IndiaPost_12-18-2009

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CONTENTS

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YES 37%

Last week’s result

NO 63%

This week’s question

INDIA POST [email protected]

Pak move on Kashmir attemptat distraction?

Details on page 9

Details on page 11

ZARDARI ASKS U.S. TOMEDIATE ON KASHMIR

WASHINGTON: Linking the Kashmir problem with theMiddle East conflict, President Asif Ali Zardari has askedthe US to demonstrate "neutrality" and step up efforts to"mediate" on the issue between India and Pakistan.

In an op-ed published in The New York Times, he alsoaccused India of playing destabilizing role in the region

and said that the perceived "rhetorical" one-sided Ameri-can policy often fuels conspiracy theories in Pakistan.

"Public mistrust of the United States also stems from re-gional issues, specifically policies concerning India. I know itis the conventional wisdom in Washington that my nation isobsessed with India," he wrote.

US n-firms lag behind in competitionIndia Post News Service

NEW DELHI: With delays in implementation of theIndo-US civilian nuclear deal, U.S. firms have lagged in acompetitive scramble with Russian and French firms whosegovernments guarantee their liability in case of an indus-trial accident. Leaders of a US nuclear trade mission ofaround 50 companies doing the rounds in the capital werenon-committal on lifetime fuel supply to Indian atomicplants they plan to set up here but said they would not

stand in the way of New Delhi making its own arrange-ments in the event of a change in US policy.

"The US-India 123 agreement does say that if thereare changes in the US policy on supplying nuclear fuelto India, the US administration will not stand in the wayof Indian nuclear plants from getting fuel from otherplaces," Meena Mutyala, vice president ofWestinghouse Electric Company said here.

Details on page 20

Details on page 6

ANOTHER NUCLEAR DEAL: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh shakes hands with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev during

a press conference at the Kremlin in Moscow on December 7. India and Russia signed a raft of agreements, including one

on cooperation in civilian atomic energy and another on the arms trade, after the two leaders held talks at the Kremlin.

(Details on page 9)

Telenganaignites politicalcrisis in Andhra

K Chandrashekhar Rao

Pak arrests fiveAmericanMuslims in raid

Oppn attacksGovt for standon climate

Headley pleadsnot guilty toplotting 26/11

Singh, Obamato visit Torontonext year for G20

Al-Qaeda isbeing weakened:US General

Details on page 9

‘Training forterrorists comesfrom Pakistan’

Hillary Clinton

Details on page 11

Pak Major keylink betweenHeadley, others

Indian studentattacked inAustralia

Congress panelto subpoenaSalahis

Obama’s new Af-Pak strategywill succeed?

India Postwww.indiapost.com

December 18, 20092

December 18, 2009 India Post 3www.indiapost.com

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BollywoodKat on his tail Ever since Ranbir's breakup with actressDeepika Padukone, Katrina seems hoton his trail looking for a house near him.

1Cover Story:Zardari seeks mediation

12Community:Tax opposed

36Immigration:Appeal to communityCensus representatives emphasize theimportance of participation of commu-nity members in the decennial survey.

26Life Style:

Artworks by Namrita Bachchan, the granddaughter of noted Hindi poet HarivanshRai Bachchan, enliven his poetry.

20TechBiz:

With delays in implementation of theIndo-US nuclear deal, U.S. firms havelagged against Russian and French firms.

28Travel:JaisalmerThe golden city of Jaisalmer, which liescourageously as the western sentinel ofIndia, is a place worth visiting.

US n-team in India

Asian American convenience stores havedecided to oppose the proposed food andbeverage tax under the health care reform.

President Zardari has asked the US to dem-onstrate "neutrality" and "mediate" onKashmir issue between India and Pakistan.

Painted Madhushala

I really do not know what to make of this whole climate change summit inCopenhagen. Intellectually it seems to make sense, but common sense tellsme otherwise. I do not understand the urgency with which the political

leaders of the world seem to be tackling the issue when all they are committing todo about it is set to happen 15 to 40 years from now. I am guessing the world willmanage to survive the melting polar caps and rising sea levels until then.

So okay, at least the politicians are talking about it seriously. And so are thecounter-lobbyists who, albeit in minority numbers, are claiming the whole cli-mate change crisis is nothing but overrated hype.

Who does not know that man-made technological advancements have dras-tically changed everything on earth over the last century. You don't need a RajendraPachauri to tell you that. It is humanly impossible in today's world to go back tothe primitive ages where life was without cars or electrical appliances. So bymerely committing to scale back on pollution, these politicians are buying thepeople a few (hundred?) more years of life on earth and nothing more.

I might be a cynic there, but I am heartened by what people at large are doingabout climate change. At least they are sincere. In Copenhagen itself, where theSummit is being held, we can see individuals driving home the message louderand clearer than what the "experts" are doing through their rhetoric-riddenspeeches.

Like this guy who rode his bicycle all the way from Brisbane, Australia -traveling 15,000 km in 16 months - to reach Copenhagen in time for the Summit.

And well there are the local prostitutes who are doing their bit for the planetby offering their "services" free to all of the summit delegates.

I believe the 11-day summit, including the 140 aircraft carrying the delegatesthat landed in Copenhagen, created a total of 41,000 tons of carbon dioxideequivalent….hmmm… I wonder if the changes in climate can be put on hold.



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Cover/Top Stories

Zardari asks US to mediate on KashmirWASHINGTON: Linking the

Kashmir problem with the MiddleEast conflict, President Asif AliZardari has asked the US to dem-onstrate "neutrality" and step upefforts to "mediate" on the issuebetween India and Pakistan.

In an op-ed published in TheNew York Times, he also accusedIndia of playing destabilizing rolein the region and said that theperceived "rhetorical" one-sidedAmerican policy often fuels con-spiracy theories in Pakistan.

"Public mistrust of the UnitedStates also stems from regionalissues, specifically policies con-cerning India. I know it is the con-ventional wisdom in Washingtonthat my nation is obsessed withIndia," he wrote.

"But even to those of us whoare striving toward accommoda-tion and peace, the long historyand the unresolved situation inKashmir give Pakistanis reason tobe concerned about our neighborto the east."

Just as the Israeli-Palestiniandispute cannot be resolved with-out accommodating the Palestin-ian people, "there cannot be per-manent regional peace in South

Asia without addressing Kash-mir," Zardari said.

While welcoming the Kerry-Lugar bill under which his coun-try gets USD 7.5 billion from

America in the next five years, hesaid this is not enough.

"This long-term commitmentmust be complemented by short-term policies that demonstrate

American neutrality and willing-ness to help India and Pakistanovercome their mutual distrust. Itcould start by stepping up its ef-forts to mediate the Kashmir dis-

pute," he said.Zardari said the "recent upset"

in Pakistan over the Kerry-Lugarlegislation, which US PresidentBarack Obama signed into law and

which requires the Secretary ofState to report to Congress onmilitary and civil progress in Paki-stan, shows how sensitive manyin his country are to what they

see as unfair treatment by the US."It would be helpful if the

United States, at some point,would scrutinize India in a similarfashion and acknowledge that it

has from time to time played a de-stabilizing role in the region," hewrote.

In his article titled 'How toMend Fences with Pakistan,'Zardari said he along with PrimeMinister Yousuf Raza Gilani isworking closely with national as-sembly and military and intelli-gence agencies to defeat theTaliban insurgency and the al-Qaeda-backed campaign of terror-ism.

"Simultaneously, we are pursu-ing policies that will re-establishPakistan as a vibrant economicmarket and finally address thelong-neglected weaknesses in oureducation, health, agriculture andenergy sectors. This isn't justrhetoric. It is an active policy withnew budget priorities and a reori-ented national mindset," he said.

"Over the last weeks I havemoved forcefully to re-establishthe traditional powers of the presi-dency as defined in the parlia-mentary model on which our Con-stitution is based. Our Constitu-tion was distorted and pervertedby military dictators who usurpedthe legal powers of Parliament,"he said. -PTI

Asif Ali Zardari

Pak arrests five American Muslimsin raid tied to JeM

LAHORE/WASHINGTON: Sixpersons, including five youngAmerican Muslims, were arrestedin Pakistan's Punjab provinceover possible links to the bannedterror group Jaish-e-Mohammedand Pakistani intelligence and FBIare probing the case.

The six, who included a high-ways department employee, werearrested in a raid in a posh resi-dential area of Sargodha in Punjab,from the home of a JeM leader.

Laptop computers, some CDs,jehadi literature and maps of sen-sitive locations were seized fromtheir possession during the raid,Pakistani police sources said.

"The three foreigners, the twoPakistanis with US nationality,identified as Omer Farooq andWaqar Hasan Khan, and a high-ways department employee namedFahim were arrested from Farooq'shouse," a senior police officer ofSargodha division said.

The officer said the arrestedmen had links to the Jaish-e-Mohammed and were planningterror attacks. They were taken toan undisclosed location for inter-rogation.

The five Americans between19-25 years of age suddenly dis-appeared from their homes inNorthern Virginia last month after

leaving a farewell video in theJihadist style showing conflictsbetween Western and Muslimnations and war footage.

While law enforcement offi-cials said they had no evidencethat the men had been trained interror camps or were planning anattack; but their arrest from ahouse linked to a radical jihadist

group and the video with jihadistovertones leads the investigatingagencies in that direction. Boththe US State Department and Sec-retary of State Hillary Clinton re-fused to answer questions relatedto the issue.

"We've contacted our Em-bassy in Islamabad, and they areseeking further information. I thinkthat we need to get those kinds of

details about the identity of thesefive individuals," State Depart-ment spokesman Ian Kelly said.

In Washington, the FBI said itwas probing the case.

The Justice Department saidthe FBI is working with familiesand local law enforcement to in-vestigate the missing studentsand was aware of the individualsarrested in Pakistan.

"The elder (Khalid) Farooq (fa-ther of Umer), is believed to haveties with Jaish-e-Muhammad, abanned Pakistani militant group,"a government official was quotedas saying by the New York Times.

One of the five American Mus-lims identified as Ramy Zamzam,22, is a dental student at HowardUniversity, where he received anundergraduate degree this yearwith a major in biology and chem-istry, according to his Facebookpage, the daily said.

Quoting American and Paki-stani officials The NYT said thefive men flew from Dulles Interna-tional Airport outside Washing-ton and landed in Karachi, Paki-stan, on December 1, the day theirfamilies approached the FBI.

They traveled to Hyderabad,Pakistan, and then to Lahore,where they spent five days beforemoving on to Sargodha. -PTI

Singh, Obama to visit Torontonext year for G20

TORONTO: Prime MinisterManmohan Singh and US Presi-dent Barack Obama will visitToronto in June next year to at-tend the two-day G-20 summit.

The two leaders will be here forthe June 26-27 meet of the G-20developed and developing na-tions, official sources said.

It will be the first visit of PrimeMinister Singh to Canada.

Canadian Prime MinisterStephen Harper has already an-nounced that he is moving nextJune's meeting of world leaders toToronto from Huntsville.

Ottawa, which was recognizedas the original destination, lackedsufficient resources to host anestimated 10,000 participants, aspokeswoman said.

"Toronto is one of the fewplaces in Canada that could hostsomething of this magnitude,"said Mayor David Miller.

The downtown Metro TorontoConvention Centre will be thevenue for the G-20 summit,Deputy Mayor Joe Pantalonesaid.

Canada will also chair thesmaller Group of Eight summit

next year. The G8 summit will beheld immediately before the G20meetings, on June 25 and 26 in theresort town of Huntsville, Ontario,about 200 kms north of Toronto.

The last G-8 summit, whichObama hosted in Pittsburgh inSeptember, decided to shift themain focus for economic decision-making from the G-8 to G-20. -PTI

‘But even to those ofus who are strivingtoward accommo-dation and peace,the long history andthe unresolvedsituation in Kashmirgive Pakistanisreason to beconcerned aboutour neighbor tothe east’

The Justice Depart-ment said the FBI isworking with familiesand local law en-forcement to investi-gate the missing stu-dents and was awareof the individualsarrested in Pakistan

India PostDecember 18, 2009 7

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Top Stories

Telengana ignites political crisis in AndhraHYDERABAD: Andhra

Pradesh plunged into a fresh po-litical crisis with 60 MLAs and aMP belonging to Congress, TDPand PRP from coastal Andhra andRayalaseema regions resigning inprotest against the Centre's deci-sion to carve out a separateTelangana state.

The legislators submitted theirresignation to Assembly SpeakerKiran Kumar Reddy, a day afterthe Centre announced that stepswill be initiated for the formationof Telangana state.

However, there was no wordfrom the Speaker's office aboutacceptance of their resignations.

Thirty-two of the MLAs whohave resigned are from Congress,17 from the Telugu Desam Partyand nine from the Praja RajyamParty. In New Delhi, Congress MPfrom Vijayawada LagadapatiRajagopal submitted his resigna-tion to Lok Sabha Speaker MeiraKumar.

As reports emerged that moreMPs from the Andhra region areplanning to resign to register theirprotest, Congress President SoniaGandhi

convened a meeting of partyMPs from the state to discuss theissue in New Delhi.

The MLAs have strongly de-cried the Congress highcommand's "unilateral decision" toinitiate the process for bifurcationof Andhra Pradesh.

"This decision is very painful

for us. Lakhs of poeple from otherregions of the state have come toHyderabad in search of livelihood.What would be their fate if the stateis split," P Venkatramaya, a Con-gress legislator from Krishna dis-trict, said in the Assembly. .

Strongly criticising the Centreand Sonia Gandhi for the decision

on Telangana, TDP chief NChandrababu Naidu accused themof taking such a step without tak-ing into confidence the Oppositionparties and other stakeholders.

While Telangana accounts for119 seats out of the 294 assemblyseats and 17 Lok Sabha segments,the rest of Andhra Pradesh has 175assembly seats and 25 Lok Sabhaconstituencies.

Of the 158 Congress MLAs, 51are from the Telangana region and107 are from the coastal Andhraand Rayalaseema regions.

Telugu Desam MLA PRaghunatha Reddy said that theyresigned from their posts as theCongress took a unilateral decisionto move a motion in the state as-sembly for the formation ofTelangana State.

In New Delhi, another CongressMP Anantha Venkatarami Reddythreatened to resign in protestagainst the decision to bifurcateAndhra Pradesh.

In Parliament, Home Minister PChidambaram said he had spokento TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao,who had last night ended his 11-day-old fast-unto-death after the

Centre's decision, and that he hasinvited him for talks.

Leader of Lok Sabha and Fi-nance Minister Pranab Mukherjeesaid all processes regarding theformation of Telangana will be"fully followed". .

Leader of Opposition in LokSabha L K Advani congratulatedthe Speaker and the House for in-tervening on the issue and said"government has acted on the ba-sis of voice of the House".

Amidst the political turmoil, awave of joy and cheer swept theOsmania University, the nervecentre of the Telangana movement,as hundreds of students and pro-Telangana supporters assembledin the campus this morning andburst into celebrations.

They hailed the Center's deci-sion and organized a 'Vijayotsav',a victory celebration.

Slogans of 'Jai Jai Telangana'filled the air as students burstcrackers, distributed sweets, sangtraditional Telangana folk songsand danced to the drum beats echo-ing in the varsity campus, amidsthuge presence of security person-nel.

TRS chief called to Delhifor next step

NEW DELHI: A day after an-nouncing decision to form sepa-rate Telangana state, Governmenttold Parliament that TRS chief KChandrasekhar Rao has been in-vited here for talks to discuss thenext step in theprocess.

Home MinisterP Chidambaramsaid in the RajyaSabha that theGovernment had totake an urgent de-cision in view ofthe situation inAndhra Pradesh,which witnessedwidespread violentprotests over thedemand forTelangana state.

"I am happy toinform the Housethat by and largenormalcy has been restored inHyderabad," Chidambaram said.

He said he had spoken thismorning to Rao, who was on fast-unto-death for 11 days over theTelangana demand, and invitedhim to Delhi to discuss the nextstep.

Rao, who ended his fast latelast night after the Center's an-nouncement, thanked all sectionsof the House for resolving the is-

sue.Earlier, senior BJP leader M

Venkaiah Naidu took exception toChidambaram announcing theTelangana decision outside Par-liament though his party wel-

comed carving out Telangana fromAndhra Pradesh.

Responding to it, Chidambaramsaid he could not have waited tomake the announcement as thegovernment could "brook no de-lay" against the backdrop of thesituation in the state.

In any case, he said, last night'sannouncement was a "re-state-ment" of the earlier decision of thegovernment. -PTI

K Chandrasekhar Rao

Telangana to become the 29th state

Process for formation of Telanganato be fully followed: Govt

NEW DELHI: All processes re-garding formation of a separateTelangana state will be "fully fol-lowed", Government told the LokSabha.

"You are fully aware of the pro-cess of formation of separatestates. All processes (in that re-gard) will be fully followed," Fi-nance Minister Pranab Mukherjee

told the Leader of the OppositionL K Advani.

Mukherjee's statement was inresponse to queries from Advani,a former Home Minister, as to howthe Government would go aboutcarving a separate Telangana fromAndhra Pradesh.

Government, he said, was "ap-preciative" of the TRS leader's

decision of ending his fast-unto-death.

"As it is a decision taken verylate in the night and we are yet toget a response from the state, wecannot make a statement (in theHouse) at this stage," Mukherjeesaid, adding the House would beinformed as soon as the stategovernment response came.-PTI

HYDERABAD: The decisionto carve out a separate state ofTelangana, which will take the to-tal number of states in the Unionto 29, comes at the end of a 40-year- old struggle for a distinctidentity.

This comes after a gap of nineyears when three new states werecarved out. Jharkhand split fromBihar on November 15, 2000 tobecome the 28th state whileUttarakhand split from UP on No-vember 9 and Chattisgarh wascreated on November one thesame year.

Andhra Pradesh has 23 dis-tricts, including the state capitalHyderabad, in three regions -coastal Andhra (nine),Rayalaseema (four) andTelangana (ten).

Since its inception in 2001, theTelangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS)has been fighting for creation ofa separate Telangana state.

Telangana region now accountsfor 119 of the 294 seats in the As-sembly and 17 of the 42 LokSabha members.

Telangana region comprisesHyderabad, Adilabad,Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Medak,Warangal, Rangareddy,Nalgonda, Khammam andMahbubnagar.

The demand for a separatestate began in 1969 but the Con-gress then had stoutly opposedany move for additional linguis-tic states. Disillusioned by it, fire-brand Congress leader MChanna Reddy broke away andformed the Telangana PrajaSamithi (Telangana Popular As-sociation) in 1969.

The first movement of a sepa-rate Telangana state started metwith a gory end in 1971.As acounter, the "Jai Andhra" agita-tion was taken up in 1972-73. -PTI

Andhra Pradesh has23 districts, includingthe state capitalHyderabad, in threeregions - coastalAndhra (nine),Rayalaseema (four)and Telangana (ten)


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Top Stories

Headley pleads not guilty to plotting 26/11 attacksCHICAGO: Pakistani-American

David Coleman Headley, a LeToperative arrested by FBI haspleaded not guilty before a UScourt to all the charges filedagainst him including that he con-spired in the 26/11 Mumbai terrorattacks.

49-year-old Headley, arrested inOctober this year, also pleaded notguilty to the charge of plotting ter-ror attacks in Denmark against anewspaper that published car-toons of Prophet Mohammed. Thenext hearing of the case will be heldon January 12.

He was charged by the FBI in a12-count criminal information withsix counts of conspiracy to bombplaces in India and Denmark andfor providing material support toterrorist plots.

Talking to reporters after thearraignment, Headley's attorneyJohn Theis said, "David Headleyis charged with certain acts aris-ing out of things that happenedin Denmark and India. These arevery serious charges and we aretaking them very seriously. I wantto remind everyone that he is pre-

sumed innocent of these chargesagainst him," he said.

On whether Indian authoritiescould get a chance to interrogateHeadley, Theis said, "That issomething we will have to look at.I have no idea of assessing thechances. If they make any suchrequests, we will look at it when itcomes," he said adding that as of

now no requests have been madeto him regarding interrogation orextradition.

He was also charged for pro-viding material support toLashkar-e-Taiba, and six counts of

aiding and abetting the murder ofUS citizens in India. If convicted,Headley could face the "maximumstatutory penalty" of life impris-onment or death.

Appearing before US DistrictJudge Harry Leinenweber for hisarraignment at the court here, aclean-shaven and tall Headleywore an orange jumpsuit withwhite long-sleeved undershirtand blue sneakers.

He was shackled at the ankles.The arraignment hearing lastedfor about five minutes duringwhich Headley responded in aquiet voice to the questionsposed by the Judge.

Headley had made five trips toMumbai from 2006 to 2008, takingpictures and making videotapesof targets, including those at-tacked. After every trip thatHeadley took to India betweenSeptember 2006 and July 2008, heallegedly returned to Pakistan,met with other co-conspiratorsand provided them with photo-graphs, videos and oral descrip-tions of various locations.

The charges also allege that in

March 2008, Headley and his co-conspirators discussed potentiallanding sites for a team of attack-ers who would arrive by sea inMumbai, and he was instructed totake boat trips in and around theMumbai harbor and take surveil-lance video, which he did duringhis visit to India starting in April2008, the charges allege.

The terror case spanning threecountries has caught the attentionof the media and public alike.Apart from city-based TV chan-nels and newspapers, reportersfrom across the US were present

to cover Headley's first appear-ance in court. .

Headley was escorted into thecourtroom by federal marshalls. Heappeared calm but his face lookedthinner as compared to his plumpimage, extracted from copies of hispassport, the world has seen.

Headley also waived his rightto be indicted by a grand jury,which means he waived his rightto have prosecutors present theirevidence against him to a grandjury and obtain an indictment.Leinenweber scheduledHeadley's next status hearing forJanuary 12.

Theis said over the next sev-eral weeks and months he and hisco-counsel Robert Seeder wouldreview evidence and allegationsagainst Headley.

"I expect that there will be a lotof material that we will be goingthrough in preparing our defensein this case," he added. Theis fur-ther said he would not commenton the substance of any of theallegations or any particular de-fense strategy that they wouldemploy in this case. -PTI

Probe into Headley links with26/11 to end within 6 weeksNEW DELHI: The Government

said here that in the next four tosix weeks, investigations intoDavid Headley and TahawwurRana's links with 26/11 attacks willbe completed by the National In-vestigation Agency (NIA).

"NIA has been entrusted withthe investigation into both DavidHeadley and Rana. They are con-tinuing with it and we expect thatinvestigations will take about fourto six weeks and assoon as investigationsare completed, the NIAwill file the necessarychargesheet," HomeSecretary G K Pillaisaid.

He was talking to re-porters on the sidelinesof a DRDO seminar onlow-intensity conflict.

Headley, a Pakistan-born US citizen and Rana, a Paki-stani Canadian, were arrested bythe FBI in Chicago in October oncharges of plotting terror attacksin India at the behest of Lashkar-e-Taiba.

On cooperation with the FBI,Pillai said the American agencyhad shared with India informationgiven to it by Headley.

"We have given them a supple-mentary list of questions," he saidwhile hoping they would respondto them.

Answers to some of the Indian

queries would be sought by theFBI from Pakistani authoritiesalso, he said.

"FBI team has gone to Pakistanand they would be seeking someanswers there since Headley hadvisited that country with some ofthe LeT handlers," Pillai said.

Asked if India would seek ac-cess from the United States toDavid Headley, Pillai said, "Oncewe file the chargesheet, we will

definitely be seeking access bothfor interrogation and a subse-quent stage for his extradition."

In response to a query on in-volvement of more Pakistani serv-ing and retired Army personnel inthe 26/11 attacks, the Home Sec-retary said, "there is some evi-dence, which we hope that whenthe FBI team goes to Pakistan,they would be able to corrobo-rate some of the information thatthey have shared with us andsubsequently they would sharethat also with us. -PTI

Headley-Rana case shows LeT'sglobal ambitions: US

WASHINGTON: The unearth-ing of the Headley -Rana terrorplot by the FBI shows the globalambition of LeT, a top Obama Ad-ministration official has said,pointing out that the radicals con-tinue to galvanize enough peopleto launch "mass casualty" terror-ist attacks.

Pakistani-American citizenDavid Coleman Headley and Pa-kistani-Canadian Tahawwur Ranawere arrested by the FBI lastmonth on charges of planning ter-ror attacks in India and Denmark.

"The example of David Headleyindicates, al-Qaeda is not the onlygroup with global ambitions thatwe have to worry about," saidDaniel Benjamin, Coordinator, Of-fice of the Coordinator forCounterterrorism, at the State De-partment.

Lashkar-e-Taiba has made it

‘Chargesheet against Headley an important step’NEW DELHI: India has termed

the filing of chargesheet againstDavid Headley as an importantstep in exposing the wider con-spiracy behind Mumbai attacksand said the onus is on Pakistanto follow the leads and act with"unalloyed" determinationagainst terrorism.

The External Affairs Ministrysaid charges against Headley

points out that terror outfits likeLeT, HUJI and Al-Qaeda continueto remain active in plotting newacts of terrorism, targeting Indiaas well as other countries.

"Investigation and filing ofchargesheet in a US court againstHeadley are important steps inexposing the wider conspiracybehind the Mumbai terrorist at-tack, and other acts of terrorism,

for bringing to justice those re-sponsible for mindless violenceagainst innocent people," MEAspokesperson Vishnu Prakashsaid.

India expects Pakistan to fol-low the leads provided, and un-ravel the full conspiracy behindthe Mumbai attacks and other ter-rorist plots which continue toemanate from its soil, he said.-PTI

clear that it is willing to undertakebold, "mass-casualty operationswith a target set that would pleaseal-Qaeda planners", Benjamin saidin his speech at the Jamestownon 'International CounterterrorismPolicy in the Obama Administra-

tion'.The group's more recent

thwarted conspiracy to attack the

US embassy in Bangladesh shouldonly deepen concern that it couldevolve into a genuinely global ter-rorist threat.

"Let me say as an aside, veryfew things worry me as much asthe strength and ambition of LeT,a truly malign presence in SouthAsia.

We are working closely withallies in the region and elsewhereto reduce the threat from this verydangerous group," Benjamin said.

The State Department officialsaid Sunni radicals continue tosucceed is in persuading religiousextremists to adopt their cause,even in the United States.

"A bus driver, Najibullah Zazi,was trained in Pakistan and nowfaces charges in federal court forplanning to set off a series ofbombs in the United States, hesaid. -PTI

He was charged bythe FBI in a 12-countcriminal informationwith six counts ofconspiracy to bombplaces in India andDenmark

Headley had madefive trips to Mumbaifrom 2006 to 2008,taking pictures andmaking videotapesof targets, includingthose attacked

‘Let me say as anaside, very fewthings worry me asmuch as the strengthand ambition of LeT,a truly malign pres-ence in South Asia’

On cooperation with the FBI,Pillai said the Americanagency had shared withIndia information givento it by Headley


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Al-Qaeda is being weakened: US GeneralWASHINGTON: America's top

General in Afghanistan has saidthat the al-Qaeda is being weak-ened and the US build up in thecountry includes more terrorist-hunting forces to chase down mili-tants.

Steanley McChrystal, the Com-mander of US and NATO forcesin Afghanistan, said, "al-Qaedawill continue to be made less andless relevant around the world.Their ideology is bankrupt. It takesa while for that to be proven, but I

think it is being proven.""Their organization is being

weakened. I do think it's impor-tant that Osama bin Laden bebrought to justice in some way,not as complete closure, but as astep toward closure," the Generalsaid.

The General, who along with USarmy top brass is currently depos-ing before the powerful SenateForeign Relations Committee onthe new forces induction in Af-ghanistan, said the border region

between Afghanistan and Pakistanis the epicenter of terrorism.

"Clearly there are locationselsewhere around the world, but Ibelieve that from that (Af-Pak),emanates a tremendous amount ofthe danger," he said.

"I believe over time, it's impor-tant that, around the world, butparticularly inside Pakistan andinside Afghanistan, the counter-insurgent effort to go against ex-tremism be maintained consis-tently," he said.-PTI

Training for terrorists comesfrom Pakistan: Clinton

WASHINGTON: Expressingconcern over series of arrests ofUS nationals as terror suspects,Secretary of State Hillary Clintonhas said much of the training anddirection for terrorists comes fromPakistan and the border area withAfghanistan.

"We know that much of thetraining and the direction for ter-rorists comes from Pakistan andthe border area with Afghani-stan," Clinton told reporters at theFoggy Bottom headquarters ofthe State Depart-ment.

It has alwaysbeen a concern,Clinton said whenasked about severalcases of homegrown terrorists inthe country.

"We know we'vegot to work moreclosely with both Af-ghanistan and Paki-stan to try to root outthe infrastructure of terrorism thatcontinues to recruit and trainpeople who are willing to do whatis alleged with Zazi, DavidHeadley, and others in the recentcases that have come to light,"Clinton said.

Headley, a US national of Paki-stani origin was arrested by the

FBI in October on charges of plan-ning terrorist attacks in India andMumbai.

The FBI in its charge-sheetfiled this week has accusedHeadley of being involved in theMumbai terrorist attacks.

"One of the reasons why Presi-dent Obama made the decisionwhich he announced last weekwith respect to our strategy go-ing forward is because we con-tinue to see a syndicate of terror-ism that al-Qaida is, in effect, the

head of that is not only anaspirational or ideological head,but providing funding and train-ing and equipping and operationaldirection to a number of terroristgroups," Clinton said.

"And therefore, we will remainvery vigilant at home," she said. -PTI

India's ties with third countriesnot at cost of Russia: PM

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the President of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev at the

delegation level talks, in Moscow, Russia on December 7

MOSCOW: Seeking to takeforward the strategic partnershipto new heights, Prime MinisterManmohan Singh made it clearhere that India's relations withthird countries will never be at thecost of "time-tested ties" withRussia.

After a one-on-one meetingwith Russian President DmitryMedvedev at the Kremlin whichhe described as "very produc-tive", Singh said, "A strongerRussia is important for worldpeace."

Both India and Russia have ajoint role to play to deal with re-gional and international issues,including steps for revival of glo-bal economy, terrorism and re-forms of international institutions,Singh said in his opening remarksbefore the two sides got into del-egation-level talks.

Noting that he was visitingRussia for the second time thisyear, the Prime Minister said thisshowed the importance attachedby India in taking forward the bi-lateral relations in various spheres.

"Our relations with third coun-

tries will never be at the cost ofour time-tested relationship withRussia," he said.

He said Indo-Russia strategicpartnership is a "unique" partner-ship, firmly rooted in mutual in-terest and confidence and a

ings he had discussed with Singhissues relating to enhancing thestrategic partnership.

The Russian President notedthat Indo-Russian trade has in-creased by eight per cent despitea global slowdown and said thisaugmented well for the improve-ment of bilateral ties in this area.Singh shared the sentiments ofMedvedev on this issue.

At the private dinner, Singhassured his host that New Delhistill regards Moscow as its mostimportant partner.

Singh began his Moscowschedule with the laying of wreathat the Tomb of Unknown Soldierwith eternal flame.

During their informal talk,Singh said: "I want to assure youthat relations with Russia are mostimportant and we have no suchrelations with any other countryof the world.

On his part, Medvedev said:"Every visit of the Indian PrimeMinister is always a big event.

"It can only be like this be-cause Russia and India are goodfriends," Medvedev said. -PTI

shared vision of a multi-polarworld.

In his remarks, the RussianPresident said the agreements fi-nalized by the two countries re-flected the strategic partnershipof a "great variety".

Medvedev said at his two meet-

Noting that he wasvisiting Russia for thesecond time this year,the Prime Minister saidthis showed the impor-tance attached byIndia in taking forwardthe bilateral relations

‘We know we've got to workmore closely with bothAfghanistan and Pakistan to tryto root out the infrastructure ofterrorism that continues torecruit and train people’


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Danish draft generates heat; threatens climate talks

No 'pass' for emerging economies, says US China slams developednations on reduction targets

COPENHAGEN: Climate talkswent into disarray as details of theDanish draft treaty that appear tosideline the Kyoto Protocol andUN were leaked, prompting poornations to react furiously and In-dia insisting that the text was nota formal proposal of the host gov-ernment.

The G77 countries and Chinablasted the Danish draft on thethird day of the talks claiming thatits strategic intent was aimed at"superimposing a solution".

The Danish draft is seen as adeparture from Kyoto and givesthe control of climate change fi-nance to the World Bank.

Sudan's envoy LumumbaStanislas Di-Aping, who headsthe G77, said that the Danish draftdetracted from both the sub-stance and procedure of previ-ously agreed agreements underthe United Nations FrameworkConvention and the Bali ActionPlan.

He dubbed the leakage of thedraft as "serious and unfortunatedevelopment" which threatenedthe success of the Copenhagenprocess.

India, which has been privy tothe Danish draft, reacted cau-tiously saying that the text wasnot a "formal proposal" by thegovernment.

"The G77 members will not walk

out of this negotiation at this latehour because we can't afford a fail-ure in Copenhagen.

"However, we will not sign aninequitable deal. We can't accepta deal that condemns 80 percentof the world population to furthersuffering and injustice," Di-Apingsaid.

The talks were off to a rocky

start on the third day of the 12-day conference with tiny Pacificisland of Tuvalu walking out ofthe meeting after the chair refusedto discuss its proposal.

Tuvalu had proposed amend-ing the UN climate treaty to re-quire the world's nations to keepthe rise in temperatures to 1.5 de-grees Celsius above preindustrial

levels.Besides, an analysis of the

Danish text by G77 also indicatedthat it would force developingcountries to agree to specific emis-sion cuts and measures that werenot part of the original UN agree-ment.

However, Saran pointed outthat the Danish government has

clarified is this is not the paperbut only one of several drafts thathave been looked at.

Saran has left for India to holddiscussions with Prime MinisterManmohan Singh on the devel-opments in Copenhagen and formthe country's stand for final leg ofthe talks which will be attendedby over 100 heads of state andgovernment, including Singh.

The UN climate change chiefYvo de Boer also clarified in theDanish test saying it was not anofficial document presented by theDenmark Prime Minister LarsRasmussen.

"This was an informal paperahead of the conference given toa number of people for the pur-poses of consultations," de Boersaid. .

The text has been slammed forthrowing away the balance of ob-ligations between developed anddeveloping countries on issueslike mitigation, protection of intel-lectual property rights and financ-ing.

"It sets up a financing an tech-nology mechanism that ensuesthe flow of finance form South toNorth through market mecha-nisms," Di-Aping explained, add-ing that the text divided develop-ing countries into "vulnerable"and "culpable" as well as "poor"and "most vulnerable."-PTI

COPENHAGEN: Making astrong pitch for domestic emis-sion cut proposals to be includedin an international agreement, US'top negotiator here said givingmajor developing economies "apass" on carbon will not solve theproblem.

US Chief negotiator Todd Sternsaid the US is committed to get-ting the "strongest political agree-ment" at Copenhagen for which "areal commitment from China" wasa major necessity.

Stern noted that developingcountries including China, Indiaand South Africa had announced"significant" proposals to cut emis-sions domestically but said thesewould have to be "wrapped up" inan international agreement.

"What is important if we haveto get an international agreementis not that people announce thingsdomestically but they put them inan international agreement," hesaid. "It becomes part of the inter-national agreement and not just apress release domestically".

While the US had the largesthistoric role in greenhouse gasemissions but most of the emis-sions now going forward would befrom the developing countries, hesaid.

"There is no way to solve thisproblem by giving the major de-veloping economies a pass," hesaid, making it clear that a trans-parent commitment would not berequired from the vast number ofdeveloping countries but only themajor ones.

China is the world's largest emit-ter of greenhouse gases while In-

dia is the fifth largest. ."You can't even think about

controlling this problem without areal commitment from China," Sternsaid. Developing countries, includ-ing India and China, have main-tained that that given the fact thatemissions from industrializing de-veloped nations over the last cen-tury have been the primary cause

of global warming; they shouldshoulder greater responsibility forcarbon cuts.

Stern quoted the InternationalEnergy Agency estimates that 97per cent of emissions betweennow and 2030 will come from de-veloping countries and 50 per centfrom China alone.

He said putting mitigation com-mitments in a legally binding agree-ment was essential for "transpar-ency" in the international commu-nity, which could then gauge howthe crisis was being resolved.

"We can't be in a world wheretransparency is just trust," he said.

"There needs to be transpar-ency so that everyone can haveconfidence that everybody else isundertaking what they said theywould do".

The US top negotiator alsostated that while US wanted a le-gally binding treaty, it would backa "politically binding agreement"if states failed to commit to a legaldocument.

"There is an advantage that anagreement (politically binding)can take effect right away," hesaid, adding that politically bind-ing was no substitute to a legallybinding agreement in the near fu-ture. .-PTI

COPENHAGEN: China hasslammed the developed nations,including the US and the EU, forannouncing inadequate carbonmitigation targets while coaxingdeveloping countries to put moreon the table at the crucial climateconference here.

Chinese chief negotiator SuWei said the 17 per cent reduc-tion in carbon emissionoffered by the US by2020 over 2005 levelswas neither "remark-able" nor "notable".

UN scientists haveunderlined the need foraggregate emission re-duction by industrial-ized countries of be-tween minus 25 per centand 40 per cent over 1990 levelsby 2020 with global emissions fall-ing by at least 50 per cent by 2050.

Emphasizing that 17 per centreduction amounted to one percent reduction on the 1990 level,Wei said: "I doubt if just one percent reduction can be regarded asremarkable or notable".

"The emissions of the US con-tinue to grow long even though it

has long completed industrializa-tion," he said, pointing out thatUS emissions grew by 16 per centfrom 1990 to 2005.

The Chinese official also criti-cized Japan as its reduction planof 25 per cent was conditional onthe United States joining theKyoto Protocol. But since the USdid not intend to be party to the

Protocol, Japan's promise did notamount to anything, Wei said.

"The US position is very clearthat they will not join the KyotoProtocol and therefore we find thatJapan has committed nothing be-cause they have put somethingimpossible as a condition," hesaid, pointing out that Japan'semissions grew by eight per centfrom 1990 to 2005.-PTI

UN climate chief Yvo de Boer arrives for a press conference on the eve of the opening of the UN Climate Conference

2009 in Copenhagen. One hundred heads of state or government are participating in the UN led Climate Change

Conference in Copenhagen which runs from December 7 to 18

‘What is important if wehave to get an interna-tional agreement is notthat people announcethings domestically butthey put them in aninternationalagreement’

‘The emissions of the US con-tinue to grow long even thoughit has long completed industri-alization," he said, pointing outthat US emissions grew by 16per cent from 1990 to 2005


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Pak Major key link betweenHeadley, terrorist leaders in Pak

WASHINGTON: A Lahore-based retired Army major hasemerged as a key link betweenMumbai terror attack suspectDavid Coleman Headley and hisPakistani handlers who guidedhim in planning and plottingstrikes in India.

Retd Major Abdur RehmanHashim Syed, also known as Pa-sha or Major, has been chargedby the FBI in a Chicago court ontwo counts of conspiring terrorattacks in association withHeadley, the US national of Paki-stani-origin, and two other Paki-stan-based terrorists.

Abdur Rehman coordinatedwith HuJI leader Ilyas Kashmiriand a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) op-erative to commit terrorist acts in-volving murder and maiming out-side the US, and conspired withinand outside the US to provide

material support to that con-spiracy, the FBI said in its 42-pagecharge sheet.

Headley, arrested on Oct 3, hasbeen charged with criminal con-spiracy in Mumbai terror attacksand having links with Rehmanwho liaised between him and ter-ror groups including LeT andHuJI, according to an FBI chargesheet.

Rehman has also been chargedwith participating in planning a ter-rorist attack in Denmark, and co-ordinating with Headley in his sur-veillance of the intended targets.

Pasha, referred to as individualA in FBI documents, also facili-tated communication on planningof an attack between Headley andanother terrorist leader identifiedas LeT Member A and IlyasKashmiri, a leader of Harakat-ulJihad-al Islami. -PTI

Indian student attacked in AustraliaMELBOURNE: In yet another

attack on Indian students in Aus-tralia, a 23-year-old youth from thecommunity was stabbed in thechest by unidentified assailantsher, police said.

The student, who was also acabbie, was attacked and left tobleed on a Brunswick West street,police said.

The victim parked his taxi out-side his girlfriend's home on

Collier Crescent in the wee hoursand rang her to bring his dinneroutside when someone ap-proached his vehicle, The Agereported.

His girlfriend heard the driverscream out over the phone as hewas attacked, police officer GregJohnson was quoted as saying bythe paper.

The woman ran outside andfound her boyfriend lying outsidethe car, bleeding with a single stabwound to the chest.

Police do not believe the attackwas racially motivated or an at-tempted robbery as the man stillhad cash in his pocket and hismobile phone, the paper said.

Investigators are examiningwhether another car was in-volved.

The taxi has damage to the rearof the vehicle and bits of a brokenfront headlight were found nearthe scene.

"That is certainly one of thelines of inquiry we'll be lookingalong, that it could be a road rageincident," Johnson said. .

Paramedics were called to thescene just before 2 am and tookthe man to Royal Melbourne Hos-pital where he remains in a seri-ous condition.

Intensive care paramedic SeanLowell said they arrived withineight minutes to find the man onthe ground next to his car.

"The man had been stabbed inthe upper body and first aid wasbeing applied by police officers,"Lowell said adding "When we ar-rived police were helping stem theblood flow by applying pressureto his wound.

"Given the seriousness of hiscondition, it was important for himto get further treatment at hospi-tal as soon as possible."

Police said officers were door-knocking the area and checkingCCTV footage from inside the taxi.

Since June this year, over 30Indian youths have been attackedin various cities of Australia. -PTI

Congressional committee set tovote to subpoena Salahis

President Barack Obama greets Michaele Salahi (C) and her husband Tareq (R) during a state dinner for India's Prime

Minister Manmohan Singh (L) at the White House in this official White House photo

WASHINGTON: A Congres-sional committee is set to vote tosubpoena the Salahis who gate-crashed President Barack Obama'sfirst State Dinner for Prime Minis-ter Manmohan Singh, amid re-ports that the Virginia couplecould invoke their right to silenceif forced to appear before thepanel.

The move comes after Tareq

and Michele Salahi refused to tes-tify before the House Committeeon Homeland Security last weekon the gate-crashing incident andrespond to the questions of thelawmakers.

"The Salahis chose to foregoparticipation in proceedings withthe full knowledge that the com-mittee could compel their testi-mony through subpoenas," Th-

ompson had said last week."My door remains open and

I'm hopeful that they will be aswilling to talk to Congress as theyhave been to talk to the media,"he had said at the end of the hear-ing convened to discuss the is-sue of the couple attending theNovember 24 event at WhiteHouse, despite not having anyinvite.-PTI

Republicans say no nationalconsensus on climate change

WASHINGTON: Amid accusa-tions that scientists had exagger-ated the climate change crisis, topRepublican lawmakers have askedUS President Barack Obama torefrain from engaging in any treatynegotiations at the Copenhagenmeet, arguing that there is no na-tional consensus on it.

"In the worst recession in 26years, in the midst of an academicscandal and questionable sciencerevealed in 'climate gate' and in ab-sence of a national consensusabout policies that would bearupon the category known as cli-mate change, we gather here tosay, Mr President, don't make

promises in Copenhagen that wecan't keep," Republican Con-gressman Mike Pence told a newsconference along with six of hiscolleagues.

The Republicans' call cameagainst the backdrop of the cli-mate gate scandal, wherein hack-ers gained access to documentsof the climate research centre ofthe UK-based East Anglia Univer-sity and leaked confidential data,including thousands of e-mailsand documents between scien-tists in UK and US over the past10 years which led to accusationsthat researchers had exaggeratedthe crisis.-PTI

Paramedics werecalled to the scene justbefore 2 am and tookthe man to RoyalMelbourne Hospitalwhere he remains in aserious condition

India Post www.indiapost.com December 18, 2009

COMMUNITYACROSS AMERICA

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Convenience store owners to opposefood and beverage tax

India Post News Service

NEW YORK: Hundreds andthousands of Asian Americanconvenience store and gas sta-tions across the country have de-cided to oppose the proposedfood and beverage tax under thehealth care reform.

A decision in this regard wastaken at the fifth Annual Conven-tion of the Asian American Con-venience Store Owners Associa-tion (AACSA) in Tampa, Floridaon November 21. Founded in 2005,AACSA is the apex body of theAsian American conveniencestores in the US.

"We have formed an alliancewith Coca Cola and Pepsi to fightagainst the proposed soft drinktaxes of extra 3c a can and 17c on a2 liter bottle to raise $6 billion inadditional revenues to pay for thehealthcare," said Satya Shaw,AACSA President.

The convention also decided tocollect at least five million signa-tures from customers visiting con-venience stores and gas stationsin the next two month. "We wouldsend these signatures opposingthe proposed food and beverage

tax to the US Congress," Shawsaid.

"Improving health care inAmerica is an admirable goal wesupport. But food and beverage

taxes have no place in health carereform, particularly taxes thatsingle out one product like juicedrinks and soda," Shaw said, add-ing that such a tax would have anadverse impact on the business of

convenience stores and gas sta-tions; who are already hit by eco-nomic recession.

"Our business has alreadydropped by at least 25 percent.Such a tax, would further hit ourrevenue, as food and beverages

are our main items of sale," Shawsaid.

The fifth AASCA conventionalso hosted the 28th Miss IndianAmerican pageant. PriyankaSingha from California was

crowned by Bollywood actressNeha Dhupia as winner. She willrepresent USA in the Miss IndiaWorld contest on March 27, 2010in South Africa.

Senator calls forchemical securityon Bhopal dayIndia Post News Service

NEW JERSEY: Marking the25th anniversary of the Bhopal gasleak disaster, Senator Frank R.Lautenberg (D-NJ) called for stron-ger security measures at chemicalplants across the country. Morethan 3,500 people died in the im-mediate aftermath of the gas leakin the Indian city of Bhopal andmore than 15,000 people have per-ished from the aftereffects of thetragedy. "The Bhopal tragedyserves as a warning that a chemi-cal disaster or attack could killthousands of Americans.

Goa FoodFestival in NewJerseyIndia Post News Service

NEW JERSEY: Punjim Cutlet,Goanchi Dal, Shrimp Xeque,Bebanca and a variety of Goandishes were displayed at the inau-guration of a month-long food fes-tival at Raagini, an upscale Indianrestaurant in Mountainside, NewJersey. The festival is being heldto showcase food from the tropi-cal beaches and green fields of theformer Portuguese colony of Goa,a well known tourist destinationin India.

Jan 15 deadlinefor Daniel PearlAwardsIndia Post News Service

WASHINGTON: The 2010Daniel Pearl Awards competition,which honors the world's bestcross-border investigative jour-nalism, is accepting entries untilJanuary 15, 2010. The awards aregiven by the International Consor-tium of Investigative Journalists(ICIJ), a project of the Center forPublic Integrity in Washington,D.C. Formerly the ICIJ Awards, theprizes were renamed in 2008 inhonor of Wall Street Journal re-porter Daniel Pearl, who was slainby militants in Pakistan in 2002.

Prof Kapoorhonored forhumanitarianefforts

‘We have formed an alliance with Coca Colaand Pepsi to fight against the proposed softdrink taxes of extra 3c a can and 17c on a 2 literbottle to raise $6 billion in additional revenuesto pay for healthcare’

Priyanka Singha from California was crowned by Bollywood

actress Neha Dhupia as winner of Miss Indian American title

Neha Dhupia cuts the ribbon

December 18, 2009 India PostCommunity Across Americawww.indiapost.com

13

Goa Food Festival in New JerseyIndia Post News Service

NEW JERSEY: Punjim Cutlet,Goanchi Dal, Shrimp Xeque,Bebanca and a variety of Goandishes were displayed at the inau-guration of a month-long food fes-tival at Raagini, an upscale Indianrestaurant in Mountainside, NewJersey. The festival is being heldto showcase food from the tropi-cal beaches and green fields of theformer Portuguese colony of Goa,

a well known tourist destinationin India.

"Celebrating food is a great wayto bring the peoples of India andthe USA closer. India's diversefood culture serves as a bridge offriendship between the two coun-tries," commented AssemblymanUpendra Chivukula, who inaugu-rated the event.

Ambassador Prabhu Dayal,Consul-General of India in NewYork, who was the Guest of Honorat the kick-off event said that theIndian American community

played a vital role in presentingthe Indian culture in the US. "Thecommunity is extremely enterpris-ing that takes pride in practicingits culture in the land of opportu-nities," he said.

The function was attended byleading Indian American commu-nity members, including Dr.Sudhanshu Prasad, Edison Coun-cilman, H. R. Shah, Chairman, TVAsia and Bipin Patel, Chairman,Indus American Bank as well as

patrons of Raagini."Raagini is committed to intro-

ducing foods from different partsof India," said Dr. Harmesh Mittal,its owner-partner. "Because of itsdiverse culture and life-style, In-dia boasts of a wide range ofdishes that are cherished inAmerica. We want to celebrate ourculture and share our traditionswith our friends who belong todifferent cultural and ethnic back-grounds. We plan to host similarfestivals to celebrate the cuisineof various regions of India during

the year 2010.""Goan food is all about spicy-

red chilies, garlic, and local vin-egar, which are the important in-gredients of its dishes that arebest enjoyed with plain boiledrice," said Kamal D'Costa,Raagini's Executive Chef. Some ofthe dishes that Kamal presentedwere, Shrimp Rissole, Panjim Cut-let, Shrimp, Xeque, Bebanca andDodal.

Ram Bisht, Manager-Partner ofRaagini, organized a variety ofdrinks based on coconut water forall the guests on the occasion.

Texas eyebrow threaderssue State Board


AUSTIN, Texas: Should Texasentrepreneurs have to pay $20,000to obtain up to 1,500 hours of in-struction in a school that does noteven teach their trade?

That is the question the Insti-tute for Justice seeks to answer ina lawsuit filed today on behalf of

eight Texas eyebrow-threadingentrepreneurs. The suit challengesTexas' threading-licensing schemeas a violation of the constitutionalright to earn an honest living.

"Texas has always been a bea-con for entrepreneurship," saidlead attorney Wesley Hottot of theInstitute for Justice Texas Chap-ter (IJ-TX), a public interest lawfirm with a history of defendingthe rights of entrepreneurs. "Thatproud heritage is in danger whenthe state tries to regulate every

new industry rather than trustingentrepreneurs and consumers."

Threading is a booming indus-try in Texas because it is cheaper,faster and less painful than wax-ing. In addition to winning overconsumers, the industry is creat-ing good-paying jobs and excit-ing opportunities for Texas entre-preneurs.

"We use tightly-wound cottonthread to remove unwanted eye-brow hair-and that's it," said IJ cli-ent and entrepreneur Ash Patel."Eyebrow threading is an ancienttechnique. It's painless. It's evensafer than using tweezers. Nochemicals, dyes or sharp objectsare used in eyebrow threading.And that's why I don't understandwhy the state of Texas wants toregulate us."

Cont’d on page 15

Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula speakingAmbassador Prabhu Dayal, Consul-General ofIndia in New York, who was the Guest of Honor,said that the Indian American communityplayed a vital role in presenting the Indianculture in the US

‘Eyebrow threading is an ancient technique. Nochemicals, dyes or sharp objects are usedin eyebrow threading. And that's why I don'tunderstand why the state of Texas wants toregulate us’

December 18, 2009India Post14 Community Across Americawww.indiapost.com

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The first runner-up was ShivaliVyas, a Tampa resident and stu-dent at the University of SouthFlorida. Second runner-up is DishaPatel from Illinois.

"Tonight, as we celebrate the5th Annual AACSA Convention,we hope to renew the spirit of ourfriendship and form an even stron-ger bond with our members. It isour privilege to host this nationalpageant, bringing the beauty en-thusiasts, convenience store own-ers and political dignitaries to-gether on a single platform," Shawsaid.

AACSA chairman ChandrakantPatel coordinated the educationalsymposium featuring informationon store licenses, crime preven-tion, financing, credit card pro-cessing and high margin newproducts. The well-attended eventattracted a large number of ven-dors targeting convenience storeowners, AACSA administratorPaul Rock said.

"We all excited and looking for-ward to working together on sev-eral town hall meetings, three re-gional mini-conventions and, ofcourse, the highly anticipated

Convenience store owners tooppose food and beverage tax

Sixth Annual AACSA Conventionon November 20, 2010," Patel said.

AACSA is an industry tradeassociation representing thou-sands of stores nationwide. It hasbeen an advocate for the conve-nience retailing industry provid-ing industry information, knowl-edge and connections to ensure

the competitive viability of ourmembers' businesses. The diver-sity of AACSA membership re-flects the diversity of the conve-nience store and petroleum mar-keting industry and our commit-ment to developing a robust com-petitive environment for our mem-bers.

Cont’d from page 12

Senator calls for chemical security on Bhopal anniversaryIndia Post News Service

NEW JERSEY: Marking the25th anniversary of the Bhopal gasleak disaster, Senator Frank R.Lautenberg (D-NJ) called for stron-ger security measures at chemicalplants across the country. Morethan 3,500 people died in the im-mediate aftermath of the gas leakin the Indian city of Bhopal andmore than 15,000 people have per-ished from the aftereffects of thetragedy.

"The Bhopal tragedy serves asa warning that a chemical disasteror attack could kill thousands ofAmericans. We must take steps toprotect chemical facilities now,"Sen. Lautenberg said. "We havea responsibility to reduce the useof dangerous chemicals and keepour families and communities safefrom potential attacks againstthese facilities."

Lautenberg wrote Congress'first chemical security bill in 1999

and again offered legislation withthen-Senator Barack Obama in2006. He is currently working on abill to ensure strong protectionsare in place to secure chemical fa-cilities in our neighborhoods andto prevent chemical disasters orattacks within the United States.

In 2006, Congress gave the

Department of Homeland Securitytemporary authority to overseechemical facility security. After theBush Administration tried to usethat authority to preempt and nul-lify strong state chemical securitylaws, Lautenberg successfullywrote a law in December 2007 topreserve New Jersey's strong

chemical security rules and ensurethey could remain stronger thanfederal regulations. The two milesbetween Port Newark and theNewark Liberty International Air-port, a stretch filled with chemicalfacilities, is considered "the mostdangerous two miles in Americafor terrorism," according to the

FBI. The Lautenberg law pre-served states' rights to craft lawsnecessary to protect their resi-dents. Lautenberg's legislationwas included in the FY2008 Omni-bus Appropriations bill.

The temporary authoritygranted to DHS in 2006 was re-cently extended, but is scheduled

to expire next year. SenatorLautenberg's new legislationwould create a permanent compre-hensive plan to deal with chemi-cal security nationwide. TheHouse passed chemical securitylegislation last month.

The Bhopal disaster is consid-

ered one of the world's worst in-dustrial accidents. Shortly aftermidnight on December 3, 1984,deadly methyl isocyanate gasleaked out of Union Carbide, anAmerican pesticide plant inBhopal, immediately killing 3,500people.

Vedic Astrology on iPhoneIndia Post News Service

NEW YORK: Merging today'smost popular technology and theancient, scientific knowledge ofVedic Astrology, an Indian astrol-ogy portal, Simplyastro.com haslaunched "Astroswami Pro" onthe iPhone.

First iPhone App in its mostuser-friendly avatar, AstroswamiPro will provide personalized pre-dictions and remedies. The Appworks equally well for iPod Touchtoo. Astroswami Pro iPhone Appbrings the key suite of personal-ized prediction and remedy ser-vices existing on the websiteSimplyastro.com to the iPhone fora fee.

"The launch of AstroSwami

iPhone App is a strategic step for-ward in targeting the iPhone savvymarket segment which includesnot only Indian, American, British,

Australian, Canadian populationbut communities and culturesworldwide who believe in astrol-ogy as a guiding force in life,"

says Shiv Verma, CEO,Simplyastro.com.

It has over 200,000 birth placecities information across the worldand adding several more everyday.

This App has been designedwith written rules that also appliedwell in terms of predictions in thepast for various top celebrities."We took birth details of variouscelebrities and followed their dayto day lives and key events to de-termine the accuracy of the per-sonalized predictions our softwaregenerated. The results were as-tounding! The computerized cal-culations reduces the possibilitiesof human error, which may other-wise affect the predictions madeby astrologers," says Verma.

‘The Bhopal tragedy serves as a warning that achemical disaster or attack could kill thousandsof Americans. We must take steps to protectchemical facilities now,’ Sen. Lautenberg said

‘We took birth detailsof various celebritiesand followed their dayto day lives and keyevents to determinethe accuracy of thepersonalizedpredictions’

AACSA chairmanChandrakant Patelcoordinated theeducational sympo-sium featuring infor-mation on store li-censes, crime preven-tion, financing

December 18, 2009 India PostCommunity Across Americawww.indiapost.com

15

The Texas Department of Li-censing and Regulation (TDLR) isnow demanding that eyebrowthreaders obtain expensive and ir-relevant licenses in Western-stylecosmetology. Threading is notmentioned anywhere in state law,yet TDLR expects threaders, somewith over 20 years of experience,to immediately stop working andspend $20,000 obtaining up to1,500 hours of instruction in gov-ernment-approved beautyschools that do not even teachthreading.

Further, threaders must passgovernment-approved cosmetol-ogy exams that do not test thread-ing. Inspectors have already be-gun imposing $2,000 fines tothreaders who cannot immediatelycomply. The licensing schemeprotects the cosmetology indus-try from honest competition, butdoes nothing to help consumers.

"I grew up in India and I foundit difficult to land on a good op-portunity to start my own busi-ness," said Ash Patel. "That's whyI came to Texas. I am only askingfor a fair chance to pursue myAmerican Dream."

In conjunction with the lawsuit,the Institute for Justice is releas-ing a report on the state of entre-preneurship in Texas: BureaucraticBarbed Wire: How OccupationalLicensing Fences Out Texas En-trepreneurs. The report shows thatentrepreneurs all across Texas arebeing denied their constitutionalright to economic liberty-the free-dom to earn an honest living inthe occupation of one's choice freefrom arbitrary or excessive govern-ment regulation.

"The only legitimate reason forimposing limits on our economic

liberty through occupational li-censing is to protect the publicfrom a real threat to health orsafety," said Wesley Hottot, au-thor of the study. "Too often,however, the real reason occupa-tional licensing is imposed is toprotect an existing industry fromhonest competition. That is not aconstitutional function of govern-ment."

IJ-TX Executive Director MattMiller said, "It is time for Texas torecommit itself to the cause of eco-nomic liberty and do away with

Texas eyebrow threaderssue State Board

its unreasonable licensing re-gimes. Today's lawsuit will helprestore our state's proud heritageof entrepreneurship and begin se-curing the right to earn an honestliving for all Texans."

Founded in 1991, the Virginia-based Institute for Justice is a na-tional public interest law firm thathas represented individualsacross the country who have suc-cessfully defended their right toeconomic liberty in courts of lawand the court of public opinion.


Jan 15 deadline for DanielPearl Awards

Judicial inquiry into Ludhianakillings demanded


WASHINGTON: The 2010Daniel Pearl Awards competition,which honors the world's bestcross-border investigative jour-nalism, is accepting entries untilJanuary 15, 2010. The awards aregiven by the International Consor-tium of Investigative Journalists(ICIJ), a project of the Center forPublic Integrity in Washington,D.C.

Formerly the ICIJ Awards, theprizes were renamed in 2008 inhonor of Wall Street Journal re-porter Daniel Pearl, who was slainby militants in Pakistan in 2002.

Held biennially, the competitionis open to any professional jour-

dium. To be eligible, the investi-gation - either a single work or asingle-subject series - must in-volve reporting in at least twocountries on a topic of world sig-nificance. A five-member jury ofinternational journalists will selectthe winners.

Two $5,000 first-place prizeswill be awarded, one to a U.S.-based reporter or news outlet, andanother to a non-U.S.-based jour-nalist or news outlet. Five addi-tional finalists will each receive$1,000 prizes.

The awards are unique amongjournalism prizes in that they spe-cifically honor cross-border inves-tigative reporting. Past winnershave included a TV4 Sweden in-vestigation of Russian overfish-ing in the Barents Sea, a SouthAfrican Broadcasting expose of anAnglican bishop accused of con-spiring with the Rwandan govern-ment to kill Tutsis, and a New YorkTimes series on deadly Chinesecounterfeit drugs. Last year'sawards attracted 86 entries from24 countries, involving reportingin more than 60 countries.

The awards will be presentedat the 6th Global Investigative Jour-nalism Conference in Geneva, Swit-zerland, in April 2010.

nalist or team of journalists of anynationality working in any me-


NEW YORK: AttorneyGurpatwant Singh Pannun, LegalAdvisor Sikhs For Justice has de-manded that high level judicial in-quiry by a sitting High CourtJudge should be conducted intothe December 5 Ludhiana incidentin which one Darshan Singh waskilled and many Sikhs were injuredby the firing of the Punjab Police.

Attorney Pannun further de-manded that Punjab Governmentshould be immediately dismissedand fresh elections should be heldas present government has lost theconfidence of the people of thestate of Punjab.

Sikhs For Justice and KarnailSingh PeerMohammed, President,All India Sikh Students Federation(AISSF) decided to launch "SikhInsaaf Lehar" to highlight the in-justice done to Sikhs and the fail-ure of the successive govern-ments to protect the interests ofSikhs and Sikhism from Anti-Sikhelements.

Sikhs For Justice, CoordinationCommittee Members Avtar SinghPannu, Barjinder Singh Brar,Charanjit Singh Harnampuria, Dr.Bakhshish Singh Sandhu, MasterMohinder Singh, SukhwinderSingh Sidhu and AISSF President,Karnail Singh PeerMohammed

stated that this started April 13,1978 when 13 Sikhs were massa-cred by the Nirankaris with thesupport of the Government headedby Parkash S Badal. They said thissupport to anti-Sikh elements con-tinued to Gurmeet Ram Rahim andnow to Ashutosh. "The supportand protection to these anti-Sikh

elements is a result of dirty poli-tics of garnering votes from theseDeras while thousands of Sikhswere massacred under the coverof wiping out the militancy. Actu-ally this is a nefarious design ofthe Government to wipe out Sikhreligion and make the communityweak and dependent, so that Sikhsdo not raise voice for their funda-mental rights," they said.

Two $5,000 first-placeprizes will beawarded, one to aU.S.-based reporter ornews outlet, and an-other to a non-U.S.-based journalist ornews outlet

Sikhs For Justice andKarnail SinghPeerMohammed,President, All IndiaSikh Students Federa-tion (AISSF) decidedto launch ‘Sikh InsaafLehar’ to highlightthe injustice

‘I grew up in Indiaand I found it difficultto land on a goodopportunity to start myown business," saidAsh Patel. "That's whyI came to Texas. I amonly asking for a fairchance to pursue myAmerican Dream’

December 18, 2009India Post16 Community/Californiawww.indiapost.com

Prof Kapoor honored forhumanitarian efforts


FRESNO, CA: Dr. SudarshanKapoor, professor emeritus of so-cial work education at CaliforniaState University, Fresno and com-munity advocate of peace and jus-tice, has been awarded the Hu-manitarian Award by Soka GakkaiInternational of the USA.

The Buddhist organization pro-motes peace, culture and educa-tion.

Kapoor received the award forhis efforts over 40 years in pro-moting a harmonious bridgeamong all faiths in the central San

Joaquin Valley and among theregion's many racial and ethnicgroups.

Kapoor's Fresno State legacyincludes the Peace Garden, whichhe helped found and in which hestill is involved. Statues in the re-cently re-landscaped garden paytribute to Mahatma Gandhi, theRev. Martin Luther King Jr., JaneAddams and César Chávez. Thememory of Dr. Richard Ford, aformer dean of the College of So-cial Work, is honored with a groveof trees.

Kapoor retired in 2008 from 39years of teaching at the university.Dr. Sudarshan Kapoor

Buddhist Center's first Annual Health Fair


ARTESIA, CA: The Sarathchandra Bud-dhist Center's First Annual Health Fair washeld on Sunday, December 6. The eventwas greeted with slight clouds that clearedinto hopeful sunshine, as visitors to thetemple were given registration materials priorto visiting the various booths providinghealth screening as well as information forsocial care needs.

Vital signs were taken and also fingerstick blood testing for fasting glucose levelfor diabetes screening, as well as lipid pro-file that tests triglycerides, total cholesterol,HDL (good cholesterol), & LDL (bad cho-lesterol) information in the span of 5 min-utes. While waiting for blood tests, visi-tors could sign up for the bone marrow drive,a true gift for the innocent children andadults afflicted with cancer.

There was a small line at all times formassage therapists, who provided a littlepeek into Nirvana during the wait. For themore pragmatic, those who needed to com-plete medical insurance forms and receiveimmigration information had the aid of South

Asian Network.Women who had not received their yearly

mammogram or papanicolaou (pap) screen-ing obtained services in covered tents withcomplete privacy. Extraoral and intraoralexams, including full head and neck exams

and oral cancer screenings were conductedby UCLA Dentistry under the guidance ofDr. Nancy Reifel. This care was provided tothe elderly and young alike, who receivedfree fluoride treatment and left with dentalcare goodies in their hands.

An ENT surgeon Dr. Pradip Mistry wasavailable during this cold winter season ofear, nose and throat woes. Visitors for-warded by a physician for cardiac testingexercised their way upstairs for electrocar-diogram (EKG) analysis and medical advice

by an internist. For those who needed ad-ditional counseling, a psychiatrist remainedsecluded in the privacy of the temple library,awaiting all with tender ear and prescrip-tion pad ready.

At the end of the series of booths, atotal of 4 family practitioners, 2 internistsand 1 emergency medicine physicianwere available for perusal of the com-pleted day of testing, and providedsound medical advice regarding anymedical findings, prescriptions for anynew-found disease, as well as referralinformation to low cost or no cost healthclinics available in the greater area of LosAngeles County.

One of the physicians, Dr. Sarathchandrahimself, the son of the founder of the Bud-dhist center, was among those providingmedical advice.

Cont’d on page 18

Kapoor's Fresno Statelegacy includes thePeace Garden,which he helpedfound and in whichhe still is involved.Statues in the re-cently re-land-scaped garden paytribute to MahatmaGandhi

For those who needed additional counseling, a psychiatristremained secluded in the privacy of the temple library,awaiting all with tender ear and prescription pad ready

December 18, 2009 India Postwww.indiapost.com

17

Buddhist Center's firstAnnual Health Fair


Sahara Open House in Artesia

Images from the Sahara Open House held on December 3 at their new and expanded office in Artesia. (Details and more pics next week.)

Mrs. Gurmej KaurDhillon passes away


YUBA CITY: Mrs. Gurmej KaurDhillon passed away on Septem-ber 12 at the age of 74. She was ahighly revered figure in Yuba Cityfor her support for communitycauses. She was wife of lateGurdawer Singh Dhillon. Her hus-band came to Yuba City in 1950sand was a founding Director ofreputed Yuba City Sikh TempleGurdawara founded in 1969. Shehad also served as director of SikhTemple Gurdwara. She is survivedby son Iqbal Singh Dhillon,brother Tirath Singh Gill, sisterGian Kaur Khera, two grandsonsand two granddaughters and twogreat grand children.

She has been dedicated sup-porter of many community eventsincluding Annual Sikh Parade andPunjabi American Festival. Shehad continued to support manycharitable activities adopted byMr. Dhillon.

The funeral will be held on De-

cember 13, Sunday at Ullrey Me-morial chapel 817 Almond St, YubaCity, at 11 am. Following crema-tion, the religious ceremony andAntim Ardass will be performed atDashmesh Hall, Sikh TempleGurdwara on Tierra Buena Road,Yuba City.

Gurmej Kaur Dhillon

There was delicious food gen-erously available through thetemple kitchen, donated byanonymous parishioners of thetemple. Aromatic rice, spicy len-

tils, a curried assortment ofbeans, coconut sambol, mangochutney and fresh salad pro-vided a healthy meal for bothpatrons and volunteers at thefair.

At the end of the productive

day, a total of approximately 100visitors had received a littlehealth care and a lot of healthpromotion via all the physicians,dentists and other health caresupporters and promoters at thevenue.

December 18, 2009India Post18 Community/Californiawww.indiapost.com

India Post December 18, 2009www.indiapost.com

Real Estate19

Realty Tidbits

Real Estate activity picking upin Mumbai after long lull

MUMBAI: Real estate activityhas picked up pace after a longlull in Mumbai's Bandra KurlaComplex (BKC) as valuations incommercial property across thecity recover from the economicslowdown. An unlisted pharma-ceutical chemical company hasbought 15,000 sq ft of space at Rs31,000 per sq ft in the 16-storeyedCrescenzo, a standalone corporatebuilding at BKC.

Although the valuation of thedeal is only around Rs 45 crore,analysts say this is an importantdeal as it marks the return of com-mercial realty.

Dhaval Shah, director, ParineeDeveloper, which ownsCrescenzo, confirmed the deal, butrefused to disclose the buyer'sname. "With the prices in BKCbottoming out and now lookingup, this is the perfect time for in-vestors and corporates to take afresh look at buying space in

BKC," he said.BKC had seen a decline of up

to 45% in capital and rental val-ues, but finalized a deal last weekthat is around 30% higher thanvalues prevalent in the area andalmost on par with 2007 valua-tions. The slowdown between2008 and May 2009 hit the Indian

real estate market hard.While the residential market

gradually stabilized, the commercialmarket continued to suffer andprices in Mumbai and New Delhi-NCR saw a 45% drop. This was fu-elled by a lot of supply hitting the

market, with several corporatesputting their property up for sale.However, the situation seems tohave improved this month.

Ravi Ahuja, executive director,development services, Cushman& Wakefield, said: "After witness-ing a significant correction duringthe first two quarters of 2009,

rental and capital values in BKCbottomed out and are graduallystabilizing. They could even seea moderate rise. This can proveto be the right time for both in-vestors and end-users to enter themarket at an advantageous level,

especially since there has beenan increase in leasing demand by35% in the third quarter of 2009over the previous quarter in BKC.

This is likely to push rental andcapital values northwards." BKC,which was planned to be devel-oped as an alternate corporate lo-cation to Nariman Point, has beenseen as a corporate hub. Build-ings with modern amenities, largefloor plates and more contempo-rary designs have added to theattraction of this location.

BKC is also expected to gainin terms of connectivity throughthe planned Metro and MonoRail, Sion-Kurla flyover,Santacruz-Chembur Link Roadand Bandra-Worli Sea Link. Allthis is in addition to the existingand proposed social infrastruc-ture in the location such asschools, consulates, hospitality,health care and multi-storied carparking facilities.

Hotel industry unites fordelicensing

The hospitality industry inIndia has been one of thefirst sectors to recover from

the global economic slowdown.Hotels, in metros across the coun-try, have witnessed an increase inoccupancy since September, withMumbai hotels recording occu-pancy as high as 65%. Witha complete recovery expectedin 2010, hoteliers now wantthe hotel industry to be delicensed for further growth.

"There are about 104 li-censes required to set up ahotel in Maharashtra and ittakes up to 2 years to obtainthe licenses. This increasesthe cost of the project,"Suresh Talera, president, Hoteland Restaurant Association ofWestern India (HRWAI), said."We plan to request the govern-ment to reduce unnecessary li-censes and to implement a singlewindow system."

According to hoteliers, thewhole process of acquiring li-censes increases the cost of a

project by 10-15%. Most hoteliers,however, are optimistic of the busi-ness picking up with the numberof foreign tourists and corporatetravelers likely to increase. Somehoteliers are so confident of theoccupancy increasing that theyhave even set up business ven-

tures in unexplored tourist desti-nations. "In order to increase thestock of hotel rooms, the govern-ment has to increase Floor SpaceIndex (FSI) to 5 in all existing ho-tels across Maharashtra," Talerasaid. The hospitality industry wasone of the worst hit sectors due tothe slowdown, the H1N1 epidemicand the 26/11 terror attacks.

North East propertyfair a big hit

GUWAHATI: A large number ofhome-seekers thronged Mannat,the property fair organized by TheTelegraph and North East Enter-tainment and Media Agency withseveral top builders displaying arange of residential projects to suitthe taste and wallet of differentcategories of customers. The two-day exhibition had a lot to offer toprospective house-owners rang-

ing from a secure and spaciouslocation in the city to all allied in-formation from the players in themarket.

The fair comes at an opportuneand important moment as the de-mand for residential and commer-cial property is at its all-time highin the city and the real estate mar-ket is at its booming best. The fair,being held at Hotel Grand Starlineon GS Road has, played the role of afacilitator for both the users in searchof houses and the builders.

"Our main objective behind or-ganizing the fair is to provide aplatform to the builders, promot-ers and developers from the re-gion to showcase their propertyand share details of their upcom-ing projects with prospectivehouse-owners," the managingpartner of the agency, Utpal Das,said. The agency is a Guwahati-based event management groupthat is also into organizingevents on sports and celebritymanagement.

SKS Microfinanceto offerhome loans

Even as realty markets are try-ing to shake off the downturn

impact, SKS Microfinance, thelargest microfinance company interms of assets, is set to offer itscustomers loans for their housingneeds. The company said it hasjoined hands with the Housing De-velopment Finance Corporation(HDFC) in its attempt to bridge thecritical gap in the housing financeneeds of the poor.

The pilot project will be con-ducted in Andhra Pradesh amongcredit members who have beenwith SKS for at least three years.These loans will be towards exten-sion and improvement of dwellingunits which double as income-generating units like eateries,kirana shops, papad andagarbathi-making units, amongothers. Most microfinance clientsbelong to the low-income cat-egory and do not have any docu-mented source of income.

367K housing unitsin seven metros:Knight Frank

MUMBAI: Propertyconsultancy firm Knight Frankhas said that 367,000 housingunits will be available by 2011,across seven Indian cities ofwhich 25 per cent will come up inthe National Capital Region alone.

Examining potential residentialsupply, the report said that with92,202 units, NCR would be thehighest contributor to the supplyfollowed by Mumbai with 20 percent or 72,906 units, during theperiod.

"Our extensive research revealsthat as the real estate sector'sgrowth continues to improve, thecountry will witness a supply of138,000 residential units in 2010,57 per cent more than the supplyseen in 2009," Gulam Zia, NationalDirector (Research and AdvisoryServices), Knight Frank India saidin a release.

Significant drop in home loan rates

Home loan interest rates have come down quite significantly over the last one year as the Reserve

Bank of India (RBI) cut the key policy rates (repo andreverse repo rates) and the cash reserve ratio (CRR).The RBI adopted a soft monetary policy by reducing itspolicy interest rates.

The RBI adopted the soft interest rate regime to pro-mote spending and stimulate economic activities, andprevent the economy from getting into a recession inline with the global economic conditions.

While the residential market gradually stabilized,the commercial market continued to suffer andprices in Mumbai and New Delhi-NCR saw a 45%drop. This was fuelled by a lot of supply hitting themarket, with several corporates putting theirproperty up for sale. However, the situation seemsto have improved this month

According to hoteliers, thewhole process of acquiringlicenses increases the costof a project by 10-15%.Most hoteliers, however,are optimistic of the busi-ness picking up

20 India Post December 18, 2009www.indiapost.com

Tech News TechBizUS n-firms lag behind in competition

with Russian & French firms


NEW DELHI: With delays inimplementation of the Indo-US ci-vilian nuclear deal, U.S. firms havelagged in a competitive scramblewith Russian and French firmswhose governments guaranteetheir liability in case of an indus-trial accident. Leaders of a US

nuclear trade mission of around 50companies doing the rounds inthe capital were non-committal onlifetime fuel supply to Indianatomic plants they plan to set uphere but said they would not standin the way of New Delhi makingits own arrangements in the eventof a change in US policy.

"The US-India 123 agreement

does say that if there are changesin the US policy on supplyingnuclear fuel to India, the US ad-ministration will not stand in theway of Indian nuclear plants fromgetting fuel from other places,"Meena Mutyala, vice president ofWestinghouse Electric Companysaid here.

She was speaking at a press

conference after the seventh meet-ing of the USIBC-CII Joint TaskForce on Commercial Nuclear Co-operation here.

Mutyala said she expects ac-tual construction of the nuclearplants built with US technologysometime in 2011 and would takeanother six years for starting power

generation.US companies in the nuclear

power business are not unsettledby the Indo-Russian nuclear deal,which portends tough competitionfor them from Russian firms in theIndian market.

Tim Richards, Managing Director, International Energy Policy, General Electric; Meena Mutyala, Vice-President for

Global Growth, Westinghouse Electric Company; and Daniel Roderick, Senior Vice-President, GE Hitachi Nuclear

Energy, during USIBC-CII joint task force press conference on Commercial NuclearCooperation, in New Delhi.

So Cal Edison offers holiday lighting safetyIndia Post News Service

ROSEMEAD, CA: The holi-days are here and with them comecelebrations and festivities.Southern California Edison (SCE)is reminding its customers tosafely decorate their homes, workplaces and Christmas trees withenergy-efficient lighting.

SCE also wants the public tokeep the holidays merry by remem-bering the importance of electricalsafety when stringing indoor andoutdoor lighting, and using elec-trical fixtures and electrically pow-ered animated or inflatable deco-rations.

"The holiday season is an ex-citing time of year. But we wantall of our customers to keepsafety foremost in their minds asthey enjoy their decorating expe-rience. Some people may be inad-

vertently exposed to a greatersafety risk and could become vic-tims of fire or electrical accidents,such as shock or electrocution,"said Rick Greenwood, SCE's di-rector, Corporate Environment,Health and Safety.

Holiday lighting safety tips

• Keep electrical connectionsoff the ground and away frommoisture. Water and electricity area deadly combination.

• When hanging lights, makesure staples, tacks and nails donot pierce or pinch wires. Use plas-

tic zip cords instead.• Never get closer than 10 feet

to power lines. Remember, treesmay have power lines runningabove, near or through them. Donot throw light strands or electri-cal cords into trees.

• Do not use lighted candles on

trees or decorations. During poweroutages use flashlights instead ofcandles.

• Beware of counterfeit or poorquality electrical products. Useonly lighting and cords approvedby the Underwriters Laboratories

(UL), an independent, nonprofitorganization that tests electricalcomponents and equipment forpotential hazards.

• Check all indoor and outdoordecorative lighting for frayedcords, broken wires and looseconnections. If you find a prob-lem, throw the strand away.

• Change bulbs only when thelights are unplugged.

• Use lights and extensioncords designed for outdoor use ifplacing them outside.

• Unplug lights when you leavehome or go to bed. Save energyby using a timer so the lights areon only during the hours you se-lect.

• Use only three strands of lightper electrical cord or outlet. Anoverload could cause a short cir-cuit and a fire.

Cont’d on page 21

Cont’d on page 21

France welcomesIndia's move oncarbon intensity

NEW DELHI: France has wel-comed India's voluntary declara-tion of reducing the carbon inten-sity of its growth by 20 to 25 percent by 2020.

"France welcomes India's an-nouncement to reduce the carbonintensity of its economy by 20 to25 per cent by 2020, as comparedto 2005," a spokesperson of theFrench Ministry for Foreign Af-fairs said.

He said climate change was aglobal challenge necessitating animmediate worldwide response,guided by the principles of justiceand equity. -PTI

Remittances fromIndian workers onthe rise: Ravi

NEW DELHI: Despite reces-sion, remittances from Indian work-ers had actually increased in thelast fiscal which crossed USD 46billion, up from USD 43.5 billion inthe previous year.

Overseas Indian Affairs Minis-ter Vayalar Ravi informed the LokSabha that the remittances byexpats have steadily increased inthe past three years and the coun-try received a total of USD 46.4billion in 2008-09. "The remittancesin the form of private transfers byNRIs during the last three years havebeen increasing," Ravi said. The re-mittances have gone up when theeconomy was passing through a dif-ficult phase due to the economicdownturn.The minister said expatsremitted USD 30.8 billion in 2006-07.

According to estimates, morethan one-third of the remittancesthat the country receive come fromGulf region. -PTI

Big FM in partnership with BBC

Big FM, the biggest radio station, an enterprise from Reliance MediaWorld Ltd, has announced its new alliance the BBC World Service

for providing the entertainment updates services on 92.7 FM on 33stations.

Big FM partnership deal with BBC will allow the entertainment up-dates across the country with programs like Big BBC Minute, BIG BBCMulaqat and a weekly entertainment film preview show.

Tarun Katial, CEO, Big FM, said, "Bollywood and BBC are bedrocksfor entertainment content in India and this partnership will help us aheadin our offerings to listeners ensuring deeper connect and strengtheningour reach. It will help us making a preferred brand among our customersand in building related commercial opportunities."

US companies in thenuclear power busi-ness are not unsettledby the Indo-Russiannuclear deal, whichportends tough com-petition for them fromRussian firms in theIndian market

SCE also wants the public to keep the holidaysmerry by remembering the importance ofelectrical safety when stringing indoor andoutdoor lighting, and using electrical fixtures

B'desh unhappywith draft climatetreaty

COPENHAGEN: Several devel-oping countries, includingBangladesh and Nepal, are "dis-appointed" by a draft of potentialtreaty on climate framed by theBASIC (India, China, Brazil andSouth Africa) group as they be-lieve it does not address their con-cerns on climate change.

The BASIC draft also referredto as the "Four Countries" draftdoes not address the main con-cerns of the low lying countriesand the least developed countries,according to negotiators of thesecountries who are attending theCopenhagen Climate Change Con-ference. -PTI

21India PostTechBiz Postwww.indiapost.com

December 18, 2009

• Keep indoor trees well wateredso that they will not dry out andbecome fire hazards.

• Keep lights away from carpet-ing, furniture, drapes and othercombustible materials.

Holiday lighting and SCEstreet lighting

SCE reminds customers thatholiday lighting, decorationsand displays are not allowed tobe attached or hung from SCE

streetlights or facilities. Theholiday lights can create asafety or fire risk for residentsand SCE employees. Theutility's policy requires that per-mission must be given to hangany objects or materials fromcompany facilities.

SCE also encourages its cus-tomers to use light emitting diode(LED) lights to decorate theirhomes and trees. LEDS offer manybenefits:

• Energy Efficiency: LEDs use

up to 90 percent less of the elec-tricity that is needed to power con-ventional incandescent, paintedor ceramic-coated bulbs.

• Environmentally friendly: thelower electricity usage of LEDsmeans less carbon emissions.

• Safety: LEDs generate muchless heat when they operate sothey are cool to the touch and areless likely to overload a circuit.

• Longevity: LEDS can last upto 10 times longer than traditionalincandescent strands.


So Cal Edison offers holiday lighting safety

Global majors GE andWestinghouse said they are con-fident India's ambitious capacityprogram in nuclear power genera-tion will provide enough opportu-nities for all foreign players.

India and the US are near tosettling differences over certaincontentious regulations of the USEnergy Department, which sought'nonproliferation assurance' fromNew Delhi to take forward the civilnuclear trade.

'We are quite hopeful of discus-sions being completed and thatauthorisation (for nuclear trade)will be obtained fairly soon,' saidTimothy Richards, co-chair of theUSIBC-CII Joint Task Force onCommercial Nuclear Cooperationand managing director, GeneralElectric.

On implementation of the US-India civil nuclear deal, Richardssaid the US companies were yetto get authorisation from the USadministration to export Americannuclear technology to India.

Besides, he said the US com-panies are yet to be allocated thetwo sites identified by India forsetting up nuclear reactors usingAmerican technology.

Also, Richards said India andthe US still has not concluded thenuclear fuel reprocessing agree-ment and India was yet to enactthe nuclear liability law.

First reactors by 2018GE-Hitachi's Senior Vice-Presi-

dent Daniel Roderick said Ameri-can nuclear power plants in Indiawould be set up by 2018. The twoapproved American nuclear powertechnology firms, GE-HitachiNuclear Energy Inc andWestinghouse Electric CompanyLLC, said that they expect to setup their first reactors by 2018-19 ifall the regulatory processes arecompleted by 2011.

He said, "We expect to commis-sion the first reactor by 2018 at theearliest. Further reactors will becommissioned after every twoyears. The first power plant willhave a capacity of 1,520-1,550MW." Roderick was speaking on

the sidelines of a CII-USIBC (USIndia Business Council) TaskForce on Commercial Nuclear Co-operation conference.

Roderick added that the com-pany was also in talks with Larsen& Toubro and Bharat HeavyElectricals Ltd and Bharat Forgeto source nuclear reactor compo-nents. He said that the companycould source up to 70 per cent ofthe components from India, whichwould help reduce costs by 30-40per cent.

The two sites designated to theAmerican firms would havenuclear power capacity of 10,000MW each. Westinghouse ElectricCompany's Vice-President MeenaMutyala said the company would

have around eight power plantsat its site and the first one is ex-pected to come up six-seven yearsafter regulatory frameworks arecompleted. The first reactor wouldhave a capacity of 1,100 MW.

The two companies said thatthey would provide the technol-ogy for building the nuclear reac-tor but it would be Indian compa-nies that would run the nuclearpower plant. Talks are still on todecide who would be liable in caseof a "disaster" in the power plant.

Mutyala added, "We believethat by 2010 we will be able to startlicensing reactors and start withsite engineering work. But theother aspects will begin by 2011.We are not far behind the French,the Russians obviously have anadvantage. But given India's largenuclear program, there is room forall the players."

Land scarcity causes worryThe US nuclear firms said they

were worried land scarcity in In-dia could further delay the jointatomic deal already hobbled bypolicy holdups over issues suchas accident liability protection.

US firms already worry overdelays such as writing a new In-dian law to limit US firms' liabilityin case of an industrial accidentand differences over a fuel repro-cessing pact. Recent protests overland acquisition for building reac-tors has added to their uncertainty.

India and the United Statessigned a civilian nuclear deal lastyear, ending India's nuclear isola-tion since it tested a nuclear de-vice in 1974 and opening up itsatomic market for firms such asGeneral Electric Co andWestinghouse Electric Co, a sub-sidiary of Japan's Toshiba Corp.

With delays in implementationof the deal, U.S. firms have laggedin a competitive scramble with

Russian and French firms whosegovernments guarantee their li-ability in case of an industrial ac-cident.

"Yes, we realise land acquisi-tion is a problem here," TimothyRichards, head of internationalenergy policy at General Electric(GE.N) told Reuters.

In India, farmland acquisitionhas highlighted a broader stand-off between industry and farmersin a country where two-thirds ofthe population lives on agricul-ture.

India identified two sites in Julyfor U.S. firms to build reactors butthe news was greeted with noisyprotests by farmers refusing togive up their land.

Hundreds of poor farmersmarched in New Delhi in Octoberto protest against the acquisitionof land for a proposed nuclearpower plant in the western stateof Maharashtra.

U.S. firms say they are leavingthe task of land acquisition to theIndian government. Craig Hansen,Vice President of Babcock andWilcox, a leading U.S. nuclear

power generation company, saidhe hoped "the opportunity willoutweigh the problems".

Meena Mutyala, businessleader of Westinghouse's Indiastrategy, said issues which alsorequired resolution included fuelreprocessing and export licencing.

PMO's cold shoulderAccording to a report in

Kolkata's Telegraph, New Delhihas decided to cold-shoulder theUS nuclear trade mission. Itquoted a highly placed source inthe PMO, who was approachedfor a meeting by the delegationsaid the "message" from the topwas the representatives were "toojunior" to be met with.

The American companies havecome without the permission oftheir own government to studythe potential of the Indian market.

India and the US are still to

finalise an agreement on reprocess-ing under the civil nuclear deal. Thesticking point was whether repro-cessing could be suspended at anytime and under what circumstancesand conditions.

The PMO source interpretedthe message as a sign that Indiawould want to leverage the "clout"it recently acquired after signing a"sweetheart" civilian nuclearagreement with Russia to try andpersuade the US into acceptingsimilar terms and conditions.

According to the agreement,Russia will neither stop supplyingfuel to the nuclear plants that itwill build nor take back its equip-ment if the pact ever falls through.It also implied India will havenuclear fuel enrichment and repro-cessing rights and will be allowedcore technology transfer.

(with agency inputs)

US n-firms lag behind in competition with Russian & French firmsCont’d from page 20

India identified two sites in July for U.S. firmsto build reactors but the news was greetedwith noisy protests by farmers refusingto give up their land

22 India Post TechBiz Postwww.indiapost.com

December 18, 2009

India protests Chinese using 'Made in India' tag for drugsNEW DELHI: India has lodged

a strong protest with China oversale of anti-malarial generic drugswith a 'Made in India' label but pro-duced in that country.

The Government's attentionwas drawn to the matter through apress release issued by the Nige-rian Government Drug RegulatoryAuthority (NAFDAC) about de-tention and seizure of a large con-signment of fake anti-malarial ge-neric pharmaceuticals labeled"Made in India" but produced inChina.

Taking serious note of the is-sue, a strong protest was lodgedwith concerned Chinese authori-ties with a request to take strin-gent action against such unscru-pulous elements, the Rajya Sabhawas informed.

Consequent to India's protest,the Chinese government con-ducted an investigation andfound a nexus between Chinesedrug manufacturers and importersin Nigeria, Minister of State forHealth and Family Welfare DineshTrivedi said in reply to a written

question."The principal suspects have

Steps being taken to protectinterests of investors: GovtNEW DELHI: Vigilant after

Satyam scam, the government hassaid it will take steps to allow in-vestors to seek compensation fromcompanies in an event of negli-gence or fraud, a move that wouldprotect investors' interests.

"The government has takenseveral steps to protect interestsof investors. The Companies Bill,2009, which is before the Parlia-mentary Standing Committee, hasallowed Class Action Suit for thefirst time in the country," Corpo-rate Affairs Minister SalmanKhurshid said in the Lok Sabha.

This and other initiatives likeearly warning are being introducedthrough the new Companies Bill toavoid another Satyam-like situa-tion, he said during Question Hour.

Supriya Sule (NCP) askedwhether the government has de-cided to set up a specialized Re-search and Analysis wing to scru-tinize media reports, corporatepress releases and advertisementswhich can have a bearing on shareprices of companies to avoid cor-porate frauds.

To this, the Minister said, "Thegovernment has set up a Market Re-search and Analysis Unit (MRAU)in the Serious Fraud InvestigationOffice (SFIO) with the objective of

improvements in the regulatory sys-tem in corporate sector."

The new unit will collect infor-mation from various sources in-cluding media, investigating agen-cies, employees, investors, depositholders, banks and financial insti-tutions and analyze the trends.

Khurshid said the governmenthas taken comprehensive stepsincluding strict penalty and

greater participation of sharehold-ers among others to "avoid an-other Satyam fraud."

The new unit would analyze allthe completed investigation casesto ensure that the process wasfollowed in letter and spirit.

"Any deviation and its resultanteffect on the outcome of investiga-tion would be brought out to form abase for further improvements ininvestigation skills," he said

been caught and their factoriessealed. The Chinese government istaking action against the accusedas per their law," he said. -PTI

Indian missions abroad havealso been sensitized to be vigilantagainst such incidents, the minis-ter added.

Replying to another question,

Trivedi said, the National Pharma-ceutical Pricing Authority hasstated that under the provisionsof the drugs order, 1995, the pricedof 74 bulk drugs are controlled.

The NPPA fixes or revisesprices of scheduled drugs asper the provision of the drugorder. -PTI

Fullerton on hiring spree; plansto target middle income group

CHANDIGARH: Financial ad-visory company Fullerton Securi-ties & Wealth Advisors Ltd hassaid it will hire 300 more people bythe end of the current fiscal andwill also provide advisory servicesto the middle income group.

“We have plans to recruit 300more relationship managers byMarch 2010 as part of our expan-sion plans ...which will take thetotal strength of our staff to 500,”Company’s Chief Executive andManaging Director Pallav Sinhatold reporters here.

Acknowledging North India aspotential market for its core busi-ness, the company has decided tofurther expand its network in thenorthern region by opening twomore offices in Jalandhar and

Amritsar in 2009-10.“North India is a critical market

for us as it is still under served asmajority of other companies keeptheir focus on big cities...it resultsin opportunity for us to cater tothis region,” he said.

Besides, the Gurgaon-basedcompany also plans to have pres-ence in Chennai and Surat. Cur-rently the company has officesacross nine cities including Delhi-NCR, Jaipur, Mumbai, Ahmedabad,Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad,Chandigarh and Ludhiana.

“We have found that there is atremendous need for catering tothe middle income group in themarket and our focus will also beon to serve them with our exper-tise,” he said.-PTI

‘The Companies Bill,2009, which is beforethe ParliamentaryStanding Committee,has allowed ClassAction Suit for the firsttime in the country’

Consequent to India'sprotest, the Chinesegovernment con-ducted an investiga-tion and found anexus between Chi-nese drug manufac-turers and importers

ILLINOIS

Upcoming

December 18, 2009 India Post 23

www.indiapost.com

DatebookNEW YORK

Upcoming

NEW JERSEY

Upcoming

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

Upcoming

Sat Dec 19• Christmas PartyVenue: Griggstown Volunteer Fire, House, 1035 CanalRoad, Princeton, New JerseyContact: 732-456-6345

Fri Dec 25• M4U Events Presents Jingle Ball Xmas DayVenue: Fire N Ice, 85 Lafayette Road, Fords, New JerseyTime: 8pmContact: 917-440-5110

Fri Dec 25• UK-USA-Canada Visa SeminarVenue: Garden State Expo Center, 215 Davidson Ave,Somerset, New JerseyTime: 10amContact: 609-308-6155

Thurs Dec 31• Dhoom Machale 2010Venue: Edison Jewish, Community Center, 91 JeffersonBlvd, Edison, New JerseyTime: 7:30pmContact: 732-910-1962Highlights: Live Countdown of Time Square Ball Drop,Family Party, DJ, Magician, Belly Dancer, Dance Lighting,Dress and Dance Competition, Open Bar Serving PremiumDrinks.

Thurs Dec 31• New Year's Eve 2010Venue: Chutney Manor, 3793 Route 1 South, SouthBrunswick, New JerseyTime: 8pmContact: 917-440-5110

Thurs Dec 31• RASOI New Years EveVenue: RASOI-3, 620 Georges Road, Monmouth Jct, NJTime: 7:30pm to 1amContact: 732-429-8150Highlights: Enjoy Premium OPEN Bar, Indo-Chinese, Ital-ian & North Indian Cuisines, DJ Raaz., Live Singer RiteshRathod, balloon Show, Belly Dancers, Live Photo Session.Ample Parking and Tight Security.

Fri Jan 23, 2010• Dance Pe ChanceVenue: Performing Arts Center, 108 Stirling Rd, Warren,New JerseyTime: 6pmContact: 732-369-6626

Every 4th Sat every Month• Durga Mata Ka JagaranVenue: 2335 S. Diamond Bar Boulevard, DBC Center, Dia-mond Bar, CATime: 6:30pmContact: 909-519-1579, 626-810-2345

Every Sat (start from Sat Aug 8)• Gurukul Classes for ChildrenVenue: Sindhu Center, South CaliforniaTime: 2pm to 4pmContact: 818-541-1754 & 909-576-1114Highlights: Children between the ages of 5 and 18. Chil-dren will be taught the Fundamentals of Hinduism, Prayers,Shlokas, Bhajans and Values of our culture.

Sat Dec 19• Yoga, Meditation & Indian Cultural Heri-

tage CampVenue: Gayatri Chetna Center, 2446 W. Orange Ave, Ana-heim, CaliforniaTime: 9am to 3pmContact: 609-933-9637

Fri Dec 18• Bollywood RaatVenue: Hakobe and Sushi lounge, 14N. La Cienega Blvd./Cross Street, Wilshire Blvd, Beverly Hills, CaliforniaTime: 9:30pm to 2amContact: 805-587-5194

Thurs Nov 26, 2009 to Sat Jan 3, 2010• Celebrate the Holidays at

LA Zooís Reindeer RompVenue: Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens5333 Zoo Drive, LATime: 10am to 4pmContact: 323-644-4200Highlights: The LA Zoo kicks off the Holiday seasonwith the activities for the entire family atReindeer Romp. Kids of all ages can get close tothese beautiful creatures.

Thurs Dec 31• Fantasy Ball - New Years Eve 2010Venue: Olympic Center, 11301 W Olympic Blvd, LosAngeles, CaliforniaTime: 8pmContact: 323-205-5594

Sat Jan 9, 2010• Where's the Green? Cleantech and

Money!Venue: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CATime: 8amContact: 626-395-5759

Fri Dec 18• Bhangra The QueVenue: Funky Buddha Lounge, 738 W Grand Ave, Chi-cago, IllinoisTime: 9pmContact: [email protected]

Sun Dec 27• Indian Table Tennis Super Star in ChicagoVenue: Navy Pier, Chicago, IllinoisTime: 10am to 7pmContact: 508-951-0314

Thurs Dec 31• New Year's Eve PartyVenue: Saffron Banquet Hall, 6022 S. Cass Avenue,Westmont, IL-60559Time: 8pmContact: 630-398-7412

Thurs Dec 31Kaleidoscope Mania presents Welcome-

10 Goodbye-09Venue: National Conference Center, 18980 Upper BelmontPlace, Leesburg, VirginiaTime: 8pmContact: 703-598-5588

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Upcoming

Fri Dec 18• The Life and Music of Nikhil BanerjeeVenue: Sangati Center, 3049 22nd St, San Francisco, CATime: 8pm

Fri Dec 18• Kirtilals-Diamonds and Jewelry ShowVenue: Crowne Plaza, 777 Bellew Drive, Milpitas, Cali-fornia, Bay AreaTime: 7pmContact: 408-321-9500

Thurs Dec 24• Nice 'n' NaughtyVenue: Siberia Night Club, 314 11th St, San Francisco,CaliforniaTime: 9pmContact: 650-669-2840

Fri Dec 25• Cristmas PartyVenue: Naz Beauty Salon 460 E Persian Dr#3, Sunny-vale, CaliforniaTime: 7pm to 9pmContact: 650-669-0281

Sat Dec 26• Aaja Nachiye MajajneVenue: Aahmes Event Center, 170 Lindbergh Avenue,Livemore, CaliforniaContact: 408-417-7190

Sun Dec 27• Ian Pont Winter Camps 2009Venue: MVP Arena, 696 E Trimble Road, Suite 30, SanJose, CaliforniaContact: 510-996-3204

Sat Dec 19• Indian Astrological ConferenceVenue: Reeves Great Hall, Fashion Institute of Technol-ogy, 7th Avenue at 28th Street, New YorkContact: (212) 989-8383

Sat Dec 21• Indiandating.com Desi date and DashVenue: Bombay Bistro, 155 E 52nd Street, New YorkTime: 3pm to 7pmContact: (303) 459-2308

Thurs Nov 26• Chand Raat & Eid Mela 2009Venue: Sheraton LaGuardia East, 135-20 39th Avenue,Flushing, New YorkTime: 7pm to 11:30pmContact: (718) 600-0954Highlights: Chand Raat, Eid Mela & Concert 2009 fea-turing jewelry, clothes, DJ, Food, Entertainment. A com-plete family fun. 5 hours of Desi Shopping, Desi music,Desi Jewelery, Desi clothing, Desi Food, Desi Crowd andevery thing that you expect from a Chand Raat, Eid Mela& Concert.

Wed Dec 30• Hangama 2009Venue: Pranna, 79 Medison Ave, Between 28th And 29thStreet, New YorkTime: 10:30pm to 3:30amContact: 212-696-5700

Thurs Dec 31• New Years Eve 2010Venue: Empire Hotel Rooftop, 44 W 63rd Street, NY CityTime: 7pmContact: 212-802-8268

Fri Jan 22, 2010• YaatraVenue: Joyce SoHo, 155 Mercer Street, New York CityTime: 8pmContact: (301) 469-8529

Fri Jan 30, 2010• Russell Peters: Green Card TourVenue: Radio City Music Hall, 1260 Avenue of the Ameri-cas, New YorkTime: 8pmContact: 212-930-5180

Thurs Dec 17• Art of Living CourseVenue: 4904 Aspen Hill Road, Rockville, Maryland,Contact: 301-949-8992

Sat Dec 19• Sarva Sadasya SabheVenue: Sri Siva Vishnu Temple, 6905 Cipriano Rd, Lanham,MarylandTime: 6pm to 9pmContact: (301) 552-3335

Thurs Dec 31• New Year's Eve + 12 Hour KirtanVenue: Hare Krishna Temple, 10310 Oaklyn Drive,Potomac, Maryland, WDCTime: 4pm to 4:30amContact: 301-545-0044

WASHINGTON DC

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24 India Post

6 Shukran Allah - Kurbaan

7 Andhera Hain - Fruit and Nut

8 Tu Hi Haqeeqat - Tum Mile

9 Tum Mere Ho - Aao Wish Karein

10 Daata Sun Le - JailDecember 18, 2009www.indiapost.com

1 Khanabadosh - London Dreams

2 Mann Ka Radio - Radio

3 You May Be - Aladin

4 Tera Hone Laga Hoon

- Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani

5 Rehnuma - Blue

Katrina Kaif seems tohave taken her sizzlingchemistry with co-starRanbir Kapoor in Ajab

Prem Ki Gajab Kahani quite seri-ously. Ever since Ranbir's breakupwith actress Deepika Padukone,Katrina seems hot on his trail, withsome media reports even claimingshe's desperately looking for ahouse near his residence KrishnaRaj bungalow in Mumbai'sChembur. In the past six months,the diva has seen at least six sea-facing houses in the range of overRs 10 crore in the nearby areas,with speculated plans to moveaway from beau Salman Khan'sGalaxy apartments in Bandra.

The chase is not limited to theabode. Even on the professionalfront, Katrina has signed up to bea brand ambassador for an elec-tronics giant, for which Ranbir isalready the brand ambassador.She would be seen endorsing the`home appliances line' of thebrand associated with Ranbir forquite some time now.

The hot Kapoor doesn't seemto mind being his latest co-star'sfancy. A source reveals, "Recently,

director Anurag Basu approachedthe `cute couple' to be part of hisUTV production, a romantic flick.He just told them one line of thescript and they agreed to it with-out any narration. It seems bothare looking for opportunities towork together."

Katrina even has a nicknamefor Ranbir. She calls him a puffin."Ranbir is like a puffin, a colorfulpenguin. He has happy feet andon some days he can look reallypuffy," the actress was quotedsaying in a TV interview.

Ever since Ranbir's breakup with actressDeepika Padukone, Katrina seems hot on histrail, with some media reports even claimingshe's desperately looking for a house near hisresidence Krishna Raj bungalow inMumbai's Chembur

tailKaton his

It seems that Shah Rukh Khan has buried thehatchet with Aamir Khan ever since the "Ghajini"star apologized to his children for making fun of

him.Shah Rukh said he has no hard feelings for his

colleague."We often visit each other's home and we have

love and respect for each other. I don't think therewas any need for him to apologies be-cause it is not really a bigthing for me. Both of usdon't take these things

Aamir isSORRYseriously but it isthe media thatexaggeratesthe wholesituation,"S h a hR u k hsaid.

India Post 25December 18, 2009

www.indiapost.com

Bollywood

Shocking award

Celina Jaitly was in for a shock when her name wasannounced as a Best Female Actor for her Englishfilm Love Has No Language in the recently held

Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF). While she wasbusy clapping for other actors and film makers who werebeing called on stage to be conferred awards, she wasclueless that she had been nominated as a Best Actor aswell.

"I was invited for the event as a guest of honor. Since Iam also an Egyptian tourism ambassador, it was doublethe reason for me to be present in the event. I knew thatmy film Love Has No Language had been a New Zealandentry for the film festival which saw entries from acrossthe globe. However, I was in for a shock when I was calledto come on stage. I was frozen on my seat for a while anddidn't know how to react", says Celina. Some of the otherprominent Bollywood personalities who came back homewith awards were Madhur Bhandarkar, Irrfan Khan andBoney Kapoor.

On the D-day, Celina did make quite a few heads turnthough. She got an outfit exclusively created for the eventand wore a Neeta Lulla creation - a multi-hued Indo-Egyp-tian gown.

Meanwhile this is not the last that Celina has seen ofCairo International Film Festival. From next year on, shewould also be a member of honorary jury.

Even the oft-cited reason 'thedemand of the script' wasn't

able to convince Vidya Balan forthis one. The demure babe, who hasshown her bold side in the promosof director Abhishek Chaubey's up-coming film Ishqiya, wasn't gameto do dirty dancing in a steamy songwith her co-stars Arshad Warsi andNaseeruddin Shah.

Vidya's refusal to do the pelvicjig to the modern rendition of the70s popular raunchy song 'Dhanoki aankhon mein' came as a sur-prise because she has kissedWarsi and even mouthed the dirtyexpletive Ch#@ in the film.

Director Abhishek Chaubeyand producer Vishal Bharadwajeventually decided to shoot thesong on Arshad and Naseer only.

In the film the two play anuncle-nephew duo on the runfrom law. They take shelter in ahome where they both fall for abeautiful girl played by Vidya,who manipulates them with hercharms.

Dirtydancersdancers

Twinkle has a terrific sense of humor. Her superstar husbandAkshay Kumar admits that he wouldn't be half as interesting as

he is currently had it not been for his wife's razor sharp wit.Recently Twinkle accompanied her husband for a couple of high

profile events. "And I thought I had walked into the events alonebecause every time I turned and looked my husband was in front ofa television crew giving interviews.

I had to finally request his bodyguards to drag him away," shejokes. "When it comes to choosing between the media and me, myhusband may just choose them," she laughs.

Akshay admits that at most times he follows Twinkle around likea little lamb, only once in a way he gets a chance to actually stray,in the direction of a mike.

Twinkle star

www.indiapost.com December 18, 200926 India Post

NEW DELHI: Artworks byNamrita Bachchan, the granddaughter of noted Hindi poetHarivansh Rai Bachchan, is cur-rently on exhibit in the capital.

And, all the paintings on dis-play are part of the illustrationsthat Namrita created to accom-pany the relaunch of Bachchan'sbook of poems "Madhushala"(House of wine) which was firstpublished in 1935.

The relaunch of the book as acoffee table book was timed for the102 birth anniversary of the latepoet whose public readings of hispoems were quite popular.

Namrita Bachchan, a graphicdesigner by profession beganwork on the book two years ago."I have used watercolor and inkand mixed media to illustrate thebilingual book of poems."

The book contains both theoriginal and English translation ofpoems side by side, interspersedwith illustrations of paintings anda foreword by uncle andBollywood superstar AmitabhBachchan.

"All the paintings are my inter-pretation of my grandfather'swork. I was stepping into hisshoes and trying to relate to himwhen he wrote the poems as a 28-year-old," says Namrita.

The 21 paintings on display arevivid and colorful and "celebrateslife with elements of love, loss andlonging," says the artist who is a

Painted 'Madhushala'Granddaughter enlivens Bachchan's poetry

poet herself. .The book 'Madhushala,' con-

tains metaphorical poems withstrong influences of Sufism.Harivansh Rai Bachchan triesto explain the complexity of lifewith his four instruments ,madhu, madira or haala (wine),saaki (server), pyaala (cup) andmadhushala, madiralaya (pub/bar).

In one painting Namrita titledrebels and slaves, she seeks toconvey the idea that bothslaves, rebels, warriors and allof mankind is brought togetherby wine.

"My first book of poems inEnglish called 'Deliverance' waspublished in 2006. After that Idecided to do Harivansh Rai'sbook next," says Namrita whois currently based in Mumbai.

The painter says she looksforward to comments and criti-cisms after the publication ofthe book. "It was a lot of hardwork and was really a challengeto keep up the expectations ofmy family I did not want to letthem down" says Namrita whois the daughter of AmitabhBachchan's younger brother.-PTI

Namrita Bachchan

Abhishek Bachchan, his wife Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan and Amitabh Bachchan pose

during the launch of the ëMadhushala - The House of Wineí in tribute of the

late Harivansh Rai Bachchan in Mumbai on November 28

Indian cinema offers poetic justicein three hours: Bachchan

DUBAI: Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan, whowas honored with LifetimeAchievement Award at thisyear's Dubai International FilmFestival (DIFF) says that Indianfilms click with audience world-wide because they offer poeticjustice in three hours.

Bachchan, who felt humbledon receiving the award, said,"Our cinema offers poetic justicein three hours. You walk awayfrom an Indian cinema with a smileon your lips and dried tears onyour cheeks." The 67-year-oldactor said that the Middle East isemerging as one of the largest territories forIndian cinema overseas. He headlined the

Indian celebrities walking the red carpet onthe opening day of DIFF.-PTI

Amitabh Bachchan receives a lifetime acheivment award

from Sheikh Majed, son of the ruler of Dubai Sheikh

Mohammed bin Rashed al-Maktoum, during the opening

ceremony of the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF)

in the Gulf emirate on December 9

December 18, 2009 India Post

www.indiapost.com

27

Consulate's classical concert enthralls enthusiastsIndia Post News Service

NEW YORK: As partof the ongoing Jewel ofIndia series being orga-nized by the IndianConsulate in New York,renowned singerPadmashri ShantiHiranand enthralled au-diences with her mellif-luous voice as she per-formed at the Consu-late on Dec 4. The eventwas cosponsored byThe Indian Council forCultural Relations andThe Roger Smith Hotel, New York.

Over 120 guests attended theevent. A disciple of the legendaryBegum Akhtar, Shanti Hiranandfirst sang for All India Radio in1947. Over the years her style ofGhazals, Thumri and Dadra hasbecome synonymous with an un-forgettable kind of magic thatleavhttp://www.stickam.com/largeChatNew.do?uId=174989534esthe audience enthralled. She wasthe first female Indian artist to besent by the Government of Indiato perform in Pakistan in 1981.

She won over the hearts of Pa-kistanis with her music. She has

performed all over the world and her performances havebeen significant milestones in propagating the tradi-tional style of Hindustani light classical music abroad.

Before starting her performance Hiranand thankedthe Consul General for giving her this opportunity tosing in front of a New York audience. Hiranand mesmer-ized the audience with her excellent rendering of tradi-tional Hindustani music. She started the evening witha Thumri sung in the traditional style of Begum Akhtar.She followed it by a famous Dadra also by Begum Akhtarcalled "Jiya Mora Lehraye". The evening continued withghazals and requests from the guests.

She was given a standing ovation by a very appre-ciative audience. She was accompanied during this con-cert by Vinay Kumar Mishra on the harmonium, ManojNagar on the tabla, Pralash Kumar Thakur on thetanpura and Ghanshyam Sisodia on the sarangi.

Toronto tohost 2011 IIFAAwards

TORONTO: The 12th edition ofthe IIFA awards will take place inToronto, which has become thefirst North American city to hostthe glittering ceremony, popularlyknown as the Oscars ofBollywood.

The International Indian FilmAcademy Awards (IIFA) takesplace in a different world city eachyear. The ceremony caps off afour-day festival that traditionallyfeatures a film festival and indus-try forum. Bollywood mega starAmitabh Bachchan is the IIFAbrand ambassador.

Ontario Premier DaltonMcGuinty in a statement said hewas "thrilled" with the decisionof the IIFA.

"With so many film buffs liv-ing in Ontario, Indian film starsand executives will feel right athome," McGuinty, who is leadinga trade mission to India, said.

"Our standing as the host ofthe Toronto International FilmFestival put us in really goodstead. We have the know-how,we've got the experience andwe've got the infrastructure.-PTI

The appreciative audience Shanti Hiranand performing

Consul General Prabhu Dayal

December 18, 2009India Post28

The golden city of Jaisalmer,which lies courageously asthe western sentinel of In-

dia, is a place worth visiting. Thegolden ray of the setting sun drawsa heavenly picture on the sandsof Jaisalmer. The magnificentwood-and stone-carved mansionsand buildings display the love ofthe Rajputs towards the fine arts.

Jaisalmer is situated in thewesternmost part of the state ofRajasthan, the heart of the greatThar Desert. It has neighboringPakistan on its western side. Onits south, there is the beautiful cityof Bikaner.

The eastern part of the place isbordered by Jodhpur, another cityof color and tradition. The climateof this city is of typical desert char-acter. Population of this city is quitelow compared to the other parts ofthe state.

The best time to visit is the win-ter season (November to Febru-ary) when the heat becomes com-paratively low. The desert festivalheld during the last winter monthsof January and February is themost opportune time to visitJaisalmer.

The city Jaisalmer was foundedby Bhatti Rajput Rawal Jaisal in1156. The history of Jaisalmer alsoreveals the courage and determi-nation of the Rajputs. The cityused to be a major trade center asit was the trade route of the west-ern countries to India.

Tourist Attractions:Visiting Jaisalmer itself means a

visit to the Jaisalmer Fort. Builtover the Trikuta hill, this fort is thebiggest and the most beautifullandmark of the city. The fort isoccupied by shops, stalls, and anumber of other business con-cerns. This fort accommodatesquarter of the city's population.

Just outside the fort is theManakchowk, the famous market-place of Jaisalmer. It is a good placefor bargaining for local products.

The Jain temple, a place worthvisiting, is also situated inside thefort itself. The temple, made be-tween 12th and 15th century, bearstestimony to Rajasthan's uniqueartistry.

Havelis are the mansions builtby the wealthy merchants which

are still in very good condition.The intricate craftsmanship is be-yond parallel. The havelis like thePatwon-ki-Haveli and Salim-Singh-ki-Haveli are remarkable fortheir exclusive cutwork, yellow andred stone treatment and thebracket-shaped decoration of pea-cocks.

Gadsisar Sagar Tank is a famousplace for an outing. Earlier it usedto be the source of water for the

entire city. A number of migratorybirds flock this place during thewinter season.

Desert Culture Center and Mu-seum is another place that wouldgive the visitor a clear insight ofthe place. The museum has a num-ber of old coins, different kinds oftextile, traditional Rajasthani in-struments, and some fossils thatwere found in the desert.

Baba Bagh is an oasis at thebank of a man-made dam. It hasgreenery all around to give amuch-needed relief to the localpeople.

The Jain temple of Lodhruva,

which reminds of the glory of theformer capital city Lodhruva, is aplace worth visiting.

Sam Sand Dunes, situated at theedge of the Thar Desert, is a placegaining tremendous tourist attrac-tion these days. This sandy placeis famous for watching sunset andtaking a camel ride.

Khuri, another place in this glit-tering golden sand, impresses thetourists with its mud houses andstraw roofs.

Cont’d on page 29

The desert festival held during the last wintermonths of January and February is the mostopportune time to visit Jaisalmer

The history ofJaisalmer also re-veals the courageand determination ofthe Rajputs. The cityused to be a majortrade center

India PostDecember 18, 2009 29Travel & Hospitality Postwww.indiapost.com

Desert National Park is anotherplace that preserves the naturalecosystem of the desert land. Cac-tus, thorny trees and shrubs couldbe seen growing easily withoutbeing taken care of.

It has some vegetation that sur-vives in the dry and arid soil. Italso has some animal species likethe monitor lizard, desert foxes,porcupines and black bucks, etc.

Fairs & Festivals: The most fa-mous of the local festivals is thecamel fair that is held during thewinter season. Camel dances,camel races, folk dance, and musicare some of the major attractionsof this place. It is also known asthe desert festival.

How to Reach: Jaisalmer is wellconnected to nearby towns andcities. The nearest city is Jodhpur.To visit this place by air, one hasto take the flight operated by In-dian Airlines between Jodhpur andJaisalmer. There is a meter-gaugetrain that connects this place withthe rest of the small and big places.

Jaisalmer: Thewestern sentinelof IndiaCont’d from page 28

Govt to build infrastructureto attract cruise ships

NEW DELHI: To increaseIndia's appeal as a global tourismdestination, the government willdevelop cruise terminal and infra-structure to attract luxury liners.

"Cruise shipping would be apath breaking development inIndia's efforts to carve a prominentspace in world tourism and itwould showcase India as a majorsource and destination of worldtourism," Shipping Minister G KVasan said in the Lok Sabha dur-ing question hour.

The government has alreadyapproved the Cruise Shipping

Policy last year in June.With the implementation of this

policy, the growth in diverse sec-tors will spill out and it would earnforeign exchange for the countryand generate employment, he said.

He said the number of cruiseships anchoring on Indian coast-lines were increasing.

"The number of cruise shipswhich called at Indian ports was106 in the year 2008-09 as com-pared to 55 in the year 2003-04 andthe number of cruise passengersrose from 34,372 in 2003-04 to69,456 in 2008-09," Vasan said.-PTI

Curtain comes down on week-long Hornbill Festival

KOHIMA: The week-long an-nual Hornbill festival displayingvarious facets of Naga life andculture came to an end thisevening with spectacular displayof fire works presentation of prizesto cultural troupes and musicalbands in different categories.

During the closing function

held in the main arena of theamphitheatre of Kisama Heritagevillage, Parliamentary secretary fortourism and culture gave awayprizes to various folk culturaltroupes for their presentation andceremoniously lit the bonfireamidst battle cries of Naga danc-ers. -PTI

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Air connectivity to promotetourism in Sikkim

GANGTOK: The proposed airconnectivity to destinations inSikkim, which could provide eco-adventure and wellness tourism,would boost the sector, Union Tour-ism Minister Kumari Selja has said.

"It was to enable the state topromote tourist destinations thatthe Union Tourism Ministrygranted financial assistance fordevelopment of three heliportprojects in the state," she said af-ter laying the foundation stone forthe proposed heliport atChemchey in south Sikkim.

Two other heliports have beenproposed at Geetang Khola inWest Sikkim and Mangan in NorthSikkim, she said, adding that airconnectivity would help the statein promotion of tourist destina-tions in rural and inaccessible ar-eas.

Selja, who also inaugurated theHimalayan Adventure and Eco-Tourism Centre at Chemchey, saidher ministry would support thestate government for developmentand promotion of niche tourismproducts like eco-tourism, adven-ture tourism and wellness tourism.

Central financial assistancewould be made available to all the

states for development and pro-motion of tourism to market tour-ism infrastructure throughout theworld, she said.

Hub of Buddhist circuitChief Minister Pawan Kumar

Chamling said that Sikkim has the

potential to become a hub of Bud-dhist circuit to enhance its profileas an international tourism desti-nation.

Sikkim can be developed as a

hub connecting all major Buddhistdestinations in India and its neigh-boring countries, he said at theRegional Conference of the Tour-ism Ministers of the East andNorth-Eastern states at ChintanBhawan here inaugurated byUnion Tourism Minister KumariSelja.

The Rumtek Buddhist monas-tery in Sikkim, Bodh Gaya in Bihar,Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh,Lumbini in Nepal, Taktsang inBhutan, Potala and MansarovarLake in Tibet Autonomous Region(TAR) of China present themselvesas the unique trail of eco-tourismand pilgrimage tourism, he said.

The development of all thesetourism destinations will help re-gional integration and enhancecross-border religious bondsamong the people of these coun-tries, besides presenting a viableeconomic and commercial oppor-tunities, Chamling said.

On Sikkim's own potential as akey tourist destination in thecountry, the chief minister askedthe Centre to provide more fundsand incentives for developmentof tourism infrastructure and mar-keting. -PTI

Selja, who also inau-gurated the Hima-layan Adventure andEco-Tourism Centre atChemchey, said herministry would supportthe state governmentfor development andpromotion of nichetourism products likeeco-tourism, adven-ture tourism andwellness tourism

India PostDecember 18, 2009 31Travel & Hospitality Postwww.indiapost.com

National tourism fair in NepalKATHMANDU: In an effort to

bolster tourism and attract at leastone million visitors annually inNepal, a three-day fair was heldhere in the city.

Over 83 stalls have been estab-lished in the Third National Tour-ism Fair which is being organizedat the initiative of Nepal TourismBoard at Bhrikutimandap inKathmandu.

Various items like garments, car-pets, rugs, woolen mattress, idols,toys, bags, wooden pots, handi-crafts and decorative goods arebeing showcased at different

stalls.Products representing ethnic

culture of diverse places like Mechito Mahakali are on display at thestalls.

The event would help promotedomestic tourism, discover newtourist destinations and enhancethe lifestyle of rural people, theofficials of the Nepal TourismBoard said.

Minister for Tourism and Civil

Aviation, Sharat Singh Bhandariinaugurated the fair and said thegovernment wants to enhance thelifestyle of its citizens by prioritiz-ing Nepal tourism promotion cam-paign which aims to attract aroundone million tourists.

He asked the private sectorto actively participate in tourismsector, which is he said is theback bone of Nepaleseeconomy. -PTI

France to targetmore touristsfrom India

MUMBAI: In a bid to attractmore Indian tourists, France is tar-geting Tier-II cities pan-India andplans promotional events in theselocations.

"We are very much focused onincreasing the number of touristsfrom India and hence we are plan-ning to expand our promotionalreach in more and more Indian cit-ies apart from Delhi and Mumbai,"France Tourism DevelopmentAgency's Director, CatherineOden, told PTI here.

There would an increasingnumber of tourists to France fromcities like Kolkata, Hyderabad andBangalore in the coming years,she said.

"We have plans to set up re-gional offices in other parts of thecountry in the future." -PTI

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Horoscope

www. indiapost .com

NEWSat your doorstep

ARIES Mar 21-Apr 20

TAURUS Apr 21-May 20

GEMINI May 21-Jun 20

CANCER Jun 21-Jul 22

LEO Jul 23-Aug 22

VIRGO Aug 23-Sept 22New Year for

you in

2010

WHAT THE STARS

FORETELL

PANDIT PARASHAR

Jupiter will transit house of gains till May 3rd before moving into 12th. Saturn on the other hand will continue to occupy

sixth throughout 2010. Mars lord of first will occupy fourth and stayweak till May 26th before gathering strength. It is going to be a betteryear as far as the career is concerned. Jupiter's aspect on fifth andseventh will be beneficial. Pending issues related to a child will finallyget settled before May 3rd. There will be an increase in the size of family.Marriage in case of bachelors and an addition in case of married isstrong possibility.

Saturn the Raja Yoga Karka planet will continue to occupy fifth house the friendly sign Virgo throughout the year. Jupiter

will occupy tenth house till May 3rd before moving into eleventh. Rahu willoccupy eighth house for the whole time. Jupiter will create disturbance incareer and you may not approve the way boss will add pressure and workloadon you. As they say necessity is the mother of inventions, such unsatisfac-tory working conditions will make you look around and Saturn will help youlocate a better job. Just remember what ever happen in career this year willprove to a blessing in disguise in time to come.

Ketu will transit over your sign and Saturn will stay in fourth throughout 2010. Jupiter will stay in ninth till May 3rd

before moving into tenth. Mars the Red color planet will stay in houseof family and finances till May 26th. You will be working extra hardand most of you will travel away from home in connection with workor business. Pay attention to what spouse says and do not be afraidto admit your mistakes other wise family life can get disturbed. If youget a chance to move towards direction west, grab it, will provelucky for you.

Mars the Raja yoga karaka planet will stay weak till May26th. Jupiter will transit eighth house till May 3rd

before moving into house of luck for rest of 2010. Saturn will stay inthird house. You will be working extra hard for first five months to meetand fulfill your commitments on time. Projects at this point will not givedesired returns as estimated earlier but only after June, 2010. Do notfeel frustrated and have confidence in your self. You just lack the Midastouch. Once Jupiter moves into house of luck on May 3rd, suddenlythe whole scenario will change to your advantage.

Saturn will stay in second house and continue its last leg of sadhe sati. Jupiter will stay in seventh till May 3rd

before moving into eighth. Mars the Raja yoga karaka planet staysweak in 12th before finally gaining strength on May 26th. You willhave no choice but to keep pouring in money into your projects orbusiness hoping things to turn around any day. People prone tolitigations should not let their guards down even for a minute asSaturn's transit in house of finances can drain you out throughlegal procedures.

Saturn will occupy first house and Jupiter will occupy sixth till May 3rd. Rahu will occupy fourth. Of course there is

no escape from hard work for you this year. It will be a roller coasterride. You will be working in a challenging environment. Initially compe-tition will be too much but with hard work and patience you will make itin second half of 2010. You will be on your feet most of the time andsome of you may have to stay and work away from family this year.

The forecast for signs Libra to Pisces will be carried next week


36 India Post December 18, 2009www.indiapost.com

In Brief Immigration

ICE workplace audits stepped upCYRUS D. MEHTA

U.S. Immigration and Cus-toms Enforcement (ICE)Assistant Secretary John

Morton announced on November19, 2009, the issuance of Noticesof Inspection (NOIs) to approxi-mately 1,000 employers across theU.S. associated with critical infra-structure, alerting business own-ers that ICE will audit their hiringrecords to determine compliancewith employment eligibility verifi-cation laws.

The businesses served withaudit notices were selected for in-spection, ICE said, "as a result ofinvestigative leads and intelli-gence and because of the busi-ness' connection to public safetyand national security -- for ex-ample, privately owned critical in-frastructure and key resources."The names and locations of thebusinesses were not released "dueto the ongoing, law enforcementsensitive nature of these audits."

Audits involve a comprehen-sive review of Forms I-9 (Employ-ment Eligibility Verification). Au-

dits may result in civil penaltiesand lay the groundwork for crimi-nal prosecution of employers whoknowingly violate the law. ICEidentified I-9 audits as "the mostimportant administrative tool inbuilding criminal cases and bring-ing employers into compliance

with the law."Statistics resulting from 654

audits announced in July in-cluded:

• ICE agents reviewed morethan 85,000 Form I-9s and identi-fied more than 14,000 suspectdocuments, which was approxi-mately 16 percent of the total num-ber reviewed.

• As of November 19, 2009, 61NIFs have been issued, resulting in

$2,310,255 in fines. In addition, 267cases are being considered for NIFs.

• ICE closed 326 cases afterbusinesses were found to be incompliance with employment lawsor after businesses were servedwith a Warning Notice in expecta-tion of future compliance.

The Alliance of Business Immi-gration Lawyers (ABIL) notes thatsome clients are reporting receiptof subpoenas for wage and relatedrecords. Relying on inexperiencedcounsel and self-audits is nolonger sufficient. Contact yourABIL member for guidance in par-ticular cases, including conduct-ing proactive pre-audits.

The ICE announcement is athttp://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0911/

091119washingtondc2.htm.USCIS reminds applicants for

travel documents to apply earlyU.S. Citizenship and Immigra-

tion Services has reminded appli-cants for advance parole (permis-sion to reenter the U.S. after trav-eling abroad) to apply early.USCIS said that travelers mustobtain advance parole if they havebeen granted temporary protectedstatus or have a pending applica-tion for (1) adjustment of status tolawful permanent residence; (2)relief under § 203 of the Nicara-guan Adjustment and CentralAmerican Relief Act; (3) asylum;or (4) legalization.

The agency issued a fact sheetoutlining eligibility requirements,the consequences of travelingwithout advance parole for affectedpersons, and the possible conse-quences of using advance paroleafter being unlawfully present in theU.S. or to return to the country ofclaimed persecution.

Cont’d on page 39

Tancredo seekingballot measure onimmigration

DENVER: Former U.S. Rep. TomTancredo has filed a ballot pro-posal that would require busi-nesses to use a federal program tocheck the immigration status of allnewly hired workers.

The proposal is aimed at the2010 ballot.

Tancredo says high unemploy-ment is enough to make peoplemore sensitive to immigrants work-ing here illegally.

The measure would order theLegislature to pass a law requir-ing that businesses do the checks.

The measure faces a legal re-view before Tancredo and support-ers can begin collecting signaturesget it placed on the ballot. -AP

Feds take rareItalian sports carfrom US showroom

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO,CALIFORNIA: Federal agentshave seized a rare Italian sportscar they believe was illegally im-ported by a California man and hisco-conspirators.

Immigration and Customs En-forcement officials alleged thatautomotive engineer ClaudioZampolli, the creator of the 1994Cizeta, brought it into the countryin 2001 for maintenance and re-pairs. It is one of fewer than adozen produced and sold forabout $600,000. It was supposedto be exported within a year.

The government said thevehicle's stay in the country vio-lates customs rules. They said itis illegal to sell the car because itdoes not meet U.S. environmentaland safety standards. A call toZampolli's attorney was not imme-diately returned. -AP

Judge sides withOhio overimmigrant drivers

COLUMBUS, Ohio: A judge isallowing Ohio to cancel the regis-trations of thousands of vehicleslargely driven by illegal immi-grants.

The ruling was a defeat for theLeague of United Latin AmericanCitizens. The group, which arguedthat Ohio was illegally delving intoU.S. immigration policy, is consid-ering an appeal. Franklin CountyCommon Pleas Court MagistratePamela Browning said the statehad a compelling public safety in-terest in canceling questionableregistrations. -AP

Illegal immigrantpleads guilty indeadly crash

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.: A manauthorities say is an illegal immi-grant has pleaded guilty todrunken driving in a fatal crash insuburban Grand Rapids. EfrainGarcia-Miron entered the plea inKent County Circuit Court. -AP

Asian communities urged toparticipate in Census 2010


NEW YORK: The U.S. CensusBureau held a media briefing at theAsian Americans for Equality con-ference room for reporters repre-senting Asian communities. At thebriefing, census representativesprovided an overview of the 2010Census and emphasized the impor-tance of participation of commu-nity members in the decennial sur-vey.

"The Census Bureau under-stands the importance of reachingAsian communities to educatethem about the upcoming 2010Census," said Jamal Baksh, part-nership coordinator of the CensusBureau's New York Regional Cen-ter. "This media briefing is an op-portunity for us to work with localAsian media to ensure that ourcommunities receive correct infor-mation about the census and towork toward the goal of a completeand accurate count of everyone."

Baksh emphasized that every-one living in the United States,regardless of legal status, are re-quired by the U.S. Constitution toparticipate in the census. Censusdata help determine boundaries forstate and local legislative and con-gressional districts. Census data

also help determine how more than$400 billion per year in federal fund-ing is allocated for roads, schools,hospitals, community services andmore.

The Census Bureau has strictconfidentiality provisions thatprotect the responses of thosewho participate. By law, CensusBureau employees cannot share

information provided by respon-dents with any person or govern-ment agency. Every employee hastaken a lifetime oath to protect theinformation and is subject to finesand/or jail time if any informationis disclosed.

"We want to assure residents

that any information they provideon their census form is tightlyguarded," said Baksh. "We usethe information provided for sta-tistical purposes only. Any Cen-sus Bureau employee who revealsdata pertinent to the 2010 Censuscan face a fine up to $250,000 andup to five years in jail."

For the 2010 Census, the Cen-

sus Bureau will feature one of theshortest census forms in history,with 10 questions that take about10 minutes to answer. The form willask for information such as name,relationship to head of household,gender, age, date of birth, race andwhether respondents own or renttheir home. For those who speaklimited to no English, in-languageassistance guides will be availableonline in 59 different languages tohelp them fill out their censusforms.

"Our community and media part-ners have been instrumental inhelping us get the word out aboutthe upcoming Census," saidBaksh. "The 10 minutes it takes tofill out the questionnaire can helpbring in resources that will posi-tively impact the community welive in."

For additional informationabout the 2010 Census and theCensus Bureau, visit<www.2010.census.gov>.

ICE closed 326 cases after businesses werefound to be in compliance with employmentlaws or after businesses were served with aWarning Notice in expectation of futurecompliance

‘The 10 minutes it takes to fill out thequestionnaire can help bring in resourcesthat will positively impact the communitywe live in’

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India Post 37

www.indiapost.com

December 18, 2009 Immigration Post

Postville immigrants facelikely deportation

POSTVILLE, Iowa: Forty-year-old Juventino Lopez Pichia wantsto bring his wife and children toIowa.

But he knows that likely willnever happen.

Instead Pichia and about 29other immigrants arrested in themassive 2008 raid ofAgriprocessors Inc. face deporta-tion, probably sometime before theend of the year. The 30 or so immi-grants were given temporary workvisas so they could remain in Iowaand be available to testify inSholom Rubashkin's second fed-eral trial.

However, those charges weredropped against the formerAgriprocessors vice president.

`Ìf I could bring my wife andchildren here, I would,'' said Pichia,who cut chicken breasts at theplant for $7.25 an hour. ̀ `This is acountry of opportunities. Butsince that can't happen, I'm goingto work hard here until I go back.''

Pichia shares a home inDecorah with six other men in-volved with the raid and commuteswith them to their jobs in Postville.All are originally from Guatemala.In their free time, they alternatechores cooking and cleaning thehome, rented from a local family.

Javier Lopez Sache, 19, said hehad hoped to help support his fivebrothers and five sisters back athome. Sache said he worked in arefrigerated area of the plant, in acold comparable to the outdoortemperature in the teens.

Work at the plant remains hec-tic, ``but the pace is better now,''Sache said. ̀ `Before, all the super-visors were very demanding.''

Many of the men attend ser-vices at local churches. Pichia,who said he doesn't drink orsmoke because of his Christianfaith, said he now calls his familyonce a day.

Advocates for the immigrantswho were supposed to testifyagainst Rubashkin say they areoutraged that a federal jury willnever hear about past abuses atthe plant.

``What is their future?'' askedthe Rev. Paul Ouderkirk, retired

pastor of St. Bridget's CatholicChurch in Postville. ``What willthe government do with them? Willany recognition be made that theysacrificed two years of their lives?''

Some immigrants suffered sogreatly from their post-raid experi-ences that the Catholic Archdio-cese of Dubuque, which encom-passes Postville, hired bilingualpsychiatric counselors to helpthem with depression and othermental illnesses, Ouderkirk said.

``The raid isn't over,'' he said.``There's no closure, no matterhow hard the people want there tobe.''

Agriprocessors was the site ofa May 2008 federal raid that caught389 illegal-immigrant workers.About 300 were charged with ag-gravated identity theft or posses-

sion of false documents and sentto prison for five months.

Among them was Victor HugoSis Tepaz, 44, a Guatemalan whoworked a 4 p.m. to 3:30 a.m. shift atthe plant before the raid. Tepazwas arrested, pleaded guilty to anidentity theft charge for using anOhio Social Security number, andserved a five-month prison sen-tence in Florida and Oklahoma.

Federal agents returned Tepazand other former workers toPostville in November 2008 sothey could testify againstRubashkin in his 72-count immi-gration trial.

But those charges weredropped in November, after aSouth Dakota jury convictedRubashkin of 86 counts of finan-cial fraud. The decision hinged, inpart, on the likely cost and incon-venience to witnesses. Prosecu-tors also argued that jurors hadeffectively declared Rubashkin'sguilt on some immigration chargeswhen they found him guilty of ly-ing to the plant's lender about thework force. Defense lawyers dis-pute the assertion.

When the immigration chargeswere dropped, prosecutors nolonger needed the immigrant wit-nesses, who now face deportation.

The immigrants were giventemporary work visas while theywaited to testify in the trial, andeventually returned toAgriprocessors.

Rubashkin, along with his fa-ther and several former human re-source employees, still faces thou-sands of child labor charges lev-ied by the Iowa attorney general'soffice. All have pleaded not guilty,and a trial is slated to begin at anot-yet-set date next year.

Tepaz said conditions at thekosher meat plant have improved.The supervisors before ``werevery strict'' and always pushedemployees to work faster, he saidthrough a Spanish translator.``Now, they're friendly,'' he said.

He said he now makes $9.25 perhour, up from the $7.50 hourlywage he collected when he firststarted. He works 50 to 60 hoursper week.

Workers have alleged thatthey were illegally underpaid,overworked and threatened withjob termination if they com-plained. One girl, who was 15when she was hired, told stateinvestigators of repeated sexualharassment from some low-levelsupervisors.

A sense of caution still hoversin Postville about Agri Star, theplant's new name under new own-ership. Hershey Friedman, a Cana-dian businessman, bought the plantout of bankruptcy and reopened itwith promises to restart the now-dormant beef kill line. -AP

Tepaz said condi-tions at the koshermeat plant haveimproved. The super-visors before ‘werevery strict’ and al-ways pushed em-ployees to workfaster, he said. ‘Now,they're friendly,’

Immigration Postwww.indiapost.com


Cuba-US migration talks pushedback until February

HAVANA: Highly anticipatedimmigration talks between Cubaand the United States have beenpushed back because of schedul-ing concerns that each side blameson the other, another hint that rec-onciliation may be more difficultthan it once appeared.

A U.S. State Department offi-cial told The Associated Press onthat both sides intend to continueholding periodic negotiations onimmigration issues twice a year,but that bureaucratic concernsderailed talks that had been sched-uled for early December in Havana.

`Àt the Cuban government'srequest, the talks have been re-scheduled for February,'' he said.

A senior Cuban official con-firmed that the negotiations hadbeen delayed, but said it was atWashington's bidding-not Cuba's.``We were ready to hold the talksin December,'' he said.

Both officials spoke on condi-tion of anonymity because theywere not authorized to discuss thedelay publicly.

They agreed that the postpone-ment had nothing to do with poli-tics, but it was another sign offraying in what months agoseemed like a golden opportunityto end a half-century of discord.

`Òne does have the impressionthat things are rather stalled, andthe postponement of these talkswill add to that impression,'' saidWayne Smith, a senior fellow atthe Center for International Policyin Washington and the formerhead of the U.S. Interests Sectionin Havana, which the U.S. main-tains here instead of an embassy.`Ìt's very disappointing.''

He blamed officials in Wash-ington for dragging their feet, say-

ing President Barack Obama hadtaken baby steps and failed toshow Havana he was seriousabout changing U.S. policy.

Last month, the State Depart-ment denounced an assault - al-legedly by plainclothes state se-curity agents - against Cuba's topdissident blogger, Yoani Sanchez.Obama later sent a lengthy per-sonal message to her, praising herfor her work and answering a se-ries of questions she had posed.

This week, prominent Americanblack leaders denounced racismon the island - a particularly touchy

subject in Cuba - prompting a blis-tering response from Cuban art-ists, writers and intellectuals whosaid their society is not racist.

Former Cuban President FidelCastro has used recent essays onworld events to lay into Obama forAmerica's policy in Honduras,which he says amounts to supportof this summer's military coupthere, and in Colombia, where theU.S. recently signed an accord thatwill allow American soldiers in-creased access to seven of thatcountry's military bases.

Castro said the plan amountedto a military annexation of Colom-

bia by Washington, saying thatcountry was being ``devoured bythe empire with the same ease withwhich a lizard swallows a fly.''

Last week, Cuba conducted wargames against a U.S. invasion,which Cuban military leaders in-sist is still a real possibility.

Regularly scheduled discus-sions between the U.S. and Cubawere limited to immigration issuesfrom 1994 until they were canceledunder President George W. Bushin 2003. Both sides met to discussthe issue in New York in July andcalled that session positive.

In September, Cuba and theUnited States revived talks to re-store direct mail service betweenboth countries since Obama tookoffice. Bisa Williams, the U.S.deputy assistant secretary ofstate for Western Hemisphere af-fairs who traveled to Havana forthose discussions, stayed an ex-tra six days and even met withCuban Deputy Foreign MinisterDagoberto Rodriguez, raisinghopes for a thaw in relations.

But those hopes have fizzledsomewhat. Cuban officials saythey have made concrete propos-als to the United States to holdtalks on counternarcotics, disas-ter preparedness and other issues_ but have not heard back. Wash-ington, in turn, says Cuba hasdone little to inspire confidencethat it will allow social, political oreconomic changes _ somethingthe U.S. said is a prerequisite tomoving forward.

``We are waiting to see what kindof opening they are going to givetheir own people,'' a second, moresenior State Department official toldAP in a recent interview, also oncondition of anonymity. -AP

A senior Cubanofficial confirmedthat the negotiationshad been delayed,but said it was atWashington's bidding-not Cuba's

India Post 39

www.indiapost.com

December 18, 2009 Immigration Post

The fact sheet is available athttp://www.uscis.gov/USCIS/New%2-0Structure/Press%2-0Re-leases/2009%20Press-%20Re-leases/Oct%-202009/AdvParo-leFact%20ShtOct2009Final.pdf.

USCIS updates H-1B FY 2010cap count

As of November 20, 2009, ap-proximately 56,900 H-1B cap-sub-ject petitions had been filed, U.S.Citizenship and Immigration Ser-vices (USCIS) announced. USCIShas approved sufficient H-1B peti-tions for those with advanced de-grees to meet the exemption of20,000 from the fiscal year 2010 cap.Any H-1B petitions filed on behalfof a worker with an advanced de-gree will now count toward the gen-eral H-1B cap of 65,000.

USCIS will continue to acceptboth cap-subject petitions andadvanced degree petitions until asufficient number of H-1B petitionshas been received to reach thestatutory limit, taking into ac-count the fact that some of thesepetitions may be denied, revoked,or withdrawn.

The recent pace of filings sug-gests that H-1B numbers may beexhausted for the fiscal year by theend of December. After that, em-ployers will be left with limited al-ternatives for hiring skilled foreignnationals when U.S. workers areunavailable until filings for the nextfiscal year can be made.

* Cyrus D Mehta, may becontacted at 212-425-0555 or

[email protected]

For details, see http://www.uscis.gov/h-1b_count.

State Dept. cautions waivertravelers to disclose visa delaysas denials

The Department of State hastaken the position that those whohave applied for a visa that can-not be granted due to a need forfurther security clearances, or ad-ditional documents or information,have been effectively "denied" a

visa and must disclose this whencompleting their ESTA (ElectronicSystem for Travel Authorization)application should they later wishto use the Visa Waiver Program asa visitor while their visa applica-tion remains pending.

The Alliance of Business Immi-gration Lawyers warns that this situ-

ation can be confusing because theapplicants may have been told sim-ply that their applications requirefurther processing rather than thatthey have been denied, but thenthey may be refused admission laterfor misrepresentation if they do notdisclose the denial.

Such travelers are advised toindicate that they have been re-fused a visa under INA § 221(g)when completing their ESTA regis-trations. Those who have com-pleted an ESTA registration with-out revealing the denial are advisedto re-register and indicate the spe-cifics. This is a fluid situation, andthe Department's position is con-troversial. Consult your immigra-tion attorney for more specific guid-ance in particular cases.

Information on the ESTA sys-tem is available at https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/esta.h-tml?_flowExecutionKey=_c2E5A-4D95-E27C-3FCA-B3E1-C3866-F0FF-391_k8329F60B-FD9E-61A1-1777-C748F6B4CB86. Thenew Department of State positionwas made in consultation withU.S. Customs and Border Protec-tion (CBP), which announced it tothe American Immigration LawyersAssociation's (AILA) CBP liaisoncommittee. A public announce-ment by CBP is awaited.


ICE workplace audits stepped up

Indian Passport & Miscellaneous Consular ServicesWe speak Gujarati/Hindi/Punjabi/Urdu

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Tel: 91-79-2657-5977Fax: 91-79-2657-5978Email: [email protected]

Affidavit of Support

Adjustment of StatusALL IMMIGRATION FORMALITIESU.S. CITIZENSHIP/GREEN CARD

Troubled RI jail expected to name interim headCENTRAL FALLS, R.I.: A consultant who

authored a highly critical report on a RhodeIsland jail that housed immigration detain-ees is expected to be voted in as the facility'sinterim director.

Michael Fair, the former commissioner ofthe Massachusetts Department of Correc-

tions, said in an audit released last week thatthe quasi-public Donald W. Wyatt Deten-tion Facility in Central Falls was plagued bydysfunctional leadership and a lack of trans-parency.

Wyatt spokesman Bill Fischer said theboard that oversees the jail was expected to

vote on Fair's appointment. The appoint-ment is expected to last 90 days, he said.

Fischer said Fair's audit showed ``thatwe are lacking executive management over-sight and that something needs to be put inplace immediately.''

``We have an immense amount of respect

for his experience and, because of his re-view during the past eight weeks, he's got-ten to know the facility very well,'' he added.The facility has been in turmoil since theAugust 2008 death of a Chinese immigrantwho was detained there for allegedly over-staying a visa. -AP

The agency issued afact sheet outliningeligibility require-ments, the conse-quences of travelingwithout advanceparole for affectedpersons, and thepossible conse-quences of usingadvance parole afterbeing unlawfullypresent in the U.S.

www.indiapost.com40 India Post December 18, 2009

Health ScienceHealth Line

Greenhouse gases endangerhuman health, says EPA

WASHINGTON: The Environ-mental Protection Agency hastaken a major step toward regu-lating greenhouses gases, con-cluding that climate changing pol-lution threatens Americans' healthand the environment.

The announcement came asthe Obama administration lookedto boost its arguments at an inter-national climate conference thatthe United States is aggressivelytaking actions to combat globalwarming, even though Congresshas yet to act on climate legisla-tion.

The EPA said that the scientificevidence surrounding climatechange clearly shows that green-house gases ``threaten the publichealth and welfare of the Ameri-can people'' and that the pollut-ants - mainly carbon dioxide fromburning fossil fuels - should beregulated under the Clean Air Act.

``These long-overdue findingscement 2009's place in history asthe year when the United States

to Congress is crystal clear: getmoving.''

Under a Supreme Court ruling,the so-called endangerment find-ing is needed before the EPA canregulate carbon dioxide and fiveother greenhouse gases releasedfrom automobiles, power plants,and factories under the federalClean Air Act.

The EPA signaled last April

that it was inclined to view heat-trapping pollution as a threat topublic health and welfare and be-gan to take public comments un-der a formal rulemaking. The ac-tion marked a reversal from theBush administration, which hadrefused before leaving office to

government began addressing thechallenge of greenhouse-gas pol-lution,'' said EPA AdministratorLisa Jackson at news conference.

The action by the EPA, whichhas been anticipated for months,clearly was timed to add to themomentum toward some sort ofagreement on climate change atthe Copenhagen conference andtry to push Congress to approve

climate legislation.``This is a clear message to

Copenhagen of the Obamaadministration's commitments toaddress global climate change,''said Sen. John Kerry, a Democratand lead author of a climate billbefore the Senate. ̀ `The message

issue the finding, despite a con-clusion by EPA scientists that itwas warranted.

Business groups have stronglyargued against tackling globalwarming through the Clean AirAct, saying it is less flexible andmore costly than the cap-and-trade bill being considered beforeCongress. Some of those groupsquestioned the timing of the EPA'sannouncement, calling it political.

``The implications of the actionby EPA are far-reaching...individual Americansand consumers and businessesalike will be dramatically affectedby this decision,'' said Charles T.Drevna, the president of the Na-tional Petrochemical & RefinersAssociation.

Drevna, in a statement, said ̀ ìtis hardly the time to risk the re-mainder of the U.S. industrial sec-tor in an attempt to achieve ashort-term international public re-lations victory.''

Drugmakers' support for health overhaul testedWASHINGTON: The phar-

maceutical industry may have tocough up more than the $80 bil-lion it agreed to contribute toPresident Barack Obama's healthoverhaul effort, reflecting pres-sure from Democrats and theirsupporters for more money tocover older and low-incomepeople.

Obama and congressionalDemocrats want the drug indus-try to remain a crucial ally in thehealth care fight because of itsdeep pockets and influence instates where it is a large em-ployer, including New York, NewJersey, Connecticut and Indiana.So far, it remains an active backerof the Democrats' efforts andplans to expand a supportive TVad campaign on which it has al-ready spent tens of millions ofdollars.

By many accounts, the healthpackage the House approvedlast month would count on get-ting about $140 billion from drugcompanies to defray additional

health care costs over the nextdecade. Industry officials say theversion the Senate is debatingmay already pluck close to $100billion from drugmakers - and anexpected parade of amendmentscould boost that by billions more.

``The numbers are still in thesame ballpark,'' said Ken Johnson,senior vice president of the Phar-

maceutical Research and Manu-facturers of America. ̀ Ànd we'restill committed to making healthcare reform a reality this year.''

The proposals to dig deeperinto drugmakers' wallets pose atest for one of Washington's rich-est lobbies as it works to limit thedamage. Many Democrats be-lieve the industry will profit whenroughly 30 million uninsured

Americans gain coverage forprescriptions.

``There's enormous pressureon the part of Democrats to spendmore money. Who's got deeppockets?'' said Robert Laszewski,a health care consultant. ``Thedrug companies are going to haveto pay more.''

About $320 billion in pharma-

ceuticals will be sold in the U.S.next year, according to IMSHealth Inc., a data tracking firm.But that is expected to grow byless than 5 percent annually inthe next few years, a relativelylow figure caused by a paucityof new drugs and growing num-bers of low-cost generic competi-tors, IMS said.

Other groups backing the

health overhaul also are facingproblems as Congress shapesthe legislation. Hospitals op-pose an amendment penalizingthose facilities with high infec-tion rates, and groups represent-ing the elderly are wary of aMedicare cost-saving commis-sion that, they worry, would cutthe program too deeply.

Pressures to boost the drugindustry's contributions arewidespread.

The powerful AARP, repre-senting older Americans, wantsto close the ``doughnut hole,'' agap in Medicare's coverage ofprescription drugs. Consumergroups want higher federal sub-sidies so low-income people canafford health insurance.

Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., wantsan additional $106 billion in drugdiscounts for many low-incomeMedicare recipients and woulddivide it between reducing se-niors' drug costs and cutting thefederal deficit.

Cont’d on page 41

Award for project onresistance to che-motherapy drugs

NEW YORK: High schoolerswho delved into the mysteries ofchemotherapy and graph theorywon $100,000 prizes at a competi-tion honoring the nation's topmath and science students.

Five other individual studentsand five teams won $10,000 to$50,000 in the Siemens Competi-tion in Math, Science and Tech-nology and were honored at a cer-emony at New York University.

Individual top winner RuoyJiang, 17, a senior at Ward MelvilleHigh School in East Setauket, onNew York's Long Island, said hechose his project on resistance tochemotherapy drugs because `Ìreally wanted to do somethingthat was challenging, that wascutting edge.''

Groups try simplesteps to avoidhospital rebound

WASHINGTON: Talk aboutunnecessary misery: One in fiveMedicare patients winds up backin the hospital within a month -even worse, one in four patientswith heart failure.

A major push is under wayaround the country to cutrehospitalizations, in part by arm-ing patients with simple steps tokeep their recovery on track -likegetting past harried receptionistsfor quicker follow-up doctor vis-its, and reducing medication con-fusion.

Central Parkvisitors warned ofrabid raccoons

NEW YORK: New York Cityhealth officials are warning visi-tors to Central Park to avoid wildanimals after three rabid raccoonswere discovered there, two ofthem in the past week.

Health officials believe rabiesis being transmitted among rac-coons in the park.

Officials say visitors alsoshould stay away from skunks,bats, and stray dogs and cats. Dogowners should keep pets onleashes.

Rabid raccoons are rare inManhattan. But officials say fourhave been identified so far thisyear. Rabies is a viral diseasethat's usually spread from a biteor scratch by an infected animal.If it's not treated immediately, itcan be fatal. -AP

FDA investigatingmore dangerousbrain scans

WASHINGTON: Federalhealth regulators are investigat-ing reports of dangerous radiationlevels at two more California hos-pitals, following earlier unsafemedical scans at a Los Angelesfacility. -AP

Drevna, in a statement, said ̀ ìt is hardly the timeto risk the remainder of the U.S. industrial sectorin an attempt to achieve a short-term interna-tional public relations victory

The health package the House approved lastmonth would count on getting about $140 bil-lion from drug companies to defray additionalhealth care costs over the next decade

Cont’d on page 41

India PostDecember 18, 2009 Health Science Post 41

www.indiapost.com

Any regulations are also likelyto spawn lawsuits and lengthylegal fights.

The EPA and the White Househave said regulations on green-house gases will not be imminenteven after an endangerment find-ing, saying that the administrationwould prefer that Congress act tolimit such pollution through aneconomy-wide cap on carbon di-

oxide and other greenhousegases.

Nevertheless, the EPA has be-gun the early stages of develop-ing permit requirements on carbondioxide pollution from large emit-ters such as power plants. Theadministration also has said it willset the first-ever greenhouse gasemissions standards for automo-biles and raise fuel economy to 35miles per gallon by 2016 to reducecarbon dioxide emissions.

The EPA's readiness to tackleclimate change is expected to givea boost to U.S. arguments at theclimate conference inCopenhagen.

While the House has approvedclimate legislation that would cutemissions by 17 percent by 2020and about 80 percent by mid-cen-tury, the Senate has yet to take upthe measure amid strong Republi-can opposition and reluctance bysome centrist Democrats. -AP

Greenhouse gases endangerhuman health, says EPA


He said the White House andSenate leaders have pressed himto drop the effort and concedesit will be tough to prevail. Hisamendment was defeated in theFinance committee with opposi-tion from Baucus plus Sens.Robert Menendez, D-N.J., andThomas Carper, D-Del., whosetwo states have major pharma-ceutical industries.

Other senators want to allowimportation of lower-priceddrugs and shorten the period ofpatent protection for brand-namebiological drugs opening theway for less expensive genericcompetitors. There could also bea push to cover the uninsuredsooner than three or more yearsfrom now, a delay lawmakers builtinto the bills to reduce the cost.

The House bill has a 10-yearoverall price tag of $1.2 trillionwhile the Senate's costs nearly$1 trillion.

Those targeting drugmakerspoint to a recent AARP reportsaying prices on popular brandname drugs rose by 9 percentover the past year, when overallinflation fell. They also cite re-

cent Fortune magazine rankingsshowing that pharmaceuticalcompanies' profits grew by 25percent last year, fifth highestamong 51 industries.

Drugmakers dispute that.Johnson says the AARP

study overstated drug prices byignoring discounts manufactur-ers often provide. He says theindustry has shed thousands ofjobs this year and saw laggingstock prices, and says its profitsfrom an overhaul would be lim-ited because many new custom-ers would buy generic drugs orget discounts.

To argue their case,drugmakers have spent $137 mil-lion lobbying this year, more thanany other industry, the nonparti-san Center for Responsive Poli-tics says. In July through Sep-tember, the drugmakers' tradegroup alone reported spendingnearly $7 million lobbying. It di-rectly employed 19 lobbyistsworking on health care overhauland hired 24 outside firms with73 lobbyists for the issue.

The pharmaceutical industryagreed to provide $80 billion indrug subsidies and fees in a Junedeal with Senate Finance Com-

mittee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., and the White House.Baucus aides said the bill hispanel approved in October hon-ored that figure.

The version the Senate is de-bating, written by Senate Major-ity Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.,might already be higher, althoughits final cost to the drug industryremains unclear.

But the House bill would costdrugmakers about $140 billion,

according to Rep. Frank Pallone,D-N.J., chairman of the healthsubcommittee. That suggests aneventual House-Senate compro-mise is likely to exceed $80 bil-lion.

``They didn't reach that agree-ment with us,'' said Rep. HenryWaxman, D-Calif., chief author ofthe House-passed bill, of the $80billion figure. ``We need all themoney we can get to hold downcosts.'' -AP

Drugmakers' support for health overhaul testedCont’d from page 40

Those targetingdrugmakers point to arecent AARP reportsaying prices onpopular brand namedrugs rose by 9 per-cent over the pastyear, when overallinflation fell

Briefs India India Post December 18, 2009www.indiapost.com42

NewsOppn attacks Govt for stand

on climate changeNEW DELHI: A united opposi-

tion pilloried the government onits strategy for the Copenhagenclimate summit, accusing it ofbuckling under US pressure andopening its card on the emissioncuts announcements.

As about 193 countries begantheir ten-day meeting in the Dan-ish capital for a global pact on cli-mate change, the oppositioncharged the Government in theRajya Sabha with "totally alter-ing" its consistent position thatthe country has been following allalong.

Environment Minister JairamRamesh denied the charges andsaid, "There is simply no compro-mise on India's interest."

Not satisfied, almost entire op-position including BJP, CPI-M,CPI, SP and AIADMK staged awalkout.

Leading the onslaught, Leaderof Opposition Arun Jaitley saidmaking a unilateral announcementof emission intensity cuts of 20-25 per cent ahead of the summitwas a bad strategy.

"It is a bad strategy on the partof government. We have openedall our cards. Our disclosure hasbecome a baseline for further ne-

gotiations. Even our negotiatorsappear to be sulking," Jaitley said.

Senior CPI-M leader SitaramYechury said the "suspicion isthat it is happening under pres-sure". He said this was evidentfrom the White House statementof December 4 which said Chinaand India have set a target to re-duce carbon intensity.

Yechury, who will be part of the

Parliamentary delegation to thesummit, wondered whether PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh'stravel plans to Copenhagen wasalso under pressure.

Jaitley said the new buzzwordfor the government is "flexibility".

He said the country has beenconsistently following the percapita principle for cutting emis-sions. However, he said, the de-veloped countries want a legallybinding obligation on India. "Thisis totally unacceptable".

The BJP leader said thoughParliament was assured that therewould not be substantial changeon the issue, "now there is appre-hension that the minister has al-tered the position substantially."

D Raja (CPI) referred to ascheme called Reducing Emis-sions from Deforestation and Deg-radation of Forests.

He said when the government

was not giving people secure rightsto their lands and forests, "what isthere to prevent companies or gov-ernment agencies grabbing thesame to earn carbon credits."

Seeking to allay apprehen-sions, Ramesh said India wouldnot deviate from its stated posi-tion that emission cuts should beon principle of per capita and his-torical responsibility.

The Kyoto Protocol, which issought to be replaced by devel-oped countries, follows the prin-

ciple of per capita emission gen-eration. Since India stands to gainby this principle because of itslarge population, the rich nationswant to dump this basis.

On fears that the commitmentof 20-25 emission cuts would leadto denial of electricity to themasses, Ramesh said, "If thisemerges as a constraint, we willre-look it."

He said India's announcementof emission cuts was based on aPlanning Commission mid-termreview which had said that thecountry could take such a com-mitment without jeopardizinggrowth. -PTI

Software industry is high onterrorists' target list

NEW DELHI: India's globallyacclaimed software industry ishigh on the terrorists' target listand sensitive installations likeatomic plants and refineries lo-cated on the coastline are vulner-

able to terror attacks, Union HomeSecretary G K Pillai said here.

"We are world leaders in soft-ware. But software industry ishigh on the threat list," Pillai said

addressing a conference on 'Chal-lenge of Terrorism to India's In-frastructure and Economy' here.

The Home Secretary said allsoftware companies in India werenow realizing this fact and they

were taking their own measuresto protect themselves.

"And the government is alsoin partnership with many of thecompanies making effort to pro-

vide adequate security (to foil anyattempt by the terrorists to targetthem)," he said.

Indian software exports haverisen from Rs 28,350 crore in 2000-01 to an estimated Rs 216,300crore in 2008-09.

The industry is expected togrow 16 per cent this fiscal andlog revenues of USD 60 billiondespite the global slowdown.

Pillai said India's westerncoastline hosting several petro-leum and nuclear installations arevulnerable to terror strikes fromthe sea route.

"Petroleum and nuclear instal-lations located on the westerncoast are highly vulnerable," hesaid. -PTI

NRI cases to beheard byspecial court

ROMESH KAURA

PHAGWARA: Non ResidentIndians (NRIs) often complain oftedious judicial proceedings inthe country. The District andSessions Judge, in his orders onNovember 18, has asked totransfer 363 cases relating toNRIs currently running in around12 different courts, to the courtunder Jaspinder Singh, Addi-tional Civil Judge-cum-JMIC,Jalandhar.

The orders also state thatwhile the new NRI cases will befiled in the special court, thosebeing heard in other courts willbe transferred to the new oneand the persons concerned in-formed accordingly. For earlysettlement of civil and criminalcases related to NRIs, a specialjudicial court has been set up inJalandhar. The rights werehanded over to Jaspinder Singh.

Kamaljeet Singh, President ofthe NRI Sabha, welcoming themove said, "NRIs across theworld would benefit by this de-cision of the Punjab and HaryanaHigh Court. Now, their cases willbe solved early." They usuallyfound themselves running out oftime as they had to return to theforeign shores, he said.

Police register FIRin Karkare'sjacket case

MUMBAI: Police have regis-tered First Information Report(FIR) against unknown person inthe case of missing bullet-proofjacket of former ATS ChiefHemant Karkare.

The FIR was registered by JJMarg police station in southMumbai on an order passed byMazgaon metropolitan magistratefollowing a complaint made by asocial activist. The magistrate hadordered the police to probe the miss-ing jacket of Karkare and file an FIR.

"This is a very serious issueand the probe would unravel howand when the jacket went miss-ing. We strongly suspect power-ful and influential men would beinvolved in the case,"complainant's lawyer Y P Singhsaid. -PTI

Rajkhowa wasapprehended byBSF, says HM

NEW DELHI: Government to-day said ULFA top leaderArabinda Rajkhowa was "appre-hended" by the BSF onMeghalaya-Bangladesh borderand later arrested by Assam Po-lice as he was wanted in connec-tion with several cases.

Replying to supplementariesduring Question Hour in RajyaSabha, Home Minister PChidambaram said the leadersof the banned United LiberationFront of Asom (ULFA) would betreated with dignity as andwhen peace talks take place withthem. -PTI

Ranganath Misrareport to beplaced in Parl

NEW DELHI: Prime MinisterManmohan Singh has said thereport of Ranganath Misra Com-mittee, which went into the issueof reservation for minorities, willbe placed in Parliament during thissession.

"We will place the report on thetable of the House in this ses-sion," Singh said in the Lok Sabha.

His assurance came afterSamajwadi Party members led byMulayam Singh Yadav and oth-ers demanded that the report betabled immediately.

The Prime Minister said, "I takenote of this matter and we willplace the report on the table ofthe House." -PTI

National Commission to rehabilitateland losers: Sonia

GHATSILA, Jharkhand: The UPA government has de-cided to form a National Rehabilitation Commission to en-sure adequate compensation and proper rehabilitation topeople willing to part with their land for development, Con-gress President Sonia Gandhi said here.

"The commission would ensure that villagers who arewilling to part with their land for development were compen-sated adequately and rehabilitated properly," she said. -PTI

Seeking to allay apprehensions, Ramesh saidIndia would not deviate from its stated posi-tion that emission cuts should be on principleof per capita and historical responsibility

Pillai said India's western coastlinehosting several petroleum and nuclearinstallations are vulnerable to terror strikesfrom the sea route

43India PostIndia Newswww.indiapost.com

December 18, 2009

'Total support from US to probeHeadley, Rana terror links'

PM apologizes for Cong MP'sremarks against Vajpayee

PROF YUNUS LECTURE: Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh paying floral tributes to Professor Hiren Mukherjee, at

the Second Prof. Hiren Mukherjee Memorial Lecture, in New Delhi on December. The Vice President,

Mohd. Hamid Ansari, Lok Sabha Speaker, Meira Kumar and Prof. Muhammad Yunus are also seen.

NEW DELHI: With an FBI teamin New Delhi, Government hassaid the US has "promised" totalsupport in probing involvementof terror suspects David Headleyand Tahawwur Rana in "variouscrimes" in India and the agencieshere are awaiting the first investi-gation report by the American in-vestigators.

"Headley and Rana, their in-volvement in various crimes arebeing investigated and we havebeen promised total support fromthe United States investigatingagencies. So, we are awaiting thefirst report of the investigation,"External Affairs Minister S MKrishna told reporters on the side-lines of the second India-AfricaHydrocarbon Conference.

The Minister was replying to aquery on the help from FBI in prob-ing involvement of Headley andRana in crimes against India.

The FBI team had held discus-sions with their Indian counter-parts in Mumbai and may shareinformation on alleged links be-

tween US terror suspects Headleyand Rana with 26/11 terror attacksand several people in India, in-cluding filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt's

son Rahul.During their stay in Delhi, the

FBI team will hold talks with Na-tional Investigation Agency(NIA) officials and other agen-cies, sources privy to the investi-gations said.

The FBI has already givensome information about Rana andHeadley and assured India thatthey will share more of it as theinterrogation of the duo proceedsfurther.

They have also given indica-tions that FBI has evidence link-ing Headley and Rana to Mumbaiterror attacks and may share in-formation on Headley's links withseveral people in the country.

Sources said FBI has promiseda lot of additional material on theinterrogation of Headley and Rana,who have been arrested in the USfor allegedly plotting terror attacksin India and Denmark. -PTI

NEW DELHI: Prime MinisterManmohan Singh has apologizedin the Lok Sabha for certain inap-propriate words used by a Con-gress member against formerPrime Minister Atal BihariVajpayee, bringing the curtainsdown on the controversy thatrocked the proceedings.

As soon as the Question Hourbegan, BJP members were on theirfeet demanding that the Congressmember, who had made someunparliamentary references toVajpayee, apologies to the House.

With the members unrelentingin their stand, the Prime Ministertendered an apology.

"I was not present in the Houseyesterday but I have heard thatsome very undesirable develop-ments took place. A member of ourruling coalition said somethingwhich was not appropriate andwith regard to Vajpayeeji thosewords were used.

"I, on behalf of our govern-ment, apologies to the House thatthose words will not be repeated,"Singh said.

The BJP members appearedsatisfied by the apology and tooktheir seats.

BJP and its allies had created pan-demonium in the House after BeniPrasad Verma (Congress) used de-meaning remarks against Vajpayeeforcing two adjournments.

The NDA members were agi-

tated when Verma used a deroga-tory word against the former PrimeMinister during a debate on theLiberhan Commission report anddemanded an apology from him.

Home Minister P Chidambaramhad apologized to the House onbehalf of the government but ithad failed to cut any ice with theOpposition. -PTI

Bengal agreesto coach unit inSingur

KOLKATA: The West Bengalgovernment has given its consentto Union Railway MinisterMamata Banerjee's proposal forsetting up a railway coach factoryat the abandoned site of TataMotors in Singur.

"On behalf of the state govern-ment, I had written to the RailwayBoard chairman giving consent tothe railway minister's proposal,"Chief Secretary Ashok MohanChakraborty told reporters at thestate secretariat.The chief secre-tary said he had also sought de-tails of the project from the Rail-way Board chairman. -PTI

Muslim can become PM ifhe is capable: Rahul

ALIGARH: Religion does notmatter when it comes to becom-ing the prime minister and a Mus-lim can get the top job providedhe is the most capable person forit, Congress leader Rahul Gandhisaid here.

"It is not about what religionor community you come from, it iswhat you bring to the table, whatcapability you have," he said inan interaction with students of the

a prime minister because he is themost capable person," 39-year-oldGandhi said. He told a questioner,"You need to step up and the num-ber of leaders coming out of yourcommunity needs to go up.

You got today a Sikh primeminister that nobody would haveever imagined in a country of overa billion people that we wouldhave a Sikh prime minister. Sikhsare a very small percentage of thiscountry." -PTI

Aligarh Muslim University.He was replying to a question

that having come a long way afterIndependence how much moretime will it take for India to haveits first Muslim prime minister.

"Today, Manmohan Singh isnot the Prime Minister of India be-cause he is a Sikh. He is the PrimeMinister because he is the mostcapable person to do the job.

"And let me tell you somethingthat even when you do have aMuslim prime minister, he will be

Omar meets Chidambaram;discusses peace process

NEW DELHI: In the backdropof an attack on a top separatistleader, Jammu and Kashmir ChiefMinister Omar Abdullah has metHome Minister P Chidambaramand reviewed the ongoing peaceprocess and security situation inthe state.

During the meeting, whichlasted nearly 40 minutes, the ChiefMinister told the Home Ministerthat the assassination attempt onmoderate Hurriyat leader Fazal HaqQureshi was carried out by thosewho want to sabotage the peaceprocess.

"Both the leaders discussedthe situation in Jammu and Kash-mir, the recent attack on Hurriyat

leader Qureshi, talks with separat-ist leaders and every shade ofpolitical opinion," a source said.

proach and favored that everystep be taken with utmost cau-tion.

The Centre has already givena road map for withdrawal ofnearly 25 battalions of paramili-tary forces comprising CRPF, BSFand ITBP from the state.

While some have been shiftedout, others will also be doneslowly once their replacement byIndia Reserve Battalions from vari-ous states was firmed up.

The Chief Minister also toldthe Home Minister that securityof separatist leaders has been in-creased further but some of themwere still refusing to take securitycover. -PTI

On the issue of troop reduc-tion, Omar suggested the HomeMinister take a calibrated ap-

Home Minister PChidambaram hadapologized to theHouse on behalf of thegovernment but it hadfailed to cut any icewith the Opposition

The FBI has alreadygiven some informa-tion about Rana andHeadley and as-sured India that theywill share more of itas the interrogationof the duoproceeds further

'Today, ManmohanSingh is not the PrimeMinister of India be-cause he is a Sikh. Heis the Prime Ministerbecause he is the mostcapable person to dothe job'

The Center has al-ready given a roadmap for withdrawal ofnearly 25 battalions ofparamilitary forcescomprising CRPF, BSFand ITBP from the state

44 December 18, 2009India Post

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Page Sponsored by Sahanis

When the mind fully at-tains the state of a-bhavana and comes to

drop its perceptions of sense-ob-jects, at that stage in meditation,mind is really a "no-mind".

When thoughts are rushingout in their mad fury to hug ob-jects of pleasure they constitutechittam, and to quieten thechittam is the sacred function ofthe Yoga of Meditation.

Where these outgoing thoughts

(chittam) are eliminated is known asthe "no-thought" (a-chitta) state,and that condition of the mind (mana)is recognized as "no-mind" (a-mana)state, highest in meditation.

Thoughts are gushing in toflood our bosom and to make ourmind an angry gush of self-ruin-ous compulsions, mainly from

Judge not, that you be not

judged. For with the judgment

you pronounce you will be

judged, and with the measure

you use it will be measured

to you. Why do you see the

speck that is in your brother's

eye, but do not notice the log

that is in your own eye?

-Bible

People strive to increase

their standard of living, but not

their standard of thinking. The

best computer is the one be-

tween the ears. Understand

the mind, transform and tran-

scend the mind, by the disci-

pline taught by yoga.

- SwamiSukhabodhananda

Face the brutes.That is a

lesson for all life-face the ter-

rible, face it boldly. Like the

monkeys, the hardships of

life fall back when we cease

to flee before them.

-Swami Vivekananda

I find that somehow, by

shifting the focus of attention,

I become the very thing I look

at, and experience the kind

of consciousness it has; I be-

come the inner witness of the

thing. I call this capacity of

entering other focal points of

consciousness, love.

-Nisargadatta Maharaj

Spirituality is about acting

out of your inner humanity, if

you go deeper, you'll be act-

ing out of inner divinity. This

has nothing to do with

moralityÖthe maximum dam-

age to this world has been

done with good intentions.

-Sadhguru JaggiVasudev

Happiness is your nature.

It is not wrong to desire it.

What is wrong is seeking it

outside when it is inside.

-Ramana Maharishi

Active Evil is better than

Passive Good.

- William Blake

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Philosophy

DR KRISHNA BHATTA

(Cont'd from last week)

We believe that thoughtsthat transit our mindsare our thoughts.

Many of us truly believe in thistheory. However, if you are anIndian, you may have one way ofthinking. If you happen to be sameIndian brought up in USA, youmay have a different way ofthinking.

Arranged marriage may be okayif you live in India but it is a no-noif you live in the USA. Having agirl friend was unthinkable whenI grew up in Patna in the 70s.

I was in Delhi recently andmany young boys and girls openlytalked abut boyfriend and girlfriend.

These are what we call ourthoughts. These thoughts appearto be different depending upon

when, where and what surround-ing you live in.

The point I am trying to makeis that the relationship betweenthoughts and 'I" is not as close aswe think they are. You must havewatched television at home. Thereare hundreds of channels.

You can tune into news chan-nel CNN and watch the latestnews about Barack Obama or Af-ghanistan. You could as well goto sports channel or if you sub-

scribe to Asian channels, watchZee-TV for an Indian movie. Evenif I subscribe to 100 channels, doI watch all of them all the time?

The reason I am bringing TVchannels into discussion hereshould be obvious by now. Ourmind is like a TV station. We maynot realize it. It is worth taking adeeper look into our minds.

We had a medical association

meeting in Bar Harbor. I and mywife Lekha visited Brian and hiswife for an afternoon tea. We wereagain discussing about ourthought process.

Brian's wife left the group togo to her room. It was not clearwhat the reason was for her toleave. Brian mentioned that hecould think in two different ways.She might have something impor-tant for which she had to go.

This gave reassurance to

Brian's mind and he can stay cooland undisturbed. The other rea-son could be that she did notlike our company and she left toavoid us. This thought processcould be disturbing to Brian'smind. The idea is to explain anyevent such that the mind staysundisturbed. I am not sayingthat this is correct or right ap-proach. The point here is that

there could be different channelsof thinking. What Brian thinksdepends upon which channel heis tuned into at that moment intime.

What channel we turn to de-pends upon what kind of personwe are. What kind of person weare depends upon what kind ofperson we train ourselves to be-come. A true change of a trans-formational nature in my thinkingonly happens from meditation.

We will get to at a later date.We ought to find out what chan-nels we tune into most of the time.Let us focus on two kind of chan-nels. First group of channels isnegative channels and secondgroup of channels is positivechannels. Does your kind allowsmore negative thoughts to comein your mind or does it not.

To be continued

What channels areyou tuned to?

the worldly objects that are rightin front of it, can choose its ownprivate fields of agitations, sub-jectively in itself, by dragging upthe buried corpses of a diseasedpast, or it can bring up vivid orthrobbing pictures of a tragichopelessness as the sure possi-bility of the immediate future!

In either case the mind of theindividual at meditation can getsadly disturbed. Therefore, therishis advise us: Moment to mo-ment engage the out-going mind(chittam) to live in the present.

Reject completely the past. Re-nounce totally the future. Then insuch a bosom, 'agitated mind'(chittam) shall reach the state of"mindlessness" (a-chittam). Thisstate of mind is called the "no-mind".

The content of the presentmoment, divorced from all rela-tionship with the past and the fu-ture, is the absolute fullness ofthe Infinite. Eternity is experi-enced at the sacred depth, of thepresent moment.

To live the present, independentof the past and the future, is to ex-perience samadhi, the revealing cul-mination of meditation. Seek it your-self. Nobody can give it to anyoneelse. Each will have to reach thereall by himself, in himself, with noother vehicle than himself.

Present moment absolutefullness of the Infinite

SWAMI CHINMAYANADA

two sources. Thoughts stem outfrom the past, dragging along withthem the memories of the good andbad done in the days gone by.

These confuse the individuals,with their regrets and sorrows, joysand pleasures from the stinkingtombs of the past, forcing them tore-live the dead-past right in thefragrant present moments.

Often, we are flown upon thewings of our mind's fancy andimagination, to dreams, where we

are made to shudder at the futurepossibilities of failures andtremble in hopes of successes andswoon in the expectation of totallosses or large profits.

The past really is made up ofdead moments and to unearth theburied moments is to live with thedead. We do so when we waste

our energies in unproductive andwasteful regrets, for things we hadalready committed.

The more we remember them,the more are those very vasanasgetting, alas, deeper and deeperfixed into our personality structure.

When we are not engaging our-selves with the negative pre-oc-cupations of entertaining the re-grets of the past, we are wander-ing in the fairy-castles of our fan-cied future, peopled with ugly

fears, horrid dreams, unnervinghopes, and perhaps thousands ofimpossible expectations.

In short, when our minds arenot rattled by the perceptions-of-objects (chittam) let us not therebyconclude that we have quietenedour thoughts. Often, it is not so.Mind, when it is not engaged in

First group of channels is negative and secondgroup is positive. Does your kind allows more

negative thoughts to come in your mind?

To live the present, independent of the pastand the future, is to experience samadhi, the

revealing culmination of meditation.Seek it yourself

49Edit Pagewww.indiapost.com

December 18, 2009 India Post

India Post

Manmohan's definingvisit to America

KRITI SINGH

On 24 November the worldwitnessed a crucial mo-ment in US-India bilateral

relations as leaders of the two larg-est democracies shook hands andsigned a memorandum of under-standing (MoU). The event markedthe beginning of new relationshipbetween the two democratic giantsin the new century.

Calling India a natural partner,President Obama stressed that theties between the two countries were"one of the defining relations" in the21st century in which India will as-sume a leadership role in the regionand the world.

With the optimism to work to-gether as global strategic part-ners, India and the US have inkedseveral MoUs to enhance coop-eration on energy security, energyefficiency, clean energy, and cli-mate change.

Additionally, the two sideshave also initialed MoUs on agri-cultural cooperation, food secu-rity, a counterterrorism coopera-tion initiative, as also advancingglobal security. Besides, severalcollaborative projects are alsolikely to be announced soon.

Seeking to broaden and deepenIndia's strategic partnership andwork with the US to meet the chal-lenges of a fast-changing world,Singh declared the meeting as amoment of great opportunity in thebilateral relationship.

He elaborated on and under-lined the need to work together ona wide spectrum of areas, so thatthe countries could jointly har-ness the immense available talent.He further advocated that bothcountries cooperate to addressglobal challenges like terrorism,environmental issues, and de-nuclearization.

Views on China, PakistanA key highlight of Singh's visit

was the manner in which he clearlyoutlined his views on China and Pa-kistan. On the issue of China, Singhsaid that he had failed to understandthe reason for the assertiveness onthe Chinese part. Highlighting India'sstand, he said that India wanted theworld to prepare for the peaceful riseof China as a major power, and thatengagement was the right strategyfor India and the US to adopt inthe regard.

On border issues, he admittedthat New Delhi has had a long-stand-ing border problem with Beijing. Inthe meanwhile, both the countrieshave agreed that pending the reso-lution of the border problem, peaceand tranquility should be main-tained along the border.

"I have received these assur-ances from Chinese leadershipfrom the highest level. There isbut a certain amount ofassertiveness on the Chinese part.I don't fully understand the rea-sons for it," Singh said at the Coun-cil on Foreign Relations.

He acknowledged that Sino-In-dia relations had plummeted tonew low especially after the Ti-betan spiritual leader, Dalai Lama'strip to Arunachal Pradesh. But hewas assertive enough to rejectObama's offer to China to assumethe role of a big brother in theSouth Asian region especially inIndia-Pakistan bilateral matters.

However, back home, despitethe optimism, the people of Indiain general and media in particular,were disappointed with no state-ment forthcoming from the US onterrorism originating from Pakistan.As the news channels eagerlywaited and journalists speculated,

the hopes, analysis, and assump-tions all fell flat when the joint pressconference came to a conclusionwith no mention of 26/11.

On being questioned about theUS military aid given to Pakistanand fears that it was being usedagainst India, Obama avoided giv-ing any substantial answer onhow and when the US would puta hold on it, or what measures it

would use against Pakistan to stopthe misuse of aid. The only replyforthcoming on the issue was thatthe aid given to Pakistan was meantonly for military purposes and notfor other development processes.

This was certainly not the an-swer that Indians were looking for,especially in view of the 26/11 an-niversary. Nevertheless, PresidentObama did mention that Pakistanwould have to take enormoussteps to combat terrorism origina-tion from its soil.

Further, he asserted that a les-son could be drawn that terrorismthat breeds on one's ground andinfiltrates neighboring countries

with a view to spread itself, canoften backfire.

Quick enough to notice the dis-appointment within India, Wash-ington, a day after the joint pressconference, joined New Delhi inemphasizing the "absolute impera-tive" to bring to justice the perpe-trators of the Mumbai attacks.

It further accentuated the needfor "resolute and credible steps"to eliminate "safe havens" in Paki-stan and Afghanistan which un-dermine the security and stabilityof the world.

The many shared values suchas democracy, pluralism, tolerance,openness, and respect for funda-mental freedoms and human rights,make both countries 'natural part-ners' who recognize terrorism asone of the biggest threats to worldsecurity.

The recent visit has been anoccasion for both countries to re-affirm their determination to fightevil in all its forms. However thedelayed response from the US andits constant avoidance of con-fronting Pakistan on the terroristactivities against India, raisesquestions about the authenticityof Obama's assurance of beingIndia's best friend.

The writer is Research Associ-ate, IPCS

Dinner diplomacy

Models of development

Many among India's policy makers could not suppress theirglee at the collapse of the Dubai model of development. Itwas akin to the "you had it coming" satisfaction when the

state sponsored jehadis, let loose to undermine India, turned on thePakistani government itself. It is forgotten in this moment that 40percent of Dubai's population is Indian and the crisis will have animpact on employment and remittances from ex-pats there.

The Dubai model of development is based on infrastructure-firstpolicy. It is believed if excellent infrastructure is built, people willfollow. But this excellent infrastructure may not be affordable forordinary people and hence demand may not necessarily follow. Re-cent reports spoke of the world's best metro rail network in Dubai butit had few occupants. It connected malls and posh areas but leftuntouched residential neighborhoods where ordinary folk await trans-port. The result is that at any point there are not many takers for thistrain, particularly now at this crisis time.

There is a relevant example closer home for India. The celebratedBandra-Worli sea-link in Mumbai, in spite of its distance-cuttingmiracle, is being sparingly used in spite of the crowds in Mumbai.The reason is the high toll charges, by Indian standards, of Rs 50 fora one-way trip for each vehicle. Similar is the fate of many high-classtoll-ways in metropolitan cities. It raises the question, developmentfor whom? The mad rush for developing Delhi before the Common-wealth Games has come with a high cost for ordinary citizens. Therates for ordinary bus and metro travel have been almost doubled.

Should we then continue with India's usual lethargic, stumbling,fumbling style of development? Perhaps not. But neither the purewestern model of development nor the charitable theory of "trickle-down effect" has worked in India's case. In the trickle down effect itis argued that if the rich corporations and industrialists are given afree hand at expansion of their empire, the benefits will percolate tothe poor as well in the form of jobs etc.

Had it not been for the Maoist/Naxalite violence, the problems ofthe tribals and the neglected sections would not have attracted themedia attention and the government's belated action. It is not inCopenhagen but in the illegal mining connived at by governmentofficials in areas of Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Jharkhandthat the problem of ecology will be solved. In the name of develop-ment, free exploitation is taking place of the natural resources ofvillages without any benefit to the village communities. Instead ofthe brave, interventionist plans for removing poverty, if the exploita-tion of the land and mineral resources was prevented, the govern-ment would have done a creditable job.

Speaking from experience, a retired administrator says develop-ment initiatives which are done in consultation with the beneficiariesshall succeed, particularly where they feel that they are participantsin development and not just recipients of charity.

Thus no development model imposed from above is going tosucceed. The peculiar needs and environments of different areashave to be studied and assistance given where it boosts local effort.The best model so far demonstrated is to give free credit to the poorso that they can do their own thing. Developed by Nobel laureateProf Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh, it encourages effective so-cial businesses powered by micro-credit. Yunus is known for found-ing the Grameen Bank that provides credit to the poorest inBangladesh, and the repayment rate on loans is often as high as 98per cent. He now gives loans to even "over 100,000 beggars" inBangladesh!

Constant avoidanceof confronting Paki-stan on the terroristactivities againstIndia raises ques-tions about the au-thenticity ofObama's assuranceof being India'sbest friend


December 18, 200950

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