India Herald 120314

India HeraldVOL 20 NO. 49 • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2014 • P.O. BOX 623 • SUGAR LAND, TX 77487 • PERIODICAL PERMIT USPS 017-699 25 C

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By Dr Venugopal MenonThe several temples and organizations of Houston under the banner

of the Hindus of Greater Houston donated about 2000 pounds of food and $8000 in cash to the Houston Food Bank, thus collectively joining hands and showing a combined presence of Hindus in the city. Arya Samaj took the leadership as they have done during the past several years by gathering the major share of the contribution.

Sri Meenakshi Temple, Mahatma Gandhi Library, JVB Preksha Meditation Center, VPSS, Chinmaya Mission and Ashtalakshmi tem-ple were the other main participants.

Each organization requested its members to donate, kept boxes for them to drop off food items and offer monetary contributions. The col-lected food and cash were delivered through Arya Samaj or directly to the Food Bank.

Anshuman Desai was the coor-dinator, who organized the details of operation and guided the vari-ous units through their respective volunteers. It was decided that instead of acting separately, the Hindus of Houston should orga-nize the efforts and help the noble cause as a unifi ed body.

And there is no better time to feed the hungry and help the needy than Diwali. With more en-hanced and organized efforts we can gradually and substantially improve our contributions in the coming years. It is important that Hindus stay organized and be rec-ognized as one group for our belief and the profound principles that we believe in. As the third largest practiced faith group, such efforts will help establish our presence in the community and bring in more awareness and understanding of us.

Diwali Food Bank Drive: Collective effort by the Hindus of Greater Houston

Children at JVB Preksha Meditation Center help pack food items.

By Patrick HarriganWASHINGTON DC: A delegation of top Yezidi spiritual and po-

litical leaders visited Washington DC October 24-31 seeking support for their threatened minority and sacred sites in northern Iraq that are currently surrounded by ISIS fi ghters, who aim to ‘cleanse the Islamic State’ of any trace of the ‘pagan’ ancient religious minority who wor-ship Melek Ta’us, the ‘Peacock Angel’.

In a deeply symbolic act, the Baba Sheikh, spiritual leader of the Yez-

The Baba Sheikh, spiritual leader of the ancient Yezidi religious commu-nity of northern Iraq, at the Murugan Temple of North America on October 29, during the climax of Skanda Sashti when Skanda vanquishes demonic forces threatening humanity. Skanda Murugan is the Hindu god of war.

Yezidis, Hindus make common cause under ‘Peacock Angel’

See 0

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WASHINGTON: A key Con-gressional committee has con-fi rmed the nomination of an Indi-an-American counsel to the key post of US district court judge for Washington, DC.

India-born Amit Privardhan Mehta had been nominated to the post by President Barack Obama in August. His nomination was confi rmed on Friday, Nov 21, by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

A graduate of Georgetown Uni-versity and University of Virginia School of Law, Mehta is currently a partner in the law fi rm Zucker-man Spaeder LLP, where he has been recognized for his exempla-ry work by several legal publica-tions, including Super Lawyers, The National Law Journal and Benchmark Litigation.

“I will work hard to get Amit Mehta confi rmed as district court judge during the lame-duck ses-sion,” Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton said in a state-ment after Mehta was confi rmed by the committee.

“Given Amit Mehta’s ex-ceptional qualifi cations, only the clock can stop us now,” she added.

Mehta would become the fi rst Asian-Pacifi c-American to serve as a federal district court judge in Washington, DC if his nomina-tion is confi rmed by the US Sen-ate.

President Obama had nominat-

the Senate to act quickly to con-fi rm Amit,” Gabbard said.

Mehta currently is a partner at the offi ce of Zuckerman Spader, a Washington DC-based fi rm, where he represents clients in civil and criminal matters before state and federal courts. He rejoined the fi rm as counsel in 2007, after

serving as a staff attorney for the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia from 2002 to 2007.

Mehta worked as an associ-ate at Zuckerman Spaeder LLP from 1999 to 2002, as a law clerk for Judge Susan P. Graber of the United States Court of Appeals

ed Mehta, to the key post in Au-gust. Announcing Mehta’s nomi-nations along with other judiciary posts, Obama said, “I am pleased to nominate these distinguished individuals to serve on the United States District Court bench.”

“I am confi dent they will serve the American people with integ-rity and a steadfast commitment to justice,” he added.

Congresswoman Tulsi Gab-bard, in a statement, applauded the nomination of Amit Mehta to serve on the US District Court for the District of Columbia.

“I congratulate Amit Mehta on his nomination to the US District Court for the District of Colum-bia, a privilege only our best and brightest earn,” said Gabbard. “Amit has led a distinguished legal career and brings success-ful trial and litigation experience. His diverse perspective will be welcome on the court, and I urge

for the Ninth Circuit from 1998 to 1999, and as an associate at Latham & Watkins LLP from 1997 to 1998. He received his JD in 1997 from the University of Virginia School of Law and his B A in 1993 from George-town University.

House panel okays Mehta for US District Court judge


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THE LIGHTER SIDE

TOPIC OF THE WEEKVOICESBoundary Accord with Dhaka

After three years of intransigence on the land boundary agreement(LBA) with Bangladesh, the BJP has executed a welcome u-turn.During UPA 2, it had resisted the constitutional amendment required toratify the LBA signed in 2011, taking a nationalistic hard line on the lossof territory the deal seemed to imply. If passed, the LBA wouldrationalise the international enclaves that dot the Indo-Bangladesh bor-der, and which are territorial anomalies inherited from Partition. Asthings stand, the enclaves are pockets of land trapped in alien territorythat the state cannot reach. For the approximately 51,000 people wholive there, the LBA could bring the basic rights and securities of citi-zenship. Ratifying the deal would also mean keeping faith with aneighbour who is turning into a valuable ally — India’s failure to deliveron the LBA and the Teesta water-sharing pact have turned into anembarrassing stumbling block in ties with Bangladesh.

Yet, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s stated reasons for pressingforward with the land swap seem to replace one form of hardlineposturing with another. Rationalising the border would not only ensuresecurity in Assam, Modi said in Guwahati on Sunday, but it would alsokeep out “illegal immigrants” from Bangladesh.

Waves of Bangladeshi migrants have settled in West Bengal andthe Northeast over the decades, seeking refuge from war, religiouspersecution or poverty. As pressures on land and economic resourcesgrew, so did simmering tensions in the region, occasionally erupting inviolence. In this terrain of violence and suspicion, the BJP’s own dis-course on Bangladeshi migrants has been far from responsible. In therun-up to the Lok Sabha elections, Modi drew a distinction betweenHindu and Muslim migrants, reinforcing a communal hue in an alreadyfraught issue.

The BJP has also participated in the popular spectre-making aroundMuslim migrants from across the border — that they are terrorists andsmugglers, that their presence threatens the very cultural fabric of theregion. Speaking at a rally in Kolkata on Sunday, BJP president AmitShah drew a sinister arc of collusion, linking the funds funnelled awayin the Saradha scam, the Trinamool Congress, the Burdwan blasts andterror outfits in Bangladesh. The problem, said Shah, stemmed fromthe Mamata Banerjee government’s protection of “illegal immigrants”.

The BJP betrays an inability to comprehend the complex historicalroots of a long-running migration. Modi might have made a successfullocal pitch for an international deal, but across the border, Bangladeshis listening. Will it take kindly to Bangladeshis being the bogey thatdrives the land swap deal? — Indian Express

Rohtak BraveheartsThe sheer everydayness of sexual harassment in public transport

can lend it a grotesque normativity. Women are expected to just take iten route to work or education or healthcare – as if silence was the costthey were paying for these strides. But last week two braveheartsisters broke the silence, powerfully.

To the men passing obscene remarks and making lewd gestures atthem in a Rohtak bus, college students Arti and Pooja said enough isenough. The molesters have been arrested.

A mobile phone video of the episode has gone viral. Haryana gov-ernment has announced awards for the sisters. Their father feels proudand hopes other girls will follow in his daughters’ footsteps – breakingthe silence.

To appreciate the radical quality of this contestation, consider whyNikita and her friend Madhu committed suicide in the same place justa few months back – the everyday journey to and fro their Rohtakcoaching institute had turned nightmarish because of sexual harass-ment. They were good students, wanted to go to a good college, evendreamt of working in the US. Their suicide note spoke of fear andshame, because “people” said they were “encouraging” their perse-cutors.

Or consider the man who slapped Gauhar Khan this Sunday on theMumbai sets of a reality show, denouncing her dress as somehow atodds with being a Muslim.

A sense of male entitlement, sometimes to grope and sometimes toexecute moral policing, has silenced many women for many years.But the Rohtak bravehearts are just two of many who are now saying,enough is enough. They will speak up and act out. They will insist onthe right to go to work or movies or malls or schools – without beingsexually harassed. — The Times of India

By Amarnath Tewary

In May, when Bihar Chief Min-ister Nitish Kumar handpicked oneof his cabinet colleagues JitanRam Manjhi from the Maha Dalitcommunity to succeed him, he didnot realise that his “masterstroke”would soon prove to be a politicaldisaster for his party and a night-mare for him.

Little did Kumar know thatManjhi would become a politicalliability and a calculated game planwould go horribly wrong.

On becoming the third DalitChief Minister of the State afterBhola Paswan Shastri and RamSundar Das, Manjhi realised hissocio-political strength and refusedto become a remote-controlled orpuppet Chief Minister of his pre-decessor, as many had believedhe would be.

Instead, he began nursing hisown constituency in Bihar’s caste-ridden political firmament. Manjhimade headlines with controversialstatements and slowly nudgedKumar into the inside pages ofnewspapers.

Acknowledging the fact that hewas not elected but was madeChief Minister, Manjhi keenly ob-served the nuances of governancefor a month, but started acting onhis own thereafter.

He also knew that he had beenanointed as a stop-gap Chief Min-ister only for a limited period oftime as Kumar was re-elected asthe leader of the Janata Dal(United) Legislature Party.

Under Kumar, the party willcontest the State Assembly elec-tions due in October or Novem-ber next year.

In the game of political peek-a-boo, Manjhi also realised that bymaking him his successor, Kumarhas, in fact, been making steadymoves to seize the Dalit vote bank(16 per cent of the electorate)which, with the support of votesfrom the Extremely BackwardCaste (who comprise 30 per centof the electorate), will most likelymake him politically invincible,despite the Bharatiya JanataParty’s surge in the State.

It was a deft move by Kumarto carve out a political space forhimself in the changing politicalscenario of the State.

But being a seasoned politicianwho began his political career withthe Congress party, moving laterto the Rashtriya Janata Dal andthen the JD(U), Manjhi knew howto nurse his political ambitions.

He knew that to remain rel-evant he would have to carve outhis own place.

This is where the real night-mare began to unfold for Kumarand his party — when the ChiefMinister began shooting a barrageof controversial statements.

However, though the ChiefMinister’s statements have beenembarrassing for the party, theyhave managed to strike a chordwith the Dalit community. It alsoappears as though Manjhi hasbeen making these statements toprevent leaders such as Kumarand Lok Janshakti Party chiefRam Vilas Paswan from carryingthe tag of Dalit leaders.

“With some struggle I’ve be-come the Chief Minister of theState. Who knows, one day I maybecome the Prime Minister,” hedeclared at a function. He alsostated on his home turf in Gayathat the next Chief Minister of theState must come from his area.

But Manjhi has also become aman of many gaffes. He said hewould “chop off the hands of doc-tors if they neglected treatmentof the poor,” stated that he paid abribe to bring down the power bill,said upper caste people are for-eigners, said “Maha Dalits are notable to look after their childrenproperly or improve their lifestyle,”and that if they “have to drink al-cohol, [they] should take a little ofit in the form of medicine.”

His statement on upper casteswas met with scathing criticismfrom upper caste MLAs whocalled the Chief Minister “men-tally unstable.”

However, as political observerProfessor N.K. Chaudhury said,all these were ways of “humiliat-ing” the Chief Minister and forc-ing him to resign on his own. But,as he pointed out, Manjhi movedon while setting his eyes fixed onhis constituency.

And to defy opinion that he is a“rubber stamp Chief Minister,”Manjhi took some tough adminis-trative decisions.

He overhauled the top bureau-cracy of Patna district after theDussehra festival stampede andpunished erring doctors whilepromising to hit hard on thoseslacking in their duties.

But all these measures setalarm bells for Kumar who wasready to embark on his 17-day

Sampark Yatra, a party cadre con-tact tour.

Kumar reportedly sent an SOSto party President Sharad Yadavand some other senior party lead-ers to rein in Manjhi.

Has Manjhi now become a po-litical compulsion and liability forKumar, at least till the Assemblypolls next year?

The answer is yes. The ChiefMinister knows that Kumar can-not take a shot at him unless hetakes RJD president Lalu Prasadinto confidence. And for the be-leaguered Prasad, no one is bettersuited as Chief Minister thanManjhi.

Second, Manjhi also knows thatby removing him, Kumar wouldlose Dalit votes and there wouldbe a conspicuous rift betweenlower and backward castes andupper caste leaders within theparty.

Third, Kumar also doesn’t haveany other candidate to replaceManjhi. There are many aspirantsfor the post and they come fromdifferent castes but any replace-ment would trigger an instant re-bellion among the party legislators— something Kumar can hardlyafford at this juncture.

And above all, the oppositionBJP which has been watchinghawk-eyed all the developmentscould also turn Manjhi’s replace-ment into an election issue.

Manjhi has definitely become apolitical problem for Kumar.

How long will this last? Nobodyknows for politics is always a gameof possibilities. But the situation isnot doing Kumar or his party anygood. — The Hindu

Nitish Kumar’s masterstroke or major blunder?

Chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi (left) with JDU supremo Nitish Kumar


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WASHINGTON: Indian-ori-gin American surgeon and author,Atul Gawande as well as histo-rian Ramachandra Guha areamong five authors with an Indianconnection who figure in the NewYork Times Book Review's list of100 Notable Books of 2014.

Boston-based Gawande's "Be-ing Mortal: Medicine and WhatMatters in the End" which ques-tions the role of modern medicineis listed number two among thenon-ficion books.

"It is a meditation on living bet-ter with age-related frailty, seriousillness and approaching death,"says the newspaper.

The book, reported to have beenpicked up by US PresidentBarack Obama during his Thanks-giving shopping recently, also fig-ures in Washington Post's top 10books of 2014.

Historian and authorRamachandra's "Gandhi beforeIndia" also finds mention in theNYT book list, which was releasedtoday.

"It was as a young lawyer inSouth Africa that Gandhi forgedthe philosophy and strategies laterput to such effect in India," saysthe Times.

Delhi-born Akhil Sharma'ssemi-autobiographical novel"Family Life", which the Timesdescribes as "deeply unnervingand tender at the core" finds placein the Fiction & Poetry section.

The novel, describes the news-paper, "charts a young man'sstruggles to grow within a familyshattered by tragedy and disori-

ented by its move from India."Indian-American writer

Vikram Chandra, a recipient of the1996 Commonwealth Writers'Prize book "Geek Sublime: TheBeauty of Code, the Code ofBeauty" is included in the list.

"With great subtlety and depth,Chandra, who is both a novelistand a programmer, traces the con-nections between art and technol-ogy," describes the Times.

"No Good Men Among TheLiving: America, the Taliban, andthe War Through Afghan Eyes"by Anand Gopal, writer and jour-

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nalist who has reported on theMiddle East and South Asia fig-ures in the NYT list.

The book is "a devastating lookat how we got Afghanistanwrong."

Another book in the list "TheTrue American: Murder andMercy in Texas" is by Americanauthor and columnist AnandGiridharadas.

"Competing visions of theAmerican dream collide in thisaccount of a post-9/11 hate crimeand its unlikely reverberations,"says the newspaper.

Dr Atul Gawande Anand Giridhardas


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During the last 2 weeks nearlyall media in India and some in UScarried the news of the arrest ofthe self-Styled godman Rampal ofSatlok Ashram in Haryana. Hereis a sampling of some of the Head-lines that I came across:

• Operation to arrest godmanRampal cost over Rs. 26 crore.

• Godman’ Rampal’s lavishlifestyle inside Satlok ashram.

• Haryana and Punjab HighCourt sent godman Rampal in ju-dicial custody till November 28.

• ‘Godman’ Rampal arrested,15,000 followers freed, 492 heldfor violence.

• Special Investigating Teamseizes arms, ammunition fromRampal’s ashram

• Pregnancy kit, petrol bombsin Rampal ashram.

63-year-old Rampal, 63, wasarrested on November 19 after atwo-week tense standoff betweenhis supporters and the police.

One newspaper commentedthat “godmen do extraordinarilywell in our country than in mostothers, and that is where thepuzzle lies. Is our society morevulnerable?” It is hardly surpris-ing then that some of the godmenbehave like magicians and theirfollowers like that. Many follow-ers who visit them are miracleseekers. People everywhere areprone to mystics, but what makesour godmen seem so powerful isthat our politicians use them asbaits to catch votes.

India’s godman syndromeModern gurus gain mass fol-

lowing through technologies suchas the Internet, satellite televisionand social media... Rampal, acharismatic orator started out withan anti-Arya Samaj treatise andthen added on miracle powers towoo the gullible. Like othergodmen, he was flush with fundstoo.

Like Satlok Asharm of Rampal,there are nearly 100 deras(ashrams, cults) that dot ruralHaryana and Punjab. The deraleaders hold their supporters inthrall, mostly confine them to for-tified ashrams and like most cultshave deviant sexual practices (in-cest, polygamy, orgies), miraclesand a religious mumbo-jumbowhich is often a variation of knownreligious texts. These half-bakedphilosophies are then sold to thegullible. In all such deras, the mag-netism and healing powers of theleader are basic to its success. Butviolence is a cult characteristic.Every deviant cult leader displaysa streak of violence. Rampal is noexception. He had an army ofhighly-trained commandos at hisbeck and call. And he used themto the hilt when the police laid hisashram under siege. The “com-mandos” used bullets, stones, acidand petrol to send the police scur-rying. Over a 100 policemen wereinjured.

In every country and societythere are always many suchpeople like TV Evangelists in US,Jim Jones of Jonestown Campcassacre in 1978 in Guyana

comesto mind; and recently in thenews Asaram, Nithyanand, RamRahim of Sachcha Sauda and somany more. Some of the godmenown a vast empire of lavishly fur-nished ashrams, thousands of fol-lowers, bullet-proof enclosuresand a large contingent of armedcommandos to protect them.

With the ever increasing afflu-ence of people in India, the num-ber and the pomp and show ofgodmen too is significantly increas-ing not just in direct proportion butmay be in geometric proportiontoo.

It is not that people are gullibleonly in India. The aura and attackof some of the godmen from In-dia has reached here in US too.Last year I was told that one suchgodman, with his oratory and cha-risma charmed one person in theUS who wrote a check of $1 mil-lion after listening to the godmanjust for 20 minutes. Later, the do-nor found out that the godman wasabsolutely a fraud and fake andsued him. This victim donor him-self told me the story of how hewas mesmerized and fooled by thefast talking godman.

In another case this year, theformer leader of the now defunctHindu Temple of Georgia, SwamijiSri Selvam Siddhar, was sent toprison after a jury convicted himof defrauding his followers. Hecharged his followers fees in ex-change for spiritual and relatedservices, but then would run-upunapproved charges, on theircredit cards. “The money he madethrough fraudulent charges wasused to finance his and his family’s

lifestyle, which prosecutors saidincluded luxury vehicles, control ofmultiple homes and foreign bankaccounts in India. Swami ji onceowned a million-dollar home inSugarloaf Country Club in Duluth,GA.

While it is not entirely possibleto completely wipe out fraud anddeception by so called godmen, itis a fact that as long as greed, adesire to get something for noth-ing, the increasing affluence of thepeople coupled with the effectiveuse and power of the media,internet and social sites like

Facebook, this disease and men-ace will spread even more.

Prime Minister NarendraModi’s Govt. has started a cam-paign of Swachchh Bharat by2019. These self-styled godmenand their exploitation are a filthand disease too. I hope by 2019 ,when India will celebrate 150thbirth anniversary of MahatmaGandhi Ji, India will be cleaned tosome extent of this filth and dis-ease in the society as well. Letus all be vigilant, rational and doour best in this regard.

Vanita Gupta to lead Ferguson probeWASHINGTON: Indian-American lawyer and civil rights activist

Vanita Gupta is leading a Federal probe into the events in Ferguson,Missouri, in which a Grand Jury chose not to indict a white policeofficer who shot dead an unarmed black teenager.

The Obama administration last month appointed Vanita Gupta tohead the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, which is continu-ing its probe even after the Grand Jury decision.

Gupta was also previously associated with the National Associationfor the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which is nowleading the agitation to bring justice to the family of Michael Brown,the slain teenager. Gupta, who was born in Philadelphia, has a sterlingtrack record of civil rights activism in support of colored people, par-ticularly their high rate of incarceration. When she was barely into hermid-20s and just couple years out of law school (NYU), she repre-sented 46 African-Americans who had been convicted by an all-whitejury in Texas in 2003 on drug dealing charges.

In that unheralded case from Tulia, a small desert town in WestTexas, the young Indian-American lawyer won their release after show-ing that the undercover white agent who filed the charges was, to putit bluntly, a delinquent racist.

The prosecution was forced to admit it had made a terrible mistake,and the 46 accused were not only released after four years of incar-ceration, but Gupta also won them a $5 million settlement by whichtime the case was being reported nationwide. She celebrated her winby putting up a sticker on her door from the town's chamber of com-merce that read, "Hallelujah, I'm from Tulia."


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By Riju Agrawal

Many young Indian-Americanswant absolutely nothing to do withIndia. We are not so naïve as tostill consider it a land of snake-charmers and swamis, but ourunderstanding is tainted by child-hood memories of mosquitoes,blackouts, and food poisoning.Every challenge that India facesis another reason to stay on theother side of the globe.

We decry the lack of air condi-tioning, western toilets, and ourfavorite fast food chains. Wespeak not of emigrating from In-dia, but of “escaping”.

We are not enamored with ev-erything India has, but frustratedwith everything it lacks.

Safely ensconced in our West-ern bubbles, we carefully curateour exposure so that India touchesour lives only through Bollywood,Chicken Tikka Masala, and theI.T. helpdesk in our offices (whichis too often a target for ridicule).

After all, India’s problems aresomebody else’s problems. On theother hand, some of us are tooquick to see India through the lensof a young consultant.

With our newly minted collegedegrees and “analytical skills”, wesee it as a case to be cracked, aproblem to be solved.

We see a rapidly growing mar-ket and an increasingly- demand-ing consumer base, and we canrattle off statistics about its GDPgrowth, inflation, urbanization, anddemographic dividend.

We use grants and fellowshipsto visit India for a few weeks, re-turn with a superficial understand-ing of its social, political, and eco-nomic fabric, and pitch solutionsin social entrepreneurship compe-titions.

And as a result of all this, ourgoal is too often to imposechange. Our inclination is to be thebenefactor who knows better andcan fix it all.

But neither view is complete,and both views are insulting to ourIndian brethren. As an Indian-American, the first view is all tooeasy to adopt.

Surrounded by the conve-niences of life in a developedcountry, embarrassed by the newsof rapes, riots, and corruption, wecompartmentalize and forget.

India becomes a part of ourlives that used to be, but no longeris, unless we want it to be.

The second view, as a modernmanifestation of imperialism, ishardly less insulting. India is nolonger plagued by the British, butby the omniscient and newly- re-turned NRI who is so eager toshare his enlightened ways withhis family and friends.

Every sentence starts with “InAmerica, we…”

Relatives have no choice butto indulge our pedantic ways untilsomebody has the sense to pushus off our pedestals. With thisrealization, I admit that I havefallen victim to both views.

Even though I spent threemonths in India during every sum-mer break, it was in the coddledcare of my grandparents. I wasthe privileged child whose

glimpses of India were often lim-ited to those through the windowof an air-conditioned car.

Excursions into the “realworld” were protected via chap-erones in the form of Indian friendsor the family’s chauffeur, and con-tinuous purchases of “Bisleri”bottled water. That which couldnot be controlled – power outages,mosquitoes, and illness – I expe-rienced (complaining and cryingexcessively), and quickly forgotafter returning to America.

And now, with my college edu-cation and newfound wisdom, Ihave maybe grown out of the firstview, only to fall victim to the sec-ond: maybe I can help “solve” In-dia. It would not be fair to serveboth views with an equal dose ofcriticism.

The first view of India is es-capist and results in self-servingdetachment, and is often accom-panied by the sentiment that “In-

dia is the way it is, and it will neverchange.”

The second view, on the otherhand, can be a catalyst for action.NRIs have contributed to India’sgrowth in myriad ways. We haveindeed started businesses and non-profits that have helped our In-dian compatriots.

Remittances by NRIs ex-ceeded $70 billion in 2013, morethan remittances to any othercountry.

However, both views are a re-sult of looking at India from theoutside-in, and an incomplete un-derstanding of its ways. Heavy-handed and generalized criticismof India ignores the progress thathas been made in the last coupleof decades and the contributionsof those who have enabledchange in the face of the mostchallenging odds.

Similarly, the imposition of so-lutions from abroad ignores the

vibrancy of India’s enduring de-mocracy, the resilience of itshomegrown entrepreneurs, andthe resourcefulness of its engi-neers. We can no longer assumethat “videshi” is better than“swadeshi”.

It is important for us to remem-ber that what works in the Westmay not necessarily work in In-dia. Half-baked solutions imposedby those with even the noblest ofintentions will result in half-bakedresults. This is not to say that weshould stop seeking solutions andstriving for change where changeis needed.

Rather, as ambassadors of ourhomeland and leaders in ouradopted lands, we are uniquelypositioned to understand the inter-section between India and the restof the world.

Therefore, our challenge is totruly understand both, without be-ing dismissive or imperialistic, and

develop solutions that build uponthe strengths of both. Only thenwill we be able to contribute toIndia’s progress.

Riju graduated summa cumlaude from Harvard Universityin 2013. He was co-founderand co- president of theHarvard Global Energy Initia-tive and co-founder of theHarvard U.S.-India Initiative.

His previous experiences in-clude an internship at the WhiteHouse, where he worked on en-ergy and climate change policy,and multiple internships with oil& gas engineering firms.

At Harvard he was a three-time John Harvard Scholar andwas elected Phi Beta Kappa.

Understanding India: Armchair analysis often misses the mark


COMMUNITY CALENDAR

or call for info.(713) 665-4665

Chandra & David Courtney Tabla and Vocal

Classes in Houston,Mission Bend,& Sugar Land

Visit www.chandrakantha.com

Classesnow ongoing

COMMUNITY CALENDARExpress Children’s

Theatre - LittleScrooge

An adolescent boy strikes it richby inventing a popular phone appbut loses sight of what really mat-ters in life. Based on the Dickensclassic. Showing Saturdays at2 p.m. on November 29 andDecember 6, 13, 20, 2014 atExpress Children's Theatre atNorthwest Mall. To reserve a pri-vate weekday performance at thetheater for your group (30 personsminimum) call 713-682-5044.

Vishwa Shanti YagnaDec 6, sat @ 9 a.m.On the occasion of Pratishtha

Divas Houston Durgabari Soci-ety will hold Vishwa Shanti MahaYagna under the guidance ofHDBS head priest Dr.Bishnupada Goswami. Event in-cludes puja, lunch, cultural pro-gram. At 13944 Schiller Road.Limited seating available. Call DrGoswami 832-367-6646 orNirmalya Roy 832-971-8659.

Lecture by RajivMalhotra

Sat., Dec 13; 4 to 7 p.m.Lecture by Rajiv Malhotra on

Western dichotomy towardsDharma: Appropriate and as-similate, reject and vilify. Also adebate on Hindu-Christian Inter-face between Rajiv Malhotra and

in two sessions between 8:35 a.m.- 10:15 a.m. and 11:20 a.m. -1p.m. Bala Vihar students cantake shloka, bhajan and orchestraclasses or language classes forHindi, Telugu, Marathi, andGujarati. Located at ChinmayaPrabha, 10353 Synott Road, SugarLand, TX 77498. New membersmay visit the welcome desk be-tween 8 a.m. - 8:45 a.m. or 10:15a.m.-11:30 a.m. Visit www.chinmayahouston.org or call BharatiSutaria 281.933.0233.

Vedanta SocietyVedanta Society of Greater

Houston, 14809 Lindita Drive(77083) has classes every Sundayfrom 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. onGospel of Sri Ramakrishna, 1st &3rd Sunday; Bhagavad Gita, 2ndSunday; on works of SwamiVivekananda, 4th Sunday; HolyMother Sarada’s Gospel, 5th Sun-day. Swamis of Ramakrishna Or-der visit to conduct retreats andtalks. www.houstonvedanta.orgor 281-584-0488.

Durga Bari TempleDurga Bari temple is open from

9 to 11 a.m. and 4 to 7 p.m. Mon.thru Sat. Sandhya aarti at 6:30p.m. Temple closes at 7 p.m. Sun-day special from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.Puja services - Priest BishnupadaGoswami 281-597-8100 Temple islocated at 13944 Schiller Rd (offHwy 6 bet. Bellaire & Westpark).Call Ganesh Mandal at 713-797-9057 / 832-423-8541.

Telugu FellowshipTelugu Christian Fellowship

meets every third Saturday of themonth at Triumph Church, 10555W. Airport Blvd., Stafford TX77477 at 6:30 p.m. Join us for atime of praise, worship and fellow-ship. Worship is in English. CallChris Gantela 281-344-0707, orRev. V. Gurrala 281-997-0757.

‘The Universe Within’Sahaj Marg is a natural and

simple system of heart-centeredmeditation and spiritual practicethat helps one realize the utimatepotential within oneself. The medi-tation is available to anyone whowishes to practice. Weekly medi-tation sessions held throughout theHouston area. Web: www.sahajmarg.org Email: [email protected].

Heritage ClassesAshirwad’s Heritage Classes in

Katy, Cypress and Sugar Land for kids 4 to 18 yrs - meditation, Yoga,slokas, stories from scriptures, Vishnu Sahasranam, bhajans, compe-titions and fun activities. Adult meditation classes. Register atwww.ashirwadablessing.org or Sri Ravula 281-995-0930.

Hare Krishna DhamHouston’s original Vedic temple, ISKCON of Houston. At 1320 W

34th St. (77018). Daily Darshan & Arati Times: 4.30am, 7am, 8.30am,12noon, 4.30pm, 7pm, 9pm. Sunday Festival: 5.30 pm to 7.30 pm.Weekly Gita classes for adults; call 281-433-1635 or [email protected]

Gandhi LibraryMahatma Gandhi Library Book Club: Meets 2nd Sunday of each

month; 12:30 PM at Arya Samaj Greater Houston, 13475 Schiller Rd.Join the discussion of the great man’s autobiography – The Story ofMy Experiments with Truth. Call Manish Wani 713-829-6979.

Saumyakasi SivalayaSri Saumyakasi Sivalaya is located at Chinmaya Prabha, 10353

Synott Road, Sugar Land, TX 77478. Temple timings: Monday to Fri-day: 9:00 AM - 12:00 Noon and 5:00 - 8:00 PM Saturday and Sunday:8:30-2:00 PM and 5:00 - 8:00 PM. Contact Bharti Sutaria 281-568-1690 or Jay Deshmukh 832-541-0059 or visit www.saum yakasi.org.

Veerashaiva SamajaVSNA Houston is a group of families who believe in Veera-shaiva

dharma (Basava dharma). Monthly Mahamane program for prayerand discussion on Vachana Sahitya followed by Prasada. Contact:[email protected] or Jagadeesh Halyal 832-744-4166.

Shiv Shakti MandirSanatan Shiv Shakti Mandir, 6640 Harwin. Open daily 7 a.m. to 8

p.m. All major festivals, as well as birthdays, naam karan, engage-ment and other ceremonies. Call Pandit Virat Mehta 713-278-9099 orHardik Raval 361-243-6539 for puja or other ceremonies.

Houston NamadwaarA prayer house where the Hare Rama Hare Krishna Maha-man-

tra is continuously chanted. Weekends: 8-11 AM & 4-7 PM, Week-days: 7-8 AM & 6-7 PM. Weekly “Gopa Kuteeram” children’s heri-tage classes and Srimad Bhagavatam classes. Call 281-402-6585;visit www.godivinity.org (Global Organization for Divinity).

Mar Thoma ChurchTrinity Mar Thoma Church every Sunday at 5810 Almeda Genoa

Rd. Sunday School at 9:15 a.m. Malayalam service at 9:30 a.m. on1st & 3rd Sunday. Adult Bible class at 9:30 a.m. English service at10:30 a.m. on 2nd & 4th Sunday. Call 713-991-1557 or 281-261-4603.

Sri Guruvayurappan TempleHours: Mon to Fri 6 a.m. -8 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Week-

ends & Holidays: 6 a.m. to noon and 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. BhajansSaturdays 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Sundays 9 a.m. to 1 a.m. Special poojas(weekends and holidays) Choroon (Annaprasam) for kids,Thulabharam, Vahana Pooja, Nirapara. Temple is located at 11620Ormandy St (77035) Tel: 713-729-8994 email: temple@ guruvayur.us

Arsha Vidya BharatiSanskrit classes and special worship sessions for all ages. At 2918

Renoir, Sugar Land (77479).Call 281-606-5607 or [email protected]. Web: https://sites.google.com/site/avbtexas/classes

Preksha MeditationNew facilities of JVB Preksha Meditation Center. Classes for Yoga

and Meditation under guidance by Samani jis and discourses. At 14102Schiller Road (off Hwy 6 bet Bellaire and Westpark - 77082). Tel281-596-9642.

Patanjali YogpeethFree Yoga Classes every Sat/Sun at Arya Samaj from 8 am to 9:30

a.m. Call Anil 281-579-9433. For other free classes, call Indra 281-537-0018. For Yoga/Herbal products, call Shekhar 281-242-5000. Web:www.pyptusa.org and www.DivyaProducts.com.

Sadhu Vaswani CenterSadhu Vaswani Center of Houston holds regular Satsang on 3rd

Thursday of the month and daily Arti at 7.30 p.m. Call 281-463-0379or e.mail [email protected]

Sathya Sai centersSunday program held at two locations (North Houston: 12127

Louetta Rd, Houston; South Houston: 246 Fluor Daniel Dr, Sugarland,TX, 77479) from 3:00 pm to 5:30 pm. Sai Spiritual Education classesfor children; study circle for adults. Service programs - food distribu-tion & food drives; nursing home visits, tutoring at schools etc. Con-tact Sanjay Gupta (North) 832-687-6766 or Sondip Mathur (South)832-215-8675 www.sairegion10.org.

Christian Eberhart. Sponsored byIndian History Research andAwareness of Arsha VidyaSatsanga. At India House, 8888West Bellfort. Admission is free.Q&A followed by refreshments.For info, call Prasad 281-818-7824or Subroto 713-302-2516.

Lecture on YogaSat., Dec 13 @ 5 p.m.Yoga: The Art of Stress-free

Life by Swami Mahesh at ShriRadha Krishna Temple, 11625Beechnut. Swami Mahesh willdiscuss Asana, Pranayama, relax-ation and meditation. All are wel-come.

For further info call temple at281-933-8100 or visitwww.SRKT.Org.

Arya Samaj SatsangWeekly Havan Satsang every

Sunday from 10 a.m. to 12 noon.DAV Sanskriti School Sundays 10a.m. to 12 noon. - Havan, Hindiand Naitik Shiksha classes. DAVMontessori School for ages 2 to 7years. Call Arti Khanna 281-759-3286. Free Yoga classes on Sat.Sanskrit & Upanishad classesTue. 6-8 p.m. At 14375 SchillerRd. (bet Westpark & Bellaire offHwy 6). 281-752-0100.

Chinmaya MissionSunday satsangs for adults,

youth, and children. A unique BalaVihar program for each grade,from PreK to Grade 12. Satsangs

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MUMBAI: Former Chief Min-ister of Maharashtra and a vet-eran Congressman, AbdulRahman Antulay, widely knownas A. R. Antulay, passed away onTuesday morning, Dec 2. He was85. He also served as the UnionMinister for Minority Affairs in theUPA-I government. The funeraltook place at his native Ambet vil-lage in Raigad district.

Antulay was admitted toMumbai’s Breach Candy hospi-tal last month for a severe kidneyailment. He was a heart patient

Former Maharashtra CM Antulay dies

In a rerun ofrecord polling inthe first phase, a71 per cent voterturnout was reg-istered in the sec-ond phase of inci-dent-free Assem-bly elections inJammu andKashmir onTuesday as theelectorate in the

2nd phase of poll in J&K, Jharkhand

18 seats again ignored boycott call by separatist groups. And A total of65.46 per cent votes were cast in 20 of the 81 assembly seats insecond phase of the five-phased state elections today.

Election commission officials said the figure in J&K could go up byone to two per cent once the final tally is available.

Dealing a serious blow to separatist politics, enthusiastic voters stoodin serpentine queues at several polling stations waiting for their turn.

The first phase of the five-phase polls for 15 seats on November 25had witnessed a record 71.28 per cent polling.

“The latest figures that we have for the second phase of polls inJammu and Kashmir is 71 per cent. We expect these numbers to goup by 1-2 per cent further,” Deputy Election Commissioner VinodZutshi told reporters in Delhi.

Zutshi said that during the entire phase today, where 18 assemblyseats in five districts went to polls, “no untoward incident” took placeand the entire event was peaceful. Of the five districts, two were inthe Valley and three in Jammu. While in Jharkhand, the polling alsoconcluded peacefully in all the constituencies, Chief Electoral OfficerP K Jajoria said.

and had also undergone bypasssurgery in the past. Antulay wasa barrister from Lincoln’s Inn,London.

Antulay was the first and onlyMuslim Chief Minister ofMaharashtra from 1980 to 1982.He had to resign following allega-tions of corruption. He was con-victed in an extrotion case by theBombay High Court.

Later, he worked as party MLAand MP, representing the Con-gress in Raigad district. He foughthis last election in 2009, which helost to the Shiv Sena.

After the terror attacks onMumbai in 2008, Antulay stirreda controversy by alleging the handof Hindu fundamentalist groups inthe attacks.

He rebelled against the Con-gress in the 2014 Lok Sabha elec-tion and backed the candidate ofthe Peasants and Workers Party(PWP) because Congress gavethe Raigad constituency to the Na-tionalist Congress Party (NCP).

NIA probe of shadowy cult in ThaneThe National Investigation Agency (NIA) has begun questioning

members of the shadowy Mumbai-based religious cult, Islamic Guid-ance Society, whose members are suspected to have funded and fa-cilitated the travel of four men from the city’s suburbs to fight with theIslamic State (IS) in the Middle East.

The widening investigation comes days after the arrest of Thanestudent turned IS jihadist Areeb Majeed, who returned home withbullet injuries. NIA sources said the agency on Tuesday questionedIGS activists Anil Dolare, Atif Inamdar and Sufian Sheikh, the last alecturer who taught at Anjuman-i-Islam Kalsekar Technical Campus,where Areeb Majeed was a final-year engineering college student.

The NIA’s investigation seeks to determine how Majeed and thethree men he travelled with to Iraq obtained the Rs 60,000 each ofthem paid for their tickets. Majeed, the sources said, has told investi-gators he saved Rs 25,000 for the trip over six months, but has saidnothing on how the group raised the remaining money, which they paidin cash to local tour operator Shaheen Travels.

Majeed, along with Shaheem Tanki, Fahad Sheikh and Aman Tandelflew to Iraq on May 23 as part of a pilgrims’ group. The four men thencaught a taxi to Mosul, travelling through Fallujah.

The IGS, which has an estimated membership of 50-60, has heldregular meetings in and around Mumbai for the past two years. Policesources say the group preaches an end-of-times theology, urging mem-bers to embrace its concept of Islamic orthodoxy in preparation forthe coming apocalypse.

NEW DELHI: More than a1,000 of Delhi’s Christians andtheir supporters blocked the mainaccess to the police headquartersduring rush hour on Tuesdaymorning, Dec 2, demanding actionagainst the alleged culprits behindMonday’s church fire.

The burning of the St SebastianCatholic Church in Dilshad Gar-den on Monday morning hasrattled the city’s Catholic commu-nity, right up to the Archbishop ofDelhi, Anil Couto, who has calledit “arson”.

The police, however, have notconfirmed it as a wilful act and allangles, including a short-circuit,are being probed.

Protesters from Delhi andNCR converged on the policeheadquarters at ITO following amessage spread through mobilephones and community meetingsheld in different parishes on Mon-day. The protest was peaceful.

By 10 a.m., about a 1,000people had completely taken overthe stretch outside the police build-ing. Holding placards, theychanted slogans and sang songs.“Church Burning = Nation Burn-ing” read one placard. “We knowwe are a minority but don’t treat

us like one,” read another.“There has been a spate of at-

tacks on our places of worship andon us in different parts of the coun-try. However, the burning of ourparish’s church is a big blow. Wehad to come out and protest orelse atrocities against us minori-ties is never going to stop,” AyushiMinj, 20, a protester from DilshadGarden, said.

Police kept the gates of itsheadquarters tightly barricadedagainst the protesters. ArchbishopCouto and some high priests wereallowed in to meet police chief B.S. Bassi.

Father Mathew Koyickal,Chancellor (Archdiocese ofDelhi), said, “The fire broke outaround 6 am on Monday, but lo-cal police reached three hourslater. Secondly, police were say-ing it was an accident.

“But the strong stench of kero-sene at the church points to ar-son. Thirdly, the forensics teamsreached the church around 5 pm.This is why we are so angry.”

A delegation led by the DelhiArchbishop met the commissioneron Tuesday. Earlier, the delegationhad forwarded a memorandumlisting a set of demands — includ-

ing a judicial probe into the fire —to the Home Minister and thePrime Minister.

Addressing protesters at ITO ,Dr John Dayal, former nationalpresident of All India CatholicUnion, said, “Police have prom-ised us that they will write to theL-G about notifying the PublicWorks Department for the recon-struction of St Sebastian Church.”

Joint Commissioner of Police(Law and Order) Deepak Mishrasaid, “Police will be keeping extravigil over churches across the city,especially till Christmas.”

Delhi traffic halted by protesters after church fire

Putin to addressParliament

NEW DELHI: Vladimir Putinmay be the reigning bad guy inmuch of the western world, butnext week India will signal to himthat he remains a friend. Comingto India on his annual sojourn,Putin has been invited to addressa joint session of Parliament, anhonour last given to US PresidentBarack Obama in 2010. Cominga month before Obama is sched-uled to travel here as chief guestfor Republic Day, the governmentis keen to give the Putin visit topbilling.

During his first meeting withPutin, Prime Minister NarendraModi had invited him to visitKudankulam in south India, wherea Russia-made nuclear reactor hasfinally gone online. But Putin isunlikely to make that trip. Instead,on his single-day summit here,Putin is planning to pack in a rashof appointments and sign a pre-dictable number of agreementswith India. India will be particu-larly keen to tie up energy andother economic deals with Rus-sia because New Delhi does notwant Moscow to be isolated in theworld so that it is driven to Beijing'ssphere of influence.


COMMUNITY NEWS

idis, visited the Washington tem-ple of the pan-Indian war god Skanda-Murugan on October 29 to witness Soora Samhāram, the ritual conclusion of Skanda Sashti, ‘Skanda’s Six-Day War’ against demonic forces threaten-ing the earth. It was the fi rst time ever that the Yezidi spiritual leadership visited a temple of the peacock-mounted war god of India, whom Yezidis identify with Melek Ta’us, the ‘Peacock Angel’ whom they con-sider to be God’s regent on earth.

In the Yezidi faith, Melek Ta’us is regarded as the foremost among archangels and an emanation of God Himself. Yezidi religion is centered upon Melek Ta’us, who is depicted as a peacock. Pea-cocks, however, are not native to the lands where Melek Ta’us is worshipped, but to the Indian subcontinent.

According to their own oral traditions, Yezidis once lived in India thousands of years ago. Yezidis, moreover, still preserve a system of four castes that do not intermarry.

And they also believe in karma and rebirth, which are core tenets of Hindu Dharma.

According to the Yezidi calen-dar, it is currently the year 6,764. Scholars of religion concede that the Yezidi faith has absorbed and preserved many elements from ancient faiths including Sanatana Dharma, Mithraism, and Zoroas-trianism, as well as the infl uence of Sufi s or Islamic mystics—all targets of hardline ISIS funda-mentalism.

“The Yezidis are a very special religious community because they’re one of the only remaining religions in the Middle East with non-Abrahamic origins,” says Matthew Barber, a scholar at the University of Chicago’s Depart-ment of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations.

“The Yezidi religion has ab-sorbed elements from many reli-gious traditions in the Near East, but within their religious frame-work are preserved some very ancient beliefs that no longer sur-vive in any other religion.

Yazidi-Hindu confl uenceIn a remarkable event that went unnoticed by mainstream Western media, recently two of the world’s most ancient religions--Hinduism and the Yezidi faith of north-ern Iraq--symbolically reunited after several thousand years of sepa-ration. Yezidis have always believed that they came to the Middle East long ago from India.

From Page 1

The reason that ISIS attacks the Yezidi community in this way is because they view them as pagan and polytheistic because they’re outside of the Abrahamic religions that have a written scripture.”

The Baba Sheikh and his en-tourage evinced a keen interest in the Hindu war god’s associations with the peacock. They were as-tonished to see tall standing brass oil lamps surmounted by pea-cocks, identical to the sanjaks or brass peacock lamps that play a central role in one of the most im-portant events of the Yezidi New Year—the ‘Parade of the Sanjaks’ or ‘Parade of the Peacock’.

The war god Skanda Kumara was among North India’s most popular deities during the Classi-cal Age in the fi rst millennium of the Common Era. He remains ex-tremely popular in South India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and worldwide among the Tamil Hindu diaspora where he is known as Murugan, the ‘tender youth’ associated with poetry, love, and war.

The Baba Sheikh blessed Hin-dus who were observing the Skanda Sashti Soora Samhāram at the Washington temple, He re-marked to them that this startling confl uence of Yezidi and Hindu worship was also happening on a Wednesday, which is the Sabbath day of the Yezidis.

The Baba Sheikh urged listen-ers to strive for peace worldwide and not to descend into bigotry and intolerance that are the hall-marks of religious fundamental-ism.

Hindus and Yezidis alike mar-veled at the uncanny convergence of two ancient faiths on Skanda Sashti, and all prayed that their Lord of the Peacock would an-swer the fervent prayers of Yezidis in Iraq and worldwide. — Photos by Patrick Harrigan

Patrick Harrigan is an Ameri-can Indologist specializing since 1972 in the Sri Lankan shrine Kataragama, regarded as sacred by the island’s Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, and indigenous commu-nities.

The sanjak or brass pea-cock lamp plays a central role in Yezidi tradition. The Baba Sheikh and his entourage were aston-ished to see such large sanjaks in the Murugan temple. The Yezidis wit-nessed Soora Samhāram, the ritual conclusion of ‘Skanda’s Six-Day War’, after which gurukkals poured milk libation over Lord Murugan to cool His wrath.

Hindus of Houston volunteers pack and ship food to the Houston Food Bank


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By Smriti AshokFor our third session of the

Youth Leadership Development Program (YLDP) on November 15, we paid a visit to the Light-house for the Blind on the basis of Philanthropy and Charity.

There, we heard Gibson Du-Terroil, President of the Light-house for the Blind, and Sand-hya Rao, a frequent visitor of the organization, speak about the establishment and give in-sight about its purpose and its impact on the community.

DuTerroil gave us a brief summary of the establish-ment’s purpose and goals and showed us around while point-ing out how the building’s fea-tures were designed to help the blind. Sandhya Rao told us her life story; she gave us details about her condition and how she overcame obstacles to be-come the successful law clerk she is today.

My group was very inspired by the two individuals. We were blown away by DuTer-roil’s compassion for these in-dividuals; he felt so eager to help them that he centered his job and lifestyle to help these people.

Rao’s story was also insight-ful as it gave us a perspective that we do not get to see daily.

She told us of her struggles, the discrimination that she felt, and her journey to become the per-son who she is today.

Her story made us learn that everyone has struggles and problems and we should not judge people on appearance since appearances are just the outer aspects of our character.

The two adults taught me as well as my group that compas-sion and understanding are es-sential in order to further one’s development.

Understanding a person’s character and his/her surround-ings are vital for a leader be-cause the leader needs to be able to connect with the people

around him/her. Compassion is crucial as well because a little kindness can go a long way, and being warm and welcom-ing to another helps that in-dividual feel comfortable and grow as well.

YLDP students visit Lighthouse for the Blind

Sandhya Rao

In short, DuTerroil and Rao have taught me that judging people at fi rst glance should be avoided and that understand-ing a person as well as showing them compassion is an impor-tant step in becoming a leader.

YLDP students with Gibson DuTerroil, President of the Lighthouse for the Blind, and Sandhya Rao.

Manoj Rathi receives the Service Man of The Year Award from Govind ji Zamwar at the ‘Rajasthani Roots’ Diwali program of the Maheshwari Ma-hasabha of North America (Southwest) in Houston last month. Active in MMNA along with HSS & other service organizations, Manoj is public rela-tions in-charge for HSS Southwest zone. He has co-ordinated annual Surya Namaskar Yajna for the past four years. Manoj has also volunteered in the annual Janmashthmi celeberation along with MMNA (SW) events etc. The award has been provided by Govind Zamwar, an 82-year-old retired Principal, who was honored by the President of India for best teacher.


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Nritya School of Dance: Annual

Day Recital The Annual Day Recital of the Nritya

School of Dance, Guru Padmini Chari, was a dazzling exposition of the skills of the students and the teaching discipline of the guru.

Starting with the adavus, the basic steps of Bharatanatyam done confi -dently by the beginners, six year olds for the most part, to the older students with more years of training, the perfect sym-metry and precision of the dances was admirable. The younger students per-formed the introductory dances of mal-lari, pushpanjali and alarippu expertly. They went on to depict Krishna’s antics in Madura Nagarilo and Gokula Nilaya and Adinaye Kanna with great charm and vivacity.

The traditional padams on Siva, Anan-da Nadam Aduvar and Swarajathi with an ensemble of 16 students, was fol-lowed by the senior dancers with elabo-rate patterns of movements in Ananda Natana Prakasam and the complex rhythms of Kedaragowlam thillana. The piece de resistance of the evening was the Ardhanareeswara Ashtakam with its composite dance patterns in groups capped by meaningful lyrics and music. This was indeed a tribute to the care and attention to detail insisted upon by Smt Padmini Chari, the guru, besides the sin-cerity and interest of the students.

The brilliant evening concluded with the diffi cult and elaborate Pancha Raga Pancha Priya Thillana with an ensemble of eight students. Altogether 83 students participated in the recital.

Dr.Padmini Ranganathan, Houston community leader and eminent sup-porter of very many non-profi ts in the city, gave away the trophies and the cer-tifi cates to the students of Nritya. She said that she has known Guru Padmini Chari and the Nritya School of Dance for all its 30 years and knew the qual-ity training that students received at the school. She also commended the sup-port that the parents gave their young wards in their pursuit of a great Indian art form. The packed auditorium was an acknowledgment to the tremendous faith and interest of the parents in Nritya and Guru Padmini Chari. The recital was held at the JCC auditorium on No-vember 22, 2014.


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Cast: Adil Hussain, Mona Singh, Mukesh Tiwari. Chandra Prakash Dwivedi

The fi lm begins with a Sufi song featuring an over-enthusiastic Sukh-winder Singh (he really ought to stick to singing) and Hrishitta Bhatt doing Bollywood type folk dance. From then on, it gets better. We’re in Faridabad, and we meet Aslam (Adil Hussain), he of the day-and-night puncture shop. He is harried because of his neighbor, a delusional poet, basking in inherited wealth. Their juvenile fi ghts are often thwarted by their more sensible wives. That they’re both in love with the same woman, a local bangle seller, remains a secret. And that the three stand symbolically for India, Pakistan and Kashmir is a clever trick.

Trouble arrives in the form of the Prime Minister’s visit Faridabad. It’s on the very day of his arrival, that it is Aslam’s turn to be incharge of the local durgah. The PM (Kulbhushan Kharbanda, hilarious) who insists on speaking only in English, tries conversing with Aslam who knows only Hindi. Their conversations are translated by the PM’s trusted aide. But in this mess, the PM mistakes Aslam’s complaint of a threat to his life by his neighbor, as a threat from across the border. You see, a threatening neighbor means only one thing to India’s PM.

He immediately orders Z security for the humble man. Now Aslam arrives home to his gobsmacked wife (Mona Singh, superb) with armed men in tow. They follow him everywhere, even to the open air loo. His trip to the local chai adda becomes a scene. His mistress is furious with him for not meeting her.

Aslam is dazed and requests the security be removed as it was just a misunderstanding. But with the news all over political circles and media, the PM’s assistant asks him to play along.

Aslam is now caught in an impossible web that catapults him into the choppy waters of politics. The fi lm drives home several pertinent points with dollops of humour, the way a satire should. The premise is equal parts tragic and funny.

But the fi lm really picks up in the second half. Sanjay Mishra arrives as a clueless Pakistani terrorist who wants to cash in on Aslam’s contro-versy. Meanwhile Aslam’s bored security folk make themselves com-fortable, calling Aslam’s wife “didi” and helping around in the house. Aslam’s jealous neighbour is now furious. But the fun actually starts when Aslam really faces a life threatening attack. The fi lm takes digs at everyone - politicians, media, even terrorists. There’s plenty that’ll make you laugh.

The fi lm’s atmospherics are breathtaking. You can feel the laidback air of Faridabad - the dusty roads, local buses, small shops contrasting with the unnerving quietness of the politicians’ plush offi ces.

The characters are hugely interesting, especially the supporting roles. Note the too-smooth PM’s assistant or the paanwala aptly named BBC, who loves broadcasting everyone’s private lives. Aslam is a hugely in-teresting character but we are not convinced of his actions at times. For example, his request to remove the security again seems incongruous as he had just started enjoying the perks of his stardom.

We also don’t understand the fi lm’s take on infi delity as all married men in the fi lm seem to want to fl ounder, and that is portrayed as a normal thing, a small mischief.

Actor Adil Hussain, however makes us root for Aslam. He brings in the right amount of humor and pathos to this real, fl awed and likeable character.

The rest of the cast matches step and this is one those rare fi lms where every performance is very good. Dr Chandraprakash Dwivedi (Pinjar) gives us a fi lm that gets it mostly right. With less repetition, this would have been a truly memorable fi lm. Still, it’s worth a watch for the intent, the unique story, powerhouse performances and bits of genuine humor. After all, who doesn’t like a biting parody, even if you wish it were sharper. — Sonia Chopra in Sify.com

Zed Plus: The satire works


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Should thebouncer be bannedfollowing the tragicdeath of PhillipHughes? Or shouldthe number of suchdeliveries be cutdown from a maxi-mum of two to oneper over?

Former Indiaopener AnshumanGaekwad, a bravebatsman, wasstruck a nasty blowon his left ear by aMichael Holdinglifter on a juicySabina Park pitchduring the tour ofthe Caribbean in1976. He spent twodays in ICU, was

Should the bouncer be banned?

The 19-year-oldshuttler P.V. Sindhu, whoretained the MacauGrand Prix Goldwomen’s singles title lastweek-end, feels that formany of the playersfrom outside China,there is some sort of acomfort zone now whenplaying the formidableChinese players.

“Yes, even as thewomen’s singles com-petition continues to betough, it is a fact that theChinese players are no

Sindhu: Chinese can be beaten

Sour Cream Banana BreadIngredients: 1/2 cup margarine or 1/2 cup butter, 1 cup sugar, 2

eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1-1/2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon bakingsoda, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 cup mashed, ripe banana, 1/2 cup choppednuts (optional) 1/2 cup sour cream.

Method: Grease 1 large loaf pan. Cream margarine, sugar, eggsand vanilla. Add dry ingredients, then bananas, nuts and sour cream.Mix well. Bake at 350 F for 1 hour.

Pineapple-Zucchini breadIngredients: 3 eggs, 1 cup oil, 2 cups sugar, 2 teaspoons vanilla, 2

cups shredded zucchini (squeezed dry in paper towel), 8 ounces crushedpineapple (drained), 3 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoonsalt, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1 cup raisins,1 cup chopped nuts (optional).

Method: Beat the eggs, oil, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy.Stir in zucchini and pineapple. Combine dry ingredients and add tobatter. Pour in nuts and raisins and stir. Pour batter into 2 well-greasedloaf pans. Bake at 350°F for 1 hour or until firm. Cool in pan for 10minutes. Freezes beautifully.

Pumpin curry with Lentils and AppleIngredients: 1 cup red lentils, 1 cup brown lentils, 8 cups water, 1/

2 teaspoon turmeric, 1 tablespoon canola oil, 1 large onion, diced; 2tomatoes, cored and chopped; 3 cloves garlic, minced; 1-1/2 table-spoons curry powder, or to taste; 2 teaspoons ground cumin, 1/2 tea-spoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves, 2cups peeled, cubed (1-inch), seeded pumpkin, 2 potatoes, unpeeledand chopped, 2 carrots, peeled and diced; 2 cups packed fresh spin-ach, chopped; 1 Granny Smith apple, unpeeled, cored and diced.

Method: Place the red and brown lentils in a pan with the water andturmeric. Cook over medium-low heat until tender, about 45 minutes.Drain, reserving 2 1/2 cups of the cooking liquid. Meanwhile, heat thecanola oil in a large, deep pot over medium heat. Stir in the onion, andcook until tender and transparent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomatoesand garlic; cook 5 minutes more, stirring occasionally. Mix in the currypowder, cumin, salt, pepper, and cloves. Add the cooked lentils, re-served cooking liquid, pumpkin, potatoes, and carrots. Cover, and cookover medium-low heat until the vegetables are tender, 35 to 45 min-utes. Stir in the spinach and apple. Cook until the pumpkin can beeasily pierced with a fork, about 15 minutes more. Adjust seasoningsto taste.

Note: Be sure to use small sugar pumpkins for this recipe. Hallow-een-type pumpkins ARE stringy. Also, any winter squash such as but-ternut, acorn squash, or buttercup can be substituted for pumpkin.

Roasted Bell Pepper RelishIngredients: 1 red bell pepper, 1 yellow bell pepper, 1 green tomato

or 2 tomatillos, chopped; 1 ripe tomato, chopped; 1 red onion, cut into1/4 inch pieces; 2 tbsp olive oil; 1 tbsp red wine vinegar, fistful ofchopped cilantro, 1/4 tsp salt;

Method: Heat oven to 450F. Prick bell peppers in several placeswith fork. Place on baking sheet or in shallow roasting pan. Roastpeppers 30 minutes or until skin is blackened, turning occasionally.Transfer peppers to paper bag; close bag. Let stand 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine green and red tomatoes and onion in mediumbowl. Stir in oil, vinegar, cilantro, and salt. Remove peppers from bag;peel off and discard skin. Cut peppers into 1/2 inch pieces; discardseeds. Stir into tomato mixture. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour.Yields 3 cups.

more unbeatable. I must say players like the Japanese Akane Yamaguchiand Nozomi Okuhara are really playing well and are potential champi-ons,” says Sindhu in an interaction at the Gopi Chand Badminton Acad-emy on Tuesday.

“The best example is the way Saina and Srikanth have won thetitles in the recent China Open,” she added.

“Why? May be, the training methods and the intensity in prepara-tions have changed for the good. For instance, Gopi Sir is so well-equipped with all sorts of information and strategies that he ensuresthat there is a feel-good thing about the prospect of facing these Chi-nese players. They are always dangerous opponents but the chancesof beating them have certainly increased,” said Sindhu.

“I have no regrets when I look back at the year 2014. It was a verysatisfying one having won the bronze each in the World Champion-ship, the Commonwealth Games and a historic one in the Uber Cupwomen’s team event,” said Sindhu.

“It all boils down to how well you play consistently. This is one areawhere I will be focusing more as I prepare for the next year whichstarts off with the Syed Modi Grand Prix. You can’t play the sameway in every match.

“Sometimes you win from losing situations as it happened to me inthe pre-quarterfinal of the Macau event and sometimes you lose fromwinning positions. Definitely, I will be keen to increase the rate ofwinning henceforth,” added Sindhu, who has just a day’s break beforeflying to Bengaluru for the PSPB Championship.

“Realistically, the first target is to break into the top 10 and stay inthe elite group with improved performances. Yes, there are quite afew areas to work on and I am sure Gopi Sir will be guiding me to bea much better player next time around,” Sindhu said.

operated twice in India since his ear drum was shattered and still hassome hearing problems.

“We did not wear helmet those days, and an inch here or there, Iwould not be talking to you now,” he told The Hindu.

Despite his ‘near-death’ experience, Gaekwad believes bouncersshould remain a part of the game. “That is among the greatest chal-lenges of batting. There is an element of risk involved in every sport.What happened to Hughes was very sad and we all mourn his deathbut we must realise it was a freak accident. Do not limit the bouncersfurther or ban it. Period.”

He added, “Sunil Gavaskar played the quickest of pacemen and thenastiest of bouncers without a helmet and even the skull cap he worelater in his career was little more than an eyewash. It offered himvirtually no protection. It’s a lot about technique, how you cope withthe rising balls.”

Gaekwad elaborated, “There was no limit on bouncers then and we

played that series in the WestIndies without the chest or thearm-guard. And the thigh-guardwas very flimsy. Conquering fearis a vital attribute of sport.

“It’s a lot about technique andsound back-foot play when itcomes to taking on short-pitchedstuff from the quicks. Gavaskarwill tell you that,” he added.

Javagal Srinath, among thequickest bowlers the country hasproduced, said, “Removing thebouncer or limiting it to one perover will create great imbalancein the game. It will be a skewedway of looking at the game.”

He noted, “Come to think of it,there can be no guarantee againstdeath on the field of play. A bats-man can smash a ball straight andit can hit the bowler in the head tokill him. Do you then want allbowlers to be wearing helmets?

“Intimidation is part of apaceman’s strategy, though strat-egy is not just about intimidation.That is the distinction we have tomake. The bouncer does test theguts and technique of a batsman.If you think about it, there is dan-ger in every walk of life. Peoplehave lost their lives after trippingdown the stairs.”

Should the helmet offer greaterprotection to the batsmen? “Thefocus will be on the protective gearafter a moment such as this.

“My heart goes out to Hughesbut then freak injuries, very occa-sionally, do occur in the game.”

Former India allrounder RobinSingh said, “To put an end tobouncers or to curtail it further willcreate great imbalance in game.

“Already the pacemen are suf-fering because of flat tracks, bet-ter bats and shorter boundaries.If you take out the bouncer aswell, everything will be inbatsmen’s favour.” He asked,“Will the Australians themselvesbe in favour of ending thebouncer?

“I am sure they will not. Theybelieve in hard, aggressive cricket.I feel sorry for Hughes but doingaway with bouncers is not the an-swer. There will be less of a con-test between the bat and the ball.”

Should batsmen be compulso-rily be made to wear helmets thatprotect their head and neck com-pletely?

“It should be left to the individualchoice of the batsman. Coveringthe neck fully will make it verydifficult for him to move his head.And there could always be a partthat could be exposed,” said Robin.

While the cricketing world hasbeen shocked by Hughes’s death,the bouncer is here to stay.

New South Wales batsman Phil Hughes died Nov27 after being hit by a bouncer in a Sheffield Shieldmatch in Sydney.

RELIGION/ SPIRITUALITYINDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2014 • PAGE 17

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By Pushpa Chaturvedi

“Last year, I had surgery to remove my gall bladder and I had tostay stuck to the bed for a long time,” a woman wrote. “The sameyear I reached the age of 60 years and had to give up my favorite jobof 30 years of my life in a publishing company. The same year Iexperienced the sorrow of the death of my father. And in the sameyear my son failed in his medical exam because he had a car accidentand was in hospital for long. The destruction of the car was anotherloss. At the end he wrote: Alas! It was such bad year!”

The woman also wrote, “Last year I finally got rid of my gall blad-der with which I had spent years in pain. I turned 60 with sound healthand retired from my job. Now I can utilize my time to write somethingbetter with more focus and peace. The same year my father, at theage of 95, without depending on anyone without any critical illnessmet his Creator. The same year, God blessed my son with a new life.My car was destroyed but my son is alive without any disability. Thisyear was an immense blessing of God and it passed well!”

On reading these notes, her husband cheered up. The same inci-dents the same year but different viewpoints. If we ponder on whatcould have happened worse, we would truly become thankful to God.Setbacks are inherent to every human life but viewing them with op-timism is psychologically and physiologically healthier. So change howyou look at the glass see your glass half full rather then half empty andbe thankful that it is half full.

Positive thinking is not about expecting the best to happen everytime as per your thought and imagination but it is accepting whatever happens and what you have got at that moment is the best forthat moment to be happy with. You may have visualized the best tohappen but the result you see is different. Accept that result and cre-ate the right thoughts irrespective of the result. By doing this youbecome stable in mind and attract more blessings.

Whatever happens ,happens according to our Sanskaras and ourpast karmic account Accepting the outcome of the situation keeps usbalanced at that moment. Worry never pays as it will not change thesituation but it will only spoil our present moment and the comingmoment “Chintaa chita samaan (worry is like fire).”

By being more resilient it means positive thinking increases ourcapacity to cope up with change in life and problems in a better way.Instead of falling apart during stress, we have the ability to carry onand eventually overcome the adversity. Rather then giving up hope,we gather resources and courage to tackle the problem. Nurturingpositive emotions, lessens depression and increases our mental abilityto build coping skills to restore internal joy and peace.

If we think that we will have the best always we are sadly mis-taken. But if we think that what we have got is the best in the currentsituation we will feel blessed. it is important to note that positive think-ing is not about thinking that good things will always happen. In factexcessive optimism might not serve well as such people might overes-timate their own abilities and take on more challenges far above theirpotentials that they can handle, ultimately leading to more stress ,anxi-ety and unhappiness.

Believe in your abilities and a positive approach to challenges. learnto make the most of bad situations. Sometimes you are disappointedor hurt by the actions of others. A changed perspective will help you tolook at the problem realistically. Search for ways to improve the situ-ation ,learn from experience. Pray to God not for fulfilling your desiresbut pray for strength to accept the situation.

Change your outlook, be positiveBy Ravie Sharma

Everywhere I see people pur-suing the elusive path of spiritual-ity but finding nothing in return. Myquest too has been quite similar.Spirituality just seems an armlength away. I take a step forwardand it eludes me with an arm’slength. I take another, and thesame situation repeats. It is almostlike I will never get it and that myquest is destined to be futile.

Until one morning, when I hadthis insight.

In my heart there is hardnessfor some people who have hurtme. I wish ill of them, despite myspiritual upbringing. Even thoughI know it is wrong, the ill-wishingkeeps returning. Until I realizedthat morning that hate is festeringin my heart for these people.

For others it is anger: The guywho is driving his car badly. Theperson who is spitting on the road.The man who is kicking a dogwithout care. The corrupt personI meet at a government office.Anger, anger all the time.

I was brushing my teeth thatmorning. It was then that I sawall the people I didn’t like, in mymind. All the people I hated. Allthe people I didn’t get along with.One of them had a newborn child.And I saw the person smiling withLove, despite being badly behavedwith the world. To the child thisperson was and would be special.The perspective went higher. Thatthese people were living andworking showed that God lovedthem, despite their shortcomings.He had hope they would change.

And me? I had no forgivenessfor these people. And the hatredsitting in my heart, or the dislike inmy heart seemed to have replacedthe love that should be in my heart.The same love that God has forhis creation, should be flowing inmy heart for his creation. Be-cause he made the creation forme. To enjoy, contribute, improve.If he had hope and if he had lovefor everyone, what right I had tohate people?

I knew that instant why spiri-tuality eluded me. I knew whydespite spending years in its pur-suit I could not grasp it. My hearthad little love. Love was a shriv-eled flower inside my heart.

Yes, I had moments of spiritualecstacy. In those I felt onenesswith the creator. In those I felt thedepleted reservoir of love beingreplenished with his love for me.But that love evaporated as soonas I interacted with the world.Once again my heart would be-come one of stone.

Meditation would melt my heartthrough oneness with the divine

A loving heart is a spiritual heartbut the rate at which my heartmelted and filled with love wassmaller than the rate at which itevaporated. Which left me a hu-man being sizzling with unrest anddiscontentment.

And then came the realizationthat yes, spirituality changedpeople. Made them conscious ofmorality, made them disciplined,sensitive to others, responsible.But the benefits I derived fromthese carried me away from theessentially spiritual foundation oflife – which is love. I realized Ihad substituted love with workethics, responsibility, being correct,on the right side of things. Andbecause I was on the right side, Ideveloped disdain for those whoweren’t. I too had flaws before Istarted my journey and still havemany. Likewise the ignorantpeople whom I didn’t like, they toohad the same flaws that I hadbefore I commenced my journey.I should be thankful that the lightof truth made me see my blem-ishes. Instead I was watchingtheirs critically! I hated others fortheir imperfections. I let dislikereplace the love of god that hadfound place in my heart and is stilltrying to reach me.

Our righteousness makes usretaliate against people and cir-cumstances but the entire situa-

tion eventually ends up in a stateof spiritual degradation. Aftersometime, the one fortunate to bestill aligned with the divine, real-izes his folly or ignorance or help-lessness in dealing with the mat-ter. Followed by the inevitable sur-render to the divine, which shouldhave happened in the first place -instead of retaliating. It is not easyto let love to remain kindled in yourheart when people are trying toblow storms in your life. But thatis the only way to win. And thegrace of God to flow into yourheart. The proof of this?

Just look at an infant. It knowsand responds to only love. Andwith its infinite capacity to love, itwins over the supposedly the worstkind of people. Everyone withoutexception loves this child. That isthe power of love.

When this child grows, it learnsall the wrong things from its el-ders. They help him ‘evaporate’the divine love from his heart. Andhe becomes a being who starts ajourney away from god and nottowards god.

Never extinguish the flame oflove in your heart. It has to burnto drive away evil. It has to burnto remove darkness from everycorner of your being.

Wish you a happy journeythrough spirituality!

His countless calculationsBy Benazir Patil

“How does god decide how many people should be living in thisworld?” One of the children asked me.

“Perhaps after making the first set of human beings, God kept re-placing those who died with birth of new children and may be that ishow we all were born. His calculations must have been influenced byhis belief that there should be sufficient souls to take care of every-thing that he had created,” I responded with a smile.

“Does God have time to listen to what we are saying?” asked an-other child.

“Is it not impossible for Him to listen to so many of us, how does hemanage to listen to our prayers?” the child sitting next to him added.

My experience had taught me that it was difficult for the smallminds to fathom the meaning of natural decrees established by theSupreme. Evolution of mind is a natural process for humankind. I wasalso evolving, trying to reach somewhere in my understanding. Reachingthe final stage of evolution would take years, I contemplated, but wasman capable of understanding what that final stage was?

Whether or not I believed in God and understood His various names,every new incident exploded a question into my senses. I began torealize that there prevailed some ‘design’, some arrangement for man-kind, with some direction for human evolution to proceed with. Thiswas no secret design as many Gnostics talked about it and displayed itas some mysterious knowledge. Whatever mankind was doing in theuniverse either had a good or a harmful effect on it, so either theyfollowed the directions and evolved or retreated back to stages wherethey were ages ago.

I was intrigued by what the dervishes spoke about ‘real self ’ and‘false self.’ It was complicated. The Ketaab-e-Hayaat was teachingme that we all possessed intellect, but we were rarely governed by it,because continuous thoughts, distinct emotions and instincts made usdo what we would not do if we followed our intellect alone.

I very much wanted to understand what this ‘true self’ really was?I was incessantly interacting with different faiths burgeoning around

me. The philosophies disseminated by each of those were not the realworry. The interpretations, its followers forced upon their fellow be-ings, indeed were.

Faiths were no more being practiced and followed; they were be-ing distributed, spoken about and becoming the basis for mayhem. Iwas living in a century where people searched for justifications fortheir acts in the name of god; the aspects of goodness and holinesswere being maneuvered to suit each one’s life. Though every faithjust focused on serving humanity, its analysis merely meant that hu-manity had its own fences.

Living by any faith required serving god on earth in order to livewith Him forever in heaven but what did it mean by serving god waspathetically literal. The god either stood on the pedestal, in temples andchurches or was a formless entity that everyone was paying obei-sance to. ‘Reaching out to fellow beings was a means to reach thealmighty’ was rarely a concern.


INDIA

The stage is set for cabinet ex-pansion in Maharashtra on Friday,Dec 5, after Shiv Sena agreed tojoin the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) government inMaharashtra. The BJP has of-fered Shiv Sena 12 cabinet posts,including five cabinet rank andseven minister of state rank. Thefour important portfolios offeredto the Sena are industry, publicworks department, energy, waterresources.

The Shiv Sena also agreed togive up its claim for home minis-ter and deputy chief minister poststhus paving the way for the saf-fron partnership to provide a stablegovernment in Maharashtra.

On Tuesday, Shiv Sena (MP),Anil Desai said, “The Sena presi-dent Uddhav Thackeray has re-ceived a formal proposal from theBJP. The Chief Minister DevendraFadnavis and Thackeray are di-rectly talking on the matter.”

He indicated that the formaldecision would be pronounced ina couple of days. Insiders in theSena revealed to Indian Express,

Sena to join Maharashtra cabinetA mobile application, Screeny, developed by city-

based start-up Effectworks for Apple’s mobile iOSplatform is enjoying a reasonably good run.

It has featured in the ‘top 10 charts’ in over 30countries since it made its debut on the iTunes AppStore last week.

Buoyed by good reviews from respected tech-nology websites The Verge (www.verge.com) andMacStories (www.macstories.com), the app ad-dresses a simple problem — of helping users iden-tify and delete screenshots on their iPhones.

The team at Effectworks, which published theapp through its subsidiary NFN Labs, are over-joyed. One of the directors of the company,Narayanan Hariharan, posted on his Facebookpage: “Top ten in the App store. That’s one off thebucket list.”

The development of Screeny happened out ofthe startup’s two-storeyed rented office on SripuramLane in Royapettah. The small team is a mix of ITprofessionals, a few of whom quit cosy jobs withmajor IT service companies and a few fresh out ofcollege, who are recent recruits. In true hackingculture mentality, the team has designated them-selves fancy names — from the person in chargeof ‘tactical weaponry’ to ‘hackountant’.

“The Screeny app was our first attempt at cre-ating an application using Apple’s new coding lan-guage, Swift,” says Gokul Visweswaran. “We seea future where Apple will dominate the enterprisemarket and for us to be able to develop an app inSwift was a step forward in the right direction.”

Chennai startup tastes success on Apple’s app store

The app attempts to solve asimple problem often overlookedby smartphone users. Screenshotsthat are easy to capture (in iPhoneby pressing the power and home

buttons together) often end up clogging the phone’s space. “It is aneveryday problem that most people struggle with and there was noeasy solution available,” says Alvin Verghese, who developed the appfor the team.

Effectworks is a design-driven development company that prima-rily offers third-party app development services. Their product devel-opment subsidiary NFN Labs has been putting out apps on both Apple’siOS and Google’s Android platforms since 2011.

The success at an international level, with acclaim from top technol-ogy blogs, is rare for a company from the country, though several havestarted to manage getting it more regularly in recent times. AnotherChennai-based company, Nextwave Multimedia, has had reasonablesuccess with its app Comics Head, which helps users create comics.

NEW DELHI: Prime Minis-ter Narendra Modi on Tuesday,Dec 2, disapproved of the contro-versial remarks by Union Minis-ter Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, sayingsuch comments were “not accept-able” and asked party MPs to re-frain from those that gave a badname to the government and theparty.

Sources said the Prime Minis-ter, while addressing the BJP Par-liamentary Party, told the MPs tobe cautious while making publiccomments and asked them not togive any “address to the nation”.

Sources said the Prime Minis-ter did not name anyone but laterconveyed to the Minister con-cerned to regret the remarks madeby her at a public rally in the na-tional capital.

The remarks triggered a majorcontroversy with the oppositionforcing her to apologize. The is-sue also rocked Parliament, paral-ysing the functioning of the RajyaSabha.

Speaking to reporters afterapologizing in Parliament, the min-ister refused to respond to oppo-sition demand for her resignationand said, "I have said sorry overmy remarks and I will speak nofurther on the issue. What else canI do?" she asked.

At an election rally in DelhiNiranjan Jyoti had said, "Peopleof Delhi have to decide if theywant a government of Ram-zaadon (followers of Ram) or agovernment of those who are ille-gitimate." She went on to say thatMuslims, Christians were all chil-dren of Ram. The Rajya Sabhawas adjourned thrice on Tuesdayas opposition refused to accept herapology.

Modi says minister’sremark “unacceptable”

The geeks of Effectworks: The app, Screeny, hasfigured in ‘top 10’ lists since its debut.

Compensation for Sukma encounter victimsRAIPUR: The next of kin of the 14 CRPF personnel killed by

Naxals in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh, will be paid Rs. 38 lakh eachand every injured security man will be given Rs. 65,000, Home Minis-ter Rajnath Singh announced on Tuesday, Dec 2.

The Home Minister, who visited the CRPF jawans a day after acontingent was attacked by Naxals, said CPI (Maoist) has posed a bigchallenge and the entire nation has to be united to fight this menace.

“We have more casualty from proxy war than actual war. Thisincident will not deter our security forces and they will continue tomarch ahead in the ongoing operations,” he said.

U.S. official meets Telangana ministerHYDERABAD: Puneet Talwar, the U.S. Assistant Secretary head-

ing the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs in the Department of State,met Telangana Minister for Information Technology K.T. Rama Raoin Hyderabad on Tuesday, Dec 2.

The two discussed political and other issues during their meetingspread over about half an hour. Rama Rao requested Talwar to ex-plore the possibility of U.S. investments in the aerospace hub inHyderabad as the FDI in Indian defence sector provided them hugeopportunities. Talwar also met Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N.Chandrababu Naidu earlier. During the meeting, Naidu requested theU.S. official to set up the American Consulate at Vijayawada anddiscussed political and economic issues.

English to be taught at Islamic seminaryHYDERABAD: The English language has become part of the

syllabus in Hyderabad-based Jamia Nizamia, south India’s biggestseminary. For the first time in its 140-year history, this Islamic semi-nary has taken the path-breaking decision to embrace English lan-guage wholeheartedly.

Jamia Nizamia basically offers religious instructions and its decisionto introduce English has surprised many. The decision follows carefuldeliberations among the religious scholars and Muftis of the varsity.“We have taken the decision to go for English after much thought tokeep our students abreast with the times”, said Jamia vice chancellor,Mufti Khaleel Ahmed. Islam encouraged even those engaged in pur-suing religious education to equip themselves with the latest skills tobetter their prospects. “Today English has become necessary and wedon’t want our students to lag behind”, the Mufti said.

Jamia Nizamia will approach the Osmania University seeking rec-ognition of the courses offered by it.

Shiv Sena chief Uddhave Thackeray talks to reporters. (File photo)

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“The Sena-BJP deal is almostdone. The announcement willtake place when chief minister re-turns to Mumbai.” Fadnavis leftfor Nagpur on Tuesday morningafter the meeting which went ontill early hours.

Apart from the cabinet powershare, Sena and BJP leaders havealso drawn a road map for thecoming local body elections begin-ning from March next year.

Highly placed sources said,“Fadnavis will discuss the matterwith BJP president Amit Shah to-day.”

The Sena and BJP leaders onMonday held meetings whichwent on till Tuesday 2.45 am tothrash out the differences relatedto portfolios and total number ofcabinet berths in the government.

At present Fadnavis govern-ment has nine council of ministers.The total cabinet strength is likelyto be of 36 ministers of which 12will represent Sena and 24 BJP.

Both the sides have begun theprocess of shortlisting the namesof their candidates.

Actor Deven Varma passes awayVeteran actor-filmmaker Deven Verma,

78, best know for his comic performance in'Khatta Meetha' and 'Angoor', passed awayDec 2 at his home in Pune following a heartattack, family sources said.

Verma started his acting career as a stageartist and eventually made his Bollywooddebut with a supporting role in Yash Chopra's'Dharmputra' in 1961, which did not do well.He shot to fame with his performance in1975 film 'Chori Mera Kaam', which baggedhim his first Filmfare Award for Best Comedian.

Verma went on to star in memorable films like 'Chor Ke Ghar Chor',Sanjeev Kapoor-starrer 'Angoor', 'Gol Maal', 'Khatta Meetha','Naastik', 'Rang Birangi', 'Dil', 'Judaai', 'Andaz Apna Apna' and 'DilToh Pagal Hai'. He also acted in Marathi and Bhojpuri films.

He consistently refused roles that demanded poking fun at the handi-capped. He retired from films after working in 'Mere Yaar Ki ShaadiHai' and 'Calcutta Mail'.

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Sixty-four years after caste untouchability was abolished by theConstitution, more than a fourth of Indians say they continue to prac-tise it in some form in their homes, the biggest ever survey of its kindhas revealed.

Those who admit to practising untouchability belong to virtually ev-ery religious and caste group, including Muslims, Scheduled Castesand Scheduled Tribes.

Going by respondents’ admissions, untouchability is the most wide-spread among Brahmins, followed by OBCs. Among religious com-munities, it is the most widespread among Hindus, Sikhs and Jains,shows the survey, which was conducted in over 42,000 householdsacross India by the National Council of Applied Economic Research(NCAER) and the University of Maryland, US.

Source: The India Human Development Survey (IHDS-2) Source:The India Human Development Survey (IHDS-2)

NCAER, established in 1956, is India’s oldest and largest indepen-dent, non-profit economic policy research institute. The results arepart of the India Human Development Survey (IHDS-2) — the larg-est pan-Indian non-government household survey — carried out in2011-12 for economic and social variables across multiple categories.The full results of the survey will be available in 2015.

Surveyors asked respondents, “Does anyone in your family prac-tise untouchability?” and, in case the answer was “No”, asked a sec-ond question: “Would it be okay for a Scheduled Caste person to enteryour kitchen or use your utensils?”

Across India, 27 per cent respondents agreed that they did prac-tised untouchability in some form. The practice was most prevalentamong Brahmin respondents (52 per cent); 24 per cent of non-Brah-min forward caste respondents admitted to it — lower, interestingly,than OBC respondents, 33 per cent of whom confirmed its preva-lence in their homes. 15 per cent of Scheduled Caste and 22 per centof Scheduled Tribe respondents admitted to the practice.

Broken up by religious groups, data from the survey shows almostevery third Hindu (30 per cent) admitted to the practice, followed bySikhs (23 per cent), Muslims (18 per cent) and Christians (5 per cent).

Jains topped the list, with 35 per cent respondents accepting thatthey practised untouchability. The survey has, however, warned thatthe result for Jains is “not conclusive” because of the small size of thesample.

Lead researcher Dr Amit Thorat, an associate fellow at NCAER,said, “These findings indicate that conversion has not led to a changein mindsets. Caste identity is sticky baggage, difficult to dislodge insocial settings.” Currently, as per a government order of 1950, the SCquota in government jobs applies only to Hindu, Sikh and BuddhistDalits, not Christian and Muslim Dalit caste groups.

Spatially, untouchability is most widespread in the Hindi heartland,according to the survey. Madhya Pradesh is on top (53 per cent),followed by Himachal Pradesh (50 per cent), Chhattisgarh (48 percent), Rajasthan and Bihar (47 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (43 per cent),and Uttarakhand (40 per cent).

West Bengal appears to be the most ‘progressive’ — with only 1per cent of respondents confirming they practised untouchability. Keralacomes next in the survey, with 2 per cent, followed by Maharashtra (4per cent), the Northeast (7 per cent), and Andhra Pradesh (10 percent). Survey results suggest that high incomes do not dent the prac-tice, but education, especially among Brahmins and OBCs, makes adifference.

27 percent of Indians say theypractice untouchability

Restrictions on import of gold easedIndia has announced it has eased controls on imports of the yellow

metal after its current account deficit narrowed sharply.India, the world's second-biggest gold buyer after China, placed the

restrictions last year to avert a trade deficit crisis that pushed the ru-pee to record lows. "Restrictions placed on import of gold... standwithdrawn with immediate effect," India's central bank said in a state-ment on its website. The so-called 80:20 import rule meant 20 percentof all imported gold had to be exported before any new shipmentscould be brought in.

But import duty on gold imposed by the government remains at arecord 10 percent.

India imports around 90 percent of its gold needs and its 1.2-billionpopulation is believed to have one of the world's biggest private goldhoards of up to 20,000 metric tons.

Mass wedding forfatherless girls

AHMEDABAD: An Indiandiamond trader has thrown amass wedding ceremony for 111fatherless women and given eachone gifts worth thousands of dol-lars, saying giving a bride awaywas “sacred”.

Mahesh Savani said thewomen, whose families were alltoo poor to finance their weddings,saw him as their foster father.

The 44-year-old Savani said hehad given each one gifts of goldand other items worth 450,000rupees ($7,250) to start their mar-ried lives, as well as paying for thewedding.

“Material gifts are not impor-tant, but I have given my name tothem and will fulfill all my respon-sibilities as a father of the bridefor the rest of my life,” he saidbefore the ceremony was held ata school in Gujarat state on Sun-day, Nov 30.

Savani, who has now organisedthe weddings of 251 women, saidhe began his charitable campaignin 2008 when one of his own staffmembers died. “I was veryshocked when one of my employ-ees died just 12 days before hecould marry off his two daugh-ters. It was difficult for the familyto arrange for marriage,” he said.“So I decided that I would becometheir foster father and marry themoff. This is how it began.”

Singapore to plan, Japan to build Andhra capitalHYDERABAD: Japan is

ready to join hands in building thenew capital of Andhra Pradesh,the designing of which will be doneby Singapore, chief minister NChandrababu Naidu said on Mon-day, Dec 1.

Terming his five-day visit toJapan a success, Naidu told re-porters here that several Japa-nese companies and governmentorganizations expressed their will-ingness to be partners in buildingthe state capital.

Naidu, who went to Singaporelast month, said Singapore will pre-pare the master plan for the capi-tal. He hopes to finalize this whenSingapore’s trade and commerceminister S Iswaran visits India thismonth. “The Japanese companiesare ready to associate in construc-tion, environment and other re-quirements of the city,” he said.“It will be a deadly combination.”

The government plans to buildthe capital on 30,000 acres inGuntur-Vijayawada region in fiveyears. It is estimated to cost Rs 1lakh crore.

Naidu said he had fruitful dis-cussions with Japanese govern-ment organizations, industry bod-ies and companies and exuded thehope that this will result in attract-ing investment to the state.

Stating that Softbank Corp iskeen to fund 10,000 MW solarpower generation in India overnext three years, Naidu said heinvited the company to partnerwith Andhra Pradesh in its ongo-ing plan for the development of2,500 MW solar power.

The chief minister said Softbankchairman and CEO MasayoshiSon was interested in solar power

generation in India and also in research to bring down the cost ofgeneration. “The cost of solar power has come down from Rs 14 toaround Rs 6 per unit and if we can further bring it down to Rs 4, thenit will be a revolution meeting the energy requirements,” he said.

Naidu said Softbank plan to invest $10 billion in India. He also in-vited the company to invest in the IT sector in the state. The companyis expected to come out with a project report in two months.

The Softbank chairman confirmed that he will visit India and AndhraPradesh soon. Naidu announced that a separate cell for Japanesefirms will be opened in the industries department for speedy clear-ances and to extend all help to those keen to invest. The proposed cellwill have a few escort executives who speak Japanese.

Claiming that he was successful in building the trust and with theJapanese investors, Naidu said he aimed to make Andhra Pradesh asthe top Indian investment destination for Japanese firms from thepresent third position.

Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu with JapanesePM Shinzo Abe in Tokyo on November 28.


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UK journalist guilty of contemptDHAKA: A special tribunal in Bangladesh dealing with war crimes

committed during the country's independence war found a British jour-nalist guilty of contempt Tuesday for questioning the official death tollof the 1971 conflict.

The court ruled that a 2011 blog post and two other articles byDavid Bergman offended the nation and ordered him to pay a fine of5,000 Takas ($65) or go to jail for a week.

Bangladeshi officials say 3 million people were killed and 200,000women raped during the country's war of independence against Paki-stan. Bergman said there was no evidence supporting that number.The issue is hugely sensitive in Bangladesh.

Head judge Obaidul Hassan said in his ruling that "freedom of ex-pression can be exercised in good faith and public interest." But headded that Bergman was not acting in good faith or in the public'sinterest.

Bergman works for New Age, a Dhaka-based English-languagedaily, and contributes to the British newspaper The Telegraph.

Abul Kalam Azad, a lawyer who filed the petition against Bergman,said the judgment was "fair." But Bergman's lawyers told reportersthat his posts and articles were within the "permitted limits of faircriticism."

AGARTALA: Tripura hasurged the prime minister to pur-sue Bangladesh so that it allowsaccess to its water and land routesthat could be used to transportmaterial to the northeartern states,Chief Minister Manik Sarkar said.

After meeting Prime MinisterNarendra Modi here Mondaynight, Sarkar told reporters thataccess to Chittagong internationalport and Ashuganj river port inBangladesh is crucial for ferryingmen and material from the otherparts of India and abroad to thenortheastern states.

"A multi-modal transportationsystem using Bangladeshi ports iscrucial for the northeastern statesas the region is mountainous andhaving rough terrain," he said. "Ifnecessary, after talking with theBangladesh government, Indiacan invest in developing the infra-structure of the two ports," he said.

"India must pursue theBangladesh government for regu-lar use of Chittagong andAshuganj ports to carry foodgrains, essentials, heavy machin-eries and other goods for north-eastern states."

Chittagong sea port is around70 km from Tripura and Ashuganjport over the Meghna river in east-ern Bangladesh is around 40 kmfrom Tripura.

Sarkar said besides the ports,India's access to land and airroutes and connectivity betweenIndia and Bangladesh are vital forthe region's development.

Access to Bangladesh sea and land routes soughtAfter visiting Assam, Nagaland and Manipur, Modi was in the Left-

ruled state Monday. He inaugurated the second unit (363 MW) of the726 MW capacity power plant in southern Tripura's palatana, 60 kmsouth of here.

The gas-based power project was commissioned by the Oil andNatural Gas Corporation (ONGC) at a cost of Rs.10,000 crore.

Sarkar said that to improve the telecommunications network of thenortheastern region, an alternate telecom routing through Bangladeshis vital and urged Modi to pursue the matter with Dhaka.

"Following our demand, the FCI (Food Corporation of India) hastaken steps to ferry another 35,000 tonnes of rice for Tripura viaBangladesh as train services in the northeastern states have beenstopped till March 2016 due to gauge conversion," Sarkar added.

The FCI recently ferried 10,000 tonnes of rice for Tripura in twophases from Visakhapatnam port in Andhra Pradesh via Bangladesh.

Transportation via Bangladesh is much easier as road connectivityis a big factor for the mountainous northeastern states which shareboundaries with Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan and China.

Sri Lanka poll campaign beginsPOLONNARUWA: Sri Lanka’s opposition parties formally

launched their bid Sunday to topple long-serving President MahindaRajapakse at January elections, with prayers and public meetings inthe island’s old capital of Polonnaruwa.

Main opposition presidential candidate Maithripala Sirisena, 63, whoquit as health minister last week from Rajapakse’s government, wasexpected to address a rally later Sunday in Polonnaruwa, in the heartof the country’s “rice bowl.”

“Maithripala Sirisena represents the boiling resentment within thegovernment of the Rajapakse family rule,” said former fisheries min-ister Rajitha Senaratne, one of 11 members of Rajapakse’s govern-ment to quit and support Sirisena in recent weeks.

Sirisena and other opposition figures were receiving Buddhist bless-ings at a temple and holding public meetings ahead of the rally inPolonnaruwa.

Presidential elections are set for January 8, with Rajapakse seekinga record third term — a move that was only made possible after hepushed through changes to the constitution.

Sirisena, who defected to the main United National Party (UNP),has secured the support of key, smaller opposition parties, represent-ing a major challenge to Rajapakse, the region’s longest-servingleader.The defections — including that of another cabinet minister,Naveen Dissanayake, on Sunday — have also dealt Rajapakse andhis Sri Lanka Freedom Party a severe blow.

Plea not to politicize Pope’s visitCOLOMBO: Sri Lanka's Catholic Church has urged the govern-

ment not to use a forthcoming visit by Pope Francis to help its re-election campaign after media reported posters had appeared depict-ing the pontiff blessing President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Ravaya, a local Sinhala paper, published over the weekend a photo-graph of a campaign poster that had superimposed photos of the presi-dent and the pope to depict them smiling at one other with the caption:"Blessings of the Holy Father; You are our president, victory for you."

"It has been brought to our notice that the political posters and cut-outs with the picture of the Holy Father have appeared in some placesin the country," the committee of the Sri Lankan Catholic Church thatis preparing for the papal visit said in a statement. "We earnestly re-quest respective authorities and persons to remove those political postersand cut-outs immediately and urge all the political groups to refrainfrom using either the Holy Father or His visit to Sri Lanka for thepolitical campaign of the presidential election."

PAKISTANINDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2014 • PAGE 21

Special trains for Saeed’s rally

Zardari: Imran lackspolitical wisdom

LAHORE: Asif Ali Zardari onTuesday said Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khanlacked political wisdom, addingthat Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)has proved patience was a keyvirtue in politics.

Zardari made these remarkswhile addressing party workers inLahore. "Was [Imran Khan] un-aware of the Dhaka tragedy," thePPP co-chairman said question-ing the motives of Imran Khan ongiving calls to paralyse the entirecountry by Dec 16.

He said that his party cared forthe generations to come and "can-not paralyse the country", addingthat his party could not attack thefederal capital.

"Islamabad is not Somnath'stemple that you try repeated at-tempts to win it," Zardari said."Democracy resides there, it'sParliament is democratic."

Zardari’s reaction comesagainst the backdrop of ImranKhan's Nov 30 speech, where hehad called for paralysing cities toincrease pressure on the PML-Ngovernment.

Imran's said he would startwith paralysing major cities in thefirst phase and eventually shuttingdown the entire country by Dec16. “On Thursday (Dec 4), I willgo to Lahore and shut it down. OnDec 8 I will shut down Faisal-abad; on Dec 12, I will go toKarachi and shut it down. By Dec16, I will close down all of Paki-stan,” Imran had said.

LONDON: Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif said on Tuesday thathis government is prepared formeaningful dialogue with the Paki-stan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and itschairman Imran Khan, DawnNewsreported. He said that calls to shutdown the country would not onlybe inappropriate but disastrous andthat Pakistan is being played within an unfortunate manner.

He said that his governmentstrongly believed in settling issuesthrough talks.

“We are the democratic people.The negotiations should be construc-tive. If they want to talk, we wouldhave no objection,” he added.

The prime minister made the re-marks after arriving in the UnitedKingdom to attend the London Con-ference on Afghanistan.

When speaking of investigatingalleged rigging in the 2013 generalelections, the PM stated that theissue should have been raised ear-lier on.

He also took aim at the govt inKhyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) sayingthat education institutes are in a ter-rible shape and that jails are brokenin the province.

“First make a new KP, then thinkabout making a new Pakistan,” thePM said.

The prime minister was receivedby a representative of the Britishgovernment and Pakistan HighCommissioner to the UK, Syed IbneAbbas, at Heathrow Airport whenhe arrived.

The London Conference onAfghanistan, is being held onDecember 3-4.

Afghan President AshrafGhani and Chief ExecutiveAbdullah Abdullah will also at-tend the conference.

On the sidelines of the con-ference, the prime minister willalso hold meetings with DavidCameron and US Secretary ofState John Kerry.

Earlier, Foreign Office (FO)spokesperson Tasneem Aslamsaid in a statement that duringthe visit, the premier would alsohold a meeting with World Bankofficials.

The British PM is also sched-uled to host a breakfast meet-ing, which will be attended byPM Nawaz and the Afghanleadership. "A bilateral meetingwith the US Secretary of StateJohn Kerry is also scheduled,"said Aslam.

Commenting on the premier'sparticipation in the London Con-ference, Aslam said it is a re-flection of the importance thatPakistan attaches to internationalefforts for peace, stability andeconomic development in Af-ghanistan.

Pakistan has consistently un-derscored the importance ofdeeper engagement of the inter-national community with Af-ghanistan on the economic planeto reinforce efforts for peaceand stability.

US Secretary of State JohnKerry, who met Army Chief GenRaheel Sharif at his office on Sun-day night, will meet PM Nawazin London later this week.

At a news briefing in Washing-ton, the State Department hadnamed only two world leaders thatMr Kerry would meet during theLondon conference on Afghani-stan — PM Nawaz and AfghanPresident Ghani.

Kerry recognized the “tremen-dous sacrifices the Pakistani mili-tary has made in its efforts to im-prove the security situation in Pa-kistan and acknowledgedPakistan’s commitment to counterall extremist elements,” StateDepartment spokesperson JenPsaki had told a briefing in Wash-ington on Monday.

Sharif ready for meaningful talks with PTI

Nawaz Sharif talks to media upon his arrival in London

Altaf bristles at Bilawal’s remarkKARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf

Hussain has demanded an explanation from PPP Chairman BilalwalBhutto-Zardari over his remarks of Oct 6, calling for the reigning in ofna-maloom afraad (unknown persons), the MQM website said.

The MQM chief has also asked the chiefs of law enforcementagencies (LEAs), former president Asif Ali Zardari, former interiorminister Rehman Malik, Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah and SindhGovernor Ishratul Ibad Khan to answer his query within 15 days afterholding an inquiry into Bilawal's statements.

Addressing a gathering of family members of people killed in the2007 Karsaz blast, the Pakistan Peoples Party chairman on the firstday of Eidul Azha had called upon the MQM chief to ask his ‘un-known persons' to take caution. Bilawal had warned that if any PPPworkers were hurt, he would, like the London Metropolitan Police,make the MQM chief's life miserable.

In his statement, Hussain asked on what basis did Bilawal levelsuch allegations and issued a threat against him.

Hussain further said that if the PPP Chairman, Co-chairman andthe party's Central Executive Committee failed to address his query,then he would be left with no option but to take legal action againstBilawal for using threatening language against him.

Indigenous jet fighters added to PAFKARACHI: The head of Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC)

said on Tuesday, Dec 2, that 50 home-assembled multi-role JF-17Thunder fighter jets had been introduced into the Pakistan airforce.

Air Marshal Javed Ahmed, chief of the PAC, said the Pakistan AirForce (PAF) had already received 50 of the home-made aircraft andthat the supply of the second block would start this month.

“The five aircraft of the next block would be inducted (into PAF)this year,” Air Marshal Javed Ahmed, told AFP on the sidelines of theInternational Defence Exhibition And Seminars (Ideas) in Karachi, anarms fair that brings together dealers from all over the world.

Pakistan has been manufacturing the JF-17 aircraft since 2009 withthe help of the Chengdu Aircraft Industry Corporation of China.

PESHAWAR: At least 30 suspected militants were killed on Tues-day, Dec 2 in airstrikes conducted by military fighter jets in the Dattakhelarea of North Waziristan tribal Agency.

Security sources said that 30 militants, including two key commandersand several foreign fighters, were killed in the blitz carried out in ajungle situated in Dattakhel. Two vehicles were also destroyed.

The Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) confirmed the deathsof at least 17 suspected militants — many of whom were alleged to beforeign fighters. At least five suspected militants were killed and sixothers were wounded in a clash with security forces in the Akkakhelarea of Khyber tribal region's Tirah Valley early on Tuesday.

Security sources said both sides used heavy weapons during theexchange of fire. At least twelve militants were killed as security forcesrepulsed an attack on a checkpost situated on the border with TirahValley in Orakzai Agency’s Shirin Dara area.

LAHORE: In a sign of of-ficial patronage to Mumbai at-tacks mastermind HafizSaeed-led JuD, Pakistan gov-ernment is running two specialtrains to transport people toLahore for the terror group'stwo-day congregation here.

The chief of Jamaat-ud-Dawah, a front for terror groupLashkar-e-Taiba, Saeed toldreporters here on Tuesday thatthousands of people would par-ticipate in the congregationstarting on December 4 at theground of Minar-i-Pakistan monument.

Pakistan Railways is operating the first train from today fromHyderabad, Sindh province, that will arrive in Lahore on Wednesdaynight.Another train will leave from Karachi and arrive here on De-cember 4. The two special trains will also take the people back to theirhometowns on the conclusion of the congregation.

The JuD leadership had spoken to railways minister Saad Rafiquefor his permission to run special trains for its congregation, officialsources told PTI. The US has put a bounty of $10 million on HafizSaeed's head for his terror-related activities.

Spokesman for the country's railways Rauf Tahir said there hadbeen a "uniform policy" to run special trains on the request of politicaland religious parties.

"The railways has a uniform policy for everyone. Pay and hire atrain. Two special trains will be run for JuD congregation but not freeof cost," he said.

In a related development, Imran Khan's Pakistan Tahreek-i-Insaf(PTI) has also postponed its call to block Lahore on December 4 onthe "request" of the JuD leadership.

"Yes we have changed Lahore's plan on the request of JuD. TheJuD told us that thousands of people are coming to Lahore on De-cember 4 and it cannot afford any hurdle in it," a senior PTI leadersaid on condition of anonymity.

Tightening its noose around Lashkar-e-Taiba, the US in June addedits affiliates, including the JuD, to its list of designated terror organiza-tions.

India has maintained that Saeed is the mastermind behind Mumbaiterror attacks in 2008, conspiracy for which was hatched, planned andexecuted out of Pakistan. The attacks claimed 166 lives.

Hafiz Saeed ... 26/11 mastermind?


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