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Vol.10 No. 7 June 17-23, 2017 80 Cents New York Edition Follow us on TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Race to elect Indias next White House

president heats up
New Delhi: The ruling party and
the opposition parties have got
going on the presidential election
awaits PM
with a BJP committee poised to
meet Congress President Sonia
Gandhi on Friday to try to evolve
a consensus on the nominee.
President Pranab Mukherjee's
Narendra Modi
5year term ends next month.
Among the names doing the
rounds as possible candidates to
occupy Rashtrapati Bhavan from
The new President will assume office and occupy Rashtrapati Bhavan
BJP led NDA are Lok Sabha on July 25, a day after Pranab Mukherjees term ends.
Speaker Sumitra Mahajan,
External Affairs Minister Sushma "first choice" for NDA's presiden PM Narendra Modi wants to com
Swaraj and Uttar Pradesh tial candidate is RSS chief Mohan plete the process of filing of nom
Governor Ram Naik. There is talk Bhagwat. Disgruntled BJP leader ination by the NDA candidate
in the BJP circles that the RSS and Bollywood actor Shatrughan before he leaves for the US tour
could pitch for another veteran Sinha has been batting for LK on June 25.
Murli Manohar Joshi. Advani as President. BJP may Leaders of nine opposition par
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena on announce the NDA presidential ties met earlier this week in the
Wednesday reiterated that its candidate on June 23, because Continued on page 4

CT 2017: India sets up It will be the first meeting between Indian Prime Minister
Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump on June 26.

blockbuster clash with Pak Washington/New Delhi: Indian

Birmingham: India cantered to a
ninewicket win over Bangladesh
Thursday in a lopsided second
semifinal of the ICC Champions
Trophy at the Edgbaston Stadium
here, setting up a clash with arch
rivals Pakistan in the final on
Sunday.
After India defeated Pakistan in
their pool match, the green team
still managed to stay alive and
ended up qualifying for semifinal
and then overcoming England
booked a seat in the finals. But the
batting fire power of Virat Kohli,
Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma
looks invincible. Since India and
Pakistan are not playing bilateral
cricket for political reasons, any
Having thumped Pakistan in a pool match only a few days ago, occasional clash between the two
the Indian team under Virat Kohli is the hot favorite to retain teams becomes the super bowl of
Champions trophy on Sunday.
cricket.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will
meet with President Donald
Trump at the White House on June
26, according to press Secretary
Sean Spicer. The prime minister
and Trump have had a number of
positive phone conversations,
Spicer said in a Tuesday press con
Trump slams obstruction
of justice story
Washington: President Donald
Trump resorted to Twitter to
slam a report that special coun
sel Robert Mueller is investigat
ing him for possible obstruction
of justice. In a series of tweets,
Trump on Thursday said: "They
made up a phony collusion with
the Russians story, found zero
proof, so now they go for
ference. "He looks forward to dis
cussing the ways to strengthen our
ties between the United States and
India and advancing our common
priorities fighting terrorism, pro
moting economic growth and
reforms and expanding security
cooperation in the Indopacific
Continued on page 4
obstruction of justice on the
phony story. Nice," reports Efe
news.
Shortly thereafter, he followed
that up with another tweet, in
which he returned to one of his
main themes regarding the ongo
ing probe: "You are witnessing
the single greatest witch hunt in
Continued on page 4

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TheSouthAsianTimes.info June 17-23, 2017
TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRISTATE COMMUNITY June 17-23, 2017 3

US designates chief BCB Bancorp to acquire

recruiter of ISIS in India
a global terrorist
New Delhi: In a major achievement for India,
the US Department of State on Thursday des
ignated the chief principal recruiter of Islamic
State in India, Mohammad Shafi Armar, who
also goes by his online name of Yousufal
Hindi, as a Specially Designated Global
Terrorist (SDGT).
Armar is responsible for forming several
ISIS affiliated groups in India in the last three
years including Junood al Khalifa e Hind
(JKH), in which more than 50 Indian young
sters were recruited.
Shafi has reportedly become an important
ally of IS chief Abu Bakr alBaghdadi and
deputies in establishing the outfit in India.
The US move not only verifies the identity
and existence of the elusive ISIS India head
but also clears rumors about his death in
Syria. This also indicates that the report of his
proximity with IS chief Abu Bakr alBaghdadi
could well be true.
NIA, during a countrywide crackdown last
year, had arrested around 23 recruits of JKH,
who had owed allegiance to the IS leader Abu
Bakr AlBaghdadi on the directions of Armar.
India had approached US and UN to designate
Shafi Armar as a "global terrorist".
The department of state has said that it had
designated Mohammad Shafi Armar, Oussama
Ahmad Atar and Mohammed Isa Yousif Saqar
Al Binali as Specially Designated Global
Terrorists (SDGTs) under Section 1(b) of
Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, which imposes
sanctions on foreign persons determined to
have committed, or pose a significant risk of
committing, acts of terrorism that threaten
the security of US nationals, or the national
security, foreign policy, or economy of the
United States.
It is suspected that Shafi was in touch with
at least 600700 Indian youngsters on closed
Facebook groups and messaging platforms
like Trillion, Surespot, WhatsApp and Skype
over the past few years.
He even arranged funds through transfers
and hawala transactions for IS recruits here.
He sent some Rs 6 lakh to the module of
Mudabbir Mushtaq Shaikh, whom Shafi made
the 'amir' of IS in India while keeping the larg
er 'head' designation with himself.
He is yet to be traced and is said to be oper
ating from Afghanistan or Syria.
27yearold Shafi, a native of Bhatkal in
Karnataka, had taken over outfit's India fran
chise after his brother Sultan Armar's death in
March 2015 in a US drone strike in Syria.
Indus American Bank
for $20 million
New Jersey: BCB Bancorp Inc.,
the holding company for BCB
Community Bank, announced
Wednesday it has entered into
a merger agreement with IA
Bancorp Inc. pursuant to
which BCB Bancorp will acquire IAB and
its whollyowned subsidiary, Indus
American Bank IIAB).
Under terms of the agreement, IAB will
merge with and operate as a division of
BCB Community Bank.
Indus American Bank, which is head
quartered in Edison, operates fullservice
branches in Edison, Parsippany,
Plainsboro (all in New Jersey) and
Hicksville, NY. The bank specializes in
core business banking products for
small to mediumsized companies, with
an emphasis on real estate lending.
We are extremely excited and pleased
to welcome Indus American (Bank) cus
tomers and employees to BCB. Our part
nership with Indus American is consis
tent with BCB's strategic plan of execut
ing smart growth via expansions and
organic branching.
This transaction will allow the com
bined entities to further develop our
existing markets in Jersey City and
Edison, and will provide further opportu
nities in Parsippany, Plainsboro and
Hicksville, New York, three new, attrac
tive markets for BCB, Mark D. Hogan,
chairman of the board of directors, said
in media reports.
The deal is expected to close in the
fourth quarter of 2017.
"We believe our loyal customers and
shareholders will greatly benefit from
this merger. BCB is a true community
bank with a history of a very strong com
mitment to its customers and the commu
nities it serves. This merger will bring
expanded lending capacity, supplemen
tary retail and business products and
added capital, which should enable our
combined organizations to better serve
our customers, to continue growing in
our marketplaces, and to further enhance
shareholder value, Anil Bansal, chairman
of the board of directors of Indus
American Bank, said. The merger will add
about $235 million to BCB assets.
Following the merger completion, BCB
will have approximately $2 billion in
assets. These figures are both based on
IABs assets as of March 31.

The 2017 South Asian Spelling Bee Chicago & Seattle winners announced
Metuchen, NJ: Continuing its quest
for the best speller in the communi
ty, the 2017 South Asian Spelling
Bee (SouthAsianSpellingBee.com)
traveled to Illinois and Washington
this past weekend with stops in
Chicago and Seattle.
With a huge turnout this year as
well, the Bee attracted some top tal
ent as well as young and new
spellers that competed for the cov
eted prizes and titles.
In the Chicago Regional, Nilla
Rajan (12) of Chillicothe, Ohio was
the regional champ, Snehal
Choudhury (12) of Massillon, Ohio,
was the first runner up, and Jashun
Paluru (12) of West Lafayette,
Indiana, was second runner up. In
Seattle, Cameron Keith (11) from
Longmont, Colorado was named
regional champ, Zoe Keith (9) from
(from left) Chicago and Seattle winners with Rahul Walia, founder of the South Asian Spelling Bee and CEO of
Longmont, Colorado was first run
ner up, and Vithul Ravivarma (13)
of Sammamish, Washington, was
the second runnerup.
The event is open to children of
South Asian descent up to 14 years
of age. It will give South Asian chil
Touchdown Media
dren a chance to test their spelling
skills in their core peer group.
Interested spellers need their par
ent or guardian to register them
online at www.southasianspelling
bee.com. Organized by Touchdown
Media Inc., the South Asian Spelling
Bee is celebrating its 10th anniver
sary this year, with regionals being
held in 8 locations across the
United States. Apart from Chicago
and Seattle, regional centers include
Washington, D.C. Metro, Charlotte,
Boston, New Jersey, the Bay Area,
and Dallas For the past nine years,
the Bee has consistently provided a
firm platform for the community to
come together and hone their craft.
Its become a family activity that
contributes towards the overall
development of the child. We are
proud to enter our Tenth consecu
tive year and look forward to
engaging some of these wonderful
spellers, said Rahul Walia, founder
of the South Asian Spelling Bee and
CEO of Touchdown Media Inc.
Touchdown Media Inc. is a special
ized South Asian advertising and
promotions firm based in New
Jersey. The top two spellers of each
regional competition will advance
to the finals to be held in New
Jersey in August. Champions grand
prize of $3,000 will be awarded to
the winner at the finals.
 4 June 17-23, 2017
President, PM Modi condole
P.N. Bhagwatis demise
New Delhi: Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on Thursday
expressed his grief over the death
of former Chief Justice of India
(CJI) P.N. Bhagwati, who passed
away here on Thursday, following
a brief illness.
Taking to Twitter, Prime
Minister Modi while hailing him as
the stalwart of Indias legal fra
ternity, lauded his achievements
and contribution to the judicial
system.
President Pranab Mukherjee and
External Affairs Minister Sushma
Swaraj also tweeted their condo
lences to Bhagwatis kin.
India top exporter of information,
computer, telecom services
Geneva: The World Intellectual
Property Organisation (WIPO) has
ranked India as the top global
exporter of information, computer
and telecommunications (ICT)
services.
The WIPO's Global Innovation
Index (GII) for 2017 released on
Wednesday, ranked India 60 for
innovation, up from 66 last year.
"We see the rise of India, which
is doing increasingly well along
many metrics," said the report's
coeditor, Soumitra Dutta, who is
the dean of the SC Johnson College
of Business at Cornell University,
New York, at a Geneva news con
ference.
The index, which was prepared
by the WIPO in association with
Cornell University and INSEAD, the
Francebased business school,
said: "India has shown improve
ment in most areas, including in
infrastructure, business sophistica
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Former Chief Justice of India
P.N. Bhagwati
A 96year old recipient of the
Padma Vibhushan, Bhagwati was
the 17th Chief Justice of India.
Born on December 21, 1921 in
tion, knowledge and technology
and creative outputs."
The GII, which covers 130 coun
tries, gave the overall top spot to
Switzerland, followed by Sweden,
Netherlands and the US, while
China claimed the 22nd rank.
India's performance and rank
ings in individual areas that go to
make up the overall standings
paint a picture of stark contrasts.
It has done well in several areas,
ranking 10th in the category of
science and engineering gradu
ates, 14th in the presence of glob
al research and development com
panies, 18th in the export of cre
ative goods, 22nd in market capi
talisation, 23rd in university
industry collaboration, 33rd in
government online services, and
39th in market sophistication. But
its overall ranking was dragged
down by standings in other areas.
It ranked 104th in pupilteacher
Associate Editors:
Hiral Dholakia-Dave
Contributing Editors: Meenakshi Iyer,
Nilima Madan, Melvin Durai,
Dr Prem Kumar Sharma, Ashok Vyas,
Dr Akshat Jain, Ashok Ojha
West Coast Correspondent
Pooja Jain,
Pooja@TheSouthAsianTimes.info
New Delhi Bureau
Meenakshi Iyer
Delhi@TheSouthAsianTimes.info
TURN PAGE
Gujarat, Bhagwati was appointed
as a judge of the Supreme Court in
1973, and also served a brief stint
as the Governor of Gujarat.
Bhagwati reached the peak of his
career in 1985, when he assumed
the office of the Chief Justice of
India, from July 12 that year till
his retirement in December 20,
1986.
Hailed as the pioneer of judicial
activism, Bhagwati, during his
tenure as a Supreme Court judge,
introduced the concepts of public
interest litigation (PIL) and
absolute liability to the Indian judi
cial system.
ratio in secondary schools, 106th
in ICT access, 108th in environ
ment performance, and more
importantly only 114th in ease of
doing business and 118th in ease
of paying taxes. But Chandrajit
Banerjee, Director General of the
Confederation of Indian Industry
(CII), which is a knowledge partner
for the project, saw changes com
ing.
"Public policy plays a pivotal
role in creating an enabling envi
ronment conducive to innovation,"
he said in a statement.
"In the last two years, we have
seen important activities around
the GII in India like the formation
of India's highlevel Task Force on
Innovation and consultative exer
cises on both innovation policy
and better innovation metrics."
Dutta also said that India is
working very actively to close the
innovation gap.
Jaipur (India) Bureau
Prakash Bhandari
Prakash@TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Photographs: Gunjesh Desai/
masalajunction.com.
Xitij Joshi/xitijphoto.com
Photo Journalist: Sandeep Girhotra
Cartoonist: Mahendra Shah
Art and Design: Dhiraj Kumar Showaan
Vladimir Tomovski
Bhagwati Creations,
Web Editor: Bharat Bhushan Chopra
News Service: HT Media Ltd.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
White House awaits anonymous sources, had report
PM Modi
Continued from page 1
ed some hours earlier that
Mueller, who is probing Russia's
election interference and the pos
region," Spicer said. The visit will
mark Modis first to Washington
under the Trump administration.
sible links between Moscow and
Trump's campaign, had added a
key element to that probe, name
The meeting comes amid scruti
ly that the President would now
ny from the administration of the
be under investigation for
H1B visa program and the presi
obstruction of justice.
dent's decision to pull out of the
If the report is true and if it is
Paris Climate Accords last week,
confirmed that Trump obstructed
where he called out India and
justice by trying to get former
China for being some of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation
world's biggest polluters.
(FBI) Director James Comey, and
The two leaders will look to
perhaps others, to end the Russia
outline a common vision for the
probe, that could lead to the
partnership thats worthy of
President's impeachment by
Indias over one billion citizens,
Congress, something that many
Spicer said.
Democratic lawmakers say they
The Indian Embassy confirms
would pursue if circumstances
on its website that PM Modi is
warrant.
visiting Washington DC on June
Meanwhile, the White House
2526 at the invitation of the
said on Thursday that it would
President of the United States of
have no comment about the reve
America. It goes on to says that
the discussions between the two
leaders on June 26 will provide
lation, with deputy Press
Secretary Sarah Sanders simply
referring all questions to the
a new direction for deeper bilat
eral engagement on issues of
President's personal lawyer,
Marc Kasowitz.
mutual interest and consolidation
Kasowitz said on Wednesday
of multidimensional strategic
that leaking FBI information
partnership between India and
about the president was "outra
the US.
geous, inexcusable and illegal",
On June 25, Sunday, a commu
although he did not question the
nity reception with the prime
content of the article.
minister has also been planned in
Washington.
Race to elect Indias
Trump slams next president heats up
Continued from page 1
obstruction of justice
chamber of the Leader of the
story
Opposition in Rajya Sabha
Continued from page 1
Ghulam Nabi Azad, who told
American political history led
reporters later that no names
by some very bad and conflicted
were discussed.
people."
Nomination papers have to be
The tweets were clear signs of
filed by June 28. Voting will take
the president's frustration and
place on July 17 at places fixed
anger over the revelation, pub
under the rules. The vote count
lished on Wednesday evening in
will be on July 20, four days
The Washington Post, about the
before incumbent Pranab
investigation by Mueller, who is
Mukherjee's term ends on July
heading an independent probe
24. The new President is set to
into alleged Russian interference
assume office on the following
in the 2016 election.
day
The Washington Post, citing
IANS Newswire Services
IANS Washington Bureau
Arun Kumar
arun.kumar@ians,in
Printing: Five Star Printing, NY
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TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Dr. Neeru Chadha elected first Indian woman Judge to ITLOS
New York: Dr. Neeru Chadha has
become the first Indian woman to
be elected as a Judge to the
International Tribunal for the Law
of the Sea (ITLOS), for the nine
year term 20172026, elections
for which were held June 14th at
the United Nations. She is only the
second ever woman Judge of
ITLOS in its two decades of exis
tence, where there have been a
total of 40 Judges.
The Hamburgbased 21mem
ber ITLOS (itlos.org), established
in 1996, is one of dispute settle
ment mechanisms under the UN
Convention on the Law of the Sea
(UNCLOS) that entered into force
in 1994.
Dr. Chadha was the only candi
date from four candidates for the
two seats in the Asia Pacific Group
(APG) to be elected in the first
There's evidence to open case
against Trump: Bharara
New York: IndianAmerican prose
cutor Preet Bharara who was fired
by Donald Trump's administration
in March, has said that said there
were "absolute evidence" to begin a
case for obstruction of justice
against the President, the media
reported.
The former US attorney for the
Southern District of New York made
the remarks in an ABC news inter
view on Sunday night when asked
whether he believed that there was
enough evidence for a case claiming
that Trump tried to obstruct the
Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI) probe into former national
security adviser, Michael Flynn's
ties with Russian officials.
"There is absolutely evidence to
begin a case for obstruction of jus
tice by Trump," Bharara said in his
first television interview since being
fired by Trump in March.
"No one knows right now whether
there is a provable case of obstruc
tion... there's no basis to say there's
no obstruction."
Bharara was in office until March
when he and 45 other US attorneys
remaining as holdovers from the
former President Barack Obama's
administration were asked to step
down. Bharara, a friend and former
colleague of James Comey the FBI
director fired by Trump in May
TRISTATE COMMUNITY
Dr Neeru Chada is only the second ever woman judge of International
Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (Image courtesy: barandbench.com)
round of voting itself. She also
secured the highest ever votes
obtained by an Indian candidate
Preet Bharara at former FBI director James Comeys Senate Intelligence
Committee hearing on June 8
attended the Senate Intelligence
Committee hearing on June 8 when
Comey testified about conversations
he had with the President about the
agency's overall Russia investiga
tion and its probe into Flynn.
Bharara said in the ABC News
interview that watching how
Comey's interactions with Trump
and how his firing played out "felt a
little bit like dj vu."
The IndianAmerican said Trump,
when he was still the president
elect, made a series of "unusual
phone calls" to him.
"In reporting the phone call to the
chief of staff to the attorney general
I said, it appeared to be that he was
trying to cultivate some kind of
relationship," Bharara said.
to the ITLOS. Elections for a total
of seven seats were being held.
The candidate from Thailand won
"It's a very weird and peculiar
thing for a oneonone conversation
without the attorney general, with
out warning between the president
and me or any United States attor
ney who has been asked to investi
gate various things and is in a posi
tion hypothetically to investigate
business interests and associates of
the President."
After Trump took office, Bharara
refused to take one of Trump's calls.
"The call came in. I got a message.
We deliberated over it, thought it
was inappropriate to return the call.
And 22 hours later I was asked to
resign along with 45 other people,"
Bharara said.
"To this day I have no idea why I
was fired," Bharara added.
the other APG seat in the second
round.
Dr. Neeru Chadha is a distin
guished lawyer and one of the
leading experts on different
aspects of international law in
India. Dr. Chadha has the distinc
tion of serving as the first woman
Chief Legal Adviser to the
Government of India. She has
advised the Government on
diverse issues relating to the law
of sea involving interpretation of
various provisions of UNCLOS.
These range from determining the
extent of coastal states jurisdic
tion in different maritime zones,
maritime delimitation with neigh
boring states, legal issues relating
to submissions on extended conti
nental shelf, baselines, applica
tions for exploration of minerals
in the seabed and piracy.
Bangladeshi diplomat in US
charged with trafficking
New York: A high
ranking Bangladeshi
diplomat based in
New York, accused
of forcing his ser
vant to work for up
to 18 hours a day
without pay, was
charged on Monday
with labor traffick
ing and assault, CNN
reported.
Shahedul Islam,
Bangladesh's Deputy
Consul General in
Shehedul Islam, Bangladesh's Deputy Consul
New York, faces up
General in NY faces up to 15 years in prison if
to 15 years in
convicted (Image courtesy: nydailynews.com)
prison if convicted.
For his bail, which
was set at $50,000 bond or
$25,000 cash, Bangladesh's
Consul General in New York
Shameem Ahsan, other colleagues
and relatives arranged a $50,000
bond. But it will take a day for him
to be released, bdnews24 report
ed. Shahedul, 45, brought another
Bangladeshi, Mohammed Amin, to
the United States between 2012
and 2013 to work for his family in
Queens as a household helper, an
arrangement common among
South Asian diplomats.
"Soon after Mr Amin's arrival,
the defendant allegedly took his
passport and required the man to
work 18 hours a day... Even
June 17-23, 2017 5
Dr. Chadha has extensive inter
national arbitration and litigation
experience, having served as
Agent for the Government of India
in its maritime delimitation case
with Bangladesh and the case con
cerning the Enrica Lexie Incident
both Annex VII arbitrations under
UNCLOS. She has served as Agent
before the International Court of
Justice in the case concerning the
Obligations concerning
Negotiations relating to Cessation
of Nuclear Arms Race and Nuclear
Disarmament with Marshall
Islands.
She has also represented India
in numerous bilateral negotia
tions on issues relating to mar
itime delimitation, transboundary
Rivers, international trade &
investment protection, defence
cooperation and disarmament.
though Mr Amin had a contract
which outlines his compensation,
it is alleged he was never paid for
his work," Queens District
Attorney Richard Brown said in a
statement.
"If the victim disobeyed the
defendant's orders, Mr Amin was
allegedly physically assaulted by
the defendant, who either struck
him with his hand or sometimes
with a wooden shoe," it said.
The Queens grand jury hit
Shahedul with a 33count indict
ment on Monday that includes
labor trafficking, assault and other
charges. He was arraigned later
Monday. His next court date is
June 28.
 6 June 17-23, 2017 TRISTATE COMMUNITY TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Sikh man called 'Osama' by 3 teens in alleged racist incident

New York City: A SikhAmerican
postdoctoral fellow at New York
University was called "Osama" by
a teenager, in a fresh incident of
racism towards members of the
Sikh community. Simran Jeet
Singh, a postdoctoral fellow at
NYU's Center for Religion and Me
dia and a senior religion fellow for
advocacy group Sikh Coalition, re
called the encounter in an essay
on NBC News. Singh also writes
about how he did not remain
silent at being called racial slurs
and confronted the young black
man.
Singh said he was running along
the Hudson River in the city on
Thursday, heading from his office
at NYU to his home.
Even though he had headphones
in his ears, he could still hear
someone shouting at him, "Osama!
Osama!" along with another inap
"It hurts when people say
racist stuff towards me. It
hurts when people see
me and assume I'm the
enemy. And it hurts even
more because you know
exactly how it feels"
- Simran Jeet Singh
told the teens
propriate expletive. ent racial slur as she walked by
When he turned to see who was him. Singh had not responded to
yelling, he saw a group of three that woman but later regretted
young teenagers. not confronting her.
Singh said he had first decided He said, "I told myself I would
to continue on his way but he be better prepared next time. I
soon recalled another incident consulted with my friends, asking
from the past week, when an old how I could have responded effec
er woman had called him a differ tively and constructively."
"I took their advice to heart, not
realizing that I would find myself
in a similar situation just a week
later," he said in the essay.
Singh said he stopped his run
and turned around and after de
ciding it was relatively safe, he
slowly approached the teenager
who had shouted at him.
The young black man avoided
eye contact as Singh walked up to
him. As Singh approached him,
the teenager said he was joking
and apologized. However, Singh
said it is not as easy as giving an
apology.
"It hurts," Singh told the young
man. "It hurts when people say
racist stuff towards me. It hurts
when people see me and assume
I'm the enemy. And it hurts even
more because you know exactly
how it feels," Singh added.
"You know how messed up that
is?" Singh said in the essay that he
told the young man that "people
in this country used to say hateful
stuff to your grandparents.
The young man again apolo
gized, Singh said adding that he
shook his hand and asked him to
be more thoughtful.
Singh said in his essay that he
was sharing his story "because I
consider it a small victory and we
all need some wins against big
otry, especially in this political cli
mate. "It means a lot to walk away
from that exchange feeling a
sense of solidarity, especially
knowing how deeply rooted anti
black racism is among Asian
American communities," he said.
"It also gives me heart to realize
that we can make positive change
if we're willing to engage with one
another on a human level," he
said.

Chicago Telugu meet to 5day JAINA Convention

draw many luminaries
Special to
The South Asian Times
New York: A galaxy of lm
stars, politicians and other
prominent people are sched
uled to participate in a 3day
Telugu convention starting
June 30 in Chicago with an
awards gala with an expected
7,000 participants, mostly from
across the US and India.
Governors Bruce Rauner
(Illinois) and Scott Walker
(Wisconsin) as well as Indian
American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi
Telugu Association is the local
cohost of the event. The Windy
City and its suburbs are home to
some 250,000 Telugus. Among
lm personages to be present
are Jagapathi Babu, Sai Kumar,
Nikhil Siddharth, Raj Tarun,
Rakul Preet Singh, Pragya
Jaiswal and Nandini Rai.
NATS is taking utmost care to
Mohan Krishna cater to all tastes and regions of
Mannava, president of the Telugu land with regard to
NATS which is hosting food. Spiritual, cultural, literary
the convention.
and business sessions will be held
at the convention.
NATS was established in 2008 and it
to be held in Edison
New York: JAINA Convention will be held
from June 30 to July 4th at New Jersey
Convention & Exposition Center, Edison
with numerous interactive sessions and
events for all age groups.
A strong panel of speakers will discuss
on topic Jain Education a path to take
Jain Religion from a footnote tradition to a
mainstream tradition. The evenings of
Convention will have its share of entertain
ment, knowledge and fellowship. The five
day extravaganza will also have a number
of programs lined up by the Kids Club,
Princeton University
Youth Activity (YA), Jain Milan & Young
Jain Professionals. Register for those ses
sions if you do fall under their age group.
To register visit
http://convention.jaina.org
Bus transportations will be provided
from Newark Airport (EWR) on Thursday,
June 29th 2017 from 9 am to 6 pm, Friday,
June 30th from 9 am to 6 pm, and from all
convention hotels on July 4th from 8 am to
1 pm. Transportation will be provided
to/from all JAINA recommended hotels and
halls from June 30 to July 4th.

honors Bunker Roy

and former New Jersey lawmaker Upendra
Chivukula will grace the event, said Mohan
Krishna Mannava, president of the organiz
ing North America Telugu Society (NATS).
We have chosen the theme Vasudhaiva
Kutumbakam (the world is one family) and
everybody from anywhere in the world is
welcome to our convention, Mannava said
on the phone to The South Asian Times.
Among the invitees are Andhra Chief
Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, IT and
Panchayat Raj Minister Nara Lokesh, Deputy
Speaker Mandali Buddha Prasad, federal
Civil Aviation Minister Pusapati Ashok
Gajapathi Raju, former federal minister
Purandeswari, Supreme Court Justice Lavu
Nageswara Rao, Professor and Head of the
Hindi Department at Andhra University
Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad. The Chicago
organizes conventions biennially. The previ
ous one was held in Los Angeles. The organi
zation is known for serviceoriented pro
grams, both in India and the US. Its motto is
bhaashe ramyam, seve gamyam (service is
the goal through a melodious language).
According to the NATS president, there are
up to 1.5 million Telugus among the estimat
ed 4 million Indians in the US. Many of them
immigrated in the late 1990s and started
working in the IT industry, where Mannava
is also an employer.
Mannava acknowledged that there have
been a few immigrationrelated issues in
recent months but he asserted that partici
pants in the convention are not facing dif
culty in obtaining visas.
For additional info on the convention,
please log on to sambaralu.org
New Jersey: On June 6th, the
Princeton University hon
oured Bunker Roy founder of
the Barefoot College, Tilonia
Rajasthan with an honorary
degree of Doctor of Law. He is
the first and only student in
the history of the Doon School
and St Stephens College Delhi
University to have received this honor.
The last Indian to have been so recog
nized was Nani Palkivala when he was In
dian Ambassador to the United States in
1978. The citation reads: His activism
and ingenuity have transformed some of
Indias poorest communities, bringing
them not only innovation and
prosperity, but security, em
powerment, selfsufficiency
and hope, University orator,
Sheryl WuDunn, said during
the ceremony. Roy, an Indian
social activist and educator,
founded the Barefoot College
in 1972. Inspired by Gandhi
and galvanized to respond to the 1967
famine in India, Roy moved to the villages
in Rajasthan to help rural villagers. Over
the past 30 years, some 3 million Indians
have developed skills in teaching, medi
cine, engineering, sustainable energy and
crafts through Barefoot College programs.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info NATIONAL COMMUNITY June 17-23, 2017 7

International
Yoga Day Events Practice yoga to relieve
stress, says CG
Special to The South Asian Times

New York: Consul General Riva Ganguly Das

has urged the IndianAmerican community
and others to practice yoga and meditation to
improve their physical as well as mental
health. It is a great stress reliever, she told a
midmorning crowd assembled on the premis
es of Queens Museum facing the Unisphere in
Corona Park on June 10. The event was
described as a prelude to the International
Yoga Day celebrations later this month.
The crowd of about 30 people were mostly
Indians. A few Americans there all wore a
yoga Tshirt on a pleasant day. She appreciat
ed the organizers of their third annual event.
onversation on Yoga for

C
According to a Jain muni, who was present
Health will be held on June
at the event, the ancient yogic discipline bol
21st from 10:30 a.m 12:30
sters positive thinking and helps lead to world
p.m at ECOSOC Chamber, United
peace. Assemblyman David Weprin was repre
Nations Headquarters. The Opening sented by his staffer Harpreet Singh Toor, CG Riva Ganguly Das at the Queens Museum event described as a prelude to the Yoga
Remarks will be by Dr. Nata who said when there is peace all around us,
Day celebrations. (Photo Courtesy: Niti Kapoor.)
Menabde, Executive Director of we all end up doing better. International Academy. Organizations that event at Times Square is scheduled for June
WHO Councilman Peter Vallone, who turned 50 took part in the event included the Sri Sri Ravi 21st. It is an allday event but Consul General
The participants will be Swami the day before, expressed his best wishes for Shankars Art of Living Foundation, Brahma (Mrs.) Riva Ganguly Das and Consulate
Chidanand Saraswatiji from the participants. Several yogic exercises and Kumaris and Urban Yogis. On June 19, two Ofcials will be present from 11:00 AM to 12:
Parmarth Niketan, India; Sadhvi pranayama (breathing) techniques were days before the UNdeclared International 00 PM. Those interested in covering the event
Bhagawati Saraswatiji from demonstrated and the participants enthusias Yoga Day is celebrated all over the world, the are requested to send their names by Friday
Permarth Niketan, India; Keith tically practiced them. Indian consulate is organizing a fourhour pro noon to the NY Consulate. Only those names
Mitchell, former NFL athlete turned Cosponsors included the Indian Business gram at Battery Park, near the Statue of which are received will be allowed to cover the
yogi, USA; Stanton Kawer, CEO, Association and the Nritya Kala Kendra Liberty, beginning at 5pm. In this regard, the event at the Times Square.
Bluechip Marketing Worldwide,
USA; Swami Sivadasananda,
Sivananda Yoga Retreat, Austria;
and Anupam Kher actor and social
activist, India. The event will be
moderated by Dr. Bruce H. Lipton,
Developmental Biologist, USA

Embassy of India, Washington DC
in association with Friends of Yoga
will celebrate Third International
Day of Yoga at Sylvan Theater,
National Mall, Washington DC from
8.30 am to 10:30 am. For details
http://dcyogaday.org/

On June 17th the San Diego com
munity is coming together to cele
brate International Yoga Day at Art
of Living San Diego center.
Distinguished speakers and practi
tioners who embody the fullness of
yoga will provide insights into the
science and meaning of yoga. Panel
of yoga instructors, musicians &
health experts will share how they
use yoga as an approach to wellness
by linking physical, mental, emo
tional, and spiritual dimensions.

Dallas Yoga Fest will be held on
Saturday, June 17th at Renaissance
Hotel, Richardson, TX. Event high
lights: Yoga, Meditation and
Pranayam Sessions; Diabetes Health
Fair and Consultation; Holistic
Health and Healing Workshops;
Marketplace Expo and Exhibit
Booths; Kids Programs; Healthy &
Delicious Food; Keynote Speech by
Swami Mukundananda
 8 June 17-23, 2017
Rishi Shah latest selfmade
billionaire in Chicago
Houston: IndianAmerican Rishi
Shah, who quit college 10 years
back to pursue entrepreneurial
dreams, has become tech's newest
billionaire. And his business part
ner, Shradha Agarwal, is close
behind.
Their windfall came with a $600
million infusion of venture capital
into Outcome Health, the Chicago
health care tech company they
founded in 2006. It's now valued
at $5.6 billion.
Shah grew up in the Chicago sub
urb of Oak Brook, the son of a doc
tor who emigrated from India; his
mother managed his father's med
ical practice. The initial idea for a
company providing content to doc
tor's ofces was inspired, Shah
says in an interview to local media,
by his sister. "My sister has type 1
diabetes," Shah says. "If she gets on
an insulin pump and she is able to
achieve better blood sugar control
and she is checking her blood
sugar more effectively, the device
manufacturer wins, the insulin
4,000 Indian students
seek US visa for
higher education
New Delhi: Around 4,000 Indian stu
dents appeared for interviews on
Thursday to secure the American
visa to pursue higher education in
the US, brushing aside fears of hate
crimes in that country.
The interviews were conducted at
the US Embassy here and the
Consulates in Chennai, Hyderabad,
Kolkata and Mumbai.
In an interview to IANS, a former
Stanford don had said that the vio
lent attacks against Indians and
other ethnic groups in the US were
not indicative of the whole country
and students should not take them
into account while deciding to apply
to US universities.
"There is no denying there has
been sporadic and random violence
against Indians in the US. These inci
dents were tragic and disturbing, but
they are not indicative of the country
as a whole," Martin Walsh had said.
For Karan Raina, who will be
studying for an MS in Quantitative
Finance at Rutgers University, the
NATIONAL COMMUNITY
Rishi Shah, CEO,
Outcome Health
manufacturer wins, the blood glu
cometer wins, the doctor wins, but
the payor wins most of all. And she
wins personally." He attended
Northwestern University as a
transfer student, where he met a
woman named Shradha Agarwal,
now Outcome's president.
Originally working on a campus
magazine, they eventually founded
a company called ContextMedia,
out of Northwestern in 2008, fund
ing it by taking loans that have
over the years reached a combined
steps the US institutes take to ensure
the safety of the students are satis
factory. "They place the same kind of
value on international students that
they place on US students in the edu
cational programme. They take
proper security measures for the for
eign students," Raina told IANS.
As per US ofcial data, there are
some 166,000 Indian students in
that country, second to China. Two
years ago, this number was roughly
about 100,000.
"Today, every sixth international
student in the US is from India and
they are contributing enormously to
every aspect of life at the university
and in the surrounding communi
ties," US Ambassador Charge
d'Affaires MaryKay L. Carlson told
the media.
"We are celebrating Indian stu
dents who are not only taking an
exciting step in their higher educa
tion but are also furthering the
strong peopletopeople ties between
the two countries," she said. (IANS)
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Google hires chip
architect Manu Gulati
from rival Apple
$325 million instead of giving up
equity. Knocking on doctor's ofce
San Francisco: Google has hired
doors around the Chicago area, the
Indianorigin chip architect
two found little appetite for their
Manu Gulati, who was working
idea.
with Apple for the last eight
Some doctors didn't see the
years in a key role, to build its
value in digital education in their
own chips for the upcoming
ofces; others who did wanted to
Pixel phones, media reports
see revenue to feel comfortable
said.
committing to such a edgling
According to a report in Apple TV. With Gulati now part
product. Without signing them,
Variety, Gulati had been spear of its team, Google can have an
however, the entrepreneurs had no
heading Apple's chip develop edge over other companies
revenue with which to placate
ment and has now joined while it comes as a signicant
them. They eked out $1 million in
Google. blow to Cupertinobased Apple.
revenue that rst year. "Then we
Gulati announced his new job "Apple led a total of 15 chip
were off to the races," says Shah,
on his Linkedin prole, stating related patents that credit
doubling most years since. "We
that he now works as Google's Gulati as one of the inventors.
had to build a protable business,
Lead SoC Architect. Some of these lings describe
or at least a breakeven business,
His LinkedIn prole shows fundamental chip architecture,
from scratch," says Shah. "We had
that he has also worked for while others are more specic
no margin of error."
nearly 15 years at chip makers to certain applications," the
Outcome Health is not only the
AMD and Broadcom, giving him report noted.
newest unicorn company, having
a total of 27 years of experi One of Gulati's patents
earned the honor just last week,
ence in the industry. described hardwarebased
but it is also already valued in the
Gulati was instrumental in security for Apple Pay that
top 30 on the list of roughly 200
Apple's efforts to build custom securely stores a user's nger
nonpublic companies worth $1
chips for iPads, iPhones and print on the iPhone.
billion. (PTI)
Adam Purinton indicted for hate
crime in Kansas bar shooting
Washington,DC: The man
accused of shooting Indian engi
neer Srinivas Kuchibhotla and his
colleague Alok Madasani at a bar
in Kansas has been indicted by a
federal grand jury on hate crime
and rearms charges, the media
reported.
The indictment on Friday
accused Adam Purinton, 52, of
Olathe, of shooting and killing
Kuchibhotla in February because
of his "actual and perceived race,
color, religion and national ori
gin", Kansas' local KMBC 9 News
reported.
The indictment also accused
Purinton of attempting to kill Adam Purinton (left) faces maximum penalty of life in prison for murder
Madasani "because of his actual of Srinivas Kuchibhotla
and perceived race, color, reli ue by discharging a rearm in more than one person in a single
gion and national origin." the shootings of Kuchibhotla, criminal episode, and knowingly
Ian Grillot, an American man, Madasani and Grillot. created a grave risk of death to
who tried to save the Indian men "The indictment alleges that others on the scene," a Justice
was also severely injured. Purinton committed the offences Department statement said.
Purinton was also indicted with after substantial planning and Purinton faces a maximum
violating a federal rearms stat premeditation, attempted to kill penalty of life in prison.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info US AFFAIRS June 17-23, 2017 9

Trump not to re Mueller probing Russia hack: White House

Washington: President Donald Trump has
"no intention" of ring special counsel
Robert Mueller who is investigating the
alleged Russian meddling in last year's US
presidential polls, the White House has
said. The clarication has come amid
reports that Trump is contemplating r
ing Mueller.
"While the President has the right to, he
has no intention to do so," White House
Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee
Sanders told reporters aboard Air Force
One ying back from Wisconsin to
Washington DC.
In a major story, The New York Times
claimed that Trump was angered by
reports that Mueller was close to red FBI
Director James Comey and entertained
the idea of ring the special counsel.
"In recent days, the President has told
his staff, his visitors, and his outside
President Trumps own Justice Department has appointed
Robert Mueller as Special Counsel.
advisers that he was increasingly con
vinced Mueller, like Comey, his successor
as director of the FBI, was part of a 'witch
hunt' by partisans who wanted to see him
weakened or forced from ofce," the daily
said. Trump has made no decision to act
against Mueller and insists that he knows
the risks of doing so but people close to
the President say Trump is so volatile
they cannot be sure that he will not
change his mind if he nds out anything
to lead him to believe the investigation
has been compromised, NYT said.
Several lawmakers came out in support
of Mueller. Speaker Paul Ryan said he has
"condence" in Mueller. "The best advice
would be to let Robert Mueller do his job,"
he told reporters.
"I do believe it would be catastrophic,
and I do believe it would destroy any
shred of trust in the President's judgment
that remains over here," Senator Dianne
Feinstein said.
Mueller was appointed by US Deputy
Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to probe
into alleged Russian interference in the
2016 US polls. On Monday, speculation
was stoked that Trump was considering
terminating Mueller, after a condante of
the President suggested it was under con
sideration.

US APPEALS COURT REFUSES TO Republican House Whip,

REINSTATE TRUMP TRAVEL BAN
Washington: The San Franciscobased 9th
Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled against
reinstating President Donald Trump's
revised executive order limiting travel from
sixMuslim majority countries, the media
reported. The ruling on Monday from the
threejudge panel Judges Michael Daly
Hawkins, Ronald Gould and Richard Paez
is yet another stinging loss from a court that
similarly refused to reinstate Trump's origi
nal executive order on travel in February,
reports CNN. "We conclude that the
President, in issuing the Executive Order,
exceeded the scope of the authority delegat
ed to him by Congress," the three judges, all
appointed by former President Bill Clinton,
wrote in the ruling. "Immigration, even for
the President, is not a oneperson show."
The judges cited Trump's latest tweets in
the travel ban saga.
"Indeed, the President recently conrmed
his assessment that it is the 'countries' that
are inherently dangerous, rather than the
180 million individual nationals of those
countries who are barred from entry under
the President's 'travel ban'," the judge wrote.
They also cited White House press secretary
Sean Spicer's conrmation that Trump's
tweets are "considered ofcial statements by
the President of the United States".
On June 6, Trump tweeted: "That's right,
we need a travel ban for certain dangerous
countries, not some politically correct term
that won't help us protect our people!",
reports CNN.
The judges largely afrmed US District
Court Judge Derrick Watson's decision from
March which found the core provisions of
the revised executive order likely violated
the Constitution because its primary pur
pose was to disfavor Muslims, but on slight
ly different grounds. Spicer on Monday said
the administration is reviewing the decision
and said it believes the travel ban is "lawful"
and will be ultimately upheld by the
Supreme Court.
Unlike the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals,
which shot down the President's revised
travel ban on constitutional grounds last
month, the Ninth Circuit was persuaded by
statutory claims under the federal
Immigration and Nationality Act. "In conclu
sion, the Order does not offer a sufcient
justication to suspend the entry of more
than 180 million people on the basis of
nationality," wrote the pane
aides shot in Virginia
Washington: A key US Republican politi
cian and multiple congressional aides
were shot by a gunman at a GOP baseball
practice match in Virginia on Wednesday.
House of Representatives majority whip
Steve Scalise, 51, was shot in the hip. He
was undergoing surgery at a hospital and
was in stable condition.
Representative Mo Brooks told CNN that
"at least ve" people were injured in the
shooting, including two law enforcement
ofcers and a congressional aide.
Capitol Police said ofcers who were
part of Scalise's security detail returned
re and wounded the shooter, who was
taken into custody.
President Donald Trump said on Twitter
that "Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, a true
friend and patriot, was badly injured but
will fully recover. Our thoughts and
prayers are with him."
House of Representatives
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul said "it would
majority whip Steve Scalise
have been a massacre" without Capitol Hill
Police. nesses said. Scalise is the rst member of
About 15 to 25 people were at Simpson Congress to be shot since former Arizona
Field in Alexandria for the baseball prac Rep. Gabby Giffords was shot in January
tice when the gunman opened re, eyewit 2011.

McDonald's to hire US workers

via Snapchat too
New York: In its bid to attract young
applicants, American fastfood chain
McDonald's will hire some US workers
this summer through the photosharing
app Snapchat.
The world's largest burger chain said
the company and its franchisees will hire
about 250,000 people across its US
restaurants for what is usually one of its
busiest seasons of the year, the Chicago
Tribune reported. The chain started
accepting "Snaplications" in Australia last
month, allowing potential employees to
make video submissions with a special l
ter that shows them wearing a
McDonald's uniform. "We thought
Snaplications was a great way to allow us
to meet job seekers where they are their
phones," Jez Langhorn, McDonald's Senior
Director of Human Resources in the US
was quoted as saying.
The video audition could be submitted
to McDonald's Snapchat account after
which McDonald's would send back a link
to the application and digital careers page
for a formal application.
McDonald's said that allowing applica
tions through Snapchat will aid hiring
efforts because many of its applicants are
between the ages of 16 and 24.
This is incidentally the prime user
group of the photo sharing platform.
The company is also set to use other
platforms like Spotify and Hulu to reach
potential job seekers.
McDonald's is hiring about 250,000
workers across its US restaurants for the
busy summer season
 10 June 17-23, 2017 OP-ED TheSouthAsianTimes.info

COMEY'S TESTIMONY:
Can Trump be impeached?
l By Shivaji Sengupta authentic. I must admit that Clinton. I must admit now that I Comey with uncertainty about the According to Baker, when the
before the testimony began last thought Comey's presentation to President. He couldn't trust him, president suggested dropping an

T
he short answer is, no; not
on the basis of fired FBI
director James Comey's tes
timony alone. The investigation is
in its infancy. Whether Trump`s
campaign team colluded with the
Russians, aiding and abetting
them to disrupt the 2016 elec
tion; or whether President
Donald
Trump cate
gorically
directed
Comey to
drop the case
against his for
mer National
Security
Advisor, General
Flynn these are
still to be deter
mined. And even if
Trump were to be
liable for some of
these offenses,
impeachment is not
in the hands of the
judiciary. It is Congress who
decides to impeach or not. Given
that Trump enjoys a Republican
majority in both Houses,
impeachment, even if the
President is guilty of crimes
and/or misdemeanors, is not at all
a foregone conclusion. The three
presidents, Andrew Johnson,
Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton
who have faced impeachment, all
had the other Party holding
majority in Congress. Only Nixon
resigned before what looked like
certain impeachment.
But, wait, the main issue here is
Comey`s testimony and whether
it convinced me that he was
Thursday morning, I wasn`t per
suaded that he was a man of
integrity. We all remember how
he had announced just weeks
before the election that the FBI
had come upon new emails from
Hillary Clinton`s server,
and that
he needed
to examine them. Then he
announced in literally the week of
the election that he had found
nothing untoward in the emails.
By then, of course, both Trump
and GOP had made hay with slo
gans like "Lock her up!" The New
York Times and CNN, in order to
observe socalled "impartial
reporting," expressed worries
about Mrs. Clintons indiscretion
and carelessness, even expressing
their anxiety about what will
eemerge from Comey's office. But
by then the Democratic candi
date's chances were irreparably
hurt. I took Comey to be an atten
tion getter, and since it is well
known that he is a Republican, a
partisan bureaucrat out to sink
the Senate Intelligence
Committee was much better than
I had expected. He was clear,
forthright, and almost unequivo
cal. I say "almost" because on a
few occasions he did
decline to answer
some questions in
an open session. He
was impartial,
seemingly objec
tive and balanced
with his answers,
except when it
came to com
menting on
Donald
Trump's accu
sations of him.
Comey
straightout
called the
President and
certain members of his White
House staff liars.
However, I also did not find any
thing overly damaging of Trump.
The accusation of lying, levied by
the former director had to do
with contradicting Trump who
has publicly said that he had
asked Comey neither to stop pur
suing Flynn, nor to give up the
case on Russia. Nothing was said
there that we already hadn't
heard before. Comeys case was
straight forward. He said he felt
awkward and nervous in his deal
ings with the President since he
was nothing like the two former
presidents he had worked with,
George W. Bush or Barack Obama.
Trump`s talk about letting go of
Flynn, or of Russia, or, for that
matter, demanding loyalty filled
and, therefore, memorialized
every conversation he had had
with the President. After getting
fired from his job, he leaked what
he thought was information that
would be critical as the investiga
tion proceeded.
There may be information in his
testimony that could acquire sig
nificance later. But so far, that
hasn`t emerged. What is on the
table is grist for mill for every
journalist worth his/her name in
the US. The newspapers and tele
vision are full of biased reporting,
including The New York Times
and CNN. Let me show you just
one example.
In Friday`s New York Times,
Peter Baker wrote an Op Ed titled,
For Trump the 'Cloud' Just Grew
That Much Darker. Mr. Baker
writes that "Rather than relieve
the pressure, Mr. Trumps deci
sion to fire Mr. Comey has gener
ated an even bigger political and
legal threat. In his anger at Mr.
Comey for refusing to publicly
disclose that the president was
not personally under investiga
tion, legal experts said, Mr.
Trump may have actually made
himself the target of an investiga
tion." Which legal experts, Baker
does not say. This type of legal
pronouncements are legion, from
both anti and pro Trump lawyers.
Why should the President be
under legal threat when he was
simply asking the Director to tell
the public what he told him? Or, if
he couldn't tell the public what he
told him, why did he tell him?
Comey has to be wrong in one of
those positions.
investigation into Flynn, Comey
said, I took it as a direction.
What President Trump really
meant has to do with context,
much of which we don't know.
Trump may have been simply
curious: 'Could the case against
Finn be dropped? Or his "sugges
tion" may have been a euphemism
for an order. We do not (yet)
know. Finally, this whole busi
ness about "Lift(ing) the Cloud."
The Times and Peter Baker inter
pret it only one way: Trump say
ing stop the investigating the
Russians. But we all realize that
this is a metaphor which could
have several meanings. An alter
nate meaning could be that
Trump had asked Comey to lift
the cloud regarding the Russians,
meaning, demystify the Russians'
role in the hacking of the DNC's
computers. We don't know; and,
not knowing, at this stage we can
only guess.
For me, it is important to stay
calm be objective. Impeaching a
president is serious business. It
can never be a good thing for
America. If President Trump
needs to be impeached, we will
cross that bridge when we come
to it. Rather than the Peter Bakers
of the Fourth Estate, let us, for a
change, side with the former
Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, "You're
talking about
impeachment...you're talking
about what are the facts? Not, 'I
don't like him' and 'I don't like his
hair.'...'What are the rules he may
have violated...if you don't have
that case, you're just participating
in more hearsay."

Moving forward, together

By Congressman Tom Suozzi Im proud to say we were able to help decision to pull out of the Paris Climate
bring Republicans and Democrats together Agreement. I remain completely against

Elected to Congress from New Yorks 3rd
district, Tom Suozzi is vice chair of a group
of 20 Democrats and 20 Republicans called
the Problem Solvers Caucus, which seeks to
achieve solutions by setting aside partisan
politics and working together.
W
hen I ran for Congress, my slogan
was Suozzi Gets It Done! Thats
what the people elected me to do
get things done.
When I got to Congress, I looked to fulfill
this goal by joining a group of 20
Democrats and 20 Republicans called the
Problem Solvers Caucus. Im now Vice
Chair of the caucus as we seek to achieve
solutions by setting aside partisan politics
and working together.
Last month, our caucus stood together to
support a government spending bill that
was free of partisan amendments. We
knew that the most important thing was to
avoid a government shut down so that
Americans got the services they needed.
to avoid a shutdown. These are the kinds
of things we can achieve if we all work
together for the good of the people.
That said, America is still a very divided
nation. People are huddling into their
respective political corners and refusing to
acknowledge anyone who voted for some
one they dislike. President Trump has cer
tainly contributed to some of this division,
and I remain deeply opposed to many of
his policies. I voted against the Republican
health care plan because it would hurt mil
lions of people. When it comes to the
Affordable Care Act, we need to mend it,
not end it. Im also against the Presidents
environmental policies, including his exec
utive orders targeting the EPA and his
the Presidents Muslim Ban as well.
However, all of this doesnt change the
fact that the American people expect
Congress to work hard on their behalf and
produce results. My hope moving forward
is that well be able to come together. We
still face many challenges. Hate speech and
hate crimes are increasing. We need to cre
ate more goodpaying jobs through tax
reform and infrastructure spending.
We can achieve these goals, but we will
need to work together Republicans and
Democrats to get them done. Despite our
many problems, America remains the
greatest nation on Earth. So, lets do whats
right for the American people and get to
work.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Trump criticizes House
Republicans healthcare bill
Washington: President
Donald Trump has called
the healthcare reform bill
approved in May by the
Republicans in the House of
Representatives mean.
The President also called
on his party men in the US
Senate to make it more
generous, sources from
Congress told the media on
Tuesday, Efe news reported.
A month after praising the
Houseapproved bill and
ensuring it was incredibly
wellcrafted, Trump urged
the senators to make sub
stantial changes to the same bill, which has
been designed to replace President Barack
Obamas health reform implemented in
2010, but still needs the Senates approval,
according to legislative sources cited by
media outlets CNN and The Hill.
In particular, Trump believes the bill
approved by the House does not go far
enough to protect Americans who depend
on health insurance under Obamas Health
Care reform.
Doubts over the future of the bill in the
Senate rose after the Congressional Budget
Of fice (CBO) issued a report in May pre
dicting that if the Republican reform is to
go ahead, 23 million people in the US will
lose their medical coverage within a
decade.
US AFFAIRS June 17-23, 2017 11
Russia collusion claim
'detestable lie':
US Attorney General
Washington: Demo crat ic senators on
Tuesday were left infuriated as Attorney
General Jef f Sessions repeatedly thwarted
their ef forts to shed light on the firing of
former FBI director James Comey.
In a fiery Senate intelligence committee
hearing, Sessions raised his voice in indigna
tion as he rejected claims that he had collud
ed with Russian of ficials during the 2016
election as an "appalling and detestable lie."
According to CNN, he repeatedly declined
to go into his private conversations with
President Donald Trump frustrating
Demo crats who accused him of
In addition, the Republican majority in
"stonewalling" to shield the administration.
the Senate is much narrower than in the
The Attorney General tried to escape the
House of Representatives and, according to
hearing without major political damage. He
current rules, Trump would need the votes
also provided resistance that may of fer a
of the 52 Republican Senators plus eight Attorney General Jeff Sessions testifying
boost to a crisisweary White House that has
Democrats on his side. Tuesday before the Senate intelligence
been unable to shrug off the dark cloud over
Realizing the dif ficulty of the reforms committee
the Russia investigation.
approval, the President suggested two
Sessions said he did not hold an undis said.
weeks ago that the Senate change its rules
closed meeting with Russian ambassador to But the attorney general left Democratic
in order to pass the health law with a sim
US Sergey Kislyak at a speech by thencandi senators deeply frustrated when he declined
ple majority of 51 votes instead of 60
date Trump at the Mayflower Hotel in to go into the reasons for Comey's dismissal
which are needed under current rules.
Washington last year. and would not say whether the President
Trump has also vague ly suggested
Sessions also defended his decision to par ordered him out of the Oval Of fice so he
investing more money into the reform to
ticipate in the firing of Comey. could talk privately with Comey on February
make the US health care system the best
"I recused myself from any investigation 14, in an encounter the former FBI director
anywhere, something that may throw con
into the campaign for president, but I did said included a request for him to go easy on
servative Republicans who want to use the
not recuse myself from defending my honor former national security adviser Michael
law to reduce the budget deficit further.
against scurrilous and false allegations," he Flynn, the report pointed out.
 12 June 17-23, 2017
Shatrughan again bats for Advani as next President
New Delhi: Disg runtled BJP
leader Shatrughan Sinha yet
again backed party veteran L.K.
Advani as the most deserving
candidate for the post of
President of India, saying he was
physically fit and has the ability
to "understand the complexity of
the Constitution".
In a series of tweets, Sinha said:
"What Advaniji has, is the ability
to understand the complexity of
the Constitution and to take the
right decision when needed with
out getting influenced by anyone,
in the larger interest of the
nation."
Sinha's remarks came as a
threemember BJP committee is
to meet Cong ress President
Sonia Gandhi and other opposi
tion leaders to evolve a consen
sus for next President of the
country.
Sinha also said that Advani,
who is 89, is "physically fit" for
the post and no one has come
out against his candidature.
"No one is able to speak any
thing, be it from within or out
side d party...no voice coming out
against Advani's candidature.
"Advaniji is much more healthy
India Presidential poll: Oops! It is SpainMorocco road
six file nominations shown as oodlit Indian border
on Day One
New Delhi: Six candidates filed
their papers for the presidential
election on the first day of nom
inations, officials said this
week.
Earlier in the day, the Election
Commission issued notification
for the presidential poll, setting
the ball in motion for the July
17 election to the country's
highest constitutional post.
Those who filed nominations
on Wednesday include K.
Padmarajan from Salem in
Tamil Nadu, who has earned
the moniker of 'Election King'
by contesting more than 150
elections. His name figures in
the Limca Book of Records for
being the "most unsuccessful
candidate". Earlier, Padmarajan
has contested against political
bigwigs like J. Jayalalithaa, M.
Karunanidhi, A.K. Anthony, P.V.
Narasimha Rao, K.R. Narayanan,
S.M. Krishna, Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh (in Rajya
Sabha polls) and President
Pranab Mukherjee in the presi
dential election.
Others who filed their nomi
nations were Anand Singh
Kushwaha from Gwalior in
BJP veteran L.K. Advani with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
and energetic than any of the
young leaders. He has kept him
self maintained so that he can
take responsibility of the coun
try," Sinha said.
Sinha has been sidelined in the
party after Narendra Mo di
became Prime Minister of the
country. He was also not induct
ed into Modi's council of minis
ters though he has claimed of
long association with the BJP,
since the time when the party
had two members in the Lok
Sabha. His proximity to Advani is
Madhya Pradesh, A. Bala Raj
from Mahbubnagar in
Telangana, Saira Bano Patel
from Mumbai, Abdul Hamid
Patel from Mumbai, and
Kondekar Vijayprakash from
Pune in Maharashtra.
Lok Sabha Secretary General
Anoop Mishra, the Returning
Officer for the election, issued
the notification that the nomi
nation papers may be delivered
by a candidate or any of their
proposers/seconders not later
than June 28.
Voting will take place from
10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on July 17 at
places fixed under the rules.
The vote count will be on July
20, four days before incumbent
Pranab Mukherjee's term ends
on July 24. The new President
is set to assume office the fol
lowing day.
INDIA
said to be one of the reasons for
being sidelined in the BJP.
During the Bihar Assembly
polls, Sinha had spoken in favour
of JDU President and Bihar
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. He
does not enjoy good relations
with Bihar BJP leaders, including
former Deputy Chief Minister
Sushil Kumar Modi.
Sinha had on Tuesday
described Advani as "Pitamah" of
the BJP, saying that he most rich
ly deserves to be President of the
country.
New Delhi: A glittering picture of an
awe inspiring landscape what
looks like a brightly lit frontier area
appears in the Home Ministry's
new annual reports border flood
lighting chapter. But this image is
from the SpainMorocco border
over 7,100 km away, clicked by a
Spanish photographer.
The latest in the series of govern
ment bloopers appears on Page 40
of the Home Ministry's 201617
annual report, boasting of how the
government had completed flood
lighting of nearly 1,944 km of the
sanctioned 2,044 km along the
International Border in Jammu and
Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan and
Gujarat. The floodlighting of the
borders is aimed at curbing infiltra
tion attempts and crossborder
crimes, it said.
The project has been completed
in Punjab, Rajasthan and Jammu
where lights have been installed
along the 495 km, 1,022 km and
186 km stretches respectively. The
pending 100km stretch is in
Gujarat where restoration work on
a damaged floodlight area is under
way. The details are followed by the
brightly yellowlit picture cap
tioned: "Floodlighting along the
Border" of a long stretch of road
that ends at a sea shore. One won
ders where is the sea shore in
Punjab, Rajasthan or Jammu and
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
BJP may announce
presidential
candidate on June 23
New Delhi: The Bharatiya
Janata Party may announce
the NDA presidential candi
date on June 23, who is likely
to file his nomination a day
after, informed sources said.
BJP sources said Prime
Minister Narendra Modi
wants to complete the process
of filing of nomination by the
National Democratic Alliance
candidate before he leaves for
the US tour on June 25.
Modi is all set to hold his
firstever meeting with US
President Donald Trump on
June 26.
In a bid to evolve a consen
sus on its nominee, a three
member committee set up by
BJP President Amit Shah on
Wednesday approached the
Nationalist Congress Party
and Bahujan Samaj Party.
This image is from the SpainMorocco border over 7,100 km away,
clicked by a Spanish photographer.
Kashmir.
Perhaps in Gujarat?
But then the landscape doesn't
look like an Indian border and the
caption also doesn't specify where
and when the picture was taken.
There is no credit for the photogra
pher who had clicked it or any web
site where it had been downloaded
from. The bloomer was first report
ed by an online media platform "Alt
News" that tracks fake news circu
lated on social media networks and
other media platforms.
Digging a bit deeper and doing an
image search on Google revealed
that the picture is of the tiny border
stretch between Morocco and Spain
(http://www.panoramio.com/m/pho
to/84403) clicked in 2006 by
Spanish photographer Javier
Moyano. Spain in Europe and
Morroco in Africa are separated by
the Strait of Gibraltar a narrow
The panel is also set to meet
Congress President Sonia
Gandhi and Communist Party
of IndiaMarxist General
Secretary Sitaram Yechury.
Lok Sabha Secretary General
Anoop Mishra, the Returning
Officer for the election, issued
the notification that nomina
tion papers may be delivered
by a candidate or any of their
proposers/seconders not later
than June 28.
Voting will take place on
July 17 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
at places fixed under the
rules.
The vote count will be on
July 20, four days before
incumbent Pranab
Mukherjee's term ends on July
24. The new President is set
to assume office on the fol
lowing day.
strait that connects the
Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic
Ocean. This is not the first time that
a blooper has been committed in
the name of government achieve
ments. In 2015, the Press
Information Bureau of the Ministry
of Information and Broadcasting
shared a picture of Prime Minister
Narendra Modi visiting floodhit
areas of Chennai.
The picture showed a seated Modi
looking through the circular win
dowpane of a chopper at rooftops
and submerged streets.
However, it appeared that the
image was a photoshopped version
of an earlier snap which in fact
showed Modi surveying a floodhit
area which had hazy exteriors and
the submerged expanse of Chennai.
An embarrassed PIB promptly
deleted the picture, but offered no
explanation for the blooper.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info INDIA June 17-23, 2017 13

SC seeks Center's response Sreedharan invited for

on cattle sale notification
New Delhi: The Supreme Court
sought the central government's
response on a petition challeng
ing notification banning the sale
of cattle for slaughtering and
regulating the transporting of
livestock.
Issuing notice on a petition by
All India Jamitul Quresh Action
Committee challenging two noti
fications issued on May 23, the
vacation bench of Justice R.K.
Ag rawal and Just ice Sanjay
Kishan Kaul gave the central gov
ernment two wee ks' t ime to
respond and directed the listing
of the matter for July 11.
The petitioner, the All India
Jamitul Quesh Action Committee,
moved the top court through its
president Mohammed Abdul
Faheem, who is also an advocate.
The bench also refused to pass
any order on a plea by another
petitioner Sabu Steephan, who
told the court that a very large
number of farmers in Kerala,
Tamil Nadu and other states
were being af fected by the ban
order.
As Additional Solicitor General
P.S. Narasimha wanted to make a
statement on the intent behind
the two notifications issued on
May 23, the bench asked him to
say all this in response.
Narasimha told the bench that
the intent behind the notification
The ban on the sale of cows and buffaloes for slaughter is drawing
protests in some states in India.
under challenge was to bring
into existence some kind regime
regulating the sale of cattle for
purposes other than live stock.
All India Jamitul Quresh Action
Committee has challenged the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
(Regulat ion of Livesto ck
Markets) Rules, 2017, Banning
sale of cattle for slaughtering
and the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals (Care and Maintenance
of Case Property Animals) Rules,
2017 which provides for the
seizures, recovery of the cost of
transportation, maintenance and
treatment of seized animals.
It has been contended by the
organization that both the rules
banning sale of cattle for slaugh
tering and the other regulating
the transporting of livestock
were arbitrary, illeg al, and
unconstitutional.
It also argued the rule that the
purchaser of cattle "shall not sac
rifice the animal for any religious
purpose" was contrary to the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
Act, 1960, whose Section 28 says
it is not an of fence to "kill any
animal in a manner required
by the religion of any communi
ty".
Modi's inauguration
of Kochi Metro
Thiruvananthapuram: After international airport on
widespread criticism, "Metro Saturday morning and will be
man" E. Sreedharan has been driven to the Pathadipalam rail
invited to the inauguration of way station to take a Kochi
Kochi Metro on Saturday by Metro train to Palarivattom, six
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, kilometres away.
it was announced. From there he will drive to the
The Prime Minister's Office Jawaharlal Nehru International
has invited both Sreedharan and Stadium to officially launch
Opposition leader Ramesh Kerala's first metro by address
Chennithala to share the dais, ing a public meeting.
Tourism Minister Kadakampally He will return to Delhi after a
Surendran and BJP state presi brief meeting with the Kerala
dent Kummanem Rajasekheran cabinet led by Vijayan.
separately told the media. In the Kochi Metro project,
After it became clear on which is 25 km long, trains will
Wednesday that Sreedharan run for 13 km between
was not among the invitees to Palarivattom and Aluva from
be with Modi on the dais, Kerala June 19.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan Work on Kochi Metro began
wrote to the PMO. in 2012 after the Oommen
But the request to include Chandy government entrusted
local legislator P.T. Thomas on the project to Delhi Metro Rail
the dais was not accepted. Corp, with its principal advisor
Modi will arrive at the Kochi Sreedharan overseeing it.
Pak welcomes Putin offer to resolve tensions
Islamabad: Pakistan has welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin's
reported offer to resolve tensions between Islamabad and New Delhi.
"Pakistan welcomes Russia's attention and intention to play a role in
this longstanding issue on the UNSC agenda," Foreign Office
spokesman Nafees Zakaria said. Zakaria said there was a growing
realization among countries in the region and the UN that India's
"unprovoked hostility" along the Jammu and Kashmir border threat
ened peace.

I have not diverted any money to IPL: Mallya

London/New Delhi: Fugitive liquor baron
Vijay Mallya, whom India wants extradited
for facing trial in a Rs 9,000crore bank
loan default case claimed that he has not
diverted any of the borrowed money to
the team he owned in the IPL and asked
reporters to "keep dreaming about the bil
lions of pounds" that he had allegedly
diverted.
Mallya, whose bail was continued till
December 4, appeared be fore a
Westminster magistrate court on Tuesday
and later told media outside that he was
delighted that he would be able to put up
his case before a "fair and impartial" court
here.
Accompanied by his son Siddharth, the
61year old industrialist who fled India 15
months ago rejected all allegations of
default of loans against him and denied he
was called a thief by some spectators dur
ing a Champions Trophy match at the Oval
grounds here.
"I am not going to answer any questions.
There is a court of law. We will make sub
missions before the appropriate court of
law," he told reporters.
"You can keep dreaming about billions
of pounds, provided you have facts to jus
tify your questions. Otherwise, don't put
questions. Don't ask irrelevant questions,"
he said, when asked whether he had
Fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya.
diverted the borrowed money to IPL team
Royal Challengers, which he used to own.
This was the first hearing before a mag
istrate in what is called "management"
proceedings before the actual trial begins.
Mallya was asked to sit in the place where
people facing trial are made to sit. His
name was called out and his date of birth
mentioned by way of confirming his iden
tity.
Mallya, who owes as much as Rs 9,000
crore to a consortium of Indian banks, fled
to Britain in March last year. India is seek
ing his extradition for which the proce
dure has already begun and a team of the
Enforcement Directorate and the Central
Bureau of Investigation is chalking out the
process.
When he sought a barrier to keep away
inquisitive te levision reporters from
thrusting their mikes before him outside
the court, the judge permitted that he may
not be present at the next hearing on July
6.
During the pro ceedings, Mallya's
lawyers told the magistrate that the
Indian government was coming up with a
second extradition request which he
would like to go through before giving his
submissions. They wanted that the case be
deferred till next year. Magistrate Emma
Louis Arbuthnot, however, indicated that
the case could be placed for regular trial
in December.
But when a reporter asked him about
the "chor, chor" (thief ) chants hurled at
him during an IndiaSouth Africa match
last week, Mallya said: "I was not called a
thief. As two people in a drunken state
yelled at me, didn't you notice that there
were several others who wished me well."
He remarked that when he went to cheer
the Indian cricket team in the Champions
Trophy, it "became a media sensation". "I
go to cheer India in a cricket match and it
becomes a media frenzy. It's better I don't
say anything."
Asked if he was relieved at being told by
the court not to come for the next hearing
on July 6, he said: "I do not want to say
anything about what happened inside the
court.
"I am delighted that I can put forward
my case before an impartial court," he
said.
Earlier before going into the court,
Mallya said he had not eluded any court of
law and denied all allegations levelled
against him.
When a questioner noted that he has
been in Britain for the last 15 months and
was eluding courts in India, he said: "I
have not eluded any court. It is my lawful
duty to be here and I am here (London
court)."
"I have nothing to say as the court pro
ceedings are on and I deny all allegations
that have been made and I will continue to
deny them," he said.
Mallya also said he had "enough evi
dence" to fight the case, but parried a
question whether he fears that a trial in
India would be unfair to him.
 14 June 17-23, 2017 OP-ED TheSouthAsianTimes.info

In the US, a fatal move towards deregulation

l By Amit Kapoor DoddFrank had three important authority to OLA. Also, OLA is so
aspects to prevent a repeat of designed that all costs are borne
wice in two weeks the US has 2008. First was the creation of the by private actors and not the tax

T taken steps that will have

dire repercussions on a glob
al scale. First, it was the US with
drawal from the Paris Climate
Agreement, the effects of which
can only be catastrophic. More
recently, the US House of
Representatives passed an act to
roll back the 2010 Dodd Frank Act
that was introduced to plug the
financial irregularities that led to
the 2008 financial crisis. The Act
took a holistic approach in regulat
ing every aspect of financial mar
kets from the trading of bonds and
stocks to the way in which large
banks operate.
The importance of regulation
can be realized by gazing through
a historical lens into the Great
Depression of 1929. In the decade
before the depression, the United
States entered a period of econom
ic prosperity famously known as
the Roaring Twenties. It was a time
of rapid innovation, accelerated
industrial growth and high con
sumer demand. Corporate profits
skyrocketed and stock markets
boomed. Manipulation became
rampant and even banks began
offering securities backed by dubi
ous assets. When the music
stopped in 1929, the stock mar
kets crashed, assets became worth
Any move that dilutes the DoddFrank will strengthen the
chances of an avoidable economic crisis.
less and households found them
selves burdened with debt.
In 1933, the Congress passed
the GlassSteagall Act in response
to the market manipulations. It
effectively separated investment
and commercial banking activities
of banks. Banks were allowed only
to take deposits and make loans
while brokers were allowed only to
underwrite and sell securities. This
would prevent banks from taking
too much risk with the depositors'
money by investing in the stock
market. From 1933 until it was
repealed in 1999, there were no
instances of large bank failures or
a crisis comparable to the one that
occurred in 2008.
Regulation played a vital role in
curbing economic miseries across
the world. There is a lot of debate
around the veracity of that state
ment and the importance of Glass
Steagall, but there is no second
opinion on the fact that the act had
prevented the formation of "too
big to fail" organisations.
PostGlassSteagall, the flood
gates were opened for big ticket
mergers like the one between J.P.
Morgan and Chase Manhattan in
2000. The coming up of such firms
creates incentive problems as the
stakeholders know that they will
be bailed out in times of crises.
This was one of the major reasons
for the financial crisis of 2008.
Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau, which is a regulatory
agency charged with overseeing
financial products and services
offered by firms. It protects con
sumers from misleading or fraudu
lent financial sales pitches and
predatory mortgage lending.
The second major component of
the DoddFrank Act is the Volcker
Rule, which brings back the most
crucial feature of GlassSteagall of
separating the investment and
commercial functions of banks. It
restricts the way banks can invest,
limits speculative trading and elim
inates proprietary trading. The act
also carried a provision to regulate
derivatives like credit default
swaps that were the major contrib
utors of the 2008 financial crisis.
The third is the establishment of
the Orderly Liquidation Authority
(OLA) that aimed to address the
incentive issues with "too big to
fail" institutions. The idea was that
government would seize institu
tions that it bails out so that it can
keep them running without
rewarding stockholders out of
turn.
In the 2008 crisis, it was unclear
whether the Treasury Department
had the legal authority to do so.
The DoddFrank awarded that
payers. It is limited to temporary
funding of firms and does not hand
out funds as permanent capital by
having first claims on the firm's
assets.
The recent act passed by the
House aims to eliminate all the
positives of the DoddFrank Act on
the ground that it harms business
activities in the US. It restructures
the Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau by gutting its supervisory
role and its ability to curb abusive
financial practices. It also repeals
the Volcker Rule, which would
allow banks to reload on risks and
does away with the OLA that
would make managing big banks
difficult.
Thus, the act is a regressive
move away from financial regula
tion that would have repercussions
beyond US borders and into future
generations. Hopefully, the act will
not pass the Senate as it will not
get all the 60 votes needed, but
some provisions that need only
Senate reconciliation, that is 51
votes to pass, might get through.
Any move that dilutes the Dodd
Frank will strengthen the chances
of an avoidable economic crisis
and force billions around the globe
to relive the miseries that they
have just endured.

Why Narendra Modi avoids the media

l By Amulya Ganguli allow its spokespersons to present so on. The gulf between the two
the party's case before the televi worldviews makes Modi some
n another two years, Narendra sion cameras, an unavoidable thing of an outsider in Lutyens

I Modi may well enter the

Guinness Book of Records for
failing to hold a press conference.
In that event, he will be the first
Prime Minister of a democratic
country who has avoided meeting
the media at a large televised
gathering.
It is not that he hasn't met news
men at all. But these meetings
have been with a select few who
are known to be partial towards
the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
the "North Korean TV", as Arun
Shourie, a former BJP minister,
has said. Even then, the interac
tions weren't live. Apart from
these occasional, choreographed,
generally onesided pow wows,
what Modi favours is a monologue
whether at public rallies or at
indoor functions with an invited
audience where no questions are
allowed, or over the radio.
Why this reticence from an oth
erwise voluble Prime Minister
when his far more reserved prede
cessor held at least two major
press conferences in addition to
Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
having prolonged engagements convention of journalists accom
with the journalists traveling with panying the PM when he went
him on his foreign trips? abroad. Only the official media
As is known, Modi's aversion were given the privilege.
towards the fourth estate stems There is also a belief in the saf
from the aftermath of the Gujarat fron camp that the socalled main
riots when he apparently felt that stream media, especially the
he could not afford to be interro English ones, harbour the Left
gated closely on what transpired. Liberals who look upon the BJP
Once he even walked out of a one with a jaundiced eye and have had
toone chat show when asked a special antipathy towards Modi
about the riots. One of his first since the riots. Hence, the Prime
steps after becoming the Prime Minister's reluctance to reach out
Minister was to dispense with the to them although the BJP does
aspect of democratic functioning.
One explanation for Modi's
unwillingness to take part in an
exercise which is routine in a
democracy is that his answers to
probing questions can reveal a
worldview which is alien to the
narrative which has guided the
country's politics till now.
Nothing exposed this difference
between the BJP's perceptions
and the rest of the country's more
starkly than Atal Behari
Vajpayee's 1996 decision to put
on hold the three key issues on
the Hindutva agenda the Ram
temple, Article 370 of the
Constitution and uniform civil
code in order to woo the "secu
lar" parties to his side.
Since Vajpayee's time, more
issues marking out the BJP's dis
tinctive position from that of the
other parties have come to the
fore. These are myth vs history,
faith vs the inviolability of pro
tected monuments, vegetarianism
vs nonvegetarianism, astrology vs
astronomy, Hindi vs English, and
Delhi. It also probably makes him
wary of baring his soul to a large
media gathering lest his answers
create problems for the saffron
brotherhood by sowing confusion
among the BJP's core supporters.
It may not be besides the point
to note that another outsider
this time from the Washington
beltway Donald Trump is also
highly critical of the mainstream
media although he does not shy
away from press conferences.
If Modi does so, it is because he
is still hovering between the two
diametrically opposite worlds.
While his government has vowed
to crack down on gau rakshaks
(cow vigilantes) and other mili
tants, the latter have persisted
with their acts of depredations
because they apparently believe
that these are in line with the saf
fron brotherhood's outlook.
It is obvious that the absence of
a clear line makes it virtually
impossible for the party to articu
late a credible position on various
issues.

The views expressed in Op Eds are not necessarily those of The South Asian Times.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info June 17-23, 2017
 16 June 17-23, 2017 DIASPORA TheSouthAsianTimes.info

First female Sikh and first turbaned lawmakers

take Indianorigin MPs tally in UK to 12
London: Britain on Friday got its
first female Sikh MP and first tur
banwearing MP as the UK general
election results threw up a small
increase in the number of Indian
orig in MPs in the House of
Commons.
The latest tally indicates the
Labor party has improved its
record from five to seven MPs,
with the Tories retaining their five
Indianorigin MPs taking the total
up from 10 in the 2015 general
election to 12.
Labor's Preet Kaur Gill won her
Birmingham Edgbaston seat by
polling 24,124 votes, defeating
her Conservative party rival by
6,917 votes.
"I am de lighted I have been
given the opportunity to become
Preet Kaur Gill, Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
the next MP for Edgbaston where I
was born and raised. I want to
eng age w ith the people of
Edgbaston and with hard work,
passion and determination I think
we can achieve g reat things
together," she said.
Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, known
as Tan, won his Slough seat deci
sively polling 34,170 votes, to
become Labor's first turbanwear
ing MP. He de feated his
Conservat ive party rival by a
whopping 16,998 votes.
He said he was "humbled" and
wanted to serve the town where
he was born and raised.
"The size of the majority shows
that the people have chosen hope
over fear and progress over stag
nation. On the doorstep we found
that people don't want any more
cuts, they need a Labor govern
ment," he said in his victory
speech.
British Sikh groups which had
been campaigning for the candi
dates celebrated their success.
"Credit to the Labor Party lead
ership for taking the bold step of
giving Sikhs the opportunity to
fight for winnable seats. Labor
now needs to turn its attention to
having visible Sikh representation
in the House of Lords at the first
opportunity so Sikhs are better
represented and can bring fresh
thinking and ideas," Sikh
Federation UK said in a statement.
Among some of the other Indian
orig in contestant results,
Conservative party's Priti Patel
has held on to her stronghold of
Witham in Essex w ith a solid
majority of 18,646.
She is likely to remain a leading
figure in the new Theresa May led
Cabinet, having served as the
international development minis
ter in the previous government.
(PTI)

2 Indianorigin men recognized in Trinidad & Tobago to host activities

Queen Elizabeth's Birthday Honors list to mark International Yoga Day
Melbourne: Two Indianorigin men are among designers, community workers, performers and
900 Australians who have been recognized by a psephologist. Khanna is the founding director

British Queen Elizabeth II in her annual Birthday
Honors list for their contributions to the commu
nity. The Queenslandbased Professor Rajiv
Khanna was honored with Order of the
Companion of Australia for distinguished service
to medicine in the eld of immunology, through
contributions to the development of cellular
immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer,
infectious complications and chronic diseases.
Unnikrishnan Velayudhan Pilla from Queensland
was awarded the medal of the Order of Australia
in the general division (OAM) for service to the
Malayali community in the state. The list for this
year recognized a diverse range of people
including scientists, entertainers, lawyers,
Gulf countries assure India of welfare of diaspora amid Qatar crisis
New Delhi: India on Saturday said it is
closely monitoring the situation in the
Gulf where several countries led by Saudi
Arabia have cut off diplomatic ties with
Qatar and that the countries have assured
continued support for the welfare and
wellbeing of the large Indian diaspora.
India also said that the countries should
resolve their differences through dialogue.
"We are closely following the emerging
situation in the Gulf region in the wake of
the recent decision by the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia and some other countries to
break diplomatic relations with the State
of Qatar," the External Affairs Ministry
and group leader at the Centre for
Immunotherapy and Vaccine Development at
the Brisbane based QMIR Berghofer Medical
Research Institute and also the senior principal
research fellow at National Health and Medical
Research Council of Australia. Rajiv Khanna,
born in India, has been in Australia for 27 years
now and has authored and coauthored more
than 200 scientic papers. Velayudhan Pilla,
founder of Jvala Charitable and Cultural Society,
has been a recipient of several community
awards in the past including the Bharat Gaurav
Award, Lord Mayor's Australia Day Award and
the Multicultural community award Malayali
community in Queensland.
said in a statement. "We are of the view
that all parties should resolve their differ
ences through a process of constructive
dialogue and peaceful negotiations based
on wellestablished international princi
ples of mutual respect, sovereignty and
noninterference in the internal affairs of
other countries," it said.
On Monday, Saudi Arabia, the United
Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt
cut off diplomatic ties with Qatar on alle
gations of supporting terrorism, including
the Muslim Brotherhood. Yemen, Libya,
the Maldives and Jordan also took similar
steps.
T
he Indian High Commission in
Trinidad and Tobago has announced
12days of activities to mark
International Yoga Day on June 21.
Addressing the media, High Commissioner
Bishwadip Dey said yoga is over 6,000
years old and an invaluable part of Indian
ancient tradition.
The activities will begin on June 15,
which coincides with Corpus Christi, a
public holiday. On June 15, Yoga
Meditation Society will organize '108
Surya Namashkar' at the National Council
of Indian Culture's (NCIC) Divali Nagar.
From June 17 to 26, schools will organise
a yoga awareness campaign. On June 18,
yoga exercise will be held at the Board
Walk Chaguaramas and on June 25, a yoga
fest will be organised at Divali Nagar from
9.30 a.m.
Dey said that this year's program is
organised by the High Commission of
India with the United Nations, the
Government of Trinidad and Tobago, and
the International Day of Yoga Committee.
Dey recalled that Indian Prime Minister
Narendra Modi, in his address to the 69th
session of the United Nations General
Assembly on September 27, 2014, had
urged the world community to adopt an
International Yoga Day saying 'yoga is an
invaluable gift of ancient Indian tradition'.
'In essence, yoga is a process of creating a
body and mind that are stepping stones,
1,000 take part in
yoga event in
Chinese city
Beijing: Nearly 1,000 people on Sunday
took part in a yoga event in Zhenjiang in
east China in the run up to the 3rd
International Yoga Day.
The event was jointly organized by the
Consulate General of India, Shanghai,
along with the Zhenjiang Municipal
People's Government.
Zhenjiang, a city in Jiangsu province,
became the third city in east China to
host a grand curtain raiser ahead of the
global yoga day.
"Nearly 1,000 yoga lovers from all
over Zhenjiang, including several Indian
students from Jiangsu University, partici
pated in the yoga celebrations," said an
official statement. An Indian teacher con
ducted the yoga session for the nearly
1,000 practitioners.
not hurdles to an exuberant and fullling
life,' Dey said.
He added that yoga is essentially a path
to liberation from all bondage. 'Medical
research in recent years has uncovered
many physical and mental benets that
yoga offers, corroborating the experiences
of millions of practitioners.'
New York: The prestigious venue of Diplomatic
Dining Room at the UN headquarters here added
 18 June 17-23, 2017 HONORS

Continued from Page 17

Federation Dr. Thomas G. Walsh and Chairperson

of World Federation of United Nations Associations
Audrey Kitagawa. In his address, he gave an uplift-
ing message: India is giving great contribution to-
wards establishing world peace. Peace is necessary
for development. So many people of Indian origin
are working in different sectors in other countries
and have made India proud and for striving for
peace and harmony in the world.
Also from the religious-spiritual sphere, Ra-
jyogini BK Dadi Hridya Mohini (Additional chief
of Brahmkumaris, India) and B.K. Mohini (head
of Brahmkumris in USA) were among the honor-
ees, but were not present in person.
Among the honorees were many others too
who do not need to add another award to their
resumes. They included Bindeshwar Pathak,
founder of Sulabh International, Bollywood film-
maker (of Chandni Bar, Fashion and Heroine
fame) Madhur Bhandarkar, TV Asia chief and
Padma Shri HR Shah, and Padma Viubhushan Dr
KH Sancheti, orthopedic surgeon.
Bhandarkar in his brief acceptance speech
dedicated his award to the Indian Armed Forces
-- who protect the country and its citizens - and
their families.
Bhandarkar, Bindeshwar Pathak, Dr Sancheti
and many others flew down from India, from
other parts of the world and other US cities. Such
as Sunil Chopra, Mayor of London Borough of
Southwark. Sunil Tolani, chief of California based
Prince Organization, which has expanded from
hospitality to other fields, could not come per-
sonally to receive the award. Acharya Dr Lokesh Muni accepted the award from President of Universal Peace Federation
Dr. Thomas G. Walsh and Chairperson of World Federation of UN Associations Audrey Kitagawa.

Sanskriti Yuva Sanstha officials,

patrons and award presenters.

Sanskriti Yuva Sanstha President Pt Suresh Mishra, Chief Patron Lokendra Singh Kalvi and Kamlesh Mehta (Patron) addressing the assembly.
 HONORS June 17-23, 2017 19

From New York area those who proudly re-
ceived the Bharat Gaurav awards included Dr
Raj Bhayani, famous ENT surgeon and Convener
of AAPI Convention 2017 in New Jersey; Chintu
Patel, Co-CEO and Chairman of Amneal Pharma-
ceuticals; Meera Gandhi, founder of Giving Back
Foundation; Dr Annapurna Kini, acclaimed car-
diologist who performs 1,000 coronary inter-
ventions annually; accomplished civil engineer
Bansi Shah and his entrepreneur wife Kalpana
Patel, successful businessman and emerging community lead-
er Mukesh Modi; Dharmatama Saran, founder and chairman
of Miss India Worldwide, and pediatrician and community
leader Dr Urmilesh Arya.
ITV Gold program director Ashok Vyas, in attendance to
receive his award, introduced his Hindi poem penned as an
anthem for the Bharat Gaurav Awards. It was rendered melo-
diously by singer and TV host Geeta Setia.
A lavishly produced coffee table book about the Bharat
Gaurav awards 2017 with illustrated profiles of almost two
score honorees was released at the event and presented to all.
In 2012 too Bharat Gaurav awards ceremony took place in
USA - in Hotel Hilton, New Ark, NJ
The Bharat Gaurav awards are presented
to people from around the world who
have made landmark achievements in
their field or in community service,
adding to the glory of India.

Bindeshwar Pathak of Sulabh Sauchalya fame receiving his award. (right) Honoree Ashok Vyas also presented a poem
he penned as an anthem of Bharat Garuav awards ceremonies.

Dr Raj Bhayani, ENT surgeon and Convener of AAPI Convention 2017 in New Jersey receiving his award;
(right) Padma Vibhushan orthopedic surgeon Dr KH Sancheti came from India for the event.

Philanthropist and social celebrity Meera Teresa Gandhi receiving her award. (right) Mukesh Modi, Yash Imports MD
and emerging community leader, receiving his award.
 20 June 17-23, 2017 religion

H.H. Mahant Swami Maharaj of BAPS

visiting North America to inspire devotees
He has succeeded Pramukh Swami Maharaj to head the worldwide spriitual and humanitarian organization.
In the past year, he has continued his vicharan, or spiritual
travels, throughout the world, and has thus far visited almost
every major BAPS mandir in India and Africa. During his visit to
the US and Canada, he will attend numerous special celebrations
including the ten-year anniversaries of the BAPS Shri Swamina-
rayan Mandirs in Atlanta, Toronto, and San Jose as well as a
Murti Pratishta, a ritual to sanctify the murtis, for abhishekh in
Robbinsville, NJ. After his three-month journey, he will continue
onwards to the United Kingdom and the Far East regions.
For more details regarding His Holiness Mahant Swami
Maharajs North America visit, please visit www.baps.org/ms-
m17na or follow #MahantSwami on social media.
About Mahant Swami Maharaj
His Holiness Mahant Swami Maharaj is the sixth and current
spiritual successor of Bhagwan Swaminarayan. He was ordained
a swami by Yogiji Maharaj in 1961 and named Sadhu Kes-
conduct. His virtuous lifestyle and profound devotion to Bhag-
wan Swaminarayan and gurus are ideals toward which devo-
tees strive. Mahant Swami Maharaj became the guru and Presi-
dent of BAPS upon Pramukh Swami Maharajs passing in 2016.
About Pramukh Swami Maharaj
Pramukh Swami Maharaj was the fifth spiritual successor
of Bhagwan Swaminarayan. Under his leadership, BAPS grew
into an international spiritual and humanitarian organization
with over 3,300 centers worldwide. He dedicated his life to the
well-being of others, traveling throughout the world to foster
love, peace, harmony, righteousness, faith in God, and service
to humanity. With genuine care and compassion, he reached
out to all members of society irrespective of class, color, or
age. Recognized and respected as one of Indias greatest spiri-
tual teachers, he lived by and promoted the principle: In the
joy of others, lies our own.

T he spiritual legacy of His Holiness Pramukh havjivandas. As he was appointed the head (Mahant) of
Swami Maharaj continues in North America the Mandir in Mumbai, he became known In 2012, in the presence of senior Swamis in Ahmedabad,
with the arrival of His Holiness Mahant Swami as Mahant Swami. His devout, humble and Pramukh Swami Maharaj revealed that Mahant Swami
Maharaj in Atlanta, GA on June 22, 2017. Over service-focused life earned him the Maharaj would be his spiritual successor upon
the next three months, he will visit mandirs and innermost blessings of Yogiji Maharaj his own passing.
inspire thousands of devotees in Atlanta, Chica- and Pramukh Swami Maharaj. Mahant
go, Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Jose, New Swami Maharaj
Jersey (Edison and Robbinsville), and Toronto, travels throughout
Canada. His visit will be filled with traditional the world inspir-
celebrations, spiritual discourses, seminars, and ing people through
special events open to the community. his insightful spir-
Since the earthly departure of Pramukh Swami itual discours-
Maharaj, Mahant Swami Maharaj now continues es and dis-
his lifework and legacy as the 6th and current ciplined
spiritual successor of Bhagwan Swaminarayan. He
was born in 1933 in Madhya Pradesh. In 1961, at
the age of 28, he was ordained as a swami and giv-
en the name of Sadhu Keshavjivandas by His Holi-
ness Yogiji Maharaj, then guru and spiritual leader
of BAPS. Yogiji Maharaj recognized his leadership
abilities and bestowed upon him numerous re-
sponsibilities including appointing him as the mah-
ant, or chief priest, of the BAPS mandir in Bombay.
Thus, the name Mahant Swami Maharaj.
After Yogiji Maharajs earthly departure, Ma-
hant Swami Maharaj dedicated himself totally to
Pramukh Swami Maharaj, the fifth Guru of BAPS.
Under his guidance, Mahant Swami Maharaj re-
lentlessly traveled to remote areas in India and
abroad to inspire moral values and enlighten
countless devotees. He was also called upon to
be in the forefront during major celebrations and
as a trusted advisor regarding critical decisions
related to the organization.
Pramukh Swami Maharaj was thoroughly
pleased with Mahant Swami Maharajs virtues
and devotion to Bhagwan Swaminarayan and
his gurus as well as his affection to the devotees
and care for their well-being. On July 20, 2012,
in Ahmedabad in the presence of senior swamis
of BAPS, Pramukh Swami Maharaj officially ap-
pointed Mahant Swami Maharaj as his successor.
As the current Guru of the BAPS Swaminarayan
Sanstha, Mahant Swami Maharaj has led by exem-
plifying devotion, humility, and selflessness. He
visits with devotees around the world to nurture
faith in all individuals, promote family values and
Mahant Swami Maharaj participating in a
unity, and strengthen communities small and large.
yagna before Murti Pratishtha in the BAPS
Pramukh Swami Maharajs vision continues to be
Swaminarayan Temple in Robbinsville, NJ.
his driving force behind guiding spiritual activities
and organizational efforts as well as pursuing de-
velopment projects to advance youth programs.
 RELIGION JJune
une 1
17-23,
7-23, 2
2017
017 21
21

MAHANT
M AHANT S
SWAMI
WAMI MAHARAJS
MAHAR AJS ITINERARY
ITINER ARY MAJOR
M AJOR PLANNED
PL ANNED EVENTS
E VENTS THIS
THIS YEAR
YE AR

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ersary Celeb
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rations of BAPS Shri Swami
Swaminarayan
inarayan Mandir in Atlanta, GA
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his travels,
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Continues on Page 22

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Y M aharaj(left,
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 22 June 17-23, 2017 religion

Continued from Page 21

Service Under
Pramukh Swami
Maharaj
Initial meeting
Mahant Swami Maharaj initially met Pramukh Swami
Maharaj in 1951 and travelled extensively with him.

Under Pramukh Swami

Maharaj
After Yogji Maharajs passing, Mahant Swami Ma-
haraj served under Pramukh Swami Maharaj in
many of the organizations endeavours, including
mega-festivals, youth activities, as well as other
mandir construction projects throughout the world.
In 1968, in Mumbai, on the occasion of Pramukh
Swami Maharajs 48th birthday, Pramukh Swami
Maharaj said of Mahant Swami: I feel at peace
when I see Mahant Swami.
Assisting Pramukh Swami Maharaj in replying to letters of devotees in a picture from 1991.
Pramukh Swami Maharaj kept utmost respect for Ma-
hant Swami, keeping him in the forefront of all major
ceremonies, and involving him in all major decisions.
Mahant Swami always abided by Pramukh Swami
Maharajs innermost wishes. Never did he stray
from devotion to his guru.

Present Leader
of BAPS
Appointment as President
On 20 July 2012, in the presence of senior Swamis
in Amdavad, Gujarat, Pramukh Swami Maharaj re-
vealed that Mahant Swami Maharaj would be his
spiritual successor upon his own passing and wrote
a letter in his own handwriting to that effect.

Continuing legacy
Like Pramukh Swami Maharaj, Mahant Swami Maha-
raj continues to travel throughout the world to spread
the message of peace, harmony and spirituality.
Like Pramukh Swami Maharaj, Mahant Swami Ma-
haraj remains humble despite being the leader of
such a large, international spiritual organization.

For more details, please visit www.baps.org

Contact: BAPS North American Headquarters
Phone: 732-777-1414
Email: media@na.baps.org Source: BAPS

Mahant Swami Maharaj addressing teens at the National Convention in Atlanta, GA in 2013. (left) Counselling devotees.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
China hopes Pakistan, Sharif to appear before
Afghanistan uphold peace Panama Papers probe panel
Beijing: A day after Afghanistan
said China wanted to broker
peace between Kabul and
Islamabad, Beijing hoped both
countries would strengthen
cooperation and uphold peace
and stability in the region.
"Through the honest support
the Afghan peaceful process, we
hope the relevant countries can
strengthen cooperat ion and
unity to fight terrorism and stay
committed to upholding peace
and stability in the reg ion,"
Chinese Foreign Ministry
spokesperson Lu Kang said.
Lu said this will create enabling
an environment for the growth
and development of the region.
The office of Afghan President
Ashraf Ghani said China had
of fered to mediate between
Pakistan and Afghanistan and
help organise a meeting so that
the two countries can improve
their relations.
China's Foreign Minister Wang
Yi is scheduled to visit Kabul
where he will meet Afghan offi
cials and will work to discuss the
possibility of organizing a meet
ing between Afg hanistan,
Pakistan, the US and China, the
statement said.
"It is the first time China wants
to be a mediator in Afghanistan's
Pak hopes India 134 dead in Bangladesh
will attend SAARC landslides, many missing
summit this year
Beijing: Pakistan hopes India
will attend this year's SAARC
summit, which is likely to be
he ld in Islamabad, a senior
Pakistani diplomat said here.
"We really hope for SAARC,
which is our regional organisa
tion, to move beyond the differ
ences and (that) India would be
able to come to Pakistan for the
SAARC summit because in the
end, we are neig hbors,"
Mumtaz Zahra Balo ch, the
Deputy Chief of Mission at the
Pakistan Embassy here, told
journalists on the sidelines of a
Shang hai Cooperat ion
Organization (SCO) event here.
In 2016, India had not attend
ed the SAARC summit in
Pakistan after a terrorist attack
at its army base.
Several other member coun
tries had followed the suit lead
ing to the cancellation of the
annual meet.
Afghan officials blamed the Pakistanbased Haqqani network
for the May 31 truck bombing.
peace pro cess. Peace w ith
Pakistan was our demand and
this must be solved between gov
ernmentandgovernment," Ghani
said at the meeting.
The ties between Pakistan and
Afghanistan took a hit when 150
people were killed in a deadly
bomb blast on May 31.
No group claimed responsibly
for the attack but the Afghan
government blamed the Haqqani
network and Pakistan's ISI for it.
The Afghan President's deputy
spokesman Najibullah Azad said:
"T his t ime the quadrilateral
Baloch dismissed reports that
after the entry of India and
Pakistan in the SCO, their bilat
eral dispute would mar the
grouping.
"This is not an organization to
settle disputes. T his is an
organization to work for the
region and for common chal
lenges and common develop
ment," she said.
"It is just speculation by the
media. It is an important organ
ization for Pakistan and it is an
important org anizat ion for
India. We hope that we wold
bring some positives to the
table and contribute to our
region's development and to
more understanding between
all parties in the SCO.
"Of course when you work
together and you are in the
same organisation, you have
opportunities to resolve many
of the issues."
SUBCONTINENT
meet ing which w ill be he ld
between Afghanistan, Pakistan,
the US and China would be dif
ferent compared to past meet
ings." At this meeting, Pakistan
must support Afghanistan's poli
cy over fighting insurgency, he
said. Azad said Kabul had gath
ered evidence that Pakistan was
supporting insurgency and had
shared this with NATO, the US
Congress and other organisa
tions.
"When needed, the evidence
will also be provided to the UN,"
he said.
Dhaka: The death toll from the dev
astating raintriggered landslides in
Bangladesh's three southeastern
districts has risen to 134 as res
cuers retrieved more bodies includ
ing those of two Army officers, offi
cials said.
Since Monday morning, heavy
rains swept through the districts of
Chittagong, Bandarban and
Rangamati and triggered huge land
slides early on Tuesday, burying
many in their homes as they slept.
Four members of the Bangladesh
Army including two of its of ficers
were killed in a landslide in
Rangamati. Lt Col Md Rashidul
Hasan told Xinhua that 10 Army
men were also injured in the inci
dent while another remained miss
ing. The two officers died while con
ducting a rescue operation in the
worst landslide that hit the area.
Rangamati Police chief Sayeed
Tarikul Hassan said flooding caused
by incessant rain had inundated
many areas since Monday after
around 30 cm of rainfall was
recorded in 24 hours till 9 a.m. on
Islamabad: Pakistan Prime
Minister Nawaz Sharif will
appear before a Joint
Investigation Team (JIT) in con
nection with the Panama
Papers probe into his family's
assets, the media reported.
Sharif will become the first
sitting Pakistani Prime Minister
to appear before an investigat
ing agency, reports Dawn news.
Sources said that Finance
Minister Ishaq Dar may also be
questioned by the team before
Sharif's appearance.
In its judgement of April 20
in the Panama Papers case, the
Supreme Court had constituted
the JIT and empowered it to
summon the Prime Minister,
his sons and any other person
necessary, to investigate allega
tions of moneylaundering,
through which the four apart
ments in London's Park Lane
area were purchased.
On June 2, the Prime
Minister's youngest son Hassan
Nawaz appeared before the six
member probe team headed by
Federal Investigation Agency
(FIA) Additional Director
General Wajid Zia, reports
Dawn news. A day earlier,
Sharif's elder son, Hussain
Nawaz, appeared before the JIT
for the third time to defend the
An aerial view showing the town halfsubmerged in floodwaters
following landslides triggered by heavy rain in Bangladesh. (Reuters)
Tuesday. Rescue operations are on
as rescue teams searched for more
bodies buried under mud and
debris with shovels and bare hands,
he said.
A Rangamati district administra
tion of ficial who preferred to be
unnamed said rescuers have
retrieved 45 bodies in the district,
391 km away from Dhaka.
In the Bandarban district located
316 km away from Dhaka, seven
people have been killed in land
slides. Police have retrieved their
bodies from under the mud with the
help of locals, Superintendent of
June 17-23, 2017 23
Pakistan Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif.
money trail of the Sharifs'
London properties.
In his first appearance,
Hussain refused to answer
questions put forth by the
investigative body, saying that
the JIT's status was "sub judice"
as he had already filed a peti
tion before the apex court
regarding two of its con
stituents. Subsequently, the
apex court rejected Hussain's
plea, seeking exclusion of the
two JIT members. After each of
the next two hearings, he told
the media that he answered all
of the questions put forth to
him by the members of the JIT.
Police Sanjeeb Kumar Roy told
Xinhua. Nineteen people have
reportedly died in the southern dis
trict of Chittagong, another land
slide danger zone where telephone
and transport links have been cut.
Police warned that the death toll
would likely rise as emergency
workers reached remote parts of
the Chittagong Hills, 242 km away
from Dhaka.
About 15 people were missing in
Bandarban and Chittagong, feared
buried under mud. In June 2007,
123 people were killed in a devas
tating landslide in Chittagong.
 24 June 17-23, 2017 INTERNATIONAL TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Many perish in London's Towering Inferno

London: Several people are believed dead
as a major fire engulfed a 24storey apart
ment complex in west London housing
hundreds, with a resident who escaped
likening the disaster to a "horror movie".
Six bodies were found but the toll is
expected to shoot up.
Desperate occupants of the burning
Grenfell Tower flocked to apartment win
dows and screamed for help, many hold
ing their children. Witness Jody Martin
said: "I watched one person falling out, I
watched another woman holding her baby
out in the window... hearing screams."
More than 70 people were in hospitals,
over 20 in critical condition, officials said.
More than 12 hours after the fire was
seen in the complex, over 250 firefighters
continued to battle the leaping flames and
thick, choking smoke. London Fire
Commissioner Dany Cotton said: "In my
29 years of being a firefighter, I have
never ever seen anything of this scale."
Up to 600 people were believed to have
been inside the 120 flats in north
Kensington when the blaze began shortly
after Tuesday midnight, The Telegraph
reported. Authorities said the death toll
More than 70 people were in hospitals, over 20 in critical condition, officials said.
was expected to rise. Commander Stuart
Cundy of the Metropolitan Police said: "I
can confirm six fatalities. This figure is
likely to rise during what will be a com
plex recovery operation over a number of
for help and yelling for their children to
days." Media reports said the 24storey
appeared it could collapse any time, with
cladding already falling to the ground.
Explosions could be heard. Windows kept
shattering. Witnesses described people
trapped in the burning tower screaming
be saved, the BBC reported. Some people
threw their children from windows and
others jumped from upper floors.
Many got trapped on upper floors as
flames spread rapidly through the build
ing.
One resident who fled from the seventh
floor with his girlfriend and young daugh
ter said wrong of ficial advice may have
led many residents not to leave the com
plex.
Michael Paramasivan said he ignored
official advice to remain inside.
"If we had stayed in that flat, we would
have perished. My gut instinct told me just
to get the girls out. I wrapped the little
one up because of the smoke and I just got
them out," the BBC quoted him as saying.
Some residents reportedly attempted to
use bin bags as makeshift parachutes in a
desperate attempt to escape. Firefighters
rescued large numbers of people, but
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said "a lot" of
people were unaccounted for.
Cotton said the cause of the fire was not
yet known.

Macron's party set May to meet Irish party leader

to win in French on government formation
parliamentary elections
Paris: French President
Emmanuel Macron's centrist La
Republique En Marche is project
ed to win a landslide victory fol
lowing the first round of parlia
mentary elections, the media
reported.
Nearly 48.7 per cent of some
47.5 million eligible voters cast
their ballots in 67,000 voting
centres opened across the coun
try to elect 577 lawmakers to the
lower house of Parliament or the
National Assembly.
With all the ballots counted by
early Monday morning, La
Republique en Marche (Republic
on the Move) and its Mouvement
Democrate (MoDem) allies won a
combined 32.3 per cent of the
vote, while the established Les
Republicains trailed with 15.8
per cent of the vote, reports CNN.
Former presidential candidate
Marine Le Pen's rightwing Front
National party garnered 13.2 per
cent of the vote, but looked to
French
President
Emmanuel
Macron.
win only a smattering of seats.
The Socialists, the party of for
mer President Francois Hollande,
won just 7.4 per cent.
The 39yearold President's
party, founded just a year ago, is
expected to win between 415
and 445 seats in the lower house
when next Sunday's second
round of voting concludes.
Macron's party contested 526
constituencies out of a possible
577 and it put forward 266
women candidates, while 219
come from outside politics.
He has drawn candidates from
a crosssection of society, includ
ing a former bullfighter, a Nobel
Prize winner and a former fighter
pilot. "We are grateful for the
trust you have placed in all the
new faces of the Republic,"
Catherine Barbaroux, the party's
president, told the media.
The final results will be con
firmed after the second round of
voting, CNN reported.
London: UK Prime Minister
Theresa May will meet the leader
of Northern Ireland's Democratic
Unionist Party (DUP) here on
Tuesday seeking support to form
a Conservative minority govern
ment, the media reported.
May will host Arlene Foster in
Downing Street to discuss terms
of the DUP's backing for her
minority government, reports the
BBC. According to sources, the
discussions were likely to focus
on the government's legislative
plans for the year ahead as well
as the upcoming Brexit negotia
tions due to begin on June 19,
and their particular implications
for Northern Ireland's border
with the Republic of Ireland and
trade. The Conservatives were
having to rely on the support of
US not winning in Afghanistan: Defense Secretary
Washington: US Defense Secretary
Jim Mattis said that the United
States is still "not winning" the
longest war in Afghanistan.
"We are not w inning in
Afghanistan right now," Mattis
here on Tuesday at a congressional
hearing, adding: "And we will cor
rect this as soon as possible,"
Xinhua news agency reported.
According to Matt is, the
Pentagon defines the winning in
Afghanistan as a situation where
the Afghan government, with inter
national help, would be able to
handle the violence and drive it
down to a level that local security
forces can handle it. "It would
10 DUP MPs after they fell eight
seats short of winning an overall
majority in the June 8 snap gen
eral election.
May apolog ized to
Conservative MPs, accepting per
sonal responsibility for failing to
win an outright victory and sacri
ficing the parliamentary majority
she inherited from her predeces
probably require residual force
doing training and maintaining the
highend capability," said Mattis.
"It's going to be an era of frequent
skirmishing and it's going to
require a change in our approach
from the last several years if we're
to get it to that position."
Mattis was not the first senior
official of the administration of U.S.
President Donald Trump to pub
licly warn of a dire prospect for the
security situation in Afghanistan.
US National Intelligence Director
Dan Coats also warned last month
that the security situat ion in
Afghanistan would most likely
deteriorate in the future even if the
UK Prime Minister
Theresa May.
sor David Cameron when she
came to power last year follow
ing the UK's vote to exit the
European Union (EU). She told a
meeting of backbenchers that
she had got the party into "this
mess" by calling the snap elec
tion and now "I'll get us out of it".
Her performance was roundly
praised by Conservative MPs.
United States and its allies of fer
more military aid.
The warnings came as Trump
was reportedly considering
whether or not to send additional
hundreds of US troops to
Afghanistan.
Former US President Barack
Obama had planned to reduce the
current number of 9,800 US troops
in Afghanistan to some 5,500 by
the end of 2015 and withdraw all
troops by the end of 2016 when
his presidency came to an end.
However, given the deteriorating
security situation in Afghanistan,
the Obama administration repeat
edly postponed the withdrawal.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
US Fed raises rates, provokes
caution in Indian markets
Washington/Mumbai: T he US
Federal Reserve raised its bench
mark interest rates for the third
t ime since December and
unveiled plans to start trimming
its balance sheet, even as news of
the Fed's re lat ive ly hawkish
stance provoked caution in early
trading in the Indian equity mar
kets, which were trading flat on
Thursday morning.
"In view of realized and expect
ed labor market conditions and
inflation, the FOMC (Federal
Open Market Committee) decided
to raise the target range for the
federal funds rate to 1 to 1.25
per cent," the American central
bank said in a statement after
concluding its twoday monetary
policy meeting. This rate is a 25
basis points increase over the
current one of 0.91 per cent.
People woke up to the news in
Banks have to separately register Remittances by Indians
in each state under GST: Adhia
New Delhi: Banks will need to
make registrations in each state
separately under the GST law so
that they are ready for the new
indirect tax regime rollout from
July 1, Revenue Secretary
Hasmukh Adhia.
"Banks will have to register sep
arately in each state under GST.
They do not have any option. That
is the law under GST. We will try
to ease out any hassles," he told
reporters here after meet ing
heads of public sector banks.
"Banks have to brace up for the
Goods and Services Tax (GST ).
T hey can't say they are not
ready."
Adhia said that among other
things the issue of registration
under GST was discussed. "At the
meeting we sorted out concerns
of the banks. We found all solu
tions for their issues."
The Revenue Secretary said that
whatever issues remain will be
sorted out, adding that it was
more of an information gap as the
Employment gains have been moderate but solid, on average, since
the beginning of the year, and the unemployment rate has declined.
Mumbai, while the Sensit ive
Index (Sensex) of the Bombay
Stock Exchange, which had closed
at 31,155 was trading lower at
working overseas up
Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia.
bankers may not be aware of all
the rules under GST.
"If any small technical issues
remain, we will sort out. It's more
of an information gap. They don't
know the correct position of GST
Law and Rules. Once we explain
the position of law and rules, then
it will be easy," he said.
Moreover, Adhia said that there
should be no doubt over the July
BUSINESS
midday on Thursday at 31,125
points.
Expressing confidence that the
US economy is recovering, the
1 rollout date. "Hundred per cent
we are going to rollout GST from
July 1. I don't know why people
are still doubting," he added.
Bad loans and GST prepared
ness of banks was discussed
among other issues here at the
daylong review meeting of public
sector banks w ith Finance
Minister Arun Jaitley and other
ministry officials.
Federal Reserve said America's
labor market has "continued to
strengthen" and economic activi
ty has been "rising moderately"
so far this year.
Employment gains have been
moderate but solid, on average,
since the beginning of the year,
and the unemployment rate has
declined. Household spending
has picked up in recent months,
and fixed investment by business
has continued to expand.
The statement also said infla
tion "has declined recently" and
in the next 12 months "is expect
ed to remain somewhat below 2
per cent in the near term".
The Bank also outlined its plan
of reducing its balance sheet,
which it expanded by buying
bonds and other securities in
order to tackle the housing crisis
leading up to the great US finan
by 68.6%: UN
United Nations: Indians working
overseas sent home $62.74 bil
lion last year, an increase of
68.6 per cent in the last decade,
according to a UN agency.
India received the most over
seas remittances last year, a
report by the International Fund
for Agricultural Development
(IFAD) issued here on Tuesday
said.
The money sent by Indians
overseas amounted to 3.3 per
cent of India's gross domestic
product, the report said.
Gulf countries were the pri
mary destination for Indian
workers going abroad, with the
US as a "popular destination".
The US led the world as the
country from which the most
remittances $3.6 billion were
made, the IFAD said.
Releasing the report, "Sending
Money Home: Contributing to
June 17-23, 2017 25
cial meltdown in 2008. The plan
would involve halting reinvest
ments of the growing amounts of
maturing securities.
As per data made available, the
previous rate hike by the US cen
tral bank in May had a 0.77 per
cent upward impact on the BSE
Sensex, while the decision to hold
rates in March was impacted by
0.64 per cent.
However recent US rate hikes
have belied fears of capital out
flows from India, with foreign
funds continuing to pump in
huge liquidity into the stock mar
ket.
Riding on ample liquidity and
confidence of the global fund
managers, India's market capitali
sation has crossed a massive $2
trillion. In fact, such volumes
have also provoked calls for cau
tion in handling inflows.
the SD Gs (Sustainable
Development Goals), One Family
at a Time", IFAD President
Gilbert F. Houngbo spoke of the
impact the remittances had on
improving the living standards
of families in the home coun
tries.
"The small amounts of $200
or $300 that each mig rant
sends home make up about 60
per cent of the family's house
hold income, and this makes an
enormous dif ference in their
lives and the communities in
which they live," he said.
More than 800 million family
members are benefiting from
the remittances by over 200
million migrant workers, IFAD
said. It estimated that this year
oneinseven persons in the
world will either send or receive
a share of the $450 billion
transferred globally.
 26 June 17-23, 2017
CT 2017: It is India vs Pakistan final
Birmingham: India cantered to a
ninewicket win over Bangladesh in
a lopsided second semifinal of the
ICC Champions Trophy at the
Edgbaston Stadium here, setting up a
clash with archrivals Pakistan in the
final.
Chasing 265 to win after electing
to field first, the defending champi
ons did not flinch for one moment as
Rohit Sharma scored his 11th career
ton (123 not out) and captain Virat
Kohli notched up his 42nd fifty (96
not out) to stitch up an unbeaten
178run partnership for the second
wicket. India won the match with 59
balls to spare.
While Sharma's innings was laced
with 15 fours and one six, Kohli
smashed 13 boundaries.
Kohli, in the process, became the
fastest cricketer in the world to
reach 8,000 runs in ODIs in just 175
innings. Openers Shikhar Dhawan
and Sharma were off to a rollicking
start in the first six overs.
Leftarm pacer Mustafizur Rahman
was taken to the cleaners as Dhawan
smacked his Indian Premier League
(IPL) teammate for two backtoback
fours in his very first over, while
Sharma hit three boundaries in his
second over. The defending champi
ons raced to 50 in 7.5 overs with
Dhawan hitting a four down the leg
side off Taskin Ahmed to retake the
top spot in the runmaking charts
eclipsing Tamim Iqbal. He followed it
up with a huge six over squareleg.
Warriors wrest NBA crown from Cavs
l By Shiv Chopra
T
he Golden State Warriors
de feated the Cleve land
Cavaliers late Monday night
to win the NBA Finals 41. This
marked an unprecedented playoff
run, going 150 before losing to
the Cavs in game 4. Down by 8
points in the second quarter,
Golden State went on a 212 to go
up by 12 points and they never
looked back. Kevin Durant put up
39 points and became only the
second player to have 5 consecu
tive NBA finals games scoring
more than 30 points.
Unsurprisingly, Durant won
finals MVP and put a plug on all
the hate directed towards him.
How did the Cavs lose? One
major reason is that their bench is
Chasing 265 to win after electing to field first, the defending
champions did not flinch for one moment with
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma at the helm.
After the first 10 overs of mandatory
powerplay, India were 63/0.
India were sailing smoothly when
opposition skipper Mashrafe
Mortaza rocked their ship, getting
the prized wicket of Dhawan, who
had made a quickfire (46; 34b; 7x4,
1x6). Trying to maintain his tempo,
the Delhi batter came down the track
and looked to hit over midoff only
to gift an easy catch to Mosaddek
Hossain at point.
At the other end, Sharma clipped
Shakib Al Hasan down to longon to
bring up his third half century of the
tournament. India got to 100/1 in
16.2 overs with Kohli joining him in
the middle and announcing his
Golden State Warriors won 41, and Durant
became the finals MVP
nowhere as deep as Golden
States. In g ame 5, Warriors
bench outscored the Cavs bench
35 to 7. The lack of a reliable
bench forced LeBron James to
SPORTS
arrival with a Sachin Tendulkar
esque straight drive down the
ground off Mustafizur. He followed it
up with two more boundaries off the
same bowler one over later including
a magnificient cover drive. At the
halfway stage of the innings, India
were cruising at 164/1 needing
another 101 runs for victory when
Sharma hooked Mustafizur for a six
to bring up his century. Earlier, rid
ing on fluent half centuries from
opener Tamim Iqbal and stumper
Mushfiqur Rahim, Bangladesh post
ed 264/7. Tamim (70) and
Mushfiqur (61) posted a 123run
thirdwicket partnership to steady
the Bangladesh ship after the tigers
play for 46 out of the 48 minutes.
He even averaged a tripledouble
in the finals, the first time anyone
is history has done that and yet
Cavs lost. This proves one thing
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Kohli tops ICC ODI batting
chart, Dhawan in top10
Dubai: India skipper Virat Kohli
reclaimed the top batting spot in
the ICC Oneday International
(ODI) rankings surpassing his
South African counterpart AB de
Villiers and Australian David
Warner. Kohli, who had entered
the ongoing ICC Champions
Trophy 22 points behind de
Villiers and 19 points behind
Warner, has leapfrogged the duo
into the number one spot follow
ing knocks of 81 not out against
Pakistan and 76 not out against
South Africa. Indian opener
Shikhar Dhawan has continued
his love affair with the ICC
Champions Trophy by returning
to the top10. The explosive
southpaw has vaulted five places
to 10th position following scores
of 68 against Pakistan, 125
were reduced to 36/2. Pacers
Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2/53) and
Jasprit Bumrah (2/40) maintained a
strict line to halt Bangladesh's scor
ing rate while parttimer Kedar
Jadhav (2/22) emerged as the sur
prise package.
Despite Bhuvneshwar sweeping up
opener Soumya Sarkar (0) and one
down Sabbir Rahman (19), the
for the NBA: one player cannot do
it all no matter how good that
player is, you need a full team of
strong players to win the champi
onship.
Many sports commentators and
bloggers said that Golden State in
on the verge of creating a dynasty
like the 92 Bulls or the 59
Celtics.
They have arguably 4 of the
best players in the NBA: Stephen
Curry, Durant, Draymond Green,
and Klay Thompson, and all of
them are at their prime below the
age of 30. If Golden State can
keep the team together, they will,
as former Celtics Star Paul Pierce
said, create the Golden Dynasty.
They need to work with a lot of
moving pieces if they want to
keep the team together. 10 play
against Sri Lanka and 78 against
South Africa. Dhawan's rise means
his teammates Rohit Sharma and
former captain Mahendra Singh
Dhoni have slipped one place each
to 13th and 14th, respectively,
while Yuvraj Singh has gained six
places and is now on the 88th
spot. Among the bowlers, pacer
Bhuvneshwar Kumar has led the
charge by vaulting 13 places to
share 23rd spot with
Afghanistan's Hamza Hotak.
Umesh Yadav has gained two
places and is now 41st, while
Jasprit Bumrah is 43rd after ris
ing three places. However, India's
spinners have slipped in the latest
rankings with Ravichandran
Ashwin dropping two places to
20th and Ravindra Jadeja falling
three places to 29th.
counterattacking intent from the
Bangladesh batsmen kept the score
board ticking.
Kohli's gamble to bowl Jadhav
after allrounder Hardik Pandya was
smashed all over the park, worked
wonders for the team as the offspin
ner managed to break the century
stand between Tamim and
Mushfiqur.
ers will become free agents this
summer. Steph Curry, one of the
10, has been one of the most
underpaid stars in the NBA but
this summer hes in line to receive
the largest NBA contract ever,
$200 million over 5 years.
Whether Golden State can hold
on to Iguodala, Livingston, and
West, key bench players, will
depend on how much money
Durant takes.
He may take less money than he
is worth like Curry did for years
to allow them to stay. We know
one thing for certain though,
Golden State will be paying a lot
of money to keep as many players
as they can on the team and if
they are successful, no one will be
able to touch them for years to
come.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info June 17-23, 2017
 28 June 17-23, 2017 LIFESTYLE TheSouthAsianTimes.info

British men more inclined to Brazil's stressed out shantytown

buy shoes than women: Survey dwellers to do yoga
London: British men are less reliant on
their "goto shoe", reveals a survey.
Data from consumer analyst Mintel
found men are choosing to expand their
shoe collections and are becoming more
adventurous with their footwear choic
es, reports telegraph.co.uk.
More than one in 10 (12 per cent) of
men have bought over three pairs of
shoes in the past year alone, it found,
suggesting the days of their wearing
just one or two pairs of shoes for every
occasion may be coming to an end.
The findings also reveal that men are
buying more clothes than women.
Young men were more like ly than
young women to have bought footwear
in the last quarter (47 per cent of male
1624s versus 45 per cent of female 16
24s), the survey found.
Analysts conclude this to the rising
popularity of trainers and bolder shoe
styles driving men's footwear sales and
encouraging them to add up more to
their collection. Overall, the British male
clothing market grew at twice the rate
of the women's equivalent last year,
coinciding with the start of London
Fashion Week Men's show.
Brasilia: A new program is
introducing people in some
shanty towns in Rio de
Janeiro to yoga, teaching
residents of some of Brazil's
poorest areas how to deal
with the stress caused by
the constant violence
around them.
Residents of the Alemao,
The menswear market is estimated to
Mare, Cidade de Deus and
have grown by 2.8 per cent in 2016 to
Cantagalo shantytowns,
hit 14.5 billion pounds, compared with
where shootouts occur on
the 1.3 per cent rise seen in the
an almost daily basis, are
women's market, analysts said.
learning breathing, stretch
Tamara Sender, senior fashion analyst
ing and other yoga tech
at Mintel, said: "While men overall buy
niques, thanks to the RAS
fewer dif ferent types of shoes than
program launched by the
women, men aged under45 have Rio de Janeiro's shantytowns
Art of Living group in the
become more experimental with their
poor areas. from teenagers to adults.
shoe choices."
Violence "causes individuals to reach their Joedson, a 13yearold boy, told EFE he did
"Mintel's research shows that men
stress limit", the program's coordinator, Lanusia not like life in the Alemao shantytown complex
aged 2544 are now more likely than
Cavalcante, told Efe news. because "everything is very intense" from "the
women of the same age to be motivated
"That's how you deal with emotional prob music to strolling down the street, it's not
to update their footwear because of a
lems, with yoga and the breathing you help peaceful." The boy convinced one of his friends,
new fashion trend.
reduce the problems from stress, relax and Matheus, to take the yoga class.
"Men aged 2534 are driving footwear
achieve internal peace. That's the goal, to have Rio de Janeiro, according to Amnesty
purchases and are most likely to have
internal peace," Cavalcante said. Internat ional figures, reg istered 1,771
bought three or more different types of
Participants in the yoga classes range in age shootouts in the first quarter of 2017.
footwear in the last 12 months."

Indian bridal wear gaining 30minute workout may make

recognition world over: Designer
New Delhi: Designer Abhinav Mishra, who has opened a new
bridal store Leela here, says bridal wear is the primary
market for India and the segment is gaining recogni
tion the world over.
"In the Indian fashion industry, I see bridal
wear as the primary market. We Indians are
sentimental towards our traditions and this
sentiment keeps the bridal wear market a
steady and consistent one. This segment
is growing steadily and we are gaining
recognition the world over," Mishra
told IANS.
Mishra's new store at Shahpur Jat
here focuses on bridal wear and is
a move to expand into this area.
Known for his cut mirrorwork
and dreamy silhouettes, he is
growing his label into territories
across India and internationally.
Asked how easily a designer's
creation is copied in the local
market with majority of them
making replicas of bridal wear, he
said: "Replication has always been
a part of the fashion industry, and
now social media has made it even
easier.
"It has never had a very markable
impact on the design market and shall
not in the future as long as designers
take out authentic, new design solutions
for the masses. I personally use this as
inspiration to do better with each season
and create newer and original products.
"Ultimately, quality is what counts and you get
that from the original designer and discerning
fashion buyers will always remain mindful about that,"
he added.
(Image courtesy: pinterest)
women stronger, thinner: Study
Toronto: A single
exercise session
lasting for just 30
minutes can have
an immediate posi
t ive e f fect on
women who fee l
neg at ive about
their bodies, and
make them fee l
strong and thin
ner, a study has
found.
T he results
showed that com
pared to women (Image courtesy: isaaclanelovel.com)
who did not exer
cise, the women who undertook a 30 the team compared the body image
minute exercise session had signifi and physical perceptions of women
cant improvements in their body who completed 30 minutes of moder
ate aerobic exercise with those who
image.
Further, the positive ef fect which sat and read.
"We all have those days when we
lasted at least 20 minutes postexer
don't feel great about our bodies. This
cise led them to perceive themselves
study shows one way to feel better is
as more stronger and thinner.
"Women, in general, have a tendency to get going and exercise. The effects
to feel negatively about their bodies," can be immediate," Ginis noted.
said Kathleen Martin Ginis, Professor Further, the study may also act as a
at the University of British Columbia gateway for developing maximally
Okanagan in Canada. ef fective body imageenhancing exer
"This is a concern because poor body cise interventions.
image can have harmful implications "We think that the fee lings of
for a woman's psychological and phys strength and empowerment women
ical health including increased risk for achieve post exercise stimulate an
low selfesteem, depression and for improved internal dialogue," Ginis
eating disorders. This study indicates said.
exercise can have an immediate posi "This in turn should generate posi
tive effect," Ginis added. tive thoughts and feelings about their
For the study, published in the jour bodies which may replace the all too
nal Psychology of Sport and Exercise, common negative ones," she stated.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Is guru
greater
than God?
abir was a levelheaded saint
K
poet, almost an iconoclast,
who cut through much
mumbojumbo surrounding reli
gion and spirituality. So one listens
intently when he proclaims, Guru
Gobind dono khare, kake lagon
paye, Balihari guru aapne jin
Gobind diyo milaye (Both God and
Guru are standing in front of me,
who should I prostate to? I choose
the Guru, of course, because I owe
everything to one who was instru
mental in my meeting God.)
Guru Gita (part of Skanda Purana)
goes one further, and equates guru
with God.
Gurur Brahma gurur Vishnu
gurur Devo Maheshwarah, Guru
sakshat par Brahman tasmai shri
guruvai namnah. (Guru is the cre
ator Brahma, Guru is the preserver
Vishnu, as well as the destroyer
Siva. Guru is verily the Supreme
Spirit I offer my salutations to
this Guru.)
These days we often hear of a
marketing guru, a media guru, and
so on. But here, of course, we are
talking about guru as in spiritual
teacher. Etymologically, in Sanskrit
the syllable gu means shadows,
and the syllable ru, one who dis
perses them. So the guru has the
power and the wherewithal to dis
perse the darkness of ignorance
and bring us into the light of knowl
edge of the True Self.
In simple terms, a guru is an
enlightened master who helps us to
tune in to the voice of God within
our hearts and silences the voices
of lust, anger, greed, envy, illusion
and madness. He helps us to see the
Lord within the hearts of humans
and other beings. The guru does
not tell us what to do but clears the
dust on the mirror of our hearts so
the reflection of the Lord can shine
through us.
Why do we need a guru? If you
want to learn mathematics or any
academic subject, you go to school
and learn from the teachers of
those disciplines. If you want to
learn music, you go to a music
teacher. Similarly, to pursue spiritu
ality, you will progress faster if you
learn from a spiritual teacher.
You may be wondering can one
find a Satguru in America of all
places! Well, people living in the
New York and New Jersey and sur
rounding areas are fortunate to
have an opportunity now to be able
to experience in person the divine
presence of an enlightened master
and perfect Satguru, rahmrishi Sri
RELIGION June 17-23, 2017 29
Blessings and discourses
by Brahmrishi Sri
Guruvanand Ji Swami
June 23, 5.308.30 pm
Community Center Auditorium
Holly Avenue, Flushing, NY 11355
June 24, 3.007.00 pm
Wheatley School, 11 Bacon Rd,
Old Westbury, NY 11568
Brahmrishi Sri Guruvanand Ji Swami is visiting the NYNJ later this month.
June 25, 3.007.00 pm
Hindu Community Center
156 Schuyler Ave, Kearney,
NJ 07032
Website for free registration:
GurujiUSAvisit.com
Phone numbers:
New York: 5162922225
and 5167073796
New Jersey: 9735132246
and 2013215961
Guruvanand Ji Swami. He is one of
the few living Satgurus who have
invoked all chakras of their
Kundalini. His devotees, who call
him Gurudev, talk of endless bless
ings after coming in contact with
him. Hear Diane, a devotee of
Gurudev, relate her own shaktipat
experience: After meeting
Gurudev I was touched by him and
my meditation the next morning
was different. I worked through
some old unrest and fears during
meditation. He is a powerful figure
for good in the world.
Adds Apra Bhandari of Los
Angeles, Just being in his presence
makes me feel like I can get
through any obstacle that comes
my way. He guides us towards a
more balanced and aware lifestyle.
His aura has the power to make
everything around us happy and
positive. For those who have not
yet come in contact with Sri
Guruvanand ji, he has made his
lifes mission to help and guide us
all along the path he has treaded,
irrespective of caste, creed or reli
gious belief. A disciple of revered
Yogiraj Devraha Baba, who is
believed to have lived to the age of
250, Sri Guruvanand Swami
attained his spiritual powers after
45 years of rigorous sadhana. A
renowned scholar of Hinduism,
Jainism and Indian philosophy,
Guruji also has a deep understand
ing of Christianity, Islam, Sikhism,
Jainism, and Buddhism. So, he is
able to explain and relate the spiri
tual process to the tradition a devo
tee belongs to.
30 June 17-23, 2017 ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Saif to cohost IIFA

Irrfan's 'Doob' heads to in New York with
Karan Johar
Shanghai for world premiere
D
irector Mostofa Sarwar Farooki's Bangladeshi But the filmmaker denied that it was a
bilingual film "Doob No Bed Of Roses", star biopic.
ring actor Irrfan Khan, will have its world Irrfan is currently shooting in
premiere at the 20th Shanghai International New York for his upcoming
Film Festival. Hollywood project "Puzzle" with
The film, coproduced by Abdul Aziz and Kelly Macdonald. He is trying
Irrfan under the banner of Jaaz Multimedia to adjust his schedule and fly
and Irrfan Khan Films, revolves around to China to attend the
members of two families who discover love Shanghai International
for each other when the head of a family Film Festival.
dies. Amongst his Bollywood
"Doob No Bed Of Roses", which has projects, Irrfan can current
received a No Objection Certificate from the ly be seen in "Hindi
Bangladesh Film Development Corp (BFDC), also Medium", which also fea ollywood star Saif Ali Khan is to cohost the
features Nusrat Imrose Tisha, Rokeya Prachy
and Parno Mittra.
The film will premiere on June 25 at the film
tures Pakistani actress Saba
Qamar. B 18th edition of the International Indian Film
Academy Awards in New York next month.
Saif said in a statement: "I am happy to be back to
festival, which is scheduled to be held June 1726. the IIFA stage this year as I join my close friend
The movie was in news earlier this year when it The film will premiere on Karan Johar to host the IIFA Awards July 15.
emerged that it had been banned in Bangladesh for June 25 at the film fest. "The excitement for IIFA has been steadily grow
being loosely based on late Bangladeshi writer ing worldwide. This year it's going to be super fun
and filmmaker Humayun Ahmed. and glamorous in every way as Karan and I are
It was said the movie was about going to have lots of surprises in store for our fans."
Ahmed, who divorced his wife To be held at the MetLife Stadium, IIFA gala will
of 27 years and married an feature performances by Bollywood stars Salman
actress 33 years his junior. Khan, Alia Bhatt, Katrina Kaif, Shahid Kapoor,
Sushant Singh Rajput and Kriti Sanon, to name a

T
he Bollywood grapevine is abuzz that few. A day before the main awards gala, IIFA Rocks
real life husband and wife Abhishek will regale the audience with a celebration of 25
Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan years of Oscar winning talent A.R. Rahman. It will
Still in talks: are coming together for a film. But
Abhishek says they are still in talks and
also feature a medley of musicians.
This is the second time that the IIFA is taking
Abhishek on that he would rather have the producer
make the announcement.
place in the US. It was earlier held in Tampa Bay in
2014.

lm with The two actors are reportedly being cast

in Anurag Kashyap's production titled

Aishwarya "Gulab Jamun".

Asked about it, Abhishek told the media:
'Dangal' star Zaira
"That film is not directed by Anurag Kashyap.
It will have a new director and will be produced
Wasim rescued
by Anurag Kashyap. We are still in talks with Anurag
about that and right now we can't announce anything
because I feel the producer is the right person when it comes to
from Dal Lake
announcing a film."
Abhishek spoke on the sidelines of the 20year celebration of
the movie "Border".
"Border" was directed by J.P. Dutta, who also gave Abhishek
Bachchan his Bollywood debut "Refugee".
Talking about his equation with Dutta, Abhishek said: "I am
here as an actor because of J. P. Dutta and I owe them (Dutta
and J.P. Films) everything."

The duo is reportedly being cast in 'Gulab'.

'Indian men won't find many roles in Hollywood'

V
eteran actor Gulshan Grover says
Indian women have a better
chance at getting a leading role in
a Hollywood film as compared to men.
The actor, who has worked in interna
tional projects like "Beeper", "Blind
Ambition", "Desperate Endeavours" and
"Indian women are beautiful, exotic,
stunning and very very talented. Indian
men are very handsome and talented but
I don't see a film with Brad Pitt and
Salman Khan," Gulshan said. He went on
Zaira was rescued by some local people.
to explain his point. "Because if I'm mak

"Prisoners Of The Sun", observed that he
doesn't foresee big names like Brad Pitt
and Salman Khan working together on a
film.
Gulshan shared his views in an inter
view at Indus Vox Media's new podcast
titled "Bollywood Scene Stealers", read a
statement from the digital media produc
tion company.
Z
ing a film with Brad Pitt, I don't need aira Wasim, a Kashmiri actor who was seen
another Indian superstar for 810 million in Aamir Khan's blockbuster movie "Dangal",
dollars at the box office. I'm looking at was miraculously rescued by locals here after
the whole world. Whereas if I'm taking a her car fell into the Dal Lake.
superstar from here, the parts have to be The car in which Zaira Wasim was traveling
equal, the salaries are a problem. So it went out of the driver's control on the Boulevard
won't happen, it'll be a smaller part." Road here and fell into the Dal Lake.
"Locals immediately rescued her and her com
Gulshan Grover at the screening of
panion. She escaped unhurt, but her companion
'Pirates of The Caribbean'.
sustained injuries in the accident," a local said.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info BOOKS AND MEDIA June 17-23, 2017 31

The often ignored hand that rocks

By Vikas Datta
the Islamist cradle Pakistan as well as in Australia.
This is carried further in the next

F
or every Malala Yousufzai or
even Benazir Bhutto, there is
also an Apa Nisar Fatima,
who applauded Zia ul Haq's
Islamisation drive, the batonwield
ing girl students of Lal Masjid's
seminary or Tashfeen Malik of the
2015 St Bernardino attack.
Pakistani women's presence in pub
lic/political Islam, or Islamism, has
been quite complex but hasn't
received as much attention or
analysis as their male counterparts.
At its very basic, it raises ques
tions whether this overt religiosity
is imposed or voluntary, and what
do these women themselves think
or seek?
Attempts have been made to
answer these in say, Rafia Zakaria's
mix of the personal and public in
"T he Upstairs Wife" or Mona
Kanwal Sheikh's "Guardians of God
Inside the Religious Mind of the
Pakistani Taliban", which also fea
ture the principal of Jamia Hafsa,
the girls' seminary of Lal Masjid,
but it gets overshadowed by the
rest.
Aneela Zeb Babar, a researcher on
Islam, gender, migration and popu
lar culture for nearly two decades in
academia and development agen
cies in South and Southeast Asia,
and Australia, tries to fill this gap
and goes a long way towards it.
T his book, she says, came in
response to continuous requests to
explain why Malala faces so much
We are all
Revolutionaries Here -
Militarism, Political
Islam and Gender in
Pakistan;
by Aneela Zeb Babar;
Sage Publications
India;
Pages: 196;
Price: Rs 695
opprobrium, why Pakistani women
can justify the Council on Islamic
Ideology's section allowing men to
"lightly beat their wives" and the
like. "Perhaps one day I became
nervous about how I felt genera
tions of South Asians were con
demned to repeat history, or that
more things changed for the region,
the more our neighbourhood was
eager to make sure they remained
Women's Islamism in action: The students of women's seminary in
Islamabad's Lal Masjid at the height of its controversy.
the same," she says.
In her attempt to "decipher the
country's convoluted equation
between militarism, political Islam
and gender politics compounded by
the crisis of governance and socio
economic tensions", Babar does not
seek to present a comprehensive,
interrelated account but focuses on
some key manifestations religious
education and observance and the
"hijab" (including in the diaspora),
nationalist public discourse and Lal
Masjid.
She uses a multimethodological
approach, including observation,
personal and group interviews,
attending sessions of Al Huda inter
national seminary (to which
Tashfeen Malik was associated) as
well as key texts, like the 19th cen
tury Maulana Ali Ashraf Thanvi's
"Beheshti Zevar" on conduct on
"proper" Muslim women, still used.
She begins by seeking to under
stand why a significant section of
Pakistanis are so attracted by radi
cal Islam, and contends this lies in
shifting definitions of national iden
tity (acquiring more religious con
tours over the years), and its impact
on education, particularly the grow
ing fondness for Islamic education.
Introducing a number of "hybrid
madarsas", she also has a telling
account of a visit to a girls seminary
on the PunjabKhyberPakhtunkhwa
border.
Subsequently, comes the issue of
the "hijab" not only one of the
most recognisable (and con
tentious) symbols of a Muslim
woman but also part of a politicised
Islamic identity and seeks to
understand the reasons and justifi
cations of those who use it, in
chapter in an examination of the
religious and cultural life of women
at home as well as the the diaspora,
as they try to remain "good
Muslims". In the second case espe
cially, they only isolate themselves
a finding that will have major reso
nance for the West where such siz
able communities are found.
Babar next analyses the "texts of
war", particularly in context of the
1998 IndiaPakistan nuclear tests,
and the gendered construct they
foisted, which has not been shaken
by a woman Prime Minister or
women in combat roles, including
as fighter pilots. Lastly, it is the
story of the Lal Masjid told by Jamia
Hafsa's principal.
The account is not very comfort
ing with her counterintuitive but
pessimistic findings of women
choosing to sequestrate themselves
in a rather restrictive millieu as well
as seeking to foster unthinking con
formity, without any realisation that
they only further the cause of those
who have created this divisions, by
misreading or design.
While, at times, her language is a
bit academicoriented, she does
make up with telling anecdotes and
insights, including personal. And
while she makes no bones about the
uphill work required to deal with
this trend, it would be a travesty to
think it as only exclusively Pakistani
or Islamic. Remember, she said the
South Asian neighborhood.

Print media will no longer be king: US media educator

By Vishal Narayan
New Delhi: Print will no longer be the domi
nant media as it is being replaced by the dig
ital medium that is rapidly becoming the
arbiter of public discourse, says a well
known US media educator who has taken up
a teaching assignment in India.
Tom Goldstein, former Dean of the
Columbia School of Journalism who is set to
become the Founding Dean of the Jindal
School of Journalism and Communication,
believes thatprint will never occupy the
dominant position, which it enjoyed until
recently, and marked out digital media for
its malleability and cheapness over the old
medium for the decline of print worldwide.
However, Goldstein, a reporter himself for
quite a number of years, refuses to endorse
the growing perception about the falling
standards in journalism, insisting that jour
nalism has improved markedly over the last
generation, and has, contrary to popular
perception, become more professionalized.
Of course, there are still notable ethical
lapses among journalists, but I believe they
are significantly fewer now than 50 years
ago. Journalists certainly have a greater
awareness now of what is right and appro
priate, the former reporter who has written
for Newsday, Associated Press, Wall Street
Journal and New York Times told IANS in an
email interview.
He is also not unaware of the dif ferent
intellectual climate which he will have to
contend with in India and admits to the need
to acquaint himself in the social, historical
and political milieu of the country and to
learn the special nature of the Indian set
ting.
I have great ambitions for the journalism
school, but I do not want to overpromise. I
hope that the g raduates w ill be clear
thinkers with a deep understanding of histo
ry and public af fairs, and that they will
become leaders of journalism in India and
internationally, he added.
On local US politics and Trumps rise, the
former member of the Pulitzer Prize Board
blamed the media for not seeing it coming
and ignoring the electorate.
I think the simplest explanation is that
people were ready for a change, and Trump
provided that. I think many in the media did
not give enough importance to the restless
ness of the electorate, he said. He rubbished
the notion of American media swearing
strictly by either of the two principal politi
cal parties saying that the partisanship in
American media is exaggerated.
With the exception of Fox and MSNBC,
most in the American media strive for non
partisanship. And you must remember that
cable news channels like Fox draw small
audiences. Sometimes we attribute far more
influence to these channels than they actual
ly have, he explained.
Despite having over 20 years of experi
ence as a teacher and dean, Goldstein con
fesses his inability to generalise what a good
reporter is like, but pointed out a few com
mon traits anyway.
Some of the best reporters are insatiably
curious, hardworking and stubborn individ
uals who possess an innate sense of social
justice, he said.
 32 June 17-23, 2017 HUMOR TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Funny Side by Nury Vittachi

THOUGHTS ON HOW WEIRD LIFE IS JUST NOW

T
HE KIDS WERE NOT really
listening to me so I told them
that Justin Bieber had just
been outed as an alien from the
Helix Nebula here to kidnap Taylor
Swift.
Instant full attention.
***
Some folks disapprove of my
methods, but the fact is, theres no
proof he isnt.
And no one thinks that guys nor
mal, right?
***
The extreme weirdness of life
these days was brought home to me
by a news report I just read that a
woman named Tina Gorjanc is using
DNA from her hero, late fashion
designer Alexander McQueen, to
grow his skin which she plans to
turn into a jacket.
Imagine her wearing it to a posh
restaurant.
Maitre d: May I hang up your
jacket, madam?
Gorjanc: Yes, but leave the cloak
room door open. Alex doesnt like
the dark.
***
I wondered why she would make
a McQueenskin garment instead of
growing a whole new McQueen?
first question onto one of those
websites that provide answers, and
some guy eventually wrote that sci
entists were not actively working
on cloning human beings except in
China.
This makes no sense.
Do they not have enough people
in China?
***
The high level of weirdness in
modern life was reinforced by a
reader who sent a recent news
report about a UK man who identi
fies as a vampire.
T he 25yearold has legally
changed his name to Darkness and
sleeps in a coffin every night.
Everyone has their beliefs and I
dont believe I should be persecuted
for following mine, Darkness told
the Lancashire Telegraph newspa
per.
Being British, Darkness is a bit too
wellbred to bite his neighbors, so
I also wondered whether I could he orders packs of human blood
get some Taylor Swift to send me substitute from medical suppliers.
her DNA? ***
Hi, Taylz, instead of a signed Forgive my cynicism, but thats
photo, could you not really the same, is it?
scrape the inside If the Dracula legend had been
of your cheek about a guy sitting waiting for an
onto this med Amazon delivery, the whole vam
ical spatula and pire scene would never have taken
return it to me? off.
Thanks! ***
*** One of my colleagues has just told
I posted that me that she once interviewed a self
proclaimed vampire who said that
blood tastes metallic.
When vampires need a snack,
they suck coins, she said.
***
The reporter also said the vam
pire was a pain in the neck, and
interviewing her really sucked.
And now you know why journal
ists have bruises on they shins.
T heir addiction to corny puns
makes them eminently kickable.
***
The really weird thing is that a
financial reporter friend told me
that science may support the vam
pire theory.
A US company named Ambrosia
(which means food of the gods)
wants to inject young peoples
blood into older folk.
They were inspired by a group of
scientists who injected young
mouse blood into older mice and
got signs of a return to youthful
ness.
I assume this means the older
mice instantly became addicted to
sending impenetrable emojiladen
messages to each other on smart
phones.
***
W hatever. Anyway, if Taylor
sends me a bit of her DNA, Ill try to
grow my own and report back on
the results.
My office door may be locked for
some time.

Laughter is the Best Medicine

BEST
RATE
FOR
INDIA
AND
PAKISTAN

New York Head Quarter

422S Broadway
HICKSVILLE
NY 11801
By Mahendra Shah
5168271010 Mahendra Shah is an architect by education, entrepreneur by profession, artist
and humorist, cartoonist and writer by hobby. He has been recording the plight
of the immigrant Indians for the past many years in his cartoons.
Hailing from Gujarat, he lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
By Dr Prem Kumar Sharma
JUNE 1723, 2017
ARIES: Remain selfconfident & deter
mined. This is the secret mantra of suc
ceeding at work. Enjoying the company
of close relatives will brighten your evening.
Longterm investment in stocks & mutual funds
will enable to earn profits. Sudden romantic
encounter will lift your spirits. You attain a
bloom in health on sharing happiness with oth
ers. Your travel experience is going to be an
extent of sharing your knowledge and commu
nication. Selling your plot might increase your
bank balance. Dont get surprised if an unex
pected gift comes to your way today.
TAURUS: Timely and swift action would
give an edge over others at professional
front. A week when misunderstandings
at family front are sorted out with ease. A new
financial deal gets finalized paving the way for
fresh money. Someones timely help would
enable visualizing succeeding in love. Chances
of recovering from physical ailment are high.
Your trip will be beneficiary for work but not
for your personal life. Your investment can be
done on a cheap or smaller piece of land. You
are likely to be very diplomatic in handling
opponents.
GEMINI: Colleagues and subordinates
will lend a helping hand enabling to
complete the work on time. Avoid late
night parties and wasting valuable time other
wise it will irritate family members. Better to
ignore those who come for temporary loans to
you in this week. Romantic imagination would
keep you in a jovial & cheerful mood. Health
would remain fine despite a busy schedule but
dont take it for granted. Being extra ordinary
comfortable on an of ficial trip might af fect
your work. Family can be helpful on acquiring
your property or plot. You benefit by your
depth of understanding on solving complicated
problems of friends.
CANCER: Success in completing diffi
cult assignments brings a lot of laurels
at work. Believe it or not someone in
the family is watching you closely and consid
ers you a role model. Financial position will
improve later in the week. Romance suffers as
mood of partner might oscillate quickly. Body
pain and stress related problems cant be ruled
out. Your next journey is to a place which is full
of natural beauty and ravishing. Put together a
few ideas to help you in purchasing a lodge.
Forcing opinion in friend circle will disappoint
all.
LEO: Selfconfident would enable to con
vey your point of view with ease a work
place. An important development at per
sonal front brings jubilation for entire family.
Real estate investment would be lucrative. The
company of love partner makes you forget
about the work. Cataract patients must avoid
overexposure to sunlight. Time for a vacation,
sit back and relax. Dont shift from your rental
house, its not the right time to shift on your
own property. Choice of activities would bring
you gains far beyond your expectations.
VIRGO: Your efforts to put yourself in a
strong position at workplace are not
likely to materialize. Overindulgence in
outdoor activities at the cost of studies would
invite parental wrath. Travel undertaken for
monetary gains will fall short of expectations.
Blindly following the lover/beloved would cheat
you. Wrong decisions of the past could cause
frustration & mental stress. Vacation plannings
might go wrong so keep an eye on it. Its time
to invest in property and get most profitable
method to maximize your bank balance. This
Weeks success mantra: dont make commit You will be utterly delighted on receiving unex
ments unless sure to honor them.
ASTROLOGY
LIBRA: Calculated risks would enables
to complete the project on time. You will
find it very difficult to fulfill everyones
demands at family front. A new source of income
will generate through influential contacts.
Attending a social event/family function brings a
romantic encounter. Stress is likely to resultin
minor mental tension. Take immediate step to
wither it. Time to relax and unwind for few days.
If you wish to achieve a good deal in property
then try at commercial basis. You are likely to
learn new skills to discover more about yourself.
SCORPIO: Use sharp thinking and ability
to formulate quick strategies to bring
positive results. A happy time in the
company of friends and relatives as they do
many favours to you. Investment in stocks &
mutual funds would help in earning profits.
Avoid raising controversial issues in love rather
enjoy the company. Inexhaustible energy
enables to participate in outdoor activities. If
you are thinking of escaping from the hectic
daily routine plan a trip. Investing overseas
can provide you new business opportunities.
Engaging yourself with some voluntary work
would help in looking yourself positively.
SAGITTARIUS: Businessmen are likely
to suf fer some setbacks on failing to
meet the deadline. Shopping with fami
ly members will be highly pleasurable and
exciting. Improvement in finances is certain.
You are likely to suf fer indif ference in love
which might make you tense. A cheerful state of
mind would allow enjoying the perfect health.
Traveling for long can be stressful and tedious.
There are chances of disputes among the rela
tives regarding ancestral property. Inability to
channelize & harness your energy will disap
point you.
CAPRICORN: Mental clarity gives a deci
sive edge over all competitors at profes
sional front. Do not share personal mat
ters with casual acquaintances otherwise it will
disappoint family members. Be secretive about
your investments and future goals. Make sure
you dont surrender yourself under physical pas
sions to save romantic bond. Make sure you
avoid everything that affects your health. Your
journey might be af fected when you begin to
yearn for your work. Investing abroad might
bring some hassles on legal ground. If possible
avoid disappointment on failures.
AQUARIUS: Selfconfidence & disci
pline will be required to bring positive
results in competitive examinations.
You will be at the limelight in a social gathering
provided you attend. Speculation coupled with
some unexpected gains improves financial
health. If possible avoid wearing clothes, which
could of fend love partner. Divine knowledge
from a saintly person provides solace & com
fort. Your official trip is must dont under esti
mate it; otherwise you will be in trouble.
Investing internationally means you have to fol
low their laws on real estate. Court matters
might go in your favor but restrain your over
whelming joy.
PISCES: Professional front will need
more devotion. Relatives are likely to
crave for attention, which you find diffi
cult to fulfill. Losses are certain if investment is
made without proper guidance. Dont worry
everything changes with time so will your
romantic life. Confusion might leave you
stranded preventing from deciding what to do
next. Its time for a vacation after a long and
hard year at work. Buyers will get attracted to
your property as your property value is good.
your financial position, saving would not be
pected accolades.
Chandigarh, India: +91-172- 256 2832, 257 2874
Delhi, India: +91-11- 2644 9898, 2648 9899
psharma@premastrologer.com; www.premastrologer.com
ANNUAL PREDICTIONS: FOR THOSE BORN IN THIS WEEK
17th June, 2017
Ruled by number 8 and the planet Saturn.
You are energetic, hardworking, courageous,
trustworthy and friendly. You are a great
admirer of literature and good music and you
like to associate with likeminded people, but
you need to control your tendency to behave
impatient, erratic and destructive at times.
This year your confidence will grow. You
would benefit from remarkable business
entrepreneur skills. New projects and assign
ments would be plenty enhancing your pros
perity. Govt. and judicial favours for some.
Some misunderstanding with your spouse
might bring uneasy moments at home. Later
in the year some exhilarating news from over
seas will boost up the spirits of the entire
family. Travelling would be beneficial for
building new alliances. New romances for
some. Health of an infant in the family might
cause some concern. The months of August,
November, January and April will be highly
significant.
18th June, 2017
Governed by number 9 and the planet
Mars. You are adventurous, sensitive, coura
geous, systematic and dashing. You are full of
enthusiasm and very helpful, but you need to
control your tendency to behave impatient,
short tempered and shy at times.
This year you should expect new assign
ments and would hold position of important
responsibilities. Your financial position stabi
lizes as past investments start raking profits.
Improved finances bring in prosperity and
happiness at domestic level. Good year for
girls and women as far as romance is con
cerned. Some gains through inheritance or
expensive gifts from relatives cannot be ruled
out. Frequent travel would be undertaken
bringing good monetary rewards. Distant
journey maybe overseas for some later in the
year. Avoid lending or borrowing money.
August, November, February and July will be
highly significant.
19th June, 2017
Ruled by number one and the Sun. You are
active, confident, intelligent, original and
helpful person. You possess a strong willpow
er and you always strive to stay ahead of oth
ers, but you need to control your tendencies
towards behaving introvert, fickleminded
and careless at times.
The coming year would bring you financial
gains and happiness. You shall leave no stone
unturned to achieve your goals. Businessmen
will venture into new and more profitable
avenues. Investment in stocks and real estate
would be highly beneficial. Property disputes
if any would get settled to your satisfaction.
Health of your spouse would be a matter of
concern. Increase in your medical expenses
seems likely. Time spent with friends would
be worthwhile, as they would be supportive
to your concerns. Meditation and Yoga will
prove to highly rewarding especially for spiri
tual as well as physical gains. Renovation or
new construction towards the yearend.
Expecting mothers need to take care of their
health. August, November, March and April
will be eventful.
20th June, 2017
Influenced by number 2 and the Moon. You
are confident, emotional, imaginative, simple
and warm hearted. You enjoy enormous
respect amongst your friends, but you need to
check your tendency to behave stubborn, vin
dictive and lazy at times.
Although there would be improvement in
highly significant.
June 17-23, 2017 33
as expected. Sudden unforeseen expenses
would always keep you in a financial crunch.
Increase in responsibility or a change in job
for some. New foreign contact or a financial
transaction will bring handsome results. A
sudden influence of a spiritual person will
have a deep impact on your personality.
Spouse will be understanding and provide
you with love and affection. Ancestral gains
for some. Watch out from acquaintances who
behave extra friendly. Friends will be support
ive and helpful. New romance for those unat
tached adds a zing to their dull life. The
months of October, February and June will
prove to be significant.
21st June, 2017
Ruled by number 3 and the planet Jupiter.
You are energetic, ambitious, dignified, and
kindhearted person. You are a good listener
and an able administrator and you have an
ability to handle things perfectly even under
pressure, but you need to control your ten
dency to dominate and behave stubborn at
times. This year your employer would appre
ciate your confidence and enthusiasm. You
would be able to accomplish many tasks that
you earlier thought as impossible. Monetary
benefits would accrue from new contacts.
Pleasure trips or friendly gettogethers will
be exciting and intellectually stimulating.
Family members will be supportive and
friends will be helpful. Minor domestic ten
sions and stress will bother you. Health needs
extra care therefore be careful of what you
consume. The months of October, January
and April will bring desired results.
22nd June, 2017
Influenced by number 4 and the planet
Uranus. You are active, practical, enthusiastic,
courageous and highly philosophical person.
You are very proud of your traditions, culture
and rituals. You are highly religious and pos
sess a very sharp mind, but you need to check
your tendency to behave impatient and stub
born at times.
Your communication skills and charms
would impress those around you. Your
income would improve, but your expenses
would be errat ic which would make it
extremely dif ficult for you to save. New
romance for those unattached, but your work
is likely to suf fer if you keep fantasizing
about this special person. You should not let
anything interfere with your career objectives
if you desire to achieve your goals. Elders and
children in the family will demand lot of your
attention. Doctors and lawyers can look for
ward to a remarkable year. The months of
September, December, February and June will
be significant.
23rd June, 2017
Governed by number 5 and the planet
Mercury. You are intelligent, sharp, sensible,
business oriented, dignified, original and
dashing person. People perceive you as a very
warm and friendly person, but you need to
check your tendency to behave restless and
impatient at times.
Financially a very favorable period starts
this year, but you should avoid getting
involved in conflict with loved ones. You
would make financial gains through sale of
property, accrual of rent, dividends or inter
ests. This is also a good time to invest in long
term investments and speculations. Children
would be a source of immense happiness and
win laurels in their fields. Pilgrimage or a dis
tant journey will be high on your cards. The
months of November, March and July will be
34 June 17-23, 2017
By Sant Rajinder
Singh Ji Maharaj
uring the time of Guru
D Gobind Singh, there was a
great rishi who gave up
everything to go to a forest to med
itate. There was also a king who
had already conquered many other
territories and their people. One
day, the king set his ambition on
conquering the rishi to make him
obey his commands. People
thought it was strange that the
king would focus on conquering a
rishi who had no property, king
dom, or wealth. But it turned out
that the rishi had previously been a
king before giving up his kingdom
for the spiritual life. This made the
present king have an obsession
with wanting to conquer the rishi.
So the king gathered his entire
army to prepare for battle.
The army marched into the deep
forest. The army finally reached
the rishi, who was sitting in the
woods, deep in meditation.
The king waited for the rishi to
come out of meditation, but he
kept on sitting there. Finally, the
king became restless and shook the
rishi out of meditation.
The king shouted, Prepare for a
fight. I have come to do battle with
you.
The rishi surveyed the scene
calmly. He saw the great army and
said, Fight! I ran away from my
worldly life for fear of my one
great enemy. I came here to hide in
the woods from this enemy. My
soul shudders in fear when I hear
the sound of my enemys name.
Just to think of this enemys name
causes my heart to quiver.
The king listened carefully as the
rishi continued to describe his
feared enemy. Finally, the king
became angry and shouted, Is
your enemy stronger than me?
The rishi replied, Even the
thought of this enemy destroys my
soul. I left everything to escape
from this enemy.
The king said, Tell me the name
of this enemy of yours.
The rishi said, There is no use
in telling you who it is. You will
never be able to conquer him.
The king replied, If I cannot
conquer him, I will consider myself
a failure.
The rishi then told him, This
great enemy of whom I am speak
SPIRITUAL AWARENESS TheSouthAsianTimes.info
This article has been selected and reprinted from Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharajs book,
Spiritual Pearls for Enlightened Living (Radiance Publishers) an inspirational
collection of stories from the worlds great wisdom traditions.
The Strongest Enemy
ing is the mind. From that day on, did not help him overcome the
the king tried everything to over
come the mind. He tried all kinds of
techniques to gain control over his
mind. The mind still tempted him
with the countless desires of the
world.
Finding fulfillment
own mind. Years passed and still he
could not conquer the mind.
Finally, the king had to admit that
The mind knows that contact
with the soul will render it harm
less. Thus, the mind will find all
in this world
he had failed and that the mind is kinds of excuses to keep us from
truly the strongest enemy.
The mind is powerful and will try
every means possible to gain con
meditation. It will make us think of
the past. It will make us think of
the future. It will make us wiggle
trol over our soul. Many yogis and around instead of sitting still. It will
rishis have tried to gain control make us feel sleepy just when we
over their minds but failed. If such sit to meditate. It will make us feel
is the fate of those who have given hungry. It will make us feel jealous.
By Sant Rajinder
We are searching
Singh Ji Maharaj
for happiness all
M over the world.Little
ost people are trying to
fulfill their desires. We
might have a desire to do we realize that
buy a car; we might have a desire the true wealth,true
to buy a house; we might have a happiness,and true
desire to study history or the sci
ences, or we might desire any love are waiting
The mind is the obstacle our soul must deal objects of this world. Our empha within us.We think
with to return to God. The mind is like a sis is on being able to fulfill those that happiness is
desires.
soccer goalie, guarding the goal. It will try outside our-
Life goes on in a way in which
everything to keep the ball from reaching we are always trying to fulfill one selves.We think it
the goal. If even devoted rishis had trouble
desire after another after anoth lies in wealth,
overcoming the mind, how can we do it? er. What happens is that desires
do not end. When one is fulfilled, name & fame,
up the world to conquer their own It will make us feel depressed. It then we have another desire. As possessions and
mind, then what is the fate of the will make us feel like doing work we try to fulfill that one, then we relationships.
rest of us who are immersed in the instead of meditating. It will find a have another desire, then anoth
world? million excuses. er. Life just keeps on passing by. cious life breaths pursuing the
The mind is the obstacle our soul How do we overcome the minds We are searching for happiness fulfillment of our every wish in
must deal with to return to God. tendencies to distract us? We must all over the world.Little do we the worldly sphere.
The mind is like a soccer goalie, use the tendency of the mind to realize that the true wealth,true In the end we find that none of
guarding the goal. It will try every form positive habits. The mind happiness,and true love are those wishes brings us the happi
thing to keep the ball from reach likes habits. If we tell our mind that waiting within us.We think that ness, love, and contentment we
ing the goal. If even devoted rishis we need to sit for meditation each happiness is outside really want.Instead of seeking the
had trouble overcoming the mind, day at the same time and place, a ourselves.We think it lies in true treasures outside ourselves
how can we do it? habit will form. Soon we will find wealth,name and fame,posses ,we should sit in meditation and
The fact is that we cannot con ourselves compelled to sit for med sions and relationships. find the true wealth within. If we
quer the mind on our own. The itation at that time each day. If will Since our human system is set would stick to
only way to conquer the mind and miss meditation, we will start to up to focus on fulfilling our being conscious of our true
still it is through the help of some feel like something is amiss. Soon desires, what is needed is the self, as soul, we would find more
one who has conquered the mind. we will find ourselves meditating right kind of desire. First, we love and happiness than we can
Such enlightened beings give us a regularly. When we learn to con need to choose a goal. And the have from the fulfillment of any
lift to contact the Light and Sound centrate fully, wholly, and solely right goal is to choose God, to desire in the world. Then we will
within us. The Light and Sound into the Light and Sound, we will have the merger of our soul in find our lives filled with
help uplift our soul beyond the experience bliss, peace, and joy. We the Lord.God lies within us.God's love,bliss,and eternal peace and
realm of mind. will want to repeat meditation love is within.There is nothing happiness.
The rishi found that doing spiri again and again because of the in the outer world that can com
tual practices alone in the jungle wonderful experience we receive. (For more visit www.sos.org)
pare to that. We spend our pre
TheSouthAsianTimes.info June 17-23, 2017
TheSouthAsianTimes.info June 17-23, 2017