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The South Asian Timese x c e l l e n c e i n j o u r n a l i s m

excellence in journalism US Affairs 9

Vol.6 No. 29 November 9-15, 2013 60 Cents New York Edition Follow us on TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Lifestyle 19 Spiritual Awareness 30Festivals 2

Mangano re-elected with a bigger mandate

By Parveen Chopra

Mineola: Edward P. Mangano was

slated to win all along, but his vic-

tory margin (59 percent to 41 per-

cent for his Democratic challenger

Tom Suozzi) exceeded what the

opinion polls were predicting even

days before the Nov 5 election.

An overwhelming endorsement

of his policies that have frozen

pr op er ty ta xe s, el im in at ed th e

home energy tax and created thou-

sands of local jobs, will strengthen

his hands further in his second

term.

In a statement to The South

Asian Times, Mangano thanked the

pe op le of Nass au Coun ty an d

pledg ed to “co nt inu e to prote ct

Vanquishing the Democrat challenger Tom Suozzi in the Nov 5election, and getting an overwhelming endorsement from his

constituents for his policies, an emboldened Mangano promises to bemore effective in his second term as Nassau County Executive.

Mineola: Traditionally, Indian

diaspora in the US supports mainly

the Democratic Party in every

election. It was going to be no dif-

ferent in this week’s Nassau

County election too, but for the

efforts of a group on the other side.There indeed was an army of

Indian American volunteers in the

Tom Suozzi camp, working at the

grassroot level for the Democrat

contender for county executive

office. Hundreds of thousands of

dollars were raised, and heavy

campaigning was evident. Suozzi

himself was attending almost

every community event, in tem-

ples, mosques and gurudwaras.

On the other side, a small group

of people were fighting on behalf of the campaign of the incumbent

Ed Mangano, canvasing among

the Indian community.

"Over two hundred fifty thou-

sand emails, text messages, and

How the Indian vote wasdelivered in Mangano’s box

A beaming Ed Mangano making his victory speech Tuesday night after gutting Tom Suozzi’s challenge.

Continued on page 4Continued on page 4

New York: His is a great trans-

formation almost overnight.

From a relatively unknown hold-

er of an obscure office – the

Pubic Advocate- to becoming the

fiery voice of New York City’s

disillusionment with a new gilded

age, and getting elected as mayor

of the greatest city on earth! Bill

de Blasio has done that.

De Blasio defeated Joseph J.

Lhota, a former chairman of

MTA, by a margin of about 49

percentage points, and garnering

a record 75 percent vote to

become the first Democrat occu- pant of Gracie Mansion in two

decades.

Talk of coming from behind!

De Blasio’s challenge was not so

much Lhota as rivals in his own

party. In the Democratic primar-

ies earlier this year, the favorites

were Anthony Weiner first and

then Christine Quinn, a

Bloomberg surrogate, who

topped opinion polls.

What swung the city in his

favor? De Blasio portrayed him-

self as the "unapologetically pro-

gressive alternative to the

Bloomberg era," saying that the

current mayor's polices favor the

rich. He repeatedly used the

Dickensian phrase "a tale of two

cities" to describe New York City

under billionaire Mayor Michael

Bloomberg.The wealth inequality message

struck home with minority and

low-income voters on Tuesday,

Bill de Blasio greeting his supporters at his victory rally Tuesday after a landslide victory which blew away the feeble challenge

from Republican Joe Lhota.

After the 12 Bloomberg years, which de Blasio claimsincreased disparities andneglected the minorities, the

Mayor-elect wants to end‘The tale of two cities’ - ofhaves and have-nots.

Progressive Mayordetermined to build

a new New York

See more stories on Mangano'sreelection on pages 16-18.

See more stories onde Blasio on page 15.

Continued on page 4



Widows in Vrindavan celebrate Diwali for the first time during a functionorganised by Sulabh International.

Fire crackers illuminating the sky above theGolden Temple in Amritsar.

Rituals being performed at the

Lord Jagannath Temple in Puri on Diwali.

Actor Rani Mukerji during Aditya Chopra`s Diwali party at his

house in Mumbai.

A PakistaniHindu boyburnssparklersduringDiwali inKarachi.

2 November 9-15, 2013 FESTIVALS TheSouthAsianTimes.info

India lights up for Diwali

The Border Security Force (BSF) officials and Border Guard Bangladeshpersonnel greet each other on Diwali

Fireworks illumi-

nated the evening

sky, earthen diyas

dotted houses and

people exchanged

sweets and gifts

on Diwali. Children

and youths burstcrackers and lit

fireworks while

families visited

their neighbors,

exchanged 'Happy

Diwali' greetings

and sweets.

People also took

the route of SMS

and social

networking

websites to wish

each other. Some

glimpses.



3Novemer 9-15, 2013TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRISTATE COMMUNITY

By Arun Kumar

Washington: US First Lady

Michelle Obama lit a 'diya' (lamp)

in the East Room to start White

House Diwali celebrations after

trying out some Bollywood dancemoves with some local students in

the State Dining Room.

"We've celebrated this holiday

here at the White House every

year since (President) Barack

(Obama) took office. And there's a

reason why we've done that," she

said welcoming guests including

members of the Indian community

and Indian-American officials

Tuesday.

"We got to practice a little

Bollywood this afternoon,"

Michelle Obama said. "And, of

course, as you all know, I think I

can dance," she proudly informed

her guests amid laughter. She hadalso joined a dance number during

Diwali celebrations in Mumbai

during Obamas' India visit in

November 2010.

Joining the celebrations was her

dance teacher Nakul (Dev

Mahajan) in "his jeans and t-shirt

now" "from one of my favorite

shows on the planet - 'So YouThink You Can Dance'.”

Also present was India-born

fashion designer Naeem Khan

who had designed her dress for

the occasion.

"When we say that we want to

make the White House the 'peo-

ple's house,' we mean all people.

We mean that we want to honor and embrace all of the many cul-

tures and faith traditions that

make us who we are as

Americans. And Diwali is very

much one of those traditions," the

First Lady said.

"Diwali is also a time for con-

templation and reflection. It's a

time for us to think about our obli-

gations to our fellow human

beings, particularly those who are

less fortunate than we are," she

said."And as we light the diya-the

lamp-we recommit ourselves to

the triumph of light over darkness,

of good over evil," she said recall-

ing the shooting tragedy at a Sikh

gurdwara in Oak Creek,

Wisconsin last year "when an act

of unthinkable violence shook a

community to its core."

"But I am also thinking of how

in the face of such evil, we also

witnessed the power of goodness

and forgiveness," Michelle

Obama said.

Last Tuesday US lawmakers

joined the Indian-American com-

munity for the first ever Diwalicelebrations on Capitol Hill after

the Congress passed resolutions

honoring the Indian festival of

lights and celebrating the strong

relationship between the US and

India.

Mineola: From

South Asian candi-

dates in Nassau

County, Nasreen

Ahmad (R) is the

only winner, defeat-

ing Jasmine Vieux

for HempsteadTown Clerk.

Nasreen had joined

the Hempstead

Town Clerk's Office

in 1998.Sid Nathan

lost his bid for North Hempstead

Town Council and Sekhar

Nelanuthala lost the race for Town

of Oyster Bay Council. Mili

Makhijani too lost her bid for

Oyster Bay Town Clerk. All three

are Democrats. In the Tuesday elec-

tion, John Venditto and Kate Murray

(both Republicans) were retained as

Supervisors of Town of Oyster Bay

and Hempstead respectively. Judy

Bosworth (D) was electedSupervisor of Town of North

Hempstead.

For Nassau County, George

Maragaos ( R ) was re-elected as

Comptroller and Kathleen Rice (D)

as Attorney General.

Michelle Obama celebrates Diwali with Bollywood dance moves Local bodies polls

First Lady Michelle Obama joins students for a Bollywood DanceClinic in the State Dining Room of the White House Tuesday.

NasreenAhmad:elected

Hempstead Town Clerk.

Indian-American mayoral candidates lose in NJ electionUpendra Chivukula wins a record seventh term to state assembly.

By Ashok Ojha/SA Times

Edison, NJ: Both Indian American

mayoral candidates in the New

Jersey townships of West Windsor

and Edison faced defeats in the

election of Nov 5, which reflected afragmented community divided on

the lines of business interests and

political affiliations.

In Edison Township, the two-term

Council member, Dr. Sudhanshu

Prasad (D), could garner only 14

pe rcen t vo te s in a to wn wh ic h

boasts 37 percen t popula tion of

Asian Americans, a majority being

of Indian origin. The incumbent

Toni Ricigliano too could receive

only 27 percent votes, losing to theofficial Democratic candidate

Thomas Lankey. However, Sapna

Shah, an attorney of Indian origin,

who contested as a Lankey’s team

member, was victorious. Shah pre-

viously served as a member of the

Edison School Board.

In the town of West-Windsor-

Plainsboro, mayoral candidate Dr.

Hemant Marathe, a Republican,

ended up at third position with only

2,778 votes while the incumbent

Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh won with

3,257 votes. Indian American

pol iti cia n, Kamal Khann a, who

contested for a seat in the township

council, also lost.

One silver lining for the Indian

American community this poll sea-

son was Upendra Chivukula, who

got reelected to the state assembly

for a record seventh time from

District 17 which he has been repre-

senting as a Democrat since 2002.

He told The South Asian Times that

his agenda would be to develop

business excha nge between New

Jersey and India.

Chivukula was saddened to seethe defeat of Indian American hope-

fuls in local elections. He said,

“Our community can be better

served by individuals who under-

stood the democratic process of this

country and got engaged in grass-

root efforts with a clear agenda. The

voters need to know what a candi-

date really stands for”, he added.

An engineer by training,

Chivukula, who speaks half a dozen

languages also served as a Deputy

Speaker in the NJ General

Assembly. He contested for a seat

in the US House of Representative

in 2012 but lost. “I am keeping my

national agenda on hold for the near

future and will concentrate on

accomplishing a variety of projects

at the state level”, he said adding

that some of his projects included

helping publish a driving manual in

Hindi and developing an exclusive

library in Hindi and Indian lan-

guages for the general public.

Upendra Chivukula: winning state assembly seat comes

easy to him, but he failed to get traction in his bid for US

Congress last year.

New Jersey: Kolkata-born RajMukherji, a former Jersey City deputy

mayor, has been elected to the State

Assembly to become the first-ever

Bengali state legislator in the US.

Democrat Mukherji, 29, currently

chairman of the Jersey City Housing

Authority, was elected from the 33rd

legislative district by a 20-point mar-

gin in Tuesday's elections.

Bordering New York, his ethnically

diverse constituency covering

Hoboken, Union City, Weehawken

and parts of Jersey City is the most

densely populated legislative district

in the state. "Indian Americans have

contributed to make New Jersey better

in every aspect. I just want to see

more Indian American and SouthAsian faces in New Jersey govern-

ment," said Mukherji, who came to

the US when he was barely three

years old. He has been named in

Politicker's annual Power List as one

of New Jersey's '100 most politically

influential personalities' as well as in

the Forty under 40 list by NJBIZ.

He holds a Master of Liberal Arts

degree from the University of

Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Arts

from Thomas Edison State College.

According to his website, Mukherji

supported himself through high

school, college and grad school as anemancipated minor when his parents

were forced to return to India due to

economic constraints.

Following the Sep 11, 2001, terror

attacks in New York, Mukherji joined

the US Marines at age 17, where he

served in military intelligence for the

Marine Corps Reserve.

Kolkata-born Raj Mukherji elected to NJ assembly

Raj Mukherji poses with his mother



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4 November 9-15, 2013 TheSouthAsianTimes.info TURN PAGE

Mangano re-elected with...

Continued from page 1

their wallets while making the

county a better place to live, work

and raise a family.”

Indeed his slogan “Thank you,

Ed Mangano, for not raising the

taxes” resonated with the county

residents, who were further con-

vinced by him fulfilling his poll

pledge of 2009 of not only notraising taxes, but cutting back on

some.

Mangano also communicated to

his constituents that he was

unafraid to take on powerful spe-

cial interests. And for the welfare

of the county and its residents he

was ready to cross party lines. He

also delivered big projects like

redevelopment of the iconic

Nassau Coliseum with no cost to

the county exchequer.

In Mangnao’s big victory mar-

gin, how much was contributed by

the Indian American vote, only

exit polls can tell. But there was a

group of his dedicated supportersin the Indian community who left

no stone unturned to get the vote

out for him. (see box).

A true friend of the South Asian

community, Mangano told the

SATimes that he has built a great

relationship and received support

from the South Asian community,

“which shares our values and our

fiscal policies. They have also

partnered with us, both in govern-

ment and in charitable and cultural

endeavors.” To his credit, he

inducted over a dozen South

Asians in key positions in his

administration.

Relatively unknown in New

York politics when he defeated

Suozzi by a wafer thin margin in

2009, The South Asian Times was

impressed by Mangano's poise and

potential and made him Man of

the Year. Now while Suozzi's

politi cal career seems to in dol-drums, there are whispers in the

GOP that Mangano could be a

serious candidate for New York

State Governor later.

How the Indian vote was...


social media postings were made

on election day alone. Over 7,000

copies of The South Asian Times,

which carried a special supple-

ment on Ed Mangano, were dis-

tributed by Patel Brothers and

Apna Bazar in Hicksville and

Floral Park stores during the

Diwali weekend.

More then 450 thirty-secondspots were aired in the last week

on TV Asia, ITV and Jus One &

Jus Punjabi TV channels,” said

Kamlesh Mehta, the most visible

supporter of Mangano in the

Indian community of Nassau

County.

Mehta added that a dedicated

group of people approached thou-

sands of voters in diverse Hindi,

Punjabi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu

and Rajasthani speaking commu-

nities and made sure that they

went out to vote for Ed Mangano.

He further said that our text mes-

sages on election day said, “God

willing, this time Mangano will

win with more than 10,000 votes",

a wish fulfilled, and efforts paid

off.

A few other notable supporters

in the community were: Harendra

Singh, Jerry Kohli, Bobby Kumar,

Dr Shakir Mukhi and Satish Sood.

Progressive Mayor determined...


giving de Blasio an unbeatable

advantage over Lhota among

bla ck and Lat ino vot ers , and a

landslide victory.

His biracial family's increasing

visibility during the campaign --

his wife Chirlane McCray, a polit-

ical activist who once identified

herself as lesbian before marrying

de Blasio, emerged as a top cam-

paign strategist -- resonated with

residents of a city coping with a

21% poverty rate and increasing

racial divisiveness brought on bythe controversial "stop-and-frisk"

policy.

Getting down to work, de Blasio

has already launched an effort to

build an effective and diverse city

government that will deliver on a

mandate for progressive change.

The Mayor-Elect has appointed

distinguished chairs and senior

staff of his transition team and

launched an online initiative to

solicit talent and ideas from

people.

New York: According to the resultsof an exit poll in New York, New

Jersey and Virginia, Asian American

voters are open to candidates of

both political parties in key states.

The nonpartisan multilingual exit

poll of 2,290 Asian American voters

was conducted by the Asian

American Legal Defense and

Education Fund (AALDEF) after

the mayoral election in New York

and the gubernatorial elections in

New Jersey and Virginia.

"Asian American voters in

Virginia, many of whom are not

enrolled in any political party, could

be a dec isi ve vot ing blo c in the

2014 midterm elections," saidAALDEF executive director

Margaret Fung.

AALDEF released preliminary

results of its exit poll conducted at

24 poll sites in the three states. Of

those surveyed, 62% were enrolled

in the Democratic Party, 10% were

enrolled in the Republican Party,

and 26% were not enrolled in any

party.

However, in the close race for

governor in Virginia, 45% indicated

that they were not affiliated with

any party, 41% were affiliated withthe Democratic Party, and 11% were

affiliated with the Republican Party.

The Democrat candidate won.

In New Jersey, a majority (54%)

of Asian American voters favored

Republican Chris Christie over

Democrat Barbara Buono (42%).

51% polled were enrolled as

Democrats, 37% said they were not

enrolled in any party, and 11% were

enrolled as Republicans. Christie

won a second term as governor

comfortably.

New York had the highest number

of Asian American registered

Democratic voters, with 70% were

enrolled in the Democratic Party,18% not enrolled in any party, and

9% enrolled in the Republican

Party. Bill de Blasio won the mayor

race with a landslide.

“There is tremendous political

diversity within the Asian American

community,” said Glenn D.

Magpantay, Director of AALDEF’s

Democracy Program. “Issues and

candidates drive the Asian

American vote, rather than party

affiliation. For candidates con-

cerned with the issues that matter

AALDEF Poll: AsianAmerican voters not tied topolitical party in key states



5November 9-15, 2013TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRISTATE COMMUNITY

New York: Zee TV Canada,

the #1 South Asian women’s

network in partnership with

Ethnic Channels Group Limit-

ed (ECG), Canada’s largest

distributor of third language

television services, launches Zee TV

Canada in HD on Telus Channel

#2318.Zee TV Canada first launched

in February 2013 and shortly after expanded its offering to HD in April

2013 launching on Rogers, Bell and

now Telus. The South Asian audience

is the fastest growing ethnic segment

in Canada today. Zee TV Canada HD

provides an exceptional viewing ex-

perience featuring world-class quali-

ty entertainment that the evolv-

ing South Asian consumer

needs.

Zee Americas General Man-

ager, Sameer Targe, says “As a

market leader we have to con-

tinuously reinvent and offer more

value to our subscribers. Expansion

of our HD offering in Canada is in

line with the same thought process.Our success in Canada in recent times

only reinforces our belief in the

Canadian market.” “Zee TV Canada

in HD redefines the television view-

ing experience. It is an experience in

itself” added Hari Srinivas, President

of Ethnic Channels Group.

Washington, DC: With a 40 percent

surge, Indian students largely drove thegrowth of new foreign enrolment in US

graduate schools this year, while those

from China slowed to 5 percent, accord-

ing to a new survey.

The 40 percent increase in new enrolls

from India in 2013 was substantially

more than the 1 percent increase in 2012

and 2 percent increase in 2011, according

to an annual survey of 285 members of

the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS).

On the other hand, after seven consecu-

tive years of double-digit growth, first-

time enrolment among students from

China increased by just 5 percent in

2013, a substantially smaller increase

than the 22 percent surge in 2012 and 21

percent increase in 2011.However, China continues to be the

largest source of international graduate

students, representing 34 percent of all

international graduate students in the US,

according to the survey."While the substantial increase in first-

time enrolments of Indian students is

posit ive, the fluctuation in India enrol-

ment in recent years makes it difficult to

confirm a definite trend," said CGS Pres-

ident Debra W. Stewart.

Overall, first-time international enrol-

ment in US graduate programs rose 10

percent to 71,418 students this year, the

survey found. Total foreign enrolment

was 220,317-about 15 percent of all grad-

uate students in America.

The two most popular fields among in-

ternational students are physical and

earth sciences, which includes mathemat-

ics and computer sciences, and engineer-

ing: together they comprised 47 percentof all international graduate student

enrolment in 2013, according to the

survey.

India drives growth of

foreign students in the US

Zee TV Canada HD launches on Telus

Washington, DC: Over $ 280,000 for

poverty relief in India was raised by the

American India Foundation (AIF) at a gath-

ering here attended by over 250 influential

figures from government, business and phi-

lanthropy.

The money raised would be used for vari-

ous poverty alleviation projects being fund-

ed by the not-for-profit AIF through its net-

work of non-governmental organizations in

India.

Founded in 2001 at the initiative of then

US President Bill Clinton, AIF has so far im-

pacted the lives of over 1.9 million of India's

less privileged.

It aims to reach 5 million by 2018. At last

night's gala, AIF celebrated its success and

felicitated honorees including president of

the Business Round Table former Michigan

Governor John Engler, and CongressmanGerry Connolly of Virginia, for their altru-

ism, inspiring leadership, and philanthropic

commitment to support AIF's mission to help

India's poor with opportunity and hope.

Acknowledging the influence of the Indian

diaspora to United States, Engler said,

"Commitment and contributions by industry,

philanthropy and business, to democracies of

both, United States and India, are critical to

transforming this burgeoning relationship

into a defining one for the future."

In addition to honoring the leaders, this

year's gala also showcased AIF's William J

Clinton Fellowship with a silent auction fea-

turing one-of-a-kind photographs of Fellows

on the ground during their time in India.

Ruma Roka, founder and general secretary

for the Noida Deaf Society (NDS), an AIF

partner NGO, in her remarks appreciated

AIF's continued support to NDS and spoke

about NDS's valuable work, aimed to inte-

grate deaf people into the mainstream com-munity through specialized vocational pro-

grams that lead to gainful employment.

American India Foundation raises$ 280,000 for India's poor

By Rekha Valliappan

New York: India Association of Long

Island (IALI) Women's Forum recent-

ly celebrated the Festival of Lights -

Deepavali - heartily and eloquently

with a colorful and unique fashion

show done by the women and geared

for the women. Excitement was gener-

ated on account of the wide variety of

stylish designs in traditional saree wear together with elegant embroidered and

sequined lehengas in a multitude of

shades showcased with full printed

heavy ghagras in ethnic designs and an

ensemble of glittering jewelry with

matching clutches and silken scarves

making up the complete array of an en-

tire wardrobe collection. The venue

soon filled up and was all a-bustle with

light, laughter, color and sound. A total

of more than twenty gorgeous "mod-

els" plentifully attired to the nines took

to the catwalk in vigorous display,

breaking all barriers and norms in the

composition they presented, which was

the full spectrum of a bevy of women

from all walks of life. From beautiful

single women to professionals, fromhousewives to businesswomen, from

social butterflies to stay-at-home

moms, from attractive mothers to even

more attractive grand-mothers all were

part of the mix.

Against a backdrop of pulsing music

courtesy of DJ Amrit ramping up the

sound, and a delectable shopping ar-

cade of vendors – Mantra By Nupur,

Designers Collection, Dagmar Jewelry

and Trila Designs in the rear, the show

opened with a Bollywood contempo-

rary number performed by Dancer Mo-

hini Tajeshwar. This was followed by

the much-awaited Fashion Show cour-

tesy of local designers Nupur Arora

and Sudha Singh.

IALI Women’s Forum celebrates Deepavali with fashion show

IALI Women’s Forum members

The fashion show in progress Indian Community Leaders Jagdish Sewhani,Kaushik Amin,Dr Sudhir Parikh, and Suresh Patel join Ambassador Dnyaneshwar Mulay, (2nd

from right, next to BVP Portrait) Consul General of India to New York to Celebrate Birth Anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel at the

Indian Consulate. Photo:-Jay Mandal/On Assignment



6 November 9-15, 2013 TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRISTATE COMMUNITY

IITB & Cooper Union sign MoU for student exchangeNew York: The IIT Bombay

Alumni Association of Greater New

York celebrated its annual reunion

on October 26, 2013 at the Cooper

Union Auditorium in New York

City.The event was attended by over

a100 alumni and their guests. In

attendance were Dr. Devang

Khakhar, Director of IITB and Dr.

Jamshed Bharucha, President of The

Cooper Union for the Advancement

of Science and Art (CU).

The highlight of the IITB-Cooper

Union meet was the signing of a

memorandum of understanding for a

Student Exchange program between

the two institutions.

Undergraduate students from each

school will spend one semester at

the other during their junior or sen-

ior years. Ruyintan (Ron) Mehta,

IITB 1970, has generously donatedthe funds to get the program

launched. The formal signing

occurred on the stage with the full

complement of the visiting IITB

team, including Deans and

Professors, the Cooper Union teamand some of the NYC alumni who

were involved in setting up the pro-

gram.

The festivities began with cock-

tails, hors d’oeuvres and networking

in the early evening in the atrium.This was followed by the formal

presentations in the auditorium.

First to present was Suresh

Shenoy, IITB 1971, who talked

about the WHEELS (Water, Health,

Energy, Education, Lifestyle,

Security) initiative of PanIIT and

urged us to get involved in this give

back to society effort.

Dr. Khakhar talked at length aboutthe happenings at IITB.

Dr. Bharucha of Cooper Union

reciprocated with an account of the

founding and storied history of

Cooper Union (Thomas Edison was

a student) and its current reputation

as one of the most prestigious engi-

neering schools in the country.

Anita Raghavan, previously with

Forbes and the Wall Street Journal,

and author of recent bestseller ‘The

Billionaire’s Apprentice’ was the

featured keynote speaker.

Dinner was followed by another

highlight - a presentation by Padma

Shri Prof. Deepak Phatak on his

Train Ten Thousand Teachers proj-ect that enlists IITB faculty and a

blended MOOCs distance-learning

model to train teachers at other engi-

neering schools in India.

MoU signing ceremony between IIT Bombay & Cooper Union for student exchange program. Doing the honors here, (on left) Dr.Devang Khakhar, the Director of IIT Bombay and (on right) Dr. Jamshed Bharucha, the President of The Cooper Union for the

Advancement of Science and Art.

Meet new Ms Marvel -Kamala Khan,

Muslim girl superhero

New York : Marvel comics is rein-

troducing Ms Marvel but this time

she is Kamala Khan, a Pakistani-

American teenage Muslim girl liv-

ing in New Jersey.

Kamala has closely followed the

career of Carol Danvers, who now

goes by Captain Marvel, a name

she inherited from a male hero.

As Kamala discovers her powers,

she takes on the code name MsMarvel, something that Carol

called herself when she began her

superhero career, reported New

York Times.

Marvel, which originally debuted

the character in the 1960s, is plan-

ning to bring the new series in

February.

Kamala's character was born out

of a conversation that Marvel's two

editors Sana Amanat and Steve

Wacker had. "I was telling him

some crazy anecdote about my

childhood, growing up as a

Muslim-American. He found it

hilarious," Amanat said.

When they shared the idea with

G Willow Wilson, a comic book writer and convert to Islam, she

agreed to board the series as the

author.

Amanat is aware that their new

A still of Ms Marvel

A new Radha Krishna

Temple coming up in

New YorkNew York: Worldwide attention

turns towards Radha Govind Dham

New York, for the joyful deity estab-

lishment ceremonies of Radha Kr-

ishna at the Hindu Mandir in Glen

Oaks, New York. During the day-

long event, scheduled on December

7, 2013, Vedic verses will reverber-

ate, spiritual discourses and kirtan

will illuminate, and the beautiful and

lavishly decorated life-sized deities

of Radha Krishna will be revealed

for the very first time.

Drawing its inspiration from the

Great Rasik Saints of Braj and Vrin-

davan like Jeev Goswami, Haridas

Ji, Hit Harivansh Ji, Vallabhacharya

Ji and Jagadguru Shree Kripalu Ji

Maharaj, Radha Govind Dham has

already become a landmark of devo-tion in the Queens area of New York.

Radha Govind Dham will serve as

a center for Radha Krishna bhakti

(devotion) as explained by the great

Saints of Vrindavan and further ex-

pounded by Jagadguru Shree Kri-

palu Ji Maharaj, the foremost au-

thority on bhakti at the present time.

Beautiful life size deities of Radha

Krishna – fully decorated in their

sixteen fold shringar (decorations) –

will adorn Radha Govind Dham

New York and graciously preside

over the hearts of devotees.

On Saturday, December 7, the day

will begin with the Pran Pratishtha

(deity establishment) ceremony per-formed according to the Vedic ritu-

als. After Pran Pratishtha, devotees

will receive the first darshan of Rad-

ha Krishna and perform the inaugu-

ral Maha Arti.

Lunch prasad will be served after

Maha Arti. Radha Krishna kirtans

and live discourse will be led by sen-

ior preachers of Jagadguru Kripalu

Parishat including Swami Nikhi-

lanand Ji, Swami Maheshvaranand Ji

and Sushree Diwakari Devi.

Pran Pratistha program will take

place on December 7th 2013 from

8am to 4pm.

The location of Radha Govind

Dham is: 260-01 Hillside Ave., Glen

Oaks, NY 11004. For more informa-

tion call (718) 569-0212 or visit

www.rgdny.org.

"The Splendid Indian Closet"wows NYC audiences

By Jinal Shah

New York, NY: Cancer survivor

and award winning actress Lisa Ray

unveiled her “Ray of Hope” line for

Satya Paul, one of India’s top

designers at the jam packed Angel

Orensanz Foundation for the

Performing Arts in New York

where, Bollywood actress Soha Ali

Khan walked for designer Joy

Mitra’s Rituparno Ghosh-inspired

“Chokher Bali” collection at ‘The

Splendid Indian Closet’ show.

Showcased for the first time,

Ray’s collection had bold and

vibrant patterns with words like“hope,” “faith” and “love” jumping

off the nine yards of fabric. Inspired

by her recent battle with Multiple

Myeloma, cancer of the plasma

cells, the collection illustrates Ray’s

experiences with life, love and

fighting her disease. She calls it

“wearable art.” As a prelude to her

collection, modern dancers re-creat-

ed a fight between good and evil to

symbolize Ray’s battle with cancer.

Recently-crowned Miss New Jersey

USA, Emily Shah, walked the ramp

to show her support for the cause.

Set against the backdrop of the

bustling, sweaty, energetic streets of

Kolkota, India, Mitra’s clothes

evoked the memories of a bygone

era, where class, culture and cre-

ativity collided. Fresh off the run-

way of Wills Lifestyle FashionWeek in Delhi last month, Mitra,

who designed costumes for some of

Ghosh’s films, was inspired by the

late actor, director, producer’s

vision of a new world of cinema

and a new language of fashion.

The hour and a half of fashion

programming - The Splendid Indian

Closet - was part of India

Unlimited’s inaugural NYC event.

India Unlimited was created by

Evolve with the purpose to bring

India closer to the world through

fashion, dance, food and cultural

events. In addition to a runway

show, “The Splendid Indian Closet”

also featured an eclectic trunk show,

where various Indian brands show-

cased their unique products. They

included: Tina Tandon’s Indo-

Western clothing line, Posh Pari,Sejal Jhaveri and Bhavana Gupta’s

jewelry line and Ami Bhansa li’s

soothing collection of Indian teas,

Chai Diaries.

Lisa Ray showstopper for ‘Ray of Hope’ collection

Soha Ali Khan showstopper for Joy Mitra’s ‘Chokher Bali’

collection

creation may face obstacles in get-

ting accepted.

"I do expect some negativity, not

only from people who are anti-

Muslim, but people who are

Muslim and might want the charac-

ter portrayed in a particular light,"

she said.

Like every other superhero,

Kamala will be seen balancing her

family problems and her superhero

career.

"Her brother is extremely conser-

vative. Her mom is paranoid thatshe's going to touch a boy and get

pregnan t. Her father wants her to

concentrate on her studies and

become a doctor," Amanat said.



7November 9-15, 2013TheSouthAsianTimes.info NATIONAL COMMUNITY

Washington, DC: More

than 250 members of the

Asian American HotelOwners Association

(AAHOA) and others

from the hospitality

industry met in

Washington D.C., Oct.

23-24 with a unified mes-

sage for Congress aimed

specifically at supporting

small business and the

lodging industry. The

AAHOA Legislative

Action Summit included over

300 appointments with

Congressional members and

their staff, a press release from

AAHOA said.

AAHOA members advocat-ed for three specific bills

before Congress:

1. “Commercial Real

Estate and Economic

Development (CREED) Act

of 2013”, which would rein-

state the highly successful

SBA 504 re-finance loan pro-

gram that arbitrarily ended

September 27, 2012.

2. “40 Hours is Full Time

Act of 2013” and the “Save

American Workers Act of

2013”, which would establish

the traditional definition of

full-time work at 40 hours per

week in the Affordable CareAct (ACA).

3. “Jobs Originated

through Launching Travel

(JOLT) Act of 2013”, which

would greatly enhance inter-

national travel to the U.S. by

reducing visa wait times for

tourism-related travel and

expanding the Visa-Waiver

Program (VWP).Among the

legislators who participated

in the two-day event included

Rep.Dr.Ami Bera, D-Calif.,

and Rep. Mick Mulvane, R-

S.C. In addition, the women

of AAHOA hosted a break-

fast with Rep. Grace Meng,D-NY and Rep. Tulsi

Gabbard, D-Hawaii, who

encouraged them to become

involved and be a force “not

to be reckoned with but one

to partner with.” Attendees

were able to ask questions

and give feedback on key

issues affecting not only

AAHOA members but small

business owners as well.

AAHOA converges on Capitol Hill toadvocate for hospitality industry

New York: India-born for-

mer Goldman Sachs direc-

tor Rajat Gupta has asked a

US appeals court to over-

turn a court's ruling that he

pay a hef ty $13 .9 mill ion

fine in the insider trading

case and sought reversing alife ban on him from serv-

ing as director of a public

company.

In a brief filed in the US

court of appeals for the sec-

ond circuit on Monday, Gupta's lawyers

argued that the district court "abused" its dis-

cretion in imposing the statutory maximum

civil penalty on Gupta of $13.9 million, which

is triple the benefit hedge-fund manager Raj

Rajaratnam had obtained from the tips Gupta

allegedly passed on to him.

The lawyers said the penalty was excessive

in light of Gupta, 64, already facing a $5 mil-

lion fine and two year prison sentence in a

parallel criminal insider trading case.

"In fixing the amount of Gupta's civil penal-

ty, the court failed to consider - as it was

required to do - the deterrent effect of the

other penalties it had imposed...

"And without even considering the deterrent

effect of the substantial criminal sentence it

had already imposed, the court further ordered

Gupta to pay the statutory maximum civil

penalty of $13.9 million - even though Gupta

himself never traded on the information and

made no money from any of the trades," the

lawyers said.

The district court had also

permanent ly barr ed Gupta

from associating with bro-

kers, dealers, and invest-

ment advisors, permanently

enjoined him from future

violations of the securities

laws, and permanently barred him from serving as

an officer or director of a

public company.

Gupta's lawyers argued

that the district court

abused its discretion in fashioning the perma-

nent injunctions and fixing the civil penalty,

and its "imposition of these remedies should

be reversed."

"Instead of protecting the investing public,

these injunctions serve only to punish and

stigmatize Gupta," his lawyers said.

"There is no permissible justification for the

three permanent injunctions imposed on

Gupta. Imposing permanent injunctions with-

out a permissible justification was an abuse of

discretion, and the order of injunctive relief

should be reversed."

Harvard-educated Gupta was indicted in

October 2011 and charged in a superseding

indictment with one count of conspiracy and

five counts of securities fraud.

A jury convicted Gupta of conspiracy and

three counts of securities fraud, and acquitted

him of the two remaining counts of securities

fraud in June 2012. Gupta has appealed

against his conviction and is awaiting the

decision of the appeals court while on bail.

Rajat Gupta challenges $13.9 million insider trading fine

Rajat Gupta

AAHOA hosts largest Legislative Action Summit inWashington DC

California: Cupertino Memorial Park here

came alive Oct. 12 with over 12,000 parents,

kids and community members as the

Cupertino Chamber of Commerce and its

Asian American Business Council held their

11th Annual Diwali Festival of Lights.

The theme of this year’s festival, inspired

by sponsors El Camino Hosp ita l and the

South Asian Heart Center, was “Healthy

Eating and Healthy Living,” as demonstrated

by all the festival food vendors who offered

a heart-healthy meal and its recipe for all the

festival-goers.

In addition, the South Asian Heart Center

set up a large anatomically correct heart dis-

play in the center of the festival grounds to

raise awareness about the high incidence of

coronary artery disease among South Asians.

Visitors to the festival were treated to a

program of music and dance performances, atraditional Rangoli display, and numerous

stalls featuring handicrafts, games and cloth-

ing. Guests were also able to see a replica of

the famous Red Fort of India, which was

brought to Cupertino by India.com.

The grand opening ceremony featured

community and elected leaders including

Assembly member Paul Fong, state Senators

Jim Beall and Jerry Hill, Cupertino Mayor

Orrin Mahoney, vice mayor Gilbert Wong,

and Deputy Indian Consul Kumar Tuhin.“Diwali is an excellent opportunity to

bring the business community together to

celebrate a holiday that is very significant for

the Indian population,” said Mahesh

Nihalani, the even t chair organize r. “The

Diwali festival has proven to be an excellent

way to bridge our business community with

the residents of Cupertino.”

Cupertino Memorial Park comes alive with Diwali fest

Senator Jim Beall handing a proclama- tion to chair Mahesh Nihalani as

Assembly member Paul Fong looks on.

Aasif Mandvi’s interview leads to

Republican’s resignationNew York: A

Republican Party

official in North

Carolina has

resigned as a

result of racially

charged remarks

he made in an

interview comedi-

an and The Daily Show correspondent Aasif

Mandvi. In the interview aired Oct. 23, Don

Yelton, a Republican precinct chairman of

Buncombe County, hit out at African

Americans calling them “lazy black people

that wants the government to give them every-

thing.”During his interview with Mandvi, Yelton

admitted he had been accused of being a bigot

before. He added however, that his best friend

was black. He went on to add that even though

Mandvi looks different, he treated him the

same as anyone else.

"You realize we can hear you?" Mandvi

asked Yelton during the interview.

Mandvi’s inter-

view was focused

on new voting

restrictions put in

pl ace af te r the

Supreme Court

defeated a chal-

lenge to ID cards

required for vot-

ing. “The law is going to kick the Democrats

in the butt,” Yelton said, adding that “if it hurts

a bunch of lazy blacks that want the govern-

ment to give them everything, so be it.”

The Republican Party released a statement

discrediting Yelton’s remarks expressing “our

sincerest regrets and disappointment,” andcalling the remarks “offensive, uniformed

(sic), and unacceptable. … in no way are his

comments representative of the local or state

Republican Party.”According to the

Republican Party, Yelton had been reprimand-

ed and removed from his position earlier and

was re-elected to precinct chair by 2 votes “his

wife and himself” at the 2013 convention.

Aasif Mandvi (left) in conversation with Don Yelton



8 November 9-15, 2013 TheSouthAsianTimes.info NATIONAL COMMUNITY

Washington, DC: It turns out that a

White House mole fired recently for

snarky anonymous tweets about top Oba-

ma administration officials and its poli-

cies was an Indian-American policy

wonk. Jofi Joseph, 40, who served as a

non-proliferation expert on the National

Security Council, was a key aide of Pres-

ident Barack Obama, whose administra-

tion at over two dozen has more Indian-

Americans in key jobs than any other pre-

vious US administration.

Joseph, who was said to be part of the

team working on negotiations with Iran

over its nuclear program, was fired after it

was discovered he was the author of the

@natsecwonk Twitter feed known for its

snarky blasts about the Obama adminis-tration.

Under the cover of his alias, Joseph took

aim over two years at high-ranking ad-

ministration officials and Republicans

alike, slamming their intellect and criti-

cizing their appearance.

"I'm a fan of Obama, but his continuing

reliance and dependence upon a vacuous

cipher like Valerie Jarrett concerns me,"

he once reportedly tweeted of the presi-

dent's senior adviser.

Summing up his colleagues, he tweeted

another time, "'Has shitty staff.' #Oba-

maInThreeWords."

Born in Germany where his parents,

both Indians, were stationed in the early

1970s, he came to the US with his family

when he was only six months old.

Joseph graduated as the valedictorian of

his Catholic high school in Muskegon,

Michigan, where the family lived. He at-

tended Georgetown University's School

of Foreign Service, where he graduated in

1994.

A Democrat, he worked on the Senate

Foreign Relations Committee advising

then-chairman Joseph Biden and later as

the principal foreign policy adviser to

Senator Robert P. Casey Jr.The Washington Post cited a former

NSC official as saying "Joseph could be

sarcastic and bitter, especially in regard to

colleagues who were given higher-level

positions that he did not think they were

qualified for."

Time correspondent Michael Crowley

who knew Joseph -- fired "for his snarky

and sometimes bilious tweets" -- wrote in

a recent piece that "in person he was noth-

ing like his obnoxious Twitter persona."

White House mole was anIndian-American Washington, DC: Nirupama Rao, In-

dian envoy to the US, bid farewell to

her career of diplomacy, as membersof the American diplomatic corps and

her counterparts from countries like

China and Brazil gathered at a recep-

tion hosted in her honor by the State

Department here.

"It is difficult to imagine that so

much time has passed," Rao told a se-

lect audience gathered at the Foggy

Bottom headquarters of the US State

Department, which hosted a rare

farewell reception for the Indian

diplomat on the last day of her assign-

ment Oct 30.

Rao, 62, in the four-decade of being

a diplomat served as India's Foreign Secre-

tary, External Affairs Ministry's spokesperson

and envoy to important countries like China

and Sri Lanka.

"I leave with a great sense of optimism and

hope and satisfaction that I have been able not

only to learn so much but also to help build

partnerships and forge rela tionship between

India and a number of countries around the

world," said Rao.

US Secretary of State John Kerry sent a spe-

cial message to Rao which was read on the

occasion.

He appreciated Rao's role in strengthening

the important partnership between India and

the US. "I wish you all the best in the day,

months and years to come," Kerry said in the

message.

"An honor to be hosted to farewell @Stat-

eDept today. Touched by Secretary Kerry's

message and presence of so many friends andcolleagues," Rao tweeted after the reception.

Rao is one of the few diplomats who has over

190,000 followers on the microblogging site.

At the reception, she was described as "tire-

less champion" of Indo-US Strategic Partner-

ship and that during her two-year tenure; the

bilateral relationship has reached new heights.

She was accompanied by her husband and

former Chief Secretary of Karnataka Sud-

hakar Rao.

Last week, Deputy Secretary of State

William Burns hosted a luncheon for her at

the State Department.

The Indian-American community and the

US India Business Council also hosted recep-

tions for her last week.

Rao also hosted a farewell reception at her

residence last week, which was attended by

top American diplomats and members of the

Indian-American community.

Among those attended the reception were

US Assistant Secretary of State for South and

Central Asia Nisha Biswal and her predeces-

sor Robert Blake; and the Under Secretary of State for Management Patrick Kennedy.

Rao will be succeeded by S Jaishankar, cur-

rently India's Ambassador to China.

Washington, DC: An Indi-

an-American entrepreneur

couple has gifted $12 mil-

lion to the University of

Dallas, the single largest

donation in the university's

57-year history, to fund

construction of a new aca-

demic building.

The new building, slated

to open in the autumn of

2015, will house the Satish

& Yasmin Gupta College of

Business named after the

donors who are both gradu-

ates of the university's

MBA program.

"The University of Dal-

las inspired not only our careers, but our lives,

and we hope this new College of Business will

inspire business students who come to UD

from all over the world," said Satish Gupta.

"Our dream is for the College of Business to

become a global meeting ground for diversity

and understanding among all cultures," said

Yasmin Gupta.

"We hope it empowers students to becomeleaders who go forth into the world and build

stronger communities."

"We are indebted to the University of Dal-

las," Gupta told Dallas News. "This was a new

home for us. It was a

tremendous moment in

our life coming from India

to a different country. But

the university embraced

us so well. My wife and I

have wonderful memories

attached to the university."

In 1981, while still a

business graduate student

at the university, Satish

Gupta founded SB Inter-

national, Inc., a privately-

held global steel company

headquartered in Dallas.

Gupta serves as president

and CEO of the company,

and his wife is executive

vice president.

"The Guptas set a tremendous example for

our business students both in the drive and in-

genuity they personify as entrepreneurs, and in

their commitment to philanthropy and social

responsibility," said university president

Thomas W. Keefe.

The Guptas, who live in Dallas, are involved

in various business and community effortsacross North Texas, particularly among the In-

dian community. Satish Gupta started the area's

popular Diwali event to celebrate the Indian

festival of lights.

Indian envoy Nirupama Rao bidsfarewell to diplomatic career

Marie Royce, Managing Director of Global Strategic Initiatives and Nisha Biswal, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia

reading the letter of appreciation fromCongressman Ed Royce and presenting theUnited States Flag from the US Congress to

Nirupama Rao at her farewell function.

Couple gifts $12 mn to University of Dallas

Satish and Yasmin Gupta



US AFFAIRS 9November 9-15, 2013TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio - a Champion of the American Dream

ATale of Two Cities’ was a Great

Uniter of anger and despair, and

promised change one could believe

in. BdB's real-life family vouched for Bill's

sincerity, as only a person who doesn’t look

down on minorities can. If Barack Obama is

a white man in black skin, Bill may be a

black man in white skin. Each of them refuse

to discriminate and love merit. Comprehend

what that means: BdB is a sincere politician,

with a 75% vote-mandate.

NYC Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio is going

to shock those who stand in opposition to his

people 's mand ate . No pol itician who has

been elected with less than 75% of the vote

ought to take Mayor de Blasio "on." To do so

would be to activate the de facto rainbowcoalition of active BdB-voters to vote

against the BdB-Opposer in 2014. Political

poison not many will want to drink. Even

those with corruption in their soul will need

to be straight and lawful.

Bill de Blasio is amazing, perhaps, even

more so as time passes - for it will begin to

sink in that he did not change his campaign

from beginning to end - the message he start-

ed with is the one he ended with - and won

75% of the vote! That message of a "Tale of

Two Cities" united so many New Yorkers

who found a true champion in BdB: as too

many Americans have been left behind.

As Mayor BdB, he will not let them down

- because politics as usual won't dare get in

BdB's way - and his army of activated andunified angry voters will punish any politi-

cian who gets in their Mayor’s way.

Crime is low, so a new police commission-

er will come in. Stop and Frisk, as it is, will

end. Judge Scheindlin's reputation will be re-

built. Labor will work with Mayor BdB, a

man quick on his feet as in his mind, and

who will play his budget cards "face up."

Albany has a new 800 pound giant in BdB.

No politician in Albany can dream of a 75%

voter-victory. So, BdB's political honey-

moon will last longer than most marriages.

The people won on November 5th, 2013 by

electing Bill de Blasio as their champion to

be Mayor - and shockingly, Mayor BdB will

not let them down - as he promised them his

best, even if it takes time to build a new New

York - a city for all New Yorkers.

Wait until Mayor BdB uses Gracie

Mansion to host New Yorkers who didn't

think they could afford to live in New York

anymore. John Lennon, if alive, would say:

Imagine - the poor, the lost, the near-beaten

will grace the lawn of Gracie Mansion and

proudly proclaim: ‘This is My City too!’

With the American Dream in the ICU of

history after trillions of dollars were given to

Wall Street, Main Street has a new champion

- Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio - to revive the

American Dream for all on Main Street. Bill,

like Charles Dickens, is a natural champion

of the poor. It is fitting to recall how "A Tale

of Two Cities" started:

"It was the best of times, it was the worst

of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the

age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief,

it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the

season of Light, it was the season of

Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was

the winter of despair, we had everything

before us, we had nothing before us, we

were all going direct to Heaven, we were all

going direct the other way..."

It might as well have been Election 2013

in New York City. To honor Bill, I para-

phrase Sydney Carton for him: "It is a far,

far better thing that I do, than I have ever

done; it is a far, far better place that we will

go to than any have ever known."

I am proud to have spoken with certainty

to so many, from political leaders to commu-

nity fundraisers, for almost three years that

Bill de Blasio was a good man - "of, by and

for" the people-type - and he will be Mayor.

My wife, Ranju, a great fan of Bill’s and of

the same view, supported his candidacy and

campaign, including, by spending time and

sincere effort as a dedicated volunteer to

secure him votes, even from folks who did-

n’t want to vote.

Now, he is Mayor-e lect of the Greatest

City in the world. A time of pride and joy for

all Americans - the American Dream has a

new champion and the rip-off artists better

get out of Dodge.

Ravi Batra is an eminent attorney who

contributes op-eds frequently to the South

Asian Times.

FDA ruling would all buteliminate Trans Fats

New York: The Food and Drug Administration on

Thursday proposed measures that would all but

eliminate artificial trans fats, the artery clogging

substance that is a major contributor to heart dis-

ease in the United States, from the food supply.

Under the proposal, which is open for public com-

ment for 60 days, the agency would declare that

partially hydrogenated oils, the source of trans

fats, were no longer “generally recognized as

safe,” a legal category that permits the use of salt

and caffeine, for example. That means companies

would have to prove scientifically that partiallyhydrogenated oils are safe to eat, a very high hur-

dle given that scientific literature overwhelmingly

shows the contrary. The Institute of Medicine has

concluded that there is no safe level for consump-

tion of artificial trans fats. “That will make it a

challenge, to be honest,” said Michael R. Taylor,

deputy commissioner for foods at the F.D.A. Dr.

Margaret A. Hamburg, the agency’s commission-

er, said the rules could prevent 20,000 heart

attacks and 7,000 deaths from heart disease each

year. The move concluded three decades of battles

by public health advocates against artificial trans

fats, which occur when liquid oil is treated with

hydrogen gas and made solid. The long-lasting

fats became popular in frying and baking and in

household items like margarine, and were cheaper

than animal fat, like butter. But over the years, sci-entific evidence has shown they are worse than

any other fat for health because they raise the lev-

els of so-called bad cholesterol and can lower the

levels of good cholesterol.

Albany, NY: After voters gave their approval Tuesday, New

York will be betting on casinos to revive a struggling upstate

economy.

The proposition, which passed overwhelming with 57% of

the vote, will mean New York will add up to seven casinos in a

state that already has nine racetracks with video-lottery termi-

nals and five Native American casinos.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the state has room for more casi-

nos and the new resorts will drive tourism to hard-hit areas of

upstate and create jobs. The first four casinos will be built

upstate: the Catskills, Southern Tier and Albany area. "This

vote will keep hundreds of millions of dollars spent each year in neighboring states right here in New York while increasing

revenue for local schools, lowering property tax taxes, and

bringing proper regulation to the industry," Cuomo said in a

statement.

New York: Democrat Terry

McAuliffe won the Virginia gover-

nor's race Tuesday, squeaking past

Republican Ken Cuccinelli with

the help of voters in the predomi-

nantly blue Washington suburbs.

McAuliffe's victory in the key

swing state was an affirmation of

his strategy to portray Cuccinelli,

the state attorney general, as a Tea

Party champion who is too extreme

for Virginia. New Jersey Gov.

Chris Christie won re-election in arace seen mainly as the kickoff for

the next one: the popular

Republican is considered a good

bet to run for pres ident in 2016 .

Christie dominated in money, air-

time and polls against his oppo-

nent, state Democratic Sen.

Barbara Buono – but his real oppo-

nent may well be any other

Republican considering

2016.Barbara Buono used her con-

cession speech to offer a blistering

critique of her own party, claiming

of party bosses made a deal with

Christie to help themselves politi-

cally and financially. New Jersey

voters overwhelmingly approved aconstitutional amendment to raise

the minimum wage by $1, to $8.25

an hour, and add automatic cost-of-

living increases each year.

Guv races: Christy’s easy win inNJ, McAuliffe victorious in Virginia

Bill de Blasio is

determined to build

a new New York - a

city for all New

Yorkers

putting an end to

‘A Tale of Cities’ --

of haves and

have nots.

Governor Chris Christie: her defeated rival claimed Democratic party bosses colluded with him.

Governor Cuomo claims casinos will drive tourism to hard-hit upstate NY areas and create jobs.

COMMENT

By Ravi Batra

New York voters OK LasVegas style casinos



10 November 9-15, 2013 TheSouthAsianTimes.info INDIA

Mangalyaan heads for Mars

Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh):

India's first Mars orbiter success-

fully began an ardous 400 million

km long journey to Mars, making it

the first Asian country and the

fourth in the world to undertake a

mission to the red planet in the

hope of finding methane and min-

erals.

India's Rs.450 crore (about $72.9

million) Mars orbiter was success-

fully placed in orbit by an Indian

rocket in what scientists said was a

flawless launch.

Exactly at 2.38 p.m., the Indian-

made rocket - Polar Satellite

Launch Vehicle-C25 (PSLV-C25)standing around 44 metres tall and

weighing around 320 tonnes - rose

from its launching pad slowly, and

then gathered speed as it zoomed

into the skies on a plume of fiery

orange flames.

The expendable rocket, costing

around Rs.110 crore had a single

but important luggage, the 1,340-kg

Mars orbiter costing around Rs.150

crore. Around Rs.90 crore has been

spent on augmenting the ground

support/tracking systems.

The orbiter now heads to the red

planet that gets its red hue from the

iron in its soil. Named after the

ancient Roman god of war, Mars isthe fourth planet from the Sun and

the planet closest to Earth. NASA

says Mars is about one-sixth the

size of Earth.

Its scientific mission will be to

explore the Mars surface features,

morphology, or the study of organ-

isms, mineralogy, the study of min-

erals, and Martian atmosphere by

all Indian-made scientific instru-

ments.

India began its space journey way

back in 1975 with the launch of

Aryabhatta, using a Russian rocket

and, till date, it has accomplished

over 100 space missions.

In 2008, India expanded its space

explorations with its maiden Moonmission - Chandrayaan-1. The mis-

sion led to the discovery of water

on the Moon. The country is plan-

ning another Moon mission in two

years' time.

According to Indian SpaceResearch Organisation (ISRO) offi-

cials, the Mars orbiter will orbit the

Earth till Nov 30 and then its

motors will be fired to push it

towards the red planet.

For nearly 300 days the motor

will be off while the spacecraft

floats through the inky void

towards Mars. When the spacecraft

nears Mars, the motors will be

restarted and fired again to carry

out maneuvers to put it in Martian

orbit around September 2014.

Following that, the on-board

instruments would carry out their

jo bs . Mi nu te s af te r it s la un ch ,

Prime Minister Manmohan Singhin a tweet congratulated ISRO sci-

entists for "successful initiation of

Mars Mission and wishes for its

successful future".

President Pranab Mukherjee

described it as "a landmark in our

space programme".

"Now it will be complex mission

to take the Mars orbiter from the

Earth's orbit to Mars orbit," K.

Radhakrishnan, ISRO chairman,

said post launch.

U.R.Rao, a former Indian Space

Research Organisation (ISRO)

head, said the country can afford

the spend. "India spends around

Rs.5,000 crore on Diwali purchases

and Rs.450 crore to reach Mars isaffordable," he said.

India's space odyssey withMars on Facebook

Scientists euphoric over Mars mission

The Mars orbiter will orbit the Earth till November 30 and then its motors will be fired to push it towards the Red Planet

Bangalore: As India's space probe

got into the Earth's orbit Tuesday for a nine-month long odyssey to Mars,

the popular social media site

Facebook will keep you posted on

its adventurous voyage to the red

planet.

"We have opened an account on

Facebook to regularly update the

publi c on our Orb ite r spa cecra ft

during its journey to Mars and its

scientific observations for over six

months from Sep 24, 2014," a top

space agency official said. As the

Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) will

last at least 16 months, the state-run

Indian Space Research Organisation

(ISRO) wants to sustain the interest

of the people in its maiden inter-

planetary exploration and keep them

informed.

"We want the people to live with

us on this fascinating mission to

Mars through the long journey and

later when our spacecraft orbits the

Red Planet, 250 million milesaway," ISRO chairman K.

Radhakrishnan said.

Within hours after the rocket was

launched from the spaceport at

Sriharikota, about 80 km north east

of Chennai, the space agency's

Facebook account became a terrific

hit, getting a whopping 82,000 likes

till and 24,145 netizens talking

about the mission since the site was

launched Oct 22 when the D-day

was fixed.

"We want to ensure that people

will not forget about the mission

days after launch and because the

Orbiter will take over nine months

to cruise towards Marian orbit by

Sep 2014. They can simply access

Facebook and know what's happen-

ing to the mission in the interplane-

tary space anytime and from any-

where," the rocket scientist said.

Sriharikota/New Delhi: India's

Mars mission is a major step for-

ward in exploring the solar sys-

tem that was completed by

Indian scientists in just 15

months, said the euphoric scien-

tific community.

India is the first Asian country

and the fourth entity after

Russia, the US and the EuropeanSpace Agency (ESA) to leap into

interplanetary space with an

exploratory mission to Mars,

about 400 million km from plan-

et Earth.

Amitabha Ghosh, chairman,

Science Operations Working

Group - Mission Operations at

the NASA Mars Exploration

Rover Mission, said it's a signifi-

cant milestone for India.

"It is important to develop

capability and also try to do

something unique and not some-

thing done before. The real

moment for India will come

when it enters into Mars gravita-tion," Ghosh said.

Renowned space scientist K.

Kasturirangan commended the

way Indian scientists were able

to complete the mission within

15 months of the announcement

by Prime Minister Manmohan

Singh.

"I think first of all given the 15

months' time to take the mission

to first level is something unbe-

lievable for space programme of

this level... something we allshould be proud of,"

Kasturirangan said.

"It will become an important

milestone for India when it com-

pletes 300 days and enters Mars

orbit," Kasturirangan said.

Professor Yashpal, founding

father of ISRO, lauded India's

effort to chart its own path by

launching the mission and not

following others.

"There are a whole lot of pro-

grams going on in the ISRO andthe best part is that you are

making your own path and not

following anyone else's," he

said.

Indian Space Research Organisation ChairmanDr. K.Radhakrishnan and other scientists

celebrate after the successful launch.

Chennai: Indian space agency

officials are gearing up to raisethe orbit of Mars Orbiter

launched into the earth parking

orbit Tuesday afternoon, said a

senior official.

"The on-board motors of Mars

Orbiter will be fired for around

200 seconds to raise its orbit by

around 4,120 km to 28,785 km,"

S. Arunan, project director, Mars

Orbiter Mission, said.

"We carried out the rehearsal

for the orbit raising activities

without switching on the motor,"

he added. According to him,

around 40 kg of the on-board fuel

was expected to be burnt in the

first orbit raising activity.

The 1,340 kg Mars Orbiter,

developed by Indian Space

Research Organisation (ISRO) at

an outlay of around Rs.150 crore,

carries 852 kg of fuel on-board.

According to Arunan, around

360 kg fuel was likely to be

expended on the six orbit raising

activities. He said the Mars

Orbiter's orbit would be raised

Nov 7-10, Nov 15 and Nov 30.

Arunan said the design life of

Mars Orbiter was six months. The

Orbiter's life depends on the envi-

ronmental conditions on Mars.

"The fuel requirement in the

Mars orbit is not much. The

Orbiter needs only two kg fuel for six months," he said.

ISRO gearing up to raise orbit

Rs 450 crore Indian

Mars orbiter

successfully placedin Earth orbit;

to reach Mars orbit

in September 2014



Dehradun: British royal couple,

Prince Charles and the Duchess of

Cornwall, began their nine-day trip

of India by participating in the

evening aarti ritual on the banks of

the Ganges at Rishikesh in

Uttarakhand.They arrived at Jollygrant airport

were received by Chief Minister

Vijay Bahuguna and British High

Commissioner to India James David

Bevan.

The royal couple joined in the

Ganga aarti held at Parmartha

Nike tan Ashram for the peace of

those who died in the June flash

floods in the state.

"It is my first visit to the Ganges,

so from that point of view it is a

very special occasion for both

myself and my wife," Charles said

later according to a Clarence House

tweet.

This is the third official visit to

India by the couple, and their most

extensive.

Dehradun will be the most impor-tant leg of their India tour as they

visit three world renowned institu-

tions in the city: The Indian Military

Academy, The Forest Research

Institute and the Doon School,

where local women are being helped

to finance their own self-employ-

ment projects.

The royal couple's India visit ends

Nov 14 whe n the y lea ve for Sri

Lanka for the Commonwealth

Heads of Government Meeting

(CHOGM) in Colombo.

British royal couple begin India visitLalu not to celebrateChhath festival in jailRanchi: Former Bihar chief minis-

ter Lalu Prasad will not observe

Chhath puja in jail, officials said.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal chief has

not kept a fast and has not asked for

any material for the religious ritu-

als, D. Pradahan, jail superintendent

of Birsa Munda central jail here,

said.

Lalu usually keeps fast during

Chhath puja and performs the ritu-

als every year. This year, however,

he is currently lodged in Ranchi jail

after being convicted in the fodder

scam and jailed for five years by a

special CBI court last month.

"Today (Thursday) he has taken

his meals and we have no informa-

tion about him performing Chhath

puja. Till now, no puja material has

been demanded," he said.

Lalu has turned into a gardener in

jail and is paid Rs 14 every day."He looks after the gardening here,"

Pradhan said.

11November 9-15, 2013TheSouthAsianTimes.info INDIA

This is the third official visit to India by the couple, and their most extensive

Mumbai: India's first celebrity

cook, Tarla Dalal, has died follow-

ing a cardiac arrest, family sources

said. She passed away at her resi-

dence in south Mumbai.

A widow, Dalal was 77 years old

and is survived by three children.

She leaves behind a rich legacy of

over 17,000 recipes created by her.

A household name specializing in

vegetarian cuisine, Dalal penned

over 100 cookery books which sold

more than three million copies. She

was conferred the Padma Shri in

2007. A terse announcement on her

Facebook page Wednesday evening

read: "We would like to thank all of

you for your support and affection

through the years of Mrs. Tarla

Dalal's career. She is no more with

us as she expired in the early hours

of this morning. We thank her for all

the happiness that her talent has

given to us and our families."Born in Pune in 1936 in a conser-

vative family, she shifted to

Mumbai after her marriage with

Naveen Dalal in 1960 and launched

cookery classes at her south

Mumbai home in 1966.

With her unique and simple styles

of whipping up the best of Indian

vegetarian cuisine, Dalal's classes

became very popular with a long

waiting list of prospective women

wanting to join and learn the culi-

nary art.

At one time it was said among

conservative Gujarati and Marathi

households that if they wanted their

daughters to get married, they must

learn cooking from Tarla Dalal.

In 1974, Dalal published her first

cookery book, "The Pleasures of

Vegetarian Cooking", which turned

out to be a bestseller.

Over the years, the housewife-

turned-celeb cook followed it up

with more than 100 other cookery

books with a wide variety of recipes

and step-by-step cooking instruc-

tions which were lapped up by the

hungry readers and young house-

wives.

Celebrity cook Tarla Dalal is dead

She leaves behind a richlegacy of over 17,000 recipes

created by her



12 November 9-15, 2013 TheSouthAsianTimes.info INDIA

New Delhi: Union Home Minister

Sushilkumar Shinde has rejected

the BJP demand for security cover

for its prime ministerial candidate

Narendra Modi matching that pro-

vided to Prime Minister

Manmohan Singh.

Security provided by the Special

Protection Group (SPG) was avail-

able only for the prime minister,

former prime minister and, as an

exceptional case, Congress presi-

dent Sonia Gandhi.

Responding to the BJP's

demand, Shinde said that the mat-

ter was determined by law, and

there was a law under which such

security was provided only to the

prime minister.Earlier, Minister of State for

Home R.P.N.Singh had said that

the central government provides

security to people as per the threat

pe rcep ti on, and Gu ja ra t Ch ie f

Minister Narendra Modi already

had Z-category National Security

Guard (NSG) cover.

The Bharatiya Janata Party

(BJP) had demanded even more

security for Modi.

Minister of State for Home

Singh said: "The ministry of home

affairs will give full security as per

the threat perception."

He said Modi already had NSG

cover, and extra security was pro-

vided for him during programmes

like rallies.

The BJP demanded that the cen-

tral government take all necessary

steps to provide adequate securityto Modi following the Oct 27 seri-

al blasts in Patna that left six dead

and over 80 injured.

No SPG security coverfor Modi: Shinde

New Delhi: The ElectionCommission (EC) has given days

to Congress vice president Rahul

Gandhi to respond to its notice on

his speeches. The notice also per-

tains to the speech in which

Gandhi had alleged that youth

affected by the Muzaffarnagar

riots were approached by

Pakistan's Inter-Services

Intelligence (ISI).

Rahul Gandhi had sought a

week's time to respond to the EC

notice of Oct 31. "The commis-

sion has considered your request

for extension of time for submit-

ting your reply and has decided

to extend the time for reply to thesaid notice up to 11 a.m. Nov 8,

2013 (Friday)," an EC order said.

Rahul Gandhi was issued notice

by the poll panel for his speeches

in which heaccused the

Bharatiya Janata

Party (BJP) of

causing commu-

nal flare ups and

said that ISI was

contacting the

Muzaffarnagar

riot victims. The

commission, in

its notice, said

Gandhi's elec-

tion speeches in

Churu in

Rajasthan Oct

23 and Indore in

Madhya PradeshOct 24 were prima facie "viola-

tive" of the model code of con-

duct and asked him to reply by

Monday why action should not

be taken against him.

The notice was issued on the

complaints made by the BJP to

the commission.

Aligarh: Muslim intellectuals

here have attacked Samajwadi

Party president Mulayam Singh

Yadav, saying he was not a sin-

cere well-wisher of the Muslim

community.

Members of the Forum for

Muslim Studies and Analysis

(FMSA) were reacting to Yadav'scomment that he has always

cared for the culture, language

and religious beliefs of Muslims.

"The reality is that Mulayam

Singh Yadav has always played

the politics of riots and sheltered

Kalyan Singh in his party

although he is a culprit in the dem-

olition of the Babri Masque," said

professor Razaullah Khan.

Kalyan Singh was the BJP chief

minister in Uttar Pradesh when the

16th century Babri mosque was

razed by a Hindu mob. Kalyan

Singh briefly joined the Samajwadi

Party following differences with

the BJP.

Jasim Mohammad, secretary

general of FMSA, said: "Riots

have always taken place during

Samajwadi Party's rule. More than

100 riots have taken place

now."

Mohammad alleged that

Muslims forced to take shelter

in relief camps following the

Muzaffarnagar riots were

unable to gather courage to

return to their homes but the

Samajwadi Party was doing tohelp them.

Another professor, Humayun

Murad, said that if the

Samajwadi Party was aware of

the problems faced by

Muslims, who was stopping it

to solve them? "Why are the

riot accused roaming free?" Added

N. Jamal Ansari: "Mulayam Singh

Yadav treats Muslims only as his

vote bank and he fails to realize

that the political combination of

Yadavs and Muslims has already

cracked."

New Delhi: Senior BJP leader L.K.

Advani has said the country's first

prime mini ster Jawaharlal Nehr u

had called Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

"a total communalist" after the then

home minister demanded the army

should be sent to Hyderabad to deal

with the unrest.

In a latest post on his blog,

Advani quoted from unedited trans-

lation of M.K.K. Nair's book, "The

Story of an Era Told without Ill

Will", and said the cabinet meeting

which occasioned a sharp exchange

betwee n Neh ru and Patel on the

Hyderabad issue took place shortly before the "police action" in 1948.

Advani cited from the book and

said on April 30, 1948, the Indian

Army fully withdrew from

Hyderabad and the Razakars, a pri-

vate militia, began to behave licen-

tiously all over the state. The book

said C. Rajagopalachari was the

Governor General and Patel believed the army should be sent to

put an end to the wantonness of the

Nizam of Hyderabad.

It said at about that time, the

Nizam sent an emissary to Pakistan

and transferred a large sum of

money from his government

account in London to Pakistan. The

book said at the cabin et meet ing

Patel demanded the army be sent to

end the terror-regime in

Hyderabad.

"Nehru who usually spoke calm-

ly, peacefully and with internation-

al etiquette, lost his composure and

said, 'You are a total communalist. I

will never accept your recommen-

dation'. Patel remained unperturbed

but left the room with his papers,"

Advani quoted from the book.The Bharatiya Janata Party has

been seeking to project itself as an

inheritor of Patel's legacy of being

a strong administrator.

New Delhi: Political parties

were divided on the proposal

to restrict opinion polls in therun-up to the elections, with

the Congress and the BSP say-

ing these do not reflect the cor-

rect picture, and the BJP claim-

ing that restricting them was

constitutionally neither permis-

sible nor desirable.

BJP leader Arun Jaitley

wrote an article on his party

website, saying that "a poten-

tial loser in the elections can-

not seek to alter the rules of

free speech".

An opinion poll last week

had predicted that the

Bharatiya Janata Party was

expected to form governmentsin three of the four Hindi

heartland states going to polls

in November-December. It had

also said the BJP was ahead in

the three-way race in Delhi.

The BJP prime minister can-

didate Narendra Modi also hit

out at the Congress, and

termed its suggestion to restrict

opinion polls "puerile".

The BJP's ally, Shiromani

Akali Dal (SAD), appeared to

speak in different voices in the

matter.

Punjab Chief Minister

Parkash Singh Badal said the

Congress only revealed its des-

peration, seeing the writing on

the wall, in seeking a restric-

tion on the opinion polls.

SAD MP Naresh Gujral,

however, said it was seen in

the past that political partiesuse companies to influence

voters.

The Congress defended its

view that opinion polls should

be restricted during elections,

bu t as se rt ed th at it ne ve r

opposed them.

"We have never opposed

opinion polls... but the party

has maintained that they are

doubtful... we don't trust

them," Congress spokesperson

Meem Afzal told reporters

when asked about his party's

response to the Election

Commission (EC).

In its Oct 30 response to theEC, the Congress supported

the commission's view that

opinion polls should be

restricted during election time.

The EC had sought the views

of the political parties on

restricting publication and dis-

semination of opinion polls

during elections.

Communist Party of India-

Marxist leader Sitaram

Yechury said that results of

opinion polls should not be

published after the poll panel

has made notification of elec-

tions.

At present, a ban on the pub-

lication of opinion polls 48

hours before voting is over is

operational.

Rahul asked to respond toEC notice by Nov 8

'Nehru called Patel a total communalist'

Political partiesdivided on opinion polls

Rahul Gandhi accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of causing communal flare ups

Senior BJP leader L.K. Advani

Samajwadi Party president MulayamSingh Yadav

Muslims attack Mulayam over UP riots



OP-ED 13November 9-15, 2013TheSouthAsianTimes.info

By Veturi Srivatsa

Sachin Tendulkar is on the home stretch,

playing his last two Test matches of an

amazing career spanning almost a quar-

ter century. Not many legends may have had

the luxury of a farewell he is rightly receiving,

though quite a few stalwarts like him chose

their place and time to bow out of internation-

al cricket.

There is no better pastime than discussing

the future of the game and the team whenever

a great player quits. Mercifully, the question

"who after Sachin" remains a murmur, not a

hysterical wailing. Instead the talk is which of

the youngsters in the Indian team is likely toget closer to some of Tendulkar's innumerable

records, if ever they do.

The initial indication is that Virat Kohli can

leave the great man behind in at least One-

Day cricket, in the number of hundreds and

aggregate much faster, but the rider is if the

Delhi young man scores his runs at the frenet-

ic pace he is getting now.

There is no talk on the opening slot in the

One-Day format he vacated a year ago. Within

no time the replacement was found, not one

but two who have done a lot better than all

Tendulkar and his partners did to start with at

the top.

As for his No. 4 position in the Test batting

order, Kohli should take it now, that Rahul

Dravid's one-drop slot has been taken by

Cheteshwar Pujara. So, technically, in both the

forms of cricket the selectors have been able

to find batsmen who will make him feel that

the future of Indian cricket is in good hands as

he walks off the ground one last time.

Is that all for Tendulkar? It would be naiveto make things so simple. Tendulkar is much

more than mere strokeplay and statistics. The

pleasure he has provided to the fans the world

over cannot be measured in compartmental

terms of his batting style and the tons of runs

he scored.

Tendulkar is an impact player, not by his

batting alone. If his presence in his dressingroom created that confidence among his team-

mates, in the rival dressing room his very

sight made them nervy. Look at the genera-

tions of players he has played with and how

many of them still swear by his name for pro-

longing their careers by making course correc-

tions thanks to tips he unselfishly offered

them. That's a great quality in him.The motto of the Indian team should be a

remarkable quote of his: Every time India

wins, individual delight wanes before the

team's celebration. The line sums up his crick-

et philosophy and it should be highlighted in

every Indian dressing room to inspire the

future generations of cricketers.

The pleasure he has provided to the fans the world over cannot be measured incompartmental terms of his batting style and the tons of runs he scored.

The views expressed in Op Eds are not necessarily those of The South Asian Times.

Sachin much more than

strokeplay statistics

Big ideas? Don’t hold your breathBy Chanakya

Iwonder if our main pugilists in

the ring for Election 2014,

Na re nd ra Mo di an d Ra hu l

Gandhi, have read the works of

Goethe.

I raise the question because both

of them seem to be following one

of his famous dictums, “When

ideas fail, words come in handy.” I

don’t need to tell you that Modi is

a compelling orator. Rahul speaks

from his heart though he is not the

orator Modi is. Both are in rally

mode. Modi’s Patna rally is being

compared to the crowds that

Jayaprakash Narayan would draw

in his heyday.Rahul has been no slouch on the

rally front too.

But, can you tell me what you

have come away with from listen-

ing to either of these leaders?

Modi has told us in eloquent detail

how the shahzada (his moniker for

Rahul) has no ideas, no interests

beyond the dynasty, how the PM

has no courage to stand up to

China and Pakistan, how the UPA

2 has let the country go down the

tube. All with some merit I might

add.

Now let us look at Rahul. He has

told us that his grandmother and

father were victims of hatred. Hesays the BJP fosters communal

hatred, he tells us that the

Congressman stands for the weak,

whether rich or poor, and that his

mother has told him to tell us his

stories and not hers. Great, we are

listening.

While all this makes for splendid

photo ops — the muscula r and

thundering Modi, the clean cut,

long suffering young Rahul —

what do they have in store for us?

We were aghast when Modi

expressed the view that foreign

pol icy cou ld be han dle d by the

states, we were equally appalledwhen Rahul blithely spoke of the

ISI getting in touch with youth in

Muzaffarnagar after the riots.

Comparisons are odious, but I

have to raise the example of the

United States here. Though its sys-

tem is different from ours, the peo-

ple get to know in great detail the

views of the main candidates on

issues of foreign policy, internal

security, the economy, gay rights,

what have you. Many feel that the

gaffe-prone Sarah Palin did much

damage to John McCain’s presi-

dency bid.

But here, where the winner willtake charge of the lives of a billion

plus people , we know very littleabout what either candidate, if

indeed Rahul is going to lead the

charge for the Congress, thinks on

crucial subjects.

Foreign policy has a direct bear-

ing on trade relations, which have

a bearing on the economy. India is

trying to showcase its economy as

a major factor for it to be consid-

ered in the league of the big boys.

Modi has told of the wonders he

has performed in Gujarat. We

applaud him. B ut traditionally,

Gujarat has been a business-

friendly state.

Modi is a one stop shop, so

given the incentives he offers, he

is bound to get business invest-ment. But an India ruled by a

coalition with differing economic

ideologies is a different kettle of

fish.

Rahul’s view on either foreign

policy or the economy is still hid-

den to us. But from the way he has

been espousing the UPA’s socia l

welfare schemes, I will assume

that he is cast in the socialist

mould.

Then there is the issue of terror

which raised its ugly head in Patna

jus t bef ore Modi’s ral ly. It is a

major issue and India is a target of

jihadis of several hues.

Ne it he r ha s sp ok en ab ou twhether they will tackle the issue

or indeed how they will do so.Internal insurgency has also

become a major headache. Do our

two contenders have any views on

this? If so, I haven’t heard them.

Modi says that we will take a

tough stand with China. Are we in

a position to do so? What exactly

does ‘a tough stand’ mean? Rahul

talks of the ISI reaching out to our

youth? Does he have any proof?

The words of our future leaders,

if they are to be that, must be

measured, they must carry gravitas

and they must not become the sub-

ject of instant controversies.

Of course, it is not just Modi and

Rahul who have succumbed to the

lure of the thoughtless sound byte.Our other leaders are not much

bet te r. Samajwad i pa rty leader

Mulayam Singh Yadav had threat-

ened to hold a rally bigger than

Modi’s.

As if this was an end in itself. In

the end, the rally was not quite of

Modi proportions, but again, did

not yield anything substantial

except a lot of posturing by the

Yadav chieftain. There has to be

something more substantive than

huge rallies and hyperbole. Young

India needs new ideas, new mes-

sages and new reasons for hope.

Covering up the paucity of ideas

with words is to insult the intelli-gence of the Indian people.

Narendra Modi is a one stop shop, so given the incentives heoffers, he is bound to get business investment.



14 November 9-15, 2013 TheSouthAsianTimes.info DIASPORA

2,000 delegates to take part in PBD in January in DelhiNew Delhi: Over 2,000

delegates from across the

world are likely to partic-

ipate in the 12th edition

of the annual diaspora

meet called Pravasi

Bharatiya Divas (PBD) to be held Jan 7-9, Minister for Over-

seas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi said

Tuesday.

Addressing a media conference

here, Ravi said the focus of the up-

coming event, to be organized in the

national capital, would be on diaspo-

ra youth.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

will inaugurate the event Jan 8, while

President Pranab Mukherjee will de-

liver the valedictory address and

confer Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Sam-

man awards Jan 9, the minister said.

During the three-day event, the

government will showcase the in-

vestment opportunities available in

various sectors and encourage Indian

diaspora to enhance their economic

and cultural engagements with

homeland.

Pravasi Bharatiya Di-

vas (PBD) is celebrated

Jan 9 every year to mark

the contribution of over-

seas Indian community

to the development of In-

dia. Jan 9 has been cho-sen to mark the day because the Fa-

ther of Nation Mahatma Gandhi re-

turned to India from South Africa in

1915 on this day to lead the country's

freedom struggle.

In the previous edition of the annu-

al diaspora meet held in Jaipur, Ra-

jasthan, over 1,500 non-resident In-

dians and person of Indian origin

from 54 countries had participated.

Ravi said the theme of the upcom-

ing annual convention will be “En-

gaging Diaspora: Connecting Across

Generations.”

On the first day of the event Jan 7,

there will be discussion on “Aspira-

tion of Diaspora Youth” followed by

concurrent session on “Sharing a

Common Heritage: The Emotional

Connect, Young Achievers” and on

“Emerging India in a Dynamically

Changing World.”

On second and third day of the

event also there will be sessions fo-

cused on showcasing investment op-

portunities in different sector and

parts of the country.

“There will also be concurrent ex-hibition showcasing with participa-

tion from state governments, corpo-

rates, financial institution, NGOs

and other sectors,” the minister said.

The Ministry of Youth Affairs and

Sports will be the partner ministry

for the upcoming event to be organ-

ized by the Ministry for Overseas In-

dian Affairs.

The purpose of the Pravasi

Bharatiya Divas is to have meaning-

ful interaction with overseas Indian

that would address their issues and

concerns.

“The PBD Convention provides a

unique platform for overseas Indian

to interact among themselves and

with the government of India and the

government of various Indian

states,” the overseas Indian ministry

said.

Cambridge alumnus sponsors scholarship Indian community in Ethiopiacelebrates Diwali with gusto

Indian-origin woman to head Canada operations of MNC

London: An alumnus of the Uni-

versity of Cambridge, Prathiba M.

Singh, has donated a scholarship

that will enable Indian students to

complete LL.M degree at the world-

renowned Cambridge Faculty of

Law.Singh, who did her LL.B from

Bangalore University, later got her

LL.M from Cambridge in 1992 on afull scholarship from the Cam-

bridge Commonwealth Trust and

then returned to India to work on in-

tellectual property rights.

She is now the managing partner

of Singh & Singh Law Firm in New

Delhi, which she incorporated with

her husband in 1997.

Singh has handled and argued a

large number of landmark cases in

India including the Novartis case.

She also won the Euromoney Asia

Women in Business Law Award

2012 for the best woman intellectu-al property litigator in Asia.

Her firm has been hailed as the

Firm of the Year at the 2013 Man-

aging Intellectual Property Global

Awards.

“This scholarship is the first step

to make a contribution to the legal

profession and give back what I got

when I studied in Cambridge Uni-

versity,” Singh said in a statement

issued by the university.

“I hope meritorious Indian stu-

dents avail this to do an LL.M with

focus on IPR laws and return to In-dia. The purpose is to encourage

young bright lawyers to join litiga-

tion practice,” she added.

The deadline for applications for

the scholarship is Nov 15, 2013.

Addis Ababa: The famous saying

of Diwali "You are invited to the

festival of this world and your life

is blessed" was really printed on the

faces of the 500-odd members of

the Indian community gathered in

this Ethiopian capital to celebrate

the festival of lights.

Women dressed in their finest

saris and men in their sherwanis,

lungis, kurtas and suits filled the air

with the flavor of joy and a hope of

a prosperous New Year and every-

thing Diwali entails. Children

dressed in the traditional clothes

played with the friends they met af-

ter a long time.

"We were planning to bring 1,000

and more people but the place was

not enough to accommodate that

many people," said Nainesh Doshi,

the outgoing president of the exec-

utive committee for the IndianCommunity in Ethiopia.

Diwali has been celebrated in

Ethiopia at various places and in

various ways for as long as the In-

dian community has been present in

the country. This year the commit-

tee managed to take the community

members to Bollywood movie

"Boss", released just two weeks ago

in India, and followed it up with Di-

wali festivity at the Sheraton Addis

Hotel and dinner at the Sangham

Restaurant, one of the oldest Indian

restaurants in town.

The night of the festival started

with the lighting of the auspicious

"diya" (lamp) by Rupa Bishoni,

wife of Indian Ambassador Bhag-

want Singh Bishnoi, and the festiv-

ities continued till midnight with

dinner, dances as well as door and

raffle prizes.

Saturday evening's Diwali festi-

val marked the unity of the com-

munity.

"We have been celebrating Di-

wali on our own at our houses just

with family members, but here,

now we are together and this feels

home," said Amrita Kothari, mem-

ber of the Indian Women Associa-tion. According to Harsh Kothari,

secretary of the executive commit-

tee, "We are in Ethiopia. It's home

for us. This is where we live, al-

though we have roots and our cul-

ture in India, yet this is home. So

we have to find a way to connect

the roots to the reality."

Toronto: An Indian-origin woman

has been appointed head of the

Canada operations of a leading

multinational wealth management

company, Northern Trust Corpora-

tion.In a press release, the Northern

Trust Corporation Tuesday said Arti

Sharma will be responsible for thecompany's operations in the Cana-

dian market.

Prior to this appointment, Sharma

was principal and custody practice

leader at Mercer Sentinel Services,

responsible for business develop-

ment.

"We've experienced significant

growth and success in Canada, and

under Arti Sharma's leadership, we

will continue to build on that mo-

mentum," Northern Trust chairman

and chief executive officer Freder-

ick H. Waddell said in the press re-

lease.

Chicago-based Northern TrustCorporation is a leading provider of

investment management, asset and

fund administration, banking solu-

tions and fiduciary services for cor-

porations.

The company has a presence in

North America, Europe, the Middle

East and the Asia-Pacific region.Arti Sharma

130,000 Indians return from Saudi ArabiaNew Delhi: Around

130,000 Indians have re-

turned to India from Saudi

Arabia this year following

the kingdom's Nitaqat work

policy, a top official said

Wednesday.Around 5,000 Indian ex-

patriates have also been de-

ported from Kuwait for not

possessing proper work

documents. There are around

750,000 Indians in Kuwait.

According to external affairs min-

istry spokesperson Syed Akbarud-

din, while 130,000 Indians without

valid work documents returned in an

"orderly" manner, 1.4 million Indi-

ans used the extended time offered

by Saudi Arabia to regularize their

stay in that country.

He said the Nitaqat policy is part of

the Saudi Arabian government's

move to reorganize the labor market

"as it deems fit." He said India was in

touch with the Saudi government to

ameliorate the adverse effects and

Riyadh extended the deadline twice,

which ended Nov 3.

He said the Indian embassy in

Riyadh and the consul in Jeddah had

worked overtime to sensitize Indi-

ans, numbering 2.8 million, on Ni-

taqat under which local companies

have to hire a Saudi national for

every 10 migrants.

According to Mridul Kumar, joint

secretary (Gulf) in the ministry, the

Indian embassy used the opportunity

to regularize status of Indians stay-

ing illegally or with invalid visas -

entering on a domestic worker visa but taking up a job in a different cat-

egory. "We managed to make it a

huge success," he said.



MAYOR WITH A LIBERAL WORLDVIEWNew York: Bill de Blasio has certainly come from

behind to become a marquee name in national poli-

tics by getting elected as Mayor of the most impor-

tant city in United States.

He was a virtual unknown nationally despite 25

years in New York politics. Critics questioned wheth-er his experience as a City Councilman from Brook-

lyn and, most recently, as Public Advocate -- a sort of

civic watchdog – was sufcient for him to run the Big

Apple. And in the Democratic primaries earlier this

year, the favorites were Anthony Weiner rst and then

Christine Quinn, a Bloomberg surrogate.

De Blasio portrayed himself as the “unapologeti-

cally progressive alternative to the Bloomberg era,”

saying that the current mayor’s polices favor the rich.

He repeatedly used the Dickensian phrase “a tale of

two cities” to describe New York City under billion-

aire Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

The wealth inequality message struck home with

minority and low-income voters on Tuesday, giving

de Blasio an advantage over Republican candidate Joe

Lhota among black and Latino voters compared to

white voters, and a landslide victory.His biracial family’s increasing visibility during

the campaign -- his wife Chirlane McCray, a political

activist who once identied herself as lesbian before

marrying de Blasio, emerged as a top campaign strate-

gist -- resonated with residents of a city coping with

Bill de Blasio, 52, the Mayor-elect of NYC,

currently holds the ofce of NYC Public

Advocate, which serves as an ombudsman

between the electorate and the city government. He

formerly served as a City Council member represent-

ing the 39th District in Brooklyn.

De Blasio received a B.A. from New York Uni-

versity, and a Master of International Affairs from

Columbia University’s School of International and

Public Affairs.

New York: Launching an effort to build an effective and diverse

city government that will deliver on a mandate for progressive change,

New York City Mayor-Elect Bi ll de Blasio has appointed dist inguished

chairs and senior staff of his transition team and launched an onlineinitiative to solicit talent and ideas from people.

He has named Jennifer Jones Austin and Carl Weisbrod – two sea-

soned civic leaders with extensive public sector experience – as co-

chairs of the transition, leading the work of assembling a progressive,

effective and diverse city government made up of outstanding profes-

sionals and public servants. “We’re building a team that’s devoted to

building one great ci ty where everyone shares in our prosperity,” said

de Blasio. “Above all, I want to create a government with the compe-

tence to safeguard the health and security of all New Yorkers.”

“Our greatest source of wealth is the diversity of our people,” de Bla-

sio continued. “We’re going to create a government that reects the face

of our city - the greatest on earth. De Blasio also announced the launch

of a web site – www.transition2013.com – for the transition. “We are

encouraging New Yorkers – and people from all across America – from

all walks of life to consider joining our city’s government,” he said.

Austin and Weisbrod, collectively, have more than six decades of

experience at the highest levels of city government and leading institu-tions that are essential the social fabric of New York City.

a 21% poverty rate and increasing racial divisiveness

brought on by the cont roversial “stop-and-f risk” poli-

cys. “His family, just because of the racial mix, repre-

sents a big and increasingly large part of the city and

speaks to certain sensibilities,” said Harold Ickes, a

veteran Democratic Party operative who advised thecampaign. “From the outside, this family represents a

part of the city not represented in c ity government.”

When de Blasio delivered his acceptance speech

as the rst Democratic mayor in the largely-Demo -

cratic city in two decades, he acknowledged h is fam-

ily before going on to thank the many people behind

his triumph. He also greeted his supporters in both

Spanish and Italian.

During his mayoral campaign, de Blasio cemented

his reputation as a progressive. Her outlined a plan to

raise taxes on residents earning over $500,000 a year

in order to pay for universal pre-kindergarten programs

and to expand after-school programs at middle schools.

He disfavors charter schools and plans to invest $150

million annually in the City University of New York to

lower tuition and to improve degree programs.

He has voiced his opposition to a New York CityHousing Authority decision to cut the number of Section

8 vouchers issued to low-income New Yorkers. He also

launched an online “NYC’s Worst Landlords Watchlist”

to track landlords who failed to repair dangerous liv-

ing conditions. He has also argued that “corporations

His introduction to city politics came during David

Dinkins’ 1989 mayoral campaign, for which he was

a volunteer coordinator. In 1997, he was appointed

Regional Director for the U.S. Department of Hous-

ing and Urban Development (HUD) for NY-NJ un-

der the administration of President Bill Clinton. He

increased federal funding for affordable and senior-citizen housing.

In 2000 he was tapped to serve as campaign man-

ager for Hillary Clinton’s successful US Sena te bid.

From 2001-2007 he served on the New York City

Council for three terms, and helped pass many pro-

gressive legislation. For example, as head of the City

Council’s General Welfare Committee, de Blasio

passed the law to help non-English speakers access

free language assistance services when accessing

government programs.

As Public Advocate for New York City since 2010,

de Blasio repeatedly offered sharp criticism of May-

or Bloomberg’s education policies and forced the

Bloomberg administration to take back its proposal to

re more than 4,600 teachers to balance the city’s budget.

He is married to Chirlane McCray, an African-

American and political activist. They have two chil-

dren, Dante and Chiara.

should not be allowed to buy elections”.De Blasio gained media attention when he and a dozen others were

arrested for protesting the closing of Long Island College Hospital. To

sum up, in the words of The New York Times, de Blasio will have a

grand stage on which to test the liberal worldview that has been the

hallmark of his career.

Bill de Blasio is joined by wife Chirlane McCray, son Dante anddaughter Chiara at his mayoral victory rally Tuesday night.

A view of de Blasio’s supporters at his victory rally.Sikh or Jew or African-American, his government promises

to make the city more inclusive and equitable.

Bill de Blasio and Hillary Clinton in 2000. He man-aged her first successful US Senate campaign.

TRANSITION TEAM TO BUILD A

PROGRESSIVE, EFFECTIVEAND DIVERSE CITY GOVT

A PROGRESSIVE’S PROGRESSION

NYC MAYOR ELECT B ILL DE BLASIO 15November 9-15, 2013

ADOPTING THE NAMEEver wondered where the Mayor-Elect’s name

comes from? He was born Warren Wilhelm, Jr.

in Manhattan, the son of Maria (née De Blasio)

and Warren Wilhelm. His father had German

ancestry, and his maternal grandparents were

Italian immigrants from the city of Benevento.

He was raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He

was eight years old when his parents divorced

and he was brought up by his mother’s family

— the de Blasio family. By the time he appearedon the public stage in 1990, he was using the

name Bill de Blasio as he explained he had been

called “Bill” or “Billy” in his personal life.



MANGANO CAN BE MORE EFFECTIVE IN HIS SECOND TERM

Hicksville, NY: Edward P. Man-

gano was expected to win all along,

but what is st riking is that he won

by a margin (59 percent to 41

percent for his Democratic chal-

lenger Tom Suozzi) beyond even

the predictions of opinion polls

which said days before the Nov 5

election that Suozzi had closed the

initial double digit gap.

So, which factors helped in-

cumbent Nassu County Executive

Mangano trounce Suozzi (a big win

compared to the precisely 386 vote

margin in 2009 when he unseated

Suozzi). And what does four more

years to him mean for the county.

First, the winning factors. You

don’t have to be a poll pundit to

point out a couple of key ones. A

resident of Nassau County, I have

always noticed placards saying,

“Thank you, Ed Mangano, for not

raising taxes” in the front lawns of

houses all around and at his rallies

and events. There! He had felt the

pulse of the county residents from

the word ‘go’. And he kept his 2009

poll pledge of not raising taxes.

In local elections, local issues

are paramount. The October shut-

down of the federal government

and the ght in Washington over

raising America’s debt ceiling,

which hurt Republican party’s im-age, had zero effect on Mangano’s

fortunes. Besides, issues like coun-

ty debt - which Suozzi harped on

and blamed Mangano for increas-

ing but was denied by the Repub-

lican—don’t register deeply for or-

dinary citizens more interested in

carrying on with their lives.

Neither had whiff of any scandal involving

Mangano or his administration surfaced tar-

nishing his reputation. There is often an anti-

incumbency factor. Not this time.“There isn’t any wellspring of animos-

ity against Mangano,” commented Donald P.

Levy, director of the Siena Research Institute ,

which conducted the opinion poll along with

Newsday / News 12, giving him a 17 point

lead a month ago over Suozzi. Head-to-head,

more Nassau voters are pleased with the job

Mangano has done running the county over

the last four years than the job Suozzi did

when he was county executive from 2002 to

2009, Levy said. “There doesn’t look l ike there’s

any romance in looking back at the Suozzi

years,” Levy said. The poll also found thatSuozzi’s “unfavorables” had risen signicantly

since August -- from 31 percent to 46 percent.

Commenting on the results of that opinion

poll, Mangano campai gn manager Brian Nev-

in said, “County Executive Mangano appreci-

ates the support residents have shown for his

efforts in freezing property taxes, eliminating

the home energy tax, creating jobs and help-

ing residents rebuild after Hurricane Sandy.

Residents already red Tom Suozzi for hiking

property taxes by 23 percent and are now re-

jecting his campaign of lies and dis tortions.”

My personal too-bit is that Suozzi had dis-

appeared from the Nassau affairs scene since

his failed bid for a third term in 2009, a nar-

row defeat many blame on his then campaign’s

complacence. At a casual meeting, I asked him

after he had joined the race a few months ago

about his absence, he said he has a family to

support and had to fend for that.

During campaigning and in an interview to

The South Asian Times, Mangano exhuded an

aura of condence in his impending victory,

while Suozzi at public events looked a little‘off’, as if going through the motions. His

campaign – in terms of advertising and money

spent – was not lacking, but to voters his shot

at getting his job back seemed like a wild one

like the shot he took one at governorship after

his county loss. Mangano has all along been

disinterested in higher ofce, focusing on bet-

ter governance of the county.

Then, in all the debates, Mangano came out

on top, observers agreed, while Suozzi could

not muster winning arguments or hoist a robust

challenge. The one debate Mangano declined

was to be on News 12, local TV channel formthe Newsday-Cablevision group. Mangano’s

campaign manager Brian Nevin sent a letter

to Patrick F. Dolan, president of News 12 Net-

works, arguing, “The Mangano campaign has

on several occasions requested -- and you have

refused -- to disclose during the debate your sta-

tion’s corporate relationship with Tom Suozzi –

including approximately $200,000 in political

contributions this year as well as private sector

employment (to Suozzi) during prior years at

your parent company, Cablevision.”

Indeed, Mangano had to also sweep away

the dogged opposition from the Newsday me-

dia conglomerate. When on Nov 5, Mangano’s

victory came to pass, he said, “What a great

night! I feel so blessed to continue in this

job… We overcame the challenges, we over -came the deceptions.”

Conceding defeat, Suozzi said, “This is a

tough loss . . . but it doesn’t mean we weren’t

right. We may have had a bad campaign, we

may have hit the wrong message, but we still

have serious problems in Nassau County.”

What now? Mangano believes he has put

the county on the right path, and has pledgedto soldier on, without needing course correc-

tion. But a massive mandate for his second

term will certainly embolden him in his deal-

ings with all parties concerned such as NIFA

(Nassau Interim Finance Authority).

Of course, the county has numerous prob-

lems, but for a prosperous and promising coun-

ty like Nassau they are not insurmountable,

agreed even Newsday. “There needs to be a

long-term plan,” the Long Island’s staple mediadiet, wrote. It cited transit-oriented downtown

development as crucial. “Mangano’s plan to

convert four industrial buildings near train sta-

tions into housing should be just the beginning

of that initiative,” Newsday said and went on to

“the bigger engine”, the redevelopment of the

Nassau Coliseum which it exhorted Mangano

to ensure the touted entertainment and com-

mercial aspects materialize.

The wage freeze imposed by the NIFA helps

Mangano by saving payroll and by giving him

a chip to bargain with for union concessions.

Mangano must use that chip to get much more

efcient work rules, particularly from the po-

lice. Balance the budget and give NIFA a plan

that gets Nassau out from under the control pe-

riod and the freeze, Newsday further said.If Mangano succeeds in his agenda, that will

be a bigger victory for him than the one on

Tuesday night, and a fulllment of the county

residents condence reposed in his leadership.

A beaming Ed Mangano making his victory speech Tuesday nightafter gutting Tom Suozzi’s challenge.

Mangano celebrating with his wife Linda and their two sons, Salvatore and Alexander.

“This is a tough loss . . . but it doesn’tmean we weren’t right,” Suozzi said inhis concession speech. “We still haveserious problems in Nassau County.”

Bigger mandate for good governance, holding the line on taxes has strengthened the handsof Nassau County Executive, a Republican and a pragmatist.

~ Ed Mangano

~ Brian Nevin

in his commentpost-reelection to

The South Asian Times

Mangano CampaignManager

ED MANGANO RE-ELECTED16 November 9-15, 2013

By Parveen Chopra

The people of Nassau County spokeloud and clear on Election Night whenendorsing my policies that have frozenproperty taxes, eliminated the homeenergy tax and created thousands oflocal jobs. We can never go back to thedays in which Nassau County taxed toohigh, spent too much and reformed too

little. I thank residents for their overwhelming support and will continue tokeep my pledge to protect their wallets

while making Nassau County a betterplace to live, work and raise a family.

Residents rejected TomSuozzi for a third time thisElection Day (twice forCounty Executive, andonce in New York Gover-

nor Democratic primary)as they know he increasedtheir property taxes by23%, placed a tax on theirelectricity and home heat-ing bills while giving him-self a $65,000 pay raise.The election results serve asfurther proof that residentscontinue to trust Ed Man-gano to protect their wallets

while creating new jobs andcleaning up the fiscal messhe inherited from the prioradministration.



INDIAN AMERICANS WELCOME MANGANO’S RE-ELECTION

MANGANO APPRECIATES SOUTH ASIANS’ SUPPORT MANGANO’S UNBEATABLE FORMULA

Indian American community

leaders express appreciative sen-timents for Nassau County Exec-

utive Ed Mangano’s support for

the community.

Congratulating Hon. Ed Man-

gano on his re-election,

Gobind Munjal, Past President of

India Association of Long Island

(IALI), gave voice to the commu-

nity’s appreciation thus:

During my Presidency of IALI

in 2011, Hon. Mangano came every

time we invited him and supported

us unconditionally. He started the

celebration of India’s Independence

Day at the prestigious Nassau Coun-

ty Executive Building.

He helped initiate the India

Day Parade in Hicksville, Long Is-

land in 2012, supporting us whole

heartedly.

His effort to provide a dedi-

cated Cricket Pitch & Playground,

grant for a bus for our senior citi-

zens and above all, his sincere

promise to provide a large prop-

erty for India Community Center,

are all like a dream come true for

the Indian community and is the

biggest contributing factor for In-

dian community to vote for him.

His humble beginning as a

janitor has made him very modest

Four years into his rst term as

Nassau County Executive, Ed

Mangano endeared himself to Long

Islanders by not raising taxes andfor keeping them safe during su-

perstorm Sandy last year. The In-

dian American community enjoys

a special bonhomie with him – he

initiated India’s Independence Day

celebrations on August 15 at the seat

of Nassau County in the rst year he

assumed ofce, and encouraged IndiaDay Parade in Hicksville. He has also

given key positions in his administra-

tion to Indian Americans.

Mangano appreciates the warm sup-

person without any arrogance. Indi-

an community has always been wel-

comed in county ofce under him.

Jagdish Sewhani, President, Amer-

ican India Public Affairs Committee, added: “Ed Mangano has done an

excellent job as County Executive.

What helped him most was that he

kept his promise of not increasing

taxes. He demonstrated solid leader-

ship post-Superstorm Sandy. Under

his leadership, Nassau County has

one of the lowest unemployment

rates and it is the most friendly place

to do business.

The most important thing is that

he really cares for people and does

not play politics. He is a true friend

of the Indian American community

in need and indeed.”

In fact, ‘The true friend of the In-

dian community’ slogan was coined

for the warm relationship between

Mangano and the Indian American

community by none other than Kam-

lesh Mehta, Publisher of The South

Asian Times and Director of Nassau

County’s Business and Economic

Development. Mehta has been in-

strumental in bringing the county of-

ce closer to the community.

In the run up to the Nov 5 elec-

tion, over three dozen Nassau Coun-

ty based leaders of prominent Indian

American organizations came to-

gether on October 24 to announce

the community’s support in re-elect-

ing Mangano for a second term and

applauded the outstanding job he has

done in ofce.The event held at Mint Restaurant

in Garden City marked a monumental

moment of unity as the community had never ven-

tured to endorse a political candidate before.

Each Indian-American leader stood up and en-

dorsed Mangano. They thanked him for keeping his

promise to hold the line on property taxes and for

keeping his door open to address their many issues

and concerns. He was called, “The True Friend of

Indian-American Communities in Long Island.”

The event was organized by the Indian National

Overseas Congress (I) USA under the initiative tak-

en by its National President, Shudh Parkash Singh.

Explaining why “Mangano is a natural candidate

for our community”, Shudh Parkash argued that In-dians settled in Nassau County are mostly homeown-

ers, who are grateful to him for not raising property

port he has received and is assured

of the South Asian community, In-

dian Americans in particular.

In an exclusive interview with

The South Asian Times recently, he

expressed his sentiments thus:

“Some of my closest friends are

of South Asian descent and we

have enjoyed a wonderful relation-ship for the past 20 years and since

taking ofce we have built even

better relationships and even more

support from the South Asian com-

munity, which shares our values

and our scal policies.

“I enjoy a steadily increasing

support from the South Asian

community as they have partnered

with us, both in government and in

charitable and cultural endeavors.

“We have more South Asians lead-

ing our departments than any other

administration: Shila Shah, rst

South Asian and rst woman as Com-

missioner of Public Works. We have

Kamlesh Mehta leading our Econom-

ic and Business Development. Satish

Sood in Planning Commission and

many in other departments who help

make Nassau county a better place

to live, work and raise a family in.”

Ed Mangano used an unbeatable formula to get re-elected: To start

with, he kept the campaign promise he made 4 years ago not to

raise taxes. He also communicated to his constituents that he was un-

afraid to take on powerful special interests. For example, when last

year he transformed four police precincts into police centers, he was

slammed by the Nassau County PBA and some local homeowners,

who predicted crime would soar. Mangano stuck to his guns. Rather

than go up, crime went further down. And the county saved millions

of dollars in expenditure. Such successes were not lost on the voters.Mangano’s relationship with Tuesday’s other big winner Comptrol-

ler George Maragos proved to be mutually benecial. Several Demo-

crats I spoke with in recent weeks privately told me that they feared the

ads showing the two of them together citing their success at holding the

tax rate would prove difcult to counter. These fears came true.

I was also told by both Democrat and Republican insiders that Man-

gano became very good at retail politics. He seemed relaxed, friendly

and easily bonded with voters as he campaigned throughout the county.

Voters also watched those TV commercials, hearing Democrat Gov-

ernor Andrew Cuomo praising Mangano’s courage and leadership.

While, the commercial captured Cuomo (who in the end endorsed

Tom Suozzi) praising Mangano before the election cycle, the Gover-

nor’s comments apparently resonated with Cuomo friendly voters.

But Cuomo’s praise of Mangano might come back to haunt the

Governor when he comes up for re-electon next year. Since Tuesday,

several Republican leaders told me that based on Mangano’s landslide

victory, the best candidate for the Republican Party to run against the

incumbent Governor would be none other than Ed Mangano.

taxes and for bringing down the crime rate.

Harendra Singh, Head of the Raj Rajeshwari

Foundation, pointed out that Mangano has induct ed

over a dozen Indian Americans in his administra-

tion. “He is good for all communities not just to

Indians,” Singh said.

Addressing the gathering, Mangano said follow-

ing an Indian saying that we have two ears and one

mouth, he “listens more, understands and empowers

our team to make decisions and get t hings done.”

Mangano said his focus has been to make the

county more affordable and more prosperous, leav-

ing it better than we inherited. “I support the valuesof Indian families and Nassau is the safest county in

the nation.” he added.

Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano at a recent event where a bevy of Indian American lead-ers endorsed him for second term and acknowledged his friendship

of the community. To his right are Kamlesh Mehta, Sushil Goyal and Harendra Singh.

Linda and Ed Mangano cutting the victory cake, joined by Kamlesh Mehta and Jerry Kohli.

ED MANGANO RE-ELECTED 17November 9-15, 2013

By Robert Golomb

Robert Golomb is a nationally published columnist.He writes on a range of educational, cu ltural

and political topics.



MANGANO : COMMITTED TO COUNTY RESIDENTS’ WELFARE

On January 1, 2010, Edward P.

Mangano was sworn into of-ce as Nassau County Executive.

That same day, he kept his pledge

to taxpayers by repealing Nassau

County’s Home Energy Tax – the

equivalent of a 5% property tax

reduction for homeowners. He

is the rst County Executive to

place tax do llars back in the pock -

ets of our residents.

Mangano believes that high

taxes kill jobs. That is why he has

held the line on County property

taxes every year since taking of -

ce, eliminated a 16.5% property

tax increase planned by the prior

administration and even stopped a

County Food Tax dead in its tracks.

Nassau County was the highest-

taxed county in the nation before

Ed Mangano took ofce – that is no

longer the case due to his cost-sav-

ing policies. In fact, Nassau Coun-

ty won the New York State Local

Government Efciency Award.

Throughout his term as County

Executive, Mangano has focused

on rebuilding Nassau County

without asking taxpayers to foot

the bill for the $378 million de-

cit he inherited from the prior ad-

ministration. To accomplish this,

he cut over $330 million in waste-

ful spending and launched nation-

ally recognized public-private

partnerships – savings taxpayersmillions of dollars and generating

hundreds of millions of dollars

in revenue. Some of the notable

public-private partnerships are:

NASSAU VETERANS ME-

MORIAL COLISEUM – A suc-

cessful public-private-partnership

with Forest City Ratner Companies

was formed to transform the Nassau

Coliseum into a world-class sports-

entertainment destination at no cost

to taxpayers. When completed, the

facility will host the New York Is-

landers, Brooklyn Nets, New York

Yankee Coaching Clinics, Chil-

dren Shows, Heavyweight Boxingchampionship tournaments, minor

league hockey and college bas-

ketball games as well as an excit-

ing array of star-studded perform-

ers and family-fun entertainment.

Plaza development will include a

performing arts theatre, ice rink,

movie theatre, bowling alley and

theme restaurants.

NEW INDOOR ICE SKAT-

ING RINKS – A successful public-

private partnership was formed to

build new indoor twin ice skating

rinks and an outdoor rink at Eisen-

hower Park without any cost to the

taxpayer. This facility is suitable to

host national events.

NEW ATHLETIC FIELDS

– A successful public-private part-

nership with Molloy College result-

ed in the construction of new athletic elds

at Mitchel Athletic Complex – all constructedwithout taxpayer dollars and open for use by

our residents.

NICE BUS – A successful public-private-

partnership for Nassau’s bus system began

January 1, 2012 when Veolia Transportation

was selected to run day to day operations.

This partnership provides riders with reliable

service, expanded routes and saves taxpayers

over $30 million a year.

County Executive Mangano has focused on

rebuilding Nassau County’s economy by creat-

ing jobs that put people back to work. He and his

economic development team have helped createand retain more than 19,000 private sector jobs

in Nassau County. In fact, Nassau County re-

cently won a heated competition with the State

of New Jersey for the International Headquar -

ters of Hain Celestial. The County has also at-

tracted new homeland security jobs, high-tech

jobs, as well as lm and television industry jobs

to the former Grumman-Navy property in Nas-

sau. In 2013, the New York State Department

of Labor reported that Nassau County leads the

State of New York in terms of job growth and

employment. In fact, Nassau county has the

lowest unemployment rate in the region.

CE Mangano has earned praise for his efforts

in creating new housing opportunities for vet-

erans as well as for converting empty commer -

cial ofce space into affordable rental units for

young people and seniors . Together, these initia-

tives are helping make Nassau County a better

place to live, work and raise a family.

A commitment to all of Nassau’s children is

evident from the County Executive’s initiatives

that also include affordable athletic opportuni -

ties in baseball, softball, lacrosse, tennis andsoccer as well as new playgrounds and an af -

fordable summer recreation program at Nas-

sau County parks.

In October 2012, Nassau County was hit with

the devastating impact of Hurricane Sandy.

CE Mangano led the charge to protect hu-

man life and advocated for Congress to pass

the necessary funds for residents to begin to

recover and rebuild in storm ravaged areas.

Mangano also joined with the chaplains of

Nassau’s police and re departments to cre-

ate a Hurricane Recovery Fund that assists

victims of the superstorm. To support small

businesses in recovering from storm damage,

County Executive Mangano opened a NassauCounty Business Recovery Center.

Prior to becoming County Executive, Ed Man-

gano gained extensive experience as a CountyLegislator, where he served the 17th Legisla-

tive District for seven terms. As a Legislator, Ed

helped revitalize the former Grumman Property

and attract more than 15,000 jobs to the site.

Raised in Bethpage, NY, Mangano began his

professional career as a janitor while putting

himself through college. A graduate of Hofstra

University and Hofstra School of Law, Ed Man-

gano was admitted to the New York State Bar

in 1988. He went on to have a successful career

in publishing newspapers, as well as serving as

counsel to Rivkin Radler, LLP for nine years.

Ed also has been active in many charitable and

fraternal organizations. County Executive Ed

Mangano resides in Bethpage with his wife,Linda, and two sons, Salvatore and Alexander.

Getting the re-election boost, a relaxed and more confident Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano gets back to work.

Mangano is a Republican all right, but he is also a pragmatist when it comes towelfare of the county residents. He sought and received full support from the

Democratic Governor Cuomo when Sandy struck. He also crossed party lines tosupport Cuomo in passing a property tax cap. Because of their longstanding

working relationship, Cuomo only reluctantly endorsed Tom Suozzi.

Gaining an overwhelming approval for his policies on Nov 5, Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano toldthe South Asian Times about his agenda for the second term, “I will continue to keep my pledge to protect

residents’ wallets while making Nassau County a better place to live, work and raise a family.”

ED MANGANO RE-ELECTED18 November 9-15, 2013

Inheriting the largest decit in Nassau’s history, County Exec-

utive Mangano i) cut $290 million in wasteful spending (the equivalent

of a 25 percent property tax increase had these spending cuts not been

made); saved $240 million in labor costs by reducing the workforce by

1,776 positions and freezing government salaries; saved over $18 mil-

lion annually by cutting 33% of patronage jobs added by his predecessor.

County Executive Ed Mangano believes that the development

of a new sports arena in the center of Nassau County at the Hub, coupled

with the development of Belmont Park in Elmont and the former Navy-Grumman property in Bethpage, is the catalyst Nassau County needs to

stimulate our local economy and create thousands of good-paying jobs.

On the western end of the County, Mangano developed a plan to

establish an Indian gaming casino at Belmont Park. This plan will

create thousands of nancial sector jobs and signicant revenue for

our State, County and local community.

Nassau, like other counties and states, is facing signicant

scal challenges; however, the challenges are amplied when com-

pared to neighboring counties, due to its broken property tax assess-

ment system. This system not only produced errors annually when as-

sessing 418,000 properties, but it also forced residents to overpay their

taxes as it did not correct assessments before demanding payment.

To address the problem, Mangano ended the practice of borrow-

ing against our children’s future by advancing a plan – developed in

consultation with Nassau County Interim Finance Authority (NIFA)

– to pay off the $1.6 b illion in debt without raising property taxes.

He also froze assessments for four years – just as the majority of as-

sessing jurisdictions throughout the state do as well.

POLICIES THAT HAVE WORKED



LIFESTYLE 19November 9-15, 2013TheSouthAsianTimes.info

London: One in six Britishwomen has indulged in wardrob-

ing, the practice of purchasing an

item, wearing it with the tag in

and then returning it to the store

for a refund, according to a study.

A new research by

Vouchercodes.co.uk reveals that

wardrobing has become a regular

habit for one in eight women who

admit they indulge in it to save

money for the future, reports

femalefirst.co.uk.

"Our research reveals that over

a quarter of women who admit to

'wardrobing' feel guilty about it

but the pressure to look good on

special occasions makes it feellike the only option for some to

look good on a budget," said

Anita Naik, consumer editor at

VoucherCodes.co.uk.

One in seven fashionistas

explain that they buy and return

clothes so that they have the

chance to wear the latest trends

just once, and the same number

claim that when they want to

impress they don’t think twice

about the price of an outfit espe-cially when they know they can

get a refund, reports

femalefirst.co.uk.

One of the main reasons which

drives wardrobing are weddings.

The women also do it for job

interviews.The study reveals that almost

one in ten British women seek out

clothes that have a safety pin tag,

which means the label can be

removed and replaced, while one

in twenty spray the item with air

freshener before returning it.

Na ik be li ev es th e urge fo r

wardrobing can be curbed.

"If you plan ahead, you can take

advantage of sales, discounts and

deals if you want to buy some-

thing new, or buy less expensive

items such as accessories to

refresh an existing outfit. Even

bet ter why not borrow clothes

from friends in different socialcircles for the events you're

attending. As long as you're will-

ing to repay the favor, you will all

bene fi t fr om ge tt ing th e most

cost-per-wear out of your special

outfits," she said.

London: First

love is alwaysspecial, and if a

survey is to be

believed, a lot of

people keep up to

date with their

former lovers'

new lives via

social media.

A survey, con-

ducted on 1,890

people by popu-

lar online sex toy

retailer Lovehoney, found that 64

percent of people had searched

for pictures and updates on the

life of the person who first cap-

tured their heart, on social mediasites like Facebook or Twitter.

Sex and relationship expert

Annabelle Knight said:

"Anyone's first love will have a

prof ound effect on their lives.

With so many of us on social

media, it is far easier to secretly

track how they are getting on and

it is not surprising that most peo-

ple have done this."

More than a quarter of those

surveyed have got back in touchwith their first love after looking

them up online. Around one in six

people (15 percen t) have slept

with their former lover after

reconnecting online with a further

21 percent admitting to thinking

about having sex with them.

Wardrobing becomes popularamong British women

London: Fad diets, which lead to

short-term weight loss, can often

be a waste of time, according to a

new study. Whether you're fol-

lowing the Atkins and Dukan The

Fast Diet, The Alkaline Diet to

The Baby Food Diet, The Blood-

Type Diet, The French Woman

Diet, The Paleo Diet and the new

5:2 regime, these often turn out to

be pa ss in g fa nc ie s, re ve al s astudy conducted on 2,000 adults

here by Alpro, a manufacturer of

soy-based food and drink prod-

ucts. Alpro dietician Kate Arthur

said: "More and more dieters are

realizing that the fad diet promis-

es of shedding huge amounts of

weight in just a few weeks are

either hollow, or that the diets are

impossible to follow.”

"The reality is that the majority

of these diets are so impractical

and indeed so little fun that we

often give up within just a few

days."

Out of half of the respondents

who regularly diet, Alpro found

that two out of five dieters quit

within the first seven days.

One out of five people are able

to sustain it for a month, and the

same number make it to the

three-month mark, while the

remainder stay dedicated for at

least six months.

However, only one in 20 is

likely to still be following their

new healthy eating regime after

one year. Most people begin their

diets on a Monday, indicates the

survey. Over four out of 10 regu-

lar dieters see Mondays as thelogical starting point for it usual-

ly following a weekend of excess

either at home or by eating and

drinking out with friends.

However, it's often in vain as

only five days later, by Friday the

same week, many people are

likely to have already given up

the latest new dieting craze.

The research also found that an

increasing number of people are

realizing the benefits of regular

healthy eating.

"There has never been any

secret to sustaining a healthy diet.

It always has been, and always

will be, about eating the right

foods as part of a balanced diet,

and exercising, while allowing

yourself a treat now and again,"

said Arthur.

Don't waste time on fad diets

London: Long working hours

and hectic schedules often leave

pe op le to ta ll y dr ai ne d an d

exhausted. Dancing and exercis-

ing can be termed the best solu-

tion to overcome such problems.

Hectic working hours often

lead to stress and eventually a

complete burn out and

Huffingtonpost.com suggests

four effective ways to overcome

this feeling.

Start exercising: Exercise is agreat place to start building ener-

gy

Learn to dance: Dance is a

well established form of therapy.

Try reading fiction books:

Research shows that reading lit-

erary fiction builds empathy, the

ability to understand and share

the feelings of others. Hence,

reading literary fiction can help

you strengthen the empathy you

have for yourself and shake up

your burned out thinking.

Join a community chorus:

Group singing spurs the brain to

release oxytocin, also known asthe "love" hormone, which pro-

motes generosity, trust and social

bonding.

Shake off that burnt out

feeling with exercise, dance

Spying on first love viasocial media

Technologytops the list of home comforts

Los Angeles: Technology topsthe list of home comforts in a

new survey, and whilst the TV

remains the number one priority

Wi-Fi and the iPad have also

joined it.

A survey of 1,000 adults by

East Coast trains, an online trav-

el booking site, has revealed

that the popular tablet computer

and internet technology now sit

alongside slippers, TV and a

comfy chair.

“It’s a real testament to the

on-the-go nature of society that

items such as Wi-Fi and an iPad

are in our top 10 home com-

forts. Luckily, the very nature of these items means we can feel at

home anywhere in the world,”

said Natalie Cowen, head of

marketing, East Coast. When

asked what they need to feel

truly at home, 71 percent of

people said TV remained their

number one priority, reports

femalefirst.co.uk.

However, the list was a com-

bination of traditional comforts

such as slippers and dressing

gowns and modern benefits

such as an iPad, Wi-Fi and a

coffee machine. Wi-Fi and

tablets such as iPads have

become “must haves” in British

society with more than 73 per-

cent of homes in Britain having

Wi-Fi and 24 percent owning at

least one tablet.



SUBCONTINENT20 November 9-15, 2013 TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Islamabad: A Pakistan court has ordered the release of ex-

president Pervez Musharraf from house arrest, two days after

he was granted bail in connection with the attack on

Islamabad's Red Mosque.

The former military ruler has already got bail in two other

cases - the 2007 assassination of former prime minister

Benazir Bhutto and the killing of senior tribal leader NawabAkbar Bugti in a 2006 military operation.

Additional Session Judge Wajid Ali ordered that Musharraf

should be released after his lawyers deposited two surety

bonds.

Lawyers said Musharraf was likely to be set free after the

written order was delivered at his farmhouse in Islamabad

where he has been detained for several months.

Musharraf's defense lawyer Ilyas Siddiqi said the former

President is now a free man and that he can go anywhere he

wants.

"Pervez Musharraf has been granted bail in all cases. There

are no restrictions on his movement," Siddiqi told reporters.

The lawyer also demanded the removal of Musharraf's

name from the Exit Control List.

Musharraf was formally arrested in the case filed in con-

nection with the alleged murder of Abdul Rashid Ghazi, the

senior cleric of the Red Mosque who was killed in the mili-

tary operation during Musharraf's rule in 2007.

Nearly 90 religious students and 11 security personnel also

died during the three-day clash in July 2007.Musharraf was accused of issuing orders for the military

raid on the mosque and its girls' religious school after some

of the armed students took control of the buildings and

refused to surrender.

Musharraf's lawyers argued in the court that the former

President had not issued any written order for the military

raid on the militant-affiliated mosque.

It is widely believed that bail to Musharraf in the mosque

case has paved the way for his going abroad. However,

Musharraf's lawyer insisted that the former military dictator

will not leave the country.

Musharraf returned to Pakistan in March after a nearly

four-year self imposed exile to take part in elections.

However, a court disqualified him from standing in the May

elections.

Court orders Musharraf's release

Nawaz Sharif seeks American assistance on resolv- ing the Kashmir issue

Islamabad: Blaming the Pakistan govern-

ment for the death of their chief

Hakimullah Mehsud in a US drone attack,

the Pakistan Taliban said they would not

hold any peace talks with the "puppet gov-

ernment".

"After consultation with all the factions it

has been unanimously decided that we will

not hold any peace talks with the govern-

ment. It's a puppet government of the US

and it deceived us in the name of peace

talks," Geo News quoted Tehreek-e-

Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman

Shahidullah Shahid as saying Sunday.

The spokesman said the killing of

Mehsud had proved that the government

was not serious in holding the peace talks.

"We did not want innocent Pakistani peo-

ple to suffer any more and therefore decid-

ed to hold negotiations with the govern-

ment. But the government, by helping the

US in the killing of Hakimullah Mehsud,

proved that there was zero sincerity in the

mind of the rulers. It was neither

sincere nor serious in peace negotiations,"

he said.

"We are passing through a difficult phaseand are still in the state of mourning. And

that's the reason we could not sit to choose

his successor," he added.

No peace talks with Pak government: Taliban

Dhaka:A court in Bangladesh has awarded

the death sentence to 151 guards of Border

Guard Bangladesh (BGB), previously

known as Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), who in

February 2009 staged a two-day mutiny in

the paramilitary force's headquarters.

Two leaders of Bangladesh's ruling

Awami League party and opposition

Bangladesh Nationalist Party are among the

158 people sentenced to life imprisonment

in the 2009 BDR mutiny-murder case,

Xinhua reported.

Another 271 were acquitted of all

charges. The court also awarded jail terms

ranging from three years to 10 years to 251

border guards.

The court of Dhaka's Additional

Metropolitan Sessions Judge Mohammad

Akhtaruzzaman, which started delivering

the verdict around 12.30 p.m. Tuesday,

handed down sentences to 831 accused till

3.15 p.m. local time.

The Bangladesh government had earlier

decided to try the accused under the penal

code for such offences as killings, attempt-

ed murder, looting and arson committed

during the mutiny.

Other offences like breach of discipline

and defying superiors' orders at the BGB

headquarters in Dhaka and other stations of

the force across the country will be treated

under BDR laws through formation of spe-

cial courts.

The maximum punishment under the

penal code is death sentence while under

the BDR laws it is seven years' imprison-

ment.

During the bloody mutiny, 74 people

were killed, including 57 officers deputed

from the army.

The paramilitary force's chief, Maj. Gen.

Shakil Ahmed, was among those killed.

Nearly 8,000 BDR personnel were pres-

ent during the mutiny at the headquarters of

the paramilitary force which, with around

67,000 personnel, guards the south Asian

country's long border line of 4,427 km with

India and Myanmar.

Mutiny: Dhaka sentences 150 soldiers to death

New Delhi: Two more central ministers have

spoken out against Prime Minister Manmohan

Singh's visit to Sri Lanka to attend the

Commonwealth Heads of Government

Meeting (CHOGM), in view of that nation's

alleged atrocities on Tamils.

The government is yet to decide whether Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will attend

the CHOGM summit Nov 15-17 in Colombo.

Minister of State in the Prime Minister's

Office V. Narayanasamy said he had urged the

prime minister to take a "good decis ion" in

view of the sentiments of Tamils.

"I told him that the sentiments of Tamils on

the issue were very high," Narayanasamy said.

The minister, who represents Puducherry,

which has a sizeable Tamil population, said he

had urged the prime minister to consider not

going to Sri Lanka to attend the CHOGM sum-

mit.

Union Environment Minister Jayanthi

Natarajan also hoped that the prime minister

will take a decision keeping in view the senti-

ments of Tamils.

"I hope the Prime Minister will take a gooddecision," she told reporters in Chennai.

DMK president M. Karunanidhi said the

Congress would "face consequences" if the

prime minister participated in the summit.

Ministers opposePM's visit

to Sri Lanka

Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud was killed in a US drone attacklast week

Male: The president of the Maldives

said the presidential election will

likely be held on Saturday after he

mediated an agreement among the

three candidates on a disputed voters'

register.

The two previous election attempts

failed.The Supreme Court annulled

results of a September 7 election

because i t said fake names and dead

people were on the voters' list.

Police stopped a second attempt

last month because all the candidates

had not approved the voters'

register as the Supreme Court

mandated.

President Mohamed Waheed

Hassan told reporters that he had

explained to the candidates the

importance of having an election asscheduled and the candidates have

agreed to endorse the list.

Maldives presidential vote on Saturday

PresidentMohamed Waheed Hassan



INTERNATIONAL

Paris: Palestinian

leader Yasser Arafat

was poisoned to

death in 2004 with

radioactive poloni-

um, his widow

Suha said on

Wednesday after

receiving the results

of Swiss forensic

tests on her hus-

band's corpse."We are revealing

a real crime, a polit-

ical assassination,"

she said. A team of experts,

including from Lausanne

University Hospital's Institute of

Radiation Physics, opened

Arafat's grave in the West Bank

city of Ramallah last November,

and took samples from his body to

seek evidence of alleged poison-

ing.

"This has confirmed all our

doubts," said Suha Arafat, who

met members of the Swiss foren-

sic team in Geneva. "It is scientif-

ically proved that he didn't die a

natural death and we have scien-tific proof that this man was

killed." She did not accuse any

country or person, and acknowl-

edged that the historic leader of

the Palestine Liberation

Organization had many enemies.

Arafat signed the 1993 Oslo

interim peace accords with Israel

and led a subsequent uprising

after the failure of talks in 2000

on a comprehensive agreement.

Allegations of foul play sur-

faced immediately. Arafat had

foes among his own people, but

many Palestinians pointed the fin-

ger at Israel, which had besieged

him in his Ramallah headquarters

for the final two and a half years

of his life.The Israeli government has

denied any role in his death, not-

ing that he was 75 years old and

had an unhealthy lifestyle.

German politiciansdemand asylum

for SnowdenBerlin: Prominent opposition

politicians are demanding asylum

for Edward Snowden in Germany

so that he can help with a probe

into alleged US spying in the

country.

US intelligence whistleblower

Snowden should be granted asy-

lum in return for his testimony,

Bernd Riexinger, head of the Left

Party, said.

"There is a viable legal way to

bring Snowden to Germany safelyand to protect him from extradi-

tion to America," Xinhua quoted

Riexinger as telling the

Mitteldeutschen Zeitung newspa-

pe r. Last week , Ch ri st ian

Stroebele, a lawmaker from the

opposition Green Party, said

Snowden was willing to help

Berlin in its probe into alleged US

spying in Germany, including the

monitoring of mobile phone com-

munications of German

Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Riexinger said the majority of

deputies to the Bundestag, the

lower house of parliament, are in

favor of asylum for the former US

intelligence contractor."Parliament must force the fed-

eral government to give Snowden

asylum and opportunity to testi-

fy," he said.

London: British Prime Minister

David Cameron has lauded India's

role in global economy and said

that a close relationship with New

Delhi is beneficial to both thecountries.

Cameron was addressing the

Diwali reception hosted at 10

Downing Street, the prime minis-

ter's official residence at

Westminster, Asian Lite newspaper

reported.

Cameron will arrive in India on

November 14 for a day-long visit

be fo re le av in g to Co lo mb o to

attend the Commonwealth Heads

of Government Meeting

(CHOGM) Nov 15-16. This will be

his third visit to India in two years.

Cameron will hold talks with

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

on key bilateral and regional

issues.India's acting high commissioner

in London, Virander Paul, Labour

leader and former minister Keith

Vaz MP, Priti Patel MP and Sun

Mark chief Rami Ranger were

among the prominent people

attended the Diwali event.

Speaking to guests inside a

colourfully decorated Downing

Street, the prime minister thanked

the British-Indian community for

their contribution to Britain.

“It is a strong relationship, it's a

vibrant relationship,” he said. “It

has so many parts to it. There's all

the shared history, there's theshared language. "There's the great

excitement about our economies.

India invests more into the United

Kingdom than the rest of Europe

put together. Britain is one of the

top three investors into India.

"Some of the projects, some of

the businesses underway are

thrilling. The co-operation between

our universities, our shared love of

sport. There's so much that we

share together.”

Cameron said Britain wanted to

improve ties with India, especially

in education, economy and infra-

structure.“The exciting thing about the

Indo-UK relationship is not the

pas t or the prese nt , but it 's the

future,” the prime minister said.

“It's the idea that we are going to

work together on some of these

shared global challenges.

"I very much look forward to

making my third visit to India as

pr im e mi ni st er, an d se ei ng

Manmohan Singh when I go. It's a

huge pleasure to go back to India,

and I'm really looking forward

to it.”

Cameron wants to cement ties with India

Cairo: The trial of

Egypt's deposed Islamist

pres id en t Mo ha me dMorsi has been

adjourned to Jan 8, 2014,

the presiding judge said.

The trial, held at the

Police Academy in the

eastern New Cairo

neighborhood, was sus-

pended due to chants by

the Muslim Brotherhood

defendants against the

court and the army,

Xinhua reported.

"I'm the president. The

coup is a humiliation

and a crime. I'm here by force

against my will," Morsi told

judges at the end of the trial, urg-ing the court to "try the coup

leader".

Earlier, Morsi arrived in the

courthouse in his private clothes

having refused to wear the uniform

worn by those in preventive deten-

tion.

Sources inside the courthouse

said the presiding judge asked

Morsi to wear the uniform, but he

refused.

It was Morsi's first public

appearance since he was toppled

by the Egyptian military July 3 in

response to massive nationwide

protests against his one-year rule.

He has been kept at an undisclosed

location after his arrest.Egypt is on high alert for the trial

and nearly 20,000 policemen have

been deployed to deal with any

outbreak of violence.

In November 2012, Morsi issued

a decree giving himself sweeping

powers, prompting opponents to

accuse him of betraying the ideals

of the anti-Mubarak revolution.

A month later, deadly clashes

erupted outside the presidential

palace between the supporters and

the opponents of the president.

Morsi is facing allegations of incit-

ing the violence.

Ex-Egypt president's trialadjourned to Jan 8

21November 9-15, 2013TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Yasser Arafat was 'murderedwith polonium'

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat

Vasco: Goa Chief Minister

Manohar Parrikar has accused a

Nige ri an di pl omat of send ing

offensive text messages to a lady

police officer following the vio-

lence after last week's murder of a

Nigerian.

Parrikar also blamed the central

government for the diplomatic

fiasco involving Nigerian authori-

ties who have threatened action

against Indians in that country if the targeting of Nigerians in Goa

didn't stop.

Speaking to reporters on the

sidelines of a press conference

near the Dabolim international

airport, the chief minister said:

"He went to the extent of sending

offensive SMS (messages) to our

SP (superintendent of police)."

Superintendent of Police (North

District) Priyanka Kashyap's fail-

ure to control a mob of Nigerians

who had blocked a national high-

way for hours has been criticized

in the media and by the civil soci-

ety and opposition parties.

The Nigerians took to the streets

following the murder of a compa-triot, allegedly by a narcotics

mafia. Parrikar said the central

government, especially the exter-

nal affairs ministry, should have

been the liaison between the Goa

government and the Nigerian mis-

sion in New Delhi.

"Why did he (Nigerian diplo-

mat) contact Goa directly? This is

because the centr al governmen t

failed in its job to brief the

Nig er ian di plomats pr oper ly,"

Parrikar said.

In both instances, Parrikar was

referring to Jacob Nwadadia, a

consular attache who was in Goa

to meet police and members of the

Nigerian community fol lowing

last week's violence.

A Surendra Pol has been arrest-ed for the Nigerian's murder,

which triggered a near riot-like

situation involving police, locals

as well as Nigerians.

Nigerian diplomat was offensiveto lady SP: Parrikar

The Nigerians took to the

streets following the murder of a compatriot

David Cameron at Diwali festivities at 10 Downing Street

Mohamed Morsi



BUSINESS22 November 9-15, 2013 TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Current account deficit to bearound $60 bn

New Delhi: Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said India's

current account deficit (CAD) would come down and be

around $60 billion owing to rising exports and import controls

initiated by the government.

“The current account deficit is well under control. In recent

weeks, we see signs that steps and measures we have taken are

beginning to yield results,” said Chidambaram during a confer-

ence here. “But there are still some challenges,” he added

referring to the high inflation levels and reviving the invest-

ment sentiment in a sluggish economy.

CAD which is the difference between dollar inflow and out-

flow has been a matter of concern for the government. The

CAD stood at a record high of 4.8 percent of the gross domes-

tic product (GDP) at $88.2 billion in the last fiscal.

The government is trying to rein in CAD by imposing higher

duties on gold and cutting down on import of non-essential

items. The finance minister has set a target of below $70 billion

or 3.8 percent of the GDP for CAD this fiscal.

Obama's sales pitch: We are open for business

Worst over for economy: Montek

Washington: Declaring that "We

are open for business", President

Barack Obama announced what the

White House described as the first-

ever comprehensive, all hands on

deck effort to bring jobs and

investment to the US."There are a lot of wonderful

countries out there. But this is a

place where you can do business,

create great products, deliver great

services, make money, and do good

at the same time," he said at a

SelectUSA Investment Summit.

Calling for a renewed effort to

entice job-creating foreign busi-

nesses to open shop in the US

through aggressive expansion and

enhancement of SelectUSA,

Obama pledged help from the gov-

ernment, US ambassadors and the

president's officeAsking attending entrepreneurs

to "Select the USA" he said:

"When you do . You'll find a gov-

ernment, and a President who is

committed to helping you create

more good jobs for the middle

class, and helping you succeed well

into the 21st century."

Obama announced he would

expand and enhance the

SelectUSA program, which was

launched in 2011 to coordinate

state and local incentive programs

to attract overseas companies.

In 2012, net US assets of foreignaffiliates totalled $3.9 trillion. The

US consistently ranks as one of the

top destinations in the world for

foreign direct investment (FDI),

with inflows totaling $1.5 trillion

in FDI just since 2006.

For 2012, FDI inflows totalled

$166 billion.

New Delhi: Plan panel deputy chair-

man Montek Singh Ahluwalia has

said the worst is probably over for the

economy and the performance would

be better in the second half of this fis-

cal.

"The core sector performance does

give some sign... the demand on the

part of industry is not so strong, so I

would say that clearly the economy

has bottomed out, but we don't have

strong enough signal yet of recovery.

But I am hopeful that the second half

of the fiscal would be better,"

Ahluwalia told reporters.The economy had grown at a

decade-low rate of 5 per cent last fis-

cal. The Gross Domestic Product

Growth (GDP) in the first quarter of

this fiscal (April-June) slowed down

to 4.4 per cent from 4.8 per cent

recorded in January-March, 2013.

Ahluwalia's comments come after

government data showed the core sec-

tor industries recorded 8 per cent

growth in September, the fastest pace

in the past 11 months.

This pace of growth, however, is

lower than the 8.3 per cent rise that

was recorded in September 2012.

About the recent hike of short term

lending rate by 0.25 per cent to 7.75

per cent last month by RBI, he said,

"RBI has handled it (situation) very

well. Whenever you are dealing withthe difficult situation, you should get

back to normal."

Like RBI, Ahluwalia, also agreed

with the proposition that India is not

comfortable on the inflation front.

Washington: Hyderabad-born

IITian Prem Watsa, who has

come to the rescue of

BlackBerry by injecting a $1

bi ll io n in ve st me nt in to th eCanadian company, says an out-

right takeover bid would have

been a mistake.

Watsa, who has been variously

described as "Canada's Warren

Buffett", and "billionaire king of

lost causes", told a Canadian

newspaper that his Fairfax

Financial Holdings abandoned

the takeover bid after determin-

ing it was a mistake to saddle

the company with high-yield

debt under a planned leveraged

buyout.

Instead Toronto-based Fairfax,

which already holds a ten per

cent majority share, and other

institutional investors will invest

in BlackBerry through a $1 bil-

lion private placement of con-vertible debentures with Fairfax

pu tt in g in a qu ar te r of th e

amount itself.

As part of the deal, Thorsten

Heins is stepping down as chief

executive officer and John S.

Chen, former CEO of Sybase

and Siemens, will serve as inter-

im CEO and executive chair of

BlackBerry's board of directors.

Watsa, 61, chairman and CEO

of Fairfax, who will be appoint-

ed Lead Director of the compa-

ny on completion of the transac-

tion in a couple of weeks, told

Toronto Based Globe and Mail

that he wants to build, not split

up the company.

"We looked at it and said,

'Hey, a high-debt situation wasnot appropriate,'" he was quoted

as saying in an interview with

the paper

That insight was gleaned by

his advisers during a due dili-

gence that began after the com-

pany tabled a conditional $4.7-

bi ll ion ta keover offe r in la te

September, Watsa said.

"We wanted to take the 'For

Sale' sign down, get John Chen

as executive chairman as soon

as we could and finance it for

the long-term," he said. "That's

effectively what we've done."

'High-debt' deal not right for BlackBerry: Watsa

BlackBerry may ultimately stop selling smartphones.(INSET) Prem Watsa

Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh

Ahluwalia

Barack Obama at SelectUSA Investment Summit



SPORTS 23November 9-15, 2013TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Kolkata: Rohit Sharma cut down

on his flamboyance to author achanceless century on debut and

put India in command overcom-

ing morning jitters on day two of

the first cricket Test match

against the West Indies in Sachin

Tendulkar's farewell series here.

Five days after plundering a

double hundred in the ODI

against Australia that left the

cricketing world stunned, Rohit

mixed caution with elegance to

remain unconquered on 127 (228

b, 16x4, 1x6), as India finished

the day on 354/6 at the Eden

Gardens.

Giving Rohit company in the

middle was a brilliant

Ravichandran Ashwin (92 bat-

ting, 148 b, 10x4), with the duoeclipsing the good work done by

the visitors' talented off spinner

Shane Shillingford (4/122), who

pulverised the Indian batsmen in

the opening session by claiming

four scalps.

Rohit-Ashwin's unbroken sev-

enth wicket partnership has

fetched 198, and the hosts have

now opened up a 120-run lead

over the West Indies' first innings

total of 234.

On a dramatic day of fluctuat-

ing fortunes, the morning session

belonged to the visitors, before

the hosts steadied the ship post-

lunch, and then consolidated their

position with a rollicking batting

show in the final two hours.

Rohit and Ashwin's efforts

helped the crowd recover from

the heartbreak of batting maestro

Sachin Tendulkar's cheap dis-

missal, albeit to a debatable

umpiring decision,

The big wicket of Tendulkar

fell when Shillinford bowled a

doosra, which pitched on the

middle, straightened, eluded an

outside edge from Tendulkar's

defensive bat and hit the back

pad high.

Umpire Nigel Llong of England

raised the index finger as pin-

drop silence descended on the

stadium. Replays showed the ball

striking the pad quite high and

could have gone over the stumps.

Sachin to give more time to charity BCCI launches ThankYouSachin campaign on Twitter

India qualify for Hockey World Cup

Kolkata: While his love for

cricket is known the world over,

cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar's

pass ion fo r be ing invo lved in

humanitarian work has been

mostly hidden from the world as

the master prefers to be a silent

crusader.

But after bidding adieu to the

game, Tendulkar will be spending

much of his time helping the

underprivileged, something which

he always loved, but could not

spare much time because of his

cricketing commitments, says for-mer Cricket Association of

Bengal (CAB) official Samar Pal,

a close associate of the legend.

"More than the game, Sachin

loves social work. He always

thinks about the underprivileged

and he will spend much of his

time doing humanitarian works,"

said Pal who shares a close bond-

ing with the maestro from the

time he was just 14.

Preferring to keep away from

the public eye, Tendulkar has

been involved in several charita-

ble works, including sponsoring

200 underprivileged children

every year through a Mumbai-

based NGO called Apnalaya.

Tendulkar also helped a telethonraise Rs.7 crore for schools when

he devoted 12 hours patiently

answering questions from school-

children on the nuances of cricket.

New Delhi: The Board of Control

for Cricket in India (BCCI) has

launched a campaign on social

networking site Twitter that will

allow fans worldwide to connect

and say thank you to Sachin

Tendulkar.

During the ongoing Test series

be tw ee n Indi a and th e Wes t

Indies, all Twitter users who send

an appreciative message for

Sachin to the @BCCI handle with

the #ThankYouSachin hashtag

will instantaneously receive a

Tweet from @BCCI with a pic-

ture of Sachin, including a per-

sonalized message and signature

in his handwriting, the BCCI said

in a statement. Since @BCCI

announced the integration in a

series of Tweets Wednesday

morning, thousands of fans have

par tic ipa ted , inc lud ing sev era l

cricketers like Yuvraj Singh and

Gautam Gambhir, to receive their

own personal picture of Sachin.

@BCCI is encouraging its audi-

ences to connect and tweet multi-

ple times - via the web, TV and

more - as there are many different

images and messages that fans

can avail of.

The integration will be live,

while the Kolkata and Mumbai

Tests are being played. The serv-

ice is supported by Twitter India

and Digigraph.

New Delhi: Indian men's hockey

team officially qualified for the

Rabobank Hockey World Cup in

The Hague (NED), according to

the latest release issued by the

FIH. Their participation in nextyear's showpiece event - which

takes place in the hugely impres-

sive 15,000 capacity Kyocera

Stadium between 31 May and 15

June 2014 - was sealed following

the completion of the men's and

women's Oceania Cup continental

championships in Stratford, New

Zealand on Sunday. Like all of the

continental championships, the big prize on offer for the winners

of the men's and women's Oceania

Cup tournaments was direct quali-

fication to the World Cup.

However, with both Australian

teams having already achieved

World Cup qualification thanks to

strong performances in the

Hockey World League semi-

finals, the door was subsequentlyopened to the teams that finished

outside the top three at the HWL

Semi-Finals that had not yet qual-

ified for the World Cup

Rohit Sharma mixed caution with elegance toremain unconquered on 127 on Day 2

Kolkata: It was heartbreak for

Eden Gardens as farewell man

Sachin Tendulkar, expected to

script a memorable innings in his

swansong match on the iconic

ground, got out cheaply to a con-

tentious decision on day two of the

India-West Indies Test match here.

A pindrop silence descended on

the Eden as umpire Nigel Llong

raised his finger while the Windies

players jumped in joy. The crowd

was cheering every move of the

cricketing genius since he came

out to bat. The entire stadium rose

as Tendulkar made the long walk

back to the pavilion, but the ova-

tion was tinged with sadness.

Facing offie Shane Shillingford,

Tendulkar tried to defend from his

crease and the ball straightened

past the outside edge and hit the

back leg quit e high. Tendulkar,

who has been the victim of dubi-

ous decisions on a number of occa-

sions earlier, went out silently but

anguish and pain were writ large

on his face.Heading towards the dressing

room, Tendulkar made his dis-

pleasure over the decision known

when he gestured to the team

video analyst about the height of

the ball.

Tendulkar hit two crisp bound-

aries in his short 41-minute stint at

the crease scoring 10 runs facing

24 balls.Rarely does the fall of an Indian

wicket trigger unending roars from

the home crowd. But the iconic

stadium witnessed loud cheers

when opener Murli Vijay fell in the

mornign, for the next man in was

none other than the batting maestro

himself.

Sachin bows out earlyTendulkar expressed his displeasure over decision

Windies Test: Rohit, Ashwin put India in command



24 November 9-15, 2013 ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD TheSouthAsianTimes.info

The west has always turned to

India for spiritual comfort,

and the latest to join that

growing list is Hollywood actor,

Demi Moore. The 51-year-old,

who’s been in the news for her

impending divorce with actor

Ashton Kutcher, 35, was in India

last week. Moore visited

Mcleodganj in Himachal Pradesh,

along with her spiritual teacher

Hargopal Kaur Khalsa, to attend a

mind and life conference called

Craving, Desire and Addiction.

Spiritual leader the Dalai Lama

was also scheduled to speak at the

conference.

Moore, who was traveling with a

group, appeared to show none of

her starry airs during her visit.

“The star was dressed down in

boot s, trousers and a jacket, and

spoke on a mobile phone as she

navigated through a crowd,”reported Daily Mail.

Moore and Kutcher, who were

married for six years, filed for

divorce in 2011, after Kutcher

allegedly cheated on the Indecent

Proposal actor.

Moore is now ready for a fresh

start after settlement talks dragged

on for years. The former couple are

said to have signed the paperwork

and are expected to file it this

month, according to an American

Daily. Moore, who is known to

have suffered a break down after

the break up, has been trying to

move on, and was seen in New

Mexico, where she reportedly

attended a retreat with her daugh-

ter, Rumer. Before Kutcher, Moore

has been married to singer Freddy

Moore (1980-85) and actor Bruce

Willis (1987-2000).

Catch some gangster

action with 'Satya 2'

Aweek after the heroism of

superhero Krrish on the big

screen with "Krrish 3", gear

up to experience the chills and

thrills of underworld drama with

Ram Gopal Varma's “Satya 2”,

which hits screens Friday.

The film was originally scheduled

to release Oct 25, but it was delayed

due to issues, which cropped up

between Varma, and one of the pro-ducers of the film, Arun Sharma.

"Satya 2" is made within Rs.15

crore, according to sources. The

hype around the film has been built

up since a long time. It was touted

to be a sequel to Varma's hugely

successful 1998 film "Satya". But

the filmmaker has emphasized sev-

eral times that the new film is not a

sequel.

He has stressed on the fact that

the film will stand apart from the

other gangster dramas as here, the

pr ot agonis t wi ll “rei nven t the

underworld”.

'Satya 2' is about a man whose

thinking starts where all the earlier

real life dons like Dawood

Ibrahim's and Chota Rajan's think-

ing ended," Varma had shared on

Twitter once. Said to be Varma's last

gangster film, the movie will see

debutant actor Puneet Singh in the

lead role of a corporate gangster. It

will also introduce two new faces -

Anaika Soti and Aradhana Gupta.

The music of the film is varied with

the promotional track being inspired

by the theme song of Hollywood

film "The Godfather".

Moore finds spiritual solace in India

A

ctor Vivek Oberoi is over-

whelmed with the

response fetched in by

"Krrish 3" and his character of

Kaal in the sci-fi superhero film.

Vivek plays super villain Kaal

opposite to Hrithik's character of

superhero Krrish in the film that

has crossed over Rs.100 crore

mark within four days of its

release."I am over the moon now. I

am so happy," Vivek told reporters

Monday at Chandan theatre here.

He was accompanied by Hrithik.

Director-producer Rakesh

Roshan's "Krrish 3" is the third

instalment of the franchise that

began in 2003 wi th "Koi .. .M il

Gaya".

Also featuring Kangana Ranaut

and Priyanka Chopra, "Krrish 3"

came out Nov 1. Vivek said there

are three superheroes in the film.

"There are three superheroes in

'Krrish 3' - one is India's favourite

superhero Hrithik Roshan."

"Second and the biggest super-

hero is his dad (Rakesh Roshan)

who nurtured such a big dream...

we as Indians have this - 'they are

Americans, they can do and

Indians can't (make successful sci-

fi)'. But he (Rakesh Roshan) has

pro ved to the whole wor ld tha t

Indians can do what the

Americans can do. I think it is a

great thing that he has done for

India, for our pride," said Vivek.

"And the third superhero is our

audiences," he added.

'Krrish 3' strikes

gold at box-office

The film has crossed over Rs.100 crore mark

Actor Demi Moore at Mcleodganj in Himachal Pradesh

Big B celebrates Diwali with film fraternity

For megastar Amitabh

Bachchan, the "joy" of

Diwali was celebrating the

festival of lights with members of

the Indian film fraternity at his res-

idence. Stars like Shah Rukh Khan,

Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif

were in attendance.

The 71-year-old took to his blog

srbachchan.tumblr.com to express

his gratitude to his guests.

"What was the joy of course was

the coming over of the entire fra-

ternity in their traditional best to

bring in the greetings, to join inwith us at the house and spend this

large amount of time in the glory

and the warmth of the festival in

celebration," he posted.

Among other guests were

Anushka Sharma, Farah Khan,

Neha Dhupia , Divya Dutt a an d

Sonu Sood.

"It was wonderful to see all, from

Shah Rukh to Katrina to Anushka

to Ranbir and everyone, all

...relaxed and in comfort of the

auspicious moment, in the comfort

of each other, of their laughter and

camaraderie...a warmth in my

heart," Bachchan added.

This warm feeling was mutual

with the film fraternity and extend-

ed their thank you greetings to thethespian via Twitter. Here's what

they posted:

Shah Rukh Khan:

Dignity...class....graciousness...will

always stand apart. Thanks Mr.

Bachchan, Jaya aunty, Abhishek

and Aishwarya for a great evening

and morning.

Sonu Sood: Thanks Amitabh

Bachchan sir and my brother

Abhishek Bachchan for making my

Diwali so so special. Had a great

time. Lots of love.

Neha Dhupia: Wonderful peo-

ple, delicious food, fabu lous set-

ting. Thank you Amitabh Bachchan

and Abhishek Bachchan and the

family for being such great hosts.

Farah Khan: Abhishek Bachchan thank you for always

giving me a great time...whether

it's at a shoot or a party at your

house!

Shahrukh Khan at Amitabh Bachchan's Diwali party

A scene from'Satya 2'



25November 9-15, 2013TheSouthAsianTimes.info ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD

NRIs relish Indian classics in Abu Dhabi

Films, filmmakers and film lovers - the seventh

edition of the Abu Dhabi Film Festival (ADFF)

turned out to be a delightful congregation of all

three elements. Overall, the 10-day gala was true to its

tagline of "Let's celebrate film". The movie extrava-

ganza wowed Indians living here by screening a mix

of classics and contemporary off-beat movies.

Given its line-up, one was expecting names like Judi

Dench and Jennifer Aniston to grace the red carpet for their films "Philomena" and "Life of Crime", respec-

tively. Nevertheless, with an eclectic bouquet of over

160 feature and short films from across the globe, its

box office spoilt the viewers for choice.

Drama, romance, action, period, animation, comedy

and classics - it had them all, with a special pro-

gramme dedicated to the centenary year of Indian cin-

ema. Five gems of Indian cinema - Guru Dutt's

"Pyaasa", M.S. Sathyu's "Garm Hava", Jahnu Barua's

Assamese film "Halodhia Choraye Baodhan Khai",

Ritwak Ghatak's Bengali film "Subarnarekha" and

Mani Kaul's "Duvidha", were showcased. Among the

new ones were Anup Singh's "Qissa", Richie Mehta's

"Siddharth", Nagraj Manjule's "Fandry" and Aparna

Sen's"Goynar Baksho". The presence of some Indianfilm veterans like Sathyu, Barua and Sen as well as of

actors like Irrfan, Moushumi Chatterjee, Tisca Chopra,

Tillotama Shome, was a bonus for the stream of NRI

film buffs who flocked to the festival venues. The

response was equally welcoming for most films which

came from the Arab nations, Europe and the US.

Madhuri Dixit starrer

"Dedh Ishqiya" is not

a run-of-the-mill story

and its makers have put in place

a unique and smart marketing

strategy to promote and build up

a pre-release buzz around the

movie.

The film is scheduled to

release on Jan 10 next year and

Mansi Maroo, who has co-pro-

duced the black comedy with

Vishal Bhardwaj, says the focus

will be on the Hindi speaking

belt during its promotion.

"We are working on the pro-

motion and marketing strategy

of the film. We are planning to

release a couple of teasers by the

next week and will launch each

character one by one," Maroo

said.

Another special feature of themarketing is that the first trailer

will be launched on social net-

working site Facebook which is

taking a special initiative for

"Dedh Ishqiya" by dedicating

350 million impressions, said

Maroo.

Directed by Abhishek

Chaubey, "Dedh Ishqiya", a

sequel to the 2010 hit "Ishqiya",

is based in a small town in Uttar

Pradesh, just like the original.

"Since the film is based in a

small town and has a lot of

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) culture

in it, we will focus a lot on the

Hindi belt. A lot of attention will

be given to the rural areas during

promotion.

This is just the beginning and

yes, there is a lot more in store,"

Maroo said.

The film will see 1990s diva

Madhuri returning to the big

screen as Begum Para, an attrac-

tive yet dangerous woman.

Chaubey has also roped in Naseeruddin Shah and Arshad

Warsi, who were there in the

original, along with Huma

Qureshi.

Madhuri dixit in'Dedh

Ishqiya'

'Dedh Ishqiya' team set toput best foot forward

The movieextravaganza wowed Indians by screening a mix of classics

andcontemporary

off-beat movies

Pakistani folk singer Reshma died in Lahore

'Magic of

Reshma'svoice will

live on'Armaandumps

Tanishaa in BiggBoss 7

While the cast of Kajol's sister Tanishaa seems to be

attracting trouble all the time in Bigg Boss house.

After having a tiff with Kushal Tandon, the pretty

actress is now war with Aijaz who seems to be troubling

Tanisha, passing some unflattering comments. As usual the

struggling actress seems to have turned to her friend Armaan

for help who surprisingly enough, does not want to be

involved in the matter. Armaan Kohli as apparently asked

Tanishaa to stand up for her rights and fight her own

battles. Ajaz Khan, the new entrant in the Bigg Boss

house seems to be all charged up to make noise

and provide the needed masala to the show.

It would be interesting to see how

Tanisha deals with her battles

on her own.

Armaan with Tanishaa

Names like Amjad Ali Khan and Kavita

Krishnamoorthy from the Indian music

industry will remember renowned Pakistani

folk singer Reshma as a voice with magical powers.

Reshma, credited with songs like "Dama Dam

Mast Kalandar" and "Hai O Rabba nahion lagda dil

mera", breathed her last in Lahore last weekend.

Here's what the celebrities had to say:

Amjad Ali Khan: "May her soul rest in peace.

Reshmaji ne duniya ko pyaar aur mohabbat ka

sandesh diya (Her songs gave the world a message

of love and peace).

Kavita Krishnamoorthy: She was such a truly

great singer. Really sad to hear of her death.

Composer duo Sajid-Wajid: Reshmaji's voice had

magic. Whenever we hear her song 'Lambi judaai',

it feels we are listening to a song at a shrine. It

gives immense peace. She had an innocent and pure

voice. She was the perfect Sufi folk singer.

Sunidhi Chauhan: She was someone I really

looked up to and was very inspired by. Sad that she

is gone.

Alka Yagnik: Heartbreaking news. She was one

of my favourite singers. Needless to say her soulful

voice and songs are immortal. RIP (rest in peace),

dearest Reshmaji.

Alisha Chinai: Is she really gone? Her soulful

haunting voice will live forever.



By Shilpa Raina

New DelhI: Not just Pakistan, but the entire

subcontinent needs independent and bold

voices like that of Malala Yousufzai, the

Pakistani teenager who fearlessly took on the

Taliban, to come to the forefront, says

Pakistani author Fatima Bhutto, niece of

assassinated former premier Benazir Bhutto.

Fatima, known as a fearless and frank voice

herself, says the "bold and clear-minded"

voices should come from the interiors and not

be the voices of city bred upper class people.

Speaking to IANS during a visit here to

promot e he r debu t fi ct io n nove l, "T he

Shadow of the Crescent Moon", published by

Penguin, the 31-year-old member of

Pakistan's top political family said her

"frankness" does make her vulnerable to anti-

social elements, but she points out that

Pakistan needs more "bold" voices to come to

the forefront.

"I think the nice thing with Malala is that

she is a fresh new voice unlike other women

we are used to seeing from our part of the

country. The city voices are those who come

from certain backgrounds and speak English because they went to international schools,"

Fatima Bhutto said.

"Malala's voice is independent, clear-mind-

ed and so I think we would like to see more

of such voices from India, Nepal, Bangladesh

and Sri Lanka," Fatima said.

Malala Yousufzai, 16, was shot in the head

and neck by the Taliban for advocating girls'

education in Pakistan. She has been given

numerous awards, including the Sakharov

Prize, for championing the cause of women's

education and empowerment and has also

been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize

this year.

Fatima feels that women bear the brunt dur-

ing any turbulence in society - in the form of

rapes and molestations, with patriarchy play-

ing its part in keeping them subjugated.

"It isn't easy to be a woman anywhere in

the globe. Women often struggle, and theyare the first point of contact for any turbu-

lence or turmoil, force or violence. If there is

destabilization in any country, women are

automatically affected," Fatima said.

"It isn't easy to be a woman in Pakistan

either, and it is the same across South Asia.

Millions and millions of women are beaten

down by the system which is political, eco-

nomical, social and patriarchal," said Fatima,

the granddaughter of former Pakistani prime

minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

Her latest novel is set in the Waziristan

conflict zone with Afghanistan on the other

side of the border. The story chronicles the

journey of three brothers with two women,

Mina and Samarra, playing pivotal roles.

The women in her novel are not meek anddominated, says Fatima.

"I think we have a singular image of

Waziristan, especially when it comes to

women. People get this impression that

women from this region must be very meek

and subservient," Bhutto said.

"But they aren't. It is incredible to see the

strength of women coming from these turbu-

lent regions where they struggle every day

for their existence," she said. Though the

characters in her novel are fictional, the situa-

tions are inspired from what all she observed

during her early journalistic sojourns in the

area.

Representing the young voice from

Pakistan, Fatima is best known for her forth-

right opinions, a taste of which the world

received with her controversial "Songs Of

Blood And Sword" on the life of her slain

father Murtaza in which she had accused her aunt, Benazir, for covering up the 1996

killing.

In fact, her open criticism of Imran Khan's

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party too had made

the headlines.

Aware of the political baggage her surname

carries, Bhutto has always been clear about

not treading the political path her family

took.

She doesn't feel the burden either.

"I don't feel it as a burden, weight or lega-

cy. What I have taken from them is values

and compassion," she said.

But what she often gets emotional about is

her state of being "stateless" at some point in

her life when she, along with her father,

moved from country to country. During her

childhood, Fatima lived as an exile in Syria

and other countries with her father, who wasforced to flee Pakistan after Zia Ul-Haq came

to power.

By Shilpa Raina

New Delhi: He was a rickshaw

puller and she was a celebrity author.

There was no way Manoranjan

Byapari would have met Mahasweta

Devi. But destiny willed otherwise.At a chance meeting, she asked

him to write for her 'Bartika' journal.

Thus began Bypari's stint as a writer

that has seen him churn out over 100

short stories and leave an indelible

mark in contemporary Bengali Dalit

penmanship.

The calm and composed 61-year-

old now has no trace of the anger

and bitterness that had once been his

constant companions - the unfortu-

nate reasons that put him behind

bars for two years for getting into a

fight. The prison experience gave

the Kolkata-based writer a fascinat-

ing story to relate to the audience atthe recently concluded Samanvay

festival of Indian languages in the

capital.

He was 22-years-old when he

started learning the Bengali alphabet

in prison. Poverty had left him bitter,

angry and illiterate. "I didn't know

how to read or write, but I was

aware about what was happening in

politics and the world. So I was illit-

erate but not unaware," Bypari whonow works as a cook and writes in

his free time, said.

Byapari who grew up in a refugee

camp in Bankura's Shiromanipur

pulled rickshaw for earning a liveli-

hood.

The chance encounter with

Mahasweta Devi he recalls thus, she

was commuting by his rickshaw

when he asked her the meaning of a

word. So impressed was she with his

learning aptitude that she gave him

an opportunity to write in her jour-

nal.

Hence began his journey of

expressing his opinions through poems, essays and short stories. His

novel "Itibritte Chandal Jiban" is

considered the first autobiographical

work by a Bengali Dalit writer.

The plight and sufferings of dalits

have always been the pivotal theme

of his narratives.

His first national acclaim came

after a translation of his essay "Is

there Dalit Writing in Bangla?" was

published in Economic and PoliticalWeekly in 2007.

Despite all this transformation and

newly-found love for writing,

Byapari never gave up on his first

job - rickshaw pulling - till he started

working as a cook in a school a few

years ago.

"Writing doesn't give you money. I

needed money to sustain my living

and rickshaw gave me that security.

My writings are a mirror of the class

and caste divide that we are still

associated with," he rued.

Even though mainstream publica-

tions are finally taking a serious note

of Dalit writings in the country andopening a window into their grim

world with translated narratives,

Byapari feels these don't reflect the

real sufferings of the Dalits.

South Asia needs more bold voices like

Malala, says Fatima Bhutto

A rickshaw puller's journey from prison to writing

Manoranjan Byapari

Fatima Bhutto, author and activist

26 November 9-15, 2013 TheSouthAsianTimes.info CULTURE

German police find 1,500 artworks taken by NazisBerlin: Some 1,500 works by artists like

Picasso, Nolde and Matisse believed to be

stolen by the Nazis in the 1930s were found

at an elderly man's apartment in the German

city of Munich, media reports said.

The artworks were found in 2011, but the

discovery was kept quiet until Focus maga-

zine published a story about the find Sunday.

The story has sparked speculation in the

German media that more looted works may

be awaiting discovery.

The works, worth around 1 billion euros,

were found amid food remains, cans and

trash in the home of 80-year-old Cornelius

Gurlitt.

Gurlitt put Max Beckmann's "Lion Tamer,

Circus" up for sale at auction months after

the investigation started.

The government has been monitoring the

investigation, which is being handled by

prosecu tors in Augsburg, for months and

offered to bring in experts to examine the

works, Chancellor's Office spokesman

Steffen Seibert said Monday.

Officials and investigators have worked for

decades to track down the works of art stolen

by Adolf Hitle r's Nazi regime and return

them to their rightful owners.



SELF HELP 27November 9-15, 2013TheSouthAsianTimes.info

During the holidays, it can be all too

easy to overeat. But there’s more at

play when it comes to pack ing on

pounds this time of year. Another holiday tra-

dition that can affect your weight is stress.

Here are some important things to know

about your body’s response to stress:

Stress Hormones

We all have a built-in stress response. It’s a

complicated set of physiological reactions

that help keep you alive during dangerous sit-

uations. Here’s how it’s supposed to work:

You experience an acute stressor.

Thousands of years ago, this could have been

a tiger trying to eat you. Today, it could be the

in-laws coming to stay with you over the hol-

idays. In response, adrenal glands release the

stress hormone cortisol into your blood-

stream, initiating an increase in blood sugar

used for immediate energy to fight, run or

slam on your car brakes.

Once the stressor is dealt with, the cortisol

leaves your system and things return to their

normal metabolic state. But unfortunately

today, many of us are constantly stressed,

causing significant metabolic imbalances.

Chronic Stress

From when we wake up to when we go to

bed, the average person deals with hundreds

of low-grade stressful events, like rush hour

traffic, projects with impossible deadlines,

troubles with kids, spouses or pets.

According to Michael A. Smith, M.D. host

of “Healthy Talk” on RadioMD.com and sen-

ior health scientist with the Life Extension

Foundation in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, this

state of affairs is chronically elevating corti-

sol levels, which means blood sugar is con-

stantly being mobilized for energy.

“And when you don’t burn the sugar, it gets

stored as body fat,” says Dr. Smith. “This is

just one of the metabolic imbalances caused

by too much cortisol. There are many other

problems caused by chronic stress that can

pack on the fat.”

For example, too much cortisol, which

results in a drop in serotonin, can drive sugar

cravings and significantly increase appetite.

During the holiday season,

which kicks off with

Black Friday, the stores

can be even more stress-inducing

than usual -- but only if you don’t

plan.

Luckily, being prepared is easi-

er than ever. Over three-fifths of

US adults have smartphones,

according to a study by Pew

Internet & American Life Project,

changing the way people commu-

nicate, do their jobs and even

shop. To better navigate this busy

shopping season and save time

and money in the process, use

your smartphone as your personal

shopping assistant.

If you aren’t yet up to speed

with how mobile technology can

help with shopping, here are some

ideas for how to use your smart-

phone to save money and time this

holiday season:

Plan ahead: If you have a preferred shopping mall or shop-

ping district, view its website on

your phone to consult its directory,

get a map of the mall, find out

about store hours and learn about

special events and deals.

Simplify with Technology:

It’s easy to get overwhelmed bythe bombardment of ads touting

coupons, Black Friday sales and

holiday store hours. By simplify-

ing, you can sort through the

heavy stream of information com-

ing at you via television, radio as

well as print and online media.

Use your smartphone -- it’s called

smart for a reason -- to help you

find deals based on where you like

to shop and what products you’re

looking for.

For example, Shoptopia.com

and the Shoptopia iPhone app fil-

ter products, retailers and promo-

tions to deliver personalized, time-

ly and relevant shopping informa-

tion and deals based on your

search criteria and location. It can

even be a social experience, as

users can share favorites with

friends.

Shoptopia is available as a free

download in the iTunes app store

and can be accessed at

www.Shoptopia.com/news.

Make a list: Santa makes alist for good reason and so should

you. Before hitting the stores, cre-

ate a shopping list on your phone.

You can use a shared document to

store everyone in the family’s

wish list in one place. This will

help you avoid potentially large

impulse purchases stimulated by

sales and help you stay focused on

what you really need. Use person-

al finance apps to help you stay on

budget as you shop. Don’t ruin the

“the most wonderful time of the

year” with shopping stress. Take

advantage of new tools that can

make your time in the store more

productive and cost -effective --

from identifying new trends to

finding the best deals.

How to protect your nest egg fromfinancial downturns

Use your smartphone to help you save on Black Friday

Tools you can access with your smartphone can make holiday shopping easier and more productive.

Did

you know

Holiday stresscan make you

fat

Solutions

New research shows that white kidney

beans can suppress appetite. So if you’re

craving a snack, have a serving of kidney

beans instead of reaching for holiday left-

overs or a bag of potato chips.

Feeling tense? Try some stress reduc-

tion activities, like jogging, meditation or

breathing exercises.

Also, consider adaptogenic herbs, which

have long been used for their mood bal-

ancing and stress reducing effects. For

example, a number of clinical trials

demonstrate that repeated administrationof rhodiola extract exerts energizing

effects that increase mental focus.

For more information about reducing

stress and suppressing appetite, visit

www.LEF.org/appetite.

You may not be able to stop your in-

laws from visiting, but understanding how

stress affects your body can help you pre-

vent weight gain this holiday season.

F

rom increased unemploy-

ment to commonplace

home foreclosures, it’s

hard to forget the devastating

effects of the 2008 financial cri-

sis and the worst recession since

the Great Depression.

While the hope is that regula-

tory bodies and bureaus created

in the crisis’ wake will help pre-

vent a recurrence, some experts

say these reforms were shaped

by the same entities responsible for the cri-

sis -- but that citizens have the power to

chart a different course for their own eco-

nomic futures.

“Whether policies were formed with

selfless or selfish intentions, you don’t

need to quietly agree to them, especially if

they are misguided. We have a system that

can respond to the efforts of individual cit-izens,” says Jay W. Richards,

Distinguished Fellow at the Institute for

Faith, Work & Economics and author of

the new book, “Infiltrated: How to Stop

the Insiders and Activists Who Are

Exploiting the Financial Crisis to Control

Our Lives and Our Fortunes.”

In his book, Richards suggests that com-

placency on the part of ordinary citizens

will lead to more serious financial disas-

ters. He encourages readers to take steps to

prevent future crises and protect their own

nest eggs:

Get Informed: “Many culpableentities used the crisis fallout to lay blame

elsewhere and increase their own power,”says Richards. “But with knowledge, pru-

dence and intelligent action, history won’t

have to repeat itself.”

The only way to prevent deception and

cynicism during future crises is for ordi-

nary citizens to get informed and outraged

enough to change our fiscal and regulatory

trajectory,” says Richards.

Take Control: Online educationalresources can help you get informed. To

brush up on basi c financia l skil ls, visi t

MyMoney.gov, a site created by the

Financial Literacy and Education

Commission with information on how to

save, what to consider when borrowing,

and how to make a budget.

Diversify: Experts recommend bal-ancing different types of assets, such as

cash, stocks, bonds and commodities.

Having different types of investments

means you might be better shielded fromeconomic crises, because some assets

might fall while others might rise.

Don’t Rely on Your Home: If therecession taught people anything, it’s not

to rely too much on home equity for retire-

ment. Many think their homes are more

valuable than they really are or will be

when it’s time to retire.

Be Philanthropic: “Those con-cerned about the future should be the first

to grow effective local organizations pro-

viding real safety nets for the destitute,”

says Richards, who believes philanthropy

is a moral responsibility best left to com-

munities.

Think of the Future: When a con-

sumer borrows, she or he alone bears thedebt. However, when the government

over-spends for short term goals, future

generations are expected to foot some, or

all, of the bill. “This is immoral and no

fancy economic theory can change that,”

asserts Richards.

Be Civic: Your vote matters to politic ians. Call, write and visit them to

express concerns over economic regula-

tions you don’t support.

Remember, you don’t need a PhD in

economics to stay informed.



Student Peter Wong sent me a news cut-

ting about a 78-year-old woman who

beat up her 84-year-old husband. "A

witness told police the woman admittedassaulting her husband, including kicking

him three times in the groin, because he had

an affair 35 years ago," said the report from

the Associated Press. Peter asked: "Isn't 35

years rather a long time to wait to kick some-

body?"

It may seem like it, Peter, but clearly you

haven't had much experience with women.

They have astonishing powers of recall, far

greater than humans. Married men will know

what I mean. Watching TV, you make an

innocuous comment, such as: "Madonna

looks good for 50, don't you think?" There

will be a moment of silence as the wife

clicks back through her 5,000-terabyte mem-ory dump. Then she will say: "Ah, but you

said 13 years ago, on the way back from the

supermarket on a rainy Tuesday afternoon, at

4.27 pm, that you thought her bottom was

bigger than mine."

The only correct answer is to nod vigor-

ously and agree with her. (Actually, this is

the only response to everything your wife

says.) "Yes, honey, you're quite right, I did

say that, and it's STILL TRUE."

Peter, here's some advice. Never, never

dispute anything your woman claims to

remember, even if it is patently obvious that

she has imagined the whole thing. A buddy

of mine was once asked something like this by his girlfriend: "Do you still love me as

much as you did at 10.34 am on the second

Wednesday of our first trekking holiday in

Nep al?" He rep lied: "It mus t have been

someone else. I've never been to Nepal."

WRONG ANSWER! Within days, he had

been kicked out. The correct answer would

have been: "Yes darling. I can't remember

ever going to Nepal, so perhaps the two of us

visited it in a previous life." Her eyes will fill

with tears as she is deeply moved by your

high level of spirituality and self-awareness.

She will then agree to ANY command you

give her.

Why can't men remember the promises

they made a year or two ago, or even, let's

face it, earlier the same day? I once asked a

top doctor this question (actually, he was a

trainee hospital orderly, more or less the

same thing) and he explained it in medical

terms.Men only have a small amount of blood,

not enough to power multiple organs at once.

Any man approached by an attractive

woman will say extremely stupid things

because the blood has fled from his brain to

supercharge other parts of his body.

Factor in men's limited memory capacity

and you begin to understand the challenges

of being male.

In fact, the only way men can function at

all is to auto-delete irrelevant data such as

"the toilet roll needs changing" or "I am mar-

ried" to ensure there is enough memory

capacity for the really important stuff, such

as who scored the winning goal in the 1978

football World Cup semifinals.

Ladies: you may now kick your husbands.

28 November 9-15, 2013 TheSouthAsianTimes.info HUMOR

Funny Bone by Nury Vittachi

by Mahendra Shah

Mahendra Shah is an architect by education, entrepreneur by profession, artist and humorist,

cartoonist and writer by hobby. He has been recording the plight of the immigrant Indians for

the past many years in his cartoons. Hailing from Gujarat, he lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Laughter is the Best Medicine

The real reason whymen can neverremember anything



9th November, 2013 Ruled planet:Mars Ruled by no:9

Traits in you: Your ruling planet Mars makes you smart,

intelligent, stylish, enthusiastic and reliable. Being an

emotional individual, you want to carry on each and

every relationship you create once. You are very affec-tionate towards the people you love and you do not hes-

itate showing your care and concern to those you love.

However, you are very short tempered and you need to

control it for betterment of your personality.

Health this year: Your health may deteriorate badly this

year. You need to take precautions to restore your health.

Finance this year:You should keep your budget in mind

as you may end up spending more than your budget.

Career this year: You may go ahead making many im-

portant decisions regarding to y our career. Your deci-

sions will be proved successful as you will be benefited

later. You will gain popularity because of your charis-

matic nature and friendly behavior. This will also help

you win many favors.

Romance this year: You will enjoy mental peace at

home as you will get enough love and care from your

partner. You wil l en joy a v ery g ood relationship with

your spouse with lots of love, care, and support.

Lucky month: November, January, April and August

10th November, 2013 Ruled planet:Sun Ruled by no:1Traits in you: Being dominated by planet Sun, you have

the qualities such as intelligence, creativity, and reliabil-

ity. You are highly focused and courageous. Your

courage helps you gain a lot and at times it also makes

you lose a lot of money. Your decisive nature helps you

take quick decisions, which fall correct often. However,

your negative traits such as impoliteness and rudeness

may create problems for you. So you need to work on

those to be better as a human being.

Health this year: If you take an overall estimation, you

will find this year to be very fruitful for you. However,

you may get stressed with minor stress and tensions.

Finance this year: Though you will earn a lot this year,

it would not be enough to meet your monetary expecta-

tions. You may gain through blind investments.

Career this year: You will be in profit due to your cre-

ativity this year. You will be able to obtain success with

the help of your new and innovative ideas. You should

try and enhance your knowledge on various domains as

it would help you in future.

Romance this year: Your romantic life may touch new

heights this year as you may get married during the last

few months of the year.

Lucky month: April, July and October

11th November, 2013 Ruled planet:Moon Ruled by no:2

Traits in you:As you are governed by the planet Moon,

you hold the traits such as honesty, sensitivity, emotions

and intelligence. You are respected among your know

circle for your wit and decision making capabilities.

Your charismatic personality and knowledge wins you

admiration in your professional and personal friend cir-

cle. You are blessed with patriotism and you are pretty

religious. However, you have many negative traits that

make you lag behind others as an individual.

Health this year: You may remain worried for your

health throughout the year.

Finance this year: You will have a fluctuating income

this year. You will receive financial support during cru-

cial times from your friends and relatives. You need to

perform on every opportunity you get as it will stabilizeyour financial condition. If you can realize your plans

into actions, then you may get benefits straightaway.

Career this year: You may take various crucial deci-

sions to grow professionally but you would not get

enough support from your family.

Romance this year: You will be enjoying love, care, and

support from your spouse or partner throughout the year.

If you have become eligible for marriage, you will re-

ceive many marriage proposals this year.

Lucky month: February, May, July and October

12th November, 13 Ruled planet:Jupiter Ruled by no:3

Traits in you: Your ruling planet Jupiter makes you au-

dacious, courteous, ambitious, dignified, and devoted to-

wards your work. You love music very much and you

want to be a musician always. Your personal traits dis-

play that you are an independence loving individual and

you like to take your own decisions without anyone’s in-

terference.

Health this year: You may have to visit distant pilgrim-

ages to attain mental peace. You will enjoy a sound

health but one of your aged family member’s health may

degrade and put you in immense stress.

Finance this year: You are not advised to get involved

in any financial deals or partnerships this year as it may

end up in your loss. You may invest in real estate busi-

ness this year as you will be benefited in future from

these investments.

Career this year: Your commitment and enthusiasm to-

wards your work win admiration from your colleaguesand seniors. Your stubbornness may create problems for

you in future. You will be able to face your challenges

bravely this year and expectedly, you will solve them all

to perfection. If you are a sportsperson or artist, you will

receive awards, rewards, and appreciations from all

around the world.

Lucky month: December, March, June and October

13th November, 13 Ruled planet: Uranus Ruled by no:4

Traits in you: Your ruling planet Uranus allows you to

showcase your vibrant nature and win many hearts with

you enthusiasm and simplicity. By nature you are smart,

dynamic, realistic, daring and religious. You never lose

your composure on tough times and solve every problem

with equal efficiency. You are well aware of the rules of

life and consider each and everything i n a realistic view.

However, you nature of behaving restless may hamper

your personality and impression.

Health this year: You should go for regular medical

checkups this year as there are chances of degradation of

your health conditions.Finance this year: You will settle your property related

legal matters to your satisfaction and the settlement will

bring you mental peace.

Career this year: You will be hugely benefited in your

professional career this year. You will develop a very

good relationship with your colleagues. This may help

you grow in your profession. However, you will find

your seniors to be too tough to appease.

Romance this year: Your love life will be strengthened

by the trust and love of your partner. You may receive

lots of gifts from your partner, which will make your

love stronger than ever. You should give enough time

and take care of the elders and children in the family.

Lucky month: January, March and August

14th November,13 Ruled planet:Mercury Ruled by no:5

Traits in you: As you have the ruling planet Mercury, you

are born smart, sentimental, sharp, practical, dignified,

and unique. You have a charismatic personality, which at-

tracts people towards you. You can make friends e asily as

you are trustworthy. You need to work on your character-

istics of being impatient and possessive at times.

Health this year: Your health will remain good provid-

ed you take a good care of your health. You may consult

doctor to take preventive vaccines and medicines to re-

main healthy.

Finance this year: You may go for selling your proper-

ty this year. You may let your house for rent and this will

bring you monetary gains. Your dividends and interests

may pay off this year. You should invest on ornaments or

antique items as this seems to be very profitable for you.

Career this year: This year may prove to be very re-

warding for you. You will be hugely benefited in your

profession as a result of your improved personality and

confidence. You will be appreciated and admired by your

colleagues and employer as you will be able to showcase

your talent and skills.

Romance this year: Your romantic life would be extra

ordinary this year. You will not find your spouse to be

supportive enough. You may suffer a lot in y our person-

al life as well.Lucky month: February, May, September & November

15th November,13 Ruled planet: Venus Ruled by no:6

Traits in you: You being guided by Venus are dynamic,

creative, honest, joyful, and charming. Your carefree na-

ture can influence people to lead their lives the way you

do. This may help them heal them emotionally. You need

to control your mood swings. However, your laziness

may make you lag behind others though you are more

deserving than they are.

Health this year: You should start practicing Yoga and

meditation to keep yourself mentally and physically fit.

Finance this year: Your management skills will en-

hance, which will help you invest your money in a right

way. If you are into business, you should enter into some

computer related business as this will be a highly re-

warding business this year

Career this year: You are expected to gain fame and

good luck throughout this year. To get new heights in

your profession, you need to be more knowledgeable and

you should create new contacts.Romance this year: You will be deeply involved in the

romantic relationship you are currently in. You may de-

cide to get married this year.

Lucky month: February, April, July and October

By Dr Prem Kumar SharmaChandigarh, India: +91-172- 256 2832, 257 2874Delhi, India: +91-11- 2644 9898, 2648 [email protected]; www.premastrologer.com

Stars Foretell: November 9-15, 2013 Annual Predictions: For those born in this week

29

ARIES: Female colleagues lend a help-

ing hand in completing important assign-

ments. Friends and family members

would lend a helping hand. Promising week toinvest surplus money in real estate. The pres-

ence of love would make you feel life meaning-

ful. A week when smile will perpetually be on

your face and strangers will seem familiar. Pack

your bags and some eatables and go out for a

picnic. Your search for a house is towards its

final destination. You find many takers for your

unique & innovative ideas.

TAURUS: At work you will be a part of

something big, bringing appreciation &

rewards. An unexpected message from a

distant relative brings happy news for the entire

family. Bank dealing needs to be handled very

carefully. Love life brings some memorable

moments that you could cherish rest of your life.

Your energy level will be high. Better to chan-

nelise it in a positive direction. Many people

want to fly international and you are one of them. Your personal loan plans for property

could be in progress. You would be full of good

ideas especially in later half of the week.

GEMINI: Time to be a good communi-

cator & natural negotiator to enable

yourself to tackle the pressure of a high-

ly responsible position. Relatives are likely to

give some valuable advice regarding personal

life. A sound financial health would enable to

invest on lucrative schemes. Love life would

blossom provided you pay heed to it. Positive

outlook impresses those around you besides

keeping you fit & fine. By traveling you’ll learn

about new places and cultures, which is ulti-

mately a great deal about yourself. Your dream

for new house might be full filed now. Legal

battle proves fruitful as you succeed in your

efforts.CANCER: You are likely to establish

yourself a good manager on managing

people and situation without any prob-

lem. You receive care and affection from family

members. Your brilliant ideas would help in

bringing financial gains. Your fla shing smile

would work as the best antidote for romantic

partners unhappiness. Charity work undertaken

will bring mental peace & comfort. You and

your loved one’s been busy for quite sometimes

and have finally decided to go on a vacation.

Getting your dream home will be the greatest

pleasure for you. Favourable planetary position

will give you plenty of reasons to cheer.

LEO: You will be successful in realising

your targets at professional front.

Matrimonial alliance for eligible bache-

lor in family brings joy to all. A promising week to earn profits in real estate and financial trans-

actions. Sharing candyfloss and toffees with

lover/beloved would bring unlimited joy.

Meditation and self-realization prove benefi-

cial. Your next journey is to a place which is

full of natural beauty and ravishing. Selling a

plot might be profitable as property rates tend

to rise sooner. Timely help to someone will be

rewarded/acknowledged.

VIRGO: With your high confidence

you will be able to cross all hurdles at

professional front. A new outlook will

be the source of laughter at family front in this

week. An improvement in monetary position

makes it convenient to purchase essential items.

You will have to make extra efforts to meet

romantic partner in this week. You will have

ample time to do things to improve your health.Time for a vacation, sit back and relax.

Lifestyle home is what you are looking for?

Forced travelling brings pleasure more than

expectations.

LIBRA: Timely help of associates will

not only pass difficult times at work but

also help in regaining professional edge.

Be very careful about what you say at familyfront. Long-term investment would enable to

make substantial gains. Company of love part-

ner would inspire to take initiatives in this week.

Engaging yourself in creative work would keep

you relaxed. If you are thinking of escaping

from the hectic daily routine- plan a trip. Put

together a few ideas to help you in purchasing a

lodge. You are likely to be contacted by an old

friend reminding some sweet memories.

SCORPIO: A promising week to start a

new venture in partnership. All are likely

to be benefited. Enjoying a picnic with

family will not only bring joy but also help in

clearing misunderstandings. Financial hassles

will be eased out with the help of your friends.

Love works like a panacea as you find sanity.

Sound physical health will enable to participate

in outdoor activities. Enjoy traveling withoutgoing broke. Deals on commercial property can

tend to be at full boom. You find many of your

unrealisable dreams coming true in this week.

SAGITTARIUS: Your technical

expertise gives a decisive edge over

competitors at work. Charming nature

and pleasant personality would make you the

attraction of family function in this week. Dig

deep beneath the surface to find out more about

the investment scheme that seems to be attract-

ing you. However consult experts before mak-

ing any commitment. Love partner touches soul

that would take imagination to unlimited

heights. You will be successful in getting rid

from tensions. Your travel experience is going

to be an extent of sharing your knowledge and

communication. Investing residentially is one

thing you can rely on. You are likely to enjoysheer pleasure & fun if you venture to take a

ride in this week.

CAPRICORN: Hard work of the past

brings rich dividends. However contin-

ue enhancing your skills/adopt tech-

niques for further development. Family mem-

bers appreciate the changes made in & around

the house. Certain important plans will be exe-

cuted, bringing fresh financial gains. Someones

timely help would enable visualizing succeed-

ing in love. A sparkling laughter filled week

when most things proceed, as you desire. Its

time for a vacation after a long and hard year at

work. Investment on overseas property has to

be considered seriously. An improved look adds

to your personality.

AQUARIUS: Dedication & loyalty at

work would bring desired results.Trouble seems to be brewing at home

therefore think twice before uttering your

views. Speculations are likely to bring mone-

tary profits. Romantic imagination would keep

you in a jovial & cheerful mood. Your enor-

mous confidence would help in enjoying a

healthy life. Time to relax and unwind for few

days. Time to spend money on your homely

accommodations. An auspicious week to

engage yourself in social as well as religious

functions.

PISCES : New ventures start on a posi-

tive note. Friends and family members

would encourage to work harder. Avoid

overspending in order to impress others. The

company of love partner makes you forget

about the work. A very healthy week filled with

happiness & vitality. Traveling for a conferencedoesn’t mean that you forget travel etiquettes. A

good week to make some investment on kitchen

items. Shopping with friends would bring

unlimited joy in this week.

November 9-15, 2013TheSouthAsianTimes.info ASTROLOGY



Some people drink alcohol

and take drugs. In many

places of work, Friday is a

time in which people meet for

“Happy Hour.” There, they engage

in drinking to feel good. There are

numerous television commercialsfor beer and wine, depicting the

happiness people experience by

drinking. In private circles, people

speak of how good they feel when

they get high on drugs. There is a

tremendous drug culture in mod-

ern societies. People seem to feel

they cannot be happy without

alcohol or drugs. But we all know

that that happiness is temporary

and comes at a high price. They

may feel good for a few minutes,

but lat er they fee l sic k to the ir

stomach. They may get addicted

and require more and more to

make them maintain their high.

Drugs and alcohol lead to

impaired judgment and poor motor

skills, which in turn can lead to

deadly car accidents. People turn

to crime to get money to buy drugs

and alcohol. This leads to people

getting hurt and those perpetrating

the crimes going to prison. Insome cases drugs and alcohol lead

to disease and death.

When people see that we are

happy and blissful without drugs

and alcohol, they ask us how we

can feel so good. We can then

explain that meditation gives us a

natural state of intoxication. We

can explain how the sweet nectar

of the divine Wine within provides

more intoxication than any intoxi-

cation which outer drugs and alco-

hol can give us. We can talk about

how we get this divine bliss within

that lasts twenty-four hours. There

is no hang-over. There are no side

effects. We do not pass out or getsick. We do not have to steal from

anyone to get this bliss. We do not

have to cause car accidents or

commit crimes. Rather than lower-

ing our consciousness through

drugs and alcohol, we are raising

our consciousness to spiritual

heights and even attaining God-

consciousness. The joy people see

we have in our lives will inspire

them to also want to partake of

that sweet honey within.

When people who see us medi-

tating notice a change in us, they

are also inspired to experience the

same change. They see that medi-

tation makes us calmer and more

bal anc ed. They see tha t we are

able to deal with the challenges of

life in a much more even manner.

They see that even though every-

one goes through the challenges of

financial problems, health prob-

lems, relationship difficulties, andother challenges, we sail through

them much more easily than most

people. This makes people wonder

what secret we hold that helps us

face life’s struggles with more for-

titude.

Finally, when they see how

bli ssf ul and in tox icated we are

without the use of unnatural means

such as drugs and alcohol, they too

want such happiness. Just like the

princess who saw the joy that peo-

pl e ha d when th ey ta st ed th e

sweetness of honey and how they

wanted to share that delicious taste

with others, people will see the joy

we experience from meditationand they will want to enjoy that as

well.

I am reminded of a verse by

Sant Darshan Singh Ji Maharaj

which says:

Who has said that you must

drink in secret?

This is divine Wine that you

must share with others.

While drinking this Nectar, for-

get the sor rows of lif e and the

pains of the world.

And hum songs of beauty and

love.

We can appreciate what a bless-

ing it is to have a Master and to

receive the spiritual teachings

from him. This is a valuable gift

that actually is sent to us by God

through the Masters. God wants

each of us to have the gift. If we

are lucky enough to receive such agift from a Master, we should

treasure it and put it to use. We

should make the best use of the

gift by spending time in medita-

tion. Let us enjoy the divine honeyof the Light and Sound within. Let

us then travel on the divine nectar

back to the Lord.

Concluding part of the discourse 'Sharing the divine honey'

Meditation makes us calmer, more balanced

Jumping to Conclusions The Art of Meditation

By Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj

When people see that we are happyand blissful without drugs and alcohol,

they ask us how we can feel so good. We

can then explain that meditation gives us

a natural state of intoxication. We can

explain how the sweet nectar of the

divine Wine within provides more intox-

ication than any intoxication which

outer drugs and alcohol can give us.

30 November 9-15, 2013 TheSouthAsianTimes.info SPIRITUAL AWARENESS

”

”

We often fall into the habit of mis-

judging others. We can be quick tocriticize or pass judgment without

knowing the background of a person’s life or

situation. It is remarkable how wrong

we can be.

When we do not know why people act as

they do, we jump to conclusions. Someone

might even be trying to help us or make

things better, yet instead of taking the time to

ask why something is being done, we berate

them.

As we go about our work, we need to think

twice before we criticize or pass judgment on

someone. When we don’t know the whole

story—the motives or reasons a person has

for doing something—it is better to take a

few minutes to stop and ask about it. Many

times, we will find that the person is trying to

do something helpful. We can be so wrapped

up in our own lives that we do not take the

time to find out more.

When a person criticizes someone, others

tend to jump on the bandwagon to join in.

Yet they do not know the situation either, and

soon many are spreading false information.It is better to resolve a problem right away,

learn the situation, and fix it before it esca-

lates into something bigger and worse than

what it started out to be.

We need to refrain from judging others. If

we get caught up in doing this, then we have

filled our minds with thoughts that are not

true and that take us away from our own

inner peace. Whatever we do comes back to

us, so we risk reaping the fruits of our

thoughts, words, and deeds, whether positive

or negative. When we criticize others, we are

bound to get the fruit of our actions, for we

have hurt them by our words.

To keep peace of mind in our daily life and

to meditate with a calm mind, it is beneficial

to develop the habit of not jumping to con-

clusions lest we misjudge others. Instead, let

us be loving and caring and find out what the

person’s real story is. This will contribute to

our own inner peace and spread out to our

environment and the world.

The art of meditation is

based on the fact thatwe are not the body,

but the soul that inhabits the

body. Medical research on

near death experiences

shows that people who have

be en de cl ar ed cl in ic al ly

dead, but were revived, shared common

experiences. After the moment of their clini-

cal death they found themselves traveling

through an inner tunnel to a region of light

and love. They were met at the end of the

tunnel by a benevolent, radiant being. They

described the bliss they felt in the presence

of that light, and they all talked about their

reluctance to leave that joy, that bliss, to

return to their physical body. This experience

has been common to those who passed

through the gates of death, whether they

were adults or children, whether they

belonged to one religion or another.

Some of the adults identified the light with

the religious figure prominent in their faith.

The latest book on this sub-

ject describes the near

deathexperiences of children. The

young people interviewed in

the book did not associate

the light with any particular

person. Because the children

had not yet associated spiri-

tual experiences with any particular religious

beliefs, they did not associate the loving light

with a particular personality. This mounting

evidence, uncovered by doctors and scien-

tists, that there is another dimension of exis-

tence, has become more and more accepted

by our society.

We do not have to wait for a physical

calamity to have a near death experience.

Through the process of meditation we can

learn an easy, simple, and safe method of

separating our soul from the body and travel-

ing to other dimensions. By using a method

to concentrate our attention at a particular

point, our soul can transcend our body and

enter regions of bliss.



November 9-15, 2013TheSouthAsianTimes.info

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