Vol.8 Issue 25 - Oct 24-Oct 30, 2015

The South Asian Times
e x c e l l e n c e
Vol.8 No. 25 October 24-30, 2015 60 Cents
i n
j o u r n a l i s m
New York Edition
Follow us on
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Soaring excitement over

cricket arriving in America
By Parveen Chopra
Teams of best cricketers

captained by Sachin and Shane
Warne will play three 20/20
matches; Arya Dance Company
to choreograph Opening
Ceremonies; The South Asian
Times is Print Media Partner.
New York: In a sign of growing excite

ment over the threecity Cricket AllStars
series, 20,000 tickets have already been
sold for the inaugural match in New
Yorks Citi Field baseball stadium on
November 7.
For the South Asians and Caribbeans
starved of cricket in America, the extrava
ganza next month is manna from heaven.
Twentyeight of the best cricketers of the
past 20 years will join master blaster
Sachin Tendulkar and Australias spin
wizard Shane Warne to play three T20
matches in Houston, Texas, and Los
Angeles besides New York.
And those marquee names include
Saurav Ganguly, Brian Lara, Ricky
Ponting, Glenn McGrath, Wasim Akram,
Curtley Ambrose, Kumar Sangakkara.
T he series is a 3way partnership
between Sachin, Shane Warne and Ben
Arya Dance Academy, seen at 84th Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade, will choreograph
the Opening Ceremonies for all 3 games. (Photo: Courtesy Rupal Patel)
Sturner, whose New York based Leverage
Agency is producing and promoting the
mega event. The South Asian Times has
Kamlesh Mehta Speaks
By SATimes Team
resignation
TheKamlesh
Mehta
by
as
Nassau County Director of
Business and Economic
Development has created a
huge stir in a leading main
stream media group and
Indian American media. He
was suspiciously portrayed
more than just having
resigned from a government
position by scrutinizing his
public records of three
decades in USA, resulting in
clouds of thick doubts and
negative rumors about him.
Mr Mehta is also the Publisher of
T he South Asian Times, the
UNITED NATIONS 14
Kamlesh C. Mehta, Chairman of

The South Asian Times, & former
Nassau County Director of Business
and Economic Development
(Photo: On File)
newspaper w ith immaculate
reputation for its excellence in
journalism and value based
BOLLYWOOD 16
content, display and advertising.

We spoke to Mr Mehta about the
news story about him published in
a local daily last Sunday. Unfazed
by all sort of reports, here are his
candid responses on the topics
raised in media:
Truth & Transparency : Also
being publisher of a most honor
able, familyoriented weekly news
paper, I am a strong advocate of
Truth & Transparency. I did not
decline to reply to the questions of
the dailys reporter. I, rightfully,
wanted a written interview to
avoid unwarranted sensationaliza
tion through selective quotes and
remarks.
Resignation : Though the formal
resignation was submitted on Oct
1st, it was first verbally mentioned
HUMOR 28
Continued on page 4
learnt that NJbased Arya Dance

Company will choreograph the Opening
Continued on page 4
Pakistan to act against

LeT; no ndeal, or
US role in Kashmir
By Arun Kumar
Washington:
Pakistan
Prime
Minister Nawaz
Sharif came to the
US with a litany of
complaints against
India with the hope
of getting an India
Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif met President
type nuclear deal
Obama in White House Thursday.
and
involving
(Photo: Courtesy PTI)
Washington in the
af filiates responsible for the
Kashmir issue. He got neither.
Instead Sharif ended up giving 2008 Mumbai attack.
Concerned about Islamabads
President Obama an assurance
that Islamabad would take effec assertion that it has made low
tive action against terror outfit yield nuclear weapons to bridge
Continued on page 4
LashkareTaeba (LeT) and its
SPIRITUAL AWARENESS 30
excellence in journalism
October 24-30, 2015
TRISTATE COMMUNITY
October 24-30, 2015
19 INDOCANADIANS ELECTED
TO CANADIAN PARLIAMENT
Toronto: IndianCanadians more than dou

bled their representation in the Canadian
parliament from eight to a record 19 as the
voters ousted the Conservative Party from
power by handing out a landslide to the
Liberal Party on Monday.
Though comprising only about 3% of the
population of the country, they now have
17% seats in the 339 strong House of
Commons.
While longestserving MP Deepak Obhrai
won for the 7th time from Calgary Forest
Lawn, outgoing minister of state Bal Gosal
and fourtime MP Nina Grewal were promi
nent losers from the Indian community.
Bal Gosal lost to fellow IndianCanadian
Ramesh Sangha of the Liberal Party in
Brampton Centre, and Nina Grewal of the
Conservative Party lost in FleetwoodPort
Kells, British Columbia.
But the biggest surprise was Darshan
Winners Deepak Obhrai and Ruby Sahota: IndoCanadians though 3% of the coutnrys
population have grabbed a record 17% seats in the Lower House.
Kang winning the Calgary Skyview seat for
the Liberal party for the rst time in 50
years by beat ing two fe llow Indian
Canadians.
The outgoing minister of state Tim Uppal
retained his seat in Edmonton Mill Woods.
Most IndianCanadian victories came in

Canada's biggest province of Ontario as
they bagged many seats in Brampton and
Mississauga cities. In Brampton East, Raj
Grewal of the Liberal Party won. In
Brampton West, Kamal Khera (Liberal)
won. In Brampton North, Ruby Sahota
(Liberal) beat outgoing MP Parm Gill. In
Brampton South, Sonia Sidhu (Liberal) tri
umphed. In the newly demarcated con
stituency of MississaugaMalton in the
Toronto area, former MP Navdeep Bains
got elected once again.
In British Columbia, Harjit Sajjan of the
Liberal Party beat Amarjeet Nijjar of the
NDP in Vancouver South. In Surrey
Newton, Sukh Dhaliwal (Liberal) again won
after a gap of four years.
Anju Dhillon (Liberal) won the Dorval
LachineLaSalle constituency in French
speaklig Quebec.
HAB BANK hosts Customer Indians in US overqualied for

Appreciation luncheon jobs, yet less stressed: Survey
Zilay Wahidy EVP, Abbas
New York: HAB BANK,
Somjee, VP, Nasir Khan,
nations oldest and largest
VP, Kamal Puri, Branch
South Asian American
Manager Jackson Heights,
bank, hosted a luncheon
Mehmood Syed, Senior
Oct 13 for East Coast
Business Deve lopment
Branches customers at
Of ficer, Danial Tariq,
Junoon Restaurant in
Manager
Hicksville
Manhattan. The event was
Branch,
and
Girish
organized in honor of Mr
Vazirani, Manager Iselin
Mohammed Habib who
Branch.
visited the Bank during
HAB BANK was founded
that week.
in 1983 and has since
Mr. Saleem Iqbal,
played a key role in nur
President & CEO of HAB
turing and strengthening
BANK, thanked the invited
the South Asian communi
guests at the Customer
Appreciation Luncheon Mr Mohammed Habib speaking at ty with branch network
located in New York, New
for their support and
the Oct 13 event in Manhattan.
Jersey and California.
business. He said HAB
was honored that Mr. Habib could take the Through the years, the Bank has evolved in
time out from his brief visit to New York and response to needs of its customers and main
spend some time among the HAB Banks cus tains a close relationship with the community
tomers. He also updated guests on the growth it serves.
The Banks core products are Commercial
and progress being made at HAB.
Mr. Habib, in his remarks, stressed his fami Real Estate Mortgages, International Trade
lys commitment to communities around the Services, US Small Business Loans and a well
world. He spoke of his familys start in designed commercial banking products and
Bombay, India and current educational proj services for small to medium sized business
ects underway to benefit communities in vari es. The Bank also has a wide range of con
ous countries. HABs management was in sumer products and services including per
attendance including Mirza Ejaz Hussain, sonal checking, savings, CDs, and fullservice
Rizwan Qureshi, SEVP, Javed Karim, EVP, online banking.
New York: A majority of

Indians who live in the US
and send money home say
they are overqualified for
their jobs here and find
their workplace to be less
stressful than workplaces
in India. And, while the
majority says they plan to
retire in India, respondents
overwhelmingly agree that
the US is the land of oppor
tunity.
These are the findings of
a survey of 500 Indian ori
gin US residents conducted
for the money transfer firm
Transfast.
Some 83% of respondents
said they have more skills
than required by their jobs
and 62 % describe their US
workplace as less stressful than the ones
theyd experienced in India. While most (64
%) say they earn what they expected, some
61 percent say they work longer hours than
anticipated to earn that income, with 60 per
cent saying they work more than 40 hours a
week. Only 39 % say they work less than
expected. Still, the vast majority, 83 %, agree
that their job offers more opportunities for
growth, compared with jobs in India.
People who come here

for work are playing vital
economic roles by con
tributing to the U.S. econo
my and also adding to the
GDP of their home country
when they send money
back to family and friends,
says
Samish
Kumar,
Transfasts CEO.
Ashish Palta, 27, of
Nashville, a business ana
lyst in the IT industry, says
that working here has
given me great internation
al exposure and enriched
my professional and life
experiences.
Definitely, the opportuni
ties are better, says
Bishwambhar Sengupta, 26,
a graduate student at
Clemson University in Clemson, S.C. The
American dream still exists, but things are
changing, he adds. Research funding has
been reduced in the past couple of years,
combined with stricter immigration laws. Its
becoming harder to stay here once youre
done studying. While other immigrants said
the U.S. workplace was more stressful (72 %),
Indian respondents find workplace less
stressful (62 percent).
October 24-30, 2015
Diwali at The
Met on Nov 15
By Jinal Shah
New York: For eighth consecutive year,

the Metropolitan Museum of Art (The
Met) will celebrate Diwali with a stellar
performance
of
the
Ramayana
Nov 15. This
year, several
new
pro
grams have
been added
The Ramayana
to appeal to
performance is the
children and
highlight of the Diwali
celebration at The Met, e d u c a t e
them about
the festival of light. These include inter
active activities and dance performanc
es. There will be lantern making work
shop, Indian classical dance workshop
and storytelling, Donna William, chief
audience development of ficer for the
museum told press persons Wednesday.
The festivities are presented by the
Museums Mult icultural Audience
Development Initiative and Education
Department.
Said Lal Motwani, multicultural advi
sory committee member, We encourage
parents, not only of Indian origin but
from other communities, to bring their
kids to learn more about Diwali. Kids not
only learn to make diyas but also learn
Indian classical dance from Swat i
Vaishnav of Nartan Rang Dance
Academy. And then there is the
Ramayana by East West School of
Dance, Each year EastWest School per
forms a scintillating, vibrant Ramayana
dance drama at the Gracey Rogers
Auditorium in the museum. This year
Mrs. India USA will also perform.
Every year about 56 ethnically
diverse art ists part icipate in the
Ramayana and a significant number of
them including Ram and Hanuman are
from other ethnic backgrounds, said
Motwani.
TURN PAGE
Kamlesh Mehta Speaks

Continued from page 1
back in June 2015 when my son decided to
move out of state for his MBA starting in August
2015, and I was also assuming the leading
office of an international service organization in
July 2015. I had foreseen the pressing demands
and need of more time for family enterprises
and prior social commitments.
What was the big deal about resigning from a
job? Thousands of employees resign everyday
to move on their progressive path.
Association : Though the indicted friend has
filed notguilty to the charges, if the media or
anyone addresses me as if I am guilty by associ
ation, all those thousands of people are also
guilty who are somehow linked with me.
I will let my friends and readers decide on
that.
Tax Warrant : It was an additional demand by
NYS on levy against employees related issue,
which was promptly paid in full. Our account
ants are working with NYS Tax Departments to
get the refund.
Financial Troubles : Yes, there were two dis
missed, personal bankruptcies filed back in
19992001 to save the large equity in my home,
which went into foreclosure due to huge losses
in jewelry business & stock market.
What was wrong with it? I never hide it, ever.
Disputes : Three disputes from the public
record have been mentioned from my almost
30 years of business life in USA. There could be
more, and more disputes can happen in future
too if I am alive and keep dealing with other
humans.
Pending Case : I will not say much on the
pending case, except that in the claimed trans
action of the year 199293, the monies were
never taken by me or by/for any of my busi
nesses. And there is also a Counterclaim in the
amount of 7 digits filed by me against the
Certified Public Accountant in the same matter.
To the statements of the CPA, if published
accurately in the news story, my response is:
Everyone who knows us knows us well, they all
know who is truthful, genuine, and a good per
son with pure mind, heart and soul.
I also believe in Karma only time will tell
who did well. I have forgiven the sinners, hope
God will also forgive them.
Media : No other media, mainstream or South
AsianIndian, has so far approached me after

my name appeared in a local daily. Seems like
they have no interest in learning and telling the
real Truth. All know, I am easily accessible.
Someone has said: "To shine like the Sun, one
has to first burn like Sun.
Thanks to the media for making me more
shining.
Soaring excitement over

cricket arriving in America
Ceremonies for all 3 games. Rupal Patel, its
founder and director said, 200 of our instruc
tors and students will perform a 10minute
majestic, multicultural dance performance
which will appeal to all audiences. You will wit
ness the American and South Asian cultures
come alive through grand props, vibrant cos
tumes, and incredible dancing. There is more.
Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra of Quantico
fame is likely to perform at Cricket AllStars, but
it is not final yet.
The South Asian Times is the Print Media
Partner. Said Kamlesh Mehta, its Chairman, We
are proud to join hands with the historic begin
ning of Cricket AllStars as print media partner
and a member of the Board of Promoters. Our
association with the Arya Dance Academy and
the national sport of India cricket is part of
our commitment to build bridges, and play a
leading role among the Indian diaspora in USA
besides being a family oriented weekly newspa
per. Takat Gems, Jewels Partner of the cricket
series, is excited as it will present select jewels
to Man of the Match in New York.
In an interview to The South Asian Times (Oct
17 issue), Ben Sturner said, I dont just support
cricket, but support culture. Besides the match
es, there will be galas, meet and greet events,
fun merchandise and memorabilia. I want South
Asians to be part of history this is the first time
it is happening on American soil. This is a
chance for them to show their pride in their cul
ture, and in the sport of cricket.
All the players have been signed up for 15
games over the next three years. And in the
future, All Stars games could also be played in
England or India.
To be seen in the arena at the inaugural cere
mony, Arya is the largest Indian dance company
in North America, with over 324 locations. It
New Delhi Bureau

Meenakshi Iyer
Delhi@TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Chairman and Co-Founder
Kamlesh C. Mehta
Co-Founder: Saroosh Gull
(Editor@DesiClub.com)
Managing Editor: Parveen Chopra

P : 516.710.0508
Editor@TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Associate Editors Jinal Shah,
Hiral Dholakia-Dave
President: Arjit Mehta

Chief Operating Officer:
Ginsmon P. Zacharia
P: 516 776 7061
ginsmon@hotmail.com
Board Advisors (Honorary)
Ajay Lodha, MD,
Lakhpat B. Mehta, Esq.
Rajasthan High Court & Supreme Court
Contributing Editors: Meenakshi Iyer,

Nilima Madan, Melvin Durai,
Dr Prem Kumar Sharma, Harry Aurora,
Ashok Vyas, Dr Akshat Jain, Nupur Joshi
Contributing Editors (Youth):
Rhea Gupta, Shweta Lodha, Sidharth Goyal
West Coast Correspondent
Pooja Jain,
Pooja@TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Strategy and Marketing

Jinal Shah
P: 315-436-1142
jinal.shah85@gmail.com
Marketing & PR (Washington DC)
Chander Gambhir, P: 703.717.1667
Jaipur (India) Bureau
Prakash Bhandari
Prakash@TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Photographs: Gunjesh Desai/
masalajunction.com.
Xitij Joshi/xitijphoto.com
Photo Journalist: Sandeep Ganatra
had the honor to perform at Halftime for a
College Football Game (The Las Vegas Bowl),
and at Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade in
2010.
Pakistan to act against LeT;

no ndeal, or US role in
Kashmir
the gap for war that India had created through
its coldstart doctrine, Obama also cautioned
Sharif against raising nuclear tensions with new
weapons.
"Regarding Pakistan's nuclear weapons pro
gram, the President stressed the importance of
avoiding any developments that might invite
increased risk to nuclear safety, security, or
strategic stability," a joint statement said.
However, Pakistan did manage to get a call for
an IndiaPakistan dialogue to resolve all issues
including Kashmir included in a joint statement
issued after Sharif met Obama Thursday in the
White House.
But in line with Washington's handsof f
Kashmir policy, the joint statement expressing
"concern over violence along LoC (in Kashmir)"
noted "their support for confidencebuilding
measures and ef fective mechanisms that are
acceptable to both parties."
"The leaders emphasized the importance of a
sustained and resilient dialogue process
between the two neighbors aimed at resolving
all outstanding territorial and other disputes,
including Kashmir, through peaceful means and
working together to address mutual concerns of
India and Pakistan regarding terrorism," it said.
"In this context, the Prime Minister apprised
the President about Pakistan's resolve to take
effective action against UNdesignated terrorist
individuals and entities, including LeT and its
affiliates, as per its international commitments
and obligations under Security Council resolu
tions and the Financial Action Task Force," the
statement added.
Obama and Sharif, it said "stressed that
improvement in PakistanIndia bilateral rela
tions would greatly enhance prospects for last
ing peace, stability, and prosperity in the
region." Sharif also "reaffirmed that Pakistan's
territory will not be used against any other
country and noted that this is an obligation of
all countries in the region."
Cartoonist: Mahendra Shah

Art and Design: Vladimir Tomovski
Bhagwati Creations,
Dhiraj Kumar
Web Editor: B.B.Chopra
News Service: HT Media Ltd.
IANS Newswire Services
IANS Washington Bureau
Arun Kumar
arun.kumar@ians,in
Printing: Five Star Printing, NY
Contacts
Editor@TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Subscribe@TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Advertisements
Advertise@TheSouthAsianTimes.info
P : 516.390.7847, F : 516.465.1343
Website:
www.TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Printed Every Saturday by: Forsythe Media Group, LLC, ISSN 1941-9333, 76 N Broadway, Suite 2004, Hicksville, NY 11801 P: 516.390.7847
Website: TheSouthAsianTimes.info Updated Daily
Notice: The South Asian Times is published weekly by The Forsythe Media Group, LLC. POSTMASTER: Send all address notices, subscription orders/payments and other inquiries to The South Asian
Times, 76 N Broadway, Suite 2004, Hicksville, NY 11801, USA. Copyright and all other rights reserved. No material herein or portions thereof may be reprinted without the consent of the publisher. The
views expressed on the opinion pages and in the letters to the editor pages are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect those of The South Asian Times. The editor/publisher does not warrant accuracy
and cannot be held responsible for the content of the advertisements placed in the publication and/or inaccurate claims, if any, made by the advertisers. Advertisements of business or facilities included in this
publication do not imply connection or endorsement of these businesses. All rights reserved.
TRISTATE COMMUNITY
October 24-30, 2015
ACHARYA LOKESH ADDRESSES GLOBAL

INTERFAITH WASH ALLIANCE SUMMIT
New York: Acharya Dr. Lokesh

Muni addressing WASH (Water,
Sanitation and Hygiene) summit
organized during Parliament of
Worlds Religions at Salt Lake City
in the presence of Swami
Chidanand Saraswati Ji, President
of Global Interfaith Wash Alliance,
Secretary General Sadhvi Bhagwati
Ji and many interfaith leaders,
scholars and dignitaries said that
Global Interfaith Wash Alliance
(GIWA) is constantly making
efforts to create awareness in the
world for safe water, sanitation
and hygiene through social revolu
tion WASH.
Acharya Lokesh Muni addressing the summit

Acharya Lokesh said that aware
ness towards WASH is necessary
from religious, economic, social

and health point of view. WASH
Sustainability is the key

for development
LEAD India 2020 conference organized in
memory of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam
Guests and organizers inaugurate the conference

New Jersey: Development all over the
world is picking up the pace and showing
great results but sustaining it, is the key,
said keynote speaker David OConnor, Chief
of the Policy and Analysis Branch of the
Division for Sustainable Development at
the United Nat ions Department of
Economic and Social Affairs speaking at Dr.
Kalams
Memorial
Sustainable
Development Conference held on October
17th at Rutgers University.
On the occasion of 84th birth anniver
sary of former President of India, Dr APJ
Abdul Kalam, Lead India 2020 USA, is
org anized Dr. Kalams Memorial
Sustainable Development Conference.
Hari Eppanapally, Chairman of the board
of Lead India 2020 Foundation (USA) said
that this conference was able to bring
together NGOs, practitioners, researchers
and educators from around the world who
are engaged in empowering and transform
ing youth into responsible citizens.

Srinivas Ganagoni, President of Lead
India 2020 Foundation (USA) conducted
the conference with the help of dedicated
Conference Committee and advisors from
planning to execution. Mr. Ganagoni said
the entire conference was planned in less
than 3weeks from start to finish in his wel
come address at the conference.
The keynote speaker, David OConner
stressed the need for sustaining the devel
opment by promoting cross cultural and
cross country relationships to reduce ten
sions and conflicts, finding out ways that
can work for the countries where the devel
opment is currently happening instead of
importing systems and processes that were
used in the developed countries, environ
mental friendly solutions, alternative ener
gy sources, education that is directly useful
to improve the quality of peoples life such
as good driving habits etc.
can make this world a better place

to live in. We cannot perform our
virtues and deed properly.
Cleanliness and prosperity are
directly related. We must give
importance to cleanliness for pros
perity and development in the
society, he said.
Acharya Lokesh further said that
85 % of worlds total population
believes in some faith and they
accept their religious preachers
with unending faith. It is the duty
of religious Guru to aware their
lakhs of followers towards WASH
so that untimely death of thou
sands of children can be stopped.
He said that girls mostly from

rural background stop going to
school as they reach class 10th
class, due to their physical changes
and lack of sanitary facilities in
schools. This restricts their mental
development also. With the help of
WASH by solving their sanitary
problems we can increase girls
education.
He said that 69 Jain Centers
established in America and 10 mil
lion people from Jain Community
all over the world and Ahimsa
Vishwa Bharti will work along with
GIWA for Water, Hygiene and
Sanitation.
Nirmal Sinha inducted

into Ohio Civil Rights
Hall of Fame
Ohio: Ohios wellknown
order to promote trade
Indian community leader
and international rela
Nirmal Sinha was induct
tions of Ohio, Sinha reg
ed into the Ohio Civil
ularly hosts business
Rights Hall of Fame on
leaders and diplomatic
October 15.
delegates from various
As a representative of
countries such as
the Asian Indian commu
Russia, China, South
nity, Nirmal has he ld
Africa and India. He
many important positions
accompanied Governor
and received nat ional
Voinovich
and
recognition for his civil
President Clinton dur
rig hts
contribut ion.
ing their visits to India
Serving as President and
for promoting interna
Trustee of the Federation
tional trade and cultur
of
Asian
Indian
al relations.
Nirmal Sinha (right) being
Asso ciat ions (FIA) of inducted to the Ohio Civil Rights
As Commissioner of
Central Ohio, President of
the Ohio Civil Rights
Hall of Fame by its chairman
the
Asian
Indian
Commission from 1991
Leonard Hubert.
American Business Group
through 2006, Sinha
(AIABG) and a member of the Asian developed programs to welcome new
Indian Alliance of Ohio, Sinha has helped immigrants to the U.S. and created out
Ohio grow in its diversity and acceptance reach programs for various ethnic groups
of the Asian Indian Community.
including Asian and Hispanic communi
Sinhas commitment to improving rela ties. 1n 2003, Mr. Sinha received the Ellis
tionships among all races and nationali Island Medal of Honor which recognizes
ties is also evidenced in his work with the American citizens who celebrate their his
Muslim and Sikh communities following tory, traditions and values of their ances
the attacks of September 11, 2001. He try while exemplifying the values of the
provided invaluable service in alleviating American way of life. In 2007, President
the fears and improving relations during of India Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam presented
that time of uncertainty and unrest.
Pravasi Bharatiya Samman to Mr. Sinha
Sinhas work has extended beyond Ohio for his contribution to the global Indian
to the national and international stage. In Diaspora.
October 24-30, 2015
TRISTATE COMMUNITY
Indian Americans Bootstrap

curriculum gets $1.5 M boost
Providence, RI: A curriculum
that he lps middle and hig h
school students learn algebra by
creating their own video games
is getting a $1.5 million boost
from the Nat ional Science
Foundation, a grant whose prin
cipal invest ig ator is Indian
American
Prof.
Shriram
Krishnamurthi of Brown
University.
T he curriculum, called
Bootstrap, is a tenweek class
room module in which each stu
dent programs her own work
ing game using key algebra con
cepts including variables, func
tions, and the Pythagorean the
orem.
Bootstrap is the latest in 20
years of similar projects and has
now grown into an inschool cur
riculum used in more than 150
schools across the country.
Curriculum provider code.org
recently began offering a curricu
lum based on Bootstrap national
ly. Computer literacy advocate
CSNYC is bringing Bootstrap to
schools throughout New York
City. The threeyear grant from
Prof. Shriram Krishnamurthi

the NSF will support research
aimed at assessing and improving
the pedagogical tools Bootstrap
uses to connect math skills and
computer coding. The funding
will also be used to set up work
shops around the country aimed
at training 600 additional teach
ers to use the curriculum in their
classrooms. The award comes at a
crucial time for Bootstrap, said

Krishnamurthi, professor of
computer science at Brown
University and principal investi
gator on the grant.
School districts around the
country are coming to recog
nize that computer science
instruction is critical for their
students, the Indian American
educator said.
However, many schools dont
have dedicated computer sci
ence teachers, and nding time
in the curriculum for CS instruc
t ion can be a problem.
Bootstrap offers a unique solu
tion. We can train math teach
ers to do a good job of teaching
basic computing, and it can be
done as part of the mathematics
curriculum.
Bootstrap is aligned with both
Common Core and state mathe
matics standards, which is a sell
ing point for math teachers. For
students, the allure of the curricu
lum is clearly the idea of creating
a video game.
The curriculum is aimed at stu
dents ages 12 to 16.
Indian Americans book focuses

on Armenian genocide
New York, NY: The
people going back in
Armenian National
t ime to their very
Committee of New
beg innings as a
York has announced
nation and down to
a book signing cere
the traumatic geno
mony
featuring
cide a hundred years
IndianAmerican c
ago at the hands of
tion novelist Abie
the Ottoman Turkish
Alexanders latest
empire. Now a land
Author Abie Alexander
book For the Love of
lo cked
country,
and his book.
Armine dedicated to
Armenia in its hey
the centennial of the Armenian days was a seafaring nat ion
Genocide. T he event will take whose adventurous citizens jour
place on November 6 at the neyed to the farthest corners of
Armenian Nat ional Center in the globe and settled down in the
Woodside, NY.
distant lands they reached. They
With this hearttouching story were a hardworking, industrious
Abie enters to the hearts of every lot who overcame adversities and
bo dy,
including
ordinary calamities to maintain ourishing
American citizens who might oth businesses as far away as
erwise have little opportunity to Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia,
learn about the Armenian Burma, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
Genocide and other atrocities
With this novel, author Abie
committed by the Ottoman Alexander amplies the voice of
Turkish government against the many who call for a truthful and
Armenians and other Christian just resolution of the Armenian
minorit ies, said ANCAERs Geno cide as an internat ional
Community Outreach and crime as well as sheds light on
Communications Director Artur other episodes of the Armenian
Martirosyan. Although set only history.
forty years ago, in the 1970s, the
Alexander was born in Kerala,
novel weaves a tapestry of the his India and moved to the United
tory and culture of the Armenian States for career advancement.
Dr Amarjit Marwah
honored with IDA Lifetime
Achievement Award
New York: T he Indian Dental
Asso ciat ion USA honored Indian
American dentist Dr. Amarjit Marwah
with a lifetime achievement award last
month.
Marwah, who practices in Malibu,
Calif., was honored with the award at
the associations annual convention
that was held at the Worlds Fair
Marina restaurant in Flushing
Meadows, N.Y., Sept. 5.
Dr. Marwah has been a guiding
light for Indian American dentists and
the Indian American community in the
U.S. for the last 60 years, said IDA Dr Amarjit Marwah (left) receiving the award
executive director Dr. Chad Gehani at
able jobs. He also helped elect the rst
the event. Marwah, who received his M.S. Indian American congressman into ofce,
in oral pathology at the University of Daljit Singh Saund, in 1956.
Illinois College of Dentistry and his D.D.S.
In the 1990s, the dentist launched the
at Howard University in Washington, D.C., Bank of Punjab with his friend Inderjit
beg an his career in the U.S. as a Singh, with more than 150 branches.
Guggenheim Fellow in New York in 1950.
He has also afliated himse lf with
He later became a professor at the numerous charities in India and the U.S.
University of Southern California before Some ef forts he has made through the
he started his practice full time.
charities included building schools for
Marwah, in 1974, was appointed as the underprivileged children and adopting an
chair of the Cultural Heritage and entire village in Punjab.
Hollywood Art Commission for the city of
A strong supporter in womens empow
Los Angeles.
erment and education, Marwah sponsors
Outside of dent istry, Marwah was trade schools for women in Punjab.
instrumental in the establishment of the
The event was attended by a number of
rst Sikh temple in Hollywood, as well as dignitaries of the American Dental
helping students by providing scholar Asso ciat ion as we ll as New York
ships and helping them settle into suit Congresswoman Grace Meng.
BITS graduates win

over Apple
Washington, DC: Apple Inc. has
been ordered to pay $234 million
to the intellectual property arm of
Wisconsin University for using
patented technology developed
by its team, including two Indian
American engineers.
The award by a federal jury in
Madison on Friday was about
$165 million less than the
amount sought by Wisconsin
University Alumni Research
Foundation, according to the
Wisconsin State Journal.
WARF sued Apple in January
2014, claiming that Apple
infringed on one of WARF's
patents in creating a processor
for its popular mobile devices,
starting with the iPhone 5S in
2012. Gurindar Sohi and Terani
Vijaykumar, both electrical and
electronics engineering graduates
of Birla Institute of Technology
and Science, Pilani, were part of
the fourmember WARF team that
developed the chip technology
used w ithout permission by

Apple.
U.S. District Judge William
Conley, who presided over the
trial, complimented the lawyers
on their professionalism and
spoke to Wisconsin University
Madison computer sciences' Prof.
Sohi, who led the WARF technolo
gy team, seated in the courtroom.
"For Dr. Sohi, I hope you felt
that your invention was vindicat
ed," Conley was quoted as saying.
"This is a case where the hard
work
of
our
university
researchers and the integrity of
patenting and licensing discover
ies has prevailed," said Carl
Gulbrandsen, managing director
of WARF.
Apple attorneys declined to
comment, referring questions to
the California company's public
relations ofce, the Journal said.
But spokesperson Rachel Tulley
said Apple would appeal the ver
dict.
Pranav Sivakumar
every Saturday morning, his par
ents drove him an hour to an astro
physics lab for 'AskAScientist'
class."
"And before long, he teamed up
with researchers he met there to
study the 'gravitational lensing of
quasars'," he said. "That is not what
I was thinking about at his age."
"Pranav was a global nalist in
the Google Science Fair not once,
but twice. So you know he's going
to do some important things. Give
him a big round of applause," said
the president amid applause.
"And where's Pranav? Because I
Aziz Ansari ranked sixth

top paid comedian
Washington, DC: Indian
American Aziz Ansari has
debuted on the Forbes list
of
Hig hestPaid
Comedians 2015 w ith
$9.5 million in earnings,
thanks to his fanfavourite
role as Tom Haverford on
the NBC hit "Parks and
Recreation."
Like many other celebri
ties, Ansari, who is ranked
sixth, has taken his fame
from the stage and screen
to the page, the US busi
ness magazine noted. His
book, Modern Romance
a sociological investigation into
the dating and love lives of millen
nials earned him an advance in
the sevengures. It also brought
him name recognit ion among
Tinderswipers and Hingematch
ers.
Jerry Seinfeld ranks as the top
earning comedian, having raked in
Pranav Sivakumar gets a

shoutout from Obama
Washington, DC: President Barack
Obama gave a shoutout to an
IndianAmerican kid who recently
made history by becoming the rst
person to earn a second Global
Finalist award in the 2015 Google
Science Fair.
"We've got some young
Americans here tonight with that
same kind of adventurous spirit,"
he said addressing several hundred
people including students, teachers,
and NASA Administrator Charlie
Bolden at the second White House
Astronomy Night.
"When Pranav Sivakumar was six
years old, he found an encyclopedia
about famous scientists lying
around the house," said Obama at
the event on the mansion's South
Lawn Monday night.
"At least he thinks it was lying
around there. Actually, his parents
probably were setting it out hop
ing he was going to run into it," he
said amid laughter.
"And he's been fascinated with
outer space ever since. For years,
October 24-30, 2015
NATIONAL COMMUNITY
was talking about him, and I didn't

there you go. Give Pranav a big
round of applause," added Obama
as he spotted Pranav to another
round of applause.
"So these are examples of the
extraordinary young people that we
have here today," he said citing a
couple of other students.
Pranav, 15, was chosen out of
only 10 students in his age catego
ry, 7 Americans, and 20 total stu
dents worldwide to make the nals
of this year's Google Science Fair.
His research addressed unresolv
able image congurations of
quasars in the Sloan Digital Sky
Survey, allowing him to identify
109 new high probability quasar
candidates.
Pranav has also won the
Astronomical League's National
Young Astronomer Award, two
National Seminalist awards in the
Siemens Competition in Math,
Science, and Technology, taking
second place in the Scripps
National Spelling Bee.
Aziz Ansari
$36 million. Kevin Hart came in
second on $28.8 million with
Terry Fator in third at $21.5 mil
lion. According to Forbes, "Women
are noticeably absent from the list,
and in the standup and television
comedy business in generala
problem that goes back decades".
Since 1959, only three comedi
ennes have won the

Grammy Award for Best
Comedy Album (Kathy
Grifn, Whoopi Goldberg
and Lily Tomlin), it noted.
The list measures earn
ings before subtracting
management fees and
taxes between June 1,
2014 and June 1, 2015.
One of the most interest
ing developments in come
dy in recent years is the
g row ing act ion on the
smallest screen. T he
Internet has given comedi
ans new platforms on
which to make money from their
jokes, Forbes said.
"And just as in many areas of the
entertainment industry, Netix is
changing the game. Thanks to
comedy special exclusives, funny
men Peters, Louis C.K. and Ansari
all added signicant amounts to
their earnings," it said.
Indian American
Hillblazers raised
$100,000plus for Clinton
Frank Islam and Deven J Parekh

Washington, DC: Eight Indian
Americans have been named
Hillblazers by the campaign
of presidential hopeful Hillary
Clinton, DN.Y., for raising at
least $100,000 each for the
Democratic frontrunner.
Their names are prominently
displayed on the election web
site of the Hillary campaign.
As per the list, updated Sept.
30, the Indian Americans
Hillblazers are Ankit N. Desai,
of Washington, D.C.; Shefali

Razdan Dugg al, of San
Francisco; Raj Fernando, of
Chicago; Frank Islam and
Mahinder K. Tak, of Maryland;
Deven J. Parekh, of New York;
and Kamil and Talat Hasan, of
California.
It also has three Pakistani
Americans as Hillblazers:
Shaista Mahmood, of Virginia;
and Asif Mahmood and Imaad
Zuberi, both of California.
October 24-30, 2015
NATIONAL COMMUNITY
Clock kid Ahmed

Now White Houses antibullying
Mohamed and his
campaign in Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu
family will move to Qatar
Washington, DC: Less

QF
Young
than 24 hours after
I n n o v a t o r s
Ahmed Mohamed
Prog ram, which
met
President
reflects the organi
Obama, his family
zat ions ongoing
decided its time to
dedicat ion
to
leave America for
empowering young
good.
people and foster
T he 14yearold
ing a culture of
Ahmed Mohamed
Texas boy who was
innovation and cre
arrested for bringing to school a ativity, the family said in a news
homemade clock that authorities release Tuesday. Anthony Bond,
said resembled a bomb will soon a close family friend and the
be living in Qatar.
founder of the Irving, Texas,
After careful consideration of chapter of the NAACP said the
all the generous offers received, family made the decision to leave
we would like to announce that the U.S. within the past 24 hours.
we have accepted a kind of fer They have spent those hours in
from Qatar Foundat ion for Washington, where Ahmed has
Educat ion,
Science
and been on a minipress tour in
Community Development (QF) anticipation of his visit to the
for Ahmed to join the prestigious White House.
Washington, DC: T he W hite

House has teamed up with a Sikh
and an Asia Pacific community
group to launch a public aware
ness campaign to address bully
ing in six languages including
Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu.
The resources for the "Act To
Change" campaign are also avail
able in Chinese, Korean, and
Vietnamese as one out of three
in the Asian American and
Pacific Islander (AAPI) communi
ty does not speak Eng lish
fluently.
The initiative launched, in part
nership with the Sikh Coalition
and the Coalit ion of Asian
Pacifics in Entertainment, will
also feature video testimonials of
AAPI celebrity athletes, artists,
and entertainers. "Growing up,
sometimes people made me feel
like an outsider; I was the per

fect storm of nerdy, gay and
Indian American," wrote Maulik
Pancholy, a member of the
President's
Advisory
Commission on AAPI discussing
the campaign.
"But now, I've come to find that
those very things that were
somet imes used as fo dder
against me are the things I love
the most about myself," he wrote
in a White House blog post.
"I have the privilege to be con
nected to amazing communities
of incredible people: people who
know that it's actually cool to
nerd out about stuf f, who cele
brate the strength and joy of
what it means to identify as
LGBT, and who appreciate the
rich cultural heritage of being
Indian American." "It's okay to
be weird, but it's NOT okay to be

bullied," said Pancholy, noting:
"Every day, kids of all ages suffer
from being bullied in schools
across the country." In the AAPI
community, this problem is often
complicated by cultural, reli
gious, and linguistic barriers that
can keep AAPI youth from get
ting the help they need, he said.
In addition to raising aware
ness, the campaign encourages
AAPI youth and adults to share
their stories, engage in commu
nity dialogues, and take action
against bullying.
T he campaign we bsite,
ActToChange.org, includes video
and music empowerment
playlists, and encourages one to
"Take a Pledge" to join the
#ActToChange movement and
stand up against bullying.
SEVEN INDIANORIGIN WOMEN IN US PAGEANTS

New York: Seven Indianorigin women will
participate in New Jersey's two annual
beauty pageant finals.
New Jersey is set to host the finals of
"Miss New Jersey USA" and "Miss New
Jersey Teen USA" pageants.
Six of the seven Indianorigin women are
featuring in "Miss New Jersey USA" and one
in "Miss New Jersey Teen USA", the
pageant's website said.
Vanita Budhan, 22, Nicole Patel, 23,
Nihara Chakrala, 24, Somya Sharma, 23,
Suchitra Singh, 24, and Chhavi Verg, 18, are
the competitors in "Miss New Jersey USA".
Neha Pasupuleti, 14, will representing
Edison in "Miss New Jersey Teen USA."

The preliminaries for the program, which
focus on excellence, achievement and per
sonal growth of the contestants, were held
on Friday and Saturday in New Jersey.
On Saturday, the contestants attended a
motivation session and afternoon was
spent in rehearsals for the final day's
shows.
The winners will advance to the national
pageants "Miss USA" and "Miss Teen USA"
respectively.
If "Miss New Jersey USA" wins "Miss USA"
pageant, she w ill advance to "Miss
Universe" pageant.
Russian ofcial tweets image of

IndianAmerican doctor accused of
performing needless procedures terrorist Kal Penn from Harold & Kumar
Washington , DC: As many as 293
patients of an IndianAmerican cardiolo
gist around a small town in Indiana have
filed lawsuits against him and two other
doctors in his practice claiming that they
performed needless procedures.
The Indiana state Medicaid program has
started an investigation against Munster,
Indiana based Dr. Arvind Gandhi and his
partners, Dr. Wail Asfour and Dr.
Satyaprakash Makam, according to the
New York Times.
The three doctors received nearly $5
million in combined Medicare payments in
2012, making them the three most reim
bursed cardiologists in Indiana, it said.
The Times quoted one doctor not named
in the litigation as saying he had received
a subpoena from the US attorney's office
and provided the medical charts of several
former patients of Dr. Gandhi and his col
leagues that he has since treated.
Lawyers for Dr. Gandhi and his practice,
Cardiolog y Asso ciates of Northwest
Indiana, said they had not received any

subpoenas, and the doctors denied any
wrongdoing.
The partners invested in real estate,
including luxury apartments in Chicago,
and a local restaurant, the Times said.
Besides the doctors, the malpractice law
suits also name Community Hospital,
where "Dr. Gandhi was a star", through the
foundation that oversees its operations, as
a defendant, the daily said.
Dr. Gandhi was a highranking member
of the medical staf f at the hospital, and
the lawsuits charge that the superfluous
procedures were done "with the authority
and consent" of Community Hospital, it
said. Lawyers for the hospital deny any
wrongdoing.
Lawyers for Dr. Gandhi, his practice and
the hospital, say the lawsuits are without
merit. The legal actions, they say, are
being driven by envious physicians eager
to take patients from Dr. Gandhi and by
greedy lawyers seeking a big settlement.
New York: On Wednesday morning,

Alexander Yakovenko, Russia's ambassa
dor to Britain, posted a message on his
personal Twitter account that sought to
criticize U.S. ultimatums given to Iraq
about Russian involvement in the country.
Yakovenko's message included a photo
graph that showed a bearded man in a tur
ban laughing an image apparently
designed to show an Islamic State terror
ist rejoicing.
However, as actor and former White
House official Kal Penn noted on Twitter,
that image does not show a real terrorist.
Instead, it features a scene from the 2008
film "Harold & Kumar Escape from
Guantanamo Bay."
It shows Kumar Pate l, an Indian
American character played by Penn, don
ning a fake beard, wig and turban aboard
a plane and making a joke about being a
terrorist.
Penn's mocking tweet The Russian
Federation ambassador to the UK tweeted
this Harold & Kumar pic with seriousness.
A screen grab of diplomats tweet

I can't stop laughing. has been retweeted
hundreds of times in the past few hours.
Shortly after it was posted, the of ficial
Twitter account of the Russian Embassy in
London responded, attempting to explain
the error.
The image of "Kumar" dressed as a "ter
rorist" appears to be high in the Google
results of searches for "terrorist laughing,"
which may explain why Yakovenko includ
ed it in his tweet.
JOE BIDEN NOT TO RUN

FOR PRESIDENT
Washington: Ending months of intense speculation,
Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced
he wouldn't jump into the presidential race easing
Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton's path to win
the party nomination.
With his wife, Jill, and President Obama at his side
in the White House Rose Garden, Biden, who is run
ning third in polls after Clinton and Vermont Senator
Bernie Sanders, explained his decision not to run, say
ing the window for a successful campaign "has
closed".
Even as he abandoned a presidential run, Biden
positioned himself as a defender of the Obama legacy
as he highlighted Democratic values and themes of
income inequality.
"While I will not be a candidate, I will not be silent,"
he said. "I intend to speak out clearly and forcefully to
influence as much as I can where we stand as a party
and where we need to go as a nation."
Pundits and politicians have speculated for months
whether Biden, 72, would enter the presidential race.
But Clinton's goo d performance at the first
Democratic presidential debate on October 13 led
observers to suggest that Biden's moment had passed.
According to a pool report, Obama ignored pool
questions regarding Biden's decision but of fered a
strained smile and perfunctory wave as he boarded
Marine One to begin a trip to West Virginia.
Democratic Senate Minority leader Harry Reid told
CNN that Biden would have been a good candidate
"but he made the right decision".
October 24-30, 2015
US AFFAIRS
Vice President Joe Biden, with his wife Jill Biden and
President Obama by his side, making the
announcement Oct. 21 from the White House.
In the absence of a grassroots organization, Biden's
late entry would have posed a nearly insurmountable
challenge.
Nevertheless Biden's decision will come as a relief
to the Clinton campaign as she seeks to stabilize her
White House push after months on the defensive over
the use of a private email server for official work as
secretary of state.
Biden's decision came after a political career that
spanned 40 years and was bookended by tragedy.
Soon after he won his Delaware Senate seat in
1972, Biden's wife and infant daughter died in a car
crash. Then in May 2015, his son Beau, an Iraq war
veteran, died.
GOP hardliners
relent, paving way
for Ryan for Speaker
Washington: Former Vice
Presidential candidate, Rep.
Paul D. Ryan appeared to
have locked up the votes
Wednesday to become the
next speaker of the House
after a key conservative
faction gave its support,
even though he failed to
Paul Ryan will be Speaker of the House
win the kind of sweeping
on his conditions.
unanimity he had been
see king from the fract ious Labrador (RIdaho), a leader of the
Freedom Caucus, said after the
Republican majority.
Ryan signaled, though, that the vote.
The race to select the next House
backing from a supermajority of
the House Freedom Caucus might speaker has driven a wedge in the
be enough a potential truce with fiery House Freedom Caucus,
the renegade group that also fell potentially weakening the unity of
short in its efforts to demand rule the conservat ive g roup that
pushed out the current speaker.
changes from the new speaker.
At a caucus meeting Wednesday
Im grateful for the support of a
supermajority of the House night, twothirds of the group
Freedom Caucus, Ryan said after voted to support his bid, but at
the late Wednesday caucus vote. I least a dozen others declined. That
be lieve this is a positive step fell short of the 80% needed under
toward a unified Republican team. the caucus' rules to w in the
Votes for speaker are set for next group's official endorsement.
Ryan could now potentially win a
week in the GOPled House.
Were trying to bring the con speaker's race if twothirds of the
ference together, Rep. Raul R. caucus members voted for him.
or most of my life, if someone told me that I

would be running for of fice, beseeching
over 750,000 people for their trust and vote, I
would have laughed. I would have explained
that someone who was born in Africa,
brought up in United Kingdom and who
spent most of her life in the United States as a
housewife is not the type of person who wins
elections. Government of fice is for people
who are higher than me, I would have said.
But here I am now.
Nasrin Ahmad
For Town Clerk
Town of Hempstead
Here I am, three years in. Here I am, an immi

grant, a mother, a wife, a lifelong fan of Dilip
Kumar and Mohammed Rafi. Here I am,
working with a staf f of professional public
employees leading the charge to deliver first
class services to the people of our Town. Here
I am, working every day with a fantastic team
of Republicans in of fice to continue to
provide efficient, fair, honest and accountable
governance of this Town. Here I am, the first
South Asian elected official in the history of
Long Island, asking for your vote, announcing
to all of you that I am once again running for
the of fice of Town Clerk of the Town of
Hempstead.
We in the Town Clerks office have come a
long way, but the work we do is not a sprint
from one point to another, it is an ongoing
journey to continue to de liver on our
promises to the people of the Town. Taking
Advertisement paid by Friends of Nasrin Ahmad
my 14 years of experience working in various

staf f positions in the Town Clerks of fice, I
have led various initiatives to help better the
lives of all residents of Hempstead: Mobile
services to every school, senior center, library
and community facility. Extended hours of
Thursday so everyone can access our wonder
ful, efficient serivces. Fully bilingual service
across all departments in the Town Clerks
of fice. And in spite of all of these new and
productive services to the public, the Town
Clerks office budget is now 7% lower than it
was when I entered office.
My name is Nasrin Ahmad and I refuse to
waste your tax dollars; I refuse to have my staff
offer anything but the best service to you and
your loved ones; I refuse to slow down just
because of what we have achieved; I refuse,
regardless of what Im doing or where I am, to
ever stop in my Godgiven responsibility to
help people in any way that I can.
I thus respectfully and humbly ask you for
one thing: your vote. With your vote and
those of your families and loved ones, I can
continue working to provide you with the
best services at the lowest possible cost to
taxpayers. Thank you, God bless you, and God
bless the United States of America.
Come out and vote on November 3.
10
October 24-30, 2015
INDIA
Dalit killings: Haryana orders CBI probe

Faridabad/Chandigarh: The Haryana gov
ernment has ordered a CBI probe into the
arson attack by upper castes in Faridabad
district that left two Dalit children dead and
a woman battling for life.
"The Haryana government has ordered a
CBI probe into the incident," Amit Arya,
media adviser to Haryana Chief Minister
Manohar Lal Khattar, told the media in
Chandigarh.
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi,
who visited the victim's family in Faridabad,
accused Haryana's BJP government of fail
ing to ensure security for the weaker sec
tions.
Gandhi also said that the arson attack was
a result of "saffron policies".
The Haryana government had failed on
the law and order front and "atrocities" on
Dalits were on the rise, he said in Sunped
village in this district that borders Delhi.
"This is not a government of the weak,"
said Gandhi. "This is an attitude shared by
the prime minister, the chief minister and
the BJPRSS. If somebody is weak, they can
be crushed."
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi meeting Jitendra whose house was set on fire
allegedly by men belonging to the uppercaste community.
Gand hi visited the village and met
Jitender, whose house was set on fire by a
group of upper caste people after throwing
petrol from an open window.
Jitender's wife Rekha, fouryearold son
Vaibhav and eightmonthold daughter
Don't divide Indians between

north, south: Kejriwal tells Rijiju
New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister
Arvind Kejriwal told Union Minister
of State for Home Af fairs Kiren
Rijiju not to divide Indians between
north and south after the latter's
comments that north Indians like to
break rules.
"Rijiju ji, please don't divide
Indians into north and south
Indians, Hindus and Muslims,"
Kejriwal tweeted. "All Indians are
good. It is politics that we need to
improve," he said. At a function in

the national capital, Rijiju reported
ly said that people of north India
enjoy breaking the rules.
"I was witness to a statement
made by one of Delhi's former Lt.
Governors. He had stated that peo
ple of north India enjoy breaking
the rules and by evening he was
forced to apologize. But I believe
what he said was right," Rijiju had
said.
Pakistan seeks to shift

ObamaSharif talks
focus to India
Washington: Ahead of his meet
ing with President Barack Obama,
visiting Pakistan Prime Minister
has sought to shift the focus of
talks to India rather than counter
terrorism and safety of Pakistan's
nuclear weapons highlighted by
US. Sharif's meeting with Obama
"w ill hig hlig ht the enduring
nature of the USPakistan rela
tionship and provide an opportu
nity to strengthen our coopera
tion on issues of mutual interest,"
a White House statement said.
T hese include "economic
growth, trade and investment,
clean energy, global health, cli
mate change, nuclear security,
counterterrorism, and regional
stability."
"The President looks forward to
discussions with Prime Minister
Sharif on ways we can advance
our shared interest in a stable,
secure, and prosperous Pakistan."

According to of ficial Pakistani
news agency APP, Pakistan hand
ed over three dossiers to US
Secretary of State John Kerry
about alleged Indian involvement
in subversive activities in the
country.
The dossiers were handed over
to Kerry when he called on Sharif
at the Blair House. Kerry, it said,
was briefed about the alleged
destabilising role of Indian agen
cies in Federally Administered
Tribal Areas (FATA), Balochistan
and Karachi.
Sharif, according to APP, also
reiterated his commitment to
seek normalisation with India.
However, State Department
spokesperson, John Kirby told
reporters he was "not aware that
we have" received any documents
relating to India from Pakistan.
Divya received burn injuries. Both children

succumbed to their injuries. The wife is bat
tling for life in a hospital.
Meanwhile, protesters blo cked the
FaridabadMathura road at Kaili village
near Ballabgarh by placing the children's
bodies on the road.

They demanded the immediate arrest of
all 11 people named in the police complaint
and a government job for Jitender.
The state government has suspended
eight policemen, including the chief of
Sadar police station, and those deputed to
guard Sunped village.
Police officials said that four arrests have
been made in the case.
Besides Gandhi, Communist Party of
IndiaMarxist leader Brinda Karat, former
union minister Kumari Selja, Haryana
Janhit Cong ress (Bhajan Lal) leader
Kuldeep Bishnoi and National Commission
for Scheduled Castes member Ishwar Singh
visited the village to meet the bereaved
family.
Haryana's Additional Director General of
Police Muhammad Akil also visited the
area.
Police said the arson was linked to a clash
on October 5 in Sunped in which three
upper caste people were killed. Three mem
bers of Jitender's family were among the
11 jailed for last year's violence.
Foreign hand, funding in holy

book sacrilege: Punjab Police
Chandigarh: The Punjab Police
said it has arrested two brothers
for alleged involvement in the des
ecration of the Guru Granth Sahib
and revealed they were getting
instructions and funding from
handlers in Australia and Dubai.
Additional Director General of
Police I.P.S. Sahota told media here
on Tuesday in the presence of
Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir
Singh Badal that two brothers,
Jaswinder Singh and Rupinder
Singh, were arrested for the main
case of sacrilege of the Sikh holy
book at Bargari village in Faridkot
district.
He said that phone calls of the
brothers had been traced to peo
ple in Australia and Dubai and a
special investigation team will
probe this aspect.
"The Punjab Police have arrest
ed two brothers, namely Rupinder
Singh and Jaswinder Singh, after
intercepting their mutual as well
as Rupinder's foreign calls to
Australia and Dubai.
"During the interrogation, the
foreign link as well as funding had
been established, while the other
incidents (of sacrilege) happened
in Kohrian (Sangrur), Nijjarpura
(Amritsar), Ghawaddi (Ludhiana)
Punjab police personnel conducting flag march in Amritsar.

and Bathh (Tarn Taran) were of
localized nature," Sahota said.
"During interrog at ion of
Rupinder Singh, it has been found
that he has been talking with their
masters abroad and discussed
about delivery of cash to them in
lieu of their acts of committing
sacrilege of Sri Guru Granth
Sahib," he said.
"Out of the seven reported cases
of sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib,
we have solved five cases," Sahota
added. The sacrilege cases were
reported from Faridkot, Amritsar,
Tarn Taran and Bathinda districts.
Sukhbir Badal said those
involved in the incidents will not
be spared.
"We did not allow those people

to accomplish their mission.
Nothing is more condemnable. I
appeal to all people to of fer
prayers. We w ill punish the
guilty," he said.
"The Punjab government would
unearth all conspiracies behind
the ghastly desecration of the Sri
Guru Granth Sahib at Bargari vil
lage in Faridkot which had led to
widespread emotional outbursts
across the state," he said.
Sahota also said that there was
no link established between
Bargari sacrilege incident and par
don of Dera Sacha Sauda sect chief
Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh by the
Akal Takht.
RSS chief lauds Modi,

wants terrorism
destroyed
Nagpur: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has lav

ished praise on the Narendra Modi govern
ment and urged it to destroy terrorism with
in "once and for all".
Addressing the 90th Vijaya Dashami or
Dussehra rally here, Bhagwat lauded the
BJPled central government, saying it had
raised India's esteem globally "manifold".
"It seems the world is being introduced to
a new modern Bharat (India), which is full of
selfrespect and selfconfidence. India is
reincarnating itself into an altogether new
manifestation and the world is enchanted to
see her new avatar with utmost optimism,"
Bhagwat said to applause.
He also credited Modi, who became prime
minister in May last year, for taking pro
active steps to improve bilateral relations
with neighbouring countries "with success
ful results". But while referring to "hostilities
by Pakistan (and) expansionism from China"
besides the ISIS, he warned of the enemy
within the country.
"Rising fundamentalism and chauvinism in
the world order, and unfair international
diplomacy, resulting in rise of terrorist out
fits like ISIS, are acting as a catalyst to an
already complicated and serious internal
and external security of our country.
"Fostered by external powers and inspired
October 24-30, 2015
INDIA
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat.

by external ideologies, some people from
within are walking the path of terrorism."It
goes without saying that it is the govern
ment's responsibility to come out with a
comprehensive and a firm policy to root out
all such problems once and for all," Bhagwat
said. He said the advent of Modi regime had
replaced "an atmosphere of disappointment
and lost faith which existed a couple of years
back" by "an atmosphere of optimism and
expectations".
But India's growing population was a
cause for concern, he said.
11
V.K. Singh stirs row with

'dog' remark, clarifies
New Delhi: Union minister V.K. Singh
triggered a huge row when he spoke of a
dog's stoning while commenting on the
burning of two Dalit children. As opposi
tion parties demanded his sacking, the
former army chief clarified that he had
been misunderstood.
Asked about the gory killing by upper
castes of the children in a Haryana vil
lage, the former army chief said: "If some
one throws stones at a dog, the govern
ment is not responsible. It was a feud
between two families, the matter in under
inquiry.
"Failure of the administration should
not be put on the government's head," he
added.
The opposition immediately pounced
on the Bharatiya Janata Party MP.
The Congress sought his removal from
the Narendra Modi ministry, adding he
should be booked under law.
"What V.K. Singh said was shocking,
inhuman and unacceptable... I do not
understand what is happening to Modi's
ministers," spokesman Randeep
Surjewala told the media.
He said a case should be filed against
the minister under the Scheduled Caste
and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of
Atrocities) Act, 1989.
Union minister V.K. Singh..

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal
also called for V.K. Singh's sacking and a
police case against him.
"V.K. Singh's statement is shameful and
prosecutable," the Aam Aadmi Party
leader tweeted.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar also
slammed him: "Aghast at the senseless
comment made by some BJP leaders
including ... on the tragic Dalit killings in
Haryana."
Amid the volley of criticism, the minis
ter clarified that his statement wasn't
intended to draw an analogy.
Dussehra celebrations: BJP,

Will return award if
Akademi fails to protect Congress leaders share stage
writers' rights: Seth
New Delhi: Famed author
Akademi award in 1988 for his
Vikram Seth says that he
novel 'The Golden Gate'.
would return his award, if the
Earlier, participating in a dis
Sahitya Akademi fails to pro
cussion with David Davidar of
tect the lives and rights of writ
Aleph publishing, Seth hailed
ers.
the decision of many writers to
"I w ill return the award
return their Akademi awards,
almost certainly if this institu
saying that it was not a concert
Famed author
tion fails to protect or robustly
ed action.
Vikram Seth.
defend free speech or lives of
"I don't think writers return
writers. I didn't want it to sound like a ing award is a concerted action. It's not
threat. However, I fully expect this institu easy to return awards and I would call it as
tion do something worthy of their name a courageous act. The award is a mark of
and history," Seth told IANS after the recognition that you receive in your rather
launch of his book, 'The Summer Requiem'.
isolated professional life," he said.
A host of literary personalities have been
Seth also expressed anguish over
returning their Sahitya Akademi awards in Akademi's mute response to the killing of
protest against the rising incidents of intol writer M M Kalburgi and two more ratio
erance in the country.
nalists. "I heard that when poet Keki N
The Akademi is slated to meet on October Daruwalla wrote to the Akademi after the
23. If Seth does return his award, he will killing of writer M M Kalburgi, he only got
join a growing list of writers and academi a telephone call saying that there was pres
cians who have returned their award in sure," he said adding that Akademi has to
protest against what they said was growing stand up for writers.
intolerance ag ainst writers and free
"Pressure? Pressure not to say that the
thinkers.
murder of Kalburgi or Pansare was wrong?
The Padma Shri awardee has been trolled Pressure not to speak out against or
on Twitter on his support for those who attempt to gag people who speak their
had returned their awards. He said he minds? What kind of pressure is this?" Seth
would join the list of award returnees if the asked. Seth said that he hasn't spoken to
Akademi remains mealymouthed on free other writers on the issue, but was waiting
dom of expression. The author received the for the outcome of the October 23 meeting.
New Delhi: President Pranab

Mukherjee, VicePresident
Hamid Ansari, former prime
minister Manmohan Singh,
Congress president Sonia
Gandhi and Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) president Amit
Shah witnessed the burning
of the effigy of demon king
Ravana on the occasion of
Dussehra at the Parade
Ground here.
"Dussehra is a symbol of
our ancient culture and we
should forget our dif fer
ences and work towards
nation building. That will be
our victory. I appeal to the
people to maintain unity and
integrity of the nation and
contribute to the country's
development," Mukherjee
said in his brief speech.
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi was also invited for
the ce le brat ions but he
could not attend as he has
travelled to Andhra Pradesh
where he laid the foundation
stone for its capital city
Amaravati. Congress vice
president Rahul Gandhi and
union minister Harsh
Vardhan were also present
on the occasion along with
other dignitaries.
The effigy of Ravana burns at the Lav Kush Ramlila,

Red Fort in New Delhi.
At a separate venue at the
Ramlila Ground, union
Home Minister Rajnath
Singh and National Security
Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval wit
nessed the 'Ravan Dahan'
(burning of Ravana's effigy).
The ef figies of Ravana's
son Meghnad and brother
Kumbhkaran were set ablaze

by firing a flame t ipped
arrow, marking the victory
of good over evil.
The burning of giant effi
gies of Ravana, Meghnad
and Kumbhkaran is the cen
tre of attract ion during
Dussehra celebrations.
12
October 24-30, 2015
OP-ED
SHIV SENAS INTOLERANCE:

Why Mumbaikars are silent
By Rajdeep Sardesai
ong before Sudheendra

Kulkarni, there were the likes
of Nikhil Wag le and your
humble columnist. In 1991, the
Shiv Sena dug up the Wankhede
cricket pitch to protest against an
IndiaPakistan series. I wrote an
article condemning the act in the
strongest possible terms.
A black flag demonstration was
staged outside The Times of India
office, where I worked in Mumbai, I
was verbally abused, but fortunate
ly allowed to leave the premises
unhurt. Wagle was not so lucky: his
office in the heart of Sena territory
in Dadar was attacked and he was
physically assaulted.
In 2009, the Sena was at it again:
the IBN Lokmat office in Mumbai
was vandalized, Wagle was again
beaten up. As then Editor in Chief
of the network, I sought strong
police action. There were a few
token arrests but eventually every
one was bailed out. The Shiv Sena
hailed the boys who had attacked
the office. The matter was closed,
life moved on. Till, of course, the
Sudheendra Kulkarni, chairman of the Observer Research Foundation

Mumbai, with his face smeared with ink.
next attack, the next victim.
From 1966 till today, the Senas
history is littered with not just ink,
but blood. Anyone who has chosen
to voice their dissent has been
sought to be silenced: threats,
intimidation, ink attacks, assaults,
riots, even murder (the Sena was
accused of killing communist
leader Krishnakant Desai in 1970),
the Sainiks have made violence
their ultimate weapon. And yet,
have got away each time.
So, what explains the Shiv Senas
refusal to abide by the Constitution

over the decades?
First, it is an indictment of the
law enforcement regime. Several
speeches of the original Sena
supremo Bal T hackeray were
incendiary and patently violative of
Section 153 (a) and (b) of the
Indian Penal Code by openly pro
moting hatred between communi
ties. And yet, in his long public
career, Thackeray was arrested just
once in 2007 for a hate
speech, and immediately granted
bail (his previous arrest in 1969

was in a riot case).
Secondly, the ruling governments
in Maharashtra have also treated
the Sena leadership with kid
gloves, preferring to strike deals
rather than fight. If the BJPs
Devendra Fadnavis appears help
less today in reining in his ally, he
is no different from a succession of
Congress chief ministers stretching
back to the late 1960s, when
Vasantrao Naik, in some instances,
active ly patronized the Sena.
Today, the Congress party, which
calls the attack on Kulkarni a
shame on the country, must
answer why it allowed the Sena to
get away with such attacks in the
past.
Thirdly, the fact is, the Sena has,
in its own unique way, successfully
tapped into the insecurities and
anxieties of a substantial section of
the local Maharashtrian population
in Mumbai who will blame the
other for their own predicament.
It started with job competition in
the 1960s, when the South Indians
were targeted for taking away cler
ical jobs. In more recent times, the
search for an enemy has led to

north Indian migrants being sin
gled out, accused again of taking
away employment opportunities of
locals.
Finally, the Sena gets away with
its actions because even those elite
Mumbaikars who may be appalled
at its violent streak choose to stay
silent. Perhaps, they are too scared
to speak out, or else have been co
opted, but in a city of celebrities
be they from the film, sports or
financial world very few have
dared to call the Senas bluff.
Postscript: In my first meeting
with Bal Thackeray in 1989, he
gently asked me: You are the son
of my dear friend, the cricketer
Dilip Sardesai. You are a
Maharashtrian, an Indian, how can
you be critical of us? I was tempt
ed to suggest, but I didnt quite
gather the courage, that patrio
tism, sir, is the last refuge of
scoundrels!
(Rajdeep Sardesai is an author

and a senior journalist. The views
expressed are personal and
appeared in the Hindustan Times)
Nitish, Lalu campaign but not contest Bihar polls

By Imran Khan
ihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar,

RJD chief Lalu Prasad and BJP leader
Sushil Kumar Modi have one thing in
common they are all star campaigners
who are not contesting these staggered
Bihar elections.
Star campaigners of BJPled National
Democratic Alliance (NDA) as well as the
Grand Alliance of the ruling JDU, RJD and
Congress are not in fray in the assembly
polls, which have turned into a major pop
ularity test.
Nitish Kumar, Lalu Prasad, his wife and
former chief minister Rabri Devi, senior
BJP leader and deputy chief minister
Sushil Kumar Modi are working hard to
woo voters during the ongoing campaign
and they are not contesting the polls.
There is only one exception.
Former chief minister and Hindustani
Awam Morcha president Jitan Ram
Manjhi, who is contesting from two assem
bly constituencies Makhdumpur in
Jehananad and Imamganj in Gaya districts,
where polls were held on Friday in the sec
ond phase of five phased Bihar assembly
polls.
Manjhi's HAM is partner of the BJPled
NDA but he has repeatedly expressed his
eagerness to again become the chief minis
ter.
BJP leaders have repeatedly said the
name of the chief ministerial candidate

would be decided after the polls if the NDA
wins twothirds majority.
Interestingly, both Nitish and Lalu are
leading the campaign of the grand alliance.
Similarly Sushil Modi, who is locally
known as 'Sumo', is leading the BJP led
NDA campaign and regarded as one of the
main contenders for the chief minister's
post, if the NDA wins the polls.
The grand alliance has declared Nitish
Kumar as its chief ministerial candidate for
the state assembly polls and he would take
the top post again if the grand alliance
wins.
Taking a swipe at BJPled NDA alliance
for not declaring any chief ministerial can
didate ahead of the state assembly polls,
Lalu Prasad earlier this month said: "We
(the grand alliance) have dulha (bride
groom) Nitish Kumar. But BJPled NDA has
no dulha."
Though Rabri Devi is not in the fray, she
is busy campaigning for her two sons Tej
Pratap Yadav and Tejaswi Yadav, who are
contesting from Mahua and Raghopur
assembly constituencies.
"Rabri is working hard by knocking the
doors of villagers and visiting as many vil
lages as possible in these two assembly
seats for the sake of her sons, who are fac
ing a tough political battle," an RJD leader
said.
JDU spokesperson Nawal Sharma said
Nitish Kumar is the face of the grand

alliance in all 243 constituencies.
According to JDU leaders, Nitish Kumar
has not contested elections since 2004.
The last time Nitish contested polls were
the Lok Sabha elections from Nalanda in
2004.
However, since the 2005 assembly elec
tions, Nitish has
Bihar Chief
Minister
Nitish
Kumar
not contested any election but has entered

the state assembly through the Upper
House by becoming Member of Legislative
Council.
Sushil Kumar Modi has also not contest
ed any elections since 2005. He is a legis
lator of the Bihar Legislative Council.
Lalu is not contesting the polls after he
was convicted in the multicrore fod
der scam and debarred from con
testing elections by the apex
court.
State Congress president
Ashok Choud hary, BJP
state president Mangal
Pandey and JDU state
president are also not in
the fray this time.
The views expressed in Op Eds are not necessarily those of The South Asian Times.
October 24-30, 2015
14
October 24-30, 2015
OP-ED
At 70, UN sets 17 goals: To be

achieved in under 17 years
By Rajendra Shende
ust imagine that when you

enter 71, you dare an adventure
by declaring your resolve to
achieve 17 new goals by the time
you turn 85. You do not just pro
claim this but also show an extraor
dinary determination by providing
169 quantifiable targets for these
goals to prove that you mean busi
ness.
Further, you venture into great
festivity by displaying those 17
goals by illuminating your own
huge building on the banks of the
Hudson River in New York. You do
not stop at that. You invite all your
highlevel friends to demonstrate
your strong will and garner their
support to achieve these social and
environmental goals. The global
community is provoked to acclaim
your resolve.
Sounds strange? Not for the
United Nations, which did exactly
that on the occasion of its 70th
anniversary. The 193member UN
General Assembly on September 25
formally adopted 17 bold new glob
al goals as part of a transformative,
universal and integrated visionary
framework on 2030Agenda for
Sustainable Development.
This comes at the time when the
world is grappling with earthshak
ing terrorism, lifethreatening cli
mate change, sickening corporate
corruption, unprecedented inequali
ty and global slowdown of major
economies. Aimed to end the pover
ty and hunger amidst such atmos
phere is like an old man resolving to
scale a Himalayan summit even
when glaciers around are melting,
treacherous winds are blowing
across, visibility is extremely poor
In commemoration of the United Nations 70th anniversary and

anticipated adoption of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda,
massivescale projections of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) illuminated the north faade of the Secretariat building and
west faade of the General Assembly building at UN Headquarters in
New York on September 22, 2015.
and, above all, the lifeline
resources are dwindling.
T hese
bold
Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) are built
on its earlier eight historic
Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) and its 18 targets formulat
ed way back in 2000 and slated for
the finish line in 2015. For the first
time, since its inception, the UN had
engaged headon to link poverty
reduction and development impera
tives as sine qua non of peacemak
ing.
For the last three years, beginning
with the Rio+20 meeting in 2012,
the process of formulating the SDGs
as the followup to MDGs spread
across the continents and engaged
a broad crosssection of civil socie
ty.
However, acerbity and cynicism
were expressed in abundance by
the elite media. Many, particularly
from the deve loped countries,
reported on the SDGs with extreme
sarcasm and even decrying the
whole exercise as one of the usual

UN jamborees. Some even called
them "Stupid Development Goals",
others "Sense less, Dreamy and
Garbled Goals".
The SDGs and their formulation
process cannot be referred to the
jury without looking at the report
card of the MDGs and the handson
and concrete experience that the
global community gained over the
last 15 years. It is largely true that
awareness about MDGs never
reached the poor and hungry for
whom they were designed. They
remained unknown to women and
children for whose empowerment,
mortalityreduction and health
improvement they were targeted.
However, by any standard, MDGs
can be termed as mixed success
across the globe. The report card in
2015 reveals that the number of
people living in extreme poverty
declined by more than half, from
1.9 billion in 1990 to 836 million in
2015; the number of outofprimary
school children fell by almost half,

to 57 million in 2015, from 100
million in 2000 and gender parity
in primary schools has been
achieved in the majority of coun
tries. Over 6.2 million malaria
deaths and 37 million tuberculosis
deaths have been averted between
2000 and 2015; 147 countries have
met the MDG drinking water target,
95 countries have met the sanita
tion target and 77 countries have
met both.
Economists and development spe
cialists sneering at the UN attribute
reaching the MDG targets mainly to
the progress in emerging countries
like China and India. UN watchers
also criticize, rightly so, the whole
process of formulating the MDGs,
which, according to them, are by a
few consultants of the world body.
The MDGs did have their weakness
es; the SDGs have taken note of the
lessons learned over 15 years and
strengthened the resolve for the
post2015 agenda. T he MDGs,
though simple and straightforward,
were not really mainstreamed in the
national policy and budget docu
ments per se, but their intents were.
The MDGs were not legally bind
ing. They were meant only for the
developing countries and relied on
financial and technological assis
tance from developed countries. For
nearly half of their duration, the
developed countries buckled under
their own economic and growth cri
sis. In this context, the positive out
comes of MDGs stand out even
more distinctly.
The UN is a unique movement of
multilateralism and is also a cam
paign for global peace and well
being of the people and the planet.
The MDGs and SDGs are not just
about poverty, hunger, disease,

unmet schooling, gender inequality
and environmental degradation as
such. The SDGs represent the semi
nal movement that recognizes that
g lobal peace would be a mere
dream without sustainable develop
ment, responsible business and
social inclusion. They are, therefore
an innate part of the historic, world
wide and unprecedented mobiliza
tion to address a set of important
economic, environmental and social
primacies.
The SDGs apply to all countries,
developed and developing, and her
ald an era of global partnership.
Their apparent unwieldy number of
goals and targets are needed to
cover overlooked but now critical
challenges like energy to com
plete the sustainable development
agenda. T he trillions of dollars
needed to complete the SDGs are
not tied yet, but that has not
deterred the world leaders in their
unanimous launch.
The MDGs squandered the oppor
tunity of mass awakening on the
goals and targets, particularly
among the schools and universities.
They hardly percolated down to the
bottom of the pyramid. It would be
gross amiss if the youth of today,
who will be managing the future,
are not engaged early on in SDGs.
The UN needs the due engagement
of young operators to drive the
transformation with 21st century
technologies towards a peaceful
world without overshooting plane
tary boundaries.
(The author, Rajendra Shende, is
an IITalumni, chairman of the
TERRE Policy Centre and a former
UNEP director. The views expressed
are personal.)
India calls for transparency and choice in electing UN SecretaryGeneral

United Nations: India has called for dras
tic reforms in the election of the secre
tarygeneral to introduce transparency
and choice in the process of picking a
successor to Ban Kimoon next year and
said it should not be a prerogative of the
five permanent members of the Security
Council. India's delegate Bhartruhari
Mahtab told the Security Council recent
ly that the secret straw polls in the
Council should be done away with and
discussions should be held in open ses
sions with the secretarygeneral provid
ing a summary of the proceedings.
Moreover, the Security Council should
recommend a slate of two or more candi
dates on whom the General Assembly
can vote, he said.
The UN Charter only says that the sec
retarygeneral should be appointed by
the General Assembly on the recommen
dation of the Security Council. A 1946

General Assembly resolution added a
provision that only one candidate should
be recommended and a debate should be
avoided. T his has morphed into an
arcane process in which the Security
Council members vote on candidate with
colorcoded ballots one color for per
manent members and another for the
others. A ballot in the color of the perma
nent members automatically results in a
veto of a candidate while it won't be
known who cast the veto.
The candidate who gets a majority
with the colorcoded ballots of all the five
permanent members is recommended to
the General Assembly and its vote to
approve the candidate is a given.
To make the election transparent, "an
important step would also be to do away
with secret straw polls using dif ferent
colored slips that allow the P5 (five per

manent members) to exercise the veto
without even taking ownership of it",
Mahtab said.
Mahtab appealed to the nonperma
nent members of the Security Council to
push for changes in the way the secre
tarygeneral is elected.
Under the system of rotating the presi
dency of the Security Council, except for
three months next year, the nonperma
nent will preside over the Security
Council next year and it will be for them
to decide on whether the selection of the
secretarygeneral will remain the sole
preserve of the P5 or not, he said.
Mahtab, a Biju Janata Dal member of
the Lok Sabha representing Cuttack in A successor to Ban Kimoon has to be picked next year.
In 2006, Shashi Tharoor, then UN Under Secretary
Orissa, is one of the five members of par
liament who are currently in India's UN General, nominated by India, came close to wresting the
top UN post but lost to Ban.
delegation.
The views expressed in Op Eds are not necessarily those of The South Asian Times.
October 24-30, 2015
16
October 24-30, 2015
ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD
The actor was felicitated at the

opening day of Confederation of
Indian Industry summit.
Actors don't think

about genres:
Ajay Devgn
ollywood actor Ajay Devgn said as
an actor, he does not pay attention
to the type of film he does and
likes to switch from one genre to anoth
er. "When you are an actor you do not
think about genres... When you are
doing comedy you do think, Oh I wish I
was doing a serious film as it takes less
energy. Comedy needs a lot of energy
and timing. When you are doing action
you feel tiring. I like to switch and do dif
ferent things, Ajay said at a press ses
sion after being felicitated at the CII Big
Picture Summit 2015 for his contribu
tion to the Indian cinema. "Ive been very
lucky. If Ive tried a comedy it has
worked. Or if I tried drama or a serious
film, they too have worked. So people
feel are more comfortable coming to me
for doing such films, which a lot of peo
ple try and if it doesnt work they get
scared, the 46yearold added. Ajay,
who has been a part of Bollywood for
over two decades, was felicitated at the
opening day of Confederation of Indian
Industry CII) summit by Sudhanshu Vats,
chairman, CII National Committee on
Media and Entertainment and Group
CEO, Viacom 18 Media Pvt. Ltd.
The film starring Deepika Padukone is scheduled to release on December 18.
'Bajirao Mastani' toughest

film of my career: Deepika
eepika Padukone has stepped into
period drama genre with Bajirao
Mastani, but Sanjay Leela Bhansali's
historical love saga is turning out to be an
arduous task for the actress. She says the
film is physically, mentally and emotional
ly draining.
The film is definitely the toughest of my
career. The film has been extremely drain
ing, be it physically, mentally or emotional
ly. The nature of the movie and the director
is very demanding, Deepika said at the
film's song launch here.
The track titled "Deewani Mastani" was

launched at Day One of Blenders Pride
Fashion Tour 2015.
The actress has teamed up with Bhansali
for the second time Goliyon Ki Rasleela
RamLeela was the first.
Bajirao Mastani narrates the love story
of Maratha Peshwa Bajirao I (played by
Ranveer Sing h) and his second w ife
Mastani (Deepika). Actress Priyanka
Chopra plays Bajirao's first wife Kashibai.
T he film is scheduled to re lease on
December 18.
ecently, reports claimed that Farhan
Akhtar and Shah Rukh Khan are
keen to start work on the third
instalment of the Don franchise.
Speculations were rife that Priyanka
Chopra, who played the female lead in
Don (2006) and Don 2 (2011), might not
be a part of Don 3.
Refuting the rumors, Ritesh
Sidhwani, who coproduced
the film w ith Farhan,
announced that Priyanka
will be part of the proj
ect. Much speculation
on #Don3 & its Casting.
No thoughts of changing
its cast ing.. Working
towards deve loping the
script. Will keep u posted.
Luv (sic), he tweeted.
Priyanka, who has been busy
shuttling between the US
and India to
shoot for her
international
TV show and
Sanjay Leela
Bhansalis
Bajirao
Mastani
respective
Salman
not
engaged
to Lulia
Vantur:
Arpita
Salmans marriage has been a hot topic of
discussion in Bollywood.
here have been reports of
Bollywoo d superstar Salman
Khans secret eng agement to
Romanian TV personality Lulia Vantur.
Putting all the rumors and reports to
rest, Salman Khans younger sister
Arpita Khan Sharma took to Twitter and
dismissed the reports of her brothers
reported engagement. The reports also
suggested that Salman Khan and Lulia

were going to get married early next
year.
Arpita Khan, who is pregnant with her
first child, asked fans of her brother to
not believe these reports and she tweet
ed: Do not believe everything you read
in the papers or on dif ferent websites
online.
For Deepika, the push by the director

helps an actor push the envelope and get
better in the craft.
He (Bhansali) is never happy with what
he sees. He is very clear about what he
wants from his actors and team. So, he
pushes you and helps you discover some
thing within yourself that you didnt know
existed, the actress said.
He is a hard task master. You learn so
much about yourself. It has been the most
difficult experience, but in the end you feel
it is worth it, she added.
ly, is
Priyanka will be
part of Don 3,
confirms
producer
apparently
excited to be in Farhans
film. She is looking for
ward to the next instal
ment. The makers will
meet her once the script
is lo cked to take
things forward,
says a source.
Priyanka
Chopra has
her hands
full with
Bajirao
Mastani
and her
American
show
Quantico
ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD
October 24-30, 2015
17
Neha Dhupia doesn't

propagate 'size zero'
ormer beauty queen Neha Dhupia
says she's not "that kind of a per
son" who propagates size zero.
Neha, now an actress, will soon be
seen anchoring and cojudging the
Kingfisher Supermodels 3 show. She
will also be mentoring 10 supermod
els who would battle it out through 20
episodes of tasks and challenges.
Asked if size zero is still a major
issue?
No matter how I answer it, it will
sound like I am propagating size zero
and that is not true. I am not that kind
of person at all. The only thing I am
propagating is when your professional
requirement is that you have to have a
certain body type, you need to have
that body type, Neha said.
When it comes to being a model,
you have to look good in clothes that
the designers give you. It isn't that the
clothes should wear you. Designers
look at models who can carry off their
clothes, she added.
The bold actress will be

anchoring the Kingfisher
Supermodels 3 show.
Now, Salman Khan will

launch Suniel Shettys son
e is the godfather of many
newcomers. The Bhai of
Bollywood, Salman Khan is
responsible for many star kids
careers in the film industry. After
launching Suniel Shettys daughter
Athiya in Bollywood, Khan is now
gearing up to launch the Hera
Pheri actors son Aahan.
With the remake version of
Hero Salman introduced Athiya
and Sooraj, son of actor Aditya
Pancholi to Hindi audience.
He (Salman) has plans to launch
him. There is time, it will take two
three years. Aahan is getting
groomed. He is doing all that is
required for him to do dance, act
ing and other things as an actor.
At present Ahaan is
He is learning a lot of things by
travelling across the world, said
fine-tuning various
Suniel Shetty.
nuances of acting.
Salman is known to be a godfa
ther to budding talent in the industry. In the past he had launched
Shatrughan Sinhas daughter Sonakshi with Dabangg.
REVIEW
Mira not
doing any
film,
says Shahid
Kapoor
Shahid
Kapoor
with
wife Mira
Rajput
ira Rajput is in news since the news of her marriage with
Shahid Kapoor broke out. There were rumors that she
will also be doing lms, but now Shahid Kapoor has
laughed off reports about wife Miras acting debut. No. She is
chilling with her family right now, said the Haider star, when
asked if there is any truth to the speculation.
The actor, who will be next seen in Vikas Bahls Shaandaar,
has lately been quite open about his personal life, a departure
from the secrecy he maintained before marriage.
Shahid said he is speaking about Mira and their marriage now
because he feels the need to clarify a few things. I am only
speaking because I feel there is a time in my life right now where
I need to clarify certain things as something huge has happened
in my life, which is marriage. It is not something I will continue
doing consistently, he said.
The R... Rajkumar actor thinks it is important to draw the line
because people will always want to know about a stars personal
life, which at times gets intrusive. I think it is important to nd
that healthy balance because the tendency for people is to want
ing to know more than they need to or they should or that I am
comfortable with.
Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2':

Packed with punch
ust like "Tanu Weds Manu Returns" created an
impact like the original, "Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2"
is an equally scaled up romcom, constructed on
the same template of its earlier 2011 edition, except
that it has more punch and flavour this time.
T he three De lhibased friends Karan T hakur,
Siddharth and Anshu aka Gogo are once again looking
out for true love.
Siddharth meets Supriya in Meerut when he goes for
a family wedding, Gogo meets Ruchika Khanna at a
pub when she is partying with her friends and Thakur
meets Kusum at the gym.
Soon the girlfriends take over the lives of their men
with their characteristic traits. Supriya with her con
stant pouting, "Tu mujhe trust karta hai na?" Similarly,
Kusum with her, "I don't agree, nonnegotiable... I hate
taking favours from others". And the flighty Ruchika,
paying more attention to her phone and her friends
than to Anshul, making him cringe. "Pyaar Ka
Punchnama 2" is their predictable journey. But what
Every character
in the film is
distinct, well
etched, and
painstakingly
crafted.
elevates this excursion, is writerdirector Ranjan's bril

liantly taut and racy script, which is cowritten by
Rahul Mody and Tarun Jain. They give a fresh perspec
tive to the same issues tackled in the earlier film. The
dialogues are replete with wittily drafted rhetoric one
liners and the highlight is Anshul's breathless mono
logue that lasts for more than four minutes.
The often bleeped cuss words in the dialogues,
enforced by the Central Board of Film Certification,
mar the viewing experience.
Though the script is formulaic and predictable in
structure, the theme and the plot of the tale is nearly
the same, nothing much has changed except for the
visual presentation and the subplots. Here the visuals
are more glossy with an added tinge of skinshow and
noteworthy performances. Every character is distinct,
well etched and painstakingly crafted. The trio's
demeanor initially seems a bit lewd and crass, but
gradually as the narration progresses, they grow on
you and you accept them with their frailties.
October 24-30, 2015
COMMUNITY
October 24-30, 2015
19
#FeedingDreamers Akshaya Patra ties with

Google to end childhood hunger in India
T
he Akshaya Patra Foundation, one of
the largest nonprofit organizations
globally has set itself a goal of provid
ing daily, midday meals to 5 million impov
erished children in India by 2020. A simple
meal serves as an incentive for parents to
send their children to school instead of
paving their path to become child laborers.
To raise awareness for this cause with
increasingly onlinesavvy Indians young
and old Goog les Brand Marketing
Evangelist, Aprajita Jain, has designed a new
global video campaign, #FeedingDreamers,
for Akshaya Patra in partnership with
indi.com.
The campaign took recently in Los Angeles
amongst persuasive speeches of the CEO of
Akshaya Patra USA, Emily Rosenbaum, LA
advisory board member Vandana Tilak and
Aprajita Jain, who with the help of one of
her engineer colleagues at Google developed
this idea in May. Aprajita was introduced to
the organization in 2009, when her father
took her on a tour of an Akshaya Patra
kitchen facility in Jaipur while on a family
vacation to India. Ever since she has been a
supporter of this cause.
Recently she felt that more than contribut
ing money contributing her skills will hope
fully have an even larger impact on helping
these children fulfill their dreams of a better
life.
T hats
how
the
idea
of
#FeedingDreamers took birth.

Aprajita believes that crowd sourcing will
not only encourage the dreamer within our
selves but also help jumpstart the unreal
ized but full of potential dreams of impover
ished children in India. Her aim was to cre
ate a quick awareness building mechanism
that would put the spotlight on Akshaya
Patras mission and help move the hearts
and minds of donors by using the power of
sight, sound and motion.
Jain mesmerized the audience by compar
ing the hunger we experience during fasting
to these childrens fasting without choice.
When we fast, said Jain, we always keep
thinking about what we are going to eat
when we break our fast. There are millions
of children who also fast, but it is without
choice, and these children do not know
where their next meal is coming from. Her
closing statement and ask to simply sacrifice
three cups of Starbucks coffee a year to feed
a child for an entire year (yes, it only takes
$15/year to feed a child in India!) and the
difference that can make to a child and their
family left many thinking about the daily
choices they make.
#FeedingDreamers is a social media video
campaign in which everyone can easily par
ticipate. Just pull out your cellphone or
tablet, create a short message on video and
uploaded it to any social media (Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram, etc.) with the hashtag,

explained Jain.
I would like you to share your experience
with hunger and how you are going to sup
port hungry children to help them fulfill
their dreams, she said, adding that it can be
via a pledge, personal or monetary. Googles
technology will then aggregate the
#FeedingDreamers videos from across the
internet and indi.com will host them on their
site, where videos with the highest vote will
be entered in a contest, Jain explained.
Hunger is one of the main contributors to
low school attendance in poor Indian neigh
borhoods. India has about 60 million child
laborers and a dropout rate in schools of
about 40 percent because parents would
rather send their kids to work to earn to buy
food. Akshaya Patra runs 22 kitchens in vari
ous states of India, currently serving 1.4 mil
lion daily meals helping increase school
enrollment rates and reducing dropout rates.
Despite subsidies by the Government of
India with an estimated need of $1.5 million
per year for every 100,000 meals, Akshaya
Patras need for donor contribution is
increasing. You can contribute to this cause
by pledging your monetary or personal sup
port in a short video, sharing it on social
media with the hashtag #FeedingDreamers
and/or donating funds to feed children at
foodforeducation.org/donate.
Aprajita Jain (right), Googles Brand

Marketing Evangelist, has designed the
global video campaign,
#FeedingDreamers for Akshaya Patra
in partnership with indi.com.
South Asian Golf Association enters 2nd decade of golf excellence
Anish Joshi Memorial Trophy winner Nishith Shah (2nd from left) receiving the trophy from defending champion Richie Bhojani. (and right) SAGA Junior Winners
he South Asian Golf Association

(www.sagagolf.com) celebrated its
entry into the second decade of golfing
excellence with growing fervor among the
members, climaxing in a grand finale on
October 11 at the gorgeous and challenging
Green Acres Country Club golf course,
Lawrenceville, NJ, by crowning its SAGA
Tour Champions and SAGA Open winners.
Fun filled activities started with the SAGA
OPEN round followed by putting contest for
spouses/kids, cocktails, magic show, dinner,
award ceremonies, music and dancing. All
the participants raved about the day of fun
which was enjoyed by the families and
friends too. The SAGA Open winners includ
ed Avinash Rawoot for low gross, Ankit Patel

for low net. Winning team included Shyam
Jagirdar, Amar Reddy, Romil Bhagat and
Rajesh Saggi. Straightest drive awards went
to Vinit Mokal. Uday Kunte and Ankur Amin
won the closest to the pin contests and
Paresh Desai was the putting contest winner.
Neiha Kapoor, Symran Khurana, Nishaant
Shah won the ladies, girls and boys putting
contests respectively.
Junior track is firmly entrenched as a key
SAGA initiative which entered into a second
year. Junior track golfers participated in the
golf camp which was cohosted with The
First Tee and Royce Brook Golf Academy.
Parent/child golf outing was initiated as a
part of the ever expanding SAGA offerings.

Trophies and awards were handed out by
sponsors including UnitedHealthcare, NJ
Group Services, Optima Global Solutions,
Next Horizon Advisors and Mercedes Benz of
Princeton. Dr. and Mrs Anil Joshi donated
the tournament prizes including one week
vacation for the Anish Joshi Memorial
Trophy winner.
The SAGA Tour champions in all three divi
sions were determined after a contested sea
son. in In flight I, Rajesh Arora finished 1st,
Shyam Jagirdar finished 2nd and Vamshi
Vaddiraja finished 3rd. In Division II, Pavi
Malhotra finished 1st followed by Vinay
Bahuguna and Richard Bhojani. Nishith
Shah was winner in flight III followed by

Ankit Patel and Ashish Kapoor. Nishith Shah
also claimed the coveted Anish Joshi
Memorial Trophy, which is awarded to the
one of the flight winners who had most num
ber of stableford points during the SAGA
OPEN round.
SAGA was formed by Mahesh Yadav in
2005 and supported by board members
Vinay Bahuguna, Paresh Desai, Uday Patel,
Sanjay Seth and Pir Mohammed (honorary
board member). Reflecting on the day's
activities as well as the year's accomplish
ments, Mahesh Yadav, President, said this
was SAGA's best year ever and anticipated
even greater success in the years ahead.
20
October 24-30, 2015
DIASPORA
Indianorigin boy denied

lifesaving drug in UK
London: Six children, including a 6yearold Indianori
gin boy, have been denied lifesaving treatment from a
rare disease due to high costs by UK's statefunded
health service. Kirath Mann suf fers from Duchenne
muscular dystrophy (DMD), which affects one in 3,500
boys in Britain and leaves many in a wheelchair before
their 10th birthday.
His family, from Coventry in the West Midlands
region of England, joined forces with other families to
campaign to end delays to a breakthrough treatment
called Translarna but failed due to high expenses
involved. "We are devastated at having to face yet more
disappointment after another hurdle has been put in
our way. "All these organizations and National Health
Service (NHS) bodies that have been involved in the
decision do not seem to be appreciative that this is a
rare disease and very progressive one as well," Kirath's
mother Jaspal told 'The Coventry Telegraph.'
Kirath and five other boys with the condition even
wrote personal letters to British Prime Minister David
Cameron in June in a bid to get the drug that could
save their lives. "Hello Prime Minister, my name is
Kirath. I am six years old. My legs are poorly. Please
help me get the medicine I need," read the letter in his
Kiran Mann (Image: dailymail.co.uk)

childish scrawl. The National Institute for Health and
Care Excellence (NICE), which decides on commission
ing new drugs for the NHS, has decided that drug man
ufacturers PCT Therapeutics need to present more
information on the benefits of the drug to coincide with
the cost as Translana can cost up to 4,00,000 pounds
per patient a year. The drug also known as Ataluren
is the firstever to tackle the causes of DMD and was
approved in Europe in August last year and is available
in France, Spain, Germany, Italy and Denmark, but not
in the UK.
Dussehra celebrated
in Egypt in its
myriad traditions
Celebration in MBIS Ground Maadi

on Oct 16 (inset) Lighting of lamps
by Ambassador Bhattacharyya and
Mrs. Ranu Bhattacharyya.
(Photos: Mona Abdul Karem)
Cairo: The vibrant Indian com
munity in Eg ypt ce le brated
Dassehra on October 16. Over
600 persons attended the event,
including several who travelled
to Cairo from other cities like
Alexandria, Port Said and
Ismailia to join the celebrations.
The event was organized by
the
Indian
Community
Asso ciat ion of Eg ypt at the
g rounds of Maadi Brit ish
International School in Cairo.
Indian Ambassador Sanjay
Bhattacharyya conveyed Durga

Puja, Navratri and Dussehra
greetings to the Indian commu
nity. He congratulated them for
having retained their strong tra
ditions and for inculcating them
in the children, who were pres
ent in large numbers and attired
in colorful traditional costumes.
He also we lcomed the many
Egyptians who were present to
celebrate the beginning of the
festive season in India and share
the joyous mood.
Mahatma Gandhi's
scion faces trial in
South Africa
Johannesburg: A greatgrand
daughter of Mahatma Gandhi is
being tried in South Africa for
defrauding two businessmen of
$830,887, a media report said
on Tuesday.
Ashish Lata Ramgobin, 45,
appeared in the Durban
Magistrate's Court on Monday
and pleaded not guilty to the
charge. She was released on
$3,776 bail, Enews Channel
Africa quoted a police
spokesperson as say ing on
Tuesday.
The Hawks Durban Organized
Crime squad a directorate for
priority crime investigators
arrested Ramgobin on October
15 on charges of stealing
$830,887 from two Durban
based businessmen.
Ramgobin allegedly told the
businessmen that she had won
a tender to supply linen bed
ding to two hospitals in South
Africa and requested money
from them for clearing contain
ers that carried the bedding.
T he businessmen said the
tender story was bogus and one
of them complained to the
police accusing Ramgobin of
using the capital she received
for another purpose. W hile
there was only one charge
against her, the court heard,
the police are investigating the
second complaint, the report
said.
T he case w ill resume on
November 19.
Thousands flock to Diwali

celebrations in New Zealand
Wellington: Thousands of people
flocked to Auckland on Sunday to
get a firsthand experience of tradi
tionalcumcontemporary Indian
culture in a ce lebration of the
Diwali festival, a media report said.
The twoday celebrations con
cluded at the Queen St's Aotea
Square with a fireworks finale on
Sunday night and included events
like workshops, live dance, music,
puppet and theatre performances,
New Zealand Herald reported.
The event is the largest vegetari
an festival in the city and recorded
a footfall of 35,000 people last year.
T he event was organized by
Auckland Council's Tourism, Events
and Economic Development arm in
collaboration with the Asia New
Zealand Foundation.
The celebrations were spiced up
by the availability of traditional
food while arts and crafts and danc
ing gave an insight into the multi
hued Indian culture. The festival
had more than 60 food and craft
stalls the largest in the festival's
14year history. Many Indian per
formers, including Indian puppeteer
and master storyteller Mahipat
Mayor Len Brown and Mr. Sandeep Sood, Charge d'Affaires, with the
Mudra Creation Lavani dance troupe at Auckland Diwali Festival.
Kavi, and Mudra
Creation a Lavani
folk dance group from
Maharashtra,
per
formed at the event.
Other highlights
included a 'bhangra'
(Punjab folk dance)
Children performing at Auckland
performance by a
Diwali Festival
group of policemen
(and a woman). T he dance was Indiaborn Aucklandbased contem
coordinated by New Zealand's first porary artist, supervised the color
Indian female police of ficer ful, geometric 'rangoli' patterns at
Mandeep Kaur. Smita Upadhye, an the kids' rangoli workshops.
SUBCONTINENT
October 24-30, 2015
21
We have nweapons to ward off India's war threat: Pak

Washington: Pakistan has made
lowyie ld nuclear weapons to
bridge the gap for war that India
had created through its coldstart
doctrine, Foreign Secretary Aizaz
Chaudhry said on Tuesday.
This is the rst concrete expla
nation from a senior Pakistani
ofcial on how Islamabad plans to
deal with New Delhi's socalled
coldstart doctrine, now renamed
the proact ive strateg y, Dawn
reported.
It also is a rare confession of
Pakistan's decision to make tacti
cal nuclear weapons to deal with
the possible threat of an Indian
aggression.
Brieng the Pakistani media on
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs
visit to Washington, Chaudhry
said Pakistan would not sign any
nuclear deal with the US during
Sharif's visit.
Sharif arrives in Washington for
a meet ing w ith US President
Barack Obama, scheduled for
October 22.
Sharif to raise Kashmir with Obama
Pakistan has tested missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons, but

had never admitted it has produced the weapons.
Our nuclear program is one
dimensional: stopping Indian
aggression before it happens. It is
not for starting a war. It is for
deterrence, the foreign secretary
said.
Explaining Indias coldstart
doctrine, Chaudhry said under
this strategy India had already
moved its cantonments close to
Nepal govt forms team

for dialogue with
agitating Madhesis
Trucks stand stranded at Birganj, a town on the IndoNepal border.

Nepal is facing critical shortages of fuel and other supplies
following weeks of protests by Madhesi groups.
Kathmandu: The Nepal govern
ment has formed a team for hold
ing a dialogue with the agitating
Madhesi community, headed by
Deputy Prime Minister Kamal
Thapa who has just returned from
India after parleys with Indian
leaders, to end the current trans
port blockade over the new
Constitution.
The vemember government
team will hold talks with the agi
tating groups including the Joint
Democratic Madhesi Front.
Thapa, who is also the Foreign
Minister, returned home after a
threeday visit to India during
which he met Prime Minister
Narendra Modi, Home Minister
Rajnath Singh and External
Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.
He said that the Indian leaders
promised that fuel trucks lined up
at a border crossing would be
rerouted and more fuel would be
supplied through other border

points where there are no
protests, to ease the supply of fuel
to Nepal.
The talks team headed by Thapa
includes Law Minister Agni Kharel
from
CPNUML,
General
Administration Minister Rekha
Sharma from UCPN (Maoist) and
Minister without portfolio Ram
Janam Chaudhary from Madhesi
Janadhikar ForumLoktantrik.
T he fth member would be
included from the main opposi
tion Nepali Congress, according to
cabinet soures.
Newlyelected Prime Minister K
P Sharma Oli had formally invited
the disgruntled parties to come
forward for talks. In response to
his invitation, the Madhesi
Morcha said though they are
ready to sit for talks they could
not call off their agitation without
fulllment of their demands.
the Pakistani border. This allowed

India also to move its convention
al weapons close to Pakistan
along with other vehicles and fuel
supplies.
By drastically reducing the time
required to launch an aggression
against Pakistan, India had creat
ed a space for war, Chaudhry
said.
New Delhi: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will raise the Kashmir
issue with US President Barack Obama when he meets him, its envoy
told separatist Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq. "I
was told by the Pakistan High Commissioner that the Pakistan Prime
Minister would be raking up the Kashmir issue with Obama (on
October 22) during his visit to the US," said the Mirwaiz who had an
hourlong meeting with the envoy Abdul Basit in Delhi. This meeting
came about two months after his proposed interface with Pakistan's
National Security Adviser Sartaj Aziz was aborted as the Centre had
directed police to detain all separatists coming to Delhi for meeting Mr
Aziz. The NSA level talks were later called off by Pakistan.
He explained that Pakistans
lowy ie ld, tact ical nuclear
weapons would make it difcult
for India to launch a war against

Pakistan while remaining under
the nuclear threshold.
Taliban leader Torek Agha

designated as global terrorist by US
Washington: The US has desig
nated senior Taliban leader Torek
Agha as a global terrorist, who is
accused of funneling millions of
dollars from the Gulf countries to
Taliban cof fers and planning
assassination of Afghan govern
ment ofcials.
Agha has been slapped with
sanctions and designated as a
global terrorist for his role as a
key Taliban fundraiser and mem
ber of a Taliban leadership coun
cil responsible for facilitating
(Representational photo)
Torek Agha worked as a
prolific fundraiser.
external funding and military
operations in Afghanistan, the US
Department of Treasury said.

As a result of US action, any
property or interest in property
of the designated person subject
to US jurisdiction is frozen.
"Torek Agha, a longstanding
Taliban member, has been central
to spearheading brutal military
attacks and raising millions of
dollars to support the Taliban's
ruthless acts of terrorism," said
acting under secretary for terror
ism and nancial intelligence
Adam Szubin.
WAR CRIMES CLAIMS 'CREDIBLE':

LANKAN JUDGE
Colombo: Allegations that
line with a promise to the
Sri Lankan troops commit
UN Human Rights Council
ted war crimes are "credi
last month.
ble", a judge appointed by
A longawaited report from
the island's former presi
the United Nations human
dent has concluded in a
rights ofce last month laid
report presented to parlia
bare horric wartime atroci
ment, media reports said.
ties committed by both the
The ndings mark the
army and the separatist
rst time a domestic
Tamil Tiger rebels in the bit
inquiry has said there is
ter 37year war. "There are
evidence the army com
credible allegations which, if
mitted war crimes, and are
proved to the required stan
The war crimes investigation set up by former
all the more remarkable
dard, may show that some
president Mahinda Rajapaksa.
given that the report was
members of the armed
commissioned
by
Mahinda denied his troops committed war forces committed acts during the
Rajapaksa. Sri Lanka's former crimes.
nal phase of the war that amount
He ordered the inquiry in 2013 in ed to war crimes giving rise to indi
strongman leader oversaw the nal
push against Tamil Tiger rebels in a bid to deect mounting interna vidual criminal responsibility," said
2009 before losing power in tional censure, and the new govern the 178page report presented to
January, and has always ercely ment made the ndings public in parliament.
22
October 24-30, 2015
INTERNATIONAL
US, Russia set rules for

air safety over Syria
Liberals sweep Canada's

parliamentary elections
Washington:
T he
Pentagon said the US and
Russia signed a memo
randum of understanding
on safe ight operations
over Syria as they carry
out separate airstrikes
against militant groups
in the country.
"Senior ofcials from
the department of
defense and the Russian
ministry of de fense
signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU)
regarding measures to
The agreement aims to prevent midair mishaps over Syria.
minimize the risk of in
ig ht incidents between coalit ion and that would follow, added Cook. The two coun
Russian aircraft operating in Syrian air tries reached agreement on air safety in Syria
space," said Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook 10 days after US and Russian aircrafts came
at a brieng. According to Cook, specic safe within visual range of each other during a
ty protocols were established for air crews of mission. To avoid an inadvertent clash in
both sides to follow, including the use of spe Syrian airspace during their airstrikes
cic communication frequencies and the against the extremist group the Islamic State
establishment of a communication line on the (IS), the US and Russia started their latest
ground, news reports said. T he US and round of military contacts early this month
Russian militaries would also form a working after a long hiatus due to rivalry on the
group to discuss any implementation issues Ukraine crisis.
Ottawa: Canada voted

in its rst new leader
in 10 years, as a gen
eral election handed
Just in
Trudeau's
Liberal party an
absolute majority
and a stunning blow to
incumbent
Prime
Minister
Stephen
Harper.
The Liberals had col
lapsed to just 34 seats
and third place in the
Canadas new Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
2011 e lect ion. But
they were leading in almost 190 con view public service.
You can appeal to the better angels
stituencies, taking from both the New
Democratic Party (NDP) and Harper's of our natures, and you can win while
Conservatives party, the National Post doing it, he said.
We beat fear with hope, we beat
reported.
By 1.00 a.m. the Liberals were lead cynicism with hard work, we beat neg
ing in 184 districts, w ith the ative, divisive politics with a positive
Conservatives at 102, the NDP 41, the vision that brings Canadians together.
After three terms as prime minister,
Bloc Quebecois 10 and Greens one.
Trudeau, 46, son of late prime minis Harper, 56, indicated to his party that
ter Pierre Trudeau, stressed the power he would be stepping down as leader
of positive election campaigning and of the Conservatives, though remain
its potential to change how Canadians ing as an MP.
Death toll from Koppu storm

in Philippines rises to 39
Koppu was the 12th storm this year to batter the Philippines.
he death toll from a storm
that
battered
the
Philippines main island
over the weekend has climbed to
at least 39, ofcials said.
Tropical Storm Koppu, which
barreled ashore as a powerful
typhoon in the northeastern
Philippines before weakening,
forced more than 100,000 vil
lagers into emergency shelters
and destroyed rice elds ready
for harvest.
The storm blew away from the
main island of Luzon and was
over the Balintang Channel in the
countrys northern tip, with winds
of 55 kilometers (34 miles) per
hour near its center, according to
the governments weather
bureau.
At least 39 people were killed in
the storm, mostly due to drown
ing, landslides, fallen trees and
collapsed walls, said civilian
defense ofcials. Several people

were reported missing and more
than 500,000 were af fected by
Koppu, including 107,000 who
ed to evacuation centers.
We saw that there was lot of
rain that fell in the mountains.
There was a possibility of ash
oods so residents were evacuat
ed to safer grounds, Melchito
Castro of the regional ofce of
civil defense was quoted as say
ing in news reports.
An initial government estimate
showed damage to agriculture
and infrastructure amounted to at
least 5.3 billion pesos ($115 mil
lion). Koppu, Japanese for cup,
was the 12th storm this year to
batter the Philippines, one of the
worlds most disasterprone coun
tries. In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan
leveled entire towns in the central
Philippines, leaving more than
7,300 people dead or missing.
Egyptians vote to elect new

proSisi parliament
Cairo: Egyptians have voted in the
rst round of the longdelayed
elections to choose a new parlia
ment as President Abdel Fattah al
Sisi seeks to tighten his grip on
power over two years after he
ousted his Islamist predecessor.
The election consists of two
rounds of voting and results are
not expected to be known until
early December as 27,402,253
eligible voters choose 596 MPs
for the lower house, the House of
Representatives.
The rst stage of the parliamen
tary polls will see polling in four
teen Egyptian governorates
Giza, Alexandria, Beheira, Minya,
Suhag, Assuit, Qena, Fayyoum,
Beni Sueif, Aswan, Luxor, the Red
Sea, Mersa Matrouh and the New
Valley.
The 14 governorates have about
18,945 polling stations. Of the
596 seats, 448 have been
reserved for independents while
120 will be chosen from party
based lists.
President Sisi is authorized to
appoint 28 more members in the
onechamber assembly.
The voters began streaming into
the polling stations this morning
under heavy security vigil with at
least
180,000
policemen
deployed for the rst phase,
according to Interior Ministry
spokesperson Abu Bakr Abdel
Karim. He said the policemen
President Abdel Fattah alSisi currently holds legislative powers in Egypt.

would be joined by at least
185,000 military troops. Sisi had
urged all Egyptians to actively
participate in parliamentary elec
tions.
The President, in reference to
the ouster of the country's rst
freely elected leader Mohamed
Morsi in July, 2013, said people's
will which appeared in going to
the streets in millions is what
"dethroned injustice and fascism".
Sisi specially called on the
youth, women and expatriates to
cast their ballots.
T he parliamentary elections
started yesterday in 139 coun
tries with Egyptian expatriates
casting their votes.
At least 10 million Egyptians
are estimated to work abroad.
However, only 700,000 are regis
tered voters. A Foreign Ministry

ofcial said balloting will not be
held in Yemen, Libya, Syria and
the Central African Republic
(CAR) due to unrest there.
The elections will be monitored
by national and international
judges, media and delegates to
guarantee the integrity of the bal
loting process.
The second stage of the parlia
mentary
e lect ions,
from
November 2223, will see polling
in the remaining 13 governorates.
Egypt has been without a parlia
ment since the previous parlia
ment, elected in late 2011, was
dissolved in June 2012 after a
court ruled electoral laws in place
to be unconstitutional. President
Sisi currently holds legislative
powers.
October 24-30, 2015
BUSINESS
23
Canada's new PM urged to fasttrack free trade agreement with India

Toronto: Welcoming the incoming
Canadian prime minister Justin
Trudeau whose Liberal Party was
swept to power yesterday, major
IndoCanadian organizations have
urged him to fasttrack the long
pending free trade agreement with
India.
Ajit Someshawar, chairman of
the CanadaIndia Foundation (CIF),
urged Trudeau to make a state
visit to India as one of his foreign
policy priorities and conclude the
longpending Comprehensive
Economic Partnership Agreement
(CEPA)
and
the
Foreign
Investment Protection Agreement
(FIPA) between the Canada and
India.
Canada and India have agreed to
triple their trade to $15 billion,
Justin Trudeau with members of the IndoCanadian Foundation.

but the progress has been tardy
even as the visit by Modi the rst
by any Indian PM in 42 years

here in April and two trips to India
by his Canadian counterpart have

reinforced this pledge.
"The growth in bilateral trade
between the two countries has still
not reached its full potential and
even the modest goal of $15 bil
lion annually is still far away,'' said
the chairman of the CanadaIndia
Foundation which has honored
many great Indians such as former
President APJ Abdul Kalam, Ratan
Tata, Narayana Murthy and
Deepak Chopra with its annual CIF
Chanchlani Global Indian Award of
$50,000 since its inception in
2008.
Someshawar also urged the new
Canadian prime minister to rein
force the CanadaIndia Interpar
liamentary Friendship Group to
bring parliamentarians of the two
countries together.He also wel

comed the new Family Class
Reunication plan announced by
the incoming government as it will
help the 1.2millionstrong Indo
Canadian community to bring
their dependents into Canada
quickly. CanadaIndia Business
Council (CIBC) vicechairman Kam
Rathee also urged the new
Canadian prime minister to con
clude the longpending free trade
agreement with India on a priority
basis.
"The new prime minister should
also set in motion a process to
develop trade investment and
services so that nonprot associa
tions and organizations that pro
mote CanadaIndia business get
nancial support,'' added Rathee.
MasterCard may go for selfies

Nestle to resume Maggi
to authorize payments
production as soon as possible
New York: If you never felt

inclined towards taking
seles, you may have to
change your habit now.
MasterCard is mulling to
introduce a new technology
that allows shoppers to
authorize a payment with a
sele instead of a password
or signature.
MasterCard's president of enterprise
security solutions Ajay Bhalla was reported
as calling it the "next wave of technology
that will change the consumer experience
for shopping dig itally",

www.news.com.au
reported.
The new sele payment
technology will be imple
mented in MasterCard's
Identity Check app.
While the customer poses
for the sele, they will be
required to 'blink' to show
the facial recognition scan software that
they are a real person in order to prevent
criminals from exploiting the system by
simply holding up the person's picture.
Call drop penalty norms

fraught with glitches: Analysts
New Delhi: The Indian telecom watchdog's
decision to penalize mobile phone service
providers for call drops is fraught with
glitches as it ignores issues like technical
hurdles in assigning reasons, poor spectrum
policy and obstacles in rollout of towers,
analysts maintain.
On the face of it, Rs.1 penalty per call
drop, limited to a cap of three such
occurences per day, may not appear steep. A
subscriber could get a maximum of Rs.90
per month. But based on average revenues
per subscriber, which is Rs.180Rs.200 for
Idea and Bharti, it can prove quite a knock.
"There are also likely to be technical hur
dles in implementation. Based on our discus
sions with telcos, it isnt easy to determine
the cause of call drops," said a Nomura
report, adding this can be due to limitations

in both the originating network and termi
nating network.
Actions like removing phone batteries or
stepping into low coverage areas can also be
the causes.
"Anyone designing telecom networks will
know that ensuring nil call drops is near
impossible for commercial operators. There
are several external factors beyond the oper
ators' control that could inuence call
drops," said Credit Suisse, while also point
ing out some technical glitches. "The new
rules mandate that only originating network
is to compensate the originating subscriber.
It is not clear how the situation is handled if
the call drop occurs due to a problem with
the terminating network," it said.
Bengaluru: Without spelling out any spe

cic timeframe, Nestle India said the pro
duct ion of Magg i noo dles would be
resumed as soon as possible.
Sources, however, said the instant noo
dles would be available in the market
within four to ve months.
"Restarting the manufacturing process
and bringing Maggi noodles to the con
sumers requires alignment with several
stakeholders, including our suppliers, dis
tributors and retailers, among others,"
said Himangshu Manglik, senior corpo
rate media relations manager, Nestle
India.
"We are engaging with the relevant
authorities and other stakeholders to acti
vate the process for manufacturing Maggi
noodles at various locations which manu
facture Maggi noodles," added Manglik.
Reacting to Karnataka government

revoking the ban on Maggi noodles and
giving the nod to resumption of produc
tion of the instant noodles, Nestle India
said: "We appreciate the posit ive
approach of the state (Karnataka) and are
grateful to them for reviewing the test
reports from the three labs mandated by
the Bombay High Court and removing the
ban."
Manglik highlighted that Nestle con
ducted over 3,500 tests additional tests
on Maggi representing over 200 million
packs in Indian and international labora
tories which emerged clean.
Nestle also said all the 90 Maggi sam
ples covering six varieties tested by
Bombay High Court mandated laborato
ries contained lead below the permissible
limits.
24 October 24-30, 2015
SPORTS
Sehwag retires from international cricket, IPL

New Delhi: Putting an end to all
speculations about him, Indian
batting great Virender Sehwag
has announced his retirement
from all forms of international
cricket with immediate effect.
"T hanks everyone for all
your wishes and love. I hereby
retire from all forms of inter
national cricket and
from
the
Indian
Premier League (IPL)," Sehwag

announced on Twitter.
One of India's greatest open
ing batsmen, Sehwag on Monday
indicated that he will "soon"
retire. That "soon" came just a
day later when the dashing wil
lower turned 37.
"To paraphrase Mark Twain,
the report of my retirement yes
terday was exaggerated.
However, I have always done
what I felt was right and not
what conformists thought to be
right," the righthanded batsman
said in a statement.
"God has been kind and I
have done what I wanted
to do, on the eld and in
my life, and I had decided
sometime back that I will
retire on my 37th birth
day. So to day, as I
spend my day with my
family,
I
here by
announce my retire
ment from all forms
of international cricket and from

IPL." The Delhiborn will, howev
er, play in the Masters
Champions League (MCL), which
he launched in Dubai with other
stars like Brian Lara, Graeme
Smith, Michae l Vaughan a
tournament to be held early next
year for retired cricketers.
"Cricket has been my life and
continues to be so. Playing for
India was a memorable journey
and I tried to make it more
memorable for the Indian team
mates and the Indian cricket
fans. I believe I was reasonably
successful in doing so," said
Sehwag, who at t imes also
chipped in with offspin bowling.
Overall, he clinched 40 wickets
in Tests and fell four short of a
100 in onedayers.
The 'Nawab of Najafgarh' last
represented India in a Test
against Australia in March 2013
and his spot was subsequently
lled by the likes of Shikhar
In a career spanning over 15 years in

international cricket, Sehwag featured in 104
Tests and scored 8,586 runs at a staggering
average of 49.34.
India aim to
stay alive in
ODI series
Chennai: India was aiming to stay alive in the vematch
OneDay International (ODI) series when they take on
South Africa in the fourth match at the M.A.
Chidambaram Stadium here on Thursday.
Trailing 12, India's batting has been a cause for con
cern as they lost the rst and third matches. In the sec
ond match in Indore, where they won, a deant skipper
Mahendra Singh Dhoni's unbeaten 92 saved them from
the danger of being bowled out inside 200.
Dhoni may also face a test of a good batting combina
tion. The debate has not only been about his batting
position but also about his deputy, Virat Kohli's. In the
rst two ODIs, Ajinkya Rahane scored two fties batting
at No.3 but he failed at Rajkot, while Kohli, who was
struggling, scored a halfcentury after being promoted
to No.5. It's a conundrum that Dhoni has to solve as his
batting position has also been questioned primarily
due to India's failure in chasing down gettable totals.
Opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan and seasoned left
hander Suresh Raina have not delivered so far and pres
sure will increase on them if they don't pull up their
socks in Chennai.
While Dhawan has 73 runs against South Africa in the
past ve matches, including the two Twenty20
Internationals, Raina, a trusted limited overs batsman,
has scored just three runs in the ODI series.
On the bowling front, legspinner Amit Mishra's avail
ability is in doubt following a police case registered in
Bengaluru by a Mumbaibased lm producer against
the Haryana cricketer. His unavailablity will surely
unsettle India's slow bowling plans and could force
Dhoni to hand a debut to Gurkeerat Mann. Other slowe
bowlers will be Harbhajan Singh and younbg leftarmer
Axar Patel.
Dhawan and Murali Vijay follow

ing a string of low scores.
"I wish to thank my teammates
over the years, some of the
greatest players of the game. I
would like to thank all my cap
tains, who be lieved me and
backed me to the hilt. I also
thank our greatest partner, the
Indian cricket fans, for all the
love and support and memories.
I have also played against top
players in the world and it was
an absolute pleasure and honour
to do so," said Sehwag.
In a career spanning over 15
years in international cricket,
Sehwag featured in 104 Tests
and scored 8,586 runs at a stag
gering average of 49.34. In 251
OneDay Internationals (ODI), he
amassed 8,273 runs at an aver
age of 35.05. He also scored 38
international hundreds.
Sehwag also smashed his high
est ODI score in 2011 against
the West Indies at Indore, slam
ming 219 runs of f only 149
balls. This is the third highest
score in ODIs, after Rohit
Sharma (264) and Martin Guptil
(237 not out).
PAKISTAN CRICKET FRATERNITY

CONDEMNS SENA ATTACK
Lahore: T he cricket fraternity in
Pakistan slammed the Shiv Sena protest
against a proposed meeting between
Board of Control for Cricket in India
(BCCI) president Shashank Manohar and
PCB chief Shahryar Khan in Mumbai and
demanded action by the International
Cricket Council (ICC).
The two cricket ofcials were sched
uled to have a meeting at the BCCI's
headquarters, but a group of around 70
Shiv Sena protestors barged in and
forced the cancellation of the talks.
"Unfortunate ly, the trio of India,
England and Australia has created a
problem for cricket. If India wants a
respectful solution to this problem, they
should come to a third country and play
the series but cricket should not end
Shiv Sena protesting against

Pakistan in Delhi.
between both the countries," Express
News quoted former ace spinner Abdul
Qadir as saying.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chair
man Shahryar Khan was optimistic
despite the incident, saying that "I was
invited by Shashank here and the mind
set is that we have signed an agreement

and we should honour it".
Former PCB chairman Tauqir Zia
be lieved India wanted to isolate
Pakistan, even in cricket.
"There is nothing bad in having a dia
logue but we should stop pleading. The
Indian government wants to isolate
Pakistan as a country and they are not
agreeing to play cricket for the same
reason," said Tauqir Zia.
Meanwhile, ICC president Zaheer
Abbas was not happy to hear of the
developments either, but opined that the
world body would not be able to take
notice against such an incident. ICC
Chief Executive Ofcer Dave Richardson,
however, condemned the Shiv Sena
attack.
Saina, Kashyap, Jwala-Ashwini advance; Srikanth loses

Paris: Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal,
Parupalli Kashyap and the doubles pair
of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa
advanced but Kidambi Srikanth
crashed out in the rst round of the
$275,000 French Open Superseries
here.
World Championships 2015 silver
medallist Saina registered a 2118, 21
13 win over world No.15 Michelle Li of
Canada at the Stade Pierre de
Coubertin. The 25yearold world No.1
took 42 minutes to w in the rst

encounter between the two till date.
In the second round, top seeded
Saina will face world No.18 Minatsu
Mitani of Japan, who has defeated her
in their last two meetings at the
Japan Open and the Denmark Open.
Minatsu also defeated Saina in the nal
of the 2012 French Open. Men's sin
gles World No.8 Kashyap moved past
Belgian qualier Thomas Rouxel 21
11, 2220 in 41 minutes. In the second
round, 2014 Commonwealth Games

(CWG) champion Kashyap will meet
England's Rajiv Ouseph, who got past
Thai Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk 21
6, 2112. Kashyap leads 53 in the
headtohead record against World
No.22 Ouseph. Fifth seed Srikanth lost
to Chinese Tian Houwei 1521, 2113,
1121 in an hour and three minutes.
Now, Gunturborn Srikanth has suf
fered four defeats in as many games
against World No.10 Houwei.
LIFESTYLE
Taiwan world's fastest

ageing nation
this decade
Taipei: Taiwan has become the world's
fastest ageing country this decade, overtak
ing Japan, the US, Britain and other devel
oped nations, according to a report pub
lished on Monday by the Nat ional
Development Council (NDC).
With a total population of 23.4 million,
there are 2.86 million people aged 65 and
above, EFE news reported.
The council predicts this segment will
account for more than 14 percent of the
population in 2018 and 20 percent in
2025, making Taiwan an aged and a super
aged society.
An increase from seven percent to 14
percent in the proportion of retirees took
85 years in Sweden and 73 years in the US.
But in Taiwan, it will take only 25 years,
which underlines the nation's quick ageing
rate, the report said.
In 2019, the deathrate will be higher
With a total population of 23.4

million, there are 2.86 million
people aged 65 and above
than the birthrate and population will
begin to decrease and by 2060, for every
100 active people, there will be 96.9
dependents, 17.1 children and 79.9 elderly,
it added.
teens. In second place was Twitter

with 20 percent, and following
that was Snapchat with 19 per
cent," digitaltrends.com reported
on Sunday.
Selfie 'vending
machines' to enthrall
tourists in Japan
Tokyo: Of fering selfie lovers more reason to

cheer, a popular beverage company in Japan is
now rolling out vending machines that offer the
consumers an opportunity to take a hasslefree
selfie as they buy goods from the machine,
media reports said. Fitted with a large LCD dis
play and camera, the machine will allow con
sumers to take a free selfie which will then be
connected with Line, a hugely popular messag
ing app in Asia.
To help tourists in Japan take advantage of the
new feature, there will also be English, Chinese,
and Korean interface options in the machines,
Japan Trends reported. Vending machines are
immensely popular in Japan as they offer a wide
variety of products from food and drinks to
toys and used panties, the report said. While the
machines will allow consumers to take a selfie
with a variety of backgrounds at the time of buy
ing a drink, those who are not so enthusiastic
can avoid utilizing the feature.
25
Sudoku puzzles
gave this German
seizures
London: For some of us, solving Sudoku puz
zles can be a real headache but for a 25
yearold German man, his passion for
Sudoku led to frequent seizures.
The righthanded physical education stu
dent was buried by an avalanche during a
ski tour some years back.
For 15 minutes, he did not get sufficient
oxygen (called hypoxia) which irreversibly
damaged certain parts of his brain.
Owing to this, he developed involuntary
myoclonic jerking (brief, involuntary twitch
ing of muscles) of the mouth induced by
talking and of the legs by walking.
"He had to be resuscitated, but was
extremely lucky that he survived," said lead
author Berend Feddersen from the
University of Munich, Germany.
Weeks later during the rehabilitation
Instagram most popular

among US teenagers: Study
New York: Photosharing plat
form Instagram is the most popu
lar so cial media site among
teenagers in the US, reveals a new
survey. Facebook, which bought
Instagram in 2012, was fourth in
the popularity scale, showed the
results of the survey by Piper
Jaf fray, a leading investment
bank and asset management firm.
Instag ram was followed by
Twitter and Snapchat.
"Instagram was the most popu
lar social site for 33 percent of
October 24-30, 2015
In the survey that involved

9,400 teenagers from households
w ith an average income of
$68,000, just 15 percent of
teenagers called Facebook the
social network of choice.
Although Facebook may be the
largest and most popular social
network by sheer user numbers
across the globe, the results sug
gest that it has trouble engaging
teenagers as much as other social
sites that have unique things to
offer users, the report said.
Highfat diet can make

you depressed
London: A diet high in fat content can lead to anxiety
and depression by causing measurable changes in the
brain, researchers report.
Also, the beneficial ef fects of an antidepressant
were blunted in mice fed with a highfat diet.
When treating depression, there is no predictor of
treatment resistance. "So if we consider metabolic dis
orders as a treatment resistance predictor, this should
encourage psychiatrists to put in place a personalized
treatment with antidepressant drugs that do not fur
ther destabilize metabolism," explained Bruno Guiard,
senior author of the study appeared in the British
Journal of Pharmacology. On the other hand, taking
mice off a highfat diet completely reversed the ani
mals' metabolic impairments and lessened their anx
ious symptoms. "This finding reinforcing the idea that
the normalization of metabolic parameters may give a
better chance of achieving remission, particularly in
depressed patients with Type 2 diabetes," Guiard
added. The results set the tone for future investiga
tions on potential mechanisms that may link metabol
ic and psychiatric disorders.
when he was trying to solve Sudoku puzzles,

he developed clonic seizures (rapid contrac
tions of muscles) of the left arm.
Strangely, the seizures stopped when the
Sudoku puzzle was discontinued.
"In order to solve a Sudoku, the patient
used regions of his brain which are responsi
ble for visualspatial tasks. But exactly those
brain parts had been damaged in the acci
dent and then caused the seizures once they
were used," Feddersen explained.
The authors suggest that oxygen deficien
cy most likely caused some damage to the
brain. The patient stopped solving Sudoku
puzzles and has been seizurefree for more
than five years.
The case was detailed in a paper published
in JAMA Neurology, a Journal of the
American Medical Association.
Yoga improves
lung function in
patients with COPD
Pranayam, meditation and relaxation techniques

benefits COPD patients
New Delhi: Yoga exercises pro
vide improvements that are
just as ef fective as traditional
pulmonary rehabilitation meth
ods in improving lung function
of pat ients w ith chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease
(COPD), researchers from All
India Inst itute of Medical
Sciences (AIIMS) here have
found.
COPD is a progressive lung
disorder that makes it hard to
breathe.
The researchers found that
yoga can improve pulmonary
function, exercise capacity, and
indices of systemic inflamma
tion in patients with COPD.
"Yoga is a costeffective form
of rehabilitation and is as effec
tive as a standard PMR (pul
monary rehabilitation)," said
the study by Randeep Guleria

and colleagues from AIIMS.
For the study, 60 patients
w ith COPD were randomly
divided into two groups. One
group was taught yoga exercis
es including asanas, pranayam,
meditation and relaxation tech
niques. The other underwent a
structured pulmonary rehabili
tation program.
These groups were tested on
shortness of breath, serum
inflammation, and lung func
tion tests.
Results showed that yoga and
pulmonary rehabilitation exer
cises resulted in similar
improvements in pulmonary
function and quality of life
after 12 weeks of training.
The findings appeared in the
journal Chest.
26
October 24-30, 2015
FEATURES
Traditional Durga Puja transforming into urban festival

By Sahana Ghosh
Kolkata: With catchy themes and concepts
often reaching great artistic heights and
big corporate involvement adding to the
glitter, fun and fiesta, the contemporary
Durga puja in Kolkata has evolved from
what it was decades back.
It now embraces those on the margins,
and has truly become "glocal" with both
local and global elements but at the same
time the umbilical cord with heritage
remains intact.
Most of the 4,000 plus marquees in
Kolkata and its suburbs are a far cry from
the simpler 'bonedi bari' (traditional family
celebrations), 'barowari' (by communities
or groups of people) and 'sarbojanin' (for
all) pujas that began around 300 years ago.
They now reflect global affairs, serve as a
platform to engage artists from abroad and
strengthen diaspora links, provide an inter
face for politicos to propagate ideologies
all the while maintaining connect with
masses, be it offline or online.
"It is becoming inclusive with transgen
ders and sex workers getting to participate.
Thanks to the themes and increasing links
with diaspora via social media, it is global
in thought but local in action," eminent
Indologist Nrisingha Prasad Bhaduri said.
The most visible aspect of the puja is
undoubtedly the standout art and decor.
"It is getting better and better. Each mar
quee or idol is a piece of art. The social
structure has changed and the result is
pujas have become sophisticated," he said.
This year, some of the key themes include
IndiaBangladesh enclave swap, Nepal
earthquake and GM foods.
Such is the influence of the festival that,
according to author and specialist on the
art and cultural history of modern and con
Last year, 3D artist Tracy Lee Stum collaborated with local artists to put up a throwback
of 1960s Calcutta, prominently featuring matinee idol of old Uttam Kumar
and the ubiquitous yellow taxi.
temporary India, Tapati GuhaThakurta, the
"urban festival" has metamorphosed into a
"template" for all other festivals and has
"secularized" over the decades.
Allaying concerns about dilution of cul
ture, Bhaduri said there is nothing to worry
because the deity worship continues in the
same format, notwithstanding the variety
in celebrations.
"In fact, now there is a healthy amalgama
tion of Western ideas and Indian culture,"
Bhaduri said.
So when American artist Tracy Lee Stum,
known for her 3D street painting installa
tions, collaborated with artists from Bengal
last year to put up a throwback of 1960s

Kolkata (then Calcutta), it only strength
ened the cultural connect with youngsters
who were attracted to the vibrant art form.
T he street art had images of Uttam
Kumar, the iconic actor from the regional
film industry, and the omnipresent yellow
taxi of Kolkata streets an example of the
Indian cultural connect in the Western art,
Bhaduri noted.
"Plus there is the competition among
organizers for various categories of awards,
starting from decor to social work and pub
lic amenities," said Bhaduri.
Beneath the glamorous exterior, these
very pujas have become golden opportuni

ties for political parties to tap into potential
followers and test waters.
In the 1960s, the atheist communists
started setting up red book stalls at the
pandals as a public interface, and their
endeavor has gradually got more organ
ized. The Congress followed suit over the
years. West Bengal's ruling Trinamool
Congress now leads the stall count and
recently the BJP has taken the same route
to showcase publications that reflect its
ideology. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee
has been grabbing the spotlight as she
embarks on a pandal inauguration spree.
Durga puja is also a time to rake in some
moolah. This is the time when 'pujor gaan'
or songs for the pujas, used to be released.
Now, CD launches of songs, albums and
films are part of the roster.
Advertisements, electronic hoardings and
product samplings at discounts and as free
bies are a common sight as corporates chip
in to sponsor some major puja clubs and
organizations.
But some things remain unchanged.
For any Bengali family that has members
scattered across the globe, reunions at this
time of the year are a must. The 'addas' or
informal chat sessions, a hallmark of
Bengal's culture, which seem to be fading,
crop up during the puja days.
National Award winning actor Prosenjit
Chatterjee prefers long adda sessions at his
residence with friends, families and col
leagues and rarely goes out.
"The decorations, lightings, pandals, devi
idol all have changed so much and have
become so modernized. But, if you ask me I
still like the traditional pandals, traditional
Durga idols and the traditional ways of
of fering puja to the go d," the actor
told IANS.
A flight that takes you to kissing distance of Mount Everest

By Vishal Gulati
Kathmandu: If you are holidaying in Nepal
and want to enjoy sublime experience
above the snowy peaks, just fly up to the
majestic Mt. Everest. In less than 60 min
utes of the flight, you can fly close to the
world's hig hest peak in the central
Himalayas on the border of Tibet and
Nepal.
Travel agents here say private airlines
are operating daily mountain flights for
the tourists from Kathmandu. The best
time to see the snowcapped peaks of the
Himalayas from the sky is September to
December.
Buddha Air, Guna Airlines, Agni Air and
Yeti Airlines are among the private airlines
operating daily Everest flights.
For Indian and Nepalese passengers,
Buddha Air is charging a subsidized fare of
Rs.6,078 per passenger. For other nation
als the fare is $205 or Rs.13,272. It oper
ates 6 flights daily starting at 6.30 a.m.
from the domestic airport.
"What an awesome flight it is. Within
minutes it takes you above the mighty
Himalayas. It was a memorable, lifetime
experience," Robert Barnett, a British
tourist, said. Added his wife Nancy: "It

seems the entire Himalayas are just stand
ing tall in front of your window. Among all,
the encounter with Mt. Everest with white
candyfloss clouds is beyond description."
She said everyone would have the oppor
tunity to go into the cockpit, one at a time,
to get photos of the approaching Mt.
Everest, located at an altitude of 29,028
feet. In the 18seater or 24seater plane,
every passenger gets the window seat,
either left or right side.
The lure of the Himalayas attracts more
than 100,000 trekkers each year to this
Himalayan nation. Tour operator Deepak
Ghimire said the Everest flight is popular
among foreign visitors, especially Britons
and Chinese.
"If you are flying in from Bhutan, there is
a chance you might be able to see Mt.
Everest from the plane. But you don't get
as close as one can see on a mountain
flight. Moreover, the crew in the mountain
flight assists you in identifying the peaks,"
he said.
According to him, early morning flight
with the stronger rays of the sun gives you
clear visibility about the g low ing
Himalayas, ovalshaped, glacialfed lakes
The flight from Kathmandu lasts about an hour and costs about $200.
and glaciers.
For the Hindus, the GauriShankar peak
is religiously important as it's believed to
be the abode of Lord Shiva. At the end of
the spectacular journey, Buddha Air hands

over a certificate to the passengers with an
inscription: "I didn't climb Mt. Everest but
touched it with my heart"
October 24-30, 2015
28
October 24-30, 2015
HUMOR
Funny Side by Nury Vittachi
BRAINEATERS SHOW
EVOLUTION CONTINUING,
SCIENTISTS SAY
group of people who ATE
HUMAN BRAINS became
immune to several deadly dis
eases, proving that evolution is
continuing at high speed, scien
tists said.
T he astonishing report was
shown to me by a gourmet who
took offense to an article I wrote
about an East Turkestan restau
rant in Shanghai where the signa
ture dish this is not a joke was
Cold Raw Sheeps Brain.
I bet you feel stupid now, said
the gourmet, a 42yearold foodie
who did not want his name, weight
or waist measurement printed.
Brains are good for you.
***
At the time, I strongly advised
the restaurant manager to present

his menu only in French, so that
Cold Raw Sheeps Brain would
become: Froid brut cerveau de
mouton.
(Everythings better in French.
Google translates Inedible stuf f
that tastes like garbage into
Choses non comestibles qui gote
comme des ordures, which
sounds pretty good, right? Id
order that.)
***
But the restaurant guy totally
didnt get my point, replying that
if I thought it sounded horrible
and disgusting, I could have his
other specialty: Cold Raw Horses
Brain.
***
A workmate reading over my

shoulder put in her pennys
worth, saying: If brains are good
for you, this proves the zombies
were right all along.
I was about to tell her that
zombies only existed in bad
movies but stopped myself, not
wanting to trample on her deep
spiritual beliefs.
Anyway, since zombies only eat
brains, in the event of a zombie
apocalypse, she should be fine.
***
But I did look up the original
abovementioned science report
(in the journal Nature) and found
that what it said was that mem
bers of the braineating Fore
tribe in Papua New Guinea are
now immune to
mad cow dis
ease because
only those with
an immunity
mutation sur
vived.
In
other
words, some
tribe members
now cannot get
brain diseases,
which in health
terms is a Very Good Thing, while

the other members are stone
dead, which in health terms is
Less of a Good Thing.
***
In truth, the scientific discovery
is actually an excellent reason to
avoid eating ALL deadly foods
while act ive ly encourag ing
everyone else to do so, so that
only your genes survive. We
interrupt this column to remind
readers that burgers and fries
are delicious, mmmmmmmmm.
***
A scientist quoted in the report
said that the finding, because it
was about mutations leading to
survival, proved that human evo
lution was continuing at high
speed.
Amazing thought. If thats true,
it can only be a matter of time
before mothers have eight arms
and
teenage
g irls
have phones where their right
hands used to be.
***
One friend says that the

strongest argument against evo
lution is the continued existence
of the people who write com
ments under YouTube videos,
which is a pretty powerful point,
I admit.
Im thinking particularly of the
girl who wrote your stuped
under one of my videos.
***
W hen I was at school, my

brainy biology teacher explained
how we had all evolved from
apes, and then he looked at me,
and added:
Except for one or two of us
who clearly evolved from sloths,
and did not evolve very far.
***
I comforted myself with a nice

thought: Hes got more brains
than me so the zombies will eat
him first.
***
Laughter is the Best Medicine

BEST
RATE
FOR
INDIA
AND
PAKISTAN
New York Head Quarter
422S Broadway
HICKSVILLE
NY 11801
5168271010
by Mahendra Shah
Mahendra Shah is an architect by education, entrepreneur by profession, artist and humorist,
cartoonist and writer by hobby. He has been recording the plight of the
immigrant Indians for the past many years in his cartoons. Hailing from Gujarat,
he lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
ASTROLOGY
October 24-30, 2015
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
OCTOBER 2430 2015

ARIES: You have feelings for someone
and this week is the week to express
them. It will be a smooth run on the
professional front. Support for your ideas
that you had been seeking may not be
forthcoming immediately, but you will get it
in the end. A business trip can result in a
lucrative deal or partnership. Taking the
tips from a training expert will help you
achieve perfect health.
TAURUS: This is the time to let your
spirit soar. There will be something
to celebrate on the domestic front.
Chances of developing a soft corner for a
workplace colleague cannot be ruled out.
Your desire for something exotic can take
you overseas. A legal case or a property dis
pute can be settled in your favour. You will
be able to handle extra workload without
any outside help. You will maintain perfect
health.
GEMINI: There will be something to
cheer about on the romantic front.
Week is favourable for those wanting
to pop the question or tie the knot. Your no
nonsense attitude at work will be appreciat
ed. You will succeed in getting your money
back from a friend or associate. A lot of
time can be wasted on a home project. A
health product will suit your system well.
Mood remains upbeat the whole week.
CANCER: Some of you are likely to get

the nod for a promotion or perk. Dont
refuse a job opportunity that may not
seem lucrative initially. You will be able to
make good money in speculation. A touch of
creativity will help make the home environ
ment tranquil. Your eye for detail is likely to
impress all & add to your reputation. You may
need to put lover at ease over an issue.
LEO: Couples suf fering a complete
communication breakdown can con
template divorce. Chances of being
jilted by the one you love seem possible. Keep
your impulsive nature in check, especially
while driving. A controversy brewing up on
the domestic front can have you at its focus.
Students aiming for a particular institute will
require perseverance. Getting out of shape
can motivate you to take up a healthy activi
ty. Wanderlust can get the better of you.
VIRGO: Those looking for accommo
dation will find a suitable one.
Commuting problems are likely to be
solved soon. Keep health in mind before
indulging in something risky. It is a
favourable week to get a project underway.
Your endeavours on the professional front
may take some time to show results. An
of fice colleague may warm up to your
romantic overtures. Meditation will help you
in dissipating pent up frustrations within.
LIBRA: Homemakers are likely to

overstrain themselves in household
chores. You can be held accountable
at work for something you have not done. A
steady source of income will keep the finan
cial boat steady in rough waters. A missed
deadline can put you in a spot, but you will
wriggle out of it. Your spendthrift nature will
require curbing. Spending time together will
be immensely fulfilling for those in love.
SCORPIO: Bitterness over an issue
can overwhelm you at work. Young
couples can find differences growing
between them. Some of you can contem
plate joining hands with a competitor to
enhance profits. Those in the top corporate
positions will need to tackle the downturn
head on. Those worried about their health
can lay their fears to rest. You can be tempt
ed to undertake a long journey, which you
will enjoy.
SAGITTARIUS: Frequent breaks from
work are not recommended at this
juncture. A healthy diet and medita
tion is the need of the hour for some. Mall
and showroom owners can find an increase
in footfalls. Finances need attention, so
keep a check on spending. You may not be
able to take time out for the family this
week. Some of you are likely to enjoy
nature with a loved one.
CAPRICORN: You are likely to revive

old connections on both domestic
and professional fronts. Some of you
will finally be able to secure yourself finan
cially. This is the week to reap full benefits
of your investments. Light workout is rec
ommended for those going out of shape.
Efforts will be required to move things on
the romantic front. An opportunity to take a
break from a monotonous routine comes
your way.
AQUARIUS: Curb your vengeful
nature before it proves embarrass
ing. Family is likely to be disap
pointed by your performance. Whatever
you do, you will find it difficult to woo your
lover this week. A colleague in a fix may ask
for your help. Extending monetary assis
tance to those in need will raise your
stature as a do gooder. A home remedy will
come in handy for an ailment nagging some
for long.
PISCES: Opening the lines of commu
nications will help sort out personal
rivalries. You can be praised for your
contribution to a cause. Love is certainly in
the air and those seeking it will find it. You
will manage to hold the fort at work in the
absence of a senior. An enjoyable journey is
foreseen for some. This is the week for
some fun and frolic on the family front.
ANNUAL PREDICTIONS: FOR THOSE BORN IN THIS WEEK

24th October, 2015
Ruled planet: Venus Ruled by no: 6
Traits in you: Your ruling planet Venus makes opti
mistic, ambitious, caring, aspiring, and determined.
You are very social and love to make new friends
and get into new relationships. You are a huge fol
lower of intelligence and education.
Health this year: You need to focus on your health a
little more as you may fall sick frequently this year.
You should go for regular medical checkups to main
tain a healthy life. Your parents may fall sick
towards the end of the year and it will put you in
immense pressure.
Finance this year: Your innovative ideas to earn
money may not meet your expectations. However,
you need to keep trying until you succeed. You will
find it tough to make money this year. You may go
for investments in various sectors like shares, gold,
land and so on.
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 share a blissful roman
tic relationship with your spouse or partner. Your
marriage is on cards if you are yet to marry. You will
find your partner supportive enough in every cru
cial situation.
Lucky month: February, May and July.
25th October, 2015
Ruled planet: 7 Ruled by no: Neptune
Traits in you: By nature you are sober, courteous,
unique, honest and courageous as you are ruled by
the powerful planet Neptune. Your charming nature
attracts people towards you. You love to face chal
lenges and you fight them pretty well by executing
perfection. You need to check for your impatience,
rudeness, and frequent mood swings.
Health this year: You will enjoy a better health this
year as compared to last year. However, the health
of an aged family member may deteriorate and that
will make you bothered. You may end up spending
lot of money for the health issues of your family
members.
Finance this year: This year may bring you huge
financial benefits. You will enjoy the returns of your
investments. If you want to gain financial profits,
you have to work hard. You may invest in various
profitable businesses. However, you should not start
new partnerships or trust new friends.
Career this year: This year you will reach to the
peak of your professional career and it will of fer
you huge financial benefits. This year will be pretty
rewarding for female employees. You may get a bet
ter performance appraisal as well as salary hike as
compared to your expectations.
Romance this year: The emotional attachment with

your spouse or partner may blossom this year with
lot of love, care, and concern. If you are not married,
then you may go for a romantic relationship. You
will enjoy a very blissful time with your beloved.
Lucky month: July, August and December
26th October, 2015
Ruled planet: Saturn Ruled by no: 8
Traits in you: Your ruling planet Saturn makes you
humble, honest, focused, practical, realistic and
enthusiastic. You are blessed with enormous talent
and imagination. Along with the positive characters
in you, there are some negative aspects in your
nature. You need to work on your nature of being
envious, unreliable, and indiscipline.
Health this year: Though you would not face any
major health related issues, you should take extra
care of your health. Do not take unwanted risk of
putting your health in stake. Go for regular medical
checkups.
Finance this year: As far as your financial condition
is considered, you will enjoy a better status as com
pared to the last year. You will get enough benefits
from your previous investments. You may plan for
new investments. You may go for partnerships to
start new ventures. Domestic as well as overseas
ventures will be successful this year. You need to
create new contacts for the growth in your business
as it will earn you more projects and money.
Career this year: Professionally you will enjoy a
smooth life. You may get recognition in your profes
sional circuit as a result of your hard work and dedi
cation. Your promotion is on cards. You should take
help of your seniors to learn quickly and perform
exceptionally well as it would help you grow profes
sionally.
Romance this year: Your relationship with your
spouse or partner will blossom this year. If you are
not married, you may have to wait for few more
years though you are eligible for marriage.
Lucky month: January, May and October
27th October, 2015
Ruled planet: Mars Ruled by no: 9
Traits in you: Being ruled by Mars, you are aggres
sive, courageous, aspiring, focused, friendly, gener
ous, and honest. You lag behind others because you
lose many opportunities. You need to work on your
frequent mood swings and temperament.
Health this year: Health wise you will enjoy a great
time throughout the year. You may suffer few minor
health issues such as cold, headache or body aches.
You need to take proper medications to remain
physically and mentally fit.
Finance this year: As far as your financial condition
is considered, you will enjoy a better status as com
pared to the last year. You will get enough benefits
from your previous investments. You may plan for
new investments. You may go for partnerships to

start new ventures. Domestic as well as overseas
ventures will be successful this year. You need to
create new contacts for the growth in your business
as it will earn you more projects and money.
Career this year: You will be establishing yourself as
a very ef ficient and important resource in your
organization this year. Your performance will influ
ence your peers, seniors and higher management. It
is the best time to look out for a new job as it will
help you grow both professionally and financially.
Romance this year: Your plans to go for holidays
with your partner may not work because of huge
work pressure and this may create disturbance in
your marital life. You need to take care of the emo
tional requirements of your partner to lead a peace
ful life this year.
Lucky month: March, September and November.
28th October, 2015
Ruled planet: Sun Ruled by no: 1
Traits in you: Due to the positive effects of your rul
ing planet Sun, you will have the characteristics of a
good human being. By nature, you are accountable,
unique, courageous, committed, competitive, coordi
nated and intelligent. You should work on your neg
ative personality traits such as selfishness, depend
ency and pessimism.
Health this year: You need to take an 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 care
ful for your diet and nutrition to perform better in
your sporting events.
Finance this year: You may get benefits from your
investments later this year. This year seems to be an
ideal one to start investing in business, land or gold.
Your efforts to earn money may pay off this time.
You may go for new partnerships. However, you
should verify the financial background of your part
ner for your financial security.
Career this year: You may have to take few major
decisions in your profession. You can succeed if you
put some extra effort in your work and deliver qual
ity. You have to drive the team to put qualitative
effort.
Romance this year: If you are yet to be in a commit
ted relationship, you may get into one this year. If
you are already committed, then you may plan for
marriage towards the end of the year.
Lucky month: June, September and October.
29th October, 2015
Ruled planet: 2 Ruled by no: Moon
Traits in you: Your ruler, the Moon makes you a
very friendly individual. You are simple, confident,
realistic, sincere, and optimistic. You are very inno
vative and try to perform your work in a different
and efficient way. You need to work hard on your
characteristics of being jealous and insensitive at

times.
Health this year: You will enjoy a normal health this
year. However, you need to be in regular contact
with your doctor to remain healthy. If you face some
minor health issues, you should take prescribed
medication without neglecting.
Finance this year: You will be able to stabilize your
financial condition by reaping profits from your
past investments. You may also plan for new invest
ments this year. You will find enough new opportu
nities to start up a new business that would yield
money for you. You should invest in real estate or
stock market for better returns.
Career this year: You will be successful professional
ly this year. You will be additional responsibility and
you will well execute them to perfection. Your suc
cess may get you various awards and rewards as
well. You may share your ideas with the higher man
agement as it would help you grow quickly.
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: April, July and November.
30th October, 2015
Ruled planet: Jupiter Ruled by no: 3
Traits in you: As you are ruled by Jupiter, you are
ambitious, dignified, friendly, cheerful and highly
optimistic. You are a believer but you do not believe
anything without proper proof. People respect in
many ways as you are very social and friendly to
them. However, your arrogance blocks the way to
become a complete person.
Health this year: You may enjoy a great health this
year. However, that does not mean you will start
neglecting your health. You need to take care of
your diet and nutrition to maintain a good health.
You may practice some exercises to remain fit.
Finance this year: Monetary benefits will be tough
to achieve this year. You may not get expected finan
cial support from your family. Your past invest
ments will not work this year as expected. However,
you may go for new short term investments, which
will gain you enough money. If you are planning to
set up a business, it is advisable not to go for any
partnerships.
Career this year: Your confidence will convert you
into a winner. You will be capable enough to over
come any challenge you need to face. The chances of
your promotion and transfer are high due to the
organizational change.
Romance this year: Your romantic life will become
stagnant this year as you may not give enough time
to your beloved. If you are unmarried and planning
to marry this year, it may not happen because of the
negative movements of your stars and planets.
Lucky month: February, June and August.
30
October 24-30, 2015
SPIRITUAL AWARENESS
Jyoti Meditation Instructions:
AN INTRODUCTORY
MEDITATION TECHNIQUE
By Sant Rajinder Singh

Ji Maharaj
yoti Meditation (light medita

tion) is an introductory prac
t ice used in Science of
SpiritualitySawan Kirpal Ruhani
Mission that anyone of any age
can try on your own. T he full
meditation technique used in
Science of Spirituality, which leads
to inner experiences of spiritual
realms of light within, is called
Shabd Meditation or Surat Shabd
Yoga as is practiced by people all
over the world.
A good analogy to understand
the joy of meditation can be found
in the reports of those having a
neardeath experience, or NDE. In
such experiences, someone who
underwent a physical trauma or
accident may have undergone
clinical death. As doctors and
medical practitioners worked on
their body, the patients experi
enced floating above their body
and watching the procedure being
done on them. Some floated
through walls to witness friends
and relatives in other rooms, what
they were doing, wearing, or say
ing, and later, when the patient
was revived, what they saw and
heard were borne out to be true.
At some point, those describing

the experience report going
through a dark tunnel to emerge
in a world of light. There, they
met a being of Lig ht who
embraced them with more love
than any they ever experienced in
their physical life. The joy they
felt in this world of light was so
tremendous many did not want to
return to life. During this time,
they no longer felt any pain. The
light was bright and intense but
not scorching. This experience
was so loving it transformed their
lives and they realized how impor
tant it is to be loving. T hey
returned to their body as it was
not their time to die, but they
were transformed by the experi
ence. They no longer feared death
and knew that there was more to
life than their physical body. They
knew they could exist beyond this
body.
According to a Gallup Poll, over
thirteen million people reported
this neardeath experience. The
good news is that people can
experience the realms of inner
light through mediation without
the trauma of a neardeath experi
ence. This bliss and love can be
ours any time we want through
meditation. When we tap into this
place of peace and calm, we natu
rally are beyond the reaches of
stress and anger. We are in a
A good analogy to understand the joy of meditation

can be found in the
reports of those having a
near-death experience, or
NDE. In such experiences,
someone who underwent a
physical trauma or accident
may have undergone
clinical death.
place of joy and bliss that lasts

with us even when we come out of
meditation.
To get started with the Jyoti
Meditation practice, which anyone
can try on your own at home or
anywhere you like, sit in a com
fortable pose, most convenient to
you, in which you can sit still for
the longest possible time. While
meditating, it is not necessary to
hold hands or touch anyone else,
as any movement brings your
attention back down into the
body, distracting from concentra
tion at the seat of the soul, also
called the third eye, single eye,
shiv netra, divya chakshu, ajna or
agg ya charka, tenth door, or
daswan dwar (located between
and behind the two eyebrows).
Close your eyes, gently, as you
do when we go to sleep, but
remain wide awake. Closing your
eyes keeps you from being dis
tracted by the outer sights of the
physical world. With closed eyes,
focus your attention in front of
you. Do not put pressure on your
eyes. Also, do not raise your eyes
upwards towards the direction of
the eyebrows as that puts pres
sure on your eyes and forehead
and can result in a headache.
Rather, keep your eyes focused
gently in front of you and look

into the middle of what appears
within. Keep gazing horizontally,
focusing about eight to ten inches
in front of you with closed eyes.
Look lovingly into the middle of
what appears in front of you. At
first, you may see either darkness
or light, sparks of light, pinpoints
of light, flashes of light, circles of
light, or light of any color, such as
red, orange, yellow, blue, green,
purple, violet, white, or golden
color. No matter what you see,
continue to gaze into the middle
of what appears. You may see
inner vistas such as an inner sky,
clouds, stars, a moon, or a sun.
While gazing into the middle of
what appears, you may notice that
your mind distracts you with
thoughts. You may find that the
thoughts distract you from gazing
within. You may find that you can
not silence your mind to continue
meditating. To help keep your
mind from distracting you, you
can mentally and silently repeat
any Name of God with which you
feel comfortable. This repetition
should go on mentally, and not
aloud, as you continue to gaze.
This silent repetition gives the
mind something to do so that it
does not send thoughts to you
that can distract you from medi

tating. As your attention con
verges at the third or single eye,
you may then see inner lights.
These lights are a reflection of the
lights of the inner realms. By gaz
ing deeper into the middle of that
light, you can tap into the spiritu
al treasures within and enjoy the
profound peace, joy, bliss, and
happiness unlike any found in this
world. Those who meditate are
permeated with a divine love that
engulfs and fulfills them. T he
beauty of meditation is that this
joy can remain with you even
after you resume your daily activi
ties.
May you find this meditation
helpful in improving the health of
your body, mind, and soul.
For more information please

visit the website www.sos.org
Sant Rajinder Singh Ji

Maharaj is an internationally
recognized spiritual leader and
Master of Jyoti Meditation who
affirms the transcendent oneness at the heart of all religions
and mystic traditions, emphasizing ethical living and meditation
as building blocks for achieving
inner and outer peace.
www.sos.org.
October 24-30, 2015

Vol.8 Issue 25 - Oct 24-Oct 30, 2015

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Vol.8 Issue 25 - Oct 24-Oct 30, 2015

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

The South Asian Times

Vol.8 No. 25 October 24-30, 2015 60 Cents

New York Edition

Soaring excitement over

Teams of best cricketers

New York: In a sign of growing excite

Kamlesh Mehta Speaks

Kamlesh C. Mehta, Chairman of

content, display and advertising.

learnt that NJbased Arya Dance

Pakistan to act against

October 24-30, 2015

October 24-30, 2015

Toronto: IndianCanadians more than dou

Most IndianCanadian victories came in

HAB BANK hosts Customer Indians in US overqualied for

New York: A majority of

People who come here

October 24-30, 2015

New York: For eighth consecutive year,

Kamlesh Mehta Speaks

AsianIndian, has so far approached me after

Soaring excitement over

New Delhi Bureau

Managing Editor: Parveen Chopra

President: Arjit Mehta

Contributing Editors: Meenakshi Iyer,

Strategy and Marketing

Pakistan to act against LeT;

Cartoonist: Mahendra Shah

October 24-30, 2015

ACHARYA LOKESH ADDRESSES GLOBAL

New York: Acharya Dr. Lokesh

Acharya Lokesh Muni addressing the summit

from religious, economic, social

Sustainability is the key

Guests and organizers inaugurate the conference

ing youth into responsible citizens.

can make this world a better place

He said that girls mostly from

Nirmal Sinha inducted

October 24-30, 2015

Indian Americans Bootstrap

Prof. Shriram Krishnamurthi

crucial time for Bootstrap, said

Indian Americans book focuses

BITS graduates win

used w ithout permission by

Aziz Ansari ranked sixth

Pranav Sivakumar gets a

October 24-30, 2015

was talking about him, and I didn't

ennes have won the

Frank Islam and Deven J Parekh

of Washington, D.C.; Shefali

October 24-30, 2015

Clock kid Ahmed

Washington, DC: Less

Washington, DC: T he W hite

like an outsider; I was the per

be weird, but it's NOT okay to be

SEVEN INDIANORIGIN WOMEN IN US PAGEANTS

Edison in "Miss New Jersey Teen USA."

Russian ofcial tweets image of