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Rio de Janeiro:

Dipa Karmakar has

become India's first woman gym‑

nast to qualify for Rio Olympics.

Dipa, who is an Asian

Championship bronze medallist,

qualified in the artistic gymnastics

event for Rio Olympics after col‑

lecting 52.698 points in the test

event Monday. The 22‑year‑old

Agartala girl has been listed as the

79th gymnast among individual

qualifiers in the list of women's

artistic gymnasts who have quali‑

fied for the Olympic Games to be

held between August 5‑21.

Cairo/Riyadh:

President Barack

Obama met on Thursday in

Riyadh with leaders of the Gulf

Cooperation Council (GCC) states

to mend strained ties, with no

major announcements coming

out of the summit.

Obama pledged to remain vigi‑

lant against Iran's destabilizing

activities in the Middle East, as

he tried to comfort his Gulf allies

after bilateral relations were

strained by the nuclear deal

reached with Iran last year.Obama also tried to soothe

strained ties with Saudi Arabia

when he met with King Salman

bin Abdulaziz al‑Saud. Some

progress was made, but the two

SPIRITUAL AWARENESS 30

Dipa Karmakar

seals Olympic berth

By SATimes team

New York:

Finance Minister Arun

Jaitley was in the US for a week to

attend the Spring Meetings of the

World Bank and IMF and bilateral

annual financial and partnership

meeting with the US secretary of

treasury. He also gave presenta‑

tions at leading fora presenting

Indiaʼs case and highlighting its

growth story. But his counteringthe "one‑eyed king" comment by

RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan

about the country's economy

dominated the headlines in India.

Jaitley argued that a 7.5 % growth

rate for any other nation would

be a "celebration". "Compared to

Hollywood Fla. Having received a

big boost by sweeping New York

primaries, both Hillary Clinton and

Donald J. Trump can now start

focusing on the November presi‑

dential election rather than win‑

ning their respective partiesʼ nomi‑

nation.

In the case of Trump, the dele‑

gates math is still tricky, but the

many of the anti‑Trump elements

within the GOP seem to be easing

off, and even warming to him. The

new respectability and wider

acceptance within the party are

having a salubrious effect on the

frontrunner, who has forced his

way in by bamboozling all and

annoying many.

Trumpʼs newly installed cam‑

paign chief sought to assure mem‑

bers of the Republican National

Committee (RNC) on Thursday that

the candidate recognized the need

to reshape his persona and that his

campaign would begin working

with the political establishment

that he has scorned to great effect,

New York Times reported.

Addressing about 100 commit‑

tee members at the spring meeting

here, many of them deeply skepti‑

cal about Trumpʼs candidacy, the

campaign chief, Paul Manafort,

bluntly suggested the candidateʼs

incendiary style amounted to an

act. “Thatʼs whatʼs important for

you to understand: That he gets it,

and that the part heʼs been playing

Growth needed to endpoverty in India: Jaitley

Obama reassuresallies in the Gulf

Dipa Karmakar is India's firstwoman gymnast to qualify for

Olympics. (Photo: IANS)

Continued on page 4

Union Minister for Finance, Corporate Affairs and I&B Arun Jaitleywith Ambassador of India to US Arun Kumar Singh speaking at a

New York event hosted by Rajiv Khanna (middle), President of IACC,on April 19. (Photo: Mohammed Jaffer/SnapsIndia).

Trump 2.0to rejig hiscampaign -

and personaContinued on page 4

Continued on page 4More on Dipa on page 23.

After cruising to primary victories in

New York State this week, Trump andHillary are sure to get nominated by

their respective parties. (Photo: AP)

US to remain vigilant againstIran, says the President

President Obama with KingSalman of Saudi Arabia in Riyadhon April 20. Saudis have threat‑ened to dump US assets if US

passes a bill that could make thekingdom liable for damages for

having allegedly financed some of the 9‑11 attackers. (Photo : AP)


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3April 23-29, 2016TheSouthAsianTimes.info TR I S TATE COMMUNI TY

Washington The leaders of the

U.S. House of Representatives

Foreign Affairs Committee called

on Tuesday for Indian Prime

Minister Narendra Modi to addressa joint meeting of Congress during

a visit to Washington in June.

"Given the depth of our relation‑

ship with India across a range of

areas ‑ defense, humanitarian and

disaster relief, space cooperation,

conservation and innovation ‑ we

believe this is an ideal opportunity

for the Congress to hear directly

from the prime minister,"

Representatives Ed Royce, the

Republican committee chairman,

and Eliot Engel, the panel's rank‑

ing Democrat, wrote to House

Speaker Paul Ryan.

The invitation would be a sharp

turnaround for a leader who was

once barred from the United States

over allegations of killings of

Muslims.

A spokeswoman for Ryan said

she had no announcement at this

time about whether Ryan would

extend the invitation.

Invitations to address the Senate

and House are considered a great

honor. There have been only two

in the past year: Pope Francis, on

Sept. 24, and Japanese Prime

Minister Shinzo Abe, on April 29,

2015.

Washington sees its relationship

with India as critical, partly to

counterbalance China's risingpower. Obama has called it "one of

the defining partnerships of the

21st century."

The letter to Ryan was also

signed by Republican

Representative George Holding

and Democrat Ami Bera, the co‑

chairmen of the Congress Caucus

on India and Indian Americans.

(Reuters)

ashington Democratic front‑

runner Hillary Clinton's Indian‑

American supporters have

launched a nation‑wide group to

back her bid for White House.

Describing itself as a nationwide

grassroots volunteer organization,

the Indian‑Americans for Hillary

(IAFH) said on Monday that it will

hold its inaugural event in

Gaithersburg, Maryland on 24

April.

"It is important to mobilize sup‑

port of millions of Indian

Americans living here in the US

for electing Hillary Clinton as our

next President," their website said.The inaugural event and rally by

the group would be addressed by

John Podesta, national campaign

chair for the Clinton Campaign,

and Neera Tandon, president and

COO of Center for American

Progress. Tandon is one of the

close confidants of Clinton.

Noting that Clinton has thou‑

sands of Indian‑American friends

across the US, IAFH said that she

had been to India four times as

first lady, senator, and Secretary

of State. "Having traveled exten‑

sively in India, she has a much

deeper level of familiarity with

India than any other candidate in

the race," the group said. It also

serves as a vehicle to demonstrate

coalition support for Hillary and

move the conversation forward on

issues important to the Indian‑

American community. In a rally

earlier this year, Clinton had

acknowledged that Indian‑

Americans were the nation's

fastest growing racial minority.

As Secretary of State her focus

on re‑balancing US foreign policy

toward Asia contained a strong

emphasis on expanding ties with

India, the group said, adding that

during her tenure the US and

India worked to ensure closer

cooperation in high technologyareas, particularly in defense and

space.

IAFH said Clinton had promised

that she will fix the nation's bro‑

ken immigration system, improve

access to higher education and

increase wages ̶ all issues are

extremely important for the

Indian‑American electorate.

(PTI )

By Arul Louis

United Nations With the shroud of secrecy

partially lifted for the first time from the

process of electing the next UN secretary

general, the nine candidates are taking their

case to the world and seeking out influ‑

encers like India.

Each of the nine candidates presented

their vision for the UN before the 193‑mem‑

ber General Assembly last week and subject‑

ed themselves to a grilling from not only

diplomats but also from ordinary citizens

picked by civil society organizations.

Under the spotlight of democracy, the can‑

didates vying to succeed Ban Ki‑moon are

reaching beyond the Security Council's five

permanent members to meeting with diplo‑

mats individually and in groups.

According to diplomatic sources, six of

them have so far met with India's Permanent

Representative, Syed Akbaruddin, some of

them visiting him at the Indian mission in

New York. They have also been in touch with

officials in New Delhi because they think

India is a "significant influencer" of opinion

at the UN. The UNSC is to begin considering

the nominations in July.

In the 70 years of the UN, all the eight sec‑

retaries general were essentially picked by

the P5 ‑ Britain, China, France, Russia and

the US ‑ and the General Assembly merely

rubber‑stamped the choice. Although the

veto‑wielding P5 will continue to have the

ultimate say, it could still be different this

time.

"The Security Council will now have thepublic to answer to if it fails to put merit

before political convenience in its decision

later this year," said Natalie Samarasinghe,

the executive director of United Nations

Association ‑ UK and the co‑founder of 1 for

7 Billion, a campaign for opening up the

election process. "It was easy to select the

lowest‑denominator candidate when meet‑

ings were taking place behind closed doors,

but the element of public scrutiny that has

now emerged ...has thrown a spotlight on to

the proceedings," Samarasinghe added.

"The General Assembly will no longer be

simply a rubber stamp for the P5 govern‑

ments' very, very flawed selection process,"

explained William R. Pace, the executive

director of the Institute for Global Policy.

At the General Assembly candidates meet‑

ings, the members of the G4 ‑ Brazil ,

Germany, India and Japan ‑ which campaign

together for Security Council reforms and

mutually support each other for permanentCouncil seats ‑ rotated questioning the can‑

didates.

Akbaruddin raised the terrorism issue with

two of the candidates when it was his turn.

Antonio Guterres, a former prime minister of

Portugal and UN High Commissioner for

Refugees, said that terrorism is a major issue

on his agenda. The UN has to focus more on

terrorism, he said, particularly preventing

violent extremism before it metamorphosis‑

es into terrorism.

The nine candidates ‑ four of them women

‑ represent a wide range of experience. In

the overlapping offices that they hold or

have held at various times, two have been

prime ministers, three have headed or now

head UN organizations, six have been or are

now foreign ministers and one has been the

president of the General Assembly.

Seven of them are from Eastern Europe.

Under the tradition of geographic rotation of

the secretary general's office, it is now theturn of Europe and East Europeans have

staked their claim because all the three pre‑

vious Europeans have been from the West.

There is also a groundswell of public opin‑

ion for electing a woman to the office and

for the first time women are contesting.

(IANS)

Indian‑American groupcampaigns for 'a friend of India in the White House'

UN SECRETARY GENERAL HOPEFULS VIE FOR

GLOBAL SUPPORT ‑‑ AND INDIAʼS

US lawmakers want Modi

to address US Congress

Hillary Clinton

Prime Minister Narendra Modi


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Website: TheSouthAsianTimes.info Updated Daily

New York India will need $250 bil‑

lion in the next five to six years and

$1 tril l ion by 2030, a scale of

investment "unparalleled anywhere

in the world," to fuel its race to pro‑

vide energy for its people and helplift masses out of poverty, according

to Piyush Goyal, the Minister for

Coal , Power and New and

Renewable Energy.

Goyal, who is on a mission to

drum up investments in the energy

sector, told reporters India will be

the largest market for energy with

its goal of quadrupling by 2030 the

current consumption of 1,050 units

per person. Savvy investors will see

the opportunities India has to offer

them in the energy as the United

States, Europe and Japan are seeing

an economic slowdown coupled

with a lowering of demand because

of greater efficiencies in consump‑tion, he said. Goyal also met with

the local media in the Consulate on

April 21 where he briefed them

about various steps undertaken by

Government to improve energy

access, rapid scale up of renewable

energy, enhancing grid reliability,

integration of renewable in the grid

and the massive opportunity pre‑

sented by the untapped demand in

the Indian market.

New Delhi The central government

has decided to fil l six of seven

vacancies in the nominated membercategory with people close to the

BJP. The nominations are BJP

leader Subramanian Swamy, former

jo ur na li st an d BJ P id eo lo gu e

Swapan Dasgupta, Malayalam actor

and BJP star campaigner in Kerala

Suresh Gopi, economist and former

member of National Advisory

Council Narendra Jadhav and boxer

Mary Kom, government sources and

the BJP confirmed independently.

Trump 2.0 to rejig hiscampaign and personaContinued from page

is evolving,” Mr. Manafort said,

suggesting that Trump was about

to begin a more professional phase

of his campaign.

“The negatives are going to

come down, the image is going to

change, but Clinton is still going to

be crooked Hillary,” he added.Manafortʼs comments, which

included a PowerPoint presenta‑

tion, came during a happy‑hour

reception at the beachside hotel

resort here. They were made

behind closed doors, which were

guarded by security. But a person

in attendance taped the speech

and shared the recording with The

New York Times.

Manafort, a longtime Republican

strategist and lobbyist who in

recent weeks has taken over con‑

trol of much of the organization

from Mr. Trumpʼs campaign man‑

ager, offered an olive branch to

the party officials at the start of his remarks.

“Is Donald Trump running

against the RNC?” asked Mr.

Manafort, referring to the candi‑

dateʼs unrelenting assault on what

he calls the “crooked” nominating

process. “The answer is he is not.”

Manafort went further than sim‑

ply placating committee members:

He also openly said that. Trump

wanted to coordinate with the very

forces he has spent much of his

campaign attacking. Obviously,

Trump needs and now seeks the

partyʼs full support behind his can‑

didacy.

Manafort largely ignored

Senator Ted Cruz of Texas,

Trumpʼs most formidable remain‑

ing Republican opponent, alluding

to him only to echo some remarks

Cruz made earl ier this week.

Manafort said he agreed with

Cruz. “I donʼt want a fractured con‑

vention, we want this thing to be

put to bed early,” he said, adding,

“We donʼt want to be in Cleveland

fighting for a nomination thatʼs

already been decided.”

Growth needed to endpoverty in India: JaitleyContinued from page

the rest of the world we are grow‑

ing much faster, in fact the fastest.

Compared to our own potential,

we can do better. So at 7.5 percent

growth, any other country in theworld would be celebrating," the

finance minister said in an inter‑

view to CNBC TV18.

But Jaitley is acutely aware of

and is not glossing over the chal‑

lenges of festering poverty and

inequality in India, as is evident

from his remarks at an event

organized in a Manhattan restau‑

rant on April 19 by Rajiv Khanna,

President of India America

Chamber of Commerce (IACC) and

Partner of BakerHostetler.

Said Jaitley at the event, “No one

can ignore the fact that we have a

large population and significant

part of that population still suffersfrom poverty. However, the

growth does not necessarily mean

affluence for some, growth in

India is necessary because the

benefits of that growth have to

first move towards poverty eradi‑

cation, growth generates wealth

and that in turn gets used for all

segments of the society.”

Ja itel y st re ssed that wi th ou t

growth, we will only have empty

slogans, “the kind we had in 1970s

where we had very progressive

slogans but were growing only by

about 2.5%. And the world used to

ridicule our growth by calling it

the Hindu rate of growth.”The minister also underlined the

geographically skewed growth and

development in India. “The bulk of

the economic activity is in the

western part of the country. If you

go to east, whether it ʼs Uttar

Pradesh, Bihar, Bengal, north‑east

parts of Orissa, significant growth

is yet to touch these areas.

Therefore, geographically we have

a region which has a huge poten‑

tial. It can grow in agriculture, it

can grow in services, it is also a

mineral rich area, and when you

exploit these potential, these areas

have a tremendous opportunities.”

He added that women in India

have been mostly home makers

and therefore their potential con‑

tribution to the GDP in terms of an

evolving work force is very signifi‑cant and you can see social, gen‑

der and geographical instruments

available to us to grow.

Obama reassures allies inthe Gulf Continued from page

leaders glossed over some of the

thorniest matters, including a

Saudi threat to dump US assets if

Obama signs into law a bill that

could make the kingdom liable for

damages stemming from the alle‑

gation that Saudi Arabia financed

some of the 9‑11 attackers.

On the Iran deal, Obama said in

the Saudi capital in a brief pressconference after meeting with

leaders of the GCC countries:

“When we entered into negotia‑

tions with Iran on the nuclear deal,

there was concern that in the

interest of getting a deal done we

would somehow look the other

way with respect to other destabi‑

lizing activities."

In April 2015, Iran and six world

powers, including the US, Russia,

China, Britain, France and

Germany, reached an initial agree‑

ment to limit Iran's nuclear activi‑

ties for a specific period in return

for relieving the economic sanc‑

tions imposed on Iran over itsnuclear program.

The US president said the deal

has "cut off every single one of

Iran's pathways to a nuclear

weapon," but his country contin‑

ues to have "serious concerns"

about Iran's behavior in the

region.

A day earlier, the GCC defense

ministers and their U.S. counter‑

part, Ashton Carter, discussed in

Riyadh military cooperation and

the latest developments in the

Middle East, agreeing to carry out

join t patrols to stop any Iran ian

arms shipments reaching Yemen.

The Persian Gulf nations, Saudi

Arabia in particular, have repeat‑

edly raised concerns that the

nuclear deal reached with Iran last

ye ar wi ll fu rt her empo we r theIslamic Republic to interfere in

Arab affairs.

The tensions between Iran and

the Gulf nations reached a new

high in January when Riyadh and

a number of its Sunni Arab allies

cut diplomatic ties with Tehran,

after mobs ransacked the Saudi

embassy in response to the execu‑

tion of a prominent Shiite cleric in

Saudi Arabia.

At the summit, Obama and the

GCC leaders also committed to

urgently undertake steps to inten‑

sify the campaign to defeat the

Islamic State militant group and

the Al‑Qaeda, and reduce regionaland sectarian tensions that fuel

instability, said a White House

statement.

It is Obama's fourth visit to the

oil‑rich Gulf nation, one of

Washington's most strategic allies

in the Middle East, since taking

office in 2009.

However, no major announce‑

ments came out of the summit as

Obama is already a lame‑duck

president, said Saeed al‑Lawindi,

political researcher and expert of

international relations at Cairo‑

based Al‑Ahram Centre for

Political and Strategic Studies.

The summit came on the heels of Obama's cri t icism of Saudi

Arabia's regional role, which

prompted a strong rebuke from

the Saudi royal family. In a recent

interview with The Atlantic,

Obama described Saudi Arabia and

other allies as "free riders" on US

foreign policy, and criticized what

he saw as Riyadh's funding of reli‑

gious intolerance. IANS

India to need

$1 trillion in energy

sector by 2030: Goyal

Swamy & Mary Kom

nominated to Rajya Sabha


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5April 23-29, 2016TheSouthAsianTimes.info TR I S TATE COMMUNI TY

New York: An Indian‑origin engi‑

neer has developed a novel technol‑

ogy that doubles Wi‑Fi speeds with

a single antenna ‑‑ an achievement

with potential to transform thetelecommunications field in future.

Columbia University's Harish

Krishnaswamy, an electrical engi‑

neering graduate from the Indian

Institute of Technology ‑Madras,

has for the first time integrated a

non‑reciprocal circulator and a full‑

duplex radio on a nanoscale silicon

chip to create the breakthrough sys‑

tem.

"This technology could revolu‑

tionize the field of telecommunica‑

tions," said Krishnaswamy, director

of the Columbia High‑Speed and

Mm‑wave IC (CoSMIC) Lab.

"Our circulator is the first to be

put on a silicon chip, and we get lit‑erally orders of magnitude better

performance than prior work," he

noted.

Last year, Columbia researchers

invented a technology ‑‑ full‑duplex

radio integrated circuits (ICs) ‑‑ that

can be implemented in nanoscale

CMOS to enable simultaneous trans‑

mission and reception at the same

frequency in a wireless radio. That

system required two antennas.

"Full‑duplex communications,

where the transmitter and the

receiver operate at the same time

and at the same frequency, has

become a critical research area and

now we've shown that WiFi capacity

can be doubled on a nanoscale sili‑

con chip with a single antenna. This

has enormous implications for

devices like smartphones andtablets," Krishnaswamy explained.

"Being able to put the circulator

on the same chip as the rest of the

radio has the potential to signifi‑

cantly reduce the size of the system,

enhance its performance, and intro‑

duce new functionalities critical to

full duplex," added co‑researcher

Jin Zhou.

Krishnaswamy's team had to

"break" Lorentz Reciprocity ‑ a fun‑

damental physical characteristic of

most electronic structures that

requires electromagnetic waves

travel in the same manner in for‑

ward and reverse directions ‑ to

develop the technology.The research was published in the

journal Na ture Commu nicati ons

and the paper was presented at the

"2016 IEEE International Solid‑State

Circuits Conference" in San

Francisco, California, recently.

(IANS)

Washington DC: A large number

of Indian ‑Americans and people

from the South Asian community

joined a massive rally in front of

the US Supreme Court in support

of Obama Administrationʼs plans

to defer deportation of four mil‑

lion illegal immigrants whose chil‑

dren are US citizens.

The Supreme Court, which is

hearing the case, is now split on

the Obama Administrations plans

to defer deportation called

Deferred Actions for Parents of

Americans (DAPA).

It has been challenged by some

26 States. During the hearing on

Monday, four conservatives

judges appeared to be critical of

DAPA and Deferred Action for

Childhood Arrivals (DACA), while

another liberal justice suggestedthat the case had no business

being before the courts at all.

Supporters of DAPA, including a

large number of Indian Americans

held a rally outside Supreme

Court calling for these programs

to move forward swiftly and keep

families together. “This is a mis‑

guided and unnecessary challenge

to eminently common‑sense immi‑

gration programs that allow some

aspiring Americans to remain

with their families, continue con‑

tributing to the American econo‑

my, and pursue their dreams,” the

South Asian Americans Leading

Together (SAALT) said in a state‑

ment. “An estimated 5.2 million

immigrants, including at least

200,000 undocumented Indian‑

Americans and countless more

South Asians, are eligible for

DAPA and expanded DACA

announced under President

Obamaʼs executive action on

immigration in 2014,” SAALT

said. “DAPA and the expanded

DACA programs are the latest in

the long struggle for immigrantrights in this country that should

have ended with comprehensive

immigration reform legislation in

Congress, which the Senate

passed with bipartisan support in

2013,” said Suman Raghunathan,

executive director of SAALT.

Harish Krishnaswamy, director,

Columbia High‑Speed and

Mm‑wave IC (CoSMIC) Lab

(Image: Columbia.edu)

Columbia engineer developstechnology to double WiFi speed

New York The iconic Times Square was seeped in col‑

ors of Sikh culture as thousands of community mem‑

bers gathered in New York to celebrate Turban Day,an annual Vaisakhi celebration and a day to educate

fellow Americans about Sikhism in the wake of grow‑

ing incidents of hate crimes and discrimination

against them. Legendary Indian sportsman Milkha

Singh addressed one of the largest such celebrations

in the US, calling on the Sikh community to educate

the new generation about the significance of the Sikh

culture.

Hundreds of excited tourists and children queued

up at the popular city destination to get turbans tied

on their heads in bright colours by members of the

Sikh community and took pictures and selfies wear‑

ing them as 'Turban Day' was also celebrated at the

event.The participants jostled to get a picture clicked

with the elderly 'Flying Sikh', who had traveled from

Canada for the event. "Today if the Sikhs have a name,

are known around the world, it is because of the tur‑ban. Milkha Singh is called a 'Flying Sikh' because I

have the turban on my head and the beard on my

face. My beard and turban are the reasons for the

respect and recognition that I have across the world,"

Singh told PTI. Non‑profit organization, Sikhs of New

York and New Jersey and the event's organisers

Bobby Sidana, Kawaldeep Sahni, Chanpreet Singh and

Gurmeet Sodhi said the event aimed at not only cele‑

brating the festival marking the spring harvest but

also educating Americans and thousands of tourists

about the Sikh culture.

They said it would also make them aware of the sig‑

nificance of the Sikh articles of faith like turban and

beard and to address the misinformation about

Sikhism that leads to profiling and backlash againstmembers of the community, particularly after the

9/11 attack. "People here should know that Sikhs are

warriors, they have fought for other people and will

do everything to help others. The event will inspire

people here and educate them about the Sikh culture,

they will get to know who Sikhs are," Mikha Singh

said lauding the organizers for putting together the

event. (PTI)

New York In

ground‑breaking

research, an

Indian‑Americanscientist has engi‑

neered T‑cells ‑‑ a

type of immune

cells ‑‑ to break the

pancreatic cancer's

physical and

i m m u n o l o g i c a l

walls using

immunotherapy.

Dr Sunil

Hingorani, mem‑

ber of the clinical

research and public health sci‑

ences divisions at Fred Hutchinson

Cancer Research Center, and col‑

leagues created T‑cells with a high

affinity to a relatively tumor‑spe‑cific antigen.

Dr Hingorani looked for proteins

‑‑ also found in the linings of the

heart and lungs ‑‑ that are

expressed in unusually large

amounts in the tumor cells and

minimally expressed elsewhere.

The T‑cells then were engi‑

neered to attack

those. In the tests

conducted on mice

with pancreatictumors, the engi‑

neered T‑cells

killed those cells

over a 10‑day

period.

A d d i t i o n a l l y ,

Hingorani and his

team have worked

to develop an

enzyme that can

help defeat the

tumor's high

interstitial pressures and poten‑

tially open the door for greater

penetration and effectiveness of T

cells and other types of agents.

By the end of the year, DrHingorani hopes to have the

human version of the T‑cell in clin‑

ical trials.

The findings were recently pre‑

sented at the American

Association for Cancer Research

Annual Meeting 2016 in New

Orleans, US. (IANS)

Indian-Americans join anti-

deportation rally in Washington

Along with celebrating Vaisakhi the event aimed ateducating Americans about Sikh

culture. (Image: Facebook/Keertan.org)

Sikh fervor grips Times Squareon Turban Day

Dr Sunil Hingorani

(Image: fredhutch.org)

Indian-American scientist engineers

T-cells to treat pancreatic cancer


6/32

6 April 23-29, 2016 TheSouthAsianTimes.info TR I S TATE COMMUNI TY

New Jersey A program celebrating life of

Mahatma Gandhi titled “My Life is My Mes‑sage” was hosted by the First Presbyterian

Church of Rutherford, NJ, in its Interfaith Ed‑

ucation series on April 17 in cooperation

with the church, the EduCare Foundation in

New Jersey and the Shanti (Peace) Fund of

Long Island, N.Y. First Presbyterianʼs Inter‑

faith Education series is designed to promote

respect and mutual understanding between

all faiths and cultures by focusing on what

we have common rather than on our differ‑

ences. The program held in the chapel in‑

cluded presentations on Mahatma Gandhiʼs

life and lessons, singing and dancing on his

favorite prayers, a question answer session

and vegan refreshments.

Arvind Vora of Shanti Fund from Long Is‑

land as well as the Chairman of the Long Is‑land Multifaith Forum was the keynote

speaker. Shanti (Peace) Fund celebrates Oc‑

tober 2, the actual birth day of Mahatma

Gandhi every year on Long Island. Its mis‑

sion is to promote peace and nonviolence

through a variety of activities in collabora‑

tion with schools and community organiza‑

tions.

Pastor Rev. Peter Wilkinson welcomed the

guests on behalf of the First Presbyterian

Church of Rutherford, NJ. Naresh Jain gave

the welcome address.

Arvind Vora in his keynote address de‑

scribed the life of Mahatma Gandhi, key

events and influences including play on Har‑

ishchandra, train ride in South Africa and the

Salt March.

He also described Mahatmaʼs faith in the

power of prayers; and his belief in truth,

ahimsa, anekantwad and aparigraha. He said

that the application of his approach and tac‑tics created a worldwide revolution to uplift

humanity and free them from imperialism

and colonialism prevalent at that time. His

life was emulated by many powerful leaders

like Martin Luther King, Jr., Nelson Mandela,

Lech Walesa and many others who changed

the history for the betterment of humanity.

Neha Shah, a dancer since the age of 5 and

a high school senior at the Middlesex Coun‑

ty Academy of Science, Mathematics and En‑

gineering Technologies, gave a dance per‑

formance on ʻVaishnav Jan to taynay kahy‑

eeyʼ, a favorite hymn of Mahatma Gandhi

that describes the virtues of an ideal person.

Seven year old Ameya Athalye dressed as

Mahatma Gandhi along with the walking

stick impressed the audience. Ameya, a stu‑dent of Indian Culture and Hindi in the Kul‑

ture Kool Center of Rutherford, displayed a

poster board prepared by him for this event

on the life of Gandhi and also spoke on in‑

spirations from his life.

Monika Gajiwala, a professional singer and

a practitioner of Chinese medicine sang

ʻRaghupati Raghav Raja Ramʼ‑ a song very

dear to Mahatma Gandhi and often sung in

his prayer meetings. She also sang ʻVaishnav

Janʼ live in the earlier dance by Neha.

NY Consulateevent marksDr Ambedkarʼs125thanniversaryNew York Consulate General

of India, New York hosted afunction to mark the 125thbirth anniversary of BabasahebDr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkaron April 14, which was well at‑tended by members of thecommunity. The event was or‑ganized by Foundation For Hu‑man Horizon headed by DeelipMhaske.

L. T. Ngaihte, Consul (Head of Chancery) while welcomingthe audience, read out thePrime Minister's message onthe occasion. Padma ShreeKalpana Saroj of Kalpana SarojFoundation spoke about Dr.Ambedkar's life, vision andachievements.

She also distributed awardsto those who have carried outDr. Ambedkar's work acrossthe world through establishedsocial organizations andunions. Other members fromvarious organizations fromvarious countries like the Unit‑ed Kingdom, Canada and Indiaattended the event and encour‑aged their members to contin‑ue working on the cause of so‑cial upliftment.

First Presbyterian Church hostsevent on Mahatma Gandhiʼs life

L to R): Monika Gajiwala, Arvind Vora,

Naresh Jain and Ameya Athalye in Gandhiattire. Vora spoke on the life of Mahatma

Gandhi and lessons learnt.

I earned Social Securityand Medicare, an d when Icouldn’t afford healthy food,SNAP HELPED.

- ANDRES, RETIRED BUSINESS OWNER

East Harlem

WATCH MY STORY ATFoodHelp.nyc

Now it’s easier to apply online at FoodHelp.nyc

ACCESSNYC

Call 311 for more info

easier tow it’No

pply online at oo

e p.nyc

India‑America Chamber of Commerce (IACC) welcomed the new Consul General,Ambassador Riva Ganguly Das in New York City at an event on April 12th. In the pic‑ture Rajiv Khanna, President, IACC (second from left) and Riva Ganguly Das (center).

Padma Bhushan Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, founder of Sulabh International,

was profusely honored last week in NYC. The New York Mayor declared April 14 as'Bindeshwar Pathak Day'. Dr Pathak was conferred Humanitarian Award by NY Globalleaders Dialogue at Harvard Club. And the South Asians 4 Better New York (SA4BNY),

founded and chaired by Pam Kwatra (standing next to Dr Pathak), presented him'Man Of The Year' award.


7/32

7April 23-29, 2016TheSouthAsianTimes.info NAT I ONAL COMMUNI TY

Washington: US President Barack

Obama has nominated Indian‑

American Geeta Pasi, a career for‑

eign service officer, as the country's

next envoy to Chad.Pasi, who served as US

Ambassador to Djibouti from 2011

to 2014, is a career member of the

Foreign Service, Class of Minister‑

Counsellor. She is at present the

Director of the Office of Career

Development and Assignments in

the Bureau of Human Resources at

the Department of State.

Announcement for Pasi's nomina‑

tion as the next US envoy to the

central African nation of Chad came

along with several other appoint‑

ments to key administration post.

"I am pleased to announce that

these experienced and committed

individuals have decided to serve

our country. I look forward to work‑

ing with them," President Obama

said in a statement issued by the

White House.

Pasi was also the Director of the

Office of East African Affairs in the

Bureau of African Affairs from

2009 to 2011, Deputy Chief of

Mission at the US Embassy in

Dhaka, from 2006 to 2009, and

Deputy Principal Officer at the US

Consulate in Frankfurt, Germany

from 2003 to 2006.Since joining the Foreign Service

in 1988, Pasi has also served at

posts in Cameroon, Ghana, India

and Romania.

Pasi received her BA from Duke

University and a MA in French

Studies from New York University.

(PTI)

New York A Sikh‑

American teenager whoauthored a book about

bullying that the com‑

munity faces in the US

was forced to remove his

turban at the Meadows

Field Airport in

Bakersfield, California, a

media report has said.

Karanveer Singh

Pannu was heading for

the annual Sikh Youth

Symposium ‑ a public

speaking competition

held in Bakersfield but

was forced to remove

his turban by Transportation

Security Administration (TSA)personnel, NBC News reported

this week.

"I had gone to talk about my

book as an inspirational speaker

to address all the kids participat‑

ing in the annual Sikh Youth

Symposium," Pannu was quoted

as saying. According to him,

after going through the metal

detector at the airport, he wasasked to do a self‑pat down of

his turban and a chemical swab

test for explosive material.

After a positive swab test, he

was taken to a secondary

screening room to be given a full

pat down and was asked to

remove his turban to be further

scanned, the report added.

"I refused at first butwhen they threatened me

that I could not fly, I

agreed, provided they gave

me a mirror to retie my

turban," said Pannu who

wrote the book tit led

"Bullying of Sikh American

Children: Through the Eyes

of a Sikh American High

School Student."

"Before I removed my

turban, Agent Hernandez

asked the dreaded asinine

question, 'Is there any‑

thing we need to be aware

of before you remove your tur‑

ban?' I politely answered thatthere is a lot of long hair and

something cal led the brain

underneath," he was quoted as

saying in the report.

Meanwhile, the TSA declined

to comment on the specifics of

any individual passenger's

screening experience. (IANS)

Washington DC: President

Barack Obama today appointed

Indian American MasterCard CEOAjay Banga as a member of the

Commission on Enhancing

National Cybersecurity, a key

administration post tasked with

working towards internet safety.

Banga is one of the nine mem‑

bers of the Commission on

Enhancing National Cybersecurity

appointed by Obama, a White

House announcement said.

"I have charged the Commission

on Enhancing National

Cybersecurity with the critically‑

important task of identifying the

steps that our nation must take to

ensure our cybersecurity in an

increasingly digital world,"Obama said.

"These dedicated individuals

bring a wealth of experience and

talent to this important role, and I

look forward to receiving the

Commission's recommendations,"

he said.

Banga, in his mid‑fifties, has

been president and CEO of

MasterCard since 2010. He joinedMasterCard in 2009 as President

and COO.

Banga has served as a member

of the Advisory Committee for

Trade Policy and Negotiations

since 2015.

An alumnus of the Indian

Institute of Management,

Ahmedabad, he is also a member

of the Board of Directors of theDow Chemical Company, the

Board of Governors of the

American Red Cross, the Council

of Foreign Relations, and serves

as Chairman of the Financial

Services Roundtable and co‑chair

of the American India Foundation.

(PTI)

Geeta Pasi nominated USenvoy to Chad

Washington DC: The existing India

Passport Application Center in

Washington DC, which is operatedby M/s BLS International Services

Limited will close operations May 6

according to an Embassy of India

press release.

Embassy of India, Washington DC

will accept passport applications

through the new India Passport

Application Center (IPAC) (Suite

100‑90, 1250 23rd St NW

Washington, DC 20037)

in Washington DC, which will be

operated by M/s Cox and Kings

Global Services with effect from

May 9. A service fee of US$ 19.95

(inclusive of all taxes) per applica‑

tion will be charged at the IPAC in

addition to applicable passport fees.During the transition of outsourc‑

ing services from M/s BLS

International Services Limited (BLS)

to M/s Cox and Kings Global

Services (CKGS), acceptance of pass‑

port applications and return of

processed passports will be handled

as follows: BLS will not accept any

postal application after 22 April

2016 (Friday). Only postal applica‑

tions post‑marked on or before 22April 2016 will be accepted by BLS;

BLS will not accept regular walk‑in /

appointment applications after 29

April 2016 (Friday); BLS will only

accept Tatkal walk‑in / appointment

applications from 2 May 2016

(Monday) to 6 May 2016 (Friday).

Renewed passports for all pass‑

port applications accepted by BLS

will be returned to applicants by

BLS through walk‑in collection or

through postal dispatch, where the

applicant has chosen for postal

delivery. For passport applications

under processing at the Embassy

during the transition period,

renewed passports will be returnedto the applicants by Embassy of

India, Washington DC. Applicants

are advised to check tracking status

of their applications on BLS website.

BLS will also inform all those appli‑

cants by email whose renewed pass‑

ports will be returned directly by

the Embassy.

Cox & Kings replaces BLS for

Indian passport services

Obama appoints Ajay Bangato cybersecurity commission

Teen author of book on bullyingforced to remove turban at US airport

Geeta Pasi(Image: Wikimedia.org)

MasterCard CEO Ajay Banga (Image courtesy: thenational.ae)

Karanveer Singh Pannu(Photo courtesy: compute.info)


8/32

New Jersey:

A new book about vot‑

ing patterns in the United States

authored by Sangay K. Mishra

seeks to explain how the Indian

American community has switchedits party support over the past

decade and a half.

Mishraʼs book, “Desis Divided:

The Political Lives of South Asian

Americans,” delves into how the

Republican Partyʼs anti‑immigrant

stance following the Sept. 11

attacks on the U.S. has leaned the

Indian American community

towards Democrats.

“Post 9/11 the whole racial hos‑

til ity has really pushed them

towards the Democratic Party,

because the Republican Party has

the consistently taken anti‑immi‑

grant position,” Mishra said in a

recent interview. “Post 2001, theyhave moved away from the

Republican Party, which is seen

more as a party which is opposed

to immigrants, which is opposed to

immigrant integration.”

The author added, “The second

factor is that the Republican Party

has moved much closer to an evan‑

gelical Christianity kind of outlook

where Christianity is as the center

of their mobilization. And so any‑

one who is not Christian is feeling

little bit more uncomfortable with

their rhetoric.

“Even though as a party they areopen to everyone, but when you

look at their rhetoric during the

elections and hear some of the can‑

didates, there is much more

Christianity rhetoric. This also

pushes Indian Americans towards

the Democratic Party,” Mishra

argued. At a time, when candidates

are fighting for each delegate in

closely‑contested primary elections

in both the part ies, Indian

Americans in some of the keystates like New York, New Jersey,

Maryland and California, where

they have a sizeable presence, can

tilt the equation one way or the

other, the author said.

“Indian Americans are over‑

whelmingly supporters of the

Democratic Party. But unlike

African Americans these groups

are open to persuasion,” Mishra

said. Referring to a survey, Mishra,

an assistant professor of political

science at Drew University in New

Jersey said, “So more than 80 per‑

cent of Indian Americans who

voted, voted for Democrats. That

goes against the idea that IndianAmericans since they are affluent

they tend to vote more

Republican.”

Mishra specializes in immigrant

political incorporation, Indian dias‑

pora, global immigration and racial

and ethnic politics. (PTI)

8 April 23-29 2016 TheSouthAsianTimes.info NAT I ONAL COMMUNI TY

Washington DC: A 60‑year‑old

Indian‑American physician and

a well‑known supporter of

Khalistan movement has been

sentenced to 9 years in prison

for a $3 m illion healthcare

fraud scheme in the US in

which he filed claims for proce‑

dures that were never per‑

formed. Paramjit Singh Ajrawat,

was ordered to forfeit and pay

restitution of $3 million in fed‑

eral court in Greenbelt.

The US Attorney's Office said

in a news release that Paramjit

and his wife, Sukhveen Kaur

Ajrawat, owned and operatedWashington Pain Management

Center in Greenbelt.

In September 2015, a federal

jury convicted Paramjit and his

57‑year‑old wife. His wife died

on February 1, and the charges

against her were dismissed.

During trial, evidence was

presented that showed how the

couple defrauded federal health

benefit programs, including

Medicare and Medicaid. The

defrauding efforts happened

from January 2011 to May

2014.

They were convicted in

September of numerous

offences, including health care

and wire fraud, obstruction of

justice, and aggravated identity

theft.

At the peak of the Khalistan

movement, Paramjit was black‑

l isted by the IndianGovernment. In May 2011, he

along with 138 others includ‑

ing Gurmit Singh Aulakh, presi‑

dent of the Council of Khalistan,

were removed from the black

list, which prevents their entry

into India.

Sangay Mishra(Image credit: drew.edu)

PHYSICIAN JAILED

FOR $3 MILLION

HEALTHCARE FRAUD

Sangay Mishraʼs book spotlightsIndian Americansʼ shift in voting

W a s h i n g t on D C : A 26‑year‑old

American woman will file a lawsuit

against a Catholic Indian priest andhis church in India for allegedly sex‑

ually abusing her during his posting

in the US between 2004 and 2005.

The move comes in protest against

the recent Vatican decision which

announced Diocese of Ootacamund

located in Mylapore is reinstating

Joseph Jeyapaul to ministry.

Minnesota attorney Jeff Anderson

will file suit on behalf of the victim in

federal court that claims the Diocese

of Ootacamund endangered children

by reinstating Jeyapaul.

Jeyapaul who served as a priest in

Crookston township of Minnesota in

2004 and 2005 was arrested in

India in 2012 and extradited to theUS on charges of sexually abusing

two girls in a congregation.

He was later deported to India last

year, after serving his sentence of

one year and one day.

In a statement, advocacy group

SNAP (Survivors Network of those

Abused by Priests) announced that

one of the sexual abuse survivors

would sue the priest and the diocese.

"It may be the most irresponsibleVatican move we've ever seen:

Catholic officials in Rome have lifted

the suspension of a recently convict‑

ed predator priest. We are stunned

and saddened by such blatant reck‑

lessness and callousness," Barbara

Dorris of St Louis, Outreach Director

of SNAP, said in a statement.

A letter sent to Anderson and

Roseau County Attorney Lisa

Hanson and signed by over 500

Jeyapaul supporters in India will also

be released as evidence of the public

danger (nuisance) permitted by

Indian Bishop and Vatican, it said.

"On January 16, 2016, with the

permission of Pope Francis, BishopAmalraj lifted the suspension of

Father Joseph Jeyapaul," the firm

said.

"Catholic officials refuse to keep

this admitted sex offender away

from kids, so our only hope of stop‑

ping him is to get him charged and

convicted again," Dorris said. (PTI)

L o s A n g e l e s : America Telugu

Association [ATA] hosted an evening

of pep‑up celebrations in connec‑

tion with the forthcoming silver

ju bi le e AT A Co nv en ti on in Lo s

Angeles, California recently with

South Indian movie star Regina

Cassandra as the chief guest that

attracted over 600 guests.The evening celebrations began

with KK Reddy, Convention Director,

Ravinder Reddy, ATA ex‑Trustee and

actress Regina Cassandra making a

joint appearance to welcome the

guests. KK Reddy, Convention

Director in his address to the guests

highlighted the significant strides

being made towards the much‑

awaited ATA Convention in July 1‑3

in Chicago and added ATA

Convention is beginning to evoke

wider interest from Telugu families

across major countries in North

American, Europe and Asia.

Narasimha Reddy Dhysani,ATA

Trustee thanked the guests andpledged that Telugu families from

California will come out in large

numbers as participants at the ATA

Convention and added that they

would mobilize pledges of over one

hundred thousand dollars towards

hosting the convention.

Some well‑known Telugu leaders

who attended the celebrations

include Ravindar Reddy, Venkat

Yiramalla, Anil Boddireddy, Rinda

Sama, Praveen Nayani, Yugandhar

Reddy Mothey, Kishore Budaraju,

Ravi Dyapa, Vijay Stotrabhashyam,

Abhi Pagadala, Saradhi Goli, Bharat

Akunapuram, Sunil Tokala, Ravi

Talanki, Sudheer Surasani, RameshKurella, Ravi Jangala, Surendra

Marisela, Anoop Goud and ATA

Regional Coordinator Kumar

Talanki who proposed a vote of

thanks. The evening celebrations

continued with the Rhythm Music

Melody group performing music

and singing led by Rahul Sipligunj.

American sex abuse survivor

to sue Indian priest, diocese

ATA members at the banquet

ATA hosts pepup banquet in Los Angeles


9/32

9April 23-29, 2016TheSouthAsianTimes.info U S AFFA I RS

New York Donald Trump and Hillary

Clinton regained their stride in the presi‑

dential race Tuesday night, winning their

respective primaries in New York ̶ and

sending a message to their rivals that

their campaigns are back on track afterrecent stumbles.

Trump, in his home state, notched what

appeared to be his biggest victory yet.

Speaking to cheering supporters Tuesday

night at Trump Tower, he declared: “We

donʼt have much of a race anymore.”

“Senator [Ted] Cruz is just about mathe‑

matically eliminated,” Trump claimed.

“Weʼre really, really rockinʼ.” Indeed,

Cruz's poor showing left him with no

mathematical chance of clinching the

nomination before the Republican conven‑

tion in July, though Trump could still end

up short of the 1,237 needed to seal victo‑

ry before the gathering.

With 94 percent of precincts reporting,

Trump had garnered 60 percent of thevote, his highest total in any state. He had

claimed at least 89 of New York's 95

Republican delegates.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich finished second in

the state with 25 percent of the vote, leav‑

ing Cruz to finish third with 15 percent.

Kasich was awarded at least three dele‑

gates, leaving Cruz in danger of getting

shut out.

As of Tuesday night, Trump had 845

delegates. Cruz had 559, and Kasich had

147. Cruz, who infamously panned

Trump's "New York values" earlier in the

primary, had been bracing for a tough

showing in the Empire State and showed

no signs of throwing in the towel.

In the Democratic race, Clinton soundly

defeated Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in

her adopted home state, which she repre‑

sented in the Senate for eight years.

Despite the Brooklyn‑born Sandersʼ hard‑

fought attempt at an upset, the former

secretary of state successfully staved off

that possibility Tuesday night. With 94

percent of precincts reporting, Clinton had

58 percent to Sandersʼ 42 percent.

Clinton claimed the race for theDemocratic nomination is now entering

the “home stretch” and “victory is in

sight.” In an apparent bid to bridge divides

in the party amid an increasingly bitter

primary, she directed a message to

Sanders voters: “There is much more that

unites us than divides us.”

Clinton and Trump both were seeking

rebound victories Tuesday after recent

setbacks. Cruz had complicated Trump's

path to the nomination by winning recent

contests like Wisconsin and getting allies

elected to state delegate slates. On the

Democratic side, Sanders had been on a

winning streak up until Tuesday – win‑

ning seven of the eight prior contests.

Whether Trump and Clinton's perform‑ance Tuesday will help either wrap up the

race in the coming weeks remains an open

question. The campaigns head next to five

Eastern states that vote next Tuesday:

Pennsylvania, Maryland, Connecticut,

Rhode Island and Delaware.

IANS

Washington Republican National

Convention delegates from the District of

Columbia who are bound to or support‑

ive of Sen. Marco Rubio (R‑FL), tell

Breitbart News that they are open to sup‑

porting Donald Trump instead. Some are

making the pitch that they want Trump

to pick Rubio as his vice presidential can‑

didate, but nonetheless the warm com‑

ments many of these Rubio delegates are

making about Trump̶instead of about

Sen. Ted Cruz (R‑TX)̶is perhaps a sign

of a turning tide in the delegate game

after Trump captured at least 89 dele‑

gates in New York Tuesday night.

“I think him choosing Marco [as vicepresident] would make me more inclined

to support him, in a more positive way, a

more active role in campaigning because

I really love Marco,” said Teri Galvez, a

bound delegate from D.C. who the D.C.

GOP says is bound to Ohio Gov. John

Kasich, in an interview with Breitbart

News this week.

“I am going to support whoever the

nominee is because Iʼm Republican first

and foremost, and it would be very hard

for me to ever support a Democrat,” she

said. “When I was single I never even

dated one. I donʼt get excited about

Trump. He is the one candidate that I get

excited the least about. Again, if Marco

was chosen as VP I would warm up to theidea more.” Even though sheʼs bound to

Kasich according to the D.C. primary

results, Galvez is much more of a Rubio

supporter. And sheʼs hardly the only

D.C. delegate and Rubio supporter open

to backing Trump at the convention.

When asked if she would support

Trump at the convention, Maureen Blum,

another D.C. delegate who is bound to

Rubio, also made a pitch for Trump to

select Rubio as his vice president:

One D.C. alternate delegate who sup‑

ports Rubio told Breitbart News on con‑

dition of anonymity that: “If Trump

becomes the nominee, asking Marco

Rubio to be the V.P. candidate would

unite the convention and the Party.

Additionally, it will help to balance a New

York, very moderate to liberal

Republican with a Christian conservativeV.P. If the convention and Party do not

unify and come together, I do not see

how we can win in November.”

That alternate delegate and Rubio sup‑

porter also suggested that Trump bring

in Dr. Ben Carson̶whoʼs already

endorsed him̶as the leading figure to

undo Obamacare, and that Trump place

Cruz on the US Supreme Court.

“Whatever happens, itʼs important we

have a unity ticket at the convention and

leave Cleveland united and energized,”

the alternate delegate and Rubio backer

said. “Whatever combination emerges,

with Cruz or without , a unified

Republican front is the goal.”

In recent interviews, Trump has sug‑gested that he may pick Rubio,

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, or Ohioʼs

Kasich as his vice president.

Breitbart News

Washington Anti‑

s lavery crusader

Harriet Tubman

will become the

first African‑

American to be fea‑

tured on the face of

U.S. paper currency

when she replaces

President Andrew

Jackson on the $20

bill , the U.S.

T r e a s u r y

D e p a r t m e n t

announced on

Wednesday.

She will also be the first woman on U.S.

paper currency in more than a century.

The redesigned $20 bill will move Jackson to the back of the bill alongside

an image of the White House, Treasury

officials said.

A new $10 bill will keep founding father

Alexander Hamilton on the front, while

adding images of five women, all leaders

of the women's suffrage movement, to the

back.

The reverse of a new $5 note will honor

events held at the Lincoln Memorial in

Washington D.C., including former first

lady Eleanor Roosevelt and Martin Luther

King, Jr., officials said.

The slew of changes give the Treasury "a

chance to open the aperture to reflect

more of America's history," Treasury

Secretary Jacob Lew told reporters on aconference call.

The decision to replace the seventh

president of the United States with

Tubman, who was born a slave and helped

hundreds of slaves escape using the net‑

work of safe‑houses known as the

Underground Railroad, followed public

outreach by the Treasury Department

regarding which woman should be fea‑

tured on a bill after they announced plans

in June to feature one on the $10 note.

While no depict ions of African‑

Americans have appeared on U.S. curren‑

cy, the signatures of five African‑

Americans have been on it. Four were

Registers of the Treasury and included

Blanche K. Bruce, Judson W. Lyons,

William T. Vernon and James C. Napier,

and one was U.S. Treasurer Azie Taylor

Morton.

Native American Sacagawea has been

featured on the gold dollar coin since

1999, and suffragist Susan B. Anthony has

appeared on the silver dollar coin since

1979. Deaf‑blind author and activist

Helen Keller is on the back of the Alabama

quarter, which was first issued in 2003.

Reuters

DELEGATES BOUND TO

RUBIO, KASICH BEGIN

WARMING TO THE DONALD

Harriet Tubman was born a slave and helped hundreds of slavesescape using the network of safe‑houses.

Making victory speeches in New York: Donald Trump

and Hillary Clinton. (Photo: Reuters; EPA)

Trump, Clinton cruise to wins in New York

Tubman to be first AfricanAmerican on U.S. currency


10/32

By Dr. Sulekh C. Jain

Jainism is one of the oldest and

6th largest religion of the

world. More than 125,000

Jains now live in USA and Canada.

They have put down strong roots

here in the form of a nationalorganization of all Jains (JAINA ),

many places of worship (more than

70) and a sizeable number of insti‑

tutions and organizations (more

than 100). A significant number of

Ja in yo uths is now stud yi ng in

some of the top universities of USA

and Canada.

Starting practically from ground

zero, during the last 12 years, the

Jain community in North America

(with the support of a few commit‑

ted donors) has been striving to

establish studies, teaching and

research in Jainism at universities

and colleges in North America. As a

result some progress has beenachieved. Below is a brief summary

of some of the accomplishments.

International School for Jain

Studies (www.isjs.in). Since its

inception in 2005, nearly 600 fac‑

ulty, scholars, post‑doctorates,

graduate and undergraduate stu‑

dents and high school teachers

(from more than 25 universities

and 10 countries) have gone toIndia during summers to learn

about Jainism and ahimsa. This

year alon e a record 95 scho lars

from 6 countries will be going to do

the same.

A unique feature of this program

is that India becomes a classroom

for students. There they have a

chance to see, touch, taste, smell

and experience living Jainism. They

experience Jain and Indian hospi‑

tality, see some beautiful sights,

meet scores of saints/ascetics,

scholars, Jain professionals, leaders

and businessmen. They also have a

chance to interact and share knowl‑

edge of mutual interest with many.In the class rooms, students are

exposed to some broad aspects of

Jai n phil osophy, his tory, cul tur e

and society. In India, they get an

insiderʼs view of Jainism, which

could not be replicated in America

or anywhere else in the world.

What they learn, how they learn

and where they learn makes the

India experience unforgettable tomost. Another unique feature is

that it is integrated within many

university systems and as a result,

quite a few students after they

return from this program actually

earn credits from their home insti‑

tutions.

Upon their return from India,

some of the scholars started offer‑

ing classes in Jainism at their own

institutes and some others pursued

their studies. As a result, 14 have

already completed their PhDs and

more are working for their PhDs.

Just recently, this school organ‑

ized 3 highly successful seminars at

3 prestigious universities in Indiaon Jain practice of Santhara or

Sanlekhana (end of life the Jain

way) in which more than 70 Indian

and international experts partici‑

pated.

The Jain School is also complet‑

ing its massive research project in

six volumes covering everything

about Jainism from Antiquity to

Society, Philosophy, Literature andlanguages, Material Culture and

Relevance.

The school was also recently

awarded a research contract by

Government of Indiaʼs Indian

Council on Philosophical Research

for study and research on Jain

Yoga. As we started educating and

training new and young faculty and

scholars in Jainism, the Jain com‑

munity and the academics started

realizing the need for the perma‑

nent presence of Jain studies at

many colleges and universities in

North America.

The first funded Chair in Jainism

was established by the Jain commu‑nity at Florida International

University in Miami Florida in

2009‑10. In August 2015, the Jain

community established another

Chair (Parshwanath Presidential

Chair in Jainism) at the University

of California at Irvine, CA. In

January 2016, the community also

established Bhagwan Mahavir Post‑

Doctoral Fellowship in Jain Studiesat Rice University in Houston,

Texas.

Currently we also have centers /

programs for Jain studies at several

other universities. These include

Emory University, Atlanta,

University of Texas in Austin,

University of North Texas in

Denton, Loyola Marymount

University, LA, San Diego State

University, San Diego, Claremont

School of Theology, Claremont, CA,

and Graduate Theological Union,

Berkeley, CA.

Dr. Jain is the Founder and

Chairman of the Governing Council

of International School for Jain Studies USA (www.jainstudies.org)

and Secretary

By Dr. Chandra Mittal

N

o sooner had the news of

terrorist attacks in Brussels

begun to spread in the early

hours of March 22 than the USpoliticians began providing quick

fixes to prevent such happenings

on the homeland. One such solu‑

tion came from the Republican

Presidential candidate Senator Ted

Cruz who proposed that US

authorities should surveil the

neighborhoods inhabited by

Muslims. Sometime ago another

idea had come from Donald Trump

that United States should ban

Muslims from entering into US.

Of course, both of these pre‑

scriptions were so outlandish and

un‑American that they got

nowhere and were rejected by

most Americans. Such political

statements were not serious policy

proposals but a knee‑jerk reac‑

tions in an election season to capi‑

talize on the fear of Americans to

gain in the current Primary elec‑

tions. Such rhetoric is divisive and

destructive as it promotes anti‑

Muslim sentiments. It is also

affecting the morale of other

migrant communities especially

from India, Pakistan and the

Middle East.

It is true that terrorist incidence

around the globe in the name of

Islam is the source of genuine anx‑

iety and apprehension about peo‑

ple who are committed to such

ghastly acts. Many in US believe

that ISIS in the Middle East with its

record of atrocities, anti‑American

rhetoric, and modern technology

intends to mount another lethal

attack on the US soil. The memory

of 9‑11 is still alive in peopleʼs

minds and weighs heavily on

American psyche because almost

3000 innocent lives were lost in

New York.

Such developments are not set‑

tl ing for any country. But for

politicians to exploit the public

fear by demonizing a particular

minority group for political gain is

not constructive. These are law‑

and‑order matters not to be politi‑

cized. No wonder some are equat‑

ing Trump and Cruz ideas to

Nazism of the 1940s. Such politi‑

cal statements can only exacerbate

the problem, not solve it. Most

American Muslims and other

minorities are highly successful

professionals and productive US

citizens. Associating them with

acts of terrorism is alienating and

demoralizing.

Violent incidences in the name

of faith are a relatively new phe‑

nomenon for the US unlike Asian

countries that have had a long his‑tory with such situations and have

learned to adjust with religious

diversity and differences through

the centuries. Until 1965 USA was

predominantly a Christian‑majori‑

ty country with most migrants

from European countries. So, there

was l itt le value‑based conflict

among the people. Today, howev‑

er, half‑a‑century later with almost

59 million new migrants from

Asia, Africa and other countries

with non‑Christian believers has

created a new circumstance for

US. It is perhaps this reality that

has prevented President Obama

from publicly using qualifiers like

“radical” or “fundamentalist” to

describe the faith of those associ‑

ated with violent acts. Qualifiers

used by a President have serious

implications for the domestic poli‑

cy. And that is the responsible

position for a national leader to

take. This has been, of course,much to the consternation of his

detractors. But the same was prac‑

ticed by President George W. Bush

who after 9‑11 described Islam as

a peaceful religion to prevent any

backlash against American

Muslims.

United States undoubtedly con‑

fronts a tricky challenge of main‑

taining internal security, societal

peace, and constitutional protec‑

tion. While American leaders and

policy wonks engage in crafting

new strategies and action plans to

meet these challenges, it may be

worthwhile to look at the experi‑

ences of other societies who have

dealt with religious diversity and

worked successfully with them

through the history.

Development of tolerance, inte‑

gration and acceptance of reli‑

gious diversity in a society are a

long, jerky, generational, evolu‑

tionary process. Minds cannot be

changed overnight. This is best

illustrated by India, which had itsfirst Muslim ruler in 12th Century.

Today, through tough challenges

over eight centuries, Islam has

become part of Indiaʼs religious,

social and cultural heritage with

significant Hindu‑Muslim integra‑

tion as reflected in Indian arts,

music, architecture, literature, etc.

Politically provocative and divi‑

sive rhetoric of politicians against

any minority has no place in pub‑

lic discourse in US. It is not

responsible to destroy the soul of

America or its Constitutional sanc‑

tity. Demonizing a religious faith

cannot bring peace, unity or cohe‑

siveness in society. It will create

the opposite outcome. There is

need for tolerance, acceptance of

all religious beliefs within the lim‑

its of the US Constitution.

Since its birth America has dealt

with many tough challenges and

brought them to positive conclu‑

sion. The current situation will be

no exception. Once it evolves to

that point, the Trumps and the

Cruzs of this world will become an

irrelevant footnote in American

history, and will be remembered

only for “Not Making America

Great Again” to put it rhetorically.

Dr. Chandra Mittal is Professor

at Houston Community College,

and Co‑Founder of Indo‑American

Association, Houston.

He can be contacted at drckmit‑

[email protected].

Demonizing Muslims is not American

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

Jain academic education spreads wings in America

Since its birthAmerica has dealtwith many tough

challenges andbrought them

to positiveconclusion. Thecurrent situation

visàvisantiMuslim

rhetoric will beno exception.

10 April 23-29, 2016 TheSouthAsianTimes.info OP-ED


11/32

11April 23-29, 2016TheSouthAsianTimes.info U S AFFA I RS

By Robert Golomb

If I decide to run against

Andrew Cuomo in 2018, I am

confident that I will beat him”,

19th Congressional District

(which covers areas near Albany

and surrounding its eastern, west‑

ern and southern sides)

Republican Congressman Chris

Gibson stated, as we began our

interview in midtown Manhattan

last week. Gibsonʼs use of the con‑

ditional conjunction “if”, though,

could fairly be described as ques‑

tionable: In February he formed

what is now a well‑staffed guber‑

natorial exploratory committee.

That exploratory committee, which

launched a website

GibsonforNY.com, is already pro‑

ducing a broad range of position

papers and reaching out for sup‑

port to state Republican officials,

has convinced many within

Republican and Democratic camps

throughout the state that Gibson is

all but assured to enter the race.

However, if, as expected, he

decides to run, his prediction of

victory would seem to be chal‑

lenged by the political realities of

New York State, which has regis‑

tered Democrats holding a 2‑1

advantage over registered

Republicans. Such an advantage in

voter party registration has been

credited with the Democratsʼ con‑trol of the two NYS United States

Senator positions, with former

Senator Al DʼAmatoʼs reelection in

1994 to a seat he had held for two

previous terms being the last time

a Republican has been elected to

that position.

Still, what would seem at first

glance to put Gibsonʼs optimism

even more to the test would be the

past three governorʼs races in the

state. After three terms of

Republican Governor George

Pataki, a moderate known for his

alliances on key economic issues

with Democrats in the state assem‑

bly and senate, the Democraticcandidates have glided to easy vic‑

tories over their Republican oppo‑

nents in the past three elections,

with Eliot Spitzer (who was to

resign in March 2008 in the wake

of a prostitution scandal) garner‑

ing 69% of the vote in 2006

against then former state assem‑

bly leader John Faso; current

Governor Andrew Cuomo collect‑

ing 62% in his first term victory in

2010 against upstate businessman

Carl Paladino and winning 54% in

his 2014 reelection to a second

term against Westchester County

Executive Robert Astorino.

Gibson, 51, the married father of

three teenage children, told me,

however, that the fact that

Democrats have dominated state

elections over the past 20 years is

not a predictor for the governorʼs

race in 2018. He contended that

his victories in the 19th CD, a left

leaning district, can be replicated

on a state wide scale, segueing into

a victory in 2018.

Pressed, though, Gibson

acknowledged, that if he does

decide to run against Governor

Cuomo, he will still be running an

uphill battle. “Cuomo will come

into the campaign as a two term

incumbent with a tremendous

political war chest collected from

the New York State Democratic

machine and liberal interest

groups”, he stated.

It is, in fact, because of that

Cuomo “war chest”, which con‑

tained more than 45 million dol‑

lars in 2014 and is expected to be

fil led with even more cash in

2018, that requires Gibson,

according to a source with close

ties to his exploratory committee,

to formally announce his candida‑

cy by early next year, giving him

almost two years before the elec‑

tion to raise the 20 million dollars

said to be required to wage a com‑

petitive campaign.

While still declining to provide

the specific date he plans to

announce his expected decision to

enter the 2018 race, Gibson told

me he fully understands that his

ability to reach the electorate is

conditioned in large part by hiscampaignʼs financial resources

and thus understands the impor‑

tance of early fund raising.

“It will require money to, among

other expenses associated with

running a statewide campaign, pay

for television and radio time to

communicate my positions on the

critical issues facing the state and

explain my plans to address them

to the voters”, he acknowledged.

“So I understand the importance of

raising campaign funds as early as

possible.”

The issues he would address,

Gibson told me, include the econo‑

my, education, political corruption

and public safety. Beginning with

his plans to improve the economy,

Gibson stated, “Under Governor

Cuomo New York State has the

highest local and state taxes in the

nation on both businesses and

individual families. Reducing this

tax burden would encourage busi‑

nesses already here to stay and

attract new businesses to set up

shop in our state. This would cre‑

ate more well paying private sec‑

tor jobs and provide more goods

and services to all New Yorkers….

Lowering the tax burden on indi‑

viduals and their families will lead

to all New Yorkers enjoying

greater spending power.”

Gibson continued his criticism of

Governor Cuomo, as he discussed

his plans on education. “Governor

Cuomo”, he stated, “has been a

champion of Common Core, which

takes power away from parents,

students, teachers and administra‑

tors and gives it all to bureaucrats

in Washington DC. It is little won‑

der that it has failed miserably

here in New York and throughout

the nation. My education plan is

predicated upon returning power

to all the real stakeholders in the

education process ‑ parents, stu‑

dents, teachers and administrators

‑ the same stakeholders Common

Core has disenfranchised.”

Gibsonʼs plan on political reform

is based on the premise that the

political culture in Albany is filled

with corruption that must be

cleaned up. “We have to concede”,

he contended, “that while themajority of elected officials in

Albany are personally honest and

decent women and men, there is a

culture of corruption that perme‑

ates throughout the state capital. I

think we need to reform the

process with term limits for the

governor, and I will lead by exam‑

ple by imposing a two‑term limit

on myself …. I will also initiate

tough, no‑nonsense legislation that

will finally put an end to all gov‑

ernmental misconduct in the state

capital.”

Lastly, Gibson discussed public

safety, which, he said, is the most

fundamental responsibility that

government has to fulfill for its cit‑

izens. “It is the most important job

of government to make certain

that its citizens feel and are safe in

their homes, neighborhoods and

streets without taking away their

rights”, he stated. “To secure this

safety, it is essential that the police

realize they have the support of

both the public and elected offi‑

cials.”

“I believe”, Gibson added, “that

these will be winning positions

with the voters simply because

they are the right positions for our

state.”

While whether or not those are

in fact the “winning” and “right

positions” might be weighed heavi‑

ly on a political scale, there might

be one item found in Gibsonʼs per‑

sonal narrative that could prove to

be as appealing to Democrats as it

is to Republicans: During his three

terms in Congress, Gibson has

each year voluntarily returned his

military pension for his 29 years

of service in the US Army to the

Treasury Department.

Those 29 years of military serv‑

ice, which ended in his retirement

with the rank of colonel in 2010,

cover five in the National Guard

followed by twenty four in the reg‑

ular United States Army ‑ which

included four combat tours to Iraq,

one during the Gulf War and three

during the height of the most

recent war in Iraq.

Those three Congressional terms

span from his first election to the

20th CD in 2010, when he defeat‑ed an incumbent by 10%, to 2012

when he scored a victory in the

redistricted Democratic leaning

19th CD, to 2014 when he was re‑

elected to the 19th CD by just

under a 30% margin ‑ currently his

last term due to his honoring the

pledge he made to a three term

limit during the 2010 campaign ‑

another item that could possibly

resonate with voters.

Explaining those decisions,

Gibson stated, “It is imperative we

follow through on the commit‑

ments we make to the voters who

elect us to serve, and I have strived

every day to do just that leading

by example, honoring my pledges,

and putting my constituents first

in everything I do”.

There still remains, however,

one obstacle that could stand in

the way of a Gibson ‑ Cuomo race:

Documents

Vol-8-Issue-50 April- 23 -April - 29, 2016