Download - NEW YORK • WASHINGTON D.C. • CHICAGO • …...2020/05/22 · NEW YORK • WASHINGTON D.C. • CHICAGO • ATLANTA • CALIFORNIA VOL 25, No. 133 7 May 22, 2020 50¢ Periodical

NEW YORK • WASHINGTON D.C. • CHICAGO • ATLANTA • CALIFORNIA VOL 25, No. 1337 May 22, 2020 50¢ Periodical Postage

Details on page 6

Details on page 5

Details on page 7

This week’s question

Last week’s result

YES 79% NO 21%

Did lockdowns really help stopspread of virus in US?

Trump honorsInd-Am girl forCOVID-19 help

COVID PROBE

CONTENTSBollywood -------------------------- 30Classifieds ------------------------ 28Community Post -------------- 17-25Edit Page --------------------------- 29Horoscope ------------------------- 26Immigration Post ------------------ 9Life Style ------------------------ 14-15Philosophy/Perspective ------- 27Punjab Post ----------------------- 34Info/Highlights ---------------------- 2Real Estate -------------------- 32-33TechBiz Post ------------------ 10-11Travel & Hospitality Post -------- 16Wellness Post ---------------- 12-13

Details on page 11

Details on page 8

India joins 120 countries to seek origin of virus

'Vande BharatMission': MoreIndians fly back

Details on page 17

NEW DELHI: India has joined nearly 120 countriesat a crucial conference of the World Health Organiza-tion in pushing for a probe into the origin ofcoronavirus as also comprehensive evaluation of theglobal response to the pandemic that has killed over3.17 lakh people and afflicted nearly 48 lakh besideswrecking the world economy.

During the two-day 73rd session of the WorldHealth Assembly ( WHA) which is taking place inGeneva amid growing calls, including by US PresidentDonald Trump, to investigate how the virus originated

in China's Wuhan city and subsequent action byBeijing, Chinese president Xi Jinping said his countryhad provided all relevant outbreak data to WHO andother countries, including the virus' genetic se-quence, "in a most timely fashion."

Announcing that China will provide USD 2 billionover two years to fight the coronavirus pandemic, Xialso asserted that We have shared control and treat-ment experience with the world withoutreservation...done everything in our power to supportand assist countries in need." Details on page 4

Can India become preferred destinationfor Industries post CoVid-19?

Getty Images

‘Indian Govt willtake decision onOCI visa issue’

Amazon Primeto premierGulabo Sitabo

Chinese militarybolsters troops onSino-India border

WfH damagingfor workers' well-being: Nadella

Mission StatementTo empower the Indian Diaspora and make their voice strong and effective in countries of their adoption. RJ Media conglomerate

offers a credible, professional and complete package of news, opinion, entertainment, networking and information.

NewsweeklyIndia Post

CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS1860 Mowry Ave # 200 Fremont, CA 94538

Tel: 510-396-9140 • Fax: 510-790-2806 • e-mail: [email protected]

E-SUBSCRIPTION& EDITORIAL: Vidya Sethuraman: Tel: 510-491-4867 • e-mail: [email protected]: Naresh Sodhi: Tel: 510-938-8667 • e-mail: [email protected] I Graphics Inquiry: E-mail: [email protected]

INDIA CORPORATE OFFICE230-A, 3rd Floor, Jin Kushal Suri Complex (Opp NDSE Part-II) New Delhi - 110049 • Tel: 11-26257769 • E-mail:[email protected]

Romesh & Sunita Japra PublishersRajesh Verma Co-PublisherVikram Paul PresidentKrishan Sharma Mg Director & Joint EditorNaresh Sodhi General ManagerAmit Saini IT DirectorDeexa Khanduri Sub EditorGhanshyam Bisht Supervisor Graphics

SAN FRANCISCO &SILICON VALLEYVidya Sethuraman Bureau ChiefVijay Thapar CPRO & AdvertisingKiran Pandey Director, WellnessPostVinita Thapar MarketingDeepak Chhabra PromotionsRitu Maheshwari Director PromotionsSudesh Kumari Correspondent

LOS ANGELESMrs Shashi Trivedi Bureau Chief

CHICAGORamesh Soparawala Resident EditorA Q Siddiqui Correspondent

ST. LOUISAshwin Patel Correspondent

NEW YORK & NEW JERSEYPinky Kaur Bureau ChiefSrirekha N. Chakravarty CorrespondentNikita Japra CorrespondentSukhvinder Saini Circulation

BOSTONGope Gidwani Bureau Chief

CANADAParas Nehra Correspondent

NEW DELHILakshay Sharma Web Developer

MUMBAINidhi Soparawala CorrespondentFrank Fernandes Correspondent

VADODARA, GUJARATVaidehi Patel CorrespondentPriyanka Shah Correspondent

PUNJABRaman Nehra Bureau ChiefJaswant Singh Gandam Correspondent

The Weekly NewspaperServing Indians Worldwide

www.indiapost.com

INFO-CENTER

For advertisement rates call the office nearest to you:India Post Copyright©1994 RJ Media Inc,ISSN 1084-3868, is published weekly for

$30 for 52 issues yearly by India Post, 1860Mowry Ave Ste 200, Fremont, CA 94538-1730. Application to mail at Periodicalspostage prices is pending at Fremont,

California and additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes toIndia Post, 1860 Mowry Ave Ste 200,

Fremont, CA 94538-1730.

DISCLAIMERIndia Post assumes all advertisers to bereliable and responsible for all liability

for their claimers

Business Partner India:

PHOENIX DUO MATRIXCOMMUNICATIONSPRIVATE LIMITED

S-1/A, 3rd Floor, Arjun Nagar,Safdarjung Enclave Extension,

New Delhi -110029, INDIAT: +91 11 46068685, +91 11 41006051

• E: [email protected]• W: www.phoenixduomatrix.com

NEW DELHIChandrika MalikaryaSr. Manager - Sales & Business DevelopmentM: +91 8373929895E: [email protected]

BANGALOREGowtham SivanandamSr. Manager Business DevelopmentM: +91 9880535664E: [email protected]

MUMBAI/AHMEDABADM: +91 9560750802

India Sales Offices:

For editorial, contact: [email protected]

SAN FRANCISCO & SILICON VALLEY1860 Mowry Ave # 200 Fremont, CA 94538

Naresh Sodhi: 510-938-8667 • e-mail: [email protected] Sethuraman: 510-491-4867 • e-mail: [email protected]

PUNJABAmardeep SinghManager - Business DevelopmentM: +91 8527456807E: [email protected]

Advertorials & Event Team India:

Deepti DograAssistant ManagerEditorial and Content [email protected]

India Post May 22, 20202www.indiapost.com

LOS ANGELES16224 Alpine Pl. La Mirada, CA 90638

Tel: 562-441-5511,[email protected]

CHICAGO2543 W Devon Ave Chicago IL 60659Tel: 773-973-7394; Fax: 773-973-7396;

Email: [email protected]

NEW YORK/NEW JERSEYTel: 510-938-8667 • e-mail: [email protected]

30HIGHLIGHTS

Bollywood:Evelyn Sharma on lockdownActress Evelyn Sharma is in Australiawith her family amid the lockdown, andsays the quarantine period is the besttime to explore scriptwriting.

4Cover Story:COVID PROBEIndia has joined nearly 120 countries ata crucial conference of the WHO push-ing for a probe into the origin ofcoronavirus

17Community:Vande Bharat MissionO'Hare International airport at Chi-cago may not have seen such a crowdfor a single flight ever since COVID-19pandemic.

9Immigration:New refugees struggle in USAfghan refugee Mahmood Amiri arrivedin the United States more than a monthago, but his children are still waiting fortheir first day at school.

14Lifestyle:Sharon Isbin with Ustad & SonsUnique collaboration between sarodmaestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, his sonsAmaan and Ayaan and multiple Grammy-winning classical guitarist Sharon Isbin

10Techbiz:US economy to recoverThe US economy, thrown into a reces-sion due to the coronavirus pandemic,will rebound but the recovery couldstretch through the end of next year.

16Travel:Dal LakeThe Dal Lake is unique for its beauty thatlies in its pulsating surroundings, sinceit sustains a life on waters not found any-where else in the world.

32Wellness:Hard to predictOfficials of the WHO have said it is hardto predict when the pandemic will beover, but countries should stay positiveand collaborate closely.

India Post 3www.indiapost.com

May 22, 2020

India Post May 22, 20204

www.indiapost.com

Cover/Top Stories

COVID PROBEIndia joins 120 countries to seek origin of virus

NEW DELHI: India has joined nearly120 countries at a crucial conference ofthe World Health Organization in push-ing for a probe into the origin ofcoronavirus as also comprehensiveevaluation of the global response to thepandemic that has killed over 3.17 lakhpeople and afflicted nearly 48 lakh be-sides wrecking the world economy.

During the two-day 73rd session ofthe World Health Assembly ( WHA)which is taking place in Geneva amidgrowing calls, including by US PresidentDonald Trump, to investigate how thevirus originated in China's Wuhan cityand subsequent action by Beijing, Chi-nese president Xi Jinping said his coun-try had provided all relevant outbreakdata to WHO and other countries, in-cluding the virus' genetic sequence, "ina most timely fashion."

Announcing that China will provideUSD 2 billion over two years to fight thecoronavirus pandemic, Xi also assertedthat We have shared control and treat-ment experience with the world with-out reservation...done everything in ourpower to support and assist countriesin need."

Representing India at the meet,Union health minister Harsh Vardhansaid the country took all the necessarysteps well in time to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, and asserted that the

country has done well in dealing withthe disease till now and is confident ofdoing better in months to come.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi per-sonally monitored the situation and en-sured a preemptive, proactive andgraded response, leaving no stonesunturned to contain the deadly virusfrom spreading, Vardhan said.

"India took all necessary steps well intime, including surveillance at points ofentry, evacuation of nationals strandedoverseas, massive community surveil-

lance through robust disease surveil-lance network, strengthening of healthinfrastructure, capacity building of overtwo million frontline human resources,risk communication and community in-volvement," he said.

"I think we did our best and we didwell. We are learning and we are confi-dent of doing better in the months tocome," Vardhan added.

WHO chief Tedros AdhanomGhebreyesus, who had asserted thatthe event would be "one of the mostimportant ( WHAs) since we werefounded in 1948", pledged that he willbegin an independent evaluation of theUN health agency's response to thecoronavirus pandemic "at the earliestappropriate moment."

The WHA's assembly, which is cur-tailed from the usual three weeks totwo days and held for the first timethrough video conferencing, is ex-pected to delve into pooling in addi-tional resources to deal with the pan-demic.

However, there are concerns that US-China tensions could derail the strongaction needed to address thecoronavirus pandemic.

Another flash point between Chinaand the US has been over the Trumpadministration's push for inclusion ofTaiwan in the WHO. China has beenstrongly opposed to the move as it con-siders Taiwan to be part of its territory.

A draft resolution pushed by the 27-nation European Union and supportedby a large number of countries for de-liberations at the WHA called for a step-wise process of impartial, independent

and comprehensive evaluation of theWHO-coordinated international re-sponse to COVID-19.

It, however, did not mention China.The coronavirus pandemic was first re-ported in Wuhan, a port city in China in

December last year. Since then, it hasspread to over 180 countries.

While the US is not the signatory ofthe draft resolution, Trump has accusedChina of covering up, and the EuropeanUnion have called for more transpar-ency in China's COVID-19 control effortsincluding an independent inquiry intothe origins of the virus.

The resolution sought scientific andcollaborative field missions to trace the

origin of the coronavirus, saying such anexercise will enable targeted interven-tions and a research agenda to reducethe risk of similar events in future. It alsocalled for continuing to work closelywith the World Organization for AnimalHealth, the Food and Agriculture Organi-zation of the UN and other countries aspart of the one-health approach to iden-tify the zoonotic source of the virus andthe route of introduction to the humanpopulation.

The resolution says possible role of

intermediate hosts should also beevaluated. It has been uploaded onthe website of the WHO.

Besides India, the countries whichsupported the draft resolution in-cluded Australia, Bangladesh,

Belarus, Bhutan,Brazil , Canada,Chile, Colombia,Djibouti , Do-minican Repub-lic, Ecuador, ElSalvador, Gua-temala, Guyana,Iceland, Indone-sia, Japan, Jor-d a n ,Kazakhstan, Ma-laysia, Maldivesand Mexico.

Montenegro,New Zealand,N o r t hMacedonia, Nor-way, Paraguay,Peru, Qatar, Re-public of Korea,Moldova, Russia,

San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Tur-key, Ukraine and the UK and NorthernIreland are also backing the resolu-tion, according to the WHO.

The African Group comprisingaround 50 countries are also support-ing the resolution.

Without referring to the globalcalls for an inquiry, Xi said, "Chinasupports the idea of a comprehen-sive review of the global response to

COVID-19 after it is brought undercontrol to sum up the experience andaddress deficiencies. This workshould be based on science and pro-fessionalism, led by the WHO andconducted in an objective and im-partial manner."

The draft resolution also pitchedfor making recommendations to im-prove global pandemic preventionmechanisms including throughstrengthening the WHO's health emer-gencies program. PTI

Representing India at the meet, Union health minister Harsh

Vardhan said the country took all the necessary steps well in

time to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, and asserted that

the country has done well in dealing with the disease till

now and is confident of doing better in months to come

India PostMay 22, 2020 5

www.indiapost.comTop Stories

Chinese military bolsters troopson Sino-India border

BEIJING: Chinese troops have bolstered their bor-der control measures in the Galwan Valley in the AksaiChin region of the Sino-India border, official mediahere reported.

The Chinese action followed "India's recent, illegalconstruction of defense facilities across the borderinto Chinese territory in the Galwan Valley region," awrite-up in the state-run Global Times tabloid said,quoting unnamed military sources.

"Since early May, India has been crossing theboundary line in the Galwan Valley region and enter-ing Chinese territory. The Indian sidebuilt defense fortifications and ob-stacles to disrupt Chinese borderdefense troops' normal patrol activi-ties, the report claimed.

There was no immediate reactionfrom either the Ministry of ExternalAffairs or the Indian military.

A military official in New Delhi oncondition of anonymity said such in-cidents happen along the un-demar-cated Sino-India border due to thevarying perceptions of the frontierby the two sides.

On May 5, around 250 Indian and Chinese army per-sonnel clashed in Pangong Tso lake area in EasternLadakh. Four days later, there was a similar face-offnear Naku La Pass in North Sikkim.

Reacting to the two border incidents, India last

week said it remained committed to maintainingpeace and tranquility along the border with Chinanoting that such incidents could have been avoided ifthere was a common perception about the frontier.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson AnuragSrivastava said on May 14 that India and China attachutmost importance to ensuring peace and tranquilityin all areas of Sino-India border regions and referredto affirmation about it by Prime Minister NarendraModi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in their two in-formal summits.

"Occasionally, however, on account of difference inperception of the alignment of the Line of Actual Con-trol (LAC), situations have arisen on the ground thatcould have been avoided if we had a common per-ception of the Line of Control (LAC)," he said.

The LAC is the de-facto border between the twonations.

He further said, "The Indian side remains commit-ted to the objective of maintaining peace and tran-quility in the India-China border areas."

When asked about the latest incidents, Indian Armychief Gen M M Naravane said the Indian troops weremaintaining their "posture" along the border withChina while infrastructure development in the areaswas also on track.

"There were two incidents at Eastern Ladakh andNorth Sikkim where aggressive behavior by bothsides resulted in minor injuries to troops post whichboth sides disengaged after dialogue and interactionat the local level," he said last week.

The troops of India and China were engaged in a73-day standoff in the Doklam tri-junction in 2017.

The India-China border dispute covers the 3,488-km-long Line of Actual Control, the de-facto borderbetween the two countries. China claims ArunachalPradesh as part of southern Tibet while India contestsit.

Both sides have been asserting that pending thefinal resolution of the boundary issue, it is necessaryto maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas.

Prime Minister Modi and Chinese President Xi heldtheir first informal summit in April 2018 in the Chinesecity of Wuhan, months after the Doklam standoff.

During the summit, the two leaders decided to is-sue "strategic guidance" to their militaries tostrengthen communications so that they can buildtrust and understanding.

Modi and Xi held their second informal summit inMamallapuram near Chennai in October last year witha focus on further broadening bilateral ties. PTI

Ailing Indian man inUAE seeks repatriation

amid pandemicDUBAI: "I want to live the rest of my life in

Kerala. Let my death be there in my motherland,"says a 79-year-old semi-paralyzed Indian man inthe UAE in an impassioned plea for help whileseeking repatriation amid COVID-19 pandemic.

K Raghavan, who claims to have landed in theUAE in a wooden catamaran 52 years ago and rantwo tailoring shops in Dubai and a trading companyin Ajman, has been unable to fly home due to thefines he incurred after his business went bust.

The elderly man, who lost everything that hehad earned in life by the time he fell sick with anulcer and was eventually left semi-paralyzed, is liv-ing with his wife in a cramped room in Dubai'sJaffiliya area.

His visa expired three years ago and he couldnot renew it as he has a liability of more than60,000 dirhams (Rs 12.4 lakh) in fines in cases re-lated to non-payment of rent and defaulting li-cense renewals filed by the Ajman Free Zone, theGulf News reported.

"I wouldn't have had this liability if my relative,who was takingcare of theAjman business,had not ditchedme withoutmaking the pay-m e n t s , "Raghavan toldthe Dubai-based Englishdaily overphone.

He owed an-other 140,000dirhams (Rs 28.9

lakh) to Dubai Hospital where he was treated. How-ever, he was discharged following a request fromthe Indian Consulate in Dubai, the report said.

Raghavan says he has been struggling to sur-vive, as he has to spend money on medicines,apart from his accommodation, food and otherregular expenses.

"I want to live the rest of my life in Kerala. Letmy death be there in my motherland," he said.

The ailing man is entirely dependent on his 65-year-old wife Sarojini, who was brought to the UAEon a visit visa by some well-wishers.

"We are worried about the spread of COVID-19now," Sarojini said.

The last time Raghavan visited home was in2014. The couple is pinning their hopes on socialworkers and community members who have beencampaigning for their repatriation.

"A few months ago, he had to be hospitalizedagain. We all helped him pay 7,000 dirhams (Rs 1.4lakh) in bills while the private hospital waived anequal amount on our request. They will need sup-port even after reaching Kerala. We are all tryingto support them," said community member AbdulMajeed Padoor. PTI

"I want to live the

rest of my life in

Kerala. Let my death

be there in my

motherland," says a

79-year-old

semi-paralyzed

Indian man

India's extraditionrequest for Dawoodaide refused by UK

LONDON: India's request for the extradition of Ti-ger Hanif, an alleged aide of underworld don DawoodIbrahim wanted in India in connection with two bombblasts in Surat in 1993, has been turned down by theUK government, official sources have confirmed.

Hanif, whose full name is Mohammed Hanif UmerjiPatel, was traced to a grocery store in Bolton, GreaterManchester, and arrested by Scotland Yard on an ex-tradition warrant in February 2010.

The 57-year-old since lost a number of legal bids tostay in Britain, claiming that he will be tortured in In-dia.

However, his final bid to then Home Secretary SajidJavid succeeded as the Pakistani-origin minister re-fused the request last year.

"We can confirm that the extradition request forHanif Patel was refused by the then Home Secretaryand Mr. Patel was discharged by the court in August2019," a UK Home Office source said on Sunday.

Hanif's extradition to India was first ordered by thenHome Secretary Theresa May in June 2012.

During an appeal at the High Court in London inApril 2013, Justice Kenneth Parker noted the informa-tion provided in India's request described how, follow-ing the Babri Masjid demolition in December 1992,"internecine hostilities" broke out between the Mus-lim and Hindu communities in Gujarat.



Stranded Indians in US ask Indiafor more evacuation flights

Indian Govt will soontake decision on OCIvisa issue: Minister

WASHINGTON: In a bid to allayfears of the OCI cardholders overthe temporary suspension of theirlong-term visas, India's Minister ofState for External Affairs VMuraleedharan has said the govern-ment will soon take an appropriatedecision.

He also invited members of theIndian diaspora to invest in thecountry in view of the recent eco-nomic reforms announced by thegovernment.

Participating recently in a virtualpanel discussion with Indian-Ameri-cans on COVID-19, organized jointlyby the Federation of Indian Associa-tions (FIA) and the Bihar JharkhandAssociation of North America(BAJNA), Muraleedharan wasflooded with queries over the OCI(overseas citizen of India) card is-sue.

He said Prime Minister NarendraModi was aware of it and will takean appropriate decision soon.

A large number of Indian citizenswhose children are OCI card hold-ers and several people of Indian-ori-gin having the card are unable totravel to India, even for emergencyreasons, because of the temporarilysuspension of their long-term visa.

This is step-motherly treatmentwith people of Indian origin andagainst the very ethos and spirit be-hind it," said Jaipur Foot USA chair-man Prem Bhandari.

India's top leadership, includingPrime Minister Modi, External Af-fairs Minister S Jaishankar andHome Minister Amit Shah, are per-sonally aware of it and they have nodoubt whatsoever about theIndianness of the overseas Indiancommunity, Muraleedharan said inresponse to a question.

"I understand the agony of theOCI card holders. Please do nothave any ill will," he said, assuringthe participants that the prime min-ister will take appropriate decisionon this issue soon.

Muraleedharan urged thediaspora to invest in India given theopportunity being offered by themajor economic reforms an-nounced by Union Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman in the wake ofthe coronavirus crisis.

"Perhaps, India has never hadsuch an economic reform. This is agreat opportunity for the Indiandiaspora to come and invest in In-dia," he said. PTI

HOUSTON: Thousands of Indians, in-cluding students, stranded in the US forweeks due to the COVID-19 relatedtravel restrictions, are urging the gov-ernment to operate additional flights toevacuate them and add more depar-ture cities like Houston and Dallas with

sizeable Indian population.The worst affected people by this

humanitarian crisis are the students,and emergency medical tourists, whoneed evacuation badly to avoid furtherfinancial strain.

There are around 30,000 studentsalone in the Houston Consular region,comprising eight US states with topuniversities.

Many students have left just beforethe lockdown and those who could notare ready to go after their semester ex-ams last week.

An Indian national, who lost his closefamily and is desperatelywanting to be home said,If Air India can fly andcharge exorbitant pricesin the name of helpingstranded Indians, thenwhy doesn't India let pri-vate airlines fly.

"This is not a help, in-stead, it's robbingpeople, charging round trip fare for oneway and still not letting the deservingpeople go, he said.

One of the netizens, Prasad Bhalekartweeted that if India was really worried,then one has to plan according to that.

"Please show the real percentage (5to 10 per cent Phase I & II) of evacuationto Indians." he tweeted.

Alia, an Indian in New York, who is anOverseas Citizen Of India (OCI)cardholder, just lost her father and hasbeen awaiting permission to board theevacuation flight.

My father passed away in Mumbai onApril 26 and the elderly mother is help-

less and in need of medical care. Pleasehelp me get to Mumbai urgently. Thereis no reply from the Indian Embassy inthe US. Please help, she said.

At the time of a pandemic, whowould like to leave their home and visitIndia, if this was not an emergency," an-

other OCI passport holder said.Dipti, from Faridabad, Haryana, is in

Houston with her young brother for histreatment at the Medical Center sinceJanuary.

She is eagerly waiting" for a positiveresponse for evacuation in Phase II, asher four-year-old son is away from herin India for the past 80 days.

The Indian Embassy and consulatesare working round the clock and facingchallenges to cater to all emergencies,helping cancer patients, pregnantwomen, students, stranded tourists,laid-off workers and persons wanting to

go home due to deaths in the family andexpired visas.

Consulate helplines receive over10,000 emails and calls daily.

Consulate officials said that they arenot just helping with flights but also of-fering assistance by helping studentswith accommodation and essential ser-vices as their university and collegedormitories closed down in March.

From May 9 to May 15, Air India oper-ated commercial flights from the US toIndia facilitating the return of strandedIndian nationals.

Consul General of India in Houston,Aseem Mahajan, told PTI in an interview,

"We are facing a unique humanitariancrisis that has taken everyone unawaresand impacted all. Every situation is criti-cal and needs attention and we aremaking sure there is timely help avail-able for all."

"Around 260 passengers have flownfrom our 8 states; destinations coveredso far are Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad,Delhi from Chicago," he said.

"In phase II, we are coveringUttarakhand, Punjab, Himachal -through New York - Bangalore, andKochi from San Francisco. Flights toDelhi, Bhubaneswar, Ahmedabad andHyderabad will be from Chicago.

The proportion of all consulates is thesame. The reason for special flights fromSan Francisco, Chicago and New York isbecause Air India hubs are there. Theclosest hub for our Consular area com-prising 8 states; Texas, Arkansas, Kansas,Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Colo-rado and Nebraska, is Chicago, Mahajansaid.

At this point, we have the constraintof sending people only to some desti-nations that have domestic flights andquarantine requirements. The con-straints are internal in India due to nodomestic travel until May 31 for now,"he said.

"Also, at this point, nothing can besaid about the resumption of commer-cial flights," Mahajan said.

A total of seven flights from the USwill be a part of the second phase breakdown.

Two flights are scheduledto depart from San Francisco,one from DC, two from Chi-cago and other two fromNew York.

Mahajan said "it has beena relentless and non-stopwork to coordinate the repa-triation exercise and we aremaking sure not even one

seat on the flight goes vacant since alarge number of Indians are stranded inthe US due to various reasons and theyare desperate to go home.

Priority is being given to strandedpassengers, terminally ill patients, pas-sengers with medical concerns and stu-dents.

As of now, the flights are limited toIndian nationals only, who would haveto reimburse the Indian government forthe one-way ticket.

The Consulate has no discretion tomake exceptions for the OCIcardholders or Indian-Americans need-ing to fly back to India.PTI

An Indian national, who lost his closefamily and is desperately wanting to be homesaid, If Air India can fly and charge exorbitant

prices in the name of helping stranded Indians,then why doesn't India let private airlines fly

India PostMay 22, 2020 7


Ministry Twitter handlesdeal with Corona Virus

PRITAM KASHYAP

NEW DELHI: India has cases of COVID19 nearly one lakh and how Twitterhandle played role in creating Aware-ness. Before going to that let's under-stand the background. Twitter has be-come one of the powerful sources ofinformation and the entire news portallike electronic, print or social media plat-form used to quote it. Best example canbe seen as when someone dies, mediaagency usually quotes from twitterhandle. But now a day most governmentportal has also started tweeting theirtweets in twitter and tries to avoid pressbriefing.

It may be considered as also benefi-ciary in maintain social distancing andalso getting views of people throughcomments, like and retweeting. Thisanalysis was mainly done on three mainIndia twitter handles, which were veryactive during corona pandemic, i.e. Min-istry of Home Affairs (MHA), Ministry ofHealth and Family Welfare (MoHFW) andPress Information Bu-reau India (PIB India).

Twitter handletweets were ob-served on the pa-rameters of hashtags,infographics, tweetsand quality of content.It was found that Minis-try of Home Affairs hastweeted very fewfrom its official twitterhandle most of it wasretweeted from Amit Shah Twit- t e rhandle and Delhi police handle. It wasalso found that this handle has nottweeted any posters or infographics,which were tweeted by other twos. Ifwe look at the Ministry of Health andFamily Welfare has maximum tweet oncoronavirus and maximum hashtag hasalso been used followed by Press Infor-mation BureauIndia.

It was found in the study that tweetwas mostly on basis on awareness andinformation on coronavirus and alsoboosting the government ministries thathow much day and night they wereworking. PM Cares Fund and Press Brief-ing was one of the common tweetamong all twitter handle as PunyaSalilaSrivastava, IAS, Joint Secretary in Minis-try of Home Affairs, Lav Agarwal, IAS,Joint Secretary from Ministry of Healthand Family Welfare and Director Generalof Press Information Bureau India,K.S.Dhatwalia, IIS, werebriefing press andaudience every day at 4 pm on theCOVID'19 cases rise, government work-ing and analysis of what various chairman

empowerment groups are doing.As all are representative from each

Ministry in PIB India so there tweet wasretweeted by various twitter portals andministries. As whatever new scheme orYojana government introduces variousministries on daily scale tweeted for ex-ample PMGKY insurance scheme forhealth workers, Corona virus India Sevaportal were created during the time ofpandemic so after their launch they be-came a common made of hashtag in thevarious ministries respectively.

Even hashtag such as COVID'19, StayHome, PM CARES FUND, Thank You HealthWorkers, Corona updates, lockdown2,health for all, India fights corona viruswere common hashtags used by all theministries and respective handle of Twit-ter. It was also found that tweet such asSARS-CoV-2 was rarely used.

Data collection from these portalsalso showed that Home Affairs OfficeTwitter handle is most popular and likes

and tweets crossesnearly sixty thou-sands. On theother hand Minis-

try of Health andFamily Welfare and

Press Information Bu-reau India limits to

nearly an average of fivehundred likes and

retweets. This may be due toexcess of tweets from these

handles or due to lack of popularityof minister or ministries in the nation.PM Cares Fund was also one of thehighlighted tweets in the handle ofTwitter and all the Twitter handlestweeteddaily how much donation isgiven to the fund of the coronavirus.

PM Modi statements, AarogyaSetuApp were also common by the Twitterportal. The ministry portal also kept up-dated with what news agencies areshowing or what fake news is spread-ing in WhatsApp during corona pan-demic like NEWS 24 showed fake newson central government office closerand other news like various rate of kitsand even rumors onsunlight, animalsand others spread. These were verifiedby PIB Fact Check and Posted in PIBTwitter handle as Fake news and alsoretweeted by these ministries portalsso that the informationoutreached tomanypeople.

Poster was most common mode oftweet by Ministry of Health and FamilyWelfare whereas infographics wasmost common mode that was used byPIB India.

President Trump honors Indian-American girl for COVID-19 help

WASHINGTON: Sravya Annappareddy,a 10-year-old Indian-American girl, hasbeen honored by President DonaldTrump for donating cookies to nursesand firefighters and sending personal-ized greeting cards to healthcare work-

ers fighting COVID-19 pandemic in theUS, the worst affected country in theworld.

Sravya is a Girl Scouts Troop memberand a fourth-grade student at theHanover Hills Elementary School inMaryland.

President Trump and First Lady Mela-nia Trump paid tribute to several Ameri-can heroes who are helping on the frontlines of the coronavirus crisis, includingGirl Scouts from Maryland who donatedcookies to nurses and firefighters.

"The men and women we honor to-day remind us that the bonds that uniteus in times of hardship can also raise usto new heights as we reopen and re-cover and rebuild," The Washington

Times quoted the president as saying.Sravya was among three 10-year-old

Girl Scouts honored by Trump for theirhelp. Her parents are from AndhraPradesh.

Girl Scouts Laila Khan, Lauren Matneyand Sravya of Troop 744 inElkridge, Maryland, all 10 yearsold, donated 100 boxes of GirlScout cookies to local doctors,nurses and firefighters. Theyalso wrote 200 personalizedcards for health care workers,the report said.

"While we are honored thatour troop was invited to behere today, we know that weare just part of the millions ofother children out there thatare doing amazing things tosupport their communities,their friends and their families.It is a privilege to be here rep-resenting all of them," saidKhan, who represented thetroop.

Among the honorees wasAmy Ford, a nurse fromWilliamson, West Virginia, whotravelled to Brooklyn, New

York, to work in a hospital besiegedwith COVID-19 patients.

"For the past 42 days, she's been work-ing 12-hour shifts in the intensive careunits of Kings County Hospital Center inBrooklyn. Amy has been serving thecoronavirus patients around the clock,and she once held the hand of an elderlypatient all night long, just so the womanwould not feel alone," Trump said.

The novel coronavirus which origi-nated in Wuhan in December last yearhas claimed 315,185 lives and infectedover 4.7 million people globally. The USis the worst affected country with89,562 deaths and over 1.4 million in-fections, according to Johns HopkinsUniversity data. PTI

Sravya Annappareddy with President Donald Trump

Pakistan needs new approach as ademocracy: ex-envoy Haqqani

WASHINGTON: Pakistan needs a newapproach based on "tolerance, democ-racy and genuine federalism" to moveforward as a democracy, former Pakistaniambassador to the US Husain Haqqanisaid recently as he joined dissidents andhuman rights activists from across theworld in voicing concern over the en-forced disappearances and state-spon-sored killings in the country.

He was speaking at a virtual confer-ence organized by South Asians

Against Terrorism and for HumanRights (SAATH), a grouping of pro-de-mocracy Pakistanis, in the wake of theCOVID-19 pandemic.

The post COVID-19 environment willonly aggravate Pakistan's crisis, hesaid.

Instead of persisting with old, failedpolicies, a new approach must beadopted. It should be based on toler-ance, democracy, genuine federalism,Haqqani said. PTI



Amazon Prime topremier Gulabo Sitabo

MUMBAI: Amazon Prime Video has announcedthe global premiere of the highly anticipatedHindi film Gulabo Sitabo exclusively on thestreaming service. Directed by Shoojit Sircar, thefilm stars Amitabh Bachchan (Black, Piku) andAyushmann Khurrana (Shubh Mangal ZyaadaSaavdhan, Andhadhun) in the lead. The movie willpremiere exclusively on the 12th of June 2020on Amazon Prime Video and will be available in200 countries and territories worldwide.

"At Amazon we're listening to our customers,and working backwards from there." said VijaySubramaniam, Director and Head, Content, Ama-zon Prime Video, India. "Gulabo Sitabo is one ofthe most an-t i c i p a t e dfilms of theyear. We arehappy to ex-clusively pre-miere GulaboSitabo onPrime Video.It is the firststep in our en-deavor tobring supe-rior cinematicexper iencesto ourc u s t o m e r ' sdoorstep."

"This is the dawn of a new era for Indian en-tertainment," said director, Shoojit Sircar. "I amhappy that a global audience will be able towatch our gritty dramedy, and enjoy what thefilm has in store for them. Gulabo Sitabo is aquirky, light-hearted movie that the audience canenjoy with their families. It has been a wonderfulexperience working with Mr. Amitabh Bachchanand Ayushmann Khurrana on the film."

"Indian audiences have been eagerly await-ing the release of Gulabo Sitabo and we are de-lighted that Amazon Prime Video will now bepremiering the movie for our customers. The glo-bal release of Gulabo Sitabo on Prime Video, inover 200 countries and territories, will ensuremaximum reach and visibility for the film not justin India but also around the world. We are excitedabout the new offering and are happy to, onceagain, bring to our customers the best of enter-tainment through this release," said GauravGandhi, Director and Country General Manager,Amazon Prime Video India.

"Gulabo Sitabo is a slice of life, dramedy thatis a must watch for families at home," said actorAmitabh Bachchan, "I was excited about my rolesince the first time Shoojit showed me thecharacter's look. It took me almost 3 hours eachday to get into character with its different look. Ihad a wonderful time working with my very tal-ented co-star Ayushmann Khurrana.

For detailed story visitwww.indiapost.com

City of Fremont announcesrelief package for renters

and small businessesIndia Post News Service

FREMONT, Calif: The Fremont City Council unani-mously approved a COVID-19 aid package target-ing Fremont renters and small businesses whoseincomes have been adversely impacted by theCoronavirus pandemic response. The aid package,approved at the regularly scheduled City Councilmeeting on May 12, 2020, consists of two programs:

1) Fremont Cares Rent Relief Program will pro-vide $400,000 in rental assistance. Householdsthat qualify may receive up to three months ofrental assistance beginning March 17, 2020, thedate of the first Shelter-in-Place Order issued bythe Alameda County Health Officer.

2) Fremont Small Business Relief Grant Programwill provide up to $400,000 to small businesses in$5,000 or $10,000 grants.

The Fremont Cares Rent Relief program willprovide rental assistance to eligible householdswho are unable to pay their rent due to a COVID19-related job loss or loss of income. In order tobe eligible for the program, applicants must dem-onstrate their loss of employment and income isdirectly related to COVID-19; be a resident of Fre-mont; hold a lease in their name; and show theirincome was at or below 80% of Area Median In-come on January 1, 2020. Applications will beweighted and scored due to applicant need withpriorities given to: those at the lower end of theincome scale; those who spend more than 30% oftheir household income for rent; single heads ofhousehold with minor children; those who haveno additional resources for rental assistance; andthose who may have special circumstances suchas additional medical expenses due to COVID-19.The rent assistance payment will be made directlyto the landlord.

The Small Business Relief Grant Program tar-gets Fremont businesses that have suffered finan-cial impact from COVID-19 pandemic responses.Grants awarded to selected businesses will bevalued at $5,000 for businesses with 10 or feweremployees on payroll at the time of the initialShelter-in-Place Order and $10,000 for businesseswith 11 to 50 employees, respectively. In order toqualify for funding, businesses must have a physi-cal storefront or place of business in a commercial-designated facility in Fremont (home-based busi-nesses do not qualify); have demonstrable finan-cial impact stemming from COVID-19; and committo rehiring or retaining at least one employee froma low-to-moderate income household. Additionally,businesses must have had a maximum of 50 em-ployees in Fremont at the time of the first Shelter-in-Place Order issued on March 17.

The application period is now open for bothprograms. The Fremont Cares Rent Relief Programapplication period will be conducted in tworounds. Applications, with required documenta-tion, will close for Round 1 on May 29, 2020, at11:59 p.m., while applications for Round 2 willopen on June 1 and close on June 12, 2020, at11:59 p.m.


"United WeFight"

India Post News Service

NEW DELHI: The Indian Council for Cultural Relations(ICCR) brings together composers, musicians andsingers from across India, contributing recordingsfrom their homes, in a beautiful musical creation"United we Fight". Written and composed by JoeAlvares, vocals by Usha Uthup, Salim Merchant, ShefaliAlvares Rashid, Benny Dayal, Sonam Kalra, ChandanBala Kalyan, Joe Alvares, Salome and Samira, and musicby Tubby, Pandit Ravi Chari, Pandit Rakesh Chaurasiyaand Ustad Faisal Qureshi, this song is a rendition weav-ing English lyrics into the notes and beats of Indianclassical music, spreading the essence of VasudhaivaKutumbakam - the world is one family. It carries with itthe message of hope, joy, resilience, fighting spirit andnever say die attitude of all in our collective fightagainst COVID 19.

This virus has had a huge impact on humanity cut-ting across all boundaries, physical and social, of na-tions, caste, class, color, religion and belief systemsbringing the world to its knees. But United We Stand,steadfastly helping, assisting, sharing knowledge, co-operating and coordinating with each other, cuttingacross boundaries and fighting as one force againstthe Corona virus.

This composition is an expression of our deep ap-preciation and gratitude to all brave COVID warriorsworld over risking their lives to protect ours. It is ahomage to all the artists and performers who repre-sent the cultural legacy of our countries and who con-tribute to keep our cultural heritage vibrant and alive,especially in these difficult times. It is a tribute to and

recognition of the countless individuals who are si-lently helping neighbors, strangers and peoplearound them in these times of distress. A message tothe world that together we shall surely win the fightagainst the Corona virus and many such challengesthat humanity and the human race faces.

Light a candle, cheer the frontline workers, donatefor the needy, spare time for the elderly, be availableto volunteer; whichever way, we hope you enjoy thisrendition and be inspired enough to continue this"United Fight".

This song is dedicated to the world by the Ministryof External Affairs (MEA) of India. ICCR is MEA's autono-mous organization mandated to build internationalunderstanding, develop closer cultural relations be-tween India and other countries and project India'ssoft power abroad.

9 India Post May 22, 2020www.indiapost.com

In Brief Immigration

��

��

�� !�"�#��

��

��

Amiri, his wife and

their four children

were the only ones on

their final flight from

Seattle to Salt Lake

City. For them, it was

worth the risk

New refugees struggle to findfooting in US during pandemic

SALT LAKE CITY: Afghan refu-gee Mahmood Amiri arrived inthe United States more than amonth ago, but his children arestill waiting for their first day atschool. They have yet to go to amosque to meet other Muslimfamilies. And Amiri is itching toget a job, but nobody knowshow long that will take in acrashing economy.

Starting a new life inAmerica is never easy for refu-gees, but doing it during apandemic has created morestruggles, especially after thefederal government cut offfunding to help them resettleand suspended new arrivals in-definitely.

Coronavirus restrictionshave affected refugee familiesin the same ways as anyoneelse _ job losses, child carechallenges _ but many arenavigating the turmoil in a lan-guage they don't fully under-stand and without extendedfamily or close friends to help.

The Amiris arrived in Salt LakeCity on March 24, about a weekafter states began shuttingdown schools and businesses totry to stop COVID-19 fromspreading. After waiting threeyears for a visa, they ignoredwarnings from an airplane em-

ployee in Kabul that traveling tothe U.S. during the pandemicwould be dangerous.

Amiri, his wife and their fourchildren were the only ones ontheir final flight from Seattle toSalt Lake City. For them, it wasworth the risk. While waitingfor a special visa for Afghansand Iraqis who help the U.S.

government, Amiri had fearedthat the Taliban would find outhe worked for the U.S. Army in

Afghanistan and kidnap hisfamily.

``I knew the situation wasvery bad, but I had to decidefor the (good) of my family,''Amiri, 39, said of the pan-demic. ``If my visa expired,

they would not extend it.''Refugee aid organizations

have pivoted from trainingfamilies for work and school toteaching them how to applyfor unemployment benefitsand do schoolwork online.They're dipping into emer-gency funds to pay for rentand food for families after los-ing federal dollars.

``We're instructing clients onhow to navigate a food bankrather than navigating a careerpath,'' said Krish O'MaraVignarajah, CEO of theLutheran Immigration andRefugee Service.

Her organization, one ofnine agencies that help refu-gees resettle in the U.S., hasgiven emergency aid to morethan 215 families facing joblosses. AP

Mahmood Amiri with his family

For detailed stories visitwww.indiapost.com

Border measuresthreaten EU freetravel

BRUSSELS: The future of ID-check free travel across 26 Eu-ropean countries is at risk ifgovernments do not ease soonthe emergency border restric-tions they introduced to haltthe spread of the coronavirus,European Union lawmakersand officials warned.

As the virus outbreaks ex-panded in Italy in February, thecountry's neighbors imposedborder measures to keep thedisease out, without any con-sultation. Others then followedsuit until almost half the mem-bers of the zone known as theSchengen area had reintro-duced controls of some kind.

Free movement is a jewel inEurope's crown which helpsbusiness flourish by allowinggoods and people toseamlessly cross borders.Schengen came under pres-sure as countries introducedmeasures after the arrival ofmore than 1 million migrants in2015, and in response to a se-ries of extremist attacks. Somecountries have kept those con-trols in place.

European officials fear thatthe coronavirus could be a nailits coffin.

"The risk we are facing se-riously today is the death ofSchengen," Tanja Fajon, aleading EU lawmaker on theborder measures, said. "It is ina very poor and problematicstate. It has been hit yearsago by the refugee crisis andthe virus delivered anotherblow. We have to restore freetravel as soon as possibleonce the pandemic is over,"the lawmaker from Sloveniasaid. AP/PTI

Singapore to lift restrictions gradually,targeting migrant workers

SINGAPORE: Singapore willgradually lift some of themeasures targeting the mi-grant workers to prevent thespread of the coronavirusfrom June, as a senior minis-ter asked the public not to be"overly alarmed" by the spikein the number of COVID-19cases in the country.

Singapore reported 752new COVID-19 cases as ofnoon on Thursday 14 May, tak-ing the total number of infec-tions in the country to26,098.

The vast majority of thecases are work permit hold-ers residing in foreignworker dormitories, said theHealth Ministry in its prelimi-

nary daily update.Two cases are Singaporeans

or permanent residents (for-eigners).

The Manpower MinisterJosephine Teo has urged thepublic not to be "overlyalarmed" even as the numberof COVID-19 cases in Singapore

remained elevated.Teo explained that a large

number of reported casesamong migrant workers (for-eigners) reflected the cur-rent approach of aggressivetesting.

Few countries have testedtheir migrant populations ex-tensively; far fewer have un-dertaken to test all their mi-grant workers, as Singaporehas," the Channel News Asiaquoted the minister as say-ing.

Teo made the appeal in aFacebook post, outliningsome of the measures target-ing the migrant workers as"circuit breaker" are gradu-ally lifted from June.PTI

‘Few countries have

tested their migrant

populations exten-

sively; far fewer have

undertaken to test all

their migrant workers,

as Singapore has’


Tech News TechBizUS economy will recover, could stretch

through end of next year: FedWASHINGTON: The US

economy, the world's largest,which has been thrown into arecession due to thecoronavirus pandemic, will re-bound but the recovery couldstretch through the end of nextyear, Federal Reserve ChairmanJerome Powell has said.

His statement came days af-ter a top economic advisor toPresident Donald Trump fa-vored giving tax incentives toAmerican companies to movetheir manufacturing units fromChina to the US, amidst a newrift in the bilateral relationshipover Beijing's handling of thecoronavirus crisis.

The US has expressed disap-pointment over China's han-dling of the COVID-19, whichhas claimed nearly 90,000 livesin America.

China, which is the world'ssecond largest economy, in thebeginning of the year, signedthe Phase-1 of a trade dealwith the US, ending a bittertwo-year tariff war that hadrattled the global economy.

Federal Reserve ChairmanPowell, during a 60 Minutes

program on CBS News, saidthat in the long run and even inthe medium run, one wouldnot want to bet against theAmerican economy.

This economy will recover.And that means people will goback to work. Unemployment

will get back down. We'll getthrough this. It may take awhile.

It may take a period of time.It could stretch through theend of next year. We reallydon't know. We hope that it willbe shorter than that, but noone really knows. What we cando is the part of it that we can

control -- is to be careful asbusinesses go back to work, hesaid.

And each of us individuallyand as a group take those mea-sures that will protect our-selves and each other from thefurther spread of the virus,

Powell said.Observing that this is a time

of great suffering and diffi-culty, Powell said that it hascome on the Americans soquickly and with such forcethat one really cannot putinto words the pain peopleare feeling and the uncer-tainty they are realizing.

And it's going to take awhile for us to get back, hesaid.

Powell said there is a realrisk that if people are out ofwork for long periods of time,their skills atrophy a little bitand they lose contact withthe workforce.

This is something thatshows up in the data -- thatlonger and deeper reces-sions tend to leave behinddamage to people's careers.And that weighs on theeconomy going forward, hesaid.

You could say the samething about businesses. Thesmall and medium size busi-nesses that are so importantto this country, if they have togo through a wave of avoid-able insolvencies, you've lostsomething there that's morethan just a few businesses.

It's really the job creationmachine. And if that happens,it will take some time to re-cover from it. I think the goodnews is that we have policiesthat can go some way towardminimizing those effects. PTI

Jerome Powell

Airtel launches'work from home'solution for biz’s

NEW DELHI: With work forhome becoming the new nor-mal for millions of Indian pro-fessionals amid COVID-19,Airtel Business, the B2B arm oftelecom major Bharti Airtel, haslaunched enterprises-grade"Work@Home" solutions de-signed to enable employees tooperate efficiently and se-curely from their homes.

Airtel Work@Home offers arange of connectivity options -- wired & wireless, immersivecollaboration tools, and secu-rity solutions that adhere to In-dian regulatory norms.

"These are unprecedentedtimes and businesses areadapting to the evolving envi-ronment with new way ofworking. For a large proportionof employees, working fromtheir homes is set to becomethe new normal," Ajay Chitkara,Director & CEO-Airtel Business,said in a statement.

"Airtel Work@Home is yetanother innovation to ensurethat our B2B customers areable to empower their peoplewith best-in-class connectivityand digital tools to drive busi-ness continuity," Chitkara said.IANS

Elon Musk says'take the red pill';Ivanka says 'taken'

SAN FRANCISCO: Tesla andSpaceX CEO Elon Musk and USPresident Donald Trumpsdaughter and adviser Ivankahad a moment on Twitter via acryptic tweet related to the all-time science-fiction classic TheMatrix.

Musk tweeted: "Take the redpill" to his over 34 million fol-lowers. Ivanka retweeted it,adding the word: "Taken!"

For the uninitiated, "Take thered pill" is a line from the popu-lar 1999 movie "The Matrix"about seeking the unvarnishedtruth:

"You take the blue pill, thestory ends, you wake up in yourbed and believe whatever youwant to believe. You take thered pill, you stay in Wonderlandand I show you how deep therabbit-hole goes", was the dia-logue in the film.IANS

IIT-Madras startup developing wearable tracker to detect COVID-19CHENNAI: An Indian Insti-

tute of Technology (IIT) Ma-dras-incubated startup MuseWearables is developing awrist-based tracker with skintemperature, heart rate andSpO2 (blood oxygen satura-tion) sensing which can con-tinuously track these body vi-tals remotely that will help inearly diagnosis of COVID-19symptoms.

The tracker is Bluetooth-enabled and can be con-nected to the mobile phonevia an app called the 'MuseHealth App'. The user vitalsand activity data are stored on

the phone as well as a remoteserver.

Priced at around Rs 3,500, thenew wearable product will soonbe deployed in the market forconsumersacross allthe 70 coun-tries thatthe startupc u r r e n t l ysells in.

T h es t a r t u phopes to beable to bring out the first batchof finalized products in the next20 days. The tracker can get no-

tifications from the AarogyaSetu App and raise an alert tothe user when he enters aCOVID containment zone.

According to the Institute,M u s eWe a ra b l e shas alreadycompletedproduct de-sign for thetracker andare nowworking onf i n a l i z i n g

and fabricating the product.Muse Wearables was incu-

bated by IIT Madras Incubation

Cell."They have quickly mobi-

lized and repurposed their of-ferings in response to thesituation and are striving tomake a positive contributionto the nation's anti-virus ef-forts," Dr Tamaswati Ghosh,Chief Executive Officer, IITMadras Incubation Cell, saidin a statement.

The wearable tracker's ma-jor objective is to enable re-mote detection of COVID-19and Monitoring of COVID-19patients by providing a low-cost solution that is acces-sible to everyone. IANS

Apple reopens 100 retail storesglobally, more to follow

SAN JOSE: Apple has managed to reopen 100 retail stores outof more than 500 worldwide, as it aims to safely restart opera-tions. Apple closed all its retail stores outside Greater China inMarch as COVID-19 pandemic spread. All the Apple stores inGreater China are now open. The company plans to reopen 25more stores in the US, 12 in Canada and 10 in Italy over the nextweek. Apple has reopened some stores in the US, starting withIdaho, South Carolina, Alabama, and Alaska. IANS

11India PostTechBiz PostMay 22, 2020www.indiapost.com

Tech Briefs

India's ICT policy will help achieveSDGs: TRAI Chairman

Permanent WfH damaging forworkers' well-being: Nadella

SAN FRANCISCO: As certaintech companies like Twitterprefer their employees towork from home (WfH) forever,Microsoft CEO Satya Nadellahas warned that making re-mote work permanent couldhave serious consequences forsocial interaction and mentalhealth for workers as virtualvideo calls cannot replace in-person meetings.

In an interaction with TheNew York Times, Nadella saidthat an all-remote setup wouldbe "replacing one dogma withanother dogma".

"What does burnout look like?What does mental health looklike? What does that connectivityand the community-building looklike? One of the things I feel is,hey, maybe we are burning someof the social capital we built up inthis phase where we are all work-ing remote. What's the measurefor that?" Nadella was quoted assaying.

His comment came afterTwitter granted an option tohis staff to work from home'forever' even after the COVID-19 pandemic ends.

Twitter upped the ante after

Facebook, Alphabet (Google)and others have asked theiremployees to work from hometill year-end.

Microsoft has extended itswork-from-home policy until atleast October.

The tech giant's stock priceis up 14 per cent this year andthe company has nearly $140

billion in cash.Microsoft spent $10 billion

in its most recent quarter onshare buybacks and dividends,up more than 30 per cent fromthe year before.

"We're going to boldly allo-cate and acquire, build, inno-vate, partner, whatever," saidNadella. IANS

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella

NEW DELHI: The objectivesof the National Digital Commu-nications Policy (NDCP) willpromote the usage of ICT,which will directly result in

achieving sustainable develop-ment goals (SDGs), R.S. Sharma,Chairman of the Telecom Regu-latory Authority of India (TRAI)

said recently."India adopted NDCP in the

year 2018 with specified stra-tegic objectives to beachieved by the year 2022,"

Sharma said in a message com-memorating the 51st WorldTelecom and Information Soci-ety Day (WTISD).

The United Nations (UN) cel-ebrates WTISD every year andthe theme for this year is "Con-nect 2030: ICTs for the Sustain-able Development Goals(SDGs)".

"One of the important ob-jectives of the NDCP is to cre-ate a robust digital communi-cation infrastructure, whichcan be used for developmentin various sectors includingeducation, healthcare, energy,employment, innovation, etc.,"Sharma added.

The TRAI Chairman also rec-ognized the role of telecomservice providers in protectingthe economy and supportingthe sudden surge in Internettraffic due to increased eco-nomic and other online activi-ties during the current COVID19 pandemic crisis. IANS

R S Sharma

Microsoft to invest $75MN increating 1,500 jobs in AI, Cloud

OPPO inks pact with Vodafoneto boost 5G adoption

SAN FRANCISCO: Tech gi-ant Microsoft has an-nounced to invest $75 mil-lion to build a new office atAtlanta, Georgia, by nextyear that will create 1,500new jobs in the Artificial In-telligence (AI) and Cloudspace.

The Satya Nadella-run en-terprise will expand opera-tions in the city's mid-town area in a 523,000square-foot facility inthe popular AtlanticStation district.

The facility, whichwill include a retailarea, is slated to open in thesummer of 2021.

"We are excited that a glo-bal leader like MicrosoftCorp. is expanding its in-vestment in Georgia withtech jobs that will be trulybeneficial to the companyand our state," said Gover-nor Brian P. Kemp.

Microsoft's new facilitywill be a client-facing work-place that will focus on AIand cloud services, includingretail space for engaging di-rectly with customers.

"Atlanta has a rich cultureand history of innovation,making it a unique place fortech growth," said TerrellCox, general manager,

Microsoft."We are excited to ex-

pand our presence and fur-ther engage with the com-munity and surrounding re-gion, contributing positivelyto technical opportunity,digital fluency, and eco-nomic development," Coxadded. IANS

NEW DELHI: Chinesesmartphone maker OPPO hasannounced a partnershipwith telecom majorVodafone to boost 5G adop-tion in the world.

In the first phase of coop-eration, Vodafone will intro-duce OPPO prod-ucts across retailchannels in Ger-many, Britain,Spain, Portugal,Romania, Turkeyand the Nether-lands startingthis month.

OPPO said its broad rangeof products will be madeavailable across Vodafone'sretail and online channels,spanning value-for-moneyhandsets to 5G flagshipsmartphones including theOPPO A series, Reno seriesand Find X series.

The two companies saidthey will jointly develop theirglobal partnership, working

together to expand the fu-ture availability of the OPPOrange across Vodafone's mar-kets.

"OPPO is confident thatour industry-leading prod-ucts and technologies willenable Vodafone to win new

opportunities inthe 5G era,"Alen Wu, VicePresident andPresident ofGlobal Sales,OPPO, said in astatement."OPPO looks for-

ward to solidifying a long-term win-win relationshipwith Vodafone to create abetter future for our custom-ers in the 5G era."

The collaboration be-tween the two companies isexpected to give consumersmore choice and accelerate5G adoption acrossVodafone's internationalmarkets. IANS

Health Line


One can be said to be perfectly healthy in body and mind only if no part of the body or mind makes itself felt. A partmakes itself felt only when there is something wrong with it. You know that you have a head only when it aches.

Sri Atmananda (1883 - 1959)

Hard to predict when pandemicwill be over: WHO officials

GENEVA: Officials of theWorld Health Organization(WHO) have said it is hard topredict when the pandemicwill be over, but countriesshould stay positive and col-laborate closely.

"We have a new virus enter-ing the human population forthe first time, and therefore itis very hard to predict whenwe will prevail over it," MichaelRyan, executive director of theWHO Health Emergencies Pro-gram, said on Wednesday at apress conference in Geneva,Xinhua reported.

"I think it's important to putthis on the table: this virus maybecome just another endemicvirus in our communities andthis virus may never go away,"said Ryan. "It is important thatwe be realistic and I don't thinkanyone can predict when or ifthis disease will disappear."

"We may have a shot at elimi-nating this virus" with the helpof a vaccine, he said, addingthat the vaccine must then be

"highly effective" and "madeavailable to everyone" and that"we will have to use it."

He believes that there is a"massive opportunity for the

world" to turn "a tragic pan-demic into a beacon of hopefor the future," urging theworld to "work together tosolve our problems throughsolidarity, through trust,through working together

and through a multilateral sys-tem that can actually benefitmankind."

"In some senses, we havecontrol over that future, but

it's going to take a massive ef-fort to do it," he said, notingthat "it's going to need the po-litical, the financial, the opera-tional, the technical and thecommunity support to be asuccess."

Maria Van Kerkhove, COVID-19 technical lead at WHO,added that, despite peoplemay be "in a state of feelingquite some despair," weshould remain positive andhopeful.

"We have seen countriesbring this virus under control,we have seen countries usepublic health measures, thefundamentals of public healthand epidemiology and clinicalcare, to bring the virus undercontrol and to suppress trans-mission to a low enough levelwhere communities can getback to work and communi-ties can open up again, so wecan't forget that," she said.

"It will take some time be-fore we have the informationon these medical interven-tions and it's coming andpeople are working very hardon that. But this is in our handand we are seeing hope in anumber of countries and I re-ally don't want people to for-get that," she added. IANS

Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Program

10 vaccine candidates under development: Govt bodyNEW DELHI: A total of ten

vaccine candidates for novelcoronavirus are under devel-opment, said the Biotechnol-ogy Industry Research Assis-tance Council (BIRAC) onThursday 14 May.

The BIRAC, a Section 8 Com-pany set up by the UnionGovernment's Department ofBio Technology (DBT) to nur-ture and promote the bio-technology industry in India,tweeted, "10 Vaccine candi-dates are under developmentwith support from DBT underthe A@DBTIndia @BIRAC_2012 #COVID-19 Research

Consortium."It also said that the ten pro-

posals have been recom-

mended for funding under theCOVID-19 Research ConsortiumCall. BIRAC thanked Prime Min-

ister Narendra Modi for allocat-ing funds for the vaccine devel-opment. "Thank you Hon'ble

Prime Minister for special fundfor Vaccine Development. @DBTand @BIRAC have supported

over 10 vaccine candidates."The tweets were also

retweeted by Union HealthMinister Harsh Vardhan.

In the fight against COVID-19, the Indian Council of Medi-cal Research (ICMR) has fast-tracked the roll out of global'Solidarity' trial launched bythe World Health Organization(WHO), to help find an effec-tive treatment for the virus.

With 3,722 new cases re-ported in the last 24 hours,the COVID-19 tally in Indiareached 78,003, the UnionHealth Ministry had stated on14 May. IANS

New imaging toolreveals extent ofAlzheimer

NEW YORK: Scientists havefound that a new imagingtechnology allows them to seethe widespread loss of brainsynapses in early stages ofAlzheimer's disease.

The finding may one dayhelp aid in drug developmentfor the brain disorder charac-terized by memory loss.

The research, published inAlzheimer's & Dementia: TheJournal of the Alzheimer's Asso-ciation, compared the densityof synapses, which transmitsignals between neighboringbrain cells, in people with earlystages of Alzheimer's withthose of people who have noevidence of the disease.

As expected, the loss of syn-apses in those with an earlystage of Alzheimer's was par-ticularly high in areas surround-ing the hippocampus, an area ofthe brain crucial to formation ofmemory, the scientists report.

"However, our new methodsenable us to detect wide-spread synaptic lossesthroughout the brain," saidfirst author of the paper AdamMecca, Assistant Professor atYale University in the US. IANS

Govt warned ofanother COVID-likezoonotic disease

NEW DELHI: In the wake ofgrowing threat from emergingzoonotic diseases, like thedeadly coronavirus, an animalright organisation has urgedUnion Minister Giriraj Singh toban elephants from being ex-hibited or trained for perfor-mances, as high prevalence oftuberculosis among them canpose a threat to public health.

People for the Ethical Treat-ment of Animals (PETA)knocked on the doors of theUnion Minister of Fisheries,Animal Husbandry and Dairy-ing and called for his attentionto another imminent zoonoticthreat -- tuberculosis -- facedby captive elephants in thecountry.

In a letter, Giriraj Singh wasapprised that tuberculosis,which can be transmitted fromelephants to humans, has beendetected in elephants in thecountry. IANS

India PostWellness Post 13May 22, 2020

www.indiapost.com

Why more men are dying fromCOVID-19 than women

SFOORTI MISHRA

NEW DELHI: All over the world at least 2.97 lakhpeople have lost their lives due to the COVID-19 pan-demic. While novel coronavirus has equal potential topenetrate and spread irrespective of gender and age,but common notions that males are more susceptibleto COVID-19 as compared to women and even fatali-ties among the males are more, havebeen seen in the worldwide data ofCOVID fatalities and India is no excep-tion.

On March 17, Dr Randeep Guleria,Director, AIIMS Delhi, had told IANSthat a trend that is quite conspicuousin the worldwide data of COVID-19 isthat males are more vulnerable toCOVID 19 as compared to women butthe reason for the trend was not as-certained. "One interesting trend isalso that it has occurred more in mencompared to women," he had said adding "the reasonis yet to be found behind such a trend."

Well, it seems that the mystery has been decodedby the health community of the world. In a report pub-lished on May 10 in 'European Heart Journal' it wasfound that more concentration of Angiotensin-con-verting enzyme 2 or ACE2 in males as compared tofemales could be responsible for such a trend. The re-port said, "The current pandemic coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 infects a wide age group but predominantlyelderly individuals, especially men and those with car-diovascular disease."

The study also said "patients with heart failure,

plasma ACE2 concentrations were higher in men thanin women, possibly reflecting higher tissue expres-sion of this receptor for SARS coronavirus infections.This could explain why men might be more suscep-tible to infection with, or the consequences of, SARS-CoV-2."

The sample size for the study was 1,485 men and537 women with heart failure and the results werevalidated in 1,123 men and 575 women. Howevernone of them were COVID patients. But the research-ers involved in the study believed that other researchon how ACE2 interacts with the virus can help explain

the variance in death rates betweenmen and women.

ACE2 is an enzyme, present inmost organs and is attached to thecell membrane of mainly lung type IIalveolar cells. It binds withcoronaviruses like the one thatcauses COVID-19, and allows them tomore easily infect healthy cells.

The report however categoricallysaid, "The conclusions drawn in thisanalysis are mainly restricted to heartfailure, albeit a group of patients at

high risk for COVID-19." However experts in India at-tribute men's lifestyle responsible for such a trend.

Dr Vichar Nigam working at the Internal MedicineDepartment at the Columbia Asia Hospital in Punetold IANS the reason behind such a trend appears tobe more logical than scientific. "The reason why moreand more males are testing positive is the fact thatthey tend to move out in search of household itemsand involve in general social talk more than thewomen. Also women, while taking care of householdactivities tend to wash hands more often. Especiallyduring social lockdown, men would always be inter-ested in going out for whatsoever reason. Whereas

women, understanding theirresponsibility to take care ofthe household and childrenmostly remain indoors."

Echoing the same rationale,Dr Manoj Goel, Director,Pulmonology at Fortis MemorialResearch Institute, told IANSthat males were more prone forthis infection due to more so-cial exposure. "Males are at ahigher risk factor of Covid in-fection than females possiblybecause their social exposure ishappening more than females.It is seen mostly men leavingtheir houses to get the essen-tial things which makes themmore exposed to the virus thanfemales."

Dr Goel also said, "Variousrisk factors in the form of co-morbidities like heart diseases,hypertension, diabetes, chroniclung disease and habit of exces-

sive smoking and drinking are also more common inmen as compared to women. These co-morbidities areresponsible for more deaths due to Covid-19 in menthan women. Whoever is stepping out of the house beit male or female, even to buy essentials, should ensureto follow all necessary precautions." IANS

Dr Randeep Guleria

The sample size for the study was 1,485 men and

537 women with heart failure and the results were

validated in 1,123 men and 575 women. However

none of them were COVID patients

Aerobics at any age asuper treat for your brain

TORONTO: It's never too late to lace up shoesand work up a sweat for brain health as olderadults, even couch potatoes, may perform betteron certain thinking and memory tests after justsix months of aerobic exercise, says a new study.

Researchers found that after six months of ex-ercise, participants improved by 5.7 per cent ontests of executive function, which includes men-tal flexibility and self-correction.

Verbal fluency that tests how quickly you canretrieve information, increased by 2.4 per cent.This change in verbal fluency is what one can ex-pect to see in someone five years younger.

"As we all find out eventually, we lose a bitmentally and physically as we age. But even if youstart an exercise program later in life, the benefitto your brain may be immense," said study au-thor Marc J Poulin from University of Calgary inAlberta, Canada.

Aerobic exercise gets blood moving throughyour body.

"As our study found, it may also get blood mov-ing to your brain, particularly in areas responsiblefor verbal fluency and executive functions. Our

finding may be important, especially for olderadults at risk for Alzheimer's and other dementiasand brain disease," Poulin said in a study pub-lished in Neurology, the medical journal of theAmerican Academy of Neurology.

The study involved 206 adults who prior tostarting the six-month exercise interventionworked out no more than four days per week at amoderate intensity for 30 minutes or less, or nomore than two days per week a high intensity for20 minutes or less per day.

They had an average age of 66 and no historyof heart or memory problems.

Participants were given thinking and memorytests at the start of the study, as well as an ultra-sound to measure blood flow in the brain. IANS

May 22, 2020India Post14 www.indiapost.com

NEW DELHI: A unique collaboration between sarodmaestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, his sons Amaan AliBangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash and multipleGrammy-winning classical guitarist Sharon Isbin, al-lows viewers to listen to the two music instrumentsbeing strummed together.

The album titled 'Strings for Peace' is slated forrelease next week on the ZOHO label (ZM 202004).

The music is an amalgamation of classics whereinlisteners will witness the magical combination ofsarod and classical guitar in an eclectic East-West fu-sion, the organizers said.

"Each of the artists brings the spirit of sharing thegreat unique treasures of their own artistic tradi-

tions, as well as finding common ground in ragas andmedieval modes. The idea is to achieve a cross-fertiliza-tion at both the cellular and cosmic levels of two classi-cal music traditions, which are often held to be radicallydifferent," Khan said.

The album's four tracks cover a wide range of expres-sion, lyricism, color and virtuosity. The ragas composedby Amjad Ali Khan receive their world premiere in set-tings for guitar and sarod: By The Moon-Behag, Love Ava-lanche-Mishra Bhairav, Romancing Earth-Pilu, and SacredEvening-Yaman.

Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and Sharon, who have knowneach other for over a decade, have contemplated a col-laboration for years that has now come to fruition.

"It took a long time to get the right partnersto realize this unique vision on the guitar. Our in-struments have so many interesting similaritiesand differences. Combining the sarod and guitarresults in an extraordinary blend. It's a pleasureand inspiration to perform with the finest.Strings for Peace is a beautiful compilation ofmusic that successfully interweaves the rhythmsof sarod and guitar. Listeners will experience aremarkable spiritual and emotional journey,"Sharon Isbin shared.

"It's been a real pleasure and an honor to makethis album with Sharon. She's a world-renownedartiste who recently won the award for BestAcoustic Guitarist and we've done many showswith her. We also had around 30 shows lined uptogether in the United States, which due to theongoing situation will probably be postponed fornext year. It's been an honor to work with her,"states Amman Ali Bangash.

The recording will be released May 22. CDsand digital copies can be pre-ordered now fromAmazon and other retailers. IANSlife

"EACH OF THE

ARTISTS BRINGS

THE SPIRIT OF

SHARING THE GREAT

UNIQUE TREASURES

OF THEIR OWN ARTISTIC

TRADITIONS”

What's ontop of Indianconsumers' mind

NEW DELHI: With Indians now being online likenever before due to COVID-19 restrictions,searches for queries like e-learning, work fromhome jobs and recipe in 5 minutes have seenmassive growth and these clues to digitalsearches can help brands craft a strategy fortheir marketers, says a report from global man-agement consulting firm Boston ConsultingGroup (BCG).

"...By leaning on digital footprints of their con-sumers, brands can optimize to show up in the

moments thatreally matter themost to their us-ers," said the re-port.

Almost half abillion peopleare activeInternet users inIndia and oneout of three In-

dian watch online videos."Even in the wake of COVID-19, consumers are

looking for "the best" of whatever they need andbusiness that can help them find it safely, quicklyand conveniently," said the report.

"With little to no brand preference, Indiansare rapidly converging online to build their con-sideration sets, even before an actual purchase,"it added. IANS

May 22, 2020 India Post 15

www.indiapost.com

NEW DELHI: The COVID-19has come with strict social dis-tancing norms, but as peoplestay indoors at an unprec-edented rate, relationshipsseem to be blooming, a surveyby a relationship health apphas found.

While over three-fourthshave learnt something newabout their partners, almosthalf (47 percent) of marriedand engaged respondents andover one-third (38 percent) ofthose dating, believe that theirrelationship has grown stron-ger during this period, Lasting,a guided marriage counselingapplication from The KnotWorldwide has found.

The 'At Home Together' sur-vey was conducted withsingles, newlyweds and mar-ried couples as well as thosecurrently in a relationship,through the last two weeks ofApril 2020. It also found that 90percent of the couples polledhave been spending a substan-tially larger amount of time

communicating more openly,with a majority of them sayingthey have learnt somethingnew about their partner whichhas led to shared joy.

While many couples haveconquered household choresby dividing responsibilities, avast majority have picked uphobbies like cooking togetheror binge-watching their favor-ite shows to have shared expe-riences.

Despite the negativitybrought on by the pandemic,less than 10 percent of thecouples said that their relation-ship has strained. Around 62percent of respondents saidthey need 'me time' to feel bet-ter as well.

As for unmarried or long dis-tance couples, over two-thirdsstay in touch with their part-ners over phone and videochats, making technology theirgreatest ally. Almost half ofthem prefer to connect when-ever they miss significant oth-ers, and just 15 out of 100 liketo set timelines for catching upto keep the discipline.

"Indian society is, at large, afamily-oriented set-up. AsInternet and technology tookover and new ways of workingemerged, our schedules havegotten busier. We are now al-ways logged in, on the road,stuck in traffic, at the office tilllate or busy keeping up socialcommitments in the remainingfree time. Time spent with nearand dear ones has drasticallyreduced, especially forcouples, which has led to strainon relationships. While the so-cial restrictions and financialuncertainty caused byCoronavirus pandemic have in-creased stress, anxiety andconflict among individuals andtheir relationships, the extratime under lockdown thatcouples are spending togetheris helping them bond better,"notes Ankur Sarawagi, IndiaCountry Head, The Knot World-wide. IANSlife

with each other, with almost 40percent of them have said thatthey are spending close to 18hours a day with their partner.

Since the announcement ofthe lockdown, almost half the

couples polled (46 percent)have spent quality time withone another by developinghealthier habits to improve

their lifestyle.About 40 percent of couples

have deepened their under-standing of their partner by

Stress levels, uncertainty willincrease post-pandemic

NEW DELHI: Stress levelsand uncertainty will increasefor professionals post thecoronavirus pandemic andthe lockdown it has causeddue to fears of layoffs or over-work due to the heavy back-log that awaits them if andwhen they re-turn to work,says lifestyle &r e l a t i o n s h i pexpert andp r a c t i c i n gt h e r a p i s tR a c h n aKhanna Singh,whose workover the last20 years hastouched over10 lakh livesand over 100organizations.

W o r k - l i f ebalances are under threatand there is the omnipresentshadow of emotional ties atthe workplace reviving,Singh, who has just publisheda book, "Stress Diaries - FromThe Eyes Of A Therapist"(Bloomsbury), told IANS in anemail interview as she ex-

panded on the impact of thelockdown on a post-pan-demic world.

"Post Pandemic, stress lev-els are soaring high for mostprofessionals - whether it bewith respect to lay-offs due tolack of business or over work

due to heavyback log. Fur-ther, we sawduring thel o c k d o w nphase, mostpeople irre-spective ofwhether theywere workingfrom home ornot, werestruggling withkeeping ahealthy lifestyleand a routine."Singh said.

"Now once the lockdownlifts up, it is further going toget harder to get back to ahealthy lifestyle since most ofus are in our comfort zones(with gyms and parks shut),"added Singh. IANS


Rachna Khanna Singh

Airbnb and Bumble pair up tomake virtual dating more fun

NEW DELHI: If you're singleright now and looking tomingle virtually, you're notalone.

To help star-crossedmatches connect from afar,Airbnb and Bumble to-gether are releasing acollection of Bumble-approved Online Ex-periences, which areperfect to spicing upyour virtual date andengaging with eachother in fun, meaning-ful ways.

Lean into your shared culi-nary cravings with a wine classwith an expert in Portugal orlearn hoe to make MexicanStreet tacos together. You caneven virtually sneak away to ahidden date-night spot, likethe secret Amsterdam jazzclub; watch a live show withsangria and drag queens inLisbon. Some of the Online Ex-periences you can pick for aperfect virtual date include:

Turkish Fortune Coffee Read-ing (New York, New York)

Fall in Laugh (Lisbon, Portu-gal)

Tarot Reading with MakJagger (Austin, Texas)

Meet the Wooly Sheep of MyNew Zealand Farm (Rotorua,New Zealand)

GINspiration History & Cock-tails at Home (Bath, UnitedKingdom)

Discover the Rhythms ofPuerto Rico (Hatillo, PuertoRico)

Pasta with Luca & Lorenzo(Florence, Italy) IANSlife


May 22, 2020www.indiapost.comIndia Post16

The Dal Lake is unique for itsbeauty that lies in its pulsatingsurroundings, since it sustains alife on waters not found any-

where else in the world.Dal Lake is situated in the hub of the modern

city of Srinagar, the summer capital of the State.The urban lake, which is the second largest in thestate, is integral to tourism and recreation inKashmir and is nick named as Srinagar's Jewel.

Ancient history records mention that a villagenamed Isabar to the east of Dal Lake was thehome of Goddess Durga. This place was knownas Sureshwari on the bank of the lake, which wassourced by a spring called Satadhara. Today thelake is an important source for commercial op-erations in fishing and water plant harvestingand a famous tourist spot.

The shoreline of the lake 15.5 km approx. isencompassed by boulevard lined with hotels,parks, restaurants and shops selling cashmere(pashmina) shawls, capes, beautiful papermache products, carpets and chain stitch rugs.Many of these shops and restaurants are opentill mid night during the tourist season.

Scenic view of the lake can be witnessed fromthe shoreline Mughal Gardens built during thereign of Emperor Jahangir, from the houseboatsand from the colorful shikaras cruising alongthe lake. A recent addition to the beautyof the boulevard is the 'Royal Springs'golf course.

Overnight stay in a houseboatis an experience of a lifetime.A usual houseboat con-sists of a front balcony,a drawing room, adining room andthree bedroomswith attached toi-lets. Some of thehouseboats even have asmall terrace.

Daily needs and small nickknacks can be bought from thefloating markets which are theshikaras selling their merchandise fromhouseboat to houseboat.

In the center of the lake is an island named'chaar chinaar' which has been named after thefour chinar trees on it. This property belongs tothe royal family of Jammu and Kashmir. NehruPark, which is a floating park on the lake, is about55 yards from the boulevard. It gives a splendidview of the lake, boulevard and the mountainsaround. There are small shops and stalls in thepark selling hot as well as cold beverages andlight snacks.

During the winter season, sometimes the tem-perature falls as low as -11 degrees Celsius, freez-ing the lake. Often people can be found ice-skat-ing on the lake at that time. Ideal time to visit thelake is during the month of April-September.

Major Highlight of Dal lake TourShikara rides, houseboat stay, and floating veg-

etable market.

Best Time to Visit Dal LakeMarch to November is the best time to visit

Dal Lake since the weather remains pleasant inthis duration.

How To ReachBy Air: Srinagar international air-port the closest international air-

port.By Train: About 305 kmfrom Srinagar, Jammu is

the closest railhead.Most of the majorcities in the coun-

try like Mumbai,Delhi, Kanyakumari,

Indore, Pune, Chennai,Kolkata, Ahmedabad,

Jabalpur and Rishikesh arewell connected to Jammu by rail.

Additional trains operate on thisroute during the holiday season.

Courtesy: www.jktourism.org

www.indiapost.com May 22, 2020

COMMUNITYACROSS AMERICA

India Post

Desi News

17

St Louis Bal Vihar HonorsUnsung Heroes During ThePandemic?

Details on page 20

Details on page 18

Under 'Vande Bharat Mission' batchof Indian Nationals fly back

VARSHA VISAL

CHICAGO, IL: The world'ssixth busiest air port O'Hare In-ternational airport at Chicagomay not have seen such acrowd for a single flight eversince COVID-19 pandemicgripping. But on May 11, 2020,around p.m. there were almost300 passengers waiting calmly& quietly obeying social dis-tancing and wearing masksand gloves in a line all acrossterminal 5.

As the world has been fac-ing an unprecedented chal-lenge due to the Corona viruspandemic, these were thepeople of Indian originstranded in USA. Corona hasalso led to suspension of inter-national as well as domestictravel in India. These include,Indians who had travelled todifferent countries for severalpurposes, such as employ-ment, education, internship,tourism, business, etc. Many ofthem are desirous of returningto India quickly. The Govern-ment of India has launched amassive repatriation operationto bring Indian nationals backfrom different parts of theworld.

This is the largest and mostcomplex exercise coordinatedby the Ministry of External Af-fairs; Indian Foreign MinistryThe operation is in associationwith other Ministries. Underable guidance of the PrimeMinster Narendra Modiji andthe External Affairs Minister,the COVID cell in Foreign Min-istry is proactively managing

A batch of Indian nationals coming back to India on special Air India flight on May 11

Air India Manager Ms Malini Vaidyanathan with Air India team- Vikash Shahal,Sonney Thomas, Chetan Patel and Chirag Patel

these two operations. There isa large team at headquartersthat is coordinating with all In-dian Embassies/Missionsabroad - on international frontand various concerned agen-cies - on domestic front.

Under the 'Vande Bharat

Mission', in the phase one, AirIndia is operating 64 flights toand from 12 countries overnine days to evacuate Indiancitizens between May 7 to May15. As a part of the VandeBharat Mission involving airtravel, Air India will be operat-

ing non-scheduled commercialseven flights from the UnitedStates to India. These includetwo flights each from San Fran-cisco, New York and Chicagoand one from Washington.

The first fight from Chicagoon 11thMay 2020 left forMumbai and Chennai, whereasthe second flight on 15 Mayplanned for Delhi andHyderabad. The total number ofseats available on these sevenflights is limited compared tothe total number of requeststhat Indian embassies in USAhave received on the Embassyportal. The Indian Consulate in,Chicago has urged passengersand Indian nationals to be pa-tient and understanding to In-dians stranded here in USA.

Cont’d on page 23

Womenempowermentwebinar by BATMIndia Post News Service

Women EmpowermentWebinar organized by

Bay Area Tamil Manram (BATM),in collaboration withSacremento Tamil Mandrum wasconducted on April 25th, 6-7 pmPST.

The speaker was Dr. ShanthaMohan, who currently serves asExecutive In Residence atCarnegie Mellon University's In-tegrated Innovation Instituteand author of the book " Rootsand Wings: Inspiring Stories ofEngineering Women in India".

The webinar was well at-tended with over 80 partici-pants, covering different demo-graphics, such as experienced aswell as new working profession-als, homemakers, college andschool students. The presenta-tion provided insight into theconcept of women empower-ment, its progress, current stateand challenges.

Topics such as gender in-equality in pay, cultural stereo-typing, work and home life bal-ance were discussed. As Dr.Shantha aptly quoted fromSwami Vivekananda, "Until thereis improvement in women's sta-tus, we cannot think the worldhas grown. A bird cannot fly withonly one wing."

The Q&A session that fol-lowed the presentation waslively and effectively addressedwith questions from the audi-ence using both a pre-collectedand live format.

‘India set to becomenon-permanentmember of UNSC’

PRAKASH M SWAMY

NEW YORK: "My immediatepriority will be to ensure theelection of India as a non-per-manent member of the UN Se-curity Council," says Ambassa-dor T. S. Tirumurti, Secretary inthe Ministry of External Affairs inNew Delhi.

May 22, 2020India Post18 Community Across Americawww.indiapost.com

India set to become non-permanentmember of UNSC: Tirumurti

PRAKASH M SWAMY

Dr T S Tirumurti

You are also no stranger to the USsince you had served as Counselor inthe Indian Embassy in Washington DC.Did you interact with the Indian-American community then?

Yes, I was posted in the Indian Em-bassy in Washington at an extremely in-teresting and important period in India-U.S. bilateral relations. Thanks to theleadership of Prime Minister late AtalBihari Vajpayee and President GeorgeBush, our relations took a qualitativejump. During my eventful stint, I wasalso able to reach out to a wide cross-section of opinion makers, stakeholdersand, most importantly, the Indian-American community. I travelled tomany parts of the U.S. with Ambassador

Lalit Mansingh to engage with the vi-brant Indian American community andgalvanize their support for India-US re-lated issues. I am truly impressed bytheir achievements and continued ad-herence to our values.

How did your family take to living inthe United States, especially with a

NEW YORK: "My immediate prioritywill be to ensure the election of India asa non-permanent member of the UNSecurity Council," says Ambassador T. S.Tirumurti, Secretary in the Ministry ofExternal Affairs in New Delhi who hasbeen appointed as Permanent Repre-sentative of India to the United Nationsin New York. A seasoned diplomat,Tirumurti succeeds Ambassador SyedAkbharuddin on his retirement. Ex-cerpts from a wide-ranging interview:

Felicitations on your appointment asPermanent Representative of India tothe U.N. in New York

I am grateful to the Prime MinisterNarendra Modi for considering me wor-thy of this responsibility. I had served inthe Permanent Mission to India to U.N.in Geneva in the 1990s. Later, I was alsohead of the United Nations Divisiondealing with economic and social issuesin the Foreign Ministry in New Delhi.

What would be your immediatepriority?

My immediate priority will be to en-sure the election of India as a non-perma-nent member of the UN Security Council.India has been conducting a strong cam-paign and it will be my endeavor to takethis to its successful conclusion.

tennis background?I am an armchair tennis critic since I

am only married into tennis! My onlyclaim to sports is that I played under thecricket veteran and former Indian Cap-tain Kris Srikkanth when he captainedmy school Vidya Mandir Cricket team!My father-in-law is the tennis legendRamanathan Krishnan and brother-in-law Ramesh Krishnan, both of who rep-resented India at the highest levels, in-cluding in the Davis Cup. My wife Gowriwas a formidable tennis player herselfhaving been India's national champion.They have always had strong links withthe United States. Ramanathan Krishnanrose to World No. 3 after several ex-ploits, especially in the US.

An interesting memory was whenKrishnan was hosted by PresidentGeorge Bush Sr. during one of the tour-naments in Texas. Since then, the Bushfamily has remained in touch. Rameshwas probably the first foreign nationalto win the U.S. Junior National inKalamazoo, after which they decidednot to let foreign players play their jun-

ior nationals! My two children took uptennis in the United States during mystint in Washington and did very well inITFs. Consequently, our family has ex-traordinarily pleasant memories of U.S.

Your family has strong roots inChennai with Tirumurti Nagar in theheart of Chennai named after yourgrandfather. How has your upbringingin Chennai made a difference to yourlife?

I come from a rather traditional back-ground and family. My schooling andhigher education were in Chennai -Vidya Mandir and Vivekananda College-institutions committed to excellence. Iwas fortunate to study Tamil right

through in school, which gave me agrounding in Tamil culture and wayof life. However, unlike today, therewas no pressure to perform - no door die pressures. That helped one'spersonality to blossom. Since I wasalso an alumnus of Vivekananda Col-lege run by Ramakrishna MissionChennai, I was influenced deeply bythe teachings of Sri Ramakrishnaand Swami Vivekananda and wonthe Religion Prize in College. SoChennai has indeed played a hugerole in my life.

You have also had some very chal-lenging assignments. How hasthat experience been?

Even some of the most difficultpostings have their own charm. Thereare opportunities in all challenges. Onememorable posting was my appoint-ment as India's first Representative ofIndia to the Palestinian Authority.

Dr Tirumurti with Indian President Shri Ram Nath Kovind

I am grateful to

the Prime Minister

Narendra Modi for

considering me

worthy of this

responsibility. I had

served in the

Permanent Mission

to India to U.N.

in Geneva in the

1990s

For detailed interview please visitwww.indiapost.com

India Post 19May 22, 2020 Community Across Americawww.indiapost.com

UMAS/MAFS coping with Covid-19pandemic & serve seniors too

SUCHARITA SUNDER

cial gathering to virtual ses-sions online. This ensured thatthe seniors are not deprived ofany benefits from these pro-grams and remain socially con-nected during these difficulttimes of isolation.

In order to maintain, it'smain goal to eliminate stress,anxiety, isolation which causesdepression and many othermental disorders among se-niors participants, two suchsuccess stories are of MemoryCafé Program and Adult lit-eracy Classes conductedonline. When they checkedwith the seniors about the pos-sibility of a virtual MemoryCafé, they showed great en-thusiasm for it!

CHICAGO: Universal MetroAsian Services (UMAS) andMetropolitan Asian Family Ser-vices (MAFS), the two premiere

but allied agencies serviceChicagoland seniors for overmore than decade, have againrisen to the occasion when theCorona crisis has gripped notonly Metro Chicago but alsothe nation and the world.

Ever since middle of March,Adult Dy Services (ADFS) cen-ters of UMAS were ordered tobe closed by the State of Illi-nois due to the Corona pan-demic times. UMAS could notjust close and forget or ignorethe elder ethnic populationsand it has decided to renderservices through its 6 ADS cen-

ters.Since that day they are

keeping in touch with the ADSparticipants besides continu-ing to provide healthy nutri-tious meals. Ethnic meals areprepared in their very ownkitchens by the dedicated staff,packaged and delivered to cli-ents by ADS drivers daily. Also,there is a daily wellness checksby phone by nurses, ActivityCoordinators, Activity Aidesand other office staff. Zoomconnection is being done byeach individual center with theparticipants and is done by

manager/office staff.On top of this, activities like

singing, prayers, storytelling,memory games/riddles, bingo,exercise, talks from the heart,telling jokes, word games andsharing food recipes are con-ducted during the Zoom orWhatsApp video calling days.This is done for all ADS mem-bers. The Agency staff hastaught members how to getconnected to Zoom by sendingthe links through WhatsApp.ADS staff is connected at least5 hours per day with either agroup of participants and orone-on-one phone calls. Theyare very happy and look for-ward to the daily phone con-tacts and the Zoom orWhatsApp day meetings.

For participants who areunable to Zoom or WhatsApp,the office staff calls them dailyand chats with them to makesure they are doing well.Wellness calls are made dailyand the agency is making surethat their needs are met dur-ing these crucial and devastat-ing times. UMAS In-Home Careservices continue as usual fol-lowing the guidelines of theState For help VISITWWW.UMASINC.COM

At these timesof the COVID 19havoc, UMAS/MAFS have beenguided by theirgoal to make surethe seniors of thecommunity aresafe and healthy.And with this end

in view though the congregatemeal program at UMAS loca-tions are temporarily sus-pended adhering to theCOVID-19 Stay-At-Home or-ders, the senior participantsare assured of fresh andhealthy meals prepared everyday at their locations and arenow done homebound! The se-niors get the same nutritiousand home cooked meals,which include lunch andsnacks, delivered to theirhomes as per their needs.They are happy and proud toserve over 250 meals. For more

information on delivery ofmeals please call847.306.7606.

For the safety ofthe senior partici-pants these twoagencies have sus-pended some ofthe programs tem-porarily as perIDOA, IDPH andCDC. But, this didnot stop MAFS/UMAS from being in touchwith the senior participants of

the community. MAFS re-sponded to the need of the se-

niors by adapting some of itsprograms from in-person so-

Santosh Kumar and others at MAFS event

Ms Santosh Kumar



St Louis Bal Vihar honors Unsung He-roes during the pandemic?

RAJ IYER

ST. LOUIS, MO: Bal Vihar in St Louis,MO, with its staff and students havebeen active even during the currentCovid 19 turmoil with their commit-ment through online learning and yogasessions.

Its serviceteam came up with a won-derful idea to honor its heroes -inHealthcare, who work behind the scenetirelessly since the beginning of theyear to make sure the pandemic is asbest contained as possible.

Bal Vihar Students and Parents de-cided to bring smileson St. Louis, MO

based healthcare workers' faces. Withthe first round efforts generating a lotof interest and much appreciation thatit prompted doing another round thefollowing week. In total, Balvihar fami-lies collective baked over 350 cookies,12 loaves of bread, 145 muffins, 138brownies and about 126 miscellaneoustreats as a "Thank You " to the HealthCare Heroes of SSM DePaul, SSM - St,Joseph's at St. Charles, SSM St. Joseph'sat Wentzville, SLU ICU, St. Luke's andMercy Hospital ICU wards in St. Louis,MO area.

Bal Vihar is truly proud of thehealthcare workers of the community.

A video of our efforts and gesture iscaptured at the following link as best aswe could in these times:

https://www.wevideo.com/view/1681639015

Center for Indian Cultural Education -Bal Vihar of St. Louis, a non-profit organi-zation, since its inception in 1992 hasbeen serving the Metro St. Louis Indiancommunity. The primary focus of this

Security staff at SSM Hospital served with Food

Bal Vihar serves food to St Lukes Hospital in St Louis

Survey on Asian Indian nurses by NAINAANIL MATTATHIKUNNEL

CHICAGO: The National Association ofIndian Nurses of America - NAINA, hasembarked on a historic mission to getthe complete demographic data ofnurses of Indian origin in USA.

Currently the Indian Nurses aregrouped in the Asian nursing popula-tion in the USA have lost their own iden-tity in the official nursing databases andnumbers. The primary reason for thiswas due to the lack of any official de-mographics ever collected and pre-sented to any government entity. Forthis reason, NAINA has taken the boldinitiative to collect the data nationally.

Indian nurses have been providingexceptional patient care for more thanfive decades in the United States. Weoccasionally hear success stories of in-dividual nurses. However, we have notbeen able to value the accomplish-

ments of Indian nurses as a group. Upuntil now there are no reliable sourcesof data on the total number of Asian In-dian nurses or any demographics onthis group of nurses. As a result, our con-tribution to US healthcare especially inthe context of a healthcare crisis suchas the current pandemic goes unno-ticed.

In an effort to systematically obtaindemographic information on all nursesof Indian heritage and culture, the Na-tional Association of Indian Nurses ofAmerica (NAINA) a professional nationalorganization for Asian Indian nurses inthe United States, is preparing to con-duct a survey of all licensed Indiannurses (working and retired) living inthe United States.

Cont’d on page 21

organization is to provide Indian cul-tural education to students age 5-18, itsapplication and integration with the

global multicultural and multifacetedsociety. For more details about ourschool visitwww.Balvihar-stlouis.com


The purpose of this survey isto gather general informationabout Indian nurses in the US.The survey is not intended tosolicit membership in NAINAand participation in the surveyis entirely voluntary. The re-sponses to the survey ques-tions will be confidential andwill not be linked personally toany participant.

The Indian community hasbeen highly supportive of thenurses and we believe every-one will help to make this cam-paign a success by disseminat-ing the information about the

survey and motivating practic-ing and retired LPNs, RNs, andAPRNs to join this campaignand get counted.

The survey is open now. Thisbrief survey can be completedin less than five minutes andcan be accessed at: http://nainausa.com/index.php/na-tional-survey-of-asian-indian-nurses/. Alternately, you cantake the survey atwww.nainausa.com or by call-ing toll free at 1-888-61-NAINA

(1-888-616-2462). For additional information,

please contact us at 1-888-61-NAINA or email [email protected]

Survey on Asian Indiannurses by NAINA

Cont’d from page 20

OP-ASHA helping thwart Covid 19 outbreaksSANDEEP AHUJA

CHICAGO: While the entireworld is overwhelmed by theterrible impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Indian PrimeMinister was quick to mandatea lockdown for the entirecountry. This has saved a hugenumber of lives.

Operation ASHA has beenquick to adapt to the new re-ality. First, it provided masksand sanitizers to its entirestaff, then replaced activecase finding with rigoroustelephonic advice and col-laboration with diagnosticlabs. This helped arrest themassive decline that was ex-pected in enrolment of newpatients.

In keeping with theGovernment's directive, su-pervised doses have beentemporarily discontinued.However, a strict and rigorousregimen of daily phone callsby workers, quality auditorsand expert counselors is en-suring continuous treatment.None of our patients havestopped taking medication.This has kept drug resistant TBat bay.

Undoubtedly, the lockdownhas led to loss of wages formany of OP-ASHA patients ortheir family members. Fortu-nately, disaster managementagencies were quick to takeup the challenge. This ispraiseworthy, though some

gaps remained. For example,patients ran out of money forsoap, a critical need to pre-vent COVID-19. There was nomoney for phone top-ups, sofamilies could not remain incontact. This exacerbated thepsychological impact of thelockdown.

Operation ASHA was ableto meet these challenges suc-cessfully, for nearly 12,600families. This includes nearly2,200 families of TB patients,400 families of MDR-TB pa-tients spread over 5 cities and10,000 disadvantaged mi-grant families. The counselorscall patients regularly to pro-vide psychological support.Every family that was needyout of the 12,600 families hasbeen provided funds forbreakfast, rent, soap andphone top-ups. The amountsgiven are tiny, but life-chang-ing. It also prevented migra-tion of these families and pa-tients to villages. Followingshort video explains the im-pact fully.

This has prevented manydropouts and generation ofdrug resistance among pa-tients both in the short andlong term. Support for this ini-tiative was provided by a newdonor, Soondra Foundationbased out of Chicago. It is ledby Dr. Gayatri Mathur, whostarted her career in Mumbai,

then moved to Sydney andChicago. The Soondra Founda-

tion (www.soondra.org) hasbeen incubated at The Univer-

sity of Chicago's Polsky Ex-change.

These challenges may onlygrow, going forward. For ex-ample, migrant laborers are re-turning to their States. This islikely to include TB patients. It isimportant to be vigilant andensure no one suffers. There is aneed to send medicines by cou-rier, pay for tests in private labs,apart from rigorous telephonicfollow up, so no one drops outof treatment. In short, OP- ASHAwill stand by the patients, fami-lies and communities and con-tinue its rigorous work in thesetrying times.

OP-ASHA Relief measure


Enthusiastic meet of HindiClub of Illinois Online

VIJAY CHOPRA

CHICAGO: Using the now popular virtual meetingtool Zoom, Hindi Club of Illinois held its first onlinemeeting on Saturday, May 16, 2020 with a good mea-sure of success, judging from, the attendance, the en-thusiastic and active discussion during the meeting

It was very clear the members had been eager toget past COVID quarantine and somehow get to-gether and move the club's activities forward. TheClub President and Founder, Gurbachan KaurShewakramani, opened the meeting with welcomeremarks and introduced newly appointed club Secre-tary, Vijay Chopra.

Among the other pertinent club activities planswere discussed to start an online forum to invite clubmembers and others to participate in a bi-weeklyevent named 'Pratibha Manch'. It will showcase Hindilanguage and related cultural skills of participants inspeaking, storytelling, singing, poetry recitals or talk-ing about important topical issues in Hindi. PratibhaManch will be open to both children and adults.Please visit our Facebook page at Hindi Club of Illinoisor call 847 962 8595 for participation and more de-tails.

A partial list of the Core Members Group who at-tended the Zoom meeting is: Gurbachan KaurShewakramani, Vijay Chopra, ArunaRaval, ShailenderGarg, Rakesh Malhotra, Anup &Abha Mehta, PuneetChhiber, Mayan Malik, Onkar Singh Sangha, Brij &Shobha Bharattey, Sanjana Das.

The Zoom meet of the Hindi Club members

ICN provides free meals to elderlyand needy during Ramadan

ASHFAQ SYED

CHICAGO: The Islamic Center of Naperville (ICN) haslaunched an "iDrive Program" which organizes thepickup and delivery of freshly cooked meals from lo-cal vendors. The iDrive Program was initiated duringthe COVID-19 pandemic to serve the elderly andneedy throughout the month of Ramadan. The ven-dors who provide iftaarmeals (evening meal to breakfast) include Haveli (Naperville), Mr. Broast (Aurora),Pita Inn (Naperville), and Porto's Peri Peri (Aurora).

Every day, ICN provides different menu options tothe community members and their families. Meals areprovided to the elderly and needy free of charge, andthe cost of the meals is covered by generous dona-tions from the community.

Individuals who register online for the programcome to theICN Ogden Mosque (2844 W Ogden Ave,Naperville) to pick up their meals between 6and 7PM.

Volunteers from the ICN Youth Program help pick upthe meals from vendors, distribute them at the drive-thru, and deliver them to those who are unable tocome.

The volunteers have been practicing proper sociald i s t a n c i n gg u i d e l i n e sand using ap-propriate PPE

at each step of the program. To date, ICNhas providedover 3,500 meals to the community with one week ofRamadan remaining.

The iDrive Program has been a rewarding experi-ence for everyone involved. The most gratifying mo-ment is seeing a smile on someone's face, as they arecomforted to know that the ICN Community is herefor them!

ICN Help Corona victims ICN Prepared food package

Mantras chanted remotely to open 7 UtahCity Councils & a County Commission

MADHU PATEL

CHICAGO:Remotely chanted Hindu prayers willopen the meetings of seven city councils and onecounty commission in Utah during the next twoweeks, containing verses from world's oldest extantscripture.

These invocations via Zoom or web-conferencingor other electronic method will start the day of city/town councils of Orem, Brigham City, South Ogden,West Haven, West Point, Ivins, Mantua and county com-mission of Box Elder.

Rajan Zed,President of Universal Society of Hindu-ism will chant the invocations from ancient Sanskritscriptures before these city councils and county com-mission. After the Sanskrit delivery, he then will readthe English interpretation of the prayers. Sanskrit isconsidered a sacred language in Hinduism and rootlanguage of Indo-European languages.

He will recite from Rig-Veda, the oldest scriptureof the world still in common use; besides lines fromUpanishads and Bhagavad-Gita (Song of the Lord),both ancient Hindu scriptures. He plans to start andend each prayer with "Om", the mystical syllable con-

taining the universe, which in Hinduism is used to in-troduce and conclude religious work.

Reciting from Brahadaranyakopanishad, Zed plansto say "Asato ma sad gamaya, Tamaso majyotirgamaya, Mrtyormamrtamgamaya"; which he willthen interpret as "Lead us from the unreal to the real,Lead us from darkness to light, and Lead us fromdeath to immortality." Reciting from Bhagavad-Gita,he proposes to urge councilmembers and county

commissioners and others present to keep the wel-fare of others always in mind.

Rajan Zed had opened Utah State Senate, Utah

House of Representatives; county commission meet-ings of Juab, Salt Lake, Utah, Wasatch, Washington, We-ber counties; city council meetings of Alpine, Bluffdale,Centerville, Charleston, Draper, Heber City, Herriman,Layton, Oakley, Payson, Perry, Provo, Salem, Sandy, St.

George, South Jordan, Syracuse,Taylorsville, Vineyard, West Bountiful, WestValley, Willard, Woods Cross-all in Utah; withHindu invocations in the past.

Hinduism, oldest and third largest reli-gion of the world, has about 1.1 billion ad-herents and moksh (liberation) is its ulti-mate goal. There are about three millionHindus in USA.

Utah is the world headquarters of TheChurch of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which hasover 16.5 million members and 30,940 congregationsworldwide.

He will recite from Rig-Veda, the oldest scrip-

ture of the world still in common use; besides

lines from Upanishads and Bhagavad-Gita (Song

of the Lord), both ancient Hindu scriptures


Under the 'Vande Bharat Mission' batchof Indian Nationals fly back

This appeal seems to be well re-ceived for the first flight on May11,2020 from O'Hare international air-port. The Indian government is planninga second phase of flights to accommo-date the ones who could not be in-cluded in first phase and would be ableto cover more people. The selection ofpassengers for flights has been donethrough a process of electronic randomselection, taking into account the com-pelling cases facing medical emergen-cies or need to return due bereavementin the family, students, pregnantwomen, elderly or those facing expiryof visas, students, etc.

The Chicago as well as all Indian Con-sulates in USA are working hard to takecare of each and every request theyhave received. Selected passengershave been contacted via e-mail andphone and getting briefed about theformalities and modalities of process-ing tickets, health protocol at the timeof arrival and departure.

Per official advisory by Govern-ment, all passengers will be requiredto under go medical screening beforeboarding the flight and only asymp-tomatic passengers will be allowed totravel.


Air India Crew members

All passengers on arrival in Indiawill be medically screened and wouldhave to download and register onArogya Setu app. Also they will needto under go a 14-day mandatory quar-antine on arrival in India in institu-tional quarantine facilities on pay-ment basis as per the protocolsframed by Government of India.COVID test would be done after 14days and further action would betaken according to applicable healthprotocols.

For the first flight from O'Hare Chi-

cago, Indian Consul General AmitKumar, Consul Ranjit Singh and theirteam, Malini Vaidyanathan, ManagerMidwest, Air India Ltd. and Air India'sdedicated team, all looked after thearrangements for passengers travel-ing to India. Community leader, MPA(Midwest Punjabi Association, Chi-cago) Gurmeet Singh Dhalwan and FIAteam members were among few to wit-ness this historical activity. AdbhhutMedia was there to cover this missionby special invitation from ConsulateGeneral of India Chicago.

Avoiding Coronavirus ScamsVIDYA SETHURAMANIndia Post News Service

A Special Bilingual Briefing wasorganized by Ethnic Media ser-vices on May 15 with the Federal

Trade Commission on CoronavirusScams, How to Avoid Them, Resourcesfor Dealing with the Pandemic's Finan-cial Impact.

Monica Vaca, Associate Director, Divi-sion of Consumer Response and Opera-tions, Bureau of Consumer Protection,FTC and Rosario Mendez, Attorney, Divi-sion of Consumer and Business Educa-tion, Bureau of Consumer Protection,FTC shared information on Coronavirusscams they're seeing, advice on how toavoid them, and resources for gettingthrough the pandemic's financial im-pact. The FTC also spoke about com-plaints they're getting related to theCoronavirus, such as shopping online,identity theft, and other consumerproblems. The FTC said people lost themost money to Travel Fraud, OnlineShopping, Text Messages, Diet Productsand Internet Information Services.

As the country continues to berocked by the coronavirus pandemic,the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ismaking sure that vulnerable Americansavoid the numerous COVID-19-relatedscams that are making their waythrough various communities. FTC hasgotten 45,623 reports related toCOVID-19, and people reported losing$33.84 million dollars to fraud. "Whatwe're seeing at the FTC is what's true,always: scammers follow headlines, andwhat's in the headline right now isCOVID-19 all the time and scammersare following that," Vaca said during theZoom press conference. Right now wesee a surge on scams related to miraclecure, stimulus check, medicare aid.

In relation to the $1,200 stimuluscheck that most American taxpayersshould have either received or will bereceiving, Vaca warns of fraudsters mas-querading as government officials whomay try to reach out to recipients andask for personal information. They may

reach out via email and texts, which mayinclude links to malware sites. Clickingon any links provided in these fraudu-lent emails or texts may install malwareonto your device.

The scams also involve snake oilsalesmen marketing supposed miraclecures, vaccines and home test kits that

are targeting those most vulnerable tothe pathogen as well as those on Medi-care, Vaca shared.

Currently, there is no known cure orvaccine for the COVID-19 virus and testsare only administered at mandatedtesting sites, so the FTC is warning con-

sumers about any wellness or nutritionbrand that is marketing any so-calledcures, which the FTC said have "no solidscientific backing." The FTC has beencombatting these scammers throughlaw enforcement and filing complaintsto companies.

Vaca emphasized public reporting of

these scammers and encouraged thepublic to question the credibility ofoutlandish claims like miracle cures orunexpected messages claiming to re-ward relief checks.

Avoid Coronavirus Scams

• Don't respond to texts, emails orcalls about checks from the govern-ment.

• Ignore online offers for vaccina-tions. There are no products proven totreat or prevent COVID-19 at this time.

• Be wary of ads for test kits. The FDArecently announced approval for onehome test kit, which requires a doctor'sorder. But most test kits being adver-tised have not been approved by theFDA, and aren't necessarily accurate.

• Hang up on robocalls. Scammersare using illegal robocalls to pitch ev-erything from low-priced health insur-ance to work-at-home schemes.

• Watch for emails claiming to befrom the CDC or WHO. Use sites likecoronavirus.gov and usa.gov/coronavirus to get the latest informa-tion. And don't click on links fromsources you don't know.

• Do your homework when it comesto donations. Never donate in cash, bygift card, or by wiring money.

FTC has gotten 45,623 reports related to

COVID-19, and people reported losing $33.84 million

dollars to fraud. "What we're seeing at the FTC is what's

true, always: scammers follow headlines, and what's in

the headline right now is COVID-19


Asian Americans' #makenoisetodaySocial Movement

New thought leader-driven social media campaign changesthe narrative around Asian Americans


LONG BEACH, CA: #MakeNoiseToday launches a so-cial movement encouraging Asians to stand up, standout, and speak up. The COVID-19 crisis has propa-gated a surge in racism and attacks toward AsianAmericans and now is the time to organize and standtogether.

This May, multicultural communications agencyIntertrend is tapping its in-house nonprofit CreativeClass Collective to honor Asian Pacific American Heri-tage Month by kicking off #MakeNoiseToday to com-bat racism and hate through the power of authenticstorytelling and social good. With a partnership withGood Morning of Portland, the organizations havecollaborated on this historic social media campaign

to elevate the celebration of Asian stories and ac-complishments meant to create empathy, educate,and unify.

The stories shared by Asian Americans from allwalks of life through #MakeNoiseToday are anythingbut one-dimensional. Each story builds an economyof narrative plenitude and informs the public at largeon the rich texture of Asian American history, cultureand identity.

"When Asian Americans take our individual or col-lective stories out of the silo, we strengthen the dis-course that is so needed at this moment to fight backagainst the rise of xenophobia and racial attacksagainst Asians," said Julia Huang, President of Cre-ative Class Collective and Intertrend Communica-tions. "Making Noise Today is just one way of encour-aging Asians to speak up and be heard."

#MakeNoiseToday kicks off with the 'Recipe forChange' social media campaign, including videos,posts, and live sessions with familiar faces such as JeffStaple, Aerica Shimizu Banks, Hudson Yang, AJ Rafael,

and dozens more. This campaign aims to defy typicalstereotypes while highlighting the impact AsianAmericans have made today and throughout history.

Creative Class Collective, Good Morning andIntertrend are encouraging anyone who would liketo show support for #MakeNoiseToday to join themovement by creating a post and tagging it withthe #MakeNoiseToday hashtag and or follow alongon Instagram.

To learn more visit #MakeNoiseToday onInstagram: @makenoisetoday

Or visit makenoisetoday.org for more information.About Creative Class CollectiveCreative Class Collective is a nonprofit 501 (c) (3)

that facilitates, supports and encourages new andinnovative ideas inthe realm of arts, mu-sic, education, andother creative outletswith the goal to aid inelevating communityplanning and eco-nomic viability. Theirgoal is to establish acreative movement

with a positive civic impact and strengthen culturalequity by focusing on communities in need.

About Good MorningGood Morning is a minority-owned communica-

tions strategy consultancy. We focus on taking cre-ativity into culture with precision by studying howpeople behave and reflecting that into how brandsshould behave. We strive to launch and sustainworld-class brands by cutting through today's com-plex media and cultural landscape.

About Intertrend CommunicationsIntertrend is a multicultural agency that under-

stands the intersection of cultures, emerging trends,and the interaction between brands and consumers.Based in Long Beach, CA and Plano, TX, the agencyhas worked with leading brands and also houses afamily of entrepreneurial brand units that build toits core expertise across digital, content and experi-ential. Interpreters and interrupters, interdiscipli-nary and international, Intertrend is where cultureand content meet.

"When Asian Americans take our individual or collective

stories out of the silo, we strengthen the discourse that

is so needed at this moment to fight back against the

rise of xenophobia and racial attacks against Asians

U.S. Bank demonstrates commitmentto Diversity, Equity and Inclusion


MINNEAPOLIS, MN: As we weather the COVID-19pandemic together, U.S. Bank is here to help. We havedeveloped a single site full of online resources wherecustomers can go to find helpful information regard-ing their financial needs. Through this online resourceand other partnerships, U.S. Bank aims to providesimple, clear information to help individuals and smallbusinesses get through the pandemic and tangiblefinancial assistance to support our communities.

"Our entire team has rallied around each other, ourcustomers and our communities, and it is a tremen-dous honor to work with them as we fight this pan-

demic," said U.S. Bancorp Chairman, President andCEO Andy Cecere in a statement on the company'swebsite. "We stand together, and we are focused onkeeping people healthy and safe - personally, profes-sionally and financially."

Here to help with your financial needsAt usbank.com/covid-19, customers will find help-

ful links to manage their finances, as well as informa-tion about the financial programs created under theCoronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES)Act to help individuals and small businesses - includ-ing Economic Impact Payments (EIPs), mortgage as-sistance, new rules for IRAs and retirement accounts,and the SBA Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

Commitment to diversity, equity and inclusionAs the global coronavirus pandemic upends all as-

pects of our lives, U.S. Bank is uniting with other cor-porations and longstanding partner organizations thatare representing members of underserved and mi-nority communities to advocate for inclusion amongPan-Asians and other cultural segments.

U.S. Bank joined Ascend, Catalyst, Executive Lead-ership Council (ELC), Hispanic Association on Corpo-rate Responsibility (HACR), National Organization onDisability (NOD) and Out & Equal as a Supporting Com-pany on a COVID-19 response Action Agenda.Theseorganizations are leading champions, connectors andconveners for business leaders and professionals whoare Pan-Asians, Blacks, Hispanics, women, LGBTQ andpersons with disabilities.

These organizations are committed to redoublingon their mission to promote inclusion in these unprec-edented times by addressing the adverse impacts ofthe COVID-19 outbreak. Many of the low wage earn-

ers in our communities are particularly impacted dur-ing this public health and economic crisis, while healthofficials indicate the pandemic has claimed dispro-portionate numbers of Black and Hispanic lives.

"We're proud to stand with our peers and theseleading organizations to help maintain a sense of com-munity and support at a time when we need to stayphysically apart," said Greg Cunningham, U.S. BankChief Diversity Officer.

U.S. Bank commits nearly $60 million to employeesand communities for COVID-19 relief and recovery ef-forts. U.S. Bank committed nearly $60 million to em-ployees and communities for COVID-19 relief and re-covery efforts. It started with a new Pay Premium Pro-gram for front-line employees and a$30 million invest-ment in communities.

U.S. Bank transforms and expedites community in-vestments in response to immediate COVID-19 needs

U.S. Bank has expedited its annual $1 million MarketImpact Fund grant program in April to provide fundingfor 30 local nonprofits that are working to respond tothe most pressing needs in their communities.

From Los Angeles to Chicago, the grants are beingused by nonprofits to support small businesses, main-tain safe housing and ensure accessibility to criticalhuman services by the communities' most economi-cally vulnerable populations. The company is deploy-ing these funds three months earlier than originallyscheduled to ensure immediate relief.



California's MENA populations& the 2020 Census

Indian stock marketwhere it is heading

NITA RAJESH DHRUVA

As India is heading towards opening of the lockdown and economic and financial activities are

starting to crawl back up, we would liketo share few facts and also our views onpresent and future scenarios of theeconomy and stock market. The PrimeMinister of India has given a slogan topeople of India during Covid-19 situa-tion: "Jaan Hai To Jahan Hai". How true ithas proven that on one side India is con-trolling the spread of virus and on theother taking all the steps to boost theeconomy and extend a red carpet forforeign investments.

The Government has already an-nounced a Rs. 1.7 Lakh crore economystimulus package.

In a big push to revive economy thePrime Minister announced on 12th ofMay a Rs. 20 Lakh crore stimulus pack-age equivalent to about 10 percent ofGDP (It is the 2nd highest percentage ofGDP package by some G-20 nation's sofar), pushing economy on self-reliance &big-ticket economic reforms.

It is also focusing on attracting ForeignDirect Investments in various sectors inIndia and the major avenues where theGovernment of India is working to en-able this are:

1. Availability of Land: A total area of461589 hectares of land identified forsetting up Industries. US, Japan, SouthKorea, China and others have shown

great interest in investments.2. Availability of Power: Permits have

recently been given out for commercialcoal mining to domestic as well as for-eign investors.

3. Ease out of Transportation: In-creasing efficiency of ports is on the pri-ority list of the Government to maxi-mize exports.

4. Labor force: Affordable skilled la-bor & also readiness of Government tomake changes in labor laws to makehassle free manufacturing process.

This four-fold exercise will definitelygive a positive result to boost economy.

Falling Oil prices have given India theopportunity to fill up all its reservoirs &it has helped with fiscal deficits as well.Important fact to be noted here is thatresearch shows minimum impact onGDP growth on Indian economy com-pared to all other leading countries likeChina, US, Japan, Germany etc. due to

the Covid 19 pandemicIndia has the ability to lead in a digi-

tal world with an unparalleled entre-preneurial base and the third largeststartup ecosystem in the world.

In this difficult time investment ofRs.43574 crores by FACEBOOK with RE-LIANCE & Right Issue of Rs.53125 croresbrought by Reliance and it's plans toraise Rs.11300 crores by overseas loans;and also APPLE thinking of shiftingnearly a fifth of its production capacityfrom China to India, are few examplesof strength of Indian economy and aglimpse of the foreign investment op-portunities that are on the rise in India.

We are all aware that ECONOMY andSTOCK MARKET always go hand in handfor any country. Let's share some viewson that:

If we go back to past, after the finan-cial crisis of 2008 and later crisis of 2013the stock market has revived very fast.No doubt in present crisis it will takesome more time and the market will bemore volatile but it is very important toremember: when markets are low, re-turns are negative, but when marketsare up returns are very impressive. Inshort term they will be driven by flowsbut in LONG TERM fundamentals willprevail & will definitely reward inves-tors.

At present very high quality stockshave fallen such that valuations have be-

come reason-able and at-tractive. In ad-dition, Indiahas a lot ofpent-up de-

mand from consumers across all indus-tries. The fall of the market and reopen-ing of the economy has given good op-portunity to START and ADD to your in-vestments. The Price/Earning Ratio lev-els of many fundamentally strong com-panies have become very attractive andsome have even gone down to 2008 lev-els presenting a strong case of gradedinvestments.

Taking a glimpse of trend of IndianStock Indices:

BSE NSE5th March 2020 38470 112695th April 2020 27590 80835th May 2020 31453 9205

NITA RAJESH DHRUVA?Chief Execu-tive email: [email protected];[email protected]

India has the ability to lead in a digital worldwith an unparalleled entrepreneurial base and

the third largest startup ecosystem in the world


VIDYA SETHURAMANIndia Post News Service

Ethnic Media Services had orga-nized a press conference call on May13 to discuss California's MENAPopulations & the 2020 Census Politi-cal representation and self-identifi-cation. In 2018 the Census Bureaudecided not to include MENA(Middle East North Africa (MENA) re-gion) as a category in the 2020 cen-sus, despite years of advocacy byMiddle Eastern and North Africangroups.

California MENA community lead-ers and representatives shared advo-cacy efforts being made to mobilizearound the issue and offer politicaleducation within MENA communi-ties. The speakers urged their com-munities to fill out the census and listtheir countries and ethnicities. As ofthis week, the Golden State has a60.2% response rate, which isslightly better than the national av-erage - but well short of California's68.2% response rate in 2010. Withoutcourse correction, the 2020 censuscould yield one of the lowest returnsin recent memory.

Emilio Vaca is the Regional Pro-gram Manager - Central CaliforniaLead for the California CompleteCount - Census 2020, based in Sacra-mento. California has allocated$187.2 million for the 2020 census,including more than $106 million oncommunity outreach targeting 11million hard-to-count residents. Hesaid the state is focusing on the edu-cation on importance of Census andshifting toward virtual phone banks,webinars and events where they cancontinue to give our state's hard-to-reach communities the informationand the support they need to partici-pate in the census with confidence.We work with over 120 partners andcommunity organizations and geteveryone counted and reducing therisk of an undercount could cost acongressional seat and billions infederal funding.

Loubna Qutami is a postdoctoralfellow at the Department of EthnicStudies at the University of California,Berkeley. She spoke on the historicalrelationship between race, ethnicity,and the census omitting the "MiddleEast and North Africa" category fromthe upcoming census in 2020. Theyear 1790 marks the first US census.It is also the year when the Natural-ization Act was put in place, allowing

citizenship only to "a free white per-son". "Anyone who has a faint famil-iarity with the history of US racialpolitics, knows that the history of thiscountry was built on inequity, on ra-cial segregation, racial oppression,and the denial of full citizenship andrights to many different racialgroups," said Dr. Qutami. Participat-ing in the Census 2020 by MENAcommunities by writing in their na-tionality will make an impact on ourvoice heard, said Dr.Qutami.

Kathay Feng, National Redistrict-ing Director, Common Cause ex-plained how an accurate censuscount leads to more equitable repre-sentation through redistricting. It isthe process of drawing new congres-sional and state legislative districtboundaries. Upon completion of the2020 census, California will draft andenact new district maps.

California's 53 United States rep-resentatives and 120 state legisla-tors are all elected from political di-visions called districts. District linesare redrawn every 10 years followingcompletion of the United States cen-sus. Redistricting affects whetherminorities have a say in the outcomeof elections. Getting an accuratepopulation count in the 2020 Censusis vital for legislative redistricting, aswell as for the region receiving its fairshare of federal money for schools,transportation, transit and highways,said Feng.

Basim Elkarra, CAIR, Sacramento,said he and his group's partners aredoing their best to remind peoplethat they have a right to stand upand be counted. "Many don't knowabout the census, they didn't have acensus in their previous countriesand many have a distrust of the fed-eral government," Elkarra said.

Adoubou Traore, African AdvocacyNetwork, Chakib Ayadi, TunisianAmerican Foundation, DilkhwazAhmed, License to Freedom,Homayra Yusufi, PANA, Nahla Kayali,Access California were part of thediscussion and urged their commu-nities to participate in Census 2020and make a bigger difference for thefuture.

Sandy Close, EMS's founder con-cluded that the purpose of the pressconference and collaboration of or-ganizations involved was to "expandour lens of who we are today andwho we are becoming-and after all,this is the goal of the 2020 census."

India Post May 22, 2020www.indiapost.comHoroscope26

Kindly read the predictions from your ascendant sign. If you do not know your ascendant sign then read thesame from Moon sign. If Moon sign is also not known then read it from the Zodiac sign. The ascendant sign which is

calculated from the birth details viz. date, month, year, time & place of birth gives 85 % accurate predictions. Theaccuracy of predictions from Moon sign get limited to only 50 %. The predictions from Zodiac sign are only 25 %

accurate. In nutshell the predictions from ascendant sign are most accurate. In getting personality analysis the traitsgiven by ascendant sign are 100 % accurate and that is the essence of Vedic Astrology.

Your Weekly Futureby VANEET SHARMA

MAR 21 to APRIL 20 JUN 21 to JULY 22 SEP 23 to OCT 22 DEC 22 to JAN 19

MAY 21 to JUN 20 AUG 23 to SEP 22 NOV 23 to DEC 21 FEB 20 to MAR 20

APRIL 21 to MAY 20 JULY 23 to AUG 22 OCT 23 to NOV 22 JAN 20 to FEB 19

MAY 22ND to MAY 28TH 2020

“Felicitated andhonored by then

President of India ShriPranab Mukherjee"

VANEETSHARMA

510-648-4899

As per planetarytransit, this

shall be one of thebest weeks for yourprofessional life. The

beginning of the week shall be goodto earn sudden financial gains butyou cannot expect restoration ofpeace fully as some uncertainties arevisible on your domestic front. In themid of the week your spouse's sup-port to you shall take a bigger form.You can participate in some adven-turous activity.

The first half of theweek indi-

cates lot of frustration,d i s a p p o i n t m e n t s ,drainage of energies

and decrease in confidence however youshall be paying due attention to spiritualactivities in spite of less energies. Dropthe idea of partnership venture and takepositive steps to improve your state ofmind in the second half of the week. Lovelife shall be too good. The last two daysof the week are best for accomplishingall tasks.

The planetary tran-sit indicates

good time for educa-tion, children, love lifeand gains in the be-

ginning of the week. You shall be suc-cessful in competitions. Whole week isgood for work area. You can start any newtask on these days. Financial tensionswon't remain now. Last two days of theweek indicate tensions and healthtroubles. Avoid taking important deci-sions on these days. Support of spouseis available.

You would be ableto spend qual-

ity time with family,friends and relatives.Your brightness and

success is shining at work place. You shallbe getting happiness from children.Speculative activities shall bring in gains.You might take interest in competition.You shall obtain excellent results in allareas like administrative activities, res-toration of mental peace, reputation,immunity and happiness. Health shallimprove.

Energy level shallbe high in this

week however, after25th this shall be awonderful week for

you as your work and education shall getupgraded. Your happiness shall increasewith the excellent performance of yourchildren in spite of their being careless.There shall be tremendous excitementin your love life. Speculative activitiesshall also prove fruitful. This week shallnot be good for partnership venture,work area and your association.

In this week yourpositive ener-

gies might increase.Your inflow of moneyshall increase and

you are going to spend quality timewith your family members, friends andrelatives in this week. Instead of mak-ing investment, it shall be better tofocus on planning and developingconnections with political people. Youwill be getting tremendous supportof family along with an improvementin your destiny.

This week is notgood for you.

You might get into anew relationship. Butthat relat ionship

might not be very good for you andprobably won't work. After the midof the week there shall be some re-lief and you shall be earning betterfavor of destiny. Overall this shall bebelow average week for everything.The beauty of this week shall be rec-ognition to your ability of organizingcapacity.

You shall be gettinggood results

in terms of harmonyamong family mem-bers but your own pa-

tience and tolerance level shall be go-ing down and in the beginning of theweek it shall be zero. Do meditation tofeel better and maintain balance. Spouseshall be helping and there won't remainany frustration as most of the high inten-sity energies shall get channelized. Lovelife shall be at its peak and you will bedoing better at work place.

Your confidenceshall be at its

maximum after initialtwo days of the weekbut don't spoil your re-

lation with your bosses and seniors. Tryto stay in their good books. You can acti-vate some channel of hidden financialgains. You can think of purchase of someproperty in this week. There are indica-tions of your going on a journey too. Thelast two days of the week are excellentfor development of destiny and generalhappiness.

From the beginningof the week

you shall be enjoyingquality time with yourchildren, friends and

relatives. You shall gain stability at workplace. The family atmosphere shall befull of love, laughter, peace and happi-ness. Everybody would be impressedwith your achievements and status offamily. The support of family, especiallymother and other friends would helpyou to be on top from the beginning ofthe week.

This shall be a fulfilling week for

you but you shouldstay away from unnec-essary arguments. The

week is indicating increase in expenses.Family life might remain disturbed be-cause of arguments and the same en-ergy shall be carried by you in your so-cial life too therefore be cautious. On24th and 25th you would be concernedabout mother and these days shall begiven to home. Mid of the week is con-jugal bliss for children.

This shall be the best weeks of the year for

you. Your energy, enthu-siasm, courage, stamina,will power, confidence,

health, happiness and working efficiencyshall go on increasing. Your leadershipqualities shall win recognition and quickappreciation for you. You are likely toearn name and fame. This week is auspi-cious for business gains and domestichappiness. You might plan to start a newbusiness. You shall go on a short journeyin the weekend.

May 22, 2020 India Post 27www.indiapost.com

Philosophy

Available on AMAZON, FLIPKART

50 SPIRITUAL APPETIZERSVinod Dhawan

“It’s a lovely book. It feels en-

ergetically clear and light. It’s

easy to read, dip in and out and

most importantly it offers infor-

mation without fluff! Blessings

on this project.”Jac O’Keeffe

Spirituality teacher based inUSA.

SWAMI CHINMAYANANDA

When the mind fully attains thestate of a-bhavana and comes

to drop its perceptions of sense-ob-jects, at that stage in meditation,mind is really a "no-mind". Whenthoughts are rushing out in their madfury to hug objects of pleasure theyconstitute chittam, and to quieten thechittam is the sacred function of theYoga of Meditation.

Where these outgoing thoughts(chittam) are eliminated is known asthe "no-thought" (a-chitta) state, andthat condition of the mind (mana) isrecognized as "no-mind" (a-mana)state, highest in meditation.

Thoughts are gushing in to flood ourbosom and to make our mind an angrygush of self-ruinous compulsions,mainly from two sources. Thoughts

stem out from the past, draggingalong with them the memories of thegood and bad done in the days goneby. These confuse the individuals, withtheir regrets and sorrows, joys andpleasures from the stinking tombs ofthe past, forcing them to re-live thedead-past right in the fragrantpresent moments.

Often, we are flown upon the wingsof our mind's fancy and imagination, todreams, where we are made to shud-der at the future possibilities of fail-ures and tremble in hopes of successesand swoon in the expectation of totallosses or large profits.

The past really is made up of deadmoments and to unearth the buriedmoments is to live with the dead. Wedo so when we waste our energies inunproductive and wasteful regrets, forthings we had already committed. Themore we remember them, the moreare those very vasanas getting, alas,deeper and deeper fixed into our per-sonality structure.

When we are not engaging our-selves with the negative pre-occupa-tions of entertaining the regrets of thepast, we are wandering in the fairy-castles of our fancied future, peopledwith ugly fears, horrid dreams, unnerv-ing hopes, and perhaps thousands ofimpossible expectations.

In short, when our minds are notrattled by the perceptions-of-objects(chittam) let us not thereby concludethat we have quietened our thoughts.Often, it is not so. Mind, when it is notengaged in the worldly objects that areright in front of it, can choose its ownprivate fields of agitations, subjectivelyin itself, by dragging up the buriedcorpses of a diseased past, or it canbring up vivid or throbbing pictures ofa tragic hopelessness as the sure possi-bility of the immediate future! In eithercase the mind of the individual at medi-tation can get sadly disturbed.

Therefore, the rishis advise us: Mo-ment to moment engage the out-goingmind (chittam) to live in the present.Reject completely the past. Renouncetotally the future. Then in such a bosom,'agitated mind' (chittam) shall reach thestate of "mindlessness" (a-chittam). This

state of mind is called the "no-mind".This non-association with the rising

thought disturbances is achieved bytraining ourselves to remain as a "wit-ness" to the flood of happenings in our-selves. To be a mere "onlooker" of thelusty parade of thoughts in revelry is towithdraw from thoughts their ability tocontinue longer their inner carnival.

As a "witness" we remain in thepresent, without being conditioned bythe past associations or being enchantedaway by future expectations. This state,called the "neutral condition" of personal-ity, is that which will grow, in its sweep anddepth, to bring ultimately the experienceof the "thoughtless" condition.

Excerpted from chinmayasaaket.org.The 104th birth anniversary of SwamiChinmayananda, the founder of ChinmayaMission, was celebrated on May 8

Engage the out-goingmind to live in the present

Swami Chinmayananda

The past really is made up of dead

moments and to unearth the buried

moments is to live with the dead

Perspective

Disclaimer: Views expressed are personal to the author

Risk diversification strategy -opportunities within India

GOPAL KRISHNA AGRAWAL

The Prime Minister says 'India canemerge as the global nerve center

of complex modern multinational sup-ply chains in the post Covid-19 World.

Companies are looking for shiftingtheir production base from China. Theworld finds India as an attractive alter-native, but the government needs toaddress many challenges.

Protectionism, competition andlevel playing field have to be carefullybalanced. It is essential for India to buildon its own manufacturing facilities andmake it more competitive. People ex-pect the government to formulate anew National Manufacturing Policy forthis.

There are many bottlenecks thatneed to be removed; the cost of acquir-ing land and, legal and procedural de-lays is a big challenge. Similarly is thecase with reforms in the labor sector.The cost of doing business is quite high.Our global ranking on ease of compli-ances, particularly tax, both direct andindirect is low. We need to rationalizeexpense incurred on power and logis-tics also.

All these challenges have the poten-tial to be converted into opportunities,once the government embarks on theprocess of reforms and the industriesshifts their focus from demanding pro-tectionism to an ecosystem of levelplaying field.

Contribution of logistics share toGDP is about 13 to 14 per cent in India,whereas global benchmark is 9 to 10per cent. Industries have to bear heavycost on transportation of goods, rawmaterial and services. 65 per cent of ourtransportation is by roads, being morecostly in comparison to railways andwaterways. Globally, industry's depen-dence on road transport is 25 per cent.A National Logistics Policy is in thepipeline, seeking reduction in logisticsshare in GDP to 10 per cent by 2022.

India is moving from the regime ofhigh interest rate to lowering of inter-est rates. RBI is continuously reducingboth repo rate and reverse repo rate,but the transmission is not at the de-sired pace. Over the period the riskpremium in the financial institution hasbeen reduced due to advent of IBC,NCLT etc. but again the risk has in-creased. If it is left to the banks to bearthem, it will be unworkable. Neither,banks are willing to expose themselvesnor borrowers. Particularly small and

medium segment have weak balancesheets.

Labor being one of the most crucialfactors of production, has always beena contentious issue; the time is ripe fora balanced approach. Social and eco-nomic welfare of labor has been usu-ally equated with the number of lawsdealing with the subject. The net re-sult is that labor market is character-ized by extreme rigidities while over90 per cent of the labor force is out-side formal protection. Centre hasconsolidated labor laws into fourcodes and since labor is in a concur-rent list, some states have gone aheadand amended the labor laws in orderto revive and attract industries. Coor-dinated approach is advisable.

The cost of land in India is quitehigh. Thus for any Greenfield projectthe cost is a deterrent, especially if it'sa small project. State governmentsmust pool in its land holdings andmake land banks available. Local au-thorities for cluster development andspecial purpose vehicle with joint par-ticipation are the roadmap ahead.States have major role in solving thiscontentious issue.

Any laxity on contract enforcementand judicial intervention on adminis-trative decisions is a big deterrent forbusinesses. India's contract enforce-ment ranking remains low. The Com-mercial Courts Act of 2015 is welcome.Setting of commercial and districtlevel courts will expedite mercantiledispute resolution. Fast tracking, NewDelhi International Arbitration CentreAct in NCR will bring India to the glo-bal stage.

Reduction in compliances andtransparency are a big boost for easeof doing business (EODB). A stablepolicy regime has a positive attributefor attracting global players. Thus sta-bility and predictability in laws andpolicies is a value to be imbibed by theGovernment at all times. GST with itsonline registration, filing of returns,assessment and refund is helping butGST network (GSTN) remains a pain.Moving towards e-assessment andvirtual taxation regime will removeharassment in due course.

(The writer is the national spokes-person of the BJP on economic af-fairs). IANS


28 May 22, 2020India Postwww.indiapost.com

Classifieds

www.indiapost.com

NEWSon yourdesktop

29Edit Pagewww.indiapost.com

May 22, 2020 India Post

Disclaimer: Views expressed are personal to the author

Treading the right path

The recent announcement by Indian Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on the fiscal stimulus of Rs. 20-thousand

crore, to help revive the economy affected by coronavirus, isdefinitely in the right direction. This is what most pundits includ-ing India Post had been writing in its editorial for weeks. How-ever, several leading CEOs of the India Inc. are not satisfied, in-cluding CII and FICCI, the two premier industry associations.

There is no doubt the Indian government has realized it needs toreally shake-up the entire system in order to compete with the worldand there is no question that the timing cannot be better if it does.India can only benefit by shrugging off unnecessary bureaucratichurdles and age-old regulatory controls to open up a free market.Privatization of key industries will bring competition and it will ulti-mately bring benefit to consumers.

The Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has rightly pointed outthere will be safe guards against non-performance and penaltyclauses attached to industries for not delivering products/services asper norms, (e.g. power sector, etc.). The industry mainly desires reduc-tion in the tax burden and major amendments in archaic labor laws,which prevent them from competing with countries like China andrest of the world.

Trump on the other hand is pitching for American companies toshift back their manufacturing bases to US, rather than moving tocountries like India or Vietnam. He further threatened them with ad-ditional taxes if they fail to do so.

Global scenarios are changing fast and no country can afford toisolate itself from others. This one thing for sure Trump has yet tolearn. Considering the global situation today, with the common en-emy coronavirus spreading like wild fire, the interdependence of theentire world is clearly evident now as never before. The country thatcomes out with the vaccine first has to share with rest of the world,with disregard to being friend or foe. In a globalized world thestrength lies with sharing and raising basic human dignity and lift-ing populations out of poverty and hunger. Bill Gates too in his re-cent interview with a leading TV channel has stated the same. Apple,Microsoft, Boeing and Airbus won't have reached their heights if theywere isolated to one country.

The option is to make your product competitive in the globalmarket and be able to offer consumers an attractive price. Russia andChina were totally isolated for years. China realized it needed to getout and compete with the world and open up its economy. It hasfinally paid off, but if they still want to be part of the world they needto be more transparent in their dealings with other countries andrespect basic human rights. In today's global society you cannot haveaccess to a world market and not respect international laws.

America's strength lies in sharing its development with rest of theworld. Another advantage is being an immigrant-base country thatattracts the world's best brains, which supplies its universities andresearch institutions to move ahead. Thousands of students from allover the world come to US for higher education and many of themstay back, working for leading US industries and institutions. Of this,India's share has been one of the largest, only second to China. Soonafter World War-II several leading scientists had also emigrated fromEurope to the shores of US for a better life.

Its not a mystery why we have Albert Einstein, Tesla, Fermi, Bose,Molina, and Chandrasekhar, and in recent years Sergey Brin, co-founder Google, Elon Musk founder Tesla, and so many others whohave become game changers for US success in science, informationtechnology and aerospace.

Is India planning anoperation in POK?

JAI KUMAR VERMA

Ajit Doval, the NationalSecurity Advisor, visitedKashmir on May 9 to re-

view the overall security situa-tion. He chaired a high-levelmeeting, which continued formore than five hours and wasattended by the top brass ofthe security forces.

The meeting gave specialstress on the curbing of cross-border terrorist incursions andthe need for assets that can in-form about the infiltrators. TheNSA also emphasized the needto strengthen counter-insur-gency operation in Kashmir sothat terrorists can be elimi-nated. He appreciated the kill-ing of more than 76 terroristsin 2020, including ReyazNaikoo, a top commander ofHizbul Mujahedeen (HM) onMarch 6.

However, in the last month,about 22 security force per-sonnel were killed, includingan army colonel in differentfirefights in the valley. Accord-ing to intelligence reports, ISIassisted Jaish-e-Mohammed(JeM) is planning suicide at-tacks on security forces in thestate.

It was also discussed thatPakistan Air Force (PAF) hasenhanced its activities onIndia's western borders. Re-cently, Pakistan Prime MinisterImran Khan stated that India isplanning a false-flag operationagainst Pakistan. False-flag op-eration is a covert operationdesigned to deceive.

Here Imran Khan implies Indiamay plan an attack on itself andwill publicize the attack wasdone by Pakistan. It indicates thesinister motive of Pakistan thatafter carrying out some majorterrorist activity in India, it willallege that it was organized byIndian security forces.

Recently ISI has also cre-ated two more terrorist out-fits, including The ResistanceFront ( TRF) and JK Pir PanjalPeace Forum to increase ter-rorist activities in the valley.TRF is supported by Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). In March, security

officials arrested six TRF activ-ists and seized a large cacheof arms and ammunition, in-cluding hand grenades, AKrifles, pistols, detonators andfuses.

Meanwhile, the Modi gov-ernment asked televisionchannels to include Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK) -what Pakistan calls 'Azad Kash-mir' - and Gilgit-Baltistan ar-eas in national weather fore-casts. The move issignificant,as now everydayIndia media will profess thatPOK, Gilgit-Baltistan are partof India, and Pakistan has ille-gally captured these areas. In-dian TV channels will show themap of India, to include theseareas.

Indian Army Chief, GeneralManoj Mukund Naravane, alsosaid on January 11 2020, if thegovernment orders, IndianArmy can take the requisitesteps to seize POK. The parlia-mentary resolution of 1994clearly reiterates that wholeof POK is an "integral part ofIndia".

The Modi government ismethodically trying to resolvethe Kashmir issue, which is lin-gering since the partition ofthe Subcontinent in 1947. Firstof all, security forces are elimi-nating terrorists in Kashmirunder Operation All Out(OAO). The number of terror-ists, both local and foreigners,are considerably reduced, andthe average life of terrorists isreduced to a few months. Thenumber of terror incidentshas also been reduced andthere is full cooperation andcoordination between all thesecurity forces.

The defanging of Article370, abrogation of Article 35A,and splitting of the state ofJammu and Kashmir (J&K) intotwo union territories weresignificant moves.

Now the governmentshould make the conditionsconducive so that KashmiriPandits can return. Besides,the people who migrated

from Pakistan andare living asstateless people in J&K andelsewhere, should also be re-habilitated in the valley. Ifneed be land should be allot-ted on the India-Pakistan bor-der to ex-servicemen as wellas to retired personnel of cen-tral police organizations sothey can settle in those areas.

Once peace and tranquilityare established tourism willalso pick up and unemploy-ment will go down. Sincere ef-forts should be made to curbradicalization and effortsshould be made to de-radicalize the youth. Theimams of the mosques inKashmir who preach terrorismshould be given exemplarypunishment.

Once peace is restored at-tempts should be made toget back POK as well as Gilgit-Baltistan from Pakistan. Theresidents of POK are dissatis-fied with the federal govern-ment of Islamabad as therehas been little developmentin the region. The residents ofGilgit and Baltistan are ShiaMuslims and they do not feelsafe in a Sunni Muslim-domi-nated Pakistan. They are alsoagainst the China-PakistanEconomic Corridor (CPEC).

However, China whichclaims itself as 'all-weather'friend of Pakistan will not likeIndia occupying these areas asCPEC, a prime project of Chi-nese President Xi Jinping,passes through the area. Sec-ondly, it will weaken Pakistan,which is not in the interest ofChina, as Beijing is usingIslamabad as a strategic toolagainst India. Nevertheless, In-dia must make sincere effortsto reclaim the areas that havebeen an integral part of thecountry. NSA Doval and histeam are moving in the rightdirection.

The author is a New Delhi-based strategic analyst andmember of USI and IDSA. Hecan be contacted [email protected]) -South Asia Monitor

1 Dus Bahane 2.0: Baaghi 3

2 Muqabla: Street Dancer 3D

3 Illegal Weapon 2.0:Street Dancer 3D

4 Haan Mai Galat: Love Aaj Kal

5 Bhankas: Baaghi 3

6 Shayad: Love Aaj Kal

7 Mere Liye Tum Kaafi Ho:Shubh Mangal Zyaada Savdhan

8 Do You Love Me: Baaghi 3

9 Mehrama: Love Aaj Kal (2020)

10 Dheeme Dheeme: Pati Patni

Aur Who

May 22, 2020

TOPTOPTOPTOPTOP TENTENTENTENTENHINDI SONGS

www.indiapost.com30 India Post

Actress Athiya Shetty findswriting captions on

Instagram hard, and says they aretougher than exams.

"Why are Instagram captionsharder than exams," she wrotealong with a black and white pic-ture.

In the image, it seems thatAthiya is pondering over some-thing. She is seen wearing jeansand a tank top.

Her post cracked up her fansand followers.

"Okay I need a caption,please help hahaha,"wrote one, while an-other shared: "Be-cause you don't havechits to copy!!"

Recently, throughher mother ManaShetty's organization,Save The Children India,Athiya pitched in to helpwith the COVID-19 cri-sis, with the distribu-tion of dry ration, hy-giene kits and also di-rect bank transfers. IANS

Actress Evelyn Sharma is in Australia withher family and fiance Tushaan Bhindi amidthe lockdown, and says she has discovered

the quarantine period is the best time for her to ex-plore scriptwriting.

"The month has been rough since I made it just intime before the bor-ders closed to travelto Australia. I'm gladto be back with my fi-ance Tushaan and ourfamily. I have beenkeeping myself busy,as I am working fromhome, Evelyn told IANS.

The actress feels that this is the best time to keepbusy by engaging in different activities.

"I feel it is best to keep ourselves busy withactivities that make us happy. I have been ableto get back to gardening and have beengrowing my own vegetable garden. I alsodiscovered that this is the best time forme to dedicate myself toscriptwriting!" she added. IANS

I'M GLAD TO BE BACKWITH MY FIANCE TUSHAANAND OUR FAMILY. I HAVEBEEN KEEPING MYSELF BUSY,AS I AM WORKING FROM HOME

It's been a rollercoaster ride. I amsomebody who never dreamed

of being a part of this industry. I

thank Salman for giving me the op-

portunity. I never thought that I

could be a part of the film world

without him," Zareen told IANS.

She added: "I won't say that it's

been 10 years and I have figured it

all. Honestly, I am still learning. But,

today I am much better than what I

was when I just came."

Speaking of Zareen's upcoming

projects, she has a few films in her

kitty but shooting of all her

projects came to a halt owing to

the lockdown.

" Everything is uncertain now. I

don't know when things will re-

turn to normalcy. Seeing the

current situation, it seems it

will take time to resume --

especially in my industry

where most of the work is

team-based," Zareen said.

IANS

AIRWING TRAVELS INC.New York(Hicksville)

New Jersey(Iselin)Est. 1991

Tel: (516) 931 4600 Toll Free: (866) 532 3413 Tel: (732) 658 5450

Lowest Fares / Confirmed Seats to INDIA &Other Destinations Worldwide

Save upto 40% on First and Business ClassOPEN 7 DAYS - CCall or Email : [email protected]

India Post 31May 22, 2020www.indiapost.com

Realty Tidbits

India Post May 22, 2020www.indiapost.com

Real Estate32 Cont’d on page 25

Realtors laud CLSS extension, affordablerental housing for urban poor

NEW DELHI: Developers andrealty sector experts have ap-plauded the extension of thecredit linked subsidy scheme(CLSS) and the governmentsdecision to come up with af-fordable rental housing com-plexes for the migrant workersand urban poor.

Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman has announced theCredit Linked Subsidy Scheme(CLSS), for middle-incomegroups to buy affordable hous-ing units will be extended tillMarch 31, 2021. The schemewas last extended till March2020.

Further, the Centre willlaunch a scheme under thePradhan Mantri Awas Yojana formigrant labor and the urbanpoor to build affordable rentalhousing facilities for them.

Anshuman Magazine, Chair-man and CEO - India, South EastAsia, Middle East & Africa, CBREsaid: "The announcement on ru-ral infrastructure and affordablerental accommodations for ur-ban and migrant workers underPPP partnership will opennewer avenues for the construc-tion industry. For the middle-in-come group, the extension ofCredit Linked Subsidy Scheme isa positive step and will furtherstrengthen demand in the af-fordable housing segment."

According to the Presidentof National Real Estate Devel-opment Council (NAREDCO),Niranjan Hiranandani, therental-housing scheme underPMAY offers a business oppor-tunity to the private sector, tobuild more rental housingstock through the public pri-vate partnership (PPP) mode,with a concessionaire arrange-ment.

"The Finance Minister fo-cused on moves that will im-prove working conditions,making life easier and more

conducive for workers. Most ofthese were largely throughchanges in codes, rules andregulations; rather than directliquidity, monetary or fiscalhelp," he said.

On the extension of the

CLSS, Hiranandani said that itwill spur the potential demandof housing units resulting in acumulative demand for con-

struction services, buildingmaterials, finally translatinginto job creation.

Dhruv Agarwala, Group CEOof Housing.com said that theextension of CLSS by one yearwill prompt many of the fence

sitters to buy homes at the ear-liest and thereby increase de-mand for affordable housingwherein industry has maximum

unsold inventory across thecountry.

"This will also help sustainemployment as real estatesupports close to 200 allied in-dustries. The proposed afford-able rental housing under PPP

is a welcome step. This willhelp in effectively tackling anymigrant laborer issues in thefuture," Agarwala said. IANS

Builders hail extension of completiontimelines; now seek fiscal sops

Housing subsidyscheme extendedtill Mar 2021

NEW DELHI: Finance Minis-ter Nirmala Sitharman an-nounced a Rs 70,000-croreboost to housing sector by ex-tending the subsidy schemefor affordable housing for themiddle-income group.

The credit-linked subsidyscheme for the middle-incomegroup with an annual incomeof Rs 6 lakh to Rs 18 lakh wasoperationalized from May2017 and extended up toMarch 2020.

She said the scheme is be-ing extended by one year tobenefit 2.5 lakh middle-incomefamilies. She also announced aRs 5,000-crore special creditfacility for street vendors byproviding them with workingcapital of up to Rs 10,000, add-ing this would support 50 lakhstreet vendors.

For farmers, she announceda Rs 30,000-crore additionalemergency working capitalfunding through the NationalBank for Agriculture and RuralDevelopment (NABARD). PTI

WeWork 'inflexible'in easing rent andlease terms

NEW YORK: Customers ofWeWork have alleged that theco-working space companyhas been inflexible in givingthem breaks on rent and eas-ing lease terms in the COVID-19 times, as they are unable tojoin workplaces.

You can understand why theco-working model would notbe particularly appealing dur-ing a pandemic. But now thatcases have exploded andlockdown orders across thecountry have prevented manypeople from even going in towork, many WeWork customersallege that the company hasbeen inflexible in giving thembreaks on rent and easinglease terms. IANS

NEW DELHI: Real estatedevelopers said,the governm-ent's decision to extend thetimeline of completion ofprojects by six months willprovide much needed reliefto the industry but soughtmore measures to improve li-quidity, reduce input cost andboost housing demand.

"The declaration of Covid19 as Force Majure, extensionof timelines for completion ofproject under the RERA, arecrucial announcements forthe developer community,"CREDAI Chairman Jaxay Shahand President Satish Magarsaid in a joint statement.

They are hopeful that the fi-nance minister will soon an-nounce other necessary mea-sures by infusion of liquidity, de-cartelization of cement prices,restoration of supply chain to

ease construction on the projectsites and help uplift the demandby giving more sops tohomebuyers by increasing the

tax deduction limits for inter-est on home loans.

These measures, if taken,would help the sector regainmomentum which remains thesecond largest employer, saidthe top two executives of thecountry's apex realtor's body.

Naredco PresidentNiranjan Hiranandani said the" announcements missed fis-cal stimulus for real estate."

On the extension oftimeline to completeprojects, he said: "This is in-deed a move to combatCOVID disruption which prac-tically brought constructionwork. PTI

‘The declaration ofCovid 19 as Force

Majure, extension oftimelines for comple-tion of project under

the RERA

Residents of MI's wealthiestcommunity embrace privacy

BARTON HILLS, Mich.: There's no sign that says,``Welcome to Barton Hills Village,'' and that's howresidents like it.

The only straight road is Barton Shore Drive, ashared driveway running under a tunnel of treesthat is used to enter the community.

33India PostMay 22, 2020

www.indiapost.comReal Estate Post

Location no longer rules real estateNEW DELHI: The perception of 'pre-

mium' in real estate has moved fromsnob value to define family wellnessand health.

As one deals with the global COVID-19 pandemic, developers and buyersare focusing on features in residences,which enhance hygiene, wellness andsustainable living, which need to be in-herent in the design and makeup ofhousing projects.

"Wellness amenities such as yoga stu-dios, meditation rooms, spas, gymnasi-ums, tennis courts and jogging tracks

became the new rage among urbanhomebuyers. Such features eventuallytranscended luxury home projects andcame to be expected in mid-rangehomes, as well.

Wellness amenities now deliver a farmore convincing 'premium' punch thanarchitectural eye-candy. Branded devel-opers were quick to sense the shift andbegan integrating such features intotheir projects," says Prashant Thakur, Di-rector & Head - Research, ANAROCKProperty Consultants.

"The world we live in has suddenlybeen sharply redefined. In times of un-precedented job insecurity, rent is aburdening expense, property owner-ship is a vastly more attractive invest-ment rationale than reposing faith involatile financial markets, and the homeis a focal point of an entirely new workethos," Thakur adds.

"Premium" beyond brandingThe current lot of homebuyers are

willing to pay extra for premium prod-ucts and features. For most Indians'homes are the single-largest lifetimeinvestment they make so it makes senseto secure the best options availablewithin one's means. While brandedbuilders deliver premium via superiorproperties and locations, the concept ofpremium in the backdrop of the sever-est healthcare crisis is wellness, says asurvey by ANAROCK.

Wellness as a project designimperative

Real estate that encompasseswellness elements in a building's de-sign, materials and amenities is a majorglobal trend. Wellness features in a resi-dential (and also commercial) buildingenhance its desirability as it improvesthe overall environment and well-be-ing. Among the most popular wellness

amenities are gyms, yoga/meditationrooms, roof gardens and enhancednatural lighting and ventilation. As weedge more into the luxury domain, buy-ers also seek projects with art studios,hobby rooms and Zen gardens wherethey can unplug and rejuvenate.

The practice to get buildings certi-fied for wellness is being followed byseveral international developers. This

trend, which is being seen in residen-tial, commercial and even avant-garderetail spaces, involves the building re-ceiving a wellness certification basedon its design and operational strate-gies. Similar to the LEED certificationprogram by the U. S. Green BuildingsCouncil, where a building's 'green' fea-tures are evaluated and rated, wellnessratings assess the wellness features ofa real estate development - how muchthey contribute to the health andwellbeing of occupiers.

Green commercial real sstateWhile the residential real estate is

gradually catching up to it, this trend is

currently more visible in contemporarycommercial spaces. Globally, owner-oc-cupied commercial establishments aredriving demand for green features andpractices. Some of these features in-clude active stairways, biophilia, en-hanced air quality, natural sunlight, verti-cal gardens etc. Such amenities are seenas a way to attract and retain young em-ployees who are highly focused on work-ing in healthier environments.

Even Indian developers are savvy tothe trend of tenants placing a high pre-mium on wellness. . IANSlife


Residents of MI's wealthiest community embrace privacy

Little would anyone know that atthe end of the mile-long road liesMichigan's wealthiest community, onemany have never heard of, tuckedaway just five miles north of down-town Ann Arbor.

There are 140 homes on less thantwo-square-miles of rolling hills over-looking the Huron River'sBarton Pond. No twohomes are alike, said Mar-tin Bouma, an area realestate agent for the past34 years.

``There's sort of an òld-money' environment,'' hetold The Detroit News. `Ìt doesn't lookor feel like any typical neighborhood.''The 100-year-old community has twopriorities: its privacy and the trees, saidJan Esch, the village clerk.

The trees play an important role.Not only does the village have someof the nation's oldest and largest oakand yellowwood trees, but the trees

also hide the large homes that wouldbe difficult to see outside the wintermonths. Yet what attracts residents isbeing near the city.

``We don't have anything. We haveresidential, open natural space, and theCountry Club, which has been theresince 1922 as well,'' said Esch, who haslived in the village for 40 years. ``Whenwe developed our master plan, 10 years

ago now, a lot of that points towardwe're not anticipating building schoolsor libraries because we're so close tothe city and yet, when you drive in youfeel like you've left the city behind.''

The community in Ann Arbor CharterTownship had 287 residents in 2018,according to census data, with a medianhousehold income of $222,917 _ the

highest in Michigan.Lots vary in size from a half an acre

on the south drive to huge homes sit-ting on eight acres on the uppernorth drive. The average lot is two tothree acres, said Bouma.

`Ìt's a culmination of old littleranches and amazing mansions sur-rounded around a golf course and it'sthe land that really makes a differ-

ence,'' said Bouma. `Ìt'sgot those beautifulwinding roads and allthe lots were laid outwith purpose and reallygood privacy. Mosthouses you can't evensee from the road.''

The majority of homes are valuedupwards of $1 million. Of the 26 salesin Barton Hills the past five years, 10homes went for more than $1 million.

``That's more than a third. Youwon't see that in any other neighbor-hood besides Geddes on the eastside, but it's not at the same level ofprivacy,'' Bouma said. ` AP


There are 140 homes on less thantwo-square-miles of rolling hills overlooking the

Huron River's Barton Pond. No two homes arealike, said Martin Bouma, an area real estate

agent for the past 34 years


www.indiapost.comPunjab Post

LPU scientists develop software, detectsCOVID-19 from CT Scan Images

JASWANT SINGH GANDAM / RAMAN NEHRAIndia Post News Service

PHAGWARA: A researchers' team ofsciences and technology domains atLovely Professional University (LPU) hasdeveloped an easy-to-use 'Cloud-basedadvanced Web-Interface' to detect anddiagnose 'COVID-19 Symptoms' quickly,a varsity release stated.

The diagnosis will be possible from'CT Scans or X-Ray image reports of theconcerned patients. Using this inter-face, health professionals will only haveto upload the scan images on thewebsite to get the diagnosis resultwithin a few seconds, even for reportsreceived from the remotest parts of thecountry. This AI (Artificial Intelligence)framework has been successfullytested on more than 13,000 Chest Ra-diography Images.

LPU Scientists' team is now in touchwith the Indian Council of Medical Re-search (ICMR) for further evaluation ofthe innovative 'Interface'. This latesttechnology based testing at LPU isdeveloped as a part of global effortsto tackle the coronavirus pandemic,and at a minimal cost. The team in-cludes B.Tech students Prabin KumarDas, Biswajyoti Roy, Faculty Members

Prof Dr Rajesh Singh and Prof Dr AnitaGehlot. They took nearly one month indeveloping the entire framework.

As per the LPU team, this novel sys-tem does not need any high-tech de-vice or extra skilled technicians to op-erate, except for uploading the im-

ages. It can be easily accessed by anauthorized healthcare professionalfrom anywhere in the world througha basic mobile device with Internetconnectivity and a web browser. The

developed web-interface is con-nected to an AI model at a centralizedserver, which processes the imagesreceived from the web portal, andsends the results back to the web por-tal. The portal is capable of hostingany AI model that is preferred by a

hospital, and will accordingly be ableto detect the infection as well as theextent to which it has affected thepatient. Moreover, the images up-loaded on the interface will be AES

encrypted ensuring complete privacyfor the patient.

The team is also desirous in indus-trialization of this socially useful de-velopment. So, the team is also fur-thering talks with the industry peoplefor collaborations. It is to provide themost promising medically-certified AImodels, which are to be used for quickdetection and diagnosis of COVID 19.In fact, early detection will help doc-tors to segregate patients and makedecisions to prioritize, isolate or putthe concerned patient on a ventilatorby using available resources effi-ciently.

Executive Dean of Science andTechnology at LPU, Dr Lovi Raj Guptashares that experts from around theworld have also strongly recom-mended the use of CT scans for quickdiagnosis of COVID 19. The WorldHealth Organization (WHO), too, holdsthat the novel coronavirus causes res-piratory illness resembling viral pneu-monia, resulting in fever, cough, andshortness of breath. A study pub-lished in the journal Radiology alsofound that chest X-ray scan features canhelp in the early detection and diagno-sis of the virus.

Cops celebrate 13th birthday of stranded NRI girl

Phagwara City SHO Inspector Onkar Singh Brargiving birthday gift to NRI girl Nimrita Parmar on

her 13th birthday

JASWANT SINGH GANDAM / RAMAN NEHRAIndia Post News Service

PHAGWARA: In an humanitarian ges-ture and underlining social face of po-lice force, the Phagwara City police Sta-tion House Officer (SHO), InspectorOnkar Singh Brar, along with his team,sprang a surprise on a teenager NRIgirl and her parents by reaching theirresidence with a cake and a birthdaygift in order to celebrate the 13thbirthday of the girl!

The NRI family belongs to villagePanjora but is settled in Canada. Thegirl Nimrita Parmar is the youngest offour sisters, the other three are inCanada. On her birthday, of which Brarcame to know, he decided to make it

special. "Since the family is stranded due

to lockdown and was unable to cel-ebrate Nimrita's birthday owing tolockdown norms, I went to their placealong with other cops to present thebirthday girl a gift and join her in cut-ting the cake", disclosed Brar.

They all clapped and jointly croonedthe traditional 'Happy birthday toyou…' song. Overjoyed by the gesture,Nimirta said that they had made herday!

Her parents Harjit Singh Parmar andMrs Parmar profusely thanked Brar andother cops for their goodwill gesture.

"We will never forget it", the triosaid in unison.

SHO Onkar Singh Brar offering the birthday babya spoonful of cake

www.indiapost.com

NEWSon your desktop

India Post 35www.indiapost.com

May 22, 2020

India Postwww.indiapost.com

May 22, 202036

Download - NEW YORK • WASHINGTON D.C. • CHICAGO • …...2020/05/22 · NEW YORK • WASHINGTON D.C. • CHICAGO • ATLANTA • CALIFORNIA VOL 25, No. 133 7 May 22, 2020 50¢ Periodical

Top Related