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This weeks question

Will Kejri wave traveloutside Delhi?

Last weeks result

YES 63% NO 37%

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CONTENTS

KEJRIWAL TSUNAMIDECIMATES BJP

Details on page 12

Bollywood ---------------------- 28-29

Classifieds ------------------------- 48

Community Post -------- 16-23

Date Book -------------------------- 27

Edit Page --------------------------- 54

HealthScience Post --------- 32-35

Horoscope ------------------------- 49

Immigration Post ------------- 44-47

Life Style ----------------------- 50-52

Philosophy ------------------------- 53

Publishers Diary ------------------ 4

Real Estate -------------------- 30-31TechBiz Post ------------------- 36-39

Travel & Hospitality Post ---- 40-43

Details on page 11

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Details on page 8

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Details on page 8Bobby Jindal'sportrait sparksrace row

Details on page 9

Bedi 'apologizes'for not living upto expectations

Details on page 12

Result not areferendum onModi, says BJP

Modi greetsKejriwal,assures support

Delhi loss defeatfor PM: UddhavThackeray

No 'unique'provision for USin nuclear deal

Obama appointsBanga to keyadmn post

NYT asks Modito break silenceon intolerance

A FRESH WAVE: AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal with party leaders Ashutosh, Ashish Khaitan, Sanjay Singh and KumarVishwas waving at party volunteers as they celebrate the party's overwhelming victory in the Delhi Assembly polls at party

headquarters in Patel Nagar in New Delhi on February 10. (Details on page 5)

Will Modi get Parliament opprovalon N-liability issue?

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Bollywood:Schizophrenia patientKareena Kapoor Khan will be next seenplaying a schizophrenia patient in RajKumar Gupta's next.

5Cover Story:Landslide victory

16Community:Yoga DVD

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50Life style:

Bangalore-based musician Ricky Kej andactivist Neela Vaswani won at the 57thGrammy awards for their work

36Techbiz:

American firms would participate inIndia's nuclear projects as the two sideshave reached "sufficient understanding"

40Travel:AmritsarWith important devout centers and his-torical sites Amritsar exhibits a gloriouspast and a magnificent present

Nuclear projects

"History of Yoga - Path of My Ances-tors," is a 109-minute English documen-tary released in DVD by Vishuddhi Films

Halting the Modi juggernaut in its tracks,AAP has scored a landslide victory inthe Delhi Assembly elections

Grammy Indians

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Immigration:

Stalemate over funding for the HomelandSecurity Department deepened as Sen-ate Democrats blocked action on bill

Bill blocked

Remember the history lessons back from grade school in India that bitabout how a Mughal general Afzal Khan allegedly stabbed Shivaji in theback while the two embraced in a gesture of peace? Circa the present, it ispossible that the historic brotherly bear hug was initiated by Prime Minister Modibut one didn't expect President Obama to do the stabbing act by rebuking religiousintolerance in India soon after he returned to the US from his trip to India.

If you haven't noticed it already, there is a clear agenda afoot here. A recentnews report cites senior Indian national security officials about impending na-tionwide agitations that are being mobilized by multiple foreign funded groups inIndia in an open bid to destabilize Modi's economic agenda.

Historically, Christian religious workers have been proselytizing poor andvulnerable Hindus in India with rank impunity and presently spends over $120million in overseas funding a year, but the US was never heard to condemn it.Hindus in Islamic countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh have been systemati-cally wiped out over the decades, but one did not ever hear the United Statesmention it at any forum.

So, how come now, when India under Prime Minister Modi's governance hastaken a path of economic progress, the US is making such loud noises of casti-gating "Hindu intolerance"?

And now in the wake of President Obama's National Prayer Breakfast speechwhere he invoked Mahatma Gandhi in the context of religious intolerance intoday's India, the New York Times is running with the baton of India bashingwith editorials on alleged conversions of Christians and Muslims in India.

Hindu organizations such as the Hindu American Foundation are calling outthe hypocrisy in all of this. Since Obama has taken to invoke Mahatma Gandhi,the HAF cites one from the Mahatma that says: "It is impossible for me toreconcile myself to the idea of conversion. Why should a Christian want toconvert a Hindu to Christianity? Why should he not be satisfied if the Hindu is agood or godly man?"

Would Obama or the New York Times care to answer?

India PostFebruary 13, 2015 5

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Kejriwal tsunami decimates BJPNEW DELHI: Halting the Modi

juggernaut in its tracks, the AamAadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesdayscored a landslide victory in theDelhi Assembly elections by win-ning as many as 67 of the 70 seatsleaving BJP with only three andcompletely decimating Congresswhich drew a blank.

In an election that was billedby the opposition as a referendumon Prime Minister Narendra Modi,the AAP tornado threw veteransof both BJP and Congress into theelectoral dustbin in their tradi-tional bastions. BJP leaders ac-cepted the defeat as a "setback"but dismissed suggestions that itwas a vote against the Modigovernment's performance.

The AAP's feat was rarelyachieved in any state in the past.Only once in 1989, the SikkimSangram Parishad had won all the32 seats in the assembly.

Former Revenue Service officerArvind Kejriwal, the AAP mascotwho spearheaded the party's vic-tory march, himself won the pres-tigious New Delhi seat by a mar-gin of over 31,500 votes defeat-ing the nearest BJP rival Nupur

Sharma, a political novice. FormerMinister and Congress veteranKiran Walia came a poor thirdwith 4,700 votes and lost her de-posit.

The BJP's humiliation was

complete with its Chief Ministe-rial face Kiran Bedi losing in thetraditional stronghold of KrishnaNagar which was long held byparty veteran Harsh Vardhan. Shelost by more than 2,000 votes.

Congress' CM candidate AjayMaken also suffered a crushingdefeat by a margin of over 50,000votes at the hands of a novicefrom AAP Som Dutt in Sadar Bazarconstituency and lost his deposit.Maken resigned as Congress Gen-eral Secretary taking responsibil-ity for the debacle.

Those who bit the electoraldust included BJP leaders JagdishMukhi, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri andKrishna Tirath who had defectedfrom Congress on the eve of elec-tions and Congress leaders A KWalia, Harun Yusuf, ChaudhuryPrem Singh and Raj KumarChouhan, who are all former min-isters and Mahabal Mishra, aformer MP.

President Pranab Mukherjee'sdaughter Sarmistha Mukherjeealso lost in her electoral debut ona Congress ticket in GreaterKailash.

Kejriwal will be sworn in as Chief

Minister on February 14, exactly theday one year ago he stepped downafter 49 days in office.

In an address to his support-ers who danced and cheered out-side the party headquarters day-

long, Kejriwal cautioned againstgetting arrogant, saying if thathappens, people will punish themin the next election.

Modi spoke to Kejriwal in the

morning congratulating him onhis victory and assured him ofCenter's support for developmentin Delhi.

In all elections that followedthe spectacular victory in the MayLok Sabha polls, the BJP formedgovernments in Maharastra,Haryana, Jharkhand and emergedthe second largest party in Jammuand Kashmir with the highestvote share.

The Delhi results promptedsome BJP allies and rivals to at-tack the saffron party. Shiv Senaleader Uddhav Thackeray tweetedthat he agreed with Gandhian AnnaHazare that the election result wasa defeat for Modi.

"Delhi has shown that tsunamiis bigger than a wave...It is a mes-

sage to those who lord overDelhi," Thackeray said.

West Bengal Chief Minister andTrinamool Congress leaderMamata Banerjee, with whose

party BJP has been having a run-ning battle, said "arrogance andpolitical vendetta have been de-

feated today" and that BJP's "bal-loon has burst".

She said, "Delhi election isturning point of present politicalsituation. Shows political ven-detta has no place in a democracy.Country needed this change."

Her party spokesman DerekO'Brien said the message from theDelhi polls was "Bhaag (run)Modi Bhaag".

Tamil Nadu ally PMK said thereason for AAP's landslide victorywas that people were yearning forchange due to "corruption" ingovernment administration.

JD (U) leader Nitish Kumar saidthe poll outcome in Delhi was areferendum on Modi and "it re-flects the mood of the country".

Congress, which ruled the na-tional capital for 15 years till De-

AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal and other party leaders celebrate their win in the Assembly polls, at party office inNew Delhi on February 10

Arvind Kejriwal in a cheerful mood with party volunteers at a meeting in New Delhi on February 9, aday before counting of votes for Delhi polls

Congress' CM candidate Ajay Maken alsosuffered a crushing defeat by a margin ofover 50,000 votes at the hands of a novicefrom AAP Som Dutt in Sadar Bazarconstituency and lost his deposit

cember 2013, failed to open itsaccount. Bedi also congratulatedKejriwal saying "full marks toArvind."

In his address to his support-

ers, Kejriwal saluted the people ofDelhi for doing a "wonder" bygiving them a landslide victory.

"You have done a wonder.When you are on the path of truth,all the forces of universe cometogether to help you. I salute thepeople of Delhi. It's a victory oftruth," he said.

The defeat for BJP was all the morebitter because it had won all the sevenLok Sabha seats in the last year's gen-eral elections. The party's gamble ofmaking Bedi its Chief Ministerial can-didate back fired.

The only saving grace for theBJP was victory of its former stateunit president Vijender Gupta whowon from Rohini.

Kejriwal thanked Modi for hisgreetings and said he would liketo meet him soon to discuss is-sues related to Delhi. He told thePrime Minister that he will needthe Center's help.-PTI

Arvind Kejriwal watching the Assembly poll results on the TV at hisresidence in Kaushambi on February 10


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Kejriwal positions himself as a 'change agent'NEW DELHI: Scripting a new

political narrative, ArvindKejriwal's royal come back lead-ing the AAP to a spectacular vic-tory, reflects his strong position-ing as a "change agent" thatscuppered BJP's bid to power inthe national capital and put a breakon the Modi juggernaut.

The magnificent victory is be-ing considered awe-inspiring asthe 46-year-old bespectacledIITian, notwithstanding a stringof electoral triumphs for BJP sincethe May Lok Sabha polls, man-aged to anchor a campaign thatwooed all sections in the city.

Quietly spreading his party'swings after the Lok Sabha polldebacle, the activist-turned-poli-tician achieved the extraordinaryfeat by taking his "participativepolitics" model to the massesthrough a strong army of dedi-cated volunteers and his sheerperseverance.

Kejriwal, who had faced hugecriticism for resigning as the ChiefMinister after remaining in powerfor 49-days, expanded the party'sbase by anchoring an unconven-tional approach to take AAP be-yond his support base of the poorand lower middle class families.

Promising change, the formerDelhi Chief Minister in takingAAP's agenda to the people ap-peared much mellower as heapologized to the people for quit-ting government on February 14last year while successfully con-necting with all sections.

Emerging as a mascot of an al-

ternative brand of politics, theengineer-turned-civil servant hadchanged the political discoursewhen in the last Delhi polls hedecimated Congress after 15-yearrule by winning 28 seats and alsohanded out a crushing defeat to

then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshitin her New Delhi seat.

He had courted controversywithin weeks of becoming ChiefMinister by sitting on a dharna inthe heart of Delhi near ParliamentHouse over his demand for sus-pending three police officers forallegedly not acting against crimi-

nals.He had also come under attack

on the governance agenda.Born on August 16, 1968 in

Hisar in Haryana to Gobind RamKejriwal and Gita Devi, Kejriwalsent the entire political spectrum

into a tizzy, attacking both BJP andCongress on the issues of corrup-tion, exorbitant rise in power andwater tariff, safety of women andclearly managed to make a hugedent in the traditional vote banksof both the parties.

Belying all claims of being a"non-actor or no factor" in the

Delhi Assembly elections by Con-gress and BJP, Kejriwal, a man ofsimple tastes, came into promi-nence from the agitation by 75-year-old activist Anna Hazare insupport of Jan Lokpal Bill in 2011.

Soft-spoken but a man with

strong conviction, the RamonMagsaysay award winner was

part of the Team Anna, along withfirst woman IPS officer Kiran Bedi,lawyer Prashant Bhushan andothers.

He was the civil society repre-sentative member of the commit-tee constituted by the Govern-ment to draft the Jan Lokpal bill,following the campaign for intro-duction of the anti-graft legisla-tion.

After feeling "betrayed" by thegovernment when it rejected theirdraft, Congress and other leaderschallenged them to join politics,win elections and come to Parlia-ment if they wanted to "fight sys-tem from within", root out corrup-tion and get the Jan Lokpal Billpassed.

Known for taking up chal-lenges, the indefatigable activistdecided to take a plunge into poli-tics and formed the "Aam AadmiParty" on November 26, 2012, af-ter a formal split of Team Anna.

The party name 'Aam AadmiParty' reflects the phrase AamAadmi or "common man", whoseinterests Kejriwal pledged to rep-resent and got its poll symbol"broom" in July this year.

A bright academic, Kejriwalpassed out as a Mechanical Engi-neering graduate from IITKharagpur.-PTI

AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal leaves after collecting the winning certificate from a counting centre for Assemblypolls in New Delhi on February 10

Kejriwal tells AAP cadres not tobecome arrogant

Kejriwal thanks wife for'always being there'

Arvind Kejriwal raises slogans while addressing the party volunteers asthey celebrate the partys victory in the Delhi Assembly polls

NEW DELHI: Saluting thepeople of Delhi for doing a "won-der" in Delhi elections by givingthem a landslide victory, AAPchief Arvind Kejriwal has askedparty workers not to get carriedaway by the mandate and not be-come "arrogant".

"You have done a wonder.

When you are on the path of truth,all the forces of universe cometogether to help you. I salute thepeople of Delhi. It's a victory oftruth," the 46-year-old formerDelhi Chief Minister said in hisfirst reaction to the Delhi poll out-come.

"I would like to urge all of you

not to be arrogant. Otherwise wewill meet the same fate five yearsdown the line. We have to servepeople of Delhi as they havegiven such a massive mandate tous and we are grateful to them,"Kejriwal told the cheering crowdof supporters.

Thanking his wife, who wasstanding next to him on the ter-race of three-storeyed party office,Kejriwal said the victory wouldnot have been possible withouther constant support and under-standing. "She never comes in thepicture but she is always there. Itwould not have been possible forme to achieve anything if she wasnot there," he said. The AAP chiefalso thanked his parents for sup-porting him.

Ashutosh, standing besidesKejriwal, said the mandate was thebeginning of a new kind of revo-lutionary politics in the country. -PTI

AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal hugs his wife as he celebrates his partyswin in the Assembly polls, at his residence in Kaushambi

NEW DELHI: Surrounded byjoyous supporters, AAP chiefArvind Kejirwal has made sure tothank his wife Sunita with a warmhug "for always being there".

Kejriwal had met Sunita at theNational Academy of Administra-tion at Mussoorie during theirtraining period after both of themqualified for the Indian RevenueService (IRS).

As the former Delhi Chief Min-ister spoke to party workers forthe first after the staggering vic-tory of his party, an ecstatic Sunita,who is an IRS officer, quietly

stood by his side.Addressing the party workers,

Kejriwal said the victory wouldnot have been possible withouther constant support and under-standing.

"She never comes in the pic-ture but she is always there. Itwould not have been possible forme to achieve anything if she wasnot there," he said.

Kejriwal often fondly remem-bers the day he proposed to Sunita,saying, "One day I knocked at herdoor in the academy and proposedto her. She said yes." -PTI


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'Paanch Saal Kejriwal' reverberates in Capital

AAP supporters celebrate the partys landslide victory in the Delhi Assemblypoll, at Patel Nagar in New Delhi on February 10

NEW DELHI: For hundreds of(AAP) volunteers who had toiledin the cold for more than twomonths, the brute majority for theparty sent them into raptures asthey hummed the poll jingle"Paanch Saal Kejriwal" in groupsacross the Capital.

As the initial trends suggest-ing a victory for Aam Aadmi Party

(AAP) started pouring in, moreand more volunteers started gath-ering outside the party office in abusy locality of Patel Nagar.

From Patel Nagar Metro stationwhere rickshaw drivers - wearingAAP caps and a party flag on theirvehicles to the road leading to theparty office - volunteers startedpouring in when the countingcommenced at 8 am.

The mood was totally oppositewhen the party contested its first

Lok Sabha elections last year andthere were more media personnelthan volunteers at Hanuman Roadoffice on the day of counting onMay 16. The nascent party didnot win any of the seven seats atstake in the Capital.

But on Tuesday it was a totalturnaround as the volunteers sa-vored every moment of the party's

march to a landslide win.Having anticipated a better

show this time, the party hadmade elaborate arrangements out-side its Patel Nagar office. It hadalso put out more than three LEDscreens outside the party officefor its volunteers. It had not onlydecorated the party office withballoons, but had arranged forflowers to be pumped in from thebuilding terrace on their leadersand volunteers to bringing drums

and bursting crackers.Each time the party tally in-

creased, AAP volunteers roaredand more crackers burst.

The party office was sur-rounded by jubilant AAP volun-teers of different age groups -from college going, middle-agedand even senior citizens, withAAP caps, Stole and Muffler Manhoodies wielding their party sym-bol broom danced to the tune ofPaanch Saal Kejriwal (Five yearsfor Kejriwal) -a song composed bynoted music director VishalDadlani, specially for the Delhielections.

At around 10.30 am whentrends showed more than 65 seatsfor the party, volunteers were get-ting restless to listen to their lead-ers. They erupted in joy seeingAAP chief Arvind Kejriwal com-ing out on the rampart of the partyoffice to address them.

"No one could stop Modi'svictory rath (chariot)...inMaharashtra, Haryana,Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir.But Kejriwal halted it in Delhi,"said Megh Raj Singh (26), a vol-unteer from Badli. -PTI

Having anticipated a better show this time,the party had made elaborate arrangementsoutside its Patel Nagar office. It had alsoput out more than three LED screensoutside the party office


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Hazare congratulatesKejriwal, attacks Modi

RALEGAN SIDDHI,Maharashtra: Anti-corruptioncrusader and Gandhian activistAnna Hazare has congratulatedAAP leader Arvind Kejriwal for the

party's spectacular performance inDelhi Assembly polls.

He said the election result wasin favor of AAP because the"achhe din only came for indus-

trialists" after the Narendra Modi-led government came to power atthe Centre eight months back.

"I extend my best wishes toKejriwal," Anna told reportershere.

He also urged the AAP con-vener, a former Team-Anna mem-ber, not to forget his struggle forthe Jan Lokpal Bill and take it for-ward.

"The public earlier thought that'ache din aane wale hain' but thegood days came only for indus-trialists and that's why AAP's ac-ceptability increased among thepeople.

"Public's parliament is biggerthan any government. They havegiven their mandate," he said.

Asked about the advice hewould like to give Kejriwal, Hazaresaid, "I will not tell him how to runthe government. He has more ex-perience than me. I hope he willdo a good job".

"I would also like to tell Bedithat winning or losing is part of agame. Whatever good work shehas been doing for the countryand society, she should continuedoing that," he said, referring tothe former Team Anna member andBJP chief ministerial candidate. -PTIAnna Hazare addresses the media in Ralegan Siddhi on February 10

Bedi 'apologizes' for not livingup to party's expectations

NEW DELHI: A crestfallen BJPchief ministerial candidate KiranBedi, who herself suffered ashocking defeat from party's tra-ditional bastion Krishna Nagar,has sought forgivenessfrom the party and work-ers for not living up totheir expectations.

"I got all the respectand confidence of thetop leaders includingNarendra Modi andAmit Shah as well as or-dinary party workers.But I ask for their for-giveness as I failed tocarry that confidenceand responsibility,"Bedi told reporters af-ter BJP's massive defeatin Assembly elections.

"This is the first timeI felt like this in my en-tire career as a policeofficer. I have never hadto face such a situa-tion," she added.

Denying that theelection result was areferendum on Modigovernment, she said,"The Prime Minister(Modi) was not thechief ministerial candi-date".

She also took to micro-blogging site Twitter saying she"gave it all" and the party will re-flect on the cause of the defeat.

"Wish to thank my party lead-ership for having trusted me fullyand apologies to everykarayakarta for not living up totheir expectations," she said in atweet.

The former IPS officer said thatBJP will introspect and analyze

the defeat."I lose only when I do not give

my 100% to d cause. I gave it all.My party & we will reflect on thecauses of defeat! Best wishes for

Delhi (sic)," she said in anothertweet.

Bedi also congratulated ArvindKejriwal on AAP's spectacularvictory and expressed hope thatthey will fulfill the promises madeto Delhiites.

"I hope Arvind and his partywill now transform Delhi into aworld class city and fulfill theirpromises by providing all the fa-cilities to the poor as soon as pos-sible" she said.-PTI

BJP leader Kiran Bedi addresses a pressconference at her residence in New Delhi on

February 10

A setback for BJP, not a referendumon Centre: Naidu

NEW DELHI: With BJP suffer-ing its first major electoral defeatafter Lok Sabha polls, Union Min-ister M Venkaiah Naidu has saidthe Delhi verdict was a setback tothe party but maintained that itwas not a referendum on the cen-tral government as people votedon local issues.

Naidu said the party has to ex-amine the reasons behind its de-feat and rectify them. Comple-menting the AAP for their "good"victory, he voiced hope that theywill "live up to the expectationsthey have created" in voters andsaid the Centre would extend allsupport to the new government.

"We had eight state electionsin a row. We have won in sevenplaces and for the first time, wehave a setback in Delhi," the Par-liamentary Affairs Minister said onthe sidelines of a function here.

"I have been saying from dayone that this is Delhi electionsand this is not a mandate...it is nota referendum on the central gov-ernment because the issues thatwere focused, discussed and then

decided are local issues. So it isnot a referendum on the centralgovernment."

Complementing the AAP for theirvictory, Naidu said the party acceptsand respects the people's verdict.

"I would like to complement theAAP for their good victory and Ihope that they will live up to theexpectation which they have cre-ated. They have to fulfill all thepromises they have made. TheCentre would extend all support

to the new government."He also assured support to the

AAP government in its endeavorfor development of Delhi.

"We accept the verdict of thepeople of Delhi humbly and werespect their mandate. We willcooperate with the new govern-ment in a more meaningful man-ner for all-round development inDelhi," Naidu said.

He said, "Every election has amessage. The party has to studythe message and understand whatare the reasons that we laggedbehind. They have to be rectifiedfor the future."

Praising Prime MinisterNarendra Modi's leadership, hesaid, "Fortunately we have a PMwho is universally popular. He hasa vision and capacity and caliberto carry the country forward.

"Irrespective of whicheverparty is ruling the state, the PrimeMinister has already said that wehave to work as Team India andwe will be also working togetherwith the new government inDelhi." -PTI

He said, "Every elec-tion has a message.The party has to studythe message andunderstand what arethe reasons that welagged behind. Theyhave to be rectifiedfor the future."

PM congratulates Kejriwal,assures support

NEW DELHI: Prime MinisterNarendra Modi called up AamAadmi Party leader ArvindKejriwal and congratulated himon his thumping victory in Delhiand assured him of all supportfrom the Centre for developmentof the national capital.

"Spoke to @ArvindKejriwal& congratulated him on the win.Assured him Center's completesupport in the development ofDelhi," Modi tweeted.

His tweet came as trendsshowed a massive victory for AAPin Delhi polls in which BJP wasdecimated. BJP had emerged as thesingle largest party in the last As-sembly polls in December 2013.

Kejriwal, while thankingModi for the greetings, said hewould like to meet him soon todiscuss issues related to Delhi.

He told the Prime Minister thathe will need the Center's help.

Law Minister D V SadanandaGowda said since the peoplehave voted in favor of AAP, "itis the responsibility of the Cen-tral government to give all as-sistance to AAP to run the Delhigovernment".

He said the people of Delhishould feel that both the Centreand state government have"joined hands" for the develop-mental activities in the nationalcapital.-PTI


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Delhi loss defeat for PM:Uddhav Thackeray

MUMBAI: With BJP left badlybruised in the Delhi Assemblypoll, ally Shiv Sena added to itswoes saying the outcomeamounted to "defeat" for PrimeMinister Narendra Modi andshowed that tsunami is mightierthan the "Modi wave".

"It would not be wrong to callthe results a defeat for NarendraModi. Talks hadbeen going onabout a Modiwave sweepingthe country. Butthe people ofDelhi haveshown that tsu-nami is mightierthan a wave,"Shiv Sena chiefU d d h a vThackeray said,taking a swipe atBJP over the polldebacle.

The Senaleader, whocalled up AAPc o n v e n e rArvind Kejriwalto congratulate him on the victory,said he would attend the oath-tak-ing ceremony if invited.

"I spoke to (Arvind) Kejriwaland congratulated him on this vic-tory. I also advised him to con-tinue to work for Delhi and notcommit the mistake of resigningfrom the CM's post again," hesaid.

Though Shiv Sena is part of theNDA government at the Centreand BJP-led dispensation inMaharashtra, the relations be-tween the two parties have beenfar from smooth since the twoparted ways just ahead of thestate Assembly elections last year.

Uddhav said the Sena will con-

tinue to be in the government butat the same time ensure that thebenefits of government schemesreached the people.

"When we were in the Opposi-tion, we had a responsibility to-wards the people of this state.After coming to power, this re-sponsibility has only increased.It is our duty to live up to the ex-

pectations of the people. Thus, Iand the Shiv Sena will ensure thatschemes that are meant to benefitpeople, actually benefit them,"Thackeray said.

"The people of the country arethe final authority. Nobody cantake them lightly. The final out-come will depend on what thepeople of this nation want," hesaid.

Despite joining the DevendraFadnavis government weeks af-ter it was formed after tough ne-gotiations over ministerial berths,Sena has been critical of its han-dling of agrarian problems in thestate and a spate of suicide byfarmers. -PTI

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray

'Big setback', we willintrospect: BJP

NEW DELHI: After its humili-ating defeat at the hands of AAPin Delhi polls, BJP has admittedthat it is a "big setback" and theparty will soon introspect the rea-sons behind the dismal showing.

The party also said that Delhi'sloss is a "collective failure" of theparty and the defeat cannot bethrown on any single individual,seen as an attempt to deflect anyblame on Prime Minister Narendra

Modi.The party leaders while con-

gratulating Arvind Kejriwal,hoped he will now fulfill the prom-ises made to people and ensuredevelopment of Delhi even as theCentre promised to extend all itssupport to the new government.

"It is a big setback for us. Wewill assess the reasons of the de-feat. We accept the verdict of thepeople and hope Kejriwal fulfils hispromises made to people. As PrimeMinister Narendra Modi has said,the Centre will extend all its help toDelhi government," BJP Spokes-person Sudhanshu Trivedi said.

Party general secretary P

Murlidhar Rao said, "BJP's defeatin Delhi elections is a collectivefailure of our party. It cannot bethrown on any single individual.We all own the loss."

"Election results for Delhi stateis a setback for BJP. BJP acceptsd (the) defeat in Delhi elections.We respect the verdict n (and)positively cooperate with Delhigovernment on d development,"Rao tweeted.

He felt that since Haryana elec-tions, where BJP got a majority,has not impacted Delhi polls."Why Delhi elections will impactBJP in other states".

"Extending d Verdict of Delhielections to unrelated issues islike stretching too far. Central govtperformance was not d electionissue," he said in another tweet.

Another BJP SpokespersonNalin Kohli said the party will as-sess the reasons why the partyfailed to appeal to Delhi votersand hoped Kejriwal will fulfill allthe promises made.

"It is a huge victory for AAP.BJP would certainly assess what

were the reasons that we have notbeen able to appeal to the votersof Delhi. We wish well for AAPfor delivering on the promisesmade and give Delhi a good gov-ernment," he said.

Party's Delhi unit chief SatishUpadhyay admitted that the partyfailed to understand the mood ofthe people.

"We accept the mandate givenby the people of Delhi. We failed

to understandthe mood ofthe people.BJP will con-tinue to servethe people as ithad been do-ing in the past.I congratulateKejriwal on hisv i c t o r y , "U p a d h y a ysaid.

A n o t h e rparty spokes-person G V LNarsimha Raosaid the polls

were a referendum on Kejriwal andcould not be seen as reflection onthe performance of the Modi gov-ernment as local issues domi-nated the polls.

"I do not see in this way," hesaid when asked whether the elec-tions were a referendum on Modi'sperformance.

"In this election it was a refer-endum on Arvind Kejriwal. That'show people of Delhi saw it. I thinkpeople have certainly voted forKejriwal. It was a referendum ofAAP's 49 days in office and itsperformance. People felt theyshould be given a chance," hesaid.-PTI

The three BJP candidates Vijender Gupta, Om Prakash Sharma and Jagdish Pradhan who havewon the Assembly polls, in New Delhi on February 10

BJP's 'masterstroke' of bringing Bedi boomerangsNEW DELHI: It was seen as

a masterstroke when she wasanointed as BJP's Chief Minis-terial candidate just three weeksahead of the assembly polls tocounter AAP's Arvind Kejriwalbut India's first woman IPS of-ficer Kiran Bedi failed tochange the party's fortune andnow herself stares at an uncer-tain political future.

The 65-year-old Bedi, whohad caught people's imagina-tion as a young police officerhere in 1980s and was a keymember of the Team Anna dur-ing the Lokpal movement, hada poll campaign where all BJP

top brass including Prime Minis-ter Narendra Modi canvassed forher.

However, Bedi failed to drawcrowds at her rallies and her cam-paign looked lackluster largelydue to alleged non- cooperationof the Delhi BJP leaders. Theysaw Bedi as someone who was"parachuted" and was devoid ofgrassroots support.

Some Delhi BJP leaders foundBedi less accommodative andmore authoritative leading to in-ternal dissent against her in theparty though nothing came outin the open.

Bedi came under closer media

Gandhi's car in 1982 when shewas DCP Traffic in Delhi policefell flat.

Bedi was attacked on the so-cial media for her "flip flops" aspeople reminded her about hertweets in 2011 when she wascritical of Modi. While joiningBJP, Bedi had said Modi's inspi-rational leadership was the rea-son why she chose BJP.

She was also accused of be-ing in touch with the BJP duringthe anti-graft movement as shehad refused to hold a protestoutside then BJP President NitinGadkari's residence in August2012 as part of India Against

Corruption's decision to gheraothe residences of several politi-cal leaders on the coal blockallocation scam.

Though Bedi promised notto indulge in personal attacks,she made scathing onslaughtson Kejriwal as the campaignpeaked and went on to describeher former Team Anna col-league as a "liar" and someonewhose influence was "toxic".

Bedi, who had workedclosely with Kejriwal during theLokPal movement, split withhim after he announced plan toform the Aam Aadmi Party onOctober 2, 2012. -PTI

scrutiny after being made BJP'sCM candidate and some of herearlier claims like removingformer Prime Minister Indira

Bedi was attackedon the social mediafor her "flip flops" aspeople reminded herabout her tweets in2011 when she wascritical of Modi


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Delhi poll referendum on Modi: Nitish KumarPATNA: Senior JD (U) leader Nitish

Kumar has said the poll outcome in thenational capital was a referendum on PrimeMinister Narendra Modi and asserted thatthe same blow would be given to the saf-fron party in Bihar.

"Delhi election results indeed are a ref-erendum on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.Delhi is the heart of the country so it re-flects the mood of the country," Kumartold reporters.

Kumar congratulated Aam AadmiParty's convener Arvind Kejriwal for theparty's landslide victory in Delhi.

"There was a talk of swing in favor ofAAP in Delhi, but indeed the entire pen-

dulum of the clock has moved from oneend to another," he said to highlight BJP'sdefeat in Delhi.

"BJP ideological parentJansangh was born in Delhi. ThePrime Minister had addressedseveral rallies and every decisionby BJP was taken in hisname...its indeed referendum onthe Prime Minister NarendraModi," Kumar said.

"Delhi is the national capitalwhere people from all parts of thecountry live so it reflects chang-ing mood of the country againstBJP-led NDA government at theCentre," the JD(U) leader flankedby state party chief BasisthaNarayan Singh and senior lead-

ers Vijay Chaudhary and Shyam Rajaksaid while talking to media persons at hisresidence.

People from Bihar who live in Delhi inlarge numbers have also shown their de-cision on BJP by voting for AAP, Kumarsaid.

"Astonishingly in such a short span ofnine months of Narendra Modi govern-ment, the mood of people is changingagainst him," he said and attributed thisto BJP's failure to deliver on any of the tallpromises made during the poll.

"He (Modi) talked lofty things on re-turn of black money, paying enhancedbonus to farmers, special status to Biharin 100 days but none of them are visibleeven after lapse of nine months," Kumar,whose JD(U) severed ties with BJP overelevation of Modi, said.

"Hawabazzi se kaam nahi chalega(things will not work only on the basis oflofty talks)," he said in an apparent dig atthe Prime Minister.

Kumar said Bihar would be the nextdestination where BJP would face similarresults. Bihar will go to poll before No-vember this year.

Launching a scathing attack on BJP,Kumar said in place of fulfilling any of thepromises made during the poll, the saf-fron party was indulging in "divisive" ac-tivities in the name of "love jihad" and"conversion."

"Many a church was attacked in Delhiduring poll," he said to drive home the point.

He also mocked at Modi's oft-used ex-pression "karz uttarenge aap logo ka" (Iwill repay the debt). "How much debt hehas taken from people which he has to re-pay?" he said taking a jibe at the PrimeMinister.

When asked if AAP would be invited inthe merger process as part of grand anti-BJP group, Kumar answered in negative.

"They are a different kind of party. Theycannot be involved in merger of old JanataParivar," he said.

"All parties cannot be part of it (mergerof Janata Parivar). But there can be align-ment with them," he said adding, even WestBengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjeetalked to him twice on Bihar issue and ex-tended her moral support.

Kumar said the BJP was practicing thesame brand of politics in Bihar that theydid in Delhi and would face the same re-sult. -PTI

Nitish Kumar

Astonishingly in such ashort span of nine monthsof Narendra Modi govern-ment, the mood of peopleis changing against him,he said and attributed thisto BJP's failure to deliver onany of the tall promises


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Sonia Gandhi, Rahulcongratulate AAP

Will try to establish connectwith people: Cong

NEW DELHI: Congress Presi-dent Sonia Gandhi and party VicePresident Rahul Gandhi have con-gratulated Arvind Kejriwal forAAP's landslide victory in theDelhi Assembly polls in whichtheir party failedto score.

"My con-gratulations toArvind Kejriwaland Aam AadmiParty for theirvictory. Thepeople of Delhihave chosenAAP and we re-spect that. Iwish Kejriwaland his teamthe very best",Rahul said.

An AICC statement said theCongress President and VicePresident congratulated Kejriwal.

Congress has failed to open itsaccount in the 70-member House,prompting Ajay Maken, who was

the party's face in the Delhi polls,to resign from the post of generalsecretary, taking moral responsi-bility for the humiliating defeat atthe hustings.

Congress had won 8 seats in

the last Assembly polls in Delhiheld in 2013 which threw a hungverdict. Congress had lost powerin those elections after being at thehelm for 15-long years under theleadership of Sheila Dikshit. -PTI

NEW DELHI: Shattered by itshumiliating defeat in Delhi polls,Congress has said the loss has"registered strongly with us" andit will take all steps to establish itsconnect with the people.

"The Congress party acceptsthe will of the people with humil-ity and will sincerely introspectthe reasons behind its loss. Thisloss has registered strongly withus and we will take all steps to

establish our connect with thepeople," the party said in a state-ment.

It said the party will rebuild itssupport among the people byworking on and executing the coreideas that it has stood for the last130 years of its inception.

The party also congratulatedArvind Kejriwal and the AamAadmi Party for their historic vic-tory. -PTI

Bobby Jindal's portraitsparks race row

WASHINGTON: A portrait ofIndian-American Louisiana Gov-ernor Bobby Jindal has sparked aracial controversy in the US withthe Republican presidential aspir-ant appearing to be a white manin the painting instead of his ac-

tual skin tone.Though the painting, made by

Louisiana painter Tommy Yow Jr,who had painted the unofficialportrait from a photograph, hadbeen hanging in his Capitol Of-

fice since 2008, it went viral on thesocial media when a blogger LamarWhite tweeted with a picture ofthe portrait.

The tweet and the portrait wentviral on social media in whichblogger White claimed that this

was the official portrait of Jindal.It got more attention when

Jindal's Chief of Staff, Kyle Plotkin,slammed the blogger for race biting.

"Thx 4 ur race-baiting tweet,"Plotkin tweeted with Jindal's offi-

cial portrait."Liberals want to race-bait and

they think the governor looks in-sufficiently brown in the picture. Noother reason to tweet that picture.They are ok with the governor be-ing brown, but they want to makesure he knows it," Plotkin wasquoted as saying by a local daily.

Yow Jr, who had painted thenow controversial portrait ofJindal, told the Politico that hepainted it from a photograph.

He said that the photo thatcaused the outrage on Twitter was"an excellent hatchet job of usingeither light reflection or flash on(Jindal's) head area to even fur-ther lighten the head area of thepainting.

Yow said that he has never metthe governor in person.

When he painted the portrait,Yow said, he was less familiar withJindal's actual skin tone, the Po-litico reported.

The local Times Picayunequestioned the very basis of run-ning a story on a painting whichhas been hanging at the Louisi-ana Capitol Office since 2008.

"The portrait is front and cen-ter when people exit the elevatorand enter the governor's fourthfloor office suite.

Though it's been a well-knownfixture in the Capitol for years, itturned into an internet sensationthis week, when a left-leaningblogger and Jindal's chief of staffgot into an argument on Twitterabout it," the daily said.

"The question is: Should thisbe a big deal? Why is everyonesuddenly paying attention to aportrait that is several years old?Do we care in Louisiana?" thedaily asked. -PTI

Portrait of Bobby Jindal

Obama appoints Banga to keyadministrative post

WASHINGTON: US PresidentBarack Obama has appointed topIndian-American executive AjayBanga to a key administrative po-sition tasked with providingpolicy advice on internationaltrade matters.

Banga, chairman of US-In-dia Business Council, was ap-pointed member of the Advi-sory Committee for TradePolicy and Negotiations, saidthe White House.

Banga was among a numberof key appointments an-nounced by the White House.

"The talent and expertisethese individuals bring to their

roles will serve our nation well. Iam grateful for their service, andlook forward to working withthem," Obama said.

According to White House,

the Advisory Committee for TradePolicy and Negotiations is taskedwith providing policy advice ontrade matters, and is made up ofmembers who broadly represent

key sectors and groups of theeconomy,

Banga, an MBA from the In-dian Institute of ManagementAhmedabad, is the presidentand CEO of MasterCard since2009.

Prior to joining MasterCard,he held senior managementroles with Citigroup from 1996until his departure in 2009,when he served as CEO ofCitigroup Asia Pacific.-PTI

Ajay Banga


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No 'unique' provision for US innuclear understanding

NYT asks Modi to break silenceon religious intolerance

NEW YORK: Indian PrimeMinister Narendra Modi needs tobreak his "deafening silence" onreligious intolerance, The NewYork Times has said in an edito-rial.

A day after President BarackObama had said that religious"intolerance" in India wouldhave shocked Mahatma Gandhi,the newspaper's Editorial Boardasked in an editorial titled 'Modi'sDangerous Silence', "What willit take for Prime MinisterNarendra Modi to speak outabout the mounting violenceagainst India's religious minori-ties?"

"Mr Modi needs to break hisdeafening silence on religious in-tolerance," it said.

The attacks at Christian placesof worship have prompted "noresponse" from the man electedto represent and to protect all ofIndia's citizens, the editorial ob-served, adding that nor has the

Prime Minister addressed the"conversion" to Hinduism ofChristians and Muslims.

"Mr Modi's continued silencebefore such troubling intoleranceincreasingly gives the impressionthat he either cannot or does notwish to control the fringe ele-ments of the Hindu nationalistright," it added.

"Mr Modi has promised anambitious agenda for India's de-velopment. But, as PresidentObama observed in a speech inNew Delhi last month: 'India will

succeed so long as it is not splin-tered along the lines of religiousfaith'".

Obama had earlier said the"acts of intolerance" experiencedby religious faiths of all types inIndia in the past few years wouldhave shocked Mahatma Gandhi.

The comments by Obamacame a day after the White Houserefuted suggestions that the USPresident's public speech inNew Delhi on January 27 dur-ing his India visit in which hetouched upon religious toler-ance was a "parting shot" aimedat the ruling BJP.

"Michelle and I returnedfrom India - an incredible, beau-tiful country, full of magnificentdiversity - but a place where, inpast years, religious faiths of alltypes have, on occasion, beentargeted by other peoples offaith, simply due to their heri-tage and their beliefs - acts ofintolerance that would haveshocked Gandhiji, the personwho helped to liberate that na-tion," Obama said in his remarksat the high-profile NationalPrayer Breakfast in Washing-ton.

The US President, who hasjust returned from India, was re-ferring to violence against fol-lowers of various religions inIndia in the past few years.

He, however, did not nameany particular religion and saidthe violence is not unique to onegroup or one religion. -PTI

Narendra Modi

Doval, top Chinese diplomatmeet ahead of border talksBEIJING: Ahead of their first

official meeting, Special Represen-tatives of India and China for bor-der negotiations met in Munichduring which the Chinese officialcalled for pushing forward talksto resolve the border issue andremove "disturbances" in bilateralties.

National Security Advisor AjitDoval met Chinese State Coun-cilor Yang Jiechi on the sidelinesof an international security con-ference in Munich, Germany anddiscussed steps to deepen thebilateral cooperation.

The Chinese official proposedto respect and look after each

other's concerns, to push forwardnegotiations over boundaries andto effectively maintain the peaceand safety of border areas, state-run Xinhua news agency re-ported.

The two officials are due tohold the 18th round of border talkslater this month to take the pro-cess of resolving the boundaryfurther.

It will be the first meeting ofthe Sino-Indian border talks byDoval after he was designated asSpecial Representative.

Their meeting at Munich fol-lowed recent visit of External Af-fairs Minister Sushma Swarajhere during which she held talkswith Chinese President XiJinping and her Chinese coun-terpart Wang Yi to make prepa-rations for Prime MinisterNarendra Modi's first visit toChina before May 26.

Calling for more high level in-teractions with India, Yangwhose rank is above that of for-eign minister said both sides"should seize the opportunities,remove the disturbances, andstrengthen the positive trend ofChina-India relations".

He said cooperation, includ-ing those in culture, railway andindustrial parks construction,should be broadened.

Yang also said China and In-dia should enhance cooperationin international affairs, promot-ing multipolarism and protectingcommon interests of developingcountries.

Doval, for his part, said thebilateral relations between Indiaand China have improved sincethe new Indian government wasformed.

As the two fastest growingdeveloping countries in theworld and Asian fellows, India

and China face a number of mu-tually beneficial cooperation op-portunities.

India is willing to enhance co-operation with China in variousareas, to jointly boost economicsustainable growth, as well as tomaintain peace and stability ofthe region, Doval was quoted assaying by Xinhua.

India is expected to intensifycoordination with China andkeep pushing forward the pro-cess of negotiations overboundary issue, the report said.

Chinese position is that theborder dispute is confined to2,000 kms mostly on ArunachalPradesh, whereas India assertsthat the dispute covered thewestern side of the border, span-ning to about 4,000 kms.

The two countries have held17 rounds of Special Represen-tative talks so far to resolve theboundary dispute.

The issue also figured duringtalks between Modi and Xi dur-ing his historic visit to India inSeptember last year.

The two leaders had agreed tomake efforts to resolve the borderdispute at the earliest. -PTI

NEW DELHI: The text of theAdministrative Arrangement(AA) under the Indo-US nucleardeal contains no "novel orunique" provisions and is totallyconsistent with IAEA safeguards,government has said.

Noting that sharing of infor-mation under an AA was a nor-mal practice, Spokesperson ofthe External Affairs MinistrySyed Akbaruddin said similarly,annual consultations were also anormal practice under an AA.

"Sharing of information underan AA on the implementation ofa bilateral civil nuclear coopera-tion agreement is a normal prac-tice. This is not novel or uniqueto the draft AA finalized with theUS.

"Similarly, annual consulta-tions are also a normal practiceunder an AA."

However, depending on therequirements of each country, theinformation is shared, officialssaid and cited the example of

Canada with which India sharesinformation of particular nature.

"At the same time, there areIndo-US specificities flowingfrom our bilateral 123 Agreement,which the draft AA addresses.These include, for example, theobligation under Article 7 of the123 Agreement to provide infor-mation on facilities that store cer-tain types of material," theSpokesperson said.

He also emphasized that "Thetext of the draft AA is totally con-sistent with India's practice ofIAEA safeguards in accordancewith the India Specific SafeguardsAgreement as well as with our bi-lateral agreements with the US,including both the 123 Agreementand the Arrangements and Proce-dures on reprocessing. There willbe no bilateral safeguards." -PTI

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State Councilor Yang Jiechi (L) meets with Indian National Security AdvisorAjit Kumar Doval on the sidelines of the 51st Munich Security Conference,

in Munich, Germany, on Feb 7


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US primed to unlock potential of ties with India: ObamaWASHINGTON: The US is

"primed to unlock" the potentialof relations with India as part ofits rebalance to Asia and the Pa-cific, President Barack Obama hassaid as he unveiled his new na-tional security policy, days afterhis historic second trip to India.

Sending his second NationalSecurity Strategy (NSS) to Con-gress, Obama said, "We areprimed to unlock the potential ofour relationship with India."

"Our rebalance to Asia and thePacific is yielding deeper ties witha more diverse set of allies andpartners. When complete, theTrans-Pacific Partnership will gen-erate trade and investment oppor-tunities - and create high-qualityjobs at home - across a region thatrepresents more than 40 per centof global trade," he said.

Running into more than 30pages, the National Security Strat-egy says, in South Asia, the UScontinues to strengthen its stra-tegic and economic partnershipwith India.

"As the world's largest democ-racies, we share inherent valuesand mutual interests that form thecornerstone of our cooperation,particularly in the areas of secu-rity, energy, and the environment,"it said.

"We support India's role as aregional provider of security andits expanded participation in criti-cal regional institutions. We see astrategic convergence withIndia's Act East policy and ourcontinued implementation of therebalance to Asia and the Pacific,"the strategy said.

"At the same time, we will con-

tinue to work with both India andPakistan to promote strategic sta-bility, combat terrorism, and ad-vance regional economic integra-

tion in South and Central Asia,"said the National Security Strat-egy.

This is the second national se-

curity strategy of the Obama ad-ministration, the first one beingreleased in May 2010.

In the 2010 strategy, the WhiteHouse said the US and India arebuilding a strategic partnershipthat is underpinned by theirshared interests, shared values asthe world's two largest democra-cies, and close connectionsamong people.

"India's responsible advance-ment serves as a positive examplefor developing nations, and pro-vides an opportunity for in-creased economic, scientific, en-vironmental, and security partner-ship," the 2010 edition of the NSSsaid.

Obama said the scope of UScooperation with China is unprec-edented, even as US remains alertto China's military modernizationand reject any role for intimida-tion in resolving territorial dis-putes. -PTIBarack ObamaIndia suffering from 'exported

terrorism' in KashmirMUNICH: Asserting that India

has been suffering from the men-ace of "exported terrorism" inKashmir, National Security Advi-sor Ajit Doval has said thecountry's strong democraticstructure and genuinely pluralis-tic society has not allowed anyfertile ground for Islamist terror.

Successive Indian govern-ments have pursued a policy ofclosely integrating all minoritygroups into the mainstream of thesociety and as a result radical Is-lamists could not succeed inpropagating their extremist ideolo-gies among the Muslim popula-

tion, Doval said while participat-ing in a panel discussion on 'Waron Terror' at the 51st Munich Se-curity Conference here.

Doval made the remarks whileanswering a question from one ofthe participants on what India hasdone better than many other coun-tries having large Muslim popu-lations to prevent radicalizationand to deny breeding grounds forIslamist terror.

Doval said India has been suf-fering from the menace of "ex-ported terrorism" in Kashmir.

Last month's election in Kash-mir showed that a vast majority of

the population ignored a call toboycott the election and took partin the voting because they havetrust in the country's democraticsystem and they did not want tobe influenced by radical Islamistgroups, he said.

India's strong democraticstructure and its genuinely plu-ralistic society provided no fertileground for Islamist terrorism eventhough the country is the hometo one of the world's largest Mus-lim populations, Doval said.

India has been combating ter-rorism differently and this alsocontributed to less radicalization

among theM u s l i mpopulation,the NationalSecurity Ad-visor (NSA)said.

D u r i n gant i - te r roroperations,India's secu-rity forces al-ways tookgreat care to

avoid "collateral damage" evenputting their own life at risk, hesaid.

Asked about Pakistan's an-nouncement that the attack on aschool in Peshawar in Decembermarked a turning point in itspolicy towards combating terror-ism, Doval said he has not seenany evidence that Pakistan haschanged its strategy.

Doval said he hoped that Paki-stan will not differentiate betweenterror groups operating within andoutside the country and stern ac-tion will be taken against allgroups. -PTI


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Hanuman Chalisa chanting creates Guinness Record

FRANK FERNANDESIndia Post News Service

TENALIO, AP: A four hourmarathon mass chanting sessionled by His Holiness Dr SriGanapathy SachchidanandaSwamiji, pontiff of Dattapeetham,Mysore on Saturday January 31in Tenali in Andhra Pradesh hasfound recognition in the"Guinness World Records."

The chanting of "HanumanChalisa," attended by 128,918(One hundred and twenty eight

Dr Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji flashing Certificate Hanuman Yagya in progress

thousand nine hundred and eigh-teen) people from various parts ofthe world was the largest gather-ing ever to chant at a single venuein recorded world history.

Leading, inspiring, and partici-pating in the effort, Sri Swamijiclearly explained the merits of thechant, and the virtues of repeatchanting ahead of each chant. The9th chant was recognized as theGuinness World Record attemptby the official adjudicator Ms.Fortuna Burke, who adjudicatedthe event.

With the chant continuing fora little over six minutes, Ms. Burkeannounced it as "the brand newworld record in the category of themost people chanting from asingle location," with 128,918 par-ticipants singing in unison. Dur-ing the 27th and last chant, therewere over 226,000 participants asper the estimates.

Witnessing the event withgreat interest, the Governor ofTamilnadu K Rosaiah later pre-sented the Record Certificate fromGuinness World Records to Sri

Swamiji. Speaking on the occa-sion, the Governor expressed hisutmost happiness and praised thelarge gathering of people whoturned out from different parts ofthe world.

The Hanuman Chalisa -authored by Sant TulasidasjiMaharaj - consists of 40 verses,and is well known around theworld, especially since it is sup-posed to fulfill the desires of thosewho recite it.

According to Sri Swamiji,"Hanuman Chalisa is a very an-

cient prayer dating back over 400years. This particular prayer isespecially chosen for chantingsince the collective sound vibra-tions will create positive impactthereby promoting universalbrotherhood, and aiding in thewell-being of the entire universe."

In recent times, there has beenscientific evidence showing thatsound waves formed while chant-ing are converted into electro-magnetic waves and provide enor-mous positive impact on beingsand atmosphere.

Prior to the event day, elabo-rate arrangements were in placein anticipation of Sri Swamiji's ar-rival at the event venue in Tenali.On the event day, a large numberof people started thronging thevenue from 4 am onwards withslogans of Jai Sri Ram and JayaGuru Datta. After performingPurnahuti to Manyu Homa andMaha Mangala Arati to HanumadVratam, Sri Swamiji started thechanting session along with hisCelestial Message troupe therebycapturing the complete attentionof those who were present.

The event was organized bySri Varadarajulu from Sri HanumanSeva Samithi and supported by SriRamesh Krishna, a representativeof Avadhoota Datta Peetham. Alarge number of media personsand local political representativeswere also present at the event.Group of devotees participating in Hanuman Chalisa chanting

Xi plans to make first official visit to USBEIJING: Chinese President Xi

Jinping plans to make his first of-ficial visit to the US later this yearto push for "new model" of ma-jor-country relations, amid strongAmerican Asia-Pacific militarypush, which officials here say isaimed at containing the commu-nist country.

Arrangements are being madefor Xi to pay his first state visitlater this year to the United States,China's ambassador to the US CuiTiankai told state-run China Daily.

While the date has yet to bereleased, discussion is ongoingbetween Beijing and Washingtonfor Xi's expected trip, Cui said,noting that the two countrieshave carried out successful high-level interactions in recent yearsdespite differences.

"We are also very willing to seesuch interactions continuing thisyear, and we may even have agreater success," Cui said.

61-year-old Xi's expected visitwould be his first to the White

House since taking office inMarch 2013.

It would also be the latest sum-mit between him and Obama, fol-lowing the informal summit in Cali-fornia in June 2013, and their meet-ing on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation(APEC) meetings in Beijing lastNovember.

US National Security AdviserSusan Rice said US has invited Xifor a state visit to the country thisyear.

Commenting on Xi's visit, Chi-nese analysts said China will con-tinue to push for a "new model ofmajor-country relations," despitethe US intention to further promoteits "rebalancing" Asian strategy.

Chinese official media came outwith scathing commentaries ofChina containment, when Obamamade unprecedented second visitto India last month.

Zhou Wenzhong, former am-bassador of China to the US, saidthat as international society is

faced with an increasingly com-plicated situation, a healthy Sino-US relationship is key to ensurestability of the world order.

During Xi's trip, discussions willtouch upon highly sensitive inter-actions, but neither of the world'slargest economies will risk ties byseeking major confrontation, Chi-nese strategic analysts said.

The "new model of major-coun-try relations" was a concept pro-posed by Xi during his visit toWashington in 2012.-PTI


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Top Stories

300 foreign companies to attend Aero India showNEW DELHI: With India emerging as one of the biggest

defense market, over 300 foreign firms along with 54 minis-terial and other high-level delegations from several coun-tries will be taking part in the 'Aero India' show later thismonth.

With the theme "Make in India", the 10th internationaledition of the aerospace and aviation exhibition to be heldat Bengaluru from February 18 to 22 will be inaugurated byPrime Minister Narendra Modi.

It will also include sectors like defense manufacturingand airport infrastructure besides aerospace, defense andcivil aviation.

Describing the biennial event as one of the largest pre-mium air shows in Asia, Secretary (Defense Production) GMohan Kumar outlined the impetus of the "Make in India"initiative.

"We want to set 'Make in India' as the major theme ofthe exhibition and see 'Make in India' progress in the de-fense sector also," Kumar said at a curtain raiser pressconference for mega event here.

Besides 54 ministerial and other high-level delegationsfrom several countries that are slated to attend the inaugu-ral event, the exhibition will also see participation by over600 companies, including 295 Indian and 328 foreign com-panies, he said addressing reporters.

With 64 companies, USA is the leading participant inthe exhibition among the 33 other countries participating.Behind them is France with 58 companies, UK with 48,Russia with 41, Israel with 25 and Germany with 17 compa-nies.

French Defense giant Dassault, whose Rafale fighterplane has been selected for procurement under a multi-billion dollar deal of 126 aircraft, will also be participatingin the event.

It will fly three Rafale jets at the show.Negotiations over contract finalization are facing trouble

and both the countries are working to resolve the matter.Finmeccanica, which is embroiled in the VVIP chopper

scam, will also participate.The exhibition, which first began in 1996, will also see

around 300 CEOs from Indian and foreign industries at-tending the event.

Business-to-business and round-table meetings of In-dian companies with those of Israel, UK and Poland willalso be held at the event.

For the first time, the exhibition will witness participa-tion by a few states who want to be partners in defenseproduction and are keen to set up defense-related indus-try and SEZz.

Kumar said Karnataka, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh haveconfirmed the participation and they are making policies toattract defense companies to them.

Giving statistics, officials said that 266 Indian compa-nies are participating as compared to 156 last edition while328 foreign companies are in for this year as compared to210 last year.

A "Make in India" Defense Manufacturing Investors

Summit and Global CEOs Conference, to be chaired byDefense Minister Manohar Parrikar, is also being held forthe first time during the air show.

Speakers from Indian defense industries includingTATA, Mahindra, L&T, Adani, Bharat Forge along withothers will share their vision on defense manufacturing inIndia.

Even as the number of business visitors is expected torise by nearly 50 per cent from the last edition to 1,50,000this year, the air show is invariably a huge attraction foraviation aficionados who throng to the event to witnessthe static and air display by various aircraft including

fighter, transport, helicopter and aerobatic display teams.While the number of aircraft participating in static and

air displays is tentatively 72, Indian Air Force Sarang Teamand air display teams from Sweden, UK, Czech Republicand open sky jump by USA Special Forces are among themajor attractions at Aero India-2015.

Among the foreign military aircraft that will be seen at theairshow include F-15C Eagle, Lockheed F-16C, Boeing KC-135, Boeing C-17 A Globemaster III, Boeing P-8A Posedon,Rafale Dassault and Emb-145 I, officials said. -PTI

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Desi News

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A prison withgolden bars is still

a prison

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Retracing paths of our ancestorsthrough 'History of Yoga'

ELIZABETH VISUVALINGAM

The result of six years ofextensive research andfilming, with 30 scholarcontributions, showing84 archeological sites and 137 lo-cations, visiting 37 mu-seums, libraries, temples,shrines, "History of Yoga- Path of My Ancestors,"is a 109-minute Englishdocumentary released inDVD by Vishuddhi Filmsand Madhya PradeshMadhyam in USA lastmonth.

Directed by DeepikaKothari and Ramji Om, itis now being distributedin North America at $24.This labor of love may bebetter described as a re-capitulation of the spiri-tual basis of Indian cul-ture, from its very begin-nings.

The textual backboneand anchor of the expo-sition is the still extantYoga Sutras of Patanjaliformulated in the earlycenturies of the Com-mon Era, while the en-compassing worldviewis provided by its sistercosmogony of Samkhya.Patanjali's often cryptic 196 apho-risms outline a progression of prac-tice ascending from yama or re-straints (nonviolence, truthful-

ness, non-theft, chastity and non-possessiveness), niyama or disci-plines (purity, contentment, etc.),stable comfortable posture(asana), breath-control(pranayama), concentration(dharana), meditation (dhyana) to

complete absorption (samadhi) inthe transcendental principle.India's distinctive civilizationalfeatures are seen as societal ef-fects of the pursuit of such spiri-

tual techniques.The non-militaristic character of

Indus-Sarasvati Civilization (3400to 1800 BCE), its sophisticateddrainage network and immensebaths, would reflect the preoccu-pation with nonviolence (ahimsa)and purity (cleanliness), embod-ied by the horned "lord of animals"(pashupati) seated in bhadrasanaposture amidst reverent beastsand the "priest-king" depicted inseals and figurines. Familiarity atthe popular level with yoga-likepostures is evidenced by manyterracotta images of the contortedhuman torso.

The Vedic tradition, thoughcentered on the collective perfor-mance of the external sacrifice(yajna), remains studded with itsassociated themes such as mysticphysiology (nadis) that are treatedexplicitly in later Upanishadic lit-erature.

Though Patanjali mentions de-votion to God as facilitating eman-cipation, his Sutras do not pro-pose any theology and itsSamkhya sister-doctrine is atheis-

tic. That the experiential 'science'underlying yoga is the basis alsoof medicine and (Sanskrit) gram-mar is given credence through themedieval claim that Patanjali like-wise purified the body and speech

making them instruments of self-liberation.

The focus on body, mind andconsciousness has facilitated thisinner experiential "technology"being adopted and adapted byotherwise competing, even het-

erodox, doctrinal streams such asJainism, Buddhism, and theisticdevotional currents, such asShaivism, Vaishnavism and Islam.

Central to early Buddhist mo-

nasticism, it later became the in-spiration for an entire school ofthought and practice calledYogacara that underlined the ab-solute primacy of Consciousnessand thus deeply influenced

Vedantic monism (advaita). In ter-minology and approach, PatanjaliYoga is in some ways perhapscloser to Buddhistic meditationthan to Samkhya.

Officially launched in Mumbai "History of Yoga - Path of My Ancestors" is directed by Deepika Kothari (2nd from left) and RamjiOm (left) and released in person by public intellectual and president of Infinity Foundation, Rajiv Malhotra (4th from left)

Cover of Yoga DVD

That the experiential 'science' underlyingyoga is the basis also of medicine and(Sanskrit) grammar is given credencethrough the medieval claim that Patanjalilikewise purified the body and speech mak-ing them instruments of self-liberation.

Contd on page 19

Candle light vigil forKiran Pabla; victimof road racingRITU MAHESHWARIIndia Post News Service

FREMONT, CA: Kiran Pabla, a24 year old San Jose native, wasjogging when she was run overby one of two cars that lost con-trol while racing on the street.

The two men were racing downYerba Buena Road, a stretchknown for speeding, when the carshit a guardrail, crashing into KiranPabla, a young woman joggingnear Edenwood Drive. The men,19 year old Gabriel Becerra, and 24year old Manual Malonado, endedup losing control of their speed-ing cars, hitting Kiran Pabla, andpinning her against a tree, whereshe eventually died.

Cleveland to hostIndian classicalmusic festivalIndia Post News Service

CLEVELAND, Ohio: One of thebiggest festivals of Indian classi-cal music outside India, theCleveland Thyagaraja Festival,will be held in Cleveland begin-ning April 1. It will last 12 daysunder the auspices of theAradhana Committee, a group ofvolunteers who work closely withvarious other Carnatic music or-ganizations in the United Statesand Canada to bring artists for thefestival.

It was first celebrated in 1978and this time it will mark its 38thyear of continuity.

Bal Vihar kidsexcel at RepublicDay event

RAJ IYER

ST. LOUIS: January 26 this yearturned out to be of huge historicalsignificance for India when headsof two of the largest democraciesin the world came together to cel-ebrate India's 66th Republic Dayof India.

Commemorating this event in itsown way, Bal Vihar and its stu-dents went extra mile to outdo theefforts from the previous years byputting together a grand celebra-tion with splendid display ofIndia's states, their culture andheritage. India's diversity was atfull display at the Republic Dayevent organized by Bal Vihar of St.Louis. The event took place atLadue Middle School on January25.

India Post 17February 13, 2015 Community Across Americawww.indiapost.com

Air India tips on Visa onArrival program

SURENDRA ULLAL

CHICAGO: Indian governemnt has in-troduced a Tourist Visa-on-Arrival (TVoA)program of which citizens of USA and sev-eral other countries can take advantage.

The Electronic Travel Authorization(ETA) is valid for entry only at any of thefollowing nine designated international Air-ports: Bangalore,Chennai, Cochin, Delhi,Goa, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai,

TrivandrumPassengers traveling on TvoA enabled

ETA to any other cities like Amritsar orAhmedabad will require to complete theirImmigration and Customs formalities at theabove nine cities only. If they would like tocomplete their Immigration and Customsformalities at destination cities other thanthe nine ETA/TvoA enabled, they need tobe in possession of a normal Tourist Visabefore embarking travel on Air India.

International passengers traveling EWR-AMD on AI144, or those connecting from

AI102/AI126 at Delhi to Amritsar/Ahmedabad via flight numbers AI 0001through AI 0199, will clear Immigration andCustoms formalities at Amristar andAhmedabad, respectively, and NOT atMumbai or Delhi. Whilst making reserva-tions on Air India for through destinationsas in the example cited, passengers mustpossess a normal Tourist Visa in case they

are clearing Customs and Immigra-tion at destination airports that donot have ETA/TVoA clearance fa-cility.

Those travelling on ETA/TVoA will book upto the abovelisted nine cities for Immigrationand Customs clearance, andthereafter continue their journeyon any flight as a domestic pas-senger.

Any changes to reservations/tickets at the embarking airportNewark (EWR), NewYork (JFK)and Chicago (ORD) resulting dueto incorrect documentation, willattract all the fare penalties appli-

cable at the time of departure.According to a press release by Air In-

dia, it will not accept any responsibility to-wards the correctness of travel documents.Passengers are solely responsible to ensurethat they possess the proper documents fortravel, to prevent any avoidable last-minuteinconvenience and/or penalties arising dueto this lapse, accordign to Rishikant Singh,Regional Manager Air India.

Complete details and the application pro-cess for the same can be found on the websitehttp://indianvisaonline.gov.in/visavoa

Air India Maharaja

Chicago Tamils celebrate 'Pongal Vizha'ASIAN MEDIA USA & TAMIL SANGAM

CHICAGO: Pongal festival falling on thefirst day of the month in Tamil Calendar ismuch more than a ritualistic celebration andopen to everyone with no barriers of reli-gion and creed. Representing the Tamil com-munity, Chicago Tamil Sangam (CTS)

hosted its Pongal Vizha "Festival of harvest"celebrations showcasing its affinity towardsrich Tamil culture, on January 31 at HemmensCultural Centerin Elgin, a northwest suburbof Chicago, with over 500 members andguests attending despite inclement weather.

CTS President Somu Thiru inauguratedthe event by introducing organizers MrsLakshmi Anandan and Kamala Babu, whothen chivalrously welcomed the patrons andthe Special Guest Dindigul I. Leoni. Thiswas followed with Kavithai (poem) rendi-tions by Mrs Devi Annamalai and SivakumarMurugesan.

Then came the stunning presentationsby beautiful women and the charming menof Chicagoland area displaying the rich per-forming arts: traditional, contemporary, clas-sical and folk. The variety transported theaudience to the streets and lush fields ofTamil Nadu, from foot tapping to soulfulstrains of Tamil songs. The whole programwas emceed by Mrs Manimekalai Praveen,Mrs Rukmani Sivakumar and SurendarBabu.

A folk dance presentation by Anu,Geetha Jagdeesh, Karthiga Kumaravel andLavanya Mohan was a real impetus to thegroup. A semi-classical dance performanceby the teens was a real ecstasy for the audi-ence. Followed by that, an assembly of fiveladies presented a medley dance perfor-mance. The dancers' elegant footwork, fluidmovements, and facial expressions beauti-fully in sync with the melody of the song,made the dance seem almost effortless.

Between colorful dances came"Silambattam" by children from "AmericanParai Team", St. Louis. Performances bythree different dance groups comprising theelegant ladies of Chicagoland truly broughtthe house down, rather, up, on the stage,with their lively rendering of the latest Tamilfilm numbers.

Kummiyattam by audience. Pics Aruloli Rajaram, Arthama Solutions Inc

Contd on page 20

February 13, 2015India Post18 Community Across Americawww.indiapost.com

Cleveland to host Indian classical music festivalIndia Post News Service

CLEVELAND, Ohio: One of thebiggest festivals of Indian classi-cal music outside India, theCleveland Thyagaraja Festival,will be held in Cleveland begin-ning April 1. It will last 12 daysunder the auspices of theAradhana Committee, a group ofvolunteers who work closely withvarious other Carnatic music or-ganizations in the United Statesand Canada to bring artists for the

festival.It was first celebrated in 1978

and this time it will mark its 38thyear of continuity.

Expectations are that therewill be 8000 plus attendees dur-ing the course of the festival withthe first day getting in about2000 of them.

The Aradhana Committee, anon-profit organization respon-sible for organization of this Fes-tival, includes President R.Balasubramaniam, Co-founder/

Secretary V.V. Sundaram, Co-founder/Vice-President GomathyBalasubramaniam, TreasurersRoger and Jaya Natarajan, K.Venkataraman, among others

The committee has programsfor Sustaining Sampradaya thatinclude some of the greatest com-positions of Carnatic music insome of the most enchantingragas.

The first program is an offer-ing to the presiding deity of theseven hills, Lord Venkateswara.

The second program will be dedi-cated to the memory of two of thegreatest exponents of IndianClassical Arts namely the musi-cians' musician Sangeetha KalaSagaram Prof. T.R.Subrahmanyam and the violinlegend Sangeetha Rathnakara SriM.S. Gopalakrishnan.

It will include over 200 celeb-rity artistes in over 85 concerts;including Carnatic Symphony, afusion of Western music orches-tra with Carnatic music presentedby about 100 talented children of

various nationalities and con-ducted by K.N.Shashikiran.

Music and Bharathanatyamdance competitions will also form

part of this Festival which will alsobestow various music and danceawards, like SangeethaRathnakara, Nrithya Rathnakara,Sangeetha Kala Sagaram, NrithyaKala Sagaram, etc and organizeeducational programs, including"The Glory of LordVenkateswara".

Rajan Zed, President of Uni-versal Society of Hinduism, com-mended the Festival organizers,volunteers and the Cleveland areacommunity for piecing togethersuch a wonderful event showcas-

ing heritageand tradi-tion of clas-sical musicand danceof India andHinduism,including amusical of-fering toL o r dVenkateswarapraising hisglory.

Rajan in-dicated thatthe ele-ments ofm u s i c a ltheory werefirst foundin ancientSama-Veda.By tradition,the dancewas in-vented byLord Shivawho firstdanced thec o s m i cTa n d a v a .

Zed urged Ohio Governor JohnR. Kasich to issue an official proc-lamation marking this unique andprestigious Festival.

Thyagaraja Music Festival participants

Thyagaraja Music Festival participants

India Post 19February 13, 2015 Community Across Americawww.indiapost.com

Yoga practices were howevernot dependent on textual eruditionand elite culture for their propaga-tion, development and diffusionbeyond sectarian boundaries, asdemonstrated by later Nath andBaul traditions, whose often illit-erate adepts captured the popularimagination. In attempting a com-prehensive panorama of yoga fromother sources, the documentary,unwittingly relativizes andproblematizes the significance ofthe Sutras.

Samkhya dualism posits twofundamentally distinct, male andfemale principles: aloof inactiveconsciousness (purusha) versusinsentient dynamic nature(prakriti). By disentangling thetwo, its "path of knowledge" aimsto detach the suffering finite selffrom its superimposed human iden-tity. Patanjali Yoga constitutes thepractical aspect of this dis-identi-fication from mental and physicallimitations. Because Prakriti is de-picted as a seductive woman un-der whose spell Purusha hasfallen, the Samkhya-Yoga frame-work is derived from a matriarchal,still surviving, prehistory wherethe Mother Goddess reigned su-preme before being overlaid anddomesticated by brahmanical pa-triarchy.

This cultic context is seen in thearchitectural vestiges of the medi-eval Yogini temples. The psycho-physical methods that (re-) emerge

Retracing paths of our ancestorsthrough 'History of Yoga'

in trans-sectarian Tantra would betherefore more faithful to the 'origi-nal' outlook than the Purusha-cen-tered 'vision' (darshana) privilegedby classical Samkhya-Yoga.

The 112 techniques compiled(by 800 CE) as the esotericVijnana-Bhairava Tantra also ex-ploit sensual (gustatory andsexual) enjoyment and agitatedstates (anger, fear, disgust, laugh-ter, etc.)-mental modifications(citta-vritti) that Patanjali Yogaaims to suppress-as springboards

to spiritual insight. In other words,the detachment or "ascent" ofconsciousness from the clutchesof matter is complemented by its"re-descent" into embodied exist-ence as autonomous agent imbuedwith power.

The latter aesthetic perceptionof life appeals especially to artists

and those artisans, who seem tohave crafted astounding creationsafter having meditated on their in-ner essence. This is the lessondrawn from the three-faced Shivaof the Ellora cave, fearsome on oneside balanced by the effeminate onthe other, mediated by the tranquilmiddle face.

Indian music is rooted in the"yoga of sound" (nada) as UstadZia Mohiuddin Dagar demon-strates by eking out various man-tras on his veena. Sufis, especiallyfrom the Qadiri order, readily assimi-lated its elements into their medita-tive practices focused on repeat-ing (dhikr) the holy names of God.

The tradition was transplantedin the late 19th century throughSwami Vivekananda's Raja Yogalectures to America, where the as-sociated physical postures havebecome a multimillion dollar healthindustry. Prime Minister NarendraModi proposed an InternationalDay of Yoga at his October 2014address before the United Na-tions, a call since endorsed byover 175 other nations and fixedas June 21.

The only Hindu member ofCongress, Tulsi Gabbard, haspublicly championed this initiative."History of Yoga" that the IndianGovernment has now sent forscreening to all its missionsabroad is a readily accessible,comprehensive and laudable at-tempt to re-anchor this explodingglobal interest within its original,ancient religio-cultural context.

Indian music is rootedin the "yoga of sound"(nada) as Ustad ZiaMohiuddin Dagardemonstrates by ek-ing out various man-tras on his veena.Sufis, especially fromthe Qadiri order,readily assimilated itselements into theirmeditative practices

Bal Vihar kids excel at Republic Day eventRAJ IYER

ST. LOUIS: January 26 this yearturned out to be of huge historicalsignificance for India when heads oftwo of the largest democracies in theworld came together to celebrateIndia's 66th Republic Day of India.

Commemorating this event in its

own way, Bal Vihar and its studentswent extra mile to outdo the effortsfrom the previous years by puttingtogethe

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