New York: Ironically,

while Overseas Friends of

NaMo were celebrating
the electoral victory of
BJP almost every day
since Narendra Modis
election as Prime Minister
of India, a feud between
INOC leaders in New
York broke out tearing the
decade old organization
vertically. A barrage of
confusing emails, making
allegations and claims was
floating around in public domain. Even as Juned Qazi was being felicitat-
ed at an event on June 17 on being appointed
The South Asian Times
e x c e l l e n c e i n j o u r n a l i s m
excellence in journalism
BOLLYWOOD 26 FIFA WORLD CUP 16 MUSIC 25 SPIRITUAL AWARENESS 30
Washington: President Barack
Obama said on Thursday he was
sending up to 300 U.S. military
advisers to Iraq but stressed the
need for a political solution to the
Iraqi crisis as government forces
battled Sunni rebels for control of
the country's biggest refinery.
Speaking after a meeting with his
national security team, Obama said
he was prepared to take "targeted"
military action later if deemed nec-
essary, thus delaying but still keep-
ing open the prospect of US air
strikes against a militant insur-
gency. But he insisted that U.S.
troops would not return to combat
in Iraq.
Obama called on the Shi'ite gov-
ernment of Prime Minister Nuri al-
Maliki to take urgent steps to heal
the country's sectarian rift, some-
thing U.S. officials say the Iraqi
leader has failed to do and which
an al Qaeda splinter group leading
the Sunni revolt has exploited.
Meanwhile, the sprawling Baiji
refinery, 130 miles north of the
capital near Tikrit, was transformed
into a battlefield. Troops loyal to
the Shi'ite-led government held off
insurgents from the Islamic State
of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and
its allies who had stormed the
perimeter a day earlier, threatening
national energy supplies.
A government spokesman said
around noon (0900 GMT) that its
forces were in "complete control."
But a witness in Baiji said fight-
ing was continuing. Two Iraqi heli-
copters tried to land in the refinery
but were unable to because of
insurgent gunfire, and most of the
refinery remained under rebel con-
trol. Video aired by Al-Arabiya tel-
evision showed smoke billowing
from the Baiji plant and the black
flag used by ISIL flying from a
building.
Meanwhile, India's attempts to
rescue 40 construction workers
kidnapped by ISIS militants made
some headway on Thursday with
the Iraqi government confirming
the location where they are being
held captive. None of the workers
has been physically harmed,
according to the information pro-
vided by authorities in Baghdad.
Foreign minister Sushma Swaraj
Obama sends military
advisers to Iraq as
ISIS flags fly over refinery
Kidnapped Indians unharmed, Iraqi govt confirms location
Continued on page 4
Conflicting claims on change
in INOC leadership
ISIS fighters are capturing town after town in their march
towards Baghdad from the north.
Indian foreign minister Sushma Swaraj and Punjab CM Prakash
Singh Badal with family members of the abducted Indian workers
in Iraq, in New Delhi on Thursday.
Vol.7 No. 8 June 21-27, 2014 60 Cents Follow us on TheSouthAsianTimes.info New York Edition
Continued on page 4
Sao Paulo: England stand on the
brink of an early World Cup exit
after Luis Suarez blew Roy
Hodgsons men away with a
deadly double in Sao Paulo
Thursday.
Wayne Rooney thought he had
snatched a draw for England after
he equalized Suarezs opener in
the first half. But with five min-
utes left on the clock Steven
Gerrard accidentally put the con-
troversial Liverpool striker
through and he beat Joe Hart to
give the Uruguayans a 2-1 win.
Only a minor miracle will keep
England in the tournament now.
Earlier, defending champions
Group A
Pos Pts P W D L
1 BRA 4 2 1 1 0
2 MEX 4 2 1 1 0
Group B
1 NED 6 2 2 0 0
2 CHI 6 2 2 0 0
Group C
1 COL 6 2 2 0 0
2 CIV 3 2 1 0 1
Group D
1 CRC 3 1 1 0 0
2 ITA 3 1 1 0 0
Group E
1 FRA 3 1 1 0 0
2 SUI 3 1 1 0 0
Group F
1 ARG 3 1 1 0 0
2 IRN 1 1 0 1 0
Group G
1 GER 3 1 1 0 0
2 USA 3 1 1 0 0
Group H
1 BEL 3 1 1 0 0
2 KOR 1 1 0 1 0
Spain out, England facing
exit after Uruguay defeat
STANDINGS OF TOP
TWO TEAMS IN EACH GROUP
FIFA WORLD CUP 2014
Uruguay's Luis Suarez scores
his side's second goal
against England.
Continued on page 4
Who is the real INOC (I) President,
Shudh Jasuja (left) or Juned Qazi?
June 21-27, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info
3 June 21-27, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRISTATE COMMUNITY
By Parveen Chopra
New York: Supporters of BJP, in particular of
Narendra Modi, have been holding a spate of
celebrations here following the stunning poll
victory in India of the party led by the charis-
matic Modi, now the countrys Prime Minis-
ter.
The latest in this series was hosted on June
18 at Antuns in Hicksville, NY by the Amer-
ican India Public Affairs Committee, Over-
seas Friends of Narendra Modi, in coopera-
tion with several community organizations.
BJP National Secretary and MLA from Bi-
har Rameshwar Prasad Chaurasia was the
guest speaker. Jagdish Sewhani, organizer of
Overseas Friends of NaMo, was the MC. Oth-
ers who spoke briefly included Dr Shashi
Shah, Sunil Modi, Darshan Singh Bagga, Dr
Yash Pal Arya, Mohinder Verma, Dr Narinder
Kukar and Dr Azad Anand.
In responding to a query on how NRIs can
be of help in nation building in India, Chaura-
sia first of all thanked overseas Indians whose
voice over Twitter and other social media
even from afar-- and support for BJP and
Modi in the run up to the general election mat-
tered a lot. Now, your support is still needed
because peoples expectations from Modi
government are enormous, said Chaurasia.
He gave the example of poor peasants in Bi-
har who wanted to make Modi PM hoping
that Modi will develop Bihar too like Gujarat
so that their sons dont have to go to Gujarat
to find work.
Similarly, he said, India should be so de-
veloped that instead of Indians going abroad,
NRIs would want to return to their home
land. Chaurasia said Modi showed how a
strong leader projects strength of a nation
when he invited all SAARC heads to his
swearing in and they fell over each other to at-
tend. Modis slogans have been: Sabaka
saath, sabka vikas, and Ek Bharat, shresht
Bharat. So he is going to see to it that north-
east too develops, Bihar and UP too are not
lagging behind Gujarat.
Chaurasia complimented Modi for breaking
the walls of caste and creed, and cited that
over 20% Muslims voted for Modi in
Varanasi.
He praised Modis step to allow 100% FDI
in defense production, which will bring in
capital and knowhow direly needed in a coun-
try whose ordnance factories cannot even
manufacture AK-47s, which even a village in
Munger has bootlegged.
Chaurasia ascribed falling of rupee value to
black money from India hoarded in foreign
banks in dollars. And for corruption he
blamed bureaucrats more than politicians.
Weak ministers depend on bureaucrats who
dont fear losing their jobs and get into shady
deals. Modis incorruptibility is well-known
despite ruling Gujarat for 15 years note that
his real brother still runs a ration shop.
Chaurasia said that Modi wants to make a be-
ginning by first cleaning up Parliament. He
has asked Supreme Court to decide the pend-
ing cases against MPs within one year, so we
can be rid of the bad eggs.
Chaurasia and Purshottam Rupala, BJP
National Vice President and Member of Rajya
Sabha, were the star speakers at another BJP
victory celebration at Ganesh temple on June
14. More than 500 people attended the event
jointly hosted by the Gujarat Foundation, In-
dia First Alliance, Friends of NaMo New
York, Gujarat Samaj of New York and the
Jackson Heights Merchants Association.
Queens, NY: In a major show of
support for his growing candidacy, a
group of 13 state Senators have
endorsed Democrat John Lius cam-
paign for the State Senate. The group
of Senators from all across New
York City hosted kick-off fundraiser
in Bayside June 17.
"When it comes to being a true
progressive, John Lius leadership is
unquestioned, said Senator Michael
Gianaris, Deputy Leader of the
Senate Democratic Conference and
Chair of the Democratic Senate
Campaign Committee (DSCC). I
have seen it myself in John Liu's
work fighting for women's rights,
improving education and protecting
the environment. We need more real
progressive Democratic leaders like
John Liu in the Senate, not those
who turn their backs on the voters
who elect them and empower
Republicans."
Liu is running against Sen. Tony
Avella, who defected from the
Democratic conference in February
to join the breakaway Independent
Democratic Conference that controls
the Senate in a power-sharing coali-
tion with Republicans.
Other state senators supporting
John Liu are Joe Addabbo, Martin
Dilan, Ruth Hassell-Thompson,
Brad Hoylman, Liz Krueger,
Velmanette Montgomery, Kevin
Parker, Jose Peralta, Bill Perkins,
Gustavo Rivera, James Sanders and
Toby Stavisky. John Liu is the first
Asian American to have been elected
to citywide office, serving as the
43rd Comptroller of New York City.
Washington: Hindu statesman
Rajan Zed opened the US House
of Representatives Thursday noon
with a prayer as guest chaplain.
This is Zeds second presenta-
tion in Congress, having given the
first Hindu prayer to open the US
Senate on July 12, 2007, when he
faced protests from some
Christians.
Zed, Reno, Nevada based presi-
dent of Universal Society of
Hinduism, began with the Gayatri
Mantra, considered most sacred
mantra in Hinduism. Before that
he read these lines from
Brahadaranyak Upanishad, Lead
us from the unreal to the Real;
from darkness to light; from death
to immortality. Reading from
Bhagavad-Gita, Zed urged mem-
bers of Congress to strive con-
stantly to serve the welfare of the
world. House Chaplain Rev.
Patrick J. Conroy invited Zed to
serve as guest chaplain, Zed said.
The prayer was shown live on C-
SPAN.
Zed has provided opening
prayers for various state senates
and assemblies and from county
and city government bodies
around the country, and he has
received numerous honors for his
interfaith work.
US House opens with
Sanskrit mantras
13 NY Democratic senators
endorse John Liu
Cox and Kings: Not
Responsible for pending visa
applications with BLS
San Francisco, Calif: Cox and
Kings Global Services, a visa out-
sourcing service hired by the Indian
Embassy about a month ago to
replace the beleaguered BLS
International, is still struggling with
the set-up of its office here, while
angry clients, many of them Indian
Americans, try to find out the status
of their pending applications. On the
second day of Cox & Kings opera-
tions here, the office was mobbed
by angry clients aiming to seek the
status of their visa and Overseas
Citizen of India applications they
had filed with BLS. Now Kamaljeet
Singh, a spokesman for the new
service provider, told India-West
that his company was not responsi-
ble for the unresolved visa and OCI
applications. Any applications that
were submitted and managed by
BLS and the Consulate before our
contract started on May 21, CKGS
can only assist in following up with
the Consulate, he said, clarifying,
however, that the company was not
disowning applications filed with
BLS.
Rajan Zed who read the
opening prayer as guest
chaplain in the House of
Representatives June 19.
BJP National Secretary Rameshwar Prasad
Chaurasia speaking at a victory celebration
in Hicksville, NY for Narendra Modi, the
Prime Minister of India.
NRIs support needed in nation building in Modis India
John Liu has mounted a
primary challenge against
state senator Tony Avella.
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4 June 21-27, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info TURN PAGE
Islamabad: The Supreme Court
of Pakistan on Thursday ordered
for the constitution of a national
council of minorities' rights.
Chief Justice Tassaduq Hussain
Jilani also ordered federal and
provincial governments to ensure a
quota of minorities in employ-
ments in all services.
The apex court said that the func-
tion of the proposed council would
be to monitor the practical realiza-
tion of the rights and safeguards
provided to the minorities under
the Pakistan Constitution and law.
The council would also be man-
dated to frame policy recommen-
dations for safeguarding and pro-
tecting minorities' rights by the
provincial and federal govern-
ments.
The apex court also ordered the
formation of a special task force to
protect minorities' worship places,
saying, "Special Police Force [to]
be established with professional
training to protect the places of
worship of minorities," the Dawn
reported
The proposed task force would
devise a strategy to ensure protec-
tion of minorities' rights.
The order further stated that law
enforcement agencies should swift-
ly take action on cases pertaining
to the rights of minorities.
Hindus, Sikhs and Christians
have come under increased attack
lately at the hands of extreme ele-
ments in the majority community
in what is officially an Islamic
state.
New Delhi: Arunachal Pradesh gov-
ernor Lt Gen (retd) Nirbhay Sharma
has sounded a security alert along
the Sino-Indian border and sought
the PM's intervention to relook at
the government's rehabilitation poli-
cy in the area.
In a communique to the prime
minister's office last week, the gov-
ernor warned the government of a
"thinning out of population along
the Line of Actual Control" which
could have serious long-term securi-
ty implications for the country.
Sharma has suggested setting up of
a Border Area Security and
Development Authority.
"This issue needs to be addressed
urgently or else apart from a con-
stant threat of ingress, gradual
assimilation of our area by China is
along the cards, on the lines already
witnessed in north Myanmar," said
the note to PMO. The governor, a
former military strategist having
served in north-east and J&K during
his 40-year career with the Army,
has suggested making all of the
approximately 50,000 civilian popu-
lation in bordering villages along
LAC as "part of the security forces"
deployed there.
"The developmental plan of the
border belt has to be reviewed in a
big way," the governor emphasised,
and suggested that paramilitary
forces and the Army deployed on
the LAC should share common
infrastructure, communication,
health and other logistical facilities
with the villagers. "This project
should be addressed in totality and
on a war footing against firm time-
lines," the note said.
The need for making the border
population part of the security struc-
ture has been felt necessary consid-
ering the 'tremendous' development
across the border by China which
has constructed road, rail and air
connectivity right up to the border.
Sharma has produced visual evi-
dences to corroborate his assertion.
On the Indian side "most of our
road-heads are more than 50-70 km
from the LAC". Arunachal has
always been a sensitive state for the
country with China often claiming it
as its territory.
Obama sends military ...
Continued from page 1
said all attempts were being
made to rescue the workers.
Foreign ministry spokesperson
Syed Akbaruddin said, "We have
been informed by the Iraqi for-
eign ministry that they have been
able to determine the location of
where these abducted Indian
nationals are being held captive
with workers of a few other
nationalities."
The Indian workers, mostly
from Punjab, were working on a
construction project in Mosul
which has been captured by the
Sunni al-Qaida splinter group.
Spain out, England facing exit...
Continued from page 1
Spain were knocked out of the
World Cup courtesy a 0-2 loss to
Chile in Group B in Rio de
Janeiro.
Spain became the first reigning
champions to lose their opening
two matches in the subsequent
edition.
Conicting claims on change ..
Continued from page 1
President of Indian National
Overseas Congress (I) USA with
the acquiescence of Dr Karan
Singh, Chairman, Foreign
Affairs Committee of Congress
Party in India, Shudh Parkash
Singh Jasuja issued a rebuttal that
he remains the INOC (I)
President.
Shudh Jasuja has appended to
his press release a purported
email in support from Dr Karan
Singh (not on Dr Singhs official
stationery). The email of Dr
Singh is addressed to Juned Qazi
and says, The announcement
regarding your becoming
President has been premature.
What I had said was in my last
email of 13 June that you must
have a proper election before a
new President can be announced.
Until that time Shudh will have
to carry on as President till he
resigns in November.
The Qazi camp when announc-
ing his appointment as President
had written: Dr. Karan Singh
communicated his acquiescence
on the appointment of Mr. Juned
Qazi as the new INOC (I)
President effective June, 11,
2014. Upon receiving the notifi-
cation, Mr. George Abraham,
Chairman of INOC (I), congratu-
lated Mr. Qazi on his appoint-
ment and offered support and
wished him every success in the
exercise of his mandate.
Three score and more people -
functionaries and supporters of
INOC (I) - attended the June 17
event felicitating Qazi at Worlds
Fair Marina in Flushing, NY.
Qazi, George Abraham and what
they termed a majority of the
executive committee members of
INOC (I) had sent a letter in April
to Dr Karan Singh expressing
loss of confidence and withdraw-
al of support to Shudh Jasuja as
president.
Shudh Jasuja camp too claims
that he retains the support of
100% of Board of Directors and
most of EC members and
Chapter heads nationwide." He
calls the rivals just another splin-
ter group.
In the absence of clear instruc-
tion and guidance from the party
high commend in Delhi,
Congress in New York has
become a laughing stock in the
community.
Clarity about the head of INOC
is opaque at the time of going to
press.
But then INOC leadership has
been in crisis mode for the last
three years: Dr Surinder
Malhotra, George Abraham and
now Shudh Jasuja - all were
removed abruptly from their
position at the top by dissident,
incoming president in the party.
Pak SC orders formation of national
council for minorities' rights
Border population thinning out, Arunachal
governor alerts PM
Arunachal has always been a
sensitive state with China often
claiming it as its territory.
5 June 21-27, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRISTATE COMMUNITY
New York: The Princeton Uni-
versity Board of Trustees has ap-
proved the appointments of 17
faculty members, including In-
dian-American author Jhumpa
Lahiri.
Lahiri is one of four full pro-
fessors appointed by the board.
The other 13 will be assistant
professors at the Ivy League uni-
versity in New Jersey.
Lahiri will hold a professor-
ship in creative writing at Princetons Lewis
Center for the Arts. She will come on board
a year from now on July 1, 2015. Lahiri is
a prize-winning highly esteemed author
whose short stories and novels have won
her acclaim. Her 1999 collection of short
stories, Interpreter of Maladies, won the
Pulitzer Prize, and her 2013 nov-
el The Lowland was a Nation-
al Book Award finalist. She was
also on the shortlist for several
other awards including U.K.s
Man Booker Award. Almost all
her works relate to the immi-
grant experience.
Currently, Lahiri is a writer in
residence at John Cabot Univer-
sity in Rome, and she has held
the same position at Vassar Col-
lege and Baruch College. She holds a bach-
elors degree from Barnard College at Co-
lumbia; masters degrees in English litera-
ture, creative writing and comparative stud-
ies in literature and the arts from Boston
University (BU); and a Ph.D. in Renais-
sance studies from BU.
New York: India-born former Goldman
Sachs director Rajat Gupta, who began his
two-year prison sentence on Tuesday, told a
US court that he should not be required to pay
a heavy $13.9 million in civil penalties since
he already has to pay over $11 million in
criminal fines.
Gupta's lawyer Seth Waxman argued his
case during a hearing before a three-judge
panel of the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals
here on Monday.
Gupta, 65, was not present for the hearing,
during which Waxman argued that his client
personally did not make any money from the
trades done by Galleon hedge fund founder
Raj Rajratnam and "nor had any expectation
of making any money."
Waxman said that Gupta should not be per-
manently barred from serving as a director on
a board of a public company or taking up the
role of investment adviser.
The appeals court judge asked Securities
and Exchange Commission's lawyer David
Lisitza that does not the civil penalty of near-
ly $14 million "seem high" since Gupta al-
ready has to pay $five million fine in the
criminal case and $6.2 million as restitution
to Goldman Sachs.
The judge said Gupta was "convicted for
two trades" on which Rajaratnam made mon-
ey. He asked if it is "reasonable" for Gupta to
pay $24 million in total out of his alleged net
worth of more than $80 million in 2008.
Lisitza said "if not Gupta then who" should
pay the fine since Gupta breached the trust of
his company and board when he disclosed
Goldman's confidential information to Ra-
jaratnam.
"This is the insider trading case of our cen-
tury so far," he said, describing it "unprece-
dented."
When asked by the judge if there has been
a similar case in the past where a defendant
has to pay heavy civil penalties in addition to
substantial criminal fines, Lisitza said Ra-
jaratnam has been ordered to pay a huge
penalty of over $90 million and is already
serving 11 years in prison.
Gupta will pay more than $25 million in
fines, restitution, and penalties as a result of
the criminal and civil proceedings against
him.
R
ajat Gupta hopes to release a book
telling his side of the story and visit
India once he completes his two-
year sentence, according to a media report.
Gupta, 65, lost his final bid to avoid
reporting to jail after the US Supreme
Court last week denied his application to
remain free on bail while his insider trad-
ing case is reheard.
While US district judge Jed Rakoff had
recommended that Gupta be assigned to a
medium-security prison in Otisville, about
70 miles northwest of New York, a report
in the New York Times said he has been
assigned to the satellite camp at FMC
Devens in Ayer, Massachusetts, close to
where his one-time friend Raj Rajaratnam
is jailed for insider trading.
Sri Lanka-born former hedge fund bil-
lionaire Rajaratnam is lodged in FMC
Devens' federal medical center. He is a dia-
betic and FMC Devens' medical unit pro-
vides dialysis.
His facility is next to the satellite camp
where Gupta will be.
According to the report, Gupta's friends
say for the past one year he has been work-
ing on a book that will tell his side of the
story. Gupta has also apparently told his
friends that once he is released from
prison, the first place he wants to visit is
native country.
While chances of resuscitation of
Gupta's future in the US are very bleak, he
could try lining up consulting assignments
from companies in India, the report said.
$14 million civil penalty too high: Rajat Gupta
Gupta penning book to tell his story
Former Goldman Sachs director Rajat
Gupta has appealed to US court to
reduce his civil penalty.
The Jain Samaj of Long Island acquires 158 Plainview Road, Hicksville, NY to
build a new Jinalay-Meditation Center and multi-use community facility for
children and senior citizens. Pictured are some of the committee members
with both attorneys right after closing: Mark DeBenedittis (attorney for sell-
er), the founder Kanubhai Lakhani, Kamlesh Mehta, Sweeta Khona, John
Haberman (attorney for Jain Samaj) and Chandrakant Shah. The construction
of the new facility is being planned to start within a few weeks. There are over
100 Jain families living in five miles radius of this upcoming center.
Jain Center to come up in Hicksville
Jhumpa Lahiri appointed Princeton faculty
Jhumpa Lahiri.
VENUE:
New Jersey Performing Arts Center,
1 Center St., Newark, New Jersey
DATE AND TIME:
Saturday, July 12, 2014
3 PM to 8 PM
Followed by Gurudevs personal
blessings and Prasad (dinner).
Registration is required for this
complimentary (no-charge) event.
TO REGISTER, VISIT
www.GuruPoornima2014.com
Or CALL
Bharti Doshi (516) 282-4353,
Suman Kumar (201) 562-2788, or
Rakesh Bhargava (516) 484-0018.
Event Promotion
Do you know how fortunate are
those who get the blessings of
a Satguru on Guru Poornima?
Get the personal blessings of Satguru Brahmrishi
Sri Guruvanand Ji Swami Gurudev on this Guru
Poornima and become that fortunate person!
Brahmrishi Sri Guruvanand Ji
Swami Gurudev is one of the
few living Satgurus. He has
invoked all Chakras of his
Kundalini and achieved all Siddhis.
Free bus transportation will be available from Long Island,
Queens and Edison, NJ.
6 June 21-27, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRISTATE COMMUNITY
By Jinal Shah
New York: Can Indias traditional medicine-
meditation, yoga and Ayurveda move out of
margins towards the forefront of modern
healthcare?
Can a physician prescribe meditation,
Ayurvedic medicine or any other form of al-
ternative medicine? Does Ayurveda have the
potential to remedy what has gone wrong with
modern medicine?
Dr Shuvendu Sen, Director of Medical Ed-
ucation and Associate Program Director of In-
ternal Medicine Residency Program at Raritan
Bay Medical Center, New Jersey, answered
some of these questions as a featured speaker
at India Lecture Series held on June 16 at the
Indian consulate in New York.
The series is the brain-child of Consul Gen-
eral of India in New York, Dnyaneshwar Mu-
lay, as a means of familiarizing American me-
dia and second generation Indian Americans
with the different facets of India.
Speaking on the topic-Indias Traditional
Medicine: Relevance and Potential Dr Sen
discussed about the relevance of the tradition-
al Indian medicine including meditation, yoga
and Ayurveda by quoting landmark experi-
ments in each discipline. He addressed the
weakness of traditional medicine and at the
same time highlighted how yoga is embraced
by the medical community.
Once considered fringe, Yoga, over the past
decades has become part of the zeitgeist of
western societies, drawing yogis to a multibil-
lion dollar synergy. However, what is interest-
ing is how it has made inroads in the modern
medicine. If there is one word that yoga can
claim as a powerful force in the management
of human suffering then it is this triumph over
stress. Behind the mafias of modern diseases
like cancer, heart attack, strokes are the king
makers the risk factors and of all the risk
factors that tops the list is stress. So when you
are controlling stress, you are also controlling
the big diseases, explains Dr Sen adding
Yoga finds its way seamlessly through de-
partment of oncology, department of cardiol-
ogy and many more.
Although yoga, which is part of Ayurveda,
is popular in the west, Ayurveda itself has not
reached that level of acceptance despite nu-
merous scientific studies. However, Dr Sen
points out, we are coming full circle in the
treatment methodology.
It is not enough to treat the symptoms but
it is equally important to fix the problem
which triggered the symptoms. This is the
concept of personalized medicine; this is the
concept of Ayurveda. Ayurvedic medicine
says that you are born with three types of
Doshas and this reminds us of the word we use
now genes.
The whole medicine is now moving towards
genetic susceptibility. In the name of advances
we have made in medicine, we are actually
falling back to the lost treasures. It boils down
to what you are born with that needs to be
fixed, said Dr Sen.
He also touched upon the benefits of
Mozarts music in treating epileptic patients
and noted the untapped treasures of Indian
classical music in finding cures of various
psychological disorders. How about tapping
into the infinite wealth of Indian classical mu-
sic? How about an entirely different path of
melody floating in between expanse and
brevity? How about music that is disciplined
and yet beyond? he asked.
Propagating the need to unify the two sys-
tems of medicine, Dr Sen however cautions,
Yes, we have treasures of Ayurvedic medi-
cine, from siddha medicine but not all are sci-
entifically proven.
For example I read somewhere that listening
to raga Jaijawanti cures diarrhea but there are
no scientific studies conducted. So physicians
should take what is best of the two medicines
based on his or her clinical judgment.
IN BRIEF
N
ew York Seniors celebrate Fa-
thers Day event on June 11. Sev-
eral men who personified uncon-
ditional love, sacrifice and memories
spoke at the program organized by
Shashikant Patel/Gopi Udeshi at Sa-
neeswara Temple in Bellerose Terrace,
NY. The speakers included Dr Jatin Kapa-
dia, Nikhil Trivedi, Indubhai Patel, Suresh
Udeshi, Narendra Choksi, Kirit Ramolia
and Ramanbhai Patel.
Everyone expressed their views on Fa-
ther in Society and his unconditional love,
sacrifice and memories towards family.
Champak Parikh sang a very emotional
Lokgeet (folksong) Mat Pita Na Charano
Ma 68 Tirth Dham,Mara .
Nathi Javu Gokulgam and Vijay Shah
sang Mara Ram Tame Sitaji Na Tole Na
Avo.
(From L to R) Dr Ronald Brenner, director of the Behavioral Health
Services line for the Catholic Health System of Long Island and
moderator of the lecture, Ambassador Dnyaneshwar Mulay and
Dr Shuvendu Sen, the featured speaker.
New York Seniors celebrate
Fathers Day
Rajan Dey among winners of White House
Healthy Lunchtime Challenge
Need to get Ayurveda same acceptance as yoga: Dr Sen
R
ajan Dey, from North Carolina is
one of the winners of the
Healthy Lunchtime Challenge.
First Lady Michelle Obama announced
the winners of the nationwide recipe
challenge which promotes healthy lunch-
es as part of her Lets Move! initiative
on June 12.
For third consecutive year, the Healthy
Lunchtime Challenge invited entries
from all across the country from children
of ages eight to 12 to create a lunchtime
recipe that is healthy, affordable, original,
and delicious.
The contest received over 1,500 en-
tries. Deys Yummy and Healthy Kati
Roll met the healthy meal criteria as it
adhered to the guidance that supports
U.S.Department of Agricultures My-
Plate. Dey, 11 is one of the 54 winners,
representing all U.S. states and territories
and will be ying to Washington D.C. the
Kids State Dinner at the White House
on July 18.
The winners will part take a lunch fea-
turing a selection of the winning recipes.
This will be followed by a visit to the
White House Kitchen Garden.
Convention to focus on anxiety reduction
through Bible principles
O
n the morning of June 20 Jeho-
vahs Witnesses will begin their
three-day convention, which will
be delivered in the Hindi and English lan-
guages, at the Turnersville Assembly Hall
of Jehovahs Witnesses. The Witnesses are
extending an open invitation to attend the
program that will examine Jesus words:
Keep on, then, seeking rst the King-
dom. The program will also feature how
this advice given thousands of years ago
can provide practical benets in todays
world, such as reducing anxiety in ones
life. A special feature will be the conclud-
ing part on Sunday afternoon, Never Be
AnxiousKeep Seeking First Gods
Kingdom.
The program sessions will begin at 9:20
a.m. on all three days of the convention.
Admission is free.
Yoga instructor Anita Rana demonstrating
yoga postures to the audience.
7 June 21-27, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info NATIONAL COMMUNITY
Washington, DC: Eminent Indian plant
scientist, Dr. Sanjaya Rajaram, has been
named winner of the 2014 World Food
Prize in recognition of his outstanding
work in the improvement of wheat crop.
Rajaram, who is now settled in Mexico,
is credited with increasing world wheat
production by more than 200 million tons
in the years following the Green Revolu-
tion, which has had a far-reaching impact
in alleviating world hunger.
World Food Prize Foundation President
Kenneth M. Quinn announced the
$250,000 World Food Prize winner at an
event at the US State Department Wednes-
day. The World Food Prize was estab-
lished in 1986 by Dr. Norman Borlaug to
focus the world's attention on hunger and
on those whose work has significantly
helped efforts to end it.
It recognizes individuals who have ad-
vanced human development by improving
the quality, quantity or availability of food
in the world.
Borlaug earned the Nobel Peace Prize in
1970 for his work as a plant breeder and
for taking new agricultural practices to de-
veloping nations around the world.
The award will be formally presented to
Rajaram in a ceremony in October at the
Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines, Iowa.
Rajaram's breakthrough achievement in
successfully cross breeding winter and
spring wheat varieties, which were dis-
tinct gene pools that had been isolated
from one another for hundreds of years,
led to his developing plants that have
higher yields and a broad genetic base.
More than 480 high-yielding wheat va-
rieties bred by Rajaram have been re-
leased in 51 countries on six continents
and have been widely adopted by small-
and large-scale farmers alike.
Washington, DC: President Barack Oba-
ma plans to appoint a Madras University
graduate and alum of the Indian Institute
of Technology as a member of the Na-
tional Science Board of National Science
Foundation.
The proposed appointment of Dr Sethu-
raman Panchanathan, Senior Vice Presi-
dent of the Office of Knowledge Enter-
prise Development at Arizona State Uni-
versity (ASU), was announced by the
White House Friday with 15 other key ad-
ministration posts
"Our nation will be greatly served by
the talent and expertise these individuals
bring to their new roles. I am grateful they
have agreed to serve in this Administra-
tion, and I look forward to working with
them in the months and years ahead,"
Obama said.
Panchanathan, who has held his current
position at ASU since 2011, received a
BSc from the University of Madras, a BE
from the Indian Institute of Science, an
MTech from the Indian Institute of Tech-
nology and a PhD from the University of
Ottawa, Canada.
Panchanathan has held a number of po-
sitions at Arizona State University since
1998.
Panchanathan founded the ASU School
of Computing and Informatics in 2006
and the Department of Biomedical Infor-
matics in 2005.
He has been a foundation chair profes-
sor in Computing and Informatics since
2009 and a founding Director of the Cen-
tre for Cognitive Ubiquitous Computing
since 2001.
Prior to working for ASU, Pan-
chanathan served at the University of Ot-
tawa as a founding Director of the Visual
Computing and Communications Labora-
tory from 1990 to 1997.
Indian-American dentist fights to
keep license after patient dies
He has been credited with increasing world wheat
production by more than 200 million tons
Dr Sanjaya Rajaram
Dr Sethuraman Panchanathan
Plant scientist Sanjaya Rajaram wins
World Food Prize
Obama names IIT alum to
Science Foundation board
Washington, DC: An
Indian-American dentist,
whose license was suspended
after a patient died while get-
ting implants and 20 teeth
extracted, is fighting get his
license back. Dr Rashmi
Patel of Enfield family den-
tal, whose license was sus-
pended in April after 64-year-
old Judith Gan died and
another almost died under his
care, appeared before the
State Dental Commission in
Hartford Connecticut
Wednesday.
"How can any dentist con-
tinue to do any dental work
on a patient who is in such
severe crisis?" asked
Department of Public Health
attorney David Tilles at the
firstday of hearings,
NBCConnecticut. com
reported."Any dentist has to
recognize these problems,
has to respond to protect the
patient," he said.
Investigators allege that in
one instance, Patel ignored
pleas from his dental assis-
tants to stop working and
administer emergency med-
ication to Gan of Ellington,
who was having 20 teeth
extracted and six implants
added.
Gan suffered a heart attack
during the procedure. She
was rushed to a hospital in
Springfield, Massachusetts,
where she died a short time
later. Another patient, a 55-
year-old man, nearly choked
to death on a throat pack
while under conscious seda-
tion in December.
Other allegations include
claims that Patel has allowed
at least five medications to
expire.
Defence attorneys for Patel
cited by NBCConnecticut.
com estimate the dentist has
performed anywhere from
50,000 to 75,000 dental pro-
cedures throughout his
career. But his decision mak-
ing surrounding two cases in
particular have put his prac-
tice and reputation on the
line. Patel's attorneys argue
that the allegations are false
and say the evidence and wit-
nesses testifying against him
are not credible.
White House Maker Faire features
Indian-Americans' creations
Washington, DC: Creations of a couple of
Indian Americans were featured at the first-
ever White House Maker Faire to "cele-
brate a nation of makers and help empower
America's students and entrepreneurs to
invent the future." The Faire Wednesday
featured over 100 makers, innovators and
entrepreneurs of all ages from more than 25
states, "who are using cutting-edge tools
such as 3D printers, laser cutters and easy-
to-use design software to bring their ideas
to life."
Among the exhibits Obama viewed was
a "$5 Chemistry Set for the 21st Century
with a Musical Background" made by
Manu Prakash, 34, Assistant Professor of
Bioengineering, Stanford University Palo
Alto, California. As a child growing up in
India, Prakash was a regular science-fair
winner with grand dreams of scientific
enterprise. Today, he is working to bring
low-cost, cutting-edge scientific tools to
schoolchildren and laboratories in every
corner of the globe. Prakash's small yet
powerful design, inspired by a toy music
box, costs only $5, and could enable
schoolchildren from low-income communi-
ties to not only learn about science and
engineering but explore and address real-
world issues like water quality and contam-
ination. As part of this vision of reaching
more students with the power of discovery,
Manu has also created Foldscope, an origa-
mi-based paper microscope that costs less
than $1.
Obama was also impressed by the work
of Partha Unnava, 21, of Atlanta, Georgia,
who after spending six weeks in crutches,
decided that it was time to fix a 5,000-year-
old problem.
8 June 21-27, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info NATIONAL COMMUNITY
Washington, DC: New
Delhi born Pratishtha
Khanna, who came to the
US illegally at the age of
ten, is one of ten local
"Champions of Change"
honored by the White
House for their exemplary
leadership in their com-
munities.
All the ten honored
Tuesday were what are
called Deferred Action for
Childhood Arrival
(DACA) recipients under
a program initiated by
President Barack Obama
through a memo signed on
June 15, 2012.
The program requires the US immigration
authorities to defer removal action for cer-
tain undocumented young people who came
to the US as children and have pursued edu-
cation or military service here.
They are also often referred to as
"DREAMers" as most of them meet the gen-
eral requirements of the Development, Re-
lief, and Education for Alien Minors
(DREAM) Act.
"These DACA recipi-
ents serve as success sto-
ries and role models in
their academic and profes-
sional spheres," the White
House said.
Khanna from Laurel,
Maryland for one, is cur-
rently a senior at the Uni-
versity of Maryland, Balti-
more County (UMBC)
and will graduate in May
with a BS in Biology.
She is an active member
of the API Youth Conven-
ing-DACA Collaborative
planning committee and
the Maryland Dream Youth Committee
(MDYC).
She is also a member of Dreamers for
DREAMers student organization at UMBC.
After graduation, Khanna will be working
(thanks to DACA) as an Emergency room
medical scribe and will pursue a Certified
Nursing Assistant Program at Howard Com-
munity College. She hopes to attend medical
school in Fall 2017.
Washington, DC: Ahead of the proposed
visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the
US, North American Punjabi Association
(NAPA) has sought his intervention for ear-
ly resume of the Air India's Amritsar-San
Francisco flight and expediting clearance of
international flights from Mohali airport for
facilitating the Non-Resident Indians, espe-
cially Punjabis living in the United States.
Satnam Singh Chahal executive director of
NAPA in a letter sent to Modi and Ashok
Gagapathi, Indian Civil Aviation Minister
and Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh
Badal has urged them to take necessary steps
to save the time of Punjabis settles in the US.
In this communique Chahal pleaded that
NRIs were facing difficulties due to the lack
of direct flight with more than 63% of pas-
sengers checking in at the Delhi airport be-
longing to Punjab.
He also brought to the notice of the PM
that progress of the Mohali airport was quite
slow and it needed to be expedited.
Chahal also mentioned in these letters that
everyday hundreds of Punjabi diaspora have
to board a flight from Delhi, which is rough-
ly 350 km from any destination hometown
of Punjabi diaspora. Given Delhi's madden-
ing traffic and unsafe roads, it takes every-
body an entire day to reach the airport to
catch the flight. Traveling between Punjab
to Delhi has been a major cause of worry. To
travel to the United States, we need to start
15-16 hours before flight departure from
Delhi airport. Those who wish to visit Pun-
jab and normally take flight for Delhi will no
longer have to face the dilemma of taking a
taxi, bus or arranging for alternative travel
and sometimes lodging and boarding
arrangements, especially after a lengthy and
exhausting trip if we have direct flights,
Chahal said
Virginia: Krina Patel, a summer 2012 gradu-
ate of Virginia Commonwealth University, has
been named one of five people from across the
country to receive a 2014 Donald M. Payne In-
ternational Development Fellowship.
The Payne Fellowship is an initiative fund-
ed by the U.S. Agency for International De-
velopment and administered by Howard Uni-
versity that supports outstanding young people
interested in pursuing careers in the foreign
service of USAID. The award allows recipi-
ents to attend a graduate program and to join
the foreign service upon its completion.
As part of her fellowship, Patel, who ma-
jored in political science and international
studies at VCU, will attend a two-year master's
of public health program at Columbia Univer-
sity's Mailman School of Public Health.
The Indian American currently works in the
Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator at the
U.S. State Department.
After graduating from VCU, Patel interned
in the office of U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly, who
serves on the House Committee on Foreign
Affairs.
Patel also had international work experience,
having worked in India, and attended a Se-
mester at Sea voyage focused on international
development and took several courses at VCU
dealing with international development.
White House hails undocumented
Delhi girl as 'Champion of Change'
Pratishtha Khanna
NAPA seeks international flights
from Amritsar to San Francisco
Krina Patel named Payne Fellow
She is among five people chosen from across US to
receive the 2014 international development fellowship
Krina Patel
"Class of 2014" graduates and Rangla Punjab 2014 cultural program
participants honored at the Graduation and Scholarship Awards Gala Night
organized by Punjabi Cultural Society of Chicago on June 8, 2014,
at Viceroy of India Banquets, Lombard, Illinois.
More than 250 attended the dinner and dance celebration.
9 June 21-27, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info NATIONAL COMMUNITY
New York: The Art of Living Retreat Center,
which has recently come up in Boone, North
Carolina, will host an international confer-
ence Ayurveda and Yoga for Optimum
Health from July 4-6. It is being organized
by AAPNA (Association of Ayurvedic Pro-
fessionals of North America) with the support
of The Art of Living (AoL) Foundation and
other organizations. Spiritual guru and
founder of AoL programs Sri Sri Ravi
Shankar will inaugurate the conference. Em-
inent Ayurveda and yoga scholars who will
make their presentations at the conference in-
clude Dr David Frawley, Yogini Shambhavi,
Mother Maya Tiwari, Yogi Amrit Desai, and
Shunya Pratichi Mathur.
The idea behind the conference is that com-
bining Yoga and Ayurveda offers a complete
system of well-being for body, mind and con-
sciousness, which perhaps has no parallel
anywhere else in the world. Just after the con-
ference, the retreat will also host auspicious
Guru Purnima - a celebration to honor the tra-
dition of the great teachers. The highlight of
this celebration will be a Weeklong Silence
Retreat (July 6-13) in the presence of Sri Sri,
who will personally guide some of the medi-
tations.
Open to everyone age 18 and above, this
true vacation starts with the cleansing Sudar-
shan Kriya breathing technique of the AoL
Happiness Program and then moves on to
silent observation and advanced meditations
of the Art of Silence Retreat.
The Guru Purnima celebration on July 12th
in Sri Sris presence is a free event and open
to all.
More information about the conference and
Guru Purnima celebrations can be found on
www.artoflivingretreatcenter.org
IACC round table on making Indian PSUs productive and profitable
By Jinal Shah
New York: Ahead of the much speculated
Prime Minister Narendra Modis maiden vis-
it to the US, the Indian American Chamber of
Commerce (IACC) hosted a roundtable dis-
cussion with Ranjana Kumar, the former
chairperson and CEO of Indian Bank and
Consul General Dnyaneshwar Mulay on the
state of public sector companies in India.
The discussion, titled - What Should India
Do to Make its Massive Public Sector Pro-
ductive and Profitable? took place in Man-
hattan, last Wednesday.
This is a very exciting time for those of us
who work in the US-India corridor, said Ra-
jiv Khanna, president of the IACC and the
moderator, in his opening remarks. The Sun-
day Guardian reported recently that Indias
GDP is expected to grow from less than $2
trillion a year to $10 trillion a year in the next
few years.
Khanna also highlighted that during the
same period, the US-India trade is expected to
grow from the current level of $100 billion to
$500 billion annually. Ambassador Mulay
added, This is truly a turnaround moment for
India, we have had a fascinating election and
now its time for business of the nation and
business of the common man.
Ranjana Kumar, the guest speaker, also
known as Indias turnaround queen too was
enthusiastic while raising issues plaguing the
public sector Since the new government
came to power, the rupee is stronger. So far in
the public sector, iron, steel, textile and ce-
ment have been growing but there are certain
issues that need to be tackled.
Ranjana Kumar touched upon the keys to
success of a public sector enterprise: clarity of
vision, plan of action and execution of the
plan; implementation of technology and uti-
lizing talent and potential; business environ-
ment needs, fair and transparent model; dis-
tinguishing between performer and non-per-
former; taking risks and having good knowl-
edge of the opportunities; promotion should
be given to right people based on the annual
reports; keeping the environment conducive
for growth; improve wages, succession plan-
ning, skill upgradation and companies have to
keep restructuring and evolving with the evo-
lution of markets.
While interacting with the IACC members,
Kumar pointed out, The private sector is
changing and similarly, the public sector will
have to change and adapt. I truly believe in
delegation - to empower people, and they can
make mistakes and when mistakes are made
be sure to check the changes that need to be
made in policies for the solution. The policies
need to be reviewed annually to determine if
they are practical to implement.
Kumar defended the need for India to con-
tinue with its PSUs. We need to assess which
public sector companies are not doing well
but are viable and can be salvaged and yet in-
crease the performing companies under the
public sector, she said pointing out three best
performing PSUs - Hindustan Aeronautics,
Rashtriya Ispat Nigam and power producer
THDC India which are expected to fetch
close to Rs 6,000 crore in their market debut.
Corporate Office: 385 Seneca Avenue, Ridgewood NY 11385
718.821.3182, www.AtlanticDialysis.Com
Congresswoman Grace Meng calls
on Senate to confirm Vivek Murthy
Washington, DC: U.S. Rep. Grace
Meng (D-NY) met on Capitol Hill June
18 with Surgeon General nominee Dr.
Vivek Murthy. The Congresswomen met
with Murthy as part of a meeting he held
with the Congressional Asian Pacific
American Caucus (CAPAC). Topics
included the nomination process, and his
priorities should he be confirmed by the
U.S. Senate. He also discussed highlight-
ing important health issues - such as obe-
sity, tobacco and mental health - in
diverse communities.
"It was an honor to meet with Dr.
Murthy and hear about his vision for
addressing the health needs of
Americans," said Meng. "He is an out-
standing nominee and I urge the Senate
to confirm him." If confirmed, Murthy
would be the first Indian-American to
become Surgeon General, and the
youngest person to hold the post.
(L to R) Ranjana Kumar, Rajiv Khanna and Ambassador Mulay at the event.
US Rep Grace Meng with
Dr Vivek Murthy
New AoL retreat center in North
Carolina to hold two events
The Art of
Living
Retreat
Center. Sri
Sri Ravi
Shankar
(inset).
Washington: Here's good news for
American parents. A youth survey by
the Centres for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) has found that
fewer high school students are report-
ing sexual intercourse, smoking or
fighting episodes compared to earlier
findings.
According to the Youth Risk
Behavior Survey (YRBS) in 2013,
46.8 percent of teenagers in grades
nine to 12 have had sexual intercourse
- unchanged since 2001.
In the 1990s, the same survey found
54 percent teenagers were involved in
sexual intercourse.
Cigarette smoking among high
school students has dropped to 15.7
percent, the lowest in 22 years.
Nearly 25 percent of students said
they have been involved in a physical
fight in the past year - down from 42
percent reported in 1991, the findings
revealed.
"The youth survey is an important
tool for understanding how health risk
behaviors among youth vary across
the nation and over time," said Laura
Kann, chief of CDC's school-based
surveillance branch. However, obesity
and overweight remained a problem.
About a third to 47 percent of
teenagers are struggling with their
weight, the survey found.
The findings were published in the
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly
Report (MMWR).
Washington: The White House said
Monday that President Obama plans to sign
an executive order prohibiting federal con-
tractors from discriminating on the basis of
sexual orientation or gender identity, elat-
ing gay rights activists, whove been press-
ing him to make the move since he was
elected in 2008.
The administration says the order adds to
existing protections, which prohibit federal
contractors and subcontractors from dis-
criminating on the basis of race, color, reli-
gion, sex or national origin and is consis-
tent with the presidents views that all
Americans, LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual
and transgender] or not, should be treated
with dignity and respect. The White House
offered no timetable for when Obama will
sign the order nor estimated how many peo-
ple it will affect. But advocates whove
championed the cause for six years hailed
the decision and said the presidents com-
mitment to the issue would be part of his
legacy. This is a historic announcement,
said Anthony Romero, the executive direc-
tor of the American Civil Liberties Union,
who said that Obama, who in 2012
announced his support for gay marriage,
has done more for the struggle for LGBT
equality than all previous presidents com-
bined. The move, coming a day before the
president headlines the 15th annual
Democratic National Committee LGBT
Leadership Councils fundraiser in New
York, is likely to energize gay voters in
advance of Novembers midterm elections.
US AFFAIRS 10 June 21-27, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Washington: So many pundits have lament-
ed the polarization of Americas political cli-
mate that doing so seems a clich. But last
Thursday, the Pew Research Center released a
report indicating that partisanship today is
even more pervasive and deeply entrenched
than commonly supposed.
Americans have, over the past two decades,
hewed to party orthodoxies more than at any
other time in recent history, according to the
report, which sampled the opinions of thou-
sands of respondents nationwide in 1994,
2004, and 2014.
This rise in partisanship has gone hand in
hand with rising distrust between Democrats
and Republicans and an increasingly insular
atmosphere within the two camps, the Pew re-
port found.
Republicans and Democrats are more di-
vided along ideological lines and partisan
acrimony is deeper and more extensive than
at any point in recent memory, reads the re-
port. And these trends manifest themselves
in myriad ways, both in politics and everyday
life.
In terms of policy, the portion of Americans
who toe a consistently liberal or consis-
tently conservative line has more than dou-
bled, from 10 percent to 21 percent, since
1994. Among those who are politically en-
gaged, this number has soared from 8 percent
to 38 percent among Democrats, and jumped
from 23 percent to 33 percent among Repub-
licans.
Alongside, the number of moderates has de-
creased, the Pew report found. Ten years ago,
12 percent of Democrats were more conserva-
tive than the average Republican, and 16 per-
cent of Republicans were to the left of the me-
dian Democrat. Today, these numbers have
shrunk to 1 percent and 2 percent respective-
ly. This is a reality reflected in Congress: Cur-
rently, no Republicans in the House or Senate
are more liberal than the most conservative
Democrat, nor are any Democrats more con-
servative than the most liberal Republican.
Twenty years ago, 12 legislators occupied this
middle ground.
As this ideological orthodoxy has increased,
so too has distrust between the parties. Over
the past two decades, the proportion of Re-
publicans with very unfavorable views of
the opposing party has risen from 17 percent
to 43 percent. Among Democrats, this number
has risen from 16 to 38 percent.
According to the study, the two groups also
diverge when it comes to basic lifestyle choic-
es including the types of friends they asso-
ciate with and the kinds of people they would
marry.
Among the most salient lifestyle divides
was that between the kinds of communities
considered desirable by the two groups. Its
an enduring stereotype conservatives prefer
suburban McMansions while liberals like ur-
ban enclaves but one that is grounded in re-
ality, reads the report.
For conservatives: Another deciding com-
munal factor was religion, with 57 percent
saying it was important that many members of
their faith lived nearby. For liberals, only 17
percent said they considered this important.
Partisan America: Divisions deepen in politics, daily life
Mutually distrustful diehards on the right and left have grown in numbers over the
past two decades, says a new Pew study, which finds that liberals and conservatives
also differ on whom they marry and where they live.
New York: Star-
bucks employees
will soon get more
perks than a few
free cups of coffee.
The world's
largest coffee
chain on Monday
announced plans to
partner with Ari-
zona State Univer-
sity to offer online college
tuition reimbursement to its
135,000 employees in the
US, more than 70 percent of
whom are current or aspir-
ing students. They'll also
have access to an enrollment
coach, a financial aid coun-
selor and an academic advis-
er, the company said.
Through the Starbucks
College Achievement Plan,
the company will pay full tu-
ition for employees who al-
ready have two years of col-
lege credit, and partially re-
imburse those who would
enter as freshmen or sopho-
mores. The employees must
also work at least 20 hours
and meet the criteria to be
admitted to ASU.
"In the last few years, we
have seen the fracturing of
the American dream.
Theres no doubt, the in-
equality within the country
has created a situation where
many Americans are being
left behind," said Howard
Schultz, Starbucks chair-
man, president and CEO, in
a statement. "Supporting our
partners ambitions is the
very best investment Star-
bucks can make. Everyone
who works as hard as our
partners do should have the
opportunity to complete col-
lege, while balancing work,
school and their personal
lives."
The federal government
and Democratic legislators
have as of late been on a cru-
sade against the high cost of
college and increasing
amounts of student loan debt
college graduates take on.
For the 2013-14 school year,
the average tuition at a pub-
lic four-year university was
nearly $9,000 and just more
than $30,000 at a private
four-year university, accord-
ing to the College Board.
Nearly three-quarters of col-
lege seniors graduated with
debt in 2012, which on aver-
age was $29,400.
New York: Among the less educated adults in the US who are close to
30 years of age, waiting until marriage to have babies has now be-
come "unusual". According to a research, the percentage of unwed
pregnancies goes up as the womens education level declines. The
numbers are roughly the same for men.
"It is now unusual for non-college graduates who have children
in their teenage years and 20s to have all of them within marriage,"
said sociologist Andrew J. Cherlin from Johns Hopkins Universi-
ty. Among parents aged 26 to 31 who did not graduate from col-
lege, 74 percent of mothers and 70 percent of fathers had at
least one child outside marriage, Cherlin found.
And, 81 percent of births reported by women and
87 percent of births reported by men had occurred to
non-college graduates. "If marriage retains its
place anywhere," Cherlin said, "it would be among
the college graduates because most of them do not
begin to have children until after they are married."
For the study, researchers mined data from the Na-
tional Longitudinal Survey of Youth in the US, fo-
cusing on a sample of 9,000 "early adults" who
reached ages 26 to 31 in 2011.
Unwed pregnancies higher among non-college graduates
Starbucks to pay for
workers' online degrees
Sex, smoking on decline among US teenagers
Obama order prohibits discrimination against gays in workplace
INDIA
New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh Governor B.L.
Joshi resigned, as the Narendra Modi gov-
ernment's apparent move to nudge some
UPA-appointed governors to step down
turned into a political confrontation, with the
Congress terming the move "dictatorial" and
"political vendetta".
Joshi submitted his resignation to President
Pranab Mukherjee, according to officials at
Raj Bhavan in Lucknow.
Joshi sent his resignation a day after the
central government sought that some gover-
nors resign.
Home Secretary Anil Goswami is under-
stood to have called some governors, sug-
gesting they resign. However, there was no
official confirmation of his conversation,
with home ministry officials neither affirm-
ing nor denying the development.
Among those who are understood to have
been called are Kerala Governor Sheila
Dikshit, Maharashtra Governor K.
Sankaranarayanan and West Bengal
Governor M.K. Narayanan.
There is speculation that Gujarat Governor
Kamla Beniwal and Nagaland Governor
Ashwani Kumar also may be on their way
out. Beniwal is understood to have had an
uneasy relationship with Modi when he was
Gujarat chief minister. According to sources,
the governors who are nearly completing
their terms, including Karnataka Governor
H.R. Bhardwaj and Rajasthan Governor
Margaret Alva, may not be asked to resign.
While Bhardwaj' s term is to end this
month, Alva will complete her term in
August. Both are former union ministers.
Bhardwaj, who was in the capital, said he
would leave office if his replacement is
announced. Assam Governor J.B. Patnaik,
who was also in the capital and met
President Pranab Mukherjee, scotched spec-
ulation that he has resigned.
"Why should I resign? What is the rea-
son?" he shot back at persistent queries from
media persons.
"I have not resigned. A governor usually
meets the president," he said.
Meanwhile, Dikshit, a former chief minis-
ter of Delhi who was appointed Kerala gov-
ernor earlier this year, declined to comment
on "rumours".
Rajasthan Governor Margaret Alva met
Modi, which was described as a "courtesy
call" by officials.
However, the Congress termed as "dictato-
rial" the BJP-led government's bid to move
out governors of some states, saying it was
against the very grain of democratic tradi-
tions and constitutional propriety.
BJP, Congress in row over gubernatorial changes
11 June 21-27, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Uttar Pradesh Governor B.L. Joshi has resigned,
others may follow suits
Modi dedicates India's most
powerful warship
Don't stop Bhabha bungalow auction,
eminent citizens urge PM
Panaji: Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedi-
cated to the nation INS Vikramaditya, India's
largest and most powerful aircraft carrier,
marking his first visit to a military facility
after assuming office last month. He
described it as a "giant step in India's naval
prowess".
"Addition of INS Vikramaditya will add
tremendous might to our navy," the prime
minister said. The 44, 500-tonne INS
Vikramaditya, procured from Russia, is one
of the newest acquisitions of the Indian Navy
and the most powerful symbol of its military
reach. It was commissioned by then defence
minister A.K. Antony last November at
Russia's Sevmash shipyard.
Dressed in his trademark kurta churidar and
a blue waist coat, Modi said that we dream of
an India that is self-sufficient in manufactur-
ing defence equipment using the latest tech-
nology.
Modi said: "One of the primary reason
India is capable of walking hand in hand with
world forces is the Indian Navy and soldiers.
INS Vikramaditya is a giant step in India's
naval prowess."
He called it an "important day for our
nation" and added: "We need to give immense
importance to latest technology. This will
help the nation."
He also emphasised that India must be
"self-sufficient" in manufacturing defence
equipment.
"Why should we import defence equip-
ment? We must be self-sufficient. Why can't
we send our defence equipment to other
nations," Modi said during his "Day at sea".
Modi was accompanied by navy chief
Admiral R.K. Dhowan and was accorded a
ceremonial guard of honour.
A smiling Modi waved his naval cap from
the cockpit of the MiG-29 K during his sever-
al minute long stint in the pilot's seat of one
of India's most advanced fighter jets.
The carrier can carry 30 aircraft while at
sea.INS Vikramaditya has an overall length of
284 metres and a beam of 60 metres, stretch-
ing as much as three football fields put
together. Standing about 20 storeys tall from
keel to the highest point, the vessel has 22
decks.
With over 1, 600 personnel on board,
Vikramaditya is literally a floating city.
Linked to the personnel on board is mammoth
logistics requirement - nearly 100,000 eggs,
20,000 litres of milk and 16 tonnes of rice, to
name just a few, per month.
Mumbai: Prominent personalities from
the field of arts, cinema and media have
urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to
refrain from intervening in the auction of
late atomic scientist Homi J. Bhabha's bun-
galow.
In a memorandum to Modi, the signato-
ries said the appeals of many people,
including scientist C.N.R. Rao and employ-
ees of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre,
to intervene in the auction are misplaced.
They said late Homi J. Bhabha, elder
brother of the late Jamshed J. Bhabha, was
not born in the "Mehrangir" bungalow at
Malabar Hill but in Kenilworth building on
Peddar Road - a fact borne by a plaque on
the building's wall.
"Homi Bhabha spent only a few years of
his life here ("Mehrangir"), whereas
Jamshed Bhabha lived here till his death in
2006.
"In his will, he (Jamshed Bhabha)
bequeathed the bungalow and its contents
to the National Centre for Performing Arts
(NCPA), with the wish that these should be
auctioned in their entirety and the proceeds
be used for the running and expansion of
NCPA's activities," the signatories said.
The demand to convert "Mehrangir" into
a Homi Bhabha Museum is disregarding
not only Jamshed Bhabha's legacy but also
ignoring the vital cultural activities of the
NCPA to which he dedicated his life, the
signatories said.
An important cultural centre in India,
NCPA plays a significant role in promoting
theatre, music, dance, cinema and literature
in all Indian languages.
The signatories said Jamshed Bhabha was
well aware that since NCPA does not
receive any grants or subsidies from either
the government or the corporate sector, it
needed funds from private benefactors.
"This is the reason for his generous
bequest to the NCPA," they said.
The signatories from the world of arts,
cinema, culture and media include Anil
Dharker, Abha Pandya, Alyque Padamsee,
Anju Dodiya, Arundhathi Subramaniam,
Atul Dodiya, Dalip Tahil, Darryl D'Monte,
Dileep Padgaonkar, Dolly Thakore,
Farrokh Chothia, Shyam Benegal, Shobhaa
De, Jitish Pallat, Geeta Hinduja, Adil
Jussawala, Amy Fernandes, Gerson da
Cunha, Gieve Patel, Keki Daruwala, Priya
Kapoor, Rahul Singh, Rashmi Poddar,
Sangita Jindal, Sharon Prabhakar and
Zareer Masani.
The memorandum came a day after the
sprawling, Arabian Sea facing property
measuring around 1,600 sq. metres was
auctioned for Rs.372 crore - or a staggering
Rs.281,000 per sq. foot - to an unidentified
buyer.
Some employees of the Bhabha Atomic
Research Centre had demanded the sale be
scrapped and the property should be con-
verted into an atomic energy museum in
Homi Bhabha's memory.
INS Vikramaditya is India's largest and
most powerful aircraft carrier
Late atomic scientist Homi J. Bhabha.
12 June 21-27, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info
New Delhi: A bench
headed by Justice
Vikramajit Sen
advanced the hearing
of the case from
September to July
after it was submitted
that Lt Gen Suhag is
to take over the charge
from August 1 and the
controversy over his
appointment needed to
be settled before that.
The court was hear-
ing a plea filed by Lt
Gen Ravi Dastane
alleging favouritism in
the selection of Lt Gen
Suhag as the next Army chief.
Earlier, the Centre had justified
the appointment and had submitted
that the alleged lapses which were
made as grounds to impose discipli-
nary ban on the Lt. Gen Suhag by
then Army Chief Gen V K Singh
between April and May 2012 were
"premeditated", "vague" and "ille-
gal".
Gen Singh, who is a now
Minister of State in the NDA gov-
ernment, had placed Lt Gen Suhag
under a disciplinary and vigilance
(DV) ban.
The ban was imposed for alleged
"failure of command and control"
in an operation carried out by an
intelligence unit working directly
under him when he was Dimapur-
based 3 Corps commander.
In its last days in office, the UPA-
II government had named Lt Gen
Suhag as the Army Chief to suc-
ceed incumbent Gen Bikram Singh
when he retires on July 31.
The Ministry of Defence, in a
recent affidavit filed in the apex
court registry, has said, "The
alleged lapses observed by the then
COAS, as reflected in show cause
notice, were premeditated and
issued in utter disregard to the legal
provisions governing the court of
inquiry, principles of natural jus-
tice....the lapses were vague, based
on presumptions and legally and
factually not maintainable."
Kolkata: Besides question-
ing the efficacy of West
Bengal's ruling Trinamool
Congress sending five of its
MPs to Madhya Pradesh to
enquire into a rape case,
women activists here are
appalled at the selection of
two women MPs in the del-
egation who had earlier
passed snide remarks
against a rape victim.
Peeved by the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) deputing
successive teams to her
state over political violence,
Chief Minister Mamata
Banerjee announced five of
her MPs would be visiting
Khandwa in the saffron
party- ruled state to inquire
about the horrific incident
of a 30-year-old woman
being gang-raped and
forced to drink urine.
Slamming the Trinamool
supremo's move to "politi-
cise rape", several women
activists have expressed
their reservation over MPs
Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar and
Arpita Ghosh being part of
the delegation.
Dastidar was forced to
apologise for calling the
2012 Park Street rape,
where the victim was an
Anglo-Indian woman, a
"sex deal gone wrong". The
apology came after the
state' s rights panel took
cognizance of the com-
ments.
On the other hand, thespi-
an-turned politician Ghosh,
seeking to justify the chief
minister' s claim that the
case was "fabricated", had
blamed the victim after she
had faltered in identifying
the rapists.
"Before accusing the
chief minister for her com-
ment, the woman should be
blamed as she failed to
point out the culprits, "
Ghosh had said in 2012.
Blaming the Banerjee
government over the rising
crime against women in
Bengal, rights activist
Anuradha Talwar dubbed
the delegation a political
gimmick.
INDIA
Patna: Ending days of specula-
tion, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief
Lalu Prasad has announced his
party's support to the ruling JD-
U's two candidates in the Rajya
Sabha by-election.
"RJD will support JD-U's two
candidates in the Rajya Sabha by-
election to defeat BJP' s game
plan," he said at a press confer-
ence after holding a meeting of
the RJD legislature party here.
The former chief minister said
his party decided to support JD-U
to forestall any chance to commu-
nal forces to play their dirty poli-
tics.
Nitish Kumar said he has
appealed to the RJD to support
JD-U candidates. "I have also
talked to Lalu Prasad over this
matter," he had said.
It was probably the first time in
two decades that Nitish Kumar
has publicly admitted that he
sought support from the RJD
chief after he and Lalu Prasad
parted ways in 1994.
Lalu Prasad's decision to sup-
port JD-U is seen here as the first
step for a likely realignment of
RJD-JD-U to take on a surging
Bharatiya Janata Party in Bihar,
despite reservations expressed by
some RJD legislators and senior
leaders like Raghuvansh Prasad
Singh.
The JD-U faces a tough task to
ensure that its candidates - Pavan
Verma and Ghulam Rasool
Balyavi - win the by-elections
amid some of its rebel legislators
announcing they would support
two Independent candidates, Sabir
Ali and Anil Sharma.
A group of rebel JD-U legisla-
tors, who claimed to have the sup-
port of over a dozen legislators,
are determined to ensure the
defeat of the official candidates.
However, some of the rebel leg-
islators including Annu Shukla,
Renu Kushwaha, Punam Devi,
Daud Ali and Munna Shahi who
had proposed the candidature of
two independent candidates,
announced their support to the
party's official candidates.
The BJP has yet to announce its
stand.
The house has 243 members,
but its current strength is 237
members. The ruling JD-U has
117 legislators and is supported
by one Communist Party of India
legislator, two Independent legis-
lators, four Congress legislators
and 21 RJD legislators. The BJP
has 88 members.
Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad with Nitish Kumar
Lt Gen Suhag
RJD to support JD-U in Rajya
Sabha bypoll
SC to hear plea against
Suhag as Army chief
Trinamool gets flak over
'politicisation of rape'
Chennai: DMK chief M Karunanidhi criticized
home ministry's directive to bureaucrats to use Hindi
as the language for posting their comments on social
media websites like Twitter and Faceboook.
In a statement, the DMK chief said the move
would be seen as an attempt to treat non-Hindi
speakers as second class citizens.
"Language battlefields have not yet been dried.
History has recorded anti-Hindi agitation. Can we
forget Nehru's assurance that English would be the
official language as long as non-Hindi speakers
want," he asked. Karumanidhi said Prime Minister
Narendra Modi should focus on economic and social
development of the country instead of imposing
Hindi on non-Hindi speaking people.
Karuna flays Centres
move to promote
Hindi on social media
Govt asks UPA-appointed
heads of key bodies to resign
New Delhi: The Centre has
asked heads of key government
bodies, appointed by the previous
UPA govt, to step down from
their posts, according to TV
reports.
The heads of National Women
Commission, ST/SC
Commission and Indian Council
of Cultural Relation have been
reportedly asked to put in their
papers.
Meawhile, all members of the
National Disaster Management
Authority (NDMA) have also
been asked to resign.
"Everyone has been asked to
submit their resignation. Though
I have not received any commu-
nication as I am out of station
now, I have spoken to other
members and they have con-
firmed this to me. I will do the
needful once I reach Delhi,"
NDMA member and former
director general of CRPF, JK
Sinha, told media.
Sinha said that NDMA vice-
chairman M Shashidhar Reddy
has already put in his papers.
When contacted, Reddy, how-
ever, denied having submitted his
resignation.
"I have not resigned. I am busy
now. I will talk to you later," said
Reddy, a Congress politician
from Telangana.
The NDMA is headed by the
Prime Minister. The vice-chair-
man enjoys the rank of a Cabinet
minister while other members
enjoy the rank of a Union minis-
ter of state.
Former director general of the
central industrial security force,
KM Singh, confirmed that he got
a call from the government ask-
ing him to put in his papers.
"I have already submitted my
resignation," Singh said. He,
however, refused to identify the
person in the government who
had contacted him.
Former civil aviation secretary
KN Shrivastava, when contacted,
refused to comment on the matter
saying it would not be proper for
him to talk on the issue.
"I am neither confirming nor
denying anything," he said.
DMK chief M Karunanidhi
13 June 21-27, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info OP-ED
A changed Modi has hit the ground running
By Amulya Ganguli
E
ven if the metamorphosis of Narendra
Modi from a "hate figure to an avatar
of modernity and progress", as has
been noted by the Congress M.P., Shashi
Tharoor, has earned his party's displeasure,
the description is likely to seem apt to most
people.
Moreover, the transformation will appear
startling because only a few months ago,
Modi was at his vituperative best - or, rather,
worst - to the extent of calling Tharoor's
companion of the time, Sunanda, who has
since died, a "Rs 54,000 crore girl friend".
The jibe was at her alleged involvement in
an Indian Premium League (IPL) scam.
Now, the prime minister's restraint and dig-
nity are in marked contrast to his earlier
combative persona. It cannot be gainsaid that
his electoral success has either had a remark-
able mellowing effect, or that Modi is really
two individuals rolled into one.
While his earlier avatar was all fire and
brimstone, his latest individuality is nothing
but sweetness and light. Besides, it isn't only
that the end of the poll campaign has brought
the curtains down on his belligerence. He is
now also living up to his image as the doer,
who follows a punishing work schedule with
an unremitting focus on governance.
As his commandments to ministers and
officials show - do not touch my feet, keep
your offices clean, speak to the point, do not
dawdle over files - Modi not only intends to
set behaviourial patterns but also implement
his hands-on style of administration.
From the commendation which he received
from Sonia Gandhi for his promise on the
women's reservation bill to the proposal to
introduce a diamond quadrilateral of bullet
trains to complement the golden quadrilater-
al of highways, and the setting up of 100
world class cities, Modi can be said to have
hit the ground running.
True, much of this is still only pledges. It
will take time for the results to become visi-
ble. One of his first challenges will be to
improve the power situation in the national
capital which is experiencing one of the
hottest summers in recent memory. The con-
ditions have also been aggravated by a freak
storm which damaged power lines.
What is reassuring, however, is the busi-
ness-like aura which the prime minister proj-
ects. The impression which he conveys is
that there will be no dragging of feet where
official efforts are concerned. Nor will the
ministers appear lackadaisical lest they irk
the prime minister.
It is noteworthy that the new government
hasn't taken a single false step except for the
V.K. Singh affair, where the former army
chief apparently exceeded his brief as a min-
ister in a matter concerning his successor
who has been backed by Defence Minister
Arun Jaitley.
The earlier rumpus about Article 370 relat-
ing to Kashmir caused by a minister of state
in the prime minister's office has also died
down. Perhaps Modi's advice to ministers to
conduct "research" before voicing their opin-
ions has had an effect.
Apart from breathing life into the adminis-
tration, which was in a comatose stage in the
last few years of the previous government,
Modi has chalked out a new line where the
government's policy on the minorities is con-
cerned. By saying that he does not regard a
focussed approach on Muslims as appease-
ment, he has signaled a significant turn-
around in a decades-old outlook of the saf-
fron brotherhood, which used to mock any
pro-minority initiative by the Congress as an
instance of pandering to the Muslim vote
bank.
For the moment, his emphasis is not only
almost entirely on development, but he is
also conscious that his agenda can succeed
only if the whole bodypolitik is healthy.
The same approach can be discerned with
regard to the states, for Modi has specifically
discarded the Big Brother concept. Instead,
he wants development to be a cooperative
endeavour. The Modi of today, therefore, is
seemingly a different person from what he
was a decade ago.
It is noteworthy that the
new government hasn't
taken a single false step
except for the V.K. Singh
affair, where the former
army chief apparently
exceeded his brief as a
minister in a matter
concerning his successor
who has been backed
by Defence Minister
Arun Jaitley.
Narendra Modi wants development to be a cooperative endeavour. The Modi of
today, therefore, is seemingly a different person from what he was a decade ago.
The views expressed in Op Eds are not necessarily those of The South Asian Times.
The Gandhis must vacate for an opposition to take shape
By Saeed Naqvi
A
fter the vigorous opening speech in
the Lok Sabha by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi, Sonia Gandhi' s
rump of a party looked even more battered
and bruised.
The most reassuring news for them since
the May 16 election results is spread across
three columns of Times of India: Gandhis
will personally probe the poll defeat. In
other words the regular system of the
famous A.K. Antony committees to investi-
gate Congress defeats is being discarded.
Antony, an acute Gandhi loyalist, never in
the course of his numerous probes, turned
the search lights on his political masters. But
this time he may be left with no room for
maneuver. The Gandhis will be on the dis-
section table. Reports of irreversible poor
health may be leaked. What better way to
stop the leak than sink the very idea of the
Antony Committee.
That the mother and son team have under-
taken to probe the party's rout implies that
their leadership was not flawed, that the fault
for the debacle lies elsewhere. The decision
also implies that atleast the Gandhis believe
there still is a party under their leadership,
intact.
Senior leaders have been charting their
own course. As soon as Commerce Minister
Anand Sharma sensed rout, he obtained
from Sonia the permission to represent the
Congress at President Jacob Zuma's inaugu-
ration in South Africa. Earlier foreign minis-
ter Salman Khurshid requested the
Egyptians to let him see Luxor as India's
minister for external affairs.
Shashi Tharoor, with eye always on the
main chance, began to publicly wish
Narendra Modi were his leader, inviting a
rebuke from Mani Shankar Aiyar who went
on to say on TV that "Rahul should be
allowed to do the good work he is doing".
The greatest security for the Gandhis, one
which will keep them on their perch, is that
there is no life left in the rump to ask ques-
tions. Those who could have asked ques-
tions, like Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia,
have been kept outside the paddock. The
simple principle of dynasties is: the crown
prince must not have a challenger. The
queen must never be upstaged. Even for the
job of the President of India she could only
settle for the lackluster Pratibha Patil.
The truth is that the make-belief shrouding
the last days of the Gandhis cannot last very
much longer. Their saga is not likely to end
in tragedy. Tragedies require a quality of
heroism which is missing here. Their's is
shaping up to a pathetic end. Are they really
waiting for another rout in the state elec-
tions?
After the Babri Masjid debacle, P.V.
Narasimha Rao called a Congress session at
Tirupati in 1993. The party elected a
Working Committee not to Narasimha Rao's
liking - Arjun Singh, Sharad Pawar, Rajesh
Pilot and so on. Willfully, he found reasons
to annul the AICC results. Well, the Gandhis
must hold similar elections and, unlike P.V.,
abide by the results. Otherwise they will be
trapped like sparrows in a movie hall flap-
ping against the giant screen in full public
view.
The truth is that the make-belief shrouding the last days of the Gandhis
cannot last very much longer.
14 June 21-27, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info DIASPORA
London: An 83-year-old Indian-ori-
gin businessman, who took early
retirement to help the Indian com-
munity in the British city of
Manchester, has been honored by
Queen Elizabeth II.
Hari Dutt Seth has been appointed
the British Empire Medal (BEM) for
founding the Indian Senior Citizens'
Center (ISCC) to care for the elderly
in this year' s Queen' s Birthday
Honors List released to mark her
official birthday.
He is also a founder-member of
Manchester's Hindu Temple. "I'm
very pleased," said Seth, who retired
from a successful retail business
more than 40 years ago.
The father-of-two, who arrived in
the UK in 1957, said his care center
is aimed at "elderly people in our
community who feel isolated as
there is a real generation gap with
the young."
A British Sikh, Gurcharan Singh
Chatwal, has also been honored with
a BEM for services to the communi-
ty in the London Borough of
Hounslow.
Among the other Indian-origin
candidates on the honors list include
Dharam Bir Lall for services to the
community and businesses in Essex
and in the London Borough of
Newham and Yasvender Singh
Rehill for services to policing and
community engagement in Bradford.
Among the list of MBEs this year
is Dr Jayshree Bagaria, health advis-
er in the Department for
International Development, for
humanitarian services in south
Sudan; Anjan Kumar Banerjee, hon-
orary consultant surgeon at Bedford
Hospital for services to patient safe-
ty; and Amrik Singh Bhabra, presi-
dent of Coventry and Warwickshire
Chamber of Commerce for services
to business and the community.
Others honored with an MBE
include Dr Kumarendra Das, associ-
ate specialist in Trauma and
Orthopaedics Friarage Hospital in
North Yorkshire for services to trau-
ma and orthopaedic surgery; Dr
Nirmal Chandra Dhar for services to
community cohesion in the west of
Scotland; Jaya Chakrabarti
Gallemore, founder and chief execu-
tive officer of Nameless for services
to the creative and digital industries
and to the community in Bristol.
Amrit Paul Kaushal, vice-president
of the Association of Indian
Organizations for services to com-
munity cohesion in the west of
Scotland; Dr Jitendra Chottabhai
Patel, cardiologist, and Milan Shah,
director of Varani Food Products
Limited and chair of the board of
governors at University of
Northampton for services to busi-
ness and the community in the East
Midlands.
London: Indian scientist professor
Tejinder Virdee, one of the founding
fathers of the Compact Muon
Solenoid (CMS) which ultimately led
to the discovery of the Higgs Boson
has been accorded with an honorary
knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II for
his contribution to the field of science.
The Indian-origin physicist from
Imperial College London was named a
Knight Bachelor for his services to sci-
ence in the Queen's Birthday Honors
List, released here on Friday night. In July 2012,
CMS announced the discovery of a Higgs boson that
merited the 2013 Physics Nobel Prize to the theorists
who discovered the mechanism that
contributes to our understanding of the
origin of mass of fundamental
particles.
Professor Virdee told media: "It
came as a complete surprise to me. To
be frank it took a while for the news to
really sink in. I'm delighted and truly
humbled to get such an honor."
Professor Virdee was awarded
alongside Oscar winning actor Daniel
Day-Lewis, author Hilary Mantel and
Stephen Sutton, the teenager who helped to raise mil-
lions of pounds for cancer charities before his death
last month.
Indian community worker
honored by British Queen
Knighthood for Indian physicist Tejinder Virdee
Prof Tejinder Virdee
London: Bharat Shimpukade, an
Indian-origin scientist from University
of Southern Denmark, along with his
colleagues has come up with a smart
tool that has brought the hunt for a pill
against obesity one step closer.
Their research is focused on a special
protein that can stimulate different
physiological activities such as the pro-
duction of appetite controlling hor-
mones and hormones that control the
intestinal uptake of food.
This protein, called FFA4, is found in
the cell membranes in intestines, immune cells and
in fat. It is activated by long-chain free fatty acids
released from the food such as Omega-3 fatty
acids.
When this happens, it releases hormones that
inhibit our appetite and increase sugar uptake from
the blood.
"In some people, this protein is not activated and
they have a much higher risk of becoming obese,"
Shimpukade noted.
"We want to find a way to activate
this protein because that may help us to
develop a drug against obesity or dia-
betes," said Shimpukade, a co-author
on the paper along with scientists from
University of Glasgow.
Molecules can activate proteins so the
job is "just" to find the right molecule.
Researchers have developed a com-
puter model of FFA4 that can help
them select correct molecules for syn-
thesis by first testing if they bind in the
computer model.
"This way we can test thousands of molecules in
a very short time before going into the laboratory.
This will speed up the process of finding the right
compounds that can be developed to efficient
drugs against obesity or diabetes", Shimpukade
concluded.
The findings were published in The Journal of
Biological Chemistry.
London Rathyatra 2014. The procession seen at Trafalgar Square.
Indian-origin scientist cracks protein code to control obesity
Bharat Shimpukade
TRISTATE COMMUNITY June 21-27, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info 15
New York: It may be named
Jaipur Cricket Club (JCC), but it
is a essentially a forum to bring
together families with origins in
the Pink City now living in the
tristate area and involved in gem
and jewelry trade, the organizers
contend.
Ashish Rawat, one of the key
organizers of JCC, told The
South Asian Times, We will try
to offer activities to involve all
members of the family and not
just men (as in cricket matches).
Accordingly, picnics, bowling
and boating, etc are being
planned. At a later stage, even
religious activities and medita-
tion will be added. But cricket
is there in the name because we
Indians are so passionate about
cricket, he clarified.
The JCC kicked off with a
cricket match on June 7 at
Ridgefield Park in New Jersey.
The T-20 match was played
between two teams, Tanzanite
XI and Emerald XI, which the
Emerald XI won.
The gathered 300 people
while enjoying the game had a
chance to mingle as well as
enjoy delicious food. Kids had
an ice-cream truck handy and
played games at the park.
About the purpose of JCC,
Atul Kothari, another JCC
organizer, said, Although there
are other groups like Jaipur
Diwali Group active in this area,
their main function is limited to
one annual Diwali event. JCC
aims to bring the community
together of all age groups
through outdoor and indoor
activities throughout the year.
The organizers are even con-
sidering opening the club mem-
bership to people from other
professions like medicine.
The cricket match in progress between Tanzanite XI and Emerald XI.
The families
enjoying the
match, the
food and
generally
mingling
with each
other.
Emerald XI members in team jerseys.
The organizers of the Jaipur Cricket Club (from left): Atul Kothari, Ashish Rawat, Sumit Madani, Virendra Dhadda and Vineet Dhadda
Tanzanite XI members in team jerseys.
Children
hooting for
their team.
Club kicked off
with a cricket
match
16 June 21-27, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info FIFA WORLD CUP 2014
Rio de Janeiro: Defending champions Spains six-year
domination ended as they were knocked out of the 2014
FIFA World Cup courtesy a 0-2 loss to Chile in Group B
at the Maracana stadium here.
It was an end of an era feeling, as Spain became the first
reigning champions to lose their opening two matches in
the subsequent World Cup and suffered the same humilia-
tion as Italy, who as holders were knocked out of the
group stage in the 2010 edition.
Chiles win saw them qualify for the knockout phase
along with the Netherlands from Group B. Both teams
have two wins each.
Eduardo Vargas stabbed the ball in to give Chile the
surprise lead in the 20th minute while Chales Aranguiz
doubled Spains anguish in the 43rd minute after a
poor effort by Spanish captain Iker Casillas in goal.
In the first half, Spain looked a shadow of the
team that won the Euro 2008, 2012 and 2010
World Cup. They probably were still shell
shocked from the 1-5 thrashing at the hands
of the Netherlands in their opening game.
The tiki-taka was nowhere to be seen as
Chile dominated the proceedings. Spains
fabled passing looked very pedestrian as
they gave the ball away too easily.
Vargas made them pay after some
brilliant attacking play by Barcelonas
Alexis Sanchez.
Chile looked the team more likely
to score again and they did just that
after a Sanchez free-kick was
palmed away by Casillas straight
into the path of Aranguiz, who
made no mistake just before the
halftime.
In the second half, Spanish man-
ager Vicente del Bosque brought
on highly rated Atletico Madrid
midfielder Koke in place of Xabi
Alonso and the move seem to
work for his team.
Spain started showing signs of
revival and played much more
confidently. They looked more
threatening and the Chilean
defence finally came under pres-
sure.
Such has been the dismal perform-
ance of the champions that they have
scored just one goal and conceded
seven.
Chile, meanwhile, will battle it out
with the Dutch Monday for the top spot
in Group B.
Natal (Brazil): The fastest goal so far and a late killer in the final
minutes awarded the US a 2-1 win over their long-time rivals Ghana
in a thrilling Brazil World Cup Group G match here.
Captain Clint Dempsey scored only 32 seconds into the match to
put the Americans to the lead, but Ghana steadied themselves and
gradually took back the possession of the ball. In the 82th minutes,
Jordan Ayew equalised for Ghana, but John Brooks broke Ghanaian
hearts with his late goal and sealed the three points for the Americans,
reports Xinhua.
This victory avenged the United States' defeats by Ghana in the last
two World Cups, as the American were beaten in group stage in the
2006 tournament and in extra time during the round of 16 four years
ago. In another match in Group G, Germany took an easy 4-0 victory
over Portugal, which leaves the US to rank the second after the first
round due to goal difference.
Dempsey's goal is the fastest in the tournament after 14 matches
played. In the first American attack, Dempsey dribbled into the area
from the left side and fired past goalkeeper Adam Larsen Kwarasey to
the far post. The veteran became the first American player to score at
three different World Cup.
The fantastic goal made the American supporters in the Estadio das
Dunas on their feet. Then Ghana began to possess the ball and find
ways to break down the congested American midfield. However,
goalkeeper Tim Howard relieves pressure after a couple of attacks
from Ghana. The Americans encountered an unexpected problem as
their forward Jozy Altidore got injured in the 22th minute. He battled
for the ball with Ghana's defender John Boye along the left side
before immediately grabbing his left hamstring and falling to the
ground. He lied down on the pitch in pain and was substituted by
Aron Johannsson. Ghana pressed hard afterwards for an equaliser and
threatened the US goal from time to time, but didn't have any luck
while the Americans found it difficult completing their final pass.
Porto Alegre (Brazil): The Netherlands survived a massive
scare, coming back from a goal down to beat Australia 3-2 in a
FIFA World Cup Groups E encounter at the Estadio Beira-Rio
here.
Arjen Robben opened the scoring for the Dutch in the 20th
minute but Everton's Tim Cahill levelled the score just a minute
later. Australian captain Mile Jedinak gave his team the shock lead
with a 54th minute penalty.
Manchester United striker Robin van Persie made it all square four
minutes later while substitute Memphis Delay scored the winner in the
68th minute. The Netherlands were made to work extremely hard but
the reward was great as well, the win taking them to six points and all
but assuring them of a place in the next round.
While Australia slumped to their second straight defeat but their per-
formance against the 2010 runners up would have only done them good.
The first 20 minutes of the match was a slow affair. The Netherlands
failed to repeat the fast, precise build up play that saw them destroy
defending champions Spain 5-1 in their opening match.
Robben, Robin van Persie and Wesley Sneijder, all stars of the previ-
ous match failed to gel up and too often gave the ball away cheaply.
Australia, meanwhile, were better in possession and did more cre-
ative play in the Dutch half. It took some magic from Robben, who
scored his third goal of this year's finals as he burst through the mid-
dle and his stinging shot gave the goal keeper no chance.
In an unfortunate incident for the Dutch, Brozovic's attempted
cross struck Daryl Janmaat on his left hand with the referee
pointing to the spot kick. With the Australians tiring the Dutch
opened the game and could have easily scored a couple more.
In the end, Australia failed to find the equaliser as the
Netherlands held on for the second straight victory.
Captain Clint Dempsey scored only 32 seconds into the
match to put the Americans to the lead
Fastest and late goals award US
2-1 win over Ghana
Netherlands
survive
Australia
scare
Defending champions Spains six-year domination has ended
The Dutch had a tough time against Australia
FIFA WORLD CUP 2014 June 21-27, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info 17
Salvador (Brazil): Germany sent
out a stern warning to their rivals
after a dominant 4-0 win over 10-
man Portugal in the opening Group
G encounter at the Arena Fonte
Nova here.
The Germans were already lead-
ing 2-0, thanks to a penalty from
Tomas Muller in the 12th minute
and a Mats Hummels header in the
32nd minute, when Portuguese
defender Pepe was sent off for head-
butting Muller in an off the ball inci-
dent. Muller scored his second in
added time of the first half and went
on to register the first hattrick of this
year's finals in the 78th minute. The
Germans would have saved some
energy after hardly exerting them-
selves in the second half. Portugal
and Cristiano Ronaldo will have a
lot of thinking to do before their
next match. They will have to sort
out their defence as their frailties at
the back was there for
all to see.
Po r t u g a l
had the
f i r s t
shot of the goal but Hugo Almeida's
tame effort was easily saved.
Ronaldo, who scored all the goals
in the win over Sweden including a
hattrick in the second leg, then test-
ed Manuel Neur from a tight angle.
Germany slowly started exerting
their dominance over the proceed-
ings and strung together some pre-
cise passes. Sami Khedira had a
golden chance to give Germany the
lead in the eighth minute but his first
time shot after a poor clearance from
the Portugal keeper went centime-
tres wide with an open goal waiting.
Just minutes later, the Portugal
right back brought down Mario
Goetze inside the box to give
Germany a spot kick, which Muller
slotted in with great precision.
Germany soon started dictating the
tempo of the game and looked very
comfortable and patient in posses-
sion with Portugal struggling to get
hold of the ball. Hummels doubled
Germany's lead with a bullet head-
er from a Toni Kroos corner.
(1) A live performance from Pitbull, Jennifer Lopez and Claudia leitte.
(2) The FIFA Football World Cup began with a flamboyant and surreal opening ceremony.
Portuguese defender Pepe was sent off for head-butting Tomas
Muller in an off the ball incident.
1
2
Modi likely to
watch FIFA final
in Brazil
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi
is likely to witness the heart-thumping
finale of the FIFA World Cup in Brazil,
along with Chinese President XI Jinping, a
soccer lover, on July 13.
Modi along with President Xi, South
African President Jacob Zuma, and Russian
President Vladimir Putin would be attending
the 2014 BRICS summit to be held July 15-
17 in the city of Fortaleza, in Brazil.
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has
reportedly invited the leaders of the Brazil-
Russia-India-China-South Africa - bloc to
also witness the final of the mega sporting
event. If Modi accepts the invite, which he
is likely to, he would be joining the other
leaders at the Estadio do Maracana in Rio
de Janeiro on July 13.
President Rouseff had invited President Xi
in mid May to witness the World Cup Brazil
2014 final on July 13. She had at the same
time invited the leaders of the other BRICS
nations to grace the FIFA final, before
attending the BRICS summit, according to
reports. Rouseff had held a 10-minute phone
call with Modi after he became prime minis-
ter, to congratulate him. Last week, Modi
released a commemorative postage stamp
on the 2014 FIFA World Cup and hoped that
the international event becomes a "bridge
for connecting nations". Releasing the
stamp on June 12, Modi said, "Sports brings
about a spirit of amity and belongingness
among nations of the world. May the FIFA
World Cup become a bridge for connecting
nations together!" Modi also underlined the
need for inculcating the love of sports
among children within the country with his
slogan "jo khele, wo hi khile (the kids who
play grow well)".
Rio de Janeiro: Costa
Rica can't have it before the
second round of the FIFA
World Cup, Brazilians can
have it as long as it is not 'acro-
batic', Nigerians can have it only
with their wives while it is a big no for
Russia, Chile, Mexico, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Yes, it is
sex! Most of the teams don't have an official stance, but they all
have their own taboos. In order to make sure that their players
are not tired with their exploits in bed, coaches have laid down
the law that will force the footballers to think twice before get-
ting laid. The Quartz website reported that teams Germany,
Spain, USA, Australia, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland,
Uruguay, and England have laid down no diktats on their play-
ers' sexual encounters, as long as they give their 100 percent on
the field the next morning.
Sex is a big no-no for players from Russia, Chile, Mexico, and
Bosnia and Herzegovina. Their players will have to channel all
that sexual frustration into their on-the field game, reports The
Quartz. Mexico coach Miguel Herrera had said that "forty days
of sexual abstinence is not going to hurt anyone. If a player can't
go one month or 20 days without having sexual relations, then
they are not prepared to be a professional player".
But things are a bit complicated for teams like Brazil, Costa
Rica, France and Nigeria. Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari has
no problems if his players indulge in a little bit of sex but it
should not be acrobatic. Scolari is well aware of the fact that in
2006, under his assistant Carlos Alberto Parreira, Ronaldindho's
over indulgence with sex and PS2 was held responsible for the
team's exit from the quarterfinals.
Sex!
Rules make it a
bit complicated in
World Cup
Sex is a big no-no for
players from Russia,
Chile, Mexico, and
Bosnia and
Herzegovina.
June 21-27, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info
SEP.
19 June 21-27, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info COMMUNITY
By Robert Golomb
W
hen in 1982 then First Lady
Nancy Reagan famously advised
Americans to Just say no to
drugs, 50-year-old Tom Cilmi, the 3-term
Suffolk County Republican Legislator of the
10th District, which covers a major portion
of the town of Islip and a small section of
the town of Brookhaven, was still a teenag-
er. I remember going from store to store
with my mother, putting up the Just say no
signs, he told me when I interviewed him in
his Suffolk County legislative office last
week.
Cilmi, who was appointed early this year
by the Republican Caucus of the Suffolk
County Legislature as chairperson of the
newly formed Mental Health and Substance
Abuse Task Force, said that since those days
32 years ago that he was placing drug pre-
vention posters on store front windows with
his mother to the present day, the federal,
state and county governments have spent
billions of dollars fighting drug use, but the
problem has not abated. The government
has spent an enormous amount of money
over the last three decades to fight drug
abuse among Americans of all ages. Yet it
continues to be a huge problem.
The Suffolk County legislator contends
that while it is difficult to calculate the exact
amount of tax dollars that go to fighting ille-
gal drug use in the complicated labyrinth of
the federal budget, such spending on the
state and county levels is a bit more trans-
parent, but the results are just as disappoint-
ing. Suffolk County roughly spends $ 20
million annually on drug prevention and
related programs. That is in addition to the
hundreds of millions spent on law enforce-
ment efforts. NYS spends nearly $800 mil-
lion, he said. {Yet} despite the billions of
dollars spent at the federal level or by state
and county governments, these problems
continue to grow. So many constituents have
shared with me tragic stories of a family
member or close friend whose lives were
destroyed by drugs.
For Suffolk County the Mental Health and
Substance Abuse Task Force is not a new
attempt to curb drug abuse. In 2010 the
County Legislature established an ad hoc
panel which in December of that year issued
a report containing 48 comprehensive pro-
posals on how to deal with the countys
mounting substance abuse problems. This
panels prior work has opened up the law-
maker to criticism by some detractors who
claim that the new task force is doing no
more than duplicating the work of the old
committee. This is a criticism that Cilmi
quickly rebuffed. When from time to time
people ask me whether I am trying to rein-
vent the wheel, I answer, The world has
changed in the past three years and so has
substance abuse. If our efforts arent work-
ing, then maybe its now time to reinvent the
wheel.
He was quick to add, however, that the
task force would build upon, not discard, the
finding of the original panel. We realize
that there was a lot of time and effort that
was put in it (the original panel), which we
will utilize when appropriate. But our focus
will be different. That focus, he elaborated,
would be to use the platform of the task
force to continue to inform the public that
illegal drug use and the drug trade have
resulted in the rise in crimes in our neigh-
borhoods and the loss of life of young peo-
ple who somehow became addicted to
drugs. {And the focus will be to use} the
input from the community, law enforcement
officials, drug and alcohol abuse and health
care providers and other interested parties to
formulate new policies that will best and
most efficiently address this horrible prob-
lem.
The legislator also noted that the policies
of the task force will be guided by its title.
We created the name Mental Health and
Substance Abuse for a reason, he said.
Studies show that there is a high correlation
between drug and alcohol abuse and mental
illness. This factor will be addressed by
the task force as we move forward.
While the new task force was established
by the Republican Legislative Caucus, Cilmi
pledged that it will be non-partisan in nature.
Substance abuse, he asserted, is not a
Republican, Democrat, liberal or conserva-
tive problem. It is a problem that knows no
political names or classifications. So any
effort to combat the scourge of substance
abuse must be non-partisan in nature.
There are some Suffolk political insiders,
however, who are said not to associate Cilmi
with the term non-partisan. A former
small business owner and former president
of the Islip Chamber of Commerce, Cilmi
burst into the Suffolk County political scene
in November 2009 when he garnered 60%
of the vote in winning his race against
Democrat Patrick Nolan, the son of popular
Islip Supervisor Philip Nolan. Cilmi signifi-
cantly increased those margins in the 2011
and 2013 elections.
Using those victories as a mandate, Cilmi
has compiled a consistently conventional
conservative Republican record in the legis-
lature, sponsoring fiscal bills that lower per-
sonal and business taxes, require greater
transparency in the budget, reduce spending,
and, most controversially, require the annual
vote on the countys operating budget be
held before election day -- bills that were
opposed by many Democrats. Still, repeat-
ing what he had earlier said about the non-
political nature of the mounting substance
abuse problem, he was quick to dismiss any
suggestion that as the chairperson he would
allow the panel to act in a partisan way.
Cilmi went on to point out that he has a
history of working cooperatively with
Democrats. He cited as an example of that
cooperation his recent teaming with
Legislator DuWayne Gregory and County
Executive Steve Bellone, both Democrats, to
create a program which will enable the
county to sell contaminated properties to pri-
vate investors who will in turn clean them
up for future sale or rental. This venture,
said he, will result in a cleaner environ-
ment, business and economic development
opportunities and the potential creation of
many new private sector jobs.
Cilmi, the father of a son, 20-year-old
Thomas, a college junior, and a daughter,
23-year-old Stephanie, a graduate student,
told me that he believes that an elected offi-
cial must always give primary consideration
to how his or her actions will impact upon
families - whether dealing with substance
abuse or other important issues and con-
cerns. As a husband and parent, I am
always concerned about the safety and quali-
ty of life of families living in my district and
throughout Suffolk County, and I keep that
in mind when considering legislation, he
stated. Supporting efforts that create jobs
through fostering a more transparent, busi-
ness- friendly culture in government, and
fighting against things like substance abuse
which have tremendous negative impact on
our quality of life are always priorities for
me. It is as simple as that.
Robert Golomb is a nationally published
columnist. MrBob347@aol.com
Leading the battle against substance
abuse on Long Island
Chairperson of the newly formed Mental Health and Substance Abuse Task
Force in Suffolk County will use the platform to continue to inform the
public that illegal drug use and the drug trade have resulted in
the rise in crimes in our neighborhoods and the loss of life of
young people who somehow became addicted to drugs.
Legislator Tom Cilmi
SUBCONTINENT 20 June 21-27, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Work on new
India-Bangladesh
railway link from
2015
Agartala: The Indian and Bangladeshi
governments will start work early next year
on a new rail link to ease surface transport,
officials said.
India will build a 15-km railway tracks
linking Tripura's capital Agartala with
Bangladesh' s southeastern city of
Akhaurah, an important railway junction
connected to Chittagong port, resource-rich
Sylhet and Dhaka.
An Indian delegation and a Bangladeshi
team attended the third meeting of the
Agartala-Akhaurah railway link project
steering committee here Tuesday. They will
Wednesday go for a field inspection on the
Indian side.
"The work for new Agartala-Akhaurah
railway link will start early next year. The
DPR (detailed project report) will be
finalised within a month or so," India's
external affairs ministry's joint secretary
Alok K.Sinha told reporters after the meet-
ing.
Sinha, who led the Indian delegation,
said: "... We will mutually sort out if any
problem comes up... The fourth meeting of
the project steering committee will be held
in Dhaka in December."
The Bangladesh delegation was led by its
railway ministry's joint secretary Sunil
Chandra Pal.
Of the 15 km rail line, five km of tracks
fall in the Indian territory.
Over 50 terrorists
killed in air
strikes: Pakistan
army
Islamabad: Pakistan army bombarded ter-
ror hideouts in the country's mountainous
region of North Waziristan and said over
50 militants, including those who attacked
Karachi airport last weekend, were killed.
But other media reports put the toll at 150.
Pakistani Jets conducted an aerial strike
in North Waziristan Agency's Datta Khel
area, killing at least 50 terrorists, Geo
News quoted Pakistan military's media
wing Inter Services Public Relations
(ISPR) as saying.
Terrorist commander Abu Abdul
Rahman Almani and a key-member of
East Turkistan Islamic Movement, Wilayet
bin Hashim besides several other terrorists
were among those killed, security sources
said.
The air strike, conducted at about 0130
hours Sunday, was carried out based on
intelligence about terrorist hideouts in
Datta Khel area, an ISPR press release
said.
Following confirmed reports about the
presence of foreign and local terrorists
involved in the Karachi Airport attack,
Pakistani jets targeted the hideouts as well
as an ammunition dump, it added.
While the ISPR said that over 50 terror-
ists were killed in the strike, a foreign
news agency reported the number to be as
high as 150, Geo News added.
New Delhi: Letter
diplomacy, and even
exchanging shawls
and saris as gifts
across the border is all
good, but for peaceful
and cordial relations
between India and
Pakistan, and thereby
resumption of talks,
"peace and tranquili-
ty" on the border is
the highest precondi-
tion, says India.
On a day when
Pakistani troops vio-
lated the ceasefire on
the Line of Control,
firing at Indian posi-
tions across the bor-
der, Indian Foreign Secretary Sujatha
Singh said "peace and tranquillity on
the border is of the highest necessity" in
establishing peaceful and cordial rela-
tions between the two and "would
always remain the case".
Her remarks came even as Prime
Minister Narendra Modi sent a reply to
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's
note saying he is looking forward to
working closely with him and his gov-
ernment "in an atmosphere free from
confrontation and violence in order to
chart a new course in our bilateral rela-
tions".
In the letter Prime Minister Modi
thanked Sharif for his participation in
the swearing-in ceremony of his
government on May 26 and also "for
the sari that you sent for my mother,
a gesture that she has deeply appreciat-
ed".
Sharif in his letter had said that he
was "much satisfied" with his "mean-
ingful" talks with Modi and spoken
about poverty alleviation in both coun-
tries being their "common economic
destiny".
Asked about the "letter diplomacy",
the foreign secretary said it was "one
tool" for both sides to normalize their
uneasy ties.
Thimphu: Indian Prime Minister
Narendra Modis Bhutan visit pro-
vided an assurance to a long-time
subcontinental ally, with whom
relations in the recent past suf-
fered some jitters, of the impor-
tance it occupies in the scheme of
things of the new government in
New Delhi.
The two-day visit, Modis first
foray abroad after assuming office
May 26 following a stupendous
election victory, also gave a mes-
sage that the new regimes foreign
policy attaches primacy to the
neighbourhood. China has been
aspiring to rival India as a domi-
nant and benevolent power by
undertaking development projects
like construction of ports in
Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri
Lanka.
Modi's laying the foundation
stone for a 600 MW hydel power
project a joint venture between
Indian and Bhutanese companies
and inaugurating the new Supreme
Court of Bhutan building con-
structed with Indian assistance,
were intended at reinforcing
Indias desire to be seen as a valu-
able partner in Bhutans develop-
ment. Bhutan has been perhaps
Indias only unwavering ally for
decades in the South Asian region,
known for intense rivalries among
nations. Sandwiched between two
big regional powers, India and
China, the tiny mountainous
nation of pristine natural beauty
and 750,000 easy-going people is
of strategic importance to New
Delhi.
India has also been its biggest
trade partner, but of late China has
been endeavouring to engage with
Bhutan, and the two countries are
slated to hold a further round of
talks in the coming months, even
though Beijing has no diplomatic
representation in Thimphu.
In June last year, the then UPA
governments decision to reduce
subsidy on cooking gas cylinders
to the Himalayan nation, before
again reversing its decision, had
hurt Bhutan badly. Observers were
quick to interpret the short-lived
step as New Delhi's punitive reac-
tion to Bhutans tentative engage-
ments with China.
Modis visit, in that sense, suc-
ceeded in dispelling whatever
doubts Bhutan may have had
about Indias intentions and its
continuing assistance.
The hydropower project was of
special importance, with
Bhutanese Prime Minister
Tshering Tobgay hours after
Modi left Thimphu - terming the
hydro-power cooperation as the
centre-piece of the two countries'
cooperation". Bhutan has fixed a
target of producing 10,000 MW
hydropower by 2020.
Modis comment terrorism
divides, tourism unites and his
suggestion that the two countries
formulate a policy for a joint
tourism circuit, besides holding an
annual sports meet of northeastern
Indian states and Nepal and
Bhutan, also underlines a pro-
development outlook to a slightly
nuanced neighbourhood foreign
policy of the new government.
For Bhutan, a landlocked nation
dependent on India for its daily
needs, a major plus is Indias deci-
sion to exempt it from any ban or
quantitative restrictions on exports
of items like milk powder, wheat,
edible oil, pulses and non-basmati
rice.
A major gain for New Delhi is
the mention in the joint statement
issued at the end of Modi's visit
that Bhutan agreed with India not
to allow each other's territory to be
used for interests inimical to the
other.
In 2003, the Royal Bhutanese
Army conducted a military opera-
tion flushing out anti-India insur-
gent groups who had set up hide-
outs in its territory. Mentioning
the 2003 operation, Tobgay said
the joint statement represented a
continuity in relations between the
two countries.
Outside the region, to the world
at large, Modis parleys in Bhutan
are likely to be seen as Indias
efforts to foster brotherhood in a
conflict-torn region, instead of
playing the big brother to its
smaller neighbors.
Modi's Bhutan visit gives positive signal to neighbors
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing the joint session of
Parliament of Bhutan in Thimphu
Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his Pakistani
counterpart Nawaz Sharif
'Peace and tranquility on
India-Pak border must'
INTERNATIONAL
New Delhi/Baghdad: India said its 40
nationals working for a Turkish construc-
tion company have been abducted in vio-
lence-hit Iraq's Mosul area, which has been
taken over by Sunni militants.
The government is monitoring the situa-
tion, with External Affairs Minister Sushma
Swaraj holding consultations with senior
officials. The abduction is a major crisis for
the Narendra Modi government that took
office less than a month ago.
The external affairs ministry here did not
say which militant group has seized the
workers. Earlier media reports blamed the
abduction on the Sunni insurgents of the
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)
who have seized the cities of Mosul and
Tikrit in northern Iraq and are advancing
menacingly towards capital Baghdad.
External affairs ministry spokesperson
Syed Akbaruddin said the workers mostly
belonged to the country's northern states,
such as Punjab, and worked for the Tariq
Noor al Huda construction company.
He said no ransom call was received and
the Iraq Red Crescent "indicated to us that
they were kidnapped".
He said the workers' current location was
not known. Asked about the safety of the
Indians, the spokesperson said they were
"trying to establish contact" and that "there
are no guarantees".
Asked if the workers were kidnapped
while being evacuated, he declined to
reveal details.
Akbaruddin said India will not leave any
stone unturned in providing help to its
nationals in Iraq. He also said that the
Indian embassy in Baghdad was not to be
shut down. The embassy would increase its
effectiveness with former envoy Suresh
Reddy being sent there.
The spokesperson also said that 200
Indians in Najaf working for a Turkish
company were "feeling uneasy" and want-
ed to return. The Indian mission is working
to bring them back, and the first lot would
be leaving Najaf Friday.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj
has also made phone calls to the relatives
of a number of people stranded in Iraq.
Secretary (East) in the ministry Anil
Wadhwa was in touch with international
organisations to organise the return of the
Indians.
The spokesperson said that while Indians
number around 10,000 in Iraq, most of
them are in Kurdistan and other safer areas.
In Mosul and Tikrit, there are around 100
Indian nationals.
21 June 21-27, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Thiruvananthapuram: The 46
Kerala nurses stranded in strife-
torn Tikrit town in northern Iraq
asked the Indian embassy officials
to either take them home or
change their place of work.
Speaking to IANS over phone
from Tikrit, the hometown of
deposed and executed Iraqi dicta-
tor Saddam Hussein now under
control of Sunni militants, a
Kerala nurse said the Indian
embassy officials speak to them
over phone every day and find out
if they have taken food while also
enquiring about their safety.
"A Red Cross official first came
and spoke to us. Later, another
official came and took our details.
We have told them and the
embassy officials that either we
be given a job in a place away
from Tikrit or get a safe passage
back to Kerala," said the nurse,
not willing to be identified.
Of the 46 nurses, 30 reached
Tikrit last August while the rest
arrived in February.
Following a change in the local
government in Tikrit, their con-
tractual obligations have changed
and now they have been promised
pay of just $200 a month while
earlier it was $750 per month.
"We are staying put in our resi-
dence here and eagerly waiting to
hear good news. We are sitting in
our rooms, as we have no idea of
media reports of 40 Indians being
kidnapped from Mosul It's about
60 km from here. For the past two
days, we did not hear any sound
of explosions. We are all pray-
ing," added the nurse.
The office of Kerala Chief
Minister Oommen Chandy said it
is in touch with the external
affairs ministry in Delhi, which is
giving directions to the embassy
officials.
UN chief wants peaceful political solution in Syria
Geneva: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for "all
regional actors, and all those with influence over the Syrian parties,
to work together in favour of a peaceful, political solution". Ban said
the UN has been engaging in at least four areas, political, humanitari-
an, human rights and non-proliferation, over the conflict, which is
now raging into its fourth year.
"As you know, we are making progress in destroying the chemical
weapons. But there has been much problem and lack of progress in
political solutions," Xinhua quoted Ban as saying in a press confer-
ence here.
Ban stressed the UN will continue to strengthen capacity to deliver
humanitarian assistance for all those people who are in urgent need of
humanitarian assistance.
He called for all countries who have influence over the two parties
to exercise it, noting that "there is no military option".
Kerala nurses in Iraq demand
return home
The abduction is a major crisis for the Narendra Modi government that took
office less than a month ago.
Baghdad: Iraqi security forces
continued fierce clashes with
militant groups, while the troops
repelled an attack on a major oil
refinery in Salahudin province,
security sources said.
This came even as Iraqi Prime
Minister Nuri al-Maliki warned
that the latest escalation of vio-
lence in his country would spill
over to those countries which
led a "conspiracy" against Iraq.
"The security forces backed by
the air force repelled an attack
by militants on the oil refinery
of Baiji, just outside the city of
Baiji, some 200 km north of the
Iraqi capital of Baghdad, leaving
some 40 militants dead," Qassim
Atta, security spokesman of
Prime Minister al-Maliki, said at
a news conference in Baghdad.
Earlier in the day, a source
from Salahudin provincial
police told Xinhua that hundreds
of Sunni militants, including
militants linked to the Islamic
State in Iraq and the Levant
(ISIL), an Al Qaida offshoot,
launched an attack at dawn on
the refinery compound from
several directions with machine
guns and mortar rounds.
Fierce clashes between the
attackers and the militants and
mortar shelling hit a fuel storage
and a large column of black
smoke rose above the area, the
source said.
Earlier, insurgent groups over-
ran the city of Baiji as well as
large parts of the predominantly
Sunni province of Salahudin,
including its capital Tikrit, some
170 km north of Iraq's capital.
In Diyala province, security
forces clashed with Sunni mili-
tants in many villages near the
city of Udheim, some 60 km
north of the provincial capital
city Baquba, leaving 19 mili-
tants dead, Qassim Atta told
reporters.
Also in the province, three
militants were killed in a clash
with a Kurdish security force,
known as Peshmerga, near the
city of Jalawlaa, northeast of
Baquba and some 65 km north-
east of Baghdad, a provincial
police source said.
Six Kurdish security members
were also wounded in the clash,
the source said.
In Anbar province, the troops
backed by allied tribesmen,
clashed with militant groups in
and near the city of al-Qaim,
some 330 km northwest of
Baghdad, Atta said without giv-
ing further details.
Iraqi security forces repel militant attack
Washington: Amid concerns over a militant group's advancement
toward the Iraqi capital, US President Barack Obama notified
Congress that up to about 275 US military personnel
will be in Iraq to provide support and security for
US personnel and the American embassy in
Baghdad.
Obama said in a letter to Congressional leaders that
the force, which began deploying Sunday, has
been sent "for the purpose of protecting US
citizens and property, if necessary, and is
equipped for combat," Xinhua reported.
"This force will remain in Iraq until the
security situation becomes such that it is
no longer needed," Obama wrote.
Up to 275 US troops to be deployed in Iraq: Obama
Most of the militants belong to the Islamic State in Iraq and
the Levant (ISIL)
BUSINESS 22 June 21-27, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info
New Delhi: India may be a developing
country but the Taj has placed it firmly on
the list of must-visit place for the richest
people on earth.
The world's most luxurious and prici-
est holiday package is coming to India
next year. Four Seasons (FS), a super luxu-
ry hospitality major, will be flying its all
first class private jet with just 52 seats on a
world tour, starting Los Angeles next
February that will cover eight countries in
24 days including two destination in
India, Agra and Mumbai. The price to fly
the FS plane and stay in FS properties is
$119,000 (about Rs 71.5 lakh) on twin-
sharing basis per person. And, the single
occupancy option costs $130,000 or about
Rs 78 lakh!
This tour will culminate in London and
the tour cost does not include either the
cost of flying to LA from the home cities
of those who opt for it or the cost of flying
back home from London after it is over.
"This is the most premium travel package
in the world. It has no counterpart," said a
FS official.
Travel industry veterans in India say
there are few parallels to this kind of luxu-
ry tour. While they have heard of hotels
chartering planes to fly in guests, a charter
being organized by a luxury chain for trav-
el around the globe in cities where it has
properties is unheard of.
"This kind of luxury in India can be asso-
ciated with Oberoi Vilas' properties in
India or the Aman resort. Globally, we can
think of The Pierre in New York (a Taj
Group hotel) Fifth Avenue and the
Venetian in Las Vegas, which routinely
organizes charters for guests in that league.
Some places like Monte Carlo, Venice and
Florence have positioned themselves as
luxury destinations. But, I cannot think of
a hotel major organizing charter flights and
making people stay in their properties as
part of an around the world trip," said Rajji
Rai, a travel industry veteran in Delhi.
FS will use a Boeing 757 with handcraft-
ed leather seats where its own trained pro-
fessionals will provide inflight service. The
"FS Private Jet Experience" will visit
places like Kona (Hawai), Sydney, Bali
and Istanbul.
In India, the rich holidayers will have the
option of visiting Taj Mahal or Agra Fort in
Agra. And in Mumbai, they will get a tour
of the dhobi ghats "the world's largest
open air laundry".
Mumbai: Reliance
Industries Limited
(RIL) plans to
invest Rs.180,000
crore ($30 billion)
across its businesses
including oil and
gas, retail and tele-
com, chairman and
managing director
Mukesh Ambani
said.
A d d r e s s i n g
shareholders at the
40th Annual
General Meeting,
Ambani said the company has out-
lined its expansion strategy across
the businesses and aims to become
a Fortune 50 firm in the next 2-3
years. This was 37th AGM since
Reliance became a listed compa-
ny.
In the past 37 years, we invest-
ed Rs.240,000 crore and in the
current three years' investment
cycle, we will be investing over
Rs.180,000 crore, Ambani said.
We are currently at the mid-
point of the largest investment
programme in Reliance's history,
he said. Ambani said the next
three years would be transforma-
tional in RIL's history.
The next two years, 2014-15
and 2015-16, will see us focused
on executing and progressively
bringing these projects on-stream
in petrochemicals, refining, retail
and Jio, he said.
The year 2016-17 will be the
first full year in which the com-
plete benefits of all these invest-
ments will be available to our
shareholders, customers and socie-
ty, he added.
Mumbai: The El Nino phenome-
non, which adversely affects the
monsoon, is likely to have an
impact on the oilseeds production
in the country. "India's depend-
ence on imports for edible oil
requirement is growing and in
case oilseed crop is affected
because of poor monsoon, the
imports will surge," a senior
industry official said.
El Nino adversely affects rain-
fall and leads to drier conditions
in India, South-East Asia &
Eastern Australia and wetter con-
ditions in South America and
southern US. Meteorologists have
forecast development of El Nino
in the current monsoon season.
Production of four major rainfed
oilseeds-groundnut, soybean,
sesame, and castor is susceptible
to El Nino as even minor varia-
tions in rainfall deviates arability
of these crops. With production
likely to be impacted, oilmeal
exports may also get affected.
"If rainfall this year is lower
than 90% of long-range forecast,
these crops are likely to be affect-
ed adversely," said Raju Choksi,
vice president (agri-commodi-
ties), Anil Nutrients, a food pro-
cessing and commodities trad-
ing company. However, distribu-
tion and regular spells have a
greater bearing on oilseed crops
than the absolute quantum of rain-
fall, he said. "The demand-supply
mismatch during peak season
could also bring in unwanted
volatility in price of these oilseeds
across major markets," he stated.
In case of a major El Nino devel-
oping, oilseed production in India
and palm oil production in
Malaysia and Indonesia will take
a hit, Choksi said.
However, wetter conditions in
South America and the US may
prove beneficial to the soybean
crops in these countries. As per
data available from Indian
Meteorological Department, in
2004 and 2009, country faced
severe drought as monsoon was
below normal by 13% and 22%
respectively.
During both these years,
oilseeds production was down and
consequently vegetable oil
imports and oilmeal exports too
were affected. In all of the three
El Nino years in last decade, defi-
cient rainfall had impacted
oilseeds production and thereby
vegetable oil imports and oilmeal
exports.
Reliance Industries to invest
$30 billion in 3 years
El Nino may impact oilseeds production
World's costliest holiday package coming to India
The El Nino phenomenon, which adversely affects the
monsoon, is likely to have an impact on the
oilseeds production in the country. RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani arrives for
the company's annual general meeting with
his wife Nita and son Anant in Mumbai.
In India, the rich holidayers will have the option of visiting
Taj Mahal or Agra Fort in Agra.
SPORTS 23 June 21-27, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info
India win ODI series against Bangladesh
Mirpur: Medium pacer Stuart
Binny's record six wickets for four
runs gave India a 47-run win via
the Duckworth Lewis Method
against Bangladesh and also an
unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-
match series at the Sher-e-Bangla
National Stadium here.
Chasing a paltry target of India's
106, Bangladesh lost six wickets
for four runs and were skittled out
for 58 runs in 17.4 overs, their low-
est total in ODIs for the second
time.
The match was reduced to 41
overs a side due to rain but it fin-
ished off in a total of little over 41
overs.
Seamer Binny ran through
Bangladesh's batting line-up with a
career-best 6 for 4 -- the best fig-
ures by an Indian bowler in ODIs.
At one point, it appeared
Bangladesh could easily win the
match to draw level with plenty of
overs to spare.
Debutant Mithun Ali (26) and
Mushfiqur Rahim (11) steadied the
innings for a while after the hosts
lost the openers.
It was a rash stroke from Tamim
Iqbal (4) in the first over that gave
India some hope. He tried to hit
Mohit Sharma over the covers,
having hit a boundary off the previ-
ous ball and got a thick edge
through to the wicket-keeper.
Anamul Haque went back for a
duck when he poked at a short
Sharma delivery and hit it straight
to point.
Binny got the Bangladesh skip-
per in his second over with one that
straightened from leg stump.
Sharma also bowled tight and got
some extra bounce and the duo
shared all 10 wickets between
them.
Earlier on a tough wicket, India
put on one of their worst batting
performance against their Asian
rivals and were bowled out for a
mere 105 in 25.3 overs.
Opting to bowl, Bangladesh put
on a spirited show, thanks to debu-
tant pacer Taskin Ahmed's five for
28. India skipper Suresh Raina was
the top scorer with 27 while last-
man Umesh Yadav made 17.
Washington: The San Antonio Spurs
claimed their fifth NBA Championship
Sunday after beating Miami Heat 104-87
to win the best-of-seven series in five
games . Kawhi Leonard had 22 points
and 10 rebounds for the Spurs, who had
won the title in 1999, 2003, 2005 and
2007. San Antonio overcame an early 16-
point deficit by outscoring Heat 37-13
from the start of the second quarter to
midway in the third. LeBron James had
31 points and 10 rebounds for Heat. Heat
had won the championship in 2012 and
2013. Kawhi Leonard of the Spurs was
declared NBA Finals MVP.
Geneva: Formula One champi-
on Michael Schumacher was
conscious and had his eyes
open during his top-secret
transfer from a French hospital
to a facility in Switzerland,
Swiss newspaper Blick report-
ed. Schumacher was moved
after emerging from a coma
following his devastating ski
accident in December. The
paper said he had his eyes open
for most of the journey by pri-
vate ambulance, which was
conducted like a secret service operation.
Schumacher did not speak, but he commu-
nicated by nodding his head during the 200-
kilometre (125-mile) journey, the paper said.
The ambulance company was not told the
identity of its world-famous passenger in
advance, and staff had to give up their mobile
phones when they came into contact with
him. The paper said
Schumacher had lost a lot
of weight during his 170
days in hospital in the
French city of Grenoble.
It tracked down the Swiss
ambulance company,
whose head Mathias
Volken confirmed its
involvement, but refused to
give further details.
The seven-time world
champion's spokeswoman
Sabine Kehm thanked the
doctors in Grenoble and asked for "under-
standing that his further rehabilitation will
take place away from the public eye". The
hospital where he is now being treated is one
of Switzerland's best and has renowned neu-
rology experts. It is in the city of Lausanne,
near where Schumacher's wife Corinna and
two children live.
Jakarta: All Indian shut-
tlers, apart from Saina
Nehwal, had to bite the dust
in first round action at the
$750,000 Indonesia Open
Super Series Premier here.
Though Olympic bronze
medallist Saina came out on
top, P.V. Sindhu, Kidambi
Srikanth and Parupalli
Kashyap went out of compe-
tition at the Istora Gelora
Bung Karno Stadium. A
three-time winner here,
Saina needed only 33 min-
utes to ease past Thailand' s
Porntip Buranaprasertsuk 21-15,
21-10 to take an amazing 7-1 lead
in career meetings over the World
No.9. The eighth seed will in the
women's singles second round
meet Scottish Kirsty Gilmour
against whom Saina has an
unbeaten 2-0 head-to-head.
Later, Sindhu' s match didn' t
turn out as she had expected. The
World No.10 Hyderabadi gave a
good fight to China's third seed
Yihan Wang by taking the first
game a long way before losing
out 24-26.
Sindhu fought brilliantly but ran
out of steam to lose the second
game too to the former World
Champion 17-21.
In men's singles action, China's
Chen Yuekun beat Srikanth 21-
12, 17-21, 21-16 in 55 minutes
while Japanese fourth seed
Kenichi Tago ousted Parupalli
Kashyap 19-21, 21-8, 24-22 in an
hour and nine minutes.
Jwala Gutta and Ashwini
Ponnappa will take on
Indonesians Pia Zebadiah
Bernadeth and Rizki Amelia
Pradipta in the women's doubles
opener later in the day.
Medium pacer Stuart Binny's record six wickets for four runs
gave India a 47-run win
Saina Nehwal
Saina wins, Sindhu ousted
from Indonesia Open
Formula One champion
Michael Schumacher is now
shifted to a Swiss hospital.
The Spurs big three Tony Parker,
Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili
with the coveted trophy
Schumacher was awake for hospital transfer: Report
San Antonio Spurs beat Miami Heat to win NBA title
LIFESTYLE
New York: French fashion house
Louis Vuitton has designed a
traveling case for the 2014 FIFA
World Cup trophy.
The luxury brand created a
one-of-a-kind, custom-made
trunk for the trophy to be trans-
ported in before it is awarded to
the winning soccer team at the
World Cup final to be held at the
Maracana stadium in Rio de
Janeiro July 13, reports female-
first.co.uk.
The French leather goods com-
pany says that the case is
wrapped in Louis Vuitton's icon-
ic monogram canvas and fea-
tures the brand's signature brass lock
and corners. It also opens from the
front and at the top to "allow the tro-
phy to be easily removed when, at
the final game on July 13, it will be
presented to the captain of the win-
ning team." The current World Cup
project marks Louis Vuitton's sec-
ond consecutive collaboration with
the international governing body of
soccer, FIFA, as they also created
the traveling case for the 2010
World Cup trophy, which was
awarded to Spain in South Africa.
Louis Vuitton receives approximate-
ly 450 special orders such as this
every year, meaning it represents a
core section of the 150-year-old
trunkmaker's business.
Under the guidance of creative
director Nicolas Ghesquiere, Louis
Vuitton also crafted the case for the
America's Cup, which is said to be
the oldest sporting trophy and is
awarded to the winner of an annual
sailing yacht race.
London: Selfie trend has taken
over social media, and it some-
how propels everyone to look
photo-ready all of the time. But
a latest research shows that 68
percent of women feel negative
about photos of themselves that
haven't been enhanced by a pho-
tographic filter.
A research conducted by cos-
metic giant Olay says that a
majority of women confess to
feeling exposed, under-confi-
dent and unattractive before a
filter is applied, reports female-
first.co.uk.
Women say that the most
important change a filter makes
to a selfie is to hide flaws and
wrinkles or that it helps achieve
a better skin tone. So nearly half
the female population now uses
filters on their "Selfies" and this
rises sharply to 67 percent
among the the girls aged under
25 years.
"The No-filter trend perfectly
sums up this Summer's minimal
make-up look. It's about 'come
as you are' informality and being
the best possible version of
yourself but without looking like
you've tried," said Florrie White,
celebrity make-up artist.
Added White:"That said, it
does take time to achieve the
illusion of effortless beauty and
have the confidence to go filter
free. For me, the all-important
starting point is in prepping your
skin."
Louis Vuitton designs FIFA
World Cup trophy case
N
ew York: Do you respond to an official
mail using your smartphone while
watching a movie with your kids or
helping them with their homework? One way or
the other, do remember that the technology --
while of help at work and home but also having
the potential to be an impediment -- is our "fren-
emy." Technology, specially mobile technology,
may help you cross the boundaries of work and
home at will, but it can also be a hindrance to
being fully present in the moment owing to its
addictive potential, a new research shows.
When it comes to managing boundaries
between work and home life, technology is nei-
ther all good nor all bad -- technology is our
"frenemy", the findings showed.
The researchers found that full-time working
employees can engage in three key strategies
when using technology to manage work-home
boundaries. Try "Collocation" that occurs when
an individual reports being physically present in
one domain while cognitively and behaviorally
engaged in both domains -- for example, doing
laundry in the middle of a work project.
"Distancing" that occurs when an individual
either turns off the technology or changes the set-
ting to make oneself unavailable in one domain
when engaged in the other.
And the third, "Crossing" which connotes when
an individual uses technology as an aid in moving
from one domain to another.
"As an example, an individual may use mobile
communications technology to bridge between
work and home domains by accessing work e-
mails via laptop or smartphone near the end of the
workday before becoming fully engaged in the
home domain," the study said.
These strategies were often perceived as a help
in navigating work-home boundaries," said Stacie
Furst-Holloway, an associate professor of psy-
chology at the University of Cincinnati in the US.
The results were derived from in-depth, qualita-
tive interviews of 33 working professionals.
24 June 21-27, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info
New York: For all the men out there vying for female attention online, the
going may get tougher with a new app. This app would first like you to match
up with the girl you are
looking to date. Women
can join the new dating
app, called Wyldfire, free
but men can only be invited
by an existing female user.
The baseline criteria for
invitees likely includes
unlikely to send dick pics
and not interested in dat-
ing personally, media
reports said.
The idea to create this unique app came to its founders Brian Freeman and
Andrew White after detailed discussions with close female friends and sur-
veying hundreds of women on their dating app experiences.
We cannot tell what women want. So we hired women to implement right
features, White was quoted as saying. In the new app, female users will be
shown potential matches but they will not know who actually deemed them
dateable. Wyldfire confirms vague eligibility and will highlight mutual con-
nections if both users have joined through Facebook. The app limits messages
to 20 to encourage matches to move offline, reports added.
Avoid dictatorship at home to save kids from drugs
London: Parents who are reasonable and set down clear rules without being
overbearing are most successful in preventing their children from taking to
drugs and drinks, a study said. Contrary to popular belief, firm discipline can
be just as bad as a lack of control when it comes to the best way of bringing
up a family, new findings show. Extremes are not effective, neither authori-
tarianism nor absence of control and affection, said Amador Calafat of the
European Institute of Studies on Prevention in Mallorca, Spain.
In fact, children with authoritarian parents who show little affection are
more likely to go off the rails. However, those whose parents shower too
much love are also more likely to smoke cannabis or cigarettes and to drink.
The study, which was conducted across six European countries, involved
almost 8,000 youngsters aged between 11 and 19 who were questioned on the
kind of parenting styles they had received. Calafat said that different parental
approaches are helpful in different scenarios. The study appeared in the jour-
nal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.
Selfies daunting women on bad skin days: Study
Technology our 'frenemy' in
managing work-life balance
To help ensure you're looking your best for your
selfi, professional make-up artist, Sarah Jagger,
reveals her top tips and make-up essentials so
you can capture a flawless look whatever the
occasion.
Avoid heavy textured SPF c r e a m s
beneath your makeup as they can create a
'flashback', making you look washed out.
Using a mattifying makeup primer on the T-
zone will eliminate sweaty looking shine in
photos and keep your makeup on all day and
night.
Black mascara is more eye brightening than
brown or colored because it creates a contrast
with the whites of your eyes.
Keep eyebrows full - thin brows can age your
look and appear too harsh in photos. A full
brow will actually look a little thinner in your
pic!
Use a liquid illuminator in strategic places,a
little on the cheekbones and down the center of
the nose makes skin look younger, cheekbones
higher and nose straighter in photos.
Lashes disappear in photos! Make them look
longer with 'tight liner'-liquid liner applied
under the upper lashline
Make lips look fuller by using a highlighter on
the cupids bow and lipstick a shade paler than
your lips.
Shimmery bronzers can appear 'sweaty' in pho-
tos. Matte bronzers work better.
***********
Men! New dating app strictly by invitation only
25 June 21-27, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info MUSIC
Titli Udi fame singer introduces music workshops for children
By Parveen Chopra
M
ost Indians of the younger genera-
tion may not have heard Sharda jis
name, but everybody remembers the
lilting voice in the songs like Titli Udi,
Dekho mera dil machal gaya and Chale jana
jara thehro. Because of her distinctive voice,
which once heard youll never forget, she was
a rage in the late 1960s and early 70s Hindi
film music and bagged two Filmfare awards
in her short singing career at a time when
Lata-Asha were dominating.
Well, it is a pleasant surprise to meet the
person behind the voice, in New York of all
places, and learn what occupies her currently,
and reminisce about her sudden rise to fame in
Bollywood and then disappearing from the
limelight.
She is now dividing her time between New
York and Mumbai, where she has a house on
Napean Sea Road. She still gives live per-
formances but holding music workshops for
children is a major preoccupation too. But
about that later.
Born Sharda Rajan Iyengar, she had guid-
ance and lessons in music from many gurus
including Smt. Nirmaladevi Aroon (actor
Govinda's mother). She was discovered by the
showman Raj Kapoor who heard her sing in
Tehran, Iran. He recommended her to music
director duo Shankar Jaikishan, and her big
break came with Titli Udi, Ud Jo Chali
(Suraj, 1966). She went on to sing with top
singers like Mohd Rafi, Mukesh, Asha
Bhosle, and Kishore Kumar and lent her
melodious voice to leading ladies of the time
like Vyjayanthimala, Saira Banu, Hema
Malini and Sharmila Tagore and even the
cabaret number staple Helen. Some hit films
she sang for include Around the World,
Seema, Evening in Paris and Gumnaam.
Though she worked with many music direc-
tors, Shankar used her voice in nearly all of
his films until his death.
She herself turned music director for films
like Maa Behen Aur Biwi, Tu Meri Main Tera,
and Maila Anchal. For some reason she
retreated from the music world only to come
back having acquired great talent of compos-
ing, in voice culture and interactive entertain-
ing. In 2007 she released her Mirza Ghalib
ghazal album Andaaz-e-Bayan Aur.
Now all her background and expertise in
singing, writing, composing and recording she
has put to use in devising workshops, particu-
larly kids music interactivity programs. Her
entertaining-cum-educational musical activity
program called "Kid Music Zone" was a first
for India. She is offering similar workshops in
the USA. At the Association of Indians in
America (AIA-NY)s Deepavali mela at South
Street Seaport in New York in 2013, she led a
program with the message of combating
obesity.
Says Sharda, I work to let the childrens
latent talent develop and grow in melody,
music, tempo and rhythm. I believe that chil-
dren learn best in a fun way so we use pup-
pets, sing along, dance and movements.
Sharda ji has even devised an online music
coaching course. On her website titliudi.com,
she gives an open offer, Music is like a vast
ocean and if you want to get a few pearls of
musical achievements you have to dive and
dive, search and search and you may not even
be sure you will get them. Dont worry! I have
dived and dived and searched and searched
and have collected lots of pearls and woven
them into a course, which you can order by
mail.And, of course, she continues to give
orchestra shows, bhajan programs and
mehfil/ghazal programs.
She can be contacted at: 516 263 1404
(in USA), (91-22) 236 21322 (in Mumbai).
musicsharda@gmail.com
Sharda ji now works from both Mumbai and New York
Famous singer, composer and now
teacher Sharda ji
Sharda with music director duo
Shankar Jaikishan.
Sharda was discovered by the
showman Raj Kapoor. Kids learn music in a fun way with her.
Singing a duet with Md. Rafi
26 June 21-27, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD
P
akistani qawwali maestro Rahat
Fateh Ali Khan, known for
giving hit Bollywood num-
bers like "Jiya dhadak dhadak"
and "Sajda", is happy that
record label Universal Music
India came forward to support
his album "Back 2 Love". He
says that it is high time music
companies also invested in inde-
pendent artists. Rahat's "Back 2
Love" has come after a seven-year
gap. He says that quality work takes time,
but also adds that delays happen because
record labels usually prefer Bollywood
projects to private albums. "After a
long time a company has taken this step. Bollywood (music) is a
big investment and the kind of promotion that is done, a reg-
ular album can't match it. An individual artist can't spend
so much and promote it in the same way. The artist
needs a company," Khan told IANS in a telephonic
conversation while travelling in Pakistan. This is
not the first time a Pakistani artist has collabo-
rated with an India-based music label. In the
past, Atif Aslam and the band Jal were supported
by Tips, while Adnan Sami teamed up with T-
Series. There are other musicians from across the
border who collaborate with both Indian filmmak-
ers and music labels.
M
arriage has not impacted
Vidya Balan's choice of roles
because the actress has found
a solid support system in her husband
Siddharth Roy Kapur.
There were rumors that Vidya and
Siddharth, who is managing director of
The Walt Disney Company India, have
hit the rock bottom, but the "Parineeta"
actress seems to have clamped down on
the speculations by showering praise on
her spouse.
"Siddarth is very supportive because
he knows my work and he doesn't inter-
fere in my work. The best thing about
him is that he has accepted me the way I
am and it's a big thing," said Vidya.
Her next film is director Samar
Sheikh's "Bobby Jasoos", which is co-
produced by actress Dia Mirza and her
beau Sahil Sangha.
Vidya finds Dia "a great producer" and
said: "Dia has put in her own money in
the film and every producer should learn
this from her."
"I had great fun shooting for this film,
which is not just a detective film, also a
journey of a girl from small town who
has a dream to do something different.
How she lives her life on her own terms
and condition, the film is about that,"
she added.
"Bobby Jasoos" is slated for a July 4
release.
A
ctor-
producer Saif Ali Khan
has gone beyond his usual
performances for Humshakals,
says Sajid Khan, director of the
forthcoming multi-starrer comedy.
In Humshakals, Saif plays
three different characters, all
named Ashok, and all living in
London. They create chaos, con-
fusion and funny mix-ups.
The film also stars Riteish
Deshmukh and Ram Kapoor in
three different avatars.
"At first, I wasn't sure if Saif
will agree to let his hair down, and
go so much beyond his usual per-
formances for Humshakals. But
he has not just surprised me, he
has actually amazed me with his
acts." "It was difficult for him and
Ritesh to switch from one self to
the other in the span of a single
day. Directing him made me laugh
out loud so many times," Sajid
said in a statement.
Saif, who has shown his comic
side in films like Dil Chahta Hai
and Hum Tum,
was excited too.
"Sajid Khan
knows how to
make a comedy,
one that attracts
audiences from all
age groups and
backgrounds. When I
was offered a chance
to enact three crazy but
seriously funny, and
likeable Ashoks, I took
this up with keen inter-
est. "Going beyond the
usual is always excit-
ing for an actor, with
' Hu ms h a k a l s ' ,
doing that has
also been a lot of
fun," he said.
Saif
amazed me in
'Humshakals':
Sajid
Saif Ali Khan
in a scene
from
'Humshakals'
Vidya Balan in a
scene from
'Bobby Jasoos'
Bollywood music big investment: Rahat
Pakistani qawwali maestro
Rahat Fateh Ali Khan
ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD 27 June 21-27, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info
T
he trailer of the much-
awai t ed Sal man Khan
movi e "Ki ck" was
released this week, but the actor
said that he won't speak much
about his character.
"I am not giving any details
about the character. If I'd tell
you about my character in the
film, you will make assump-
tions. So, it's better I keep it
under wraps, " Sal man t ol d
reporters. Released at single-
screen theatre Gaiety Galaxy,
the event was attended by other
cast members of the film.
Salman's fans, who attended
the launch, went berserk while
watching the trailer.
"Kick" marks producer Sajid
Nadiadwala's directorial debut.
"I felt like a newcomer as I
have been a producer for 27
years, but it was a great experi-
ence directing the film," said
Nadiadwala.
New Delhi "Comedy Nights
With Kapil" is set to go off air
from September, but will return
with everything
new, tweeted the
show's host and
producer Kapil
Sharma.
Lately, there
were reports
about Kapil
planning on
doing the show
once a week
instead of twice
as he would be
busy with Yash Raj Films' "Bank
Chor". But the Colors channel,
on which the comedy show is
aired, is said to have refused his
request.
But it seems that the stand-up
comedian has made up his mind
and shared the information about
bringing the curtain down on the
show through his tweet.
Comedy nights is going off
air from September.. V will
come back with new characters
n new set.. Till den.. Keep smil-
ing :), Kapil posted on Twitter
handle. Thnk u so much for ur
love for comedy nights. Keep
smiling n stay happy :), he
added.
The channel was unavailable
for any comment.
The show has been lauded by
celebrities like Lata
Mangeshkar, Amitabh Bachchan
and Sonakshi Sinha.
T
he Mumbai police Crime Branch is
probing a complaint about alleged
mafia threats to well-known industri-
alist Nusli Wadia related to a complaint
filed against his son Ness by Bollywood
actress Preity Zinta, officials said.
An aide to the 70-year-old Nusli Wadia
received calls and a message purportedly
from absconding gangster Ravi Pujari, fol-
lowing which a complaint was lodged with
the N.M. Joshi March Police.
The message warned the industrialist that
his "business will be in trouble" if the
actress was harassed.
"Don't run around Preity Zinta. Give my
message to Wadia, otherwise his business
will be in trouble," said the message to the
aide, which was given to police in the com-
plaint.
However, the aide's name has not been
revealed by the police, nor the fact whether
the phone belonged to him or to a member
of the Wadia clan.
The crime branch sleuths are now investi-
gating the genuineness of the caller's claim
that he was gangster Pujari or his hench-
man, and the source of the call.
Bombay Dyeing Group chairman Nusli
Wadia is a grandson of M.A. Jinnah, the
founder of Pakistan, who lived and worked
in Mumbai before Independence.
The fresh twist in the case came barely a
week after Preity lodged a complaint alleg-
ing molestation, abuse and threats, against
her former boyfriend and co-owner of her
IPL cricket team Kings XI Punjab, with
Mumbai police.
However, Ness Wadia said he was
"shocked at the complaint and allegations
which are totally false and baseless".
In happier times: Ness Wadia with Preity Zinta
Salman Khan and Jacqueline during the trailer launch of 'Kick'
in Mumbai.
F
ilmistaan" would have
been an out rageousl y
funny film were it not
for t he profoundl y movi ng
underbelly that it secretes with
such fluency and spontaneity.
The film could have become a
gallery of cliches about Indo-
Pak harmony.
A sort of Veer-Zara turned
into a Veru and Zara-uddin
who become fri ends i n
Pakistani soil while guns boom
all around them.
Sachi ndra Vat s edi t s t he
scenes down to the minimum
when required. But generally
he lets the charactes develop
naturally even if the process
takes some time. The film is
shot in authentic locations by
cinematographer Subhransu
Das who brings to the table an
enticing aaura of believability.
The dialogues written by the
fi l m' s l ead Shari b Hashmi
never become top-heavy with
message-mongering, nor does
the going get excessively ver-
bose as it did in the recent
cross-border film "Kya Dilli
Kay Lahore".
It's astonishing how director
Nitin Kakkar averts all the
corny cliches of brotherhood
across the barbed wire. By
simply using Bollywood as the
binding factor between the two
count ri es, Kakkar emerges
wi t h a pl ot t hat i s hi gh on
emotions and low on tripe and
homilies.
"Filmistaan" is neither for or
agai nst ei t her count ry. It ' s
blissfully pro-Bollywood. So
what happens when a strug-
gling assistant director from
India bonds with a CD pirate
of Bol l ywood fi l ms i n
Pakistan? We find out with the
same thrill of discovery that
the director feels as he lets the
two protagonists sort out their
differences.
'Filmistaan'-
heart warming
hug across the
border
Salman Khan
unveils 'Kick' trailer
F
ilmmaker Mahesh Bhatt called the
souring of Preity Zinta and Ness
Wadia's "love story" into a "hate
story", "unfortunate" after the actress
accused her former beau and industrialist
of molestation. "A Fairy tale love story
turns into A HATE STORY! What an
unfortunate end to the Priety Zinta Ness
Wadia romance," tweeted Bhatt, who co-
wrote the Preity-starrer, 1999 film
"Sangharsh". Preity lodged a written
complaint against Wadia, the Bombay
Dyeing scion, with the Marine Drive
police station Thursday night. She is said
to have accused him of grabbing her
hand and abusing her during a cricket
match in Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai
May 30. Wadia, who co-owns the the
Kings XI Punjab IPL team with the
actress, has denied the allegations,
terming them "totally false and baseless".
The duo had started dating in 2005, and
their relationship came to an end in 2009.
Unfortunate end to
Preity-Ness
romance: Bhatt
Preity case: Cops probe mafia threats to Wadia clan
Review
A scene from 'Filmistaan'
Comedian
Kapil
Sharma
'Comedy Nights...'
to go off air!
S
moking can be extremely harmful to
your health. Thats why almost every
country in the world requires tobacco
companies to put warnings on cigarette
packets. In the United States, for example,
you may see a message that says Surgeon
Generals Warning: Smoking causes lung
cancer, heart disease and emphysema, and
may result in yellow teeth, premature aging
and a persistent inability to get a date.
Such warnings are somewhat ineffective,
partly because the people who need the
warnings the most are the least likely to read
them. Some of them cant read, while others
dont like to read, especially when they see
big words such as Surgeon and General.
Anti-smoking advocates tried to solve this
problem by creating talking cigarette
packs that play messages from embedded
sound chips whenever the packs are opened,
but when these talking packs were tested
on 1,000 smokers chosen at random, about
one-tenth of them suffered heart attacks and
almost died. About 40 percent of them
dropped the packs and ran away screaming,
while the remaining half of them closed the
pack as soon as they heard the words
Surgeon General and tore an opening at
the bottom to remove their cigarettes.
I dont want my cigarette packs nagging
me, one man said. I get that enough from
my wife.
In many other countries, including India,
the problem of people not reading warnings
has been solved by putting scary pictures on
cigarette packs. In North Korea, for example,
every cigarette pack comes with a picture of
Kim Jong-un. Beside the picture of the
supreme leader is a highly effective mes-
sage: I kill you if you smoke.
Not all countries can do that, of course.
Canada tried it, but most smokers just
laughed when they saw a picture of Stephen
Harper.
Another image from the Canadian
province of Quebec has proven to be far
more effective. It shows a woman whose
gums have worn away, exposing the roots of
her decaying teeth. Beside the image is a
warning that says La cigarette cause une
forte dpendence et nuit la sant. I dont
speak French, but I assume that it means,
Smoking cigarettes can make you look like
you get dental care in Britain.
Canada was the first country to require
graphic health warnings on cigarette packs in
2001 and more than 40 countries have done
the same. Many of them require half the
space on a cigarette pack to
be filled with health warn-
ings. One country, Australia,
has gone even further, ban-
ning logos, colors, and pro-
motional texts from cigarette
packs and filling most of the
space with graphic warnings.
A variety of warnings appear
on the packs, such as
Smoking clogs your arter-
ies, Smoking doubles your
risk of stroke, and
Smoking causes more pain
than losing to India in crick-
et. If it were up to me, the
warnings on cigarette packs would be much
longer: Smoking causes lung cancer, stom-
ach cancer, bladder cancer, and various other
cancers that will make you wish you had put
something less harmful in your mouth
like a scorpion, for example. Smoking puts
you at greater risk for heart disease, emphy-
sema, diabetes, and various other diseases
that, along with cancer, will make you look
scarier than the man pictured on the front of
this pack, supreme leader of North Korea.
Smoking can harm nearly every organ of
your body yes, even that organ! so please
put this pack down immediately and try your
best to quit smoking. You will not only
improve your health, you will also improve
your wealth. Cigarettes can be extremely
costly not just the price you pay when you
buy them or the price you pay for healthcare,
but also the price you pay when you acciden-
tally set your home on fire. Yes, smokers
cause hundreds of fires every year: some
lose their entire homes, some lose prized
possessions, and some lose their eyebrows.
Losing your life, your home, your brows
isnt it better to just lose the habit?
Humor with Melvin Durai
28 June 21-27, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info HUMOR
Laughter is the Best Medicine
Warning: Smoking causes everything
by Mahendra Shah
Mahendra Shah is an architect by education, entrepreneur by profession, artist and
humorist, cartoonist and writer by hobby. He has been recording the plight of the immigrant
Indians for the past many years in his cartoons. Hailing from Gujarat, he lives in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania.
21st June, 2014 Ruled planet: Jupiter Ruled by no: 3
Traits in you: Being ruled by Jupiter, you are courteous,
courageous, decisive, ambitious, disciplined, and realistic.
You are gifted with high imagination power, optimism, and
enthusiasm. However, behaving restless and dominating may
hamper your characteristics at times. You need to work on
your personality to make yourself better as an individual.
Health this year: You need to take an appropriate care of your
health. You may fall sick in the middle months of the year
though those will not be serious. If you are a sportsperson, you
need to be very careful for your diet and nutrition to perform
better in your sporting events.
Finance this year: You should invest in real estate to get bet-
ter benefits. Your legal matters will settle down and provide
you with the flow of the blocked money. You need to decisive
enough before investing on something else but real estate as
there are chances of loss.
Career this year: Your communications skills will be proved
instrumental in the overall improvement of your professional
career. You will be able to make enough contacts and you will
get regular projects and assignments. You may get promotions
and salary hike towards the end of the year.
Romance this year: You will find your partner to be a huge
emotional support for you during the tough times of your life.
You may get involved in a matrimonial alliance.
Lucky month: July, October, April and May
22nd June, 2014 Ruled planet: Uranus Ruled by no: 4
Traits in you: Uranus, being your dominating planet helps
you become dynamic and creative. You are positive, realistic,
responsive, and sincere. You need to work and overcome the
weaknesses in your personality to attract more people towards
you.
Health this year: Your health will remain good throughout
the year. You need to take utmost care of your health to main-
tain it and remain fit. The health of your family members
might be a concern for you this year. Try and avoid your bad
habits and start practicing yoga for the betterment of your
health.
Finance this year: Your innovative ideas to earn money may
not meet your expectations. However, you need to keep try-
ing until you succeed. You will find it tough to make money
this year. You may go for investments in various sectors like
shares, gold, land and so on.
Career this year: With an enhanced confidence and brushed
up skills, you will become very successful professionally. You
will do justice to the role assigned to you. You may get pro-
motion or a hike in your current salary. If you are in creativi-
ty field, this year will bring you much more success and
recognition.
Romance this year: This is a quite good year for women
when romance is concerned. You will enjoy a very strong re-
lationship with your spouse. You may decide to get married
towards the end of the year.
Lucky month: November, January, May and June
23rd June, 2014 Ruled planet: Mercury Ruled by no: 5
Traits in you: As you are ruled by Venus, you are simple, gen-
erous, cheerful, friendly, humble, honest and peace loving.
You are pretty interested to stay in harmony with each and
everyone in your surroundings. You need to work on your na-
ture of being restless and pessimistic.
Health this year: Your health will remain fine but the fluctu-
ations in the health of your spouse may create huge problems
for you. You should take care of the health of yourself as well
as your family members to avoid future health problems.
Finance this year: You will be among major financial gains
this year. You may go for a real estate transaction later this
year and this will bring you a lot of money to cherish. You
may start up a new business. If you are already into business,
you may plan for expanding its territory this year.
Career this year: You will get enough opportunities in your
professional life to prove yourself. You will create a better im-
pression on your seniors or higher management, which may
result in promotion. You should work efficiently to maintain
your respect at your workspace.
Romance this year: Your romantic life will become stagnant
this year as you may not give enough time to your beloved. If
you are unmarried and planning to marry this year, it may not
happen because of the negative movements of your stars and
planets.
Lucky month: October, February, March and June
24th June, 2014 Ruled planet: Venus Ruled by no: 6
Traits in you: As you are ruled by Venus, you are simple, gen-
erous, cheerful, friendly, humble, honest and peace loving.
You are pretty interested to stay in harmony with each and
everyone in your surroundings. You need to work on your na-
ture of being restless and pessimistic.
Health this year: You may enjoy a great health this year.
However, that does not mean you will start neglecting your
health. You need to take care of your diet and nutrition to
maintain a good health. You may practice some exercises to
remain fit.
Finance this year: You would not be able to save any money
for future this year as your earnings will be spent for something
or the other. You may face unexpected expenses, which would
make you a bit financially weak. You may go for new business
ventures but need not get involved in any partnerships.
Career this year: As far as your professional life is concerned
you may find your job a bit monotonous. You need to go for
innovative ideas to get better in your profession. Your deci-
sion making capacity may make you the favorite to win an
award in your professional circuit.
Romance this year: You will spend a peaceful life with your
love interest this year. You will lead a blissful life with your
beloved with lots of love, care, concern, and support.
Lucky month: June, August, December and April
25th June, 2014 Ruled planet: 7 Ruled by no: Neptune
Traits in you: As your governing planet is Neptune, you are
simple, dignified, unique, charismatic, reliable, trustworthy
and confident. You have a great leadership skill and you are
very creative. You should not be pessimistic and show your
stubbornness.
Health this year: Though you would not face any major
health related issues, you should take extra care of your health.
Do not take unwanted risk of putting your health in stake. Go
for regular medical checkups.
Finance this year: Though you will be able to improve your
financial status, you may end up spending a lot of money in
buying luxury and comfort for yourself and your family. You
may put your money in real estate for better returns.
Career this year: Professionally, you are a very smart and ef-
ficient worker. So you may need to clarify doubts and help
you peers and juniors in their work. People in your profes-
sional circuit will seek your help at every crucial situation.
You may get promoted as a result of your spectacular per-
formance throughout the year. You may be assigned a new re-
sponsibility this year. You may go for a job change as well as
there will be plenty of opportunities available.
Romance this year: This is a quite good year for women
when romance is concerned. You will enjoy a very strong re-
lationship with your spouse. You may decide to get married
towards the end of the year.
Lucky month: September, November, January and May
26th June, 2014 Ruled planet: Saturn Ruled by no: 8
Traits in you: Your governing planet Saturn makes you con-
fident, unique, creative, dynamic, and intelligent. You are de-
termined enough to perform any task assigned to you. So you
always remain a step ahead from others. Along all your good
characteristics, you have few negative characters as well. You
need to work on your unreliability, insensitiveness, and self-
ishness.
Health this year: You should take your prescribed medica-
tion in spite of a better health. The health of your parents may
make you a worried person. You will remain fit and fine
throughout this year. However, the health issues of your fam-
ily members may put you in immense pressure. You need to
secure the health of your family member by investing some
money every year.
Finance this year: Your financial condition will be pretty good
as the movements of your stars are favorable for making mon-
ey this year. You may go for any investment on real estate or
gold. Do not trust anyone when partnerships are concerned.
You should not lend or borrow money as it will create disputes.
Career this year: You will be establishing yourself as a very
efficient and important resource in your organization this year.
Your performance will influence your peers, seniors and high-
er management. It is the best time to look out for a new job as
it will help you grow both professionally and financially.
Romance this year: You may go through minor personal dis-
turbances and these could be solved by talking more to your
partner. Do not let the distance grow. Get some time to talk to
your spouse. You may plan a long trip with your partner to
strengthen your relationship.
Lucky month: August, February, April and June
27th June, 2014 Ruled planet: Mars Ruled by no:9
Traits in you: Your ruling planet Mars makes you strong, de-
termined, courageous, enthusiastic, intelligent, ambitious, and
motivated. You have a strong dislike towards fake people and
fake emotions. You are a huge fan of truth and cleanliness.
You need to work on your nature of showing dictatorship and
being rude and stubborn at times.
Health this year: Your health would remain very good this
year. However, you need to go for regular yoga exercises. You
should not ignore your healthy diet plan to remain in shape.
Go for regular medical checkups to avoid any hiccups further.
Finance this year: You may go for a property transaction this
year and this will bring you a lot of money. You need to be de-
cisive to invest on real estate or gold as there are risks in-
volved. Do not trust any of your new partners as they may
cheat you. You may spend enough money on buying a vehi-
cle or renovating your property.
Career this year: With an enhanced confidence and brushed
up skills, you will become very successful professionally. You
will do justice to the role assigned to you. You may get pro-
motion or a hike in your current salary. If you are in creativi-
ty field, this year will bring you much more success and
recognition.
Romance this year: Your relationship with your partner or
beloved will be strengthened as day passes. You may decide
to get married this year if you are in a long term relationship.
Lucky month: December, January and March
By Dr Prem Kumar Sharma
Chandigarh, India: +91-172- 256 2832, 257 2874
Delhi, India: +91-11- 2644 9898, 2648 9899
psharma@premastrologer.com; www.premastrologer.com
Stars Foretell: June 21-27, 2014 Annual Predictions: For those born in this week
29
ARIES: You will be successful in real-
ising your targets at professional front.
Charming nature and pleasant personal-
ity would make you the attraction of family
function in this week. Investment in stocks &
mutual funds would help in earning profits.
Love life brings immense romantic pleasure. A
very healthy week when your cheerfulness
gives the desired tonic and confidence.
Business or vacation traveling is what you
needed right now. Your property prices will
boost in the coming period. Following the path
of fairness and justice brings success in the
long run.
TAURUS: With your high confidence
you will be able to cross all hurdles at
professional front. Family members
appreciate the changes made in & around the
house. Long-term investment in stocks &
mutual funds will enable to earn profits.
Traveling proves a blessing in disguise by
bringing a love in your life. You are likely to
maintain good health that would also give you
success. Implementation of new ideas to travel
will be beneficiary for you on work front.
Buying property can lead to gains as property
prices continue to increase. You find it very
easy to put your feelings into words to engage
in an interesting conversation.
GEMINI: You are likely to encounter
some challenging situations at work-
place. Friends and family members
would encourage to work harder. Improvement
in finances is certain. You are likely to get a
new friendship opportunity in the evening. A
continuous positive thinking gets rewarded as
you succeed in whatever you do. Travel plans
for ambitions are in full bloom. You could buy
the property that you are looking for. You
share happiness with close friends to double
the joy.
CANCER: A hectic schedule awaits at
professional front in this week. You
are likely to hear a good news from
close relatives. Speculation coupled with some
unexpected gains improves financial health.
New romance that some of you are going to
experience would take the worries off mind.
Creative hobbies are likely to keep you
relaxed. A beckon destination sounds tempting
to you. Investing on properties which are
under developed will be profitable.
Unexpected accolades bring unlimited joy to
you.
LEO: Timely help of associates will
not only pass difficult times at work but
also help in regaining professional
edge. An old friend makes a pleasant visit later
in the week. A new source of income will gen-
erate through influential contacts. You enjoy a
memorable time with partner to cement the
lovely bond. With a positive outlook & confi-
dence, you succeed in impressing people
around you. Planning a trip for your love will
embrace you and your spouse. Whether young
or old, now is the time to start investing. You
dont allow success going in your head.
VIRGO: A promising week to start a
new venture in partnership. All are like-
ly to be benefited. Evening enjoyed
with family and close relatives brings immense
pleasure. You are likely to make good money,
but the rise in expenses could make it difficult
to save. You will be attracted to someone spe-
cial. Mental alertness would enable to solve a
tricky problem. Enjoy your holiday with love
of your life. Looking for good long term
investments, then go for a property which is
under construction. You strive to make acco-
lades a regular feature.
LIBRA: Your technical expertise
gives a decisive edge over competitors
at work. You are likely to plan a short
trip with family. Investment made in this week
would enhance prosperity and financial securi-
ty. Warm romantic thoughts occupy mind. A
cheerful state of mind brings mental peace.
Romantic destinations seems appealing to you.
Value the property at right price to attract buy-
ers for it. Hesitancy and doubt are not likely to
come your way in this week.
SCORPIO: Hard work of the past
brings rich dividends. However contin-
ue enhancing your skills/adopt tech-
niques for further development. Unexpected
visit by old friend could give you a pleasant
surprise. An improvement in financial position
would enable to make important purchases.
Your charm & generosity bring new romantic
opportunities for you. Good time to divert
attention to spirituality to enhance mental
toughness. Travel for fun and pleasure is what
you demand. It always is exciting to begin
looking at homes for sale in your area.
Discussing future goals with experienced per-
sons benefit.
SAGITTARIUS: Dedication & loyal-
ty at work would bring desired results.
Good advice from family members
will help in reducing mental tension/pressure.
You are likely to earn monetary profits through
most unexpected sources. Love life brightens
your week. A pleasure trip gives the much-
needed tonic to health. Small journey with
your office colleagues will be interesting.
Buying cheap property in the right location
can provide you triple gain annually. You make
a resolve to avoid criticising others.
CAPRICORN: New ventures start on
a positive note. If possible, plan some-
thing exciting & entertaining with fam-
ily members. A sudden inflow of funds will
take care of your bills and immediate expens-
es. Your wit & charm would help in catching
the attention of opposite sex. Cutting down the
number of parties and pleasure jaunts would
help in keeping in good mood. Planning a
vacation, keep an eye on your expenditure
before you travel. Investing in property busi-
ness sounds very appealing. You continue to
be resourceful and capable of achieving per-
sonal goals.
AQUARIUS: You succeed in com-
pleting projects efficiently provided
you put in all your efforts. Sudden
good news in the evening will bring cheers for
the entire family. Monetary position is likely to
improve on recovering of delayed payments.
Love partner would be extremely supportive
and in a loving mood. A beneficial week to
work on things that will improve your health.
Your travel plans are smooth, but the toughest
part is that your partner doesnt have time.
Banks love to finance those, who invest in
properties which are underdevelopment.
Teaming-up with ambitious people would
augur well for future.
PISCES: Hard work put-in the past
will yield handsome rewards in busi-
ness in this week. Your efforts bring
success & happiness at family front.
Investment in antiques & jewelry brings mone-
tary gains and improvement in financial posi-
tion. A romantic week as you receive all prais-
es from partner. Your confidence and energy
will be high in this week. Your boss may ask
you for your company to a friends party. A
good deal on commercial property might
occur. You succeed in casting aside bad habits
and negative thinking.
June 21-27, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info ASTROLOGY
30 June 21-27, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info SPIRITUAL AWARENESS
'Meditation boosts performance, alleviates pain'
Question: As a doctor, what
benefit do you see for your
patients from meditation?
Dr. Kunwarjit Singh Duggal:
In my practice, I see many patients
who suffer from chronic pain from
a wide variety of ailments. While
trying to manage chronic pain,
some of the biggest issues they
have are the emotional and spiritu-
al voids in their lives. Meditation
is a fantastic way to address both
of these aspects. As a countless
number of medical studies have
proven, meditation significantly
helps ease anxiety and stress,
decrease levels of depression,
combat aggression, increase ones
sense of awareness, and manage
difficult situations that arise in
everyday life. By aiding in pain
coping techniques, meditation
helps decrease and sometimes
completely erase the emotional
aspect that occurs with pain, espe-
cially chronic pain. This is seen
clinically by a significant reduc-
tion in the amount of analgesic
(pain relieving) medications
patients are taking. According to
recent studies, a majority of
patients wish that their physicians
would ask more about and address
spirituality in their encounters
with patients. Those who do not
have a spiritual sense of where
they fit in the universe tend also to
suffer from a lack of life control.
This, in turn, directly relates to
their ability to manage their pain.
If we are to treat people holistical-
ly, we as care providers must
ensure that we do not neglect the
spiritual aspect of ones life and
acknowledge how a void in this
field will have detrimental effect
on their health.
Question: Is there any medical
research to prove that meditation
reduces stress?
Dr. Kunwarjit Singh Duggal:
Absolutely! The number of well-
designed studies in the field of
meditation has grown exponential-
ly over the past few years, and the
evidence is overwhelming. A
study done in the Department of
Surgery at the Mayo Clinic (per-
haps Americas most famous and
well-known hospital) proved that
a short 4-week meditation pro-
gram resulted in significant
improvements in stress and anxi-
ety, while providing subjects with
a high level of satisfaction in the
program itself. Another recent
study performed in the
Department of Pediatrics at the
University of Texas Galveston
found that an 8-week meditation
course significantly brought
improvement in measures of
stress, various measures of health
and well-being, scales of spiritual-
ity, and pulse rate variability with
results lasting at least one year
after the meditation course had
ended. This is fascinating evi-
dence showing the long lasting
effects of meditation on the human
body. An interesting Australian
study done at the Menzies
Research Institute at the
University of Tansania looked at
the effects of meditation on med-
ical students, a population under
immense amount of stress. In this
group, an 8-week meditation pro-
gram significantly reduced the
levels of depression, stress and
anxiety. These are just a few
amongst the many studies that
have again and again proved the
benefits of meditation on stress
reduction.
Question: Can you give exam-
ples from fields in which medita-
tion reduces stress and improves
performance?
Dr. Kunwarjit Singh Duggal:
This is one of my favorite ques-
tions. As an avid basketball fan
growing up in Chicago, USA, I
was always fascinated with the
skill with which Michael Jordan
and the rest of the Chicago Bulls
were blessed with upon the bas-
ketball court. Under the guidance
of coach Phil Jackson, the
Chicago Bulls went on to win 6
NBA Championships during the
1990s. Phil Jackson was, and still
is, known as the Zen Master in
the field of coaching. He made it
well known through the media
and his books Sacred Hoops and
Eleven Rings that he would have
his players meditate before games
to enhance their performance. By
having his players visualize them-
selves performing at the highest
level, certain changes were noted:
the game slowed down, shots and
passes were made with an unpar-
alleled precision, mental clarity
decreased the number of mistakes
and turnovers, and team play
became effortless and seamless.
The results were astounding: six
NBA Championships with the
Chicago Bulls and five more with
the Los Angeles Lakers all while
managing some of the biggest
personalities in sports history like
Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen,
Shaquille ONeal, and Kobe
Bryant, amongst others. By
preparing themselves with silent
meditation, these players were
able to keep their cool on one of
the biggest, and most stressful
stages and succeed in achieving
their goals.
Question: How has meditation
helped you in medical school, and
now as a doctor?
Dr. Kunwarjit Singh Duggal:
The gift of meditation as taught
by the Great Masters of Science
of SpiritualitySawan Kirpal
Ruhani Mission (www.sos.org),
and currently by His Holiness
Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj
allows us to ascertain our inner
connection with the Divine and
experience its grandiosity in all
its glory. Meditation on the Inner
Light and Sound, or Shabd
Meditation (with its introductory
practice called Jyoti Meditation),
frees our inner consciousness
from all worldly distractions,
which in turn permits us to
receive the Divine in the purest
form. Meditation is the forum
with which we can connect with
God and explore the innate spiri-
tual essence of our beings. As a
life-long meditator, I have been
able to see the benefits of this
practice in my own life.
Throughout medical school, resi-
dency training program, and med-
ical practice I have been able to
see the differences between my
colleagues and I when put in
adverse or stressful situations. I
quickly noted that I never pan-
icked when in the middle of a
Code Blue, which is an emer-
gency situation in which a patient
is at risk of losing his or her phys-
ical life. My understanding of the
life cycle and transmigration of
the soul, with death being the
sweet end to our physical exis-
tence, took away the fear of
death. This, I believe, led me to a
state in which I was able to pro-
vide patients with a more com-
passionate level of care and
understanding. The level of men-
tal clarity needed to manage prop-
erly these stressful surroundings
has considerably grown with and
is directly attributable to my med-
itative practice.
Kunwarjit Singh Duggal, M.D.
currently practices at From Pain
To Wellness, LLC in Oakbrook
Terrace, IL, USA. He completed
his residency in the field of
Physical Medicine and
Rehabilitation at Rush
University Medical Center in
Chicago, IL, USA. He is a grad-
uate of Rush Medical College in
Chicago, IL, USA. He received
two undergraduate degrees, in
the fields of Finance and
Economics, at the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,
IL, USA. Dr. Duggals interests
include chronic pain manage-
ment, sports medicine, muscu-
loskeletal disorders, spasticity,
and electrodiagnostic medicine.
Sant Rajinder Singh
Ji Maharaj
Dr Kunwarjit Singh
Duggal has studied
meditation under the
guidance of Sant
Darshan Singh Ji
Maharaj and Sant
Rajinder Singh Ji
Maharaj since
childhood. He lectures
on the health benefits
of meditation, a
vegetarian lifestyle for
improved functionality
and sports perform-
ance, preventative
medicine, therapeutic
lifestyle changes and
overall wellness. In an
interview he elabo-
rates on importance of
meditation
Dr Kunwarjit Singh Duggal with
Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj
Those who do not have a spiritual sense of where they fit in the universe
also tend to suffer from a lack of life control.
June 21-27, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info