Vol-9-Issue-01 April 30 - May 6, 2016

The South Asian Times
e x c e l l e n c e
Vol.9 No. 1 April 30- May 6, 2016 80 Cents
i n
New York Edition
Modi set to address

US Congress
Washington: Prime Minister Narendra
Modi is set to address a joint meeting of
the US Congress in June as he prepares to
make his fourth visit to America in his two
years in of fice, reported Wall Street
Journal.
House of Representatives Speaker Paul
Ryan said in a statement Thursday he had
invited Mr. Modi to Capitol Hill, describing
IndiaUS ties as a pillar of strength in an
important region of the world.
Every fullterm Indian prime minister
since 1984 has addressed a joint meeting
of the House and Senate and Modi will be
the fifth, speaking 11 years after his pred
ecessor, Manmohan Singh. The first Indian
premier to make such a speech was Rajiv
Gand hi in 1985, followed by P.V.
Narasimha Rao in 1994 and Atal Bihari
j o u r n a l i s m
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Sant Rajinder
Singh Ji Maharaj
attracts thousands to
Amityville Meditation Center
New York: Renowned spiritual
Master Sant Rajinder Singh Ji
Maharaj has been in New Jersey
and New York this week to offer a
series of talks on how we can
transform our lives through medi
tation. Head of Science of
Spirituality (SoS)/Sawan Kirpal
Ruhani Mission, he travels the
globe, spreading the message of
inner and outer peace through
spirituality.
On Friday evening, thousands
attended his talk in Hindi at the
Amityville Meditation Center on
Long Island, the center running
since 1957. Earlier on Wednesday,
the spiritual Master inaugurated
The dates and itinerary for the Indian

PMs trip to Washington in June have not
been officially announced.
Vajpayee in 2000.
Modi couldnt address Congress on his
first visit to Washington as PM in the fall
of 2014 because of what then Speaker
John Boehner
Continued on page 4
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US AFFAIRS 9
Continued on page 4
More pix and detailed
story on pages 1518
Trump's first major foreign policy speech has alarmed

American allies, who view his agenda as a threat to
retreat from the world. (Photo courtesy Reuters)
Head of Science of Spirituality/Sawan Kirpal Ruhani

Mission, Maharaj ji has been giving talks
in New York and New Jersey this week.
Included in this edition is a

16page, allcolor supplement
about Sant Rajinder Singh Ji
Maharaj, his Mission,
and his NJNY visit.
Trump outlines America

First foreign policy
Will seek India's help to
address 'unstable' nuclear-Pak
Washington: Tantalizingly close to getting the GOP
nomination, Donald Trump outlined his "America
First" foreign policy on Wednesday. He has pledged a
major buildup of the military, the swift destruction of
the Islamic State and the rejection of trade deals that
he said tied the nation's hands.
Its time to shake the rust of f Americas foreign
policy, he said during his speech at the Mayflower
Hotel in the capital. My foreign policy always puts
the interest of the American
Continued on page 4
OP ED 12
SPORTS 22
Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj greeting devotees in the meditation hall

of SoS Center in Amityville on Friday.
SPIRITUAL AWARENESS 30
excellence in journalism
April 30-May 6, 2016
TRISTATE COMMUNITY
April 30- May 6, 2016
Neera Tanden could make it to Hillary administration

Washington: A nationwide grass
roots body of Indian Americans
was launched April 24 by
Democratic frontrunner Hillary
Clinton's campaign to support the
former secretary of state, hinting
that an Indian American could be
appointed under her presidency.
T he org anizat ion named
'IndianAmericans for Hillary
Clinton' was launched in
Germantown, Maryland, by
Clinton's campaign manager John
Podesta.
Podesta, who personally came
down from the campaign head
quarters of New York, told a gath
ering of Indian Americans that
the relationship between India
and the U.S. would reach a new
level after Clinton is elected as
the president in the November
elections.
"One of the things that she is
committed to is having a broad
diverse cabinet more than any
administration. And I think, as
Neera Tanden flanked by Hillary Clinton and John Podesta

(Clintons campaign manager) at a 2013 event. (Photo courtesy: Reuters)
senator and as secretary she
showed that commitment by
appointing Indian Americans to
positions of responsibilities and I
think you should expect that as
president of the United States,"
Podesta said.
Po desta was speaking to a
group of Indian reporters after

formally launching Indian
Americans for Hillary Clinton
wherein he was asked if a Clinton
administration could see the rst
Indian American cabinet appoint
ment.
"I could think of at least one
Indra Nooyi, Satya Nadella,

Bhavesh Patel among highest
paid CEOs in the world
New Delhi: As many as three Indian origin
persons have been named among 100
highestpaid CEOs globally with PepsiCo's
Indra Nooyi and LyondellBasell's Bhavesh
Patel making it to the top ten list compiled
by Equilar.
Chemicals company Lyonde llBase ll
Industries' top executive Bhavesh V Patel
was ranked sixth on the list with a total
compensation of $24.5 million, while
Nooyi, the chief executive of PepsiCo was
ranked eighth on the list with a total pay of
$22.2 million.
Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, was
ranked 26th on the list of 100 highestpaid
CEOs with a total compensation of $18.3
million.
The overall list was topped by Mark V
Hurd and Safra A Catz of Oracle Corp with
both boasting a total compensation of
$53.2 million.
Others on the top 10 include, Robert A
Iger of Walt Disney ($43.5 million), David
M Cote of Honeywell International ($33.1
million), General Electric's Jeffrey R Immelt
($26.4 million), Randall L Stephenson of
AT&T ($22.4 million), Rupert Murdoch of
TwentyFirst Century Fox ($22.2 million)
and James P Gorman of Morgan Stanley
Chemicals company LyondellBasell

Industries' top exec Bhavesh Bob Patel
is the sixth highest paid in the
list at $24.5 million.
($22 million). This list is a snapshot of com
panies that le annual proxy statements
before April 1 and aims to provide an early
look at CEO pay trends for 2015.
The report further noted that the median
pay for Equilar 100 CEOs was $14.5 mil
lion in scal year 2015, up 3 per cent from
the previous year.
Interestingly, eight CEOs on the list are
female, and they far outpace the median
pay for the Equilar 100 as a whole.
person, who you have already

spoken with, who I would like to
see in a future Democratic admin
istration," Podesta said, referring
to Indian American Neera Tanden,
head of the Center for American
Progress, a top American think
tank, who worked with Clinton
for around 14 years.
Tanden was one of the keynote
speakers at the launch of Indian
Americans for Hillary Clinton.
Given her past work and experi
ence, Podesta told the gathering
that he has no doubt that bilateral
ties between India and the U.S.
would reach a new height under a
Clinton administration.
"As secretary of state, she tried
to develop a strong relationship
between the U.S. and India. She
actually helped begin to lay the
foundation, which I had the abili
ty to work on when I was in the
White House for President Barack
Obama, to deepen the relation
ship w ith Prime Minister
(Narendra) Modi to try to get an

outcome in the Paris negotia
tions," he said.
Thrilled at the launch of Indian
Americans for Hillary Clinton,
Tanden said that the small but
inuential ethnic community
could play a signicant role in
several key states like Maryland,
New York, Ohio and California.
"In every position that Hillary
has ever he ld as First Lady,
Senator, Secretary of State, she
has always had Indian Americans.
I am sure, she will recognize the
talents of the Indian American
community because she has
already done that in the past,"
said Tanden.
Referring to the divisive cam
paign from the opposit ion
Republican party, Tanden said by
doing so they are questioning
"whether we are going to
embrace the diversity" or whether
racial and religious minority are
being seen as part of the country.
India Development
Foundation tailormade for
NRIs to help motherland
New York: Due to the
Mission/Consulates
toug h regulat ions of
abroad
and
Indian
Indian Government, it has
Associations.
become difcult for over
Overseas Indian can
seas Indians to send
either contribute to the
money back home to
IDFOI pool fund or to a
charities, which have to be
particular project. If the
FCRA certied.
contribution is made to
One excellent alternative
IDFOI pool fund, IDFOI
is to channel help through
decides on the disburse
India
Deve lopment
ment based on project
Foundation for Overseas
needs and how much each
Sushma Sawaraj, External
Indians (IDFOI) started by
project will receive. After a
Affairs Minister.
the government in 2008,
project is selected by an
which is currently chaired by Sushma Overseas Indian for contribution, IDFOI
Sawaraj, External Affairs Minister. IDFOI transfers the funds to the project imple
channelizes philanthropic propensities mentation agencies.
and resources of the Overseas Indian
IDFOI promotes accountability and
community into the key sectors of Health transparency in Diaspora philanthropy
Care, Education, Women Empowerment, via ef fective monitoring and reporting
Sustainable Livelihood, and Sanitation. mechanisms. It ensures timely monitoring
The States are invited to submit projects of projects funded by Overseas Indians
pertaining to these sectors to IDFOI. and sends reports to donors about project
After assessment, information about implementation.
selected projects is disseminated to the
Information about the projects available
Diaspora through IDFOI website and for funding by Overseas Indians is
other social media platforms. IDFOI also presently available on IDFOI website:
works
close ly
w ith
Indian idfoi.org
TURN PAGE
Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj
attracts thousands to
Amityville Meditation Center
Continued from page 1
the Science of Spirituality New Jersey
Meditation Center in Perth Amboy,
home to large Spanish and Hindi speak
ing communities. The center hosts a
library, an of fice, rooms for children
and young adults, a book store, and a
large kitchen, and of course, a medita
t ion hall. To date, Science of
Spirituality/Sawan Kirpal Ruhani
Mission has 2059 centers in 54 coun
tries around the world.
Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharajs final
discourse in the tristate area will be a 2
pm talk on Sunday, May 1 on
Meditation to Access Spiritual Realms
followed by initiation.
In a historic first, The South Asian
Times issued a16page special pictorial
supplement in five languages English,
Spanish, Hindi, Punjabi, and Gujarati
about Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj,
his Mission, and his NJNY visit.
For more information about the week
end program, please go to
www.sos.org/event/nynj.
Aishwarya Madan, 2nd Lieutenant of Port Washington FD Emergency Medical Services,

was honored for her community service by Nassau County legislators Rosemary Walker
and Laura Schaefer on April 28 at a meeting of Rotary Club Hicksville South in the presence
of the clubs President Lionel Chitty and Rotary District 7255 Governor Kamlesh Mehta.
AntiTrump demonstrators storm

California GOP convention
Burlingame, Calif: Hundreds of demonstrators
descended on the California Republican
Convention Friday to protest Donald Trump
ahead of his speech.
Protesters some of whom wore bandanas
over their faces and carried Mexican flags
blocked of f the road in front of the Hyatt
Regency here, forcing the GOP frontrunner's
motorcade to pull over along a concrete median
outside the hotel's back entrance. Trump and his
entourage got out and walked into the building.
"That was not the easiest entrance I've ever
made," Trump said once he began speaking at
the convention, adding, "it felt like I was crossing
the border."
At one point before Trump arrived, about two
dozen protesters tried to rush barriers near the
hotel. Police officers then rushed to the build
ing's doors, successfully blocking the protesters
from getting in. Some of the doors' handles were
handcuffed from the inside so they couldn't be
forced open. Several physical altercations,
including shoving, could be seen between pro
testers and police of ficers, who were using
batons to push them back.
After Trump arrived, protesters took down a

barrier and flooded the entrance outside the
hotel, where police again blocked them from
entering. They chanted, "Get him out."
Earlier in the day, Chris Conway, a 51yearold
Trump supporter who was wearing the GOP
frontrunner's famous "Make America Great
Again" cap, claimed he was kicked, punched and
spit on by Trump protesters, though he wasn't
seeking medical attention. Police, apparently
concerned for his safety, eventually pulled him
over hedges outside the hotel and away from the
crowd.
Speaking to CNN Friday afternoon, Conway
said he was "not surprised" by his treatment.
"To be honest with you, I'm glad it was me and
not like an 8yearold girl being peppersprayed
or something like that," he said.
Burlingame Police Lt. Jay Kiely said later
Friday that five people were arrested, including
one who was with the crowd when it tried to
rush the Hyatt's entrance. One injury was report
ed, but Kiely did not know whether it was a
police officer, protester or supporter who was
hurt or the extent of the injury.
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
Modi set to address

US Congress
called the unpredictability of the House
schedule. That visit was seen as a turn
ing point in Modis relations with the
US, which had denied the Indian leader
a visa in 2005 over religious riots in
Gujarat in 2002 when he was chief min
ister. But since then, President Barack
Obama and Modi have developed a
close rapport, and Modi has brought
New Delhi closer to the US by enhanc
ing defense ties. The US sees India as an
important partner, particularly to coun
terbalance Chinas growing clout and
ambitions in Asia.
The dates and itinerary for Modis trip
to Washington this summer have not
been officially announced. White House
press secretary Josh Earnest said
Thursday that the Obama administra
tion was in conversation with Indian
officials about scheduling a visit to the
White House.
Trump outlines America First
foreign policy
people and American security above all
else. Has to be first. Has to be. That will be
the foundation of every single decision that
I will make."
In his speech, he criticized President
Obamas nuclear deal with Iran and his trip
to Cuba, said he would fight the Islamic
State (IS) terror group by being more
unpredictable and also called for upgrad
ing the US nuclear arsenal.
In his speech, Trump also offered an olive
branch of sorts to Muslim allies of the US in
rare remarks pointing to the ways in which
America can have constructive relations
with the Muslim world. "We're going to be
working very closely with our friends in
the Muslim world, which are all at risk for
violent attacks," he said. Trump said he
would also aim to hold talks with Russia to
seek common ground, possibly over
Islamist extremism. China, he said,
"respects strength, and by letting them take
advantage of us economically like they are
doing, we are losing all their respect". He
said he would seek to "fix our relations
with China" but did not suggest how.
T he same day during a townhall in
Indianapolis, Trump also said India can
help out the US in dealing with the "prob
lem" of "semistable" nucleararmed
Pakistan. "The problem with Pakistan I
mean, they have nuclear weapons, and
which is a real problem. Again, the single
biggest problem, we have nuclear weapons
... But it's semiunstable and we don't want
to see total instability (in Pakistan)," Trump
said.
Trump said the US has "a little bit of a
good relationship" with Pakistan, and if he
becomes the president, he will try to keep
good relations with Islamabad.
"That's very much against my grain to
say that, but, a country and that's always
the country I think, if we give them money,
we help them out, but if we don't, I think
that would go on the other side of the
ledger, and that could really be a disaster,"
Trump said.
"At the same time, if you look at India and
some of the others, maybe they will be
helping us out, because we're going to look
at it," Trump said.
Jaipur (India) Bureau

Prakash Bhandari
Prakash@TheSouthAsianTimes.info
IANS Washington Bureau

Arun Kumar
arun.kumar@ians,in
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TRISTATE COMMUNITY
Diversity in Business
Award for Paresh Shah
New York: A premothers day gift
from son Paresh Shah emerged in
the form of proud moment for
mother Kokila Shah at Business in
Diversity award ceremony during
her visit to New York.
Long Island Business News hon
ored entrepreneurs from diverse
background in their Diversity in
Business awards category at Crest
Hollow Country Club, Woodbury
last Thursday.
These awards are designed to
highlight the outstanding achieve
(L to R): Mrs Shimul Shah (wife), Kokila Shah (mother),
ments of business leaders of diverse
Paresh Shah (honoree) & Parul Shah (sister)
backgrounds. Timothy Williams,
Chairman, Nassau County Industrial Karagpur, India. Shahs shift from engineering
Development Agency was the keynote speaker to financial services is designed by circum
at this event, which was moderated by News stances, the untimely death of his father
made him realize the importance of financial
12 Long Island Reporter Virginia Huie.
Indian American honoree from the financial planning.
He is passionate about the role of a financial
field, Paresh Shah has been a member of pres
tigious Million Dollar Round Table for past 6 planner and considers it as an important track
years including 2 years qualification to Court for the overall growth and happiness of indi
viduals and families.
of the Table.
He and his wife Shimul Shah are active in
Interestingly, he graduated as a Chemical
Engineer (honors graduate) from the presti many philanthropic activities and dedicated
gious Indian Institute of Technology at members of Swadhyay Parivar.
Los Angeles: Bollywood actress Priyanka

Chopra has confirmed that she will be din
ing with President Barack Obama at the
annual W hite House Correspondents'
Dinner this weekend.
She was invited to the annual White
House Correspondents' Dinner with
President Barack Obama and First Lady
Michelle Obama.
Priyanka, who found global recognition
with her character Alex Parrish in the
American TV series "Quantico", was earlier
"not sure" about attending the dinner due to
her work commitments.
Bollywood's 'desi girl' took to Twitter to
share the news. The dinner will take place
on Saturday. Priyanka will be dining with
some of Hollywood's biggest names like
Will Smith, his wife Jada Pinkett Smith,
Kerry Washington, Shonda Rhimes, Kim
Kardashian's model sister Kendall Jenner
among others. The nonprofit White House
Correspondents' Association, whose mem
bers include the reporters, producers, cam
era operators and other journalists regular
ly covering the White House, traditionally
hosts this annual dinner to raise money for
journalism scholarships.
Hope4Spandana team with invited guests

tion and the schools adopted by
them in India. As part of the
event, Hope4Spandana honored
Satish Mehtani with "Outstanding
Humanitarian Award" for his
unparalleled service in helping
Nepal earthquake victims.
Hope4Spandana was founded by
Sharwani Kota two years ago,
who is a high school junior now at
JP Stevens School, Edison, NJ.
She recruited 45 other children
from various school districts in
New Jersey. T hey all work to
advocate, spread awareness about
Autism and raise funds for
research and care through flash
mob dances in New Jersey and
New
York.
Esha
K h a n d e l w a l , S n e h a
Priyanka to dine with

Barack Obama
Hope4Spandana raises $10000 for autistic kids in India

New Jersey: A fundraiser was
held on April 22nd at JP Stevens
High School by Hope4Spandana,
a nonprofit charitable organiza
tion to help underprivileged chil
dren in India diagnosed with
Autism. Sharwani Kota who
organized the event, called it a
huge success. About 800 people
attended and more than $10,000
was raised at the event.
Many New Jersey statewide dig
nitaries such as SenatorPeter
Barnes, CongressmanFrank
Pallone, Former Dy.Speaker
Upendra Chivukula, former
MayorJun Choi, Satish Mehtani
Chairman of International mis
sion of Mercy, Democratic presi
dent,Morris countyVin Gopal,
Edison council members,Sapna
Shah, Ajay Patil, community
leaderPeter Kothari who attend
ed and stayed all through the
event, were very supportive of the
organization. The event lasted for
three and a half hour with music,
instrumental and dance programs
performed by professionals.
During the event Sharwani gave
presentation about the organiza
P a c h a n a d y , S h r e y a
Devarakonda,Sraavya
Mallela,Anjali Modgula,Alekhya
Vuntla,Arya Massand,Arnav
Patel,Divi Patil and other mem
bers of the group,have been work
ing on this cause for over two
years by performing various arts
at senior citizen homes, communi
ty centers and various public
locations such as malls and his
torical places such as Time
Square to raise funds. The organ
ization is af filiated with Saint
Peters University Hospitala
wellknown organization that
uses its funds for research and
care and family support for
Autism. T he funds raised by
Hope4Spandana are distributed
between Saint Peters hospital for

research and to support the
schools in India.
Hope4Spandana has adopted
two schools in India where they
have over 70 kids in each school
diagnosed with various spectrum
of Autism disorders. Many of
these kids were illtreated and
abondoned by their own families.
They were brought together and
are provided with better therapy,
food,
care
and
she lter.
Unfortunately, now, one of the
school landowner is asking the
children to immediately vacate
and over 70 kids would be out on
the streets by July. The mission is
to raise funds ($50,000) for this
cause by July 2016. Sharwani and
other children from the organiza
tion are working hard to raise the
funds to provide them a perma
nent roof. So far around $40,000
has been raised including the
funds raised at the event.
Hope4Spandana is planning for
many more awareness events like
Autism walk, seminars and flash
mobs. Visit www.hope4span
dana.org for more information.
Actor Priyanka Chopra. (Photo: IANS)
KUMAR BARVE LOSES IN

RACE FOR CONGRESS
Washington, DC: An IndianAmerican
Democratic legislator in Maryland has suf
fered a humiliating
defeat in the party's pri
mary election for a seat
in the US House of
Representatives. Kumar
Barve, 57, who was the
House Majority Leader
from 20032014 and
Maryland
now Chairman of
Assemblyman
Maryland
House
Kumar Barve
Environment
and
(Image courtesy:
Transportation
baltimoresun.com)
Committee, received just
two per cent of the total
votes polled in a nineperson Democratic
primary race for a seat in the US House of
Representatives last night. The primary
election was won by Jamie Raskin who
received 33 per cent of the votes. He was
followed by David Trone with 28 per cent
of the votes.
In 1990, Barve made history at the age of
32, when he was elected to the Maryland
House of Delegates and became the first
IndianAmerican ever to serve in a state leg
islator. If elected, he would have been the
fourth IndianAmerican to be elected to the
US House of Representatives. Ami Bera
from California is the only IndianAmerican
Edison Councilwoman
Sapana Shah in race for
State Assembly seat
New Jersey: Edison Township Council
woman Sapana Shah, 39, announced her
candidacy for Legislative District 11, April
22, a seat that opened up as a result of Gov.
Chris Christies recent nomination of Dem
ocratic Sen. Peter J. Barnes III to the state
Superior Court bench. Barnes is expected
to be replaced by state Assemblyman
Patrick Diegnan, leaving the 18th District
seat open, a rare occurrence that a number
of candidates are lining up for.
The contenders for Diegnans seat in
clude Shah, Edison Councilman Robert
Diehl, Robert Karabinchek, and Elsie Foster
Dublin. Shah has so far won two atlarge
elections to the Council, and in the 2013
council, she was the third highest voteget
ter in a 12candidate field, according to de
sitalk.com.
Shah is now campaigning to secure a ma
jority of 300 or so Democratic Party Com
mittee votes which represent 7 towns, East
Brunswick, Edison, Helmetta, Highland
Park, South Plainfield and South River. The
largest is Edison, which has more than 100
votes. To date, only two IndianAmericans
have made it to the state Assembly, current
officeholder Raj Mukherji, and former As
semblyman Upendra Chivukula.
An Edison council member since 2014,
Sapana Shah (Photo courtesy: tapinto.net)

Shah serves on the municipal Planning
Board and was previously an Edison Board
of Education member. An attorney in pri
vate practice, Shah also serves as an Assis
tant Corporation Counsel in Jersey City.
She is pastpresident of the Asian Pacific
American Lawyers Association. A graduate
of John P. Stevens High School in Edison,
Shah has a bachelors degree in economics
from Rutgers University, and worked as fi
nancial analyst for Dun & Bradstreet be
fore graduating from Albany Law School.
Ekal to host four concerts

in NY, NJ
New York: The much awaited Ekal
Vidyalaya concerts this year will be held in
New York and New Jersey areas between
May 15 and May 22. The talented artistes
headlining four Ek Shaam, Ekal Ke Naam
concerts are 'Indian Idol' and 'Sa Re, Ga Ma
Pa' superfame Rajdeep Chatterjee & Pal
labi Roy DiaChowdhary. They are per
forming on May 15 in Great Neck, NY, May
20 in Wayne, NJ, May 21 in Cherry Hill, NJ
and on May 22 in New Brunswick, NJ .
TRISTATE COMMUNITY
The ticket for any of these concerts can be

bought at www.ekal.org/events .
Ekal raises funds through such concerts
for comprehensive development in rural
and tribal area throughout India, including
JammuKashmir. These concerts take place
in all major metropolitan parts of USA be
tween February and June. Ekal has been
providing functional literacy, healthcare
training and empowerment for last 27
years and has presence in 65,000 villages.
Bangladeshi High School

student wins Meng Art Contest
New York: U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D
Queens) announced Samiya Fagun, a
Bangladeshi student at Newtown High
School in Elmhurst, Queens, as the winner
of the Congresswomans fourth annual
Congressional district art contest. This
years contest marks the first time that a
student of Bangladeshi descent has won
the competition.
The contest, which consisted of entries
from Queens high school students, is part
of An Artistic Discovery, the national art
contest sponsored each year by the House
of Representatives that showcases the art
work of all Congressional district art con
test winners from across the nation.
Beginning this June, Faguns winning
artwork along with the winning pieces
from art contests in Congressional dis
tricts throughout the United States will
be displayed for one year in the historic
Cannon Tunnel, a heavily traveled corri
dor of the United States Capitol.
Fagun, along with one of her parents,
will also be awarded roundtrip airplane
tickets to Washington, D.C. courtesy of
Southwest Airlines to join Meng at the
opening ceremonies of the national art
competition. Fagun and the winners from
each Congressional district art contest
will also be eligible for a scholarship from
the Savannah College of Art and Design in
U.S. Rep. Grace Meng congratulating

Bangladeshi student Samiya Fagun for
winning the Congresswomans fourth
annual Congressional art contest.
Faguns winning artwork, pictured in
between her and Meng, will be displayed
for one year in the US Capitol.
Georgia. Fagun, who is 18 years old and
resides in Elmhurst, won the competition
for her watercolor drawing entitled Mo
ments of Life. She emigrated to the U.S.
from Dhaka three years ago. She plans to
attend City College of New York in the fall
and may pursue a major in art.
A total of 46 students including sever
al others of South Asian descent from 13
high schools participated in the contest.
After I served my
country, I needed help
feeding my family,
SNAP HELPED.
- MIGUEL, U.S. NAVY VETERAN
The Bronx
WATCH OUR STORY AT FoodHelp.nyc
SCVTHS students win gold at

NJ SkillsUSA Championships
New Jersey: On April 16,
Somerset County Voca
tional & Technical High
School students compet
ed against other career
and technical education
students from around
the state at the 2016
New Jersey SkillsUSA
Championships. Out of
the 94 students from
SCVTHS who competed,
45 received medals in
cluding 19 gold. Those
gold medal winners are
now eligible to test
their skills in Louisville,
Kentucky from June 20
Catherine Chen (Warren) and

Anjana Nair (Franklin Park) pose
for a photo after receiving their
gold medals at the 2016 New
Jersey SkillsUSA Championships
Awards Ceremony.
25, at the 52nd annual

SkillsUSA National Lead
ership and Skills Confer
ence (NLSC). During the
National Leadership and
Skills Conference (NLSC),
more than 6,000 career
and technical education
students will showcase
their talents and compete
in 100 dif ferent trade,
technical and leadership
fields. All contests are
run with the help of in
dustry, trade associa
tions, and labor organiza
tions. The test competen
cies are set by industry.
online at
a
itss easier to apply
Now it
Now
dHelp.nyc
Food
FoodHelp.nyc
Call 311 for more info

ACCESSNYC
Maine Governor
mocks Indian
workers, says
won't apologize
Bangor: Maine's governor says he won't
apologize for commenting on hardto
understand workers from Bulgaria or
India, the Associated Press reported.
Republican Gov Paul LePage was
chuckling Saturday at the state party con
vention when he said he needed an inter
preter to understand some foreign work
ers.
He said today it was "meant as a joke,"
but he acknowledged that "maybe it was
a bad joke." He told Maine's WVOMFM
that he's not politically correct and that
he won't apologize for that. And he said
that he's had difculty trying to give an
order in a restaurant with foreign work
ers, "period."
LePage made his comments Saturday
as he criticized a referendum proposal to
raise Maine's minimum wage to $12.
LePage supports raising the wage by a
lesser amount.
NATIONAL COMMUNITY
April 30- May 6, 2016
SUNITA WILLIAMS, TEAM TO ENSURE

SAFE CARGO FLIGHTS TO ISS
Washington, DC: Indianborn NASA's com
mercial crew astronaut Sunita "Suni"
Williams and her colleagues have success
fully tested a new generation of training
simulators that will prepare them for
launch, ight and returns aboard Boeing's
CST100 Starliner spacecraft.
The CST100 Starliner crew capsule is
designed by Boeing in collaboration with
Bigelow Aerospace as their entry for
NASA's Commercial Crew Development
(CCDev) program.
Its primary mission is to transport crew
to the International Space Station (ISS)
and to private space stations such as the
proposed Bigelow Aerospace Commercial
Space Station.
"These simulators have touchscreen dis
plays, which means they are more versa
tile than previous spacecraft trainers,"
Williams said in a statement.
"We can run multiple simulations by
just changing software and then put that
same software into a bigger crew simula
Sunita Williams
(Photo courtesy: thehansindia.com)
tor, which we will use to train the whole
crew for a spaceight," she added.
When wired into the extensive Boeing
and NASA networks, the simulators will
interact with launch and mission con
trollers to run rehearsals that are critical
to preparing a crew to successfully y a
mission and recover from unforeseen

events.
Later, a simulator the size of a Starliner
ight deck will be nished and used in
Houston to train the fullight crew.
NASA se lected four astronauts
Williams, Boe, Bob Behnken and Doug
Hurley to train for test ights aboard the
Starliner and SpaceX Crew Dragon to the
ISS.
The ight assignments have not been
set so all four of the astronauts are
rehearsing for the Starliner and Crew
Dragon test ights to the space station.
The parttask trainers are part of a suite
of cloudbased and handson trainers that
Boeing has built to prepare astronauts
and mission controllers.
The trainers will be shipped to NASA's
Johnson Space Center in Houston this
year so astronauts can use them daily to
practice numerous situations from normal
operations to unlikely emergencies.
(IANS)
Brown University students protest Street named after Indian

kirtan by non Hindu woman
New York: Singing of kirtans at an Ivy League
university has drawn protests from a multi
racial group of students there.
Unlike in the protests against yoga, the
demonstrators this time were not religious fun
damentalists, but students spewing leftist rhet
oric at Brown University.
They protested a nonIndian white woman
singing kirtans, asserting that only those born
Hindu should sing the religious hymns, accord
ing to media reports.
The performance by Carrie Grossman, who
has adopted the Hindu name Dayashila, was
disrupted by protesters claiming that by
singing kirtans she as a white person was
wrongly "appropriating" elements of Hinduism.
They used radical leftist terminology like
white privilege, structural change and "radical
love" to oppose what they called "cultural
appropriation" by a white person.
"Cultural appropriation," according to those
who protest it, happens when people use or
performs elements from a culture not their
own. Many in the audience confronted the pro
testers, who eventually left the event and
staged a sitin outside.
"Several audience members turned around
and asked them to be quiet," The Brown Daily
Herald reported. "In addition, some of the audi
ence members stood up and moved to where
the protesters were sitting to ask them to
leave."
Most of those in a picture published by
Herald of the demonstration against the kirtan
performance were white and African American,
with few Indians.
Rajan Zed, the president of USbased
Universal Society of Hinduism, called the
protests at Brown University in Providence,
Rhode Island state, "sad and inappropriate."
"Color of the person should not matter in
devotional singing and anybody should be able
pay respectful homage to Hindu deities through
kirtan or other forms," Zed said. "Kirtan offered
means to connect to the heart, to the divinity
that lies within."
He asked Brown University president
Christina H. Paxson and chancellor Thomas J.
Tisch to "make sure that such unreasonable
interruptions did not happen at the Hindu
events on the campus in the future" and to hold
a formal inquiry into the disruption.
The Herald reported that Grossman, a Brown
University alumna, told her audience that she
discovered kirtans during a visit to India and
"found (chanting) very powerful and very heal
ing." Although the protesters used radical leftist
rhetoric, their agenda appears to be a form of
selective opposition to conversions or religious
interactions in effect, banning those not born
Hindu from singing Hindu religious hymns or
participating in rituals.
(IANS)
American in Mississippi
Washington, DC: In a rare incident, a street

in Mississippi has been named after an
IndianAmerican in recognition of his serv
ice to the community.
"Dr Sampat Shivangi Lane" was formally
named yesterday in recognition of Dr
Shivangi, an eminent Republican from the
state.
State governor Phil Bryant this week also
reappointed him for a second sevenyear
term to the Board of Mississippi's depart
ment of Mental Health.
"We are thankful to Governor Phil Bryant
for his condence in me in bringing several
changes in the department of Mental Health
in the state since I took over several years
ago," Dr Shivangi said in a media release.
The department of Mental Health is the
secondlargest Mississippi state agency. It
plays major part in caring for mentally ill,
intellectual developmental disability and
drug and alcohol addiction.
In 2014, Dr Shivangi was appointed as
the Chairman of the Mississippi department
of Mental Health, making him the rst
Asian to occupy the top health post in the
southern American state.
From 20052008, Dr Shivangi served as
the Advisor to the US Secretary of Health
Dr Sampat Shivangi (first from left) at the

street naming event
(Photo courtesy: thehindu.com)
and Human Services.
He is the founding president of the
American Association of Physicians of
Indianorigin in Mississippi and is the past
president and chair of the India Association
(PTI)
of Mississippi.
April 30-May 6 2016
NATIONAL COMMUNITY
FORMER EVP ANAND

GUPTA SUES AL
JAZEERA AMERICA
New York: In its brief TV life, Al Jazeera
America lost more than half a billion dol
lars. Thats according to a lawsuit filed by
the former evp of finance Anand Gupta.
According to the New York Times, Gupta
is suing the nowdefunct network for not
being given a promised promotion. Gupta
claims former network chief Ehab Al
Shihabi, who was sidelined in May 2015
after being named in another employee
lawsuit, promised him a promotion to
CFO, but that his successor Al Antsey
reneged. Guptas suit includes financial
details including that the network had an
operating loss of $250 million in 2013,
and $335 million in 2014.
In the suit, Gupta asserts that, among
other freewheeling spending habits, the
network continued to pay more than
$11,000 a month for an apartment
intended for Shihabi, which went empty
after he was ousted last year. It also
asserts that Al Jazeera America is respon
sible for more than $800 million in the
Anand Gupta (Photo: LinkedIn)

process of winding down, if it pays out its
contracts to cable operators in full.
We strongly disagree with the allega
tions made in Mr. Guptas complaint,
which contains many factual inaccura
cies, said Molly Morse, a spokeswoman
for Al Jazeera America. We intend to vig
orously defend the companys position.
AJAM shut down April 13 after less than
three years on the air.
Lady doctor fired after video of her

attacking Uber driver goes viral
Washington,DC: An Indianorigin doctor
at a Miami hospital has been fired after a
video that showed her attacking an Uber
driver and his vehicle went viral.
Anjali Ramkissoon, 30, has been on
administrative leave since the video sur
faced in January, and according to a state
ment released by a spokeswoman for
Jackson Health System, was terminated
from her position there yesterday.
"Jackson Health System is moving for
ward with the termination of Dr Anjali
Ramkissoon, a resident doctor," T he
Miami Herald quoted the statement as
saying.
"She is entitled to an appeal process."
Ramkissoon, who was a fouryear neu
rology resident at the hospital, was seen
in the video attempting to strike and
scratch the driver, climbing into the man's
vehicle and throwing objects out of it, all
the while yelling and swearing at him and
trying to force him to drive her home.
The driver has so far opted to remain
anonymous and has declined to press
charges. Ramkissoon later apologized for
the incident. The video of the incident has
nearly seven million views and sparked a
(PTI)
lot of outrage and controversy.
Dr C V Ananda Boses new book

Parpidam released in NY
New York: Dr. C.V. Ananda Bose, a
former Govt. of India Secretary and
a member of UN Habitat Housing
Expert Committee has authored a
book Parpidam (Housing) in
Malayalam was released in New
York on April 23 at a glittering cere
mony during the anniversary of the
Kerala Center. The Center which
was established 26 years ago. Dr.
Bose was the chief guest at the
anniversary program which includ
ed colorful dances by Malayalam
language students of the Kerala
Center.
Kerala Centers Founder Member
and Trustee Dr. Thomas Abraham
who is also the Founder President of
the Global Organization of People of
Indian Origin (GOPIO) conducted
the book release. This is the first
time a book from the Kerala Bhasha
Institute is released outside Kerala
before it is released in Kerala.
The book published by Kerala
Bhasha Institute, is also in Hindi and
English. Dr. Bose put together this
book looking at the housing con
structions in over 50 countries in
The book was released by Prof. Ponisseril Somasundaran, distin

guished professor of engineering at Columbia University by present
ing the copy to Kerala Center President Thambi Talappillil and Kerala
Center Chairman of Board Dr. Madhu Bhaskaran.
30 years covering human, animal
and temples of God. Housings have
been covered from the time of cave
man to the current modern housing.
The 302 page book is well illustrat
ed with colorful photos by Nemam
Pushparaj.
Dr.Bose has been an eminent
administrator, writer, orator and
innovator, He pioneered path break
ing administrative innovations in
rural development, affordable hous
ing, ecotourism development,
redressal of public grievances,
women's empowerment, develop

ment of weaker sections of society
and promotion of art and culture.
Dr. Bose served as Chairman of the
Atomic Energy Education Society
and also launched the ASTER
Project (Application of Science &
Technology in Educational
Reforms).
After retirement,
Government of India asked Dr Bose
to continue with this mission and
currently serves as the Chairman
and Nominee Director of Central
Warehousing Corporation.
Video grab of Anjali Ramkissoon attack

ing the Uber driver
(Photo courtesy: dailymail.co.uk)
Hillary Clinton slams

Trump for 'mocking'
Indian accent
Washington, DC: Democratic
presidential frontrunner Hillary
Clinton's
campaign
has
slammed her Republican rival
Donald Trump for mocking an
Indian call center worker during
an election rally, the media
reported on Monday.
Trump's behavior showed dis
respect towards the Indian com
munity and "reflects his divisive
rhetoric", John Podesta, chair
man of the Clinton Campaign,
told reporters, the Asia Times
reported.
"He has run a campaign of big
otry and division. I think that's
quite dangerous for the country
when you think about the fact
that you need friends, allies,"
Podesta said.
"The kind of campaign he is
running breeds disrespect
across the globe and breeds
division and danger here at
home," he added.
Podesta was reacting to
Trump's apparent use of a fake
Indian accent to mock a call cen
tre representative in India dur
ing a campaign rally in
Delaware.
The billionaire said that he
called up his credit card compa
ny to find out whether their cus
tomer support is based in the US
or overseas.
Trump, however, described
India as a great place, asserting
that he is not angry with Indian
(IANS)
leaders.
US AFFAIRS
Hillary has
3 percent lead over
Trump, Sanders 11
percent: Poll
Washington: In a headtohead matchup,
Democratic presidential frontrunner
Hillary Clinton has a three percent advan
tage nationally over her Republican rival
Donald Trump, according to a new poll.
T he latest George Washington
University
Battleg round
(GW
Battleground) poll puts her ahead at 46 to
43, with 11 percent of the voters undecid
ed.
Interestingly, though, Senator Bernie
Sanders, who has mounted a spirited but
now seemingly futile challenge against
Clinton, fares much better against Trump
nationally, with an 11 percent advantage
at 51 to 40, with the rest undecided.
The bipartisan poll, conducted in part
nership with The Tarrance Group and
Lake Research Partners, found that among
"likely voters" an overwhelming 89 per

cent have been following the nomination
process of the two parties closely and
that they have "negative views of almost
all major candidates".
The poll found that of the five candi
dates still in the race for the highest
of fice, only two Vermont Senator
Sanders and Ohio governor John Kasich
have an unfavourable rating below 50
percent, at 44 and 29, respectively.
The three others former Secretary of
State Clinton (56 percent), Texas Senator
Ted Cruz (55 percent) and businessman
Trump (65 percent) are all mostly dis
liked, with a majority of voters saying they
would not consider voting for them for
president.
Interestingly, the poll found that former
In the delegates
fight, Clinton and
Trump far ahead
in the GOP
and Democratic
races respectively.
president Bill Clinton, who has been cam

paigning for his wife, has a higher favora
bility rating than four of the five con
tenders: with 54 percent favorable and 41
percent unfavorable.
The current president, too, fared better
than the candidates. President Barack

Obama's job approval rating was at 51
percent. T his is the first t ime since
December 2012 that the GW Battleground
Poll found a higher approval than disap
proval rating for President Obama.
Cruz naming Carly as his VP Boehner likens Ted Cruz to Satan in flesh
is seen as Hail Mary pass
Washington: Former US House of
Representatives speaker John Boehner called
Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz
"Lucifer in the flesh", in an interview at
Stanford University. Lucifer is another word for
Satan. "Lucifer in the flesh", Boehner told
Stanford's David Kennedy, a history professor
emeritus, according to the Stanford Daily.
Boehner said he was "texting buddies" with
the other two Republican candidates; front
runner Donald Trump and Ohio Governor John
Kasich, CNN reported. The account in the stu

dent newspaper is accurate, a source close to
Boehner confirmed on Thursday.
Cruz in response told reporters that Boehner
"allowed his inner Trump to come out". "The
interesting thing is I've never worked with
John Boehner, I don't know the man," Cruz
said. "Indeed, during the government shut
down, I reached out to John Boehner, to work
with him to get something meaningful done.
He said, 'I have no interest in talking to you.' "
Are women headed for the draft?

One House committee says yes
Ted CruzCarly Fiorina wishful ticket. (Photo courtesy: AP)
Washington: A day after getting mauled
by frontrunner Donald Trump in five
Republican presidential primaries, Texas
Senator Ted Cruz announced former
HewlettPackard CEO Carly Fiorina as his
vice presidential running mate in a bid to
resuscitate his White House aspirations.
Fiorina was a presidential candidate
herself before she dropped out of the
race early in the primary season.
By naming Fiorina, observers believe
the Tea Party favorite is aiming to gain
the necessary momentum to defeat
Trump in the next primary State of
Indiana. It is also a long shot like the Hail
mary pass in basketball parlance.
Cruz is currently trailing Trump by
more than 400 delegates and a win in
Indiana next week would make it easier
for the New Yorker billionaire to reach
the 1237 delegates to become GOP's
presidential nominee.
"Carly is brilliant and capable, and yet

she experienced the hardscrabble world
of being a female professional," Cruz said
at a rally in Indianapolis on Wednesday.
"Over and over again, Carly has shat
tered glass ceilings. But in addition to
being a woman of extraordinary experi
ence, she's also a woman of deep princi
ple," he said.
Fiorina is not the first woman vice pres
idential pick.
In 2008 presidential election, the then
Republican president ial candidate
Senator John McCain had then Alaska
Governor Sarah Palin as his vice presi
dential running mate.
However, it is for first time a candidate
has named a running mate prior to
receiving the nomination since Ronald
Reagan in 1976.
Trump of course called the new Cruz
gambit a desperate measure.
Washington: The House Armed Services

Committee took a big and unexpected step
toward making women register for the draft
Wednesday night, as a handful of Republicans
joined Democrats to back a measure that its
own sponsor hoped would fail.
Right now the draft is sexist, said Rep.
Duncan Hunter (RCalif.), who filed an amend
ment to the Houses annual defense authoriza
tion bill to require women between the ages of
18 and 26 to register for the Selective Service,
the government agency that keeps records of
who is eligible to be conscripted.
Hunter, who is against the Obama adminis
trations recent policy change allowing women
to serve in all combat roles, said he only pro
posed the measure to start a discussion about
the draft. He voted against his own amend
ment, arguing that anyone who favored it
would be siding with the administration.
But Hunters gamble that committee mem
bers would shy away from forcing women into
the draft backfired when a slim majority
including five Republicans opted to endorse
the measure by a vote of 32 to 30.
We have a standardsbased force now, and
we dont have a standardsbased Selective
Service, Rep. Chris Gibson (RN.Y.) argued,

joining Democrats, all but one of whom also
supported the measure.
We should be willing to support universal
conscription, Rep. Jackie Speier (DCalif.) said.
Theres great merit in recognizing that each of
us have an obligation to be willing to serve our
country in a time of war. But including women
in the draft still has a long way to go. It would
have to survive a full House vote and then
make it through the Senate. It would change a
policy that has been in place since 1981, when
the Supreme Court ruled that because women
could not hold combat jobs, they did not have
to register for the draft.
The House is expected to vote on the annual
defense authorization bill of which the
women in the draft is now part in midMay.
The policy change could also preempt ongo
ing court cases about whether excluding
women from the draft is discriminatory.
But though the committee voted to change
the draft policy for women, their debate
Wednesday night revealed that several law
makers on both sides of the aisle have great
reservations about the continued necessity of
the draft at all.
10
INDIA
VVIP chopper scam hits Congress

New Delhi: A combative Congress
president Sonia Gandhi and for
mer prime minister Manmohan
Singh have dismissed the bribery
charges in the VVIP chopper
scam as the BJP tried to corner
the main opposition party.
Sonia Gandhi, whose name fig
ures in a judgment by an Italian
court, said she was "not afraid"
and dubbed the allegations as
false. Manmohan Singh and for
mer defence minister A.K. Antony
echoed the sentiment.
The Congress, in turn, accused
the Narendra Modi government
of trying to help the Italian firm
which had been blacklisted.
The issue sparked tensions in
both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya
Sabha.
A
Milan
court
sent
Finmeccanica's former CEO
Giuseppe
Orsi
and
AgustaWestland exhead Bruno
Spagnolini to jail for false
accounting and corruption in the
sale of 12 VVIP choppers to
Sonia must reveal who gained: Shah

New Delhi: Hitting back at Congress president Sonia Gandhi, BJP pres
ident Amit Shah asked her to clarify who were the beneficiaries of the
VVIP chopper scam. "It has been established by an Italian court that
kickbacks were given. Rather than saying she is not afraid of anyone,
she (Sonia) should clarify who received the kickbacks," Shah told
reporters. "Who was in the power then? It was UPA. They should
bring out the truth." Shah said: "She might not be afraid of anyone but
we the leaders of BJP are afraid of the Constitution, democracy and
public modesty."
Congress president Sonia Gandhi with

senior leader Manmohan Singh. (Photo: IANS)
India. The court ruling refers to
Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi,
her secretary Ahmad Patel and
also former Indian Air Force chief
S.P. Tyagi.
Cong ress members were in
uproar in the Rajya Sabha when
BJP's Subramanian Swamy
BREAKTHROUGH ELUDED
DELHI TALKS: PAK TEAM
Islamabad: Pakistan's Foreign
Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry said
that there was no breakthrough
in talks with his Indian counter
part S. Jaishankar on his recent
trip to New Delhi.
The foreign secretary, who was
in Delhi on Tuesday to attend the
Heart of Asia Senior Of ficials
meet ing, he ld talks w ith his
Indian counterpart on bilateral
issues, including resumption of
the peace dialogue, Dawn online
reported on April 28.
It was expected that the talks
might lead to progress towards
the start of the Comprehensive

Bilateral Dialogue which was
agreed by the two countries in
December last year.
I would not say there is a
breakthrough, but we conveyed
our concerns forthrig htly,
Chaudhry said at a media brief
ing here on Wednesday.
He said he had stressed the
need for a structured, sustained
and resultoriented comprehen
sive dialogue process, resolving
the Kashmir dispute and con
ducting a fair trial in the 2007
Samjhauta Express attack case.
named Sonia Gandhi in the Rajya

Sabha during zero hour while
speaking on the AgustaWestland
deal.
"It is touching to see leader of
opposition relying on (Christian)
Michel for what he said orally but
the hig h court of Italy have
recorded a letter written by

Michel stating that Sonia Gandhi
is the main..." Swamy couldn't fin
ish his sentence.
Congress members sprung to
their feet and rushed towards the
treasury benches aggressively.
Soon after, Sonia Gandhi hit
back, saying she was "not afraid"
of any inquiry and there was
nothing to hide. She accused the
Bharat iya Janata Party of
indulging in character assassina
tion. "We have nothing to hide.
Let them (government) take my
name, I am not afraid of anyone

because there is no basis to that
alleg at ion. T hey amount to
calumny. Where is the proof?
They are lying. This is part of
their (BJP's) strategy of character
assassination," Gandhi told the
media. Union minister Rajiv
Pratap Rudy said Sonia Gandhi
should ask the Italian court why
she was named in the documents.
Former
prime
minister
Manmohan Singh also rebutted
the charges. "There is no case. My
party will respond."
President's rule to continue in Uttarakhand: SC

New Delhi: President's Rule will
continue in Uttarakhand till fur
ther orders, the Supreme Court
ruled this week, implying that
there will be no April 29 floor
test for the ousted Congress gov
ernment as ordered by the state
high court.
The apex court said the hearing
would resume from May 3 on the
central government's plea chal
lenging the Uttarakhand High
Court order that had revoked
President's Rule in the hill state.
The top court extended its April
22 interim ruling, putting on hold
the high court order and allowing
the central government to amend
its petition challenging the high
Ousted chief
minister
Harish Rawat.
(Photo: IANS)
court order after a detailed judg

ment was made available.
The apex court bench of Justice
Dipak Misra and Justice Shiva
Kirti Singh said they would hear
the matter for three days and
pronounce their judgment before
the summer break by midMay.
Meanwhile, the Congress wel
comed the order, insisting it

expects a fair and favorable judg
ment from the apex court soon
after it begins hearing the matter
again from May 3.
T he BJP said it would have
proven its majority had the party
been given an opportunity for a
floor test.
India a step away from joining 'GPS CLUB'

Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh): India has
successfully put into orbit its seventh and
final navigation satellite IRNSS1G with
its own rocket in copybook style.
With this, India successfully completed
putting into orbit all the seven navigation
satellites to complete the system in the
sky.
Exactly at 12.50 p.m. the PSLV rocket
standing 44.4 metres tall and weighing
320 tonnes tore into the afternoon skies
with fierce orange flames at its tail.
Gathering speed every second, the rock
et raced towards the heavens amidst the
cheers of ISRO of ficials and the media
team assembled at the rocket port here.
At the rocket mission control room, sci
entists were glued to their computer
screens watching the rocket escaping the
earth's gravitational pull.
Just over 20 minutes into the flight, the
PSLV rocket ejected its sole passenger
IRNSS1F at an altitude of 488.9 km.

Soon after this, the satellite's solar pan
els were deployed.
The satellite's control was then taken
over by the Mission Control Facility (MCF)
at Hassan in Karnataka.
The MCF will manage the satellite's
orbit raising operations firing the on
board motors till it is placed in its slotted
orbit.
Simply put, the Indian Reg ional
Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) is sim
ilar to the GPS (global positioning system)
of the US, Glonass of Russia and Galileo of
Europe as well as China's Beidou.
While GPS and Glonass are fully func
tional global systems, the Chinese and the
Japanese systems offer regional coverage
and Europe's Galileo is yet to be opera
tional. India will formally join the select
group of nations owing such system once
IRNSS is declared operational after check
ing the systems space (satellites), ground

(ground stations) and the userend signal
receivers.
Only after the system is declared opera
tional, will userend signal receiver mak
ers seriously get into the manufacture of
equipment for use at the retail end, indus
try officials told IANS.
According to Indian space agency the
applications of IRNSS are: terrestrial, aeri
al and marine navigation, vehicle tracking
and fleet management, terrestrial naviga
tion for hikers and travellers, disaster
management, integration with mobile
phones, mapping and geodetic data cap
ture and visual and voice navigation for
drivers.
In other words, IRNSS could be said to
be the "Indian GPS".
Apart from the civilian applications, the
IRNSS will be used for defence purposes
as well.
India has completed putting into orbit all

the seven navigation satellites to complete
the system in the sky. (Photo: PIB/IANS)
Notice on those named in

Panama Papers: Jaitley
the government, espe
New Delhi: The govern
cially with regard to
ment is taking all nec
black money stashed
essary steps on the
overseas.
issue of tax evasion
"And for domestic
and not ice is being
black money also the
served on those whose
SIT recommendations
names figure in the
have been found help
Panama Papers leaks,
ful and necessary
Finance Minister Arun
steps are being
Jaitley said in the Lok
taken," he said.
Sabha.
Biju Janata Dal floor
The statement dur
leader B. Mahtab
ing quest ion hour
wanted to know if in
when members, includ
the wake of reports
ing Nana Patole and
from SIT and other
Kirit Somiaya (both
agencies the govern
Janata
Bharat iya
ment is proposing any
Party) and B. Mahtab
changes in the law to
(Biju Janata Dal) asked
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
keep an eye on tax
supplementaries on the
(Photo: IANS)
evaders.
tax evasion issue.
BJP member Kirit Somaiya was pulled up
Jaitley, however, said any individual case
could not be discussed in the house. He by Speaker Sumitra Mahajan when he took
assured that the government is taking action the name of a popular Maharashtra leader,
and has already served notice on some who is now in jail.
"You know everything, then why are you
named in the Panama Papers leaks on tax
taking someone's name," Mahajan told the
evasion and of stashing money overseas.
Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha ruling party member tersely.
Minister of State Finance Sinha agreed
said the appointment of a Special
Investigation Team (SIT) by the National that there are instances of tax evasion by
Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in moneyed people when they show their
2014 had helped in the purpose of tracking income as agricultural income.
BJP member Nana Patole said the con
black money both in the country and out
tention that agricultural income is growing
side.
"SIT is doing a commendable job," Sinha cannot be true because, "If such is the case,
said, adding that recommendations of the then farmers would not be committing
SIT had helped investigating agencies and suicide".
AoL at Yamuna:
NGT verdict next week
New Delhi: T he National Green
Tribunal (NGT) is likely to give its
verdict next Wednesday on the Art
of Living (AoL) causing ecological
damage on the Yamuna banks in
Delhi, of ficials from the 'Green
Court' told IANS.
The Court concluded the hearings
on the case on April 22 and had
reserved the final order.
In his reply filed before the NGT,
environment activist Manoj Misra
accused AoL headed by Sri Sri Ravi
Shankar of "backtracking from their
commitment to pay for the ecologi
cal destruction caused by their
event" the World Culture Festival
(WCF) held on the Yamuna flood
plains last month.
AoL, however, said in its applica
tion that it did not backtrack but
was asking the NGT to allow it to

provide a bank guarantee instead of
payment in cash of the balance Rs
4.75 crore as environment compen
sation, determined by the NGT earli
er.
"The present application is being
filed before this Honorable Tribunal
for modification of the order dated
11.03.2016 to allow for submission
of security by way of a Bank
Guarantee in lieu of payment of the
balance amount as directed," AoL
said in its reply to the NGT.
The foundation also challenged
the Expert Committee's observation
in its report that the World Culture
Festival had damaged the Yamuna
floodplains and it would require at
least Rs.120 crore to restore the
area to its original state.
INDIA
11
Charges 'preposterous', I'm in

'forced exile': Mallya
London: Industrialist Vijay Mallya, at the
center of a controversy in India over alleged
loan default of Rs.9,000 crore, has termed
the charges against him as "preposterous"
and said he was in "forced exile" here from
which he would like to return to his country.
"I'm absolutely not guilty of any of the
preposterous charges of diverting funds
from Kingfisher Airlines and buying proper
ties," Mallya said in an interview to the
Financial Times. "I'm in a forced exile, will
ing to reach reasonable debt settlement."
Questioning the amount of Rs.9,000 crore
attributed as wilfull debt against him, the
60yearold industrialist said by taking away
his passport or arresting him, the Indian
government and banks won't be able to get
any money out of him.
"I definitely would like to return to India.
Right now things are flying at me fast and
furious. My passport's been revoked. I don't
know what the government will do next. I've
always said I will like to reach out to the
bankers of Kingfisher and make a settle
ment," he said.
"Notwithstanding the legal proceedings,
my offer for settlement stands. The filings
before the debt recovery tribunal indicate
some 500 million pounds. T he rest is
toward unapplied interest. I've never been
able to understand where this Rs.900 mil
lion figure came from," he said.
He said he has issued a sworn affidavit to
the Supreme Court and the right position
will come to light if a proper probe is con
ducted. "If the government decides to audit
Vijay Mallya said "extraordinary pres

sure" was being exerted on him.
(Photo: IANS)
the accounts of Kingfisher airlines, they are
not going to find anything because that is
the truth." Mallya said "extraordinary pres
sure" was being exerted on him, but he can't
give preference just to banks since there
were other creditors as well.
"All I can say is that the manner in which
my passport was revoked and then suspend
ed was unprecedented and was done in
extraordinary haste. I came to know of the
facts by email," he said, adding the notice of
suspension of his passport came on holiday
and that his reply was ignored.
He further said if he has proposed a settle
ment of fer to the apex court, it had to be
serious.
COURT ORDERS FRAMING CHARGES IN

COAL CASE AGAINST JINDAL
New Delhi: A court here on Friday
ordered the framing of charges in
a coal block case involving the
Jindal Group.
Special Judge Bharat Parashar
ordered that charges dealing with
criminal conspiracy, cheating and
various provisions of the
Prevent ion of Corrupt ion Act
against former parliamentarian,
industrialist and senior congress
leader Naveen Jindal, former
union minister of state for coal
Dasari Narayan Rao and former
Jharkhand chief minister Madhu
Koda and others.
The court was hearing a case
re lated to the allo cat ion of
Jharkhand's
Amarkonda
Murgadangal coal block to Jindal
Steel and Gagan Sponge.
The probe agency said there was

suf ficient evidence to frame
charges against the accused in a
case related to the allocation of
Amarkonda Murgadangal coal
block to Jindal Steel and Gagan
Sponge.
However, Jindal, Rao, Koda and
others have denied the allegations
and sought being discharged from
the case.
T he Central Bureau of
Investigation in April last year
filed a chargesheet against Jindal,
Koda, Rao, former coal secretary
H.C. Gupta with six other individu
als.
Five private companies four
based in De lhi and one in
Hyderabad have also been
named in the chargesheet.
Senior congress leader

Naveen Jindal. (Photo: IANS)
12
OP-ED
Operation of 'Indian GPS' will take time

By Venkatachari Jagannathan
Chennai: The common man in India has
to wait for some more time to use the
"Indian GPS' as the Indian navigation sys
tem has to be formally declared opera
tional after checking and crosschecking,
industry officials said.
They also said government mandating
the use of the Indian Regional Navigation
Satellite System (IRNSS) will act as a
booster for the domestic manufacturing
of satellite signal receivers as a part of
the Make in India initiative.
India put into orbit its seventh naviga
tion satellite IRNSS1G and joined a
select group of spacefaring nations with
their own satellite navigation system.
Simply put, the IRNSS is similar to the
global positioning system (GPS) of the
US, Glonass of Russia, and Galileo of
Europe as well as China's Beidou.
According to India Space Research
Organisation (ISRO), the applications of
IRNSS are: terrestrial, aerial and marine
navigation, vehicle tracking and fleet
management, terrestrial navigation for
hikers and travelers, disaster manage
ment, integration with mobile phones,
mapping and geodetic data capture and
visual and voice navigation for drivers.
"The Indian system provides positional
accuracy of 10 metres. For civilian usage
to bloom and the cost to come down,
more manufacturers have to start mak
ing the navigation signal receivers. That
India put into orbit its seventh navigation satellite IRNSS1G and joined a select
group of spacefaring nations. (Photo: IANS).
will happen once the IRNSS is formally
declared operational," A.S. Ganeshan,
ret ired prog ram director of ISRO's
Satellite Navigation Progam, told IANS.
He said the satellite navigation system
comprises three segments space (satel
lites), ground (ground systems) and user
(receivers).
The Indian space agency has to test all
the three segments thoroughly before
IRNSS could be declared an operational
navigation system.
Ganeshan said once the IRNSS is ready,
there will be greater development of
application software that would be useful

for different segments.
The IRNSS will provide two types of
services standard positioning service
and restricted service. The former is pro
vided to all users and the latter is an
encrypted service for authorised users.
Once the system is fully operational,
India will not have to face of risk of the
absence of satellite signals at critical
times as the existing systems are owned
by other countries.
While the defence forces would get the
IRNSS signal receivers from the manufac
turers, the challenge for deeper penetra

tion of the Indian navigation system
depends on the makers of signal
receivers.
"The Indian government should man
date the use of indigenous satellite navi
gation systems by various government
agencies and the emergency services like
ambulance and others so that the signal
receiver makers are enthused to get into
accelerated production mode," Ganeshan
added.
He said once the mandatory usage is
there, more software applications could
then be developed, thereby widening the
usage.
Agreeing with him, S. Purushotham,
director, Accord Software & Systems Pvt
Ltd, told IANS: "If there is a mandate then
it will give a big fillip for the receiver
makers' Make in India efforts."
Nevertheless, Accord Software will get
into making the IRNSS receivers as the
company is confident that the Indian
navigation system will soon be declared
operational, Purushotham remarked.
The Bengalurubased Accord Software
clocked a turnover of around Rs.100
crore ($15 million) last year and has
around 400 people on its rolls,
Purushotham said.
"We are the only company to develop
the receivers for IRNSS. We have deliv
ered to ISRO and other agencies through
ISRO for use in land and marine applica
tions," he said.
201516 worst year for rural job mission

By Shobhit Mathur &
Nomesh Bolia
fter spending about Rs.3.5 lakh crore

($51 billion) almost equal to Indias
subsidy and pensions budget for 2015
16 over 10 years on the worlds largest
rural jobs programme, it has provided less
than half the guaranteed 100 days of
employment to 50 million poor households.
This is revealed in our analysis of the
Mahatma
Gand hi
Nat ional
Rural
Employment Guarantee (MGNREGA) data.
Other facts:
r
Although the most money ever was
spent during 201516, it was the worst year
ever in terms of assets created (2.27 million
assets), a 23 percent decline from 201415.
r
While 50 million households found
work through MGNREGA last year, less than
10 percent of these households got 100 days
of wage employment.
r Just about 40 percent of the workers
get paid within the promised 15day period.
r Women now hold half of all MGNREGA
jobs, higher than the mandated 33 percent,
indicating widespread demand for employ
ment.
These findings are in line with
IndiaSpends earlier analysis of MGNREGA.
A safety net for rural areas, MGNREGA
guarantees 100 days of paid, unskilled man
ual work every year to every rural house
hold.
A safety net for rural areas, MGNREGA guarantees 100 days of paid, unskilled manual
work every year to every rural household. (File photo)
It is the largest and perhaps the most
ambitious social security and public works
programme in the world, Jairam Ramesh,
former union rural development minister,
who launched MGNREGA, said.
Clearly, the popular demand of increasing
the number of guaranteed work days under
MGNREGA will not help since the existing
promise of 100 days is not being met.
Barely 50 million households have found
work through MGNREGA and less than 10
percent of these households have been able
to get 100 days of wage employment.
Clearly, either work is not being provided or
not being demanded.

Just about 40 percent of the workers get
paid within the promised 15 days. For
unskilled MGNREGA workers, not getting
paid in time is detrimental to domestic
finances. Perhaps this will change with 210
million new Jan Dhan (Peoples Wealth)
accounts opened, into which the government
can directly pay wages.
There has been no significant increase in
the number of assets created each year, with
last year the worst ever, as we said, with a
23 percent drop from 201415.
The durability of the assets is questionable.
The views expressed in Op Eds are not necessarily those of The South Asian Times.
Currently, the law says that 60 percent of

funds should be spent on wages and 40 per
cent on material, which means a preponder
ance of labourintensive works, not struc
tures that require more and better material.
MGNREGA has brought parity in labour
force participation, one of its few successes.
There has been a constant demand to
increase the MGNREGA budget. The most
money was spent last year, Rs.42,084 crore
($6.1 billion), about 0.3 percent of Indias
GDP.
More than 95 percent of MGNREGA funds
have been used over the last two years. This
is a positive, but there are allegations of cor
ruption.
The expenditure on agriculture was the
highest ever in 201516.
Per person wage and cost has gone up
steadily over the years. The average wage
rate in 201516 was Rs.154 per day, a 27
percent increase from four years ago. Yet,
the labour participation in MGNREGA has
not grown, proven by the fact that only 2.3
billion persondays of labour were generated
both in 201516 and 201213, despite a 27
percent wage increase.
Critics claim MGNREGA wage rates have
distorted the farmlabour market, while sup
porters argue wages must be increased to
match market rates for unskilled labour.
Why MGNREGA needs a rethink
After 10 years, it is clear that MGNREGA
has not met most of its goals.
OP-ED
13
OPEN LETTER TO TRUMP FROM AN INDIAN AMERICAN
MAKE FUN OF OUR ACCENT BUT

DONT DIVIDE SOCIETY
Dear Mr. Trump,
ope you are doing great.
This open letter is about
your recent comments on
Indians and their accent, during
a rally in the g reat state of
Delaware. To start with, let me
sum up the opinion I have of
America and Americans in gen
eral, having lived here for more
than a decade.
When I first landed in the US
to pursue an advanced degree in
engineering, I was struggling to
unhook a piece of baggage from
the carousel at the airport, when
an elderly American gentlemen
reached over and pulled it for
me, saying Here, let me help
you, Son!. I was immediately
bowled over by America and its
we lcoming attitude towards
people of all colors, races and
creeds.
As I settled and moved on with
my degree and my career, I have
been constantly overwhelmed
by the love and af fection this
Jimmy Kimmel outsources Donald Trump jokes to an Indian call center,

a screen grab from Jimmy Fallon Live show.
great country shows towards
immigrants. There maybe one
or two unwanted experiences
but the overall goodness easily
overshadows these stray inci
dents.
Now, about the Indian accent.
It is true that we have an accent
given the fact that India is a
diverse country with several
native languages being spoken.
And de finite ly, some find it
funny, just the way Indians find

something else funny about the
aspects of a different culture.
But in the end, it is just an
accent, and it would be most
appropriate if I quote William
Shakespeare, whose 400th birth
anniversary was last week. He
has said Whats in a name?
That which we call a rose, by
any other name would smell as
sweet? And I am sure the same
could be said of the several hun

dreds of accents spoken across
the world.
But the point here is not about
accents or making fun of them,
the bigger picture is that it is an
election season and definitely in
politics (whether it is in the US
or in India), leaders do take
stances in support of natives
who are at a disadvantage due
to the everchanging and com
plex nature of the global econo
my. But lets not take it to the
extent that we are pitting people
ag ainst one other, whether
directly or indirectly.
And the Indians in America, I
am sure you agree, are one of
most successful immigrant com
munities, having enriched the
American way of life at several
levels. The list can be found
searching on Google, which inci
dentally is led by an Indian
Immigrant.
Our accent may be your capi
tal and you wish to make a deal
out of it, so as to emerge as a
winner and I wish you luck in

your endeavors sir, but this is
just a humble letter seeking to
your vast wisdom and highly
successful experience.
As for the IndoAmerican rela
tions I am sure elections will
come and go, but they will stand
the test imony of t ime built
through our strong friendship at
the peopletopeople level, just
like there will be no Terms &
Conditions Apply added to the
plaque of the Statue of Liberty.
Thanks,
An Indian American
S Vadwlas is a software archi
tect based in the US, with an
American
Masters
in
Engineering and an undergrad
uate degree from the National
Institute of Technology (NIT),
India. His upcoming book Go
Clown
(#AccheDin
for
Comedy!) is a literary fiction
comedy. The author can be
reached at GoClown.com
I resent what Hindutva is doing to

Hinduism: Nayantara Sahgal
Interviewed by Preetha Nair
indutva is a brand of fundamental
ism and the Hindu right wing is dis
torting what Hinduism stands for,
says renowned author Nayantara Sahgal
who was among one of the first writers to
return her Sahitya Akademi award to
protest against intolerance in the country.
She also claimed the situation in the
country is worse than the Emergency era,
but said figures like Jawaharlal Nehru
University Students Union president
Kanhaiya Kumar offer hope.
Speaking to IANS on the sidelines of the
first edition of the Dehradun Literature
Festival here, Sahgal, niece of India's first
prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, lament
ed that the Hindu right seemed to be
becoming like a terror outfit and said it
was time for a debate on that.
We need a debate on why Hindutva is
becoming like the IS. The Hindu right
wing is talking in the same criminal lan
guage as IS. As a Hindu, I resent what
Hindutva is doing to Hinduism. They are
distorting and destroying it," she said.
Terming as "bogus" the de bate on
Nayantara Sahgal, author and Pt Nehrus

niece. (Photo courtesy Ranjona Banerji)
nationalism, she accused the BJPled cen
tral government of trying to instill fear in
people's mind with "silly" issues like
chanting of 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'.
"The debate on nationalism is irrelevant
now. Nationalism was needed at a time
when the country was fighting to become
a nation under British Raj. Then the Hindu
right and Muslim right supported British
to lay the path to Partition," she said.
Accusing Hindu right wing groups of

fostering trouble in the NIT Kashmir cam
pus, Sahgal said that the ef fort began at
the time of Syama Prasad Mookerjee,
founder of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS).
"There has been an attempt by Hindu
right wing to create trouble between
Jammu and Kashmir to bring in the Hindu
element from the time of Syama Prasad
Mookerjee and it's still going on," she said,
charging the BJP with wanting to destroy
secularism in Kashmir.
"Kashmir was the only secular place in
India where there were no riots even dur
ing the Partition. It used to be the centre
of a great religious culture," she said.
The author also took exception to the
BJP's effort to appropriate historic figures
like B.R. Ambedkar and Sardar
Vallabhbhai Patel, saying that the party
discovered the great leaders after so many
years. "It's better late than never," she
added.
Sahgal, known for her outspoken views,
also held that the present situation in the
country is much worse than Emergency.
"It's an undeclared emergency now.
Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi goes
The views expressed in Op Eds are not necessarily those of The South Asian Times.
abroad and says great things. But here,

they are crushing dissent and force us into
obedience," she said.
However, Sahgal felt that young people
like Kanhaiya Kumar are a beacon of hope
for the country. "The Dalit issue has come
to the fore now because of the students
movement which started in the Hyderabad
university. Kanhaiya Kumar aptly said that
the issue of caste, communalism, poverty
and other issues is to be fought," she said.
Lauding Bihar Chief Minister Nitish
Kumar's call for a grand alliance to fight
the BJP, she said that all likeminded par
ties should come together to save the idea
of India.
"I think the time has come for a great
coalition like Nitish Kumar said. There has
to be a combination of all parties who
don't support the 'Hindu rashtra' business.
It's slowly happening," she said adding
that Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi
has undergone a change and gives hope
for his party.
"Rahul seems to have changed and
spoke well in parliament recently. I think
Rahul has stepped forward and it is a good
move," she said.
14
DIASPORA
Police arrest 2 teen

suspects of Germany
Gurdwara bombing
Berlin: T hree people were
injured in a bomb attack at a
Gurdwara in western Germany,
police said on Thursday, adding
that two 16yearolds arrested
after the attack appeared to
have Islamist backgrounds.
"We must act on the assump
t ion that it was a terrorist
attack, religiously tainted ter
rorism of the Islamist scene,"
said Frank Richter, police chief
in the city of Essen, where the
attack took place last weekend.
One of the suspects handed
himself in after police released
footage showing two young
men carry ing backpacks in
which investigators believe they
hid explosives used in the
(Photo: DPA)
attack. The second suspect was
arrested in a police raid.
Both teenagers were born and
raised in Germany, German
media reported.
One of the three people
injured was in a serious but not
lifethreatening condit ion,
(Reuters)
police said.
REUBEN BROTHERS TOP UK

RICH LIST, HINDUJAS AT NO 2
London: Britain's annual rich list
has a distinctly Indian flavor with
two sets of India born brothers
grabbing the top two slots.
Mumbaiborn property mag
nates David and Simon Reuben
have topped 'The Sunday Times'
Rich List 2016 with a fortune of
13.1 billion pounds, followed by
the Hinduja brothers at 13 billion
pounds. The Reubens, who own
London Oxford Airport and
London Heliport, have increased
their fortune by 3.4 billion pounds
in the past year to jump to the top
slot. Srichand and Gopichand
Hinduja, who head the Hinduja
Group, hold on to their slot from
last year with an unchanged for
tune. However, another Indian
tycoon did not have a similarly
fruitful year with Lakshmi Niwas
Mittal's steel empire taking a hit
BRITISH SPEAKER HONOURS

INDIAN ICONS IN LONDON
London: Parliament Speaker John
Bercow urged the Indian diaspora
in Britain to engage more with
mainstream politics and get proper
representation in parliament.
"The community makes a huge
contribution to British life, and I
hope its members will continue to
build on its successes, both in terms
of representation in Parliament and
more widely across our national
life," the Asian Lite daily quoted
Bercow as saying.
He made the speech last week
while presenting the Asian Lite
Pranam Awards to seven prominent
members of the British Indian com
munity.
The award recipients were econo
mist Lord Meghnad Desai, British
Indian politician Shreela Flather,
BBC's former sports editor Mihir
Bose, refugeeturnedmultimillion
aire Rami Ranger, Bharatiya Vidhya
Bhavan Executive Director Mattur
N. Nandakumara, rights activist and
writer Zerbanoo Gif ford, and T.
Ramachandran, CEO and MD of
Bristol Laboratories.
T he event, he ld at Bharatiya
Vidhya Bhavan, was attended by
several prominent members of the
Indian community and British MPs
including Bob Blackman.

The Pranam Awards were institut
ed by the Asian Lite daily to honour
members of the Indian community
for their contribution to British cul
ture, economy, business, media and
sport sectors.
Seven members of the third gen
eration British Asians poetess
Divya Mathur, media personality
Rafeek Ravuther, London junior
chamber former president Nahas
Abdul Jaleel, Here and Now 365 MD
Manish Tiwari, and journalists
Dhiren Katwa and Navdeep Singh
paid tributes to the award winners.
Flather was the first Asian woman
to receive a peerage and the first
from the ethnic minorities in the
House of Lords. She has worked for
several humanitarian causes, fight
ing for social justice, refugees, com
munity, race relations and those in
prisons. Meghnad Desai is a Labor
Peer and spearheaded the campaign
to install the Mahatma Gandhi
Statue at Parliament Square in
London. Desai, an ardent supporter
of the Labor Party, wrote several
books on economics. He was a for
mer professor at the London School
of Economics (LSE). Rami Ranger is
one of the most successful Indian
origin businessmen in Britain. His

firm Sun Mark Ltd won six Queen's
Award. Ranger, the youngest son of
Indian freedom fighter Nanak
Singh, began his life as a refugee
boy in Delhi and now runs a $280
million turn worth company.
T. Ramachandran helped Bristol
Laboratories to grow from a compa
ny with one person and one product
in 2001 to the one that employs
over 600 people across Britain now.
Mihir Bose, who came to England
to study engineering but was
trained in accountancy, became one
of the most respected journalists.
He has worked with Sunday Times,
Daily Telegraph and became the
first sports editor for BBC.
Mattur Nandakumara is a Sanskrit
scholar who taught at Cambridge
and Eton. He hails from the only
Sanskrit speaking village of Mattur
in Karnataka and holds a PhD in
devotional literature from School of
Oriental and African Studies at the
University of London.
Zerbanoo Gif ford was the first
nonwhite woman to stand for
British Parliament in 1982. She has
won several awards for her involve
ment in national and international
(IANS)
humanitarian activities.
Mumbaiborn Simon (L) and

David Reuben own fortune of
13.1 billion pounds
(Image courtesy: telegraph.co.uk)
from the global industry crisis and

losing nearly threequarters of his
wealth. The ArcelorMittal chief
held the top slot on the list back in
2008 with a whopping 27.7 billion
pounds, which is now down to just
7.12 billion this year.
He slips to 11th on the list from
7th last year.
"The guys at the top who are

feeling the pain this year are often
hit by a cocktail of plunging stock
markets, low oil prices and the cri
sis in the steel industry some
times by all three," said Robert
Watts, compiler of the 2016 list.
Complet ing the top three is
Warner Music owner Len
Blavatnik, who has 11.59 billion
pounds.
He has dropped two places after
a reduction in wealth by 1.58 bil
lion pounds.
The UK has clocked 120 billion
aires this year, the highest record
ed since 2006, but the number of
London billionaires fell for the first
time since the financial crash
from 80 in 2015 to 77. On the
global scale, India has a record 56
billionaires, compared to 193 in
(PTI)
China and 43 in Russia.
Baljit Singh appointed

dean At Calgary
University in Canada
Toronto: An Indianorigin vet
erinary medical expert has been
appointed as the Dean of the
prestigious University of
Calgary's Faculty of Veterinary
Medicine in Canada.
Baljit Singh, will take over the
position of Dean on September
1, Provost and VicePresident
(Academic) of the university
Dru Marshall said in a state
ment.
Singh is a highly accom
plished researcher, educator
and administrator in the field of
veterinary medicine, with spe
cific expertise in lung biology
and anatomy, she said.
Singh has done his Bachelor
of Veterinary Science and
Animal Husbandry and Master
of Veterinary Science from
Punjab Agricultural University.
He completed his PhD from the
University of Guelph in Ontario
and postdoctoral training at
Texas A and M University and
Columbia University, New York.
"I am deeply honored to be
selected as the dean of the
Baljit Singh
(Image: ucalgary.ca)
University of Calgary's Faculty
of Veterinary Medicine. I am
excited that the faculty has out
standing opportunities to lead
in veterinary medical education
and knowledgecreation to
solve complex animal and
human problems at the local,
national and international
level," Mr Singh said in a state
ment issues by the university.
(PTI)
SPIRITUALITY
15
Head of Science of Spirituality/Sawan

Kirpal Ruhani Mission, Maharaj ji has been
giving discourses and initiating devotees in
New Jersey and New York this week.
Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj greeting the audience at a packed hall in New Jersey where he
gave a satsang in Hindi and a spiritual talk in English earlier this week.
More pix and story on pages 1618.
In In a historic first, The South Asian Times published a 16-page special supplement in five languages -English, Spanish, Hindi, Punjabi, and Gujarati about Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj, the Master, his
mission and his NY-NJ visit. Kamlesh Mehta, Chairman and Publisher of The South Asian Times, presented a
copy each of the five to the Master during the latter's Friday program at the Amityville center.
16
SPIRITUALITY
SPIRITUALITY
17
Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj opens the Science

of Spirituality Center in Perth Amboy, NJ
New York: Renowned spiritual Mas
ter Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj is
in New Jersey and New York this
weekend to offer a series of talks fo
cused on how we can transform our
lives through meditation. Head of
Science of Spirituality/Sawan Kirpal
Ruhani Mission, he travels the
globe, spreading the message of in
ner and outer peace through spiritu
ality.
The spiritual Masters first stop in
the tristate area was in New Jersey
on Wednesday to dedicate the
newest Science of Spirituality Cen
ter in the United States. Located in
Perth Amboy, home to large Spanish
and Hindi speaking communities,
the Science of Spirituality New Jer
sey Meditation Center is located in
the waterfront district.
Upon arrival, accompanied by his
wife, Mata Rita Ji, Sant Rajinder
Singh Ji Maharaj toured the
grounds and the building which
hosts a library, an office, rooms for
children and young adults, a book
store, and a large kitchen. Walking
in to the meditation hall, he cut the
ribbon, inaugurating the building.
To date, Science of
Spirituality/Sawan Kirpal Ruhani
Mission has 2058 centers in 54
countries around the world. The
Perth Amboy Center makes 2059.
Taking his place on the dais, the
spiritual Master began his talk with
a verse from the poetsaint of India,
of Sant Darshan Singh Ji Maharaj;
When the flowers of church, mosque,
and temple gather together,
Spring will blossom forth in your
garden, O Lord.
Acknowledging the multicultural
and diverse makeup of the commu
nity, Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj
said the path of Sant Mat brings to
gether people of all faiths, all cul
tures, and all walks of life. The uni
fying thread among all, he said, is
our humanity and our search for
God. Having a center is a great
blessing as it offers the opportunity
to come together, sit together,
share, and focus on what is truly im
portant in life our relationship
with God.
Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj with his wife, Mata Rita Ji, outside the
new Science of Spirituality New Jersey Meditation Center in Perth Amboy.
The newest
center, in New
Jersey, is the
2059th of SoS
centers in 54
countries around
the world,
including India.
Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj and Mata Rita Ji cutting the ceremonial ribbon to
inaugurate the New Jersey center to the joy of gathered devotees.
Sant Rajinder Singh ji Maharaj addressing a large gathering in New Jersey.
The New York segment of the

weekend program continued at the
Science of Spirituality Meditation
Center in Amityville, Long Island
with a Friday night talk in Hindi, at
tended by thousands of people. Sant
Rajinder Singh Ji Maharajs final dis
course in the tristate area will be a

2 pm talk on Sunday, May 1: Medi
tation to Access Spiritual Realms,
followed by initiation.
In a historic first, The South Asian
Times issued a16page special pic
torial supplement in five languages
English, Spanish, Hindi, Punjabi, and

Gujarati about Sant Rajinder Singh
Ji Maharaj, his Mission, and his NJ
NY visit.
For more information about the
weekend program, please go to
www.sos.org/event/nynj.
Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj and Mata Rita Ji greet each other reverentially.
Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj said the path of Sant Mat brings together people
of all faiths, all cultures, and all walks of life.
(See more pix on page 18.)
18
SPIRITUALITY
The Master is loved and revered
Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj and wife Mata Rita Ji interacting with young boys and girls at the New Jersey SoS center, which has rooms for children and young adults.
araj
Singh Ji Mah
Sant Rajinder
d
an
d
is equally love
eople of
revered by p
cultures,
s,
ith
fa
dierent
ups from
linguistic gro
e.
of
all walks lif
Below left: Sant

Rajinder Singh Ji
Maharaj writing
an inspirational
message on the
pinup board of
the New Jersey
center.
Below right:
Sant Rajinder
Singh ji
Maharaj
blessing a
child
accompanied
by a family of
devotees.
SUBCONTINENT
'Bajrangi Bhaijaan' director

plays down Karachi protest
Karachi: "Bajrang i Bhaijaan"
director Kabir Khan faced
protests here from a small group
shouting antiIndia slogans, but
he urged the Indian and Pakistani
media to ignore the incident.
As he reached the Karachi air
port to y to Lahore, about a
dozen
men
mobbed
the
Bollywood director, asking him
why he did not make movies on
what the Indian inte lligence
agency RAW did in Pakistan.
At least one man waved a shoe
at Kabir Khan who did not
respond to the ruckus at the
departure lounge, Dawn reported.
Once he entered the airport build
ing, security personnel prevented
the others from following him.
"You people send Jhadav and
kill hundreds here. Why don't you
make a movie about it?" one pro
testor asked the "Phantom" direc
tor, referring to alleged RAW of
cial Kulbhushan Jhadav who has
been arrested in Pakistan.
Starring Saif Ali Khan and
Katrina Kaif, "Phantom" is about a
retired Indian Army ofcer who
leads a mission to kill Pakistani
"Bajrangi Bhaijaan" director

Kabir Khan. (Photo: IANS)
terrorist leader Haz Saeed after
the 2008 Mumbai terror attack.
Another shoewie lding man
warned the director about "Indian
conspiracies against the Pakistan
Army", Dawn said.
Kabir
Khan's
"Bajrang i
Bhaijaan" received a warm
response in Pakistan, where
Indian movies are always in great
demand. But "Phantom", based on
a novel by S. Hussain Zaidi, was
banned by the Lahore High Court.
Shortly after the protest, Kabir
Kohinoor was given

to Britain: Pakistan
Islamabad: Pakistan's Punjab
government has said that the
famed Kohinoor diamond was
given to Britain following an
agreement reached with the
East India Company in 1849.
A Punjab government of ficial
on Tuesday stated this in the
Lahore High Court during the
hearing of a petition for bring
i n g t h e K oh i n o o r b a c k t o
Pakistan, Dawn online report
ed on Wednesday.
The of ficial said the diamond
could not be brought to
Pakistan as it was given to
Britain under the "Treaty of
Lahore".
The petitioner said a treaty
had to be reached between two
go v e r n m e n t s a n d t h e E a s t
India Company was not autho
rised to sign such an agree

ment.
T h e j u d g e d i r ec t ed t h e
Punjab government's counsel
to submit a copy of the agree
ment with the East India
Company and the then rulers
of undivided Punjab.
The petitioner said the
British rulers had snatched
Kohinoor from Duleep Singh.
He asked the court to direct
the government, being a mem
ber
of
the
B r i t i sh
Commonwealth, to bring the
famous diamond back to
Pakistan.
The Kohinoor diamond, kept
under t ig ht security at the
Tower of London, is claimed by
India, Afghanistan, Pakistan
and also Iran.
Khan urged the media in India

and Pakistan to ignore the
Karachi airport incident.
He said the footage of some
"screaming lunatics" should not
be considered news.
He tweeted: "To media on both
sides: 12 screaming lunatics with
a mobile phone camera is not
news. Please don't give them the
attention they want. Ignore."
Speaking earlier on Tuesday at
the conference organised by the
Market ing Asso ciat ion of
Pakistan, Kabir Khan said he
desired to see more cinema halls
in Pakistan.
"It can be our biggest territory,"
he said. The director added that
there was excitement in India
about Pakistani actors, citing the
examples of Fawad Khan and
Mahira Khan. Kabir Khan said he
wanted to explore the denition
of "enemy" in his lms. In an obvi
ous reference to Pakistan, he said
he did not see "Phantom" as a
criticism "of a country".
He added that "there were ele
ments in every country which
were bad".
April 30- May 6, 2016
19
'Pakistan helped
US get Osama'
Washington: Pakistan helped the
US get Osama bin Laden, a US
investigative journalist has said.
"More than ever," said the Pulitzer
Prizewinning journalist Seymour
Hersh on Tuesday when asked if
he believes Pakistan helped the
US get AlQaeda group founder
Osama bin Laden.
When Hersh made this claim in
an article published last year, the
White House rejected the story as
false. Major US media outlets also
rejected his claim as incorrect.
Hersh repeated the claim in his
new book "The Killing of Osama
bin Laden" published this week,
insisting he was right, Dawn
online reported.
Since last year, Hersh said, his
belief has cemented as the jour
nalist found new evidences, and
was deceptive of the US' ofcial
account of how bin Laden was
found in his compound.
Hersh said Pakistan had
detained bin Laden in 2006 and
kept him in prison with the back
ing of Saudi Arabia.
The US and Pakistan struck a
deal that the US would raid bin
Laden's compound but make it
look as if Islamabad was unaware.

"Pakistan is in constant alert
because of India. Their radars are
watching, their F16s are up all the
time," said Hersh, arguing that it
was not possible for US helicop
ters to enter Abbottabad without
alerting the Pakistanis.
"The then head of Pakistan's Air
Defence Command was very, very
upset. He was ready to go public,"
said Hersh.
Hersh earlier said the US and
Pakistan had jointly created the
myth "we (US) discovered" where
Osama bin Laden was living.
"What I know is ... in August of
2010, a Pakistani colonel ... came
into our embassy, went to the
then CIA Station Chief Jonathan
Bank, and said: 'We've had bin
Laden for four years'."
"T he Pakistani inte lligence
picked him (bin Laden) in the
Hindu Kush area, built the com
pound in Abbottabad and put him
there," Hersh said.
"Pakistani ofcials did so
because the Saudis asked them to.
T he Saudis did not want
Americans to interrogate bin
Laden."
Six arrested for Pak Sikh

politician's murder
Islamabad: Six men paid to kill a
prominent Sikh politician in
Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
province have been arrested, the
media reported.
According to police, the assassina
tion of Minority Af fairs Minister
Sardar Soran Singh last week in
Buner was ordered by a rival politi
cian, Baldev Kumar, Efe news
reported.
Baldev Kumar had sought a seat
with the Pakistan TehreekeInsaf
party but had been passed over for
Soran Singh which led to the mur
der, said Deputy Inspector General
Azad Khan on Monday.
The Pakistani Taliban had falsely
claimed responsibility for the mur
der, said the police.
The murderers were caught when
ofcers received a tip that traced
the shooting to one of them who
Minority Affairs Minister Soran Singh who was killed last week. (Photo: IANS)
revealed the plot, T he Nation
reported. Soran Singh was a promi
nent leader of the Sikh community
in Pakistan. Religious leaders con
demned the killing and vowed to
initiate a campaign against terror
ism and sectarian violence, media
reports said. They were speaking at
a gathering organised by Pakistan
Ulema Council to pay homage to

Soran Singh.
One of the religious leaders, Haz
Mohammad Tahir Ashra, said
Soran Singh sacriced his family for
the cause of Pakistan, referring to
the slain lawmaker's refusal to leave
Pakistan along with his wife who
took divorce and settled in India.
20 April 30- May 6, 2016
Will seek India's help to

contain Pak: Trump
Washington: Republican presiden
tial frontrunner Donald Trump said
this week that India can help out
the US in dealing with the "prob
lem" of "semistable" nucleararmed
Pakistan.
Trump's remarks came during a
townhall meeting in Indianapolis in
response to a question on how he
would deal with countries like
Pakistan, which has sometimes
"double dealt" with the US.
"We've given them (Pakistan)
money and they've doubledealt us,"
the interviewer from Fox News said.
"The problem with Pakistan I
mean, they have nuclear weapons,

and which is a real problem.
Again, the single biggest problem,
we have nuclear weapons ... But it's
semiunstable and we don't want to
see total instability (in Pakistan),"
Trump said. Trump said the US has
"a little bit of a good relationship"
with Pakistan, and if he becomes
the president, he will try to keep
good relations with Islamabad.
"That's very much against my grain
to say that, but, a country and
that's always the country I think, if
we give them money, we help them
out, but if we don't, I think that
would go on the other side of the

ledger, and that could really be a
disaster," Trump said. However, the
presidential aspirant did not specify
what "disaster" he was talking
about. "At the same time, if you look
at India and some of the others,
maybe they will be helping us out,
because we're going to look at it,"
Trump said.
Trump's remarks came on a day
when lawmakers questioned the
rationale behind the Obama admin
istration giving billions of dollars in
aid to Pakistan without desired
results.
British expats lose battle to

vote in EU referendum
London: The High Court of Justice has rejected an
attempt to force the British government to grant mil
lions of citizens living abroad a vote in Junes European
Union (EU) referendum. The legal challenge, brought by
two disenfranchised expats on behalf of those living
overseas for over 15 years, was dismissed by Justice
Lloyd Jones, The Guardian reported on Thursday. The
government, the judges said, was entitled to adopt a
cutof f period at which extended residence abroad
INTERNATIONAL
might indicate a weakening of ties with the United

Kingdom. The ruling also noted that there would be
significant practical difficulties about adopting, espe
cially for this referendum, a new electoral register
which includes nonresident British citizens whose last
residence in the UK was more than 15 years ago.
The case was brought by 94yearold Harry Shindler,
a Second World War veteran who lives in Italy, and the
lawyer Jacquelyn MacLennan who lives in Belgium.
US lifted nsanctions
only on paper:
Iran leader
Tehran: Iranian Supreme

Leader Ali Khamenei has
denounced US' attempts to
"sabotage" the nuclear deal
that ended international sanc
t ions ag ainst Tehran, and
described Washington's com
mitment to it as only on paper.
According to sources,
Khamenei, the highest politi
cal and religious figure in the
country, said during a meeting
that despite the nuclear
ag reements,
"host ility" Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
against Iran by Israel and the
(File photo)
US continues, which means
his country's distrust of
Iran despite the nuclear agree
Washington remains absolute, EF ments. On paper, he said, that
news reported.
work with Iran is allowed, but in
In part icular, Khamenei practice there is "Iranophobia
referred to the obstacles that still that the Americans have been
prevent Iranian banks from oper promoting", according to state
ating with the outside world, and run Fars news agency.
particularly the reluctance of
Since the Joint Comprehensive
European financial institutions to Plan of Action (JCPOA) came into
work with Iran for fear of sanc force in January, there have been
tions from the US.
complaints from the Iranian side
The leader insisted that the US about the limited progress of
has resorted to decept ion to international banks to operate in
obstruct international trade with the country.
Kerry condemns fatal Respect political situation in

strike on childrens Kashmir: UN peace panel head
hospital in Syria
Washington: An airstrike on a
pediatric hospital in Syria has
killed 50 people, rights and
humanitarian groups say, as
the United Nations warns that
the situation in Aleppo has
become "catastrophic" amid
intensified fighting in recent
days.
T he UN special envoy to
Syria, Staffan de Mistura, told
reporters in Geneva on
Thursday that Syria's nation
A toddler being rescued from a destroyed
wide "cessation of hostilities" is
building
following an air strike on the rebel
under serious threat of col
lapse, and that a humanitarian held childrens hospital. (Photo courtesy: AFP)
disaster is unfolding as vio
condemned the attack and pointed a
lence increases in Aleppo and three finger of blame at the Syrian govern
other locations.
ment. "We are outraged by yester
Al Quds field hospital, situated in a day's airstrikes in Aleppo on the al
rebelheld neighborhood in Aleppo, Quds hospital supported by both
was hit by a missile from a fighter jet Doctors Without Borders and the
Wednesday, witnesses said.
International Committee of the Red
The airstrike killed at least 50 peo Cross, which killed dozens of people,
ple, according to Pablo Marco, opera including children, patients and med
tions manager for Doctors Without ical personnel," he said in a statement.
Borders in the Middle East.
"It appears to have been a deliberate
Marco told CNN that at least six of strike on a known medical facility and
the dead were hospital staff: Two doc follows the Assad regime's appalling
tors, two nurses, one guard and one record of striking such facilities and
maintenance worker. The death toll first responders. These strikes have
could still rise.
killed hundreds of innocent Syrians."
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (CNN)
United Nations: Taking a handsof f approach on

Kashmir, UN Peace Building Commission chair
Macharia Kamau has said that the primacy of poli
tics and the local conditions that drive any negotia
tions between India and Pakistan have to be
"respected."
Answering questions at a news conference,
Kamau said that the Kashmir issue "will be resolved
in the context of the local domestic political envi
ronment between Pakistan and India." Kamau is
also Kenya's Permanent Representative to the UN.
Outlining the Commission's threefold approach
to the Kashmir issue, he cited "the primacy of poli
tics" and said, "We have to respect the local condi
tions that drive the negotiations."
Another element was that "we respect the idea
they must sustain peace, so the situation cannot be
allowed to deteriorate," he said.
And he set the limit to any role in dealing with
the dispute, ruling out any direct involvement. He
said, "We reach out to as many of the institutions
within the subcontinent to support this (peace)
process moving forward. That is the ambition that
we would have for that process on the subconti
nent."
"Will it have an overnight fundamental impact
that would change everything on the ground?"
Kamau asked rhetorically and said. "That is a 'may
be' precisely because the situations on the ground
are driven by different forces other than the ones
that we are looking to address ourselves."
Responding to a reporter's question if that meant
a solution to the almost 70year dispute was not
likely, he said, "We never say never in our business.
That is not the way."
He added, "The whole idea of building peace is to
always seek solutions and look for the historical
Peace Building Commission Chairman

Ambassador Macharia Kamau, Permanent
Representative of Kenya to the UN, right,
addressing a press conference in New York on
April 27. Oscar FernandezTaranco,
UN Assistant SecretaryGeneral for Peace
Building Support is on left.
moment, the historical opportunity that will avail
of the opportunity to engage and to bring the
instruments that are now available to us in the con
text of the resolutions to bear on the situation".
At the same time it has to be done "keeping in
mind, as I said, that we have to respect primacy of
the political situation on the ground," he again
emphasized.
Asked by a Pakistani reporter if it meant a peace
process will depend on India's willingness to talk,
Kamau said, "I wouldn't go as far as to say that."
And he yet again added the caveat, "What I would
say is that the situation on the ground has to be
respected. And it isn't about any one country. It is
about all the political players on the ground."
India has maintained that the Kashmir issue was
a bilateral matter with Pakistan and has opposed
any outside involvement in dealing with it.
Islamabad conceded in the 1972 Simla Agreement
that the issue would be dealt with between the two
(Text & Pic: IANS)
countries.
BUSINESS
SC directs disclosure of
Mallya's assets to banks
New Delhi: Be leaguered
from that date to
liquor baron Vijay Mallya told
Tuesday, there was no
the Supreme Court that he
plea for the review or the
won't come to India to be
modication of the April
arrested, leading to the apex
7 order.
court directing that details of
Asking Mallya to indi
his, his estranged wife, and
cate the amount he is
children's overseas assets be
prepared to deposit
given to the consortium of 13
before the top court to
banks, seeking the recovery
show his bonade for a
of the over Rs.9,000 crore
meaningful negotiation
loaned to his nowgrounded
with the bank consor
Kingsher Airlines.
t ium, headed by the
A bench of Justice Kurian
State Bank of India, the
Joseph and Justice Rohinton
apex court by its April 7
Fali Nariman directed its reg
order had asked him to
Beleaguered liquor baron Vijay Mallya. (Photo: IANS)
istry to furnish the contents
disclose the details of all
of the overseas assets furnished to the not have a passport," said his properties movable, immovable,
court in a sealed cover to the banks, Vaidyanathan. "The moment he will tangible, intangible, shareholdings
after counsel for Mallya said if his come, he will be arrested. Then no held by him, his wife and children.
client came back, he "will be taken to purpose would be served."
"Do you expect this court to act as
The court direction came to the reg your recovery ofcer," the bench
Tihar Jail" and when his "liberty is at
stake", how can he be expected to istry came as it noted that the belea asked as it was told that most of the
return. Mallya's response, made by guered liquor baron had not complied money that Mallya could deposit with
senior counsel C.A. Vaidyanathan with its April 7 order.
the bank to prove his bonades would
"The point is that you have not com become available if it passed orders
appearing for him, came in response
to the court's query about when he plied with out April 7 order both in let for their release of money locked in
intended to return to India. "He does ter and spirit," it observed, pointing different nancial dealings.
21
INDIA'S RATING AT
RISK FROM DEBT
LEVELS: MOODY'S
Hong Kong: American credit rating agency
Moody's retained India's outlook at 'positive' say
ing the country's history of doubledigit ination,
high government debt levels, weak infrastructure
and a complex regulatory regime have con
strained its credit prole.
In its report on AsiaPacic sovereigns, Moody's
Investors Service also cautioned that a prolonged
worsening in asset quality at staterun banks is
the main threat to India's sovereign credit prole
and suggested the government provide for higher
recapitalization of stressed banks.
"The main threat to the sovereign credit prole
would be via a signicant and prolonged worsen
ing in asset quality at stateowned banks, beyond
the recognition of bad loans currently under way,
that causes contingent liabilities to crystallise on
the government's balance sheet," it said.
The report also said that implementation of the
Goods and Services Tax (GST) and bridging large
infrastructure decit are a difcult task before
India's government.
Moody's, which has given for India a credit rat
ing at 'Baa3' that is just a level above their junk
category, said it would consider a rating upgrade
after 1218 months, depending on improvement
in macroeconomic parameters.
Apple sales fall after 13 years

Washington: Hit by a slower growth in
its flagship iPhone, iPad and Mac sales
globally, Apple announced revenue drop
for the first time since 2003 as the tech
giant released earning reports for the
second quarter of the fiscal year 2016
that ended on March 26.
The company posted a quarterly rev
enue of $50.6 billion and quarterly net
income of $10.5 billion ($1.90 per dilut
ed share), compared to revenue of $58
billion and net income of $13.6 billion
($2.33 per diluted share) in the yearago
quarter, the company said in a state
ment.
Gross margin was 39.4 percent com
pared to 40.8 percent in the yearago
quarter while international sales
accounted for 67 percent of the quar
ter's revenue.
Despite the fall in revenue, Apple CEO
Tim Cook said that his team executed
extremely well in the face of strong
macroeconomic headwinds.
"We are very happy with the continued
strong growth in revenue from Services,
iPhone unit sales fell nearly 16 percent from 61.2 million units
last year to 51.19 million this year. (Photo: IANS)
thanks to the incredible strength of the
Apple ecosystem and our growing base
of over one billion active devices," said
Cook.
iPhone sales were down yearover
year for the first time since the prod

uct's launch in 2007.
"The company predicts that the year
overyear quarterly decline will continue
next quarter," said a report in arstechni
ca.com.
"Apple expects it will make between
$41 and $43 billion in revenue in the
third quarter of fiscal 2016 with profit
margins between 37.5 and 38 percent.
This is well below the $49.6 billion in
revenue that Apple made in Q3 of
2015," the report added.
T he revenue was down in both
Americas and China Apple's two
biggest territories. It declined around 10
percent in the Americas and a huge 26
percent in China.
"The only territory with increased rev
enue for the quarter was Japan which
was up about 24 percent; Europe fell by
about 5 percent and Asia Pacific fell by
25 percent," the report added.
iPhone unit sales fell nearly 16 per
cent from 61.2 million units last year to
51.19 million this year.
Unit sales of the iPad declined almost
19 percent, from 12.60 million units to
10.25 million units.
Unit sales of Mac fell 12 percent from
4.6 million units to 4.03 million units.
22 April 30-May 6, 2016
SPORTS
IPL 2020
Rohit, Pollard help Mumbai

thrash KKR by six wickets
Mumbai: Riding on skipper Rohit
Sharma's unbeaten 68 alongside
Kieron Pollard's quickfire 17ball
51, de fending champions
Mumbai Indians outclassed
Kolkata Knig ht Riders by six
wickets in an Indian Premier
League (IPL) cricket match at the
Wankhede Stadium here on
Thursday.
Batting first, KKR posted a com
petitive total of 174/5 in 20
overs, thanks to skipper Gautam
Gambhir's 45ball 59.
In reply, Rohit struck 68 not out
of f just 49 balls, as the hosts
chased down the target comfort
ably posting 178/4 in 18 overs.
Rohit struck eight boundaries
and two sixes, while Pollard, who
also remained unbeaten, smashed
six sixes and two boundaries to
take the team to victory.
Chasing a challenging target of
175, the home side got of f to a
disappointing start losing inform
opener Parthiv Patel (1) in the
second over itself.
But his opening partner, skip
per Rohit Sharma used his experi
ence to best effect to score runs
at a good pace without losing
anymore wickets to help the team
reach 64/1 after completion of
powerplay.
He was supported well at the
other end by Ambati Rayudu (32).
The duo struck a much needed
50run partnership for the second
wicket in just 27 balls to help the
team stay on course for a victory.
But Shakib Al Hasan dismissed
Rayudu in the seventh over to put
an end to a good partnership.
New batsman Krunal Pandya (6)
failed to impress as his dismissal
in the ninth over reduced
Mumbai Indians' skipper Rohit Sharma. (Photo: IANS)

Mumbai to 78/2. Despite wickets
falling at the other end, Rohit
stayed calm and brought up yet
another halfcentury in just 36
balls and take the team past the
100run mark in the 12th over.
After the dismissal of Jos
Buttler (15), incoming batsman
Kieron Pollard came into the
show and smashed Rajagopal
Sathish for 23 runs in the 16th
over to put Mumbai on course to
a win.
From there on, Pollard and
Rohit remained unbeteaten to
take the team over the victory
line.
Sunil Narine (222) was the pick
of the bowlers for Kolkata, while
Shakib Al Hasan and Umesh
Yadav claimed one wicket each.
Earlier, put into bat, inform
openers Gambhir and Robin

Uthappa (36) got KKR off to a fly
ing start scoring 59 without los
ing any wickets after the comple
tion of powerplay.
The home team missed a golden
chance to dismiss the KKR skip
per
as
pacer
Mitche ll
McClenaghan dropped a skier off
his own bowling in the power
play, when the lefthander was
batting at eight.
But veteran of fspinner
Harbhajan brought the much
needed breakthrough dismissing
Uthappa in the eighth over to put
the brakes on the KKR run flow.
Incoming batsman Shakib Al
Hasan (6) too departed cheaply
without troubling the scorers
much, to have the visitors
reduced to 77/2 in the ninth over.
Bar on IPL matches in

Maharashtra stays
New Delhi: The Supreme Court
dismissed a plea challenging a
Bombay High Court ruling pro
hibiting holding of Indian pre
mier League (IPL) cricket match
es in Maharashtra due to
unprecedented drought condi
tions
in
Vidarbha
and
Marathwada. The plea was filed
by the Maharashtra and Mumbai
Cricket Associations.
The apex court bench compris
ing Chief Justice T.S. Thakur,
Justice R. Banumathi and Justice
Uday Umesh Lalit dismissed the
plea after it was given conflicting
figures by the senior counsel P.
Chidambaram and Abhishek
Manu Singhvi on the amount of
water that would be needed for
watering the cricket grounds and
preparing pitches for 12 matches
that were scheduled in Mumbai,
Nagpur and Pune.
The Bombay High Court had on
April 13 ordered the relocation
all IPL matches in Maharashtra
which were scheduled to be held
after April 30. The order original
ly affected 13 matches.
Later, the court modified its
order, permitting the holding of
one match in Pune between
Rising Pune Supergiants and
defending champions Mumbai
Indians on May 1.
At the outset of the hearing,

Singhvi told the court that they
would be requiring eight to 10
lakh litres of water for holding
the match at the Wankhede
Stadium and Chidambaram told
the court that the requirement of
water would be 8,00,00 litres per
match. Chidambaram also told
the court that treated sewage
water would be used for main
taining the grounds. Singhvi
added that not a drop of water
required for drinking would be
used for the field.
Initially, the court had thought
of appointing a local commission
er assisted by the police to look
into the amount of water that
would be used by the cricket
associations for organising the
matches. But finding wide vari
ance in the figures being given by
the counsels, it dismissed the
plea by the two cricket associa
tions. On the query by the court,
it was told that matches were
being organised by the IPL under
the auspices of the BCCI.
The petitioner associations had
told the court that there were dif
ficulties including that of logistic
in holding the matches earlier
scheduled to be played in
Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur at any
other venue outside the state.
The Bombay High Court had on April 13 ordered the relocation all
IPL matches in Maharashtra. (File photo: IANS)
Boxer Vijender confident of continuing winning streak

London: Indian boxing sensation
Vijender Singh has promised his
fans another big knockout win
when he takes on French pugilist
Matiouze Royer on his return to
the Copper Box Arena in
Stratford here this week.
Vijender, who has defeated all
four of his opponents by knock
out, performed at the Copper Box
Arena as an amateur in 2012
where he reached the quarter
finals of the London Olympics.
"I thoroughly enjoyed fighting
in Stratford as an amateur. The
Copper Box Arena is an amazing
venue to fight at and Im really
looking forward returning and
putting on another explosive per
Indian boxing sensation Vijender Singh. (Photo: IANS)
formance for my fans in England

and India," Vijender said in a
statement on Thursday.
The 30yearold from Haryana
will face his toughest challenge to
date in the experienced Royer,
who is a veteran of 44 fights.
Royer has only been stopped
twice in a career spanning over
seven years and will be aimimg to
spoil the party when he makes
his second appearance on British
soil.
Vijender knows he will have to
be at his very best if he is to over
come his latest oppoennet.
"Saturday night is going to be
tough, Royer has 250 gruelling
rounds under his belt compared
to my nine. I know he's capable of

mixing it up and making life diffi
cult for me but he won't have a
reply for my knockout power," he
said.
"Once I start landing on him it'll
be all over, there's no doubt
about that. I'm not going in to
this fight looking for a big knock
out but I'm predicting another
big finish. If the opportunity
comes to take him out, I'll grab it
with both hands," the Bhiwani lad
added.
If Vijender carries on his
impressive knockout streak, he
may be rewarded with a mega
fight with British boxing star
Amir Khan.
SPORTS
Greece hands over Olympic

flame to Rio 2016 organizers
Athens: The flame that will burn
for Rio Olympic Games was hand
ed over to the Brazilian organizers
in a spectacular ceremony held at
Panathenaic Stadium in Athens.
At the marble venue of the first
mo dern Olympics in 1896,
Hellenic Olympic Committee presi
dent Spyros Capralos passed the
Sacred Flame to the president of
the Rio 2016 Org anizing
Committee Carlos Nuzman, wish
ing best success to the XXXI
Games. "We are handing you over
the Flame to carry it to your beau
tiful country. We are entrusting
you with a part of our history, a
part of our culture," Capralos had
said earlier addressing the event.
"Conveying the feelings of the
whole Olympic family in Greece,
those of the members of HOC, of
our athletes and of all Greeks as
well, I would like to wish you our
very best for a most successful
organization of the XXXI Olympic
Games," he stressed.
In his address Nuzman under
lined that it was the first time in
history that the Olympic Games
will be held in South America sym
bolizing the Olympic movement's
time less values of exce llence,
friendship and respect. "We under
stand our responsibility as
Hellenic Olympic Committee Secretary General Manolis Katsiadakis

lights the cauldron in front of the Acropolis museum during the
Olympic Flame torch relay. (Photo: IANS)
guardians of the Olympic Flame.
The size of the tasks ahead obliges
us to move forward rather fast.
August is approaching like a flash.
When you arrive in Rio, our cul
ture will host you with charm.
T here will be plenty of music,
poetry, love, excitement," Nuzman
said. "Let's celebrate together. We
have plenty of reasons to be
happy. We are building a better
future for the boys and girls of the
planet. That is the future we have
been dreaming of. Certainly the
future we deserve," he concluded.
Nuzman left the stadium with the
Sacred Lig ht under the warm
applause of some 30,000 Greeks

and foreign tourists who had
flooded the site.
Gree k President Prokopis
Pavlopoulos,
internat ional
Olympic movement representa
tives, and Olympic medalists were
also among the crowd that wel
comed warmly the Olympic Flame
when it entered the stadium.
The Sacred Light was carried by
the Greek silver medalist in high
jumping in the 1996 Atlanta
Games Niki Bakogiannis, after hav
ing crossed a large part of Greece
(about 2,200 km) over the past
week.
Saina, Sindhu advance in

Badminton Asia Championships
Wuhan (China): India's Saina
Hyderabadi Sindhu faces a
Nehwal and P.V. Sindhu
strong challenger in eighth
advanced to the second
seed Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese
round, while Kidambi
Taipei, who holds a 32 lead
Srikanth and women's dou
in headtohead meetings.
bles pair of Jwala Gutta and
World No.9 Tai disposed
Ashwini Ponnappa crashed
of f South Korean Kim Hyo
out of the Badminton Asia
Min 2112, 218 in 31 min
Championships here.
utes at the Wuhan Sports
Fifth seed Saina moved
Center.
past Group A qualifying win
India's only men's singles
ner Fitriani Fitriani of
contender, Srikanth went
Indonesia 2116, 2117 in 21
down to Lee Dong Keun of
minutes. In the prequarterfi
South Korea 2113, 1221,
Saina Nehwal.
nal, the 2015 World
1921 in an hour and 15
(File photo: IANS)
Championship runnerup will
minutes. It was their maiden
meet Thai Nitchapon Jindapol, who eased fight on the circuit.
past Indonesian Lindaweni Fanetri 2110,
The top three men's singles seeds of Chen
2118.
Long, Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei eased
World No.8 Saina has a 60 lead in head into the second round.
tohead records against world No.25
Also exiting the competition was the dou
Nitchapon and will be heavily favoured to bles pair of Jwala and Ashwini, who lost to
enter the quarterfinals.
Chang Ye Na and Lee So Hee of South Korea
Twotime World Championship bronze 1521, 1121 in 37 minutes.
medallist Sindhu thrashed Maria Febe
India's campaign also ended in the men's
Kusumastuti of Indonesia 2110, 2113 in doubles competition as Pranaay Jerry
the first round.
Chopra and Akshyay Dewalkar lost to Hong
Sindhu, who is in the top half of the draw, Kong's Or Chin Chung and Tang Chun Man
has now won the fourth consecutive 1921, 1721. Another Indian pair, Manu
encounter against world No.23 Attri and B. Sumeeth Reddy crashed out
Kusumastuti, whose only victory was the against fifth seeded Japanese pair of
first meet among the two.
Hiroyuki Endo and Kenichi Hayakawa 15
In her next match, the 21yearold 21, 1321 in 32 minutes.
23
Baichung, Gurbax
differ over Salman as
goodwill ambassador
Kolkata: Olympic gold medalist
Gurbax Singh differed with for
mer national football captain
Baichung Bhutia over naming
Bollywood actor Salman Khan
the goodwill ambassador of the
Indian cont ingent in Rio
Olympics.
Gurbax said appoint ing a
sports personality as the ambas
sador would have been more
apt. "I think there were several
other eligible people from the
sports fraternity who could
have been made the brand
ambassador for Olympics.
Ideally, someone who has made
some achievement for the coun
try should have been chosen,"
Gurbax said at an event organ
ized by television channel Aaj
Tak. "By nominating Salman,
you might get some sponsors
but I don't think that should be
the criterion."
Baichung, however, spoke out
in favor of the Bollywood icon
saying "there is nothing wrong
in it" (Salman's appointment as
goodwill ambassador).
"Salman definitely did not go
and say I want to be the ambas
sador. There is nothing wrong
in it. If he can promote and

make people aware of the
Olympics then it is well and
good," Baichung told the media
here on Wednesday at the
Calcutta Sports Journalists'
Club's annual awards ceremony.
T he
Indian
Olympic
Association (IOA) had made the
announcement on April 23 in
New De lhi but the decision
since then has received flak
from certain sections of the
sporting fraternity including the
likes of legendary athlete
Milkha Sing h and wrestler
Yogeshwar Dutt.
But Baichung believes Salman
who essays the role of a
wrestler in his upcoming film
'Sultan' w ill he lp promote
Olympics in India.
Though he did not say it in as
many words, Baichung hinted
that the Bollywood star can
g rab more attent ion than
Olympic gold winner Abhinav
Bindra. "Bollywood sells every
where in India. Take any sports
event for example there has to
be a dose of Bollywood. Now if
that is going to help India then
nothing wrong in it," he added.
HAPPY THAT GYMNASTICS

IS GETTING ATTENTION IN
INDIA: KARMAKAR
Kolkata: Dipa Karmakar, who recently came
into the limelight after becoming the first
Indian woman gymnast to qualify for
Olympics, said on Wednesday that she is
happy that finally the sport is getting some
recognition in the country due to her
exploits.
"I have not changed at all (after Olympic
qualification), I am the same Dipa. But I am
happy that I have been able to bring gym
nast ics to the fore front," Dipa told
reporters here at an event where she was
awarded by the Calcutta Sports Journalists
Club's during its annual awards here.
Her coach Bisheswar Nandi said after her
achievement she has received a lot of sup
port from everyone.
"The Sports Authority of India (SAI) have
announced Rs.1.10 crores for her practice
for the Olympics with 80 lakhs for appara
tus and the rest for training abroad," he
said. "Even Rahul Dravid (of GoSports
Foundation) has extended full support."
Nandi also said that Dipa is likely to
choose between two events in Turkey and
Singapore in June as her build up to the
Olympics.
"Dipa will choose between two events.
One in Turkey and the other one is in
Singapore in June for her build up event
Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar. (Photo: IANS)

ahead of Rio," he said.
The coach added that he will now work
on trying to improve Dipa's best landing
score of 15.04 so that she can have a better
opportunity to win a medal.
Dipa's favorite move is the Produnova
vault which has only been completed suc
cessfully by five women gymnasts all
around the world.
The Produnova vault is said to be one of
the toughest ever and has a high risk of
injuries but Dipa said she is not afraid of it.
"Every thing involves risk. I am not afraid
of taking it. I believe whatever my coach
says, he never allows me to take pressure,"
she added.
24
SOCIETY
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN:
The faces behind the statistics
A lawyer from Argentina, Luz Maria Utrera is helping protect women against domestic abuse. (2) Ms Utrera with UN Secretary General Ban Kimoon. Her Fundacin Luz Maria has
received Consultative Status with United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). (3) Utrera with Nobel peace winner Malala Yousafzai.
By Robert Golomb
hat you do not see from the sta
tistics is the face of the actual
vict im, Luz Maria Utrera,
founder and chie f execut ive of the
Fundacion Luz Maria, Argentina and the
Luz Maria Foundation, USA and Global
(both www. Luzmaria) told me in a recent
interview. The statistic to which Ms.
Utrera who established these nonprofit
organizations in Argentina in 2012 and
the United States in 2015 to provide free
assistance to women who have been vic
tims of domestic violence was referring
is as alarming as it is unknown to the gen
eral public: One in three women in the
world and one in five women in America
will be beaten, raped or suffer from other
forms of abuse, including female genital
mutilation as a child, as an adolescent or
as an adult.
Most of those attacks, according to most
studies on the subject, occur in the vic
tims home and are perpetrated in the
majority of the cases by a husband, a live
in boyfriend, a parent, or another close
family member.
Domestic violence against women is a
global pandemic, stated Ms. Utrera, a
native of Argentina and a 2006 graduate
of that nations University of El Salvador
Law School. The women her foundations
which are staf fed by volunteer attorneys
and social workers have fought for and
many times saved always remain in her
thoug hts, she told me, and then she
described three of them.
All of the hundreds of victims all
remain somewhere in my mind, she said.
But right now as we talk I think of a
young woman named Alejandra whose
husband savagely beat her and her three
young children and tried to starve them.
And I think of Roxana who I met around
the same time and who suf fered along
with her son the same kind of awful abuse.
And I think of Zula, a middle aged
woman who was nearly beaten to death by
her livein boyfriend.

Ms Utrera explained how she rescued
these victims following the same protocol
she successfully utilized before and since
with hundreds of others: She or her staff
represented the victims in court to obtain
orders of protection and contacted gov
ernment social service agencies to try to
obtain day to day living expenses for the
women and their family members.
I could say, she added, that these
cases had happy endings, because these
people were transformed from victims to
survivors. But even for survivors, the
nightmares of their ordeals never fully go
away. And then she added (as I had
already sensed) that she understands the
feelings of these victims because she was
once a victim of domestic abuse herself
an experience, she told me, that changed
the direction of her life.
Being a victim myself, she explained,
gives me a real understanding of what
these women {who are victims of domestic
abuse} are going through, and that is what
made me decide to devote my life to help
protect women from domestic abuse.
Ms. Utrera noted that her foundations
often work with other similar organiza
tions, charity and womens rights entities
and several womens rights branches of
the United Nations. We work coopera
tively to educate the public concerning the
global crisis of violence against women
and to educate women of the early warn
ing signs of an abuser, she explained.
For example, one of the earliest and most
common behaviors we teach to look for is
the attempt to control the womans every
day life activities, such as the clothing she
wears, the food that she eats, the friends
and family members whom she sees, how
she spends her money. There are many
other red flags, which we cover in our
workshops.
This cooperative ef fort also involves a
political component. We work with elect
ed of ficials in Argentina and throughout
the world to strengthen already existing
laws designed to protect women. In addi

tion, we lobby to obtain funding for vital
social services for victims of domestic and
other forms of violence.
Those victims (and hopefully eventual
survivors) include women named
Alejandra, Roxana, Zula and Luz

Maria.
Robert Golomb is a nationally published
columnist.
Mail
him
at
MrBob347@aol.com and follow him on
Twitter@RobertGolomb
FEATURES
25
Kapil Dev's NGO celebrates

fatherdaughter bond
New Delhi: Fathers and daughters have a special bond
ing and each page of a coffee table book released last
week is the story of a father's love for his daughter, says
former India cricket captain Kapil Dev, whose NGO
Khushii has taken the initiative to launch the publica
tion.
"Fathers and daughters have a very special bonding
not just now but that's how we've always talked about it.
No words can explain how happy I feel about it (the
book)," Kapil Dev told IANS of "Timeless Portraits of
Love".
"You can ask every father about his relation with the
daughter, it's wonderful, it's enjoyable.
"Each page in the book is the story of a father's love
for his daughter, each photograph captures the quiet
gleam of an abiding relationship, in turn inspire other
fathers of daughters who might till date have imagined
that they have been burdened by fate," said Kapil.
"This book is sure to bring joy to daughters far beyond
those who grace its pages," he added.
Proceeds from the sales of the book will go towards
educating underprivileged girls, as "at Khushii, we con
tinue the relentless pursuit of our goal of educating girl
children and gender equality," Kapil explained.
The fathers in the book include President Pranab
Mukherjee, actor Chiranjeevi, director Mahesh Bhatt, art
impresario Aman Nath, industrialist Vikram Kirloskar,
medical honcho Naresh Trehan and Kapil Dev himself.
Kapil then struck a personal note, saying of his daugh
ter Ameya: "We had a child after very long and she is
beautiful."
The photographers include Dabboo Ratnani, Jatin
Kampani, Suresh Natrajan, Rafique Sayed, Rohan
Shreshta, Saify Naqvi and Sudhir Ramachandran.
"It's very dif ficult for somebody to collect photo
graphs, to work for hours and hours on end. The day
you see the book coming up, you feel very happy that at
least somebody will benefit out of it," Kapil said.
New Delhi: What can be more fascinating
than an amalgamation of old trains, Hindu
deities and popular Bollywood posters on
canvas? Nepalese artist Uma Shankar Shah
presents this unique blend in an exhibition
here.
Presented by Gallerie Ganesha, Shah's first
solo show ROTI BETI comprising paintings
and etchings was on at Visual Arts Gallery in
India Habitat Centre.
Shah said that the
work depicts the
twin inspiration
for this show.
First that
trains gave
people their
economic
livelihood
(Roti), and
second, the
fact that many
Indian women
after
marriage
migrated to Nepal
(Beti).
Trains connecting India and Nepal have
always promoted trade and fostered socio
cultural relationships but for Shah, trains
especially the steamdriven ones are about
several childhood memories.
Trains,
Bollywood,
deities
alongside
on canvas
Mahesh Bhatt with Alia Bhatt
Kapil Dev with Ameya, who was born many years

after his marriage to Romi Dev.
"Timeless Portraits of Love is a unique endeavor by
Khushii to capture a moment of time for eternity. The
Coffee table book features portraits of some of the most
eminent fathers with their daughters shot by the coun
try's renowned photographers," said Kapil.
He said he was thankful to the people behind the book
adding, "it is a new idea. Through this, we want more
and more people to know what we are doing."
Sita Ram, acrylic on canvas, by Uma Shankar Shah
"While all this was happening and the rail

way system was becoming a centre of
attraction for the Mithila region people, I
was also fascinated by trains as a kid and
every day I would go to the railway station
to watch the trains passing by," said Shah.
Nepal
Janakpur
Jainagar
Railway, Acrylic
on Canvas,
by Uma
Shankar Shah
Nepalese have been astonished by trains
ever since their introduction in India by the
British and it became a symbol of a search
for new life in the hearts of Nepalese peo
ple," he said. The establishment of Indian
Railways brought about a variety of changes
Zaved Akhtar with Zoya Akhtar

to the Indian subcontinent. Nepal too
benefited from this as a number of financial
opportunities with India were created.
My happiness had no limits if I ever had
the opportunity to touch those trains," Shah
said.
"In the 40 years that I have grown up with
these trains, I have developed a sense of
empathy with them where it feels as if I
understand the moods of happiness, sad
ness, use lessness, lone liness of these
machines and this is what I have presented
in these works, he added.
Bollywood film posters also find space in
his canvas, another one of his childhood
memories. The cinema hall in Janakpur had
just started and the first place these posters
were put up was at the railway station," he
said.
"I was fascinated by these posters. Actors
like Nargis, Manoj Kumar, Madhubala were
my favorites.
Shah also depicts a lot of Hindu deities in
his work, given that Nepal has a 94 percent
Hindu population.
Shah is also exhibiting an 18feet long,
threedimensional train installation in fiber
and metal, which, with its roof and compart
ments, platform and human figures, will
bring alive the whole rail experience for the
(Text and pix: IANS)
viewers.
26
elebrities like actresspolitician Kirron Kher and

filmmaker Sooraj Barjatya have defended the Indian
Olympic Association's (IOA) decision to appoint
superstar Salman Khan as the goodwill ambassador of the
Indian contingent for the Rio Olympics.
It is a very good decision. I am very proud of Salman
Khan. All people who are trying to say that only a sports
man should be appointed as an ambassador, I would like
to differ from them," Kirron said at the Dadasaheb Phalke
Excellence Awards event here.
"No need to think that only a sportsman can represent
the country. Any eminent personality who inspires us can
be a brand ambassador. I welcome the decision.
The Kick star was recently unveiled as the goodwill
ambassador of the Indian contingent for the Rio Olympics
to be held later this year.
The move was questioned by several members of the
Indian sports fraternity with 2012 London Olympics
wrestling bronze medallist Yogeshwar Dutt making his dis
pleasure public with a series of tweets barely an hour after
the decision was announced. Kirron also said: I would
request the sports fraternity to be more magnanimous. Be
ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD
a goodhearted person and give Salman his due respect.

We actors are also hard workers and give our best.
Barjatya, who has delivered numerous hits like "Prem
Ratan Dhan Payo" with Salman, was also present at the
event. He said: Its a matter of great happiness because
there is no one more just and appreciative like him. He has
always been a sports lover, he plays good cricket, football
and is a good cyclist. I know him closely so, Im very happy
for him.
Budding actor Sooraj Pancholi, who was
launched by Salman in the industry, was also
present and said: I think thats a good deci
sion, because he is a very known face. He
is doing a film on wrestling Sultan, so
maybe because of that (he was select
ed).
When filmmaker Karan Johar was
asked about the controversy at the
wrapup party of his production "Baar
Baar Dekho", he said: I love Salman
Khan. Whatever he does, he is the
best for it.
Fortunate to work
with Rajini: Rocky S
fter getting an
the wedding preparations,
impressive clien
Rocky said, No, instead I
tele, ranging from
have always loved her
Hollywood's Lady Gaga
creative ideas.
and Paris Hilton to
Rocky showcased
Bollywood's Bipasha
his collection at
Basu and Akshay Kumar,
Blenders Pride
Rocky S has now styled
Magical Tour
for Rajinikanth for his
at Dehradun
film "Robot 2". The fash
with
ion designer says it has
Waluscha
apil Sharma made his comeback in his witty trademark
been a "great and fortu
De Sousa,
manner via "The Kapil Sharma Show", and the new TV show
nate experience" for him
who made
Indian designer
not only regaled the small screen audience but also got a
to style the southern
her
Rocky S.
rousing response in the virtual world.
superstar.
Bollywood
Kapil had to abruptly leave a successfully running show "Comedy
He has styled Rajinikanth and Akshay
debut opposite Shah
Nights With Kapil" on Colors due to a fallout with the channel. But he
in "Robot 2", which is directed by S.
Rukh Khan in "Fan", as
walked back on the small screen with his gang Sunil Grover, Ali
Shankar. The stylist said that despite
showstopper. The line,
Asgar, Kiku Sharda, Sumona Chakravarti and Chandan Prabhakar
their star status, the actors don't have
which had a blend of aes
over the weekend. The show, which is aired on Sony Entertainment
any starry tantrums.
thetic silhouettes and
Television, got over 1,00,000 tweets from fans across the globe
"The overall styling and designing of
sensual cuts, was
and got over 10 million impressions.
the film comprises of contrast styles. It
splashed with hues of
One of the users wrote: "Kapil Sharma, amazing episode of
was a surreal experience, not everyone is
maroons, greys and blacks.
'The Kapil Sharma Show'. I couldn't stop laughing! We missed
fortunate enough to meet a legend like
Talking about the impor
you and your cast a lot! You made my day", while another
him and it was a great experience to
tance for a designer to be
shared, "Kapil Sharma, great come back brother. I was
design for Akshay Kumar too. No, they
active in several fashion weeks
freaking fed up without your show... Now we have
dont have any (starry tantrums), Rocky
happening in India, he said: The
our oxygen back and breathe better by laugh
told IANS in an email interview.
fashion shows helps to put the
ing". Humbled by this outpouring of love
His good friend Bipasha will tie the
creativity at the forefront by pro
for him, Kapil thanked his followers
knot with Karan Singh Grover on
moting the brand at various levels and
on Twitter.
Saturday, and the designer says he plans also helps in creating awareness and
Comedian Kapil
to spend the day happily with everyone.
image".
Sharma.
(Photos: IANS)
Asked about adding his creative touch to
Kapil
Sharma's
TV show wins
over Twitterati
Salman Khan
is goodwill
ambassador of
the Indian
contingent for
the Rio
Olympics.
ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD
April 30- May 6, 2016
27
Bollywood hasn't done any favors with biopic: Milkha
Hrithik Roshan.
Hrithik's lawyers issue

fresh statement in spat
with Kangana
Mumbai: In a fresh salvo in the HrithikKangana spat,
the former's counsel asserted that the truth shall be out
once the latter gives to the investigating agency her
electronic devices for forensic examination on April 30
and gets her statement recorded in accordance with law.
Hrithik Roshan has submitted the emails, sent by
Kangana to him, to the Cyber Crime Investigation Cell
following which Kangana's lawyer said that no mails
received from Kangana's email address at least after
May 25, 2014 should be treated as authentic.
Hrithik's lawyers, who have released a counter state
ment on Kangana's advocate Rizwan Siddiquee's state
ment, said: "It is quite obvious that his client has with
held the truth from him, and he has not been privy to
the evidences until now. Come April 30, the investigat
ing agency, entrusted with investigating Mr. Roshan's
complaint shall know the truth, once Ms. Ranaut sub
mits her electronic devices for forensic examination and
gets her statement recorded in accordance with the
law." Kangana's lawyer's statement reads: "A lot can be
understood and can be well established from the three
emails exchanged between my client's sister and Mr.
Hrithik Roshan on the 25th of May, 2014. These emails
were sent by my client's sister to Mr. Hrithik Roshan on
his correct email address and which have now been
brought on record by Mr. Hrithik Roshan himself,
before the media."
Issues between the two surfaced when Kangana hint
ed at Hrithik being her 'ex' when she said in an inter
view that she fails to understand "why exes do silly
things to get your attention"
New Delhi: Indian athletics legend

Milkha Singh hit back at Bollywood
superstar Salman Khan's father
Salim Khan by say ing that the
movie industry hasn't done any
favor by making a film on him.
Salim has tried to defend his son's
appointment as the goodwill ambas
sador of the Indian contingent for
the Rio Olympic Games.
The move to appoint Salman was
questioned by several members of
the Indian sports fraternity, includ
ing Milkha and 2012 London
Olympics wrestling bronze medal
list Yogeshwar Dutt. In his bid to
defend his son, Salim tweeted on
Monday : "Milkhaji it is not
Bollywood it is the Indian Film
Industry and that too the largest in
the world. The same industry which
resurrected you from fading away
in oblivion."
Salim referred to the soaring pop
ularity the 80yearold Milkha
achieved after the re lease of a
biopic on him named "Bhaag Milkha
Bhaag". In reply to this, Milkha
Athletics legend Milkha Singh.

repeated the comments he had
made two days ago. "Let him (Salim)
have his views. I don't have any
thing to say regarding this. I have
already put in my views. All the
members of the Olympic contingent
are our ambassadors," the multiple
Asian champion was quoted as say
ing by Times Now news channel.
"The IOA should have thought of
what's the need of the ambassador.

I'm saying that the team who all are
going whether it is shoot ing,
wrestling, boxing or athletics, they
all are our ambassadors. Out of 120
crore people in India, they have
been our ambassador then what is
the need of any other ambassador?
"It doesn't make sense to appoint
someone in this role. If an ambassa
dor is required, we have many great
sportspersons,
like
Sachin
Tendulkar, P.T. Usha, Ajitpal Singh,
Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore," he
added.
Milkha, who finished fourth in the
400 metres sprint at the 1960
Olympics, continued: "It's okay they
have made a film on me. I don't
think that the movie industry has
made a favour to me by making a
film on my life.
"If they have any function, will
they put any sportsmen as their
chairman or ambassador? I gave my
story for Re.1 and it is not a little
thing. The movie made crores, he
said.
'Nil Battey Sanatta': Swara Bhaskar shines

waras spontaneous unrehearsed
seemingly uncomplicated inter
pretations of the most layered
emotions is not only exemplary, it is a
onewoman acting school on how not
to like you are well, acting.
There are many sequences in the
very oddly titled "Nil Battey Sanatta"
where Swara sweeps you into her
characters innermost world of
melancholy and despair without mak
ing you drown in maudlinism.
Playing a domestic help Chanda
who dreams of making her stubborn
spoilt daughter Apeksha (confident
newcomer Riya Shukla) into some
thing bigger than destiny decrees for
the poor, Swara delivers a virtuoso
performance. She gets the minutest of
Chandas feeling on screen without
screaming for attention.
Of course it helps that Swara has
stunning support from her costars.
Chandas rapport with her thorough
ly unlikable daughter, and more spe
cially the easygoing kinship she
shares with her employee (Ratna
Pathak Shah) are signs of maturity
and wisdom way beyond the films
placardflashing theme on female lit
eracy.
Yes, there is a message. And a very

basic one at that. Girls need to get
educated. Period.
"Nil Battey Sanatta" occupies a
world of halffinished dreams and
smothered aspirations with a spirit of
positivity that is the opposite of
despair. Apart from a few false notes
(for example the sequence when the
daughter pipes in during class to
eulogize over her mothers strug
gles, or that utterly unconvincing
sequence where Chanda visits the
excessively kind collector of the
district, played with a sweet sin
cerity by Sanjay Suri, the debu
tante director strikes no false
notes, covers no ground that the
plot neednt cover.
Ratna Pathak Shah and Pankaj
Tripathy (the latter as the
extreme ly benign school
principal) remind us what
capable actors can do to a
worthy film. Riya Shukla as
the stubborn daughter
slips into an unlike
able part. Its the
kind of sullen sulky
daughters role
that Swara
had played with conviction just two

years ago in "Listen... Amaya".
This morally uplifting inspirational
heartwarming fable is a must watch,
if only to see how difficult it is to be
simple. And how much we miss those
simply told tales of life by Hrishikesh
Mukherjee and Basu Chatterjee.
(Photos: IANS)
Actor Swara
Bhaskar.
28
HUMOR
Funny Side by Nury Vittachi
I'M OUTING MYSELF:

I identify as a potato
BEST
RATE
FOR
INDIA
AND
PAKISTAN
ts 2055. Phones are painted onto our

palms. Being transgender is compulsory,
except for Popes, who have to be female.
All countries have combined into one big
nation, North Zuckerberg.
No, wait. Maybe life wont be that weird in
2055. It will be that strange much sooner, like
maybe in the next week or so.
***
The day I realized exactly how bizarre life
was becoming started normally enough, when
a reader sent me a heartwarming news report
about a dog who accidentally won a race.
Ludivine, a twoyearold pet, stepped out of
her home and saw humans starting to run.
She joined them and ran the entire 21 kilome
ter trail, coming seventh. Of ficials chose to
New York Head Quarter

422S Broadway
HICKSVILLE
NY 11801
5168271010
Laughter is the Best Medicine
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.
formally identify her as a human so she

could receive a medal.
***
This impressed me, as I need a lengthy peri
od of psyching myself up just to move from
sofa to fridge.
I once watched a 40minute documentary
on Latvian railways because the remote was
on the next armchair.
***
That email was immediately followed by
one with a link to a news report about Hobo,
a UK goat who thinks he is a dog. Pet goats
are illegal where Hobo lives, but the authori
ties agreed to issue a special permit since he
identifies as a dog.
***
I mentioned these news items at lunch with
a group of journalists and found that they
were rather angrily struggling with the whole
identifies as issue.
One worked for a major news corporation
which had issued an edict that if a person
born male identified as a woman, reporters
had to use the pronoun she, and vice versa
for people born as women.
This seemed fine to her until she had to
subedit reports about a natural blond who
identified as a black American and an over
sized adult male who identified as a little girl.
***
A feature writer who defies the laws of
physics by being lazier and more sluggish
than I am said that he identified as Brad Pitt
and all women should henceforth be legally
forced to respond accordingly.
T he women present enthusiastically
acclaimed his proclamation with a synchro
nized vomit gestures.
***
T he next day I heard from friends in
Bangkok that Thai Airways has said it now
recognizes luk thep (fashionable lifesized
child dolls) as humans and sells them air tick
ets.
Some restaurants already accept seatbook
ings for luk thep, although I foresee disputes
regarding buffet charges.
DINER: The doll didnt eat anything.
WAITER: Thats what they all say.
***
ASTROLOGY
29
Chandigarh, India: +91-172- 256 2832, 257 2874

Delhi, India: +91-11- 2644 9898, 2648 9899
psharma@premastrologer.com; www.premastrologer.com
By Dr Prem Kumar Sharma
APRIL 30MAY 6, 2016

ARIES: Business partners would be
enthusiastic about new plans & ventures.
Relatives will be willing to lend a helping
hand at the time of need. Successful execution
of brilliant ideas would help in earning finan
cial profits. Romance touches new heights, as
partner positively responds. Charity work
undertaken will bring mental peace & comfort.
Time for a vacat ion, sit back and re lax.
Discussing property matters with parents can
help for better innovations. Teamingup with a
set of ambitious people would augur well for
future.
TAURUS : Female colleagues would help
in completing pending work. New rela
tionship at family front will be long last
ing & highly beneficial. A very successful week
as far as monetary position is concerned. You
are likely to find someone with whom you will
enjoy the ecstasies of love. Meditation and self
realization prove beneficial. If you are thinking
of escaping from the hectic daily routine plan
a trip. Planning a property might explore new
horizons for you and your family. You are like
ly to bring out something good out of a prob
lematic situation.
GEMINI: A promising week for ambi
tious professionals to demonstrate tech
nical skills & abilities. Guests visit
would make it a pleasant & wonderful week.
Indications of earning financial profits through
commissions, dividends or royalties. Love
comes your way as friendship turns into
romance. You will have ample time to do things
to improve your health. Your travel experience
is going to be an extent of sharing your knowl
edge and communication. Your friends and
family will be of great support if you are trying
for an office. Efforts to interact with strangers
will see light of the week.
CANCER: Polit icians find a very

smooth sailing as results go in your
favour, thus immensely boosting con
fidence. You will be in the mood to celebrate
with family and friends this week. Important
people will be ready to finance anything that
has a special class to it. You are likely find com
fort in the arms of romantic partner. Sound
physical health will enable to participate in
outdoor activities. Its time for a vacation after
a long and hard year at work. Its time to make
some property investments for your kids.
Success in motivating others teaches the
importance of being enthusiastic.
LEO: People engaged in tourism will
have the energy to keep pace with fast
taking events thus giving themselves an
edge over others. Good advice from family
members brings gains. Property dealings
would materialize helping in bringing fabulous
gains. Love and romantic encounter will this
week keep you in a cheerful state. You will be
successful in getting rid from tensions. Time to
relax and unwind for few weeks. Purchasing
official accessories can lead to improve growth
of your of fice. You involve yourself in some
thing interest to divert fixation from personal
problems.
VIRGO: Betterment awaits people
engaged in the field of graphic design
ing. The company of family friends will
keep you in a happy & relaxed mood. You are
likely to earn monetary gains through various
sources. Sudden romantic encounter is fore
seen this week. A sparkling laughter filled
week when most things proceed, as you desire.
Weekend getaway to enjoy pubs and clubs is
on your way. Inheriting property from your rel
atives seems to be ahead. Tireless ef forts
would bring a marked difference in life.
LIBRA: Se lfconfidence would

immensely help in achieving good
results at professional front. Parental
guidance in your decision would immensely
help. Increase in income from past investment
is foreseen. A promising week for romance
when your innovation infuses a new spirit in it.
Your enormous confidence would help in
enjoying a healthy life. A short trip with lavish
ing experiences is the right thing for you. Your
income can be doubled by renting your house
or a part of your house. Sincere efforts would
prove beneficial in whatever you do.
SCORPIO: The efforts of people aspir
ing to join interior designing course are
likely to be handsomely rewarded. A
week when misunderstandings at family front
are sorted out with ease.
Monetary gains from unplanned sources will
brighten your week. Partner brings immense
romantic pleasure even if work pressure occu
pies your mind A very healthy week filled with
happiness & vitality. Pack your bags and be
ready for an amazing holiday. It would be ben
eficial if you plan to buy a small property. You
make changes in yourself rather than expect
ing others to do so.
SAGITTARIUS: Leadership qualities
and ability to understand people would
benefit at work. Believe it or not some
one in the family is watching you closely and
considers you a role model. New moneymaking
opportunities will be lucrative. Romance rules
heart & mind this week. Pleasure trip would
help in maintaining sound health this week.
Just take a walk in the countryside and experi
ence new things. Real estate is one thing on
which you can rely on to invest. Friends timely
help would save from the conspiracy hatched
by enemies.
CAPRICORN: At work you will be per

fect in whatever you do this week. An
important development at personal
front brings jubilation for entire family. You
get some financial rewards as dedication &
hard work gets noticed. Romantic imagina
tion occupies mind forcing to go out of the
way to please partner. Yoga and meditation
would help in keeping in shape and mentally
agile.
Time to go for a memorable trip. Investment
on construction business would flourish your
income. A close friend will lend a helping
hand in legal battle.
AQUARIUS: Support and apprecia
tion from seniors would raise your
morale and confidence. A happy time
in the company of friends and relatives as
they do many favours to you.
Monetary gains are likely to be from more
than one source. Cupids arrows would make
your heart flutter high. Blessings of a saintly
person give peace of mind. Time to spend
money on not a vacation but a luxury vaca
tion. Dealings for older properties can be in
process. People feel the fragrance of your
personality.
PISCES: A very good week to apply
for overseas job. Enjoying the compa
ny of close relatives will brighten your
evening.
A new financial deal gets finalized paving the
way for fresh money. You are likely to enjoy
a pleasure trip that will rejuvenate your pas
sions. Chances of recovering from physical
ailment are high. If adventure is your style of
holidaying, then plan it and move around.
Your possession for acquiring a plot might be
achieved. Testing times bringinforth hidden
talent.
ANNUAL PREDICTIONS: FOR THOSE BORN IN THIS WEEK

30th April, 2016
Ruled planet: Jupiter Ruled by no: 3
Traits in you: Ambition, dignity, intelligence, confidence
are your inborn qualities as you are under the influence
of the powerful planet Jupiter. You like being philosophi
cal and organized. You can impress anyone on the earth
with your intellectual behavior and talks. However, you
need not behave weird to impress others. It may be
proved to be a negative aspect in your nature.
Health this year: You may suffer with problems in your
eyes and mouth. So you need to get your periodic med
ical checkup done on time and take prescribed medicines
without negligence.
Finance this year: The rewards will also open the door
for you to earn much more than you are earning current
ly. You may win a foreign contract or government con
tract this year. It will enhance your business and earn a
lot of money and respect for you. You may travel abroad
in the last half of the year for business meetings. You
should research well before investing on anything. You
may concede enough money on renovation and construc
tion activities.
Career this year: This year belongs to you as you will be
appreciated and awarded throughout the year for your
professional achievements.
Romance this year: You will be in a good mood through
out the year as your partner will provide you with lots of
love, care and concern. If you are unmarried, this year
may end bachelorhood or spinsterhood.
Lucky month: May, September and November
1st May, 2016
Ruled planet: Sun Ruled by no: 1
Traits in you: The power and vigor of the Sun, your ruling
planet makes you sovereign, intelligent, honest, imagina
tive and simple. Being a diplomatic speaker, you may
drive people with your powerful speech and make it a
huge asset for yourself. You may gain enough money by
utilizing your power to speak. You are very intelligent
and efficient as well. However, you have to get over your
jealousy to become a better individual.
Health this year: You will enjoy an overall good health
though you may suffer from some minor diseases.
Finance this year: You may plan frequent travels to get
monetary benefits. You should not be carried away with
the promises made by people as they may prove futile. If
you have invested somewhere by assuming gain, you will
be right this time. You may successfully buy some real
estate shares with least investment.
Career this year: The initial time of the year will allow
you gain a lot of things say money, power, recognition,
relationships and so on. However, you need to utilize the

opportunities that come across you. You will be financial
ly benefited and there will be a huge improving in your
work environment to inspire you to work much more
efficiently. You may get promotions this year or may be
switch your job from your existing company to another
with an increased salary package.
Romance this year: You will develop new relationships
with your long time friend, which may finally strengthen
and turn into marriage.
Lucky month: July ,August and September
2nd May, 2016
Ruled planet: Moon Ruled by no: 2
Traits in you: With the influence of your ruling planet
Moon, you are industrious, creative, friendly, and simple.
You are a challenge loving person and try to perform on
the toughest tasks ever. However, your laziness stops you
from achieving your set goals. If you get over your casual
approach towards your commitments, you will rise to be
a winner for each and every opportunity.
Health this year: You may suffer with problems in your
eyes and mouth. So you need to get your periodic med
ical checkup done on time and take prescribed medicines
without negligence.
Finance this year: You may go for investments in various
sectors say stock market or real estate this year. You may
plan to build your new house or renovate the old one
towards the end of the year. You may plan to build your
new house or renovate the old one towards the end of
the year.
Career this year: You may be criticized in your profes
sional surroundings for your innovative plans. Your plans
will be opposed by your seniors and management but
you will be able to convince them the usability and action
of your plan with your ability to speak artistically. You
will be supported by your friends and colleagues and this
will help you enhance your confidence.
Romance this year: You will be in a good mood through
out the year as your partner will provide you with lots of
love, care and concern. If you are unmarried, this year
may end bachelorhood or spinsterhood.
Lucky month: December , January and April
3rd May, 2016
Ruled planet: Jupiter Ruled by no: 3
Traits in you: The influence of the planet Jupiter makes
you realistic, dignified, idealistic, and committed towards
your work. Being highly social, you are pretty much
interested in making new friends and roam different nat
urally attractive places.
Health this year: You may have to celebrate religious

functions very frequently at your place to find peace of
mind.
Finance this year: If you are into business, this year is
supposed to bring you lots of success personally and
financially. You will be able to grow in financial status
with the help of your previous investments and paternal
properties. You may land up in critical problems if you
share your business secrets with your friends, colleagues
and partners. You should not borrow or lend money to
anyone to avoid future discrepancies.
Career this year: You have inborn leadership skills. So
you do not like to follow anyone and you want to always
stay ahead of others in every field. You should work on
your mood swings and stubbornness not to lose any
opportunity to grow in your profession.
Romance this year: You may get influenced by a person
of opposite gender and it may bring drastic changes in
your life.
Lucky month: June , July and August
4th May, 2016
Ruled planet: Uranus Ruled by no: 4
Traits in you: As you are influenced by Uranus, you are
born dynamic, elegant, confident, studious and reliable.
You are ef ficient and determined enough to execute
every task you are assigned. This makes you distin
guished from the others. You are always assigned an
important and crucial position to handle as you are able
to take responsibility and take care of it. However, you
should not show your jealousy over few things to add
value to your personality.
Health this year: Work pressure may show its bad effect
on your health and weaken you. To avoid health issues,
take your food on time and practice physical exercise to
stay fit and healthy. You may visit various pilgrimages to
attain peace of mind.
Finance this year: You have to invest intellectually by com
pletely studying the market conditions else you may face
huge loses. If you are in import/export business of gar
ments, you may expect drastic increase in your profit. If
you are a builder, you will be in huge profit later this year.
Career this year: This year you will be flooded with
opportunities to perform and grow in your professional
career. If you are planning to move abroad for business
purpose, you will get good news as per your expecta
tions. You may plan for foreign trips for professional
requirements
Romance this year: You will be very happy with your
relationship with your spouse or partner as you will get
timely support and advice.
Lucky month: June, July August and September

5th May, 2016
Ruled planet: Mercury Ruled by no: 5
Traits in you: Your ruling planet blesses you to be intelli
gent, rational, dynamic and highly daring. Your foresight
edness is exceptional though you fail to convert your
plans because of your lack in interest, casual behavior
and frequent mood swings.
Health this year: As your parents will remain sick, you
may take stress for their health.
Finance this year: You should not get into new business
or any kind of new partnership as it may prove to be very
disappointing this year. You should go through the con
tracts vividly before signing it as huge money will be
involved with it. You should not get into financial com
mitments before thinking its positives and negatives.
Later this year, you may be able to earn some financial
and personal benefits.
Career this year: You will grow as a profession by acquir
ing knowledge over new technologies. Your skillsets will
enable you to work efficiently, which in return will give
you apromotion or salary hike.
Romance this year: You may get involved in a new
romantic relationship through your friends. If you are
married, you will be enjoying a very good relationship
with your spouse throughout the year.
Lucky month: August , October , December, April
6th May, 2016
Ruled planet: Venus Ruled by no: 6
Traits in you: Venus, being your ruling planet makes you
lively, elegant, attractive, helpful, diplomatic and realistic.
You have a charismatic personality and your confidence
makes you popular in your friend circle. However, you
should work on your nature of being outspoken and rest
less.
Health this year: If you have some chronic disorders, you
need to get your medical checkup done on a regular
basis. You may try meditation and yoga for better results.
Finance this year: Your financial status will be improved
this year followed by your new business plans. You will
be successful in multiplying your investments, which
would result in exceptional profits this time around.
Career this year: You will be able to implement all your
learnings & education in your profession and this will bring
you lots of appreciation, respect and even a promotion.
Romance this year: Towards the end of the year you may
get married. If you are not planning to marry this year,
you may continue with your romantic relationship.
Lucky month: August , September , October, February
30
SPIRITUAL AWARENESS
'Meditation boosts performance,

alleviates pain'
Dr Kunwarjit Singh Duggal has studied meditation under the guidance of Sant Darshan
Singh Ji Maharaj and Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj since childhood. He lectures on the
health benefits of meditation, a vegetarian lifestyle for improved functionality and sports
performance, preventative medicine, therapeutic lifestyle changes and overall wellness.
In an interview he elaborates on importance of meditation
Sant Rajinder Singh
Ji Maharaj
Question: As a doctor, what ben
efit do you see for your patients
from meditation?
Dr. Kunwarjit Singh Duggal: In
my practice, I see many patients
who suf fer from chronic pain
from a wide variety of ailments.
While trying to manage chronic
pain, some of the biggest issues
they have are the emotional and
spiritual voids in their lives.
Meditation is a fantastic way to
address both of these aspects. As
a countless number of medical
studies have proven, meditation
significantly helps ease anxiety
and stress, decrease levels of
depression, combat aggression,
increase ones sense of awareness,
and manage dif ficult situations
that arise in everyday life. By aid
ing in pain coping techniques,
meditation helps decrease and
sometimes completely erase the
emotional aspect that occurs with
pain, especially chronic pain. This
is seen clinically by a significant
reduction in the amount of anal
gesic (pain relieving) medications
patients are taking. According to
recent studies, a majority of
patients wish that their physicians
would ask more about and
address spirituality in their
encounters with patients. Those
who do not have a spiritual sense
of where they fit in the universe
tend also to suffer from a lack of
life control. This, in turn, directly
relates to their ability to manage
their pain. If we are to treat peo
ple holist ically, we as care
providers must ensure that we do
not neglect the spiritual aspect of
ones life and acknowledge how a
void in this field will have detri
mental effect on their health.
Question: Is there any medical

research to prove that meditation
reduces stress?
Dr. Kunwarjit Singh Duggal:
Absolutely! The number of well
designed studies in the field of
meditation has grown exponen
tially over the past few years, and
the evidence is overwhelming. A
study done in the Department of
Surgery at the Mayo Clinic (per
haps Americas most famous and
wellknown hospital) proved that
a short 4week meditation pro
g ram resulted in significant
improvements in stress and anxi
ety, while providing subjects with
a high level of satisfaction in the
program itself.
Another recent study performed
in the Department of Pediatrics at
the University of Texas
Galveston found that an 8week
meditation course significantly
brought improvement in meas
ures of stress, various measures of
health and wellbeing, scales of
spirituality, and pulse rate vari
ability with results lasting at least
one year after the meditation
course had ended.
T his is fascinating evidence
showing the long lasting effects of
meditation on the human body.
An interesting Australian study
done at the Menzies Research
Inst itute at the University of
Tansania looked at the effects of
meditation on medical students, a
populat ion under immense
amount of stress.
In this group, an 8week medita
t ion prog ram significantly
reduced the levels of depression,
stress and anxiety.
These are just a few amongst
the many studies that have
ag ain and ag ain proved the
benefits of meditation on stress
reduction.
Dr Kunwarjit Singh Duggal with Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj

Question: Can you give exam
ples from fields in which medita
tion reduces stress and improves
performance?
This is one of my favorite ques
tions. As an avid basketball fan
growing up in Chicago, USA, I was
always fascinated with the skill
with which Michael Jordan and
the rest of the Chicago Bulls were
blessed with upon the basketball
court. Under the guidance of
coach Phil Jackson, the Chicago
Bulls went on to w in 6 NBA
Championships during the 1990s.
Phil Jackson was, and still is,
known as the Zen Master in the
field of coaching. He made it well
known through the media and his
books Sacred Hoops and Eleven
Rings that he would have his play
ers meditate before games to
enhance their performance. By
having his players visualize them
selves performing at the highest
level, certain changes were noted:
the game slowed down, shots and
passes were made with an unpar
alleled precision, mental clarity
decreased the number of mistakes

and turnovers, and team play
became ef fortless and seamless.
The results were astounding: six
NBA Championships with the
Chicago Bulls and five more with
the Los Angeles Lakers all while
managing some of the biggest
personalities in sports history like
Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen,
Shaquille ONeal, and Kobe
Bryant, amongst others. By
preparing themselves with silent
meditation, these players were
able to keep their cool on one of
the biggest, and most stressful
stages and succeed in achieving
their goals.
Question: How has meditation
helped you in medical school, and
now as a doctor?
The gift of meditation as taught
by the Great Masters of Science of
SpiritualitySawan Kirpal Ruhani
Mission (www.sos.org), and cur
rently by His Holiness Sant
Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj allows
us to ascertain our inner connec
tion with the Divine and experi

ence its grandiosity in all its glory.
Meditation on the Inner Light and
Sound, or Shabd Meditation (with
its introductory practice called
Jyoti Meditation), frees our inner
consciousness from all worldly
distractions, which in turn permits
us to receive the Divine in the
purest form.
Meditation is the forum with
which we can connect with God
and explore the innate spiritual
essence of our beings. As a life
long meditator, I have been able
to see the benefits of this practice
in my own life. Throughout med
ical school, residency training pro
gram, and medical practice I have
been able to see the dif ferences
between my colleagues and I
when put in adverse or stressful
situations. I quickly noted that I
never panicked when in the mid
dle of a Code Blue, which is an
emergency situation in which a
patient is at risk of losing his or
her physical life. My understand
ing of the life cycle and transmi
gration of the soul, with death
being the sweet end to our physi
cal existence, took away the fear
of death.
This, I believe, led me to a state
in which I was able to provide
patients with a more compassion
ate level of care and understand
ing. The level of mental clarity
needed to manage properly these
stressful surroundings has consid
erably grown with and is directly
attributable to my meditative
practice.
Kunwarjit Singh Duggal, M.D.

currently practices at From Pain
To Wellness, LLC in Oakbrook
Terrace, IL, USA.
For more info visit www.sos.org
The Spiritual Master Responds......

A devotee: I have a big problem with
anger. Would you please give some insight
into anger?
Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj: Lord
Buddha cites the root of anger as desire. He
taught people to be desireless. If we ana
lyze the situation we will see how desires
are the cause of anger and violence and
how they deter us from our goal of peace.
Desire forms the root of the vices in the

world. When we have a desire it means that
we want something. We may want a physi
cal possession like a car, a television set, or
a diamond ring. It may be that we want
more money. Some people desire power.
They want to be head of their company, or
they just want to be recognized as the most
powerful person in their circle. Others want
name and fame. They want to be noticed
and recognized by the public. Some want a

certain relationship with another person.
When we do not get what we want, we
are unhappy. We are upset at anyone who
stands in the way of our getting what we
want. If someone is blocking our way or
putting obstacles in the way of achieving
that which we desire, we are upset, irritat
ed, and angry. Someone may not be pur
posely blocking us, but for some reason he
or she does not, or cannot, go along with

our plans. We may become angry at that
person as well. Sometimes, someone has
something we need in order for us to attain
our desires, and they do not want to, or
cannot, give us what we want. Then we
become upset with that person. Whenever
our desires are not easily met, there is an
opportunity for the fire of anger to explode
from us.

Vol-9-Issue-01 April 30 - May 6, 2016

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Vol-9-Issue-01 April 30 - May 6, 2016

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The South Asian Times

Vol.9 No. 1 April 30- May 6, 2016 80 Cents

New York Edition

Modi set to address

The dates and itinerary for the Indian

Trump's first major foreign policy speech has alarmed

Head of Science of Spirituality/Sawan Kirpal Ruhani

Included in this edition is a

Trump outlines America

Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj greeting devotees in the meditation hall

April 30-May 6, 2016

April 30- May 6, 2016

Neera Tanden could make it to Hillary administration

Neera Tanden flanked by Hillary Clinton and John Podesta

group of Indian reporters after

Indra Nooyi, Satya Nadella,

Chemicals company LyondellBasell

person, who you have already

(Narendra) Modi to try to get an

April 30-May 6, 2016

Aishwarya Madan, 2nd Lieutenant of Port Washington FD Emergency Medical Services,

AntiTrump demonstrators storm

After Trump arrived, protesters took down a

Chairman and Co-Founder

Co-Founder: Saroosh Gull

Contributing Editors: Meenakshi Iyer,

President: Arjit Mehta

Modi set to address

Jaipur (India) Bureau

IANS Washington Bureau

Photographs: Gunjesh Desai/

Printing: Five Star Printing, NY

Photo Journalist: Sandeep Girhotra

Chief Operating Officer:

West Coast Correspondent

Art and Design: Vladimir Tomovski

Managing Editor: Parveen Chopra

New Delhi Bureau

Web Editor: B.B.Chopra

Los Angeles: Bollywood actress Priyanka

Hope4Spandana team with invited guests

Priyanka to dine with

Hope4Spandana raises $10000 for autistic kids in India

April 30-May 6, 2016

between Saint Peters hospital for

Actor Priyanka Chopra. (Photo: IANS)

KUMAR BARVE LOSES IN

April 30-May 6, 2016

Sapana Shah (Photo courtesy: tapinto.net)

Ekal to host four concerts

The ticket for any of these concerts can be

Bangladeshi High School

U.S. Rep. Grace Meng congratulating

SCVTHS students win gold at

Catherine Chen (Warren) and

25, at the 52nd annual

Call 311 for more info

April 30- May 6, 2016

SUNITA WILLIAMS, TEAM TO ENSURE

mission and recover from unforeseen

Brown University students protest Street named after Indian

Washington, DC: In a rare incident, a street

Dr Sampat Shivangi (first from left) at the