Washington, DC: President

Obama said Thursday that United

States military aircraft had dropped
food and water to thousands of
Iraqis besieged by Islamic militants
on a mountaintop in northern Iraq.
Speaking from the White House,
the President said he had directed
the United States military forces to
conduct targeted airstrikes on the
militants if they moved to take
Erbil, threatening the American cit-
izens and military personnel there.
And he said that at the request of
the Iraqi government, he had
authorized the military to use
airstrikes to help provide humani-
tarian assistance to the Iraqi citi-
zens, many of them religious
minorities, who are trapped on
the mountain. The return to mili-
tary engagement in Iraq is a
reversal for Mr. Obama, whose
early opposition to the war that
toppled Saddam Hussein, and his
promise to end it, fueled his long-
shot campaign for the White
House. It also puts a spotlight
on what has become a
familiar feature of
the Obama presi-
dency, in which
New Delhi: While Prime Minister
Narendra Modi may not be able to
address the joint session of US
Congress during his trip next month
to Washington owing to the
Congressional holiday schedule, he
is set to have a luncheon meeting
with senior US Senators and gover-
nors of important states as part of
efforts to engage with a large sec-
tion of the American administra-
tion.
Indeed, plans are on to organize a
lunch with over 50 US Senators
who play a critical role in decision
making in the American system.
US India Political Action
Committee (USINPAC),
which is a broad-based
group of Indian
Americans, is driving
this initiative, reports
Economic Times
newspaper of India.
R o b i n d e r
Sachdev, head of
the Indian chapter
of USINPAC, said
that the group is in
touch with over
50 Senators for
the proposed
luncheon. Sachdev also informed
that plans are on to organize a
meeting between the PM and gov-
ernors of key US states. The idea is
to have a get-together of over a
dozen governors of states that are
keen to invest in India.
Governors often lead trade dele-
gations to various countries, includ-
ing India, and are critical for busi-
ness promotion between the two
countries, Sachdev informed.
Simultaneously, attempts are also
The South Asian Times
e x c e l l e n c e i n j o u r n a l i s m
excellence in journalism
CINEMA 26 FESTIVALS 15 SPIRITUAL AWARENESS 30
Washington: Describing India as
one of the most significant countries
in the world, US Defense Secretary
Chuck Hagel has said the world's
largest democracy will help shape a
"new world order" that is emerging
in this century.)
"When you look at the world
today, and you're all quite familiar
with this, that India not only repre-
sents one of the most significant
countries by any measurement in the
world today, but will help shape a
new world order that is emerging in
this young century," Hagel told
reporters travelling with him to
India.
Hagel, who landed in India
Thursday on his maiden trip as
Defense Secretary, is scheduled to
meet his Indian counterpart Arun
Jaitley and other leaders of the new
Indian Government.
His visit comes in less than a
week after Secretary of State John
Kerry and Commerce Secretary
Penny Pritzeker visited New Delhi
Vol.7 No. 15 August 9-15, 2014 60 Cents New York Edition Follow us on TheSouthAsianTimes.info
In a policy reversal, Obama okays air strikes in Iraq
SPORTS 24
Continued on
page 4
Continued on page 4
Continued on page 4
Modi to meet
50 US Senators
& key governors
'India will help shape a new world order in 21st century': Hagel
"Pradhan Mantri Narendra Modi Abhinandan Samaroh"
at Madison Square Garden on Sept 28.
US Defense Secretary arrives in India to boost India-US strategic ties
No address to Congress, but
The prospect of
a genocide in
Iraq warrants
action, Obama
said defending
his decision.
New York: With each passing
year, the enthusiasm is growing
of Indian Americans to celebrate
Mother Indias Independence
Day. More and more of them take
part in the parades in places
where they are in significant
numbers. And the number of
parades and celebrations is also
increasing. So it is this year as we
celebrate Indias 68th
Independence Day, commonly
referred to as India Day in
America.
The biggest India Day parade is
of course the one organ-
ized by the Federation of
Indian Organizations
(FIA) in Manhattan, to be
held on August 17. Now in
its 34th year, the star
attractions are Sunny Deol
(as Grand Marshal),
Raveena Tandon and
Daler Mehndi. The 3rd
India Day Parade in
Hicksville, Long Island, is sched-
uled for this Saturday, August 9.
Besides Bollywood actress
Poonam Dhillon (as Grand
Marshal), Nassau County
Executive Ed Mangano will
grace the event as Guest of
Honor.
India Day celebrations galore
Sunny Deol is Grand Marshal at the
New York parade and Poonam
Dhillon at the parade in Hicksville.
August 9-15, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info
3 August 9-15, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRISTATE COMMUNITY
Washington DC: Indians in Amer-
ica normally lean Democrat, but
now Republicans in the country
seem to lean more towards Indias
new Prime Minister Narendra
Modi, who is being hailed by some
as Indias Ronald Reagan, writes a
contributor to Forbes magazine.
He is the new Reagan. We need
someone like Modi here in the
US, says Shalabh Kumar, a
Chicago businessman moonlight-
ing as the chairman of the Indian-
American Advisory Council to the
House Republican Confeow rence
who took 18 Republicans and
Chicago-area business leaders to
India in 2013 to meet with Modi.
Hes organizing a similar Republi-
can trip in November, writes Ken-
neth Rapoza in the Forbes.
Though Modi created a mass eu-
phoria in the run up to the elections
in India earlier this year reminis-
cent of Obamas presidential cam-
paign in 2008, Shalabh Kumar ar-
gues, He is nothing like Obama.
He doesnt want government to be
involved in businesses. I think
pretty soon youll start hearing
about Modinomics which is a lot
like Reaganomics, only modified
to fit Indias needs.
Like Reagan, Modi has taking
over a hamstrung economy with
promises to streamline govern-
ment. But unlike Reagan, he gov-
erns a much more diverse society,
and many below the poverty line.
I particularly like his thoughts
on small government, said Repub-
lican congressman Aaron Schock.
Modis commitment to maximum
governance and minimum govern-
ment promises to strengthen (our)
relationship through more endur-
ing diplomatic ties, mutually bene-
ficial trade in goods and services,
and cultural collaboration with the
United States, he said in a state-
ment soona after Modi and his BJP
party swept Indias month-long
general election. Schock was one
of the Republicans who traveled
with Kumar to Modis Gujarat last
year.
Shalabh Kumar also introduced
former presidential candidate Newt
Gingrich to become a Modi loyal-
ist. Gingrich, who also took the
March 2013 junket to India, has
discussed Reagan-esque econom-
ics with Modi via Skype.
Reagan was big on defense. So
is Modi. His latest budget opened
the market to allow for 49% for-
eign ownership of Indian defense
contractors.
Reagans other trait, cutting bu-
reaucracy, trickled down to Modi
from across the seas. Modi has
been streamlining government
since he stepped into office, reduc-
ing government positions in hopes
to reduce waste and the amount of
time it takes to approve large infra-
structure projects. India needs that.
Voters thought so too.
Significantly, former GOP Presi-
dential candidate John McCain be-
came the first high-ranking US
leader to visit Indias new prime
minister in July. That visit was part
of an all-out charm offensive by the
United States to smooth over any
lingering resentment over denial of
visa to Modi and pave the way for
Modi's planned visit to the United
States in September.
Republicans arent alone in lik-
ing Modi. Democrats recently
signed a resolution to invite him to
address Congress in September
ahead of his speech to the United
Nations that month. But the Rea-
gan comparison is all GOP, and at
that, it is all Shalabh Kumar, In-
dias biggest US lobbyist for the
House Republicans.
Washington, D.C.: A top Indian
American diplomat in charge of
policymaking in the areas of inter-
national security, security assis-
tance, military operations and de-
fense is joining Defense Secretary
Chuck Hagel during his India visit
this week, the State Department
said Aug. 5.
Assistant Secretary of State for
Political-Military Affairs Puneet
Talwar is assisting Hagel who is at-
tending the first cabinet-level de-
fense talks between the two coun-
tries under the new Indian govern-
ment led by Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi. On a 3-day visit, Hagel
is expected to hold talks with his
Indian counterpart, Arun Jaitley,
Aug. 8. He is also likely to call on
Modi, and meet External Affairs
Minister Sushma Swaraj and Na-
tional Security Advisor Ajit Doval.
Talwar will join Hagel for dis-
cussions with senior officials on
security cooperation and defense
trade. Talwar, who played a key
role in negotiations with Iran dur-
ing his tenure at the National Secu-
rity Council at the White House, is
one of two Indian American diplo-
mats at the level of Assistant Sec-
retary of State at the State Depart-
ment.
Assistant Secretary of State for
South and Central Asia Nisha De-
sai Biswal accompanied Secretary
of State John Kerry to New Delhi
for the Strategic Dialogue last
week. The purpose of Hagels visit
is to nurture the India-U.S relation-
ship, Pentagon Press Secretary
Rear Admiral John Kirby told PTI.
Washington, DC: The National
Sikh Campaign (NSC) is hosting a
meeting of all US gurdwaras here
on August 16 to engage the entire
community to join in on a major
push towards changing the percep-
tion of Sikhs in the country.
The Campaign has hired the me-
dia firm AKPD, founded by David
Axelrod, President Obamas former
senior advisor, and Hilary Clintons
former chief strategist Geoff Garin.
They will be working to run a his-
toric, presidential style campaign
for Sikhs to highlight the communi-
ty as an integral part of American
Society.
NSC is inviting a few select
prominent Sikh leaders to partici-
pate in a closed-door strategy ses-
sion with Garin and AKPD, the pur-
pose of the meeting will be to chart
out a strategy to engage the Sikh
community to the largest PR cam-
paign in the USA.
Sikhs have had a long presence in
the USA, and are quite successful,
but most Americans do not know
who Sikhs are, and the contribu-
tions they have made in America in
the last 200 years.
Despite the efforts of the Sikh
community since 9/11, Sikhs are
still associated with negative per-
ceptions; which the NSC believes
has to change.
Gurwin Ahuja, the Executive Di-
rector of NSC, was the National
Field Coordinator for President
Obamas campaign and has worked
with the White Houses National
Economic Council during the finan-
cial crisis. He is also serving as the
Executive Director of the Sikh
Council of Religion and Education
(SCORE).
Republicans think Narendra Modi is Indias Reagan
President Ronald Reagan and (right) John McCain with PM Modi in Delhi.
Puneet Talwar is Assistant
Secretary of State for
Political-Military Affairs
Indian American diplomat joins Hagel in India
Forum hosts meet for all US gurdwaras to change perception of Sikhs
Indian court orders status quo in Haryana gurdwaras
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered status quo on con-
trol of gurdwaras in Haryana and directed the state's director general of
police to ensure that there were no untoward incidents. The fight to con-
trol gurdwaras in Haryana erupted between the newly-created Haryana
State Gurdwara Management Committee and the Amritsar-based Shiro-
mani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) after the assembly en-
acted a law giving management control to the state body. Though attor-
ney general Mukul Rohatgi had given an opinion to the Centre terming
the Haryana law unconstitutional, the state went ahead with implementa-
tion of the new law. The situation reached a flashpoint on Wednesday
when members of HSGMC tried to forcibly take control of gurdwaras in
the state. SGPC has been controlling gurdwaras in Punjab, Haryana and
Himachal Pradesh since the enactment of the Sikh Gurdwara Act in 1925.
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4 August 9-15, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info TURN PAGE
Modi to meet 50 US Senators..
Continued from page 1
being made to organize a meeting
between Modi and top business leaders
in Washington. Net worth of these
business houses is over $600 billion.
This would be the second meeting
between Modi and business leaders in
the same trip. He is expected to meet a
group of businessman under the aegis
of business chambers in New York
before proceeding to Washington.
Earlier Senators Mark Warner, John
Cornyn, Tim Kaine, Jim Risch, and the
Senate India Caucus, sponsored a reso-
lution urging a Joint Session of
Congress address by Prime Minister
Modi. But South Block officials told
ET that due to the intervening US
Congressional holiday schedule, and
the House of Representatives' urgency
to leave Washington to prepare for the
November elections in their home dis-
tricts, a Joint Session address by the
PM is unlikely to happen in September
this year.
Meanwhile, in a statement issued on
Sunday, the Overseas Friends of BJP
(OFBJP) said that Modi will address
hundreds of Indian Americans at the
famous Madison Square Garden in
New York on September 28. The event
has been named "Pradhan Mantri
Narendra Modi Abhinandan Samaroh".
According to OFBJP, Modi is hugely
popular among the Indian Americans.
Vijay Jolly, BJP Global Convener of
Overseas Affairs, along with
Chandrakant Patel, OFBJP-USA presi-
dent, according to the statement, would
tour several cities across the country to
mobilise Indian American community
leaders and the Indian diaspora for this
event.
In a policy reversal, Obama...
Continued from page 1
the leader of the most powerful mili-
tary in the world has become defined
by his reluctance to use it.
When we have the unique capabili-
ties to help avert a massacre, then I
think the United States of America
cannot turn a blind eye, Obama said
defending his move while promising:
I will not allow the United States to
be dragged into fighting another war in
Iraq.
Obama said those stranded on the
mountain were subject to barbaric
treatment by ISIS and were threatened
with a mass execution. While the
United States cannot and should not
intervene every time theres a crisis in
the world, the president said, the cur-
rent circumstances in Iraq civilians
facing the threat of mass violence, a
request by the Iraqis for help, and the
American capability to prevent slaugh-
ter warrant action.
'India will help shape a new...
Continued from page 1
for India-US Strategic Dialogue.
"The relationship between the US
and India is certainly for US interests,
and I think for India's interests, as well
as the Asia Pacific, but also global
interests, is important," he said.
"Where we can find common inter-
ests, where we can share areas that
help promote our own countries', our
own economies' stability, security,
peace, trade, technology," he said,
adding that the point of his trip here is
to take advantage of the opportunity to
meet with a new Indian government.
Mr Hagel said his current India trip
is to acquaint himself with the ground
realities and that he would be more in
listening mode.
This is an opportune time to spend a
couple of days here listening, learning,
and getting acquainted," Mr Hagel
said.
"Are there interests in other areas?
We are doing more than we've ever
done military-to-military with India
with joint exercises. We want to con-
tinue to build on those exercises. We'll
talk about where we can expand the
potential for joint exercises," he said.
A supporter of India US civilian
nuclear deal, Mr Hagel said power and
energy are going to be a specifically
important driving force for oil-devel-
oping economies, emerging economies
and growing economies.
Mineola: The annual India Day
Flag Hoisting ceremony will be
held at the prestigious Nassau
County Executive & Legislative
Building next Friday, August 15,
at 8.30 in the morning.
The ceremony will be attended
by County Executive Edward P.
Mangano, Presiding Officer
Norma Gonsalves, elected offi-
cials as well as Indian community
leaders.
The Indian flag hoisting is a
laudable initiative of Hon.
Mangano, along with Kamlesh
Mehta since year 2010.
The event is being organized by
the Office of Nassau County
Executive, National Federation of
Indian American Associations
(NFIA), India Association of
Long Island (IALI), and IDP
USA.
The Grand Sponsor is Gurdev
DP Singh of Meetu Magic Inc.
Ceremonies are prepared by
Champak Bhai Parikh, Bolly Arts,
Flora Pareek, Bina Sabhapathi
and Jagdish Sewhani. The mag-
nificent dome of Nassau Countys
Executive & Legislative Building
will be illuminated in the night
with Indian Tricolors.
This years honorees at the
event are: Habib Ahemad, Kanu
Bhai Lakhani , Rajendra Pratap
Singh,and Vijay Goswami for
their community service (in
alphabetic order) and Apna Bazar
for their contribution to Nassau
Countys Indian American
Community. Refreshments will be
served by Rajbhog Sweets.
RSVP: via email to Kamlesh
Mehta @
KMehta@NassauCountyNY.Gov
or Peter Bheddah at
Bheddah@aol.com
Tel Aviv: Gaza militants have fired a barrage of at
least five rockets at southern Israel shortly after a
three-day truce between Israel and Hamas expired,
the Israeli military said early Friday.
At least one of the rockets was successfully inter-
cepted by the Iron Dome system over the southern
Israeli city of Ashkelon while two rockets fell in
open areas without causing casualties or damage,
Haaretz reported.
Israel and Hamas had been holding indirect talks
in Cairo on new border arrangements for the block-
aded coastal territory. Israel said it was willing to
consider easing border restrictions, but demanded
that Hamas disarmed. The talks began during the
three-day truce that ended at 8 a.m. local time on
Friday. A Hamas official had told The Associated
Press before it ended that the group had decided not
to extend the cease-fire.
Indian flag hoisting at Nassau
County seat on Aug 15
Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano receiving a statuette
of Mahatma Gandhi from NFIA President Lal Motwani
during Flag Hoisting ceremonies last year.
(Photo: Michael Tamborrino)
Rockets fired at Israel from Gaza after cease-fire expires: Israeli military
5 August 9-15, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRISTATE COMMUNITY
New York: A 29-year old Sikh man
is in critical condition after he was
hit by a pickup truck in Ozone Park,
Queens and dragged nearly 30 feet
following an argument between him
and the driver who allegedly hurled
racist slur at him and his
friend.Sandeep Singh, father of two,
was with his friend Baldey Singh
when he was hit by a pickup truck
late Tuesday night. Sandeep is in
critical condition at the hospital.
Rights group Sikh Coalition has
called for a hate crime investigation
into the incident. Baldey told ABC
News that the two men had just fin-
ished dinner at a restaurant and were
standing on the street when the driv-
er of the truck pulled up near them.
Baldey said the driver yelled a
racial slur at him and his friends.
Sandeep, annoyed at the driver, hit
the truck with his hand. The driver
pulled forward, stopped, and got out
of the vehicle, holding something in
his hand.
The two men and the driver got
into an argument following which
the driver got back in his truck. How-
ever, Sandeep wanted the man to
stop and call the police. Sandeep
then stepped in front of the pickup
truck when the driver started his
truck and ran over him. The report
said Sandeep was dragged roughly
30 feet down the street and his body
finally came loose from the truck,
which kept on going.
New York, NY: The An-
nual Grand Dushahra
Festival Kick-off cele-
bration organized by
Indo-American Festivals
(IFA) Inc. took place on
August 1 in the ballroom
of Consulate General of
India, New York. The
event was inaugurated
by Amb. Dnyaneshwar
M Mulay.
IAF, which has been
hosting the award-win-
ning NJ Dushahra for past 15
years has now taken a step ahead
of celebrating the first ever grand
Dushahra Festival in New York
City. People now have two oppor-
tunities to join the festivities and
are invited to celebrate the
Dushahra Festival - in New York
on Saturday, September 21 at the
South Street Seaport, New York.
And in New Jersey on Saturday,
October 4 at Lake Papaianni Park,
Edison, New Jersey.
The evening began with the
singing of the national anthems of
the two countries followed by the
lighting of the auspicious lamp,
followed by welcome address by
IAF President Raj Mittal and
Chairperson, Mrs. Chanchal Gup-
ta. At the event Amb. Mulay in-
formed the guests about the initia-
tives taken by the Consulate like
Media India Lecture series, its ef-
forts to link literature and film; its
initiative to introduce children
from different schools to Indian
culture and heritage; and its co-
operation with individuals and or-
ganizations to work with the Con-
sulate for promoting Indian val-
ues, trade, culture, heritage etc.
The evening continued with the
short clip showing past Dushahra
festival and then some beautiful
dance performances starting with
the Ganesh Vandana; glimpses of
Ram Lila show; a Mallakhamb
show and finally Maharashtra's
popular folk dance- Lavani.
By Jinal Shah
New York: New Jersey based Shree Krishna
Nidhi (SKN) foundation- a not for profit or-
ganization promoting total wellness- along
with physicians, dieticians and members from
the hospitality industry have launched a
healthy eating at restaurants initiative to help
you make healthier choices at local Indian
restaurants.
This initiative is part of the foundations on-
going Move It to Lose It (MITLI) program-
an afterschool dance program to prevent
childhood obesity. The six week program,
currently running at three schools in New Jer-
sey area, promotes healthy living through
physical activity, nutrition instruction inter-
ventions for children 8 to 15 years of age.
So why restaurants? Dr Naveen Mehrotra
founder of SKN foundation and MITLI pro-
gram, points out that with both parents work-
ing and kids too on a tight schedule, more
families are opting for food on the go or a
quick bite at a food joint. Introducing healthy
choices in restaurants is just a natural exten-
sion to the MITLI program, said Dr Mehro-
tra.Studies on American eating habits show
that more than one third of US adults (ap-
proximately 35 percent)
and 10 percent of Asian
Americans are obese. Part-
ly also because of large
portions served.
For many Indian Ameri-
cans, going to a restaurant
is a way of treating them-
selves and do not mind
some extra calories. But
Kamal Arora of the Arora
Hospitality group explains
how calorific Indian dishes
could be, just by baking
the bhatura in channa
bhatura, you save about
200 calories. This does not
mean all items on the
menu are fatty or bad.
There are some hidden
gems on the menu card that with some minor
tweaks can taste as delicious. Arora is in the
process to launch healthy options in his six
restaurants. Dr Meena Murthy, chief of en-
docrinology department at St Peters hospital
and advisory board member of SKN founda-
tion strongly believes that there are takers for
healthier options at restaurants. Contrary to
belief there is a sizeable population which is
open to the idea of a healthy yet tasty meal.
We gauged that at the Edison Family Day
event (held in June) where we asked the chefs
from one of Kamals restaurant to prepare two
thalis one regular and other with some mi-
nor changes like adding more green vegeta-
bles, replacing sweet with fruits and we got an
overwhelming response from the crowd, she
said.
Aroras staff has already rolled out new op-
tions like healthy pav bhaji and a diet thali.
We have tried to replace potatoes with ba-
nanas and reduced the size of pav in pav bha-
ji. In our thali we have replaced creamier veg-
etables with more green veggies, white rice
with brown and desserts with fresh fruits,
explains Arora.
As the idea picks up Dr Mehrotra hopes
more Indian restaurant will join the initiative.
Green veggies, brown rice and fruits find place
in meals now (Photo: veganculinarycrusade.com)
In a first, Indian restaurants to promote healthy eating
New York, NY: Exactly two
years after a racist gunman took
six lives and injured many others
at a Gurdwara in Oak Creek,
Wisconsin, New Yorkers of
diverse backgroundsled by the
Sikh communityrallied in sup-
port of Sandeep Singh, a Sikh
American father who was run over
by a truck last week moments
after the driver called him a ter-
rorist and told him to go back to
your country.
Remembering the lives lost at Oak
Creek, Sandeep Singhs wife
Prabhpreet Kaurspoke at the
rally and demanded justice for her
husband. She also read a moving
statement from Sandeep, which he
recorded from his hospital bed: I
am in a great deal of pain, but I
will survive. I was attacked
because I am a Sikh and because I
look like a Sikh. Justice should be
served so that no one else goes
through what I have been through.
We need to create a world without
hate.
Sikh Americans remember Oak
Creek by rallying for justice
Sikh Americans rally in support of Sandeep Singh
Consul General Amb. Dnyaneshwar
M Mulay and IFA office bearers
at the kick-off event
Truck driver runs over Sikh man after racist abuse
NY to have first grand
Dushahra fest on Sept 21
6 August 9-15, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRISTATE COMMUNITY
New York: An illegal scheme to
turn food benefits into cash netted
two Suffolk convenience store
owners nearly $1 million before
they were caught, the state attorney
general said Tuesday.
The Mastic Supermarket Corp.,
one of its employees, and seven
people who used their SNAP bene-
fit cards to get cash instead of food
also were charged in the 25-count
indictment. All were arraigned
Tuesday afternoon.
To help impoverished individuals
after superstorm Sandy, the federal
government set aside an extra 50
percent of SNAP benefits, which
replaced food stamps.
"It's unconscionable that anyone
would steal from a program de-
signed to provide nutritional assis-
tance to New Yorkers in need, es-
pecially those harmed by Hurri-
cane Sandy," Attorney General
Eric T. Schneiderman said in a
statement.
Store co-owners Manjeet Chad-
ha, 48, of North Bellmore and Saj-
jad Rashid, 43, of Rocky Point and
their employee, Haricharan Malho-
tra, 41, of Mastic, were charged
with felony grand larceny, misuse
of food stamps and falsifying busi-
ness records, officials said.
Rashid and Malhotra each face
up to 15 years in prison. Chadha
faces up to 7 years behind bars.
Rashid, Chadha and Malhotra
processed fictitious SNAP transac-
tions for the seven cardholders, and
split the cash value of the fake pur-
chases with them, the attorney gen-
eral's office said.
Schneiderman also said he filed a
civil suit seeking $973,000 in resti-
tution from the store, its owners
and their employee.
The Mastic store rang up more
than $564,000 in SNAP benefits in
just 10 months, while nearby stores
totaled $14,000 to $24,000, offi-
cials said.
Washington, DC: Ford Motor Co.
July 22 named 48-year-old Kumar
Galhotra to oversee its luxury Lin-
coln brand, as part of a move by
the U.S. vehicle manufacturers
new chief executive officer Mark
Fields to launch Lincoln cars in
China by 2016, according to the
Wall Street Journal.
Although the title is new, Galho-
tra replaces Jim Farley, who will
remain chief of global marketing
at Ford.
Most recently, the Indian Amer-
ican executive was vice president
of engineering, a position he as-
sumed Aug. 1, 2013. In this role,
he was responsible for the engi-
neering of all cars, trucks, SUVs
and crossover vehicles for Ford
and Lincoln.
Galhotra became vice president,
product development for Asia Pa-
cific and Africa, in 2009, and was
named a corporate officer in 2012.
Raised in India, Galhotra has a
bachelor of science in mechanical
engineering from the University of
Michigan.
Mastic Supermarket Corp.
co-owner Manjeet Chadha
(Credit: State attorney
general's office)
Indian Americans among 10 charged for
$1m food benets fraud
New York: An Indian couple
has been arrested here and
charged with subjecting their
12-year-old daughter to "un-
speakable physical abuse" for
months by starving her and
beating her with a metal handle
and baseball bat, leaving her se-
verely bruised and hospitalized
for surgery.
Rajesh Ranot, 46, and his wife
Sheetal Ranot, 31, of Queens
were arraigned in Queens Crim-
inal Court and together charged
in a criminal complaint with
first, second and third degree as-
sault, unlawful imprisonment
and endangering the welfare of
a child, District Attorney
Richard Brown said.
Sheetal, who is the child's
stepmother, is presently being
held in jail against $60,000 in
bail and faces a total of 33 years
in prison if convicted.
Rajesh is the child's biological
father and faces up to seven
years in prison if convicted. He
too remains in jail against
$25,000 bail.
Their next court date is on Au-
gust 13. Sheetal repeatedly hit
her stepdaughter Maya Ranot
on her body and face, causing
bruising and pain and locked
her inside her bedroom, refus-
ing to feed her for extended pe-
riods of time between Decem-
ber 2012 and May 2014, ac-
cording to the charges.
In one instance in May 2013,
Sheetal allegedly hit Maya with
a broken metal broom handle on
her body, causing a deep lacera-
tion and bleeding on her left
wrist and right knee.
Medical personnel found
Maya "lying in a pool of blood"
in the kitchen with her wrist cut
down to the bone.
Maya underwent emergency
surgery for her wrist and re-
ceived stitches to her knee.
The doctors treating Maya ob-
served several bruises, marks
and scars in various stages of
healing throughout her body in-
cluding bruises on her right ear
and legs.
In another instance, Sheetal
allegedly hit Maya in the face
with a wooden rolling pin in
April this year causing a lacera-
tion, swelling and pain to her
cheek. Doctors found her to be
underweight and thin, weighing
58 pounds, and wearing dirty
clothes. The complaint addi-
tionally alleged that Rajesh re-
peatedly beat Maya with his
hands, feet, belt and baseball bat
between December 2012 and
May 2014, causing bruising,
swelling and pain in her ears,
head and legs. The New York
City Administration for Chil-
dren's Services filed an abuse
petition against the father and
step-mother in family court fol-
lowing the investigation.
Commissioner Gladys Car-
rion said the investigation saved
the life of the young girl and
ensured that she and her
siblings are now safe from fur-
ther abuse.
Kumar Galhotra
Ford Motor appoints Kumar
Galhotra to head Lincoln brand
Indian couple arrested,
charged with abusing daughter
7 August 9-15, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info NATIONAL COMMUNITY
Washington, DC:
President Obama
nominated yet another
Indian-American to
serve on the U.S. Dis-
trict Court for the Dis-
trict of Columbia. The
nomination of Amit
Priyavadan Mehta on
July 31 will be Oba-
mas second Indian-
American nomina-
tion to D.C. federal
courts. The first was
that of Srikanth Sri
Srinivasan, who is a judge on the
United States Court of Appeals for
the District of Columbia Circuit,
considered the second highest court
after the U.S. Supreme Court. The
President has nominated the high-
est number of Indian-Americans to
judgeships. Several of them have
been confirmed by the U.S. Senate
over just the last year. I am
pleased to nominate these distin-
guished individuals to serve on the
United States District Court
bench, President Obama is quoted
saying in a White House press re-
lease. The other judicial nominee is
Allison Dale Burroughs for the
U.S. District Court
for the District of
Massachusetts.
Amit Mehta has
been a partner at
Zuckerman Spaeder
LLP from 2010,
where he represents
clients in civil and
criminal matters be-
fore state and federal
courts. He is married
to Caroline Judge
Mehta, a Harvard
Law graduate who is
also at Zuckerman Spaeder and
specializes in white collar crime,
business and corporate law as well
as health care, according to the
company website.
Amit Mehta has handled some
high profile cases including that of
former IMF president Dominique
Strauss-Kahn against criminal as-
sault charges in one of the most in-
tense and highly publicized crimi-
nal cases of 2011. All criminal
charges against Strauss-Khan were
dismissed, and Amit Mehta contin-
ues to represent him in related civ-
il matters, the Zuckerman Spaeder
website says.
Sacramento, CA: The
Republican candidate for
California governor said Thursday
he spent a week living as a home-
less person in Fresno to highlight
the disparity between the gover-
nor's claim that the state is making
an economic comeback and the
reality faced by the working poor
in the nation' s most populous
state, the Associated Press report-
ed. Neel Kashkari, a millionaire
and former Goldman Sachs banker
who is far behind Gov. Jerry
Brown in pre-election polls,
released a short documentary
about the six nights he spent sleep-
ing in parking lots and on park
benches, and wrote about his
experience in an opinion piece
published in the Wall Street
Journal.
Kashkari, 41, said he had hoped
to find work and stay in low-
priced motels, but he was turned
away from dozens of businesses
where he offered to wash dishes,
sweep floors, pack boxes and cook
meals after taking a bus from Los
Angeles to Fresno with $40 in his
pocket. He eventually turned to a
homeless shelter for food.
Kashkari acknowledged that his
experiment gave him "just a taste"
of the struggles faced by poor peo-
ple and said he could not truly
understand their plight because he
knew his situation was only tem-
porary.
Still, he said he wanted to force
a discussion about poverty.
"Gov. Brown is not talking about
poverty," Kashkari said at a news
conference outside a Sacramento
food bank. "He's not talking about
unemployment in our state. He's
not talking about our failing
schools. He's declared a California
comeback." Kashkari, a former
U.S. Treasury official who helped
lead the federal bank bailout at the
height of the recession, also criti-
cized the media for failing to chal-
lenge the Democratic governor
about endemic poverty in some
parts of the state amid an econom-
ic boom in others, such as Silicon
Valley.
Kashkari said he walked for
miles with a backpack, change of
clothes and toothpaste in 100-
degree heat searching for work in
Fresno. He said he showered once
and was awakened five of the six
nights by security guards or police
asking him to move on.
He said he was committed to
finding a job and had to change
his focus about halfway into the
experiment as his money was run-
ning out.
"It was find a job, find a job,
find a job. And then it switched:
I've got to find food," he said.
Aaron McLear, a spokesman for
the campaign, said Kashkari later
donated $500 to the homeless
shelter that gave him food, which
the shelter confirmed.
Immigrant kids in US at higher obesity risk
Washington, DC: Immigrant kids in the US
are more likely to grow obese than US-born
Caucasian children, a study says.
Children of Asian immigrants are nearly
three times as likely to have lower levels of
physical activity than US-born Caucasian
children, and children of Hispanic immigrants
and those of unspecified ethnicity are nearly
two times as likely.
"Children in immigrant families are at par-
ticular risk for low levels of physical activity,
which we were unable to explain with a host
of factors relating to family and neighborhood
characteristics," said Rachel Kimbro, an asso-
ciate professor of sociology at Rice
University in the US.
The study included data from the Early
Childhood Longitudinal Study, which sur-
veyed 17,510 participants with kindergarten-
ers on issues affecting child development
between 1998-99 in the US.
"These children comprise a growing popu-
lation of American youth, and failing to
address the low levels of physical activity
among this group could have important long-
term health consequences as this population
transitions into adolescence and adulthood,"
Mackenzie Brewer from Rice University
noted. The study is forthcoming in the journal
Social Science and Medicine.
New York: My Dear Americans, a
short film by Arpita Kumar, won the
Peoples Choice award at the PBS
Online film festival where viewers
voted for their favorite film from June
16- July 31. More than 50,000 votes
were cast for the winner.
In My Dear Americans, an overly
excited husband tries to cheer up his
wife as they prepare to celebrate Fourth
of July in their brand new home com-
plete with matching American flag T-
shirts. However, as the Indian-
American couple adjusts to life in the sub-
urbs, they are soon exposed to local igno-
rance and prejudice that threatens to damp-
en their spirits. A short narrative funded by
Film Independent and PBS, the film was
directed by Arpita Kumar who grew up in
India and works as a filmmaker and profes-
sor in California. The short was produced
during Film Independents Project Involve
production program for diverse filmmakers.
My Dear Americans was also awarded
Honorable Mention by the Jury at the
Cleveland International Film Festival 2014
for best womens short.
Neel Kashkari goes homeless to
show economic gap
Amit Priyavadan
Mehta
Republican candidate for
California governor
Neel Kashkari
Corporate Office: 385 Seneca Avenue, Ridgewood NY 11385
718.821.3182, www.AtlanticDialysis.Com
Amit Priyavadan Mehta
nominated to U.S. District Court
Film by Indian director wins PBS Online Film Festival
A still from My Dear Americans
8 August 9-15, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info NATIONAL COMMUNITY
New York: The tragic Komagata
Maru incident, whose 100th an-
niversary falls this year, is finally
going to unfold on the big screen as
part of a co-production treaty
signed between India and Canada.
Confirming these details, a
source from Canada said, "It ('Ko-
magata Maru') would now be a $22
million Indo-Canada production to
be directed by an A-lister from Hol-
lywood."
"It will have one top Indian actor
playing a Sikh. We want Mr
Bachchan for that role. One top
Japanese actor and one Hollywood
actor, besides many other promi-
nent actors from India, Canada and
the US."
Komagata Maru was a Japanese
ship hired by a Malaysia-based
wealthy Sikh Gurdit Singh in 1914
to forcibly bring 376 Indians, most-
ly Sikhs, into Canada to challenge
racist laws of that time. But when
the ship reached Vancouver via
Hong Kong, its passengers were
not allowed to disembark for two
months and then forcibly sent back
to India where 20 were shot dead
by police on arrival in Kolkata.
Now, the long stranded project
would be the first beneficiary of the
joint film treaty signed by India and
Canada July 1.
According to the treaty, filmmak-
ers from both countries would be at
liberty to make films as and how
they want in India and Canada with
heavy tax and production subsidies.
"Komagata Maru" has been a long-
in-the-pipeline dream project in-
volving huge money and therefore
prohibitive to make.
Canada-based Indian filmmaker
Deepa Mehta was to direct the proj-
ect initially with Amitabh
Bachchan and Akshay Kumar in
the lead. But now the project will
be helmed by a top Hollywood di-
rector.
Eros International has stepped in
as the Indian producers for the am-
bitious epic drama.
Interestingly, the project is being
co-scripted by Vinay Virmanim, the
young Canada-based Indian actor
who starred in Bejoy Nambiar's
"David" and would soon be seen in
the Canada-produced comedy "Dr
Cabbie."
By Prakash Bhandari
Jaipur: The villagers of Atru in
Baran district in southwest Ra-
jasthan are rejoicing the confisca-
tion of the Vishnu-Laxmi idol
which was smuggled out to the
United States after it was stolen
from the Gadach temple five years
ago. Subhash Kapoor, the noted
idol smuggler was the mastermind
behind the smuggling of this an-
tique idol.
This idol which reached United
States via Thailand has been deliv-
ered to the Indian embassy in Jan-
uary. It was seized by the US Im-
migration and Customs Enforce-
ment and is valued at $1.5 million.
It is part of a cluster of idols of
Vishnu-Laxmi, Vishnu Parvati and
the black stone Bodhitsav.
The 350 pound Vishnu and Lax-
mi sandstone sculpture is of the
11th century and the second is a
600-pound Vishnu and Parvati idol
which was also stolen from the
Gadach Mandir. The Bodhitsav is
not from the Gadach temple of
Atru and was perhaps stolen from
a temple in Bihar or West Bengal.
It belongs to the 11th or 12th cen-
tury.
Once the smuggled idols return
to India, the Rajasthan government
would try and install the idols in
the old temple at Atru.
The stolen idol was listed by the
INTERPOL as one of the top 10
most stolen works of art. It was
listed as the sixth most precious
idol by the INTERPOL. In January
the HIS executive associate direc-
tor James A Dickens presented the
artefacts to the Indian consulate of-
ficial at a repatriation ceremony in
New York.
"The excellent international co-
operation between the United
States and India led to the recovery
and return of these priceless antiq-
uities," said Dinkins. "The pilfer-
ing of a nation's cultural patrimony
cannot and will not be tolerated."
"Prevention of illegal trade in an-
tiquities has emerged as an impor-
tant area of cooperation between
India and the United States as can
be seen from this recent recovery
of stolen Indian antiquities," said
Mulay. "I deeply appreciate the ex-
cellent work done by ICE HSI in
getting these three priceless Indian
assets recovered. The successful
investigations and repatriation of
these cultural artifacts underscores
the importance of growing institu-
tional partnership, which is of
great significance to both coun-
tries."
"There is no better example of
what can be accomplished through
the collaboration between US and
international law enforcement via
INTERPOL than the astounding
results of this investigation, which
led to repatriation of these artifacts
to their rightful place with the peo-
ple of India," said Bray. "INTER-
POL Washington is proud to have
been able to assist ICE Homeland
Security Investigations in obtain-
ing the documentation and images
necessary to help identify the ob-
jects as those stolen from India."
Mumbai: The National Manage-
ment School (NMS) has partnered
with Broward College and Universi-
ty of South Florida (USF) to offer an
American Associate degree and an
American Bachelors degree to stu-
dents in India.
In the 2+2 program, students
will study the first two years in India
at the Mumbai campus of the Na-
tional Management School, an inter-
national center of Broward College.
On successful completion of the two
years, students will earn the Associ-
ate degree from Broward College in
Florida. With this Associate degree,
students can transfer to any Ameri-
can University for the balance two
years of a Bachelors degree.
The agreement that NMS has fi-
nalized with University of South
Florida enables the students with the
Associate degree to seamlessly
move to USF to complete the Bach-
elors degree. The first cohort of
students to take advantage of this
partnership will earn degrees in
business.
Students will earn an Associate of
Arts degree through the National
Management School, with 36 cred-
its in general education and 24 elec-
tive credits. The second half of the
program will be taught by world-
class faculty at the University of
South Floridas College of Business.
Students will study at USF in Tam-
pa, completing the program and ob-
taining their Bachelors degree from
USF.
Students will be able to pursue a
general business degree or major in
accounting, advertising, economics,
finance, management, marketing,
information systems, or internation-
al business. The transfer to USF will
work through the University Trans-
fer Pathway Program, which will
give Indian students a clear pathway
to their final Bachelors degree at
USF. While the partnership is be-
ginning in USFs College of Busi-
ness, the agreement covers other
disciplines, such as engineering, the
sciences, and several areas in the
liberal arts. We are constantly talk-
ing to our students about the value
of a global education, said USF
College of Business Dean Moez Li-
mayem. This program offers a tru-
ly global experience to students in
India, offering them the quality and
depth of an American business de-
gree while allowing them to com-
plete part of the degree in their
home country.
A $22 m movie on tragic 'Komagata Maru' incident
The Vishnu-Laxmi idol which
was stolen from Gadach,
Rajasthan
Will allow students to begin coursework in
India and finish in America.
Hollywood A-lister
to direct the film
Colleges in India and US partner
for 2+2 bachelors degree
Idols seized in US will be back to its
rightful place in Rajasthan
Komagata Maru ship anchored in Vancouver
US AFFAIRS 9 August 9-15, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Washington: President Barack Oba-
ma said the world is witnessing the
emergence of a new, more prosper-
ous Africa despite the continent's
deep challenges, as he concluded an
unprecedented summit Wednesday
with dozens of African leaders.
Touting roughly $37 billion in in-
vestments spurred by the summit,
Obama said the US and African na-
tions would work to make the sum-
mit a recurring event.
Warning that corruption, terrorism
and human rights violations pose
risks to Africa, Obama said the con-
tinent's fortunes rest on its greatest
resource - the African people. He
said the U.S. would continue to in-
crease its support for initiatives to
improve public health, electricity
and economic opportunity in Africa,
but argued that Africa is better
helped through equal economic part-
nerships than through humanitarian
aid.
"Africa must know that they will
always have a strong and reliable
partner in the United States of Amer-
ica," Obama said at a news confer-
ence at the close of the three-day
summit in Washington.
Earlier in the day, he called on
African nations to be forceful in
tackling the health, security and gov-
ernment corruption problems that
could stunt economic progress on the
continent.
More than 50 African heads of
state and government were in Wash-
ington for three days of talks.
New York: At 4:07 p.m. Tues-
day, the chief executive of
Time Warner Inc., Jeffrey L.
Bewkes, received an unexpect-
ed email.
On behalf of our board and
senior management team, I am
writing to inform you that we
are withdrawing our offer to
acquire Time Warner, effective
immediately.Sincerely, Rupert
Murdoch. A hand-delivered
letter bearing the same mes-
sage arrived soon after.
Thus ended for the time
being, anyway what was
shaping up as the biggest me-
dia merger in a decade, a $150
billion union of two giant con-
glomerates. Together, Murdochs 21st Centu-
ry Fox and Time Warner would have created a
colossus that loomed over the industry, com-
bining the two biggest movie and television
studios in Hollywood and enabling Fox to try
to challenge ESPNs sports broadcasting dom-
inance. It also would have melded two vastly
different corporate cultures: the generally lib-
eral Time Warner, home of HBO, and the more
conservative Fox, home to Fox News.
Ultimately, though, Murdoch decided to
walk away. He was put off both by Time Warn-
ers apparent hostility to the
prospect of the deal and by
the response of his own
shareholders, who have been
driving the price of Foxs
stock down since news of the
offer broke, fearing he would
overpay to secure victory.
Time Warner was really
digging in, said Michael
Nathanson, of the research
firm MoffettNathanson.
In addition to Time Warn-
ers entertainment and sports
properties, Fox wanted to add
size, and thus leverage, as
distributors like Comcast and
AT&T undertook megamerg-
ers of their own, threatening
greater negotiating power over content produc-
ers. Discussions about whether to withdraw the
$80 billion offer had arisen periodically since
21st Century Fox first went public with its in-
terest in mid-July, and gained momentum in re-
cent days.
Mr. Murdoch and his senior leadership team
made the call to pull the plug on Monday, ac-
cording to people briefed on the matter, who
declined to be identified. Mr. Murdoch brought
the decision to 21st Century Foxs board on
Tuesday.
New York: The driver of one
of the two double-decker tour
buses that collided in a busy
Times Square on Tuesday af-
ternoon, injuring 14 people,
has been arrested, authorities
said.
William Dalambert, 58, was
arrested Tuesday evening af-
ter a toxicology test suggested
he was under the influence of
drugs, said an NYPD spokes-
woman.
Dalambert, of Irvington,
N.J., was driving the tour bus
when it struck another parked
double-decker, and then a
traffic light pole, which fell to
the ground.
Three people suffered seri-
ous but not life-threatening
injuries, and 11 others were
treated for minor injuries, ac-
cording to a New York City
Fire Department spokesman.
Dalambert was given the
toxicology screen immediate-
ly following the accident,
which is standard procedure,
the police spokeswoman said.
Atlanta: The second U.S. Ebola
patient arrived in Georgia Tuesday
for treatment, and U.S. health offi-
cials are still working to figure out
how the two Americans were in-
fected. There are two priorities
now: trying to save the lives of the
two U.S. missionaries infected
with the deadly disease and use
what doctors learn to see if they
can develop more treatments, or
even a cure.
The second Ebola patient ever in
the United States is now in Atlanta:
missionary Nancy Writebol landed
in a specially-equipped air ambu-
lance Tuesday morning. Writebol
remains at Emory University Hos-
pital along with the other U.S.
Ebola patient, Doctor Kent Brant-
ly. Both Writebol and Brantly were
in Liberia caring for Ebola pa-
tients.
"We were thinking about possi-
ble funeral arrangements, yet we
kept our faith. Now, we have a real
reason to be hopeful," said Presi-
dent Bruce Johnson of SIM USA.
The hospital is near the Centers
for Disease Control. The CDC
helped Emory design an isolation
unit. Both Brantly and Writebol
were given an experimental drug
before they left Liberia - a drug
made in San Diego.
"(Brantly) thought he was going
to die at some point," said Dr. San-
jay Gupta, CNN's chief medical
correspondent. "He asked to be
given the medication. He went
from being in grave condition to
being able to shower the next
morning."
According to the World Health
Organization, the Ebola epidemic
has infected more than 1,600 peo-
ple and killed nearly 900 in West
African countries. Other African
countries are trying to protect their
citizens.
"It's a dangerous disease; it kills,
and obviously, we have already
prepared," stated President Hi-
fikepunye Pohamba of Namibia.
And in the United States, people
are worried now too. One man,
who had traveled to West Africa, is
at Mount Sinai Hospital in New
York City. Although doctors say
the odds are it's not Ebola, he re-
mains in isolation until doctors get
the test results.
Ms. Writebol of North Carolina
was working in Liberia.
Obama says new, more
prosperous Africa is emerging
After pushback, Murdoch abandons
pursuit of Time Warner
Tour bus driver arrested after Times
Square crash; drugs suspected
Second Ebola patient arrives in
Atlanta for treatment
President Obama with African leaders at the
summit in the capital this week
Media Mughal Rupert
Murdoch
Missionary Nancy Writebol of North Carolina
had worked in Liberia
Double-decker buses crash in New York's Times
Square injured 14
10 August 9-15, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info INDIA
New Delhi: A combative Congress
vice president Rahul Gandhi led
an unprecedented noisy protest in
the Lok Sabha, demanding a dis-
cussion on communal violence
and accusing Speaker Sumitra
Mahajan of gagging opposition
MPs.
For the first time since he
became an MP in 2004, Gandhi
walked towards the speaker's podi-
um with fellow Congress members
to join a small group of opposition
MPs who were raising anti-gov-
ernment slogans there.
The action by the 44-year-old
Gandhi, who usually keeps away
from parliamentary debates and
has been under attack since the
Congress rout in the Lok Sabha
polls, stunned most people. The
BJP hit back.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley
linked Gandhi's unusual aggres-
sion to attacks on him since the
Congress defeat. Fellow BJP
leader and minister M. Venkaiah
Naidu asked the Congress to rec-
oncile to its loss of power.
As soon as the house met, oppo-
sition parties led by the Congress
demanded a debate, which the
speaker disallowed, saying the
parties can raise the matter during
zero hour.
Some MPs, including RJD' s
Rajesh Ranjan, known as Pappu
Yadav, his wife Ranjeeta Ranjan,
Sushmita Deb of Congress and
AAP's Bhagwant Mann, tropped
near the speaker' s podium and
started to shout slogans.
At this time, Gandhi entered the
house and stood on the aisle.
Soon, he led Congress MPs to the
podium and joined in the sloga-
neering. He was also seen talking
to his mother and Congress presi-
dent Sonia Gandhi.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister
M. Venkaiah Naidu denied that
there was any communal tension
in the country.
But as the protests continued,
Mahajan adjourned the house
briefly.
Talking to the media later,
Gandhi accused the speaker of not
allowing the opposition to speak.
"We are asking for a discussion
but there is a mentality in the gov-
ernment that discussion is not
acceptable," Gandhi said.
"There is a mood in parliament
that only one man's voice counts
for anything in this country and
only one voice is being heard."
Congress leader M. Veerapa
Moily told IANS that it was the
first time that Gandhi had gone
near the speaker's podium.
"This reflects his anguish against
the ruling party's adamancy," he
said.
Slamming Gandhi, Jaitley said:
"A section of the leadership of the
Congress, because of its inability
to lead, has been under pressure...
"If you want to show yourself as
doing something, it will be better
if you lead your own party rather
than develop a contrived aggres-
sion against the functioning of the
house."
The speaker insisted she was fol-
lowing the rules and not ignoring
the opposition.
But when the house met again,
the opposition protests continued.
Congress and other opposition
parties raised slogans against the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led
government.
At one time, angry BJP members
stood up to counter protest.
Mahajan, however, told them to
take their seats, saying she was
capable of dealing with the situa-
tion.
She asked the leader of the
Congress in the house, Mallikarjun
Kharge, to speak.
Kharge said that rising incidents
of communal violence in the coun-
try was affecting the life and secu-
rity of people. He said the opposi-
tion was asked to raise the matter
after the question hour.
Kharge' s remarks that "riots
were spreading everywhere" drew
strong protests from the treasury
benches. Naidu refuted Kharge's
allegation.
"They are frustrated. This is
highly objectionable. There is
peace in the country. There should
be peace in the house. The country
is safe and secure under the leader-
ship of Narendra Modi," he said.
Naidu said the government was
willing to discuss the issue but
procedures had to be followed.
Amid the standoff, opposition
members continued to raise slo-
gans near the speaker's podium.
Gandhi, who left the house
briefly, joined the protests and
raised slogans against the govern-
ment.
The slogans included "We want
justice", "Hosh me aaoo" (Come
to senses) and "Pradhan Mantri
kahan gaye, bhag gaye, bhag
gaye!" (Where is the prime minis-
ter? He has run away, run away).
New Delhi: As a cricketer, he
enjoyed the status of a god in
India. But just months after hang-
ing up his boots, Sachin
Tendulkar has come in for rare
criticism for failing to attend a
single session of Parliament this
year.
The 41-year-old, considered one
of the all-time cricketing greats,
promised to be a vocal supporter
of sport when he was sworn in as
a member of the Upper House of
Parliament in June 2012.
But parliamentary records show
the former batsman has not
attended a single session this year.
He made it to just three in 2013
and has so far not participated in
any debates in the house.
Although Indian legislators are
known for failing to show up,
Tendulkar has the worst record of
all, with just three percent atten-
dance last year, according to the
monitoring group PRS Legislative
Research.
The batsman was expected to be
more of a presence this year after
retiring from cricket last
November, and some MPs ven-
tured veiled criticism of him
although none dared to mention
him by name.
"These MPs were selected so
that they can be present and make
a difference in the society. But
I have never seen him in the
house, " Samajwadi Party MP
Naresh Agarwal told Parliament
on Wednesday, in an apparent ref-
erence to Tendulkar.
DP Tripathi, an MP of the
Nationalist Congress Party, said
people who are not serious about
attending Parliament should not
be nominated to the house.
"Their performance in the house
has been despicable to say the
least. This is an insult to the
Indian Parliament and such people
should not be nominated to this
house," he said.
Tendulkar, the highest run-getter
in both forms of the game, retired
after playing in 200 Tests and
scoring 15,921 runs.
He was offered one of the 12
seats in the Upper House that are
reserved for those who have dis-
tinguished themselves in various
fields such as the arts, sciences or
social services.
New Delhi: After leading a
charge in the Lok Sabha against
the government, Congress vice
president Rahul Gandhi met
BJP veteran L.K. Advani and
was advised to ask Congress
MPs to restrain themselves in
the house.
Gandhi met Advani after he
and Congress MPs disrupted the
lower house demanding a
debate on communal violence,
sources said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) leader, according to
sources, was upset due to the
disruptions in the house, and
wanted the floor managers of
the National Democratic
Alliance to resolve the issue.
Singapore: An Indian couple in
Singapore has invented a first-
of-its-kind robot to make chap-
patis which raked in about 5
million Singapore dollars in pre-
sale orders from the US.
Rishi Israni and his wife
Pranoti, took six years to devel-
op the robot, Rotimatic, which
can produce about one baked
chapati per minute.
Rotimatic is the first kitchen
device to use robotic technology
and awaits US certifications
required for such products for
the American market.
The Rotimatic shipment to the
American market would com-
mence next year.
The Isranis co-founded start-
up Zimplistic for the invention,
a 17-kilogramme breadmaker
type device which combines 10
motors, 15 sensors and 300
parts to produce chapati, The
Straits Times reported.
Chapati making can be cus-
tomized to the thickness, soft-
ness, amount of oil and type of
flour.
Sachin Tendulkar has the worst record of all, with just three
percent attendance last year.
Tendulkar yet to attend Parliament this year
The action by the 44-year-old Rahul Gandhi stunned most people.
Rahul Gandhi protests in parliament, BJP hits back
LK Advani asks Rahul Gandhi
to control his MPs
Indian couple's chapati making
robot a hit in US
INDIA
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has
directed SGPC and Haryana Sikh
Gurdwara Management Committee
to maintain status quo in respect of
all the 52 gurdwaras in Haryana as
of 2.30 p.m. Thursday.
The apex court bench headed by
Chief Justice R.M. Lodha directed
SGPC and HSGMC to open sepa-
rate bank accounts to deposit the
offerings by devotees in these 52
gurdwaras.
The court also directed the police
chief of the state to take all steps to
maintain law and order and prevent
any untoward incident. Of the 52
gurdwaras in respect of which the
status quo has to be maintained,
eight are of historical importance,
17 are those which have an earning
of Rs.20 lakh per annum and each
of the remaining gurdwaras are
earning less than Rs.20 lakh per
annum. The court's direction came
on a petition by Harbhajan Singh - a
member of SGPC from Kurukshetra
- seeking the invalidation of the
Haryana Sikh Gurdwara
(Management) Act 2014, contend-
ing that it was ultra vires of the con-
stitution and the state assembly had
no power to enact it.
Kolkata: A day after Ratan Tata
said he could not see much of
industrial activity in West Bengal,
state Finance and Industries
Minister Amit Mitra hit back, say-
ing the Tata Sons chairman emeri-
tus has "gone off his head".
"He should carry on with his
hobby of flying. I am surprised that
his company officials did not brief
him properly. He does not know
about the expansion of his own
group companies in West Bengal...
he has gone off his head," Mitra
told mediapersons here. Mitra said
that several companies, including
the Tata Consultancy Services and
Tata Metaliks, are expanding their
operations in the state.
He also said the Anil Ambani
Group has cleared a Rs.600 crore
cement plant, while the Emami
Group was setting up a similar
unit. "The list of industries eager to
set up shop here in Bengal is so
long that I will take a whole day to
read it out," asserted Mitra.
Tata, who was forced to relocate
a car manufacturing unit to Sanand
in Gujarat from a "hostile" Singur,
Wednesday had said he could not
see much signs of industrial devel-
opment here.
"Certainly there is unbelievable
change in terms of buildings and
development, but it still looks like
a countryside underdevelopment.
There is a great deal of movement
both commercial and residential
but you don't see that much signs
of industrial development," Tata
had said at a programme.
Tata Motors had to relocate the
plant to Sanand in 2008 following
sustained agitation led by the then
opposition leader and Trinamool
Congress supremo Mamata
Banerjee. Mitra's comments have
attracted criticism from the CPI-M
and the BJP with both the parties
asserting that the state's industrial
scenario was far from the rosy pic-
ture painted by the industries
minister.
Of the 52 gurdwaras in respect of which the status quo has to
be maintained, eight are of historical importance
11 August 9-15, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Ratan Tata
Haryana gurdwara row:
SC says maintain status quo
Ratan Tata going off his
head: Amit Mitra
SEP.
Jammu: Efforts are on to bring
back an Indian trooper
who entered Pakistan after
being swept away in the Chenab
River in Jammu district,
sources said.
"Pakistan Rangers have con-
firmed that the trooper is in their
custody. We have sought a flag
meeting to get the trooper
back," a Border Security Force
(BSF) source said.
Satyasheel Yadav was part of
a water patrol party in Akhnoor
area of the international border
in Jammu and Kashmir.
He was swept away in the
river after their motor boat
developed a mechanical fault
Wednesday, BSF sources told
IANS here.
"While three of his colleagues
swam to safety, Yadav was car-
ried to the Pakistani side by the
powerful currents of the river,"
the source added.
The incident took the trooper
to Bajwaat village in Sialkot
area in Pakistan.
Yadav hails from Ferozabad in
Uttar Pradesh.
Efforts on to bring
back trooper who
entered Pak
12 August 9-15, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info INDIA
New Delhi: In a major relief to
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and
her son and party vice president
Rahul Gandhi, the Delhi High
Court put on hold a trial court's
summons to them in a case over
acquisition of the National Herald
newspaper.
Justice V.P. Vaish suspended the
trial court order till Aug 13, when
it will hear arguments in the bunch
of petitions filed by the Congress
leaders challenging the lower court
order.
Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing
for Sonia Gandhi, sought to quash
the trial court proceedings, saying:
"Every decision of the magistrate
at every point is erroneous."
"These are unfortunate proceed-
ings against a party that is seeking
to revive a newspaper, which is
associated with the Congress party
for over 80 years. Courts must be
extremely careful in scrutinising
the matter in the case," he said.
Sibal refuted Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) leader Subramanian
Swamy's claim that Sonia Gandhi
and Rahul Gandhi, as majority
shareholders of Young Indian Ltd.
(YIL), benefited from the acquisi-
tion of Associated Journals Ltd.
(AJL).
He clarified that YIL was a
Section 25 company, which is in
the nature of a society, and its
shareholders do not get any divi-
dend, salary or benefit.
Advocate Abhishek Manu
Singhvi, appearing for Rahul
Gandhi, argued that the sharehold-
ers of YIL had no ownership of the
properties of AJL.
He said all the properties of AJL
even today are with the publishing
house and not with its 762 share-
holders.
"The properties owned by AJL in
Delhi, Mumbai, Patna, and
Panchkula are under government
leases, except for one property in
Lucknow which is under a long-
term lease to a charitable eye hos-
pital. The covenants of these prop-
erties specifically restrict the dis-
posal of these properties," said the
counsel of the Congress leaders.
Singhvi also contended that
Swamy had withheld information
about the Election Commission
dismissing a similar complaint
made by him in November 2013,
in which he had sought the
Congress party's de-recognition for
giving an unsecured loan to a pri-
vate company.
Apart from the Gandhis,
Congress treasurer Moti Lal Vohra,
family friend Suman Dubey, and
Oscar Fernandes sought to quash
the proceedings initiated against
them by a trial court here.
On June 26, the trial court issued
summons to the Congress leaders
for Aug 7 on a complaint by
Swamy alleging "cheating" in the
acquisition of AJL, the publisher
of the now defunct National
Herald newspaper, by YIL - "a
firm in which Sonia and Rahul
Gandhi each own a 38-percent
stake".
Filing the plea, the Congress
leaders said Swamy was a political
opponent and the present criminal
proceedings were initiated only
with an intent to secure an oblique
political objective.
"The complainant (Swamy) has
no connection whatsoever with the
issue at hand. The criminal pro-
ceedings are therefore manifestly
attended with malafide and the
proceeding is maliciously institut-
ed only with an ulterior motive for
wreaking vengeance on the peti-
tioners amongst others for narrow
political objectives," the plea said.
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and her son and
party vice president Rahul Gandhi
Acharya Lokesh to participate in
world peace summit in Korea
New Delhi: Amid opposition charge of
political vendetta in the sacking of Mizoram
governor Kamla Beniwal, the government
said that the decision was prompted by
"serious allegations" against her and insisted
there was no politics behind it.
Beniwal, who had a running battle with
Narendra Modi when he was Gujarat chief
minister, was sacked Wednesday night as
governor of Mizoram just two months
before her tenure comes to an end.
Law minister Ravishankar Prasad said the
move was in accordance with Constitutional
principles.
"...the decision to remove Kamla Beniwal,
the governor is in accordance with
Constitutional principles and conventions
with the due approval of the President of
India," Prasad told reporters outside
Parliament.
He said that if the government has to say
anything more, it will be done on the floor
of Parliament.
Responding to Congress allegation of
political vendetta behind the move,
Parliamentary affairs minister M Venkaiah
Naidu insisted that there is "no politics"
behind the decision.
Read: PM Modis bte noire Kamla
Beniwal sacked as Mizoram governor
"Action against Mizoram governor is no
violation against the Supreme Court's earlier
judgement. Action has been taken within
rules and within the Constitution. There is
no politics behind it," he said.
Pressed further, the minister said, "There
are serious allegations. Government has
taken note of them and taken action."
He said the President has decided over it
after applying his mind thoroughly on it and
such decisions are "privilege" of the govern-
ment. Reacting to the move, Congress gen-
eral secretary and communication depart-
ment chairman Ajay Maken tweeted, "If
Governor Kamla Beniwal was to be
removed, why was she transferred to
Mizoram only a few days back? #Vendetta
Politics."
A
charya Dr. Lokesh Muni, founder
president of Ahimsa Vishwa
Bharti, will participate in Peace,
Security and Human Development World
Summit 2014 organised by Universal
Peace Federation in Seoul, Korea from
August 9-13.
Sri Lankan Prime Minister D. M.
Jayaratne, Vice President of Philippines
Jejomar Binay, Deputy Chef de Cabinet in
Office of the President of the General
Assembly United Nations Noel Gordon
Sinclair, President of Federation of Bosnia
and Herzegovina Zivko Budimir, Head of
State of Lesotho King Letsie III, Former
Defense Minister of Japan Yoshinori Ohno
and other head of states and other digni-
taries will participate in the event.
Mizoram governor Kamla Beniwal
Acharya Dr. Lokesh Muni
New Delhi: A court here has
fixed August 28 as next date of
hearing in a case against
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi
and her son and party vice presi-
dent Rahul Gandhi and others
over acquisition of the National
Herald newspaper. Metropolitan
Magistrate Gomati Manocha
issued fresh summons to Sam
Pitroda - former chairman of
National Innovation Council
(NIC) - after she was informed
that summons were not served to
him. The court fixed next date of
hearing after it was apprised that
the Delhi High Court Wednesday
put on hold a trial court's sum-
mons issued against Sonia
Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and oth-
ers. The Delhi High Court has
suspended the trial court order
till Aug 13, when it will hear
arguments in the bunch of peti-
tions filed by the Congress lead-
ers challenging the lower
court order.
NDA govt justifies sacking
of Governor Beniwal
Odisha flood death toll rises to 34
Bhubaneshwar: Flood waters engulfed vast areas of the delta region of Mahanadi river
system in Odisha even as the death toll due to heavy rains and floods in the state climbed
to 34. As many as 9.95 lakh people in 1,553 villages of 89 blocks in 23 districts have so
far been affected due to the floods, the special relief commissioner said.
"Though river Mahanadi is flowing above danger mark at several places, there is no
threat of substantial damage as the water flow into Hirakud reservoir has come down,"
Special relief commissioner (SRC) PK Mohapatra said.
The death toll due to floods and heavy rain in different parts of the state went up to 34
with seven fresh deaths reported since yesterday, the SRC said, adding, most of the casual-
ties were due to drowning and wall collapse. "It is a matter of relief that fear of a major
high flood has been averted. Volume of water flowing down Mahanadi at Munduli stood
at around 11 lakh cusec as against over 12 lakh cusec anticipated earlier," he said.
Court defers hearing
National Herald case: Sonia, Rahul Gandhi get relief
13 August 9-15, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info INDIA
By Prakash Bhandari
Jaipur: Thriving on the discovery
of oil in the Rajasthan block in the
thick of Thar desert, Cairn India
would now go for gas exploration
in a big way in the Barmer basin
under the Rajasthan block. The
company which was focusing main-
ly on the oil exploration has shifted
gear and is going to harness the gas
potential in the underbelly of the
desert. The Vedanta owned compa-
ny aims to invest $200 million in
the next three years and is hoping to
do good business in gas in coming
years that would give a big boost to
its growth.
Last March, Cairn India started
gas production from the block, with
a cumulative sale of 2.7 billion
standard cubic feet in the 2013-14
fiscal. The gas yield was partly used
by the company for oil drilling by
way of producing power through
the gas. The remaining was sold to
a fertilizer unit in Gujarat. But after
conducting various tests, the com-
pany estimates a higher gas poten-
tial in the block and is building
facilities that can handle up to 100
million standard cubic feet per day
(mmscfd) of output, the company
said in its annual report. The $200
million investment during FY 2015-
17 will be towards developing
existing Raageshwari Deep Gas
field and associated field facilities
and pipeline. "With the addition of
higher capacity rigs in the drilling
program, Cairn India is drilling two
high impact prospects to test poten-
tial gas accumulation in the deeper
sections. The initial results are
encouraging and testing is under-
way," the chairman of Cairn India,
Naveen Agarwal said.
As of March 31 the Rajasthan
block has estimated in-place
resources of about 4.6 billion bar-
rels of oil and oil equivalent gas. It
estimated a resource base of about
71 million barrels of oil equivalent
in the Raageshwari Deep Gas field
but the block may hold larger
reserves. Mangala, the largest of the
oil and gas reserves, find Cairn has
made in the Barmer dessert block,
was put into production in August-
end 2009 and is producing about
120,000 barrels per day.
By Prakash
Bhandari
Jaipur: Rajasthans
leading jewelry com-
pany, Jaipur-based
Amrapali Jewels, is
among the 40 compa-
nies selected by the
India SME (Small &
Medium Enterprises)
Forum.
It is the only firm to
be selected from the
state and is one among
65,000 companies pan-
India. The India SME Forum has
declared these 40 companies as
Indias Small Giants because of:
Innovation, People Capital,
International Outlook, Corporate
Governance and Financial
Strength. The jury panel consisted
of eminent personalities from
Indias top performingcorporate
giants.
Amrapali Jewels received an
award along at a glittering event
in Mumbai on 2
August from the Lok
Sabha Speaker Smt.
Sumitra Mahajan and
Union Cabinet
Minister for MSME,
Kalraj Mishra.Said the
founder and promoter
of Amrapali Jewels,
Rajiv Arora: "It is
indeed gratifying that
we have been recog-
nized for our services
in the field of gems
and jewelry. Our focus
now is to make Jaipur an interna-
tional jewelry hub, so much so that
its products will one day be known
as the Jaipur Brand. With a mis-
sion to foster the development of a
flourishing entrepreneurial culture
and a competitive SME sector,
India SME Forum engages with
3,28,000 SMEs from all over India
and boasts of more than 65,000
members to support economic
development of the nation.
Dharamsala: The road to Tibetan spiritual
leader Dalai Lama's abode passes through
hell. Foreigners and domestic tourists com-
ing to this north Indian hill town, in the state
of Himachal Pradesh, for an audience with
the Nobel Peace Prize laureate find the road
disappearing under the wheels of the vehicle
they are travelling in.
They also complain of repelling garbage
dumps, refuse-littered lanes and poor
hygienic conditions of McLeodganj, the
uphill quaint town which has gained promi-
nence for attracting a steady stream of Tibet
enthusiasts, Buddhist scholars, backpackers
and even Hollywood stars like Richard Gere
and Pierce Brosnan.
"The bumpy and uncomfortable drive
through 8 km of narrow, steep road from
Dharamsala to McLeodganj is a motorist's
nightmare," tourist Joe Allen from the
Netherlands said.
He said the entire stretch has given way to
a strip of cobbled stones.
"As one tries to drive towards
McLeodganj, the potholed road makes for
such a bumpy ride that it really tests the
driving skills of a motorist," Allen's friend
Chelsea said.
McLeodganj is the headquarters of the
Tibetan government-in-exile and the town
and its suburbs support around 16,000 exiled
Tibetans and an equal number of Indians.
Bus driver Ramesh Kumar said a number
of motorists reported pothole-related dam-
age to their vehicles. Accidents are frequent.
Eleven tourists were injured July 31 when a
private bus going from McLeodganj skidded
off the road and rolled down a hill due to the
bad road.
And, once you reach McLeodganj, the
poor condition of its streets will greet you, a
reflection of the complete apathy and cal-
lousness of town's municipal authorities.
Garbage is strewn everywhere and the drains
are clogged with loads of rubbish. Stray
dogs and the cattle menace are driving
tourists away. "Often tourists, especially for-
eigners, complain of poor hygienic condi-
tions in the streets," Pankaj Chadha, owner
of the McLio restaurant in McLeodganj,
said. He and others said the complete civic
neglect of the area was a bad advertisement
for not only Himachal Pradesh - a state that
tries to attract tourists - but India for the
hundreds of foreigners who visit here every
year.
Members of the hospitality industry say
hundreds of foreigners, mainly Westerners
and Asians, reach this town three to four
times in a year to lend their ear to the teach-
ings and sermons of the Dalai Lama.
State public works department executive
engineer Vijay Kumar said widening and re-
laying of the road stretch from Dharamsala
to McLeodganj would be done by
December. The project of the ministry of
road transport and highways for widening
the 22-km road from Gaggal, where the air-
port is located, to McLeodganj via
Dharamsala is on, he said.
"Half of the road construction work is
over. Now heavy rainfall is hampering the
work. Once the monsoon season is over, the
work on the left over stretch would be
done," he added.
Vijay Kumar said concreting of the 4-km
Khara-Danda road, the shortest and second
route linking Dharamsala with McLeodganj,
which is also currently in bad shape, for
Rs.20.94 crore has been approved under the
Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal
Mission.
But the project is yet to take off and will
take at least three years to complete.
Also known as Little Lhasa, McLeodganj
has lured hundreds of thousands of
Westerners since Tibetan spiritual leader
Dalai Lama settled here in 1960 after fleeing
from Chinese persecution with his follow-
ers. His teachings on ethics, non-violence,
peace and religious harmony have made him
one of the most popular and revered figures.
Founder and pro-
moter of Amrapali
Jewels, Rajiv Arora.
Cairn Indias big push for gas hunting in Rajasthan
Amrapali Jewels among
Indias Small Giants
Visit to Dalai Lama's abode is tourists' nightmare
A view of the main street in
McLeodganj
By Arvind Padmanabhan
I
ndia's demand for concessions on food
subsidy as a quid quo pro to a pact to
simplify procedures on global com-
merce may have blocked the first major step
forward in the 19-year history of the World
Trade Organisation (WTO). But that does
not mean the global trade talks have col-
lapsed.
India, per se, was not opposed to the pact
on what is called trade facilitation when the
diplomats from the 160 member countries
of the WTO met in Geneva last month and
set July 31 as an informal deadline to sign
on the dotted line.
It was then to be ratified at the 10th
Ministerial conference next year.
But India wanted to take no chances and
assumed the role of a tough negotiator, hav-
ing been short-changed in the past. In the
decade before the WTO was formed on Jan
1, 1995, New Delhi's views, along with
those of the developing world, were simply
ignored.
At the core of India's demand is food
security for its 1.2 billion people, the bulk
of whom live on the doles given by the gov-
ernment in the form of subsidised grain.
This is guarantee under Indian statute, hav-
ing enacted the National Food Security Act,
2013.
Officially, this program is set to cost the
exchequer Rs.1,31,086 crore ($21 billion)
annually and there was no way Indian inter-
locutors in Geneva could have conceded to
a pact that could potentially go against a
domestic law, as also the larger issue of
food security.
Related to it were two more aspects - the
subsidy to farmers to buy plant nutrients
and the periodic announcement of a mini-
mum support price by the government,
based on which the state agencies pay farm-
ers higher-than-market price under its pub-
lic procurement and distribution programs.
The draft multilateral pact proposed a
freeze on the extent to which governments
can buy farm produce at a non-market driv-
en rate. The 9th Ministerial Meeting at Bali
in December 2013 called for a permanent
solution on this issue by 11th such confer-
ence, due in 2017.
It was also agreed that till 2017, no coun-
try can move the dispute settlement body of
the WTO against another member if its gov-
ernment was found to be breaching the level
of subsidy freeze that was permitted - this
was officially termed as the peace clause.
True, the above issues were not part of the
trade facilitation pact.
Also true that for the agreement on stock-
piling of food, the previous WTO
Ministerial Meeting in Bali had set a
December 2017 deadline. So one can argue
that India had time till then.
But India's concern has been: What if no
permanent solution is found by 2017? In
such an event, the peace clause will expire
and member countries would be free to drag
India to the WTO - and the outcome would
not have been in New Delhi's favour.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, echoing
what his Commerce Minister Nirmala
Sitharaman and Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley had already made it clear India will
not compromise its people's food security
and livelihood.
At the same time, it is also not as though
all is lost and if the July 31 deadline has
been missed, it is curtains for the trade
facilitation pact. Even before the diplomats
left WTO headquarters disappointed, moves
were afoot to meet again in September.
The views expressed in Op Eds are not necessarily those of The South Asian Times.
14 August 9-15, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info OP-ED
By Amulya Ganguli
I
n the Hindu way of life, old age entails
exile from home and hearth. As the
Manu Smriti says, when a man sees "his
skin wrinkled and his hair gray and when he
sees the son of his son, then he should resort
to the forest".
Narendra Modi seems to be following this
precept for the elderly in the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP), at least in terms of polit-
ical ostracism though not in the form of
banishment from the material comforts of
life.
While some senior citizens have been
compensated for keeping their faith in the
party through good times and bad times by
their nomination to gubernatorial posts, oth-
ers, including the more ambitious ones,
have been kept waiting in the wings.
Among them are the old war horses - L.K.
Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi - who had
once sent shivers down secular spines by
venturing forth in a 'rath' (chariot) to "liber-
ate" holy shrines from Muslim possession,
or rewriting history to bring it in line with
the saffron interpretations of the past.
Of the two, Advani's fate can make one
ponder over the vagaries of life.
Two decades ago, he was the undisputed
No. 2 in the BJP if only because his fiery
rhetoric as a chariot-rider was considered a
disadvantage where leading a multicultural
nation was concerned. So, the job of prime
minister went to the man who was seen to
be more in sync with India's pluralist ethos,
Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Advani can at least have the limited satis-
faction of having been allowed by Modi to
contest from his old seat of Gandhinagar.
But this courtesy was not extended to Joshi
who was unceremoniously hustled out of
his Varanasi seat before the parliamentary
polls to accommodate Modi.
It was the same with another veteran Lalji
Tandon in the Lucknow constituency which
he had to vacate for then BJP president
Rajnath Singh, who had joined Arun Jaitley
in being one of Modi's acolytes.
These bulldozing tactics involving some
of the old faithful not only herald the dawn
of a new era in the BJP but also signal the
end of old-world civility for the sake of cold
political calculations.
However, politics may have been sup-
planted by personal pique in Rajasthan
where another veteran, Jaswant Singh, was
turfed out of his family's pocket borough of
Barmer by a Congress interloper, Colonel
Sonaram, who had joined the BJP shortly
before the elections because Chief Minister
Vasundhara Raje's equations with the for-
mer union finance and external affairs min-
ister were said to be not very cordial.
If Joshi's marginalization was because the
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) had
found others for carrying on the saffroniza-
tion of education, notably Y. Sudershan
Rao, an obscure "historian" who has been
made chairman of the Indian Council of
Historical Research, and Dina Nath Batra,
known for trashing books on Hinduism
written by non-Hindus, Advani has seem-
ingly paid the price for his peevish opposi-
tion to Modi's ascent.
From long before the time when Advani
wanted the anointment of Modi to be put off
till after the assembly elections in
December were over, the octogenarian has
made no secret of his own desire to be the
PM although he cannot have been unaware
that he had little support within the party
since his candidature for the post in 2009
had no impact on the BJP's dismal status at
the time.
Advani's future, therefore, is uncertain.
One cannot be too sure that Modi will let
him become the president. Sushma, howev-
er, has apparently been forgiven. But if she
has been chosen for the external affairs min-
ister's position, the probable reason is the
paucity of talent in the BJP - which has led
to Arun Jaitley being saddled with the two
"heavy" portfolios of finance and defence -
rather than a show of magnanimity by
Modi.
LK Advani's future, therefore, is uncertain. One cannot be too sure that
Modi will let him become the president.
India's veto doesn't mean collapse of WTO talks
Modi sends Advani, BJP old guard into exile
India has made it clear it will not compromise its people's
food security and livelihood
FESTIVALS August 9-15, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info 15
G
one are the days when rakhis were
simple threads with just a dainty
stone ornament on it. Today, peo-
ple are getting more and more creative.
A New York duo recently launched a
new line of stylish, yet durable rakhi
bracelets. Named
Forever Rakhi, this line of modern,
fashion-forward mens bracelets is co-cre-
ated by New York jewelry designer Meeta
Manglani and her namesake brother Jitin
Hingorani of JINGO Media.
A Rakhi is a sacred bracelet that repre-
sents the love and protection that binds sis-
ters and brothers together, said Hingorani.
We want sisters to really put some
thought into what makes their brothers
unique and what kind of accessory they see
him wearing year-long, instead of making
a last-minute, obligatory decision at a gro-
cery store the day before Raksha Bandhan.
Why not get him something different this
year that he will cherish forever!
For Manglani, who has been designing
jewelry for years, the idea to create a line
of designer Rakhi bracelets came after she
made one for Hingorani last year. Ive
been hand-making Rakhis for all my broth-
ers and cousins for years now, said
Manglani who named each of the bracelets
in the 2014 inaugural collection after her
brothers, cousins or namesake brothers.
The concept of designer rakhi has picked
up even in India where one will find prime
minister Narendra Modi jostling for space
along with Chhota Bheem (a popular car-
toon character), Angry Birds, Superman
and Krrish.
The Lumbas, which are the Punjabi
styled rakhi, are given jewelled look by the
designers making them wearable round the
year. Also, the rakhi collection has some
messages written on it, such as "Mera Bhai
Dabangg" , One in a Million" and
"Rockstar". While the lumbas come in a
keepsakes box, the rakhis come in a table
top card form, which can be kept on the
desks.
And for those socially conscious, there is
eco-friendly rakhi too.
By Tania Gupta
R
aksha Bandhan is here and there are several reasons
for celebrating the festival as stated in the puranas.
For the siblings it is the eternal tie of love, for
Brahmins it is the day to take the pledge of Brahmanik rites
and for those who depend on sea and monsoon, it is the
beginning of the new season.
There are also significant astrological reasons that prove
that celebrating this festival according to the stated rituals
can actually protect you from enemies. To start with, this
festival is celebrated during Shravan month and on
Maasant Diwas.
Raksha Bandhan ushers in a whole lot of auspiciousness
only if celebrated on the right date and time. This year, it is
on August 10, Shravan Poornima, the full moon day. But
astrologer Tania Gupta states the Bhadra will remain till
13:38. According to the astrology, it will be best to cele-
brate the ritual after 13:38. If unfeasible, it may be done
during the Bhadra Puch kaal i.e. between 10:07 to 11:07,
she said.
In order to strengthen relationships, wish for each others
health, wealth, career, joy and longevity, Tania Gupta sug-
gests the following for different sun signs:
Aries : For Aries brothers, silver Rakhi along with san-
dalwood Tilak is lucky. Use of Akshat rice is recommend-
ed. For Aries sisters, gifts made of zinc or anything in red
color and electronics are lucky.
Taurus : If your brother is Taurus, then buy a Silk Rakhi
for him. Put Tilak made with saffron, grass and Akshat
Rice. For Taurus sisters, buy perfume, CDs, cassette, silk
clothes or a marble statue.
Gemini: For Gemini brothers, buy a Golden rakhi. Use
Roli to Tilak him. Rice is not recommended. Pen set, sports
item or any item of green color can be gifted to those girls
with this sun sign.
Cancer: If your brothers sun sign is Cancer, tie him a
simple zari Rakhi. Aarti with Deepak and auspicious rice is
a must. For cancer sisters, gifts made of silver, white things,
pearl set, vehicle, and items made of sea-shells will be aus-
picious.
Leo : For Leo brothers, a silver Rakhi is recommended.
Use Sandalwood powder, Akshat Rice and grass for rituals.
For Leo sisters, buy gold, ruby or bronze items else wooden
gifts.
Virgo : Rudraksha Rakhi is are lucky for Virgo brothers.
For Tilak, use of saffron and grass is recommended. Rings
made of Panna, Lord Ganeshas idol, any green-colored
items, novels or other books, should be gifted to sisters of
this sun sign.
Libra: Sandalwood Rakhi and sandalwood Tilak are
lucky for brothers with this sun sign. For Libran sisters, buy
clothes, vehicle, jewelry, and perfumes.
Scorpio : Pearl Rakhi or a Rakhi with white beads is rec-
ommended for Scorpio brothers. If your sister is a
Scorpion, then gift her items made of copper or a ring of
Munga. Also take along red colored sweets.
Sagittarius : A gold coin Rakhi, a gold bracelet Rakhi or
a gold chain Rakhi is lucky for Sagittarius brothers. For sis-
ters with this sun sign, gold chain, books and clothes are
highly recommended.
Capricorn : For brothers with this sun sign, Rudraksha
Rakhi is lucky. For Capricorn sisters, gadgets like mobile,
laptops, and iPod, else bikes and car should be gifted.
Aquarius : If your brother is an Aquarius, buy a floral
Rakhi for him. Also use flowers and saffron to Tilak him.
For Aquarius sisters, bracelets, stone statues, ornaments
made of Neelam and sandal can be gifted.
Pisces : Buy a stone Rakhi for your Piscean brother and
use saffron and rice for Tilak. Gold ornaments, computer,
yellow clothes, yellow sweets, or fish aquarium, can be
gifted to Piscean sisters.
Special Tantra this year:
Burn Diya with desi ghee to perform aarti of your
brother. Brother and sister should share a meal served
in a silver dish.
Special mantra for Raksha Bandhan:
Yena badho bali raajaa, daanavendro mahabalah,
Tena tvaam raksha badhnaami, rakshe maachala
maachalah.
Raksha Bandhan and its astrological significance
Material Required:
Cotton Thread
Silk threads
Beads, pearl
or sequins
Scissors
Glue
To make a col-
orful rakhi, take the
multicolored cotton or
silk threads or you can
also take the red cotton
thread called
'mauli' in India.
Keep the thread
long enough for
tying a knot on
your brother's
wrist. Take
golden thread and wrap it around the
bunch of threads and at the end tie a knot
with the same. Leave a bit of end for tying
a knot to give it a brush look. You can also
cut the end of brush to give it more even
look. Now take glue and embellishments
you have bought such as pearls, beads,
sequins. Apply glue on the center of the
thread you have made and stick one of
these items there. Now depending upon
the size of thread and number of embell-
ishments, you can paste these to decorate
your Rakhi.
A New York duo
recently launched a
line of stylish, yet
durable rakhi
bracelets, named
Forever Rakhi.
How to Make Eco Friendly Rakhi?
August 9-15, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info
August 9-15, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info
18 August 9-15, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD
A
ctress Nargis Fakhri
will walk for Azva in a
modern bridal avatar
sporting some jewelery ensem-
bles from the brand at the forth-
coming BMW India Bridal
Fashion Week (IBFW) 2014 in
Mumbai.
The Azva show, to be held
Aug 9, will create looks in gold
for the modern Indian bride this
season with Nargis Fakhri as
their showstopper.
We all feel bridal Indian
jewelery cannot be worn
beyond the wedding day, but
designs in Azva are beautiful
and can help style you for occa-
sions other than weddings.
Gold jewellery looks quite
glamorous if styled well and
Azva has created a lovely con-
cept to highlight their jewelery
at the show, Nargis said in a
statement.
Azva gold bridal jewelery is
inspired by Saat Pheras (seven
vows) of the Indian wedding
tradition and brings alive the
essence of articulate patterns
and detailing in gold jewelery.
The sixth edition of BMW
IBFW 2014 was to be held
from Aug 7 to Aug 10.
B
ollywood stars Akshay Kumar
and Sonakshi Sinha along with
rapper Yo Yo Honey Singh will
attend the premiere of their forthcoming
film "Entertainment" in London.
The Wave World Kabaddi League
(Wave WKL), the first international
Kabaddi league, will host the premiere of
the Tips Entertainment movie at Imax
Cinema on the eve of the extravaganza's
inauguration.
The event will also see the presence of
actress Tamannaah Bhatia among other
officials.
"Entertainment" is a Bollywood slap-
stick comedy film directed by debutant
duo Sajid-Farhad and produced by
Ramesh S. Taurani of Tips Industries Ltd
and Jayantilal Gada. The movie is named
after a Golden Retriever dog who plays a
key character.
Excited about the international pre-
miere of his new film, Akshay said in a
statement: "My fans have always appreci-
ated my comic characters. I am delighted
to announce the premiere of my new
comedy film 'Entertainment'.
"The movie has rib-tickling sense of
humour and will surely makes all fans
come out smiling from the theatres. I am
thankful to Wave WKL for hosting the
premiere of the film. Also I urge all my
fans to support my Kabaddi team Khalsa
Warriors."
The Wave WKL officials are
confident that "Akshay' s
magic will bind a spell on the
audience and make both the
movie and the Wave WKL a
great success".
The sports extravaganza
will start Aug 9 and will be
held till Dec 13 during which
various national and interna-
tional Kabaddi players will be
seen in action via eight fran-
chises.
Om Puri goes down on
his knees for Mirren
Actor Om Puri and Helen Mirren
Actress Nargis
Fakhri
V
eteran actor Om Puri, who shot
with Helen Mirren in the French
town of Albi for Swedish director
Lasse Hallstroms "The Hundred Foot
Journey", says he was very impressed by
the location and his lovely leading lady -
and even went down on his knees for her.
"I rented my own apartment in Albi where
I did my own cooking. When Helen Mirren
arrived for shooting, I invited her home for
dinner along with the rest of the crew. I
cooked an Indian meal for them. When she
arrived, I fell on my knees in front of her
and confessed I was a fan. Helen laughed,
made me stand up, hugged me and said she
also admired my work," Om told IANS on
the phone from Albi. Om is simply bowled
over by Mirren and is ecially impressed by
her generous spirit. "She is such a great
actress and so devoid of any vanity. I had a
great time shooting with her. The one sav-
ing grace of my troubled life is that when I
start to work I forget all my problems," he
said. As for his own experience during the
shoot, Om said: "I was so happy to be here
in Albi. It was so peaceful and beautiful.
Akshay Kumar and
Sonakshi Sinha in
'Entertainment'
Akshay's 'Entertainment' to
premiere in London
Bullock heads Forbes list
of best-paid actresses
S
andra Bullock heads the list of
Hollywood's best-paid actresses,
beating out Jennifer Lawrence and
Jennifer Aniston, according to a new
ranking published by Forbes magazine.
"'Gravity' star Sandra Bullock didn't win
for Best Actress this year (though she did
in 2010 for 'The Blind Side') but she did
walk away with a ton of money. Thanks
mostly to 'Gravity', Bullock tops our
2014 list of the highest-earnings actress
with an estimated $51 million in earnings
between June 2013 and June 2014,"
Forbes said. Second place this time
around went to Lawrence, who at 23 has
pocketed $34 million thanks to her par-
ticipation in The Hunger Games", fol-
lowed by Aniston, with $31 million.
ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD 19 August 9-15, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info
A
ctor Ajay Devgn's equation with
superstar Shah Rukh Khan has
been widely talked about, but
the former believes the media made a
hullabaloo over a nothing. He even says
that while they're not enemies, there's
no friendship between them either. The
duo had reportedly clashed over the
allotting of screens during the release of
Shah Rukh's "Jab Tak Hai Jaan" and
Ajay's "Son Of Sardaar"."I never said
that there is no equation with SRK, I
had said that there is no friendship and I
still maintain that. But that does not
mean that we are enemies, we are col-
leagues and I have respect for what he is
doing and hope he too does," Ajay said
here. Talking about the reported clash,
Ajay said: "'Jab Tak Hain Jaan' had no
involvement from SRK. It was between
Ajay Devgn Ffilms and Yash Raj Films
and they were trying to protect their
product and I was doing for mine. So
who was right and who was wrong -
that's not the question, the only thing is
that we were trying to protect our prod-
ucts." He also said that while they may
"not meet for a drink every day, but we
were not at war". "You don't have to be
best friends with everyone. He has his
life, I have mine. But since we are part
of the same industry, we support each
other. People are asking, 'Patch up ho
gaya? But jab dushmani hogi, toh patch
up kaise hoga na? (People ask if we've
patched up, but when there was no bit-
terness, how would one patch?') "People
were just writing about it nor did I give
any statements and nor did SRK so
where was the problem?," he added.
Actor Ajay Devgn with Shah Rukh Khan
Rani Mukerji is a police officer in 'Mardaani'
A
case was filed in a court in Kanpur
against Aamir Khan and the producer
and director of new movie "PK" after its
poster showed the Bollywood star in the nude
except for a transistor covering his private parts.
In the complaint, lawyer Manoj Dixit accused
the actor, producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra and
director Rajkumar Hirani of promoting nudity
and vulgarity.
The film is scheduled for release in December.
The court listed the case for Aug 7 when the
contention of the petitioner would be heard and,
if needed, the producer, director and actor will
be served notice to appear before it.
The petitioner said Aamir Khan has consider-
able influence on the youth of today and any
such act would only tempt youths to emulate
him, thereby threatening the social order.
This in turn, he added, would lead to cases of
sexual offences.
Many newspapers had printed posters of the
forthcoming movie in which Aamir Khan is
reportedly playing an alien.
I
f Rani Mukerji will be seen kicking, slap-
ping and punching criminals as a police
officer in "Mardaani", Ajay Devgn will
also be seen doing similar things in his forth-
coming release "Singham Returns". But the
actress says it's unfair to compare the two
films.
When asked whether the release of
"Singham Returns" before "Mardaani" --
both being cop-dramas -- would impact her
film, she said: "He (Ajay) is a huge star and
the film is a huge franchise. I have seen
'Singham' and I loved it."
"Ours is a very small film and it's a small
effort for all women. 'Mardaani' should not
be compared to 'Singham Returns', which is
a huge film."
If reports are anything to go by, Kareena
Kapoor has expressed a desire to play a
police officer on the big screen.
And Rani too feels that "Kareena will
make a fantastic cop. There is lot of scope in
this industry to play different roles".
Rohit Shetty's action thriller "Singham
Returns" is coming out on Aug 15, while
"Mardaani" is scheduled for an Aug 22
release.
"I hope everybody likes this film. The film
has got an A-certificate and it is a very rele-
vant film. I feel if you have a daughter, you
must teach her karate and martial arts. Self
defence is important."
Pradeep Sarkar has directed "Mardaani",
which is his first film after the 2010 flop
movie "Lafangey Parindey".
Talking about the gap, he said: "I take time
to make films. It's difficult to get good story.
It takes time to find a good subject."
India's 'M Cream' to
close Rhode Island film fest
New Delhi: Indian director Agneya
Singhs debut film M Cream will be the
closing film of the Rhode Island
International Film Festival 2014.
Singhs first feature film will be
screened at the festival Aug 10, the con-
cluding day of the fest's 18th edition in
Providence, Rhode Island. Produced by
Agniputra Films, the movie is nominated
in the ' Official Competition of Best
Feature Film' and it is the only Indian
production to be selected for the same. Ira
Dubey, Auritra Ghosh and Raaghav
Chanana, will be among the film's cast in
attendance for the screening, said a state-
ment. It is a rare delight for a film to be
included in Rhode Island International
Film Festival, the undisputed champion
of independent filmmakers across the
world. To have 'M Cream' as the 'Official
Closing Night Film' is a dream come true!
It just goes to show that the world is final-
ly listening to the new voices of Indian
cinema, said the director. M Cream is
a feature narrative that explores the myri-
ad realities of rebellion indicative of the
contemporary Indian context.
Don't compare 'Mardaani' with
'Singham Returns'
We're not
enemies: Ajay
on equation
with SRK
The film is
scheduled for
release in
December.
A poster of
'M Cream'
Toronto: Indo-Canadians along Canadian
leaders celebrated India's 68th Independence
Day with cultural performances and a color-
ful parade.
Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne said that
India is a nation with a vibrant economy and
a culture that resonates across the global
community.
"Our province is proud to be home to one
of the largest and most dynamic Indo
Canadian communities in the country. It is a
wonderful celebration and I wish you a safe
and happy independence day," she said on
Saturday while addressing the Independence
Day celebrations.
"Members of Indo-Canadian community
have made their mark in business, public
service, business, medicine, academic field
and in virtually every aspect of province's
life. You have strengthened our province and
the country through your hard work and cul-
tural diversity," the Premier said.
The program was organized by Panorama
India which is an umbrella body of various
Indo-Canadian organizations. High
Commissioner of India to Canada Nirmal
Verma, hoisted the tri-color Indian flag and
unveiled the Panorama India souvenir.
He said India and Ontario shared deep
bonds of friendship and common values. He
also praised the Indo-Canadian community
for their contribution in strengthening India-
Canada relations.
The Premier also said that, "Members of
Indo-Canadian community have made their
mark in business, public service, business,
medicine, academic field and in virtually
every aspect of province's life. You have
strengthened our province and the country
through your hard work."
Highlighting deepening relations between
India and the largest Canadian province, she
said Ontario and India have a lot in common
as both were models of democracy and mul-
ticulturalism.
Lauding the contributions made by the
Indo-Canadians in strengthening bilateral
ties, the Premier said Ontario is "fortunate to
have half a million people who trace their
origin to India."
20 August 9-15, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info
London: Indian steel tycoon
Lakshmi Mittal has made a bid to
buy a mountain in Britain sparking
protests from the locals, media
reported.
The London-based NRI business-
man has bid over 1.75 million
pounds ($2.94 million) to purchase
"Blencathra" mountain, also
known as Saddleback, lying in
Northern fells mountain range in
Britain's Lake district, the daily-
mail reported.
The Earl of Lonsdale, the local
division, has reportedly accepted
the offer and said he has been
forced to sell the land to settle a 9
million pounds tax bill.
However, the locals have criti-
cized the mountain sale move and
have lodged their protest to prevent
the historic 2,850 feet peak from
falling into the hands of a foreign
landowner.
Lakshmi Mittal, CEO of world's
largest steel-maker ArcelorMittal
and one of the richest Indians, also
owns two of the most expensive
houses in London and has a large
stake in a premier football club.
A protest group named as
"Friends of Blencathra" has lodged
a counter bid using a substantial
sum donated by British outdoor
clothing label Berghaus.
The land sale would take six
months to be finalized because the
local authority, Eden District
Council, is obliged to allow the
group time to raise enough funds.
The Friends of Blencathra have
offered 300,000 pounds less than
what the Earl wants to earn from
Blencathra, the report said. Debbie
Cosgrove, who chairs the group,
said: "If someone buys the moun-
tain it is unlikely they have charita-
ble aims. " However, Martin
Knowles, a local resident, said the
buyer (Mittal) wants to preserve
the mountain and has the money to
pay farmers to repair the footpaths
and wells.
"Whereas if the Friends scrape
together enough cash, they will
have no money to preserve it,"
Knowles added.
Mittal has bid over $2.94 m to buy Blencathra mountain
DIASPORA
Visit visas now go online
for expats in Saudi Arabia
Riyadh: Expatriates in Saudi
Arabia will now be able to renew
visit visas for their relatives online
under a new service announced in
the Gulf nation, a media report said
Tuesday. The Saudi Arabian pass-
port department is slated to launch
the new service under the interior
ministry's Abshir system Aug 11,
Arab News reported citing
Mohammed Al-Saad, director of
public relations. The new service
has been put in place after prior
testing, Al-Saad said. The launch
of the new service coincides with
the department' s campaign to
increase awareness on its electron-
ic services. Al-Saad urged expatri-
ates to make use of its electronic
services to save their time and
energy and reduce congestion at
the passport offices across the
country. Saudi Arabia is home to
around 2.8 million expatriate
Indians, many of whom are blue-
collar workers. Indians form the
largest expatriate community in
this Gulf nation. People can regis-
ter with Abshir by visiting one of
the department's offices (Jawazat)
or using interactive machines
available at banks, as well as at
malls and international airports, the
director said.
Indian jailed in UAE for
'smuggling' poppy seeds
Dubai: An Indian farmer has been
jailed for four years for smuggling
poppy seeds into the United Arab
Emirates (UAE) though he claimed
he brought these for the purpose of
cooking, media reported.The Indian,
33, identified only as BS, was
arrested by customs inspectors on
arrival at the Dubai International
Airport for possessing poppy seeds
found in his luggage in April this
year, Gulf News reported. The
Dubai Court of First Instance con-
victed the defendant of smuggling
and possessing drugs for the pur-
pose of consumption despite his
argument that he had brought these
for cooking, Gulf News reported
Wednesday.
The defendant will be deported
following the completion of his jail
term.The man was earlier charged
by drugs prosecutors with smug-
gling and possessing 102.5g of
poppy seeds for his personal con-
sumption.During the proceedings in
a Dubai court on June 10, the man
admitted that he brought in the sub-
stance with him but denied he used
these as drugs. "I brought those
seeds with me from India, but I did
not know that it was banned. Where
I come from, we use this for cook-
ing," the report quoted BS as saying.
Lakshmi Mittals bid to buy mountain
in Britain creates uproar
Indian High Commissioner Nirmal Verma unfurls tri-color in Toronto
(Photo source: News East West)
68th Indian independence day celebrated in Canada
Kathmandu: Making the first bilateral visit
by an Indian prime minister in 17 years,
Narendra Modi pledged not to interfere in
Nepal's internal affairs, announced a $1-bil-
lion line of credit and said New Delhi was
determined to forge a new relationship with
the Himalayan nation.
After wide-ranging talks with his Nepalese
counterpart Sushil Koirala soon after arriv-
ing here on a two-day visit, Modi won mil-
lions of hearts by speaking in Nepali briefly
during his 50-minute address to parliament
where MPs repeatedly applauded him.
The Indian leader covered a range of sub-
jects in his parliament speech, from religion
to politics, from diplomacy to herbal medi-
cines, and from information technology to
infrastructure.
"We have always believed that it is not our
task to interfere in what you do but to sup-
port you in the path you decide to take," he
said while addressing Nepal's parliament, the
first foreign leader to do so after the restora-
tion of democracy in this South Asian nation
in 1990.
Modi gave a 'HIT' formula for Nepal, say-
ing India wants to help Nepal build high-
ways (H), information highways (I) and tran-
sways - transmission lines (T). He said his
government is keen to double power supply
to Nepal and pipelines would be built to help
transport oil to the Himalayan nation.
He said India would help Nepal emerge as
a major exporter of herbal medicines and
develop its tourism potential.
Modi said it is more expensive to make a
telephone call between India and Nepal than
it is to make a call between India and US and
he was keen to change that.
In his speech, he appreciated the warm
reception he was accorded after landing in
Kathmandu earlier in the day on a two-day
official visit.
"The respect that I have got is not for
Narendra Modi or the prime minister of
India. It is respect for the people of India,"
he said.
"Our relations with Nepal are as old as the
Himalayas and the Ganga," he said.
In his speech, Modi made frequent refer-
ences to the Hindu religion to underscore the
ancient ties between the two countries.
"I come from Somnath's land... I started
my parliamentary journey from Kashi.
Today I am standing at the feet of
Pashupatinath," he said referring to his home
state Gujarat, his parliamentary seat Varanasi
and the famed Shiva temple in Nepal.
"There is a temple in Kashi where the
priest is from Nepal, and the priest of
Pashupatinath is from India."
He said that not only people of Nepal, but
also those who believe in the power of
democracy are looking at Nepal and this
assembly.
He also hailed Nepal's constitution drafting
process during his speech in Hindi which
was applauded by the parliamentarians of
Nepal more than 20 times.
Modi also appreciated all those in Nepal
who gave up the path of war and joined the
democratic process.
He touched a chord by paying homage to
the Gorkha soldiers who became martyrs in
India's wars against China and Pakistan.
Earlier, Prime Minister Koirala broke pro-
tocol to receive Modi at the Tribhuvan
International Airport.
The Nepal military presented a guard of
honor and a 19-gun salute.
Modi said the biggest focus of the two
nations should be development and said that
"Sabka saath, sabka vikaas (Everyone's sup-
port, everyone's development," is relevant
for India's neighbours also.
Later, three agreements were signed
between India and Nepal including coopera-
tion between Doordarshan and Nepal TV.
SUBCONTINENT
Islamabad: Demanding
fresh elections under the
new election commis-
sion, Pakistan Tehreek-e-
Insaf chief Imran Khan
vowed that he wouldn't
call off his sit-in protest
until the Nawaz Sharif
government quit. He said
this at the end of a long
march to the capital in the run-up
to Independence Day celebrations.
"Sharif should immediately resign
and announce re-elections. The
mandate of this government is fake
as it grabbed power through rigged
elections," Khan said at a crowded
press conference here. "Barring the
1970 polls, no free and fair elec-
tions gave been held in the coun-
try. But the 2013 elections broke
all previous records," Khan said,
adding that on August 11 he would
reveal how the last
elections were rigged
and who were behind
for it. "Those who
rigged the elections
should be tried under
Article 6 of the consti-
tution," he said.
"Democracy means
independence but
Pakistan has been denied this right
since its inception. We're not trying
to derail democracy, but ghting to
dethrone monarchs," Khan said.
The invocation of article 245 in
Islamabad, Khan said, was the
biggest undemocratic move taken
by the government. He said he
could have easily rejected the
results of May 2013 "fraudulent
elections" but refrained due to poor
economic and law and order situa-
tion in the country.
Riyadh: Saudi Arabia has banned its male citizens from marrying women
from four countries - Pakistan, Bangladesh, Chad and Myanmar - a police
ofcer said. The announcement comes as a part of Saudi Arabia's efforts
to prohibit Saudi men from marrying expatriates, a subject widely debat-
ed in the Gulf nation. There is an estimated 500,000 women from the four
countries, residing in Saudi Arabia.
Mecca Police Director Assaf Al-Qurashi said additional formalities
have been placed before issuing the permission for marriage with foreign-
ers, Dawnonline reported citing a local daily. Tougher regulations have
been introduced for such marriages, that includes, obtaining consent from
the authorities and submitting marriage applications through ofcial
channels, the report said."Sharif should immediately resign and announce
re-elections. The mandate of this government is fake as it grabbed power
through rigged elections," Khan said at a crowded press conference here.
Kathmandu: Indian Prime
Minister Narendra Modi
became the rst top dignitary to
be accorded the privilege of
offering special puja inside the
Pashupatinath temple in Nepal
since the abolition of monarchy
in the erstwhile Himalayan
kingdom in 2008.
Prior to this, the privilege was
only that of the Nepal royals of
the then ruling Shah dynasty.
Modi offered Rs.27,000 to
cover the cost of the entire func-
tion, including the "Rudra
Abhishekam" puja, on the aus-
picious third Monday of the
month of Shravan in the Hindu
calendar.
For Basuki Puja, Modi offered
Rs.5,100 more.
Walking barefoot and dressed
in saffron, Modi spent around
45 minutes inside the temple
here on the banks of the
Bagmati river.
According to Govinda
Tandon, member secretary of
the Pashupatinath Area
Development Trust (PADT),
only the reigning monarch of
the now overthrown Shah
dynasty was permitted to wor-
ship the rare silver-covered
Shiva Lingam sitting alongside
it in the sanctum santorum.
Commoners are allowed to
venerate the Shiva Lingam only
from outside the door of sanc-
tum santorum.
"We provided the same privi-
lege to Modiji that former roy-
als were granted. Because of his
affection and dedication for the
temple, we decided to provide
him this special privilege, "
Tandon said.
The decision to allow Modi to
worship the Shiva Lingam of
Pashupatinath was taken at the
highest political level, IANS has
learnt. Only the ruling kings of
Nepal could perform the special
puja in this manner.
The mattress on which Modi
sat was placed between two sil-
ver sidebars. Nobody, except the
priests, is allowed to touch the
four-headed Shiva Lingam
inside the temple, a PADT of-
cial said.
As promised, after the temple
visit, Modi handed over 2,500
kg of sandalwood worth Rs.20
million (over $320,260) and
announced an assistance of
Rs.150 million for building a
400-bed dharmasala within the
temple precincts.
21 August 9-15, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Narendra Modi won millions of hearts by speaking in Nepali briefly.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi became the first top
dignitary to be accorded the privilege of offering special puja
inside the Pashupatinath temple
Nawas Sharif
Modi promises Nepal non-interference, $1 bn credit
Modi worshipped at Pashupatinath temple
Imran tells Nawaz to quit as Pak PM
Saudi men can't marry women from Pak
Gaza: A 72-hour humanitarian
truce brokered by Egypt between
Israel and Palestine went into
effect in the Gaza Strip this week.
The start of the truce was pre-
ceded by a barrage of rockets
from Gaza, with air raids sirens
howling throughout southern
Israel, including in the cities of
Ashdod, Ashkelon and
Beersheba, as well as Jerusalem,
Al Jazeera reported.
In the minutes before the truce,
Israel launched air strikes on
Gaza City and on southern and
central parts of the Palestinian
territory in response to the rock-
ets.
Just before the truce came into
effect, the Israel Defence Forces
(IDF) announced the withdrawal
of all of its troops to "defensive
positions" outside the Gaza Strip.
An IDF officer said that Israeli
forces left Gaza before the start
of the truce
Delegates from both sides had
approved the truce late Monday
in a round of phone calls.
During the 72 hours, an Israeli
delegation was scheduled to
arrive in Cairo to negotiate with
the Palestinians.
Cairo is currently hosting a
united delegation of various
Palestinian factions, including
Fatah, Hamas and the Islamic
Jihad, for talks on the Egyptian
bid for a truce in Gaza.
The negotiations would focus
on the Palestinian demand to
remove the siege from the Gaza
Strip, and to release 56 Hamas
prisoners that Israel incarcerated
following an operation in the
West Bank in June after the kid-
napping and killing of three
Israeli teens.
Israel's ongoing offensive on
Gaza, which started on July 8,
has killed 1,820 Palestinians,
mostly civilians, and over 10,000
injured, while Hamas attacks
have also killed 64 Israeli sol-
diers and three civilians in the
past four weeks.
London: British Prime Minister
David Cameron lost a key ally
from the Asian community as
Baroness Warsi, minister of state
in the foreign office, quit from
the government, saying the
British governments policy on
the crisis in Gaza is morally
indefensible. She wrote on her
Twitter feed that she was leaving
with deep regret, Asian Lite, a
newspaper for the British-Asian
community in London, reported.
Lady Warsi, daughter of a
Pakistani immigrant and who was
previously chairman of the
Conservative Party, became the
first female Muslim cabinet min-
ister when David Cameron took
office in 2010. Her departure will
affect the Conservative influence
among the Asians, especially the
Muslims from Pakistan.
In her resignation letter pre-
sented to the prime minister,
Lady Warsi said the British
response to the crisis in Gaza will
have a long term detrimental
impact on our reputation interna-
tionally and domestically. She
appeared to suggest that Britains
support for Israel could encour-
age extremism in Britain. Home
Office evidence suggested that
Britains response to the Gaza
crisis risked becoming a basis
for radicalisation (that) could
have consequences for us for
years to come, she wrote.
With deep regret I have this
morning written to the Prime
Minister & tendered my resigna-
tion. I can no longer support Govt
policy on #Gaza, she tweeted
Tuesday.
Washington: That the US
government is engaged in
unprecedented snooping
worldwide matchless in its
scale is known for some
time now thanks to whistle-
blower Edward Snowden.
But fresh disclosures
from a new source, based
on classified government
documents leaked to the
website Intercept, suggests
that Washington may be
running amuck, putting
under surveillance hundreds
of thousands of people
merely on suspicion, and
possibly on account of their
religious or ethnic affilia-
tion, Times of India report-
ed. The new disclosures,
which could cause a fresh
round of consternation in
world capitals that have not
signed on to the program,
also reveal that the CIA
uses a previously unknown
program, code-named
Hydra, to "secretly access
databases maintained by
foreign countries and
extract data to add to the
US watchlists."
The numbers are just
staggering. According to
the latest disclosures, there
are around 700,000 people
caught up in the US govern-
ment's Terrorist Screening
Database (TSD) a
watchlist of "known or sus-
pected terrorists" that is
shared with local law
enforcement agencies, pri-
vate contractors, and for-
eign governments. Of them,
more than 40 percent
280,000 are described by
the government as having
"no recognized terrorist
group affiliation," dwarfing
the number of watchlisted
people suspected of ties to
al Qaeda, Hamas, and
Hezbollah combined.
According to the docu-
ments, the Obama adminis-
tration has also boosted the
number of people on the
no-fly list more than ten-
fold, to an all-time high of
47,000 surpassing the
number of people barred
from flying under George
Bush.
The second-highest con-
centration of people desig-
nated as "known or suspect-
ed terrorists" by the govern-
ment is in Dearborn,
Michigan, a city of 96,000
that has the largest percent-
age of Muslims in the
country.
INTERNATIONAL 22 August 9-15, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Moscow: Russian President Vladimir
Putin said that he has ordered the gov-
ernment to think over retaliatory meas-
ures against Western sanctions, the
media reported.
"Political tools of pressure on the
economy are unacceptable and contra-
dict all norms and rules. The Russian
government has already proposed a
number of measures in retaliation to the
so-called sanctions by some countries,"
Putin said at a working meeting with
the acting governor of the Voronezh
region, south of Moscow.
The president noted that Russia' s
response to Western sanctions should
be "accurate", stressing that it is neces-
sary to take into account the interests of
both Russian manufacturers and con-
sumers.
Putin added that producers in various
countries should compete equally in
order to meet the interests of national
security and rules of the World Trade
Organisation.
The European Union (EU) sanctions
on Moscow took effect Friday, which
include a package of punitive measures
targeting Russia's finance, defence and
energy sectors. The US and Japan also
announced new sanctions against
Russia over its alleged role in the cur-
rent Ukrainian turmoil and the downing
of a Malaysian passenger plane, which
killed 298 people on board.
Russia accused the EU of being
manipulated by "Washington's dicta-
tion", and slammed the US sanctions as
"destructive and short-sighted". The
consultations between Russian and
Japanese deputy foreign ministers were
postponed Tuesday by Moscow due to
Japan's further sanctions.
New Delhi: External Affairs Minister
Sushma Swaraj said nearly 5,000
Indians have been brought back from
Iraq since it was embroiled in conflict,
and urged parliamentarians not to
believe rumours floating about those
trapped in the West Asian nation.
Giving clarifications after a calling
attention motion in Rajya Sabha,
Sushma Swaraj also urged the mem-
bers to convince everyone they know
in Iraq or Libya to return to India.
Giving the details of Indians trapped
in the conflict torn regions of Iraq, she
said 15,000 of 22,000 Indians in Iraq
are in safe zones. She also said the 41
Indians kidnapped by the ISIS
(Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) are
fine. "There are several rumours float-
ing around, I would urge the members
not to believe them. The kidnapped
Indians are safe," the minister said
after one of the members quoted some
reports of the Indians being dead.
"I am awaiting them as a mother
awaits the return of her children. We
have knocked every door, and leaving
no stone unturned," she said. Sushma
Swaraj said all efforts are being made
to rescue each and every Indian.
An Israeli delegation was scheduled to arrive in
Cairo to negotiate with the Palestinians.
Baroness Warsi, minister of
state in the foreign office
Russian President Vladimir Putin
Nearly 5,000 Indians rescued from Iraq so far: Sushma
Putin orders retaliation against Western sanctions
72-hour humanitarian truce begins in Gaza British minister quits over
Israel's Gaza offensive
US terror database has
a million people
Mumbai: Reserve Bank governor
Raghuram Rajan has said that India
has emerged from the perception of
being in crisis and has placed itself as
a better place to remain invested.
"I keep telling the international fora
that India is not a problem anymore. I
think there was a perception problem
(last year), but I think today that per-
ception also doesn't exist," Rajan said
during the customary post-policy inter-
action with mediapersons at RBI head-
quarters here.
The central bank chose to keep all
the key policy rates unchanged, except
cutting SLR by 50 basis points to
infuse liquidity.
Rajan also said formation of a stable
government at the Centre has strength-
ened the country' s position among
overseas investors.
"Political stability to my mind is
worth a tremendous amount, as far as
the external situation goes and that is a
big change," the governor said, adding
both the government and RBI have
together tried and improved the macro
fundamentals.
Rajan said the fiscal deficit has been
kept on a glide path as suggested by
the government, the current account
deficit has come down from 4.7 per
cent of GDP in FY 2013 to 1.5-2 per
cent as of today, and the forex reserves
have also become healthier and it was
well prepared to deal with the infla-
tion.
"I think the expectation that we will
confront and deal with inflation is
much stronger now than it was earli-
er," Rajan noted.
The governor said one of the major
concerns that investors have is that
whether RBI will take away the bene-
fits from the Indian growth story from
them by inflating and thereby depreci-
ating the rupee.
"No, we have no intent of doing that.
We want to bring inflation under con-
trol and more like the inflation in other
countries so that the rupee is not seen
on a continuously weakening path,"
said the governor.
Rupee falls to near 5-month low
Mumbai: The dollar surged to an 11-month high
against a basket of currency and to a 5-month high
against the
rupee on the
back of fresh
data showing
e c o n o mi c
recovery in
the US. The
local curren-
cy fell by
over 56
paise in
early trade as Reserve Bank of India remained on the
sidelines. The data from the US showed that service
sector activity hit a eight and a half year high last
month and factory orders rose. Following the news,
the dollar index surged to 81.626. Dealers said that the
dollar could rise further if there were signs of interest
rates hardening in the US on the back of strong
growth. Dealers said that RBI holding rates should
have been seen as a positive for the local currency, but
policy support was negated by the surge in the dollar
index. On Wednesday, the sensex was down on the
back of selling by some foreign institutional investors.
New Delhi:
Manufacturing and
services sectors in
India expanded at a
faster pace than
China in July, even as
emerging market out-
put registered a slow-
er pace of growth,
HSBC said.
The HSBC
Emerging Markets
Index (EMI), a monthly indicator
derived from Purchasing
Managers' Index surveys, stood
at 51.7 in July, down from 52.3
in June, indicating slower output
growth across global emerging
markets.
"Emerging market economic
growth remains disappointingly
feeble, especially when com-
pared to the impressive upturn
currently being seen in the devel-
oped world, " Markit Chief
Economist Chris Williamson
said. The pace of economic
growth in the developed world
accelerated in July to its fastest
since May 2007.
During July, the HSBC com-
posite index for India, which
maps both manufacturing and
services, stood at 53.0, whereas
for China it was 51.6, Brazil
(49.3) and Russia (51.3). An
index measure of above 50 indi-
cates expansion.
Going forward, the pace of
growth in emerging market
economies is likely to remain
week, the report added.
"With global uncertainty and
risk aversion being heightened by
the Argentine default, the fight-
ing in Gaza and worries about the
possibility of an escalating situa-
tion in Ukraine, emerging market
economic growth looks more
likely to deteriorate than improve
in coming months," Williamson
said.
Of the four largest emerging
economies, Brazil posted the
strongest output expectations in
July, followed by India.
New Delhi: Micromax has unseat-
ed Samsung in India as the top
handset seller in the second quar-
ter of 2014, a study says.
Conducted by technology mar-
ket research firm Counterpoint
Research, it says that with a 16.6
percent share of the mobile mar-
ket, Micromax is followed by
Samsung with a 14.4 percent mar-
ket share.
However, in the smartphone seg-
ment, Micromax is still placed sec-
ond. with Samsung holding nearly
25 percent of the market in this
section.
"The smartphone segment grew
at 68 percent annually in Q2 2014
in India, and Indian brands cap-
tured more than two-thirds of the
total mobile phone shipments and
more than half of the smartphone
shipments," the report said. The
overall mobile phone market grew
at a modest two percent. Globally,
Micromax is the tenth largest
handset brand, by mobile shipment
amounts.
Seoul : Samsung Electronics and
Apple Inc have agreed to end all
patent lawsuits between each other
outside the US in a step back from
three years of legal hostilities
between the world' s two largest
smartphone makers.
However, Samsung Electronics
Co said on Wednesday that the com-
panies will continue to pursue exist-
ing cases in US courts. "Samsung
and Apple have agreed to drop all
litigation between the two compa-
nies outside the United States," the
South Korean company said in a
statement. "This agreement does not
involve any licensing arrangements,
and the companies are continuing to
pursue the existing cases in US
courts." The announcement is a sig-
nificant lessening of corporate hos-
tilities after years of bitter patent
disputes over the intellectual prop-
erty rights for mobile designs and
technology. The legal fights
spanned about a dozen countries in
Asia, North America and Europe.
Lawsuits and other legal actions by
Samsung and Apple will come to an
end in countries including Germany,
England, France, Spain, Italy, the
Netherlands, South Korea, Japan
and Australia.
BUSINESS August 9-15, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info
India's manufacturing
outpaced China in July: HSBC
23
However, in the smartphone segment,
Micromax is still placed second.
The dollar could rise further,
say dealers
Reserve Bank governor
Raghuram Rajan
India no longer a problem economy: Rajan
Micromax now top mobile brand in India
Samsung, Apple agree to drop patent lawsuits outside US
Chandigarh: Punjab may be acting like the
big brother to Haryana, but when it comes to
honoring and rewarding sportspersons from
the state who earn international laurels, it
seems to be lagging far behind. Medal win-
ners from Punjab are now ruing the fact that
they are virtually "losers" even after winning
medals at international events.
The comparison that Punjab's sportsper-
sons are making is with those from neigh-
boring Haryana, who are encouraged to win
medals at international events and end up
with cash rewards running into millions of
rupees, and gifts of luxury cars, smart-
phones, good jobs and even good supplies of
desi ghee.
In Haryana, players with international
medals get jobs like deputy superintendent
of police (DSP) or police inspector after
winning at an international event.
At the Glasgow games, Haryana players
ended up with over 10 medals, including
golds and silvers.
In Haryana, which is heading for assembly
polls later this year, Hooda is all prepared to
honor the state's medal-winners, having
announced substantial cash rewards for
them. Gold medal winners at the Asian
Games and the Commonwealth Games will
now get cash rewards of Rs. 2 crore
($327,000) and Rs.1 crore, up from Rs.25
lakh and Rs.15 lakh respectively.
Silver and bronze medal winners at the
Asian Games would now get Rs.1 crore and
Rs.50 lakh instead of Rs.15 lakh and Rs.10
lakh respectively.
Silver and bronze medal winners at the
Commonwealth Games will get Rs.50 lakh
and Rs.25 lakh instead of Rs.10 lakh and
Rs.5 lakh.
Medal winners from Punjab are now ruing the fact that they are virtually "losers"
Haryana leaves Punjab far behind in honors
SPORTS 24 August 9-15, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info
India should be happy with Glasgow returns
I
f you take away 2010 New Delhi, the
benchmark for India at the
Commonwealth Games has been 2002
Manchester when they crossed the 50-
medal mark for the first time by ending up
with 69 medals, 30 of them gold.
Before the Indians left for Glasgow, the
expectations were pegged at somewhere
between Manchester tally and 2006
Melbourne where they touched exactly 50.
So, 64 should be taken as a reasonably
happy figure, considering the turmoil the
Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has gone
through over the last four years.
To be fair to the national sports federa-
tions, they have been going through their
routine with the government lending more
than a helping hand. They make all the
plans for training, competition and interna-
tional exposure. They scout around the
world to get the best of coaches.
Unfortunately, no one seems to take seri-
ously the 101 medals and the second posi-
tion India achieved at home in 2010. The
refrain is: "Whats so big doing it in your
backyard." Thats uncharitable. See how
Scotland performed at home to finish fourth
behind England, for whom also Glasgow is
home, behind Australia and Canada and a
rung above India.
India could have easily added a few more
medals if only archery and tennis had not
been dropped from the Games and also
some sure medals from wrestling and shoot-
ing events.
Archery and tennis accounted for 12
medals in New Delhi. In shooting 18 events
have been dropped, including pairs event,
that meant 14 medals which India won in
2010 are gone straightaway.
In Greco-Roman wrestling, India had won
eight medals. The shooters were not the
same confident lot they were in Delhi,
though they still logged in 17 medals, 13
less than what they achieved at home.
Yet, Sushil Kumar and Yogeshwar Dutt
made sure that Indian wrestling continues to
be on the upswing and, in all, five gold and
six silver and two bronze were surely
impressive. Vinesh Phogat and Babita
Kumari brought in a pair of gold from the
womens section.
The last day for India at Glasgow was a
replication of what happened in 2010. If
Saina Nehwal won the womens singles
badminton gold, her Hyderabad-mate
Parupalli Kashyap pulled off the mens sin-
gles final. It was a great achievement for
him as he won a singles gold for India 32
years after the great Syed Modi won it in
1982 in Brisbane.
If only P.V. Sindhu had not choked in her
semi-finals Saturday, India could have
added another medal just as R. M. V.
Gurusaidatt who after beating top seed
Chong Wei Feng in the quarter-finals lost
his semis against Malaysian Derek Wong
over three games.
Like Kashyap, discus thrower Vikas
Gowda was another great athlete brought
into focus when he won an athletics Gold
after 56 years when Milkha Singh won the
440 yards at Cardiff in 1958. It is a different
matter that the "Flying Sikh" narrowly
missed winning bronze at the 1960 Rome
Olympics.
There was also a flush of medals from
weightlifting. The lifters won 12 medals
that included three gold, four silver and five
bronze.
If India lost the hockey final to Australia
four years ago by a confidence-shattering 0-
8 swamp, this time they reduced the margin
to half, 0-4, but still could not score a goal.
In the group game they at least struck twice.
Abhinav Bindra has shown that he is not
for nothing among the worlds best by win-
ning his 10m air rifle gold, his first at the
quadrennial event. He had his ups and
downs after the Beijing Olympic gold, but
he showed his mettle.
Before someone pipes up to say the
Indian sport has done well despite officials,
there are officials and officials. There have
been men who worked 24X7 going through
the paper work impeccably and made sure
India had a say at international forums, par-
ticularly at the continental level.
The officials include some of those
charge-sheeted for their alleged misdeeds in
the run-up to the New Delhi Games. Dont
forget, there was nothing wrong with the
conduct of the Games and the performances
of athletes. It was an exceptional showing.
The contribution of some of the officials
cannot be discounted even if the govern-
ment had opened up its purse strings for the
training of the athletes.
The athletes in private praise their federa-
tion officials, but the moment they face the
camera they take the fashionable route of
running them down!
India could have easily added a few more medals if only archery and tennis
had not been dropped from the Games.
New Delhi: President Pranab Mukherjee
and Prime Minister Narendra Modi con-
gratulated the Indian contingent for its
performance in the Commonwealth
Games in Glasgow, where India was fifth
in the medals tally.
In his message to Raj Singh, Chef-de-
Mission of the Indian contingent for the
games, the president said: "I extend my
heartiest congratulations to all our
sportspersons, who have participated and
won laurels for themselves and for our
country."
"These games have proved to be a pow-
erful bridge bringing together people and
athletes from various nations. More than
anything else, the event has witnessed
human endeavour at its best.
"Our sportspersons have undoubtedly
shown commendable determination, grit
and ambition for achievement, and this
was instrumental in their success. These
games were also a great opportunity for
those who could not earn a medal, to
imbibe lessons to enhance the quality of
their endeavours.
"I am confident that in the future, too,
our sportspersons will continue to strive
hard and prove their merit so as to keep
our national flag flying high in the inter-
national arena," the president said.
President, PM
congratulate Indian
medal winners
With 64 medals, India
came fifth in the medals
tally at Glasgow
Commonwealth
Games 2014.
SPORTS 25 August 9-15, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Glasgow: The Glasgow 2014
Commonwealth Games closing
ceremony came to an end with a
fine display of fireworks over
Hampden Park but music took
centrestage as Scottish singer
Lulu, pop band Deacon Blue and
Australian singer Kylie Minogue
- to name a few - belted out their
popular numbers here.
Themed 'All Back To Ours', the
90-minute closing ceremony
depicted a "typical night out in
Glasgow".
The whole ceremony from the
outset had a very musical concert
theme to it with Lulu kicking off
proceedings in her version of the
old Isley Brothers US hit of
1959, Shout.
Scottish band Deacon Blue
took the stage next and rocked
the crowd with one of their most
popular songs Dignity.
The place was already abuzz
with lightshows and fireworks
when Scottish synthpop band
Prides sent the decibel levels ris-
ing further with their foot-tap-
ping number 'Messiah'.
There was a lull in the proceed-
ings as Karen Matheson sung a
haunting rendition of Robert
Burns' Aye Fond Kiss as the
Commonwealth Games
Federation flag was taken down
and handed over to Australian
delegation with Gold Coast host-
ing the next games.
Commonwealth Games
Federation (CGF) president
Prince Imran of Malaysia
thanked Glasgow for delivering a
wonderful Games.
"Glasgow, it is a job well done.
You have delivered the best
Games ever," said Imran before
adding the Glasgow slogan,
"Pure, dead brilliant."
It was an oz-fest from there on
in Australian singer Jessica
Mauboy sung two songs as the
2018 hosts got a chance to shine
and show what lay ahead.
World-renowned Australian
surfer Mick Fanning and
Australia' s hurdles champion
Sally Pearson showcased Gold
Coast and also gave a message
inviting everyone to the next
Games.
But the biggest and the longest
performance of the night came
from Australian singer Kylie.
The 46-year-old Kylie, who
released her 12th studio album
this year, sung seven of her songs
as the athletes were seen dancing
to her beats.
Dougie MacLean saw out the
night with a rendition of his clas-
sic ballad "Caledonia" and with
the final song of Auld Lang
Syne, the curtains came down on
the ceremony.
Canadian gymnast Frankie
Jones was awarded the David
Dixon Award for the best athlete
of the Games. She won six
medals, including one gold, in
the rhythmic gym-
nastics events.
The Games were
participated by
4,750 athletes from
71 countries and terri-
tories in 18 sports
over 11 days for 261
golds.
The closing ceremo-
ny was also participat-
ed by the Clydesiders,
some of the 15,000
volunteers, who
helped the athletes
and the spectators dur-
ing the Games.
Themed 'All Back To Ours', the 90-minute closing
ceremony depicted a "typical night out in Glasgow".
New Delhi: Wrestling star Sushil Kumar
was the most searched Indian athlete on
Google during the Commonwealth Games
in Glasgow.
A search trend study by Google revealed
that Sushil, who won the gold medal in the
men' s 74kg-category, was the most
searched along with fellow teenage female
grappler Vinesh Phogat, who won the gold
medal in the 48kg-category Glasgow.
"Fans back home in India continued to
bolster their support with increasing inter-
est in these games reflected through online
searches on Google. As the curtain went
down on the XX Commonwealth Games,
India notched up a respectable number of
medals.
"Badminton remained the most searched
sporting discipline as Indian badminton star
Parupalli Kashyap became the first Indian
man to win a badminton gold at the Games
in 32 years. It was a historic win as he
clinched the gold for India and generated a
lot of buzz online," said Google in a
release.
The search trend also revealed that box-
ing and wrestling stood second and third,
respectively, among the highly searched
disciplines during the games.
"In this cricket crazy nation, stellar per-
formances by the Indian squad at the
Commonwealth Games helped generate a
lot of interest and inclination especially
with increasing searches by fans in favour
of national sports including wrestling, bad-
minton, weightlifting and shooting," the
statement from Google said.The other
Indian athletes who were widely searched
online included Vijender Singh, Yogeshwar
Dutt, Vikas Gowda and Parupalli Kashyap.
Sushil Kumar most searched
athlete at CWG
Chennai: Dipika Pallikal and Joshna
Chinappa, winners of Indias first-ever gold
medal at the Commonwealth Games squash
competitions, were accorded a rousing wel-
come on their arrival here from Glasgow,
Scotland.
Coach Maj S. Maniam and players Anaka
Alankamony and Harinder Singh Sandhu
accompanied Pallikal and Chinappa, both
Chennai-based, but others Saurav Ghosal,
Mahesh Mangaonkar and coach
Bhuvaneshari Kumari had re-routed their
journey to their respective homes in Kolkata,
Mumbai and New Delhi.
Coaches from the Indian Squash Academy
(ISA), led by National coach Cyrus Poncha,
were in attendance with garlands to greet and
welcome the team members and officials.
Parents and other squash enthusiasts were
also present to welcome the players.
For the ISA, this was also a special
moment because the entire planning and
coaching had happened there for this Indian
side as part of the ongoing process of giving
squash a new direction in the country.
Poncha said: "We had realised after the
Delhi CWG four years ago that concentrating
on doubles could be our best bet. And with
Joshna and Dipika in the top rung in the
world rankings, the bet was on them.
We would have loved Saurav and
Harinder, too, to have joined in the medals
bracket, but England has a healthy domi-
nance in the mens and mixed sections and
that made things difficult.
Poncha pointed out that the players realised
the importance of taking advantage of the
shorter tin height (only 13 inches) and a
reflection of their growing confidence came
in the tri-nation series in Malaysia in June
where India won the womens (Joshna and
Dipika) and the mixed doubles (Ghosal and
Dipika) titles while New Zealand won the
mens doubles title. Maniam said: The girls
with their success have certainly given
Indian squash a shot in the arm. I would say
it was a culmination of a long drawn process
of structural training and proper planning.
Warm welcome for CWG gold medalists Dipika, Joshna
26 August 9-15, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info CINEMA
By Ashok Vyas
F
ilmmaker Nina Srivastava attended
Northeastern University for Marketing
& Communications, and later went to
Whistling Woods International (Mumbai) to
pursue Film Direction. After interning with
the likes of Mira Nair & Karan Johar and
working on various films/TV pilots/web
series, she sets off to work on her own film,
"The Unusual Inventor" based on the amaz-
ing real life story of a social entrepreneur.
The South Asian Times: What did you
miss in Communication and Marketing
that you switched to the creative field of
writing for films?
Nina Srivastava: Well, I think the skills
learned through Marketing/Communication
proved vital! I feel the two fields are related.
Only I was never really aware of the fact that
I could pursue a career in storytelling - which
later turned into filmmaking! It was only
after a friend suggested interning with a film
director that I got to see how much I loved it!
Leaving a settled track of career is excit-
ing but it opens the doors to an uncertain
future. Were you ever scared of your deci-
sion?
Yes, I felt scared at many points! It is not
always an easy path, especially if you don't
have any connections in the industry.
However, once I had formal training at
Whistling Woods International - I slowly
began to build confidence. Unlike many
other careers - stability is not always guaran-
teed for too long!
What did you learn from interning with
Mira Nair?
Working with Mirabai Films was my first
sneak peek into filmmaking. I felt lucky to be
able to observe one of the finest directors
around! I began as an intern in her office and
then assisted her in the casting department of
her film, "The Namesake." At that point -
everything was new - I was learning new
things about the field every day. One evening
I had the opportunity to attend a function
where people from the field were honoring
her, and I was so impressed with her com-
mand over an audience - she was so engag-
ing (just like her films!) On the set also she
was so clear in her thought, and was able to
communicate it to various departments so
vividly.
During the shoot for "Kabhi Alvida Naa
Kehna," you and other assistants were
asked to tell people to stop taking pictures
of the shoot (mainly Shah Rukh Khan!) in
Grand Central station (in New York).
Actually, if one is passionate about being
creative, there is lot of hard work and
struggles on the path of success. Who pre-
pared you for these bumps?
No one had prepared me as such, but I
guess you just assume you will face chal-
lenges, just as anyone does when they try to
learn something new. Not having ego about
what you are initially asked to do is key too!
You later find out how important it is to start
from the bottom and try to learn as much as
you can.
You are not a Gujarati, but your first
film as Creative Producer - which is an
entertainer, called "Happy Familyy Pvt
Ltd" -- is in Gujarati
Well, I was writing a Hindi script proposal
for a Familyy comedy -- an idea that I later
just put away for a year or so. But when I
heard that there was a Producer who was
looking out for a Familyy comedy, I handed
him my script proposal. They liked it and
brought on other team members and the story
was adjusted to be more appealing for the
Gujarati audiences. My version included a
love story and the villain was actually the
main character!
How was it shooting in Bhuj for "Happy
Familyy Pvt Ltd"?
We were in Bhuj for one month for the
shoot, which was one of the hottest months!
It was a definite challenge, especially
because that part of the film is mostly shot
outdoors! "Happy Familyy Pvt Ltd" is about
a rich/dysfunctional Familyy (from Mumbai)
that gets stuck in a village where they don't
believe in the concept of money! We chose a
real location (as opposed to a set) and
although it worked out well for the look, it
was extremely challenging - as initially crew
members fainted on set due to the extreme
weather! You can check out our official trail-
er for "Happy Familyy Pvt Ltd" on YouTube
- and it will be coming to the DC South
Asian International Film Festival in
September!
Characterization seems to be your spe-
ciality in writing for films. Your next proj-
ect is a story based on real life character.
Tell us about "The Unusual Inventor."
Characterization is what drives the story -
because if we don't sense change in these
characters or develop their 'arc' - the story
would fail! The Unusual Inventor" is based
on a true story of a villager, who was deter-
mined to help his wifebut ended up
EMPOWERING A NATION, with one
invention! Arunachalam Muruganantham has
been recognized by the BBC, Time, The Wall
Street Journal, Forbes, etc! His real life char-
acter amazes me because despite having
achieved so much - he remains humble - hav-
ing an unusual touch of humor!
How was it meeting Arunachalam
Muruganantham at Coimbatore?
Muruganantham is an admirable man.
When I asked him how he came about all of
this - he had a simple answer. "I saw a prob-
lem and I had to fix it." Despite facing so
many obstacles, his perseverance and dedica-
tion has changed the lives of millions around
the world. I was blown away by his storyand
his humility.
What about finding the funding or the
right team? Are you planning to direct the
film too?
We have listed some of our needs on
Kickstarter.com and are looking for people
who want to support our initiative to bring
this story into the limelight. The sad truth is
that about 88% of Indian women cannot
afford a sanitary pad, while 70% suffer from
reproductive tract infection, and a horrifying
23% drop out of school after the onset.
Muruganantham's inspiring story/invention
is being used as a way to bring this highly
ignored topic into the mainstream. The crew
will most likely be made up of people who I
have previously worked with - and yes, I am
the director of this film!
How do you find a balance between the
'message aspect' of a film and the 'enter-
tainment aspect' of it?
There have already been documentaries
made on Muruganantham, but I believe this
topic deserves a larger audience. His inven-
tion has reached only 9 countries - when over
100 are well matched for it. We need to break
the language barriers and spread awareness
of this issue in the most commercial way
possible. It may not be easy, but it is definite-
ly worth the effort! The entertainment aspect
of the film comes in natu-
rally, given his real-life
sense of humor and light
hearted nature. The inspira-
tional aspect is something
which I feel can cross all
boundaries - regardless of
age/gender/culture. It has a
very global appeal - and we
hope to even inspire more
superheroes through it -
social entrepreneurs, that is!
Nina Srivastavas next is a feature film on Arunachalam Muruganantham, a social
entrepreneur from rural Coimbatore, the inventor of a low-cost sanitary pad mak-
ing machine, who has innovated grass-roots mechanisms for generating aware-
ness about traditional unhygienic practices around menstruation in rural India.
Writer-filmmaker Nina Srivastava
The author is
Program
Director, ITV
in New York.
August 9-15, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info
I
ve always told my children that they
can turn traffic lights green using only
their minds.
My wife scolds me, but it totally works.
You just have to choose the moment you
start thinking really carefully.
Ready? Concentrate. Three two
one GREEN!
The look of astonishment on their faces
(and mine) has always been priceless.
But eventually they started to get old
and jaded and cynical and unmagical,
which happens around the age of three
these days. Thanks for nothing, Richard
Dawkins.
***
The difference between human abilities
and those of lesser creatures has always
fascinated me.
Which is why I was shocked when a
reader forwarded me an Indian government
ministers statement that dolphins high
intelligence indicates they should be seen
as non-human persons.
If the definition of being a person is
linked to intelligence, THREE-QUAR-
TERS of the people on my morning com-
muter bus would rate a classification rough-
ly level with chickens (no offence intended
to chickens)!!!
These folk carry electronic devices which
can instantly access humanitys greatest
works, but use them solely for screen-peck-
ing games so repetitive they would bore a
moderately bright patch of toe-fungus to
tears.
(I can hear my toe-fungus weeping with
sorrow and shame for the human race.)
***
Campaigns calling for humans and ani-
mals to be treated equally are growing in
North America, Europe and Australia, but
India is ahead of the game.
A dog was hit with criminal charges for
biting a retired police officer in Lucknow in
February, and last year, three goats were
detained for damaging a Chennai police
car.
In Nigeria, police famously detained a
goat on suspicion of attempting to steal a
Mazda 323. That didnt ring true with me:
goats are canny outdoor types and would
surely opt for the open-top Mazda MX-5.
***
Humans also come in a wide range of
intelligence lev-
els, as was made
clear by a story
sent in by reader
Wendy Tong.
A motorist
named Carmen,
34, was arrested
for being drunk
in charge of a
vehicle, it said.
Police in the
US state of New
Jersey told her to
call a friend to
drive her home.
She phoned her buddy Nina, 23, who
arrived in a similar state and was also
arrested.
So they both called a third friend, Ryan,
33, who drove up looking extremely wob-
bly and was also detained.
The news report doesnt say what hap-
pened next, but one hopes officers kept the
system going until they arrested everyone
in the city, state or country.
***
Wendy said drunkenness was not normal-
ly funny, but this report made her laugh.
Agreed. Wendy, your tale reminded me of
the first time I heard the song about the old
woman who swallowed a fly and then swal-
lowed a spider to catch the fly and ultimate-
ly a bird, cat, dog, and cow.
I was only six but already had a skep-
tics need for proof.
You got photos? I asked the kindie
teacher.
She shifted nervously in her seat, and Ive
distrusted teachers ever since.
***
Outside Asia and Africa, animal arrests
are rare. For example, several stoner dogs
were recently found to have become addict-
ed to the highs you get by licking cane
toads in Queensland, Australia, but not one
was charged with substance abuse.
The permissiveness of Western societies
continues to horrify me.
***
Perhaps animals and humans should be
treated the same, I dont know.
Although I must admit, I struggled for a
long time to teach my dog to change the
color of traffic lights using mind-control.
In the end, I just let her bark at the lights
until they turned green.
Not sure of the science behind it, but this
totally works too.
28 August 9-15, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info HUMOR
Funny Bone by Nury Vittachi
Laughter is the Best Medicine
Mind control for beginners
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.
9th August, 2014 Ruled planet: Mars Ruled by no: 9
Traits in you: Your ruling planet Mars makes you smart,
intelligent, stylish, enthusiastic and reliable. Being an
emotional individual, you want to carry on each and
every relationship you create once. You are very affec-
tionate towards the people you love and you do not hes-
itate showing your care and concern to those you love.
However, you are very short tempered and you need to
control it for betterment of your personality.
Health this year: Your health may deteriorate badly this
year. You need to take precautions to restore your health.
Finance this year: You should keep your budget in mind
as you may end up spending more than your budget.
Career this year: You may go ahead making many im-
portant decisions regarding to your career. Your deci-
sions will be proved successful as you will be benefited
later. You will gain popularity because of your charis-
matic nature and friendly behavior. This will also help
you win many favors.
Romance this year: You will enjoy mental peace at
home as you will get enough love and care from your
partner. You will enjoy a very good relationship with
your spouse with lots of love, care, and support.
Lucky month: September, April, May and August
10th August, 2014 Ruled planet: Sun Ruled by no: 1
Traits in you: Being dominated by planet Sun, you have
the qualities such as intelligence, creativity, and reliabil-
ity. You are highly focused and courageous. Your
courage helps you gain a lot and at times it also makes
you lose a lot of money. Your decisive nature helps you
take quick decisions, which fall correct often. However,
your negative traits such as impoliteness and rudeness
may create problems for you. So you need to work on
those to be better as a human being.
Health this year: If you take an overall estimation, you
will find this year to be very fruitful for you. However,
you may get stressed with minor stress and tensions.
Finance this year: Though you will earn a lot this year,
it would not be enough to meet your monetary expecta-
tions. You may gain through blind investments.
Career this year: You will be in profit due to your cre-
ativity this year. You will be able to obtain success with
the help of your new and innovative ideas. You should
try and enhance your knowledge on various domains as
it would help you in future.
Romance this year: Your romantic life may touch new
heights this year as you may get married during the last
few months of the year.
Lucky month: August, October, February and May
11th August, 2014 Ruled planet:Moon Ruled by no: 2
Traits in you: As you are governed by the planet Moon,
you hold the traits such as honesty, sensitivity, emotions
and intelligence. You are respected among your know
circle for your wit and decision making capabilities.
Your charismatic personality and knowledge wins you
admiration in your professional and personal friend cir-
cle. You are blessed with patriotism and you are pretty
religious. However, you have many negative traits that
make you lag behind others as an individual.
Health this year: You may remain worried for your
health throughout the year.
Finance this year: You will have a fluctuating income
this year. You will receive financial support during cru-
cial times from your friends and relatives. You need to
perform on every opportunity you get as it will stabilize
your financial condition. If you can realize your plans
into actions, then you may get benefits straightaway.
Career this year: You may take various crucial deci-
sions to grow professionally but you would not get
enough support from your family.
Romance this year: You will be enjoying love, care, and
support from your spouse or partner throughout the year.
If you have become eligible for marriage, you will re-
ceive many marriage proposals this year.
Lucky month: December, March, April and June
12th August, 2014 Ruled planet:Jupiter Ruled by no:3
Traits in you: Your ruling planet Jupiter makes you au-
dacious, courteous, ambitious, dignified, and devoted to-
wards your work. You love music very much and you
want to be a musician always. Your personal traits dis-
play that you are an independence loving individual and
you like to take your own decisions without anyones in-
terference.
Health this year: You may have to visit distant pilgrim-
ages to attain mental peace. You will enjoy a sound
health but one of your aged family members health may
degrade and put you in immense stress.
Finance this year: You are not advised to get involved
in any financial deals or partnerships this year as it may
end up in your loss. You may invest in real estate busi-
ness this year as you will be benefited in future from
these investments.
Career this year: Your commitment and enthusiasm to-
wards your work win admiration from your colleagues
and seniors. Your stubbornness may create problems for
you in future. You will be able to face your challenges
bravely this year and expectedly, you will solve them all
to perfection. If you are a sportsperson or artist, you will
receive awards, rewards, and appreciations from all
around the world.
Lucky month: October, November and May
13th August, 2014 Ruled planet:Uranus Ruled by no:4
Traits in you: Your ruling planet Uranus allows you to
showcase your vibrant nature and win many hearts with
you enthusiasm and simplicity. By nature you are smart,
dynamic, realistic, daring and religious. You never lose
your composure on tough times and solve every problem
with equal efficiency. You are well aware of the rules of
life and consider each and everything in a realistic view.
However, you nature of behaving restless may hamper
your personality and impression.
Health this year: You should go for regular medical
checkups this year as there are chances of degradation of
your health conditions.
Finance this year: You will settle your property related
legal matters to your satisfaction and the settlement will
bring you mental peace.
Career this year: You will be hugely benefited in your
professional career this year. You will develop a very
good relationship with your colleagues. This may help
you grow in your profession. However, you will find
your seniors to be too tough to appease.
Romance this year: Your love life will be strengthened
by the trust and love of your partner. You may receive
lots of gifts from your partner, which will make your
love stronger than ever. You should give enough time
and take care of the elders and children in the family.
Lucky month: January, March, June and August
14th August, 2014 Ruled planet:MercuryRuled by no5
Traits in you: As you have the ruling planet Mercury,
you are born smart, sentimental, sharp, practical, digni-
fied, and unique. You have a charismatic personality,
which attracts people towards you. You can make friends
easily as you are trustworthy. You need to work on your
characteristics of being impatient and possessive at times.
Health this year: Your health will remain good provid-
ed you take a good care of your health. You may consult
doctor to take preventive vaccines and medicines to re-
main healthy.
Finance this year: You may go for selling your proper-
ty this year. You may let your house for rent and this will
bring you monetary gains. Your dividends and interests
may pay off this year. You should invest on ornaments or
antique items as this seems to be very profitable for you.
Career this year: This year may prove to be very re-
warding for you. You will be hugely benefited in your
profession as a result of your improved personality and
confidence. You will be appreciated and admired by your
colleagues and employer as you will be able to showcase
your talent and skills.
Romance this year: Your romantic life would be extra
ordinary this year. You will not find your spouse to be
supportive enough. You may suffer a lot in your person-
al life as well.
Lucky month: November, December, April and June
15th August, 2014 Ruled planet:Venus Ruled by no:6
Traits in you: You being guided by Venus are dynamic,
creative, honest, joyful, and charming. Your carefree na-
ture can influence people to lead their lives the way you
do. This may help them heal them emotionally. You need
to control your mood swings. However, your laziness
may make you lag behind others though you are more
deserving than they are.
Health this year: You should start practicing Yoga and
meditation to keep yourself mentally and physically fit.
Finance this year: Your management skills will en-
hance, which will help you invest your money in a right
way. If you are into business, you should enter into some
computer related business as this will be a highly re-
warding business this year
Career this year: You are expected to gain fame and
good luck throughout this year. To get new heights in
your profession, you need to be more knowledgeable and
you should create new contacts.
Romance this year: You will be deeply involved in the
romantic relationship you are currently in. You may de-
cide to get married this year.
Lucky month: October, January and March
By Dr Prem Kumar Sharma
Chandigarh, India: +91-172- 256 2832, 257 2874
Delhi, India: +91-11- 2644 9898, 2648 9899
psharma@premastrologer.com; www.premastrologer.com
Stars Foretell: August 9-15, 2014 Annual Predictions: For those born in this week
29
ARIES: Calculated risks would enables
to complete the project on time.
Children would do their best to keep you
happy. Indications of earning financial profits
through commissions, dividends or royalties.
Romantic vibrations from someone unknown
would lift your spirits taking imaginations to
scaling heights. You will have ample time to do
things to improve your health. Excitement for a
vacation is not enough, planning is also
required. Time to think about your investment
plans, as investing residentially might be prof-
itable. Devoting quality time to help needy
people would bring immense pleasure.
TAURUS: Dont forget to take the help
of subordinates by involving them in
decision-making process. You are likely
to be benefited as family members positively
respond. Investment in speculation should be
made with extreme care in this week. Love life
brings immense romantic pleasure. You need to
relax and get involved in hobbies that you
enjoy doing the most. It is advisable to be care-
ful regarding your safety, while traveling. Your
investment can be done on a cheap or smaller
piece of land. Your guidance would encourage
others.
GEMINI: Unpredictable nature of boss
is likely to create some problems.
Outsiders interference could cause
strains in relations with spouse. Important peo-
ple will be ready to finance anything that has a
special class to it. Traveling proves a blessing
in disguise by bringing a love in your life.
Sound physical health will enable to participate
in outdoor activities. Time to relax and unwind
for few days. Family can be helpful on acquir-
ing your property or plot. Developing social
contacts would immensely help in widening
horizons.
CANCER: A firm commitment will
not only enable to achieve professional
targets but also to realise your dreams.
Parents and friends will do their best to keep
you happy. Property dealings would material-
ize helping in bringing fabulous gains. You are
likely to get a new friendship opportunity in the
evening. You will be successful in getting rid
from tensions. Weekend getaway to enjoy pubs
and clubs is on your way. Your investment
plans are not up to the mark, you will be in
trouble. You are likely to force opinion on your
friends, which might annoy them.
LEO: At professional front, you will
have to go through some strenuous
schedule. Domestic concerns will
require your immediate attention. You are like-
ly to earn monetary gains through various
sources. Make sure you dont surrender yourself
under physical passions to save romantic bond.
A sparkling laughter filled week when most
things proceed, as you desire. A short trip with
lavishing experiences is the right thing for you.
Your investment plans are not up to date be
aware. The week requires you to be prudent
and careful in all aspects.
VIRGO: Cooperative nature brings
desired results at professional front.
Relatives bring you unexpected gifts but
also expect some kind of help from you. Group
involvement will be entertaining but expensive,
especially if you try to be extra generous. If
possible avoid wearing clothes, which could
offend love partner. Your enormous confidence
would help in enjoying a healthy life. Pack
your bags and be ready for an amazing holiday.
Need to sale a house, go through the valuation
process carefully. Make sure you avoid the ten-
dency to be overly critical to save personal
interests.
LIBRA: For some change of job
would bring mental satisfaction. A
promising week to plan things for your
progeny. Increase in income from past invest-
ment is foreseen. New romance that some of
you are going to experience would take the
worries off mind. You need to remain calm &
tension-free to enjoy a sound health. Just take
a walk in the countryside and experience new
things. Its time to invest in property and get
most profitable method to maximize your bank
balance. A visit to place where never gone
before is on the card.
SCORPIO: This week you are likely to
suffer from a feeling that your core
competency and knowledge is outdated.
You would be the center of attraction at a
social gathering that you attend especially with
family. Monetary gains from unplanned
sources will brighten your week. An irritated
mood of lover/beloved will put some pressure
on you. Your willingness to help each & every-
one could make you tired & exhausted. Your
travel plans could not workout as you will be
visiting a beastly place. Too much of buying
and selling of property is a danger to your
bank balance. You disappoint people who
come for help even if you are in a position to
do so.
SAGITTARIUS: To reverse sagging
business fortunes, you will have to
take some calculated risks to tackle the
situation. Take independent decisions and do
not allow family members to decide: what to
do or not. All investments need to be made
with proper consultation to avoid losses. Dont
worry everything changes with time so will
your romantic life. A very healthy week filled
with happiness & vitality. Time to go for a
memorable trip. Think twice before you plan a
home loan. You find yourself sensitive in tune
with life and the people around you.
CAPRICORN: Your inner values cou-
pled with a positive attitude will bring
success at work. Be very careful about
what you say at family front. New moneymak-
ing opportunities will be lucrative. If possible,
dont allow your romantic views to be aired.
Pleasure trip would help in maintaining sound
health in this week. Time to spend money on
not a vacation but a luxury vacation. Plans for
commercial loans might be postponed. Make
sure you dont take anybody for granted.
AQUARIUS: Responding positively
& quickly to new ideas in business
will go in your favour. Relatives will
be oblivious in understanding your feelings in
this week. Unexpected bills will increase
financial burden in this week. Love journey is
likely to be short but sweet. Yoga and medita-
tion would help in keeping in shape and men-
tally agile. If adventure is your style of holi-
daying, then plan it and move around. Older
properties tend to suffer more than the new
ones. Avoid being extra careful in small things
at the cost of great.
PISCES: Calculated risks at profes-
sional front will be rewarded with suc-
cess. You would prefer to relax and
enjoy the company of family members in the
evening. You get some financial rewards as
dedication & hard work gets noticed. You
enjoy a memorable time with partner to
cement the lovely bond. Blessings of a saintly
person give peace of mind. Vacations are
meant to be fun filled and relaxing but hectic
schedules may ruin it. Investing overseas can
provide you new business opportunities.
Maintain a distance from self-pity, wastage of
time and dissipation.
August 9-15, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info ASTROLOGY
30 August 9-15, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info SPIRITUAL AWARENESS
Stay still for god
P
eople are searching for
God. They pray to have a
mystic experience of God.
Through the ages, people have
speculated about God, formed
religions to worship God, and
done countless rites and rituals to
find God. Yet, the simple truth is
that the only thing that stands
between us and God is the ability
to be still.
We are so used to speaking
rather than listening. In this con-
nection, there is a humorous
anecdote. A young man went to
the great Greek philosopher,
Socrates. The young man wanted
Socrates to teach him how to be a
great speaker. When Socrates
greeted the young man, the
young man proceeded to talk
nonstop about himself for a long
time.
Finally, Socrates had to inter-
rupt him and said, "To teach you,
I need to double my fees." The
young man was shocked and
asked why.
Socrates said, "Because it
appears I must teach you two
skills. One is to hold your
tongue, and the other is to learn
how to speak."
It is hard for us to remain
silent. How can we find God if
we do not stay still physically,
verbally, or mentally long
enough to allow God to commu-
nicate with us? There are many
ways in which we are able to stay
still for worldly tasks.
When we go to a dentist and
are about to get an injection to
numb our gums, the dentist says,
"Stay still." We are certainly able
to do so, lest he misses.
When we go for a medical pro-
cedure in which the doctor has to
give us an injection and he says,
"Hold still," we definitely sit as
still as we can. We know that any
movement can be painful.
If we ever went for a CT scan,
we know we must lie still for a
long time. If we move, the film
or images they are taking of our
body will not come out clearly.
Not only does it cost several
thousand dollars to have to do it
over, which would be a waste of
money and time, but the dye they
inject which only lasts a short
time would have to be done over
and would expose us to more
needless radiation. Therefore, to
get it right the first time, we find
a way to remain still even if it is
uncomfortable to do so when we
undergo these tests.
Some people who have to
undergo radiation therapy for
certain diseases must lie still.
The radiation is targeting a cer-
tain area of the body, and if they
move, the wrong place will be
radiated causing the body unnec-
essary damage and harm and
missing the area that needs the
radiation. It is amazing how still
we can be when undergoing that
type of treatment.
If a mouse or insect gets into
our house, and we want to catch
it so we can escort it outdoors
safely where it belongs, we
remain quiet. We may hold a cup
or a bucket as the creature lies
still on our floor, and we are very
silent as we creep up on it from
behind to catch it in the bucket so
we can take it outdoors. These
examples show that we can be
still and quiet when we choose to
be.
Those who are parents know
the importance of being quiet
when the baby finally falls
asleep. When the baby is sleep-
ing and we do not want noise to
awaken him or her we are still.
We know how long it took us to
get the baby to sleep and we
want to get our own rest. So, we
tiptoe around and remain still so
as to let the baby keep sleeping.
When we throw a surprise
party for someones birthday, we
may have a room filled with
many people trying to keep still
until the person enters. We
remain quiet until everyone yells
out, "Surprise." If the person
takes a long time entering the
room, we remain quiet and no
one wants to speak and spoil the
surprise.
When people are playing golf,
and the golfer is on the tee box,
the custom is that no one watch-
ing is allowed to speak. There
may be thousands of people
watching a golf tournament, and
they all are able to keep silent
long enough for the golfer to take
a swing.
Those who have a full eye
exam from an eye doctor are told
to look into the light without
blinking for as long as they can.
The doctors light is bright and it
hurts the eyes to stare into, but
we still do it because we know it
is part of the exam. We are told
to keep looking at the light, do
not move, and do not blink.
There are so many instances in
worldly life, when we are able to
stay silent. Yet, somehow, when
it comes to meditation, we can
neither stay still physically nor
mentally. If we can stare into the
eye doctors painful light for
many minutes without moving or
blinking, then how is it that we
cannot gaze continually into the
inner Light, which is not painful,
but loving and warm, without
mentally moving or blinking?
Why is silence and stillness so
important in meditation? We say
we want to find God. But God
can only be found in the stillness
of our soul. We need to shut
down the chatter of the world to
hear God within. God comes to
us within in the form of a divine
Current. This Current is both
radiant Light and celestial
Sound. To see and hear it within,
we need to silence the outer
world and silence our thoughts.
We need to sit physically still
without any part of our body
moving. We need to close our
eyes. Then, we need to keep
mentally still so no thoughts dis-
rupt the silence needed to focus
our attention into gazing within.
All great saints practiced and
perfected sitting in silence. For
example, when Baba Jaimal
Singh Ji Maharaj moved to Beas,
he moved into a small hut made
of straw and branches. The hut
was eight feet long by eight feet
wide. It was then plastered with
mud and a small cave was dug
out. He would go into the cave
and meditate in there for days.
Sometimes he would stay in
meditation there for two weeks,
going without any food, as he
was absorbed in the inner spiritu-
al journey.
Sant Kirpal Singh Ji Maharaj
used to meditate up to eight
hours a day, even when he held a
full time job, raised a family, and
did selfless service. He would
sometimes meditate by the river
and even sit on a rock as a way to
stay awake all night in medita-
tion.
We can see the efforts put in by
spiritual Masters to perfect the
art of stillness required for medi-
tation progress. Can we expect to
achieve the results we want when
we can barely be still for a few
minutes?
Physical stillness requires con-
trol of our body. It is remarkable
how much control we exercise
over our body when it comes to
worldly pursuits.
For example, look at how many
tasks we do to get our body in
shape. We force ourselves to do
aerobic exercises by spending
twenty to thirty minutes a day on
a treadmill or taking a brisk
walk. We find time to do this to
keep up our cardiovascular sys-
tem. We spend time daily when
we feel the need to lift weights or
do workouts to keep fit and build
our muscles. We snatch away
time from our other pursuits
when we feel something is
important.
We spend time daily preparing
food that we feel will be deli-
cious, nutritious, or weight-
reducing. This reminds me of a
humorous story. A family had
decided to all go on a diet. The
husband was on a diet, the wife
was on a diet, and the kids were
on a diet. After many months, the
husband remarked, "This does
not seem fair. We have been on a
diet for months and we are not
losing weight. The only thing
losing weight is the refrigerator."
Whether we are eating food for
taste, nutrition, or weight loss,
we are still spending a consider-
able amount of time on feeding
our body. It takes time to shop, to
buy the ingredients we want,
time to prepare the dishes, time
to eat them, and then time to
clean the pots and dishes.
We spend time daily showering
or bathing to keep our bodies
clean, washing our hair, brushing
our teeth, flossing, cleaning our
nails, and all the other tasks
involved in maintaining our bod-
ies. We do all these repetitive
tasks until our goal is achieved.
Similarly, we are able to main-
tain mental stillness and concen-
tration for worldly tasks without
much problem. Look at how we
concentrate mentally on different
tasks in our everyday lives.
For example, if we are going to
school, we study for hours. When
we want to pass a course or test,
we find a way to tune out every-
thing else and mentally focus on
studying. We spend hours memo-
rizing facts and figures. We train
ourselves to turn off the televi-
sion and take time away from our
video games and friends to con-
centrate.
Those who are in the computer
field learn how to concentrate on
the detailed task of writing com-
puter code. They must concen-
trate with intensity lest they mess
up the code!
(To be continued....)
By Sant Rajinder Singh
Ji Maharaj
Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj
is an internationally recognized
spiritual leader and Master of
Jyoti Meditation who affirms the
transcendent oneness at the heart
of all religions and mystic tradi-
tions, emphasizing ethical living
and meditation as building blocks
for achieving inner and outer
peace. www.sos.org.
Why is silence and stillness so
important in meditation? We say
we want to find God. But God can
only be found in the stillness of our
soul. We need to shut down the
chatter of the world to hear God
within. God comes to us within in
the form of a divine Current. This
Current is both radiant Light and
celestial Sound. To see and hear it
within, we need to silence the outer
world and silence our thoughts.
August 9-15, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info
August 9-15, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info