Vol-8-Issue-42 Feb-27 - March-4 2016

The South Asian Times
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Vol.8 No. 42 Feb 27-March 4, 2016 80 Cents
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Indian rail budget: More GOP scrambling

comforts at no extra cost to stem Donald
New Delhi: The Rail Budget has
kept passenger fares and freight
rates unchanged at least for now.
A slew of measures has been
announced for travel comfort. But
the operational ef ficiency has
taken a beating even as concerns
remain over raising money for
future projects.
T his is the crux of Railway
Minister Suresh Prabhu's budget
for his ministry presented in the
Lok Sabha on Thursday that
shows targets set by him for this
fiscal on a host of counts
Continued on page 4
Trumps surge
Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu. (Photo: PIB)
Republicans to
block Obama's
apex court pick
IRANI ROCKS IN
STUDENTS ROW
New Delhi: Human Resource
Minister Smriti Irani delivered a
spirited and emotional speech in
the Lok Sabha on Wednesday,
strongly refuting allegations con
cerning her ministry over the
Jawahar Lal University row and
Rohith Vemula suicide controver
sies. Her speech even got a pat
from Prime Minister Narendra
Modi who tweeted a link to it,
with the comment: Satyamev
Jayate.
My name is Smriti Irani. I chal
lenge you to ask me my caste,"
the minister said, rubbishing alle
gations that Rohith was persecut
ed at the Hyderabad Central
University because he was a
Dalit. "No one can raise a finger
against me on this issue. I am
taking it personally (referring to
her minority community sur
name)," she said, her voice catch
ing. In a 50minute speech that
saw her furious, sarcastic and
ART 15
FASHION 18
HRD Minister Smriti Irani

choked up in parts, Irani also
labored the point that she had
been targeted by the Congress
because of her work in Amethi,
Rahul Gandhi's constituency.
"Have you ever seen Rahul
Gandhi go to one spot twice?
Never.
But in this, he saw political
opportunity," said the minister.
"Our children are not vote
banks," she thundered. Irani
Continued on page 4
EDUCATION 24
Washington: Setting the stage for a

major confrontation with President
Obama, Senate Republicans have
vowed not to hold confirmation
hearings for his Supreme Court
nominee to replace a deceased con
servative judge amid a tense battle
for the White House. "I can now
confidently say the view shared by
virtually everyone in my conference
is that the nomination should be
made by the president who the peo
ple elect in the election that is
underway right now," Senate
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
said on Tuesday.
"In short, there will not be action
taken," he said outraging the
Democrats. Meanwhile, Brian
Sandoval, the Republican governor
of Nevada who was reportedly
being considered as a potential
replacement for the late Justice
Antonin Scalias seat on the US
supreme court, has taken himself
out of the running.
SPIRITUAL AWARENESS 30
House Speaker Paul Ryan and Donald Trump: the partys and its
frontrunner candidates policy stances diverge. (Photos: Wikipedia)
Washington: Republican frontrun
ner Donald Trump is leading the
pack with 44% support among
Florida Republicans, according to
one poll and according to another,
he holds a commanding 41% lead
in Virginia just days before the
Super Tuesday primary there.
At the same time, according to a
Washington PostUnivision News
poll, eight in 10 Latino voters view
Trump unfavorably, including
seven in 10 who have a very unfa
vorable impression of Trump.
So there you see GOPs dilemma.
Trump may win enough delegates
to lay claim to the partys nomina
tion for President, but if he is the
nominee, the party is likely to lose
the White House again, and US
Senate control too.
No wonder, Marco Rubio's cam
paign manager Terry Sullivan
allegedly told donors in a New
York meeting on Wednesday night
that the Florida senator is prepar
ing for a brokered convention as
an option to defeat Donald Trump
for the party's presidential nomi

nation. One of the options he pre
sented included a pathway for
Rubio to secure the nomination by
w inning several key primary
states; and the other showed nei
ther Trump nor Rubio winning
outright by the summer and thus
heading into the convention with
out a definite nominee.
Meanwhile, The New York Times
has catalogued the policy diver
gences between Trump and Paul
Ryan, Speaker of the House.
Ryans positions embody the
modern institutional Republican
Party. He has been a crucial pro
moter of free trade on Capitol Hill,
which Trump opposes. Ryan
supports taking away money from
Planned Parenthood a central
target of Republicans for years
while Trump has said the group
provides needed care to women.
Ryan is the architect of his partys
plan to rein in spending on entitle
ment programs, which Trump has
Continued on page 4
excellence in journalism
Feb 27-March 4, 2016
TRISTATE COMMUNITY
Feb 27- March 4, 2016
INDIA ADDS 27 NEW BILLIONAIRES

New Delhi: India added 27 new billionaires
and consolidated its position at number
three on the list of billionaires, behind China
and the United States, according to the
Hurun Report 2016. India has 111 billion
aires, compared to Chinas 568 and the
United States 535.
Cumulative Indian billionaires wealth
stood at $308 billion, registering a 25 per
cent growth over last year. The richest
Indians list did not throw up many surprises
with Mukesh Ambani topping the list with a
wealth of $26 billion, followed by Sun
Pharmas Dilip Shanghvi ($18 billion) and
Pallonji Mistry ($13 billion) at number

three. Indias ecommerce leaders, Sachin
Bansal and Binny Bansal of Flipkart, with
wealth of $1.4 billion, were ranked amongst
the 69 billionaires under the age of 40.
The manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and
technology sectors produced 22, 20 and 15
billionaires, respectively. Mumbai remained
the headquarters of most Indian billionaires.
With the launch of new central govern
ment schemes, Make in India push and so
on, I see an immense potential for wealth
creation in India, said Anas Rahman Junaid,
Managing Director, Chief Researcher, Hurun
Report India. I hope India's 2016 budget

would simplify tax laws, reduce red tape
resulting in an overall increase in trans
parency.
Globally, 99 new billionaires were added
to the list in 2016 to take the total billion
aire rich list to a record of 2,188, 50 per
cent more than 2013.
The rich in China overtook their U.S. coun
terparts to make Beijing, the `billionaire cap
ital of the world for the rst time, according
to Hurun.
In China real estate generated most num
ber of billionaires (117), followed by manu
facturing and technology with 94 and 68

respectively.
Despite its slowdown and falling stock
markets, China minted more new billion
aires than any other country in the world
last year, mainly on the back of new listings.
Growth in billionaires for the rest of the
world was held back by a slowdown in the
global economy, the strengthening of the US
dollar and the drop in oil prices. The num
ber of billionaires, however, has jumped 50
per cent since 2013, Rupert Hoogewerf,
chairman and chief researcher of Hurun
Report, said. The data is till January 15.
Hightech US dream team

to ght Islamic State online
Washington: Seeking to bolster its
effort to counter Islamic State (IS)
messaging on social media,
President Barack Obamas admin
istration is assembling something
of a hightech dream team to bat
tle the terrorist group online,
media reported on Thursday.
At a meeting conducted at the
Justice
Department
on
Wednesday, executives from
Apple,
Twitter,
Snapchat,
Facebook, MTV and Buzzfeed
offered their input to top counter
intelligence ofcials, according to
an industry source familiar with
the meeting, reports CNN.
Nick Rasmussen, Director of the
National Counterterrorism Centre,
told the group the administration
was making strides in combating
IS on social media, where the ter
rorist army has inspired potential

lone wolf assailants to carry out
attacks.
"We`ve seen more aggressive
takedowns across social media
platforms, which is a really good
thing," Rasmussen was quoted as
saying by the source at the gath
ering. Apples participation in the
meeting was notable, given the
hightech rms clash with the
administration over the compa
nys use of encryption to shield
customers data on its popular
smartphones.
Proposed by Mayor Bill de Blasio in his 2016 State of the City speech, the Brooklyn Queens Connector,
the $2.5 billion streetcar project that would connect Brooklyn and Queens along the East River
waterfront, is getting some traction. Streetcars (called trams in India) is a thing of the past, some say,
and some argue it can reduce traffic woes in cities if done right. Pictured is a rendering of
Brooklyn Queens Connector courtesy of Friends of the project.
Congressman Ami Bera attacked on

campaign nance issues
Ami Bera, the sole

Indian American in Congress
Sacramento, Calif: An outt named

Sacramento Democrats For Truth has
accused Rep. Ami Bera, the lone Indian
American in Congress, for accepting cam
paign contributions from donors with
large overseas investments. Their press
release was issued four days before the
California Democratic Convention, at
which the party w ill determine its
endorsements for this years primary and
general elections.
The press release comes from Amar
Shergill, cofounder of the American Sikh
PAC. Shergill and some Sikh Americans
have earlier criticized Bera for his alleged

failure to recognize the antiSikh 1984
riots in India as a genocide.
Bera is a member of the House Foreign
Affairs Committee and also serves as the
cochair of the Congressional Caucus on
India and Indian Americans. In an effort
to better understand your motivations, we
have taken the time to closely review your
most recently led campaign nance
statements. We are troubled by contribu
tions from those that appear to be closely
connected to foreign investment funds
and foreign nations, wrote Shergill and
Robert Longer, legislativepolitical direc

tor for the Communications Workers of
America Local 9421, in the press release.
Bera for Congress campaign manager
Jerid Kurtz refuted the allegations. All of
the congressman's contributions are pub
licly available and disclosed on a quarterly
basis, and as a member of the Foreign
Af fairs Committee he complies with all
travel disclosure rules. It's unfortunate
that the same detractors that worked
against the congressman since 2014 are
continuing to lob baseless accusations,
he told IndiaWest.
TURN PAGE
In January, Richard Verma, the U.S. Ambassador to India, took time to meet with a
group of AIF's Clinton Fellows in New Delhi. This fellowship of American India
Foundation is a leadership development program for Americans and Indians to
come together to shape the future of India. (AIF photo)
Space mission: India, US

explore collaboration avenues
New Delhi: India and the US on Thursday
discussed the possibilities of collabora
tion in future Mars exploration projects
and other space missions. The Mars
Working Group of the two countries,
which met on Thursday, sought to identi
fy and implement goals that NASA and
ISRO share on Mars exploration, particu
larly coordinated observations and sci
ence analysis between MAVEN, the Mars
Mission of NASA, and ISRO's MoM.
Noting that space cooperation between
the two countries has increased by leaps
and bounds, Richard Verma, US
Ambassador to India, said it was not pos
sible to think of such cooperation a few
years ago.
"Our countries established a Mars
Working Group to investigate further
cooperation for Mars exploration. The
third facetoface meeting concluded in
Bengaluru."
"The Mars Working Group seeks to
identify and implement goals that NASA
and ISRO share on Mars exploration, par
ticularly coordinated observations and
science analysis between MAVEN and
MoM and NASA's other Mars projects,"
Richard Verma said.
"We can continue exploring Mars
together. Our engineers can jointly devel
op a space craft to study the surface of
Mars. Our scientists can work together,

study the and analyse the data and learn
even more about the Red planet. Let's go
further in our solar system. Our nations
could build together space craft to reach
other planets in our solar system," he
said.
He was delivering a lecture on "USIndia
Collaboration & Innovation: Exploring the
Potential of Satellites for Digital" at the
ORF Kalpana Chawla Annual Space Policy
Dialogue. Noting that space cooperation
between the two countries has increased
by leaps and bounds, Verma said it was
not possible to think of such cooperation
a few years ago. After the nuclear tests
conducted by India in 1974 and 1998,
the US and several Western countries
imposed sanctions which badly hit the
nuclear and space industry in the coun
try. Listing out ISRO and NASA coopera
tion on Mars, Verma said the working
group is also looking at future potential
joint missions to Mars. "NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory provided naviga
tion and communication support to MoM,
showcasing how our nations can work
together on complex channels," Verma
said. He added that the two space agen
cies have embarked on an ambitious
space project NASA ISRO Synthetic
Aperture Radar (NISAR) project.
Chairman and Co-Founder

Kamlesh C. Mehta
Associate Editors:
Hiral Dholakia-Dave
Co-Founder: Saroosh Gull
Contributing Editors: Meenakshi Iyer,

Nilima Madan, Melvin Durai,
Dr Prem Kumar Sharma, Ashok Vyas,
Dr Akshat Jain, Ashok Ojha
President: Arjit Mehta
GOP scrambling to stem Donald...
Irani rocks in students row
Continued from page 1

said is the reason the party lost the White
House in 2012. Ryan supports all forms of
domestic energy development, but Trump has
called for colonizing Iraqs oil reserves
through military intervention.
Youre hitting on a very big problem, which
is that Trump is not a Republican, said
Senator Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina
Republican who dropped out of the race for
the White House in December. I have no idea
how we reconcile a Donald Trump agenda
with a Republican agenda. How do we write a
platform?

refuted the allegation that she had forced the
university to act against Rohith with multiple
letters after Bandaru Dattatreya wrote to
her.
A united opposition had attacked the gov
ernment over the suicide as well as the arrest
of JNU students on sedition charges over an
event in support of Parliament attack convict
Afzal Guru earlier this month, when antiIndia
slogans were raised.
Smriti Irani targeted Rahul Gandhi for sup
porting the students and said: "Even Indira
Gandhi lost power but her sons didn't support
antiIndia slogans."
People who espouse the cause of free
speech and attack this government, who say
we are antiminority, antiDalit, antitribal and
time and again, theyve been requested to not
make it us against them. I am not certifying
your patriotism, but do not demean mine. I
am not certifying your idea of India, but do
not demean mine.
She even quoted Cicero to say that a traitor
within the gates is worse than a murderer. In
the Rajya Sabha too on Thursday Irani took
on the opposition over their criticisms saying
she is called the "anpadh mantri" (illiterate
minister). "I do not claim I am as erudite a
speaker as (CPIM general secretary Sitaram)
Mr. Yechury.
But since people blame me for having a flair
for drama, let me quote from 'Macbeth' and
say "fair is foul and foul is fair" that is how
'Macbeth' began indicating that nothing is as
it seems," she said starting her reply to the
short duration discussion.
Defending the government actions, Irani
said it was not the first time police entered
the JNU campus.
However, touching upon the JNU issue, Irani
referred to "Mahishasur Martyrdom Day"
observed in JNU, when the scene got ugly. As
she read out a document on Mahishasur Puja,
referring to the demon slain by the goddess
Durga, which she said came from JNU, it cre
ated a huge uproar among the opposition.
"When they went to JNU they wanted to
insult of gods and goddesses, be within free
dom of speech. W hat was the need for
(Congress vice president) Rahul Gandhi to
accept such insult of gods," Irani said amid
ruckus in the house, leading to its adjourn
ment for the day.
Indian rail budget: More comforts...

remained to be realized, be it on receipts from
passengers and freight, revenue mopup or
efficiency. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was
all praise for his minister. "While keeping the
promises made in the last budget, this one
makes an aspirational strategy for future.
We've been successful to a large extent this
year, and this budget has a promise to make it
even better."
Prabhu said his ministry will surpass the
target of commissioning 2,500 km broad
gauge lines this fiscal almost 30 percent
higher than last year. "In the next year, we
plan to commission 2,800 km of track," he
said, promising new tracks at 7 km per day
against 4.3 km a day since 2008.
There were also a a host of measures for
passengers: 65,000 more berths on trains,
over 2,500 water vending machines, 17,000
biotoilets inside coaches, 1,780 automatic
ticketing machines, 120,000 concurrent
users for eticketing, and ecatering services
at 408 stations.
Prabhu also announced WiFi at 100 more
stations this year and 400 more stations in
the next, fully unreserved trains and double
decker sleeper coaches on highdensity
routes, 24X7 helpline for women, local art at
stations, dignity for porters and better ameni
ties at pilgrimage centers.
As per of ficial data, India has the fourth
largest railroad network in the world with
some 64,460 route km, after the US
(224,792), Russia (128,000) and China
(112,00). Nearly 21,000 trains ply daily to
ferry 23 million passengers and 3 million of
freight.
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Prakash@TheSouthAsianTimes.info
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Arun Kumar
arun.kumar@ians,in
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TRISTATE COMMUNITY
Feb 27- March 4, 2016
VINOD KHOSLA LOCKED IN

$30 MILLION REAL ESTATE BATTLE
New York: A prominent IndianAmerican
billionaire is locked in a real estate battle
with the State of California after he sought $
30 million for reallowing public access to a
stretch of beach he owns, a media report
said.
Vino d Khosla, founder of Sun
Microsystems, had bought a prime 53acre
parcel of Martins Beach, a haven for the
beach going public, for $ 37.5 million eight
years ago.
At first, the Silicon Valley venture capital
ist let people use the beach, but in 2010
locked the gate on Martins Beach Road and
posted guards.
A report in the New York Times said the
case has touched "a nerve in California" as
resentment grows over issues of wealth,
privilege and public land use.
"The case has generated years of protests
as it wound its way through state courts,
where two lawsuits aim to force Khosla, who

does not live on the property, to let the pub
lic back in," it said.
Lawyers for Khosla have proposed in
negotiations with the state to restore public
access to the beach for $30 million, almost
the amount he had paid for the land.
California's State Lands Commission's
executive of ficer Jennifer Lucchesi said in
the report that the commission does not
agree with that value.
"We have not seen any backup documen
tation to support the $30 million value. The
commission planned to offer its own assess
ment," she said.
The talks were initiated under legislation
that took effect in January 2015, she said.
If the two sides cannot agree, the commis
sion could resort to eminent domain, which
allows the state to expropriate private prop
erty for public use.
Khosla's lawyer Dori Yob said in her letter

to the commission this month that Khosla's
limited liability companies, the legal entity
that owns the property, closed the beach
because demand was low, asserting that
more than 10 cars showed up to use it only
about 15 days a year.
Yob said that while the current real estate
market value of the land was $30 million,
the Mart ins Beach owners previously
offered less expensive solutions to meet the
"limited demand" for access as a way to
avoid lengthy litigation and further expens
es.
"The cost to acquire the property is signifi
cant and should be weighed against the ben
efits," she wrote.
"There is no vital link to navigable waters
at issue. There is not a significant demand
for access to the property," the report cited
her as saying. (PTI)
Simple blood test to diagnose

people with active TB
New York: A team of US
immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
researchers, including an
The test won't give a positive
Indianorigin scientist, has
response if someone only has
developed a simple blood test
latent TB or has had a TB vaccine.
that can accurately diagnose
The test is 86 percent sensitive in
active tuberculosis (TB) a dis
children it works in adults too.
ease that globally infects 9.6
And if the test comes up nega
million people each year and
tive, it's right 99 percent of the
kills 1.5 million.
time. That is, of 100 patients who
Researchers at the Stanford
test negative with the Khatri test,
University in California have
99 do not have active TB, the
found a gene expression that
researchers elicited.
distinguishes patients with
Further, the test can potentially
act ive TB from those w ith
be done under relatively basic
either latent TB or other dis
field conditions in rural and unde
eases.
veloped areas of the world.
"T he test can be used not
"Any hospital should be able to
only for diagnosis and to
perform the test. Villages without
inform treatment, but also to
electricity could likely use ordi
study the ef fectiveness of dif
nary blood samples and a solar
Purvesh Khatri. Named as the Khatri
ferent treatments. The test's
powered PCR machine, which mul
test, it works on an ordinary blood
huge ly accurate neg at ive
tiplies strands of DNA, to accu
sample and removes the need to
response would be especially
rately test people for active TB,"
collect sputum a common
helpful in monitoring the effec
Khatri mentioned.
test for TB. (photo: stanford.edu)
tiveness of treatments during
Khatri's team identified three
clinical trials," said Purvesh Khatri, assistant profes human genes whose expression changes in a consis
sor at the university.
tent pattern, revealing the presence of an active
Named as the Khatri test, it works on an ordinary tuberculosis infection.
blood sample and removes the need to collect spu
The team validated the new threegene test in a
tum a common test for TB.
separate set of 1,400 human samples from 11 differ
The results showed that the test could also signal a ent data sets, confirming the diagnostic power of the
TB infection even if the individual also has human test.
Billionaire venture capitalist Vinod Khosla

(Photo: khoslaventures.com)
IndianAmerican
academics condemn
crackdown on JNU students
New York: American academics
of Indian descent on Saturday
condemned the police action
ag ainst JNU students and
accused the BJP government of
attacking democratic freedoms.
T he arrest of Kanhaiya
Kumar, the student union presi
dent, and the charges of sedi
tion against him, Umar Khalid,
and other students are emblem
atic of the continued attempts
to muzzle dissenting voices,
they said in a statement.
The academics planned to
read this statement at a solidar
ity rally they are holding at
Columbia University later
Saturday, to be attended by
Brown, City University of New
York, Princeton, New York
University, University of
MassachusettsAmherst,
University of Pennsylvania, and
Yale.
Professors Partha Chatterjee
and Anupama Rao of Columbia,
and Rohit De of Yale are expect
ed to address the rally.
When we stand with JNU, we
also stand w ith what the

protests there symbolise. The
attacks on JNU are only the lat
est of the several assaults by
the BJP government and its
allies on democracy, constitu
tionally guaranteed rights, and
academic freedoms, the state
ment said.
T he academics said they
salute student protests at the
Film and Television Institute of
India, Hyderabad Central
University, Jadavpur University,
Allahabad University and oth
ers.
They said, We believe that it
is the duty of citizens to be crit
ical of their governments.
Sedition laws or charges of anti
nationalism have no place in
demo crat ic so ciet ies. We
believe it is the right of people
to dissent and to voice their
opinions, however much these
opinions may run counter to
the views of the majority. We
be lieve that de bates and
protests are the lifeblood of a
democracy.
Feb 27- March 4, 2016
TRISTATE COMMUNITY
IN BRIEF
Christies announces
Asian Art Week
hristies has announced Asian Art
Week a series of auctions, viewings
and events, from March 1518. This
season is comprised of eight sales and
features the Collection of Guy and Marie
Hlne Weill, Dongxi Studio Important
Chinese Jade and Hardstone Carvings
from a Distinguished Private Collection,
the Ian and Susan Wilson Collection of
Scholars Objects, the Lahiri Collection,
The Van der Wee Collection of Himalayan
Paintings, and Part II of the Ruth and Carl
Barron Collection of Fine Chinese Snuff
Bottles.
Over 700 lots will be offered, drawing
together an extraordinary breadth of
works and objects from every category of
Asian Art, including Chinese and Bengal
School paintings, Imperial Ming and Qing
dynasty porcelain, giltbronze Buddhist
sculpture, Chinese scholars objects, ar
chaic ritual bronze vessels, jade and hard
stone carvings, thangkas, snuff bottles
and more. Notable highlights include a

freshtomarket masterpiece painting
from the acclaimed Robert H. Ellsworth
Collection and an important sandstone In
dian Revanta panel dating to the post
Gupta period.
In conjunction with the sales, Christies
will host a day of gallery talks on Friday,
March 11 and lectures on Sunday, March
13, featuring guest speakers and the sec
ond annual Robert H. Ellsworth Memori
al Lecture featuring prominent scholar
Dr. Robert D. Mowry.
In addition, Christies is honored to dis
play Touching Time, the first exhibition in
the United States of monumental sculp
ture by Kan Yasuda, one of the preemi
nent contemporary Japanese sculptors of
this age.
This selling exhibition of 15 works from
the artists studio will be held at Christies
New York Rockefeller Galleries February
24 March 26.
Dr Raj Shah conferred

prestigious Eagle Award
he American Society for Testing

and Materials International re
cently presented Dr. Raj Shah, cur
rently a director at Koehler Instrument
Company in New York, with its presti
gious Eagle Award at a recent meeting.
The award honors exceptional merito
rious service within ASTM Internation
al, a global standards organization that
develops and publishes voluntary con
sensus technical standards for a num
ber of materials, products, systems and
services. Dr. Shah who has a Ph. D in
Chemical engineering from Penn State
University, has spent the last 20 years
as a technical office bearer of ASTM In
ternational, specifically Committee D02
ASTM Committee D02 on Petroleum
Products and Lubricants was formed in
1904, and has so far awarded the Eagle
award to less than 25 individuals. The
committee, with a current membership
of approximately 2500 industry pro
fessionals and experts, currently has ju
risdiction over 814 standards, pub
lished in six volumes of the Annual
Book of ASTM Standards. These stan
dards have, and continue to play, a pre
eminent role in all aspects relating to
the standardization of Petroleum Prod
ucts and Lubricants.
According to an ASTM citation for the
award, Shah received the Eagle Award
for his distinguished leadership as well
as significant contributions to the stan
dardization process over the last many
decades..
Dr. Shah is also a previous threetime
recipient of ASTM Internationals
Award for Excellence, an exceptional
Dr Raj Shah
distinction amongst 30000 plus ASTM
members in over 140 countries. A Na
tional Lubricating Grease Institute
(NLGI) International Fellow, Shah was
also recently honored as the first recip
ient of the NLGI (India) Presidents
award.
A distinguished alumni award recipi
ent, from the Institute of Chemical
Technology, Mumbai, Dr. Shah is cur
rently involved in working with various
other universities and is on the Indus
trial Board of Advisers at the Depart
ment of Chemical Engineering at the
State University of New York, Stony
Brook; The School of Engineering, De
sign, Technology and Professional Pro
grams (SEDTAPP) at Penn State; and the
Samuel Ginn College of Engineering,
Tribology and Lubrication Science mi
nor at Auburn University. He lives on
Long Island with his wife Dr. Niloufar
Faridi and son Kian Shah.
Varsity names new business college

after donors Satish & Yasmin Gupta
atish and Yasmin Gupta were recently
honored by the University of Dallas,
which named its recentlyopened SB
Hall the home of the new Satish and Yasmin
Gupta College of Business.
The university made the announcement
Jan. 15, opening the facility during a ribbon
cutting and dedication ceremony at the aca
demic building.
SB Hall, according to university officials,
was a $16 million project. The 45,000
squarefoot building is the centerpiece of
the College of Business, which grants M.B.A.,
masters of science, doctorate of business
administration and bachelors degrees, ac
cording to a statement.
The College of Business, which was named
after the Guptas in 2013 after they provid
ed a $12 million gift to help fund the new
building, is accredited by AACSB Interna
tional, which is a distinction earned by less
than 5 percent of business schools globally,
the statement added.
The Guptas, Indian American global steel
entrepreneurs, both graduated from the uni
versitys M.B.A. program in the early 1980s.
Its our dream that SB Hall and the col
lege will make a real difference in the lives
of students and in the communities those
students become a part of after graduation,
said Satish Gupta in a statement. The Uni
versity of Dallas became our first communi
ty in the United States when we moved here
from India. We hope the college's new home
will play an equally important role in the
lives of University of Dallas students, facul
ty and staff.
Added university president Thomas W.
Keefe, Id like to thank Satish and Yasmin
Gupta for their remarkable generosity and
commitment to the University of Dallas. The
opening of this very special building starts
an important new chapter in our universi
tys history.
The Guptas gift to build SB Hall is the sin
gle largest donation in the 60year history
of the University of Dallas, the statement
said. Designed by Perkins+Will and con
structed by The Beck Group, the building
Satish and Yasmin Gupta

features classrooms on all three levels, a full
production studio, a financial markets lab
and dozens of study nooks, alcoves, lounges
and student gathering places. In addition to
conference rooms for student groups, the
building features a modern executive board
room, according to the university.
We are so thankful to Satish and Yasmin
Gupta for their vision and generosity in
building this beautiful, stateoftheart facil
ity, said College of Business interim dean
Brett Landry. By giving back to the com
munity, the Guptas are encouraging and in
spiring others to follow their example.
The Satish and Yasmin Gupta College of
Business enrolls 1,000 graduate and under
graduate students.
In 1981, while a business graduate stu
dent at the University of Dallas, Satish Gup
ta founded SB International Inc. The com
pany and its affiliates and subsidiaries man
ufacture, supply and distribute highquality
steel products and oil and gas tubular
goods, as well as invest in the global supply
chain of natural resources for the energy
sector. Yasmin Gupta serves as director and
executive vicepresident at the company.
The Guptas will have active and continu
ing service to the university as a new chap
ter begins with SB Hall. We hope SB Hall
and the college will become a global meet
ing ground for students of all cultures and a
beacon for the entire Dallas/Fort Worth
community, said Yasmin Gupta. We are
honored to help the University of Dallas em
power tomorrows leaders to improve their
communities all around the world.
Sling TV and DISH tie up with

Willow TV International for
extensive cricket coverage
ling TV and DISH have announced that

they have expanded their strategic re
lationship with Willow TV Internation
al for the Willow cricket channel. The agree
ment brings some of the worlds most pop
ular cricket matches and events including
ICC, India, Pakistan, Australia, South Africa,
West Indies and other top teams to cricket
fans in the U.S., in high definition, as well as
arrangements for coverage of live overlap
ping matches. With Willow included in most
major South Asian packages, Sling TV and
DISH customers will have access to the

most extensive cricket programming avail
able in the U.S.
This agreement marks the first time that
major ICC events, including the highly an
ticipated ICC World Twenty20 2016, which
begins March 8, 2016, will be provided at
no additional charge on the Willow cricket
channel. Previously many of these events
have only been available via payperview.
Willow is available across South Asian
packages on both Sling TV and DISH.
NATIONAL COMMUNITY
Washington, DC: Amid reports that she was

emerging as a "fantastic choice" for being
Republican party's Vice Presidential candidate,
IndianAmerican South Carolina Governor Nikki
Haley has ruled out any such possibility, saying
her "plate is full."
Ms Haley, who earlier this week endorsed
Florida Senator Marco Rubio in the Republican
presidential race, said she is quite "content" with
her responsibilities as the Governor of South
Carolina and bringing up two kids.
"Not at all. I have said my plate is full," Ms
Haley told the Fox news in an interview when
asked about latest media reports that Rubio
Haley would be a dream Republican ticket.
"I am not only a mom, my daughter is going to
college next year, son is in middle school. I got a
State that I love. We have not done nished all the
work we want to nish here," 44yearold said.
"So I am totally content and happy in South
Carolina. What I do want to see that America gets
a great president," Ms Haley said in a joint
appearance on the Fox News with Mr Rubio in
South Carolina.
"I think, we can do that with Marco Rubio," she
said responding to questions on her potential
running as a Vice Presidential running mate of
Rubio, as being reported by some of the major
media outlets.
Senator Tim Scott from South Carolina said
that, he is "all for" Haley being picked for Vice
President. Haley is articulate and a strong leader,
who went "through the re" during a tragic 2015
in the State, he said. "She would be a fantastic
Silicon Valley wants 'dramatic expansion'

Of H1B visa: Top American CEO
WASHINGTON: With IT rms
struggling to nd quality and
right number of profession
als, a top American CEO has
called for a "dramatic expan
sion" of the H1B visa scheme
popular among Indian tech
rms to meet the growing
demand.
"The entire Silicon Valley
believes that the H1B visa
policy needs to be dramatical
ly expanded," Bill Coleman
CEO of Veritas told news
agency PTI in an interview.
"We can't hire enough good
people. T hey are just not
available here. The salaries
here are going through the
roof, because everybody is
competing to hire from every
body else," he said.
Coleman, a former chair
man of Silicon Valley
Leadership Group, is involved
with the Silicon Valley for
Bill Coleman, CEO, Veritas

(photo courtesy: afr.com)
about 40 years. Early this
month, he became the CEO of
Veritas, which has reemerged
as a newlyindependent com
pany after its purchase by
The Carlyle Group for $7.4
billion on January 29. Soon
headed to India, where
Veritas has about 1,700 peo
ple working for it with Pune
being a major center,
Coleman said he plans to
migrate some of his facilities
to India from Florida. "That is
a priority," he said. The H1B
Nikki Haley rules out

vice presidential run
Sundar Pichai headed to Brussels

for antitrust talks: Reports
SanFrancisco: Google
addition to the initial
chief executive Sundar
inquiry into Google's
Pichai will meet with
search engines which
the European Union's
began in late 2010, the
competition commis
European competition
sioner Marg rethe
service opened a sec
Vestager in Brussels
ond one in April to
in the coming week,
examine the group's
AFP
reported.
Android mobile operat
European competition
ing system. This soft
ofcials have been
ware, used by a wide
investigating the US
range of brands, is
tech giant for years
installed in more than
over alleged monopo
80 percent of the
listic practices involv
world's smartphones.
ing its search engines,
Pichai
became
Google CEO Sundar Pichai
(source: Wikipedia)
but any resolution has
Google's chief executive
been elusive.
ofcer during a restruc
Three successive proposals by Google turing last year that installed a new
for an amicable settlement have been holding company, Alphabet, as Google's
rejected.
parent. Google now focuses on its core
Vestager last year sent a "statement businesses online activity, Android,
of objections." It said Google had divert YouTube while its peripheral inter
ed trafc from rival pricecomparison ests such as driverless cars are over
services like Kelkoo, which operates in seen directly by Alphabet.
several European countries, to favor its
Pichai is scheduled to be in Brussels
own comparison shopping service.
on Thursday, where he will meet with
Google responded in late August that Vestager as well as Gunther Oettinger,
Brussels's ndings were wrong and the EU commissioner for digital econo
based on a awed evaluation of the my and so ciety, and European
market. If no agreement is reached and Commission President JeanClaude
the group is found to have broken the Juncker. Topics to be discussed include
EU's antitrust rules, it could face nes the digital single market as well as digi
amounting to billions of dollars. In tal skills and jobs.
Feb 27- March 4, 2016
visa is designed to allow US

employers to recruit and
employ foreign professionals
in specialty occupations with
in the US. But in a blow to
Indian IT rms, the US has
imposed an additional fee of
up to $4,500 for certain cate
gories of H1B visa.
Amidst revival of the US
economy wherein the unem
ployment rate has hit below 5
per cent, Mr Coleman
referred to the huge shortage
of quality IT professionals the
Silicon Valley faces.
"In Silicon Valley you go to
Apple, Facebook or Google,
open their websites, you will
nd thousands of open jobs.
One of the biggest problem
here is that everybody is try
ing to hire from everybody
e lse. As they can't nd
enough good candidates what
they are doing is pushing the
salaries through the moon,"

he said.
Referring to a conversation
he recently had with Alphabet
chairman Eric Schmidt,
Coleman described a "crazy"
incident when the hiring
salary of a data scientist sky
rocketed.
"I know this is a very very
extreme example. I was talk
ing to Eric Smith a while ago.
He was telling me that they
had a really really top
machine learning data scien
tist who they were trying to
recruit. They ended up get
ting him, but with a $ 10 mil
lion sign on bonus. T hat's
crazy," he said.
Coleman said the number of
H1B visas should be based
on market demand and the
programme's expansion is
one of the top priorities for
the Silicon Valley. (PTI)
Gov NIkki Haley

(photo courtesy: salon.com)
choice and one that I think the country would be
quite responsive to," Scott said. However, The
Washington Post offered a word of caution.
"A RubioHaley ticket might be many things.
But a panacea for the GOP's sundry political and
demographic challenges? It certainly is not," it
said. But for The New York Observer, a Rubio
Haley ticket would be a worst nightmare for
Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential front
runner. "The sight of Florida Senator Marco
Rubio standing sidebyside with South Carolina
Governor Nikki Haley, after her blockbuster
endorsement of his candidacy for president days
before the South Carolina GOP primary, gave the
appearance of a presidential ticket that would be
a game changer for the 2016 campaign," it said.
"Maybe a HispanicAsian ticket with one candi
date who's rediscovering his teaparty roots and
another who's made herself into the top union
hater in the country is the best they can do," The
New Yorker wrote.
Comedian allegedly
forced to remove
turban at airport
SAN FRANCISCO: An IndoCanadian Sikh
comedian alleged that he was forced to take
of f his turban at
the San Francisco
airport during a
security check,
weeks after a Sikh
American actor
was barred from
boarding a ight in
Mexico for refusing
to take of f his tur
ban. Jasmeet Singh,
Jasmeet Singh
who's known on
(photo courtesy:
the internet as
nydailynews.com)
"JusReign," posted
about the incident on Twitter, NewYork Daily
reported. "So the (agents) made me take off
my turban in extra screening or they said I
wouldn't be able to be let through to catch
my ight," Mr Singh tweeted. the agent tells
me there are no mirrors and that I can just
walk down the terminal to the nearest rest
room. (PTI)
Feb 27- March 4, 2016
NATIONAL COMMUNITY
Pixar animator Sanjay Patel feels

special on Oscar nomination
Los Angeles: IndianAmerican
director Sanjay Pate ls short
movie named as, Sanjays Super
Team, is nominated for the Best
Animated Short Film at this years
Oscars. The movie which has a
story about immigrant community
and a family of color, is nominat
ed alongside the movies like Bear
Story and World of Tomorrow.
T he IndianAmerican Pixar
artist and director says it feels
special just to be in the company
of incredibly deserving nomi
nees.
The world is eagerly waiting to
see who will walk away with the
prestigious statuette at the 88th
Academy Awards, to be held in
Los Angeles on February 28. And
Indians have a reason to cheer as
Patel, who has roots in Gujarat, is
pitted against Bear Story, direct
ed by Gabriel Osorio, World of
Tomorrow, he lmed by Don
Hertzfeldt, Richard Williamss
Prologue and We Cant Live
Without Cosmos, directed by
Konstantin Bronzit.
I was confident (of winning)
until I saw the other nominees. I
became even less confident after I
met the nominees. They are so
incredibly deserving. All the films
are so unique and special. It feels
special just to be in that compa
ny, Patel said over the phone
from Los Angeles. The US film
production studio DisneyPixars
film shows a boy, modelled on
Patel, who wants to watch super
hero cartoons on television. It
Sanjay Patel
(Photo: visualnews.com)
goes on to present the boys day
dreams bored with his fathers
religious meditation who imag
ines Hindu gods as superheroes.
John Lasseter (Chief creative
officer, DisneyPixar) was the one
who gave me the confidence and
permission (to make the film). I
had a story about a little boy from
India who didnt have a father and
it was more about him being
absorbed in western comics and
kind of ignoring the stories from
his own culture. I told that story
to John. He liked it. Then he asked
me about how I grew up.
I told him about my experience
with my father. John straight
away loved the idea. The same
ideas got communicated, but it got
richer and more universal.
Initially, the concept was some
thing that may be only a certain
amount of people might have
been able to relate to. But the idea
of the generat ional strugg le
between a young person and his
parents is way more universal and
Father who went

missing found dead
LOS ANGELES: The body of a 55
yearold Indian man, who was on
a visit to the US has been found in
a waterway, 10days after he
walked away from his daughter's
wedding reception, a media report
said today. Authorities in
Sacramento County in California
found the body of Prasad Moparti
on Monday in a waterway about 8
km downstream from the wedding
reception where he was last seen
alive on February 13, Sacramento
Bee reported.
The Coroner's Office said there
was no trauma to the body, but
that the cause of death has yet to
be determined. A boater in the
area reported seeing Moparti's
body, and crews were soon able to
get him out of the water, the
report said. Moparti,who traveled
from Hyderabad in January to
attend his daughter's wedding,
was reported missing since
February 13 when he walked
away from his daughter's wedding
reception at Grand Island Mansion

in Walnut Grove in Northern
California by himself and never
returned. In the days leading up to
the ceremony, he had started tak
ing long walks while visiting his
daughter in Los Angeles, family
members said. "Family members
further indicated Moparti suffered
from depression, and that he
showed indicators of his depres
sion leading up to the wedding,"
Tony Turnbull,spokesman for the
Sacramento County Sherif f 's
Department had said last week.
Authorities said immediately after
he disappeared that there were no
suspicious circumstances or foul
play. The Sherif f 's Department
had conducted a search for about
72 hours in surrounding areas.
The search was later called of f
and a sherif f 's spokesman said
Moparti was considered to be a
"voluntary missing person"
though he was not familiar with
the area.
emotional, he said.
He feels proud that Pixar was
so supportive in letting me tell a
story from an immigrant commu
nity a story of a family of color
and give me that opportunity to
tell the truth. Born in Britain to
Gujarati parents, Patel moved to
the United States in the 1980s.
T he 41yearold joined Pixar
Animation Studios in 1996 as an
animator on A Bugs Life, and
has animated on many of Pixars
feature
films,
including
Ratatouille, Cars and Toy
Story 3.
The 41yearold joined Pixar
Animation Studios in 1996 as an
animator on A Bugs Life, and
has animated on many of Pixars
feature
films,
including
Ratatouille, Cars and Toy
Story 3.
Patel also storyboarded exten
sively for Monsters Inc., The
Incredibles and Toy Story 2.
My father has always been proud
of me. The truth is I was always
very embarrassed of him of his
Indianness. So, I am really proud
that my father was patient for me
to grow up, for me to come to
appreciate who we really are,
said Patel. In fact, his big wish is
to visit India with his parents. My
dream is to I have never been to
Gujarat with my parents. Its a big
wish of mine. I just want to go
back and have them show me our
roots, said the firsttime director,
who also has a son named Arjun.
(IANS)
Karl Mehtas EdCast

comes up with new
social learning platform
California: Mountain
View, Calif.based
social knowledge
network
EdCast
announced Feb. 23
that it is now offer
ing a new social
learning platform in
seven languages fea
turing 25 interactive
microcourses.
The company, led
by Indian American
founder and chief
executive of ficer
Karl Mehta, also said
it
has
added
HewlettPackards
online Learning
Initiative for Entrepreneurs to
its network. The platform, HP
LIFE 2.0, is powered by EdCasts
knowledge sharing platform and
will harness the influence of
EdCasts social learning plat
form, according to a statement.
Social learning is an increas
ingly powerful pedagogical tool
that promotes optimum engage
ment and daily learning by
encouraging users to connect
and collaborate with peers and
influencers, Mehta said in a
statement. EdCast has proven
experience in this space, and is
delighted to work closely with
HP to deliver further meaning
ful, accessible learning solutions
to a broad crosssection of
Karl Mehta
(Photo: Twitter)
global users. HP LIFE 2.0 is
aimed at providing baseline
business skills development for
the underserved. Additionally, it
helps aspiring entrepreneurs,
students and small business
owners, Edcast said.
The microcourses are self
paced and cover a wide spec
trum of topics. Among the topics
covered are strategic planning,
leadership, sales, social media
marketing, energy ef ficiency,
funding and finance.
The statement added that the
informal learning of fered
through the courses will be com
plemented with a personalized
feed of bitesized content that
users can consume every day.
2nd DFW South Asian Film Festival a success

Dallas, Texas: T he 2016
Dallas/Fort Worth South Asian
Film Festival (www.dfwsaf f.com)
presented 13 groundbreaking,
soldout screenings of shorts, doc
umentaries and feature films dur
ing its threeday festival (Feb. 19th
to the 21st) at the Perot Museum
in downtown Dallas and the
Angelika Film Center in Plano.
More than 350 people attended
the opening night film, red carpet
and festivities at the Perot, fol
lowed by another 1200 cinephiles
at the Angelika on Saturday and
Sunday. Every film was either a
Texas or U.S. premiere, and the fes
tivals closing night film, Hansal
Mehtas Aligarh, was the North
American premiere. Ravi Kapoors
Miss India America and Prashant
Nairs Umrika were the opening
nig ht and centerpiece films,
respectively.
Categories included education
programming, arts programming,
youth programming, womens pro
gramming, mens programming,
family programming and LGBT
programming. The topics explored
varied in scope from slave brides
DFW SAFF advisory board & staff.

in Rajasthan to the e f fects of
depression & mental illness on the
South Asian community to the
plight of the LGBTQ community in
India.
The responses we got from our
audiences were overwhelmingly
positive, said founder and festival
director Jitin Hingorani. People
thanked us for bringing this revo
lutionary programming to North
Texas, and they said they are
already excited for next years fes
tival. The festival, produced by
JINGO Media, a NYC & Dallas
based PR & events boutique firm,
also presented networking events,
afterparties and postscreening

Q&A sessions with 14 filmmakers
and actors in attendance from all
over the world.
Celebrities who walked the red
carpet included: Suraj Sharma
(Umrika, Life of Pi, Homeland,
Million Dollar Arm); Tiya Sircar
(Miss India America, T he
Internship, Friends with Benefits,
Vampire Diaries); Meera Simhan
(Miss India America, Anger
Management, Date Movie); Tanima
Bhattacharya (Shackle)
and Viveck Vaswani (Raju Ban
Gaya Gentleman, Pathar Ke Phool,
Rough Book)
US AFFAIRS
Feb 27- March 4, 2016
Republicans vow to block Obama's apex court pick

Washington: Setting the stage for
a major confrontat ion w ith
President Barack Obama, Senate
Republicans have vowed not to
hold confirmation hearings for his
Supreme Court nominee to
replace a deceased conservative
judge amid a tense battle for the
White House.
Democrats blasted the "obstruc
tionist and unprecedented" move
setting the stage for a major con
frontation between America's first
AfricanAmerican president and a
Republican controlled legislature.
"I can now confidently say the
view shared by virtually everyone
in my conference is that the nomi
nation should be made by the
president who the people elect in
the election that is underway
rig ht now," Senate Majority
Leader Mitch McConnell said on
Tuesday.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said nominating the

Supreme Court justice to replace Antonin Scalia should
fall to the next president. (Photo courtesy: Reuters)
"In short, there w ill not be
action taken," he said outraging
the Democrats.
Obama has said he intends to
nominate a judge to take the place
of Justice Antonin Scalia on the

nine judge bench and expects the
Senate to hold hearings and a vote
to confirm the new justice, but
Republicans say the next presi
Triumphant Trump wins Nevada,

detractors scramble for answers
Washington: Riding on voters'
anger, Donald Trump scored his
third consecutive victory in the
Nevada caucuses to cement his
frontrunner status in the
Republican presidential race with
his rivals failing miserably to arrest
his winning streak.
To the chagrin of the party estab
lishment, the real estate mogul won
with a huge margin, garnering
about 45.9 percent of the total vote
in Tuesday night's fourth nomina
tion contest with his two main
rivals Marco Rubio at 23.9 and Ted
Cruz at 21.4 percent together
falling short of his vote share.
In a stunning show of momentum
for his campaign, Trump swept
almost every category of the elec
torate to build his dominance in the
delegate count virtually paving his
way to the Republican nomination
at the party's convention in July.
"If you listen to the pundits, we
weren't expected to win too much
Republican presidential candi

date Donald Trump speaks dur
ing a caucus night rally Tuesday
in Las Vegas. (Photo courtesy AP)
and now we're winning, winning,
winning the country," a triumphant
Trump declared to supporters at his
Las Vegas victory party.
Basking in his success across
demographics, he said: "We won the
evangelicals. We won with young.
We won with old. We won with
highly educated. We won with poor
ly educated. I love the poorly edu
cated." On Wednesday morning, he

looked ahead to a Trump presiden
cy, detailing the three things he'd do
on Day 1 if he wins the W hite
House.
"First thing is knock out some of
the executive orders done by our
president," Trump told ABC. "One,
on border where people can pour
into (the) country like Swiss cheese.
I would knock out Obamacare. Take
care of our vets and military," he
said. For Trump, "the outcome in
Nevada is another sign of his cam
paign's durability and the breadth
of his appeal", said the influential
New York Times.
But "this latest triumph may only
encourage Mr. Trump in the brash
campaign style that has alienated
many Republican of ficials and
mainstream voters," it said.
The Washington Post attributed
his victory to "an angry electorate
hungry for a political outsider in
the White House."
Attorney General firm on iPhone demand as Apple seeks help from Congress
Washington: Attorney General
Loretta Lynch on Wednesday
defended the FBIs push to access a
locked and encrypted iPhone in its
investigation of the San Bernardino
attack, saying judges at all levels
have held such companies must
assist if it is reasonably within
their power to do so and sug
gesting Congress does not need to
get involved as Apple wants.
Lynchs comments come as Apple
prepares to tell a federal judge this
week in legal papers that its fight
with the FBI over accessing the
iPhone should be kicked to
Congress, rather than decided by
courts. But Lynch used testimony
Wednesday before a House appro
priations subcommittee to lay out
the D OJ posit ion that courts
already have found companies

must assist in opening devices.
Apple also is expected to argue
that the Obama administration's
request to help it hack into an
iPhone in the federal investigation
of the San Bernardino attack is
improper under an 18th century
law, the 1789 All Writs Act, which
has been used to compel compa
nies to provide assistance to law
enforcement. A lead attorney for
Apple, Theodore J. Boutrous Jr.,

previewed for the Associated Press
some of the company's upcoming
arguments in the case. Apple's
chief executive, Tim Cook, has also
hinted at the company's courtroom
strategy.
Apple's ef fort would move the
contentious policy debate between
digital privacy rights and national
security interests to Congress,
where Apple one of the world's
most respected technology compa
nies wields considerably more
influence. Apple spent nearly $5
million lobbying Congress last
year, mostly on tax and copyright
issues. Key lawmakers have been
openly divided about whether the
government's demands in the case
go too far.
dent should make the nomination.

Scalia's February 13 death has
left the nine judge bench now
evenly divided 44 among liberal
and conservative judges.
McConnell's comments came
shortly after Republican members
of the Senate Judiciary Committee
sent a letter to the Senate leader
saying no hearings will be held
until Obama leaves office.
"Senator McConnell and the
Republican leaders said point
blank they are not going to exer
cise their Constitutional responsi
bilities," Senator Dick Durbin,
Assistant Minority Leader said
criticizing the move.
"T his has never happened
be fore never ... and now,
McConnell is going to have to
wear the collar for it."
Major cases before the apex
court include access to abortion,
and an Obama policy to prevent

the deportation of undocumented
immigrants who have children
who are US citizens or lawful resi
dents. If the court splits 44, the
decision of the lower court stands,
but does not become nationwide
precedent.
Meanwhile, a Fox News poll
released earlier this month found
that reg istered voters want
Obama and Senate leaders to
"take action to fill the vacancy
now" by a margin of 62 percent to
34 percent.
A Pew Research Centre poll
re leased on Monday found a
majority of Americans (56 per
cent) say the Senate should hold
hearings and vote on Obama's
choice to fill the vacancy, with 38
percent saying they should not
hold hearings until the next presi
dent takes office.
Hillarys delegates lead

growing insurmountable
for Sanders
Hillary Clinton maintains a commanding lock on the party's leader

ship. An AP survey of superdelegates, who are influential in picking
the nominee, found that 449 of the party insiders back Clinton,
while only 19 support Sanders. (Photo: AP)
Washington: With Hillary
Clinton taking the lead in the
competition for Democratic dele
gates, rival Bernie Sanders is
vowing to fight on, saying on
Monday that he has no plans of
leaving the race anytime soon.
Sanders downplayed Clinton's
wee kend victory in Nevada,
pointing out that the win only
resulted in her picking up four
additional delegates, out of the
2,383 needed to win the nomina
tion. He says his campaign has
plenty of time to make up lost
ground.
"This is about a slog, state by
state by state," he said. "Even if
we do well, Secretary Clinton will
get a lot of delegates and we'll
just have to keep moving on."
Clinton pulled ahead of
Sanders late Monday, when she
eked out the final delegate from
Saturday's Nevada caucuses, giv
ing her a total of 52 caucus and
primary delegates. Sanders has
51. The milestone is important

because once a candidate estab
lishes a sizable delegate lead, it
can be hard for opponents to
make up the lost ground.
There are more than 1,400
delegates at stake in states such
as South Carolina, Georg ia,
Alabama, Tennessee and
Louisiana, and depending on the
outcome and proportional allo
cation of delegates, Clinton could
build a comfortable lead.
She also maintain a command
ing lock on the party's leader
ship. An Associated Press survey
of superdelegates, who are influ
ential in picking the nominee,
found that 449 of the party
insiders back Clinton, while only
19 support Sanders. T hose
superdelegates can switch candi
dates and Sanders team says that
if the count is close, they plan to
lobby delegates from the states
he wins to change their posi
tions.
10
US AFFAIRS
TAKING SAVE THE WEST MESSAGE TO

GOP PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES
Kenneth S. Abramowitz, co-founder of a large healthcare venture capital fund, has been
sharing with the Republican candidates the imperative of saving western civilization
from the existential threat posed by Iran, North Korea and global Islamic Jihadism.
By Robert Golomb
"In a sense you could say I
behave like something of a groupie
when I went about try ing to
arrange one on one sitdowns with
each of those 13 very visible and
very busy people, Kenneth
Abramowitz, Managing General
Partner and cofounder of NGN
Capital, one of the largest health
care venture capital funds in
America, told me in a recent inter
view in his Midtown Manhattan
office.
With an impressive resume
which, in addition to his position at
NGN Capital, includes publishing
dozens of major studies on key
healthcare related issues and earn
ing in 2009 the designation by the
prest ig ious T he Inst itut ional
Investor Magazine Poll as one of
the top 15 American healthcare
analysts in an industry composed
of more than 20,000 professionals,
Abramowitz, 65 and the married
father of two adult children and
three grandchildren would proba
bly seem to you to be on the top of
the list of the worlds most unlikely
groupies.
That is, until you learned those
highly visible and very busy peo
ple to whom he was referring
were Donald Trump, Marco Rubio,
Ted Cruz, John Kasich, Ben Carson,
Jeb Bush, Carly Fiorina, Chris
Christ ie, Rand Paul, Lindsey
Graham, Rick Santorum, Mike
Huckabee and Scott Walker: All
candidates for the Republican
Nomination for presidency during
the past year and a half that
Abramowitz had been working on
his plan for that sit down. (The
last eight named have since left the
race.)
That plan, which was to work
with every Republican presidential
candidate except Trump, followed,
I was informed, the same formula
w ith each. Abramow itz would
search the Internet to learn when
the particular candidate had sched
uled a campaign event anywhere
within the tri state area. Those

events typically took place in the
home of a prominent supporter.
T hen during the event,
Abramowitz, a Republican who
focuses solely on members of his
party would, he explained, go
directly over to the candidate who
was usually walking around the
room engaging in conversation
with people. I would introduce
myself and then exchange business
cards. From that point, the process
simply evolved into a steady series
of phone calls with the candidates
staf f until a face to face meeting
could be arranged.
Actually, Abramowitz handed the
candidate not one, but rather, two
business cards. Abramowitz told
me, though, it was probably the
first card which simply reads
Kenneth Abramowitz, Managing
General Partner NGN Capital
tained in the second card he pre

sented which simply reads, Ken
Abramow itz, Save the West.
Founded by Abramowitz two years
ago, Save the West is a fast grow
ing conservative think tank whose
mission, he explained, is mirrored
in its name. Just as our name
implies, we have to save Western
civilizat ion, which includes
America, Europe and Israel from
the existential threat posed by Iran,
North Korea and global Islamic
Jihadism all pursuing our total
destruction as a people and as a
civilization, he stated. Even as we
speak, Iran is developing nuclear
weapons, despite President
Obamas socalled Iran Nuclear
Deal, and North Korea is expanding
its already frightening nuclear
arsenal. Both these rogue nations,
by the way, possess ICBMs soon
capable of reaching major north
Children line up at an ISIS training camp. (Photo courtesy AP).

which first captured the candi
dates attention: My name and my
company are well known through
out the healthcare industry and to
some degree within the political
world, which, I admit, is what first
opens the door for me. But it is not
healthcare that I wanted to discuss
with the person who could become
the next leader of the free world,
he stated.
What Abramowitz did want to
discuss with the possible next pres
ident of the United States was con
eastern
and
northwestern
American cities.
And of course, added
Abramowitz, who has created the
org anizat ions own we bsite
(SAVETHEWEST.COM) and has spo
ken to hundreds of mainly conser
vative oriented audiences through
out the world about the threat
posed by Islamic terrorism, there
is ISIS which is committing mass
genocide against Christians, who
are the number one persecuted
minority in the world today, yet the
mass murders of Christian men,

women and children at the hands
of Islamic Fascists is kept almost a
secret by our media.
Abramowitz told me that when
he would meet with the candidates,
usually at a restaurant within prox
imity of the candidates then sched
uled campaign event, at the site of
the campaign event itself, or in his
own of fice at NGN Capital, he
would express the same concerns
to them that he had just described
to me. We discussed the grave
threat faced by Western
Civilization today. And while we
had an agreement that the com
ments they made and the questions
they asked would be kept confiden
tial, I am able to tell to you that
every one of the candidates greatly
impressed me with their under
standing of the barbaric nature of
the enemies we face and each
appeared committed to developing
strategies to defeat them.
Abramowitz also told me he also
discussed with each candidate
what he described to me as the
three main principles of Save The
West: First, we believe in econom
ic growth, which comes only from
free market capitalism. For this
growth to occur, the government
must lift the shackles of literally
thousands of gratuitous federal
regulations of f the backs of both
small and large businesses.
Secondly, we believe in military
strength. We still have the greatest
military in the world, but the cur
rent administration has implement
ed severe cuts in military spending,
which has jeopardized the safety of
our country during very dangerous
times at home and abroad. Lastly,
we believe in maintaining and
strengthening our cultural values.
These values are embedded within
the Judeo/Christian tradition upon
which America was built. Yet those
very values are under severe attack
today.
He then quickly added that every
candidate agreed with those tenets.
It was like a minister preaching to
the choir, he told me. How could a

conservative disagree with the core
beliefs of conservatism?
T hough asked several times,
Abramowitz refused to name the
candidate who impressed him most
during those sitdowns. I wanted
to use my meetings with them as
an opportunity to share my
insights on how to save Western
civilization, he explained, not as a
de facto interview. And there is
another reason for my reticence:
unless the candidate I selected
turns out to be the w inner,
announcing my favorite might
alienate the person who might
w ind up becoming the next
President of the United States. And
in fact, that is the same reason I
will not endorse any of the remain
ing current candidates {Trump,
Cruz, Rubio, Kasich, Carson} during
the Republican primaries.
But let me tell you, added the
admittedly pure ly part isan
Abramowitz, I would endorse and
support any one of them over
Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, or
any other candidate the Democrats
might still put up.
As for the only Republican candi
date w ith whom he has been
unable to arrange a formal meeting
to date, Abramowitz explained, We
have been playing phone tag with
Mr. Trumps campaign staf f. I
realize he may well be the next
President of the United States, so I
wont give up.
Spoken like a genuine groupie.
Robert Golomb is a nationally

published columnist. Mail him at
MrBob347@aol.com and follow
him on Twitter@RobertGolomb
INDIA
11
JAT STIR: Haryana calm, eyes normalcy

Rohtak/Chandigarh: Haryana
saw relative calm for the first
time in 10 days as Jats seeking
job quotas withdrew from the
streets or were chased away.
Highway and rail traf fic was
restored even as security forces
were on alert to foil clashes
between Jats and nonJats.
In a sign of people's anger
over the mindless violence that
rocked the state, Haryana Chief
Minister Manohar Lal Khattar
faced angry traders and resi
dents in Rohtak town and was
forced to retreat and leave for
Delhi.
Khattar, who reached Rohtak
for the first time after wide
spread violence during the Jat
agitation devastated many parts
of the town, vowed not to spare
those guilty of rioting and arson
that crippled Haryana.
"A highleve l probe will be
conducted into the (violence)
and strict action taken against
of ficers and employees of
police and administration
involved in this," Khattar told
the media in Rohtak.
In a fine balancing act, he said
the Jat community will get job
quotas under a special provi
sion and the OBC quota of 27
percent won't be disturbed. The
OBC communities don't want
Jats to be included in the OBC
bracket.
"The government will make a
separate provision for ( Jats)
reservation," said a sternlook
ing Khattar, whose government
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar meets people who had been affected during
Jat agitation in Rohtak. (Photo: IANS).
has drawn widespread flak for
failing to contain the frenzy on
the streets.
In New Delhi, Khattar attend
ed a meeting with union
Parliamentary Af fairs Minister
M. Venkiaih Naidu and other
m i n i s t e r s w h o a r e p a r t of a
highpowered panel studying
the issue of reservation for Jats
in other states.
Nineteen people were killed
and nearly 200 injured in the
nine days when Jats held
Haryana to ransom, and in the
process disrupted life in large
parts of northern India.
Traf fic was restored on the
busy DelhiAmbala national

highway (NH1) after three
days. Three people were killed
when Jat protesters blocked the
highway on Monday, forcing
security forces to open fire.
Tr a f f i c w a s a l s o r e s t o r e d
on the DelhiHisar NH10,
especially near Sampla town,
police said. Curfew was relaxed
i n R oh t a k t o w n a n d s o m e
other places. Some villages and
towns were tense as some mem
bers of Jat and nonJat commu
nit ies headed for a clash on
Monday.
The worst af fected districts in
the Jat agitation were Rohtak,
Bhiwani, Hisar, Sonipat, Jhajjar,
Jind, Panipat and Kaithal.
The Jat community wants
reservation under the OBC
category in government jobs
and educational institutions.
Hooda aide booked for sedition

Chandigarh: Police registered a case of sedition and
criminal conspiracy against Virender Singh, a close
aide of former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder
Singh Hooda, on charges of inciting violence during
the Jat agitation, officials said.
A Khap leader, Man Singh Dalal, who represents the
Dalal Khap in Haryana, was also named in the FIR
(first information report) registered at the Civil Lines
police station in Rohtak town, 75 km from Delhi.
Both have been booked for sedition, trying to incite
violence and criminal conspiracy.
An audio tape of a telephone conversation, alleged
ly between Virender Singh and Dalal, surfaced recent
ly in which Virender Singh is purportedly telling
Dalal to activate youths in Sirsa district to take part in

the Jat reservation agitation.
Virender Singh was the political advisor to Hooda
for nearly 10 years (200514) when the latter was
Haryana's chief minister. He is considered very close
to Hooda.
The Congress, after the audio clip surfaced, issued a
notice to Virender Singh seeking his explanation. The
notice was issued by Haryana Congress president
Ashok Tanwar.
Rohtak bore the brunt of the Jat violence with hun
dreds of shops and other establishments, government
and private buildings and educational institutions
and private hospitals set on fire. Shops were looted.
Rajya Sabha disrupted over Rohith's suicide

New Delhi: The suicide of Dalit
research scholar Rohith Vemula of
Hyderabad University created an
uproar in the Rajya Sabha, as
Bahujan Samaj Party members
raised slogans against the govern
ment and angry exchanges were
seen in the house of elders.
T he issue was raised by BSP
leader Mayawati soon after the
house met at 11 a.m.
"This is not the first time a Dalit
student committed suicide," the
BSP leader said.
"Rohith Vemula was an
Ambedkar supporter. The RSS did
not like this, he was exploited,"
Mayawati said referring to B.R.
Ambedkar, the author of the
Constitution who was a Dalit.
This was followed by sloganeer
ing by BSP members, who called
the government "antiDalit".
Amid the din, the Rajya Sabha
was adjourned five times in the
prelunch session, and when the
house met at 2 p.m., ang ry
exchanges were w itnessed
between Mayawati and Human
Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani.(Photo: IANS)

Resource Development Minister
Smriti Irani.
Mayawati wanted the govern
ment to disclose if there will be a
Dalit member oln the judicial com
mittee looking into the circum
stances around Vemula's suicide in
the Hyderabad University.

"A Dalit professor was there
whose decision you would not
have accepted... You want to say
Mayawati ji, a Dalit is a Dalit only
if Mayawati ji gives a certificate?"
Irani said, causing a huge uproar
among the protesting members.

Ang ry exchanges were seen
between Irani and Mayawati, as
BSP members once again raised
slogans demanding justice for
Vemula's family.
They alleged that the govern
ment was antiDalit.
"Rohith ke parivar ko, nyay do,
nyay do", "Dalit virdohi sarkar,
nahin chalegi, nahin chalegi", the
BSP members shouted incessantly
in front of the chairman's podium.
In the din, the house was
adjourned for 15 minutes.
W hen the house met ag ain,
Mayawati said the discussion on
the Jawaharlal Nehru University
and Vemula issues should not be
merged.
"These are both important mat
ters... It would have been better
had the discussions been separate.
When we saw both issues have
been taken together, we felt this
issue (Vemula's suicide) will be
suppressed. So, we had to raise the
issue. There was no big demand,
we just wanted to know if the judi
cial committee has a Dalit member.

There should have been yes or no
answer," Mayawati said.
Irani said: "I am w illing to
answer any question."
When the government appeared
noncommittal on including a Dalit
member on the judicial committee,
Mayawati said: "Had the prime
minister (Narendra Modi) been
here, he would have agreed to our
demand."
Some members, including Leader
of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad
and Janata DalUnited chief Sharad
Yadav, suggested that the debate
can be taken up on Thursday.
No agreement could be reached
and the protest continued, follow
ing which the house was adjourned
for half an hour, and then again for
15 minutes.
The death of Dalit student Rohith
Vemula triggered w idespread
protests by the opposition, who
demanded action against ministers
Smrit i Irani and Bandaru
Dattatreya, who were blamed for
forcing Vemula to take his life.
12
Feb 27- March 4, 2016
INDIA
JNU ROW: Kanhaiya's bail hearing adjourned

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court
has adjourned the bail plea hear
ing of JNU student leader
Kanhaiya Kumar, arrested on sedi
tion charges, till February 29 after
Delhi Police said it will seek his
fresh remand to "unearth any larg
er conspiracy".
Additional Solicitor General
(ASG) Tushar Mehta, appearing for
Delhi Police, told Justice Pratibha
Rani that they were moving a
remand applicat ion to see k
Kanhaiya's police custody for the
third time, to confront him with
fe llow
Jawaharlal
Nehru
University students Umar Khalid
and Anirban Bhattacharya who
surrendered this week.
Mehta said the police remand of
Kanhaiya, who is currently in judi
cial custo dy t ill March 2, is
required to confront him with
Khalid and Anirban and "unearth
any larger conspiracy".
The court deferred the hearing
till February 29 after Kanhaiya's
advocates Kapil Sibal and Rebecca
John asked the court to postpone
the hearing as they will oppose
the police remand application.
"Since two JNU students surren
JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar. (Photo: IANS)

dered last ( Tuesday) night, we
need to confront them w ith
Kanhaiya," ASG Mehta said.
Allowing police to move the
remand application before the
concerned court, Justice Pratibha
Rani said: "We have to ensure that
they don't suf fer any scratch,
that's my only concern."
Delhi Police opposed the bail
plea of Kanhaiya and submitted a
status report to the court.
If Kanhaiya is released on bail,
Modi government
hurting India's secular
credentials: Yechury
New Delhi: CP IM
matter restricted to
leader
Sitaram
only one university.
Yechury accused the
You have seen what
BJPled NDA govern
happened in Pune,
ment of attempting
Allahabad, and at
to turn India into a
various
other
Hindu Rashtra and
places," he added,
demanded that a
saying that the con
house committee
stitution was being
probe the issues aris
violated and it must
CPIM leader Sitaram
ing out of the unrest
not
be allowed to
Yechury (Photo: IANS)
in JNU, Hyderabad
happen.
University and other institutions.
Referring to the government's
The government's undue "interfer plan to install the national flag in
ence which is not sanctioned by all central universities, he said a
the law" in the working of the edu "much larger Tricolour" was in his
cational institutions is aimed at heart.
promoting their agenda of Hindu
Yechury, however, supported
Rashtra, Yechury said while initiat action against any antinational
ing a debate in the Rajya Sabha element in the educational institu
over unrest in Hyderabad tions, saying if there was anything
University, Jawaharlal Nehru of that sort happening, then it
University (JNU) and other institu must be dealt with according to
tions.
the law.
"It's an effort to replace secular
He said the allegations against
India with a Hindu nation," he JNU student leader Kanhaiya
said. The incidents at JNU, where Kumar and other students did not
the police acted against some stu merit invocation of the law of sedi
dents accused of sedition, and the tion.
circumstances of the suicide by
He criticized the government
Rohith Vemula, a Dalit scholar of and the De lhi Police for their
Hyderabad University, were not alleged inaction against those who
isolated ones and were a part of a attacked students and journalists
larger game plan, the Communist in Patiala House court in Delhi
Party of IndiaMarxist leader said.
where Kanhaiya Kumar had been
"What happened in JNU is not a produced.
"he may create law and order

problems by conducting meetings
in his support, hampering arrest
of other accused people", said
police.
Kanhaiya "did not cooperate at
all during the course of the inter
rogation", they said.
The report also said Delhi Police
was looking into the "linkage
between Kanhaiya and some for
eign elements with their mouths
covered" who were present during
the February 9 event at the uni

versity.
Kanhaiya was arrested in a sedi
tion case on February 12 after the
event held on the university cam
pus against the execution of par
liament attack convict Afzal Guru.
He allegedly shouted antiIndia
slogans at the event.
Khalid and Anirban, along with
three others, had gone missing
from the JNU campus since
February 12 when Kanhaiya was
arrested. They surrendered on
Tuesday night.
The police report said Kanhaiya,
if released on bail, "may influence
the witnesses and also hamper the
investigation".
"It would send a wrong signal to
the students community across
the country that such antiIndia
activities can be conducted with
immunity."
"He (Kanhaiya) may become the
rallying point to encourage such
ant iIndia movements which
would not only spread disaf fec
tion but would also be contemptu
ous since the conviction recorded
by the Supreme Court is being
termed judicial killing," the report
stated. Delhi Police further said: "It

is an open secret that the afore
said conduct of holding an event
on February 9 has not only ramifi
cations within India, it has an
international impact as well."
During the hearing, Just ice
Pratibha Rani made it clear that
police have the statutory right to
see k remand of Kanhaiya t ill
February 27.
An accused may be he ld in
police custody for a period of nor
mally not more than 14 days.
As Kanhaiya was arrested on
February 12, Delhi Police has the
statutory right to seek remand
before the expiry of the 14day
period, police said.
ASG Mehta told the court that
Delhi Police will ensure safety of
lawyers and the accused in the
case.
Security was beefed up inside
and outside the court room during
the hearing.
The entry to the courtroom of
Justice Pratibha Rani was restrict
ed to lawyers involved in the case
and a few media persons.
The high court posted the mat
ter for February 29.
JNU students Umar, Anirban

sent to police custody
New Delhi: Jawaharlal Nehru
University (JNU) students Umar
Khalid
and
Anirban
Bhattacharya, facing sedition
charges for allegedly raising
"ant iIndia" slog ans, were
remanded to threeday police
custody, sources said.
The proceedings were not held
in Patiala House Courts complex
here due to security concern.
According to sources, the pro
ceedings were held in a police
station in south Delhi and a mag
istrate was called for conducting
the remand proceedings.
The magistrate allowed Delhi
Police to quiz them for three
days. Both the students surren

dered before police in the mid
night outside a gate of the uni
versity.
A case ag ainst Khalid and
Bhattacharya was registered at
Vasant Kunj police station.
Kanhaiya was arrested in a
sedition case on February 12
after the event held on the uni
versity campus against the exe
cution of parliament attack con
vict Afzal Guru. He allegedly
shouted antiIndia slogans at the
event.
Jawaharlal Nehru University

students Umar Khalid. (Photo: IANS)
JNU incident expression of 'freedom from India': BJP member

New Delhi: What has been hap
pening in the Jawaharlal Nehru
University (JNU) is not "freedom
of expression" but "expression of
freedom from India," a BJP mem
ber told the Rajya Sabha on
Thursday, referring to campus
events where students allegedly
voiced support for Kashmiri sep
aratists.
"Freedom of expression is there
in the Constitution. But what
happened in JNU, was it freedom
of expression or expression of
freedom from the country? Was
it freedom of speech or speech

for freedom?" Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) member Bhupendra
Yadav said in the Rajya Sabha.
Pamphlets were distributed in
the JNU that said Kashmir did
not be long to former Indian
prime ministers Jawaharlal
Nehru or Manmohan Singh or to
incumbent Narendra Mo di,
claimed Yadav.
"Kashmir did not be long to
Nehru, nor does it be long to
Manmohan and Modi who keeps
flaunting this crown to the whole
world... what they consciously

keep invisible is how the occupa
tion of this territory has taken
place throug h brutal force,
rewriting of history, obliterating
memories and facts," Yadav quot
ed a pamphlet as say ing. He
claimed it was distributed during
an event on the JNU campus.
This caused a mild uproar in
the Rajya Sabha, as members of
the opposit ion part ies ques
tioned if the source and author
ship of the pamphlet have been
verified.
OP-ED
13
Ignited hopes, no jobs. Why Jats, others revolt

By Himadri Ghosh & Nikhil Babu
quarejawed, cleft chin and hair untidily
spiked, Vikas Thakaran glowered as he
explained why he was here in this
scrum of young men blocking Bakhtawar
chowk, 30 km southwest of Indias capital,
part of a violent weeklong agitation that has
left 12 dead, vehicles and railway stations
burnt, and the army deployed.
Thakaran, 24, is a computerscience engi
neer, but he is unemployed. I applied for
government jobs fourfive times, many times
elsewhere, but I didnt get through, he told
IndiaSpend. We found many educated, angry
and either unemployed young men like
Thakaran, or those unable to find a job com
mensurate with their aspirations and educa
tion, among the thousands of protestors
from a caste group that many say has no
reason to protest.
Traditional landowners, the Jats are a
powerful Hindu caste now demanding classi
fication as a backward caste a contention
rejected last year by the Supreme Court so
that government jobs can be reserved for
them.
However, an IndiaSpend analysis of
employment data and evaluation of aspira
tions of young Jats revealed that the
protests are manifestations of Indias slow,
inadequate jobcreation and a failing educa
tion system creating thousands of unem
ployable graduates.
This disconnect between education, aspi
rations and jobs explains similar demands to
be classified as backward and otherback
wardcaste (OBC) by socially powerful caste
groups Gujjars (Rajasthan), Marathas
(Maharashtra), Patels (Gujarat) and Kapus
(Andhra Pradesh), among others struggling
People from the Jat community block railway track near Pataudi to press for Special
Backward Class (SBC) status in Gurgaon. (Photo: IANS)
to find satisfactory employment.
Organised industry added 500,000 jobs in
2014; India needs more than a million a
month
Saurabh Rangi, 24, a native of Rohtak city,
scored 75 percent in the All India
Engineering Entrance Exam (AIEEE), but he
is on the streets of Haryanas Gurgaon city
30 km northwest of Delhibecause he did
not get admission to a government college
and had to pay lakhs of rupees to graduate
from a private college. Rangi is angry; he
holds a publicrelations trainee job at
cardekho.com, an automobile website, but
wants a government job. I got a B.Tech in
2013, but I am unemployed even after two
years, said Keshav Lather, as he protested
in Gohana, Sonipat, 43 km west of Rohtak. I
have applied for a Central government job.
But I always lose out because of reserva

tiona professional education does not nec
essarily mean a good job. We were surprised
at the type of jobs and money of fered to
many of our friends.
Labourers, guards and maids form the
majority of the jobs available to more than a
million Indians some estimate it is nearly
two million who join the workforce every
month, as IndiaSpend reported. Over 30
years, India generated no more than seven
million jobs every year, with only a fraction
being the kinds of jobs the young Jats desire.
T his is why protestors across India
demand secure government jobs; it is why
engineers and doctors throng job openings
for peons, clerks and constables (as they did
in Uttar Pradesh last year, when 2.3 million
applied for 368 positions of peons).
As we also reported, new employment data

indicate two disquieting trends.
One, a slowdown in employment in the for
mal, organised sector (which in any case
employs only 12 percent of Indias labour
force), the prime staging ground of Prime
Minister Narendra Modis Make in India pro
gramme. In Indian factories, more than
400,000 people lost their jobs during the
financial year 201213, according to govern
ment data.
Two, this slowdown hides a larger, long
term trend: India Inc is automating and
squeezing more output from its workers and
so needs fewer of them.
In isolation, the latest government data
show that organised industry added nearly
500,000 jobs in 201314. Unemployment in
India, according to labour ministry data, is
less than five percent, but these data do not
reflect under, partial or disguisedemploy
ment, such as Rangis.
No more than 17 percent of all Indians
were wage earners, as a 201314 labour
ministry report acknowledged, with no more
than 60 percent of those above 15 years old
who sought work over the year getting it
(more than 46 percent in urban India did
not find work).
What India needs annually is not just 23
or 24 million jobs but livelihoods, said
economist Ajit Ranade.
Jat youth on the streets do not want infor
malsector jobs, as our interviews indicated,
but here too, as IndiaSpend has reported,
employment declined by six percent since
200405and this is the sector that of fers
the most jobs 340 million.
(In arrangement with IndiaSpend.org, a
datadriven, nonprofit, public interest jour
nalism platform)
WHY THE ICONIC JNU CANNOT BE SHUT DOWN

By Gokul Bhagabati
uch water has flowed under the

Yamuna bridge dirty though
since the February 9 "cultural"
event inside the Jawaharlal Nehru University
(JNU) campus, against what the organisers
called the "judicial killing" of Parliament
attack convict Afzal Guru. That this snow
balled into a major controversy is a reflec
tion of the times we live in. With horror, one
witnessed Kanhaiya Kumar, a student leader,
getting arrested under the colonialera sedi
tion law, while the police are looking for
other student organisers of the event where
"antiIndia" and "proPakistan" slogans were
allegedly raised.
At the same time, police showed supreme
inaction when it came to booking lawyers
who assaulted journalists and the arrested
student leader, while he was being produced
in court following his arrest.
A section of the media too indulged in
manufacturing lies and spreading rumours,
which may in turn have incited political
goons to raise frenzy against students of this
premier institution who were merely exer
cising their democratic right of dissent.
The mudslinging by politicians and a
malicious #ShutDown JNU campaign, that
started even before the "cultural" event,

appears to be gathering steam, pushed
assiduously by social media trolls.
But is it feasible or desirable to shut
down a historic institution like the JNU, per
haps the finest place for higher education in
social sciences?
For an alumnus of JNU, the move to tar
nishing an institution with everything that it
is not is extremely sad. The fallout is such
that even in Facebook News Feeds one sees
posts favouring JNU's destruction, with
some writers suggesting that stadiums be
built in its place to encourage sports.
Far from being a mouthpiece of the terror
ists, JNU has become the voice of the mar
ginalised, the oppressed and the outcasts. If
the university has become a laboratory of
anything, it is as a spearhead for social
transformation. Yes, JNU is not only for
those who can afford a higher education; it
is an institution that enables the wretched of
the earth to aspire.
And No. To get selected to JNU, you do not
have to give a deliberate "Marxist twist" as
commonly believed to your answers in the
entrance examination. The topper in my
class at the Centre for Political Studies (CPS)
was openly rightist.
The teachers at the university do not
Activists stage a demonstration in New Delhi to press for to show solidarity with JNU student
leader Kanhaiya Kumar who was arrested on a sedition charge. (Photo: IANS)
grade you on the basis of the ideology you
believe in. The current JNU Students Union
has a member from the Akhil Bharatiya
Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), a student wing of
the RSS.
W hat JNU represents is hope. And I
The views expressed in Op Eds are not necessarily those of The South Asian Times.
strongly believe that even with the might of

the coercive apparatus of the state and sup
port of the rumour mongering mills, it will
be impossible to destroy what the university
stands for change. And that's something
you just cannot stop.
14
OP-ED
TV channels should clear air by telecasting

Kanhaiya Kumar's actual speech
By Saeed Naqvi
rnab Goswami of Times Now
Television runs his show rather like an
animal trainer in an old fashioned cir
cus or an Al Caponelike gangster terroriz
ing his minions, which is what the panelists
palely peering out of those windows begin
to look like, by the time Arnab is through
with them.
It is in this galaxy that Sambit Patra, BJP
spokesperson, has been shining these past
few days with incomparable light. Arnab
runs a clip showing Kanhaiya Kumar and his
friends, raising their hand and throwing
their heads back. There are no words, only
cacophony. Sambit Patra provides the miss
ing slogans. "Afzal hum sharminda hain; tere
qatil zinda hain." (Afzal Guru, we are embar
rassed that your murderers roam free).
Flushed with success from Times Now
where, with Arnab Goswami, he had helped
viewership ratings skyrocket on the JNU
issue, Patra turned up at the India Today
Television, to test his luck. He will rue the
day he accepted anchor Rahul Kanwal's invi
tation.
Shouting slogans in support of Afzal Guru
is a powerful allegation against the JNU
demonstrators. This has become particularly
so for the millions who watch Arnab's show.
This vast viewership is liable to swallow the
allegation unhesitatingly simply because it
does not have the background. This audi
ence does not know that the anniversary of
Afzal Guru's death has been observed all the
three years since his hanging religiously in
Kashmir and in liberal enclaves like
Jawaharlal Nehru University.
True, Afzal Guru's crime was heinous. He
was supposed to have masterminded the
December 13, 2001 attack on the Indian
Parliament, barely three months after the
9/11 attack in New York.
The clip of Kanhaiya Kumars seditious

speech shown by Times Now and other
channels was doctored by deliberately
muffling the sound to warrant outside
commentary.
The Supreme Court judgment handing him
the death sentence did not satisfy every
body. The Honorable Court admitted that
the evidence was circumstantial, but went
on to argue that the "collective conscience of
society will be satisfied only if the death
penalty is awarded to Afzal Guru." Critics
found it unfortunate that a court of law
decided to pander to its assumed notion of
"collective conscience" rather than abide by
points of law.
The hanging too was most mysterious.
Without informing his family, Afzal was
secretly hanged and buried in Tihar Jail.
Since then there is a demand in Kashmir for
his remains to be returned to the family. Is it
an unfair demand?
In Kashmir, Afzal Guru is not a closed
chapter because of the circumstances
attending the disposal of the case. But
buoyed by political power, this time the
Sangh Parivar decided to push for charges
of sedit ion ag ainst Afzal Guru's
sympathizers.
This is part of a larger game spelt out in

an article in The Pioneer published in June
2014 soon after Modi came to power. The
author K.G. Suresh is a versatile journalist
and a member of the Sangh Parivar think
tank. He said: "Augean stables of that hal
lowed inst itut ion called JNU must be
cleaned. They have over the years, become
dens of secessionism, Maoism and terror
ism."
Was it not Subramanian Swamy whose
name was being mentioned as the possible
vice chancellor? He showed his hand the
other day when in the context of the current
agitation he asked for the university to be
shut down for four months. But for the time
being, sedition charges on the leftist union
leader would suffice.
For this line of action to succeed, choreog
raphy of the whole Afzal Guru show in JNU
would have to be couched in clear cut anti
India rhetoric. In this, the Sangh Parivar
goofed up in its coordination with the JNU
authorities and the police. First, the vice
chancellor permitted the show. But when the
youth wing of the Parivar, ABVP, protested,
the permission was withdrawn.
The university administration's indecisive
ness became yet another nugget in what to
me has been the finest piece of oratory since
the days of Prakash Veer Shastri and Atal
Bihari Vajpayee.
In his February 9 speech, Kanhaiya Kumar
"left the audience spellbound" according to
eye witnesses. It was imaginative of the
Indian Express to have published an English
translation of the speech under the title "Is
this Sedition?"
By then sundry activists of the Sangh were
on the move providing lethal voiceovers to
clips showing Kanhaiya and his friends
shouting inaudible slogans which were
alleged to be antiIndian. And this found an
echo in a credulous Patra and less than scep
tical Arnab.
"We shall avenge Afzal Guru's killers; we
shall break up the country; Pakistan
Zindabad and worse." We have Sambit Patra
and Ravi Shankar Prasad's testimony that
this was the antinational fare dished out at
the JNU gathering.
Secure in the conviction that he had won
the propaganda war for the Sangh Parivar
ABVP, Sambit Patra sought to push his luck
a little further with a dif ferent channel
India Today Television.
Rahul Kanwal's advantage is that he is a
reporter as well as an anchor. First, with
great craft, he lulled Patra into a sense of
false security. How cleverly had Patra been
channelhopping armed with the video clip
of Kanhaiya's supposedly antinational slo
ganeering which has been dominating
"some channels", Rahul said.
He then led Patra to an inhouse computer
whizkid who, quite expertly, separated the
Kanhaiya clip of February 9, with crisp and
clear sound quality from the doctored clip of
February 11 where the sound has been
deliberately muf fled to warrant outside
commentary Patra's in this case.
Rahul's sifting of the grain from the chaff
left Patra tonguetied on live TV. He made
cow eyes at Rahul; he looked like Surma
Bhopali caug ht ly ing w ithin Amitabh
Bachchan and Dharmendra's earshot in
Sholay.
Meanwhile, Kanhaiya has in his speech
challenged the ABVP to debate him on
nationalism. This is the crux of the matter.
Here is a TRP spinner for the channels to
pick up. Or at least the speech can be tele
cast so that the nation can distil the truth
from the concoction the ABVP and the
police have poured into the JNU cauldron.
Saeed Naqvi is a senior commentator on

political and diplomatic affairs.
Will India remain stable, wonders Shiv Sena

Mumbai: T he Shiv Sena on
Tuesday expressed concern over
the stability of the country in the
wake of Prime Minister Narendra
Modi's comments on Sunday that
certain forces were trying to
"defame and destabilize" his gov
ernment.
"The governments come and go,
but the country must remain sta
ble," said Shiv Sena in an editorial
titled 'Modi ki Vedna' (Modi's pain)
in its mouthpiece 'Saamna'.
Modi is right in feeling besieged
by problems created by treacher
ous Pakistan as well as "disgrun
tled NGOs and blackmarketers,"
says the editorial.
It pointed out how the incidents
of terror attacks seem to have sud
denly increased after Modi's sur
prise visit in December to Pakistan
to meet his counterpart Nawaz
Sharif.
Modi's intentions were honest and magnanimous towards a neighbor.

But, Pakistan stabbed him in the back with the Pathankot terror strike,
says Shiv Senas mouthpiece 'Saamna'.
"Modi's intentions were honest
and magnanimous towards a
neighbor. But, our view is that
Pakistan stabbed him in the back

with the Pathankot terror strike,"
the Sena said, reiterating its earlier
stance on the issue.

The party said the allegations by
Samajwadi Party leader Azam
Khan that the absconder mafia don
Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar was pres
ent at the ModiSharif meeting and
even the subsequent Pathankot
attack are part of "a conspiracy to
defame and destabilize" the gov
ernment.
"Modi believed that his meeting
with Sharif would silence the guns
on the border and end domestic
extremism, but what has actually
happened is contrary to his hopes,"
the Sena noted.
Close on the hee ls of the
Pathankot strike, terror activities
have suddenly increased in Jammu
and Kashmir, and last month
claimed the lives of 25 Indian sol
diers and paramilitary troopers.
Almost daily, the coffins carrying
bodies of our soldiers are being
The views expressed in Op Eds are not necessarily those of The South Asian Times.
dispatched to dif ferent states in

the country, which has incited anti
Pakistan sentiments among the
people, the Sena noted.
There are other incidents like the
homage paid to the executed ter
rorist Afzal Guru in the Jawaharlal
Nehru University, the violent Jat
agitation for reservations, and the
terror outfit Islamic State raising
its flag in Kashmir and challenging
the Modi government.
"We cannot tolerate all this... It is
not just tarnishing the image of the
Modi government, but the entire
country. Who is behind all this and
creating hurdles in the way of the
government?" the Sena asked.
"In view of the recent develop
ments, will the country remain sta
ble?" the Sena wondered, adding it
wished longevity and stability to
the government.
(IANS)
Artistic
facelift of
Rajasthan
rail
stations
ART
JAIPUR
Feb 27- March 4, 2016
JODHPUR
By Prakash Bhandari
Jaipur: Thematic facelift of key railway stations in tourist towns
and cities will welcome tourists now in Rajasthan. At the initiative of
Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, several of these rail stations are
being painted up artistically. The Sawai Madhopur, which is known
for the Ranthambhore tiger reserve, has been painted with the
theme of tigers, forests and conservation.
Vasundhara Raje, taking a cue from Prime Minister Modis
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, wrote a letter to the Union Railway
Minister Suresh Prabhu in April last year, requesting him that the
railway stations in the state may be given thematic facelifts so that
they stand out in terms of aesthetics, cleanliness and are also user
friendly. She also requested that the trains to Bharatpur, Kota and
Sawai Madhopur be painted and decorated around the theme of
wildlife conservation.
The Railway Ministry was prompt to take this up and in partner
ship with WWFIndia, painted up Sawai Madhopur station first. This
experiment received appreciation and the Prime Minister also
made a mention of this from various platforms.
The State Government, in partnership with Indian Railways, has
started painting other railway stations in the state. Jaipur station is
being painted up in Jogi Art while Jodhpur is being done up with
Phad paintings typical to the region. Floral motifs from Badal Mahal
are being used to decorate the station in Bikaner while Udaipur is
using representations from the Mewar School of Art. The two small
er stations in Jaipur are also being done up with paintings of tradi
tional Rajasthani Puppets and the Jaipur skyline. Next in line is
Ajmer station which will see secular calligraphy while Bharatpur is
to be done up around the theme of birds and Kota station with
stylised vegetation typical of the Bundi School of Art.
Such art in public places especially at railway stations not only
makes the surroundings pleasant but also helps in providing a plat
form to local artists to showcase their talent and earn a livelihood.
SAWAI
MADHOPUR
UDAIPUR
DURGAPURA
15
16
Feb 27- March 4, 2016
Sanjay Dutt released after

serving jail sentence
Actress Mallika
Sherawat.
Mallika urges
Jats for peace
and nonviolence
mid the ongoing Jat agita
tion in Haryana, actress
Mallika Sherawat has
appealed to the Jat community
to maintain peace.
T he Jat protesters are
demanding reservation under
the OBC category in government
jobs and educational institu
tions.
T he "Murder" actress, who
comes from a small village in
Hisar district of Haryana , took
to Twitter to make her appeal.
"My appeal to the jaat commu
nity to maintain peace and non
ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD
violence #JaatReservat ion

#jaatag itat ion
#haryana,"
Mallika tweeted.
The actress is known for her
bold performances in films such
as "Khwahish" and "Murder",
and was last seen on screen in
the 2015 film "Dirty Politics".
Last wee k, actor Randeep
Hooda, who belongs to the Jat
community, also urged Jats to
refrain from using violent meas
ures and to seek a way out of
the problem in a peace ful
manner.
(All photos and text: IANS)
Pune (Maharashtra): Bollywood

actor Sanjay Dutt finally walked
out a free man after serving his jail
term from the Yerwada Central Jail
(YCJ) here on Thursday morning.
He said there's no easy walk to
freedom. He was sentenced to
undergo five years' rigorous
imprisonment for illegal possession
of arms during the March 1993
Mumbai serial blasts.
Arrested in 1993, Dutt had
already served 18 months as an
undertrial and then returned to jail
in May 2013 to serve the remain
der of his sentence.
He walked out of the blueyellow
painted YCJ gates carrying a huge
bag of his personal belongings and
a plastic bag of files and papers.
Near the main gate, sporting a
dark blue shirt and jeans, Dutt put
the bag down, turned around and
saluted the Indian tricolor flutter
ing atop the jail building where he
spent a momentous part of his life.
Earlier, he thanked the police and
jail staff but they took care not ro
get too close or helpful with the
actor, and let him lug his own
bulky bag as he walked to the bar
ricades near his waiting car.
Present to receive him outside
the YCJ were his wife Manyata
Actor Sanjay Dutt coming out of Pune's Yerwada Jail on February 25.
(Photo: IANS)
aand their children, sister and ex
MP Priya Dutt and her family, film
maker Rajkumar Hirani, his
lawyers, thousands of fans and a
huge media contingent from across
India and abroad.
Shortly after he walked out of the
YCJ, he drove to Pune Airport at
Lohegaon to board a chartered
plane to Mumbai. There, he spoke
to the media and credited his fans
for their unending support.
He said: "I am here because of
their (fans') support. And there is
no easy road to freedom, my
friends."
From the Mumbai Airport, Dutt
will proceed straight to the famed
Siddhhi Vinayak Temple in Dadar
west to offer thankgiving prayers.
T hen he will go to the Bada
Kabrastan in south Mumbai and
pray at the grave of his mother the
late actress Nargis Dutt who died of
cancer.
After this, Dutt will go to his
Bandra home, for his permanent
'ghar wapasi', meet his family and
friends and is expected to interact
with media in the afternoon.
Death threat to Salman?
umbai police are trying to track

down an unknown person who
alerted them of possible threats
to eliminate Bollywood superstar Salman
Khan last week. T he first call was
received by the Police Control Room on
February 16 followed by another call the
next day. It is not confirmed whether
there is one or more than one person
involved in the threat call as the anony
mous caller claimed to have overheard
some persons who were plotting to harm
the Bollywood actor. The calls were soon
traced to PCOs in south Mumbai's
Marine Lines and suburban Malad.
Though the police have not yet taken
cognizance of the matter or lodged any
complaint, they are attempting to trace
out the caller by checking CCTVs
installed in those areas for further inves
tigations, the official said.
Actor Salman Khan.
Dilip Kumar acquitted in cheque bouncing case

Mumbai court has acquitted vet
eran Bollywoo d actor Dilip
Kumar from alleged involvement
in an 18yearold cheque bouncing
case.
Dilip Kumar, 94, was not present in
the court when the matter came up for
hearing
be fore
14th
Court
Metropolitan Magistrate B.S. Kharade.
The case dates back to 1998 when the
Actor Dilip Kumar. actor was the honorary chairman of an
export company, Geekay Exim India

Ltd, which subsequently defaulted on
repayments. The company had raised
loans of millions of rupees from people
across India and later issued cheques
for repayment of the outstandings.
However, some cheques allegedly
were dishonoured by the banks and
court cases were filed for default
against all the top officials of the com
pany, Dilip Kumar and four others.
Though Dilip Kumar was not directly

concerned about the daytoday affairs
of the company, he continued to fight
all the cases, including the last one in
which he secured acquittal on Tuesday.
He was granted relief in all other simi
lar cases against the company on the
same grounds, barring one.
According to section 141 of the
Negotiable Instruments Act, the com
plainant must prove that the accused
was involved in the daytoday func

tioning of the company. Since that was
not proved, Magistrate Kharade acquit
ted Dilip Kumar.
Incidentally, on Monday, Dilip
Kumar's wife and former actress Saira
Banu expressed concerns over her hus
band's fragile health and requested his
fans to pray that "the stressrelated to
the 18year old case" should not fur
ther affect him.
Feb 27- March 4, 2016
ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD
17
'Neerja' A glorious tribute to the braveheart

'Neerja', an experience
N
eerja, a biopic, encapsulates the life

of Neerja Bhanot, head purser, Pan
Am flight 73, which was hijacked in
Karachi in September 1986 where she laid
down her life heroically, trying to save the
passengers.
Set inside Pan Am Flight 73 and
Bombay's Navjeevan Society, this is a well
made, crisp film that takes the audience
through Neerja's short life of 23 years.
And as Neerja, a diehard Rajesh Khanna
fan used to say, "Zindagi badi honi chahiye,
lambi nahin (Life should be grand, not
long)". She lived her life to the fullest and
brought joy to those whose lives she
touched, till the very end.
Director Ram Madhvani adroitly show
cases Neerja's life and the actual incident
of the plane getting hijacked in a brilliant
narrative. He gives viewers a peak into her
life with her family, her strong bond with
her mother, her attachment to her father,
the lessons she learnt from them and her
traumatic marriage, in a smooth flowing
plot, the focus of which never wavers.
The hijacking incident and the manner
in which Neerja attends to the passengers,
rescues them with singleminded devotion
and confidence, remains the centre stage
of the film. Yet, we get glimpses of her life,
which tell us the kind of person she was.
Sonam Kapoor as Neerja Bhanot slips
into the role with ease. Whether it is play
fully mouthing the dialogues of her
favourite superstar Rajesh Khanna, chiding
her mother for her unnecessary concern,
or staring adversity in the face as a com
posed flight purser, she makes it all look
of our lives: Survivor
hanjan Dalal, who survived the hijack of Pan Am Flight 73 in

September 1986, has lauded Sonam Kapoor starrer Neerja
a biopic on Neerja Bhanot, the ight bursar who lost her
life while saving others on the hijacked ight. He called the lm
an experience of our lives.
Directed by Ram Madhvani, Neerja, which stars Sonam playing
the title role, released on February 19.
While giving a salute to the biographical thriller, Khanjan,
whose mother Trupti Dalal died during the hijack, wrote an emo
tional message on Facebook on Monday.
To some it is just another movie very well made, they rave
about it, ponder over, even cry, okay... Finished... Let's have pop
corn and soda, go home and tell others how great it was, but... To
some of us it is an experience of our lives shared in an aesthetical
ly enhanced way that will always be within us forever and ever,
Khanjan shared.
On the contrary it transcend into the realms of memory which
is persistently haunting, a memory that no man made tool can
erase and you don't have the slightest idea what it feels like when
the lower portion of your clothes is completely drenched in your
mother's blood," he wrote. Run bare feet on a tarmac for two km,
watch your father wait for a transport to arrive to carry his wife's
cofn for 45 minutes and see him cry helplessly after 30 years...
'Neerja' is not a movie well made... It is an episode of our life over
whelmingly well revealed... Salute, he added.
effortless as an actor. But it is Shabana

Azmi as Rama Bhanot, Neerja's spirited
and loving mother, who steals your heart
with a natural and heartrending perform
ance. She is every inch Neerja's mother
92ND BIRTH
ANNIVERSARY OF TALAT
MAHMOOD CELEBRATED
n the occasion of Talat

Mahmood's 92nd birth
anniversary, his daughter
Sabina Talat Mahmood Rana
and soninlaw Rajendra V Rana
have put together a programme
titled "Jashn e Talat" in memory
of the music maestro.
"To day is his 92nd birth
anniversary and on this auspi
cious occasion we are having a
very private celebration. I have
planned to sing a vast array of
his ghazals, private songs and
lms songs," Rana, a profession
al singer, told IANS in Mumbai.
Padma Shri awardee Sudha
Malhotra will be the chief guest
at the event. She will sing "Hum
tumhare ho chuke hai" with
Rana. It has been 18 years since Talat
Mahmood passed away and the nostal
gia and avour of his melodious vel
vety voice remains unsurpassed to
date.
The Padma Bhushan awardee was
particularly famous for singing soft
and sombre semiclassical and non
Talat Mahmood.
(Photo: chandrakantha.com)
classical ghazals.
Some of his popular songs include
"Humse aaya na gaya", "Tasveer banata
hoon", "Aansoo samajh ke kyon
mujhe", "Main dil hoon ek armaan
bhara" among others.
"Jashn e Talat" will take place on
Wednesday evening here.
Actress Sonam Kapoor during the special

screening of film Neerja in Mumbai.
whether it is waking her up lovingly

before a flight or promising her a yellow
salwar kameez for her birthday. The last
scene where she gives an emotional
speech on the first death anniversary of
Neerja, is easily one of the highlights of

the film.
Overall, Neerja is bound to engage you
emotionally owing to the nature of its sub
ject and its adept treatment.
'Don't litter Mumbai

with lm posters'
I
n a novel initiative, "Aligarh" actors Manoj

Bajpayee and Rajkummar Rao along with
director Hansal Mehta held posters of
their film on the streets here and stood at the
street dividers amidst fast moving vehicles.
Manoj, who has essayed the role of a gay
professor in the lm, said they didn't want to
litter the city with posters.
"This is Hansal Mehta's idea, we don't want
to dirty our city with these posters, and we
have been promoting with our own efforts till
now, and this is one method to promote the
lm among the people," Manoj said.
Rajkummar, who plays a journalist in the
lm, says it is their "social responsibility
towards our own city".
"We complain about lth everywhere but
dirty it by sticking the posters of all kinds of
lms on the walls. So we promote the lm by
standing on our own with the poster," he said.
Mehta said that the practice of sticking
posters on walls should "denitely end".
"People should go to watch the lms on the
basis of the trailer that is available on the
internet. Put less load on the marketing budg
et of the lm."
"Watch, love the lm and take it to silver
jubilee like earlier times. In Delhi you would
n't see hoarding signs, it's in Mumbai that
you see hoarding signs of lms everywhere.
Manoj Bajpayee
And that does not mean that the lm is very
good, it just means someone spent a lot of
money," he added.
"Aligarh" will release on Friday.
(Photos: IANS)
18
Feb 27- March 4, 2016
FASHION
Indian government should recognize

fashion like France does: Manish Arora
THE FAMED FASHION DESIGNER HAS BEEN CONFERRED
THE CHEVALIER DE LA LEGION D'HONNEUR, THE HIGHEST
CIVILIAN AWARD BY THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT
Exquisite and exotic creations by Manish Arora
By Nivedita
he Indian government must
appreciate the talent of fash
ion designers like the French
government does, says Manish
Arora, who at 43 has been con
ferred the Chevalier de la Legion
d'Honneur, the highest civilian
award, by the French government.
Known for working with a riot of
colors, psychedelic prints and for
producing kitschy designs that
have been loved the world over
sitarist Anoushka Shankar flaunted
his creation at the 58th Grammy
Awards ceremony Arora has
been in the designing profession
for over 15 years.
Expressing his joy on the honor,
Arora told IANS: "I am quite happy
that the French could recognize
somebody from India for this level
in the field of fashion.
"I am the first Indian ever in the
world of fashion and art to receive
Manish
Arora
something like this and I am very

happy. I hope that the Indian gov
ernment should now recognize
fashion as the form of art like the
way French do."
Last year, the French government
also honored Indian designer Ritu
Beri with Chevalier Des Arts et Des
Lettres award, one of its highest
civilian awards, for her contribu
tion to the enrichment of Indo
French cultural relations.
Arora, who runs the Indian by
Manish Arora brand, feels that the
Indian government lacks when it

comes to giving recognition to the
fashion industry.
"Starting with the basic of the
government's recognizing fashion
as serious business and then hav
ing specialized people who under
stand fashion to be involved in the
government to make changes...
Also, fashion designers are rarely
recognized in any kind of cere
monies or awards in India. I think
this needs to be changed," he
added.
With a steady international clien
tele that makes it a point to visit
his stall at national fashion weeks,
Arora's international presence
started with his successful debut at
the London Fashion Week in
September 2005. He later showed
his creative prowess at platforms
in Hong Kong and Miami.
In 2007, he showcased for the
first time in Paris Fashion Week,
eventually becoming a member of
the
distinguished
French
Federation of PretaPorter in the
same year. Now the Chevalier de la
Legion d'Honneur is another feath
er to his cap.
Looking back at his journey,
Arora, whose connect with France
was also strengthened by his
appointment as the creative direc
tor for iconic French fashion house
Paco Rabanne in 2011, said: "I
always think that it's just a begin
ning."
However, being among the first
Indians to show internationally had
its own pros and cons when he had
started, Arora said.
"Starting in London, and then in
Paris, was not that easy for me
because you never had anybody
else to take as an example. You had
to make your own path, which
comes with making a lot of mis
takes, but then it also makes you
more original and real because you
have nobody else to look up to. So I
am very glad with how my career

shaped up," said Arora, whose
designs are flaunted by the likes of
international fashion icons like
Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, and Nicki
Minaj.
While he is happy with the evolu
tion of the Indian fashion industry
on the global map, he feels the
country's designers still have a
long way to go. A solution, he said,
lies in the fact that "it is great to
use India but you need to modern
ize India".
"You don't need to westernize,
but you need to modernize India
and Indian techniques of weaving
or textiles to be at par with inter
national level," added the designer,
who has even worked in collabora
tion with brands such as Walt
Disney, Swarvoski, Swatch, Reebok,
Barbie, Mono Prix, Nespresso,
Nivea, MAC Cosmetics, Pommery
and Amrapali among others.
(Story and pix: IANS)
DIASPORA
Feb 27- March 4, 2016
19
Six Indian Americans honored by Obama
Washington: President Obama has

named 106 researchers, including
six of Indian origin, as recipients of
the President ial Early Career
Awards for Scient ists and
Engineers, the highest US govern
ment honor for young independent
researchers. T he w inners w ill
receive their awards at a
Washington, DC ceremony this
spring. These earlycareer scien
tists are leading the way in our
efforts to confront and understand
challenges from climate change to
our health and wellness," Obama
said.
"We congratulate these accom
plished individuals and encourage
them to continue to serve as an
example of the incredible promise
and ingenuity of the American peo
ple." The Presidential Early Career
Awards highlight the key role that
the Administrat ion places in
encourag ing and acce lerat ing
American innovation to grow our
economy and tackle our greatest
challenges, a W hite House
announcement said.
Established by President Bill
Clinton in 1996, the awards recog
Milind Kulkarni, Kiran Musunuru, Sachin Patel, Rahul Mangharam, Shwetak Patel
nise pursuit of innovative research
at the frontiers of science and tech
nology and awardees' commitment
to community service as demon
strated through scientific leader
ship, public education, or commu
nity outreach.
The six IndianAmerican recipi
ents are:
Milind Kulkarni, an associate pro
fessor with the School of Electrical
and Computer Eng ineering at
Purdue University. His research
fo cuses
on
Prog ramming
Languages and Compilers that sup
port ef ficient programming and
high performance on emerging

complex architectures.
Kiran Musunuru, Assistant
Professor of Stem Ce ll and
Regenerative Biology at Harvard
University. His research focuses on
the genetics of cardiovascular and
metabolic diseases.
Sachin Patel, Assistant Professor
of Psychiatry, and Molecular
Physiolog y and Biophysics
Vanderbilt University Medical
Centre. Patel's overall research goal
is to understand the role of neu
ronal cannabinoid signalling in
brain function relevant to psychi
Gollakota achieves passive WiFi

at 10,000 times less power
Washington: In an effort to curb

battery drainage as you use WiFi
to play games or watch movies, a
team of eng ineers including
Indianorigin researchers has
demonstrated that it is possible to
generate WiFi transmissions
using 10,000 times less power
than conventional methods.
The new "Passive WiFi" system
also consumes 1,000 times less
power than existing energyef fi
cient wireless communication
platforms, such as Bluetooth Low
Energy and Zigbee, said computer
scientists and electrical engineers
from University of Washington.
"We wanted to see if we could
achieve WiFi transmissions using
almost no power at all. That is
basically what 'Passive WiFi'
delivers. We can get WiFi for
10,000 times less power than the
best thing that's out there, said
study coauthor Shyam Gollakota,
assistant professor of computer
science and engineering. Passive
Shyam Gollakota, assistant

professor of computer
science and engineering.
(Photo: ww.thebetterindia.com)
WiFi can for the first time trans
mit WiFi signals at bit rates of up
to 11 megabits per second that
can be decoded on any of the bil
lions of devices with WiFi connec
tivity.
These speeds are lower than the
maximum WiFi speeds but 11
times higher than Bluetooth.
Apart from saving battery life,
wireless communication that uses
almost no power will help enable

an Internet of Things reality
where household devices and
wearable sensors can communi
cate using WiFi without worrying
about power.
All the networking, heavylift
ing and powerconsuming pieces
are done by the one pluggedin
device. The passive devices are
only reflecting to generate the Wi
Fi packets, which is a really ener
gyefficient way to communicate,
explained coauthor Vamsi Talla,
electrical engineering doctoral
student.
To achieve such lowpower WiFi
transmissions, the team essential
ly decoupled the digital and ana
log operations involved in radio
transmissions.
The Passive WiFi architecture
assigns the analog, powerinten
sive functions like producing a
signal at a specific frequency to
a single device in the network that
is plugged into the wall.
atric disorders.
Vikram Shyam, is a member of
the Turbomachinery and Heat
Transfer Branch at Nat ional
Aeronaut ics
and
Space
Administrat ion NASA Glenn
Research Centre.
His research includes computa
tional and experimental analysis of
and concept deve lopment in
unsteady engine flow physics, bio
mimetics, energy harvesting, active
and passive flow control, flow visu
alization and water purification.
Rahul Mang haram is an
Asso ciate Professor in the
Department of Electrical and

Systems Eng ineering at the
University of Pennsylvania.
His interests are in realtime
scheduling algorithms for net
worked embedded systems with
applications in energyef ficient
buildings, automotive systems,
medical devices and industrial
wireless control networks. Shwetak
Patel, is Endowed Professor in
Computer Science and Engineering
and Electrical Engineering at the
University of Washington, where
he directs his research group, the
Ubicomp Lab.
Sikh appointed Kuala

Lumpur police chief
Kuala Lumpur: An Indianorigin
Sikh of ficer has been appointed
Kuala Lumpur's commissioner of
police the highest police rank
achieved by a Sikh in Malaysia,
media reports said.
Amar Sing h w ill replace
Tajuddin Mohamed, who will
move to federal headquarters as
the deputy director of commer
cial CID on March 14,
freemalaysiatoday.com reported
on February 21.
Amar Singh held the position of
deputy director of CID when his
new appointment was announced
last week.
According to the Malaysia
Samachar website, the highest
police rank previously achieved
by a Sikh was senior assistant
commissionerI when Santokh
Singh became police chief of
Selangor state.
Amar Singh's father and mater
nal grandfather were both police
Amar Singh (File photo)

men. His father Ishar Sing h
joined the Federated Malay
States Police in 1939, a year
after coming to Malaya from
Punjab.
His maternal g rand father,
Bachan Singh, was a constable
who joined the force in the early
1900s.
20
Feb 27- March 4, 2016
SUBCONTINENT
Modi, Oli vow to boost ties between India, Nepal

New Delhi: With Prime Minister Narendra
Modi saying that "Nepal's stability is linked
to India's security", his Nepalese counter
part K. P. Sharma Oli expressed the desire
to take relations between the two countries
to the "same level of enthusiasm" as earlier
by clearing up all "misunderstandings".
"The whole of India and I are in favour of
economic development of Nepal... I am con
fident that under your able leadership,
IndiaNepal relations will further strength
en and attain new heights," Modi told Oli
while addressing a joint press conference
with him here.
"It is clear that the stability of Nepal is
linked to India's security. Prime Minister
Oli and I agree that we need to face togeth
er the rising extremism and terrorism in
the two countries," Modi said.
The two leaders also vowed not to allow
the open border between the two nations
to be misused by terrorists and criminals.
"We will not allow terrorists and crimi
nals to misuse the open borders between
the two countries.

"Security agencies of both countries will
collaborate closely in this context," Modi
said.
Oli, while thanking India for its vital sup
port, said he had come to India to clear
"misunderstandings" that surfaced in the
recent past.
"The main mission of my visit is to clear
misunderstandings that surfaced in the last
few months and to take back our relations
to the same level of enthusiasm when
Modiji visited Nepal in August 2014," said
Oli.
He also thanked India for all the support
it provided to Nepal over the years for its
developmental work in various fields, and
specially for spontaneous support after the
earthquake in April last year that killed
8,800 people and destroyed property
worth crores of rupees.
"The support and solidarity shown by our
friends from India turns the heads of
Nepalese people," he said, adding that "we
equally appreciate the support of India in

our reconstruction drive".
Oli, who is making his first foreign visit
after the Himalayan nation adopted a new
constitution in September last year, said
that India and Nepal shared a lot in com
mon and their relations were beyond for
malities.
The two prime ministers teleinaugurat
ed a power transmission line between
Muzaf farpur in Bihar and Dhalkebar in
Nepal.
"We are working on hydro projects with
combined capacity of 7,000 MW and their
quick and successful completion can be a
gateway to Nepal's economic prosperity,"
Modi said, adding that the just inaugurated
power line would initially provide 80 MW
electricity to Nepal but in the next two
years it would provide up to 600 MW of
power.
India and Nepal also signed nine agree
ments following delegationlevel talks led
by Modi and Oli.
PAK ARMY VOWS TO ELIMINATE

TERRORISTS FROM COUNTRY
Islamabad: Pakistan Army chief
General Raheel Sharif expressed
satisfaction over the gains and
ef fects of the ongoing military
ZarbeAzb operat ion, and
acknowledged the army's resolve
to fully eliminate terrorists from
their sanctuary.
General Raheel Sharif visited the
country's mountainous northwest
region to review progress of the
ongoing military ZarbeAzb opera
tion against terrorits.
Gen Sharif was briefed by Zarbe
Azb operation commander that the
deeply forested ravines of the
Pakistan Army chief General

Raheel Sharif. (Photo: IANS)
Shawal Valley and area ahead of
Data Khel that have been frequent
F16 sale to Pak to

help fight terrorism:
US envoy
New Delhi: US Ambassador to
India Richard Verma reiterated
that Washington's decision to
se ll F16 combat aircraft to
Pakistan was to help it fight ter
rorism.
Our security partnership with
Pakistan was made clear, Verma
said while answering questions
after delivering a lecture on
IndoUS strategic partnership:
Present status and future
trends
The tools that were provided
were to address a specific count
erterrorism and counterinsur
gency threat, he said.
The Barack Obama administra
tion's decision to sell eight F16
combat aircraft to Pakistan earli
er this month had riled the

Indian establishment.
The external af fairs ministry
said in a statement that India
was disappointed at the deci
sion of the US to notify the sale
of F16 aircraft to Pakistan.
"We disagree with their ration
ale that such arms transfers help
to combat terrorism. The record
of the last many years in this
reg ard speaks for itse lf," it
added.
Foreign
Secretary
S.
Jaishankar also summoned
Verma and put across India's
concerns candidly.
Verma also said that the rela
tionship that the US has with
India stood on its own.
infiltration routes of terrorists

between Pakistan and Afghanistan,
was now the last bastion of terror
ists left in North Waziristan, said
an InterService Public Relations
statement.
Gen Sharif directed the forces to
commence forthwith the last phase
of the operat ion in North
Waziristan which aims at clearing
the remnants of terrorists from
their hideouts in deeply forested
ravines, isolate them and indis
criminately sever their links with
their abettors anywhere across the
country.
Pak desires good ties with

neighbors: Sharif
Islamabad: Prime Minister Nawaz
Sharif said that Pakistan was pur
suing good relations with all its
neighbors, including India, as
mutual cooperation was vital for
the socioeconomic uplift of both
the countries.
He was speaking to Indian High
Commissioner Gautam Bambawale
who called on Sharif here at the
Prime Minister House.
Sharif extended a very warm wel
come to the new ly appointed
Indian High Commissioner and
expressed confidence that he
would work to bring the two coun
tries closer.
The Indian high commissioner
and the premier exchanged views
on PakistanIndia bilateral rela
tions.
Bambawale thanked the prime
minister and expressed hope that
his role would be beneficial in nor
malisation and strengthening of
bilateral relations between the two
countries.
PM Narendra Modi with his Nepalese

counterpart KP Sharma Oli, at Hyderabad
House in New Delhi. (Photo: IANS)
23 KILLED IN NEPAL
PLANE CRASH
The Tara Air Viking 9NAHH Twin Otter had taken off from the western
Nepali tourist resort of Pokhara. (Photo: IANS)
Kathmandu: All 23 people on
board a Nepali airliner were killed
when it crashed in the mountains
of western Nepal early in the
morning, of ficials here said. The
Tara Air Viking 9NAHH Twin
Otter had taken off from the west
ern Nepali tourist resort of
Pokhara at 7.47 a.m. for Jomsom
from where trekkers usually com
mence their hike.
Deputy director of Pokhara air
port Yogendra Kumar told IANS
that the plane, which carried 20
passengers besides a threemem
ber crew, lost contact with the air
traf fic control (ATC) within min
utes of taking off.
The passengers included two
infants and two foreign nationals,
Kumar said.
The plane remained missing for
nearly four hours after losing con
tact with the Pokhara ATC and its
wreckage was found scattered
over a forested mountainside in
Soli Ghoptebhir of Myagdi district,
Civil Aviation Minister Ananda
Prasad Pokhrel told news men in
Kathmandu.
Citing Nepal Army rescue teams
which had reached the crash site,
Pokhre l said: "T he plane has
crashed and all its occupants have
been killed."
Located 200 km west of capital
Kathmandu, Pokhara is the second
largest city of Nepal. It is a popu
lar tourist destination and the
kickoff point for climbing expedi
tions to the 8,091metre Mt
Annapurna.
Jomsom too is the starting point
for many trekkers in the
Himalayas.
The aircraft was added to the
Tara Air fleet last September.
Among the occupants were a
Chinese national and a Kuwaiti
and the others were Nepali
nationals, BBC reported.
Over 100 people have died in
plane crashes in the Himalayan
nation in the past five years. The
last crash was on February 16,
2014, when a Nepal Airlines Twin
Otter crashed in Masine lek,
Argakhanchi, killing 18 people.
Wikileaks reveals NSA

spying on world leaders
Washington: Wikileaks has pub
lished new documents revealing
that the US National Security
Agency (NSA) has spied on world
leaders such as Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,
former Italian premier Silvio
Berlusconi and UN Secretary
General Ban Kimoon.
The documents released by the
organization show that the NSA
eavesdropped on a meet ing
between Ban and German
Chancellor Angela Merkel, who
already knew that she had been
followed by the USA's intelli
gence services on other occa
sions, EFE news reported.
Wikileaks also reported that
the NSA had spied on a conversa
tion between Netanyahu and
Berlusconi, a meeting between
key European Union (EU) and
Japanese ofcials, and a private
meeting between Berlusconi,
Merkel and former French presi
dent Nicolas Sarkozy.
In do cuments obtained by
WikiLeaks, Merkel and Ban talk
about how to g ht climate
change,
Netanyahu
asks
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (Photo: IANS)

Berlusconi for help in dealing
with the US administration led by
President Barack Obama, and
Sarkozy alerts the former Italian
prime minister about dangers of
the banking system in his coun
try.
"It will be interesting to see the
UN's reaction, because if the sec
retary general can be targeted
without consequence then every
one from world leader to street

sweeper is at risk," Wikileaks
founder Julian Assange said.
WikiLeaks rose to fame
between July and October 2010
by publishing secret documents
from the war in Afghanistan
(2001) and the second Iraq war
(2003), based on leaks from US
soldier Chelsea Manning, former
ly known as Bradley Manning.
WTO rules against India

on US solar exports
Washington: In a setback to India, a
World Trade Organization (WTO) dis
pute settlement panel has ruled in favor
of the US in its challenge to New Delhi's
alleged discrimination against US solar
e x p o r t s , a c c o r d i n g t o U S Tr a d e
R e p r e s e n t a t i ve ( U S T R ) . T h e p a n e l
agreed with the US that India's "locali
sation" rules discriminated against
imported solar cells and modules under
India's National Solar Mission, accord
ing to an of ficial news release citing
USTR Michael Froman.
India's domestic content require
ments, it agreed, discriminate against
US solar cells and modules by requiring
solar power developers to use Indian
manufactured cells and modules rather
than US or other imported solar tech
nology in breach of international trade
rules. The panel also rejected India's
defensive arguments and determined
that India's local content requirements
are inconsistent with the national treat
ment obligations in Article 2.1 of the
Agreement on Traderelated Investment
M e a s u r e s ( T R I M s A g r ee m e n t ) a n d
Article III:4 of the General Agreement
on Tariffs and Trade 1994.
The USTR called it "an important out
come, not just as it applies to this case,
but also as other countries consider
localization policies."
USTR said it initiated this dispute in
February 2013 because it considered
that India's domestic content require
ments are inconsistent with WTO rules
Feb 27- March 4, 2016
INTERNATIONAL
that prohibit discrimination against

imported products. The US, it said, has
consistently made the case that India
can achieve its clean energy goals faster
and more costef fectively by allowing
solar technologies to be imported from
the US and other solar producers.
"Today, the WTO panel agreed with
the United States that India's 'localiza
tion' measures discriminate against US
manufacturers and are against WTO
rules," Froman said.
The US and India "are strong support
ers of the multilateral, rulesbased trad
ing system and take our WTO obliga
tions seriously," he said.
"This is an important outcome, not
just as it applies to this case, but for the
message it sends to other countries con
sidering discriminatory 'localization'
policies." "The United States strongly
supports the rapid deployment of solar
energy around the world including in
India," Froman said.
"But discriminatory policies in the
clean energy space in fact undermine
our efforts to promote clean energy by
requiring the use of more expensive
and less efficient equipment, raising the
cost of generating clean energy and
making it more difficult for clean ener
gy sources to be competitive," he said.
T h e U S h a d ch a l l e n ged t h e
Government of India's imposition of
domestic content requirements for
solar cells and modules under India's
National Solar Mission.
21
US FINES FRENCH FIRM

FOR DOING BUSINESS
WITH CUBA
Havana: T he US Treasury
Department has ned a French
rm for doing business in US
equipment with Cuba in viola
tion of the United State trade
embargo against the Caribbean
island nation.
CGG Services, a company
specializing in geophysical
services, was slapped with a
ne of $614,250 for using
"spare parts and equipment of
US origin on oil and gas explo
ration vessels operating in
Cuban territorial waters,"
Xinhua cited a Cuban daily as
reporting.
The move came against the
background of a diplomatic
thaw between Washington and
Havana, which announced in
December 2014 their intention
to normalise ties and just days
after the rst US company was
given the green light to set up
a factory in Cuba to make farm
tractors.
Washington has yet to lift its
55yearold embargo against

Cuba, which calls it a blockade
as it prohibits third countries
from transacting with Cuba.
"T he ne is yet another
example of the extraterritorial
scope of the blockade and its
deterrent effect on foreign and
even US companies," the report
said.
The ne is also "inconsistent
with the current context of
re lat ions between the two
countries and demonstrates
that in order to make real
progress towards the normali
sation of bilateral ties, the
blockade must be lifted," it
added.
Since December 2014, the
US government has ned seven
companies four from the US
more than $2.8 billion for
violating its trade embargo.
Such nes levied since the
start of US President Barack
Obama's administrat ion in
2009 amount to $14.4 billion.
ProIS hacking group

threatens Facebook, Twitter
Washington: Bafed by a
severe crackdown on its social
media accounts in recent past,
a selfstyled hacking division
of terrorist group Islamic State
(IS) has issued a video that
threatens Face book and
Twitter CEOs with dire conse
quences if the social media
platforms keep taking down
proIS accounts.
The video posted by "Sons
Caliphate Army" and authenti
cated by Storyful, a news
agency that veries content
online, has images of Mark
Zuckerberg and Twitter's Jack
Dorsey riddled with bullet
holes, Engadget reported on
Thursday.
To Mark and Jack, founders
of Twitter and Facebook and
to their Crusader government.
You announce daily that you
suspended many of your
accounts, and to you we say: Is
that all you can do? You are
not in our league, read a ban
ner at the end of the video.
The video clip threatens that
the hacking group will take 10
accounts for every one that
Facebook or Twitter shuts
down and w ill eventually
delete both the sites entirely.
The video claims that the
hacking group still has over
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey (www.techcrunch.com)

10,000 Facebook accounts,
150 Facebook groups and
5,000 Twitter accounts.
In its bid to curb the spread
of terrorismrelated tweets on
its platform, Twitter recently
announced that it has sus
pended
over
125,000
accounts for threatening or
promoting terrorist acts, pri
marily related to the IS.
Like most people around
the world, we are horried by
the atrocities perpetrated by
extremist groups. We con
demn the use of Twitter to
promote terrorism and the
Twitter Rules make it clear
that this type of behaviour, or

any violent threat, is not per
mitted on our service, Twitter
said in a blog post. In October
2014, then Twitter CEO Dick
Costolo said he and his staf f
had been threatened over
shutdowns.
A Jerusalembased cell of IS
also threatened last year to
kill Twitter employees and tar
get its ofces if it does not
stop taking down IS accounts.
According to a latest study
by the USbased Brookings
Institution, IS supporters may
be operat ing over 46,000
active Twitter accounts.
22
Feb 27- March 4, 2016
BUSINESS
Prabhu spares fare hike, focuses on

passenger comfort
New Delhi: Sparing fare and freight rate hikes, Railway
Minister Suresh Prabhu presented the rail budget for next
fiscal with passenger amenities in focus, spanning ease of
booking tickets and cancellations to actual travel comfort
and cleanliness.
The minister possibly left a decision on fare and freight
hikes to a later date, delinking it from the budgetary exer
cise for the first time. The 68minute speech mentioned the
need for an independent watchdog for railways, alluding
such matters could be dealt by it.
The minister also significantly enhanced the plan outlay
for developmental projects to Rs. 1.21 lakh crores. "This
year, our investment will be close to double of the average
of previous years a feat never achieved earlier," he said
while tabling the budget in the Lok Sabha.
A host of measures were also announced: 65,000 addition
al berths on trains, 2,500 water vending machines, 17,000
biotoilets in coaches, 1,780 automatic ticketing machines,
120,000 concurrent users for eticketing, and ecatering
services at 408 stations.
This apart, he said, the quota of lower berths for senior
citizens will be hiked by 50 percent to an 120 such seats per
train, more stations will come under special scheme for old
and dif ferently abled passengers, and a new train "Tejas"
will be introduced.
"These are challenging times, may be one of the toughest,"
he said, adding: "This budget will document a journey of
transformation, the journey of our nation, by touching mil
lions of human lives daily."

But there have been some slippages as well in terms of
improving the operating ratio that spells out how much of
the revenue generated is spent on daytoday operations.
Globally, a 7580 percent or lower operating ratio is seen as
a healthy benchmark.
In the last budget, while Prabhu had targeted to bring the
operating ratio down to 88.5 percent, or the lowest in nine
years, from an unsustainable level of 93.6 percent in 2013
14 and 91.8 percent for 201415. But this has proved elu
sive. "For the year 201617, we expect an operating ratio of
92 percent after including the immediate impact of the 7th
Pay Commission, as against 90 percent likely to be achieved
in the current year."
Yet, he assured, the performance of Indian Railways will
improve with the adoption of what he termed as three pil
lars of strategic thought process new ways of generating
revenues, new norms for spending money and new struc
tures for executive projects and programmes.
As per official data, India has the fourth largest railroad
network in the world with some 64,460 route km, after the
US (224,792), Russia (128,000) and China (112,00). Nearly
21,000 trains ply daily to ferry 23 million passengers and 3
million of freight.
Union Minister for Railways Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu

arrives at the Parliament to present
Railway Budget 201617. (Photo: IANS)
RAIL BUDGET REFLECTS OUR COMMITMENT TO POOR: PM

Railway budget highlights
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi

said that the rail budget lays emphasis on
investment and information technology and
shows the government's commitment to wel
fare of poorer sections of society.
The prime minister said this year's rail
budget builds on the budget presented by
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu last year.
"In the last year we have seen a lot of suc
cess and this budget is an effort to further
improve on this," the prime minister said.
"Along with IT, investment has been given
importance," he added.
Modi said the proposal to introduce
Antyodaya Express and to add two to four
Deen Dayalu coaches reflects the "govern
ment's commitment to the welfare of the
poor".
Prabhu, presenting the budget in the Lok
Sabha, proposed to introduce the Antyodaya
Express, a longdistance, fully unreserved,
superfast train service, for the common man
to be operated on dense routes.
He also said that two to four Deen Dayalu
coaches will be added to some longdistance
trains for unreserved travel to enhance the
carrying capacity.
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
New R&D organisation to be established

Rs.50 crore to be provided for startups by railway employees
Ecatering to be extended to all stations
Local cusine of choice to be made available to rail passengers
LIC to fund Rs.1.5 lakh crore over five years on
favourable terms
Two elevated tracks envisaged from
Churchgate and CST on Mumbai's
suburban railway system
Specialised teams envisaged in specific
areas to improve efficiency
AllIndia 24X7 helpline for women
Fully unreserved trains to be operated on highdensity corri
dors
Local art to be highlighted at railway stations
Academic facility at Vadodara being upgraded to university
level
Railways to generate 9 crore mandays of employment in
201718 and 14 crore mandays in 201819
To increase lower berth quota for senior citizens by 50 per
cent
Dedicated freight corridors envisaged for NorthSouth, East
8
8
West and East Coast alignments

Social media being increasingly used to ensure transparency
8
Online booking of retiring
rooms made possible
8
17,000 additional biotoilets
to be provided by the end of cur
rent fiscal
8 Finalised bids for two new
loco factories under Make in India
initiative
8
WiFi facilities at 100 more
stations this year and 400 sta
tions next year
8
2,800 km of broad
gauge track conversion envis
aged
8
Seven km of broad
gauge lines to be commis
sioned every day during 201617
Hope to commission 19 km of new broad gauge track every
day by 201819
Rs.8.8 lakh crore to be spent on infrastructure in five years
SPORTS
Feb 27- March 4, 2016
23
ROHIT HELPS INDIA TO 45RUN

WIN IN ASIA CUP OPENER
Mirpur (Bangladesh): Rohit Sharma's

flamboyant innings of 83 runs not just
took India out of trouble, but also helped
win the Asia Cup opener against
Bangladesh by a comprehensive 45 runs
at the ShereBangla National Stadium
here.
Put in to bat in the first Twenty20
International match of an Asia Cup, India
put up a challenging total of 166/6 with
manofthematch Rohit notching up a
strong 55ball 83.
He got good support from Yuvraj Singh
(15) and later allrounder Hardik Pandya
(31) played a superb cameo. The trio res
cued the visiting team from a tottering
position of 42/3 in the eighth over.
In reply, the hosts never really took of f
and kept losing wickets regularly which
hindered their chances of winning on
home soil to hand the match to India.
On what was a very green top which
turned out to be low and slow with the
ball not coming on to the bat, the Indian
batsmen struggled early on. They mis
judged the pace of the wicket and several
of them perished due to wayward shots.
F i r s t t o go w a s o p e n i n g b a t s m a n
Rohit Sharma in action. (Photo: IANS)

Shikhar Dhawan (2), who was bowled by
AlAmin Hossain. Vicecaptain Virat Kohli
(8) did not get to the pitch of the ball to
be caught at midof f of f hosts skipper
Mashrafe bin Mortaza.
Lefthander Suresh Raina looked dan
gerous after hitting two boundaries but
AUSTRALIA RECLAIM
NO.1 TEST SPOT,
INDIA SECOND
Mumbai: India have finished sec
ond in the International Cricket
Council
(ICC)
Test
Championship, while Australia
took the top spot after winning
the Christchurch Test by seven
wickets, which has given them a
20 series w in ag ainst New
Zealand.
Australia won a cash award of
$1 million while India will col
lect $500,000. South Africa will
pocket $200,000 and Pakistan
$100,000 after claiming the
third and fourth posit ions,
respectively.
According to an ICC statement
on Wednesday, the win against
New Zealand in the last Test
he lped Australia finish two
points ahead of India on 112
points in the final series before
the April 1 cutoff date.
Steve Smith will receive the
ICC Test mace and the cash
award on behalf of his team in a
ceremony to be held at a later
date.
T his is the eig hth t ime
Australia have finished as the
number one ranked Test side at
the annual cutoff date since the
inception of the current rank
ings system in 2003.
They had earlier topped the
table each year from 2003 to
2009, be fore India claimed

number one spots in 2010 and
2011. England ended as the
number one ranked side in
2012 before South Africa com
pleted a hattrick by retaining
the top spot from 2013 to 2015.
It is a double de lig ht for
Smith's men who had earlier
topped the ICC OneDay
International (ODI) team rank
ings at the annual cutof f date.
They had finished comfortably
ahead of secondplaced New
Zealand, followed by India,
South Africa, Sri Lanka and
England.
On the ICC Twenty20
International team rankings,
India lead the field with South
Africa occupying second posi
tion following its 20 win over
England. The two are followed
by the West Indies, New
Zealand, Sri Lanka, Pakistan,
England and Australia.
A shuf fling of the pack is on
the cards as a lot of cricket in
the shortest format of the game
is still to be played before the
April 1 cutof f date. While the
main round of the Asia Cup T20
will be played from February 24
to March 6 in Mirpur, the ICC
World T20 India 2016 will be
staged from March 8 to April 3.
he was also bowled for 13.

India were in more than a spot of both
er at 42/3 when opening batsman Rohit
stuck it out in the middle with Yuvraj to
strike a 55run fourth wicket partnership
which consolidated the innings. Rohit
was the aggressor of the two, smashing
seven boundaries and three sixes.

After Yuvraj departed, Pandya took
over and he upped the ante with his 18
ball 31 cameo, which included four
boundaries and a huge six over deep
midwicket.
Eventually, India skipper Mahendra
Singh Dhoni smashed a six over deep
square leg to take his team to 166/6.
Bangladesh pacer Hossain bowled well
to take three wickets.
India pacer Ashish Nehra was on target
right from the start of the Bangladeshi
innings, taking a credible 3/23 from his
four overs. Bangladesh kept losing wick
ets at regular intervals and never got any
partnership going. Sabbir Rahman was
the only one who looked batting with
intent in his knock of 44 runs, hitting
two boundaries and sixes each.
But once he got out, it was more or less
over the hosts as the asking rate kept
climbing quite quickly.
Indian bowlers Jasprit Bumrah, Pandya,
R a v i ch a n d r a n A sh w i n a n d R a v i n d r a
Jadeja were quite economical with none
of them going for more than 6.5 runs per
over.
SaniaMartina enter
quarters in Qatar
Doha: IndoSwiss top tennis pair
Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis
expectedly romped home into yet
another quarterfinal their 41st
successive win on the circuit but
not before getting a scare in their
second round win in women's dou
bles at the $2.8 million Qatar Total
Open here.
Unseeded Chinese pair YiFan Xu
and Saisai Zheng fought hard but
the much experienced top seeds
came out better, winning 64, 46,
104 in an hour and 25 minutes on
the outdoor hard courts of the
Khalifa International Tennis and
Squash Complex.
Sania and Martina, who got a
first round bye, have not lost a sin
gle match this year, having won
four tournaments earlier in
Sydney, Brisbane, St. Petersburg
and the Australian Open in
Me lbourne. T he first set was
extremely topsyturvy with service
games broken as many as seven
times, with both pairs making a
Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza during the women's doubles second
round match at the WTA Qatar Open 2016 in Doha. (Photo: IANS)
number of unforced errors. The
world's highest ranked team was
also broken as many as three times
but they were better in their return
games. They broke the Chinese
team four times to get the edge
and clinch the set.
Sania and Martina's game went
down in the second set as they
failed to even earn a single break
point opportunity. On the other
hand, they give away five chances.
Though they saved four of them,

Xu and Zheng did well to convert
one breakpoint chance which was
enough to seal the set in their
favour to push the match into the
decider.
The IndoSwiss combine, nick
named 'SanTina' by their fans,
came out with their best when it
mattered the most as they took the
allimportant super tiebreak 104
to clinch the set and match.
24
Feb 27- March 4, 2016
EDUCATION
The new reality of college admissions

A good academic record is not enough anymore to get into top
colleges. The student should also build an impressive and authentic
high school career of intellectual projects and leadership
By Dr Deborah Bedor
CEO, College Admission Central
artik was a brilliant high school stu
dent. He had top grades and near
perfect test scores. He was active in
multiple after school clubs and was editor
inchief of his high school newspaper.
Kartiks parents were justifiably proud of
their son, and believed he was doing all
the right things to gain admission to a
prestigious collegeright up until the
time when the rejection emails arrived.
Kartik and his parents were devastated. A
graduating class salutatorian was rejected
by all his target and reach colleges!
Unfortunately, this is not an isolated
story. It happens far more often than most
people realize. Thousands of valedictori
ans and salutatorians are rejected every
year. That is because the rules for admis
sion have changed. Parents and students
do not understand whats different now or
how to adjust to all the new expectations.
But theres also lots of good news. In this
article, Ill get you pointed in the right
direction for admissions success.
During the private mentoring and con
sulting sessions with my South Asian
clients seeking admission to highly selec
tive schools, I work with a creative and
handson approach to help each student
build an impressive and authentic high
school career of intellectual projects and
leadership. The students unique initia
tives dramatically increase their chances
of being accepted to the top tier and Ivies.
Now, I will share some successful strate
gies for your children.
Students believe that if they do not
receive a 4.0, they will not get into their
top choice colleges. Nothing could be far
ther from the truth. Thousands of valedic
torians are rejected every year. Why?
Because colleges are not all trying to TAKE
the most extraordinary studentstheyre
trying to MAKE the most extraordinary
class. College decisions are holistic.
Colleges care very much about your
authentic journeys through schoolhow
have you invested in yourself that makes
you interesting enough for the college to
invest in you?
So, the keys for 2016 and the foresee
able future are IMPACT and ENGAGE
MENT. How have your children made
things better? How have they pushed
against boundaries: in their research, their
intellectual pursuits outside of school, in
their internships and externships, through
their talents, their advocacy or nonprofits?
How have they made impact; how have
they engaged? How your children answer
these questions on their college applica
tions will show us something about their
leadership chops. Many students think
leadership means leading around a
group of students in their high schoolas
in, perhaps, running a fund raiser, a fash

ion show, or being head of a club. But
Admissions is not interested in that kind of
leadership anymore. Today, Admissions
defines leadership as: aspiring to be inspi
rational. How do students become that
inspirat ional leader? By becoming
extrapreneurial.
Everyone knows what an entrepreneur
issomeone who starts and manages a
new business or endeavor, usually accom
panied by considerable risk and invest
ment. It is important for your children to
know this definition because they are
moving into an entrepreneurial world.
Then there is the intrapreneursome
one who works within the safe, expected
confines of an organization to keep the
business humming. An intrapreneur in
high school would be an inschool leader:
editorinchief of the school newspaper,
for example, or president of the Yearbook.
Both are notable and worthwhile leader
ship posit ions, but for top colleges,
frankly, theyre a yawn. Colleges will not
come out and say it, but admissions offi
cers at our most esteemed colleges and
universities are looking for the students
who follow a passion through research or
deeper study, or who create a small com
pany or business initiative, advocate for a
cause, launch an organization, take on an
internship, or take a talent the extra mile.
Admissions does not want to see more edi
torsinchiefthousands apply every year.
Admissions wants your children to differ
entiate themselves from the pack because
this world needs the students who will go
out there and begin the process of solving
global problems of health and industry.
In business, those people are called
entrepreneurs. In high school, I call them
extrapreneurs, the kids with stars in
their eyes who wont take no for an
answer even though theyre teens. They
weigh the possibility of success vs. failure
and jump anyway! They are the innova
torsthey want to see what will happen if.
They leave their schools at the end of the

day and look for engagement in new
places. They try, they fail, or succeed, and
then write about WHY they took the jour
ney. So, please tell your children that
when that three oclock bell rings, they
should emerge from the walls of their
schools and find something that fascinates
them. In this way, they will become fasci
nating to Admissions.
Let me give you an example of the kind
of Engagement college admission officers
are seeking from you:
I had a student named Shreya who was
certain she wanted to go into medicine. So,
Shreya took AP Bio, AP Chemistry , and AP
Physics in high school and worked very
hard to get all As. Is that engagement?
Not yet. Thats being a good student.
Shreya wanted to learn more about the
cutting edge developments in various
forms of medicine, but had no research
internship or science research director at
school. So, she started a Science Speakers
Series called FutureSTEM, drafted her
friends onto the board, gave them each
titles and jobs (titles and jobs her friends
were happy to have for their own college
rsums); and invited doctors, professors,
and researchers within an hours drive to
come once a month and give a talk on the
latest breakthroughs in their fields. The
student board wrote blogs and press
releases for the local papers, giving these
speakers tremendous presspress their
respective universities and medical cen
ters were happy to receive. The series was
held on Thursday nights, the town library
was packed to capacity with freshmen
through seniors, and the tables were over
flowing with sweets and fresh juices
compliments of the PTA. You see, even the
PTA got involved because they could see
the Return on Investment (ROI) such a
speaker series would bring their children.
Is this engagement? Yes, indeed! Did
Shreya get admitted to every college on
her list? Yes, indeed.
There are so many ways to lead: through

a new business model, a niche invention, a
social entrepreneurial idea, or through
original scientific research. Here are a few
leadership endeavors to discuss with your
own children:
4For the Economics enthusiast: Create an
online program that develops the financial
literacy skills of underprivileged youth.
Encourage and teach those students how
to apply for microfinancing and begin
businesses.
4For Government Enthusiasts: Start a
program called, Spread the Vote an
organization of high school seniors edu
cating students on what it means to be
informed voters on foreign and domestic
issues. Send leaflets on important issues to
the homes of high school seniors and also
to senior citizenswho often disengage
from voting. Create a chat forum online
for high school students questions in a
safe and vetted environment.
4 Science
through
Social
Entrepreneurship: Design a product or a
piece of jewelry that can be sold online
and in high schools to raise funds for and
promote awareness of your most heartfelt
medical cause (like stroke rehabilitation,
cancer research, childhood obesity, etc.)
Put the link to your jewelry or product on
the medical organizations website and in
the organizations newsletters so people
can buy/donate. Contact online jewelry
retailers to pitch the product in a social
good campaign on their sites. You will be
surprised how much you will learn about
leadership and business from such an
entrepreneurial endeavor; and you will be
delighted by the knowledge that you are
making positive impact in the world for a
cause that is meaningful to you.
An internationally acclaimed college

admissions expert for over 25 years, Dr.
Deborah Bedor is the author of the best
selling college admissions guide: Getting
IN by Standing OUT. The New Rules for
Admission to America's Best Colleges.
She can be reached at
www.CollegeAdmission Central.com.
This article is exclusive to The South
Asian Times.
Feb 27- March 4, 2016
BOOKS
25
Revisiting the legacy of free India's founding fathers

By Vikas Datta
olitical leaders are never fated to be left
in peace, especially if they are among
those involved in ensuring a country's
independence or charting its future course.
Decades hence, there will still be critics ques
tioning their capabilities, motivations, and
achievements in tones ranging from mild crit
icism to angry polemic, or believing others,
usually their favorites, could have done bet
ter. India's founding fathers are no exception.
In the Indian context, these could entail the
prospects that could have ensued if
Vallabhbhai Patel had been free India's first
prime minister instead of Jawaharlal Nehru,
or if Subhas Chandra Bose had stayed in India
during World War and led the freedom strug
gle and/or independent India.
Then how about if B.R. Ambedkar had not
left Nehru's cabinet, or going back a bit, the
leadership of a united India had been given to
Mohammed Ali Jinnah?
But as author Rajmohan Gandhi observes,
"these questions may usually be dismissed as
being purely hypothetical but a related ques
tion makes practical sense. Are our present
day discontents of recent origin or connected
to the beginnings of the Indian republic?
Were crucial mistakes made in the 194750
period?" It is an attempt to answer these
questions that led to this work whose small
size does not reflect its weighty and reasoned
erudition but the authors admits its aims
Understanding
the Founding Fathers
An Enquiry into the
Indian Republic's
Beginnings; by
Rajmohan Gandhi, Aleph
Book Company,
160 pages, Rs 299.
were first more limited "merely wanting to
address sweeping criticisms of (Mahatma)
Gandhi and Nehru leveled by two interesting
men a swami from Gujarat and a professor
from America", both of who he only came to
know about in early 2015.
Swami Sachidanand of Gujarat blames
Mahatma Gandhi for weakening India by his
espousal of 'ahimsa', leading to the ignomin
ious defeat to the Chinese in 1962 , as well as
the Hindu community, by failing to under
standing "two things: the value of the sword,
and the danger from Islam.
On the other, American 'Marxist' scholar
Perry Anderson, in "The Indian Ideology"
(2014), charges the Mahatma with being
"antiMuslim, that he forced Pakistan on an
unwilling Jinnah, that he helped fashion a
Hindu state where Muslims would remain
subordinate, a state which had enslaved the
people of Kashmir", and prescribes Indians

banish Gandhi, Nehru and Patel and others
and "all they represent".
With "the Swami and the Professor were in
essence cancelling each other's charges
against Gandhi, a reply would merely require
quoting each to the other", but the author,
despite a part of him encouraging this
response, holds the issue is greater for there
are many Hindus who believe or are led to
believe what the Swami thinks contentions,
and likewise, many Muslims in both countries

about the stand most lately expressed by
Anderson, "and if facts and reasons could
clarify a few minds, an effort to supply them
might be worthwhile". He begins with his
rebuttals of both Sachidanand and Anderson,
by extensively citing their criticism and infer
ences and countering it through Mahatma's
recorded writings, statements and actions
and simple logic. The next chapter does the
same for Nehru and the fourth deals with
Jinnah, Bose and Ambedkar, who have all
been praised by Anderson, laying out a tanta
lizing premise of whether they could have
"joined hands to give India and Pakistan an
alternative history, free of Partition and its
killings and perhaps free also of the injustices
and inequalities that have scarred the subcon
tinent?"
It is a thoughtprovoking work that the
author, a grandson of the Mahatma, has
penned and despite his relationship, he is
quite balanced and freely acknowledges his
grandfather's shortcomings and mistakes.
And there is something new that most of us
will find, though it may not be very salutary,
eg. What exINA men ended up doing.
But the real value of this book is that icons
are humans and not infallible or beyond
debate, and issues of disagreements, or any
perceived dishonors, can be discussed peace
fully and logically, without sending oneself
into paroxysms of rage and needing coercive
action or bans to assuage.
Harper Lee, Umberto Eco & their heroes' relevance for India
By Vikas Datta
esides that both were

authors, and both died in
the last few days, there
seems nothing common between
a reclusive American and an out
going Italian philosopher. What
connects Harper Lee and
Umberto Eco, however, are the
main characters they created in
their first fict ional work a
decent, tolerant lawyer who com
bats prejudice and vigilantism
and a rational, tolerant monk who
solves mysteries. As recent events
in India show, both are much
needed as role models.
Att icus Finch of "To Kill a
Mockingbird" (1960) set in segre
gationist American south in the
1930s and Brother William of
Baskerville of "The Name of the
Rose" (1980) taking place in
superstition and schismridden
northern Italy in the 14th century
are not only models for emulation
but the authors' abiding contribu
tion towards the goals of human
dignity, equity, tolerance and rea
son. Remembering them is the
best tribute we can pay to their
creators.
Both works have been made
into acclaimed films, with the
parts played memorably by
Gregory Peck and Sean Connery
respectively (and earning them an
Harper Lee, who died this week, and (right) her iconic lawyer character
Atticus Finch played by Gregory peck in "To Kill a Mockingbird"
Oscar and a BAFTA for best
actor). Most of us would have
read the books and/or seen the
films but for those who might not
have, or forgotten, the characters
can be introduced again.
Like their creators, the middle
aged, widowed lawyer and the
Franciscan monk are both dis
parate characters, not only in
time and space but nature too
though they have certain points
of resemblance. Apart from being
"moral compasses" and morally
and personally courageous, they
are caring father figures Finch to
his children (JeanLouise "Scout",
6, and Jeremy "Jem", 10) and
William to companion, novice
Adso.
"To Kill a Mockingbird", based
on Lee's own reminiscences
(Finch turned out to be based on

her own father) and incorporating
some contemporary racial issues,
is set in a small town in Alabama
during the Great Depression.
Finch is asked to defend a young
black man, Tom Robbins, accused
of raping a white woman, and
agrees despite public disapproval.
Not only does he de fend his
charge the best he can, he also
protects him from a lynch mob.
He is however unable to get
Robbins of f despite demolishing
the prosecution case, and learns
later that he has been shot "while
trying to escape".
But despite the outcome, it is
the qualities Finch embodies
decent, fair treatment to all peo
ple, not to respond to violence
with violence, to stand for what
you believe and not force it on

others that make him relevant
for any time.
A quote from the book also
used in the film is illustrative. As
he advises his daughter: "If you
can learn a simple trick, Scout,
you'll get along a lot better with
all kinds of folks. You never really
understand a person until you
consider things from his point of
view, until you climb inside of his
skin and walk around in it." "To
Kill a Mockingbird" was Lee's sole
work. "Go Set a Watchman"
(2015), set some years in the
future and presenting a Finch
who is not so heroic, is touted as a
sequel but as per detailed exami
nation is deemed to be an earlier
draft. Eco, apart from being a
bestselling novelist, was an aca
demician with significant contri
butions to semiotics or study of
human signs and symbols and
their interpretation, aesthetics, lit
erary theory, media culture and
philosophy and it shows in "The
Name of the Rose".
William and Adso reach a north
ern Italian monastery to attend a
theological disputation, but all is
not calm there. First there is a sui
cide and then several other mys
terious deaths, and William is
asked to probe but there is
labyrinthine library whose mys
teries have to be solved, some
secrets that the abbot is unwilling

to divulge and the Inquisition is
also present.
With his name commemorating
a medieval philosopher and the
area of a famous detective's most
celebrated exploits, the charac
ter's inspirat ion is obvious.
William of Ockham's philosophi
cal technique "Ockham's Razor"
advised that the simplest explana
tion accounting for all the facts
should always be accepted as
most likely mirrors Holmes' dic
tum "that when one has eliminat
ed the impossible, whatever
remains however improbable
must be the truth".
William also looks and behaves
like Holmes, being tall, so thin
that he appears taller, with sharp
and piercing eyes, a thin, sharp
nose and a prominent chin, is
capable of most intense activity
but curiously still when not intel
lectually stimulated, and has the
same sharp intellect and deduc
tion powers. Unlike Holmes, his
skills were not very welcome in
his era but he didn't let it deter
him. When brute prejudice reigns,
unthinking conformity imposed
and dissent deemed criminal,
such models are more than neces
sary. But will we and especially
those demeaning these profes
sions only let them remain fic
IANS
tional archetypes?
26
HEALTH
Threat of a real pandemic The Zika Empire!

By Dr Akshat Jain
ing it in the first week of the ill

ness.
aused by a virus first found

in Uganda in 1947 and trans
mitted by the same mosquito
that transmits the dengue and
chikungunya viruses, Zika is par
ticularly gaining attention as a
new public health menace due to
its unproven unique correlation to
the birth defects. The mosquito
can survive and mult iply in
extremely small water bodies
Zika and brain diseases

Over 4000 cases of children
born with small heads (micro
cephaly) and permanent brain
damage have been seen in south
America at the same time that a
surge of patients with Zika virus
infections was detected . Studies to
see if mothers with such children
had evidence of Zika virus infec
tion are underway. Although 15
percent of children with small
How to save yourself when in an

endemic region?
Countries with current or past reported cases of Zika virus infection

(Source: CDC)
heads have no permanent brain
damage but the rest 85% can have
lifelong neurological disabilities.
Until then, precaution and primary
prevention is the best weapon
against this infection.
What does the patient feel?

T he ef fects fe lt by a person
infected with zika virus are just
like flu. The infection is short last
ing, selfcontrolling and usually

does not lead to life threatening
complication unlike yellow fever
and dengue infections transmitted
by the same mosquito. If you have
visited the endemic countries as
shown in the chart and have such
symptoms, advanced microbiologi
cal testing are available in routine
laboratories to look for evidence of
Zika, with the best chance of find
w
There is no vaccine to pre
vent or specific medicine to treat
Zika infections.
w
Stay away from areas that
have stagnant pooled water.
Common examples water coolers
, open sewage, crevices and pud
dles that collect rain water, etc.
w
Carry mosquito repellants
and creams if travelling to such
areas.
w
Avoid travelling to areas
infested with Zika Virus if you are
or planning to get pregnant.
fever and pain.

w Do not take aspirin and other
nonsteroidal antiinflammatory
drugs.
w If you are taking medicine for
another medical condition, talk to
your healthcare provider before
taking additional medication.
Akshat Jain M.D., M.P.H. is a
pediatric hematologist oncologist
on Long Island and is an expert in
global health. He teaches medicine
and global public health at the
Hofstra University.
Treat the symptoms:

w Get plenty of rest.
w Drink fluids to prevent dehy
dration.
w Take medicine such as aceta
minophen (Tylenol) to relieve
Particulate matter exposure in Colon Cancer Awareness:

What to know about
India higher than in China
getting tested
or the first time this century, the aver

age particulate matter exposure is
higher in India than in China, a
Greenpeace analysis of NASA satellite data
on particulate matter has said.
"China's strong measures to curb pollu
tion have contributed to the biggest year
onyear air quality improvement on record;
while in contrast, India's pollution levels
continued a decadelong increase to reach
the highest level on record," a statement
from Greenpeace said this week.
According to the World Health
Organization (WHO), India is home to 13
out of 20 most polluted cities in the world
with deteriorating air pollution levels dur
ing past decade, particularly in north India,
the statement said.
Greenpeace, in its National Air Quality
Index (NAQI) ranking report, revealed that
as many as 15 of the 17 Indian cities with
NAQI stations showed levels of air pollution
that far exceeded the prescribed Indian
standards.
The report also revealed that 23 of the 32
stations across India are showing more than
70 percent more than the national stan
dards of air pollution, putting public health
at risk.
The statement said a robust system to
curb air pollution in public domain is need
ed in India.
"In China, for instance, the particulate pol
lution levels rose an estimated 20 percent
between 2005 and 2011. However, after
adopting a comprehensive National Action
Plan in 2013 with strong policies and
stricter enforcement, China's particulate
trend started bending, as 2015 witnessed a
fall of 15 percent as compared to 2014," the
statement said.
India's National Air Quality Index net
work, with 39 operating stations as of writ
ing, compares poorly with the 1,500 sta
arch is Colon Cancer Awareness

Month, and the perfect time to think
about colon health.
Unfortunately, less than half of people aged
50 and older get tested for colon cancer. But
early detection can save lives. Colorectal can
cer is the third most commonly diagnosed
cancer and the second leading cause of can
cer death in the US, yet it has a 90 percent
cure rate when detected early, according to
the American Cancer Society (ACS).
We say the best screening is the one that
actually gets done, says Dr. Judy Yee, profes
sor and vice chair of Radiolog y and
Biomedical Imag ing at University of
California, San Francisco.
CT Colonog raphy (CTC) or virtual
colonoscopy a less invasive, safe and seda
tionfree alternative to the colonoscopy is
increasing colorectal screening rates. CTC
uses hightech, lowdose Xrays to produce
moving images of the colon, which doctors
examine to detect colorectal cancer and pre
cancerous polyps.
If youre interested in avoiding a
colonoscopy, but want to get the screening
needed to verify your colorectal health, con
sider the following about CTC, an ACS recom
mended screening test:
Comprehensiveness: The exam can detect
abnormalities outside of the colon, including
earlystage cancers in the liver, kidney and
lungs, and can pinpoint potentially dangerous
conditions, like aneurysms. In this way, it
serves as two or even more detection tests in
one.
Accuracy: CTC is just as accurate as a
colonoscopy for detecting clinically signifi
cant polyps and cancers; however, you dont
have to undergo sedation. Theres no need to
take time off work or have someone drive you
from the hospital.
Estimates of particular matter in air in

India show that northern cities are most
polluted.
tions in China. The satellite images until
2005 showed India's pollution, while seri
ous, was lot lower than eastern China's.
In 2015, India particulate matter pollu
tion stands higher than of China's, after
increasing at an average rate of two percent
over the past decade.
"There is an urgent need to set a deadline
for meeting the national air quality stan
dards with long term and interim targets
and action plans. The air pollution crisis is
an opportunity to test India's emergency
response plan and design coordinated
action for a 'Clean Air Nation'," said Sunil
Dahiya, Campaigner, Greenpeace India.
Talking on the IndiaChina pollution sce
nario, Lauri Myllyvirta, air pollution special
ist with Greenpeace East Asia, said: "China is
an example of how determined policies and
tougher enforcement can turn the tide on
air pollution to people's benefit. The Indian
government needs to have plans to avoid
the same disastrous health impact air pollu
( IANS)
tion has had in China."
CT Colonography (CTC) or virtual

colonoscopy is a less invasive, safe and
sedationfree alternative to the colonoscopy
Affordability: This exam costs a fraction of
the price of a standard colonoscopy and is
covered by several major insurers. Your insur
ance company can verify whether CTC is cov
ered under your plan.
NonInvasive: While a colonoscopy is the
standard procedure, there is a small risk of
serious complications associated with the
test. However, CTC is noninvasive, as no nee
dles or scopes enter the body. Only a small
tube is placed in the bottom of the colon to
help distend the colon for viewing.
Improved Screening Rates: Availability of
CTC screening significantly boosts colorectal
cancer screening rates, according to studies
at National Military Medical Centers in
Bethesda, MD, and San Diego.
The US Preventive Services Task Force
recently released draft recommendations
naming CTC as an alternative screening test,
and Medicare is currently reviewing coverage
of this test in order to provide seniors with a
lifesaving alternative.
Bottom line: not enough people are getting
screened for colon cancer. Whatever screen
ing alternative you prefer, make sure you
schedule this vital appointment and encour
(StatePoint)
age loved ones to do the same.
LIFESTYLE
Feb 27- March 4, 2016
27
BEWARE, SOCIAL MEDIA ADDICTION

CAN TRIGGER COCAINELIKE HIGH
an spending excessive time
on Facebook or other social
media be as dangerous as
addiction to cocaine or gambling?
Well, yes, if researchers from
California State University
Fullerton are to be believed.
They say social media obsession
may lead to something akin to
classical addiction. Such use trig
gers two key parts of the brain
asso ciated w ith rewards: T he
amygdala which is the integrative
place for emotions, behavior and
motivation and the striatum
part of the forebrain and a critical
component of the reward system.
The findings, recently published
in the journal Psycholog ical
Reports: Disability and Trauma
showed that social mediarelated
addictions share some neural
features with substance and gam
bling addictions.
Since the meteoric rise of the
internet usage and emergence of
various social media platforms,
many young Indians have been
left socially isolated and lonely.
Its time for a reality check in
our backyard.
Take Krishnan (name changed),
a 15yearold social media addict
in the capital, who recently visited
Dr. Sameer Malhotra, director,

mental health and behavioral sci
ences at Max Healthcare.
Hooked on to Facebook for near
ly 16 hours a day, he had devel
oped an obsessive personality pro
file and was neglecting priorities
of life, including education.
I have been seeing many young
sters who are in the grip of social
media addiction. In the case of
Krishnan, I treated him through
both counseling and medication
which helped channelize his ener
gy in positive work, Dr. Malhotra
told IANS.
Facebook addiction is similar to
cocaine addiction to a certain level
as there are certain neurochemi

cals like dopamine which operate
across brain reward pathways and
are responsible for maintaining
addictive behavior, he said.
According to Dr. Malhotra,
teenagers with Facebook addic
tionlike symptoms may have a
hyperactive amygdalastriatal sys
tem, which makes this addiction
similar to many other addictions.
For Dr. Samir Parikh, director at
department of mental health and
behavioral Science, Fort is
Healthcare, excessive use of social
media is a common trend today
and such preoccupation leads to
an interference in ones social,
occupational as we ll as other
areas of functioning.
Yes, it could be considered simi
lar to drug addiction to a certain
level though it is not exactly the
same. The dif ference is more in
terms of the physiological mani
festations involved in the influ
ence of a substance, Dr. Parikh
told IANS.
Addiction is defined as repetitive
habit pattern that increases the
risk of diseases or associated per
sonal and social problems. It is a
subjective experience of loss of
control.
Addiction connotes dependence
because there are common neuro
chemical and neuroanatomical
pathways found among all addic
tions whether it is substance,
gambling, sex, eating, internet use
or Facebook obsession.
They all display similar pat
terns of behavior like inability to
abstain, impairment in behavior
control, craving, diminished recog
nition of significant behavioral
problems, interpersonal issues
and a dysfunctional emotional
response, says Dr. Birendra
Yadav, psychology clinical opera
t ions at te lehealth venture
Poccare, Healthenablr.
Restrict video gaming at home to watch your kids grow smarter

I
f the news of two Delhi brothers
who were so hooked to video
games that they became too lazy to
even go to washroom and were treat
ed in a rehab facility for a month
shocked you to the core, it is time to
take a serious look at how much time
your kids are spending on latest video
g aming consoles like Xbox and
PlayStation at home.
The video game addiction is for real
and despite several recent studies
telling us that they can make your
kids sharper and smarter, it is time for
parents to do a reality check before it
gets too late.
The video gaming addiction can
lead to various health hazards in kids.
Little, dedicated time on video gaming
is fun but when kids get hooked to
games, shun outdoor activities, avoid
socialization, cut on their sleep time
and start losing interest in most other
things, that is when it become a grave
concern, Dr. Samir Parikh, director,
department of mental health and
behaviorial sciences at Fort is
Healthcare, told IANS.
Last December, researchers from
the University of Utah in US released
findings that showed that brains of
compulsive video game players are
wired differently.
While some of the changes are pre
dicted to help game players respond
to new information, other changes are

associated with distractibility and
poor impulse control, the researchers
noted.
Those with internet gaming disor
der are obsessed with video games,
often to the extent that they give up
eating and sleeping to play, says sen
ior study author Jef frey Anderson,
associate professor of neuroradiology
in a paper published in the journal
Addiction Biology.
According to Dr. Shobhana Mittal,
consultant psychiatrist at Cosmos
Inst itute of Mental Health &
Behavioural Sciences (CIMBS) in New
Delhi, video gaming stimulates the
dopamine neurotransmitter pathways
in the brain thereby making it an
addictive activity for some.
Instant gratification of pleasure
experienced during gaming can lead
to poor impulse control in children.
Spending too much time on gaming
can deeply impact a child's physical
health as well as psychosocial well
being, Mittal told IANS.

Another study that came out last
October surprisingly found that chil
dren whose parents are very anxious
and emotional are likely to play more
violent video games than their peers.
It is not surprising that warmer and
more restrictive parents, or what we
call authoritative, are most effective at
reducing the amount of violent video
games played by their children, said
Russell Laczniak, professor of market
ing at Iowa State University.
Researchers identified the effect in
all children, but it was stronger for
boys and firstborns.
The best solution, however, lies at
home only.
Parents need to encourage outdoor
activities, help children develop hob
bies, encourage them to interact more
with friends. If they feel that children
are spending too much time on online
gaming, then thye must talk to a coun
selor if the duration is not reduced,
Parikh advised.
Parents need to set appropriate lim
its for their children with regards to
the type of video games permitted and
time spent on them.
Video games at a very young age
should be avoided, so that children
can have an opportunity to develop
other interests and hobbies at this
age, Mittal added.
Experts say Facebook addiction

can lead to impulsecontrol disor
ders, especially among adoles
cents where it has led to high
prevalence of depression, aggres
sive behavior and psychiatric
symptoms.
The social media has also been
found to have af fected lifestyles,
result ing in irregular dietary
habits, decreased physical activity,
short durat ion of sleep and
increased use of alcohol and
tobacco.
Is it true that getting out of
Facebook addiction is easier than
that of substance abuse?
This is subjective and depends
on the context, personality and
state of mind of the individual con
cerned and you need to build the
will power of the person through
both counseling and medication,
Dr. Malhotra says.
Overcoming any kind of addic
tion is possible with adequate pro
fessional interventions, Dr. Parikh
said.
T he bottom line: use so cial
media, but do not let it take over
your life. Investing time in real
relationships rather than in the
cyberworld can lead to improved
mental health, say experts.
Homeopathy use in
US limited to common
conditions: Study
omeopathic medi
cines are primarily
used by a small seg
ment of US population for
common, selflimited condi
tions such as the common
cold or back pain, a new sur
vey has found.
Homeopathy users, partic
ularly those who also report
visiting homeopathic practi
tioners, find the use of these
products helpful and tend to use a greater variety of complemen
tary and integrative medicine (CIM) modalities than do users of
supplements and other CIMs, the study found.
"Since most people purchase these products over the counter
without physician guidance, it is reassuring to see that most use
them for nonserious, selflimited conditions," said Michelle
Dossett from Massachusetts General Hospital in US.
Homeopathy is a 200yearold system of medicine based on the
principal of similars that highly diluted substances can be used
to treat symptoms similar to those that would be caused by large
doses of those substances in healthy people.
While it is controversial because of the extremely diluted
nature of homeopathic medications, interest in homeopathy has
increased in recent years. The study analyzed data from the
National Health Interview Survey. The 2012 survey included a
number of questions about participants' use of CIM and was
completed by more than 34,500 adults.
28
HUMOR
Funny Side by Nury Vittachi
HOUSEHOLD PETS HURT MY SELFESTEEM
DOG HAS LEARNED TO READ. Fernie, a

twoyearold Labrador from the UK, can
read four words and is working on
another 20, says his owner, a teacher.
***
The growing intelligence of animals worries
me, as I well remember the difficulty I once
had trying to teach a twoyearold HUMAN
not to throw herself off a balcony.
All parents know that children get furiously
angry if we stop them doing things like climb
ing into lion enclosures, drinking poison, eat
ing mystery brown objects off the forest floor,
throwing themselves out of windows, etc.
Parenting books say: They grow out of it.
What they DONT tell you is that they grow
right back into it as teenagers, who have the
exact same curiosity, but with more expensive
dangers. (I wander what would happen if we
mixed every chemical in the school lab?)
***
The obvious solution is to teach children
the way we teach dogs.
Sit.
(Child sits.)
Whos a good boy? (Adult pats head and
presents tiny morsel of food.)
Study! Pass exams!
(Child studies and passes exams.)
Whos a good boy? (Adult pats head and
presents another tiny morsel of food.). Etc.

This is pretty much how my boss treats me
at the office, and it works just fine.
***
What if your child cant talk yet?
You can still teach it, thanks to scientists in
Taiwan who have just
invented an Infant Cries Translator app.
You download the app and stick your phone
near your babys mouth. Wah wah waahhhhh
is translated on the screen into clear, adult
readable terms such as: I wish to have an
additional beverage, carer.
This reminded me of my first daughter,
Kelci, who had advanced verbal skills and
actually spoke just like that from about 18
months old:
Convey me to the potty immediately, carer,
or you and your socalled Persian rug will live
to regret it.
Happy memories.
***
But I was brought back on topic by a col
league from the US who says TV shows in her
country feature a dog called Willow who can
read. Clearly its a trend.
Look, Im sorry, but Im not convinced
teaching animals to read is a good thing.
Life is grim enough without coming home
to be greeted by my dog saying things like:
What do you think of Schopenhauers second

volume of essays? Good grief, you havent
read it, have you?
Lets keep this evolutionary advantage away
from lesser creatures such
as dogs, cats, crustaceans, Donald Trump
fans, etc.
***
But I must admit I was curious. So I handed
a newspaper to my dog.
She stared at the front page picture (an
Asian political leader of course) and then tilt
ed her head to one side, since dogs have the
same gyroscopic thing in her brain that
smartphones have.
Then she peed on it. That was an insightful
comment.
Wish Id thought of it.
Laughter is the Best Medicine
BEST
RATE
FOR
INDIA
AND
PAKISTAN
New York Head Quarter
422S Broadway
HICKSVILLE
NY 11801
5168271010
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.
ASTROLOGY
29
Chandigarh, India: +91-172- 256 2832, 257 2874

Delhi, India: +91-11- 2644 9898, 2648 9899
psharma@premastrologer.com; www.premastrologer.com
By Dr Prem Kumar Sharma
FEBRUARY 27MARCH 4, 2016

ARIES : A long pending decision gets
finalized at professional front. You are
likely to be benefited as family members
positively respond. You are likely to earn mon
etary profits through most unexpected sources.
A promising week for romance when your
innovation infuses a new spirit in it. Creative
hobbies are like ly to keep you re laxed.
Af fordable luxury vacation will explore your
desires.
Your girlfriends desire for an apartment might
lead to its destination. The week could bring a
surprise at personal front.
TAURUS : Plans for new ventures get
streamlined with the help of seniors.
Parents and friends will do their best to
keep you happy.
A sudden inflow of funds will take care of your
bills and immediate expenses. Partner brings
immense romantic pleasure even if work pres
sure occupies your mind With a positive out
look & confidence, you succeed in impressing
people around you. Perfect getaway time for
you and your partner. Time to plan a gift for
your parents may be their dream home.
Carefulness on your part would foil enemies
attempts to disrepute you.
GEMINI: Female colleagues lend a help
ing hand in completing important
assignments. A promising week to plan
things for your progeny. Monetary position is
likely to improve on recovering of delayed pay
ments. Romance rules heart & mind this week.
Mental alertness would enable to solve a tricky
problem.
A group of friends or your partner is looking
forward for a vacation with you. Its high time
to think of purchasing a new office. A competi
tive nature would help in winning any contest
you participate.
CANCER: At work you will be a part of

something big, bringing appreciation
& rewards. You would be the center of
attraction at a social gathering that you attend
especially with family. Investment in antiques
& jewelry brings monetary gains and improve
ment in financial position. Romantic imagina
tion occupies mind forcing to go out of the way
to please partner. A cheerful state of mind
brings mental peace. A leisure trip will prove to
be a premium time for you. It might be the
right time to sale your empty plot as property
rates are at peak. Troubles fade away as you
take things in a stride.
LEO: You are likely to establish yourself a
good manager on managing people and
situation without any problem. You
would prefer to relax and enjoy the company of
family members in the evening. Long pending
arrears and dues will finally be recovered. Cupids
arrows would make your heart flutter high. Good
time to divert attention to spirituality to enhance
mental toughness. You might get a chance for
business trip, which will help you in new connec
tions. Your plan for a new house will be in
process very soon. A sparkling laughterfilled
week when most things proceed, as you desire.
VIRGO: You will be successful in realis
ing your targets at professional front.
this week you move with new excite
ment & confidence as you receive support from
family and friends. this week investment con
cerning residence will be profitable. You are
likely to enjoy a pleasure trip that will rejuve
nate your passions. A pleasure trip gives the
muchneeded tonic to health. Traveling over
seas would be an experience full of spark that
enlightens your imagination. Your loan proce
dures for pursuing a plot will be in process.
Magnetic personality brings into the limelight.
LIBRA: With your high confidence you

will be able to cross all hurdles at pro
fessional front. Family front seems to
go smoothly as you receive their full support to
your plans. Financial hassles seem to get over
as someone lends a timely helping hand.
Romantic entanglement would add spice to
your happiness. Cutting down the number of
parties and pleasure jaunts would help in keep
ing in good mood. Travel plans for better com
munication will be helpful for new horizons.
Investment in hotel industry can be the right
choice to be made. People are likely to accept
unique but only original ideas.
SCORPIO: Timely help of associates will
not only pass difficult times at work but
also help in regaining professional edge.
You find relief, comfort and af fection in the
company of family members. Promising week
to invest surplus money in real estate. Chances
of your love life turning into lifelong bond are
high on the card. A beneficial week to work on
things that will improve your health. Business
or vacation traveling is what you needed right
now. Investment on construction business
might give fruitful results. You come across
with an interesting acquaintance.
SAGITTARIUS: A promising week to start
a new venture in partnership. All are
likely to be benefited. Time spent with
relatives will be to your advantage. A sound
financial health would enable to invest on lucra
tive schemes. Exciting week as your long pend
ing wait for affirmation is going to materialize.
Your confidence and energy will be high this
week. Implementation of new ideas to travel will
be beneficiary for you on work front. Investing
on a ship or a cruise is an exciting venture to be
made. You get a good opportunity to get
involved in some interesting conversation.
CAPRICORN : Your technical expertise

gives a decisive edge over competitors at
work. Family members will be very posi
tive & supportive to your plans. Your brilliant
ideas would help in bringing financial gains.
Enjoying the company of partner in a lively
restaurant would bring immense romantic pleas
ure. A week when smile will perpetually be on
your face and strangers will seem familiar.
Travel plans for ambitions are in full bloom. The
best ideas for investment are to on invest on real
estate business. Controlling and channelising
hidden powers would make life comfortable.
AQUARIUS : Hard work of the past
brings rich dividends. However contin
ue enhancing your skills/adopt tech
niques for further development. Relatives will
be willing to lend a helping hand at the time of
need. A promising week to earn profits in real
estate and financial transactions. The presence
of love would make you feel life meaningful.
Your energy level will be high. Better to chan
nelise it in a positive direction. A beckon desti
nation sounds tempting to you. Are you long
ing to buy a farmhouse, try for it? A week of
great achievements when no obstacles are in
your way.
PISCES : Dedication & loyalty at work
would bring desired results. New rela
tionship at family front will be long last
ing & highly beneficial. An improvement in
monetary position makes it convenient to pur
chase essential items. Love life brings some
memorable moments that you could cherish rest
of your life. Positive outlook impresses those
around you besides keeping you fit & fine.
Planning a trip for your love will embrace you
and your spouse. If you want to invest on prop
erty, then go for residential one. Shared activi
ties in friend circle will bring immense pleasure.
ANNUAL PREDICTIONS: FOR THOSE BORN IN THIS WEEK

27th February, 2016
Ruled planet: Mars Ruled by no: 9
Traits in you: Being ruled by Mars, you are aggressive,
courageous, aspiring, focused, friendly, generous, and
honest. You lag behind others because you lose many
opportunities. You need to work on your frequent mood
swings and temperament.
Health this year: Health wise you will enjoy a great time
throughout the year. You may suffer few minor health
issues such as cold, headache or body aches. You need to
take proper medications to remain physically and mental
ly fit.
Finance this year: As far as your financial condition is con
sidered, you will enjoy a better status as compared to the
last year. You will get enough benefits from your previous
investments. You may plan for new investments. You may
go for partnerships to start new ventures. Domestic as
well as overseas ventures will be successful this year. You
need to create new contacts for the growth in your busi
ness as it will earn you more projects and money.
Career this year: You will be establishing yourself as a
very efficient and important resource in your organiza
tion this year. Your performance will influence your
peers, seniors and higher 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: Your plans to go for holidays with
your partner may not work because of huge work pres
sure and this may create disturbance in your marital life.
You need to take care of the emotional requirements of
your partner to lead a peaceful life this year.
Lucky month: August, October and January
28th February, 2016
Ruled planet: Sun Ruled by no: 1
Traits in you: Due to the positive effects of your ruling
planet Sun, you will have the characteristics of a good
human being. By nature, you are accountable, unique,
courageous, committed, competitive, coordinated and
intelligent. You should work on your negative personality
traits such as selfishness, dependency and pessimism.
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 may get benefits from your invest
ments later this year. This year seems to be an ideal one
to start investing in business, land or gold. Your efforts to
earn money may pay off this time. You may go for new
partnerships. However, you should verify the financial
background of your partner for your financial security.
Career this year: You may have to take few major deci
sions in your profession. You can succeed if you put some
extra effort in your work and deliver quality. You have to

drive the team to put qualitative effort.
Romance this year: If you are yet to be in a committed
relationship, you may get into one this year. If you are
already committed, then you may plan for marriage
towards the end of the year.
Lucky month: March , April , November and January
29th February, 2016
Ruled planet: 2 Ruled by no: Moon
Traits in you: Your ruler, the Moon makes you a very
friendly individual. You are simple, confident, realistic,
sincere, and optimistic. You are very innovative and try to
perform your work in a different and efficient way. You
need to work hard on your characteristics of being jeal
ous and insensitive at times.
Health this year: You will enjoy a normal health this year.
However, you need to be in regular contact with your
doctor to remain healthy. If you face some minor health
issues, you should take prescribed medication without
neglecting.
Finance this year: You will be able to stabilize your finan
cial condition by reaping profits from your past invest
ments. You may also plan for new investments this year.
You will find enough new opportunities to start up a new
business that would yield money for you. You should
invest in real estate or stock market for better returns.
Career this year: You will be successful professionally
this year. You will be additional responsibility and you
will well execute them to perfection. Your success may
get you various awards and rewards as well. You may
share your ideas with the higher management as it would
help you grow quickly.
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: April , May and November
1st March, 2016
Ruled planet: Sun Ruled by no: 1
Traits in you: Being governed by the Sun, you are
endowed with uniqueness and philosophy. You are coura
geous, daring, courteous, affectionate, decisive, and very
determined. You need to work on your impatience and
short tempered nature.
Health this year: You may remain worried for the health
of your spouse. Your health will remain fine though it
needs extra care. You should regularly visit to your doctor
for checkups. Try to secure your parents health as they
may suffer from minor ailments throughout this year.
Finance this year: Financial gains are sure for you this
year as you may get into new business ventures.
However, try to avoid partnerships as much as you can.
You may get benefited from your past investments or sale

of paternal land or property. You may go for renovation
of your house and that will make you spend enough
money. You may go for business trips later in the year
and you will succeed in bringing new business.
Career this year: The nature of your professional work
will allow you find many new job opportunities with high
salaries. You should take up a new job to flourish in your
career. You will gain required expertise in your profes
sion and perform better than ever.
Romance this year: You will be in a peaceful relationship
with your beloved this year. You should take care not to
get involved in any kind of confrontation or argument
with your partner. You may get into marital relationship
this year if you are yet to marry.
Lucky month: April , May , June and December
2nd March, 2016
Ruled planet: Moon Ruled by no: 2
Traits in you: The influence of your ruling planet Moon
makes you simple, dynamic, charismatic, creative, reliable
and focused. You need to control your frequent mood
swings and stubbornness to become a better individual.
Health this year: You will enjoy an overall good health
this year though you may go through minor health issues
throughout the year. You should practice yoga and medi
tation for better result. Your parents may fall sick and
this might make you tensed. Take special care of your
spouses health. Take a normal diet and medicines to
remain healthy.
Finance this year: Your past investments may yield a lot
of money for you this year. You need to be extra cautions
while investing huge amounts as it is a bit risky to put
money on unpredictable things. Overall, you will enjoy a
strong financial condition.
Career this year: You will enjoy a great professional
career this year. If you are involved in arts or creative
field, this year will be very good for you. You will reach
new heights in your career and you will gain enough
recognition. You may seek help from an experienced per
son to succeed in your career.
Romance this year: You will spend a peaceful life with
your spouse. If you are unmarried, you may get into a
matrimonial relationship towards the end of this year.
Lucky month: April , September and October
3rd March, 2016
Ruled planet: Jupiter Ruled by no: 3
Traits in you: As your governing planet is Jupiter, you are
intelligent, dignified, dynamic, simple, ambitious, and
optimistic.You are very whimsical towards your work.
However, you need to eradicate few negative characteris
tics such as jealousy, rude, irresponsibility.
Health this year: You will be going through a not so very
good health this year around. You might need to take

proper care of your health by frequently visiting your doc
tor for medical checkups. You need to adhere to the med
ications prescribed by the doctors for your betterment.
Finance this year: You may be in a very good financial
groove this year as you will find profit everywhere you
go for investment. You may start few new ventures if you
are into hardcore business. You might have to take few
important decisions to go for the opportunities provided.
You may invest on real estate and stocks this year.
Career this year: If you are a very keen learner, then you
may get the chance to prove yourself at a higher level.
You will enhance your skills and impress your employer
to get better professional benefits. You may get a good
performance appraisal or a promotion, which will
encourage you to work even hard.
Romance this year: If you are yet to be in a marital rela
tionship, there is a healthy chance for you to get into one.
Your romantic life may take a leap this year if you are
married. You should not get involved in any kind of con
frontation or argument with your beloved as it may
weaken your relationship.
Lucky month: June , July and September
4th March, 2016
Ruled planet: Uranus Ruled by no: 4
Traits in you: With the influence of Uranus, you are born
active and lucky. By nature you are dynamic, reliable,
honorable, dignified, enthusiastic, decisive, and very
cooperative. However, you need to work on your stub
bornness and frequent mood swings.
Health this year: You would not remain satisfied as far
your health is concerned as minor illness may disturb
you throughout this year. To avoid these health issues,
you need to take care of your health by taking healthy
food and medicines at time. You may go for yoga and
meditation.
Finance this year: You will be among ample financial
benefits throughout this year. You will find new source of
income and it will bring you lot of money and scope to
expand your business. You may try your hands in various
investment plans as you may get enough returns due to
your favoring star movement.
Career this year: You are destined to get plenty of good
fortune and fame. Your dedication towards your work
and efficiency may bring you exceptional success. You
may get promoted to a managerial position and that will
of course result in a handsome hike in your salary.
Romance this year: You may get into matrimonial alliance
towards the last few months of the year. If you are mar
ried, you will enjoy a blissful romantic relationship with
your partner. You should plan for surprise outings to
make your relationship grow stronger.
Lucky month: June , October and January
30
SPIRITUAL AWARENESS
How to Improve Spiritually?
By Sant Rajinder Singh

Ji Maharaj
hen we apply for a job

and write a resume, we
usually try to highlight all
the good things about our experi
ence, our background, and our
selves. Many people hide all the
difficulties they have had in their
career and focus on their great
achievements. When employers
read such resumes, they often feel
each is describing the greatest per
son who ever lived. We try to put
ourselves in the best possible light
to land the job.
When going to a bank for a busi
ness loan, we also list our greatest
financial achievements and best
references. We want to appear to
be a safe client and not a credit
risk. We write down all our busi
ness and financial successes in the
hope that the loan of ficer will
grant a loan.
When applying for college or
business school, we collect all the
best references from former teach
ers so that a college will find us
appealing as a candidate. Few peo
ple would request letters from
teachers who would describe them
as slacking off or misbehaving. We
want to show ourselves in our best
light.
By Sant Rajinder Singh

Ji Maharaj
When we attempt to gain any

thing in the world, it is often based
on the concept that we put our
selves forward and hide our weak
nesses. This is typical in worldly
affairs.
In this connection, there is a true
story from the sports world. A uni
versity football team was condi
tioning themselves by practicing
running. One of the players had the
position of lineman. This large
player was in a tackle position and
considered the fastest lineman in
the team. One day, he walked up to
his coach and asked if he could run
sprints with the fastest running
backs. The coach gave him permis
sion.
The lineman went out daily to
run, but each day he came in last.
Day after day, he continued to run
with the fastest backs, even though
each day he lost. This was to be
expected because linemen are gen
erally not considered as fast as the
running backs.
T he coach, thinking it was
strange, asked himself, Why would
this football player want to play
with the best runners and continu
ally come in last when he could run
with the linemen and be the
fastest?
The coach observed the young
man and finally, after seeing the
lineman lose for many days, decid
ed to ask him: Wouldnt you prefer
to be a winner and run with the
other lineman, rather than keep
being a loser running with the
backs?
He was surprised to hear the
football players answer.
The young man said, Im not
here to outrun the linemen. I
already know I can do that. Im
A way to improve spiritually is to take an

honest look at our failings and weaknesses.
By doing so, we can weed them out and
work on improving.
here to learn how to run faster, and
if you have noticed, Sir, I lose to the
backs by a little less each day!
This account holds the secret to
our spiritual progress. Whereas in
worldly work, we always want to
appear the best, when it comes to
spiritual work, we cannot hide who
we are from God. Our progress is
an open book to the Lord. The
grace we receive to progress spiri
tually is based on sincere ef forts.
We cannot hide the truth of our
spiritual gains and failures from
the Creator.
The football player learned that
he would not improve by living on
past glories. He knew he could only
improve by challenging himself. By
seeing his weaknesses as a runner,
he could work on them to improve.
By pitting himself against those
who were better than he was in the
area he wanted to master, his
shortcomings would become visi
ble and he could work on overcom

ing them. He was after improve
ment, not accolades and praise.
A way to improve spiritually is to
take an honest look at our failings
and weaknesses. By doing so, we
can weed them out and work on
improving. Besides noting our posi
tive efforts, we should also analyze
our failings. Through this brutally
honest look at ourselves, we would
see areas for improvement. If we
looked at only our successes, we
might become complacent and
think we have reached the pinnacle
of g lory. T hen, we would not
change; we would be satisfied with
what we are and take longer to
reach our goal.
The football player could see
what the other runners were doing
and could work on developing his
ability. The losses showed him
what he needed to do better the
next time. By doing this, each day
he lost by a little less. When we

look at our failures, we know what
we have to do to do better each
day. Then, by making an effort, we
will have fewer failures than on the
previous day. Over time, we would
ultimately reach a stage in which
we have improved and reach zero
failures.
To progress spiritually, we can
honestly analyze the areas in which
we need to improve. We are not
applying for a job with God and are
not writing a spiritual resume to
show ourselves in a good light. We
are not applying for a credit loan
from God where we conceal our
business failures and show only
our successes. Rather, we are
applying for union with God, the
abode of all purity and virtue. To
enter into that union we need to
weed out any ethical failures. We
cannot hide our failings from God,
who sees all.
God wants our honest efforts in
overcoming the failures. When the
Lord sees us making an ef fort to
honestly assess our failings, even if
we have difficulties, our sincerity is
recognized.
God then responds with compas
sion and grace. Thus, if we are still
struggling, we will get help. God
gives us a boost to overcome our
failings so we can weed them out
and make progress.
By our effort and Gods grace, we
will improve spiritually more
quickly. If we practice introspec
tion with complete honesty and
sincerity, focusing on areas in
which we need to improve, we will
see rapid spiritual progress. If we
put it to the test, we will be able to
see the results and proof for our
selves.
LIFE IS RESTLESS FOR PEACE IN THE WORLD
ystic poetry and literature is rich in verses addressing

the way to a peaceful, calm life. One of the greatest
mystic poetsaints of the past century, Sant Darshan
Singh Ji Maharaj, has written a verse that captures the way to
lead lives in which we reduce stress and anger to produce
calm and peace within ourselves and for the whole world.
The verse by Sant Darshan Singh Ji says:
Let this world become a temple of love and peace.
Let love and Truth illumine the world, And the
adversaries of peace awaken to its Light.
This sacred land of God has been trampled with the
burden of oppression.
Life is not a dagger stained with the blood of hatred;
It is a branch filled with the flowers of love and
compassion.
Life itself is restless for peace in the world.
Let its noble dream materialize.
May the garden be illumined with wave after wave of Light.
May the wealth of love grow greater and greater and
enrich every heart.
These verses capture the essence of what I consider the pur
pose of life and have been the inspiration of my life. These
penetrating words by Sant Darshan Singh Ji Maharaj, a past
master of meditation on the inner Light and Sound, illumine a
way to achieve peace through uncovering the Divine within.
Once this uplifting peace permeates our being, it can spread
to others, bathing this planet in peace.

These verses describe the unity at the heart of all creation.
The poet realizes that the same Light of God within us is also
in all others, making us one human family. Even science
points to our ones through the Genome project. Scientists
have found that more than 99% of the genes of all human
beings are the same, with only less than 1% being different,
accounting for differences in our hair, skin, and eye color, or
our size and shape. When we realize we are all one family, we
would not cause pain or suffering to others. As we would not
want to hurt our parents or children, we would not want to
hurt any other human being. The walls that divide us through
nationality, social status, or appearance tumble down as we

realize that we are all children of the one Creative Power.
Through meditation on the inner Light and Sound within
each of us, we can have a firsthand experience of our unity.
Through absorption into this Light and Sound current, we
experience consciousness of higher spiritual realms. This
inner journey leads back to the source of this current and we
experience oneness with the Creator. Saints and mystics have
described within us a series of realms. Beyond the physical
realm, there is the astral, causal, and supracausal realms, and
a purely spiritual realm, called Sach Khand. Each realm con
tains greater and greater light, celestial music, joy, and love.
We ultimately merge back in the source of all consciousness,
love, and light. Then, we recognize that all humans and all
forms of life are created by the Divine and comprise one fami
ly. This nondenominational meditation practice, called Shabd
Meditation, or meditation on the Light and Sound, can be per
formed by people of all cultures. The introductory form of
meditation, called Jyoti Meditation can be practiced by any
one at any place. The more time we spend in meditation, the
more we realize the unity within each. Spiritual progress is
enhanced by an ethical life of nonviolence, truthfulness,
humility, love for all, and selfless service.
As we gaze at the wonders within through meditation, we
can experience the inner light, enjoy its nourishing peace and
bliss, and radiate that loving luminosity to all.

Vol-8-Issue-42 Feb-27 - March-4 2016

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Vol-8-Issue-42 Feb-27 - March-4 2016

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The South Asian Times

Vol.8 No. 42 Feb 27-March 4, 2016 80 Cents

New York Edition

Indian rail budget: More GOP scrambling

Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu. (Photo: PIB)

HRD Minister Smriti Irani

Washington: Setting the stage for a

for the party's presidential nomi

Feb 27-March 4, 2016

Feb 27- March 4, 2016

INDIA ADDS 27 NEW BILLIONAIRES

Pallonji Mistry ($13 billion) at number

Report India. I hope India's 2016 budget

facturing and technology with 94 and 68

Hightech US dream team

rorist army has inspired potential

Congressman Ami Bera attacked on

Ami Bera, the sole

Sacramento, Calif: An outt named

have earlier criticized Bera for his alleged

Robert Longer, legislativepolitical direc

Feb 27-March 4, 2016

Space mission: India, US

Mars. Our scientists can work together,

Chairman and Co-Founder

Co-Founder: Saroosh Gull

Contributing Editors: Meenakshi Iyer,

President: Arjit Mehta

GOP scrambling to stem Donald...

Irani rocks in students row

Continued from page 1

Continued from page 1

Indian rail budget: More comforts...

Jaipur (India) Bureau

IANS Washington Bureau

Photographs: Gunjesh Desai/

Printing: Five Star Printing, NY

Photo Journalist: Sandeep Girhotra

Chief Operating Officer:

West Coast Correspondent

Art and Design: Vladimir Tomovski

Managing Editor: Parveen Chopra

New Delhi Bureau

Web Editor: B.B.Chopra

Feb 27- March 4, 2016

VINOD KHOSLA LOCKED IN

where two lawsuits aim to force Khosla, who

Khosla's lawyer Dori Yob said in her letter

Simple blood test to diagnose

Billionaire venture capitalist Vinod Khosla

also stand w ith what the

Feb 27- March 4, 2016

and more. Notable highlights include a

Dr Raj Shah conferred

he American Society for Testing

Varsity names new business college

Satish and Yasmin Gupta

Sling TV and DISH tie up with

ling TV and DISH have announced that

DISH customers will have access to the

Washington, DC: Amid reports that she was

Silicon Valley wants 'dramatic expansion'

Bill Coleman, CEO, Veritas