Upload
thesouthasian-times
View
281
Download
11
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
By Arun Kumar
Washington: The US is getting the welcome
mat out for whoever may be India's new
prime minister, including BJP’s Narendra
Modi, as the law automatically entitles a
head of government to a US visa.
"We will work with whoever the people of
India decide should lead their country," State
Department spokesperson Marie Harf told
reporters Monday as a Congressional
Research Service memo advised law makers
regarding visa policy for Modi.
The memo covering queries from lawmak-
ers suggests that Modi, who was denied a US
visa in 2005 over his alleged complicity in
the 2002 Gujarat riots, will be entitled to a
US diplomatic visa with full immunity if he
becomes prime minister.
"We believe it's a critical partnership, and
we're moving forward with it," Harf said
when asked about the recent memo from the
bipartisan CRS, which analyzes issues of the
day for the
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
excellence in journalismNRI Awards 15India Elections 10
Vol.6 No. 49 April 5-11, 2014 60 Cents New York Edition Follow us on TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Personal Finance 25 Spiritual Awareness 30
US readies welcome mat,visa for India'snew leader
Washington: The soldier who went on a
shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas , had
a history of mental illness and had been tak-
ing medication for anxiety and depression,
but Army leaders said Thursday that they
had not considered him a potential threat.
Investigators said they were still trying to
clarify a motive for the attack but were
focusing on the fragile state of mind of Spec.
Ivan Antonio Lopez, a 34-year-old military
truck driver and Iraq veteran. Officials said
he killed three fellow soldiers and took his
own life Wednesday in an outburst of gunfire
at one of the country’s largest military instal-
lations.
Lopez, a married father of four, was given
a full psychiatric evaluation last month and
had been prescribed “a number of drugs,”
including the sleep aid Ambien, according to
Army Secretary John McHugh. But the
Army psychiatrist who last saw Lopez found
no “sign of likely
New Delhi: The Congress
and UPA are facing decima-
tion in a wide swath of states
from Delhi and Rajasthan in
the north to Bihar and
Jharkhand in the east,
Madhya Pradesh and
Chhattisgarh in the centre,
Maharashtra in the west and
Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu
and Karnataka in the south.
In sharp contrast, the BJP
and its allies are riding high
in almost all these states,
with Tamil Nadu being an
exceptional case of neither
major alliance doing well,
according to an opinion poll
conducted for a TV channel.
The poll conducted by
Hansa Research for NDTV
and released on Thursday
estimated that the BJP would
win 21 of 25 seats in
Rajasthan, 25 of 29 seats in
MP, eight of 11 seats in
Chhattisgarh, 10 of 14 seats
in Jharkhand, 16 of 28 seats
in Karnataka and four of
Continued on page 4
Congress-led UPA faces rout inbattleground states
Fort Hood shooter had psychiatric issuesbut showed no ‘sign of likely violence’
Continued on page 4Continued on page 4
U.S. Ambassador to India Nancy J Powell had called on Gujarat Chief MinisterNarendra Modi in February. She quit her post on March 31.
Iraq veteran Ivan Lopez is identifiedas the shooter
US officials deny that the sudden resignation of US
envoy to India Nancy Powellwas related to recent tensions
between the two countries, but few were buying it.
Narendra Modi will be entitled to a US diplomaticvisa with full immunity if he
becomes India’s next PM
2 April 5-11, 2014 FESTIVAL TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Surati's sixth Holi event was
a resounding success again
with over 2,000 people
enjoying it. Based in Jersey City
and India, Surati for Performing
Arts’s annual Holi Hai festival
event on March 22 was held at
Exchange Place, Jersey City. It
has come to be known as the
biggest Holi celebration of its
kind in the Tri-State area, brought
to the community by Surati
founder and artistic director Rimli
Roy.
The attendees had a rocking
time throwing colors on each
other, savoring the delectable
food, dancing alongside live per-
formers. Surati company dancers
and musicians, including local
artists, performed for an audience
that included the Indian Consul
General in New York,
Dnyaneshwar Mulay, NJ
Assemblyman Raj Mukherji,
Assemblyman Carmelo Garcia
and many other community and
business leaders. City Council
President Rolando Lavarro pre-
sented a Proclamation to Rimli
Roy and Surati for their contribu-
tion to the cultural diaspora of the
community, on behalf of Mayor
Steven Fulop and the City
Council.
This year Surati presented two
guest artistes from India - Sumit
Roy (better known as India's
Calypso King and the "Nat King
Cole of Kolkata") who also hap-
pens to be Rimli's father, and
Rachit Tiwari (Kathak / contem-
porary dancer, choreographer).
Ambassador Mulay,
Assemblyman Mukherji congrat-
ulated Surati for bringing Indian
culture to an international plat-
form, celebrating the festival with
the diverse population in Jersey
City.
Sponsors included the Hudson
County Office of Cultural and
Heritage Affairs and The South
Asian Times.
Mormons throng the biggest Holi event in America
Nearly 50,000 people cele-
brated Holi festival last
weekend at the grounds
of Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple
in Spanish Fork, Utah, said to be
the biggest in this part of the
world.
Revelers danced to music, prac-
ticed yoga and threw colored
corn starch in the air once every
hour during the Festival of
Colors. The large majority of par-
ticipants are not Hindus, but
Mormons, The Salt Lake Tribune
reported. Thousands of students
from nearby Brigham Young
University take part in the festi-
val.
“It’s an opportunity for young
Latter Day Saints (Mormon) kids
to come and celebrate their spiri-
tuality without alcohol or drugs,”
said Caru Das, the temple’s
priest. He added the event feels
more like a rock concert than a
religious ceremony. He termed
the festival a spiritual and finan-
cial success. Funds raised sustain
his religious community and help
the members take Holi to other
cities.
The next Festival of Colors is in
Salt Lake City on May 3.
Crowd shot of Surati’s Holi Hai event in Jersey City against the backdrop of Manhattan skyline.(Photo: Amartya Roy Chowdhury)
Entertainment segment included Bollywood style andclassical dance performances.(Photos: BhushanAhire)
Surati Founder and Artistic Director Rimli Roy, holding a proclamation from the Jersey City Mayor
and City Council, on the stage with dignitaries includingConsul General Dnyaneshwar Mulay (second from left).
(Photo: Nan Melville)
3April 5-11, 2014TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRISTATE COMMUNITY
By Arun Kumar
Washington: No one is buying the
American story that the resignation
of US ambassador in India, Nancy
Powell, was unrelated to recent
tensions between the two coun-
tries, but as yet there is no defini-
tive word about her likely succes-
sor. A section of the Indian media
has speculated that Powell may be
replaced by USAID administrator
Rajiv Shah, the highest ranking
Indian American in the Obama
administration, as the US tries to
clean the slate with India.
But analysts said President
Barack Obama is unlikely to win
Senate approval of a political
appointee in a hurry in a deeply
divided Washington even as there
is bipartisan support for strong
India-US relations.
Time magazine linked the Powell
resignation to the recent diplomatic
row over the Khobragade affair,
noting that it came weeks after
"US-Indian relations floundered in
December after police in New York
City detained and allegedly strip-
searched" Indian diplomat Devyani
Khobragade.
The New York Times said in a
story from the Indian capital that
Powell's resignation "was greeted
by many in New Delhi's diplomatic
community Tuesday with a sense
of hope that some of the grinding
disputes between the United States
and India might soon be settled".
The Washington Post also noted
that Powell had resigned "after
only two years on the job, sparking
some speculation overseas that the
administration may have been
looking to replace her".
Noting that "Powell only arrived
in India in April 2012, and these
diplomatic posts typically last three
years", the Post said: "The buzz in
New Delhi is that Powell's depar-
ture may be related to ongoing ten-
sions over the uproar in India after
the arrest of Devyani Khobragade."
However, State Department
spokesperson Marie Harf Monday
denied that Powell's sudden resig-
nation was in any way "related to
any tension, any recent situations"
between India and the US.
"There's no big behind-the-
scenes story here," Harf told
reporters suggesting "this is the
end of a distinguished 37-year
career".
"I think after 37 years, she
deserves to retire."
"But I want to dispel any rumors
out there that this is related in any,
to anything besides her long-
planned retirement," she said.
"It's not at all related to anything
happening in the relationship, it
doesn't indicate any realignment of
the relationship."
Meanwhile, the US India
Political Action Committee (USIN-
PAC), which describes itself as the
political voice of the Indian
American community, has urged
President Obama to appoint a new
ambassador to India.
"Having a senior leader in New
Delhi is vital to ironing out differ-
ences on some of the issues that
have crept up between the two
countries so that a purposeful new
beginning is made to turbo-charge
the relationship," it said.
Washington: In an unprece-
dented case, a Chicago jury has
indicted a Congress party Rajya
Sabha MP in an alleged interna-
tional conspiracy to bribe state
and central government officials
in India to allow mining of tita-
nium minerals.
K.V.P. Ramachandra Rao, aka
KVP and Dr. KVP, 65, a Rajya
Sabha member from Andhra
Pradesh, was indicted by a fed-
eral grand jury in June 2013
along with an Indian-American
businessman and four other foreign nationals,
the Justice Department announced Wednesday.
Rao is described as a Member of Parliament
in India who was an official of the state gov-
ernment of Andhra Pradesh and a close advisor
to the now-deceased chief minister of Andhra
Pradesh, Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy. Also charged
was Gajendra Lal, 50, an Indian national and
permanent resident of the US, who formerly
resided in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Under the federal indictment unsealed
Wednesday excluding Rao, five of the six de-
fendants are also charged with conspiracy to vi-
olate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
(FCPA), among other offenses.
According to the indictment be-
ginning in 2006, the defendants al-
legedly conspired to pay at least
$18.5 million in bribes to secure li-
censes to mine minerals in Andhra
Pradesh. The mining project was
expected to generate more than
$500 million annually from the
sale of titanium products, includ-
ing sales to unnamed "Company
A" headquartered in Chicago.
All six defendants were charged
with one count each of racketeer-
ing conspiracy and money laundering conspir-
acy, and two counts of interstate travel in aid of
racketeering. Only one defendant, Dmitry Fir-
tash, aka "Dmytro Firtash" and "DF," 48, a
Ukrainian national, was arrested March 12 in
Vienna, Austria. He was released after posting
125 million euros bail and has pledged to re-
main in Austria until the end of extradition pro-
ceedings. The indictment alleges the defen-
dants used US financial institutions to engage
in the international transmission of millions of
dollars for the purpose of bribing Indian public
officials to obtain approval of the necessary li-
censes for the project.
US jury indicts Indian MP inbribery conspiracy
K.V.P. RamachandraRao is sitting Rajya
Sabha MP fromAndhra Pradesh
Nancy Powell has resigned as US Ambassador to India.(right) Rajiv Shah.
No buyers for Nancy Powell's 'retirement' story
Albany: The New York Legisla-
ture on Monday passed a $140
billion election-year budget that
will expand pre-kindergarten
statewide and provide tax relief to
homeowners and corporations.
The Democratic Governor An-
drew Cuomo said the budget
builds "on the state's progress
over the past three years in order
to grow the economy and create
new opportunities for New York-
ers and their families."
Senate Republican Leader Dean
Skelos said Republicans and De-
mocrats "put party labels aside"
and worked together to "deliver
real results that will truly make a
positive difference in the lives of
the people we represent."
Agreement on the spending plan was reached
by Cuomo and legislative leaders last weekend.
Education was a sticking point for the Legis-
lature, which spent hours debating funding for
statewide full-day pre-kindergarten, charter
schools and the flawed rollout of the Common
Core, a new testing standard.
The deal also includes a $2 billion school
technology bond act to go be-
fore voters in November.
Although a measure pro-
posed by New York City
Mayor Bill de Blasio for a tax
hike on the city's wealthiest
individuals to fund full-day
pre-K was rejected by law-
makers, the budget deal adds
$340 million for pre-kinder-
garten, mainly for New York
City.
"What I said was we need-
ed reliable funding for five
years at the dollar figure we
set," de Blasio said at a news
conference Monday. "What
did we get? Reliable funding
for five years at the dollar
figure we set." The Legisla-
ture also approved an estimated $1.5 billion in
homeowner tax relief tied to local governments
staying within a 2 percent tax cap the first year
and enacting cost-saving plans the second year,
benchmarks for Cuomo, who called his proper-
ty tax relief "the single most transformative
part" of the budget. The plan would also cut
manufacturers' tax rate to zero.
Property tax rebate, expandedpre-K in New York state budget
Media in India is speculating that USAID administrator Rajiv Shah may be sent as US ambassador to New Delhi.
The budget provides$340 million for pre-
kindergarten, mainly forNew York City, a pet
project of MayorBill de Blasio.
Printed Every Saturday by
Forsythe Media Group, LLC
ISSN 1941-9333
76 N Broadway, Suite 2004,
Hicksville, NY 11801 P: 516.390.7847
Website: TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Updated Daily
Chairman and Co-Founder
Kamlesh C. Mehta
Co-Founder: Saroosh Gull
President: Arjit Mehta
Board Advisors (Honorary)
Ajay Lodha, MD,
Lakhpat B. Mehta, Esq.
Rajasthan High Court & Supreme Court
Managing Editor: Parveen Chopra
C : 516.710.0508
Associate Editors
Jinal Shah, Hiral Dholakia-Dave,
Meenakshi Iyer
Contributing Editors: Melvin Durai,
Dr Prem Kumar Sharma,
Harry Aurora, Ashok Vyas,
Dr Akshat Jain, Nupur Joshi
West Coast Correspondent
Pooja Jain,
New Delhi Bureau
Meenakshi Iyer
Strategy and Marketing
Jinal Shah
P: 315-436-1142
Marketing & PR (Washington DC)
Chander Gambhir, P: 703.717.1667
Jaipur (India) Bureau
Prakash Bhandari
Photographs: Gunjesh Desai/
masalajunction.com.
Xitij Joshi/xitijphoto.com
Photo Journalist: Sandeep Ganatra
Cartoonist: Mahendra Shah
Art and Design: Vladimir Tomovski
Bhagwati Creations, Rahul Sahota,
Dhiraj Kumar
Web Editor: B.B.Chopra
News Service: HT Media Ltd.
IANS Newswire Services
IANS Washington Bureau
Arun Kumar
arun.kumar@ians,in
Printing: Five Star Printing, NY
Contacts
Advertisements
P : 516.390.7847
F : 516.465.1343
Website: www.TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Notice: The South Asian Times is published weekly by The Forsythe Media Group, LLC. POSTMASTER: Send all address notices, subscription orders/payments and other inquiries to The South Asian
Times, 76 N Broadway, Suite 2004, Hicksville, NY 11801, USA. Copyright and all other rights reserved. No material herein or portions thereof may be reprinted without the consent of the publisher. The
views expressed on the opinion pages and in the letters to the editor pages are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect those of The South Asian Times. The editor/publisher does not warrant accuracy
and cannot be held responsible for the content of the advertisements placed in the publication and/or inaccurate claims, if any, made by the advertisers. Advertisements of business or facilities included in this
publication do not imply connection or endorsement of these businesses. All rights reserved.
4 April 5-11, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.infoTURN PAGE
US readies welcome mat, visa... Continued from page 1lawmakers. Asked if that included
Modi, the spokesperson said:
"Well, I think it remains to be seen
what the outcome of the election
will be, so let's not try and do too
much predicting in here."
"Secondly, we have a very close
relationship with India on a whole
host of issues, whether it's energy,
the economy, environmental
issues, security issues."
"That has not changed. We look
forward to growing that even
stronger," Harf said. "The people
of India get to decide who leads
their country. We'll work with
whoever they decide."
The March 18 memo from Ruth
Ellen Wasem, specialist in immi-
gration policy at CRS said if Modi
"were to become Prime Minister
of India, he would automatically
be eligible for an A-1 (diplomatic)
visa as head of state, regardless of
the purpose of his visit". The
Immigration and Nationality Act
(INA) "further provides that the
grounds for inadmissibility"
excepting specified terrorist
grounds and documentary require-
ments establishing identity "do not
apply to those on A-1 visas", the
memo noted. Meanwhile, Harf
also denied that the sudden resig-
nation of US Ambassador to India
Nancy Powell Monday was in any
way "related to any tension, any
recent situations" between India
and the US.
Congress-led UPA faces rout in... Continued from page 1seven in Delhi. Thus, in these six
states combined, the party would
bag 84 out of 114 seats on its own.
The BJP with its allies would win
21 of Bihar's 40 seats, 36 of
Maharashtra's 48, 16 of AP's 42
and three of Tamil Nadu's 39,
leading to a total of 76 out of 169
seats in these four states.
As against this, the poll predicts
that the Congress will win just 29
seats in AP, Tamil Nadu,
Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh,
Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Delhi
put together, while the party and
its allies will win 25 seats in
Bihar, Jharkhand and
Maharashtra.
In short, the overall tally in all of
these states put together would be
160 for the NDA and a mere 54
for the UPA.
In Tamil Nadu, the poll predicts
that the AIADMK will win 25
seats, the DMK alliance 11 seats
and the BJP alliance three seats,
leaving the Congress facing a
blank slate.
In Andhra Pradesh, there would
be two distinctly different battles -
mainly between the TDP-BJP and
the YSR Congress in Seemandhra
and between the Congress and
TRS in Telengana. Put together,
the TDP alliance is estimated to
win 16 seats, the YSR Congress
10, the Congress eight and TRS
seven.
In Maharashtra, the NDA will
win 36 seats and the UPA just 10,
the poll predicted. In Bihar, the
NDA gets 21, the UPA 11 and the
ruling JD(U) a mere six. In Delhi,
AAP will win two seats and
Congress one, the remaining four
going to BJP, the poll predicted.
Fort Hood shooter had ... Continued from page 1violence, either to himself or to
others,” McHugh told a Senate
panel.
Another Army leader described
Lopez’s health in more dire terms.
“We have very strong evidence
that he had a medical history that
indicates unstable psychiatric or
psychological conditions,” Lt.
Gen. Mark A.
Milley, the commanding general
of Fort Hood, said at a news con-
ference. “We believe that is the
fundamental, underlying causal
factor.”
Around the same time that
Lopez visited the Army psychia-
trist, he legally purchased the .45-
caliber semi automatic pistol that
he used in the shooting, Army
officials said.
The soldier bought the firearm
on March 1 from Guns Galore, a
store in nearby Killeen, Tex., offi-
cials said. The shop is the same
one that sold a semiautomatic pis-
tol to Maj. Nidal M. Hasan, the
Army psychiatrist and al-Qaeda
sympathizer who carried out a
mass shooting at Fort Hood in
2009, killing 13 people.
India now only country with legislated CSRNew Delhi: With the implementa-
tion of the new company law from
April 1, India has become the only
country in the world with legislated
corporate social responsibility
(CSR) and a spending threshold of
up to $2.5 billion (Rs.15,000
crore).
The new law mandates that all
companies, including foreign firms,
with a minimum net worth of
Rs.500 crore, turnover of Rs.1,000
crore and net profit of at least Rs.5
crore, spend at least 2 percent of
their profit on CSR.
According to industry estimates,
around 8,000 companies will fall
into the ambit of the CSR provi-
sions and this would translate into
an estimated CSR spend of $1.95
billion to $2.44 billion. With higher
economic growth and increase in
companies’ profits, this mandatory
spending will go up.
"India is the only country that has
made legislation for CSR spend-
ing," Sai Venkateshwaran, partner
and head of accounting advisory
services at KPMG India.
"Many big companies have been
actively engaged in the CSR activi-
ties, but the number is low. The
new law will lead to a significant
increase in the numbers," said
Venkateshwaran, adding the man-
dated spending would be in the
range of Rs.10,000 crore to
Rs.15,000 crore annually.
In celebration of
Women’s History
Month, Nassau County
Executive Ed Mangano
announced this year’s out-
standing women of
achievement, who were
honored at a ceremony on
March 31. The ceremony
at the Old Bethpage
Village Restoration Barn
was a fundraiser to benefit
the Nassau Hurricane
Recovery Fund (NHRF).
The ceremony honored 13 dedi-
cated women who have
made outstanding personal
contributions for the
enrichment of the lives of
others in their communi-
ties. Among the honorees is
Indian American Kalpana
Patel of Plainview who
was raised in India with
strong beliefs in giving
back to the community,
which she has done and
still continues to do. Patel
is President and CEO of
Unique Computer Inc.
Kalpana Patelwas one ofhonorees
Mangano honors Nassau’s Outstanding Women
5April 5-11, 2014TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRISTATE COMMUNITY
New York: Indian American
Forum presented the Third An-
nual Outstanding Women’s
Achievements gala, part of
Women’s History Month and
International Women’s Day
Celebrations. On Thursday
March 27, who‘s who from the
Indian American community
was present at Stuart Thomas
Manor.
First Lady of Nassau County
Linda Mangano was the Chief
Guest and an honoree too.
Master of Ceremonies Renee
Mehrra, well known journalist
and TV anchorwoman on ITV,
made the evening very enjoy-
able. Five women who excelled
in their professions and com-
munity services received the
Outstanding Women’s Achieve-
ments Awards.
Dr Chhaya Patel: Founding
member of ARCH Foundation,
Action Research in Community
Health Development, for her
contributions in field of Medi-
cine and community services.
Swati Vaishnav: Founder of
Nartan Rang Dance Academy
and member of Board of Direc-
tors of Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan,
for her contributions and pro-
motion Indian culture, dances
and community services.
Sunila Tejpaul: Founder of
Forest Hills Montessori School
and member of Board of Child
Center of New York, for her
contributions for education, so-
cial and community services.
Sunita Mukhi: Cultural Pro-
ducer and interdisciplinary per-
formance scholar in culture.
Pandita Tripti Mukherjee:
Illustrious Indian classical mu-
sic vocalist from Pandit Jasraj
Music Institute. Chief Guest
Linda Mangano praised the ef-
forts of Indian American Fo-
rum, Indian American commu-
nity, congratulated all honorees
and stressed the importance of
role women play in this world.
Nassau county Executive Ed-
ward P Mangano presented cita-
tions to all honorees and praised
their efforts and congratulated
them for all their achievements.
New York: America's India-born top pros-
ecutor Preet Bharara has said it has been
an "eventful" year for him so far, citing
recent successful prosecutions including
that of former Goldman Sachs director
Rajat Gupta and Osama bin Laden's son-
in-law.
Bharara said a prosecutor's "bread and
butter" and "main mission" is to prosecute
individuals who have committed crimes.
No individual or institution should pre-
sume they have immunity from prosecu-
tion because of their influence or size, he
said while addressing a compliance and
legal society annual seminar in Florida.
"Without a doubt, it has been an eventful
year. Out of my office alone, we have
seen...more insider trading convictions at
trial, including that of Mathew Martoma; a
jury verdict against Bank of America for
reckless mortgage lending practices...the
indictment and subsequent guilty plea of
SAC Capital for engaging in insider trad-
ing on a scale without any known prece-
dent.
"In just the last 12 days alone, we ... saw
the affirmance of Rajat Gupta's insider
trading conviction. We also, by the way,
convicted Osama bin Laden's son-in-law
of terrorism charges but that is perhaps a
topic for a different conference," Bharara
said at the seminar organized by the
Securities Industry and Financial Markets
Association (SIFMA).
Gupta, who had served as the head of
consultancy giant McKinsey, lost his bid
to throw out his conviction after an
appeals court last week upheld the trial
court's order that he should be imprisoned
for two years for insider trading.
"No one should receive a get-out-of-jail-
free card based on size ... there should
never be a presumption of immunity based
on size. That is a dangerous thing," he
added.
Bharara's office also filed a re-indict-
ment in March against Indian diplomat
Devyani Khobragade on visa fraud
charges.
By Jinal Shah
New York: The Indian
Consulate, in association
with Yuva Hindi Sansthan,
New York University and
Columbia announced a 3-
day international regional
Hindi conference on the
theme, "Hindi Language in
the 21st Century Global
World." The Conference, to
be held on April 25, has
two sub-themes: "Hindi as
the Language of the Indian
Diaspora" and "Hindi
Education."
“This conference is con-
tinuation of the efforts of
Government of India which
organized the World Hindi
Conference in New York in
2007. We want the dia-
logue to continue for
assessing and promotion of
India’s language and cul-
ture in this region of the
world,” said Consul
General Dnyaneshwar
Mulay.
Topics for the conference
include - Hindi in mass
media, Hindi as a heritage
language, new initiatives
for Hindi: realities and pos-
sibilities, debate over the
need for Hindi secretariat
in New York City, Hindi
and technology.
Almost 80 US universi-
ties and colleges including
all Ivy Leagues offer cours-
es in Hindi. That rise can
be explained by India’s
growing economy and
Americans’ interest in
Bollywood. But the
demand for Hindi has also
increased because of what
Gabriela Ilieva, Clinical
Associate Professor,
department of Middle
Eastern and Islamic
Studies, calls the “heritage
phenomenon”. “A lot of
Indians who were born
here or moved here when
they were very small want
to rediscover the language
and hence the rise,” she
said.
And even as the demand
is steadily rising, it is the
supply of resources- espe-
cially the use of technology
in promoting the language
or literature that is posing a
challenge.
Ashok Ojha, president,
Yuva Hindi Sansthan, said,
“Introduction of online
courses, development of
new teaching resources and
bringing in qualified teach-
ers is much needed. The
conference will bring
together Indian American
parents, language experts,
school teachers, Hindi
lovers, academicians and
policy makers to build an
environment for teaching
Hindi to both heritage stu-
dents and Americans.”
Preet Bharara: It's been an eventful year
Indian Consulate announces Hindi Conference
From Rajat Gupta to DevyaniKhobragade, US Attorney Preet
Bharara is the man behind severalhigh profile prosecutions
Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano (fourth from left) and First Lady of NassauCounty Linda Mangano (fourth from right), an honoree herself, with rest of
the honorees and IAF members.
Sugandh Rajaram, Chief Coordinator of theConference,Consul General Dnyaneshwar Mulay,
Ashok Ojha of Yuva Hindi Sansthan and Prof.Gabriela Nik. Ilieva of New York University
IAF honors outstanding women
New Jersey Performing Arts Centerto be transformed into a spiritual
center on July 12, 2014
Event Promotion
The NJPAC, a world-class cultural
center, will be the venue for the First
International Guru Poornima to be
held on July 12, 2014. This event that is
open to public is getting very enthusiastic
response from all over the world. Over 500
spiritually-inclined attendees are expected
from India and other countries.
Guru Poornima, also known as Vyas
Poornima, is a sacred day for Hindus. This
is the day to express reverence towards your
guru, mentor, deities and those who have
made a difference in your life.
The International
Guru Poornima will be
celebrated in the divine
presence of Brahmrishi
Sri Guruvanand Ji Swa-
mi ‘Gurudev’.
A disciple of Yogiraj
Devraha baba, one of
the most esteemed
saints of recent times,
Gurudev is a spiritual
leader, philosopher, hu-
manitarian and a
renowned scholar of
Hinduism, Jainism,
Sikhism and Buddhism.
With over 40 years of
sadhana, Gurudev has
invoked all chakras of his Kundalini—a rare
feat accomplished by a few—that unleashes
immense spiritual energy.
The celebration, organized by World Spir-
itual Awareness Forum, starts at 3 p.m. on
July 12, 2014. Dinner (Prasad) will be
served following the event. Both admission
and dinner are complimentary. Registration
is required to get complimentary admission
pass.
To register, please visit www.GuruPoornima2014.com.
Or call 516-484-0018
6 April 5-11, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.infoTRISTATE COMMUNITY
BAPS hosts 7th Annual Women’s Conference:Lead from Within
Edison: BAPS hosted a Women’s Conference
themed “Lead from Within” at 10 centers across
North America on March 22, 2014.
Over 430 attendees’ women gathered at the
BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Flushing,
NY to participate in this annual event, now ob-
serving its seventh year. The conference is in-
spired by Pramukh Swami Maharaj, the fifth
spiritual successor of Bhagwan Swaminarayan,
in an effort to highlight the empowering role of
women in today’s society and also to ensure
their spiritual growth as it will help them sail
smoothly through life’s vagaries.
Mrs. Tracey Edwards, Vice President of Veri-
zon NY and Councilwoman of Town of Hunt-
ington, graced the event in Flushing, NY. She
conveyed the message to “Lead from Within”
through her personal outtakes and stories as a
wife, a daughter and most importantly, a moth-
er. The audience took inspiration from her ac-
counts and realized how they faced similar chal-
lenges in their lives. They understood that the
choices they made every day make them true
leaders.
In the opening dialogue, Ms. Reena Patel, Fi-
nancial research, led an energetic and interac-
tive exchange to identify who they consider to
be leaders and why.
The conference proceeded to discuss leader-
ship essentials that would make a good leader.
Aditi Bhagat, emphasized the need to under-
stand one’s self, one’s belief system, one’s val-
ues, and one’s spirituality. Her talk focused on
the need for a connection with one’s conscience
as it plays an important role in day-to-day ac-
tions.
In delivering the closing talk of the confer-
ence, Kavita Patel, third year Dental student at
NYU, shared fundamental qualities exemplified
by leaders she looks to emulate. She expressed
her admiration for Mahatma Gandhi, his perse-
verance and the personal sacrifice he made in
the cause for independence. She spoke of her ul-
timate role model, her guru Pramukh Swami
Maharaj; conveying touching examples from
his life exemplifying sacrifice humility, stillness
and courage.
Shushma Kotawala, diamond merchant, stat-
ed, as women we lead inmany ways in our life,
we wear many hats and all of those hats are very
important, today we learnt how to manage every
role and every challenge we come across.
The meets highlighted empowering roleof women in today's society
United Nations: Sarod
maestro Ustad Amjad Ali
Khan says he is pleased to
see that India now has a
growing number of young
musicians and artists who
are extremely talented in
playing classical instru-
ments like the sarod, tabla
and sitar.
The maestro, accompa-
nied by his sons Amaan Ali
Khan and Ayaan Ali Khan,
performed here Mar. 24 at
the “Music for Peace” con-
cert, organized by the UN
Academic Impact and the
Indian mission to the UN,
coinciding with Nowruz, the
spring festival marking the
Iranian New Year.
Khan said he is “very hap-
py” to see youngsters in In-
dia turning to music, adding
that technology and social
media has proved to be an
advantage for them.
“I am very happy that
there are many musicians in
India in Amaan and Ayaan’s
generation, much more than
what we had several years
ago. We have very talented
young sitar and table play-
ers, vocalists and dancers.
All of them are at an advan-
tageous situation because of
the growth of technology
and online platforms, which
we did not have earlier,”
Khan said.
Highlighting the role of
music in promoting peace,
Khan said he is keen to see
music being used as a means
to spread peace and tran-
quility in the world.
“We are very keen that
through music, there should
be peace all over. So many
countries like Syria and
Egypt today are facing war,”
he said as he dedicated his
concert to world peace and
harmony. The concert at the
UN was attended by India’s
Permanent Representative
to the UN Ambassador
Asoke Mukerji and other
envoys and diplomats. Muk-
erji expressed gratitude to
the maestro for his perform-
ance, which he said demon-
strates the “innate humanity
that binds us all together and
that expresses itself through
music.”
Khan performed songs in-
cluding “Ekla Chalo Re”
and “Vaishnava Jana to” on
the sarod.
The trio received a stand-
ing ovation from the audi-
ence at the end of its nearly
half-hour-long performance.
Ustad Amjad Ali Khan performs at UN Peace Concert
By Parveen Chopra
In the pantheon of saints and yogis in mod-
ern India, one name stands out: Devraha
Baba, who is believed to have lived up to
the age of an amazing 250 years. Yes, there is
proof that he was indeed over 250 when he
gave up his body in 1990. But it is not impor-
tant how long he lived, it is important what
level of spirituality he achieved and what he
contributed to the society.
For somebody like me of the post-Inde-
pendence generation, we grew up reading
about the living legend named Devraha Baba.
There used to be his black and white or sepia
photographs -- matted locks and all - in news-
papers and magazines, aloft a ‘machan’
(wooden platform), blessing people, from
pauper to the prince, by putting his foot on
their heads. Eminent people who sought him
out regularly included Mrs Indira Gandhi and
Rajiv Gandhi, He also ‘touched’ the lives of
visiting dignitaries from abroad.
There are various claims of Baba’s longevi-
ty, starting from 150 years and above. The
most credible account comes from none other
than Dr. Rajendra Prasad, the first President
of Independent India. Dr Prasad wrote in his
autobiography that he could personally estab-
lish that Devraha Baba was at least 150 years
old. At the age of 73, more than fifty years
ago, Dr Prasad wrote that his father had sat at
the feet of the Baba as a child - that is, in the
middle of the nineteenth century - and Devra-
ha Baba was already elderly at that time.
The appearance of Devraha Baba at the
Kumbh Mela which takes place every 12
years was recorded 12 times. The last time he
was at the Allahabad Kumbh Mela in 1989.
Famous BBC correspondent Mark Tully has
recorded his observations of the Baba from
that Kumbh Mela, which formed a chapter in
‘Penguin Book of Indian Journeys’. Tully was
told that one reason for Baba’s amazing
longevity was that he was forever in Uddiyana
Bandha (literally, ‘upward energy lock’, it
moves the energy up from the earth, water and
fire centers into the heart or air chakra). When
Tully asked, “What does the Baba eat?” his in-
terlocutor replied: “Air. He does not even eat
fruit. You see, any great yogi can extend his
tongue from inside until it touches the top of
his head. That’s where the nectar is situated
and one drop of nectar is all you need to live
for a very long time.”
So, a fairly scientific hypothesis of how
Baba dramatically prolonged his lifespan is
that he drew his required energy from cosmic
sources, thus eliminating the toxic fallout (free
radicals, etc) that occurs from eating food.
Secondly, meditation and a hermit lifestyle
lowered his metabolism, minimizing wear and
tear in the body. Thirdly, yoga postures and
mudras stimulated his endocrine system.
From most accounts, we know that Devraha
Baba was born in the Deoria district in Uttar
Pradesh and was the eleventh in the lineage of
Sri Ramanuja Acharya who founded Vaish-
navism. Though an itinerant yogi, Devraha
Baba was often stationed in Mathura on the
banks of river Yamuna, where huge crowds
would gather to have his darshan and bless-
ings.
We may never fathom the higher levels of
spirituality he achieved, but we can salute
what he contributed to the society. His very
existence inspired people to believe in and
take to the yogic path. All-loving and pre-
scient, he guided people who sought him out
on the right course to take in life. Apocryphal
anecdotes have him warning famous person-
alities against impending danger.
One life Yogiraj Devraha Baba transformed
is that of Brahmrishi Shri Guruvanand Swami
(called ‘Gurudev’ or ‘Guruji’ by his devotees),
who in turn is changing the lives of millions in
present times. Devraha Baba brought Guruji
to his ashram to save his life from a terminal
illness. He predicted that Guruji would
achieve the pinnacle of spirituality and he will
use that divine energy to serve humanity. Yo-
giraj’s predictions have come true. Guruji has
invoked all Chakras of his Kundalini and with
42 years of rigorous Sadhana he has acquired
all Siddhis.
Brahmrishi Shri Guruvanand Swami is us-
ing the enormous divine energy that he has ac-
quired to help those in distress and to uplift the
lives of hundreds of thousands of people
around the globe. He has traveled to over 170
countries to teach people the art of living a
moral, spiritual life. Guruji has made it very
easy for us to understand the true meaning of
religion so we can overcome our Karmic debts
while we fulfill our worldly duties.
The World Spiritual Awareness Forum is de-
lighted that Gurudev will grace the First In-
ternational Guru Poornima to be held at New
Jersey Performing Arts Center, Newark, NJ,
on July 12, 2014. This event, that is open to
public, is getting very enthusiastic response
from all over the world. Over 500 spiritually-
inclined attendees are expected from India and
other countries.
To learn more and register for this compli-mentary event, please call 516-484-0018
or visit www.GuruPoornima2014.com.
Sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan with sonsAmaan and Ayaan performing at the UN head-
quarters in New York on Monday.
DevrahaBaba
Did Devraha Baba live for 250 years?
7April 5-11, 2014TheSouthAsianTimes.info NATIONAL COMMUNITY
Washington, DC: The University of South
Florida (USF) cricket team, made up of all
but one player from India, has won this
year's American College Cricket (ACC)
championship as the sub-continent's favorite
game finally "arrived" in America.
One sure sign that cricket has arrived in
this land of baseball, basketball and football
was the fact that the 2014 ACC National
Championship was the first ever cricket
game played on American soil to be telecast
live on ESPN, according to USF News.
The rising popularity of cricket on Ameri-
can campuses is also evident from the fact
that 25 teams participated in the 2014 tour-
nament, while there were only six teams in
the first ACC tournament in 2009.
Not surprisingly, the teams are dotted with
players from the Indian subcontinent. The
lone non-Indian player on the winning USF
team is from Pakistan. Interestingly, half the
team members are from Hyderabad.
At the final, played at Fort Lauderdale in
Florida in the T-20 format, USF defeated the
Auburn University Cricket Club, which too
had several Indian players, USF News said.
Apart from picking up the Chanderpaul
Trophy, USF also won several other honors:
Sai Ramesh (from Chennai) was declared
the Most Valuable Player (MVP) as well as
the Best Player of the tournament; Karthik
Achanta (from Hyderabad) was the MVP of
the finals.
USF has reached the finals thrice before -
and finally tasted success this year.
"We were desperate to put up a show and
win for the supporters who were cheering
for us on TV, in the stadium and, most im-
portantly, for USF," said team member Vish-
waksena Reddy Vuppunutula, who is pursu-
ing his Master's in engineering management.
He admits that one reason he chose USF
was "its strong cricket reputation."
USF is one of the pioneering five colleges
that launched the ACC in 2009. The others
are Boston University, Montgomery Col-
lege, Carnegie Mellon and University of Mi-
ami, according to ACC website.
Cricket finally arrives on US soil, India-heavy team is college champion
BJP's supporters bet on 'chai pe charcha' in the US
New Delhi: Six Indian institutions were on
Saturday selected for financial aid from the
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to work
out solutions to the poor sanitation levels in
the country.
The institutions were given two years to
develop innovative, safe and affordable
technologies to improve sanitation.
Eram Scientific Solutions and Amrita
School of Biotechnology from Kerala,
Pradin Technologies from Bangalore, Indian
Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee in col-
laboration with Fresh Rooms Life Sciences,
Institute of Chemical Technology from
Mumbai and Birla Institute of Technology
from Goa were selected for the grant during
a fair "Reinvent the Toilet" in the national
capital on approaches to improve sanitation.
The 45 exhibits showcased at the fair aim
to bring safe, affordable and sustainable san-
itation to those who need it the most in In-
dia. The institutions will work on self-sus-
tained, modular and electronic toilets with
solar energy for the Indian weather, and con-
cepts to target pathogens and odor-produc-
ing bacteria.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
has done a research study on poor sanitation
in states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and
Odisha.
Brian Arbogast, director for water, sanita-
tion and hygiene at the foundation, said: "By
applying creative and new approaches to
sanitation challenges, we can improve peo-
ple's lives. And there is no doubt that these
new partnerships with India will help us
achieve this."
"The foundation is working in collabora-
tion with the department of biotechnology
under the ministry of science and technolo-
gy for better implementation of the projects
in the country," Arbogast said.
Washington,DC: Drumming up support for
Narendra Modi, the Overseas Friends of BJP
(OFBJP) is organizing hundreds of "chai pe
charcha" events in the US and calling up peo-
ple in India to influence potential voters.
OFBJP US president, Chandrakant Patel,
who has been travelling across the US to mo-
bilize non-resident Indians for the "Modi for
PM" campaign, claimed that such high level
of enthusiasm has never been seen among In-
dian-Americans in recent times.
Ahead of the elections, Patel said OFBJP
and several other like-minded organizations
have come together to organize "chai pe char-
cha" at more than 100 places in the United
States. These meetings are being held even in
smaller cities that have only a few hundred In-
dian Americans.
Some of the cities where such events are be-
ing held include Edison, Jersey City, New
Brunswick, Parsippany, Mahwah in New Jer-
sey, Washington DC metropolitan area, Tam-
pa, Melbourne and Orlando in Florida, Hous-
ton and Dallas in Texas, Chicago, Pennsylva-
nia, Los Angeles, Boston, New York and
Memphis.
In the past three months, more than 100
"chai pe charcha" programs have been al-
ready held.
"We need a government that provides vot-
ing rights for NRIs, improves consular serv-
ices, promotes better investment opportuni-
ties and provides a secure feeling that every
NRI looks forward to. They feel this is possi-
ble only with a BJP government," Patel said.
In addition to "chai pe charcha" meetings,
OFBJP has created two separate team of vol-
unteers, one for social media activity and the
other to make phone calls to people in India.
In coordination with the BJP headquarters
in New Delhi and also state units, Patel said
every day OFBJP volunteers are making
thousands of phone calls to potential voters
requesting them to exercise their right to fran-
chise in favor of BJP.
"Our feedback is that these phone calls are
having a tremendous impact on Indian vot-
ers," Patel said.
Taking advantage of the presence of Indian
Americans in the IT sector, Patel said OFBJP
US is garnering a team for volunteers on the
social media platform.
"These are cyber warriors who counter the
negative campaign that rival parties are mak-
ing against BJP and Modi," he said, but re-
frained from giving the number of volunteers
who have signed up for its campaigns.
In addition, a small group of OFBJP volun-
teers and local community leaders are spend-
ing money from their own pockets to travel to
India to campaign in person for the Lok Sab-
ha polls.
Patel is traveling to his home state of Chhat-
tisgarh. It is estimated that several hundred
Modi supporters are traveling to India this
time.
OFBJP-USA also has launched a fund-rais-
ing campaign, the money from which, Patel
said, would be used to give advertisements in
local print as well electronic media.
Six Indian institutes to get aidfrom Gates Foundation
To work out solutions to poor sanitation levels in India
25 teams participate in 2014 against only six in 2009; telecast live on ESPN
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
University of South Florida team with Chanderpaul Trophy
OFBJP supporters at one such ‘chai pe charcha’ event
Corporate Office: 385 Seneca Avenue, Ridgewood NY 11385
718.821.3182, www.AtlanticDialysis.Com
8 April 5-11, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.infoNATIONAL COMMUNITY
Teen suggests US govt to change fontand save millions, ignites debate
Washington, DC: An Indian-American stu-
dent's bold suggestion to the US government
that it could save $136 million a year by sim-
ply switching fonts from Times New Roman
to Garamond in government printing has
caught national attention, with printing offi-
cials terming his work as "remarkable"
while others dismissed it saying he was too
young to understand the "oddity" of font
measurement.
Suvir Mirchandani, a 14-year-old middle-
school student, came up with the suggestion
after analyzing ink use for a school project
and then expanding his research to govern-
ment, which spends a whopping $1.8 billion
annually on printing.
"Mirchandani is only 14, so he can be ex-
cused for not understanding this weirdo odd-
ity of the way fonts are measured but the
biggest issue with his argument is that he
measured Garamond at the wrong size!"
says a feature in Fastcodesign.com.
Citing blogger Thomas Phinney, a font en-
thusiast with an MS in printing, it comes to
the conclusion that using less ink might cost
the government slightly less money but it's
not going to come from switching to Gara-
mond.
"Garamond's letters are smaller at the
same height as other fonts, making it less
legible at the same size when printed out," it
said.
"And even if the government did switch to
a font that maintained legibility at the same
size as Times New Roman while using less
ink, the government would likely not save
much money by switching to it," Fastcode-
sign.com said.
For Suvir, it all started as a science fair
project when as a sixth-grader at Dorseyville
Middle School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
he decided to figure out a way to reduce the
use of paper and ink, according to CNN.
"Ink is two times more expensive than
French perfume by volume," Suvir was
quoted as saying with a chuckle.
He's right, said CNN noting Chanel No. 5
perfume costs $38 per ounce, while the
equivalent amount of Hewlett-Packard
printer ink can cost up to $75.
Any way, the US government is in no hur-
ry to follow up on Suvir's suggestion. Ac-
cording to CNN, Gary Somerset, media and
public relations manager at the Government
Printing Office, described Suvir's work as
"remarkable."
But he was noncommittal on whether the
GPO would introduce changes to typeface,
saying the GPO's efforts to become more en-
vironmentally sustainable were focused on
shifting content to the Web, it said.
IN BRIEF
Gopal T K Krishna elected co-chair of Iowa Republican party
Hyderabad-born Indian-American
businessman Gopal T.K. Krishna
has been elected as co-chairman
of the Republican Party of Iowa state,
which has traditionally held the first cau-
cus in presidential elections.
Krishna, a successful businessman with
a background in electrical engineering, re-
places Danny Carroll, who has been elect-
ed as chairman, according to an an-
nouncement by the party's state central
committee in Des Moines, Iowa.
"I have been, and am a Republican for
all Republicans. The first three letters of
my name are G-O-P. I ran because I don't
want to wait until the primary elections to
promote unity," he said after his election.
"I want to continue to increase our par-
ty's voter registration advantage and par-
ticipation in the forthcoming elections.
"I look forward to working with Repub-
lican National Committee Chairman
Reince Priebus to advance the Growth and
Opportunity Project, work to reach out to
minorities and bring new people into our
Republican Party," he said.
"As long as I am Co-Chairman of the
Republican Party of Iowa, outreach to all
minority communities will be a priority,"
Krishna said.
Dr Sumeet Chugh wins prestigious cardiology award
An Indian-American cardiologist has
won the American College of Car-
diology's prestigious Simon Dack
Award for Outstanding Scholarship in
recognition of his contributions to its peer-
reviewed medical journals.
Sumeet Chugh, associate director of the
Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute and a leading
expert on heart rhythm disorders such as
sudden cardiac arrest and arterial fibrilla-
tion, will receive the award at the 40,000-
member medical society's 63rd Annual Sci-
entific Session in Washington.
"Dr. Chugh is leading the quest to unlock
the mysteries of how to prevent sudden car-
diac arrest, which is 99 percent fatal," said
Shlomo Melmed, senior vice-president of
Academic Affairs and dean of the Cedars-
Sinai medical faculty.
"Chugh, the Pauline and Harold Price
Chair in Cardiac Electrophysiology, is an
expert in the performance of radio frequen-
cy ablation procedures as well as the use of
pacemakers, defibrillators and biventricular
devices to correct heart rhythm problems,"
according to the Los Angeles-based Heart
Institute.
Chugh initiated and directs the ongoing
Oregon Sudden Unexpected Death Study, a
large, comprehensive assessment of sudden
cardiac arrest in a community of one mil-
lion residents.
Chugh leads the World Health Organiza-
tion panel that is charged with performing a
worldwide assessment of heart rhythm dis-
orders for the Global Burden of Disease
Study, a media release said.
Gopal T K Krishna
Suvir Mirchandani says switching fromTimes New Roman to Garamond can
save $136 m annually
Judge disqualifies Vinesh Singh Rathore from
Congressional raceWashington, DC: A Cali-
fornia judge has disquali-
fied an Indian-American
Republican candidate from
a Congressional race to
challenge Democratic
Congressman Mike Honda
but cleared another Indian-
American of any wrong
doing.
The Sacramento county
Superior Court judge
found irregularities in Re-
publican Vinesh Singh
Rathore's nominating peti-
tion, but did not find that
any responsibility lay with
Democratic challenger Ro
Khanna, as a lawsuit had
claimed, according to San
Jose Mercury News.
Ro Khanna, a former
Obama administration offi-
cial who served as the
deputy assistant secretary
in the commerce depart-
ment, has mounted a cam-
paign to unseat seven-term
incumbent Honda to repre-
sent the 17th Congression-
al district -- the first major-
ity Asian-American district
in the heart of Silicon
Valley.
"There was never evi-
dence to support the ridicu-
lous claim and it was dis-
missed by the judge who
examined it," Khanna cam-
paign manager Leah Cow-
an was quoted as saying by
Mercury News.
"It's obvious that the de-
fenders of the status quo
feel threatened by the mo-
mentum behind Ro's
change campaign and now
they've resorted to old-
style political attacks and
dirty tricks."
"The well-funded Khan-
na has been campaigning
for about a year, but the en-
try of Republican Vanila
Singh at the start of this
year and the entries of
Rathore and Joel Vanland-
ingham this month threw
the race's electoral calculus
into a tailspin," the Mercu-
ry News said.
Jeffrey Wald of Fremont,
an Alameda county Repub-
lican Central Committee
member, had sued the vot-
er registrars in Alameda
and Santa Clara counties as
well as the Secretary of
State's Office, arguing that
Rathore and Vanlanding-
ham should be kicked off
the ballot.
"Khanna recruited candi-
dates to enter the race as
Republicans to split the
Republican vote three
ways, effectively diluting
votes that would otherwise
be cast in favor of (Vanila)
Singh," the suit as cited by
Mercury News claimed.
Judge Sumner, who
heard the case, found
Rathore did not meet the
40-signature minimum and
thus could not appear on
the ballot, the Mercury
News said, citing one of
Wald's attorneys.
However, Rathore, 35, a
Google product attorney,
insisted that all those who
signed his nomination pa-
pers were legitimate
voters.
"Judge Sumner ruled to
remove me from the ballot
because there were in-
stances where a husband
filled out his wife's name
and address on the nomina-
tion papers (though both
signed on their own be-
half)," he said in an e-mail
to Mercury News.
US AFFAIRS
Washington DC: The Supreme
Court on Wednesday struck
down limits on federal campaign
contributions for the first time.
The ruling, issued near the start
of a campaign season, is likely
to increase the role money plays
in American politics, says The
New York Times.
The ruling, by a 5-to-4 vote
along ideological lines, comes
after the 2010 Citizens United
decision that abolished limits on
independent campaign spending
by corporations and unions. But
that ruling did nothing to disturb
the other main form of campaign
finance regulation: caps on
direct contributions to candi-
dates and political parties.
Wednesday’s decision in
McCutcheon v. Federal Election
Commission, No. 12-536,
addressed that second kind of
regulation.
It did not disturb familiar base
limits on contributions from
individuals to candidates, cur-
rently $2,600 per candidate in
primary and general elections.
But it said that overall limits
of $48,600 every two years for
contributions to all federal can-
didates violated the First
Amendment, as did separate
aggregate limits on contributions
to political party committees,
currently $74,600.
The decision chipped away at
the central distinction drawn by
the Supreme Court in its seminal
1976 campaign finance decision,
Buckley v. Valeo.
Independent spending, the
court said in Buckley, is political
speech protected by the First
Amendment.
But contributions may be
capped, the court said, in the
name of preventing corruption.
The court added that aggregate
contribution limits were a “quite
modest restraint upon protected
political activity” that “serves to
prevent evasion” of the base
limits.
Wednesday’s decision only
concerned contributions from
individuals. Federal law contin-
ues to ban contributions by cor-
porations and unions.
The court led by Chief Justice
John G. Roberts Jr. has been
consistently hostile to campaign
finance limits in its half-dozen
decisions in argued cases on the
subject so far.
Wednesday’s decision may
increase overall campaign
spending, but it may also
rechannel some of it away from
“super PACs” and toward candi-
dates and parties, says the
Times.
Supreme Court srikesdown aggregate limitson federal campaign
contributions
9April 5-11, 2014TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Washington DC: President
Barack Obama claimed a major
victory as over seven million peo-
ple signed up for medical insur-
ance under his signature healthcare
law at the end of the six-month
open enrolment period.
After a floundering start marked
by computer glitches galore at its
October launch, government run
health market place saw a major
surge as people lacking insurance
rushed to beat the Monday mid-
night deadline. More than 4.8 mil-
lion visits were made to Health-
Care.gov on Monday alone, offi-
cials said.
Taking a victory lap at a White
House ceremony Tuesday, Obama
said that 7.1 million people had
signed up on federal or state ex-
changes for coverage under the
health care law, nicknamed Oba-
macare, that was passed by the
Congress in 2010 without Repub-
lican support.
The number of enrolled was
100,000 more than the original tar-
get of seven million and over a
million more than the revised goal
of six million after what Obama
called "several lost weeks" due to
the glitch-ridden start of the
healthcare website.
Calling the healthcare law "a
force for good" Obama said it was-
n't perfect, but the overall goal of
starting to narrow the gap between
those with health coverage and
those without it has begun, and
millions of Americans are embrac-
ing it.
"That's what the (law) is all
about, making sure all of us and all
our fellow citizens can count on
the security of health care when we
get sick," he said, noting that the
"law is doing what it's supposed to
do. It's working."
“The law is good for the country,
regardless of politics, and that the
numbers show Americans want it
and that it's "here to stay," he said.
The law, whose primary goal is
to reduce the ranks of the 45 mil-
lion uninsured, also includes ex-
panded Medicaid insurance for the
poor in many states, but those par-
ticipants are not part of the sign-up
total. But Republicans, who have
waged a nonstop campaign to re-
peal or roll back the Affordable
Care Act, remained unimpressed.
Michael Steel, a spokesman for
House Speaker John Boehner said
in a statement that the law "contin-
ues to harm the American people"
despite Obama's "victory lap."
Washington: All vehicles under
10,000 pounds (4,500 kilos) sold
in the US must be equipped with
rear visibility technology by 2018
to reduce the number of backover
accidents, say authorities.
According to the new rule, "the
field of view must include a 10-
foot by 20-foot zone directly be-
hind the vehicle," the regulatory
agency National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration (NHTSA)
said.
"Safety is our highest priority,
and we are committed to protect-
ing the most vulnerable victims of
backover accidents - our children
and seniors," said US Transporta-
tion Secretary Anthony Foxx.
US authorities estimate that
backover crashes take an average
of 210 lives and injure some
15,000 people a year, of whom 31
percent are younger than 5-years-
old, while 26 percent being above
age 70.
The NHTSA originally planned
to put the new rule into effect in
mid-2014, but later asked for more
time to finalize the details.
According to the federal regula-
tory agency, the cost to the indus-
try will be an additional $200 per
auto. However, it said that many
manufacturers are already includ-
ing that technology due to growing
consumer demand.
With 7.1 million healthcare signups, Obama nixes repeal chance
Cheered by Vice President Joe Biden, President Obama speaks from the White House about the Affordable
Care Act coming good.
Seaside Heights, NJ: A string of
artificial islands off the coast of
New Jersey and New York could
blunt the impact of storm surges
that proved so deadly during
Superstorm Sandy, according to a
new proposal. It's a big proposal —
one that would cost up to $12 bil-
lion — but it's also the kind of
innovative idea that federal officials
requested as they consider how best
to protect the heavily populated
East Coast from future storms.
"It can save lives and protect
property," Alan Blumberg, a profes-
sor at New Jersey's Stevens
Institute of Technology said.
The "Blue Dunes" proposal is
part of a competition sponsored by
the US department of housing and
urban development to come up
with novel ways to protect
Americans against the next big
storm. It is one of 10 projects that
will be evaluated and voted on next
week, but there's no guarantee any
of them will receive funding. Other
ideas include building sea walls
around cities, re-establishing oyster
colonies in tidal flats to blunt waves
and creating water-absorbent nature
and recreational preserves.
The artificial islands plan was
created by Stevens Institute, along
with the WXY architectural firm
and West 8 Urban Design and
Landscape Architecture. It is
designed to blunt the worst effect of
Sandy: the storm surge that pound-
ed the coast. From Maryland to
New Hampshire, the storm was
blamed for 159 deaths, and New
Jersey and New York alone claimed
a total of nearly $79 billion in
damages.
Artificial islands offNY-NJ to offer storm
protection?
Government to ensure rearview technology in autos by 2018
Washington DC: The unveiling
Tuesday of Representative Paul
D. Ryan’s newest Republican
budget may have redrawn the bat-
tle lines for the 2014 election, de-
tailing what his party could do
with complete control of Con-
gress and allowing Democrats to
broaden the political terrain be-
yond health care and the narrow-
er issues of the minimum wage
and unemployment benefits.
Ryan, the House Budget Com-
mittee chairman, laid out a budg-
et plan that cuts $5 trillion in
spending over the next decade.
He said it would bring federal
spending and taxes into balance
by 2024, through steep cuts to
Medicaid and food stamps, and
the total repeal of the Affordable
Care Act just as millions are reap-
ing the benefits of the law.
Defense spending would in-
crease. Domestic programs would
be reduced to the lowest levels
since modern government ac-
counting. And Medicare would be
converted into a “premium sup-
port” system, where people 65
and older could buy private insur-
ance with federal subsidies in-
stead of government-paid health
care.
“We need to be a proposition
party, not just an opposition par-
ty,” said Ryan, Republican of
Wisconsin. “We believe we owe it
to the country to offer an alterna-
tive to the status quo. It’s just that
simple.”
Even with those tough political
choices, the budget would bal-
ance in 2024 only because
Mr. Ryan is assuming his
cuts would prompt a
burst of economic
growth to raise tax rev-
enues above what inde-
pendent economists
forecast. He also does
not adjust the govern-
ment’s revenue ledger
to reflect the cost of re-
pealing the health care
law’s tax increases and
Medicare cuts, which
could total $2 tril-
lion.
The Ryan budget will be for-
mally drafted on Wednesday in
the Budget Committee and
brought to a House vote on Friday
— if Republican leaders can
muster the 217 votes to pass it
over the concerns of moderates
who say it goes too far and con-
servatives who say it does not go
far enough. Because Senate De-
mocrats do not intend to even
draft a budget this year, the Ryan
plan will serve more as a
political manifesto
than a legislative
roadmap for the
113th Congress.
Ryan’s budget would shave $5T in spending over a decade
House BudgetCommittee Chairman Paul Ryan
10 April 5-11, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.infoBATTLEGROUND 2014
Modi urges people to elect over 300 NDA MPs
Bareilly/Rewa/Beohari/Jabal
pur: Stepping up his offensive
against the Congress, BJP
prime ministerial candidate
Narendra Modi said that it
faced "certain defeat" in the
Lok Sabha poll and urged peo-
ple to elect over 300 MPs of
NDA to form a strong govern-
ment.
He also urged the Election
Commission to probe the
"delay" in clearance for his hel-
icopters to take off.
Addressing election rallies in
Uttar Pradesh and Madhya
Pradesh, Modi attacked the
Congress-led United
Progressive Alliance govern-
ment over unending farmer sui-
cides in the country.
He also accused the Congress
of wanting to create instability
and said it was prepared to join
hands with the Left and third
front parties to keep the
Bharatiya Janata Party out of
power. After landing in Bareilly
for his first election rally of the
day, Modi said he was at Delhi
airport since 9.30 a.m. but did
not get permission to take off.
"I try my best to ensure that
there is no delay due to me.
Today, I am feeling sad. You
had to wait for so long in heat.
You are doing this tapasaya
(sacrifice) in this scorching
heat. I assure you that I will not
let this go in vain," he said.
In a veiled dig at Congress
president Sonia Gandhi, who is
an MP from Rae Bareli, Modi
said: "Rae Bareli has elected
such strong leaders but see
development there."
Seeking to woo Muslims, the
BJP leader said that most peo-
ple working in kite industry in
his native Gujarat were
belonged to the community.
Modi also took a dig at Uttar
Pradesh Chief Minister
Akhilesh Yadav over the state
government's development
record. The state's ruling
Samajwadi Party has decided
not to put up candidates against
Sonia Gandhi and Congress
vice president Rahul Gandhi.
"UP chief minister asked for
lions from Gujarat. We gave
the lions, hoping he will gain
some courage but we were mis-
taken. Lions had to be caged. I
invite Netaji (Akhilesh's father
Mulayam Singh Yadav) and his
family to visit Gir. Our lions
are not caged and they roam
around freely," Modi said.
He also found fault with the
Congress-led government for
not hitting back after Pakistani
troops killed and beheaded
Indian soldiers on the Kashmir
border."Lal Bahadur Shastri
coined the slogan 'Jai Jawan,
Jai Kisan' but the Congress slo-
gan now is 'Mar Jawan, Mar
Kisan'". Modi referred to
Congress manifesto as "dhokha
patar (a document of deceit)"
and said India needed a stable
government after the elections.
"Please send over 300 MPs of
NDA (National Democratic
Alliance). Elect BJP MPs from
UP. We will give you a govern-
ment you want," he said.
End of dynasty rulehas come: Modi
Palamu/Kodarma/Buxar/Nawad
a: BJP's prime ministerial candi-
date Narendra Modi has called for
an end to dynastic politics, saying
there was no place for it in Indian
democracy.
The Gujarat chief minister, who
Wednesday addressed four rallies
in Bihar and Jharkhand as part of
his Bharat Vijay rally series,
slammed the Congress-led gov-
ernment for not bringing back
black money from foreign banks.
"The Congress is a party of
mother and son, the Samajwadi
Party is a father, son and daughter-
in-law party, the Rashtriya Janata
Dal is a husband and wife party,
the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha is a
father and son party," Modi said at
a rally at Palamu in Jharkhand.
"Dynastic politics has no impor-
tance in a democracy," the
Bharatiya Janata Party leader said.
In mica-rich Kodarma in
Jharkhand, he said the state's
resources were being looted.
"People of Jharkhand are suffering
because natural resources are
being looted here."
Modi slammed the Congress-led
central government for not know-
ing the grassroots-level realities
while making plans.
"They make development plans
in air conditioned rooms in Delhi,
they have no connection with the
people," Modi said.
"Election in Delhi is about cap-
turing power, it's a narrow view of
democracy."
In Buxar in Bihar, Modi vowed
to bring back black money stashed
in foreign countries if the BJP-led
alliance is voted to power.
"If the Bharatiya Janata Party
government is formed in Delhi, I
promise to bring back the black
money and it will be used for wel-
fare schemes for the poor," he
said.
"Give us all 40 seats in Bihar as
we want to form a government in
Delhi with over 300 seats to take
the right decisions."
He also remembered the victims
of serial blasts during his rally in
Patna in October 2013 - in which
five people were killed and over
80 injured - and slammed the
administration for "sleeping" dur-
ing the blasts.
"The time for promises is gone.
Now Bihar needs resolution,"
Modi said.
Asking people to vote for the
BJP, he said the Congress has not
fulfilled any promises it had made
in the 2009 polls.
"The Congress manifesto is
nothing but a dhokha-patra," he
said.
In a bid to woo Yadav voters,
Modi said he hails from Dwarka
and hence it was natural for him to
be emotionally attached with the
Yadav community.
In his rally at Nawada, Bihar,
Modi accused the Congress-led
union government of promoting
the destruction of the country's
livestock.
Modi said the union government
was slashing subsidies on agricul-
ture to encourage meat export.
"Bihar is a land of people who
worship cows but leaders like Lalu
Prasad have joined hands with
those who are promoting meat
export. The green revolution has
been sidelined and the government
at the centre is destroying the
country's livestock in the name of
the pink revolution," he added.
The BJP supporters during Narendra Modi's
rally in Nawada, Bihar.
My chopper was deliberatelydelayed: Modi
Bareilly: BJP's prime ministe-
rial candidate Narendra Modi
alleged that his chopper was
deliberately delayed by the
Delhi air traffic control when
he was about to leave for an
election rally in Bareilly.
In Bareilly, the Gujarat chief
minister began his speech by
apologising to the crowd for
the delay in arriving. He said
the ATC did not permit his
helicopter to take take off for
over two hours on one pretext
or the other.
Modi, however, told the
people that nothing could pre-
vent him from being with his
own people and supporters.
Slamming the Congress-led
government at the centre, the
Bharatiya Janata Party leader
accused the incumbent
Congress MP of doing nothing
for the region.
"Everyone knows Rae
Bareli but no one knows
Bareilly though this place is
one of the top producers of
'manja' used to fly kites," he
said. "Bareilly has a place in
the country... Bollywood
songs have been written on
the city and it had a place on
the industrial map. But due to
the wrong policies of the state
and union governments,
development has stopped
here," he said.
Modi slammed the Akhilesh
Yadav government in the state
and predicted a rout for the
ruling Samajwadi Party in the
parliamentary election.
BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi with Madhya
Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan during a public
meeting in Satna, Madhya Pradesh.
11April 5-11, 2014TheSouthAsianTimes.info BATTLEGROUND 2014
Colorful quotes from the campaign trailIn 1857 the slogan was 'kamal aur roti'
(lotus and bread), in 2014 it is 'kamal aur
Modi' (lotus and Modi).
The BJP of today is not the party that
Vajpayee, Advani and B.S. Shekhawat
had envisioned and aspired it to be. It has
lost sight of its vision and frittered away its
virtue for temporary political gain.
-- Expelled BJP leader Jaswant Singh
They (BJP) indulge in politics of hate and
its leaders have their eyes set on the post
of the prime minister.
--Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi
The opposition wants to give power to
just one person (Modi), but we want to
empower all Indians.
--Rahul Gandhi, Congress vice-president
Indian politics, the all-you-can-eat buffet
that comedians have always dreamt of.
--Vir Das, actor/comedianWhy is the media only taking forward
the message of one person in India?
- Kapil Sibal, Indian Law Minister
If Advani wants Modi to listen to him, he
should drop ‘v’ from his name.
Har-Har is meant for invoking gods.
Ghar-ghar is meant for selling tooth-
paste.
--Arvind Kejriwal, AAP chief, onNarendra Modi’s alleged links with the
business group Adani
--Ranvir Shorey, actor, on Modi slogans.
Just imagine, the husband is with Modi and
wife with Samajwadi Party.
--Amar Singh, Rashtriya Lok Dal candi-date on Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan
--BJP prime ministerial candidateNarendra Modi
Iam not
here to
vanish after
the elections.
I want to
come back
and serve
them...espe-
cially take
care of the
concerns that
women in my
constituency
have.
Iam neither an orphan politician nor an
Independent. Now I have my own party. I
am the vice-president.
--PC Sorcar, magician and BJP candidatefrom Barasat constituency in West Bengal
--TV entertainer Rakhi Sawant on form-ing her own party called Rashtriya Aam
Aadmi Party, which will seek green chili aspoll symbol.
12 April 5-11, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Patna: Congress president Sonia Gandhi said
that the UPA government fulfilled most of the
promises made to the people in the last Lok
Sabha polls and was committed to work hard
to improve the lives of people if voted to
power again.
"We have fulfilled most of the promises
(that were) made last time before people,"
Gandhi said while addressing her first election
meeting in Bihar's Sasaram parliamentary
constituency.
Without naming BJP's prime ministerial
candidate Narendra Modi who has accused
the UPA government of failing to fulfill prom-
ises made during the 2009 Lok Sabha polls,
Sonia Gandhi said the UPA government has
implemented MNREGA for job guarantee in
rural areas and provided an opportunity for
education to all through Right to Education.
She said to ensure that no one goes without
food, the government implemented the Food
Security Act in the country.
Gandhi said the UPA government has also
promulgated a new land acquisition act to pro-
tect the rights of land holders.
"Our rivals are levelling baseless charges
against the UPA government and accusing us
of doing nothing. It is far from the truth," she
said. In a reference to Modi's claims of ram-
pant corruption, Sonia said the UPA brought
the Right to Information Act to fight corrup-
tion. She said the Congress' aim is women
empowerment.
"UPA has launched several schemes for it
and provided scholarship to girls for educa-
tion," the Congress president said.
New Delhi: AAP leader Arvind
Kejriwal has vowed to defeat BJP's
prime ministerial candidate
Narendra Modi in Varanasi and
denied speculation that he might
join the BJP.
Addressing impromptu meetings
in east Delhi in support of AAP
candidate Rajmohan Gandhi,
Kejriwal launched a vicious attack
on both the Bharatiya Janata Party
and the Congress.
"If my aim was to reach parlia-
ment, then I would have fought the
Lok Sabha election from a safe
seat," the former Delhi chief minis-
ter thundered from atop an open
vehicle. "I want to defeat Modi.
That is why I am fighting election
from Varanasi. It is also important
to defeat (Congress vice president)
Rahul Gandhi. That is why
(AAP's) Kumar Vishwas is contest-
ing in Amethi.
"Both Modi and Rahul (Gandhi)
need to be defeated... They lead
two parties that believe in corrup-
tion," he said.
Kejriwal pointed out that while
the BJP had fielded the tainted for-
mer chief minister B.S.
Yeddyurappa in Karnataka, the
AAP had put up Rajmohan Gandhi,
a grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, in
east Delhi.
"This is the difference between
the BJP and AAP," he said.
It was the second straight day of
campaigning in Delhi by Kejriwal
for the Aam Aadmi Party, whose
minority government collapsed
Feb 14 after just 49 days.
He denied reports in a section of
the media that he might end up
joining the BJP.
"I have never said that, and I will
never join any of these parties,"
Kejriwal asserted, as the AAP cav-
alcade wound its way through
some of the more thickly populated
areas of east Delhi.
Some 800 supporters accompa-
nied him, some on foot and others
on motorcycles. Whenever he
stopped to make short speeches,
hundreds gathered to hear him.
Kejriwal recalled the attacks on
him in Gujarat and Bhiwani in
Haryana, and also how he was pelt-
ed with eggs when he went to
Varanasi.
I will defeat Modi, never join BJP: Kejriwal
BJP poised to do well in Gujarat, MP: SurveyNew Delhi: The BJP could nearly
sweep the Lok Sabha polls in
Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh and
make major gains in Maharashtra,
an opinion poll said.
The CNN IBN-The Week March
tracker said the Bharatiya Janata
Party may get between 20 and 26
seats in Gujarat, while the
Congress may get between zero
and four seats.
The opinion poll said "others"
could win two seats in Gujarat,
which has 26 seats.
The BJP may get 55 percent
votes while the Congress could
get 31 percent and the Aam Aadmi
Party could get six percent votes
in Gujarat, the poll said.
In Madhya Pradesh, which has
29 seats, the poll said the BJP
could win 24-28 seats while the
Congress could win one to five
seats.
It said the BJP may get 52 per-
cent votes in Madhya Pradesh if
the Lok Sabha polls take place
today. The Congress may get 28
percent votes.
In Maharashtra, the opinion poll
said the BJP-Shiv Sena-RPI
(Athawale) alliance could win
between 24 and 30 of the 48 seats.
Deep flaws in Modi's character,says Chidambaram
New Delhi: Finance Minister P.
Chidambaram launched a strong
attack on Narendra Modi saying
that the BJP prime ministerial
candidate had "deep flaws" in his
character and his remarks reflect-
ed "a dangerous trend" for the
country's democracy.
Talking to reporters at the
Congress party office here, he
also hit out at former finance min-
ister Yashwant Sinha, saying
many of the 18 questions put to
him Sunday by the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) leader were
"puerile."
Chidambaram said with the kind
of image-building being done,
Modi was no longer only a prime
ministerial candidate of BJP but
the party was being supplanted by
an individual "who is saying I will
do it".
"This is dangerous trend. I am
sure people of India will reflect
(in vote for Lok Sabha elections),"
he said.
"If party, democracy, republic,
cabinet, government - everything
is supplanted by one individual,
then it is dangerous," he said.
His attack on Modi came close
on the heels of Modi targeting
Congress president Sonia Gandhi
at an election rally over the 2012
killing of two Indian fishermen by
Italian marines who were then
allowed to leave India.
Chidambaram wondered what
the country of Gandhi's origin had
to do with the issue which was
being dealt by the courts.
He also alleged that Modi had
deliberately referred to full name
of former chief election commis-
sioner J.M. Lyngdoh during an
election campaign in Gujarat, had
in the past referred to practitioners
of Islamic faith as "we five, our
twenty five" and made "dus num-
bri (derogatory)" insinuations by
referring to residential address of
Sonia Gandhi.
"Such a person aspires to be
prime minster. I am
ashamed...there are deep flaws in
character of Narendra Modi," he
said. "He can't resist such deroga-
tory remarks. Such perverse char-
acterisation."
Arvind Kejriwal set for a holy dip in the Ganges in VaranasiFinance Minister P. Chidambaram
UPA has fulfilled most promises: Sonia GandhiNew Delhi: Actor-turned-
politician Smriti Irani said
she will put up the best fight
against Congress vice presi-
dent Rahul Gandhi and is
confident of winning the Lok
Sabha election in Amethi.
It was decided that Irani
will be the Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) candidate against
Gandhi from Amethi con-
stituency in Uttar Pradesh.
Speaking to Times Now,
she said that irrespective of
Amethi being a Gandhi bas-
tion for years, "people have
not received the benefits of
development in the con-
stituency, which is a national
shame".
Irani said now the people of
Amethi are wondering about
the chances of change and
development as BJP prime
ministerial candidate
Narendra Modi will come to
power and the Congress will
sit in the opposition.
Reacting to the comments
of the Aam Aadmi Party's
candidate from the con-
stituency Kumar Vishwas,
Irani said it will be a fight
only between the Congress
and the BJP.
"Vishwas has a history of
being disrespectful towards
women. I do not expect an
iota of respect from him," she
said. Vishwas earlier said the
people of Amethi have decid-
ed and it did not matter
whether a Pakistani, or an
Italian or an Irani contests the
election.
Will put up best fight against Rahul Gandhi: Irani
BATTLEGROUND 2014
Actor-turned-politician Smriti Irani
Congress president Sonia Gandhiaddresses a rally in Mewat, Haryana.
13April 5-11, 2014TheSouthAsianTimes.info BATTLEGROUND 2014
Varun should use his mind insteadof heart: Maneka
New Delhi: As Varun Gandhi courted controversy by
"praising" his estranged cousin and Congress leader
Rahul Gandhi, his mother and Bharatiya Janata Party
leader Maneka Gandhi on Thursday said her son's
remark on Amethi's development was "not correct"
and advised him to be be careful before making any
statement.
Varun, the BJPs candidate from Sultanpur, had left
his party embarrassed after he praised Rahul on
Tuesday. But, he changed his track the next day saying
his comments should not be seen as an endorsement of
any political party or candidate.
Defending her son's statement, Maneka said he was
innocent and his heart was clean.
"I have told Varun not to comment on anything he
hasn't seen for himself. What Varun has said is
wrong," Maneka told reporters.
Maneka also said she had spoken to Varun in this
regard and whatever he said on development in
Amethi was "not correct".
"I have myself gone to Amethi and there is no devel-
opment there. Nobody should comment on something
unless you have seen it with your own eyes. Some
people might have told him that good work has been
done in Amethi," she added.
When asked whether she would advice Varun to use
his mind rather than his heart while making state-
ments, Maneka said, "Yes...this is true".
Varun had said Rahul is doing good work through
his self help groups for ameliorating the lot of women
and added that he would like to follow it in his con-
stituency while addressing a group of teachers in his
constituency.
Rahul was quick to respond to Varun's comments on
Wednesday, saying, "Varun sahi kah rahe hain" (What
Varun is saying is right).
Varun Gandhi is the BJPs candidate fromSultanpur, Uttar Pradesh
Amethi: The local administration
has canceled application of Con-
gress vice-president and local MP
Rahul Gandhi for issuance of
domicile certificate.
"The application should have
been made by Gandhi himself with
his signature, which was not there.
The application was made by one
Rajendra Singh with is against
law," district magistrate, Jagatraj
Tripathi said when asked about
cancellation of the application. The
papers needed with the application
were also not there, he added.
"If Gandhi has to apply, he
should apply himself in person or
send application signed by him
with all the essential documents,"
the DM said.
Bank accounts of all the candi-
dates are to be opened on direc-
tions of EC and for this domicile
certificate is needed, the officer
clarified.
Congress Amethi spokesman Ra-
jendra Singh had applied for the
certificate showing Munshiganj
Guest house as temporary address
of Gandhi and the administration
had cancelled the application
terming it against rules and
regulations.
Rahul's application forAmethi domicile canceled
Bangalore: Karnataka's 46 mil-
lion electorate is spoilt for choice
as 434 candidates, including 21
women, woo them, with political
parties rolling out their big guns
for campaigning.
National and regional political
parties are bracing up for a hec-
tic campaign over the next two
weeks across Karnataka, going
to the Lok Sabha elections in a
single phase April 17.
With 434 candidates in fray in
the 28 parliamentary constituen-
cies, national parties Congress
and BJP, regional parties like the
Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) and a
fledgling party like the Aam
Aadmi Party (AAP) are pulling
out all stops.
Of the 28 seats across the state,
five are reserved for candidates
of the Scheduled Castes (SCs)
and two for the Scheduled Tribes
(ST).
Of the total candidates, 195 are
independents and 21 are women,
including three each from JD-S
and AAP, two from the Con-
gress, one from the BJP.
In the 2009 general elections,
428 candidates, including 19
women, contested. The BJP won
19, the Congress six and the JD-
S three.
Of the 19 women, only J.
Shanta of the BJP won, the Bel-
lary ST seat, while Margaret
Alva and Tejeswani Gowda of
the Congress lost in Uttara Kan-
nada and Bangalore Rural con-
stituencies.
The highest number of contest-
ants in this election, 26, is in
Bangalore Central and the least,
eight, in Gulbarga reserved (SC),
where Union Minister of Rail-
ways Mallikarjun Kharge is con-
testing for the second time to re-
tain the seat.
434 candidates woo 46 millionKarnataka electorate
Raigad (Maharash-
tra): NCP chief
Sharad Pawar has
urged his partymen
not to take Raj Thack-
eray's Maharashtra
Navnirman Sena
lightly in the ensuing
parliamentary elec-
tion.
Addressing a meet-
ing of Nationalist
Congress Party work-
ers, the union agricul-
ture minister said that
based on the MNS's
past performance in
Lok Sabha and as-
sembly elections, it
could prove to be an
important factor in the
coming polls.
"Don't take it lightly.
Raj Thackeray has built it up with
great struggles," Pawar said.
On the other hand, Pawar took a
swipe at Shiv Sena chief Uddhav
Thackeray, saying the party in on a
continuing downslide.
"He has not been able to nurture
the legacy he inherited from (the
late) Bal Thackeray," Pawar said.
Pawar's comments assume sig-
nificance in view of the feud that
has again erupted between the
Thackeray cousins as the election
temperatures rise.
Don't take MNS lightly, says Pawar
Congress vice-presidentRahul Gandhi
NCP chief Sharad Pawar
New Delhi: Sahara group ex-
pressed its inability before
Supreme Court to immediately
deposit Rs 10,000 crore for se-
curing bail of its chief Subrata
Roy and two directors.
Recently, the apex court had
agreed to release Subarata Roy
from custody, but only after the
group deposits Rs 10,000 crore
in cash and bank guarantees.
Sahara chairman Roy was ar-
rested on February 28 and has
been held in a Delhi jail since
March 4.
He failed to appear at a con-
tempt hearing in a long-running
legal battle between the group
and the Sebi over the refund of
more than Rs 24,000 crore to
investors.
Can’t pay Rs 10,000 crorefor Roy's bail:
Sahara
14 April 5-11, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.infoOP-ED
The views expressed in Op Eds are not necessarily those of The South Asian Times.
By Vir Sanghvi
Everybody knows that Indian elections
throw up surprises. But the interesting
thing about this election is that the sur-
prises have begun even before the first vote
has been cast. There is, first of all, the surprise
over the identity of the principal antagonists.
Pundits had predicted a gladiatorial contest
between Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi.
Instead it is Arvind Kejriwal--who few people
took very seriously even a year ago--who has
emerged as Modi's most vocal opponent. In
contrast, Rahul Gandhi’s attacks on Modi
have been far more muted.
Then, there is the surprise over the election's
big issue. The conventional wisdom was that
if Modi became the BJP's prime ministerial
candidate, this would communalise the cam-
paign. The Congress would make frequent ref-
erences to the Gujarat riots while the BJP
would play the Hindutva card. In fact, com-
munal issues have not come to the forefront in
this campaign (despite the symbolism of
Modi's choice of Varanasi as his constituency)
and the 1984 Sikh massacre seems to be
recalled more often than the Gujarat riots.
Even when Kejriwal attacks Modi, it is not
for his role in the riots but for his alleged
patronage of crony capitalists. Similarly Rahul
Gandhi may launch a general attack on the
divisive nature of the Hindutva ideology but
the Congress has abandoned its old anti-Modi
rhetoric: Nobody calls him a 'maut ka sauda-
gar' these days. Rather than try and fix respon-
sibility for the 2002 riots, the Congress would
rather rake up Mahatma Gandhi's assassina-
tion. And Modi, in turn, hardly refers to
Hindutva in his campaign, preferring a secu-
lar, governance platform.
But the biggest surprise of all has been the
emergence of the economy as this campaign's
principal issue.
In a sense, what the Congress, the BJP and
AAP are really arguing about is the legacy of
economic liberalisation.
When Modi talks about governance and
draws parallels with China, his principal accu-
sation is that UPA 2 frittered away the gains of
liberalisation with indecisive, weak and often
corrupt, governance. When he draws attention
to the so-called Gujarat model of develop-
ment, what he’s really saying is this: He
implemented liberalisation and delivered on
growth while the Centre and Congress-ruled
states could not.
Kejriwal's attack is also predicated on the
post-liberalisation legacy. According to
Kejriwal, economic liberalisation has led to a
situation in which governments favour large
corporate houses and enrich them at the
expense of the poor. The attacks on gas pric-
ing, the emphasis on governmental corruption
and the many references to Modi’s alleged
corporate backers (and in particular Reliance
and the Adani group) are really attempts to
argue that the benefits of economic liberalisa-
tion have been hijacked by the few at the cost
of the many.
In the circumstances, it is not surprising that
the educated middle class, which is the most
supportive of economic liberalisation, is back-
ing Modi. So are foreign financial institutions
and the global investment community. That is
why the rupee has strengthened and the
Sensex has soared on the expectation of a
Modi victory and the return of economic liber-
alisation.
This election is different. Yes, identity poli-
tics will play some role. But the basic issue--
the one that really divides the parties--is the
economy and how it should be run. And no
matter which side you are on, we should all be
glad that finally, Indian elections are being
fought over issues of substance.
Economy as an issue takes front seat this election
Is Narendra Modi rattled by AK-49?By Amulya Ganguli
Narendra Modi's rather unusually
harsh criticism of Arvind Kejriwal
can raise the question whether the
Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) prime minis-
terial candidate has been unnerved by the
challenge posed by the Aam Admi Party
(AAP) leader in the contest for the Varanasi
seat.
Compared to the Gujarat chief minister,
who won three successive terms in the state
and is now the numero uno in the BJP,
Kejriwal is an untested novice. Moreover,
his curious way of functioning during his
49-day stint as Delhi's chief minister,
including staging a dharna, induced Home
Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde to call him
an 'yeda', an expressive Marathi term for an
eccentric.
For someone like Modi, who is playing a
prominent role on the national stage, the
best way to treat a maverick like Kejriwal is
with amused superciliousness. But to launch
a vicious attack by calling him a "Pakistani
agent" and a "dushman" (enemy) of the
nation is to overshoot the mark. The funny
aspect of his description of Kejriwal as AK-
49, recalling his brief 49-day spell as chief
minister, was lost in the subsequent tirade.
If anything, the tongue-lashing will be
seen not only as excessive but also as a sign
of nervousness. Whether by accident or
design, Kejriwal's response to Modi's trans-
gression of limits was surprisingly mild,
surprising because the AAP leader himself
is not shy of being intemperate.
Yet, he only said that Modi's remark did
not suit a prime ministerial aspirant. If
points were to be notched up with regard to
the verbal duel, the first round went to
Kejriwal.
However, the reason why Modi flew off
the handle is not far to seek. The BJP leader
has been under considerable pressure in
recent weeks. Not only is he engaged in a
strenuous campaign, he is also having to
fight a battle against detractors in his own
party.
Nor are they relative lightweights like
Jaswant Singh (who was once expelled
from the BJP) or Harin Pathak, both of
whom were kept out of the election contest
by him. Instead, Modi is up against two
heavyweights; the octogenarian "mentor",
L.K. Advani, and the silver-tongued orator,
Sushma Swaraj, who was preferred by one
of the BJP's allies, the Shiv Sena, as the
prime ministerial candidate.
Modi must have also come under heavy
strain while trying, albeit successfully, to
dislodge two members of the old guard,
Murli Manohar Joshi and Lalji Tandon,
from their old constituencies, Varanasi and
Lucknow, to accommodate Modi in the tem-
ple town and his camp follower, party presi-
dent Rajnath Singh, in Lucknow.
All this skirmishing is apparently begin-
ning to tell. Besides, Modi cannot be
unaware of the uneasiness in the BJP about
his propensity to be "insular' and "distrust-
ful", as an American diplomat described
him in an internal memo, according to
Wikileaks.
Modi's disadvantages will be enhanced if
he cannot achieve a runaway victory in
Varanasi. Few will doubt that he will win.
But much depends on the margin of victory.
In this respect, Kejriwal can be a spoiler.
The AAP leader already has a reputation of
being a giant killer for having trounced for-
mer Delhi chief minister Sheila Dixit by
25,000 votes.
He may not be able to repeat his feat. But
he is a highly effective speaker, capable of
cutting observations which appeal to the
ordinary people because he zeroes in on the
patent weak points of politicians, viz, their
suspected links with moneybags and the
penchant for making tall claims.
If the emails being circulated by saffron
activists about the dollars being credited to
Kejriwal by the Ford Foundation are an
indication, the BJP is not taking the
Varanasi battle lightly. For Modi, the
endgame is not going to be a cakewalk.
In the circumstances, it is not surprising that the educated middle class, which is themost supportive of economic liberalisation, is backing Narendra Modi. So are foreign
financial institutions and the global investment community.
The BJP is not taking the Varanasi battle lightly due to Arvind Kejriwal's entry.For Narendra Modi, the endgame is not going to be a cakewalk.
Elections
Elections
AWARDS 15April 5-11, 2014TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Times Now, India’s No. 1 news chan-
nel, celebrated the success and
achievements of Indians across the
world by presenting the inaugural ‘NRI of
the Year 2013’ awards on March 24 at a
grand ceremony in Mumbai.
Union Minister for Overseas Indian
Affairs, Vayalar Ravi, was the chief guest.
Superstar Amitabh Bachchan was felicitat-
ed with India's Global Icon Award.
The awardees were selected under six
different categories – Enterpreneur,
Professional, Student, Arts/ Entertainment,
Philanthropy and Social Good and contri-
bution to India belonged to the USA, UK,
Singapore, and the Middle East.
The various episodes of the awards
including winner profiles were being
broadcast on Times Now in its global feeds
in over 75 countries. In the USA, Times
Now is available on DISH Network DTH
and Dishworld IPTV in multiple packs
(Hindi Mega Pack, Hindi Premium Pack,
English News Pack, World News Pack,
and also in the Indian Language Packs -
Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Kannada, Urdu on
Dishworld).
Amitabh BachchanGlobal superstar and cinema thespian,
Amitabh Bachchan has tremendous uni-
versal appeal. He is one of the most
admired Indians
across the globe
and millions of
people world
over consider
him as the
g r e a t e s t
icon. He
first gained
popularity in
the early
1970s as the
"angry young
man" of
Bollywood, and has
since appeared in over 180 Indian films in
a career spanning more than four decades.
Bachchan is widely regarded as one of
the greatest and most influential Indian
actors across the globe.
� Won three National award as Bestactor for Agneepath, Black & Paa
� French director Francois Truffautcalled him a "one-man industry.
� He also had a stint in politics in the1980s. The Government of India honoured
him with the Padma Shri in 1984 and the
Padma Bhushan in 2001 for his contribu-
tions towards the arts
� In 1991, he became the first artist toreceive the Filmfare Lifetime
Achievement Award, which was estab-
lished in the name of the legend Raj
Kapoor
� In 1999, Bachchan was voted the"greatest star of stage or screen" in a BBC
survey
� In June 2000, he became the first liv-ing Asian to have been modelled in wax at
London's Madame Tussauds Wax
Museum
� On 27 July 2012, Bachchan carriedthe Olympic Torch during the last leg of its
relay in London's Southwark.
Zubin Mehta Zubin Mehta is an Indian Parsi conductor
of Western classical music. He is the
Music Director for
Life of the Israel
Ph i lha rmon ic
Orchestra and
the Main
C o n d u c t o r
for Valencia's
opera house.
Zubin Mehta
is also the
chief conduc-
tor of
Florence, Italy's
Maggio Musicale
festival.
� At the Israel Prize ceremony in 1991,Mehta was awarded a special prize in
recognition of his unique devotion to
Israel and to the Israel Philharmonic
Orchestra. In 1995, he became Laureate of
the Wolf Prize in Arts. In 1999, Mehta was
presented the "Lifetime Achievement
Peace and Tolerance Award" of the United
Nations.
� The Government of India honouredMehta in 1966 with the Padma Bhushan
and in 2001 with India's second highest
civilian award, the Padma Vibhushan.
� In 2005, he was voted the 117th-greatest Israeli of all time, in a poll by the
Israeli news website Ynet to determine
whom the general public considered the
200 Greatest Israelis.
� In September 2006 the KennedyCenter in New York announced Mehta as
one of the recipients of that year's
Kennedy Center Honors, presented on 2
December 2006.
� In 2007 he received the prestigiousDan David Prize. Conductor Karl Böhm
awarded Mehta the Nikisch Ring – the
Vienna Philharmonic Ring of Honor.
� Mehta is an honorary citizen ofFlorence and Tel Aviv. He was made an
honorary member of the Vienna State
Opera in 1997.
� In 2001 he was bestowed the title of"Honorary Conductor" of the Vienna
Philharmonic and in 2004 the Munich
Philharmonic awarded him the same title,
as did the Los Angeles Philharmonic and
the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
in 2006.
� On 6 September 2013 , President ofIndia Pranab Mukherjee awarded him the
Tagore Award 2013 for his outstanding
contribution towards cultural harmony.
MA Yusuffali Abu Dhabi, UAE
MA Yusuff Ali is an Indian businessman
from Nattika in Thrissur district of Kerala.
He is the Managing
Director of Abu
Dhabi-headquar-
tered EMKE
LuLu Group
of companies
that owns
the Lulu
Hypermarket
chain in
Middle East.
� The ownerof the EMKE
Group, he has diversi-
fied the business into multiple significant
areas. However the retail sector became
his route to the top.
� EMKE Group opened its first super-market in the early 1990s in Abu Dhabi
and gradually expanded to cover different
parts of the UAE capital.
� Today the LuLu Hypermarkets,Supermarkets and Department Stores con-
trol 32 percent of the retail market share
� Emke LuLu Group has a strongworkforce of 31,440 from 37 different
operating nations
� Apart from his busy businessinvolvement, Yusuffali is equally active on
the social front and is associated with vari-
ous organizations.
� Listed in the Forbes Magazine’sannual tally of billionaires in March 2013
at the 974th position
� "Most Influential Asian BusinessLeader in the MENA region" award by
Forbes ME in 2012.
� "Arab Business Leader of the Year2012" during the third edition of the
Global Arab Business Meeting held in Ras
Al Khaimah.
� Listed in the Indian Rich List 2011by Arabian Business magazine.
� Conferred with the title of PadmaShri in 2008
� Swiss Ambassador’s Award 2012 foroutstanding efforts in promoting Swiss-
UAE relations.
� "Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award"in 2005; the highest Indian government
award given to NRIs.
Rupesh SrivastavaDetroit, USA
After completing his mechanical engineer-
ing from NIT Jamshedpur, India and serv-
ing in the IT industry
for 4 years,
R u p e s h
S r i v a s t a v a
came to the
United States
in 1993 as a
s o f t w a r e
consultant.
He realized
the opportu-
nity and start-
ed his venture
in 1996.
After starting
Youngsoft Inc, USA he
founded the second company ESSPL in
Bhubaneswar, India in 1998.
Rupesh has founded six companies and
is currently the CEO and president of
Young soft and H2H Solutions.
With his multifarious experiences as a
professional, entrepreneur and successful
leader he controls a turnover of at least
$25 million and provides employment to
around 200 persons. ESSPL in India also
employs 200 people in Bhubaneswar,
Orissa.
� He established Young Tech SoftwarePvt Ltd in Varanasi in 2005 with an eye to
provide employment opportunities to aspi-
rants in IT
� He acquired a contract manufacturingcompany which created good job opportu-
nities
� Also acquired a stake in an IT com-pany Ritwik Software Technologies Pvt
Ltd, Hyderabad
� He is also a founding member of anE-learning company Yslearn and job board
company for nurses called Car4nurses in
West Michigan, USA
Rupesh Srivastava has been serving TiE
Detroit as president for over three years
and is working closely with various
Economic Development Organizations to
contribute to the success of Economic
development of Michigan, USA. In this
role he has motivated aspirants to become
entrepreneurs and encouraging and sup-
porting to create more job growth and
resultant employment.
Chandrashekar NatarajanGreater Los Angeles Area, USA
Natarajan is the Vice President of Supply
Chain for The Walt Disney Company. He
has met diverse challenges in emerging
Continued on page 16...
INDIA’S GLOBAL ICON
SPECIAL JURY AWARD
POPULAR CHOICE AWARD
ENTREPRNEUR
PROFESSIONAL
AWARDS16 April 5-11, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Continued from page 15markets that have shaped supply chain man-
agement and achieved
major impacts
around the
world. Several
of his innova-
tion solutions
have become
global stan-
d a r d s .
N a t a r a j a n
has devel-
oped multiple
innovations and
made multiple
contributions to
major industries in both
developed and developing nations. These
contributions have been grounded in
diverse experience with three of the world’s
leading and largest beverage companies:
Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Anheuser Busch
InBev as well as with The Walt Disney
Company. These innovations include a new
delivery standard, CoolLift, that completely
reimagined the assets, labour resources, and
timing of deliveries.
“Applying change management skills to
implement my technology vision, I pro-
duced the Consumer Products Group’s first
dynamic order fulfilment warehouse. In
doing so, my team transformed several
legacy systems for which we received 14
international awards as well as winning the
Consumer Goods Technology “Visionary
Award” and the “Supply Chain Innovation
Award” at the Council of Supply Chain
Management Professionals,” states
Natarajan.
Throughout his career, as he managed the
political and social complexities associated
with implementing “big ideas,” this has
been the greatest single challenge he has
faced. He led a team to expand a ColaLife
project on the African continent. As a result,
the team successfully harnessed Coca
Cola’s distribution capability to deliver
medicines in Zambia and Tanzania where 1
in 5 children die before the age of 10 for
lack of basic medications. “Without invest-
ing any additional funds, we were able to
improve the lives of many children,” he
says. The program has won the accolades of
several international organizations.
Vijay Goradia Houston, USAVijay Goradia is the Founder and Chairman
of Vinmar International Limited, a global
distributor of
Chemicals and
Polymers with
headquarters
in Houston,
Texas. He is
also the
Founder and
C h a i r m a n
Emeritus of
P r a t h a m
USA.
Pratham is an
NGO working to
provide quality edu-
cation to the underprivileged children of
India. Pratham was established in 1994 to
provide pre-school education to the children
in the slums of Mumbai city.
In 1998, Vijay Goradia, started Pratham
USA in Houston to raise funds for Pratham
India. With a small band of passionate
donors, Pratham USA raised $275,000 in
1999. Today Pratham USA has 14 chapters
and raises over $10 million for Pratham
India. India had a gigantic problem -- of the
200 million school age children, 100 mil-
lion were illiterate. Every child in India did
not have access to education. In 1994, Dr.
Madhav Chavan started Pratham India as
the first step to solve this massive problem.
From that humble beginning, with the help
of funds contributed by Pratham USA,
today Pratham is the biggest non-profit in
the world in the field of elementary educa-
tion. Pratham's model is unique.
� Pratham takes education to the chil-dren all over India.
� Pratham is an innovator. It was able toteach an illiterate through the Read India
Program. Pratham has touched the lives of
34 million children.
� Pratham was the first NGO to showthat it's inexpensive Balwadi programs
could be scaled up. Today Pratham is in 20
states in India, and was able to persuade the
Government to collaborate with it.
� Pratham's programs are low cost: Itcosts just $25 to educate a child per year.
94% of the funds received go directly to the
program.
� Pratham's Annual Survey ofEducation Report has focused Government
attention on learning outcomes instead of
enrolment. ASER is being used by many
developing countries in the world. Pratham
has become a powerful voice for education
reform in India.
� Based on the needs of the children,Pratham has introduced many programs
from Pratham books, libraries, science,
computer skills, English, remedial educa-
tion to rescuing and rehabilitating child
labourers. From open schools for girls to
vocational and entrepreneurship training.
� Pratham has received the highest rat-ing from Charity Navigator and has
received international awards [Kravis Prize,
Skoll award, Wise Prize] and support.
� Pratham's strength is its army passion-ate and dedicated volunteers all over India.
The impact on the Indian community has
been amazing. The more people have
learned about Pratham India, the more they
wanted to be involved. The man behind
Pratham’s success is Vijay Goradia.
Mala Kiran TalekarHershey, PA, USA
Mala Talekar obtained her pediatric residen-
cy at Sir Hurkisondas Nurrotumdas (HN)
Hospital and Research
Center, a 250-bedded
tertiary care cen-
ter in Mumbai
in 2002-2005.
P e d i a t r i c
R e s i d e n c y
taught her a
lot, including
how certain
paediatric ill-
nesses such as
cancer could
shatter the entire
family. This built
her interest in curing
cancer from the beginning.
Currently Mala is a third year fellow in
Pediatric Hematology- Oncology at Penn
State Hershey Medical Center. She has been
recognized for providing great care to
patients and has been awarded for her oral
presentation on Pediatric Lymphoma. Her
passion is to cure childhood cancer and
wishes to equip herself to battle this horrify-
ing disease in children.
She has been performing experiments on
lymphoma cells in the laboratory to see if a
drug could be used to treat lymphoma, hop-
ing this would be a breakthrough for chil-
dren with lymphoma. So far, her research
has shown that this agent- ONC201 appears
to be very effective on lymphoma in the
laboratory.
Her research was accepted for presenta-
tion at major national meetings in 2013
American Association for Cancer Research
(AACR), American Society for Paediatric
Hematology Oncology (ASPHO), and
American Society of Hematology (ASH).
She is also going to present additional
data at the ASPHO Annual meeting in
Chicago this year.
Mala also received the “Top Oral presen-
tation award” at the Annual Research Day
2013 of Penn State Hershey Medical Center
and the ASH 2013 Abstract Achievement
Award for this research. Personal Project
title: “ONC201 (TRAIL-inducing agent
–TIC10) and combinatorial therapeutics in
paediatric lymphoma: a targeted approach”.
Dr. Kunal Saha, Columbus, Ohio, USA
Dr. Kunal Saha has been fighting to remove
healthcare corruption and to prevent med-
ical negligence in India since the past 15
years. His battle against
“medical negligence”
culminated in
2013 when the
Supreme Court
of India
awarded the
highest com-
p e n s a t i o n
ever in Indian
medical histo-
ry. After losing
young wife and
US-based child
p s y c h o l o g i s t ,
Anuradha Saha, as a
result of gross medical negligence during a
social visit to India in 1998, Dr. Kunal Saha
took over a crusade not only to bring justice
to his departed wife, but also for the mil-
lions of hapless patients in India who are
dying every day because of reckless treat-
ment by the hitherto “untouchable” doctors
in India.
He also took over the seemingly impossi-
ble task to weed out the deep-rooted corrup-
tion that has plagued the Indian medical
education and healthcare delivery systems.
He founded “People for Better Treatment”
(PBT), a registered humanitarian society to
help the victims of medical negligence and
to fight medical corruption in 2001. Over
the past 13 years, PBT has brought hope for
justice for countless alleged victims of med-
ical malpractice and implemented major
changes in the deeply flawed medical regu-
latory system through numerous public
interest litigations (PILs) in the Supreme
Court and High Courts across India.
Categories Name of the Winner CountryIndia’s Global Icon Amitabh Bachchan India
Special Jury Award Zubin Mehta Israel
Popular Choice Yusuff Ali M A UAE
Entertainment Keertika Rawat UAE
My India Dr. Kunal Saha USA
Entrepreneur Dr. Raminder Singh Ranger UK
Rupesh Srivastava USA
Anand Kapoor UAE
Nitish Jain Singapore
Student Husain Khaki UK
Mala Kiran Talekar USA
Abdul Muqeet UAE
Aastha Chouhan Singapore
Professional Dr. Ramesh Babu
Chandrabhan Singh UK
Chandrashekar Natarajan USA
Y Sudhir Kumar Shetty UAE
Venkatesha Murthy Singapore
Philanthropy Suman Kapoor UK
Vijay Goradia USA
Kesavan Muraleedharan UAE
Dr. T Chandroo Singapore
PHILANTHROPY
STUDENT
MY INDIA
AWARDS 17April 5-11, 2014TheSouthAsianTimes.info
The impact of his long-drawn legal
and public fight in India has already
created greater awareness about
patients’ rights and sent a clear mes-
sage to the members of the medical
community across India that human
lives are too precious to treat negli-
gently and that the errant medicos
will be held accountable for the reck-
less treatment of patients.
Perhaps more importantly, Dr.
Saha’s long and unselfish fight over
the years with its culmination in
2013 (with a victory in the Supreme
Court) has brought a new ray of hope
for the countless innocent victims of
“medical negligence” in India who
until now, had no hope for finding
justice in the court of law against the
wealthy and highly influential
doctors/hospitals and as such,
often resorted to take law into
|their own hands and attacked the
allegedly negligent doctor(s) in a
misguided attempt to find justice
after losing their loved ones in front
of their own eyes from gross medical
negligence.
Aron Govil is Chairman & CEO of Ducon Group of
companies, that are involved in turnkey technolo-
gy projects for utilities and industrial companies
globally. Ducon is a multinational company engaged in
energy, environment, material handling, and infrastructure
projects for FORTUNE 500 companies in the field of
petrochemicals, steel, mining, power, food, plastics and
chemicals.
Ducon has been in existence since 1938 and was
acquired by Mr. Govil in 1996. Over the years, Ducon has
developed most advanced technologies, secured over 30
patents and has completed over 30,000 projects around
the world. In 2010, Ducon received “The Niche Market
Player” award in the environmental field from Frost &
Sullivan. Ducon was ranked among the top 50 by Long
Island Business news in 2006 and was ranked as the top
Indian owned company in North America by News India
Times in 2012.
Mr. Govil has also been involved in the entertainment
field since 1985, by conducting Bollywood concerts, of
major film stars, music directors and singers. He was the
leading concert tour promoter from 1985 through 1995 in
North America. Subsequently, he ventured into financing
feature films, and music videos through his company Aron
Govil Productions, which has rapidly grown in the film
distribution and production business and has made or
financed several feature films in India. In 2008, Mr. Govil
produced an English language film, “Shoot On Sight”
with major Bollywood and Hollywood stars. In 2012 he
directed and produced a commercial Bollywood film “U R
My Jaan” with super hit songs that climbed to the top of
Doordarshan music charts in India. Currently he has sev-
eral film projects under production.
Aron Govil migrated from India at age 13 with his par-
ents and completed his education in USA. He has BS in
Chemical Engineering, MBA in Finance and PhD in
Environmental Science. After working for several years in
technical and management positions, Mr. Govil started his
own company in 1986.
Ten years later he bought world renowned Ducon and
merged his own company in it. In 2007, Mr. Govil was
honored by United States Pan Asian American Chamber
of Commerce with the Excellence Award for his outstand-
ing achievements in Business & Entrepreneurship. In
2011 he was named among the 25 most influential Indians
in North America and in 2014 named The Person of the
Year 2013 by Global Indian magazine. Aron Govil resides
in Long Island with his wife Vandana and they have two
sons Vishal and Saagar.
A view of the audience at the awards event held at Trident Hotel, Mumbai.
ASSOCIATE SPONSOR OF THE EVENT Ducon Group of Companies
Aron Govil, Chairman and CEO, Ducon Group, New York
ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD18 April 5-11, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Mumbai: Following the
response to her latest
Bollywood release "Ragini
MMS 2", Indo-Canadian adult
film star Sunny Leone is game
to be part of "Ragini MMS 3"
if it is made.
"Ragini MMS 2", the sequel
to the 2011 release "Ragini
MMS", released March 21.
"If 'Ragini MMS 3' will be
made, then I would love to be a
part of it even if it is a small
role," the actress said here at a
party for the success of films'
hit number 'Baby Doll'.
The party was organised by
the composers Meet Bros
Anjjan here Tuesday.
Lauding the film's producer
Ekta Kapoor, Sunny said: "I
think that this brand and fran-
chise which Ekta has created is
so big as people are going mad
over it from the first movie to
the second.
"I think that Ekta has done
an amazing job to make this go
to the next level - whether it is
the songs, acting or story. She
is just amazing in everything
what she has done for this
movie."
Meanwhile, Sunny thanked
all her fans for their love and
support.
"This movie has gone above
and beyond our expectations.
Even on a Tuesday night, we
are getting good collections
and Monday night we had an
amazing collection," she said.
Indo-Canadian film starSunny Leone
Accomplished actor Irrfan
Khan will spend the rest
of this year living out of
a suitcase as he will be shooting
for two films - "Jurassic World"
and "Piku".
This week he leaves for the US
to begin shooting for Colin
Trevorrow-directed fourth part of
the phenomenal "Jurassic Park"
franchise. The film is to be shot
in Hawaai and New Orleans.
“It’s a brief schedule to begin
with, though my role is anything
but brief. At the moment all I can
tell you on record is that it’s a
pivotal role. I am very excited
about the project. It’s the second
American global franchise after
'Spiderman' that I am part of,”
said Irrfan, adding that he did not
share the Indian audience’s dis-
appointment over the length of
his role in "Spiderman".
He said: "It isn’t as if my role
was reduced for ulterior reasons.
Sometimes a particular charac-
ter’s footage suffers for factors
like the film’s length, etc. I was
very happy to be part of
'Spiderman'.
The remaining part of this year
would see Irrfan shuttling
between two projects in two con-
tinents.
“After the first brief first sched-
ule of 'Jurassic World', I’ll be
back in India to shoot for Shoojit
Sircar’s 'Piku'.
Irrfan to shuttle between'Jurassic World', 'Piku'
Big B promoting superstitions, activist tells court
Asocial activist from Pune has accused megastar Amitabh
Bachchan of promoting superstitious beliefs, and filed a
complaint before a court seeking action against the
Bollywood actor. Hemant Patil has demanded a police complaint
against Bachchan and others under the stringent new Maharashtra
Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifices and Other
Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act, 2013.
The immediate provocation for the complaint was Bachchan's por-
trayal of a ghost in a TV commercial for a children's health drink.
Mumbai magistrate Sita Kulkarni has placed the matter for hearing
April 18. Bachchan earlier played a friendly ghost in Bollywood
movie "Bhootnath", whose sequel "Bhootnath Returns" is due for
release soon.
ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD 19April 5-11, 2014TheSouthAsianTimes.info
According to Islamic
mythology, the Arabic
word jinn refers to a class
of spirits, lower than angels who
are capable of appearing in human
and animal forms, and influencing
humankind towards good and evil.
Stories about the existence of
angels in the human world seem to
have captured our imagination,
washing away evidence of a third
race, created by fire which we call
jinn. But as much as we fantasize
about the existence of these ‘other
worldly’ creations, do we really
believe in them?
'Jinn' also happens to be the
name of the new supernatural
thriller by the Pakistani American
movie director, Ajmal Zaheer
Ahmad, set to release April 4 in
theaters across North America.
The opening excerpt from the
movie talks about jinn – ‘the third
kind of creation’,
“In the beginning, three were
created… man made of clay,
angels made of light and a third…
made of fire.”
The movie’s cast includes Ray
Park, Faran Tahir, William
Atherton, Dominic Rains and
Serinda Swan. Shawn (Dominic)
and Jasmine (Serinda) are a happy,
newly married couple until their
perfect life is torn apart by a cryp-
tic message warning them of a
curse on Shawn’s family for gen-
erations, and that he and his wife
are now in danger.
Shawn, who lost his parent as a
child, doesn’t pay heed to these
revelations from his past until
strange things begin to happen.
Scared and unable to explain these
happenings, he turns to Gabriel
(Ray Park), Father Westhoff
(William Atherton) and Ali (Faran
Tahir).
And in the process, he discovers
that there is far more to this world
than he had ever thought.
The New York Indian Film
Festival (NYIFF) will open
with Anurag Kashyap's
"Ugly", a sensational tale of cor-
ruption, indifference, and systemic
violence that begins with the dis-
appearance of an aspiring actor's
10-year-old daughter.
Celebrating its 14th year,
NYIFF, widely recognized as the
oldest, most prestigious Indian
film festival in the US showcasing
some of the greatest talents work-
ing in the diaspora, will run May 5
to 10 at a variety of prestigious
New York City venues.
These include the Skirball
Centre for Performing Arts, where
the opening and closing films are
set be screened, NYIFF
announced.
Director Anurag Kashyap
returns to NYIFF after closing the
2012 festival with his highly
received film, "Gangs Of
Wasseypur", a two-part five-hour-
long drama centred around the
coal mafia of Dhanbad,
Jharkhand.
"We are thrilled to be opening
this year's New York Indian Film
Festival with Anurag Kashyap's
new film 'Ugly'," said festival
director Aseem Chhabra.
"Anurag has been in the fore-
front of India's growing indie
films movement, always pushing
the boundaries and inspiring the
new generation of filmmakers.
Personally I am a big fan of his
films."
Kashyap will participate in a
post-screening conversation, to be
followed by the opening night
gala event, with celebrated IAAC
supporters and other filmmakers
in attendance.
NYIFF also announced this
year's centrepiece and closing
films. Renowned actress and film-
maker Aparna Sen will close the
festival with her latest work,
"Goynar Baksho".
She has been demure, submissive; bold,
beautiful; sexy, flirtatious; and daring.
She has also been holier-than-thou and
sometimes, also a vamp -- Bollywood, in it's
over 100 years of existence, has been a can-
vas of the several shades of a woman. But
here's a new color -- the Kangana Ranaut of
"Queen" and the Alia Bhatt of 'Highway' --
free-spirited and living life on their terms,
much like young contemporary Indian
women today.
Take a dekko at Kangana's Rani of
"Queen" -- she leads a simple, protected life
like any other middle-class girl in Delhi's
Rajouri Garden, or largely, across India;
dates a man who doesn't let her dance her
heart out even if she loves to, and isn't com-
fortable with the idea of having a working
woman as his wife.
Rani adjusts -- something that most
'bharatiya naaris' would do. But she comes
into her own when her fiance calls off the
wedding, and she announces to her parents
that she wouldn't grieve and would instead
embark on her honeymoon to Paris and
Amsterdam -- alone. She survives, enjoys
herself, and finds out how there is more to
life than having to settle down with a man
who doesn't care about your dreams and
desires. Ditto with "Highway". But unlike
Kangana's Rani, Alia's character Veera is
rich and well-travelled. Yet, she feels some-
thing amiss and a ride on a highway brings
joy to her life. Her fiance, scared, tries to
curb her desire, but here's Bollywood's new
'I'll do what I want' and 'I'll make you do
what I want' type of heroine, who chooses to
follow her dreams.
When she gets kidnapped, what follows is
a journey of self-realisation for Veera, who
happens to understand that 'travelling' is not
about going up and down in the lift of a
hotel, that life is not about glittering social
gatherings and she soaks in the joys of being
in touch with nature and reality.
Examples of "free-spirited" women in
Bollywood cinema may still be few and
intermittent, but the trend is here to stay.
Katrina Kaif of "Zindagi Na Milegi
Dobara", Deepika Padukone of "Yeh
Jawaani Hai Deewani" and "Goliyon Ki
Raasleela Ram-Leela", Sonam Kapoor of
"Raanjhanaa", Parineeti Chopra of "Shuddh
Desi Romance" and "Hasee Toh Phasee",
Sridevi of "English Vinglish" and the girls in
"Chak De! India" -- they all reflect the new
age women who know what they want from
life.
Bollywood's new 'I'll do what I want' woman
Jinn: Bringing a bit ofPakistan to American cinema
A scene from Ajmal Zaheer Ahmad's film 'Jinn'
A poster of Anurag Kashyap's 'Ugly'
Kangana Ranaut in 'Queen' is an example of free-spirited womenliving life on their terms
Anurag' 'Ugly' to open NewYork Indian film fest
20 April 5-11, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.infoDIASPORA
Indian-origin actress Somi Guha suing BBC for racism
London: An Indian-origin actress is suing
BBC for up to one million pounds ($1.6 mil-
lion) for a racist remark made by the host of a
popular motor show, media reported Friday.
Somi Guha, 36, has instructed her lawyers to
take action after Jeremy Clarkson, host of the
program Top Gear, made the racist remark dur-
ing a series finale, the Daily Mail reported.
Clarkson allegedly used the word “slope” - a
derogatory term used for people of Asian de-
scent - in the Top Gear Burma Special.
Guha consulted lawyers at Equal Justice who
said this could cost the BBC up to 1 million
pounds.
According to Equal Justice, Guha is one of a
group of people who were offended by the term
and so sought legal advice from the firm, which
previously worked on racism allegations sur-
rounding reality show Celebrity Big Brother.
According to the report, a BBC spokesman
said the corporation has no comment to make
on Guha's action. In the series finale, the three
hosts - Richard Hammond, James May and Je-
remy Clarkson - are tasked with building a
bridge over the river Kwai in Thailand.
After completion of the show, Clarkson, 53,
said, “That is a proud moment, but there's a
slope on it” as a man walked towards him on
the makeshift bridge.
Co-presenter Richard Hammond, 44, replied:
“You're right, it's definitely higher on that
side.” This left viewers outraged with Twitter
users describing it as “not big, not clever, not
funny” and “a gag too far.”
“Casual racism in the media by established
BBC stalwarts is constantly brushed aside,” the
Mail report cited Guha as stating in a written
complaint to the BBC. “Discrimination within
the industry is accepted. Racial profiling of
roles is accepted and expected,” she added.
“I find it offensive that Jeremy Clarkson
refers to people of different races in pejorative
terms.” She wondered what message this gave
to children and stated: “...that it's OK to bully
and make racist comments.”
“Jeremy Clarkson has made derogatory com-
ments about Mexicans. Now he bullies an
Asian person. It has to stop,” she said.
Guha, according to the report, will now have
to apply to a county court under the Equality
Act. In a letter on behalf of Guha to Lord Pat-
ten, chairman of the BBC, Equal Justice writes
of Clarkson: “He and the show must be cen-
sured to ensure that another race or nation is
not targeted.” As an actress, Guha is known for
her roles in the 2006 science fiction movie
'Children of Men' and in hit ITV show,'
The Bill'.
Indian-origin student tweets to successLondon: It took just a simple tweet
from an Indian-origin student to im-
press British Foreign Secretary
William Hague.
Gopal Rao, an MBA student at the
University of Cambridge, answered
a question posed by Hague to win
the UK Twitter prize, according to a
report in Digital By Default News.
Hague marked his 200,000th fol-
lower on Twitter by asking his fol-
lowers to tweet the answer to this
question: “What do you think is the
biggest contribution UK foreign
policy can make to the world?”
The winning entry was from
Gopal Rao (@gopalisation), who
answered: “UK foreign policy
should focus on emancipation of
#girlsandwomen through enter-
prise, supported by vibrant #socent
culture within UK. #meetFS”
The prize was to meet the foreign
secretary and live tweet an event.
Gopal met Hague Wednesday and
discussed the ‘Preventing Sexual
Violence in Conflict’ initiative.
Speaking after the meeting,
Hague said: “Thank you to Gopal
for coming in to the Foreign Office
today, and for the good discussion
we had about preventing sexual vi-
olence in conflict. Through social
media politicians have opportuni-
ties to engage a wider group of peo-
ple than ever before, and this was a
perfect example of the value of
this.”
After the meeting, Gopal sat in on
a part of the ‘Preventing Sexual Vi-
olence in Conflict’ board meeting.
“Seeing the passion and dedica-
tion both of the foreign secretary
and his team was incredible. The
building is imposing but the people
I met in the FCO (Foreign and
Commonwealth Office) are friend-
ly and welcoming. I hope digital
diplomacy reaps rewards,” Gopal
was quoted as saying.
Dubai: A court in Dubai has
awarded one million dirhams (or
$272,257) to an Indian expatriate
as compensation after a car acci-
dent left him paralyzed, a daily
reported Monday.
Identified as A.K., the man was
travelling in a car from Abu
Dhabi to Fujairah in 2012 when
he met with the accident in
Dubai, Gulf News reported. The
Emirati driver of the car was lat-
er arrested and convicted for the
accident.
The court of appeal in Dubai
ordered the insurance company to
pay one million dirhams in civil
compensation to the 47-year-old
victim, who was later repatriated.
He was hospitalized for three
months in Dubai's Rashid Hospi-
tal.
According to the court-appoint-
ed medical committee, the man
sustained a 100 per cent perma-
nent disability and his condition
would not improve.
The victim had lodged a civil
lawsuit against the insurance
company seeking two million
dirhams in compensation.
"A.K. sustained medical, phys-
ical, financial and moral damages
following the accident. He cannot
eat, drink, walk or use his hands
or legs or even use the washroom
without a permanent escort," the
lawsuit said.
Indian wins $272,000 payout in Dubai
Gopal Rao answered a ques-tion posed by British ForeignSecretary William Hague towin the UK Twitter prize.
Supreme Court notice on facilitating voting by NRIs
New Delhi: The Supreme Court Friday is-
sued notice to the central government ask-
ing why NRIs who are registered voters
should not get the opportunity to exercise
their voting rights in the ongoing general
election from wherever they are located.
A bench of Justice K.S.Radhakrishnan
and Justice Vikramajit Sen issued notice
even as Attorney General G.E.Vahanvati
sought to present the logistic problem that
the Election Commission would face in
making arrangements for their voting.
Vahanvati told the court that under sec-
tion 20A of the Representation of the Peo-
ple Act (Amendment), 2010, the registered
NRI voters can vote if they are present in
the constituency on the day of polling.
Describing it a "serious matter" that
needed to be dealt with urgency, the court
asked government to respond to the plea as
it directed the listing of the matter April 7.
Appearing for the PIL petitioner
Shamsheer V.P., senior counsel Harish
Salve told the court that the first phase of
Lok Sabha polling in Kerala was going to
be held on April 10 and matter was of
some urgency.
The court was told that there were
11,000 registered NRI voters living in dif-
ferent parts of the world.
Dr.Shamsheer has contended that the ex-
isting provision under section 20A that
mandates the NRI voter to be physically
present in the constituency to exercise his
vote was discriminatory and violative of
fundamental rights under article 14
(Equality before law) guaranteed under the
constitution and sought it be read down.
"If the relief ... sought ... is granted, then
a total number of 1,00,37,761 people will
be entitled to cast their vote as against a
paltry 11,000 who have registered" at pres-
ent, he said.
The PIL has contended that it was in-
cumbent upon the government to ensure
that NRIs too have the same rights and
freedom as those enjoyed by citizens liv-
ing in India.
It said that any distinction between the
two (those abroad and those who have
come to India) resulting in the denial of
NRIs right to vote would be violative of ar-
ticle 19(1) as well as article 21.
The PIL said 114 countries have adopted
external voting and amongst it are 20
Asian countries.
It said that the external voting could be
by setting up polling booths at the diplo-
matic mission, or by postal, proxy or elec-
tronic voting.
Dr. Shamsheer migrated to the UAE 12
years ago prior to which he was enrolled as
a voter in his hometown of Calicut, Kerala
and had voted in the elections. Subse-
quently he was removed from the voters
list because of his NRI status.
He operates nine hospitals in the UAE
and a pharmaceutical manufacturing unit
with a combined staff strength of around
5,600 people of which 3,600 are Indians.
Jeremy Clarkson (right), host of the pro-gram Top Gear, made the racist remark
about Somi Guha (left) during seriesfinale of Burma Special. He allegedlyused the word “slope” - a derogatory
term used for people of Asian descent.
21April 5-11, 2014TheSouthAsianTimes.info SUBCONTINENT
Musharraf indicted, pleads not guiltyIslamabad: Former Pakistan pres-
ident Pervez Musharraf was indict-
ed this week on charges of high
treason. He pleaded not guilty to
all charges.
Justice Faisal Arab, who heads
the three-bench court, read out the
indictment against the former army
strongman with Musharraf plead-
ing "not guilty" to all charges,
Dawn online reported.
"I honor this court and prosecu-
tion, I strongly believe in law, I
don't have ego problems and I
have appeared in court 16 times in
this year in Karachi, Islamabad
and Rawalpindi," the 70-year-old,
who ruled Pakistan from 1999 to
2008, said.
"I am being called a traitor, I
have been chief of army staff for
nine years and I have served this
army for 45 years. I have fought
two wars and it is 'treason'?" he
asked.
A non-bailable arrest warrant for
Musharraf was issued in case he
failed to appear before the court.
For his appearance in the special
court Monday, three different
routes were chalked out by the
capital police before Musharraf’s
departure from Armed Forces
Institute of Cardiology (AFIC).
A police squad and commandos
reached the AFIC early in the
morning to escort Musharraf to the
court.
For the former army strongman's
security, 3,000 police and Rangers
personnel were deployed on the
routes.
Musharraf has been charged with
high treason for suspending the
constitution when he declared
emergency rule in 2007.
He took over in a bloodless coup
when he dismissed the government
of then prime minister Nawaz
Sharif in 1999.
Musharraf, who resigned in 2008
as president and went into exile,
returned to Pakistan in March last
year to run in the parliamentary
elections. However, a court dis-
qualified him from competing in
the general elections in May.
Pervez Musharraf has been charged with high treason for suspending the constitution when he declared
emergency rule in 2007.
Kathmandu: The Nepal gov-
ernment has decided to host the
18th SAARC summit Nov 14
this year, officials here said.
"Even though our govern-
ment has fixed the date for
holding the summit for this
year, the chosen date is yet to
be approved by the SAARC
members," Minister for
Information and
Communication Minendra
Rijal said.
Nepal made the proposal for
the summit in November dur-
ing the meeting of South Asian
Association for Regional
Cooperation (SAARC) council
of foreign ministers held in the
Maldives Feb 20.
Rijal , who is also a
spokesperson of the Nepal gov-
ernment, said the proposal
would soon be forwarded to the
SAARC Secretariat for final
endorsement.
Nepal has previously hosted
the summit twice in 1987 and
2002 since the formation of the
South Asian bloc in 1985.
The last SAARC summit was
held in the Maldives in 2011.
Nepal plans to host SAARCsummit Nov 14
New Delhi: In Pakistan, lack of
support from public institutions,
little awareness about art and the
absence of an ardent collector
base have resulted in "limited"
options for Pakistani artists, who
see India as one of the potential
markets for their work to flourish
in.
In return, Indian galleries have
positively reciprocated towards
Pakistani artists for their distinc-
tive vocabulary in what already is
a stiff-market when it comes to
contemporary art in India.
"Art is growing at a slow pace in
Pakistan, but Indian and Pakistani
aesthetics are so similar that one
can relate to each other's work,"
Pakistani artist Amna Iiyas told
IANS during her visit to India for
a cultural art exchange initiative.
"Some of the Pakistani artists
like Rashid Rana have made it big
in India and the world. So, it is
one of the best platforms for us to
come and showcase our works.
India's art market is growing at a
good rate and has great potential
for us," said the Lahore-based
artist, who had garnered great
response during her first solo
exhibition here in 2010.
According to reports, India's
$400 million art market is pegged
against the worldwide figure of
$65 billion, making it a lucrative
destination for investors around
the globe.
The Islamic country has slowly,
but steadily, gained international
visibility in the past two decades,
with modern masters like Shakir
Ali and Ismail Gulgee and
contemporary artists like Rashid
Rana, Talha Rathore, Aisha
Khalid and Mohammed Imran
Qureshi leaving a significant mark
at the world's art stage.
The 1970s and the 1980s were
the era of calligraphy in Pakistan,
but gradually, the artists moved
into miniatures and 3-D paintings,
creating a visual vocabulary of
their own that was somehow
extremely different from their
Indian counterparts.
While the contemporary minia-
tures became a dominant face of
Pakistani art in the West, Indian
artists started exploring newer
mediums like sound art and instal-
lations.
Even though India was lucky to
have the works of prominent
artists like F.N. Souza, Vasudeo S.
Gaitonde and M.F. Husain repre-
sent the country at several auc-
tions and exhibitions abroad, the
real reckoning came with the host-
ing of the India Art Fair - one of
South Asia's biggest art exhibi-
tions - in 2008. This was followed
by international auction house
Christie's India debut in 2013
where Gaitonde's work sold for a
record Rs.23.7 crore ($3.7 mil-
lion) - making the West to
acknowledge and watch out for
the budding Indian art scene.
India's booming art market on Pak artists' wish list
New Delhi: Human Rights Watch
has urged India to encourage Sri
Lanka to cooperate after the UN
voted to investigate allegations of
war crimes in the island nation.
The UN Human Rights Council
in Geneva Thursday passed the Sri
Lanka resolution by a vote of 23 in
favour, 12 against and 12 absten-
tions. India abstained.
"There will now be an independ-
ent investigation into allegations of
laws of war violations and other
serious abuses by both sides dur-
ing the conflict in Sri Lanka,"
Human Rights Watch said in a
statement."This is a welcome deci-
sion, and one that will encourage
victims and activists in Sri Lanka
who have strived so courageously
for accountability and justice,"
said Meenakshi Ganguly, the
South Asia director of Human
Rights Watch. "India chose to
abstain, but should now encourage
Sri Lanka to cooperate with the
UN human rights office to put this
resolution into motion."
India must askSri Lanka towork with UN Islamabad: To sit quietly as intoler-
ance grows against non-Muslims is
akin to acceptance of communalism,
a leading Pakistani daily said.
The frequent attacks on the Hindu
community in Sindh province of
Pakistan send ominous signals, the
Dawn newspaper said in an editorial.
A Hindu temple in Hyderabad city
of the province was set on fire by
unidentified arsonists last week,
resulting in damage to an idol and
the structure itself, it said.
A dharamshala in Larkana was
attacked by rioters after a Hindu man
in the town was suspected of dese-
crating the holy Quran.
The newspaper said unless consis-
tent efforts were made by the state
and society to address such violent
incidents, the situation will only
deteriorate.
"A number of suspects were picked
up Saturday while Sindh police offi-
cials are looking into different angles
to unmask the culprits behind the
temple attack," the newspaper said.
Apart from the involvement of
extremists, the possible role of land-
grabbers is also being examined.
Attacks on Hindus inSindh send ominoussignals: Pak daily
A fiber glass painting byPakistani artist Amna Iiyas.
INTERNATIONAL22 April 5-11, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info
US trying to rope in India, China to isolate RussiaWashington: In a bid to isolate
Russia over its annexation of
Crimea, the US says it is talking
with Moscow's friends like India
and China, but it has not yet asked
them to impose any sanctions.
"Well, I don't think we're there
yet. Obviously, we've been consult-
ing very closely with the Europeans
about sanctions," State Department
spokesperson Marie Harf told
reporters when asked if the US was
going to seek Iran-oil like sanction
from countries outside NATO.
"We have been talking with other
countries diplomatically, though,"
she said noting that in the Security
Council vote last weekend, "it was
significant that China, for example,
abstained and did not vote with
Russia".
"So, we are actively working on
the diplomatic side to isolate Russia
and that means with countries like
China and India and others," she
said. "But on the oil part, we're just
not there yet."
India has not directly criticized
Moscow though when Russian
President Vladimir Putin called
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
last week to explain the Russian
position, Singh, according to the
external affairs ministry, "empha-
sised the consistent position India
had on the issues of unity and terri-
torial integrity of countries".
Manmohan Singh also "expressed
hope that all sides would exercise
restraint and work together con-
structively to find political and
diplomatic solutions that protected
the legitimate interests of all coun-
tries in the region and ensured long
term peace and stability in Europe
and beyond."
Back in Washington, in response
to another question, Harf expressed
disappointment over India abstain-
ing from US-sponsored resolution
against Sri Lanka at the UN Human
Rights Council (UNHRC) in
Geneva. "It is disappointing to us
that India abstained from voting on
this resolution when they voted yes
for the last two years," she said.
"We have made our disappoint-
ment known to Indian officials.
Beyond that, I'd refer you to them in
terms of how they voted," Harf said.
The US resolution called for a
probe into war crimes allegedly
committed in the final stages of the
war against the Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam.
Rejecting the resolution, India
said it ignores the efforts at reconcil-
iation being done by Sri Lanka in
the predominantly Tamil north,
including holding of elections.
India has not directly criticized Russian President Vladimir Putinover its annexation of Crimea
Washington: The US space
agency -- NASA -- has suspended
all contacts with its Russian coun-
terpart Roscosmos except for
ongoing activities aboard the
International Space Station (ISS).
"This suspension includes NASA
travel to Russia and visits by
Russian Government representa-
tives to NASA facilities, bilateral
meetings, e-mail, and teleconfer-
ences or video conferences,"
Xinhua reported quoting an inter-
nal letter published by the US
space news website Spaceref
Wednesday, citing US-Russian ten-
sions over Ukraine and Crimea.
"At the present time, only opera-
tional International Space Station
activities have been excepted," it
said.There are currently two
Americans onboard the ISS.
In addition, multilateral meetings
held outside of Russia that may
include Russian participation are
not precluded under the present
guidance, the letter added.
In March, NASA Administrator
Charles Bolden has repeatedly said
that space cooperation between the
two countries would not be affect-
ed over tensions in Ukraine.
NASA suspends cooperation withRussia except for ISS
Santiago: Five people have
been killed in a massive earth-
quake measuring 8.2 on the
Richter Scale that hit off
Chile's northern coast and trig-
gered tsunami waves, authori-
ties said.
According to the University
of Chile Seismological Service,
the powerful tremor hit off
northern Chile's coast at 8.46
p.m. (11.46 p.m. GMT) and the
epicentre was located 99 km
northwest of the mining port of
Iquique, near the Peruvian bor-
der. The US Geological Survey
initially reported the quake at
8.0 magnitude.
The South American country
is located in one of the seismi-
cally most active regions in the
world. The nation is a long,
narrow strip of land between
the Andes mountain ranges to
the east and the Pacific Ocean
to the west.
Chile borders Peru to the
north, Bolivia to the northeast,
Argentina to the east, and the
Drake Passage in the far south.
Chilean authorities used tele-
vision to order the evacuation
of coastal areas, urging citizens
to leave their homes and towns
speedily.
The Chilean National Office
for Emergency said more than
10,000 people in some coastal
towns have been evacuated.
Power went out and communi-
cation lines were affected in
some areas where landslides
blocked roads and highways to
the region.
The office also said 300
inmates escaped from a
women's prison in the city of
Iquique and the military was
sending a planeload of special
forces to prevent looting.
Lost Malaysian jet: search continuesPerth/Kuala Lumpur: No sightings were reported at
the conclusion of search operation in the southern
Indian Ocean for the “lost” Malaysian Airlines flight
MH370 even as a senior Malaysian official said that
all passengers on board the jet have been “cleared” in
a criminal investigation that is being conducted.
On Wednesday, 10 aircraft and nine ships searched
an area of about 237,000 sq km, about 1,500 km
northwest of Perth, Australia's Joint Agency
Coordination Centre (JACC) said in its latest update.
“There were no sightings reported of any objects
related to the missing Malaysia Airlines flight
MH370,” it stated. “Weather in the search area was
fair, with visibility of approximately 10 kilometres.”
The JACC also said that the HMS Tireless, a
Trafalgar Class submarine of the British Royal Navy,
has arrived in the southern Indian Ocean to assist
with the search.
“With her advanced underwater search capability,
HMS Tireless will be a valuable contribution to the
search for the missing plane,” it added.
Additionally, HMS Echo, a coastal survey ship also
of the British Royal Navy, is in the search area to
assist in efforts to locate the transponder on the black
box. It would also play an important role in the search
for debris on the ocean surface and its advanced envi-
ronmental assessment capability will help to optimise
search operations, according to the JACC.
“The Australian Transport Safety Bureau continues
to refine the area where the aircraft entered the water
based on continuing ground-breaking and multi-disci-
plinary technical analysis of satellite communication
and aircraft performance, passed from the interna-
tional air crash investigative team comprising ana-
lysts from Malaysia, the United States, the UK, China
and Australia,” the JACC update concluded.
Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 vanished mysteri-
ously about an hour after taking off from Kuala
Lumpur shortly after midnight March 8.
The Boeing 777-200ER was scheduled to land in
Beijing the same day. The 227 passengers on board
included five Indians, 154 Chinese and 38
Malaysians.
The US Geological Survey initially reported the quake at 8.0 magnitude.
Brussels/Rome: Italy has
called upon the international
community to emphasise the
principle of 'functional immu-
nity' for two Italian marines,
accused of killing two Indian
fishermen off the Kerala coast
in 2012.
The marines should be
exempt from prosecution in
India because they are service-
men who were working on a
mission, ANSA reported citing
Foreign Minister Federica
Mogherini.
Functional immunity protects
state officials from the jurisdic-
tion of other states as they per-
form actions while on duty.
The minister said the two
marines were not in India for
private reasons but 'on duty'.
"The recognition of such a
dimension is extremely impor-
tant," Mogherini said in com-
ments on the case on the side-
lines of a NATO foreign minis-
ters meeting in Brussels.
Marines Massimiliano
Latorre and Salvatore Girone
are accused of killing the two
Indian fishermen after alleged-
ly mistaking them for pirates.
Rome is seeking international
arbitration in the case, arguing
it is not under Indian jurisdic-
tion as the incident occurred
outside the country's territorial
waters.
Mogherini said the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO) had already acknowl-
edged that functional immunity
is important. Italy has long
attempted to win international
support in the case.
Italy has long attempted to win international support in the case.
Five killed in 8.2 magnitude quake in Chile
Italy calls for 'functionalimmunity' for marines
BUSINESS 23April 5-11, 2014TheSouthAsianTimes.info
EC nod for RBI to issue new bank licencesNew Delhi: The Election
Commission has allowed the
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to
issue new bank licences before the
completion of general elections
next month.
"The commission is of the view
that Reserve Bank of India may
take necessary action as deemed
appropriate by the Bank," the EC
said on its website.
The RBI has sought the Election
Commission's nod over the issue of
grant of new bank licences as a
matter of caution on not violating
the poll code of conduct, which
came into force with the March 5
announcement of general elections.
The Reserve Bank of India
Governor Raghuram Rajan said the
granting of new bank licences has
no link with politics and the
process is purely economic and
regulatory.
"This (issue of bank licence) is
not in any way a political process,
it is an economic and regulatory
process and is to be seen as distant
and different (from politics),"
Rajan told media persons here after
announcing the RBI's monetary
policy.
"So, while different political par-
ties may have their views, we have
to undertake what we have to
undertake," he added regarding the
bank's internal processing of
licence applications.
Explaining that the requirements
of due diligence and feedback from
investigating agencies had taken
more time than expected, Rajan
said these reports were received
only by Feb 25, whereby the entire
process had spilt over into the elec-
tion season.
The RBI received 27 applica-
tions, which include from public
sector units India Post and IFCI,
and from the private sector Anil
Ambani and Aditya Birla groups,
Bajaj Finance, Muthoot Finance,
Religare Enterprises and Shriram
Capital.
In the past 20 years, the RBI has
licensed 12 banks in the private
sector in two phases, last two enti-
ties being Kotak Mahindra Bank
and Yes Bank in 2003-04.
Industry for clean, corruption-free govt
Kolkata: Leading industrial
bodies said a clean and a corrup-
tion-free government at the
Centre could take India on a
higher growth trajectory and
prosperity.
"People are absolutely fed up
particularly in the last few years
and have started questioning
now. A corruption-free govern-
ment is absolutely important for
the betterment of the country,"
CII president-designate Sumit
Mazumdar said.
Mazumdar said that whatever
happened to the Indian economy
in the last few years was 'totally
man-made and not linked to any
economic cycle'.
"The downturn in the economy
in the last few years was totally
man-made and not linked to the
global crisis. This was a result of
lack of confidence in the govern-
ment and business sentiments
was adversely affected owing to
rampant corruption", Mazumdar,
who will hold the reins of the
premier industry body next year,
said.
"One can notice that business
sentiments have vastly improved
after the announcement of elec-
tions. The sensex has been ris-
ing, foreign investments are
coming and the core sector is
doing well," he said.
Mazumdar said that this was
because people were expecting a
good government to come after
the elections.
He said since the last few
years, infrastructure develop-
ment had come to a standstill.
The new government should
come with a clear-cut plan on
how to weed out corruption from
the system.
Assocham senior vice-presi-
dent Sunil Kanoria also echoed
similar views. "Corruption has to
be weeded out as it has affected
business sentiments adversely,"
Kanoria said.
RBI leaves policy ratesunchanged
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of
India (RBI), as expected, left key
interest rates unchanged in its first
bi-monthly monetary policy
review and said near-term tighten-
ing is not expected if inflation
continues to ease.
The repo rate, or the interest that
banks pay when they borrow
money from the RBI to meet their
short-term fund requirements, has
been left unchanged at 8 percent.
The reverse repo rate, or the
interest that the RBI pays to com-
mercial banks when they park
their surplus short-term funds
with the central bank, has been
adjusted to 7 percent.
The Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR)
is left unchanged at 4 percent. The
marginal standing facility rate and
the Bank Rate is also kept
unchanged at 9 percent.
The status quo in key policy
rates mean the equated monthly
installments (EMIs) on home,
auto and other loans would remain
unchanged as these rates deter-
mine lending and borrowing rates
of the commercial banks.
In its previous policy statement
announced Jan 28, the central
bank had hiked short-term lending
and borrowing rates by 0.25 per-
cent.
The central bank's action is on
the expected lines as most ana-
lysts predicted a status quo con-
sidering the macro-economic data
and election.
"The only thing that is surpris-
ing in the monetary policy today
is lack of surprises," Governor
Raghuram Rajan said while
announcing the policy statement.
Rajan said the central bank's
policy is firmly focused on curb-
ing inflation.
The RBI received 27 applications, which include from public sector units India Post and IFCI, and from the private sector
Anil Ambani and Aditya Birla groups and others
GM boss 'deeply sorry' after deadly crashesWashington: Conceding company officials knew
of their cars' potentially deadly ignition switches
for years, GM chief Mary Barra apologized and
said the automaker had a "civic responsibility" to
make things right.
The manufacturer is under fire for not recalling
Chevrolet Cobalts, Saturn Ions and other General
Motors models over the past decade, despite its
own evidence that the defects were posing a major
hazard. Thirteen deaths have been linked to the
problems, and GM eventually issued mass recalls
this year.Barra said GM has acknowledged the
problem, launched an exhaustive review to deter-
mine what and who is responsible, and pledged
top-to-bottom changes in shifting from a "cost cul-
ture" to a focus on safety and quality.
"Today's GM will do the right thing," she told a
House investigations panel in Washington.
"That begins with my sincere apologies to
everyone who has been affected by this recall,"
she added. "I am deeply sorry."
Lawmakers pointed to internal documents show-
ing GM at first refused to change the faulty
switches because it would have been too costly.
The lawmakers, and Barra, expressed astonish-
ment that the company went ahead with using the
parts even though they did not meet GM stan-
dards. "That is not something that I find accept-
able," Barra said. GM chief Mary Barra
SPORTS
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has
virtually split the Indian cricket
board, naming legendary cricketer
Sunil Gavaskar and board vice pres-
ident Shivlal Yadav as interim heads
respectively for the Indian Premier
League and all other matters in
place of the tainted incumbent N.
Srinivasan.
A bench of Justice A.K. Patnaik
and Justice Fakkir Mohamed
Ibrahim Kalifulla said Gavaskar will
only be in charge of the seventh edi-
tion of the Indian Premier League
(IPL) starting April 16 in the UAE
and asked senior vice president
Shivlal Yadav to oversee the rest of
the work of the Board of Control for
Cricket in India (BCCI).
The court also barred all those
associated with Srinivasan's India
Cements company, which owns IPL
franchise Chennai Super Kings,
from functioning in the
BCCI in any manner.
The court, however,
allowed Chennai
Super Kings as
well as Rajasthan
Royals, whose
owners too are fac-
ing charges of bet-
ting, to take part in
this year's IPL.
"We make it
clear that we
have not
p a s s e d
any order
p r e v e n t -
ing any
player or
team from
participat-
ing in the tour-
nament 2014," the order said.
"Considering the fact that Mr.
Sunil Gavaskar was a cricket player
of great repute and eminence, a cap-
tain of the Indian cricket team for a
long period and has a wide experi-
ence in cricket related activities and
of men and matters, we appoint him,
as an interim measure, to function as
and exercise the powers of the presi-
dent of the BCCI in relation to the
IPL 2014 till we hear and deliver the
judgment in these matters," Justice
Patnaik said in the order.
Gavaskar "will have power to
engage the services of such persons
on whom he has confidence for
work in connection with the IPL
2014," Justice Patnaik said.
"We also direct that it is for Mr.
Gavaskar to decide as to whether
Mr. Sundar Raman, chief IPL opera-
tor, would continue in the IPL 2014
or some other arrangement has to be
made in his place," the court said.
"In case of any difficulty, Mr.
Gavaskar may apply to this court for
appropriate orders,"
it added.
Passing the order, the court said it
had to pass interim orders "to ensure
that all those who love cricket con-
tinue to watch cricket in IPL 2014
and the matches are played by the
players in accordance with the IPL
Rules."
"We make it clear that with regard
to all other matters of BCCI, the
senior most vice president of the
BCCI, Mr. Shivlal Yadav, will dis-
charge the functions of the president
of the BCCI."
Appointing Gavaskar as an inter-
im president, the court noted the
offer made by Srinivasan that till
investigation into allegations against
him is completed, he will not dis-
charge any of the functions of the
BCCI chief.
The court also said Gavaskar
would no more be a BCCI-contract-
ed cricket commentator and he
would be adequately compensated
for it by the board.
The compensa-
tion amount will
be determined
after the court
resumes hear-
ing on April
16, it said.
SC splits BCCI, Gavaskar to oversee IPL
24 April 5-11, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Mirpur (Bangladesh): Two bril-
liant performances from Yuvraj
Singh and Ravichandran Ashwin
saw India through in their last
Group 2 match of the ICC World
Twenty20 against Australia by 73
runs at the Sher-e-Bangla
National Stadium here.
Put in to bat, India were pow-
ered to 159/7 with Yuvraj's blis-
tering knock of 60 from 43 deliv-
eries. In reply, Australia were dis-
mally bowled out for their second
lowest ever Twenty20
International score of 86.
Off spinner Ashwin was the key
as he clinched 4/11 in 3.2 overs,
the best bowling figures by an
Indian in the format.
India did not take off well as
they lost wickets at regular inter-
vals, including star batsman Virat
Kohli
The men from Down Under
never really threatened India any-
time with their batting as they
kept losing wickets right from the
start. Only three of their batsman
reached double figures with
Glenn Maxwell top scoring with
23.
Medium pacer Bhuvneshwar
Kumar swung the ball beautifully
at the start and finished with fig-
ures of 1/7 from three overs. But
it was man of the match Ashwin
who really did the trick with only
14 of his deliveries.
Leg spinner Amit Mishra took
two wickets while Mohammed
Shami and Ravindra Jadeja had to
be content with one apiece.
India now have won four con-
secutive matches on the trot to
top Group 2 with eight points.
They had already qualified for the
semifinals after beating hosts
Bangladesh Friday while
Australia have been knocked out
of the competition.
World T20: India trounceAustralia, remain unbeaten
Sacramento (California): NBA
side Sacramento Kings are host-
ing the team’s first-ever
“Bollywood” themed game
against the L.A. Lakers. The
game will celebrate Indian cul-
ture and cinema with various
performances.
Kings majority owner Vivek
Ranadive, the first Indian-born
owner in NBA history, has creat-
ed an NBA 3.0 philosophy
focused on cutting edge technol-
ogy to enhance the fan experi-
ence, acting as a positive agent
of change in the community and
expanding the team’s global
brand. This season, the Kings
have televised over 20 live
games in India, launched a web-
site in Hindi, sent the
Sacramento Kings Dancers to
Mumbai and signed the team’s
first India-based sponsor.
“The ultimate power of sports
is the ability to connect people
across geographic, economic
and cultural lines,” said
Ranadive.
“The Kings strive every day to
provide all of our fans with a
unique and lasting experience,
which is why we have such
strong support from the Indian
community here and abroad.
Together, we are catapulting bas-
ketball as the fastest growing
sport in India.
NBA Commissioner Adam
Silver and I also have plans to
visit, and we hope to continue
sharing the Kings experience
throughout India," Ranadive
added.
Sacramento Kings to hostBollywood night at NBA games
Chennai: Five-time World chess
champion Viswanathan Anand
promised a couple of surprises in
his team of seconds when he faces
defending champion Magnus
Carlsen in the World Chess
Championship later this year.
Anand at a press briefing here
after arriving from Russia, where
he won the Candidates
Tournament, said he might re-jig
his team of seconds, or players
who help a champion player pre-
pare for the World Championship.
"I would chalk a new path for a
new result. I won't get a new
result if I travel in the old path,"
said Anand.
Asked if he was planning to re-
jig his team of seconds, Anand
said: "I have some ideas. There
would be a couple of surprises.
Ideas are being thought about.
Everything cannot be discussed in
open."
Four-time women's World
champion Susan Polgar of
Hungary had told IANS that
Anand can perhaps add another
strategist to his war-room
team.
Anand's team during last
year's failed title defence
here in his home town
against Carlsen were his
compatriots Sandipan
Chanda, K. Sasikiran,
H u n g a r i a n
Grandmaster Peter
Leko and
P o l a n d ' s
R a d o s l a w
Wo j t a s z e k .
Chanda was
also a second
in Russia
during the
Candidates Tournament.
Queried about
Polgar's views
Anand said: "Ideas
are there but they
cannot be dis-
cussed here."
Anand to add surprises to his war-room team
Chess playerViswanathan
Anand
Legendary cricketerSunil Gavaskar
India now have won four consecutive matches on the trot totop Group 2 with eight points.
25April 5-11, 2014TheSouthAsianTimes.info PERSONAL FINANCE
6th in a series
The education of your chil-
dren, or even of yourself and
your spouse, can be a major
investment. Knowing if your col-
lege-age child is still a dependent,
what scholarships are taxable, and
which tax credits are available can
be confusing. You need to consider
your situation to determine which
options are best for you. Tax plan-
ning is essential to make the most
of these benefits. You should deter-
mine whether your adjusted gross
income disqualifies you from using
one of the options or whether your
education expenses qualify for the
benefit you are considering. The
definition of qualified educational
expenses often differs between the
different tax saving options. You
should also consider issues other
than tax, for example, the student's
eligibility for financial aid and who
has control over the money used for
college. In certain circumstances, it
might be better to have the child
pay the education expenses rather
than the parent; in other circum-
stances, it might be better to have
the parent pay the education
expenses for the student.
Keep the following in mind whenpreparing your tax return:
DependentsWhether a student is claimed as a
dependent on your tax return may
affect your eligibility, or the stu-
dent's eligibility, for the different
tax benefits available for education
expenses.
A student is someone enrolled in
school full-time for at least five
months out of the calendar year. A
full-time student under age 24 who
has a job may still be claimed as a
dependent on their parents' return.
If your child must file a return, they
cannot claim their own exemption
if they qualify as your dependent.
Students are allowed to take the
standard deduction even if they are
not claiming their own exemption.
The standard deduction amount of a
dependent may be lower than the
standard deduction of a person who
is not a dependent.
Scholarships and GrantsA candidate for a degree can
exclude from income amounts
received for tuition, books, and
fees. Amounts used for room and
board do not qualify for exclusion.
Amounts received by a scholar-
ship candidate for services such as
teaching or research are taxable
income even if providing such serv-
ices is a required condition for
receiving the scholarship or grant.
Scholarship prizes won in a con-
test are not considered scholar-
ships/fellowships if they are not
designated to be used for education-
al purposes only.
These must be included in gross
income.
Payments from the Department of
Veterans Affairs are not considered
scholarships and are not included in
income.
Scholarship and fellowship pay-
ments for teaching, research, or
other services paid by the National
Health Services Corps Scholarship
Programs or by the Armed Forces
Health Professions Scholarship and
Financial Assistance Program are
not included in income.
Student Loan InterestDeduction
You may be able to deduct up to
$2,500 of interest you paid on a
qualified student loan to attend an
accredited, higher educational insti-
tution.
The loan must have been for you,
your spouse, or someone you
claimed as your dependent when
you took out the loan. This deduc-
tion is an adjustment to income so
you can claim it even if you do not
itemize deductions on Schedule A,
Itemized Deductions. Your modi-
fied adjusted gross income must be
less than $75,000 ($150,000 if
Married Filing Jointly). If you are
filing Married Filing Separately,
you cannot take this deduction.
Tuition and FeesDeduction
You may be able to deduct up to
$4,000 for qualified tuition and fees
paid for higher education even if
you do not itemize deductions.
Qualified tuition and fees are
amounts paid for you, your spouse,
or a person whom you claim as
your dependent. The tuition and
fees must be required for enroll-
ment or attendance at an eligible
educational institution. You may
qualify for the maximum $4,000
tuition and fees deduction if your
modified adjusted gross income is
$65,000 or less ($130,000 or less if
Married Filing Jointly) or a reduced
tuition and fees deduction of up to
$2,000 if your modified adjusted
gross income is greater than
$65,000 ($130,000 if Married
Filing Jointly) but not more than
$80,000 ($160,000 if Married
Filing Jointly). If your modified
adjusted gross income is greater
than $80,000 ($160,000 if Married
Filing Jointly), you cannot take this
deduction.
This deduction is not available:
* If the American Opportunity
Credit or Lifetime Learning Credit
is claimed for the student
* On returns filed with a Married
Filing Separately filing status
* To a person who can be claimed
as a dependent on another person's
return, even if the other person
chooses not to claim the person as a
dependent
Qualified expenses used to take
the tuition and fees deduction must
be reduced by any tax-free benefits
received, such as distribution of
earnings from a Qualified Tuition
Program (QTP) or tax-free savings
bond interest. Qualified expenses
must also be reduced by the full
amount of a Coverdell Education
Savings Account (Coverdell ESA)
distribution.
For example, Charmaine's modi-
fied adjusted gross income is under
$65,000. She incurred qualified
tuition expenses of $5,000 for her
son, Anwar, who is a student
Charmaine claims as her dependent.
Anwar received a $6,000 distribu-
tion as the beneficiary of a QTP, of
which $500 represents the tax-free
earnings. He also received a $1,000
distribution from a Coverdell ESA.
Charmaine's allowable tuition and
fees deduction is $3,500 ($5,000
qualifying expenses less $500 tax-
free earnings less $1,000 Coverdell
ESA distribution).
Coverdell EducationSavings Account (ESA)The Coverdell Education Savings
Account (Coverdell ESA) is a cus-
todial or trust account for the sole
purpose of paying for the qualified
education expenses of the designat-
ed beneficiary. The designated ben-
eficiary is considered the owner of
the account, which may affect the
beneficiary's eligibility for financial
aid. The designated beneficiary
assumes control of the account
upon turning age 18.
In addition to higher education
expenses, qualified expenses
include certain elementary (includ-
ing kindergarten) and secondary
public, private, or religious school
tuition and expenses. Expenses
include books, tutoring, computer
equipment, software and services,
room and board, uniforms, extend-
ed-day program costs, and the
expenses of an individual with spe-
cial needs that are necessary for that
person's enrollment or attendance at
an eligible educational institution.
Anyone, including the benefici-
ary, can establish and contribute to
this account. However, if the bene-
ficiary is under age 18, the parent or
guardian of the beneficiary must set
up this account. You can make a
contribution to a Coverdell ESA if
your modified adjusted gross
income for the year is less than
$110,000 ($220,000 if Married
Filing Jointly). If your modified
adjusted gross income is above the
limit, it is possible for you to pro-
vide the beneficiary with the money
as a gift and have the beneficiary
make the contribution on their own
behalf, as long as the beneficiary's
modified adjusted gross income is
not over the limit. The maximum
total of all contributions for any one
beneficiary cannot be more than
$2,000 per tax year. No additional
contributions can be made to the
account once the beneficiary turns
age 18, unless the beneficiary is an
individual with special needs.
The contributions are not tax
deductible but earnings are tax free
to the beneficiary if they are used to
pay for qualified education expens-
es. A 10% penalty may apply to a
distribution that is not applied to
qualified education expenses.
Money remaining in the account
after paying for a beneficiary's
qualified expenses can be rolled
into another family member's
Coverdell ESA account tax free if
certain conditions are met.
Contributions to a Coverdell ESA
are considered a gift from the con-
tributor to the beneficiary and are
eligible for the annual gift tax
exclusion.
The author is an eminent CPAwith over 25 years of experienceand having 25 offices in Nassau,Suffolk and Queens counties.email:[email protected].
Tax filing: Education credits and deductions
In a new trend, more elderly
people in the US are complet-
ing 'living wills' to guide end-
of-life medical treatments - up
from 47 percent in 2000 to 72 per-
cent in 2010, shows research.
“However, even with nearly dou-
ble the number of people complet-
ing advance wills, there was little
difference in hospitalization rates
or deaths in the hospital,” said
researchers from University of
Michigan and the Veterans Affairs
Ann Arbor Healthcare System.
Given the aging population,
there has been a great push to
encourage more people to com-
plete advance directives with the
idea that this may increase hospice
care and reduce hospitalization for
patients during the last six months
of life, explained Maria Silveira
researcher with the VA Ann Arbor
Healthcare System.
Silveira says the increase in
advanced directives indicates that
people are less timid about broach-
ing end-of-life planning and
talking about death with loved
ones.
“People seem more comfortable
having 'the talk' about those dire
`what-if' scenarios and death in
general,” she added.
People want to ease the burden
upon their loved ones who would
undoubtedly face difficult deci-
sions when it comes to handling
finances, medical treatment and
other matters.
More US elderly writing 'living wills'
By Kanwal S. Sra CPA
Tax filing
deadlines
April 15, 2014
Federal Tax Returns
Due!
Taxes must be postmarked by
this date to qualify for
timely filing.
October 15, 2014
Due date for those
who filed an
extension.
Please be aware that anextension of time to file isNOT an extension oftime to pay.
26 April 5-11, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.infoSELF HELP
As the economy continues to
strengthen, you may wonder
whether to stay in your cur-
rent home or sell while the timing
seems perfect.
Since there are many things to
sort out, the experts at
Homes.com have put together a
comprehensive overview of things
to consider:
�Size: If your home is too small,moving may be a more affordable,
less stressful option than additions,
which can be costly and overwhelm-
ing. You can expect to recoup any-
where from 45 to 75 percent in addi-
tional home appreciation, depending
on the project, according to
Remodeling.com. However, the
return on investment is not always
immediate, which is something to
consider if you’re planning to sell
immediately.
�Renovations: If the necessaryrenovations to stay in your current
home seem overwhelming, it may
be time to move. For example, a
new roof can cost anywhere from
$5,000 to $30,000 or more, accord-
ing to Choice Roofing Group.
Large-scale home issues may
decrease a home’s market value, but
conversely, many home-seekers
love the opportunity to customize
their dream home.
�Competition: Do your
research. Determine your home’s
worth. Then, work with a real estate
professional to determine a competi-
tive price point, and let the bidding
begin.
�Lifestyle change: Just as grow-ing families need more room, a
shrinking family might mean it’s
time to downsize. Retired and look-
ing to travel? Downsizing can free
disposable income for a world
adventure.
�Demand: As demand picks up,builders are ready to keep up, and
that means brand new homes at
varying, competitive prices.
Consider selling to take advantage
of increased demand and tightening
supply.
�Equity: Year-over-year home
equity growth reached 8 percent at
the end of 2013, as reported by the
Homes.com Local Market Index. If
you love your current place, contin-
ue enjoying your home and reap the
benefits of increased equity when
the time comes to sell.
�Local economy: If you live in agrowing town, it may be wise to
stay put. Watch the local economy
grow for a year or two and then
decide if it’s a good decision to relo-
cate.
�Updates: Home updates are anopportunity to add value to a home
and make it feel brand new.
�Location: Consider your neigh-bors, school zone, proximity to
work and daily life activities. Are
you happy where you are?
9 things to consider when decidingwhether to sell your home
Everybody wants to be in shape
for bathing suit season, but all
those fun seasonal activities --
from barbecues to vacations to base-
ball games -- can derail a diet.
Here are some tips to help you
get fit, so you can look and feel
your best all season:
Vacations
It’s tempting to leave healthy
habits behind when heading out of
town. But an off week can perma-
nently wreck your diet.
When possible, opt for active vaca-
tions, such as camping trips or tour-
ing a city by foot. If you’re planning
a more sedentary getaway, stay
somewhere with a fitness facility.
Vacations can be rare, so don’t sac-
rifice all the treats of the trip.
Prioritize meal-time indulgences so
you can enjoy yourself mindfully.
For travel days, pack healthful
snacks such as fresh fruit, nuts and
yogurt as alternatives to high-calorie
airport or roadside food.
Daily Diet
It’s important to assess whether
you’re eating the foods you need to
get “fit,” versus foods that merely
encourage weight loss, say experts.
“Unfortunately, many fad diets
can leave you feeling fatigued, slug-
gish or undernourished,” says
Andrew Eckhardt, Owner and
Founder of ThinSlim Foods and a
veteran diet food consumer.
To eat right, don’t starve yourself.
Stock up on fruits and vegetables,
low-fat dairy and lean meats. And
just because you’re slimming down
or maintaining your already svelte
figure, doesn’t mean you need to sac-
rifice your favorite foods or go carb-
free.
“Alternative foods can allow you
to enjoy favorite options without
expending your calorie budget in one
meal,” says Eckhardt.
Try replacing standard cake or
wheat flours with healthy alterna-
tives, like oat fiber and almond fiber.
In one shot, you’ll cut calories and
increase your protein and fiber
intake. If regular baking is unrealis-
tic, look for brands that replace low-
quality inexpensive flours and sugar
substitutes with good-for-you alter-
natives.
Exercise
Spring is a great opportunity to
start a fitness regimen that you can
stick with all year. You should strive
to get at least two and a half hours a
week of moderate-intensity aerobic
physical activity, preferably spread
throughout the week, according to
the Department of Health and
Human Services.
Additionally, you should incorpo-
rate muscle-strengthening activities
into your regimen to stay strong and
improve your metabolism. A work-
out buddy can help you stay motivat-
ed. Wherever spring takes you, you
can look and feel great, while enjoy-
ing all your favorite foods and
activities.
Tips to get fit this spring
What every small business needsto know about marketing
For small businesses, smart
marketing is crucial for suc-
cess. But what does that mean
in today’s fast paced, highly wired
world?
While online and mobile commu-
nication has gained importance in
recent years, experts say that face-
to-face engagement with people
who matter to you and your organi-
zation remains invaluable.
“In a crowded marketplace, mak-
ing a positive and lasting impression
is crucial,” says Skip Cox, Board
Chairman for the International
Association of Exhibitions and
Events. “There’s no substitute for an
in-person meeting.” No matter the
size or focus area of your business,
exhibitions, trade shows and other
forms of face-to-face meetings can
be a powerful business tool, helping
with sales, networking, education
and business research.
But how do you make the most
of your time at face-to-face
events? Cox is offering some top
tips:
�Socialize: Before the event,identify who you want to engage
with while you’re there. Engage
those individuals in online dialogue
-- retweet them, reply to their mes-
sages and join their groups. This
will make the initial in-person con-
versation easier. Social and mobile
media can help you take conversa-
tions from online to offline and back
again.
�Be more than your booth:Your booth is not the only presence
your brand has at an event. Without
going too far or coming across as
unprofessional, wear something that
aligns with your company to help
you stand out. Consider the stan-
dards of your industry, the image of
your business and the tone of the
event, and find something that fits
with you and your business.
�Connect your connections:Introduce people who may benefit
from knowing one another. Both
parties will be grateful to you and
you’ll be known as someone who
“knows people.”
�Promote: Get your name outthere. Use promotional products
strategically. Investigate sponsor-
ship opportunities.
�Play by the rules: Don’t takeadvantage of the audience attending
an official event by creating non-
affiliated concurrent activities or
events, or use public areas to drum
up personal business without actual-
ly paying to participate. This will
only build negative buzz for you
and your business.
�Strategize: Making connec-tions is half the battle. Making the
right connections is the more impor-
tant half. Do your legwork so you
can figure out exactly who you want
to target. Whether you’re just start-
ing out or you’re a well-established
player, getting to know the people
who matter can help your business.
�Ask, don’t assume: Manyevent organizers are familiar with
the struggles startups and small
businesses go through and will often
work with you to find ways you can
participate at a price you can afford.
Don’t let perceived cost deter you;
ask event organizers what your
options are as even a more limited
presence can help you find a wealth
of opportunities at a fraction
of the price.
How religion, spirituality influence health
Do you know that religion
helps regulate behavior
and health habits while
spirituality regulates your emo-
tions?
According to a new research,
religion and spirituality have dis-
tinct but complementary influences
on health.
“No one has ever reviewed all of
the different models of how reli-
gion affects health. We are trying
to impose a structure on a very
messy field,” said Carolyn Aldwin,
a gerontology professor in the col-
lege of public health and human
sciences at Oregon State
University.
Religiousness, including formal
religious affiliation and service
attendance, is associated with bet-
ter health habits such as
lower smoking rates
and reduced alcohol
consumption.
Spirituality, includ-
ing meditation and pri-
vate prayers, helps regulate
emotions, which aids physiological
effects such as blood pressure,
Aldwin noted.
There can be some overlap of the
influences of religion and spiritual-
ity on health.
“More research is needed to test
the theory and examine contrasts
between the two different path-
ways,” Aldwin commented.
The goal is to help researchers
develop better measures for ana-
lyzing the connections between
religion, spirituality and health and
then explore possible clinical inter-
ventions, the researchers conclud-
ed.
The findings were published in
the Journal Psychology of Religion
and Spirituality.
LIFESTYLE 27April 5-11, 2014TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Designer duo Pankaj
and Nidhi Ahuja's
show at the ongoing
Wills Lifestyle India Fashion
Week (WIFW) autumn-winter
2014 was grand and easy to
fall for.
The autumn-winter range
titled House of cards, which
was showcased here Saturday,
was undoubtedly eye-catching
and the hooting and applause
during the show supports the
fact.
It comprised house of cards
gold embellished evening
dress, Spanish royalty jacket
with Jodhpur pants, liquid
gold applique long dress,
embroidered tuxedo-bib with
silk shirt and draped pants,
queen of hearts print dress and
much more in colors like gold,
black, white and green. Some
of the printed dresses were
even held together with belts.
"The collection is close to
us. It's majestic and grand,"
said Nidhi.
WIFW: Pankaj & Nidhi'scollection to 'fall' for
Designer duo David Abraham
and Rakesh Thakore select-
ed wild silk from northeast
India to create their autumn-winter
collection, which they presented at
the WIFW.
"Our collection is inspired by
empowered women and wild silk of
northeast," said Abraham.
Muga, Tussar and Eri are fabrics
woven from wild silk, which was
used to create the line.
The collection with a palette based
on the golden hues of wild silk,
evoked various shades of khaki.
Unlike most of the autumn-winter
collections showcased at the fashion
event, which started Wednesday,
Abraham and Thakore's new range
adhered to the theme. There was less
skin show and winter outfits like
trench coat over a sari, military
inspired blouson jacket with kurta
and even shawl and scarves were
displayed on the last show of day
three of the fashion event.
But for sari blouse they didn't do
what other designers did. Instead of
hiding arms of models with the help
of full sleeve blouse, they chose to
let the arms show while covering
other parts of the body like waist.
Belts were also used to hold
everything together.
Meant for urban women, the range
with a few pieces beautified by
leopard prints, looked fabulous on
models, who walked in flats. They
also left behind jewelry pieces and
neatly tied up hair.
Actor Rahul Dev, dressed in a pair
of jeans and black shirt with some
of the top buttons open, occupied a
seat in the front row and watched
the show.
She may have walked with
elan in Madhur Bhandarkar's
2008 release "Fashion", but
actress Kangana Ranaut was unable
to move forward smoothly as the
showstopper for designer Namrata
Joshipura at the grand finale of
Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week
(WIFW) autumn-winter 2014 in
Delhi.
The five-day fashion event con-
cluded Sunday and the "Queen"
star was invited to sashay down the
ramp as Joshipura's showstopper.
With her curly locks tied up,
Kangana made her entry in a strap-
less floor sweeping black gown
with metallic embellishment on the
side.
Just after taking a few steps, one
could notice her struggling with her
gown created by Joshipura.
Nevertheless, Kangana gradually
walked on the LED lit runway.
After stumbling a few times, she
slightly lifted her gown up with
both hands to avoid herself from
falling on the stage.
"I feel her show was good and I
feel bad because I let her down,"
the 27-year-old told reporters here
after the show. The designer missed
the chance to walk down the
ramp with Kangana and take
a bow, but she continued
to be happy.
"Stuff happen.
Kangana is larger
than that. She
walked for me
and I am
happy," said
Joshipura.
Despite the
mishap, Kangana was in
some way delighted to be
back on the fashion runway.
"It is nice to be here. Many
years after 'Fashion' I am get-
ting to walk on the ramp. I
was a fashion disaster in
'Queen' and a fashion vic-
tim in 'Revolver Rani'...I
love getting dressed and
looking good for a
change...I like doing
shows," said the
actress, who will be
soon seen in
"Revolver Rani".
Joshipura presented her new
range titled electron, which was
inspired by the future. New tech-
niques were used.
Texturing was used as embellish-
ment, leather palettes were created
and twisted fabrics were woven
into sur-
faces.
There were long and short dress-
es, bodysuits, shorts and jackets in
mostly black. Other colors included
green, blue and red.
The knee length boots, gloves,
gladiator headgear and metal piece
on lips of the models, made the out-
fits more appealing.
Actress Soha Ali Khan
felicitated India's aspir-
ing fashion designer at
an awards ceremony held at
WIFW.
Wills Lifestyle presented the
grand finale of the 8th edition
of The Debut, which recognizes
the country's talented young
designers in the field of fash-
ion. Soha was present at the
occasion.
"The Debut by Wills Lifestyle
is an extremely wonderful ini-
tiative. It gives the young aspir-
ing student designers from all
over India an opportunity to
showcase their capabilities in
front of the celebrated fashion
specialists," Soha said.
Gourav Goel, Pearl Academy,
New Delhi was declared the
winner of The Debut this time.
He received a sponsored trip
to Britain for a course at the
London School of Fashion.
The Debut finale was judged
by popular names like Namrata
Joshipura and Pankaj & Nidhi.
Sohafelicitates
young designerat WIFW
Models display Namrata Joshipura’s collection
Models sashay in Abraham Thakore creations
WIFW 2014 grand finale: Kangana's oops moment on ramp
Kangana Ranaut as the showstopper for Namrata Joshipura
Abraham-Thakore choose northeast wild silk for WIFW range
One ofdesigner
duo Pankajand NidhiAhuja's
creations
These days, people overthink
every decision they make. To
compensate, more people
need to underthink their decisions.
Luckily, many people, including this
writer, do this automatically.
Like the man who spent months
building a nursery for quintuplets,
but learned a few days ago that he
just had a fat girlfriend. (Paul Servat
of Quebec, if you want to look him
up.)
Or the guy in Australia who
recently got lost in his back garden
and phoned the police. "I'm lost."
"Where are you?" "In the garden of
my house in Darwin." "Thought you
said you were lost?" "It's a big gar-
den." A police rescue team found
him 300 meters from his back door,
NTnews.com reported.
Now I can see you starting to
smile but it's really important we do
not laugh at these people. As
Modern Scientific People, we need
to consider the positive side of stu-
pidity.
Exhibit A is the US police force,
which rejected an applicant because
he scored too high in an intelligence
test. The irritated brainy guy, Robert
Jordan, sued. His appeal was reject-
ed by the 2nd US Circuit Court of
Appeals after police chiefs
explained that less intelligent appli-
cants better suited the job and stayed
longer. Judges considered mounds
of data and agreed. Stupid was bet-
ter.
The case took place several years
ago but has been much discussed
recently by researchers. Would-be
cop Jordan pleaded at the time that
he couldn't help being smart, having
been born that way. "I maintain you
have no more control over your
basic intelligence than your eye
color or your gender or anything
else," he said, according to ABC
News. (He should have said: "Me
like being brainiac! Woof woof!")
The good news is that the US
police force can bulk-recruit from
Asia. Recently, the Delhi Police
force admitted that it had had
missed eight years of on-line cor-
ruption tip-offs because no one
could remember the email pass-
word. When they finally managed to
download the messages, they found
600 tips, many referring to people
who had already died, moved away
or been elected to high office.
But how exactly is stupidity good?
Studies say it improves efficiency
(Journal of Management Studies),
boosts productivity (University of
Texas) and increases happiness
(University of Edinburgh). In a
study in top journal Nature, scien-
tists divided people into three
groups: unconfident, accurate and
overconfident. They found that "nat-
ural selection is likely to have
favored a bias towards overconfi-
dence". I would give more details,
but all the studies are full of really
big words.
I learned the wisdom of stupidity
when I was 13. I walked into a gang
of neo-Nazis in London, who told
me they had a policy of beating up
all Pakistanis. A typical bookish
Asian kid, I nervously explained: "I
was born 1,499 miles from Pakistan
in Sri Lanka, as far from the afore-
mentioned country as London is
from Russia." They beat me up. The
next time, I just talked rubbish.
"Yeah! Cool! Manchester United vs
Arsenal, right? I like popsicles!
Gary Glitter sucks!" They greeted
me as a brother.
So I don't worry about the future
of the world. Consider the words of
our greatest modern role model.
"Stupidity got us into this mess, and
stupidity will get us out." (Homer
Simpson).
28 April 5-11, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.infoHUMOR
Funny Bone by Nury Vittachi
Laughter is the Best Medicine
The wisdom of being really stupid works for me
byMahendra
Shah
MahendraShah is an
architect byeducation,
entrepreneurby profession,
artist andhumorist,
cartoonist andwriter by
hobby. He hasbeen record-ing the plightof the immi-grant Indiansfor the past
many years inhis cartoons.Hailing fromGujarat, he
lives inPittsburgh,
Pennsylvania.
5th April, 2014 Ruled planet: Mercury
Ruled by no :As you are influenced by your ruling planet Mer-
cury, you are intelligent, unique, sensible, business oriented,
dignified, optimistic and charismatic. You are also pretty warm-
hearted and friendly. However, you need not be restless and im-
patient always to get your things done.
Traits in you: You will go through minor health issues this
year. You have to take regular advice from the doctor and prac-
tice healthy nutrition and diet to remain healthy. Meditation and
yoga may help you in retaining a perfect health throughout the
year.
Health this year: Your new business alliances and partnerships
will help you earn financial stability this year. You will receive
all the pending payments and money you gave away as loans in
the past. You should go for investing in real estates and share
market.
Finance this year: You need to focus on your profession and
put your cent per cent effort to achieve your expected goals.
You will be appreciated by your peers and seniors for your ef-
ficient output. You may be assigned extra responsibilities as
you are very decisive and capable of performing wonders.
Career this year: You need to focus on your profession and put
your cent per cent effort to achieve your expected goals. You
will be appreciated by your peers and seniors for your efficient
output. You may be assigned extra responsibilities as you are
very decisive and capable of performing wonders.
Romance this year: You should avoid any kind of conflict with
your beloved. Plan a long holiday with your spouse to make
your relationship stronger. If you are unmarried, you should not
get to a marital relationship this year as the movement of your
stars is not favorable for marriage.
Lucky month: April, May, September and December
6th April, 2014 Ruled planet: Venus Ruled by no: 6
Traits in you: As you are ruled by Venus, you are optimistic,
modest, focused, punctual, reliable, and dependant. You are
pretty interested in doing social work and charity. However,
you should control your mood swings, impatience, and whim.
Health this year: You need to focus on your health a little more
as you may fall sick frequently this year. You should go for reg-
ular medical checkups to maintain a healthy life. Your parents
may fall sick towards the end of the year and it will put you in
immense pressure.
Finance this year: You will get financial benefits if you have
invested in past. For future financial gains, you may invest on
real estate and stock market. You should study the market well
before investing on anything. Do not be in a hurry to invest as
it may go in loss.
Career this year: As far as your professional life is concerned,
you are expected to get a lot of opportunities throughout this
year. However, you have to work hard and efficiently to con-
vert those opportunities. Being a quick decision maker, you
may have to decide on many critical matters in your profes-
sional circle.
Romance this year: You will share a good relationship with
your spouse. You may decide to turn your relationship into mar-
riage if you are not married yet. However, you need to under-
stand your beloved and provide the required emotional support
for the betterment of your relationship.
Lucky month: May, July, October, January and February
7th April, 2014 Ruled planet: Neptune Ruled by no: 7
Traits in you: By nature you are sober, courteous, unique, hon-
est and courageous as you are ruled by the powerful planet Nep-
tune. Your charming nature attracts people towards you. You
love to face challenges and you fight them pretty well by exe-
cuting perfection. You need to check for your impatience, rude-
ness, and frequent mood swings.
Health this year: You may suffer some minor injuries due to
vehicle accidents. However, it will not be critical. You may go
through minor health issues during the initial months of the
year. Moreover, you will enjoy a sound health throughout the
year with proper medical checkups and medications.
Finance this year: Your financial conditions will be very stag-
nant this year. As you will not earn much or spend much, you
will lead a peaceful life in money matters. You may invest for
future. Do not lend or borrow money from your friends or col-
leagues.
Career this year: This year you will reach to the peak of your
professional career and it will offer you huge financial benefits.
This year will be pretty rewarding for female employees. You
may get a better performance appraisal as well as salary hike as
compared to your expectations.
Romance this year: The emotional attachment with your
spouse or partner may blossom this year with lot of love, care,
and concern. If you are not married, then you may go for a ro-
mantic relationship. You will enjoy a very blissful time with
your beloved.
Lucky month: June, August, October and March
8th April, 2014 Ruled planet: Saturn Ruled by no: 8
Traits in you: Your ruling planet Saturn makes you humble,
honest, focused, practical, realistic and enthusiastic. You are
blessed with enormous talent and imagination. Along with the
positive characters in you, there are some negative aspects in
your nature. You need to work on your nature of being envious,
unreliable, and indiscipline.
Health this year: You will enjoy a normal health this year.
Though you will not have any major health issues, you need to
take proper medication. You may practice yoga and meditation
for better results.
Finance this year: You may try your entrepreneurship skills
this year and you will be successful unexpectedly. You will be
able to get many projects, which you help you establish as a
good businessperson. You should go for investments in real es-
tate and stock market.
Career this year: You may get the chance to complete all your
previous assignments and this will enhance your respect as a
brilliant performer in your professional circuit. If you are into
a profession that demands creativity, then you will be very suc-
cessful this year as far as your career is concerned.
Romance this year: Your relationship with your spouse or part-
ner will blossom this year. If you are not married, you may have
to wait for few more years though you are eligible for marriage.
Lucky month: August, October, January and March
9th April, 2014 Ruled planet: Mars Ruled by no: 9
Traits in you: Being influenced by Mars, you are believed to
be the master of a charismatic personality. You are courteous,
courageous, energetic, realistic, modest, and responsive. You
follow religion very keenly. However, you have few problems
in your attitude and that needs to be worked on for the better-
ment of your individuality.
Health this year: As far as your health is concerned this year,
you may not remain healthy throughout the year. There will be
few hiccups in your health as you may suffer from many minor
diseases. If you want to stay healthy, you should go for proper
medication and a healthy diet plan. You have to leave consum-
ing alcohol and smoking cigarettes.
Finance this year: Your financial condition will be pretty good
as the movements of your stars are favorable for making mon-
ey this year. You may go for any investment on real estate or
gold. Do not trust anyone when partnerships are concerned.
You should not lend or borrow money as it will
create disputes.
Career this year: If you are a working professional, you may
face various profession related problems this year. You need to
handle all the issues diplomatically else you may lose your job.
You may create wonder in the creativity field if you are a writer,
singer or actor.
Romance this year: Your plans to go for holidays with your
partner may not work because of huge work pressure and this
may create disturbance in your marital life. You need to take
care of the emotional requirements of your partner to lead a
peaceful life this year.
Lucky month: April, July, November and January
10th April, 2014 Ruled planet: Sun Ruled by no :1Traits in you: Due to the positive effects of your ruling planet
Sun, you will have the characteristics of a good human being.
By nature, you are accountable, unique, courageous, commit-
ted, competitive, coordinated and intelligent. You should work
on your negative personality traits such as selfishness, depend-
ency and pessimism.
Health this year: You need to take an appropriate care of your
health. You may fall sick in the middle months of the year
though those will not be serious. If you are a sportsperson, you
need to be very careful for your diet and nutrition to perform
better in your sporting events.
Finance this year: You may get benefits from your invest-
ments later this year. This year seems to be an ideal one to start
investing in business, land or gold. Your efforts to earn money
may pay off this time. You may go for new partnerships. How-
ever, you should verify the financial background of your part-
ner for your financial security.
Career this year: The nature of your professional work will al-
low you find many new job opportunities with high salaries.
You should take up a new job to flourish in your career. You
will gain required expertise in your profession and perform bet-
ter than ever.
Romance this year: You will spend a peaceful life with your
love interest this year. You will lead a blissful life with your
beloved with lots of love, care, concern, and support.
Lucky month: May, August, September and November
11th April, 2014 Ruled planet: Moon Ruled by no: 2
Traits in you: Your ruler, the Moon makes you a very friendly
individual. You are simple, confident, realistic, sincere, and op-
timistic. You are very innovative and try to perform your work
in a different and efficient way. You need to work hard on your
characteristics of being jealous and insensitive at times.
Health this year: Your health will remain fine. However, you
may suffer from various minor diseases say cough, cold, body
pain, loss of sleep and so on. To enjoy a very healthy life, you
need to get a good control on your diet. You have to stay away
from alcohol and cigarettes to avoid any organ dysfunction.
Finance this year: Your past investments may yield a lot of
money for you this year. You need to be extra cautions while in-
vesting huge amounts as it is a bit risky to put money on un-
predictable things. Overall, you will enjoy a strong financial
condition.
Career this year: ou will be successful professionally this year.
You will be additional responsibility and you will well execute
them to perfection. Your success may get you various awards
and rewards as well. You may share your ideas with the higher
management as it would help you grow quickly.
Romance this year: If you are yet to be in a relationship, this
year is the ideal time to find a partner. You will get ample sup-
port from your spouse in any critical decision you have to take.
You should show your love to your partner as it strengthens
your relationship.
Lucky month: April, June, November and February
By Dr Prem Kumar SharmaChandigarh, India: +91-172- 256 2832, 257 2874Delhi, India: +91-11- 2644 9898, 2648 [email protected]; www.premastrologer.com
Stars Foretell: April 5-11, 2014 Annual Predictions: For those born in this week
29
ARIES : At work you will be perfect in
whatever you do in this week. Friends
and family members would lend a help-
ing hand. Monetary position is likely to improve
later in the week. Cupid’s arrows would make
your heart flutter high. Inexhaustible energy
enables to participate in outdoor activities. You
will have to go out of routine work to enjoy your
vacation. It’s time to make some property
investments for your kids. You would be full of
good ideas and your choice of activities brings
positive results far beyond expectations.
TAURUS: Support and appreciation
from seniors would raise your morale
and confidence. An unexpected message
from a distant relative brings happy news for the
entire family. Hard work of previous days brings
good fortune enabling to fulfil monetary promis-
es. You are likely to enjoy a pleasure trip that
will rejuvenate your passions. You attain a
bloom in health on sharing happiness with oth-
ers. Dreaming of travelling is good, but if possi-
ble than plan a trip. Purchasing official acces-
sories can lead to improve growth of your
office. For some boundless creativity and enthu-
siasm leads to another beneficial week.
GEMINI: A very good week to apply
for overseas job. Relatives are likely to
give some valuable advice regarding per-
sonal life. You succeed in making some extra
cash on playing your cards well. Romantic
entanglement would add spice to your happi-
ness. A cheerful state of mind would allow
enjoying the perfect health. Take some time to
travel with your spouse for romance and seduc-
tion. Inheriting property from your relatives
seems to be ahead. Avoiding controversial topics
in friend circle will immensely help.
CANCER: Promotions and monetary
benefits for dedicated professionals.
You receive care and affection from
family members. An auspicious week to invest
money on items that would grow in value.
Chances of your love life turning into life-long
bond are high on the card. Divine knowledge
from a saintly person provides solace & com-
fort. You can make your vacation extra special
by planning it with your family and friends.
Your income can be doubled by renting your
house or a part of your house. Success in avoid-
ing making personal judgment about people and
their motives will highly benefit.
LEO: Pending proposals will get imple-
mented with the help of seniors.
Matrimonial alliance for eligible bache-
lor in family brings joy to all. Investment on
long-term plans would pave the way for earning
financial gains. Exciting week as your long
pending wait for affirmation is going to materi-
alize. Meditation and yoga prove beneficial for
spiritual as well as physical gains. Spiritual
vacation is a quest for life, plan it and enjoy it
with your family. It would be beneficial if you
plan to buy a small property. Your compassion
& understanding will greatly help a friend in
need.
VIRGO: Good week for implementing
new plans and ventures. A new outlook
will be the source of laughter at family
front. Improvement in finances makes it conven-
ient in clearing long pending dues & bills.
Enjoying the company of partner in a lively
restaurant would bring immense romantic pleas-
ure. A very healthy week when your cheerful-
ness gives the desired tonic and confidence.
Vacation full of beauty and history as well as
exciting is waiting for you.
Real estate is one thing on which you can rely
on to invest. You have a good opportunity to
involve yourself in some interesting conversa-
tion during this week.
LIBRA: You are likely to suffer from a
feeling that your core competency and
knowledge is outdated. Enjoying a pic-
nic with family will not only bring joy but also
help in clearing misunderstandings. Successful
execution of brilliant ideas would help in earn-
ing financial profits. The presence of love would
make you feel life meaningful. You are likely to
maintain good health that would also give you
success. Travelling on your own, with a friend
or with the whole family will be exciting and
comfortable too. Investment on construction
business would flourish your income. Legal
matters that have been pending for long time
might be decided to your satisfaction.
SCORPIO : Subordinates/co-workers
would be very helpful. Charming nature
and pleasant personality would make you
the attraction of family function in this week. A
very successful week as far as monetary position
is concerned. Love life brings some memorable
moments that you could cherish rest of your life.
A continuous positive thinking gets rewarded as
you succeed in whatever you do in this week.
Travel in comfort with kids to an adventurous
place might be possible. Dealings for older
properties can be in process. Interacting with
strangers would highly benefit you.
SAGITTARIUS: Travelling brings
new overseas business opportunities.
Family members appreciate the changes
made in & around the house. Indications of
earning financial profits through commissions,
dividends or royalties. You will have to make
some courageous efforts to renew romantic
bond. Creative hobbies are likely to keep you
relaxed. A trip that stimulates and gives opportu-
nity for work is coming ahead. Your possession
for acquiring a plot might be achieved. You use
your hidden qualities to make it the best week
for you.
CAPRICORN: Auspicious week to
start a new venture. Friends and family
members would encourage working
harder. Important people will be ready to
finance anything that has a special class to it.
Your flashing smile would work as the best anti-
dote for romantic partner’s unhappiness. With a
positive outlook & confidence, you succeed in
impressing people around you. A luxurious get-
away type vacation with your spouse waiting for
you. If you invest on smaller properties then it
can be beneficiary for future investments.
Giving an ear to others advice would immensely
benefit you in this week.
AQUARIUS: Professional attitude at
work brings success. You are likely to
hear good news from close relatives.
You are likely to make money, if you put sav-
ings into conservative investments. Sharing can-
dyfloss and toffees with lover/beloved would
bring unlimited joy. Mental alertness would
enable to solve a tricky problem. Thrilling expe-
rience is on your way, as your trip is full of
excitement Your plan to own a house is ought to
be in the right way. Your mere presence would
make a huge difference provided you give your
time to others.
PISCES: Seniors colleagues are likely
to lend a helping hand. An old friend
makes a pleasant visit later in the week.
Property dealings would materialize helping in
bringing fabulous gains.
Company of love partner would inspire to take
initiatives in this week. A cheerful state of mind
brings mental peace. Pack your bags as a happy,
fun-filled holiday is looking forward. Plan to
invest in cafeteria or a bakery shop; it might
create new opportunities for you. Your sharp
observation would help in keeping an edge over
others.
April 5-11, 2014TheSouthAsianTimes.info ASTROLOGY
Once upon a time, there was
a man who lived alone. He
kept his money in a special
jar so that no one could steal it. One
day, while the man was out farming
his land, a thief broke into his
house. Looking for something to
steal, he came across a heavy stone
jar. He could barely jiggle it to hear
the coins inside. He could not lift
the jar. So the man stuck his hand in
the jar to take out the money. His
hand fit perfectly into the jar.
The man grabbed as much money
as he could, holding it in his fist.
But when he tried to pull out his
hand, it would not come out. He
tried his hardest to pull out his
hand, but the fist made his hand
wider. While holding the money, he
could not get it through the neck of
the jar. He let go of the money and
his hand was freed to come out of
the jar. But he was intent upon hav-
ing the money, so he tried again and
again. Each time he enclosed the
coins in his fist, his hand was too
wide to be removed from the jar.
Suddenly, he heard the owner
coming home. He knew that if he
did not get his hand out of the jar,
he would be caught. But he was so
intent upon trying to get the money
out that he would not give up. The
result was that the man came in,
caught him, and had him arrested.
We too are like the thief in the
story. Desires cause us to be caught
with our hand in the jar. Desires
keep us bound to this world. It is
only by letting go of the things of
this world that we can be free. We
need to stop clutching for whatever
binds us as prisoners of our desires
so we can enjoy true freedom. We
need to stop clutching and let go.
Then we will find the joy of free-
dom. What kind of joy did the thief
have in his pursuit of the money?
Instead he ended up a prisoner in
the jail. We too are like prisoners in
the jail of this physical world. We
spend all our time going after
things that will not give us happi-
ness. Whatever material gains we
have in the world can lead us to
more bondage if we are attached to
them. For example, if we want a
big house, we have to work longer
hours to pay for its mortgage. Then
we need to fill it up with more and
more furniture. That will take more
time to work to pay for it, shop to
buy it, and then to clean and repair
everything. Before we know it, the
house that was supposed to bring us
pleasure has made us a slave to it.
We no longer have time for our
family, our children, or pursuits that
will give us more fulfillment. We
spend all our time going after
things that may not give us true and
lasting happiness.
Similarly, we may want to buy a
computer to keep up with the latest
technology. We then find ourselves
working harder to buy all the right
software and equipment to make it
work. Soon we realize that we are
not happy with a simple computer.
We want to upgrade to a faster and
more elaborate computer. Next, we
find the computer that was sup-
posed to save us time is taking up
all our time. We end up spending
hours learning to use the computer.
We spend hours exploring the
Internet. The e-mail system that
was supposed to make communica-
tions faster is taking more and more
of our time. Suddenly, we find fifty
people e-mailing us daily and they
expect an instantaneous response. If
we do not respond right away they
accuse us of being nonresponsive
and indifferent. Soon, we are
spending hours on the computer.
We have become slaves to our pos-
sessions.
How can we end our bondage?
We need to let go and be free.
When we can let go of our desires
for impermanent gains, we can be
free. Then, our soul can experience
the love and beauty that God has to
offer. True happiness comes when
we connect with the source of joy
within us—our soul and God. To do
so, we must turn our attention from
the worldly enticements and listen
to our soul. Beautiful melodies of
God are playing within us all the
time. Light and love are shining
within us. By turning our attention
from the world, we are releasing
our hold on the coins that keep our
hand stuck in the jar. By letting go,
we are gaining eternal freedom.
By sitting in meditation, free
from all worldly desires and attach-
ments, we can let go and find our-
selves free to soar back to God.
True friends are those who
stand by you always. They
will sacrifice themselves for
you, and are people on whom you
can always rely. True friends listen to
your problems and share your bur-
dens. Truly, if we have even one real
friend in life, we are lucky.
If we think about our childhood
friends, how many are still with us
now? Have we parted ways already?
Perhaps they have moved away, or
we have lost contact with them. Let
us consider our close friends today.
Can we imagine that they, too, will
one day be parted from us just as
those friends from our childhood are
gone?
Even if we have one close friend,
or even a few, they can only be with
us up to our last breath, or their last
breath. They can only remain with us
in this life and cannot help us in the
moment of our greatest need—the
time of death.
In this connection, there is an inter-
esting story from the Hindu scrip-
tures. There was a learned pundit
who was the personal minister of
King Prikshat. Each day the minister
would read out the scriptures to the
king. The particular scripture said
that whoever hears the scriptures will
receive spiritual liberation and
enlightenment. Month after month,
the king listened to the scriptures
read by the minister. However, he did
not attain liberation.
One day, the king sat down and
thought, “Here I am—listening to
these scriptures every day, and I am
not yet spiritually liberated. The
scriptures say that whoever listens to
these holy writings will receive sal-
vation once and for all, but I have
not.” Therefore, the king called the
minister and said, “Look here. I have
heard these scriptures so many times
and have not attained liberation. I
will give you one more chance to
read these scriptures to me from end
to end. If I am not liberated after that,
you will be put to death.” Trembling
in his shoes, the minister began the
task of re-reading the scriptures to
the king. By the sixth day he was
nearing the end of the scriptures, and
the king was not satisfied. Fearing
that on the seventh day he would be
put to death, the minister sat down in
his home and started to cry.
“Why are you so sad?” asked his
daughter when she saw him.
The ministered explained the situa-
tion to her, “The scriptures say that
whoever reads them will be liberat-
ed. However, I know that the king is
not liberated, nor am I liberated.
Therefore, tomorrow, I will be put to
death.”
The daughter was wise and had an
idea. “Do not worry,” she said.
“Tomorrow I will speak to the king.”
On the following day, the minister’s
daughter asked for an audience with
the king.
“Why have you come?” he ques-
tioned her.
She told him, “I have come to
reply to the question that you have
asked of my father. But to do this,
you and I must go together to the
wilderness.” The king was per-
plexed, but agreed to go along with
her plan. The girl then sent for her
father. She brought along two ropes
and when they reached the wilder-
ness she tied the king to one tree and
her father to another tree. Both were
then bound, hand and foot. The king
was wondering what all this meant
when the girl asked, “Father, can you
kindly unbind the king over there?”
The minister replied, “I am already
bound! How can I free him?”
The girl asked, “Your Majesty, will
you kindly unbind my father?”
The king replied, “Foolish girl,
don’t you see that I am bound? How
can a bound man unbind another?”
That is all she wanted to hear and
said, “Then how can you expect my
father, who is not free himself, to lib-
erate you spiritually?” The king him-
self had answered the dilemma in
which he had placed the minister.
With that understanding, the king
spared the life of the minister.
At the time of death, we all depart
by ourselves. No friends of this
world can help us. They can sit by
our bedside and hold our hand, but
they can neither protect us from
death nor accompany us. Knowing
this, we still put our reliance on peo-
ple of this world.
Looking back at the friendships we
have had in our lives, how many of
them led us closer to God, and how
many of them have taken us away
from God? What kind of friend
should we look for then? To be truly
awakened spiritually, we should seek
the friendship of the Lord.
We have only a set number of
breaths to reunite our soul with God.
Let us do everything possible to
attain that goal. The best way to
reach the Lord is through meditation,
sweet remembrance, and selfless
service. These activities safeguard us
from being pulled away by distrac-
tions of the world. If we do these
things, then we will be ready at the
time of our death. Having mastered
the art of rising above body-con-
sciousness (by meditating daily on
the inner Light and Sound of God) ,
we will know what awaits us in the
Beyond.
Befriending God makes our spirit
soar. Waves of divine love make our
soul rise to the eye-focus where we
see tremendous Light. Is there any
love or friendship of the world that
can bring us to the eye-focus and
make us rise above physical body-
consciousness?
Only the love of the Lord can make
us wide awake—not only in this
world, but wide awake into the
Beyond.
Learn to let go and be free
Finding a true friend
By Sant Rajinder SinghJi Maharaj
30 April 5-11, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.infoSPIRITUAL AWARENESS
Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharajis an internationally recognizedspiritual leader and Master ofJyoti Meditation who affirms thetranscendent oneness at the heartof all religions and mystic tradi-tions, emphasizing ethical livingand meditation as building blocksfor achieving inner and outerpeace. www.sos.org.
How can weend our
bondage? Weneed to let go
and be free.When we canlet go of ourdesires for
impermanentgains, we can
be free.
BySantRajinderSinghJi Maharaj
April 5-11, 2014TheSouthAsianTimes.info
April 5-11, 2014TheSouthAsianTimes.info