47 - Vol 7 - Epaper

The South Asian Times
e x c e l l e n c e
Vol.7 No. 47 March 28-April 3, 2015 60 Cents
i n
j o u r n a l i s m
New York Edition
Flight crashed by AutoPilot

Berlin: Transponder data shows
that the autopilot on Germanwings
Flight 9525 was reprogrammed by
someone in the cockpit to change
the plane's altitude from 38,000
feet to 100 feet, according to
Flightradar24, a website that tracks
aviation data.
The co-pilot of the flight that
crashed in the French Alps, named
as Andreas Lubitz, apparently
wanted to "destroy the plane", officials said.
Air traffic controllers made
repeated attempts to contact the
aircraft, but to no avail. Passengers
could be heard screaming just
Continued on page 4
Detailed story on page 22.
A fragment of the Germanwings Flight 9525 plane; (right) Co-pilot

Andreas Lubitz who deliberately crashed plane.
Indian American named

US envoy to Sri Lanka
Washington: After Richard Rahul

Verma, now the US ambassador to
India, yet another Indian
American has been named the
country's envoy. Atul Keshap, a
foreign service official, has been
named as ambassador to Sri
Lanka and the Maldives.
"I am honored that these talented individuals have decided to
serve our country. They bring
their years of experience and
expertise to this administration,
and I look forward to working
with them," President Obama said
announcing Keshap's appointment
with three others.
Currently as Deputy Assistant
Secretary of State in the Bureau of
South and Central Asian Affairs, a
position he has held since 2013,
Keshap assists Nisha Desai
Biswal, the first Indian-American
to lead the bureau.
Now with Keshap's appointments, Indian Americans would
be serving as US envoys in three
of eight SAARC nations. Another
Indian American, Puneet Talwar
as assistant secretary for politicalmilitary affairs, serves as a bridge
FASHION 16
Atul Keshap will be

US ambassador to
Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
between the State and Defence

departments. And Arun Madhavan
Kumar as assistant secretary of
commerce and director general of
the US and Foreign Commercial
Service is charged with boosting
US trade abroad.
Keshap previously served at the
State Department as a US Senior
Official for the Asia Pacific
Economic Cooperation in the
Bureau of East Asian and Pacific
Affairs from 2012 to 2013.
WORLD CUP 24-25
SCI-TECH 26
Follow us on
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Saluting
women of
substance
who inspire
Profiling a few South Asian women who have blazed trails,
pushed past challenges, and shattered glass ceilings.
March is Womens History Month.
Easier business visas

will bring more Indian
workers to US
Washington:
President
Obamas
announcement
Monday to ease
the process to
obtain L-1B
work visas for
corporate executives could
make it easier
for Indian companies to bring employees here.
Such a move, Obama argued
would attract larger FDI to the
US. "This could benefit hundreds of thousands of non-immigrant workers and their employers, that in turn, will benefit our
entire economy and spur additional investment," Obama said
in his address to the SelectUSA
Summit.
A large number of Indian companies were participating in the
SelectUSA Summit aimed at
increasing US exports and
attracting more foreign investment into the US. Large scale
decline of L-1 visas was a major
hindrance in Indian companies
investing in the US.
Detailed story on page 3.
TV anchor Nisha Mathur with Asstt Secretary of State Nisha Desai

Biswal who is profiled in Season 2 of Shades of Shakti
By Jinal Shah
New York: Indian American community may be the model minority, but their women are seldom
talked about, their accomplishments barely noted let alone celebrated, their issues rarely discussed. So, TV anchor and host
Nisha Mathur has put the spotlight
on these empowered women by
doing what she does best - tell stories. Through her show Shades of
Shakti, now in its second season,
Mathur explores the achievements
SPIRITUAL AWARENESS 30
and compelling life experiences of

some inspiring South Asian
women.
The series touches on various
social issues ranging from stigma
of mental health to domestic violence and even child marriage. The
series also talks about the sheer
determination and courage these
women have shown in the face of
daunting challenges.
The women in Shades of Shakti
have blazed trails, pushed past
challenges, and shattered glass
Continued on page 15
excellence in journalism
March 28-April 3, 2015
TRISTATE COMMUNITY
Boost for Indian IT workers as US L-1B visas now easier to get
Washington: President Barack

Obama on Monday announced an
easing of the process to obtain L1B work visas for corporate executives, a move that could end the
large-scale harassment of IT professionals from India and make it
easier for Indian companies to take
employees to the US.
Declaring that "America is
proudly open for business",
President Obama announced plans
to reform the L-1B visa category to
allow global corporations to temporarily move workers to the US in
a faster, simpler way.
"And this could benefit hundreds
of thousands of non-immigrant
workers and their employers; that,
in turn, will benefit our entire
economy and spur additional
investment," he said addressing the
second SelectUSA Investment
Summit here.
"So the bottom line is this:
America is proudly open for business, and we want to make it as
simple and as attractive for you to
set up shop here as is possible,"
President Obama addressing a gathering at

an industrial summit recently
said Obama. "That is what this

summit is all about."
"The fact is there's never been a
more exciting time for us to do
business together," he said. "The
companies that invest in America
have access to the largest market in
the world -- and it's a market that is
strong and stable, and growing."
More than 2,600 people-including 1,300 companies from more

than 70 countries including India
and over 500 US economic development officials from across the
country were attending the summit
launched in 2011.
The Department of Homeland
Security has been tasked to clarify
International Hindi conference

at Rutgers April 3-5
New Brunswick, NJ: The Indian American community in New Jersey is set to welcome hundreds of
participants arriving from India, USA and Canada
at a 3-day International Hindi Conference of academicians, Hindi professionals, teachers, students and
parents.
The conference will be inaugurated by Amb.
Dnyaneshwar Mulay, Consul-General of India in
New York, at the Trayes Hall, Douglass Students
Center of Rutgers university on April 3. The sessions on April 4-5 will take place at the College
Avenue Students Center of the university. The conference aims to start a public debate about the
importance and need of teaching various disciplines, such as science and technology in Hindi.
Two leading professors from IIT Delhi will deliberate on this issue. Local people can enjoy meaningful Hindi poetry at a kavi sammelan to be held
on April 4h at the College Avenue Student Center
in which a dozen poets from various parts of USA
will recite their poems. One of the unique feature
of this conference is that it reaches out to professionals from non-teaching fields, such as corporate
sector and banking industry, said Ashok Ojha,
coordinator of the conference. We are grateful for
Rutgers University School of Arts and Sciences for
mobilizing support and hosting the conference.
A special session on Hindi for professionals purposes will be held on April 4 where representatives
of State Bank of India and Air India will speak at a
The conference aims to start a public debate

about the importance of teaching disciplines
such as science and technology in Hindi.
panel chaired by Dr. Surendra Gambhir, leading

Hindi linguist from the University of Pennsylvania.
Christi Merrill, a well-known Hindi scholar from
Michigan University will be the keynote speaker on
April 4h.
The conference is sponsored by Hindi Sangam
Foundation; Consul-General of India, New York,
Rutgers University and the Indian-American community of NJ-NY and Pennsylvania.
For registration: http://www.hindiconferenceamericas.com/register/
guidelines for global companies

seeking to staff new and expanding
US operations with specialized
knowledge related to their company or industry without impacting
job opportunities for US workers.
The Confederation of Indian
Industry (CII) in collaboration with
SelectUSA released the second
edition of 'US Business and
Investment Climate Report' at the
summit. The report has been created "to serve as a ready reference
guide to not just Indian companies
but to all those looking to expand
their business in the US or enter
the US as an investment destination." Providing a state-by-state
view of the US, the report highlights the 'Top 10 reasons to Invest
' as offered by all 50 US states and
the US territories to businesses.
In his foreword to the report, CII
Director General Chandrajit
Banerjee said "the US-India trade
and commercial relationship has
grown by leaps and bounds with
bilateral trade touching nearly
$100 billion." CII's own studies
have found that Indian companies

have invested in a range of sectors
in the US.
Meanwhile, a study released last
week finds that Indians faced the
maximum rejections under the
L1B category.
"The denial rate for L-1B petitions to transfer employees of
Indian origin is a remarkable 56 %
for 2012 through 2014, compared
to an average denial rate of 13 % to
transfer employees from all other
countries during the period," says
the study by a US think tank.
"Only 4 percent of Canadian
nationals were denied L-1B petitions, compared to 56 percent of
Indian nationals, between 2012 and
2014," says the study by the
National Foundation for American
Society, non-profit public policy
research organization on trade and
immigration issues.
Indian nationals, the study says,
had filed the most number of petitions under the L-1B regime at
25,296 petitions, followed by
Canadians with 10,692 petitions.
US to oppose plea to declare

RSS a terror group
New York: The US has told

a court here that it intends
to move for dismissal of a
lawsuit for declaring India's
Rashtriya Swayamsevak
Sangh (RSS) as a "terror
group" while seeking time
till April 14 to do so.
In a motion filed on
Tuesday before judge Laura
Taylor Swain of the
Sikhs for Justice has filed a lawsuit in the
Southern District of New
US court to label the RSS as a foreign
York, US attorney Preet
terrorist organization.
Bharara said the "government requires additional time to final- John Kerry, Bharara's office acknowlize its motion and supporting papers". edged that the government's deadline
The US-based rights group Sikhs for to respond to the complaint was on
Justice (SFJ) has filed a lawsuit in the Tuesday. But "in lieu of an answer, the
US court to label the RSS as a foreign government intends to move to disterrorist organization, according to SFJ miss the complaint, and requires addiattorney Gurpatwant S Pannun. It has tional time to finalize its motion and
sought such a declaration for RSS for supporting papers," it said.
"In the event this request is granted,
allegedly "believing in and practicing
a fascist ideology and for running a the government would consent to any
passionate, vicious and violent cam- reasonable deadline for the filing of
paign to turn India into a 'Hindu' opposition papers that plaintiff's counnation with a homogeneous religious sel would propose," it added.
RSS is the ideological fount of the
and cultural identity". In its response
filed on behalf of secretary of state ruling party in India, BJP.
TURN PAGE
Yemeni leader flees as Saudi airstrikes raisethe stakes in Yemen conflict
Sanaa/Aden, Yemen: Yemen's

President Abd-Rabbu Mansour
Hadi left his refuge in Aden for
Saudi Arabia on Thursday as
Houthi rebels battled with his forces
on the outskirts of the southern port
city.
Throughout the day, warplanes
from Saudi Arabia and Arab allies
struck at the Shi'ite Houthis and
allied army units, who have taken
over much of the country and seek
to oust Hadi.
Warplanes resumed bombing the
Houthi-held capital Sanaa on
Thursday evening, shaking whole
neighborhoods and terrifying residents. Several civilians have been
reported killed in Sanaa.
Houthi leader Abdel-Malek alHouthi said in a televised speech
Any threat to Saudi Arabia will evoke reaction from Pakistan
People gather at the bombed out site near an

air force base in Sanaa on March 26.
Yemenis would confront the "criminal, unjust and unjustified aggression" by Saudi Arabia. Iran
denounced the surprise assault on
the Houthis and demanded an

immediate halt to Saudi-led military
operations. Tehran also made clear
Saudi Arabia's deployment of a
coalition of Sunni states against its

Shi'ite enemies would inflame the
Swine flu cases cross

33,000 mark, toll 1,994
US stocks continue to drop over

geopolitical tensions
New York: US stocks ended mildly lower
after volatile trading on Thursday, as
investors weighed the geopolitical tensions
in the Middle East against an upbeat job
report, a media report said on Friday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell
40.31 points, or 0.23 percent, to 17,678.23.
The S&P 500 dipped 4.90 points, or 0.24
percent, to 2,056.15. The Nasdaq Composite
Index was down 13.16 points, or 0.27 percent, to 4,863.36, reported Xinhua.
Tensions intensified in the Middle East
after Saudi Arabia and its Gulf Arab allies
began a military operation in Yemen.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates,
Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar said on Thursday
that they had decided to act to protect Yemen
against "aggression" by the Houhti militia,
according to a joint statement. Oil prices
Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif asserted that any

threat to Saudi Arabia's territorial integrity would evoke a strong
response from Pakistan.
Sharif said this while chairing a high-level meeting at the prime ministers house to discuss recent developments in the Middle East and to
examine Saudi Arabia's request to join the Gulf-led operation against
Houthi rebels in Yemen, said a statement issued by prime minister's
house on Thursday, Dawn online reported.
The meeting was attended by Defence Minister Khawaja Asif,
Advisor to Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs
Sartaj Aziz, Army Chief General Raheel Sharif and Air Chief Marshal
Sohail Aman.
Sharif said Pakistan enjoys close and brotherly relations with Saudi
Arabia and other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and
attaches great importance to their security.
spiked on Thursday after Saudi Arabia and

its allies launched airstrikes on Yemen, with
both the US oil and Brent crude surging
more than 4 percent.
Light, sweet crude for May delivery gained
2.22 US dollars to settle at 51.43 dollars a
barrel on the New York Mercantile
Exchange.
The geopolitical worries of Yemen overshadowed the negative effect of supply glut.
US crude production reached 9.422 million
barrels a day last week, the highest level
since 1983, according to Energy Information
Administration, the Energy Department's statistical arm.
Economic data came out positive.
US jobless claims fell to a five-week low,
and investors believed such data pointed to a
healthy and expanding labor market.
New Delhi: Swine flu has claimed a total of

1,994 lives in India this year with the total
number of cases crossing the 33,000 mark,
according to latest data from the health ministry. In less than three months of this year,
the toll has crossed the 2010 peak of 1,763
deaths.
Eight more deaths and 263 fresh cases have
been reported on March 25.
In the first swine flu outbreak in the country
in 2009, there were 981 deaths reported. In
the following year in 2010, the death toll
climbed up to 1,763.
The following years till 2014 had seen the
toll being low with only 218 deaths reported
last year. Swine flu or H1N1 is a respiratory
infection that spreads through coughs,
sneezes and touch.
Short-distance airborne transmission of the
influenza virus may occur, particularly in
crowded enclosed spaces.
sectarian hatreds already fuelling

wars around the Middle East.
Flight crashed by AutoPilot...
Continued from page 1
before the crash. All 150 people on
the flight died. Details are emerging of the German co-pilot's past although his apparent motives for
causing the crash remain a mystery.
Lubitz, 27, had undergone intensive training and "was 100% fit to
fly without any caveats", according
to Carsten Spohr, the head of
Lufthansa, the German carrier that
owns Germanwings.
Spohr said Mr Lubitz's training
had been interrupted for several
months six years ago, but did not
say why.
The training was resumed after
"the suitability of the candidate was
re-established", he said.
German Chancellor Angela
Merkel told reporters that the copilot's apparent actions had given
the tragedy a "new, simply incomprehensible dimension".
The tragedy has aviation circles
rethinking air travel safety and
cockpit rules.
New Delhi Bureau

Meenakshi Iyer
Delhi@TheSouthAsianTimes.info
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TRISTATE COMMUNITY
Chinna Jeeyer swami seeks community help for Ramanuja memorial in Hyderabad
Flushing, NY: Spiritual guru

Chinna Jeeyer Swamy has paid
glowing tributes to Sri Ramanujacharya, a great Hindu saint, saying he was instrumental in making
the houses of worship open to all
sections of society, including untouchables.
In 2017, the 1,000 birth anniversary of Ramanujacharya will be
celebrated across India and abroad.
Jeeyer swami, who is playing the
pivotal role in setting up a stupendous memorial to the acharya,
highlighted the latters steadfastness in difficult circumstances in
his life.
The high priest of the Tirumala
temple had threatened that he (Ramanujacharya) would go to hell if
he persisted with his demand of allowing the bottom rungs of society
to worship at the venerated temple
on the seven hills, the swami said.
The acharya was unbothered and
said he would be glad to go to hell
for the sake of vast numbers of society who had been disallowed to
Special to The South

Asian Times
The saint from south India gave a discourse at

the Ganesh temple March 22.(Inset) Venkatesh
Mutyala, the event coordinator
worship their beloved deities.

Chinna Jeeyer, as he is popularly
known among his followers particularly in south India, recalled the
high priest was moved and broke
into tears by the courageous words

of the acharya whose demand was
immediately conceded. It was because of his insistence, all of us are
able to pray and worship at the
11 Indian-American investors in
Forbes 'Midas' list 2015
New York: 11 influential IndianAmerican investors feature in Forbes

magazine's annual list of the 100 best
venture capitalists with the "Midas"
touch who are making big and early bets
on the leading technology companies of
tomorrow and earning outsized returns
for their investors.
The Forbes 2015 Midas List represents
the world's 100 smartest technology
investors with valuations greater than $1
billion and a total of 766 deals.Jim Goetz
of Sequoia Capital maintained the number 1 spot for the second year in a row
due to WhatsApp, the mobile messaging
company acquired by Facebook for $22
billion.
He was the only institutional backer in
the messaging service and "struck gold",
returning more than $3 billion to Sequoia
in the deal, Forbes said.
Leading the Indian-Americans on the
list is 49-year old Aneel Bhusri, CEO and
Co-founder of Workday, a cloud-based
financials and human resources software
firm. Stanford business school graduate
Bhusri is ranked 17th on the list and has a
net worth of $1.22 billion.
"A steady top 20 Midas lister," Forbes
said. Bhusri is the only venture capitalist
to have co-founded and taken a multi-bil-
lion dollar company public while also

working as a venture capitalist.
On the 24th spot is Salil Deshpande,
Managing Director of Bain Capital
Ventures. Deshpande, 46, has had two
big exits in 2014 with technology company Dropcam that was sold to Google and
the IPO of peer-to-peer lending company
LendingClub, both early-stage bets made
while at his prior firm Bay Partners.
Norwest Venture Partners Senior
Managing Partner Promod Haque comes
in at the 26th rank.
The 66-year old's most notable deal has
been cybersecurity company FireEye,
which had the second-best performing
IPO in the US in 2013. His investments
in more than 60 companies have produced over $40 billion in exit values.
The other Indian-Americans on the list
are Greylock partner Asheem Chandna,
Accel partner Sameer Gandhi, Founding
Partner at Wing Venture Partners Gaurav
Garg, Managing Director of Mayfield
Fund Navin Chaddha, Managing Director
at Insight Venture Partners Deven
Parekh, General Partner at Battery
Ventures Neeraj Agrawal, Managing
Director at Menlo Ventures Venky
Ganesan and Managing Director at
Redpoint Ventures Satish Dharmaraj.
Lord of Seven Hills (Tirumala),

the swami said. And we have to
give a fitting tribute to the acharya
by erecting the monument in his
memory."The swami appealed for
funds for the Ramanuja project, expected to cost Rs 500 crore. A 216ft metal statue is currently being
sculpted in China called the Statue of Equality. The project is
coming up in Hyderabad near the
airport within two years.
Explaining the meaning of life,
he said, the time between our birth
and death should be enjoyed with
ananda, not just short-time happiness.
Nothing is created bad, stated
the swami, who almost entirely
spoke in English in his hour-long
discourse titled Where Spirituality Meets Equality at the Ganesh
temple auditorium in Flushing on
March 22. Everything, including
inanimate objects, has life.

Among the 500-strong audience
were Telugu speaking and others
too. An ecstatic Venkatesh
Mutyala, the event coordinator,
said, I feel blessed. I think the values espoused by the swamiji are
unique. He thanked Dr Purna
Atluri, Dr Nageshwara Rao Mandava, Dr Tulasi Polavarapu and Dr
Raghava Rao Polavarapu for the
success of the program.
The swami, 59, favors donation
of organs in the event of a persons
death, which is frowned upon by
some. So far about 50,000 pledges
have been received with respect to
organ donations. The swami also
has among his acolytes some visually challenged. Chinna Jeeyer
ashrams in India and the US focus
on charitable activities like health
camps and animal welfare groups
as well as conduct yoga, meditation, etc.
For further info, Sarma Allakki
609-610-3307 or sriramanujasahasrabdi.org.
De Blasio kids hit the headlines

By SATimes
New York: There were two more de Blasios
making headlines over the past week: New York
Mayors son Dante and daughter Chiara.
While Dante last Sunday won a state debate
championship along with his partner, Samuel
Eluto, a fellow student from Brooklyn Technical
High School, Chiara on Tuesday unveiled New
York Citys Teen Text at Millennium Brooklyn
High School in Park Slope.
Chiara, 20, who suffered depression in her teen
years that led her to drug and alcohol abuse, became the public face of the campaign to encourage troubled students to use the new text service.
The initiative is part of broader efforts Chirlane
McCray has made to highlight mental-health issues city-wide. The pilot, launched for the more
than 18,000 students at 10 high schools, lets teens
text anonymously to a free number to receive
confidential information, emotional support and
other help from crisis counselors.
The city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene runs the resource through LifeNet, its multilingual information, referral, and crisis-prevention hotline. If the pilot is deemed successful, the
service would expand to all city high schools,
said the First Lady. Chiaras participation coincides with her spring break from college in California, City Hall officials said. In a poster, she is
pictured holding a cellphone displaying the hotline number, under the caption Got stress? Text
Dante de Blasio & Chiara de Blasio

(Photo: Wall Street Journal)
it out! Once I started talking about what I was

going through, everything got better, Chiara told
reporters Tuesday. My message is simple: If
youre hurting, talk about it.
On his part, Dante, a senior and his partner argued a pair of students from Bronx Science for
environmental preservation last weekend.
I felt really satisfied, Dante said to The New
York Times. I felt like all the work I had done up
until this point had really been worth something.
McCray, who attended the debate championship
at Stuyvesant High School along with Mayor Bill
de Blasio, took to twitter to announce her sons
victory: Congratulations Dante, Sam and your
amazing coaches on winning the State Championship for Policy Debate!
The First Family celebrated the victory by dining out at Bogota, a Colombian restaurant in Park
Slope, Brooklyn.
NATIONAL COMMUNITY
FBI to track hate crimes against Sikhs, Hindus, Arabs

Washington, DC: Six US lawmakers along with leading advocacy groups have welcomed the inclusion of Sikh, Hindu, and Arab
American communities in the Department of Justice's hate crimes
tracking effort.
This is the final step in the longfought effort to encourage the US
federal government to finally begin tracking and quantifying hate
crimes against these at-risk communities, the lawmakers said at an
event on Capitol Hill Wednesday.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) recently updated its hate
crimes database and FBI training
manual in order to start tracking
hate crimes committed against
these groups - that system is now
fully operational.
Ami Bera, the lone Indian-American member of the US House of
Representatives, along with fellow

House members Joe Crowley, Bill
Pascrell, Mike Honda, Grace
Meng and John Garamendi attended the event. These lawmakers led
a Congressional effort to encourage the Department of Justice and
FBI to document hate crimes
against Sikh, Hindu, and Arab
Americans.
They spearheaded numerous letters to the DOJ and FBI and introduced a Congressional resolution
in the wake of the tragic August
2012 massacre in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, and submitting testimony
urging action on hate crimes.
In 2011, two elderly Sikh Americans, Gurmej Atwal and Surinder
Singh, were shot and killed while
out for a walk in Elk Grove, California, a part of Bera's constituency, in a suspected hate crime that is
still unsolved. "Since the September 11th attacks, too many Americans, especially Sikh, Hindu and
Arab-Americans,
have
been
wrongfully subjected to hate
crimes and discrimination, including the shooting of two Sikh Americans in my own city," Bera said.
"Religious tolerance is a fundamental value of our nation and we
must do everything we can to prevent these crimes motivated by
bias against a victim's religious beliefs," he said.
"Until now, Anti-Sikh hate
crimes were not recognized by the
FBI," said Rajdeep Singh, Director
of Law and Policy at the Sikh
Coalition. "Year after year, Sikh
Americans were being targeted for
harassment and violence because
of their distinct identity.
"For the first time, the FBI now
American Muslims champion character of

Prophet Muhammad at Peace Conference
officially acknowledges that Sikhs

are targeted for being Sikhs. While
refinements are needed to the
agency's tracking system and training standards, we are making
progress," he said.
"The federal tracking of antiHindu, anti-Sikh, and anti-Arab
hate crimes is an important, if
long-overdue, development. Even
as our community grows, Hindu
Americans remain uniquely vulnerable to harassment, bullying,
and violence," said Harsh Voruganti, Associate Director of Public
Policy, Hindu American Foundation.
The updated FBI manual "marks
a step towards ensuring accurate
reporting of hate crimes committed
against Sikhs, an important step
that will ultimately aid the Sikh
community as we continue to ad-
IN BRIEF
INOC chair applauds scrapping Lightbridge Academy celebrates

of Sec66A of Indian IT Act
a decade of service
t is indeed a great win for democracy and by striking down the section 66A of the Information Technology Act, the Supreme Court of India has once again reassured the people of India of their fundamental
right: the freedom of expression,
said George Abraham, the Chairman
of the Indian National Overseas Congress, USA. This landmark judgment
has restored our faith in the system
and it is time that the power centers
stop the intimidation and harassment
of ordinary citizens, especially the
young people, for genuinely expressing their opinions on the online media, the statement continued.
I
Audience at third annual Muhammad-Messenger of Peace conference
New Jersey: On March 23rd, the Rutgers

Ahmadiyya Muslim Student Association
held Muhammad - Messenger of Peace
conference at the Rutgers University Student Center in New Brunswick campus of
New Jersey.
This year, the theme focused on building
bridges among faith communities by exploring the life of Prophet Muhammad, his
ideologies and contrast them with the negative and misunderstood version portrayed in
the media due to extremists actions carried
out by ISIS and the like, in the name of Islam.
The event started at 6.30 pm with refreshments and a short video introducing the history of violent extremism in America, carried out by the likes of Timothy McVeigh,
who were motivated by personal ideology
and not driven by faith. Safwan Akbar moderated the program. Imam Azhar Haneef,
National Vice President of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA addressed the audience with opening remarks. He commented
on the fact that in this day and age, we often
mix extremists and their political ideologies
with Islam. However, the religion of Islam
provides absolutely no foundation for supporting the actions of these extremists.
The second guest speaker for the evening,
Tariq Sharif, local media spokesperson for
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Central
Jersey chapter focused on the life of Prophet
Muhammad from recorded history and highlighted several incidents relating to matters
of state affairs, his reaction towards slander,
dissension and even personal abuse by his
critics. His exposition brought out the
benevolent and tolerant character of Prophet
Muhammad.
Keynote speaker, Harris Zafar, national
spokesperson for Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA and author of Demystifying
Islam delivered his talk on the topic of apparent conflict between Islam and freedom
of expression. Detailed in his analysis of
current affairs including in the Muslim
countries and Charlie Hebdo incident, Harris pointed out the apparent ongoing conflict
within Muslim communities driven by misrepresentation of true Islamic teaching of
Prophet Muhammad for political gains.
The student center hall was packed with
about 200 attendees including New Jersey
State Senator, Honorable Bob Smith (D),
District 17 who delivered a brief address
thanking the community to hold this event at
the campus. He emphasized the need for
faith communities to participate and engage
in dialogue and the democratic process. The
program concluded with a short question answer session presided by Imam Azhar Haneef and the panel. Dr. Mir Sharif Ahmad,
President of Central New Jersey chapter of
the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA
closed the event thanking everyone.
dress the roots of anti-Sikh bias,"

said Jasjit Singh, executive director of the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund
(SALDEF).
Update of FBI hate crimes training manual to include Arab, Hindu,
and Sikh categories "is more important now than ever with the recent spike in hate violence targeting our communities," said Lakshmi Sridaran, Director of Policy and
Advocacy, South Asian Americans
Standing Together (SAALT).
"Our work ahead will be to ensure our communities are informed
of these critical updates and are
able to build trust with law enforcement so that hate crimes targeting South Asians, Muslims,
Sikhs, Hindus, Middle Easterners,
and Arabs are appropriately documented and prosecuted," she said.
fter originally opening its doors to the

children of Middlesex County in 2004
under the New Jersey -based Rainbow
Academy brand, the child care and early education center is celebrating two milestones. In addition to the adoption of the new name of Lightbridge Academy, this North Brunswick school
continues its commemoration of 10 years of service to its community. It will host a reunion at Babbage Park on May 15. The event will consist of a
meet-and-greet between current and former students of Rainbow Academy/Lightbridge Academy of North Brunswick, as well as a movie under
the stars, food truck, and lots of fun. At the head
of the Lightbridge Academy of North Brunswick
family are Veenu and Raj Parkash who also own
one more facility in Middlesex County.
Vasanta: Music for Spring at Indian

Embassy in Washington
By Chander Gambhir
bouquet of South Indian Classical Music was presented at
the Embassy of India, Washington DC in the evening of March 20
with Spring theme.
Eminent artistes, who enthralled the
audience included 17-year old violinist,
Kamalakiran Vinjamuri, vocalist Sahana Narayanan, Vijay Ganesh at Mridangam (percussion) and percussionist
Sowmiya Narayanan on Ghatam.
The function was attended by a large
number of music lovers, including a lot
of young folks from the Washington
Metropolitan areas. Welcoming the audience to the concert, Minister (Press &
Culture), Sridharan Madhusudan, introduced the artistes by giving a brief description of the art form and awards
Artistes enthralled the audience

with South Indian Classical Music
won by each of the versatile artist.

It was all a very lovely evening of
melodious music where the members
of the audience enjoyed so much that
they were asking for more and more.
Minister Sridharan thanked everyone
for coming and invited for refreshments.
NATIONAL COMMUNITY
Akhil Sharma wins Folio

literary prize for Family Life
Nobel Laureate Venki to head

Britain's Royal Society
London: Indian-American
out of it.
writer Akhil Sharma has won the
"In the end, I feel the book
second annual Folio prize for
itself is good, it does certain
ction for a novel which charts
things that are artistically
an emigrant family's heartimpressive. So I feel good about
wrenching search for the
that."
"American dream", said a media
Parts of the writing process
report.
were fun, he said, but much of it
Sharma said after winning the
was not. "I'm 43. I started writ40,000-pound (nearly $60,000)
ing this when I was 30. So I
prize that writing the novel, Author Akhil Sharma won the spent my 30s writing this
which took 13 years to com- prize for his autobiographi- thing... I really feel like I shatplete, was a frustrating and diftered my youth."
cal work, story of a family
cult challenge, often "like chew- that emigrates from Delhi to
William Fiennes, who chaired
ing stones," with around nine NY in search of a better life. the panel of judges, praised the
wasted years when it did not go
novel, currently a bestseller in
well, according to a Guardian report.
the US, as "lucid, compassionate, quietly funny."
"I'm glad the book exists, I just wish I hadn't
"'Family Life' is a masterful novel of distilled
been the guy who wrote it," he said.
complexity: about catastrophe and survival;
Sharma won the prize for his second novel, attachment and independence; the tension
"Family Life", an autobiographical work, which between selshness and responsibility.
tells the story of a young boy, Ajay, and his family
"We loved its deceptive simplicity and rare
who emigrate from Delhi to New York in search warmth... This is a work of art that expands with
of a better life.
each re-reading and a novel that will endure," he
All is turned upside down when his older broth- said. It was chosen from a shortlist of eight books,
er has a dreadful swimming pool accident and which included what was the bookmakers'
needs round-the-clock care from then on.
favorite for the prize, Ali Smith's novel "How To
Sharma, a former investment banker, said he Be Both." The prize, sponsored by the Folio
was professionally happy that people were reading Society, was created last year with the aim of celethe story of care givers but admitted that he brating the year's best English-language works of
thought about giving up. However, he stuck with ction, regardless of form, genre and geography.
it. "I couldn't bear the idea of having spent all
The rst winner was American short story writer
those years and then nothing good having come George Saunders for "Tenth of December."
London: Indian American

British Medical Research
Nobel
laureate
Sir
Council's Laboratory of
V e n k a t r a m a n
Molecular Biology at
Ramakrishnan has been
Cambridge University.
conrmed as president
He was elected a Fellow
elect of Britain's prestiof the Royal Society in
gious Royal Society.
2003 and was knighted by
The result of a ballot held
Britain's Queen in 2012.
by the fellowship was conThe Royal Society dates
rmed at a meeting of the
back to 1660 and its presiSociety's Council this week
dent is a key advocate for
Venkataraman
and Ramakrishnan, or
science in the UK and the
Ramakrishnan will be
Venki as he is popularly
world.
first Indian origin
known, will take up the
Previous presidents of
scientist to hold
post on Dec. 1, 2015.
the
Royal Society have
the post
"I feel very touched that
included Isaac Newton,
the Royal Society has chosen me for this Christopher Wren, Samuel Pepys, Joseph
job, especially because I only came to Banks, Humphry Davy, and Ernest
Britain 16 years ago from the U.S.," said Rutherford.
the 63-year-old structural biologist who
Ramakrishnan will succeed geneticist
shared the 2009 chemistry Nobel Prize Sir Paul Nurse, also a Nobel laureate.
for discovering the precise structure of
"Appointing the rst Indian-born presiribosomes the molecular machines that dent of the Royal Society sends a strong
manufacture proteins inside all living message about the importance of the
cells.
contribution of immigrants to British sci"I think in some ways the Royal ence," said Blakemore, a Royal Society
Society, ever since its inception, has Fellow from the School of Advanced
reected the best traditions of openness Study, University of London.
in Britain. I think of Britain as a particuThe research for which Ramakrishnan
larly open and tolerant society," he told shared the Nobel was commenced in the
BBC.
U.S., where he has spent much of his
Ramakrishnan, who will be the rst working life before moving to
Indian-origin scientist to hold the post, Cambridge in 1999. He shared the prize
was born in Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, with Thomas Steitz of Yale University,
and studied biology in the U.S.
and Ada Yonath of the Weizmann
He is currently deputy director of the Institute of Science, Jerusalem.
Ekal celebrates 25 years of educating the poor

Houston, TX: Ekal Vidyalaya celebrated its
silver jubilee at a mammoth gathering in
Dhanbad, Jharkhand, the birth place of Ekal in
India, in early March. Its 3-day "Parinam
Kumbh" was attended by over 2,200 delegates
from a dozen countries who were joined by
over 50,000 people at a public meeting
addressed by iconic dignitaries.
The 3-day unique event witnessed the transformation Ekal movement has brought to the
overall development of rural masses in India.
The goal, in the words of convener Yogendra
Tulsyan, was not only to bring in active supporters and partner-organizations of Ekal
under one roof, but also to celebrate and to
take stock of Ekals success.
Rich tribute was also paid to the late
founder Madanlal Agarwala who established
rst Ekal Vidyalaya in 1988 in Laidvari tribal village near Dhanbad. As a dedicated RSS
Pracharak, when he asked peasants how he
can be of help to them, they requested him to
make at least their children literate so they
could avoid economic and social subjugation.
Ekal started out as One-Teacher School

Project. But the seed its visionary founder
sowed has now prospered into the largest literacy, healthcare and rural development movement in India with supporting chapters in over
a dozen countries including USA. Ekal runs
now 55,000 schools across India, including in
Jammu & Kashmir and Nepal. Through Ekal,
almost 1.5 million children are receiving basic
education and healthcare training each year.
At the mega convention attended among
other dignitaries by Jharkhand Chief Minister
Raghuvar Das and ZEE TV Chairman
Subhash Chandra, Ekal Chief Shyam Gupta
gave an overview of the astounding progress
Ekal has made to uplift forgotten masses in
the villages. Sadhvi Ritambara touched on the
difculties faced by the Ekal volunteers and
compared them with the ever-loyal 'Hanuman
Sena.'
The Chief Guest for the occasion, RSS
Chief Mohan Bhagwat challenged the gathering to explore possibilities where Ekal as a
rural support-vehicle could be taken further
with changing times and in favorable political

climate. VHP Chief Ashok Singhal emphasized that India needs to restore its lost identity and true character on the basis of selfrespect and self-reliance.
Several presentations by Ekal alumni groups
focused on the empowerment Ekal had
brought to their lives -- facilitated not only by
education and Ekals infrastructure of selfreliance but also by its awareness campaign
for ones right to information in the face of
bureaucratic hurdle. Some of these young
people are now playing leadership roles. Pinki
Karmakar, who carried the Olympic torch at
London Olympiad, is one of them. There were
several testimonials by rural-folks on successfully tackling social ills like bonded labor,
alcoholism, spread of epidemics, migration of
youths to urban areas and blatant corruption in
their community.
Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation of USA, headquartered in Houston, has played a signicant
role in the expansion and success of EkalIndia for over two decades. For the last few
Prominent dignitaries at Ekal Vidyalayas

"Parinam Kumbh" included ZEE TV's
Subhash Chandra, RSS Chief Mohan
Bhagwat and Anand Agarwala.
years, Ekal-USA has

been raising $4-5
Million through its fundraising concerts all over
USA. This years concerts feature Bollywood
Melody Makers Rana
Chatterjee and Sangeeta
Melekar at 50 venues.
Ekal Chief Shyam
Gupta addressing
For Ekal concert the mega convendetails in your city, visit tion in Dhanbad,
India.
www.ekal.org.
NATIONAL COMMUNITY
Top NSA lawyer Rajesh De

returns to private practice
Washington, DC: Indianpartment of Justice's OfAmerican Rajesh "Raj" De has
fice of Legal Policy and
left his post as the top lawyer at
the White House.
the National Security Agency
The
Harvard-trained
(NSA) to return to private praclawyer "played a role in
tice as partner at the Washingpreserving the status quo"
ton law firm of Mayer Brown.
on NSA's controversial
De, who left the spy agency
surveillance programs, the
Friday will rejoin the firm as a
Associated Press suggestpartner and head of a 35-lawyer
ed.
practice in June, the Hill, a news
However, De in an intersite focusing on the US Conview with AP "described
Rajesh De
gress reported.
an NSA completely at odds
He first made partner at Mayer Brown in with the free-wheeling, all-seeing behemoth de2007, before leaving for a string of government picted by Snowden: a rule-bound, highly reguposts.
lated entity that treats the private information of
De, 41, became the agency's general counsel Americans with utmost care."
in May 2012, putting him right in the center of
"Reasonable folks can disagree about what
the debate over leaks by former contractor Ed- NSA should or shouldn't be doing," De was
ward Snowden starting in 2013, the Hill said.
quoted as saying.
"It was the most challenging time in the
"But this is not a controversy over widespread
agency's history," he was quoted as saying in an abuses by a powerful intelligence apparatus, and
interview in The Am Law Daily.
I don't think that is by accident."
"Everything was so secret, for so long, that
De is one of the highest-ranking Indian Amerthere's still a lot of misinformation about what icans in government. His parents, both doctors,
we do."
immigrated to Philadelphia with $16 to their
Prior to his NSA post, De worked in the De- names, he said.
Secret Service personnel

save life of journalist
Manku Singh
Washington, DC: An Indian-American journalist suffered a heart attack
inside the White House, but a prompt
response by US Secret Service personnel saved his life.
Manku Singh, the only Sikh journalist accredited to the White House, collapsed in the East Room while covering the White House Science Fair moments before President Barack Obama
was to speak. Singh is a community reporter-cum-cameraperson for TV
Asia. The alert Secret Service personnel immediately responded to him and
called the ambulance. The emergency
responders who tried to revive him
found that he had no pulse. They used
cardiopulmonary resuscitation, which
is commonly known as CPR, to try to
revive him while administering oxygen. After about four minutes, one of
the technicians said, "We have a
rhythm."
The emergency medical technicians
later said Singh had a strong pulse.
Indian techies in US highly

trained: Nasscom
Bengaluru: Thousands of Indian techies
working in the US on H-1B visa are highly
trained and skilled, the IT industry's apex
body Nasscom said Friday, refuting claims
by former Infosys staffer Jack B. Palmer
that they had "minimal skills and little business knowledge."
Nasscom said the US government had
recognized the competitiveness of Indian
H-1B workers who had spurred in thousands of businesses and investments in the
US economy.
"Indian firms and their employees in the
US are committed to its marketplace and
are important contributors in local communities and America," National Association
of Software and Services Companies
(Nasscom) president R. Chandrashekhar
said in a statement.
Palmer, who resigned from Infosys in
2013, told members of the senate judiciary
committee during a Congressional hearing
on immigration in Washington on March
17 that Indian H-1B workers replacing
Americans had minimal skills and little or
no business knowledge and asked the lawmakers to not to increase the number of
visas.
Noting that Indian techies were doing
cutting-edge work and were ingrained in
everyday activities, Chandrashekhar said
Palmer's charges were not only misplaced,
but also rhetorical.
"Indian IT-ITeS employees going onsite
are both educated and skilled and are subjected to laws that govern that particular
(American) visa category," asserted the former telecom secretary.
Palmer's visa fraud case against Infosys
made the global software major cough up
$34 million for settlement with the US government in 2013.
"We will, however, work with stakeholders to address the issue and ensure Indian
firms and their employees deliver the best
technologies to the US," Nasscom noted.
Latest US labor statistics revealed that
there was a need for the skills Indian
techies had and that the unemployment rate
in the IT sector was three percent.
"In the (US) labor market, Indian employees fill a critical need, particularly in
science, technology, engineering and math
fields," said the report.
Obama praises Indian-American kids, extols 'power of ideas'
Washington, DC: President Barack Obama

praised the work of young Indian-Americans as
he exhorted budding American scientists to "keep
exploring...keep dreaming" and use the power of
their ideas to change the world.
"Keep asking why. Don't settle for what you already know," he said as he welcomed young scientists and engineers from across the country to
showcase their inventions, robots, and discoveries at the 2015 White House Science Fair Monday. "Never stop believing in the power of your
ideas, your imagination, your hard work to
change the world," said Obama after personally
viewing 12 of the exhibits by more than 100 students from 30 states. "So Nikhil Behari is here
from Pennsylvania," he said calling out the winner of a second place award in Technology at the
2014 Broadcom MASTERS national finals.
"He's a freshman -- right? -- in high school, interested in how we can better protect ourselves
against hackers and data thieves online. So scientists are already using biometrics to prove that
each of us walk in our own distinct ways.
"And Nikhil wondered, what if we each type in
a distinct ways? So he collected all kinds of data
about how a person types -- their speed, how often they pause, how much pressure they use; built
a special keyboard to test it. "And he proved that
his hypothesis was correct -- that even if some-
President Obama listens to a pitch by

Nikhil Behari (Photo: sciencemag.org)
body knows your password, they don't necessarily punch it in exactly the way you do.
"And he asked why -- and made discoveries
that now could help keep our online accounts
more secure."So in the future, if keystroke-based
authentication keeps your siblings from breaking
into your Facebook account or your Instagram
account, you will know who to thank," Obama
said amid laughter.
"It will be Nikhil. Congratulations," he added
amid applause. Ruchi Pandya, 18, from San Jose,
California, he noted "found a way to use a single
drop of blood to test a person's heart function,
much like a person with diabetes tests their blood
sugar." And "Anvita Gupta -- where's Anvita?

There she is," Obama said amid applause, "used
artificial intelligence and biochemistry to identify potential treatments for cancer, tuberculosis,
Ebola." "What she's done is she's developed an
algorithm that could potentially significantly
speed up the process of finding drugs that might
work against these diseases," he said.
"But Anvita's algorithm has the potential of
speeding up pathways to discovering what drugs
would work on what diseases, and is consistent
with some of the work that we announced around
precision medicine that we are funding at a significant pace here at the White House," he said.
Obama pointed out that "like several of the
young people here, Anvita and Ruchi are firstgeneration Americans." "Their parents came
here, in part, so their kids could develop their talents and make a difference in the world. And
we're really glad they did," he said. Earlier checking out the inventions in the State Dining Room,
the Red Room and the Blue Room, Obama
walked around to each table, chatted with the
young inventors about their inventions, and
posed for photos. Inspired by the global energy
crisis, Sahil Doshi,14, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, designed an innovative carbon-dioxide
powered battery, reducing the environmental effects of pollution.
US AFFAIRS
Ted Cruz becomes rst Republican to DHS ofcer aided rms with ties to
Democrats for EB-5 visas, watchdog nds
announce bid for President
Lynchburg, VA: When Texas Sen. Ted Cruz

announced his 2016 presidential candidacy at
Liberty University, a Baptist school in
Virginia, on Monday, he was also announcing
his intention to lean heavily on evangelical
voters in his run. He likely did that with an eye
on the Iowa caucuses.
He has also become the rst Republican
candidate to declare himself ofcially in the
race. Linking the determination of his immigrant father with the resolve of the founding
fathers and his own faith in the promise of
America, Cruz spoke at length about his family and his faith as he laid out a case for his
candidacy.
Gods blessing has been on America from
the very beginning of this nation, and I believe
God isnt done with America yet, he said
before thousands of cheering students at
Liberty University. I believe in you. I believe
in the power of millions of courageous conservatives rising up to re-ignite the promise of
America.
Today, I am announcing that I am running
for president of the United States, Mr. Cruz
added. It is a time for truth, it is a time for
liberty, it is a time to reclaim the Constitution
of the United States.
Cruz, a rst-term senator, is seen by
Republicans and Democrats as a divisive gure in Washington, but as a truth-telling hero
to many conservatives and evangelical
Americans.
His speech was packed with calls to imagine a president who would repeal the
Affordable Care Act, abolish the IRS, defend
Senator Ted Cruz with his wife

Heidi Nelson Cruz
the sanctity of human life and uphold the

sacrament of marriage.
He had his two daughters and wife, Heidi,
by his side at the announcement.
Several Republicans commented that given
Mr. Cruzs rhetorical skills and passion, and
his ability to inspire restless or disenchanted
conservatives and evangelical Americans, his
candidacy should not be underestimated.
An interesting tidbit came later. With his
wife Heidi taking leave from Goldman Sachs
to help her husband campaign for President,
the Cruzes are leaving the $20,000 per year
health insurance coverage she enjoyed at
Goldman. So on to Obamacare, as Cruz said,
"We will presumably go on the exchange and
sign up for health care and we're in the process
of transitioning over to do that. It is written in
the law that members will be on the exchanges
without subsidies just like millions of
Americans... I think the same rules should
apply to all of us."
Washington: A top Homeland Security

Department (DHS) ofcial intervened to
help projects backed by Virginia Governor
Terry McAuliffe, Senator Harry Reid and
Hillary Clintons brother, Anthony Rodham
in a visa program aimed at attracting foreign
investments in exchange for US residency,
the agencys internal watchdog said.
DHS Deputy Secretary Alejandro
Mayorkas created an appearance of
favoritism and special access when he
helped the Democrats projects in their bids
to become ofcially designated centers that
draw investments from people seeking visas
through the EB-5 visa program, the DHS
Inspector General John Roth said in a report
Tuesday, citing witnesses. The Associated
Press reported that one of the companies that
obtained visas with the help of Mayorkas
inuence was owned by Anthony Rodham,
brother of former Secretary of State (and
presumptive presidential candidate) Hillary
Rodham Clinton.
In cited cases, staff decisions not to grant
the requests were reversed, Roth said.
The EB-5 visa program grants U.S. residency in exchange for $500,000 investments
that create at least 10 jobs. It has been scrutinized by federal agencies in recent years for
potential security risks and investment fraud.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission halted an alleged $158 million
fraud in 2013 in which a Chicago man duped

almost 300 investors into believing that they
would win visas by backing his project to
build a hotel. The project never came to
fruition and the promoter was indicted last
year.
The DHS Inspector Generals investigation, which stemmed from a 2012 whistleblower complaint, involved interviews with
more than 15 people who were in a position
to witness events, according to the report.
Their allegations were unequivocal: Mr.
Mayorkas gave special access and treatment
to certain individuals and parties, Roth said
in the report. They told us he created special processes and revised existing policies
in the EB-5 program to accommodate specific parties.
Mayorkas was director of the USCIS,
which oversees the program, until 2013.
I had the responsibility to ensure that
cases, including the three that are the focus
of the report, were decided as the law
required and that agency errors were corrected, Mayorkas said in a statement on the
departments website in response to the
report. The EB-5 program was badly broken when I arrived at USCIS. There was
erroneous decision-making and insufcient
security vetting of cases. I could not and did
not turn my back on my responsibility to
address those grave problems.
Kraft to combine with Heinz in deal led by 3G, Buffett

New York: Ketchup maker H.J. Heinz Co,
owned by 3G Capital, and Warren Buffett's
Berkshire Hathaway is acquiring a majority
stake in Kraft Foods Group Inc to create the
third-largest North American food company,
executives said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. The deal would provide Heinz with access
to Kraft brands, which it says are in 98 percent
of North American households and include
Two elephants kept the 18-wheeler

from overturning on I-49 near
Powhatan in Natchitoches Parish,
Louisiana on March 24, the local
Sheriffs Office Deputies found.
well-known names like Oscar Mayer and JellO. Heinz's international presence provides an
opportunity to sell those brands overseas.
Packaged-food makers such as Kraft are battling sluggish demand as consumers shift to
products perceived to be healthier.
Kraft has overhauled its senior management
over the past few months and has said it will
develop products to meet changing consumer
preferences.
However, "the board saw the 3G opportunity
as more compelling," Kraft CEO John Cahill,
who will be vice chairman of the combined
company, said on a conference call.
The combined publicly traded company is
expected to save about $1.5 billion in annual
costs by the end of 2017. It will have eight
brands worth over $1 billion each, the companies said. Kraft Heinz will be led by Heinz
CEO Bernardo Hees and have revenue of
about $28 billion, about half that of market
leader PepsiCo in 2014
Berkshire Hathaway will own more than
320 million shares in the combined company,
which will have about 1.22 billion shares outstanding, Buffett told CNBC.
Brazilian private equity firm 3G Capital and
Berkshire Hathaway acquired Heinz for $23.2
billion in 2013.
Corporate Office: 385 Seneca Avenue, Ridgewood NY 11385

718.821.3182, www.AtlanticDialysis.Com
10
INDIA
Parties differ over SC quashing IT Section 66A
New Delhi: The BJP, AAP and

CPI-M hailed the Supreme Court
verdict striking down the controversial Section 66A of the
Information Technology Act,
which was used to arrest people
over social media postings. The
Congress said it respected the verdict while the JD-U and Shiv Sena
expressed their reservations.
The government also welcomed
the apex court verdict.
With Section 66A having come
into force in 2008 when the
Congress-led United Progressive
Alliance was in power, the party
came out with a detailed response
saying that it stood for freedom of
speech but one person's liberty of
expression should not infringe on
some other person's liberty.
In a statement, the party said it
has always been the champion and
torch-bearer of freedom of expression, democratic dissent and right
to criticize.
It said Section 66A was enacted
to prevent online abuse and
hounding of groups and individuals and check propagation of false
information.
The government had included
safeguards in the law which were
not found sufficient by the
Supreme Court, the party said.
Twitterati upbeat about SC quashing Section 66
The Section 66A of the Information Technology Act was used to

arrest people over social media postings.
The party said the onus now lies

with the government to re-examine the issue and strike an appropriate balance by upholding freedom of expression and also deter
unbridled defamation in cyberspace.
"We hope that the government
will be guided by the sole consideration of upholding individual's
liberty of expression with reasonable restriction."
The Congress accused the
Countdown begins
for navigation
satellite launch
Chennai: The countdown for the lift of an Indian
rocket with the country's fourth navigation satellite
as the sole passenger began at 5.49 a.m. on March
26, the ISRO said.
According to Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO), the 59 and half hours countdown for the launch of rocket Polar Satellite
Launch Vehicle (PSLV--27) carrying Indian
Regional Navigation Satellite System-IRNSS-1D
began in the Sriharikota rocket port in Andhra
Pradesh.
The rocket is expected to blast off at 5.19 p.m. on
March 28 to put into orbit the 1,425 kg IRNSS-1D
satellite. India has so far launched three regional
navigational satellites as part of a constellation of
seven satellites to provide accurate position information service to users across the country and the
region, extending up to an area of 1,500 km.
Though the full system comprises of nine satellites - seven in orbit and two on the ground as
stand-by - the navigation services could be made
operational with four satellites, ISRO officials said.
Each satellite costs around Rs.150 crore and the
PSLV-XL version rocket costs around Rs.130
crore. The seven rockets would involve an outlay
of around Rs.910 crore.
The entire IRNSS constellation of seven satellites is planned to be completed this year itself.
The first satellite IRNSS-1A was launched in
July 2013, the second IRNSS-1B in April 2014 and
the third on October 16, 2014.
Once the regional navigation system is in place,
India need not be dependent on other platforms.
Bharatiya Janata Party of double

standards on the issue.
"Arun Jaitley termed the law as
'online emergency' while in opposition and justified the same law
when in power through an affidavit in the Supreme Court by
stating that Section 66A was necessary to 'regulate the use of
cyberspace'," the Congress pointed out. Welcoming the verdict,
Communist Party of India-Marxist
leader Brinda Karat told IANS
New Delhi: Author Chetan Bhagat and Congress leader Shashi

Tharoor joined Twitter users to express their happiness over the
Supreme Court's decision to axe Section 66A of the Information
Technology Act. Many Twitter users were upbeat after the apex court
said the section was vague.
Chetan Bhagat tweeted: "Glad to know that I live in a free country.
No section 66A as SC strikes it down. Super Happy. Go on, troll
away. Shashi Tharoor too posted on Twitter: Glad the SC has struck
down Sec 66A of the IT Act, which was liable to misuse; freedom
must not be curbed.
A Supreme Court lawyer Manali Singhal said: Now people are not
going to be scared to exchange and put their views on internet freely.
We're very happy, consequences are going to be very positive,
Singhal said.
Petitioner in the case against Section 66A, Shreya Singhal told
Times Now: "It is a big victory. Under section 66A of the IT Act you
cannot be jailed anymore because it stands invalid.
that the party has "always strongly
opposed it not just because it is a
question of misuse, it was also an
instrument to curb the democratic
expression".
Communications and IT
Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad
welcomed the court decision and
said people in power should be
tolerant and liberal towards criticism. "The government is committed to free speech. India is a democratic country and free flow of
ideas should be respected. We do
not seek to curtail any right,"

Prasad said.
Section 66A reads: "Any person
who sends by any means of a
computer resource any information that is grossly offensive or has
a menacing character; or any
information which he knows to be
false, but for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience,
danger, obstruction, insult, shall
be punishable with imprisonment
for a term which may extend to
three years and with fine."
Modi to visit France, Germany, Canada
New Delhi: Giving a fillip to India's

'Link West' foreign policy, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi will go on an
eight-day official visit to France,
Germany and Canada from April 9 to
16.
External affairs ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin, announcing the
tour, said: "The prime minister's visit to
these countries reflects the 'Link West'
aspect of India's foreign policy. We see
this as an opportunity to reinforce our
strong links with these countries, with a
focus on investments and technological
tie-ups."
Modi's first destination would be
France from April 9 to 12, where he
will have meetings with French
President Francois Hollande.
He will also interact with various sections of the French society and members of the Indian community, who are
residents in France, the spokesperson
said.
Modi's second destination will be
Germany. He will be in Germany from
April 12 to 14 for the Hannover Messe.
He will hold bilateral discussions with
Chancellor Angela Merkel and other
leaders.
The prime minister will be in Canada
from April 14 to 16.
"In each of these countries, he will
visit cities other than the capitals,"
Akbaruddin said.
In Canada, Modi is to make stops in
Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver. This
was announced by the Canadian High
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Commission here.
Modi's visit will be the first bilateral
tour to Canada by an Indian prime minister since 1973.
The visit to Canada - Modi's first
since taking office - will provide an
opportunity for the leaders "to reaffirm
the close relationship between Canada
and India and to discuss ways to further
broaden its scope", the high commission said.
"Increased cooperation in the fields of
science and technology, innovation,
education, security, counter-terrorism
and energy are expected to feature
prominently in discussions," it said in a
press release.
"Canada and India enjoy a close
friendship based on shared values of

democracy, pluralism and a mutual
interest in expanding trade," Canadian
Prime Minister Stephen Harper was
quoted as saying.
"India's growing economy presents
enormous opportunities for Canada and
I look forward to meeting with Prime
Minister Modi to further strengthen
bilateral relations and expand our trade
and investment ties with a view to benefitting citizens of both countries," he
said.
Harper first met Modi on the margins
of the G20 Summit in Australia in
November 2014. Harper also visited
India in November 2009 and November
2012.
INDIA
11
Panjab varsity students Rajendra Singh named for Stockholm Water Prize
devise cheap video
based robot
By Prakash Bhandari
Chandigarh: Rohan Arora and Pulin Aggarwal, the

students of Electronics and Communication
Engineering Department of UIET (University Institute
of Engineering and Technology) of Panjab University
here have devised a cheap video based robot under the
guidance of their Asstt Prof. Sarvjit Singh. This device
can be used for surveillance of homes.
Prof Sarvjit Singh said that the cost of developing
this device was about Rs 6,800 ($113 approx) and it
can be connected to LAN through laptop or computer
for video. It can be modied to connect it with WAN or
internet. This wireless surveillance system can be
moved in different directions through a remote control
device.
Singh added that surveillance systems available in
the market are quite costly, ranging between Rs
30,000-Rs40,000. But what they have devised is
affordable and it keeps watch over the house in the
absence of its master after it is connected to the internet. Besides, it can be used through mobile application.
Since it has a higher torque, it can get through a surface like muddy water very easily, he claimed. The
device can be further improved with better technology.
The data it sends at present is just password protected
but can be encrypted for use in the army for example.
This project was completed in a time span of 5 months.
These students had earlier won an award for their
autonomous surface monitoring robot.
Contact: sarvjit100878@yahoo.co.in.
Jaipur: Rajendra Singh,

better known as the water
man, has been named the
2015 Stockholm Water Prize
Laureate for his innovative
water restoration efforts,
improving water security in
rural India, and for showing
extraordinary courage and
determination in his quest to
improve the living conditions for those most in need.
Based in Rajasthan,
Singh, 56, has for decades
been combating drought and
empowering communities.
In cooperation with local, he
and his organization brought
water, and life, back to a
thousand villages and given
hope to countless people.
On receiving news about
the prize, Singh, a
Magsaysay award winner,
said, This is very encouraging, energizing and
inspiring news. Through the
Indian wisdom of rainwater
harvesting, we have made
helpless, abandoned, destitute and impoverished villages prosperous and
healthy again.
In its citation, The
Stockholm Water Prize
Rajendra Singh, better known as Waterman of India
Committee says that

todays water problems
cannot be solved by science
or technology alone. They
are instead human problems
of governance, policy, leadership, and social resilience.
Rajendra Singhs life work
has been in building social
capacity to solve local water
problems through participatory action, empowerment
of women, linking indigenous know-how with modern scientic and technical
approaches and upending
traditional patterns of devel-
opment, resource use, and

social norms.
After studying Ayurvedic
medicine and surgery,
Rajendra Singh went into
the countryside in the largely impoverished Rajasthan
in the mid-1980s to set up
health clinics. So, with the
help of villagers, he set out
to build johads, or traditional earthen dams. The methods used by Singh are modernisation of the traditional
ways of collecting and storing rainwater which fell out
of use during the British
rule. But these have now

brought water back to the
driest state in one of the
worlds most populous
nations, thanks to the
Waterman of India and his
colleagues.
When we started our
work, we were only looking
at the drinking water crisis
and how to solve that.
Today our aim is higher.
This is the 21st century.
This is the century of
exploitation, pollution and
encroachment. To stop all
this, to convert the war on
water into peace, that is my
lifes goal, says Singh.
H.M. King Carl XVI
Gustaf of Sweden, Patron of
the Stockholm Water Prize,
will present the prize to
Rajendra Singh at a Royal
Award Ceremony during
2015 World Water Week in
Stockholm on August 26.
The Stockholm Water
Prize is a global award
founded in 1991 and presented annually by the
Stockholm International
Water Institute (SIWI) to an
individual or organization
for outstanding water-related achievements. The laureate receives US$ 150,000.
OSAP Loans NOW available to Ontario applicants !!!
May & Sept 2015
12
INDIA
Tweets directed at media, not resigning: VK Singh
New Delhi: Facing flak over his

tweets after attending the Pakistan
Day function, Minister of State for
External Affairs Gen. (retd) V.K.
Singh said the messages were directed at sections of the media which
misinterpreted his presence at the
event, and refuted speculation that
he had offered to resign.
V.K. Singh addressed a press conference this week following the controversy over his tweets and said he
was a "loyal member" of the
Bharatiya Janata Party.
Pakistan's High Commissioner
Abdul Basit again met Kashmiri separatist leaders, the third time in three
days.
V.K. Singh, a former army chief,
had attended the Pakistan Day function, which was also attended by
separatist leaders Syed Ali Geelani,
Mirwaiz Omar Farooq and Yasin
Malik.
While there were questions over
the government sending a former
army chief as its representative for
the function, V.K. Singh's tweets created a controversy.
V.K. Singh had tweeted about
"duty" and "disgust" after the event
Sending Singh to Pakistan Day '

calibrated decision'
: Union Minister of State for External Affairs Gen VK Singh with

Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit at the Pakistan High
Commission in New Delhi on Pakistan Day.
on Monday night. His messages on

the social media were seen in some
sections of the media as a signal of
his sense of unease at attending the
event.
Under the hashtag "Duty", he posted three tweets: "A job or service
allocated", "The force that binds one
morally or legally to one's obligations", "A task or action that a person
is bound to perform for moral or
legal reasons". Under "Disgust", the

minister wrote: "To offend the moral
sense, principles, or taste of", and
"To sicken or fill with loathing".
Later, as the media started reporting about the tweets, he again posted: "'Disgust'ed to see how certain
sections of the media are twisting
this issue."
Congress leader Manish Tewari
said that the minister should resign,
It was a "calibrated" decision to

send Minister of State for External
Affairs V.K. Singh to Pakistan Day
celebrations in Delhi, a government
spokesperson said.
"He (V.K. Singh) went there as a
government representative. He was
not the first MoS to go and not the
last. There is a carefully calibrated
decision which was taken well in
time," external affairs ministry
spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin
said. Asked about the series of
tweets posted by V.K. Singh after

attending dinner at Pakistan high
commission, Akbaruddin said:
"The best person to explain is the
MoS himself... he has done it."
V.K. Singh, a former army chief,
after attending Pakistan Day dinner
here, posted a series of cryptic
tweets, with hashtags 'Duty' and
'Disgust'.
Asked if the minister was pulled
up for his tweets, the spokesperson
said: "I have no idea".
noting that leaders have in the past

refused to attend Pakistani events.
"If Mr#duty#Disgust is so disgusted with double standards of his government on Pakistan he should quit?
Other ministers in the past have
refused to attend Pakistan events!"
Tewari tweeted.
At his press conference, V.K.
Singh said he was disappointed that
sections of the media had attacked
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and

the government.
"I am loyal member of the party.
Therefore, there should be no doubt
how I stand on government policies," he said.
He said that attending national day
functions of embassies and high
commissions located in Delhi were
part of duties of the minister of state
for external affairs.
'Adamant' Kejriwal wants Vadra land deals: BJP sees massive scam
Yogendra, Bhushan out
New Delhi: Delhi chief
minister Arvind Kejriwal is
adamant about ensuring the
removal of senior leaders
Prashant Bhushan and
Yogendra Yadav from
AAP's national executive.
Kejriwal has also refused
to take any call related to
party work as long as the
duo are in the party, the
sources add.
The AAP's parliamentary
action committee, meanwhile, was scheduled to
meet on Thursday at
Kejriwal's residence, where
a resolution was reportedly
to be moved in the national
council to remove Yadav
and Bhushan.
Sources said Yadav and
Bhushan made it clear that
there was no valid ground
for them to step down from
the 21 member national
executive and the rival
camp should instead
address the issues raised by
them.
Last ditch efforts by party
Lokpal Admiral Ramdas to
push for reconciliation
failed to make any headway
with both camps sticking to
their stands.
However, Ilyas Azmi,
member of the political
affairs committee (PAC)
Delhi Chief Minister

Arind Kejriwal
said patch up efforts were

still underway. "We will
keep trying till the last
minute," he said after the
PAC meeting here.
Those backing Bhushan
and Yadav said that the two
leaders will not concede to
the demands of Kejriwal.
The internal rift figured in
the PAC, the highest decision making body, where
majority of the members
reasserted their strong support to Kejriwal.
The party's NC is expected to deliberate on the
issues in the party. Both
Kejriwal and Yadav are trying to consolidate volunteers support ahead of the
meeting.
Chandigarh: A day after the CAG

blamed Haryana's previous Congress
government for showering favors on
party chief Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law
Robert Vadra, who made millions in
controversial land deals, the BJP, which
now rules the state, claimed a "massive
scam" during the nearly 10-year tenure
of the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government. Bureaucrat Ashok Khemka, who
had questioned a land deal of Vadra,
said the report "vindicated" his action
but did not go deep enough, while the
Congress defended the former Hooda
government, saying all decisions were
in accordance with the law.
"The public was always convinced
there was a massive scam in Haryana,"
BJP spokesperson G.V.L. Narasimha
Rao said.
"It just confirms the allegations that
were being made... Vadra's company
was extended undue favors and he
Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert

Vadra with wife Priyanka Gandhi.
made massive gains by misusing the

authorities," Rao said.
"The Congress government had bent
all rules allowing them to make windfall gains. Action will be taken by the
state government, the report (of CAG)
has already been tabled," he said.
Senior IAS officer Khemka, who was
embroiled in controversy over Vadra's

land deals, on Thursday tweeted: "My
action in VADRA-DLF land-licence
deal vindicated in CAG report, but continue to suffer the stigma of
chargesheet."
He, however, noted there were more
issues to be probed yet. "Many issues
untouched in the CAG report. Cycle of
corruption involved the triad - business,
politics and bureaucracy," he said in
another tweet. The Congress dismissed
the CAG rap, claiming its government
performed "purely in accordance with
the law" in the land deal.
Vadra's
company,
Skylight
Hospitality, sold a prime 3.5 acre plot in
Manesar, Gurgaon, to DLF in 2008 for
Rs.58 crore. The land had cost his company only around Rs.15 crore and was
sold to DLF after obtaining change of
land use (CLU) and other permissions
from the Hooda government.
Vajpayee to receive Bharat Ratna at home
New Delhi: President Pranab Mukherjee was scheduled to present the Bharat Ratna to former prime minister Atal Bihari
Vajpayee at the latters residence here on March 27, Rashtrapati
Bhavan said. The president will also confer the Bharat Ratna on
Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya (posthumously) on March 30 at
Rashtrapati Bhavan along with the Civil Investiture Ceremony for
the Padma Awards, a statement said.
The honor for Gwalior-born Vajpayee, who was prime minister
first in 1996 and then again from 1998 to 2004, came after years
of demands from all sections of society, including political leaders irrespective of party affiliations.
Vajpayee will be the seventh prime minister to receive the
award, after Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi,
Morarji Desai, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Gulzarilal Nanda.
PM Modi, during his Lok Sabha campaign, had promised
Bharat Ratna for late freedom fighter-educationist Malaviya, who
was also founder of the Banaras Hindu University.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee and (right) Pt Madan Mohan

Malaviya who will also be conferred Bharat Ratna
posthumously
OP-ED
13
AAP politics: The khichdi has now begun to smell

By Rajdeep Sardesai
istory repeats itself, first
as tragedy, then as farce,
but what happens when
the farce is played out time and
again? Many years ago, I asked
the veteran socialist leader, the
late Madhu Limaye, on why the
Janata Party was unable to hold
together in the 1970s. Limaye, a
rare political intellectual,
answered, Khichdi when made
at home tastes really nice but
when you try and cook it in politics, it begins to smell.
The Janata Party, he said, was
a khichdi, where parties with
contrasting ideologies had come
together with the singular purpose of defeating Indira Gandhi.
Once she was defeated, a breakup was inevitable. Interestingly,
it was Limaye who reportedly
advised the mercurial George
Fernandes to first support the
Morarji Desai government on
the floor of Parliament, only to
go and withdraw support hours
later.
Since then, many Janata Partylike experiments at alternative
politics have been attempted,
but typically none of them have
endured. The fragments of VP
Singhs Janata Dal, for example,
are scattered across the political
landscape, and are now threatening to come together again only
Just as the BJP cannot now complain about Prime Minister Narendra Modis larger-than-life image,
neither really can AAP look beyond a Kejriwal-driven high command.
because of the fear of the Modi

juggernaut. But its the recent
implosion in the Aam Aadmi
Party (AAP) barely weeks after
the spectacular success in the
Delhi elections that has grabbed
the headlines. Is AAP destined to
go the way of the Janata Party
and the Janata Dal?
A potential split in AAP was,
in a sense, scripted into its creation. AAP, in its original avatar,
was a by-product of the anti-corruption movement spearheaded
by Anna Hazare. The desire to
have a strong lokpal or an anticorruption ombudsman had
brought together diverse individuals whose ideological compati-
bility was always questionable.

Anna was an ageing maverick
from rural Maharashtra, Arvind
Kejriwal a dynamic NGO
activist, Kiran Bedi a hardnosed
police officer, Prashant Bhushan
a crusading public interest
lawyer, Yogendra Yadav a
dreamy academic. The first split
took place when an ambitious
Kejriwal and fellow-travellers
like his Man Friday, Manish
Sisodia, began to tire of Annastyle fast politics and sought a
more direct role in electoral politics. Anna and Bedi both had
strong links with the state and
didnt want to challenge the
establishment beyond a point.
Even when AAP formed a government in December 2013, the

glue was a strident anti-corruption plank but little else. What,
for example, did a firm believer
in old-style Lohia socialism like
Yadav have in common with the
economic worldview of a South
Mumbai banker like Meera
Sanyal? How would a Bhushans
controversial stated position
seeking a referendum in
Kashmir square up with a Kumar
Vishwas soft Hindu politics? I
recall posing this question to
Kejriwal after his initial electoral
success. His answer: Our political party is like a Shivji kee
Baaraat, we welcome anyone
who wants to join us in the crusade for clean politics.

As a full-time politician,
Kejriwal was willing to adjust:
Defeat in the Lok Sabha elections had forced him to climb
down from his moral perch and
look to strike deals with an eye
on winnability. As ideologically-driven individuals, neither
Yadav nor Bhushan seemed
comfortable with making those
adjustments. They seemed to
be seeking a moral purity, which
was never going to succeed in
the cut and thrust of electoral
politics. To expect every individual contesting on an AAP ticket
to be a modern Mahatma would
be to impose a certain self-righteous moral superiority on to a
political system which is
increasingly immoral.
The 2015 Delhi win was driven by Kejriwals energetic and
charismatic leadership, blessed
with the kind of mass connect
that neither a Yadav nor a
Bhushan can ever hope to match.
AAP cleverly and deliberately
converted the Delhi elections
into a presidential-style leadership contest much like the BJP
did in the 2014 general elections.
Almost every political party in
India today, without exception,
is tightly run by a family or an
individual. To have expected
AAP to be different was just an
illusion.
Lee Kuan Yew: Visionary and icon of Asian politics

Obituary
L
ee Kuan Yew, the first prime

minister of Singapore, and
one of the most influential
political figures in Asia died here
on Monday after a prolonged battle
with pneumonia. Born on
September 16, 1923, he was widely
considered as the father of the
modern day Singapore and the
leader who made the island nation
the most prosperous in Southeast
Asia.
Lee was born into a wealthy
Chinese family that had lived in
Singapore since the 19th century.
He did his schooling in Singapore
before studying law in the
University of Cambridge in
Britain. In 1950, Lee was admitted
to the English bar, but chose to
return to Singapore, instead of pursuing a career in Britain.
While in Britain, Lee embraced
the ideology of socialism. In the
early 1950s, he allied with individuals like David Saul Marshall and
Lim Yew Hock and raised the pitch
for a constitutional reform in the
country.
Singapore, at that time, was a
British colony and housed Britains
Lee Kuan Yew attending the National Day Parade at the Float
Marina Bay in Singapore in August, 2013.
principal naval base in East Asia.

The country was ruled by a governor and a legislative council mostly
comprising wealthy Chinese businessmen, who were appointed
rather than being elected.
Lee took it upon himself to challenge the hold of the businessmen
in the legislative council. However,
he soon adopted a more radical

stance and parted ways from his
allies. In 1954, he floated the
Peoples Action Party (PAP).
In the subsequent legislative
council elections, the PAP won
three seats.
In 1956, Lee returned to London
as a member of a Singaporean del-
egation that unsuccessfully sought

self-rule for the colony.
Unrest in Singapore followed,
during which a number of PAP
leaders were imprisoned.
In the following year, negotiations in London resumed, again
with Lee on the delegation. After
an agreement was reached on a
measure of self-government, Lee
won a by-election in Singapore by
an overwhelming majority.
The next year in London, Lee
helped negotiate the status of a
self-governing state within the
Commonwealth for Singapore.
Elections were held under
Singapores new constitution in
May 1959, and Lee called for
social reforms and eventual union
with the erstwhile Federation of
Malaya.
Lees party won a decisive victory, gaining 43 of the 51 seats, but
Lee refused to form a government
until the British freed the left-wing
members of his party who had been
The views expressed in Op Eds are not necessarily those of The South Asian Times.
imprisoned in 1956. After their

release, Lee was sworn in as prime
minister on June 5, 1959, and he
formed a cabinet.
He introduced a five-year plan
calling for slum clearance and the
building of new public housing, the
emancipation of women, the
expansion of educational services,
and industrialization.
In 1962, Lee led Singapore into a
merger with Malaysia, but three
years later, Singapore left the
union. Lee resigned as prime minister in 1990.
Lee recognized that Singapore
needed a strong economy in order
to survive as an independent country, and launched a program to
industrialize Singapore and transform it into a major exporter of finished goods.
He encouraged foreign investment and secured agreements
between labor unions and business
management, thereby ensuring
labor peace and a rising standard of
living for workers.
Lee's death signals an end of an
era and leaves a huge void in
Singaporean politics.
14
DIASPORA
India asks its nationals to leave 'fragile' Yemen Indian poet-diplomat new
New Delhi: With growing instability in Yemen, India on

Wednesday issued an advisory to
Indian nationals in the Arab country asking them to consider leaving voluntarily by the "earliest
available" commercial flight.
Ministry of external affairs
spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin,
addressing a media briefing here,
said: "The government on January
21 issued an advisory to all
Indians in Yemen. We want to
reiterate that now, that the security
situation in Yemen is fragile, with
high possibility of major conflict
and disturbances.
"We, therefore, urge and advise
all Indian nationals who are resident in Yemen to consider leaving
on voluntary basis by the earliest
available commercial flight."
The Shia Houthi rebels have
taken over a key air base from

forces loyal to Yemeni President
Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi and
continued their advance towards
his Aden stronghold.
The rebel fighters backed by
allied army units seized the alAnad military airbase, 60 km
north of Aden, early on
Wednesday after heavy fighting.
A Shia Houthi leader said the
group has arrested Defence
Minister Major Gen. Mahmoud
al-Subaihi in Lahj province.
Hadi fled to Aden, the country's
second biggest city, in late
February after weeks of house
arrest by the Houthi group in capital Sanaa, and stepped up confrontations with the group who
took over control of the capital in
September 2014.
According to the website of the
Indian embassy in Yemen, only

about 3,000 Indian nationals are
registered with it -- way down
from an estimated 5,000 in 2011
and around 14,000 in 2010.
Political instability and violence
in the country in recent years have
obviously impacted the Indian
diaspora.
Most of the Indians living in
Yemen are paramedical and hospital staff, university professors, IT
and other professionals, white collar workers, managerial and clerical staff in private sector, including oil companies, and skilled and
semi-skilled workers.
A vast majority of them hail
from Kerala but a few also come
from other states like Tamil Nadu,
Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat,
Karnataka, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh,
Bihar and West Bengal.
director of London's
Nehru Center
Abhay K
New Delhi: Poet-diplomat

Abhay K. has been appointed
the new director of the Nehru
Center, London.
He will succeed current director Sangeeta Bahadur shortly.
The Nehru Center, London,
since it started functioning in
1992, has had a number of illustrious names in the field of art
and
culture
such
as
Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Girish
Karnad, Pawan K. Varma
among others as its directors.
The center was set up to address
the cultural aspirations of the
Indian community and facilitate
a sustained dialogue between
Indian and British cultures.
It commenced its work in July
1992, with a program to mark
the centenary of the election of
Dadabhai Naoroji to the House
of Commons - the first entry of
an Asian to that august house.
It is regarded by the Indian
The South Asian Times proudly supports
Council for Cultural Relations

(ICCR) as its flagship cultural
center abroad, and has, over the
years, emerged as a premier
institution engaged in India's
cultural interface with Britain.
The center serves as a platform for Indian culture in the
broadest sense, focusing on the
role played both by British and
Indian artistes in promoting
greater mutual cultural understanding, said a press release.
Abhay K. is the author of two
memoirs and five poetry collections. His collection of poems
include "The Seduction Of
Delhi."
He has been honored with the
SAARC Literary Award and
nominated for the Pushcart
Prize 2013. He has received the
Gov2. award on behalf of the
Public Diplomacy Division
under the external affairs
ministry.
Telugu Association of London

to felicitate actor Mohan Babu
Print Partner
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
London: Actor-politician Manchu

Mohan Babu will be felicitated by
Telugu Association of London
(TAL) on Saturday here for his
contribution to the field of entertainment for over four decades.
"Mohan Babu's contribution to
the entertainment industry, education, and charity is unparalleled.
This award is a tribute to his passion for cinema and we are
extremely happy he was gracious
to accept the award," Ramulu
Dasoju, founder president, TAL
said in a statement.
Mohan Babu said that he'd like
"dedicate the award to my family,
friends, fans and all those who
walked along with me in this long
journey."
Telugu Association of London is
a widely known a non-profit
Telugu charity organization in the
Britain.
TAL was formed in 2005 with a
clear vision and objective to lay
foundation for Telugu speaking
community.
FEATURE
15
Saluting women of substance who inspire

Continued from page 1
ceilings, explains Mathur who is the creative
producer and host of the show. Season two of
the show that premiered last year on
International Womens Day, has 13 episodes
of 30 minutes each and aired over the weekends on TV Asia. This year there will be
more high profile women including Sunita
Williams and Nisha Biswal, said Mathur.
But of the 13 women featured, Mathur says
about half of them qualify for what you call
the girls next door. These women may not be
as well known as a Sunita Williams or Nisha
Biswal, but are definitely women of substance in their own right, she said.
One may not know Subrina Singh, but she
is doing a tremendous job in taking away
stigma attached to bipolar disorder and
depression by sharing her story. It is a topic
seldom talked about in our community and
Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone coming out with her experience battling the disorder fits timely with our episode, said
Mathur.
The special featuring Williams was shot in
a two part series inside the Johnson Space
Center simulation. The episode that aired on
March 8 saw Williams talk about her Indian
roots, her challenges growing up, her intense
preparation and life on-board International
Space Station. We got to see first-hand how
astronauts lived inside the space station. But
what really struck me was her simplicity
despite her accomplishments, her courage
when she described what take offs are like,
not seeing family and just being in the darkness and the uncertainty that is space, said
Mathur.
When asked about her favorite woman of
the lot, Mathur carefully replied, My perception of life has completely changed after
interacting with these fine women. They have
gone through extreme difficulties and yet
excelled. If I had to absolutely pick up one I
would go with Eakta Dosh. She worked as a
US Controller for Datamonitor before she
was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic
leukemia. She didnt let her diagnosis stop
her; rather, she found a way to help other
South Asians who just like her are struggling
to find a bone marrow donor by starting
Make Me Stronger movement.
Ask her about her shade of Shakti and she
reluctantly answers, My determination to
make a difference. I want my audience to

take the stories beyond the 8:30-9 pm prime
time slots, said Mathur who draws her
Shakti from her family and her husband. It
is the culmination of all of their energies,
she added.
Here are some of the women who are featured in this seasons Shades of Shakti:
Sunita Williams
NASA Astronaut and Navy officer
his spacewoman defied gravity not
once but twice circling earth in two
space missions. She holds a world
record for the
longest space flight
by a woman, has a
total of 50 hours
and 40 minutes of
spacewalking time
over seven spacewalks, the record
for number of
spacewalks for a
female, and most
spacewalk time for a female. On her voyages
into space, Williams said she had carried with
her a copy of the Upanishads and the
Bhagavad Gita to reflect and read and
Samosas to snack on.
Anita Moorjani
Author of Dying to be Me
n her inspirational memoir, New York
Times best-selling author Anita Moorjani
relates how after fighting cancer for
almost four years,
her bodyoverwhelmed by the
malignant cells
spreading throughout her system
began
shutting
down. As her
organs failed, she
entered into an
extraordinary near-death experience where
she realized her inherent worth . . . and the
actual cause of her disease. In her book Anita
recounts stories of her childhood. As part of a
traditional Hindu family residing in a largely
Chinese and British society, she had been
pushed and pulled by cultural and religious
customs since she had been a little girl. After
years of struggling to forge her own path

while trying to meet everyone else's expectations, she had the realization, as a result of
her epiphany on the other side, that she had
the power to heal herself.
Nisha Biswal
Assistant Secretary of State for South and
Central Asian Affairs in the United States
Department of State
he is Washington's first Indian
American point person for crafting US
policy on South and Central Asia,
which includes India as a top responsibility.
Her position is of paramount importance to
nurture US-India relations following the election of the new government in India. Biswal
made a career out of working in diplomatic
capacities related to South Asia. Earlier she
was assistant administrator for Asia at the
USAID, headed by Rajiv Shah. Her parents
emigrated from India and lived the classic
immigrant experience. Her grandparents
were freedom fighters in India.
Manisha Thakor
CEO of MoneyZen Wealth Management
he strives to empower South Asian
Women with financial wisdom to help
redefine their relationship to money
and create lives in alignment with their deepest values.
She has written several books including
On My Own Two Feet and Get Financially
Naked Thakor left her lucrative job in the
corporate world in 2009 and since devoted
herself fully to teaching, writing, and speaking about all things women and money. After
three years of advocacy work she launched
her complementary wealth management practice for high net worth women in 2012 and
merged with that practice into The
Buckingham Family of Financial Services
where she serves today as the Director of
Wealth Strategies for Women.
Tara Abrahams
Global Policy Advisor of Girl Rising
ara Abrahams serves in what is first of
its kind of global movement to educate
and empower girls, at the center of
which is the groundbreaking feature film
highlighting the stories of nine courageous
young girls/women each from a different

developing country and the challenges they
each overcome to pursue their dreams. The
campaign combines the power of the film
with the reach of a global, digitally integrated
social action initiative. Throughout her career
in various nonprofit organizations, she founded or worked in, Tara Abrahams followed a
path guided by achieving impact. Tara oversees the programmatic work of the organization and Girl Rising's work with USAID. She
also leads fundraising, external relationship
management, and setting strategy with the
Girl Rising team.
Amna Nawaz
Journalist at NBC
mna Nawaz will not allow danger to
be a deterrent. She is an Emmy
award-winning journalist who has
been with NBC for
nearly a decade.
Amna gained exclusive access to
Pakistans North
Waziristan, one of
the most dangerous
corners of the
world. She is the
first foreign journalist to travel into the
war-torn tribal agency, which is considered to
be the nexus of militant groups like the
Taliban and Al Qaida.
Subrina Singh
Writer, thinker and mental health advocate
nfortunately, there is a huge stigma in
the South Asian community contributing to a negative and often
demeaning view of
depression, bipolar
disorder, or people
who have mental
illnesses. Subrina
Singh is not only
determined to pull
past her diagnosis
of bipolar disorder,
but also stands
strong to openly
share her story to
help others who
may be facing similar symptoms.
16
FASHION
FASHION
By Nivedita
Mumbai: Since the past 15 years, the Lakme
Fashion Week has been promoting Indias rich
handloom culture and giving a worthy platform to budding designers. The summer-resort
edition of the fashion gala, which concluded
on Sunday, was again a step forward in that direction.
LFWs role as a platform for promoting
young and budding designers was quite visible
on the opening day of the summer-resort 2015
edition on March 18, when some fresh faces
showcased their unique creations under outof-the-box themes.
Mentored by ace couturier Anita Dongre and
presented by INIFD, the 19th edition of the
Gen Next show witnessed collections that
were a fabulous mix of creativity, style, innovation. Some of those who impressed with
their creativity were Alan Alexander Kaleekal,
Ankit Carpenter, Kanika Goyal, Manish
Bansal, Priyanka Ella Lorena Lama and Salita
Nanda. Besides earning the audience applause,
these designers struck a chord with buyers.
The overall response from the buyers and
international stores has been extremely positive for us. We have opened conversation with
a number of them. We got enquires from Aza,
Malgaadi, Ogaan, Creo, Minerali, Amaara,
Vyoum, Solo Look, Sade and Iness, Karan
Berry and Leon Vaz of the label Karleo, told
IANS.
Another designer, Farah Sanjana, who is
four seasons old, said: National and international buyers have loved my clothes and have
placed orders from US, Dubai and London.
As many as 163 registered buyers 43 international and 120 Indian were present at
LFW.
LFW dedicates a day to Indian textiles each
time. And on day two of the gala this time, the
organizers felicitated designers promoting use
of textiles. The day started with prominent designers Raghavendra Rathore, Sabyasachi
Mukherjee and Anita Dongre being lauded by
Textile Commissioner Sajay Kumar Panda for
their continuous contribution to promote Indian textile and handloom. Discussions were
also held on how they can be popularized as a
new style statement among fashion-conscious
youth. This was the time when Mukherjee, one
of most inuential names in the world of fashion, appealed to all corporates in India to set
aside a day for Indian wear. He said it would
be great if Indian youth could wear textiles and
bring about a revolution.
What followed in the remaining days was a
display of various silhouettes by a plethora of
designers. A total of 83 designers participated
including stalwarts who promoted India-inspired fashion on the runway such as,
Raghavendra Rathore, Tarun Tahiliani, Wendell Rodricks, Kiran Uttam Gosh, Krishna
Mehta, Manish Malhotra, Suneet Verma and
Shivan & Narresh. Not to miss, there were
also two international names.
While German lifestyle clothing company
Tom Tailor showcased casual and uncomplicated clothing, designer Natalie Jolliffe of
brand Miss Bennett London offered a mix of
ensembles for the fashion forward young
women, looking for a distinct style statement.
And how could Bollywood presence be
given a miss for a fashion event in Mumbai?
There was dollops of B-Town glamor with
many Kapoors, not related to each other Shraddha Kapoor, Aditya Roy Kapur, Arjun
Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor and Kalki Koechlin, Tamannaah Bhatia and
the ever-so-graceful Shabana Azmi on the
ramp.
SRK
proud
of wife
Gauri's
Satya
Paul S
line
An influential voice in fashion appealed to all

corporates in India to set aside a day for Indian wear.
ince the shooting of Fan in Croatia kept superstar Shah

Rukh Khan from applauding his wife Gauri Khan live
when she showcased her fashion designing skills at LFW
in Mumbai, he took to social media to send out a word of encouragement for her. SRK tweeted on March 21: SatyaPaul by
Gauri. Xtremely proud of her achievement. Missed applauding
her & its a shame I dont wear dresses. Haha
pic.twitter.com/tNJOkfWTvO Gauri, a creative entrepreneur in
her own right, has lent her design sensibilities to Satya Paul to
mark the fashion brands 30th anniversary. She showcased the
line A Tropical Wonder on the ramp at LFW.
ner
lk the ramp for desig
and Arjun Kapoor wa
or
po
Ka
id
ah
Sh
s
.
tor
Ac
on March 21
Kunal Rawal at LFW
Suneet Verma
ramp as showstopper for the
Actress Nargis Fakhri walks the
5. His collection
201
21,
5 in Mumbai on March
show at LFW Summer/Resort 201
nts and vintage
hme
ellis
emb
y
d embroideries, inla
was a regal affair with overlai
jewelry by Reliance Jewels.
Right (top) Actress Chitrangda Singh walks the

ramp as showstopper for designer Tarun Tahiliani.
(Right) Film star Karishma Kapoor was the
showstopper for Neha Agarwal at the LFW.
Why fashion shows look to film stars for showstoppers?

ayal Singhal, whose designs have been
aunted by the best in Bollywood, including Kareena Kapoor, Vidya Balan
and Sonakshi Sinha, says roping in a celebrity
face as a showstopper on a ramp show boosts
business.
The debate over whether lm stars should be
made showstoppers at fashion galas, or
whether the creations should remain show
stealers, has been going on for a while. But
Singhal, who recently brought actress Tamannaah Bhatia to aunt her creation on the ramp
at the Lakme Fashion Week, nds no harm in
cashing in of Bollywood glamor. "If you are
ch 21. LFW is celee Reddys show at LFW on Mar

The finale of designer Anushre
fashion.
brating 15 years of showcasing
selling food and if you market the food to the

people who eat it, would that be wrong? The
fact is that Bollywood sells, and so if actors
wear our garment, we sell it 10 times more,"
Singhal said.
Singhal, who established her fashion house
in 1999, is known for offering contemporary
Indian and Western clothing. Her market is the
quality and design-conscious individuals, who
value and appreciate the art of fashion.
Commercial success is prime for her.
"In our country, we think of commercial viability as a negative thing. The whole point of
coming into fashion and getting into this busi-
ness, is to get prots. "To me, at the end of the

day, it's the money that talks, and of course,
commercial success. As a human being, as a
creative person and as designer, I would strive
to do better, but I don't do it for critics. My
clients are my real stamp of approval and beyond that I do it for myself," she said.
Her customized prints and designs are a hit.
In fact, pieces from her last collection 'Char
Bagh' was aunted by the likes of Neha Dhupia, Sonam Kapoor, Huma Qureshi, Shraddha
Kapoor and Nargis Fakhri; and Singhal managed to impress fashionistas with her summerresort 2015 collection too.
Nita Ambani, founder and chairperson,

Dhirubhai Ambani International School,
with actress Sonakshi Sinha during the
Grand Finale of LFW on March 22.
Film star Deepika Padukone
posing wearing a flowery
dress during fashion designer
Sabyasachi Mukherjees show
on March 17.
17
18
ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD
:
s
d
r
a
w
A
New York Indian
m
l
i
F
l
a
n
o
i
t
a
N
Film Festival to
,
s
e
n
i
h
s
'
r
e
showcase 30 films 'Haid
n
e
e
u
q
s
i
a
Kangan
he jury of the 62nd National Film Awards

announced a balanced list of winners from the Hindi
and regional movie worlds, with Vishal Bhardwajs
Haider taking away a bouquet of five awards. Talents from
Tamil and Bengali movies have been rightfully lauded too.
Haider - a modern-day adaptation of William
Shakespeares classic tragedy Hamlet - set in the backdrop
of Kashmir, won Best Male Playback Singer for Sukhwinder
Singh for the song "Bismil"; Best Dialogues and Music
Direction for the films director Vishal Bhardwaj; Best
Choreography for Norway-based Sudesh Adhana; and Best
Costume Designer for the effervescent Dolly Ahluwalia.
"We have got more than what we expected... I am overwhelmed," Vishal Bhardwaj, the director of the film, told
reporters in Mumbai.
Bollywoods other big winner is Queen, which not
just won the Best Hindi film, but also the Best
Actress honor for Kangana Ranaut, for an endearingly etched out performance as Rani. This is her
second National Award after she won the Best
Supporting Actress for essaying a doomed model
in the 2008 film Fashion.
The Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome
Entertainment went to "Mary Kom", debut directed by Omung Kumar, for being "an inspiring tale
of a woman who becomes a national icon through
her determined pursuit of sporting excellence".
The film starred National Award winning actress
Priyanka Chopra as boxing champion M.C. Mary
Kom, and the director is ecstatic about the unexpected victory.
Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Bhootnath
Returns along with Marathi film Killa got a
special mention for lovable portrayals. Other
films that got a special mention are Malayalam
film Ain and Konkani film Nachom - IA
Kumpasar. Another surprised winner was
Chaitanya Tamhane, whose yet-to-be-released movie
Court won the Best Feature Film for its "powerful and
stark depiction of the mundaneness of judicial procedure. The
Best Direction award went to Bengali director Srijit Mukherji
for "Chotushkone", which according to the jury, has "brilliantly
reflexive use of the cinematic idiom". Mukherji also won for
Best Original Screenplay for the film, which even won the Best
Cinematography accolades for Sudeep Chatterjee. The Best
Actor award has been bagged by Vijay for his "subtle and nonstereotypical playing of a woman trapped in a man's body", in
A scene from Shonali Bose's

"Margarita With A Straw.
he longest-running, most prestigious South

Asian film festival in the US, New York
Indian Film Festival (NYIFF), will open
May 4 with Shonali Bose's "Margarita With A
Straw." Aparna Sen's "Saari Raat" will be the centerpiece film of the 15th annual showcase of
ground-breaking, thought-provoking, independent
cinema, to be screened at prestigious venues around
New York City May 4 -9.
Starring Kalki Koechlin, Revathi and Sayani
Gupta, "Margarita" is the poignant portrayal of a
rebellious young woman with cerebral palsy who
leaves her home in India to study in New York,
unexpectedly falls in love and embarks on an exhilarating journey of self-discovery.
Starring Anjan Dutt, Rittwik Chakraborty and
Konkona Sen Sharma, "Saari Raat", a play in three
acts by the legendary Bengali playwright and theatre personality Badal Sircar, is also Sen's tribute to
Badal, who passed away in 2011.
Special screenings and events include Vishal
Bhardwaj's Shakespeare trilogy of "Maqbool",
"Omkara" and "Haider" followed by a discussion
between Bhardwaj and a Shakespearean expert.
A special screening of "Daughters of Mother
India", a documentary film focused on the aftermath of the Delhi rape incident, given India's ban
on the broadcast of the BBC rape documentary
"India's Daughter."
Angelina
Jolie
ctress Angelina Jolie has undergone

surgery to remove her ovaries and fallopian tubes to avoid getting cancer.
She daringly underwent a double
mastectomy two years ago
followed by reconstructive surgery.
The 39-year-old said
that
her
mother
Marcheline Bertrand
died when she was 49
and wanted to take the
action now. Her operation now has put her into
forced
menopause,
reports mirror.co.uk.
The mother of six said
that she had been planning the preventative surgery for a while but two weeks
ago she was told by her doctor that there were
Jolie removes
ovaries, fallopian
tubes over
cancer fear
Kangana Ranaut bagged the best actress honor

while Vishal Bhardwajs Haider ook a
bouquet of five awards.
Kannada film "Nanu Avanalla Avalu". The film has also won for
Best Makeup Artist for Nangaraju and Raju.
The Best Playback Female Singer has gone to Uttara
Unnikrishanan for the song "Azhagu" from Tamil movie
"Saivam, and the Best Adapted Screenplay honour went to
Joshy Mangalath for Malayalam movie "Ottal".
a "number of inflammatory markers that are

elevated". The doctor also said that it could be
a sign of early cancer.
Hence after calling actor-husband Brad Pitt,
who was in France at the time, she got the
diagnosis and underwent the procedure called
laparoscopic bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy.
Jolie said she took the heart-wrenching decision so she "could see her grandchildren grow
up". Writing in the New York Times magazine,
Jolie said: " 'Your CA-125 is normal,' he said. I
breathed a sigh of relief. That test measures
the amount of the protein CA-125 in the blood,
and is used to monitor ovarian cancer. I have it
every year because of my family history."
"But that wasnt all. He went on. 'There are a
number of inflammatory markers that are elevated, and taken together they could be a sign
of early cancer.' I took a pause. 'CA-125 has a
50 to 75 percent chance of missing ovarian
cancer at early stages,' he said."

"He wanted me to see the surgeon immediately to check my ovaries. I went through what
I imagine thousands of other women have felt.
I told myself to stay calm, to be strong, and
that I had no reason to think I wouldnt live to
see my children grow up and to meet my
grandchildren."
"I called my husband in France, who was on
a plane within hours. The beautiful thing about
such moments in life is that there is so much
clarity. You know what you live for and what
matters. It is polarizing, and it is peaceful."
"That same day I went to see the surgeon,
who had treated my mother. I last saw her the
day my mother passed away, and she teared up
when she saw me: 'You look just like her.' I
broke down. But we smiled at each other and
agreed we were there to deal with any problem, so 'lets get on with it.'"
ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD
'Broken Horses' to release in

novel form globally
19
Shashi Kapoor chosen for

Dadasaheb Phalke award
ust days after Shashi Kapoor turned 77, news
emerged on Monday that Bollywood's evergreen
charmer will be conferred the Dadasaheb Phalke
award. Congratulations poured in for the actor, whose
now frail frame, wrinkled face and silver locks fail to
erase the image of his good looks and smile off his
fans' memory.
Best known for his nuanced performance in memorable films like "Deewar", "Satyam Shivam
Sundaram", "Trishul", "Kabhi Kabhie", "Vijeta" and
"Kalyug", Shashi captivated Hindi movie buffs for
several years. The veteran actor-producer, who turned
77 on March 18, is the 46th winner of the honor, conferred by the government for outstanding contribution
to the growth and development of Indian Cinema.
Together with his elder brothers, the late Raj and
Shammi Kapoor, Shashi formed the Kapoor trinity,
who took the film industry by storm.
Shashi began his tryst with acting at the age of four,
with plays directed and produced by his father
Prithviraj Kapoor.
A popular name in Bollywood during the 1960s,
1970s and until the mid-1980s, Shashi was one of
India's first actors to go international with British and
American films such as "The Householder" (1963),
"Shakespeare Wallah" (1965), "Bombay Talkie"
(1970) and "Heat and Dust" (1982).
He also starred in other British and American films
such as "Siddhartha" (1972) and "Muhafiz" (1994).
In 1978, Shashi set up his production house Film
Valas, which produced critically acclaimed films such
J
Filmmaker
Vidhu Vinod
Chopra
ilmmaker Vidhu Vinod

Chopra's
maiden
Hollywood venture Broken
Horses will release as a novel in
India, Britain and the US, a
spokesperson has said.
The news was confirmed by a
spokesperson of Vinod Chopra
Films in a statement.
The original story of the film is
co-written by Chopra and Abhijat
Joshi, and it gives the former a
rare distinction to be an Indian
who has written, produced and
directed by a Hollywood film.
The trailer of Broken Horses
was launched by legendary actors

Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir
Khan.
Set in the shadows of USMexico border gang wars,
Broken Horses is a thriller
about bonds of brotherhood, laws
of loyalty and futility of violence.
The principal cast of Broken
Horses includes Vincent
DOnofrio, Anton Yelchin, Chris
Marquette and Maria Valverde.
Distributed and marketed by Fox
Star Studios in India, Broken
Horses will hit the theatres on
April 10.
Veteran actor Shashi Kapoor
as "Junoon" (1978), "Kalyug" (1981), "36

Chowringhee Lane" (1981), "Vijeta" (1982) and
"Utsav" (1984). He also produced and directed a fantasy film titled "Ajooba", which had Amitabh
Bachchan and Rishi in the lead roles. Shashi's love for
theater never died -- and that was proven when he
decided to revive his father's Prithvi Theatre, along
with his late wife Jennifer Kendal. In 2011, he was
honored with the Padma Bhushan, and he is also a
proud recipient of three National Film Awards.
Ghibran happy about short film's Cannes screening
Lata mimicked at music award,

S
industry baffled
t was day of deep shame

for many known faces
of the Hindi music
industry when melody
Queen Lata Mangeshkar
was mimicked by a smalltime female comedian at a
music award function last
weekend. Singers like Alka
Yagnik and composer Lalit
Pandit said this was no way
to treat a recipient of the
Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award.
Sugandha Mishra, a regular on comedy shows, is
known for her imitation of
the Melody Queen and she
did it again at a popular
Melody Queen Lata Mangeshkar
award function a few day
back that was telecast last weekend. She least!). Shame on them," she said.
Adds Pandit: "The whole music fraternity
mimicked Lata amongst many stalwarts
including Javed Akhtar, Ila Arun, Usha Uthup and the film industry loves Lataji to death. I
was surprised by the act when it was on. I
and Shankar Mahadevan.
However, it was Yagnik who looked dis- didn't expect this and I frankly feel it was
turbed and shocked with the act. When this overdone...Lata Didi is a Bharat Ratna and
writer contacted her, she sounded genuinely nothing about her should be used for
laughter."
distressed at her idol being so ridiculed.
A source very close to Lataji said: "They
"I didn't like it. It was not in good taste. And
it went on and on. This is what the music wanted to invite her to honor her. When she
industry has come to, disrespecting their very couldn't attend they decided to make fun of
own Bharat Ratna. Lataji is a Goddess. Kam- her. This is their way of honoring our most
se-kam unko toh baksh dena ttha(spare her at revered and adored singer."
outhern composer Ghibran,

is on a journey to kill a CEO of a
the executive producer of
chemical company. It is shot
entirely on East Coast Road in a
"Swayer Corporations", is
delighted it will be screened in the
short span of four days. Though the
film does not have any background
short films category at the Cannes
International Film Festival May 14music, I played an entirely differ25. "Swayer Corporations" is
ent role in this film," Ghibran said
Southern
in a statement.
directed by Ghibran's childhood
composer
friend Rathindran R. Prasad for
"I handled the production execuGhibran
Turkish producers Basak Gaziler
tion part in India. I'm happy to be
Prasad and Hakan Kantarli. "I am happy to part of this Cannes-nominated project. I
be a part of this short film. The film is about congratulate the producers and my friend
an angry young environmental activist who Rathindran," he added.
B-Town hails scrapping of Section 66A

s soon as the Supreme Court
quashed Section 66A of the
Information Technology Act,
there was a tizzy on micro-blogging site
Twitter with renowned Bollywood filmmakers like Madhur Bhandarkar and
Sanjay Gupta welcoming the verdict and
saying it would further the freedom of
expression.
The court held that Section 66A violated
Article 19(1)(a) of the constitution that
guaranteed freedom of speech and expression. Bhandarkar, who has helmed films
like Fashion, Page 3 and Corporate
on societal issues, said that the verdict
stands true to the principles of a democratic nation.
Landmark judgement by Hon Supreme
Court as it strikes down Sec 66A of IT
Act. Freedom of thought & expression
rightly upheld in a democracy,
Bhandarkar tweeted.
Where as Shootout at Wadala filmmaker Sanjay Gupta posted: Sec66A S C
R A P P E D. Now this is good news.
Others to welcome the judgement were
Pritish Nandy. He wrote: Section 66A of
the IT Act, the noxious, draconian law has
been struck down by the Supreme Court.
Restores our faith in democracy. What an
achievement! @karunanundy #66A, the
black act goes.
And celebrated writer Chetan Bhagat,
who raised the bar by churning out bestsellers like "Five Point Someone", "The 3
Mistakes of My Life", and "2 States" and
most of his novels have been adapted into
successful movies.
Glad to know that I live in a free country. No #Sec66A as SC strikes it down.
Super happy.Go on, troll away, Bhagat
posted.
SUBCONTINENT
All issues with Pakistan can be resolved: Modi
New Delhi: Prime Minister

Narendra Modi greeted his
Pakistani counterpart Nawaz
Sharif on Pakistan's National Day
and said that "all outstanding
issues can be resolved through
bilateral dialogue".
"It is my rm conviction that all
outstanding issues can be resolved
through bilateral dialogue in an
atmosphere free from terror &
violence," tweeted Modi.
In another tweet, Modi said he
has written to Nawaz Sharif and
conveyed his greetings on the
National Day of Pakistan.
Also known as Pakistan Day,
the National Day is observed to
commemorate the passage of the
Lahore Resolution of 1940, now
called the Pakistan Resolution on
March 23, 1940.
The resolution called for the
creation of independent states for
Muslims in north-western and
eastern British India.
Meanwhile, Jammu and
Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti
Muhammad Sayeed said that ring from across the border was a
great challenge and he would
leave no stone unturned to ensure
peace at the border with Pakistan.
Speaking in the state legislative
council, Sayeed said there was no
violation of ceasere from across
the borders in Jammu region from
2002 to 2010. "We have to solve
Prime Minister Narendra Modi pays obeisance

at the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
the problem and ensure peace for

the border residents.
"Our border farmer is a big sufferer because his crops get damaged and lives are in danger
because of ring from across the
border.
"We will engage Pakistan for
peace and I will ensure that peace
returns to our border areas,"
Sayeed said during a debate on
cross border ring on the international border in Jammu, Samba
and Kathua districts of the Jammu
region.
Bilateral ceasere signed by
India and Pakistan in 2003 held
well till the last two to three years

bringing in a modicum of normalcy into the lives of thousands of
villagers living on the two sides of
the international border and the
LoC in Indian and Pakistan
administers parts of divided
Kashmir.
Since 2013, Pakistan troops
have frequently been targeting
Indian border guards and civilian
populations on the international
border which often forces hundreds of villagers to abandon
homes and agricultural elds to
seek shelter at safer places away
from the live of Pakistani re.
Indian foreign secretary to visit Nepal in April

Kathmandu: Indian Foreign Secretary S.
Jaishankar is scheduled to arrive in Nepal on
April 2 on a three-day visit as part of his
SAARC yatra.
Nepal's foreign affairs ministry and a
spokesperson at the Indian embassy in
Kathmandu said that Jaishankar is slated to
meet top political leaders, including
President Ram Baran Yadav, Prime Minister
Sushil Koirala and Foreign Minister
Mahendra Bahadur Pandey.
He will also meet his counterpart Shanker
Das Bairagi and will hold delegation-level
talks that will serve as a follow-up of the two
visits of Indian Prime Minister Narendra
Modi and External Affairs Minister Sushma
Swaraj in July 2014.
India's Ambassador Ranjit Rae held talks
with Pandey and discussed matters to be
taken up by both sides during Jaishankar's
visit. This is the second phase of Jaishankar's
visit to SAARC member countries. He visited Bhutan on March 1, Pakistan on March 3
and Afghanistan on March 4.
The purpose of the visit is divided in two
parts, a senior government ofcial said,
adding that the rst part is the follow-up of
Indian Foreign Secretary

S. Jaishankar
the progress made after Modi's two visits to

Nepal in August and November last year.
"During the second part, he will meet with
top leaders of major political parties where
he will have a rst-hand opportunity to get
an understanding of the latest political situation in Nepal." "No new agreement or understanding will be signed as it is just a visit
which will give him an understanding about
the political and bilateral issues," the
ofcial added.
21
Pakistan keen to settle

Kashmir issue: Basit
New Delhi: Calling for a "new era
of peace and stability", Pakistan's
High Commissioner Abdul Basit
said that his country was "keen" to
settle the Jammu and Kashmir dispute with India through dialogue.
In line with "Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif's vision of 'peace for
development and development for
peace', Pakistan was keen to settle
all the issues with India, including
the Jammu and Kashmir dispute
through dialogues", Basit said in a
message on Pakistan National Day.
Speaking at the high commission
here, Basit emphasized the need to
"normalize" bilateral ties and "usher
in a new era of peace and stability,

enabling the two countries to
address the challenges facing our
region and exploiting myriad of
opportunities unleashed by globalization".
He drew upon the importance of
peace being in the "mutual interest"
of India and Pakistan, said a statement from the high commission.
Kashmiri separatist leader
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Sunday
met the Pakistani envoy for a oneon-one at the latter's residence
where they discussed a "new start"
in India-Pakistan ties and Jammu
and Kashmir.
Pakistan's High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit
'US, China suppressed genocide

reports during Bangla liberation war'
Agartala: The United States, China and a
few other countries tried to suppress the
reports of genocide and bloodbath in the
then East Pakistan during Bangladesh's
nine-month-long war of liberation, freedom
ghters and experts of that country said
here. The USA, China and a few other
countries besides Pakistan tried to suppress
news about the genocide and massacres in
the then East Pakistan (now Bangladesh)
during the nine-month-long liberation war
of Bangladesh," renowned Bangladeshi historian and Genocide and Torture Archive
and Museum Trust president Muntasir
Mamun said. "Never did these countries
accept and highlight the torture, massacres
and mass rape of lakhs of men and women
during the liberation struggle in
Bangladesh. In no country in Asia, except
Bangladesh, such type of genocide and
massacres besides gang rape of lakhs of
women happened," he told reporters.
Mamun said: "Pakistani forces during the
nine months of liberation war (March 26 to

December 16, 1971) massacred over three
million Bangladeshi men, women and children, and gang raped over six lakh women
and tortured lakhs of people."
"More than one crore families were
uprooted from their ancestral homes and
lands during that period."
Mamun, accompanied by other
Bangladeshi freedom ghters and pro-liberation experts, said only India, the then
USSR and a few other countries helped
Bangladesh achieve success in creation of a
sovereign Bangladesh and recognized the
unprecedented mass execution of lakhs of
innocent people. India was the rst country
to recognize Bangladesh.
Ahead of Bangladesh's Independence Day
on March 26, a three-day exhibition "1971:
Genocide and Torture" was held here from
Monday to Wednesday to showcase the sacrices lakhs of people of erstwhile East
Pakistan made to achieve their freedom.
22
INTERNATIONAL
'Co-pilot deliberately crashed Germanwings plane'
Paris: The co-pilot of the

Germanwings A320 appears to
have deliberately crashed the aircraft killing 144 passengers and six
crew members on board, the French
prosecutor said on March 26.
The action of the first officer,
Andreas Lubitz, of the crashed
Germanwings' A320 "can be
analysed as his intention to destroy
the aircraft", said Brice Robin at a
press conference held on March 26
in Marseille.
Robin said that the 28-year-old
first officer appears to have deliberately refused to open the cockpit
door for the captain.
The co-pilot was alive till the last
moment before the crash, the prosecutor said, adding no words were
spoken in the last 10 minutes
before the plane crashed in Alpesde-Haute-Provence in the southern
French Alps.
There was no contact between
either the captain or the first officer,
Airbus A320 jet crashed in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence in the

southern French Alps, killing all 150 on board.
and air traffic control in the last

eight minutes.
According to Robin, at this
moment, there is no indication that
the Germanwings plane crash was
an act of terrorism.
Obama sees creation of

Palestinian state sabotaged
Washington: US President
Barack Obama has said that "it's
hard to envision" the creation of
a Palestinian state after Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu's recent remarks
rejecting the idea, and that the
possibilities of a lasting peace
right now are "very dim".
"There still does not appear to
be a prospect of a meaningful
framework established that
would lead to a Palestinian state,"
Obama said .
Obama recalled that, on the eve
of the Israeli elections last March
17, Netanyahu said about the creation of an independent
Palestinian state "on my watch
this is not going to happen."
"I took him at his word that
that's what he meant and I think
that a lot of voters inside of Israel
understood him to be saying that
unequivocally," the US president
said. Two days later, Netanyahu
backtracked and said he did
indeed want a two-state solution,
but that "under the present circumstances, today, it is unachievable."
Despite Netanyahu's explanations, Obama said, "there still
Israeli Prime Minister

Benjamin Netanyahu
does not appear to be a prospect

of a meaningful framework being
established that would lead to a
Palestinian state. It's not just my
estimation, I think it's hard to
envision how that happens based
on the prime minister's statements."
Obama recalled that, up to now,
"the premise has been both under
Republican and Democratic
administrations that as difficult
as it was, as challenging as it
was, the possibility of two states
living side by side in peace and
security could marginalize more
extreme elements, bring together
folks at the center and with some
common sense we could resolve
what has been a vexing issue."
Meanwhile, another Xinhua

report from Berlin citing N-TV said
that
a
spokeswoman
of
Germanwings' parent company,
Lufthansa, stated earlier on
Thursday that the co-pilot had been
Afghan president warns of IS

threat to security transition
Washington: Visiting Afghan
President Ashraf Ghani has
warned that extremist groups
such as Islamic State (IS) pose a
"grave and present danger" to
Afghanistan's security transition.
"Afghanistan's security transition took place against the backdrop of the unexpected rise of
religious extremism in the Middle
East," Ghani on Wednesday told
a joint session of US Congress. "
Terrorist movements whose goal
is to destabilize every state in the
region are looking for new bases
of operation. We are the front
line.
Just hours before Ghani's
speech to US lawmakers, at least
six people were killed and more
than 30 were wounded in a suicide car bombing near the presidential palace in Kabul, the
Afghan capital city.
"From the West, the Daesh is
already sending advance guards
to southern and western
Afghanistan to push our vulnerabilities," said Ghani, referring to
IS in its Arabic name. "To the
south, Pakistan's counterinsurgency operations ... are pushing
the Taliban from South
Waziristan towards Afghanistan's
border regions. "
working for Germanwings since

September 2013 and had completed
630 flying hours.
French President Francois
Hollande, German Chancellor
Angela Merkel and Spanish Prime
Minister Mariano Rajoy visited the
crash site on Wednesday and
thanked the rescue workers for their
efforts, according to a BBC report.
Rajoy, who termed the crash a
"dramatic and sad news with enormous human loss" on Tuesday, has
declared three days of national
mourning in Spain.
Germanwings chief Thomas
Winkelmann said 72 of the 144
passengers were German citizens,
according to a BBC report. The
German victims included 16 school
students returning from an
exchange trip. Xinhua reported 49
of the passengers were from Spain.
British Foreign Secretary Philip
Hammond confirmed that three
Britons were also on board the ill-
fated plane, BBC reported. Other

victims were believed to be from
Australia, Argentina, Iran,
Venezuela,
the
US,
the
Netherlands, Colombia, Mexico,
Japan, Denmark, Morocco and
Israel. The plane began descending
one minute after it reached its
cruising height and continued to
lose altitude for eight minutes,
Germanwings managing director
Thomas
Winkelmann
told
reporters.
Media reports indicated that the
jetliner was one of the oldest in
Germanwings' fleet and had served
for over 24 years. It had flown to
Barcelona from Duesseldorf earlier
before meeting with the accident on
the return flight.
The US said there was no evidence so far of a terror angle, BBC
reported. A Lufthansa official said
they were assuming for the time
being that the crash had been
caused by an accident.
Obama puts US troop drawdown in

Afghanistan on hold
Afghan President Ashraf
Ghani with US President
Barack Obama.
Washington: US President Barack

Obama has announced no drawdown of the current 9,800 US troops
stationed in Afghanistan will occur
through the end of 2015.
Noting that Afghanistan "remains
a dangerous place," Obama said in a
joint press conference with visiting
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani that
given the upcoming spring war season with Afghan militants, it is
worthwhile to grant flexibility
requested by Ghani in terms of the
US drawdown timeline.
Obama had previously planed to
reduce the current level of 9, 800
US troops in Afghanistan to around
5,500 by the end of 2015 and withdraw all troops by the end of 2016
when his presidency comes to an

end. However, Ghani has made
clear on many occasions that such a
timeline for a US army withdrawal
would jeopardize the security situation on the ground. Prior to his
American visit, he had also repeatedly told US media that the extremist group Islamic State was targeting
Afghanistan and gaining influence
within the nation. Meanwhile, a
joint US-Afghanistan statement
issued shortly before the press conference said the specific trajectory
of the 2016 US troops drawdown
will be established later this year to
allow consolidation of the US
troops to a Kabul-based embassy
presence by the end of 2016.
BUSINESS
23
India's spectrum auction gets bids of over Rs.109,000 crore Manmohan moves
New Delhi: The e-auction of
radio frequency spectrum, or
airwaves, for telecom operators
concluded this week after 19
days and 115 rounds of rigorous bidding with ofcials placing the initial estimate of total
commitments
at
over
Rs.109,000 crore.
"We are still in the process of
putting the gures together. But
our preliminary calculations
suggest it will be over
Rs.109,000 crore," a senior
ofcial in the ministry said,
giving an initial estimate of the
net amount committed, taking
into account all the winning
bids. If this gure proves correct, the amount will then surpass the previous high of
Rs.106,200 crore that the government had received in the
2010 auction, which was
spread over 34 days with 183
rounds of bidding.
Ofcials said the names of
the successful bidders will not
be divulged since the Supreme
Court, while allowing the eauction to proceed, had direct-
If this figure proves correct, the amount will then surpass

the previous high of Rs.106,200 crore
ed that its consent be taken

before awarding spectrum, due
to litigations led by interested
parties.
The eight companies that participated in the auction were:
Reliance Communications,
Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel,
Vodafone
India,
Tata
Teleservices, Uninor, Idea
SenecaGlobal to
invest $5 million to
expand in India, US
Hyderabad: SenecaGlobal, an information
technology services company, has
announced its plans to invest $5 million to
expand its operations in India and the
United States.
The investment will be made over the
next three years to support the business
growth worldwide.
The rm, which has its operations in
Hyderabad and Oak Brook in US' Illinois
state, plans to increase the headcount from
current 250 to over 2,000 by 2020. Founder
Edward V. Szofer told reporters here that
the 40,000 square feet facility here will support the expansion's rst phase.
SenecaGlobal, which services mid-market
companies, was started in 2008 by Szofer
along with two other serial entrepreneurs,
Rao Tummalapalli and Swaminathan Mani.
Rao, who is the company's managing
director, said $5 million had been invested,
while Mani said they had re-invested 100
percent of returns in the business since
inception. "We will be evaluating strategic
business and nancial options to accelerate
our growth," he added.
Cellular and Aircel. The winners will have to pay around a

third of the winning bid price
within 10 days and the rest by
2027. The central government
has budgeted for Rs.43,161.72
crore from e-auctions of spectrum for the current scal. The
reserve price for the entire
spectrum in the four bands on
offer, across India, was around

Rs.80,000 crore.
The commitment for telecom
spectrum comes over and
above the Rs.200,000 crore that
India Inc has already bid under
two phases of auctions for
award of coal blocks. But the
proceeds from the auction of
coal blocks will go to the
respective state governments
over 30 years.
"I am glad the presumptions
some people had, that spectrum
is worth zero, have been
belied," said Finance Minister
Arun Jaitley, referring to the
criticism India's ofcial auditor
faced when a notional loss of
Rs.176,000 crore was assigned
for handing over the airwaves
without auctions.
But his predecessor Kapil
Sibal of the Congress said the
auctions were awed. "The
telecom sector is hugely in debt
to the extent of Rs.340,000
crore. Now, in paying for the
high spectrum prices, there'll be
no money for investment in
infrastructure," Sibal said.
SC against
summons in coal
block case
New Delhi: Former prime minister
Manmohan Singh has moved the
Supreme Court challenging the summons issued to him by a special court
over the allocation of Talabira II coal
block in Odisha to Kumar Mangalam
Birla-owned Hindalco in 2005.
Special Court Judge Bharat Parashar,
who is holding trial of cases rooted in
coal block allocation scam, on March
11 summoned Manmohan Singh as an
accused for allocating the coal block to
Hindalco.
Besides the former prime minister,
the Special Court also summoned Birla
and the former coal secretary P.C.
Parakh. The three were summoned for
offences of criminal conspiracy, breach
of trust, and under the provisions of the
Prevention of Corruption Act.
Twitter Samvad launched, making Digital India a dialogue

New Delhi: Social media platform Twitter
has launched Twitter Samvad in collaboration with the Indian government so as to
allow people to receive tweets as SMSes
from government offices, including the
Prime Minister's Office.
The service was launched by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi at his meeting here
with Twitter chief executive Dick Costolo,
who told media persons after the meeting
that "based on Indian technological innovation, Twitter Samvad is dedicated and specially built for the largest democracy of the
world".
"As part of the Prime Minister's Digital
India initiative, this tweet-powered service
enables citizens to be the first to know about
the government's actions by receiving political content in real-time on their mobile
devices anywhere in the country."
As of now, 16 government offices, including the ministry of railways, the Bengaluru
police and the chief ministers of Uttar
Pradesh and West Bengal are participating
in Twitter Samvad, which is powered by
Bengaluru-based ZipDial, which was
recently acquired by Twitter.
Calling it a "milestone moment for
Twitter, which was invented on SMS",
Costolo said: "Making Digital India (cam-
Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Twitter chief executive

Dick Costolo in New Delhi.
paign) a two-way relationship is something

we're very proud of."
Modi tweeted on the new collaboration:
"Lets deepen our connect! Give a missed
call on 011 3006 3006 & get my Tweets on
your mobile as SMS." Users are required to
give a missed call to the numbers associated

with the accounts to follow the specific
Twitter account.On placing the missed call,
users will start to receive a curated set of
tweets throughout the day from the government offices they had called.
24 March 28-April 3, 2015
New Zealand beat S. Africa, enter final

Auckland: Grant Elliot's massive
heave (84 not out) helped New
Zealand reach their first ever
cricket World Cup final as they
overcame a spirited South Africa
by four wickets with a ball to
spare in a thrilling first semi-final
at the Eden Park here.
Faf du Plessis (82) and captain
AB de Villiers (65 not out) took
South Africa to 281/5 in 43 overs
in a rain-curtailed match decided
by Duckworth/Lewis method.
Rilee Rossouw (39) and David
Miller (18-ball 49) also contributed to the total.
Rain halted play after 38 overs
of the Proteas innings and continued for more than 90 minutes. It
reduced the match to 43 overs per
side, forcing D/L method to peek
in. According to the D/L method,
the target was revised and the
hosts needed 298 in 43 overs.
In reply, New Zealand got over
the line with contributions from
skipper Brendon McCullum (26ball 59), Corey Anderson (58)

and Elliot (84 not out).
Leading from the front,
McCullum (26-ball 59) blasted
eight fours and four sixes to give
his side a flying start. He notched
up his 30th ODI half-century.
But when he and his deputy
Kane Williamson (6) were
removed by pacer Morne Morkel,
New Zealand were in trouble at
81/2 in nine overs.
Opener Martin Guptill, who
knocked an unbeaten 237 in the
last match, scored 34 and got
involved in a 47-run stand with
experienced Ross Taylor (30).
Guptill was soon run out and
off-spinner Jean-Paul Duminy
got rid of Taylor.
The two quick dismissals left
the hosts on backfoot at 149/4 in
22nd overs, still requiring another 149 runs.
It was then that Anderson and
seasoned Elliot repaired the

damage.
They ensured that New Zealand
remain in hunt as far as the run
rate was concerned.
Their crucial 103-run partnership ended when Anderson, who
scored his fourth ODI fifty, skied
a Morkel delivery to du Plessis at
square leg. With 46 runs still
needed from five overs, wicketkeeper-batsman Luke Ronchi
scored just eight.
South Africa would rue their
missed chances. De Villiers and
wicketkeeper de Kock missed the
run-outs of Anderson and Elliot
at critical moments of the match.
Jean-Paul Duminy dropped the
catch of Elliot.
With this loss, South Africa
now have lost their fourth semifinal, while the home side has
been lucky in their seventh semifinal appearance of the
World Cup.
Grant Elliot's knock of 84 not out helped New Zealand reach

their first ever cricket World Cup final.
We will remember this forever: McCullum Pakistan unable to match level

of top teams: Misbah
Auckland: An ecstatic New Zealand skipper

Brendon McCullum believes his team and everyone who witnessed the edge-of-the-seat cricket
World Cup semifinal match against South Africa
at the Eden Park here will surely remember the
match for the rest of their lives.
It's pretty amazing. South Africa gave as good
as they got all day. The game was outstanding,
great advertisement for cricket. I am sure everyone that was here will remember this for the rest
of their lives," said McCullum at the post-match
presentation ceremony.
"I know that our boys will. We will give ourselves a chance at World Cup glory which is a fine
achievement, really proud of all the boys' efforts."
Asked about the rain delay before which South
Africa skipper AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis
were clobbering the Black Caps bowlers to all
parts of the ground, McCullum said: I wished it
kept raining".
"They were obviously setting it up quite nicely
and there were two set batsmen and two very
destructive batsmen at the crease as well. I still
looked at the innings and the way we kept giving
in the field, the way we bowled I still thought we
were controlling everything we possibly could."
Speaking about middle-order bat Grant Elliot,
who smashed a match-winning unbeaten 84 off 73
deliveries to help New Zealand book a place in
the final for the first time, the skipper said: We
just knew we just needed to hang in there and
even with the bat as long as we could hang in
there we gave ourselves a chance towards the end.
What a great innings from Grant.
Came out of the wilderness not long ago and
he's just played a match-winning innings in the
semifinals and the partnership he had with Corey
(Anderson), just such calmness about them as
well. It's a tremendous achievement from them
and all the boys.
The 33-year-old, who scored a blistering 59 of
26 balls, said they now will want to go a step better and clinch the trophy on March 29 in
Melbourne. However, he feels it will be difficult
when they play Australia or India in the final.
New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum
Tendulkar congratulates
New Zealand
Auckland: Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar congratulated New Zealand for making it to the World
Cup final after the Black Caps beat South Africa
by four wickets (Duckworth/Lewis) in the semifinal at the Eden Park here on Tuesday.
"Big Congratulations to New Zealand for making the ICC World Cup finals and playing amazing cricket... #CWC15. Its tough to see a side lose
in a match like the semis. Well played South
Africa, Tendulkar tweeted. Middle-order batsman Grant Elliot (84 not out) helped New Zealand
achieve the 298-run target with one ball and four
wickets to spare via the Duckworth/Lewis method
in a thrilling and rain-curtailed match.
L a h o r e :
Pakistan's recently retired OneDay International
(ODI) captain
Misbah-ul-Haq
said his team
failed to match
the level of the
top sides at the
cricket World
Cup, exiting the
tournament in the
quarter-finals.
Pakistan won
four games in
Retired Pak captain Misbah-ul-Haq
Pool B to enter
the
quarters,
where the 1992 Cup champions he termed immature. "You can't
were ousted by co-hosts and compare Pakistan's batting lineup with other teams. In most of
four-time champions Australia.
Misbah admitted that his ODI the matches when I got out early,
side was rarely stable, and that we couldn't play the entire 50
the players had never been "able overs. When you are under presto match the level" of cricket sure, you tend not to take too
many risks and the strike rate
played by the top teams.
"It's unfortunate for Pakistan goes down. We had an inexperithat we are not able to match the enced batting line-up," he said.
"When you get a set platform,
level of the top teams around the
world for many reasons," he was you try your best to score at least
quoted as saying by espncricinfo. a-run-a-ball. We can say as a bat"Our batting and our fielding is ting unit we are not yet matured
just not there. We have to and don't know how to play a big
improve our basic structure. We innings.
It's a problem of our batting
played the quarter-finals and the
credit for that goes to our line-up and we need to look at it
bowlers who compensated our in the future. Maybe if the batsbatting lapses. In batting and men get some exposure of interfielding, we need a lot of national cricket, they will get better. But obviously, it was our
improvement."
Misbah, 40, was critical of problem in the World Cup," he
Pakistan's batting line-up, which observed.
March 28-April 3, 2015 25
Indias World Cup dream over, Australia in final

Sydney: Australia comprehensively overwhelmed India to oust the defending
champions and enter the cricket World
Cup final with a 95-run win in their semifinal encounter at the Sydney Cricket
Ground (SCG) here.
With the triumph, Australia ensured a
summit clash against co-hosts New
Zealand and will be vying for their fifth
title at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
(MCG) on Sunday.
A 182-run stand between Steven Smith
(105) and Aaron Finch (81) proved to be
the difference between the two sides.
Opting to bat, the hosts put up a commanding total of 328/7 in 50 overs before
bowling out India for 233 in 46.5 overs.
The daunting target notwithstanding,
India started well with openers Rohit
Sharma (34) and Shikhar Dhawan (45),
with the latter playing the aggressor's role.
The left-hander was dropped by wicketkeeper Brad Haddin while batting at five
but recovered to notch six boundaries and
a six in his 41-ball innings.
Just when India were looking like they
may give the hosts a challenge, from 76/0
in the 13th over, the defending champions
lost four quick wickets to be tottering at
108/4. Virat Kohli (1) and Suresh Raina
(7) failed to provide the impetus and the
loss of their wickets completely put India
on the backfoot.
Ajinkya Rahane (44) and captain
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (65) then tried to
steady the floundering ship with a 70-run
fifth-wicket partnership but the asking rate
kept mounting.
After Rahane got out, the pressure got on
to Dhoni who struck a couple of lusty
With the triumph, Australia ensured a summit

clash against co-hosts New Zealand.
blows to bring in a lot of cheer from the

crowd. But the Indian skipper had to go
for it with the required run rate almost 10
per over.
In order to accelerate the faltering run
rate, Dhoni was run out by a direct throw
from Glen Maxwell -- and all Indian hopes
of a comeback lay shattered.
In the end, such was the dominance of
the Australian pacers that they scalped the
last four wickets for just two runs as the
tail failed to offer any form of resistance.
The Australian pace attack lived up to its
Dhawan's dismissal was the

turning point, says Dhoni
Sydney: A crestfallen
Indian captain Mahendra
Singh Dhoni said opener
Shikhar Dhawan's dismissal was the turning
point in the cricket
World Cup semi-final
against Australia, which
his team lost by 95 runs
at the Sydney Cricket
Ground (SCG).
Dhoni said Dhawan
was settled in the middle
and stroking the ball
well till during India's
Cricket fans glued to the television sets during the
329-run chase his dis- semifinal match at an electronics showroom in Amritsar.
missal for 45 in the 13th
over. India were 76/1 after his dismissal but bowled much better as they conceded a huge
then quickly got reduced to 108/4 in the 23rd total of 328 for seven after Australia won the
toss and chose to bat.
over.
"They were looking as if they will score
"We got off to a very good start, Shikhar's
340
or maybe 350 but we came back quite
dismissal was slightly on the softer side, at a
time when we could have had the bowling well. But I felt we could have still bowled
under pressure. He didn't really need to play well. The reason being, in the afternoon, we
a big shot," Dhoni said at the post-match got a bit of reverse swing going. I felt the
fast bowlers could have done slightly better."
presentation ceremony.
"But you get pressure chasing 300 plus, Dhoni also expressed his concern about the
makes you do things you don't want to do." lower batting order failing to cope with the
The skipper said the pacers could have conditions and the Australian quicks.
hype with the tournament's highest wickettaker Mitchell Starc starring with 2/28 in
8.5 overs. Mitchell Johnson (2/50) also
took a brace while James Faulkner cleaned
up the tail with 3/59.
Earlier, with Australia opting to bat,
Smith and Finch's second-wicket partnership powered the four-time champions to
the first 300-plus total in a Cup semifinal
with Smith scoring his fourth One-Day
International (ODI) century. Looking at
the way the hosts were going, India did
well to drag Australia back from the time
they looked like getting anything above

350.
India started well with pacer Umesh
Yadav (4/72) taking big-hitter David
Warner's wicket in only the fourth over.
But thereon, Smith and Finch more or less
put the match in Australia's favor.
Opener Finch was slow but managed to
stick it out in the middle to score seven
boundaries and one six in his 116-ball
knock. He provided good support to
Smith, who smashed his way to 11 fours
and two sixes in his 93-ball innings.
India pulled things back as Yadav, Mohit
Sharma (2/75) and spinner Ravichandran
Ashwin (1/42) took four quick wickets.
Despite this, the four-time champions
maintained the flow, scoring almost a runa-ball.
A couple of brilliant cameos at the end
from James Faulkner (21) and Mitchell
Johnson (27 not out) helped Australia
hammer 89 runs off the last 10 overs,
despite losing two more wickets.
All Indian bowlers, who had proved to
be the team's main reason for success in
the tournament, were expensive against
the explosive Australian batsmen. Though
Yadav picked up his second consecutive
four-wicket haul, he went for eight per
over.
Ashwin was the most economical bowler
giving away only 42 runs from his 10
overs, also taking a wicket.
In the Cup final, the two co-hosts will
take on each other with Australia, in their
seventh final, and New Zealand, in their
maiden. The Black Caps had beaten their
Trans-Tasman rivals by a wicket in the
group stage.
When Indian cheers gave way to

shell shocked silence...
Sydney: The large number of Indian cricket fans, who turned up at the Sydney
Cricket Ground (SCG), were left shell
shocked after the defending champions
meekly surrendered to Australia in the
high-voltage World Cup semi-final here.
Ahead of their semi-final, Australia skipper Michael Clarke and Steven Smith
issued a call to their home fans to create a
gold rush at the SCG. But the famed cricket arena saw thousands of Indian supporters filling the galleries, easily outnumbering the home crowd.
The Indian supporters, who occupied
their seats hours before the start of play
hoping to see a Rohit Sharma-Shikhar
Dhawan show at the start of the innings,
turned quiet after Clarke won the toss and
elected to bat.
With their hordes of supporters cheering
them on, Indian bowlers got an early break
with Umesh Yadav taking the wicket of
explosive opener David Warner, giving the
Indian cricket buffs reason to explode into
celebrations.
"It may be difficult. But we will get it.
(Virat) Kohli, Rohit (Sharma) will get the
runs," said a fan sporting the Team India

colors during the lunch break.
The Indians got off to a good start and
the crowds started chanting "Jitega bhai
jitega, India jitega" (India will win, brother, India will win).
However, opener Dhawan (45), who was
striking the ball well, departed, disappointing the crowd.
But what followed next, was something
that the fans may not have visualized in
their worst nightmare.
Kohli, after scoring only one run, needlessly tried to pull one off Mitchell
Johnson, and was caught by wicketkeeper
Brad Haddin.
The Indian fans now fell silent. Kohlis
girlfriend, Bollywood actress Anushka
Sharma, looked grim and crestfallen. The
writing seemed to be already on the wall.
India thereafter never looked in control
of the game, as they lost wickets at regular
intervals to leave thousands praying for
celebrated finisher Dhoni to come out with
another of his trademark match saving
knocks. But that was not to be even though
Dhoni tried to do a valiant rescue act.
26
SCI-TECH
A self-driving car starts

coast-to-coast road trip
San Francisco: The 3,500mile trip from California to

New York is the longest
automated drive ever
attempted in North America.
Delphi Automotive PLC's
vehicle is the driverless-car
making the trip that started
Sunday, March 22 from near
the Golden Gate Bridge in
San Francisco.
Delphi's Chief Technology
Officer Jeff Owens said the
car has been successfully
An autonomous car developed by Michigan-based auto
tested on streets in supplier Delphi Automotive started its 3,500-mile journey
California and Las Vegas,
across the US. The modified Audi Q5 is due to arrive in
but the cross-country trip
New York around this weekend.
will be the car's "ultimate
test." "The vehicle will be challenged under a ways and even maneuver around bicyclists -variety of driving conditions from changing all without a driver. There will be a driver in
weather and terrain to potential road hazards -- the car ready to take over if need be, Delphi
things that could never truly be testing in a spokeswoman Kristen Kinley said. The driver
lab," the release says. The car is supposedly can take control of the car immediately in case
able to navigate 4-way stops, merge onto high- of emergency, she said.
Paris bans half of all cars from driving to combat pollution

Paris: Beset by worrisome smog, Paris on
Monday will ban half of all personal vehicles
from the streets, Mayor Anne Hidalgo has said.
Only cars with odd-numbered plates will be
allowed on the streets unless they are carrying
more than three people. Electric and hybrid
vehicles will still be permitted regardless of
plate number, as will, of course, emergency
vehicles. As for those who will be forced to

leave their cars at home, public transit in and
around the city will temporarily be free.
Last March, Paris imposed a similar one-day
ban on half the city's cars. The new ban comes
after the city's air pollution spiked high enough
last week to (briefly) become the worst in the
world.
Internet of Things to make more

cities smart: Gartner
London: The Internet of

Things revolution is finally
upon us and a new report by
Gartner estimates that in 2015
there will be 1.1 billion connected things being used in
smart cities, a figure which
will rise dramatically to 9.7
billion by 2020.
The concept of a smart city
refers to the idea of having
sensors across the city in public infrastructure in order to
monitor everything from traffic to velocity in parking and
peak parking space occupancy, to which public streets are
most travelled late at night
and require lighting, and
which don't.
What is a smart city?

A smart city is as an urban area where sensors have been implemented across public
infrastructure in order to monitor traffic and
usage of public services, such as lighting and
parking spaces.
The contextual analysis of the real-time
information gained from the sensors can help
governments and companies in many sectors
to make cities more sustainable and efficient,
as well as being better able to cater to the
needs of citizens living in the smart city.
The sensors wirelessly feedback information to computer servers where the information can be analysed to create useful information that helps governments to properly manage cities, and it can also be useful to com-
An artist's illustration of a smart city
mercial businesses too.

"Smart cities represent a great revenue
opportunity for technology and services
providers, but providers need to start to plan,
engage and position their offerings now,"
Gartner research vice president Bettina TratzRyan told IBTimes UK.
Last November Gartner published another
report claiming that by 2020 the number of
connected devices anywhere in the world
would reach 25 billion, outnumbering
humans three-to-one.
One of the major issues which regulators
need to address about smart cities is that people don't like being monitored all the time,
whether it is in public or in their homes.
Surfing internet positive for Climate change a dire threat, says

education: Pew survey
top Chinese weather scientist
ashington: A majority
of people in emerging
and developing nations
say the internet is good for
spreading education, reveals a
new survey done across 32 countries. A majority also see the
internet as a good influence on
personal relationships and the
economy but offer a mixed view
on other impacts, the Pew Global
Attitudes survey showed.
"Once online, internet users in
emerging and developing nations
have embraced socializing as
their most preferred type of digital activity," the report said. The
survey found that people who
have internet access are generally
more positive about its influence
on society. And the more highly
educated people also were more
likely to see the internet as beneficial.
"Majorities of internet users in
all countries surveyed with large
enough sample sizes to analyze
say they stay in touch with
friends and family online through
social networking sites. Many
also use cyberspace for getting

information about politics, healthcare and government services," it
said. Asked about the impact of
the internet on politics, 36 percent
said the internet is good, but 30
percent said it was negative.
Meanwhile, 42 percent said the
web is a bad influence on morality, with 29 percent saying it is
positive.
Among the 32 countries surveyed, the median percentage of
people online was 44 percent.
"Internet use is highest in the
wealthiest of the emerging
nations, particularly in Chile and
Russia, where more than seven in
10 have internet access," the
report said, noting that these rates
are still behind the US percentage
of 87 percent.
"The lowest internet rates are in
some of the poorest countries surveyed. "Just eight percent of
Pakistanis and 11 percent of
Bangladeshis either say they
access the internet at least occasionally or own a smartphone,"
the report revealed.
China is the worlds worst culprit on greenhouse gas

emissions, having eclipsed the US in 2006.
Beijing: The effects of climate change is a major
threat not just to China but
to humanity in general all
over the world, according to
Zheng Guogang, the top
weather scientist for the
country.
Guogang spoke to the
state-run Xinhua News
Agency recently to expound
upon the dire effects climate
change would wreak on the
country by the end of the
century, which includes
reduced agricultural yields, longer
droughts and the inability to complete major infrastructure projects in
China without massive delays and
increased costs. His remarks show
that the government knows that the
problem exists but seems to be less
interested in opening a dialogue
with its citizens than it is in combating climate change in its own way
without outside input. The Chinese

government has begun to take steps
to curb climate change by agreeing
to cut greenhouse gas emissions and
shame the worst contributors to air
pollution, but it has been reticent in
discussing what the realities are
when it comes to the causes of climate change and the effects it will
have on the country and the world.
In fact, Chinese media

outlets have clamped
down on Under the
Dome, a documentary
that showcased how
widespread the air pollution problem is within
the country.
Right now China is
the world leader when it
comes to greenhouse
gas emissions, eclipsing
the US in 2006. Under
the emissions agreement
the country struck last
year, it will reach peak carbon emissions in 2030 before putting into
place its plans to reduce greenhouse
gases, though it has yet to reveal its
methodology or its goals. The countrys government says it needs to
balance its own economic development by not dismantling industries
that provide crucial jobs to countless
citizens.
LIFESTYLE
French ban on skinny

models justified: Study
Wellington: France's famous couture
houses have nothing to fear from an imminent ban of very thin models from runways and fashion spreads, according to
New Zealand marketing research.
The ban being considered by French legislators might even benefit the major fashion brands, research leader Leo Paas of
Massey University, said on Thursday.
It was well accepted that skinny models
in advertising campaigns could damage
the self-esteem of female consumers, but
his research showed they could also damage a company's bottom line, Xinhua
news agency reported.
Paas led a unique research project where
young female participants were shown
advertising images featuring either a very
thin model or a healthy-sized model, each
wearing either a bikini or a skirt and top.
The results showed the ads featuring the
healthy-sized model were more effective
at every level, while those of the very thin
model were a turnoff to many.
"The healthy-sized model was considered more attractive, the advertisement
was viewed more positively and considered ethically acceptable, and the intention
to buy the featured product was higher,"

Paas said in a statement.
"The strongest negative reaction was
generated by the thin model wearing a
bikini, presumably because it was easier to
see how just thin she was," he said.
"This was an interesting result because it
is generally believed that thinner models
represent the Western ideal of beauty and
are deemed more attractive."
In a follow-up study, Paas tried to identify the "optimum" model size for an advertising image as far as consumer preference
is concerned.
"We found that consumers preferred
what I call the 'golden mean', a healthysized model who was neither too thin nor
too large led to the most effective advertisement," Paas said.
The fashion industry might believe its
products hung better on a very thin model,
but that was probably the view of a small
and targeted group.
"Marketers that use very thin models
either have a perception of their audience
that is not correct, or they are listening to a
small group of fashion leaders who reside
in Milan or Paris," he said.
Artificial light at night can

make you feel sick
Inadequate
exposure to
natural light
during the day
and overexposure
to artificial light at
night is not
conducive to the
body's natural
sleep/wake cycle.
New York: Over-exposure to artificial light at night has serious
long-term health implications like
tendency to breast cancer, obesity,
diabetes, depression, and possibly
other forms of cancer, says a new
study.
"It's a new analysis and synthesis
of what we know up to now on the
effect of lighting on our health,"
said Richard Stevens University of
Connecticut, Farmington (Uconn).
"We don't know for certain, but
there's growing evidence that the
long-term implications of this have
ties to breast cancer, obesity, diabetes, depression, and possibly
other form of cancers," he said.
Inadequate exposure to natural
light during the day and overexposure to artificial light at night is not
conducive to the body's natural
sleep/wake cycle. Stevens and coauthor Yong Zhu from Yale
University explained the known

short-term and suspected long-term
impacts of circadian disruption in
an article published in the British
journal Philosophical Transactions
of the Royal Society B.
"It's become clear that typical
lighting is affecting our physiology," said Stevens.
"But lighting can be improved.
We're learning that better lighting
can reduce these physiological
effects. By that we mean dimmer
and longer wavelengths in the
evening, and avoiding the bright
blue of e-readers, tablets and smart
phones," he added.
Those devices emit enough blue
light when used in the evening to
suppress the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin and disrupt the
body's circadian rhythm, the biological mechanism that enables
restful sleep.
27
Better breakfast leads to

higher grades in schools
New York: Reinforcing the connection
between good nutrition and good grades,
researchers have found that free school
breakfasts help students from low-income
families perform better academically.
Policymakers in developing countries can
take a cue from the study as it suggests that
subsidized breakfast programs are an effective tool to help elementary school students
from low-income families achieve more in
school and be better prepared for later life.
"These results suggest that the persistent
exposure to the relatively more nutritious
breakfast offered through the subsidized
breakfast program throughout elementary
school can yield important gains in achievement," said researcher David Frisvold, assistant professor of economics in the Tippie
College of Business, University of Iowa.
The researchers found that students who
attended schools that participate in the US
Department of Agriculture's School
Breakfast Program (SBP) had higher scores
in math, science, and reading than students
in schools that did not participate.
The federal government started the SBP
for children from low-income families in
1966. Participation in the program allows
schools to offer subsidized breakfasts if a
certain percentage of their overall enroll-
ment comes from families that meet income

eligibility guidelines.
Frisvold conducted his study by examining the academic performance of students in
schools that are just below the threshold and
thus not required to offer free breakfasts and
those that are just over it and thus do offer
them. He found the schools that offered free
breakfasts showed significantly better academic performance than schools that did
not, and that the impact was cumulative.
Math scores were about 25 percent higher
at participating schools during a student's
elementary school tenure than would be
expected otherwise. Reading and science
scores showed similar gains, Frisvold said.
The findings are detailed in the Journal of
Public Economics.
The car that won't let you drive if you are drunk
New York:Researchers are

working on an in-built blood
alcohol level tester that can prevent people under its influence
from driving. The team at the
University of Michigan studied
the impact of installing these
alcohol ignition interlock
devices in all newly-purchased
vehicles over a 15-year period.
Their estimates of injury prevention and cost savings are significant. They found that around
85 percent of the crashes resulting in deaths could be avoided.
"That would mean preventing

more than 59,000 deaths in US
alone over 15 years," the team
reported in a paper published in
the American Journal of Public
Health. Another 1.25 million
non-fatal injuries would also be
prevented.
The cost of installing the
devices would be recouped after
just three years.
"Our analysis demonstrates the
significant public health benefit
and societal cost savings associated with including alcohol igni-
tion interlock devices as standard equipment in all new cars,"

said lead author Patrick Carter
from University of Michigan.
By capitalizing on recent technological advancements that
make alcohol-detecting sensors
seamless to the driver and applying such technology more broadly to all newly-built vehicles,
"we can actually have a substantial injury prevention impact
among traditionally hard-toreach high-risk populations,"
Carter added.
Young Indians prefer staying separately with spouse: Survey

New Delhi: Young India is
thinking beyond tradition and
society norms, it was revealed
in a survey which has deduced
that men and women prefer to
stay separately with their
spouse after marriage.
The survey, by matchmaking
service shaadi.com, was conducted to understand the mindset of singles in India regarding
marriage. As many as 8,500
responses -- 4,617 women and
3,952 -- were taken into consideration for the survey which
was done on people aged between
24 and 34. When single Indian
women were asked about 'Where
they prefer living after marriage',
64.1 percent of them said 'Living
separately with my husband', while
29.6 percent said 'Living with my

in-laws', followed by 6.3 percent
said that 'Living with my own parents'.
And when single Indian men
were asked the same, 43.9 percent
said 'Living separately with

my wife'. 54.3 percent of
them said 'Living with my
parents' and only 1.8 percent
men said, 'Living with my
wife's family'. The survey also
asked "Would you like your
husband to move in with you
and your parents"?
As far as women are concerned, 27.3 percent of them
said "Yes", followed by 30.1
percent saying "No" and 42.6
percent saying "May be".
When the men were asked
"Are you okay with moving in with
your wife and her parents?",
21.8 percent said "May be" followed by 4.7 percent who said
"Yes" while 73.5 percent said
"No".
28
HUMOR
Funny Side by Nury Vittachi
Monday memo:
HSBC scandal and
Disney princess shoes
HEN MY DAUGHTER was
smaller, she wanted to buy
Disney princess shoes with
built-in lights that shone at every step.
Are you CRAZY? I said. What about
when the bogey man or Jimmy Savile is
chasing you through a dark forest with
imaginatively constructed weapons of torture?
She saw my point and I saved some
money. Phew.
Yeah, Im a mean, evil, despicable monster, but does that automatically make me
a bad person?
***
I share this anecdote to introduce my

theme: Information is power.
Parents of young children, be warned:
Your window of opportunity disappears

fast.
One day theyre writing letters to the
tooth fairy on pink paper, and the next
they are saying: Dad, the serial number
reveals that the Fender Stratocaster you
bought me was made in a south Asian
sweatshop. Take it back and bring me
another, you useless piece of dreck.
***
When my children talk to me like this, I
take care to respond in a way that shows
them whos boss. I back out of their rooms
on my knees with my head covered, apologizing.
***
Among adults, they say that brutal honesty is the best policy, but it can be discon-
certing.
On a bus in Sri Lanka, a friendly
stranger asked me: So, how much do you
earn?
I explained that I lived in a developed
society where earnings were a closely held
secret.
Why? he asked.
Good question. In Finland every year,
the tax department prints a list of amounts
paid WITH FULL NAMES.
This means that if you live in a cardboard hovel but pay more tax than your
neighbor, a super-rich guy in a huge mansion, you can instantly work out that you
live in a grossly unfair place such as the
northern hemisphere or the southern hemisphere.
(Other planets dont seem to have this
problem.)
***
we should pass laws forcing Swiss bankers

and their clients to use accurate words for
what they do.
***
Wait. A cynical colleague has just pointed out that lists of taxpayers are really just
lists of people who lack Swiss bank
accounts.
This is true. The recent HSBC Swiss
bank revelations were shocking. Since for
some unaccountable reason it is illegal to
blow up the Swiss banking system, at least
The Swiss bankers will no doubt carry

on doing what they do, but at least the rest
of us can feel the pride of being righteous
people with unimpeachably high morals.
But setting those aside for a minute, does
anyone reading this know how to forge the
serial number on a cut-price Fender
Stratocaster?
Instead of open a savings account they

should be forced to say hide the plunder.
Instead of in-house advisors they
should be forced to say experienced
henchmen.
Instead of banking fees charged they
should be forced to say our share of the
spoils.
Instead of deposit boxes they should
say stash concealment hideaways.
Instead of privacy protections they
should be forced to say haul cover-up
system.
Instead of annual profits, they should
be forced to say this years booty.
***
Laughter is the Best Medicine
by Mahendra Shah
Mahendra Shah is an architect by education, entrepreneur by profession, artist and
humorist, cartoonist and writer by hobby. He has been recording the plight of the
immigrant Indians for the past many years in his cartoons. Hailing from Gujarat,
he lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
ASTROLOGY
29
Chandigarh, India: +91-172- 256 2832, 257 2874

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

ARIES: If you have to complete a job
in a timely manner, ensure that you
dont digress and achieve it. You will
need to keep your team members motivated at
work. Financial concerns will need to be
addressed soon, before they become too big
to handle. Cater to the likes and dislikes of a
family elder, even if you have to compromise
your style. Romance will be on your mind,
but it may be difficult to find love. If travel is
not your priority this week, postpone it for
some other week.
TAURUS: This is an excellent time to
think out the ways to increase your
income. Keeping a close tab on spending will leave you with much to splurge later!
Your self-discipline regarding food and drink
will keep you in top physical condition.
Soaring reputation on the work or academic
front will place you a cut above the rest. You
are likely to come into the eyes of those who
matter on the professional front. Family life
will be endearing and tempt you to spend
more time at home.
GEMINI: A discussion with peers in
your profession will prove fruitful. If
you are venturing into something new
on the business front, you can expect the support of some already established people.
Financial gains are foretold. Past investments
will come in handy now. You enjoy good health
by adopting a fitness regimen. A family member may question you on something you usually
dont like to discuss. Lover may not be able to
give full time to you. Those planning to move
houses will manage to find a suitable one.
CANCER: You can be pulled up for

something that you are lagging
behind in at work. Arguing with
those who matter will just not be in your
interest, so keep your cool. Spouse may
accuse you of not doing enough on the
domestic front. Students may not fare too
well in academics. Someone can convince
you to settle for a smaller sum for your services, whereas you could have commanded
much more. Some of you can feel low and
fatigued on the health front. Love life holds
some promise.
LEO: Concern for someone close will
prompt you to keep a close watch on
his or her health. Good work of those
working under you is likely to boost your
earning. Professionals will find a distinct
increase in clientele as their reputation
spreads. You can neglect family by focussing
too much on work. A transfer order is likely
to be received by some for some other city.
Lover can force you to make a commitment,
but take your time. You feel energetic this
week and are ready to take on much more.
VIRGO: An opportunity for meeting a
distant relative may come to you and
should not be missed. A ceremony or
celebration at home can keep you in an excited state of mind. Someone you have a soft
corner for is likely to warm up to you. A long
journey is likely to become interesting as you
find like-minded fellow travellers. Those
planning to buy a property will find it easy to
raise a home loan. Rising prices may find
some reluctant even to spend on the essentials.
LIBRA: Some new professional

avenues are set to open. Your competence is likely to bring some lucrative
opportunities. Good job negotiation is likely to
get some recruited into a higher salary group. A
bonanza is likely for jewellers and goldsmiths.
Domestic concerns can keep you in a thoughtful mood this week. You may not be entirely
satisfied with the performance of a family
youngster. There is a limit to which you can go
on the romantic front, make it clear to your
lover. A minor infection can trouble some.
SCORPIO: You are likely to enjoy
excellent health. Those suffering from
a lifestyle disease will find a distinct
improvement in their condition. You can
expect luck to shine on you at work.
Something that you were apprehensive of is
likely to turn out favourable. You may host a
party at home for your near and dear ones, so
expect the home front to turn joyous. Some of
you can strike a friendship that may turn into
something serious. Meeting folks on leave is
likely for those separated from family.
SAGITTARIUS: A miscalculation on
the professional front can cost you dear,
if you are not careful. Competition at
work is likely to stiffen with the arrival of a
young professional. You can feel ignored on the
social front and there is nothing much you can
do about it. Your attempts at recreating the good
old weeks on the domestic front may fail as
there will be no takers. Differences may lead to
fights and strain your relationship on the
romantic front. Your penny pinching ways can
be resented by those around you.
CAPRICORN: Those with a medical

problem may not be fully satisfied by
the line of treatment they are being
given. Taking a second opinion will be a step
in the right direction. It is best to make some
lifestyle changes to save money rather than
become monetarily tight. You hate to inconvenience anyone, but at times even you cant
help it! Do what needs to be done.
Homemakers can plan on bringing about certain changes on the home front. Some students can have second thoughts about the line
they have chosen.
AQUARIUS: It will give you an
inner satisfaction to bring the one you
have been keeping at an arms length,
closer. You can get romantically involved with
someone you have a liking for and an outing
together cannot be ruled out. An overseas journey is on the cards for some. Those dealing in
real estate can expect to seal a good deal. Some
modifications may have to be made in a work
related issue. Some of you are likely to fare
well in an internal assessment at work.
PISCES: This is an excellent time to plan a
family outing. Some of you are likely
to get social mileage out of a function
that you have organised. Romantic life
promises to be scintillating as you get lots of
time to be with lover. Changes on the work
front that you are apprehensive about will not
affect you much. Money from various sources
will contribute towards your financial stability. Those undertaking a long journey will
need to prepare well to avoid hardships en
route. Take up a health activity to keep fit.
Annual Predictions: For those born in this week

28th March,2015
Ruled planet: Sun Ruled by no: 1
Traits in you: Being number 1, you are a person who
loves originality in whatever work you do. By nature you
are an authoritative person and so you always take charge
of things which also makes you responsible person. If
you take some task in hand, you are determined to finish
it. You are very soft spoken and kind hearted person.
Health this year: This year your health will generally remain fine but don't take it for granted. Avoid eating exposed food and try not to indulgence in negative thinking, as this might hamper your physical and mental
health.
Finance this year: Loan from bank for short-term investment will prove beneficial. If possible, invest the
money in reputed firms to yield good returns. Carelessness on your part could cost, so go through all the documents carefully before taking a lone.
Career this year: This year be assured that you will go
all out to achieve, what you want to. You will achieve
prosperity in whatever projects you take in hand. You
will be able to complete these projects with full sincerity and dedication.
Romance this year: You are unable to express your
emotions, and keep your feelings to yourself. But this
year don't hesitate in expressing yourself, else someone
else will take your love away from you. Try to mingle
more freely with your special friend.
Lucky month: May, August, September and December
29th March,2015
Ruled planet: Moon Ruled by no: 2
Traits in you: Being number 2, you are a person with
high confidence, imagination and the one who is always
ready to help others. Anyone can trust you blindly as you
are very balanced person in nature. Though you are reserved personality, but when it comes to do some task,
you are independent and complete your work with full
determination and honesty.
Health this year: This is a high time for you to realise
that its useless to unnecessarily magnify the problems. I
onlyt takes out the juice of life and leaves us dry. Try tobe
positive in life. You will have to control your moody nature, to enjoy good mental and physical health.
Finance this year: You will be blessed with good fortune and good money this year. Spending money on entertainment would bring unlimited joy. However it would
be in your interest to control your tendency to live for the
day. You will make some serious efforts to generate extra income to balance budget.
Career this year: Your ability to think deeply and then
take any action, will be an asset for you in the coming
year. Leadership qualities of business managers will
come to test. You are likely to establish yourself a good
manager as you have art to manage people and situation
without any problem.
Romance this year: If you are in love then don't forget

that you should spend quality time in understanding each
other. Keep in mind that love is a matter of heart and is a
given expression between two souls. You will see your
love flourish this year and will have maturity in your romance.
Lucky month: August, November and March
30th March,2015
Ruled planet: Jupiter Ruled by no: 3
Traits in you: Being number 3, you are confident, ambitious and independent person who loves to work with
optimistic attitude. You are a born leader, and you are always appreciated for your work, whether it is at home or
work place. Your efforts are always sincere and thats
why you balance your personal and professional life very
smoothly.
Health this year: This year your great sense of humour
would help you in keeping youeself happy. If possible,
make others realise to develop this skill by making them
understand that happiness does not lie in possession of
thing but is inside of us. Seeing peole happy, will make
you happy.
Finance this year: Financially, it will be a good year, for
most of you. If interested in putting money on stock exchange transactions, discuss the matter with an expert.
Their guidance would help you to make the best investment. However avoid a middleman in transaction because it could impinge on your profits. Some of you can
expect to inherit property from your ancestors.
Career this year: Your vivid imagination and a huge
creative sense will make you a successful as a writer, actor or a musician. Those of you in the teaching and the
writing line, could expect to see success, in whatever
project you undertake, in the coming year. You will travel to distant lands in the coming year.
Romance this year: This year you will be enjoying your
love life to the fullest. You and your partner will understand each-other's need and would pay attention to each
other's interest. Those who want to get married, will get
hitched this year. If you are looking for a love partner,
then you might find the person of your dream.
Lucky month: July, December and March
31st March,2015
Ruled planet: Uranus Ruled by no: 4
Traits in you: Being number 4, you are a person who
likes to take responsibility and do your work with full
dedication and honesty. You are a very down to earth person with religious beliefs. This year you might plan to go
for a pilgrimage. Sometimes you become bossy, jealous
or stubborn, which you should avoid to lead a happy life
with smiling people around you.
Health this year: Health of a person depends on one's
thinking. Remember that one's thinking has reflection on
one's body. If we think positively we will enjoy a sound
health, whereas negative thinking will only put adverse

affects on our body.
Finance this year: The coming year, will be financially
good for most of you. With your will power and practical attitude, you will be able to make the most of the opportunities which come your way, giving you monetary
gains.
Career this year: Realistic and with a very practical approach towards life, most of you are successful in your
professional front. The coming year, will see you achieve
new heights of excellence, in whatever new project you
take in hand.
Romance this year: This year don't allow your personal problems creep into your romantic affair. Always remember that love is a given expression between two partners. So just enjoy each other's company. If you are already married, then take some time out from your busy
schedule to be with your soul mate.
Lucky month:June, August and May
1st April, 2015
Ruled planet: Sun Ruled by no: 1
Traits in you: As you are governed by the Sun, you epitomize uniqueness and philosophy. You are courageous,
daring, courteous, affectionate, decisive, and very determined by nature. However, you need to work on your impatience and short tempered nature to become a better individual.
Health this year: You need to take appropriate care of
your health. You may fall sick in the middle months of
the year though those will not be serious. If you are a
sportsperson, you need to be very careful for your diet
and nutrition to perform better in your sporting events.
Finance this year: You may prosper financially with the
opportunity to earn as much as possible with new sources
of income. You may go for long distance business trips if
you want success in your business. Be aware of fraud investment agencies as you may end up losing a huge
amount of money. You are advised not to lend money this
year.
Career this year: You will be very impressive in your
professional circuit this year. However, you need to work
smart and perform well to grow as a perfectionist. You
should take quick decisions to excel in your field. You
may have to help your ordinates to drive productivity.
Romance this year: You will enjoy an improved life
with your partner with lot of love, care, and concern. You
should give time to your spouse or partner. If you are not
married, you might have to wait as the movement of your
planets does not suggest a marital alliance this year.
Lucky month: July, December, February and April
2nd April, 2015
Ruled planet: Moon Ruled by no: 2
Traits in you: As dominated by the Moon, you are very
peace loving. You do not want to get involved in unnec-
essary talks. You are reliable, emotional, generous, humble, kind, mature, and optimistic. However, you need to
eradicate selfishness from your nature to improve as an
individual.
Health this year: As far as your health is considered you
may go through minor health issues this year. However,
regular medical checkups and proper medication will
solve this problem. You may go for Yoga and meditation
classes to remain healthy.
Finance this year: Your financial conditions will be very
stagnant this year. As you will not earn much or spend
much, you will lead a peaceful life in money matters. You
may invest for future. Do not lend or borrow money from
your friends or colleagues.
Career this year: You will be successful professionally
this year. You will be additional responsibility and you
will well execute them to perfection. Your success may
get you various awards and rewards as well. You may
share your ideas with the higher management as it would
help you grow quickly.
Romance this year: You may get some good news from
your spouse or partner later this week. This will make
your relationship grow stronger. You may have to travel
to distant places to spend time youre your partner and
maintain a good relationship.
Lucky month: June, August, December and April
3rd April, 2015
Ruled planet: Jupiter
Ruled by no: 3
Traits in you: Being ruled by Jupiter, you are courteous,
courageous, decisive, ambitious, disciplined, and realistic. You are gifted with high imagination power, optimism, and enthusiasm. However, behaving restless and
dominating may hamper your characteristics at times.
You need to work on your personality to make yourself
better as an individual.
Health this year: As far as health is concerned, you will
be enjoying a pretty good health this year. However,
some of your family members may fall sick and that will
bother you.
Finance this year: You may try your entrepreneurship
skills this year and you will be successful unexpectedly.
You will be able to get many projects, which you help
you establish as a good businessperson. You should go
for investments in real estate and stock market.
Career this year: You will get enough opportunities in
your professional life to prove yourself. You will create
a better impression on your seniors or higher management, which may result in promotion. You should work
efficiently to maintain your respect at your workspace.
Romance this year: You will spend a peaceful life with
your love interest this year. You will lead a blissful life
with your beloved with lots of love, care, concern, and
support.
Lucky month: August, January and March
30
SPIRITUAL AWARENESS
Dealing with Stress and Anger
By Sant Rajinder Singh

Ji Maharaj
ife is challenging. Every day
people face situations that
can make one feel stress and
anger. Modern science has proven
the affects stress and anger have on
the health and wellness of our body
and mind. Is there any way that we
can deal with stress and anger so
that it does not create stress-related
illness of our body and mind? Is
there a way that we can face the
tension of life in a way that we
maintain calm and equanimity
physically, mentally, emotionally,
and spiritually?
The combined wisdom of the
saints and mystics from ancient
India and the current research by
scientists, medical doctors, and
researchers point to the same
answer: we can reduce stress and
anger and maintain optimum health
and wellness through the practice
of meditation.
As life has become more complex, we interact with many people
in the course of the day. Any one of
these can result in stress. Whenever
there are disagreements between
two or more people, or things do
not go the way we expect, this can
lead to anger. In the past, when
people lived and worked on a farm
or from their homes, there were
fewer interactions with others.
However, today, we have many
opportunities throughout the day in
which we meet and interact with
others. People have stress on the
job. When we are raising a family,
there is stress over the health of
ourselves or our loved ones, their
schooling, their financial difficulties, or living in a household with
multiple people. With the economic

difficulties of modern life, we have
financial stress. As students, either
in a school or college, or in training
for our career, we have to worry
about our grades in school and our
test scores. We worry about
whether we will be accepted into a
school or training facility, and once
there, whether we will pass so we
can get a job in our chosen career.
Once we have a job, there is stress
about keeping it with the stiff competition workers face, or we worry
what will happen if we lose the
job? The terminal illness or death
of a family member or loved one
creates tremendous pain and stress
in our lives. There is also stress
caused by interpersonal relationship problems. From morning until
night, we face one or more of these
situations that cause stress or which
makes us feel angry.
The good news is that there
is a solution to dealing with
stress and anger. From
ancient times, saints and
mystics have taught
meditation as a
way to remain
calm and
peaceful.
In the past
f e w
decades,
the practice
of meditation has gained popularity
in countries all over the world.
While people have been practicing
meditation because they recognize
how good it makes them feel, there
is the added bonus contributed by
medical researchers and doctors
that prove why we feel so good
when we meditate. These medical
studies bear out the positive effect
meditation has on the health and
wellness of our body and mind. The
most beneficial gains from meditation are that it reduces stress and
anger, which in turn reduce our risk
for stress related illness. Numerous
diseases have been linked to stress,
such as cancer, stroke, heart problems, digestive problems, circulation problems, migraine headaches,
skin problems, and others. By
By Sant Rajinder Singh Ji

Maharaj
here is a quotation by the great Greek
philosopher, Socrates. Once he said,
Our prayers should be for blessings
in general, for God knows best what is good
for us. This quote coincides with the prayer
to God to give us whatever is good for us.
Time and again, whenever we demand
something from God that is continually
denied to us, it is usually because we are asking for something that is not good for us ultimately.
There have been many instances in which
people prayed to God for something, and
God did not grant their wish. Later they
came to learn that receiving the wish would
not have been a good thing after all. Will a
reducing stress, we can minimize

our risk for these problems, prevent
them, and mitigate them if we
already have them. Spending daily
time in meditation contributes to
our health and wellness.
Two meditation techniques we
use in Science of Spirituality
Sawan Kirpal Ruhani Mission are
simple to do and can be practiced
by anyone of any age in their
homes or wherever they like. It
does not require difficult postures
or asanas, and can be performed
anywhere at any time. One is the
Shabd Meditation, or Meditation on
the Light and Sound. This provides
us an inner connection to a source
of happiness, peace, and bliss within us. It is like having an internal
retreat that we can visit anytime we

want to recharge and refresh. The
second is an introductory technique
called Jyoti Meditation, which
involves sitting quietly, focusing
our attention within, and experiencing the peace and calm within us.
For more instructions, many
resources related to meditation can
be found at www.sos.org
A few other factors can help us
reduce our stress and anger. New
research is showing the value of a
vegetarian diet. By eating plantbased foods, we also can reduce our
risk of many diseases. Illness produces its own stress not on only our
body, our families, our work, but
also on our finances. If we can
remain healthy through healthy eating such as a vegetarian diet, we
can also reduce stress.

Selfless service to others also
reduces stress. When we are a contributing member of a community,
we are calmer and happier. This
reduces tension and stress. By
being of service to others, we create
a joyful life for ourselves and make
life better for others. When we
think of others first, it helps take
our attention away from our own
problems.
As a byproduct of meditation, we
realize the same light within us is in
all others. We realize that at the
level of soul or spirit, all humanity
is one. We begin to develop love for
all and treat others kindly as members of one family. As we become
more loving and calm, we eliminate
much of our stress and anger. We
replace stress and anger with love
and tolerance for all, making our
own lives and that of others more
peaceful.
Here are some easy tips to
help us when we feel anger
arise in our daily lives:
Tip 1: We can
remove ourselves from
the situation
and
go
somewhere
to quietly
meditate. This
gives us a break from the situation
so we can calm down, slow down
our heart rate and brain waves to a
calmer state, and then return with
the equipoise to deal more peacefully with the situation.
Tip 2: When we return to the
stressful situation after meditating,
try to talk things over. Listen calmly to what the other person has to
say and see if there is any truth to
it. If so, we can apologize if we
have done or said something to hurt
them, and resolve to refrain from
repeating that action or those
words. After the other person has
felt heard and that we truly listened,
they may be more open to hear
things from our point of view. We
can then share our side of the inci-
As life has become

more complex, we
interact with many
people in the
course of the day.
Any one of these
can result in stress.
Whenever there
are disagreements
between two or
more people, or
things do not go
the way we expect,
this can lead to
anger.
dent, so they can understand us as
we have tried to understand them.
We can then discuss a way to have
a win-win solution or compromise.
In this way, we can use conflict resolution to work out a problem without resorting to anger and violence.
Tip 3: We can look at the source
of our anger, which is often ego.
We get angry when things are not
going our way. It could be that we
want to control others, have power
over others, or make others do what
we want. If we can step back and
find ways to make things work out
in a way that is mutually beneficial
for all parties, we are happy, others
are happy, and we have made the
environment peaceful.
Through daily meditation, leading a calm, peaceful life becomes a
habit. Over time, a habit turns into
our nature. Day by day, we transform ourselves into peaceful, nonviolent, and calm people and radiate that to others. The ripple effect
of our calmness and equipoise
spreads and it will not be long
before we have a peaceful family,
community, and world. Peace
begins with each of us.
Secret to enlightened living

mother allow the child to have poison? The
child may cry for it and throw a tantrum, but
if it is poison, the mother will not grant it.
Instead the mother will give the child what is
best for him or her. The child may not realize
it at the time, but as the child grows and
learns, the child is grateful for all the things
the mother denied him or her that were ultimately not good.
Many people are anxious about making
choices. The way to be sure we make the
right choices about what to pray for is to
pray that God gives us what is best for us.
God makes no mistake. Rather than pray for
something that may or may not be the best
for us, let us pray for Gods will for us.
What are the spiritual pearls

to enlightened living?
f we relax and rest in Gods will, we
will find that everything works out for
the best in the long run. Meditation is a
process of relaxing in Gods will.
Meditation provides a time when we can let
go of all clutching and praying for this
thing and that. It is a time in which we sit in
a state of stillness and surrender to Gods
will.
It is a chance to let go of all our wants
and desires. We merely sit in a receptive
mood and ask God to grant what is best for
us. We will find that God will give us much
more than we had expected. That is the

secret to enlightened living.
Through meditation, we will find the
treasure of spiritual pearls to enlightened
living that will bring us peace, happiness,
and bliss.
God wants us to come Home. God wants
us to live in eternal peace and bliss in the
spiritual realm. When we make the decision
to go back to God, then God opens all the
doors for us. Then, if we pray to God to
give us what is best for us, God will give us
the fastest route back to our eternal Home.
It is only we who delay our Homecoming
by praying for things that take us in the
opposite or different directions.

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The South Asian Times

Vol.7 No. 47 March 28-April 3, 2015 60 Cents

New York Edition

Flight crashed by AutoPilot

A fragment of the Germanwings Flight 9525 plane; (right) Co-pilot

Indian American named

Washington: After Richard Rahul

Atul Keshap will be

between the State and Defence

WORLD CUP 24-25

Easier business visas

TV anchor Nisha Mathur with Asstt Secretary of State Nisha Desai

and compelling life experiences of

March 28-April 3, 2015

March 28-April 3, 2015

Boost for Indian IT workers as US L-1B visas now easier to get

Washington: President Barack

President Obama addressing a gathering at

said Obama. "That is what this

More than 2,600 people-including 1,300 companies from more

International Hindi conference

The conference aims to start a public debate

panel chaired by Dr. Surendra Gambhir, leading

guidelines for global companies

have found that Indian companies

US to oppose plea to declare

New York: The US has told

March 28-April 3, 2015

Yemeni leader flees as Saudi airstrikes raisethe stakes in Yemen conflict

Sanaa/Aden, Yemen: Yemen's

Any threat to Saudi Arabia will evoke reaction from Pakistan

People gather at the bombed out site near an

the Houthis and demanded an

coalition of Sunni states against its

Swine flu cases cross

US stocks continue to drop over

Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif asserted that any

spiked on Thursday after Saudi Arabia and

New Delhi: Swine flu has claimed a total of

sectarian hatreds already fuelling

New Delhi Bureau

Art and Design: Vladimir Tomovski

Printed Every Saturday by

Managing Editor: Parveen Chopra

Strategy and Marketing

Web Editor: B.B.Chopra

Marketing & PR (Washington DC)

IANS Washington Bureau

Chairman and Co-Founder

Contributing Editors: Melvin Durai,

Co-Founder: Saroosh Gull

Contributing Editors (Youth):

Jaipur (India) Bureau

News Service: HT Media Ltd.

Printing: Five Star Printing, NY

March 28-April 3, 2015

Flushing, NY: Spiritual guru

Special to The South

The saint from south India gave a discourse at

worship their beloved deities.

into tears by the courageous words

New York: 11 influential IndianAmerican investors feature in Forbes

lion dollar company public while also