8/20/2019 Vol.8 Issue 16- August 22-28, 2015
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INDIA DAY CELEBRATIONS 15 OP-ED 19 SPORTS 24
Khattar woos US investors with new industrial policy
50,000 expats fetePM Modi in Dubai
Dubai: Prime Minister Narendra Modi
addressed 50,000 strong Indian diaspora at
the Dubai cricket stadium where the crowd
roared and cheered in approval on Aug 17.
Modiʼs visit was special as it was the first
visit by an Indian PM to the UAE in 34 years.
He took a veiled swipe at
Pakistan over terrorism as he was wrap-
ping up a two-day trip to UAE. The crowd
also gave a standing ovation to the Abu
Dhabi crown prince for the gift of land for a
temple. The UAE is home to 2.6 million
Indians. Modi also made a strong
pitch for UAE investments in India, saying
India has the potential of $1 trillion invest-
ments.
After record number of people who came
to listen to Modi in New York and Sydney
earlier, the next big event for the popular
prime minister is in Silicon Valley on
September 27.
Washington DC: During a two-
day visit on August 18-19,
Chief Minister of Haryana
Manohar Lal Khattar met gov-
ernment officials, business
leaders, think tank experts,
academicians and India-
American community leaders
in Washington D.C. and State
of Maryland.
He is currently leading a 30-
member delegation of officials
from his state and top Indianbusinesses on a visit to the US
and Canada to present
Haryana as a promising desti-
nation for doing business.
The Chief Minister highlight-
ed the steps taken by his
Government to improve doing
business environment in
Haryana. He invited U.S.
investors to Haryana in sectors
such as IT, renewable energy,
transportation, defense and
food processing. Haryana's
Industries Minister Capt.
Abhimanyu lauded the success
of the Indian-American busi-
ness community and invited
them to share their experience,skills and talent for the growth
and development of India.
In order to facilitate invest-
ment in the State, the Haryana
Continued on page 4
New York: The like of this parade is not
seen even in India to celebrate the coun-
tryʼs Independence Day. Indeed, Grand
Marshal Arjun Rampal too said this about
the New Yorkʼs India Day Parade while
talking to the media on Sunday.
Thousands of people from the Indian
diaspora, Bollywood celebrities and
Indian politicians were part of the spec-
tacular 35th annual India Day Parade in
Manhattan on Aug 16.
Billed as the biggest Indian parade
Continued on page 4
Related stories on page 14Detailed stories on pg 16-17.
See related stories on pg 3 & 23.
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar speaking at the US-India
Business Council in Washington, DC.
Trump makes dramatic gainson Hillary in latest poll
New York: Donald Trump has
made dramatic gains on Hillary
Clinton and is within striking dis-
tance of her in a hypothetical
2016 presidential battle, accord-
ing to a poll released Wednesday.
Democrat Clinton leads the
Republican front-runner by 6
points, 51 percent to 45 percent,according to the CNN/ORC
International survey conducted
Donald Trump onTime magazine cover
Continued on page 4
Match winning batsman Virendra Sehwag, new Bollywood sensation Parineeti
Chopra, Grand Marshal superstar Arjun Rampal, & Sony TV artists Aman and Sangeeta at FIA’s India Day Parade in New York August 16. (Photo: PTI)
Grand parade celebratesIndia Day in New York
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TheSouthAsianTimes.info August 22-28, 2015
8/20/2019 Vol.8 Issue 16- August 22-28, 2015
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Irvine CA:
The University of California at
Irvine (UCI) has agreed to establish three
new chairs to expand its religious studies
program, adding Jain, Sikh and Modern
India studies to the already agreed Vedic
and Indic civil ization studies. Shri
Parshvanath, Dhan Kaur Sahota and
Swami Vivekananda presidential chairs
for Jain, Sikh and modern India studies
respectively were present at the signing
held on Aug 12 at the Jain Center of
Southern California (JCSC) in Buena Park.
UCI Dean of School of Humanities Dr.
Georges Van Den Abbeele was joined by Jain studies donors Drs. Jasvant, Meera
Modi, Rajesh and Neeta Shah, and Sikh
studies donors Dr. Harvinder Sahota, a
cardiologist, and his wife Asha Sahota.
The new chairs will anchor the religious
studies program at UCI by securing facul-
ty-led research and instruction in influen-
tial Indian religions and culture and help
establish a multidisciplinary campus for
Indian studies. Classes in the department
are expected to begin in September 2016.
“Todayʼs historical event will have a pro-
found impact on developing academic
opportunities for the study and research
of these two religions (Jainism and
Sikhism),” JCSC president Virendra Shah
said.
Efforts to establish similar studies are
being made at other Southern California
institutions, including Claremont School
of Theology and Loyola Marymount
University. Each endowed chair is fundedwith $2 million. Donors provided $1.5
million and U.C. matched a half million
dollars. An endowed chair is a fund that
provides resources to recruit, retain and
reward the finest scholars. The annual
interest in the endowment provides
resources in perpetuity for faculty salary,
teaching, research and related activities.
3August 22-28, 2015TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRISTATE COMMUNITY
By Jinal Shah
New York On Monday Haryana
chief minister Manohar Lal
Khattar signed an MoU with a
leading Connecticut firm to manu-facture air-conditioners at an 8-
acre facility in Gurgaon that will
generate about 2000 jobs. He
made the announcement at a press
conference at the Indian Consulate
here that evening.
Khattar, who is on a 10-day visit
to the US and Canada signed the
MoU with United Technologies.
“The agreement will help expand
its existing facility in Gurgaon and
create new jobs in the process,”
Khattar said.
Khattar and his delegation held
meetings with Connecticut
Governor Dannel Malloy and busi-
ness leaders and CEOs. He extend-ed an invitation to the Governor to
visit India and Haryana that was
accepted by Malloy.Highlighting the progress made
by his state, Khattar said, “Haryana
is a strategic location in terms of its proximity to Delhi. It has well
established infrastructure and
developed auto sector, defense, IT,
education, and medical education.”
He mentioned the new
“Enterprise Promotion Policy
2015” inviting the US and othercountries to invest in Haryana.
“Under this policy we have a tar-
get of inviting investments from
abroad of approximately $20 bil-
lion for next five years. This invest-
ment will generate employment
for 400,000 people.”
Earlier, Khattar and Haryana
Industries and Commerce Minister
Abhimanyu met seven prospective
investors in New York to discuss
the possibility of investment in
projects and joint ventures in the
power and renewable energy sec-
tors. “Haryana is committed to
establishing 4,200 MW of solar
power units. Three of the investors
we talked to have showed keen
interest in setting up solar power
plant,” said Sanjeev Kaushal,
Principal Secretary to Khattar.
Clutch Group founder and CEO
Abhi Shah accepted Khattar's
request to start a power project inHaryana.
ThermoAura Inc co-founder and
President Rutvik J. Mehta
expressed his intention to enter
into a joint venture for establish-
ing facilities for manufacturing
solar thermal generators.
Ducon Group of Companies
chairman and CEO Aron Govil, who
was born in Hisar in Haryana,
evinced keen interest in setting up
a 100 MW solar power plant in
the state.
Khattar and his team were also
scheduled to San Francisco to meet
with senior executives of major IT
companies like Google, Facebook,
Oracle and IBM.
New York: Turning the tables on
Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), whose new
counsel launched implausible,
defamatory allegations against
Congress President Mrs. Sonia
Gandhi in the US Court of Appeals
here on August 18, Ravi Batra,attorney for defense, argued that
such defamation was an example
of how SFJ's campaign of publici-
ty seeking litigation was doing a
disservice to the genuine victims
of 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Batra
argued that the new allegations
exceeded the allegations of "a cover up or shield-
ing after becoming Congress President in 1998"
in the original and amended complaint - and as a
result were factually wrong and illegal. SFJ attor-
neyʼs recklessly reprehensible allegations
included that ʻMrs. Gandhi had personally killed
peopleʼ as well as ʻordered a killing spreeʼ in
1984, Batra said in a statement to the press.
Batra explained to the court that his client,
Sonia Gandhi was a housewife in deep shock onOctober 31, 1984 ‒ the day then Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi was assassinated - and didn't do
or order any killings. The complaint alleged,
speculatively, that meetings took place on that
day at the Congress party headquarters in New
Delhi - but not in her home. “Hence, the allega-
tions of her attendance were implausible,” Batra
concluded.
Batra further argued that under
binding Supreme Court precedents,
SFJ, as a NY corporation, was not an
ʻalienʼ - and hence can never be a
proper party to bring a lawsuit under
the ʻAlien Tort Statuteʼ (ATS). Being a
corporation, SFJ is also incapable of being tortured or killed and hence
can't sue under Torture Victims
Protection Act (TVPA). SFJ has
proven no membership, and hasn't
been appointed by any Court in USA
or India to represent the estate of a
single person unlawfully hurt or
killed in 1984. As both ATS and TVPA require
that a lawsuit be filed within 10 years of the act
claimed to violate the law of nations ‒ and 30
years have passed since 1984 ‒ so the lawsuits
in US courts are dead-on-arrival and a hoax upon
society, Batra submitted.
The defense attorney went on to explain to the
panel of Circuit Judges Cabranes, Raggi and
Wesley that SFJ's litigation tactics such as suing
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh twice in 2013and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014 are
irritating the foreign relations of the United
States - and are an irritant to President Obama
and Secretary of State John Kerry.
Batra, however, was mindful to show by act
and deed the compassion that every person of
good will owes to every single victim of 1984 -
as they are deserving of dignified relief.
Haryana Chief Minister details deals made and in the works
3 Endowed Chairs in Jain, Sikh and
Modern India Studies at UCIRavi Batra’s spirited defense of
Sonia Gandhi in SFJ case
The delegation led by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattarvisiting the Honeywell Technologies Centre in
Washington DC on Thursday.
University of California at Irvine Dean of School of Humanities Dr. Georges Van Den Abbeele and donor families signing the agreements.
Ravi Batra is thedefense attorney for Congress President
Sonia Gandhi
8/20/2019 Vol.8 Issue 16- August 22-28, 2015
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Grand parade celebrates India Day in New...
Continued from page 1
outside India to celebrate the 69th Independence Day,
it was organized by the Federation of Indian
Associations (FIA-NY-NJ-CT) and ambled down
Madison Avenue in the heart of Manhattan.
Bollywood star Arjun Rampal was the Grand
Marshal at the parade while actress Parineeti Chopra
was the guest of honor at the event attended by
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, India's
Consul General Dnyaneshwar Mulay and former union
minister Shashi Tharoor, among others.
Khattar woos US investors with new...
Continued from page 1
government has released a new Enterprise Promotion
Policy 2015. One of the key goals of this new policy is
a single window clearance system.
Already, the chief minister has signed many MoUs
with US firms for setting up projects in Haryana.
Trump makes dramatic gains on Hillary in...
Continued from page 1
Thursday through Sunday last week. That puts him
within the pollʼs margin of error of plus or minus 3.5
points.
Clinton was clobbering Trump by 16 points, 56 per-
cent to 40 percent, just a month earlier.Trumpʼs strong gain could go a long way to combat
his perceived weakness ̶ electability ̶ in a face-off
with Clinton.
“Well, [running against Clinton] is not my focus
right now. Right now, I have 16 other people that Iʼm
looking at and thatʼs not my focus ̶ but indirectly
probably is,” Trump told CNN, referring to his GOP
rivals.
“I think that Hillary is going to have a hard time
being in the election based on whatʼs happening with
the emails, the servers . . . I think itʼs going to be a very
hard thing to overcome.”
The poll showed that Trump is now on equal ̶ or
higher ̶ ground with other Republicans in a match-
up against the former secretary of state.
Clinton leads Scott Walker, too, by 6 points, Jeb
Bush by 9, and Carly Fiorina by 10.While he said heʼs concentrating on the GOP pri-
mary and not the general election, Trump blasted his
potential rivalʼs record.
“Hillaryʼs record as secretary of state was a disas-
ter,” he said. “She was in favor, totally in favor, of the
Iraq War ̶ which is obviously not a good sound bite.”
But with all her problems, Clinton remains the can-
didate to beat, according to the poll.
New York Mayor Bill de
Blasio promised Tuesday that
his administration would rein
in topless women, begging
mothers, costumed charac-
ters and others who hustle
passersby for cash at NewYork City tourist hubs such as
Times Square.
Committing to take action
"soon," de Blasio said he
would seek "creative ideas"
and deploy "all the tools
available" to enforce current
laws and potentially enact
new ones without running
afoul of free-speech rights
protected by the U.S.
Constitution.
"This situation is going to
change. This is what I'll guar-
antee you. I'm not going to
tolerate it. We're going to
change things," he said dur-
ing a City Hall news confer-
ence. "This is a situation that
I don't accept, and we will
deal with very aggressively."
He said that city agencies,
including the NYPD and theDepartment of Consumer
Affairs, are formulating a
new approach for handling
Times Square, which has
become an epicenter of cos-
tumed characters and topless
women in body paint seeking
tips in exchange for posing
for photographs. One idea is
to regulate the street hustlers
as businesses subject to city
rules, de Blasio said.
San Francisco
A second,
even bigger, 'cheat sheet'
exposing the users of
adultery website Ashley
Madison has been
released.
Hacking group 'the
Impact team' on
Thursday released another mine of
documents and confidential infor-
mation to back up their first 9.7
gigabyte leak, according to Vice.
The new documents were
dumped with a taunting message
to the adultery website's founderas exposed users such as disgraced
reality TV star Josh Duggar began
to publicly admit their involve-
ment.
'Hey Noel, you can admit it's real
now,' read the post - presumably
directed at the company's million-
aire CEO Noel Biderman, who has
refused to admit the material is all
legitimate.
The new - even bigger - 20GB
release will do little to calm the
nerves of the cheaters whose per-
sonal details have been exposed.
The Associated Press tracedmany of the accounts exposed by
hackers back to federal workers.
They included at least two assis-
tant U.S. attorneys; an IT adminis-
trator in the Executive Office of
the President; a division chief, an
investigator and a trial attorney in
the Justice Department.
De Blasio pledges crackdown on Times Square hustlers
New York
The Association of Indians in America (AIA-
NY chapter) is hosting its 28th Annual Deepavali
Festival at the South Street Seaport on October 4, cul-
minating at dusk with a spectacular display of fire-
works over the East River, enthralling thousands of
New Yorkers.
The event is one of the largest in the tri-state area,
attracting 75,000 ‒ 100,000 people. Deepavali (a row
of lamps) or Diwali is the famous ʻFestival of Lightsʼ. It
signifies the triumph of ʻGood over Evilʼ. The festival
will be a full day celebration with numerous corporate
booths, food & clothing vendors, performances and
activities for the whole family.
The theme for the festival this year will be
“Empowerment of Youth”. Towards that objective,
“Naach Inferno”, a successful new attraction to the
Festival in 2014, is an inter-collegiate dance competi-
tion that will take place again this year.
Colleges and Universities will compete to win a
grand prize and a special segment on Star TV, one of
Indiaʼs most popular television networks.
The Association of Indians in America (AIA) is the
oldest not-for-profit organization of Asian Indians in
America founded in 1967.
AIA Diwali mela with live
fireworks in NYC on Oct 4
Topless performers hassle touristsfor tips in Times Square.
Hackers dump second batch of adultery
dating site Ashley Madison records
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5August 22-28, 2015TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRISTATE COMMUNITY
New York
Indian
American attorney
Richa Naujoks nee
Gautam has been
shortlisted for
Thomson Reuters
F o u n d a t i o n ' s
TrustLaw Lawyer of
the Year award.
C e l e b r a t i n g
groundbreaking pro
bono projects under-
taken by legal teams
with NGOs and social
enterprises around the world, the
award recognizes lawyers who
have gone above and beyond in
providing exceptional pro bono
support. Among individual nomi-
nees, Richa Naujoks is the only
Indian and the only US lawyer
shortlisted for this prestigious
award, said a statement.
A senior associate at Nixon
Peabody LLP's New York City
office, she is a graduate of the
National Law School of India
University in Bangalore and the
University of Washington in
Seattle (LLM). She currently serves
as co-chair of the India Committee
of the American Bar Association's
Section of International Law.
Richa Naujoks was nominated by
Mumbai-based Wello for her out-
standing pro bono work on the
complex restructuring of Wello's
US and Indian legal and opera-
tional structure.
Wello makes water
wheels that help
women safely carry
water from distant
water sources to
their homes.
TrustLaw connects
the world's leading
legal teams to pro-
vide free legal assis-
tance to organiza-
tions working for
social and environ-
mental change. It is able to draw
from its network of over 100,000
lawyers across the world to meet
the legal needs of NGOs and social
enterprises.
In addition to Wello, other South
Asian projects and NGOs are repre-
sented within the various cate-
gories for the 2015 awards. Indian
firm LawQuest is nominated for its
support of Nazdeek Trust with
multiple projects around its efforts
to organize tea workers for right
of association and a basic mini-
mum wage. Norton Rose Fulbright
South Africa coordinated a team of
firms including White and Case,
Mughal Barristers , J Sagar
Associates, and Blake, Cassels &
Graydon LLP to provide research
on the admissibility of character
evidence in rape cases for the
Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services
Trust (BLAST).
Albertson NY: Community
activists, business leaders and
prominent Indian Americans from
all across Long Island ‒
Democrats and Republicans ‒
gathered in Albertson on Long
Island recently to express their
solidarity and support for
Anthony J Santino, candidate for
Supervisor of the Town of
Hempstead, and Nasrin Ahmad for
Town Clerk. “Both candidates
were endorsed by the Indian
American Voters Forum,” said
Varinder Bhalla, Chairman &
Founder of the political commit-
tee formed in 2003 to support
candidates in local elections.
The Forumʼs endorsement was
supported by Sunil Modi,
President of AIA-NY, Surender
Dhall, President of the World
Punjabi Organization, Usha
George, President of Indian
Nurses Association of New York,
Mohinder Verma, President,
Indian American Business
Association of New York,
Benjamin George, Chairman, Long
Island Malayalee Association,
Animesh Goenka, former National
President of AIA, Gobind Munjal,
past President of IALI, as well as
Inder Bindra, former President of
NDMF.
Business tycoon Harry Singh
Bolla and the internationally
acclaimed cancer physician
Dattatrey Nori, as well as Meena
Chopra of the Akbar chain of
restaurants were also there to
express their support.
Bhalla recounted the support
received by the community from
Santino over the past two decades
for which he was honored by
Amb. Dnyaneshwar Mulay at the
Consulate of India on August 15
2014. Endorsing Ahmad for
Hempstead Town Clerk, Bhalla
stressed that “re-election of
Nasrin Ahmad in November will
be the victory of every South
Asian American on Long Island.”
“Mr. Santino understands the
needs of small businesses and
hardworking Americans on Long
Island and has earned the respect
and support of our community”,
said Bolla who heads a chain of
gas stations, convenience stores,
etc in the Town of Hempstead and
across the New York metropolitan
area. “Nasrin is a very important
leader of the South Asian commu-
nity of Long Island and is worthy
of our total support”, said Goenka
about the incumbent Town Clerk
whose office processes marriage
and birth certificates as well as
passports, among other responsi-
bilities.
New York: The American India
Foundationʼs William J. Clinton
Fellowship for Service in India
recently announced its 2015-16
class, and at least 17 of the 34 fel-
lows are of Indian origin.
Of the fellows selected, the nine
Indian Americans are Ishita Arora,
Sarah Manchanda, Mahroh
Ja ha ng ir i, Be ni ta Ma ha nt a,
Ambika Roos, Kushal Amin,
Yasmin Lalani, Natasha
Ramanujam and Priyanka Murali;
while the eight Indian-origin fel-
lows include Kuljan Singh, Benson
Neethipudi, Shriyam Gupta,
Stanzin Saldon, Janice DʼSouza,
Udayan Phillips, Aparna Nutakki
and Rachel Varghese.
Murali spent her childhood in
four countries and now calls
Fremont, Calif. , home. Living
worldwide gave her a unique per-
spective on how culture affects
daily life. After obtaining under-
graduate degrees in South Asian
studies and genetics, she was
intent on finding a way to com-
bine both these fields of study.
Murali has worked at the South
Asian Heart Center, a wellness
clinic, and continued her educa-
tion by pursuing a graduate
degree in genetic counseling,
where she conducted independent
research and consulted with
patients diagnosed with genetic
diseases.
Roos, of Philadelphia, is a cre-
ative strategist and digital produc-
er who helps humanitarian organ-
izations share their stories. In her
most recent position at Hyperakt,
a Brooklyn, New York-based
design agency, Roos managed all
client relationships and directed
the firm's strategy, design and
development processes.
She is a graduate of Brown
University with degrees in archi-
tecture and international develop-
ment, where she wrote a thesis
that examined water rights
activism networks in urban India.
Born in Hyderabad, Nutakki
now lives in Chicago with her fam-
ily. During college, she volun-
teered in free health clinics for
uninsured patients of Chicago;
traveled to Honduras as part of
medical brigades; and worked
with an NGO in India to diagnose
diabetes and anemia in the tribal
population of Wayanad, Kerala.
Ramanujam grew up in
California and currently is a resi-
dent of Fremont, Calif. She attend-
ed Northwestern University in
Evanston, Ill. There, she pursued a
degree in French horn perform-
ance while also studying global
health. She first gained interest in
public health after serving as a
volunteer at Shanti Bhavan
Children's Project, a residential
school located outside of
Bangalore.
Mahanta, of Sugar Land, Texas,
is part of the United States
Environmental Protection Agency
in Washington, D.C., where she
has been since 2011. She has
served in many roles for the EPA,
including on the professional
development crew for the
agencyʼs Emerging Leaders
Network.
Mahanta has also been a special
assistant to the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service Pacific Reefs
National Wildlife Refuge Complex
in Honolulu.
The fellows will be dispersed to
various regions of India beginning
in the fall.
Community support for Santino & Nasrin Ahmad
Clinton Fellowship names Indian Americans to Class of 2015
Indian American community leaders endorsed Nasrin Ahmad, Town Clerk and Anthony J Santino,candidate for Supervisor of Town of Hempstead (seated fourth and fifth from right) for election Nov 3.
Richa Naujoksnee Gautam
Indian American lawyer shortlistedfor prestigious award
8/20/2019 Vol.8 Issue 16- August 22-28, 2015
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6 August 22-28, 2015 TheSouthAsianTimes.info RIST TE COMMUNITY
South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley
today announced Swati S. Patel as
her new Chief of Staff.
Patel takes over as Chief of Staff from
James H. Burns, who recently announced
plans to return to corporate life.
Patel has served as Chief Legal Counsel
for Gov. Haley since 2011 and served as
transition counsel in the office of Gov.-
elect Haley.
“I canʼt think of anyone who is more
widely respected or uniquely qualified to
lead our team than Swati Patel,” said Ha-
ley. “Swatiʼs steady leadership as legal
counsel has strengthened our staff, guid-
ed our administration, and helped us de-
liver results to the people of South Car-
olina ‒ and, as Chief of Staff, Swati willkeep that momentum going.”
Patelʼs career in public service spans 18
years ‒ in the executive and legislative
branches ‒ and includes ten years as a le-
gal counsel in the Governorʼs Of fice. Patel
was appointed Deputy Legal Counsel in
2003 and then Chief Legal Counsel in
2007 by Gov. Mark Sanford, and she
joined Gov.-elect Haleyʼs team as transi-
tion counsel in November 2010.
A native of Anderson, S.C. and mother of
two, Patel received a Juris Doctor from
the University of South Carolina School of
Law and is a graduate of the University of
South Carolina.
NY Indian American of three genera-tion from age 4 to seniors gathered
at Saneeswara Temple on August 15
at 10 A.M. to celebrate the 69th Inde-
pendence Day organized by Shashikant Pa-
tel and Gopi Udeshi with support from
community delegates.
Speech of Gandhiji and PM Narendra
Modiʼs message were read out by Dr Mo-
hammad Hack, Queens Community Coor-
dinator and Shashikant Patel. Congress-
women Grace Meng, Chief Minister of Gu-
jarat Anandiben Pate l and Mayor of New
York City Bill de Blasioʼs messages were
read by Shashikant Patel and Gopi Udeshi.Citation by Congressman I. Daneek
Miller, District 27, Queens and Certificate
of Recognition from Senator Leroy G.
Cormie from 14th Senate District put
essence in the event.
Satnam Singh Parhar, Joe Concannon ,
Celia Dosmantes candidates running the
election from District 23 of Queens Bor-
ough expressed their views about Indian
Independence Day. Chief guest Dr Vasund-
hara along with Queens Community Coor-
dinator Dr Mohammed Hack and others
held Flag Hosting.
Rubin Museum of Art, NYCwill screen Advaita Filmsʼ
Gurukulam, a documen-
tary directed by Neil Dalal & Jil-
lian Elizabeth featuring Swami
Dayananda Saraswati Aug 22-
24.
ʻGurukulamʼ follows a group
of students and their teacher as
they confront fundamental
questions about the nature of
reality and self identity at a re-
mote forest ashram in southern India. Daily
chores, meditation, ritual and rigorous study
are woven together connecting the natural
and spiritual worlds in moments of surpris-
ing revelation and comic contradiction.
Gurukulam, a sensory experiential cinema-
verité documentary film, captures an Indian
wisdom tradition by following an influential
monk, Swami Dayananda Saraswati, and his
community of students. As oneof the few remaining tradition-
al teachers of Vedanta,
Dayananda is a rarity. He is
sought after not only for his
command of Hindu wisdom
texts, such as the Upanisads and
the Bhagavad Gita, but for his
capacity to communicate an-
cient wisdom into living experi-
ence. At eighty-four years old,
this may be the last long-term
residential course he teaches.
It is produced and co-directed by award
winning filmmaker and Yoga teacher, Jillian
Elizabeth (On Coal River, Whatever It Takes)
and co-directed by Neil Dalal, professor of
Sanskrit and Yoga philosophy and tradition-
al teacher of Vedanta. Mary Lampson is the
editor, J.P. Sniadecki is the cinematographer
and Ernst Karel is the sound mixer.
Gov. Nikki Haley appointsSwati Patel as Chief of Staff
Swati S. Patel was serving as Chief Legal Counsel for Gov. Haley.
The inaugural New Jersey PakistanDay Parade took place Aug. 16
along Oak Tree Road, Edison.
According to official estimates over
7000 people attended the parade that
started in Edison and concluded in Ise lin,
ending with a Pakistani cultural festival
and musical concert.
The event organized by the Pakistan
Day Parade of New Jersey attracted Pak-
istani-Americans from across the state as
well as from New York City, Long Island,
and Philadelphia.
The first parade of its kind in New Jer-
sey, the celebration included 13 floats,
bhangra dancers, dhol music, and a 100-
person marching band. Muslim Boy
Scouts and Girl Scouts of America troopswalked alongside groups representing
some of Pakistanʼs diverse religions, in-
cluding Pakistani-Christians, Sikhs, and
Hindus. In addition to several local Pak-istani organizations and businesses, JFK
Hospital, Carepoint, and the Overseas
Commission of Pakistan had floats.
The cultural and music festival was
headlined by five acclaimed Pakistani pop
stars ‒ Raga boys, Rahim Shah, Waqas Ali,
and Haider Afzal ‒entertained the crowd.
They were joined by local talent, includ-
ing Pakistani-American rappers.
Also present were elected officials from
around the state, led by hometown May-
ors Tom Lankey of Edison and John Mc-
Cormac of Woodbridge. Other notable at-
tendees included State Senate President
Steve Sweeney, Senator Peter Barnes, Sen-
ator Sam Thompson, state lawmaker Nan-
cy Pinkin, former lawmaker UpendraChivukula and Middlesex County Free-
holders Charlie Tomaro, Ken Armwood,
and Charlie Kenney.
Inaugural Pakistan Day Paradein Edison draws over 7000
The parade attracted Pakistani Americans from all over(Photo: Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)
NY Seniors celebrated I Day at Saneeswara Temple
The Indian American Kerala Center inElmont, New York celebrated India
Independence Day by raising the Indiantri-color flag with the singing of Indian
national anthem followed by rendition of poems and speeches by community leaders,
participation in yoga and ending with a feast. The flag hoisting was done by Kerala
Center president Thambi Thalappillil.
Indian tri-color unfurledat Kerala Center
Rubin Museum of Art to screen ‘Gurukulam’
Greater New York Seniors celebrate 69th I Day
IN BRIEF
8/20/2019 Vol.8 Issue 16- August 22-28, 2015
7/32
Washington DC:
An international
team of astronomers, including an
Indian-American PhD student, hasdiscovered a Jupiter like exoplanet
outside earth's solar system just a
100 light years away.
Researchers including Rahul I.
Patel, a PhD student in Physics &
Astronomy Department of Stony
Brook University, New York, are
calling the exoplanet a "young
Jupiter " beca use it shares many
characteristics of Jupiter.
A paper outlining the full find-
ings is published in Science.
The finding could serve as a
decoder ring for astronomers to
understand how planets formed
around the sun as it provides an
opportunity to look at youngerstar systems in the earlier phase of
development, according to a media
release.
Called 51 Eridani b, the exoplan-
et is the 'faintest' one on record,
and also shows the strongest
methane signature ever detected
on an alien planet, which should
yield additional clues as to how the
planet formed.
"We found that 51 Eridani is sur-
rounded by warm dust that indi-
cates the presence of an asteroid
belt," said Patel.
"Finding dust around a star is
like seeing a large signpost that
tells us there might be a planet,"
he added.
"This is because the dust is usu-
ally created when lots of large
asteroids collide and destroy each
other, usually pushed around by a
large planet - like 51 Eridani b."
Patel led NASA's Wide-field
Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) to
search for any thermal glow that
dust and ice grains resulting from
collisions among asteroids and
comets in the Solar System can
produce.
His previous work identifying
recycled planetary dust, known as
"debris disks," around close to ahundred other star systems, puts
the discovery of the exoplanet in
context.
In addition to being the faintest
planet ever imaged, it's also the
coldest - 400 Celsius, whereas oth-
ers are around 700 °C - and fea-
tures the strongest atmospheric
methane signal on record.
Previous Jupiter-like exoplanets
have shown only faint traces of
methane, far different from the
heavy methane atmospheres of the
gas giants in our solar system.
All of these characteristics, the
researchers say, point to a planet
that is very much what modelssuggest Jupiter was like in its
infancy.
Patel and Stanimir Metchev, a
Physics & Astronomy Professor at
Western University in Canada and
at Stony Brook University, are co-
investigators on the scientific
study.
They are both members of the
international Gemini Planet
Imager Exoplanet Survey (GPIES)
team, which is dedicated to imag-
ing and characterizing exoplanets,
planets discovered outside of
earth's solar system.
San Francisco CA: Organizations
across the West Coast are gearing
up for the Prime Minister of India
Narendra Modiʼs visit to the Silicon
Valley on Sunday, September 27,
2015. In the seven days since reg-
istration opened, almost 500
diverse organizations from across
the West Coast have registered to
show support for the event. These
organizations, called the Welcome
Partners, will decide most of the
individual registrations for the
event. The Indo American
Community of West Coast
(IACWC), a coalition of organiza-
tions tasked with organizing this
grand event in which more than
18,000 people are expected to
attend, concluded the registrationprocess for organizations yester-
day evening. “Of course we are all
very proud of our Indian heritage.”
Rakhi Israni, IACWC spokesperson,
stated, “However, being a part of
this historic event and seeing first-
hand the amazing response, gives
me a tremendous sense of how
much the Indian diaspora believes
in the power that is India and how
much they believe in Prime
Minister Modi.”
The IACWC hosted speech in
California will follow Modiʼs
address to the United Nations
General Assembly in New York. It
is expected that several leading
American government officials as
well as CEOs of many of the top
technology companies will be in
attendance during Modiʼs speech
at the SAP Arena in San Jose on
September 27.
Modiʼs arrival will mark the first
visit to California by an Indian
Prime Minister in 33 years. The
reception is timed around the
scheduling of many high impact
meetings and programs, all of
which stand to promote the shared
ideals of innovation and entrepre-
neurship that define both Vibrant
India under the leadership of
Prime Minister Modi and Silicon
Valley. The visit shall also high-
light the contributions of India andIndian Americans in the technolo-
gy and clean energy sectors.
At a registration launch meeting
last week, the coalition announced
that the complimentary passes to
the event will initially be distrib-
uted through the Welcome
Partners. Once that process has
been completed, any remaining
passes will then be opened for gen-
eral registration.
IACWC seeks to strengthen ties
between the Silicon Valley and
India in order to further connect
the innovation and technology of
the West with the growth of India.
7August 22-28, 2015TheSouthAsianTimes.info NATIONAL COMMUNITY
New York A day after Facebook claimed
that Indian-origin Aran Khanna did not
remove the code from a malicious app
despite requests, Khanna said on Saturday
he had complied with all the requests of
the social media giant.
"I complied with Facebook's requests, as
they pertained to both my interactions
with the media and the handling of the
code, every step of the way," Khanna told
IANS in an email response, adding: "My
intentions were never malicious; I simplysought to draw attention to a privacy issue
that I knew many people were unaware
of."
"Despite being asked repeatedly to
remove the code, the creator of this tool
left it up. This is wrong and it's inconsis-
tent with how we think about serving our
community," Facebook said in a statement
on Friday,
Concerned over privacy issues, Khanna,
who's based in Washington, said: "I'm
hopeful this story will foster conversations
about how Facebook and other companies
handle privacy issues, specifically,
whether they take steps to proactively
protect our privacy, or if it takes pressure
from the outside to af fect change."
However, Facebook maintained that
Khanna's mapping tool (Marauder's Map)violated company norms.
"We began developing improvements to
location-sharing months ago, based on
inputs from people who use Messenger.
His (Khanna's) mapping tool scrapped
Facebook data in a way that violated our
terms, and those terms exist to protect
people's privacy and safety," Facebook
said.
"We don't dismiss employees for expos-
ing privacy flaws, but we do take it seri-
ously when someone misuses user data
and puts people at risk," the company
added.
Khanna, however had told Boston.com
that Facebook withdrew its summer
internship offer three days after
Marauder's Map was launched. According
to the website, the day after Marauder'sMap was posted, Khanna said his future
manager at Facebook called him and
asked him not to talk to the press.
Marauder's Map was a Chrome exten-
sion that used data from Facebook
Messenger to map where users were when
they sent messages, Boston.com said.
I complied with Facebook’s requests: Aran Khanna
Indian American student & team
discover Jupiter-like planet
500 organizations support PMModi’s visit to Silicon Valley
Rahul I Patel
Aran Khanna
8/20/2019 Vol.8 Issue 16- August 22-28, 2015
8/32
8 August 22-28, 2015 TheSouthAsianTimes.info ATIONAL COMMUNITY
Chicago
One of the most striking
scenes at the India IndependenceDay parade in Naperville, an afflu-
ent Chicago suburb, was watching
the Mayor Emeritus leading the
parade resplendent in a Rajasthani
'pagdi' (turban).
At the 'mela' (fair) that followed
the parade, American elected offi-
cials could be seen digging into
delicacies like 'pav bhaji' and 'vada
pav'.
Naperville hosted its first India
Day, with an estimated crowd of
over 10,000 spectators, sizable for
a first-time ethnic event.
A colorful procession with 16
decorated floats sponsored by var-
ious community organizations,businesses and restaurants wend-
ed its way along the half mile
route. Several dance groups repre-
senting the diverse dance forms
and music of India were part of the
procession.
Among the local dignitaries
attending were the chiefs of the
police and fire brigade, city council
members, aldermen (equivalent to
an Indian municipal corporator)
and elected representatives of the
Illinois legislature. Illinois Lt.
Governor Evelyn Sanguinetti, the
first Latino to hold the office,
hailed the diversity that was being
celebrated, adding that there was a
need for more diverse cultures in
state leadership so that all races
and colors were adequately repre-
sented.
Other elected officials said they
were pleasantly surprised to note
the overwhelming response to the
parade given the fact that this was
the first such event by the Indian
American community in
Naperville.
Krishna Bansal, chairman of the
Naperville Indian Community
Outreach (NICO) which was the
primary organizer of the event,
said that the parade celebrated the
integration of the Indian American
community and was the successful
culmination of an idea mooted a
couple of years back and actively
encouraged by the then mayor and
the Naperville City Council.
The parade on Chicago's Devon
Avenue has till today been the
major such event in the Midwest.
New York A day after India celebrated its
69th Independence Day, Indian-Americans
in Houston, Texas paid tribute to Mahatma
Gandhi by unveiling his bronze statue.
Unveiled at the entrance of "Little India"
-- an area off Hillcroft Avenue in Texas -
the monument is a marble structure bear-
ing a bronze engraving of the Mahatma's
face.
"This is a fitting monument," chron.com
news portal quoted Harish Parvathaneni,
the Consul General of India, as saying.
The Indian community raised $25,000
to construct the statue and worked closely
with the city officials.The first draft that arrived in July did not
look like Gandhi so it was redesigned
again, the portal said.
Nearly 125,000 people of Indian origin
live in Houston.
"In 1968, there were barely half a dozen
Indian families that had made this their
home," Virendra Mathur, trustee and co-
founder of a local community centre, was
quoted as saying.
Several officials attended the event,
including US Representative Al Green (D-
Houston), state Representative Gene Wu
(D-Houston) and Houston city council
member Mike Laster.
"Gandhi is famous for saying, 'We should
be the change that we seek'. It is obvious
that this community has taken up this
cause," Green said.
The area in Houston was formally
named "The Mahatma Gandhi district" in
2011 and is home to dozens of Indian
restaurants, grocery stores, jewellery
stores and other businesses.
Indian-Americans inCleveland celebrate I-Day
Washington DC: The Indian community in the
US city of Cleveland observed India's 69th
Independence Day, marking the event with yoga,
speeches, dance and musical performances.
Many Indian-Americans practiced yoga before a
statue of Mahatma Gandhi at the India Cultural
Garden in the morning, cleveland.com news por-
tal reported on Saturday. Many onlookers joined
the session. Later the gathering marched with
Indian flags to commemorate Gandhi's "Salt
March" - a protest that took place in 1930. Later
in the day, many Indian-Americans in Indian
national flag-colored costumes gathered in
Rockefeller Gardens for more celebrations. Theprogram included song and dance performances
both in the traditional and Bollywood style. The
meeting concluded with the chanting of the
national anthem. One Indian American, Om
Julka, 97, told the crowd that he served in the
Indian Army and he stood behind Jawaharlal
Nehru at the first Independence Day celebration
in New Delhi in 1947.
New York
Acclaimed Indian-
American filmmaker Manoj NightShyamalan is set to return with a
comedy thriller movie, a media
report said on Wednesday.
Set to be released on September
11, "The Visit" is an intimate fami-
ly drama tucked inside a horror
picture, the New York Times
reported.
Written, produced and directed
by Shyamalan, the $5-million film
is about two teenagers visiting
their oddly behaving grandparents
who scratch the walls at night and
have a weird secret in the shed,
among other places.
After the failure of "Lady in the
Water", "The Happening", "TheLast Airbender" and "After Earth"
at the box office, the "The Sixth
Sense" fame director is looking for-
ward to repeat his success story
with "The Visit".
The film has been an unexpected
hit with audiences in sneak-peek
screenings. It was lauded at the
Comic-Con International held in
San Diego in July.
"I admit that I was skeptical
going in," an attendee said, adding,
"But it was one of the best horror
movies I have ever seen. And it was
funny. "M. Night Shyamalan's best
film in a very, very, VERY long
time," William Bibbiani, a critic at
CraveOnline, wrote on Twitter
after attending a screening of the
movie last month.
After four flops in a row,
Shyamlan became a part of the
team behind "Wayward Pines," a
mystery series on television and
gathered much praise.
"Because there are fewer
resources in television, I learned
how much fat I had on me, how
many puffed-up bad habits,"
Shyamalan was quoted as saying.
"There was this great feeling of
slowly shedding the fat," he added.
Naperville Mayor Emeritus A. George Pradel in a turban withorganizers of the parade.
M Night Shyamalan
Overwhelming response to I-Dayparade in Chicago
Gandhi statue unveiled in Houston's 'Little India'
Shyamalan pins hopeson his new movie
P Harish, Consul General of India in Houston unveils the statue (Photo: Chron.com)
8/20/2019 Vol.8 Issue 16- August 22-28, 2015
9/32
9August 22-28, 2015TheSouthAsianTimes.info NATIONAL COMMUNITY
Vijayawada
Techies from AndhraPradesh based in the US have formed a
group to pay back to the society by offer-
ing tech solutions to the government.
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu
on Thursday launched the CodeforAP
program here. He said NRIs from the
state can contribute to digital Andhra
Pradesh by becoming part of this group.
CodeforAP (http://codeforap.org/) is a
non-profit organization in the US that is
supporting Andhra Pradesh in various
technology applications in e-governance,
economic and social development, deliv-
ering citizen services, health and social
services, rural education and agriculture.
Set up last month, the organization has
100 volunteers working with 30 govern-ment departments by offering them
through technology-based solutions to
streamline work.
Some of the projects in pipeline include
"Dial an Expert", a concept where they
seek to bridge the gap between govern-ment officials and citizens and "Open
Directory" is a project to keep track of all
the government personnel with their con-
tact details. Naidu urged CodeforAP to
work on applications that will not only
support the government but also come up
with innovative ideas for delivering citi-
zen services.
"One in four techies in the US are from
India. Among them, one or two belong to
Andhra Pradesh. This shows how we have
been able to create a good ecosystem for
engineers from Telugu state. We will now
create a better ecosystem in the new state
of Andhra Pradesh to promote talent and
innovation," he said.
Referring to the problems faced byAndhra Pradesh post bifurcation, Naidu
said he was determined to turn these
challenges into opportunities. He said he
would not rest till making Andhra a num-
ber one state in the country.
Washington DC: US federal
prosecutors preparing to
question an Alabama police
officer for assaulting anIndian elderly man have
sought to limit the use of a
crucial video evidence dur-
ing the trial, a media report
said.
The attack on Sureshbhai
Patel, 57, on February 6, left
the elderly man partially
paralyzed.
The prosecutors argue
that the audio after the inci-
dent is "self-serving", US-
based AL.com reported on
Wednesday.
An unarmed Patel, who
does not speak English, was
allegedly assaulted by EricParker while he was taking
a morning walk in front of
his son's house in a
Madison, Alabama suburb.
"As a result of defendant
(Eric) Parker's use of force,
Sureshbhai Patel suffered a
spinal cord injury, paralysis,
and a bloody nose," the
report cited federal motion
as saying.
"After the incident, the
defendant and other officers
are recorded talking to one
another and the defendant
attempts to justify his use of
force to his supervisor and
other officers at the scene,"it added.
The judge of the federal
court in Huntsville, where
the trial is expected to begin
on September 1 this year,
was asked to "only allow the
first two minutes of the
dashboard camera video
into evidence",
ABC3340.com reported.
The incident occurred
when Parker and another
officer arrived at the scene
in response to a call about a
suspicious person walking
on Hardiman Place Lane.
The video from the dash-
board camera showedParker and another officer
confront Patel. At one point,
Parker slammed Patel to the
ground.
Patel, who was left partly
paralyzed, underwent spinal
surgery at Huntsville
Hospital. Parker, who was
sent on a paid administra-
tive leave, has pleaded not
guilty.
New York:
An investment adviser of Indian
descent has admitted to a $9million-fraud
involving Facebook stock Thursday, the
Federal Bureau of Investigation announced.
Gignesh Movalia, the founder of OMGlobal Investment Fund, pleaded guilty in
Tampa before Federal Magistrate Judge
Anthony E. Porcelli to one count of invest-
ment advisor fraud. He is to be sentenced
later.
Federal Prosecutor A. Lee Bentley III said
Movalia solicited investments in his fund
claiming that he could get shares of
Facebook before its initial public offering.
He raised more than $15 million, of which
$9 million was buying Facebook shares.
However, Bentley said in a statement,
Movalia used the $9 million for other invest-
ments and hid this from the investors.
Ultimately, OM Global Investment Fund
lost $9 million and went broke, Bentley said.
Last year in June in a separate civil suitfiled by the Securities and Exchanges
Commission, Federal Judge Jose E. Martinez
in Miami ordered Movalia and OM
Investment fund to pay up $1.729 million in
illegal profits and fined him $300,000.
In addition to the Facebook stocks fraud,
the SEC had also accused him of making
improper loans to third parties and creating
an institution with a name similar to OM
Investment Funds to evade monitoring by a
Florida state court and using it to solicit
funds.
Washington DC : Vacationing in Martha's
Vineyard, an island summer resort in
Massachusetts, President Barack Obama has
brought Pulitzer Prize winning Indian-
American author Jhumpa Lahiri's novel "The
Lowland" with him.
"The Lowland" is a story about two brothers
who grew up in Calcutta in the 1960s. After
one is killed, the other marries his pregnant
widow and moves to the US. The New York
Times calls the premise of this novel "star-
tlingly operatic."
Besides Lahiri's novel Obama brought five
other books with him: 'All That Is,' by JamesSalter; 'All the Light We Cannot See,' by
Anthony Doerr; 'The Sixth Extinction,' by
Elizabeth Kolbert; 'Between the World and
Me,' by Ta-Nehisi Coates and 'Washington: A
Life,' by Ron Chernow. Coates's book deals
with the lives of black men in America.Kolbert's book won the Pulitzer Prize for its
analysis of how humans are dramatically
changing the Earth's environment. Chernow's
is a lengthy biography of the first president.
Corporate Office: 385 Seneca Avenue, Ridgewood NY 11385
718.821.3182, www.AtlanticDialysis.com
Obama reading Jhumpa Lahiri's'The Lowland' on holiday
Sureshbhai Patel (left), Eric Parker
President Barack Obama was seenshopping with daughter Malia
US to partly use video evidence
Attack on Indian:Andhra techies in US cometogether to pay back to society
Investment adviser admits to $9MFacebook stock fraud
8/20/2019 Vol.8 Issue 16- August 22-28, 2015
10/32
10 August 22-28, 2015 TheSouthAsianTimes.info S AFFAIRS
Washington
Showing that his
surge was no flash in the pan, a
new pol l saw Donald Trump
emerge as the clear leader for the
Republican nomination after win-
ning his party's trust on top issues.
The CNN/ORC poll released on
Tuesday finds the real estate
mogul with the support of 24 per-
cent of Republican registered vot-
ers in the crowded field of 17.
His nearest rival Jeb Bush, stands
11 points behind at 13 percent.
Just behind Bush, retired neuro-
surgeon Ben Carson has 9 percent,
Florida Senator Marco Rubio and
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker
8 percent and Kentucky Senator
Rand Paul 6 percent.
Former HP CEO Carly Fiorina
has moved up to the top 10 with 5
percent, while Louisiana's Indian-
American governor Bobby Jindal
continues to languish among the
bottom seven.
Trump is the biggest gainer in
the poll, up 6 points since the top
Republican candidates debated in
Cleveland, Ohio on August 6.
Trump has also boosted his
favorability numbers among
Republicans, 58 percent have a
favorable view of Trump now. That
figure stood at 50 percent in the
July survey.
These nationwide findings follow
recent polling in Iowa and New
Hampshire showing Trump also
leads the Republican field in those
two key states, which hold the first
primaries for nomination.
The poll suggests those behind
Trump love him. He holds a 98
percent favorability rating among
his supporters.
But those Republican voters who
aren't supporting Trump are skep-
tical whether he would help the
party.
Most Republicans (58 percent)
say the party would have a better
chance to win in 2016 with some-
one else at the top of the ticket,
including 72 percent of those who
don't currently back the business-
man. The poll finds evidence of a
slight gender gap in support for
Trump, who has faced public ques-
tions recently about his treatment
of women, though he does lead the
field among both men and women.
Trump stands at 27 percent
among Republican men and at 20
percent among Republican
women, a gap just outside the mar-
gin of error for each group.
New York Five more buildings in
the Bronx have tested positive for
the bacteria that cause the poten-
tially deadly Legionnairesʼ disease,
though there is no sign that anyone
has grown ill from the new sites,
NYC officials said Saturday.
Ten people have died in the
largest Legionnairesʼ outbreak in
city history. Seven more reported
cases of the disease have been
reported in New York, bringing the
total to 108, though officials
expressed confidence that the out-break was subsiding.
“We can say with confidence that
this outbreak has been contained,”
said Mayor Bill de Blasio, even as he
acknowledged the scope of the out-break meant the city was in
“uncharted territory.”
The South Bronx remained
ground zero for the outbreak, as the
bacteria have now been found in a
total of 10 buildings. But health
officials believe that the people who
have grown ill were exposed at one
of five buildings where bacteria was
originally detected in their cooling
towers, normally rooftop equipment
used to cool large, and usually mod-
ern, structures.
The disease is a form of pneumo-
nia caused by breathing in mist con-
taminated with the Legionella bac-
teria and is considered particularly
dangerous for the elderly and forpeople with underlying health
issues. It is not clear what triggered
this outbreak, which began last
month.
Seattle Washington: Amazon CEO
Je f f Bezos ha s re jected a New
York Times investigative story
that portrays his company as com-
petitive to the point of treating its
workers with brutality.
Last week, the Times published
the story based on interviews with
more than 100 current and for-
mer Amazon workers.
The story paints picture of a
company where workers are
encouraged to rip apart one
another's ideas in meetings, send
secret feedback to one another's
bosses, work late into the night
and meet standards described as
"unreasonably high."
The Amazon seen in the Times
piece is a place where people who
suffer cancer or a miscarriage are
not evaluated fairly and not given
enough time to recover. It's a
place where employees are seen
weeping at their desks. In short,
the Amazon portrayed in the
Times story is a company few
would want to work for.
But that's not the Amazon that
Bezos recognizes as he said in an
employee memo sent in response
to the Times piece.
Many corporations, including
those in tech, are often portrayed
as tough, fiercely competitive and
even back-stabbing places to
work. Apple, Microsoft, Google
and others have, at times, been
depicted as difficult and demand-
ing environments for their work-
ers, sometimes in stories like the
Amazon piece and other times by
disgruntled employees leaving the
company. How close these allega-
tions are to the truth is hard to
say.
"The NYT article prominently
features anecdotes describing
shockingly callous management
practices, including people being
treated without empathy while
enduring family tragedies and
serious health problems," Bezos
said in his memo. "The article
doesn't describe the Amazon I
know or the caring Amazonians I
work with every day."
Bezos said the Times story
accused Amazon of trying to "cre-
ate a soulless, dystopian work-
place where no fun is had and no
laughter heard." But Bezos said he
doesn't "recognize this Amazon"
and hopes the company's employ-
ees don't either. Further, Bezos
said he didn't believe any compa-
ny as portrayed in the Times arti-
cle could survive in today's com-
petitive tech market.
"The people we hire here are the
best of the best," Bezos said. "You
are recruited every day by other
world-class companies, and you
can work anywhere you want."
And who would want to work in
such a harsh atmosphere? Not
even Bezos.
Donald Trump
Mayor Bill de Blasio
Trump emerges clear leader in Republican race
Scorching heat breaks recordsin Southern California as 2
million flock to beachesLos Angeles The weekend heat
wave sent more than 2 million
visitors to Los Angeles County
beaches as scorching tempera-
tures slashed records across
Southern California.
And what better way to cool
down than natureʼs own air con-
ditioner -- the ocean breeze?
Temperatures hit 115 degrees
there Sunday, tying a record set
in 1994. More than 30 miles
south in Thermal, residents were
feeling the heat as temperatures
reached 114 degrees. It was
warm enough to tie a record set
in 1992.
Riverside and Campo were a
blistering 107 degrees, breaking
records of 106 set it 1992 and
1962, respectively.
In Los Angeles County, four
record highs were set Sunday.
Long Beach was 96 degrees, top-
ping the old record of 95
degrees in 1992. Sandberg, near
Gorman, reached 99 degrees; the
old record was 98 degrees in
1994.
Burbank hit 102 degrees, up 2
degrees from 1992 and 2000.
And the hottest L.A. County city
was Lancaster, where tempera-
tures reached 108 degrees, up
from 107 in 2002.
In Ventura County, Camarillo
hit 87 degrees, tying a record set
in 2000.
The scorching heat was expect-
ed to end this week as cooler
temperatures move into
Southern California.
Crowd at a Los Angeles County beach
Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos in India last year
Amazon is not a 'soulless, dystopian workplace,' Bezos says
Legionnaires’ outbreak contained, claims Mayor Bill de Blasio
8/20/2019 Vol.8 Issue 16- August 22-28, 2015
11/32
11August 22-28, 2015TheSouthAsianTimes.info INDIA
Ara/Saharsa Bihar): Prime Minister
Narendra Modi has announced a Rs.1.25
lakh crore package for election-bound Bihar
and attacked Chief Minister Nitish Kumar
for his "arrogance" in returning money
meant for victims of the 2008 Kosi floods.Shortly After Modi ended his campaign
speech attended by thousands at Ara town,
Nitish Kumar accused the prime minister of
spreading falsehood and insisted the money
was Bihar's right and not a favor.
After laying the foundation stones for 10
road projects, Modi told the rally that the
package would change the face of Bihar and
urged the people to vote the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) to power in the assembly
polls.
The prime minister said Rs.40,000 crore
unspent from an earlier aid package to the
state would also be given, taking the total
central assistance to Rs.1.65 lakh crore.
Modi recalled that before the 2014 Lok
Sabha election, he had promised a specialpackage of Rs.50,000 crore to Bihar. "But
looking at the dreams of a prosperous Bihar,
it was later to give a bigger package."
Modi accused Nitish Kumar of playing
political games and of getting only
Rs.12,000 crore for Bihar from the previous
Congress-led UPA government.
He also challenged Nitish Kumar's claim
that Bihar was no longer a 'BIMBARU' state.
"Our chief minister turned very angry and
said who is Modi to call Bihar a BIMARU
state. He said with authority that Bihar is no
longer a BIMARU state. If that's true, I will
be the happiest person."
Later, addressing another rally in Saharsa
district, Modi again targeted Nitish Kumar,
the Janata Dal-United leader and the BJP's
arch foe in the election. "The chief minister
returned the money given to help the people
affected by the Kosi floods. It hurt me."
"At the time of the Kosi tragedy, an arro-
gant leader was not worried about the pain
and suffering of the flood victims," Modi
said.Miffed over advertisements featuring him
and then Gujarat chief minister Narendra
Modi and referring to the aid provided by
Gujarat during the 2008 floods, Nitish
Kumar returned the Rs.5 crore given for the
purpose.
Modi said the fear of a return of 'jungle
raj' was rattling Bihar. "A wind for change is
blowing in Bihar. It favours the BJP-led
NDA."
Nitish Kumar raised questions about
Modi's package for Bihar.
"While I will wait to hear the details of the
so-called package announced by Modi, I
emphasise (that) special assistance is our
right and not a favour," he tweeted.
And he said if had to beg for Bihar's devel-opment, he would not mind doing it.
Modi said the central government was for-
mulating special schemes to empower
women and Other Backward Classes in the
state. He even spoke a few lines in Bhojpuri
language while greeting the people.
Jaipur The rul ing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) surged ahead of
the Congress in elections to a
majority of the urban civic bodies,
but suffered rude shocks in the
home turf of chief minister
Vasundhara Raje who is battling
corruption charges.
The party lost the Jhalawar
municipal council and and
Jhalrapatan municipality -- both in
Raje 's assembly constituency
Jhalrapatan -- after a gap of more
than 15 years.
The party also lost to Congress
the Baran municipal council and
Anta municipality in Baran dis-
trict. Rajeʼs son Dushyant Singh isthe Lok Sabha MP from Jhalawar-
Baran constituency.
The party also trailed in the
Dholpur municipal council where
Singh had claimed private owner-
ship of a palace which the opposi-
tion alleged was government prop-
erty.
The Congress won 21 out of the
45 wards here, the BJP 15, while
the BSP and independents brought
up the rest.
Results of elections to civic bod-
ies were seen as a political test for
Raje and her son who were
accused of helping tainted former
IPL chief Lalit Modi in return forfinancial benefits.
In Jhalrapatan, the Congress
bagged 15 out of 25 wards, while
the BJP secured the remaining 10.
In Jhalawar, out of a total 35, the
Congress swept 20 wards leaving
15 to the ruling party.
Political analysts in Hadauti, the
region which includes Jhalawar
district, said the damage was
because the BJP and the govern-
ment ignored local issues
“Damaged roads, lack of drink-
ing water and poor health infra-
structure. The public here is angry
as the area is represented by CM
and her son, but is ignored,” said a
senior BJP leader from Hadauti oncondition of anonymity.
That everything was not well for
BJP in Jhalawar became evident
after Jhalawar municipal council
chairperson Usha Yadav left the
party and joined the Congress in
the last week of July.
Yadav had alleged it became suf-
focating to work in the BJP as a
few leaders had "hijacked" the
party. She also alleged the CM did
not listen to grievances of local
leaders, a charge denied by party
president Ashok Parnami.
However, the BJP leadership is
dismissive of the partyʼs loss in
CM's home turf. “If we are looking
at the loss in Jhalawar, we shouldalso credit the CM for the massive
victory at other places” said Onkar
Singh Lakhawat, partyʼs in-charge
for the local body polls.
New Delhi: With parliament ses-
sion over, 15 special envoys are
again headed for Africa to com-
plete the invitations for the
Third India-Africa Forum
Summit (IAFS) being held here in
late October. More than 30
African countries have been
invited, and about 20 more
remain.
The feedback so far from the
30 plus countries has been posi-
tive and the government is
expecting around 50 African
leaders to attend the October
26-30 mega event. The African
continent has a total of 54 coun-
tries.
One factor that would come in
the way of some African leaders
attending the summit is the elec-
tion season in some African
countries - Tanzania and Cote
d"Ivoire would be in the midst of
presidential elections, while the
Central African Republic would
have just got over with a presi-
dential election. In Guinea and
Burkina Faso too presidential
elections would have got over
only on October 11.
However, Tanzanian President
Jakaya Kikwete is set to attend
as he is not running for presi-dent. Mozambique President
Filipe Nyusi, who was in India
earlier this month and met
Prime Minister Narendra Modi,
is likely to send a senior repre-
sentative in the form of his
prime minister.
Of the 54 African countries,
only Libya has been left out due
to the instability there with the
Islamic State gaining ground
over its territory fractured by
civil war and internecine con-
flict.
External Affairs Minister
Sushma Swaraj is heading to
Egypt early next week during
which she is expected to meet
President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi.
Union Transport Minister Nitin
Gadkari, who earlier this monthwent to Cairo to attend the New
Suez Canal opening, reiterated
the invitation that was earlier
delivered by Minority Affairs
Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.
Sushma Swaraj will also be
meeting Nabil Elaraby, an
Egyptian diplomat who is the
secretary general of the Arab
League with headquarters in
Cairo. The Arab League, which
has 22 members, also works in
close connect with the African
Union. The Afro-Arab Summit is
held every three years.
The Third IAFS is set to be the
largest gathering of foreign lead-ers in India since the Non-
Aligned Summit in New Delhi in
1983 and the Commonwealth
Summit the same year.
Modi's bonanza for Bihar fuels Nitish anger
India-Africa Summit: 50
African leaders set to attend
Rajasthan civic polls:BJP well ahead, setback for Raje
Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the inaugurationof skill training centres, in Ara, Bihar.
Chief minister Vasundhara Raje.
8/20/2019 Vol.8 Issue 16- August 22-28, 2015
12/32
Srinagar Senior Kashmiri separatist leaders
were placed under house arrest here ahead
of their scheduled meeting with Pakistan
National Security Advisor Sartaj Aziz in New
Delhi. They were released within an hour.
Separatist leaders were placed under
house arrest in Srinagar to maintain law and
order, a senior police officer said.
Hurriyat's moderate faction chairman
Mirwaiz Umer Farooq was placed under
house arrest in the morning in his Nigeen
residence.
"A posse of police arrived at Mirwaiz's resi-
dence and placed him under arrest today(Thursday) morning. Another senior leader
of the conglomerate, Moulana Abbas Ansari,
too was put under house arrest. Houses of
senior Hurriyat leaders Javaid Ahmad Mir
and my residence were raided by police
early morning," Shahid-ul-Islam, secretary of
Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, told IANS.
The Pakistan High Commission in New
Delhi has invited Kashmiri separatist leaders
for a meeting with Aziz ahead of the India-
Pakistan NSA-level talks scheduled on
August 23. Hardline separatist leader Syed
Ali Geelani was put under detention in his
uptown Hyderpora residence in the city.
"I am ill. I have a bad chest and have been
under house arrest since April 17 this year,"
Geelani said. He said his political movement
has been curtailed by the state authorities.
Pro-Independence Jammu and KashmirLiberation Front (JKLF) chairman
Muhammad Yasin Malik said he was arrest-
ed by police from his Maisuma residence in
Srinagar and taken to Kothibagh police
station.
12 August 22-28, 2015 TheSouthAsianTimes.info NDIA
Hurriyat's moderate faction chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq.
Within hours of wife's
cremation, President
back at work
New Delhi
Within hours after his wife
Suvra was cremated, President Pranab
Mukherjee was back at work at the
Rashtrapati Bhavan.
In no time after the final rites,
Mukherjee -- known to be a strict disci-
plinarian -- was attending to his official
duties. His first duty was to pay tributes
to Shankar Dayal Sharma, the ninth
president of India.
Mukherjee paid floral tributes to
Sharma, in the corridor in which the por-traits of past presidents are lined, on the
occasion of his birth anniversary.
“The First Ladyʼs cremation was at
10.30 a.m. By 12.30, the president was
attending to his official duties," said a
Rashtrapati Bhavan official.
"After offering floral tributes to the
former president, the president had the
external affairs ministry brief him.
The president had to cut short his two-
day visit to Odisha and return to the
national capital to be by his ailing wifeʼs
side. He continued attending his official
duties, delivering his address to the
nation on the eve of the Independence
Day and even holding the customary “At
Home” at Rashtrapati Bhavan on August15 without once betraying any emotion
to the world outside.
The first couple got married on July
13, 1957 and had been together for 58
years.
President Pranab Mukherjee with Bangladesh Prime Minister SheikhHasina, former prime minister Manmohan Singh and BJP veteran
L K Advani at the Lodhi Road crematorium in New Delhi.
New Delhi Despite government
overtures, three ex-servicemen on
a fast unto death on the 'One Rank
One Pension' issue refused to end
their protest. Ex-servicemen are
likely to hold more protests even
as they wait for a meeting with theprime minister, their spokesmen
said.
"We have requested Defense
Minister Manohar Parrikar to help
us meet the prime minister," said
Major General Satbir Singh (retd),
chairman, Indian Ex-Servicemen
Movement.
While ex-servicemen, whose agi-
tation continued for the 66th day,
initially agreed not to scale up
their agitation before August 26,
Col. Anil Kaul (retd), spokesperson
of the Indian United Ex-Servicemen
Front, told IANS that the protestors
did not agree to this and might go
ahead with their plans for moreprotests.
The veterans planned a candle-
light march to the India Gate on
Sunday, but decided to reschedule
it as it coincided with the visit of
Pakistan's National Security
Adviser Sartaj Aziz.
"We are trying to convince the
veterans to wait till August 23 at
least; I hope the prime minister
gives us an appointment before
that," Kaul said.Parrikar too asked the veterans
to wait till August 24, as he was
scheduled to meet Modi on August
23. Ex-servicemen are demanding
there should be no change in the
definition of OROP, the date of
implementation should remain as
April 1, 2014, and the base year
must remain 2013-14. That means
all past pensioners would be
brought at par with pension as
existing on March 31, 2014.There are around 24 lakh retired
servicemen in India and around
6.5 lakh widows who will benefit if
OROP is implemented.
Srinagar Jammu and
Kashmir Chief
Minister Mufti
Muhammad Sayeedurged India and
Pakistan to work out a
joint strategy to com-
bat terrorism in the
region.
Accompanied by
Deputy Chief Minister
Nirmal Singh, Sayeed
visited the northern
border town of Uri
and walked up to the 'Aman Setu'
(Peace Bridge) connecting the
Indian and Pakistan administered
Kashmir. The gesture comes at a
time when Indian and Pakistani
troops have been locked in gun
battles along the Line of Control(LoC) which divides Jammu and
Kashmir between the two coun-
tries. The firing and shelling have
left seven people dead in the last
10 days.
"This (peace) is the
reality, and not what
is happening on theLoC in Poonch. Peace
has a much larger
constituency in India
and Pakistan than
those who want to dis-
turb i t , " he told
reporters there.
"Hostilities at the
borders must immedi-
ately end and India
and Pakistan must work out a joint
mechanism to combat terrorism in
the region," he added.
The chief minister supported
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's
initiative to build closer ties among
SAARC countries.Members of divided families on
the two sides of the LoC use the
Aman Setu bridge to cross over for
re-union with relatives.
OROP agitation: Protesters refuse to end fast unto deathIndia, Pakistan must jointlybattle terror: Mufti
Ex-servicemen stage a demonstration for OROP in New Delhi. Jammu and Kashmir
CM MuftiMuhammad Sayeed.
Hurriyat leaders placed under
house arrest, released
8/20/2019 Vol.8 Issue 16- August 22-28, 2015
13/32
By Richard Verma
Today, India has much to cele-
brate as it reflects on the
last 68 years since
Independence, and much to look
forward to in the years to come.
We recently commemorated the
10th anniversary of the Civil
Nuclear Initiative, a milestone that
unleashed the potential of the US-
India relationship. At that time,
partnering on defense production,
space and other forms of high
technology was almost unthink-
able.
Today those issues are part of
the foundation of the enduring
partnership we are building as we
seek to make our citizens and the
world more free, secure, and pros-
perous. US-India ties become
more necessary by the day as theshared values that we hold dear
face profound challenges, whether
it IS from emboldened terrorist
organizations, attempts to dis-
credit the principles of democratic
governance or aggressive tactics
in the seas and skies.
Challenges to access to shared
spaces ̶ through the seas, the
skies, and space ̶ compromise
the ability of nations to provide
their citizens with rising living
standards and stability. However,
the US-India relationship, and ourcommitment to defending and
preserving these spaces can help
promote global peace and pros-
perity for the long-term. As lead-
ing powers, our work to ensure
the integrity of these shared
spaces should drive our strategic
cooperation for decades.
The US and India can take a
leading role to address the risks
facing maritime zones. In fact,
under our Joint Strategic Vision
for the Asia Pacific announced in
January, our leaders af firmed theimportance of safeguarding mar-
itime security and ensuring free-
dom of navigation throughout the
Indo Pacific. We are both mar-
itime powers. Our navies engage
in regular trainings and joint exer-
cises as partners. We can do more,
such as increasing our intelli-
gence exchanges and collaborat-
ing even further on issues of com-
mon concern such as piracy,
counter-terrorism, the illegal drug
trade, and human trafficking. We
are well into the planning stages
for the Malabar joint US-India
naval exercise, which will include
Jap anese