New Delhi: Former Comptroller &

Auditor General (CAG) Vinod

Rai has found fault with former
Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh over the 2G spectrum
allocation, saying that he "chose
not to stop" the problems in the
telecom sector and claimed that
Congress leaders had sought to
pressurize him to keep out PM's
name from the audit report
brought out by his office.
In an interview to Times Now
ahead of release of his book "Not
Just An Accountant", Rai said that
all matters of importance go to the
prime minister in a parlia-
mentary democracy.
"The buck stops at the PM's desk. I
have written in my book that he
(Manmohan Singh) probably chose
not to stop it," Rai said. Asked if
the 2G spectrum scam could have
happened without active involve-
ment of the then PM, Rai said:
"No, had he put his foot down,
probably the fate and the course of
UPA II would have been different."
"If he had put his foot down and
stopped this process from unfold-
ing this process was faulty in
many ways. And the government
has also accepted that rules and
regulations were not being fol-
lowed, goalposts had been shifted,"
he contended. Rai said some minis-
terial colleagues of Manmohan
Baghdad/Damascus/Washington:
From skepticism to support, there
were mixed reactions from key
stakeholders Thursday to President
Barack Obama's announcement of
sweeping airstrikes against the
Islamic State of Iraq & Syria
(ISIS), the Sunni extremist group.
While Iraq and the main Syrian
opposition coalition were fully
supportive of the US plan, Russia
said air strikes in Syria without a
UN Security Council mandate
would be an act of aggression.
Turkey reportedly is reluctant to
allow the US-led coalition to use a
key airbase within its territory
against the ISIS militants.
In a speech Wednesday, Obama
said he would lead an expanded
global coalition to address the
threat of terrorism, authorizing US
airstrikes inside Syria for the first
time and sending 475 more US
troops to Iraq, on top of the 1,125
already there.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-
Abadi welcomed the announce-
ment.
The Syrian National Coalition,
the main opposition political
alliance of Syria, said it was will-
ing to cooperate with the interna-
tional community to defeat the
ISIS. They urged the US Congress
to approve Obama's plan to enable
the training and arming of the Free
Syrian Army.
Syria is also ready to coordinate
their anti-terrorist policy with the
world community, Russian foreign
ministry said Thursday, but
stressed the necessity to fight this
evil in compliance with UNSC res-
olutions, respecting the sovereignty
and territorial integrity of Syria and
Iraq. Arab nations vowed on
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
OP ED 13 TORONTO FILM FESTIVAL 15 SPIRITUAL AWARENESS 30
By Parveen Chopra
Hicksville, NY: Doing the Indian
American community proud,
Bobby Kumar Kalotee is running
for the post of Lt Governor of New
York State in the November elec-
tion. He is contesting under the
banner of Sapient Party founded by
him. His long-term friend, and
leading New York attorney, Steve
Cohn, is the partys candidate for
Governor.
Speaking to The South Asian
Times in his office here plastered
with his pictures with the whos
who of American politics, Bobby
explained that to get on the
November 4 election ballot in the
state, his party garnered about
1,00,000 petitions more than
needed - from all over the state.
On the ballot, Sapient Party will be
at No 8 spot and he requests New
Yorkers to vote Row H.
Sapient Party (meaning Party of
the Wise) is renamed from All
American Political Party founded
by Bobby Kumar a few years ago.
Some salient points in the partys
platform are: Integrity in public
Vol.7 No. 20 September 13-19, 2014 60 Cents New York Edition Follow us on TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Continued on page 4
Mixed global
reaction to
Obama strategy
on Islamic State
Bobby Kumar becomes first
Indian American to run for
Lt Governor of New York State
Secretary of State John Kerry, in Saudi visit, has won expanded
Arab support for fight against ISIS.
Continued on page 4
SPORTS 23
Continued on page 4
Moral victory for India
in British parliaments
Kashmir debate
London: The British govern-
ment Thursday condemned ter-
rorism and violence and reject-
ed mediation in the dispute
between India and Pakistan on
Kashmir in a parliamentary
debate in which pro-India MPs
overwhelmed Pakistan support-
ers by three to one.
Replying at the end of a 3-
hour debate on the political and
humanitarian situation in
Kashmir, Tobias Ellwood, a
junior minister in the foreign
office, said: Talks (between
India and Pak) can only take
place free from terrorism and
violence. This seemed to back
the Indian position that export
of jihadis by Pakistan into India
must stop. Ellwood reiterated
there would be no mediation
by Britain over Kashmir.
The debate did not take place
in the chamber of the House of
Commons. So, it wasnt a part
of government business and
there was no vote at the end of
the debate. Yet, it had official
Manmohan was warned, but let 2G & coal scams happen: ex-CAG
Former PM
Manmohan Singh
Continued on page 4
Bobby Kumar Kalotee is the
National Chairman of the
Sapient Party. Steve Cohn,
New York lawyer, is the
partys candidate
for Governor.
2 September 13-19, 2014 LENS EYE TheSouthAsianTimes.info
A 25-feet-tall Lord Hanuman, made using 26,500 bells, suspended on fish-
ing nets using hooks, exhibited at a Delhi mall. The structure is a creation
of Delhi-based artist, Charuvi Agrawal.
President Barack Obama takes a guided tour of Stonehenge, a prehistoric
monument in Wiltshire, England, Sept. 5.
Natures fury knows no borders. Floods caused by heavy rains devastated parts of Pakistan Punjab
(particularly Lahore) and Kashmir including Srinagar. Fatalities ran into hundreds over the week.
A 60-feet-tall Ganesh idol being immersed in Hussain Sagar, Hyderabad on Sept 9.
Srinagar Lahore
The Team of
Ekkees
Toppon Ki
Salaami paid a
tribute to R.K.
Laxman's
Common Man
statue which
has been
installed on
the Worli Sea
Face in
Mumbai.
Laxman, aged
92, created
the Common
Man character
in his daily
cartoon 'You
Said It' in The
Times of
India.
By Jinal Shah
New York: In the past decade,
South Asians have begun to ex
their economic and political muscle
in America. There is a growing ros-
ter of candidates and elected of-
cials of South Asian descent; also a
large pool of people from the com-
munity quietly building behind-the-
scenes inuence as voters, lobby-
ists, fund raisers and campaign con-
sultants. Despite the growing inu-
ence, the immigrant and minority
communities continue to be targets
of xenophobic rhetoric in the politi-
cal sphere and hate crime outside,
states a new report by South Asian
Americans Leading Together
(SAALT).
The study titled Under Suspicion,
Under Attack was released on Tues-
day, ahead of the general elections
in November. In 2010, SAALT had
released its rst report - Macacas to
Turban Toppers that documented
political xenophobic comments. The
new report shows how South Asian
Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus and some
Arab communities have increasing-
ly been at the receiving end of racist
comments by political leaders.
The 2010 report only looked at
xenophobic political comments
whereas this report saw both hate
crime and xenophobic remarks.
Currently FBI does not have statis-
tics of hate crime targeting Hindus,
Muslims and many other minority
communities so we felt it was im-
portant for us to examine ourselves
so that we can inform and educate
our communities, said SAALT ex-
ecutive director, Suman Raghu-
nathan in a phone interview with
The South Asian Times.
Between January 2011 and April
2014, SAALT documented 78 in-
stances of xenophobic political
speech and 76 examples of hate vi-
olence. It tracked an 40% more ex-
amples of xenophobic political rhet-
oric since their previous report.
Suman agrees that one reason for
this could be that a large number of
South Asians are now entering poli-
tics. It is a troubling paradox that
South Asians are perceived as in-
credibly successful in politics, busi-
ness, technology, medicine and yet
there are concurrent stronger back-
lash. As mentioned in the previous
report, they were labeled as turban
toppers and maccacas.
Over 90% of all anti-community
comments and 84% of all the hate
violence cases documented for this
report were motivated by anti-Mus-
lim sentiments, though attacks on
other faith communities often also
involved severe violence.
The connection between xenopho-
bic political speech and hate vio-
lence, Suman said, cannot be con-
clusively established as most cases
go underreported or unreported.
Paradox is, there is no legal option
to bring suit against political leaders
targeting minority communities as
they are protected by the First
Amendment - freedom of speech.
But starting January 2015, FBI will
record hate violence against minor-
ity communities such as Hindus and
Muslims, she added. However,
most immigrants subjected to hate
crime do not report violence due to
fear of deportation.
Immigration overhaul that Obama
has been promising may not be able
to tackle the issue of hate crime.
Although immigration reforms are
important, I would not necessarily
say that immigration is a larger fac-
tor in hate crime than international
factors. We have observed a rise in
cases of hate violence or xenopho-
bic comments during the conicts in
Gaza or vis-a-vis ISIS in Middle
East, said Suman.
Among SAALT reports recom-
mendations to the Obama adminis-
tration is the creation of a National
Task Force to Prevent Hate Violence
focused on addressing incidents di-
rected at South Asian, Muslim,
Sikh, Hindu, Middle Eastern, and
Arab communities.
The study also urged the govern-
ment to more rigorously enforce
hate crimes legislation and ensure
that law enforcement receive cultur-
al and religious competency train-
ings to understand the challenges
that the affected communities faced
when reporting hate violence.
New York: Mathew Martoma, an In-
dian-origin former SAC Capital port-
folio manager has been sentenced to
nine years in prison and forfeiture of
$9.4 million for his insider-trading
conviction.
Martoma, 40, was sentenced in
federal court by Judge Paul Garde-
phe, who presided over Martoma's
ve-week trial in February, after a
two-hour hearing Monday in down-
town Manhattan, CNBC reported.
Although federal sentencing
guidelines supported an incarcera-
tion of between 15 and 20 years,
government ofcials had proposed a
term of more than eight years -- a
length of time that lawyers for Mar-
toma described as "outrageous", ac-
cording to the news channel.
"Mathew Martoma and his family
are devastated by the outcome," his
lawyer, Richard Strassberg, said in a
statement. He will appeal the convic-
tion.
Martoma was convicted in Febru-
ary for collecting condential infor-
mation about a high-prole
Alzheimer's drug trial from two doc-
tors and making prots and avoiding
$275 million in losses for SAC Cap-
ital. Martoma won't face a monetary
ne as part of his sentencing, but he
will be required to forfeit the bonus
he received during the year in ques-
tion -- a gure that exceeds his cur-
rent net worth of $7.4 million, ac-
cording to recent court lings.
"Today's sentence of a lengthy
prison term is well-suited to the au-
dacity of the illegal trading in this
case," US Attorney Preet Bharara,
whose ofce has now won 85 insid-
er-trading convictions and lost only
one, said in a statement.
"The long and short of Mathew
Martoma's trading is that he traded
his liberty, his name and his time
with his family for what in the end is
nothing," he added.
3 September 13-19, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRISTATE COMMUNITY
Cuomo fine with 60% primary
vote, set to win second term
Buffalo, NY: Gov. Andrew M.
Cuomo does not see the primary
result on Tuesday as anything re-
sembling a rebuke.
Yes, a little-known law professor
won a third of the vote and around
half of New Yorks counties. But in
Cuomos view, he had bravely tak-
en on several narrow but well-or-
ganized special interests state
employees, teachers and hy-
drofracking opponents who, the
Democrat said, were upset with
him because he did not give in to
their wishes.
Was this an opportunity for the
groups that had an ax to grind to
come together? Yes, Cuomo said
in an interview to The New York
Times, adding, Im fine with 60
percent.
Although the New York state
governor and his allies have pre-
sented an air of jubilation, news
coverage of the primary result
largely focused on the perform-
ance of his opponent, Zephyr Tea-
chout.
Cuomos running mate, Kathy
Hochul has also won the primary
for Lt Governor.
Now, Cuomo is looking ahead to
defeat a weak general-election op-
ponent, Republican Rob Astorino,
who is currently the Westchester
County executive.
Thirteen years after 9/11, South Asians continue to face increasing hostility: SAALT report
In August 2012 a white supremacist gunman went into a
shooting spree at a Sikh Temple in Wisconsin, killing six people.
Pictured is the casket with the body of a shooting victim
being carried away.
Mathew Martoma slapped 9-year jail
for insider trading, to appeal
Former SAC
Capital Advisors
portfolio manager
Mathew Martoma
exits the U.S.
District Court for
the Southern
District of New
York with his wife
Rosemary follow-
ing sentencing for
insider trading, in
Lower Manhattan,
September 8.
Andrew M. Cuomo
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4 September 13-19 , 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info TURN PAGE
Mixed global reaction to Obama strategy ...
Continued from page 1
Thursday to do their share to confront and
ultimately destroy the Sunni extremist
group. The promise came after the nations
foreign ministers met in Jidda, Saudi Arabia,
with US Secretary of State John Kerry. A
joint communiqu issued by the US and 10
Arab states agreed to stop the flow of volun-
teers to ISIS, curtail its financing and pro-
vide aid to communities that had been bru-
talized by the militants.
In Tehran, Iran's foreign ministry said there
were serious ambiguities in the real intention
of an emerging so-called international coali-
tion against the ISIS. At home, major US
newspapers expressed doubts on the effec-
tiveness of President Obama's plans against
the ISIS, while warning about risks of an
extensive military campaign in the Middle
East. "There will be no turning back once
airstrikes enter Syrian territory, unleashing
events that simply cannot be foreseen.
Surely that's a lesson America has learned
from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan," the
New York Times said in its editorial
Thursday. Meanwhile, John A. Boehner, the
House speaker, forcefully backed President
Obamas call for congressional action to
train and arm Syrian rebels battling ISIS,
joining Senate Democratic leaders to prom-
ise a vote next week in a rare display of
unity.
Manmohan was warned, but let 2G & coal..
Continued from page 1
Singh had repeatedly written to him about
problems in the telecom sector. They includ-
ed Kamal Nath, and finance and law min-
istries. Rai, whose loss estimates in 2G spec-
trum and coal block allocations pushed the
then UPA government into a corner, also
referred to "compulsion of coalition politics"
in the decision-making by the Singh govern-
ment.
Rai also assertes that after the meetings of
the Public Accounts Committee on the 2G,
Congress MPs did tell him to keep the PM
out of this. Rai's book is expected to be
released September 15.
Moral victory for India in British...
Continued from page 1
recognition and was recorded accordingly.
Of the 18 speakers, only three clearly stood
up for Islamabads cause the mover of the
debate, David Ward, who represented a
Bradford constituency where most of the
people hail from Mirpur in PoK, and two
MPs of Pakistani-origin. In contrast, only
two of the lawmakers who supported the
Indian position were of Indian-descent.
Leading the charge for India, Barry
Gardiner, a Labour Party MP, stated:
Britain would be outraged if the Indian par-
liament debated the merits and demerits of
the Scottish referendum. Paul Uppal, a
Conservative Party MP, poured scorn over
white middle-aged men lecturing India.
He reminded the house that Britain carried
imperial, historical baggage and that it
should have more faith in the subconti-
nent.
Virendra Sharma of Labour described the
debate as divisive, stressing he is elected
from a diverse constituency (Ealing
Southall) where there are Sikhs, Hindus and
Muslims and the debate could inflame ten-
sions. He asserted that J&K state was an
integral part of India.
Bob Blackman, Conservative, highlighted
the issue of ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri
Pandits, their displacement and refugee sta-
tus in their own country, which, he felt, was
of the highest humanitarian concern.
Speaker after speaker drowned out the
Pakistani plea that Indian security forces
were committing human rights violations
against Muslim Kashmiris in J&K.
Though Ward maintained that we
(Britain) have some part to play in
Kashmir, this stand was roundly rejected by
a majority of his fellow MPs. About one-
third of the speakers were even-handed and
did not categorically take sides. Had there
been a vote, the pro-India lobby would have
won hands down.
Bobby Kumar becomes rst Indian...
Continued from page 1
affairs, term limits for elected officials,
immigration reform, jobs for Americans, no
foreign aid without US supervision, quality
education and affordable healthcare. Not
feeling hobbled by lack of name recognition
or the money power of the likes of incum-
bent Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Bobby Kumar
said it is a golden opportunity for his party.
With social media we will take our message
to the maximum number of voters, and when
that message resonates with them, they will
cast their votes for us, he said.
Sapient Party candidates for state
Governor and Lt Governor were announced
at the party's press conference and rally held
on September 8 in New York City at South
Street Seaport aboard the ZEPHYR spon-
sored and supported by many celebrity ath-
letes and the Jack Brewer Foundation. At the
event, host Jack Brewer, a former NFL play-
er for Giants, Vikings and Eagles, introduced
his friend for the last 10 years, Bobby K
Kalotee, and said, I am here to support
Bobby and Steve Cohn because they care for
all the people irrespective of who they are or
where they came from. I have worked with
Bobby on many charitable missions to coun-
tries such as Haiti, El Salvador and
Guatemala". Bobby Kumar thanked Jack,
other celebrities, supporters and volunteers
who worked hard for months to bring the
Sap ient Party to this success of being on the
Ballot, and stated amid applause, This is
history in the making!
Sapient Party has endorsed Thomas
DiNapoli for Comptroller of the state and
Eric Schneiderman for Attorney General,
both incumbents, as well as many candidates
for state senate. Bobby Kumar is known
among the Indian American community as
an indefatigable worker and a leader who
has risen from the ranks. In recent years, he
has been doing laudable service as the
International Chairman of Friends for Good
Health by taking annual trips to many coun-
tries with a group of doctors to treat the
underserved.
Pistorius found not guilty
of pre-meditated murder
Pretoria, South Africa: The prosecution
did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt
that Paralympian athlete Oscar Pistorius
committed premeditated murder in the
Valentines Day 2013 killing of his girl-
friend Reeva Steenkamp, a South
African judge said Thursday at a North
Gauteng High Court in Pretoria.
However, the judge added that it is clear
that his conduct was negligent.
Judge Thokozile Masipas comment
seems to be an indication that she is pre-
pared to find Pistorius guilty of a lesser
charge, culpable homicide. She will
resume delivering her verdict on Friday
morning.
Culpable homicide, or manslaughter,
can carry anything from a suspended
sentence to a long jail term. Pistorius
killed Steenkamp about six months after
he dazzled the world by running in the
Olympics on carbon-fiber blades called
Flex-Foot Cheetahs.
The defense had claimed that he killed
his girlfriend when he panicked after
mistaking her for an intruder, shooting
her through a bathroom door at their
home.
South African Paralympian
athlete Oscar Pistorius
Bobby Kumar and Steve Cohn,
candidates for NYS Lt Governor and
Governor respectively.
5 September 13-19, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRISTATE COMMUNITY
Washington, DC: A landmark edition, the fifth
US-India Energy Partnership Summit is sched-
uled for September 30 and October 1, 2014, dur-
ing the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's
visit to Washington, DC, and in the wake of the
UN Secretary General's Climate Summit. The
Summit will be graced by the presence of senior
government officials from both countries.
The Summit will broadly look at 'Accelerating
Resilient Growth and Development', while ad-
dressing various issues related to energy effi-
ciency, security, access and technology. Stake-
holders from all sectors will come together to
discuss avenues for new and strengthened col-
laboration in various aspects of clean technolo-
gies and renewable energy, green buildings and
sustainable cities, decentralized energy access,
alternatives such as shale gas, etc.
Climate change will also form a key compo-
nent of the discussions, with the proceedings at
the General Assembly and Climate Summit pro-
viding significant inputs to the Summit deliber-
ations. The focus throughout will be on bilateral
cooperation in the energy sector and related
areas.
The Summit is a multi-stakeholder platform to
address US-India collaboration on energy ac-
cess, efficiency, security and technology. Partic-
ipants will deliberate on new avenues as the In-
dian Government reinforces its priority to
strengthen partnership in renewable energy, sus-
tainable cities, and sustainable transport.
Irving to get brand new Gandhi statue
Irving, Tx: The Memorial to Mahatma Gandhi group in Irving recently received the bronze
statue of the Indian leader direct from Mumbai. Crews placed the 1,500-pound statue on its
concrete pedestal at Thomas Jefferson Park on Tuesday. The statue is scheduled to be dedi-
cated Oct. 2, Gandhijis 145th birth anniversary. His granddaughter, Usha Gandhi, 80, is
scheduled to attend.
Washington, DC: More than two
dozen Muslim American clerics
and civilian leaders condemned
Islamist terrorism at a crowded
news conference in Washington
Wednesday, denouncing the atroc-
ities being carried out by the Is-
lamic State in Iraq and Syria and
calling their ideology antithetical
to the values of their faith.
The leaders, who were joined by
several officials from the Depart-
ment of Homeland Security, said
the great majority of Muslim
Americans are loyal and peaceful
citizens, the Washington Post re-
ported. They vowed to cooperate
with law enforcement officials
and work to dissuade Muslim
youths from following violent ji-
hadi paths.
ISIS and al Qaeda represent a
warped religious ideology. Either
we reject this violence in the clear-
est possible terms, or we allow
them to become the face of Islam
and the worlds perception of us
for years to come, said Faizal
Khan, the imam of the Islamic So-
ciety of America mosque in Silver
Spring.
The groups declarations came
hours before President Obama
was scheduled to address the na-
tion and lay out his strategy for
combatting ISIS. Several speakers
noted that most victims of ISIS
have been Muslims, and many ex-
pressed condolences for the vic-
tims of the terror attacks of Sep.
11, 2011, just over 13 years ago.
The array of speakers was un-
usually broad, highlighting the
deepening concern among Mus-
lim Americans across the country
that their communities will be
tarred with the extremist brush.
One speaker said most young
Muslim Americans are great
prospects, not great suspects for
the future. Another said it was cru-
cial to identify potential young ji-
hadists in their midst and convince
them to abandon a twisted ver-
sion of Islam.
New York: Two Indian American
physicians have been named by
Modern Healthcare magazine on
this years list of the 100 Most
Influential People in Healthcare.
They are: Dr. Ram Raju, 63,
president and chief executive offi-
cer of New York Health and Hos-
pitals Corp. in New York City;
and Dr. Tejal K. Gandhi, 46, pres-
ident of the Boston, Mass.-based
nonprofit National Patient Safety
Foundation and the NPSF Lucian
Leape Institute.
In the Aug. 25 issue of Modern
Healthcare magazine, Raju was
named the 37th most influential.
Gandhi was ranked 49th.
A vascular and trauma surgeon
and former CEO of Chicagos
Cook County Health & Hospitals
System, Raju was appointed HHC
president and CEO by Mayor Bill
de Blasio in March 2014.
Im honored to be among this
impressive company of policy
and business leaders whose vision
and contributions to the industry
are setting the stage for trans-
forming health care in this coun-
try, Raju said in a statement.
Gandhi is a board certified in-
ternist and associate professor of
medicine at Harvard Medical
School. Her research focuses on
patient safety and reducing errors
using information systems.
NPS is a nonprofit group that
has advocated for patient safety
since 1997. The Leape Institute is
the foundations think-tank.
It is gratifying to see such
broad recognition of the safety
and quality advancements on
which NPSF and many of our
partners and collaborators have
long focused," Gandhi said in a
statement.
Modern Healthcare selected a
total of 300 finalists from a pool
of 15,000 names. Both public vot-
ing and editors deliberations re-
sulted in the 100 who were select-
ed.
President Obama is in first place
on the list this year.
Dallas, Tx: The US India Chamber held
its 15th annual awards banquet last week
at the Westin Galleria here. Dignitaries in-
cluding the Indian Consul General Par-
vathaneni Harish from Houston and the
Indian ambassador to the U.S., Dr. S. Jais-
hankar, participated in the program. The
keynote speaker was Richard Fisher, pres-
ident of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dal-
las.Fisher helped present the chamber
awards. CHETNA, a nonprofit that helps
South Asian victims of domestic violence,
received the Outstanding Community
Service Award. Founded in 2005, the all-
volunteer agency is based in Richardson.
The Outstanding Public Service Award
went to Rep. Ralph Hall of Rockwall, the
oldest serving member of Congress. Dr.
Vistasp Karbhari, president of the Univer-
sity of Texas at Arlington, received the
Outstanding Leader in the Field of Educa-
tion Award. And Raj Malik, a UTA gradu-
ate, received the Entrepreneur of the Year
Award. The U.S. India Chambers new
motto is Connecting People. Creating
Wealth.
US Muslim leaders denounce Islamic State,
pledge to dissuade youth from joining
Two Indian-Americans in Healthcares Most Influential list
5th landmark US-India Energy
Partnership Summit on Sept 30
Dr Ramnathan Ram Raju and Dr Tejal K Gandhi
Dr. S. Jaishankar
(left), Indian
ambassador to
US, and A.K.
Mago present
the Outstanding
Community
Service Award to
CHETNA
founders Anu
Agarwal and Ila
Sarkar (right).
U.S. India Chamber honors
nonprofit, 3 individuals
6 September 13-19, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRISTATE COMMUNITY
IN BRIEF
M
ahatma Gandhi Library Hous-
tons th annual Walk For Peace
will be held on October 4. The
5K walk will start from The Jones Plaza
pass by Wortham Center and descend into
beautiful and scenic Sabine Promenade
along Buffalo Bayou. The Grand Marshall
for this year is Mrs. Sonal Bhuchar, former
President of Fort Bend Independent
School District. The walk is being held in
celebration of 145th birth anniversary of
Mahatma Gandhi. For more information
and registration for the Walk For Peace
visit gandhilibrary.org
Walk for Peace in Houston to mark
Gandhijis 145th birth anniversary
A
kick-off event will be held on
Tuesday, September 16 at 6:00
PM to launch the final cycle of the
year of Queens Community Houses Live
Healthy cycle of free exercise classes and
cooking demonstrations. The event, held
at the Renaissance Charter School in Jack-
son Heights (35-59 81st Street) will in-
clude free give-aways and activities for
participants. A free cardio-fitness class
starts at 7pm and members of the commu-
nity will have an opportunity to sign up for
three months of free classes. The Live
Healthy initiative is sponsored by Em-
blemHealth and helps residents take small,
manageable steps towards living a health-
ier life through accessible health and well-
ness classes in the citys neighborhoods.
Launch of nal cycle of Live Healthy
free tness classes on Sept 16
B
ellhaven Center for Rehabilitation &
Nursing Care (Brookhaven, NY) &
Dr. Sachin Chopra have been recog-
nized with a 2014 IPRO Quality Award. The
awards, given annually by IPRO, recognize
organizations and professionals that demon-
strate a commitment to improving the qual-
ity of care provided to Medicare beneficiar-
ies. IPRO is the Medicare Quality Improve-
ment Organization (QIO) for New York
State. The awards were given during
IPROs 30th Annual Meeting at the Marriot
Hotel in New York. Focusing on proactive
prevention and management processes, Dr.
Sachin Chopra led the medical wound care
team and was successful in its quality im-
provement journey and recognized by IPRO
for its exemplary performance: significant-
ly reducing the rates of high-risk pressure
ulcers for its residents by 59.8%. Dr Chopra
is a graduate of Cornell University, New
York Medical College, and NYCOM. He
was awarded the prestigious Resident of
the Year Award at the Long Island Jewish/
North Shore Health System at Plainview;
and was also honored by the New York
State Assembly and the New York State
Senate for medical care helping the critical
care of underserved populations. He cur-
rently is on the Medical Board of St.
Josephs Hospital & Nursing Home. Chopra
thanked his family and colleagues, and said
he was honored to be a part of the medical
team that is dedicated to patient care.
Dr. Sachin Chopra & Bellhaven honored
with 2014 IPRO Quality Award
On the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi celebration The Hindu Jain temple of Pittsburgh sponsored Ganesh paintings exhibition cum sale by noted artist & cartoonist
Mahendra Shah from Aug. 30 through Sept. 12. More than 30 Ganesh paintings were on display. Pittsburgh Indian community attended & enjoyed the exhibition. All
the sale proceeds will go to The Hindu Jain Temple under Mahendra Shah's project called "Art for Charity." Shah is regular cartoonist for The South Asian Times.
Maureen Valvo, Senior quality
improvement specialist, IPRO ( far
left), presents the 2014 Quality
Award ( pictured from Left to right)
Josephine ledee, Dr. Robert Roche;
Charles Edouard Gros ( CEO of
Bellhaven); Kelly Moteiro; Dr. Sachin
Chopra and Matthew Pernice
Awesome Television presents NY designers
Summer 2015 Collection
ICFNJ to organize Garba celebration over six days
in South Brunswick
Samina Mughal and Heights & Kenchi unveiled their Spring/Summer collection
to a packed house at a fashion event presented and hosted by Awesome
Television. The event was held on August 30 at the INC Lounge of The TIME
Hotel in Manhattan. Among the ones who participated was Prakash Patil, a
well-known model/actor from New York and Nisha Kalamdani who is a young
actress and a TV personality. Seen in the photo are Nutan Kalamdani (founder,
Awesome Television), Nisha Kalamdani, Samina Mughal, Prakash Patil & Ritesh
Parikh (co-founder, Awesome Television). Photo courtesy: Gunjesh Desai
I
ndo-American Cultural Foundation of
Central Jersey - IACFNJ announced its
10th Grand Navratri Garba celebration
in South Brunswick on September 26, 27,
October 3, 4, and 10, 11, 2014, from 8 p.m.
to 1:30 a.m. The first four days of Garba
will be at South Brunswick Highs School,
750 Ridge Road in Monmouth Junction and
the last days will be at Cross Roads South
Middle School, 195 Major Road in Mon-
mouth Junction, New Jersey. IACFNJ will
hold this years Garba in a state of the art
gymnasium at South Brunswick High
School and Cross Roads South Middle
School in a highly secured environment and
culturally diverse neighborhood where
South Asians are highly populated in sur-
rounding towns of North Brunswick,
Franklin Park, Princeton, Princeton Junc-
tion, Monroe, East Brunswick, Robbinsville
and East and West Windsor.More than 2000
people are expected to attend each day.
Over 2000 garba enthusiasts are expected to attend the event
Washington, DC: Like other
Americans, Asian Americans
and Pacific Islanders (AAPI)
including Indian-Americans
were hit hard by the Great
Recession but they fared better
than any other racial group,
according to a new report.
During the economic down-
turn, the unemployment rate
more than doubled for Asian
American workers from 3.2
percent in 2007 to 7.5 percent
in 2010, a study released by the
US Department of Labor.
But "For the most part, as a
group, AAPI workers have had
more favorable economic out-
comes than workers in any
other racial group," noted the
study titled "The Economic
Status of Asian Americans and
Pacific Islanders in the Wake of
the Great Recession."
In 2013, the AAPI communi-
ty had nearly the highest labor
force participation rate at
64.9 percent and the lowest
unemployment rate at 5.6 per-
cent.
Within the group, the
Japanese have the lowest
unemployment rate at 3.3 per-
cent followed by Indian and
Chinese at 4. 4 percent and
Vietnamese at 5 percent.
Together, workers in AAPI
communities also have the
highest weekly median earn-
ings of all the major race and
ethnic groups ($987).
Based on raw data, the unem-
ployment rate for Indians is
lower than the unemployment
rate of whites.
Weekly earnings of Indian,
Chinese, and Japanese workers
are well above the average for
all AAPI workers.
Indian and Pacific Islander
women have similar gender
earnings ratios as the average
for all Asian Americans (75
percent).
7 September 13-19, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info NATIONAL COMMUNITY
Washington, DC: President
Barack Obama has appointed
another Indian-American to
a key administration post as
member of prestigious J
William Fulbright Foreign
Scholarship Board.
Obama announced
Maneesh K Goyal's appoint-
ment and other key adminis-
tration posts. "These men
and women have demon-
strated knowledge and dedi-
cation throughout their
careers. I am grateful they
have chosen to take on these important
roles, and I look forward to working with
them in the months and years to come,"
Obama was quoted as saying in the state-
ment. The 12-member J
William Fulbright Foreign
Scholarship Board over-
sees the State Department's
Fulbright scholarship pro-
gram. The board members
also select students, schol-
ars, teachers and others
who participate in the
Fulbright exchange pro-
gram. Goyal is founder
and president of MKG, an
event marketing agency he
started in 2001. In 2013,
he co-founded Live in the
Grey, a resource and consultancy focused
on workplace culture. He also serves on the
US Advisory Council for the American
India Foundation.
Chicago: Reliance Foundation and the
University of Chicago announced a collabo-
ration to develop innovative technology that
will help train medical students and clini-
cians for better diagnosis and improved
healthcare. The collaboration is also sup-
porting doctors in real time with evidence-
based clinical decision-making tools. The
partnership will develop cloud-based soft-
ware applications that can train medical pro-
fessionals using case studies written by
experienced physicians and state-of-the-art
clinical reasoning methods. Provided
through technology partners i-Human
Patients, Inc. and AgileMD, the software
will help improve medical education and
provide point-of-care clinical decision sup-
port tools for healthcare practitioners. These
tools will help reduce diagnostic errors,
improve outcomes and help save many lives.
The program will be piloted in Reliance
Foundations Sir HN Reliance Foundation
Hospital and Research Centre in Mumbai.
Reliance Foundation aims to enhance access
to quality healthcare in India. We are excit-
ed to collaborate with the University of
Chicago, one of the leading universities, in
transforming universal delivery of health-
care, said Jagannatha Kumar, CEO,
Reliance Foundation.
Maneesh Goyal, founder
and president, MKG, an
event marketing agency
Maneesh Goyal named to Fulbright Scholarship Board
Reliance Foundation partners with Chicago varsity
on innovative training technology for doctors
Washington, DC: Indian scientist Kamal Bawa, a
distinguished professor of biology at the
University of Massachusetts in Boston, has won
the 2014 Midori Prize in Biodiversity for his
research, including in climate change in the
Himalayas.
Bawa, founder president of the Ashoka Trust for
Research in Ecology and the Environment
(ATREE) in Bangalore, will receive the prize with
a cash award of $100,000 during the Oct 16-17
Conference of Parties (COP-12) to the Convention
on Biological Diversity (CBD) in South Korea.
The prize also honors his contributions to
research in ecology of tropical forests, sustainable
use of tropical forests, promoting engagement of
civil society in conservation efforts, and for his
leadership role in setting up ATREE.
The announcement of the prize was made
Monday at the Convention on Biological
Diversity Secretariat in Montreal, and at the
AEON Environmental Foundation in Japan, co-
hosts of the prize, according to a media release
from ATREE.
The prize honors individuals who have made
outstanding contribution to biodiversity conserva-
tion and sustainable use of resources at local and
global levels, and raised awareness about biodi-
versity.
The Midori Prize is regarded a major element
"at the service of the objectives of the United
Nations Decade on Biodiversity 2011-2020". "I
am very pleased," said Bawa."The prize under-
scores the importance of biodiversity to humanity
and an inclusive and multidimensional approach
to biodiversity conservation that my own research
program at the University of Massachusetts at
Boston, and ATREE in India have advocated dur-
ing the past few decades," he said.
In 2012, Bawa, who has taught at the University
of Massachusetts for more than 40 years, had also
received international recognition as the recipient
of the first Gunnerus Award in Sustainability
Science, a major international prize.
Indian-Americans fared
better than others during
recession: US report
Scientist Kamal Bawa bags Midori
Prize in Biodiversity
Dr Kamal Bawa
8 September 13-19, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info NATIONAL COMMUNITY
New York: On September 28, 2014, Indias
15th Prime Minister Narendra Modi will ad-
dress 20,000 members of the American pub-
lic, including Indian American community
leaders and a delegation of elected officials
from the United States. The event will be held
at New Yorks iconic Madison Square Garden
with a live webcast planned as well.
Miss America 2014, Nina Davuluri, and
PBS NewsHour Weekend Anchor Hari
Sreenivasan will emcee a celebration that will
include a program of high profile Indian and
American themed cultural entertainment
leading up to the Prime Ministers address to
the American people.
Citizens of the worlds greatest democra-
cy are eager to hear from the leader of the
worlds largest democracy, said Anand Shah,
Indian American Community Foundation
spokesman. Since August 19, more than
28,000 people have registered for free tickets
to the community reception for Prime Minis-
ter Modi.
Ticket registration occurred in two phases:
one for members of participating community
organizations and the second for general ad-
mission seats which will be allocated by a lot-
tery process later this week.
Nina Davuluri and Hari Sreenivasan to
emcee Modis US reception
Houston,TX: Santhigram
Kerala Ayurvedic
Company of US opened at
a new location, in Texas at
Hillcroft Avenue in
Houston on August 30. A
state-of- the-art facility in
the center of Hillcroft
Shopping Plaza was formally inaugurated by
Ken Mathew, Councilman, City of Stafford
in a grand ceremony. Also present on the
occasion were: Dr. Gopinathan Nair,
Santhigram Founder & CEO, Koshy
Thomas, CEO, Voice of Asia Group, G.K.
Pillai, community leader
and former FOKANA
President, Thomas Varkey
President Malayalee
Association of Greater
Houston, many other com-
munity leaders and a strong
gathering of wellness
enthusiasts.
Santhigram Kerala Ayurveda Wellness
Centers provide Ayurvedic & Panchakarma
therapies for total body rejuvenation, detoxi-
fication and for alleviation of many chronic
conditions.
Corporate Office: 385 Seneca Avenue, Ridgewood NY 11385
718.821.3182, www.AtlanticDialysis.Com
Washington, DC: In a tragic twist,
bodies of Frisco, Texas-based cou-
ple Sumeet and Pallavi Dhawan
were found last week in what is
suspected to be murder-suicide.
On Wednesday, Sumeet
Dhawan's sister called their attor-
ney David Finn, worried about not
being able to reach the couple at
their home. Finn himself had tried
to call them over the weekend with-
out success but he wasn' t con-
cerned; it was a long Labor Day
weekend, and it was natural for
families to get away. But since it
was already mid-week, they asked
Sumeet's brother, who lived nearby,
to check on them.
The brother found 43 year old
Sumeet in bed, dead from what
police later said was a blunt force
trauma injury to his head and a
fractured hand. Sumeet' s wife
Pallavi, 39, was found dead in the
swimming pool. Police found a
note at home, the contents of which
they are not disclosing, but specula-
tion centers on a murder-suicide.
The deaths bring closure to the
heartbreaking story that included
police accusing Dhawans of a role
in the death of their special-needs
son, ten-year old Arnav.
Arnav' s decomposed
body was found in a bath-
tub packed with ice in the
family' s bathroom in
January this year after
Sumeet returned from a
business trip abroad. His
wife Pallavi, who had
checked into a nearby
motel, said Arnav had died
naturally and she was pre-
serving his body waiting
for Sumeet to return to
conform to Hindu customs
that enjoin the father to
take charge in such cases.
It was not clear why she
did not call Sumeet's siblings, who
also lived in Texas.
Born in Madison, Wisconsin,
Arnav had several medical condi-
tions from the time of his birth,
including a brain cyst and micro-
cephaly, a condition characterized
by an abnormally small head. He
needed constant care, so Pallavi, a
computer programmer, gave up her
job to take care of him full time.
Investigating authorities felt that at
some point it may all have gotten
too much for her. Sumeet' s job
involved a lot of travel and she had
to bear the brunt of the domestic
workload.
But the local medical examiner's
ruled that Arnav died of undeter-
mined cause, most likely due to
''natural disease.'' However, police
maintained that when they asked
Pallavi if she had killed her son, she
had nodded her head to indicate
''yes.'' Sumeet stood by his wife,
denying she confessed and saying
she could never have hurt their only
child.
Chicago, IL: The 9th annual
Global Healthcare Summit (GHS)
2015, organized by the
Association of American
Physicians of Indian Origin
(AAPI) in collaboration with the
Indian Ministry of Health and
Family Welfare, will be held at
the prestigious Trident Oberoi
Hotel, Nariman Point, Mumbai,
India from January 2nd to 4th,
2015. Harnessing the power of
Indian doctors worldwide, the
AAPI Global Healthcare Summit
platform has evolved with the
support of prominent global and
Indian medical associations;
including IMA, MCI, ASI, IPS,
APA, API, ICON, JCI, AHA,
Johns Hopkins and GAPIO, says
Dr. Ravi Jahagirdar, president of
AAPI. In addition, several inter-
national healthcare industry part-
ners are looking for opportunities
to participate in this event for
greater collaboration on Research
& Development and philanthropic
engagements, he adds.
While elaborating on the themes
and areas that are going to be cov-
ered during the Summit, Dr.
Seema Jain, President-Elect of
AAPI, says, In our efforts to
realize the core mission of AAPI,
which is to share the best from
leading experts from around the
world, to collaborate on clinical
challenges, research and develop-
ment, philanthropy, policy and
standards formulation, the
Summit in Mumbai will have
clinical tracks that are of vital to
healthcare in India.
Chronic diseases, notably dia-
betes, cardiovascular, hyperten-
sion, COPD, oncology, maternal
and infant mortality, and emerg-
ing ones - trauma and head injury,
transplant and minimally invasive
robotic surgeries are some topics
to be covered during this Summit.
An exclusive Healthcare CEO
forum brings the healthcare indus-
try perspective, with senior
Government officials, both Union
and State providing the legislative
wisdom. Hands-on workshops
will provide supervised skill
transfer. The Summit will also
stream live webcast of the pro-
ceedings directly from the GHS
venue to health providers up to
District and Taluka levels across
India.
Dhawan couple found dead
mysteriously after sons death
AAPIs Global Healthcare Summit
2015 to be held in Mumbai
Sumeet and Pallavi Dhawan
with son Arnav
Santhigram Wellness Kerala Ayurveda
opens new branch in Houston
Washington: Almost two-thirds
of Americans feel that the current
Congress is "the worst in their
lifetime", and just 14 percent of
those surveyed approve of the
way lawmakers are doing their
jobs, according to a survey re-
leased by CNN/ORC.
Just two months before the leg-
islative elections in November,
Americans are expressing clear
anger at the actions of their law-
makers.
Eighty-three percent of those
surveyed disapproved of the way
Congress was doing its job and 65
percent felt the current crop of
legislators was "the worst in their
lifetime", according to the survey
released Tuesday.
Respondents, however, gave
Congress an abysmal approval
rating of 14 percent, that is slight-
ly above the 10 percent approval
rating from September 2013,
which was the lowest in history.
Perhaps that is why both Republi-
cans and Democrats have seen
voter enthusiasm for the upcom-
ing mid-term elections plummet.
In the November voting, the entire
House of Representatives will be
selected along with one-third of
the Senate.
Although in 2010, when the last
mid-term elections were held, 53
percent of Republicans said they
were intending to go to the polls,
now that figure stands at 37 per-
cent, according to the survey re-
sults. Meanwhile, Democrats --
who traditionally do not turn out
as heavily for mid-term elections -
- have seen their voter intention
numbers drop from 30 percent to
28 percent over the past four
years. Analysts say that the Re-
publicans will keep control of the
House, but there is uncertainty
surrounding the post-election con-
figuration of the Senate, where the
Democrats could lose their major-
ity. The telephone survey, which
polled 1,014 citizens between Sep
5 and Sep 7, has an error margin
of plus or minus 3.5 percent.
US AFFAIRS 9 September 13-19, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Washington: A day before Presi-
dent Barack Obama lays out his
strategy to counter the ISIS terror
threat, House Republicans sought
the counsel of Dick Cheney, a key
architect of the Iraq War.
Cheney huddled with House Re-
publicans, saying Obama wasn't
prepared for the terrorist threat
posed by the group and urging the
GOP to support a more muscular
national defense, House GOP
members told CNN.
The closed-door meeting at the
Capitol Hill Club was billed as a
pre-midterm election pep rally. Ch-
eney was there to boost enthusiasm
among rank-and-file members, but
he also told House Republicans
that the party needs to rebuild the
military and focus its public mes-
sage this fall on the importance of
a strong national security policy.
Several Republicans who attend-
ed the meeting told CNN the for-
mer vice president didn't weigh in
on the issue of whether the Presi-
dent needs any approval from Con-
gress to continue
or expand military
action against
ISIS.
U.S. Rep. Adam
Kinzinger of Illi-
nois, a former Iraq
War veteran, ac-
knowledged that
his party was split
on the issue but
said it would be
"ludicrous" for
Congress not to
hold some type of
vote before the
midterm elections.
Cheney, as he
has done in recent
public appearances, railed on Oba-
ma's foreign policy and defended
the Bush administration's actions
in Iraq.
He said the Obama administra-
tion had failed to lock in a security
agreement with the Iraqi govern-
ment to keep some U.S. presence
in the country to assist with the po-
litical transition, which Cheney as-
serted contributed to the instability
there now. Defending his record,
Obama has argued it wasn't his de-
cision to withdraw troops fully
from Iraq; rather he said that the
Iraqi people and its government
didn't want a U.S. presence there
any longer.
Austin, TX: Whole Foods an-
nounced early this week that it will
up the ante in supermarket competi-
tion by launching a national grocery-
delivery service. In response to Ama-
zons endeavors to break into the
world of supermarkets, Whole Foods
is partnering with online grocery-de-
livery service Instacart to provide
pickup and delivery options at loca-
tions in 15 cities.
Instacart has already partnered with
more affordable supermarkets, in-
cluding Costco, but Whole Foods
will be the first to offer both delivery
and in-store pickup.
The new delivery and pickup serv-
ice may provide a much-needed
boost for the upscale grocer, which
has recently seen disappointing earn-
ings and lower stock prices. While
the current environment is very dy-
namic and competitive, we are man-
aging and growing our business for
the long term, said Whole Foods
CEO Walter Robb in an earnings call
this summer.
New York: The NFL
on Wednesday said it
is looking into an As-
sociated Press report
that a league executive
received in April a
copy of the video in
which Ray Rice
punched his now-wife
in the face.
"We have no knowl-
edge of this. We are
not aware of anyone in
our office who pos-
sessed or saw the
video before it was
made public on Mon-
day. We will look into
it," NFL spokesman
Brian McCarthy said.
The AP story said the
law enforcement offi-
cial requested
anonymity because of
an ongoing investigation and didn't
name the NFL executive because
that would make it easy to identify
the AP's source.
The law enforcement official had a
short voice mail from April 9 in
which someone calling from a num-
ber at the NFL office thanks the
source, the AP reported. She says of
the video, "You're right. It's terrible,"
according to the AP. NFL Commis-
sioner Roger Goodell told CBS in an
interview aired Wednesday that the
league asked for the video on sever-
al occasions, but was denied access.
On February 15, Rice, released Mon-
day by the Baltimore Ravens, and his
then-fiancee, Janay Palmer, got into
an altercation on an elevator in the
casino in Atlantic City. Rice floored
Palmer with a punch to the head,
then dragged her -- face down -- out
of the elevator. The incident was cap-
tured on casino surveillance cam-
eras. TMZ Sports posted the in-ele-
vator video showing the violent
punch online on Monday. Rice was
suspended indefinitely by the league
and is in a pretrial intervention pro-
gram in the New Jersey legal system
that will allow him to avoid jail time.
Initially he had been suspended for
two games of the 16-game season, a
decision that was widely criticized.
Cheney rips Obama's foreign policy, tells
GOP to focus on defense in midterms
Americans feel current
Congress worst ever: Survey
Former Vice President Dick Cheney, a key
architect of the controversial Iraq War, which
toppled Saddam Hussain but did not
find any WMDs.
Baltimore Ravens football player Ray Rice
and wife, Janay Palmer, whom he is seen
punching in released CCTV footage.
His team has dropped him and NFL
indefinitely suspended him.
NFL looking into report that its
exec saw Rice video in April
Whole Foods goes national with delivery
New York: Princeton University again led U.S. News &
World Report's rankings of top U.S. academic research
institutions.
The highest-ranking schools Princeton, Harvard
University and Yale University were unchanged from
the last year, according to the 2015 list released by the
online magazine. The 30th edition includes data for al-
most 1,800 schools.
Dartmouth slipped to 11th place from a tie for 10th in
the national universities category. Undergraduate appli-
cations dropped by 14 percent this year at the Hanover,
N.H.- based school, amid a student outcry over sexual
harassment and reports of fraternity hazing.
Weighted measures assess quality through factors like
faculty resources, graduation and retention rates and "as-
sessment of excellence," or opinions by peers and coun-
selors. The U.S. Education Department this year is
preparing to release its own ratings, which will examine
graduation rates, affordability and access for low-in-
come students. The magazine's highest-ranking public
university was again the University of California at
Berkeley, and Williams College remained the top na-
tional liberal arts school.
Another NBA team to
change hands over
racist comment
Atlanta: Less than one
month after the Clip-
pers' sale ended Don-
ald Sterling's ugly
downfall, another
NBA team is on the
market following a
racially charged dis-
closure from its owner.
Atlanta Hawks co-
owner Bruce Levenson said Sunday he is selling
his controlling interest in the team, thanks in part
to an inflammatory email he wrote two years ago.
Levenson said he wrote the email in an attempt
"to bridge Atlanta's racial sports divide." Instead,
he offered his divisive comments, including his
theory that Hawks black fans kept white fans
away. He says he later realized the email made it
seem white fans were more important. He volun-
tarily reported the email to the NBA.
Princeton leads U.S.
News list of best colleges
10 September 13-19, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info INDIA
New Delhi/Srinagar: Flood waters
have started receding in Jammu and
Kashmir, giving rescue teams a
chance to reach tens of thousands of
villagers stranded after the heaviest
rainfall in the state in half a century.
Over 96,000 people have been
rescued so far in the state and per-
sonnel of the Indian Army, the
Indian Air Force and the National
Disaster Relief Force are working
round-the-clock to evacuate lakhs of
those who are still trapped in flood-
ravaged areas.
However, there was a sense of
despondency and apprehension
among families who lost a large part
of their belongings in the flood
waters.
Many people are trapped in
Srinagar city alone that submerged
in the flood waters during the inter-
vening night of Saturday and
Sunday.
Officials said 215 people have
died in the floods.
"Unless the flood waters recede
completely, and we are able to reach
all the submerged areas, we cannot
be sure about the exact toll in these
floods," a state official said.
Officials also said many more
could still be trapped in submerged
areas. People rescued from various
parts of Srinagar recalled the horror.
They said the cries for help of
many others in their areas had
stopped, indicating they had either
died or were resigned to their fate
and knew that the chances of their
survival were bleak.
Areas like Rajbagh, Jawahar
Nagar, Gogji Bagh, Bemina, Mehjor
Nagar, Karan Nagar and Qamarwari
in Srinagar were still submerged.
Many Kashmiris feel the state
government has failed to reach out
to the affected people.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah,
however, dismissed the criticism
that his government did not do
enough.
"This is an unprecedented situa-
tion. There is no way we could have
prepared for it. Operations are being
cranked up, supplies are arriving
and we are doing our best," he said.
Army chief Gen. Dalbir Singh
Suhag, who visited the flood-hit
state Wednesday, said the situation
has improved and the army was
working day and night to provide
relief to those affected.
"Relief and rescue operations are
on. The situation has improved a lot.
More boats have come today
(Wednesday), we have enough boats
now," he said.
"We now need to supply food,
water and medicines to people in
need. All resources available with us
have been pressed into action," he
said. The army chief assured that the
forces will help everyone.
An acute crisis of petrol and
kerosene has hit the Kashmir Valley.
On Wednesday, all filling stations in
Srinagar said they have run out of
fuel.
The Srinagar-Jammu National
Highway continued to be closed for
the seventh day Wednesday, but
traffic on the 440-km long Srinagar-
Leh highway was restored Tuesday.
The road link between Poonch and
Rajouri in Jammu region has also
been restored.
Inspector General of Police Garib
Das told IANS Wednesday that 31
people were still missing following
a landslide in which 40 people died
in Panchauri area in Udhampur dis-
trict.
Eighty transport aircraft of the
Indian Air Force and Army Aviation
Corps have been pressed into relief
operations.
In view of the huge magnitude of
the calamity, the central government
is assisting the state in further ramp-
ing up the rescue and relief opera-
tions.
Apart from providing food and
water to the people, the central gov-
ernment is keen to help the state in
paying more attention to hygiene
and sanitation in the water-logged
areas of Srinagar to prevent any out-
break of water-borne diseases.
While 8,000 landlines were acti-
vated in Srinagar, mobile phone
services have also been partially
restored.
Jammu: Scores of villages in the
worst-hit four districts of Jammu
region have not yet been reached
by rescue teams even though rain
has stopped.
The districts of Doda, Reasi,
Rajouri and Udhampur have been
severely hit.
Some residents in cut-off vil-
lages in Rajouri district have con-
tested official claims that food
packets have been air-dropped in
these inaccessible areas.
Residents of Dharal, Thana
mandi, Khawas, Peeri, Kandii,
Budhal and other villages have
not been reached by any rescuer
in the past four days, they said.
Puran Singh, a former minister,
marooned in Kewal village of
Rajouri district, said he had
somehow contacted the district
magistrate in Rajouri who prom-
ised rescue, but nobody came to
rescue him in the past three days.
Thousands of homes, govern-
ment buildings and panchayat
offices have been submerged
completely or partially in the
Jammu region.
Residents of some of the areas
in Rajouri, Reasi, Doda and
Udhampur are forced to live
under the open sky.
BSNL officials told IANS in
Jammu that out of its 371
exchanges in the Kashmir Valley,
121 have been completely dam-
aged and rendered non-function-
al.
"We have restored 31 of these
and more are likely to be restored
by this (Thursday) evening," an
official said.
Water level in two major rivers
of Jammu region - Chenab and
Tawi - continued to retreat
Thursday as the weather
remained dry here.
Compared to the valley where
there is total chaos with the
administration admitting that
more than four lakh people still
have to be rescued, the state gov-
ernment and its officials are more
visible in the Jammu region.
Aid yet to reach scores of
Jammu villages
New Delhi: The devastating
floods in Jammu and Kashmir
could be a manifestation of
extreme weather events
induced by climate change,
the Centre for Science and
Environment said.
Sunita Narain, director gen-
eral of CSE, said the calami-
ties in Mumbai (2005), Leh
(2010), Uttarakhand (2013)
and now Jammu and Kashmir
show a similar pattern of
extreme rainfall, which can be
a result of climate change.
She said that as was the
case with some of the previ-
ous extreme rainfall events,
the scale of disaster in Jammu
and Kashmir has been exacer-
bated by unplanned develop-
ment, especially along the river
banks.
She said: "In the last 100 years,
more than 50 percent of lakes,
ponds and wetlands of Srinagar
have been encroached upon for con-
structing buildings and roads. The
banks of the Jhelum river have been
taken over in a similar manner, vast-
ly reducing the river' s drainage
capacity."
CSE deputy general director
Chandra Bhushan said Jammu and
Kashmir is not prepared to handle
extreme rainfall events.
"Jammu and Kashmir does not
have a flood forecasting system. Its
disaster management system is also
rudimentary," he said.
Narain said that according to the
latest analysis by the Working
Group II of the IPCC
(Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change) assessment report
(AR5), floods and droughts are like-
ly to increase in India.
She added: "The IPCC's 2011 spe-
cial report on managing the risks of
extreme events and disasters to
advance climate change adaptation
presents projections for the period
2071-2100. It points to increasing
incidents of more frequent and
intense heavy precipitation over
most regions."
She exhorted the government to
come out of its denial mode that cli-
mate change is not affecting us.
Climate change may have caused Kashmir floods: CSE
J&K floods: 1 lakh rescued, 4 lakh more to go
Many people are trapped in Srinagar city alone that submerged in the flood waters
In the worst floods
in last 60 years, the
state of Jammu and
Kashmir is reeling
under the natural
calamity with
thousands still
stranded; over 200
dead so far
An aerial view of the submerged Srinagar
INDIA
New Delhi: Modernization of many
Indian railway stations, upgrading
signaling system at level crossings,
and introduction of high-speed
trains are likely to be among the
economic cooperation agreements
inked during Chinese President Xi
Jinping's India visit next week.
It will be mostly business during
President Xi's three-day India visit
beginning Sep 17.
While Japan is working on plans
to introduce the Shinkansen system
(of bullet trains) in India following
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's
visit to Tokyo earlier this month,
China too had earlier evinced keen-
ness to sell its bullet trains to India.
But during Xi's visit, any agree-
ment on bullet trains is unlikely.
Instead India has indicated keenness
to purchase high-speed trains from
China, official sources told IANS.
With the Modi government plan-
ning a major overhaul of railway
stations - India has one of the
world's largest railway systems that
ferries over 13 million passengers
and 1.3 million tonnes of freight
every day - it is likely Chinese
would be involved in this mega ven-
ture.
Chinese help is also expected to
be sought in the railway signalling
systems in the country, the sources
said.
Unmanned or poorly manned rail-
way crossings cause frequent acci-
dents in India and lead to a large
number of deaths.
As recently as July 24, a train
rammed into a school bus at an
unmanned railway crossing in
Andhra Pradesh's Medak, resulting
in the death of 19 children.
President Xi is likely to announce
investments in industrial parks in
Gujarat and Maharashtra, the
sources indicated.
He begins his India tour from
Gujarat, Modi's home state where he
was chief minister for three terms.
In July, during Commerce
Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's visit
to Beijing, the two sides inked an
agreement to set up Chinese
Industrial Parks in India. China is
expected to set up four industrial
parks in different states.
India has also voiced concern over
the ballooning trade deficit, which
averages around $35 billion a year.
The bilateral trade totalled $65.47
billion last year.
India has asked China to open its
market for Indian IT and pharma-
ceuticals and also to step up invest-
ments to balance the trade deficit.
Sitharaman during her visit urged
the Chinese side to provide greater
market access to Indian goods like
gems, jewellery, grey cotton fabric,
pharmaceuticals and IT.
Chinese investments in India
stands at $1.1 billion, mostly in
Gujarat.
Chinese help is also expected to be sought in the railway
signalling systems in the country.
11 September 13-19, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info
India keen to partner
with Singapore for
expertise: Modi
New Delhi: If
S w a m i
Vi vekananda' s
message of uni-
versal brother-
hood been fol-
lowed by the
world, history
would not have
witnessed "das-
tardly acts" like
9/11 in the US,
said Prime
M i n i s t e r
Narendra Modi.
"Had we fol-
lowed Swami ji's
message, history would never
have witnessed such dastardly
acts as we saw on 11th
September 2001 in USA. Let us
remember the words of Swami
Vivekananda and dedicate our-
selves to furthering the cause of
unity, brotherhood and world
peace," Modi said in a tweet.
On Sep 11, 2001, the US had
witnessed its worst terror attack
when two hijacked aircraft
crashed into the north and south
towers of World Trade Center in
New York City of America,
killing thousands of people.
Also on this day in 1893,
Swami Vivekananda had creat-
ed history by his soul-stirring
address at World Parliament of
Religions in Chicago.
"There are two images of 11th
September - one of the trail of
destruction in 2001 and the other
- the message of Swami
Vivekananda in 1893. Through
his address, Swami Vivekananda
drew the entire world's attention
to our nation's rich history and
strong cultural roots.
"Sisters and brothers of
America with these words of
Swami Vivekananda, India' s
message of universal brother-
hood reverberated across the
world," he added.
Follow Vivekanada's message
to avert acts like 9/11: Modi
New Delhi: Prime Minister
Narendra Modi said India desired
to partner with Singapore as part
of its effort to get funding and
expertise to emerge as a global
manufacturer.
Modi, who received
Singapore' s Emeritus Senior
Minister (ESM) Goh Chok Tong,
apprised him of the various ini-
tiatives taken by his government
for development of smart cities
and urban centres, improving the
ease of doing business and clean-
ing of rivers.
Modi said India's strength in
terms of 3Ds - Demographic
Dividend, Democracy and
Demand (large domestic market)
- would enable it to emerge as a
global manufacturer.
He said it would be essential to
enter into partnerships with the
international community to
access the necessary funding and
expertise for the success of initia-
tives.
"In this context, the prime min-
ister conveyed India's keen desire
to partner with Singapore. The
ESM suggested that both sides
should work for entering into a
strategic economic partnership,"
said a statement from the Prime
Minister's Office.
Goh was accompanied by
Minister in the Singapore Prime
Minister' s Office and Second
Minister for Home Affairs and
Trade and Industry S.Iswaran and
Minister of State for National
Development Desmond Lee.
The statement said Modi
recalled his long personal associ-
ation with Tong. He also recalled
Tong's special contribution to the
development of bilateral rela-
tions.
China to help India modernize railway stations
New Delhi: India and Australia
have inked a long-awaited civil
nuclear agreement to enable
Australia to export uranium to ener-
gy-starved India and also agreed to
step up their political, security and
defense cooperation as visiting
Australian Prime Minister Tony
Abbott held talks with his counter-
part Narendra Modi here.
Abbott, the first head of state to
pay a bilateral visit under the new
NDA government, also brought with
him two Chola period artifacts that
were stolen from temples in Tamil
Nadu. The return of the Nataraja
and Ardhanarishwara statues from
the 11th century AD were appreciat-
ed by Modi.
The Australian prime minister,
who arrived in India Thursday, said
the civil nuclear energy agreement
was inked as "Australia trusts India
to do the right things in this area as
it has done the right thing in every
area since its independence 70 years
ago" and "that is why we are happy
to trust India with a uranium treaty".
Addressing a joint media interac-
tion with Modi after both sides
inked four agreements, including in
water resources and sports, Abbott
said both countries would work to
strengthen their trade relations and
also focus on areas like energy, food
and education.
Modi termed the inking of the
civil nuclear agreement as "a his-
toric milestone in our relationship"
and reflection of a "new level of
mutual trust and confidence" in
bilateral ties.
He said the agreement would sup-
port India's efforts to fuel its growth
with clean energy and minimize the
carbon footprint of its growth.
Modi said he and Abbott have
decided to enhance their political
dialogue and increase their security
and defence cooperation.
India, Australia ink deal on
uranium exports
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott with his
counterpart Narendra Modi.
12 September 13-19, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info INDIA
Bangalore: A court here has issued an
arrest warrant against Karthik Gowda,
son of Railway Minister D.V. Sadananda
Gowda, in a rape and cheating case filed
against him by a Kannada actress after
he got engaged to another woman.
"As Karthik failed to appear before our
investigation team despite repeated sum-
mons since Aug 29 for questioning on
the charges alleged against him by
Maithreyi, the eighth additional city met-
ropolitan magistrate issued the warrant
to arrest him," Deputy Commissioner of
Police (East) T.R. Suresh said.
Police have formed two teams to look
for 30-year-old Karthik in Bangalore and
across the state.
Police in Goa and Kerala have also
been alerted to look out for him.
A search team has left for Madikeri in
Kodagu district, about 230 km from
here, as he got engaged there Aug 27 and
was later seen in Mangalore.
"Once arrested, we will present him
(Karthik) in the court and seek his cus-
tody for interrogation. The case is
booked against him Aug 27 under
Sections 376 (rape) and 420 (cheating)
of the IPC (Indian Penal Court) on the
basis of complaint filed by Maithreyi,"
said Suresh.
According to Karthik's counsel, who
filed an anticipatory bail application Aug
30, the session court is yet to give ruling
on his plea for relief.
"Our petition for anticipatory bail for
Karthik is being heard by the session's
court. Its magistrate is yet to pronounce
the order as arguments were incom-
plete," counsel told reporters.
The court served a notice to the R.T.
Nagar police station, where the com-
plaint was lodged, asking if it had any
objection on granting anticipatory bail to
Karthik.
"We are opposing the anticipatory bail
plea, as Karthik did not respond to our
notices and summons to appear before
the investigation officer under the law,"
Inspector S. Raghupathy said.
Maithreyi has claimed that Karthik tied
the wedding knot with her June 5 at his
other house in Mangalore, about 350 km
from Bangalore, and that they consum-
mated the informal marriage after he
forced himself upon her.
The probe team has already interrogat-
ed Maithreyi Aug 28 to 30 and recorded
her statements and collected documents,
including relevant certificates, photos
and voice recordings.
The Gowdas, however, denied the
charge and accused Maithreyi of tarnish-
ing their image and blamed political
opponents of conspiring to bring disre-
pute to the family, as the victim later
claimed to have joined the Congress
two-three years ago.
Acharya Lokesh Muni
meets Gujarat CM
New Delhi: Acharya Dr Lokesh Muni, founder of
Ahimsa Vishwa Bharti, met Gujarat Chief Minister
Anandi Patel with a delegation, demanding to make his-
toric and holy Palitana tirth violence free by banning
use of egg, meat etc in that area.
Appreciating the human welfare works done by the
Jain community and Ahimsa Vishwa Bharti under the
leadership of Acharya Dr Lokesh Muni, the chief minis-
ter said that Jain community has great contributions
towards society and nation building.
Responding positively towards the demand of making
historic and holy Palitana tirth violence free, she said
that Gujarat culture has always been influenced by Jain
religion.
Lucknow: Hours after controversial BJP
leader Yogi Adityanath defied a ban on his
election meeting in Lucknow, police
lodged an FIR against the MP and other
party leaders who participated in the rally.
SSP Praveen Kumar said Thursday morn-
ing that cases were lodged late in the night
against Adityanath and others who had par-
ticipated in the meeting a day earlier.
Defying the ban, Adityanath, the BJP's
lead campaigner in UP, had addressed an
election meeting in which he accused the
Samajwadi Party government of following
a communal agenda.
A district administration official said that
"An FIR has been lodged against BJP can-
didate from Lucknow (east) seat Ashutosh
Tandon Gopalji and others under various
sections of the IPC at Ghazipur Police
Station".
He said the entire meeting was video-
graphed by the administration.
"Others (whose names are lodged in the
FIR) include all those who are visible in
the video," he said.
Other than Adityanath, BJP MPs
Jagdambika Pal, Lallu Singh and former
MP and father of Gopalji Lalji Tandon
were present during the meeting.
The official said that a CD of the meeting
would be sent to the Election Commission.
"A CD is being send to the EC by a spe-
cial messenger," he said.
Claiming that he was not allowed to hold
meetings in Thakurdwara, Mainpuri and
Nighasan where Assembly bye-elections
are being held, Adityanath had addressed
one of them using his mobile phone. Later
in the state capital, he defied police which
had withdrawn permission to him to
address an election meeting at Indira Nagar
locality by appearing on the stage.
New Delhi: The BJP has received backing
from an unexpected quarter with former
chief minister Sheila Dikshit saying the
party should be given an opportunity to
form government as it will be good for the
people of Delhi, remarks from which the
Congress quickly distanced itself.
"In a democracy, elected governments
are always good as they represent the peo-
ple. If BJP has reached such a situation
that it can form government, it is good for
Delhi, " Dikshit, a three-time Chief
Minister of Delhi, said here.
The statement by Dikshit, who recently
resigned as Governor of Kerala leading to
speculation about her return to active poli-
tics, has come at a time when AAP and
Congress have been accusing BJP of try-
ing to poach MLAs to form government in
Delhi. The 76-year-old leader, who had led
Congress to spectacular victories in
assembly polls in Delhi in 1998, 2003 and
2009, said that MLAs, whether they are
from Congress, AAP or others, do not
want election.
"As far as I could understand, every
MLA, whether he is from Congress or
AAP or others, doesn't want election.
People are saying that the MLAs have just
been elected and their membership has not
crossed even one year. As far as I can
understand and people are telling me that
they (MLAs) want government to be
formed." She also said that it is not clear
yet how the government will be formed.
"It is yet to be seen how government is
formed and what challenges will be there
for a minority government. And, can they
(BJP)cross this and not..it is up to them
(BJP)," Dikshit said.
Dikshit, under whose leadership
Congress had suffered a severe drubbing
in the assembly polls in Delhi in
December last year, also added, "In the
absence of elected government, people
don't know where they should go. And
their voice is heard nowhere.
"If people's voice is heard and then it is
good. If they (BJP) form government, they
will have to prove majority on the floor of
house...so let the government form and
then decision would take place."
FIR against Adityanath for
defying poll meeting ban
UP court returns charge sheet against Amit Shah
Acharya
Dr Lokesh
Muni with
Gujarat
Chief
Minister
Anandi
Patel
BJP leader Yogi Adityanath
If BJP has reached such a situation
that it can form government, it is
good for Delhi, says former
Congress leader Sheila Dikshit
Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah
Sheila Dikshit backs BJP's bid
to form Delhi govt
The views expressed in Op Eds are not necessarily those of The South Asian Times.
By Ashok Tandon
T
he jury is still out whether Narendra
Modi has ushered in "achhe din"
(good days) in the first hundred days
of his government. But one thing about
which there are hardly two opinions among
political analysts of all hues is that after near-
ly two decades at least we have a stable
regime at the center with a decisive mandate
to implement its agenda without any compul-
sions of coalition politics.
This in itself is no mean achievement in
contemporary Indian politics, especially
when most political pundits had decreed that
the coalition era at the center has come to
stay for all times to come in view of the phe-
nomenal rise of the regional satraps.
Winning an absolute majority on his own,
of course, does not give a merit certificate to
the ruling BJP and that the new dispensation
in New Delhi has to be judged on the basis of
its performance. But 100 days are hardly any
milestone to pause and look back at Modi
government's report card.
Narendra Modi has, undoubtedly, given a
positive and dynamic push to India in the
first 100 days of his premiership. But people
have far greater expectations from the new
government. At the same time there is a real-
ization that things can't change overnight.
To be fair to the Modi government, proba-
bly, it is too early to judge its performance in
policy matters. For that people will have to
give them some time for the results to be vis-
ible. Moreover, there is a lot baggage from
the previous regime which the NDA has to
unload before proceeding ahead to imple-
ment their own agenda.
At the very outset of his first innings in
New Delhi, Modi has given some tough but
politically correct messages to usher in an era
of good governance, accountability and
transparency in matters of state.
All those aged 75-and-above political
heavyweights, howsoever high and mighty
they may be, have been denied berths in the
cabinet. It requires courage of conviction to
be so ruthless, which Modi has amply
demonstrated.
Modi has given a roadmap to all his minis-
ters as well as the senior bureaucrats with a
timeline for achieving targets keeping in
mind three components of his mantra of good
governance - transparency, accountability,
and implementation. He has introduced a
new work culture of punctuality and respon-
sibility among government employees at all
levels.
The markets, especially the benchmark
Sensex (over 25,000) and Nifty (over 8,000),
have given a roaring welcome to Modi and
foreign funds are also pouring in to help the
Indian currency get stronger. But lack of
investment in infrastructure and social sec-
tors is worrying the Indian youth looking for
employment opportunities. Moreover, the
results of the measures to check red tape and
corruption are yet to be visible.
Some steps have been initiated to reverse
the trend of the rupee depreciating against the
dollar. Natural gas price rise has been put on
hold. Austerity measures have been intro-
duced for ministers, including a check on
their foreign travel and a ban on purchase of
new cars. For the first time ministers have
been asked to get approval of the Prime
Minister's Office for any expenditure above
Rs. 1 lakh.
Disinvestment has been encouraged in pub-
lic sector units by allowing 49 percent FDI in
defence sector from the current 26 per cent,
subject to the Indian owners exercising man-
agement control. But foreign investors want
at least a 51 percent stake for joint ventures
in defence production.
Also, foreign direct investment of 100 per-
cent in the railways for the first time is
intended to raise funds for expansion and
modernisation of the country's railway sys-
tem, the nation's lifeline in many respects.
FDI will now be allowed in railway infra-
structure segments such as electrification,
signalling, high-speed and suburban corri-
dors. It will also be allowed through the
Special Purpose Vehicle route to provide last
mile connectivity to ports and mines. Further,
some railway operations have also been par-
tially opened up to foreign investment.
Modi's Rs.113,000 crore Digital India mis-
sion, which promises to transform India into
a connected knowledge economy offering
world class services at the click of a mouse,
is likely to be a real game-changer.
(Ashok Tandon was media advisor to for-
mer prime minister Atal Bihari Vaypayee.
The views expressed are personal)
13 September 13-19, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info OP-ED
By Amulya Ganguli
T
he Congress High Command,
which is a pseudonym for party
president Sonia Gandhi, must have
realized by now that securing a clean chit
for the mother-and-son duo in a report on
the poll debacle by a servile loyalist will
not put an end to constant carping by party
members.
Hence, perhaps, the decision by the
admirers of Rahul Gandhi, who has borne
the brunt of the criticism, to confront the
critics head-on. They have asserted that
the vice president should be left alone to
carry on with his task of changing the
Congress into "a process-driven party"
with a role for workers and youths "in
decision-making".
The intervention has shown the realiza-
tion on the high command's part that the
earlier punitive step of suspending the
membership of the critics was no longer
sufficient to stop the flow of disparaging
remarks.
The final straw was probably senior gen-
eral secretary Digvijay Singh's observation
that Rahul Gandhi should be seen and
heard more. Evidently, in an age of video
clips and sound bytes, an invisible and
inaudible leader is not an asset.
It was apparently in response to this
advice that Rahul Gandhi was seen in his
constituency last Thursday and heard lam-
basting Prime Minister Narendra Modi for
playing the drums in Japan while prices
were rising in India.
It is not impossible that Rahul Gandhi
was asked to become visible and audible
by his mother, who had also egged him on
during his uncharacteristic foray into the
well of the Lok Sabha to call for a debate
on communalism.
These manoeuvres carry the danger,
however, of exacerbating the "tensions",
which Rahul Gandhi has admitted exist
within the party. There is a possibility,
therefore, of the situation becoming worse
for the Congress instead of improving.
It is noteworthy that the latest initiatives
concerning Rahul Gandhi have come close
on the heels of Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra's
announcement of her disinclination to play
a major role in Congress politics. Before
her "retirement", there was a vociferous
demand from within the Congress for her
to come forward as one of a trio to rescue
the party from its present sorry state.
But since the clamor for her was evident-
ly putting Rahul Gandhi in the shade, the
decision was taken to push her into the
background lest there should be a suspi-
cion of a "palace coup", as Finance
Minister Arun Jaitley hinted.
But even if such a coup has been avert-
ed, there is still a fear of intra-party disso-
nance as the face-off between Rahul
Gandhi's supporters and the old guard sug-
gests.
As Sonia Gandhi's and Rahul Gandhi's
criticism of the government on rising
prices and the absence of roads and elec-
tricity shows, they are focusing on mun-
dane issues and avoiding venturing into
ideological fields because they are not sure
whether their innate leftist convictions will
put off today's aspirational voters even fur-
ther.
Unless the "multiple voices" in the party,
to use Rahul Gandhi's words, help it to
find a policy direction, the future is bleak
for the Congress.
Narendra Modi has given a roadmap to all his ministers as well as the senior
bureaucrats with a timeline for achieving targets.
Sonia and Rahul Gandhi are focusing on mundane issues and avoiding
venturing into ideological fields.
Tough messages, good policy directions 100 days of Modi:
Internal tensions: It can get worse for Congress
By Russell Shorto
3
50 years ago, on Sept. 8,
1664, English soldiers took
control of the Dutch city of
New Amsterdam, on Manhattan
Island. They soon renamed it after
the Duke of York, brother to King
Charles II.
Such anniversaries may typically
be of interest only to antiquarians,
but the occasion resonates so
sharply against the backdrop of
recent events the widening
divide in American politics, racial
and religious intolerance at home
and abroad that reflecting on it
might provide a useful perspective
on the principles that made us who
we are today.
From the moment it was so
named, New York City began its
ascent as part of Englands
expanding empire. Then again, to
say that Sept. 8 is New Yorks
birthday is misleading, for it
became a uniquely dynamic place,
the model of a modern city,
because of what it had been before
the English took over. In founding
New Amsterdam in the 1620s, the
Dutch planted the seeds for the
citys remarkable flowering.
Specifically, the Dutch brought
two concepts that became part of
New Yorks foundation: tolerance
of religious differences and an
entrepreneurial, free-trading cul-
ture.
In the 17th century, when it was
universally held elsewhere in
Europe that a strong society
required intolerance as official pol-
icy, the Dutch Republic was a
melting pot. The Dutch codified
the concept of tolerance of reli-
gious differences, built a vast com-
mercial empire and spawned a
golden age of science and art in
part by turning the problem of
their mixed society into an advan-
tage. Dutch tolerance was trans-
planted to Manhattan: They were
so welcoming that a reported 18
languages were spoken in New
Amsterdam at a time when its pop-
ulation was only about 500.
While many economies else-
where in Europe were still feudal,
the Dutch pioneered an economic
system based on individual owner-
ship of real estate. That came
about because the Dutch provinces
occupied a vast river delta, in
which land was at or below sea
level and therefore constantly
under threat. People in those com-
munities banded together to build
dams and dikes and reclaim land.
The new land was not owned by a
king or a church. Instead, the peo-
ple who had created it divided it
and began buying and selling
parcels. That incentivized a whole
society, fueled the growth of an
empire, turned the Dutch into
entrepreneurs and made them the
envy of other Europeans.
This new economic mind-set
likewise got transferred to New
Amsterdam, where everyone was a
trader, an entrepreneur. The port
became so efficient that even
archrivals in the English colony of
Virginia sent their goods to Europe
via what would become the New
York harbor. The nonaristocratic,
egalitarian bent of the Dutch also
gave society on Manhattan a
uniquely upwardly mobile charac-
ter, distinct from that of, say,
Boston. Who you were mattered
less than what you could do.
That said, it was probably a
supreme stroke of luck that the
English barged in one fine
September day three and a half
centuries ago. Had the city
remained New Amsterdam, it like-
ly would have languished. Eight
years after the English takeover,
the Dutch Republic suffered a dev-
astating military defeat at the
hands of France and England,
which signaled the beginning of
the end of its empire.
But England was on the rise. The
people who took control of
Manhattan realized quickly that a
unique society had formed there,
and kept its features in place. As
part of a newly energized commer-
cial empire that was to span the
globe, New York, with its pluralis-
tic, business-savvy and upwardly
mobile society, rose to unimagined
heights.
The concepts of tolerance and
free trade both related to a new
appreciation of the individual.
New York was born alongside the
world-historic force of liberalism,
a philosophy that prized individual
freedom above all else. What is lit-
tle appreciated, though, is the
grounding of individualism in
collectivism.
It was the Dutch agreement to
work together for the common
good of holding back the sea that
allowed for the rise of prosperity
and a society based on singular
achievement.
The Dutch maintained the bal-
ance between the individual and
the collective out of necessity, for
water management continued
and continues to this day to be
vital to protecting their country.
Funnily enough, because of cli-
mate change, the rest of us are all
in that same place today. We dont
just need to rebuild infrastructure
to guard against flooding. We need
to embrace concepts like regional
planning, to acknowledge that
there are issues in which individual
and even municipal autonomy
have to be sacrificed to the greater
good.
Americas political culture is
more divided than ever over such
issues, with the role of government
and the freedom of the individual
often portrayed as mutually exclu-
sive. Racial and religious tensions
are at a crisis point both at home
and abroad. The anniversary of
New Yorks birth or more pre-
cisely, rechristening is an occa-
sion to recall that tolerance of dif-
ferences and an enlightened blend
of individualism and collectivism
formed a new kind of society on an
island called Manhattan, one that
helped shape American culture. In
a time of chaos and confusion, we
would do well to recommit our-
selves to the notion that such a
blend of forces is still the best way
forward.
Russell Shorto is the author of
The Island at the Center of the
World: The Epic Story of Dutch
Manhattan and the Forgotten
Colony That Shaped America
and a senior scholar at the New
Netherland Institute.
Courtesy: The New York Times
The views expressed in Op Eds are not necessarily those of The South Asian Times.
14 September 13-19, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info OP-ED
The source of New Yorks greatness
New Amsterdam, centered in the eventual Lower Manhattan, in
1664, the year England took control and renamed it "New York".
A construction worker on top of the Empire State Building as it
was being built in 1930. The Chrysler Building is below and
behind him.
350 years ago, English soldiers took control of the Dutch city of New Amsterdam, on
Manhattan Island. They soon renamed it after the Duke of York, brother to King
Charles II. The reigning No 1 city in the world owes its winning combination to
Dutch tolerance and British energy, opines the expert on New York history.
CINEMA September 13-19, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info 15
News East West
Toronto: Priyanka Chopra, whose
film Mary Kom premiered on the
opening day of the Toronto
International Film Festival (TIFF)
here on Thursday, says the film on
the Indian Olympic female boxer
helped her channelize her personal
grief after her fathers death.
Addressing the first celebrity
conference of the worlds premier
film festival here, Priyanka said
she started shooting the film just
four days after the death of her
father Dr Ashok Chopra in June
2013. I channeled all my grief
into this film, the former Miss
World said, narrating that she
undertook a punishing schedule of
up to 18 hours a day for at least
two months by preparing herself
physically for Mary Koms role
and simultaneously shooting for
other films.
`This film is very special to me
its literally . . . a lot of blood,
sweat and tears for me, said
Priyanka.
The Bollywood diva said every
film of mine takes a part of my
soulI get deeply in with my film.
But Mary Kom is special film for
me as she had to undergo a gru-
elling physical change in her body,
she said. She said the story of Mary
Kom, a poor rice farmers daughter
from Manipur who went on to
become five-time world boxing
champion, has taught her one great
thing. Nothing is impossibleif
Sylvester Stallone could do it in
Rocky, I could also do, she said,
raising her fists triumphantly.
But she said she had her
moments of doubt whether she
would be able to do justice to the
role of Mary Kom.
I thought I had bitten more than
I could chew.. every night I used to
say that I dont think I can do this,
and then in the morning I would
wake up and say: Hey, why not.
The actress was delighted that
her film got the pride of place at
the Toronto film festival as it got
the opening day premiere. It was a
conscious decision to come to
TIFF.to get an opening-day pre-
miere was a big deal, she said,
calling Toronto one of her favorite
cities. Priyanka said when the
boxer Mary Kom saw the film, she
cried. She cried, I cried, and we
all cried, she said, laughing.
Debutant director Umong Kumar,
who was also at the press confer-
ence, said the film is 100 percent
real even as many critics have
described the film as a highly fic-
tionalized account of Mary Koms
life.
News East West
Toronto: Serial kisser Emraan
Hashmi, whose first international
film Tigers, premiered at the
Toronto International Film
Festival here on Monday to a huge
response, hopes the film will
mark my re-invention as an
actor.
Directed by Oscar-winner Danis
Tanovic, Tigers is based on a true-
life Pakistani story in which phar-
maceutical salesman Ayan (played
by Emraan Hashmi) finds that a
multinationals baby formula he is
selling to new mothers is causing
deaths of babies.
Newly married Ayan, who had
quit the same job with a local drug
company because people were not
buying their products despite
being five-times cheaper, joins the
multinational Lasta which encour-
ages him to virtually bribe doctors
and pharmacies to push its prod-
ucts in Pakistan.
But he is shaken when one day
he finds that the baby formula he
is selling is causing deaths of
new-born babies. With his wifes
backing he challenges the might
of the multinationals and powers
that be in Pakistan.
Shot in India and Berlin, the
film, which has been produced by
Prashita Chaudhary of
Cinemorphic and Guneet Monga
of Sikhya Entertainment, is
Emraans first major foray on the
international stage. I hope this
film marks my
reinventionhopefully I wont be
typecast any more, said Hashmi
in an interview at the
premiere of Tigers.
Laughing, the
actor, who has done
over 30 Bollywood
films, said the media
gave him the tag of a
serial kisser. They say
such things to play to the
gallery. But I go by stories, not by
what the media says.
Hashmi said, Unlike my other
Bollywood films which need a bit
of tadka, this film requires real-
ism. This film needed that your
role should be near to reality. This
film was a complete departure
from what I have done in
Bollywood so far. Hashmi, who
according to producer Guneet
Monga, was the first-choice for
the lead role in the film, said he
jumped at the role because the
story touched him. It is a dramat-
ic story of an ordinary man who
takes on an MNC (multinational
company). Anurag Kashyap called
me and (director) Danis sent me
the script. Andy Paterson had
written a fantastic script. It is one
of the best scripts I have ever seen
and I was blown away. As a parent
of four-and-a-half-year-old boy, I
could relate to the story, Hashmi
said. The actor said he hoped that
this film will spark a debate on the
malpractices of multinationals and
get the issue to the forefront.
Calling the shooting of Tigers a
pleasant experience, Hashmi said,
Danis gave me space as an
actorI tried to internalize what
my character (Ayan) went through
as a struggling salesman in
Pakistan.
Priyanka Chopra speaking at the premiere of Mary Kom on the opening day of the 2014
Toronto Film Festival Sept 4, and (left) walking the red carpet.
It was literally . . . a lot of
blood, sweat and tears for
me, said the Bollywood
star, who had to transform
herself mentally and
physically into a boxer for
the biopic, which has
proved a box office hit.
Mary Kom helped me
channelize grief over my
fathers death: Priyanka
Serial kisser Emraan Hashmi hopes
Tigers will change his image
Emraan Hashmi at the premiere of Tigers direct-
ed byOscar-winner Danis Tanovic, and (inset) a
still from the international film.
16 September 13-19, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD
I
n the mega clash of "Om
Shanti Om" and
"Saawariya" in 2007,
debutante Deepika Padukone
had emerged a clear box
office-winner against first-
timer Sonam Kapoor. Seven
years later, the question is -
will Deepika continue to
remain a step ahead on the
success ladder with "Finding
Fanny" or will Sonam take a
lead this time with
"Khoobsurat"?
Both the films are releasing
within a week' s time this
month.
Deepika's film is releasing
Sep 12, while Sonam's new
offering hits the screens Sep
19 - and both actresses are
going out of their way to
ensure their movies are pro-
moted in the best possible
manner.
"Finding Fanny", an English
language entertainer by Indian
filmmaker Homi Adajania, is
definitely not a film that every
actress will risk -- especially
after delivering four back-to-
back Bollywood hits "Race 2",
"Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani",
"Chennai Express" and
"Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-
Leela". But Deepika took it.
Both the actresses come
from different backgrounds.
Sonam comes from a family of
actors and filmmakers -- her
father Anil Kapoor is a veteran
actor, uncle Boney is a film
producer and her youngest
uncle Sanjay is an actor too.
Deepika' s father, Prakash
Padukone, is the country' s
badminton icon.
Yet, it is Deepika who has
managed to cement her space
in Bollywood as a performer,
better than Sonam, who has
been more in news for her
fashion sensibilities despite
having the talent to carry out
roles as different as in "Aisha"
and "Delhi-6".
Sonam, who made her debut
with Kapoor scion Ranbir in
"Saawariya", on the other
hand, has few hits to boast of
in her filmography.
Meanwhile, Deepika is also
hoping to strike gold yet again
with the offbeat "Finding
Fanny".
B
ollywood film "Mary Kom" hit
1,800 screens in the country
and raked in Rs.28.32 crore in
the opening weekend with maximum
collections from Delhi and Mumbai.
The film is going houseful in Assam
and Meghalaya, but the overall contri-
bution to the box office earnings from
the region is just one percent, said
trade experts.
About Manipur's five-time World
boxing champion M.C. Mary Kom,
the film hit 72 cinemas in Assam and
just two in Meghalaya. The footfall is
overwhelming, but the total contribu-
tion is not much.
"The subject of the film is known
and Mary is from the northeast, so nat-
urally there are sentiments attached," a
distributor from Assam said.
"There were many students who
watched it on the first day itself. In
both Assam and Meghalaya, the shows
were houseful. Many were left
inspired and clapped in the end of the
film too," he added.
The northeast region, made of eight
states, also including Arunachal
Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur,
Mizoram, Tripura and Sikkim, has a
handful of operational cinema halls.
"The Assam government is trying to
pull the crowds by exempting enter-
tainment tax on 'Mary Kom'. But only
one percent contribution was made to
the domestic box office collection,"
said the distributor.
Meanwhile, producers are trying to
release the film in Kom's hometown,
where around 60 to 70 films in Meitei
language are made in a year. But Hindi
films screenings are banned since
early 2000 due to an insurgent groups'
diktat.
"Manipur release was initiated earli-
er, but there was no positive response
as Hindi films are not screened there.
However, all efforts are in the direc-
tion of getting a theatrical release in
Manipur, " said a source from
Viacom18 Motion Pictures.
Whether it releases in Manipur or
not, the people in the state are certain-
ly not going to miss it.
Sonam vs Deepika -
who'll win box office game?
Deepika Padukone with 'Finding Fanny' star cast and Sonam
Kapoor in a scene from 'Khoobsurat'
'
Mary Kom', a
motivational
masterpiece
I
t's that life-defining moment
when a character on screen
transforms totally into a real
life personality. We've seen Seema
Biswas, Ben Kingsley and Farhan
Akhtar metamorphose into real
life characters in front of our
bewildered eyes.
Now it is Priyanka Chopra. She
virtually transforms her physicali-
ty before entering the spirit and
the soul of boxing champ Mary
Kom (MC). And what a grand
entry!
Ladies and gentlemen, we give
you Priyanka as the gritty volatile
boxer from Manipur who won't
take no for an answer, even from
god. Penetrating a male domain
like boxing in a gender-defying
swoop, Priyanka's MC takes us on
a voyage of self-discovery where
a plucky poor girl from rural
Manipur goes right to the
Olympics. It's an incredible story
filled with sound and fury signify-
ing something deep and seductive,
just waiting to be told. Hats off to
debutant director Omung Kumar
for bringing us one of the most
inspiring biopics to have ever
reached the silver screen.
"Mujhe bronze pasand nahin
aata," barks MC's coach. As we
see Mary's dreams come true in
front of our eyes, we know she
was born to win.
The narrative has a soaring
quality and texture. It simply
takes off with scarcely any room
for breathing space.
About Manipur's
five-time World
boxing champion
M.C. Mary Kom, the
film hit 72 cinemas
in Assam and just
two in Meghalaya.
A scene from 'Mary Kom'
Chicago festival to screen 25 South Asian films
ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD September 13-19, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info 17
B
ollywood actress Bipasha Basu is happy
that her film "Creature 3D" has been grant-
ed a UA certificate so that children can
watch the entertainer under parental guidance.
"creature3d UA certification! Children can watch
it under parental supervision! They are going to
enjoy this film," Bipasha posted on Twitter
Saturday.
The movie, slated to release Sep 12, is a creature-
based thriller directed by Vikram Bhatt.
Bipasha has been going all out to promote the
film, and she is currently in Dubai to hold a press
conference for the movie. She even shot a special
Dubai episode with the cast and crew of hit comedy
show "Comedy Nights With Kapil".
No finger-pointing in 'Welcome To Karachi':
Arshad Actor-comedian Arshad Warsi, who will
soon start shooting for his next film "Welcome To
Karachi", says the movie looks at political facts in a
real, but light-hearted manner.
"My character is that of an ex-navy man and he is
accident prone. Somehow, he reaches Karachi
without any documents or papers. So you can
imagine what follows," the 46-year-old said here
Friday at the 'mahurat' of the film.
"It is a comedy with political facts, but they have
been shown in a very light way. There is no finger-
pointing. It is a very light and fun film, but the facts
are real and not fabricated," he added.
The film stars some Pakistani as well as
American and Bangladeshi actors, and they will be
shooting in London.
To be directed by Aashish R. Mohan, "Welcome
To Karachi" also stars Irrfan Khan.
T
he Chicago South Asian Film
Festival, which was
started just over five
years ago, by a dedicated
group of Indian film afi-
cionados, has grown to be a
significant event in
Chicago's art and film land-
scape. The festival, the
largest of its kind in the
Midwest, will this year pres-
ent over 25 films in down-
town Chicago and in theaters
and public libraries in the
city's suburbs, from Sept 18-
21. The organizers have said
that the selection includes a
carefully curated collection of
independent films, shorts, doc-
umentaries, events and discus-
sions. The festival will open
with the Chicago premiere of
Liar' s Dice by director Geethu
Mohandas, which was screened at the
Sundance Film Festival and stars the
current darling of the alternative film cir-
cuit here, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, along-
with Geetanjali Thapa and Manya Gupta.
Another film, Monsoon Shootout, which
also stars Siddiqui, will be the center-
piece film. One of the major sponsors of
the festival this year is Zee Cinema.
Siddiqui has confirmed his attendance at
the event, according to a spokesperson
for the festival. Chicago's Mayor Rahm
Emanuel has said in a message, "The
festival creates an innovative cultural
and cinematic experience for Chicagoans
and visitors alike. Through the gift of
film, the Chicago South Asian Film
Festival invites all to share and enjoy the
magic of cinema and true cultural
exchange. The City is proud to host this
extraordinary partnership between the
South Asian community and the arts and
entertainment industry."
Among the films to be screened are "A
boy called Boris" directed by Ashok
Vish, "Are you listening", a documentary
from Bangladesh, "Brahmin Bulls"
directed by Mahesh Pailoor and
"Monsoon shootout" directed by Amit
Kumar.
Schwarzenegger to attend
'Ai' audio launch
in Chennai?
I
n a YouTube video posted by Sony Music India,
Hollywood star Arnold Schwarzenegger is seen saying
that he will attend the audio launch of filmmaker
Shankar's magnum
opus "Ai" in
Chennai on
September 15.
"Hello India! I
want to congratu-
late a great director
Shankar for direct-
ing 'Ai'. It's a spec-
tacular movie with
a lot of visual
effects and I'll be
coming over there
to India to celebrate
the grand launch of
the audio of 'Ai'. It's
going to be a spec-
tacular event and
I'm really looking
forward to it.
"Chennai, Sep 15, I
will be there for the
great celebrations. Hasta la vista, baby," the "Terminator"
star, who has reportedly made a cameo in the film, said in
the video, which was posted on the online platform Friday.
A description of the video reads: "Watch the Macho,
Arnold Schwarzenegger, share a special message with his
fans in India.
The Terminator visits Chennai to be a part of the grand
audio launch of A.R. Rahman's magnum musical, Vikram
starrer 'Ai' by ace director Shankar. 15th September, Don't
Miss It." "Ai", which has been in the making for over two
years, features Vikram and Amy Jackson in lead roles. It
has been reportedly made on a budget of Rs.180 crore. The
movie will release during Diwali.
'Creature 3D' certified UA,
Bipasha hopes kids enjoy it
Hollywood star Arnold
Schwarzenegger
A
kiss from model-actor
Elizabeth Hurley sold for
$81,000 (Rs 49 lakh) at a
fund raising auction for Elton
John's AIDS Foundation. It was
bought by Canadian tycoon Julian
Bharti as part of the auction and
dinner at the music legend' s
Woodside End of Summer Party,
which brought in money for the
singer' s charity, reported
E!Online. The 27-year-old father
of three kissed the 49-year-old
model full on mouth while the
largely celeb crowd cheered on.
Bharti is a Person of Indian
Origin (PIO) and the eldest son of
billionaire Forbes & Manhattan
founder and CEO, Stan Bharti.
Hurley looked absolutely
stunning in a cream mini dress
and gold strappy sandals. She
also draped a fur stole around
her shoulders and accessorised her
look with some neck and ear bling,
along with a gold sparkly clutch bag.
Guests including Ian MCKellen, Ellie
Goulding and Lulu splashed out
$5,100 each on tickets to the exclu-
sive gala, which was held in the
grounds of John' s mansion in
Berkshire
Married Indian origin tycoon pays $81,000 to kiss Hurley
The festival will this year present over 25 films in downtown Chicago and
in theaters and public libraries in the city's suburbs
A poster of 'Creature 3D'
Canadian tycoon Julian Bharti
kissed Elizabeth Hurley
September 13-19, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Singapore: A heritage trail taking
people through nine stops in the
heart of Little India will be
launched as part of this year' s
Diwali celebrations, a media report
said Tuesday.
An initiative of the Little India
Shopkeepers and Heritage
Association, the trail is expected to
attract a large number of tourists
and locals, The Straits Times
reported.
"We planned it to be an experien-
tial tour of the historic district and
to encourage people to explore the
treasures of Little India," said the
association's chairman, Rajakumar
Chandra.
Diwali, the most important festi-
val in the Hindu calendar, will be
celebrated Oct 23 this year. During
this festival of lights, temples and
streets in Little India are decorated
with streamers and dazzling lights.
London: Neel Mukherjee, a Kolkata-born
British citizen, on Tuesday emerged as the
only Indian-origin writer to be named in this
year's Man Booker prize longlist of authors
vying for the prize in its debut as a global lit-
erary award.
London-based Mukherjee has been select-
ed for his second novel, "The Lives of
Others", published in May this year.
The book is based in the author's birth
place of Kolkata and centers around a dys-
functional Ghosh family in the 1960s.
Mukherjee, who went on to study at
Oxford and Cambridge Universities, reviews
fiction for Times and Sunday Telegraph.
His first novel "A Life Apart" was a joint
winner of the Vodafone-Crossword Award in
India.
There are six novels from Britain, five
from the US, one from Australia and one
from Ireland shortlisted for the prize.
For the first time in its 46-year history, the
50,000 pounds prize has been opened up to
writers of any nationality, writing originally
in English and published in the UK.
Previously, the prize was open to authors
from the UK & Commonwealth, Republic of
Ireland and Zimbabwe.
First awarded in 1969, the prize is recog-
nized as the touchstone for high quality liter-
ary fiction written in English.
Australia's Richard Flanagan is the only
non-British representative of the
Commonwealth on the 13-strong list, while
US novelists fill four spots.
Manama: Bahrain's King Hamad
has lauded the Indian expatriate
community for its contribution in
pushing forward the island nation's
development. King Hamad bin Isa
Al-Khalifa made the remarks
Saturday during the two-day visit by
India's External Affairs Minister
Sushma Swaraj to attend a forum
meeting held here on investment
opportunities in India, the Gulf
Daily News reported Sunday. "The
Indian migrants are welcomed and
appreciated by all in Bahrain," the
report quoted king Hamad as say-
ing. Bahrain is home to around
290,000 expatriate Indians.The king
also praised Bahrain's historic links
with India. Citing his successful
visit to India in February, King
Hamad stressed the importance of
high-level official contacts, which
strengthen political, economic and
trade relations between the two
countries.
He also hailed the steadily-grow-
ing relations between the two
nations which, he said, were based
on mutual respect and joint coordi-
nation. On Saturday, addressing
around 400 delegates comprising
overseas Indians as well as business
and industry leaders from Bahrain at
the Diaspora Engagement Meet
here, Sushma Swaraj stressed the
need to make overseas Indians a
part of this development agenda.
This was the first visit by the Indian
external affairs minister to the Gulf
Cooperation Council (GCC) region
after taking over office in May.
DIASPORA 19 September 13-19, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info
India-born Neel Mukherjee in
Man Booker prize longlist
File photo of Singapores Little India
Neel Mukherjee
Third Nagar Kirtan of
Indian Sikh Temple
Santiago City, Isabela,
Philippines was held on
Sept. 6.
Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa
Al Khalifa
Heritage trail to mark Diwali in
Singapores Little India
Bahrain king praises Indian expatriates
Johannesburg: Daya
Reddy, an Indian-origin
South African mathemati-
cian has been elected as the
new president of the
International Council for
Science (ICSU). Reddy has
been voted by representa-
tives of ICSU's 120 national
members and scientific
unions attending the organi-
zation's General Assembly
in Auckland, New Zealand.
ICSU is a non-governmental
organization with a global membership of
121 national scientific bodies and 31 inter-
national scientific unions. South African
science and technology minister Naledi
Pandor joined the science community in
congratulating Reddy.
"It means a lot for South Africa and for
Africa; it shows that our continent is being
recognized for its skills, ability to lead and
the role we are playing in global science,"
said Pandor. "It is a great honor for South
Africa, because it recognizes the excellent
work of our researchers and scientists and
their contribution to global
bodies," he said.
Reddy said he was partic-
ularly keen to ensure that
ICSU becomes as inclusive
as possible, so that, as the
voice of science, the body
could involve the entire
community worldwide.
"ICSU is in a special posi-
tion to promote the values of
science and provide leader-
ship in seeking scientific
approaches to the world's
problems," he added. Reddy obtained his
PhD degree in civil engineering from the
University of Cape Town, and a PhD
degree from Cambridge University. He is
president of the Academy of Science of
South Africa and serves as co-chair of the
InterAcademy Council, a body which pro-
duces reports on scientific, technological
and health issues for governments and
global organizations.
Reddy's research interests lie at the inter-
section of applied mathematics and engi-
neering sciences.
Indian-origin mathematician
elected president of ICSU
Dr Daya Reddy
New Delhi: India has held out the
possibility of talks between Prime
Minister Narendra Modi and
Pakistani Premier Nawaz Sharif in
New York this month, with
External Affairs Minister Sushma
Swaraj saying there are no full
stops in diplomacy and the govern-
ment would respond as the situa-
tion emerged.
In her first press conference since
taking charge of the ministry in
May, Sushma Swaraj said the gov-
ernment will decide on possible
talks between Modi and Sharif on
the sidelines of the UN General
Assembly as the situation pans out.
"There are no full stops in diplo-
macy," she said. "We will respond
as the situation develops. We are
not going with a predetermined
mind set," she said in response to
another query on the possibility of
Modi-Sharif talks.
The possibility of the New York
talks looked bleak after India
called off the Aug 25 Foreign
Secretary-level talks in Islamabad
over Pakistan high commissioner
in India Abdul Basit hobnobbing
with Kashmiri separatist leaders.
The Foreign Secretary-level talks
were scheduled to be the precursor
to the bilateral meeting between
Modi and Sharif.
Sushma Swaraj said that Modi, in
his talks with Sharif in New Delhi
after the swearing-in ceremony,
had taken several initiatives to
push forward the ties, including
proposing trade on the Wagah-
Attari border and the Foreign
Secretary-level talks.
"Who derailed this initiative? It
was Pakistan," she said.
Asked if there was a flaw in
India's Pakistan policy in the wake
of the sari-shawl diplomacy of
good ties between the two leaders
which culminated in the talks being
called off, Swaraj denied it.
"There is no flaw in our Pakistan
policy. We had good talks during
the May meeting between Modi
and Sharif. But they have not been
able to start the trade on the
Wagah-Attari border."
"On the Foreign Secretary talks,
our Foreign Secretary spoke to
theirs and it was decided to hold it
in Islamabad, and on Aug 25. But
before that what was the need (for
the Pakistan envoy) to invite the
separatists?" Swaraj said.
"What was the need, what did
they achieve? We have said clearly
that if you speak with them, we
will call off talks, and so we called
off the talks... Where is the flaw in
insisting that they not interfere in
our internal affairs?" Swaraj posed.
To another query if Pakistan's
response to Modi's offer of help in
relief efforts in Pakistan-adminis-
tered Kashmir has not been very
welcoming, Swaraj said she did not
think so. She said Pakistan's "bhav"
or feeling was good to Modi's offer
"and I think it should be appreciat-
ed".
Washington: Suggesting
that Pakistani army and its
spy agency ISI were target-
ing India and their own
Prime Minister Nawaz
Sharif in a dangerous game,
a former CIA analyst has
advocated greater US-India
intelligence cooperation.
Release of a new Al Qaeda
videotape of its leader,
Ayman Zawahiri, announc-
ing the creation of an Al
Qaeda franchise in India had
further complicated the situ-
ation, according to Bruce
Riedel, now director of the
Intelligence Project at the
Brookings Institution.
"Zawahiri made the tape in
his hideout in Pakistan, no
doubt, and many Indians
suspect the ISI (Inter
Services Intelligence) is
helping to protect him," he
wrote in an article in The
Daily Beast.
"Zawahiri has longstand-
ing links" to Lashkar-e-
Taeba (LeT), the group
which attacked Mumbai in
2008, and to its leader
Hafeez Saeed," the senior
fellow at the Washington
think tank added.
The US State Department,
Riedel noted had publicly
blamed LeT for an attack on
the Indian consulate in
Herat, Afghanistan, right on
the eve of Indian Prime
Minister Narendra Modi's
swearing in to which he had
invited Sharif too.
Noting that LeT is very
close to the Pakistani mili-
tary' s spy agency ISI, he
wrote, "LeT would not have
taken such a highly provoca-
tive action without at least
some advance nod from the
Pakistani spies in the ISI and
the generals who command
them."
"LeT' s leader, Hafeez
Saeed, lives openly in
Pakistan, frequently appears
on television denouncing the
United States, and is the dar-
ling of the ISI, " Riedel
added.
The United States should
also consider a unilateral
step if another attack occurs,
threatening to place Pakistan
on the State Department list
of states sponsoring terror-
ism, he suggested.
SUBCONTINENT 20 September 13-19 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Islamabad: The Pakistan govern-
ment and the Pakistan Tehreek-i-
Insaf (PTI) have said that progress
has been made during the latest round
of talks, media reported.
A three-hour meeting was held
Sunday in Islamabad at the residence
of PTI Secretary General Jehangir
Tareen, Dawn online reported.
PTI vice chairman Shah Mehmood
Qureshi said that "meaningful dia-
logue has begun" and that both sides
were making "serious efforts to res-
cue the nation from the prevailing
impasse". This was the first time the
PTI expressed such positive senti-
ments about the fate of the talks.
On nearly all previous occasions,
its negotiators accused the govern-
ment of being non-serious about the
negotiations.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, who
leads the government panel, said that
the two sides would meet again
Monday to sort out remaining issues.
"Talks are continuing with serious-
ness and now meaningful dialogue is
taking place," Dar said.
Dar said that the government was
making efforts to end the political
crisis as the country had been suffer-
ing economic losses due to the crip-
pling protests.
PTI leader Imran Khan has said:
"The PTI leadership will approach
the Supreme Court to get Sharif dis-
qualified as he was telling lies on the
floor of the National Assembly
regarding the leadership of the PTI,
Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) and
the army."
New Delhi, Dhaka sign MoU
on traditional medicine,
homeopathy
Dhaka: India and Bangladesh have signed a memo-
randum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation in the
field of traditional systems of medicine and homeopa-
thy. Training, research, exchanges of experts and set-
ting up an academic chair are the highlights of this
new cooperation envisaged in the MoU,
bdnews24.com reported. Bangladesh's health secretary
M.M. Neazuddin and India's Secretary for Ayurveda,
Yoga and Naturapathy Unani, Siddhi and Homeopathy
(AYUSH) Nilanjan Sanyal signed the MoU in Dhaka
on the sidelines of the World Health Organization
(WHO) regional meeting. Health Ministers of
Bangladesh and India, Mohammed Nasim and Harsh
Vardhan respectively, WHO Director-General
Margaret Chan and its South-East Asia Region
(SEARO) director Poonam Khetrapal Singh were also
present when the document was signed.
Nepal to hold all-party
meet on constitution
drafting
Kathmandu: Nepal's political parties are set to hold an
all-party conference later this month to persuade the CPN-
Maoist, which boycotted the Constituent Assembly elec-
tions last year, to come on board the constitution drafting
process, party leaders said. A task force comprising mem-
bers from major parties -- the Nepali Congress,
Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist
(CPN-UML), United Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist
(UCPN-M) and Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist -- is
making preparations to hold the conference in the third
week of September, Xinhua reported. The task force is
finalizing the procedures, terms of condition and other
technical details of the round table conference which will
be chaired by Prime Minister Sushil Koirala. After a long
hiatus, major parties that are in the Constituent Assembly
have agreed to hold an all-party conference, a major
demand of the CPN-M since last year.
No full stops in diplomacy: Sushma on Modi-Sharif meet
Prime Minister Narendra Modi with
Pakistani Premier Nawaz Sharif
Bruce Riedel, now director of the Intelligence Project
at the Brookings Institution. Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan
Talks progress between Imran's party, Pak government
'Pak army, ISI targeting
India to hit Sharif'
INTERNATIONAL
Washington: Nearly six years after
he entered the White House with a
promise to end America's decade of
wars, President Barack Obama has
reversed course with a vow to strike
the Islamic State terrorists "wherev-
er they exist".
In a nationally televised address
from the White House, a sombre
looking Obama outlined a "steady,
relentless" strategy to "degrade and
ultimately destroy" the militant
group with expanded airstrikes in
Iraq as also neighboring Syria.
But even as he signaled a broader
role for the US military, he suggest-
ed that "This mission will not be
like the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan" and "will not involve
American combat troops fighting on
foreign soil."
"This effort will be a steady and
relentless approach to take out ter-
rorists who threaten us, while sup-
porting our partners on the front
lines," Obama said.
"I have made it clear that we will
hunt down terrorists who threaten
our country, wherever they are," he
said. "That means I will not hesitate
to take action against ISIL (as he
called IS) in Syria, as well as Iraq.
"This is a core principle of my
presidency: if you threaten
America, you will find no safe
haven."
Obama's speech from the White
House also sought to convince
allies of a firm US commitment to
lead an international coalition to
fight the Sunni militants variously
known as ISIS, ISIL and Islamic
State. "America will lead a broad
coalition to roll back this terrorist
threat," he said. "Our objective is
clear: We will degrade, and ulti-
mately destroy, ISIL through a com-
prehensive and sustained countert-
errorism strategy."
The president also announced
another 475 American military
advisers would go to Iraq, pushing
the total figure to more than 1,000.
"We can't erase every trace of evil
from the world, and small groups of
killers have the capacity to do great
harm. That was the case before
9/11, and that remains true today,"
Obama said.
IS poses a threat to the Middle
East, including the people of Iraq
and Syria, he said, adding: "If left
unchecked, these terrorists could
pose a growing threat beyond that
region, including the United States."
Later in an email Obama outlined
his four point strategy as: conduct a
systematic campaign of airstrikes
against these terrorists; increase
support to the forces fighting them
on the ground; working with part-
ners prevent ISIL attacks; continue
providing humanitarian assistance
to the innocent displaced civilians.
"This is American leadership at its
best: We stand with people who
fight for their own freedom. And we
rally other nations on behalf of our
common security and common
humanity," he said.
Commenting on Obama's speech,
the New York Times said the
President had "effectively set a new
course for the remainder of his pres-
idency and all but ensured that he
would pass his successor a volatile
and incomplete war, much like the
one he inherited when he took
office."
Obama's "plan may mark the first
direct US intervention in Syria, a
reversal of the White House's long-
held resistance to becoming entan-
gled in its 3-year-old civil war,"
said the Los Angeles Times.
The Washington Post called
action against Islamic State a 'lega-
cy issue' for Obama.
21 September 13-19, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Baghdad: US Secretary of State
John Kerry met with the new Iraqi
leaders in Baghdad and discussed
building up a strategy against the
Islamic State (IS) Sunni extremist
group.
During the visit, Kerry held a
meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister
Haider al-Abadi, who called for
the international community to
assist Iraq's struggle against the IS,
Xinhua reported.
"Our role is to defend our coun-
try, but the international communi-
ty is also responsible to protect
Iraq, and protect the whole
region," Abadi told reporters in
English after his meeting with
Kerry.
"What is happening in Syria is
coming across the international
border to Iraq. There is a role for
the international community and
for the United Nations, and for the
United States to act immediately,"
to tackle the threat of the militants
in neighboring Syria, he said.
For his part, Kerry hailed the
new Iraqi leadership for the quick
formation of a new government,
saying that he was impressed by
the prime minister' s plans to
rebuild the Iraqi military and push
broad political reforms.
Kerry said he was "encouraged"
by al-Abadi' s "commitment to
broad reforms that are necessary in
Iraq to bring every segment of
Iraqi society to the table", and
praised his government's readiness
to move forward to conclude an
"oil agreements necessary for the
Kurds, and on the representation
of Sunnis in government and par-
ticipation".
He said that the US was pre-
pared, together with many other
countries, to form a broad coali-
tion "in order to take on this terror-
ist structure, which is unacceptable
by any standard anywhere in the
world".
Earlier in the day, Kerry arrived
in Baghdad on an unannounced
visit to hold talks with the new
Iraqi leaders. His visit is part of his
Middle East tour to consult with
US partners and allies in a bid to
seek support for the anti-terrorism
coalition.
Kerry meets Iraqi leaders,
discusses anti-terror strategy'
Cameron makes plea to Scotland not to
separate from Britain
Barack Obama also announced another 475 American military
advisers would go to Iraq, pushing the total figure
to more than 1,000.
Obama vows to hit Islamic State 'wherever they exist'
London: British
Prime Minister David
Cameron has made a
highly personal plea
to the people of
Scotland, urging
them not to "rip
apart" Britain, and
warning that a vote in
favor of Scottish
independence would
be a "leap in the
dark".
In an article pub-
lished Wednesday in
the Daily Mail, the
prime minister called
on Scots to vote in
the referendum set
for Sep 18 with a
"no" to the independ-
ence proposal.
The head of
Britain's conservative
government pointed out that the world looks with
"admiration and envy" at the progress made by mod-
ern Britain, such as the National Health Service
(NHS).
"If we pull together, we can keep on building a bet-
ter future. We can make sure our destiny matches our
history, because there really will be no second
chances. If Britain breaks apart, it breaks apart forev-
er," Cameron argued.
"That is why a 'no' vote does not mean a vote for
the status quo. 'No' does not mean no change. It
means significant further devolution for Scotland --
major new powers over tax, spending and welfare all
being passed to Scotland," the prime minister added.
Partisans of the "no" vote stepped up their cam-
paign this week after a poll published by the Sunday
Times suggested that the "yes" to independence
option would win the referendum.
According to that poll, supporters of separation
would win by 51 percent against 49 percent of those
opposed to the separation.
Cameron, leader of the Labour opposition, Ed
Miliband, and Cameron's deputy premier Nick Clegg
of the Liberal Democratic Party, all cancelled their
weekly appearance in the House of Commons to
travel to Scotland.
All three will be campaigning in Scotland this
week, but they will tour separately in different parts
of the region to seek support for their cause.
The unionist camp has promised to give more pow-
ers to Scotland if the "no" vote carries the day,
including changes to the tax system and welfare poli-
cies.
In the referendum, residents of Scotland are asked
to answer with a "yes" or "no" to the question:
"Should Scotland be an independent country?"
British Prime Minister David Cameron implored Scots not to vote for inde-
pendence in next week's referendum.
US
Secretary
of State
John
Kerry
Gujarat invites US industry to join India's transformation
Washington: A delegation from
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's
home state of Gujarat has invited
US industry to be part of India's
growth story as the new Indian
government is focused on indus-
try, business and investments.
"With Modi' s firm belief in
minimum government and maxi-
mum governance, India is bound
to rise, opening up tremendous
opportunities for everyone," said
Bharat Lal, resident commission-
er of Gujarat, leading a "Vibrant
Gujarat" delegation at an investor
event.
The visiting delegation made a
pitch for India at the industry
roundtable jointly organised by
the Confederation of Indian
Industry (CII) and US-India
Business Council to highlight the
positive investment and business
climate in Gujarat.
India's Ambassador to the US,
S. Jaishanker, highlighted the new
government's efforts at bringing
centrality to business, human
development initiatives, focus on
manufacturing, skills develop-
ment, enabling modern infrastruc-
ture, building a viable rural econ-
omy and urbanisation.
Lal said with the government
focused on implementation, facil-
itating the ease of doing business,
removing impediments to growth
and overcoming developmental
challenges, Gujarat presents a
model of inclusive growth and
development.
It has emerged as a hub for
manufacturing, knowledge shar-
ing, auto components, pharma-
ceuticals, financial services,
power and now aims to be the
education and defence manufac-
turing hub of India, he said.
Ford and Abbott laboratories
provided insights into their rich
and fruitful experience in Gujarat,
highlighting the welcoming state
governmental initiatives, ease of
doing business, developed infra-
structure and its rich talent pool.
"Gujarat is a model for the rest
of the world to follow, capital and
investments look for the warmest
homes possible. Thank you
Gujarat for providing us that
home," said Ziad Ojakli, Ford
Group vice-president of govern-
ment affairs and community rela-
tions.
Ford also announced setting up
of their biggest manufacturing
plant in Gujarat that would
become their base for export in
the region.
The 7th edition of the Vibrant
Gujarat Global Summit is project-
ed as a "Global Investor Forum"
and is scheduled for Jan 11-13,
2015, at Mahatma Mandir,
Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
Washington: Apple has unveiled
a new Apple Watch, touting it as a
comprehensive health and fitness
device, a mobile wallet called
Apple Pay and two bigger screen
versions of the iPhone, the 6 and
the 6 Plus. "What we didn't do
was take the iPhone and shrink
the user interface and strap it on
your wrist," said Chief Executive
Tim Cook dressed in a purple,
untucked shirt at Apples splashy
launch event at Flint Centre in
Cupertino, California.
The Apple Watch pairs with the
new iPhones to display notifica-
tions. It features a magnetic
charger, health and fitness apps
and a crown that controls zoom
and scrolling with a twist. It also
tells time. Apple said it will sell
three versions of the Apple
Watch, including a sports model
and an 18 carat gold model called
the "Apple Watch Edition".
The Apple Watch also comes in
two sizes, one slightly smaller
than the other. The iPhones have
curved edges and bigger screens
that measure 4.7 inches and 5.5
inches, up from just four inches
on the iPhone 5S. The smaller
one is 6.9 mm thick and the 5.5-
inch version is 7.1 mm thick.
The larger iPhones have what
Apple is calling "Retina HD" dis-
plays. The iPhone 6 comes with
more than 1 million pixels -- a
third more pixels than the iPhone
5S. The iPhone 6 Plus has 2 mil-
lion pixels, double the iPhone 5S'
screen.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court
granted another 15 working days
to Sahara Group chief Subrata
Roy to negotiate the sale of three
hotels located in New York and
London to arrange Rs.10, 000
crore as part payment of investors'
money.
The part payment of Rs.10,000
crore that group companies SIRE-
CL and SHICL have to pay to
market regulator SEBI also hap-
pens to be the condition for the
grant of bail to Roy and two other
group directors Ravi Shankar
Dubey and Ashok Roy Choudhary
who are in judicial custody since
March 4.
A bench of Justice T.S. Thakur,
Justice Anil R. Dave and Justice
A.K. Sikri, while granting another
extension of 15 working days in
the conference hall of the Tihar
Jail court complex, said: "If we
shut the doors on him, it does not
take him or us anywhere."
The court was told that as a con-
sequence of the New York hotel
deal going through rough weather,
the Bank of China, that backed
Sahara when it bought said hotels,
was weighing option of stepping
in to recover its investment in the
three hotels. Three off-shore
hotels that Sahara is negotiating to
sell are Grosvenor House Hotel in
London and the New York Plaza
and Dream New York hotels in
New York apart from other prop-
erties within the country.
New York: The market value of
the social networking site
Facebook has crossed the $200
billion mark, making it the 22nd
largest company in the world.
The companys stock closed at
$77.6 Monday - a new all-time
high - giving it a market capitali-
sation of $200.26 billion, media
reports said.
According to reports, future
prospects for Facebook are bright
because the firm is yet to monetise
acquisitions like photo-sharing
site Instagram and mobile messag-
ing service WhatsApp. It is also
some time away from placing a
significant number of pricey video
ads in users news feeds.
Facebook has also purchased
virtual reality headset maker
Oculus VR Inc for nearly $2 bil-
lion.
The company also announced
Monday it now has 100 million
users in Africa.
The company now ranks just
behind Verizon Communications
Inc and ahead of Toyota Motor
Corp on the list of the world's
biggest corporations.
Apple unveils bigger iPhones,
Apple Watch & Apple Pay
The 7th edition of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit is projected as a
"Global Investor Forum"
Subrata Roy
BUSINESS September 13-19, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info 22
Subrata Roy gets 15 days more to sell hotels
Apple Chief
Executive
Tim Cook
launching
Apple
Watch and
iPhone 6
Facebook's market value tops $200 bn
SPORTS 23 September 13-19, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info
New York: India' s Sania Mirza and
Brazilian Bruno Soares beat American-
Mexican pair Abigail Spears and Santiago
Gonzalez in the final to win the US Open
mixed doubles title here.
Sania, who had faced defeat only a day
earlier losing the women's doubles semifi-
nals, bounced back brilliantly to win her
third Grand Slam title.
The top seeds won 6-1, 2-6, 11-9 in super
tie-break in a see-saw match lasting an hour
at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.
After winning the first set decisively,
Sania and Soares stumbled dramatically in
the second, taking the match into a super
tie-break.
The topsy-turvy nature of the match con-
tinued as the top seeds let go of a 9-4 lead
to let their opponents tie the scores at 9-9.
In the end, however, the Indian-Brazilian
pair, who have been so impressive in the
entire tournament, held on to win two con-
secutive points to take home the title.
The 27-year-old Indian had earlier won
the Australian Open (2009) and the French
Open (2012) mixed titles.
Her best performance in the women's
doubles was when she reached the final of
the French Open.
New York: Croatian Marin Cilic won
his first Grand Slam title with a com-
prehensive straight-sets win over
Japan's Kei Nishikori at the US Open.
The 14th seed Cilic won 6-3 6-3 6-3
to become the first Croat to win one of
the four tennis majors since his coach,
Goran Ivanisevic, at Wimbledon in
2001, BBC reported.
He dominated throughout on a cool,
breezy day in New York, hitting 17
aces and dropping serve just once in
one hour and 54 minutes.
Clic's victory completes a Grand
Slam year that has witnessed eight dif-
ferent winners of the singles titles
across the men's and women's games,
for the first time since 1998.
New Delhi: Indian tennis stars Leander Paes,
Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna will skip the
Asian Games being held in the South Korean
city of Incheon from Sep 19 to Oct 4, to focus
on the professional circuit.
The participation of these players had
remained a big question mark after top singles
player Somdev Devvarman decided to miss
the continental Games to focus on getting
back into the top-100 in the world.
All India Tennis Association (AITA) presi-
dent Anil Khanna Wednesday said in a state-
ment that Paes, Mirza and Bopanna's request
to give the Asian Games a miss has been
granted. They are now free to play Association
of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and Women's
Tennis Association (WTA) events which will
help them in improving their rankings which
will further enable them to take part in the
year-ending tour finals. "In respect of Asian
Games, special circumstances have developed
where it is necessary for the players to partici-
pate in ATP and WTA events to protect their
rankings and to give the additional push to
qualify for the year-end World Masters," said
Khanna. "Considering the important require-
ment of players, the AITA has decided to
respect their requests and allow them to play
the ATP/WTA tournaments so that they can
have a respectable opportunity to represent the
nation in the World Championships to be held
at the end of the year."
New York: World No.1 Serena Williams of the US beat 10th-seeded Dane Caroline
Wozniacki to win her third straight and sixth overall US Open title.
The 6-3, 6-3 win at Flushing Meadows here was the 18th Grand Slam victory for
Williams. She is now tied with Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova for the fourth-most
WTA titles in history, reports Xinhua."It means a lot to me," said Williams. "I just could
never have imagined that I would be mentioned with Chris Evert or with Martina
Navratilova, because I was just a kid with a dream and a racquet, living in Compton."
The ceremony was an emotional one.
Williams tried hard to stop her tears.
"It's a pleasure for me to win No.18 here,"
Williams said. "I couldn't ask to do it at a bet-
ter place."
Williams struggled to keep her first serve
but followed with five straight breaks. With
a 4-2 lead in hand, Williams went on to win
the eight and tenth game to close the first
set 6-3. The second set saw Williams take
a 2-0 lead again. The two players held
serves until Williams broke Wozniacki
in the ninth game to win the match.
"None of the matches are easy,"
said Williams, who never needed
more than two sets to win any match
at the tournament. "Even today if I
would have lost a game I would have
been serving for it.
"Caroline was returning, starting to
play a lot better, starting to return
really, really well, and then she started
serving really well. So we had longer
points and we were running back and
forth and back and forth. So it definitely
wasn't anything that was easy." Williams
played an aggressive match. She had as
many as 29 winners throughout the match,
while Wozniacki only had four.
Serena wins third straight
US Open title
Sania-Soares hold on to US Open mixed doubles title
India's Sania Mirza and Brazilian Bruno Soares with the trophy
Croatian Marin Cilic defeated Japan's Kei
Nishikori in take the trophy.
Marin Cilic wins US Open title
No Asian Games for Paes, Mirza, Bopanna
Serena Williams with the trophy
Leander Paes
A
respiratory virus has hit
the US state of Missouri,
sending hundreds of
children to hospital, a media
report said Monday. Virologists
were looking into the unusually
high number of hospitalizations
caused by enterovirus, and at
least 10 other states -- Colorado,
North Carolina, Georgia, Ohio,
Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas,
Oklahoma and Kentucky -- have
contacted the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) for assistance, CNN
reported.
Although enterovirus infec-
tions are quite common and
affect millions of people world-
wide each year, it was the high
number of hospitalizations that
was worrying experts.
"We're in the middle of look-
ing into this... We don't have all
the answers yet," a CDC official
said. In Kansas City, 475 chil-
dren were recently treated at
Children's Mercy Hospital, and
at least 60 of them received
intensive hospitalization.
Enterovirus infections are
associated with symptoms
including mild respiratory ill-
ness, hand, foot and mouth dis-
ease and acute hemorrhagic con-
junctivitis.
HEALTH 24 September 13-19, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Virus hits hundreds
of children in US
I
f you are working long
hours at the desk, do make
it a point to take a five
minute walk every hour to
reverse negative effects of
prolonged sitting, says an
Indian-origin researcher.
"We found that easy five
minute walks can reverse
harm caused to leg arteries
during hours of prolonged sit-
ting," claimed Saurabh
Thosar, a post-doctoral
researcher from the Oregon
Health and Science
University.
When people sit, slack mus-
cles do not contract to effec-
tively pump blood to the
heart.
Blood can pool in the legs
and affect the endothelial
function of arteries or the abil-
ity of blood vessels to expand
from increased blood flow.
"We have shown that pro-
longed sitting impairs
endothelial function, which is
an early marker of cardio-vas-
cular disease and that break-
ing sitting time prevents the
decline in that function,"
added Thosar, who led the
study as a doctoral candidate
from Indiana University' s
school of public health.
The study involved 11 non-
obese, healthy men between
ages 20-35.
In one trial, they sat for
three hours without moving
their legs.
In the second trial, the men
sat during a three-hour period
but also walked on a treadmill
for five minutes at a speed of
two mph at the half hour, 1.5
and 2.5 hour marks respec-
tively. Researchers demon-
strated that during a three-
hour period, the flow mediat-
ed dilation, or the expansion
of the arteries as a result of
increased blood flow, of the
main artery in the legs was
impaired by as much as 50
percent after just one hour.
The participants who
walked for five minutes each
hour of sitting saw their arteri-
al function stay the same - it
did not drop throughout the
three-hour period.
"Normally, a working adult
sits for approximately eight
hours a day. The impairment
in endothelial function is sig-
nificant after just one hour of
sitting. It is interesting to see
that light physical activity can
help in preventing this impair-
ment," Thosar concluded.
A
nyone who's ever attempt-
ed to lose weight knows
the frustration of trying --
and failing at -- different diets. But
a study published last week in the
Journal of the American Medical
Association suggests any low-car-
bohydrate or low-fat diet can pro-
duce significant weight loss
results.
People should choose diets that
they can stick to, rather than fret
over low-fat versus low-carb, says
study author Bradley Johnston,
assistant professor of clinical epi-
demiology at McMaster
University in Hamilton, Ontario.
Researchers looked at 48 previ-
ous studies that included a total of
7,286 overweight and obese
adults.
Many participants followed pop-
ular name-branded diets, including
the low-carb Atkins, South Beach,
or Zone diets, the balanced
"Biggest Loser," Jenny Craig,
Nutrisystem, Volumetrics or
Weight Watchers diets, or the low-
fat Ornish or Rosemary Conley
diets.
The participants reported their
body weight or body mass index
before and after following the
diets.
After six months, those on low-
carb diets and low-fat diets lost
approximately the same amount of
weight -- around 18 pounds. The
researchers found those on brand-
name diets saw only small varia-
tions in the amount of weight lost.
"There may be important differ-
ences to some individual clinicians
or some individual dieters, but
overall the differences are mini-
mal," Johnston said.
In addition, exercise and behav-
ioral support enhanced weight
loss. Behavioral support includes
things like group support, counsel-
ing and/or meeting with a regis-
tered dietitian.
After a year, many people
stopped losing weight and gained
a couple of pounds back. The
average sustained weight loss was
16 pounds.
The researchers noted exercise
continued to enhance weight loss,
whereas the results for behavioral
support were no longer significant
after a year.
In an editorial accompanying the
study, Linda Van Horn of the
Northwestern University Feinberg
School of Medicine in Chicago
argued that limiting carbohydrates
or fat can be risky. Focusing solely
on weight loss, she wrote, only
makes these popular diets seems
healthy.
As soon as you start reducing or
eliminating macronutrients like
fat, carbs or protein, you run the
risk of avoiding foods that "actual-
ly have a host of nutrients to
them," she said.
People who eat a low-carb diet,
for example, often miss out on the
fiber, potassium, Vitamin C and
other phytochemicals that are
important to good health.
The debate over low-fat and
low-carb diets has been going on
for decades. And the JAMA study
likely won't put a stop to it.
Just on Monday, a study of 148
people published in the Annals of
Internal Medicine found that a
low-carb diet is superior to a low-
fat one for weight loss.
Participants on the low-carb diet
reduced their cardiovascular risk
factors. They also saw reductions
in fat mass, along with improved
cholesterol levels.
"With the obesity epidemic,
everyone is really interested in the
best way, the easiest way to lose
weight," said Lauri Wright, regis-
tered dietitian nutritionist and
spokeswoman for the Academy of
Nutrition and Dietetics, who was
not involved in either study.
"For every one study that shows
the low-carb is better, then there's
a counter study that shows that
low-fat is better. And it's very con-
fusing."
Wright recommends people see
a dietitian to develop an individu-
alized plan.
"We're not only trying to lose
weight, but we're also trying to
prevent diseases," she added. "We
want to make sure the diet is not
only low in calories, but it has
really high-quality nutrition
value."
5 minute walk every office
hour good for your heart
E
ating fruit before you go to bed
cleans your teeth and all mouth-
washes do the same job are some
of the myths related to dental health, but
experts rule them out as lack of knowl-
edge.
TePe, the experts in oral hygeine, have
acknowledged that people find it difficult
to differentiate between facts and myths,
reports femalefirst.co.uk.
According to a recent survey conducted
by TePe, many of us struggle to know
what is good practice when it comes to
taking care of our teeth, with 20 percent
of respondents questioned brushing only
once a day and 45 percent having never
heard of floss or interdental brushes.
This lack of knowledge can do more
harm than good so here are few myths
debunked by the brand's experts.
Myth: Eating fruit before you go to bed
cleans your teeth
Fact: While containing necessary nutri-
ents, a lot of fruits contain sugary sub-
stances that are not good for your teeth
before bed. Eating fruit before bed pro-
vides sugary and acidic conditions for
plaque bacteria to thrive. Coupled with
the reduction in the protective saliva flow
that occurs naturally at night, eating fruit
before bed puts teeth at risk of damage
Myth: There is no harm in sharing
toothbrushes
Fact: It is always best to keep to your
own toothbrush because your unique bac-
teria does remain on the brush and some
bacteria simply should not be shared in
this way.
Myth: All mouthwashes do the same
job
Fact: Mouthwashes, like toothpaste,
contain different ingredients that are
included to achieve different results.
Some of the ingredients are not suitable
for all individuals. People with a dry
mouth, who suffer with mouth ulcers or
who have sensitivity should avoid mouth-
washes that contain alcohol.
Myth: Brushing your teeth harder than
normal is a better way to keep them clean
Fact: To maintain a healthy mouth, it is
recommended that we brush for two min-
utes, twice a day with a soft to medium
toothbrush, using a gentle circular brush-
ing motion with fluoridated toothpaste
and cleaning the spaces in between the
teeth with floss or an interdental brush.
Dental health - Oral myths debunked
Low-carb or low-fat? Both good + cut calories
We should brush for two minutes,
twice a day with a soft to medium
toothbrush, using a gentle circular
brushing motion with fluoridated
toothpaste and cleaning the
spaces in between the teeth with
floss or an interdental brush
(pictured).
ART & CULTURE 25 September 13-19, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Amjad Ali Khan tours US to promote 'The Sarod Project'
Chicago: Sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali
Khan and his sons, Ayaan and Amaan, will
undertake a concert tour of the US through
October. The concert and Khan's teaching
stint at Stanford is part of what he calls 'the
sarod project', an attempt to make more
Americans aware of the sarod, a musical
instrument, which has so far not been as
well known as the sitar, popularized in the
West by the late Pandit Ravi Shankar.
Khan will be in residency at Stanford in
the spring to teach a course, "Classical
music - a way of life"
"Since my childhood, I always wanted
my instrument, the sarod to be able to
express the entire range of human emo-
tions...to sing, shout, whisper and cry. It has
been a long journey so far and by the
benevolence of the heavens, the sarod has
become far more expressive than it was 25
years ago. Those moments are a pro-
found reminder of the blessing it is to
be in the position of loving-and living-
your life's work. Across cultures and
faiths, music has always been the path-
way to spirituality," Khan said.
Khan said he had a debt of grati-
tude to his father and guru. "For
my father Haafiz Ali Khan,
though, there was no question
of a life out-
side music.
Life itself
was music
and music
was Life.
And so I
came to
inherit from him
the legacy of
five genera-
tions of
musicians as
naturally as
a bird taking
to the air.
Referring to
the inevitable
comparisons
with his
sons, he
said, "I never wanted to
create two more Amjad
Ali Khans. I gave both
Amaan and Ayaan the
freedom to develop their
musical minds and tastes
in the most natural way.
Today, I feel that they are
both very
blessed to
have a mind of
their own
mu s i c a l l y
and also
have their
di st i nct i ve
flavors as
artists."
Khan said
that classical
music will
thrive under the
new generation
of musicians,
even as the art
r e m a i n s
u n c h a n g e d .
"Today we have
cell phone, I
pods etc, but
nobody could
create a thir-
teenth note.
These twelve musical notes are the base of
every kind of music in the world. In fact
music has connected the whole world. We
are still struggling on account of religion
and power.
We need kind and compassionate people
in the world and I see classical music as a
means to nurture such feelings," he said.
Washington DC: Nastaliq: The
Genius of Persian Calligraphy is
the first exhibition (starting at
Smithsonian, Washington DC) of
its kind to focus on nastaliq, a
calligraphic script that developed
in the fourteenth century in Iran
and remains one of the most
expressive forms of aesthetic
refinement in Persian culture to
this day. More than 20 works
ranging in date from 1400 to
1600, the height of nastaliqs
development, tell the story of the
scripts transformation from a
simple conveyer of the written
word to an artistic form of its
own. The narrative thread empha-
sizes the achievements of four of
the greatest master calligra-
phersMir Ali Tabrizi, Sultan
Ali Mashhadi, Mir Ali Haravi,
and Mir Imad Hasaniwhose
manuscripts and individual folios
are still appreciated not only for
their content but also for their
technical virtuosity and visual
quality.
Ustad Amjad Ali Khan wants to make Americans more aware of the sarod, which has so far not been
as well known as the sitar, popularized in the West by the late Pandit Ravi Shankar.
London: Economic growth is the main driver of
language extinction, says a study that also identi-
fied the global "hotspots" where languages are
under threat.
Levels of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) per
capita - GDP divided by mid-year population - cor-
related with the loss of language diversity, the find-
ings showed.
The more successful a country was economically,
the more rapidly language diversity was disappear-
ing. Using the same criteria adopted for defining
endangered species, the researchers measured the
rate and prevalence of language loss and found that
conservation efforts should be focused on north
Australia and the north-western corners of the US
and Canada.
They also point to areas in the tropics and the
Himalayan regions which are undergoing rapid
economic growth as future "hotspots" for language
extinction, such as Brazil and Nepal.
"As economies develop, one language often
comes to dominate a nation's political and educa-
tional spheres," said study co-author Tatsuya
Amato from the University of Cambridge in
Britain.
"People are forced to adopt the dominant lan-
guage or risked being left out in the cold - econom-
ically and politically," Amato added.
"Languages are now rapidly being lost at a rate of
extinction exceeding the well known catastrophic
loss of bio-diversity," the researchers said. "Of
course everyone has the right to choose the lan-
guage they speak, but preserving dying language is
important to maintaining human cultural diversity
in an increasingly globalized world," Amato noted.
The study appeared in the journal Proceedings of
Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.
Languages are now rapidly being lost at a
rate of extinction exceeding the well known
catastrophic loss of bio-diversity
Economic growth to blame for
disappearing languages
Exhibition at Arthur M. Sackler Gallery/Smithsonian,
running through March 22, 2015.
Genius of Persian calligraphy on show
(1) Detail of folio from the Gulshan Album.
Calligraphy by Mir Ali Haravi. Probably Uzbekistan, Bukhara,
Sheybanid period, ca. 1540. Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold
on paper.
(2) An album folio signed by Sultan Ali Mashhadi, Safavid
period, circa 1510-15.
26 September 13-19, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info SELF HELP
College dudes: how to look dapper even
when you live in a dorm
E
veryone faces setbacks in
life. While those personal
obstacles can lead to disap-
pointing outcomes, they can also be
harnessed into personal motivators,
say experts.
When it comes to success, set-
backs can be used to motivate one
to action, rather than the alterna-
tive, says five-time New York
Times best-selling author and jour-
nalist Josh Young, who has studied
this concept intimately. As author
of And Give up Showbiz? the
new biography of illustrious per-
sonal injury lawyer Fred Levin,
Young documents the rise and suc-
cess of someone to whom life
handed lemons.
Levin is listed in every edition of
Best Lawyers in America, and is
inducted into the Trial Lawyers
Hall of Fame. But his still-thriving
legal career that spans over a half-
century wasnt written in the stars.
Levin grew up the son of a pawn-
broker and dog track manager at
the end of the Great Depression.
Barely passing college, his success
was certainly against the odds.
Having closely studied and
tracked Levins exponential rise to
success, Young is offering insights
into how to turn your impediments
into assets.
When a door is closed, open
a window: When your limitations
are beyond your control, view them
as opportunities. As a Jewish
lawyer, few doors were open to
Levin in the early 1960s, especially
in the particularly profitable area of
corporate law. Levin leveraged this
anti-Semitism that was prevalent at
the start of his career to forge a path
for himself as a personal injury
lawyer -- a profession that was then
in its infancy and distained by the
established, but would eventually
become wildly lucrative.
Levin also harnessed his own
personal experiences with discrimi-
nation to become an open advocate
for African Americans and gays,
and has been honored by the United
States Congressional Black Caucus
and the United Nations for his
efforts.
Dont get silo-ed: The skills
that have served you well in one
arena can be applied to others, as
well. So dont get stuck on a nar-
row path. Levin, for example, has
successfully pivoted into worlds
unrelated to trial law, tackling such
diverse challenges as founding the
first reality cable TV station, man-
aging the boxing career of one of
the greatest boxers to ever live, and
even running a chain of womens
dress shops and barbecue joints.
Discover what it is about you that
helped you succeed and find ways
to apply those skills in new ways.
Turn insult into victory:
Not everyone with power and influ-
ence over your future is going to be
your advocate. Rather than let
naysayers prophecies become real-
ity, succeed in spite of their beliefs
about your potential. When Levin
entered law school, he had a repu-
tation as a party boy, gambler and
lousy student. Having barely skid-
ded through college, the dean of his
law school predicted he would
never graduate. Even while dealing
with the death of his brother, Levin
proved the dean wrong, graduating
third in his class.
Even when obstacles abound, so
do opportunities. With some cre-
ative thinking, you can triumph
over setback
F
or college students, particularly
men, grooming may not always
be top of mind. Between class-
es, studying and all that socializing,
time for such niceties can be limited.
And for those living in shared spaces,
communal bathrooms dont make
things any easier.
But there are a few basics every guy
can do to look his best throughout his
college years:
Laundry
Dont wait until your next trip home
to do your laundry -- you run a greater
risk of letting stains and odors set.
Even if your wardrobe consists pri-
marily of old t-shirts and jeans, regu-
larly washing your clothes will make
you look better -- and smell better to
boot. Additionally, a clean pillow case
can help prevent acne breakouts.
Shaving
A smooth shave will go a long way
toward impressing professors, class-
mates and fellow partygoers.
Unfortunately, irritation, razor burn
and nicks are all too common if you
cut steps or rush through the job.
Avoid mishaps by applying a thick
layer of a moisturizing shave gel that
contains ingredients like Vitamin E
and aloe. For instance, Edge Shave
Gel contains soothing conditioners
and emollients to help enhance razor
glide and reduce irritation from shav-
ing. Edge shave gel offers a variety of
formulas such as Sensitive, Ultra
Moisturizing and Sensitive Pro-
Relief, to match your unique skin type
and shaving needs.
Avoid applying too much pressure
to the razor. With a high-quality razor
with multiple blades that shape to the
contours of the skin, and a good shave
gel, you wont need to push too hard
for a close shave. For example,
Schicks Xtreme3 disposable razors
have three blades that actually flex to
the contours of your face, and a lubri-
cating strip with aloe to promote a
comfortable shave.
Simplify
If youre traveling down the hall to
a communal bathroom, you may want
to streamline what you need in the
shower. Invest in a shower caddy so
you can hold all your items easily.
Look for products that perform multi-
ple functions, such as an all-in-one
shampoo, conditioner and body wash.
Likewise, strive to keep things simple
scent-wise. Make sure your after-
shower products -- such as deodorant
and body spray -- complement the
scent of your washing products.
Stay Healthy
Sometimes cramming for an exam is
unavoidable. But overall, you should
aim to stick to a sleep schedule that
offers you plenty of shut-eye.
Additionally, take advantage of
healthy dining options on campus and
your campus fitness center. Also be
sure to drink plenty of water to coun-
teract the dehydrating effects of some
of the other beverages you may be
consuming.
When it comes to looking good, you
dont need to spend a lot of time -- a
simple grooming routine and healthy
habits will go a long way.
How to turn personal obstacles into triumphs
P
reparing for college life is a
must, whether you are
planning to live on or off
campus. But it can be over-
whelming without a game plan.
To make this exciting experi-
ence as smooth as possible, the
college experts at Bed Bath &
Beyond are offering helpful shop-
ping tips for students and parents.
Use a checklist: Stay
organized and on budget with a
checklist. Some retailers offer
online and in-store lists breaking
down the essential gear needed
for on and off-campus living.
Know your school rules:
To avoid any unwelcome surpris-
es on move-in day, learn your
school-specific rules before shop-
ping. From microwaves to cof-
feemakers, know what you can
and cant bring to your school.
Look up your school rules at
www.bedbathandbeyond.com/sh
opforcollege.
Create a college registry:
A registry makes a great resource
for family and friends choosing
graduation or college gifts.
Students can also use their reg-
istry to share what theyre bring-
ing to school with roommates.
Meet the roomie: Once
students receive their housing
assignment, they should connect
with their future roommate to
finalize room decisions and avoid
duplication.
Make packing easy: Take
advantage of resources that make
transporting your items to college
easier. For example, Bath &
Beyond has a free in-store serv-
ice, Pack & Hold, which allows
students to select dorm room
essentials at a store near home
and have everything ready to pick
up for purchase at a store near
campus.
Bedding: The bed is pretty
much the center of dorm room
life, so make it comfortable and
stylish. School-provided mat-
tresses are often thin, so consider
adding a memory foam topper or
fiber bed for extra support.
Remember that most dorms
require twin extra-long sheets
(TXL), and dont forget to protect
the mattress against bed bugs and
allergens with a mattress protec-
tor. Coordinate your bed and
room on budget with a value
Campus Collection. For ideas,
v i s i t
www.bedbathandbeyond.com.
Organize: Maximizing
space is a must. Create more
room with storage and organiza-
tional items under the bed, over
the door and in the closet. For
example, Real Simple Slimline
Flocked Hangers allow students
to hang more clothing per unit of
space. Look for multi-functional
items, such as bed risers that have
an AC outlet and USB charger.
Make it homey: Add an
area rug and throw blankets for
extra warmth, or add accents like
a cool side table and colorful
throw pillows. Welcome friends
and study buddies with functional
and stylish seating like the Bunjo
Bungee Chair or Sound Lounge
Speaker Ottoman. Decorate the
walls with dry erase message
boards, artwork and photo dis-
plays.
Study smart: Make sure
your work space is highly func-
tional. Youll need plenty of stor-
age for school supplies, lighting
for late night cramming and a
surge protector to plug-in all your
devices.
Creating a home away from
home can be a challenge. Use
tools and resources specifically
designed for college-bound stu-
dents to stay organized and on
budget.
(StatePoint)
Shopping tips
for college-bound student
LIFESTYLE 27 September 13-19, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info
D
o you know why despite your best
efforts, the slice of pizza you are
about to enjoy flops over and dan-
gles from your fingers?
It has nothing to do with either a non-stiff
crust or extra toppings. You just need to
learn a bit of science about how to hold
your slice right. The cue lies in a powerful
mathematical result about curved surfaces
invented by the German mathematical
genius Carl Friedrich Gauss in the 19th
century. He named it Theorema Egregium -
Latin for excellent or remarkable theorem.
This is how it works for pizza.
When the pizza is flat, it has zero curva-
ture. When you pick up a slice, fold the
pizza slice sideways in a U-shape.
This way, you are forcing it to become
flat in the other direction - the one that
points towards your mouth. This will keep
the slice from flopping over.
The theorem assures that one direction of
the slice must always remain flat - no mat-
ter how you bend it, the pizza must retain a
trace of its original flatness, wired.com
reported.
I
f you managed to control your desire to
have sex with your partner before tying
the knot, have heart as the wait was
worth it! According to an interesting study,
couples who waited longer to have sex
while in a relationship were more likely to
see higher levels of marital quality.
"Forty-two percent of those who said
their relationship did not begin as a 'hook-
up' were most satisfied on marital quality,"
said psychologists Galena K. Rhoades and
Scott M. Stanley associated with the
National Marriage Project at the
University of Virginia.
The participants who said their relation-
ship began as a "hook-up" were less likely
to have a higher quality marriage.
Of those who said their relationship
began with a "hook up", a mere 36 percent
ranked in the top 40 percent of overall
respondents for marriage quality, the web-
site KMBZ.com reported.
The authors analyzed data from the US
relationship development study funded by
the National Institute of Child Health and
Human Development.
The study recruited over 1, 000
Americans between 2007 and 2008 who
were unmarried but in a relationship with
someone of the opposite sex and between
the ages of 18 and 34.
The authors also found that the majority
of them had sex before marriage with mul-
tiple partners.
"But those few individuals who
abstained reported a better quality of mar-
riage than people who had multiple sexual
partners," the authors concluded.
E
ven as benefits of
h o me - c o o k e d
meals gain curren-
cy among parents,
researchers have found
that home cooking and
family meals place a sig-
nificant stress on many
families - and are simply
impossible for others.
"This idea of a home-
cooked meal is appeal-
ing, but it is unrealistic
for a lot of families," said
study co-author Sarah
Bowen, an associate professor at the
North Carolina State University in the
US.
"We found that middle-class, working-
class, and poor families faced some simi-
lar challenges," said co-author Sinikka
Elliott, who is also from the North
Carolina State University.
For example, mothers from all back-
grounds reported difficulty in finding
time to prepare meals that everyone in
the family would be willing to eat, Elliott
said.
A lack of transportation and limited
finances make it difficult for mothers in
poor families to provide their children
with fresh meals.
In addition, middle-class mothers
reported being torn between their desire
to spend quality time with their children
and the expectation that they needed to
provide the children with a home-cooked
meal.
But, while all families reported finan-
cial considerations as a factor in meal
planning, finances affected family deci-
sions in very different ways.
For example, middle-class mothers
were concerned that they were not able to
give their children the best possible
meals because they could not afford to
buy all organic foods.
Their financial limitations made it
more difficult for poor families to afford
fresh produce or have access to the
kitchen tools needed to prepare meals.
For the study, the researchers inter-
viewed 150 female caregivers in families
with children between the ages of two
and eight, as well as conducted in-depth
observations of 12 of these families for a
total of 250 hours.
Family dinner stressful for many
in US, shows study
Wait for sex and enjoy
a happy married life
W
ith an increasing amount of money
in their bank accounts, young peo-
ples trust in others and confidence
in societal institutions are at their lowest
point in over three decades, says a new sur-
vey. Young people today are more optimistic
about their own prospects, but are apparently
deeply distrustful of other people and large
institutions.
Adults show these trends as well, suggest-
ing that these attitudes are a product of the
times and not necessarily a permanent gener-
ational shift, explained lead researcher Jean
M. Twenge, a psychological scientist from
the San Diego State University.
According to him, compared to Americans
in the 1970s-2000s, the US citizens in the
last few years are less likely to say they can
trust others.
They are also less likely to believe that
institutions such as the government, the
press, religious organizations, schools and
large corporations are doing a good job,
Twenge added.
With the rich getting richer and the poor
getting poorer, people trust each other less.
There is a growing perception that other peo-
ple are cheating or taking advantage to get
ahead, he noted.
To examine trust over time, researchers
looked at data from two large, national repre-
sentative surveys of people in the US: the
General Social Survey of adults (1972-2012)
and the Monitoring the Future Survey of
12th graders (1976-2012).
Together, the surveys included data from
nearly 140,000 participants.
The data showed, for example, that while
46 percent of adult Americans agreed that
most people can be trusted in 1972-1974,
only 33 percent agreed in 2010-2012.
Among 12th graders, while 32 per cent
agreed that most people can be trusted in
1976-1978, only 18 per cent did so in 2010-
2012.
The respondents in both surveys reported
high confidence in institutions in the late
1980s and again in the early 2000s, with con-
fidence then declining to reach its lowest
point in the early 2010s.
The decline of social capital is a pro-
foundly negative trend for a democracy, a
system of government predicated on the few
representing the interests of the many,
researchers concluded.
With rising incomes, young in
US losing trust in others
How to
hold your
pizza slice
T
he ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has
been a huge success around the
world, generating more than $100
million for the ALS Association. Conceived
as a way to raise awareness about ALS
(amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) and help find
a cure for the disease, the Ice Bucket
Challenge has gone viral, causing immense
joy at the offices of the ALS Association, as
well as the companies that produce ice. Even
the rapper Vanilla Ice is thrilled, as millions
of people feel a sudden urge to listen to his
1990 hit song Ice Ice Baby.
While the Ice Bucket Challenge has also
been a hit in India, another campaign has
been gathering steam: The Rice Bucket
Challenge. It requires you to eat an entire
bucket of rice at one meal. Then make a
donation to the Diabetes Foundation of
India.
Actually, the Rice Bucket Challenge isnt
like that at all. The brainchild of Hyderabad
journalist Manju Latha Kalanidihi, it
involves giving a bucket of rice to a needy
person. Participants are asked to post a
photo on social media of the rice-giving, tag
their friends and challenge them to do the
same.
Its local, desi and a practical solution to
issues in the vicinity, Kalanidihi wrote on
Facebook. Instead of wasting water on ice
bucket challenge, save water and feed the
hungry.
Not only does the Ice Bucket Challenge
seem wasteful to many Indians, its hardly
challenging to some of them.
Ice Bucket Challenge is no big deal for
me, a Kerala man named Thomas T.
Thomas said. I take ice-cold bath with
bucket every day anyway. It cools me off.
Very refreshing.
The Rice Bucket Challenge is far more
appealing to him and others. Dozens of pho-
tos of grateful people receiving buckets of
rice have been posted on the Facebook page
of the Rice Bucket Challenge. More than
60,000 people have liked the page, and
even Vanilla Ice has endorsed the idea,
promising to release a new version of his
song called Rice Rice Baby.
The popularity of the Ice Bucket
Challenge and the Rice Bucket Challenge
will no doubt produce many other similar
campaigns. Here are some that you should
definitely add to your bucket list:
The Spice Bucket Challenge: Like the
Rice Bucket Challenge, this is perfect for
Indians, Pakistanis and others who like to
spice it up. Just fill up a bucket with your
favorite spice and donate it to a needy per-
son. This challenge will be promoted world-
wide by The Spice Girls and co-sponsored
by SpiceJet, Old Spice and Wendys Spicy
Chicken Sandwich.
The Mice Bucket Challenge: This is far
more challenging than the Ice Bucket
Challenge. Just go to a pet store, buy a buck-
etful of mice and dump them on your boss at
work. (Be honest youve been dreaming of
doing this for a long time.) Your boss may
scream obscenities at you, but just tell him
or her that its for a good cause: the emanci-
pation of mice. Post a photo of your achieve-
ment online and receive a lifetime member-
ship in PETA (People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals).
The Device Bucket Challenge: You prob-
ably have a friend who is always buying the
latest device, whether its a cellphone, iPod
or tablet computer. Your challenge is to fill a
bucket with all the devices lying around and
dump them on your friend. Tell your friend
to donate some of his devices to a charitable
organization that can use them. If he com-
plains, dont make a big deal about it. Just
leave him to his own devices.
The Lice Bucket Challenge: This is per-
haps the most difficult challenge of them all.
Find children in your town or city who have
lice in their hair, do them a big favor by
removing all their lice, and dont stop until
youve filled an entire bucket. When some-
one asks you if youve done the Ice Bucket
Challenge, dump the bucket on them and
say, No, but Ive done the Lice Bucket
Challenge.
The Advice Bucket Challenge: Ask all
your friends and relatives for advice all
kinds of advice: how to pay for college,
how to get a job, how to find a spouse, how
to save money for retirement. Write all the
advice on strips of paper, fill a bucket with
it, and dump it on your children. Trust me,
theyll be eternally grateful. But just in
case they arent, keep a bucket of mice
ready.
Humor with Melvin Durai
28 September 13-19, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info HUMOR
Laughter is the Best Medicine
The Rice Bucket Challenge
Gathers Steam
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.
13th September, 2014
Traits in you: As you are influenced by Uranus, you are
born dynamic, elegant, confident, studious and reliable.
You are efficient and determined enough to execute every
task you are assigned. This makes you distinguished from
the others. You are always assigned an important and cru-
cial position to handle as you are able to take responsi-
bility and take care of it. However, you should not show
your jealousy over few things to add value to your per-
sonality.
Health this year: Work pressure may show its bad effect
on your health and weaken you. To avoid health issues,
take your food on time and practice physical exercise to
stay fit and healthy. You may visit various pilgrimages to
attain peace of mind.
Finance this year: You have to invest intellectually by
completely studying the market conditions else you may
face huge loses. If you are in import/export business of
garments, you may expect drastic increase in your profit.
If you are a builder, you will be in huge profit later this
year.
Career this year: This year you will be flooded with op-
portunities to perform and grow in your professional ca-
reer. If you are planning to move abroad for business pur-
pose, you will get good news as per your expectations.
You may plan for foreign trips for professional require-
ments
Romance this year: You will be very happy with your
relationship with your spouse or partner as you will get
timely support and advice.
Lucky month: December, April, May and August
14th September, 2014
Traits in you: Your ruling planet blesses you to be intel-
ligent, rational, dynamic and highly daring. Your fore-
sightedness is exceptional though you fail to convert your
plans because of your lack in interest, casual behavior
and frequent mood swings.
Health this year: As your parents will remain sick, you
may take stress for their health.
Finance this year: You should not get into new business
or any kind of new partnership as it may prove to be very
disappointing this year. You should go through the con-
tracts vividly before signing it as huge money will be in-
volved with it. You should not get into financial commit-
ments before thinking its positives and negatives. Later
this year, you may be able to earn some financial and per-
sonal benefits.
Career this year: You will grow as a profession by ac-
quiring knowledge over new technologies. Your skillsets
will enable you to work efficiently, which in return will
give you apromotion or salary hike.
Romance this year: You may get involved in a new ro-
mantic relationship through your friends. If you are mar-
ried, you will be enjoying a very good relationship with
your spouse throughout the year.
Lucky month: January, March and September
15th September, 2014
Traits in you: Venus, being your ruling planet makes you
lively, elegant, attractive, helpful, diplomatic and realis-
tic. You have a charismatic personality and your confi-
dence makes you popular in your friend circle. However,
you should work on your nature of being outspoken and
restless.
Health this year: If you have some chronic disorders,
you need to get your medical checkup done on a regular
basis. You may try meditation and yoga for better results.
Finance this year: Your financial status will be im-
proved this year followed by your new business plans.
You will be successful in multiplying your investments,
which would result in exceptional profits this time
around.
Career this year: You will be able to implement all your
learnings and education in your profession and this will
bring you lots of appreciation, respect and even a pro-
motion.
Romance this year: Towards the end of the year you
may get married. If you are not planning to marry this
year, you may continue with your romantic relationship.
Lucky month: October, December, February and June
16th September, 2014
Traits in you: Being ruled by Neptune, you are the mas-
ter of all the positive characteristics. You are reliable, lov-
ing, caring, creative, and very much emotional. Whatev-
er may be the situation, you always smile and that makes
your nature an attractive one. You can easily make
friends. Despite being very intelligent, you do not have
control on your arrogance and stubbornness. To become
an improved individual, you need to work on your nega-
tive characteristics.
Health this year: You will enjoy a sound health this year.
However, sickness of a family member will be the reason
of concern for you.
Finance this year: You need to work hard this year to get
maximum benefits from your previous investments. You
will get enough support from your family members if you
suffer losses and they will also help you take crucial fi-
nancial decisions. If you want financial growth, you
should visit overseas for the same. You will get chances
to meet popular and influential individuals during your
foreign trips.
Career this year: You will be successfully completing
you previous pending projects and works and this will
bring you satisfaction and mental peace.
Romance this year: You will be deeply involved in the
romantic relationship you are currently in. You may de-
cide to get married this year.
Lucky month: November, March, May and July
17th September, 2014
Traits in you: Your governing planet Saturn helps you
become elegant, realistic, truthful, disciplined, and cre-
ative. By nature you are helpful and committed to your
friends so you will enjoy respect in your friend circle.
However, you have to work on your nature of being jeal-
ous and rigid.
Health this year: Some young family member may fall
sick and you may feel stresses and concerned for the
same.
Finance this year: This year, you will be able to find var-
ious profitable investment opportunities. However, you
need to be selective in investing your money. Do a vivid
research on market conditions and risk factors before go-
ing for any investment. You should not disclose your
plans to the people you do not trust as it may cause prob-
lems in future. You will be able to expand your business
by partnering with other profitable associates.
Career this year: You will be highly rewarded this year
if you are a journalist, doctor and marketing profession-
al
Romance this year: If you are eligible for marriage, it
may happen this year.
Lucky month: December, February, April and Septem-
ber
18th September, 2014
Traits in you: Mars being your ruling planet blesses you
with intelligence, courage, energy, enthusiasm, and so on.
Your have strong decision making capabilities and your
decisions always stand correct. You have strong analyti-
cal skills and you are very much diplomatic to handle any
kind of problems in your personal and professional life.
You should control your temper to improve as a person.
Health this year: You should avoid alcohol and smoking
to remain healthy and physically fit.
Finance this year: You will be hugely benefited from
your past investments as it will earn you unexpected
money. Your legal matters may settle down and you will
be benefited from it. You may receive gifts from your
friends and relatives to hold your confidence high. You
will start your business with a high note.
Career this year: You need to concentrate on your career
this year by putting your maximum efforts. You may get
satisfactory results for your efforts.
Romance this year: You will enjoy a happy personal life
during this year with love and support from your spouse
or partner.
Lucky month: October, February, May and August
19th September, 2014
Traits in you: As you are influenced by the Sun, you pos-
sess the nature to become strong, truthful, reliable, con-
fident, responsible and creative. You are devoted to your
father as you consider him to be your friend, mentor and
inspiration. Despite of being a well mannered individual,
you are stubborn and careless. You need to work on your
negative characteristics to improve as a human being.
Health this year: You will find peace of mind if you fol-
low spirituality.
Finance this year: You may go for transaction of your
properties. You may go for constructing new house or
renovating old one.
Career this year: Association with creative individuals
will help you gain a lot of knowledge, money apprecia-
tion, and recognition. This year your performance will be
exceptional and you can easily impress your seniors and
higher management. You will be able to showcase your
responsibility taking capacity in your profession and that
will allow you grow and reach new heights.
Romance this year: Your romantic life would be extra
ordinary this year. You will not find your spouse to be
supportive enough. You may suffer a lot in your person-
al life as well.
Lucky month: January, April, June and September
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: September 13-19, 2014 Annual Predictions: For those born in this week
29
ARIES: Responding positively &
quickly to new ideas in business will go
in your favour. You would be the centre
of attraction at a social gathering that you
attend especially with family. You are likely to
raise capital through collecting outstanding
debts or asking for funds to work on new proj-
ects. Extremely supportive & loving partner
would help in withering away your troubles.
Charity work undertaken will bring mental
peace & comfort. Journey to some famous his-
torical place sounds exciting to your kids. If
you wish to achieve a good deal in property
then try at commercial basis. You put mind to
test by playing chess/crosswords or writing a
story/poetry.
TAURUS: 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. Financial hassles will be eased out
with the help of your friends. Romantic vibra-
tions from someone unknown would lift your
spirits taking imaginations to scaling heights.
Meditation and self-realization prove benefi-
cial. Romance is in full bloom, a journey full of
pleasure is your crave. Develop an attitude to
be successful on your property investment
plans. Friends find it very difficult to influence
you with their views.
GEMINI:You will be successful in
regaining your professional touch. You
move with new excitement & confi-
dence as you receive support from family and
friends. Certain important plans will be execut-
ed, bringing fresh financial gains. Love life
brings immense romantic pleasure. You will
have ample time to do things to improve your
health. Its time to travel with innovative imag-
ination. If you are looking for a sure-fine
method to earn on your property, student rental
could be exactly what you need. A promising
week to follow issues that you have neglected
earlier.
CANCER: Self-confidence helps in
making an impact at professional front.
Family front seems to go smoothly as
you receive their full support to your plans.
Speculations are likely to bring monetary prof-
its. Travelling proves a blessing in disguise by
bringing a love in your life. Sound physical
health will enable to participate in outdoor
activities. Are you longing to go on a vacation
then be ready for it? Looking to buy property,
then go for commercial one. Charity & social
work will attract you in this week.
LEO: Valuable support from a colleague
would help in professional matters. If
possible undertake the projects that
would benefit the whole family. Monetary posi-
tion is likely to improve later in the week. You
are likely to get a new friendship opportunity in
the evening. You will be successful in getting
rid from tensions. Your whole family needs a
holiday, look further and take a break. Good
time to purchase a property. Construction work
undertaken will finish to your satisfaction.
VIRGO: Good week for computer profession-
als as they realise their dreams. You find
relief, comfort and affection in the com-
pany of family members. Hard work of
previous days brings good fortune enabling to
fulfil monetary promises. New romance that
some of you are going to experience would
take the worries off mind. A sparkling laughter
filled week when most things proceed, as you
desire. Plan and enjoy a holiday, little hassle-
bustle might be possible. A good deal for your
new property is ready to be made. You are like-
ly to hear some compliments, which you were
expected for long.
LIBRA: An excellent time for devel-
oping professional contacts. Time
spent with relatives will be to your
advantage. You succeed in making some
extra cash on playing your cards well. You
enjoy a memorable time with partner to
cement the lovely bond. Your enormous con-
fidence would help in enjoying a healthy life.
Be ready to hang out with your friends.
Buying overseas property will be beneficiary
for you. Your choice of activities will not
only keep you busy but also benefit you.
SCORPIO: Senior colleagues coop-
eration brings success at professional
front. Family members will be very
positive & supportive to your plans. An aus-
picious week to invest money on items that
would grow in value. You will be attracted to
someone special. A very healthy week filled
with happiness & vitality. By travelling you
will learn about new places, ultimately its a
great deal for yourself. You can apply for
your home loan. You receive an invaluable
guidance from a spiritual leader.
SAGITTARIUS: Business partners
would be enthusiastic about new
plans & ventures. Relatives will be
willing to lend a helping hand at the time of
need. Investment on long-term plans would
pave the way for earning financial gains.
Warm romantic thoughts occupy mind.
Pleasure trip would help in maintaining
sound health in this week. Pack your bags
and some eatables and go out for a picnic.
Your search for a house is towards its final
destination. You find many takers for your
unique & innovative ideas.
CAPRICORN: Female colleagues
would help in completing pending
work. New relationship at family
front will be long lasting & highly beneficial.
Improvement in finances makes it conven-
ient in clearing long pending dues & bills.
Your charm & generosity bring new roman-
tic opportunities for you. Yoga and medita-
tion would help in keeping in shape and
mentally agile. Many people want to fly
international and you are one of them. Your
personal loan plans for property could be in
progress. You would be full of good ideas
especially in later half of the week.
AQUARIUS: A promising week for
ambitious professionals to demon-
strate technical skills & abilities.
Guests visit would make it a pleasant &
wonderful week. Successful execution of
brilliant ideas would help in earning finan-
cial profits. Love life brightens your week.
Blessings of a saintly person give peace of
mind. By travelling youll learn about new
places and cultures, which is ultimately a
great deal about yourself. Your dream for
new house might be full filed now. Legal
battle proves fruitful as you succeed in your
efforts.
PISCES: Your efforts to put yourself
in a strong position at workplace are
not likely to materialise. You will be
in the mood to celebrate with family and
friends in this week. A very successful week
as far as monetary position is concerned.
Your wit & charm would help in catching the
attention of opposite sex. Chances of recov-
ering from physical ailment are high. You
and your loved ones been busy for quite
sometimes and have finally decided to go on
a vacation. Getting your dream home will be
the greatest pleasure for you. Favourable
planetary position will give you plenty of
reasons to cheer.
September 13-19, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info ASTROLOGY
30 September 13-19, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info SPIRITUAL AWARENESS
J
yoti Meditation (light medita-
tion) is an introductory practice
used in Science of
SpiritualitySawan Kirpal Ruhani
Mission that anyone of any age can
try on your own. The full meditation
technique used in Science of
Spirituality, which leads to inner
experiences of spiritual realms of
light within, is called Shabd
Meditation or Surat Shabd Yoga as
is practiced by people all over the
world.
A good analogy to understand the
joy of meditation can be found in the
reports of those having a near-death
experience, or NDE. In such experi-
ences, someone who underwent a
physical trauma or accident may
have undergone clinical death. As
doctors and medical practitioners
worked on their body, the patients
experienced floating above their
body and watching the procedure
being done on them. Some floated
through walls to witness friends and
relatives in other rooms, what they
were doing, wearing, or saying, and
later, when the patient was revived,
what they saw and heard were borne
out to be true. At some point, those
describing the experience report
going through a dark tunnel to
emerge in a world of light. There,
they met a being of Light who
embraced them with more love than
any they ever experienced in their
physical life. The joy they felt in this
world of light was so tremendous
many did not want to return to life.
During this time, they no longer felt
any pain. The light was bright and
intense but not scorching. This expe-
rience was so loving it transformed
their lives and they realized how
important it is to be loving. They
returned to their body as it was not
their time to die, but they were trans-
formed by the experience. They no
longer feared death and knew that
there was more to life than their
physical body. They knew they
could exist beyond this body.
According to a Gallup Poll, over
thirteen million people reported this
near-death experience. The good
news is that people can experience
the realms of inner light through
mediation without the trauma of a
near-death experience. This bliss
and love can be ours any time we
want through meditation. When we
tap into this place of peace and
calm, we naturally are beyond the
reaches of stress and anger. We are
in a place of joy and bliss that lasts
with us even when we come out of
meditation.
To get started with the Jyoti
Meditation practice, which anyone
can try on your own at home or any-
where you like, sit in a comfortable
pose, most convenient to you, in
which you can sit still for the longest
possible time. While meditating, it is
not necessary to hold hands or touch
anyone else, as any movement
brings your attention back down into
the body, distracting from concen-
tration at the seat of the soul, also
called the third eye, single eye, shiv
netra, divya chakshu, ajna or aggya
charka, tenth door, or daswan dwar
(located between and behind the two
eyebrows).
Close your eyes, gently, as you do
when we go to sleep, but remain
wide awake. Closing your eyes
keeps you from being distracted by
the outer sights of the physical
world. With closed eyes, focus your
attention in front of you. Do not put
pressure on your eyes. Also, do not
raise your eyes upwards towards the
direction of the eyebrows as that
puts pressure on your eyes and fore-
head and can result in a headache.
Rather, keep your eyes focused gen-
tly in front of you and look into the
middle of what appears within.
Keep gazing horizontally, focusing
about eight to ten inches in front of
you with closed eyes.
Look lovingly into
the middle of what
appears in front of
you. At first, you
may see either dark-
ness or light, sparks
of light, pinpoints of
light, flashes of
light, circles of light,
or light of any color,
such as red, orange,
yellow, blue, green,
purple, violet, white,
or golden color. No
matter what you see,
continue to gaze into
the middle of what
appears. You may
see inner vistas such as an inner sky,
clouds, stars, a moon, or a sun.
While gazing into the middle of
what appears, you may notice that
your mind distracts you with
thoughts. You may find that the
thoughts distract you from gazing
within. You may find that you can-
not silence your mind to continue
meditating. To help keep your mind
from distracting you, you can men-
tally and silently repeat any Name of
God with which you feel comfort-
able. This repetition should go on
mentally, and not aloud, as you con-
tinue to gaze. This silent repetition
gives the mind something to do so
that it does not send thoughts to you
that can distract you from meditat-
ing. As your attention converges at
the third or single eye, you may then
see inner lights. These lights are a
reflection of the lights of the inner
realms.
By gazing deeper into the middle
of that light, you can tap into the
spiritual treasures within and enjoy
the profound peace, joy, bliss, and
happiness unlike any found in this
world. Those who meditate are per-
meated with a divine love that
engulfs and fulfills them. The beauty
of meditation is that this joy can
remain with you even after you
resume your daily activities.
May you find this meditation help-
ful in improving the health of your
body, mind, and soul.
By Sant Rajinder Singh
Ji Maharaj
Is Spirituality in your Daily Budget?
A
s people around the world
focus on the economy and
in budgeting their finances
to make ends meet, there is anoth-
er budget that each of us can con-
sider. Besides what we amass in
this physical world, we also are
given a certain number of breaths
by God to use in our physical exis-
tence. We analyze how we are
budgeting the use of our finances,
but how often do we look at how
we are budgeting the capital of our
lifes breaths given to us as a gift
of the Divine?
This is a good time to analyze
how we have been spending our
precious breaths and time, and
whether we can make better use of
them. Are we spending our time
haphazardly and wastefully, or are
we spending it with purpose?
How can we make best use of
our time?
We have twenty-four hours in
the day to budget to our lifes pur-
pose. Just as some of our finances
go to the necessities of life such as
food, clothing, and shelter, so do
some of our breaths go into activi-
ties relevant to our physical sur-
vival. We have to spend time tak-
ing care of the body, such as in
eating, bathing, dressing, sleeping,
and other bodily activities. We
also need to spend time earning a
living to pay for the necessities of
life. We have to go to school or
college or get training for our jobs
as well. If we have a family, we
need to take care of them. We also
want to be a contributing member
of our community and be of serv-
ice to others. Beyond this, we are
left with time we can spend any
way we like. How can we budget
that time to make the best use of
it?
Those on the spiritual path have
set self-knowledge and realization
of the Divine as a goal within this
very lifetime. Saints and spiritual
Masters teach that we do not have
to wait until this life ends to dis-
cover what lies beyond. We can
witness the realms beyond in this
lifetime by sitting in silence,
focusing our attention within, and
exploring the inner spiritual treas-
ures. This involves spending time
in meditation whereby we invert
our attention to find the Divine
within us. Do we budget enough
time for this?
Caring for the soul
Meditation takes practice,
whereby we can connect with the
divine Light and Sound within and
soar on it to explore realms
beyond. The practice of concen-
trating within takes repetition to
become adept at it. As in all tasks
in life, daily practice will help us
achieve success. In planning our
spiritual budgetthe capital of
our lifes breaths to achieve the
goal of union with the Divinewe
need to allocate some time daily
for meditation. Just as we want a
balanced financial budget, we also
want a balanced budget of our
time. Balancing our time means
spending time developing our
physical, mental, and spiritual side
of life. While attending to our
responsibilities of taking care of
our body and mind, we also need
to care for our soul.
As we look ahead to 2013, let us
spend time analyzing how we
want to budget our time. We can
make a chart of how much time
we need to spend in the various
activities necessary for our life to
survive in this physical world and
how much time we need to put
into our spiritual practices.
Mostly, we allocate everything on
our to-do list first and then put in
the time for meditation last. This
year, we can try allocating our
time for meditation first, and then
fit in all the other responsibilities
we have. In this way, we can
ensure that our meditation is not
an afterthought, but as important a
part of our day as our other duties.
Some people find that meditat-
ing in the beginning of the day,
right after we awaken, ensures that
we always get that meditation time
in and do not leave it for last,
when other responsibilities may
take so long we never get to our
spiritual practices. If we make
meditation an essential part of the
day, we will find it becomes a
habit. We will be making the best
use of our time and find that the
spiritual gains we achieve will
enrich all aspects of our lives.
By Sant Rajinder Singh
Ji Maharaj
Those on the spiritual path
have set self-knowledge and
realization of the Divine as a
goal within this very lifetime.
September 13-19, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info
SEP.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info September 13-19, 2014