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8/20/2019 Vol-8-Issue-42 Feb-27 - March-4 2016
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New Delhi
Human Resource
Minister Smriti Irani delivered a
spirited and emotional speech inthe Lok Sabha on Wednesday,
strongly refuting allegations con‑
cerning her ministry over the
Jawahar Lal University row and
Rohith Vemula suicide controver‑
sies. Her speech even got a pat
from Prime Minister Narendra
Modi who tweeted a link to it,
with the comment: Satyamev
Jayate.
“My name is Smriti Irani. I chal‑
lenge you to ask me my caste,"
the minister said, rubbishing alle‑
gations that Rohith was persecut‑
ed at the Hyderabad Central
University because he was a
Dalit. "No one can raise a fingeragainst me on this issue. I am
taking it personally (referring to
her minority community sur‑
name)," she said, her voice catch‑
ing. In a 50‑minute speech that
saw her furious, sarcastic and
choked up in parts, Irani also
labored the point that she had
been targeted by the Congress
because of her work in Amethi,
Rahul Gandhi's constituency.
"Have you ever seen Rahul
Gandhi go to one spot twice?Never.
But in this, he saw political
opportunity," said the minister.
"Our children are not vote‑
banks," she thundered. Irani
The South Asian Timese x c e l l e n c e i n j o u r n a l i s m
excellence in journalism ART 15 FASHION 18
Vol.8 No. 42 Feb 27-March 4, 2016 80 Cents New York Edition Follow us on TheSouthAsianTimes.info
EDUCATION 24
ashingtonSetting the stage for a
major confrontation with President
Obama, Senate Republicans havevowed not to hold confirmation
hearings for his Supreme Court
nominee to replace a deceased con‑
servative judge amid a tense battle
for the White House. "I can now
confidently say the view shared by
virtually everyone in my conference
is that the nomination should be
made by the president who the peo‑
ple elect in the election that is
underway right now," Senate
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
said on Tuesday.
"In short, there will not be action
taken," he said outraging the
Democrats. Meanwhile, Brian
Sandoval, the Republican governorof Nevada who was reportedly
being considered as a potential
replacement for the late Justice
Antonin ScaliaĘĽs seat on the US
supreme court, has taken himself
out of the running.
SPIRITUAL AWARENESS 30
Republicans toblock Obama'sapex court pick
Continued on page 4
IRANI ROCKS INSTUDENTS ROW
New Delhi The Rail Budget has
kept passenger fares and freight
rates unchanged at least for now.
A slew of measures has been
announced for travel comfort. But
the operational efficiency has
taken a beating even as concerns
remain over raising money for
future projects.
This is the crux of Railway
Minister Suresh Prabhu's budgetfor his ministry presented in the
Lok Sabha on Thursday ‑ that
shows targets set by him for this
fiscal on a host of counts
Washington
Republican frontrun‑
ner Donald Trump is leading the
pack with 44% support among
Florida Republicans, according to
one poll and according to another,he holds a commanding 41% lead
in Virginia just days before the
Super Tuesday primary there.
At the same time, according to a
Washington Post‑Univision News
poll, eight in 10 Latino voters view
Trump unfavorably, including
seven in 10 who have a “very unfa‑
vorable” impression of Trump.
So there you see GOPĘĽs dilemma.
Trump may win enough delegates
to lay claim to the partyʼs nomina‑
tion for President, but if he is the
nominee, the party is likely to lose
the White House again, and US
Senate control too.
No wonder, Marco Rubio's cam‑paign manager Terry Sullivan
allegedly told donors in a New
York meeting on Wednesday night
that the Florida senator is prepar‑
ing for a brokered convention as
an option to defeat Donald Trump
for the party's presidential nomi‑
nation. One of the options he pre‑
sented included a pathway for
Rubio to secure the nomination by
winning several key primarystates; and the other showed nei‑
ther Trump nor Rubio winning
outright by the summer and thus
heading into the convention with‑
out a definite nominee.
Meanwhile, The New York Times
has catalogued the policy diver‑
gences between Trump and Paul
Ryan, Speaker of the House.
RyanĘĽs positions embody the
modern institutional Republican
Party. He has been a crucial pro‑
moter of free trade on Capitol Hill,
which Trump opposes. Ryan
supports taking away money from
Planned Parenthood ̶ a central
target of Republicans for years ̶while Trump has said the group
provides needed care to women.
Ryan is the architect of his partyĘĽs
plan to rein in spending on entitle‑
ment programs, which Trump has
HRD Minister Smriti Irani
Continued on page 4
GOP scramblingto stem Donald
Trump’s surge
Indian rail budget: Morecomforts at no extra cost
Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu. (Photo: PIB)
Continued on page 4
House Speaker Paul Ryan and Donald Trump the partyĘĽs and itsfrontrunner candidateĘĽs policy stances diverge. (Photos: Wikipedia)
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TheSouthAsianTimes.info Feb 27-March 4, 2016
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8/20/2019 Vol-8-Issue-42 Feb-27 - March-4 2016
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Washington Seeking to bolster its
effort to counter Islamic State (IS)
messaging on social media,
President Barack Obamaʼs admin‑
istration is assembling something
of a high‑tech dream team to bat‑
tle the terrorist group online,
media reported on Thursday.
At a meeting conducted at the
Ju st ic e De pa rt me nt on
Wednesday, executives from
Apple, Twitter, Snapchat,
Facebook, MTV and Buzzfeed
offered their input to top counter‑
intelligence officials, according to
an industry source familiar with
the meeting, reports CNN.
Nick Rasmussen, Director of the
National Counterterrorism Centre,
told the group the administration
was making strides in combating
IS on social media, where the ter‑
rorist army has inspired potential
lone wolf assailants to carry out
attacks.
"We`ve seen more aggressive
takedowns across social media
platforms, which is a really good
thing," Rasmussen was quoted as
saying by the source at the gath‑
ering. AppleĘĽs participation in the
meeting was notable, given the
high‑tech firmʼs clash with the
administration over the compa‑
nyĘĽs use of encryption to shield
customersĘĽ data on its popular
smartphones.
3Feb 27- March 4, 2016TheSouthAsianTimes.info TR I S TATE COMMUNI TY
Sacramento Cal if : An outfit named
Sacramento Democrats For Truth has
accused Rep. Ami Bera, the lone Indian
American in Congress, for accepting cam‑
paign contributions from donors with
large overseas investments. Their pressrelease was issued four days before the
California Democratic Convention, at
which the party will determine its
endorsements for this yearĘĽs primary and
general elections.
The press release comes from Amar
Shergill, co‑founder of the American Sikh
PAC. Shergill and some Sikh Americans
have earlier criticized Bera for his alleged
failure to recognize the anti‑Sikh 1984
riots in India as a “genocide.”
Bera is a member of the House Foreign
Affairs Committee and also serves as the
co‑chair of the Congressional Caucus onIndia and Indian Americans. “In an effort
to better understand your motivations, we
have taken the time to closely review your
most recently filed campaign finance
statements. We are troubled by contribu‑
tions from those that appear to be closely
connected to foreign investment funds
and foreign nations,” wrote Shergill and
Robert Longer, legislative‑political direc‑
tor for the Communications Workers of
America Local 9421, in the press release.
Bera for Congress campaign manager
Jerid Kurtz refuted the allegations. “All of
the congressman's contributions are pub‑licly available and disclosed on a quarterly
basis, and as a member of the Foreign
Affairs Committee he complies with all
travel disclosure rules. It's unfortunate
that the same detractors that worked
against the congressman since 2014 are
continuing to lob baseless accusations,”
he told India‑West.
New Delhi
India added 27 new billionaires
and consolidated its position at number
three on the list of billionaires, behind China
and the United States, according to the
Hurun Report 2016. India has 111 billion‑
aires, compared to ChinaĘĽs 568 and theUnited StatesĘĽ 535.
Cumulative Indian billionairesĘĽ wealth
stood at $308 billion, registering a 25 per
cent growth over last year. The richest
Indians list did not throw up many surprises
with Mukesh Ambani topping the list with a
wealth of $26 billion, followed by Sun
PharmaĘĽs Dilip Shanghvi ($18 billion) and
Pallonji Mistry ($13 billion) at number
three. Indiaʼs e‑commerce leaders, Sachin
Bansal and Binny Bansal of Flipkart, with
wealth of $1.4 billion, were ranked amongst
the 69 billionaires under the age of 40.
The manufacturing, pharmaceuticals andtechnology sectors produced 22, 20 and 15
billionaires, respectively. Mumbai remained
the headquarters of most Indian billionaires.
“With the launch of new central govern‑
ment schemes, Make in India push and so
on, I see an immense potential for wealth
creation in India,” said Anas Rahman Junaid,
Managing Director, Chief Researcher, Hurun
Report India. “I hope India's 2016 budget
would simplify tax laws, reduce red tape
resulting in an overall increase in trans‑
parency.”
Globally, 99 new billionaires were added
to the list in 2016 to take the total billion‑aire rich list to a record of 2,188, 50 per
cent more than 2013.
The rich in China overtook their U.S. coun‑
terparts to make Beijing, the `billionaire cap‑
ital of the worldĘĽ for the first time, according
to Hurun.
In China real estate generated most num‑
ber of billionaires (117), followed by manu‑
facturing and technology with 94 and 68
respectively.
“Despite its slowdown and falling stock
markets, China minted more new billion‑
aires than any other country in the world
last year, mainly on the back of new listings.Growth in billionaires for the rest of the
world was held back by a slowdown in the
global economy, the strengthening of the US
dollar and the drop in oil prices. The num‑
ber of billionaires, however, has jumped 50
per cent since 2013,” Rupert Hoogewerf,
chairman and chief researcher of Hurun
Report, said. The data is till January 15.
Congressman Ami Bera attacked oncampaign finance issues
High‑tech US dream teamto fight Islamic State online
INDIA ADDS 27 NEW BILLIONAIRES
Ami Bera, the soleIndian American in Congress
Proposed by Mayor Bill de Blasio in his 2016 State of the City speech, the Brooklyn Queens Connector,the $2.5 billion streetcar project that would connect Brooklyn and Queens along the East River
waterfront, is getting some traction. Streetcars (called trams in India) is a thing of the past, some say,and some argue it can reduce traffic woes in cities if done right. Pictured is a rendering of Brooklyn Queens Connector courtesy of Friends of the project.
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GOP scrambling to stem Donald...Continued from page
said is the reason the party lost the White
House in 2012. Ryan supports all forms of
domestic energy development, but Trump has
called for colonizing IraqĘĽs oil reserves
through military intervention.
“Youʼre hitting on a very big problem, which
is that Trump is not a Republican,” said
Senator Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina
Republican who dropped out of the race forthe White House in December. “I have no idea
how we reconcile a Donald Trump agenda
with a Republican agenda. How do we write a
platform?”
Indian rail budget: More comforts...Continued from page
remained to be realized, be it on receipts from
passengers and freight, revenue mop‑up or
efficiency. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was
all praise for his minister. "While keeping the
promises made in the last budget, this one
makes an aspirational strategy for future.
We've been successful to a large extent this
year, and this budget has a promise to make it
even better."
Prabhu said his ministry will surpass the
target of commissioning 2,500 km broad
gauge lines this fiscal ‑‑ almost 30 percent
higher than last year. "In the next year, we
plan to commission 2,800 km of track," he
said, promising new tracks at 7 km per day
against 4.3 km a day since 2008.
There were also a a host of measures for
passengers: 65,000 more berths on trains,
over 2,500 water vending machines, 17,000
bio‑toilets inside coaches, 1,780 automatic
ticketing machines, 120,000 concurrent
users for e‑ticketing, and e‑catering services
at 408 stations.
Prabhu also announced WiFi at 100 more
stations this year and 400 more stations in
the next, fully unreserved trains and double‑
decker sleeper coaches on high‑density
routes, 24X7 helpline for women, local art at
stations, dignity for porters and better ameni‑
ties at pilgrimage centers.
As per official data, India has the fourth
largest railroad network in the world with
some 64,460 route km, after the US
(224,792), Russia (128,000) and China
(112,00). Nearly 21,000 trains ply daily to
ferry 23 million passengers and 3 million of
freight. IANS
Irani rocks in students rowContinued from page
refuted the allegation that she had forced the
university to act against Rohith with multiple
letters after Bandaru Dattatreya wrote to
her.
A united opposition had attacked the gov‑
ernment over the suicide as well as the arrest
of JNU students on sedition charges over an
event in support of Parliament attack convict
Afzal Guru earlier this month, when anti‑Indiaslogans were raised.
Smriti Irani targeted Rahul Gandhi for sup‑
porting the students and said: "Even Indira
Gandhi lost power but her sons didn't support
anti‑India slogans."
“People who espouse the cause of free
speech and attack this government, who say
we are anti‑minority, anti‑Dalit, anti‑tribal and
time and again, theyĘĽve been requested to not
make it ʻus against themʼ. I am not certifying
your patriot ism, but do not demean mine. I
am not certifying your idea of India, but do
not demean mine.”
She even quoted Cicero to say that “a traitor
within the gates is worse than a murderer”. In
the Rajya Sabha too on Thursday Irani took
on the opposition over their criticisms saying
she is called the "anpadh mantri" (illiterate
minister). "I do not claim I am as erudite a
speaker as (CPI‑M general secretary Sitaram)
Mr. Yechury.
But since people blame me for having a flair
for drama, let me quote from 'Macbeth' and
say "fair is foul and foul is fair" that is how
'Macbeth' began indicating that nothing is as
it seems," she said starting her reply to the
short duration discussion.
Defending the government actions, Irani
said it was not the first time police entered
the JNU campus.
However, touching upon the JNU issue, Irani
referred to "Mahishasur Martyrdom Day"
observed in JNU, when the scene got ugly. As
she read out a document on Mahishasur Puja,
referring to the demon slain by the goddess
Durga, which she said came from JNU, it cre‑
ated a huge uproar among the opposition.
"When they went to JNU they wanted to
insult of gods and goddesses, be within free‑
dom of speech. What was the need for
(Congress vice president) Rahul Gandhi to
accept such insult of gods," Irani said amid
ruckus in the house, leading to its adjourn‑
ment for the day.
New Delhi India and the US on Thursday
discussed the possibilities of collabora‑
tion in future Mars exploration projects
and other space missions. The MarsWorking Group of the two countries,
which met on Thursday, sought to identi‑
fy and implement goals that NASA and
ISRO share on Mars exploration, particu‑
larly coordinated observations and sci‑
ence analysis between MAVEN, the Mars
Mission of NASA, and ISRO's MoM.
Noting that space cooperation between
the two countries has increased by leaps
and bounds, Richard Verma, US
Ambassador to India, said it was not pos‑
sible to think of such cooperation a few
years ago.
"Our countries established a Mars
Working Group to investigate further
cooperation for Mars exploration. The
third face‑to‑face meeting concluded inBengaluru."
"The Mars Working Group seeks to
identify and implement goals that NASA
and ISRO share on Mars exploration, par‑
ticularly coordinated observations and
science analysis between MAVEN and
MoM and NASA's other Mars projects,"
Richard Verma said.
"We can continue exploring Mars
together. Our engineers can jointly devel‑
op a space craft to study the surface of
Mars. Our scientists can work together,
study the and analyse the data and learn
even more about the Red planet. Let's go
further in our solar system. Our nationscould build together space craft to reach
other planets in our solar system," he
said.
He was delivering a lecture on "US‑India
Collaboration & Innovation: Exploring the
Potential of Satellites for Digital" at the
ORF Kalpana Chawla Annual Space Policy
Dialogue. Noting that space cooperation
between the two countries has increased
by leaps and bounds, Verma said it was
not possible to think of such cooperation
a few years ago. After the nuclear tests
conducted by India in 1974 and 1998,
the US and several Western countries
imposed sanctions which badly hit the
nuclear and space industry in the coun‑
try. Listing out ISRO and NASA coopera‑tion on Mars, Verma said the working
group is also looking at future potential
jo in t mi ss io ns to Ma rs . "N AS A' s Je t
Propulsion Laboratory provided naviga‑
tion and communication support to MoM,
showcasing how our nations can work
together on complex channels," Verma
said. He added that the two space agen‑
cies have embarked on an ambitious
space project NASA ISRO Synthetic
Aperture Radar (NISAR) project.
Space mission: India, USexplore collaboration avenues
In January, Richard Verma, the U.S. Ambassador to India, took time to meet with agroup of AIF's Clinton Fellows in New Delhi. This fellowship of American India
Foundation is a leadership development program for Americans and Indians tocome together to shape the future of India. (AIF photo)
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5Feb 27- March 4, 2016TheSouthAsianTimes.info TR I S TATE COMMUNI TY
New York
A prominent Indian‑American
billionaire is locked in a real estate battle
with the State of California after he sought $
30 million for reallowing public access to a
stretch of beach he owns, a media report
said.
Vinod Khosla, founder of Sun
Microsystems, had bought a prime 53‑acre
parcel of Martins Beach, a haven for the
beach going public, for $ 37.5 million eight
years ago.
At first, the Silicon Valley venture capital‑
ist let people use the beach, but in 2010
locked the gate on Martins Beach Road and
posted guards.
A report in the New York Times said the
case has touched "a nerve in California" as
resentment grows over issues of wealth,
privilege and public land use.
"The case has generated years of protests
as it wound its way through state courts,
where two lawsuits aim to force Khosla, who
does not live on the property, to let the pub‑
lic back in," it said.
Lawyers for Khosla have proposed in
negotiations with the state to restore public
access to the beach for $30 million, almost
the amount he had paid for the land.
California's State Lands Commission's
executive officer Jennifer Lucchesi said in
the report that the commission does not
agree with that value.
"We have not seen any backup documen‑
tation to support the $30 million value. The
commission planned to offer its own assess‑
ment," she said.
The talks were initiated under legislation
that took effect in January 2015, she said.
If the two sides cannot agree, the commis‑
sion could resort to eminent domain, which
allows the state to expropriate private prop‑
erty for public use.
Khosla's lawyer Dori Yob said in her letter
to the commission this month that Khosla's
limited liability companies, the legal entity
that owns the property, closed the beach
because demand was low, asserting that
more than 10 cars showed up to use it only
about 15 days a year.
Yob said that while the current real estate
market value of the land was $30 million,
the Martins Beach owners previously
offered less expensive solutions to meet the
"limited demand" for access as a way to
avoid lengthy litigation and further expens‑
es.
"The cost to acquire the property is signifi‑
cant and should be weighed against the ben‑
efits," she wrote.
"There is no vital link to navigable waters
at issue. There is not a significant demand
for access to the property," the report cited
her as saying. (PTI)
New York
A team of US
researchers , including an
Indian‑origin scientist, has
developed a simple blood test
that can accurately diagnose
active tuberculosis (TB) ‑ a dis‑
ease that globally infects 9.6million people each year and
kills 1.5 million.
Researchers at the Stanford
University in California have
found a gene expression that
distinguishes patients with
active TB from those with
either latent TB or other dis‑
eases.
"The test can be used not
only for diagnosis and to
inform treatment, but also to
study the effectiveness of dif‑
ferent treatments. The test's
hugely accurate negative
response would be especially
helpful in monitoring the effec‑tiveness of treatments during
clinical trials," said Purvesh Khatri, assistant profes‑
sor at the university.
Named as the Khatri test, it works on an ordinary
blood sample and removes the need to collect spu‑
tum ‑ a common test for TB.
The results showed that the test could also signal a
TB infection even if the individual also has human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
The test won't give a positive
response if someone only has
latent TB or has had a TB vaccine.
The test is 86 percent sensitive in
children it works in adults too.
And if the test comes up nega‑tive, it's right 99 percent of the
time. That is, of 100 patients who
test negative with the Khatri test,
99 do not have active TB, the
researchers elicited.
Further, the test can potentially
be done under relatively basic
field conditions in rural and unde‑
veloped areas of the world.
"Any hospital should be able to
perform the test. Villages without
electricity could likely use ordi‑
nary blood samples and a solar‑
powered PCR machine, which mul‑
tiplies strands of DNA, to accu‑
rately test people for active TB,"
Khatri mentioned.Khatri's team identified three
human genes whose expression changes in a consis‑
tent pattern, revealing the presence of an active
tuberculosis infection.
The team validated the new three‑gene test in a
separate set of 1,400 human samples from 11 differ‑
ent data sets, confirming the diagnostic power of the
test.
Simple blood test to diagnosepeople with active TB
VINOD KHOSLA LOCKED IN
$30 MILLION REAL ESTATE BATTLE
Billionaire venture capitalist Vinod Khosla(Photo: khoslaventures.com)
Purvesh Khatri. Named as the Khatritest, it works on an ordinary bloodsample and removes the need to
collect sputum ‑ a common
test for TB. (photo: stanford.edu)
New York American academics
of Indian descent on Saturday
condemned the police action
against JNU students and
accused the BJP government of
attacking democratic freedoms.“The arrest of Kanhaiya
Kumar, the student union presi‑
dent, and the charges of sedi‑
tion against him, Umar Khalid,
and other students are emblem‑
atic of the continued attempts
to muzzle dissenting voices,”
they said in a statement.
The academics planned to
read this statement at a solidar‑
ity rally they are holding at
Columbia University later
Saturday, to be attended by
Brown, City University of New
York, Princeton, New York
University, University of
M a s s a c h u s e t t s ‑ A m h e r s t ,University of Pennsylvania, and
Yale.
Professors Partha Chatterjee
and Anupama Rao of Columbia,
and Rohit De of Yale are expect‑
ed to address the rally.
“When we stand with JNU, we
also stand with what the
protests there symbolise. The
attacks on JNU are only the lat‑
est of the several assaults by
the BJP government and its
allies on democracy, constitu‑tionally guaranteed rights, and
academic freedoms,” the state‑
ment said.
The academics said they
“salute” student protests at the
Film and Television Institute of
India, Hyderabad Central
University, Jadavpur University,
Allahabad University and oth‑
ers.
They said, “We believe that it
is the duty of citizens to be crit‑
ical of their governments.
Sedition laws or charges of anti‑
nationalism have no place in
democratic societies. We
believe it is the right of peopleto dissent and to voice their
opinions, however much these
opinions may run counter to
the views of the majority. We
believe that debates and
protests are the life‑blood of a
democracy.”
Indian‑American
academics condemn
crackdown on JNU students
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6 Feb 27- March 4, 2016 TheSouthAsianTimes.info TR I S TATE COMMUNI TY
ChristieĘĽs has announced Asian ArtWeek a series of auctions, viewings
and events, from March 15‑18. This
season is comprised of eight sales and
features the Collection of Guy and Marie‑
Hélène Weill, Dongxi Studio‑ Important
Chinese Jade and Hardstone Carvings
from a Distinguished Private Collection,
the Ian and Susan Wilson Collection of
ScholarĘĽs Objects, the Lahiri Collection,
The Van der Wee Collection of Himalayan
Paintings, and Part II of the Ruth and Carl
Barron Collection of Fine Chinese Snuff
Bottles.
Over 700 lots will be offered, drawing
together an extraordinary breadth of
works and objects from every category of
Asian Art, including Chinese and BengalSchool paintings, Imperial Ming and Qing
dynasty porcelain, gilt‑bronze Buddhist
sculpture, Chinese scholarʼs objects, ar‑
chaic ritual bronze vessels, jade and hard‑
stone carvings, thangkas, snuff bottles
and more. Notable highlights include afresh‑to‑market masterpiece painting
from the acclaimed Robert H. Ellsworth
Collection and an important sandstone In‑
dian Revanta panel dating to the post‑
Gupta period.
In conjunction with the sales, ChristieĘĽs
will host a day of gallery talks on Friday,
March 11 and lectures on Sunday, March
13, featuring guest speakers and the sec‑
ond annual Robert H. Ellsworth Memori‑
al Lecture featuring prominent scholar
Dr. Robert D. Mowry.
In addition, Christieʼs is honored to dis‑
play Touching Time, the first exhibition in
the United States of monumental sculp‑
ture by Kan Yasuda, one of the preemi‑
nent contemporary Japanese sculptors of this age.
This selling exhibition of 15 works from
the artistĘĽs studio will be held at ChristieĘĽs
New York Rockefeller Galleries February
24 – March 26.
Satish and Yasmin Gupta were recently
honored by the University of Dallas,
which named its recently‑opened SB
Hall the home of the new Satish and Yasmin
Gupta College of Business.
The university made the announcement
Jan. 15, opening the facility during a ribbon‑
cutting and dedication ceremony at the aca‑
demic building.
SB Hall, according to university officials,
was a $16 million project. The 45,000‑
square‑foot building is the centerpiece of
the College of Business, which grants M.B.A.,
masterĘĽs of science, doctorate of business
administration and bachelorʼs degrees, ac‑
cording to a statement.
The College of Business, which was named
after the Guptas in 2013 after they provid‑
ed a $12 million gift to help fund the new
building, is accredited by AACSB Interna‑
tional, which is a distinction earned by less
than 5 percent of business schools globally,
the statement added.
The Guptas, Indian American global steel
entrepreneurs, both graduated from the uni‑
versityĘĽs M.B.A. program in the early 1980s.
“Itʼs our dream that SB Hall and the col‑
lege will make a real difference in the lives
of students and in the communities those
students become a part of after g raduation,”
said Satish Gupta in a statement. “The Uni‑
versity of Dallas became our first communi‑
ty in the United States when we moved here
from India. We hope the college's new home
will play an equally important role in thelives of University of Dallas students, facul‑
ty and staff.”
Added university president Thomas W.
Keefe, “Iʼd like to thank Satish and Yasmin
Gupta for their remarkable generosity and
commitment to the University of Dallas. The
opening of this very special building starts
an important new chapter in our universi‑
tyʼs history.”
The Guptasʼ gift to build SB Hall is the sin‑
gle largest donation in the 60‑year history
of the University of Dallas, the statement
said. Designed by Perkins+Will and con‑
structed by The Beck Group, the building
features classrooms on all three levels, a full
production studio, a financial markets lab
and dozens of study nooks, alcoves, lounges
and student gathering places. In addition to
conference rooms for student groups, the
building features a modern executive board‑room, according to the university.
“We are so thankful to Satish and Yasmin
Gupta for their vision and generosity in
building this beautiful, state‑of‑the‑art facil‑
ity,” said College of Business interim dean
Brett Landry. “By giving back to the com‑
munity, the Guptas are encouraging and in‑
spiring others to follow their example.”
The Satish and Yasmin Gupta College of
Business enrolls 1,000 graduate and under‑
graduate students.
In 1981, while a business graduate stu‑
dent at the University of Dallas, Satish Gup‑
ta founded SB International Inc. The com‑
pany and its affiliates and subsidiaries man‑
ufacture, supply and distribute high‑quality
steel products and oil and gas tubulargoods, as well as invest in the global supply
chain of natural resources for the energy
sector. Yasmin Gupta serves as director and
executive vice‑president at the company.
The Guptas will have active and continu‑
ing service to the university as a new chap‑
ter begins with SB Hall. “We hope SB Hall
and the college will become a global meet‑
ing ground for students of all cultures and a
beacon for the entire Dallas/Fort Worth
community,” said Yasmin Gupta. “We are
honored to help the University of Dallas em‑
power tomorrowĘĽs leaders to improve their
communities all around the world.”
Sling TV and DISH have announced that
they have expanded their strategic re‑
lationship with Willow TV Internation‑
al for the Willow cricket channel. The agree‑
ment brings some of the worldʼs most pop‑
ular cricket matches and events including
ICC, India, Pakistan, Australia, South Africa,
West Indies and other top teams to cricket
fans in the U.S., in high definition, as well asarrangements for coverage of live overlap‑
ping matches. With Willow included in most
major South Asian packages, Sling TV and
DISH customers will have access to the
most extensive cricket programming avail‑
able in the U.S.
This agreement marks the first time that
major ICC events, including the highly an‑
ticipated ICC World Twenty20 2016, which
begins March 8, 2016, will be provided at
no additional charge on the Willow cricket
channel. Previously many of these eventshave only been available via pay‑per‑view.
Willow is available across South Asian
packages on both Sling TV and DISH.
ChristieĘĽs announcesAsian Art Week
The American Society for Testing
and Materials International re‑
cently presented Dr. Raj Shah, cur‑
rently a director at Koehler InstrumentCompany in New York, with its presti‑
gious Eagle Award at a recent meeting.
The award honors exceptional merito‑
rious service within ASTM Internation‑
al, a global standards organization that
develops and publishes voluntary con‑
sensus technical standards for a num‑
ber of materials, products, systems and
services. Dr. Shah who has a Ph. D in
Chemical engineering from Penn State
University, has spent the last 20 years
as a technical office bearer of ASTM In‑
ternational, specifically Committee D02
ASTM Committee D02 on Petroleum
Products and Lubricants was formed in
1904, and has so far awarded the Eagle
award to less than 25 individuals. The
committee, with a current membership
of approximately 2500 industry pro‑
fessionals and experts, currently has ju‑
risdiction over 814 standards, pub‑
lished in six volumes of the Annual
Book of ASTM Standards. These stan‑
dards have, and continue to play, a pre‑
eminent role in all aspects relating to
the standardization of Petroleum Prod‑
ucts and Lubricants.
According to an ASTM citation for the
award, Shah received the Eagle Award
for his “distinguished leadership as well
as significant contributions to the stan‑
dardization process over the last many
decades.”.
Dr. Shah is also a previous three‑time
recipient of ASTM InternationalĘĽs
Award for Excellence, an exceptional
distinction amongst 30000 plus ASTM
members in over 140 countries. A Na‑
tional Lubricating Grease Institute
(NLGI) International Fellow, Shah was
also recently honored as the first recip‑
ient of the NLGI (India) PresidentĘĽs
award.
A distinguished alumni award recipi‑
ent, from the Institute of Chemical
Technology, Mumbai, Dr. Shah is cur‑
rently involved in working with various
other universities and is on the Indus‑
trial Board of Advisers at the Depart‑
ment of Chemical Engineering at the
State University of New York, Stony
Brook; The School of Engineering, De‑
sign, Technology and Professional Pro‑
grams (SEDTAPP) at Penn State; and the
Samuel Ginn College of Engineering,
Tribology and Lubrication Science mi‑
nor at Auburn University. He lives on
Long Island with his wife Dr. Niloufar
Faridi and son Kian Shah.
Dr Raj Shah conferredprestigious Eagle Award
Varsity names new business collegeafter donors Satish & Yasmin Gupta
Sling TV and DISH tie up withWillow TV International forextensive cricket coverage
Satish and Yasmin Gupta
Dr Raj Shah
IN BRIEF
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8/20/2019 Vol-8-Issue-42 Feb-27 - March-4 2016
7/32
Washington DC : Amid reports that she was
emerging as a "fantastic choice" for being
Republican party's Vice Presidential candidate,
Indian‑American South Carolina Governor Nikki
Haley has ruled out any such possibility, saying
her "plate is full."
Ms Haley, who earlier this week endorsed
Florida Senator Marco Rubio in the Republican
presidential race, said she is quite "content" with
her responsibilities as the Governor of South
Carolina and bringing up two kids.
"Not at all. I have said my plate is full," Ms
Haley told the Fox news in an interview when
asked about latest media reports that Rubio‑
Haley would be a dream Republican ticket.
"I am not only a mom, my daughter is going to
college next year, son is in middle school. I got a
State that I love. We have not done finished all the
work we want to finish here," 44‑year‑old said.
"So I am totally content and happy in South
Carolina. What I do want to see that America gets
a great president," Ms Haley said in a joint
appearance on the Fox News with Mr Rubio in
South Carolina.
"I think, we can do that with Marco Rubio," she
said responding to questions on her potential
running as a Vice Presidential running mate of
Rubio, as being reported by some of the major
media outlets.
Senator Tim Scott from South Carolina said
that, he is "all for" Haley being picked for Vice
President. Haley is articulate and a strong leader,
who went "through the fire" during a tragic 2015
in the State, he said. "She would be a fantastic
choice and one that I think the country would be
quite responsive to," Scott said. However, The
Washington Post offered a word of caution.
"A Rubio‑Haley ticket might be many things.
But a panacea for the GOP's sundry political and
demographic challenges? It certainly is not," it
said. But for The New York Observer, a Rubio‑
Haley ticket would be a worst nightmare forHillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential front
runner. "The sight of Florida Senator Marco
Rubio standing side‑by‑side with South Carolina
Governor Nikki Haley, after her blockbuster
endorsement of his candidacy for president days
before the South Carolina GOP primary, gave the
appearance of a presidential ticket that would be
a game changer for the 2016 campaign," it said.
"Maybe a Hispanic‑Asian ticket with one candi‑
date who's rediscovering his tea‑party roots and
another who's made herself into the top union‑
hater in the country is the best they can do," The
New Yorker wrote.
7Feb 27- March 4, 2016TheSouthAsianTimes.info NAT I ONAL COMMUNI TY
SanFrancisco: Google
chief executive Sundar
Pichai will meet with
the European Union's
competition commis‑sioner Margrethe
Vestager in Brussels
in the coming week,
AFP reported.
European competition
officials have been
investigating the US
tech giant for years
over alleged monopo‑
listic practices involv‑
ing its search engines,
but any resolution has
been elusive.
Three successive proposals by Google
for an amicable settlement have been
rejected.
Vestager last year sent a "statement
of objections." It said Google had divert‑
ed traffic from rival price‑comparison
services like Kelkoo, which operates in
several European countries, to favor its
own comparison shopping service.
Google responded in late August that
Brussels's findings were wrong and
based on a flawed evaluation of the
market. If no agreement is reached and
the group is found to have broken the
EU's antitrust rules, it could face fines
amounting to billions of dollars. In
addition to the initial
inquiry into Google's
search engines which
began in late 2010, the
European competitionservice opened a sec‑
ond one in April to
examine the group's
Android mobile operat‑
ing system. This soft‑
ware, used by a wide
range of brands, is
installed in more than
80 percent of the
world's smartphones.
Pichai became
Google's chief executive
officer during a restruc‑
turing last year that installed a new
holding company, Alphabet, as Google's
parent. Google now focuses on its core
businesses ‑‑ online activity, Android,
YouTube ‑‑ while its peripheral inter‑
ests such as driverless cars are over‑
seen directly by Alphabet.
Pichai is scheduled to be in Brussels
on Thursday, where he will meet with
Vestager as well as Gunther Oettinger,
the EU commissioner for digital econo‑
my and society, and European
Commission President Jean‑Claude
Juncker. Topics to be discussed include
the digital single market as well as digi‑
tal skills and jobs.
WASHINGTON With IT firms
struggling to find quality and
right number of profession‑
als, a top American CEO has
called for a "dramatic expan‑
sion" of the H‑1B visa scheme
popular among Indian tech
firms to meet the growing
demand.
"The entire Silicon Valley
believes that the H‑1B visa
policy needs to be dramatical‑
ly expanded," Bill Coleman
CEO of Veritas told news
agency PTI in an interview."We can't hire enough good
people. They are just not
available here. The salaries
here are going through the
roof, because everybody is
competing to hire from every‑
body else," he said.
Coleman, a former chair‑
man of Sil icon Valley
Leadership Group, is involved
with the Silicon Valley for
about 40 years. Early this
month, he became the CEO of
Veritas, which has re‑emerged
as a newly‑independent com‑pany after its purchase by
The Carlyle Group for $7.4
billion on January 29. Soon
headed to India, where
Veritas has about 1,700 peo‑
ple working for it with Pune
being a major center,
Coleman said he plans to
migrate some of his facilities
to India from Florida. "That is
a priority," he said. The H1B
visa is designed to allow US
employers to recruit and
employ foreign professionals
in specialty occupations with‑
in the US. But in a blow to
Indian IT firms, the US has
imposed an additional fee of
up to $4,500 for certain cate‑
gories of H‑1B visa.
Amidst revival of the US
economy wherein the unem‑
ployment rate has hit below 5
per cent , Mr Coleman
referred to the huge shortage
of quality IT professionals theSilicon Valley faces.
"In Silicon Valley you go to
Apple, Facebook or Google,
open their websites, you will
find thousands of open jobs.
One of the biggest problem
here is that everybody is try‑
ing to hire from everybody
else. As they can't find
enough good candidates what
they are doing is pushing the
salaries through the moon,"
he said.
Referring to a conversation
he recently had with Alphabet
chairman Eric Schmidt,
Coleman described a "crazy"
incident when the hiring‑
salary of a data scientist sky‑
rocketed.
"I know this is a very very
extreme example. I was talk‑
ing to Eric Smith a while ago.
He was telling me that they
had a really really top
machine learning data scien‑tist who they were trying to
recruit. They ended up get‑
ting him, but with a $ 10 mil‑
lion sign on bonus. That's
crazy," he said.
Coleman said the number of
H‑1B visas should be based
on market demand and the
programme's expansion is
one of the top priorities for
the Silicon Valley. (PTI)
Comedian allegedly
forced to removeturban at airport
SAN FRANCISCO An Indo‑Canadian Sikh
comedian alleged that he was forced to take
off his turban atthe San Francisco
airport during a
security check,weeks after a Sikh‑
American actor
was barred fromboarding a flight in
Mexico for refusingto take off his tur‑
ban. Jasmeet Singh,
who's known onthe internet as
"JusReign," posted
about the incident on Twitter, NewYork Dailyreported. "So the (agents) made me take off
my turban in extra screening or they said Iwouldn't be able to be let through to catch
my flight," Mr Singh tweeted. the agent tells
me there are no mirrors and that I can justwalk down the terminal to the nearest rest‑
room. (PTI)
Google CEO Sundar Pichai(source: Wikipedia)
Jasmeet Singh(photo courtesy:nydailynews.com)
Bill Coleman, CEO, Veritas(photo courtesy: afr.com)
Gov NIkki Haley(photo courtesy: salon.com)
Sundar Pichai headed to Brusselsfor antitrust talks: Reports
Silicon Valley wants 'dramatic expansion'
Of H1‑B visa: Top American CEO
Nikki Haley rules outvice presidential run
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California Mountain
View, Calif.‑basedsocial knowledge
network EdCast
announced Feb. 23
that it is now offer‑
ing a new social
learning platform in
seven languages fea‑
turing 25 interactive
micro‑courses.
The company, led
by Indian American
founder and chief
executive officer
Karl Mehta, also said
it has added
Hewlett‑Packardʼs
online LearningInitiative for Entrepreneurs to
its network. The platform, HP
LIFE 2.0, is powered by EdCastĘĽs
knowledge sharing platform and
will harness the influence of
EdCastʼs social learning plat‑
form, according to a statement.
“Social learning is an increas‑
ingly powerful pedagogical tool
that promotes optimum engage‑
ment and daily learning by
encouraging users to connect
and collaborate with peers and
influencers,” Mehta said in a
statement. “EdCast has proven
experience in this space, and is
delighted to work closely withHP to deliver further meaning‑
ful, accessible learning solutions
to a broad cross‑section of
global users.” HP LIFE 2.0 is
aimed at providing baseline
business skills development for
the underserved. Additionally, it
helps aspiring entrepreneurs,
students and small business
owners, Edcast said.
The micro‑courses are self‑
paced and cover a wide spec‑
trum of topics. Among the topics
covered are strategic planning,
leadership, sales, social media
marketing, energy efficiency,
funding and finance.
The statement added that the
informal learning offered
through the courses will be com‑plemented with a personalized
feed of bite‑sized content that
users can consume every day.
8 Feb 27- March 4, 2016 TheSouthAsianTimes.info NAT I ONAL COMMUNI TY
Los Angeles Indian‑American
director Sanjay PatelĘĽs short
movie named as, ”Sanjayʼs Super
Team”, is nominated for the Best
Animated Short Film at this yearĘĽsOscars. The movie which has a
story about immigrant community
and ”a family of color”, is nominat‑
ed alongside the movies like “Bear
Story” and ”World of Tomorrow.”
The Indian‑American Pixar
artist and director says it feels
special just to be in the company
of “incredibly deserving” nomi‑
nees.
The world is eagerly waiting to
see who will walk away with the
prestigious statuette at the 88th
Academy Awards, to be held in
Los Angeles on February 28. And
Indians have a reason to cheer as
Patel, who has roots in Gujarat, ispitted against “Bear Story”, direct‑
ed by Gabriel Osorio, “World of
Tomorrow”, helmed by Don
Hertzfeldt, Richard WilliamsĘĽs
“Prologue” and “We Canʼt Live
Without Cosmos”, directed by
Konstantin Bronzit.
“I was confident (of winning)
until I saw the other nominees. I
became even less confident after I
met the nominees. They are so
incredibly deserving. All the films
are so unique and special. It feels
special just to be in that compa‑
ny,” Patel said over the phone
from Los Angeles. The US film
production studio Disney‑Pixarʼs
film shows a boy, modelled on
Patel, who wants to watch super‑
hero cartoons on television. It
goes on to present the boyʼs day‑
dreams ̶ bored with his fatherʼs
religious meditation ̶ who imag‑
ines Hindu gods as superheroes.
“John Lasseter (Chief creative
officer, Disney‑Pixar) was the one
who gave me the confidence and
permission (to make the film). Ihad a story about a little boy from
India who didnĘĽt have a father and
it was more about him being
absorbed in western comics and
kind of ignoring the stories from
his own culture. I told that story
to John. He liked it. Then he asked
me about how I grew up.
“I told him about my experience
with my father. John straight
away loved the idea. The same
ideas got communicated, but it got
richer and more universal.
Initially, the concept was some‑
thing that may be only a certain
amount of people might have
been able to relate to. But the ideaof the generational struggle
between a young person and his
parents is way more universal and
emotional,” he said.
He feels proud that Pixar was
“so supportive in letting me tell a
story from an immigrant commu‑
nity… a story of a family of colorand give me that opportunity to
tell the truth”. Born in Britain to
Gujarati parents, Patel moved to
the United States in the 1980s.
The 41‑year‑old joined Pixar
Animation Studios in 1996 as an
animator on “A Bugʼs Life”, and
has animated on many of PixarĘĽs
feature films, including
“Ratatouille”, “Cars” and “Toy
Story 3.″
The 41‑year‑old joined Pixar
Animation Studios in 1996 as an
animator on “A Bugʼs Life”, and
has animated on many of PixarĘĽs
feature films, including
“Ratatouille”, “Cars” and “ToyStory 3.″
Patel also storyboarded exten‑
sively for “Monsterʼs Inc.”, “The
Incredibles” and “Toy Story 2″.
”My father has always been proud
of me. The truth is I was always
very embarrassed of him of his
Indianness. So, I am really proud
that my father was patient for me
to grow up, for me to come to
appreciate who we really are,”
said Patel. In fact, his “big wish” is
to visit India with his parents. ”My
dream is to… I have never been to
Gujarat with my parents. ItĘĽs a big
wish of mine. I just want to go
back and have them show me our
roots,” said the first‑time director,
who also has a son named Arjun.
(IANS)
Dallas Texas:
The 2016
Dallas/Fort Worth South Asian
Film Festival (www.dfwsaff.com)
presented 13 ground‑breaking,
sold‑out screenings of shorts, doc‑
umentaries and feature films dur‑
ing its three‑day festival (Feb. 19th
to the 21st) at the Perot Museum
in downtown Dallas and the
Angelika Film Center in Plano.More than 350 people attended
the opening night film, red carpet
and festivities at the Perot, fol‑
lowed by another 1200 cinephiles
at the Angelika on Saturday and
Sunday. Every film was either a
Texas or U.S. premiere, and the fes‑
tivalĘĽs closing night film, Hansal
Mehtaʼs “Aligarh,” was the North
American premiere. Ravi KapoorĘĽs
“Miss India America” and Prashant
Nairʼs “Umrika” were the opening
night and centerpiece films,
respectively.
Categories included education
programming, arts programming,
youth programming, womenʼs pro‑
gramming, menĘĽs programming,
family programming and LGBT
programming. The topics explored
varied in scope from slave brides
in Rajasthan to the effects of
depression & mental illness on the
South Asian community to the
plight of the LGBTQ community in
India.
“The responses we got from our
audiences were overwhelmingly
positive,” said founder and festival
director Jitin Hingorani. “People
thanked us for bringing this revo‑
lutionary programming to North
Texas, and they said they are
already excited for next yearʼs fes‑tival.” The festival, produced by
JI NGO Me dia, a NYC & Da ll as ‑
based PR & events boutique firm,
also presented networking events,
after‑parties and post‑screening
Q&A sessions with 14 filmmakers
and actors in attendance from all
over the world.
Celebrities who walked the red
carpet included: Suraj Sharma
(Umrika, Life of Pi, Homeland,
Million Dollar Arm); Tiya Sircar
(Miss India America, The
Internship, Friends with Benefits,
Vampire Diaries); Meera Simhan
(Miss India America, Anger
Management, Date Movie); TanimaBhattacharya (Shackle)
and Viveck Vaswani (Raju Ban
Gaya Gentleman, Pathar Ke Phool,
Rough Book)
LOS ANGELES The body of a 55‑
year‑old Indian man, who was on
a visit to the US has been found in
a waterway, 10‑days after he
walked away from his daughter's
wedding reception, a media report
said today. Authorities in
Sacramento County in California
found the body of Prasad Moparti
on Monday in a waterway about 8
km downstream from the wedding
reception where he was last seen
alive on February 13, Sacramento
Bee reported.
The Coroner's Office said there
was no trauma to the body, but
that the cause of death has yet to
be determined. A boater in the
area reported seeing Moparti's
body, and crews were soon able to
get him out of the water, the
report said. Moparti,who traveled
from Hyderabad in January to
attend his daughter's wedding,
was reported missing since
February 13 when he walked
away from his daughter's wedding
reception at Grand Island Mansion
in Walnut Grove in Northern
California by himself and never
returned. In the days leading up to
the ceremony, he had started tak‑
ing long walks while visiting his
daughter in Los Angeles, family
members said. "Family members
further indicated Moparti suffered
from depression, and that he
showed indicators of his depres‑
sion leading up to the wedding,"
Tony Turnbull,spokesman for the
Sacramento County Sheriff's
Department had said last week.
Authorities said immediately after
he disappeared that there were no
suspicious circumstances or foul
play. The Sheriff's Department
had conducted a search for about
72 hours in surrounding areas.
The search was later called off
and a sheriff's spokesman said
Moparti was considered to be a
"voluntary missing person"
though he was not familiar with
the area.
Pixar animator Sanjay Patel feelsʻspecialʼ on Oscar nomination
Karl MehtaĘĽs EdCastcomes up with new
social learning platform
2nd DFW South Asian Film Festival a success
DFW SAFF advisory board & staff.
Karl Mehta(Photo: Twitter)
Sanjay Patel(Photo: visualnews.com)
Father who wentmissing found dead
-
8/20/2019 Vol-8-Issue-42 Feb-27 - March-4 2016
9/32
9Feb 27- March 4, 2016TheSouthAsianTimes.info U S AFFA I RS
Washington Setting the stage for
a major confrontation with
President Barack Obama, Senate
Republicans have vowed not to
hold confirmation hearings for his
Supreme Court nominee to
replace a deceased conservative judge amid a tense battle for the
White House.
Democrats blasted the "obstruc‑
tionist and unprecedented" move
setting the stage for a major con‑
frontation between America's first
African‑American president and a
Republican controlled legislature.
"I can now confidently say the
view shared by virtually everyone
in my conference is that the nomi‑
nation should be made by the
president who the people elect in
the election that is underway
right now," Senate Majority
Leader Mitch McConnell said on
Tuesday.
"In short , there wil l not be
action taken," he said outraging
the Democrats.
Obama has said he intends to
nominate a judge to take the place
of Justice Antonin Scalia on the
nine judge bench and expects the
Senate to hold hearings and a vote
to confirm the new justice, but
Republicans say the next presi‑
dent should make the nomination.
Scalia's February 13 death has
left the nine judge bench now
evenly divided 4‑4 among liberal
and conservative judges.
McConnell's comments came
shortly after Republican membersof the Senate Judiciary Committee
sent a letter to the Senate leader
saying no hearings will be held
until Obama leaves office.
"Senator McConnell and the
Republican leaders said point‑
blank they are not going to exer‑
cise their Constitutional responsi‑
bilities," Senator Dick Durbin,
Assistant Minority Leader said
criticizing the move.
"This has never happened
before ‑‑ never . . . and now,
McConnell is going to have to
wear the collar for it."
Major cases before the apex
court include access to abortion,
and an Obama policy to prevent
the deportation of undocumented
immigrants who have children
who are US citizens or lawful resi‑
dents. If the court splits 4‑4, the
decision of the lower court stands,
but does not become nationwideprecedent.
Meanwhile, a Fox News poll
released earlier this month found
that registered voters want
Obama and Senate leaders to
"take action to fill the vacancy
now" by a margin of 62 percent to
34 percent.
A Pew Research Centre poll
released on Monday found a
majority of Americans (56 per‑
cent) say the Senate should hold
hearings and vote on Obama's
choice to fill the vacancy, with 38
percent saying they should not
hold hearings until the next presi‑
dent takes office.
Washington With Hillary
Clinton taking the lead in the
competition for Democratic dele‑
gates, rival Bernie Sanders is
vowing to fight on, saying on
Monday that he has no plans of leaving the race anytime soon.
Sanders downplayed Clinton's
weekend victory in Nevada,
pointing out that the win only
resulted in her picking up four
additional delegates, out of the
2,383 needed to win the nomina‑
tion. He says his campaign has
plenty of time to make up lost
ground.
"This is about a slog, state by
state by state," he said. "Even if
we do well, Secretary Clinton will
get a lot of delegates and we'll
just have to keep moving on."
Clinton pulled ahead of
Sanders late Monday, when sheeked out the final delegate from
Saturday's Nevada caucuses, giv‑
ing her a total of 52 caucus and
primary delegates. Sanders has
51. The milestone is important
because once a candidate estab‑
lishes a sizable delegate lead, it
can be hard for opponents to
make up the lost ground.
There are more than 1,400delegates at stake in states such
as South Carolina, Georgia,
Alabama, Tennessee and
Louisiana, and depending on the
outcome and proportional allo‑
cation of delegates, Clinton could
build a comfortable lead.
She also maintain a command‑
ing lock on the party's leader‑
ship. An Associated Press survey
of superdelegates, who are influ‑
ential in picking the nominee,
found that 449 of the party
insiders back Clinton, while only
19 support Sanders. Those
superdelegates can switch candi‑
dates and Sanders team says thatif the count is close, they plan to
lobby delegates from the states
he wins to change their posi‑
tions.
Wash i n g t on Riding on voters'anger, Donald Trump scored histhird consecutive victory in theNevada caucuses to cement hisfrontrunner status in theRepublican presidential race withhis rivals failing miserably to arresthis winning streak.
To the chagrin of the party estab‑
lishment, the real estate mogul wonwith a huge margin, garneringabout 45.9 percent of the total votein Tuesday night's fourth nomina‑tion contest with his two mainrivals Marco Rubio at 23.9 and TedCruz at 21.4 percent togetherfalling short of his vote share.
In a stunning show of momentumfor his campaign, Trump sweptalmost every category of the elec‑torate to build his dominance in thedelegate count virtually paving hisway to the Republican nominationat the party's convention in July.
"If you listen to the pundits, weweren't expected to win too much ‑
and now we're winning, winning,winning the country," a triumphantTrump declared to supporters at hisLas Vegas victory party.
Basking in his success acrossdemographics, he said: "We won theevangelicals. We won with young.We won with old. We won withhighly educated. We won with poor‑ly educated. I love the poorly edu‑
cated." On Wednesday morning, helooked ahead to a Trump presiden‑cy, detailing the three things he'd doon Day 1 if he wins the WhiteHouse.
"First thing is knock out some of the executive orders done by ourpresident," Trump told ABC. "One,on border where people can pour
into (the) country like Swiss cheese.I would knock out Obamacare. Takecare of our vets and military," hesaid. For Trump, "the outcome inNevada is another sign of his cam‑paign's durability and the breadthof his appeal", said the influentialNew York Times.
But "this latest triumph may onlyencourage Mr. Trump in the brashcampaign style that has alienatedmany Republican officials andmainstream voters," it said.
The Washington Post attributedhis victory to "an angry electoratehungry for a political outsider inthe White House."
Wash i ng t o n Attorney GeneralLoretta Lynch on Wednesdaydefended the FBIʼs push to access alocked and encrypted iPhone in itsinvestigation of the San Bernardinoattack, saying judges at all levelshave held such companies “mustassist if it is reasonably withintheir power to do so” – and sug‑gesting Congress does not need toget involved as Apple wants.
Lynchʼs comments come as Appleprepares to tell a federal judge thisweek in legal papers that its fightwith the FBI over accessing theiPhone should be kicked toCongress, rather than decided bycourts. But Lynch used testimonyWednesday before a House appro‑priations subcommittee to lay outthe DOJ position that courts
already have found companiesmust assist in opening devices.
Apple also is expected to arguethat the Obama administration'srequest to help it hack into aniPhone in the federal investigationof the San Bernardino attack is
improper under an 18th centurylaw, the 1789 All Writs Act, whichhas been used to compel compa‑nies to provide assistance to lawenforcement. A lead attorney for
Apple, Theodore J. Boutrous Jr.,previewed for the Associated Presssome of the company's upcomingarguments in the case. Apple'schief executive, Tim Cook, has alsohinted at the company's courtroomstrategy.
Apple's effort would move thecontentious policy debate betweendigital privacy rights and nationalsecurity interests to Congress,where Apple ‑‑ one of the world'smost respected technology compa‑nies ‑‑ wields considerably moreinfluence. Apple spent nearly $5million lobbying Congress last year, mostly on tax and copyrightissues. Key lawmakers have beenopenly divided about whether thegovernment's demands in the casego too far.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said nominating theSupreme Court justice to replace Antonin Scalia should
fall to the next president. (Photo courtesy: Reuters)
Republican presidential candi‑date Donald Trump speaks dur‑ing a caucus night rally Tuesday
in Las Vegas. (Photo courtesy AP)
Republicans vow to block Obama's apex court pick
HillaryĘĽs delegates leadgrowing insurmountable
for Sanders
Hillary Clinton maintains a commanding lock on the party's leader‑ship. An AP survey of superdelegates, who are influential in picking
the nominee, found that 449 of the party insiders back Clinton,while only 19 support Sanders. (Photo: AP)
Triumphant Trump wins Nevada,detractors scramble for answers
Attorney General firm on iPhone demand as Apple seeks help from Congress
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8/20/2019 Vol-8-Issue-42 Feb-27 - March-4 2016
10/32
By Robert Golomb
"In a sense you could say I
behave like something of a groupie
when I went about trying to
arrange one on one sit‑downs with
each of those 13 very visible and
very busy people,” Kenneth
Abramowitz, Managing General
Partner and co‑founder of NGN
Capital, one of the largest health‑
care venture capital funds in
America, told me in a recent inter‑view in his Midtown Manhattan
office.
With an impressive resume
which, in addition to his position at
NGN Capital, includes publishing
dozens of major studies on key
healthcare related issues and earn‑
ing in 2009 the designation by the
prest igious ʻThe Inst i tut ional
Investor Magazine PollĘĽ as one of
the top 15 American healthcare
analysts in an industry composed
of more than 20,000 professionals,
Abramowitz, 65 and the married
father of two adult children and
three grandchildren would proba‑
bly seem to you to be on the top of the list of the worldĘĽs most unlikely
groupies.
That is, until you learned “those
highly visible and very busy peo‑
ple” to whom he was referring
were Donald Trump, Marco Rubio,
Ted Cruz, John Kasich, Ben Carson,
Je b Bu sh , Ca rl y Fi or in a, Ch ri s
Christie, Rand Paul, Lindsey
Graham, Rick Santorum, Mike
Huckabee and Scott Walker: All
candidates for the Republican
Nomination for presidency during
the past year and a hal f that
Abramowitz had been working on
his plan for that “sit down”. (The
last eight named have since left therace.)
That plan, which was to work
with every Republican presidential
candidate except Trump, followed,
I was informed, the same formula
with each. Abramowitz would
search the Internet to learn when
the particular candidate had sched‑
uled a campaign event anywhere
within the tri ‑ state area. Those
events typically took place in the
home of a prominent supporter.
Then during the event ,
Abramowitz, a Republican who
focuses solely on members of his
party would, he explained, “go
directly over to the candidate who
was usually walking around the
room engaging in conversation
with people. I would introduce
myself and then exchange business
cards. From that point, the processsimply evolved into a steady series
of phone calls with the candidateĘĽs
staff until a face to face meeting
could be arranged.”
Actually, Abramowitz handed the
candidate not one, but rather, two
business cards. Abramowitz told
me, though, it was probably the
first card which simply reads
ʻKenneth Abramowitz, Managing
General Partner NGN Capital ĘĽ
which first captured the candi‑
dateʼs attention: “My name and my
company are well known through‑
out the healthcare industry and to
some degree within the politicalworld, which, I admit, is what first
opens the door for me. But it is not
healthcare that I wanted to discuss
with the person who could become
the next leader of the free world,”
he stated.
What Abramowitz did want to
discuss with the possible next pres‑
ident of the United States was con‑
tained in the second card he pre‑
sented which simply reads, “Ken
Abramowitz, Save the West”.
Founded by Abramowitz two years
ago, “Save the West” is a fast grow‑
ing conservative think tank whose
mission, he explained, is mirrored
in its name. “Just as our name
implies, we have to save Western
civilization, which includes
America, Europe and Israel from
the existential threat posed by Iran,
North Korea and global Islamic Jihadism… all pursuing our total
destruction as a people and as a
civilization,” he stated. “Even as we
speak, Iran is developing nuclear
weapons, despite President
Obamaʼs so‑called Iran Nuclear
Deal, and North Korea is expanding
its already frightening nuclear
arsenal. Both these rogue nations,
by the way, possess ICBMs soon
capable of reaching major north‑
eastern and northwestern
American cities.
“And of course,” added
Abramowitz, who has created the
organizat ionʼs own websi te(SAVETHEWEST.COM) and has spo‑
ken to hundreds of mainly conser‑
vative oriented audiences through‑
out the world about the threat
posed by Islamic terrorism, “there
is ISIS which is committing mass
genocide against Christians, who
are the number one persecuted
minority in the world today, yet the
mass murders of Christian men,
women and children at the hands
of Islamic Fascists is kept almost a
secret by our media.”
Abramowitz told me that when
he would meet with the candidates,
usually at a restaurant within prox‑
imity of the candidateʼs then sched‑
uled campaign event, at the site of
the campaign event itself, or in his
own office at NGN Capital , he
would express the same concerns
to them that he had just describedto me. “We discussed the grave
threat faced by Western
Civilization today…. And while we
had an agreement that the com‑
ments they made and the questions
they asked would be kept confiden‑
tial, I am able to tell to you that
every one of the candidates greatly
impressed me with their under‑
standing of the barbaric nature of
the enemies we face and each
appeared committed to developing
strategies to defeat them.”
Abramowitz also told me he also
discussed with each candidate
what he described to me as the
three main principles of Save TheWest: “First, we believe in econom‑
ic growth, which comes only from
free market capitalism. For this
growth to occur, the government
must lift the shackles of literally
thousands of gratuitous federal
regulations off the backs of both
smal l and large businesses.
Secondly, we believe in military
strength. We still have the greatest
military in the world, but the cur‑
rent administration has implement‑
ed severe cuts in military spending,
which has jeopardized the safety of
our country during very dangerous
times at home and abroad. Lastly,
we believe in maintaining andstrengthening our cultural values.
These values are embedded within
the Judeo/Christian tradition upon
which America was built. Yet those
very values are under severe attack
today.”
He then quickly added that every
candidate agreed with those tenets.
“It was like a minister preaching to
the choir,” he told me. “How could a
conservative disagree with the core
beliefs of conservatism?”Though asked several times,
Abramowitz refused to name the
candidate who impressed him most
during those ʻsit‑downsʼ. “I wanted
to use my meetings with them as
an opportunity to share my
insights on how to save Western
civilization”, he explained, “not as a
de facto interview. And there is
another reason for my reticence:
unless the candidate I selected
turns out to be the winner,
announcing my favorite might
alienate the person who might
wind up becoming the next
President of the United States. And
in fact, that is the same reason Iwill not endorse any of the remain‑
ing current candidates {Trump,
Cruz, Rubio, Kasich, Carson} during
the Republican primaries”.
“But let me tell you,” added the
admittedly purely partisan
Abramowitz, “I would endorse and
support any one of them over
Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, or
any other candidate the Democrats
might still put up.”
As for the only Republican candi‑
date with whom he has been
unable to arrange a formal meeting
to date, Abramowitz explained, “We
have been playing phone tag with
Mr. Trumpʼs campaign staff …. Irealize he may well be the next
President of the United States, so I
wonʼt give up”.
Spoken like a genuine groupie.
Robert Golomb is a nationally
published columnist. Mail him at
[email protected] and follow
him on Twitter@RobertGolomb
TAKING ʻSAVE THE WESTʼ MESSAGE TO
GOP PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES
10 Feb 29-March 4, 2016 TheSouthAsianTimes.info U S AFFA I RS
Kenneth S Abramowitz , co-founder of a large healthcare venture capital fund, has been
sharing with the Republican candidates the imperative of saving western civilizationfrom the existential threat posed by Iran, North Korea and global Islamic Jihadism.
Children line up at an ISIS training camp. (Photo courtesy AP).
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8/20/2019 Vol-8-Issue-42 Feb-27 - March-4 2016
11/32
11Feb 27-March 4, 2016TheSouthAsianTimes.info I ND IA
New Delhi The suicide of Dalit
research scholar Rohith Vemula of
Hyderabad University created an
uproar in the Rajya Sabha, as
Bahujan Samaj Party members
raised slogans against the govern‑
ment and angry exchanges were
seen in the house of elders.The issue was raised by BSP
leader Mayawati soon after the
house met at 11 a.m.
"This is not the first time a Dalit
student committed suicide," the
BSP leader said.
"Rohith Vemula was an
Ambedkar supporter. The RSS did
not like this, he was exploited,"
Mayawati said referring to B.R.
Ambedkar, the author of the
Constitution who was a Dalit.
This was followed by sloganeer‑
ing by BSP members, who called
the government "anti‑Dalit".
Amid the din, the Rajya Sabha
was adjourned five times in thepre‑lunch session, and when the
house met at 2 p.m., angry
exchanges were witnessed
between Mayawati and Human
Resource Development Minister
Smriti Irani.
Mayawati wanted the govern‑ment to disclose if there will be a
Dalit member oln the judicial com‑
mittee looking into the circum‑
stances around Vemula's suicide in
the Hyderabad University.
"A Dalit professor was there
whose decision you would nothave accepted... You want to say
Mayawati ji, a Dalit is a Dalit only
if Mayawati ji gives a certificate?"
Irani said, causing a huge uproar
among the protesting members.
Angry exchanges were seen
between Irani and Mayawati, as
BSP members once again raised
slogans demanding justice for
Vemula's family.
They alleged that the govern‑
ment was anti‑Dalit."Rohith ke parivar ko, nyay do,
nyay do", "Dalit virdohi sarkar,
nahin chalegi, nahin chalegi", the
BSP members shouted incessantly
in front of the chairman's podium.
In the din, the house was
adjourned for 15 minutes.
When the house met again,
Mayawati said the discussion on
the Jawaharlal Nehru University
and Vemula issues should not be
merged.
"These are both important mat‑
ters... It would have been better
had the discussions been separate.
When we saw both issues have
been taken together, we felt thisissue (Vemula's suicide) will be
suppressed. So, we had to raise the
issue. There was no big demand,
we just wanted to know if the judi‑
cial committee has a Dalit member.
There should have been yes or no
answer," Mayawati said.
Irani said: "I am willing to
answer any question."
When the government appeared
non‑committal on including a Dalit
member on the judicial committee,Mayawati said: "Had the prime
minister (Narendra Modi) been
here, he would have agreed to our
demand."
Some members, including Leader
of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad
and Janata Dal‑United chief Sharad
Yadav, suggested that the debate
can be taken up on Thursday.
No agreement could be reached
and the protest continued, follow‑
ing which the house was adjourned
for half an hour, and then again for
15 minutes.
The death of Dalit student Rohith
Vemula triggered widespread
protests by the opposition, whodemanded action against ministers
Smriti Irani and Bandaru
Dattatreya, who were blamed for
forcing Vemula to take his life.
Rajya Sabha disrupted over Rohith's suicide
Rohtak Chandigarh Haryana
saw relative calm for the first
time in 10 days as Jats seeking
job quotas wit hdr ew from the
streets or were chased away.
Highway and rail traffic wasrestored even as security forces
were on alert to foil clashes
between Jats and non‑Jats.
In a sign of people's anger
over the mindless violence that
rocked the state, Haryana Chief
Minister Manohar Lal Khattar
faced angry traders and resi‑
dents in Rohtak town and was
forced to retreat and leave for
Delhi.
Khattar, who reached Rohtak
for the first time after wide‑
spread violence during the Jat
agitation devastated many parts
of the town, vowed not to spare
those guilty of rioting and arsonthat crippled Haryana.
"A high‑level probe will be
conducted into the (violence)
and strict action taken against
off icers and employees of
pol ice and adminis t rat ion
involved in this," Khattar told
the media in Rohtak.
In a fine balancing act, he said
the Jat community will get job
quotas under a special provi‑
sion and the OBC quota of 27
percent won't be disturbed. The
OBC communities don't want
Jats to be included in the OBC
bracket.
"The government will make aseparate provision for (Jats)
reservation," said a stern‑look‑
ing Khattar, whose government
has drawn widespread flak for
failing to contain the frenzy on
the streets.
In New Delhi, Khattar attend‑
ed a meet ing with union
Parliamentary Affairs Minister
M. Venkiaih Naidu and other
ministers who are part of a
high‑powered panel studying
the issue of reservation for Jats
in other states.
Nineteen people were killed
and nearly 200 injured in the
nine days when Jats he ld
Haryana to ransom, and in theprocess disrupted life in large
parts of northern India.
Traffic was restored on the
busy Delhi‑Ambala national
h ighway (NH‑1) after three
days. Three people were killed
when Jat protesters blocked the
highway on Monday, forcing
security forces to open fire.Traff ic was also res tored
on the Delh i ‑Hisar NH‑10,
especially near Sampla town,
police said. Curfew was relaxed
in Rohtak town and some
other places. Some villages and
towns were tense as some mem‑
bers of Jat and non‑Jat commu‑
nit ies headed for a c lash on
Monday.
The worst affected districts in
the Jat agitation were Rohtak,
Bhiwani, Hisar, Sonipat, Jhajjar,
Jind, Panipat and Ka ithal.
The Jat community wants
reservat ion under the OBC
category in government jobsand educational institutions.
JAT STIR: Haryana calm, eyes normalcy
Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani.(Photo: IANS)
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar meets people who had been affected duringJat agitation in Rohtak. (Photo: IANS).
handigarh Police registered a case of sedition and
criminal conspiracy against Virender Singh, a close
aide of former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder
Singh Hooda, on charges of inciting violence during
the Jat agitation, officials said.
A Khap leader, Man Singh Dalal, who represents the
Dalal Khap in Haryana, was also named in the FIR
(first information report) registered at the Civil Lines
police station in Rohtak town, 75 km from Delhi.
Both have been booked for sedition, trying to incite
violence and criminal conspiracy.An audio tape of a telephone conversation, alleged‑
ly between Virender Singh and Dalal, surfaced recent‑
ly in which Virender Singh is purportedly telling
Dalal to activate youths in Sirsa district to take part in
the Jat reservation agitation.
Virender Singh was the political advisor to Hooda
for nearly 10 years (2005‑14) when the latter was
Haryana's chief minister. He is considered very close
![eGov-Feb-2011-[42-44]-Stickiness Grows](https://static.fdocuments.net/doc/165x107/568c35491a28ab023593ad10/egov-feb-2011-42-44-stickiness-grows.jpg)
