By Vikas Girdhar

New York: Four days after

Hurricane Sandy officially sub-

sided, its aftermath was causing

widespread anger in the wake of

unrestored power outages and the

unraveling of even more deaths

and destroyed homes.

The latest death toll as a result

of the hurricane rose to 98 on

Friday, with 40 of them in New

York City and half of those in

Staten Island. Power outages were

still widespread and many homes

were still flooded or in rubble. On

Long Island alone, about half of

all LIPA customers were in the

dark, albeit a vast improvement

from the 90% who lost power on

Monday.

For those itching to get back on

their feet and on the road, public

transport was limping back into

action, and acute gasoline short-

age was a new factor to contend

with. In New York and New

Jersey tens of thousands of drivers

are forced to stand in line for

hours at gas stations to fill their

tanks. Fisticuffs ensue, and one

man in Queens Thursday even

flashed his gun to threaten the one

who cut in line.

New York schools were to

reopen on Monday after a historic

one week suspension.

(See our extensive Sandy cove-age on pages 3, 5, and 16-17)

By Arun Kumar

Washington DC: Whoever wins

the tight White House race Nov 6,

Indian-Americans are bound to

play a key role in the new adminis-

tration going by their growing

clout in US politics.

At over a score, President Barack

Obama's administration already

has the highest number of Indian-

Americans working in high places

and his Democratic party gave a

pride of place to them at his nomi-

nating convention last August.

So did challenger Mitt Romney's

Republican Party which boasts of

having the only two Indian-

American governors, Bobby Jindal

of Louisiana and Nikki Haley of

South Carolina. Both were at one

time speculated among Romney's

vice presidential picks.

The likes of Rajiv "Raj"

Shah, the highest ranking Indian-

Continued on page 4

MAMMOTH RELIEF EFFORT ON, BUT DEATHTOLL AND ANGER MOUNT AFTER SANDY

Indian-Americans will continueto play key role under new Prez

President Barack Obama and New Jersey governor Chris Christie visited Oct 31 thestate which was worst hit by Hurricane Sandy. The bipartisan spirit of the visit

boosted Obama’s likeability in the wake of the election.

Beach 130th Street and Newport Avenue in Queens looks like a war zone Monday,October 30th in wake of fires caused by Hurricane Sandy. (inset) An idol of Jesus

Christ miraculously remained intact in the middle of the devastation.

The South Asian Timese x c e l l e n c e i n j o u r n a l i s m

Vol.5 No. 29 November 3-9, 2012 60 Cents New York Edition Follow us on TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Sports 26 Astrology 29 Spiritual Awareness 30Bollywood 18 excellence in journalism

Romney and Obama in see-saw battle for PrezNew York: Four days before the

Nov 6 polling, it was still haz-

ardous to predict the winner in the

keenly contested presidential race.

Hurricane Sandy and President

Barack Obama’s prompt response

in arraying relief operations in

affected states gave him a slight

bump. But earlier Governor

Romney had a momentum going

following the first presidential

debate in which his challenger

Continued on page 4See our extensive US election

coverage on pages 12 to 15 Mitt Romney campaigning in Virginia on Friday

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FIGHTING FOR TAXPAYERS! Vote Republican On November 6th

Michael Venditto has the energy,experience and vision to protectthe quality of life we cherish.

Paid for by Friends of Michael Venditto

November 3-9, 2012TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Washington, DC: Three days

after Hurricane Sandy slammed

into the US East Coast, hitting

New Jersey and New York the

hardest, millions of Americans

are now confronted with gas

shortages and an overwhelmed

mass transit system.

With over six million homes

still without power as far west

as Wisconsin in the Midwest

and as far south as the

Carolinas, motorists in New

Jersey, the hardest hit state,

roamed for hours looking for a

working petrol pump that still

had petrol, the ABC reported.

The disaster has been blamed

for 74 deaths in the US, includ-

ing 24 in New York City, eight

in New Jersey and four in

Connecticut, as rescue workers

pulled bodies from wreckage

across the region, the channel

said. Those with gas who had to

commute into New York City

encountered a major traffic jam

at the Lincoln Tunnel, one of

the only two entrances to the

city from New Jersey that hadn't

been closed down because of

damage from Sandy, ABC said.

The city's roads were grid-

locked Wednesday as com-

muters were forced to travel

above ground, which turned

Manhattan's streets into parking

lots -- a telling sign of just how

badly the city needs its mass

transit system back.

One commuter was quoted as

saying: "The traffic was terrible,

man. It takes about 45 minutes

to go four blocks. Horrible."

Meanwhile, hundreds of thou-

sands of people along the New

Jersey shore are facing months

and possibly years of rebuild-

ing, CBS News reported, saying

the storm had transformed

vibrant coastal communities

into beachfronts that look more

like shipwrecks.

A string of natural gas fires

broke out, but officials said no

one was hurt. In some spots,

residents were still waiting for

floodwaters to recede.

"This is our home. We've been

here for years," one New Jersey

man told New York CBS station

WCBS. "We clean up, we get

everything back to normal and

we go on."

In New Jersey 1.8 million

customers remain without

power, down from a peak of 2.7

million. Utility companies say it

will be a week before most of

that power is back. Some out-

ages could linger longer than

that.

New York: After direct

engagement with the

Office of Emergency

Management (OEM)

and over 51 organiza-

tions, United Sikhs has

initiated an urgent call

for warm clothing, blan-

kets, diapers, baby for-

mula, hygiene supplies

and cleaning supplies.

Families desperately

seek warmth from the

bitter onset of winter

and supplies from which

they may provide nour-

ishment to their chil-

dren.

Due to the closure of

markets and stores there

is also a pressing need

for fresh and hot meals

as well as water.

The First Response

Team from United Sikhs

is in direct contact with

shelters in New York

and New Jersey to

assess needs and with

Gurdwaras to facilitate

the preparation of the

hot meals. The volun-

teers are in direct coor-

dination with the Red

Cross to ensure that

they are updated on the

evolving ground reali-

ties.

The organizat ion

urgently need volun-

teers to administer the

distribution of supplies

and meals and the

preparation of the hot

meals.

You can also donate

by visiting their website

http://unitedsikhs.org

Sandy hit NY-NJ faces petrol shortage, transport problems

United Sikhs initiates HurricaneSandy relief efforts

Long lines at a CITGO gas station owned by Shudh Prakash Singhon Veterans Hwy, Bohemia, NY. 11716

3November 3-9, 2012TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRISTATE COMMUNITY

NYC to getFEMA help

There's relief in sight for

stranded New York City

residents: Gov. Andrew

Cuomo announced Thursday

the National Guard and FEMA

will deliver one million hot

meals and bottled water to

areas most affected by the hur-

ricane. While the city's electri-

cal company, Con Edison, said

power should be restored to

Manhattan by this weekend,

other parts of the city could

remain without power for

longer and be stranded. Staten

Island in particular took a par-

ticularly harsh hit from the

storm: roughly 113,000 resi-

dents are without power and

are not expected to get it back

for 10 days, while the city's

main transport to Manhattan,

the ferry, is closed

UN's New York office damaged byhurricane: official

United Nations: The UN headquarter

complex in New York has "suffered sig-

nificant damage in terms of flooding"

from Hurricane Sandy, which hit the met-

ropolitan area Monday, Xinhua reported a

UN official as saying.

Speaking during a briefing Thursday at

the UN General Assembly on the effects

of the superstorm, described by experts

as one of the largest ever that hit the US,

Gregory B. Starr, the UN under-secre-

tary-general for safety and security, said:

"We have suffered significant damage in

terms of flooding."

"Flooding was at an historic level," he

added. The flooding was worse in lower

levels of the UN complex along New

York's swollen East River when

Hurricane Sandy hit.

Devastated New York, New Jersey begin slow recoveryWashington/New York: Millions in the

worst hit New York and New Jersey and

up and down the US East Coast

Wednesday began picking pieces of their

lives shattered by Hurricane Sandy that

left 48 dead.

Much of New York, America's biggest

city and its financial hub, remained para-

lyzed even as crews began the daunting

task of cleaning up flooded subways,

waterlogged buildings and burned

homes.

A total of 6.2 million people remained

without power.

Some of New York City ground transit

and airports were coming back to life

Wednesday. The New York Stock

Exchange reopened after a two-day clo-

sure, the first for weather-related reasons

since 1888.

Meanwhile, New Jersey neighborhoodswere still deluged under water ahead of

President Barack Obama's scheduled

visit to the state.

And states farther west are grappling

with super storm Sandy's dramatic

encore -- a blizzard that dumped three

feet of snow in West Virginia and left

hundreds of thousands in the shivering

cold, CNN reported.

Two New York area airports -- John F.

Kennedy and Newark Liberty -- are

scheduled to reopen with limited service.

The third, LaGuardia airport, is expect-

ed to remain closed because of signifi-

cant damage. The city's massive subway

network will remain offline for several

days as workers try to recover the inun-

dated underground lifeline.

New York's bus service is set to resume

but it probably won't accommodate the

five million commuters who rely on the

subway every day.

The transportation headaches in New

Jersey are far from over with the rail

operations centre of NJ Transit crippled

by eight feet of water, and at least 65

locomotive engines and 257 rail cars

damaged.

"There is major damage on each and

every one of New Jersey's rail lines,"

Governor Chris Christie said. "Large sec-

tions of track were washed out."

There was no immediate estimate of

the losses from the storm, but the scope

of the damage - covering more than a

half-dozen states - pointed to tens of bil-

lions of dollars. Christie called it "incal-

culable".

Meanwhile, Washington, largely spared

of Sandy's wrath, started resuming nor-

mal life with the Metro and bus services

beginning regular schedules, federal

workers returning to work and schools

and colleges reopening.

Pets belonging to residents in BreezyPoint, Queens, being taken to saferarea during Hurricane Sandy relief

efforts, October 29.

UN headquarter complex

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Indian American storyContinued from page 1American in the Obama team as administrator

of the USAID, and Preet Bharara, high profile

US attorney for Manhattan, were not there at

the Democratic Convention as they hold gov-

ernment jobs.

But Kamala Harris, 47, the first woman, and

the first South Asian to be elected as attorney

general of California, was one of the headlin-

ers.

Actor Kal Penn too had a starring role host-

ing primetime web coverage when Obama

accepted the party's nomination.

Jindal, son of Indian immigrants from

Punjab, governor since 2007, could not make

it to the Republican convention after

Hurricane Isaac hit Louisiana's southeast

coast.

But Haley, born Nikki Nimrata Randhawa

in a Sikh immigrant family, was given a key

speaking spot. So was another son of Sikh

immigrants, Ranjit 'Rikky' Gill, 25, who is the

lone Indian-American Republican running for

Congress from California.

Besides Gill, four Democrats - Upendra

Chivukula from New Jersey, Ami Bera from

California, Manan Trivedi from Pennsylvania

and Syed Taj from Michigan -- are also mak-

ing credible runs for the Congress and dozens

more are either holding or seeking seats in

state legislatures.

(Arun Kumar is North America BureauChief, IANS.)

Romney and Obama storyContinued from page 1Mitt Romney dominated.

The latest job numbers (unemployment at

7.9%) released Friday have not gone in favor

of any candidate, however.

Meanwhile, both Obama and Romney

returned to full campaign mode after a few

days hiatus forced by the hurricane to make a

final push in the swing states and to make

their final argument to be elected President of

the United States of America. Romney was

noted to be taking a much more moderate line

than he displayed during Republican primar-

ies. Obama was in attack mode.

Those waiting to hear the name of the next

US President on Nov 6 evening will need to

brace for delays—in some states the voting is

closing late evening and some other untoward

factors can butt in, more so after Sandy.

But whoever wins, Indian Americans will

find a prime place in the new administration

as our other story on page 1 indicates.

Continuations of page 1

Mayor Bloomberg endorses Obama for second term

Lavish birthday party for Naomi’sboyfriend in Jodhpur

INOC-DC calls on world community for Sandy relief

US productivity, job growth up

4 November 3-9, 2012 TheSouthAsianTimes.infoTURN PAGE

Washington: US President

Barack Obama earned another

high profile endorsement

Thursday, this time from New

York City's Mayor Michael

Bloomberg, who cited climate

change as the primary reason for

choosing the incumbent president

for a second term.

"The increase in extreme weath-

er we have experienced in New

York City and around the world

may or may not be the result of it,

the risk that it might be - given

this week's devastation - should

compel all elected leaders to take

immediate action," Bloomberg

wrote in an opinion article for

Bloomberg View.

While Obama has taken steps to

reduce carbon consumption,

Bloomberg said Republican con-

tender Mitt Romney has

backpedalled on the earlier posi-

tions to battle climate change he

held as governor of the US state

of Massachusetts.

Bloomberg also noted Obama's

commitment to same-sex mar-

riage and women's access to legal

abortion as reasons behind the

endorsement.

Bloomberg, an independent,

was previously affiliated with

both the Democratic and

Republican parties. In the 2008

presidential election, Bloomberg

stayed neutral and did not endorse

either candidate.

By Prakash Bhandari

Jaipur: British super-

model Naomi

Campbell, who is fly-

ing to India with her

billionaire boyfriend

Vladimir Doronin, is to

spend her holiday at

Jodhpur. She will have

a lavish Indian birthday

bash for her boyfriend

at the majestic Ummed

Bhawan Palace here.

She has invited about

80 guests from

Russia, Britain and

the US, many of

whom are from the

fashion and film

world. They will

start arriving in India

by November

5..Campbell is flying

many guests to India

and paying for all

amenities, including

boarding, lodging.

Washington DC: The people of India and

the Washington Chapter of the Indian

National Overseas Congress (I), USA has

offered their prayers and solidarity to

Americans and the victims of Hurricane

Sandy. “We call on people in the Washington

Metro Area, America and around the world

to send whatever assistance they can to the

American Red Cross (www.redcross.org) in

their extraordinary efforts to bring immedi-

ate relief to thousands across this great coun-

try,” the press release said.

Washington: Employers stepped up hiring

in October and a small increase in the jobless

rate was due to more workers restarting their

job hunts, a hopeful sign for a lackluster

economy that has been a drag on President

Barack Obama's re-election bid.

Employers added 171,000 people to their

payrolls last month, the Labor Department

said on Friday. The government also said

84,000 more jobs were created in August

and September than previously estimated.

The jobless rate edged up a tenth of a point

to 7.9 percent, but that was due to workers

surging back into the labor force. Only peo-

ple who are looking for a job count as unem-

ployed.

"This report is consistent with the emerg-

ing picture of an economic recovery that is

continuing to regain traction after grinding

to a halt earlier this year," said Millan

Mulraine, an economist at TD Securities in

New York.

US non-farm business sector labour pro-

ductivity increased at a 1.9 percent annual

rate during the third quarter of 2012, authori-

ties said. The increase in productivity,

unchanged from the second quarter, reflects

increases of 3.2 percent in output and 1.3

percent in hours worked, in the July-

September quarter. Over the past year, pro-

ductivity rose 1.5 percent, reported Xinhua

citing the Labor Department.

Unit labour costs, the ratio of hourly com-

pensation to labour productivity, decreased

0.1 percent in the third quarter, while hourly

compensation increased 1.8 percent. .

Naomi Campbell and her billionaire

boyfriend Vladimir Doronin.

Long Island, NY: Nassau County

Executive Edward P. Mangano has

announced federal disaster aid has

been made available to Nassau

County through the U.S.

Department of Homeland Security's

Federal Emergency Management

Agency (FEMA)

. This aid will supplement state and

local recovery efforts in areas affect-

ed by Hurricane Sandy beginning on

October 27, 2012 and continuing.

“I encourage residents and local

business owners who think they

may qualify for federal aid or would

like additional information on what

disaster assistance programs to call

FEMA at 1-800-621-3362 or visit

www.DisasterAssistance.gov to reg-

ister,” said County Executive

Mangano.

Assistance can include grants for

temporary housing and home

repairs, low-cost loans to cover

uninsured property losses, and other

programs to help individuals and

business owners recover from the

effects of the disaster.

Federal funding is available to

state and eligible local governments

and certain private nonprofit organi-

zations on a cost-sharing basis for

debris removal and emergency pro-

tective measures, including direct

federal assistance, for Bronx, Kings,

Nassau, New York, Richmond,

Suffolk, and Queens counties.

Federal funding is also available

on a cost-sharing basis for hazard

mitigation measures statewide.

Residents and business owners

who sustained losses in the desig-

nated county can begin applying for

assistance starting tomorrow by reg-

istering online at http://www.disas-

terassistance.gov, by web enabled

mobile device at m.fema.gov or by

calling 1-800-621-FEMA(3362) or

1-800-462-7585 (TTY) for the hear-

ing and speech impaired.

The toll-free telephone numbers

will operate from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

EDT seven days a week until further

notice.

Applicants registering for aid

should be prepared to provide basic

information about themselves

(name, permanent address, phone

number), insurance coverage and

any other information to help sub-

stantiate losses. County Executive

Mangano is working with FEMA to

open local Disaster Recovery

Centers throughout Nassau County

in the coming days.

For more information on hurri-

cane recovery efforts, please visit

www.nassaucountyny.gov/hurricane

or follow Ed Mangano on Facebook

and Twitter.

Non-Emergency Hotline 1-888-

684-4274.

Mangano: Federal disaster aid available for Nassau County

By Ashok Vyas

On my way back from ITV studio in

Long Island City, on Tuesday, Oct

30th, I passed by many fallen trees.

Many roads were blocked in certain areas due

to the destructive imprints of Sandy’s visit to

my New York. New York is screaming with

pain, so much destruction by surge in waves.

The source and essence of life, ‘water’,

showed its other possible effect. Science has

definitely helped in forecasting it but is there

any way to prevent or divert the path of

‘Superstorm’?

I stopped by at Hindu Temple, Flushing to

pray or to be in the intense presence of ‘that’,

which is everywhere. As I walked out, I

picked up ‘The South Asian Times’ from the

temple.

In the piling of news about the unprece-

dented dance of destruction by the storm, I

had forgotten about having sent this article.

Interestingly, some of the lines written in the

‘Wake up call to align with our life’s pur-

pose’ appeared relevant in the light of the

aftermath of the storm. I had written, ‘What

could ring the alarm bell to make us aware

about our ‘false perception’ of ourselves. And

I had raised the question , ‘Is there any way

to alert us about the mistakes we make in our

‘thinking pattern?’

I guess, now the question is not just about

our ‘thinking pattern’ as an individual, the

question is related to the mistake we make

collectively in ‘choosing our lifestyle with

respect to our relationship with the environ-

ment.’ Is there any correlation between the

fury of ‘Sandy’, the unwinding ‘coil’ of mas-

sive energy in the sea, moving towards us,

with powerful current of wind and our under-

standing about life in its totality?

We have instruments to measure air pres-

sure, the satellite images tell us about the

speed with which this power is travelling

towards us to cause mayhem. But, we don’t

know how to appease this fury of mother

nature. Will we find it impossible to identify

with our forefathers, who used to worship

natural elements? The creation is made of

‘five elements’, our ‘body is made of five

elements’. Our scriptures talk about ‘treating

the human body as temple of God’, there are

references to remind us ‘Yatha Pinde, tatha

brahmande’, in nutshell, As in the body, so in

the nature. Is it possible to feel this correla-

tion and rectify the imbalance in five ele-

ments around us by following certain pattern

of life.

On Oct 8th of 2012, till the time, I was

oblivious of the possible arrival of Sandy, I

was interviewing Viswayogi Viswamjee

Maharaj. This year, he has emphasized the

importance of ‘being considerate’ towards

mother earth in all his addresses. He has also

composed a song in praise of ‘Mother Earth’,

It has been a recurring theme in his discours-

es to draw our attention for working towards

‘love and peace’ in the world. He said, we are

paying more attention to nation and religion,

we are ready to wage wars in the name of

these issues, which would become meaning-

less, if the earth is not safe. I was reminded of

his words, as in the aftermath of Sandy, the

political discussions seemed to have taken a

backseat, the impact of this storm requires

attention on many levels.

Sandy’s impressions demand a lot of work

for rebuilding and coping up with the loss. It

would be relevant to thank the proactive

approach of the administration in taking the

weather forecast seriously, taking many pre-

cautionary steps and closing subway system,

schools, tunnels and bridges. We will need lot

of strength in the recovery process.

The landscape and assumptions have

changed, Sandy has shaken us in a way

unimaginable. Water in tunnels and subway

system, unthinkable. We are finding it diffi-

cult to understand how nearly 80 houses were

devoured by fire at such a speed. We are still

shocked by death of people by fallen trees.

The city that never sleeps had to stay still for

two days, no wall street, no subway or buses

and no schools. Millions of people without

power and many trapped in their own homes

in Hoboken, NJ due to water surge.

Some areas have not felt the violent touch

of Superstorm Sandy’s anger but it has

proved, in some way, all of us are in ‘harm’s

way.’ Indeed, rescue and rebuilding process

would be long and challenging.

Going back to my conversation with

Viswayogi Viswamjee Maharaj, who hails

from Guntur and has built an ashram ‘Viswa

Mandir ’, he is considered to be a

Siddhapurusha, some devotees also treat him

as avtaar of ‘Lord Dattatreya.’ You will see

his picture at Sai Mandir, Baldwin in the nav-

griha sthan. Dr Nori Dattatreya, the famous

cancer specialist also acknowledges yogic

powers of Viswayogiji. The reason, I mention

about him here is related to this recent natural

calamity. On Oct 8th, along with other ques-

tions, I also asked him, ‘It appears, this year,

you are urging people to pay attention

towards mother earth with special emphasis,

do you foresee any natural calamity befalling

us in the near future?’

I was reminded of his response to this ques-

tion and his informal words about how the

imbalance in five elements may prove to be

fatal for sons and daughters of mother earth.

Come Monday, Oct 29th, I was reminded of

my conversation with Viswayogi Viswamjee

Maharaj, I also got calls from Chandra

Shekhar and Sai Prasaad, who were present at

the time in New Jersey, when this interview

was being recorded for ITV.

In India, Sharad Poornima is observed as a

day to focus on ‘Mother Goddess’ as ‘Shri’,

sages say, she descends on earth through the

‘rays of moon’ and asks, ‘who is awake?’

This night is considered special for increasing

the awareness about the ‘knowledge of the

self,’ being awake means being aware. So, in

the normal circumstances, sadhakas prepare

‘Kheer,’ which is placed to absorb the special

rays coming from moon on this auspicious

night and then it is taken as prasaad. My

Guru Swami Shri Ishwarananda Giriji

Maharaj, addressed a group of disciples and

referring to ‘Shri Sukt’, reminded them that

‘Shri’ also means ‘Earth.’ He said ‘Moon is

related to mind, if mind is not filled with pol-

luted desires then it will manifest, beauty of

the soul, there will be experience of joy.’

Quoting Swamiji’s words that came my

way in New York from Pondicherry via

soundcloud, as uploaded by a fellow devotee.

He said ‘Your act must be revealing, it must

be healing.’ His special blessing was, ‘May

your life be truly beautiful and beautifully

true.”

We need to work towards being worthy of

this blessing by realizing the call of being

more sensitive towards mother earth.

(Author Ashok Vyas is a Hindu priest, poetand program director, ITV. He has founded‘Insight for Creativity’ for cultural and mean-ingful expressions through ‘audio-visual’medium.)

Revealing and healing in aftermath of Sandy

People helping each other in theaftermath of Hurricane Sandy

Nassau County Executive EdMangano addressing news

media on the county'sresponse to Hurriacne Sandy.

5November 3-9, 2012TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRISTATE COMMUNITY

6 November 3-9, 2012 TheSouthAsianTimes.infoTRISTATE COMMUNITY

IN BRIEF

AALDEF calls on Justice Department to monitor electionsin states with history of severe voting rights violations

The Asian American Legal Defense and

Education Fund (AALDEF) submitted

a letter to the U.S. Department of Jus-

tice urging the Attorney General to assign at-

torneys and appoint federal observers to mon-

itor the elections on November 6, 2012, for

practices that may infringe on the ability of

Asian Americans to exercise their right to

vote, as well as to ensure the full force of the

nation's voting protections under federal laws.

AALDEF has monitored several prior elec-

tions for compliance with the Voting Rights

Act and the Help America Vote Act. Last

week, AALDEF released a new report docu-

menting the many obstacles faced by Asian

American voters during the Presidential Pri-

mary Elections in early 2012. AALDEF re-

ceived several complaints of barriers to voting

in numerous jurisdictions across the country,

the most severe of which are highlighted in the

report. AALDEF requested that the U.S. De-

partment of Justice monitor the election in the

following jurisdictions: Queens County, New

York for Bengali language assistance under

Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act. The

New York City Board of Elections has refused

to provide translated ballots in Bengali for the

past four elections and will be unable to trans-

late ballots for the November 6 election, in vi-

olation of federal law. The Board offered to

provide translated sample ballots, but there is

little assurance that such translated sample

ballots will even be at poll sites for Bengali-

speaking voters to access.

Philadelphia and Bensalem, Pennsylvania to

guard against nondiscriminatory application

of voter photo identification requirements:

Earlier this year, Pennsylvania enacted a new

voter photo identification law. Although a

state court blocked Pennsylvania's discrimina-

tory new voter ID law from being implement-

ed on November 6, poll workers might still

seek to apply the law and deny Asian Ameri-

cans the right to vote. In past elections,

AALDEF monitored polls in Philadelphia and

Bensalem and observed inappropriate ID

checks of voters.

Greater Atlanta, Georgia for nondiscrimina-

tory application of voter proof of citizenship

requirements: Georgia's new proof of citizen-

ship law will have a disproportionate impact

on Asian American voters, a large percentage

of whom are foreign-born naturalized citizens.

Following the Ninth Circuit's ruling that

Arizona's new law violates the National Voter

Registration Act, federal monitoring will

guard against the disenfranchisement of Asian

American voters in Georgia.

IACFNJ celebrates Navratri with Garba event for 7th year

Indo-American Cultural Foundation of

Central Jersey - IACFNJ organized Navra-

tri Garba at Cross Roads Middle School

Auditorium in South Brunswick, New Jersey

on October 19, 20, 26 and 27, 2012. Attended

by more than 8,000 people in four days, the

event was a grand success for the seventh con-

secutive year. Famous group of Mahesh

Mehta and his talented singers from Bolly-

wood and local talents of Entertainment Un-

limited rocked the stage with famous old and

new garbas, dandiya tunes, some famous Bol-

lywood tunes, sanedo and bhangaras for non-

stop live entertainment for more than six

hours. South Brunswick’s cultural diversity

was witnessed on the dance floor where the at-

tendees were not only Gujaratis but from all

over India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka

and other neighboring countries and high

school kids of various ethnic and cultural back

grounds. The local business entrepreneurs,

community leaders and local and state public

officials attended the celebration to support

IACFNJ community efforts to keep Indian

culture and heritage alive in this country. The

Grand Sponsors for this year’s event were

Pinakin and Kirti Pathak of OHM Internation-

al, Sunil and Vandana Nayak of Inn Zen Hos-

pitality, Hitesh and Trusha Patel of Finnegan

Plaza, Patel Cash and Carry and Subzi Mandi

of North Brunswick. South Brunswick Mayor

Frank Gambatese, Councilman Charlie Car-

ley, Joseph Camarota, John O’Sullivan, North

Brunswick Council members Shanti Nara and

Carlos Soccio were among the public officials

and invited guests to attend the event. New

Jersey State Assembly candidates Donna Si-

mon and Marie Corfield, Freeholder Sam

Khan, Congressman Rush Holt from the 12th

District also attended the event.

Memorial service held for baby Saanvi

Mourners said a final goodbye to

baby Saanvi Venna, who was ab-

ducted and killed in a botched

kidnapping for ransom plan in Pennsylva-

nia. The 10 month-old infant, was buried

Sunday following a public memorial serv-

ice where family members struggled to

come to terms with the girl's death. Venna's

grandmother, Satayrathi Venna, was also

killed in the incident, trying to protect the

baby.

Police have arrested a neighbor Raghu-

nandan "Raghu" Yandamuri, 26, who al-

legedly kidnapped the girl. He had planned

to extract $50,000 ransom because he was

in financial trouble, the Philadelphia In-

quirer reported. Police said he stuffed a

handkerchief in the grandmother's mouth

so she couldn't scream before cutting her

throat. He then put the baby in a suitcase

before abandoning her in the basement of

the King of Prussia apartment complex he

shared with the Venna family. Despite an

intense hunt, she wasn't found in time.

Despite the tragedy, Saanvi's father,

Venkata Konda "Siva" Venna, urged those

mourning his daughter to keep their Hindu

faith.

"I am a proud father to have a daughter

like Saanvi," he said. "Don't lose your

hearts. People are good."

Four-year-old Dhyanesh mowed down by a speeding car

Afour-year-old Indian-American boy

was mowed down by a speeding car

driven by a woman at a traffic inter-

section here, police said.

The victim, Dhyanesh, son of Balaji

Jeyakannan, was struck by the car and killed

on the spot at the junction of Jefferson Avenue

and Central Avenue yesterday.

The mishap occurred when the child, hold-

ing his mother Nagarani Nagarajan's hand,

was crossing the road after the stop sign for

motorists. The vehicle driven by the accused

Eisa Templo first hit Nagarani, who lost bal-

ance as well as the hold of her kid, following

which the child got mowed down by the car.

Balaji Jeyakannan, a native of Madurai in

southern India, is working as an IT consultant

with Con Edison Company here.Police have

arrested the accused and remanded her to cus-

tody. The Consulate General of India in New

York is helping the victim's parents to trans-

port the body of the child to India.

Preet Bharara sues Bank Of America over alleged mortgage fraud

Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney in Man-

hattan, is suing Bank of America for

over $1 billion mortgage fraud against

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The complaint

alleges that Countrywide allegedly started a

fraudulent mortgage origination program

called the "Hustle," which was "designed to

sell defective loans" to Fannie and Freddie, an

official press release said.

When BofA acquired Countrywide in 2008

during the financial crisis that "Hustle" pro-

gram allegedly continued, according to the re-

lease.

"As alleged, through a program aptly named

‘the Hustle,’ Countrywide and Bank of Amer-

ica made disastrously bad loans and stuck tax-

payers with the bill. As described, Country-

wide and Bank of America systematically re-

moved every check in favor of its own balance

– they cast aside underwriters, eliminated

quality controls, incentivised unqualified per-

sonnel to cut corners, and concealed the re-

sulting defects. These toxic products were

then sold to the government sponsored enter-

prises as good loans. This lawsuit should send

another clear message that reckless lending

practices will not be tolerated," Bharara said

in a statement.

Family members of Saanvi Venna atthe memorial service (Photo: Vijay

Shah/Freelance US Media LLC.)

More than 8000 people took part over four days

Atlanta gets an Indian ConsulateAtlanta: Nirupama Rao,

Ambassador of India to the

United States of America inaugu-

rated the new Consulate General

of India in Atlanta on October, 22,

2012. The Consulate is located at

5549 Glenridge Drive NE,

Atlanta, GA-30342. The inaugu-

ration was attended by Mayor of

Sandy Springs, Eva Galambos,

Congressman Rob Woodall,

Chairman of the Democratic Party

of Georgia, MichaelBerlon, sever-

al leaders of the Indian-American

community and media.

After the inauguration, a recep-

tion was held at the Heritage

Hallin Sandy Springs, which was

addressed by Ambassador Raoand

Mayor Galambos.

Dean and several members of

the Consular Corps, Michael

Berlon, President of the

University of the West Georgia,

Dr. Beheruz Sethna, President of

the University of Columbus State

University, Dr. Timothy S.

Mescon, Professor Jagdish N.

Sheth, Goizueta Business School,

leaders of the Indian-American

community, captains of industry,

representatives of chambers of

commerce, media and over 250

persons attended the reception.

Ambassador Rao called on the

Governor of the State of Georgia,

Nathan Deal on 23rd October,

2012 and discussed matters of

mutual interest to improve rela-

tions between India and Georgia.

From 1st October, 2012 the new

Consulate General of India in

Atlanta has started Passport and

Miscellaneous Consular Services

at 5549 Glenridge Drive NE,

Atlanta, GA-30342. For these

services, the consular jurisdiction

of the Consulate will be Alabama,

Florida, Georgia, Mississippi,

Puerto Rico, South Carolina,

Tennessee and Virgin Islands.

Detailed information is available

on the website:

http://www.indianconsulateatla-

ta.org

Ambassador Nirupama Rao with Sandy Springs Mayor EvaGalambos, US Representative Rob Woodall and Indian

community members while inaugurating the new Consulate General of India in Atlanta

7November 3-9, 2012TheSouthAsianTimes.info NATIONAL COMMUNITY

Washington, DC: The Global

Organization of People of

Indian Origin (GOPIO), in col-

laboration with GOPIO chapters

of Metro DC and Virginia, is

launching its Gadar Centennial

Commemoration in the US.

Gadar was a newspaper pub-

lished for the Hindustani

Association of the Pacific

Coast, founded at Portland in

1912. The movement this

Association gave rise to, aimed

at winning freedom for India

from British colonial rule, came

to be known as the Gadar

Movement.

Marking the 100th anniver-

sary of the Gadar Movement

which began in 1913, a series of

commemoration events are

planned throughout 2013 in col-

laboration with several

NRI/PIO organizations, govern-

ment and international agencies.

It is a fitting tribute to patriots

and heroes of the Gadar

Movement and deserving of

their sacrifices to free India,

GOPIO said describing the his-

tory of the Gadar movement as

a testimony of the deep love

that the Indian immigrants had

for their motherland.

The Gadar Movement is an

integral part of the rich heritage

in the United States for the

Indian Americans and of Indian

history, it said.

The Gadarites left an extra-

ordinary legacy for the future

generations and a global centen-

nial commemoration is a fitting

and well deserved tribute,

GOPIO added.

As GOPIO has done for the

Kolkata Memorial unveiled on

Jan 11, 2011 in recognition and

remembrance of Indian inden-

tured laborers who left India

from 1834-1920, the Centennial

Commemoration of Gadar

Movement is another GOPIO

initiative in its continuing

efforts to preserve and promote

Indian history, heritage and cul-

ture, GOPIO said.

The launch event at the Indian

Embassy here on Nov 3 (while

going to print we had no confir-

mation if the event has been

rescheduled in aftermath of

Hurricane Sandy) includes a

lecture/discussion on "The Role

of Gadar Movement for India's

Independence" by prominent

Gadar researchers and histori-

ans and release of the GOPIO

publication on "Global Indian

Diaspora."

GOPIO to launch Gadar centennial

Nevada: Religious statesman Rajan Zed,

president of Universal Society of

Hinduism, has been invited to participate

in “World Economic Forum.”

The event, organized by Geneva

(Switzerland) headquartered “World

Economic Forum” is being held in India

from November 6-8. It will bring together

500 global and regional business leaders,

heads of state and government and minis-

ters, as well as leaders from media, acade-

mia and civil society.

Under the theme “From Deliberation to

Transformation” it will address key issues

and opportunities in the areas of develop-

ing human capital, redressing risk and ful-

filling the future promise.

The “World Economic Forum” is an

international organization committed to

improving the state of the world by engag-

ing business, political, academic and other

leaders of society to shape global, regional

and industry agendas. Klaus Schwab is the

Chairman. Nevada based Rajan Zed has

taken up interfaith, religion, environment,

Roma (Gypsies) and other causes all over

the world.

Rajan Zed invited to “World Economic Forum”

Rajan Zed

8 November 3-9, 2012 TheSouthAsianTimes.infoNATIONAL COMMUNITY

New York: Indian-American

writer/director Prashant

Bhargava and producer

Jaideep Punjabi have won the

South Asian Rising Star Film

Awards for Best Director and

Best Picture for the feature

film "Patang" (The Kite).

The two received the

awards at a ceremony here.

The jury consisted of Indian

film critic Rajeev Masand,

India Abroad editor Arthur

Pais, singer/songwriter and

Goldspot frontman

Siddhartha Khosla, American

actress and musician Janina

Gavankar and American actor

Maulik Pancholy.

"Patang" is one of the most

critically celebrated Indian films of the year.

"Patang" had its world premiere at the

Berlin Film Festival and its North American

premiere in competition at the Tribeca Film

Festival.

The film has gone on to play at 30 film

festivals worldwide and won numerous

accolades including Best Feature Narrative

at the Hawaii International Film Festival,

Best World Narrative at the Indy Film

Festival, Special Jury Award and the Best

Feature Narrative at the Dc Apa Film

Festival and the Special

Jury Award at the Osian's

Film Festival (New Delhi).

Described as a poetic

journey to the old city of

Ahmedabad, "Patang"

weaves together the stories

of six people transformed

by the energy of India's

largest kite festival.

Seven years in the mak-

ing, the cast features award

winning actress Seema

Biswas ("Water", "Bandit

Queen"), Nawazuddin

Siddiqui ("Gangs Of

Wasseypur", "Peepli Live",

"Dev D") and Sugandha

Garg ("Tere Bin Laden",

"My Name is Khan",

"Janne Tu Ya Janne Na").

Hailed as a "masterful" filmmaker with

"hypnotically beautiful visuals", "naturalis-

tic storytelling" and a "colorfully vivid"

poetic style, Prashant Bhargava stands at the

leading edge of independent Indian cinema.

"Patang" is his feature length debut. Born

and raised in Chicago, Bhargava started out

as a graffiti artist. He went on to study com-

puter science at Cornell University and the-

atrical directing at The Actors Studio MFA

program.

India-American director's 'Patang' wins Rising Star awards

Prashant Bhargava onstage with the co-host ofthe awards show, Indian-

American actress Sunny Leone

Washington, DC: At a time when unem-

ployment is a major issue in the US due to

its poor economic status, Indian companies

have created 50,000 jobs in the country

through massive investments, a top US

diplomat said.

"Our economic relationship is very much

a two way street. Both of us are focused on

attracting growth and investment to our

shores. Indian-owned Tata factory in Ohio

puts thousands of Americans to work, part

of the over 50,000 jobs Indian firms have

created in the US. Opportunities for small,

medium and large American businesses in

India are staggering," US Deputy

Secretary of State William Burns said.

Burns added that India is being projected

as the world's third largest economy by

2025.

He also praised the recent Indian deci-

sions with regard to next phase of econom-

ic reforms. "Of course, for our companies

to provide the technology and expertise to

help India prosper, India's government

must create an environment that encour-

ages growth," he said, adding that the

country’s recent easing of some restric-

tions on Foreign Direct Investment are

promising.

Burns observes that US is India’s most

important partner. Total direct investment

from US in India has jumped from $2.4

billion in 2000 to $27 billion in 2010.

During the same period, Indian direct

investment in America grew over $200

million to nearly $5 billion, which is more

than a twenty fold increase, he said.

"Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley

got $60 million in two way businesses

from his India visit. Kentucky Governor

Steve Beshear visited India three times and

brought about $7 billion private sector

energy deal. Norfolk has a sister city

alliance with Kochi in Kerala that has

helped Virginia export nearly $300 million

in goods to India each year," Mr Burns

added.

Burns also broached the topic about

Civil Nuclear Initiative, which according

to him, still holds promise for the people

of India and US.

"Without diminishing the real and frus-

trating challenges we have faced, both

governments are now engaged in realizing

practical benefits of the civil nuclear

agreement, especially reliable electricity

for India's homes and businesses," he said.

He argued that our companies are mak-

ing good headway in negotiations with

their Indian counterpart to complete works

agreements by the end of this year.

“In June, Westinghouse and India's

Nuclear Power Corporation took important

steps that will lead to Westinghouse

nuclear reactors in Gujarat. We hope

General Electric can follow suit,” he said,

adding that the US is as committed as the

Indian government in expanding coopera-

tion in nuclear energy and other areas,

‘from wind and solar energy to natural gas

and bio fuels.’

Indian companies created 50,000jobs in US: Deputy Secretary of State

Deputy Secretary of State William Burns

9November 3-9, 2012TheSouthAsianTimes.info INDIA

New Delhi: India Against

Corruption has turned its fire on

Reliance Industries chairman

Mukesh Ambani by alleging that S.

Jaipal Reddy was axed as petroleum

minister for refusing a RIL's propos-

al to hike gas charges and accused

the government of promoting "crony

capitalism."

IAC's Arvind Kejriwal and

Prashant Bhushan demanded that

the Krishna-Godavari (KG) basin

allotted to Reliance Industries be

scrapped and accused the UPA gov-

ernment of favouring the RIL by

giving contract on gas exploration in

KG Basin and concessions at a huge

cost to the exchequer.

"Their KG Basin contract should

be cancelled. The government

should immediately put in place

adequate systems to get full produc-

tion from KG Basin at the cheapest

price for the country."

Kejriwal and Bhushan slammed

what they called a "classic case of

crony capitalism", and charged that

Reliance was "blackmailing" the

government to hike the price of gas

by "almost stopping" the production

and indulging in "hoarding like

petty traders."

"Mukesh Ambani is running the

country it seems," Kejriwal told the

media here. "Jaipal Reddy was

removed as he refused to hike the

charges levied by Reliance

Industries to supply gas to the

NTPC (National Thermal Power

Corp)."

Reliance called the charges "irre-

sponsible". Petroleum minister M.

Veerappa Moily declined to com-

ment on the allegations.

According to Kejriwal, the KG

basin was awarded to Reliance in

2000 by the NDA government when

the company agreed to supply gas to

the NTPC for the next 17 years at

$2.34 per unit.

But, said Kejriwal, the company

revised the rate to $4.25 per unit in

2007 which then finance minister

Pranab Mukherjee agreed to as the

head of an empowered group of

ministers, benefiting Reliance to the

tune of Rs.10,000 crore.

"The entire contract was meant to

benefit Reliance because ... the cost

would be determined by the compa-

ny, and if the cost increases, so will

the profit," he said, adding this was

unheard of in business.

Kejriwal alleged that in 2006 then

petroleum minister Mani Shankar

Iyer was removed and Murli Deora

brought in to increase Reliance

Industries' capital expenditure from

$2.39 billion to $8.8 billion, and to

hike gas price from $2.34 per unit to

$4.25 per unit.

Later, the company wanted the

rate further hiked to $14.2. Jaipal

Reddy, who reportedly did not agree

to the proposal, was shunted out in

Sunday's cabinet rejig, said the

activist-politician.

Kejriwal released to the media a

"secret" document of the petroleum

ministry that said that accepting the

Reliance demand would generate

for it an additional profit of

Rs.43,000 crore ($8.5 billion).

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)

asked the prime minister to respond

to IAC and explain why Jaipal

Reddy was dropped from the petro-

leum ministry.

The activists cited purported con-

versations between corporate lobby-

ist Niira Radia and Atal Behari

Vajpayee's foster son-in-law Ranjan

Bhattacharya to say that Ambani

had boasted that the Congress was

under his control. The conversation

makes it clear that Ambani had pow-

erful influence over the Congress

and the BJP, he claimed.

"In the Niira Radia tapes, Ranjan

Bhattacharya is heard telling Niira

that Mukesh Ambani told him

'Congress to ab apni dukaan hai.

BJP signed a sweet deal with RIL in

2000. Congress faithfully imple-

mented it." The Congress pre-

dictably rubbished the charges. "His

charges are not worth a comment

from any political party," Congress

spokesperson P.C. Chacko told

IANS. Congress general secretary

B.K. Hari Prasad also said "the

charges were baseless".

Mukesh Ambani running country: Kejriwal

S. Jaipal Reddy was axed as petroleum minister for refusing aRIL's proposal to hike gas charges, alleged India Against

Corruption (IAC)

Farukkhabad is External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid's constituency

Ralegan Siddhi: Veteran activist

Anna Hazare said India Against

Corruption leader Arvind

Kejriwal may never want to be

wealthy, but he is not above

being lured by power.

"There is a feeling of sacrifice

in him (Kejriwal), he does not

think about his family as much as

he thinks about the country and

society. He does not have greed

for money, but now after going to

politics another kind of greed... I

mean he will not become a min-

ister himself..." Anna Hazare said

in an interview to NDTV.

Asked if Kejriwal may end up

being greedy for power, Anna

Hazare said: "It is possible, but

he has no other greed."

Referring to the recent exposes

by Kejriwal against various

politicians, Anna Hazare said he

must take up the allegations one

by one, and take each charge to

its logical conclusion rather than

charging all political leaders one

after another.

"You don't have to catch every

one at the same time. Catch them

one by one. I sent home six min-

isters, so catch them one by one,"

he said.

Arvind may become power-hungry: Anna

Veteran activist Anna Hazare

Lucknow: Anti-graft activist

Arvind Kejriwal stepped up attack

on External Affairs Minister Salman

Khurshid in Farukkhabad and urged

the people to "dismiss" their tainted

representative in the 2014 polls,

even as Congress workers clashed

with his supporters.

"We urged the prime minister to

sack him but he did not, now I

request you to dismiss him in the

general elections of 2014," the India

Against Corruption activist told an

impressive and enthusiastic crowd.

He asked the people to pit a disabled

person as a candidate against

Khurshid in the polls and also to

ensure that the minister lost.

Earlier, the activists of the

Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU)

which is backing Kejriwal, and the

Congress workers clashed on the

outskirts of Farrukhabad. The "skir-

mish was a minor one and some

stones were pelted", a police officer

said adding that no one was injured.

Referring to his charges of corrup-

tion and forgery against the Dr.

Zakir Hussain Memorial Trust run

by Khurshid and his wife Louise,

Kejriwal also accused the

Samajwadi Party (SP) government

in the state of trying to save the

tainted union minister.

They say a probe is being con-

ducted, Kejriwal said adding that:

"Where is the need for the probe as

it has already been done earlier this

year."

"Now the time has come to lodge

an FIR against Khurshid," Kejriwal

told the audience at the rally.

Enthused by the impressive crowd

at the meeting, Kejriwal said that

while he had seen various forms of

corruption in his crusade against

graft, the one done by Khurshid was

"by far the most shameful".

Dismiss Khurshid, Kejriwalasks Farrukhabad

10 November 3-9, 2012 TheSouthAsianTimes.infoINDIA

New Delhi: Janata Party president

Subramanian Swamy has alleged

wrongdoing by Congress president

Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul

Gandhi leading to the takeover of

Herald House here. The Congress

dismissed the charges while Rahul

Gandhi's office threatened legal

action.

Swamy said a company allegedly

floated by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul

Gandhi had done a "sham and

bogus" deal to "grab the Rs.1,600

crore worth Herald House" and

other properties of the group and

demanded a CBI probe.

The Congress was dismissive of

the allegations and referred to

Swamy as an "ajube" (strange char-

acter).A much more strong denial

came from Rahul Gandhi which said

the allegations were "baseless and

defamatory" and that legal action

would be taken for the "scandalous

abuse".

"The allegations made by you are

utterly false, entirely baseless and

defamatory," said a letter to Swamy.

"We are committed to pursuing legal

action." Swamy told the media that

the two Gandhis floated a company

called Young Indian in which each

had 38 percent stake.

Young Indian, he said, acquired

Associated Journals Pvt Ltd (APPL)

and became owner of the National

Herald and Quami Awaz and all

high value real estate property in

Delhi and Uttar Pradesh belonging

to the group.

"Rahul Gandhi was already a

shareholder in APJ Private Ltd in

2008 but failed to disclose this in his

affidavit filed for the Lok Sabha

elections in 2009," Swamy said.

Swamy demanded an investiga-

tion by the Serious Fraud

Investigation Office or the Central

Bureau of Investigation. He also

urged the Election Commission to

look into the illegality of loan given

by the Congress to a private compa-

ny.

The Congress poured scorn on

Swamy. "In every country and every

society there are some strange char-

acters," party general secretary

Janardan Dwivedi said.

"The name you are taking

(Swamy), he probably is one of

them. He can say anything, any-

time."

Swamy targets Sonia, Rahul

Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy

Hyderabad: Born in a farmer's family in a

remote village, Kinjarapu Yerran Naidu went

on to emerge as one of Andhra Pradesh's

tallest politicians. The 55-year-old, who died

in a road accident in his native Srikakulam

district early on November 2, was the Telugu

Desam Party's (TDP) most familiar face in the

national arena.

A four-time member of parliament and a

member of Andhra Pradesh assembly as many

times, he always remained loyal to the party

which he joined at its inception.

He was in the forefront of the TDP's protests

on people's issues. An affable person, he was

always accessible to people in his constituency.

Born on Feb 23, 1957, at Nimmada in

Srikakulam district in north coastal Andhra,

Yerran naidu came up the hard way and went

on to become one of the most popular leaders

in the backward region.

The leadership qualities in him were evident

in his student days. Yerran Naidu, who

obtained a law degree from the Andhra

University in Visakhapatnam, joined the TDP

in 1982 when it was floated by popular Telugu

actor N.T. Rama Rao.

In 1983, he was elected to the state assem-

bly from Harishchandrapuram in his native

district. Belonging to Koppula Velama, a

backward caste in the region, he was re-elect-

ed in 1985. Denied a TDP ticket in 1989, he

fought as an independent and was re-elected

to the assembly. He later returned to the party

fold and was elected for the fourth consecu-

tive term in 1994.

He backed Chandrababu Naidu when the

latter led a revolt against N.T. Rama Rao and

became chief minister in 1995. He was the

government chief whip from 1995 to 1996.

Popularly known as Yeranna among TDP

circles, he was fielded by the party in 1996

parliamentary elections. Elected to the Lok

Sabha from Srikakulam constituency, he

emerged a key TDP leader in national politics.

With TDP joining the United Front govern-

ment, Naidu became a minister at the centre,

holding the portfolio of rural development and

employment.

He retained the Lok Sabha seat in the 1998

and 1999 elections. Two days before polling

in the 2004 elections, he survived an assassi-

nation bid by Maoists in Srikakulam district.

Re-elected to parliament, he was made the

party leader in the Lok Sabha.

Yerran Naidu: fighter and mass leader

New Delhi: Sunanda Pushkar has termed as

"downright disgusting" and belittling of

women the comment of Gujarat Chief

Minister Narendra Modi describing her as the

"Rs.50-crore girlfriend" of Shashi Tharoor.

In an interview to NDTV news channel,

Pushkar, who was allegedly linked to the IPL

Kochi cricket controversy in 2009, said she

was "extremely disappointed" at Modi's

remarks and wondered, "how can someone

stoop to something like that".

Modi made the comment at an election rally

in Himachal Pradesh two days ago, after

Tharoor was brought back into the union

council of ministers. The Thiruvananthapuram

MP had resigned from the union ministry in

2010 over the IPL Kochi episode.

Pushkar said she was "completely horrified"

to hear the remarks by "this guy" who comes

from the land of Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar

Patel.

"In the case of the Gujarat chief minister, I

feel sad why they get so personal and belit-

tle... It is downright disgusting," she said.

Asked if she would demand an apology,

Pushkar said, "A man who hasn't apologised

to his people for the killing of innocent

Gujaratis on his watch (2002 riots), how

would I expect an apology from him?"

She also said she had got a lot of support

from people, including many men, who had

reached out to her and asked her to speak out

following Modi's comments.

Referring to the IPL Kochi team issue,

Pushkar said: "we have completely sorted it

out, answered all questions of the ED

(Enforcement Directorate)". "Where is the

Rs.50 crore?" asked Pushkar.

"I was highly amused by the figure...

Earlier, the figure was Rs. 70 crore, so where

has Rs.20 crore gone?"

"The BJP needs to figure it out... it is an

imaginary figure," she said, adding: "Show

me the money."

To Modi's comment, Tharoor had retorted

with a tweet: "My wife is worth a lot more

than your imaginary 50 crores. She is price-

less. But you need to be able to love someone

to understand that."

Modi comments disgusting: Sunanda Pushkar

TDP leader Kinjarapu Yerran Naidu

Sunanda Pushkar withminister-husband Shashi Tharoor

Obituary

Gandhinagar: Gujarat

will celebrate Diwali on

November 13 along with

the rest of the country and

then on December 20 when

the results of the state elec-

tion would be counted,

Chief Minister Narendra

Modi said Wednesday as

he renewed his attack on

the Manmohan Singh-led

central government.

"The people of Gujarat

will celebrate Diwali twice

this year. Once in

November, and then once

again on Dec 20, when the

BJP wins the election,"

Modi told a rally of the

Bharatiya Janata Party's

youth wing.

He attacked the opposi-

tion Congress, accusing

them of "spreading lies"

about him and alleging that

the party was "wasting our

hard-earned money".

"But all this is not going

to work. Even today, five

years after the last polls,

the people of Gujarat still

love the BJP," said Modi.

He also again attacked

the prime minister.

"Manmohan Singh has

completed eight years in

power. And till today, he

does not have the courage

to see us eye-to-eye."

He appealed to the youth

BJP workers to spread out

into the state's villages and

tell people that the party

was with them.

"Tell the people of

Gujarat's villages that their

development is our duty

and that we are doing it.

"We have done, learnt

and achieved a lot in these

10 years. And we will con-

tinue to do so after we

come to power again,"

Modi said.

Gujarat goes to the polls

Dec 13 and 17. Vote count-

ing will be on Dec 20.

Gujarat will celebrate Diwali again Dec 20: Modi

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi

Kolkata: The coal ministry

will de-allocate 13 coal blocks

owned by private companies

after getting approval of the

law ministry, which is expected

within a week, Coal Minister

Sriprakash Jaiswal has said.

In September, the government

had accepted the recommenda-

tion of the Inter Ministerial

Group (IMG) for de-allocating

13 mines and deducting bank

guarantees of 14 allottees.

"That (IMG's recommenda-

tion) has gone to the law min-

istry. Whenever that report will

come, it (coal blocks) will be

de-allocated," Jaiswal said at a

program organized by the Coal

India Limited (CIL) here.

Asked when the law min-

istry's report will come, Jaiswal

said: "Any day within a week, I

feel the report should come."

The minister said the de-allo-

cation letters are legal docu-

ments and, therefore, his min-

istry thought it would be in

order to take the law ministry's

concurrence before sending

them to the defaulting allottees.

Also, the ministry has asked

the Coal Controller to calculate

the amount to be deducted from

the bank guarantees given by

the companies.

He said the IMG on coal

blocks would meet Nov 5-6 to

give its review report regarding

the 31 mines allocated to public

sector companies for captive

use.

The central government had

formed the IMG in July to

review the coal blocks allo-

cated to companies for cap-

tive use. Some 58 mines have

been issued show cause notice

for their failure to develop

blocks within the given time-

frame.

Chandigarh: Haryana's Bhupinder Singh Hooda

government wants the whole world to believe that

Robert Vadra, son-in-law of Congress president

Sonia Gandhi, has done no wrong in amassing huge

chunks of land in the vicinity of New Delhi in recent

years. Nor does it find anything amiss in Vadra's

Rs.58 crore deal with realty giant DLF for prime land

in Manesar near Gurgaon.

Backed by a team of "trusted" officers, two of

whom have handled the crucial town and country

planning and industries departments respectively for

years since Hooda became chief minister in March

2005, the Haryana government has come out with

many denials, clarifications and rebuttals after accu-

sations were made by India Against Corruption (IAC)

activist Arvind Kejriwal and objections raised to the

land deals by upright IAS officer Ashok Khemka.

Opposition leader Om Prakash Chautala and

Kejriwal have accused the Hooda government of

openly acting on behalf of colonisers and property

dealers.

Khemka's actions, as the director general of consol-

idation and inspector general of land registrations, in

enquiring into Vadra's land deals since 2005 and can-

celling the mutation of the Rs.58 crore land deal

between Vadra's company and DLF for the Manesar

land, left the Hooda government redfaced.

Two senior IAS officers, town and country plan-

ning director general T.C. Gupta and Haryana

Industrial and Infrastructure Development

Corporation (HSIIDC) managing director Rajeev

Arora, who have been handling these crucial depart-

ments in the last few years, led the fire-fighting effort

for the Hooda government, claiming that there was

nothing wrong in the land deals of Vadra and his

companies or the manner in which the Haryana gov-

ernment had been obliging DLF, the country's biggest

land developer, with huge investments in Gurgaon

and other places in Haryana adjoining national capi-

tal New Delhi.

Hooda himself has either dismissed the charges or

left it to his officials to defend his government.

The deputy commissioners of Gurgaon, Palwal,

Faridabad and Mewat, who were ordered by Khemka

to send reports on the land deals of Vadra and his

companies since 2005, dutifully said that there was

nothing wrong in any of the deals. Instead of sending

the complete documents, the deputy commissioners

gave a 'clean chit' to Vadra, saying that there was no

loss to the state exchequer in his purchase of nearly

200 acres of land in their respective districts.

"I am no longer holding the office from where I

ordered the inquiry. It is up to the state government

now," Khemka said.

De-allocation of private coal blocks soon: minister

Haryana government springs to Vadra's defense

Jaipur: A woman in a Rajasthan

village was branded a witch and

knifed to death by her nephew who

also injured her 10-year-old grand-

son, police said.

Ganesh Kumar was arrested for

the murder of his aunt, 65-year-old

Hanzana in Bilia Fala village near

Varda town in Dungarpur district,

about 500 km from here. The

woman's 10-year-old grandson was

injured when he tried to intervene, a

police official said.

"Ganesh Kumar worked in

Mumbai. He returned home a cou-

ple of days ago. Like always, he

started quarrelling with his 65-year-

old aunt Hanzana, saying that she

was a witch casting evil spells on

the family members and villagers,"

a police official said.

Suddenly, Ganesh attacked her

with a knife. She died on the spot.

"The woman's 10-year old grandson

tried to intervene and was beaten up.

The child is undergoing treatment at

a hospital," said the officer.

Ganesh escaped from the house

after the attack but was taken into

custody Thursday night.

The Rajasthan Women

(Prevention and Protection from

Atrocities) Bill, 2011, was prepared

by the state's women and child wel-

fare department keeping in view the

increasing cases of women being

branded witches in the state.

As per the bill, a crime would be

considered to have been committed

when any person or community

intentionally or inadvertently abets,

conspires, aids and instigates the

identification of a woman as a

witch, leading to her mental and

physical torture and humiliation.

The bill has proposed a maximum

of seven years' imprisonment and

fine for those who grab the land of

such women after forcing them to

leave their house.

If a woman commits suicide after

being called a witch, the accused

shall be given a prison sentence of

not less than five years, which can

be extended to 10 years, with a min-

imum fine of Rs.25,000. According

to the draft bill, the fine can be

enhanced to Rs.50,000.

Rajasthan woman brandedwitch, killed by nephew

Srinagar: After hardline separatist

leader Syed Ali Geelani refused

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister

Omar Abdullah's offer to take a hel-

icopter ride to prove his claim of a

road being constructed along the

forest trek to the Amarnath shrine,

the state government is now trying

its best to disprove his charges and

ensure he is not able to light protest

fires to a "non-issue".

Geelani has threatened a march to

the Amarnath Yatra base camps as

he claims the state government was

constructing a concrete road inside

the forests along the north Kashmir

Baltal route. (On Friday, he clari-

fied that he was referring to the

south Kashmir Pahalgam route.)

Geelani said he would consult

various separatist leaders to organ-

ise the march and to coordinate the

proposed agitation.

To generate public opinion

against Geelani's charges, the state

government earlier this week took a

group of journalists for an aerial

survey of the Baltal and Pahalgam

routes.

"No road construction has been

going on anywhere along the Yatra

treks as far as we could see", said a

journalist who undertook the aerial

survey.

The decision to organize the aeri-

al survey appears to be largely

influenced by the state govern-

ment's bitter experiences of the

past.

In 2008, a massive agitation crip-

pled normal life in the Valley after

the separatists alleged the govern-

ment had allotted some land to the

Shri Amarnath Shrine Board

(SASB) in the Baltal base camp

forests.

Kashmir has seen one of its most

impressive summers during 2012

with more than 700,000 tourists

visiting the Valley. Hoteliers, taxi

drivers, boatmen, handicraft dealers

and others connected with tourism

have earned a respectable living

after many years.

Kashmir govt takes no chances with Geelani threat

Separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani

The government had accepted the recommendation of a panel for de-allocating 13 mines

Robert Vadra, son-in-law of Congress president Sonia Gandhi

11November 3-9, 2012TheSouthAsianTimes.info INDIA

Washington, DC: As a ferocious Hurricane

Sandy roared up the US East Coast, both

President Barack Obama and Republican

challenger Mitt Romney changed their cam-

paign plans in their final sprint before the Nov

6 election.

With just eight days to go before what by all

accounts would be one of the tightest contests

for the White House, Obama scrapped his

plans to campaign in Ohio Monday and

instead headed back to Washington to monitor

the approaching "Frankenstorm."

On Saturday, Obama's campaign cancelled

another Monday event in Virginia, as well as a

Tuesday morning event in Colorado.

Romney too cancelled his Sunday plans to

campaign in Virginia, which is in the storm's

path, and instead joined his running mate Paul

Ryan for events in Ohio.

The Republican is scheduled to campaign in

Ohio, Iowa and Wisconsin Monday, then in

Ohio Tuesday. A Romney campaign stop

scheduled for Tuesday in New Hampshire was

cancelled late Sunday afternoon, the campaign

announced in an e-mail, CNN reported.

On Sunday, politicos from both sides said it

was still too early to tell how the storm would

affect the race for the White House, but that

access to voting centers would be a concern if

effects from the storm persist until Election

Day.

"I don't think anybody really knows," top

Obama adviser David Axelrod told CNN

about the potential political impact of

Hurricane Sandy.

"Obviously, we want unfettered access to

the polls because we believe that the more

people come out, the better we're going to do,

and so to the extent that it makes it harder, you

know, that's a source of concern. But I don't

know how all the politics will sort out."

The 2008 Republican presidential nominee

John McCain told CBS Sunday the storm

could help boost Obama in the eyes of voters,

but said he doubted the image of a strong

leader would sway voters after months of

campaigning.

Obama is being briefed regularly on the

storm's path, CNN cited White House officials

as saying, and he will balance his campaign

with his responsibilities as president.

Romney too faced the task of adopting the

right tone during a time of crisis for a large

chunk of the East Coast.

CNN cited an unnamed top Republican as

saying even "weather-safe" swing states such

as Colorado and Ohio might be difficult cam-

paign stops for Romney if Hurricane Sandy

devastates the Eastern Seaboard with wide-

spread injuries, deaths or life-threatening situ-

ations. "It gets tricky," the source told CNN.

"Optics are important." The Romney cam-

paign will "play it by ear" as the storm

unfolds, he added.

Washington, DC: The photograph

of former US president George W.

Bush staring down at hurricane-rav-

aged New Orleans from the window

of Air Force One in 2005 remains a

textbook example of ill-considered

political photo-ops, one that Bush

later called a "huge mistake" that

made him look "detached and

uncaring."

But with Hurricane Sandy pound-

ing the US east coast Monday - just

eight days before the US presiden-

tial election - the now-iconic photo

also underscores a peculiar finding

by political scientists: When it

comes to American presidential pol-

itics, weather matters.

American voters punish incum-

bent presidents at the polls for

severe weather damage incurred on

their watch, according to a study

published last year by political sci-

entists Andrew Reeves and John

Gasper.

But that's only half the story. The

electoral hit those incumbents take

for nasty weather is more than off-

set by gains at the ballot box should

they declare a federal state of emer-

gency in the affected areas, Reeves

and Gasper write.

"While voters do hold presidents

and governors accountable for a

natural disaster, what they really

hold them accountable for is the

response to that event," Reeves said

in a telephone interview Monday.

President Barack Obama Sunday

declared a state of emergency in

several states along the US Eastern

Seaboard, as well as in Washington,

DC, - a move that comes as no sur-

prise given the severity of the hurri-

cane.

Both he and Republican chal-

lenger Mitt Romney canceled cam-

paign events scheduled for Monday

and Tuesday amid the hurricane,

whose path runs though several

tightly contested election swing

states, including North Carolina,

Virginia, and Pennsylvania.

In their research, Reeves and

Gasper studied county-level elec-

tion data of gubernatorial and presi-

dential elections from 1970 to 2006.

They found that both a governor

and the president are ultimately

rewarded at the polls if the governor

requests federal disaster assistance

and the president grants it.

The governor, however, is still

rewarded at the ballot box even if

the White House rejects the request

- though the president suffers at the

polls for the decision, they con-

clude.

It's a conclusion that Reeves finds

satisfying.

"It's a little better than this arbi-

trary idea of holding the president

accountable for the weather," said

Reeves, a professor of political sci-

ence at Boston University. "Obama

did not cause the hurricane, but it's

well within his power to show lead-

ership."

In a separate paper published last

year, Reeves found that in cases of

less ferocious natural disasters,

presidents are more inclined to

grant federal disaster aid to so-

called "battleground states" - states

where the electoral divide between

Democrats and Republicans is

extremely thin.

The most important thing during a

natural disaster is to save lives and

minimize damage, Reeves noted.

But from a political standpoint,

Obama would be wise to make it

clear to voters that he's on top of the

situation.

Photographs the White House

released this week on its Flickr pho-

tostream appear aimed to do just

that, showing Obama solemnly

meeting with federal emergency

officials and members of his cabi-

net.

On Monday Obama cancelled a

campaign appearance in Florida

with former president Bill Clinton

to return to Washington, where he

was briefed on the storm in the

White House Situation Room.

"The worst thing to do is to look

like an absentee leader - what Bush

looked like flying over New

Orleans and looking down from an

airplane," Reeves said. "Or like a

mayor vacationing at a tropical

resort when their city is hit by a

snowstorm."

In US elections, weather can make waves at polls

Hurricane Sandy swipesObama, Romney campaigns

US Route 30, the White Horse Pike, one of three major approaches to AtlanticCity, N.J., is covered with water from Absecon Bay in this view looking west, during the approach of Hurricane Sandy on Oct. 29. Hurricane Sandy began

battering the US East Coast on Monday with fierce winds and driving rain, as themonster storm shut down transportation, shuttered businesses and sent thou-sands scrambling for higher ground hours before the worst was due to strike.

12 November 3-9, 2012 TheSouthAsianTimes.infoUS ELECTIONS

President Barack Obama, left, embraces Donna Vanzant, right,during a tour of Brigantine, N.J., a neighborhood severely

affected by Superstorm Sandy. (Oct. 31, 2012).

US poll can't be postponed, despite Sandy havocWashington, DC: Next Tuesday's US presi-

dential election apparently cannot be post-

poned despite the havoc caused by Hurricane

Sandy that has flooded towns and cities up

and down US East Coast and left millions

without power. The election for president can-

not be moved to a later date without passage

of a new federal law as an 1845 law set the

Tuesday immediately following the first

Monday in November of every election year

as Election Day across the country.

But, partial postponements of voting in

some affected areas are possible, consistent

with the laws governing the election of the

president and vice president, CNN said citing

a 2004 Congressional Research Service

report.

When people go to the polls on Election

Day, they aren't voting directly for their

choice for president or vice president. Instead,

they are voting to select representatives-or

"electors"-to the Electoral College that actual-

ly chooses the nation's top two.

The 1845 law also gives states some leeway

in picking electors to the Electoral College.

But to exercise that leeway, a state must have

"held an election for the purpose of choosing

electors," and "failed to make a choice on the

day prescribed by law," CNN said.

When that happens, the law says "the elec-

tors may be appointed on a subsequent day in

such manner as the legislature of such state

may direct."

Based on this, the CRS concluded that a

state could probably hold presidential voting

on Election Day in places unaffected by a nat-

ural disaster but postpone it until a later date

in affected areas without violating

federal law.

US ELECTIONS

After Sandy, Obama has edgein close race

Obama, Romney offer contrastingvisions for America

13November 3-9, 2012TheSouthAsianTimes.info

By Arun Kumar

Washington: As President Barack

Obama and Republican challenger

Mitt Romney returned to the cam-

paign in the wake of Hurricane

sandy, new polls suggested a very

close race though Obama appeared

to have a very slight edge.

Buoyed by praise for his han-

dling of the 'Frankenstorm', Obama

Thursday ended a three-state swing

with a rally in the battle ground

state of Colorado where a

CNN/ORC International Poll

showed Obama with a 50 to 48

percent edge over Romney, well

within the survey's sampling error.

An American Research Group

poll conducted over the weekend

had Romney at 48 percent and

Obama at 47 percent, and an NBC

News/Wall Street Journal/Marist

poll conducted last week suggested

the race was tied at 48 percent.

A Washington Post-ABC News

showed 49 percent of likely voters

across the country backing Obama

to Romney's 48 percent. It's an

identical 49 to 48 percent looking

across eight states identified as

"tossups" by The Washington Post.

Nationally, in 10 out of 11 releas-

es of the tracking poll, the two

presidential contenders have been

separated by no more than a single

percentage point, the Post noted.

Seven times the gap between the

two has been less than 1 percent,

when looking at the fractional dif-

ferences.

But the president continues to

have a solid pushback to

Republicans on the economy. By a

15-point margin (51 to 36 percent),

more voters say former President

George W. Bush bears more

responsibility than does Obama for

current economic problems.

But there's less of an apparent

gap in the eight tossup states -

Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada,

New Hampshire, Ohio, Virginia

and Wisconsin - where 47 percent

point the finger at Bush, 42 percent

at Obama, the Post said.

Looking at 12 polls in Iowa,

Nevada, Ohio and Wisconsin,

FiveThirtyEight, an influential poll

watching blog on the New York

Times asserted Obama remains the

favourite in the 538-vote Electoral

College as it raised the President's

share to 303.2 giving him an 80.8

percent chance.

But it also hedged its bets saying

"Obama is not a sure thing, by any

means."

Politico, another influential

media site focused on politics gave

Obama a 290 to 249 edge over

Romney, while Real Clear Politics,

a political news aggregating site

showed the President edging ahead

47.4 to 47.3 per cent even as it’s

kept intact its forecast of 206 for

Obama and 191 for Romney with

146 too close to call.

Meanwhile, former president Bill

Clinton kept up his campaign blitz

for Obama and other Democrats

zig-zagging his way across the

country. He has appeared at nearly

40 events for House candidates this

cycle and raised $1.4 million for

the Democratic Congressional

Campaign Committee.

President Obama at a briefing on the response to Hurricane Sandy at FEMA headquarters in

Washington, D.C., Oct. 31, 2012.

Washington: Barack Obama and

Mitt Romney Friday offered their

competing visions for America with

the president claiming real progress

in the last four years and the

Republican challenger focusing on

the still struggling economy.

The final arguments by the two

contenders in an extremely close

White House race came in op-eds

published by CNN hours before the

latest government jobs report showed

the US economy adding 171,000 jobs

in October, well above what econo-

mists had expected.

But unemployment rose slightly to

7.9 percent, the Labor Department

said in the highly anticipated report

just four days before the election,

with the media highlighting how it

may have a major impact in a presi-

dential race where economy has

played a central role.

Obama started his vision on a

bipartisan note discussing the impact

of Hurricane Sandy saying "when

hardship hits, America is at its best.

The petty differences that consume

us in normal times quickly melt

away".

"There are no Democrats or

Republicans during a storm -- only

fellow Americans," said the president

who has won all round praise for his

handling of the disaster, including

from the Republican governor Chris

Christy of the worst hit New Jersey.

Highlighting his successes - end of

Iraq War, the death of Osama bin

Laden, creation of more than five

million new jobs and bounce back of

the auto industry, he said: "We're not

there yet."

"But we've made real progress.

And on Tuesday, America will get to

choose between two fundamentally

different visions of what makes

America strong," Obama said high-

lighting the strength of the middle

class in building America's prosperi-

ty. "We don't succeed when a few at

the top do well while everyone else

struggles to get by -- we're better off

when everyone gets a fair shot,

everyone does their fair share, and

everyone plays by the same rules."

He also invoked the success of the

highly popular former Democratic

president Bill Clinton credited with

creating "the biggest surplus in histo-

ry" and warned that the path Romney

offered was the one tried during the

eight disastrous Bush Years.

Romney in his closing arguments

suggested that "America is a land of

opportunity. But lately, for too many

Americans, opportunity has not

exactly come knocking" with

America "mired in an economic

slowdown" that has left millions

unemployed.

Touting his "economic recovery

plan consisting of five central ele-

ments that will in four years create 12

million jobs" the challenger vowed to

"make trade work for America",

"restore fiscal sanity to Washington"

and "championing small business".

"Nothing is ever easy in

Washington, but these goals are root-

ed in bipartisan agreement, and I will

work with members of both parties to

accomplish them," said Romney

highlighting his successes as the gov-

ernor of Massachusetts, "a state that

was overwhelmingly Democratic".

Highlighting his credentials as a

man of business, he said: "the prob-

lems we need to overcome now are

not bigger than we are. We can defeat

them. I am offering real change and a

real choice."

By Parveen Chopra

There is good news for voters in the 3rd

Congressional district of New York,

which after redistricting extends from

parts of Queens to parts of Suffolk county

with a major part of the Nassau county. Given

the gridlock in Washington, Republican

Stephen Labate told the SATimes that as a

member of the House of Representatives, he

“will always work for the welfare of people,

which may require working with whoever

becomes the next President and with the other

side of the aisle.”

He understands the importance of team

building having served in the army.

“Something my opponent does not believe in,

having voted 95% of the time on party line,”

points out Stephen.

His opponent is Democrat Steve Israel.

Stephen Labate also points to a scandal

involving Israel. As per news reports, the

bank that holds Rep. Steve Israel’s mortgage

has approved a special deal allowing him to

wiggle out of nearly $100,000 owed on his

Dix Hills home while he unloads the proper-

ty.Stephen Labate says that a change in lead-

ership is needed in Congress, and he is asking

for voters’ support even as he vows to “sup-

port and defend” the Constitution . “It is this

oath, which I will carry to Washington as a

member of the United States Congress,” he

says.

Steve realized during the early and forma-

tive years in his life that his values were those

of someone who desired to serve his country,

and those values have never changed. While

attending St. John's University, he received

his B.A. in Political Science and was com-

missioned a Second Lieutenant in the U.S.

Army. His formal Military education includ-

ed Military Police Basic and Advanced

Courses, Airborne School and Command and

General Staff College.

Steve decided upon a career in financial

services and worked at several major firms.

In those years, he assisted clients in all

aspects of financial services, to include retire-

ment planning. Steve holds a Certified

Retirement Counselor designation from the

International Foundation of Retirement

Education and is currently a Retirement

Counselor with Prudential Retirement.

As a member of the Army Reserve, he has

been called to Active Duty three times since

9-11. His most recent service was 12 months

at the Pentagon where he was part of the

Army's Crisis Action Team. During this time,

Steve regularly participated in the creation of

high-level briefings to the Secretary of the

Army and the Vice Chief of Staff of the

Army.

Steve also served as a Force Protection

Officer in one of the most heavily attacked

installations in Northern Iraq. In that capaci-

ty, he initiated counter measures to protect

the 23,000 soldiers and airmen from the

ongoing myriad of threats, ranging from indi-

rect fire attacks to suicide bombers. In sup-

port of Operation "Noble Eagle II", Steve had

the distinct honor to Command the Soldiers

of the 306th Military Police Battalion for a

year-long mission. In a Pentagon ceremony,

hosted by the Provost Marshal General of the

Army, Steve was promoted to his current rank

of Lieutenant Colonel.

Steve is married to Leticia Labate, and they

reside in Deer Park with their young twins,

Michael and Maria. In addition to being an

active member of the U.S. Army Reserve,

Steve is a member of the Veterans of Foreign

Wars, the American Legion, Knights of

Columbus the Reserve Officers Association,

and the National Rifle Association.

Michael Venditto is an attorney who

brings experience in governmental

issues to the 12th Legislative

District. Born and raised in the Massapequa,

Michael’s legal and community background

will help him serve the residents of Nassau

County.

A former Deputy Town Attorney in the

Town of Hempstead, Michael currently serves

as Counsel to the Town Board. In this capaci-

ty, he acts as a liaison to residents on behalf of

elected officials, often dealing with con-

stituent issues and local community groups.

Throughout his tenure, he has conducted

research on various legislative matters and

drafted resolutions which were later adopted

by the Town Board.

In addition to providing general legal assis-

tance to the Hempstead Town Board, he has

also conducted hearings on various matters.

As Deputy Town Attorney, Michael served on

the Town’s District Court Bureau, where he

prosecuted the Town’s zoning code. Through

his work, Michael was able to help ensure the

suburban quality of life in Hempstead Town.

Coming from a family with a long tradition

of public service, Michael is the son of Oyster

Bay Town Supervisor John Venditto. He

knows the importance of being responsive to

the concerns of local residents. He is a fiscal

conservative committed to policies that pro-

tect taxpayers and help working families, sen-

iors and singles. Michael claims that he will

fight to hold the line on County property taxes

and build on Nassau County Executive Ed

Mangano’s two consecutive balanced budgets

with no tax increases in the last two years.

Michael is a graduate of St. John’s

University School of Law, where he received

his Juris Doctor and was admitted to the New

York State Bar in 2007. He previously

received his BA degree in Political Science

from Hofstra University.

He is also a member of the Nassau Lawyers

Association.

Michael is a parishioner at St. Rose of Lima

R. C. Church. He and his wife Antonella, a

teacher, live in Massapequa.

Striking the right balance between some-

times conflicting interests takes the right kind

of person. It takes a person who knows and

understands our communities … a person who

was born and raised here; he is the third gen-

eration of Vendittos to live in the Massapequa.

Michael Venditto has the energy, experience

and vision to protect the quality of life we

cherish. That’s why he was asked to run for

County Legislator – because of his links to the

past and his commitment to the future.

He is competing in a Nov. 6 special election

against Joanne Maglione, 42, a lawyer at

Jaspan Schlesinger in Garden City. Maglione,

a former Nassau deputy county attorney from

Massapequa Park, is a registered Republican

who is running on the Democratic line.

Michael Venditto: Seeking to servein Nassau County legislature

Stephen Labate: In race for New York's 3rd Congressional District

Stephen Labate out campaigning on a Republican ticket, the first timehe is seeking elected office. As a member of the Army Reserve,

he recently served for a year at the Pentagon.

14 November 3-9, 2012 TheSouthAsianTimes.infoUS ELECTIONS

Michael Venditto, 31, secured theRepublican nomination for the 12th

Legislative District rendered vacant bythe death of county legislator PeterSchmitt, who died in early October

from a heart attack.

RE-ELECT JUDGE

PETER B. SKELOSSupreme Court Justice

Judge Skelos Received Highest Rating from NYS Independent Judicial Election Qualification Commission

and the Nassau Bar Association for Supreme Court Judge

NYS Appellate Division Supreme Court Justice 8 years; Supreme Court Judge 14 years; District Court Judge 4 years; Senior Deputy County Attorney; practicing attorney for 15 years; Adjunct Professor C.W. Post College (member of CWA Local 1101)

Achievements recognized by the Criminal Courts Bar Association; Italian Heritage Club; Nassau Jewish Lawyers Association; Fordham Law School Alumni; Nassau Fraternal Order of Court Officers; and Eastern Orthodox Lawyers Association

Endorsed by NYS Court Officers Association; NY Fraternal Order of Court Officers; Nassau Court Officers Benevolent Association; NY Uniformed Firefighters Association; Uniformed Fire Officers Association; Nassau Police PBA; Nassau Police Superior Officers Association; Nassau Police Detectives Association; NYC Police Detectives Endowment Association; NYS Fraternal Order of Police; and Italian American Political Action Committee

Life-long Long Island resident; married 30 years to Faith Skelos, an elementary school principal; they have two daughters

Vote for Judge Peter Skelos - Republican Row BFor more information

www.JusticePeterSkelos2012.com www.facebook.com/JusticeSkelos2012

Paid for by Committee to Re- Elect Justice Peter Skelos 2012

A long time friend of the Indian Community, Judge Skelos (2nd left) participates in the 2012 India Day Celebration in Hicksville

US ELECTIONS

How they got here: Romney and Obama’s journey to Nov 6 showdown

15November 3-9, 2012TheSouthAsianTimes.info

By Vikas Girdhar

Less than a week remains until the presidential election

takes place and the nation will finally take part in decid-

ing its leader for the next four years. Whether it will be

the same man who has led the United States since 2008 or his

challenger remains to be seen. As it is, the race seems to be

neck-and-neck while campaigning was stranded by Hurricane

Sandy. How President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt

Romney got to a photo-finish finale is a tale all its own.

President Barack Obama

� Barack Hussein Obama became the 44th President of theUnited States at noon on January 20, 2009.

� Was a US Senator from Illinois before becomingPresident

� Defeated Arizona Senator John McCain in presidentialrace of 2008

� Is the first African-American President of the US andalso the first to be born in Hawaii

� Closest affiliates: Vice President is Joe Biden, wife isMichelle Robinson Obama and daughters are Malia and Sasha

� Attended Occidental College, earned his BA fromColumbia University and his JD from Harvard Law

� Won the Nobel Peace Prize in October 2009 for “hisextraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and

cooperation between peoples”

� Within first week of office, signed Executive Order13492, which suspended all ongoing proceedings of

Guantanamo military commission and for the facility to be shut

down within the year

� Entered office with approval rating of 82%; dipped to68% at end of his first week, which was the second highest

approval rating for a President since World War II

� Signed the Children's Health Insurance ProgramReauthorization Act (CHIP) on February 3, 2009 expanding

health care from 7 million children under the plan to 11 million

� Led the high-profile killing of Osama Bin Laden on May2, 2011

� Most notable acts of legislation in 2009:January 29: Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act; Feb 13: American

Recovery and Reinvestment Act; March 30: Omnibus Public

Lands Management Act of 2009; April 21: Edward M.

Kennedy Serve America Act; May 20: Helping Families Save

Their Homes Act of 2009; May 22: Credit Card Accountability,

Responsibility, and Disclosure Act of 2009; August 6: Cash For

Clunkers Extension Act; November 6: Worker,

Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009

� Most notable acts of legislation in 2010: January 27:Emergency Aid to American Survivors of Haiti Earthquake

Act, March 4: Travel Promotion Act, March 18: Hiring

Incentives to Restore Employment Act (HIRE Act), March 23:

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, March 30: Health

Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, May 5:

Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010,

May 17: Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press Act, July 1:

Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment

Act, July 21: Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer

Protection Act, July 22: Unemployment Compensation

Extension Act of 2010, July 22: Improper Payments

Elimination and Recovery Act of 2010, August 10: SPEECH

Act, September 27: Small Business Jobs and Credit Act of

2010, December 9: Animal Crush Video Prohibition Act of

2010, December 13: Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010,

December 17: Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance

Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010, December 22:

Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010

� Most notable acts of legislation in 2011: January 2:James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010,

January 4: Food Safety and Modernization Act, August 2:

Budget Control Act of 2011, October 21: United States-

Colombia Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, October

21: United States-Panama Free Trade Agreement

Implementation Act, October 21: United States-South Korea

Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, November 21:

VOW to Hire Heroes Act

� Most notable act of legislation in 2012: April 5:Jumpstart Our Businesses Startups Act

Governor Mitt Romney

� Republican Party’s nominee for 2012 election

� Served as the 70thGovernor of Massachusetts from2003-2007

� Lost the Republican nomination in 2008 to John McCain

� Is an American businessman and raised in Michigan

� Earned his BA from Brigham Young and JD & MBAfrom Harvard University

� Secured a managerial position at and helped lead Bain &

Company out of financial crisis; became CEO and capitalized

on its growth, increasing his net worth to $190-250 million

(2012 estimate)

� An additional blind trust of $100 million exists in thename of the Romney children

� Closest affiliates: running mate Paul Ryan, wife Ann and5 sons

� Helped develop and enact into law the Massachusettshealth care reform legislation, which was the first of its kind in

the nation

� Combined spending cuts, increased fees and the closureof corporate tax loopholes en route to eliminating an estimated

$1.2-1.5 billion deficit

� Describes the day that his wife failed a series of neuro-logical tests as a result of her multiple sclerosis as the worst

day of his life

� Declined the governor salary of $135,000 during histenure as Massachusetts Governor

� Announced his running for the 2012 presidential electionon April 11, 2011

� Structured his campaign on the failing US economy andPresident Obama’s handling of it, as well as Americans’ dis-

content with the current state of affairs

� Is the first Mormon to become a major party presidentialnominee

� Made headlines in mid-September when he said that 47%of Americans pay no income tax, see themselves as victims, are

dependent on the federal government and will support President

Obama’s re-election unconditionally; said that his job was to not

worry about those people who do not take personal responsibility

for their own lives; went on to admit that in the grand scheme of

things, such comments were“inelegantly stated”

Where these two presidential candidates came from to get to

this point is paramount to understanding the context behind

their successes and roles, as they will be defined next week.

Now that we have some histories, we can look forward to their

imprints on the future.

Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44thPresident of the United States on January 20, 2009.

Before serving as Governor of Massachusetts (2003-2007), Mitt Romney was CEO of 2002 Winter

Olympics held in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Obama and Romney reach out to Indian-AmericansWashington: In a very close presiden-

tial election where every single vote

counts, both the Obama and Romney

campaigns have been making special

effort to reach out to the Indian-

American community.

The community, which numbers

more than three million according to

the latest census, is being reached

through full page ads in some local

Indian-American ethnic newspapers.

The Obama campaign has also devel-

oped flyers in Hindi which are being

distributed either through email or

being printed in large numbers by his

supporters.

"Barack Obama is not just a

President for some of us; he is fighting

for all of us," says a full page ad in

'India This Week' and 'Express India' -

which are published from the Greater

Washington Area. According to 2010

Census, more than 125,000 Indian

Americans live in this area.

The Northern California Asian

Pacific Islanders Americans placed

another full page ad in California based

India West in support of Mitt Romney.

"Ready to Go to Work. Vision for a

better America. Vote Mitt Romney for

President. Promising all my heart to

restore strength to America. We will be

strong again," said the ad.

Similarly, the 80-20 National Asian

American PAC has placed full page ads

in India Abroad, the most widely circu-

lated and oldest community paper in

the US.

Arguing that Obama is the first US

President to have done so much for the

Asian-American community, the 80-20

National Asian American PAC for the

past few weeks through their full page

ads have been urging Indian-

Americans to vote for Obama.

In its flyer translated in Hindi, the

Obama campaign lists out his achieve-

ments for the Asian American commu-

nity and lashes out at Romney and his

policies. According to the 2010 census,

the tri-state area of New York, New

Jersey and Connecticut have the largest

concentration of Indian-Americans in

the US. More than half a million

Indian-Americans live here.

According to a recent poll conducted

by the National Asian American

Survey, an overwhelming majority of

Indian-Americans support Obama. 64:

8 with 27 percent undecided.

Washington/New York: More than 3.75

million people up and down US East

Coast were still without power as cities

and towns started recovering from the

wrath of Hurricane Sandy that left New

York and New Jersey devastated.

Death toll from the disaster rose to 70

deaths in the United States, including 24

in New York City, 8 in New Jersey and 4

in Connecticut as rescue workers pulled

bodies from wreckage across the region,

according to the New York Times

New York Governor Andrew M.

Cuomo said initial damage estimates

"project up to $6 billion in lost economic

revenue" in the State.

A wide stretch of Lower Manhattan re-

mained dark, as did the Jersey Shore,

waterfront neighborhoods in Brooklyn

and Queens, and most of Long Island.

Touring battered New Jersey with the

state's Republican governor Chris

Christie, who has been all praise for

President Barack Obama's handling of

the situation, Obama promised the fed-

eral government "will not quit" until

communities are cleaned up, according

to CNN.

"We are not going to tolerate red tape,

we are not going to tolerate bureau-

cracy," Obama said. "And I've instituted

a 15-minute rule, essentially, on my

team. You return everybody's phone

calls in 15 minutes, whether it's the may-

ors, the governors, county officials.

"If they need something, we figure out

a way to say yes."

Some 10,000 Army and Air National

Guard forces were on duty in the 13

states affected by the storm.

Mass transit was still in disarray. Most

buses were running in New York City,

and some subway lines were due to open

Thursday. Most of New Jersey's

statewide bus service will be restored

Thursday, Christie's office announced,

though most rail lines will still be closed.

Two New York-area airports-John F.

Kennedy and Newark Liberty-reopened

Wednesday with limited service. La-

Guardia Airport, where floodwaters had

covered runways and taxiways, re-

opened with limited service Thursday

morning, the Port Authority of New

York and New Jersey said. The Lincoln

Tunnel was open, but the Holland Tun-

nel, the other tunnel connecting New

York and New Jersey, was still full of

water. The Port Authority said it can't

start pumping out the water until power

is restored.

About 2.2 million homes and busi-

nesses in New Jersey are still without

power tonight, utility officials said. Jer-

sey Central Power & Light reports

940,000 outages and Atlantic City Elec-

tric was down to 107,000, according to

New Jersey Star Ledger.

16 November 3-9, 2012 TheSouthAsianTimes.infoHURICANE SANDY HURICANE SANDY 17November 3-9, 2012TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Some photos contributed byVijay Shah/FreelanceUS Media

On Marine One, President Obama and Governor Christie survey the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy along New Jersey coast, Oct. 31, 2012.

Harvey Cedars on Long Beach Island, N.J., is underwater Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012, a day after Hurricane Sandy

Taxis line a flooded street in Queens, New York, as Hurricane Sandybatters the East Coast.

An ambulance is stuck in over afoot of snow off Highway 33

West, near Belington, W.Va., onOct. 30. Superstorm Sandy

buried parts of West Virginiaunder more than a foot of snow

cutting power to at least264,000 customers and closing

dozens of roads.

A truck drives through water pushed over a road by HurricaneSandy in Southampton, N.Y. on Oct. 29.

A woman walks past a house collapsed by Superstorm Sandy in East Haven, Conn., on Oct. 30.

An aerial shot by 1-150 Assault Helicopter Battalion, shows the damage caused by Superstorm Sandy to the New Jersey coast

Brian Hajeski (41) of Brick, N.J., reacts as he looks at debris of a home that washed up on to the Mantoloking Bridge the morning after

Superstorm Sandy rolled through on Oct. 29 in Mantoloking, N.J.

Sea water floods Ground Zero construction site in New York.

The HMS Bounty, a 180-foot sailboat, is shown submerged in theAtlantic Ocean during Hurricane Sandy approximately 90 milessoutheast of Hatteras, N.C., on Oct. 29. Of the 16-person crew,

the Coast Guard rescued 14, recovered a woman and is searching for the captain of the vessel. (US Coast Guard via

Reuters)

A parking lot full of yellow cabs is flooded on Oct. 30 as a result ofsuperstorm Sandy in Hoboken, N.J.

This aerial photo on Oct. 30 shows burned-out homes in the Breezy Point section of the Queens borough of New York City. The tiny beachfront neighborhood told to evacuate before

Sandy hit New York City burned down as it was inundated by floodwaters, transforming a quaint corner of the Rockaways into a smoke-filled debris field.

A flooded car park in the Wall Street area of lower Manhattan.

Sandy hammers the East Coast, leaves region devastated Death toll is 70; 3.75 mn Americans still without power

Oscar winning director Ang Lee was

set to fly down to India to begin the

promotions of his new film "Life

Of Pi", an adaptation of Yann Martel's

Booker Prize winning book of the same

name.

Lee, who shot the film at Puducherry and

Munnar, will visit Mumbai and Chennai

along with co-producer David Lee and

actors - debutante Suraj Sharma, Tabu and

Irrfan Khan - to promote the movie.

"We are privileged to announce Academy

Award winning director Ang Lee's visit to

India...'Life of Pi' international promotions

will be flagged off in India with Lee's spe-

cial visit along with the cast from the film,"

Vijay Singh, CEO, Fox Star Studios, said in

a statement.

"Ang is scheduled to arrive in India Oct

28 for Mumbai and Chennai visit, where he

will also showcase exclusive visuals from

the film for a select audience. The visit will

also kickstart the extravagant scale of activ-

ities planned, building on the excitement

and anticipation that has been growing for

'Life of Pi' since its trailer launch," Singh

said.

"Not only is it a stunning showcase of the

immense acting talent and breathtaking

locales of our country, it is also one of

those rare works of cinema that transcends

boundaries with its universal appeal,"

Singh added.

During his visit, Lee will showcase

unseen 20 minutes of the 3D film to media

and prominent Bollywood personalities.

18 November 3-9, 2012 TheSouthAsianTimes.infoULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD

Ang Lee to begin 'Life Of Pi' promotions from India

Opening windows into diverseIndia - Bollywood style

Bollywood is going

pan-Indian. The

Punjabi 'mundas'

and 'kudis' - the staple of

so many movies - are mak-

ing way for Marathi

'mulgis' and Parsi 'dikras'

as Hindi films roll out a

tapestry showcasing the

diversity that is India.

From Parsi and Marathi

to Gujarati and Bengali,

filmmakers are bringing

diverse cultures to the

Hindi film firmament. And

the credit for this versatili-

ty goes to changing tastes

and mindsets of the view-

ers. Sujoy Ghosh's

"Kahaani" is a case in

point. Made in Hindi, it

had a strong Bengali flavor

and was also shot in

Kolkata, appealing to audi-

ences so much so that it

earned Rs.75 crore --

almost 10 times more than

its total cost of Rs.8 crore.

Lauding the new trend

that he believes is a "great

time for India cinema",

Ghosh said: "We make

films with themes we are

familiar with. For me, it

was easy to write about

Bengali culture, as I am a

Bengali. Thanks to the

audience, they are allowing

us to experiment."

Another small budget

film, "Vicky Donor", wove

both Punjabi and Bengali

cultures to show an inter-

esting cultural contrast.

And it worked.

'Rush' lacks punch, but hassome riveting moments

Ouch, the TV chan-

nels won't be flat-

tered. "Rush", like

Ram Gopal Varma's "Rann"

three years ago, rushes into

the cut-throat world of

TRP-driven competition

among news channels

where news, if not discov-

ered is created in the news-

room. So Varma told us in

"Rann".

And now late director

Shamin Desai's "Rush"

takes us into the ostensibly

murky chatroom politics of

newchannels where news-

baron Roger Khanna

(Aditya Pancholi, uninten-

tionally hilarious) gets

reporters, civilians, politi-

cians and criminals bumped

off to make news. Just like

that.

Far-fetched, yes. But

"Rush" has its adrenaline

rushing moments in the sec-

ond half when the narrative

picks up momentum and

moves steadily towards a

climax that is not entirely

edge-of-the-seat. But cer-

tainly the popcorn on your

lap is likely to ignored for a

bit as ambitious crime

reporter Sam Grover

(Emraan Hashmi) gets

sucked into a web of crime

created by his over-reaching

dangerously-connected

boss.

"Rush" is not the first film

about a young ambitious

professional losing moral

and ethical equilibrium to

attain success. Recently, we

had Kunal Khemu in

"Blood Money" and Paoli

Dam in "Hate Story" reap-

ing the bitter fruits of their

savage harvest.

"Rush" does have its slug-

gish chunks in the story-

telling. But the narrative

gathers strength from the

basic plot structure where a

television journalist is

shown to be on the run.

Some of the chase

sequences are expertly

done. And the whole theme

of the newsmaker's descent

into compromised journal-

ism makes for some rivet-

ing moments.

While many of the char-

acters are sketchy, some

like the sharp-shooter

(played by Murli Sharma)

who befriends our journal-

ist-hero provide the plot

with a spicy if not com-

pletely pungent propulsion.

Emraan as the backbone

of plot performs decently.

He has more speaking lines

and less kissing to do here

than in all his recent films.

Whether the verbosity actu-

ally translates into some-

thing substantial or not is

debatable.

A scene from 'Life of Pi'

Filmmaker Sujoy Ghosh's 'Kahaani' is a case in point

A scene from the movie Rush

Review

Diwali doesn't always bring 'Lakshmi' to BollywoodD

iwali hasn't been all that

crackling for Bollywood.

Of more than 30 films

released in the past decade during

the festival, less than a dozen

elicited fireworks at the box

office. But this year seems prom-

ising with "Jab Tak Hai Jaan"

(JTHJ) and "Son Of Sardaar"

(SOS) lined up to hit the screens

on November 13, Diwali day

itself.

Both are biggies. JTHJ is Yash

Chopra's last directorial venture,

starring Shah Rukh Khan, Katrina

Kaif and Anushka Sharma, while

SOS is a comic caper with Ajay

Devgn, Sanjay Dutt and Sonakshi

Sinha in key roles. Chopra's sud-

den death Oct 21, before he could

can the last song for the film in

the Swiss Alps, has generated

more interest in JTHJ, expected to

be the last reflection of his kind of

romantic, sensitive and picture

perfect cinema.

The film is expected to set the

cash registers ringing -- given the

past record of Shah Rukh's Diwali

releases, including "Baazigar"

(1993), "Dilwale Dulhania Le

Jayenge" (1995), "Dil To Pagal

Hai" (1997), "Kuch Kuch Hota

Hai" (1998), "Veer-Zaara" (2004),

"Don: The Chase Begins Again"

(2006) and "Om Shanti Om"

(2007).

But those appeared to be the

exceptions. Shah Rukh's

"Mohabbatein" (2000) and mega-

budget "RA.One" (2011), released

around the festival, didn't quite

ruffle up the ticket counters

beyond the opening weekend.

In 2010, it was a clash of come-

dies - the multi-starrer "Golmaal

3" and Akshay Kumar-Aishwarya

Rai's "Action Replayy". "Golmaal

3" took the lion's share, but the

latter was a damp squib.

A year before that came three

films - comedy "All The Best",

underwater action drama "Blue"

and Salman Khan-starrer "Main

Aur Mrs. Khanna". Only "All The

Best" managed a profit, the other

two were doomed despite the

hoopla.

Cut to 2008. Four movies -

"Fashion", "Golmaal Returns",

"Roadside Romeo" and "Heroes" -

were in competition during the

festival of lights. The success

ratio was 50-50 at the box office

with "Roadside Romeo" and

"Heroes" turning turtle at the tick-

et window.

Shah Rukh Khan and Katrina Kaif in 'Jab Tak Hai Jaan'

19November 3-9, 2012TheSouthAsianTimes.info ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD

Yash had a soft cornerfor Pak: director

Saying she had a "long love

history with Mumbai", vis-

iting Pakistani director Iram

Parveen Bilal says late Bollywood

veteran Yash Chopra, who had a

"soft corner for Pakistan", was

such a source of inspiration for

her that after graduating in engi-

neering she took the plunge into

filmmaking.

The young director, who has

made her first film after four years

of arduous work, grew up watch-

ing Chopra's evergreen romances

"Kabhi Kabhie", "Chandni" and

the like.

"I have always been a big nerd

and I was selected to go to the

Asian Olympiad of Physics. But

my parents and me always loved

Bollywood films. I have been

brought up in Nigeria and

Pakistan and I grew up watching

films like 'Silsila', 'Kabhi Kabhie',

'Chandni'," Bilal said.

Bilal spent four years working

on her debut film "Josh", which

was the only fiction-category film

from Pakistan to be screened at

the just concluded 14th Mumbai

Film Festival. She was happy to

be here with her debut film, but

was heartbroken that she won't get

to meet her idol Yash Chopra

again, who died Oct 21.

Talking about her association

with the veteran filmmaker, she

said: "I have a long love history

with Mumbai. I came here for the

first time in 2004... Every time I

came here, I met Yashji.

No matter how busy he was, he

would take out 5-10 minutes for

me. He used to give me his pearls

of wisdom. But the fact that he is

no more and I won't be able to

meet him is heartbreaking," she

said.

Yash Chopra

'Cloud Atlas' is cinematic literature: Tom HanksH

ollywood's versatile actor Tom Hanks, who

plays six different characters in "Cloud Altas",

terms the film "cinematic literature". He also

admits that making the transition from one character to

another was a challenge for him.

The story of the film, which released Friday, spans

500 years and explores the interconnectedness of the

human race. It is an epic story of humankind in which

the actions and consequences impact one another

throughout the past, present and future.

It also features Halle Berry and Hugh Grant. "The

film runs into many years. And the transition is so

smooth. Each story is so swiftly connected with the

other. But there were a couple of challenges too like

change from one character to the other," Hanks said.

A lot of work went into giving each character an

authentic look. "There was a lot of makeup detailing

that all of us had to go through during the shoot. Like

we used prosthetic noses, wore wigs and a lot of

makeup," Hanks said.

The American actor made his Hollywood debut in

1980 with "He Knows You're Alone" and went on to

do films like "Apollo 13", "The Green Mile", "You've

Got Mail", "Charlie Wilson's War", "Forest Gump",

"The Da Vinci Code" and "Angels & Demons".

Hanks' latest release has been helmed by three direc-

tors - Lana and Andy Wachowski and Tom Tykwer -

and the actor feels all three have turned a complex

movie into a great watch.

Actor Tom Hanks (center) in 'Cloud Atlas'

Sherlyn Chopra to do Kama Sutra in 3DS

herlyn Chopra, who recently hit headlines for

shooting nude for an international magazine

known for its provocative content, will be the

leading lady of Kama Sutra to be made in 3D by

Rupesh Paul. The director had announced his plans for

the film when he premiered his maiden Hollywood

venture Saint Dracula 3D at the Cannes Film Festival

earlier this year.

Confirming the news, the filmmaker said he is also

planning to premiere Kama Sutra 3D at the same pres-

tigious international film festival in 2013. He said,

"Sherlyn has exotic Indian looks and a bold attitude to

carry a role like this. The film will assure maximum

utilisation of her talent and beauty. Besides, it will

also be challenging and exciting for me as a director to

portray her in a new bolder avatar." As for making it in

3D, he asserted, "3D would add that extra dimension

to the sexual positions described in the ancient treatise

on the art of love."

It seems Sherlyn is all set to outdo Indira Verma and

Sarita Choudhury, who acted in Mira Nair's Kama

Sutra — A Tale Of Love. While the two UK-born

actresses reportedly had apprehensions about going

nude and doing bold scenes, Chopra has no reserva-

tions, having bared all for her recent international

photo opportunity.Actor Sherlyn Chopra

By V.S. Karnic

S.M. Krishna quit as external

affairs minister ostensibly

because the Congress wants

the services of its tallest leader in

Karnataka to recapture power in

the state in the assembly polls, due

early next year. A grand plan, no

doubt.

The catch, however, is that there

are few takers for this spin, even

within the Congress unit in

Karnataka, which is riven by

groupism and differences of caste.

If Krishna, who has been

replaced by Salman Khurshid as

India's foreign minister, returns to

active state politics, it will be the

second time in just over four years

that he has moved from center to

state.

After being chief minister for

five years from 1999, the party was

defeated in the 2004 polls; in

December that year, he was made

Maharashtra governor.

In March 2008 he quit as gover-

nor to return to state politics, and

actively campaigned for the

Congress in the assembly polls of

May that year. The Congress did

not gain much, and the Bharatiya

Janata Party (BJP) came to power

for the first time in the state.

There was much hype, though, in

2008 when Krishna re-entered

Karnataka politics as he was leav-

ing mostly an honorary post of

governor, usually reserved for

either ageing leaders or trouble-

makers for the ruling party at New

Delhi.

This time, however, if he returns

to Karnataka, he will be returning

after losing one of the most impor-

tant portfolios in the union govern-

ment.

Krishna was the first external

affairs minister from Karnataka;

the most important central ministry

held by leaders from the state in

the past had been railways.

Krishna is no doubt the tallest

Congress leader in the state, and he

has a reputation for bringing all

sections of the party together.

However, at 80 years, age is no

longer on his side. Worse, the party

is bitterly divided on caste lines

with a powerful group of Lingayat

community leaders openly cam-

paigning to remove the present

Karnataka Pradesh Congress

Committee (KPCC) chief G.

Parameshwara.

Parameshwara is a Dalit but

known to be a staunch follower of

Krishna, who belongs to the

Vokkaliga community.

Lingayats, who comprise about

17 percent of the state's 65 million

population, and Vokkaligas, around

15 percent of the population, have

dominated state politics for

decades.

It is generally believed that

Lingayats, once strong Congress

supporters, have switched alle-

giance to the BJP after Veerendra

Patil was unceremoniously sacked

as chief minister by the Congress

in 1989.

The Lingayat campaign for the

replacement of Parameshwara as

state party chief continues, despite

a diktat from party president Sonia

Gandhi, during her two visits to the

state in the last six months, that

party organisation should not suffer

because of differences among lead-

ers. Krishna, meanwhile, has also

lost much clout in his home district

of Mandya, about 80 km from

Bangalore, over the years.

In the 2009 Lok Sabha poll, the

Janata Dal-Secular led by former

Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda,

who also belongs to the Vokkaliga

community, captured the Mandya

seat, defeating popular Kannada

actor M.H. Ambareesh, who too is

from the same community.

Unlike in 2008, Krishna is now

dogged by allegations of serious

lapses in granting iron ore mining

leases.

More trouble was in store for him

and the Congress. Just a day before

he quit the ministry, the Lokayukta

(ombudsman) court in Bangalore

ordered a probe into his role in the

alleged grant of excess land to the

111 km Bangalore-Mysore high-

way corridor with five township

and several commercial projects;

the grant was made at a time when

Krishna was chief minister.

Given this backdrop, the age fac-

tor and the lukewarm response he

would get from some sections in

the state Congress, Krishna can at

best play a minimal role, despite

the grand things his party might

say.

Though the BJP faces a possible

split ahead of the polls, as its for-

mer chief minister B.S.

Yeddyurappa plans to launch a new

party in December, the Congress in

the state and at the national level

are in no shape to take advantage

of the situation.

A distinct possibility staring the

state in the face is of a split verdict

and a messy coalition, continuing

the political instability witnessed

since 2004.

Krishna's loss may not be Congress' gain

This time if he returns to Karnataka, S.M. Krishna will bereturning after losing one of the most important portfolios

20 November 3-9, 2012 TheSouthAsianTimes.infoOP-ED

By Amulya Ganguli

It is now clear that both the

major parties - the Congress

and the Bharatiya Janata

Party (BJP) - will approach the

next general election with the

ball and chain of corruption tied

to their feet.

While the Congress has been

weighed down by allegations of

sleaze for more than a year, the

BJP's travails caused by the

infamy of former Karnataka and

Uttarakhand chief ministers B.S.

Yeddyurappa and Ramesh

Pokhriyal Nishank have been

aggravated by the latest charges

against party president Nitin

Gadkari.

What this means is that the

electoral contest between the

two parties will be on a level

playing field where their tainted

reputations are concerned. As a

result, the conventional wisdom

that the Congress - 206 Lok

Sabha seats, 28.5 percent votes -

will lose some ground while the

BJP - 116 seats, 18.8 per cent

votes - will gain only marginally

is likely to be proved correct.

Since there is little that the

Congress can do to refurbish its

sullied image, it will have to

bank on the Manmohan Singh

government's reforms initiatives

to generate an atmosphere of

hope in order to tilt the balance,

even if slightly, in its favour.

Aware that it had left the task of

boosting the economy too late,

the government will have to

work overtime to inject a sense

of buoyancy.

Its only advantage is the

silence of the earlier critics of

the reforms within and outside

the party - the "socialists" in the

Congress and Trinamool

Congress among the allies -

although the objections to a

National Investment Board by

environment minister Jayanthi

Natarajan show that hurdles still

remain.

However, the fact that the

National Advisory Council led

by Sonia Gandhi has withdrawn

into the background is a sign that

there is some a realization of the

harm which its left-of-center

outlook inflicted on the econo-

my, hobbling the government

and the party.

But, since an upswing in the

economy will take time to mani-

fest itself, notwithstanding

favorable indications like an

increase in the demand for hous-

ing and a rise in the number of

people with "good" jobs, accord-

ing to a Gallup poll, the

Congress will have to work

much harder to show its resolve

to fight corruption - something

which is not helped by the arro-

gance of its members, who

threaten to break television cam-

eras if they face inconvenient

questions, as Himachal Pradesh

chief minister Virbhadra Singh

did, or promise to write their

political careers in blood, as law

minister Salman Khurshid did.

The Congress's only hope lies

in the ever-deepening gloom in

the BJP camp. It isn't only that

Gadkari has become embroiled

in a scam of his own, there is

every possibility that

Yeddyurappa will strike out on

his own by forming his own

regional outfit. In that event, the

pride which the BJP took in

securing its first foothold south

of the Vindhyas - albeit with

some help from Janata Dal

(Secular) - will be dashed.

Both the BJP and the RSS are

now facing a dilemma, for, per-

sisting with Gadkari will nullify

the BJP's criticism of the

Congress's alleged corruption

while sacking him will rock the

party even more than Advani's

dismissal from the president's

post did in 2005. Meanwhile, the

RSS may wonder why both its

recent choices for the post -

Rajnath Singh (who was called a

"provincial" by Jaswant Singh)

and Gadkari - have created more

problems than they solved.

Since the BJP depends on the

Sangh Parivar's organizational

prowess at election time, the

tremors in the party's top rungs

cannot but have a damaging

impact.

Congress, BJP on a level playing field of corruption

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

The Congress's only hope lies in the ever-deepening gloom in the BJP camp

Taj in Dubai? Agra does not like itBy Brij Khandelwal

Agra: The reported move to build a Taj Mahal

in Dubai has not gone down well here with

people who think it amounts to desecrating a

renowned tourist draw and a spiritual monu-

ment.

The proposed Taj will be about four times

the size of the original monument. To be ready

by 2014, it will be set in the heart of the 41

million square foot Falcon city of wonders on

Emirates Road. It will be a five star hotel with

300 rooms.

People in Agra, about 200 km south of New

Delhi, are not amused. They are angry that

someone is trying to copy the original, a 17th

century marble monument built by Mughal

emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife.

"At best it can only be a caricature of the

original. From where will they bring the

romantic tales, the river Yamuna and the

ambience of Agra?" asks Rakesh Sharma,

president of the All India Brahmin

Mahasabha.

The Taj, Agra residents hold, belongs to

Agra and India.

"At least they should pay a royalty to the Taj

city for using its brand name," tourism indus-

try leader Abhinav Jain said.

According to Jain, the Taj Mahal is a special

monument, unlike a palace or castle or even

the Eifel Tower.

Taj Arabia will celebrate the union of cou-

ples by serving as the world's grandest wed-

ding destination, according to a report in the

Gulf News.

Former Agra legislator Satish Chandra

Gupta is livid.

"It is patently wrong and absurd," Gupta

said. "This kind of distortion and in principle

duplication of history artificially makes no

sense.

"You cannot re-create history. Agra must get

its share in terms of royalty from anyone using

the brand Taj Mahal."

Gupta said the original design of the Taj was

given by a Sufi saint.

The Braj Mandal Heritage Conservation

Society has shot out protest letters to Uttar

Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and

the Archeological Survey of India.

Surendra Sharma, president of the Society,

said: "Ideally the Dubai builder should not go

ahead with this project as it hurts our senti-

ments. Taj Mahal is basically a spiritual cen-

ter, with lakhs of people offering prayers and

paying obeisance round the year.

"The Taj represents or climaxes the 5,000

years of Indian excellence. To belittle the orig-

inal through a fake model is not a desirable

thing."

The Taj's caretaker, Munazzar Ali, said

nobody should doubt that the Taj Mahal was a

spiritual destination for millions.

Islamic scholar Syed Jafrey explained the

divine design of the Taj, India's biggest tourist

draw.

"Basically, the Taj is a mausoleum, a mazar.

Its status is the same as the mazaars of some

great saints like Chisti or Auliya. Shah Jahan

is now given the status of Vali-Allah, and an

annual Urs is held," he said.

Former Agra mayor Anjula Singh Mahaur

said she felt deeply hurt. "For commercial

purposes you cannot misuse symbols and

identity of a nation," she said.

21November 3-9, 2012TheSouthAsianTimes.info FEATURES

The people that time forgot

By Rajat Ghai

New Delhi: Tilak Vihar could be

just another congested neighbor-

hood in west Delhi until you take a

closer look. Everywhere, there is a

profusion of turbans and beards - a

traumatic reminder that this is a

Sikh resettlement colony built on

the charred memories of riots 28

years ago.

The lapse of time has done little

to dull the bitterness or erase the

images of fathers, sons, brothers

and husbands killed mercilessly in

the rioting that followed the assassi-

nation of then prime minister Indira

Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards on

Oct 31, 1984.

For three days after that, mobs

trawled the streets of the national

capital, massacring an estimated

3,000 Sikhs. The memories live on,

singeing the present.

In one of the apartments of the

shabby flat complex in Tilak Vihar

lives Pappy Kaur, 43, who saw 10

of her relatives killed in the east

Delhi colony of Trilokpuri.

"I was 15 then," she reminisces.

"We were eight brothers and sisters,

living in Trilokpuri. Ten of our fam-

ily, including my father and elder

brother, were killed by mobs

encouraged by H.K.L. Bhagat," she

says, referring to the late Congress

leader who many alleged had

prompted the riots.

"My mother went mad. For three

days, we were crying on the

streets," she adds.

Pappy Kaur is just one of the

many survivors for whom 1984 was

a black year. "We were ruined - and

have still not got any closure."

Twenty-eight years on, two issues

are all important for the survivors

of 1984. One, that their families'

killers still roam free. Two, their

lives are still unsettled, still uncer-

tain because of inadequate compen-

sation, neglect and apathy.

The stories are the same in house

after house.

Like Pappy, Baghi Kaur too lost

11 of her relatives in Trilokpuri in

1984. She too refers to the allega-

tions of Congress leaders being

involved and names Sajjan Kumar

and Jagdish Tytler. Until they are

punished, she asserts, there will be

no closure.

"Frankly, I have no hopes. I have

attended so many rallies and still,

there is no justice for us."

The level of frustration can be

gauged by the fact that the convic-

tion rate in cases is abysmal.

"No precise figure can be given

for the convictions as tabulation has

not been done. But I can tell you the

trend is very small. I myself took a

sample of 100 odd murder cases

and there were only eight convic-

tions. So one can say that the con-

viction rate is very nominal and,

most importantly, the big leaders

who led the riots have not been con-

victed at all," says human rights

lawyer Vrinda Grover.

Nirpreet Kaur, 44, whose father

was burnt alive in Palam Colony,

offers her perspective.

"Even if the lower courts sentence

the guilty, they are acquitted by the

higher courts. Even when some-

body is sentenced to death, they

often commute it to life (imprison-

ment), like what happened in the

case of Kishori Lal, 'the butcher of

Delhi'," she says.

"The most important problem fac-

ing survivors is making two ends

meet. Many families lost their

breadwinners. The widows who

survived their husbands were (in

many cases) not provided jobs.

Those who did, earn peanuts," adds

Nirpreet.

Darshan Kaur, 53, of Karol Bagh

is in such a condition. After her hus-

band and father-in-law were killed,

she worked for years as a maid,

earning as little as Rs.50 a day. For

the last 12 years, she has been

working in a beauty clinic, on a

salary of Rs. 5,000. "I am doing it

because I have no option. But I fear

for the future," she says.

There are other problems. The

children of riot victims and sur-

vivors have grown up but with their

fathers dead and mothers at work,

there was no guiding hand.

"Many young men today are drug

addicts. And still have adjustment

problems," says Nirpreet.

Men like Baghi's son, Balwant

Singh, 36. He lost his father and

uncles, grew up illiterate and is

married now, with four children.

Permanently ill with a stomach

infection, he survives on his moth-

er's slender salary. "1984 killed us,"

he says bitterly.

His younger brother, Balbir fared

worse. He became a drug addict and

died at 28.

The widows and orphans of 1984

are then nobody's people.

"If you cannot punish the guilty

and settle us, then bring back our

dead," says a bitter Pappy.

Is anybody listening?

Artist’s impression of the proposed Taj Arabia in Falcon City of Wonders, Dubai.

An estimated 3,000 Sikhs were massacred in the 1984 riotsthat erupted after Mrs Gandhi’s assassination.

Operation Bluestar from June3-6, 1984 was ordered by Mrs

Gandhi to neutralize the militant group led by Sant

Bhindranwale ensconced in theGolden Temple in Amritsar.

Mrs Indira Gandhi, then Prime Minister, was killed by

her own Sikh guards on 31 October 1984 to take

revenge for OperationBluestar.

Three decades on,there is no closure in

sight for survivors of the anti-Sikh riots.

1984 survivors:

Dubai: A Pakistani student and

her Indian lover, who became

friends on Facebook, have been

accused of cuddling and kissing

each other consensually after he

promised to marry her in Dubai.

The student admitted in court

that she cuddled and kissed her

lover nearly 20 times in his flat.

"Yes it's true. We hugged and

kissed several times but that was

after he promised to marry me,"

the girl claimed when she entered

a guilty plea before the Dubai

Misdemeanor Court.

Prosecutors accused the couple,

both aged 24, with hugging and

kissing consensually without being

married.

According to Gulf News, the

Indian boy, who works in customer

services, also entered a guilty plea

but denied that he promised to

marry her.

Prosecution said that the boy's

family reported to police that the

girl repeatedly harassed them and

kept coming to their flat wanting

to coerce their son into marrying

her.

The couple claimed that they

used to spend long hours at each

other's residence and watch

movies or meet in coffee shops or

restaurants.

Records said that their friendship

developed into a love relationship

and they started exchanging hugs

and kisses every time they met.

"Our love affair blossomed in

2010. We had consensual sex sev-

eral times at his residence in Dubai

International City.

The last time we slept together

was at my residence in the same

area in August. We cuddled and

kissed and had protected sex. We

slept together more than 20 times,

I slept with him after he promised

to marry me," the girl told the

prosecutors.

Meanwhile, the man confessed

during prosecution questioning

that he cuddled and kissed with the

student but denied sleeping

with her.

Bali: To mark the 20th anniversary

of ASEAN-India Dialogue

Partnership, an academic seminar

titled “India-Indonesia-Shared

History & Culture and opportunities

for deepening ‘people-to-people’

contact was organized jointly by

Consulate General of India, Bali,

and Udayana University, Bali on 30

October 2012 in Udayana

University in Bali. In a well-attend-

ed seminar, eminent speakers from

various organizations/ Institutes in

Bali addressed the gathering on var-

ied topics such as cultural relations

of India & Indonesia, common

threads of traditions between India

and Indonesia, the relationship of

India-Balinese Hindus, develop-

ment of Hinduism in Bali, compari-

son of dances from Bali and

Southern India, strategic agenda for

cooperation between India and

Indonesia and collective memories

of relations between India and

Indonesia.

In his opening remarks, the Rector

of Udayana University, Mr. Made

Bakta, welcomed the participants to

the seminar and hoped the delibera-

tions would lead to more insight and

understanding between two coun-

tries who share historical and cultur-

al links. He said his university was

looking forward to strengthen edu-

cational opportunities with Indian

universities especially in the field of

science and technology. The univer-

sity plans to establish a Center for

Indian studies next year which will

facilitate visit by Indian scholars.

Speaking on the topic of collective

memories of relations between India

and Indonesia, Prof Dr. Phil I Ketut

Ardhana, said the Indian influence

on Indonesia was now mainly in the

areas of social and cultural matters

and the challenge now is to see how

these influences are reinforced in

strengthening the ties between the

two countries. Mr Ketut Putra

Erawan, Executive Director,

Institute for Peace and Democracy

spoke on the topic of strategic agen-

da for cooperation between India

and Indonesia. He said India and

Indonesia are now emerging giants

that world cannot ignore. The chal-

lenge for these countries is to find

ways and means to eradicate pover-

ty and realize equitable distribution

of fruits of development amongst its

people. Prof. Dr. I. Made Titib,

Rector of Institute Hindu Dharma

Negeri and Prof. Dr. I.B. Gunadha,

Head of Post Graduate Program

UNHI, spoke on the relationship of

India and the Balinese Hindus and

how Hinduism had developed and

evolved in Bali over the centuries.

Ms. Aparajita Sarma, Performer and

Dance Teacher at the Indian

Cultural Center, Bali, gave a

demonstration on the comparison of

dances from Bali and Southern

India. Ambassador Gurjit Singh,

who was the key note speaker, said

that India and Indonesia share his-

torical and civilization ties which

was so well established and the

challenge now is how to modernize

the age old relationship. He said the

Embassy would play the role of

facilitator in establishing ‘people to

people’ connectivity through semi-

nars, academic exchanges,

exchange of scholarships, twinning

arrangements between universities

of both countries and establishing

India corners in universities in

Indonesia. He also indicated that the

Embassy would endeavor to hold

the India-Bali Sangam cultural festi-

val on an annual basis which will go

a long way to reinforce the existing

cultural links.

Seminar on cultural and historical links between India and Indonesia

Since the arrival of INS Sudarshini, docked at Port Benoa in Bali,a number of high profile events have been held which will

culminate with holding of India-Bali sangam in Bali, a culturalextravaganza featuring Indian films, live demonstration of

Indian cuisine, textiles, and cultural performances.

22 November 3-9, 2012 TheSouthAsianTimes.infoDIASPORA

Saudi Arabia frees detained Indian terror suspect Pakistani-Indian couple in dock for 'cuddling and kissing without

being married' in DubaiBangalore: Saudi Arabian police have released Indian

doctor Usman Ghani from 20-day detention after their

investigation revealed he had no terror links as suspected

earlier.

"I am grateful to the Saudi police for releasing my son

Sunday and clearing him of charges that he had links with

terror elements when he was in India four years ago,"

Ghani's mother Fathima Khan told media Wednesday.

Ghani, 36, who works at a military hospital in Riyadh,

was picked up by the Saudi police from his home at the

behest of the Indian government on the advice of

Karnataka Police, Fahima alleged.

"My prayers have been answered by Allah! I want to

profoundly thank the Saudi government, especially its

embassy in New Delhi for conducting the inquiry expedi-

tiously and finding that my son had no connection with

terror suspects as alleged," Fathima said.Ghani went to the

Saudi kingdom in late 2008 to join the National Guard

hospital in Riyadh as an anaesthetist after working for

over three years in Bangalore hospitals.

"It was heartening to speak to Ghani Monday after three

weeks and to know that he is at home with his wife

(Rashida). I am looking forward to meet them soon as I

have applied for a Saudi visa," Fathima said.

Before Ghani left for the Saudi kingdom, police sum-

moned him after the questioning of some suspects picked

up in Hubli, about 410 km from Bangalore, for allegedly

planning a terror attack.

Indian soldiers' heroism remembered at El AlameinCairo: To commemorate the sacri-

fices and heroism of Indian soldiers in

the two battles of El Alamein, a

memorial service was organized by

the Indian embassy in Cairo at the

Indian Memorial Saturday.

Navdeep Suri, India's ambassador

to Egypt, and a number of senior

diplomats and defence officials of

friendly countries placed wreaths at

the memorial on this occasion, an

embassy press release said.

The simple but solemn ceremony

was a part of the 70th Anniversary of

the Battle of El Alamein being cele-

brated at El Alamein and memorial-

ized the selfless service of the coura-

geous Indian soldiers, thousands of

kilometers from their motherland.

On this occasion, Ambassador Suri

said the stellar role of the Indian sol-

diers in El Alamein was recognized

by German Field Marshal Rommel

himself. Suri drew attention to the

book -- North African Campaign

1940-1943 -- by JKW Bingham and

Warner Haupt which says that the

capture of Ruweisat Ridge in a com-

bined attack of 5 Indian Division and

New Zealand Division July 15, 1942

was the turning point in the battle.

Almost 25,000 officers and men of

the Indian Army participated in the

North African campaign, and over

3000 laid down their lives in the for-

bidding sands of the northern Sahara.

The famous Battle for El Alamein

alone accounted for 800 of these. Suri

underlined that a majority of those

martyred here were still in their teens.

They included Hindus, Sikhs and

Muslims from different parts of the

Indian subcontinent and the annual

memorial service was meant to ensure

that their sacrifices were not forgotten.

ISI 'linking' to Maoists; Security agencies worriedNew Delhi: Pakistan's covert

operations agency Inter-Services

Intelligence (ISI) has forged

deadly links with Maoists through

overground radicals and the

banned Students Islamic

Movement of India (SIMI)

activists not just in West Bengal

but the rest of India too, accord-

ing to Indian security agencies.

This information was shared

among police and civilian offi-

cials from nine Maoist-infested

states who met in the national

capital earlier this month to

review the anti-Maoist security

operations and progress of devel-

opment works in backward areas

of their respective states.

West Bengal's Director General

of Police Naparajit Mukherjee

had reportedly told the meeting

that "though Maoists were facing

all-round reverses what was

emerging were signs of a growing

link between them and Pakistan's

ISI, with clear evidence in this

regard emerging from four dis-

tricts of the state bordering

Bangladesh."

Murshidabad, West Midnapore,

Purulia and Bankura are the four

districts, he was quoted as having

said at the meet.

A worried Mukherjee is said to

have informed of the "growing

nexus", which came to light after

some Maoists were arrested from

these districts and they revealed

about overground sympathisers of

leftwing extremists establishing

ties with Pakistan's spy agency.

"Not just in West Bengal, ele-

ments having ISI links are joining

forces with overt outfits of

Maoists. We have also witnessed

the participation of members of

the banned SIMI in protest

marches and events organized by

Maoists and their sympathizers in

other parts of the country, includ-

ing at Jantar Mantar in Delhi (the

venue of all protests)," a govern-

ment official, with knowledge of

such developments, was quoted

as saying.

Mukherjee's revelations at the

review meeting at the home min-

istry came even as there has been

a "remarkable improvement" in

countering leftwing extremists in

West Bengal. It also came over a

fortnight after then Central

Reserve Police Force (CRPF)

director general K. Vijay Kumar

last month appreciated the

Mamata Banerjee government for

the "cooperation extended to the

security forces' operations" to

counter the Maoists.

23November 3-9, 2012TheSouthAsianTimes.info SUBCONTINENT

The ISI has reportedly forged deadly links with Maoists throughoverground radicals and the banned SIMI activists

Khaleda to India: Time to look aheadNew Delhi: Bangladesh's former

prime minister Khaleda Zia, whose

stints in power saw tense relations

with New Delhi, has assured India

that Bangladeshi territory will not

be allowed to be used by anti-India

insurgents, saying "it's time to look

ahead and not in a rear-view mir-

ror".

In his first meeting with a foreign

dignitary after he took charge as

foreign minister a couple of days

ago, Salman Khurshid met Zia, the

leader of the Bangladesh

Nationalist Party (BNP), and dis-

cussed a cluster of bilateral issues.

In her talks, Zia reiterated the

assurance she had given to Prime

Minister Manmohan Singh that

Bangladeshi territory will not be

allowed to be used by anti-India

insurgents and rebels, Syed

Akbaruddin, the spokesperson of

the external affairs ministry, told

reporters here.

"Zia has conveyed that 'let's look

forward and not in the rear-view

mirror'," the spokesperson said.

Zia's comments indicated that

she and her party BNP want to

break from the past by having more

positive relations with India if she

wins the polls, expected next year.

Khurshid and Zia held talks on

an entire range of bilateral issues,

including the need to fast-track the

Teesta pact, the land boundary

agreement and occasional skir-

mishes on the border.Bangladesh's former prime minister Khaleda Zia with Prime

Minister Manmohan Singh

New Delhi: Taking forward their

congruence on a range of global

issues, India, the United States and

Japan have decided to ramp up

cooperation in areas ranging from

the Asia-Pacific to Afghanistan,

Africa and Myanmar.

Senior officials of India, the US

and Japan held their third trilateral

dialogue here that focused on firm-

ing up strategies to combat piracy,

bolstering maritime security and

shared their perspectives on the

evolving Asia-Pacific architecture.

The officials of the three coun-

tries held talks for five to six hours,

indicating intense discussions to

find more areas of commonality

between the three leading democra-

cies.They had discussions on a

strategic overview of the Asia-

Pacific region, Syed Akbaruddin,

spokesperson of the external affairs

ministry, told reporters. They dis-

cussed issues relating to the

ASEAN summit and the 18-nation

East Asia Summit, he said.

India, US discussAfghanistan

Islamabad: India's new Foreign Minister

Salman Khurshid has before him the gar-

gantuan task of not letting singular issues

and events "hijack the tenuous peace

process" between Pakistan and India, said a

Pakistani daily.

Salman Khurshid has replaced S.M.

Krishna as India's external affairs minister

in a major ministerial revamp aimed at bol-

stering the ruling Congress ahead of the

2014 polls.

An editorial in the News International

said that despite the recent controversy

regarding accusations that Khurshid and

his wife had "siphoned off funds for a char-

ity for the disabled, the important office of

foreign minister is now his, where he will

have to handle the most delicate diplomatic

dossier of India?s relations with Pakistan".

Krishna had overseen the revival of the

tentative peace process, which had col-

lapsed after the 2008 Mumbai attacks, and

administered genuine movement on issues

such as trade and visa liberalisation, said

the daily.

"Khurshid now has before him the gar-

gantuan task of carrying forward the

process Krishna started - of putting all

issues on the table and not letting singular

issues and events hijack the tenuous peace

process," it added.

It cited some analysts as suggesting that

Khurshid has a firmer grip on diplomacy

and is likely to demonstrate a surer footing

than his predecessor.

"However, there are also those who point

to his recent mishandling of the corruption

scandal, and there is serious concern

whether Khurshid possesses the necessary

patience and maturity to dance the delicate

dance that the Indian foreign minister

always has to, especially in their dealings

with Pakistan," said the editorial.

Take care of India-Pak ties, daily tells KhurshidPak approves liberalized visaaccord with India

Islamabad: Pakistan has approved a liber-

alized visa agreement with India that will

relax curbs on issuing travel documents to

traders, elderly people, tourists, pilgrims,

members of the civil society and children.

The two countries had signed the agree-

ment in September during the then Indian

foreign minister S.M. Krishna's visit to

Islamabad.

Pakistan Information Minister Qamar uz

Zaman Kaira told a news conference

Wednesday that at a cabinet meeting

presided by Prime Minister Raja Pervez

Ashraf, the members unanimously accord-

ed approval to the relaxed visa agreement

with India which he hoped will promote

people-to-people contacts.

A 38-year-old visa pact has been replaced

with the new pact, which says that visa has

to be issued in a period of not exceeding 45

days of application.

Under the new system, one can visit five

places instead of three at present and those

above 65 and children below 12 years of

age and eminent businessmen are exempted

from police reporting.

Under the category of "Visitor visa", in

the new pact, single entry visa is to be

issued for six months. But the stay should

not exceed three months at a time. Earlier,

only single entry visa for three months used

to be issued for meeting relatives, friends,

business or other legitimate purpose.

Under the new Category II, a "Visitor

visa" for a maximum five specified places

may be issued for a longer period, up to two

years with multiple entries to senior citi-

zens (above 65 years old), spouses of a

national of one country married to a person

of another country and children below 12

years of age accompanying parents as given

earlier.

The new "Group Tourist visa" will be

issued for no less than 10 people and no

more than 50 people. Valid up to 30 days,

this visa will have to be applied through

tour operators registered by the two govern-

ments.

India's new Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid

Tripoli: Libya's Parliament has

approved the country's new Cabinet

in a vote of confidence, the

Parliament spokesman said, but

armed protesters cut the main road

leading to the parliament, vowing

not to leave until members of the

ousted regime of dictator Moammar

Gadhafi are excluded from political

life. Omar Humidan said five of the

27 ministers would be reconsidered

after concerns were raised over their

ties to the deposed regime.

That was not good enough for the

protesters, who tried to storm the

parliament building but were turned

back by security forces firing in the

air. Then they camped outside the

convention center that houses the

parliament sessions. The disruption

was the second in as many days by

protesters, some in pickup trucks

mounted with machine guns and

anti-aircraft pieces.

"The fruits of the revolution have

been harvested by regime rem-

nants," said Younis Mohammed.

"We want all members of the old

regime to be isolated," he added,

referring to the National Integrity

Agency tasked with filtering lists of

officials from Gadhafi's regime. "It

is not possible that those who fought

on the fronts are now under control

of the same people they were fight-

ing against," he said.

The vote approving the Cabinet

was 105 in favor, nine against and

18 abstentions, after parliament's

main political blocs gave their sup-

port to the new prime minister, Ali

Zidan.

The new Cabinet faces the daunt-

ing task of imposing control over

armed groups, mostly former rebel

fighters who defeated Gadhafi's

forces during last year's eight-month

civil war. The government must also

build state institutions such as the

judiciary, police and military from

scratch, and rebuild cities and towns

destroyed during the conflict.

Zidan said he tried to strike a geo-

graphical balance in the new

Cabinet. A year after the overthrow

and death of Gadhafi, Libyans are

seeking a broader distribution of

political power among the country's

three main regions, after decades of

domination and discrimination by

the dictator's highly centralized state

based in the capital, Tripoli.

Zidan said he had talks with

Libya's largest political blocs in par-

liament, the Alliance of National

Forces by western-minded and

wartime Prime Minister Mahmoud

Jibril and the Muslim Brotherhood's

political arm Justice and

Construction Party, to ensure sup-

port for his Cabinet.

Zidan, a former human rights

lawyer, is the second prime minister

to be named by the 200-member

parliament. Legislators dismissed

his predecessor, Mustafa Abushaqur,

after they said he had put forward

unknown people for key Cabinet

posts and proposed a government

lacking diversity.

The new Cabinet has two women,

one as social affairs minister and the

other as tourism minister. The key

posts of defense minister and interi-

or minister went to representatives

of the eastern city of Benghazi,

where the revolt against Gadhafi

begin. Also, the Cabinet has three

ministers from the western city of

Misrata and one from Zawiya.

London: London's cash-strapped police force said it

was planning to sell its iconic New Scotland Yard head-

quarters, famous for its revolving sign, to help save 500

million pounds.

New Scotland Yard building in Victoria, central

London, has been the home of Britain's biggest police

force since the 1960s.

Now police chiefs are planning to sell the building

and move to a smaller headquarters as they try to save

500 million from a 3.6 billion pound annual budget, fol-

lowing government cuts. Other police stations in

London would also be under threat, with five already

approved for sale, as the force seeks to dispose of a third

of its estate.

The Metropolitan police has been tasked by the

mayor's office with making savings of 500 million by

2015.

Cash-strapped Scotland Yard may sell HQ

Libyan Parliament approves new Cabinet

The new Cabinet faces the daunting task of imposing control overarmed groups (in the picture), mostly former rebel fighters

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad

Moscow warns against Syrianpresident's ouster

New Scotland Yard headquarters is famous for its revolving sign

24 November 3-9, 2012 TheSouthAsianTimes.infoINTERNATIONAL

Paris: Russia has said removal of

President Bashar al-Assad from

power will do nothing to end the

19-month old civil war in Syria

but it will only escalate the vio-

lence

"It is like daydreaming to spec-

ulate on the subject, to the effect

that if the [Syrian] government is

overthrown everything will fall

into place," Russian Foreign

Minister Sergei Lavrov said after

meeting his French counterpart

Laurent Fabius.

"If this is a priority for some-

body, bloodshed will continue,

and for quite a while,

too...Assad's fate should be decid-

ed by the Syrian people," he

added.

Lavrov said there is no military

solution to the Syrian conflict as

mercenaries fighting on the side

of the Syrian insurgents keep

arriving in the country from

neighboring states.

Western powers have con-

demned Russia and China for

their repeated refusal to back UN

sanctions against Assad regime,

which the UN has accused of

complicity in the massacre of

unarmed civilians.

Russian President Vladimir

Putin vowed earlier this year not

to allow a repeat of last year's

"Libya scenario," which saw the

ouster and murder of Libyan

leader Muammar Gaddafi after a

NATO military campaign.

US monitoring Iranian warships' Sudan visitWashington: The United States

said it was monitoring a visit by

two Iranian warships to a

Sudanese port this week, but had

no details about it.

The warships left Port Sudan on

the Red Sea earlier, an AFP pho-

tographer said, after a visit that

coincided with Khartoum's denial

that Iran is making weapons in

Sudan. Acting US State

Department spokesman Mark

Toner said the United States was

"obviously watching that closely."

"We monitor Iran's activities in

the region very closely," he added.

Sudan's links to Iran have come

under scrutiny after Khartoum

accused Israel of sending four

radar-evading aircraft to strike the

Yarmouk military factory in the

heart of the capital Khartoum at

midnight on October 23.

The factory compound exploded

and burst into flames, and specula-

tion followed that Iranian weapons

were stored or manufactured

there.

The United States was "aware of

an explosion," Toner said, but

added that Washington had no

more details of what the incident

entailed and how it was caused.

Turning to the visiting Iranian

warships, he added: "It's hard for

us to know what the details are of

this visit right now... Certainly we

would be concerned, but we don't

have any more details."

Sudan's army spokesman

Sawarmi Khaled Saad said that

the Iranian ship visit "will support

strong political, security and

diplomatic relations between the

two states."

Saad said the port call was a

chance for Sudanese naval person-

nel "to see advanced weapons and

advanced ships."

Iran's Press TV reported that the

two vessels had arrived. They had

been sent to the Djibouti area in

September "to convey Iran's mes-

sage of peace to the regional coun-

tries and maintain the security of

shipping corridors against mar-

itime terrorism," Press TV said.

China slams USaccusation of

hackingBeijing: China has criticized

US intelligence agency's accu-

sations of hacking by Chinese

firms, saying it also falls vic-

tim to cyber crime.

Chinese foreign ministry

spokesperson Hong Lei was

asked during a press confer-

ence about accusations from

an unspecified US source that

Chinese firms had used hack-

ing to steal commercial

secrets.

Hong said China has

responded to hacking-related

issues on many occasions, and

that it is "grossly irresponsi-

ble" to allege that China steals

information and conducts

hacking online without evi-

dence and investigation.

"China also falls victim to

hacking," the spokesperson

said while noting that cyber-

space security was an interna-

tional issue and China intends

cooperation with the global

community to safeguard

online security together.

RBI keeps rates unchanged; Chidambaram unhappyMumbai/New Delhi: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)

cut cash reserve ratio (CRR) for banks by 0.25 percent

but kept interest rates unchanged, despite pressure from

the government.

The CRR, the money against deposits which commer-

cial banks have to retain in the form of liquid assets

such as cash, has been cut to 4.25 percent from 4.5 per-

cent. It will release Rs.175 billion into the system.

However, the central bank kept other policy rates and

reserve ratios unchanged. This means borrowing costs

by companies as well as individuals would remain high.

Finance Minister P. Chidambaram appeared disap-

pointed over the RBI move and said the government

would walk alone to face the challenge of growth.

"Growth is as much a concern as inflation. The gov-

ernment has to walk alone to face the challenge of

growth... Sometimes it is best to speak and sometimes it

is best to be silent. I think this is a time for silence,"

Chidambaram said in New Delhi, making his unhappi-

ness over the RBI's policy apparent.

A day before the RBI policy review, the finance min-

ister had announced a five-year road map for fiscal con-

solidation, setting a target of cutting the fiscal deficit to

3 percent by 2016-17 from 5.8 percent recorded in

2011-12. "The government is doing its best to send a

clear message that we are on the path of fiscal consoli-

dation and it is my hope that everybody will understand

the government's commitment of fiscal consolidation,"

Chidambaram said.

While announcing the policy review, RBI Governor

D. Subbarao, however, said inflationary pressure was

likely to worsen in the next couple of month and there-

fore the time was not right to cut interest rates. The poli-

cy announcements hit market sentiments, with the

benchmark Sensex of the Bombay Stock Exchange

falling 205 points or 1.1 percent to 18,430.85 points.

UBS global axe to affect India bond operationsMumbai: The decision of Swiss

banking major UBS to shut its

fixed income business and lay off

about 10,000 people globally, will

have a minor impact on its Indian

operations since the fixed income

team and the revenues it generat-

ed were not significant.

In India, the fixed income team

in UBS had about 25 people and

the impact of the global decision

to wind down this part of the busi-

ness will impact these people too,

market sources said.

However, they said that in India,

unlike in the equities trading and

brokerage space, UBS was not a

big name in the bond trading

space. So naturally closing the

division will not have any materi-

al impact on its operations here.

A call to UBS spokesperson in

Hong Kong for its comments on

the development

in the fixed

income space

remained unan-

swered. UBS

unveiled plans to

wind down its

fixed income

business and fire

10,000 bankers

in one of the

biggest bonfires

of finance jobs

since the implo-

sion of Lehman

Brothers in 2008.

In another

development, Ashok Mittal, India

head of UBS's investment bank-

ing unit, put in his papers, surpris-

ing many on Deal Street. The exit

of Mittal, according to a UBS

spokesperson based in India, was

an isolated episode and there were

no other senior level departures

from India at this time. Mittal,

who had moved to the Swiss

banking giant from Lehman

Brothers in June last year, was

with the bank for just 16 months.

San Francisco: Microsoft has

unveiled Windows Phone 8, the

new version of its smartphone

operating system, representing the

software giant's latest move to

challenge market leaders Google

and Apple.

The new smartphone software

has a Start screen in the form of

square tiles, which can display

real-time information such as

updates on social networking

sites. Users can personalize the

Start screen by pinning their

favourite items such as applica-

tion and photos, and choose from

three sizes and 20 colors for the

so-called "Live Tiles".

At a media event held here

Monday, Microsoft executives

touted new user-friendly features

including "Data Sense", which

helps users conserve their data

allowance through ways such as

compressing web images.

"Our way is to put people at the

center of the experience, not icons

for apps," Joe Belfiore, corporate

vice president of Windows Phone

Program Management at

Microsoft, said at the event.

The smartphone software shares

the same user interface and tech-

nology core with Windows 8,

Microsoft's newly-launched oper-

ating system for personal comput-

ers and tablet computers, making

it easier for developers to create

apps for both platforms and for

users to run similar programmes

across different devices.

Windows Phone 8 also offers

support for hardware specifica-

tions including multi-core proces-

sors and near-field communica-

tion (NFC), a technology that

allows users to pay with their

smartphones or connect their

phones to other NFC-enabled

devices.

Phones running Microsoft's new

operating system will be available

this weekend in Europe and will

continue to go on sale in the rest

of the world from November.

Major mobile carriers in the US

including Verizon Wireless,

AT&T and T-Mobile will start

selling handsets running Windows

Phone 8 made by Nokia, HTC and

Samsung in the coming weeks,

according to Microsoft.

"We had a very different per-

spective on what a smartphone

should be," Steve Ballmer,

Microsoft's chief executive offi-

cer, said at the press event.

Apple's iOS platform accounted

for 16.9 percent of the smartphone

market in the quarter. For

Microsoft's phone software, the

biggest issue to date has been in

customer acceptance of its signifi-

cantly different user interface,

said Nick Dillon, an analyst at

research firm Ovum, in a recent

report.

Microsoft unveils Windows Phone 8

25November 3-9, 2012TheSouthAsianTimes.info BUSINESS

US federal government to borrow $288 bn

Washington: The US Treasury

Department said that the federal

government is expected to borrow

$288 billion from the market to

fund its operation in the fourth

quarter of this year.

"During the October-December

2012 quarter, Treasury expects to

issue $288 billion in net mar-

ketable debt, assuming an end-of-

December cash balance of $60

billion. This borrowing estimate is

$29 billion lower than announced

in July 2012," the Treasury said in

a statement.

The Treasury said during the

July-September quarter, it issued

$264 billion in net marketable

debt, and ended the quarter with a

cash balance of $85 billion,

reported Xinhua.

The Treasury also said that dur-

ing the January-March 2013 quar-

ter, it would issue $342 billion in

net marketable debt, assuming an

end-of-March cash balance of $30

billion.

The budget deficit of the US

federal government topped around

$1.1 trillion in the 2012 fiscal

year ending in September, about

$207 billion less than the 2011 fis-

cal year. But it was the fourth con-

secutive fiscal year that the US

federal government's budget

deficit surpassed $1 trillion.

Due to financial crisis and eco-

nomic recession, borrowings of

the US government increased dra-

matically over the past three

years.

The US federal government ran

a record budget deficit of $1.41

trillion in the 2009 fiscal year and

a $1.29 trillion imbalance in the

2010 fiscal year.

The CRR, the money against deposits which com-mercial banks have to retain in the form of liquid

assets such as cash, has been cut to 4.25 pc

Walt Disney buys Lucasfilm Ltd for $4 billionLos Angeles: Walt Disney Co

agreed to buy filmmaker George

Lucas's Lucasfilm Ltd and its "Star

Wars" franchise for $4.05 billion in

cash and stock, a blockbuster deal

that includes the surprise promise of

a new film in the series in 2015.

The deal unites a boutique

Northern California film studio that

brought special effects into the digi-

tal era with a venerable Hollywood

powerhouse that has shown a knack

for getting the most out of big-name

entertainment brands.

Disney plans to release at least

three more films in the Star Wars

sci-fi saga that ranks among the

biggest movie franchises of all time,

Chief Executive Bob Iger told ana-

lysts on Tuesday. The last "Star

Wars" picture was "Revenge of the

Sith" in 2005.

Swiss banking major UBS is to lay off about10,000 people globally

Theblock-buster

dealincludes

a newfilm in

the StarWar

series in2015

The new smartphone software has a Start screen in the form ofsquare tiles, which can display real-time information

26 November 3-9, 2012 TheSouthAsianTimes.infoSPORTS

Modi loses appeal against libelaward to Cairns

NY Marathon on despite mess left by Sandy

Yuvraj is the best judge of his fitness: Dhoni

New York: The New York

Marathon, an annual event includ-

ing some 50,000 runners, will take

place as scheduled despite the

damage left by Hurricane Sandy,

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.

"People have asked about the

marathon. There's tens of thou-

sands of people who've come from

around the world here to run.

We've decided the marathon will

go on," he told a press conference.

"We expect by Sunday, most of

the power will be back, if not all of

it," Bloomberg said. "It starts on

Staten Island right by the bridge.

We've been cleaning up that area,

and then it 's on main roads

throughout the city."

Noting that "some people said"

the marathon should be canceled

or postponed in light of the 32

deaths and extensive destruction

the city suffered from Sandy, the

mayor stressed the importance of

the event to the local economy.

"There's an awful lot of small

businesses that depend on these

people, we have to have an econo-

my," he said. "I think for those

who were lost, you know, you've

got to believe they would want us

to have an economy and have a

city go on for those that they left

behind."

The race, which runs through the

Big Apple's five boroughs, was

created in 1970 and usually draws

around 2 million spectators.

New Delhi: India cricket captain Mahendra Singh

Dhoni said that Yuvraj Singh, who has made a come-

back after battling cancer, is the best judge of his fitness

and it should be left to the southpaw to decide whether

he is fit enough for the grind of Test matches.

In his bid to get selected for the four-match Test series

against England, Yuvraj has kept himself in fine form in

the first class circuit.

With a double century for North Zone in the Duleep

Trophy semi-final against Central Zone and 59 for India

A against England XI in a warm-up game, Yuvraj has

surely strengthened his claims for the No.6 spot in the

national Test team.

But Dhoni feels given the "uncertainty" factor in

Tests, it should be left to Yuvraj to decide whether he

can survive for five days on the field.

"Test cricket is different from ODIs. We all know that

in ODIs after 50 overs one team will get down to bat-

ting. But Test cricket is full of uncertainties. There

might be situations when a team may go on to bat for

two days or more. In such a situation, Yuvraj has to

decide whether he can be on the field for two days," he

said."I feel Yuvraj is the best judge of his fitness. It

should be best left to him to decide if he can survive the

grind of Test cricket," he said.

Yuvraj's last Test match was against the West Indies in

Kolkata, November 2011, after which he was diagnosed

with a rare germ cell cancer. He made a comeback to

international cricket with a Twenty20 International

against New Zealand in Chennai in September and also

featured in the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka.

The race runs through the Big Apple's five boroughs

Yuvraj Singh with MS Dhoni

Getting back to No. 1 will take time: WoodsSingapore: On the two-year

anniversary of losing his No. 1

ranking, Tiger Woods said that

winning was the best way for him

to get back to the top.

And that could take some time.

Four players have been No. 1 over

the last two years. The top ranking

belongs to Rory McIlroy, who has

widened his lead by winning the

U.S. PGA Championship and con-

secutive tournaments during the

FedEx Cup playoffs. McIlroy was

runner-up last week against a

strong field in Shanghai.

"Rory is playing a lot of events,

and so am I, toward the beginning

of the year," Woods said in

Singapore, where he staged a

youth clinic on putting. "It's about

winning golf tournaments. That's

how I got to No. 1, that's how Rory

got to No. 1. You've got to win golf

tournaments, and when you don't,

you've got to be consistent and fin-

ish high. I'm looking forward to

that."

Woods won three times this year

on the U.S. tour, though it took

time for his trademark consistency

to develop. He did not have back-

to-back finishes in the top 10 until

the British Open (tie for third) and

the Bridgestone Invitational (tie

for eighth). He hasn't finished out

of the top 10 since The Barclays in

August, a streak of four tourna-

ments. Woods ends his 2012 sea-

son at his World Challenge in

California in the last week of

November.

"Things are progressing nicely,"

Woods said. "Last year I was 127th

on the money list, this year I was

second. So I think that's pretty

good improvement in a year. And

given that I'm healthy, I'm really

looking forward to next year."Tiger Woods

Former Indian Premier League chairman Lalit Modi

London: Former Indian Premier

League (IPL) chairman Lalit Modi

lost his appeal against the 90,000-

pound libel award to ex-New

Zealand cricket captain Chris Cairns

over unfounded accusation of

match-fixing.

The Guardian reported that three

judges in the Court of Appeal, head-

ed by the Lord Chief Justice Lord

Judge, said the "awards were pro-

portionate to the seriousness of the

allegation and its direct impact on

Cairns himself - and would serve to

vindicate his reputation".

The 42-year-old Cairns had sued

Modi over an "unequivocal allega-

tion" on Twitter in January 2010.

Modi had tweeted that the New

Zealander was removed from the

IPL auction list because of his

involvement in alleged match-fix-

ing. Cairns said that Modi's tweet

turned his achievements to "dust".

Earlier this year in March, Justice

David Bean, in his first decision on

the Twitter libel case, gave the ver-

dict in favor of Cairns.

Bean ruled that Modi had "singu-

larly failed" to provide any reliable

evidence of Cairns' involvement in

match-fixing or spot-fixing.

"It is obvious that an allegation

that a professional cricketer is a

match-fixer goes to the core attrib-

utes of his personality and, if true,

entirely destroys his reputation for

integrity.

"The allegation is not as serious as

one of involvement in terrorism or

sexual offences (to take two exam-

ples from recent cases). But it is oth-

erwise as serious an allegation as

anyone could make against a profes-

sional sportsman," Beans had said in

his ruling.

'Indo-Pak series could have been longer'Karachi: He is glad that Indo-Pak bilater-

al cricket is finally set for revival come

December, but former Pakistan captain

Zaheer Abbas is not particularly pleased

with the short duration of the series.

While welcoming the BCCI announce-

ment that it had got clearance to host

Pakistan for a short one-day series from

December 25, Zaheer said he hoped for a

full series. "While it is a very good thing

that finally bilateral cricket matches are

being revived after nearly five years but the duration of

the series has disappointed me given the importance of

Indo-Pak cricket contests," he said.

"Any bilateral contest is welcome but I would have

thought that after such a long break,

both countries should have played a

proper Test series and found a window

for this in their busy schedules," he

added.

Zaheer said the duration of the series

was too short. "But anyway I hope that

very soon the two boards will schedule

a full Test series because it has been a

long time since we played Tests

against each other and that is the real

challenge of cricket," he noted. Another former Test

captain, Hanif Mohammad also welcomed the decision

by the PCB to send its team to India in December to

revive bilateral ties.

Former Pakistan cap-tain Zaheer Abbas

November 3-9, 2012TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Ilove a good scandal. When the paparazzi are

camped outside a mansion and newspaper

sub-editors are jacking up their headline

sizes, my heart fills with hope for humanity.

At times like these, I feel life has purpose,

Santa Claus really exists, and one day mutating

viruses will kill all the people I hate.

And life's been good this year. Now I wouldn't

want anyone to think that I have some sort of

irrational hatred of celebrities, simply because I

want them all to DIE DIE DIE as horribly as

possible.

No. I only enjoy watching them suffer because

they learn important moral lessons from doing

so. Case in point: the long-running debate on

avoiding tax.

In the US, the focus is on the decision of bil-

lionaire Eduardo Saverin (the guy who financed

Mark Zuckerberg to set up Facebook) to

renounce his US citizenship and move to

Singapore. Saverin says it's nothing to do with

avoiding tax but neither critics nor defenders

believe him.

In the UK, Jimmy Carr, a wealthy comedian,

put his cash into a scheme that enabled him to

pay less than one per cent tax. Carr had been

making jokes against business people who don't

pay tax.

"We'd all like to put some money away for a

rainy day, but you're more prepared than Noah,"

one comedian mocked Carr in front of a live TV

audience. "We all now see why you work so hard

- you get to keep all the money."

Another funnyman said he was shocked to

hear that Carr was only paying one per cent tax.

"One per cent? Couldn't you beat them down a

bit? To point five?"

His accountant was widely criticized. A

celebrity sitting next to a dancer on a TV panel

show said to Carr: "What a pleasure to be sitting

next to the only man in Britain more flexible

than your accountant."

Pop singer Gary Barlow, lead vocalist for the

band Take That, was also found using a dubious

tax avoidance loophole. One comedian said Take

That had "changed their name to Keep That".

For his part, Jimmy Carr originally used the

"but it was legal" defence, but quickly aban-

doned it in favor of groveling self-abasement. "I

could tell you about the work I did for charity,"

he said. "But I don't think lying will make it any

better."

On the plus side, the debate did produce some

creative ideas for tax accountants. One comedian

said: "I've got the best accountant in the world:

Stephen Hawking. He put my money in another

dimension."

*-*

A man died last week after eating an "upside

down nut", I heard from Steve Hyde, a reader in

Taiwan. How did such an innocent object kill a

perfectly healthy 37-year-old? The newspapers

explained that betel nuts which grow pointing

skywards are fine, but ones which grow pointing

down are poisonous.

It's odd how communities often have their own

"Innocent Item That Kills" myths. In South

Korea, it is widely believed that the air from

electric fans will kill you if they run for more

than a few hours in an enclosed space. If this was

true, everyone in Asia would be dead.

In Facebook-land, an item about diced onions

being poisonous is going viral. If that was true,

all French people would be dead. French people

put diced onions into everything, including jam,

fruit juice, perfume, shower gel, suppositories,

etc.

*-*

The man who designed the iPhone has just

bought a US$17 million mansion in California,

says a tech website. So, do people invited to din-

ner have to camp outside overnight before get-

ting in?

*-*

From Twitter: Of all the Asian martial arts, the

one that inflicts most pain is karaoke.

*-*

Somewhere in Asia, a Swedish fugitive is hid-

ing, the Stockholm media reported last week.

Police caught a guy for smuggling and thought

they had jailed him, but recently discovered that

he had paid a similar-looking friend to do his jail

term for him.

The case shocked people in Europe but is quite

common in parts of Asia and is sometimes done

with the suspected connivance of authorities.

The most notorious example is Gu Kailai at her

trial in China recently. Mrs Gu, thin-faced with

double-fold eyelids, grew chubby and developed

single-fold eyelids at her court appearance.

At a dinner party recently, I asked people how

much cash they would need to do someone else's

three-year jail term. For those who would, the

going rate was US$2 million. For me, no amount

of money would make me agree to be locked in a

building to be abused night and day by violent

murderers, sadists and rapists. I had quite

enough of that at school.

*-*

A guy aged 122 died in Russia the other day.

In an interview, he said he had lived so long by

abstaining from women, alcohol and tobacco. I

imagine his last words were probably: "If there's

no reincarnation, I am SO screwed."

*-*

A really troublesome prisoner refused to leave

prison EVEN AFTER HE DIED: his ghost

stayed in place to annoy the warden, guards and

jailbirds. (And I thought my kids were stubborn.)

The furious warden had to pay a sorcerer to

chase the spirit away from the jailhouse.

A reporter showed me this Hindustan Times

story, which came to light last week in Patna,

East India, during a rather uncomfortable discus-

sion on invisible "sitting tenants" (ie, ghosts) in

Asia.

You see, this columnist recently moved into a

new Kowloon apartment that was surprisingly

cheap. And before you complain, I KNOW it's

highly irresponsible (and possibly illegal) to use

the word "cheap" in connection with property

prices in Hong Kong these days.

But my informant believed I had rented a

haunted apartment. And when I mentioned that

one wall had been painted pink, he was sure of it.

"Feng shui masters paint walls red or pink to

repel the spirit of death," he said. "Your home is

probably the site of a mass murder."

Even though I don't believe in mythical crea-

tures such as ghosts, zombies, the Easter Bunny

or corruption-free Presidents of the Philippines, I

was dismayed.

So I called an old contact in the property busi-

ness. After looking at my address and rental bill,

he said: "No murder here. Murder sites get you a

much bigger discount. Would you like one?"

He told me that there were people who made

fortunes from haunted homes in high-priced

cities such as Hong Kong, Mumbai and Tokyo.

They simply book the apartments at a huge dis-

count, and then sublet them to overseas bankers

at market rates.

"Don't the ghosts scare the investment bankers

to death?" I asked.

"I hope so," he replied. "Improves my mar-

gins."

*-*

Bumper sticker seen by Daniel Bloom of

Taiwan: "Sorry, the lifestyle you ordered is cur-

rently out of stock due to climate change and

global warming impacts coming very soon. Call

back in one million years."

*-*

Funny Bone by Nury Vittachi

Sergio Romo posed for the crowd as the confetti came down on Market Street.The San Francisco Giants celebrated their second World Series title in three

years with a parade down Market Street Wednesday October 31, 2012.

Photo of the week

28 November 3-9, 2012 TheSouthAsianTimes.infoHUMOR

The morality of tax avoidance

November 03

Governed by number 3 and the planet Jupiter. You

are a practical, energetic, business minded, brilliant

and an optimistic person. You’re co-operative and

helpful and enjoy great respect in your friend’s cir-

cle, but you need to check your tendency to behave

jealous and stubborn at times. This year you are ad-

vised not to trust others on important issues. Shar-

ing personal and secretive information will not be

in your interest. The atmosphere at office will re-

quire you to handle important jobs with more re-

sponsibility. A sudden influence of a spiritual per-

son will bring remarkable change in your life. Your

spouse and family members will be supportive to

your concerns and provide you with love and af-

fection. Distant journeys, maybe overseas for some

will fetch favorable returns. The months of Decem-

ber 2012 and February, March and June 2013 will

prove to be significant.

November 04

Ruled by number 4 and the planet Uranus. You are

generous, peace loving, dashing, systematic, disci-

plined, artistic character and introvert in nature.

You possess a strong memory and an ability to im-

press others with your intelligent and witty conver-

sation, but you need to control your tendency to be

extravagant, reckless and moody at times. This

promises to be a memorable year bringing prosper-

ity and good fortune. This is going to be a reward-

ing period for women as there will be new oppor-

tunities to improve career prospects. Students need

to concentrate on their studies and plan for the year

ahead. Romance and new alliances look likely for

the unattached. Elders and children in the family

will demand a lot of your attention. Health of your

spouse may cause concern and anxiety. The

months of January, February and April 2013 will be

significant.

November 05

Ruled by number 5 and the planet Mercury. You are

highly intelligent, diplomatic, highly business ori-

ented, accommodating, god fearing and kind heart-

ed person. You are fond of good food, meeting like-

minded people and visiting distant lands. You enjoy

a good name in the society and people respect you

for what you are, but you need to curb your ten-

dencies towards restlessness and over-exertion. It

will be a period of success and happiness through-

out, thanks to the support provided by your family

members. You will also gain importance amongst

your colleagues because of you better skills and ap-

titude. Health will show improvement despite hec-

tic hours that you might put in office. Investments

will yield handsome results. Romantic alliance de-

velops with someone that you have secretly ad-

mired. The months of July, September, and October

of 2013 will be eventful.

November 06

Influenced by number 6 and the planet Venus. You

are energetic, practical, systematic, methodical and

a generous person. You are creative and research

oriented and can do wonders with your intelligence,

but you need to control your tendencies to behave

impatient, whimsical and jealous at times. A stable

period of growth and prosperity sees you shine with

new confidence and enthusiasm. Your self-confi-

dence will be high. Speculation will prove to be re-

warding and long term investment is also recom-

mended. Long pending disputes will be sorted out

bringing relief to your mind. Blessing from a saint-

ly person will provide solace and comfort. Stay

away from strangers who behave extra friendly and

excuse those who approach you for loans. Friends

will be supportive but demanding. The months of

January, May, September and October 2013 will

prove to be result oriented.

November 07

Governed by number 7 and the planet Neptune. You

are affectionate, charming, sober, courageous, orig-

inal and honest. You are good at heart and very

helpful, but you need to control your tendency to

behave impatient and short temper to succeed in

your endeavors. Your stars will be in a favourable

position, bringing you happiness and prosperity.

Those involved in arts and other creative profes-

sions will achieve recognition and monetary gains

this year. Matrimonial alliances for those eligible.

Although health will be fine but it will be important

to take necessary precautions. Children will make

you feel proud with their achievements. Pilgrimage

or distant journey will be high on your agenda. The

months of February, April, May and June 2013 will

prove to be significant.

November 08

Ruled by number 8 and the planet Saturn. You are

creative, active, confident, intelligent and an artis-

tic person. Your strong vision always keeps you

ahead of others and makes you popular in your sur-

rounding, but you need to restrain your tendencies

towards being erratic, stubborn, behaving moody

and jealous at times. The coming year is expected

to bring in achievements and rewards. Businessmen

will expand their ventures into new and more prof-

itable avenues. Property disputes will be settled

down to your satisfaction. Health will definitely

need more attention. Meditation and Yoga should

be practiced for spiritual gains. Some exhilarating

news from your children will boost up your spirits.

Journeys overseas or financial transactions from

abroad will fetch returns. The month of June, Au-

gust, October and November 2013 will be eventful

and result oriented.

November 09

Influenced by number 9 and the planet Mars. You

are active, energetic, trustworthy, systematic and

quick in taking decisions. You have a good com-

mand over your work which in return brings you re-

wards and appreciation, but you need to check your

tendency to behave vindictive and jealous at time.

This coming year is good for judicial and govt. fa-

vors. Long pending disputes will get sorted out and

important contacts will play immense role in im-

proving your financial standing. A sudden influence

of a person from the opposite sex will give a new

and interesting twist to your life. Later in the year

blessing from a saintly person will provide comfort

and peace of mind. Stay away from strangers who

behave extra friendly and excuse all those who ap-

proach you for temporary loans and financial assis-

tance. Friends will be helpful but demanding. Feb-

ruary, July, September 2013 will prove to be

significant.

By Dr Prem Kumar SharmaChandigarh, India: +91-172- 256 2832, 257 2874Delhi, India: +91-11- 2644 9898, 2648 9899psharma@premastrologer.com; www.premastrologer.com

Stars Foretell: November 3-9, 2012 Annual Predictions: For those born in this week

Learn about the fair value ofdiamonds & precious stones.

from a Gems Expert For appointment, please call 516-390-7847

or email consult.gems@gmail.comA special offer for the readers of

The South Asian Times

Free Consultation

29

Aries: You would accomplish double the

usual output at work this week. There

would be few interruptions and problems, but

your sincerity and determination would help you

move quickly towards your goals. Recognition

and rewards are certainly yours. A minor differ-

ence of opinion with your beloved might erupt

which would bother your mind, but otherwise it

will be a happy and result oriented week ahead

for you.

Taurus: This week your creativity would

not be at its best because of added

domestic and professional pressures. You would

carry immense responsibilities on your shoulders

and implementing your plans would be rather

tough. Seek help from people who are experi-

enced and skillful. New romantic alliances seem

likely this period, as someone you work with

might be interested in you emotionally.

Speculation and new ventures should be avoid-

ed.

Gemini: You would do extremely well if

you work alone on important projects.

People around you would create more confusion

than extending any support. Distant relatives or

old friends would call on you later in the week

bringing you fabulous gifts and presents.

Financial position would improve through spec-

ulation and unexpected gains. Romantic ties

would strengthen if you let your beloved know

exactly how you feel. New job opportunities for

some through new contacts.

Cancer: Travelling and other activities

would keep you extremely busy this

week. You would interact with interesting people

who would provide you with valuable advice.

The new ideas you get would help you formulate

some new plans and boost your growth prospects

as well. Your health might suffer if you have

been somewhat complacent during the past few

days. If you are going to be working long hours

then you need to take regular breaks and relax as

much as possible.

Leo: Not a very beneficial period. You

should not believe everything that you

hear, verify your own facts and then act accord-

ingly. People around you would also not be

extremely helpful. They are likely to say things,

which are going to make you upset and bring

your morale down. Religious and spiritual func-

tions will be performed at home. New invest-

ments, residential changes, expensive purchases

can be made during this period.

Virgo: Stay brief and to the point when

interacting with influential people.

Matters relating to work would prove beneficial

for you. Your recent work would win you appre-

ciation and rewards, and chances of a promotion

or at least some monetary benefits would be

strong. Your self-confidence and dynamic per-

sonality would attract members of the opposite

sex. Children would look forward to the new

academic session with enthusiasm and confi-

dence.

Libra: Problems with relatives are likely

to arise if you try to dominate them. Do

not be erratic in your behaviour, especially with

family members; otherwise it would ruin the

peaceful atmosphere at home. You would find

solutions to many of your problems if you were

willing to communicate. At work your determi-

nation would help you achieve your goals. You

will come up with better results, as your imagi-

nation will be at its peak. Minor health problem

will hamper your work performance.

Scorpio: Don’t get involved in other peo-

ple’s problems. You would make changes

to things around you, but not everyone would be

pleased with your efforts. It would be better if

you seek their approval before you implement

your plans. Health would need extra attention

and do not avoid preventive medication if neces-

sary. Traveling would be pleasurable and highly

educating. Charity and social work would bring

mental peace.

Sagittarius: New job opportunities

would come your way, but career

changes should not be done in haste. Differences

over certain beliefs might bring some tension

with people around you. Healthy conversation

without bringing emotion in-between would be a

good way to settle conflicting views. Don’t over-

spend on luxury items or entertainment. Try to

put maximum efforts into learning new skills and

completing creative hobbies.

Capricorn: You would benefit if you lis-

ten to older individuals who have more

experience. Your spouse would be supportive

and provide you with love and care. New roman-

tic attachment for those unattached seems likely

through social gatherings and entertainment. The

phase seems to be difficult on the financial front,

especially if you have not been saving money on

the side. Unforeseen events could disrupt your

travel plans.

Aquarius: This week social activity

would bring you in touch with people

who can help you excel in your career. Certain

changes in your work environment are evident

later this week. You would be attracted to mem-

ber of the opposite sex, but chances of a long

lasting relationship do not seem strong. You can

easily earn some extra money if you put your

creative ideas to proper use.

Pisces: Misunderstandings might erupt

between you and your partner, if you do

not sit and talk about sensitive issues. You would

find people around you very demanding. Do not

promise more than you can deliver.

Financial benefits are certain if you invest in

secure investment schemes.Change of residence

or workplace will prove auspicious for some.

Avoid overeating and keep a check on your

weight.

i) Accurate Data: Please make sure Date,

Time and Place of birth is accurate.

ii) Careful: Did you check background of the

astrologer before disclosing your secrets.

iii) Fee: Discuss the charges before, don’t feel

shy. It’s his business.

iv) Expectation: Expect the best, if the out-

come is not as desired, never give up.

v) Consult: Take second opinion before

spending thousands on cure/remedies.

Before you consult...

November 3-9, 2012TheSouthAsianTimes.info ASTROLOGY

If we are in the body of an

adult, we are bound by the

responsibilities of our job or

of raising a family and doing our

duties in society. Our soul wants

to be lost in ecstasy in the arms of

the Lord, but our attention is

being pressured to attend to the

worldly pursuits. We have to put

in many hours on a job to get paid

to keep our body fed and housed.

We have to take care of our spous-

es, our children, or our parents.

We have to pay our taxes, pay our

mortgage, pay the expenses of a

car, pay annual licenses, and take

care of all sorts of paperwork that

each citizen of every country has

to do. Time is the enemy of the

soul, for it takes away from the

soul’s yearning to be lost in ecsta-

sy within.

Even if we are on a spiritual

path, the soul has some problems.

Those souls who have awakened

to their true nature are only happy

when in the presence of the

Master physically or inwardly in

meditation. They want to focus

totally on the Master when in his

presence. When not in his pres-

ence, they are restless for the next

chance to be with him. They are

filled with anguish and torture

when kept away from him.

Those on the spiritual path are at

different stages. Some are at a

stage where they have not yet

identified with their soul and are

still enticed by the world. They

have some pull towards the

Master and meditation, but they

are still functioning at the level of

the mind and the world. They act

responsibly. They look at the

Master more as a physical being.

They consider meditation a chore,

and do not like to do it. They

intellectually understand the path,

but their soul has not yet fully

tasted the bliss within and they are

content to come and go at the reg-

ularly scheduled times of pro-

grams.

Then, we reach a stage in which

we awaken to our spiritual nature.

We identify with the soul. When

we do so, then the soul is not

happy with things of this world. It

finds its enjoyment in being in the

spiritually-charged radiation of

the Master and sitting in medita-

tion. It enjoys the bliss of seva

because during those times it is

receptive to the Master power

within and flowing through it as

seva is done. It finds attending to

the world to be drudgery. It wants

to spend as much time as possible

in the Master’s presence.

When such souls cannot be in

the Master’s presence, they have a

difficult time. Their soul is in

agony and torture when away

from the Master. It is a real, living

pain that stabs at their heart. Their

heart feels like it is being stabbed

over and over again without stop.

Their whole being feels as if it is

on fire. They feel as if they are in

torture. Outwardly, they may look

like they are calm, cool, and col-

lected, but inside they are being

burned alive in the fire of separa-

tion. We know what it is like to

get a paper cut. The thin cut goes

right down to the nerve. Now pic-

ture a soul in separation from the

Master—it is like tens of thou-

sands of paper cuts are slicing the

disciple at once. Knives are stab-

bing at their hearts every second

of every day. Now, picture a soul

in such agony, and then asking it

to behave normally. Ask such a

soul to smile when tears are flood-

ing behind its eyes. Ask such a

soul to be cheerful, when the soul

cannot take the pain anymore. Ask

such a soul to do any work, when

its whole being is filled with pain.

But the worst of it is that it cannot

escape the pain and must bear all

this torture second by second. It

knows that escaping the pain is

not an option. So, the soul just has

to bear this torture of separation.

The soul then pleads to the

Master to be gracious. It cries out

with every ounce of its being to

the Master to end the separation.

It prays that the Master is merciful

in ending its period of distance so

it can enjoy that loving, captivat-

ing company again.

Then, if the Beloved does not

respond, the torture intensifies

because the soul feels the Master

has forgotten him or her. The soul

feels the Master does not care.

The soul cannot understand how

the Master can be aware of his or

her pain and not do something

about it. In such a state the soul

has reached the end of its limit. It

prays with great intensity to the

Master and begs for relief. Then,

the Master is gracious. The Master

lifts the veil and shows himself to

the disciple. The Master gives the

disciple a boost and a lift and

pours out his love to the disciple.

He takes the disciple in his arms

and fills the disciple with hope

and love again. The disciple is

able to survive for another day.

The plight of the disciple in the

world is best described by this

verse by Sant Darshan Singh Ji

Maharaj. This verse touches a

chord in describing the plight of a

soul in such a condition. The

verse says:

I am as full of the pangs and

longings for the Beloved as the

harmonium is full of music;

Just touch it, move your finger

on it once, and see what happens.

The disciple who has reached a

stage in which he or she has iden-

tified with the soul and wants only

the Master and God is like the dis-

ciple described by Sant Darshan

Singh Ji Maharaj in this verse.

Picture a harmonium or any

instrument sitting on a table. It

looks like any other physical

object. A harmonium looks like a

wooden box. It has white and

black keys. There is a part of it

that is like an accordion which

fans out as you move it in and out.

It looks very much like a physical

object. But when you just touch

the keys or move out the accor-

dion-like part, exquisite sound

comes out of it. Then, as you

move your fingers over it, you can

produce music so uplifting it stirs

the soul. From this physical object

comes unseen sound that has the

power to move hearts. The music

can make people dance, it can

make people sing, it can make

people smile, and it can make

people wail and cry. The element

that comes forth from this physi-

cal form is ethereal; it has no sub-

stance, but it can move the spirit.

Sant Darshan Singh Ji Maharaj

is saying that just as music is hid-

den within the physical structure

of an instrument, such as a harmo-

nium, so is the music of longing

and pain hidden within the physi-

cal form of a disciple. The disci-

ple may have a body like every-

one else. The disciple may have

eyes, ears, a nose, and a mouth

like everyone else. Yet, when one

just touches its strings the music

of longing and pining flow from

it. The disciple may look like a

human form like everyone else

but that form really is a casing or

embodiment of one long song of

yearning and pining for the

Beloved. Behind the face and

smile is a soul crying in agony to

be with the Beloved. The disciple

is really the music of the heart

playing its melody all twenty-four

hours of the day. It is singing

songs of pain and agony when in

separation from the Beloved. It is

singing songs of ecstasy when it is

with the Beloved. The music of a

disciple only contains two ragas:

ecstasy and agony. There is little

in between.

Those who live in the company

of such a disciple think they are

living with another physical per-

son with a body and a mind. But

that is as illusionary as the harmo-

nium sitting on a table. There is

skin, there is flesh and blood, but

within that disciple is a musical

instrument. It is either singing in

ecstasy because it is in the compa-

ny of its Beloved again, or it is

playing the most heart-rending

music of torture when separated

from the Master.

The disciples are asked to live in

the world. They are asked to fol-

low the path of positive mysti-

cism. They are asked to behave

normally. Thus, he or she plays a

role as a student in school, a pro-

fessional at work, a good wife or

husband at home, a good parent to

its children, and a good communi-

ty neighbor. But as the verse of

Sant Darshan Singh Ji Maharaj

says, "Just touch the strings, just

touch the instrument," and see

what happens. If anyone living

with such a disciple just touches a

chord within the disciple, the

music of ecstasy or music of

yearning comes forth. It does not

take much. The disciple is already

ready to burst with the pain of

separation. The disciple is trying

to cover it up within the outward-

ly normal form. But the slightest

touch will cause the disciple to

explode out with his or her true

feelings.

Tears are already flowing like

waterfalls within the disciple.

Imagine containing all the force of

a waterfall behind a levee? But

just give the disciple one more

disappointment, and tears will no

longer be held within the eyes but

will pour forth from the eyes. The

disciple is using all the human

power to contain the grief and

sadness felt when kept away from

the Master and hiding it behind a

smile. But just add one more dis-

appointment and the smile will

crack and turn into a sorrowful

look. The disciple is trying hard to

play by the rules and follow deco-

rum and social structure, but give

the disciple one more disappoint-

ment, and all caution is thrown to

the winds.

The amount of energy a disciple

must expend in looking like a

human being fulfilling its role in

the world is so great that just one

touch of the finger can unleash the

depths of despair and pain welling

up within the disciple and a song

of either agony or ecstasy will

come spilling out. Anyone who

has experienced this will know

that the disciple cannot help him-

self or herself. It is not the disci-

ple’s fault.

It is the captivating beauty of

God expressed through the form

of the Master either within or

without that is pulling the soul of

the disciple, and the disciple is

helpless in its wake. Can an iron

filing help itself being drawn to a

magnet? Can a moth help from

burning itself in the flame of a

candle?

(To be continued...)

The agony and ecstasy of being a disciple

By Sant Rajinder SinghJi Maharaj

Those on the spiritual path

are at different stages. Some

are at a stage where they have

not yet identified with their

soul and are still enticed by

the world. They have some

pull towards the Master and

meditation but they are still

functioning at the level of the

mind and the world.

30 November 3-9, 2012 TheSouthAsianTimes.infoSPIRITUAL AWARENESS

Part two of the discourse ‘Yodeling for God’

Giv

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Mira

cle... Give a Diwali Kit!

This Diwali will there be

a miracle of light or sadness of being

abandoned?

SOS Children’s Villages is the world’s largest charity dedicated

to the long-term care of orphaned and abandoned children.

Present in 133 countries, SOS has 540 children’s villages.

There are over 40 SOS Children’s villages in India, spanned

between Kashmir and Kanyakumari. We also have over 122

community.

The Diwali Kit is a campaign we are running to bring in donations

to help children who have been left without parental care, and

we are focusing on our Villages in India during this Diwali time

period. For kids in this situation, it really is a miracle to be able to

get help from us, and from you. That’s we’ve made this campaign:

Give a Miracle. Give a Diwali Kit.

To create a miracle this diwali visit

www.SOS-INDIA.org/Diwali

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November 3-9, 2012TheSouthAsianTimes.info

November 3-9, 2012TheSouthAsianTimes.info