periodically.
Finance this year: You will get financial benefits if you
have invested in past. For future financial gains, you
may invest on real estate and stock market. You should
study the market well before investing on anything. Do
not be in a hurry to invest as it may go in loss.
Career this year: You will be successful in every project
you take up this year. You may be adjudged the best
employee by your higher management because of your
efficiency, hard work, and timely delivery. You may need
to negotiate with different types of customer and learn a
lot about handling a project independently.
Romance this year: As far as your relationships are con
cerned, you will enjoy a good time this year. You will
find your spouse or partner supportive enough in your
difficult time. You will be able to solve any problem that
comes in your way to achieve something. If you are
unmarried, there is a healthy chance for you getting
married this year.
1st December, 2016
Ruled planet: Sun Ruled by no: 1
Traits in you: Being number 1, you are a person who

loves originality in whatever work you do. By nature you

are an authoritative person & so you always take charge
of things which also makes you responsible person. If
you take some task in hand, you are determined to finish
it. You are very soft spoken and kind hearted person.
Health this year: Happiness is a mantra for healthy body
too. Living a great social life and enjoying all pleasures
of life in the coming year will keep you strong both
physically and mentally.
Finance this year: This year you will be able to save
money for the future, which will give you a sense of
security and satisfaction. You might also purchase some
artefacts for your home, which will bring beauty and a
sense of well being around you.
Career this year: In career, success and prosperity will
be yours, in the year ahead of you. You will handle chal
lenging projects, with determination and sincerity. This
will bring you fame and recognition. Your ideas will
draw the attention of your seniors. Your work will be
appreciated by your colleagues and seniors.
Romance this year: You are a person with strong person
ality, so its for you to attract the attention of opposite
sex. However it would be in your interest if you don't
make false promises. Better to channelise your efforts to
develop friendly relations to bring love in your life.
2nd December, 2016
Ruled planet: Moon Ruled by no: 2
Traits in you: Being number 2, you are a person who is
highly ambitious and always look upwards towards
progress and prosperity. You need to control your domi
nating nature, to keep those around you happy. You are
a born leader, and expect your colleagues and friends to
follow whatever you order them to. This sometimes,
leads to misunderstandings.
Health this year: Nature and natural surroundings will
draw your attention in the coming year. You will be able
to enjoy the seas, flowers and on the whole, nature,
which will give you a sense of satisfaction. Being closer
to nature gives both mental and physical peace.
Finance this year: Investment related to your house can
be profitable as you will decide to purchase a new plot.
It will improve your financial position by bringing long
term gains for you.
Career this year: In the coming year, your superiors will
notice your sincerity and loyalty, and they will entrust a
lot of responsibility on your shoulders. You will be able
to fulfill these duties to the utmost.
Romance this year: If you are in love, then your affair
will have to face some testing times as it might get dis
closed this year. However, it will be in your interest to
face it courageously, so that you can enjoy your life with
the person you love.

30

Nov 26-Dec 2, 2016

SPIRITUAL AWARENESS

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Show gratitude by giving

By Sant Rajinder Singh

Ji Maharaj

prayer and service to his fellow

human beings. He was generous
to those in need and spent a lot
of time doing charitable work. As
a result of his generosity, he was
often in financial difficulties.
His wife complained all the
time about how he spent all their
money helping others.
One day, a poor man came to
his house. The saintly man invit
ed him in and listened to his long
tale of sorrow. The man badly

saw that she had a ring with a

small diamond in it. He took the
ring and brought it out to the
poor man.
The saintly man said to him, I
do not have any money at the
moment as I have given it all
away. But I do have this ring I
bought my wife, and you can
surely sell it to get enough to
help your family.
The poor man was grateful.
Tears came to his eyes. He

bed without the ring in it, she

knew she had heard correctly.
Her husband had, indeed, given
away the ring to the poor man.
She rushed out to the living
room and began shouting at her
husband for giving away the only
valuable thing they had leftthe
ring. She implored her husband,
Please, run after the man, and
get the ring back. Tell him you
have made a mistake. Tell him
that you accidentally gave him a

hanksgiving is a special day

in the United States devoted
to giving thanks. It began
with the newly arrived people
from Europe who landed in
America and gave thanks to the
Native Americans for their help.
Over time, T hanksgiving has
come to symbolize giving thanks
for anything in our lives for
which we are grateful.
Oftent imes, when we g ive
thanks, it is because we received
something from someone else.
We may have received something
from our family, our friends, our
teachers, our community, or our
country. We also may g ive
thanks to God for the many gifts
we received.
For those who follow a particu
lar religious belief, we may give
thanks to the founder of that reli
gion. For those who have a spiri
tual Master, we may give thanks
for the spiritual treasures we
received. Yet, most of these forms
of thanks are for what we have
received. There is another way to
show appreciation and that is not
only by thanking others, but by
giving of ourselves. When we
give thanks, it is mostly for what
we have taken or received. If we
really want to show appreciation
for what we have received, we
can express it by giving to oth
ers. It is a way of passing on the
goo dness of what we have
received to others. In this way,
we are not only takers, but we
also become givers. Others in
need become recipients of our
gifts.
Saints and Masters are shining
examples of being givers. They
want nothing for themselves
from their disciples. They have
everything they need. They are
one with God, the source of all
bliss and love. When we have
love and joy, what else can com
pare to that? It is only we who
have forgotten that innate love
and joy who try to find it in the
material wealth and playthings
of the world.
To illustrate this, there is an
anecdote about a saintly man. He
was devoted to God and spent a
great amount of time in both

When we give thanks, it is mostly for

what we have taken or received. If we
really want to show appreciation for
what we have received, we can express
it by giving to others. It is a way of
passing on the goodness of what
we have received to others. In this
way, we are not only takers, but
we also become givers.
needed money to help his family.
The saintly man was moved
and wanted to help the poor
man. The saintly man went to his
lock box to see if he could give
the man any money, but saw that
he had used up his financial
resources. His heart was so
touched by the poor mans story
that he could not bear to send
the man away emptyhanded.
W hen his w ife was in the
kitchen preparing a meal, the
saintly man crept into her room
and found her jewelry box. He

thanked the saintly man and left

with the ring.
T he w ife, who was in the
kitchen, had overheard parts of
the conversation and did not
make much of it because she
could not believe her ears and
thought she was hearing things.
She thought she heard some
thing about a ring, but could
never imag ine her husband
would be giving away the ring he
had bought her. But when she
went to her room and saw her
jewelry box lying open on the

gold ring with a real diamond in

it. The saintly man was stuck
now, because his w ife was
expecting him to get the ring
back from the man. The saintly
man had no choice but to run
after the man who had accepted
the ring from them. The saintly
man raced out of the house to
catch up to the poor man.
Breathlessly, the saintly man,
caught up to the man, took him
by the arm and said, I have to
tell you something.
The poor man turned to him

and said, Yes, what is it? The

saintly man said, My friend, I
want you to know I made a big
mistake. The poor man asked,
What is the mistake? The saint
ly man said, The ring I gave you
is solid gold and the diamond is
genuine. Make sure, then, that
when you sell it to a jeweler he
gives you its true value and does
not cheat you.
T his anecdote shows the
extreme generosity of a saintly
man. Instead of getting the ring
back, he wanted to make sure
the poor man got the fair value
price for the jewelry.
This story shows that saints
care more about helping others
than for their own material
belongings.
Saints and Masters can do all
this because they consider mate
rial earnings to be flimsy and
impermanent. They know that
worldly belongings will ultimate
ly perish, and we will leave them
at the time of death. To them, it
does not matter whether they
have material wealth or not. If
they have it as a result of their
hard work or circumstances in
life, they are not attached to it. If
they do not have it, they are con
tent also. Some saints are in cir
cumstances of wealth and some
are in circumstances of simplici
tythey accept the circum
stances in which Go d places
them. They are indif ferent to
their outer circumstance because
they know they are here to dis
tribute spiritual wealth.
Spiritual wealth is available to
all, regardless of outer circum
stances in life. Saints teach that
we can gain that divine wealth
through receiving a conscious
contact with the holy Word or
Naam that can lead us back to
God through the help of a living
Master. If we were to come in
contact with such a Master, we
would transcend physical body
consciousness to know there are
spiritual realms beyond. Our soul
can soar through inner spiritual
realms until it is united with God.
When we reunite our soul with
God we will experience spiritual
love which penetrates to our
core. T hen, we too would be
overflowing with love and radi
ate that to others.
We have seen cases of extreme
generosity in the lives of the
saints. We have seen them being
generous with their money and
time. They bring solace and help
to the poor, the needy, and the
downtrodden. They bring com
fort and peace to all who come,
whether rich or poor.

(To be continued...)

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Nov 26-Dec 2, 2016