The South Asian Times

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Vol.8 No. 48 April 9-15, 2016 80 Cents

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Thousands at Trump's
Long Island rally
Bethpage, NY: With New York now the focus of all
the 2016 presidential candidates, Donald Trump
headed to Long Island Wednesday evening to
rally his supporters in his home state.
Almost 10000 people supporters showed up
at the cavernous Grumman Studios in Bethpage
at the rally. The crowd cheered as Trump raised
his voice triumphantly.
Were going to start winning again, folks,
Trump said. Going to happen. Going to hap
pen. Going to happen.
He added: Were going to rebuild our mili
tary nobody is going to mess with us!
Were going to knock the hell out of
ISIS.
But nothing got the crowd going
more than the candidates words on
immigration. We are going to have a
strong border. We are going to build
the wall, Trump said. Indeed, build
Donald Trump arrived at a rally on Wednesday in Bethpage, New

Continued on page 4

York, as a conquering hometown hero (Image courtesy: slate.com)

Panama Papers leak

Sant Rajinder Singh to
divulge global web of
visit NJ and Long Island corruption, tax avoidance
New York: Renowned spiritual
Master, Sant Rajinder Singh Ji
Maharaj, head of
Science of Spirituality, will be in
the New Jersey and Long Island
area to offer a series of talks.
On Thursday April 28, 7pm, he
will speak at the Edison Hotel,
3050 Woo dbridge Avenue,
Edison, NJ. His talk Discover
Calm and Peace Within You will
be simultaneously translated into
Spanish.
On May 1, at 2pm, his talk,
Meditation to Access Spiritual
Realms, will be at the Science of
Spirituality Meditation Center, 79
County Line Road, Amityville, NY.
It will also have a Spanish trans
lation. People are expected to
travel to the Amityville Center
from all over the world. When
you ask them why, they all tell

FASHION 15

Spiritual master Sant Rajinder

Singh Ji Maharajs talk will
be at Long Island Meditation
Center on May 1st.
the same story of how much easi
er it is to meditate in Sant
Rajinder Singh Ji Maharajs pres
ence and how uplifted and peace
ful they fee l. T he Amityville

TRAVEL 18

Continued on page 4

SPORTS 25

Panama City: Thanks to a massive

2.6terabyte leak of confidential
papers to the
International
Consortium of
Investigative
Journalists
from
a
Panamanian
law firm Mossack Fonseca the
world has woken up to the global
web of corruption and tax avoid
ance and trained the spotlight on
this little country long regarded as
a safe tax haven for the rich.
So far, the scandal has brought
down the leader of Iceland and
raised questions about the deal
ings of the presidents of Argentina
and Ukraine, senior Chinese

Continued on page 4
Also read our detailed
coverage from >> Page 812)

SPIRITUAL AWARENESS 30

Pakistan has ruled out NIA visit to probe Pathankot attack (Photo: PTI)

Pakistan envoy
says talks with
India suspended,
no NIA visit
New Delhi: Pakistan Hig h
Commissioner Abdul Basit on
T hursday said bilateral talks
between India and Pakistan were
"suspended" and that there was no
question of allowing an NIA team
to visit Islamabad for the
Pathankot probe.
However, the Ministry of
External Affairs cited the Pakistan
foreign ministry spokesperson
saying that both sides were in con
tact with each other over foreign
secretary leve l talks. MEA
spokesperson Vikas Swarup said
the visit of the Nat ional
Invest ig at ion Agency team to
Pakistan was on the basis of reci
procity, previously agreed upon.
Asked
at
the
Foreign
Correspondents Club here about a
meeting between the foreign sec
retaries of the two countries, Basit
said: "There is no meeting sched
uled for now. I think at present the

peace process is suspended.

"India is not ready as yet," Basit
said, but quickly added that "we
can only resolve issues through
dialogue."
Basit also ruled out a reciprocal
visit by the National Investigation
Agency (NIA) to Pakistan to probe
the Pathankot attack.
"T he invest ig at ion (into the
Pathankot attack) is not about rec
iprocity," he said.
Swarup in his statement cited
the Pakistan Foreign Ministry
spokesperson in Islamabad as say
ing that both sides were "in con
tact with each other" over the for
eign secretary level talks.
The Pakistani spokesperson said:
"...It has been reiterated from both
sides that modalities are being
worked out. I will again state that
negotiations are the best means to
resolve the issues." He added that

Continued on page 4

excellence in journalism

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

April 9-15, 2016

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TRISTATE COMMUNITY

April 9-15, 2016

Ban tells Indian Army

chief he admires
Indian peacekeepers

Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos and others at the IALI event

MARAGOS URGES MINORITY

FIRMS TO AVAIL COUNTY
BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
Mineola, NY: On April 3rd
Nassau County Comptroller
George Maragos engaged local
business and community lead
ers in a lively discussion on
Minority and Womenowned
Business Enterprises (MWBE)
and doing business with
Nassau County.
Maragos and Sergio Blanco
of the Comptrollers Of fice
described the Comptrollers
initiatives to increase by 100%
business opportunities to

MWBEs as contractors and

subcontractors on County con
tracts. Comptroller Maragos
a l s o a n s w e r ed a v a r i e t y of
questions about the business
environment in Hicksville and
N a s s a u C o u n t y. T h e I n d i a
A s s o c i a t i o n of L o n g I s l a n d
( I A L I ) h o s t ed t h e e v e n t i n
Hicksville.
My of fice is dedicated to
promoting opportunities for
MWBEs to participate in the
County contract awards,

C o m p t r o l l e r M a r a go s s a i d .
Any minority and woman
owned enterprise in Nassau
County that is not participat
ing in these programs may be
losing out on millions in new
business. Attendees included
IALI President Beena Kothari,
honorees Dilli Raj Bhatta, Esq.
a n d H i c k s v i l l e C h a m b e r of
Commerce President Lione l
Chitty, and many members of
IALI and Hicksville communi
ties.

United
Nations:
UN
Secretary General Ban Ki
moon met Army Chie f
Dalbir Singh here Monday
and expressed his admira
tion for the Indian peace
keepers' commitment and
discipline.
Sing h assured Ban of
Indian peacekeepers'com
mitment to the UN mission
and said they would con
tinue to receive the highest
UN Secretary General Ban Kimoon with
quality of training for UN
General
Dalbir Singh, the Indian Chief of
deployment. They would be
Army
Staff,
April 4, at the UN headquarters
held to the utmost stan
in
New
York.
(Photo: United Nations/IANS)
dards of discipline and the
Indian Army totally adhered to Akbaruddin at their meeting that
Ban's zero tolerance policy on sex he appreciated India's strong sup
port for the peacekeeping opera
ual exploitation abuse, he added.
While the peacekeeping opera tions. India currently has 7,695
tions have been marred by scan troops serving under the UN's
dals of sexual abuse by UN and blue ag and historically has been
other troops on missions, Indian the largest contributor of person
peacekeepers received a clean nel, having sent 180,000 troops
chit in the rst comprehensive to 48 missions.
Last September Prime Minister
report last month on sexual
exploitation and abuse by UN per Narendra Modi offered to provide
850 more troops and three police
sonnel.
Ban told Sing h and India's units with a high proportion of
Permanent Representative Syed women for UN operations.

Ekal Vidyalaya and Consulate host 'Beti Bacho - Beti Padhao' event
New York: On March 24, Ekal
Vidyalaya Foundation and the
Indian Consulate jointly celebrat
ed International Women's month
fo cusing
on
Women's
Empowerment through education.
The event also provided the rst
opportunity for newly appointed
Consulate General Riva Ganguly
Das to interact with the diverse
Indian community for vibrant
exchange of ideas. In her welcome
address, Ambassador Das provid
ed an overview of the Beti Bachao
Beti Padhao as a agship initiative
of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,
where by a third of Village
Panchayats have been decreed to
have women in responsible posi
tions. She acknowledged that,
though great strides are being
made to empower women, a lot
yet is to be done to change age
old attitudes and beliefs affecting
women in our society, and espe
cially in rural areas. She expressed

Ranjani Saigal, of Ekal Vidyalaya, Dr. Urmilesh Arya, Dr. Sunita Saini and
moderator Renee Mehrra at the panel discussion.
hope that the grassroot organiza
tions like Ekal, with presence in
60,000plus villages, can play an
important role in it.
Aroon Shivdasani, President of
the Indo American Arts Council, in
her keynote address, stressed the
importance of educating women
on par with men to create an
environment in families where
selfesteem of individuals is not
compromised and women have
equal opportunity in all walks of

life. ITVs famous anchor woman,

Renee Mehrra, moderated the
panel discussion among three suc
cessful women of Indian origin
from dif ferent backgrounds and
family values.
Ranjani Saig al, Execut ive
Director of Ekal Vidyalaya,
touched on the need to uphold the
standards set by parents who pre
cipitated her own academic suc
cess at IIT and MIT. She further
related an anecdote of how during

a visit to a rural area a girl asked

her, what can I do in my village
what you have done out
there?According to her, the ques
tion has dogged her ever since
while she is working at Ekal. She
informed that Ekal puts special
emphasis on educating girls and
making them selfreliant though
various skillstraining in rural
tribal areas.
Dr. Urmilesh Arya, COO at
Gastroenterology Associates in
Brooklyn, brought to fore a criti
cal challenge for girls in accessing
education the fear that their
daughter would get romantically
entangled with a boy, which may
bring shame to the family. She
herself overcame this challenge
and many others with selfconvic
tion and courage.
Dr. Sunita Saini, Director of
South Shore Psycholog ical
Services and Long Island
Psychology and Psychotherapy

Services, highlighted the impor

tance of having a supportive fami
ly who, regardless of gender,
value building their childrens
career more rather than acquiring
material assets.
T here was a consensus that
when a woman is educated, she
educates her entire family. The
ensuing discussion highlighted
the relevance of good health for
women as a strategy towards
empowerment. The panel cau
tioned that overcoming the socio
cultural biases that promote
female infanticide and the percep
tion that a girl is a burden are
major stumbling blocks in restor
ing dignity of women in our socie
ty.
Vino d
Jhunjhunwalla,
President of Ekal Foundation,
USA, and Prof Subash Midha, the
main Ekal coordinator for the
event, thanked the Indian
Consulate, for their support in
hosting this event.

April 9-15, 2016

RANA celebrates Spring

Festivals with pomp

President Naveen Shah &

Vice President Kanak Golia
New York: The Spring Festivals
Ce le brat ions org anized by
Rajasthan Association of North
America (RANA) last Sunday saw
more than 1000 people from
many Indian communities gath
er and celebrate the festivities
under one roof. RANA continues
to be a trendsetter by organiz
ing this one of a kind event
titled Glamor with Humor
was a combination of a fashion
show, dance performances and
standup comedy & poetry held
in the Tristate area.
Speaking on the occasion,
RANA President, Naveen C Shah
mentioned that As part of meet
ing the organizations charitable

Emcee Shailesh Lodha and poets

objective of caring for orphans,

the RANA Board has decided to
adopt 1000 children in orphan
ages in India over their lifetime
and support them for all opera
tional expenses including food,
shelter, clothing and educational
requirements.
We
need
$250,000 to achieve this objec
tive and I urge all those present
to donate generously to this
noble cause by contributing
financial and inte llectual
resources to achieve this goal.
A spectacular fashion show with
the trendiest, glamorous and lat
est styles by leading designers
with stunning & gorgeous mod
els choreographed by Nishi Bahl

of Panache Entertainment inter

spersed by electrifying dance
performances by students of
Arya Dance Academy arranged
by Shilpa Jhurani entertained
the packed audience. A classical
dance
performance
by
renowned Bollywoo d & TV
actress Prachee Shah Pandya
and standup comedy and satiri
cal poetry recitals by renowned
poets and comics from India,
moderated by the incomparable
Master of Ceremonies Shailesh
Lodha and his team of poets
Dinesh Kumar, Mahendra
Kumar & Vishnu Dayal Saxena
were the hig hlig hts of the
evening.

Prestigious advocacy award for Dr Akshat Jain

New York: New York hematolo
gist oncologist selected for the
most prest ig ious advo cacy
award by the American Society
of Hematology amongst it's
16,000 members from over
100 countries. Dr Akshat Jain,
section head for global hema
tology oncology at Northwell
Health and assistant professor

of pediatrics at the Cohen

Children's Medical Center on
Long Island will serve as the
voice of sub speciality doctors
at the Capitol Hill in
Washington DC in this current
role to bring out meaningful
changes in which medicine is
offered and practiced through
out the United States.

Pakistan envoy says talks with

India suspended, no NIA visit
Continued from page 1
Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar
too had indicated in a recent statement
that talks would take place.
Basit also said that the arrest of an
alleged Indian spy, Kulbushan Jadhav,
proved Islamabad's allegations that
New De lhi was causing unrest in
Balochistan.
The announcement comes nearly
three and half months after Prime
Minister Narendra Modi visited Lahore
on December 25 on an unannounced
trip to attend the wedding of the
granddaughter of his Pakistani coun
terpart Nawaz Sharif.
Modi's trip had raised hopes about
the resumption of peace talks between
the rival neighbors.
Basit's statement appears to be the
first official word from Pakistan about
the latest breakdown in the nowon
nowoff peace process with India.

Thousands at Trump's
Long Island rally
Continued from page 1
the wall was the mantra two weeks
shy of the New York primary, as
Trump continued to run as an out
sider.
Trump called on everyone in the
room to get out the vote, and to
encourage others to do the same.
Youre going to say that it was the
most important vote that you ever
cast, Trump said.
The event ahead of the states pri
mary on April 19 comes a day after
Trumps presidential campaign hit a
bump Tuesday with a loss to Cruz in
the Wisconsin primary.

Sant Rajinder Singh to

visit NJ and Long Island

Dr Akshat Jain

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

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

TURN PAGE

Continued from page 1

Center embodies Sant Rajinder Singh
Ji Maharajs visionary wisdom. Widely
recognized by civic, social and reli
gious leaders as one of the worlds
foremost spiritual Masters, he has
established similar centers around the
globe. Believing meditation enhances

every aspect of life, the Meditation

Center in Amityville holds regular pro
grams on meditation, spirituality,
healthy living and related subjects.
Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj is no
stranger to New York. In August 2007,
New York Assemblyman Jose R.
Peralta (D. 39th District) presented the
spiritual leader with a New York
Assembly Proclamation which stated:
On the occasion of his visit to the
Empire State, it is imperative to honor
Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj who
breathes life into the humanity move
ment. His is a global ef fort to seek
unity at the level of the soul and tran
scend racial, cultural, national, reli
gious and economic dif ferences. His
herculean ef forts to uplift humanity
deserve our special recognition.
He was welcomed to New Jersey
with a Joint Legislative Resolution
commending him for his outstanding
record of devoted service to the chil
dren and people of the world commu
nity.
On the occasion of the 50th anniver
sary of the United Nations, the spiritu
al Master led an audience of thousands
into meditation at the Cathedral of St.
John the Divine in New York City. He
received a peace award from the
Interfaith Center of New York and was
invited to speak at a ceremony honor
ing UN Secretary Kofi Annan. In addi
tion, he was a featured spiritual leader
at the Millennium Peace Summit at the
United Nations.
For more information about Sant
Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj or his sched
ule, visit www.sos.org , email infotris
tate@sos.org , 6318227979.

Panama Papers leak divulge

global web of corruption...
Continued from page 1
politicians, famous actors, athletes and
the circle of friends of Russian
Vladimir Putin, who some allege has
profited indirectly from such accounts.
Yesterday, British Prime Minister
David Cameron acknowledged he prof
ited from his father's investments in an
of fshore tax haven be fore being
elected.

Jaipur (India) Bureau

Prakash Bhandari
Prakash@TheSouthAsianTimes.info

IANS Washington Bureau

Arun Kumar
arun.kumar@ians,in

Photographs: Gunjesh Desai/

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Photo Journalist: Sandeep Girhotra

Cartoonist: Mahendra Shah

Chief Operating Officer:

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West Coast Correspondent

Pooja Jain,
Pooja@TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Art and Design: Vladimir Tomovski

Bhagwati Creations,
Dhiraj Kumar

Managing Editor: Parveen Chopra

P : 516.710.0508
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Delhi@TheSouthAsianTimes.info

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TheSouthAsianTimes.info

TRISTATE COMMUNITY

April 9-15, 2016

NY area gets a new Zoroastrian Community Center

New York:
Six hundred
Zarathushtis (Zoroastrians), their
friends and families from the tri
state area of New York, New
Jersey and Connecticut came
together to celebrate a once in a
lifetime event the opening of a
Zoroastrian religious and cultural
community center in Pomona, NY
on March 26. The inaugural event
held during the week of Nowruz,
the start of the Persian new year
also coincides with the birthday of
Zarathustra, the Zoroastrian
prophet. T he goal of this new
building is to house the active
community of Zarathushtis which
has grown tremendously over the
past 40 years and is currently
estimated to be about one thou
sand.
DareMehr is believed to mean
Door of Peace, and denotes a
Zarathushti temple without a per
manently consecrated devotional
fire. T he inaugurat ion of the
Arbab Rustam Guiv DareMehr
building was hosted by T he
Zoroastrian Association of Greater
New York (ZAGNY), the Iranian
Zoroastrian Association (IZA) and
the DareMehr Zoroastrian
Temple (DMZT).
Thirty priests converged from
all over North America to bless

Thirty priests converged from all over North America

to bless the building
the building. The prayers were
lead by the honorable Vada
Dasturji Khurshed Dastoor the
high priest and religious leader of
the Zarathushti community who
joined from Udvada, India. The
event was interwoven with music,
food prepared by community
restaurateurs, performances by
children as well as formal speech
es by local dignitaries including
of ficials from the Mayor of
Pomonas Office, respected acade
micians and revered community
members. The event was made
accessible to viewers worldwide
and broadcast by a live stream.
Inspired by ancient Persian and

Zoroastrian architecture of the

fire temples of India and Iran, the
new building was designed by
awardwinning architect Dinyar
Wadia of Wadia Associates. It fea
tures a stone faade with a colon
naded portico, and decorative
capitols, evoking the architectural
style of Persepolis (the ancient
Zoroastrian city and heritage site)
as a nod to the long road traveled.
It is a 22,000 square foot struc
ture which has four classrooms,
three meeting rooms, a library, a
traditional prayer hall, chefs
kitchen, recreation room and a
main hall that can accommodate
up to 400 guests. Special features

Indian doctoral student part of

US team that decoded Zika virus
New York: 29yearold
identify the structure of
Devika Sirohi from Uttar
the virus, speaking to a
Pradesh is among the
leading daily, Sirohi said,
sevenmember team of
"During the period of the
researchers that has suc
research, we barely slept
cessfully determined the
for two to three hours a
structure of the Zika
day, but our hard work
virus for the first time.
finally paid off. This dis
Devika, who was born
covery will help doctors
and broug ht up in
and researchers to find a
Meerut city, is a doctoral
cure for the deadly dis
student at Purdue
ease that has been
Devika Sirohi
University and the (Image credit: TimesofIndia.com) reported in 33 coun
youngest member of the
tries."
team. Out of the sevenmember team,
Devika also said that the structure will
three were professors and four were stu help in creating effective antiviral treat
dents. Amid growing concerns, global ments and vaccines. She will be submit
health of ficials are racing to better ting her thesis by the end of this year.
understand the Zika virus behind a
Devika completed her schooling from
major outbreak that began in Brazil last Dayawati Modi Academy, honours in bio
year and has spread to many countries chemistry from Delhi University and
in the Americas.
MSc from Tata Institute of Fundamental
Stating that it took four months to Research in Mumbai

The new building is designed by awardwinning architect Dinyar

Wadia of Wadia Associates
include an Afarghanyu (fire ves
sel) based on the 250 year old
prototype found at a historic tem
ple in Mumbai, India, a custom
crafted Winterstone pane l
inspired by the ancient Tripylon
Palace in Persepolis and a tradi
tional Persianinspired water
fountain (that is yet to be built).
The building took 2 years to
construct and approximate ly
$5M. The small but unwavering
and dedicated community raised
funds locally, nationally and inter
nationally for close to six years to
construct and complete the build
ing. Today we take a moment to
appreciate what we have built as a

community, said Astad J.

Clubwala, President of ZAGNY.
This will be the legacy of our
generation and can be seen as a
gift from the generation that was
born in our homelands of India,
Iran and Pakistan to the genera
tion of Zoroastrians born in North
America.
This is a monumental achieve
ment for the Zarthushti communi
ties of New York, New Jersey, and
Connecticut to be able to see the
day that they have been dreaming
about, and contributing their time,
their work, and their funds
towards. said Shirin Khosravi,
President of IZA.

AAHOA gets its rst woman ofcer

Jagruti Panwala elected secretary
New York: T he e lection of
Strategies, an investment man
Jagruti Panwala as secretary was
agement business she founded
a highlight of the fourday annu
in 1999. She has been active in
al convention held March 29
AAHOA for more than a decade,
April 1 at the Gaylord Opryland
holding leadership positions
Resort & Convention Center in
since 2011 when first elected
Nashville, Tennessee. The event
female director at large, eastern
drew a record turnout 5,000
division. Reelected in 2014, she
hoteliers, vendors and franchise
has also cochaired the Womens
CEOs and their cohorts. Panwala
Hotelier Committee for five
told Asian Hospitality she is
years and served on the strate
extremely honored and very Jagruti will succeed to chair of gic planning committee for two
humbled to be AAHOAs new
years. She testified to Congress
AAHOA in 2019
secretary, but the victory is not (Image courtesy: theindianeye.net) against proposed harmful labor
hers alone. All of AAHOA can
laws. Her focus repeatedly has
benefit by electing its first female officer. The been getting more women, independent and
win is important, she said, for women hoteliers, young hoteliers involved. In 2011, she received
young hoteliers, independent hoteliers and small the prestigious AAHOA Chairmans Award of
momandpop owners.
Excellence. She is a secondgeneration hotelier
She will succeed to chair of AAHOA in 2019, a who migrated from Surat, India, with her parents
first for the 27yearold organization. Panwala is when she was a teenager. She lives in
a businesswoman in Ivyland, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania with her husband and two children.
where she is part of a family hotel company and Bruce Patel took over the baton from outgoing
president and CEO of Wealth Protection chairman Jimmy Patel during the convention.

April 9-15, 2016

TRISTATE COMMUNITY

Army grants Sikh American

ofcer right to wear turban
Washington, DC: An IndianAmeri
can Sikh military officer in U.S has
been granted permission to wear a
religious beard and turban while in
uniform, the media reported
April1. The U.S. Armys decision to
the make permanent religious ac
commodation for Capt. Simratpal
Singh makes him the first active
duty combat soldier in decades to
be permitted to wear a turban and
beard, www.nydailynews.com re
ported. The ruling ended the pro
tracted battle that pitted individual
religious freedom rights against
what the military said was a need
for uniformity and strict safety
standards.
My two worlds are one again
I can fully serve my country exact
ly the way I want to and still be a
full Sikh the way I want to be, re
ported nydailynews.com. Singh,
28, an observant Sikh had to cut
his hair and shave his beard when
he joined the West Point military
academy in 2006. It was excruci
ating. For 18 years of your life,
youve had a certain image of your
self. All of a sudden, its shattered

Capt. Simratpal Singh

(Image courtesy: Sikh Coalition)
within 10 minutes, Singh was
quoted as saying.
Ten years later, Singh, now an
Army Ranger and Bronze Star
Medal recipient, in a bid to reclaim
that image asked the U.S. Army in
October to allow him to begin
wearing a beard and turban. Fac
ing a discrimination lawsuit, the
Army granted him a temporary ac
commodation in December.
In February, with the temporary

NYIFF to kick off

with Nachom-iaKumpasar
New York: The 16th annual
New York Indian Film Festival,
presented by the IndoAmeri
can Arts Council, has an
nounced that its opening night
film will be Nachomia
Kumpasar (Lets Dance to the
Rhythm), directed by Bardroy
Barretto.
The festival will kick of f May
7 at 5 p.m. at the Skirball Cen
ter for Performing Arts in New
York City, N.Y., and continue
until May 14.
Among the celebrities and
guests that will grace the red
carpet and cocktails event are
Aparna Sen, Salman Rushdie,
Indian Ambassador to the U.S.
Arun Singh, Ambassador Vijay
Nambiar, Madhur Jaf frey,

Aasif Mandvi, Paul Williams,

Tracey Jackson, Umesh Kulka
rni, Suketu Mehta, Hansal
Mehta, Sakina Jaf frey, Sarita
Choudhury, Kalki Koechlin,
Ayad Akhtar, Muzaf far Ali,
Nasseredin
Shah,
Vishal
Bhardwaj, Rekha Bhardwaj
and Aditya Basu Bhattacharya.
Aroon Shivdasani, artistic
and executive director of IAAC,
will give the welcome address.
Filmmaker Mira Nair and
Singh will also give addresses.
A postscreening discussion
with Barretto and the cast will
be moderated by Aseem
Chhabra. The evening will end
with a gala benefit dinner and
dancing at the Rosenthal Pavil
ion Penthouse.

accommodation set to expire, the

Army insisted Captain Singh to un
dergo extensive testing to make
sure his beard and hair wouldnt
interfere with his helmet or gas
mask.
Singh filed suit citing religious
discrimination. A judge ruled that
the Army couldnt impose the indi
vidualized testing on Singh and or
dered the service to decide on his
request by March 31.
On March 31, in a court ruling
Singh was finally granted a perma
nent accommodation.
Because of the Armys strong in
terest in maintaining good order
and discipline, the Army intends to
develop clear, uniform standards
applicable to soldiers who have re
ceived religious accommodation,
Debra S. Wada, the assistant secre
tary of the Army for manpower
and reserve affairs, wrote in a
memo to the captain released April
1. Until those standards are in
place, she said, Captain Singh will
be expected to appear in a neat
and conservative manner with a
black or camouflage turban.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

India's Finance
Minister to address
Asia Society in NY
ernments
New York: Spe
Make in India
cial address by
program,
Arun Jaitley,
which
in
Indias Minis
cludes major
ter of Finance,
new
initia
Corporate Af
tives
de
fairs, and In
signed to fa
formation and
cilitate invest
Broadcasting
ment, foster
will deliver a
innovation,
special
ad
and
build
dress on Mon
manufactur
day, April 18
ing
infra
from 11.30 am
structure.
to 1.00 pm at
Also pres
Asia Society in
ent will be Dr.
NY. A member
Naushad
of the Cabinet
Arun Jaitley
Forbes, Presi
of India, Minis
dent of Con
ter Jaitley holds
the primary responsibility for federation of Indian Industry;
managing Indias economy Shaktikanta Das, Secretary of
which, as the fastest growing the Department of Economic
major economy in the world, is Af fairs in the Indian Ministry of
increasingly critical given the Finance; Kevin Rudd (modera
slowdown in the global econo tor), President of the Asia Soci
my. Minister Jaitleys remarks ety Policy Institute, former
will focus on the Indian Gov Prime Minister of Australia.

USINPAC invites all to interact

with Gov.Kasichs campaign
New York: In an unpredictable
US Presidential primaries, the
USIndia Political Action Com
mittee (USINPAC) continues its
interactive Presidential Dialogue
series with Democratic and Re
publican Presidential campaigns
to engage and discuss issues im
portant to the Indian American
community. USINPAC invites all
to join its Google hangout, on
Thursday, April 7th at 12:30 pm
EST with the Presidential Cam
paign of Governor John Kasich,
represented by Ohio State Rep.
Niraj Antani.
The Google hangout will be
chaired by Manish Antani and
Sanjay Puri and will draw Indian
Americans across the country,
eager to know more about Gov.
Kasichs stand on issues pertain
ing to USIndia relations, immi
gration, terrorism and domestic
issues like education and the
economy among others.

Governor John Kasich (Photo Source : Yahoo.com)

State Representative Niraj An
tani, serving his first term, is the
youngest currently serving mem
ber of the Ohio House.
Additionally, he is the second
IndianAmerican state elected of
ficial in Ohio history, and the
first IndianAmerican Republi
can. Sanjay Puri, Chairman of US

INPAC, remarked, I welcome all

Indian Americans to join us on
our next Presidential Dialogue
Series with Gov. Kasichs cam
paign.
USINPAC expects it to have a
very interactive and productive
discussion on Apr 7th. Join
us.

Women all over unite to celebrate womanhood with Bindi

San Francisco, CA: This Interna
tional Womens Day, women
around the world celebrated
womanhood by sporting Bindi.
Women from different corners of
the world such as India, USA,
Canada, Fiji, Italy, New Zealand,
Australia and beyond united to

join this campaign regardless of

their cultural background and
ethnicity. There were hindus,
muslims, christians, jews, every
one, who came together to cele
brate the common thread of be
ing a woman. Bindi is a small, or
namental dot applied to the fore

head. The word Bindi is derived

from Sanskrit word Bindu,
which means the point around
which the creation of the uni
verse begins. Women have al
ways been the central anchor
holding the families together. A
woman signifies the strength, the

beauty, the elegance and the

power. The bindi represents all of
these qualities perfectly. That is
why it made so much sense to cel
ebrate the womens day wearing
Bindi, says Sailee Raje, founder
and CEO of EthnicThread app
who first came up with this idea.

She further says, Bindis are Bold

and Beautiful. They are very easy
to apply or draw on your body.
Its an incredibly simple and fun
way for women to sport it on the
womens day and unitedly cele
brate the pride of being a
woman.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

South Asians share ancestry

with a mysterious
population: Researchers
New York: Many bloodlines around the world,
particularly of south Asian descent, may actually
be a bit more Denisovan a mysterious popula
tion of hominids that lived around the same time
as the Neanderthals researchers including
Indianorigin scientists have revealed. The team
from Harvard Medical School and University of
CaliforniaLos Angeles (UCLA) has created a
world map and also used comparative genomics
to make predictions about where Denisovan and
Neanderthal genes may be impacting modern
human biology. The analysis also proposes that
modern humans interbred with Denisovans about
100 generations after their trysts with the
Neanderthals. Denisovan genes can potentially be
linked to a more subtle sense of smell in Papua
New Guineans and highaltitude adaptions in
Tibetans. Meanwhile, Neanderthal genes found in
people around the world most likely contribute
to tougher skin and hair.
Most nonAfricans possess at least a little bit
Neanderthal DNA.
"There are certain classes of genes that modern
humans inherited from the archaic humans with
whom they interbred, which may have helped the
modern humans to adapt to the new environ
ments in which they arrived," explained senior
author David Reich, geneticist at Harvard Medical
School. On the ip side, there was negative selec
tion to systematically remove ancestry that may
have been problematic from modern humans.
"We can document this removal over the
40,000 years since these admixtures occurred,"

Reich added.
Reich and lab members, Swapan Mallick and
Nick Patterson, teamed up with previous labora
tory member Sriram Sankararaman, assistant
professor of computer science at the University
of California, Los Angeles for the project. They
found evidence that both Denisovan and
Neanderthal ancestry has been lost from the X
chromosome as well as genes expressed in the
male testes.
The team theorises that this has contributed to
reduced fertility in males, which is commonly
observed in other hybrids between two highly
divergent groups of the same species.
The researchers collected their data by compar
ing known Neanderthal and Denisovan gene
sequences across more than 250 genomes from
120 nonAfrican populations publicly available
through the Simons Genome Diversity Project.
The analysis was carried out by a machine
learning algorithm that could dif ferentiate
between components of both kinds of ancestral
DNA, which are more similar to one another than
to modern humans. The study's limitation is that
it re lies on the current library of ancient
genomes available. "We can't use this data to
make claims about what the Denisovans or
Neanderthals looked like, what they ate, or what
kind of diseases they were susceptible to," said
Sankararaman, rst author on the paper. "We are
still very far from understanding that." The new
map of archaic ancestry was published in the
(IANS)
journal Current Biology.

10 Indian-Americans among 21
arrested in visa fraud case
Washington, DC: US law enforce
ment agencies have arrested 21 peo
ple, including 10 IndianAmericans,
on charges of visa fraud involving
about 1,000 foreign students.
Arrested in New York, New Jersey,
Washington and Virginia these 21
individuals were brokers, recruiters
and employers who conspired with
more than 1,000 foreign nationals to
fraudulently obtain student and for
eign worker visas through a "pay to
stay" New Jersey college,
Department of Justice said. As per
the federal compliant unsealed on
Tuesday, the defendants, many of
whom operated recruiting compa
nies for purported international stu
dents, were arrested for their
involvement in an alleged scheme to

April 9-15, 2016

NATIONAL COMMUNITY

enroll foreign nationals as students

in the University of Northern New
Jersey (UNNJ, a purported forprot
college located in Cranford, New
Jersey. Unbeknownst to the defen
dants and the foreign nationals they
conspired with, however, the UNNJ
was created in September 2013 by
federal agents.
Through the UNNJ, undercover
HSI agents investigated criminal
activities associated with the Student
and Exchange Visitor Program
(SEVP), including, but not limited to,
student visa fraud and the harboring
of aliens for prot.
The UNNJ was not staf fed with
instructors or educators, had no cur
riculum and conducted no actual
classes or education activities.

TALENT AGENT
SENTENCED FOR
$2 MILLION FRAUD
New York: A 45yearold
Indianorigin man, who worked
as a talent agent, has been sen
tenced to up to six years in
prison in New York for stealing
more than $2 million from
clients by falsely promising to
book famous recording artists
for events.
Yugeshwar Rajkumar of New
Jersey, who had pleaded guilty
last month in New York State
Supreme Court to grand larce
ny and fraud charges, was also
ordered to pay $1.7 million in
rest itut ion. Manhattan District
Attorney Cyrus Vance said Rajkumar
was a booking agent and stole more
than $2 million from clients by falsely
promising to book famous recording
artists for events."The defendant took
advantage of his reputation in the
music industry to convince his victims
to pay him tens of thousands of dollars
to secure supposed performances by
worldfamous recording artists," Vance
said.
Around 2008, Rajkumar false ly
promised clients and event promoters
that he would book popular recording
artists for overseas concerts, including

Yugeshwar Rajkumar
(Image credit: nypost.com)
Akon and Chris Brown.
In exchange for the supposed book
ing, Rajkumar charged his clients
between $45,000 and $300,000, and
directed them to wire payments to
bank accounts held by entities based in
New York and controlled by him.
However, instead of using the money
to book the promised artists, he made
cash withdrawals and spent the money
on rent, car payments, legal fees, and
personal debts, Vance said.
In many cases, victims were forced to
pay additional fees to secure perform
ances by desired artists who were
(PTI)
never booked by Rajkumar.

Prof Rajender Aparasu selected

for Fulbright Specialist Roster
Houston: An IndianAmerican
professor and pharmaceutical
department chair at a prestigious
American university has been
se lected for the Fulbrig ht
Specialist Roster for his outstand
ing achievements in the eld of
pharmacy. Rajender R Aparasu is
the rst pharmacy faculty mem
ber at the University of Houston
selected to be the candidate ros
ter of the Fulbright Specialist
Program, which helps US faculty
share their academic expertise
and develop linkages with nonUS
inst itut ions on curriculum,
assessment, faculty development
and research training. T he
Fulbright program, which is fund

Prof Rajender Aparasu

ed by the Department of State's
Bureau of Educat ional and
Cultural Af fairs, serves to pro
mote international engagement
of academic scholarship and build

linkages between US and over

seas institutions. "There are very
few Fulbright specialists in phar
macy; I am really honoured to be
selected for Fulbright Specialist
Roster," said Aparasu, whose ve
year term ends in 2021.
"This is a great opportunity to
offer my expertise in developing
professional and graduate phar
macy programs that involve phar
maceutical health outcomes and
policy," he said. "I am looking for
ward to the opportunity to visit
overseas pharmacy institutions to
assist faculty and administrators
with respect to academic and
research programs in pharmaceu
(PTI)
tical outcomes research."

April 9-15, 2016

PANAMA PAPERS LEAK

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

PANAMA PAPERS:
Decoding historys biggest data leak
T

he massive data leak from a

Panamabased law firm, now
known across the world as
the "Panama Papers", has put
many world leaders, politicians,
celebrities and sportstars under
the spotlight.
T he leaked files from the
Panamanian firm Mossack
Fonseca has revealed that it hid
billions of dollars in assets for its
clients. The files, comprising over
11 million documents from the
firm totaling close to 2.6 TB of
data, have revealed names which
have shocked many.
The International Consortium of
Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and
100 other media partners conduct
ed an investigation into the files
and unearthed information on
more than 214,000 offshore com
panies connected to people in
more than 200 countries and terri
tories. T he information might
throw light on a widespread sys

tem of global tax evasion.

According to WIRED website,
ICIJ director Gerard Ryle said that
the leak began in late 2014, "when
an unknown source reached out to
the
German
newspaper
Suddeutsche Zeitung, which had
reported previously on a smaller
leak of Mossack Fonseca files to
German government regulators."
Ryle revealed that Bast ian
Obermayer, a Suddeutsche Zeitung
reporter, said that the source had
contacted him via encrypted chat,
of fering data intended to make
these crimes public.
Upon being contacted by the
source, Obermayer asked, How
much data are we talking about?
Obermayer told WIRED the
source's response: More than you
have ever seen.
Additionally, according to the
report, Ryle said that the source
had warned Obermayer that his or
her life is in danger.

Opposition lawmaker
presses charges against
Argentina President
Mauricio Macri

Buenos Aires: An Argentine opposition law

maker has pressed charges against
President Mauricio Macri, seeking to have
him investigated for financial crimes after
his name appeared in the socalled Panama
Papers leaks.
Lawmaker Norman Martinez asked a fed
eral judge to order an investigation into
whether the conservative president "knew
of, collaborated in, ordered or approved
maneuvers to launder money or evade
taxes."
Martinez, an ally of Macri's predecessor
and opponent, Cristina Kirchner, filed the
complaint after the lower house voted down
a bill that sought to force the president to
testify before Congress on his interests in
two firms registered in the Bahamas and
Panama. Macri still faces a separate move to
launch a congressional commission to probe
any irregularities in his finances.
Information about Macri's offshore finan
cial dealings emerged in the leak of millions
of documents from Panamanian law firm
Mossack Fonseca, which has put a host of
world leaders and celebrities in the hot seat
over their secret financial dealings.
(AFP/PTI)

Obermayer said that he commu

nicated with his source over a
series of encrypted channels that
they frequently changed. They
took the precaution of deleting all
history from their prior exchange
each time.
Without revealing the exact
channels used for communicating
w ith the source, Obermayer,
according to the report, alluded to
crypto apps like Signal and
Threema, as well as PGPencrypted
email. Obermayer revealed that
each time the reporter and the
source reestablished a connection,
"they would use a known question
and answer to reauthenticate each
other."
Id say is it sunny? Youd say
the moon is raining or whatever
nonsense, and then both of us can
verify its still the other person on
the device, Obermayer told
WIRED. As the source provided the
files, Suddeutsche Zeitung contact

Panamanian firm Mossack Fonseca is at the center of the storm. The

firm hid billions of dollars in assets for its clients at offshore tax havens.
(Image courtesy: newyorker.com)
ed the ICIJ.
The WIRED report says that the
ICIJs developers built a "twofac
torauthenticationprotected
search engine" for the leaked files,
the URL for which they shared "via
encrypted email with scores of
news outlets including the BBC,
The Guardian, Fusion, and dozens

of foreignlanguage media outlets."

Given the sheer size of the leak
and the terabytes of data involved,
it is unlikely that it could all be
shared over email. However,
Obermayer, according to the
report, refused to divulge how the
source was able to pass on all that
information.

The Fall Out of Panama Papers Leak

ICELAND NAMES NEW PM;

will hold autumn election
Reykjavik: Iceland's rightwing government
has named a new Prime Minister and said it
would hold early elections in the autumn,
after the previous leader was forced to step
down over his implication in the Panama
Papers scandal.
The two coalition partners, the Progressive
Party and the Independence Party, agreed
after talks late yesterday to hand the prime
ministerial post to the agriculture minister
Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson, 53, of the
Progressives. He replaces Sigmundur David
Gunnlaugsson, 41, who stepped down
Tuesday amid massive public protests over a
hidden offshore account revealed in the so
called Panama Papers leak of 11.5 million
financial documents.
"We expect to have elections this autumn,"
Johannsson said, insisting that the coalition, in
power since 2013, would continue to run the
country's affairs despite thousands of protest
ers calling for the whole government's resig
nation. "We will continue our work together.

The previous PM Sigmundur David

Gunnlaugsson was forced to step down
over his implication in the Panama Papers
scandal (Courtesy: londonlovesbusiness.com)
We are of course hoping this will help bring
stability in the political system," he said.
President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, who at 72
is due to retire in June after five terms and 20
years in of fice, is expected to approve
Johannsson's appointment. Iceland's next leg
islative elections were originally scheduled for
April 2017. Gunnlaugsson, who remains the
head of the Progressive Party for the time
being, was the first major political casualty to

emerge from the leak of millions of docu

ments detailing of fshore accounts held by
world leaders and celebrities. Two other
Iceland cabinet ministers have been singled
out in the leak Finance Minister Bjarni
Benediktsson and Interior Minister Olof
Nordal and the coalition is keen to stall for
time to avoid what would surely be a resound
ing protest vote if a snap election were held
soon. The coalition parties "have lost all their
legitimacy, but I am sceptical they will leave of
their own initiative. Time is on their side and
it's crucial for them to stay in power," lament
ed Gyda Margret Petursdottir, a 42yearold
teacher who was one of hundreds who
protested against the government outside par
liament yesterday. T he Panama Papers,
revealed by the International Consortium of
Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), showed that
Gunnlaugsson and his wife owned an offshore
company in the British Virgin Islands and had
placed millions of dollars of her inheritance
there.
(AFP/PTI)

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

April 9-15, 2016

PANAMA PAPERS LEAK

World over probes opened in financial

arrangements of public figures
Beijing/Hong Kong: Authorities
across the g lobe have opened
investigations into the activities of
the world's rich and powerful after
a cache of leaked documents from
a Panamanian law firm showed
possible wrongdoing using of f
shore company structures.
The "Panama Papers" have cast
light on the financial arrange
ments of high profile politicians
and public figures and the compa
nies and financial institutions they
use for such activities. Among
those named in the documents are
friends of Russian President
Vladimir Putin and relatives of the
leaders of China, Britain, Iceland
and Pakistan, and the president of
Ukraine.
Leading figures and financial
institutions responded to the mas
sive leak of more than 11.5 million
documents with denials of any
wrongdoing as prosecutors and
regulators began a review of the
reports from the investigation by
the US based Internat ional
Consort ium of Invest ig at ive
Journalists (ICIJ) and other media
organizations.
Following the reports, China has
moved to limit local access to cov
erage of the matter with state
media denouncing Western report
ing on the leak as biased against

nonWestern leaders.
France, Australia, New Zealand,
Austria, Sweden and the
Netherlands are among nations
that have commenced investiga
tions, and some other countries,
including the United States, said
they were looking into the matter.
Mossack
Fonseca,
the
Panamanian law firm at the center
of the leaks, has set up more than
240,000 of fshore companies for
clients around the g lobe and
denies any wrongdoing. It calls
itself the victim of a campaign
against privacy and claims media
reports misrepresent the nature of
its business.
The Hong Kong government said
in a statement that its Inland
Revenue Department has taken
note of the recent release of the
documents and will take "neces
sary actions" based on any infor
mation it gets. It will not comment
on individual cases or disclose the
course of action because of secre
cy provisions in Hong Kong tax
law, the government said.
Credit Suisse and HSBC, two of
the world's largest wealth man
agers, dismissed suggestions they
were actively using offshore struc
tures to help clients cheat on their
taxes. Both were named among the
banks that helped set up complex

A security guard sits outside the the Mossack Fonseca law firm in
Panama City. (Image courtesy: hindustantimes.com)
structures that make it hard for
tax collectors and investigators to
track the flow of money from one
place to another, according to ICIJ.
Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam,
who is aggressive ly targeting
Asia's wealthiest for growth, said
his bank was only after lawful
assets. Speaking at a media brief
ing in Hong Kong, he acknowl
edged the bank uses of fshore
financial structures, but only for
very wealthy customers w ith
assets in multiple jurisdictions and
did not support their use for tax
avoidance or allow them without
knowing the identities of all those

concerned. "We do not condone

structures for tax avoidance," he
said. "Whenever there is a struc
ture with a third party beneficiary
we insist to know the identity of
that beneficiary."
Separately, HSBC said the docu
ments predated a thoroug h
reform of its business model.
Both banks have in recent years
paid large fines to US authorities
over their wealth management or
banking operations.
Credit Suisse agreed in 2014 to
pay a $2.5 billion fine for helping
rich Americans evade taxes. HSBC
agreed in 2012 to pay $1.92 bil

lion in fines, mainly for allowing

itse lf to be used to launder
Mexican drug money.
The reports on leaks also point
ed to the of fshore companies
linked to the families of Chinese
President Xi Jinping and other
powerful current and former
Chinese leaders.
Chinese Foreign Ministry
spokesman Hong Lei, when asked
if the government would investi
gate tax affairs of those mentioned
in the Panama Papers, told
reporters at a daily news briefing
the ministry would not comment
on "these groundless accusations".
Searches for the word "Panama"
on Chinese search engines bring
up stories in Chinese media on the
topic, but many of the links have
been disabled or only open onto
stories about allegations directed
at sports stars.
China's Internet regulator did
not immediate ly respond to a
request for comment. The Global
Times, an influential tabloid pub
lished by the ruling Communist
Party's official People's Daily, sug
gested in an editorial on Tuesday
that Western media backed by
Washington used such leaks to
attack political targets in non
Western countries while minimiz
ing coverage of Western leaders.

Damiani resigns
PROBE ANNOUNCED
from FIFA ethics
FOR COSTA RICANS
REVEALED IN DATA LEAK committee
San Jos: Costa Ricans named in
the "Panama Papers" leak that
disclosed the of fshore financial
dealings of the world's wealthy
will be scrutinized for any crimi
nal or taxdodging activity, offi
cials have announced.
State prosecutors and the
finance ministry are teaming up
to tackle the matter, the Public
Ministry yesterday said in a
statement.
At the same time, a special

commission including the public

and finance ministries and the

police will meet next week to

define their lines of action.
The Costa Rican government
has seized upon the scandal to
urge lawmakers to pass a series
of laws on tax reform.
It particularly wants to see one
adopted that demands partners
and ultimate owners of anony
mous companies be registered
something that has met with
resistance from some corporate
and political figures. (AFP/PTI )

Juan Pedro Damiani

Geneva: Uruguay's Juan Pedro
Damiani has resigned from FIFA's
ethics committee after the
Panama Papers showed his law
firm acted as an intermediary for
a disgraced FIFA official. "We can
confirm that Mr. Damiani resigned
from his position as member of
the adjudicatory chamber of the
independent Ethics Committee of

FIFA," panel spokesman Marc

Tenbuecken told AFP in an email.
The Panama Papers indicate
that Damiani's firm he lped
Eugenio Figueredo the former
head of the South American foot
ball confederation who is now fac
ing corruption charges in the
United States set up a shell com
pany.

10 April 9-15, 2016

PANAMA PAPERS LEAK

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

RBI warns against jumping

to conclusions
New Delhi: Cautioning against
jumping to conclusions on
Panama Papers, the Reserve
Bank of India (RBI, or central
bank) on Wednesday said it
would have to look into the evi
dence to find what was legiti
mate.
Panama Papers have disclosed
a list of nearly 500 Indians,
including celebrities and indus
trialists who have allegedly
stashed money in of fshore enti
ties.
The government has set up a
task force and the RBI is a part of
it. RBI Deputy Governor S S
Mundra said on the sidelines of
an event organized by Assocham

PANAMA PAPERS HAVE DISCLOSED

A LIST OF NEARLY 500 INDIANS
here. "It would be too hasty to
jump to a conclusion that every
thing is illegitimate or everything
is legitimate. There would be all
kind of cases once the details are
available, we will look into the
evidence along with the team.
Then it would be fair to reach to
a conclusion," he said. Soon after
the Panama Paper disclosure, the
government set up a g roup,

which includes of ficials from

CBDT, RBI and FIU (Financial
Intelligence Unit) to investigate
whether the money deposited in
the tax heaven are legal or ille
gal. RBI Governor Raghuram
Rajan had said yesterday that the
multiagency probe will look into
the legitimacy of such holdings
of Indians named in the leaked
Panama list. It is important to

note that there are legitimate

reasons to have accounts outside
and the LRS scheme allows you
to take money outside, he had
said.
Under
the
Liberalized
Remittance Scheme (LRS), all res
ident individuals, including
minors, are allowed to freely
remit up to $2,50,000 per finan
cial year for any permissible cur

Niira Radia now surfaces

in 'Panama Papers'
New Delhi: Niira Radia, the founder of
Vaishnavi Communications whose taped
telephone chats with some prominent peo
ple in India around eight years ago, includ
ing ministers, journalists and business
tycoons became the matter of a probe, has
now surfaced in the "Panama Papers"
expose.
Her name (appearing as Nira Radia, in
the documents investigated, minus the
extra 'i') is allegedly linked to a company
in British Virgin Islands, which her office
has denied, The Indian Express reported
on Wednesday.
In the article, as Part 3 of the expose on
Indians having alleged of fshore links,
Radia is said to have figured prominently
as a director in the 232 documents per
taining to the company listed in the tax
haven, Crownmart International Group.
The list published by the newspaper on
Wednesday also has the names of a top
business tycoon in Bellary, a prominent
industrialist and a chartered accountant
each of whom, which The Indian Express
says were contacted for their responses,
with many also sharing their versions.
Another article seeks to shows how the
world's largest currency note maker De La
Rue had contracted a New Delhi business
man to help bag tenders in India, in return
for a 15percent commission.
The paper identifies the company as
Aphra Consultants, linked to Somendra
Khosla of New Delhi.
Amid these allegations, Reserve Bank of
India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan has
said that not every of fshore company
opened by an Indian national need be ille
gitimate, and that this would be the pri
mary task of a probe team in which the
central bank has been coopted.
On Radia, the paper said: "An investiga
tion of these papers shows the existence of
one of fshore entity owned by Radia, an
International Business Company regis
tered in the British Virgin Islands by
Mossack Fonseka in 1994 named

OTHERS

Niira Radia (Image courtesy: sify.com)

Crownmart International Group Limited."
In response, her office said the said enti
ty was set up by her late father Iqbal
Narain Menon and that she was not a ben
eficiary. Also that Radia had disclosed her
assets to the authorities in UK and India
and that such information was personal
and confidential for third parties.
In another article published on
Wednesday, the newspaper said the Indian
diamond merchants, who were probed ear
lier for having overseas accounts in
Liechtenstein, British Virgin Islands and
HSCB, have also surfaced in "Panama
Papers."
Prominent among them are Rosy Blue,
one of the largest diamond traders in the
world, and Chetan Mehta of the Belgium
based Gembel family.
The paper also reported that Harshad
Ramniklal Mehta of Rosy Blue did not
respond to its calls or queries, while
Chetan Mehta said he has been a nonresi
dent Indian living in Belgium and that the
companies were shut longtime ago.
A part of the list, Hyderabadbased
Moturi Srinivas Prasad said the offshore
entities were started as one dollar compa
nies with the hope of doing business, but
were closed.
Satish Modi of Modi Global was away
from India, but an email reply from his
office said he is an NRI and laws were fol
lowed. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has
already ordered a multiagency probe
team on the expose. (IANS)

4 Hyderabadbased businessman
Bhavanasi Jaya Kumar who main
tained he had nothing to do with off
shore companies.
4 UKbased Bhaskar Rao, whose son
said the companies were not exactly
active and that due procedures were
followed.
4 Civil construction business people
Preetam Bothra and Sweta Gupta,
with the latter when contacted, pos
ing the query, as to why she should
share any information with the
newspaper.
4 Ahmedabadbased Bhandari Ashok
Ramdayalchand, with a response
from someone at his residence that
he was not interested in talking.
4 Kolkatabased Ashok Malhotra who,
the paper says, admitted to knowing
about the of fshore accounts but
kept changing his stories.
4 Dehradunbased Sanjay Pokhriyal,
who said the $10,000 endowment
for a Panamanian fund allegedly
linked to him was not his own
money.
4 Belary iron exporters Prasanna V.
Ghotage and Vaman Kumar who the
paper could not contact.
4 Vadodarabased Pradeep Kaushikray
Buch, who denied he had any such
overseas company linked to him.
4 Rahul Arunprasad Patel of Sintex
Industries, who reportedly said he
has several overseas companies but
was not sure if the one named in the
expose belonged to him.
4 Thiruvananthapuram native and
chartered accountant George
Mathew, who said the linked compa
nies belonged to clients and that
Indian agencies had nothing to do
with them.

rent or capital account transac

tion or a combination of both.
Besides,
the
Special
Invest ig at ion Team (SIT ) on
black money is also investigate
thoroughly the Panama Papers
issue. "Investigations are being
carried out. We are going to
investigate it (the list) thorough
ly," SIT Chairman Justice (retd) M
(PTI)
B Shah had said.

Amitabh Bachchan
says no link with
offshore companies
Mumbai: Actor Amitabh Bachchan, whose name
figured in the Panama Paper leaks as allegedly
having links with of fshore entities in two tax
havens, on Tuesday denied
any connection with those
companies, saying his
name may have been
misused.
He also claimed that
even the news report
had not suggested any
wrongdoing on his part.
The Indian Express
carried a report
based on leaked
documents of a
Panama
based law
f i r m
Mossack
Amitabh Bachchan (File Photo)
Fonseca,
which is said to feature links of over 500 Indians
to firms and accounts in offshore tax havens.
Referring to the report, Bachchan, 73, said, I
do not know any of the companies referred to by
Indian Express Sea Bulk Shipping Company
Ltd, Lady Shipping Ltd, Treasure Shipping Ltd,
and Tramp Shipping Ltd. I have never been a
director of any of the above stated companies. It
is possible that my name has been misused.
"I have paid all my taxes including on monies
spent by me overseas. Monies that I have remit
ted overseas have been in compliance with law,
including remittances through Liberalized
Remittance Scheme (LRS), after paying Indian
taxes. In any event the news report in Indian
Express does not even suggest any illegality on
my part," his statement read. The names of his
daughterinlaw Aishwarya Rai, her parents and
brother also figured in the leaked documents as
being directors in a firm in the British Virgin
Islands. The newspaper quoted her media adviser
Archana Sadanand, who raised questions about
the International Consortium of Investigating
Journalists and said all the information the paper
(PTI)
had was totally untrue and false.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

April 9-15, 2016

PANAMA PAPERS LEAK

11

Global tax avoidance huge

problem, says Barack Obama
T

he massive data leak in

Panama has revealed names
of thousands of world lead
ers and ce le brit ies who have
stashed money in tax havens
In his first reaction to the leaked
'Panama Papers' that revealed
names of thousands of world lead
ers and ce le brit ies who have
stashed money in tax havens,
President Barack Obama today
said that global tax avoidance
may be running into trillions of
dollars worldwide.
"T here is no doubt that the
problem of global tax avoidance,
generally, is a huge problem,"
Obama said adding the issue has
been brought up in G7 and G20
meetings.
"There has been some progress
made in coordinating between tax
authorities of dif ferent countries
so that we can make sure that
we're catching some of the most
egregious examples," he said.
"But as I said before, one of the
big problems that we have is that
a lot of this stuf f is not illegal.
Unless the United States and other
countries lead by example in clos
ing some of these loopholes and
provisions, then in many cases
you can trace what's taking place,
but you can't stop it. There is
always going to be some illicit
movement of funds around the

world. But we shouldn't make it

easy. We shouldn't make it legal
to engage in transactions just to
avoid taxes," he asserted.
"That's why I think it is impor
tant that the Treasury acted on
something that's dif ferent from
what happened in Panama. The
corporate inversions issue is a
financial transaction that is bro
kered among major Fortune 500
companies to avoid paying taxes,"
he said.
"But the basic principle is mak
ing sure that everybody is paying
their fair share, and that they
don't just have a few people who
are able to take advantage of tax
provisions, that's something that
they really have to pay attention
to.
"T his is all net outflows of
money that could be spent on the
pressing needs here in the United
States. The volume that you start
seeing when you combine legal
tax avoidance w ith illicit tax
avoidance, or some of the activi
ties that we're seeing, this is not
just billions of dollars.
"It's not even just hundreds of
billions of dollars. Estimates are
this may be trillions of dollars
worldwide, and it could make a
big difference in terms of what we
can do here," Obama said.
Obama urged the Republican

President Barack Obama speaking out against tax havens amidst

Panama Papers fallout (Image courtesy: winningdemocrats.com)
controlled Congress to close legal
loopholes so as to prevent
American companies from evad
ing taxes and shipping jobs over
seas.
"We should keep building an
economy where everybody has a
fair shot, and everybody plays by
the same rules," Obama said a day
after the US Treasury Department
issued new set of rules making it
more difficult for US companies to
save taxes by shipping jobs
abroad.
Americans, he stressed, should
be able to know that big corpora
tions aren't playing by a different

set of rules.
Obama praised the Treasury
Department for its new set of
rules that would reduce the tax
benefits for "serial inverters"as he
lashed out at such US companies.
"They effectively renounce their
citizenship. T hey declare that
they're based somewhere else,"
Obama said.
"It sticks the rest of us with the
tab, and it makes hardworking
Americans feel like the deck is
stacked against them," he added.
"In the news over the last couple
of days, we've had another
reminder in this big dump of data

coming out of Panama that tax

avoidance is a big, global problem.
Its not unique to other countries
because, frankly, there are folks
here in America who are taking
advantage of the same stuff. A lot
of it is legal, but that's exactly the
problem," Obama said.
"Its not that they're breaking the
laws, it's that the laws are so poor
ly designed that they allow peo
ple, if they've got enough lawyers
and enough accountants, to wig
gle out of responsibilities that
ordinary citizens are having to
abide by," he said.
In the US there are loopholes
that only wealthy individuals and
powerful corporat ions have
access to. They have access to off
shore accounts, and they are gam
ing the system, he noted, adding
that middleclass families are not
in the same position to do this.
"In fact, a lot of these loopholes
come at the expense of middle
class families, because that lost
revenue has to be made up some
where. Alternatively, it means that
we're not investing as much as we
should in schools, in making col
lege more af fordable, in putting
people back to work rebuilding
our roads, our bridges, our infra
structure, creating more opportu
nities for our children," he said.
(PTI)

Panama Papers: Law firm says

'hacked by servers abroad'
The firm further said that in all the reporting so far "nobody is talking of
the hack, and that is the only crime that has been committed"
Panama City: One of the founders of the
law firm at the center of the explosive
"Panama Papers" revelations on of f
shore holdings said his company was
hacked by servers abroad.
Ramon Fonseca said the firm Mossack
Fonseca had lodged a criminal com
plaint with Panamanian prosecutors on
Monday over the breach.
He added that in all the reporting so
far "nobody is talking of the hack, and
that is the only crime that has been com

mitted."
Fonseca said, "We have lodged a com
plaint. We have a technical report that
we were hacked by servers abroad."
He did not specify from which country
the hack was carried out.
Fonseca also rued the fact that report
ing on the 11.5 million documents taken
from Mossack Fonseca's computer sys
tem focused on the highprofile clients
who had used the law firm to set up of f
shore companies to hold their wealth.

"We don't understand. The world is

already accepting that privacy is not a
human right," he said.
The hack has badly shaken Panama's
financial services sector, which relied on
discretion to do its business.
With highprofile politicians, sports
stars, celebrities and a few criminals
revealed to have used Mossack Fonseca
to set up of fshore entities, scrutiny on
the small Central American nation has
suddenly ramped up.

But the law firm and the government

have stressed that of fshore companies
are not, in themselves, illegal, and that
Mossack Fonseca was not responsible
for what its clients used them for.
The government, which has recently
seen through reforms to get the country
taken of f an international list of states
s ee n a s m o n e y l a u n d e r i n g h u b s , i s
mounting a fierce defense of the finan
cial sector, which contributes 7% of
gross domestic product. (PTI)

12 April 9-15, 2016

Swiss police
search UEFA
offices in
Panama
Papers fallout
Geneva: authorities raided the
headquarters of European foot
ball, Iceland named a new prime
minister and the world's largest
drugs company merger fe ll
apart, as the fallout from the
Panama Papers scandal gath
ered pace.
Police searched UEFA's Geneva
offices as part of a probe into a
Champions League television
rights deal signed by Gianni
Infantino before he became the
president of world football's gov
erning body.
The yearlong investigation,
published on Sunday, revealed
the hidden of fshore assets of
some 140 political figures,
including 12 current or former
heads of state, as well as celebri
ties, sports stars and dozens of
billionaires.
People close to Russian
President Vladimir Putin,
Chinese President Xi Jinping's
relatives, Argentine footballing
great Lionel Messi and film star
Jackie Chan have all been named
as owning of fshore accounts
with Mossack Fonseca.
But the Panama law firm also
counted criminals among its
clients, including "drug traffick
ers from Mexico, Guatemala and
Eastern Europe" and people and
companies under US and
European sanctions, said
Sueddeutsche Zeitung, the
German
newspaper
that
obtained the documents.
In the first taste of how the
revelations could reshape the
world of business, Pfizer said a
$160 billion merger with
Allergan to create the world's
largest pharmaceuticals compa
ny would not go ahead after
Washington moved to tighten
taxation rules.
Countries around the world
have been piling pressure on
Panama to reform its financial
sector, which has been trying to
head of f a feared international
clampdown on its offshore busi
ness.
France has added Panama to
its "grey" list of world tax
havens, and Finance Minister
Michel Sapin on Wednesday
called on the OECD group of
wealthy nations to do the same.
(AFP/PTI)

PANAMA PAPERS LEAK

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

How James Bond helped

Mossack Fonseca
set up offshore accounts
Washington: The Panama law
firm at the center of the huge
leak of data on offshore financial
accounts reportedly incorporat
ed a string of companies named
after James Bond films.
Among the 11 million docu
ments leaked from the firm
Mossack Fonseca that specializes
in setting up complex of fshore
corporate structures, are files
showing that the firm established
companies named after James
Bond movies and villains, ABC
News reported.
The files include companies
named Gold finger, SkyFall,
GoldenEye, Moonraker, Spectre
and also Blofeld, the arch Bond
nemesis fond of remote island
lairs, the Organized Crime and
Corruption Reporting Project
(OCCRP), which investigated the

files alongside 100 other media

outlets, wrote in an article on
Wednesday.
The files also include "corre
spondence from a man named
Austin Powers, apparently his
real name and not the movie
character, and Jack Bauer, a real
person whom a Mossack Fonseca
employee entered into the firm's
database as a client after the
employee "met him at a pub", the
article said.
Jack Bauer was also the charac
ter portrayed by actor Kiefer
Sutherland in the hit TV series
24. (IANS)

Companies named include

Bond movie names like
Goldfinger, SkyFall, GoldenEye,
Moonraker and Spectre

China largest market for

Mossack Fonseca: ICIJ
MORE THAN 16,300 ACTIVE SHELL
COMPANIES WERE INCORPORATED
THROUGH THE HK AND CHINA OFFICES
Beijing: Nearly a third of the business of the
law firm at the center of the Panama Papers
scandal came from its offices in Hong Kong
and China, reports said today, with the
Asian giant assailed by corruption and capi
tal flight.
More than 16,300 of Panamanian law
firm Mossack Fonseca's active shell compa
nies were incorporated through its Hong
Kong and China offices, 29% of the world
wide total, according to the International
Consortium of Investigative Journalists
(ICIJ), which coordinated a yearlong inves
tigation into a trove of 11.5 million docu
ments.
The investigation found that relatives of
at least eight current or former members of
China's Politburo Standing Committee, the
ruling party's most powerful body, have
been implicated in the use of offshore com
panies.
Such vehicles are not illegal in themselves
and can be used for legitimate business
needs. But they commonly feature in cor
ruption cases, when they can be used to
secretly move illgotten gains abroad.
Graft is rife in China, which Transparency

International rates in 83rd place out of 168

in its most recent Corruption Perceptions
Index.
At the same time growth in the world's
secondlargest economy is slowing, and its
wealthy have increasingly sought to move
funds abroad, but have to contend with
Beijing's strict exchangecontrol regime.
Under President Xi Jinping, Beijing has
launched a much publicized antigraft
drive, but has not instituted systemic
reforms such as public declarations of
assets.
Xi's brotherinlaw and family members of
two current members of the Politburo

Standing Committee (PSC), Zhang Gaoli and

Liu Yunshan, have of fshore holdings, the
ICIJ reported.
Deng Jiagui, the husband of Xi's sister,
was previously a shareholder in three com
panies: Supreme Victory Enterprises,
Wealth Ming International and Best Effect
Enterprises, reports said. The companies
were closed before Xi took power in 2012.
Re lat ives of past PSC members Jia
Qinglin, once the fourthranked leader in
China, Li Peng, who led the Tiananmen
Square crackdown, Hu Yaobang, ex vice
president Zeng Qinghong, and Tian Jiyun
were named by The Guardian, which took
part in the investigation.
The documents also named movie star
Jackie Chan, billionaire heiress Kelly Zong
Fuli, and shoppingmall magnate Shen
Guojun.
Media in the Communistruled country
have avoided report ing on the leaks'
Chinese revelations, and social media has
been scrubbed of references to them, with
foreign news broadcasters such as the BBC
blacked out when they report on the
Panama Papers. (AFP/PTI)

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

April 9-15, 2016

INDIA

13

Kejriwal gets bail in Jaitley defamation case

New Delhi: A court here granted
bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind
Ke jriwal and five other Aam
Aadmi Party leaders in a criminal
defamation case filed by Finance
Minister Arun Jaitley against
them in the wake of the DDCA
controversy.
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate
Sumit Dass g ranted bail to
Kejriwal as well as AAP leaders
Kumar Vishwas, Ashutosh, Sanjay
Sing h, Rag hav Chad ha and
Deepak Bajpayee after they
appeared in the court following
last month's summons.
"The of fence being bailable, all
accused persons are admitted to
bail," the court said.
The court asked each of them to
furnish a personal bond of
Rs.20,000 and a surety of the like
amount.
While the chief minister's advis
er Gopal Mohan stood surety for

him, De lhi Food and Supplies

Minister Imran Hussain furnished
surety for Ashutosh.
Uttam Nagar legislator Naresh
Balyan stood surety for Sanjay
Singh, Laxmi Nagar legislator
Nitin Tyagi for Vishwas, Burari
lawmaker Sanjeev Jha for Chadha,
and Mehrauli MLA Naresh Yadav
stood surety for Bajpayee.
Jaitley, who filed the complaint
against Kejriwal and the others,
also was present in the court.
After Kejriwal's counsel R.K.
Wadhwa and C.L. Gupta told court
that they have not been supplied
with copies of the documents per
taining to the complaint, the court
directed Jaitley to do so. It then
fixed May 19 for next hearing.
Security at the Patiala House
courts was bee fed up since
Thursday morning in view of the
hearing in the case.
The entry to courtroom number

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. (Photo: IANS)

4, where the case was scheduled,
was restricted after lunch. Only
the accused, those giving sureties,
complainant Jaitley, lawyers

After rebuffing Masood

ban, China backs India
against WTO ruling
New Delhi: A week after it blocked
ef forts to ban JaisheMohammed
chief Masood Azhar, China supported
India against the World Trade
Organisation (WTO) ruling that oppos
es India's domestic manufacturing
under its National Solar Mission.
T he WTO on February 24 ruled
against India's 'Jawaharlal Nehru
National Solar Mission' on the plea
that New Delhi's ef forts towards the
indigenous production of solar cells
violated WTO rules. The ruling came
on a 2013 complaint filed by the US.
"We support India in their appeal
against the WTO ruling. We support
the domestic industry to manufacture
products for the solar industry," said
Xie Zhenhua, Special Representative
for Climate Change of China.
The Chinese support came at the
22nd BASIC Ministerial meeting on
climate change held in New Delhi,
where Environment Minister Prakash
Javadekar was representing India.
Representatives from the other coun
tries Brazil, South Africa and China
were also present.
Last week, India's move to get
Pathankot terror attacks mastermind,
JeM chief Masood Azhar, banned by
the UN was rebuffed by China for the
second such time, causing huge disap
pointment in India. China, a close
friend of Pakistan, had said that Azhar
did not meet the UN criteria to be
banned as a terrorist.
China's burgeoning solar industry
too faces political opposition in the
US.
A joint statement issued by the four
countries here welcomed the adoption
of the Paris Agreement on climate

change 21st Conference of Parties

(COP21) in December last year.
The United States had in 2013 filed
a complaint with the WTO against
India providing support to domestic
solar cell manufacturers under its
National Solar Mission, which
Washington said was against the
international trade agreement. USA
claimed that India violated domestic
content requirements (DCR) rules. A
threemember dispute settlement
panel of the WTO was set up in 2013.
T he panel ruled against India on
February 24, 2016.
India in its appeal against the WTO
ruling, argued that the DCR measure
were justified on the ground that they
secure its compliance with laws
required to promote sustainable devel
opment.
India also argued that its solar pro
gramme was helping it to meet its
commitments under the United
Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCCC).
India's solar energy programme is
considered one of the world's largest
and fastest renewable energy pro
grammes. At present India generates
around 5,000 megawatts of solar
energy from virtually nil some five
years back.
India had also scaled up its target to
produce solar energy by pushing
ahead the 20,000 megawatts of solar
electricity generation to 1,00,000
megawatts by 2022.
In the meeting, India along with
China, Brazil and South Africa issued a
joint statement to ratify the Paris 'COP
21 Global Climate Agreement' in New
York on April 22.

appearing in the matter, and six

journalists were allowed to enter
the courtroom.
Sloganshouting supporters of

the Bharatiya Janata Party and

the Aam Aadmi Party scuffled out
side gate number 2 of the court
complex. Jaitley told the court on
January 5 that the AAP leaders
had given "false and defamatory"
statements in a case involving the
De lhi and District Cricket
Asso ciat ion (DD CA), there by
harming his reputation.
He said the AAP leaders made
the statements with a view to
deflect public attention from a
Central Bureau of Investigation
probe against a civil servant work
ing with Kejriwal.
Jaitley urged the court to initi
ate proceedings against Kejriwal
and others on the charge of
defaming him.
The AAP leaders had alleged
corruption in the DDCA, which
Jaitley headed for 13 years until
2013. Jaitley has denied the alle
gations.

Flyover tragedy god's

message to save Bengal
from Trinamool: Modi
Madarihat (West Bengal):
government was caught up
Accusing West Bengal Chief
in the "business of money
Minister Mamata Banerjee
and business of death".
of indulging in politics over
Calling the tragedy an "act
the dead, Prime Minister
of fraud", Modi said: "They
Narendra Mo di said the
are saying it is an act of god,
Kolkata flyover tragedy was
but actually it is an act of
"god's message" to people to
fraud.
save Beng al from the
"It is an act of god in the
Trinamool Congress.
sense that it happened dur
"T he flyover collapsed,
ing election time so that
such a big tragedy; if some
people may know what kind
chief goes what does he or
of government she has been
she do; they try to save peo
running. Go d has sent a
ple, assist in rescue work.
message to the people that
But what did Didi (Banerjee)
today this bridge has col
do? The first thing she did
lapsed, tomorrow she will
was to declare that it was
finish of f entire Bengal.
the Left Front that gave the
God's message to you all is
Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
contract (for the project).
to save Bengal," said Modi
(Photo: IANS)
"Forget Left or right, think
appealing to the people to
about those who are dying, Didi," said Modi refer give one chance to the BJP in the state elections.
ring to the March 31 Vivekananda flyover collapse
He also charged Banerjee with undermining the
in Kolkata which killed 26 people.
welfare of the state by not attending meets con
"At least give respect to the dead; but for Didi, vened by the central government.
it's the chair which is only visible and not the
"I wonder what kind of chief minister is she.
dying people.
Whenever the central government calls a meeting
"Look at the shamelessness; it was such a mas on important subjects, where all the states can put
sive tragedy but she started a blame game," he forth their issues and demands, she has always
said, about the project which was conceived and skipped them because those meetings are called
the contract awarded during the previous Left by Modi." Pointing to Banerjee's "closeness" to
Front regime.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Modi also
"I want to ask Didi, if this flyover would have ridiculed the Left FrontCongress tie up.
been completed and while inaugurating it, would
"She doesn't come to Delhi to attend meetings
you have said the contract was given by the Left? called by Modi. But whenever she comes to Delhi,
No, you would have taken the credit for it. Now she never forgets to meet Sonia Gandhi," he
that it has collapsed, you are blaming others. This alleged.
is all part of your business of money and death,"
"You have seen enough of the Left and the
the prime minister said addressing a party rally Trinamool both of which have done everything to
here in Alipurduar district.
destroy Bengal. Give one chance to BJP and we
Castigating Banerjee over the multicrore rupee will show you what development means," added
Saradha scam and the recent sting operation in Modi, claiming that all the states in which his
which several Trinamool leaders were allegedly party was in power have witnessed all round
caught taking bribes, Modi said the Trinamool development.

14

April 9-15, 2016

INDIA

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

College tension in J&K brews

first challenge for CM Mehbooba
Srinagar: A threemember team of
central government officials visited
the volatile campus of a Kashmir
college after days of bitter tension
between local and nonlocal stu
dents there presented the first
major challenge for the newly
installed coalition government in
the state headed by Chief Minister
Mehbooba Mufti.
The threemember team, headed
by Sanjeev Sharma, a director in the
union
Human
Resources
Development ministry, met officials
of Srinagar's National Institute of
Technology (NIT) and the protest
ing nonlocal students who have
been boycotting classes for two
days.
The team's visit to the campus,
where central paramilitary troopers
were deployed recently, comes after
hundreds of nonKashmiri students
accused Jammu and Kashmir Police
of kicking and punching them when
they wanted to march out on roads
shouting proIndia slogans.
The protesting students told the
visiting team that they would con
tinue boycotting their classes and
demanded that the college be shift
ed from Srinagar to some "safer
place outside the valley".
The trouble in the college, situat
ed near the famous Hazratbal
shrine of Kashmir, started after
India's loss to the West Indies in the
T20 cricket World Cup semifinal
played last week in Mumbai.
Traditionally, it has always been
sporting clashes between India and
Pakistan that have stoked tension in

The Pakistani Joint Investigation Team visited India on March 28.

(Photo : IANS)

Students wave Indian flags in Jammu following a clash at the

Srinagar campus of NIT. (Photo : IANS)
the valley. According to witnesses
in the campus, local students had
been cheering for the West Indies
while the nonlocals were support
ing Team India. As Andre Russel of
the West Indies hit the winning
runs, crackers were burst in the
vicinity, if not within the campus, to
ce lebrate the victory of the
Caribbeans.
This pitched nonlocals students,
whose number is around 1,500,
against locals in the college. A day
after the cricket match, non
Kashmiri students held demonstra
tions shouting slogans like "Bharat
Mata Ki Jai", "Hindustan zindabad"
and "Pakistan murdabad". Local stu
dents also gathered and raised pro
freedom and antiIndia slogans.
Sensing trouble, the campus man
agement suspended classes till April
4. But a group of 500 nonlocal stu

Jaya to contest from

Chennai, AIADMK
announces candidates
Chennai: AIADMK gen
eral secretary and Tamil
Nadu Chief Minister J.
Jayalalithaa announced
that she will seek re
e lect ion from the
Radhakrishnan Nagar
constituency here.
At a time when other
parties are finalizing
seat sharing arrange
Tamil Nadu CM and AIADMK supremo
ments w ith others,
J. Jayalalithaa. (Photo : IANS)
Jayalalithaa released the
list of AIADMK candidates for the 234 assembly constituencies
Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and in Tamil Nadu. It has allotted
seven const ituencies to its
Kerala assembly elections.
Jayalalithaa has decided to alliance partners. W hile the
contest from Chennai at a time party has retained a majority of
when opposition parties are hop the ministers in the list of candi
ing to make the government's dates, some outgoing legislators
handling of the massive have been dropped. The notable
December floods in the city a new entrant is Panrut i S.
major e lect ion plank. T he Ramachandran, who had quit the
AIADMK will contest in 227 of DMDK and joined AIADMK.

dents took out a procession inside

the campus, carrying the tricolor
and shouting "Bharat Mata Ki Jai".
Police at the campus gates pre
vented the students from marching
out. The protesting students alleged
they were beaten up and police per
sonnel even entered the campus
and thrashed some of their handi
capped colleagues. Police accused
the protestors of indulging in stone
pelting, an allegation they denied.
T he challenge to restore the
peaceful academic atmosphere in
the college is a first for Mehbooba,
who recently took over as the first
woman chief minister of the state.
For the PDP, which has been
expressing concern over the safety
of Kashmiri students in colleges and
universities outside the state, the
situation is precarious.
(IANS)

Pathankot: India
trashes Pak report as
'total concoction'

New Delhi: India has termed as

"total concoction" a Pakistan
report, quoting sources in the
Joint Investigation Team (JIT) that
visited India, that the Pathankot
attack was staged by India.
Meanwhile, union Minister M.
Venkaiah Naidu said no one,
including people in Pakistan, will
believe that the Pathankot airbase
attack was stagemanaged by
India.
"The report in Pakistan Today is
a total concoction. While in India,
the JIT took onboard the detailed
evidence which was shared by the
NIA," sources from the external
affairs ministry (MEA) said.
"Since the JIT collected evidence
in accordance with Pakistani law
which applies to Pakistani citizens
committing an of fence abroad,
the involvement of Pakistanis in

the Pathankot attack is self evi

dent," the sources added.
Pakistan Today, quoting sources
in the JIT said "the attack was a
drama staged to malign Pakistan".
A report in Pakistan Today
newspaper, quoting sources, said
the JIT concluded that the Indian
authorities had prior information
about the attackers.
The daily claimed its source said
India "used the attack as a tool to
expand its vicious propaganda
against Pakistan without having
any solid evidence to back the
claim".
The report also quoted a mem
ber of the JIT as saying that NIA
officer Tanzil Ahmad's murder on
Saturday night in Uttar Pradesh
showed that "Indian establishment
wants to keep the matter under
wraps". (IANS)

Three get life term for

Mumbai blasts
Mumbai: A special Prevention of
Terrorism Act (POTA) court award
ed life imprisonment to three con
victed in the triple blasts of 2002
2003.
Additional Judge P.R. Deshmukh
sentenced Muzammil Ansari, Dr.
Wahid Ansari and Farhaan Khot to
life imprisonment.
The former SIMI general secre
tary, Saquib Nachan, who the pros
ecution said was a key accused in
the case, was sentenced to 10
years in jail, along with Ateef
Mulla, Hasib Mulla and Gulam
Khotal. Noor Malik, Anwar Ali and
Muhammed Kamil were sentenced
to two years.
On March 29, the court convict
ed 10 persons and acquitted three.
On December 6, 2002, a bomb
had explo ded at the Mumbai
Central railway station, next to
McDonalds, injuring 27 persons.
On January 27, 2003, one
woman died and 32 persons were

There were three explosions in Mumbai in four months starting

December 6, 2002. (File photo)
injured when a bomb planted on a
bicycle exploded in the market
area of Vile Parle station.
On March 13 that year, a bomb
exploded in the first class ladies
compartment of a Karjatbound
train that had just reached
Mulund. The blast claimed the

lives of 11 commuters and injured

82.
All 13 accused have been
charged with murder, attempt to
murder, causing grievous injuries,
waging a war against the nation
and criminal conspiracy and arms
possession. (The Hindu)

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Mumbai: Whether it is Rahul

Mishra's love for textile, ace
designer Rohit Bal's fascination
with lotus motifs, young design
er Dhruv Vaish's eclectic mix of
fabrics or brand Amrich's mixing
of modern with contemporary
the summerresort edition of
Lakme Fashion Wee k (LFW )
2016 witnessed some eyecatch
ing trends, and a heavy dose of
Bollywood star presence both on
and off the runway.
Returning after his triumphant
show at Paris Fashion Week,
International Woolmark Award
Winner 2014, Mishra dazzled
the audience with his fresh sum
mer 2016 collect ion called
'Knots of Love' at the fashion
g ala, which concluded on
Sunday.
The basis of Mishra's collec
tion has always been textiles and
the designer did not disappoint
at LFW too.
"Inspired by the patterns and
designs that are seen on beauti
ful porcelain, I worked around
them and then sprinkled the gar
ments with 'bandhani'. I also
added to these fine crafts the
centuriesold technique of drap
ing and created a fine blend of
handmade know ledge and
detailing for the exquisite cre
ations," said the designer.
Another established designer,
Arjun Saluja impressed fashion
istas with art installations at the
event, where multiple designers
promoted use of Indian textile
and handicrafts.
"We used dif ferent mediums
and perspective to tell the story,
so the approach was very differ
ent. We worked on aging tech
niques to give the clothes a
more distressed look. There is
lot of Indian influence in our
work as we work on classic
Indian shapes and deconstruct
them to give them a new shape
and form," Saluja told IANS.
Rohit Bal, who has set many a
fashion trends in the industry,
stole the limelight with his finale
presentation. From yards of mul
mul to hues of sunset golds and
pristine ivories, there was a
presentation of handmade cut
works and lattice, intertwined
with organic fabrics and ageold
techniques of Indian heritage.

Young designers
proved their
talent too.
Dhruv Vaish, who presented
collection titled 'Cerulean', told
IANS: "LFW has helped us reach

FASHION

out to the world, and at the same

time has given us exposure to
what's happening around the
world. T here are some great
buyers encouraging the design
ers."
AMRICH, a brand run by duo
Amit Vijaya and Richard Pandav,
drew inspiration from the inter
section of traditions, techniques,
styles and habits for the collec
tion at LFW.
"With the concept of moving
dots creating lines and moving
lines creating surfaces, we have
made use of a lot of stripes and
checks to create overlapping tex
tures," Vijaya told IANS.
He added: "Lakme Fashion
Week is a great platform for
designers big and small and it
really helps us to put our work
across to a wide variety of peo
ple from around the world.
"To get that kind of exposure
for any of us designers is defi
nitely a boost for our business in
terms of branding. Having estab
lished our label's presence in
high end designer stores across
the country in the last five years,
we would like to push the brand
further by reaching out to inter
national buyers with the help
and support of LFW. This season
we have also launched Amrich
Goods a range of leather bags
to accentuate our clothing line,"
he added.
While creativity was on a high
at the justconcluded fashion
gala, Bollywood presence too
g ave attendees a reason to
cheer. W hile several faces
walked the runway as a show
stopper for many leading
designers, there were some pop
ular names who supported their
favorite names from the front
row.
Some celebrities who were a
part of the fashion gala included
Kareena Kapoor Khan, Sidharth
Malhotra, Lisa Haydon, Aditi Rao
Hydari, Huma Qureshi, veteran
actress Helen, Arjun Kapoor,
Sonakshi
Sinha,
Bhumi
Pednekar, Mira Rajput, Ali Fazal,
Mini Mathur, Ayan Mukherjee,
Onir, Juhi Chawla and Sangeeta
Bijlani.

Fashion designer Manish

Malhotra with actors Arjun
Kapoor and Jacqueline
Fernandez during the opening
show of Lakme Fashion Week
Summer/Resort 2016, in
Mumbai, on March 29, 2016.

April 9-15, 2016

Actress Kareena Kapoor Khan displays the creation of fashion designer Rohit Bal during the
Lakme Fashion Week 2016 on April 3. (right) Actress Ileana DCruz displays the creation
of fashion designer Rahul Mishra during the LFW on Friday.

15

16

April 9-15, 2016

ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD

opularly known as
Anandi, her character
from the television show
'Balika Vadhu', actress
Pratyusha Banerjee's untimely
death has left everyone in
Bollywood and the TV indus
try in shock.
T he 24yearold actress
allegedly committed suicide in
Mumbai. She hanged herself
from a fan at her Kandivali
residence but was detected
and taken to the Kokilaben
Ambani Hospital where she
succumbed. Here's what
celebrities had to say about
the actress' death:
Madhur
Bhandarkar:

Priyanka Chopra: Miss World to box

office powerhouse.

Priyanka Chopras
mother denies the
actress tried
committing suicide
riyanka Chopra's exmanager
Prakash Jaju has alleged that the
BollywoodHollywood actress
attempted to take her own life. She is
super successful now but Jaju says she
struggled a lot as an aspiring actress. In a
series of tweets, he claims the star tried
to commit suicide multiple times, but he
prevented it. He also claims Priyanka had
a tumultuous relationship with her ex,
Aseem Merchant and drove to Mumbai's
Vasai area to commit suicide, one night
after a fight with him. He goes on to say
that another time PC tried to jump off a
building after Merchant's mother's death
in 2002, as she was very close to her.
The international divas mother, Madhu
Chopra, has denied all the Jaju claims as
fabrication while abusing the manager on
Twitter for lying. She added that Jaju has
some personal issues against Priyanka.
It's no secret that Chopra and her ex
manager are on terrible terms. PC
allegedly abruptly terminated Jajus con
tract and in 2008 he filed a criminal law
suit against the actress in a Mumbai
court. He served 67 days in prison, after
Chopra's father also filed a suit against
him for invading his daughter's privacy.

ill it be third time lucky for

Anushka Sharma and Shah Rukh
Khans jodi? After delivering hits
like Rab Ne Bana De Jodi and Jab Tak Hai
Jaan, the two stars have come together for
filmmaker Imtiaz Alis next. It was already
known that the Tamasha director had
roped in Shah Rukh Khan for his film, and
now reports suggest that Anushka Sharma
will be starring opposite him.
The Fan actor will be playing a Sikh
tourist in the yettobetitled comedy. His
interactions with the locals and his adven
turous return to his home country forms
the crux of this laugh riot. Reportedly, the
shooting will be carried out in London and
Punjab.

Pratyusha catapulted to fame with her role in TV serial Balika Vadhu.

SALMANS DABANGG 3
will start shooting in 2017: Arbaaz

SRK teams up with Anushka

for Imtiaz Alis next

Shocked and saddened to hear

about the sudden death of
Pratyusha Banerjee May god
give her family strength to
deal with the loss.
Arbaaz Khan: Extremely sad
dened to hear about
Pratyusha! May her soul rest
in peace. God give her family
strength in this difficult time.
Rishi Kapoor: What a shame!
Such a lovely person should
suicide! Who knows the tur
moil within her. RIP.
Anupam Kher: Deeply sad
dened by the news about
Pratyusha Banerjee. May god
give her family the strength to
deal with this loss.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

alman Khan has a full schedule star

ing at him with Ali Abbas Zafars film
Sultan going full throttle. So, where
does that place his superhit franchise
Dabangg with the iconic character
Chulbul Pandey? Brother Arbaaz Khan
who produced the first two installments is
asking his fans to wait a little.
Arbaaz, who also directed Dabangg 2,
said, Next year we will start working for
Dabangg 3. Right now Bhai (Salman
Khan) is busy with some of his projects
like Sultan and others. Therefore,
Dabangg 3 is in queue. I cannot say the
exact time, but next year for sure.
While promoting Dabangg 2, Salman
had revealed that the third film will actu
ally be a prequel. We have our third film
ready and it will go back and show how
Chulbul Pandey becomes Chulbul Pandey.
If the second one becomes a hit, we can
go to the third one, which is actually the

hah Rukh Khans Dilwale was

declared the worst film of
2015 while Salman
Khanstarrer Prem Ratan
Dhan Payo earned
Sonam Kapoor the worst
actress title at the 8th
Golden Kela Awards,
which annually recog
nizes the worst in Hindi
cinema, a la Hollywoods
Razzies.
Dilwale was declared
winner over other
Bollywood disappointments
Bombay Velvet, Shaandaar, Tevar
and Akshay Kumars Singh is Bliing.
Besides Sonam, the films director Sooraj
Barjatya took home the worst direction and
Bas Kijiye Bahut Ho Gaya award. Sonam
defeated Shraddha Kapoors dancer turn in
ABCD 2, Amy Jacksons act in Singh is
Bliing. Actor Sooraj Pancholi might have
bagged best debut honor at various other

Salman Khan is currently busy shooting for Sultan.

first one. So Dabangg 3 will be a pre
quel. He had also said that Sonakshi, the

lead actress of the first two films, will also

feature in the prequel.

Dilwale
worst lm,
Sonam Kapoor
worst actress:
Golden Kela
awards

SRKKajol pair failed to do wonders for Dilwale

award functions for his film Hero but the
Golden Kela Awards recognized him as the
worst actor of the year. The 25yearold was
named over actors like Arjun Rampal

(Roy), Arjun Kapoor (Tevar) and Imran

Khan (Katti Batti).
Actor Imran Khan won the Why Are You
Still Trying award for Katti Batti.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD

April 9-15, 2016

17

Everyone will know when I

get married: Bipasha
Not dating Akshara
Haasan: Tanuj Virwani
hough speculations
are rife that Akshara
Haasan and Tanuj
Virwani have broken up,
the latter has denied
being in a relationship
with the actress.
He said, "We never said
that we were dating so it's
funny when people send
you sympathet ic mes
The two actors vow to remain friends.
sages. I am fiercely pri
vate." When probed, he added, Akshara's mother (Sarika) were
"We have never denied being against their relationship. "Her
friends and we will continue to be mom and uncle know me and my
so. In fact just recently, I was parents are fond of her as well, so
cheering for her sister (Shruti that's not true," he signed of f.
However, the duo has been spot
Haasan) at a fashion event."
He also rubbished reports that ted together at several watering
his mother (Rati Agnihotri) and holes in the suburbs.

s speculations
around her marriage
to actor Karan Singh
Grover grow stronger, actor Bipasha
Basu is even more determined to not divulge
any details about her personal life.
Jab hogi tab aap logon ko pata chal jayega na
yaar. Main thodi kahin bhaagi ja rahi hun.
(Whenever the wedding happens, you guys will
know. I am not going anywhere), says Basu, who
has dated actors Dino Morea and John Abraham
in the past. It is being reported that the actor
will tie the knot with her Alone costar on
April 30th in Mumbai in the presence of
family and friends. While this will be
Basus first marriage, this would be
Grovers third marriage.

Lovers Bipasha Basu and

Karan Singh Grover.

What's wrong in watching vulgar films, asks Vikram Bhatt

e makes erot
ic thrillers
unabashedly
and feels the censor
board in India has
assumed the respon
sibility of "protecting
the
audience's
Vikram Bhatt
taste", something
which is not its
job. Filmmaker Vikram Bhatt, whose
new film Love Games delves upon
the behindthecloseddoors
The
subject of partner sharing,
'streel
asks when the audience is
ing' (femi
willing to watch "vul
nine factor) is
gar" films, why
pulling Arjun
should
others
Kapoor into the
decide whether
kitchen. And
it's
worth
Kareena Kapoor Khan
watching or
doesnt mind as long as
not.
he is fully functional in
Bhatt is
the bedroom.
clearly
That, dear audience, in a
n o t
nutshell is Ki & Ka. A film
about role reversal between the
sexes where the ambitious wife
Kia (Kareena) goes out to earn
the bread and butter, while the
husband Kabir (Arjun) is blissfully
happy looking after the home.
Immediately, there is an infectious
charm to the proceedings. Every
scene is a joy to behold. It could have
something to do with Kareenas pres
ence. She lights up every frame as only
she can.
Most films about married couples in
Bollywood are paeans of pain. Well, sur
prise surprise! A marriage need not be a
melody of misery, provided the couple
does what it wants to without caring

happy with how the Central Board of Film

Certification (CBFC) members have been
chopping off scenes, muting words and even
banning movies in the Indian film industry.
"It (censor board) is
worse now. The

Congress government was much better...

What's wrong with cheap, vulgar films?
Don't I have a right to watch a vulgar film if I
want to? Why are you protecting my taste?"
Bhatt asked. The direc
tor, who mixes

Review:

Kareena and Arjun in a still form the movie.

about how they would look to the world.
So when Kabir meets Kia on a
flight, they hit it off instantly.
The words that flow
between the cool Kabir
and the hot Kia are
so conversational
that I wondered if
Arjun and Kareena
thought of the dialogues
as they played out their
characters combined karma. The dia
logues are never florid or bombastic.
This is Balki's take on how to playfully

dodge
gender
stereotyping in a
country where even
words have a gender. Given
the unbelievable patriarchal
prejudices, it takes guts for a man
like Kabir to tell his father to shove his
wealth up his youknowwhat, as Kabir
wants to be a housekeeper like his moth
er.
It takes even more guts for an actor to
play a man who is happy cooking, clean
ing and living off his wifes income.

the thriller genre with erotica and horror in

his films, has asserted that a person's choice
to watch a certain film should not be affected
by any outside force. "I am a vulgar man, I
want to watch vulgar films and I am willing
to pay for it. Yes, put a huge disclaimer on a
film saying 'This film is vulgar'... I don't mind
that, but don't tell me what is good or bad for
me," he added.
Asked if the censor board had been kind
to his Love Games, based on wife
swapping and swingers (couples
who are in a relation and share
their sexual space with
Arjun
either another person or a
Kapoor
couple), Bhatt said:
makes the
"Censor board is like
characters
a watchman pro
unconventional,
tecting a dilapi
some would say
dated house
downright embar
w h e r e
rassing aspirations
nobody
seem so normal, you
lives".
wonder why more hus
bands dont adopt the you
goIstay route. This is by far
Arjuns most accomplished
performance. The joy he exudes
in housekeeping chores is
almost contagious. The hurt he
conveys is palpable when his wife
begins to resent his growing popu
larity ("Abhimaan" in reverse) as the
face of the metrosexual man very
happily, very heterosexually in touch
with the feminine side of his personali
ty.
The crisis point in Kia and Kabirs
winsome togetherness is reached in a
tongueincheek homage to Hrishikesh
Mukherjees "Abhimaan". Kias outburst,
accusing Arjun of being a scheming
manipulator makes her look awfully
unfair and rather paranoid.

18

April 9-15, 2016

TRAVEL

By Isabella Rauter
y entry point to India was
Mumbai
and,
aptly
enough, it began with a
magnificent view of the Gateway of
India and the Arabian Sea from the
iconic Taj Mahal Palace Hotel. The
Taj, of course, is a fairy tale, opu
lent abode, full of old world charm.
The historic hotel reminded me of
home, and our own enchanting
places to stay in Vienna, especially
the suite in Schnbrunn Palace
overlooking the splendid baroque
park with the Gloriette.
My stay in Mumbai was a gastro
nomic journey of taste and discov
ery. At the Taj Palace's iconic
Masala Art restaurant, I sampled
their signature dish the unique
local Bombay Tiffin meal, inspired
by the famed Dabbawalas whose
sixsigma quality delivery system
story amazes me.
Meeting them is definitely on the
list for my next visit to India. The
meal is served of f a tif fin the
server opens it, and three
sparkling stainless steel dabbas
emerge packed with a dal, a sabzi,
rice and roti.
The meal pays tribute to the
bustling culture of Mumbai, a city
that is busy and teeming with little
nuances. You round it of f with
Masala Chai served in a copper
Katori. If the Bombay Tiffin meal
opened up the local flavors and
wonderful aromas of the city, then
my meal at the early 20th century
Parsi eatery, Britannia and Co. in
South Bombay with Beri Beri Rice
Pulav, and Raspberry Soda was
another fascinating culinary expe
dition.
Baklava made me recall Viennese
signature pasty the famous
Sacher Torte. I was served by the
elderly owner Boman Kohinoor,
who showed me his impressive
correspondence with a range of
wellknown personalities, includ
ing Zubin Mehta, the famous con
ductor of Indian origin who often
performs in Vienna.
Just a few days in India were
enough for me to fall in love with
the ubiquitous local brew flavored
with ginger and cardamom the
Masala Chai. While I relished the
spicy Indian food, some desserts
like carrot fudge (Gajar Ka Halwa)
and Gulab Jamun were cherry on
the cake.
I could not get over the variety of
Indian breads from watching a
roomali roti being rolled out in the
Gymkhana Club in Delhi, to photo
graphing an entire family dig into
a huge bread, the naan, at the table

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Isabella Rauter, media manager of Vienna Tourist

Board, recounts experiences of her travel in India,
before pitching in for her country, in particular,
Vienna, which is enchantingly romantic and a
favorite destination for honeymooners.

At the Taj Palace's iconic Masala Art restaurant, their signature dish
is the unique local Bombay Tiffin meal, inspired by the famed
Dabbawalas whose sixsigma quality delivery system story has
amazed even Harvard MBAs. (Photo courtesy: The Tasting Fork)
After building it in the memory of his queen, Mumtaj Mahal, Shah
Jahan was imprisoned by his son, and could only see the Taj from his
jail window in the Red Fort. He gazed at it for the rest of his life. This
makes it undoubtedly the most romantic wonder of the world.
(Photo: Isabella Rauter/IANS)
next to mine at the Mughal
Sheraton's Peshawar restaurant in
Agra. But food was just one part of
my journey of discovery. Between
all the business meetings there
was some time to soak in Indian
culture and see some impressive
monuments.
My next stop, Delhi, brought me
face to face with 1,000 elephants
not in a Jungle Safari, but in the
impressively carved Akshardham
temple. In the evening I witnessed
an exceptional sound and light
show. But the content was hard to
understand for someone not famil
iar with Hinduism. A drive past the
biggest Presidential Palace in the
world, the Rashtrapati Bhavan, and
the impressive India Gate brought
home the grandly classical archi
tecture of Lutyens Delhi.
On my last day I visited the Taj
Mahal, which was an undeniably
breathtaking experience. I got up
very early in the morning and had
a comfortable drive on the Yamuna
Expressway from Delhi to Agra,
only stopping for a quick cup of
Chai en route.
At the Taj, we were welcomed by
guides who helped us with the
tickets and enter the complex
quickly. When approaching the
main entrance, I could feel the
excitement rising in a few sec
onds, I was going to take my first

look at one of the most famous

buildings in the world. I was curi
ous if it would live up to expecta
tions.
And then, I caught my first
glimpse of the shining white Taj
framed, picturesquely within the
shadowy arch of the main gate. I
must say it was truly overwhelm
ing and I fell in love at first sight.
While the Taj is incredibly beau
tiful, what makes the monument
really special is the story behind its
construction, as explained to us by
our Sherpa: Mughal Emperor Shah
Jahan had this remarkable ivory
white mausoleum built for his

dearly be loved wife, Mumtaz

Mahal. But immediately after its
construction he was imprisoned
by his son, and could only see it
from his jail window in the Red
Fort. Here, Shah Jahan gazed at the
Taj for the rest of his life. This
makes it undoubtedly the most
romantic wonder of the world.
It's an ode to love like nothing
else and no wonder tourists throng
to the Taj. T he love story of
Mumtaz Mahal reminded me of
our own Empress Elisabeth "Sisi".
Today, the Volksgarten around the
monument of Empress Elisabeth is
one of the most romantic spots in
Vienna with 400 types of roses
blooming here in spring.
Indeed, much of Vienna is
enchanting ly romantic and a
favorite destination for honey

mooners. T he narrow cobble

stoned lanes, arcadelined court
yards and timehonored palaces
enable a brush with the past. The
suites at the Schnbrunn Palace
where the nobility once resided are
now open to honeymooners. Of
course, Vienna is particularly
romantic in spring when the chest
nut trees blossom in the vast
Prater Park. Perhaps it is this
sense of romance that has inspired
Indian filmmaker Karan Johar
famed for his love stories like
"Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham" to
choose Vienna as the setting for
his upcoming movie, "Ae Dil Hai
Mushkil", starring Aishwarya Rai,
Anushka Sharma and Ranbir
Kapoor. The heart always finds a
way to make connections. Vienna
and India certainly did!

Austrias capital Vienna saw 50 percent increase in Indian tourist traffic last year: drawing over
40,000 visitors. In their India promotional this year, they have highlighted how Indian filmmaker Karan
Johar shot a lot of his latest venture "Ae Dil Hai Mushkil" at locations in Austria. (Photo: Austria Tourism)

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

US AFFAIRS

Clinton, Sanders agree to

debate in Brooklyn
Washington: Democratic Party frontrun
ner Hillary Clinton and her opponent,
selfstyled socialist Bernie Sanders have
agreed to debate in Brooklyn on April 14
ahead of the April 19 New York primar
ies. The debate will be hosted by TV
channels CNN and NY1. It will be held at
the Brooklyn Navy Yard at 9.00 p.m.
The announcement came on Monday, a
week after backandforth between the
Clinton and Sanders campaigns as they
tried to negotiate a day and time for a
debate in New York.
Over the weekend, the Clinton cam
paign accused the Sanders campaign of

playing "games" over the debate sched

ule and for rejecting three possible dates
that they had offered, including April 14.
"Brooklyn. April 14. It's on." Clinton
national press secretary Brian Fallon
tweeted on Monday night.
In January, the Clinton and Sanders
campaigns agreed to add four more
debates into the schedule, after criticism
from many in the Democratic Party,
including Sanders, that there were too
few debates.
The two candidates have not sparred
onstage since the UnivisionWashington
Post debate on March 9.

Trump, Cruz proposals harm

US foreign policy, says Obama
Washington: President Barack Obama
said on Tuesday that campaign trail rhet
oric from leading presidential candidates
was damaging the US in the eyes of for
eign leaders.
He said he receives questions "con
stantly" from fellow of ficials about the
"wackier suggestions that are being
made" in the race to secure the
Republican nomination, reports CNN.
He said those suggestions were not
coming only from presidential frontrun
ner Donald Trump, as he called some of

Texas Senator Ted Cruz's immigration

proposals "draconian".
"People expect the president of the
United States and the elected officials in
this country to treat these problems seri
ously," Obama said during an appear
ance in the White House briefing room
in which he discussed the US economy,
but was responding to a reporter's ques
tion on the state of the 2016 race.
"They don't expect halfbaked notions
coming out of the White House. We can't
afford that," the president said.

April 9-15, 2016

19

Cruz win in Wisconsin

hints at Trump slide
Washington: Senator Ted Cruz
has won the Republican presi
dential primary in Wisconsin,
dealing a blow to frontrunner
Donald
Trump,
while
Democratic contender Senator
Bernie Sanders defeated Hillary
Clinton in a close contest.
The loss is more damaging to
Trump, because he is in greater
danger of failing to lock up the
party's nomination ahead of the
July convention.
In Wisconsin, Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders have
In the Republican race, the first
defeated the frontrunners in Republican and
results showed a massive lead for
Democratic parties.
Cruz: With more than 20 percent
of votes in, he led Trump by more
ago," he said, meaning when he won by a
than 20 percentage points. Trump may still large margin in Utah. Cruz said his campaign
get some delegates from Wisconsin, howev had raised $2 million on Tuesday alone.
er, the state awards some delegates by con
In the Democratic race, Sanders was lead
gressional districts, and Trump was leading ing Clinton by about seven percentage
in rural districts in Wisconsin's northwest, points, 53 percent to 46 percent, with 30
according to Washington Post.
percent of precincts reporting.
Cruz savored the victory, casting it as proof
A victory on that scale may not allow him
that the GOP race had turned. The party's to make up significant ground on Clinton in
antiTrump forces had coalesced behind an the race for Democratic convention dele
unlikely champion: a Texas senator who gates. But it will allow Sanders to cite grow
seemed like the worst possible choice for the ing momentum going into a crucial contest
GOP establishment, right up until they met in New York, where Sanders was born and
candidate Trump.
where Clinton served as senator on April
"Tonight is a turning point. It is a rallying 19.
cry," Cruz told supporters in Milwaukee. "We
A win in Wisconsin also allows Sanders to
have a choice. A real choice. The national make the case to "superdelegates", who can
political terrain began to change two weeks make up their minds about whom to support.

FBI didn't seek

GAME CHANGER: Tesla Model
interview about email 3 receives 276,000 preorders
probe: Hillary Clinton
Hillary
Clinton
(Photo
courtesy:
AP)

Washington: Democratic frontrunner

Hillary Clinton said the FBI has not asked
to schedule an interview over her private
email server.
"No, they haven't," Clinton told NBC
News' "Meet the Press" on Sunday night
when asked whether federal investigators
had been in contact with her.
"But you know, back in August, we made
clear that I'm happy to answer any ques
tions that anybody might have. And I stand
by that," Clinton said.
In January, the US State Department
revealed that during its review of Clinton's
52,000 pages of private email, it had come
across 22 do cuments that had to be
upgraded to "top secret".
It said at the time that it would conduct a

separate internal review to determine if the

secret information in those emails had
been mishandled at the time they were
sent.However, the State Department
deferred that judgment to the FBI, which is
conducting a more comprehensive security
review of Clinton's email.
The outcome is expected amid the 2016
election cycle.
Pressed on whether the FBI probe could
interfere with her path to the nomination,
Clinton said she was not "concerned" about
it, CBS News reported. Clinton has reiterat
ed that she is confident that she did not
break any laws with her use of a private
email server during her tenure as Secretary
of State from January 2009 till February
2013.

Los Angeles: Orders for

the muchhyped Tesla
Model 3, a cheaper version
of its electric car aimed at
the mass market, have
surged to 276,000 in just
three days, company boss
Elon Musk said last week
end.
Amid reports of queues
to snap up the vehicle,
Musk tweeted: '276k
Model 3 orders by end of Sat.'
Following the launch on Thursday, Musk
hinted demand was outstripping expectation
with the tweet: 'Definitely going to need to
rethink production planning.'
The base price is half that of Tesla's luxury
Model S and the Model X, which start at
$70,000, for example.
The Model 3 will be able to go zero to 60
miles an hour in less than six seconds
The billionaire founder noted the car will
be able to travel a distance of 215 miles
(346km) per charge, at minimum, and will fit
five adults comfortably.
The slick design features a roof made of
one continuous pane of glass, which Musk
said will give passengers amazing headroom
and a 'feeling of openness'.
It is also 20 per cent smaller than the
Model S and will be fitted with autopilot fea
tures.
Like the Model S that came before it,

Model 3 will fea

ture front and
rear trunks and
boasts
more
cargo capacity
than any gasoline
car of the same
external dimen
sions.
And
Musk
promises a 7ft (2
metres)
surf
board will be able to fit inside.
The Model 3 the company's first mass
market car is a pitch to middle class drivers
and a key component in Musk's vision to
mainstream the electric car.
'It's going to be an incredibly safe car,'
Musk said when he first presented the Model
3 at the company's design studio in
Hawthorne California on Thursday night.
Musk said deliveries for the car will begin
at the end of next year.
Who are its competitors?
General Motors is set to start selling the
Chevrolet Bolt electric car at the end of this
year, a full year before the Model 3.
The Bolt will have a similar price tag and a
200mile range. Hyundai's Ioniq, which has a
110mile electric range and could match
Tesla on price, goes on sale this fall.
Audi will follow with an electric SUV
in 2018. Musk said last month he's not
worried.

20

April 9-15, 2016

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

OP-ED

VOTE FOR THE CROOK

(not Trump). Its important
LINCOLN REALIZED THE WHIG PARTY WAS BROKEN BEYOND REPAIR BECAUSE IT COULD NOT EXPLAIN WHY SLAVERY WAS
FUNDAMENTALLY UNJUST, SO HE HELPED START THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. IF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY HAS TRULY BECOME
BROKEN ENOUGH TO NOMINATE TRUMP WITH THE SUPPORT OF DAVID DUKE, IT WILL BE TIME TO FIND A NEW TOOL.
By Dr. Caleb Verbois
ike many Americans, I
learned my first real civics
lesson watching my mother
vote. Unlike many, my first lesson
was fairly depressing. I grew up in
southern Louisiana, and in the
1991 gubernatorial e lect ion
David Duke, a former Grand
Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, was
running against Edwin Edwards, a
threetime former governor who
had been charged with bribery
and was later convicted of 17
counts relating to extortion and
racketeering. Edwards was heavily
disliked because of his alleged
crimes and because he raised
taxes sharply as state revenue fell
when the oil industry collapsed.
Despite this, many in Louisiana
were terrified of what might hap
pen if Duke won the election, and
signs and bumper stickers sprang
up all over the state with one sim
ple message: Vote for the Crook.
Its Important. On Election Day I
watched as my mother dutifully
went to the polls, voted for every
other office, and then tried to vote
for governor. She could not. She
couldnt vote for Duke of course.
But she also could not overcome
her distaste of Edwards.
I thought of this story when I
heard that David Duke had
endorsed Donald Trump for presi
dent and that Trump, inexplicably,
said that he did not know any
thing about Duke. I say inexplica
bly, because in 2000, when
Trump considered running for
president with the Reform Party,
he declined, because, The Reform
Party now includes a Klansman,
Mr. Duke. This is not company I

David Duke (left) is a former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. Donald Trump said on live TV that he knew
nothing about David Duke. A patent lie because in 2000, when Trump considered running for president
with the Reform Party, he declined, because, The Reform Party now includes a Klansman,
Mr. Duke. This is not company I wish to keep.
wish to keep. But for the alleged
ly straight talking Trump, no
statement of fact or belief is ever
permanent. After Trump received
Dukes endorsement in this cam
paign, CNNs Jake Tapper gave
Trump three opportunities to
renounce Dukes support. Trump
merely said, I dont know any
thing about David Duke, OK, I
know nothing about what youre
even talking about with white
supremacists or white suprema
cy. Tapper again said that he was
asking about Duke and the Klan,
and again, Trump denied under
standing. Later Trump tried to
claim that he had not heard
Tappers question, despite the fact
that he was able to repeat Tapper
several times.
This is another Trump state
ment that is impossible to believe.

It is simply not plausible that he

does not know what the Ku Klux
Klan (or white supremacy) is, even
if he no longer remembers that he
once le ft the Re form Party
because of David Duke.
This election increasingly leaves
Americans with the possibility
that in eight months we will have
two terrible choices for president.
On the one hand, there is Trump,
who cannot find it within himself
to denounce Klan proponents if
they support him, and cannot con
sistently hold to a political posi
tion of any importance for more
than about a week.
On the other hand, there is
Hillary Clinton, who in a saner
political world would probably
already have been indicted for
endangering national security by
violating the law with regard to

top secret documents.

In that scenario, one is tempted
to say, Vote for the Crook. Its
Important.
Happily, we are not yet staring
into that abyss. It is still possible
that Republican voters can wake
up from their nightmare and vote
for another leading Republican
candidate. It is even possible that
Democratic voters may feel the
Bern and choose Sanders, though,
given the undemocratic nature of
the Democratic Partys super del
egates, even winning the primary
election might not be enough for
Sanders.
There is also another option, as
Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse has
reminded us this week. When
asked who he would support
between Trump and Hillary, he
was brie f and to the point:

The views expressed in Op Eds are not necessarily those of The South Asian Times.

Neither of them. Later, in an

interview on MSNBC he noted,
correctly, that the Republican
Party is the party of Abraham
Lincoln not the party of David
Duke, Donald Trump but funda
mentally, this party needs to
return to its principles of believ
ing in equality under the law and
believing in the greatness of the
potential of the American people.
We believe in limited government.
We dont be lieve in a bigger
Washington.
Sasse argued, The American
people deserve better than two
fundamentally dishonest New
York liberals. So my first hope
is that voters in the primaries over
the next three weeks are going to
make a better choice. But, as
Sasse concluded, the political
party is a tool. And like any tool,
if it breaks, you have to replace it.
T hat, after all, is how the
Republican Party began. Lincoln
realized the Whig party was bro
ken beyond repair because it
could not explain why slavery was
fundamentally unjust, so he
helped start the Republican Party.
If the Republican Party has truly
become broken enough to nomi
nate Trump with the support of
David Duke, it will be time to find
a new tool. Either that, or we
might be stuck saying, Vote for
the Crook. Its Important.

Dr. Caleb Verbois is an assistant

professor of political science at
Grove City College and an affiliat
ed scholar at the John Jay
Institute. He teaches American
Politics and Political Theory and
specializes in American constitu
tional thought.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

April 9-15, 2016

OP-ED

21

RSS EMERGES AS RULING BJP'S

BITTEREST CRITIC IN GOA
By Mayabhushan
Nagvenkar
Panaji: With assembly elections
just a year away and with the
opposition Congress in disarray,
the RSS has surprisingly emerged
as one of the most bitter critics of
Goa's BJPled coalition govern
ment, especially on the issue of
Medium of Instruction (MoI) in the
state's private primary schools, a
large chunk of which are run by
the influential Roman Catholic
Church.
State Rashtriya Swayamsevak
Sangh (RSS) president Subhash
Velingkar's repeated salvos target
ing the BJP government as well as
Defense Minister Manohar
Parrikar, accusing both of betray
ing the cause of Indian languages,
has not gone down well with the
ruling dispensation, which has
however refused to return the vet
eran RSS chief's barbs.
In a statement, Velingkar warned
the BJP leadership that the future
of Goan students would be harmed
by pandering to the English lan
guage as a medium of instruction
in private primary schools and
accused it of being doublefaced.
"Don't ruin our future by giving
grants to English medium private
primary schools. The future will
not pardon you... Goans have been
cheated once, now they will not fall
prey to their attitude of munh mein
raam bagal mein churi (double
face)," Velingkar said.
The genesis of the controversy

Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar as well as BJP government has

been at receiving end of RSS salvos.
goes back to 1991, when the gov
ernment of the day decided to
grant financial aid only to primary
schools whose medium of instruc
tion was either in regional lan

guages like Konkani or Marathi,

keeping English medium schools
out of the state financial assistance
list.
But a growing demand for educa

tion in the English language at pri

mary level forced parents of stu
dents studying in Churchrun
schools, with subtle patronage
from Church officials, to agitate in
2010 and demand grants for pri
mary schools teaching in English
medium too.
In the lead up to the 2012 state
assembly elections, the BJP prom
ised to find a scientific solution to
the vexing problem, while also sup
porting a campaign led by the
Bharatiya Bhasha Suraksha Samiti
(BBSM), a collective of Indian lan
guage supporters including aca
demics, politicians and writers,
against allowing government
grants to English medium primary
schools. Velingkar himself was at
the forefront of the Samiti's activi
ties.
After the BJPled coalition gov
ernment assumed power, then
chief minister Manohar Parrikar,
via an ad hoc decision in 2012,
decided to give grants to only
existing minority educational insti
tutions that were using English as
a medium of instruction, with new
schools being denied the privilege.
While the RSS had criticised the
decision at the time, its anger
against what it called the BJP's
"shameful compromise" is now
reaching a crescendo, with assem
bly elections less than a year away.
"The BJP managed to beat the
Congress in the last e lection
because of the campaigning and
contribution done by the BBSM.
We will campaign against this gov

ernment if they ignore our

demands," Velingakar told IANS.
The BJP has, however, refused to
get drawn into a public debate
with Velingkar, who has groomed
generations of state Sangh leaders
and political activists which
include Parrikar and Chief Minister
Laxmikant Parsekar.
"Everyone has the right to an
opinion. We are doing best what
we can for the students of Goa," a
senior BJP leader said, refusing to
comment on the record on
Velingkar's comments.
The BJP has also drafted a bill on
the subject which is being dis
cussed by a select committee of the
Goa assembly. The bill was expect
ed to be tabled in the recently con
cluded budget session of the
assembly, but BJP sources said that
such a move would not be political
ly expedient, especially with elec
tions round the corner.
"If we of ficially allow grants to
English schools, we risk upsetting
the RSS. If we cancel grants we
alienate the Catholic vote," the BJP
leader also said. T he Roman
Catholic community accounts for
nearly a fourth of the state's popu
lation of 1.5 million.
According to Parsekar, who was
also a part of the agitation against
English as a medium of instruction
before 2012, the status quo should
continue.
"I am personally of the opinion
that the grants continued to minor
ity institutions should not be
stopped," Parsekar has said.

Solar industry needs GST sops to

meet mission targets
By Bappaditya Chatterjee
Kolkata: With over $4 billion lined
up for investments in India's solar
industry, its viability depends
much on exemptions continuing
on related equipment under the
proposed goods and services tax
(GST) regime to power 4.8 GW of
electricity generation, stakeholders
maintain.
GST seeks to simplify the com
plex network of state and central
taxes by subsuming them into a
single tax. But the renewable ener
gy sector, currently enjoying sev
eral indirect tax exemptions, may
be "caught unprepared" as the new

regime proposes to withdraw most

of the exemptions.
"If solar cells and modules come
in the list of standard GST rate and
there is no exemption, we fear that
the industry mig ht be caug ht
unprepared," said Jasmeet
Khurana, associate director with
Bridge To India, a consultancy and
knowledge services provider on
renewable market.
"This can have an adverse impact
on a significant number of planned
investments and the overall invest
ment climate," Khurana told IANS,
adding the impact could primarily
be on the investments planned for
2017 while also affecting several

recently allocated projects.

According to a report of the con
sultancy firm, around 4.8 GW
(Gigawatt) of solar capacity is
expected to be installed with an
investment of around Rs.27,000
crore. This number is likely to
swell by around 50 percent for
investments planned in 2017.
"It's a matter of serious concern.
Over 5,000 MW of projects that
have been awarded and are under
implementation would be affected
if solar equipment does not fall in
the exemption list of GST," said
Pranav Mehta, chairman of the
National Solar Energy Federation
of India.

The union ministry of new and

renewable energy (MNRE) has
taken up the matter and the feder
ation is also seized with it proac
tively to resolve the issue, added
Mehta, who also serves as the co
chair of the global solar council.
"All projects under construction
or where it is yet to begin will defi
nitely be impacted. Project viabili
ty is likely to be questionable
unless this issue is addressed,"
Sunil Jain , executive director of
Hero group's renewable energy
arm, told IANS.
He also said while the GST
regime will not be a major obstacle
in the rollout of solar projects, an

The views expressed in Op Eds are not necessarily those of The South Asian Times.

upward movement of solar tariffs

could be in the of fing. But a fur
ther fall in panel prices is likely to
nullify some of the impact of GST.
Jain said: "Since GST works on a
principal of netting taxes from
input till output, it is likely to
result in increase in cost of solar
equipment, as tax credits will not
be available to manufacturers."
Service tax is also like ly to
increase to 18 percent, leading to
a five percent rise in operation and
maintenance charges. Thus, tariff
is likely to be impacted by 5060
paise per unit, since the project
cost will go up by 89 percent, he
said.

22

April 9-15, 2016

Ministry of External
Affairs, India announces
35th Know India Program
New Delhi: Know India Program
of the Ministry is a threeweek
orientation program for Diaspora
youth conducted with a view to
promote awareness on dif ferent
facets of life in India and the
progress made by the country in
various fie lds e.g. economic,
industrial, education, Science &
Technology, Communication &
Information Technology, culture.
KIP provide a unique forum for
students & young professionals of
Indian origin to visit India, share
their views, expectations & experi
ences and to develop closer bonds
with the contemporary India. The
35th Know India Program (K.I.P)
is scheduled from 5th May to

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

DIASPORA

29th May, 2016 to familiarize

Indian Diaspora youth w ith
India's culture, heritage and also
with contemporary India. KIP will
be for a Duration of 25 days, of
which participants will spend
nearly 10 days in Maharashtra.
This program is open only for
Indian origin Diaspora youth
(PIOs) in age group of 1826
years. NRls are not e lig ible.
Preference would be given to
PIOs who have not visited India so
far. Guidelines and application
form for K.I.P may be accessed
throug h Ministry of External
Af fairs
we bsite:
http://www.mea.gov.in/know
indiaprogramme.htm

PM Modi announces
24X7 helpline for NRIs
Riyadh: Reaching out to Non
Resident
Indians,
Prime
Minister Narendra Modi tonight
announced a 24X7 multilingual
helpline for them and said a
move to regularize migration
was in the of fing through an
online program.
Asserting that the NRIs could
count on the Indian government
in the times of crisis, he said
they could use the avenues like
the MADAD portal to reach the
government for help.
Specifically for Indians in
Saudi Arabia, he announced the
setting up of worker resource
centres in Riyadh and Jeddah to

provide them with all necessary

help.Addressing a gathering of
L&T workers who are construct
ing metro rail in Riyadh, he said
the country was proud of their
contribut ion
which
has
enhanced India's image abroad
and opened doors for overseas
employment opportunities for
their compatriots.
"W henever any good news
regarding you people comes, I
feel as happy as your family.
When there is news of some
concern regarding you, I feel
the pain like your family would
because you are my family," PM
Mo di said, adding that he

shared their happiness and sor

row.
"Government has started a
program called emigrate. In the
coming days, we are working to
regularize migration," he said.
"In the coming days, we plan
to establish worker resource
centers in Riyadh and Jeddah to
meet your needs and there will
also be a 24X7 helpline.
A call center will be estab
lished whose facilities can be
availed in dif ferent languages
and through this helpline you
can share your problems," PM
Modi said.
(PTI)

'No parliamentary probe into New UK visa rules to affect

Indian professionals
Indian family in S. Africa'
Cape Town: South African parlia
ment can not conduct investiga
tions into the alleged "state cap
ture" by the Indian Gupta family,
Moloto Mothapo, parliamentary
spokesperson said on Monday.
The allegations of "state cap
ture" by the Guptas were being
investigated by the special anti
crime unit Hawks and Public
Protector Thuli Madonsela, fol
lowing requests for investiga
tions, Moloto Mothapo of the rul
ing African National Congress
(ANC) was quoted by Xinhua.
Therefore Parliament can not
conduct investigations on a mat
ter that was being looked into by
other organs of state, Mothapo
said.
"Parliament should not find

itself in a situation where it is

conducting parallel investiga
tions," he said.
He was responding to a request
by the opposition Democratic
Alliance (DA) that Parliament
should investigate "patterns of
state capture" by the wealthy
Gupta family.
Considering the severity of the
claims of "state capture" and
mounting evidence, Parliament
must investigate this "as matter of
urgency", the DA said on Sunday.
T he Gupta family, which
allegedly keeps close ties with
President Jacob Zuma, his family
and ANC of ficials, has been
accused of exerting undue influ
ence on South Africa's state
affairs by offering cabinet posts

Consul General
of India in Bali
R O Suresh
Babu
addressing the
gathering
Revelers at the Holi event hosted by Indian Consulate in Bali

to ANC of ficials. The family has

denied the accusation.
DA
Chief
W hip
John
Steenhuisen claimed that ANC
Chief Whip Jackson Mthembu
had voiced support for calls to
investigate "state capture" by the
Gupta family.
Steenhuisen said Mthembu has
agreed to the DA's proposal for
Parliament to institute an investi
gation into the alleged state influ
ence by the Gupta family.
However, Mothapo said
Steenhuisen's claim was "imagi
nary and baseless."
Mothapo said Mthembu never
made such statements but merely
stressed that, as a general princi
ple, Parliament as a forum for
public debates should never
quash multiparty debates, but
each proposed debate should be
subjected to the established par
liamentary process for considera
tion and a decision by all parties.
"Only a delusional misappre
hension would interpret this clear
assertion (on parliamentary
debates) to mean the ANC chief
whip supports the DA's proposal
for a 'parliamentary investigation'
into alleged state influence by the
Gupta family,"Mothapo said in a
statement.
(IANS)

London: Indian professionals are

making a lastditch effort to appeal to
the UK government over a new
35,000 pounds salary threshold
requirement which comes into effect
from Wednesday.
T housands of Indian and other
nationals from outside the European
Union (EU) living and working in
Britain on a Tier 2 visa face having to
leave or be deported if they earn less
than 35,000 pounds a year once the
terms of the visa expire.
Earlier, a Tier2 visa holder could
apply for indefinite leave to remain in
the UK with an annual income of
around 21,000 pounds. The new rule
comes into ef fect on April 6 and is
likely to af fect thousands of Indian
skilled professionals.
"T his is the country I did my
Masters in. Fell in love with the place.
Got my first job. Got married and
started a family in London. Have a job
I love. What more could I ask? If I
have to leave then it will be devastat
ing. Have to leave friends, a company I
love, a place I love," said Abhijit, an
advertising operations manager.
He is one of many Indians who have
joined the 'Stop 35K' campaign group
against what they believe are discrimi
natory changes to the criteria for non
EU nationals applying for
"Indefinite Leave to Remain" (ILR) in
the UK at the end of a fiveyear period

of living and working in the UK. The

campaign is aimed at a reconsidera
tion of this rule and encouraging the
UK Home Of fice to undertake
research into industryspecific thresh
olds.
Concerned by the move, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi had raised
the issue with British counterpart
David Cameron during a meeting on
the sidelines of the Nuclear Security
Summit in the US last week, saying
skilled IT professionals from India
should not find it difficult to come to
work in the UK.
"Cameron promised to take a look at
it. He said we do not want to disadvan
tage bonafide IT companies, but at the
same time we would also want to
ensure that the UK system is not mis
used," Ministry of External Af fairs
spokesman Vikas Swarup had said.
Kesavan, employed as an audiologist
in the UK, said, "I have been working
and living in the UK for the past six
years. I came here on a student visa to
do my Masters degree after which I
started working for NHS (National
Health Service) for the past four and
half years on a senior position.
"I even own my flat here in London.
Because of this 35k rule I might have
to leave my job, flat and relocate to a
different country. More importantly I
have not used public funds in any
form during my stay here so far."

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

April 9-15, 2016

SUBCONTINENT

23

PANAMA LEAK REVEALS

Nawaz Sharif family's offshore holdings
Islamabad: A massive leak of secret les
from a Panamanian law rm that special
izes in offshore tax havens has revealed the
oftenmurky nancial dealings of some of
the world's most powerful political players.
T he leak hig hlig hts people such as
Russian President Vladimir Putin, and the
family of Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz
Sharif, among dozens of others, Dawn
online reported.
The data from the Panama Papers, avail
able on the website of the International
Consortium of Investigative Journalists
one of around 100 news organizations and
300 journalists that worked on mining the
data simultaneously also reveals the off
shore holdings of the members of Sharif's
family.
According to the documents, Sharif's chil
dren Mariam, Hasan and Hussain "were
owners or had the right to authorize trans
actions for several companies".
Mariam is described as "the owner of
British Virgin Islandsbased rms Nielsen

Enterprises Limited and Nescoll Limited,

incorporated in 1994 and 1993".
On one of the documents, the address list
ed for Nielsen Enterprises is Saroor Palace
in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The document,
dated June 2012, describes Mariam Safdar
as the 'benecial owner'.
"Hussain and Mariam signed a document
dated June 2007 that was part of a series
of transactions in which Deutsche Bank
Geneva lent up to $13.8 million to Nescoll,
Nielsen and another company, with their
London properties as collateral," the papers
revealed.
In July 2014, the two companies were
transferred to another agent, it said.
Hasan Nawaz Sharif is described as "the
sole director of Hangon Property Holdings
Limited incorporated in the British Virgin
Islands in February 2007, which acquired
Liberiabased rm Cascon Holdings
Establishment Limited for about $11.2 mil
lion in August 2007."
But the papers are not necessarily evi

JeM chief no terrorist,

says China after
vetoing India ban

dence of wrongdoing. According to The

Guardian, using of fshore structures is
entirely legal.
"There are many legitimate reasons for
doing so. Business people in countries such
as Russia and Ukraine typically put their
assets offshore to defend them from 'raids'
by criminals, and to get around hard cur
rency restrictions," the paper said in an
explanatory note. (IANS)

Sharif forms probe panel

akistan's Prime Minister Nawaz

Sharif addressed the nation by televi
sion to defend his family's business
practices, denying any wrongdoing and
calling corruption claims "old accusations
repeated over and over again".
The PM set up a commission to investi
gate allegations, based on leaked docu
ments from Panama, that offshore compa

of the Council to make sure that

each requirement is followed."
Pressed further about in what
way Azhar fell short of being a
terrorist, Liu only said: "T he
Council's requirements" implying
that he (Azhar) did not meet them.
Liu would not go into details.
Following the January 2 attack
on the Pathankot air force base,
India had requested the sanctions
committee in February to include
Azhar in its list of terrorists. The
action by the panel, popularly
known as the 1267 committee,
would have required Pakistan and
other countries to freeze his
assets and ban his travel.
At the committee's meet ing
recently, all the other 14 members
of the Council supported placing
Azhar on the list, but China put a
hold on it, which is in ef fect a
veto.
T his is the second time that
China has come to the aid of
Pakistani terrorists in the sanc
tions committee.

nies headed by members of his family were

avoiding paying taxes or disguising assets
and their origins.
Political opponents in Pakistan, notably
Imran Khan, have accused Sharif's family
of having g ained the funds illeg ally
through corruption during his two previ
ous stints as prime minister in the 1990s.
(Agencies)

Myanmar's lower house

creates new post for Suu Kyi

Jaishe
Mohamed
chief
Masood
Azhar.
(Photo: IANS)

United
Nations:
China's
Permanent Representative Liu
Jieyi has reiterated Beijing's claim
that Pakistanbased Jaishe
Mohamed ( JeM) chief Masood
Azhar does not qualify as a terror
ist who would have to face UN
sanctions, after China put on hold
a ban sought by India on the
Pathankot terror attacks master
mind.
Speaking to reporters after
assuming the rotating presidency
of the Security Council, Liu assert
ed that Azhar did not meet "the
Council's requirements" to be con
sidered a terrorist.
Asked about China exercising a
virtual veto at the UN sanctions
committee by putting a hold on
Azhar being declared a terrorist
subject to a range of punitive
actions, Liu made a general state
ment: "Individuals and organiza
tions on the sanctions list of the
United Nations would have to
meet the requirements. It is the
responsibility of all the members

Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif

in the eye of storm.
(Photo: IANS)

Myanmars democracy leader

Aung San Suu Kyi.
(Photo: IANS)

Nay Pyi Taw: Myanmar parlia

ment's lower house passed a
bill calling for appointment of
a state counselor in the new
cabinet, a post to be created
for Aung San Suu Kyi.
The bill was approved by the
majority of the members of
parliament w ithout any
amendment to the bill agreed
by the upper house after seri
ous debate by the bill commit
tee and some nonelected mili
tary representatives who con
stitutes 25 percent of the seats
in the house.
The state counselor bill, sub
mitted to the upper house
recently, was approved by
13768 vote.

The bill guarantees Aung

San Suu Kyi's right to contact
government ministries, depart
ments, organizations, associa
tions and individuals for coun
sel. She will be accountable to
parliament. The term of ofce
for the counselor of state is
the same as that of the presi
dent.
Aung San Suu Ky i, the
Nat ional
League
for
Democracy chairperson, was
rst appointed on as
Myanmar's new foreign minis
ter concurrently holding the
portfolios of minister at the
president's ofce, minister of
education, and minister of
electric power and energy.

Khaleda Zia gets bail in five cases

Dhaka: Bangladesh opposition leader Khaleda Zia
surrendered to separate courts in Dhaka before
securing bail in ve cases related to violence, graft
and sedition. The former prime minister and
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chief appeared
in several courts in connection with the cases
two over rebombing on a bus at the capital's
Jatrabarhi, an attack on a rally led by Minister
Shajahan Khan, and a case each relating to graft
and sedition, news reports said.
Zia appeared before the Dhaka Metropolitan
Sessions Court, accompanied by BNP leaders and
activists and left the premises after getting bail.
The same court had on March 30 issued an arrest
warrant against Zia and 27 others for an attack on
a bus in which one person was killed and 30 others
injured, although Zia was not physically present
when the incident took place.
(Source: IANS)

Bangladesh's former PMKhaleda Zia.

(Photo: IANS)

24 April 9-15, 2016

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

INTERNATIONAL

PANAMA PAPERS: ICELAND PM RESIGNS

Reykjavik: Iceland Prime Minister
Sigmundur
Gunnlaugsson
resigned the first major casual
ty of the Panama Papers leaks
which have shed an embarrassing
spotlight on the world of offshore
finance, BBC reported.
The leaks, from Panama law
firm Mossack Fonseca, showed
that Gunnlaugsson owned an off
shore company, Wintris, with his
wife. He was accused of conceal
ing millions of dollars worth of
family assets.
A big protest was held in front
of parliament in Iceland recently.
Dozens of highprofile global
figures were named in the huge
Mossack Fonseca leak.
Gunnlaugsson had earlier
called on President Olafur

Putin rejects corruption allegations

A protestor throws an egg at the parliament building during a

protest in Reykjavik. (Photo: IANS)
Ragnar Grimsson to dissolve par
liament, but that was refused.
Grimsson said he wanted to
speak to political parties first.

"I do not think it is normal that

the prime minister alone ...
should be given the authority to
dissolve the parliament without

Motion to impeach South

African President defeated

South African President Jacob Zuma.

(Photo: IANS)
Cape Town: A motion to impeach South
African President Jacob Zuma, proposed by
the opposition, was defeated in parliament
recently. T he mot ion comes after the
Constitutional Court, in an unanimous judg
ment, found that Zumas failure to comply
with the remedial action imposed on him by
the public protector in her 2014 report on
Nkandla was "inconsistent" w ith the
Constitution, BDlive reported.
Outlining the partys plans to press for

Zumas impeachment, Maimane listed a

litany of alleged indictments against the
behavior of the executive branch of govern
ment.
The DA would be campaigning to give the
"legislature back its teeth" but more broadly
would be appealing for the electorate to
"vote for change", he said at a media briefing
in Sandton.
The 73yearold president gave a televised
address to the nation in which he apologized
and said he would pay back some of the
money, as ordered. He said that he never
knowingly or deliberately set out to violate
the constitution.
T he president trave lled to his home
province of KwazuluNatal recently to launch
a relief programme as part of government
ef forts to support areas af fected by South
Africas worst drought in more than a centu
ry. He told a cheering crowd that he was still
South Africas leader and joked about how
youthful he was, but made no specific men
tion of the Nkandla matter, the pending
impeachment motion or calls for him to step
down as he addressed the gathering in Zulu,
(IANS)
his native language.

New Zealands exPM in

race to become UN chief
United Nations: New Zealands for
mer prime minister Helen Clark
entered the race to be the next UN
secretarygeneral, touting her
decades of leadership as she aims to
become the first woman to head the
world body. The search for a suc
cessor to Ban Kimoon comes at a
time of high anxiety in g lobal
affairs as the United Nations grap
ples with the biggest refugee crisis
since World War II and raging con
flicts in the Middle East and Africa.
I am putting myself forward
based on proven leadership experi
ence over close to three decades,
both in my own country and here at

The 66yearold former academic

is among New Zealands longest
serving PMs. (Photo: IANS)
the United Nations, Clark was quot
ed as saying in news reports.
(Agencies)

President Putin has denied "any element of corruption" over the

Panama Papers leaks, saying his opponents are trying to destabilise
Russia. Mr Putin was speaking for the first time since the leak of mil
lions of confidential documents from the Panamabased law firm
Mossack Fonseca. The papers revealed a number of offshore compa
nies owned by close associates of Putin.
They suggest the companies may have been used for money launder
ing. Putin, speaking live on TV, said Russia's Western opponents "are
worried by the unity and solidarity of the Russian nation... and that is
why they are attempting to rock us from within, to make us more obe
dient". He said that because they could not find Putin in the Panama
papers "they've made an information product."
"They've found a few of my acquaintances and friends... and scraped
up something from there and stuck it together."
the majority of the parliament
being satisfied with that deci
sion," the president told
reporters.

Some observers describe his

rejection of the prime minister's
request as highly unusual.
(IANS)

MILITANTS DOWN SYRIAN

WARPLANE IN ALEPPO

Civilians gather around the wreckage of a

Syrian warplane that was shot down in Aleppo.
Damascus: Militants shot down a Syrian
warplane in Aleppo province, a monitor
group reported.
The Al Qaedalinked Nusra Front targeted
the warplane in the town of Eis, said the
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The Londonbased watchdog group did
not give details of the plane crew or their
fate, Xinhua news agency reported.

Meanwhile, other activists published a 20

second online video purporting to show the
warplane while falling down in flames.
Activists also released another 30second
video clip, showing the pilot of the downed
warplane being beaten up by an angry
crowd of rebels while he lay down. One mil
itant said "Take whatever weapon he may
have," while another one called him a "dog".

Brussels attacks: Zaventem airport reopens

Brussels: Amid tight security con
trols, Brussels airport reopened for
three "symbolic" flights on Sunday,
12 days after terror attacks that
claimed 34 lives.
Three Brussels Airlines flights
were scheduled to depart for
European destinations, with the
first leaving at 11.40 a.m. (local
time) for Faro in Portugal, BBC
reported.
Strict security measures were
taken as the airport reopened par
tially. T he passengers were
screened on an approach road and
again before check in.
Both the Brussels attacks on the
airport and a metro station on

Two massive explosions had devastated the departure

area of the airport. (Photo: IANS)
March 22, as well as the November
12, 2015 Paris attacks were
claimed by the Islamic State mili
tant group.
Airport workers gathered at

Zaventem to watch the first flight

take off.
The other two flights on Sunday
are to Turin in northern Italy and
Athens.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

SPORTS

April 9-15, 2016

25

Bevy of Bollywood stars to perform

at IPL opening April 8
Mumbai: The opening ceremony
of the cashrich Indian Premier
League (IPL) 2016 will witness a
host of Bollywood and interna
tional stars performing, includ
ing Ranveer Singh, Jacqueline
Fernandez, Katrina Kaif and Yo
Yo Honey Sing h along w ith
American singer Chris Brown
and musical group Major Lazer.
The opening ceremony will be
held at the National Sports Club
of India (NSCI), Worli here on
April 8 evening.
"We will make the IPL opening
ceremony interesting this time,"
IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla told
reporters here on Tuesday.
In terms of international stars,
American singer Chris Brown
and musical group Major Lazer
will be there at the opening cer
emony, he added.
Bajirao Mastani star Ranveer

shared that his act will "honor

the spirit of cricket and victory"
and he wants "to dedicate the
performance to all the cricket
fans across the world."
Sri Lankan beauty Jacqueline
said her "act focuses on the
intensity and the determination
of the players". "I am very excit
ed," she added.
Katrina said that "cricket and
Bollywood have always been
closely associated, and what bet
ter way for me to show my sup
port".
"Blue eyes" crooner Honey
Singh, who was missing from the
limelight for 18 months due to
his struggle with bipolar disor
der and alcoholism, says that
with his performance he will
showcase to the world how
music and sport go hand in
hand.

Double delight for West

Indies in World T20

KOHLI IS MAN OF
TOURNAMENT
IN WORLD T20

West Indies men's as well as women's team dance to celebrate after winning the World T20 2016 against
England at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, on April 3.
Kolkata: The World Twenty20 2016
concluded in a most thrilling fash
ion with the West Indies scripting
history by becoming the first team
to clinch the title for the second
time. The party for the Windies on
Sunday at the iconic Eden Gardens
got even bigger and better as before
the men's final, the women's team
won the Women's World T20 to
make it two world titles in a day.
Before the tournament actually
kicked of f, nobody gave the men
from the Caribbean a chance to
reach the final, because of their
recent troubles of f the field with
their cricket board and with a few
T20 specialists missing from their
squad due to injury.
But the depth in the batting and
bowling lineup, the talent in their
dressing room and their bench
strength fought against all odds and
proved the critics wrong by eventu
ally claiming their second World
T20 title after 2012. Each and every
member of the squad delivered

when it mattered most and the final

against England will be everlasting
in their memories thanks to Carlos
Brathwaite's late assault with the
bat which left 2010 winners
England stunned.
With the West Indies also winning
the U19 World Cup earlier this
year, 2016 is witnessing a revival of
sorts for the former superpowers of
the game. They may no longer be
the same force they used to be in
Test cricket, but Sunday's triumph
clearly demonstrated that they are
still among the best when it comes
to limitedovers cricket.
Besides the West Indies, hosts
India, who were termed as
favourites to win the title, gave it
their all with three successive wins
after a loss against New Zealand in
the opener, but failed to hold on till
the end. With comfortable backto
back victories against archrivals
Pakistan, Bangladesh and Australia,
Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men made
their way through to the semi

finals, but surrendered to the

mighty West Indians who took the
game away from the hosts to leave
India and their millions of fans
shellshocked.
Although the 2007 inaugural
World T20 winners failed to make it
to their third final, their allwin
record against traditional rivals
Pakistan in the World T20 and 50
over World Cup remained intact.
Courtesy of star batsman Virat
Kohli's sublime form, the hosts out
played their neighbors in all depart
ments of the game in the Group 2
match to make it 110 in their favor
in both 20over and 50over World
Cups. But the sixth edition of the
World T20, like the earlier editions,
has seen big totals chased down
with ease. New Zealand's Martin
Guptill starting off the tournament
with a six of f the first ball and
Brathwaite finished it off on Sunday
with another maximum sums up
why cricket is considered to be a
batsman's game.

Virat Kohli with the latest laurel. He scored 273 runs

from 5 innings, with a 136 average.

irat Kohli was the silver

lining in India's failed
campaign in the ICC
World T20. The Indian vice
captain was adjudged the Man
of the Tournament at the end of
Sunday's final between West
Indies and England at Kolkata's
Eden Gardens.
India were ousted by champi
ons West Indies in a thrilling
semifinal
inMumbai
on
T hursday. Kohli was India's
lone ranger as throughout the

World T20, he came up with

matchwinning knocks.
For the umpteenth time in the
World T20, the 27yearold had
papered over the cracks in
India's top order, his unbeaten
89 accounting for almost half
of his country's 192 in the
semifinal against West Indies.
India's Test captain finished
the World T20 with 273 runs
from five innings with a stag
gering 136plus average and a
strike rate of almost 147.

26

April 9-15, 2016

BUSINESS

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Modi launches stand up India, says tribals

can perform as well as others
NOIDA: To boost entrepreneurship
among the Scheduled Castes,
Scheduled Tribes and women by
facilitating loans in the range of
Rs.10 lakh to Rs.1 crore, Prime
Minister Narendra Mo di on
Tuesday launched the Stand Up
India initiative and said it will
transform the lives of Dalits and
Adivasis.
Mo di said people from the
Scheduled Castes and the
Scheduled Tribes can perform as
well as others if given the opportu
nity. "Our tribal brethren and those
belonging to Scheduled Castes will
perform equally well as us if they
are provided with the opportuni
ties. How long will they wait for
jobs and to which extent the gov
ernment can give them jobs? God
has g iven equal power and
strength to Dalits as to us," Modi
said. He said the scheme will con
vert "jobseekers into jobcreators"

PM Modi riding an erickshaw

and will also change their lives.
"We got the opportunity but they
were denied it. If we can perform
on getting an opportunity, they
can also perform," Modi said, advo
cating equal opportunities for peo
ple belonging to the Scheduled
Castes. Referring to Dalits, he said
"they should not depend on some
one's mercy". "Dalit youths should

aspire to become entrepreneurs

and businessmen. They can easily
avail loans from the Mudra Bank
now," Modi said.
"Our poor have rich hearts. We
asked them to open bank accounts
with zero balance but they said
they will contribute something or
the other. T he poor deposited
Rs.50, Rs.100 in these accounts

Disclose your assets by

BRITISH MINISTER,
April 21: SC tells Mallya
TATAS HOLD TALKS ON
BRITISH STEEL UNITS
Mumbai: T he Tata Group on
Wednesday sought the British
government's help in finding a
suitable buyer for its floundering
steel assets in Britain, while also
exploring the possibility of a third
party independent auditor to
oversee the transition.
The main focus of the talks was
to avert over 40,000 job losses at
Tata Steel UK.
These issues were discussed at a
meeting between British Business
Secretary Sajid Javid, who flew
into this city to specifically hold
talks with the Tata Group top
brass led by chairman Cyrus
Mistry. Speaking to reporters here
following the meeting, Javid called
it "constructive and positive" and
said the Tata Group was a
"responsible company", adding it
had told him that a "reasonable
amount of time" would be allowed
for the sale process.
Among parties that had shown
interest in purchasing the Tata
assets, the British business secre

tary only named Liberty Steel.

Indiaborn, Londonbased busi
nessman Sanjiv Kumar Gupta,
founder of the UKbased Liberty
House, is touted as a strong con
tender to take over Tata Steel's
British assets. He was one of the
potential buyers Javid met in
London be fore fly ing out to
Mumbai.
Earlier, British Prime Minister
David Cameron held emergency
talks in London w ith his col
leagues to tackle the crisis, amid
warnings that the firm has just
weeks for a rescue deal.
The Labour Party has termed it
a national crisis and wants the UK
steel industry to be nationalised.
Having suf fered nearly $3 bil
lion in losses on the British opera
tions, Tata Steel last week said it
will explore options to put its
entire portfolio there up for sale,
some 10 years after it forayed
into Europe by acquiring the
AngloDutch Corus for over $8.1
billion.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on

Thursday directed beleaguered
liquor baron Vijay Mallya to dis
close to it
all
his
assets

movable
and immov
able
and
tangible and
intangible
and other
interests in
Vijay Mallya
India and
abroad by April 21. An apex court
bench comprising Justice Kurien
Joseph and Justice Rohinton Fali
Nariman asked Mallya to disclose
all the assets held by his wife and
children and also indicate the date
when he could appear before it in
person.
The order came after the con
sortium of 14 banks headed by
the State Bank Of India (SBI) told
the apex court that that it had
rejected Mallya's of fer to pay
Rs.4,000 crore by September to
settle his outstanding dues
amounting to more than Rs.9,000
crore. The banks had given loans
to his g rounded King fisher
Airlines.

and the government got Rs.35,000

crore throug h the Jan Dhan
Yojana."
He said Stand Up India will help
in creating 2.5 lakh entrepreneurs
as every bank branch will provide
two such loans without collateral
for setting up a new enterprise.
Paying tributes to former deputy
prime minister and defence minis
ter Babu Jagjivan Ram, Modi said
the government was launching the
Stand Up India campaign on his
birth anniversary.
"Babu Jagjivan Ram was the
defence minister of our country at
the time of the 1971 war. He was
the agriculture minister at the time
of the Green Revolution but his
contributions were forgotten over
a period of time," Modi said.
"He (Jagjivan Ram) has always
been an inspirational and respect
ed leader for us," the prime minis
ter said, adding that the Stand Up

India campaign announced by him

in his Independence Day address
will strengthen the Dalit house
holds.
Urging the gathering to educate
their children, Modi said India's
deve lopment journey w ill be
stronger when it is scripted by the
poor.
On the occasion, Modi also hand
ed over keys of 5,100 erickshaws
to the beneficiaries under the
Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojna.
Modi interacted with the families
of some of the beneficiaries, over a
cup of tea. T he bene ficiaries
explained how erickshaws would
change their lives for the better.
Commuters can also call the e
rickshaws through the Ola app.
Mo di booked an erickshaw
through the app and took a brief e
rickshaw ride towards the stage,
making the payment for the ride
through a cellphone.

FDI to reduce India's

current account
deficit: Moody's
Chennai: Credit rating agency
Moody's Investors Service on
Thursday said India's rising for
eign direct investment (FDI)
inflows reduces the current
account deficit and also the
external financing needs.
In a statement Moody's said it
does not expect widening of
India's current account deficit
based on its assumptions that
commodity prices will remain
low in 2016 and 2017.
According to Moody's, FDI
inflows are expected to climb
due to central government's
measures like liberalisation of
foreign investment limits and
'Make in India' initiative.
"These trends are credit posi
tive, as they lower India's sus
ceptibility to external shocks at
a time when capital flows to
emerging markets are volatile
and weak economic conditions
globally, particularly in the Gulf
states, may dampen remit
tances," said the Moody's state
ment, quoting Marie Diron, sen

ior vice president for the

Sovereign Risk Group.
According to Moody's, a lower
energy import bill and policy
measures to contain gold
imports are contributing to
keeping the trade deficit at
moderate levels. Going forward,
the announcement in the latest
budget of the imposition of an
excise tax on gold is likely to
dampen overall gold imports.
Additionally, the value of oil
imports decreased by 37.5 per
cent or Rs. three trillion
(US$44.3 billion) in the 12
months to February 2016 com
pared with the previous year,
despite a 10 percent increase in
the volume of petroleum
imports, Moody's said.
However, the prospect of sub
dued global economic activity
in particular in the Gulf states
where more than half of remit
tances to India originate may
lead to a significant and pro
longed weakening of remit
tance inflows.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

CULTURE

April 9-15, 2016

27

There are only 70,000 of us

Parsis left in India: Penaz Masani
Indias Minority Affairs Ministry has launched the Jiyo Parsi scheme in 2013 to stem the
community's declining numbers. Jiyo Parsi has shown 30 babies born since the scheme began,
with another dozen expected, and around 50 couples undergoing fertility treatment.
By Biswajit Choudhury

here is something highly moving when

a woman, whose people face extinction,
sings of unrequited love. Love, not just
for a mortal beloved but also of the mystic
kind as in ghazal singing, that is a male domi
nated art. Take a bow, Penaz Masani, the
Parsi queen of ghazal.
"There are only 70,000 of us Parsis left in
India," Penaz Masani, the only Parsi who
sings ghazals and a Padma Shri awardee, told
IANS in an interview, during a visit for the
Minority Af fairs Ministryhosted "T he
Everlasting Flame International Programme"
to celebrate Zoroastrian culture and the
Parsis in India.
"It was a onceina lifetime experience to
meet all the Parsis I know in Mumbai, who
had gathered here in Parliament House and
later on the lawns of Lutyens' Delhi," she said.
As part of the celebrations, a twomonth
long exhibition titled "The Everlasting Flame:
Zoroastrianism in History and Imagination",
that started across three venues in the capital
on March 19, depicts the earliest days of
Zoroastrianism to its emergence as the fore
most religion of imperial Iran, followed by
the 10th century maritime journey of
Zoroastrians fleeing religious persecution to
India, where they came to be known as the
Parsis. As for the rest, the Parsi contribution
to their new homeland, both in material and
cultural terms, is history.
The minority af fairs ministry, along with
the Delhibased Parzor Foundation, launched
the Jiyo Parsi scheme in 2013 to stem the
community's decline in numbers. Jiyo Parsi
has shown 30 babies born since the scheme
began, with another dozen expected, and
around 50 couples undergoing fertility treat
ment. However, a campaign that adopted slo
gans like "Be Responsible. Don't Use A
Condom Tonight" also raised hackles within
the community of those who objected to such
urging to procreate.
"The factors that have brought Parsis to
this pass are late marriages, not marrying at
all, decline of fertility, emigration and marry
ing outside the community," Masani said.
There has been ferment within at the rigid
adherence to tradition in not recognizing the
offspring of Parsi women who marry outside
the community. With the Mumbai Parsis
recording 175 births as against 735 deaths
in 2013, and intermarriages climbing to 38
percent, a Parsi former advocategeneral of
Maharashtra raised a furore recently when he
argued that Zoroastrianism being a universal
religion, Parsi women married outside the
faith and their children should be permitted
to enter the community's places of worship
"if they have been initiated into the faith
through a navjote ceremony."
On the other hand, the Bombay Parsi
Panchayat has waged a long, legal battle to

debar three priests who presided over rituals

involving intermarried couples.
Masani is unique as a Parsi who has
embraced the ghazal form of Urdu poetry, a
genre that is heavily influenced by Islamic
mysticism. To be the first to take up ghazal in
a community where to be cultured also
means to cultivate an ear for Western classi
cal music, with the great Zubin Mehta as a
role model, Masani is indebted to her late
father, who was a Hindustani classical singer
in the court of Sayaji Rao Gaekwad of Baroda
in the 1930s.
With her good looks and fantastic voice
Masani emerged on the scene in the 1980s at
a time when ghazal as live performance was
becoming popular among the urban middle
class.
Ghazal poetry, which is imbued with Sufi
love for the divine, had already entered popu
lar consciousness through Bombay cinema,
beginning with the playback singing of
Begum Akhtar, poetry of the likes of the
incomparable Faiz Ahmad Faiz and others
like Sahir Ludhianvi, Jan Nissar Akhtar,
Hasrat Jaipuri, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Shakeel
Badauni, Anand Bakshi and Shailendra, all of
whom have penned memorable film songs.
Masani herself has sung in over 50 films.
"Because I appeared on stage at a time
when only male singers were singing ghazals
for the masses that I got this image of a rock
star," Masani said alluding to the late Jagjit
Singh, who was the first to use the guitar in
ghazals and, along with exponents like Mehdi
Hassan, Pankaj Udhaas and Ghulam Ali, did
much to popularize the genre post the 1970s.
"Classing me as a pop stylist of ghazal is,
however, not correct because I am faithful to
the classical form that I have been trained in,"
she adds. As she walked past Delhi's Lodi
monuments like a priestess of love, Masani
described how in Iran, as a way of reversing
the decline in Zoroastrian population after
the 1979 revolution, they have revived the
ancient practice of ordaining female priests,
an idea opposed by Indian Parsis.
"I think the terrible conflicts we see around
us based on religious identity wouldn't hap
pen if we had women leading the institu
tions," Masani said, recalling the priestesses
of ancient Greece and Rome, without forget
ting the "devdasis" in the indigenous tradi
tion.
Among India's religions, Sikhism, emerging
as a synthesis of Hinduism and Islam, does
not have priests, which were abolished by
Guru Gobind Singh. Due to the faith's belief in
complete equality, women can take part in
any religious function, perform any Sikh cere
mony or lead the congregation in prayer. A
Sikh woman has the right to become a
Granthi, Ragi, and one of the Panj Piare (five
beloved), and both men and women are con
sidered capable of reaching the highest levels
(Source: IANS)
of spirituality.

Parsis are at the brink of extinction because

of late marriages or not marrying at all,
decline in fertility, emigration & marrying
outside the community. (Photo: Wikipedia)

Masani is unique as a Parsi who has

embraced the ghazal form of Urdu poetry, a
genre that is heavily influenced by Islamic
mysticism. (Photo: PenazMasani.com)

28

April 9-15, 2016

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

HUMOR

Funny Side by Nury Vittachi

WHEN PEOPLE SUE THEMSELVES

M ALWAYS DISAPPOINTED when I see

a moving train approaching a tunnel
and there arent two men fighting on
top.
I think Im starting to lose my faith in the
movie industry.
***
But talking of fighting, this writer has
been advised to take out a massive lawsuit
against a VILE INDIVIDUAL who has fouled
up my whole life. I refer of course to
myself. Suing yourself is all the rage these
days, I hear from a reader who works as a
paralegal (lawyer who leaps from planes).
He told me that last year in the US state
of Minnesota, a government van crashed
into a parked car owned by one Megan
Campbell.
She took out a lawsuit against the van
driver, a government staf fer named, yes,
Megan Campbell.
This meant her employer had to pay for
repairs, so everyone was happy.
Except for the poor old taxpayer, but
come on, we all know by now that allowing
himself to be robbed every day of the year
is the taxpayers reason for existing, right?
***
The report reminded me of Chinas State
Religious Af fairs Bureau Order No. 5,

which specifies that people who have been

reincarnated as elite masters of wisdom
must have had their names previously
recorded on a Reincarnation Application
Form. (THIS IS NOT A JOKE.)
Clearly my current pitiful existence is a
direct result of the total hash I made of
formfilling in an earlier life, so THAT
incarnation of me deserves to be sued for
every penny he has, as soon as I can work
out how to do it.

***
Regular contributors to my column
added examples:
A US jailbird named Brock sued himself
for millions of US dollars for giving himself
alcohol which caused him to commit
crimes. He argued that since he was a ward
of prison, the authorities would have to
pay this huge sum to the victim, i.e., him.
However, the US legal system refused to
support this utterly ridiculous lawsuit,
which is odd, because I thought supporting
utterly ridiculous lawsuits was their main
activity
.***

The most convoluted case was sent in by

reader Sunita Chau, and came from the
London borough of Islington.
An authority employee gave a parking
ticket to an authority vehicle, the driver of
which filed an appeal to the authority,
which rejected it, causing the authority to
file a second appeal which the authority
accepted, inspiring the authority to
demand costs from the authority which the
authority rejected on the grounds that it
was just too absurd. Well, they would
know.
***
Earlier this year, the chief prosecutor in
the government of Zambia was accused of
shocking irregularities in the way he ran
his office. He referred the case to himself
for judgment and dismissed it.
His critics said that by finding himself
not guilty he proved he was guilty.
This is the sort of circular paradox that
causes philosophers to suffer cranial short
circuits, so hide this page from any who
might be passing.
***
Now if youll excuse me, I need to fill in a
Reincarnation Application Form so that I
am reborn as an elite master of wisdom.
Not that youll notice any difference.
But anythings better than my current
role in life: Taxpayer.
***

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.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

ASTROLOGY

April 9-15, 2016

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

APRIL 915, 2016

ARIES: With your high confidence you
will be able to cross all hurdles at pro
fessional front. You will be at the lime
light in a social gathering provided you
attend. Monetary gains from unplanned
sources will brighten your week. Love works
like a panacea as you find sanity. Your confi
dence and energy will be high this week.
Affordable luxury vacation will explore your
desires. Time to spend money on your homely
accommodations. You are likely to succeed in
making a mark this week.
TAURUS: Timely help of associates will
not only pass dif ficult times at work
but also help in regaining professional
edge. You will be the star of attraction of fam
ilys gettogether this week. New moneymak
ing opportunities will be lucrative. Love part
ner touches soul that would take imagination
to unlimited heights. A week when smile will
perpetually be on your face and strangers will
seem familiar. Perfect getaway time for you
and your partner. A good week to make some
investment on kitchen items. Auspicious time
to bring changes by adopting a balanced atti
tude in life.
GEMINI: A promising week to start a
new venture in partnership. All are
likely to be benefited. Help from family
members would take care of your needs. You
get some financial rewards as dedication &
hard work gets noticed. Someones timely help
would enable visualizing succeeding in love.
Your energy level will be high. Better to chan
nelise it in a positive direction. A group of
friends or your partner is looking forward for
a vacation with you. You might be purchasing
a refrigerator or any other gadget for your
house. Indication of receiving good news from
farflung area is on the card.

CANCER: Your technical expertise

gives a decisive edge over competi
tors at work. You will enjoy the time
spent with family members and friends.
Monetary gains are likely to be from more
than one source.
Romantic imagination would keep you in a
jovial & cheerful mood. Positive outlook
impresses those around you besides keeping
you fit & fine. A leisure trip will prove to be a
premium time for you. Purchasing of electrical
appliances can be done. Achievements with
hard work at personal front could come your
way this week.
LEO: Hard work of the past brings rich
dividends. However continue enhanc
ing your skills/adopt techniques for
further development. Your generous behav
iour would enable to enjoy some lovely
moments with family.
A new financial deal gets finalized paving the
way for fresh money. The company of love
partner makes you forget about the work.
Charity work undertaken will bring mental
peace & comfort. You might get a chance for
business trip, which will help you in new con
nections. A good deal for residential property
is ahead. Success in giving a physical shape to
innovative ideas.
VIRGO: Dedication & loyalty at work
would bring desired results. Friends
and family members would lend a
helping hand. Financial position will improve
later in the week. Sudden romantic encounter
will lift your spirits. Meditation and selfreal
ization prove beneficial. Traveling overseas
would be an experience full of spark that
enlightens your imagination. Time to make
investments on farmlands. A secret personal
wish is likely to be fulfilled.

LIBRA: New ventures start on a posi

tive note. An unexpected message
from a distant relative brings happy
news for the entire family. Real estate invest
ment would be lucrative. Attending a social
event/family function brings a romantic
encounter. You will have ample time to do
things to improve your health. Travel plans for
better communication will be helpful for new
horizons. Your investment plans are at full
boom and you might succeed in them.
Engaging yourself in creative work would
bring respite from hectic schedule.
SCORPIO : You succeed in completing
projects efficiently provided you put in
all your efforts. Relatives are likely to
give some valuable advice regarding personal
life. Investment in stocks & mutual funds
would help in earning profits. Your physical
charm would catch the attraction of opposite
sex. Sound physical health will enable to par
ticipate in outdoor activities. Business or vaca
tion traveling is what you needed right now.
Your girlfriends desire for an apartment
might lead to its destination. Music and cre
ative work would attract.
SAGITTARIUS: Hard work putin the
past will yield handsome rewards in
business this week. You receive care
and af fection from family members. Long
term investment in stocks & mutual funds will
enable to earn profits.
Love life blossoms paving the way for lovely
times ahead. You will be successful in getting
rid from tensions. Implementation of new
ideas to travel will be beneficiary for you on
work front. Time to plan a gift for your par
ents may be their dream home. Indications of
developing an interest in literature are on the
card.

CAPRICORN: Business partners behave

supportive on executing strategies to
sort out pending problems.
Matrimonial alliance for eligible bachelor in
family brings joy to all. Improvement in
finances is certain. A romantic encounter is
likely to add spice to life. A sparkling laughter
filled week when most things proceed, as you
desire. Travel plans for ambitions are in full
bloom. Its high time to think of purchasing a
new office. Innovation brings a pleasant relief
from usual boredom.
AQUARIUS: Innovative ideas & techni
cal expertise would enable to win the
confidence of seniors at professional
front. A new outlook will be the source of
laughter at family front this week. Speculation
coupled with some unexpected gains improves
financial health. Romantic partner would try
innovative methods to catch your attention.
Your enormous confidence would help in enjoy
ing a healthy life. A beckon destination sounds
tempting to you. It might be the right time to
sale your empty plot as property rates are at
peak. Tireless efforts to defend your identity
will pave the way for success.
PISCES : Service people, artists and
those in creative field will get several
new opportunities. Enjoying a picnic
with family will not only bring joy but also
help in clearing misunderstandings. A new
source of income will generate through influ
ential contacts. Initiatives in love bring posi
tive results as you catch the desired attention.
A very healthy week filled with happiness &
vitality. Planning a trip for your love will
embrace you and your spouse. Your plan for a
new house will be in process very soon. You
are likely to help needy people to navigate
through rough patches of their life.

ANNUAL PREDICTIONS: FOR THOSE BORN IN THIS WEEK

9th April, 2016
Ruled planet: Mars Ruled by no: 9
Traits in you: Being ruled by Mars, you are
endowed with energy. You are energetic,
dependable, and organized.
Health this year: This year you will remain
healthy. You may lose things both personally
and personally being emotional. You may
visit a distant pilgrimage to attend an auspi
cious occasion towards the end of the year to
attain mental health which is contaminated
due to pressure and overload of work.
Finance this year: Your financial condition
may improve this year thanks to your previ
ous investments. You need to invest your life
time investment intelligently so that you
need not repent later.
Career this year: You have the ability to make
quick decisions. You are capable enough to
get rewards and appreciation for your ef fi
ciency in your professional field. However,
you should control your jealousy to improve
your personality. You should not try to do
things beyond your capabilities. It may land
you in difficulties.
Romance this year: Your romantic life would
be an excellent one this year as you will be
able to clarify past misunderstanding with
your partner.
Lucky month: June , July and October
10th April, 2016
Ruled planet: Sun Ruled by no: 1
Traits in you: Being under the guidance of
Sun, you are active, dynamic, authoritative,
brilliant and talented. You have the ability to
init iate new ideas and work on them.
However, you need to work on your stub
bornness to become a better individual.
Health this year: You may suffer from joint
pain or hig h bloo d pressure this year.
Gowever, proper medication would help you
maintain a good health.
Finance this year: You will find new ways to
enhance your confidence to earn and
improve your financial condition. Your pro
fessional journeys will pay off and you will
be successful in your deals this year. You
should invest in a house or selected socks to
get better benefits. If you schedule business
trips abroad, you may find a chance to meet

old friends and get new opportunities to

improve your business. You may end up
spending a lot of money in your legal issues
as they will be stretched more than expected.
Career this year: The following year will
bring you lot of promises and surprises to
cherish in your career. You may get rewards
for your work. Your long cherished dreams
may get fulfilled this year.
Romance this year: You will find your spouse
or partner supportive and understanding
enough to help you in critical situations this
year.
Lucky month: May, July and November
11th April, 2016
Ruled planet: Moon Ruled by no: 2
Traits in you: As you are ruled by Moon, you
are simple, honest, and cooperative. You are
fond of peace and harmony.
Health this year: You may get worried for
your parents health and increasing house
hold expenditure.
Finance this year: You may establish new
contacts and partnerships this year. You will
get benefitted from your previous invest
ments. You may gain unexpectedly, which
will improve your financial position much
better than expected.
Career this year: You have ample new and
innovative ideas. You are a perfectionist in
whatever you do. However, you have to con
trol your whim and jealousy to succeed in
your life. This year will fulfill all of your
dreams by providing you with lot of opportu
nities.
Romance this year: You will find your spouse
supportive enough to your concerns and pro
vide you with love and affection.
Lucky month: May, July and December
12th April, 2016
Ruled planet: Jupiter Ruled by no: 3
Traits in you: Jupiter signifies ambition, dig
nity, and independence. You are blessed with
all these characteristics and you are kind
hearted as well.
Health this year: You may plan for a pilgrim
age or a distant journey to find mental peace
and take rest from your busy schedule, which
makes you weak physically.

Finance this year: This year will be very

fruitful for you in terms of investments. If
you want to invest in the stock market, you
will be benefited hugely. This year is the best
time to go for property.
Career this year: You will be enjoying a good
position and respect in your professional life.
However, you should not behave dominant
this year. It may affect your life negatively. If
you are in creativity field, you may gain lot of
recognition and of course money will follow.
You will find help from your near ones when
required. This will be a major boost to your
professional life.
Romance this year: You may plan for a
romantic trip with your partner to a distant
place.
Lucky month: June , July and November
13th April, 2016
Ruled planet: Uranus Ruled by no: 4
Traits in you: Being an active, sensible,
enthusiastic, authoritative, and energetic per
son, you have enough capability to perform
very well in your professional career.
Health this year: You will find improvements
in your health though working long at office.
Finance this year: Some of you may visit
abroad for business trips as you are planning
to enhance your business territory. You will
get success in you new ventures and this will
make you financially stable.
Career this year: Your intelligence will
enable you create wonders in your profes
sion. However, you should work on your
impatience, whim and stubbornness. You
should plan something to execute your plans
in this year. You will find luck and success
easily this year if you grab the opportunities
at right times. You will find good opportuni
ties by developing new relationships and
attachments.
Romance this year: Some of you may get
married to your desired partners this year.
Lucky month: June, August and October
14th April, 2016
Ruled planet: Mercury Ruled by no: 5
Traits in you: Your guiding star, Mercury
makes you practical, intelligent, distin
guished, responsive, unique and dashing indi

vidual. You possess friendly and cooperative.

However, you should control your being
impatient and shorttemperedness.
Health this year: You may remain tensed for
the health of your spouse.
Finance this year: You will be in financial
gain this year as your business will grow.
This will enhance your confidence. You will
be able to settle down your legal matters this
year and find peace from the results.
Career this year: You will find new proposals
and work assignments this year. Some of you
may get good increments and promotions as
well in your professional life. If you are a
sportsman or an artist, you can expect fame
towards the end of the year.
Romance this year: Your relationship with
your partner might get ruined due to minor
issues. If you have never been in a relation
ship, this year may be lucky for you as you
will have an emotional and romantic attach
ment.
Lucky month: June, October and November
15th April, 2016
Ruled planet: Venus Ruled by no: 6
Traits in you: Venus being your ruling planet
offers you with a charismatic personality and
intelligence. You will always find peace of
mind.
Health this year: You may find blessings of a
sacred person to remain physically and men
tally healthy.
Finance this year: You may find your friends
helpful enough to support you financially.
You may get influence from one of your
female friends, which will bring new dimen
sions to your life. You have to ignore them
who approach you for loans and financial
assistance.
Career this year: As a vivid learner, you will
get the chance to move ahead of others when
it comes to new technology. However, you
have to work on your nature of being lazy,
moody. You should control yourself from
interfering in the affairs of others.
Romance this year: Your partner will be with
you in every situation you are in. You will be
relieved with the helping hand of your part
ner.
Lucky month: July , August and September

30

April 9-15, 2016

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

SPIRITUAL AWARENESS

Happiness is a State of Mind

By Sant Rajinder Singh

Ji Maharaj
ife is filled with many chal
lenges and sometimes, under
pressure, people crack. They
feel they can no longer stand all the
problems facing them. Sometimes
people feel they have the worst job
in the world. Others feel they have
the worst health problems; they feel
no one could be plagued with as
many physical problems as they
have. At some time in our lives, we
feel that no one could have things
as bad as we have. There is a folk
tale about a wise man who lived in
a forest. People would travel far
and wide to seek him out for
answers to their problems. One day,
a woman came to him for advice.
He said, My dear, what can I do
for you?
She said, Things are terrible at
home. I live in a small hut with my
husband and two children. The hut
is barely large enough for the four
of us. I wanted a bigger house but
my husband is not doing well at
work and cannot af ford anything
larger. As times are bad, my hus
bands father lost his job, so his par
ents had to move in with us. We
were already crowded before but
now with six of us living together in
that small space, it is unbearable. I

cannot take it anymore. I feel like

screaming!
T he wise man thought for a
moment and asked, Do you have a
cow?
The woman said, Yes, we do.
He said, I advise you to bring the
cow into the hut to live with you for
a week and then come back to see
me.
The woman was puzzled. She
thought that since he was a wise
man, there must be some magic in
bringing the cow into the house, so
she did what he said.
The next week was horrible. It
was so crowded in the house that
every time the cow turned around,
all the six family members had to
change their seats. When they tried
to sleep, the smell was intolerable
and it would moo throughout the
night, waking them all up.
After the week passed, the
woman returned to the wise man
and began shouting at him, What
have you done? I came to you to
make things better and now I am
more miserable than before. Your
advice did not work.
He thought for a moment and
asked, Do you have any chickens?
Yes, she said.
He told her, Take them into the
hut with you for a week. She did
not understand how this would
help, but since he was a wise man,
and everybody in her village found
his advice helpful, she thought she
would give this a try.
When she returned home, she col
lected all the chickens from the
backyard and moved them into the
house. For the next week, the chick
ens were flying around the hut,
landing on everything and making
a mess of the place.

By Sant Rajinder Singh

Ji Maharaj

ll too often people are quick to pass

judgment on others without knowing
their full story. They may be quick to
criticize someones actions, believing that
their perspective is correct and that they
understand all the circumstances. In turn,
how many of us are willing to withhold judg
ment and put ourselves in the shoes of anoth
er person? How many times have we passed
judgment on others only to later find that
they had a good reason that justified their
actions? Along the same lines, if we want oth
ers to change their ways, telling them will
have little effect unless we are examples of
that behavior.
In this connection, there is a true story from
the animal kingdom about a team of
researchers who had gone to Africa to study
the behavior of elephants. They came across
an area in which a pack of elephants was run
ning wild. As the research team set up tele
scopic cameras to observe the animals from a
distance, they saw that every day the ele
phants were fighting with each other, running
over trees and destroying their environment.
They had studied other elephant packs before

After a week, she returned and

cried, in tears, You must be crazy.
Your advice is terrible. It is impossi
ble to live in the hut now. The cow
turns around and knocks into us.
The chickens fly all around the hut.
My inlaws are always choking from
the smell and complaining about
how bad it is living with us. The
children find chicken feathers
falling into their food. My husband
is constantly fighting with me over
the living conditions in our home

to the wise man.

How are things now? he asked.
Thank you so much! You are
truly wise. Since I removed the cow
and chickens from the hut I feel so
much happier. Things have become
so peaceful.
The wise man smiled. The woman
returned home and lived happily
with her husband, her children, and
her inlaws.
This story illustrates that we are
often unhappy with our situation

Next time we think

things are going badly
and that God is not
properly listening to
us, we should sit back,
take a deep breath,
and relax. We should
give God a chance to
let things happen and observe patiently. We
will find when all is said and done that God
worked things out for the best in the end.
and says, It is all your fault!
T he wise man thought for a
moment and said, My dear, go
home and try one more thing. Take
the cow and the chickens out of
your hut. Then, come back to me in
a week.
The woman was fed up with his
advice but thought she would give
it one last chance. She returned
home and pulled the cow out of the
house. She took the chickens out
and returned them to the backyard.
A week later, the woman returned

until we find that things could

always be worse. We think our job
is horrible, until we lose it and find
that life is harder without an
income. We think our health is bad
until we spend time in a hospital
and find people in worse condition
than we are. We think our family
members are bad until we find our
selves alone and realize how diffi
cult life is without them. We always
feel the grass is greener on the
other side. The woman learned that
what she thought was bad was

actually not so bad when she saw

how much worse things could be. It
is human nature to think that
everybody else has it so good and it
is only we who are suffering.
We think we know what is best
for us. How many times have we
tried to intervene with our two
cents to find that when we tried to
change our situation, we made
things worse? Then, we regret what
we have done and wish we could
make things go back to the way
they were.
On the spiritual path, one of the
lessons we need to learn is accept
ing the will of the Lord. Life would
be so much easier if we accept that
God knows what is best for us. If we
examined the times in our lives that
we interfered with Gods will, we
may have discovered that we
messed things up terribly on our
own and prayed to God to return
things to the way they were.
Next time we think things are
going badly and that God is not
properly listening to us, we should
sit back, take a deep breath, and
relax. We should give God a chance
to let things happen and observe
patiently. We will find when all is
said and done that God worked
things out for the best in the end. If
we reflect, we would find that if
God had listened to our complaints
and let us do things our own way,
things may not have been in our
best interest at all.
Happiness is a state of mind. If we
think that God is not doing what is
best for us, we will always be
unhappy. If we would realize that
we are living according to what God
wishes for us and that God is giving
us what is best for us, we would
always be happy and content.

Teaching By Example
On the spiritual path,
two qualities to inculcate are patience and
understanding. These
are aspects of leading
a nonviolent life.
and never saw such chaotic and wild behav
ior. On further investigation they discovered
that the group was composed of all teenage
male elephants. There were no adult male ele
phants in the group. When they checked with
the local inhabitants in the village why there
were no adult male elephants in the pack, the
villagers explained that poachers came into
the village and killed all the male adults for
their ivory.
The researchers saw that the teenage male
elephants had no adult male role models from
which to learn. Curious to see if it truly made

a dif ference, they arranged to have some

male elephants brought in from another area.
The first thing the male adults did was to flap
their ears and raise their trunks. Next, they
began to make loud trumpeting sounds. In
the beginning, there was no change and the
teen elephants continued to run wild and
fight each other. However, after a few days in
which the adults flapped their ears, raised
their trunks, and made loud noises, the teen
elephants began to settle down. Over time,
they became well behaved and their wild
actions subsided.
The researchers realized that on their own,
the teen elephants had no role models and
did not know how to behave. Once the male
adults were introduced into their pack, the
teens had role models and began to be disci
plined.
In the same way, as parents, we teach our
children through loving discipline and by set
ting an example. Our children do not believe
in our words alone but in what they see us do.
They copy our own good and bad habits
because that is the example we set. Similarly,
when we are in a position to train or teach

otherswhether we are teachers, parents,

employers, or citizens imploring others to be
conscientiouswe must first set an example
ourselves. That is the only way to bring about
change, teaching by example rather than by
mere words. If we want to see a positive
change in others and in our family, neighbor
hood, community, society, or country, then we
need to set an example. In the words of
Mahatma Gandhi, Be the change you want to
see in the world.
On the spiritual path, two qualities to incul
cate are patience and understanding. These
are aspects of leading a nonviolent life. Those
who are nonviolent are patient. They do not
rush to criticize or accuse someone. With
empathy they try to think of how the world
looks through other peoples eyes. If each of
us could treat others with patience, love, and
understanding, this world would be more
peaceful and loving.
When we are patient and understanding, we
never have to go to sleep at night worrying if
we did the right thing. We will know that
when we have patience and understanding,
we are acting in a noble way.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

April 9-15, 2016