The South Asian Times

e x c e l l e n c e i n j o u r n a l i s m
Vol.10 No. 15 August 12-18, 2017 80 Cents New York Edition Follow us on TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Parades multiply to mark

India Day in NYNJ

Kim Jong-un threatens missile strike near

US territory of Guam; Trump too ratchets
up rhetoric. (Photos: IANS)

US-N. Korea
Rana Daggubati is Grand Marshal and Gen. Dalbir Mahima Chaudhry and Tanushree Dutta are
Singh Suhaag Chief Guest at FIAs India Day Parade Grand Marshals at the India Day parade in
in Manhattan on Aug 20. (Photos: Wikipedia) Floral Park, NY on Aug 12.

BY SATIMES TEAM inviting Bollywood stars. In the

last decade or so, New Jersey has
New York: In the New Yorktris

tate area, at first there was only
the FIA parade, which started
attracting big crowds some three
decades ago when the organizers
hit upon the brilliant idea of
war of words
branched out to hold its own
parades to celebrate Indias
Independence Day. Now India
Day parades are multiplying in Proud to present
New York too. There are, of our India Day Special
Continued on page 4 Issue next week.

Naidu sworn in as Indias India, China reinforce army escalates

13th Vice President Washington: President Donald important naval base.

New Delhi: M. Venkaiah Naidu on Friday took oath

positions near Doklam Trump on Thursday said that per
haps his threat to visit "fire and
Trump maintained his hardline
stance on Thursday, saying that if
as India's 13th Vice President. .The swearingin
But no evacuation of border villages fury" upon North Korea for its North Korea launched an attack,
ceremony was held provocations "wasn't tough "things will happen to them that
in the Durbar Hall of yet, contrary to some reports. enough," despite sparking world they never thought possible."
Rashtrapati Bhavan New Delhi: India and China continue to militarily rein wide fears of a potential nuclear Nevertheless, the president left
here. Nominated by force their positions with the almost twomonth long conflict. the door open to diplomacy, but he
the ruling BJPled troop standoff in Doklam showing little signs of de Trump reaffirmed his threats also said that for 25 years
National Democratic escalation, even as the Army on Thursday denied it against the regime of Kim Jongun attempts at dialogue with
Alliance (NDA), the had ordered evacuation of some villages near the in remarks to reporters before a Pyongyang's communist regime
Former Union minis SikkimBhutanTibet trijunction. security meeting with Vice had failed and "it's about time that
ter won the vice Government sources said there has been "some President Mike Pence, national somebody stuck up for the people
M. Venkaiah Naidu is a veteran
presidential poll on buildup" in terms of additional troops and tanks as security adviser H.R. McMaster of this country."
BJP leader and former Union
August 5, defeating well as artillery and air defense units in the Tibet and Cabinet chief John Kelly, Efe With Pence at his side, before
minister. (Photo: IANS)
opposition candi Military District by the People's Liberation Army reported. going into the meeting at his
date Gopalkrishna Gandhi by a margin of 272 (PLA), but there is "no major or unusual mobilization" On Tuesday, Trump had said that Bedminster, NJ golf club, where he
votes. Naidu secured 516 votes while Gandhi got towards the Line of Actual Control as yet to send if North Korea continued its provo is on an extended vacation, Trump
244 votes. Of the 771 votes polled, 11 votes were alarm bells clanging in the Indian security establish cations it would face "fire and fury said that he is supported "100 per
declared invalid. On getting elected, Naidu said that ment, reported the Times of India. "Any major PLA like the world has never seen," a cent by our military" and by other
as Rajya Sabha chairman, he will sincerely try to mobilization towards our border will be detected comment that prompted Continued on page 4
steer the functioning of the House to enable it to since it will take around a week. Our wellacclima Pyongyang to threaten to attack
effectively further the larger interests of the tized troops, backed by artillery, rockets and other the island of Guam, a US territory RELATED STORIES ON
nation. He also promised Continued on page 4 heavycalibre weapons, are Continued on page 4 where Washington maintains an PG 11, 15 AND 24.

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with a degree from SUNY Old Westbury
x More than 60 undergraduate and graduate degrees
x Small classes with exceptional faculty
x A student-centered approach to learning Continued on page 4

x Conveniently located in Nassau County

Contact us at: (516) 876-3200 or www.oldwestbury.edu

OP ED 14 SPORTS 26 BOOKS 29 SPIRITUAL AWARENESS 33 excellence in journalism

TheSouthAsianTimes.info August 12-18, 2017
TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRIBUTE August 12-18, 2017 3
 4 August 12-18, 2017 TURN PAGE TheSouthAsianTimes.info

USN. Korea war of Madison Avenue, between 24th and Alleviation, Urban Development and

Ivanka Trump to words escalates

Continued from page 1
26th streets. India.com is the
parades title sponsor.
Information and Broadcasting in
the Modi Cabinet. A prominent

lead US delegation
for summit in India
Washington: President Donald
Trumps daughter and White House
adviser Ivanka Trump will lead the
US delegation to India for the
Global Entrepreneurship Summit
(GES) slated for November, the
media reported. The move was
announced on Thursday by the
President, reports The Hill maga
zine. (Ivanka Trump) will lead the
U.S. delegation to India this fall,
supporting womens entrepreneur
ship globally, he tweeted. Indian
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had
invited Ivanka during his trip to the
US in June. Trump said his daughter
would use the conference, which
will take place from November 28
to 30 in Hyderabad, as a way to
promote womens entrepreneurship
around the world.
Modi also confirmed Ivanka
Trumps impending visit on his own
Twitter account, saying that he was
looking forward to her trip to India.
(I) Look forward to Ivanka Trumps
A very public puja on Long Island
Hicksville, NY: Mandakini Patel per
formed Shree Rameshwar Shiv Puja
on Robert Moses Beach Field 2 in
Long Island on July 31 at noon.
Puja was dedicated to loved ones
and I prayed that the fruit of this
puja and abishek Rameshwar Shivji
bless our community and our coun
try, the USA, with peace, love, and
friendship. There is a lot of ashanti
in the world and we prayed for ulti
mate peace, love, and friendship in
the world. Mandakini says her
intention is to bring organized puja
in the public eye and to make this
puja as popular as any other reli
gious festival such as Ganesh
Festival, Janmasthami, Holi,
Ivanka Trump (Photo: IANS)
presence at #GES 2017 Hyderabad
as the leader of the US delegation,
Modi tweeted on Thursday night.
The threeday summit, which in the
past has been hosted by the US
State Department, aims to connect
American entrepreneurs and
investors to their international
counterparts, according to the State
Departments website.
Karvachauth, etc. Shri Rameshwar
Bhagwan himself did the puja at
Rameshwaram by producing
Jyotirling and Setu was done by
Hanumanji, she says.
Mandakini contact: 718423
8335.
world leaders. Trump expressed
thanks to China and Russia, tradi
tional allies of Pyongyang, for vot
ing last weekend in favor of new
sanctions in the UN Security
Council in response to the two most
recent North Korean ICBM tests in
July.
Trump said he did not want to
comment upon the possibility that
Washington could stage a preemp
tive strike on North Korea, which on
Thursday said it was finalizing
plans to launch couple of medium
range missiles into the exclusive
economic zone off the coast of
Guam. IANS
Parades multiply to mark
India Day in NYNJ
Continued from page 1
course, Independence Day celebra
tions at the Indian Consulate and
the Indias Permanent Mission to
the UN.
37TH FIA PARADE
Rana Daggubati, star of the recent
massive multilingual hit
Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, will
be the Grand Marshal at the 37th
India Day Parade in New York on
Aug 20 organized by the Federation
of Indian Associations (FIA) of NY
NJCT. Ramesh Patel, FIA chairman,
and Andy Bhatia, FIA president, said
that
General Dalbir Singh Suhag,
retired chief of Indian Armed Forces
and the beautiful Tamannaah
Bhatia, who also starred in
Baahubali 2 are the parades Chief
Guests.
Guests of Honor at the parade
include mathematician Prof. Anand
Kumar, Ajit Mody, chairman of
Rajbhog Foods, and the entire crew
of the first allwomen Air India
flight. The parade begins at noon
on 38th street and Madison Avenue,
ending at 26th street. The cultural
programs will be in the evening on
2ND INDIA DAY PARADE,
FLORAL PARK
August 12 will see the 2nd India
Day parade held on Hillside Avenue
in Flroal ParkBBellorse area,w hich
now has a substantial Indian popu
lation. Bollywood divas Mahima
Chaudhry (Pardes fame) and
Tanushree Dutta (Aashiq Banaya
Aapne) are playing the role of
Grand Marshal at the parade which
will culminate in a cultural mela.
IBA PARADE, EDISON, NJ
Indian Business Associations
13th Annual India Day Parade, is
scheduled for Aug 13 startigna t
1.30 pm from Edison, proceeding
to Iselin in NJ. Confirmed digni
taries include Bollywood actor
Riteish Deshmukh, NJ Lt Governor
Kim Guadagno, Congressman Frank
Pallone. A day before that, on Aug
12, there will be an India Day
Parade at Showboat, Atlantic City
Boardwalk, South Jersey at 3 pm.
CONSULATE AND PMO
To mark the 70th anniversary of
India's Independence Day, the tri
color will be unfurled on August 15
at the Indian Consulate in New York
at a ceremony between 7.308.30
am, and at Permanent Mission of
India to the United Nations at 8.45
am. All are invited.
Naidu sworn in as Indias
13th Vice President
Continued from page 1
to uphold the Constitution and the
high standards set by his predeces
sors. He succeeds Mohammad
Hamid Ansari.
The VP election result came days
after BJP candidate Ramnath
Kovinds victory in the Presidential
election, signifying the stupendous
growth of the BJP in electoral poli
tics across states.
Naidu served as the Minister of
Housing and Urban Poverty
leader of the BJP, he also served as
its national president from 2002 to
2004. Earlier, he was the Union
Cabinet Minister for Rural
Development in the Vajpayee gov
ernment. Born in 1949, he hails
from the Nellore district of Andhra
Pradesh.
India, China reinforce
army positions near
Doklam
Continued from page 1
currently deployed in the 'no war,
no peace' mode. They are ready to
respond quickly if required," said a
source. Diplomatic channels, how
ever, are also being used in a bid to
diffuse the tense faceoff in the
Bhutanese territory of Doklam,
which erupted after Indian soldiers
proactively blocked an attempt by
the PLA to build a motorable road
towards the trijunction in mid
June. "There is likely to be a border
personnel meeting at Nathu La on
Friday," said another source.
The Army, on its part, rejected
reports that some villages and ham
lets in areas like Kuppup, Nathang
and Zuluk near the border in Sikkim
were in the process of being evacu
ated due to the heightened tensions.
"No village has been evacuated.
Neither does the Army propose to
get any evacuated. Unnecessary
panic should not be spread," said a
source.
But the Army continues to main
tain high operational readiness
along the 4,057km Line of Actual
Control stretching from Ladakh to
Arunachal Pradesh, having initiated
its annual "operational alert" much
before the usual SeptemberOctober
timeframe. "Our troops are better
placed and entrenched in the
Sikkim trijunction area. It makes
more military sense for the PLA to
create mischief in some other sector
if it actually comes to that," said
another source.

Jaipur (India) Bureau IANS Newswire Services

Prakash Bhandari IANS Washington Bureau
Prakash@TheSouthAsianTimes.info Arun Kumar
arun.kumar@ians,in
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TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Dilip Chauhan 1st Asian
American to become Deputy
Comptroller in Nassau County
Mineola, NY: Nassau County Comptroller George
Maragos has announced the promotion of Dilip
Chauhan to the position of Deputy Comptroller for
Minority Affairs. Chauhan had joined the
Comptroller's office in 2015 as Director for
Community Affairs, South and East Asia and has
served as senior advisor to the Comptroller since
early 2017.
Mr. Dilip Chauhan has done an outstanding job
for the County in advancing the Comptrollers mis
sion by assisting members of the minority commu
nities to better navigate local government, helping
resolve governmental issues faced by minority con
stituents and ensuring MWBEs gain full access to
business opportunities, said Comptroller Maragos.
I have the utmost confidence that Dilip will be a
strong advocate for our minority communities in
ensuring that Nassau County Government serves
all resident equally. After taking his oath Aug 2 on
"Vachanamrut", a Hindu Swaminarayan scripture,
Chauhan said, Its an honor and a privilege to be
appointed the position of Deputy Comptroller. I am
excited to continue my work, supporting the
Comptroller's efforts to provide equal opportunity
for MWBEs to do business with Nassau County. It's
my great honor to work alongside Mr. Maragos
who is one of the most honest and decent men in
public service. Chauhan states that minority com
munities are an integral part of the fabric of
Nassau County. These vibrant minority communi
ties have grown in population accounting for near
ly 40 % of our residents, but remain underrepre
sented in government and often experience diffi
culty navigating the bureaucracy to get the servic
Sravanth Malla wins 2017 South Asian Spelling Bee
Sreeniketh Vogoti, Rahul Walia and Sravanth Malla
TRISTATE COMMUNITY
Pichai condemns
antidiversity memo,
Google sacks engineer
San Francisco: Google CEO Sunder
Pichai has reportedly cut his vaca
tion short to deal with the crisis over
an antidiversity manifesto that
went viral inside the company and
infuriated thousands of employees.
The tech giant has also reportedly
fired the engineer who wrote the
10page memo, which claimed that
the representation gap between
men and women in software engi
neering persists because of biologi
cal differences between the two
sexes.
According to a report in
Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos CNNMoney on Tuesday, Pichai con
congratulates Dilip Chauhan demned portions of the controver
on his appointment. sial memo that argued that women
es that they need and deserve, he says, adding, are not biologically fit for tech
The Comptrollers Office has been a driving force roles.
in advocating for increased business opportunities Pichai said parts of the 3,300
for Minority and Women Owned Enterprises word manifesto crossed the line by
(MWBEs), and Veterans to meet the Countys aspi advancing harmful gender stereo
rational goals. types in the workplace.
Chauhan has been active in numerous communi Our job is to build great products
ty and business organizations including: Advisor to for users that make a difference in
AAPI, Board member for Service Now for Adult their lives, he wrote in an email.
Persons (SNAP); Advisor for South Asian Affairs, To suggest a group of our col
New York State Assembly. He has been recognized leagues have traits that make them
with numerous awards for his community service less biologically suited to that work
in last one decade. Dilip Chauhan is married with is offensive and not OK. Clearly
two children and holds a Bachelor of Science theres a lot more to discuss as a
Degree in Electrical Engineering. group, including how we create a
Edison, NJ: Sravanth Malla correctly
spelled the word Chytridiales (an order
of simple, aquatic fungi of the phylum
Chytridiomycota) during the 2017 South
Asian Spelling Bee finals to clinch the
title of national champion and took home
a cash prize of $3,000.
Sreeniketh Vogoti from St. Johns,
Florida was the National 1st RunnerUp
at the Touchdown Media initiative on
Aug.4, which was taped live for broadcast
on Sony Entertainment Television.
The initiative was organized by leading
multicultural advertising firm,
Touchdown Media Inc.
The South Asian Spelling Bee celebrat
ed a decade of bees, which included some
special guests at the finals such as 2016
South Asian Spelling Bee National
Champion, Siyona Mishra and 2015
South Asian Spelling Bee National
August 12-18, 2017 5
Google CEO Sundar Pichai
(Image : hindustantimes.com)
more inclusive environment for all,
Pichai added.
The Google CEO also said that
there are employees who are ques
tioning whether they can safely
express their opinions, especially
ones that might fall into a minority.
They too feel under threat and
thats not OK. People must feel free
to express dissent, he wrote.
Meanwhile, media reported on
Tuesday that the engineer, identified
as James Damore who wrote the
manifesto, has been fired.
According to the Guardian, a
Google spokesperson declined to
comment on these reports.
(IANS)
Champion, Shourav Dasari.
It fills my heart to see such talented
young spellers from across the country
who make us proud as a community. The
initiative is unique in its reach and
engagement and we are very blessed to
have the patronage for over a decade of
families who make it a prestigious plat
form.
My hearties congratulations to the win
ner, said Rahul Walia, Founder.
The initiative was open to children up
to 14 years of age and was held in 8
regional centers across the United States.
These areas included, New Jersey, DC
Metro area, Dallas, Chicago, Seattle,
Boston, Bay Area, Charlotte, and the
returning international center in Ghana.
Over 600 spellers from these centers
participated from which 17 finalists took
the stage at the Finals.
 6 August 12-18, 2017 TRISTATE COMMUNITY TheSouthAsianTimes.info

India a major foreign policy ARTIST CELEBRATING

priority for US: Richard Verma TINY WINS
Washington, DC: The Trump
administration has recognized
India as a major foreign policy pri
ority, a former top American diplo
mat has said, noting that the credit
for strong ties between the two
nations goes to Prime Minister
Narendra Modi and former
President Barack Obama.
"I do think India has been recog
nized as a major foreign policy pri
ority (in the Trump administration)
and one that from the president on
down, people are vested in, and
that's very encouraging," Richard
Rahul Verma, the former US
ambassador to India, said.
"The over all trajectory of the
relationship has been quite good,"
he said. Verma, 48, is currently the
vice chairman of the Asia Group, a
strategy and capital advisory group
based in Washington DC.
"As you know, in the last two to
three years of the Obama adminis
tration we made a lot of progress
and all the credit goes to Prime
Minister Modi and (former)
President Obama. We were doing
things in so many different areas,
so many different dialogues, but
with really tangible results. I think
Former US ambassador to India
Richard Rahul Verma
for people in both countries and it
was our hope that progress would
continue," he said.
The former envoy played a key in
strengthening USIndia ties during
his tenure in the Obama adminis
tration. Terming ties with India as
the single most important for the
United States in this century,
Verma said, "We should not just
assume that because things are
going well, we can let things be on
autopilot." "This is the kind of rela
tionship that really matters to our
collective futures and it really
takes a lot of time and energy," he
said. In his rst post
Ambassadorial interview, Verma
said he thinks that the meeting
between the President Donald
Trump and Prime Minister
Narendra Modi in June was good.
"A solid joint statement, I think was
a reafrmation of a lot of the pri
orities that we were focused on in
the prior administration," he said.
He said he would love the two
countries developing their relation Abhilasha Sinha and a sample of her art pieces
ship in terms of investment in the she will exhibit on Aug 31 in New York.
defence sector. "It's important that
India and the United States have New York: A New York based art and then turn them into pieces
the kind of defence relationship director turns Tiny Wins into of art.
and that we develop the kind of art pieces. Abhilasha Sinhas the On August 31 Abhilasha will
advanced technologies together ory is that people celebrate big show her art works in a gallery
that allows India to have the edge achievements, but they dont in East Village in New York City,
in contested domains, whether relish small wins. It could be displaying Tiny Wins of people
that's on land, in air, on the sea, in eating salad for lunch or getting from around the world.
outer space or cyberspace. I think a discount on a purchase. Abhilasha Sinha is an award
it's really important that India have There are so many moments winning Senior Art Director
those capabilities," he said. Verma in everyones lives that feels like based in New York City. She has
hoped that the US will "really pur wins but people forget about it. been working in the advertising
sue" the Major Defence Partner sta Abhilasha gives a bigger plat industry for over a decade.
tus granted to India, which is com form to these small victories. People can take part in her art
pletely brand new and unique. She uses social media to pick up project by sending their Tiny
(PTI) tiny wins from across the world Wins to tibtywins.net

Ganesh temple Rath AAJA SETS THE STAGE FOR

Yatra on Aug 27
Flushing, NY: The
Hindu Temple
Society of North
America (Ganesh
Temple) is organ
izing its annual
Rath Yatra here on
August 27. The
colorful proces
sion with Lord
Ganesha placed in
a lavishly decorat
ed silver chariot
Ganesh Chaturthi rath yatra 2016
will start from the
Ganesh Temple at 12:30 noon
after the pooja in the temple,
make a full pradakshina
around the temple block (cov
ering 45th Ave, Smart St. and
Holly Ave.) and will reach Main
Street at around 2:00 PM. The
Rath will return to the temple
DEBUT OF BOLLYCIRQUE
Los Angeles: Entertainment
company Karmagraphy brings a
new form of dance Bollycirque
to the El Portal Theater, show
ing from August 25th27th.
Bollycirque is a melange of
the highspirited Bollywood and
the stuntbased cirque art
forms. The new genre is the
brainchild of Kavita Rao, the
director of Karmagraphy
Entertainment and the produc
er, choreographer and director
of the 90minute liveentertain
by 3:30 PM. Thousands of joy
ment showAajaA Tale of
ful devotees singing, chanting
Karmic Destiny.
and dancing will accompany
The concept of creating a
the procession.
true synergy of the styles came
The Rath Yatra is culmination
around because our clientele
of the 9day celebrations of
and audiences loved our incor
Ganesha Chaturthi, which
poration of Bollywood elements
begin August 18th.
in cirque. The response was
great, says Rao. So we decided
to take it to the next level.
Along with Bollycirque the
show also includes Western
styles: Ballet, Jazz,
Contemporary and Modern.
The show is set in a surreal
Bollywood theme and the story
is inspired by Hindu mythology
as well as Alice in Wonderland.
The protagonist, a young
woman, encounters mythical
charactersaerial goddesses,
stilt walkers, reeaters, myste
rious ballerinasand grows
from the experiences.
Aaja is divided into multiple
acts, the music for which
includes popular Indian beats
and some tracks composed
especially for the show by
renowned musicians Aravind
Reddy and the BhaVa Network.
Aravind works with EDM and
Carnatic fusion music while the
siblingduo, BhaVa, likes to
work with primordial sounds.
Both the parties are virtuosos
who perform all around the
world.Rao wants to go big with
Aaja, Our desire is to take it to
the existing cirque and live
show arenas leaving a lasting
impression in the theater and
commercial industry across the
world. She says, There has
never been a successful
Bollycirque show and we want
to make Aaja global.
For more info log on to
www.aajatheshow.com.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info NATIONAL COMMUNITY August 12-18, 2017 7

US may lose its competitive edge due

to H1B clampdown: Report
Washington, DC: Clampdown on H1B visa
program will make it difcult for the US IT
sector to attract open talent from countries
like India and the United States might lose
its competitive edge, a top American think
tank has said.
As the Trump administration is carrying
out a review of the nonimmigrant visas,
the Center for Global Development (CGD) in
a report said that H1B visa, the most
sought after by Indian IT professionals, is
benecial for both India and the US.
"It is really important to make sure that
the IT sectors from both countries are
allowed to attract the right kind of people,
because they really allow for innovation
and growth in both the countries," Gaurav
Khanna, fellow at the CGD and coauthor of
the research paper, said.
The report titled 'The IT Boom and Other
Unintended Consequences of Chasing the
American Dream' takes an indepth look at
how the H1B visa program affects both the
US and Indian economies.
"Both the economies have really beneted
from the H1B program," he told news
agency PTI.
"What our paper is really trying to stress
is that on an average the US is better off
because of the H1B program. So clamping
down on the H1B program will basically
not allow the US IT sector to attract the
open talent from places like India. The US
might then lose its competitive edge in IT
production," he warned, adding that IT
companies might move to countries like
Canada in the event of large scale clamp
down on H1B visas.
Khanna said the research has shown that
India has been a beneciary of braingain,
rather than brain drain due to the visa pro
gram.
"If you think about what happens in India,
you know the prospect of migrating to the
US and earning such a high wage...it seemed
they really encouraged certain students and
workers to acquire skills that would be val
ued by the H1B program," he said.
The research, which examines the rela
tionship between migration and the out
sourcing of IT production to India since the
early 2000s, found that US workers are on
an average better off by about $431 mil
lion or $1,345 per additional migrant in
2010 because of the H1B program.
While there are some negative impacts
for a subset of the US workers, the overall
gains outweigh the losses as the combined
incomes of the US and India both rise under
the H1B program by about $17.3 billion or
0.36 per cent. And total IT output from
both nations rose steadily under the H1B
regime by about 0.45 per cent in 2010, the
CGD research said. (PTI)

NRIs in US welcome Indian cabinet Krish Vignarjah enters race

decision to extend proxy voting
Washington, DC: The large non
resident Indian community in the
US has welcomed the recent deci
sion of the Union Cabinet to
extend proxy voting to overseas
Indians.
"We welcome this move,"
Thomas Abraham, chairman of
the Global Organization of People
of Indian Origin (GOPIO) said.
Still an Indian citizen, despite
having obtained a green card for
more than four decades now,
Abraham said the decision of the
Indian government in this regard
is a dream come true for people
like him and many others.
The Election Commission of
India (EC) estimates that there are
about 16 million Indian citizens
living outside of which about 70
per cent are eligible to vote.
While a signicant portion of
them are in the Middle East, in
the US the estimate range from
800,000 to 1.5 million. An over
whelming majority of them are
young, either university students
or those on H1B visas.
Senior Election Commission of
India recently interacted with
eminent Indian American commu
nity leaders in New York and
Washington. Ofcials present in
the meeting said the feedback
was very positive, but many of
"We welcome this move"
Thomas Abraham, chairman,
Global Organization of People of
Indian Origin.
(Image courtesy: gopio.net)
them had questions on the
process.
The delegation was led by
Senior Deputy Election
Commissioner Umesh Sinha and
Deputy Election Commissioner
Sandeep Saxena.
Participants in these meetings
welcomed the effort from EC and
agreed to publicise and reach out
to the Indian citizens to register
for voting, GOPIO said in a state
ment.
Notably GOPIO had passed a
resolution in this regard way back
in 1989.
Some community leaders
favored in person voting at Indian
diplomatic missions abroad so as
to prevent misuse of proxy voting.
However, election commission
ofcials noted that such a move
could have logistical problem. But
they assured Indian Americans
that they would discuss their
feedback and concerns with their
senior leadership.
"We would prefer direct voting,
instead of proxy voting.We think,
we can nd ways to have secure
voting process through IT. This is
possible," Abraham asserted ruing
that absence of a process for the
NRIs to vote is violation of consti
tutional rights of those Indian cit
izens living overseas.
Many present at these meetings
also voiced their opinion that
Overseas Citizen of Indian (OCI)
should be upgraded to Dual
nationality.
GOPIO has also suggested that a
proper representation must be
provided to NRIs in the Indian
Parliament.
"One option could be by abol
ishing the reserved seats for
Anglo Indians since they are
already well integrated settled in
the Indian society and those seats
are reserved for the unrepresent
ed Indian citizens living outside
India,"Abraham said.
(PTI)
for Maryland Governor
Washington, DC: Krish Vignarajah, a
former Obama ofcial has
announced that she is entering the
race for governor of Maryland. An
ofcial campaign kickoff and
announcement is scheduled for
September 19, 2017.
About her decision, Vignarajah
said:I am running for Governor
because I am worried my daughter
will not have the same opportunities
that my mom gave me when she
brought our family here when I was
a baby girl. I hope Marylanders will
agree the best man for the job is a
woman. It was not long ago that
Maryland was a beacon of hope,
opportunity, innovation, and
courage. We led the nation in school
performance, job creation, and con
servation. But today too many of the
students who can least afford to be
left behind have been forgotten alto
gether. Too many workers have been
left out. And our precious
Chesapeake Bay faces its greatest
risks in decades. A decit in leader
ship from the Governor could not
come at a worse time.
I am running for Governor
because Maryland must lead again.
As Governor, I will focus on what
matters mostimproving schools,
increasing wages, reducing crime,
treating drug addiction, alleviating
trafc, investing in infrastructure,
and protecting our sacred environ
ment. To accomplish all this, we need
Krish Vignarjah
a new generation of leadership that
will make progress at home, while
standing up to a White House that
threatens the very values that unite
and dene us.
Krish served most recently in the
Obama White House as Policy
Director for First Lady Michelle
Obama and at the State Department
as Senior Advisor under Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of
State John Kerry. During her tenure
at the White House, she led the First
Ladys signature Let Girls Learn ini
tiative.
Krish earned degrees in molecular
biology and political science at Yale
College, and attended Oxford
University as a Marshall Scholar and
then Yale Law School.
Before the Obama Administration,
Krishs career spanned law and busi
ness, having worked at McKinsey &
Company, practiced law at Jenner &
Block, and taught at Georgetown
University.
 8 August 12-18, 2017 NATIONAL COMMUNITY TheSouthAsianTimes.info

that his client "adamantly denies

Indian doctor arrested for groping the charges and deserves to be

considered an innocent man."
Krishnappa is studying medicine

sleeping teen on United ight in the United States through a

New York: A 28yearold Indian
doctor has been arrested for
allegedly groping a minor girl who
was sitting next to him on a New
Jerseybound United Airlines
ight, according to media reports.
The 16yearold girl, who was
travelling alone on July 23, was
asleep on the ight, when a
stranger's hand on her thigh
awakened her, the Washington
Post reported.
The man, identied as
Vijakumar Krishnappa, sitting
next to her quickly removed his
hand, according to a federal court
complaint, and the teenager went
back to sleep. Then, she woke up
again and this time, the man was
groping her, the complaint says.
She reported the incident to the
airline crew and was allowed to
move seats. Once the ight from
Seattle landed at Newark Liberty
International Airport, the girl,
from Washington state, called her
parents. While she did, the
accused left the airport, said
Johnny McCray, an attorney for
the girl's family.
The girl's family has led a com
plaint against United Airlines for
neglecting to detain Krishnappa
after the alleged assault, the
report said.
The FBI was called to handle the
investigation. It used the ight
manifest to track down
Krishnappa, a doctor from India.
The girl identied him from a
photo array, ABC reported.
Krishnappa was charged in the
federal court in Newark, a day
after the incident, according to
court records led by the FBI
charging him with criminal sexual
contact.
Court records show he was
arrested and charged with know
ingly engaging in sexual contact
with a minor female, the report
said.
He has been released on bond,
placed on electronic monitoring,
and ordered to not have any con
tact with minors while the crimi
nal case is pending, according to
court records.
The doctor's courtappointed
attorney, John Yauch, told the Post
monthslong fellowship that
allows for doctors from foreign
countries to learn from experts in
the US, the daily said.
A spokesman from the Federal
Aviation Administration told the
daily that the airlines typically
notify law enforcement about inci
dents before landing. "The safety
and security of our customers is
our top priority. We take these
allegations seriously and continue
to work closely with the proper
authorities as part of their
review," a spokesperson for
United Airlines said in a state
ment.

IndianAmerican agrees to plead DSouza vilies Andrew Jackson,

guilty to price xing conspiracy compares Dems to Nazis
Houston: An IndianAmerican agreed to cooperate with the l By SATimes Team
entrepreneur has agreed to Antitrust Division's ongoing
plead guilty to conspiring to investigation. The plea agree Washington: Conservative
x prices for customised pro ments are subject to court Indian American author and
motional products sold online approval. Makanojiya founded documentarian Dinesh
to customers in the US, WristBand.com as a project at DSouza shared with his
according to the justice the age of 19 while attending Twitter followers the publi
department. the University of Houston pur cation of his new book, The
Azim Makanojiya, 29, a suing computer engineering Big Lie, as he presented
Mumbaiborn computerengi major. Starting the operation in copies to President Trumps
neering graduate of the Azim Makanojiya founded the his garage, Makanojiya was also nationalist advisers. The
Rightwinger Dinesh DSouza (Photo:
University of Houston, found ecommerce company Wrist supporting his family nancial book builds on a theme from
dineshdsouza.com) and his new book.
ed the ecommerce company Band.com as a student and ly at the time. After just one his 2016 book/documen
WristBand.com and emerged emerged as the largest online year in business, Wrist tary, Hillarys America, that the settlers, DSouza wrote. Jacksons
as the largest online seller of seller of silicon wrist bands in the Band.com generated over $ 6.9 origins of the Democratic party, as expectation was that those people
US. (Image courtesy: ndtv.com) Andrew Jacksons populist machine, would support him politically, as
silicon wrist bands in the US. million.
He is charged with price x US District Court for the In 2011, the company was make the Democrats the forefathers indeed they did. Jackson was indeed
ing in violation of the Sherman Southern District of Texas in ranked 31st on the Inc 500 list of American and international geno a man of the people, but his popu
Act which carries a maximum Houston, the conspirators of fastest growing companies cide. It was the Democratic Party larity was that of a gang leader who
sentence of 10 years in prison attended meetings and commu and was also included as one of under its founder, (7th US distributes his spoils in exchange
and a maximum ne of $1 mil nicated in person and online. the fastest growing technology President) Andrew Jackson and for loyalty on the part of those who
lion for individuals. Zaappaaz The investigation has companies in Houston. then under Jacksons Democratic benet from his crimes.
Inc.(d/b/a WB Promotions Inc., revealed that the conspirators The company began as a two successors that massacred the The Democrats have progressive
WristBand.com and used social media platforms man operation taking orders (native) Indians and drove them ly disowned Andrew Jackson while
Customlanyard.net) and its and encrypted messaging appli over the phone. Since then, it west and presided over the igno President Donald Trump has
president Makanojiya agreed to cations, such as Facebook, has approximately 30 call cen minious Trail of Tears, DSouza embraced him. Trumps chief politi
plead guilty to a onecount Skype and WhatsApp, to reach tre representatives and 40 man explains in a book preview pub cal strategist, Stephen K. Bannon,
criminal violation of the and implement their illegal ufacturing employees working lished via Breitbart. This is the constantly evokes Jackson and posi
Sherman Act, the justice depart agreements. in the Wristband.com factory actual precedent that Hitler tions the current president as his
ment said. Specically, the defendants in China. The company operates appealed to in formulating his plans heir. I dont think weve had a
The maximum ne for an indi and their coconspirators an ecommerce website that of conquest, dispossession and speech like that since Andrew
vidual may be increased to agreed, from as early as 2014 retails silicone wristbands in enslavement. Jackson came to the White House,
twice the gain derived from the until June 2016, to x the various colors that can be cus That advanced an argument Bannon said of Trumps inaugural
crime or twice the loss suffered prices of customised promo tomised with specic words or DSouza made in 2016, that Jackson address. But you could see it was
by the victims of the crime if tional products sold online, phrases.It also has wristbands established the Democratic Party very Jacksonian. Its got a deep,
either of those amounts is including wristbands and lan with QR codes or RFID chips. It as the party of theft and rancid deep root of patriotism there.
greater than the statutory maxi yards. In addition to agreeing to has worked with companies populism. DSouza, incidentally, deleted
mum ne. plead guilty, Zaappaaz has such as CocaCola and with He mastered the art of stealing tweets he posted about the visit he
According to the felony agreed to pay a $ 1.9 million events such as the 2012 MTV land from the Indians and then sell made to the White House to pro
charges led yesterday in the criminal ne. Makanojiya has Video Music Awards. (PTI) ing it at giveaway prices to white mote his new book.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
IndianAmerican girl sues
school over gender identity
Washington: An eightyearold
IndianAmerican transgender girl
and her family are suing a private
school in California for forcing her to
dress as a boy and preventing the
child from expressing her preferred
gender identity.
Nikki Brar, who was designated
male at birth, was a student at
Heritage Oak Private Education in
Yorba Linda. The lawsuit alleges that
the school violated the Unruh Civil
Rights Act, which outlaws discrimina
tion based on sex or sexual orienta
tion, the Los Angeles Times reported
on Monday. The school didn't allow Nikki
Brar to wear the school's girls' uniform,
use the girls' bathroom, or be called a
"she." It said that the move would "create
an imbalance in our environment," the
report said.
The lawsuit alleged that Nikki Brar
experienced social isolation. The girls
would not play with her because she had
to dress like a boy, and she found the
boys' games too rough. Boys would bully
the youngster, calling her "a loser", it said.
Nikki left the school in February 2017.
The suit is noteworthy because it is "the
rst (transgender rights) case to use a
state antidiscrimination law as one of the
NATIONAL COMMUNITY
Nikki (2nd from left) with her family.
(Image : latimes.com)
grounds for re lief," said Mark
Rosenbaum, Director of the pro bono
Public Counsel Opportunity Under Law.
"In light of the Trump administration's
inaction on taking a stand against dis
crimination against trans individuals...
this is a terribly important case," he told
the the Los Angeles Times.
Nikki Brar's parents led the suit
against the school, its Executive Director
Phyllis Cygan and the school's parent
group, Nobel Learning Communities.
They seek damages for "emotional dis
tress and discrimination" as well as more
than $10,000 for school tuition and fees.
They also asked Heritage Oak school to
write a nondiscrimination poli
cy specically for transgender
students, and demanded that
the school teach lessons on
transgender identity in the
classroom.
T he child's mother, Priya
Shah, said the family thought
long and hard before ling the
lawsuit. "It honors our child's
commitment to being who she is
despite adversity," she said.
"It is our small contribution
towards ensuring that other
transgender and gender expan
sive children do not go through the same
hardship and trauma."
T he school's parent group Nobe l
Learning Communities released a state
ment following the lawsuit, saying: "We
believed it was extremely important to
respond... to decide when and how to
inform and educate our entire elementary
school community... about the midyear
change of gender identity expression of a
young child... Unfortunately, these accom
modations were rejected and the parents
withdrew their child."
Nikki is expected to join a public school
in Orange County later this year, the
report said. (IANS)
August 12-18, 2017 9
Activist places giant
inflatable 'Trump Chicken'
near White House
Washington,
DC: A giant
inflatable
chicken with
a Donald
Trump hair
style has
been placed
near the
W h i t e
House by an
Indianori
gin activist (Image courtesy: ndtv.com)
to protest the
president's stand on releasing his tax returns, deal
ing with North Korea and engaging with Russian
President Vladimir Putin.
Taran Singh Brar, a documentary filmmaker,
placed the "Chicken Don" in the lawn, just south of
the W hite House and near the Washington
Monument with due permission from the National
Park Service and the Secret Service.
"The tallest thing they usually allow on the Ellipse
is the national Christmas tree," he said. "They gave
me a waiver for the 30foot tall Chicken Don."
"Trump is too chicken to release his tax returns, to
stand up to Putin," he told the local media.
"We are out here to criticise our president for
being weak and ineffective as a leader and being too
afraid to release his tax returns, too afraid to stand
up to Putin and now engaged in a game of chicken
with Kim Jong Un," Brar was quoted as saying by the
Washington Examiner.
"Yet he wants a military parade in DC. It's all
incongruous, and we are here to make fun of him for
that," Brar said. (PTI)
 10 August 12-18, 2017 US AFFAIRS TheSouthAsianTimes.info

VP Pence dismisses rumors US notifies UN of Paris

he will run in 2020
Washington: Vice President Mike
Pence on Sunday called rumors
that he plans to run for White
House in 2020 "absurd."
"The American people know
that I could not be more honored
to be working side by side with a
president who is making America
great again," Pence said in an offi
cial White House statement.
"Whatever fake news may come
our way, my entire team will con
tinue to focus all our efforts to
advance the president's agenda
and see him reelected in 2020.
Any suggestion otherwise is both
laughable and absurd," said the
statement.
The remarks came after a New
York Times report, quoting some
advisers to Pence, said the former
governor of Indiana has been hint
ing to Republican Party donors
that he is ready to run in 2020 if
Trump does not.
"Pence's schedule is so full of
political events that Republicans
joke that he is acting more like a
secondterm vice president hop
ing to clear the field than a No. 2
sworn in a little over six months
ago," the Times report wrote.
Vice President Mike Pences vehement denial of 2020 run is aimed to
show his loyalty to President Trump. (Photo: IANS)
"Today's article in the New York
Times is disgraceful and offensive
to me, my family and our entire
team. The allegations in this arti
cle are categorically false and rep
resent just the latest attempt by
the media to divide this adminis
tration," Pence said in the state
ment. The Times report suggested
that though Trump's presidency is
just six months old, luminaries in
his own party have begun what
amounts to a shadow campaign
for 2020, citing that a number of
wouldbe candidates including
Pence are cultivating some of the
party's most prominent donors,
courting conservative interest
groups and carefully enhancing
their profiles.
climate accord pullout
Washington: The Trump adminis
tration has taken another step
towards exiting the Paris climate
agreement, notifying the UN of its
decision to leave the deal even as
it pledges to stay engaged on the
issue of climate change.
"Today, the US submitted a com
munication to the UN regarding
the US intent to withdraw from the
Paris Agreement as soon as it is
eligible to do so," the State
Department said in the notice to
the UN.
"The US supports a balanced
approach to climate policy that
lowers emissions while promoting
economic growth and ensuring
energy security.
"We will continue to reduce our
greenhouse gas emissions and
work with other countries to help
them access and use fossil fuels
more cleanly and efciently and
deploy renewable and other clean
energy sources," the statement
added. The notication comes two
months after President Trump
announced his intention to leave
the accord, fullling a campaign
promise and rejecting appeals
from world leaders to stay in the
deal. World Resources Institute
(WRI), a global research organiza
tion in the US which seeks to cre
ate equity and prosperity through
sustainable natural resource man
agement, said the move will hurt
the quality of life of American citi
zens. "...Trump's decision to leave
the Paris climate deal will hurt US
economic opportunity today and
the quality of life for American cit
izens tomorrow," said Andrew
Steer, President and CEO of WRI.
"... When it comes to climate, the
US administration is outofstep
with the majority of Americans
and the rest of the world.
Currently, all but two nations
Syria and Nicaragua are signato
ries to the Paris accord. The State
Department indicated it will
remain somewhat engaged on
issue of climate change, announc
ing plans to participate in a major
international climate conference
in November. The US President
drew international condemnation
in June when he rst announced
his intention to withdraw. He said
the deal "punished" the US and
would cost millions of American
jobs. The latest move is largely
symbolic as no nation seeking to
leave the pact can ofcially
announce an intention to with
draw till November 4, 2019.

Another Fox News host

suspended over sex
harassment allegations
New York: Another prominent TV host of Fox News
channel has been suspended by the network amid
allegations that he sent lewd images to female co
workers via text
messages.
Eric Bolling,
aged 54, has
been suspended
"pending the
results of an
investigation,
which is cur
rently under
A screen grab of Eric Bolling
way," a Fox
on Fox News
News
spokesperson announced on Saturday, Xinhua
reported. Substitute hosts will replace Bolling on
Fox News' "The Specialists" and "Cashin In" for the
duration of the investigation, the spokesperson said.
The announcement came a day after the
Huffington Post website reported that Bolling had
sent unsolicited photographs of naked male body
parts to former and current female colleagues at the
company several years ago.
Bolling is the third Fox News personality to be
removed from the air this year due to allegations of
inappropriate behavior in the workplace.
Charles Payne, a host at Fox Business Network,
has been suspended since July 6 over sexual harass
ment allegations made against him. The network's
star anchor, Bill O' Reilly, was fired in April follow
ing sexual harassment revelations. And, of course,
Fox News chief the late Roger Ailes himself was
resigned last year following allegations that he sexu
ally harassed female colleagues. IANS
Trump tries to battle fake
news with new broadcast
Washington: If you don't like
what they're saying, change the
conversation. Or, in the case of
President Trump's campaign,
produce your own news series.
In the fight against what
Trump has decried as "fake
news" about him and his
administration, his team has
launched its own version of
events: Taking the president's
frequent laments about a lack
Kayleigh McEnany hosts "News of the Week" on
of media focus on jobs, the
stock market and the economy
and turning it into a weekly video
posted to Facebook focusing on just
that.
"More great economic news on
Friday," former proTrump cable news
commentator Kayleigh McEnany says,
seated in front of a blue TrumpPence
themed wall to give "the real news."
McEnany rose to political promi
nence during the 2016 election for her broadcasts use, such as overtheshoul you're being lied to," said Robert
fiery exchanges in defense of Trump
on CNN. She left the network this
weekend.
Her debut came shortly before she
was named a Republican National
Committee spokesperson on Monday.
"Im eager to talk about Republican
ideas and values and have important
discussions about issues affecting
Americans across this country,"
McEnany said in an RNC statement on
fake news out there," said Lara
Trump, the president's daughter
inlaw, in the series' first video in
late July.
In the first episode, she proudly
declared: "The economy is boom
ing, ladies and gentlemen."
"This tactic isnt new," RNC
spokesman Ryan Mahoney said,
referring to the Trump campaign's
videos. "Campaigns use video to
get their message out all the time."
Facebook a screen grab. Lawmakers also often employ
the same tactics. Former
Monday. Her kickoff on what could be Democratic presidential candidate Sen.
called "Trump TV" was shared with Bernie Sanders, for example, has a talk
more than 22 million Facebook page show on Facebook Live.
followers and on Twitter. Trump's Presidents who get their side of the
presidential campaign committee is story out there may not be new, but
listed as having paid for the news spot. political experts worry about the prac
The news episodes that were created tice. "When a government starts
by the Trump campaign complete reporting and phrasing things as real
with the details that network news news, that's the time to worry that
der graphics make no mention of Shapiro, a Columbia University govern
the Russia investigation, and promise ment and politics professor. He point
"nothing but the facts." The focus of ed out that in this instance, the statis
the two episodes so far has been "jobs, tics and articles McEnany was present
jobs, jobs," the administration's crack ing "were perfectly accurate and truth
downs on criminal gangs like MS13, ful." "But it basically accentuates the
and the president's donation of his positive," Shapiro added. "And to get a
salary. fuller picture, obviously which
"I bet you haven't heard about all the includes a lot of the negatives, you
accomplishments the president had have to rely on free press for that."
this week because there's so much IANS
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
North Korea now making
missileready nuclear
weapons: US analysts
Washington: North Korea has suc
cessfully produced a miniaturized
nuclear warhead that can fit inside
its missiles, crossing a key thresh
old on the path to becoming a full
fledged nuclear power, U.S. intelli
gence officials have concluded in a
confidential assessment,
Washignton Post reported.
T he analysis, completed last
month by the Defense Intelligence
Agency, comes on the hee ls of
another intelligence assessment
that sharply raises the official esti
mate for the total number of bombs
in the communist countrys atomic
arsenal. The United States calculat
ed last month that up to 60 nuclear
weapons are now controlled by
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Some independent experts think the
number is much smaller.
The findings are likely to deepen
concerns about an evolving North
Korean military threat that appears
to be advancing far more rapidly
than many experts had predicted.
U.S. officials concluded last month
that Pyongyang is also outpacing
expectations in its effort to build an
intercontinental ballistic missile
capable of striking the American
mainland. President Trump, speak
ing Tuesday at an event at his golf
course in Bedminster, N.J., said
North Korea will face a devastating
response if its threats continue.
MANY DOCTORS
STUDY: TRUMP ACTIONS TRIGGER RECEIVING PAYMENTS
HEALTH PREMIUM HIKES FOR 2018 FROM OPIOID MAKERS
Washington: The Trump adminis
tration's own actions are triggering
doubledigit premium increases on
individual health insurance policies
purchased by many consumers, a
nonpartisan study has found.
The analysis released Thursday
by the Kaiser Family Foundation
found that mixed signals from
President Trump have
created uncertainty "far
outside the norm," leading
insurers to seek higher pre
mium increases for 2018
than would otherwise have
been the case. The report comes
with Republicans in Congress
unable to deliver on their promise
to repeal and replace the Obama
era Af fordable Care Act. Trump,
meanwhile, insists lawmakers try
again. T he president says
"Obamacare" is collapsing, but he's
also threatened to give it a shove by
stopping billions of dollars in pay
ments to insurers. Some leading
Republicans are considering fall
back measures to stabilize markets.
(Visual: http://www.hatawtabloid.com)
They will be met with fire and fury
and frankly power, the likes of
which this world has never seen
before, he said.
Earlier Tuesday, North Korea
described a new round of U.N. sanc
tions as an attempt to strangle a
nation and warned that in
response, physical action will be
taken mercilessly with the mobiliza
tion of all its national strength.
Although more than a decade has
passed since North Koreas first
nuclear detonation, many analysts
thought it would be years before
the countrys weapons scientists
could design a compact warhead
that could be delivered by missile to
distant targets. But he new assess
ment, a summary document dated
July 28, concludes that this critical
milestone has been reached.
Researchers from the Kaiser foun
dation looked at proposed premi
ums for a benchmark silver plan
across major metropolitan areas in
20 states and Washington, D.C.
Overall, they found that 15 of those
cities will see increases of 10 per
cent or more next year. The
highest: a 49 percent
jump in Wilmington,
De laware. T he only
decline: a 5 percent
reduction in
Providence, Rhode
Island.
About 10 million people
who buy policies through
HealthCare.gov and staterun mar
kets are potentially affected, as well
as another 5 million to 7 million
who purchase individual policies on
their own.
Consumers in the government
sponsored markets can dodge the
hit with the help of tax credits that
most of them qualify for to help pay
premiums. But offmarketplace cus
tomers pay full freight, and they
US AFFAIRS August 12-18, 2017 11
Facebook launches
YouTube competitor
called 'Watch'
San Francisco: In an apparent bid Bernstein" and "Kitchen Little".
to take on Goog leowned "Nas Daily" publishes a daily
YouTube, Facebook has rolled show where he makes videos
out 'Watch' a redesigned video together w ith his fans from
platform for creators and pub around the world. Gabby
lishers. Bernstein, a New York Times
T he social media giant last bestselling author, uses a combi
year launched 'Video' tab in the nat ion of recorded and live
US which of fered a predictable episodes to connect with her
place to find videos fans and answer
on Facebook. quest ions in real
"Now we want to time. Tastemade's
make it even easier "Kitchen Little" is a
to catch up w ith funny show about
shows you love. kids who watch a
We're introducing howto video of a
The IC [intelligence community]
'Watch', a new plat recipe, then instruct
assesses North Korea has produced
form for shows on professional chefs
nuclear weapons for ballistic mis
Facebook. 'Watch' on how to make it.
sile delivery, to include delivery by
will be available on mobile, on Facebook has also signed a
ICBMclass missiles, the assess
desktop and laptop and in our deal with Major League Baseball
ment states, in an excerpt read to
TV apps," Danie l Danker, to broadcast one live game per
The Washington Post. Two U.S. offi
Director of Product at Facebook week.
cials familiar with the assessment
wrote in a blog post on "To help inspire creators and
verified its broad conclusions. It is
Wednesday. seed the ecosystem, we've also
not known whether the reclusive
Shows are made up of episodes funded some shows that are
regime has successfully tested the
live or recorded and follow a examples of communityoriented
smaller design, although North
theme or storyline. and episo dic video series,"
Korea of ficially claimed last year
"To help you keep up with the Facebook said.
that it had done so.
shows you follow, Watch has a "We'll be introducing 'Watch'
The DIA and the Of fice of the
'Watchlist' so you never miss out to a limited group of people in
Director of National Intelligence
on the latest episo des," she the US and plan to bring the
declined to comment.
added. T he shows available experience to more people soon,"
An assessment this week by the
include "Nas Daily", "Gabby it added.
Japanese Ministry of Defense also
concludes that there is evidence to
suggest that North Korea has
achieved miniaturization.
face a second consecutive year of
New York: At a time of rising rates shocking number and may have a
steep increases. Many are self
of opioid overdose and addiction, widereaching influence on physi
employed business owners.
new research has revealed that doc cian behaviors," said lead
The report also found that insurer
tors in the US received payments of researcher Scott Hadland, pediatri
participation in the ACA markets
over $46 million in less than one cian and adolescent addiction spe
will be lower than at any time since
andhalf years. cialist at the Grayken Center for
"Obamacare" opened for business in
One in 12 physicians and near Addict ion Medicine at Boston
2014. The average: 4.6 insurers in
ly one in five family medicine physi Medical Center in the US.
the states studied, down from 5.7
cians accepted payments from "We need to take a hard look at
insurers this year. In many cases
pharmaceutical companies related how the pharmaceutical industry
insurers do not sell plans in every
to opioids, according to the study may be influencing care and pre
community in a state.
published online in the American scribing at the g round leve l,"
The researchers analyzed publicly
Journal of Public Health. Hadland said.
available filings through which
The findings suggest that phar Payments were defined as "trans
insurers justify their proposed pre
maceutical companies may have a fers of value" which could be
miums to state regulators. To be
stronger hold than previously direct money to physicians, a reim
sure, insurers continue to struggle
known on how doctors prescribe bursement for travel, speaking or
with sickerthanexpected cus
the powerful drugs. consulting fees, education or meals.
tomers and disappointing enroll
Using US Centers for Medicare The average payment to physi
ment. And an ACA tax on the indus
and Medicaid Services data, the cians was $15, with most receiving
try is expected to add 2 to 3 per
researchers identified 375,255 one payment per year.
centage points to premiums next
nonresearch, opioidrelated pay However, the top one per cent of
year. But on top of that, the
ments to 68,177 physicians doctors collectively received more
researchers found the mixed signals
between August 2013 and than $38 million (82 per cent of
from the administration account for
December 2015 totaling over $46 the total) and averaged more than
some of the higher charges. Those
million. "Even though most pay $2,600 in yearly payments during
could increase before enrollment
ments were small, they add up to a the study period.
starts Nov. 1. Source: AP
 12 August 12-18, 2017 INDIA TheSouthAsianTimes.info

BJP will sweep Gujarat polls: Amit Shah

Ahmedabad: BJP chief Amit Shah
acknowledged that the party
could not get enough votes as Shah has brought
back Jan Sangh work
expected that led to Balwantsinh
Rajput, the party's third candi
date, losing the Rajya Sabha polls

from Gujarat.
Shah, who resigned as legisla
tor of the Gujarat Assembly, also
challenged the Congress to a bat
tle in the forthcoming Assembly
polls.
In his last speech as Gujarat
Assembly legislator, Shah also
reiterated his stand that the
party w ill w in 150 of 182
Assembly seats in the state.
Shah submitted his resignation
to Assembly Speaker Raman
Vora at his residence, after he
was elected to the Rajya Sabha
along with Union Minister Smriti
Irani. Senior Congress leader
Ahmed Patel won a tough elec
toral battle for the Upper House,
defeating Rajput, a Congress
turncoat who was made the third
BJP candidate.
Shah also highlighted achieve
ments of the Narendra Modi gov
ernment and the party's over
twodecade rule in Gujarat.
He was given a warm welcome
Prime Minister Narendra Modi felicitates BJP president Amit Shah.
along with Irani and Rajput at
the state party headquarters Sri
Kamalam.
"The 20year rule in Gujarat
would be dubbed as the golden
period in history for develop
ment," Shah told the BJP gather
ing, and urged them to win 150
seats and bag all the Rajya Sabha
seats in the future. "Be ready to
work and ensure that we win
threefourths majority in the
Assembly elections," he said.
State BJP spokesperson Bharat
Pandya said that if re be l
Congress leader Shankersinh
Vaghela wished to rejoin the BJP,
the party would consider it.
Vaghe la, while quitting the
Congress last month, had said
that he would not join any politi
cal party or create his own outfit.
In the Congress camp, all the
43 legislators who voted for
Patel, held a meeting with the
senior Cong ress leader and
vowed to fight the forthcoming
polls with more vigour. "The vic
culture: Modi
New Delhi: Prime Minister
Narendra Modi praised Amit Shah
on completing three years as the
BJP President and on being elect
ed to the Rajya Sabha, saying he
had brought back the culture of
hard work known in the Jan Sangh
days.
Addressing the Bharatiya Janata
Party's parliamentary party meet
ing here, Modi said Shah had
steered it to be the largest demo
cratic political party in the world,
according to sources who attended
the gathering.
Modi said it was easy to run a
political party while being in the
opposition but relatively difficult
tory in Rajya Sabha elections will
go a big way to boost our morale.
Ahmedbhai will play a crucial
role," state party chief Bharatsinh
Solanki said. Patel said that all
when it was in power.
It was the first meeting of the
BJP parliamentary party attended
by Shah after being elected from
Gujarat to the Rajya Sabha.
The sources quoted Modi as say
ing that Shah had "brought back
the work culture of the Jan
Sangh".
The BJP is the successor to the
Bharatiya Jan Sangh, which
merged into the Janata Party in
1977. The BJP was formed in
1980.
Modi urged BJP MPs to work for
the success of "Tiranga Yatra"
(August 915) and "Sankalp Yatra"
(August 1530).
the leg islators would visit
Tirupati Balaji temple to seek
blessings for the victory and take
a vow to bag 125 seats in the
forthcoming Assembly elections.

Sri Lanka Foreign

Minister resigns over
corruption charges
Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister
RaviKarunanayake
Colombo: Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister Ravi
Karunanayake resigned on Thursday over corrup
tion charges in a bond scam but maintained he
had done no wrong.
Making a statement in Parliament,
Karunanayake said all the allegations leveled
against him were "baseless" and he had resigned
to protect the image of his government, the Daily
Mirror newspaper reported.
"I have never done anything wrong, and I resign
with pride to create a new political culture in Sri
Lanka and ensure good governance."
Karunanayake's name had surfaced in a contro
versial Central Bank bond scam which is being
investigated. He said he had no connection with
the incident in question and time would prove his
honesty.
"Everyone knows about my wealth. People from
my party and others have visited me in my house.
They knew I do not use my wealth for politics," he
said.Karunanayake resigned ahead of a noconfi
dence vote requested by a group of opposition leg
islators.
Two disqualifications gave Ahmed
Patel one evasive vote
Gandhinagar: T he battle of the two votes.
nerves for the Rajya Sabha elec In a be lated response, the
tions in Gujarat that ended with a Bharatiya Janata Party raised a
hardearned victory for the similar legal wrangle against two
beleaguered Congress veteran Congress MLAs, Shailesh Parmar,
Ahmed Patel was a fight for just also the Chief Whip of the party,
one vote which accrued to him and Mitesh Garasia, but the
by disqualification of two votes Commission dismissed it.
of Congress rebels. If this had been allowed, Patel's
The ruling BJP in the home strength would have come down
state of Prime Minister Narendra to 42, leaving him thirsting for
Modi and party President Amit one vote in an effective assembly
Shah is, however, not taking it strength of 172.
lying down. It is considering to In the end, as expected, Amit
move the Supreme Court to chal Shah won with 46 votes, Smriti
lenge the Election Commission's Irani with 45 and Ahmed Patel
decision to disqualify the two with 44. The third BJP candidate
votes. and Cong ress turncoat
With the cancellation of the Balwantsinh Rajput, for whose
two votes, the number of first victory the BJP had deployed its
pre ference votes needed by combined might, managed 39
Ahmed Patel, political aide to the Congress
Cong ress of ficial nominee president Sonia Gandhi, after winning the first preference votes eight of
Ahmed Patel came down to 44 Rajya Sabha election in Gandhinagar. which came from six Congress
from 45 earlier. This is because rebels, including Shankersinh
the ef fective strength of the House for Raghavji Patel and Bholabhai Gohil, who Vaghela, and two NCP MLAs.
the purpose of vote got reduced to 174 are close to maverick leader Shankersinh If the two votes had not been rejected,
from 176. Vaghela, had violated the electoral code Rajput would have got 41 and the short
Patel had 43 Congress votes and one of conduct by displaying their ballot fall of four would have been filled by sec
of the Janata DalUnited, adequate to papers to BJP nominees Amit Shah, ond preference votes.
touch 44. Earlier, he was believed to Smriti Irani and Congress turncoat The victory came as a major boost for
have one more vote of the Nationalist Balwantsinh Rajput and not just to the the Congress party. "This has infused
Congress Party (NCP), giving him the Congress official polling agent. new life among Congress cadres and
required strength of 45 in a House of After reviewing the details, hearing leaders and we will show them (BJP) our
176. But it dawned on the party later both sides and watching the video of the might in the December assembly elec
that this was not so. The Congress had polling, the Election Commission upheld tions," Ahmed Patel asserted after his
complained that its two rebel MLAs, the Congress complaint and disqualified victory.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
MPs pay emotional goodbye to Chairman Ansari
New Delhi: Prime Minister
Narendra Modi praised the diplo
matic insights of Vice President
Hamid Ansari, a career diplomat,
as Rajya Sabha members lavishly
lauded him and bid an emotional
farewell to the outgoing Chairman
whose term ended.
As Ansari chaired the Rajya
Sabha on the last day of his second
term, members cutting across
party lines praised how he con
ducted the House for a decade,
upholding constitutional and par
liamentary values.
Modi said Ansari was leaving
behind "great memories" and his
"contributions have been impor
tant".
"You have been a career diplo
mat, what it means I got to know
when I became the Prime Minister.
Observing you I saw mannerisms
of a career diplomat.
"Your diplomatic insights were
invaluable, especially when I dis
cussed with you before and after
my bilateral visits. I appreciate
your insights. I am grateful to you
and your talent in leading the way
for the nation," Modi said.
On the merger road,
AIADMK sacks Dinakaran
Chennai: Tamil Nadu's ruling
AIADMK has dumped its Deputy
General Secretary T.T.V.
Dinakaran, nephew of the jailed
General Secretary V.K. Sasikala, in
a move aimed at placating the
rival faction ahead of a possible
merger between the two groups.
T he AIADMK decision was
announced after a nearly onehour
meeting at the party office attend
ed by Chief Minister K.
Palaniswami and some 30 minis
ters and party leaders.
While there was no immediate
reaction from the rival faction led
by former Chief Minister O.
Panneerse lvam, a furious
Dinakaran hit back. Dinakaran
who was made the Deputy General
Secretary by Sasikala before she
was jailed for corruption and his
small band of supporters refused
to accept the decision. A resolu
tion passed at the AIADMK meet
ing declared Dinakaran's appoint
ment as "improper, unacceptable
and invalid", clearing the decks for
a possible unification of the two
factions. An AIADMK statement
said Sasikala's appointment itself
was under scrutiny of the Election
Commission, which was examining
the issues raised by
Panneerselvam who had chal
lenged her leadership.
The AIADMK used to refer to
Sasikala until recently as
"Chinnamma". The Thursday state
ment called her "Respectable Mrs
V.K. Sasikala" a clear sign of her
Vice President M Hamid Ansari. (Photo: IANS/PIB)
The Prime Minister also praised
the 80yearold who he said had
kept himself "physically fit".
Cong ress leader Manmohan
Singh recalled how during his term
as the Prime Minister he received
"maximum guidance and coopera
tion" from Ansari.
He recited an Urdu couplet
AIADMK Deputy General
Secretary T.T.V. Dinakaran.
weakening hold in a party she
tried to take over after the death
in December of then Chief
Minister J. Jayalalithaa.
The two factions will have to
unite if they need to get back the
party's popular "two leaves" elec
tion symbol that has been frozen
by the Election Commission.
Minus the frozen symbol,
AIADMK leaders admit they will
have problems taking on the DMK
in the upcoming local body polls.
The AIADMK meeting also nulli
fied all the appointments of office
bearers and other decisions made
by Dinakaran. T he Election
Commission had earlier rejected a
letter written by him in his capaci
ty as Deputy General Secretary.
If a merger takes place,
Palaniswami will remain the Chief
Minister while Panneerselvam
could become the General
Secretary in place of Sasikala. The
Panneerselvam faction insists on
Sasikala's ouster for a merger to
take place.
INDIA
"kuchh baat hai ki hasti mit ti nahi
hamari; sadiyon raha hai dushman
daurezaman hamara" to note
how India keeps going despite
many challenges. Manmohan
Sing h said this was "large ly
because people of your statesman
ship have guided India".
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley,
Sushma arrives in Kathmandu
Kathmandu: Indian External
Af fairs Minister Sushma Swaraj
arrived here on Thursday on a
twoday visit to participate in the
15th BIMSTEC ministerial meet
ing.
The visit comes ahead of Nepali
Prime Minister Sher Bahadur
Deuba's proposed visit to India
beginning August 23.
Besides taking part in the Bay of
Beng al Init iat ive for Mult i
Sectoral Technical and Economic
Cooperation (BIMSTEC) meeting,
Sushma Swaraj will meet Deuba,
President Bidhya Devi Bhandari,
opposition leader K.P. Oli, Maoist
leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal
"Prachanda" and Madhesbased
leaders.
Of ficials said Sushma Swaraj
will also take stock of latest politi
cal developments in Nepal.
Vikas Barala, friend in 2day custody
Chandigarh: Haryana BJP
President Subhash Barala's son
Vikas Barala and his friend
Ashish Kumar were on Thursday
remanded in twoday police cus
to dy by a court here in an
attempted abduction and stalk
ing case involving an IAS of fi
cer's daughter.
Presenting the accused in the
court in the afternoon,
Chandigarh Police said their cus
tody was required to reconstruct
the crime scene.
Both were rearrested on
Wednesday after they were
August 12-18, 2017
also the leader of the House, said it
was "a nostalgic occasion" to bid
farewell to Ansari "after complet
ing 10 years as a very distin
guished chairperson of this
House".
"You had experiences in various
fields of public life. But dealing
with the political fraternity was a
different experience all together,"
Jaitley said, praising how well
Ansari did the job which "is very
challenging and thankless for the
reasons that this House unlike in
the 1950s and 1960s now has a
changed character".
The Minister fondly recalled how
once, ang ry over disrupt ions,
Ansari called the House a "federa
tion of anarchists" and how it trig
gered a debate on whether the
term anarchist could be used for
the House.
Leader of Opposition Ghulam
Nabi Azad also wished Ansari said
he was g rate ful to the "best"
Chairman the Rajya Sabha has had.
"You have been running sessions
with diplomacy. You are a sports
man too.
Now I think you will have time to
External Affairs Minister
Sushma Swaraj.
Deuba will inaugurate the min
isterial meeting on T hursday
evening which will be attended by
the Foreign Ministers of Nepal,
India, Bangladesh and Bhutan.
CHANDIGARH
STALKING
booked under nonbailable
of fences, including attempt to
abduct Varnika Kundu, under
Sect ion 365 (kidnapping or
abduction with intent to confine
person) and Sect ion 511
(attempt to commit offence pun
ishable with life imprisonment)
of the Indian Penal Code.
Police sources told IANS that
the two accused denied during
their questioning for over two
13
play golf. I wish Allah gives you a
long life," Azad said.
CPIM leader Sitaram Yechury
said he was finding it dif ficult to
accept that Ansari's term had come
to an end. "As you are leaving, the
only regret I have is that we are
still not settled. I wish you contin
ue to share your wisdom with us
even after leaving this House."
Derek O' Brien of the Trinamool
Congress shared certain "nuggets"
about Ansari that perhaps all in
the House did not know.
"For example, like how you do
yoga every morning and go for a
walk every evening. It makes you
look so young. My colleagues
would be surprised to know that
you have not had lunch for the last
40 years... and probably that keeps
you so fit. He was a No.5 batsman,
a wicket keeper also," O' Brien
said.
Tiruchi Selva, a DMK MP, said
while Ansari was being praised for
his various attributes as a politi
cian, as a Chairman, as a sports
man, he as an individual wanted to
say thank you as "we have learned
a lot from you".
Deputy Foreign Ministers of
Myanmar and Thailand will also
be participating in the event.
The 18th Session of the BIM
STEC senior of ficials' meeting
kicked of f in the capital on
Thursday morning.
India's position on BIMSTEC is
crucial, said a Nepali official.
Nepal is the current chair of the
regional grouping and the mem
ber states will also discuss fixing
the date of the fourth BIMSTEC
Summit to be held in Nepal later
this year.
Among the top agenda of the
BIMSTEC meeting are finalising
the free trade agreement among
the member states. T hey will
negotiate market access for pro
fessionals, reducing the duty cuts
on trading goods and other items,
among others.
hours on Wednesday that they
intended to abduct the woman.
Chandigarh Director General
of Police Tejinder Singh Luthra
had told the media on
Wednesday that the these
Sections were added as new
facts had come to light following
their questioning.
Varnika Kundu, 29, daughter
of Haryana Additional Chief
Secretary V.S. Kundu, had com
plained to police that the two
accused had stalked and intimi
dated her and tried to abduct her
on August 45 night.
 14 August 12-18, 2017 OP-ED TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Niti Aayog vicechief's

agariya.
Arvind Pan
from the start as new wine in an
old bottle.
l By Amulya Ganguli
Even then, the appointment of
wellknown economist Arvind
exit a bad signal
ever, the NITI Aayog was not
seen as setting the official agen
da, for its proposals for disin
vestment and enabling women
to work at night were strongly
criticized by affiliates of the
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
(RSS) like the protectionist
Swadeshi Jagran Manch and the
trade union, Bharatiya Mazdoor
Sangh (BMS). Their views, which
echoed the opinions of their ideo
logical opposite, the Left, were
that Panagariya was tilting in
that while the Prime Minister was
not too bothered about a patently
weak opposition, he had to con
tend with powerful lobbies in the
saffron brotherhood whose per
ception of a Hindu India was total
ly at variance with the concept of
private enterprises functioning in
an open society which encouraged
a large measure of freedom in
terms of lifestyle choices.
Modi has tried to control some
of the antediluvian elements in the
social field like the gau rakshaks
can incorporate its ideas in history
books and social science research
papers.
But the scene is different in the
economic field. The reason is the
belief in the saffron brotherhood
that a buoyant economy will cre
ate an atmosphere of bold individ
uality which will be antithetical to
the kind of paternalism favored by
the RSS. Since an academic like
Panagariya could hardly be
expected to counter such ele
ments, the resignation was the

N
arendra Modi must be real
Panagariya, a professor of favor of the capitalists and did not (cow vigilantes) or the proponents easy way out.
izing by now that it is easier
Columbia University, as the vice know anything about the condi of ghar wapsi or the return of The economy is Modi's trump
to demolish than to con
chairman gave hope that it would tions in India. For instance, as the Muslims to their "original home" card. His electoral successes and
struct. He is unlikely to have spent
be an improvement on its former BMS said, Indian women have to of Hinduism. 70 per cent popularity rating are
sleepless nights before abolishing
avatar although the commission, perform "heavy household duties" However, he has also allowed the result of the continuing belief
the Planning Commission. Instead,
too, had distinguished economists unlike in the West. So night shifts the stationing of saffron appa that he will be able to usher in a
it was widely seen as a bold move
in that position. will be an additional burden for ratchiki at the head of highly period of high growth and abun
in keeping with his personality.
Panagariya's selection was not them. According to the trade regarded institutions although dant employment opportunities.
The scrapping of the 64yearold
surprising since he had been a union body, the NITI Aayog com their academic credentials are not He needs, therefore, economists of
institution was generally hailed as
longstanding supporter of Modi's prised "lopsided intellectuals" who widely recognised. Among these high caliber in key positions.
it was felt that this relic of a
economic policies like another were misleading the government. institutions are the Indian Council But to enable them to function
Sovietstyle economy was out of
reputed economist settled in the It was only a question of time, of Historical Research (ICHR) and without let or hindrance, the
place in a free market system.
US, Jagdish Bhagwati. It seemed, therefore, before Panagariya the Indian Council of Social Prime Minister will have to rein in
However, the commission's
therefore, like a new beginning in would realise that Modi was not Science Research (ICSSR). the economic fundamentalists in
replacement by the rather
sync with the Prime Minister's quite on top of the situation as he The Prime Minister may have the saffron ranks as he is doing
pompously named National
developmental initiatives. was in Gujarat. Hence, his resigna taken these steps to keep the RSS with the Hindutva militants in the
Institution for Transforming India
Over the next three years, how tion presumably because he saw in good humor so that the latter social and political fields.
or the NITI Aayog was perceived

l By Bhaswati Mukherjee What are the stakes for India in this

backdrop of intense speculation on the

T
he UK after Teresa May's self impact of Brexit on IndiaEU business
imposed "Brexit General Election" relations as well as on the IndiaUK
reveals a stalemated society and partnership? It is generally
politics, deeply divided between those
who support and those who passionately
reject the decision to leave the EU. Voting
A 'fuzzy agreed that with 72.5 billion
euros of IndiaEU trade and
19.4 billion euros of IndiaUK
to leave was much easier than actually
leaving. Political analysts are now talking
of a "fuzzy Brexit", representing a con
Brexit' in the trade at stake, all partners
needed to think through
this issue carefully in the

making? High
structive ambiguity where the UK tries to business and commercial
"muddle through" and stay within Europe context.
while leaving the EU. Insiders argue that The Indian position was
this would imply a much longer transi best summarized by a lead
tional period, with the UK remaining
inside the EU Customs Union in a modi
fied form and a compromise agreement
stakes for ing industrialist, Shishir
Bajoria, Chairman of the
Bajoria Group, who noted: "We

on its contribution to the EU budget.
Some form of continuing jurisdiction by
the European Court of Justice could also
be part of this emerging deal.
With Prime Minister May away on a
threeweek vacation, there appears to be
a power shift away from her headed by
Chancellor Philip Hammond. A cabinet
source revealed a "broad consensus" on
seeking an offtheshelf transition deal
effectively maintaining the status quo for
around three years after Brexit, beyond
March 2019. Informal sources point to a
huge movement within the cabinet in
favor of a substantial transition period, a
direct fallout of the recent election which
ministers interpret as a failure to endorse
May's plan for a hard Brexit.
Hammond confirmed to BBC that the
UK's relationship with the EU could look
Nearly 72.5 billion euros of IndiaEU trade
and 19.4 billion euros of IndiaUK
trade at stake.
"similar in many ways" until 2022
despite formally leaving the bloc in 2019.
A majority of cabinet ministers confirmed
they were comfortable with a lengthy
transitional period of around three years,
with continued free movement of people,
singlemarket access, a customs union
arrangement and potentially oversight
from a supranational tribunal structure.
Even more interesting was Home
Secretary Amber Rudd's announcement
India
that
EU
nationals would be
free to come to the UK during the transi
tion period as long as they register with
the authorities. This is totally at variance
with Teresa May's public statements on seriously impacted. In the event of a
this issue.
Labour Party leaders were quick to
respond. Chuka Umunna, Labour MP and
leading member of the "Open Britain"
campaign group, said it was "refreshing
to hear government ministers facing up
to the realities of Brexit at last" and
acknowledged the Chancellor and Home
Secretary had "brought a welcome dose
of reality to the Brexit debate".
have 800 million young Indians
who need jobs. We will trade with
the UK, Brexit or no Brexit. And we will
trade with the EU, Brexit or no Brexit."
Clearly, this is a narrative still in the
making with high stakes for all India,
the UK and Europe. If responses are
based only on national security tem
plates, the global economy risks being
harmful deal, harmful to either side, or no
deal, the repercussions will be global, not
national. Brussels will be blamed as much
as London. As David Goodhart (author of
"The Road to Somewhere: The Populist
Revolt and the Future of Politics") recent
ly commented to the New York Times:
"May be it is Europe's 'truebelievers' who
need to embrace the spirit of constructive
ambiguity."

The views expressed in Op Eds are not necessarily those of The South Asian Times.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info OP-ED August 12-18, 2017 15

l By Mayank Chhaya siderable thrill. Traditionally, the North

Chicago: The problem with issuing a dire
ultimatum as a first response to a tradi
tionally bellicose regime is that the one
issuing it is boxed in. That could well be
the problem that President Donald
Trump could likely face as he deals with
North Koreas supreme leader Kim Jong
Uns increasingly aggressive moves
threatening the United States.
In a statement that is said to have taken
the national security establishment by
surprise, the US president said: "North
Korea best not make any more threats to
the United States. They will be met with
fire and fury like the world has never
seen." This came in the aftermath of
unconfirmed reports that US intelligence
had learned that Pyongyang has pro
Korean leadership has thrived on such
saberrattling and now that the sabre has
a nuclear edge, it is expected to make
diplomatic intercourse with him that
much harder.
The US president's statement is in
direct conflict with his own Secretary of
State Rex Tillerson just a few days ago.
"We do not seek a regime change,"
Tillerson said on August 1 before he set
off on a visit to the Philippines, Malaysia
and Thailand. "We do not seek the col
lapse of the regime, we do not seek an
accelerated reunification of the peninsu
la, we do not seek an excuse to send our
military north of the 38th parallel," he
North Korean supremo Kim JongUns bluster seems to have provoked said.
President Trump. (Image: www.freemalaysiatoday.com) A little over a week later the situation
has taken a 180degree turn with reports

Trump's threat
duced miniaturized nuclear warheads of Pyongyang being able to miniaturize
that can be mounted on a missile. nuclear warheads, stringent United
Coupled with the fact that it now has Nations sanctions against North Korea,
longrange intercontinental ballistic mis Trump's extraordinary statement and
siles (ICBMs) capable of reaching the Pyongyang's threat against Guam.
United States, the latest unconfirmed
intelligence is certainly worrisome.
However, through the retaliatory threat
against North Korea: The "fire and fury" statement has star
tled many. Republican Senator John
McCain (Arizona), not known to shy away

Credible or premature
of unleashing "fire and fury like the from wars, said in a radio interview: "I
world has never seen", thereby clearly take exception to the president's com
implying a nuclear strike, Trump's state ments because you've got to be able to do
what you say you're going to do. In other

ment may turn out to be one too soon.
Rather than feeling chastized, North
Korea seems to feel emboldened as its
staterun Korean Central News Agency
(KCNA) issued several statements, includ
ing the one that said the government was
"carefully examining" plans to launch
missiles at the UScontrolled island of
Guam in the Pacific Ocean. The island is a
greatly significant US strategic outpost in
the AsiaPacific region, 28 per cent of
which is occupied by the military. There
are currently 6,000 U.S. military person
nel stationed there and there are plans to
add another 5,000 marines by 2022.
A day after Trumps "fire and fury"
threat, Pyongyang upped the ante, calling
it a "load of nonsense" on August 9. It
went a step further by issuing an even
more specific threat to fire four missiles
that it said would land within 40 kilome
ters of Guam as a sort of a shot across
articulation?
the bow. That Pyongyang intensified its
original threat barely 24 hours later in
the face of the unprecedented warning
from the US president speaks of the
imprudence of his response. It is the kind
of ultimatum that has to be backed with
action without which Washington will
have no next step as Pyongyang contin
ues to ratchet up its aggression.
Kim JongUn considers nuclear
weapons as his only guarantee of sur
vival in the face of mounting internation
al pressure on him. He is not going to
give those up, no matter what the inter
national community might say or do.
Guam's 3,400mile distance from
Pyongyang is well within its strike capa
bilities and it is not altogether inconceiv
able that the mentallybesieged supreme
leader might actually carry it out. If that
happens, Trump can always retaliate well
below his "fire and fury like the world
has never seen" threat but that would
expose his bluster to Kim, something
America cannot afford. The 33yearold
Kim sees nuclear weapons as equalizing
him with the 71yearold Trump despite
such massive chasm between the two
countries' military and economic
strengths.
At a personal level, the idea that he is
able to provoke a strong response from
the US president, senior to him by nearly
four decades, is bound to give Kim a con
words, the old walk softly but carry a big
stick, Teddy Roosevelt's saying, which I
think is something that should've applied
because all it's going to do is bring us
closer to a serious confrontation."
It is hard to make concession in the
name of Trump's characteristic penchant
for hyperbole and bluster because he is
dealing with a leader who has lived out
side international norms in the tradition
of his father Kim JongIl and grandfather
Kim Ilsung.
Unless the US president thinks that he
can conduct his country's foreign policy
with a measure of matching cavalier
style, his threat might turn out to be a
case of premature articulation.
Mayank Chhaya is a Chicagobased
journalist.
Source: IANS

GST burdens NRIs by withdrawing

Letter to the Editor
Dear Editor,

G customs duty exemption

ST (Goods and Services Tax)
in India was introduced
from July 1, 2017, and has
been widely hailed. But the
Government of India has put a
great burden on NRIs as Customs
Duty on small gifts that we send
to our friends and relatives living
in India.
As per Government of India,
Ministry of Finance Notification
No. 171/1993Customs, bonafide
gifts valued up to Rs. 20,000
were exempt from import
Customs duty when imported to
India as air cargo through any
International Courier or Postal
service.
Many of the Pravasis (NRI's) liv
ing in different countries across
ent personal constraints. Now, on
June 30, 2017 Government of
India, Ministry of Finance, New
Delhi issued Notification No.
27/2017 (by the introduction of
GST) and withdrew the Customs
duty exemption on Gifts sent by
Courier or Mail through Air
Cargo, irrespective of their values,
the world, used to send small gifts and imposed Customs Duty @
to their dear and near ones in 41.184%.
India through courier services in So now, if we, NRI's send small
emergency cases, since they are gifts of food stuffs or chocolates
unable to go and give those gifts or milk powder or garments or
personally to them due to differ electronic items or toys or any
thing of that sort to India as air
cargo through Courier or Mail,
the recipients (our dear and near
ones in India) will have to pay
huge amount as Customs Duty.
Therefore, it is high time for us
as organizations to raise our voice
against such havoc created by
Government of India by imposing
financial burden on NRI's and for
withdrawing the facility NRI's
were enjoying for the past 25
years.
It is requested that our con
cerns in this regard may be
brought to the notice of the
Indian Finance Minister Mr. Arun
Jaitley immediately to reconsider
the issue during the current
Parliament session. I also implore
other Indian community organiza
tions to take up this issue and
give it wide publicity.
All may voice our concerns by
emailing to Indias Finance
Minister at: fm@finance.nic.in
Mathewkutty Easow,
President, Indo American Press
Club NYTristate Chapter.

The views expressed in Op Eds are not necessarily those of The South Asian Times.
 16 August 12-18, 2017
REVIEW
Siddharth wont cast
Jab Harry Met Sejal : wife Vidya in his films
Banal and lacks
emotional connect
SRK and Anushka strike a pose
while promoting the film.
Society wont move
forward with film
policing
A ctor-director Nandita Das says the so-
ciety will not move forward if the kind
of policing done by a body like the Central
Board of Film Certification (CBFC) continues.
Nandita had faced problems from the
censor board for her film Firaaq. Of late,
the CBFC has been in news for ordering 48
cuts in Nawazuddin Siddiquis Babumos-
Actor-director Nandita Das was at
a panel discussion in Mumbai.
Bollywood
I f you are content to simply bask in the
company of a middle-aged Shah Rukh
Khan and half-his-age Anushka Sharma, the
two attractive leads who star as Harinder
Singh Nehra aka Harry, a Punjabi, and Sejal
Jhaveri, a Gujarati, then this romance is for
you. Otherwise, you would be questioning
your motive for sitting through this film.
Once again, its hard to put too much
hate on a film that clearly tries hard to daz-
zle its fans, but the elephant in the room
here is clearly the script.
The premise, albeit clichd, and the set-
ting promise an entertaining romance. But
alas, it is nowhere palpable.
Imitaz Alis latest oeuvre seems to be
mounted on an outdated, perfunctory
script packed with cardboard thin charac-
ters, silly conversations and a weak plot
that lacks depth, drama and the serious-
ness of a heart-felt romance.
Director Imtiaz Ali seems to have taken
the easy route assuming that a film with Shah
Rukh Khan will automatically work. The film
sorely lacks drama, interesting twists and
freshness. It trudges along on an even keel
throughout. The first half is watchable as it
establishes the setting and characters, but
the post interval half drags needlessly.
hai Bandookbaaz.
Commenting on it, Nandita said: I have
been against censorship since the beginning
because when I made Firaaq in 2008, I had
to go through same ordeal because of censor-
ship issue. I dont know how a few people in
their committee can decide what is good and
what is bad for the viewing of entire nation.
I feel if we continue to do such kind of
policing, then society will not move for-
ward. Today on Internet, you can see what-
ever you want, so its a kind of hypocrisy of
people as you are banning it officially, but
we can see it on Internet or see a pirated
version of it. So, I feel there is no use of it.
Nandita was at a panel discussion at Go-
drej Club India Lab Museum in Mumbai.
A film is very subjective thing because
everyone likes different things. People can
have difference of choice and opinion. In
foreign countries, there are ratings that if
people are above 18 years of age, they can
watch it and its up to them whether its
good or bad, Nandita said.
If we have shown wrong or bad things
in film, then it will not last in the market,
so I feel they (CBFC) should not censor
films in such a wrong manner.
Nandita also wants the Shyam Benegal
Committee report on film certification
guidance to be implemented soon.
S iddharth Roy Kapur has undertaken a
new journey of spearheading his home
banner Roy Kapur Films, but says he would
neither cast his wife Vidya Balan nor his
brothers Aditya and Kunaal in any of the
projects. So far, Siddharth has announced
three projects. Asked if we can expect to
see the National Award winning Vidya in
any of the films, Siddharth said: Actually,
as a family, we have all decided to keep the
professional and the personal separate,
and that works very well for us as we can
be objective about each other. None of the
brothers either?
Yes, we are all on our own paths but
very supportive of each other in everything
we all do, he added. His slate of films in-
clude an Aamir Khan-starrer biopic on as-
tronaut Rakesh Sharma, a biopic based on
the life of a man named Vijendra Singh who
Siddharth Roy Kapur had lost his wife Leela in the Uttarakhand
with wife Vidya Balan. floods, and another movie based on a book.
Local court rejects plea against
Toilet: Ek Prem Katha
A
local court in India has rejected a plea
seeking a stay on the release of Akshay
Kumar starrer Toilet: Ek Prem Katha. The
arguments in the case were completed on
August 2. After hearing arguments for
three successive days, the Jaipur Metro-
politan Court prima facie found no merit in
the case and rejected the application, S.S.
Hora, counsel for Viacom18, said.
We will study the judgment and then de-
cide our future course of action, G.D. Bansal,
advocate for Jaipur based filmmaker Pratik
Sharma, who had brought a copyright in-
fringement case against the makers of Toi-
let: Ek Prem Katha. Sharma brought the case
against Plan C Studios, an alliance between
Reliance Entertainment and Friday Film-
works helmed by Neeraj Pandey and Shital
Bhatia, and Viacom18 on July 7 in a Jaipur
Metropolitan Court. Sharma had alleged that
the makers of Toilet: Ek Prem Katha had
lifted the punchline and the subject from
his film Gutrun Gutar Gun. Toilet: Ek Prem
Katha features Bhumi Pednekar with Ak- The film featuring Akshay Kumar
will release on Aug 11.
shay and will release on August 11.
R Madhavan guest of
honor at I-Day event in US
A ctor R Madhavan says he is honored to
be the guest of honor for celebrations
of Indias Independence Day in the US.
Very happy honored to be the Guest Of
Honor Swades Independence Day celebra-
tions - Bay Area hosted by Association Of
Indo-Americans (AIA), Madhavan tweeted.
India will celebrate its 69th Indepen-
dence Day anniversary on August 15.
Madhavan was last AIA is a non-profit organization which
seen in Tamil thriller provides a forum to explore the rich and
Vikram Vedha. diverse heritage of the Indian-American
community living in the US.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info August 12-18, 2017
TheSouthAsianTimes.info August 12-18, 2017
TheSouthAsianTimes.info August 12-18, 2017
 22 August 12-18, 2017
IndoCanadian is Canada's Sikh referee calls for unity after
ConsulGeneral to San Francisco facing racial abuse online
Toronto: Rana Sarkar, an Indo
Canadian who was till recently
national director for high growth
markets at the Torontobased
multinational KPMG, has been
named by Prime Minister Justin
Trudeaus Liberal government as
Canadas ConsulGeneral to San
Francisco.
Simultaneously, Sarkar has also
been named a member of the high
profile Canadian official team for
renegotiating the North American
Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
with the US and Mexico.
The IndoCanadian community is
elated over this very high profile
appointment. "Rana Sarkar (previ
ously President of CanadaIndia
Business Council) brings an
impressive array of skills to his
new position as Consul General in
San Francisco," says Kasi Rao, cur
rently President of CanadaIndia
Business Council and Vice
President of AsiaPacific
Foundation. "First, Rana is a global
Canadian and has operated in mul
tiple geographies Canada, UK and
India. Second, he has brought indi
vidual networks and made them
into institutional ones. "Rana has
maintained an abiding interest in
the ideas and innovation space and
PETITIONER WELCOMES
CABINET NOD TO PROXY
VOTING FOR NRIS
Kochi: Shamsheer Vayalil, who
filed a petition in the Supreme
Court demanding voting rights
for the NRIs, on Friday wel
comed the Union government's
decision to clear a proposal to
allow proxy voting to overseas
Indians.
"Now, the government will
have to bring a bill to amend
the law to make it a reality. I
hope that the government will
introduce a bill in this regard in
the next session or the
Monsoon Session of the parlia
ment. T he government can
make it a reality within three
months, if it has the will power,"
said Vayalil, founder and MD,
VPS Healthcare.
Rana Sarkar
(Image : sagennext.com)
therefore will be adept at position
ing the Canadian advantage in a
critically important global city of
San Francisco."
Gary Comerford, who till recent
ly was President of CIBC, says in
an interview that Sarkar "will be a
very strong addit ion to the
CanadianUS trade team. His
know ledge and considerable
expertise in the areas of interna
tional trade will be invaluable as
the NAFTA agreement is modern
ized."
Sarkar was also a Liberal Party
candidate for the federal riding of
Don Valley North (in Toronto) in
2014 but was not successful and
He said that majority of the
NRIs are from Kerala, Punjab
and Gujarat and "the govern
ment's decision will make a
huge impact in the elections in
these states."
"As per records, there are
over 1.6 crore NRIs. The move
will benefit around 60 lakh of
them, who are enrolled in the
voter list, as well as the remain
ing one crore who are yet to
enroll," said Vayalil, who took
up the issue after he missed his
voting rights 15 years ago.
He also added that politicians
were indif ferent towards the
issues faced by NRIs as they
were unable to cast their votes.
(IANS)
DIASPORA
he later became a member of
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's
team of advisers.
Sarkar was earlier visiting lectur
er at the London School of
Economics and Political Science
and more recently Senior Fellow at
the Munk School of Global Affairs,
University of Toronto.
Appointment of Sarkar in this
high profile position is amongst a
series of appointments of Indo
Canadians made by the Justin
Trudeau government. They include
four IndoCanadian federal minis
ters: Amarjeet Sohi (Minister for
Infrastructure and Communities);
Bardish Chagger (Minister for
Small Business and Tourism and
House Leader); Harjit Singh Sajjan
(Minister for National Defense);
and Navdeep Bains (Minister for
Innovation, Science and Economic
Development).
More recently Trudeau named
Anil Arora as Canada's Chie f
Statistician.
Two other high profile appoint
ments include Sabi Marwah and
Ratna Omidvar as Senators.
T here are 19 IndoCanadian
Members of the House of
Commons, 18 of whom are
Liberals. (IANS)
NRI boy donates prize money
for Indian army welfare
New Delhi: An 10yearold Indian
origin boy, who lives in Kuwait, has
donated Rs. 18,000 to the Indian
Army Welfare Fund. Riddhiraj
Kumar had won 80 Kuwait Dinars
as prize money for the
International Bench Mark Test for
Improving Learning Award for
Excellence from the Australian
Council for Education Research.
Riddhiraj Kumar, along with his
mother, met Prime Minister
Narendra Modi in Delhi and hand
ed him a cheque of Rs. 18,000.
PM Mo di cong ratulated
Riddhiraj for his generosity and
excellence in academics.
Riddhiraj's mother Krupa Bhatt
told PM Modi that she is working
on 'Every Child is Genius Project'
and is organizing free seminars for
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Singapore: A 33yearold
Sing aporean Sikh re feree has
called for unity within the football
community after he was subjected
to racial abuse on social media fol
lowing a match here.
Sukhbir Singh had reportedly
made some controversial decisions
while of ficiating last Saturday's
International Champions Cup (ICC)
match at the National Stadium in
Singapore, where Inter Milan beat
Chelsea by 21.
Singh awarded a penalty to Inter
after striker Stevan Jovetic was
brought down by Chelsea fullback
Cesar Azpilicueta, and the second
was disallowing a late equaliser by
Blues forward Michy Batshuayi.
Fifa match agent Baljit Rihal
tagged Kick It Out who said that it
had "received reports from the
public on the racist abuse on social
media aimed towards Singaporean
Sikh re feree during Che lsea's
friendly against Inter Milan."
Some netizens took to Twitter to
criticize Singh's decisions and com
mented on his ethnicity. "I would
n't say I'm affected by it because I
haven't read the tweets, but that
doesn't mean I condone racism. It's
(racism in football) something that
definitely needs to be looked into.
T here should not be any bias
the teachers in India, on identify
ing talents of the children. The PM
also congratulated her for the
commitment showing in spreading
innovative learning projects.
This was not Riddhiraj's first
meet ing w ith Prime Minister
Narendra Modi. In 2013, when he
was just six years old, Riddhiraj
had got the opportunity to meet
Sukhbir Singh
(Image : deccanchronicle.com)
towards anyone's race," Singh was
quoted as saying by The Strait
Times. Singh has called for unity
within the football community and
said everyone should be allowed to
believe in what they believe in
freely and participate in what they
want to participate in, especially
when it comes to sports. Sports is
supposed to unite people and not
divide us, he said. The antidis
crimination bureau 'Kick It Out' is
investigating the incident, a move
praised by Singh. He added that he
had not experienced any racial
abuse while refereeing locally, and
has "not come under any circum
stances where a report was
needed."
PM Modi
congratulated
Riddhiraj for his
generosity and
excellence in
academics.
(Image :
ndtv.com)
Mr Modi, who was then the chief
minister of Gujarat.
Riddhiraj Kumar, at six years of
age, was able to name of states of
India blindfolded by just feeling
the shapes of the map and was
able to list out all the countries of
the world in just 90 seconds,
according to reports.
(News source ndtv.com)
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Hafiz Saeed's JuD launches
new political outfit
Islamabad: LashkareTaiba
founder Hafiz Saeed's party,
Jamaatud Dawa (JuD), listed by the
United Nations as a terror outfit,
has decided to enter mainstream
politics from the platform of a new
'Milli Muslim League (MML)' party,
the media reported.
The announcement by the repre
sentatives of the MML and JuD,
which has been kept on a govern
ment list of organizations for their
suspected militant activities, was
made at a press conference by
MML president Saifullah Khalid at
the National Press Club, Dawn
reported.
"Pakistan was established as an
ideological state and as per the
vision of QuaidiAzam and Allama
Iqbal, which was based on the
Quran and Sunnah," Khalid said,
adding "even the 1973
Constitution is based on the rule of
the Almighty."
He said there was a need to
revive the idea of making this
country an 'Islamic welfare state'.
"The whole nation acknowledges
the sacrifice rendered by Hafiz
Saeed, by not only highlighting the
Kashmir cause but also extending
Modi must not ignore China's Sharif's wife, daughter may
threats: Chinese daily contest exPM's seat
There has been no let up in tensions between India and China.
Beijing: India is as naive as it was
in 1962 if it thinks China will not
respond to its "provocations" in
Doklam, a Chinese daily said.
The staterun Global Times also
said the outcome of a possible mil
itary conflict, which was "unavoid
able" if Indian Prime Minister
Narendra Modi keeps "ignoring"
China's warnings, was "fixed".
The editorial in the staterun
daily came after a news report
said Indian government of ficials
believe that China will not risk
war with India.
Like earlier occasions, the news
paper invoked the 1962 war
between both countries. It said:
"India made constant provocations
at the ChinaIndia border in
1962."
SUBCONTINENT
Saeed's JuD has been listed as a terror outfit by the UN.
welfare activities to all the needy
and distressed people," he said and
referred to the welfare work done
by the JuD in different parts of the
country.
Khalid blamed India and the US
for conspiring against Pakistan
and said there was a need for polit
ical leaders to stand up for the
country.
T he MML logo and flag was
shown and reporters were told
"The government of Jawaharlal
Nehru at that time firmly believed
China would not strike back.
"However, the Nehru govern
ment underestimated the determi
nation of the Chinese government
to safeguard China's territorial
integrity even as the country was
mired in both domestic and diplo
matic woes."
"If the Narendra Modi govern
ment continues ignoring the warn
ing coming from a situation spiral
ing out of control, countermea
sures from China will be unavoid
able."
There has been no let up in ten
sions between India and China
with their militaries engaged in a
standoff at Doklam in Sikkim sec
tor for nearly two months now.
that the Election Commission of
Pakistan had been requested for
its registration.
Khalid announced that they had
already launched the drive to
organize their party across the
country, and said they were
preparing to contest the 2018 gen
eral elections and did not rule out
the possibility of making alliances
with what he called likeminded
ideological parties.
Islamabad: Former Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif 's w ife Begum
Kulsoom Nawaz and their daughter
Maryam Nawaz have emerged as
top contenders to contest the
National Assembly seat vacated by
Sharif after he was disqualified by
the Supreme Court last month.
"In the internal party discussions
so far, names of Begum Kulsoom
and Maryam have emerged as first
and second priority respectively as
PMLN candidates for the seat
(that) fell vacant after disqualifica
tion of the Prime Minister," a party
official told the Dawn newspaper.
The party official, however, quot
ed Sharif as telling a party meeting
that he would take a final decision
Bangladesh jails 14 JMB militants
Dhaka: A Bangladesh court sen
tenced 14 militants of the banned
Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh
(JMB) to 20 years imprisonment
for their roles in a series of deadly
coordinated bomb attacks in
2005. The Islamist militant group
on August 17, 2005 triggered seri
al blasts at over 600 locations in
63 districts in Bangladesh soon
after the government banned the
outfit, bdnews24.com reported.
Simultaneously, explosions
August 12-18, 2017
IRAN DENIES
'SUPPORT' FOR
AFGHAN TALIBAN
Tehran: Iran dismissed as
"bizarre" the allegations by a
Saudi diplomat in Kabul about
Tehran's alleged links to
Taliban militants and armed
g roups inside Afg hanistan,
Press TV reported.
Iranian embassy in Kabul said
the allegations by Mishari al
Harbi, the Saudi charge d'af
faires in Kabul, are "baseless
and groundless," according to
its statement.
T he remarks by the Saudi
The allegations were made by a Saudi diplomat.
Maryam Nawaz, daughter of
former PM Nawaz Sharif.
after reaching Lahore.
The former Prime Minister had
earlier hinted that his younger
brother and Punjab Chief Minister
rocked three locations in Tangail
town, including a court premises.
At least two people were killed
and hundreds wounded in the
bombings.
Along with 20year jail term for
all 14 accused, the court in the
central district of Tangail also
imposed on them a fine of 30,000
Taka ($371), the report said.
Failing to pay the fine will make
them stay in jail for another three
years. The Bangladeshi govern
23
of ficial were also described as
"unprofessional and divisive".
Tehran reiterates in the state
ment its principal policy in sup
porting Afghanistan's peace
and stability, and said it still
believes that the warravaged
country should turn into a
place for constructive interac
tion among states.
T he Saudi diplomat had
recently accused Iran of sup
porting the Taliban militants in
Afghanistan.
Shahbaz Sharif should succeed him
as Prime Minister after contesting
from the NA120 seat in Lahore to
become a National Assembly mem
ber. But Shahbaz Sharif's name was
apparently withdrawn after some
senior party members feared that
in the absence of the younger
Sharif from Punjab, the pace of
ongoing meg a projects in the
province would be affected, report
ed the daily. T houg h Begum
Kalsoom had successfully led the
party's movement for the release of
her jailed husband after a military
coup in 1999, neither she nor her
daughter Maryam has ever taken
part in any electoral bout at any
level.
Bangladesh has blamed JMB for
a series of attacks in recent years.
ment has blamed the JMB for a
series of attacks in recent years on
foreigners, bloggers, human rights
activists and minorities.
 24 August 12-18, 2017 INTERNATIONAL TheSouthAsianTimes.info

N Korea threatens to S African President

attack US bases in Guam Zuma survives no
Pyongyang: North Korea threat
ened to attack the US' military
bases on Guam island just hours
confidence motion
after the American President Cape Town: South African
Donald Trump raised the tone of President Jacob Zuma survived
his warnings to Pyongyang and a no confidence mot ion by
the Pentagon sent B1B bombers secret ballot.
to the Korean peninsula again, a Parliament Speaker Baleka
media report said. Mbete announced that 198 MPs
North Korea is "now carefully voted against the motion, while
examining the operational plan 177 voted in favor and nine
for making an enveloping fire at abstained, Xinhua reported.
the areas around Guam with the MPs of the ruling African
mediumtolongrange strategic National Congress (ANC) burst
Guam hosts the nuclearcapable B1B strategic bombers. Zuma has survived eight no confidence
ballistic rocket Hwasong12," a into applause when the result
motion in the past seven years.
spokesperson for the Korean People's Army of mobilizing strategic nuclear assets from was announced.
(KPA) said in a statement issued by the state Guam or California. Opposition MPs walked out of the cham when voting in the no confidence motion.
agency KCNA. North Korea's statement was released just ber, looking crestfallen. Under the Constitution, if Zuma was
US Andersen Air Force Base on Guam hosts hours after Trump warned the Kim Jongun Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Mmusi removed, the whole cabinet would resign,
the nuclearcapable B1B strategic bombers, regime that it "will be met with fire and fury Maimane vowed to continue the struggle and if no candidate was chosen from MPs
which were sent back by the US to the like the world has never seen" if it does not to remove Zuma from office. within 30 days to succeed Zuma, general
Korean peninsula, according to Yonhap news stop threatening the US, Efe news reported. Zuma has survived eight no confidence elections would be held in 90 days. The
agency, citing South Korean military sources. Pyongyang's previous intimidating state motion in the past seven years. But this ANC has warned that any of its MPs who
"In the morning of August 8 the air pirates ments condemned the latest package of UN was the first time that a no confidence support the antiZuma no confidence
of Guam again appeared in the sky above sanctions, implemented in the wake of the motion was conducted through secret bal motion risk being disciplined by the party,
South Korea to stage a madcap drill simulat regime's weapons programs, and threatened lot. After Mbete gave the green light to insisting that removing Zuma from office
ing an actual war," the North Korean to carry out "physical actions" against the US the secret ballot, the ANC said it has full would not be in the best interest of the
spokesperson added, accusing Washington territory. confidence in the loyalty of the ANC MPs country.

Macron under fire over Venezuela is no longer a

wife's 'First Lady' role
Paris: French President
Emmanuel Macron has come
under fire over plans to give his
wife official status as "First Lady"
of the country, the media report
ed. Macron, who took office in
May, is facing accusations of
hypocrisy after he was previous
ly outspoken in his determina
tion to rid the French political
system of nepotism, reports CNN.
A petition with close to
200,000 signatures has been
launched in protest at the deci
sion to give Brigitte Macron an
official role with access to public
funds, her own staff and office.
"Brigitte Macron currently has
a team of two or three aides, as
well as two secretaries and two
security agents. That's enough,"
the petition said.
"It is up to the people of France
and noone else to choose makers have voiced their anger
their representatives."
According to the French consti
tution, the president's spouse
does not enjoy an official role,
though they do have an office
and advisers.
During his presidential cam
paign, Macron said any role for
his wife would not be paid for
out of public funds.
The controversial move comes
as Macron is preparing to pass a
law which would ban French par
liamentarians from employing
members of their own families.
President Emmanuel Macron
wants to formalize the
role of his wife.
If Macron's law is passed, any
one convicted of such an offence
could face fines and potential
time in prison, CNN reported.
Meanwhile, opposition law
Parliament as
at the apparently contradictory
positions adopted by Macron.
Ugo Bernalicis, of the farleft
coalition La France Insoumise,
accused Macron's party of
hypocrisy for speaking out
against jobs for MPs' families but
backing an official status for
Brigitte Macron, "who was elect
ed by noone".
Republican National Assembly
member Thierry Mariani accused
the President of taking a "do as I
say, not as I do" approach to poli
tics.
democracy: LatAm bloc
Lima: Seventeen American and The declaration was presented the Constituent Assembly.
Caribbean nations meeting in Peru by Peruvian Foreign Minister T he foreign ministers also
to discuss the situat ion in Ricardo Luna, who told reporters requested the suspension of any
Venezuela has reaf firmed their "what occurred in Venezuela" the arms transfers to Venezuela while
joint opinion that the latter South installation of the constitutional the current situation continues
American nation "is no longer a assembly "is a decisive rupture" there.
democracy", a media report said. in the country's political situation Venezuela has been beset by a
T he Latin American Foreign and "what we have now is that wave of antigovernment protests
Ministers blo c also said the Venezuela is a dictatorship". sinceApril 1 that have left at least
Venezuelan National Constituent Declaring "full support and soli 121 people dead.
Assembly convened by President darity" with the "democratically T he situat ion became more
Nicolas Maduro and tasked with elected" National Assembly, it stat acute with the installation of the
drafting a new Constitution was ed that all judicial acts under the Constituent Assembly, given that
"illegitimate". prevailing Constitution "require the body was not recognized by
The Lima Declaration released the authorization" of the same and the Venezuelan opposition.
by the ministers upon conclusion will only be recognized when the
of their daylong Parliament "has approved
meeting, includ them". Venezuelan President
ed recognition In addition, Luna Nicolas Maduro.
of the National expressed the
Assembly or group's "support for
Venezuelan and solidarity with
Attorney General
the only legiti Luis Ortega Diaz and
mate elected the of ficials of the
body in the Venezue lan Public
country. Ministry" who were
They also fired by
c o n
demned
the vio
lence and
h u m a n
rights vio
l a t i o n s
being commit
ted in that country,
Efe news reported.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info BUSINESS August 12-18, 2017 25

SC refuses to stay Sahara's IT RETURNS FILED

Aamby Valley auction UP 25%, ADVANCE
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has
declined Sahara chief Subrata Roy's
petition to stay the global auction+
of Aamby Valley property belong
ing to the group.
Justice Dipak Mishra said the
court will stay the auctioning of
Aamby Valley only when the
Sahara group deposits Rs 1,500
crore w ith the Securit ies and
Exchange Board of India (Sebi).
"The prayer of the contemnor
(Roy) is hereby rejected," the bench
pronounced.
Roy had moved the top court on
Wednesday, seeking to put a hold
on the auction process to sell the
group's Rs 34,000crore worth
Aamby Valley property by the offi
cial liquidator of the Bombay High
Court.
Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and
Mukul Rohatg i, appearing for
Sahara group, requested the court
to put the auction on hold as the
company is in the midst of negotia
tions with a foreign company to
sell 26 per cent stake in Aamby
Valley. But the apex court dis
missed the plea and gave the green
signal to the liquidator, appointed
The court had asked the Bombay High Court's official liquidator to
evaluate and auction the Aamby Valley property of the Sahara Group.
Senior advocates Kapil
Sibal and Mukul
Rohatgi, appearing for
Sahara group,
requested the court to
put the auction on
hold as the company is
in the midst of
negotiations with a
foreign company to
sell 26 per cent stake
in Aamby Valley
PERSONAL INCOME
TAX BY 42%
New Delhi: Claiming a demone returns filed in 201617 was
tization effect, the government 9.9 per cent. The growth in
said the income tax returns returns filed by individuals this
filed in the current fiscal has year is 25.3 per cent at 2.79
seen a 25 per cent increase and crore as against 2.23 crore in
the advance individual income the corresponding period of
tax collections have gone up by 20162017.
42 per cent. "This clearly shows that sub
As many as 2.83 crore stantial number of new tax pay
income tax returns were filed ers have been brought into the
till August 5 this year as com tax net subsequent to demone
by it, to initiate auctioning of
pared to 2.27 crore returns tization," the statement said.
Aamby Valley assets.
filed in 201617 assessment "The effect of demonetization
The apex court had on July 25
year. is also clearly visible in the
asked the embattled Sahara chief to
The government had extend growth in direct tax collections.
deposit Rs 1,500 crore+ in the
ed the deadline to file income Advance tax collections of per
SEBISahara account by September
tax returns (ITR) to August 5. sonal income tax on August 5
7 and said that it might then delib
"As a result of demonetization showed a growth of about
erate upon his plea seeking 18
months more time for making com
and Operation Clean Money, 41.79 per cent over the corre
there is a substantial increase sponding period in 2016
plete repayment.
in the number of Income Tax 2017," it said. Personal income
The court had simultaneously
Returns (ITRs) filed," the tax under Self Assessment Tax
approved the draft sale notice and
Finance Ministry said here in a (SAT) grew at 34.25 per cent
terms to dispose of the property
statement. The percentage over the corresponding period
prepared by the official liquidator
growth in the number of in 20162017.
of the Bombay High Court.

GOVERNMENT SPENDING Yet to receive investment

UP BY 4% IN FIRST
QUARTER: JAITLEY
New Delhi: The government
spent around four per cent more
Budgetary allocation than the
last year in the first quarter by
advancing the Budget by one
month, Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley said.
"The total expenditure of the
Union government during the
first quarter (April to June of
201718) is Rs 6,50,731 crore,
30.3 per cent of Budgetary allo
cation 201718 as against Rs
5,11,833 crore (25.9 per cent of
BE 201617) for the correspon
ding period previous year," Jaitley
informed the Rajya Sabha.
He said the presentation of the
budget a month before and comple
tion of all Budgetrelated legislative
business before March 31 "was
(meant) to provide allocation to the
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
tion system which proposes to
departments right from first day of
the new financial year for expendi
ture". "This was indeed intended to
utilise full working season, including
the first quarter. This has been given
effect to in Budget for 201718," he
said.
proposals from India:
Hyperloop One
New Delhi: W hile India has
evinced interest in introducing
highspeed Hyperloop technolo
gy to revolutionize its trans
portation system, USbased
Hyperloop One is yet to receive
a solid investment proposal
from either the government or
private players in the country.
Hyperloop, an idea from Tesla
CEO and SpaceX Founder Elon
Musk, boasts of a transporta
prope l a podlike vehicle
through a nearvacuum tube at
nearly 1,100 km per hour and
above. T he pod lifts of f the
track using magnetic levitation
and glides at aircraft speeds for
long distances, owing to ultra
low aerodynamic drag. In
February this year, Rob Lloyd,
CEO of Hyperloop One, met
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu
and promised to revolutionise
the advanced surface system in
the country.
If implemented, it would be
possible to travel from Delhi to
Mumbai in 55 minutes, Mumbai
to Chennai in 50 minutes and
Bengaluru to Chennai in 20
minutes.
Prabhu expressed his interest
in the Hyperloop technology,
saying that India would be
keenly watching the project.
Since then, the two parties
have held several rounds of
talks over the proposed project
but something substantial is yet
to emerge.
"We have not received any
investment or of fers of invest
ment from the government or
private investors in India yet,"
Llyod told IANS in a telephonic
interview from the US.
"We have had followup meet
ings with the minister and his
staff and also had dialogue with
other relevant departments and
state governments. We continue
to have strong interest in build
ing a robust transportation sys
tem in India," Llyod added.
The Hyperloop One team was
in India in July to follow up on
the proposed project with vari
ous government agencies.
 26 August 12-18, 2017 SPORTS TheSouthAsianTimes.info

l By Veturi Srivatsa

A
series in Sri Lanka has always
been tough and no captain
before Virat Kohli won back
toback series in the island nation.
The record books don't show that
India played a Sri Lanka team
weakened by the retirement of two
of their alltime greats in the last
two years.
After playing 13 Tests at home
last season, India are still playing in
the subcontinent. Their record is
winning eight series on the trot and
they are just one series shy of the
record nineinarow by Australia.
Now they are all likely to catch up
with Australia's record beating Sri
Lanka on their return visit to India
this winter.
Now is the time to take a look at
Kohli's highly rated team before
they embark on the tours of South
Africa, England and Australia in
that order. Add New Zealand there
after. Four long tough tours on
diverse pitches in dissimilar condi
tions. It is difficult to beat any team
in its own backyard and more so
these four teams.
Every tme India do well in famil
iar conditions the team appears to
be well settled with all boxes ticked
before going overseas. Even the Fab
Four and the world class spinners
Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh
in the ranks, the team could only
win the odd Test, but not the series
in Australia and South Africa.
Before every tour overseas, be it in
Kohli's team should think of
tougher challenges ahead
Virat Kohli during the presentation ceremony after winning the second
test match against Sri Lanka. (Photo: Surjeet Yadav/IANS)
201011 or 201415, it was said
India had the best chance of win
ning the series in both England and
Australia, but that never happened.
Again it will be said that South
Africa is not the team that it was
Ravichandra Ashwin, Wriddhiman
when they visited the last time.
India will point to South Africa's
loss to England (13) for the first
t ime in two decades, and the
Proteas' stock at a low with no defi
nite word about A B De Viliers'
availability for Tests. AB appears to
have played his last Test match as
he wants to prolong his career till
the 2019 World Cup, playing in
shorter format of the game and his
absence has badly hit their middle
order batting.
Looking at India's batt ing,
Saha and Ravindra Jadeja have
more often bailed them out or pro
vided them with a huge cushion to
bow l to attacking fie lds. Even
though Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar
Pujara, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya
Rahane have all notched up big
hundreds, they have not done
together and consistently.
They will be worried about No 6.
Can they afford to bat Ashwin there
overseas, having tried out favorites
in the name of allrounders in the
subcontinental conditions and not
playing six batsmen?
Ishant Sharma can't find a place
in the eleven because Kohli thinks
that the team should promote an
allrounder. Hardik Pandya is the
young man being tried out, but he
himself doesn't know whether he is
in the team as a batsman because
he is slotted eighth in the order, or
a bowler who gets to bowl only
when all the four mainline bowlers
are either exhausted or unable to
break through for long spells.
The spot could have gone to Rohit
Sharma, who in any case will have
to play overseas where all the talk
of five bowlers will be forgotten, or
giving much needed experience to
that exciting chinaman bowler
Kuldeep Yadav.
Rohit, Ishant and Kuldeep, after
enjoy ing a paid holiday in Sri
Lanka, will have little match prac
tice when they are asked to play
their next Test.
Of course, you can boast about
the bench strength where Ishant,
28, with 77 Tests and 218 wickets
under his belt, and Bhuvaneshvar
Kumar, 27, with 45 wickets from
19 Tests are sitting out as they are
not the horses for the course.
It is not to belittle the promise or
competence of those picked for the
two Tests, it is only to point out
how the selection process is under
Virat Kohli is. Some will call it dar
ing and some others see it as trying
to prove a point.
More than winning the series 30
in Sri Lanka for the first time, India
will be thinking of the dif ficult
times ahead.

I try to be inspirational GATLIN DASHES

for youth: Yuvraj BOLT'S FAREWELL
New Delhi: Yuvraj Sing h
made a comeback to India's
ODI cricket team after a
career. Yuvraj, who has won
the battle against cancer, has
learnt how to live in the lime
100M TITLE DREAM
lengthy period earlier this light.
year, and fared average on "T he constant scrut iny
the performance meter. The doesn't bother me because
cricketer, also known for when you don't read the
entrepreneurial initiatives newspaper and don't read the
and his charity work, says news, it wouldn't bother you.
cricket will always be a prior I think I have learnt to do
ity in his life but he also tries that and try to focus on my
to "inspire young people with cricket." He made India
his story". proud by hitting six sixes off
Yuvraj also says his wife an over in 2007, and was
and actress Hazel Keech as part of the Indian cricket
we ll as his fashion brand team when they won World
YouWeCan (YWC) are high Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh with his Cup 2011. But the turning
on his priority, and balancing wife Hazel Keech during a London point came in his life when he
Gold medalist Justin Gatlin, center, with silver medalist Christian Coleman &
it all is tough. "My priority charity event in Berkshire, Britain. battled cancer in 2012. bronze medalist Usain Bolt of Jamaica at World Championships in London.
will always be cricket. I'm a (Photo: IANS) Yuvraj found a new mean
married man now, so my wife extra hours. I think with matu ing to life after the hardship. London: Justin Gatlin, the 2005 if he had won, Xinhua reported.
is also a priority. And the brand rity in life, you learn to balance "Earlier on in my career, it world champion, staged by far the "T he place is wonderful and I
is also a priority... Everything is all these things and at the was more about cricket and biggest surprise of the London world appreciated this crowd so much. It is
a priority," Yuvraj told IANS moment I am able to do that," now it is being more about championships as he edged defend just one of those things, thank you to
over phone from the of fice of he added. inspiring people to come out of ing champion Usain Bolt to take the London for all your love and appreci
Myntra in Beng aluru after Living under public eye isn't the adversity and create exam world title here. ation," said the Jamaican "lightning".
launching his brand's new cap easy as each move of a celebri ples... Since my treatment, Bolt, running his last world champi Gatlin became the most subdued
collection for the fashion and ty is under constant scrutiny. things have changed a lot for onships, finished with a bronze medal world champion when he came back
lifestyle etailer. Yuvraj has had his share of me. "Coming out of adversity, I but was treated by the capacity from behind to win in 9.92 seconds,
"It is tough (managing the gossip around his life try to be inspirational for oth crowd and the organisers as a win leaving his younger American compa
brand, cricket career and per whether it was being linked to ers and set examples as a ner, receiving undimishing cheers triot Christian Coleman to the second
sonal life). It is an ongoing Bollywood actresses or specu youth icon and getting the best and applause from the adoring spec place. His victory was even booed by
pro cess. You have to work lative pieces on his cricket out of them in life." tators and doing the lap of honour as the partisan spectators.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
FROM MOEEN ALI TO RANJI:
HinduMuslim in cricketing diaspora
l By Saeed Naqvi
W
hen he completed his
hattrick by trapping
South Africa's Morne
Morkel leg before wicket in the
third Test match at the Oval with
his orthodox offspin, Moeen Ali
entered the record books on three
counts.
This was the first hattrick in
history at Surrey's famous cricket
ground. The hattrick also gave
England victory, a recordbreak
ing coincidence. Also, Moeen is
the first cricketer of South Asian
origin to have posted such a
record at least since the prince
ly order faded out. Not since Ranji,
Duleep Singh ji and the Nawab of
Pataudi has a subcontinental
cricketer inserted himself in
British history books.
Asked if he would ever play
cricket in India, Ranji is reported
to have grandly asserted: "Duleep
and I are English cricketers." For
that classy disdain, Ranji Trophy
cricket was instituted in India in
1934. The year Ranji died, 1933,
was, by a coincidence, historic for
Indian cricket in another way: The
first Test match was played at the
Bombay Gymkhana. C.K. Nayudu
captained India. The English cap
tain happened to be D.R. Jardine,
notorious for his bodyline series
against Bradman's Australia.
I find it difficult to resist a non
cricketing story about Ranji which
I picked up during my travels
across Ireland. After his cricketing
days, Ranji took to hunting as a
sport. A grouse shooting accident
injured him in one eye. Scouts
scoured the British Isles for the
finest spot for angling, which was
to be Ranji's next hobby. He was
informed that there was no better
spot for river salmon than the
bend in the river facing
Ballynahinch Castle on Ireland's
Connemara coast.
Other than being a magnificent
castle facing a hillock on one side
and a river on the other,
Ballynahinch suited Ranji for
another littleknown reason.
Ranji, the very "English" crick
Playing for England, Moeen Ali spun a hattrick against
South Africa in January this year. (Photo: Crictime.Com.pk)
South Asian origin play-
ers have become promi-
nent in major cricketing
nations such as England
(Monty Panesar),
Australia (Usman
Khawaja), and South
Africa (Hashim Amla).
West Indies, of course,
has had brilliant batsmen
in the past with Indian
names like Rohan
Kanhai, Shivnaraine
Chanderpaul and
Ramnaresh Sarwan.
(Photos: Wikipedia)
eter, had a very Indian sister he
was fond of. In the male dominat
ed feudal world, she had to be
accommodated within hailing dis
tance. Negotiations were started
with a convent in the vicinity. The
convent would receive endow
ments. Ranji's sister would live
with the nuns with two nonnego
tiable conditions: She would not
be converted and she would wear
a sari, not a habit. To this day
Ballynahinch has a photograph of
Ranji's sister in the convent, wear
ing a white sari, rather like
Mother Teresa's Sisters of Charity.
Had I not strayed into the Ranji
saga, the narrative after the
Moeen Ali performance would
have been the obvious one: A few
months ago there were as many
SPORTS
whom the Ranji trophy is named,
Hashim Amla
Rohan Kanhai
as four Muslims in the English
cricket team Moeen, Adil Rashid,
Haseeb Hameed and Zafar Ansari.
Why is there no Hindu in the list?
Lest I be misunderstood, my
curiosity is mostly sociological.
My guess is that Hindus overseas
involve themselves in matters
more serious than cricket.
The phenomenon continues in
other cricket playing countries
Usman Khawaja in Australia;
Hashim Amla and Imran Tahir in
South Africa; Sikandar Raza who
helped Zimbabwe beat Sri Lanka.
Most of these players do not
lend themselves to significant
sociological analysis. They are
immigrants from Pakistan.
Hashim Amla is the only one who
reflects South Africa's social hier
August 12-18, 2017
Ranjitsinhji (1872 1933), after
was the first Indian origin
cricketer to play internationally
(for the English team).
(Photo: Wikipedia)
archies going back to Mahatma
Gandhi's 21 years in that country.
An overwhelming majority of
Indians in South Africa, mostly
around Durban, are children of
indentured laborers, a device colo
nialism invented to circumvent
the abolition of slavery. This class,
along with the blacks, was too
depressed to be playing a "gentle
man's" game. But a wave of
Muslim Gujarati Merchants, who
turned up to cater to the British
and Indian clients, were financial
ly sound. One of them was Baba
Abdullah, who invited Gandhi to
be his barrister.
Since apartheid South Africa
barred nonwhite students from
the better schools, this elite group
helped set up Englishstyle public
schools in neighboring countries
like Malawi under the supervision
of such arch British toadies as
President Hastings Banda.
It is the progeny of these
Muslim merchants from Gujarat
who developed a taste for
Marxism, as well as cricket, later
in British universities. Yusuf
Dadoo, Ahmed Kathrada, Essop
Pahad, Kamal Asmal, Dullah Omar,
Ahmed and Yusuf Cachalia, Fatima
Meer they formed the backbone
of the ANC resistance against
apartheid. Once apartheid was
lifted, their children joined the all
27
white Rand club in Johannesburg
and sundry cricket clubs. That is
the kind of background Hashim
Amla would come from.
How does one explain the fine
offspinner, Keshav Maharaj, to
my knowledge the first Hindu in
the South African team currently
touring England? Maharaj is actu
ally a contrived title among
Indians with a background in
indenture.
Brahmins never accepted inden
ture. For them, to cross the black
waters (Kala Pani) was a sin
because useless action was a sin.
But the Brahmin was sorely
missed for religious rituals during
birth, death, marriage. To make up
for this shortfall, the community
conferred the title of "Maharaj" on
the most educated and one of
"Light skin". The most famous of
this genre was one of Nelson
Mandela's closest friends, Mac
Maharaj. It was he who smuggled
out the manuscript of the Long
March to Freedom from the
Robben Island across a stretch of
the ocean from Cape Town.
Keshav Maharaj is presumably
from this stock.
West Indian cricket, uninhibited
by the class stratifications of
South Africa, gave full vent to a
mixture of slavery and indenture
to produce the world's most scin
tillating cricketers.
Of Indian origin were brilliant
batsmen like Rohan Kanhai,
Shivnaraine Chanderpaul and
Ramnaresh Sarwan all from
Guyana.
It has remained something of a
puzzle why Fiji, most loyal to be
British crown, never took to crick
et in a big way. An average native
Fijian is taller than a professional
basketball player in America. He
is also stronger of built. This over
sized human machine hurtling the
ball from palm tree height would
have led to bloodshed in days
when helmets were not known. Is
this why the Anglo Saxon never
encouraged cricket in Fiji?
Saeed Naqvi is a commentator on
political and diplomatic affairs.
 28 August 12-18, 2017 FEATURES TheSouthAsianTimes.info

The thrill of total solar eclipse over America

l By Shiv Chopra

O
n August 21, America
will witness the great
est total solar
eclipse in a hundred
years. What is a total
solar eclipse? It is
when the moon, pass
ing directly in between
the sun and the earth,
completely covers the
Sun, revealing the Suns
atmosphere, otherwise
invisible. This results in an
explosion of light around the
moon known as the diamond ring Map showing the band of total solar eclipse o August 21 .
effect. At first, you would think (Image: tropicalsails.com)
that the Moon shouldnt exactly To avoid damage to eyes while watching the eclipse, total or partial,
cover the Sun. It just so happens put on a pair solar filter sunglasses which block about 99.99% of the total eclipse will be visible for the When is the eclipse? The eclipse
that the Sun is 400 times bigger sunlight. (Image: nationalgeographic.com) longest time. will take place in the afternoon on
than the Moon, but the Moon is Eclipse watcher are traveling Monday, August 21. The total
400 times closer to the Earth. This that runs coast to coast. that are up to code. long distances for this onceina eclipse will reach the west coast of
peculiar coincidence attracts Regardless of what type of Will I get to see the total lifetime celestial sight. Flights and US at 1:20 EST and leave at the
eclipse chasers from around the eclipse you will encounter, make eclipse? In the TriState area, we hotels for cities along the path of east coast of US at 2:50 EST.
world. Why is this eclipse special? sure to get yourself a pair of solar will see a 70% eclipse, which total eclipse are selling out fast. If The next total solar eclipse will
This eclipse will take place entire filter sunglasses which block means that the sun will, at the you dont want to put that much take place in 2019 but will mostly
ly in America spanning from the about 99.99% of the sunlight. If peak of the eclipse, be 70% cov effort into chasing the total happen over the Pacific Ocean
west to east coast, the first time you choose to look up at the sky ered by the moon. The best place eclipse, but definitely want to see and the southern portion of South
since 1918. All of the US will be with your bare eyes, you can do for those living on the east coast it, you can watch plethora of America. But in 2024, another
able to see at least a partial irreversible damage to them. But, to see total eclipse is Columbia in livestreams and news broadcasts, solar eclipse will pass over Mexico
eclipse. The total eclipse can only be careful of which ones you buy, South Carolina, which is right in which will show the total eclipse and will cover a significant por
be seen in a 70 mile wide band not all manufacturers sell glasses the band of total eclipse. There as it happens. tion of eastern US.

7
l By Shuyi Wang
W Tips for
hile viewing a house in you how the home operates. Meet
Oregon wine country, with the sellers prior to close of
potential buyers men
Head of Asian Segment Strategy, escrow, too, so they can explain
tioned to real estate agent Beth Wells Fargo how things work. This could range
Caster that the sellers really should from tips on the heating and cool
have set a higher price. Bad move.
The sellers had a video surveillance
system, heard the conversation,
and slammed the door on any
House-Hunters ing systems to making sure you
know where the owners manuals
are for appliances.
6. Investigate homeowners asso
negotiations. want more privacy or you want to ciations (HOAs) and condos.
The moral: House hunting is not contain or manage clutter, then a Talk with the other owners in the
exactly what it used to be. Finances traditional house with more walls neighborhood or complex and ask
aside, how can you land the house is better. It may be better for them how well the complex is man
thats right for you in todays mar zoned heating and air conditioning aged. HOAs can be a pain, admits
ket? Much of it is common sense, too. Remember, your agent is on Long, but they maintain the
but here are seven tips that may your side. Give honest feedback to integrity of a subdivision, and
not always be apparent: your realtor, says Castor. These hence property values.
1. Dont buy without an agent. In arent my homes, you wont hurt Understanding condo regulations
todays technologydriven world, my feelings by telling me exactly is even more important: How
its easier than ever to go it alone, what you feel. many parking spots are there?
relying on sites like Trulia 4. Know the trends, but think What about pets? Some condos will
(www.trulia.com), Realtor.com twice. not even allow Christmas wreaths
(www.realtor.com) and even social McMansions and threecar on doors, cautions Caster. And
media. However, while youre likely garages were once the rage, but make sure the association or condo
to get a lot of data, without repre The rules of the game have changed lately. Yet, they have since lost some of is financially able to make needed
sentation you risk missing out on commonsense will help. (Image: HGTV)) theirallure as many trends do. I repairs.
analysis and negotiating skills. see buyers more interested in ener 7. Be realistic.
good schools, family and friends, theres a homeowners association,
Brian Carothers, of RE/MAX gy efficiency, solid construction, No house is perfect, even when
says Steven Long, of Long Realty, a be careful, but dont jump to the
Advanced Realtors in western and safety of the neighborhood. people build their own, says
BerkshireHathaway subsidiary in automatic conclusion that its a
Pennsylvania, says, If your realtor They want smaller lots with less Carothers. Compounding that, he
Tucson, Arizona. While those negative.
represents only you and not the grass and upkeep, says Caster. adds, is a current lack of inventory
things are critical to your long 3. Know what suits you, and be
seller, the agent can convey the Carothers says personal preference in some markets. Therefore, buyers
term happiness, there should be honest.
reality of a house to help you make should take precedence over trends have to be realistic and keep ask
other considerations too. Get out Beyond the obvious (like the
the right decision. I let clients fall or even resale value. What matters ing themselves, Does this work?
of the car and walk around. Are the number of rooms), you have to
in love with the bath, but I look for most, he says, is this: Do you like Here is the paradox: Buyers today
neighbors friendly? Do they offer determine what floor plan suits
anything structural. Carothers will the space? Can you live with the must be patient and aggressive at
information? says Caster. you. Open floor plans have
warn clients, This house is going space? the same time, he explains.
Carothers urges clients to revisit become the new standard, says
to make you spend money where 5. Delve further into the house. Theyre unlikely to find the
the area without him. Go at differ Carothers, but theyre not for
you dont want to spend it. When its time for a house exact house of their dreams, but
ent times of the day. Does it feel everyone. An open floor plan can
2. Consider the neighborhood too. inspection, Long encourages buy when something close does come
different in the evening? And drive be great for entertaining or keep
For many people, whats most ers to accompany the inspector. up, they must leap at it. Carothers
to work from the neighborhood, ing track of children. If, on the
important in a neighborhood is The inspector will not only reveal pauses, then adds, Its a delicate
especially during rush hour. If other hand, your family members
safety and proximity to work, issues with the home but will tell balance.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
India, a country he
loved, but did not like
l By Saket Suman
T
hat creative juices of sub
lime writing flowed through
the veins of late writer
Khushwant Singh is reflected in
the reverence with which he is
read even after his death. But it is
uncommon for a writer of such
stature to openly pronounce him
self an unproud Indian. And, with
two new publications on him due
later this month, readers will have
much to chew upon.
Khushwant Singh rarely shied
away from calling a spade a spade
and in one of his essays, "Why I
Am An Indian", he makes it a point
to highlight that there is "little to
be proud of what we are doing
today". This statement, which may
take many by surprise, and even
annoy some selfproclaimed
nationalists today, is in response
to a rhetorical question that Singh
poses to himself at the beginning
of the same essay: Am I proud of
being an Indian?
His answer? "No, I am not proud
of being an Indian."
If a noted public figure was to
make such a statement today, of
l By Saket Suman
T
he two most significant
arguments that noted com
mentator on international
affairs, Meghnad Desai, makes in
his latest book are that the year
2016 witnessed the collapse of
the Liberal Order liberty, free
dom and free trade, etc and that
there are a lot of similarities
between Prime Minister Narendra
Modi and the US President Donald
Trump.
Titled "Politicshock: Trump,
Modi, Brexit and the Prospect for
Liberal Democracy" (Rupa) the
book analyses Trump and Modi
and other "outsiders" who have
come to the fore not as "freaks
but as results of systematic
forces" economic, social, politi
cal and cultural who will now
shape the critical destiny of the
time that we live in.
"Liberal Order reached its full
ness in 1991 with the collapse of
the Soviet Union. It is obviously a
Western dream, a North Atlantic
philosophy but some sort of free
dom was realized. By and large,
people coming together and
agreeing on major things and only
differing on minor things is what
defined the liberal order. That is
what got threatened in 2016
through its numerous surprises,"
Desai told IANS in an interview
Two essay anthologies "On India" and 'Extraordinary Indians' by
Khushwant Singh are being published this month. (Photo: IANS)
all memes and trolls coming his
way on social media, the question
asking "Why is he an Indian then"
would be one of the most promi
nent.
"I did not have any choice: I was
born one. If the good Lord had
consulted me on the subject I
might have chosen a country
more affluent, less crowded, less
censorious in matters of food and
drink, unconcerned with personal
equations and free of religious
bigotry," Singh explains. The sim
UK economist & politician Meghnad Desai has published "Politicshock:
Trump, Modi, Brexit & the Prospect for Liberal Democracy". (Photo: IANS)
before listing a series of events,
particularly Brexit and Trumps
triumph.
He also said that Brexit was
much more than just a referen honored. Of course, equality has
dum. It was something in which
the "outsiders" came and won
against the liberal elite. "These
outsiders," he elaborated, "were
always there but the mainstream
media failed to recognize their
potential and misunderstood the
appeal of things like Brexit to
them."
But what makes Liberal Order
so significant to the contempo
rary times?
"My book also examines
whether the Liberal Order was as
good as it claims to be. It also
explores the reasons it is threat
BOOKS
ple point that the muchacclaimed
writer seeks to make through this
and several other essays on India
is that our nation has many short
comings, and that we don't neces
sarily need to be proud of every
thing about our country as long as
we can rally around the con
sciousness of one nation.
"I don't like it, but I love it," he
says about India.
Khushwant Singh argues that
despite our many differences "of
language, religion and faith", we
liberal order'
collapsed and
'outsiders' rose in
world politics
ened. Since 1991, human rights
are being asserted, things like
transgender identities, gay rights
and other similar things are being
the fact that the media was almost
not been achieved, but at least in
our language and behavior we are
expected to respect diverse identi
ties as equals. That is the funda
mental idea of Liberal Order,"
Desai, a Labour Peer in the British
House of Lords, elaborated.
A significant chunk of the book
has been dedicated to chronicling
the life, decisions and prospects of
Trump and Modi. Desai argues
that there is a lot in common
between them and yet they are
two totally different people. The
major connecting link between
the two is "the brutality with
August 12-18, 2017
have risen as one whenever the
situation has demanded.
"What then is this talk about
Indianizing people who are
already Indian? And has anyone
any right to arrogate to himself
the right to decide who is and
who is not a good Indian," he
wrote in 1970, which seems all
the more relevant today.
Later this month, Rupa will pub
lish "On India", a selection of
Khushwant Singh's best writings
on the country. The selection
spans a wide range of topics and
ends on a happy note with some
of the author's favorite jokes.
Another book, "Extraordinary
Indians", a collection of his pro
files of 50 eminent Indians (and
one Pakistani) from a variety of
backgrounds and professions is
being published by Aleph Book
Company.
"Khushwant Singh was one of
the finest writers and journalists
we've ever had and a fearless pub
lic intellectual. His greatest contri
bution to public life was probably
his courageous defense of secular
ism, and the unending war he
waged against religious funda
mentalism. He was also an outspo
ken voice on the need for free
speech, and politicians and lead
ers of probity and rectitude,"
David Davidar, Publisher and Co
founder of Aleph Book Company,
told IANS.
Over the course of his prolific
career, Khushwant Singh met and
Why
which
they were greeted by the main
stream media" when they entered
the race for the highest seats in
their respective countries, he
added.
"I could see the parallel between
America has a very strict separa
unanimously trashing down
Donald Trump and Modi faced the
same sort of things when he start
ed off his Lok Sabha campaign.
We forget how vicious the media
was in 2013 to Mr Modi. He was
called a fascist and compared to
Hitler. It is a very parallel compar
ison because there you have a
very successful businessman, a
very adept television producer, a
publicist. Why didn't the people
recognize that the way his cam
paign was carried out was suffi
ciently planned?" he asked.
Desai maintained that they are
29
wrote about hundreds of people.
The people in the new book are
those he admired deeply for their
integrity, talent, generosity, vision
and leadership.
"Given the tenor of our times,
we need voices like his to be
heard loud and clear. That is one
of the reasons we're publishing
'Extraordinary Indians', a collec
tion of the finest profiles
Khushwant Singh wrote, to mark
his 102nd birth anniversary.
"At a time when large sections
of our media and intelligentsia are
genuflecting and are glorifying
corrupt scoundrels, sectarian
thugs and false gods, the book
shows us who India's true heroes
and heroines are," he added.
These two books, which will be
on the stands soon, are a fitting
tribute to the nation by a writer
who travelled extensively through
most parts of the country and
abroad and who, in Kipling's
words, walked with kings but
never lost the common touch.
Enshrined in these pages is
Singh's deep belief in the idea of
India.
There is a lot to take away from
these two books for young read
ers as well, as Kushwant Singh
was a visionary, born perhaps
much ahead of his times. Flicking
through these pages, one comes
to realize that he was a staunch
believer in the wild spirit. It is
okay sometimes to flirt and live
life, as they say, to the fullest.
both outsiders in the sense that
"all the wellspoken people
were against them" while
they had an appeal
among the masses. He,
however, agreed that
on the personal level
they are "two different
people" with "very dif
ferent" lifestyles.
But despite all the simi
larities that have been
drawn between the two lead
ers, why has India not been able
to strike major trade deals with
the US under Trump?
"The President of the United
States is a very powerful person.
He can push the nuclear button
but he cannot make Congress
change its mind on trade policies.
tion of powers. On most occa
sions, it is Congress that takes the
call on trade relations. IndiaUS
trade negotiations will highly
depend on the US Congress agree
ing with Trump. Secondly, these
are early days to reach a conclu
sion," he contended.
In this perceptive book, Desai, a
recipient of the Padma Bhushan,
also analyses Asia's challenge to
Western hegemony and asks if
the conventional wisdom about
the hegemony of free trade liber
alism needs reexamination.
IANS
 30 August 12-18, 2017
Living in India but faced with restrictions, controversial
Bangladeshi author of Lajja recounts another bitter
experience when trying to visit Ajanta-Ellora caves.
l By Taslima Nasreen
An exiles torment
F
or years, I have quietly
dreamt of it, wished for it.
That Id go see the splendors
of Ajanta, the magic of Ellora. I
have visited many a historical
marvel in India, but there are
sites I could not visit because
there were restrictions.
My long stays in Europe and
experiencing its security mana
cles have tutored me somewhat in
the methods and protocols of
what to expect and how to man
age my security. Here in India, I
get armed bodyguards. Figuring
out the rest the where, the
when, the forhowlong of the
matter is entirely my preroga
tive. These are my decisions,
which I take depending on the sit
uation at hand.
Since 2007, this has been my
story. Before that, if I were to
attend an event, be present at a
function, there would be news.
The possibility of my presence
would be advertised. I would go
without fear of being attacked.
But once the attacks on my life
started, they kept recurring.
When I get an invitation for an
event in India, my security is
arranged. But, what if I want to
just travel for pleasure? Theres
no organization that would make
the arrangements for me then,
ensure my security detail. I need
to work that out myself.
No one had any idea that I was
travelling to AjantaEllora. I had
booked the hotel in my travel
mates (a young woman) name
and even the air tickets. But I
needed to offer my own name as
a companion. One cannot travel
anonymously anywhere anymore.
A week before I was set to leave
for Aurangabad, I had duly sub
mitted the documents of my flight
details and hotel booking to my
Delhi security guards. Their office
function branch had assured me
that the word had reached from
Delhi to Maharashtra, that Id be
safe and would get security
guards once I land in
Aurangabad. I left Delhi for
Aurangabad on July 29. As soon
as I got off from the plane, I could
see the dense police presence all
around. The cops at the airport
werent taking me to the baggage
claim area, but instead to a senior
officer. He said: Situations bad
in the city. Protests are going on
against you. There are 500 peo
ple gathered outside your hotel.
I was stunned. This was beyond
belief. My travel plans were
passed on by Delhi Police to
the Maharashtra Police in
utmost secrecy, so how
did the hardliners
chance upon the infor
mation? The office
accosting me said he
didnt know how the
information leaked. By
then, I had crumpled into
a bundle of helplessness,
choking with pain within. I
looked around, and then
asked him: What am I
supposed to do now?
The officer replied: You
must go back. Theres an Air
India flight to Delhi. Its tomor
row morning.
I was aghast. What shall I
do until morning? Where
shall I stay?
The officer thought for a
while. He had the
Air India crew
put me back
on the very
plane by
which I had
come from
Delhi a little
while back;
only, the
flight was
now on its way to Mumbai. I must
board the plane, I was told. I was
taken to the Air India ticket
counter. My travel mate looked
out from the ticket counter and
said, It seems the protesters have
entered the airport already.
The cops seemed relaxed. I was
the one getting worked up. They
took me to the security clearance
next. Behind me, I could hear the
earsplitting shrieks of almost
200 people screaming Taslima,
go back! Taslima, murdabad.
Naraetakbeer, Allahu Akbar! all I got was hardliners rallying
Even in Mumbai, there was
police everywhere. They told
immediately that I couldnt step
out of the ariport, couldnt visit
any place in the city. I looked up
online if there was any riotous sit
uation anywhere. No, there was
nt. I was relieved.
Sometime back I was wondering
if I should go away to a European
city to live in peace for a while.
But then I told myself, why bother
FIRST PERSON TheSouthAsianTimes.info
if its quiet in this country (India). repeat itself, to be attacked again,
The next day, The Times of the news of the attack to spread.
India published the news of what I could see what the newspa
happened with me at the pers and TV channels were
reporting. Maharashtra Police
was mincing words when asked
by reporters what they knew
about the episode. Conflicting
versions were coming out. Once
they said they didnt have a
clue that Id be travelling to
Aurangabad. Another time,
they said they were
informed at 4.30 pm of
July 29. Then they contra
dicted themselves again.
No, it wasnt at 4.30 pm, but
at 6 pm that they got to know
that I was coming.
Byt what baffles me is this:
does it really matter if the infor
mation was sent at 4.30pm or
6.30pm? How did it fall into
the hands of the funda
mentalists in the first
place? How was it that
the protesters had on
them every little bit of
my secret travel plan?
The fundamentalists
were aware of every
thing from the hotel
I had booked, to the
name under which it
was booked, till when
was I staying, where
all had I planned to
Photo: Alchetron visit everything was
meticulously cloned
Aurangabad airport. PTI soon fol from my clandestine, security
lowed it up, and then it spread cleared and securityprivy itiner
like wildfire. I didnt want this to ary.
happen. Theres no dearth of bad I checked on the internet:
experiences in my life. I just didnt before a mob of ideologically ine
want it replayed over and briated rioters, Muslim funda
In 2007, I was attacked in mentalist leaders were delivering
Hyderabad. When I made my way a passionate speech, in which
back to Kolkata, I expected the they were spilling the beans of
CPM government in West Bengal my Aurangabad travel. Every
to stand by me. But no, I was put secret little nugget of information
under house arrest. I had hoped was out there, being tossed
for sympathy and compassion around by the hardliners. They
from fellow Bengalis, but instead, would teach me what the Ajanta
Ellora caves were really like! The absolute solitude. I dont have
against me, fundamentalists leaders were telling their minions
wanting me out of Bengal. I had that they had ensured that cops
to leave Kolkata, a city I had come prevented me from stepping out
to see as my home away from of the airport and entering
home. Later I was put under Aurangabad.
house arrest in Delhi cantonment I wonder, dont the Muslims
area and then forced to leave the know who their real enemies are?
country. I was the victim of the I look at the gau rakshaks run
attacks on me, but I was the one ning amok all over the country,
who got punished. Someone who killing Muslims with glee. Why
has gone through what I have dont I see Muslims protesting
been, wouldnt want history to against those acts of murder?
Why is it that its me who faced
the brunt of the Hindutva
brigades wrath when I criticized
cow vigilantism on Twitter? Am I
attacked, assaulted, abused again
and again because Im a soft tar
get? That Im an exile in this
country? That I dont have any
one to call my own, no country,
no land to call mine?
Congress, CPM, Trinamool have
all punished me for no fault of
mine. I guess its perhaps the
BJPs turn now. And why wouldnt
BJP as well? If they dont appease
the real hardliners among the
Muslims, how will the votebank
politics play out after all?
Politicians dont think of anything
beyond elections and what would
fetch them some votes, and this is
true irrespective of party lines.
I sit back and wonder when was
it that the Muslims turned me
into their enemy. Is it a crime to
want that the Muslims modernize
themselves, seek equality
between men and women? Why
am I the adversary then, when all
I ever wanted to be was a friend?
Who is the real enemy of
Muslims, I ask? Those who want
Muslims to stay blinded by reli
gion held back by the lack of edu
cation, superstition, sectarianism,
intolerance. Those who want the
Muslims to be forever limited by
the darkness of fundamentalism,
fettered by its toxic chains. They
are the real enemies. Not those
who want Muslims to pursue edu
cation, find enlightenment, devel
op a scientific temper, be sensi
tive to and indeed fight for
human and gender rights, believe
in equality. Who am I? I dont
have a political party, or an
organization, or the support of
the intelligentsia. Public intellec
tuals are now opportunistic
spokespersons of one or another
political party. My existence in
India is a tale of utter and
anything or anyone to fall back
on but my ideals and my beliefs.
I dont have ground beneath my
feet. But still, I am here. I continue
to be. Because I love. I love this
country. I love this country
because this country looks like
my country and feels like home.
(Translated from Bengali for
DailyO by Angshukanta
Chakraborty.)
TheSouthAsianTimes.info HUMOR August 12-18, 2017 31

Funny Side by Nury Vittachi

A timetravel train that

Einstein would have loved

BEST
RATE
FOR
INDIA (Image courtesy: vyperlook.com)

AND ear Internet Answers, I just got invited ule.) Train timetables in India are wonders of

PAKISTAN D to a beach party. What's the maximum

possible weight loss in a 25minute
train journey?
Yeah, I'm starting late, but what can you do?
While waiting for a response, I found that a
New York Head Quarter reader had sent me a news item about a rail
422S Broadway journey. Angry court officials in India confis
cated a railway train and the 100 passen
HICKSVILLE gers on it.
NY 11801 I looked up news reports on the incident to
see that passengers did not seem unduly
5168271010 annoyed. No one expects trains in India to run
perfectly on schedule and I guess some trav
ellers enjoyed having ringside seats at a bat
tle between two major groups of bossy offi
cials. (India is not Japan, where people claim
99 per cent of trains seem to run on sched
science, anyway. I recall one hill station in the
north where there was only one train, sched
uled to leave at 2.30 p.m. every day. In fact, it
left at a variety of times, but townsfolk solved
the problem by declaring that whatever time
the train left was 2.30 p.m., and all other
clocks and watches were adjusted according
ly, each day. In one fell sweep, the train
became the only one in THE WORLD that left
exactly on time every single day. (Yes, a 100
per cent ontime score, take that, Japan.)
Einstein, who was a) always going on about
the malleability of the spacetime continuum,
b) using trains as examples, and c) pointing
out that everything was relative, would have
thoroughly approved.
Confiscating vehicles along with passengers
is not uncommon. I was the reporter in a case
in Hong Kong in which a woman hired a

Laughter is the Best Medicine
By Mahendra
Shah
Mahendra Shah is
an architect by edu-
cation, entrepreneur
by profession,
artist and humorist,
cartoonist and writer
by hobby. He has
been recording the
plight of the immi-
grant Indians for
the past many years
in his cartoons.
Hailing from
Gujarat, he lives in
Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania.
removal firm to shift her furniture. Halfway to
her new home, police arrested the staff and
impounded the truck, furniture AND house
holder. In Asia, unpredictable journeys are
the norm. Those of us who fly a lot in the
region are used to occasionally landing in the
wrong country, and sometimes we stay for
the rest of our lives, not wanting to be consid
ered fussy.
In China, train crowds are packed so tightly
that they become single multilegged organ
isms, and you find yourself lifted off your feet
and taken to places not of your choosing. This
can be useful. "I tried to come straight home,
dear, but the press of the crowd took me to a
series of bars, at each of which I managed to
grab a drink to stave off dehydration."
Since journeys in Asia are long and unpre
dictable, all vehicles are considered legitimate
places in which to sleep. A rather beautiful
young woman fell asleep on my shoulder on
the bus the other day. I tried to look like a
cool boyfriend, but she eventually woke up
and sprang out of the bus in a single move
ment. It may even have been her stop.
The internet has still not answered my
question. Which may be good news, since it
would be a crime to waste this crushed but
not ancient donut I found in my bag, right?
After all, the journey may be longer than pre
dicted. Happy travels.
32 August 12-18, 2017
By Dr Prem Kumar Sharma
AUGUST 1218, 2017
ARIES: Business partners behave sup
portive on executing strategies to sort
out pending problems. Evening enjoyed
with family and close relatives brings immense
pleasure. You will make good money in this
week, but dont let it slip through your ngers.
A promising week for romance when your inno
vation infuses a new spirit in it. You are likely
to maintain good health that would also give
you success. Business or vacation traveling is
what you needed right now. It always is excit
ing to begin looking at homes for sale in your
area. Showing courage at the face of unusual
and challenging situations highly benets.
TAURUS: A promising week to start a
new venture in partnership. All are likely
to be beneted. Enjoying a picnic with
family will not only bring joy but also help in
clearing misunderstandings. Increase in income
from past investment is foreseen. Romantic
opportunity comes your way as your sparkling
sunshine smile injures a lively & tender heart.
Chances of recovering from physical ailment
are high. A group of friends or your partner is
looking forward for a vacation with you. Your
property prices will boost in the coming period.
The week is lled with surprises to surprise
you.
GEMINI: Your technical expertise gives a
decisive edge over competitors at work.
Charming nature and pleasant personal
ity would make you the attraction of family
function. Monetary gains from unplanned
sources will brighten your week. Romance
touches new heights, as partner positively
responds. Inexhaustible energy enables to par
ticipate in outdoor activities. A leisure trip will
prove to be a premium time for you. Buying
property can lead to gains as property prices
continue to increase. At personal front you nd
many things changing for the better.
CANCER: Hard work of the past brings
rich dividends. However continue
enhancing your skills/adopt techniques
for further development. Family members
appreciate the changes made in & around the
house. New moneymaking opportunities will be
lucrative. You are likely to nd someone with
whom you will enjoy the ecstasies of love. You
attain a bloom in health on sharing happiness
with others. Traveling alone sounds extrovert
but your family might question your character.
You could buy the property that you are looking
for. You try to motivate a friend by showing the
truth of facts and logical arguments.
LEO: Dedication & loyalty at work would
bring desired results. Time to get
involved into activities that would help
in bringing contact with close relatives. You get
some nancial rewards as dedication & hard
work gets noticed. Love comes your way as
friendship turns into romance. A cheerful state
of mind would allow enjoying the perfect
health. Are you longing to go on a vacation,
consider your work also? Investing on proper
ties which are under developed will be prof
itable. You learn to be happy and remain satis
ed with what you already have.
VIRGO: New ventures start on a posi
tive note. Friends and family members
would encourage working harder.
Monetary gains are likely to be from more than
one source. You are likely nd comfort in the
arms of romantic partner. Divine knowledge
from a saintly person provides solace & com
fort. You might get a chance for business trip,
which will he lp you in new connections.
Whether young or old, now is the time to start
investing. Rescheduling plans and routines
would help in personal achievements.
ASTROLOGY
LIBRA: You succeed in completing
projects efciently provided you put
in all your ef forts. You are likely to
hear a good news from close relatives. A new
nancial deal gets nalized paving the way for
fresh money. Love and romantic encounter will
keep you in a cheerful state. Meditation and
yoga prove benecial for spiritual as well as
physical gains. Traveling overseas would be an
experience full of spark that enlightens your
imagination. Looking for good long term
investments, then go for a property which is
under construction. Giving an ear to friends
views and taking independent decisions would
highly benet.
SCORPIO: Service people, artists and
those in creative eld will get several
new opportunities. Sudden good news
in the evening will bring cheers for the entire
family. Improvement in nances is certain.
Cupids arrows would make your heart utter
high. Mental alertness would enable to solve a
tricky problem. Planning a trip for your love
will embrace you and your spouse. A good deal
on commercial property mig ht o ccur.
Temptation of any kind fails to allure you.
SAGITTARIUS: Hard work putin the
past will yield handsome rewards in
business during this week. An old
friend makes a pleasant visit later in the week.
Financial position will improve later. Sudden
romantic encounter is foreseen. A very healthy
week when your cheerfulness gives the desired
tonic and condence. Travel plans for better
communication will be helpful for new hori
zons. Value the property at right price to
attract buyers for it. You require putting extra
efforts to get desired emotional satisfaction in
personal relations.
CAPRICORN: Innovative ideas & tech
nical expertise would enable to win
the condence of seniors at profes
sional front. You are likely to plan a short trip
with family. Real estate investment would be
lucrative. Partner brings immense romantic
pleasure even if work pressure occupies your
mind. A continuous positive thinking gets
rewarded as you succeed in whatever you.
Implementation of new ideas to travel will be
beneciary for you on work front. Buying
cheap property in the right location can pro
vide you triple gain annually. Keeping your
limitations in mind would help in passing dif
cult phase at personal front.
AQUARIUS: Failure at professional
front would disappoint you.
Unexpected visit by old friend could
give you a pleasant surprise. Investment in
stocks & mutual funds would help in earning
prots. Romance rules heart & mind. Creative
hobbies are likely to keep you relaxed. Travel
plans for ambitions are in full bloom. Investing
in property business sounds very appealing.
You are likely to make a commitment to the
people looking up for help.
PISCES: You are likely to make some
wrong decisions under the heat of
excitement. Good advice from family
members will help in reducing mental ten
sion/pressure. Longterm investment in stocks
& mutual funds will enable to earn prots.
Romantic imagination occupies mind forcing
to go out of the way to please partner. With a
positive outlook & condence, you succeed in
impressing people around you. A beckon desti
nation sounds tempting to you. Banks love to
nance those, who invest in properties which
are under deve lopment. Expressing true
feelings would help in saving you from a big
problem.
Chandigarh, India: +91-172- 256 2832, 257 2874
Delhi, India: +91-11- 2644 9898, 2648 9899
psharma@premastrologer.com; www.premastrologer.com
ANNUAL PREDICTIONS: FOR THOSE BORN IN THIS WEEK
August 12, 2017
Governed by number 3 and the planet
Jupiter, you are highly energetic, dignified,
ambitious, and an intelligent person. You are
a person who enjoys a small but trustworthy
group of friends. You are confident and bold,
but your need to check your tendency to
behave hypocrite, over ambitious and dictato
rial at times.
This year try to stay away from business
partnerships or any new joint ventures.
Partnerships will be very alluring but defi
nitely not recommended for the first six
months. You need to be extra cautious before
making any financial commitments or signing
new contracts. Benefits in cash and kind will
accrue later in the year. New romance will
develop through social activities. Relationship
with your spouse will be healthy and highly
cordial. Some tension and anxiety due to
health of your parents cannot be ruled out.
The months of March, July and October will
be significant.
August 13, 2017
Influenced by number 4 and the planet
Uranus, you are smart, confident, energetic,
systematic, reliable and a studious person.
Your efficiency and determination makes you
achieve the maximum and stay ahead of oth
ers, but you need to control your tendency to
behave stubborn, jealous and vindictive at
times.
This year you would start a brand new
phase in your career, which might not be very
creative but promises to bring good financial
rewards. Long lasting contacts would build
through social gettogethers and traveling.
Unexpected help from a relative would give a
major boost to your career. Your spouse will
be quite cooperative and shower her full love
and affection upon you despite your erratic
behavior at times. The months of February,
June and November will prove to be highly
significant.
August 14, 2017
Ruled by number 5 and the planet Mercury,
you are active, smart, sensible, practical, sys
tematic and highly diplomatic person. People
admire you for your ability to take quick deci
sions, but you need to curb your tendency to
behave moody, jealous and careless at times.
This coming year sees new ventures and
plans materializing to your benefit. You
would enter new partnerships and your
income would be from more than one source.
Support from your partners and colleagues,
would boost your morale and confidence.
Family members would be understanding to
your concern and extremely helpful. Your
spouse especially would be a major source of
emotional support. A distant journey later in
the year cannot be ruled out. The months of
March, July and September will prove to be
highly eventful.
August 15, 2017
Ruled by number 6 and the planet Venus,
you are generous, practical, cooperative,
accommodating and a broadminded person.
You have a large social circle and many
acquaintances, but you like to share your per
sonal life with only few. You are highly sin
cere to your friends, but you need to control
your tendency to behave moody, dominating
and jealous at times.
T his year your income would see an
upswing primarily due to extra work that you
do at your spare time. Home front would be
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
peaceful with family members extending all
possible help and cooperation. Growth oppor
tunities would arise from new contacts you
develop. Wedding bells for some in the last
quarter of the year while others would find
romance to keep them in the right spirit and
good mood. The months of March, October
and December will prove to be important and
eventful.
August 16, 2017
Dominated by number 7 and the planet
Neptune, you are responsible, af fectionate,
creative, simple and highly emotional person.
You are dedicated and hard working and have
an excellent command over your work, but
you need to check your tendency to behave
jealous, fickleminded and extravagant at
times.
This year the contacts that you develop
would be long lasting. Past investments
would fetch handsome returns and long
pending judicial disputes would settle in your
favour. The latter half of the year sees you
get closer to an influential person who would
make a remarkable difference on your think
ing and personality. Journeys that you under
take and foreign transactions that you do are
likely to yield good returns. Stress and ten
sion might lead to some minor health prob
lems. The months of February, May, October
and December would be eventful.
August 17, 2017
Influenced by number 8 and the planet
Saturn. You are active, authoritative, system
atic, sober and methodical person. You are
highly talented and you handle many respon
sibilities at a very young age. You are also
courageous and bold, but you need to control
your tendency to behave stubborn, jealous
and arrogant at times.
This year new contacts and alliances would
take shape. You would be in a strong position
and your talents would open better opportu
nities for you. Your income would improve
and you would make some good investments
during this period. Your spouse would be
your major support. The both of you would
travel to distant places and spend many
pleasurable moments together. Health of a
sibling in the family might require frequent
medical attention. The months of February,
June, September and December will be
significant.
August 18, 2017
Ruled by number 9 and the planet Mars.
You are energetic, dashing, courageous,
enthusiastic and brilliant individual. You com
plete every task in hand to your best ability.
You possess pleasing personality, but you
need to check your tendency to behave
aggressive, shorttempered and extravagant
at times. This year your confidence is going
to receive a major boost, primarily due to the
support that you receive from family mem
bers and friends. Promotions and transfers
for some are certain later in the year. Your
income would rise and you would spend more
on entertainment and comforts. Past invest
ments would bring rewards and fresh invest
ment during this period is recommended.
Travel overseas for business and new ven
tures seems high. Health of your parents
could cause stress and anxiety. Avoid finan
cial dealing with friends and relatives to
avoid complications later. The months of
January, April, August and November will
prove to be eventful.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info SPIRITUAL AWARENESS August 12-18, 2017 33

Part two of the discourse 'Don't stop until the goal is reached'

THE LOVE OF GOD WILL

FLOW ETERNALLY The Master removes our pain by
bathing us with so much love and
How is it possible grace that we are no longer aware
By Sant Rajinder for people to get of it. We become oblivious to the
slings and arrows of life. They
Singh Ji Maharaj so much bliss from may still come our way, but we
being around are so intoxicated that we lose
another human awareness of even our body. Thus,

I
f we find that we are not mak
ing internal progress in medi
tation, we need to look to the
failures in our ethical living that
we record on our introspection
diary. The diary is a record of
impediments to our inner
progress. Do we think we can
make inner headway to the king
dom of God, if we are thinking or
saying violent words or commit
ting acts of violence? Do we think
we can merge back in God if we
are hurting Gods creatures? Do
we think we can merge back in
God if we are egotistical and think
we are better than all the rest of
Gods creation? The introspection
diary shows us where we are
blocking our spiritual progress.
The goal is to weed out those hin
drances that stand between us
and God. Those hindrances are
the minds efforts to slow down
our progress. We need to keep a
vigilant watch on the many ways
in which the mind distracts us
from spiritual progress. By doing
so, we are clearing the pathway to
go deeper into the forest.
The Masters want us to move
forward in two areas. They want
us to put more time and more
accuracy into our meditations.
They also want us to weed out any
failures in ethical virtues that bar
our way to moving forward spiri
tually. It is a twostep process.
Clear the pathway by weeding out
failures in ethical virtues on our
introspection diary and then move
forward in our meditations.
If we find that we are commit
ting the same failures we have
been making for years, then we
are stagnating. We need to make
efforts to take a good look at
where we are and resolve to do
better the following day. If we
hurt other peoples feelings by our
harsh words twenty times a day,
then let us reduce that number to
nineteen the following day. Then,
let us go further to reduce that
failure to eighteen the next day.
Then, day by day, let us continue
to decrease the failures until we
reach zero. Then, let us select
another category and begin
improving in that quality also.
Over time, we will discover that
our diary glistens with the
purity of a diamond reflecting the
light.
Let us take stock of where we
are in our meditations and our
ethical life, and resolve to not
stop, but keep moving forward.
We will find that we will gain
more and more spiritual wealth.
We will go from just collecting
mere trees, to collecting spiritual
sandalwood, spiritual silver, spiri
tual gold, and ultimately the spiri
tual diamond of becoming one
with God.
Hazur was a living example of
one who did not stop until he
reached his goals. I would like to
take up a poem of Sant Darshan
Singh Ji that he wrote in praise of
Hazur in the 1950s. From these
verses, we can get a glimpse of
how Sant Darshan Singh Ji
revered him and the wondrous
qualities he found in him.
The first verse says:
You have set afloat the perenni
al fountains of eternal bliss and
everlasting ecstasy.
You have brought forth fragrant
roses where there were prickling
thorns before.
In this verse, Sant Darshan
Singh Ji Maharaj is describing
what it was like to be in the pres
ence of Hazur. Sant Darshan Singh
Ji is describing the incredible
ecstasy and bliss he experienced
when in the presence of Hazur,
both outwardly and within during
meditations. Although we may not
have met Hazur, we can relate to
what he is saying by remembering
times we have been in the pres
ence of Sant Kirpal Singh Ji or
Sant Darshan Singh Ji.
How is it possible for people to
get so much bliss from being
around another human being?
The truth is that the bliss is not
coming from the human form of
the Master. It comes from the God
power that radiates through that
form. God is love, and our soul is
love. When we come into the pres
ence of a Master, that love radi
ates from God through the vehicle
of the Master and is perceived by
our soul. When soul experiences
God, it is experiencing its own
divine nature. That force is so
attractive that the soul is enrap
tured and filled with love and
bliss.
Sant Darshan Singh Ji is describ
ing that love as perennial foun
tains of eternal bliss. The image of
a fountain is that it is continually
flowing. The water in a fountain
never runs dry. It goes on gushing
continually. So it is with the love
of God. It is always flowing. It will
flow eternally. What a wonderful
destiny for our soul! Once we are
connected to that fountain
through a living Master, our soul
can drink of that bliss for all times
to come. We can do so by meeting
the Master outwardly and experi
encing his divine darshan. We can
also do so by meeting the Master
being? The truth is
that the bliss is not
coming from the
human form of the
Master. It comes
from the God
power that
radiates through
that form
within through meditations. The
inner form of the Master is so
radiant and loving that we want to
stay immersed in that form for all
times to come. The bliss without is
great, but the bliss within is far
greater. We can experience those
fountains of bliss when we medi
tate and go within.
If we were to not stop but move
forward, we would ultimately
come to the radiant form of the
Master. Then, that form would
guide us into higher and higher
regions where we would experi
ence those fountains of bliss. If we
know this bliss is waiting for us,
why would we want to stop before
bathing in those fountains of
divinity?
The next line of verse says: You
have brought forth fragrant roses
where there were prickling thorns
before. Sant Darshan Singh Ji is
saying that in the presence of
Hazur, all the thorns of life grew
into fragrant roses. What he is
describing is the power of a true
Master. When we come into his
presence, all the problems and
pains of the world disappear.
Problems may be there, but we do
not feel them. Instead, we experi
ence a delicious nectar and won
drous fragrance of love. The
Master can turn thorns into roses
just by his loving glances, his
sweet words, or his gentle touch.
We may be in the thick of terrible
suffering, but the Masters love is
so embracing that we no longer
suffer. Instead, we are lost in the
ecstasy of Gods love.
we are so filled with love that
instead of the thorny pains and
sorrows, we experience the beau
ty of the rose garden.
If we knew that freedom from
pain and sorrow was awaiting us
within, why would we stop until
we reached that painfree state?
In another verse of this poem,
Sant Darshan Singh Ji Maharaj
says:
You have taught us the lan
guage of love which is both
unspoken and unwritten.
You have solved for us the mys
tery of life and death.
Sant Darshan Singh Ji is describ
ing how Hazur has enabled us to
solve the greatest mysteries of
life. There is hardly a person who
has not at one time or another
pondered over the question of life
and death. Many wonder why we
are here and where we go when
we die. Hazur enabled people to
solve this mystery. By putting peo
ple in touch with the Light and
Sound of God at the time of initia
tion, he gave people a way to rise
above bodyconsciousness. By
doing so, they realized they were
not the body, but the soul that
inhabits the body. They could
journey to wondrous spiritual
realms within. Through medita
tion, they could cross the astral,
causal, supracausal, and purely
spiritual realms. This inner jour
ney brings confirmation that there
is no death. Death is just like tak
ing off a layer of clothing to
reveal one below it. We realize
that the body is only an outer coat
for our soul. When we remove it,
we have our astral body, our
causal body, and a thin veil over
the soul in the supracausal region.
When we reach the purely spiritu
al region of Sach Khand, then all
layers are removed and we experi
ence ourselves as pure soul, free
of all coverings. It is at this stage
that we merge back in God.
(To be continued....)
(For more visit www.sos.org)
TheSouthAsianTimes.info August 12-18, 2017
TheSouthAsianTimes.info August 12-18, 2017