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This week’s question

Are Indian Americans beingtreated as Blacks?

Last week’s result

YES 43% NO 57%

Top Stories

CONTENTS

COP HELD FOR BRUTALLYASSAULTING INDIAN

Details on page 25

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

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

Community Post -------------- 16-21

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

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

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

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

Immigration Post ------------- 44-46

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

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

Publisher’s Diary ------------------ 4

Real Estate -------------------- 30-31TechBiz Post ------------------- 22-27

Travel & Hospitality Post ---- 40-43

Details on page 22

Details on page 6

Details on page 7

Details on page 8

Details on page 7Hindu templevandalized withhate message

Details on page 22

Modi promisesto act againstreligious violence

Details on page 6

RACISM RIFE: Sureshbhai Patel in hospital and (inset) the offending cop Eric Parker

ABDUL SIDDIQUI

CHICAGO: Members of In-dian community across USA andChicago are aghast at the highlybarbaric treatment that Madi-son-Alabama police meted outto a newly immigrated Indianfrom Gujarat, Sureshbhai Patel,when he was walking on thesidewalk near his son's resi-dence in the city of Huntsvile.

Patel was severely injured bya City Police Officer Eric Parkerwho was later arrested afterstrong protest from Patel familyand community members atlarge. Parker is alleged to haveslammed Patel to the ground,leaving him temporarily para-lyzed. A video released by theDepartment seems to confirmthe views entertained by IndianAmericans in Madison andother parts of the country.

Details on page 5

Indian-originscientist getsresearch award

Infosys to buy USautomation techfirm Panaya

Bloomberg signspact with Indiaon smart cities

Indian-Americanshot dead in hisliquor shop

India-born PunitRenjen to beDeloitte CEO

Modi, Sirisenasign civilnuclear pact

India proteststo U.S.

NEW DELHI: The Indiangovernment here summonedsenior US diplomats to regis-ter a protest over the inci-dent. The foreign ministryasked the US mission to en-sure expeditious investiga-tions into the case and toshare details of action taken.

Details on page 5

Will Kejri wave traveloutside Delhi?

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Bollywood:Sardar superheroJacqueline Fernandez who plays classi-cal dancer in Turbanator is training to bein step with flying Sardar Tiger Shroff

5Cover Story:Brutal assault

16Community:Fundraiser for Wilson

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50Life style:

A 29-year-old Indian yoga teacher inHong Kong has set a Guinness WorldRecord for performing Yoga for 40 hours

22Techbiz:

The biggest challenge for the country isto help talented young people fulfill theiraspirations, says SBI Chairperson

40Travel:AgraAgra thrives as one of the tourist desti-nations in India with historical monu-ments and grand architectural grandeur

Biggest challenge

A group of Indian Americans hosted afundraiser for Chicago Mayoral candi-date Dr Willie Wilson at Hema's Kitchen

Newly immigrated Indian from Gujarat,Sureshbhai Patel, was severely assaultedby City Police Officer Eric Parker

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Immigration:

The Colorado Legislature moved closerto a partisan showdown over grantingdriver's licenses to immigrants

Colorado showdown

It was not meant to be Sureshbhai Patel's fate. This 57-year-old visitingIndian, who is lying partially paralyzed in hospital owing to excessive forceused by an Alabama police officer, would not have suffered the injury and

indignity if his skin hadn't been dark. But then, maybe, that's the fate darkskinned men in certain parts of this country are meant to suffer. Because, whena neighbor called 911 to report a suspicious looking man walking the neighbor-hood, he described him as a "skinny, Black" guy. Of course the police officerswho confronted Sureshbhai following that call, should have known better than tothink that.

So, if we were to forget for a moment that Sureshbhai was an Indian, it couldwell have been a repeat of Ferguson, Missouri. And therein lies the story ofcurrent day America.

I wonder if some sociologist is trying to read into what is happening in ourcountry with regard to race relations. Maybe the color of the skin as the dividingshade between communities never really faded away. But has the divide beengrowing while systemic powers have been in denial of it or have they simply beenignoring it?

These questions are important for us in the Indian American community.Because, just like Sikh Americans, mistaken as they are for Arabs, continue toface hate crimes, South Asians in general will continue to be mistaken for Blacks.

Let me hasten to add how sad the situation really is because it reflects on whatthe Blacks - as also many an innocent Arab - in America perhaps go through dayon day.

The Hindu American Foundation says it is working with the Department ofJustice to develop a Hinduism 101 training for first responders intended toimprove cultural competency of police officers to avoid such incidents in future.Not to offend the HAF, which does great advocacy work, but such efforts aremerely like putting band aid on a festering wound.

Really, if race relations depended on simply sensitizing the law enforcementauthorities, then all of America should have been blind to skin color by now.

India PostFebruary 20, 2015 5

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Cop held for brutally assaulting IndianABDUL SIDDIQUI

CHICAGO: Members of Indiancommunity across USA and Chi-cago are aghast at the highly bar-baric treatment that Madison-Ala-bama police meted out to a newlyimmigrated Indian from Gujarat,Sureshbhai Patel, when he waswalking on the sidewalk near hisson's residence in the city ofHuntsvile.

Patel was severely injured by aCity Police Officer Eric Parker whowas later arrested after strong pro-test from Patel family and commu-nity members at large. Parker isalleged to have slammed Patel tothe ground, leaving him tempo-rarily paralyzed. A video releasedby the Department seems to con-firm the views entertained by In-dian Americans in Madison andother parts of the country.

Members of the Indian commu-nity have dubbed the incident asevidence that use of force by po-lice is an issue that extends be-yond people who are poor or Af-rican-American. "It can happen to

anyone," said Sohan Joshi, presi-dent of National Federation of In-dian Associations. The law offic-ers should be careful and under-standing that language barriermay cause miscommunication butthat should not provoke extreme

violence on the part of officers,he added.

Responding to the growingpressure, Police Chief LarryMuncey in Madison said that herecommended that Parker be firedfor his use of force against a manwho committed no crime, did notspeak English and could not un-derstand the commands. Headded that the Officer Parker'sactions did not meet the high stan-dards and expectations of theMadison City Police Department.

Suresh Shah of United SeniorPariwar condemned in strongterms the inhuman treatmentmeted out to an Indian senior. Hepleaded for strong action againstthe errant officer and mentionedthat the Pariwar members havesent a message to the concernedpolice department to ensure thesafety of seniors.

Patel, 57, is native of Pij inGujarat and had arrived in the USonly a week before the incidentoccurred. His son Chirag Patel, an

engineer, flew him from the smallIndian town of Pij to live with themin Huntsville, a suburban townnext to Madison, an affluentneighborhood.

He had come to help his sonand daughter-in-law with their 17-

month-old son who was prema-ture and developmentally delayed,said Henry F. Sherrod, a civil rights

attorney from Florence, Alabama.Patel was said to be walking on

the sidewalk and not acting sus-piciously. He was stopped by two

Madison police officers who saidthey were responding to a suspi-cious person call. When the of-ficers began to question him, Patelsaid "no English" and "India" ashe tried to point to his son's houseand repeated the house number.

Unable to communicate withPatel, the officers began pattinghim down before they claimed the

man put his hands in his pocketsand slammed him to the ground,according to Sherrod. The attackleft him bleeding from the face,paralyzed and in need of surgeryto fuse two vertebrae. He re-mained hospitalized for over a

week.The two police officers in-

volved were white and only oneof the two policemen was respon-sible for the injuries, it is learnt.

Madison police issued astatement on Monday February 9saying that the officer responsiblefor Patel's injuries has been sus-pended and that they were inves-tigating his use of force.

India protests to USNEW DELHI: A day after

news broke out that a 57-year-old Indian had been left partiallyparalyzed on being brutally as-saulted by police in Alabama,the government here summonedsenior US diplomats to registera protest over the incident.

The foreign ministry askedthe US mission to ensure expe-ditious investigations into thecase and to share details of ac-tion taken.

"We expressed concern atwhat appears from media reportsas the excessive use of force bypolice," MEA spokesperson SyedAkbaruddin said. "Consulategeneral in Atlanta is in touch withMadison police chief and is pro-viding all necessary consular as-sistance," he added.

Sureshbhai Patel, who was vis-iting his son in Alabama, was leftpartially paralyzed when a policeofficer forced him to the ground

after receiving report of a "sus-picious person" looking into thegarages of several homes.

Patel's family said he waswalking down the sidewalk inthe neighborhood when he wasstopped by the police. Since hedid not know English, he wasunable to respond to the ques-tions asked by the police exceptfor saying "no English" and inbetween he put his hand in oneof his pockets.-PTI

Sureshbhai Patel’s son Chirag Patel

Patel, 57, is native of Pij inGujarat and had arrived inthe US only a week beforethe incident occurred. Hisson Chirag Patel, anengineer, flew him from thesmall Indian town of Pij tolive with them in Huntsville,a suburban town next toMadison, an affluentneighborhood

A dash cam video shows Eric Parker and a trainee officer allegedly throwing

Sureshbhai Patel to the ground when responding to a call about

the elderly man walking around

In addition to damages, the family is suing toobtain audio and video evidence taken bythe police officers during the incident. It hadnot been released to the public because theMadison police department said the record-ings were evidence in the investigation

Sureshbhai Patel’s wife Shakuntalaben

The family has decided to filesuit for damages, including Patel'smedical bills, which will likely bein excess of $100,000 dollars evenif he makes a full recovery.

Sherrod, who visited Patel atthe hospital, said Sureshbhai hadregained movement of his armsbut was not yet able to grip withhis hands. He also regained lim-ited use of his left leg, but his rightremained paralyzed.

In addition to damages, thefamily is suing to obtain audio andvideo evidence taken by the po-lice officers during the incident. Ithad not been released to the pub-lic because the Madison policedepartment said the recordingswere evidence in the investiga-tion.

Chief Larry R. Muncey of theMadison Police Department reply-ing to an email, said: "Thank youfor taking the time to email ourdepartment and share your con-cerns. As the Chief of Police andcommunity member, I am equallyconcerned about the incident. Ihave instructed the Office of Pro-fessional Standard's Lieutenant to

conduct a thorough investigationinto the entire incident. I under-stand everyone's desire for imme-diate action, but that would bereckless, and could potentiallylead to injustice. I respectfully re-quest your patience while we in-vestigate this incident. When theinvestigation is complete, we willbe open and transparent with ourfindings."


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Hindu temple vandalized with hate messageWASHINGTON: A Hindu

temple has been vandalized withhate message and swastika spray-painted on its wall in the US stateof Washington, the latest incidentthat has shocked the community.

The incident happened whenunidentified miscreants sprayedswastika and painted "Get Out"on one of the walls of the templein the Seattle Metropolitan area.It is one of the largest Hindutemples in the entire North West.

The Snohomish CountySheriff's Department is investigat-ing the incident as malicious ha-rassment. Top county officialshave visited the temple.

"This kind of thing should nothappen in the US. Who are youtelling to get out? This is a nationof immigrants," Nitya Niranjan,chairman of board of trustee of theHindu Temple and Cultural Cen-tre, Bothell, Washington told PTI.

Niranjan said some kind ofpainting was sprayed on the out-side wall of the temple a few yearsago, but they did not bring it tothe notice of the law enforcementauthorities as nothing was written.

"We have no idea, who did it,"

dation."We are encouraged by the

ongoing thorough investigationof the Bothell City Police Depart-ment. HAF will continue to en-gage through the local communitywith city, state, and federal offi-cials until the perpetrator isbrought to justice," Kansara said.

Of late there has been increas-ing incidents of vandalism ofHindu temples in the US includ-ing one in Loudoun County, Vir-ginia and Monroe, Georgia lastyear.

As of January 1, 2015, the De-partment of Justice ordered allcrime reporting forms to includethe category anti-Hindu underthe possible motives of hatecrimes.

"Houses of worship are placeswhere people should be able tobe safe, at peace, and inspired toserve others," said Padma Kuppa,HAF board member.

"Instead, the vandalism of theHindu temple in Seattle and thearson of a mosque in Houston thispast weekend incite fear and re-sult in distrust among communi-ties," he said. -PTI

Niranjan said.Skyview Junior High, a block

away, was also tagged with aswastika and the words, 'MuslimsGet Out'.

While the temple has been

there for nearly two decades, theconstruction on the second phaseof the current building began re-cently.

The Hindu American Founda-tion (HAF) condemned the incident.

"The timing of this crime, oc-curring before a major Hindu fes-tival, warrants special attentionfrom law enforcement," said JayKansara, director of GovernmentRelations, Hindu American Foun-

Indian-origin scientist getsresearch award

NEW YORK: An Indian-originresearcher has received a USD500,000 award for developingdata-driven modeling and learn-ing techniques to improve the ac-curacy of operational decisionmaking.

Professor SrikanthJagabathula, from the New YorkUniversity Stern School ofBusiness, was recently recog-nized by the National ScienceFoundation (NSF) with its Fac-ulty Early Career DevelopmentAward (CAREER).

As part of this prestigiousaward, Jagabathula, an IITBombay alumnus, will receivea total of USD 500,000 over thenext five years to further hisresearch in developing data-driven modeling and learningtechniques with the goal ofimproving the accuracy of op-erational decision making.

The Faculty Early CareerDevelopment (CAREER) Pro-gram is a highly competitive,Foundation-wide activity that of-fers the NSF's most prestigiousawards in support of junior fac-ulty who exemplify the role ofteacher-scholars through out-standing research, excellent edu-cation, and the integration of edu-

cation and research within thecontext of the mission of their or-ganizations.

"We are proud of ProfessorJagabathula's research and therecognition it has received from

the National Science Founda-tion," said Peter Henry, dean ofNYU Stern.

Jagabathula's research is ex-pected to lead to easy-to-use tech-niques for a wide range of mana-gerial decisions: the right prod-

ucts to design, the right productsand prices to offer to customers,and the right quantity of eachproduct to carry.

Traditional approaches havefocused either on selecting an

appropriate model and fittingit to the data or on efficientlysolving a decision problemwhen given the model, leavingthe model selection itself to anexpert.

Neither approach scales tocurrent retail applications,which are characterized by di-verse demand patterns, prod-ucts, and types of data (pur-chase transactions, click-streams, browsing patterns,dwell times on products, etc.)

Jagabathula's research willinstead blend techniques frommachine learning, statistics,and operations to design anapproach that starts with atype of data (purchase trans-actions, click-streams, market-ing studies, choice of insur-

ance policies) and ends with anoperational decision.

The integrated approach willwork "out-of-the-box" by auto-matically selecting a model cus-tomized to the data and the deci-sion. -PTI

Srikanth Jagabathula

Indian-American shotdead in his liquor shop

NEW YORK: A 28-year-old In-dian-American, who was shot byunknown gunmen in his family-owned liquorshop in the US,has succumbedto his injuries.

Amit Patelfrom Edisonwas shot andkilled in NewJersey insideRoseway Li-quors inIrvington.

When policearrived at thestore, theyfound Patel in-jured from ag u n s h o twound. He waslater pro-nounced dead,Acting EssexCounty Prosecutor Carolyn AMurray and Acting Irvington Po-lice Director Musa Malik said in astatement.

According to close familyfriends, Amit was manning thefamily's liquor store alone - his

father, whoowned the storewas in the backoffice.

"We don'tknow if it was arobbery, no-body knows.They were alonehere," BimalPatel, a familyfriend, wasquoted as say-ing by nj.com.

The victimgot married onlya year ago.

Authoritiessaid they werelooking intowhether theshooting may

have been the result of a robbery,but said it was too early in the in-vestigation to be sure. No arrestshave been made in the case. -PTI

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Modi promises to act against religious violenceNEW DELHI: Breaking his si-

lence on the recent church at-tacks, Prime Minister NarendraModi has said his government willnot allow any religious group toincite hatred and will strongly actagainst any religious violence.

The Prime Minister, who hasbeen accused by opposition andChristian groups of turning ablind eye to a string of recent at-tacks on five churches and aChristian school in Delhi, said hisgovernment "gives equal respectto all religions".

"My government will ensurethat there is complete freedom offaith and that everyone has theundeniable right to retain or adoptthe religion of his or her choicewithout coercion or undue influ-ence.

"My government will not allowany religious group, belonging tothe majority or the minority, to in-cite hatred against others, overtlyor covertly. Mine will be a gov-ernment that gives equal respectto all religions," he said at a func-tion here.

He was addressing the national

celebration function of the eleva-tion to Sainthood of KuriakoseElias Chavara and MotherEuphrasia at Vigyan Bhawan.

In a stern warning to fringe el-ements, he said, "We cannot ac-

cept violence against any religionon any pretext and I strongly con-demn such violence. My govern-ment will act strongly in this re-gard."

Noting that the world is in-

creasingly witnessing divisionand hostility on religious linesand the issue has become a mat-ter of global concern, the PrimeMinister said the ancient Indianplea of mutual respect for all faiths

is now beginning to manifest inglobal discourse.

Observing that the world is atcrossroads, he said if not crossedproperly it "can throw us back tothe dark days of bigotry, fanati-

cism and bloodshed". He furthersaid that this harmonious conver-gence among religions could notbe achieved even when the worldentered the third millennium.

Invoking Buddha and Ma-

hatma Gandhi, Modi said thatequal respect for all religions mustbe in the DNA of every Indian.

Seeking harmony, the PrimeMinister appealed to all religiousgroups to act with restraint, mu-

tual respect and tolerance in thetrue spirit of the ancient nationwhich is manifest in the Constitu-tion and in line with the HagueDeclaration.

Modi's remarks have come af-

ter US President Barack Obamasaid the "acts of intolerance" ex-perienced by religious faiths of alltypes in India in the past few yearswould have shocked MahatmaGandhi. -PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing at the National Celebration of the Elevation to Sainthood of Kuriakose Elias Chavara and Mother Euphrasia, in New

Delhi on February 17. Union Minister for Finance, Corporate Affairs and Information & Broadcasting Arun Jaitley, Union Minister for Minority Affairs,

Dr. Najma A. Heptulla and other dignitaries are also seen


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Modi, Sirisena sign civil nuclear pactNEW DELHI: India and Sri

Lanka have signed a civil nuclearcooperation agreement which isseen as an effort by New Delhi tocounter growing Chinese influ-ence in the island nation.

This is the first such dealsigned by Sri Lanka with any for-eign country, reflecting the newLankan government's pro-Indiaapproach.

The pact was signed aftertalks between Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and new SriLankan President MaithripalaSirisena who chose India for hismaiden foreign visit after assum-ing charge following a bitterpresidential poll.

The two leaders also decidedto expand defense and securitycooperation between the twocountries.

According to the nuclear deal,India will assist Sri Lanka in de-veloping its civil nuclear energyinfrastructure, including sharingof resources, training of person-nel and extending expertise.

It will also facilitate coopera-tion in radioactive waste manage-ment and nuclear and radiologi-cal disaster mitigation and envi-ronmental protection.

India's ties with Sri Lanka hadtaken a hit during the rule ofSirisena's predecessor MahindaRajapaksa as China had ex-panded its footprint in the coun-try by building ports, highwaysand participating in other infra-structure projects.

"The bilateral agreement oncivil nuclear cooperation is yetanother demonstration of ourmutual trust. This is the first suchagreement Sri Lanka has signed,"Modi said in a joint press inter-action with Sirisena.

Reflecting the growing mo-mentum in ties, the Prime Minis-

ter said, "I believe that our desti-nies are inter-linked. Our securityand prosperity are indivisible."

"We welcomed the progressin our maritime security coopera-tion, including in the trilateral

format with the Maldives," hesaid.

63-year-old Sirisena, who haddethroned Rajapaksa from his 10-year rule after a bitter presiden-tial poll, has already indicated thathe wants to have a closer rela-tionship with India.

Modi said they had "excellent

discussions" on bilateral rela-tions and international issues.

On the fishermen issue, Modisaid he and the President at-tached the "highest importance"to it.

"It affects livelihoods on bothsides. We agreed that there mustbe a constructive and humanitar-ian approach to the issue.

"We will encourage thefishermen's associations on bothsides to meet again soon. Theyshould find a solution that canbe taken forward by both gov-

ernments," he said.Sources said the fishermen is-

sue figured prominently in the talks.They said the Sri Lankan side

conveyed to Indian side that thatthe deep sea fishing by Indianfishermen was impacting the live-lihood of Sri Lankan fishermen.

The sources said peace andreconciliation process in the is-land nation was also discussedin the meeting and the Sri Lankanside said as part of its outreachprogram, the government was re-turning 1,000 acres of "unusedland" to Tamil people.

The land belonging to Tamilcommunity was taken by police.

India has been hoping that thenew Lankan government will de-velop ties on the "foundation ofgenuine and effective reconcilia-tion" creating harmony among allsections there.

India has also been pressingfor implementation of 13thamendment to the Sri LankanConstitution.

Sources said both Modi andSirisena agreed that there wasvast potential for expanding eco-nomic cooperation by implement-ing provisions of the Free TradeAgreement signed between thetwo countries in 2003.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, Maithripala Sirisena

giving media statement, during the Joint Press Interaction, in New Delhi on February 16

India, Lanka plan cooperationin health sector

India, Lanka to enhancecooperation in oil, gas

NEW DELHI: India and SriLanka have agreed to explore av-enues for enhancing cooperationin oil and gas sector.

This was agreed during whenvisiting Sri Lankan Minister forPower Patali Champika Ranawaka

met Oil Minister DharmendraPradhan to discuss bilateral co-operation in oil and gas sector.

"The two Ministers reviewedthe existing cooperation betweenthe two countries on hydrocarbonsector. It was agreed that all av-enues must be explored to en-hance the relationship in this sec-tor," an official statement said

here.Separately, a delegation led by

Parliamentary Under Secretary ofState for Energy and Climatechange of United Kingdom Bar-oness Verma met Pradhan to dis-cuss bilateral cooperation in oil

and gas sector between India andUnited Kingdom.

"She mentioned that some UKcompanies have already investedin India and UK Government wasexploring how the Indian marketcould grow and be more competi-tive, thus encouraging other UKcompanies to invest in India," aseparate official statement said. -PTI

Minister of Power, Sri Lanka, Patali Champika Ranawaka meeting the Minister

of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas (Independent Charge), Dharmendra

Pradhan, in New Delhi on February 16

Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Jagat Prakash Nadda

meeting the Minister of Health and Indigenous Medicine, Sri Lanka, Rajitha

Senaratne to discuss the enhanced cooperation in health care,

in New Delhi on February 16

Nadda shared with his SriLankan counterpart that India hastaken a series of steps to preventand contain the threat from Ebolavirus and underlined the need forcooperation between the twocountries to guard against infec-tious disease threats.

He also underscored the needfor expanding bilateral coopera-tion in the area of health, includ-ing traditional medicines, throughformal MoUs on health coopera-tion and hoped that these couldbe finalized and signed at the ear-liest.

Nadda noted that the relationsbetween India and Sri Lanka isunique and based upon sharedhistorical, cultural, ethnic andcivilizational ties and extensivepeople-to-people interaction ashe extended an invitation toSenaratne to attend the nextSAARC Health Ministers' Meet-ing at New Delhi.-PTI

NEW DELHI: India and SriLanka have decided to expand bi-lateral cooperation in health sec-tor and resolve outstanding is-sues amicably through mutualconsultations.

This was decided during ameeting between the UnionHealth Minister J P Nadda andRajitha Senaratne, Minister ofHealth and Indigenous Medicine,Government of Sri Lanka.

Cont’d on page 9


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"President and I are committedto unlock the vast potential of oureconomic cooperation. We arepleased to be Sri Lanka's largesttrading partner. I know that Indiaenjoys a huge trade surplus. I ex-pressed my support for a morebalanced growth in trade in bothdirections," Modi said.

He said India was ready to pro-mote greater flow of Indian invest-ments and tourists into Sri Lanka.

"Our commerce secretaries willmeet soon to review our bilateralcommercial relations. We also in-tend to further improve air and seaconnectivity between India and

Sri Lanka," he said.The two countries also signed

three other agreements, includingone on cooperation in the field ofagriculture and another to enableSri Lanka to participate in theNalanda University Project.

The Sri Lankan President ex-pressed happiness over the out-come of the talks and said thefriendship between the two coun-tries was not only important toeach other but was significant forthe region as well.

"I really appreciate Prime Min-ister Modi's efforts (to improveties). Relations between the twocountries will be strengthenedfurther," he said. -PTI

Modi, Sirisena signcivil nuclear pact

Cont’d from page 8

President of the Democratic

Socialist Republic of Sri

Lanka, Maithripala Sirisena

and his wife Jayanthi

Sirisena being welcomed by

President, Pranab Mukherjee

and Prime Minister, Narendra

Modi at the Ceremonial

Reception at Rashtrapati

Bhavan, in New Delhi on

February 16

3 Indians in 100 shortlisted for one way trip to MarsLONDON: Three Indians, two

women and one man, have madeit to the list of 100 applicants whowill move on to the next round ofan ambitious private mission thataims to send four people on a one-way trip to Mars in 2024.

From the initial 202,586 appli-cants, only 100 hopefuls havebeen selected to proceed to thenext round of the Mars One As-tronaut Selection Process, TheNetherlands-based non-profit or-ganization Mars One has an-nounced.

The project aims to set up ahuman colony on Mars and even-tually around 40 people will besent to the red planet on a perma-nent basis. The finalists will trainfor seven years and Mars One willbegin sending out four at a timefrom 2024.

The Mars 100 Round Threecandidates include 50 men and 50women with 39 from the Americas,31 from Europe, 16 from Asia, 7

from Africa, and 7 from Oceania.The Indian candidates include

29-year-old Taranjeet SinghBhatia, who is studying Doctor-

ate in Computer Science at theUniversity of Central Florida.

The other two are Ritika Singh,29, who lives in Dubai, and

Shradha Prasad, 19, from Kerala.The second round of the ap-

plication process last year hadshortlisted 44 Indians, of whom

Taranjeet Singh Bhatia, Ritika Singh and Shradha Prasad. All images courtesy: www.mars-one.com

27 were men and 17 were women.The third round has selected

100 candidates from a pool of 660after they participated in personalonline interviews with NorbertKraft, Chief Medical Officer.

During the interviews the can-didates had a chance to showtheir understanding of the risksinvolved, team spirit and theirmotivation to be part of the lifechanging expedition.

"We were impressed with howmany strong candidates partici-pated in the interview round,which made it a very difficult se-lection," said Kraft.

The next selection rounds willfocus on composing teams thatcan endure all the hardships of apermanent settlement on Mars.

The candidates will receivetheir first shot at training in thecopy of the Mars Outpost onEarth and will demonstrate theirsuitability to perform well in ateam. -PTI

China 'happy' with India,Lanka friendly ties

BEIJING: China reacted guard-edly to new Sri Lankan PresidentMaithripala Sirisena's India visit,saying it is "happy to see" closeand friendly relations betweenthem and emphasized that soundties among the three nations willbe conducive to the entire region.

"Sri Lanka and India are friendlyand important neighbors toChina," Chinese Foreign Ministryspokesperson, Hua Chunying toldmedia here, commenting onSirisena's visit to India and vari-ous agreements reached betweenthe two countries.

"We want to develop strategiccooperative partnership with In-dia for peace and prosperity andwant the same with Sri Lanka," shesaid.

"Meanwhile, we are happy tosee close and friendly develop-ment of India-Sri Lanka relations.We believe the sound relationsamong the three countries areconducive to the three countriesand to the whole region. There-fore we are happy to see develop-ment of relations between SriLanka and India," she said.

India's ties with Sri Lanka hadtaken a hit during the rule ofSirisena's predecessor MahindaRajapaksa as China had expandedits footprint in the country bybuilding ports, highways and par-ticipating in other infrastructureprojects.

After his visit to India, the new

Sri Lankan President will visitChina next month for talks withthe top leadership.

Sirisena will arrive in China onMarch 26 to attend the annualBoao Forum for Asia, a prestigiousChinese think tank, modeled onthe 'Summer Davos' meet here,and will hold talks with PresidentXi Jinping.

Ahead of Sirisena's visit, SriLankan Foreign Minister MangalaSamaraweera will visit Beijing onFebruary 27-28 to make prepara-tions for the President's visit.

"Samaraweera is the first Min-ister to visit China since the newgovernment took office. The twosides pay great attention to thisvisit. During his visit Chinese lead-ers will meet him and foreign min-ister Wang Yi will hold talks withhim," Hua said.

Stressing that Sri Lanka isChina's friendly neighbor for along time, she said, "The bilateralrelations are founded on solid

political, economic and social ba-sis. Since the new government ofSri Lanka took office the twocountries maintained close con-tacts and communication at high-level."

"Through this visit we hope toexchange in-depth views on thefuture development of bilateralrelation in the new era, map outhigh-level mutual visits and co-operation in various fields andfurther advance the strategic co-operative partnership featuringsincere interaction and long-last-ing friendship and bring morebenefits to the people of the twonations," she said. -PTI


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Keep public interest topmost: Modi to IAS officersNEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra

Modi has asked IAS probationers to keeppublic interest foremost while dischargingtheir official duties and responsibilities andsaid the officers should judge themselvesby what difference they made to the life thepoor.

He also said the assured career pathshould not make the IAS officers compla-cent.

"They should judge themselves not bythe posts they hold but by what differencethey have been able to make in the lives ofthe poor," an official release said quotingModi.

He was addressing 183 probationers,including three from the Bhutan Civil Ser-vice, who called on him.

The Prime Minister said many of the ser-vices offered by government today are alsooffered by the private sector and empha-sized that officers handling such servicesin the government should judge the qual-ity of their service using the yardstick ofthe best in that category and even by inter-national standards.

In response to a question on the devel-opment of the North-East and ending thesense of alienation in the region, the PrimeMinister said that the core problem is notwith policy (neeti) but with practice (reeti).

He said at times, officers from other partsof the country even tried to avoid a post-ing in the North-East.

Modi emphasized the need for infrastruc-ture development in the North-East to im-prove accessibility and connectivity withother parts of India. "Once infrastructure

IAS Probationers called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in New Delhi on February 16. Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (I/

C), Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Department of Atomic Energy, Department

of Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh is also seen

develops, the North-East will be able toprogress," he said.

Responding to another question on de-fense preparedness, the PM said a multi-pronged approach is essential, which in-volves good relations with all neighboringcountries and a boost to domestic defensemanufacturing capabilities.

Modi said while bureaucracy had existedeven during the British rule.

"The key difference was that officers ofthat era worked to perpetuate the rule ofthe British while in independent India, theobjective of administration should be thepublic interest," Modi said.

Pointing out the teachings of Lord Bud-dha, the Prime Minister urged the proba-tioners to "light the lamp within you."

"It is the inherent goodness that is presentin all human beings, which will be the bestguide for them in their career," he said.

Modi said he is of the firm view that the21st century will be India's century and In-dia will rise to the position of "VishvaGuru." In this context, he said that theworld had once again started taking noteof India's rapid economic growth rate. -PTI

‘They should judge them-selves not by the poststhey hold but by what dif-ference they have beenable to make in the lives ofthe poor,’ an official re-lease said quoting Modi


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India-UK centers to minimizeantibiotics abuse

LONDON: A new multi-millionpound India-UK collaboration willfund three new global centers tofocus on research into antibioticsand tackling major world healthproblems.

The UK Medical ResearchCouncil (MRC) and India's Depart-ment for Biotechnology (DBT)have joined forces to fund threesuch centers.

The two centers are the Cam-

bridge-Chennai Centre Partner-ship on Antimicrobial ResistantTuberculosis in Chennai and UK-India Centre for Advanced Tech-nology for minimizing the indis-criminate use of Antibiotics inHyderabad.

The third centre is MRC-DBTJoint Centre for Cancer Biology& Therapeutics in Bangalore.

Using high quality researchteams based in the UK and India,two of the centers will focus onresearch into antimicrobial resis-tance (AMR) and the third on can-cer biology. Nearly 3.5 million

pounds will be invested by the UKthrough the MRC and the New-ton Fund, with matched fundingprovided by DBT.

"These exciting partnershipsbetween excellent scientists inIndia and the UK is a key part ofour international effort to poolexpertise and resources and de-liver research that will make a realdifference to global health," saidDr Mark Palmer, MRC director of

international strategy.The centers will take a global

perspective in tackling some ofthe largest global health problemsand foster the next generation ofresearchers with specialist skills.

The Cambridge-Chennai Cen-tre Partnership on AntimicrobialResistant Tuberculosis will in-volve a team of international re-searchers, from across a numberof disciplines, to develop new di-agnostic tools and new treatmentsto address the sharp rise in casesof multi-drug resistant Tubercu-losis (MDR-TB).

The UK-India Centre for Ad-vanced Technology for Minimiz-ing the indiscriminate use of An-tibiotics (UKICAT-MA) will focuson finding solutions to excessiveand inappropriate use of antibi-otics.

In partnership with the Univer-sity of Sheffield, University ofBradford and L V Prasad Eye In-stitute, the new centre will estab-lish smart materials for the detec-tion and targeted delivery of anti-biotics for eye infections and pro-mote use of new technologies inother infective diseases.

The third global centre namedMRC-DBT Joint Centre for Can-cer Biology & Therapeutics willlink the MRC Cancer Unit at theUniversity of Cambridge with theNational Centre for Biological Sci-ences to foster research on can-cer biology and therapy in India.

Prof K Vijay Raghavan, secre-tary in the Department of Biotech-nology, said: "India is committedto working with the best in theworld, for India and for the world.We are acutely aware that thefruits of our partnership can meanbetter lives for the most needyeverywhere and are committed tomake the collaboration succeed."

The Newton Fund is a new ini-tiative which will enable the UKto use its research and innovationto promote the economic devel-opment and social welfare of 15partner countries.-PTI

In partnership with the University of Sheffield,University of Bradford and L V Prasad EyeInstitute, the new centre will establish smartmaterials for the detection and targeteddelivery of antibiotics for eye infections andpromote use of new technologies inother infective diseases

Devotees standing in a queue to offer prayers on the occasion of Mahashivratri at Shankaracharya

temple in Srinagar on February 17

Airbus pact with Bengalurufirm for flap-track beams

NEW DELHI: European aircraftmanufacturer Airbus has signedan agreement with India'sDynamatic Technologies, makingthe Bengaluru-based companythe single source supplier of flap-track beams for the wide-bodyA330 Family planes.

Airbus had last year in Mayselected the Indian firm as the solesupplier of flap-track beams.

The agreement is the largestmanufacturing contract betweenAirbus and a private sector com-pany in India and elevatesDynamatic to a global tier-1 sup-

plier, the European firm said.Dynamatic has manufactured

flap-track beam assemblies forAirbus' single-aisle A320 familyon a global single source basis asa Tier-2 supplier, since 2010.

In phase one of the agreement,Dynamatic will assemble all theflap-track beams from itsBengaluru facility.

In the second phase,Dynamatic will be responsible forthe entire supply chain for theflap-track including sourcing ma-terials, manufacturing and finalassembly. With this new businessaward Dynamatic will be estab-lished as a centre of excellence forthe production of flap-trackbeams, the company said in a

statement."Dynamatic is proud of its part-

nership with Airbus, who have in-vested considerably in develop-ment, training, tooling and qual-ity systems and worked closelywith us to establish advancedmanufacturing capabilities in In-dia, which is truly in consonancewith the Make in India program,"Udayant Malhoutra, CEO andManaging Director, DynamaticTechnologies Limited, said.

Describing India as one of thefastest aviation growth markets inthe world which will be one of the

largest in the next 20 years, Air-bus said its industrial partner-ships in India span across engi-neering, manufacturing, R&T andservices.

"Airbus partnership withDynamatic signifies our commit-ment towards developing theaerospace supply chain in Indiathereby supporting thousands ofhighly skilled jobs in India,"Srinivasan Dwarakanath, Manag-ing Director of Airbus India, said.

Through these partnerships,we can proudly claim that there'sa bit of Made in India in all ouraircraft programs, he said.

The Airbus' sourcing from In-dia last year was worth more thanUSD 400 million. -PTI

Vice-President of Procurement Airbus Global Oliver Cauquil (L) with Airbus

India MD Srinivasan Dwarkanath (C) and Udayanth Malhotra, CEO, Dynamatic

Technologies after signing contract, in Bengaluru


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Delhi Police official tostudy facilities in FBI labs

NEW DELHI: A senior DelhiPolice official, who has carried theviscera samples of SunandaPushkar to an FBI lab in the US,has been tasked with studyingfacilities in forensic labs there andalso the work-ing in policestations so thatsome practicescan be repli-cated back inIndia.

D e p u t yCommissionerof Police(South) PremNath, who is inWa s h i n g t o nDC, will be stay-ing there for aweek and willnot only studythe system atFBI labs butalso keenly seethe way a policestation works there and will thengive a report to Delhi Police topbrass so that the good practicescan be followed here in the na-tional capital.

"Apart from delivering the ex-hibits to the FBI labs, he wasasked that he should also study

the systems at the FBI lab and incase we can replicate some ofthem, which are not available inIndia so that will be useful for ourpolice forces," said Delhi PoliceCommissioner B S Bassi.

52-year-old Sunanda wasfound dead in her suite at a fivestar hotel in south Delhi on thenight of January 17, 2014, a dayafter she was involved in a spatwith Pakistani journalist MehrTarar on Twitter over the latter'salleged affair with her husbandShashi Tharoor.

Police had on January 1 filed amurder case and formed an SIT toprobe the case. Her viscerasamples have been sent to an FBIlab to determine the kind of poi-son that caused Sunanda's death.An AIIMS report had said that thepoison cannot be detected in In-dian labs.

Showering rich praise on theofficer, Bassi said that Prem Nathis "one of our most competent"officers. He was instrumental inthe arrangements in the Common-wealth Games.

"He had gone abroad and stud-ied systems there and was able tobring back information aboutgood practices. So we expect himto bring back information on ar-eas where we are lacking so thatwe can add those systems in ourforensic science labs also," hesaid.

Nath has also been asked tostudy the systems and processesof one important police station inWashington and see what goodpractices are prevalent therewhich can be replicated in ourpolice stations also, he added.

Asked if Tharoor would bequestioned again in the case,Bassi said, "We have questionedhim in detail. It will now be ana-lyzed by the SIT and if we willneed any clarification that will besought. -PTI

Sunanda Pushkar

NCP leader R. R. Patilpasses away

MUMBAI: Senior NCP leaderRaosaheb Ramrao Patil, betterknown as R R Patil or 'Aaba', wasa quintessential grass root politi-cian who rose up thepolitical ladder inMaharashtra due tohis integrity and hon-esty.

Patil, born on Au-gust 16, 1957 into afamily with modestmeans at Anjani inTasgaon tehsil ofSangli district in west-ern Maharashtra,started off as a stu-dent leader whilestudying law and de-buted in politics asZilla Parishad member.

Known as 'MrClean', his good orga-nizational skills andability to identify withrural issues and sen-sibilities helped his re-markable political jour-ney which peakedwhen he became the Deputy ChiefMinister.

However, his sometimes casualoff-the-cuff statements before theelectronic media, and the contro-versial decision to ban the dancebars, dogged his career as thehome minister.

Initially a protégé of the lateVasantdada Patil, R R found amentor in Sharad Pawar, who wasthen in Congress.

Inducted for the first time in theDemocratic Front government in1999 as the Rural DevelopmentMinister, Patil was assigned thehome portfolio in 2003-end afterChhagan Bhujbal resigned in thewake of Telgi scam disclosures.

He had earlier made his markas Rural Development Minister byinitiating a cleanliness campaign,Sant Gadgebaba Abhiyaan, in ru-ral areas.

After spending 11 years as ZPmember, Patil was elected to As-sembly for the first time in 1990 fromTasgaon on Congress ticket. Hewent on to win the seat five times.

He stood out for his oratorywhile on the Opposition benchesduring the Shiv Sena-BJP rule(1995-99). He became the chiefWhip of Congress in MaharashtraAssembly as well as Chairman ofPublic Accounts Committee in1996-97 and 1998-99.

When Pawar left Congress andformed NCP in 1999, Patil threwhis lot with the Marathastrongman. He was subsequentlyrewarded and appointed NCP'sMaharashtra unit chief.

His rural roots helped him iden-tify the needs of the villages anddemocratize the functioning ofPanchayati Raj institutions.

However, as the home minis-ter, his infamous comment in theaftermath of the November 2008Mumbai attacks - "bade bade

shehron mein choti choti bateinhoti hai" - landed him in a soup.When asked at a press conferencewhether the terror strike was an

intelligence failure, Patil said, "Itis not like that. In big cities likethis, small incidents do happen.It's is not a total failure." -PTI

A huge crowd at the funeral procession of late NCP leader R R Patil in

Tasgaon on February 17

UN official uses India mapwithout parts of J&K

NEW DELHI: An incorrect mapof Jammu and Kashmir was pre-sented by a top UN official at awater summit here to discuss thesanitation situation in India.

The territory of India border-ing Pakistan and China in Jammuand Kashmirwas not part ofthe map shownby Sue Coates,chief of WASHUNICEF India,to tell the pro-portion of popu-lation defecatingin open in thecountry.

When con-tacted, a UN of-ficial said, "Itwas not at all in-tentional".

Later, Caroline den Dulk ChiefCommunication, UNICEF India,told PTI in an e-mail, "The mapused for the purpose in from anarticle used by another organiza-tion and is certainly not to-scale.Therefore it may have appeared

to you that the state of J&K isincorrectly displayed which wasnot at all our focus or purpose."

Coates made the presentationat the opening session of the 'In-dia Wash Summit' organized bythe WaterAid, a global NGO work-

ing to transform lives by improv-ing access to safe water, improvedhygiene and sanitation in theworld's poorest communities.

The panelists of the openingsession included bureaucrats,social activists, academicians andbank representatives.

They discussed some of theopportunities and challenges inthe water, sanitation and hygienesector in India, focusing on PrimeMinister Narendra Modi's ambi-tious Swacch Bharat Mission.

Coates completed the presen-

tation just few minutes ahead ofarrival of Rural Development Min-ister Chaudhary Birender Singh.

Singh launched the three-day'India Wash Summit' along withmany dignitaries including Coatesby floating diyas in a vessel filledwith water. -PTI

Chaudhary Birender Singhlaunched the three-day'India Wash Summit' alongwith many dignitariesincluding Coates byfloating diyas in a vesselfilled with water


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'India can counter any threatfrom Pak' Lt Gen Singh

PATIALA: India is fully pre-pared to counter any threat fromits neighboring country Pakistan,a senior Army officer said here.

Western Command GeneralOfficer in Commanding (GOC) LtGen K J Singhasserted that"India is fullyprepared tocounter anythreat from itsn e i g h b o r i n gcountry Paki-stan".

Talking tomedia personshere, he saidthat "Eventhough we both (India and Paki-stan) have nuclear capabilities,but India is far better from Paki-stan in every field".

He claimed that India is ahead

in technology part as far as train-ing part of its troops.

He was here to inaugurate aday-long national seminar-cum-penal discussion on '50 years ofIndo-Pak war 1965: A retrospec-

tion'.He also

shared his viewregarding Indo-Pak war 1965.

In his key-note address,Maj Gen B SGrewal (Retd)said that war isnot a balancesheet, but it ismore a concern

with high-valued territories andLine of Control (LOC).

He also paid tributes to MajorBhupinder Singh for his contribu-tion in 1965 Indo-Pak war. -PTI

Lt Gen K J Singh

UK academic plans'Mahabharata' Twitter sequelLONDON: A UK-based Indian

academic, who has retold the an-cient Sanskrit epic 'Mahabharata'in a series of tweets, is now pre-paring for a sequel to the Twitterversion, this time from the per-spective of its key villainDuryodhana.

Chindu Sreedharan, a formerwar reporter-turned-journalismlecturer at Bournemouth Univer-sity on the south coast of En-gland, began narrating the Indianepic on the microblogging site asa digital storytelling experiment in2009.

The story spanned four yearsand 2,700 tweets and his effortswere released in December asIndia's first Twitter fiction noveltitled 'Epic Retold.'

The 41-year-old author says heis now taking a "breather" beforeembarking on a sequel to the epic.

With over 100,000 couplets orshlokas, 'Mahabharata' is one ofthe two epics of Hinduism. Itteaches the goal of human lifethrough the tales of a dynasticstruggle for power between theKauravas and the righteousPandavas.

The sequel to 'Epic Retold'would present the eldest Kauravabrother as an anti-hero and wouldbe shorter than the first version.

"Towards the end of 'Epic Re-told,' particularly because of theway certain things have been

reimagined, I began to seeDuryodhana differently. I couldsee his point of view. 'Epic Retold'was Bhima's 'truth'. This will beDuryodhana's," Sreedharan toldPTI.

The final format of the sequelis under discussion with the pub-lisher but it will be a short storyrather than a novel and this timethe full draft will be ready beforehe starts tweeting it out.

"'Epic Retold' was written onTwitter, kind of in real time - so itwas quite challenging. I am hop-ing to catch my breath before Istart it [sequel], so it is all still afew months away," Sreedharansaid.

The academic, who has re-ported on the Kashmir conflict,the Kargil war, and the MaoistPeople's War guerrilla movement,was drawn to the 'Mahabharata'due to the conflict at the heart of

the warring Kauravas andPandavas.

The twitter version of the'Mahabharata' began as an experimentthat soon took on a life of its own.

He explains: "This began as anexperiment with Twitter, which stillcontinues. It's a story I have al-ways been fascinated by, some-thing I have grown up with. Butalso, when I began this experimentI happened to be reading a fasci-nating retelling of the'Mahabharata.' So it was the storyforemost in my mind.

"When I began seriouslythinking about it, I became moreconvinced that the 'Mahabharata'was a great choice. What I wasattempting was fragmentedstorytelling, a narrative distrib-uted across weeks, months. Tokeep readers interested acrossthat timespan, I needed a power-

ful story, a story rife with dramaand strong characters and con-flict. 'Mahabharata' had all those.

"Also, war narration in the me-dia is one of my research areasand in a rather reductionist way, Ihad begun to think of the'Mahabharata' as a war story. Sothere was that added resonancefor me as an academic as well."

As the story went out from his@epicretold Twitter handle, itlived up to his vision as a time-less and universal epic that wouldconnect with a global audience.

He feels its success lies in therichness of the original Sanskritpoem written over 100,000 cou-plets and layers of meanings.

The appeal of the Mahabharatacan be gauged by the fact thatwhen it was first adapted into atelevision series in the 1980s,streets emptied out during its tele-cast, with most Indians hooked to

their TV sets.Even today, politicians often

invoke the Sanskrit epic duringelection campaigns to identifythemselves as one of the Pandava

siblings, while calling their oppo-nents the Duryodhana or his 99brothers.-PTI

What I was attempting was fragmentedstorytelling, a narrative distributed acrossweeks, months. To keep readers interestedacross that timespan, I needed a powerfulstory, a story rife with drama andstrong characters


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Court adjourns hearingagainst bail to Lakhvi

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistanianti-terrorism court has adjournedfor a month the hearing on thegovernment's appeal against thebail granted to 2008 Mumbai at-tack mastermind Zakiur RehmanLakhvi by the trial court after hiscounsel sought more time for ar-guments.

On December 18, 2014, theIslamabad Anti-Terrorism Courtgranted bail to Lakhvi, who wasallegedly involved in planning, fi-nancing and executing the deadlyterror attack in November, 2008 inIndia's financial hub.

The government in the firstweek of January had challengedthe bail to Lakhvi in the IslamabadHigh Court.

A two-member bench headedby Justice Shaukat Siddiqui sub-sequently took up the plea and

summoned Lakhvi for arguments."In the hearing Raja Rizwan

Abbasi, a counsel for Lakhvi,sought more time from the highcourt for arguments in the case.The court accepted his requestand adjourned the hearing till sec-ond week of March," ProsecutionChief Chaudhry Azhar said afterthe hearing.

The prosecution informed thecourt in its petition that the trialcourt ignored testimony in thecase while granting bail to Lakhvi.

Lakhvi has been detained un-der the Maintenance of PublicOrder (MPO) till the second weekof March.

The IHC also dismissed thedetention case after the govern-ment on February 13 issued afresh detention order for Lakhvi.-PTI

Nitish hails Shiv Senafor speaking 'truth'

PATNA: Hailing Shiv Sena forspeaking the "truth" on BJP's rolein Bihar's present political situa-tion, senior JD(U) leader NitishKumar today said several otherparties had echoed the same.

"Shiv Sena has spoken thetruth about things going on inBihar on the patronage ofBJP leadership," Kumar toldPTI in an exclusive inter-view.

Shiv Sena taunted BJPover the issue of support-ing Bihar Chief MinisterJitan Ram Manjhi sayingbacking him would be a"sin" as it would be an en-dorsement of the "black erain politics".

"Its not only Shiv Sena,Trinamool Congress, BSPand others have also comeout in open to flay BJP fortriggering disturbance inBihar to prepare ground for Presi-dent rule," Kumar, who receivedtelephone from BSP chiefMayawati last night, said.

"JD(U) pre-empted the blackdeed of BJP in its new avatar andsevered ties well in advance (in June2013)," Kumar said in reply to aquestion on BJP's reported strainedrelationship with the Shiv Sena andthe Shiromani Akali Dal now.

"Shiv Sena which sided withBJP when nobody wanted tostand with them is being isolatedby the present leadership of thesaffron party," Kumar, who servedas minister in NDA rule of AtalBihari Vajpayee, said.

"Shiv Sena was victimised byBJP before forming governmentwith them in Maharashtra," hesaid, adding that the saffron partyin its new avatar was "playingfoul" against time tested alliescrushing the model of coalitiongovernment presented by its vet-

eran Atal Bihari Vajpayee.Referring to BJP's "hobnob-

bing" with NCP of Sharad Pawar,he said Prime Minister NarendraModi had during poll defined itas a "Naturally Corrupt Party" andused to mock at its symbol 'Watch'by showing time as 10:10 to sayin 10 years its corrupt practicesmultiplied by ten times.

"Vajpayeejee through his con-duct and by giving respect heldtogether all coalition partners...buttoday's BJP considers allies as fol-lowers," said Kumar who droveJD(U) to break ties with BJP after17-year of partnership on June2013.-PTI

Modi's dig at AAP overreduced power bills

NEW DELHI: In an apparentdig at AAP over its poll pledge toreduce power bills, Prime Minis-ter Narendra Modi wondered howsuch promises could be made bypolitical parties in states which aredependent on electricity supplyfrom outside.

"During every election, politi-cal parties promise freepower...People need to thinkabout these promises," said Modiat a renewable energy conferencehere.

The parties make these prom-

ises in such states who rely onelectricity supply from otherstates, he added.

"Water accounts for a majorchunk of the input cost of farm-ers. The cost of water is basicallydue to cost of power. We have tounderstand the problems farmersare facing," said Modi.

Arvind Kejriwal-led AAPtrounced the BJP in Delhi assem-bly polls. The party in its election

manifesto had promised to cutelectricity bills by half amongother freebies.

Delhi has a power demand ofabout 5,000 MW and is largelydependent on other states to meetits requirements.

Reacting to Modi's apparentdig at AAP, senior party leaderand AAP's Delhi ConvenerAshutosh urged the Prime Minis-ter to help the state governmentto make power affordable.

"I don't want to make any ad-verse comment on the Prime Min-

ister. I just want to make a requestto him on behalf of the party thathe should help us to make elec-tricity affordable and cheaper be-cause that will do a lot of good tothe people of Delhi and I hope thathe also wants goodness of peopleof state," he said.

AAP leader Ashish Khetan,who played a crucial role in chalk-ing out party's agenda to solvethe power problem in the national

capital, said the previous govern-ments neither promoted solar en-ergy nor did they have any goodpolicy of any alternate source ofenergy.

"When coal-based energy isconcerned we have to depend onstates like Chattisgarh, Jharkhandamong others. Secondly, powerplants of the country, though maybe located in other states theyproduce electricity for the wholecountry.

"Reducing power tariff andbringing in reforms in the powersector is a different issue and link-ing it to power production is quiteweird," he said.

The Congress slammed Modisaying there is a huge gap be-tween what the Prime Ministerpreaches and practices.

"He should look within. ThePrime Minister should direct thatquestion to (Punjab chief minis-ter) Sardar Prakash Singh Badalto whom they gave a PadmaVibhushan. Because after all theAkalis have been the pioneers ofpolitics of free power.

"Even as we speak there is anAkali-BJP government in Punjaband power to the farmers is free.So, is PM Narendra Modi goingto advice the BJP in Punjab to takeit up with the Akali Dal or in theCabinet that power tariff shouldbe imposed on Punjab farmers,"senior Congress leader ManishTewari said. -PTI

The Congress slammed Modi saying there isa huge gap between what the Prime Ministerpreaches and practices. "He should lookwithin. The Prime Minister should direct thatquestion to (Punjab chief minister) SardarPrakash Singh Badal to whom they gavea Padma Vibhushan

Nitish Kumar

Malaysia eyes 8,00,000 tourists from IndiaMUMBAI: Malaysia, which

has declared 2015 as the year offestivals (MyFest 2015), is plan-ning to spend more than USD 5million on promotions to attractclose to 8,00,000 travelers fromIndia to visit the SouthAsian country this year.

"India has always beenan important market forus. It has consistentlybeen one of the top 10tourist generating marketsto the country, and hascontinuously made sig-nificant contributions toour tourist arrivals andtourist receipts," Malay-sian Tourism and CultureMinister Seri MohamedAbdul Aziz said here.

With 165 direct flightsfrom various destinationsin India per week, travel to Ma-laysia has become very conve-nient and the country is expect-ing to welcome close to 800,000Indian guests this year, he added.

From January-October 2014,Malaysia had registered 6,43,335Indian tourists, which is a 20.7 percent increase 5,32,964 over thesame period in 2013.

With the World Travel and

Tourism Council (WTTC) predict-ing India to be the third fastestgenerator of travel and tourismdemand from 2010-2019 with anannualized growth of 8.2 per cent,

promotions to the Indian touristsis high on the agenda, the minis-ter said.

Malaysia will be spendingmore than USD 5 million on mar-keting and promotions in India,

which will include the tierII and III cities.

The sales mission alsoaims to strengthen thepresence of Malaysia inthe South Asian market,and to keep India's traveltrade, media and corpo-rate sector updated onthe current issues andtourism development inMalaysia, especially dur-ing the MYFest cam-paign, he said.

"We believe that thereis a rise in disposable in-come in the smaller cities,

where people are also keen totravel and explore. We want to tapthis market by developing newand interesting packages," headded.-PTI

Petronas Towers


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Top Stories

Tallest Krishna Mandir being built in VrindavanRUCHIT SHAH

VRINDAVAN, UP, India: Vrindavan, LordKrishna's playground, will be turned intoone of the biggest tourist attractions withthe proposed multi million dollar tallestKrishna Mandir in the offing.

Vrindaavan Chandroday Mandir will turnout to be the world's tallest Mandir oncecompleted. Still under construction atVrindaavan-Mathura, UP, it will be one ofthe most expensively built Mandirs in theworld by ISKCON at the cost of Rs 300 crore(US$ 49 million).

The Mandir has a footprint of about 5acres. It rises to a height of about 700 feet(213 meters or 70 floors) with a built-up areaof 5,40,000 sq. ft.

The project is set in 62 acres of land andwill include 12 acres for parking and a heli-pad. The Mandir is planned to be vibrantwith festivals and religious activities

throughout the year. A look-alike of theverdant forests of Vrindavan will be recre-ated around this magnificent Mandir.

It will be spread over a sprawling 26 acresand will consist of the twelve forests(dvaadashakaanan) of Braj (Vrindaavan).With varieties of lush vegetation, greenpastures, elegant vistas of fruit bearingtrees, flower-laden creepers serenaded bybird songs, clear water lakes with lotusesand lilies & water falls that tumble fromsmall artificial hillocks - all recreated fromdescriptions in the Srimad Bhaagavatamand other source books of Lord Sri Krishna- to transport the visitors to Krishna's timesin Vrindaavan.

The Mandir, with a traditional Nagra ar-chitecture at the entrance, will have elementsof a glass façade that would stretch to the70th floor.

The structural design has beenoutsourced to a US-based company, TRCWorldwide Engineering Brentwood. Struc-tural design advisors are from Civil Engi-neering Department of IIT and SanrachnaConsultants, New Delhi. The lead archi-tects are Ingenious Studio Pvt Ltd.

Quintessence Design Studio will carryout landscaping for the whole temple area.HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air condi-tioning) will be installed by Gupta Consult-ants & Associates.

Proposed Vrindavan Mandir by ISKCON

www.indiapost.com February 20, 2015

COMMUNITYACROSS AMERICA

16 India Post

Desi News

Details on page 19

Great music &dance at

Valentine's Daycelebration

Details on page 18

Details on page 20

Details on page 21

Community fundraiser for Mayoralcandidate Dr Willie Wilson

A.Q. SIDDIQUI & MADHU PATELIndia Post News Service

CHICAGO: A group of IndianAmericans led by Dr VijayPrabhaker, FIA trustee chairIftekhar Shareef , Kishore Mehtaand others hosted a fundraiserunder the auspices of Multi Eth-nic Advisory Task Force(MEATF)for Chicago Mayoralcandidate Dr Willie Wilson atHema's Kitchen on Devon Avenueon Wednesday February 11. Theevent was attended by prominentIndian community members andbusiness persons.

The owner of Hema's Kitchenand also a leader in her commu-nity honored Dr Wilson with a tra-ditional Indian Shawl. KishoreMehta welcomed the guests andurged Iftekhar Shareef, a commu-nity leader and Trustee Chair ofFederation of Indian Associationsto introduce Dr WilIie Wilson.

Introducing Dr Wilson to Chi-cago Indian community, Shareefremarked that there was some-thing about Dr Wilson that ap-pealed him to come forward andsupport him. That he was a per-son who started his life and busi-ness from a ground level and hestill shares the needs of fellow citi-zens.

"Every day he walks out of hishome with cash in pocket and dis-tributes among people in need,"Shareef said, "That makes you feel

here is a person who has a nobleheart and knows how to serve thepeople and their needs."

Iftekhar Shareef also comparedDr Wilson to Aam Admi Partyleader Arvind Kejriwal who re-cently won common man's man-date and came to power. Dr Wil-son has a noble heart, a person

who has strong faith in his reli-gion, a successful businessmanand a spirit to help others. "Weneed people like him in public ser-vice and politics," Shareef re-

Kishore Mehta of MEATF Iftekhar Shareef and Dr Willie Iftekhar Shareef and Hema Potla whopresented Shawl to Dr Willie

marked.Dr Wilson started his career

with the fast-food corporation,mopping floors for $2 an hour. LaterWilson owned a McDonald's andmoved on to own three additionallocations. He has strong supportin the south side of City.

Addressing Indian community,

Dr Wilson thanked all for supportand spoke about his own plan forcity development. He wanted asafe and business oriented City ofChicago. His top priority is eco-

nomic empowerment and stimulat-ing the growth of communitiesthrough strong, new businessopportunities.

"I propose to take city ownedempty lots, vacant buildings andpotentially other, larger buildingsand sell them to members of com-munities and people who want to

start new business for one dollar,as we have done before," Dr Wil-son emphasized.

Mrs Padma Mehta, Kishore Mehta . Mrs. Willie Wilson, Congressman Danny Davis, Dr Willie Wilson,Ali Akhatar and Jameel Ahmed

Cont’d on page 19

Covington Who's Whoselects Srinivasan toExecutive RegistryIndia Post News Service

FREMONT, CA: SrinivasanVeeraraghavan, Owner and Presi-dent of USHMS Inc., has beenselected as an Executive of theYear Member of the CovingtonWho's Who Executive and Profes-sional Registry. The selection rec-ognizes SrinivasanVeeraraghavan's commitment toexcellence in Healthcare and Infor-mation and Technology.

Srinivasan Veeraraghavan be-gan his career in 1992 in his cur-rent field. As owner and presidentof USHMS Inc. and USHMS Sys-tems, he is responsible for the ad-ministration management andgrowth of the company. His man-agement and finance and market-ing expertise both contribute tothe success and growth of his or-ganization, and he hopes to con-tinue making new goals with eachNew Year.

Vivek adds charmto Valentine's DaycelebrationsIndia Post News Service

SAN JOSE, CA: A Spirit Eventspresented Valentine's Party"Love Affair" on February 13 atMotif Lounge at San Jose Down-town. The event, a sold out showwith over 500 people in the audi-ence, rocked with Bollywoodprince Vivek Oberoi and dancedto the beats of Bollywood musicall night. With passion and lovefilling the air, couples danced totheir hearts content. With redheart shaped balloons symboliz-ing deep and undying promisesof love, the evening presented aromantic feel.

Telugus celebrateSankranthi in agrand style

ASHWIN PATEL

ST LOUIS: The Telugu Asso-ciation of St. Louis (TAS), Mis-souri celebrated Sankranthi cel-ebrations (South Indian HarvestFestival) on Saturday, 7 February2015 in a spectacular way.

More than 1000 people at-tended the event and around 130kids and adults participated in thecultural events.Dressed in attiresreflecting Telugu culture and tra-dition, artists presented a varietyof cultural programs which drewhuge applause from the audience.

India Post 17February 20, 2015 Community Across Americawww.indiapost.com

Philanthropy Award for Dr Parveen Chopra

Indian psychiatrist namedDistinguished Life Fellow

SURENDRA ULLAL

MAYWOOD: Loyola University Medi-cal Center psychiatrist Murali Rao, MD, hasachieved Distinguished Life Fellow statusin the American Psychiat-ric Association, the high-est honor the professioncan bestow.

Dr Rao's status will beformally recognized May18 during the AmericanPsychiatric Association'sannual meeting inToronto.

Dr Rao also has beenelected a member of theAmerican College of Psy-chiatrists. He will be in-ducted Feb. 20 during theannual meeting of the col-lege in Huntington Beach,Ca.

He is chair of the Department of Psychia-try and Behavioral Neurosciences of LoyolaUniversity Chicago Stritch School of Medi-cine and specializes in geriatric psychiatry,

affective disorders, dual-diagnosis psychi-atric illnesses, psychosomatic medicine andTran cranial magnetic stimulation for the

treatment of depression.Dr Rao is much inter-

ested in the emergingneuromodulation tech-niques and adaptingproven modalities intoclinical practice. Besidesbeing a Distinguished Fel-low of the American Psy-chiatric Association, he isa Fellow of the Academyof Psychosomatic Medi-cine.

Dr Rao earned his medi-cal degree from MysoreMedical College and com-pleted residencies in psy-chiatry at Southern Illinois

University Affiliated Hospital andWinnebago Mental Health Institute. He isfluent in Hindi and Kannada. His interestsinclude tennis, travel and family.

Dr Murali Rao

Standing: Dr Kenneth Saunders; Reverend Dr Reginald Tuggle; Usha Chopra (Past president - India Association of Long Island); Kailash & MinaSharma ( Past President- Nargis Dutt Memorial Foundation); Julius Pierce ( President / Founder MLK Birthday Celebration Committee) Dr ParveenChopra ( Presidential Philanthropy Award Honoree); Judge Peter Skelos; Judge Ruth Balkin; Judge Anthony Paradisio; Henry Holley ( Hempstead

Housing Authority) Lieutenant Commander Gary Shapiro - Nassau County Police Department; Samir Chopra

India Post News Service

NEW YORK: Dr Parveen Chopra wasrecently honored with the Presidential Phi-lanthropy Award by the Martin Luther Kingbirthday Celebration Committee at its thir-tieth Awards ceremony held at the MarriottHotel, Uniondale, New York. Dr Chopra wasbestowed this award for his significant phil-anthropic contributions to the MartinLuther King Scholarships which areawarded to high school students of meritand need who aim to attend college.

Reverend Dr Reginald Tuggle in his in-troduction said "Dr Chopra has led a life ofcommunity service and because of his hearthe looks to help those less fortunate. Heis a wonderful role model to the next gen-eration and our community." Julius Pearce,President of the Martin Luther King birth-day Celebration Community said, "DrChopra is a generous man who has worked

hard his entire life - when he served as Chair-person of Finance of this organization he

was honest, trustworthy and led with in-tegrity. He is my friend and it's our privilegeto bestow the Presidential Philanthropyaward for his major financial contributionsand for the uplifting of individuals in need."

Dr Parveen Chopra has been honoredwith the Congressional Ellis Island Medalof Honor, the New York State Bar Associa-tions Haywood Burns Memorial Award, theNassau County Bar Associations Libertybell Award and has served with distinctionin political life for over 25 years.

Dr Chopra was bestowedthis award for his signifi-cant philanthropic contri-butions to the Martin LutherKing Scholarships

February 20, 2015India Post18 Community Across Americawww.indiapost.com

Telugus celebrate Sankranthi in a grand styleASHWIN PATEL

Telugu Association members in joyful mood celebrating Sankranti

ST LOUIS: The Telugu Asso-ciation of St. Louis (TAS), Mis-souri celebrated Sankranthi cel-ebrations (South Indian HarvestFestival) on Saturday, 7 February2015 in a spectacular way.

More than 1000 people at-tended the event and around 130kids and adults participated in thecultural events.Dressed in attiresreflecting Telugu culture and tra-dition, artists presented a varietyof cultural programs which drewhuge applause from the audience.

Stage decoration, audio visu-als and great theme to reflectTelugu culture in a village envi-ronment were highlights of the

celebration. The South Indian vil-lage atmosphere was created onthe stage with life-size bullock cart,cow-and-calf, Lord Ganesh, etc.and depicted the Telugu culture.Archana Upamaka's anchoringadded Telugu nativity to the stage.

There was a three-hour culturalprogram including TAS atavidupu(game show), songs, poem recit-als and vocal recitals, moviedance sequences, etc. Many mem-

bers took part in Rangoli competi-tions and Bommala Koluvu.

President MuralikrishnaPuttagunta introduced newlyelected Executive Committee andBoard of Directors and thankedpast committees for their serviceto the community.

He reminded everyone of themarvelous successes of TAS inthe last four years and laid outTAS's plans for 2015 and 2016. Heurged members to get involved inthe social programs especially de-signed to engage youth in the so-cial service.

Cultural Secretary Mrs SrilahariDasyam coordinated the cultural

events. Vice-PresidentRavindranath Karnati deliveredvote of thanks. Secretary RavirajKolakaleti played a key role in or-ganizing the event while the trea-surer Mr. Subakalyan Vuyyurumanaged member enrollments andreception area. The participantswere awarded TAS trophies.

Authentic South Indian dinnerleft the taste buds of everyonesatisfied.

Cultural presentation at Sankranthi celebrations

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He has more concern for thesafety of citizens and wanted po-lice officers back on streets andreaching to all neighborhoods.Later, Dr Wilson individually metall the prominent Indian commu-nity leaders and shared their con-cerns.

There was a brief QA sessionwhere Dr Wilson was questionedby the audience on various topicson current state of affairs and howhe will bring about change to im-prove on them. The topics in-cluded parking meters on streetsnear shops and businesses which

Community fundraiser for Mayoralcandidate Dr Willie Wilson

hurt the growth of businesses,opening mental health facilities formentally ill, pardons for prisonerswith drug or mental issues and theneed to transfer them to mentalhealth facilities and rehabs, andways to fight poverty.

Besides the fundraiser on De-von Avenue there was anotherfundraiser for Dr Wilson at DrJawed Eshan's residence inOakbrook on Friday February 13.According to Kishore Mehta ofMEATF, the two fundraisershelped raise close to $11,000 forthe Mayoral candidate. Mehta atthe end proposed a vote ofthanks.


Great music & dance at Valentine's Day celebrationAsian Media USA

CHICAGO IL: 'Pyar IshqMahobbat Forever' Valentine'sDay party organized by Pratibha'sBollywood Sargam and spon-sored by Noor Tejani of MidwestSilver Club on Saturday, February14 at Ashyana Banquets inDowners Grove, turned out to bea success inclement weather not-withstanding.

With red and pink heart-shapedballoons at the entrance of thebanquet hall, over 300 guests gath-ered for a vibrant Valentine Daycelebration.

The program was emceed byPratibha Jairath. Hitesh Masteralso enthralled audience with somenew numbers.

After a bit of interaction withthe audience, Ms Jairath startedthe musical evening with popularromantic and melodious numbersthat brought everyone to thedance floor filled up in no time withtheir partners. She was then joinedby Raju Bankapur, who startedwith 'Chand Sifarish' and contin-

Audeince join in Valentine Day clebrations

ued to rock the party with non-stop dance medleys.

Jairath and Bankapur enter-tained the audience with SheroShayri, jokes and presented a fewduets and solos with Valentinetheme such as 'ChaliChali Ishq di hawa chali'and 'Mausam haiAshikana'.

After sumptuousdinner, the Belly danc-ers took over the stageto entertain the audi-ence. They danced on afew Bollywood num-bers like 'Baby Doll tuSone di' and that dance fusion wasawesome. The singing and danc-ing continued till midnight

Noordin Tejani's Midwest Sil-ver Club is a social organization

organizing social functions with aview to Meet, Greet and Entertainand get acknowledged our cultureto the next generation. Pratibha isa versatile singer who has givenvarious stage performances. She

has experience of organizing over100 Theme parties that entertainaudiences with a variety of sing-ing, dancing, games and competi-tion events.

Pratibha Jairath and Raju Bankarpur, two talented singers of Chicagoland

Bellydancerssieze the

stage

After sumptuous dinner,the Belly dancers tookover the stage to entertainthe audience. Theydanced on a fewBollywood numbers

February 20, 2015India Post20 Community Across Americawww.indiapost.com

Governor congratulates Zed for interfaith forum

Covington Who's Who selects Srinivasanto Executive Registry


FREMONT, CA: SrinivasanVeeraraghavan, Owner and Presi-dent of USHMS Inc., has beenselected as an Executive of theYear Member of the CovingtonWho's Who Executive and Profes-sional Registry. The selection rec-ognizes SrinivasanVeeraraghavan's commitment toexcellence in Healthcare and Infor-mation and Technology.

Srinivasan Veeraraghavan be-gan his career in 1992 in his cur-rent field. As owner and presidentof USHMS Inc. and USHMS Sys-tems, he is responsible for the ad-ministration management and

growth of the company. His man-agement and finance and market-ing expertise both contribute tothe success and growth of his or-ganization, and he hopes to con-tinue making new goals with eachNew Year.

USHMS is one of the leadingproviders of risk, financial & busi-ness advisory, internal audit, andmarketing management and Man-agement consulting. "My plansinclude turning USHMS into amultinational organization and tohelp the global economy and em-ployment," Mr Veeraraghavansaid.

Mr. Veeraraghavan is a certifiedACA (Associate Member of Char-

ber of International Chartered Ac-countants. When he moved to theUS he became COO of a hospitalin Bakersfield during his tenure,bringing it from near bankruptcyto multinational dollars. He hashelped clients from recovering alllosses and done several financialrecovery for various clients.

Dr Romesh Japra, famous car-diologist, said about him: "Srini'shard work and success showcasegrowing progress and clout In-dian community is able to gain inUSA. I wish him continued suc-cess."

Dr Vivek Bansal, plastic sur-geon, said that Srini can bring im-possible to real. Dr Daniel Chia

CEO Singapore Technologies hassaid that Srini can bring heavento the earth. Dr Mohammad Tariq,Anesthesiologist from Dallas,said that we can leave the workto Srini and he will take care of itwithout being reminded once.

His wife Shalini Srinivasansaid that Srini is a veryhardworking, goal oriented andself-disciplined person. He alsotakes care of his family in spite ofhis busy schedule. RadhaRamakrishnan his sister andbrother-in- law Ramakrishnansaid that his hard work and perse-verance brought him to this level.

For more information, visitwww.ushmsinc.com

tered Accountants) through theInstitute of Chartered Accoun-tants of India and is an active mem-

Srinivasan Veeraraghavan


NEVADA: Governor BrianSandoval has congratulated dis-tinguished religious activist RajanZed for four years of continuouspublication of weekly interfaithcolumn "Faith Forum" in a Gannettpublication.

In a signed Certificate of Rec-ognition presented to Zed, Gov-ernor Sandoval wrote: "Congratu-lations on this memorable mile-stone!"

"Faith Forum", a highly popu-lar one-of-a-kind weekly dialogueon religion at a Pulitzer winnerReno Gazette-Journal (RGJ) in Ne-vada, completed four years ofpublication on February 4.

Rajan Zed, President of Univer-sal Society of Hinduism, who has

been bestowed with "World Inter-faith Leader Award", leads a panelof leaders of various religions anddenominations to produce thisweekly discussion Forum, involv-ing important religious/spiritualissues affecting the area-country-world.

Panelists currently include:Rev. Robert W. Chorey (RomanCatholic), Dr. Stephen B. Bond(Christian Church), Dr. Sherif A.Elfass (Muslim), Jikai' Phil Bryan(Buddhist), Rabbi ElizaBeth W.Beyer (Jewish), Dr. Bradley S.Corbin (Baha'i), Brian E. Melendez(Native American), Dr. Kenneth G.Lucey (religion professor), Fr.

Stephen R. Karcher (Greek Ortho-dox) and Sharla S. Hales (Mormon).

Zed points out that this widelyread column is for constructive

dialogue and this dialogue efforthas brought more mutual under-standing and trust and loyalty in

the community.RGJ, whose traces go back to

1870 and which has been recog-nized for its journalistic excellence,

is one of the leading newspapersof Nevada and produces variousother print and online publica-tions. McLean (Virginia) head-quartered Gannett is an interna-tional media and marketing solu-tions company headed by GraciaC. Martore.

Some of the "Faith Forum" panelists, their spouses and others at a recent dinner celebrating thecompletion of it 200th column

Rajan Zed, President of Universal Society of Hin-duism, who has been bestowed with "World In-terfaith Leader Award", leads a panel of lead-ers of various religions and denominations toproduce this weekly discussion Forum, involv-ing important religious/spiritual issues

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http://www.indiapost.com/subscribe/


Vivek adds charm to Valentine's Day celebrationsIndia Post News Service

SAN JOSE, CA: A Spirit Eventspresented Valentine's Party"Love Affair" on February 13 atMotif Lounge at San Jose Down-town. The event, a sold out showwith over 500 people in the audi-ence, rocked with Bollywoodprince Vivek Oberoi and dancedto the beats of Bollywood musicall night.

With passion and love fillingthe air, couples danced to theirhearts content. With red heartshaped balloons symbolizingdeep and undying promises oflove, the evening presented a ro-mantic feel.

Celebrated February 14 everyyear, the Valentine's Day is synony-mous with expressions of love,friendship and bonding. It is namedafter Saint Valentine, a patron of love."In our hectic schedule we hardlyget quality time to spend with eachother," said Nirav Ghunshala, CEOof A Spirit Events. It is a good ex-cuse to go back in time and getthe romance back, he added.

A Spirit Events, which wasstarted in 2010, has now emergedas a giant in the field of event man-agement and entertainment. Thisis their 7th event and 1st indepen-dent event. "We are proud to bringthe Bay Areans, a new level of ser-vice that will surpass all your ex-pectations and anything you've

seen before. When it comes toevent planning and event design-ing, A Spirit aims to exceed andexcel with every event we orga-nize," said Preeti Kaur, Vice Presi-dent Marketing at A Spirit Events.

Earlier in the evening, Vivek

Bharat Goradia, Nirav Ghunchala, Vivek Oberoi and Preeti Kaur

Oberoi interacted with the press,speaking at length on his debut,social and charity work, upcom-ing projects and his mission. In2002, Vivek Oberoi exploded into

Bollywood with the high-voltagecrime-thriller, Company. The 38-year-old actor said he did not faceany problem in playing a dark rolebecause he feels he got maximumappreciation from audience byportraying such edgy roles in filmslike "Company" and Shootout atLokhandwala.

"I enjoy doing such characters.I am constantly looking for roleswhich are new for me and challeng-ing to do. With both successesand failures on the big screen forover a decade, he says the joy ofsocial work and supporting chari-

table causes for others' happinessis far more fulfilling than an awardor reward for him. Vivek helpedrebuild a village, which was hitseverely by the 2004 tsunami inTamil Nadu. The actor also runs aschool at Vrindavan in Uttar

Nirav Ghunchala, Vivek Oberoi, Preeti Kaur

With passion and love filling the air, couplesdanced to their hearts content. With redheart shaped balloons symbolizing deepand undying promises of love, the eveningpresented a romantic feel.

Pradesh. Named Project Devi, thefacility caters to over 3000 under-privileged girls abandoned bytheir families.

Vivek Oberoi has started sup-porting Children Across Borders(CAB) which is a non-profit orga-

nization founded by Vivek andSharmila Seth, of Tampa, that pro-vides financial and non-financialassistance to grass-roots organi-zations primarily in the areas ofhousing, health, education andwellness.

22 India Post February 20, 2015www.indiapost.com

TechBizTech News

Job creation big challenge, sayindustry leaders in India

Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons, Ratan Tata along with Executive Vice Chairman and Managing Director of KotakMahindra Bank Uday Kotak and Chairperson of State Bank of India Arundhati Bhattacharya during the Bombay

Management Association (BMA) awards in Mumbai on February 16

MUMBAI: The biggest chal-lenge for the country is to helptalented young people fulfill theiraspirations, State Bank of IndiaChairperson ArundhatiBhattacharya said here while term-ing demographic dividend as anopportunity for growth.

"If you look at India, the big-gest challenge and opportunitytoday is demography. You havethis young country, and you haveone million people who are join-ing job market every month.

"How do you look at the aspi-ration of these people and how doyou fulfill them?" she said duringa panel discussion on 'India 2025-Challenges and Opportunities',organized by Bombay Manage-ment Association (BMA).

ITC Chairman Y C Deveshwarsaid creating employment is a verybig challenge. "If you look at 2025,this (job creation) problem is goingto grow larger. Creating sustainableemployment which is environmentfriendly are the two big challengesthat our country has to address,right now, and at an acceleratedpace tomorrow," he said.

The biggest potential forgrowth in jobs will come frommanufacturing sector, he said.

Tata Group's chairman emeritusRatan Tata said India's demo-graphic pattern not only presentsstrong workforce but an intellec-tual cadre of people who can provethemselves and stand up to for-eign competition.

"In the years that I have beenin industry, I have watched Indiatransform itself from a protectedcountry and becoming an openeconomy in early 90s, and thenseeing its complete change of po-litical leadership, in the last year,to an India which is now poisedwith a great deal of aspiration andexpectations, but poised with anew government and a new lead-ership and I think great desire tobe a country that will stand up andbe counted in the economicscene," he said.

India today has young peoplewho are listened to because theyare successful, but more impor-tantly because the environment is

willing to listen to them, he said.Tata was conferred with BMA

Diamond Jubilee Lifetime Achieve-ment Award 2013-14 during the event.

Standard Chartered Bank's In-dia CEO Sunil Kaushal said thestrong demographic dividend ofthe country can become demo-

graphic disaster if it is not man-aged properly by creating job op-portunities and skilling the popu-lation.

Snapdeal founder and chief ex-ecutive officer Kunal Bahl said thecounty needs more entrepreneurswho can help in solving real worldproblems.

Kotak Mahindra Bank execu-tive vice-chairman and MD UdayKotak said if India has to progressand education has to be the key,then there is need for more andmore people to join teaching pro-fession.

Talking about infrastructure

which requires a lot of funding,Bhattacharya said, infrastructurecannot be created unless there islong term capital.

"There is no dearth of capitalin the world, and the reason whyit does not find home in India isbecause India is not able to pro-vide the clarity and consistency

that this capital needs in order tofind a home," she said.

She said investors do not al-ways look for returns but theyneed clarity and consistency.

"It's about not changing therules of the game while the gameis on. It is about ensuring there is

no sovereign risk.In that, if the sovereign says

something then it is the sovereignthat is saying something and there-fore it is something that will gethonored," said Bhattacharya, whowas given BMA ManagementWoman Achiever of the YearAward 2013-14.-PTI

India-born Punit Renjen to beDeloitte Global CEO

NEW YORK: India-born PunitRenjen has been appointed the nextCEO of US-based accounting giantDeloitte's global operations, becomingthe first Indian-origin person to head a'Big-Four' audit firm.

Renjen joins a growing list of per-sons of Indian origin like Indira Nooyi,Satya Nadela and Anshu Jain, who havemade to the top posts at multi-billiondollar global corporations like PepsiCo,Microsoft and Deutsche Bank, respec-tively.

Cont’d on page 27Punit Renjen

India Inc hopesAAP will makeDelhi a global city

NEW DELHI: Indian industryis exuding confidence that theAAP government will be able tomake the National Capital as a glo-bal city and improve ease of do-ing business scenario to attractinvestments.

PHD Chamber appealed to newChief Minister Arvind Kejriwal notto insist on bringing down tariffsof utilities in areas of electricity,water and the like below their costfor those who do not fall in thecategory of vulnerable sectionssince such measures may be non-productive on the new dispensa-tion in the long run.

Assocham expressed confi-dence that the AAP governmentwill be able to make the nationalcapital as a global city harnessingthe strength of the common-manwhose power and potential hasnot been fully tapped.

"Kejriwal's connect with thecommon man would go a long wayin harnessing the people powerwhich makes a huge difference tothe industry and economy,"Assocham President Rana Kapoorsaid.

"The AAP Government will im-prove Delhi's index on ease of do-ing business and attract new in-vestments as the capital city willhave better infrastructure," thechamber said.-PTI

Bloomberg signspact with Indiaon smart cities

NEW DELHI: Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and former Mayorof New York Michael Bloomberghave announced a partnershipbetween Bloomberg Philanthro-pies and the Urban DevelopmentMinistry to advance thegovernment's ambitious smart cit-ies initiative.

Under the partnership,Bloomberg Philanthropies willprovide funds and other assis-tance to Urban Development Min-istry to implement the Smart Citiesproject in select cities.

The announcement was madeafter Bloomberg's meeting withModi.

"The Prime Minister describedthe Smart Cities Initiative as a chal-lenging task, which neverthelesshas to be undertaken to improvethe quality of life for India's urbancitizens with stakeholder's partici-pation," a government releasesaid.

The Smart Cities Initiative isaimed to promote economicgrowth, improve governance, anddeliver more effective and efficientpublic services to India's urbanresidents. -PTI

Microsoft launches Lumia 435, Lumia 532CHENNAI: Microsoft has launched two smartphones - Lumia 435

and Lumia 532, priced at Rs 5,999 and Rs 6,499 respectively.The launch is part of Microsoft's plan

to strengthen its presence in thesmartphone category after rebranding it-self in the handset category following thepurchase of handset division from telecommajor Nokia.

The Lumia 435 smartphone is the firstin the 400 series Lumia platform and comeswith the latest Windows 8.1 operating sys-tem, 2MP camera, eight GB memory, a com-pany statement said.-PTI

23India PostTechBiz PostFebruary 20, 2015

www.indiapost.com

HSBC India at centre of fresh tax evasion claims

In a separate prosecution, unnamed HSBCIndia banking officials were alleged co-conspirators in the case of Arvind Ahuja, aneurosurgeon from Wisconsin who alleg-edly hid 5.5 million pounds in secret off-shore HSBC accounts

LONDON: HSBC's Indian bank-ing unit is at the heart of fresh rev-elations around tax evasion, daysafter a global expose showed taxdodging through accounts in theBritish major's Swiss banking unit,a media report said here.

It is alleged that representativesof HSBC India, which has employ-ees based in America, assuredcustomers that details of their ac-counts would not be reported totax officials.

The latest revelations cameeven as the bank issued full-pageadvertisements in British newspa-pers as a public apology after re-ports that its Swiss banking armhad helped some wealthy clientsavoid tax.

According to court documentsseen by The Sunday Times, em-

ployees in one case allegedly ad-vised a New Jersey Indian-originbusinessman to transfer funds intranches of under 6,500 pounds to"stay below the radar".

Court documents reveal thatHSBC India has been accused ofhelping American citizens of In-dian-origin to avoid tax, the reportsaid.

The American justice depart-ment issued a summons againstthe bank in April, 2011 to reveal

details of clients.It was claimed that the bank

promoted its services on the ba-sis of keeping information secretfrom the tax authorities.

"Prospective clients were toldthat, as a foreign bank, HSBC In-dia would not disclose the ac-counts to the IRS (Inland Revenue

Service)," the government said incourt filings.

"The IRS has learnt that thou-sands of United States taxpayerswith accounts at HSBC India mayhave failed to disclose those ac-counts, and report income onthem, as required by law," it said.

The bank was said to have had9,000 American residents of In-dian-origin but fewer than 1,400had disclosed the existence of theiraccounts.

In a separate prosecution, un-named HSBC India banking offi-cials were alleged co-conspiratorsin the case of Arvind Ahuja, a neu-rosurgeon from Wisconsin whoallegedly hid 5.5 million pounds insecret offshore HSBC accountsand filed false tax returns.

It was claimed Ahuja and HSBCofficials used "undeclared ac-counts in Jersey, India and othercountries for the purpose of con-cealing income from the IRS".

Ahuja was fined 222,000pounds and ordered to serve threeyears probation.

In another case, HSBC Indiarepresentatives are alleged to haveadvised New Jersey businessmanVaibhav Dahake to transfer money

in batches of 6,500 pounds to"stay below the radar".

The bank officials are allegedto have "advised and assisted" intax evasion. Dahake admitted con-cealing undeclared bank accounts

in 2011, but said bank representa-tives had solicited him to openaccounts that paid high interestrates and would not be declaredto tax officials.

HSBC has been at the centre ofa major storm after files were ex-posed by Herve Falciani, whostarted working for the HSBC pri-vate bank in Geneva in 2006.

The whistleblower has said theUK government should haveknown about the scandal in 2010.

The UK's Treasury Committeewill conduct an inquiry into theclaims.

The British bank has taken outadvertisements this weekendapologizing for past compliance

failures and assuring customersthat the bank had "no appetite todo business with clients who areevading their taxes".

The advert reproduces an openletter signed by chief executive

Stuart Gulliver, which says recentcoverage had been "a painful ex-perience".

It reads: "The media focus hasbeen on historical events thatshow the standards to which weoperate today were not universallyin place in our Swiss operationseight years ago.

"We must show we understandthat the societies we serve expectmore from us. We therefore offerour sincerest apologies."

HSBC's former chief executiveand chairman Stephen Green, whowas at the centre of the SwissLeakstax scandal, stepped down fromhis role at finance lobby groupTheCityUK. -PTI

India to file complaint againstHSBC Geneva

NEW DELHI: The Income Taxdepartment is soon expected to filea complaint against HSBC bank,Geneva, for allegedly "abetting"tax evasion in India by way ofunauthorisedly operating ac-counts of its citizens in its over-

seas branch.Sources said the complaint

against the global banking giantis expected to be filed under Sec-tion 278 of the I-T Act (abetmentof false return) before March 31as these accounts pertain to thetime period of 2006-07 and would

get "time barred" after that date.The department, a senior I-T of-

ficer said, has taken upon itself tofile these cases after informing theSpecial Investigation Team (SIT)on black money, which is under-stood to have given its go ahead.

The taxman, sources said, hasworked on at least four cases fig-uring in the purported 'HSBC lists'it got from France a few years backand gathered evidence againstthe bank to say that it "willfullyabetted" tax evasion in India bynot disclosing client information

and layering it to avoid law en-forcement agencies, thus leadingto violation of I-T laws and eva-sion of huge amounts in taxes.

"The evidence has beenvetted at the senior-most levelin the department and the CBDT.The prosecution complaintagainst the bank would seekpunishment under tax laws," thesources said.

In the four cases, the I-Tprobe has recorded statementsof the bank account holders whosaid they were "aided andhelped" by the bank in not dis-closing their cash movementsand balances. These clients havealso submitted some email com-munications exchanged in thisregard.

The probe in the HSBC-Geneva cases, with names of 628entities, gathered momentum re-cently as a number of cases un-der this category are gettingtime-barred by the end of this fi-nancial year, meaning they can-not be acted against after thesaid time period.

The SIT has also widened itsprobe into these cases after rev-elations in this regard were maderecently by ICIJ - a global col-lective of journalists. -PTI

24 India Post TechBiz Post February 20, 2015

www.indiapost.com

Manufacturing key to India'sfuture: OECD economist

BENGALURU: India needs tostrengthen its manufacturing activi-ties as well as reform labor laws toensure good growth, Paris-based

think tank OECD's Chief EconomistCatherine L Mann said here.

"Negative exports, deteriorat-

ing competitiveness and struc-tural challenges, like labor laws andland acquisition, along with poorinfrastructure quality and uncer-

tainty to financing it and buildingit are acting as barriers to India'sgrowth," Mann said.

Manufacturing was indeed thekey to India's future, she said whilepresenting the findings of the'Third OECD Economic Survey ofIndia', hosted by the Centre forPublic Policy at IIM-B, in associa-tion with Organization for Eco-nomic Co-operation and Develop-ment (OECD).

"Modernizing labor laws is cru-cial to encourage employment for-malization and to reduce labormarket segmentation, gender biasand income inequality. While theservices sector in India looks ro-bust, manufacturing does not,"she was quoted as having said byIIMB in a release.

The release said Mann, whopresented the findings of the'Third OECD Economic Survey ofIndia', hosted by the Centre forPublic Policy at IIMB, in associa-tion with OECD, offered a briefdescription of the aims and goalsof the OECD and listed the chal-lenges, as examined by the survey,to India's growth story. -PTI

OECD's Chief Economist Catherine L Mann

Modi promises more reforms;rolls out red carpet to investors

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and John Rice, Vice Chairman of GE shakehands at the inauguration of General Electrics (GE) multi-modal manufactur-

ing facility at Chakan near Pune on February 14

PUNE: Ahead of the Budget,Prime Minister Narendra Modi hasassured investors more reforms ashe rolled out the red carpet to mul-tinationals, inviting them to makeuse of the large pool of highly tal-ented youth in the country.

"I invite all those who want toparticipate in the economic devel-opment of the country to gener-ate employment for our youth.

Your (investors) growth is alsolinked to our growth," the PrimeMinister said.

"In this age of competitiveworld, I assure corporates acrossthe world that India is a land wherethey can find talent which can helpthem manufacture products thatare very competitive," Modi tolda select audience of corporates.

The Prime Minister was inau-gurating the multimodal manufac-turing facility set up by the Ameri-can engineering giant GE Corpo-ration.

Calling upon the investors toutilize the talent of large educated

youth population, he said, "Wehave the highest demographicdividend, as 65 per cent of ourpopulation are below 35 years. Ourtalented youth have power to at-tract investments from across theworld. Our skill power can also at-tract the investors."

Modi also assured his admin-istration will improve the ease ofdoing business.

He said the number of clear-ances for setting up a hospitalityventure will be brought down froma massive 110 to just about 20.

"Our government has ensuredpredictability in our procedures,laws and policies. We have alsotaken many initiatives towardsease of doing business," Modisaid.

The NDA government willpresent the first full Budget onFebruary 28 with some analystswondering whether it would be areform oriented budget followingthe defeat of BJP in the Delhi elec-tions.-PTI

Singapore slowdown leaves10k Indian jobseekers at sea

SINGAPORE: A slowdown inconstruction activities andtougher rules on the employmentof foreign workers in Singaporehave left more than 10,000 job seek-ers stranded in India andBangladesh, media here reported.

Advanced estimates show theconstruction sector's growth hasslowed down to three per cent lastyear, half from the six per cent in2013, The Singapore Daily said.

Strict rules on employment of

foreign workers have also reducedemployment scope of new labor-ers while companies have optedto retain existing workers and up-grade their skills as a better op-tion. Besides, levy on hiring for-eign workers has also been raisedunder new regulations which aimto have the Singapore companiesautomate and reduce labor-inten-sive jobs.

Such changes have left manyof the workers stranded in theirhomes with rising piles of debts.

An average new worker spendabout 7,000 Singapore dollars(USD 5,598) to get a job here and2,000 dollars (USD 1,599) of whichis spent on training centers in In-dia and Bangladesh which con-duct skill tests under Singapore'sBuilding and Construction Au-thority (BCA) qualificationscheme.

The new worker pays a heftysum, anything between 5,000 dol-lars (USD 3,999) and 6,000 dollars

(USD 4,798) to employment agentto get a job in Singapore, whichon an average earns him 600 dol-lars (USD 479) per month.

"The demand for new workersused to be so high that employerswould have to wait for them to betrained and tested. Now, it is theother way round," David Leong,managing director of recruitmentfirm, People-WorldWide said.

Two years ago, most foreignworkers would have been able tofind a job in Singapore's construc-

tion sector within weeks, he added."We have heard of construc-

tion firms which need the man-power but cannot afford to (hire)because of the higher levies forconstruction workers. Overall, theindustry is moving towards retain-ing existing workers," the dailyquoted Andy Goh, chief financialofficer at construction companySysma Holdings, as saying.

Migrant Workers' Centre chair-man and a member of parliament,Yeo Guat Kwang said the problemof an excess of trained foreignworkers starts as errant foreignemployment agents recruit work-ers without securing jobs forthem.

"Source countries share anequal or greater responsibility toenforce against the errant prac-tices taking place in their owncountries," the daily quoted Yeoas saying.

Jeyapraesh Pannerselvam, 27,is one among those stranded work-ers in India, who has been waitingfor a Singapore job. He has spentall of his life savings and passedthe BCA skill test for which he reg-istered in March last year.

"I have already spent all my lifesavings to find a job in Singapore.I will wait and I am sure I can get ajob," he was quoted as saying bythe The Straits Times.-PTI

"We have heard of construction firms whichneed the manpower but cannot afford to(hire) because of the higher levies for con-struction workers. Overall, the industry ismoving towards retaining existing workers"

90 lakh discussed Indo-Pak match on Facebook

NEW DELHI: The India-Paki-stan World Cup cricket match atAdelaide was discussed by about90 lakh people on Facebook, whilenearly 16.94 lakh tweeted aboutthe clash of the arch-rivals.

There were also 2.5 crore inter-actions about the match onFacebook, the world's biggest so-cial media platform said in a state-ment. Interestingly, while 5.9 mil-lion people in India had 16.9 mil-lion interactions on Facebookabout the match, 1.1 million in Pa-

kistan had 3.3 million interactions.The most discussed players

were 'Men of the Match' ViratKohli (scored a century) of In-dia and Sohail Khan of Pakistan(scalped 5 wickets).

Microblogging site Twittersaid a total of 16.94 lakh tweetswere sent out during the game.

"The total number of viewsof tweets related to #INDvsPAKduring the live #CWC15 matchwindow was 118.3 million," itsaid in a statement.-PTI


www.indiapost.com

Swiss info exchange with India by 2018BERNE/NEW DELHI: In its

fight against black money menace,India will have to wait till 2018 forSwitzerland to provide bank ac-

count details of Indians under the'automatic information exchange'framework.

Under a global framework, morethan 40 jurisdictions including In-

dia had agreed to become 'earlyadopters' of an 'automatic ex-change of information' mechanismprepared by global body OECD to

help each other in fighting the taxevasion and frauds.

"This so-called early adoptersgroup plans to collect data from2016 and exchange information for

the first time in September 2017,"according to a new report by theSwiss government.

However, Switzerland wouldsee its 'first exchange' under thisframework taking place in the year2018.

As per the report, as many as58 countries would see their 'firstexchange' taking place in 2017, fol-lowed by another 35 in the year2018.

While India is part of the 'FirstExchange 2017' group, it will haveto wait till 2018 for 'automatic ex-change of information' with Swit-zerland because of the Alpine na-tion being in the second grouping.

The details that would beshared include account number,name, address and date of birth,tax identification number, interestand dividends, receipts from cer-tain insurance policies, credit bal-

ances on accounts, as also pro-ceeds from the sale of financialassets.

Explaining the exchange pro-cess, the report said: If a taxpayerin a Country A has a bank accountin Country B, the bank would dis-close financial account data toauthorities in the Country B,which would automatically for-ward the details to authorities inCountry A to help them examinethe data.

Once in place, the mechanismwould help the Indian authoritiesto have a strong ground whileseeking to bring back and tax thefunds stashed overseas by its citi-zens.

To curb illicit fund flows and totax unaccounted wealth stashedabroad, India has stepped up itsefforts, including re-negotiatingtax treaties with various countries.India expects automatic exchangeto help curb this menace.

Many countries worldwide aretaking steps to address the men-ace of illicit funds being stashedaway in tax havens.

On ways to prevent blackmoney menace in the future, Fi-

nance Minister Arun Jaitley hasalso said that the world is movingtowards automatic exchange ofinformation.

After meeting his Swiss coun-terpart Eveline Widmer-Schlumpfin Davos last month, Jaitley saidthe bilateral agreements with re-gard to automatic exchange of taxinformation with various coun-tries, including Switzerland,would be "the long term solutionto check this menace."

As it steps up measures tobring back black money stashedoverseas, current law allows thegovernment to re-open tax as-sessment for cases as old as 16years.

With respect to taxing the un-accounted money overseas, ex-perts said the challenge for theIndian tax authorities would be inbuilding a strong case.

Experts opined that the timelimit of 16 years provides ad-equate time to the tax authoritiesto bring to tax income in relationto assets located outside thecountry.

Grant Thornton Advisory PvtLtd's Director Pallavi Bakhru saidthat first tax authorities would

have to build a case that themoney lying in off-shore bankaccounts in unaccounted and taxliability on such income has es-caped assessment.

"This exercise would need to becompleted for tax authorities toform an opinion that certain incomehas escaped assessment, whichwould be needed to issue a noticefor re-assessment," she said.

KPMG in India's Partner (Tax)Vikas Vasal said the challenge incase of overseas income or as-sets situated outside India is ingetting necessary informationand also to collaborate it withsufficient evidence for having astrong case.

"Therefore, the relevant pro-visions in the treaty or the spe-cific information exchange agree-ments play an important role inthis context.

"In general, roving enquiriesare not permitted and informationhas to be sought for a particularcase or a transaction from theoverseas authorities," he noted.

About loopholes in existing taxlaw regime that may hurt effortsto recover untaxed money, Bakhru

said there is a lack of structuredmechanism to recover taxes fromforeign assets of non-resident tax-payers.

Besides, litigation options areavailable to taxpayers challeng-ing the tax assessment and con-sequent tax demands can comein way of government's effort torecover taxes from unaccountedmoney, Bakhru added.

After last week's fresh 'HSBCList' expose, wherein names of1,195 Indians have been dis-closed, the government said thatit has taken "vigorous and pro-active measures to expedite in-vestigations in the cases of Indi-ans holding undisclosed foreignaccounts/assets abroad".

"Useful contacts have beenestablished with foreign govern-ments who might have some fur-ther information in this regard.

"Based upon credible informa-tion of undisclosed foreign bankaccounts, fresh references for ob-taining further information in morethan 600 cases have been madeto foreign jurisdictions, underavailable treaties/agreements. Thesame are being pursued," as per aFinance Ministry statement. -PTI

KPMG in India's Partner (Tax) Vikas Vasalsaid the challenge in case of overseasincome or assets situated outside India is ingetting necessary information and also tocollaborate it with sufficient evidence forhaving a strong case.

Austrians eyeing share ofIndian aviation market

VIENNA: Austrian Airlines isaiming to corner a larger share ofthe "very competitive" Indianmarket, also the carrier's third larg-est, by offering attractive productsto meet the growing challengesposed by its global competitors, atop airline official said.

"Indian market is very competi-tive and it is growing so fast now.We have to be competitive. We arein competition with everyone whois flying in the Indian market,"Stephan Linhart, InternationalSales Director of Austrian Airlines,

told visiting Indian correspon-dents here.

In a bid to attract Indian cus-tomers, the airline is offering In-dian cuisine, as well as others prod-ucts ranging from Bollywood mov-ies on their in-flight entertainmentsystems to latest Indian news onboard flights between Delhi andVienna.

India has become the third larg-est market for the airline in theAsia-Pacific region after China andJapan, he said.

"We are trying to pamper our

customers. These are little thingsbut it makes a huge difference,"he said.

Noting that a major chunk ofIndian air travelers were bound fordestinations in North America, hesaid Vienna could become an im-portant transfer hub for thechange-over of flights to destina-tions in the US and Canada.

Commenting on the burgeoningIndian aviation market, Linhart saidthe low cost carriers (LCC) in Indiahave created an additional demandin the market. "It (LCC) makes

people start flying, which meansincrease in demand," he said.

The premier European airline,which operates flights to 130 des-tinations across the world, is amember of the largest global air-line grouping Star Alliance, ofwhich Air India has become thelatest member. Austrian had joinedStar Alliance in March 2000.

"Being a member of Star Alli-ance, Air India has opened thedoors for us and other membercarriers in the Indian aviation mar-ket," Linhart said. -PTI

Infosys to buyautomation techfirm Panaya

NEW DELHI: Betting big onnew technologies to boostgrowth, country's second-larg-est software services firmInfosys will acquire US-basedautomation technology com-pany Panaya for USD 200 mil-lion (over Rs 1,200 crore).

The all-cash deal is the sec-ond-largest acquisition for theBangalore-based firm, afterSwiss consulting companyLodestone, which it bought forabout USD 350 million (Rs 1,932crore) in 2012.

The move comes as part ofInfosys' 'Renew and New' strat-egy to enhance competitive-ness and productivity of cur-rent service lines by leveragingautomation, innovation and ar-tificial intelligence, Infosys saidin a statement.

This is the first acquisitionsince former SAP Board mem-ber Vishal Sikka took as the CEOand Managing Director of theover USD 8 billion firm in Au-gust last year.

"The acquisition of Panayais a key step in renewing anddifferentiating Infosys' servicelines," Vishal Sikka said.

The transaction is expectedto close before March 31, 2015,subject to customary closingconditions.

"This will help amplify thepotential of our people, freeingus from the drudgery of manyrepetitive tasks, so we may fo-cus more on the important, stra-tegic challenges faced by ourclients," Sikka said.-PTI

26 India Post TechBiz Post February 20, 2015

www.indiapost.com

Inflation at 5 year low; raises hope for rate cutNEW DELHI: Wholesale infla-

tion turned negative for the sec-ond time in three months as fall inpetroleum and food pricesdragged it to a five-and-a-half yearlow of (-) 0.39 per cent in January,raising hopes of a rate cut by RBI.

Reflecting significant improve-ment in the price situation, the in-flation for the second time in threemonths remained in the negativeterritory in January.

Inflation measured on whole-sale price index (WPI) was at 0.11per cent in December. The data forNovember was revised down-wards to a negative (-) 0.17 percent, from the provisional estimateof zero.

Although the prices of certainprotein rich items and wheat de-clined during the month, the over-

all food inflation was at a six monthhigh of 8 per cent, as per govern-ment data.

The last time the inflation hadtouched this low level was in June2009 when it was at (-) 0.4 per cent.

RBI Governor Raghuram Rajanhad on January 15 cut interestrates ahead of the scheduled mon-etary policy review and it is ex-pected that he might announceanother cut after the Budget in

wake of significant improvementin the inflation situation. The nextreview is due on April 7.

Inflation in 'fuel and power seg-ment' was negative at (-) 10.69 percent in January, while in manufac-tured products it was at 1.05 percent.

The contraction in WPI infla-tion for petrol was steeper at 17.08

per cent in January from 11.96 percent in December.

Similarly the rate of decline indiesel prices last month was higherthan in the previous month.

"Given the continuing trend ofmoderate inflation both at thewholesale and retail level and thefact that a durable recovery in theindustrial sector is out of sight, wehope that the central bank wouldcontinue with the policy rate cutcycle after the forthcoming bud-get," FICCI President Jyotsna Surisaid.

Data showed that inflation inpulses, vegetables and cereals washigher in January over the previ-ous month.

On the other hand, the rate ofprice rise in potato, milk, rice andprotein rich items like egg, meatand fish was slower in the monthunder review.

The inflation in the primary ar-ticles segment inched up to 3.27per cent in January, as against 2.17per cent in December.

Commenting on the numbers,PHD Chamber said a significantrate cut by the RBI becomes in-evitable to boost the demand sce-nario vis-a-vis easy availability of

credit to the various consumersand producers' segments.

"We expect at least 1 per centcut in the repo rate before enter-ing the new financial year 2015-16, it said.

Rajan, in the monetary policyreview earlier this month, kept keyinterest rate unchanged saying theapex bank wanted more comfort

on inflation front as it awaited cuesfrom Finance Minister ArunJaitley's first full year Budget.

Rajan said retail inflation waslikely to be around the target levelof 6 per cent by January 2016 butflagged monsoon and oil prices asupside risks.

Data showed that inflation in pulses, veg-etables and cereals was higher in Januaryover the previous month. On the otherhand, the rate of price rise in potato, milk,rice and protein rich items like egg, meatand fish was slower

As per data, retail inflationmoved up to 5.11 per cent in Janu-ary month-on-month, measuredon a new base year 2012, mainlydue to dearer food items includ-ing fruits and vegetables.

ICRA Senior Economist AditiNayar said lower commodityprices dampened inflation in min-erals, fuels as well as various com-

modity-intensive manufacturedproducts.

"We do not expect this readingto significantly influence the tim-ing or extent of subsequent reporate cuts, given that CPI inflationis the nominal anchor," she said. -PTI

Chhattisgarh excels in renewablepower development

Haryana to help Telangana& Mizoram in horticulture

Hitachi eyes Rs 11,000 crturnover in 2015

NEW DELHI: Japanese indus-trial solutions giant Hitachi is tar-geting a turnover of around Rs11,000 crore (210 billion yen) in FY2015 from India and will hirearound 3,000 people to expand itsbusiness here.

"Hitachi will contribute to themedium and long-term develop-

ment of Indian society through thesocial innovation business whichintegrates cutting-edge IT and in-frastructure technologies devel-oped over many years, and striveto expand consolidated revenuesin India in FY 2015 to 210 billionyen," Hitachi said in a statement.

The company that currentlyhas 31 business bases and over10,000 employees in India, furthersaid it "is planning to increase thenumber of group employees in In-dia in FY 2015 to approximately13,000."

It will also continue its plan andimplement investments totaling 70

billion yen (around Rs 3,670 crore)over the four years from FY 2012to FY 2015, the statement added.

Commenting on the targets,Hitachi President & COO ToshiakiHigashihara said: "India is becom-ing an increasingly importantcountry for Hitachi's global

growth. We believe that the exten-sive experience Hitachi has ac-quired in facing challenges overthe years can be of service to helpbuild strong and sustainable so-cial infrastructure in India."

The group, which has startedits business in India in 1935 byopening an office in Mumbai asHitachi's first overseas base, willalso commemorate 80th anniver-sary of its establishment this year.

Hitachi at present promotes theglobal rollout of the Social Inno-vation Business based on the2015 Mid-term Management Plan,and has set a goal of increasingthe ratio of overseas revenues,which was at 45 per cent in FY2013, to more than 50 per cent byFY2015.

"In India, Hitachi is currentlyexpanding its business based onthe 'India Business Strategy 2015'that was created in December2012," the company said.

The company said it wouldparticipate in government-led ef-forts to put in place and maintainsocial infrastructures and providea wide range of products and so-lutions, such as social infrastruc-ture systems as advanced medi-cal devices and rail systems.-PTI

CHANDIGARH: Haryana ChiefMinister Manohar Lal Khattar hasapproved the proposal for provid-ing technical assistance toTelangana and Mizoram for set-ting up centres in horticulture.

The Telangana and Mizoramgovernments had requestedHaryana for technical co-opera-tion in their respective states onthe pattern of the centre inHaryana, an official release saidhere.

While Telangana sought tech-

nical support, Mizoram has set upa Technical Screening Committeewith the Haryana Horticulture di-rector as its member.

A Centre of Excellence in Hor-ticulture for flowers, vegetableand fruit production is to be setup at Jeedimetla in Telangana'sRanga Reddy district, the releasesaid.

The experts from Haryana willvisit these upcoming centers fromtime to time to monitor the devel-opment of these projects. -PTI

NEW DELHI: Chhattisgarh hasbeen felicitated for emerging asone of the best performing statesin the renewable energy segment.

Prime Minister Narendra Modipresented the award to PrincipalSecretary of Chhattisgarh's En-ergy department, Aman Singh,during the Renewable Energy Glo-bal Investors Meet (RE-Invest)held here.

"Chhattisgarh has been doingcommendable work in renewableenergy sector. We are generating45 MW off grid solar power and

200 MW through rice husk," Singhtold PTI after receiving the award.

The state was adjudged for theaward on the basis of criteria fixedby 13th Finance Commission.

Singh said solar power is beingused in 600 primary health centre,100 community health centre, 350police stations, 1800 tribal hostels,27 collectorates and 1,700 villagesof the state.

In addition, various villages areusing 3,000 solar power pumps fordrinking water and 1,500 for irriga-tion purpose, he said. -PTI


www.indiapost.com

Deloitte, which is presentacross 150 countries including In-dia and employs over two lakhpeople, is one of the four largestaudit firms in the world and com-petes with PwC, KPMG and EY.

Hailing from Rohtak, Haryana,Renjen will assume his new role ofDeloitte Global Chief ExecutiveOfficer from June 1.

He will succeed Barry Salzbergin this role and is cur-rently serving as USbusiness Chairman andCEO of the group.

"I am honored tohave been elected asDeloitte Global's nextCEO," Renjen said in astatement.

"Renjen's leadershipappointment is part of arigorous and comprehensive nomi-nation and member firm partner rati-fication process that occurs everyfour years and includes all mem-ber firms of the Deloitte worldwidenetwork," Deloitte said.

Renjen, who has been withDeloitte for over 27 years, grew upin India and holds a bachelor's

India-born Punit Renjen tobe Deloitte Global CEO

degree with honors and a master'sdegree in management fromWillamette University, US.

Renjen did his schooling atLawrence School, Sanawar,Himachal Pradesh after which heleft for the US to pursue higherstudies.

He has held a number of lead-ership positions, including chair-man and CEO of Deloitte Consult-ing LLP. In addition to being chair-man of Deloitte LLP, he currently

also serves as a member of theboard of directors of Deloitte Tou-che Tohmatsu Limited (DeloitteGlobal), and as chairman of theDeloitte Foundation board of di-rectors.

His new role would begin onthe first day of Deloitte's new fis-cal year on June 1, 2015. -PTI

Renjen did his schooling atLawrence School, Sanawar,Himachal Pradesh afterwhich he left for the US topursue higher studies.


Samsung launches affordable4G smartphone

BANGKOK: Facing growingcompetition from brands likeMicromax and Xiaomi, Samsunghas launched the Galaxy J1 4G - tobe priced at Rs 9,900 in India - asthe Korean electronics giant looksto protect its turf in one of theworld's fastest growingsmartphone markets.

It launched two other 4G en-abled smartphones - Galaxy GrandPrime 4G and the Galaxy CorePrime 4G. Samsung also unveiledits slimmest Galaxy handset - theGalaxy A7, priced at Rs 30,499.

Galaxy A7 is avail-able in India, whilethe othert h r e esmartphoneswill hit thed o m e s t i cmarket from thesecond week ofMarch.

The firm also unveiled arange of products including theworld's first convertible refrigera-tor, its first tablet for enterprises,SUHD TVs and washing machinesat Samsung's annual South WestAsia Forum 2015 here.

"In 2015, we plan to introducepath-breaking technology acrossdifferent categories of products,which will enhance consumer ex-perience and strengthen our posi-tion in the market," Samsung In-dia Electronics President and CEOHyun Chil Hong said.

Samsung will continue to manu-facture its products in India rein-forcing itscommit-ment

t ot h e

government's'Make for India'

program, he said. In thepast 20 years of operations in In-dia, the company has set up 2manufacturing plants and 3 R&Dfacilities employing close to 45,000people, he added.

On the launch of 4G handsets,

Samsung India VP (Marketing,Mobile and IT) Asim Warsi said:"India is at the cusp of its digitalrevolution journey and we expect4G technology to rise and pushinternet usage to an unprec-edented level."

Consumer demand is con-stantly shifting towards devicesoffering multi-tasking capabilities,

24X7 data connectivity with in-creased video consump-

tion and real-time mo-bility solutionswhich enableglobal interac-

tions, he added."Samsung Electron-

ics is poised to drive thenext step of smartphone evolu-

tion by offering a comprehensiveportfolio of quality 4G LTE en-abled devices and propel the nextwave of business and economicgrowth," Warsi said.

Galaxy A7 has 5.5 inch screen,13 MP rear camera and 5 megapixelfront camera. The handset has16GB internal memory and 2GBRAM. It is supported by 2,600 mAhbattery and Qualcomm's Snap-dragon Octacore processor.-PTI

www.indiapost.comIndia Post

TOP TENHINDI FILM SONGS

1 Khamoshiyan :Khamoshiyan2 Tu Hai Ki Nahi : Roy3 Sooraj Dooba Hain : Roy4 Tu Har Lamha :Khamoshiyan5 Tharki Chokro : PK6 Superman : Tevar7 Dance Basanti : Ungli8 Lovely : Happy New Year9 Mileya Mileya : HappyEnding10 Chaar Kadam : PK

28 February 20, 2015

Jacqueline Fernandez who plays the classical dancer is training hard tobe in step with the flying Sardar.

Choreographer-turned-director Remo D'Souza has spent the last sixmonths searching for an apt title for his upcoming superhero-drama star-ring Tiger Shroff and Jacqueline Fernandez. First, he came up with FlyingJatt, then moved on to Turbo Singh and has now finally settled onTurbanator since Tiger plays a Sardar superhero.

A source close to the 29-year-old actress confirms that she gave the filmher nod without even reading the script. "She was so excited to be a part ofa dance film that she came on board without even asking for a characterbrief," the source says.

Jacky plays a classical dancer in the film who meets the turbaned Tigerwhen he foils an attempt to abduct her. "I play a Bharata Natyam dancerand I'm learning the dance form from a teacher in Delhi. I've watchedHeropanti and I feel Tiger is a really good dancer. My role includes a lot ofdancing and flying so I want to match him, step for step," says the actress.

Sonam Kapoor was hospi-talized recently when she

suffered a respiratory infec-tion on the sets of SoorajBarjatya's Prem Ratan DhanPayo.

Sonam who posted a pic-ture of herself on a socialnetworking site with drips inher hands, is now out of hos-pital. "It was basically a res-piratory infection and para-typhoid .I was in hospital forfour days," she said.

Concerned friends feelSonam has been excessivelydieting. "Not at all. I'vestopped dieting. I eat well.And I sleep well. Such thingsdo happen."

Anushka forADULTSNH10 has grabbed a lot of atten-

tion owing to the fact that it willmark the debut of Anushka

Sharma as a producer. The film, whichdeals with the violence and gang wars

in the interiors of Northern In-dia, recently was launched

with much fanfare.In the film, Anushka

is on a mission to sur-vive and fight the kill-ers of her husband.Since, it is a crime

thriller involving alot of bloodshed

and gore, thecensors have

decided torate the filmas 'Adultsonly'.

A l s oagreeingto this de-cision, di-r e c t o rNavdeepS i n g hs t a t e dthat the

film wasnever meantfor children

and hence he ishappy with thecertification.Though he wasdisappointedover the factthat some may

miss the film dueto the 'A' certifi-

cate, he main-tained that he did

not want to compro-mise on the content.

NH10 also stars NeilBhooplam of '24' fame

along with DarshanKumar of Mary Kom

fame.

India Post 29February 20, 2015

www.indiapost.com

Bollywood

The gorgeous ShraddhaKapoor, who also has abeautiful voice, hasbeen finalized as the fe-

male lead for Rock On 2The sequel that has Farhan

Akhtar, Arjun Rampal and PurabKohli, who were also there in theoriginal, will now see Shraddhaenter the band as a young girl,who changes a lot of things.

Given that she is a lovely singer,it is fair to assume that she willalso be singing in the film. Con-firming this, she said, "I am ex-tremely excited to be a part ofRock On 2. I am a big fan of thefirst part and love the character Iam playing in the sequel. It is arole that involves singing and liveperformances and that very fewroles give you the chance to do.''

Well, it seems that this FarhanAkhtar-Ritesh Sidhwani sequel totheir cult franchise looks all set torock.

The sequel hasFarhan Akhtar,

Arjun Rampal andPurab Kohli

Karan Johar has plans to produce a film which will be helmed byShakun Batra and from what we hear, the untitled film will starAlia Bhatt along with Sidharth Malhotra and Pakistaniheartthrob Fawad Afzal Khan.

Karan Johar recently took to Twitter to announce the new project andmaintained, "Rarely does a filmmaker write a super script in 2months....@shakunbatra's new family film just got greenlit and cast! De-tails coming up...." Prior to this, there were also rumors that Fawad wasconstantly spotted around Dharma Productions because he was to signKaran's directorial Ae Dil Hai Mushkil opposite Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

However, now it isbeing said that the rolein question was just acameo and Dharmawanted to signFawad for a fullfledged role. It isalso a well knownfact that KaranJohar is the men-tor for Alia andSidharth andhence he hasdecided tobring theirc h e m i s t r yback onscreen aftertheir act intheir debutfilm Stu-dent Of

The Year.

Whether it was Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya? (withSalman Khan; 2005) from her early days in theindustry or Dhoom: 3 (with Aamir Khan; 2013),

Katrina Kaif has mainly worked with established actorssince the start of her career. But, the recent turn of eventsindicates a change of plan.

As the actor shoots for her next - which was sup-posed to have Sushant Singh Rajput - with Aditya RoyKapur (who made his debut in 2009 with London Dreams),she has also signed Farhan Akhtar's next production

opposite Sidharth Malhotra (who started his acting ca-reer just three years ago in Student Of The Year), show-ing her inclination to work with younger actors.

Trade expert Komal Nahta puts things into perspec-tive, "Often heroines don't dictate who the hero of thefilm should be. Also, not just heroines, but actors, too,after a certain point in their career, will like to work withthe younger lot so that their appeal with the youth re-mains intact."

India Post February 20, 2015www.indiapost.com

Real Estate30

Realty Tidbits Sunteck Realty netup over five fold

National home prices climbingfaster than rate of inflation

CHRIS KISSELL

What is the state of theU.S. housing market?Ask that question in

two different cities and you mayget dramatically different answers.

For example, in Denver, valueshave soared a mile high, far abovetheir peak during the recent hous-ing bubble.

By contrast, homeowners inLas Vegas continue to feel as ifthey lost the bet, with prices thatremain well below their bubblehighs.

Overall, though, the Americanpicture looks good. National homeprices continue to climb signifi-cantly faster than the rate of infla-tion, according to ThomasThibodeau, academic director ofthe University of Colorado RealEstate Center in the Leeds Schoolof Business at the University ofColorado-Boulder.

However, challenges remain.Thibodeau highlights a few ofthem in the following interview.

The U.S. housing market hasbeen through one of the most tur-bulent periods in its history -- asoaring bubble, followed by anenormous crash and a somewhatbumpy recovery. What is yourtake on the state of the nation'shousing market?

Nationally, house prices con-tinue to increase significantlyfaster than the rate of inflation.According to the Federal Hous-ing Finance Agency, the averageannualized rate of change in quar-terly U.S. house prices betweenthe first quarter of 2013 and thethird quarter of 2014 has been 5.2percent.

Even with this rapid rate of in-crease, national house price lev-els are still 5.5 percent below their2007 second-quarter peak.

There is substantial spatialvariation in the house price recov-ery. In Denver, for example, third-quarter 2014 nominal house pricesare 24.5 percent above their sec-ond-quarter 2007 pre-financial cri-sis peak. Third-quarter 2014 nomi-nal house prices in Houston are38.4 percent higher than their 2007second-quarter peak.

At the other end of the distri-bution, nominal house prices inLas Vegas are 26.3 percent belowtheir 2007 second-quarter levels,and 2014 third-quarter nominalhouse prices in Stockton, Califor-nia, are 32.5 percent below their2007 second-quarter levels.

The rate of homeownership inthe U.S. continues to decline and,according to the U.S. Bureau ofthe Census, was 64.4 percent inthe third quarter of 2014 -- aboutthe same as it was in 1995. Thedecline in homeownership rates isattributable to three things:

• A structural shift in house-holds' attitudes about the risk andfinancial rewards ofhomeownership.

• A lack of single-family inven-tory.

• Strict underwriting standards.Most of the decline in the rate

of homeownership is amonghouseholds whose heads are lessthan 44 years of age. The declinein the rate of homeownership islikely to continue to increase as

this cohort of young householdsages. It is not clear where the de-cline in homeownership rates willbegin to level off.

What were some of the mostsignificant housing-related de-velopments over the past year?

There are two factors that havehad the most important influenceson local housing markets in thepast few years: relatively inexpen-sive debt and very strict under-writing requirements.

These two factors have oppo-site effects on the demand for

homeownership. Low interestrates reduce the after-tax cost ofhousing and increase the demandfor owner-occupied housing.

At the same time, lenders ap-pear to have significantly tight-ened underwriting requirements,making it difficult to obtain mort-gage debt for both financing pur-chases and for refinancing.

All housing is local, of course.But in general, what are some of

the most important trends anddevelopments that today's buyersshould keep in mind when shop-ping for a home?

The choice between buyingand renting should depend prima-rily on a comparison of the after-tax cost of owning and the after-tax cost of renting.

In most housing markets andmost of the time, the annual after-tax cost of homeownership de-clines as the length of the holdingperiod increases. This is primarilybecause homeownership comeswith very high transaction costswhen homes are purchased andagain when homes are sold, and ittakes time to amortize these costs.The longer the holding period, thelower the annual average transac-tion cost.

The financially correct choicedepends on a careful analysis ofall the after-tax costs and benefitsassociated with owning and rent-ing in a particular housing market.Having said that, in most markets,it only takes two or three yearsbefore the after-tax cost of own-ing is less than the after-tax costof renting.

Consequently, a household isfinancially better off owning -- itis cheaper to own -- if the house-hold expects to be in the sameplace for two or three years. Thebreak-even time period decreasesif house prices or rents are increas-ing and increases if house pricesor rents are decreasing.

Looking into your crystal ball,what do you expect will be thebiggest housing-related trendsand developments this year?

Future trends depend on thelocal market. In housing marketswhere house prices are above theirhistoric average (e.g., Denver,Houston and others), the recentrapid increase in house prices islikely to slow down and futurehouse prices changes are goingto be closer to the rate of inflation.

I expect house prices to con-tinue to increase in places whereinflation-adjusted house prices arecurrently below their historic av-erage. -Courtesy bankrate.com

It is cheaper to own -- if the household ex-pects to be in the same place for two or threeyears. The break-even time period decreasesif house prices or rents are increasing

NY senatorstout bills forsenior housing

ALBANY, N.Y.: A group of NewYork state senators has released apackage of bills designed to helpstruggling seniors

The measures come from the In-dependent Democratic Confer-ence, a small faction of breakawayDemocrats. Sen. Jeff Klein, theBronx Democrat who leads thegroup, says the state has a respon-sibility to help seniors ``thrive intheir golden years.''

One of the proposals would in-vest $40 million in a fund to pro-vide grants to developers whobuild senior housing. Anotherwould increase funds for in-homehealth and human services for eld-erly residents by $5 million.

A third bill would provide helpto seniors struggling to pay highutility bills.

The IDC also is calling for a taxcredit for seniors who repair theirhome or add ramps, handrails orother safety upgrades. -AP

HDIL's profitzooms toRs 65.29 cr

MUMBAI: Realty firm HDIL'sconsolidated net profit zoomed toRs 65.29 crore for the quarter endedDecember 31, 2014 from Rs 5.10crore in the comparable period.

The company reported a four-fold a rise in total sales during theperiod under review to Rs 359.50crore from Rs 89.63 crore in thecorresponding period.

"We have achieved a satisfac-tory growth this quarter on ac-count of good sales," HDIL ViceChairman and Managing DirectorSarang Wadhawan said.

HDIL Vice-President, Financeand Investor Relations,Hariprakash Pandey told PTI:"There was an overall slowdownin the sector in last two yearsmainly due to delays in approvals.

"But since the last few quartersapprovals are improving andtherefore project execution hasstarted to pick up. As more andmore projects reach completionstage, sales will start reflecting inour balance sheet as we followproject completion method."

The revenues were mainlydriven by sales in its commercialprojects in Kurla and Goregaon,he said.

"Our residential business,which will be our main focus area, isalso witnessing good traction.... Weexpect to see similar improvementin sales in the next 3-4 quarters asmost of the residential projects,which were stuck, will reach comple-tion stage," he said. -PTI

MUMBAI: Real estate firm Suntech Realty has reportedover five-fold increase in net profit for the quarter endedDecember 31, 2014, at Rs 12.65 crore on the back of expo-nential growth in sales.

The Mumbai-based firm had reported a profit of Rs2.52 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal.

Its total sales for the October-December 2014 quarterstood at Rs 64.56 crore against Rs 15.65 crore a year-ago,registering an over four-fold growth. -PTI

31India PostFebruary 20, 2015

www.indiapost.comReal Estate Post

'Common man' can havea street named after him

NEW DELHI: Residents ofnorth Delhi can now buy nametags of a public place or propertyin return for its maintenance.

The North Delhi MunicipalCorporation in a special meetingof the House chaired by theLeader of the House MeeraAggarwal approved the proposalduring its budget finalization butthe option comes with a few rid-ers.

"As per this plan, people canbuy name tags of say a park,street, school, community centre,hospitals after their grandfather oranyone whom they think deservesthe honor due to their work in thepast," a senior NDMC official said.

But, the idea would first haveto be cleared by the NDMC's Nam-ing Committee, which wouldweigh in the merit of the proposednames before putting the seal onit.

According to the municipalrule, the proposal is first examinedon a zonal-level by its ward com-mittee and then it comes under theNaming Committee, headed by theMayor.

The Standing Committee thentables it in its meet and the finalapproval is given by the munici-

pal House."So, it is not that we are allow-

ing anybody to name anythingafter anybody. There is a due pro-cess. Just because, someone canpay for naming, doesn't mean thatwe will allow it," Chairman ofNDMC's Standing Committee

Mohan Bhardwaj said."There is a procedure in get-

ting a place or property named.And, the merit of the proposalwould be analyzed and examinedon social and moral grounds bythe Naming Committee before giv-ing any approval," he said.

The idea also was to generateadditional revenue, the official

said."We realized that apart from

places and properties being namedafter famous and eminent people,common people could also getnamed as per their choice to bringin extra revenues.

"It is like people paying extrato get a VIP carnumber. And theearning could beused in maintainingsuch properties," hesaid.

Congress coun-cilor and Leader ofOpposition MukeshGoel had opposedthe move earlier as"inappropriate" and"illogical".

The budget pro-posal in November19 last year had said

that "the Naming Committee in-variably finds itself politically andmorally on wrong foot to recom-mend a name after which a streetor park is to be named".

The House also rejected allproposed new taxes and hike inold ones. It also approved Rs 6crore for 'Swachh Bharat' cam-paign in its areas. -PTI

New home launches in2014 dipped 12%

NEW DELHI: Real estate devel-opers launched 1.53 lakh newhousing units during the last cal-endar year, a fall of 12 per cent from2013, in the country's top eight cit-ies.

According to property consult-ant Cushman & Wakefield, citiessuch as Ahmedabad,Bengaluru, Chennai,Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad,Kolkata, Mumbai andPune had together wit-nessed a launch of1,74,400 housing unitsduring 2013.

Barring Chennai andKolkata, the other sixcities saw fall in thenumber of launches.

In Delhi-NCR, thelaunch of new homesdropped by 30 per cent to 38,400units in 2014 from 26,800 units inthe previous year, C&W said in astatement.

Mumbai saw a decline of 19 percent in launches at 25,000 units,

while Bengaluru witnessed a fallof 17 per cent at 40,900 flats.

Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR andMumbai accounted for 60 percent of the total new launches in2014.

The number of new unitlaunches dropped substantially

by 46 per cent in Hyderabad asdevelopers reconcile to thechanging market dynamics postthe bifurcation of the state, theconsultant said.

C&W Executive Managing Di-

rector South Asia Sanjay Duttsaid: "Despite the upliftment ofeconomic sentiments post theelection, the end user uptake ofresidential units has been re-stricted leaving a reasonable un-sold inventory that developerswould like to off-load."

Mid-segment resi-dential units continuedto remain favoriteamongst developers witha two-third share in totallaunches. Unit launchesin this segment increasedby 5 per cent from the pre-vious year.

"Unit launches in thehigh-end segmentdipped by 29 per cent in ayear; whilst in the afford-able segment they de-

clined by 38 per cent from the pre-vious year. Although luxury unitscontributed only 1 per cent to totalunit launches, they increased byfive times from the previous year,"the statement said. -PTI

Maharsahtra plans 2600houses for mill workersMUMBAI: In a bid to provide

affordable housing to mill work-ers, the Maharashtra governmenthas decided to complete the con-struction of additional 2,600houses by 2016.

In the Congress-NCP regime,families of 6,925 mill workers hadbagged low cost houses in June2012 under the MaharashtraHousing and DevelopmentAuthority's (MHADA) schemefor mill workers.

A decision to complete theconstruction of 2,600 homes byOctober 2016 was taken in a re-view meeting chaired by the Min-ister of State for Housing

Ravindra Waikar."These flats will be con-

structed on land of Western In-dia, Bharat Textile, Prakash Cot-ton, Jubilee, and Ruby mills.

"I have instructed theMHADA officials to complete theconstruction work before the endof next year, so that more than2,600 mill workers' families can beaccommodated in the secondphase," Waikar said.

He said MHADA will con-struct a total of 24,800 flats on anarea of 15.78 hectares of land ofthe 36 textile mills in Mumbai inseveral phases.

"We can construct 16,700 flats

for mill workers and 8,100 flatscan be used as transit camps onthe 15.78 hectare land from 36mills," the minister said.

He said till date, 10,165 flatshave already been constructed on6.83 hectares of land at 11 differ-ent mill lands, out of which, 6,948flats are for mill workers, 3,204 fortransit camps and 13 shops arecompleted.

"We have a proposal to con-struct flats for mill workers onland of Bombay Dyeing mill andSrinivas mill," he said.

Responding to a query, Waikarsaid, "the land ratio of MHADAand mill owners is not yet final-

ized in case of the New Great East-ern Mill and MHADA is in pos-session of the land at Victoria mill.But the land size of these twomills, along with five other mills,is very small and hence we areconsidering to exchange a biggersize of land owned byBrihanmumbai Municipal Corpo-ration (BMC)."

The proposal to exchange theland is submitted to Urban De-velopment Department and finalnod of chief minister is awaited."Once, the proposal is approved,we will start constructing low-budget flats for mill workers,"Waikar said. -PTI

www.indiapost.com32 India Post February 20, 2015

Health ScienceHealth Line

Details on Page 34

Twitter canhelp doctorstreat patients

better

Computer model of blood developmentto treat leukemia

LONDON: The first compre-hensive computer model to simu-late the development of bloodcells could lead to new treatmentsfor leukemia and lymphoma, sci-entists say.

The human body producesover 2.5 million new blood cellsduring every second of our adultlives, but how this process is con-trolled remains poorly under-stood.

Blood cancers, which includeleukaemia, lymphoma and my-eloma, occur when the productionof new blood cells gets out of bal-ance, for example if the body pro-duces an overabundance of whiteblood cells.

Researchers at the Universityof Cambridge and Microsoft Re-search have developed a com-puter model to help gain a betterunderstanding of the controlmechanisms that keep blood pro-duction normal.

"With this new computermodel, we can carry out simulatedexperiments in seconds thatwould take many weeks to performin the laboratory, dramaticallyspeeding up research into blooddevelopment and the genetic mu-tations that cause leukaemia," saidProfessor Bertie Gottgens at Cam-bridge Institute for Medical Re-search.

To construct the computermodel, PhD student Vicki

Moignard from the WellcomeTrust-MRC Cambridge Stem CellInstitute measured the activity of48 genes in over 3,900 blood pro-genitor cells that give rise to allother types of blood cell: red andwhite blood cells, and platelets.

These genes include TAL1 andRUNX1, both of which are essen-tial for the development of bloodstem cells, and hence to humanlife.

Computational biology PhDstudent Steven Woodhouse thenused the resulting dataset to con-struct the computer model ofblood cell development, usingcomputational approaches origi-nally developed at Microsoft Re-search for synthesis of computercode.

Importantly, subsequent labo-ratory experiments validated theaccuracy of this new computermodel.

One way the computer modelcan be used is to simulate the ac-tivity of key genes implicated in

blood cancers.For example,

around one in five ofall children who develop leu-kaemia has a faulty version of thegene RUNX1, as does a similarproportion of adults with acutemyeloid leukaemia, one of themost deadly forms of leukaemiain adults.

The computer model showshow RUNX1 interacts with othergenes to control blood cell devel-opment: the gene produces a pro-

tein also known as Runx1, whichin healthy patients activates aparticular network of key genes;in patients with leukaemia, an al-tered form of the protein is thoughtto suppress this same network.

If the researchers change the

'rules' in the network model, theycan simulate the formation of ab-normal leukaemia cells.

By tweaking the leukaemiamodel until the behavior of thenetwork reverts back to normal,the researchers believe they canidentify promising pathways totarget with drugs.

The research is published in thejournal Nature Biotechnology. -PTI

Professor Bertie Gottgens says fast computersimulations will accelerate the development of

new drugs.

Tech identifies patients at risk of second strokeWASHINGTON: Risk of recur-

rent stroke is higher in patientswho have low blood flow to theback of the brain, a new study hasfound.

Researchers at the Universityof Illinois at Chicago also foundthat the condition can be visual-ized using specialized softwarethat analyses blood flow usingstandard magnetic resonance im-aging (MRI).

Patients with blockage of theblood vessels that supply bloodto the back of the brain - a condi-tion known as vertebrobasilardisease, or VBD - are at risk ofhaving a stroke or temporarysymptoms of a stroke known as

transient ischemic attack (TIA).These posterior-circulation

strokes account for 30 per centto 40 per cent of all ischemic

strokes.The risk of a repeat stroke as-

sociated with VBD may be tiedto several factors, including the

degree to which the blockage re-duces the blood flow to the brain,researchers said.

Patients with VBD can haveblockage ranging from partial tocomplete, which affects bloodflow accordingly. Some patientswith VBD can also have normalblood flow to the back of the brain.

A six-year, multi-centre trialsought to identify patients withVBD and low blood flow to see ifthey had a higher risk of recurrentstroke than those with normalblood flow to the back of the brain.

A quarter of the enrolled pa-tients were identified as havinglow posterior blood flow.

Vertebrobasilar flow evaluation for risk of transient ischemic attack andstroke.

Cont'd on Page 35

Google developingbody odorbusting device

LONDON: Tech giant Googlehas been awarded a patent for abody odor busting device whichreleases fragrances to keep theuser smelling fresh.

The wearable 'fragrance emis-sion device' includes several sen-sors that can detect the physicalactivity of the user.

These sensors would also de-tect a rise in temperature and mois-ture, suggesting increased sweatlevels and body odor.

The device fits under theclothes and uses its range of sen-sors to keep tabs on odor levels.When needed, it releases fra-grances to keep the user smellingfresh.

It is also able to regulate justhow much spray is needed tocover the user's body odor needs,'express.co.uk' reported.

The device will also providetravel tips which can suggestroutes away from people withinthe user's social network of con-tacts that are linked to the device,in case of those bad-smelling situ-ations.

The route suggesting portionmay employ searching technologysuch as Google Maps or GoogleEarth to supply the alternateroute. -PTI

Khattar launches'Khelega Haryana-Badega Haryana'

SONEPAT, Haryana: ChiefMinister Manohar Lal Khattar,who launched a 'KhelegaHaryana-Badega Haryana' aware-ness campaign here, said it wouldcover the entire state to keep ev-ery citizen healthy and disease-free.

Under the campaign,'Vyayamshala' will be opened inevery village over two acres todraw people to yoga and sports,Khattar said.

The campaign was launchedat Moti Lal Nehru Sports School,Rai here, an official release said.

He said that every week pro-grams would be held in one dis-trict where one state ministerwould participate in the mara-thon along with children and lo-cal people.

The campaign would laystrong foundation of a healthyHaryana and help promotesports and encourage the stateplayers.

'Physical Activities andSports Policy 2015' has been for-mulated under which the amountof cash awards is increased andnew awards are instituted, therelease said. -PTI

India PostHealth Science Post 33

www.indiapost.com

February 20, 2015

New aggressive form of HIV discovered in CubaLONDON: A new aggressive form of HIV

can progress to AIDS in just three years -so rapidly that patients may not even real-ize they were infected, scientists say.

Engaging in unprotected sex with mul-tiple partners increases the risk of contract-ing multiple strains of HIV.

Once inside a host, these strains canrecombine into a new variant of the virus,researchers said.

One such recombinant variant observedin patients in Cuba appears to be much moreaggressive than other known forms of HIV,researchers said.

Before it can enter human cells, HIVmust first anchor itself to them. The virusdoes this via anchor points, or co-recep-

tors, which are proteins on the cell mem-brane.

In a normal infection, the virus first usesthe anchor point CCR5. In many patients,after a number of healthy years, the virusthen switches to the anchor point CXCR4.

This co-receptor switch coincides witha faster progression to AIDS.

Researchers at KU Leuven's Laboratoryfor Clinical and Epidemiological Virologyin Belgium have described a recombinantform of HIV observed in patients in Cubathat makes this transition much faster.

The virus targets the anchor pointCXCR4 early after infection, shorteningdrastically the healthy phase and trigger-ing rapid progression to AIDS.

Professor Anne-Mieke Vandamme andcolleagues studied the blood of 73 recently-infected patients - 52 at AIDS diagnosisand 21 without AIDS - and compared re-

sults with blood from 22 patients who hadprogressed to AIDS after a normal healthyperiod with HIV.

In the patients infected with the HIV re-combinant, the researchers observed ab-normally high doses of the virus and of thedefensive molecule RANTES.

This molecule is part of the natural im-mune response and acts through bindingto CCR5, to which most forms of HIV haveto bind before entering the cell.

The high concentration of RANTESsuggests that most of the CCR5 proteinswere no longer available as anchor pointsfor HIV. This may have caused the HIV re-combinant to bypass that anchor point andgo straight to anchor point CXCR4.

The observation that all study patientswho were infected with the recombinantHIV variant went on to develop AIDS withinthree years of infection supports thistheory, researchers said.

The transition from anchor point CCR5to CXCR4 is normally very difficult. Theresearchers suspect that the rapid transi-tion observed in this HIV recombinant oc-curs as a result of combining fragmentsfrom different HIV subtypes.

One of these fragments contains a pro-tease (from subtype D), which acts veryefficiently. Protease is an enzyme thatcleaves the proteins that are used in newvirus particles.

This protease is very 'fit' - it enables thevirus to replicate in greater numbers hencefacilitating the transition to CXCR4 anchor-ing, researchers said.

The study is published in the journalEBioMedicine. -PTI

In the patients infected withthe HIV recombinant, theresearchers observed ab-normally high doses of thevirus and of the defensivemolecule RANTES.

Docs store digital humanhearts on computer

LONDON: UK doctors have stored 1,600beating human hearts in digital form on acomputer to better understand the rela-tionship between people's genes andheart disease.

Scientists at the Medical ResearchCouncil's Clinical Sciences Centre atHammersmith Hospital are scanning de-tailed 3D videos of the hearts of 1,600patients andc o l l e c t i n ggenetic in-f o r m a t i o nfrom eachvolunteer.

"There isa really com-plicated rela-tionship be-t w e e np e o p l e ' sgenes andheart dis-ease, and we are still trying to unravelwhat that is," said Dr Declan O'Regan,who is involved in the heart study.

"But by getting really clear 3D picturesof the heart we hope to be able to get a

much better understanding of the causeand effect of heart disease and give theright patients the right treatment at theright time," O'Regan said.

The idea of storing so much informa-tion on so many hearts is to compare themand to see what the common factors arethat lead to illnesses.

"There are often subtle signs of earlydisease that are really difficult to pick upeven if you know what to look for.

A computer is very sensitive to pick-ing up subtle signs of a disease beforethey become a problem," O'Regan said.

The study is among a wave of new"big data" ventures that are transform-ing the way in which research is carriedout, 'BBC News' reported.

Computers at the EuropeanBioinfomatics Institute (EBI) in Cam-bridge store the entire genetic code oftens of thousands of different plants andanimals. The information occupies theequivalent of more than 5,000 laptops.

To find out how the human mind works,researchers at the Insti tute forNeuroimaging and Informatics at the Uni-versity of Southern California are storing30,000 detailed 3D brain scans, requiringthe space equivalent to 10,000 laptops.

The Square Kilometre Array, a radiotelescope being built in Africa and Austra-lia, will collect data in one year that is 150times the current total annual global internettraffic. -PTI

India Post Health Science Post34

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February 20, 2015

Twitter can help doctorstreat patients better

TORONTO: Using Twitter canhelp physicians be better preparedto answer questions from their pa-tients, according to new research.

The study by researchers fromthe University of British Colum-bia has found more and morehealth care professionals are em-bracing social media.

This challenges common opin-ion that physicians are reluctantto jump on the social media band-wagon.

"Many people go online forhealth information, but little re-search has been done on who isparticipating in these discussionsor what is being shared," said JulieRobillard, lead author and neurol-ogy professor at UBC's NationalCore for Neuroethics and DjavadMowafaghian Centre for BrainHealth.

Robillard and psychology stu-dent Emanuel Cabral spent sixmonths monitoring conversationssurrounding stem cell researchrelated to spinal cord injury andParkinson's disease on Twitter.

They found roughly 25 per cent

of the tweets about spinal cordinjury and 15 per cent of the tweetsabout Parkinson's disease werefrom health care professionals.

The study found the majorityof tweets were about researchfindings, particularly the onesperceived as medical break-throughs. The most shared con-

tent were links to research re-ports.

The study also found the us-ers tweeting about spinal cord in-jury and Parkinson's disease dif-fered.

Users who tweeted about spi-nal cord injury talked about clini-cal trials, while users who tweetedabout Parkinson's disease mostlytalked about new tools or meth-ods being developed to conductresearch.

Less than five per cent of thetweets spoke out against stem cellresearch, which surprised the re-searchers.

"We expected to see debate onstem cell controversy. But peopleare sharing ideas of hope and ex-pectations much more than any-thing else," said Robillard.

Robillard believes social mediacan help physicians become moreaware of what their patients areconsuming about scientific re-search beyond traditional media.This could help temper patients'expectations about potential treat-ments. -PTI

Beaver enamel holds cluesto tooth decay

WASHINGTON: Beavers haveprotection against tooth decaybuilt into the chemical structureof their teeth, according to a newstudy that could lead to improvedtreatments for human tooth decay.

Northwestern University re-searchers found that the pig-mented enamel of beavers, whichcontains iron, is both harder andmore resistant to acid than regu-lar enamel, including that treatedwith fluoride.

"We have made a really bigstep forward in understanding thecomposition and structure ofenamel - the tooth's protectiveouter layer - at the smallest lengthscales," said Derk Joester, leadauthor of the study and an asso-ciate professor of materials sci-ence and engineering in theMcCormick School of Engineer-ing and Applied Science.

"The unstructured material,which makes up only a small frac-tion of enamel, likely plays a rolein tooth decay," Joester said.

"We found it is the minorityions - the ones that provide di-versity -

that really make the differencein protection. In regular enamel,

it's magnesium, and in the pig-mented enamel of beaver andother rodents, it's iron," he said.

Layers of well-ordered hy-droxylapatite "nanowires" are thecore structure of enamel, butJoester and his team discoveredit is the material surrounding thenanowires, where small amounts

of amorphous minerals rich in ironand magnesium are located, thatcontrols enamel's acid resistanceand mechanical properties.

In a series of experiments ofrabbit, mouse, rat and beaverenamel, Joester and his col-

leagues imaged the never-seen-before amorphous structure thatsurrounds the nanowires.

They used powerful atom-probe tomography and other tech-niques to map enamel's structureatom by atom. Rodent enamel issimilar to human enamel.

The researchers subjected theteeth to acid and took im-ages before and after acidexposure.

They found the periph-ery of the nanowires dis-solved (the amorphousmaterial), not thenanowires themselves.

The researchers nextidentified amorphousbiominerals in the struc-ture, such as iron and mag-nesium, and learned howthey contribute to both themechanical hardness andresistance of enamel toacid dissolution.

Of particular interest to Joesterand his colleagues was the pig-mented enamel of the beaver's in-cisors. Their studies showed it tobe an improvement over fluoride-treated enamel in resisting acid. -PTI

Scientists look at chemical composition ofbeaver teeth for clues in the battle againsttooth decay. Beaver tooth enamel containsiron, which protects against decay, claim

scientists.

China links promotionsin PLA to fitness

BEIJING: China has stepped upthe fitness campaign for its 2.3 mil-lion-strong army, linking promo-tions of the personnel in theworld's largest military to theirhealth conditions.

People's Liberation Army(PLA) members have been re-minded to stay in shape or elsethey will lose out on promotions.

"Soldiers are easily gainingweight in peacetime," said LiDaguang, an expert with the Na-tional Defense University. "Ithas been more than 30 yearssince the Chinese army foughtin a war" state-run Xinhua newsagency reported.

Li said that with improved liv-

ing conditions, changinglifestyles and dietary structure,soldiers live comfortably and areputting on weight.

"Being overweight will notonly harm soldiers' image, butalso affect their performance onthe battlefield and the troop'soverall combat power," he said.

The PLA has set compulsivestandards for soldiers' weightand vowed to pay more atten-

tion to military fitness training,which aims to build a strongerforce, according to new guide-lines.

"Physical training should belinked to personnel manage-ment," the guideline said, refer-ring to promotions or demotions.

Military physical training is"a basic way of enhancing sol-diers and officers' physical andmental quality" and helps culti-vate combat power, it said, call-ing for innovative training meth-ods and outlining a distinctivemilitary training system.

"It is strength but not weight,muscle not fat that is to be com-pared on the future war field,"

said PLA Major General LuoYuan.

The guideline reflects theprinciple of running the armystrictly, Luo said, adding it isan international conventionto quantify soldiers' weightstandards.

Senior Colonel ZhangJunshe, a researcher with thePLA's Naval Military StudiesResearch Institute, said theweight problem is even big-ger for those working in-doors.

"They are older than front-line soldiers and often workovertime and do little sport,especially military computertechnicians whose average

weight surpasses standards,"said Zhang.

The PLA did not disclose newweight standards, but those forsoldiers and administrative of-ficers should differ.

Chinese people often jokeabout big bellied PLA generalsand policemen, questioningtheir ability of fighting a real waron the battlefield, according tothe report. -PTI

A soldier under the Shenyang MilitaryRegion of the Chinese People's

Liberation Army (PLA) conductingcombat drill in the snowfield

Kansas spends millionsto upgrade hospital

OSAWATOMIE, Kan.: Kansasis spending millions of dollars torehab one of its two psychiatrichospitals to avoid the loss of fed-eral Medicare and Medicaid fundsthat make up about one-fourth ofthe facility's $26 million budget.

The Kansas City Star reportsOsawatomie State Hospital anhour south of Kansas City is re-placing patient beds and mat-tresses, installing new bathroomfixtures and making other changesafter an inspection in late January

raised concerns about patientsafety.

Kansas Department for Agingand Disability Services spokes-woman Angela de Rocha says itwill cost the state about $3 millionto bring the hospital into compli-ance on top of costs it already hasincurred.

It's the second time in recentmonths that federal regulatorshave threatened to take away thefacility's Medicare and Medicaidfunding. -AP

India PostHealth Science Post 35

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February 20, 2015

Congressional panel seeksgovernor's documents

PORTLAND, Ore.: A Congressionalpanel investigating Cover Oregon hasasked departing Gov. John Kitzhaber topreserve all documents related to the shut-down of the dysfunctional health insuranceexchange.

A letter by four members of the HouseCommittee on Oversight and GovernmentReform asks for a slew of documents inhopes of understanding whether cam-paign advisers played a role in the deci-sion to switch to the federal health in-surance exchange.

The letter warns the governor's officenot to alter or destroy any records - areference to a Kitzhaber staffer's recentrequest to have the governor's personalemails deleted from the state archives.The request was denied.

`Ìf it is the routine practice of any stateemployee or contractor to destroy or oth-erwise alter such records, halt that prac-tice,'' the letter states.

Kitzhaber announced his resignationamid a conflict-of-interest scandal involv-ing his longtime girlfriend, Cylvia Hayes,and whether she used her access topower to advance her consulting busi-ness.

The Cover Oregon debacle has been ayears long headache for Kitzhaber, a formeremergency room doctor who prides him-self on matters involving health care. Theexchange website never fully launched,forcing the state to hire hundreds of work-ers to manually process applications.

The state finally scrapped the onlineportal in spring 2014 and switched to thefederal site, HealthCare.gov. The decision

came in the same year Kitzhaber was run-ning for what would prove to be a success-ful re-election campaign. The U.S. Housecommittee seeking the documents by Feb.27 wants to know if the decision to aban-don the Cover Oregon exchange - fundedwith $305 million in federal grants - wasbased on election-year politics.

The Republican-controlled committeeseeks all communications from those asso-ciated with Cover Oregon, the re-electioncampaign and other contractors and con-sultants.

The committee has been investigatingCover Oregon since last March, when it re-quested thousands of documents to see ifthe private information of Oregon residentswas placed in a vulnerable position. -AP

"We found that patients with low bloodflow had a 22 per cent risk of recurrent strokein the first 12 months, versus a 4 per centrisk for patients whose blood flow was notlow," said Dr Sepideh Amin-Hanjani, pro-fessor of neurological surgery at the UICCollege of Medicine and principal inves-tigator on the study.

At 24 months, the risk for patients withlow blood flow was up to 30 per cent ver-sus 13 per cent for other patients.

"If you can establish that there is aproportion of people who have reducedblood flow, then you can consider themfor treatments that might actually in-crease it - for example, [by] surgery orstents or other procedures that mightopen up the blood vessels," Hanjani said.

Just as importantly, if you find a groupof people whose blood flow is not re-duced, Hanjani said, there would be noneed to subject them to a procedure andits associated risks.

NOVA technology, a computer-based

system used to visualize brain anatomyand quantify blood flow developed atUIC by Dr Fady Charbel, professor andhead of neurological surgery, made it pos-sible to easily identify patients with re-duced posterior blood flow using stan-dard MRI.

With help from the UIC Office of Tech-

nology Management, NOVA was trans-ferred to a newly formed company, VasSol,where the technology was further devel-oped into a product with an improved userinterface, adding functionality and appli-cability.-PTI

Gov. John Kitzhaber

Tech identifies patients at riskof second stroke

Nonprofit's marijuana licensechallenged in court

CHICAGO: An unusual legal case brew-ing in central Illinois poses a provocativequestion: Should a nonprofit organizationthat's exempt from federal taxes be allowedto grow medical marijuana, in violation offederal law?

An attorney is seeking a judge's permis-sion to file a lawsuit against Shelby CountyCommunity Services, a Shelbyville non-profit that provides drug addiction coun-seling and runs a mental health clinic. Thenonprofit recently won a license to growmarijuana in Illinois' new medical cannabisprogram.

``Shelby County Community Serviceswas never legally able to have a medicalcannabis license at the time they applied,''said attorney Sean Britton, who filed thepetition in Coles County Circuit Court.

The petition claims the nonprofit hasfederal tax-exempt status, which should barit from breaking federal law. The court fil-ing is a required preliminary step before alawsuit can be filed, Britton said. The courtis expected to decide later this monthwhether the lawsuit can be filed.

Britton represents Shiloh Agronomics,a for-profit business that lost out in thecompetition for a marijuana cultivation li-cense in Illinois State Police District 10.

``We feel they would have had a shot at

that license'' if the nonprofit group hadn'twon, Britton said.

Shiloh Agronomics was formed by theowners of an Edgar County family farmthat's been in operation for more than acentury, according to the court filing. Theowners applied to grow marijuana in EdgarCounty.

The nonprofit provides mental health

services, including counseling for peoplestruggling with drug and alcohol addiction,according to its website.

Colclasure told the Chicago Tribune hedoesn't see a contradiction in growing medi-cal marijuana and providing addiction coun-seling. Growing marijuana would providejobs and help the nonprofit deal with de-clining state government funding, he toldthe newspaper. -AP

"If you can establish thatthere is a proportion ofpeople who have re-duced blood flow, thenyou can consider them fortreatments

36 February 20, 2015India Postwww.indiapost.com

Perspective

Aam Aadmi Party: Victory of common man!DR MUNISH KUMAR RAIZADA

The stunning victory of Aam AadmiParty in Delhi state assembly elec-tions within a span of less than ayear is indeed historic. Its re-emer-

gence is a milestone in Indian politics.The victory is not only a resounding ver-

dict on the steadfastness, self-belief andhard work of largely volunteer-driven AamAadmi Party; it is equally a reminder tothe incumbent BJP (at Centre) that publicgoodwill cannot be sustained if promisesare not kept.

At national level, Narendra Modi -whocame to power with a thumping majorityon the plank of clean governance and de-velopment - soon, was seen as a man notwilling to look at the issue of corruptionand black money through a common'sman lens.

Rather than focusing on governancethat brings reprieve to common man, Modihas so far chosen to craft symbolic pillarsand exhibits for the slogan of develop-ment and governance.

Even at the state level in Delhi, BJPnever walked the talk! Despite initiallyrefusing to form government as it wasshort on numbers, why did it make franticattempts to form government in Delhistate by horse-trading in last severalmonths?

Secondly, general public ever suffo-cated with simmering corruption and in-efficiency in offices, and MCD (BJP-con-trolled) found no improvement in qualityof local infrastructure; rather it was thrustupon with a larger than life portrayal ofits Prime Minister.

It goes to the credit of Arvind Kejriwalthat his party was able to highlight thisduplicity and at the same time thwart theefforts of government formation by BJPby hook or crook. Despite the fact thatmedia and intellectuals had written offKejriwal's politics, the diminutive figurekept his peace and kept demanding whata common man aspires - right to bettercivic facil i t ies andsome grace!

Then came the para-trooping of Kiran Bediby BJP. What initiallyseemed to be amasterstroke, in retro-spect Ms Bedi did adisservice to hernewfound love byneedless utterances,grumbling tone andtenor. With BJP as-cending to power inDelhi in May last year,the local state unit wasin a formidable positionto serve the public through its MLAs anda supportive Lieutenant Governor, but itchose to direct its energy on personallyattacking Arvind Kejriwal and continuelabeling him as a bhagoda (absconder).

Rather than taking a cue from the trans-parent manner of fund raising by a fledg-ling Aam Aadmi Party, BJP on the oppo-site chose to vilify AAP. Buoyant withLok Sabha victory, BJP also chose to rakeup divisive politics based upon religion.

Slowly and steadily it is becoming clearto the public that Modi is not a reformer.He wants to maintain status quo of ad-ministration, sprinkling with a little bitdose of development. Had he been seri-ous about reforms then the crucial ap-

pointments of Chief Information Officer(CIC), and Lokpal would have been donewithout delay. Similarly what is prevent-ing him from bringing legislation throughParliament leading to transparency in po-litical finance?

A watershedDelhi assembly

elections 2015 are awatershed in the his-tory of Indian politics.What started as a hic-cup and bump experi-ment in 2013, the re-emergence of AamAadmi Party has nowan approval stamp ona few defining charac-teristics in Indian poli-tics.

Aam Aadmi Partyhas amply provedthat elections can be

fought with white money donated by pub-lic.

It also has exemplified that if there is awill, money influence can be decreased inpolitics.

AAP also set a new standard in Indianpolitics by advocating what we call thephenomenon of primaries or caucuses tochoose the candidates for elections.While AAP itself has not been able to putthis fully in practice, the party has given

people a talking point about concepts like'internal democracy' and primaries.

AAP also stirred Indian politics by re-jecting the caste and community equationin fielding of candidates. In Delhi elec-tions, caste and religion were not the pri-

mary basis of selecting a candidate andthe election results have shown that itwent well with the electorate.

These elections have reinforced an-other interesting phenomenon of whatwe call "Citizen Politics". Aam Aadmi de-ciding to take a plunge in politics, aamaadmi deciding to contest elections andsuccessfully winning several seats gave

a jolt to the usual stereotypes that poli-tics was a domain of the wealthy and theprivileged few.

Also, the methods adopted by AAP likedoor to door campaigning, engagingpeople in nukkad meetings, music walks,metro train campaigns not only gave themtime to connect to the electorate, they alsoproved to be very economical models ofelection campaigning. In fact, topi (cap)and jhadoo (broom) were good eye catch-ers for the public.

AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal with Manish Sisodia and other Cabinet ministers waves to suppoters after taking oath asDelhi Chief Minister at Ramlila maidan on February 14

Dr Munish Kumar Raizada

The spirit of volunteerism in politics isanother fascinating aspect that AAP hasbeen able to successfully demonstrate andsustain. The overwhelming response ofpeople coming from out of Delhi and evenabroad to volunteer their time and skills

is a testimony to mass mobilization.Whereas other parties have an estab-lished culture of paid workers, AAP wasable to mobilize public participation forpolitical action.

With the emergence of what ArvindKejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party terms as"Clean Politics", the other political par-ties would be forced to adopt the agenda!

AAP has come in clear support of mea-sures like political parties coming underRTI scanner, a stronger Lokpal Bill, elec-toral reforms like Right to reject and Rightto recall. Thus, other political parties willbe forced to re-examine their stands.

Let us hope, an era of new politics de-manding more accountability and trans-parency has arrived!

The author is a practicing doctor inChicago and a member of Aam AadmiParty.

With the emergence of what Arvind Kejriwal-led AamAadmi Party terms as "Clean Politics", the other politicalparties would be forced to adopt the agenda! AAP hascome in clear support of measures like political partiescoming under RTI scanner, a stronger Lokpal Bill, electoralreforms like Right to reject and Right to recall. Thus, otherpolitical parties will be forced to re-examine their stands.

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February 20, 2015

India Post40 February 20, 2015www.indiapost.com

Famed with one of the Seven Wonders of the World - Taj Mahal, Agra is one ofthe most popular tourist destinations in India. Agra is a virtual fort of historyand architecture located in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. Historical monu-

ments, grand architectural grandeur and the beauty of marbles, Agra thrives as oneof the tourist destinations in India.

Agra, a medieval city, was assumed to be built in 1475. It finds a place even inthe epic Mahabharata as Agraban (means paradise). The renowned second centurygeographer Ptolemy spotted this place as Agra in his world map. Agra was thecapital of many dynasties including Lodhi and Mughals.

Located on the banks of River Yamuna, Agra offers the tourists the richest of theman-made beauties including three UNESCO World Heritage Sites - Agra Fort,Fatehpur Sikri and Taj Mahal. It is the haven of Mughal art, culture and architectureon your India tour packages.

Agra is the foremost tourist spot in India and has been equipped with all kinds ofinfrastructure facilities for tourists. The city with multi colored illuminations pro-vides a marvelous view at night to offer hearty welcome to its tourists. Many highstandard hotels and resorts add to the enjoyment of the vacation and picnic in Agra.

Cont’d on page 42

India PostFebruary 20, 2015 41Travel & Hospitality Postwww.indiapost.com

Record 12 lakh visited Surajkund Mela this yearSURAJKUND, Haryana: The

29th edition of fortnight-longSurajkund International CraftsMela culminated on Feb 15, record-ing a footfall of around 12 lakh visi-tors, including 1.6 lakh foreigners,this year.

Haryana Governor KaptanSingh Solanki, who presided overthe closing-cum-award presenta-tion ceremony here, said it washeartening to see the mela beingorganized on this magnitude.

The fair contributes in stirringa spirit of unity and brotherhoodamong different nations, he said.

Solanki said the fair offered anideal opportunity to bind countriestogether and think for a larger goodwith over 20 countries taking partin it and different folk cultures be-ing unveiled during the fortnight.

Hailing the strong roots of In-dian culture, he said, "India's cul-ture and heritage had such strongroots that it could offer a solutionfor problems like terrorism and in-ternational strife, and along with'yoga' it could help the youth im-bibe a strong value system."

Assigning full credit to the melafor instilling harmony among dif-ferent cultures, he highlightedHaryana's progress in every fieldincluding industry, agriculture andsports.

Chhattisgarh Governor BalramJi Das Tandon was the special in-vitee on the occasion.

Drumbeats and foot-tappingmusic gave the esteemed dignitar-ies a rousing welcome from theparticipating cultural troupes ofvarious countries and states of thenation.

Sumita Misra, Managing Direc-tor, Haryana Tourism and Chief

Administrator, Surajkund MelaAuthority said "the mela is the big-gest crafts fair of the world thatsymbolizes brotherhood of cul-tures and has been indeed verysuccessful this year".

More than 20 countries partici-pated in the craft fair this year. S SDhillon, Additional Chief Secre-tary, Tourism, Haryana and vice

chairman, Surajkund Mela Author-ity, highlighted that the fair hadbecome a repository of arts andcrafts from across the globe.

He said Lebanon, Sri Lanka,Nepal, Afghanistan, Bangladesh,Pakistan, Thailand, Rwanda, Syria,Vietnam, Uganda, Mongolia, Ar-menia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Belarus,Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan,

Uzbekistan and Georgia partici-pated in this edition of the fair.

Dhillon said last year the num-ber of crafts persons to participatein the fair were 850 which in-creased to 941 this year, an in-crease of about 11 per cent.

"The footfall of visitors last yearwas over 10 lakh, including 80,000foreigners. This increase is a posi-tive sign and would certainly beconverting to increase in the tour-ism of the country," he said.

Zahir Ridwan, head of the Leba-nese delegation, said this has beenone-of-its-kind of an experienceand they look forward to be a partof this fair next year too.

Karan Dev Kamboj, Minister ofState for Tourism, Haryana saidthe arrangements made for thecomfortable stay and transport of

the participants from across theglobe is commendable and 50 percent discount extended to theyouths and senior citizens are alsothe initiatives worth applause.

Ram Bilas Sharma, TourismMinister, Haryana, said that theparticipation of 20 countries in themela offers encouragement andmotivation.

He further said the governmentwill think about extending the du-ration of the fair from a fortnightto one month, as it presented acolorful show of cultural perfor-mances, and blended the craftsand traditions of different coun-tries beautifully.

Balram Ji Das Tandon, theChhattisgarh Governor,

complimented that Surajkund melaoffered a great platform for the nextgenerations to connect with cul-ture and folk arts.

He added that this mela offered

a perfect opportunity to the statesof the country in particular toshowcase their culture and tradi-tions.

During the closing ceremony,awards to artisans and craft per-sons were given.

In the Kala Shree category ofcrafts persons, Seemafrom Chhattisgarhwas awarded the firstprize for her craftwork in Godhna silkwhile Jai Ram Solankifrom Delhi for hisDhokra craft wasgiven the secondprize.

Chan Chaiah fromAndhra Pradesh,Janmamed fromGujarat and KaminiKaushal from Biharwere also awarded inthis category for their skills in craft.

Ravindra from Chhattisgarh,Abdul Kadar Khatri from MP,Venkar Devjee Premjee fromGujarat, P Sangottu Vel from TamilNadu, Bhantu Chitrakar from West

Musician Anush Stepanyan from Armenia displaying chiffon scarf and musicalinstrument on display at her stall

Face painting competition at Surajkund Mela

Bengal and Bana Devi from Biharwere presented awards in KalaNidhi category.

Nisha from the host stateHaryana was honored with KalaMani award for specialized contri-bution in marble stone craft alongwith eight artists from other states

of the country and two artisansfrom Syria.

Mohd Ishaq Timorjada fromAfghanistan was given the KalaRatna for his work on Afghani car-pets.-PTI

Cultural performance during closing ceremony of the Surajkund Mela

India Post February 20, 201542 Travel & Hospitality Postwww.indiapost.com

Tourist AttractionsTaj Mahal: One of the Seven

wonders in the world, a must seeplace in India, Taj Mahal is situ-ated majestically in Agra. It is ac-claimed as one of the three World

Heritage Sites in Agra and is theliving specimen of romantic lovelife of Shah Jahan and his favoritebeautiful wife Mumtaz Mahal. Lo-cated on the banks of the majesticRiver Yamuna, the Taj Mahal is amasterpiece of architectural designand excellence in finishing.

Mehtab Bagh: The MehtabBagh, a 25-acre garden plot con-structed during 1631 to 1635 AD,is the moonlight garden locatedalong the western side of bank ofthe river Yamuna. It is laid justacross the Yamuna, aligned withthe world famous Taj in a sym-metrical style.

Agra Fort: Also renowned asthe Red Fort of Agra, Agra Fort islocated near the Taj Mahal gar-dens on the banks of RiverYamuna. The real specimen of ar-chitectural marvel, this fortress wasconstructed in the 15th century.The construction of this mammothstructure started during 1565 dur-ing the Great King Akbar and con-

tinued up to the period of KingShah Jahan, the grandson of Akbar.

The fort, encompassing alength of 2.5 km within marvelousenclosure walls, is built in redsandstone and encloses manymonuments which are real archi-tectural wonders. Many exquisite

palaces such as theShah Jahani Mahal,Jahangiri Mahal, theKhas Mahal, audi-ence halls namedDiwan-i-Am and theDiwan-i-Khas are en-closed in the fortress.Other monuments in-clude the Fish Pavil-ion, the NaginaMasjid, Garden of

Grapes and the Pearl Mosque.Mausamman Burj: Musamman

Burj is placed very close to theDiwan-i-Khas, the imposing privatehall of Shah Jahan. MausammanBurj, also renowned as Saman Burj,is an exquisite architectural marvelwith octagonal tower. There aremany carvings on the structureadorned with colored tiles.

Moti Masjid: Located on theslopes from east to west to thenorth of Diwan-e-aam complex,Moti Masjid is famous for its pearl-white exteriors and the beautifulinteriors as well as exteriors. Builtduring the years 1648-54, themosque has 12 pillars and cuspedarches. The mosque is very largeand can be entered from three gatesout of which the main entrance, lo-cated on the eastern side, is thegrandest and most exquisite.

Chini Ka Rauza: Chini KaRauza is a spectacular tomb veryclose to Taj Mahal in Agra. Thetomb is dedicated to the Prime Min-

ister of Mughal dynasty AllamaAfzal Khan, the Mullah of Shiraz,during the rule of Shah Jahan.

The name Chini Ka Rauza is de-rived from most attractive tiles(Chini) used to adorn the ceilingsand walls of the structure. Thetomb is decorated with differentcolors, blue, yellow and green tilesadding a spectacular view to it.

Fatehpur Sikri: Fatehpur Sikriis a town located about 40 km awayfrom Agra and is one of the re-nowned World Heritage sites rec-ognized by UNESCO. The city wasbuilt during the period 1571 to1585 by the great Mughal emperorAkbar. The city in red sandstonewas built to celebrate the birth ofhis son Salim and also to honor

the Saint Sheikh Salim Chisti.Jama Masjid: The Jama Masjid

is one of the largest mosques inAgra. It was built in 1648 and ispopularly known as Jami Masjid.This mosque is credited with thename of Princess Jahanara Begum,the lovely daughter of Shah Jahan.The mosque is noted for the ab-sence of minarets and also for theexquisite tomb.

Buland Darwaza: BulandDarwaza, an entrance constructedby Akbar to celebrate his victoryin 1573 over the kingdom of

Khandesh in Gujarat, is the gate-way to the renowned FatehpurSikri near Agra. This exquisite ar-chitectural wonder provides an eyecatching view for travelers andtourists, which is visible even froma long distance. The Darwaza isplaced at an elevated height about40 meters and seems to be invitingthe tourists to the land of Agrawholeheartedly.

Panch Mahal: A big five sto-ried pavilion placed in theFatehpur Sikri fort complex, PanchMahal was believed to be the plea-sure and relaxation place forMughal emperor Akbar. The pavil-ion is made up of beautiful redsandstone and is at the highestpoint in Fatehpur Sikri. This is a

monument depicting thearchitectural marvel ofPersian style of con-struction.

MaryamuzzamaniP a l a c e :Maryamuzzamani Palaceis an exquisite palace lo-cated in the fort complexof Fatehpur Sikri. Thiswas the palace of QueenMaryamuzzammani, the

Goan wife of Emperor Akbar andthe mother of Jehangir.

Itimad-ud-daula's Tomb: Itimad-ud-daula's Tomb on the bank ofRiver Yamuna wasbuilt by the queenNoor Jahan, the queenof Jahangir, for herparents. It is an archi-tectural marvel situ-ated in the middle ofthe well known andscenic Persian Garden.The tomb was su-perbly designed and

elegantly finished in marvelous ar-chitectural styles.

Sikandra Complex (Akbar'sTomb): Sikandra Complex contain-ing Akbar's tomb is another archi-tectural marvel. The Great Mughalemperor began the construction ofthis complex in 1605, embeddingvarious architectural styles.Jehangir, Akbar's son, completedthe Sikandra Complex after Akbar'sdeath.

Best time to visitAgra experiences extreme tem-

peratures in summers and wintersand moderate temperatures inother seasons. The best time tovisit Agra is from October toMarch.

How to reachBy Train: There are four rail-

way stations in Agra - Agra Cantt,Raja-ki-Mandi, Agra Fort, andIdgah Agra Junction. The city iswell connected by train servicesto all the important cities in India.

By Air: Agra's Kheria Airportis located 8 km away from the heartof the city. Agra is connected toVaranasi, Delhi and Khajuraho byair.

By Bus: Agra is connected byroad to Delhi, Lucknow andKanpur.

AgraAgra

Fatehpur Sikri

Buland Darwaza

MaryamuzzamaniPalace

Tomb of Itmad ud Daulah


Haven of Mughal art, culture and architectureHaven of Mughal art, culture and architecture

India PostFebruary 20, 2015 43Travel & Hospitality Postwww.indiapost.com

'Make pilgrimages affordablefor common man'

Best decorated pavilionaward for Uttarakhand

Wi-fi service in UP air-conditioned busesWarm winter not all bad

for ski industry

NEW DELHI: Tourism and Cul-ture Minister Mahesh Sharma hasadvocated making domestic tour-ism, especially pilgrimages, afford-able for the common man.

Tourism should not be the soleprerogative of the rich and shouldbe made affordable for the domes-tic tourist also who desires to takehis or her old parents on a pilgrim-age, Sharma told the ParliamentaryConsultative Committee of theTourism and Culture Ministries ata meeting in Kachchh in Gujarat.

The meeting was held to take ageneral overview of the tourismand cultural sectors, said a release.

The minister explained to theparticipants the new schemes ofthe national mission on PilgrimageRejuvenation and Spiritual Aug-mentation Drive (PRASAD) andHeritage Development and Aug-mentation Yojana (HRIDAY),which were introduced in the 2014-15 Budget.

The MPs at the meet, mean-while, lauded the introduction ofElectronic Travel Authorization(ETA) as an excellent initiativeand said it should be expandedfurther.

The MPs also spoke of oppor-tunities for promoting culture andtourism in their respective con-stituencies and also touchedupon means of ensuring propermonitoring of central funds.

MP Bishnupada Ray spoke ofthe immense potential of theAndaman and Nicobar Islands fortourism and called for the devel-opment of Viper Island and Cellu-lar Jail by the ASI.

BOZEMAN, Mont.: With recentweather more akin to springtimethan February, it's been no stretchto hear skiers crying foul ofMother Nature's refusal to pro-duce powder days.

But despite the brown grass,bare streets and balmy days inBozeman proper, ski shops and skiareas report the season is stillhumming along just fine.

`Ìt's not as bad as people wouldthink,'' said Kevin Weisner, ownerof Ph.D Skis. ̀ `People are still ski-ing. You have to tell them it's goodthough.''

The warm weather, in fact, hasbeen helping keep the season alivein lieu of big powder days.

``People still want to get out andski,'' said Doug Wales, marketingdirector for Bridger Bowl. ̀ `Whenit's bluebird days out, it's reallyenjoyable.''

At Round House Ski and SportsCenter, manager Michell Potts hasseen the warm weather keep ski-ers buying gear and heading to thehill, she told the Bozeman DailyChronicle.

February has been ``decentlyslow'' at Round House, but with a

busy, warm weekend ahead, Pottssaid she expects things to turnaround and get better.

`Ì think (the softening snow)is going to help, because they'regoing to see spring-skiing condi-tions,'' she added. `Ànd every-body likes spring skiing.''

Wales said things have sloweddown the last couple of weeks,

primarily because of high windconditions last week, but the areais still drawing skiers at ``decent''levels.

The area at times sees snowfallthat misses Bridger or Bozeman,said Sheila Chapman, public rela-tions manager for Big Sky Resort.

And even with the warm

weather, Montana areas are leapsand bounds ahead of West Coastski areas.

``Being locals, we tend to get alittle spoiled,'' Chapman said. ̀ `Butwhen people come here from outof town, they can't believe howmuch snow we have.''

This year, that's more true thanever, as many California areas are

sitting closedfor the fourthyear in a rowas thedrought therec o n t i n u e s .Farther north,in Washing-ton, condi-tions are onlyslightly morein favor ofskiers.

So, in comparison, skiers inBozeman should feel pretty good,Wales said.

And while it's brown in town,some snow does keep falling atBridger - a few inches this week, afoot or so last week - and at BigSky, where a big powder day washad just a week ago. -AP

DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand haswon the best decorated pavilionaward during this year's 'Travel andTourism' fair held in the nationalcapital.

A replica of the famousBadrinath temple located inGarhwal region of Uttarakhandwas present at the event in NewDelhi, an official release heresaid.

Sixteen tour operators and ho-teliers of Uttarakhand took partin the pavilion which was visited

by over 10,000 people.The visitors gathered informa-

tion about tourism in the hill state,the release said.

The fair was held from Febru-ary 10-12 Feb at ThyagarajSports Complex in the capital.

Tourists made inquiries aboutseveral events like the forthcom-ing International Yoga Festival inRishikesh from March 7, the win-ter time Char Dham Yatra and aYatra which begins after winters,it said.-PTI

Presentations on the workingof the Ministries of Tourism andCulture were made before themembers of the consultative com-mittee during the meeting.

Sharma elaborated the vision

and mission of the two ministriesto the MPs present. The scenariofor tourism in Indian economyalong with the global scenario andthe challenges and goals were alsodiscussed at the meeting. -PTI

GHAZIABAD: Uttar PradeshRoadways has decided to providewi-fi internet facility to the passen-gers traveling in its low cost air-conditioned bus service 'Janrath,'for which they will be charged.

"In the first phase, UttarPradesh State Road TransportCorporation (UPSTRC) will equipits 10 air-conditioned 'Janrath'

buses with wi-fi systems for whichit has signed a contract with a pri-vate telecom service provider,"Additional Regional MangerUPSRTC Ashok Kumar Shrotriyasaid here.

The passengers will be charged'one time extra payment of 20 per

cent' for the usage of internet,which would be included in theticket amount, he said, adding con-ductors on board would providethe password to the passengersen-route.

Tickets for 'Janrath' buses canbe booked online in advance.

UP government has sanctioneda contingent of 25 'Janrath' buses

for Ghaziabad region for long routejourney of which 10 have arrived,he said.

As per the schedule, two buseswill start plying between Ghaziabadand Dehradun, six to Lucknow,and two to Haridwar regularlywithin a short span of time. -PTI

Minister Mahesh Sharma

44 India Post February 20, 2015www.indiapost.com

In Brief Immigration New MexicoHouse votes

against driver'slicenses

Details on page 46

Colorado moves closer to immigrantdrivers' license showdown

DENVER: The Colorado Legis-lature moved closer to a partisanshowdown over granting driver'slicenses to immigrants in the coun-try illegally.

The GOP Senate gave prelimi-nary approval to a bill blockingfunds for the state agency thatoversees driver's licenses.

The state Department of Rev-enue has asked budget writers forpermission to spend about$166,000 that they've already col-lected from immigrants who havepaid for licenses, driving permits,and identification cards.

The program receives no statefunding and is operated throughuser fees. Republicans haveblocked the spending of the feesto sustain the program, despiteDemocratic complaints that themoney has already been paid bythe immigrants.

`Ìt is fundamentally unfair forpeople who have followed therules'' and paid fees for licenses,said Sen. Jessie Ulibarri, D-Westminster.

Republicans insisted that they

should use their new majority inthe Senate to block a policy theyoppose.

When the Legislature voted in2013 to allow driver's licenses forimmigrants without permission to

be in the country, Republicansdidn't have the votes to stop it.This year Republicans control thestate Senate by a single seat, theirfirst Senate majority in a decade.

Republicans called it wrong to

reduce backlogs for issuing li-censes to the immigrants.

``When they came here, theydid not come here legally. That'swhat we're talking about,'' saidSen. Kevin Lundberg, R-

Berthoud.One of the Republican budget-

writers said the GOP isn't obli-gated to help implement policiespassed under Democrats.

`Ì for one did not come here

to rubber-stamp,'' said Sen. KevinGrantham, R-Canon City.

Without the funds, the depart-ment has said it may need to re-duce the offices that process thelicenses from five statewide toone.

Earlier this month the agencyannounced that license appoint-ments for people ̀ ùnable to dem-onstrate lawful presence'' wouldbe delayed, some until 2016.

The Senate has one more pro-cedural vote before sending themeasure to the House. The Demo-cratic House is likely to amend themeasure to get the money, settingup a partisan showdown.

One Democrat warned SenateRepublicans that because thebudget-writing committee isevenly divided between Demo-crats and Republicans, the li-cense impasse could presage aprickly legislative session.

``This scares me to death,'' saidSen. Rollie Heath, D-Boulder. ̀ Ìthink we're going down a danger-ous path here. And two people canplay this game.'' -AP

Immigration reform advocates march through Denver, Colorado.

'Deferred Action' is protection from removalHasan Abdullah

USCIS has recently released a flier on Obama'snew Deferred Action

for Parental Accountability(DAPA) program, which can befound on the following link:http://www.uscis.gov/sites/d e f a u l t / f i l e s / U S C I S /E x e c u t i v e A c t i o n s /EAFlier_DAPA.pdf

Just over two months ago,President Obama announcedhis executive actions to re-solve some of the problems thatwe have in our immigrationsystem. One particularly con-troversial measure was the cre-ation of the DAPA program.

Specifically, the DAPA pro-gram would allow parents of USCitizens and US lawful perma-nent residents to request "de-ferred action" along with workauthorization for a three year

period, as long as they havelived in the country continu-ously since January 1, 2010, andpass required backgroundchecks.

This expanded DAPA programis expected to start by mid-to-late May of 2015. It is important

to understand that deferred ac-tion is not exactly a specific im-migration status, but rather, anassurance of protection from re-moval proceedings. The hope is

that those who obtain DAPA willhave a path to permanent resi-dence in the future.

Although this is a welcomechange to the millions of poten-tial DAPA applicants, it has beenattacked by Republicans whoconsider it to be a unilateral ac-

tion to create amnesty for undocu-mented residents, and that itwould create a precedent where theexecutive branch is allowed to dis-regard the will of Congress. It

should be noted that the DAPAprogram requires funding, how-ever, and recently, the Housevoted on and passed legislationto defund Obama's immigrationorders.

On the other hand, Senateleaders have stated that the leg-islation to defund the programis unlikely to pass in the Sen-ate. Therefore, it seems likelythat DAPA will be instituted asplanned, however time will tell.

Readers who are interestedin learning more about this pro-gram or who would like discusstheir immigration matters with anexperience attorney may visitour web site atwww.usavisalaw.com wherethey may find our contact infor-mation.

Hasan Abdullah is Attorneyat Law

The DAPA program would allow parents ofUS Citizens and US lawful permanent resi-dents to request "deferred action" along withwork authorization for a three year period,as long as they have lived in the country

Colombia detains16 Pakistanistrying to reach US

BOGOTA: Colombian authori-ties detained 16 Pakistani nation-als who illegally entered the coun-try and were trying to reach theUnited States, immigration offi-cials have said.

Initial investigations found thePakistanis had come from Braziland planned to travel more than3,200 kilometers to the US viaPanama and then through CentralAmerica, immigration spokesmanJuan Caicedo told AFP.

The group, picked up in theColombian city of Medellin asthey were boarding a bus to an-other town, were being led by a"guide" who had been paid to getthem through the country.

He was accused of being apeople smuggler. The 15 Paki-stanis were taken to a humanitar-ian center. -AFP

Pakistani groomjailed for forgettingwife's name

LONDON: A UK court has sen-tenced three people, including aPakistani bridegroom, to up to 20months in prison for immigrationoffences after he forgot his wife-to-be's name minutes before thewedding.

Authorities were alerted afterZubair Khan phoned his marriagefixer to ask his bride's name dur-ing a meeting with the register be-fore the ceremony.

Home Office investigators werecontacted by the registrar and thecouple were arrested at the HullRegister Office in October.

Khan, 28, was a former collegestudent who turned to a sham mar-riage plot in a desperate attempt tostay in the UK because his studentvisa was about to expire.

Khan and his Hungarian brideBeata Szilagyi were sentenced to20 months and 17 months respec-tively at Hull Crown Court, Tele-graph reported.

They both admitted conspiracyto facilitate a breach of immigra-tion law.

Marriage fixer Khaliq DadKhan, 48, from London was alsojailed for 20 months after pleadingguilty to the same charge.

The trio was also arrested at theregister office in October last year.

Home Office investigator AndySharpe, from Immigration Enforce-ment Criminal Investigations, said:"This was a farcical but nonethe-less serious attempt to cheat theUK's immigration laws.

"The sentences handed out re-flect the gravity of their criminality.This case shows that the peoplewho attempt to abuse the systemwill be caught, and they will end upin prison," Sharpe said. -PTI

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India Post 45February 20, 2015 Immigration Postwww.indiapost.com

'Known Employer' Program to aid business travelCYRUS D. MEHTA

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is considering a "Known Em-

ployer" pilot program to stream-line adjudication of certain typesof employment-based immigrationbenefit requests filed by eligibleU.S. employers.

DHS expects to launch the pi-lot by late 2015 to test the program,which is designed to make adjudi-cations more efficient and lesscostly, and reduce paperwork anddelays for both the department and

U.S. employers who seek to em-ploy foreign workers.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigra-tion Services, U.S. Customs andBorder Protection, and U.S. Immi-gration and Customs Enforcementwill jointly implement the pilot pro-gram. A goal is to expedite or oth-erwise facilitate legitimate cross-border business travel along thenorthern border ports of entry."Doing so is a binational commit-ment under the North AmericanFree Trade Agreement as well asthe U.S.-Canada Beyond the Bor-der initiative," DHS explained.

In particular, the U.S. and Ca-nadian governments intend to "ex-plore the feasibility of incorporat-ing a trusted employer concept inthe processing of business trav-elers between Canada and theUnited States."

Additional information aboutthe Known Employer program willbe provided in the coming months.For background and updates, seehttp://www.dhs.gov/beyond-bor-der. DHS seeks input on the Be-yond the Border initiative, whichcan be emailed [email protected] ormailed to Beyond the Border Co-ordinator, U.S. Department ofHomeland Security, Mailstop 0455,Washington, DC 20016.

HHS updates poverty guidelinesThe Department of Health and

Human Services (HHS) has up-dated the poverty guidelines ef-fective January 22, 2015. Amongother things, the poverty guide-lines are used in determining mini-mum income requirements forForm I-864, Affidavit of Support,and Form I-912, Fee Waiver Re-quest.

The latest guidelines were pub-lished in the Federal Register at

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/F R - 2 0 1 5 - 0 1 - 2 2 / p d f / 2 0 1 5 -01120.pdf.

USCIS issues reminder forrequesting DACA

U.S. Citizenship and Immigra-tion Services (USCIS) issued thefollowing reminder on January 20,2015:

If you request either initial orrenewal Deferred Action for Child-hood Arrivals (DACA), you mustsubmit Form I-765, Application for

Employment Authorization andrequired fees.

USCIS will reject your requestif you fail to submit Form I-765,the required filing fee, Form I-765Worksheet, and Form I-821D, Con-sideration of Deferred Action forChildhood Arrivals. For completeinstructions on requesting DACA,go to the Consideration of De-ferred Action for Childhood Arriv-als (DACA) page [http://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/consideration-deferred-action-childhood-arrivals-daca].

For DACA renewals, USCIS

strongly encourages you to sub-mit your renewal request between150 days and 120 days before theexpiration date located on yourcurrent Form I-797 DACA ap-

proval notice and EmploymentAuthorization Document. Filingduring this window will minimizethe possibility that your currentperiod of DACA will expire beforeyou receive a decision on yourrenewal request.

USCIS' current goal is to pro-cess DACA renewal requestswithin 120 days. However, youmay submit an inquiry about thestatus of your renewal request af-ter it has been pending more than105 days. To submit an inquiry,please visit egov.uscis.gov/e-re-quest or call the National CustomerService Center at 1-800-375-5283(TDD for the hearing impaired: 1-800-767-1833).

State Dept. anticipates visanumber movement in someemployment-based categories

The Department of State's VisaBulletin for February 2015 notesthat movement is possible in someemployment-based categories inthe coming months.

In the employment-based"Worldwide" third preference cat-egory, the Visa Office expects rapidforward movement "for at leastanother month or two." The bulle-tin notes that rapid movement inrecent months is expected to gen-erate a significant amount of de-mand for numbers. "Once such de-mand materializes at the anticipatedrate, it will have a direct impact onthis cut-off date," which stands inFebruary at January 1, 2014.

Similarly, the Visa Office expectsrapid forward movement in theemployment-based third prefer-ence category for China. "Suchmovement is likely to result in a

The Department of Health and Human Ser-vices (HHS) has updated the poverty guide-lines effective January 22, 2015. Amongother things, the poverty guidelines are usedin determining minimum income require-ments for Form I-864, Affidavit of Support

dramatic increase in demand whichcould require 'corrective' actionwithin the next six months," thebulletin notes. India may move byup to two weeks. On the otherhand, Mexico and the Philippineswill remain at the Worldwide date,although increased demand in thelatter could require "corrective"action at some point later in thefiscal year, the bulletin states.

The bulletin notes that the de-termination of the monthly cut-offdates is subject to monthly fluc-tuations in applicant demand anda number of other variables, sotrends and estimates are not guar-anteed.

The Visa Bulletin for February2015 is available at http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/law-and-policy/bulletin/2015/visa-bulletin-for-february-2015.html.

USCIS revises petition for anonimmigrant worker

U.S. Citizenship and Immigra-tion Services (USCIS) has revisedForm I-129, Petition for a Nonim-migrant Worker. The revised FormI-129 is labeled with an October23, 2014, edition date. It expires onOctober 31, 2016.

Starting on May 1, 2015, USCISwill accept only the October 23,2014, edition of the I-129. USCISwill not accept previous editionsof the I-129 on or after May 1, 2015.

Among other things, the revisedform includes a question on the Hclassification supplement that asks,"Does any beneficiary in this peti-tion have ownership interest in thepetitioning organization?"

Details and a link to the formare available at http://www.uscis.gov/i-129.

The bulletin notes that the determination ofthe monthly cut-off dates is subject tomonthly fluctuations in applicant demandand a number of other variables, so trendsand estimates are not guaranteed.

India Post46 February 20, 2015Immigration Postwww.indiapost.com

New Mexico House votes against driver's licensesSANTA FE, N.M.: The New

Mexico House of Representativeshas passed a bill that would endthe state's practice of givingdriver's licenses to people even ifthey can't prove they are in thecountry legally.

The GOP-led House passed thebill 39-29 after three hours of de-bate, with two Democrats sidingwith the Republicans in the major-ity. The measure would repeal the2003 law that made New Mexicoone of the first states to offer li-censes to immigrants regardless oftheir legal status.

The bill now moves to theDemocrat-controlled Senate for avote, and Democrats have vowedto fight the legislation.

The House voted to repeal thelaw on the same day that the Sen-ate in neighboring Colorado tookaction in the partisan showdownover granting driver's licenses toimmigrants who are in the countryillegally. Republicans in Colorado,who also made big gains in the2014 elections, passed a measure

that blocks funds for the stateagency that oversees licenses.

A growing number of statesaround the country have beengranting driver's licenses in recentyears to people regardless of im-migration status. In addition, Presi-dent Barack Obama's executiveactions to allow immigrants to re-main in the country have forcedother states to allow people in hisdeferred-action program to get li-censes.

Ten states now offer licensesto immigrants who can't provethey are in the country legally.

Proponents of New Mexico's billargue that repealing the law wouldhelp prevent fraud and bring thestate into compliance with federalidentification requirements.

``This bill is attempting to se-cure New Mexico's driver's li-censes and bring us into compli-ance with the (federal) Real IDAct,'' said Rep. Paul Pacheco, R-Albuquerque, whose repeal legis-lation garnered vigorous debate.

`Ìn my heart I am trying to do

the right thing,'' said the retiredpolice officer. ̀ Ì am not a maliciousperson. I am trying to solve a prob-lem.''

Those who want to keep the lawthe way it is argue it will hurt oth-erwise hard working families, andother states that have joined NewMexico in doling out licenses are

not running afoul of federal IDlaws.

Rep. Patricio Ruiloba, D-Albu-querque, a police officer with Al-buquerque Public Schools, saidthe issue before the House wasone of safety for the officer andthe community. When an officerstops a motorist, it is important

that the driver have an ID, whichmakes the traffic stop less danger-ous for the officer, he said.

Retired police officer William``Bill'' Rehm, R-Albuquerque, whohas offered his own version of therepeal legislation, countered thathe heard from state police organi-zations voicing support for the

repeal.House Minority Leader Brian

Egolf offered a substitute bill thatwould allow New Mexico to issuetwo distinct licenses - one thatwould meet federal requirementsand another that is not intendedto be accepted by federal agen-cies. He said federal compliance

was the key issue.``We can do it today and stop

the annual debate,'' Egolf said. Hissubstitute was voted down.

The debate on the repeal billwas witnessed by about 250 chil-dren and parents, many of themwearing yellow shirts with letter-ing on the back that read, ``Keepour parents licensed.''

The bill would allow those whohave proof that they qualified forObama's deferred action programto get a license, but the licensewould expire when their status ex-pires.

Javier Martinez, D-Albuquer-que, asked lawmakers to considerhow the repeal will impact `òurkids, both undocumented and citi-zen kids alike.''

``What are we going to do withthe 90,000 children here who haveat least one parent who is undocu-mented?'' he said, adding that theproposal before the House ``hastremendous unintended conse-quences for the people of NewMexico.'' -AP

House Minority Leader Brian Egolf offered asubstitute bill that would allow New Mexicoto issue two distinct licenses - one thatwould meet federal requirements and an-other that is not intended to be acceptedby federal agencies.

Pakistani groom jailed forforgetting wife's name

Group sues US over recordsfor migrant children

TUCSON, Arizona: The Ameri-can Civil Liberties Union has fileda lawsuit seeking informationabout allegations of abuse involv-ing migrant children, includingmany who were placed under thecare of immigration authoritieswhile a wave of unaccompaniedminors fled to the U.S. last sum-mer.

ACLU chapters in Arizona andCalifornia filed the suit against theU.S. Department of Homeland Se-curity, claiming the government

has stonewalled requests madeunder the Freedom of InformationAct for records pertaining to thechildren. The law firm Cooley LLPalso joined the suit.

The ACLU and other advocacy

groups filed a lawsuit in Octoberagainst DHS seeking informationon the department's policies andprocedures at an isolated deten-tion center for immigrant familieswith children in New Mexico.

Both suits stemmed from theunprecedented surge in immigrantchildren and young families thissummer.

Tens of thousands of migrantscrossed into the U.S. illegally, mostthrough Texas, overwhelming Bor-der Patrol agents who were not

positioned to process so manypeople. Many migrant childrenwho had crossed without a parentwere sent to a warehouse inNogales, Arizona, while they wereprocessed. Some families were

eventually sent to the new centerin Artesia, New Mexico.

Most of the migrants were fromCentral American countries andsaid they were fleeing extreme vio-lence and poverty.

The ACLU in June filed a com-plaint alleging that more than 100children had been abused and mis-treated while in Border Patrol cus-tody. The organization says thechildren were kept in harsh tem-peratures and severe overcrowd-ing, and that they were deniedadequate hygiene supplies, bed-ding, food, water and medical care.

Customs and Border Protectionspokesman Michael Friel said in astatement that the agency doesnot comment on pending litiga-tion. However, he said that CBPtakes allegations of misconductseriously.

`Ìn response to the unprec-edented humanitarian situationlast summer, U.S. Customs andBorder Protection personnelaround the country responded ina professional and compassionatemanner. Border Patrol Agents pro-vided safety, shelter, and care forimmigrants in custody from theinitial encounter up until they wereprocessed and out of the agency'scustody,'' Friel said. He said Bor-der Patrol agents took extraordi-nary efforts to care for the chil-dren. -AP

Salvadorian immigrant Stefany Marjorie, 8, watches as a U.S. Border Patrolagent records family information.

LONDON: A UK court has sen-tenced three people, including aPakistani bridegroom, to up to 20months in prison for immigrationoffences after he forgot his wife-to-be's name minutes before thewedding.

Authorities were alerted afterZubair Khan phoned his marriagefixer to ask his bride's name dur-ing a meeting with the register be-fore the ceremony.

Home Office investigatorswere contacted by the registrarand the couple were arrested atthe Hull Register Office in Octo-ber.

Khan, 28, was a former collegestudent who turned to a sham mar-riage plot in a desperate attemptto stay in the UK because his stu-dent visa was about to expire.

Khan and his Hungarian bride

Beata Szilagyi were sentenced to20 months and 17 months respec-tively at Hull Crown Court, Tele-graph reported.

They both admitted con-spiracy to facilitate a breach ofimmigration law.

Marriage fixer Khaliq DadKhan, 48, from London was alsojailed for 20 months after plead-ing guilty to the same charge.

The trio was also arrested atthe reg-ister of-fice inOctoberlast year.

HomeO f f i c einvesti-g a t o rA n d ySharpe,from Im-m i g r a -tion En-f o r c e -m e n t

Criminal Investigations, said:"This was a farcical but nonethe-less serious attempt to cheat theUK's immigration laws.

"The sentences handed out re-flect the gravity of their criminal-ity. This case shows that thepeople who attempt to abuse thesystem will be caught, and theywill end up in prison," Sharpe said.-PTI

Zubair Khan and Beata Szilagyi

February 20, 2015 India Post

www.indiapost.comDatebook

NORTHERN CALIFORNIAUpcoming

CHICAGOUpcoming

Fri, Feb 20• Pretty In Pink Ladies Night,Fundraiser + Karaoke in Sunny-vale!Venue: Athidhi Indian Cuisine, 727 S WolfeRd, Sunnyvale, CA 94086Timet: 07:30 pmContact: 925-261-8682

Sat, Feb 21• Movie Screening of Popular,Acclaimed movie - Lokmanya:Ek YugpurushVenue: Serra Theatres, 200 Serra Way #37,Milpitas, Ca 95035Time: 01:00 pmContact: 214-957-2634

Fri, Feb 27• Party Club Entertainment &Meri saheliVenue: David's Restaurent, 5151 Stars andStripes Dr, Santa Clara, CA 95054Time :08:00 pmContact: 650 669 0281

Fri, Mar 6• GujjuBhai Banya Dabang -Gujarati DramaVenue: Chabot College Performing Arts Cen-ter, 25555 Hesperian Blvd, Hayward, CA94545Timet: 7:30 pm

Sat, Mar 14• South Asian Heart Center'sSeventh Annual Scarlet NightGalaVenue: Mission City Room at the Santa ClaraConvention Center at 5001 Great AmericaParkway, Santa Clara, CA.Timet: 6 to 11:30 p.mContact: 650 940 7242

ATLANTAUpcoming

Sat, Feb 28• ZN Fashions Atlanta 2015Bazaar at Gwinnett Center,DuluthVenue: Gwinnett Center, 6400 SugarloafParkway, Duluth, GA 30097Time: 11:00 amContact: 630-776-9407

Sat, Feb 28• Zindagi Ek Safar Hai SuhanaVenue: Berkmar High School, 405Pleasant Hill Rd, Lilburn, GA 30047Time: 8:30 pmContact: 678-789-4690

Mon, Aug 31• MITHAS 2014 MembershipVenue: Wong Auditorium, MIT, 70 Memo-rial Dr, Cambridge, MA 02142Time: 07:00 pmContact: 857-205-9731

• J K Yog Satsang and BalMukund Hindi Classes are heldevery 2nd and 4rth Sunday ofMonthChicago Satsang Information:J K Yog, Chicago - Swami MukundanandaVenue: Clarion Inn/Waterford Banquets,Board Room, 933 South RiversideDrive, Elmhurst, IL 60126Time: 3:30pm-5:30pmContact: Ajay & Arti Chandhok@ 630-561-4807Website: www.jkyog.org

1st and 3rd Sunday of Month• Chicago Children'sBal MukundCharacter Building Programand Hindi Literacy ClassesVenue: Vogelei Center, 650 W. HigginsRoad, Hoffmann Estates, IL 60192 (Nextto Nissan Dealership)Contact: Ajay & Arti Chandhok @630-561-4807

Mondays and Fridays• Free ESL - English as SecondLanguage ClassesMetropolitan Asian Family ServicesVenue: 9015 N Milwaukee Ave, Niles, IL,Time: 10:30am to 12:30pmContact: 773-465-3105

Mondays and Fridays• Free ESL - English as SecondLanguage ClassesWhere: Metropolitan Asian FamilyServicesVenue: 9015 N Milwaukee Ave, Niles, IL,Time: 10:30am to 12:30pmContact: 773-465-3105Time: 5:30 pm

ILLINOISUpcoming

NEW JERSEYUpcoming

NEW YORKUpcoming

Sat, Feb 21• YUVA Bollywood DancePartyVenue: Maple Lounge at The Night Hotel,157 W 47th St, New York, NY 10036Time: 10:00 pmContact: 917-572-1533

Sat, Mar 28• Hans Raj HansVenue: Performing Arts Center Of York Col-lege, 94-45 Guy R Brewer Blvd, NY 11451Time : 7:00 pmContact: 917-325-4903

Thu, Apr 2• Nafees | Sama Blake LiveVenue: Antun's by Minar, 244 W Old Coun-try Rd, Hicksville, NY 11801Time : 8:00 pmContact: 516-336-9042

Sat, Feb 28• NJTS 2015 AnnualMembershipVenue: New jersey Tamil Sangam, 30 Gin-ger Dr, NJ 08837Time: 9:00 pm

Sat, Mar 7• HOLI Mela NJVenue: AKBAR, 21 Cortlandt St, Edison,NJ 08837Time : 10:00 amContact: 732 763-0118

Sat, Mar 14• Music Workshop by ShardaRajanVenue: Homewood suites by Hilton, 66Stanley St, East Rutherford, NJ 07073Time: 10:00 amContact: 203-599-1437

47

Sat, Feb 28• Bollywood Blast * DhatingNaach!!! Dance Party w/LiveDholi In Sf!Venue: Club OMG, 43 6th St, San Francisco,CA 94103Time: 9:00 pmContact: 925-261-8682

Fri, Mar 13• Zakir Hussain CelticConnectionVenue: Pabst Theater, 144 E Wells St,Milwaukee, WI 53202Time: 8:00 pmContact: 414-467-3032

48 February 20, 2015India Post

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Horoscope

Your Weekly Future

(March 21 to April 20)

Expect big financial growth

this week. Money will

pour in from various

places. You will gain from a very

influential person. Avoid any argu-

ment with a sibling and especially the one who is

younger than you. You may start to worry about a rela-

tionship recently started. You may buy some nice deco-

rative items for the house.

PANDIT PARASHAR, CEO & COO Astro Scan USA isalso available for individual consultations.He can be reached at: [email protected]

510-886-4370www.parashar.com

(July 23 to August 22)

An old health issue that

pops up from time to

time could bother you

and this time you may decide to

go for minor surgery to take care

of it once for all. Boss will call and discuss an interest-

ing assignment. Some of you may travel to a neighbor-

ing state to attend an event. It will be another good

week for brokers.

(November 23 to December 22)

You will need to put your

foot down and stick

to your guns. Other party

does not have much resistance

and will give in quickly. You may

have a small injury on hand while handling some tool.

You may need to help a child with some paper work

and money too. Working extra hours this week will be

rewarding in many ways.

(April 21 to May 20)

You may finally lay your

hands on a nice piece of

property. You will finish the

project well before deadline and

earn appreciation from boss.

People in business will see in-

creased foot traffic

and may get new long term contracts. Some one close

will really benefit from your expert and valuable opin-

ion.

(August 23 to September 22)

Some cracks could start to

appear in a recent busi-

ness partnership or a re-

lationship. Spouse will need mi-

nor surgery if now now but in next

few weeks. Some one you never trusted will give you

some useful lead and show you the easy way to hit

your goals. Legal bills may put a hole in your savings

this week.

(December 22 to January 19)

Avoid any speculation and

stocks for few more

weeks. Quick actions

can get you a big contract this

week. An old friend will give use-

ful hints. You will be spending more time outside or

away from home. You may also buy some gadget for

the kitchen. Some of you may start applying for an-

other job at far off places.

(May 21 to June 20)

Watch out for a col-

league trying to

make things tough

by inciting boss gainst you. You

may purchase another car for per-

sonal use. Value of your assets and stocks will appre-

ciate. You may call some one to seek legal advice on

an important matter. Money will come in plenty but will

disappear very fast this week.

(September 23 to October 22)

Financial opportunity will put

you back on driving

seat. You will try to main-

tain a balance between profes-

sional and personal life, though it

will be not that easy this week. Project you are in-

volved in can take you to financial freedom in next few

months. You will also receive money in shape or rent

or brokerage.

(January 20 to February 18)

It will be an exciting week. New

relationship or partners will

create enough motivation in

life. Changes you had been wait-

ing for can also take place in ca-

reer this week. You will be invited to a big get together.

You may need to help a child with studies. You may

dispose off some stocks also and pocket the money.

(June 21 to July 22)

Being emotional is not go-

ing to help. You should

gather all force and go af-

ter who's been a pain and a half

for past several years if you re-

ally want the past not to haunt

you any more. Expect some improvements in career

as boss will take lots of pressure off you. You may

receive a big check from a government agency.

(October 23 to November 22)

Any legal process started

at this point will not get

you any where. Forget

about any financial benefits but

you will end up spending a for-

tune on legal fees. Things will con-

tinue to grow slow and steady in career. You may pur-

chase some high tech gadget for your self. Dispose off

money making stocks this week.

(February 19 to March 20)

You will really enjoy the

company of a new friend

and even make some fu-

ture plans. Try not to waste

money on things you do not need

anyway. Health issues can be

controlled by home made remedies only. You may start

gathering paper work to apply for a loan also. Just phone

calls will make things happen for you.

February 20th - February 26th 2015

by Pandit Parashar

www.indiapost.com50 India Post February 20, 2015

HONG KONG: A 29-year-old Indian yoga teacher inHong Kong has set a Guinness World Record for per-forming Yoga continuously for 40 hours non-stop, dem-onstrating more than 1,500 'asanas'.

Yogaraj C P, a yoga instructor based here, broke therecord for the 'Longest Yoga Marathon (Male)' by per-forming continuously for three days.

The yoga instructor did multiple twists and turns athis Tsim Sha Tsui studio, Prana Yogam, which was opento public for the duration of the challenge.

"Yoga record. Yogaraj sets record with 40 hours ofnon stop Yoga Sadhana in Hong Kong, demonstrating

1500 plus asanas," External Affairs Ministry Spokesper-son Syed Akbaruddin tweeted after Yogaraj accom-plished the feat.

"Heartiest congratulations Yogaraj. The Consulateteam is proud of your achievement," the Indian Consu-late in Hong Kong posted on its Facebook Page.

Yogaraj started practicing the discipline at the age offive and began teaching when he was 12, the South ChinaMorning Post reported.

Among other records under his belt, in 2003, the yearhe first came to Hong Kong, he held a headstand for twohours and 40 minutes. Back in India in 2011, he held 23

postures while balancing on the seat of a moving motor-bike.

His record-breaking attempt this time was supportedprimarily by the Indian Consulate.

Before attempting the record, Yogaraj had said if hesucceeds, he will dedicate the record to Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, who was instrumental last year in theUN's decision to declare June 21 International Yoga Day.

"It was great recognition for yoga, so to thank ourprime minister I want to achieve this Guinness WorldRecord and help propagate yoga on a global level," hehad told the Hong Kong-based daily.-PTI

Yogaraj C P

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister NarendraModi has congratulated Hong Kong-basedIndian Yoga instructor Yogaraj CP, who cre-ated a Guinness World Record by perform-ing Yoga continuously for 40 hours non-stop.

He also lauded the role of the Indian Con-sulate in Hong Kong for their efforts topopularize Yoga and their support to

Yogaraj."Congrats to Hong Kong-based Indian

Yoga teacher, Mr Yogaraj C.P. for creat-ing a Guinness World Record!," hetweeted.

"I appreciate the Indian Consulate inHong Kong for their efforts to popularizeYoga & their support to Mr. Yogaraj," hesaid in another tweet.-PTI

Narendra Modi

Yogaraj CP

India Post

www.indiapost.com

51February 20, 2015

Sadan's Gandhi drawings win great appreciationIndia Post News Service

NEW DELHI: On the occasionof Gandhi Jayanti October 2, which

symbolizes the International Dayof Non-Violence declared by theUnited Nations Organization, in-ternational artist Suraj Sadan wasinvited to present his drawings ofGandhiji and his associates at theSalon d'Honour exhibition inaugu-rated by Arun Singh, Indian Am-bassador in Paris.

Recently, during the "Celebra-tion of 100 years of MahatmaGandhi's return to India" Ministryof Overseas Indian Affairs ex-tended a special invitation to Suraj

Sadan to exhibit his drawings ofGandhiji at the Pravasi BhartiyaDivas Sammelan held at MahatmaMandir Convention Center in

Gandhinagar,Gujarat. Indiandelegates con-gratulated theartist and ad-mired his artwork.

With the aimof promotingnon-violencee s p e c i a l l yamong youth,Suraj Sadan,who is also

Founder President of MahatmaGandhi International Foundation(MGIF) conducted several initia-tives during the year 2014-15. Forthe sixth consecutive year theMGIF organized exhibitions andart contests on the theme of non-violence and peace throughwhich art works were selectedfrom Canada, USA, France andIndia.

From November 11 to 17, agroup show of the InternationalYouth Art Contest winners washeld at Jamia Millia Islamia Uni-versity Art Gallery. The Vice Chan-cellor Prof Talat Ahmed inaugu-rated the show. The Award cer-emony was held for the two In-dian winners at the High Commis-sion of Canada in New Delhi.

Simran Khurana and MohammadHussain had the honor of receiv-ing their prize money from Cana-dian High Commissioner NadirPatel.

On 30 January, to observe theMartyrdom Day, Suraj Sadan wasinvited as a Distinguished Guestto read the Keynote address at theInternational Seminar - Relevanceof Gandhian Ideology in the

Canadian High Commissioner Nadir Patel meets withyoung Indian artists winners Mohammad Hussain and

Simran Khurana in the presence of Suraj Sadan. The ArtContest is organized annualy by Mahatma Gandhi

International Foundation based in Canada

Suraj Sadan was invited to present the Gandhi drawings at Gandhi Galleryduring the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas from 7-9 january 2015 in Gujarat, India

A beaming Coco Rocha shows off her bump

Present Violent Context' at DAVCollege in Amritsar, Punjab. SurajSadan exhibited his drawings en-titled 'Gandhi & his Disciples' atGandhi Bhavan in Chandigarh;DAV College, Hoshiarpur; DAVCollege Amritsar; RK Arya Col-lege, Nawashahr; Sant MohanSingh Khalsa Girls Collge, Bararaand DAV College for Women inYamunannagar.

NEW YORK: Coco Rocha'sbaby bump has caught up with thelimelight and the proud supermodelmama couldn't be happier.

The redheaded beauty wasbackstage at Christian Siriano'sNew York Fashion Week show,posing for cameras and chattingabout her spring arrival - a girl!

No names yet, but five or sixare on the table.

`Ì hope that I'll be the type thatonce I see her I'll know, but Ihaven't been able to hone downon one. It's hard when you haven'tmet a human being and then you

think that's going to be the namefor the rest of her life,'' said Rocha,dressed in a tight high-neck, black-and-white print Siriano dress - herbump on display.

`Ì'm not hiding. I'm so excited.It took a while for the bump toshow so now that it's showing it'sbeen fun,'' a beaming Rocha said.

Siriano sent out an Africanjungle-inspired collection offlorals and animal prints, includ-ing a muted tiger stripe cashmerecoat, against a welcome backdropof potted green foliage. Hesweated out the snowy weather

with a nervous smile after makingcontact with clients and buyers.

`Ìt's really hard. It's snowingand it's Valentine's Day and it'slater, so it's a challenge for peopleto get in,'' he said of his afternoonshow in an industrial space down-town, away from the hustle of theLincoln Center tents.

Among his backstage guestswere Brad Goreski, the celebritystylist and fresh face with KathyGriffin on ̀ `Fashion Police'' as theE! cable TV show regroups afterthe passing of stalwart Joan Riv-ers. -AP

With PM Narendra Modi

Posing before his drawing

India Post

www.indiapost.com

52February 20, 2015

Jr Bachchan plays in NBACelebrity Game

NEW YORK: Bollywood starAbhishek Bachchan became thefirst Indian to feature in an NBAAll Star Celebrity Game but hisdebut did not turn out to be anideal one as Little League Base-ball pitcher Mo'ne Davis helpedthe West beat East 59-51 at theMadison Square Garden, here.

The junior Bachchan, a good-will ambassador of the league,hardly made his presence felt on

the court as "Wedding Ringer"star Kevin Hart stole the limelightfor the East by winning his fourthMost Valuable Player of the All

Star Celebrity Game, albeit in a los-ing cause. Hart scored 15 pointsfor his side.

The Madison Square Gardenwas lit up with stars from theNBA, WNBA and Hollywoodtwo nights before the NBA All-Star Game.

But the 13-year-old teenager,who got one of the loudestcheers from the crowd when shewas introduced before the game,

outshone her much older oppo-nents with a superb display.

Bachchan did not start for theEast and only played in patches,

making his first appearance in thesecond quarter. He tried a threepointed in the third quarter butfailed to find the basket.

The West team was coachedby ESPN personality Mike Golicand American film maker and adie-hard New York Knicks fanSpike Lee of the New YorkKnicks, while the East side wascoached by Carmelo Anthonyalong with ESPN personality MikeGreenberg.

Other celebrities who partici-pated in the game were actorsAnthony Anderson, Common,Nick Cannon, Sarah Silverman,Ansel Elgort, Chadwick Boseman,Jesse Williams, Michael Rapaportand singer Win Butler of ArcadeFire.

NBA Hall of Famer and NewYork native Chris Mullin alsoplayed, as did former New YorkKnicks' star Allan Houston.

Current WNBA players SkylarDiggins, Tina Charles and ShoniSchimmel also featured in thegame.

Schimmel, who was the MVPof the WNBA All-Star game lastyear, was the leading scorer of thematch with 17 points, while Mem-phis Grizzlies owner Robert Peraand Diggins finished with 13points each for the West.

This was the first time that thecelebrity game was played in anNBA arena. -PTI

Abhishek Bachchan

LA orchestra gives instrumentsto poor students

LOS ANGELES: The Los Ange-les Philharmonic is reaching outto underprivileged children byproviding them free instrumentsand musical training.

The Youth Orchestra Los An-geles is modeled after a Venezu-elan program that sponsors morethan 100 orchestras and hastaught hundreds of thousands ofstudents.

The Los Angeles Times re-ports the orchestra was alsolaunched to help persuade

Gustavo Dudamel to sign on asconductor.

More than 700 children are cur-rently enrolled and 400 more onwaiting lists. The students includeVivian Trejo, 13-year-old who liveswith her parents in a small apart-ment near the city's downtownand has won a scholarship to theprestigious Colburn School, oneof the nation's top conservatories.

The program has also helpedstudents like Rodas Hailu get intocollege. -AP

Plastic bag bans in Texas are workingAUSTIN, Texas: Austin has

bans on plastic bags and one ofthe state's strictest tree removalordinances.

Denton became the first in thestate to outlaw hydraulic fractur-ing, or fracking.

Although Gov. Greg Abbotthas said derisively that such ordi-nances show that Texas is ̀ `beingCalifornianized,'' the Austin Ameri-can-Statesman reports that envi-ronment-minded ordinances seemto be working in Austin and onthe rise in the Lone Star State.

At least a dozen Texas citieshave bag bans, the newspaper re-ported.

Dallas last month started charg-ing an ̀ ènvironmental fee'' of a nickelper single-use paper or plastic bagat groceries, convenience storesand big-box retailers. Retailers canstill provide free multi-use bags.

The ordinance is designed toreduce litter.

Darren Hodges, a City Councilmember in the West Texas city ofFort Stockton, said the bag ban hasvastly reduced the ``millions ofplastic eyesores'' caught on cactus,mesquite and barbed-wire fence.

H-E-B spokeswoman LeslieSweet says that less than 1 percentof Austin customers buy emer-gency bags when checking out.

No retailers have been givenpenalties or fines, said EmleaChanslor, a spokeswoman forAustin Resource Recovery.

As Texas Attorney General,Abbott said in August that a statelaw prohibits local governmentsfrom prohibiting, restricting orcharging a fee for solid waste man-agement purposes, for ``the use ofa container or package in a mannernot authorized by state law.'' -AP

Banned in India but 'free' abroad

Raj Amit Kumar


BERLIN: Dark Frames, a newdistribution company dedicated tobringing high-quality, non-Bollywood Indian film to NorthAmerican and international audi-ences through theatrical and digi-tal channels, will release its firsttitle, Unfreedom, on May 29, it wasannounced by Dark Frames'Founder, Raj Amit Kumar.

Veteran film marketer and dis-tributor Mark Urman of Paladin ispartnering with Dark Frames to leadthe Marketing and Distribution ofits release slate. Dark Frames willalso partner with Film Buff to dis-tribute Unfreedom at the same timeon Cable VOD and other digitalplatforms.

Unfreedom juxtaposes twopowerful and unflinching contem-porary stories about religious fun-damentalism and intolerance.

Shifting between New York andNew Delhi, one tale follows a Mus-lim terrorist who kidnaps a liberalMuslim scholar in order to silencehim, while the other charts the tra-vails of a young woman whose de-vout father tries to force her into anarranged marriage, which she resistsbecause she is secretly in love withanother woman.

The four characters come faceto face with gruesome acts of vio-lence in battles of identity, sexual-ity, religion, love, and family. Writ-ten and directed by Kumar, the filmstars Victor Banerjee (A Passageto India, Meherjaan), BhanuUday (Monsoon), Bhavani Lee,Preeti Gupta, Seema Rahmani(Good Night Good Morning,Loins of Punjab Presents), AnkurVikal (Slumdog Millionaire, TVSeries: "India"), SamratChakrabarti (Midnight's Chil-dren, The Waiting City, Walk-

away), and Adil Hussain (Life ofPi, Gangor, English Vinglish).

Recently, Unfreedom wasbanned in India, where homosexu-ality was criminalized in 2013, by

the Censor Board of Film Certifi-cation (CBFC), rendering much ofits content too controversial forgeneral audiences. Kumar is

mounting an appeal at the same timethat he is launching a crowd-fund-ing campaign to finance a releasein India via alternative methods.

"Unfreedom represents the

type of challenging socio-politicalfilm that Dark Frames will be bring-ing to theaters in the future," saidRaj Amit Kumar, who wrote and

directed the feature. "Too manywonderful Indian independentfilms have gone unseen and I'mvery proud to finally bring the bestof these to audiences."

Dark Frames previously ac-quired director Kamal K.M.'s ac-claimed feature I.D. and will beannouncing distribution plans forit shortly.

About Dark Frames:Dark Frames is dedicated to the

proposition that there is amplenew product - non-Bollywood, in-dependent films - that representthe Indian film business at its fin-est. Based in Mumbai and Florida,Dark Frames will distribute Indiancinema to a U.S. and global audi-ence theatrically and via digitalchannels. Dark Frames is dedi-cated to bringing edgy Indian filmswith a strong socio-political focusto the fore.

India Post 53February 20, 2015

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Philosophy

Brahman is beyond threegunas & beyond speech

Religious works are to betaught by own example

"O Govinda! Feeling Your separation, I amconsidering a moment to be like twelveyears or more. Tears are flowing from myeyes like torrents of rain, and I am feelingall vacant in the world”

SRI RAMAKRISHNAPARAMHANSA

Kindness results fromsattvaguna. Sattvagunapreserves, rajoguna cre-

ates and tamoguna destroys. ButBrahman is beyond all the threegunas of sattva, rajas and tamas.It is beyond prakriti (nature). Thegunas cannot really reach whereBrahman abides.

They are like robbers who can-not go out in the open. They areafraid lest they should be arrested.Sattva, rajas and tamas all the threegunas are robbers.

Let me tell you a story - Once aman was going through a forestwhen three robbers came andcaught hold of him. They robbedhim of all he possessed. One of therobbers said, 'Why keep this manalive now?' Saying so, he came for-ward with a sword to hack him.

The second robber then said,'No brother, what use killing him?Let us tie his hands and feet andleave him here.' Then tying hishands and feet the robbers left himthere and went away.

After a while one of them re-turned and said, 'Ah! you are suf-fering a lot! Let me free you fromthe knots.'

Untying his bonds he said,'Come with me, I will take you tothe main road.' After a long timewhen they reached the main road,the robber said, 'Take this road. Seethat is your house.' ]

This man then said to the rob-

J. KRISHNAMURTI

The eight verses ofSiksastaka, as written inSanskrit by Sri Chaitanya

Mahaprabhu and as translated bySrila Prabhupada, encapsulate theteachings of ChaitanyaMahaprabhu.

The translated version is as fol-lows:

"Glory to the Sri Krishnasankirtana, which cleanses theheart of all the dust accumulatedfor years and extinguishes the fireof conditional life, of repeated birthand death.

“This sankirtana movement isthe prime benediction for human-ity at large because it spreads therays of the benediction moon. It isthe life of all transcendental knowl-edge. It increases the ocean of tran-scendental bliss, and it enables usto fully taste the nectar for whichwe are always anxious.

"O my Lord, Your holy namealone can render all benedictionto living beings, and thus Youhave hundreds and millions ofnames like Krishna and Govinda.

“In these transcendentalnames You have invested all Yourtranscendental energies. There arenot even hard and fast rules forchanting these names. O my Lord,

out of kindness You enable us toeasily approach You by chantingYour holy names, but I am so un-fortunate that I have no attractionfor them.

"One should chant the holyname of the Lord in a humble stateof mind, thinking oneself lowerthan the straw in the street; oneshould be more tolerant than a

tree, devoid of all sense of falseprestige, and ready to offer all re-spect to others. In such a state ofmind one can chant the holy nameof the Lord constantly.

"O almighty Lord, I have no de-sire to accumulate wealth, nor doI desire beautiful women, nor do Iwant any number of followers. Ionly want Your causeless devo-tional service birth after birth.

"O son of Maharaja Nanda

But even the sattvaguna is a robber, it cannotgive the tattva jnana (highest knowledge).However, it puts you on the road to the Su-preme Abode. Putting you on the road it says,'Just see, this is your house.'

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu

Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa

ber, 'Sir, you have been very goodto me. Please come with me to myhouse.' The robber said, 'No, I can-not go there. The police will cometo know of it.'

The world itself is a forest. Inthis forest sattva, rajas and tamasall the three gunas are robbers.They rob the jiva of his tattva jnana(spiritual knowledge).

Tamoguna destroys the jiva,rajoguna binds him to the world.But the sattvaguna saves him fromrajas and tamas. By taking refugein sattvaguna one is saved from

lust, anger and such other evils oftamas. Besides, sattvaguna cutsasunder the bonds of the world also.

But even the sattvaguna is arobber, it cannot give the tattvajnana (highest knowledge). How-ever, it puts you on the road to theSupreme Abode. Putting you onthe road it says, 'Just see, this isyour house.' Sattvaguna remainsat a great distance from theBrahmajnana.

What Brahman is cannot be ex-pressed by the word of mouth. Hewho attains Brahman, cannot giveinformation about Him. There is asaying, 'The ship never returns onceit has reached the black waters.'

"Four friends while roamingabout saw a place enclosed by awall. The wall was very high. Theywere very curious to see what wasinside it. One of these men climbedup the wall.

“As he peeped inside, he ex-claimed in great wonder, 'Ha, ha,ha' and fell down. He did not give

any information. Whosoeverclimbed, he cried, 'Ha, ha, ha' andfell in. Who would then give infor-mation?"

Jada Bharat, Duttatreya andSukadeva - all Brahmajnanis. JadaBharat, Duttatreya could give noinformation after having vision ofBrahman. One's I-ness vanishesafter samadhi on attainingBrahmajnana. So Rama Prasadsays: 'If you cannot attain

(Krishna), I am Your eternal servi-tor, yet somehow or other I havefallen into the ocean of birth anddeath. Please pick me up from thisocean of death and place me asone of the atoms of Your lotus feet.

"O my Lord, when will my eyesbe decorated with tears of loveflowing constantly when I chantYour holy name? When will my

voice choke up, and when will thehairs on my body stand on end atthe recitation of Your name?

"O Govinda! Feeling Your sepa-ration, I am considering a momentto be like twelve years or more.Tears are flowing from my eyeslike torrents of rain, and I am feel-ing all vacant in the world in Yourabsence.

"I know no one but Krishna asmy Lord, and He shall remain so

(Brahmajnana) yourself, O mind,take Rama Prasad with you.'

The mind must merge. After thatRama Prasad i.e. ego must merge.Only then one attains theBrahmajnana (knowledge of Brah-man)."

A Bhakta: Sir, did Sukadeva notattain jnana?Sri Ramakrishna: Some say thatSukadeva only saw and touchedthe ocean of Brahman, he did notgo down and dive deep into it.That is why he could return and

impart so much instruction. Ac-cording to others, he returned af-ter attaining Brahmajnana - for in-struction to mankind. He was tonarrate the Bhagavata. So the Lorddid not merge his 'I' altogether.

Excerpted from 'SriRamakrishna Kathamrita' byMahendranath Gupta. The 179thbirth anniversary of SriRamakrishna will be observed onFeb 18.

even if He handles me roughly inHis embrace or makes me broken-hearted by not being present be-fore me. He is completely free todo anything and everything, forHe is always my worshipful Lordunconditionally."

Swami Vivekananda, in thebook-Bharate Vivekananda, saysthat Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has

distributed the idealism of love-addicted extra-special mood ofGopis to the world "Apani AchariDharma Jivere Shikhaya, Apani nakoile dharma shikhana na jaya"(Religious works are to be taughtto others through self-perfor-mance. If one does not act him-self, he can never teach others).

The 532nd birth anniversary ofChaitanya Mahaprabhu will becelebrated on February 18.

Fear keeps us focused onthe past or worried aboutthe future. If we can ac-knowledge our fear, wecan realize that right nowwe are okay. Right now,today, we are still alive,and our bodies are work-ing marvelously. Our eyescan still see the beautifulsky. Our ears can still hearthe voices of our lovedones.

- Thich Nhat Hanh

What is needed, ratherthan running away or con-trolling or suppressing orany other resistance, isunderstanding fear; thatmeans, watch it, learnabout it, come directly intocontact with it. We are tolearn about fear, not howto escape from it.

-Jiddu Krishnamurti

We can easily forgive achild who is afraid of thedark; the real tragedy oflife is when men are afraidof the light.

- Plato

Ultimately we know deeplythat the other side of ev-ery fear is freedom.

-Marilyn Ferguson

One of the greatest discov-eries a man makes, one ofhis great surprises, is tofind he can do what hewas afraid he couldn't do.

-Henry Ford

54 Edit Pagewww.indiapost.com

February 20, 2015India Post

India PostLessons learnt

There are lessons to be learnt for every political party from theastounding verdict that Delhi voters have recently given.The winning streak of the BJP under the "reformer" image of

Modi has been dented. The Prime Minister has taken note thatvandalizing of churches, abusing of other religions, the communalrhetoric and religious conversions by pro-Hindu groups under hiswatch has done incalculable harm to his party. And his long silenceon these issues has given rise to rumors that he is secretly encour-aging the Hindutva brigade.

As if to counter this feeling Modi came out with his first strongstatement at a Delhi function, declaring that his "government willnot allow any religious group, belonging to majority or minority toincite hatred against others overtly or covertly." On conversionsalso he took the stand that "everyone has the undeniable right toretain or adopt the religion of his or her choice without coercion orundue influence." A perception had been gaining ground that theHindutva groups had been emboldened under the BJP rule to takethe law in their own hands.

In Delhi the leadership was not in sync with the workers. And theimposition of Kiran Bedi as the CM candidate upset even the lead-ers who were not united earlier but now had the common feeling ofnet letting the outsider ride roughshod over them. Bedi has a repu-tation being a dominant figure and she must have ruffled many afeather.

Arvind Kejriwal hit the nail on the head by describing the reasonfor the defeat of the BJP and the Congress as their "arrogance." TheBJP in particular had taken the Delhi electorate for granted. After itsclean sweep in the Lok Sabha elections, it thought the Delhi assem-bly was its for the taking. It did no work in Delhi although thecorporations are under its sway.

Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party lost in the Lok Sabha elections, asadmitted by him, once again due to its arrogance. Their bagging of28 seats in their first attempt went to their head and they thoughtthey can now make an all India foray. Kejriwal even challengedModi in Varanasi and other leaders spread out to contest in variousstates. Chastened by the defeats everywhere, the AAP leader cameback to Delhi and began his campaign once again from scratch. Helearnt early that they had paid the price of being overconfident. Athis swearing in, he declared that though there was talk in his partyof contesting coming elections in other states but he ruled out suchan action plan. He will stay put in Delhi and first deliver on hispromises like removing corruption, and reducing rates of water andelectricity in Delhi.

Kejriwal too is a mellowed person. No more dharnas and govern-ing from the streets. The "tamasha" kind of politics impresses noone. He has also learnt to keep the media at a distance. On his firstavatar, the media was all over his CM's chair sending pictures of hisevery movement. This time he has banned the entry of media in thesecretariat so that the work of governance is not disrupted. In anovel experiment, Kejriwal himself has not taken on any portfolios.He will only oversee the work of other ministers. If this works, eventhe Prime Minister may keep off ministries and keep a watch on howgovernance is taking place. Modi is also made in this mould al-though he has a few departments under him. He likes to keep awatch on the work in other ministries. Keeping all on their toes is agood idea.

The Congress is down in the dumps and unless it breaks forgood with the dynasty, its future is dark. The young people oftoday are not impressed by your links with a family of past achieve-ments. They want results now.

New leadership in Saudi Arabia:Reading the tea leaves

RANJIT GUPTA

In Saudi Arabia, the incum-bent King has the absoluteright to designate a succes-sor who is titled as the Crown

Prince. However, with an eye toensure acceptable successions inthe future given the intense fac-tional rivalries within the royalfamily and the advancing age ofpotential monarchs, KingAbdullah established the Alle-giance Council in 2006 to decideupon succession matters.

Also, in March 2014, KingAbdullah, controversially, createda new designation - Deputy CrownPrince - and appointed his half-brother Prince Moqren, thus plac-ing him second in the line of suc-cession.

The appointment decree wasstrangely worded, stating that theappointment had been made inconsultation with the CrownPrince, had been approved by theAllegiance Council, and could notbe changed by anybody in thefuture.

Disgruntled members of theroyal family tweeted objectionsand it became publicly known thatunprecedentedly a quarter of the

Allegiance Council did not agree.The reality is that the AllegianceCouncil has functioned as a rub-ber stamp.

The fact is that in the normalcourse it would have been highlyunlikely that Moqren, the son of aYemeni slave woman, who neverhad a front rank job, would be inthe line of succession, particularlyas there remained an elder brother,the youngest of the powerful'Sudairi Seven', Prince Ahmed. Itwas clear that Moqren's appoint-ment was designed to ensure thatAbdullah's sons would have aprominent governmental future.

King Salman, already 79 and inpoor health, is the last of the promi-nent sons of the founder King, andthe time is inevitably coming forthe crown and other important

portfolios to pass on to the nextgeneration. For years there hasbeen speculation of when thatmight happen and who would bethe chosen one.

All this was settled within a fewhours of Salman's ascending thethrone and even before KingAbdullah was buried. The singlemost important decision an-nounced by King Salman was theappointment of the incumbent In-terior Minister Prince Muhammadbin Nayif to be concurrently thenew Deputy Crown Prince, un-equivocally making the latter thefirst amongst the next generationto be in line to take the crown. Heis 55 years old.

The other particularly signifi-cant appointment was that of hisson, Mohammed bin Salman, only34 years old, as the new DefenseMinister and also the Head of theRoyal Court, a singularly impor-tant post.

He will also be a member of thenewly created high-poweredCouncil of Political and SecurityAffairs (chaired by the newDeputy Crown Prince and InteriorMinister) and head the newly cre-

ated high-powered Council of Eco-nomic and Development Affairs.

To assign two particularly pow-erful portfolios and give member-ship of the government's newlycreated policy and implementationhubs to an untried and untestedrather young individual is abso-lutely unprecedented. He has beenclearly placed in the line to becomeKing one day.

The many changes also affecttwo of the late King Abdullah'ssons who have been removed fromsignificant jobs by making Faisalbin Bandar Governor of Riyadhinstead of Turki bin Abdullah andreinstating Khaled al-Faisal asMecca Governor less than twoyears after he was replaced byMishaal bin Abdullah.

All these appointments cumu-

latively herald the return of theSudairies to overriding power af-ter the 20 year Abdullah hiatus -10 years as virtual regent and Kingfor another decade.

The former King's son, PrinceMeteb, remains the head of theNational Guard - it would havebeen hazardous to remove himsince the National Guard has beencommanded by Abdullah since1962 and more recently by PrinceMiteb, is numerically larger thanthe army, as strong as the army,and fiercely loyal to the Abdullahclan.

Prince Moqren was confirmedas Crown Prince but remains thefly in the ointment. This was prob-ably done not to rock the boat im-mediately on taking over. In thepast once designated as theCrown Prince he has invariablybecome the King unless he prede-ceased the incumbent King likeCrown Prince Sultan and CrownPrince Nayef successively.

However, Moqren has nosupporting constituency in thecountry either in the royal family orin the governmental establishmentor amongst clerics or the people, andit should not be too difficult to re-move him if only the ailing KingSalman has enough time left to con-solidate his hold on power and earnsufficient popularity with the people.In the meantime he is unlikely to begiven any significant role in the newand evolving set-up.

Moqren has lost his most pow-erful supporter Khalid Al-Tuwaijri,the erstwhile head of the RoyalCourt. Despised and deeply re-sented by the vast majority of theroyal princes, his removal was thefirst and entirely predictable deci-sion taken by the new monarchupon accession to the throne.

Significantly the Oil MinisterNaimi has been retained, clearlyindicating that Saudi Arabia willcontinue its policy of retainingmarket share even at the risk ofkeeping oil prices low. Despite re-sultant budgetary constraints thisyear, the new King has showeredlarge monetary hand-outs to a vastnumber of people and entities to-taling several dozens of billions ofdollars to garner popularity.

He is the first Saudi King to usesocial media and has racked upmore than 450,000 new followerson the microblogging site Twitter(@KingSalman), bringing the to-tal to over 1.75 million. KingSalman has certainly got off to avery deeply personally satisfyingbeginning.

The writer is DistinguishedFellow, IPCS and Former IndianAmbassador to Yemen and Oman

The new King of Saudi Arabia, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud


February 20, 2015

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