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India Post

Indian Americans more enthusedabout Independence Day?

Last week’s result

YES 32% NO 68%

Certified by “CIRCULATION VERIFICATION COUNCIL Readership 117,765”

CONTENTSBollywood -------------------------- 11

Classifieds ------------------------- 52

Community Post -------------- 16-32

Date Book -------------------------- 36

Edit Page --------------------------- 54

HealthScience Post --------- 34-35

Horoscope ------------------------- 47

Immigration Post ------------- 44-46

Life Style ----------------------- 50-51

Philosophy ------------------------- 53

Publisher’s Diary ------------------ 4

Real Estate -------------------- 14-15

TechBiz Post ------------------- 12-13

Travel & Hospitality Post ---- 41-43

Top Stories

'PAK MILITARY RAISINGTENSION WITH INDIA'

Details on page 5

Details on page 6

Details on page 25

Details on page 23

Details on page 31

Weather adds tocharm of IndiaDay in Chicago

Details on page 7

Details on page 6

Details on page 6

Menon in USto prepare forPM’s visit

Rita Singh FIAputs up a grandIndia Day show

Vidya Balan,Anna lead bigNY parade

PRIDE & PATRIOTISM: Grand Marshal & Bollywood star Jimmy Shergill led the Festival of India parade with FIA Chairman

Dr Romesh Japra at Paseo Padra Parkway in Fremont on August 18. Here they are seen with (from left) Bollywood singer

Prem Bhatia, Consul General N. Parthasarathi, (sitting) a guest, State Senator Ellen Corbett and Ro Khanna,

candidate for Congress. (Details on page 16)

WASHINGTON: Pakistan military is deliberatelyratcheting up tension with India to prevent any meaning-ful peace talks and demonstrate that it still calls the shotson bilateral ties, an eminent American expert has said.

"It is possible the Pakistani military establishment isdeliberately ratcheting up the tension to demonstrate tothe Sharif government that it still calls the shots regardingIndia-Pakistan relations," Lisa Curtis of The Heritage Foun-dation said.

The Pakistan army may be trying to warn Sharif offfrom pursuing any meaningful peace initiatives like he didwhen he previously served as prime minister in the late1990s, she added.

"Back-channel negotiations with India over the status ofKashmir had made significant progress under Sharif's previ-ous tenure in 1999 until the Pakistani military took over In-dian military positions in the heights of Kargil, precipitating abrief Indo-Pakistani border war," she said.

Details on page 5

Shivshankar Menon

Jindal gets 50pc approval ininternal poll

Indians acrossworld celebrateI Day with gusto

Musharrafindicted inBhutto case

Sanjay Duttseeks parole fortreatment

Indian Americans can influenceIndian elections?

India Postwww.indiapost.com

August 23, 20132

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Bollywood:Dost dost na rahaArjun Rampal and Shahrukh Khan'sfriendship has gone kaput. Arjun skippedShahrukh Khan's grand Eid bash

1Cover Story:Military gambit

16Community:Festival of India

44Immigration:

A high-profile bipartisan task forcechaired by former governors and secre-taries endorses citizenship for immigrants

50Life Style:

Oxford scholar Gavin Flood and poettranslator Charles Martin bestow on Gitathe glorious gusto it deserves.

12Techbiz:

The low growth in the Indian economyhas consequences and implications forall the members of the BRICS nations

41Travel:PushkarSurrounded by hills on three sides andsand dunes on the other, Pushkar formsa fascinating backdrop for religious fair.

India hit

On a hot weekend with temperature soar-ing, 21st Festival of India opened with abang in Fremont, California

Pakistan military is deliberately ratchetingup tension with India to prevent anymeaningful peace talks

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On the occasion of her 66th Independence Day, India received a uniquebirthday gift from the Indian American community - $5 million in grants to

usher in a new era for the Center for India Studies at Stony Brook University inNew York.

These grants which include - and I cite from the communiqué received fromthe University - a donation of $1.25 million from Dr. Nirmal Mattoo, a perma-nent endowment of $1.25 from the Indian American community and a generous$2.5 million matching funds from the Simons Foundation Challenge Grant.

So what started as a tentative program with just two courses has todaybecome a full fledged Chair in perpetuity to encompass a broad range of areasincluding art, esthetics, ethics, linguistics, literature, literary theory, philosophy,religion, spirituality, psychology, sociopolitical theory, and allied disciplines.

Over the years, the Center for India Studies has gained prominence not onlyas an academic center for excellence, but also a cultural and resource center tospread the India story through international news reports, mainstream mediaoutlets and television documentaries.

But what makes the Center special for both India and Indian Americans isthat, as Prof. S.N. Sridhar, the founding director of the Center says, it is a "proudcommunity asset." Indeed, it is a prized possession of the community, builtthrough tireless fund raising and ensuring a profile of excellence to attract themost outstanding of academic talent to its faculty and programs.

A perfect example of a successful partnership between a public university andthe Indian American community, the Center has become an inspiration for othercommunities who want to start similar programs in other universities.

As a member of the Indian American community, besides thanking the vision-ary leadership of the University and generosity of the Simons Foundation, Icommend and congratulate our own community leaders who made this Centersuch a tremendous success.

So here's to the India Studies Center, which, as Dennis Assanis, Provost ofthe University says, will be a treasury of human achievement - the intellectualheritage and history of a whole subcontinent. And, more importantly, an endow-ment for a classic civilization.

Citizenship favored

India PostAugust 23, 2013 5

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Cover/Top Stories

'Pak military raising tension with India'WASHINGTON: Pakistan mili-

tary is deliberately ratcheting uptension with India to prevent anymeaningful peace talks and dem-onstrate that it still calls the shotson bilateral ties, an eminentAmerican expert has said.

"It is possible the Pakistanimilitary establishment is deliber-ately ratcheting up the tensionto demonstrate to the Sharif gov-ernment that it still calls the shotsregarding India-Pakistan rela-tions," Lisa Curtis of The Heri-

tage Foundation said.The Pakistan army may be try-

ing to warn Sharif off from pur-suing any meaningful peace ini-tiatives like he did when he pre-viously served as prime ministerin the late 1990s, she added.

"Back-channel negotiationswith India over the status ofKashmir had made significantprogress under Sharif's previoustenure in 1999 until the Pakistanimilitary took over Indian militarypositions in the heights of Kargil,

precipitating a brief Indo-Paki-stani border war," she said.

Curtis said the US should takethe recent border flare-ups seri-ously and do what it can to re-duce the military tensions that riskdeveloping into broader conflict.

"Washington should resistany calls for mediation, how-ever," she said and praised theState Department to dismiss theidea of Washington appointinga special envoy to deal withIndo-Pakistani tensions.

"The specter of a visible, high-profile US role in the dispute overKashmir would only risk exacerbat-ing tensions by fuelling unrealisticexpectations in Pakistan and its sup-port for Kashmiri militants," she said.

"A more promising path to en-couraging peace in the subconti-nent and overall regional stabilityis for Washington to convince thePakistani military to give up its poli-cies of relying on extremist groupsto achieve its foreign policy objec-tives," Curtis said. -PTI

Curtis said the USshould take the re-cent border flare-upsseriously and dowhat it can to reducethe military tensionsthat risk developinginto broader conflict

Army Chief briefs Prime Ministeron LoC situation

NEW DELHI: Against the back-drop of ceasefire violations alongthe Line of Control, Army ChiefGen Bikram Singh has briefedPrime Minister Manmohan Singhon the situation there and the re-taliatory operations being carriedout by the Indian troops.

The Army Chief held an "un-scheduled" 40-minute meetingwith the Prime Minister at his 7,Race Course Road residence andbriefed him about the ongoingceasefire violations on the Lineof Control, sources said here.

The meeting comes soon afterDefense Minister A K Antonymade a statement in the RajyaSabha in which he said the num-ber of ceasefire violations by Pa-kistan has been rising and afterthe killing of five Indian soldierson August 6.

He said 24 such violations havetaken place since August six.

The Defense Minister said thearmy has mobilized troops andthey are retaliating effectivelyand strongly.

The Army Chief has been hold-ing meetings with his top officersincluding his three-star PrincipalStaff Officers including the DGMOand the DGMI to chalk out theresponse of the Army in view of

the situation on the LoC.During his visit to the field

formations along the LoC, theChief had pulled up his com-

manders there for the failure tocheck the killing of five Indiansoldiers earlier this month andthe beheading of own troops inJanuary.

The force is also preparing it-

self for tackling the possibility ofincreased attacks by the PakistanBorder Action Teams (BAT) onthe LoC. -PTI

Army Chief Gen Bikram Singh

India, Pak shouldn't wasteresources on war: SharifISLAMABAD: Describing

Kashmir as the "jugular vein" ofhis country, Prime Minister NawazSharif has said India and Pakistanshould join hands to tackle pov-erty and disease instead of wast-ing their resources on wars.

Kashmir is a "national issueand the jugular vein of Pakistan"and its resolution is as dear to himas other Pakistanis, Sharif said inhis first address to the nationsince assuming office in June.

Sharif cautioned that Pakistancannot achieve any target with-out strengthening its economy."Alongside the Kashmir issue wewill have to pay attention tostrengthening our economy re-solve our internal and external

problems and tackle the powercrisis and terrorism," he said.

Referring to his desire to forgegood relations with India, Sharifsaid both countries should real-ize that "instead of wasting theirenergies and resources on warsthey should wage war againstpoverty ignorance and disease".

Pakistan and India will have tojoin their heads together to ad-dress common issues like povertyand ignorance, he said.

"History bears testimony to thefact that progress and develop-ment of a nation is deeply linkedto cordial relations with neigh-bors. It is because of this that wewant good relations with all neigh-bors, including India," he said.

Sharif said he had "always wantedgood relations with India" and thepeople had supported his contentionduring the general election in May.

Without referring to clashesalong the Line of Control in Jammuand Kashmir, Sharif said the coun-try is "fully prepared to defend themotherland along with its valiantarmed forces".

Sharif's PML-N party won thepolls with a clear majority but hasbeen struggling with an array of

challenges, ranging from a crip-pling energy crisis to a Talibaninsurgency.

Ties between Islamabad andNew Delhi too have soured sincefive Indian soldiers were killed inan attack by Pakistani troopsalong the LoC.

Turning to domestic issues,Sharif expressed his government'sresolve to eliminate terrorism im-prove the economy and addressthe power crisis.-PTI

Nawaz Sharif

Sanjay Dutt seeks parole for treatmentPUNE: Actor Sanjay Dutt, serv-

ing a 42 months sentence in the1993 Bombay blasts case, hassought to be let out on parole fortreatment of an undisclosed medi-cal condition, Yerawada jail au-thorities said.

Dutt's application, submittedaround 20 days ago, is being pro-cessed, sources said.

While confirming receipt of anapplication from the 53-year-oldactor for parole, Jail Superinten-dent Yogesh Desai declined todivulge any details about the ail-ment for which he intends to seektreatment.

"We have forwarded his paroleapplication to the divisional com-missioner, who will take a decision.The divisional commissioner will

get a detailed report from the con-cerned police stations and thendecide on the application.

While granting parole, the con-

duct of Sanjay Dutt will also beconsidered," Desai said.

The actor was convicted by aTADA court for illegally possess-

ing a 9 mm pistol and an AK-56rifle, a part of the consignment ofweapons and explosives broughtto India for coordinated serialblasts that killed 257 people andinjured over 700 in March 1993.

The Supreme Court had inMarch this year upheld his con-viction under the Arms Act butreduced the six years to five.

He had already served a-year-and-half behind the bars beforethe apex court's judgment and isundergoing the remaining sen-tence of 42 months.

Dutt was sent to Arthur RoadJail in Mumbai on May 16 after hesurrendered before a designatedTADA court and was shifted toYerawada prison six days later.-PTI

Sanjay Dutt


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Menon meets US officialsto prepare for PM's visitWASHINGTON: National Se-

curity Advisor ShivshankarMenon has met top officials of theObama Administration to preparefor the scheduled visit of PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh to theUS next month.

"Deputy Secretary (of StateWilliam) Burns and NSA Menondiscussed plans for Prime Minis-ter Singh's upcoming visit toWashington, and affirmed ourmutual commitment to continuingprogress on civil-nuclear coopera-tion, regional security, economiccooperation, and combating cli-mate change," a State Departmentspokesperson told PTI.

Menon met Burns and has

held a series of meetings withother senior officials of the USGovernment in the White Houseand the Pentagon, during whichhe held consultations on a widerange of bilateral and regional is-sues.

"Burns also expressed his con-dolences for the personnel killedin the INS Sundhurakshak," theofficial said.

Prime Minister Singh is ex-pected to undertake a six-day visitto the US from September 20, dur-ing which he will have a bilateralmeeting with President BarackObama in Washington besidesattending the UN General Assem-bly in New York. -PTI

Jindal gets 50 pc approval ininternal Republican surveyWASHINGTON: Louisiana's

Indian-American Governor BobbyJindal - a potential Republicanpresidential candidate in 2016 -has 50 per cent approval in inter-nal party survey in hishome state.

Jindal's internal pollingputs his approval rating at50 per cent in Louisiana,according to the Republi-can survey.

The survey found 55per cent support the 42-year-old potential presi-dential candidate's con-troversial decision not toexpand Medicaid, with 37per cent opposed, Politiconews site reported.

Sixty-two per cent ofLouisianans opposeObamacare, 53 per centstrongly so. Only 33 per cent fa-vor the law.

Jindal, reelected in 2011, isterm-limited.

Four-fifths of Republicans fa-

vor his Medicaid position.President Barack Obama's ap-

proval rating is 37 per cent in thestate, according to the poll.

OnMessage Inc, Jindal's main

consulting firm, surveyed 800 vot-ers from August 12 to 15.

The poll was conducted for theNational Republican SenatorialCommittee. -PTI

Bobby Jindal

Indians across world celebrate I Day with gustoBEIJING/MELBOURNE: Indi-

ans across the globe donned pa-triotic colors as they celebrated

the country's 67th IndependenceDay, unfurling the national flagand organizing cultural events tomark the occasion.

India's Ambassador to China SJaishankar hoisted the tri-color atthe Embassy premises in Beijing

to celebrate the Inde-pendence Day. Alarge gathering of In-dian expatriates work-ing in Beijing at-tended the ceremony.

Jaishankar readout President PranabMukharjee's nationaladdress and laterhosted a reception onthe occasion.

The national tri-color also flutteredproudly acrosssoutheast Asia, asIndians and friends ofIndia thronged to wit-ness the unfurling ofthe flag by Indian en-voys in the region tomark India's 67th In-dependence Day.

In Bangkok,India's ambassador to ThailandAnil Wadhwa unfurled the flagand read out the President'sspeech.

School children sang patrioticsongs while 14 dancers fromArunachal Pradesh's Tawang dis-trict performed the Snow Liondance much to the delight of hun-dreds of Indians present at theEmbassy.

The tri-color was also unfurledby Indian envoys in neighboringMyanmar, Singapore, Laos, Indo-

nesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,Cambodia and Vietnam.

In Tokyo, India's Ambassadorto Japan Deepa Wadhwa unfurledthe national flag.

About 300 Indians and friendsof India attended the function.Patriotic songs were sung byschool children from two Indianschools in Tokyo.

In Singapore, India's HighCommissioner Vijay Thakur Singhled more than 500-strong Indiancommunity in celebrating the In-dependence Day.

Singh read out the President'smessage which was followed bythree hours of cultural perfor-mances and singing of patrioticsongs.

Students from Indian schoolsin Singapore also performed dur-ing the cultural events.

Singh hosted a morning recep-tion for the Indian community andbusinessmen in Singapore.

In Australia, Indian Diasporacelebrated the 67th IndependenceDay by organizing flag hoistingceremonies across the countryfollowed by gala dinners andevents.

Speaking on the occasion,India's High Commissioner to

Australia Biren Nanda extendedgreetings to Indian nationals andpersons of Indian origin in thecountry.

He said India's relations withAustralia have grown fromstrength to strength since the es-tablishment of a strategic partner-ship between the two countriesin 2009.

"Our bilateral trade has reachedUSD 20 billion. There has been avery significant growth in two-way investment.

Indian companies have in-vested significantly in the re-sources sector and have pro-pelled our economic relationshipto the strategic level," he said.

Nanda further took note of In-dian companies which have estab-lished joint ventures in Australiain the manufacturing sector in ar-eas like auto components, aircraftmanufacture, the manufacture oftractors and refining of vegetableoils.

"The Free Trade Agreementthat we are now negotiating willdiversify and deepen our eco-nomic engagement," Nanda said.

Indian government is organiz-ing Regional Pravasi Diwas this

year in Sydney which is expectedto be attended by over 1000 par-ticipants across the region.

In the southern Chinese city ofGuangzhou, Consul General KNagaraj Naidu hoisted the tricolorand read the President's addressto the nation at the Indian Consu-late.

The ceremony was attendedby a cross-section of the local In-dian community, including Indianstudents, a Consulate statementsaid. -PTI

Ambassador Nirupama Raounfurling the Indian National Flag on

the occasion

India's Ambassador toJapan Deepa Wadhwa

Embassy of India Yangon: Flag Hoisting Ceremonyfor Independence Day at Embassy Auditorium on

15 August

High Commission of India, Singapore: Students from Indian schoolsin Singapore celebrate I-Day



Musharraf indicted in Bhutto murder caseISLAMABAD: Former Paki-

stani military ruler PervezMusharraf has been indicted byan anti-terrorism court in the 2007assassination of ex-premierBenazir Bhutto.

Musharraf, who has been un-der house arrest for the last fourmonths, was charged with murder,conspiracy to commit murder andfacilitation of murder, said stateprosecutor Chaudhry MuhammadAzhar.

The 70-year-old former presi-dent was brought under heavysecurity to the anti-terrorism courtof judge Habibur Rehman in

Rawalpindi.If convicted, Musharraf can be

sentenced to death or life impris-onment.

Musharraf denied the allega-tion in the court and his legal teamwill continue to defend him in thecase in which he has been falselyimplicated, the information secre-tary of his All Pakistan MuslimLeague, Aasia Ishaq, told PTI.

"He was not in the list of ac-cused till 2008 but later his namewas included on the basis of anemail by Benazir to the US jour-nalist Mark Segal," said Ishaq.

"When this email has been

considered by the court, why ithas not considered another emailby her to Musharraf in which shenominated three people as cul-prits for her (future) murder."

Ishaq said that the court hasfixed next hearing on August 28and the former president will nowface the trial in the case.

Bhutto was killed in suicide at-tack in 2007 in Rawalpindi whenMusharraf was president of thecountry. Musharraf had blamed her

killing on Pakistani Taliban chiefBaitullah Mehsud, who denied anyinvolvement. Mehsud was killed ina US drone strike in 2009.

Musharraf is currently beingheld at his farmhouse inIslamabad, which has been de-clared a "sub-jail". He was ar-rested shortly after he returned toPakistan from self-exile in Marchto participate in general elections.

However, he was barred by aPakistani court from contesting

polls for the rest of his life.The former President is also

facing charges in other cases, in-cluding the killing of Baloch leaderAkbar Bugti in a military opera-tion in 2006 and for taking uncon-stitutional steps by imposingemergency and removing judgesin 2007.

His indictment is an unprec-edented event in Pakistan that hasbeen ruled by the military for halfof its 66-year history.-PTI

Anti-superstitionactivist shot dead

PUNE: In a setback to the pro-gressive movement inMaharashtra, leading anti-super-stition activist NarendraDabholkar was shot dead by twounidentified assailants while hewas out on a morning walk here.

Known for his over two-de-cade long campaign against out-dated and inhuman social prac-tices, Dabholkar was currentlyengaged in mobilizing public opin-ion and holding discussions withMaharashtra government forpassing an 'anti-superstition and

black magic' law in the state legis-lature, opposed by certain sec-tions of the society, including theWarkari sect.

69-year-old Dabholkar, whoheaded the 'AndhashraddhaNirluman Samiti' (anti-superstitionmovement), was out for a morn-ing walk when two motorcycle-borne unidentified assailants firedtwo bullets from close range intohis head from behind, police saidquoting an eyewitness.

The offence took place on thebridge near Omkareshwar Temple

in the city in the vicinity of'Sadhana' magazine, whichDabholkar edited to propagateprogressive thought to changesocial mindset.

Police said Dabholkar, who layin a pool of blood on the bridge,was identified by a photo in hiswallet and a cheque in the nameof the Andhashraddha NirmulanSamiti (ANS). He was taken toSassoon Hospital where he suc-cumbed to injuries.

Four bullets were fired at theactivist out of which two were

lodged in his head, policeadded.

For Dabholkar, whohailed from Satara,spreading scientific tem-per and eradicating su-perstitions and undesir-able rituals in the societywas a lifelong missionwhich he carried with zestand rational thought,notwithstanding resis-tance from retrograde el-ements.

Maharashtra HomeMinister R R Patil, ex-pressing shock and grief,said he had instructed toppolice officials to get tothe bottom of the repre-hensible act and book the

culprits using all their "investiga-tive skills".

Pune Police CommissionerGulabrao Pol said the motive be-hind the murder was being inves-tigated.

Prominent political leaders andsocial activists from the state in-cluding Union minister and NCPpresident Sharad Pawar con-demned the killing of Dabholkar,describing him as a dedicated,selfless social activist who wascommitted to promote progres-sive thinking. -PTI

Narendra Dabholkar



Bleeding rupee not toimpact rating outlook

MUMBAI: International rating agencyMoody's has said the bleeding rupee, thetwin deficits and weaker growth are alreadyfactored in the current Baa3 sovereign rat-ing, and thus do not accentuate alreadyweak fundamentals of the country.

"While the current rupee depreciationmay be a new development, the factors thatunderpin it are not, and have been incorpo-rated into the Baa3 rating," Atsi Sheth,Moody's Investors Service vice-presidentand senior credit officer at its sovereign

risks group, said in a note.This is because the current sovereign

rating of Baa3 incorporates the macroeco-nomic challenges of weaker growth, thesteep plunge of the rupee and the twin defi-cits, Sheth said.

She also pointed out that even when thegoing was good for the country on thegrowth front, while averaging at 7-10 percent, Moody's did not revise its rating out-look considering the weak fundamentals interms of large government deficit and pub-lic debt, coupled with poor infrastructure.

Moody's became the first rating agencyto retain the sovereign rating of Baa3 forthe country after the rupee dived below 63to the dollar.

It can be noted that Moody's is the onlyagency that has a stable outlook on thecountry's Baa3 sovereign rating, while oth-ers hold a BBB- rating with a negative out-look.

Citing lower-than-anticipated growthand a steep fall in the rupee, which lost 17.5per cent since the beginning of the fiscal,Sheth said it will be "very challenging" forthe government to meet fiscal deficit targetof 4.8 per cent.

Sheth further said the problem the coun-try now faces are a reflection of the currentglobal growth and financial environment.

"What we are seeing now is that, as in-ternational growth and financial environ-ment has turned less benign than it was inthe last decade, India's long-standing mac-

roeconomic challenges are revealed inweaker growth, current account and cur-rency metrics.

"However, the credit analysis that un-derpins our rating for India has incorpo-rated these long-standing challenges, andthey were a constraint on the rating - thatis, they prevented the rating from movinghigher - even when growth was in the 7-10per cent range," Sheth said.

She further said specifically, Moody'shas assessed the low financial strength ofthe government due to high deficit anddebt.

"Moreover, despite the economy beingmuch larger relative to the global averageand its average growth rate, savings rateand investment rates being higher than theemerging market average, we have assessedthe country's economic strength as 'mod-erate', reflecting the infrastructure deficit,recurrent inflation and policy uncertaintywhich constrain potential growth as wellas foreign investment," she added. -PTI

Moody's is the onlyagency that has a stableoutlook on the country'sBaa3 sovereign rating,while others hold aBBB- rating with anegative outlook



Nawaz Sharif orders halt to executions

Zardari to facegraft cases atend of term

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan President AsifAli Zardari will have to face several oldcorruption cases when he loses his immu-nity from prosecution at the end of his five-year term next month, a government officialsaid here.

The end of immunity after Zardari leavesoffice on September 8 will trigger the re-opening of six corruption cases in the sec-ond week of next month, said the govern-ment official, who did not want to be named.

"Now these cases will be reopened andheard at accountability court No 1 inIslamabad," the official, privy to develop-ments about these cases, told PTI.

The accountability courts hear cases reg-istered by the National Accountability Bu-reau, the country's anti-corruption agency.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif has ordered an immediate haltto death sentences, including that of manyhard-core militants, till he has discussedthe matter with President Asif Ali Zardari,an official spokesman said.

Sharif made the decision after Zardariwrote to him, saying he wanted to discussthe hanging of two dreaded Lashkar-i-Jhangvi militants amid calls from rightsgroups to cancel the planned executions.

The two LeJ militants are Attaullah aliasQasim and Muhammad Azam alias Sharifwho were convicted by a counter-terror-ism court in July 2004 for killing a Shia doc-tor and are scheduled to be executed be-tween August 20-22 this year.

The official spokesman was quoted byTV news channels as saying that since thedate of the executions was approaching andthe President was away from the country,the premier had directed the Interior Minis-try to withhold the execution of the deathsentences till he holds a meeting withZardari.

The stay would last until Zardari returnsfrom abroad to discuss the matter withSharif, a statement said.

"In due deference to the wish of thePresident, it has been desired that all ex-ecutions of death sentences may be held

in abeyance till the discussion takes place,"it said.

If the ruling PML-N goes ahead with theexecutions, it will end a five-year morato-rium on death sentences that was put inplace by the previous government led byZardari's Pakistan People's Party.

The spokesman further said that reportsthat the President had stopped the imple-mentation of the death sentences were in-correct.

The Pakistan government also halted theexecution of a prisoner in Punjab provinceat the last minute.

"The process of execution of a death-row prisoner has been halted last minute atthe district jail Vehari (some 200 kilometersfrom Lahore) in pursuance of orders by thepresident to this effect," District Jail Su-perintendent Mohammad Ashraf said.

"All the arrangements were finalized forexecution of a murder convict MunirHussain when we received the presidentialorder in this regard," he told reporters.

According to official figures, Pakistanhas over 7,000 prisoners on death row, oneof the largest populations of prisoners fac-ing execution in the world. -PTI

The cases against Zardari including theARY Gold, Cotecna, SGS, Polo Ground,Ursus Tractor and Assets cases. Thecharges date back to his slain wife BenazirBhutto's two stints as Prime Minister.

They were being heard in three anti-cor-ruption courts in Rawalpindi but were putoff indefinitely when Zardari was electedPresident in 2008.

However, the official admitted that theconviction of Zardari will be difficult as themain accused - Benazir Bhutto and hermother Begum Nusrat Bhutto - are dead andtheir names have been removed from thelist of accused.

The official said another 15 people ac-cused along with Zardari have already beenacquitted during the past five years.

Zardari will have to face trial in order toprove his innocence and get a clean chitfrom the courts, he said. -PTI

The end of immunityafter Zardari leaves officeon September 8 willtrigger the reopeningof six corruption



Sports bar fined for discriminating Indo-CanadiansTORONTO: A popular sports

bar in Canada has been fined forracially discriminating againstthree Indo-Canadians by denyingthem entry for a graduation partytwo years ago.

The British Columbia HumanRights Tribunal ruled that SharkClub of Langley caused injury tothe dignity and self-respect ofSurinderjit Rai, Manjit Gill andManjinder Gill by denying entryon December 9, 2011.

The tribunal awarded the menCanadian dollars 10,000 each.

According to the tribunal's de-cision, the men arrived 15 minuteslate for their reservation and weretold they could not join the restof their 20-person party alreadyinside.

The trio was then told by door-man Andrew Schmah that the res-taurant had been reserved for aticketed party and they couldonly enter if they purchased a

ticket or were on a reservation list,Vancouver Sun reported.

After offering to purchase tick-

ets and pleading with the door-men to let them in, the men askedseveral Caucasian customerswhether they had reservations or

tickets and found several in-stances where that was not thecase.

The situation worsened whenRai asked the doorman for hisname and, not confident that hehad been truthful, took a photo-

graph. Schmah then assaulted Raiand the group called police.

Tribunal member NormanTrerise described the incident as"disturbing" and noted Schmahand other respondents gave in-consistent testimony.

Trerise found the club's argu-ment that the group was deniedentry because Rai lacked properidentification was a fabrication.The doormen's claims that Raihad been belligerent were foundunsubstantiated.

"I find that the combination

of the Rai group's persistent in-ability to access the Shark Club,the continued refusal to admitthem while allowing Caucasianpatrons unrestricted access, thefabrication by the respondent'switnesses of the reason for de-nying them entrance and thephysical assault on Mr Rai, allin the absence of alleged provo-cation, satisfy me that the Raigroup's race, color and ancestrywere factors in the actions of MrSchmah," Trerise wrote in his re-port. -PTI

Canadian universitieswoo Indian students

NEW DELHI: Delegates ofnine Canadian universities arrivedhere seeking Indian students toCanada as a premier destinationfor higher education.

The tour is of special interestto Standard XI and Standard XIIstudents with strong academicstanding, school guid-ance counselors andparents, a CanadianHigh Commission pressrelease said.

The delegation is ledby Robert Finlayson ofCarleton University inOttawa and MichelleBeaton of Ryerson Uni-versity in Toronto.

The delegates willvisit Mumbai, Dehradun,Hyderabad, Bangalore besidesNew Delhi during their stay tillAugust 31

"India is a key undergraduate stu-dent market for Canadian universities,"said Robert Finlayson of CarletonUniversity and Tour Director.

"Indian students are soughtfor their academic strength andtheir rich contribution to studentlife on Canadian university cam-puses. Each year we are seeingmore Indian students choosingCanada as their first choice forstudy", he Finlayson added.

The team comprises of repre-sentatives of University of Brit-ish Columbia, Carleton University,Concordia University, GuelphUniversity, McGill University,Queens University, Ryerson Uni-versity, University of Toronto,York University. -PTI

“Indian students are soughtfor their academic strengthand their rich contribution tostudent life on Canadianuniversity campuses”

Train runs over 35 devotees,mob attacks train driver

KHAGARIA, Bihar: A speed-ing express train ran over devo-tees waiting on tracks to stop it,leaving 35 persons dead and trig-gering angry protests by localswho attacked the train driver andset afire its coach besides engineof another train at Dhamara GhatStation in Khagaria district.

The 'Kanwarias' (devotees ofLord Shiva) were on the tracksafter alighting from theSamastipur-Saharsa passengerwhen they were run over by theSaharsa-Patna Rajyarani Expresstraveling at 80 kmph, officials said.

Additional Director General ofPolice (ADG) Law and Order S K

Bharadwaj told PTI that 35 pil-grims were killed.

A senior railway official alsosaid that the toll could be around35, but refused to be quoted.

Railway Board ChairmanArunendra Kumar said the trainwas not supposed to halt atDhamara Ghat and was givenclearance to pass through the areabut the devotees were on thetracks thinking they could stopthe train.

Though the driver applied emer-gency brakes, it was too late bythen, he said, adding an internalinquiry has been ordered into theincident. -PTI

www.indiapost.comIndia Post

TOP TENHINDI FILM SONGS

1 Zinda: Bhaag Milkha Bhaag2 Mera Yaar: Bhaag Milkha Bhaag3 Titli: Chennai Express4 Ye Tune Kya Kiya: Once Upon

A Time In Mumbaai Dobara5 Alvida: D-Day6 Maston Ka Jhund: Bhaag

Milkha Bhaag7 Get On The Dance Floor:

Chennai Express8 Chugliyaan : Once Upon A

Time In Mumbaai Dobara9 Tum Hi Ho: Aashiqui 210 Lungi Dance: Chennai Express

11 August 23 , 2013

Arjun Rampal and Shahrukh Khan's friendship hasgone kaput. Arjun Rampal skipped ShahrukhKhan's grand Eid bash and raised many eyebrows.

He rather chose to attend director Shaad Ali's party onthe same day.

Says a source, "B-Town has been speculating aboutArjun's no show at SRK's bash. His wife Mehr was spot-ted arriving solo for the event.

Mehr attended Shahrukh's Eid party alone but Arjunsnubbed his bash. When Arjun celebrated his birthdayat Morocco, Gauri Khan turned up sans herhusband.

It is reported that Arjun andShahrukh's relationship endedwhen Shahrukh was rumored tobe dating Priyanka Chopra. Itis said that when Arjun inter-

fered in his personal life, he turned furious. Their rela-tionship strained around the release of 'Ra.One'.

The Khan and Rampal families were thick friendsbut today it is a past story. They avoid crossingpaths.

At a special screening of D Day held at Mannatfor SRK'S group of friends, Arjun was again con-spicuous by his absence.

MEHR ATTENDED SHAHRUKH'S EIDPARTY ALONE BUT ARJUN SNUBBED HISBASH. WHEN ARJUN CELEBRATED HISBIRTHDAY AT MOROCCO, GAURI KHANTURNED UP SANS HER HUSBAND

Of late, Salman Khan had found true lovein Lulia Vantur but unfortunately itended like any of his past affairs. Though

the exact reason of their break-up is not known,Salman Khan's parents are not so impressedwith this Romanian beauty. It seems Lulia isalready married.

Salman accepted his parents' word and is saidto have broken up with his new found love.Recently, a picture of the duo in a family dinnerat a restaurant was posted on site and it seemedthat things were very serious between them andit had reached a higher level than just romance.Another picture circulated on net where Salmanin just shorts is spotted with his ladylove dur-ing Hyderabad shoot of 'Mental.

During this Eid, Salman Khan looked verysilent and did not host any Eid bash unlike pre-vious years. When he stepped into his car fromhis Galaxy apartment, he just waved to his fansand passed off. He looked disturbed.

ANOTHERBREAK UP

12 India Post August 23, 2013www.indiapost.com

TechBizTech News Verizon to participate in $10bn US govt contract

Low growth in India has implications for BRICSJOHANNESBURG: The current

low growth in the Indian economyhas consequences and implica-tions for all the members of theBRICS nations, which calls for con-solidation in our partnerships toestablish a new growth trajectory,South African Trade and IndustriesMinister Rob Davies has said.

Davies said this during a pressconference here at the two-dayBRICS Business Council meet.

"While emerging economiesand BRICS countries continue tobe the places where there isgrowth in the world economy,what we have seen is that the lev-els of growth are not what theywere a couple of years ago,"Davies said.

"That is a fact and it has allkinds of consequences. So if thereis lower growth in India or Chinaor Brazil, as there is (in India), ithas consequences and implica-tions for all of us.

"The implications for us are thatwe need to strengthen and con-solidate our partnerships so thatwe can establish a new growth tra-jectory in all of our countries that

is mutually beneficial", he said.It also accelerates the need for

us to build (a) new kind of symbi-otic basis on which we can movefurther, Davies said as he de-

scribed the current world eco-nomic crisis as the greatest sincethe 1930's.

The South African minister saidthe inaugural meeting of businessleaders from the BRICS (Brazil,Russia, India, China and SouthAfrica) countries was one of great

importance for the Council, whichwas established at the BRICSSummit held in Durban a fewmonths ago.

"We as trade ministers have

been meeting over the years anddiscussing ways in which we needto promote BRICS cooperation inthe area of trade and investment.

"One of the very important con-clusions that we have come to isthat we are all industrializingeconomies in the BRICS group.

We need to promote a pattern ofinteraction in the area of tradewhich supports value-added pro-duction to each of our economies,"he said.

Davies said the trade ministershad formed the Contact Group onEconomic and Trade Issues(CGETI) which will meet in Novem-ber in South Africa to discuss astudy that has been initiated onhow to promote trade in value-added products.

Davies was joined by the chair-man of the Brics Business Coun-cil, South African mining magnateand philanthropist PatriceMotsepe, who was co-chairman ofthe India-South Africa CEO Forumuntil last year with Ratan Tata.

Motsepe said there would beno duplication with the work ofthat body and the Council.

"Ratan Tata and I had an infor-mal agreement that when he stepsdown, so would I.E. stepped downlast year and I have done the same.But the CEO's Forum has done ex-cellent work and I'm confident thatthey will continue to do outstand-ing work," Motsepe said. -PTI

Novartis lashes out at India for not respecting IPRNEW DELHI: Hitting out at

India's way of dealing with Intel-lectual Property Rights (IPR) is-sues, drug major Novartis hassaid India is losing investmentsin research and developmentfrom MNCs to China due to lackof an ecosystem that fosters in-novation.

According to the company,which lost a patent case for itscancer drug Glivec, India needsto have fast track courts to dealwith IPR disputes.

"The recent cases that wehave seen in the area of IPR donot in any way point to an envi-ronment that encourages inno-vation. A patent is granted thenrevoked. A patent is granted thenviolated. A patent is grantedthen a compulsory license is is-sued," Novartis India Vice Chair-man and Managing DirectorRanjit Shahani told PTI.

He said that China has beenable to attract leading global

companies to invest in Researchand Development (R&D), whileIndia has been unable to do so.

"What we certainly would liketo see is an ecosystem that fos-ters innovation and fast-trackcourts to hear and decide casesinvolving IPR. China has drawn all

the leading global companies toinvest in R&D there while Indiahas not. That itself should serve

as food for thought," he said.While the Supreme Court had

rejected the company's plea for apatent on cancer drug Glivec inApril, last year the governmentinvoked compulsory license onBayer Corporation's cancer-treat-ment drug Nexavar permitting

Hyderabad-based Natco Pharmato manufacture and sell the drugat a price lesser by over 30 times

charged by its patent-holder.Shahani said the government

needs to have a holistic approachand look at global companies asbeing part of the solution.

"All stakeholders must cometogether to find sustainable so-lutions that balance the need forinnovation with the need formedicines that are affordable, allwithin a robust intellectual prop-erty rights environment," hesaid.

Setting up fast-track courts toaddress IP disputes would cer-tainly be a step in the right di-rection, he added.

Espousing the cause of for-eign capital in the Indian phar-maceutical sector, Shahani, whois also the President of Organi-zation of Pharmaceutical Produc-ers of India OPPI, said the for-eign direct investment wouldlead to upgrading of thecountry's skills in the sector. -PTI

Rob Davies

Duty-free importof high-end TVsbanned

NEW DELHI: In its continuingbid to rein in CAD, the govern-ment has banned duty-free importof high-end flat screen plasma tele-vision, which will now attract alevy of 36.05 per cent.

Seeking to end more than a de-cade-old concession, the RevenueDepartment issued a notificationthat amended rules so as to "dis-allow import of flat panel (LCD/LED/Plasma) television as part offree baggage allowance" with ef-fect from August 26.

This would mean travelersbringing in LCD/LED/Plasma TVas part of baggage from August26 would have to pay customsduty at the rate of 35 per cent, plusan education cess of 3 per cent onit. The effective rate of import dutywould be 36.05 per cent.

As the Current Account Defi-cit (CAD) continued to swell athigh proportions in the first fourmonths on the back of surginggold imports, the government lastweek raised duty on gold, plati-num and silver to 10 per cent.

Finance Minister PChidambaram had also said thatsteps would be taken to compressimport of non-essential goods.-PTI

Dena Bank raisesNRI depositsrates by 1 pc

NEW DELHI: Dena Bank hasraised interest rates on NRI depos-its of over three years by 1 percent, days after the Reserve Bankderegulated interest rates on suchdeposits.

The increased interest rateswould be applicable on fixed de-posits Foreign Currency Non-Resident Bank [FCNR (B)] by NRIin the US dollar, pounds, euro,Japanese yen, Canadian dollar andAustralian dollar.

The fixed deposits between 3-4years in US dollar would attract4.78 per cent as compared to 3.78per cent. Similarly, 4-5 years termdeposit would earn 5.17 per centagainst 4.17 per cent, it said.

For 5 years, term deposit thenew interest rate would be 5.56 percent as against 4.56 per cent, itadded.

Similar one per cent hike hasbeen made in case of term depos-its in other currencies like pounds,euro, Japanese yen, Canadian dol-lar and Australian dollar.

Last week, the Reserve Bankderegulated interest rates on NRIfixed deposit schemes and ex-empted such term deposits fromCRR and SLR requirement to at-tract foreign currency. -PTI

Telecom services major Verizon says it has been selected to participate in the US Department of the Interior's USD 10 billion 10-

year contract to provide cloud and hosting services.This is potentially one of Verizon's largest federal cloud contracts

to date, it said in a release.Verizon is one of 10 firms that will compete to offer cloud-based

storage, secure file transfer, virtual machine, and database, Web anddevelopment and test environment hosting services, it added.

The company is also one of four selected to offer SAP applicationhosting services, it said.

13India PostTechBiz PostAugust 23, 2013

www.indiapost.com

Use forex reserves to curbRe volatility, says Basu

NEW DELHI: With the rupeesliding below the 63 mark againstUS dollar, World Bank ChiefEconomist Kaushik Basu has saidthe country should use forex re-serves to curb volatility in the cur-rency market and not to look toIMF for funds.

"To use certain amount of yourforex to buy and sell dollar I think(is) a good idea...(It) gives out sig-nal that reserve has a purpose.That is broadly the direction weshould go and use reserves to curbturbulence", he said while deliver-ing the 16th JRD Tata MemorialLecture here.

Basu, who was Chief EconomicAdviser in the Finance Ministrybefore taking over his assignmentwith the World Bank, said the gov-ernment should not "overreact" to

depreciation of rupee."There was a sudden deprecia-

tion in exchange rate but we must

not overreact to that. We do needsteps to correct it.

The certain amount of buyingand selling of foreign exchange isthe technique that is done in float-

ing exchange ratemarket...that methodcould be strategic inter-vention," he said.

On the possibility ofIndia approaching theInternational MonetaryFund (IMF) for money,Basu said: "I don't thinkwe are in a situationwhere there is any needfor that. India hasenough foreign ex-change reserve. So, thequestion of having toturn to IMF is not there."

India has a foreignexchange reserve of about USD280 billion. -PTI

Punjab software exportcrosses Rs 2,000 crore

CHANDIGARH: SoftwareTechnology Parks of India (STPI)Mohali has crossed Rs 2,000 croreof software export mark, which isa milestone for a Tier-II city, PunjabIndustries and Commerce Minis-ter Anil Joshi said here.

He said that during the finan-cial year 2011-12, the export fromthis region was Rs 1,942.82 croreand in 2012-13 the export was ap-proximately Rs 2,143.70 crore,while also creating employmentopportunity for 30,000 profession-als.

Joshi said that Mohali hasemerged as the top most Tier-IIcity in the northern India and hasemerged as the second best tier-IIcity on all India basis.

"Our vision is to deliver statu-tory and data communication ser-vices in more effective way andcreate a centre of excellence with

a special stress on small mediumentrepreneurs and young entre-

preneurs," the minister said in astatement here. -PTI

Kaushik BasuAnil Joshi

India among top suppliersof paper to UAE

DUBAI: India ranks among thetop four suppliers of paper to theUAE alongside China, Indonesiaand Germany.

China and Indonesia are the keysource of import to the UAE, ac-counting for a quarter of paperbrought into the UAE.

Germany comes third, account-ing for 8.1 per cent of Dubai's im-ports, followed by India (6.9 percent) and United States of America(6.9 per cent), Italy (4.4 per cent)and Finland (3.6 per cent).

Other markets account for ap-proximately 27.9 per cent ofDubai's imports, a statement re-leased here by organizers of 'Pa-per Arabia 2013' said, quoting fig-ures published by UN Comtrade.

The UAE imported aroundUnited Arab Emirates Dirham 4.6billion worth of paper products in2011, compared to United ArabEmirates Dirham 3.1 billion in 2007,representing cumulative annualgrowth rate (CAGR) of 10 per cent.

Dubai accounted for over 80 per

cent of paper imports valued atUnited Arab Emirates Dirham 3.8billion.

The figures were highlighted atthe announcement of 'PaperArabia 2013', the Middle East andNorth Africa region's specializedevent for paper industry, to beheld in Dubai in September.

"Growth in import of paper prod-ucts can be linked to rising in-comes and lifestyle changes, andin part to Dubai and the UAE as atransit hub. Dubai is host to sev-eral hospitality and conferenceclusters, which continually needspecialized printing services andpaper products," Satish Khanna,General Manager of Al Fajer In-formation and Services, organiz-ers of 'Paper Arabia 2013' said.

Key industry players will beshowcasing their latest productsand solutions for the entire pro-duction chain, from pulp to pack-aging, distribution, wholesales/retailing, trading and marketingproducts in the three-day show.

The event comes at a time thepaper industry is registering spec-tacular growth with several pro-duction centers and paper con-verting businesses flourishing.

Participants will include leadingglobal names from France, USA,UK, India, China, Germany, Tai-wan, Indonesia, Austria, Finland,Italy and other countries, he said.-PTI

Chinese ship builder developselectronic propulsion technology

BEIJING: One of China's majorshipbuilders claimed to have de-veloped cutting-edge electronicpropulsion technology that willhelp the country to modernize itsshipping and naval fleets and re-duce dependence on importedparts in manufacturing ships.

China Shipbuilding IndustryCorp said its Wuhan Institute ofMarine Electric Propulsion final-ized its integrated electric propul-sion technology in mid-July.

It said the in-housedevelopment will helpthe nation wean itselfoff the longstandingdependence on im-ported parts in manu-facturing ships.

Most surface ves-sels in China use me-chanical transmissionsand are propelled by a motor oran engine spinning a propeller.

Many Western countries haveadopted integrated electric pro-pulsion, in which gas turbines ordiesel generators produce elec-tricity that powers electric mo-tors.

"Chinese ships usually usesteam engines, multiple-strokediesel engines or gas turbine en-gines," said Wang Dan, deputyeditor-in-chief of Modern Shipsmagazine.

"Chinese navy ships that needto reach fast speeds would have'combined diesel or gas' propul-sion systems," he told state-run

China Daily.The development of integrated

electric propulsion may resolve en-gine problems that have longhaunted the nation and its navy.

One of the major issues hasbeen a lack of domestic companieswho can make gas turbine enginesto support long distance voyages.

Without domestically devel-oped gas turbine engines, the Chi-nese navy has been forced to im-

port foreign engines for its ships,the daily quoted a military expert.

Until an electric propulsion en-gine is more widely available inChina, most ships must run on anengine fuelled by diesel and gas.

"Compared with other drivemethods, integrated electric pro-pulsion has many advantages. Itcan save more space and is easierto control. It helps reduce a ship'sweight and noise," Wang said.

"It also enables ships to cruiseat a faster speed and for a longertime."

The new technology is alsoeasier to operate and maintain, hesaid.-PTI

It said the in-house devel-opment will help the nationwean itself off thelongstanding dependenceon imported parts in manu-facturing ships.

India Post August 23, 2013www.indiapost.com

Real Estate14

Realty Tidbits NYC museum exhibit showsvirtues of living small

Home affordability dropsJUDY MARTEL

Steadily rising prices signalhappy days for home sellers recovering from the

beaten-down values of the reces-sion. But it's a different story forbuyers. Coupled with higher mort-gage rates, they're finding it moredifficult to afford a home.

Home affordability nationwideslipped during the second quar-ter, according to the National As-sociation of Home Builders/WellsFargo Housing Opportunity Index.

"Housing affordability hasbeen hovering near historic highsfor the past several years, largelydue to exceptionally favorablemortgage rates and low prices dur-ing the recession," NAHB Chair-man Rick Judson said in a release.

Prices rise, affordability falls

According to the index, 69.3percent of new and existing homessold during the second quarterwere affordable to families earn-ing the U.S. median income of

$64,400, compared with 73.7 per-cent of such homes sold duringthe first quarter. The second-quar-ter drop also marks the first timethe index has fallen below 70 per-

cent since late 2008.The second-quarter median

price of all new and existing homessold in the U.S. was $202,000, com-pared with the second-quarter me-dian price of $185,000 a year ago.

Could it get worse?David Crowe, NAHB chief

economist, noted in a release thatwhile rising mortgage rates andhome prices are contributing to thedrop in home affordability, thereare other, looming factors that area concern. Congressional discus-sions about reducing the mortgageinterest tax deduction along withPresident Barack Obama's pro-posal to promote private invest-ment in mortgages could makethem more expensive for borrow-ers.-Courtesy Bankrate.com

Must seller be present at home inspection?BY STEVE MCLINDEN O BANKRATE.COM

Dear Real Estate Adviser,When the home inspection is

being performed, should thebuyer, buyer's agent or seller (andagent) be present? I think theseller wants to be there. But whatis best for me, the buyer?

-- Sherry B.Dear Sherry,

Both you and your agent abso-lutely need to be present. As for thesellers and agent, umm, ideally no.

Your buyer's home inspectionwill not only give you and youragent an up-close assessment ofwhat flaws and issues need to beaddressed at the house and whichitems are minor and critical, it will

also serve as an informativeprimer on how the home works,where the fuse box and watershut-off valve are, where the fur-nace filter is changed and whatcomponents require regular main-tenance, among a litany of otherpractical things.

And this way, you won't haveto rely only on a written inspec-tion report, which can be a littleconfusing, plus you'll get a valu-able glimpse of some of the home'sunderpinnings from an expert.Moreover, a trustworthy and sea-soned agent should be able tochime in with important questionsfor the inspector that you might

not have even considered.

Why you don't want the selleraround

A seller's presence, on the otherhand, can create tension and dis-comfort for the buyer and some-

times for the inspector, plus ittends to make the buyer more re-luctant to comment freely or askpotentially sensitive questionsabout the home's condition. Mostgood seller's agents, by the way,know the protocol for keepingthemselves and their clients outof the way and will advise accord-ingly, though some sellers will per-sist. In fact, Realtor chatter outthere indicates that sellers tend tobe showing up at inspections --and home showings -- more fre-quently these days.

One buyer's agent recentlywrote how a seller followed her andthe buyer from room to room, mak-ing the buyer visibly uncomfort-able with her defensive running

commentary. Another recountedhow her seller verbally resented apotential buyer's request for minorrepairs and blew the deal as a re-sult, even though the same sellerwould have ultimately have had noproblem with the request, "had he

not been there in the first place" tomess up things.

Why some sellers want to bethere

Sometimes, sellers flat-out don'ttrust strangers in their homes ormay be afraid of a too-intrusiveinspection that might nick up theplace, particularly an older home.While sellers always have the rightto be present in their own homes,they'd still be well-advised to leavethe inspector and buyer alone inthese cases, then do a quick walk-through after the inspection to al-lay any worries. If there are flawsor other issues in the home thatneed to be resolved, it's best to letthe agents hash them out.

Most good seller's agents, by the way, knowthe protocol for keeping themselves and theirclients out of the way and will advise ac-cordingly, though some sellers will persist.

WB to give IndiaUSD 100 mn forhousing project

NEW DELHI: The World Bankhas signed an agreement with theIndian government to provide aUSD 100 million loan to help low-income families secure housingloans.

"The Loan and Project Agree-ments for World Bank (IDA) as-sistance of USD 100 million forlow-income housing financeproject were signed between Gov-ernment of India/National Hous-ing Bank (NHB) and the WorldBank here," the Finance Ministrysaid in a release.

The agreement was signed byDepartment of Economic AffairsJoint Secretary Nilaya Mitash,NHB Chairman and Managing Di-rector RV Verma and World Bank(India) Operations AdvisorMichael Haney, it added.

The objective of the project isto provide access to sustainablehousing finance for low-incomehouseholds to purchase, build orupgrade their dwellings, it added.

Financing under the projectaims to create incentives for lend-ers to focus on lower-incomehouseholds through a net all-inreduction of the lenders' cost offunds of about 200-300 basispoints, the release said.

"It is a financial intermediaryloan for an implementation periodof five years. NHB is the imple-menting agency," it added. -PTI

HDIL not to sellKochi SEZ land; todevelop IT infra

MUMBAI: Following relaxationin SEZ norms, debt-laden propertydeveloper HDIL has decided toscrap plan to sell the 70-acre landparcel at Kochi Special EconomicZone and is now looking to con-struct IT infrastructure there.

"We have decided not to sellthe Kochi land parcel. We will goahead with our plans of develop-ing IT and IT-enabled services in-frastructure following the recentgovernment decision to amend theSEZ Act, especially in the IT/ITeSsector, as this has given us theconfidence to relook at our plansand to develop IT infrastructure,"HDIL Finance Vice President HariPrakash Pandey told PTI here.

The company had planned toset up an IT park on the 70-acreland with a planned investment ofRs 2,300 crore.

However, in June this year itdecided to abandon the projectand sell the land to mobilize fundsand utilize it for debt repaymentas well as for the expansion of theMumbai metropolitan region. -PTI

NEW YORK: Many New Yorkers live in small apart-ments, yet most of them don't camp out in a micro-unitat a museum in order to demonstrate the virtues ofliving in tight spaces.

Challie Stillman and Lina Franco arrived at the Mu-seum of the City of New York at 6 p.m. for a 24-hourstay in a studio apartment that's part of an exhibit called``Making Room: New Models for Housing New York-ers.''-PTI

India Post 15August 23, 2013 Real Estate Postwww.indiapost.com

DIPP looking at relaxing FDI norms for housingNEW DELHI: The Department of Industrial Policy and

Promotion (DIPP) is "favorably" looking at relaxing FDInorms for the housing sector, including easing the three-year lock-in period, to attract foreign investment.

The proposal to ease the FDI guidelines for the sectorwas mooted by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Pov-erty Alleviation.

The ministry has asked for relaxation in provisions, in-cluding easing three-year lock-in period for FDI in housingand townships. It has said that the minimum capitalizationshould be USD 5 million instead of the present USD 10million for wholly-owned subsidiaries.

It has also suggested a cut in the minimum built-up areaof 50,000 sq mts in case of construction developmentprojects to 20,000 sq mts of carpet area.

"The DIPP is looking at it (all the demands) favorably.There is a need to define the word 'completion' in the

current policy on the matter of reducing three year lock-inperiod," a top official of the commerce and industry minis-try told PTI.

As per the current FDI policy, the lock-in period of threeyears applies to every tranche of investment brought in bya foreign player from the date of receipt or from the date of'completion' of minimum capitalization whichever is later.

"The main objective of relaxing the provisions is to at-tract more FDI and provide houses at affordable prices tothe people," the official said.

During April 2000 and May 2013, construction develop-ment including townships, housing and built-up infrastruc-ture, the country has received FDI worth USD 22.16 billionor 11 per cent of the total FDI attracted by India during theperiod.

Press Note 2 (2005) of the DIPP allows FDI up to 100 percent in townships with conditions.

The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion(DIPP) which deals with FDI related matter, issues provi-sions in the form Press Notes or consolidated circulars.

Although 100 per cent foreign direct investment is al-lowed in townships, housing and built-up infrastructure and

construction developments, the government has imposedconditions. -PTI

Limit on investing inoverseas to dampensentiment

MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank of India's curbs on Indi-ans investing in international real estate under the liberal-ized remittance scheme will dampen investor sentiment,property consultancy firm Jones Lang LaSalle said.

The RBI, seeking to support the battered rupee, hadannounced measures to reduce foreign exchange outflows.The steps included disallowing the use of remittances byresident Indians to buy property overseas.

"The new restrictions have been introduced in an effortto stabilize the rupee. This move will have medium to long-term implications," JLL Chief Executive Officer (residentialservices) Om Ahuja said in a statement.

Individuals who were planning to buy international realestate at attractive valuations and planning for their kids'education and housing abroad will now see such planschallenged, he said.

"Currently, the variety of options available on the inter-national property market offer very attractive rental yieldand valuations. This, now becoming restricted, is going tomake planning difficult. The new restrictions will put a damp-ener on the sentiment of Indian investors who were consid-ering this route," Ahuja added. -PTI

www.indiapost.com August 23, 2013

COMMUNITYACROSS AMERICA

Details on page 31

19 India Post

Desi NewsAnna Hazare,

Vidya Balan leadbiggest India Day

parade

Festival of India held with greatpride & patriotism

VIDYA SETHURAMAN

India Post News Service

FREMONT: On a hot weekendwith temperature soaring over 97Fand summer coming to a close,21st Festival of Indiaopened with a bang in Cali-fornia, which has over13.6% of Asian population.Festival of India and Paradein Fremont organized byFederation of Indo Ameri-cans of Northern California(FIA) is the most awaitedevent of California and itsymbolizes the unity, integ-rity, culture and best of thethings that are hall mark ofIndian community in Bayarea.

It started as a local eventsome 21 years back and hasnow grown manifold. Itshowcases the perfectblend of fun, entertainmentand national integration.Today it has become a na-tional event attracting par-ticipants from as far awayas east coast.

Hosted by the Federa-tion of Indian Associations ofNorthern California (FIA), the 21st

Festival of India was held withgreat pride and patriotism on Au-gust 17 and 18 at Fremont, Califor-nia. More than 80,000 people par-ticipated in this grand event. Theattendees were a mix of various

ethnic groups showcasing the di-versity of California.

The celebrations kicked offwith a flag hoisting ceremony onAugust 15, 2013 at the San JoseCity Hall. The event was hostedby Councilmember Ash Kalra. Theevent was attended by ConsulGeneral N. Parthasarathi, MayorChuck Reed, Dr Romesh Japra,Rajesh Verma to name a few. DrJapra, Chairman and Convener ofthe FIA, spoke about what the flagraising ceremony meant to him,"Every year it keeps get-ting better and bigger - Ithink we realize how for-tunate we are to havethis freedom, unlike manyothers. This flag hoist-ing makes us proud andmakes us realize who weare and what we are."

The festival openedon August 17 at 10 am inPaseo Padre Parkwaywith the "Free HealthFair". The Health fair hadabout 30 Indian Ameri-can physicians and othermedical professionalsproviding free medicalservices and follow up.The fair was organizedby FIA team memberswith physicians andother medical profession-als from KaiserPermanante, Doctors Ex-press, Uppal Dental care,Gateway eye care. Thehealth fair was attendedby over 2000 and lastedfor about four hours.

Doctors Express werethe title sponsors for thehealth fair. Health fair test-ing included screeningfor high blood pressure,diabetes, cholesterol,body analysis, risk as-sessment for heart attack

and stroke. Dr Romesh Japra, DrHarpreet Dhillon, Dr BhupinderBhandari, Dr Veena Puri, DrSarabjit Hundal, Dr MonikaChugh, Dr Charanjit Uppal, DrMohini Alexander, Dr AnupamaPatnaik and Dr Ahmed Sadiq werea part of health fair physicians'team and counseled with the pa-tients.

Details on page 23

Weather adds tocharm of India DayBanquet & ParadeA.Q. SIDDIQUI & HARISH RAO


CHICAGO: The Federation ofIndia Associations (FIA) Chicagoonce again proved that it is theAsli (real) umbrella organization ofdiverse Indian ethnic communityin Midwest and enjoys the fullsupport of all sections of Indiancommunity.

The three-day celebration of67th India Independence Day ledby FIA Chicago was a crowdedaffair participated by a cross sec-tion of Indian Americans fromaround Chicagoland.

Optimism rulesat Indo-Pakunity day

RAS H. SIDDIQUI

MILPITAS, CA: A new groupin the Bay Area called the OpenHearts Indo-Pak Initiative(OHIPI.ORG) held what can betermed as a "one of a kind" jointIndia-Pakistan Independence Daycelebration at the India CommunityCenter in Milpitas on August 11th,a week before the usual and verylarge and separate gatheringswhich are planned by each com-munity at various cities through-out the US to celebrate August 14thand 15th, the Independence daysof Pakistan and India.

This show was spearheaded byDeepaa Thakor and Rizwan Elahiplus his wife Zilehuma along with anumber of friends and it certainlylived up to its expectations. Showsponsors were Imtiaz Ahmed CPA,Naeem Akram, Naeem Wahab,Shalimar, Harmesh Kumar and ZulkiKhan. Over 300 Indians and Paki-stanis joined together to celebratetheir commonality for a change,through music, fashion and cuisine.It was certainly a pleasantDesihungama here.

Details on page 22

Rita Singh FIA putsup a grand IndiaDay show

SURESH SHAH & HARISH RAO

CHICAGO: Rita Singh, the firstwoman president of the recentlyset up Federation of Indian Asso-ciations, Chicago, displayed rareleadership quality in organizingand successfully executing thetwo-day celebrations of IndianIndependence Day in Chicagosuburb of Schaumburg.

Details on page 25

Dr Japra at Cardiology booth

Dr Harpreet Dhillon and his production

team at the Health Fair

Drs examining patient at Health Fair

Dr Bhandari and Lauran

Hallers Pharmay team sponsor of Health Fair

Tom Cusumano

Managing PartnerDoctors Express

Urgent CareCenter

Cont’d on page 17-20

Dr Japra and Jimmy Shergill with Prem Bhatia in the lead carriage.

All pics Rakesh Kapoor, Neelu Kapoor & Vidya Sethuraman

Festival of India held with great pride & patriotismIndia Post 17August 23, 2013 Community Across America

www.indiapost.com

Sonia Sidhu with Dr Ahmad Sadeek With Malik uncle & Monica

Lauran Fanning and his partner from

JNJ, sponsors of Health fair

Jenny Feng with her team of Market

America at Health Fair

August 23, 2013India Post18 Community Across Americawww.indiapost.com

Festival of India held with great pride & patriotism

Situ & her team from Wells Fargo Bank with Sonia Sidhu Sant Nirankari Mission Team

MC Donald's Team with Sonia Sidhu Siddhart Kapil and his team from Bank of West

Dr Mihir Meghani (center) co founder & Director of Hindu

American Foundation and his team

Air China & Low Fair Travel

New York Life

Ashish Parekh and his team from Citi

Bank with Sonia Sidhu

Den Goldin from

Meriwest Credit

Union with

Sonia Sidhu

India Post 19August 23, 2013 Community Across Americawww.indiapost.com

Festival of India held with great pride & patriotismHealth fair was coordinated by Priya Nayar, Jenny Feng,

Kushal Vepa.Gala parade, the most awaited event started at 12:00 pm

and lasted for over two hours on August 18, 2013. GrandMarshal Bollywood star Jimmy Shergill led the parade withFIA Chairman Dr Romesh Japra. The Parade route was onthe main street of Paseo Padra Parkway. The parade wascoordinated by Deepak Chhabra and there were about 12floats showcasing the rich culture and heritage of India.Many local ethnic gropes such as Bay Area Telugu asso-ciation, Bay Area Tamil Manram, RANA, Kannada group,Telangana participated in the parade with colorful floatsand entertainment programs highlighting the state's cul-ture and heritage. Cultural events showcasing the talent ofBay area kids and adults went on for all two days. Thecultural events were spread for two days under differentcategories of groups and solo in both Indian and Westerndance forms.

This year's festival also marked the centenary of Gadarmovement, 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekanandaand 100 years of Bollywood. Colorful floats and halls withexhibits on Gadar movement and Swami Vivekananda werean instant hit among kids.

The Ghadar Party was an organization founded in 1913by Punjabi Indians in California, United States and Canadawith the aim to liberate India from British rule. Key membersof the movement included Sohan Singh Bhakna, Kartar SinghSarabha, and Rashbehari Bose. After the outbreak of WorldWar I, Ghadar party members returned to Punjab to agitateagainst British rule in India.

It soon caught on and resulted in revolutionary efforts.Well-known revolutionaries like Subhash Chandra Bose andBhagat Singh were influenced by the movement. FIA cel-ebrated this occasion with many activities and events aboutGadar. The activities included kids' contests, exhibitionsand showcases for the Gadar movement.

Cont’d from page 16 Swami Vivekananda's 150th birthday celebrations startedat the First Unitarian Church of Oakland, where Swamijigave his famous Vedanta lecture. There were many activi-ties planned around his life and teachings. Tiny tots weredressed up as Swami Vivekananda and explained his teach-ings.

Bollywood, the giant Indian movie industry started 100years ago with famous actors like Prithvi Raj Kapoor begin-ning their cinema journey. Many activities involving exhi-bitions, floats, and kids contests are planned to commemo-rate the anniversary.

The Festival of India, besides having the entertainmentfactor, is the best platform to market your business. Thefestival offers an opportunity for businesses to providesupport, patronage and encourage events that increase andstrengthen the cultural diversity and community involve-ment. There were around 110 trade booths and 15 foodbooths. The trade booths catered to wide range of busi-ness starting from fashion jewelry, clothing, mend design-ers, real estate, insurance, credit union etc. There werestalls carrying multi-colored and elaborately patterned fab-rics of saris, shawls and kurtas; intricately designed bangles,toe rings, anklets and earrings.

FIA meal is one stop shop for all Indian designer needs.Some of the vendors are seen in the FIA meal for over 15years. Food booths offered a variety of delicacies from northand South India. The food stalls included Chole Bhatureby Go Chattz, mouth watering Dosas by Anandha Bhavan,authentic Hyderabad biryani by Peacock, to name a few.Parathas from Delhi, Pongal from Madras, Vada Pav fromMumbai and sweets from Kolkata were all served underone roof.

Later in the day Grand Marshal Jimmy Shergill adornedthe stage with Sniti Mishra, Sa Re Ga ma sensation, NishaKataria and Prem Bhatia, Bollywood singer. This was fol-lowed by welcome speeches by Dr Romesh Japra, RajeshVerma and Yogi Chugh.

Sponsors who made this event possible are State FarmInsurance, Farmers Insurance, State Bank of India, MeriWest credit union, CEFCU, Kaiser Permanante, Robsonhomes, Wells Fargo, Air China, Vonage, Citi Bank, Bank ofWest, India Post, McDonald's, P G & E, New York Life ,Nurture Kids, Comcast, PCA, Low Fare Travels, PrinceReality , etc.

Commenting on the success of the Festival, Rajesh Verma,President FIA said, "This is our way of passing on thetorch of our pride in our traditions to the future generationsof American Indian youth." Festival of India is unmatchedin performance, participation and organization by dynamicand talented spirit of Asian Indians.

L-R: Rajesh Verma with co Grand Marshals Sniti Mishra,

Prem Bhatia and Grand Marshal Jimmy Shergill


Festival of India held with great pride & patriotism

Dr Prince Nechikat & Ancy Nechikat, Prince Reality

Dr Uppal

Ashwin Rana

India Post 21August 23, 2013www.indiapost.com


Optimism rules at Indo-Pak unity dayRAS H. SIDDIQUI

MILPITAS, CA: A new groupin the Bay Area called the OpenHearts Indo-Pak Initiative(OHIPI.ORG) held what can betermed as a "one of a kind" jointIndia-Pakistan Independence Daycelebration at the India CommunityCenter in Milpitas on August 11th,a week before the usual and very

large and separate gatheringswhich are planned by each com-munity at various cities through-

out the US to celebrate August 14thand 15th, the Independence daysof Pakistan and India.

This show was spearheaded byDeepaa Thakor and Rizwan Elahiplus his wife Zilehuma along witha number of friends and it certainlylived up to its expectations. Showsponsors were Imtiaz Ahmed CPA,

Naeem Akram, Naeem Wahab,Shalimar, Harmesh Kumar and ZulkiKhan. Over 300 Indians and Paki-stanis joined together to celebrate

their commonality for a change,through music, fashion and cuisine.It was certainly a pleasantDesihungama here.

The event started around noon-time with free admission with cul-tural entertainment, food boothsand vendors selling Desi fashions(It was the first weekend after Eid

so festivities were certainly in theair). The ticketed part began ataround 6:00 pm, the first segmentemceed by Smitha Deepak andVishal Kapoor, which includeddances by the "Nach K Dekh", andfashions by various collections(Ateka, Vama, Ravi, and special in-dependent children's (i.e. Mom's)collection).

The interval was dinner cateredby Shalimar Restaurant, which wasfollowed by more dances and avery popular Bridal fashion seg-ment by Malabis Couture. This seg-ment ended with an "Item Number"which included Deepak Arora play-ing actor Salman Khan.

The live singing finale was in-troduced by Aditi Chadha and itwas certainly very well done. Fea-turing an array of local talent in-cluding Parminder Guri, SeemaVarma, Assad Waince, Alka

Bhatnagar, Mandeep Singh and ArifRizvi, the show also included Urduand Punjabi poetry by FarooqTaraz.

To conclude, the organizers ofthis show need to be encouragedand congratulated for their opti-mism in putting it on. The LOC in

Kashmir is hot again but the heartsof many Indian and PakistaniAmericans long for peace and hu-manity to prevail. The song sungby Parminder Guri at this showpretty much sums it all. "Mein NaHindu Na Musalman, MujheJeenay Do."

Aditi Chadha, Parminder Guri &

Farooq Taraz

Children at Indo-Pak Unity Day Dance at Indo-Pak Unity Day

Event Emcees at Indo-Pak Unity Day

Fashions at Indo-Pak Unity Day

Organizers Rizwan & Zilehuma Elahi

Star Entertainment brings back 'Sunehri Yaadein'India Post News Service

NEWARK, CA: Peter Sahjaniand Dahya Mistry of Star Enter-tainment are presenting "SunheriYaadein", the Bollywood GoldenEra of 1950-1980. Bay area will ex-perience a musical journey of yes-terday years on Friday September6 at Chandni Restaurant in New-ark, CA with Live Band led byRobin John along with finest sing-ers of Bay area.

Robin John the Lead Keyboardplayer will be accompanied bysupport Keyboard playerKrishnamurthy Kalvai, Base Gui-tarist Faran Mohamed, Lead Gui-tarist Tamal Dey, Handsonic RajIyer, Drummer Arun Narasimhanand Gurjeet Hira on Tabla.

Finest singers of Bay area -Mandeep Singh, SachinSrivastava, Anuja Surlaker and

Rajini Vijay along with guest sing-ers Ria Nilawar, Deepti Venkat,Sreedhar Ganapaty and NidheeshDubey will revive golden era oflegendary singers Mohd Rafi,Kishore Kumar, Mukesh, LataMangeshkar and Asha Bhonsle

The show starts at 7:45 pm andaudiences will be treated to an ar-ray of entertainment with profes-sional dance segments by JyotsnaBendapudi of Dance Dilse Group(Manthan Arts) and JB Fashion

Store, and well known dancerElena Elsoukov who has been per-forming various dance styles inBay Area for the past few yearslike Indian Classical, Belly Dance& Bollywood numbers. Audiencealso has a chance to win someraffles.

One of the highlights of the pro-gram will be a 1970s Retro-Stylefashion show where modelsdressed up in 1970s style will show-case the collection on music of the

era. The finale of the fashion showwill be enhanced by SaxophonistPuneet.

Smitha Deepak - Anchor ofWomenNowTV and JayshriSharma - a tech professional andRadio Host of Radio Dehotties on1170am will be the Emcees of theevent.

Chandni Restaurant's scrump-tious dinner includes veg & non-veg dishes along with appetizersand dessert.

Doors open sharp at 7:00 pm.Guests are encouraged to wearcostumes from Golden Era andbest dressed male and female willwin prizes from Bibi's Fashion.

The Grand Sponsor of the eventare Dinesh Kumar of India Cash &Carry, Platinum sponsor Garry ofChaat Bhavan & Park Balluchi andthe Gold sponsor Charanjit ofUppal Dental Care .

Other sponsors include ViBha,Zaris Passion drive Fashion, ShivaBeauty Salon, ARS InsuranceAgency, Taj Imports and RachnaDumra of Rachdee Design.

The Media Sponsors of theevent are 1550 AM Radio Zindagi,Azmi Gill of US Urdu Newspaper,WomenNow TV, Sameer Khera ofGaata Rahe Mera Dil (GRMD), andINDTV USA. Shalini Raj Singh isthe event Coordinator for SunehriYaadein.


Honda hosts forum to raise local exportsIndia Post News Service

SAN JOSE, CA: More than 60principals from Silicon Valley com-panies attended a forum hosted byRep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.) and theU.S. Export-Import Bank aimed atincreasing exports from local busi-nesses.

According to a press releaseissued by the Honda team, theCongressman was joined by Ex-Im Bank board member PatriciaLoui and economic experts fromthe Departments of State andCommerce for roundtable discus-sions on identifying overseas mar-kets, protection from credit risk,and the variety of financial prod-ucts available from the bank.

Remarked Rep. Honda at theevent: "Increasing exports amongsmall and mid-sized businesseshere in Silicon Valley is key togrowing the region's economy aswe continue to gradually recoverfrom the economic downturn. Withsuch a valuable resource in theExport-Import Bank, I am glad thatso many Bay Area firms could join

us today to put themselves ingreater control of their sales andoutreach."

"President Obama challengedthe nation to double its exports by2015," explained Director Loui inher opening remarks. "That's why

the Ex-Im Bank and CongressmanHonda are doing all we can toequip small businesses in SiliconValley with the tools they need tosuccessfully compete in globalmarkets, particularly in Asia andthe Pacific Islands. Given that theBay Area is a direct commerciallink between the U.S. and Pacific

Rim - and exports to Asia alreadyrepresent a growing percentage ofU.S. trade activity - business own-ers here face an excellent eco-nomic opportunity. The Ex-ImBank's goal is to ensure that en-trepreneurs know about the toolswe can provide to limit risk, in-crease available capital, and ex-pand business."

In addition to small businessowners in fields as diverse as com-puter technology, constructionsupply, and organic food produc-tion, the event featured remarksfrom Dilawar Syed, a member ofthe President's Advisory Commis-sion on Asian Americans and Pa-cific Islanders, Lorraine Hariton,Special Representative for Com-merce and Business Affairs at theDepartment of State, and JoanneVliet, Director of the Export Assis-tance Center at the Department ofCommerce.

The Ex-Im Bank authorizednearly $60 million to companies inthe 17th district in 2012. SiliconValley is the nation's 5th largestregion by export volume.

“The Ex-Im Bank'sgoal is to ensure thatentrepreneurs knowabout the tools wecan provide to limitrisk, increase avail-able capital, andexpand business"

Weather adds to charm of IndiaDay Banquet & Parade

Flag hoisting on August 15 at Daley Plaza. Pics courtesy Asian Media USA

A.Q. SIDDIQUI & HARISH RAO


CHICAGO: The Federation ofIndia Associations (FIA) Chicagoonce again proved that it is theAsli (real) umbrella organization ofdiverse Indian ethnic communityin Midwest and enjoys the fullsupport of all sections of Indiancommunity.

The three-day celebration of67th India Independence Day ledby FIA Chicago was a crowdedaffair participated by a cross sec-tion of Indian Americans fromaround Chicagoland. The cel-ebration brought the entire com-

munity together and remindedthat the spirit of unity prevailswithin huge diversity.

The seniors of FIA, NiranajnShah, Sitaram Patel, IftekharShareef, Babu Patel, SatishGabhawala, Ranjit Ganguly, AnilPillai, Sohan Joshi, KantibhaiPatel, Keerthi Kumar and othersshared responsibilities abovepersonal lines for the success ofall events.

They were supported by FIApresident Hina Trivedi, VP RaviHarsoor, Dr Ram Gajjela and HetalPatel. 'No stones were left

unturned' could well be appliedfor the presentation and prepara-tion of all events. As has been itstradition, the FIA team headedby Hina Trivedi, Iftekhar Shareef,Niranjan Shah, Sohan Joshi,Keerthi Ravoori and other mem-bers of the executive committeewere joined by Secretary of StateJesse White, Cook County ClerkDorothy Brown, Indian CG DrAusaf Sayeed at the flag hoist-ing ceremony at Daley Plaza inDowntown Chicago on August15.

There was a huge crowd andmany non Indians too werepresent who were treated to awonderful entertainment programby local artists. Weather wasbright and the sunny atmosphereadded charm to the entire pro-ceedings that lasted for wellabout two hours.

A gala banquet dinner on Fri-day, August 16 evening at IndiaHouse Schaumburg was at-tended near to capacity. Over 100tables with 10 chairs each wereoccupied for the event. Thespeeches apart, there was scintil-lating entertainment program thatenthralled all those present.

FIA guests at the podium

Start of FIA Gala Banquet at India House in Schaumburg Friday August 16 Entertainment program at Daley Plaza

Crowd gathered at Daley Plaza

Cont’d on page 25

August 23, 2013India Post24

www.indiapost.com


Weather adds to charm of India Day Banquet & Parade

Soha Ali was the star attractionof the banquet dinner. Newly as-signed Indian Consul General inChicago Dr Ausaf Sayeed waspresent among other dignitaries.No speeches were made. Soha Aliand Dr Ausaf Sayeed were re-quested to present awards for ex-emplary community work to selectIndian Americans. Dr Rathna

Yallapragada, Katu Amin, AjaiAgnihotri, Pritam Khanna, RameshSoparawala, Esa Misri, JyotindraPatel, Alka Shastri were among therecipients of the FIA annualawards.

An entertainment program fol-lowed the award ceremony. Atouchy episode on national inte-gration was presented followed bymusic and song programs. On Sat-urday, a flag hosting ceremony

followed by colorful parade washeld on Devon and Western Av-enue. Indian Consul General DrAusaf Syed, Niranjan Shah, BabuPatel and Iftekhar Shareef unfurledthe national flag and lined up asGrand Marshals for the parade.Bollywood star Soha Ali and Illi-nois Governors Pat Quinn, Dor-othy Brown, clerk of the CircuitCourt of the Cook County joinedas Marshals for the India Parade.

he Parade continued to Califor-nia Avenue. Soha Ali and Gover-nor Pat Quinn greeted members ofpublic on both sides of DevonAvenue. The dignitaries were ledto a stage erected near CaliforniaAve. Soha Ali, Iftekhar Shareefand Governor Pat Quinn ad-dressed the Indian communityfrom the podium. Soha Ali ex-pressed her joy and excitement formeeting with Indian community

after a 24-hour long journey fromMumbai to Chicago. She thankedFIA for providing her an opportu-nity for a great experience. IftekharShareef introduced the sponsorsof the colorful floats as theypassed by the stage.

As the curtain draws for thethree-day celebration of India Inde-pendence Day, FIA Chicago remainsa binding force for the Indian Ameri-can community in Midwest.

Cont’d from page 23

FIA Gala Banquet Entertainment program eulogizing

role of Mahatma GandhiStart of the FIA Parade on Devon Avenue on August 17

with unfurling of flag

AAM Party at the ParadeSoha Ali Khan and Illinois Governor Pat

Quinn mingle with crowd

FIA Gala Banquet Dance by young artists

Euphoria at the FIA Gala Banquet

FIA Parade floats

Rita Singh FIA puts up a grand India Day showSURESH SHAH & HARISH RAO

CHICAGO: Rita Singh, the firstwoman president of the recentlyset up Federation of Indian Asso-ciations, Chicago, displayed rareleadership quality in organizingand successfully executing thetwo-day celebrations of IndianIndependence Day in Chicagosuburb of Schaumburg.

The 67th Independence DayGala Banquet was hosted on Fri-day August 9 at India House Ban-quet in Schaumburg and Indepen-dence Day Parade on Sunday Au-gust 11 at India House Plaza in

Schaumburg.The highlight of the colorful

banquet dinner event was the pres-ence of celebrities in the suburb -elected officials like Congress-woman Tammy Duckworth, StateRepresentatives MichelleMussman, Marty Moylan, StateSenator Michael Noland,Schaumburg Mayor Al Larson,Hanover Park Mayor RodneyCraig, Village of Oakbrook MayorDr Gopal Lalmalani and top rank-ing Indian official Consul Generalof Chicago Dr Ausaf Sayeed.

Among the Indian leaders and

activists present were SohanJoshi NFIA President, RajaKrishnamurthy, Ravi Rawat toname a few. Culminating them allwas the beautiful and captivatingpresence of Bollywood starMinissha Lamba who endearedherself with those present with hergraceful manners.

All VIP dignitaries along withBanquet Chair Neelam Dwivediaddressed the audience andwished everyone a very happyIndependence Day. The banquetdinner evening was emceed bytwo very articulate emcees Sadhna

Kumar and Tarun Mullick M.D.who did the job admirably.

The evening began with a tra-dition of the American and Indiannational anthems. American Idolcontestant Ashika Sachdev sangthe American anthem followed byIndian Anthem sung byShreelekha Mohanty accompaniedby students of Vishali Dhande.

Continuing the tradition, RitaSingh, President of FIA along withall the VIP dignitaries present atthe event including Indian CG DrAusaf Sayeed,

FIA team led by Ms Rita Singh (sitting third from left) with Banquet guest

Minissha Lamba and Chicagoland elected officialsLamp lighting by FAI team and guests

Flag hoisting At Plaza Cont’d on page 31


India Day celebrations getting lusterless?SURESH SHAH, HARISH RAO & ASIAN MEDIA USA

CHICAGO: Things Change andmany a time not in a way that onewould like. The India Day celebra-tions fall into this category. In yes-teryears, the celebration right fromthe kick off stage to the ending ofcolorful parades used to be reallya grand and exhilarating affair withthe Chicago Mayor thru its EventOffice taking the lead in kickingoff the celebrations days beforethe D Day- August 15. But this isno longer so for the past fewyears.

In good old days, the IndianConsulate in Chicago would inviteelites to its Downtown office sig-naling celebrations on August 15followed with a grand banquet inthe evening. The tradition is con-tinued but it is getting lusterlessevery year passing, especially theevening reception.

Indian Americans in large num-ber would await the India Dayevents and participate wholeheart-edly at all the different programs,be it the two different Parades or

three different entertainment pro-grams. The participation from thecommunity is there but the enthu-siasm is on the wane. This is de-spite the fact that the number of

Indian Americans in Chicagolandhave multiplied more than fivetimes in the past few decades only.The intra community divisions,play of ego among leaders, unflat-tering news, stories of corruption

and scandals and unsavory politi-cal developments from motherland- all have sapped the morale andenthusiasm of the public at large.

Overall things this year toohave followed the pattern set inthe past few years. The commu-nity as a whole is getting less andless interested and more disen-

chanted. The Indian CG event inthe morning charted the traditionalline with flag salutation, readingof the Indian President PranobKumar Mukherjee's speech and awelcome address from the newlyarrived CG Dr Ausaf Saeed. A goodnumber of Indian Americans andConsulate staff was present dur-ing the event

The evening reception at Chi-cago Cultural Center in Downtownturned out to be a routine affairwith relatively thin attendancefrom the community members andthe presence of a smaller band ofelected Chicago officials at theevent.

The saving grace was a beauti-ful speech by CG Dr Ausaf Saeed.He underlined the importance ofUS India partnership and the help-ful role of Indian Diaspora in ce-menting this tie. His ending wasvery gracious and could not havebeen more timely. Quoting froma remarkable book by Will Durant,

a prolific American writer, historian,and philosopher, The Case for In-dia, he said "India was the moth-erland of our race and Sanskrit the

mother of Europe's languages;she was the mother of our philoso-phy; mother, through the Arabs,of much of our mathematics;

Flag hoisting by CG Dr Ausaf Saeed at Indian Consulate

Indian CG with a group of Indian American leaders

Indian Consulate staff during India Day celebrations at Indian Consulate

Cake cutting during India Day Banquet hosted by Indian Consulate at Chicago

Cultural Center. Seen in the pic Ms Dorothy Brown, Dan Rutherford and

Indian CG Dr Ausaf

mother, through the Buddha, ofideals embodied in Christianity;mother, through the village com-

munity, of self-government anddemocracy. Mother India is inmany ways the mother of us all."

MC Madhumita Chakrabortywelcomed all to the reception. Thiswas followed by singing of Na-tional Anthems of Republic of In-dia and the United States ofAmerica by Lisa Mishra.Cake-cutting by theConsul General fol-lowed amidst clappingand cheers. Dan Ruth-erford, Illinois StateTreasurer made brief re-marks commendingIndo-US relationshipand congratulating Indi-ans.

Dorothy Brown,Clerk, Circuit Court ofthe of Cook County, Special GuestDr Rachard Lariviere, President,The Field Museum of Chicago,Daniel Goff representing the Of-fice of the Governor of Illinois;Jenny Cizner from the Office of theMayor of Chicago, Nettie Laskofrom the Office of Attorney Gen-eral of Illinois addressed the gath-

ering.The main thrust of the

speeches was that India has risen

to become one of the world's larg-est and fastest growing econo-mies since gaining independencein 1947, thanks to the remarkablework ethic of Indian people. Evenin the midst of the worst globalrecession in half a century, Indiaremained a beacon of hope. Ex-

panding and strong trade relation-ship buffered with equally strongcultural exchanges enrich commu-nities in both the countries.

Yet another highlight of the re-ception was stellar performances bySaraswati Ranganathan and her In-strumental Music Group of six mem-bers which enthralled those present.

The saving grace was abeautiful speech by CG DrAusaf Saeed. He underlinedthe importance of US Indiapartnership and the helpfulrole of Indian Diaspora


www.indiapost.com


Rita Singh FIA puts up agrand India Day show

FIA members Dhitu Bhagwakar,Rita Shah, Bharti Desai, ShahidRizvi, Shanu Sinha, Neil Khot,Mohd. Fareeduddin Sabiri, formerFIA Presidents Onkar Sangha andSunil Shah, sponsors, BanquetChair Neelam Dwivedi gathered onthe stage for the lamp lighting cer-emony.

FIA President Rita Singh wel-come all the guests and pointedout that our forefathers had tofight against British Rule to get In-dependence but Father of NationMahatma Gandhi taught us thepath of non-violence to get free-dom.

A Runway Fashion Show 2013was sponsored by Charisma Bou-tique, which was choreographedby Mika Chadha and coordinatedby Sylvia Bhugra. The dazzling

fashion show was beautifully ex-ecuted by local models. MinisshaLamba, the Chief Guest at banquet,was greeted on the stage withbouquet. In her brief address, shethanked FIA and specially FIAPresident Rita Singh for invitingher on this occasion. She wasvery pleased to see Indian Ameri-cans celebrating India's Indepen-dence Day with same enthusiasmand pride as they did back homein India.

Rita Singh, President FIA, inher speech said that "FIA Chi-cago is an umbrella body of In-dian Americans Associations rep-resenting 300,000 Indian Ameri-cans in Chicago land. I feel veryproud to be the first woman Presi-dent of FIA Chicago. With thehelp of dedicated members, vol-unteers and community support-ers, we have been able to orga-nize this best FIA IndependenceDay Banquet event ever."

Continuing she observed "To-day is certainly a day to celebratethe success of our democracy.We Indian Americans have

Cont’d from page 25 worked relentlessly to bring In-dia and USA together. Both thecountries share an extensive cul-tural, strategic, military, and eco-nomic partnership". She addedthat FIA is recognizing for the firsttime seven community leaderswith Community Service ExcellentAward. These seven award recipi-ents are Late J.B. Singha, formerVice President FIA, VandanaJhingan from TV Asia, Ravi Rawatof India House, Suresh Bodiwalafrom Asian Media USA, AnilLoomba from Home MortgageSolutions, Inc., and DhituBhagwakar. They received theawards from Minissha Lamba andRita Singh.

Along with speeches byprominent guests, the eveningwas filled with singing perfor-mances by local artists likeAshley Singh, Shariq Sidz and

Shreelekha Mohanty and danceperformances by students fromBollywood Rhythm, Sonia DanceAcademy, Payaliya Dance Studio,Pika Dance Academy and GeminiBhimani.

On Sunday, August 11, the In-dependence Day Parade held atthe intersection of Golf Rd. andHiggins Road in Schaumburg wasa very lively affair with ChiefGuest Minisha Lamba along withFIA President Rita Singh,Hoffman Estates Mayor BillMcLeod, State RepresentativeMichelle Mussman, unfurling thetri-color Indian flag with loud ap-plause from proud Indian Ameri-cans present.

Former FIA Presidents OnkarSangha and Sunil Shah, VicePresidents Dhitu Bhagwakar andBharti Desai, Secretary ShahidRizvi, Treasurer Shanu Sinha, Pa-rade Chair Neil Khot, Ravi Rawatfrom India House along withmany community leaders werepresent at the flag hoisting andIndependence Day parade cer-emony.

Start of the Parade

Anna Hazare, Vidya Balanlead biggest India Day parade

NEW YORK: Anti-graft cru-sader Anna Hazare and Bollywoodactress Vidya Balan led the larg-est Indian Independence Day cel-ebrations overseas on August 18with over two lakh people carry-ing the tricolor witnessing an im-pressive parade here which dis-played the country's vibrant cul-ture.

Colorful floats, marching bandsand convertibles made their waydown Madison Avenue in Man-hattan with revelers cheeringHazare and Balan.

"Anna Hazare zindabad" "Cor-ruption down down" rent the airof Manhattan as the veteranGandhian rode past over two lakhpeople, most of them Indian-Americans, in the annual India DayParade organized by Federation ofIndian Associations (FIA).

The 76-year-old Hazare wascheered loudly at every intersec-tion by large number of peoplewhile the fragile khadi-cladGandhian waving from his vehiclethat had to be stopped at severalintersections, with people rushingto shake hands with him.

"I've never seen something aswonderful and heartwarming,"said Balan, the parade's grandmarshal.

The Indian-Americans waved

the tricolor at Hazare and shoutedthat they stood by him in his cru-sade against corruption.

Hundreds of parade goers woreorange, green and white dresswith a Gandhi caps "I am for Anna"to demonstrate their support toHazare, whose anti-corruption

crusade has inspired thousands athome and abroad.

Anna was an instant hit amongAmericans too who had come inlarge numbers to see the man whotook the government head onsingle handedly following theteachings of ahimsa propoundedby his mentor Mahatma Gandhi.

The New York Police Depart-

ment (NYPD) had a tough time incontrolling the surging unprec-edented crowd.

Balan drew huge crowds aspeople on both sides of the Madi-son Avenue cheered her when she

traveled in the FIA float along withFIA President Sanjay Amin, NewYork Consul General DnyaneshwarMulay and Gen V K Singh, formerIndian Army Chief and leaders ofthe Indian-American community.

Balan gave flying kiss to herthronging fans that went berserk

on seeing her and the fans had tobe cleared by mild force near thereview stand where the guests ofhonors assembled to deliver theirspeech. South Indian actors RSarath Kumar, Radikaa SarathKumar and JaishreeChandrasekhar traveled in theAmerican Tamil Sangam float thathad a huge banner of Statue ofLiberty draped in a sari.

Sarath Kumar wore a traditionalSouth Indian dress of dhoti and akhadi shirt while Radikaa came ina Kanjivaram silk sari.

The couple was loudly cheeredby a large number of South Indi-ans. There were non-stop shoutsof 'Supreme Star' (referring toSarath Kumar) and 'Chitti' (a char-acter played by Radikaa in a TVserial), making the couple pleas-antly surprised with the fan fol-lowing in America.

The Prime Minister of Antiguaand Barbuda Winston BaldwinSpencer, who rode in aLamborghini car, wore a kurta anda pyjama and instantly connectedwith the Indian-Americans with hisnamaste.

The Speaker of the New YorkCity Council and a Mayoral can-didate Christine Quinn and otherelected officials marched in theparade.

According to Ramesh Patel,chairman of FIA the crowd wasunprecedented in the history ofFIA that started 43 years ago.

This is the 33rd India Day Pa-rade in New York City.

The couple wasloudly cheered by alarge number ofSouth Indians. Therewere non-stop shoutsof 'Supreme Star'(referring to SarathKumar) and 'Chitti' (acharacter played byRadikaa in aTV serial)

Social activist Anna Hazare addresses the crowd at India Day parade in New York

Cont’d on page 32


Sanjay Amin, FIA Presidentsaid the police had estimated thecrowd to be in the range of twolakhs which was double than lastyear possibly due to the presenceof Anna Hazare and other digni-taries.

There were more than 40 floatsrepresenting institutions such asState Bank of India, Bank ofBaroda, India Tourism and Arvind

Anna Hazare, Vidya Balan leadbiggest India Day parade

Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party.The organizers had ensured

that the central government offi-cials and diplomats stationed inNew York are insulated from AnnaHazare and his slogan-shoutingbrigade to avoid any possible em-barrassment to them.

The crowd thronged to thecultural programs arena and thebooth area where a replica of RedFort was built in 80 feet x 10 feet.-PTI


Indians protest against Na-Pak activitiesSURESH SHAH

CHICAGO: Irked and upset atthe unwholesome activities ofsome government or governmentaided agencies instigating militaryconflicts against India or distur-bances in the country, a goodnumber of community activistsstaged a peaceful protest againstthe Pakistani Consulate in Chi-cago on August 14, the day Paki-stan came into existence with thedivision of Indian subcontinent.

The activists were also inducedand incensed by passivity on the partof the Indian government. Many feltthat the Indian Diaspora needs tomake up for this inactivity on the partof the Indian government and bringthis into sharp focus so that the con-certed interests in India and Pakistanwake up try to resolve the problem.

A group of activists gathered

at 11-30 am in the morning andstayed put there till 1 p.m. Someof the community members areactive in different community or-ganizations. They were ShamkantSheth Prasad Yalamanchi (chair)and his nephew, Nirav Patel,Sohan Joshi, Sridhar Damle,

Jitentra Diganvker, ShrinaryanChandhak, Vandana Jhingan, RajaBabu and Harendra Mangrola.

The group leaders then pre-sented a memorandum to the Pa-kistani Consul General. The memo-randum detailed the concerns ofthe Indian community at large.

Members of the group protesting Napak activities of Pak agencies

MKCA to host MotherMary celebrations

VISSIA DSOUZA

CHICAGO: MangaloreanKonkan Christian Association(MKCA) has announced the cel-ebration of Nativity of MotherMary in Chicagoland on Septem-ber 7, 6 pm at Courtland SquareRecreation Hall in Des Plaines, anorth side suburb of Chicago.

The Holy Mass will be cel-ebrated with special flower offer-ing to Mother Mary. Children areencouraged to bring flowers for'flower offering' ceremony. Tradi-tional home-made food with vari-eties of vegetarian dishes will beserved along with "Roce".

MKCA logo and pic from

last year celebration

Moneydart plans banking service in IndiaRAMESH SOPARAWALA


CHICAGO: Set up three de-cades ago, Moneydart Global Ser-vices headquartered in UnitedArab Emirates, is set to expand itsactivities horizontally and verti-cally across the globe.

Y.Sudhir Kuma Shetty, ChiefOperating Officer Global opera-tions, said here that his companyhas applied for a full fledged bank-ing license in India and that it wasexploring opportunities to get intobanking business in this countrytoo. A decision on its license appli-cation with the Indian governmentis likely in the near future and thiswill give a big boost to its opera-tions in India, he said.

Talking to news-men here at its De-von Avenue branch,he said thatMonedydart wouldalso be entering ahitherto untappedmarket in LatinAmerica and wouldexpand its operationsin USA too openingmore facilities. "Theportal is already li-censed to operate in23 States and the company is tar-geting 50 licenses by 2014," hesaid.

Moneydart Global Services, headded, handled over $22.5 billionin 2012 and would do better thisyear despite overall setback inworld economies. He said thatUAE Exchange, its parent com-pany, targets to operate directlyin 54 countries with a network of1000 branches in the next two tothree years.

Promoth Manghat, Vice Presi-

dent Global Operations, said thecompany is doing exceedingly wellin New York, NJ and Chicgoland,and has already decided to expandits wings by having more agentlocations in these areas, especiallyIllinois.

Prabhakar Patel, Asst. VicePresident Head Project America,

said there would be 15 more suchlocations soon going up to 17across Illinois. He also told thisnewspaper that the managementhas already decided to have agentlocations in other Midwest Stateslike Wisconsin, Michigan, IowaMissouri followed by Ohio andTennessee. "This would precedestarting full-fledged money remit-tance and transfer facilities inthese States," he added.

Ajit Paul, Regional HeadAmerica, elaborated on state of art

services provided by Moneydartand how it has helped it to win theconfidence and trust of the publicat large. He said that this whollyowned subsidiary of UAE Ex-change had its direct presence inover 30 countries with over 700branches and worked with over 150correspondents globally employ-

ing 9000 plus professionals.Sudhir Kumar Shetty

pointed out that his companyalso stands up for various so-cial, humanitarian and environ-mental clauses joining handswith several NGOs across theglobe.

Prabhakar Patel proposed avote of thanks and invited allthose present for a lunch atTiffin Restaurant.

Asian Media USA adds:Among various services

rendered by Moneydart win-ning a large client base are:

Money2anywhere offers anonline remittance experience witha combination of competitive ex-change rates, quick processing ofthe remittance request and afriendly customer service team. Ituses cutting-edge technology tostore clients' information in securedatabase and ensure total secu-rity to each of their transactions.For more information, log on to:www.money2anywhere.com

Xpress Money is simply the

fastest way one can send moneyto anywhere! Its secure, state-of-the-art technology infrastructureand reliable back-end processesenable money to reach to theremitter's loved ones instantly andsafe. For more information, log onto: www.xpressmoney.com

Smart Pay is a unique payrollprocessing and salary disburse-ment platform built in-house by the

company's expert technologyteam. The high-end technologyalso ensures secure salary dis-bursement through user-friendlyCash Dispensing Machines. Formore information, log on to:www.smartpaysolutions.com

Flash enables real-time credit ofmoney in any bank account. Ourstrong technology infrastructureand secure back-end processesempower you to send money di-rectly to your loved one's bankaccount, real-time. XPay facilitatesyou to pay for your purchasesusing your mobile phones conve-niently. This secure payment gate-way allows you to pay withoutcarrying hard cash, credit cards oreven without a bank account. Formore information, log on to:www.xpayindia.com

Speakers Y. Sudhir Kumar, Promoth Manghat, Ajit Paul and Prabhaker Patel

Moneydart team with local staff members standing

from L to R Sumit Prabhakar, Promoth Manghat, Y.

Sudhir Kumar, Ajit Paul and Prabhaker Patel

www.indiapost.com34 India Post August 23, 2013

Health ScienceHealth Line

Details on Page 35

Roche not to pursuepatent for breast

cancer drug

26 new drugs permitted for salewithout trials in India

NEW DELHI: Notwithstandingstrong warnings by the parliamen-tary standing committee onhealth, new drugs continue to beapproved for marketing in thecountry without holding any clini-cal trials on Indian patients to testtheir safety and efficacy.

Sources in the Health Ministryadmit that as many as 26 new drugmolecules have been approvedsince 2010 without testing themthrough drug trials on local popu-lations.

While eight new drug mol-ecules of biologicals and nonbiologicals were approved by thecountry's apex drug regulator, theCentral Drugs Standard ControlOrganization (CDSCO), last year,two have already been allowedfor sale so far this year.

As many as 13 such new drugswere approved in 2010 and threemore were approved in 2011.

Officials of the health ministrysay that new drugs have been ap-

proved without clinical trials aftertaking adequate caution.

They said such drugs are theones used in medical emergenciesand where trials are not possible

in the country due to fewer num-bers of patients and in caseswhere diseases are rare.

They said that it is only afterexpert opinion that such drugs are

being approved.Importantly, the approval to 26

new drugs sans local trials comeswithin two years of the parliamen-tary panel exposing how 38 new

drugs were approved without tri-als on Indians between January2008 and October 2010.

While coming down heavily onthe drug controller for allowing

untested drugs to be used in In-dia, the committee had said thatmany such new drugs did not fallin the category of medicinesmeant for medical emergencies.

The report had focusednation's attention on the poorstate of drug regulation in Indiaand sought immediate correctivemeasures.

Following the report, thehealth ministry has introducedseveral new measures aimed atensuring efficacy and safety ofdrugs.

The CDSCO has also writtento states to prove within 18months the safety and efficacyof all such fixed dose combina-tion drugs which have been ap-proved directly by states with-out seeking prior approval of theapex drug regulator.

The ministry is ready with anew Drugs and Cosmetics Actwhich deals with clinical trial regu-lation in a separate chapter. -PTI

Librarians aid in navigating health care changesTOPEKA, Kan.: Librarians at

the Topeka and Shawnee CountyPublic Library are gearing up tohelp residents learn more aboutthe Affordable Care Act and theHealth Insurance Marketplace sothey can choose the best insur-ance plan to fit their needs andbudget.

Lissa Staley, health informa-tion specialist at the library, saidtrained librarians will assist indi-viduals with the Marketplace,which simplifies the search forhealth coverage by gathering alloptions in one place and allow-ing people to compare plans andexplore free or low-cost programsfor which they may qualify.

The library will offer technol-ogy assistance to those apply-ing online and provide fliers andother informational materialsabout ACA and the Marketplacein an alcove in its Magazine Read-ing Room.

``But individuals must maketheir own decisions about what

plan to sign up for,'' Staley said.``We will refer them to where theycan find information on what theplans are so they can make the bestdecision for themselves.''

The law goes into effect Jan. 1,

and enrollment in health insurancethrough the Marketplace will runfrom Oct. 1 through March 31.

In early July, the Institute ofMuseum and Library Services andthe Centers of Medicare and Med-icaid Services announced an ini-tiative to get librarians ready tohelp people in every state learnabout the new Marketplace.

In addition to providing publiclibraries with information about thehealth care law, the effort also con-

nects librarians with CMS naviga-tors and certified application coun-selors to whom they will refer diffi-cult or complicated questions/cus-tomers.

Training provided to local librar-

ians will include a demonstration ofthe Marketplace website by CMSstaff members in mid-September.

``Training is in place, but wehaven't done it yet,'' Staley said.``A lot of groundwork is in place.''

The library is offering severalpublic meetings and programsabout the new health care law andthe Marketplace, including:

The library is offering publicworkshops, overviews of the Af-fordable Care Act and in-depth re-

views of how the Marketplacewill work. Drop-in computer ses-sions to help people apply onlineand understand insurance op-tions from in October and No-vember.

Staley said the library typi-cally allows a person to spendtwo hours per day on its com-puters. Those filling out Market-place applications will be allowedan extra two hours per day.

In addition to librarians, an ef-fort is being made to train K-StateResearch and Extension agentsand staff members throughoutthe state so they also can helpKansans learn more about ACAand how it will affect them.

Roberta Riportella, professorof community health at KansasState University in Manhattan,is heading up that effort. She hasconducted four-hour workshopswith Extension agents, as well asmade community presentationsand provided posters and otherinformation at county fairs.-AP

In addition to librarians, an effort is beingmade to train K-State Research and Extensionagents and staff members throughout thestate so they also can help Kansans learnmore about ACA and how it will affect them.

New call center forhealth insuranceopens

LEXINGTON, Ky.: Workers ata newly opened call center in Lex-ington will answer questionsabout how people can get healthinsurance under the AffordableCare Act.

The Lexington Herald-Leaderand The Courier-Journal reportthe center employs 60 workersthough that number is expectedto increase to 100.

Gov. Steve Beshear said Ken-tucky is ahead of several otherstates in preparing to help peopleobtain insurance through the pro-gram for the first time. He said thecall center is an important step to-ward aiding residents through acomplicated process. -PTI

Kirk wants care forlow-incomestroke patients

SPRINGFIELD, Ill.: U.S. Sen.Mark Kirk wants to see better carefor low-income people who suf-fer strokes.

The Republican from HighlandPark suffered partial paralysis tohis left arm and leg as a result of astroke he had in January 2012.

He told The (Springfield) StateJournal-Register in an interviewthis week that he is working onlegislation for what he calls ̀ `thestroke agenda.''

Kirk says the problem for low-income stroke patients treatedunder Medicaid in Illinois is thatthey can only get coverage forfour sessions with a rehab spe-cialist. -AP

Atlanta VA holdsmental healthsummit

ATLANTA: The troubled At-lanta VA Medical Center is takingsteps to improve mental healthcare.

The Atlanta VA hosted dozensof local health care organizationsand mental health advocates at acommunity mental health summit.WSB-TV reports the goal of themeeting was to share informationand network.

The summit followed monthsof criticism of the center from fed-eral investigators and members ofCongress.

Federal investigators linkedseveral deaths to the facility. Onepatient with a history of sub-stance abuse and suicidalthoughts who was left alone in awaiting room at the center, wherehe got drugs from a hospital visi-tor and later died of an overdose.-AP

India PostHealth Science Post 35

www.indiapost.com

August 23, 2013

Peter Shumlin

Nurse joins Vt. GreenMountain Care Board

MONTPELIER, Vt.: Vermont Gov. PeterShumlin has appointed a nursing profes-sor at the University of Vermont to the five-member panel that is working to developVermont's new health care system.

Betty Rambur, a registerednurse and professor of nurs-ing and health policy at theUniversity of Vermont, will fillout the term of Al Gobeille,who is replacing the depart-ing Anya Rader Wallack aschair of the Green MountainCare Board.

The board is working tocraft policies for containingcosts in health care and mov-ing Vermont as close as pos-sible to a single-payer healthcare system beginning in2017.

``Betty brings two critical skills to theboard,'' Shumlin said in a statement releasedby his office. ̀ `As a nurse she has the hands-on health care experience of those who de-liver care in our hospitals, clinics and doc-tors' offices. But she is also an expert in healthpolicy, understanding the complex financingof care, as well as the special challenges ofdelivering health care in rural areas.''

Rambur has worked as a family nurse prac-

titioner, physician assistant, health servicesresearcher, and nurse educator.

``I am honored to serve and look forwardto adding my expertise to this endeavor thatis so vital to Vermont families, businesses,

and health profes-sionals,'' she said.

The five-mem-ber Green Moun-tain Care Board'smission is to re-duce the rate ofgrowth in healthcare costs, regu-late hospitalspending and capi-tal expenditures,and curb thegrowth in healthinsurance rates.

In addition to Gobeille, a Burlington busi-nessman, other board members areColchester physician Allan Ramsay; KarenHein of Jacksonville, an adjunct professorat Dartmouth Medical School; former Hu-man Services Secretary Con Hogan ofPlainfield; and Georgia Maheras, the formerdeputy commissioner of health care admin-istration at the Vermont Department of Bank-ing, Insurance, Securities and Health Care. -AP

Roche not to pursue patentfor breast cancer drug

NEW DELHI: Swiss pharma majorRoche Holding AG has said it won't pursuethe secondary patent for its breast cancerdrug 'Herceptin' in India.

"Regular reviews of our patent portfolioare a routine business practice. In this con-nection, Roche has come to the conclusionnot to pursue Indian Patent No 205534 (thesecondary patent for Trastuzumab) and therelated divisional applications," a spokes-person of Roche Holding AG told PTI in anemailed response.

This decision takes into account thestrength of the particular rights and the In-tellectual Property (IP) environment in In-dia in general, the spokesperson added.

Earlier this month, Indian governmenthad "treated as withdrawn" patent applica-tions by Roche Holding for offshoot medi-cines of its drug 'Herceptin' because thecompany did not comply with local norms.

"While the patent for Trastuzumab (alsoknown Herceptin) may no longer be inforce, it is important to note that there arecurrently no approved biosimilars oftrastuzumab in India," the company said.

Herceptin, used to treat a particularlyaggressive form of breast cancer, is Roche'sthird-biggest seller and notched up globalrevenues of 3.08 billion Swiss francs in thefirst half of the year.

"We support the Indian government'sleadership in establishing a pathway andguidelines for the introduction ofbiosimilars onto the market that is basedon science and is designed to ensure prod-

uct quality and patient safety," the com-pany said.

The government is looking at a possibleissuance of compulsory license for Roche'sHerceptin. The Health Ministry in July sub-mitted to the DIPP all the details of the drug,amid calls to make it affordable. -PTI

August 23, 201336 India Post

www.indiapost.com

DatebookSOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Upcoming

ATLANTA (Upcoming)

Sat, Aug 24: • Festival Of India 2013Venue: Gwinnett Center, 6400 Sugarloaf Pkwy, Duluth, GA 30097Time: 8:00 pm / Contact: 404-317-5474

Wed, Aug 28 : • Sri Krishna JanmastamiVenue: Atlanta Hare Krishna Temple,1287 Ponce De Leon Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30306Time: 4:30pm/ Contact: 404-377-8680

Sat, Aug 31: • Crescendo 2013Venue: Georgia Tech Student Center, 350 Ferst Dr NW, Atlanta, GA 30313Time: 11:00am / Contact: 678-421-4216

Sat, Age 24

• Vibe 2013

Venue: Curtis Theatre , Civic Center Cir,

Brea, CA 92821

Time: 5:30 pm

Contact: 682-554-6301

Sat, Aug 24

• Miss India America

Venue: LAX Sheraton Hotel, 6101 W Cen-

tury Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90045

Time: 6:00 pm

Contact: 310-994-9500

Sat, Sep 8

• Gayatri Pariwar - Yug Niram

Venue: Gayatri Pariwar – Yug Nirman,

22116 Pioneer Blvd, Hawaiian Gardens,

CA 90716

Time: 10:00 am

Contact: 562-924-3921

• J K Yog Satsang and Bal

Mukund Hindi Classes are held

every 2nd and 4rth Sunday of

Month

Chicago Satsang Information:

J K Yog, Chicago - Swami Mukundananda

Venue: Clarion Inn/Waterford Banquets,

Board Room, 933 South Riverside

Drive, Elmhurst, IL 60126

Time: 3:30pm-5:30pm

Contact: Ajay & Arti Chandhok

@ 630-561-4807

Website: www.jkyog.org

1st and 3rd Sunday of Month• Chicago Children's

Bal Mukund

Character Building Program

and Hindi Literacy Classes

Venue: Vogelei Center, 650 W. Higgins

Road, Hoffmann Estates, IL 60192 (Next

to Nissan Dealership)

Contact: Ajay & Arti Chandhok @

630-561-4807

Website: www.jkyog.org/bal-mukund

Fri, Aug 23• Gujarati Play - Bairi Mari

Blood Pressure

Venue: Jain Center, 435 South IL-59,

Bartlett, IL 60103

Time: 6:30pm

Contact: 630-913-6660

Sun, Sep 1• 100 Year's Of Bollywood -

Red Carpet,Star

Venue: Sears Centre Arena, 5333 Prairie

Stone Parkway, Hoffman Estates - Chicago,

IL 60192

Time: 5:30 pm

Contact: 847-227-8780

ILLINOIS

UpcomingNEW JERSEY

Upcoming

NEW YORKUpcoming

Fri, Aug 23• Grand Gala Star Night with

Sarath Kumar & Radhika

Venue: Hindu Temple Auditorium-NY, 143-09 Holly Ave, Flushing,NY 11355Time: 6:30 pmContact: 917-353-4545

Thu, Sep 5• Spirituality In Daily Life

Venue: Town Hall Theater, 123 W 43rd St,New York, NY 10036Time: 6:30 pmContact: 212-354-9090

Sat, Sep 7• K. S. Chitra and M. G.

Sreekumar With Symphony

Venue: Colden Center , 65-30 KissenaBlvd, , NY 11367Time: 9:00 pmContact: 914-720-7891

Sat , Aug 24• The Journey of a Legend

Venue: George Street Playhouse, 9

Livingston Ave, New Brunswick, NJ 08901

Time: 7:00 pm

Contact: 9734621695

Sat, Sep 7• SEWA - Volleyball Tourna-

ment

Venue: Gateway Little League Field, 43

Merseles St, Jersey City, NJ 07302

Time: 08:00 pm

Contact: 646-494-7392

Sat, Sep 14• Hariharan Live In Concert

In NJ

Venue: Ritz Theater, 1148 East Jersey Street,

Elizabeth, NJ 07201

Time: 8:00 pm

Contact: 732-277-6687

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

Upcoming

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India Post41 www.indiapost.com August 23, 2013

According to legends, Pushkar Lake was surroundedby 500 temples and 52 palaces (several rajas and maharajas maintained palaces here for pilgrimage) at onepoint. The Brahma temple is the most important temple

here and is, in fact, the only Brahma temple of India. It is inter-esting to note that Brahma is not worshipped, even though he isone of the Holy Trinity of Hinduism. Brahma, it is said, haddescended on earth to perform a Yajna (fire-sacrifice). His wifeSavitri was not with him at that time and the Yajna would beincomplete without her. Therefore, Brahma married a local girland sat down for the Yajna. Meanwhile Savitri landed on earthand, upon finding this new bride sitting next to Brahma, cursedhim that he would never be worshipped anywhere else on earth.

TOURIST ATTRACTIONSPushkar is a city of temples of all sizes, though not as much

old or in number as generally claimed. The most famous templeis the Brahma Temple, said to be only one temple dedicated toBrahma in India. A red spire marks the temple, and over theentrance gateway is the Hans (goose), the symbol of Brahmawho is said to have personally chosen Pushkar as his place.

Another important temple is that of Savitri (wife of LordBrahma) on a hilltop. It takes a one-hour trek to reach the temple,but it has a beautiful view of Pushkar Lake in the morning.

Other important places to visit in Pushkar are numerousghats that run down the lake.

PLACES AROUNDKishangarh, a one-hour journey from Pushkar, was founded

by Kishan Singh in the 17th century. The city is famous for itsunique style of miniature paintings, first produced in the 18thcentury.

PUSHKAR IS A CITY OF TEMPLES OFALL SIZES, THOUGH NOT AS MUCHOLD OR IN NUMBER AS GENERALLY

CLAIMED. THE MOST FAMOUSTEMPLE IS THE BRAHMA TEMPLE,

SAID TO BE ONLY ONE TEMPLEDEDICATED TO BRAHMA IN INDIA

Cont’d on page 43

India Post August 23, 201342 Travel & Hospitality Postwww.indiapost.com

White House travel director moves Obama entourageVINEYARD HAVEN, Mass.:

Even on a summer family vacation,President Barack Obama is fol-lowed by an entourage whose be-hind-the-scenes movements arejuggled by a woman who was borninto politics and has been with himsince his Chicago days.

Ashley Tate-Gilmore heads theWhite House Travel Office, a five-person operation that handles pre-cise logistics behind every presi-dential trip. The details usually gounnoticed by the public, unlesssomething goes horribly wrong.

Tate-Gilmore not only acts as ahigh-stakes travel agent for WhiteHouse press and staff, but a mini-ambassador who is often the firstto arrive at presidential destina-tions.

She's used to being underesti-mated, a 29-year-old woman who

is quick to laugh and signs off ev-ery email with a smiley face. Shesaid it was clear from her first meet-ing with foreign officials when shetook over the job three years agothat they weren't expecting to takedirections from a woman who looksso young.

``People are like, `Who are wemeeting with?' I was like, ̀ Me.' Andmouths dropped,'' she said in aninterview.

But anyone who thinks Tate-Gilmore is just a sweet young thingis in for a surprise. She was raisedin the rough-and-tumble world ofChicago politics - her mother gotpregnant while working on HaroldWashington's campaign to becomethe city's first black mayor andraised her daughter as a singleparent on the city's South Sidewith help from her own mother.

B yWashington's re-election cam-paign, littleAshley was com-ing along to help.``At 4 years old,Ashley was stuff-ing envelopes,''said her mother,Desiree Tate.

Tate-Gilmorelives out of a bag,and her job re-quires that she behighly organizedand think on herfeet as she jugglesplanning for mul-tiple White House trips. The eight-day vacation to Martha's Vineyardrequired her to help set up a WhiteHouse operation on the island at

peak season, when accommoda-tions are hard to find. She helpedreserve rooms for media, staff, Se-cret Service and others support-ing the presidential operation in somany places across the island thatshe's lost count - booking rental

homes and even a trailer for staffto work out of when there were nomore hotel rooms to be had.

Meanwhile, from the islandshe's dealing with visa applica-tions for Obama's visit to Russianext month and setting up Obama'sbus tour to New York and Penn-sylvania. And she is planning totravel overseas next week to makearrangements for a future presi-dential trip.

Tate-Gilmore has learned to beno-nonsense in her dealings withlocal officials, hotels and venuesObama will visit. In preparation forhis trip to Africa earlier this year,members of the White House ad-vance party suffered bug bitesstaying in the press hotel. Tate-Gilmore demanded the hotel hirean exterminator - and take along aphotographer who could email herpictures back in Washington toprove all the rooms had been fu-migated. -AP

Ashley Tate-Gilmore

India PostAugust 23, 2013 43Travel & Hospitality Postwww.indiapost.com

PUSHKARFascinating location forreligious and cattle fair

Another important point to visitis Ajmer, famous for its annual UrsMela and a major city of Rajasthan.

FAIRS & FESTIVALSRajasthan is at its colorful best

during fairs and festivals. Thereare numerous festivals throughoutthe year, which brighten the oth-erwise hard and dreary lives of thevillagers of the deserts.

One of the most popular and

charismatic fairs of the desert isthe Pushkar Fair, held on the 11thday of the bright half of the moon.The time of the fair correspondsto the western month of October/November.

For five days in a year, all thegods visit Pushkar and bless thedevout. This accounts for the un-believable number of devoteeswho flock to the lake to wash

away their sins. Pushkar Lake isthe most sacred lake in India.From time immemorial, peoplehave been gathering here annu-ally during the month of Kartik.

During the days of the mela, theotherwise tranquil lake is engulfedby religious fervor. Thousands ofdevotees congregate to take a dip,sadhus descend from theHimalayas and people pray for sal-vation to the sound of verses fromthe holy scriptures that fill the air.

For the desert people, this

large congregation has tremen-dous economic implications.These five days, apart from beinga period of relaxation and merry-making for the villagers, corre-spond to the largest cattle fair inthe country. Animals, mainly cam-els, are brought from miles around.Trading is brisk as several thou-sand heads of cattle exchangehands.

The camels are cleaned,washed, adorned, some are inter-estingly shorn to form patterns,and special stalls are set up sell-ing finery and jewelry for the cam-els. One of the interesting sightsis the piercing of a camel's nose.

Races and competitions areorganized. Camels lope acrossthe sands, sometimes throwingtheir riders on to the vast sands,amidst cheers and jeers fromthousands of spectators. An in-teresting event is the camelbeauty contest where they areadorned and paraded. Theypreen themselves before thecrowds enjoying every momentof the attention they get.

Turbaned heads, the colorfulveils and skirts of the womenbring alive the arid desert. Thevillage women are dressed intheir best clothes and finery forthe five-day mela.

As night descends upon thesand dunes, one can hear soundsof the ektara (a single-stringed in-strument) and the soulful tunesof the Rajasthani folk songs.Smoke rises from the makeshiftand temporary fires where dinneris being cooked. People begin toretire to their respective tents andhotel rooms to rest until the next

day when hectic activity beginsonce again.

Where to stay: With the in-crease in the popularity ofPushkar and the interest shownby the tourists abroad, the placehas now many decent accommo-dation options available. One can

chose from a variety of optionslike budget, mid-range, and luxuryaccommodations.

A popular accommodation op-tion nowadays is the tourist vil-lage where tourists stay in thetents. This is a good place to feelthe culture and tradition of

Rajasthan in the idyllic environ-ment.

HOW TO REACHAir - The nearest airport is

Jaipur (145 km), from where onecan take flights for Delhi andMumbai.

Rail - Ajmer is the nearest rail-way station from where one cantake trains for the major destina-tions in Rajasthan and other partsof India.

Road - Pushkar is connected toAjmer by road, which is around 14km away.


Abu Dhabi tourism to launchcampaign in Delhi

DUBAI: Abu Dhabi's tourismauthority and a leading travel com-pany have teamed up for a month-long campaign in New Delhi tofurther bolster the number ofIndian visitors to the emirate.

The campaign, 'Abu DhabiMonth', will run throughoutthis month at Abu Dhabi-basedTUI's flagship store in Delhi.

In the first six months of2013, some 80,179 Indian na-tionals stayed in Abu Dhabi's145 hotels and hotel apartments- a 22 per cent rise since last year.

"With much more to see and

do in Abu Dhabi as well as in-creased air access from the coun-try following Etihad Airways' eq-

uity stake in Jet Airways, we ex-pect to see strong growth in the

number of Indian guests choos-ing the emirate as their preferredholiday destination," said Bejan

Dinshaw, the Country Man-ager in India of Travel andCulture Authority of AbuDhabi.

"Robust growth to AbuDhabi from India was evidenceof the emirate's rapidly evolv-ing leisure and business tour-ism offering, which is being in-creasingly factored into con-sumers' travel decisions," said

Sunil Hasija, Executive Director ofTUI India.-PTI

Goa to attract investmentsin backward talukas

PANAJI: In a bid to attract moreinvestors to Goa, the state gov-ernment is planning relaxing rulesfor investments and providing aslew of incentives to companiesintending to set up their plants inlesser developed talukas of thetourist destination.

Chief Minister ManoharParrikar received the draft invest-ment-cum-industrial policy pre-pared by the task force compris-ing industry captains.

Among other things, the policyrefers to bringing in Rs 5,000 crore

investment and creating 50,000jobs in next five years.

The policy, which would be putfor public scrutiny till September9, calls for bigger doles for the in-dustries wanting to construct theirunits in the backward talukas ofSattari, Sanguem, Dharbandoraand Pernem.

It has suggested 70 percent ofthe project cost incurred by compa-nies in the backward talukas to bereimbursed over nine years throughrevenues like Value Added Tax(VAT) generated by the firms. -PTI

44 India Post August 23, 2013www.indiapost.com

In Brief ImmigrationDetails on page 45

DOL to delayH-2B wage

methodologyfinal rule

High-profile task force backspath to citizenship

WASHINGTON: A high-profilebipartisan task force chaired byformer governors and Cabinetsecretaries endorsed eventual citi-zenship for immigrants living inthe U.S. illegally as part of a pack-age of recommendations.

The proposals were aimed atinfluencing the debate on immigra-tion, with Congress on a five-weeksummer recess and Senate-passedimmigration legislation stalled inthe GOP-controlled House.

The immigration task force,convened by the Bipartisan PolicyCenter, is co-chaired by formerSecretary of State CondoleezzaRice and former Mississippi Gov.Haley Barbour, both Republicans;along with former PennsylvaniaGov. Ed Rendell and former Hous-ing Secretary Henry Cisneros,who are Democrats. Cisneros is aformer San Antonio mayor.

The group's recommendationsincluded calling for an indepen-dent commission to measure bor-der security; a path to citizenshipfor the 11 million people living herewithout legal permission; and astrong visa program to bring for-eign workers into the economy,coupled with stricter penalties foremployers that hire or exploit work-

ers living here illegally.``We find it's possible to reach

common ground on some basicprinciples that do get a broadagreement from people coming atthe problem with different politicalperspectives,'' Michael Chertoff,

homeland security secretary underPresident George W. Bush and amember of the task force, said on aconference call with reporters.

``We're hopeful that the coun-try, when we all take a deep breathover the summer, looks at how bro-

ken the system currently is (and)will see that the value of coming upwith a broad consensus reform faroutweighs the benefit of the statusquo.''

Several of the recommendationstrack generally with the Senate bill,

which aims for border security, im-proved legal immigration and work-place enforcement, and eventualcitizenship for the millions alreadyhere illegally.

But the task force criticized theSenate's approach to border secu-

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice

Modi shall not be granted US visa: American officialWASHINGTON: A top Ameri-

can official has opposed grantof visa to Gujarat Chief MinisterNarendra Modi because of the"very serious" doubts that re-main over his role in the "hor-rific" 2002 riots in the state.

"Modi shall not be grantedthe privilege of US visa becauseof the very serious doubts thatremain and that hang over Modirelative to his role in the horrificevents of 2002 in Gujarat," saidKatrina Lantos Swett, vice chair-woman of the United StatesCommission on InternationalReligious Freedom.

The bipartisan governmentcommission reviews the factsand circumstances of religiousfreedom violations and makespolicy recommendations to the

US President, the secretary of Stateand Congress.

"There are many, many unan-swered questions that remain,

there are at are many grave allega-tions, there are huge doubts," she

was quoted assaying by theNew YorkTimes.

When askedabout the possi-bility of Modi'snomination asthe BJP's primeministerial can-didate for thenext Lok Sabhapolls, she said,"It is no outsidenation's or noindividual's roleto tell them whoshould be the

next leader of India.""For the people of India, I think

it is important for them to con-sider very carefully who it is whothey want to be their next primeminister," she added.

In 2005, the US denied Modia diplomatic visa and revokedhis existing tourist/businessvisa under the Immigration andNationality Act, which makes aforeign government official whois responsible for particularlysevere violations of religiousfreedom ineligible for an Ameri-can visa, the NYT said.

"Obviously what happened in2002 in Gujarat was sectarianviolence on a really massivescale. I don't think you can saythat that wasn't a religious issue.It was a religious issue and the2005 visa denial harks back tothat," she said. -PTI

Narendra Modi

Alabama Countychanges marriagelicense policy

MONTGOMERY, Ala.: An Ala-bama County has changed itspolicy of requiring applicants formarriage license to prove their im-migration status.

The Southern Policy Law Cen-ter says the Tallapoosa ProbateOffice has changed its guidelinesfor marriage license applications.

The Law Center had sued theMontgomery County Probate Of-fice in 2011 over a similar policy andadded the Tallapoosa County Pro-bate Office as a defendant last year.

The Montgomery County Pro-bate Office changed its police ear-lier this summer by explicitly pro-hibiting the consideration of im-migration status.

The Southern Poverty LawCenter asked a federal judge todismiss the lawsuits against thetwo counties as a result of thepolicy changes.

SPLC lawyer Sam Brooke calledthe policy changes ̀ `a positive stepforward to ensure everyone istreated fairly under the law.'' -AP

Foreigners canmove MHA forvisa extension

NEW DELHI: Foreigners visit-ing India may now approach theHome Ministry directly if their ap-plications for extension of visa arenot resolved within 30 days.

The Home Ministry has de-cided that tourists can approachits foreigners division with thegrievance if a decision is not takenby the concerned Foreigner Re-gional Registration Offices(FRRO) or Foreigners RegistrationOffice (FRO) within 30 days ofmaking the request.

The Home Ministry, however,made it clear that foreign nationalsmust visit the concerned jurisdic-tional FRRO or FRO first for suchvisa-related services before ap-proaching the Home Ministry asit involves avoidable inconve-nience, waste of time and finan-cial burden to them.

The foreigners can also visit theHome Ministry in cases of medicalemergencies, an official order says.

The government also delegatedvarious powers to the FRROs andFROs to offer services to visitingforeigners including registration,visa extension and visa conversion.

If any service is required by aforeign national which is not cov-ered in the above-mentioned del-egated powers, even then the for-eign national first visit the con-cerned FRRO or FRO and put in aformal request for the service, theorder says. -PTI

rity, a last-minute compromiseaimed at securing Republican votesthat sets aside $46 billion to doublethe number of agents along theU.S.-Mexico border, to completehundreds of miles of fencing andto beef up technology from dronesto helicopters to watchtowers. Theapproach ``does not provide out-come-based border-securitymetrics that are trustworthy andverifiable,'' the report said, callingfor the creation of such measuresthat would be audited by an inde-pendent commission and madepublic.

Similar criticism is sometimesheard from House Republicans,who say that border security mustbe tackled before any other step istaken on immigration but generallydislike the Senate bill.

The task force recommenda-tions amount to the latest exampleof establishment Republicans pro-moting comprehensive solutionson immigration in the face of balk-ing by the conservatives who con-trol the House. It comes as advo-cates nationwide, from business tolabor to evangelicals, seek to exertpressure on House Republicans totake action once they return toWashington in September. -AP

India Post 45August 23, 2013 Immigration Postwww.indiapost.com

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DOL to delay H-2B wage methodology final ruleCYRUS D. MEHTA

The Department of Labor(DOL) proposes to delayindefinitely the effective

date of the "Wage Methodologyfor the Temporary Non-Agricul-tural Employment H-2B Program"final rule (2011 wage rule) "to com-ply with recurrent legislation thatprohibits the [DOL] from using anyfunds to implement it, and to per-mit time for consideration of pub-lic comments sought in conjunc-tion with an interim final rule pub-lished April 24, 2013, 78 FR 24047."

The 2011 wage rule revised themethodology by which the DOLcalculates the prevailing wage tobe paid to H-2B workers and U.S.workers recruited in connectionwith temporary labor certifications

to employ H-2B nonimmigrantworkers. The 2011 wage rule wasoriginally scheduled to become ef-fective on January 1, 2012, and theeffective date has been extendeda number of times, most recentlyto October 1, 2013. The Depart-ment is now proposing to delaythe effective date of the 2011 wagerule "until such time as Congressno longer prohibits the [DOL]from implementing" it.

DOL explained that, amongother things, the appropriationsbill enacted in November 2011 pre-vented funding but did not pro-hibit the 2011 wage rule from go-ing into effect. The DOL explainedthat the 2011 wage rule would su-persede and nullify the prevailingwage provisions at 20 CFSR655.10(b) of the DOL's existing H-2B regulations. Accordingly, inlight of the November 2011 appro-priations bill, the DOL decided todelay the effective date of the 2011wage rule. If the wage rule hadtaken effect, the DOL explained,

"[s]uch an occurrence would haverendered the H-2B program inop-erable because the issuance of aprevailing wage determination isa condition precedent to approv-ing an employer's request for anH-2B labor certification."

Subsequent appropriations leg-islation contained the same restric-tion prohibiting the DOL's use ofappropriated funds to implement,administer, or enforce the 2011wage rule and, the DOL said, ne-cessitated subsequent extensionsof the effective date of that rule.The DOL therefore now proposesto delay the effective date indefi-nitely until such time as the rulecan be implemented with appro-priated funds.

Additionally, the DOL and theDepartment of Homeland Security(DHS) recently promulgated aninterim final rule, requesting com-ments, to establish a new wagemethodology in response toCATA v. Solis, decided in 2013.The interim final rule requires pre-vailing wage determinations is-sued using the Occupational Em-ployment Statistics (OES) surveyto be based on the mean wage foran occupation in the area of in-tended employment, without tiersor skill levels. The comment pe-riod closed on June 10, 2013, andthe DOL and DHS are reviewingthe comments and determiningwhether further revisions to 20CFSR 655.10(b) are warranted.

DOL explained that theconfluence of the recent Congres-sional prohibition of implementa-tion of the 2011 wage rule and theDOL's current review and consid-eration of comments made in re-sponse to the proposed new wagemethodology require the indefinite

delay of the effective date of the2011 wage rule. Even if Congresslifts the prohibition of implemen-tation of the 2011 wage rule, theDOL said it would need time toassess the current regulatoryframework; consider any changedcircumstances, novel concerns, ornew information received; andminimize disruptions.

The DOL invites comment un-til August 9, 2013, on the proposedindefinite delay of the effectivedate of the 2011 wage rule. If Con-gress should no longer prohibitimplementation, the DOL wouldpublish a notice in the FederalRegister within 45 days on the sta-tus of 20 CFR 655.10 and the ef-fective date of the 2011 wage rule.

USCIS updates DOMA FAQU.S. Citizenship and Immigra-

tion Services has updated its fre-quently asked questions (FAQ)on same-sex marriages under theSupreme Court's recent decisionholding that Section 3 of the De-fense of Marriage Act (DOMA) isunconstitutional. The latest FAQnotes that U.S. citizens and lawfulpermanent residents in same-sexmarriages to foreign nationals cannow sponsor their spouses forfamily-based immigrant visas.Their eligibility will be determinedaccording to applicable immigra-tion law and they will not be de-nied because of a same-sex mar-riage.

The FAQ also notes thatspouses who were married in aU.S. state or foreign country thatrecognizes same-sex marriage,but who live in a state that doesnot, can file immigrant visa peti-tions for their spouses. The FAQstates that as a general matter,"the law of the place where themarriage was celebrated deter-mines whether the marriage islegally valid for immigration pur-poses."

The FAQ also includes infor-mation about applying for ben-efits, what to do about previousdenials, changes in eligibilitybased on same-sex marriage, resi-dence requirements, inadmissi-bility waivers.

The State Department alsoannounced that non-citizen

same sex spouses will be treatedequally for visa processing atconsular posts. This is whatSecretary of State John Kerryannounced on August 3, 2013:

"If you are the spouse of aU.S. citizen, your visa applicationwill be treated equally. If you arethe spouse of a non-citizen, yourvisa application will be treatedequally. And if you are in a coun-try that doesn't recognize yoursame-sex marriage, then yourvisa application will still betreated equally at every singleone of our 222 visa processingcenters around the world...Now,as long as a marriage has beenperformed in a jurisdiction thatrecognizes it so that it is legal,then that marriage is valid underU.S. immigration laws, and everymarried couple will be treated

exactly the same, and that is whatwe believe is appropriate."

DOL Labor Certification Reg-istry Goes Live

The Department of Labor(DOL) recently announced imple-mentation of the Labor Certifica-tion Registry (LCR) on the Officeof Foreign Labor Certification's(OFLC) iCERT Visa Portal Systemwebsite. The LCR is intended toprovide the public with access to"appropriately redacted" copies ofH-1B, H-1B1, E-3, H-2A, H-2B, andpermanent labor certificationdocuments issued by OFLC, aswell as quarterly and annual casedisclosure data.

The FAQ also notes that spouses who weremarried in a U.S. state or foreign country thatrecognizes same-sex marriage, but who livein a state that does not, can file immigrantvisa petitions for their spouses. The FAQ statesthat as a general matter, "the law of the placewhere the marriage was celebrated deter-mines whether the marriage is legally validfor immigration purposes."

* Cyrus D Mehta, may be contactedat 212-425-0555 or

[email protected]

India Post46 August 23, 2013Immigration Postwww.indiapost.com

Is comprehensive immigrationreform still possible?

KALPANA V. PEDDIBHOTLA

At this time there is no newimmigration reform law. Inorder for a bill to become

law both parts of Congress - theSenate and the House of Repre-sentatives - must agree on the fi-nal proposed legislation and thePresident must sign the bill intolaw. While the Senate's bill pas-sage was historic, we still have along way to go before Congresshas a final proposed bill that canbecome law.

So what is the House of Repre-sentatives doing about immigra-tion reform? Speaker of the House,John Boehner, has reiterated onseveral occasions that the Housewould not consider the Senate'sbill. In light of this, after the Sen-ate passed its bill, the House ofRepresentatives had three poten-tial options left that it could take:

1) Pass a bunch of small billsreforming various aspects of theImmigration system but not com-prehensively overhauling our im-migration system;

To this end the House has pro-

posed at least 5 bills that havepassed out of committee that pro-vide for an agricultural guestworker program, tighter bordercontrols, greater worksite enforce-ment, and expanding visas for

STEM workers. There is also leg-islation being proposed thatwould provide a pathway to"DREAMERs" - young peoplewho were brought to the U.S. bytheir parents, and who in everyaspect are American but for thelack of papers.

2) Propose their own com-prehensive immigration reform bill;or

3) Do nothing.

At the end of July, there ap-peared to have been limited move-ment on comprehensive immigra-tion reform by the House. How-ever, during the current Augustrecess, with members of the House

back in their districts, they havebeen receiving a lot of heat fromtheir constituents to pass compre-hensive immigration reform thatincludes a pathway to citizenshipto the more than 11 million un-documented immigrants in the U.S.

It was politics that thrust theimmigration debate to the fore, andwe suspect it will be political pres-sure that ultimately determines thecourse of immigration reform in theU.S.

During the current August recess, with mem-bers of the House back in their districts, theyhave been receiving a lot of heat from theirconstituents to pass comprehensive immigra-tion reform that includes a pathway to citizen-ship to the more than 11 million undocu-mented immigrants in the U.S.

Guilty plea for ex-fundraiserfor Rep. Grimm

NEW YORK: A former cam-paign fundraiser for U.S. RepMichael Grimm has pleaded guiltyin New York to an immigrationfraud charge.

Israeli businessman Ofer Bitonpleaded guilty in federal court inBrooklyn to lying about his fi-nances when he applied in 2010for a special visa available to for-eigners who invest $500,000 ormore in a U.S. business.

A plea agreement calls for Bitonto be sentenced to three years of

probation.A lawyer for Biton had no com-

ment.The businessman was arrested

last year amid an FBI investiga-tion into money donated toGrimm's campaign by followers ofan Israeli rabbi, Yoshiyahu YosefPinto.

A spokeswoman for Grimm saidthe congressman had no knowl-edge of any improper donationsor any other illegal activity involv-ing Biton. -AP

Nelson lamentspartisanship in DC

ORLANDO, Fla.: U.S. Sen. BillNelson is urging the leaders ofFlorida's 410 municipalities to pres-sure their federal lawmakers intoending the partisanship that haskept legislation on immigrationand transportation from passingin Washington in recent months.

Nelson made his plea at theFlorida League of Cities annual

conference in Orlando.Nelson said he finds it frustrat-

ing and disappointing that mem-bers of Congress nowadays can'tseem to get along.

The U.S. senator says Florida'smayor and city council leaders canplay a role by demanding that theirfederal lawmakers end the gridlockin Washington.-AP

Ahmad Zahid Hamidi

Malaysia punishes Singaporeanin prayer room row

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia:Malaysian authorities have re-voked the immigration privilegesheld by a Singaporean man whooffended some Muslims by alleg-edly letting Buddhists use an Is-lamic prayer room.

The case has provoked debateabout whether the government inMuslim-majority Malaysia is in-creasingly bowing to pressure byreligious conservatives who wantstern penalties against people ac-cused of insulting Islam.

Police detained theSingaporean-born owner of asouthern Malaysian beach resortfor several days earlier this monthafter he was believed to have al-lowed Buddhist tourists to medi-tate in the resort's Islamic prayerroom.

Home Minister Ahmad ZahidHamidi said the Muslim man hasbeen stripped of his ``permanentresidency'' status that enabled himto live and work in Malaysia with-out visa requirements.

The man has been released bypolice and is not formally chargedwith any crime, but thegovernment's decision was``based on the law in the interestsof religion and the nation,'' Ahmad

Zahid wrote on Twitter.Some Islamic groups accused

the man of defiling the prayerroom. Nearly two-thirds ofMalaysia's 29 million people areMuslims, while the main minorities

are Buddhists, Christians and Hin-dus.

The Singaporean's case is thethird in the past two months thatinvolved the detention of peopleaccused of disrespecting Muslim

sensitivities.Last month, prosecutors

charged two non-Muslims withsedition and inciting religious en-mity after they posted a photo-graph on Facebook of themselves

eating pork while extending greet-ings during the Islamic holy monthof fasting. They face up to eightyears in prison if convicted. Con-sumption of pork is forbidden forMuslims.-AP

Last defendant sentencedin deadly NJ robbery

PATERSON, N.J.: A northernNew Jersey man who helped beatand rob an immigrant who was leftunconscious in the road and even-tually run over by a passing car isnow headed tostate prison.

The Record re-ports 21-year-oldCorey Jenkins re-ceived a 10-yearsentence. He hadpleaded guilty torobbery chargesand must servenearly nine yearsbefore he becomeseligible for parole.

Passaic Countyprosecutors say Jenkins was theonly adult in the pack of six malesthat that attacked Antonio Chiroy,the father of four young girls. Theysay the 31-year-old native of Gua-temala was attacked in September2011 because he appeared to beintoxicated.

Chiroy was walking home to hisPassaic apartment when he wasattacked by the group. Some of theyouths involved have said they

were at a party that night whenthey decided to go out and robsomeone.

When the group spottedChiroy trying to hail a cab, they

knocked himto the groundand punchedand kickedhim until hewas uncon-scious anddefenseless.They thenleft him un-conscious inthe road,where a carran over him.

The robbery netted the group$12 and a cell phone. Some of thejuveniles were prosecuted asadults and all eventually pleadedguilty to some role in the attack.

Two people in the car that ranover Chiroy were initially chargedwith causing a death or injurywhile driving and leaving thescene of an accident that resultedin death. But both later reachedplea deals in the matter. -AP

Passaic County pros-ecutors say Jenkinswas the only adult inthe pack of sixmales that that at-tacked AntonioChiroy, the father offour young girls.


www.indiapost.com

Horoscope

Your Weekly FutureAUGUST 23RD - AUGUST 29TH, 2013

by Pandit Parashar

(March 21 to April 20)

Things will misfire only on the last minute and you will very nar-

rowly miss a great opportunity. Take a deep breath as another

better and bigger opportunity only a week away. Some of you will be

traveling to another state to meet some influential person. You may

visit a holy place with family and participate in some special prayers.

(November 23 to December 22)

Expect some favorable things in life this week. Issues pending

and chewing up your time and energy will clear making room for

big improvements in personal as well as professional life. Try to keep

a proper distance with a new associate. Idea of taking a short trip over-

seas will continue to occupy your mind and you may start working on it.

(December 22 to January 19)

You will lay your hands on some real easy money this week. Few

more road blocks will be removed in career and you will be ex-

cited. You may put some money away in savings. An old friend will

call to invite you to a small party. Mail or letter you write will get quick

and positive response. Spouse may have some aches and pains.

(January 20 to February 18)

Continue working on your bright ideas and leave the results in

hands of destiny. Results will come soon as long as you have faith

in your work. Some of you may sign up for a short term program to kind of

update your knowledge. Money wise you will continue to grow but at a

very slow pace. You may have an meeting with an important person.

(February 19 to March 20)

Diplomacy will not only help you gain an edge over your strongest

opponents but they will offer their friendship. You will continue

your search for an ideal place to move. Children will plan a small trip to

a nice place never visited before. Very favorable week for people con-

nected with health industry. You may spend some money on nice cloths.

(May 21 to June 20)

New partnership or relationship will be lucky. Planets will help

you take all decisions very wisely and keeping long term ben-

efits in mind. If you are persistent only then you will be able to get

maximum out of a claim you filed in past few months. This is the

right time to approach a government agency to get the necessary

clearance.

(July 23 to August 22)

You will finally find the missing link. Confidence level will be at its

peak. There is an overseas trip in the air. You will make frequent

call to some one living far away. Chances of an addition in the family

still strong. Payment coming this week may get delayed for another

time. You will plan an outing with family to a nice restaurant.

(September 23 to October 22)

You will be tempted to make some hasty decisions about career.

Gamble may pay off starting next month. Money wise you will

continue to do well and a property deal may get some extra cash

though less than earlier expected. Transiting Sun in house of gains

can get some money through lottery or other speculations. Party will

be entertaining.

(April 21 to May 20)

You will purchase some expensive but beautiful item for the house.

Money will come and disappear fast. You may have to withdraw

some from your reserves in order to meet fresh commitments. Mind will

start leaning towards religion and spirituality. Little prayers will do won-

ders. People in business will continue to gain edge over opponents.

(June 21 to July 22)

Even impulsive decisions taken about career this week will prove

to be a blessing in disguise in time to come. Do not hesitate to

buy few lottery tickets for next several weeks. If you are offered any

temporary assignment overseas, you should grab it. Next few weeks

looks very favorable for all financial matters. Bank balance will shoot up.

(August 23 to September 22)

Everything will move in the right direction but you will make all

moves with extreme caution. Feel confident and move with full

steam. Some money may go on legal procedure also. Some of you will

be seriously looking for another job closer to home this time. You may

learn some useful things from a person who was a pain in the past.

(October 23 to November 22)

Mars in ninth will bring confidence back. Diplomacy and correct

approach will silence the opponents or people creating prob-

lems lately. You have some money coming through a claim filed with

an insurance company. New assignment will come with enhanced

powers and right team. Sign all contracts after careful examination

of papers.

Pandit Parashar, CEO & COO Astro Scan USA is also available for individualconsultations. He can be reached at: [email protected]

510-886-4370 website: www.parashar.com


August 23, 201348

SURENDRA ULLAL

Bhagvad Gita (Song of the Lord) isone of the most popular religioustexts in the world. It is undoubtedly one

of the highly revered texts of the Hindus acrossthe world, generally transcending all narroweraspects of caste and linguistic differences,which unfortunately continue to exist amongthem. Perhaps next only to Bible this is the mosttranslated work in world literature, accordingto Win and M. Callewaert and Silanand Hemraj,who have made extensive studies on trans-cultural translation.

What strikes the reader at the outset, isthe stark simplicity of the language that wouldbe easily read by an eighth grade student andinspire his interest if only he likes to know more

about the Gita. And historically many devout scholarswere about the same age, or even younger as theyundertook study of the Gita. We have instances ofShankara, who was only eight-year old when he wrotea commentary on Gita.

Hundreds of students and scholars following himwrote commentaries on Gita, interpreting it as a phi-losophy according to their points of, which include,Advaita, Dvaita, Vishishtadwaita. Dwaitadwaitya,etc, to name but a few. These commentaries, espe-cially, are focused on the Atma, translated as soul,which is enshrined in all living beings according toHindu philosophy and upheld by most Vedic schol-ars.

I finally understandBollywood: Priyanka

films - Krrish 3 and Zanjeer - the focus ismore on the male leads but PriyankaChopra decided to take up the projectsbecause she liked the script.

"Krrish and Zanjeer are both boy films.But I had no apprehension about being apart of these films because I love to watchthem. I am very spontaneous and I dofilms if I like the script. I don't considerother things."

The Barfi! actress, who is the brand am-bassador of 'Our Girls Our Pride', said herupbringing helped her to understand thecampaign in a better way.

"The cause of the girl child has beenvery close to my heart. My mother is agynecologist and my father was a doctor.Since my childhood, I have seen mymother with women and children and shehas been a huge influence in my life also.Our sex ratio is 840 girls out of 1000 boys,which is really absurd," said Priyanka, who

is also the Goodwill ambassador atUNICEF.

Priyanka Chopra, however, wants tokeep her movie career and her charity workseparate.

Asked whether she would like to takeup the cause in her films, the actress said,"No, that would be very unfair. Movies areentertainment and they are fiction. What Ido as a person is very different to what Ido as an actor. I don't think it is right to putthat kind of pressure on movie business.Nobody watches such films. Let's be real-istic and not be delusional about it."

Priyanka Chopra, who now has a bud-ding international music career, is also look-ing forward to the release of Disney's ani-mated film Planes.

"I am lucky to be a part of Disney and Ithink it is every girl's dream to act in a filmby them. I am really excited for 'Planes'"-PTI

Priyanka Chopra is happy to have madeher way to the top in Bollywood without the help of any godfather and the

actress says she is finally at a place where

www.indiapost.com50 India Post August 23, 2013

Priyanka Chopra

she is being offered challenging roles.The 31-year-old former Miss World, who

is doing commercially viable films like Zanjeer,Krrish 3, Gunday and Mary Kom biopic, says

she finally understandsthe industry.

"I have never beento any acting schooland didn't have anyclue when I joined. Ididn't have a godfatheror boyfriend to guideme. I was 18-year-oldand it took me a fewyears to understand theindustry."

"I am very fortunatethat in the last fewyears, I have reached apoint where filmmakerscan see me playing allkind of roles. So, now Iwant to have a mix bagof all kind of cinema,"said Priyanka Chopra.

In her two upcoming

Cont’d on page 51

Book ReviewThe Bhagavad Gita: A New TranslationGavin Flood And Charles MartinPublisher: W. W. Norton & CompanyPrice: $13.95 PaperbackPages: 208

Cover of the book

August 23, 2013 India Post 51

www.indiapost.com

A.R. Rahman turns producerMusic maestro A R

Rahman wants to explore some aspects of

filmmaking and hence has decidedto enter into production. Under thebanner YM Movies, Rahmanwants to produce artistic movieswith cinematic creativity.

Also, the Oscar Award winningcomposer wants to take his asso-ciation with Eros International for-ward by collaborating with thecompany for his untitled filmwhich will be a young romanticlove story based on art and selfdiscovery. Also, along with theproduction and music of the film,this music director has taken ini-tiative in the story writing processalong with his team of local andinternational talents. However, thecast of the film and other detailsare yet to be finalized. A R Rahman

Salim-Sulaiman forHollywood

After capturing Bollywood,the music director duoSalim-Sulaiman are all set

for their international venture.The duo has been roped in for aHollywood film Sold, which is tobe produced by Academy Awardwinner Jeffrey D Brown.

Salim-Sulaiman, who have com-

posed music for films like BandBaaja Baaraat, Rab Ne Bana DiJodi, Fashion, Satyagraha andothers, feel that it's a great oppor-tunity to be a part of this projectas the theme of the film is abouthuman trafficking. The film is setin Kolkata.

Salim-Sulaiman

The Sermon of the Lord(Krishna) begins on the battle-field of Kurukshetra in northernIndia, where two factions ofwarring cousins with equalclaim to the kingdom are set tobattle. Arjuna, third among the

Pandavas, sons of King Pandu,refuses to fight against his ownbrethren, teachers and rela-tives.

At this juncture, as the au-thors write, an unassumingcharioteer begins to persuadehim to fight and perform hisduties as the one belonging tothe warrior clan, who is obli-

Gita: A new modern versiongated to fight as the duty(Dharma) of a warrior(Kshatriya).

What follows is the legend-ary, Song of the Lord (Gita), aprofound, insightful existentialdialogue on life, death, the souland morality in seven hundredof the most beautiful Sanskrit

verses ever written.In their erudite work, The

Bhagavad Gita: A New Transla-tion, Oxford scholar Gavin Floodand award winning poet andtranslator Charles Martin bestowon this commendable work ofEastern religion the gloriousgusto it deserves.

In dexterous and limber four-

line stanzas (Chatushpadi)Floode and Martin render thisseminal document of worldthought with all the otherworldlypower and grace we would ex-pect from a book that has cometo influence many of the world'sgreatest thinkers from Gandhi toEinstein, Emerson to Jung.

"This world is bound by ac-tion" Krishna instructs early inthe Gita, "therefore act withoutattachment to the fruits." Un-encumbered by dated affecta-tions, Flood and Martin's nimbletranslation allows us to fully en-joy Krishna's still-resonant mes-sage, his enlightened conceptionof "bliss" as action over non-ac-tion, detachment over desire.

Beyond the book's eighteenenlightening chapters, this newtranslation also includes, an il-luminating 28-page introductionconceptualizing the significanceof Bhagavad Gita in the epicMahabharata, as well as its largerhistorical and cultural context;eighteen pages of brief, helpful,endnotes.

With the scrupulous accuracy

and poetic charm of a translationteam composed of one of theworld's foremost Hindu scholarsand one of America's finest po-ets, Flood and Martin deliver TheBhagavad Gita to a new genera-tion of scholars and Englishspeakers increasingly interestedin Eastern thought and yogicteaching.

In their new translation, wehave the most vibrant and acces-sible interaction of this scriptureto date, and its publication iscause for celebration. This ver-sion of the Bhagavad Gita willundoubtedly be the gold stan-dard for many years to come.

With the scrupulous accuracy and poeticcharm of a translation team composed ofone of the world's foremost Hindu scholarsand one of America's finest poets, Floodand Martin deliver The Bhagavad Gita to anew generation of scholars and Englishspeakers increasingly interested in Easternthought and yogic teaching.

Gavin Flood is a professorof Hindu studies and compara-tive religion at Oxford Univer-sity and the academic directorof the Oxford Centre for HinduStudies. He lives in Oxford, En-gland.

Charles Martin is a poet,critic, and translator. His trans-lation of 'the Metamorphosesof Ovid' received the HaroldMorton Landon Award from theAcademy of American Poets in2004. In 2005 he received anAward for Literature from theAmerican Academy of Arts andLetters. He lives in Syracuse,New York.


52 August 23, 2013India Post

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Philosophy

Brooding over sensoryobjects creates passion

Compassion applies onlyto human beings

Lord Krishna

Swami Viditatmananda

Saraswati

Knock, and He'll open the

door; Vanish, and He'll

make you shine like the

sun; Fall, and He'll raise

you to the heavens; Be-

come nothing, and He'll

turn you into everything.

-Rumi

What is the self, or the

not-self? What is thinking,

or not thinking? What is

good or evil? I sit in my

own splendor.

-Ashtavakra Gita

The build-up of samsaric

propensities, primordially,

is the pure dimension of

being - pity him who has

not noticed!

-Longchenpa

In Love no longer 'thou'

and 'I' exist, For Self has

passed away in the Be-

loved.

-Attar of Nishapur

Love is the funeral pyre

where I have laid my liv-

ing body. All the false no-

tions of myself, that once

caused fear, pain, have

turned to ash As I neared

God.

-Hafiz

God is nearer to me than

my hands and my feet

and my breathing ...God

is Here and This is where

He lives. This is the

temple of the living God

-Douglas Harding

"Although he may not be a master ofsenses, he is not a servant to them, either.As fire kindled into a blaze burns the woodto ashes, devotion to me completelyconsumes all evil.”

There is a balance in nature that is maintained,such as ecological balance. So you find thatthere is no unnecessary violence in nature. Onlyman is capable of unnecessary violence andhence has a need to cultivate compassion.

Krishna clarifies (inUddhava Gita) the char-acterization of a jiva as

bound or emancipated is deter-mined by its being subject to ornot subject to the Gunas of Prakriticontrolled by the Lord himself andhas nothing to do with its essen-tial nature. It is like experiencinghappiness or sorrow in a dreamwhich ceases on waking.

"So long as there is ignoranceJiva is taken to suffer the bodilysufferings which get cleared oncethe individual realizes the knowl-edge of the Self. The man of knowl-edge, though has a body, is notconditioned by it any more than adreamer just awakened from thedream is unaffected by the experi-ences of his dream.

"The man of ignorance as-sumes that he is the doer of allactions which are actually doneby organs of action and percep-tion. He is really free who remainsunaffected though his senses feedon objects of senses.

"If a man becomes a scholar inthe scriptures but does not prac-tice and become one with the Selfis as useless as keeping a cowwhich does not give milk or anunchaste wife. A wise man whoalways chants the name of theLord and hears his stories willsurly attain to his state."

Extinction of the "I" senseUddhava remarked that most

men know that the sensuous plea-sures are baneful in their results,inviting endless troubles, yet likedogs, donkeys and goats theyheartily plunge into them andasked why it is so.

The Lord answered: "It all be-gins with perverse sense of 'I 'whichcauses Rajo Guna to invade themind and induces it to conceive theobjects of enjoyment and themeans of enjoying them. Broodingover such sensory objects createsan uncontrollable passion for them

which overwhelms the mind andimpels irrevocable actions.

"Although the perception oftheir evil consequences of suchactions is present, the impetuosityof the passion is too strong to ar-rest them. But the man of discrimi-nation exerts hard to control hisinfatuation and thus spares him-self from the suffering. Such a manwill turn his mind to me, away fromeverything else, and will be finally

established in me.

Path of DevotionUddhava asks Krishna:" Vari-

ous ways of liberation have beentaught by various teachers. Youalso teach the path of devotion.Are all these ways equally good?"

Krishna replies: "Many are themeans described for the attainmentof the highest good, such as love,performance of duty, self-control,truthfulness, sacrifices, gifts, aus-terity, charity, vows, observance

of moral precepts etc. But of allthese the path of love and devo-tion to me is the best.

"To the man who finds delightin me alone, who is self-controlledand even-minded, having no long-ing in his heart for anything otherthan me, the whole universe is fullof bliss. Such a devotee who hassurrendered himself to the Lorddoes not even desire salvation andfinds bliss in me alone; this devo-

tee is very dear to me. His happi-ness is unconditional.

"Although he may not be amaster of senses, he is not a ser-vant to them, either. As firekindled into a blaze burns thewood to ashes, devotion to mecompletely consumes all evil.

Neither by the study of scrip-tures nor by Yoga or by any othermethod could I be easily attained?I, the Self, dear to the devotee amattainable by love and devotion.Devotion purifies even the lowli-

est of the low. Without love for mevirtues and learning are unfruitful.He who loves me is made pure andis a purifying influence upon thewhole universe. Let not your mindrun after worldly things. Give yourmind to me, meditate upon me."

Then Krishna teaches Uddhavathe process of meditating upon him.

Janmashtami, the birth of LordKrishna, will be celebrated onAugust 28

SWAMI VIDITATMANANDA

SARASWATI

Question: Is compassion some-thing that exists only in humanbeings?Answer: Compassion appliesonly to human beings becauseonly human beings can be cruel.The kind of violence that takesplace in nature is meant for sur-vival more than anything else.There is natural cruelty in animalsthat kill other animals. But it is notan unnecessary violence.

There is a balance in nature thatis maintained, such as ecologicalbalance. So you find that there isno unnecessary violence in na-ture. Only man is capable of un-necessary violence and hencehas a need to cultivate compas-sion. Animals are not cruel be-cause they don't kill for the sakeof killing, whereas, humans cankill for the sake of killing.Q: Righteousness seems rela-tive. What was not accepted 50or 100 years ago seems perfectlyacceptable today. What is rightin one country or one faith is notright in another country or an-other faith. Should what feelsright to me be the only guidelineto be followed for critical or diffi-cult actions?A: Righteousness is a universalvalue. However, what righteous-

ness means in a given contextneeds to be interpreted. Valuesare universal and objective, buttheir interpretation is subjectiveand based on time, place, andcondition. For example, we cantalk of Arjuna's confusion regard-ing the battle. What may be right

in the palace is not right in thebattlefield. Arjuna asks, "How doyou expect me to shower arrowsat them when they should be wor-shipped with flowers?"

In this situation, both actionsare right; in the palace, they areworthy of being worshipped withflowers, but in the battlefield theyare worthy of being worshippedwith arrows! The determination ofthe right relationship is also sub-ject to interpretation. Therefore,values are universal, but their prac-tice is particular or individual.

Righteousness also needs tobe interpreted in today's contextas opposed to that of 100 yearsago. The interpretation of anyvalue depending on the time,place, and condition calls for truematurity. Emotional maturity liesin being able to properly inter-

pret a given value in a given situ-ation.

Our practice, then, ultimatelydepends upon our interpretationalone. I may have the ability tointerpret the truth, but how I in-terpret it decides what I do. Thatwill depend upon my maturity ininterpreting what truth means.Therefore, while in itself righ-teousness is not relative, its in-terpretation in a given situationis relative and depends upon fac-tors such as the context, time,place, and condition.

Q: Why is animal sacrifice men-tioned in the Vedas? Does it notgo against the fundamental con-cept of non-violence?A: I do not know why animal sac-rifice is prescribed at all. Gener-ally, a ritual has an overall effect;we do not know what each step

generates. It is difficult to deter-mine the effect of each individualstep of a ritual. Even in theabhisekam that we do at thetemple everyday, we perform ev-ery step the way it is prescribed.

When animal sacrifice is pre-scribed as part of a ritual, it is notconsidered to be violence. LordBuddha and Mahavir Jain pro-tested against this aspect of theVedic rituals. Basically, the Jainreligion highlighted non-violenceor ahimsä and Lord Buddha high-lighted Compassion.

54 Edit Pagewww.indiapost.com

August 23, 2013India Post

India PostWake up call

The BJP leaders, including their trump card Narendra Modicannot be enthused by what the latest opinion polls sayabout the likely verdict in 2014. If the polls were to be held

today, says one of the polls sponsored by India Today, the UPAexpectedly slumps very low but the NDA fails to gain anythingand in fact ends up four short of the number it had in 2009. The BJPgains marginally from 116 in 2009 to 130 now and fails to gain fromthe anti-incumbency plaguing the Congress. It is the regional par-ties who are expected to do much better making the regional sa-traps put up their hats in the ring when the time comes. It encour-ages them to raise their price for support in case any of the na-tional parties make a claim for power.

The abrasive personality of Narendra Modi is not designed towin friends. And there is no certainty as of now that Modi willindeed be the prime ministerial candidate if his attraction contin-ues to be limited. That is why the BJP is hesitating to name himthe PM candidate lest opposition to him unites disparate sec-tions against the BJP.

Modi did not win many friends when he launched a bitterattack on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his Indepen-dence Day speech. He accused him of serving one family at thecost of the 121 crore people of India. The Prime Minister's speechwas as usual tame. Both of them failed to spell out how theyintend to solve the country's problems.

While many have questioned the style of Modi, it is beingargued nobody is asking the questions that the Congress trium-virate of Sonia, Manmohan and Rahul need to answer. Modi isone man who is doing so. It would be nice if Modi were to declarethat, OK, I am not the PM candidate; I am not gunning to come tothe Center. But as an Indian citizen I am entitled to ask somequestions from those who are running and ruining the country.And since everybody is trying to be nice to the first family, in-cluding some in the BJP and other parties, there is need for some-one to stand up this charade and demand accountability. Everytime Manmohan Singh is spared for his inaction and indecisive-ness because he is a "nice man." Conceded that Modi is not a"nice man" but at least he is articulating what the common manfeels about the failings of the present Congress-led dispensa-tion. There are other opposition leaders who also criticize thegovernment but the functionaries in the grand old party takenotice only when Modi holds the stick. They have been compla-cent all along and the only threat they seem to sense to theirprospects is this Modi phenomenon.

Just imagine the Prime Minister taking satisfaction the otherday by saying the position is not as bad as in 1991 when Indiahad to borrow from the IMF. Did he mean to say that there wasstill scope for the situation to be allowed to deteriorate? Prob-ably this complacency is based on the hope that Modi fear willdrive many voters back into the arms of the Congress.

Tavleen Singh in her column in Indian Express makes an inter-esting point. She says it is not what Modi says that gets him intotrouble. "It is not what he did in 2002 that evokes such shivers inLutyen's Delhi. Rajiv Gandhi remained totally acceptable after1984. It is who Narendra Modi is that is the problem. He repre-sents an India that has been so carefully kept outside the closeddoors of the Lutyens' Delhi club. A rough, angry, passionate newIndia that does not recognize private clubs or their rules."

Will such an India pull its weight to break into this elite club,just as the so many small-town wallahs have broken into theIndian cricket team?

A US-Pak civil nucleardeal unlikely

IRANGA KAHANGAM

Despite US Secretary ofState John Kerry's rein-vigorated foreign policy

approach to Pakistan, the likeli-hood of a recently mentioned po-tential civilian nuclear deal remainsdoubtful.

Talks of a nuclear deal with Pa-kistan are often mentioned in com-parison to the Indo-US civiliannuclear deal. This logic is flawedhowever, as the circumstances aredifferent between both countries.Several motivators for the Indiandeal don't apply here: expected USbusiness and commercial benefits,security guarantees regardingnuclear technology, domestic po-litical tensions and global strate-gic interests.

The commercial activity stem-

ming from the Indian deal has beenvirtually nonexistent and was re-jected legislatively in India; the USwould do well to learn its lessonsin basing another argument alongthe same reasoning.

Similarly, ongoing security con-cerns in Pakistan are unlikely toconvince the US that the safety ofnuclear technology would be pro-tected as in India. Furthermore,given Pakistan's history of nuclearproliferation it would likely beseen as controversial if not almosttacit approval of such behavior.

With 60 votes needed thesedays to virtually pass anything inthe US Senate, it is unlikely thatthis deal would get the strong bi-partisan support needed.

Between those in governmentmistrustful of Pakistan, particularlyfollowing the Bin Laden raid, andvocal nonproliferation supporters,any deal is likely to be quickly re-jected.

The White House too would beunlikely to further acquiesce onnuclear issues with Pakistan as itsurprised many already by bring-ing drone strike negotiations outpublicly. The Obama Administra-

tion is unlikely to expose itself tocriticism regarding this deal, asnuclear nonproliferation and glo-bal zero are considerable parts ofits foreign policy. Rather, the ad-ministration is likely to push forsecuring nuclear weapons and re-ducing fissile materials as men-tioned in its 2010 Nuclear PostureReview.

Despite US Secretary of DefenseChuck Hagel's comments in 2006as a US Senator that a US-Pakistannuclear deal was possible, theseviews were specifically his own andnot the government's. ThePentagon's priority remains elimi-nating terrorist groups and militantthreats, particularly ones that dis-rupt US forces in Afghanistan.

From the Pakistani perspective,

the current political climate de-mands action against US dronestrikes. Cooperation along thesetwo lines will be America's biggestbargaining tool and likely the fur-thest engagement the Pentagonwould be willing to address cur-rently. Any capitulation on dronestrikes is highly likely to not alsobe accompanied by a nuclear deal.

Think tanks and South Asia ana-lysts mention a possible deal as agateway towards normalizingIndo-Pak relations by placing bothon the same level in the globalnuclear order.

While a deal legitimizingPakistan's nuclear program wouldtheoretically elevate them to theNPT level and force India and Pa-kistan to be more stable vis-à-visdeterrence, these bilateral agree-ments only really circumvent theNPT. It also does not address aprimary issue between both na-tions, which remains Kashmir.

The US-India deal was seen asa move to support India as a coun-terweight to rising Chinese power.At the time of ratification, therewas global support for the Indiadeal including from the Nuclear

Supplier Group (NSG), a 46-coun-try body that overseas the inter-national transfer of nuclear mate-rials. Currently, as China escalatesits nuclear power cooperation withPakistan, it has avoided getting awaiver from the NSG. China andPakistan lack the global supportfor commercial nuclear activity, de-terring the US from being inducedinto any sort of deal with Pakistanto avoid Chinese involvement.

Furthermore, alternative energyassistance to Pakistan from theUnited States already exists and islikely to be the major way forward,rather than a nuclear deal. By fo-cusing on hydroelectric power andUSAID projects that focus onminimizing power loss and theft,the US can promote energy with-out rocking the nuclear boat.

Current funding under theKerry-Lugar bill gives billions ofdollars to power generation in Pa-kistan but largely focuses on de-veloping smarter grid technology,more accurate meters, mechanismsfor revenue collection and overallincreased efficiency of power dis-tribution.

Alternatively, the arrival of anew Nawaz Sharif governmentmore keen to normalize relationswith India provides an opportu-nity to consolidate two ofPakistan's largest problems. Asboth sides look to reduce tension,increased trade particularly in theenergy sector would go a longway. While admittedly far short ofany sort of long-term energy so-lution, the current environmentmay be a ripe way to marry two is-sues in a productive manner.

While a large part of Islamabad'sinterest in a civilian nuclear deal liesin its desire to be placed on thesame global stage as India in 2005,the US is unlikely to heed that re-quest. Recent discussions to openup civilian nuclear talks are per-haps an attempt by Kerry to leaveevery option available as a newstrategic dialogue begins.

Instead, the US may focus onproviding direct alternative energyassistance and more broadly focuson drone strike negotiations to curbterrorism. As US interests declinein Afghanistan, it may not seek toprolong a complicated engagementin South Asia by bringing up sucha nuclear deal. Instead they arelikely content with their strategicIndian partnership and will pro-mote less controversial ways ofenergy assistance in Pakistan.

The writer is Research Intern,Regional Centre for StrategicStudies (RCSS). Courtesy IPCS

US Secretary of State John Kerry with Pak Primier Nawaz Sharif


August 23, 201356

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