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CONTENTSBollywood -------------------------- 28

Classifieds ------------------------- 47

Community Post ----- 18-27,34-35

Date Book -------------------------- 49

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

HealthScience Post --------- 50-52

Horoscope ------------------------- 14

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

Life Style ----------------------- 30-33

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

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

TechBiz Post ------------------- 12-13

Travel & Hospitality Post ---- 40-43

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SIKH PROF ATTACKEDIN NY HATE CRIME

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NEW YORK: A Sikh professor, who was brutally at-tacked and injured by a mob of up to 30 people who calledhim "Osama" and "terrorist" in New York, has said hewould invite the attackers to visit the Gurdwara and inter-act with members of the community to better understandhis faith.

Prabhjot Singh, assistant professor at Columbia'sSchool of International and Public Affairs, said it is "ab-solutely critical" to work with students and communityorganisations to spread awareness about other faiths andreligions.

"If I could speak to my attackers, I would ask them if

they had any questions, if they knew what they were do-ing. Maybe invite them to the Gurdwara where we wor-ship, get to know who we are... Make sure they have anopportunity to move past this as well," a sombre lookingPrabhjot, wearing a blue turban, said at a press conferenceon Sept 23.

Mr Singh was brutally attacked by about 20-30 youngmen who repeatedly punched him and "pulled his beard"as he was walking in the city's Harlem neighbourhood onSept 21 night.

Details on page 5Clinical staffurged to gettrained for ICD 10

Indian-Americanis runner up asMs Vegetarian

Teena Sukhwal

Top US awardfor Bunker Roy &Malala Yousufzai

Singh, Sharif tomeet in NYon Sept 29

US manufacturerslaunch anti-Indiacampaign

World War-IIndian martyrsin Belgium

POLITICAL RELEASE: YSR Congress Party President YS Jaganmohan Reddy greets his supporters after he was releasedfrom the Chanchalguda Jail in Hyderabad on Sept 24 after 16 months in jail. Reddy was granted bail in the disproportionate

assets case against him with the BJP alleging misuse of CBI by the UPA government at the Center.(Details on page 10)

Davuluri crowning challengesnotions of American identity?

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Bollywood:Couple chemistrySaif and Kareena are coming togetheragain in the movie Happy Ending, thoughKareena will feature only in a cameo.

1Cover Story:Sikh attacked

18Community:AAPIO meeting

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30Life Style:

It has been 100 years but Belgium hasnot forgotten its World War-I dead in-cluding thousands of Indian soldiers

12Techbiz:

Indian and Chinese companies from sec-tors such as cotton yarn, marine and ag-riculture have signed 15 contracts

40Travel:Hampi, KarnatakaFrom atop the Matanga Hill, Hampi isevery inch the capital city of a goldenempire which once had the world in sway

India, China contracts

The AAPIO Semi-Annual Meeting inMilpitas discussed the emerging medi-cal practice issues in the community

A Sikh professor was brutally attackedand injured by a mob of 30 people whocalled him "Osama" and "terrorist" in NY

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Looks like the Indian American community will never see the end of this. I amtalking about the anti-Narendra Modi lobbies in this country that are be-

coming embarrassingly divisive and vitiating the opportunities for mainstreamcommunities to participate in many Indian, particularly Hindu events in the US.

This week marks the 120th anniversary of Swami Vivekananda's landmarkspeech at the Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago. The celebrations underthe banner of World Without Borders, were to be co-sponsored by the Councilfor a Parliament of the World's Religions (CPWR), the Vishwa Hindu Parishadof America (VHPA), the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) among others.

Intriguingly enough, last week, the CPWR that had originally sponsored thehistoric 1893 Chicago conference, decided to withdraw its support to the currentevent, stating that it did not want to be associated with some of the co-sponsoringorganizations that promoted "controversial political positions."

The instigator, if we can call that, behind the CPWR decision, is alleged to bethe Coalition against Genocide (CAG), an Indian American organization thatwas formed following the communal riots in Gujarat in 2002.

The problem with organizations like the CAG is their tactics usually tend tohave other more embarrassing fallouts. Like, in taking its decision to withdrawfrom the event the CPWR did not consult the two Hindu trustees on its Board,Anju Bhargava and Dr. Anantanand Rambachan.

This also now dims the esteem in which the CPWR is held by many Indians,for wittingly or unwittingly falling to pressures and equating unconnected events.

The Coalition against Genocide is one of the organizations that has for long,been lobbying against Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi being granted aUS visa.

While I would not care to take a stand on that issue, what I fail to understand ishow far these anti-Modi lobbies are going to stretch their agenda, and mar perfectlylegitimate occasions like the commemoration of Swami Vivekananda's speech.

It is so ironic that this kind of all round intolerance should be witnessed in thename of one who dedicated his life to preaching religious tolerance.

Immigration:

An influential group of Indian Americandoctors meet lawmakers seeking a say inthe immigration reform bill.

AAPI lobbying

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Sikh Prof attacked in NY hate crimeNEW YORK: A Sikh professor,

who was brutally attacked andinjured by a mob of up to 30people who called him "Osama"and "terrorist" in New York, hassaid he would invite the attackersto visit the Gurdwara and interactwith members of the communityto better understand his faith.

Prabhjot Singh, assistant pro-

fessor at Columbia's School ofInternational and Public Affairs,said it is "absolutely critical" towork with students and commu-nity organisations to spreadawareness about other faiths andreligions.

"If I could speak to my attack-ers, I would ask them if they hadany questions, if they knew whatthey were doing. Maybe invitethem to the Gurdwara where weworship, get to know who we are...Make sure they have an opportu-

nity to move past this as well," asombre looking Prabhjot, wearinga blue turban, said at a press con-ference on Sept 23.

Mr Singh was brutally attackedby about 20-30 young men whorepeatedly punched him and"pulled his beard" as he was walk-ing in the city's Harlemneighbourhood on Sept 21 night.

He was rushed to a local hos-pital, where he also works as aphysician, and admitted with se-vere bruising, swelling, small punc-ture in his elbow and fracture inhis lower jaw.

The New York Police Depart-ment has released a surveillancevideo of the suspects believed tobe involved in the attack. Thegrainy clip shows a group ofyoung 15-20 suspects riding theirbikes shortly before they encoun-tered Mr Singh.

Two days after the attack, MrSingh, said he will not be deterredfrom his goal. There is need tounderstand "who gave these kidsthe green light to hate."

"These sort of things are notwho we are. This is not anAmerica that I recognise," headded. He said the attack will notchange "how I move around theneighbourhood."

He would continue going to allparts of the city, "will still go thereand still be received with the de-gree of welcome that I have re-ceived.

"It is clear that the associationsbetween beards and turbans andterrorism are devastating for anentire community, so I want tocontinue working to show thatcore American values are core Sikhvalues as well," said Mr Singh.

"Most importantly, I want it sothat my 1-year-old has nothing tofear in this neighborhood. Itmakes me even more committedto our community and redoublingour efforts," he said.

"I want to live in a communitywhere somebody feels comfort-able asking me what is on yourhead, why do you have thatbeard, what are you doing here,are you American. We should beable to ask those questions.

"I want to live in a communitywhere young men instead of hav-ing to scream out and act out, canengage and learn about it someother way," Mr Singh said.

Recalling the attack, Mr Singhsaid as he passed the group ofmen, he heard one of the menshout "get him Osama" and "ter-rorist".

"There is a sensational aspectto this and there is painful aspectto this. I was called 'Get himOsama', I heard terrorist, my beardwas pulled. It certainly felt that itwas motivated by my appear-ance."

Mr Singh is working with theNew York police department'shate crime unit, which is trying tosolve the case on a "priority" ba-sis.

Last year, Mr Singh had writ-ten an op-ed in the New York

Times days after six Sikh personswere killed in a tragic shooting ata Wisconsin Gurudwara in Au-gust.

"The legacy of anti-Sikh vio-lence and its contemporary preva-lence make it painfully obviousthat anti-Sikh violence is oftenpurposeful and targeted. The gov-ernment must begin tracking andcounting anti-Sikh hate crimes,just as it must continue to vigor-ously combat bias and discrimi-nation against all Americans, in-cluding Muslims.

"We must do away with aflawed and incomplete assump-tion of 'mistaken identity' regard-ing Sikhs; until we do, we will allbe the ones who are mistaken,"

he had written in the op-ed titled'How Hate Gets Counted.'

The incident comes less thantwo weeks after the first-ever na-tionwide public perception as-sessment of Sikh Americans, titled"Turban Myths," which showed70 per cent of Americansmisidentify turban-wearers in theUS as Muslim, Hindu or Bud-dhists.

The study, conducted byStanford University researchersand sponsored by Sikh American

Legal Defence and EducationFund, also showed that nearly halfof Americans believe "Sikh" is asect of Islam, and more associatethe turban with Osama bin Ladenthan with named Muslim and Sikhalternatives.

"Unfortunately our researchconfirms that Prabhjot's experi-ence is not the result of isolatedmisperception and intolerance,"said Jasjit Singh, SALDEF's execu-tive director.

"Here you have a practicingdoctor, a teacher and a commu-nity servant falling victim to hatein the largest and proudest melt-ing pot in America. This violenceis an affront to all Americans' corevalues."-PTI

"It is clear that the associations betweenbeards and turbans and terrorism aredevastating for an entire community, so Iwant to continue working to show that coreAmerican values are core Sikh valuesas well," said Mr Singh

Prabhjot Singh

Bunker Roy & Malala Yousufzai receive top US awardNEW YORK: Indian envi-

ronmentalist Bunker Roy andPakistan's teenage educationactivist Malala Yousufzai havebeen declared winners of thisyear's prestigious 'Clinton Glo-bal Citizens Awards'.

Roy is the founder of theBarefoot College, which hasbeen providing solutions toproblems in rural communitiesfor more than 40 years.

As a result of Barefoot'swork, one million liters of rain-water have been harvested toprovide clean drinking water toover 239,000 school children inmore than 1,300 communitiesworldwide.

The Barefoot Approach is aproven community-basedmodel, providing basic infra-

structure for powerand water in remote,rural areas, as part ofan integrated solutionto alleviating globalpoverty.

Roy has beennamed one of the 50environmentalistswho could save theplanet by the Guard-ian and one of the 100most influentialpeople in the worldby TIME magazine.

The model of com-munity-owned, man-aged, and financiallysustained householdsolar light systems istoday replicated inmore than 54 coun-

tries, empowering more than 600Women Barefoot Solar Engi-neers and providing clean en-ergy access to 450,000 people innearly 1,650 communitiesthroughout India, Africa, LatinAmerica, the Pacific, and Asia.

Sixteen-year-old Yousafzai,who, after being shot by theTaliban less than a year ago forher outspoken support for girls'education, has co-founded theMalala Fund to continue advo-cating for universal access toeducation.

The Clinton Global CitizenAwards were launched in 2007to honor outstanding individu-als for their visionary leader-ship, demonstrated impact, andsustainable and scalable work insolving global issues. -PTI

Malala Yousufzai Bunker Roy


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Singh, Sharif to meetin NY on Sept 29

NEW YORK/ISLAMABAD:Ending days of speculation overtheir meeting, Prime MinisterManmohan Singh will meet hisPakistani counterpart NawazSharif on September 29 in NewYork at the hotel where Singh willstay during his US visit.

Both Singh and Sharif, who aretraveling to the New York to at-tend the 68th session of the UNGeneral Assembly, will be meet-ing on the morning of September29.

Meanwhile, a report from Paki-stani media said, "The much-awaited and widely-discussedmaiden meeting between Sharifand his Indian counterpart Singhon the margins of the 68th UNGAhas been scheduled as the twopremiers will be having a break-fast meeting in Manhattan hotel

where the Indian Prime Ministerwill be the host."

However, there was no officialconfirmation for the meeting.

The report in 'The News' alsosaid the two leaders will have del-egation-level talks besides havinga one-on-one meeting.

The report added that the meet-ing between the prime ministersof Pakistan and India has attainedconspicuous significance againstthe backdrop of tense ties be-tween the two countries.

"It could break the impassespreading over two years in therelations of the neighboring coun-tries. Nawaz Sharif is viewed as achampion of peace with India andhe would put his best efforts tobring about normalcy between thetwo nuclear countries," the reportsaid. -PTI

US manufacturers launchanti-India campaign

WASHINGTON: An apex bodyof American manufacturers haslaunched a massive anti-India cam-paign just ahead of Prime MinisterManmohan Singh's United Statesvisit, protesting India's allegedlydiscriminatory trade practices.

The National Association ofManufacturers (NAM) is launch-ing digital and print advertise-ments in New York and Washing-ton, in major publications like Po-litico, Wall Street Journal, TheWashington Post, Financial Times,Roll Call and The Hill.

"Manufacturers and CongressAgree: India must play fair ontrade," one of the advertisementssaid. The total amount beingspend by NAM on this campaignis not clear.

"At a time when Washingtoncan't agree on much, there is over-whelming bipartisan opposition toIndia's discriminatory trade prac-tices, with over 170 house mem-bers and 40 recently signing let-ters urging Secretary (John) Kerryto take action," NAM said in state-ment.

The move comes after a seriesof campaign urging the ObamaAdministration to press India on

addressing concerns over severalIndian trade and business policies.

Singh is scheduled to meet USPresident Barack Obama at theWhite House on Sept 27 duringwhich economic issues are ex-pected to be a major topics of dis-cussion, according to White

House officials.Through its campaign, NAM

has urged the Obama Administra-tion to raise their concerns at the

highest levels of the Indian gov-ernment and to coordinate closelywith the European Union and otherlike-minded economies.

"Reversing discrimination andrestoring trust would be a win-win,enabling American exporters tofurther invest in India's future andhelp India grow its economy andcreate opportunities for itspeople," it said.

NAM alleged that over the pastyear, Indian government agenciesand courts have engaged in a per-sistent pattern of discriminationand forced localization designed tobenefit India's corporations at theexpense of manufacturing jobs inthe United States.

"The Indian government hasdemanded that much of its marketfor certain information technology,clean energy, and power equipmentbe satisfied by domestic-basedfirms," it said.

"Administrative and court rul-ings have repeatedly ignored in-ternationally recognized rights byimposing arbitrary marketing re-strictions on medical devices anddenying or revoking patents fornearly a dozen lifesaving medica-tions," NAM added. -PTI

NAM alleged thatover the past year,Indian governmentagencies and courtshave engaged in apersistent pattern ofdiscrimination andforced localizationdesigned to benefitIndia's corporationsat the expense ofmanufacturing jobs inthe United States

CPWR withdraws supportto Vivekananda event

CHICAGO: The Council for aParliament of the World's Reli-gions has disassociated itselffrom an event being held here tocelebrate the 150th birth anniver-sary of Swami Vivekananda, say-ing it was co-sponsored bygroups "promoting controversialpolitical positions".

"We honor SwamiVivekananda and that legacy heleft creating interfaith coopera-tion to build a just, peaceful, andsustainable world. Our organi-zation was not informed that anevent we were asked to co-spon-sor was also co-sponsored byorganizations promoting contro-versial political positions,"CPWR said in a statement.

The Council for aParliament of theWorld's Reli-gions (CPWR)is the host andorganizer ofthe Parliamentof the World'sR e l i g i o n ssince 1893.Among itshonorary international advisorsinclude Mata AmritanandamayiDevi and the Dalai Lama.

"While we do honor and pro-mote the ideals of SwamiVivekananda, we respectfullywithdraw our name from any co-hosting or co-sponsorship of the'World Without Borders' eventand any connection to this eventor its other co-sponsors," CPWR

said in its statement that did notmention any particular organiza-tion or individual. The statementwas signed by Mary Nelson, itsexecutive director and A Malik

Mujahid, chair of theboard.

According to the event flierand its website, 'World WithoutBorders' to celebrate the 150thbirth anniversary of SwamiVivekananda being organized bythe Chicago-chapter of VishwaHindu Parishad-America. BabaRamdev is listed as its chiefguest.-PTI

Swami Vivekananda

Bombay Bullion Associationextends support to Modi

MUMBAI: The Bombay Bul-lion Association Ltd (BBA), theapex body of bullion and jewellerybodies in India, has announcedits support for GujaratChief MinisterNarendra Modi asBJP's prime ministerialcandidate.

BBA presidentMohit Kamboj alongwith some othersjoined main OppositionBharatiya Janata Partyin the presence of se-nior party leaderGopinath Munde here.

BBA had extendedits support to Modi asthe Ruling United Pro-gressive Alliance gov-ernment had broughtabout a "policy paraly-sis" in the economy,Kamboj said.

"There are over 50lakh workers associ-ated with the bullion and gold in-dustry, which has been facing thebrunt of the current policies of the

BJP President Rajnath Singh opened the corporate office of the Bombay Bullion Associa-

tion at Zaveri Bazaar in Mumbai. Also seen are Ashish Shelar, President – Mumbai,

Bharatiya Janata Party and Mohit Kamboj, President of Bombay Bullion Association

UPA government."We at BBA strongly believe

that a Modi-led NDA governmentwould normalize the industry by

introducing friendly policies," headded.

Members of Bharat Diamond

Bourse have said they will hostModi at a function at Bandra-Kurla Complex here on September30.

BJP president Rajnath Singhhad earlier inaugurated the BBAcorporate office at Zaveri Bazaarhere. -PTI


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Senate immigration bill to hitAmerican competitiveness

WASHINGTON: SupportingIndia's concerns on the immigra-tion reform bill, an eminent Indian-American has asked US lawmak-ers to make the necessarychanges in the pending legisla-tion, which if passed, among otherthings would badly hit the globalcompetitiveness of Americancompanies.

"While the Senate has madeimportant progress, their bill con-tains provision; that will result inunintended consequences, dam-aging American businesses andaiding our competitors abroad,"Ashok Mago, of the Greater Dal-las Indo-American Chamber ofCommerce, wrote in a letter toCongressmen and Senatorsahead of the US visit of PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh.

"Additional and arbitrary lay-

ers of red tape and increased feeswill make it much more difficultfor businesses to hire skilledSTEM workers through the H-1Bvisa program.

This program, designed togive businesses access to a glo-bal talent pool with STEM exper-tise, is a vital component of ef-forts to address the STEMworker shortage in America," saidMago, a founding member of thechamber.

The bill 's so-calledoutplacement provision is dis-criminatory and will make it im-possible for many businesses torecruit the high-skilled workersthey need to perform highly tech-nical tasks onsite from the globallabor pool, potentially drivingtens of thousands of Americanjobs overseas, he argued. -PTI

Canadian firms keen to bringpension funds to India

NEW DELHI: Canada has saidthat it is keen to bring in invest-able capital in the form of its pen-sion funds into India which pro-vides a long-term secure andstable capital investment.

Canadian High CommissionerStewart Beck said his country hasthe strongest pension funds in theworld and it wants these funds tocome to India.

"He said that representativesof five largest Canadian pensionfunds were in India to talk abouthow to bring Canadian capital inthis market. Those five fundsalone represents around 700 bil-lion dollars of investible capital,"said Beck.

Beck said his country believesthat India provides a long-term se-

cure and stable capital invest-ment.

"One of the concerns the Ca-nadian pension funds have is thetaxation system in India. India haslayers of tax. Canadians do nothave any problems in paying tax.Already, some Canadian pensionfunds have invested in India andalthough they are not large invest-ments, by normal standards it'spretty large and we want to bringin more because we see the op-portunities," said Beck.

The comments come after In-dia recently passed the PensionFund Regulatory and Develop-ment Authority Bill which pro-vides for investment in funds inequity markets and opens the sec-tor up to 26 per cent FDI. -PTI

Nayak's conditional guiltyplea for mail fraud charge

India Post News Service

CHICAGO: Raghu Nayak, anIndian businessman and a com-munity activist, has pleadedguilty to one count each of mailfraud and impeding tax authoritiesin connection with a scheme thatpaid doctors to refer patients tohis chain of surgery centers, ac-cording to the US Attorney's of-fice in Chicago.

The Raghu Nayak case hasbeen set to go on trial on Oct 1 inUS District Court in Chicago butin the wake of his guilty plea he isscheduled to appear for sentenc-ing before Judge RobertGettleman on Jan. 22, the USAttorney's office says.

Nayak maintained that the mailfraud allegations should be dis-missed since the patients did re-ceive adequate medical care andwere not required to undergo un-necessary testing or surgeries.The prosecutors did concede thatpatients did not receive unneces-sary medical care. Without suchallegations and evidence at trial,the government cannot show thatNayak had the intent necessaryto engage in a scheme to defraud,his attorneys argued.

Judge Gettlemen denied themotion to dismiss. Nayak howevercan appeal Judge Gettleman's de-nial of the motion to dismiss themail fraud count. If he wins in theappeal, Nayak could withdraw hisguilty plea to the mail fraud.

Under the plea agreement withthe US attorney office and in thelight of Federal guidelines, Nayakcould get prison up to 46 months.He admitted paying doctors tohave some surgeries conductedat his two surgery centers in Chi-cago. No instance is cited that the

patients suffered because of sur-geries at the centers, he claimed

The US Attorney's office saidin a news release that Nayak ad-mitted he paid one physician, apodiatrist, approximately $200-300in cash per surgery he conductedat Rogers Park or Lakeshore. Thepodiatrist was paid for about 142surgeries he performed at RogersPark between 2004 and 2009 in-

volving total payments in therange of $28,400 to $42,600.

The US Attorney's office origi-nally charged Nayak with 18 crimi-nal counts but earlier this month,prosecutors dropped 10 countsagainst him. He also opted atabout the same time for a bench

trial, rather than a jury trial.In the plea agreement, the gov-

ernment says Nayak's conductwarrants a sentence of between51 to 63 months. However, thejudge may decide to reduce thesentence to a range of 37 to 46months if it determines that he hasaccepted responsibility for hisconduct and pleaded guilty wellin advance of trial.

Raghu Nayak

Indian abducted in Oman rescuedfrom Pak captors

MUSCAT/NEW DELHI: AnIndian, who was kidnapped fromthe city of Sohar, 200 kilometersfrom Muscat, has been rescuedby the Omani police which ar-rested two of the seven Pakistaninationals involved.

Official sources in New Delhisaid the Indian Mission in Mus-cat had taken up the matter withlocal authorities over the weekendand were assured that necessaryaction would be taken.

Meanwhile, the family of theworker identified as Haneefa fromKerala had received calls demand-ing huge ransom for his release,

according to media reports.His family reportedly received

phone calls from Oman by "Urdu-speaking people" demandingmoney in return for his release, thereports said.

"They were calling fromInternet phones. Later, when westopped receiving those calls, wediscovered they had pressuredHaneefa to make calls from his ownnumber," his family said.

The family had said initially thecallers were demanding OMR2,000 (USD 5,201) within 24 hoursfor his release, but later the de-mands were changed. -PTI

Ivory bust of Raja Rammohan Royunveiled in UK

LONDON: A rare ivory minia-ture bust of Indian social reformerRaja Rammohan Roy has beenunveiled at a ceremony in the UKcommemorating his 180th deathanniversary.

Roy died of menin-gitis at the age of 61during a visit to Bristolin south-west Englandin September 1833 andwas buried at the city'sArnos Vale Cemetery.

"The ivory bust wasthe star of the annualevent held in memoryof the Raja," Carla Con-tractor, a trustee of thecemetery who orga-nizes the commemora-tion ceremony everySeptember since the1980s, said.

"While the main marble statue

by sculptor George Clarke hasbeen lost, this is a faithful copy inminiature created by BenjaminCheverton using a Pantographmachine. It is an amazing find,"she said.

"It is a happy meeting place forthe Unitarians, Brahmo Samajis

and Bengalis of Bristol in memoryof the Raja," added Contractor, alocal historian and former historylecturer from Bombay University.

The ivory bust belongs to aprivate collector, who has chosen

to remain anonymousbut agreed to a requestfrom his art historianfriend, David Wilson, topresent it for public viewat this year's gathering.

The event was at-tended by hundreds, in-cluding the Lord Mayorof Bristol, CouncillorFaruk Choudhry.

The bust is consid-ered the best and mostaccurate three-dimen-sional likeness of Roy,who was not very keen

on having his personal portraitsdone.-PTI


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Jobles Indian kills wife in Dubai to avoid alimonyDUBAI: A jobless Indian man in Dubai

allegedly strangled his wife to death withthe help of his Pakistani friend because hecould not afford paying her alimony afterdivorcing her.

The 23-year-old man, identified only asAB, fled to India after the murder in Marchbut was arrested later.

He is believed to have had long timeproblems with his wife and he planned toget rid of her, according to the testimony ofhis Pakistani friend, identified as RS, whois also charged with helping him kill thewoman.

The two men stood trial in the Court ofFirst Instance on the charge of premedi-

tated murder of the victim by strangling herwith their hands as she was sleeping,Khaleej Times reported.

The woman's body was discovered by acleaner in a sandy location in Al Foqah areaon Dubai-Al Ain road on March 11. Thebody was wrapped in a big, black garbageplastic bag, with the upper part of the bodyout of the bag.

AB's father said that his son and RSwere very close friends and were col-leagues, as well. They used to share thesame accommodation before the woman'sarrival in Dubai to work, a few months be-fore she was killed.

The father said that the victim used tocomplain about AB beating her up anddrinking alcohol. She was also not happywith his friendship with RS.

He added that the victim was upset be-cause her husband was cheating on her witha Filipina, which was one of the major rea-sons for their fights.

The police tracked RS who confessedthat AB had given him a gold necklace andborrowed Dh 600, which he needed to pur-chase an airline ticket.

"RS confessed that AB wanted to di-vorce the victim but feared the Indian lawwhich would oblige him to pay her amonthly alimony which he could not af-ford," the officer added.

The pair dumped the body in a remotelocation. RS then dropped AB to the air-port the following day and was caughtshortly after that.

Records did not specify how and whenthe husband, AB, was arrested. -PTI

AB's father said that his sonand RS were very closefriends and were col-leagues, as well. Theyused to share the sameaccommodation beforethe woman's arrival inDubai to work

Indian doc pleadsnot guilty to causingharm to patient

MELBOURNE: Indian-origin surgeonJayant Patel has pleaded not guilty to acharge of causing potentially life-threaten-ing bodily harm to a patient during a sur-gery in Australia in 2004.

The 64-year-old doctor, who was thehead of surgery at the Bundaberg Hospitalin southern Queensland, is facing trial inthe Brisbane District Court for unnecessar-ily removing patient Ian Rodney Vowels'colon during the surgery.

It took nearly an hour for a jury to beselected.

Six jurors had to be excused and replacedafter raisingmatters pri-vately withJ u s t i c eT e r e n c eMartin.

Accord-ing to AAPn e w sagency, Jus-tice Martinwarned all ju-rors theempanellingp r o c e s swould bemore compli-cated andlengthier than usual because of the exten-sive media coverage surrounding the case.

A list of witnesses was read out and ju-rors were asked to consider if they knewany of the individuals, and whether thatwould affect their ability to be fair.

Jurors are now required to answer a ques-tionnaire, including whether they haveheard anything adverse about Patel. Jus-tice Martin told jurors they were not allowedto discuss their responses with each other.

The case has been adjourned while thejury completes the questionnaire.

Patel, who was born in Jamnagar inGujarat, was jailed in 2010 after a jury con-victed him of unlawfully killing three pa-tients and causing grievous bodily harm toanother while a surgeon at Bundaberg hos-pital.-PTI

Jayant Patel


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Top StoriesMaldives SupremeCourt delayspresidential elections

MALE: The Supreme Court of theMaldives has delayed the final round ofpresidential elections following a legal chal-lenge, threatening more political instabilityin the Indian Ocean archipelago.

"We order the Elections Commissionand other relevant state institutions to de-lay the second round of the presidentialelection scheduled for 28 September 2013until the Supreme Court issues a verdict inthis case," read a ruling from the court.

The court has been holding hearings ina case filed by the Jumhooree Party, whichdemanded that the results of the first roundon September 7 be annulled because of al-leged discrepancies.

The election, the first round of whichwas found to be free and fair by interna-tional observers, was seen as a test for theyoung democracy a year and a half afterthe violent ousting of the country's firstdemocratically elected president, MohamedNasheed.

Nasheed won the first round comfort-ably with 45.45 per cent of the vote, butfaced a run-off contest on Sept 28 againstAbdullah Yameen, the half brother of theislands' former autocrat Maumoon AbdulGayoom.

"The Supreme Court has gone againstall common sense, international opinion andthe majority of the country without anyevidence to do so," an MP from Nasheed'sMaldivian Democratic Party, Hamed AbdulGhafoor, said.

Nasheed resigned in February last yearafter a mutiny by police which he brandeda coup, allegedly orchestrated by Gayoom,who ruled the honeymoon islands for threedecades. -PTI

Indo-Canadiansspread AIDSawareness

TORONTO: Hundreds of Indo-Canadianyouths participated in a campaign to spreadawareness about AIDS and raise funds fora charity for HIV-infected people.

"This year is our goal is to raise Cana-dian dollar 4,00,000 that willhelp AIDS Committee ofToronto (ACT) to meet theneeds of 20,000 people whohave been tested positive

for HIV," the campaign'sorganizer, Scotia Bank's

senior manager SanteTesolin said.

"Youths, wearing redshirts and carrying plac-

ards, participated in thefive-km walk to spread awareness about thedisease," he added.

The route for the walk was created tocommemorate the work of AIDS service or-ganizations, their volunteers and thosewho lost to, and living with, HIV-AIDS, hesaid.

Around 40 million people are infectedwith HIV across the world, of which around65,000 people are in Canada. -PTI

KHURSHID IN

NEW YORK:

External Affairs

Minister Salman

Khurshid (C)

poses with Indian

Overseas

Congress

members at a

meeting in New

York on Sept 23


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VK Singh says money paid toJ-K ministers was not bribe

Cabinet clears ordinance toshield convicted MPs, MLAs

Modi-themed SmartNamophones launched

NEW DELHI: A Gujarat-basedgroup has launched two NarendraModi-themed smartphones in In-dia, named SmartNamo SaffronOne and SmartNamo Saffron Two.The two smartphones are nowavailable for pre-order at e-com-merce website Snapdeal for an ini-tial booking amount of Rs 999.

The 16 and 32GB variants ofSmartNamo Saffron One havebeen priced at Rs 18,000 and Rs23,000, respectively. SmartNamoSaffron Two will cost buyers Rs24,000. Both the phones will beavailable for delivery in the sec-ond week of October, according tothe website. Both devices are pow-

ered by Android 4.2 and have1.5GHz quad-core processor, 2GBRAM, 13MP rear camera, 5MPfront camera, 3,150mAh batteryand dual-sim functionality.

SmartNamo Saffron One has a5-inch IPS screen with1920x1080presolution and 441ppipixel density. Available in two stor-

age options, this device can bepurchased in black or white col-ors. Its connectivity suite consistsof features like 2G, 3G, Wi-Fi,Bluetooth and microUSB.

Saffron Two has a 6.5-inchscreen, making it one of the big-gest smartphones in the world. ItsIPS display also has a 1920x1080p

resolution and 338ppi pixel den-sity. Other key features of the de-vice are 32GB internal storage,microSD support up to 64GB, 2G,3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth andmicroUSB. The company is offer-ing an extra battery, a leather case,as well as another dual-sim fea-ture phone worth Rs 1,111 free

with this handset.Both the phones will

come preloaded with wall-papers, videos as well asapps related to Modi.

According to the offi-cial website of thesmartphone maker, Namois an acronym forNarendra Modi as well asNext-generation AndroidMobile Odyssey. Modi ispopularly referred to asNaMo on social network-ing websites.

The Smart Namogroup is backed byGujarati businessmenwho have mobile busi-

nesses in China. Ammeet Desai,the spokesperson for Smart Namowas quoted by The Wall StreetJournal saying that they got theidea for this phone from China it-self, where several products likeMP3 players and smartphones arebranded with their leaders' name.-Agencies

NEW DELHI: Facing fire overhis statement that ministers inJammu and Kashmir were givenmoney by the Army, former Armychief Gen VK Singh has soughtto do damage control by saying itwas not a bribe but aimed at cre-ating goodwill among people.

"I did not commit any mistake.When I had said some politicianswere given money, it was not meantfor their personal purpose or po-litical purpose. Itwas not for liningtheir pockets or forbribe. If somebodysays that any min-ister was given abribe, it is totallywrong.

"It was meantsolely for stability,to win hearts andminds of people, towean people awayfrom separatist ac-tivities under theoverall umbrella ofsadbhavna (har-mony)," he said addressing apress conference at his residencein Gurgaon.

Gen Singh met reporters as hisremarks came under attack fromvarious quarters including Unionministers, a former Jammu andKashmir chief minister and theCongress party.

He claimed such activities arecarried out by the Army in manyareas and are not limited to Jammuand Kashmir. He, however, re-fused to name anyone.

He said the "leakage" of anarmy inquiry report on the func-tioning of the controversial Tech-nical Support Division (TSD) setup by him amounted to treason

and rejected the contention thatthe intelligence unit was his "pri-vate army".

Singh suspected that the reportwas "leaked" and a controversyis being sought to be created inorder to cover up certain "burn-ing issues".

"After the report surfaced, anumber of burning issues werepushed to the background. Wasthis not a reason behind leaking

the report? All this was done de-liberately to create a smokescreenand divert the attention of thepeople," he alleged.

Slamming those who "leaked"the report about the functioningof the intelligence unit, he said "ifwe discuss the functioning of theintelligence agencies in public,then it is treason. It should beprobed how this report was beingleaked and action should be takenagainst persons who have at-tempted to make such a leak. Thisis treason."

He said such activities cannotbe carried out while being in uni-form, therefore intelligence unitscarry out such tasks.-PTI

NEW DELHI: The UPA cabinethas cleared an ordinance to re-verse the Supreme Court judg-ment that calls for immediate dis-qualification of lawmakers con-victed of a criminal offence pun-ishable with two years or more injail, TV channels are reporting.

The ordinance allows con-victed MPs/MLAs to continue iftheir appeal is admitted by a highercourt within 90 days and the con-viction stayed. The lawmakers,however, will not vote or drawsalaries till the case is decided.

The Supreme Court had saidthat lawmakers sentenced to jailfor over two years will stand dis-qualified. Most political parties

had reacted strongly against theJuly 10 verdict of the SC andwanted it reversed through anamendment to the Representationof the People Act, but public opin-ion forced a rethink.

Following the court order, se-nior Congress Rajya Sabha mem-ber Rashid Masood, convicted ina corruption case on September19 and to be sentenced on Octo-ber 1, risked losing his seat.

Lalu Prasad, former rail ministerand chief of the Rashtriya JanataDal, which gives outside supportto the UPA, too would have lost hismembership of the Lok Sabha iffound guilty in a fodder scam caseto be decided on September 30.

Misuse of CBI in Jaganassets case: BJP

NEW DELHI: Alleging misuseof CBI in Jaganmohan Reddy dis-proportionate asset case, BJP hasalleged Congress has maintaineddouble standards in the way it hasasked the probe agency to handlecases pertaining to Gujarat whileasking it to go soft on SamajwadiParty Chief Mulayam SinghYadav.

Asked if BJP is supportingJaganmohan, party spokespersonNirmala Sitharaman said that isnot the issue but charged thatCongress is definitely playingsome game with Jaganmohan andit is clear that both are "walkinghand in hand".

BJP said the release ofJaganmohan after he had spent 16months in jail raises several ques-tions. The party alleged ten chargesheets were filed against him in astaggered manner over severalmonths in a clear case of misuseof CBI and with the hope of influ-

encing a by-election in 2012.Sitharaman sought to know

why CBI has now - 16 months af-ter his arrest - said that in sevencases filed against Jaganmohanthere is not enough material.Though a person can be incarcer-ated only for 90 days for custo-

dial questioning, in his case it hasbeen 16 months.

The main opposition alsocharged that another misuse ofCBI is the fact that five cabinet

ministers, who are named in caseswhere Jaganmohan is the first ac-cused, have not been arrested sofar and even continue to be min-isters. Sitharaman named SabitaReddy, Dharmana Prasad Rao andGeeta Reddy as well as M VenkatRamana as the ones not arrestedwhile Ponnala Lakshmi Narayanais now a witness.

"The government's doublestandard is also clear in the wayin which CBI is instructed tohandle cases related to Gujarat.The obsessive pursuit and ha-rassment to please political mas-ters stand out. Why does CBI nothandle the Andhra Pradesh min-isters, both on disproportionateasset or on encounters similarly?"Sitharaman asked.

She alleged the governmenthas asked CBI to close the dis-proportionate assets case againstMulayam Singh Yadav and he isbeing "completely let-off".-PTI

"The government'sdouble standard isalso clear in the wayin which CBI isinstructed to handlecases related toGujarat”

Gen VK Singh


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BJP hits out at Chidambaramfor attacking Modi

NEW DELHI: Hitting out at Fi-nance Minister P Chidambaramfor attacking Narendra Modi, BJPhas accused him of indulging in"statistical jugglery" about thegrowth figures and making unfaircomparisons of the UPA's nineyears of rule with the NDAgovernment's achievements.

"Can Chidambaram explainwhy the growth rate today is 4.8per cent? When growth rate inthis period goes down they haveall kinds of explanation on why ithas gone down. And then theyquote figures from our time to saythat they have a better average,"BJP leader Yashwant Sinha toldreporters here.

Chidambaram has charged theGujarat Chief Minister with stag-ing a "fake encounter with facts"regarding his claims of economicgrowth during BJP-led NDA be-

ing 8.4 per cent and said nothingcan be further from truth.

Sinha alleged that this statisti-cal jugglery is being done byChidambaram as the UPA govern-ment cannot compete on year-to-year basis with the NDA regimeand hence is taking out averages.

"They are comparing nine yearsaverage with five years average ofNDA," Sinha said, adding thatwhen NDA came to power thegrowth rate was 4.8 per cent andwhen the BJP-led coalition relin-quished office it was 8.6 per cent.

"Chidambaram is doing terror-ism with facts.... He is only com-paring on averages. This is onlyjugglery of figures," he said.

The former Finance Minister alsomaintained that while NDA had cre-ated 60 million jobs in five years, theUPA government has only provided2.7 million jobs in nine years.-PTI

Ishrat case: CBI grills Gujaratminister Pradeepsinh Jadeja

Chandrababu Naidu walks outof NIC meeting over Telangana

AHMEDABAD: The CentralBureau of Investigation (CBI)questioned Gujarat Minister ofState for Law Pradeepsinh Jadejain the Ishrat Jahan fake encoun-ter case, sources in the Centralagency said here.

The CBI had also sent a notice

to state Advocate General KamalTrivedi, asking him to appear be-fore it, sources added.

Jadeja was questioned inGandhinagar about an allegedmeeting held in November 2011 todecide the strategy "to obstructthe investigation" of the fake en-counters of Ishrat Jahan and threeothers, CBI sources said.

Suspended IPS officer G LSinghal, who was among the ninepersons who attended the meet-ing, had submitted two pen drivesto investigators containing the

recorded conversation of themeeting.

Singhal is now out on bail, asthe agency failed to file the chargesheet against him in the stipulated90 days.

The nine people who werepresent in the meeting held in pri-

vate chamber of Advocate Gen-eral Trivedi were G L Singhal,Singhal's lawyer friend RohitVerma, G C Murmu, A K Sharma,then MoS (home) Praful Patel,Jadeja, then former minister andnow agriculture ministerBhupendrasinh Chudasama andanother accused in Ishrat case,Tarun Barot.

Last week, CBI grilled Murmu,secretary to Chief MinisterNarendra Modi, and Crime BranchJoint Commissioner A K Sharma.

The agency also grilled sus-

pended IPS officer D G Vanzara lastweek regarding his resignation let-ter in which he had hit out at Modigovernment for failing to protectthe jailed police officers with re-gard to fake encounter cases.

CBI has named Singhal,Vanzara, suspended IPS officersP P Pandey and Tarun Barot, N KAmin, retired DSP J G Parmar andcommando Anaju Chaudhary inthe charge sheet, accusing themof murder and criminal conspiracywith regard to the encounter kill-ing of 19-year-old Ishrat, JavedSheikh alias Pranesh Pillai,Zeeshan Johar and Amjad AliRana on the outskirts ofAhmedabad in June 2004.

CBI's probe in the case was stillon, it had said when filing thecharge sheet in July 2013. -PTI

Suspended IPS officer G L Singhal, who wasamong the nine persons who attended themeeting, had submitted two pen drives toinvestigators containing the recordedconversation of the meeting

NEW DELHI: TDP chief andformer Chief Minister NChandrababu Naidu walked out ofthe National Integration Councilmeeting here in protest against

the move to bifurcate AndhraPradesh.

During the meeting, which wasconvened to discuss the growingincidents of communal violence,attack on women and atrocities onSCs and STs, Naidu wanted toraise the issue of Telangana andbring Central government's atten-tion to the continuous protests in

Seemandhra region against thebifurcation move.

Naidu said when he raised theissue, UPA chairperson SoniaGandhi objected to it and told him

that NIC was not the forumto discuss the Telangana is-sue.

Gandhi was immediatelyjoined by Finance MinisterP Chidambaram and HomeMinister SushilkumarShinde in preventingNaidu to raise the issue ofbifurcating AndhraPradesh.

The TDP chief saidChidambaram told him thathe would not be allowed tospeak on Telangana in theNIC meeting and if hewishes, he can walk out ofthe meeting, which he did.

"My point is, if I am not al-lowed to speak such a serious is-sue in such a forum where topleadership of the country ispresent, where will I go," heasked.

Naidu said there is continuoustension in entire Seemandhra andprotests and strike has crippledthe region.-PTI

N Chandrababu Naidu

12 India Post September 27, 2013www.indiapost.com

TechBizTech News Fairfax-led consortiumto buy BlackBerry

Indian, Chinese companies ink pactsworth USD 338 million

NEW DELHI: Indian and Chi-nese companies from sectors suchas cotton yarn, marine and agri-cultural products have signed 15contracts worth USD 338 million.

The pacts may help India cor-rect to some extent the trade defi-cit that ballooned to USD 39 bil-lion in China's favor in 2012-13.India's exports to China were onlyUSD 13.53 billion while importsstood at USD 52.24 billion last fis-cal.

"In a structured process of pro-curement of Indian products, 15MoUs between Indian and Chi-nese companies, worth value ofUSD 338 million have beensigned," said a Commerce Minis-try statement.

These contracts were signedduring the 'India, China BusinessMatchmaking Symposium' here. A50 member buyers' delegation fromChina is here for business meet-ings.

It said the products regardingwhich procurement MoUs weresigned include zinc and copper

concentrates, cotton yarn, frozenfish/linter, castor oil and guar gum,acrylic tow and Indian graniteblock.

Chinese firm Chinatex Corpora-

tion inked a purchase contractworth USD 5 million with IndianAcrylics Ltd to import acrylic fromIndia. China-based CITIC Interna-tional Co signed a purchase con-tract worth USD 130 million withMRI Trading to buy zinc concen-trates and copper concentrates.

China Textile Industrial Corpo-

ration inks a pact of USD 60 mil-lion with Cotton textiles ExportPromotion Council for purchase ofcotton yarn. Similarly, ChinalightResources Imp & Exp Corp has

inked a contract worth USD 35million with Sanchita Marine Prod-ucts for Indian frozen fishlinterpurchase, a CII statement said.

From the Indian side, nearly 60companies from varied sectors at-tended the symposium and theB2B meetings. Nearly 150 B2B in-teractions between enterprises

were scheduled.Earlier, Asit Tripathy, Joint

Secretary in Ministry of Com-merce said that India's trade defi-cit with China is a matter of con-cern and should be addressed ap-propriately to sustain the growthof bilateral trade on a long termbasis.

He said that Indian productslike engineering goods, petro-leum down stream products, agri-products, pharmaceuticals andservices like IT are internationallycompetitive and should be pro-vided access in the Chinese do-mestic market.

The Chinese business delega-tion was led by Jia Guoyong, ViceDirector General of Trade Devel-opment Bureau (TDB) China andhad members from varied sectorslike chemicals, plastics, steel,mines and minerals, cotton andtextiles.

Guoyong said imports from In-dia are going to be a long termpolicy backed by measures likereduction in tariff. -PTI

Canara Bank launches housingschemes for NRIs, HNIs

NEW DELHI: State-ownedCanara Bank has launched twonew housing schemes for Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and HighNetworth Individuals (HNIs), in abid to cash in on the festive fervor.

The demand from NRIs for

houses has increased consider-ably and enquiries with regard tohousing loans from NRIs withbuilders have grown by 20 percent at present, Canara Bank

Chairman and Managing DirectorR K Dubey said here.

Home loan of up to Rs 30 lakhwould be available to an NRI atthe base rate of 9.95 per cent, whileloans in the bracket of Rs 30-75lakh will be available at a rate of 10

per cent. Loans of above Rs 75lakh would attract Rs 10.20 percent.

Further, the demand fromHNIs for housing loans ofabove Rs 1 crore has also in-creased, Dubey said, adding,the premium housing loanscheme is exclusively for HNIshaving gross annual income ofRs 25 lakh and above.

The minimum loan amountunder the scheme is Rs 1 crore

and the rate of interest chargedwould be 10.05 per cent.

Processing charges for both theschemes have been waived till Oc-tober 31, he added. -PTI

Moody's cuts SBI's debtrating to 'Baa3'

MUMBAI: Global ratingagency Moody's has downgradedthe senior unsecured debt and lo-cal currency deposit rating ofIndia's largest bank SBIby a notch to 'Baa3' from'Baa2', citing asset qual-ity and recapitalizationconcerns.

"A combination of in-creasing pressure oncredit fundamentals andongoing reliance on fis-cally constrained gov-ernment to maintaincapital at levels desiredby regulators argue forappropriateness of sup-ported debt and deposit ratings ata level no higher than the sover-eign," Moody's said in a statement.

SBI's revised rating for the se-nior unsecured debt and local cur-rency deposit instruments wouldnow be Baa3 from the earlier Baa2,

it said, revising down the outlookon the bank's financial strengthrating to negative from stable.

Explaining the rationale behind

the action, Moody's said the on-going gloom on the economicfront will result in the asset qual-ity, with its loan impaired ratio al-ready touching 8.6 per cent, witha heavy increase in the June quar-ter.-PTI

Grameen Bank tobe brought undercentral bank

DHAKA: Bangladesh has de-cided to bring Nobel Prize winningGrameen Bank under the centralbank's jurisdiction amid contro-versy over the fate of the pioneer-ing micro-credit body after itsfounder Muhammad Yunus wasforced to quit two years ago.

"We have decided to bringGrameen Bank under theBangladesh Bank's jurisdiction inline with the suggestions of the(government-constituted GrameenBank) Commission," Finance Min-ister AMA Muhith told reporters.

He said the commission was yetto submit its final report to the gov-ernment but "we already knowabout its contents and are takingsteps to make the change as it sug-gested".

The three-member commissionwas constituted last year to reviewGrameen Bank's governing struc-ture after Yunus was forced to quitas its managing director losing hisfinal court battle.

For the last one year the Bankwas running without the managingdirector as Yunus obtained a stayorder from the High Court over theappointment of the bank's execu-tive head while Muhith said initia-tives were now underway to dis-pose the writ. -PTI

3G row: Court asksBharti Airtel toapproach TDSAT

NEW DELHI: The SupremeCourt has asked Bharti Airtel toapproach telecom tribunal TDSATwith its plea against a DoT orderasking it to stop providing intra-circle 3G roaming service outsidelicensed circles by entering intopacts with other service-providers.

The bench, comprising justicesB S Chauhan and S A Bobde, alsoasked the telecom major to movewithin two weeks Telecom DisputesSettlement Appellate Tribunal(TDSAT) which would decide thecase by the year end.

The apex court however, clari-fied that its interim order restrain-ing Indian telecom major BhartiAirtel from adding new customersvia 3G roaming pacts would con-tinue till December-end.

It also asked Airtel to name Reli-ance Communication as a respon-dent in the petition before TDSATwhich in turn would decide as towhether RComm has the right to beheard or not.

Besides Bharti, DoT has alsoasked telecom majors Vodafoneand Idea Cellular Ltd to stop pro-viding intra-circle 3G roaming ser-vice outside licensed circles byentering into pacts with other ser-vice-providers.-PTI

NEW YORK: Following months of speculation of a buyout,BlackBerry has said it has signed a letter of intent with a consortiumled by Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited to buy the struggling Cana-dian smartphone maker for USD 4.7 billion.

BlackBerry has signed a letter of intent agreement (LOI) under whicha consortium to be led by Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited has of-fered to acquire the company subject to due diligence, it said in astatement.-PTI

13India PostTechBiz PostSeptember 27, 2013

www.indiapost.com

Indian govt files affidavit oncoal blocks identification

NEW DELHI: The Indian gov-ernment has filed its affidavit inthe Supreme Court stating variousdevelopments taking place since1992 on coal block identificationand allocation to private compa-nies.

In its 24-page affidavit, backedby voluminous records, the Cen-tre contended the Coal India Ltd

is the lessee of state governmentsin respect of the coal mines whichwere vested Coal Mines Author-ity after nationalization of thenatural resources in 1973.

It said basic identification exer-cise of coal blocks is done by theCentral Mine Planning and Design

Institute Limited (CMPDIL) but theallocation of blocks for captivemining is done by CIL.

"In the circumstances, it is clearthat basic identification exercisewas conducted by CMPDIL but afinal decision allowing suchblocks to be given for captive min-ing had to be that of CIL sincebasically the interest of CIL had

to be taken into consideration,"the affidavit said.

The Centre said 172 blockscame to be identified for captivemining in 1997 which were not pro-posed to be taken up by CIL. Itsaid total geological reserve avail-able for Coal India is estimated

around 123 billion tonnes.The affidavit was filed to an-

swer the apex court which had onthe last hearing questioned theCentre on how coal blocks belong-ing to CIL were allocated to pri-vate companies.

The affidavit also said the gov-ernment had failed to produce cer-tain documents on the progressof government policy on the coalblock allocation to private compa-nies which started in 1993.

"If these coal blocks identifiedby CIL and Central Mine Planningand Design Institute Limited(CMPDIL) are part of the lease holdarea of CIL, then how can furtherright be created in favor of othercompanies," the apex court hadsaid on the last hearing.

The bench had said the issueis "most vital" for the case and itcannot proceed in the matterwithout government's clarifica-tion on it.

It had also asked the AG to sup-ply all booklets of CMPDIL foridentifying coal blocks and howapplications from the companieswere received by the Centre.

The apex court was hearing fi-nal arguments on PILs seekingcancellation of coal blocks alloca-tion. -PTI

Germany pushes for earlyconclusion of India-EU FTA

NEW DELHI: Germany haspressed India for early conclusionof the long-pending Free TradeAgreement with the EuropeanUnion, saying it would be a pity ifIndia "misses this FTA train" justbecause elections are nearing.

German Ambassador MichaelSteiner stressed that if India wantsto get back to growth of eight percent, it needs investment. Under-scoring the importance of FreeTrade and Investment agreementfor India, he said both the IndianPrime Minister and the GermanChancellor are in its fa-vor.

With Chancellor An-gela Merkel securing astunning hat-trick win inGermany's parliamen-tary elections, the am-bassador said nothingwill change on the fun-damentals in the foreignpolicy front.

"Germany continuesto be absolutely pro-Europe, pro further in-tegration steps and will continueon the path of solidarity and so-lidity," he added.

The ambassador said it is "stra-tegically important that EuropeanUnion facilitates its relations withIndia".

"The trade aspect is not so im-portant but investment is.

If India wants to get back togrowth of 8 per cent, it needs in-vestment. We need investmentsfrom companies who are not fol-lowing the philosophy of hotmoney but really strategic longterm presence in the country. Itwould be a pity if India misses thisFTA train and others will go aheadsimply because elections are near-

ing here," he said.Launched in June, 2007, the

negotiations for the proposedBroadbased Trade and InvestmentAgreement (BTIA) between Indiaand the 27-nation European blochas witnessed many hurdles withboth sides having major differ-ences on crucial issues.

Despite the hiccups, IndianPrime Minister Manmohan Singhhad in July voiced hope that thepact will be sealed soon.

The EU side has been pressingfor hiking FDI cap to 49 per cent in

the insurance sector. India has ex-pressed its inability to do so with-out an approval from the Parlia-ment.

Besides demanding significantduty cuts in automobiles, EU isalso demanding for tax reductionin wines and spirits and dairy prod-ucts and a strong intellectual prop-erty regime.

On the other hand, India is ask-ing for granting data secure na-tion status to it by EU. The matteris crucial as it will have a bearingon Indian IT companies wantingmarket access. It also wants liber-alized visa norms for its profession-als and market access in servicesand pharmaceuticals sector.-PTI

Lord Paul welcomes RBI decisionto hike repo rate

LONDON: Praising the new RBIGovernor Raghuram Rajan for "notfalling to populism", leading NRIindustrialist Lord Swraj Paul hassupported the decision to raise akey interest rate which had disap-pointed the Indian industry.

"I congratulate the governor forhis policy because he has notfallen to populism but is doing thebest for the economy and the coun-try. (In the) long-term, the economyneeds correction. There is no bet-ter time than to do it now," LordPaul said.

Rajan had unexpectedly raisedthe policy rate by 0.25 per cent,the first increase in almost twoyears, to keep inflation undercheck. There were expectationsthat RBI would maintain a statusquo on policy rates.

"Sooner or later, we will haveto create correction to theeconomy by bringing the currentdeficit down.

"The Food Security Bill is verygood and also some of the othermeasures...for meeting the needs

of the ordinary people of India,particularly the poor and themiddle class.

"Inflation must be kept down asthat hurts these people most," LordPaul said.

Reacting to Rajan's move, CIIDirector General Chandrajit

Banerjee had said the repo rate hikecould have been avoided as theindustry is already reeling underpressures of high cost of capitaland low availability in a tight liquid-ity situation.

"The increase in repo rate comesas a surprise," Banerjee said. -PTI

With Chancellor AngelaMerkel securing a stunninghat-trick win in Germany'sparliamentary elections, theambassador said nothingwill change on the funda-mentals in the foreignpolicy front.

RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan


www.indiapost.com

Horoscope14

Your Weekly FutureSEPTEMBER 28TH - OCTOBER 4TH, 2013

by Pandit Parashar

(March 21 to April 20)

Money expected will show up as promised. Spouse may be ner-

vous about few issues involving family members. You may re-

ceive few offers but may decide to let them go and wait for the right

one. All business meetings will go well and change of vendors will

save money in long terms. You may relish food of your choice with

family at the restaurant.

(November 23 to December 22)

All meetings will go well and sign would be positive. You will start

to enjoy company of a new colleague and may take him out for

lunch. You may make final payment on couple of bills and still have

plenty leftover. Spouse will make big changes in diet at home. Lucky

break you had been waiting for just around the corner.

(December 22 to January 19)

Little time spent on phone will help clear few confusions and get

roadblocks out of way. You will pay all your bills and still have

plenty in the bank. You may buy new furniture or some decorative

items for the house. A government agency may give final clearance.

You may attend a small celebration in close family this week.

(January 20 to February 18)

You will take many wise decisions after careful consideration. It

will be better to seek expert opinion before you answer any legal

query. money will come and will be well spent on good reasons. you

may stretch your limits when spending on a child. Good advice com-

ing from a matured person.

(February 19 to March 20)

Some one in the family will be going away for few days. You will

be looking for ways to have more peace at home. Money will

come and disappear fast as usual. A close friend will call and send

invitation too. You may try to get in touch with an old friend who was

very helpful. Boss may politely ask you about the project on hand.

(May 21 to June 20)

Sitting is not going to make things happen. You need quick and

timely actions as this could be the turning point in your life when

planets are in right order to do the magic with little efforts from you.

You will enjoy benefits for your efforts for many many years to come.

You will be spending lots of money on a child this week.

(July 23 to August 22)

Strong Venus will help many obstacles at work. People in busi-

ness will see sales shooting up this week. You may start look-

ing for a deal to change one of your old vehicle. Efforts you make will

continue to bring desired results. You may be writing a small check

to a government agency also. Stocks can get you some extra money.

(September 23 to October 22)

A colleague may try to involve you in an unnecessary argument.

You may start the process to obtain a loan or line of equity. You

may invite few close friends at your place this week. Luck is defi-

nitely on your side so continue working on the new project. You may

change your plan to visit a holy place on last minute.

(April 21 to May 20)

Your attention will be on children this week. You may dispose off

some money making stocks and put the money aside. Some

money will be spent on buying some gifts for others. People seeking

a change in career will be called for second interview. You may travel

to a nice place with family this weekend. handle all tools with extra

care.

(June 21 to July 22)

You will successfully resolve a tricky issue with a government

agency. You will try to make good use of extra time on hand and

may take spouse to a nice place for dinner. There will be sight confu-

sion but you will ultimately take the right decisions at work. You may

be still double minded about taking a trip overseas in near future.

(August 23 to September 22)

Money will come but will not stay for long. Old commitments may

continue to drain you out for some more time. Things may keep

getting slightly tough at existing place and as a result you may start

applying for job outside. Some of you may be getting ready to move

to a nice place. bachelors will consider recent proposal seriously.

(October 23 to November 22)

A female will be the cause of trouble and you may have to pay a

price for mistake made in past few weeks. you may contact an

expert to seek opinion and easy remedy. You may dispose off some

stocks and put the money in savings. Money wise you will continue

to do well. You may visit a mall and buy some new cloths also.

Pandit Parashar, CEO & COO Astro Scan USA is also available for individualconsultations. He can be reached at: [email protected]

510-886-4370 website: www.parashar.com


September 27, 201316

www.indiapost.com September 27, 2013

COMMUNITYACROSS AMERICA

Details on page 26

18 India Post

Desi News Great Gurus,devoted students

at Indian MusicFestival

Clinical staff urged to get trainedfor new classification of diseases

Dr Devi Shetty

Donald Waters, Executive Director ACCMA

Joseph Greaves, Asst. Executive Director ACCMA

VIDYA SETHURAMAN


MILPITAS, CA: The Associa-tion of Physicians of Indian Ori-gin (AAPIO) Semi-Annual Meet-ing was held on September 20 atthe India Community Center,Milpitas. The social hour beganat 6 pm followed by the GeneralMeeting at 7:30 pm. There werethree invited guest speakers forthe event. The first speaker wasAlameda-Contra Costa Medical

Association (ACCMA) ExecutiveDirector Donald Waters who wasintroduced by Dr Kranthi Achanta,President of AAPIO. Donald out-lined the emerging medical prac-tice issues in our community, in-cluding 10th International Statis-tical Classification of Diseases(ICD10) and Medical Injury Com-

pensation Reform Act (MICRA).Joseph Greaves, Assistant Ex-

ecutive Director, ACCMA ad-dressed the gathering on ICD10coding. On October 1, 2014, theICD-9 code sets used to reportmedical diagnoses and inpatientprocedures will be replaced byICD-10 code sets. It codes for dis-eases, signs and symptoms, ab-normal findings, complaints, so-cial circumstances, and externalcauses of injury or diseases.

The code set allows more than

14,400 different codes and permitsthe tracking of many new diag-noses. The codes can be ex-panded to over 16,000 by usingoptional sub-classifications. Jo-seph mentioned ICD10 would im-pact clinical staff as well as thephysicians and urged them to gettrained on the same.

The third speaker of theevening was Dr Devi PrasadShetty, Indian philanthropist andcardiovascular surgeon fromNarayana Hrudayalaya, Banga-lore, India. He was introduced byDr Vijay Tiwari, Secretary ofAAPIO. Dr Devi Shetty completedhis graduate degree in Medicineand post-graduate work in GeneralSurgery from Kasturba MedicalCollege, Mangalore.

He was trained in cardiac sur-gery at Guy's Hospital in theUnited Kingdom. Dr Shetty wasawarded Padma Bhushan, thirdhighest civilian award in the Re-public of India for Medicine inPriya Gandhi

2012 and Padma Shri in 2004 toname a few. He was the personalphysician of Mother Teresa.

In 2001, Shetty foundedNarayana Hrudayalaya (NH), amulti-specialty hospital with 5000

beds in Bangalore. He believes thatthe cost of healthcare can be re-duced by 50 percent in the next 5-10 years if hospitals adopt the ideaof economies of scale.

Sunita Japra, Dr Romesh Japra & Dr Harmesh Kumar

Cont’d on page 20

Gandhi Trust topay tribute to theMahatma on Oct 2SURENDRA ULLAL


CHICAGO: Gandhi MemorialTrust, a no profit body in Illinois,has announced celebratingGandhi Jayanti, the birth anniver-sary of Mahatma Gandhi, to paytribute to Father of the Nation onWednesday, October 2.

Trustees will be present at the

statue of Mahatma in Skokie, anorth side suburb of Chicago, tofacilitate the celebration from 10am to 11 am that day. Since it isworking day, members of the com-munity and others and families areencouraged to visit the statue dur-ing the day at their convenience

Mahatma Gandhi's basic peaceand Ahimsa message is most rel-evant in the present strife-tornworld. "Peace is the only way toresolve the conflicts. Gandhiteaching is needed more than ever.This visit will be good reminder ofGandhian teaching and also toeducate children about the manwho brought freedom around theworld through non-violence," saidOm Prakash Kamaria, Chairman ofthe Trust.

He said that only flowers will beoffered so the visitors need notbring any candles so as to main-tain the cleanliness near the statuewhich is located on the east sideof the McCormick Blvd betweenDempster and Church in Skokie.

Mahatma Gandhi statute in Skokei

Details on page 25

Air Tours set forfresh push in travel-tour business

Details on page 23

Cory Bookeraddresses SouthAsian Community

India Post 19September 27, 2013 Community Across Americawww.indiapost.com

Ganesh Visarjan reminiscent of Mumbai ceremonies

VIDYA SETHURAMAN


SUNNYVALE, CA: GaneshChaturthi is celebrated with muchaplomb by people outside Indiaas well and the rituals associatedwith the festivities go on for 10days. Sunnyvale Hindu Templehad organized a week long

Ganeshotsav. The festivitiescame to an end with the grandGanesh Visarjan on September 15in Pacific Ocean.

The rituals started withGanapathi Pooja around 8 am onSeptember 15, followed byGanapathi abishek, bhajan andmahaarti by priests of SunnyvaleHindu Temple. Melody queen

Anuradha Paudwal sang in praiseof Ganesha bhagvan and did themangal aarti. Devotees fromSuunyvale, Santa Clara, Moun-tain View, San Jose took part inthis auspicious ceremony.

Devotees boarded the busesat 1:30 pm and reached the pier ataround 2:30 pm. On the cruise thepandits performed maha

abhisekham and aarti. Amidstdhol and bhajan, Ganesh Visarjanwas done by Raj Bhanot. Thiswas followed by devotees per-forming the arti and visarjan for

Vipan Bhanot and Raj Bhanot with Anuradha Paudwal and the priest

The visarjan in Pacific

New Whole Foods store offers best tastes & highest quality

Foolish hens, Ramavtar Singhfarms, Terra Bella Farms, ChanSaelee to name a few.These farms are within100 miles of Fremont.The store employs 189team members and 60per cent of them are lo-cal Fremont residentsand freshers.

It features meat, sea-food, grocery, pre-pared foods, bakerybulk section, nut but-ters, whole body sec-tions. Mission PeakTap Alley is theunique element of Fre-mont whole foodsstore and has sevenbeers on tap in a charm-ing tap room housed within thestore. Local beers on tap are frombreweries including Bison OrganicBeer, Ale Industries, Drake's Brew-

ing, Cali Craft and Red Branch Ci-ders.

The store also houses a "DosaCorner" catering different variet-ies of dosa using organic ingredi-ents complemented with yummychutneys. The store is planningto sell curry leaves, karela (bittergourd), okra, neem powder, freshturmeric and is a definite stop forthe Indian community for highquality organic produce, saysHarv Singh, Forger at Wholefoods.

"Whole Foods Market looksforward to being part of Fremont'sdiverse community, as well asbuilding lasting relationshipswith local vendors, the businesscommunity and residents alike,"said Pedro Fonseca, store team

leader. The store offers the best-tasting, freshest and highest-quality meat available that meetsthe company's strict quality stan-

dards, which include that animalsare raised on a vegetarian dietwithout being administered anti-biotics or added growth hor-mones.

All beef, pork, chicken andturkey carried in the fresh and pre-packaged cases at all WholeFoods Market stores in the UScomes from farms that are ratedaccording to Global AnimalPartnership's 5-Step Animal Wel-fare Rating.

Four times a year, Whole FoodsMarket sets aside a day on whichfive percent of the day's net salesis contributed to a local non-profitorganization. The Fremont storewill kick off a "Week of Giving"on September 30 and have fiveone-percent days.

The first 250 shoppers re-ceived a free gift bag filled withWhole Foods Market signatureitems.

VIDYA SETHURAMAN


FREMONT, CA: On September19, around 4:30pm, I was joined byover 20 media members and agroup of Whole Foods represen-tatives on a media sneak peek ofthe new store in Fremont. WholeFoods Market opened its new Fre-mont store at 3111 Mowry Avenueon Wednesday, Sept. 25.

The 39,000-square-foot store,located at the corner of MowryAvenue and Paseo Padre Parkway,features worldly decor with locallysourced tiles from Fire Clay Tile inSan Jose. Shoppers will find asalad bar, the hot bar, fresh pro-

duce and meat, plus a fewunique treats such as pizza cafeand Dosa corner.

Decorations reflect the di-verse culture of city of Fremont.Green design elements includereclaimed Douglas fir woodused for various fixtures; LEDlights on exterior lighted signs,track lighting, hood lightingand all refrigerated food casesand electric car charging sta-tions.

All new wood fixtures andwood cladding throughout thestore are made from ForestStewardship Council (FSC)Certified Wood. The FSC stan-dards represent the world'sstrongest system for guidingforest management toward sus-tainable outcomes.

The store features fresh pro-duce from local vendors suchas CCOF, Hillcrest Olive Oil,

Lisa Maria Wilson and Pedro Fonseca

Harvindar Singh

their own Ganapthi idol. GaneshVisarjan in Pacific Ocean amidstpuja and religious ceremonieswas recreating Mumbai in US,says a devotee.

September 27, 2013India Post20 Community Across Americawww.indiapost.com

Narayana Hrudayalaya also re-ceives patients from outside India,and it has created a record of per-forming nearly 15,000 surgeries onpatients from 25 countries. Its lowcost model has attracted inter-national acclaim and severalstates have shown interest to setup hospitals on similar model.

Dr Shetty spoke on GlobalHealthcare initiative and how to

bring down healthcare cost. Ex-plaining that his job as a heart sur-geon means he puts a price on hu-man life every day, Dr Shetty saidhe is trying to reduce the cost ofheart surgeries from $1400 to $800and dialysis to $10. India will be-

Clinical staff urged to get trained fornew classification of diseases

come the first country in the worldto dissociate healthcare from af-fluence, says Dr Shetty.

Indians are genetically thricevulnerable for heart disease thanEuropeans. India needs 2.5 millionheart surgeries a year, but per-forms only 90,000. "We workedwith L&T to build a 300 bed superspecialty hospital for US $7 mil-lion and completed the project ineight months as against the nor-mal time period of three years,"

says Dr Shetty.Shetty indicated that there are

hundreds of towns in India with apopulation of 500,000 to one mil-lion where there are no heart hos-pitals. Over the next few years,Narayana Hrudayalaya targets to

build this kind of easily replicablelow cost model in such towns andTier 3/Tier 4 cities.

According to NarayanaHrudayalaya practices, a very im-portant aspect in keeping thecosts low is to monitor and mea-sure it regularly. It has implementedan Oracle ERP on cloud that pro-vides detailed information on areal time basis. Dr Shetty also aimsto add 30,000 beds in the nextseven to ten years as he believes

that the coun-try requiresclose to twomillion bedsand does notforesee thegovernmentproviding it."Adding just1,000 to 2,000beds is notgoing to makea difference.The need isjust tremen-

dous," he emphasized.The evening's entertainment

was a fashion show and light mu-sic by local desi band. The pro-gram concluded with music anddancing and sumptuous dinner byAmber India.

Cont’d from page 18

Hawaii Swami cautions on the promise & peril of YogaIndia Post News Service

SANTA CLARA, CA:Paramacharya Sadasivanatha-swami of the Himalayan Academyin Hawaii spoke at the Dharma &Yoga Festival here on science andconsciousness. He explained howquantum physics now under-stands that consciousness cre-ated the brain and not vice versa.

Paramacharya Sadasivanatha-swami is the editor-in-chief of Hin-duism Today magazine, and is oneof the stewards of Saiva SiddhantaChurch, Himalayan Academy andHindu Heritage Endowment.

The Paramacharya talkedabout the evolution of Hatha yogain America, how media initiallyviewed Yoga as a heathen inva-sion of America to now when it'sbecome so popular. Time maga-zine has put Yoga on its cover twiceand now it's become so hot, socool, so this minute! 22 millionAmericans profess to practiceYoga, and it's a 20 billion dollar in-dustry. Michelle Obama teachesyoga on the White House lawn aspart of a program to reduce obe-sity in children.

The US Government PatentBoard has 1876 Copyrights, 567

Patents and 2993 Trademarks thatare related to Yoga. Yogis are us-ing these to tie each other's handsas infringements on the use ofAsanas and terminologies. US

Federal court last year has agreedthat a specific sequence of 26poses can't be copyrighted. A po-litically savvy group, the HinduAmerican Foundation, is fightingto take back Yoga from beingstripped from its authenticity andbecoming commercial.

The Paramacharya spokeabout the Kundalini by narratingthe story of someone who experi-mented with all the Kundalini tech-niques he read in a text, on his own

without a Guru. He had wonderfulspiritual experiences, but then hehad a long descent into great painand sorrow. He described it asthough too much of an electriccurrent was driven through a smallwire, which his nervous system,and burned through his spine. He

couldn't sit, stand, or sleep, andfinally got cancer of the spine.

This is what happened by theearly arousal of the Kundalini. It'sbecome a bit too popular to talkabout Kundalini Yoga in unknowl-edgeable circles andParamacharya would like thischange. His Guru says to be cau-tious of those who promise greatKundalini awakening and spiritualrewards, without proper prepara-tion, initiation and renunciation.Those who get angry should notpractice Kundalini Yoga.

There are four main paths, orYogas: Karma, Raj, Bhakti andJnan. The general opinion is thatone should pursue the path that

is akin to one's nature.Paramcharya has another take onwho should practice these Yogas.Jnan Yoga is for those with astrongly developed mysticalsense, it's a direct experience ofhigher states of consciousness, ofwhat a Yogi becomes and not anintellectual study of the texts. Hesays that very intelligent peopleoften benefit more from openingtheir hearts through Bhakti Yoga.Karma, Raj and Bhakti Yoga are apre-requisite for Jnan Yoga for theproper preparation for Jnan Yoga.These Yogas are cumulativestages and none should be aban-doned along the path, all four needto be integrated, he said.

Paramacharya Sadasivanathaswami

Honda announces bill toexpand social security benefits


WASHINGTON, DC: Rep. MikeHonda (D-Calif.) has announcedthe introduction of the Strength-ening Social Security Act of 2013,helping lead an effort in Congressto modernize Social Security andensure that it is a sustainable, sol-vent system for future beneficia-ries. The bill, H.R. 3118, was pre-

viewed at a press conference inSilicon Valley this summer.

"This legislation will ensurethat benefits keep up with today'srising costs, and that current andfuture retirees regain the securityof aging with dignity," remarkedRep. Honda upon the bill's intro-duction. "There is no doubt thatthe program needs structural im-provements, and the fairest, sim-plest way to keep it solvent is torequire all Americans - regardlessof income level - to contributeequally."

The bill - introduced with Rep.Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.) and Sen.Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) - eliminatesthe cap on taxable income paying

into Social Security, ensuring thatall individuals pay into the pro-gram at the same rate. Currently,individuals are only taxed on thefirst $113,700 of income, allowinga person earning $1 million annu-ally to be taxed at a significantlylower percentage than a workermaking $50,000 - the national av-erage. The bill also makes formulaadjustments to increase benefits

by approximately $800 annually tobetter reflect today's risinghealthcare costs.

"Americans at every stage oflife are concerned about whetherthey will have enough money tolive on when they retire," said Sen.Harkin. "The American Dreampromises that if you work hard andplay by the rules, you will be ableto save for retirement and enjoyyour golden years with yourgrandchildren. We must ensurethat, after a lifetime of hard work,Americans are able to retire withdignity and financial indepen-dence. This legislation helps toachieve that goal."

Rep. Mike Honda

Cont’d on page 22

A section of the audience

India Post 21September 27, 2013www.indiapost.com


'A Bug's Light!' teaches electrical safety to students

Chico City Council opened with Hindu prayer

Said Karen Friedman, ExecutiveVice President and Policy Directorat the Pension Rights Center: "Weapplaud Rep. Honda for sponsor-ing and being a vocal advocate forthis critical bill, which willstrengthen and improve SocialSecurity for today's andtomorrow's retirees. There is noquestion that Social Security is thenation's most important social in-surance program, and this legisla-tion will ensure that it remains astrong foundation of retirementsecurity for millions of Americans."

Honda announces bill toexpand social security benefits

Virginia Reno, Vice Presidentfor Income Security Policy at theNational Academy of Social Insur-ance (NASI), characterized the billas a necessary step toward reform:"NASI's non-partisan researchfinds strong public support forchanges that strengthen SocialSecurity revenues in ways similarto the provisions of this bill. Thereis widespread agreement amonglarge majorities of Americans -across age, income, party lines,race, and ethnicity - who valueSocial Security and are willing topay more, if necessary, to pre-serve and improve it."



ROSEMEAD, CA: A superheroinsect is headed to 10underserved elementary schoolsacross Southern CaliforniaEdison's (SCE) service area toteach students about electricalsafety through a live theatre pro-duction of "A Bug's Light!"

Sparky the Wonder Bug starsin the multimedia, interactivesafety production, produced byThe National Theater for Children(NTC), which actively engagesstudents in learning what they and

their families can do safely aroundelectricity. An estimated 5,400 sawthe production Sept. 16-20 as partof National Preparedness Month.

Edison International, parentcompany of SCE, donated $25,000to NTC to produce the play to edu-cate children in schools in South-ern California, including Compton,Alhambra, Santa Ana, MorenoValley, San Bernardino and Ox-nard.

"Safety is our No. 1 priority andwe want children, as well as adults,to know how to be safe aroundelectricity," said Janet Clayton,

senior vice president, CorporateCommunications for Edison Inter-national and Southern CaliforniaEdison. "When we saw how wellstudents and teachers reacted to'A Bug's Light!' last year, we were

excited to bring it back again andcontinue educating children aboutelectrical safety in a way that makeslearning fun."

The production uses a combi-nation of interactive learning tech-

niques that include an entertain-ing, all-school assembly performedby professional actors, classroomcurriculum, digital educationalgames and homework assign-ments.

Wendi West (NTC actor), Diane Tasaka (Public Education and Communications Manager, SCE), Steven Longacre

(Principal, Taft Elementary), Dalilah Davaloz (Senior Communications Specialist, SCE),

and Michael Van Schoick (NTC actor)

Wendi West (Sparky the Wonderbug, NTC actor)


Chico City Council in Cali-fornia (USA), incorporatedin 1872, had its first his-

toric Hindu invocation on Septem-ber 17, containing verses fromworld's oldest existing scripture.

Rajan Zed, President of Univer-sal Society of Hinduism, deliveredthe invocation from ancient San-skrit scriptures. After Sanskrit de-livery, he then read the Englishtranslation of the prayer.

Zed recited from Rig-Veda, theoldest scripture of the world still

in common use, besides lines fromUpanishads and Bhagavad-Gita(Song of the Lord), both ancientHindu scriptures. He started andended the prayer with "Om", themystical syllable containing theuniverse, which in Hinduism isused to introduce and conclude

religious work.Reciting from

Brahadaranyakopanishad, RajanZed said, "Asato ma sad gamaya,Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya, Mrtyormamrtam gamaya", which he thentranslated as "Lead me from theunreal to the Real, Lead me from

darkness to Light, and Lead mefrom death to Immortality." Recit-ing from Bhagavad-Gita, he urgedcouncilmembers to keep the wel-fare of others always in mind.Councilmembers, city employeesand public were seen standing inprayer mode with their heads

bowed down during this invoca-tion.

Zed sprinkled few drops of wa-ter from river Ganga of India onthe podium before the prayer. Zedpresented a copy of prayerbookSrihanumanchalisa to Mayor ScottGruendl, who introduced and

thanked Zed. "It is a historic mo-ment of pride for the communitywhen the prayers from ancientSanskrit scriptures are being readin this great hall of democracy ofthis great city of Chico", Zedstated before starting the invo-cation.

Female majority Chico withoak-shaded downtown claims tomaintain "a special sense of com-munity" and is nicknamed as"City of Roses". Home to BidwellPark spread in 3,670 acres, said tobe the fourth largest municipal

park in USA; Chico has toppedthe Forbes list of "Best Places inAmerica" and has been recog-nized as "Top Place to Live theWestern Dream" and "#1 CyclingCommunity in America". MarkSorensen and Brian Nakamura areVice Mayor and City Manager re-spectively. Prominent people as-sociated with Chico includeOlympians Emily Azevedo, Jo-seph Bottom and Leslie Deniz;actress Amanda Detmer; painterJackson Pollock and musicianMat Kearney.

Just before the Chico City Council Hindu invocation, from left to right, are Councilmember Ann Schwab,

Councilmember Tami Ritter, Councilmember Randall Stone, Rajan Zed, Mayor Scott Gruendl, Vice Mayor Mark

Sorensen, Councilmember Mary Goloff and Councilmember Sean Morgan


Air Tours set for fresh push intravel-tour business

RAMESH SOPARAWALA, HITESH DESAI & ASIAN MEDIA USA

CHICAGO: A premier Indianowned travel and tour company,Air Tours Inc, is set for further ex-pansion of its operations and ac-tivities in the coming year with aview to serving its burgeoningnumber of customers better.

Mafat Patel, President of thecompany and Ravi Shanker, Man-aging Director of Mumbai basedVacation Exotica, told this paperthat Air Tours and the Mumbai firmwill soon launch tours for Indiansin North America seeking to visitcertain places and destination inthe country for a relatively shortperiod.

Varsha Patel, Managing Direc-tor of Air Tours, said that two suchgroup tours are planned fortemples in South India and touristplaces in Rajasthan. This will befollowed up with many such toursdepending on the interest shownby Indians and even Americanshere. Air Tours have group toursdone for destinations other thanIndia like China, Russia, Australiaand Africa. "Our success in these

areas induced us to have a similarplatform for India too," she said.

Ravi Shankar said that yet an-other motivating factor was asharp fall in the value of rupee visa vis dollar. "The group Indiantours would look more attractivenow than before," he said. Vaca-tion Exotica will look after the tour-ists once they land in India.

He said that unlike many othertour operators they will have extraemphasis on quality and service"which is our wont for similar toursto Europe, China and other desti-nations in the world. We do notcompromise on services- lodging,

boarding and transportations andthis has led to tour successes andwe will do one better with India,"he said.

The travel and tour businesshas shown a sign of revival, he

said, after slow ending of the eco-nomic recession. "We have beendoing extremely good with ourgroup tours to Russia and China.The Indian business is up too andone of the factors is drop in rupeevalue," he said. Ravi Shankar flewfrom Mumbai to attend the Cus-tomers Appreciation event hostedby Air Tours here.

The annual customer apprecia-tion banquet of Air Tours was heldon Sunday September 22 at TheMeadows Club in Rolling Mead-ows. It was for their Ticket / Holi-day & Cruise Customers. The hallwas packed to near capacity with

over 600 guests and invitees at-tending the near three-hour pro-gram

After socializing hour of cock-tails and hors d'oeuvres, the pro-gram started with MC Buena Patel

welcoming the guests and invitedAir Tours President Mafat Patel,VP Tulsi Patel, and Founder AmritPatel joined by Amathi Patel [Di-rector] and Medstar LaboratoriesCEO Naren Patel for traditionallamp lighting ceremony. She rec-ognized Mohammed Anwar fromEtihad Airways, CEO Ravi Shankarfrom Associate Partner VacationExotica, and Business Develop-ment Specialist Sandra Agustifrom Norwegian Cruise Lines,

Mafat Patel, a man of fewwords, thanked his staff for theircommitment and also clients fortheir continued trust and support.

"I remember when this venturefirst started, we barely had the re-sources to run a business, besidesstruggling just to get up from theground. We relentlessly workedtoward our objectives and carriedout all the necessary steps to-wards growth and success," hesaid beaming with joy.

Analyzing factors behind AirTours stupendous growth he said"challenges are part of life but inthe long run hard work and hon-esty always pays off." A videoclip by a satisfied customer whohad availed of their services forTickets/Vacation Packages &Cruise Vacations was shown.

Air Tours Managing DirectorVarsha Patel introduced her staff,starting with Schaumburg Branch

Manager Pravina Patel. The teamcomprised ticketing agentsPavithra, Mohini, Farheen andSana. Manshi Brahmbhatt man-ages the Devon Head Office teamcomprising Hema, Rutva, Asraand Bhaskar. Manager of vaca-tions and cruises Hitendra Desai'steam comprises Vandana Laxmi,Sunita, Binita, and Jagdish andAnil. Accounts Manager ManojChokshi and his assistant Rohanrounded up the list of staff mem-bers felicitated.

There were many raffles in-cluding two business class airtickets & vacation packages toDubai/Singapore/Malaysia/Thai-land/Turkey & India and manysurprise prizes for their valuedclients. The Mumbai Masti Group(MMG) provided live entertain-ment with full energy. The EtihadAiways offered Two Businessclass tickets to the winner of thedraw

The Air Tours Holidays & Va-cation Exotica offered five Rafflesfor a couple to various destina-tions of the world. Masti Cruise,well known Cruise planner forFamily Vacations & Groups withtheir preferred partner NorwegianCruise Lines, offered BahamasCruise Vacation.

Raffles Draw was done by As-sociate Partners, Valued Clients,Patel Family. There were manysurprises in between with a livequiz show giving instant Rafflesapart from Main Raffles. Thesewere again US$1500 Off Voucherfor Holidays & Two US $250 GiftVouchers from SAHIL.

The Air Tours Team with Mafat Patel (center sitting) flanked by Varsha Patel (to his right) and Ravito (his left)

Lamp lighting ceremony (L-R) Amrit Patel, Mafat Patel, Tulsi Patel, Amathi Patel and Naren Patel

An artist performing at Air Tour Party


Indian-American is runner up in Ms Vegetarian contestPRAKASH SWAMY

NEW YORK: Following the re-cent crowning of Nina Davuluri as2014 Miss America pageant, an-other Indian-American studentTeena Sukhwal was on achieve-ment list. She was Miss Vegetar-ian Runner Up in the Mr and MissVegetarian Pageant organized byVegetarian Vision in Long Islandin New York. An American girlPamela Osborn Popp was chosenfor Miss Vegetarian title.

Mr Vegetarian title went to

Harshil Parekh and Mr Vegetarianrunner up is Meghav Parikh. Morethan 40 talented contestants be-tween the age group of 18 and 26,representing over 20 different col-leges from New York, New Jerseyand Connecticut shared theirthoughts on vegetarian way of lifeand exhibited exquisite talent.

Teena is a pre-med student atNew York Institute of Technologyand a resident of Sayville, LongIsland. She is 5.9 tall weighing 115

lbs. Her parents Chandra Sukhwal,a businessman and KalpanaSukhwal hail from Rajasthan.Teena has been chosen to repre-sent New York at Miss Jewel USAcontest in 2014.

Vegetarian Vision, a not forprofit to promote vegetarianism,organized the first annual intercol-legiate tri-state Mr & Miss Veg-etarian Pageant at the MaguireTheatre in Old Westbury in LongIsland.

The pageant was organizedwith the goal of promoting veg-etarian way of life among youthand college students in the US,said its Founder and ChairmanHarshad K. Shah.

The contestants went throughthree different rounds for the pag-eant namely - personality and tra-ditional round (top 21); TalentRound (Top 11) and Question an-swer round (Top 6).

Animesh Goenka president and

Naveen Shah pageant adviser andincoming President honored thewinners.

The audience was also givenan opportunity to participate in theselection process. The selectedwinners received scholarshipchecks from Vegetarian Vision.Founder and Chairman Harshad K.Shah spoke on the need to makepeople healthy by consuming veg-etarian food and change inlifestyle to save animals.

Navin Shah

honoring Teena

Sukhwal, the

runner up in

Vegetarian

Pageant


Cory Booker addresses South Asian CommunityIndia Post News Service

EDISON, NJ: Mayor of Newark,NJ, Cory Booker, who is runningfor the US Senate on a Democraticticket, on Sept 14 addressed anintimate gathering of the SouthAsian Community at TV Asia, withfocus on diversity.

"I'm very encouraged by thisspirit that we have in NJ. This re-siliency this toughness, and I be-lieve it's that spirit that makes usstrong," said Booker. "But theSouth Asian Community to me inmany ways is like a jewel in ourstate that many people don't rec-ognize."

Regarded as one of the mostversatile Democrat leaders, he isfacing Steve Lonegan, Mayor ofBogota (R) in a special election tobe held statewide on October 16for US Senate.

This election is caused due tothe death of veteran US Senator,Frank Lautenberg (D). His vacantseat is temporarily filled by NJ

Governor Chris Christie appoint-ing Attorney General Jeffrey

L-R Newark NJ Mayor Cory Booker, NJ Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula (D),

Chairman & CEO of TV Asia H.R. Shah & TV Asia's Senior News Anchor

Rohit Vyas after a Face to Face Interview

L-R Newark NJ Mayor Cory Booker, Chairman & CEO of TV Asia H.R. Shah &

NJ Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula (D) after Cory Booker was presented a

statue of Lord Ganesha

Chiesea as a Senator.Referring to a story of Mahatma

Gandhi, Booker said, "The way wemake change in this world is by ex-hibiting it ourselves. You cannot askanother culture to respect you un-less you respect that culture; youcannot expect there to be love un-less you are an agent of love andunderstanding."

Booker, who received continu-ous applause for his words, wenton to acknowledge all the religiouscommunities present.

Connecting diversity in theUnited States, Booker added,"One of the greatest Americans

Referring to a story of Mahatma Gandhi,Booker said, "The way we make change inthis world is by exhibiting it ourselves. Youcannot ask another culture to respect youunless you respect that culture; you cannotexpect there to be love unless you are anagent of love and understanding."

BAPS Charities Health & Children Fair in ChicagoSEETA BRAHMBHATT

CHICAGO: BochasanwasiAkshar Purshottam Swaminarayan(BAPS) Charities conducted ahealth fair recently keeping up its

tradition of providing communityat large access to health care ser-vices, receive quality advice and

Health care professionals at BAPS Health Fair Eye exam in progress

preventive medical care.The Health Fair was held on

Sunday Sept 8 at the BAPS Chi-cago Mandir Complex in Bartlett.

Over the course of two weekendsduring the month of August andSeptember, more than 500 local resi-

dents and community membersreceived services through the Fair.Participants received preventivemedical care including routine lab

work and tests for bone density,and consultative advice.

With over 80 healthcare profes-

sionals providing expert care andmedical advice, patients were bet-ter informed about medical risks,prevention tools, and how to take

an active role in improving theirdaily health. Over 20 specialtieswere represented including ENT,

Cardiology, Orthopedics, Eye Dis-eases, Gynecology, Diabetes andEndocrinology, GastroenterologyPharmacy and Rheumatology.

The Health Fair was run effi-ciently and in a two-step process.The patients' blood was drawnahead of the time of Health Fair. Thispermitted the physicians to inte-grate evaluation with the test re-sults during their interaction withpatients. Specialist's advice wasmost welcome by the participants.

On Sunday, August 18, BAPSCharities hosted its 2nd AnnualChildren's Health Fair and SafetyDay. Over 200 children partici-pated in the hands-on work shop,learned about care provided bypolice and fire department, poisonprevention, Teddy Bear clinic toexperience about a mock doctor'soffice visit, balanced diet, and obe-sity prevention. The success ofthis health fair was due to the tire-less efforts of the volunteers ofBAPS Charities and many healthcare professionals.

we celebrate isLate MartinLuther King, Jr.But if we seepictures of Mar-tin Luther Kingin his home youwill see a pictureof MahatmaG a n d h i . "Booker, throughs t u d y i n gGandhi's life andp h i l o s o p h y ,also gained aninterest instudying Hin-duism and the

Vedanta.At the beginning of his visit,

TV Asia's Chairman H.R. Shahpresented Booker with a tradi-tional garland, and a statue ofLord Ganesh, a Hindu deity whois referred to prior to the begin-ning of any new venture, as asymbol of good luck.

Amongst those in at ten-dance were NJ AssemblymanUpendra Chivukula (D), CEO ofIndia Abroad Rajeev Bhambri,Anil Patel, Gulshan Chhabra, NJCouncilman Dr SudhanshuPrasad, Sunil Naik, Dr DeepakShah, Dr Dhaduk, andChandrakant Trivedi.


Great Gurus, devoted students at Indian Music FestivalSHUBHA SUBBARAO

ST LOUIS: A two-day St. LouisIndian Music Festival held at theMidwest Music Conservatory inBallwin, Missouri, on September14 and 15 brought in the elementsof music styles together on oneplatform through great Gurus andtheir devoted students. The Fes-tival attracted hundreds from farand wide places across USA

The Indian classical musicRagas and Talas are time testedand there are two main traditionalsystems in India - Carnatic (fromsouth India) and Hindustani (fromNorth India). Veteran vocalists

such as Dr Nagamani Srinath, MrsSeema Kasthuri and Ashok Ramaniperformed with accompanimentssuch as percussion and strings.

Richard Bennett from New Yorkpresented a new twist to Jazz withIndian Ragas along with SitaristIndrojit Roy. Other well-knownmusicians such as MannargudiEaswaran, Srinivas Venupuri -both extraordinary mrudangists;violinists such as NagaiMuralidharan, Shiva Sankalp;tabla (an Indian drum) player suchas Naren Budhkar performed withgusto.

Preceding the music festivalconcerts, was the release of a songalbum - "Nireeksha" by Mrs SeemaKasthuri, produced by Red ChairRecording company. After the tra-ditional 'lighting of the lamp' byrepresentatives of the supportingorganizations, the CD was re-leased by Dr Ashwath Rao.

Jagadish Atri spoke on the His-tory of 'Sugum Sangeeth'. DrShankar Sastry, eminent Professorspoke on the literature used in thelyrics of the CD. ShankarDevanahalli brought in the es-sence of music that can be under-stood by the lay person. MrsHema Srikanta, through examplesfrom the songs on the album, high-

lighted the feelings portrayed bywomen and what levels they car-ried the emotions to. Interestingly,the lyrics to a large extent werecomposed by Seema Kasthuri'smother, Mrs Vasantha Murthy, awell-known writer from Karnataka.Guru Sandhya Pandurangi spokeabout the music style and the clar-ity of the melodies and the rhythmthrough the CD.

Dr Nagamani Srinath, teacher ofMrs Seema Kasthuri, blessed herstudent for continued successand also touched upon the valueof 'bhavageethe' in bringing social

awareness amongst peoplethrough simple yet valuable lifelessons.

A short recital by upcomingyoung musicians of St. Louis,Anushka, Ipsita, Hershita,Niharika, Roshni, Samhita,Sanjana, Lakshita, Nivedita,Samanvita, Divya, Vindhya,Pratishta, Priya and Shruthi, wasenjoyed by parents, grandparentsand guests.

"Raga Jazz" was a muchawaited program in the festival.Guru Prasanna Kasthuri, the lead

organizer of this festival and di-rector of Soorya Performing Arts,had invited a trio of musiciansfrom New York - Richard Bennetton the grand piano, Indrojit Roy-Chowdhury on the sitar andNaren Budhkar on the tabla. RagaJazz was a blend of classical andfusion

On his first visit to STL, Rich-ard paid his respects by playingthe St. Louis Blues. He playedpieces with the sitarist and thetabla player and also did a fewsolos. He concluded by playing ashort piece on the 'melodica'.Indrajit Chowdhury played a tra-ditional classical piece in RagaGowti set to Teen Taal in betweenthe trio's Jazz rendition. Naren wasbrilliant on his tabla. The trioplayed Raga Gunakali, Vachaspati,Hamsadwani and Mia Ka Malahar.

The highlighted artist of thesecond part of the festival was DrNagamani Srinath, classical musicexponent, professor of music, or-ganizer and composer from India.Starting off with the popularMuthuswami Diskhitar krithi inRaga Hamsadvani, Vaatapiganapathim bhaje, she held theaudience in a musical trance foran enchanting three hours of clas-sical Indian repertoire.

Other pieces from the greatcomposers that she included were

Swatitirunal composition in RagaKaanada (Maamavuta shri) andTyagaraja's composition inHindola. She sang a beautiful krithi"Lambodaracharanam" which washer composition in vilambakala(slower pace). She concluded theconcert with a Purandaradasadevaranama and a tillana. She wasably accompanied by violinistShiva Sankalp, Columbia, Missouriand mrudangist Srinivas Venupurifrom Tampa, Florida. Seema

Kasthuri, her student, sang withher for a few numbers.

The second day of the festivalstarted with Mrs Seema Kasthuri'sconcert - a two hour recital in thedisciplined style of classicalCarnatic music. Starting off with avarna, Valachi, in Ragamalika, shewent on to render other melodi-ous krithis such as Gajamukhanes i d d h i d a y a k a n e ,Brahmavidyaambike shri (aDikshitar composition), andShankarashrigirinatha prabho.Seema chose Raga Kamboji for her'aalapne' (manodharma).Manodharma is a form of impro-vised music and is created on thespot during the performance, butwithin the confines of strict gram-mar of music.

ElaraKrishna, a Tyagaraja com-position in the same raga was justblissful! Towards the end, shechose to perform a devaranamacomposed by Guru PrasannaKasthuri based on the story ofAkrura and concluded with aTelugu composition,Uyaalanooguma shrisatyasai.

Yet another outstanding per-formance of the evening was by

Ashok Ramani, a classical musi-cian from India. Invited bySangeetha, a non-profit organiza-tion for the promotion of Indianclassical. Ashok started off withTyagaraja's Brochevarevareraghupathe in Raga Shree Ranjanifollowed by Sarasakshaparipaalaya in RagaMayamalavagowla. RamaramaRama in Raga Vasantha was fastpaced and very enjoyable.

Swara rAga sudhA rasa yuta

bhakti in Raga Shankarabharanawas followed by an intense Raga-Tana-Pallavi in RagaBrindavanaSaranga. He con-cluded with a Purandaradasadevaranama, Venkatachala nilayaand a short mangalam. NagaiMuralidharan, the violinist stolethe show with his sensitive accom-paniment and inspirational soloversions. All the artistes were rec-ognized by presenting them withfloral bouquets and a beautiful silkshawl as a mark of respect.

The festival was organized bySoorya Performing Arts whosegoal is to preserve and propagateIndian performing arts throughtraining and performances of In-dian classical music and dance.Partnering with Soorya for this fes-tival were Missouri Arts Council(MAC), Regional Arts Commis-sion (RAC), Sangeetha andSangama, which are two culturalorganizations in the St. Louis area.Local businesses such as Mayuri,Kumon, Simply Math and Read-ing, Seema Enterprises and Mid-east market supported the festivalalong with generous donationsfrom art patrons.

Release of song album "Nireeksha" by Mrs Seema Kasthuri

Richard Bennett from NY with accompanying musicians was a star attraction

Impressive Ramani Concert artists

Upcoming young musicians of St. Louis enthralling the audience


AHC joins efforts for health insurance enrollmentSEETA BRAHMBHATT

CHICAGO: With open enroll-ment due to start, the Asian HealthCoalition (AHC) and its partnershave been actively conductingeducation and outreach about theIllinois Health Insurance Market-place.

AHC is one of 44 community-based organizations around thestate that have been selected toparticipate in the outreach and en-rollment initiative for the Afford-able Care Act.

The agency has a collaborativepartnership with Hamdard Centerfor Health and Human Services(Hamdard), to assist in efforts toreach limited English speaking

Ranjana Paintal and Kiran Siddiqui

Winnebago counties. "We are501(c) 3 non-profit agencies andshare a similar goal of improvinghealth and access to quality, af-fordable care for underserved mi-nority communities. We recognizethe immediate need to help edu-cate the public about the more af-fordable and comprehensive op-tions that will be available throughthe Marketplace," said RanjanaPaintal, Project Director at AHC ina joint statement with Kiran

Siddiqui of Hamdard.Enrollment in the Marketplace

will begin on October 1with cover-age to start Jan 1, 2014. Individualscan set up an appointment to meetwith an in-person counselor to learnmore about the health insuranceoptions available. Bilingual coun-selors are available in English,Bosnian, Hindi, Urdu, and Laotian.

For assistance in Bosnian,Hindi, and Urdu, contact: KiranSiddiqui (773) 465-4600 x27

Laotian, South Asian and EasternEuropean communities in Chicagoand the Western region of Illinoisstretching from Kane to

Krishna Janmashtamicelebrated in St Louis

ASHWIN PATEL

ST LOUIS: The ISKCON templeof St Louis celebrated KrishnaJanmashtami event at the MahatmaGandhi Center. The event wasopen to the general public to par-

ticipate in the sublime festivities.Participants were welcomed at

the entrance with a registrationdesk and a fully-stocked gift shopwhich included Srila Prabhupada's(Founder-Acarya of ISKCON)transcendental books and articles.

A section of the 2nd floor hall wasconverted into a temple room bythe auspicious presence ofKrishna-Balarama deities and thealtar was beautifully decorated

with flower garlands.The event kicked off with

kirtan, chanting of Lord's Holyname - Hare Krishna Hare Krishna,Krishna Krishna Hare Hare; HareRama Hare Rama, Rama Rama HareHare.

Devotees worship Lord Krishna

Bhajan sandhya at Lord Krishna Janmashtami celebration

Cont’d on page 34

More Community stories on pages 34-35

www.indiapost.comIndia Post

TOP TENHINDI FILM SONGS

1 Get On The Dance Floor:Chennai Express

2 Titli: Chennai Express3 Gulabi: Shuddh Desi Romance4 Ye Tune Kya Kiya: Once Upon

A Time In Mumbaai Dobara5 Lungi Dance: Chennai Express6 Sun Le Re: Madras Cafe7 Tere Mere Beech Mein:

Shuddh Desi Romance8 Main Rang Sharbaton Ka : Phata Poster Nikla Hero9 Shuddh Desi Romance: Shuddh Desi Romance10 Zinda: Bhaag Milkha Bhaag

28 September 27, 2013

So far, Saif and Kareena together on screen before or aftermarriage have spelt no magic at the box-office. They arecoming together again, now in Raj Nidimoru & Krishna

DK's Happy Ending, though Kareena will feature only in a cameo.Confirming this, co-director Raj Nidimoru says

Kareena won't appear for a song only. "Saif and Kareenahave scenes together. And we're planning to shoot asong as well." While Raj is unwilling to reveal any moredetails, sources say that Kareena's role has been writteninto Happy Ending as an afterthought.

Says the source, "Saif, who is the film's producer,wanted Kareena to be part of the film when she visitedSaif on location in Detroit. As luck wouldhave it, Raj and Krishna knew ex-actly where to fit Kareena intothe plot."

Interestingly, Preity Zintatoo has a cameo in HappyEnding while IleanaD'Cruz plays the fe-male lead. Raj saysboth Kareena andPreity's cameosare for the better."They both addsomething vital tothe plot."

“SAIF, WHO IS THE FILM'S PRODUCER, WANTEDKAREENA TO BE PART OF THE FILM WHEN SHEVISITED SAIF ON LOCATION IN DETROIT. AS LUCKWOULD HAVE IT, RAJ AND KRISHNA KNEWEXACTLY WHERE TO FIT KAREENA INTO THE PLOT”

Aamir Khan features inone of themost awaited

films of the year, 'Dhoom3'. However, he says heis not thinking abouthow many records it willbreak.

Reacting to reportsstating that he hasclaimed that Dhoom 3will surpass the busi-ness of Shah RukhKhan's Chennai ExpressAamir said in a state-ment, "I am not inter-ested in breaking

records. I am an artist, andwhat gives me a high is to

entertain my audience, to givethem a good time, and to satisfy

them emotionally."Aamir's last release Talaash was ap-

preciated for his performance, but the moviecouldn't mint too much moolah. The actor be-

lieves the challenge does not lie in building num-bers at the box-office, it lies in winning the

audience's adulation."I want to earn the love of my audi-ence. That is what I am thirsty for. Ilike to challenge myself and dowork that I have not done. I liketo surprise my audience. Theseare the things that I am inter-ested in," said the versatileactor, who will be seen in anegative role in Dhoom 3.

The 'Ram Leela' trailer shows some sizzling chemistry betweenthe odd pair of Bollywood, Ranveer Singh and DeepikaPadukone. The chemistry between them is the USP of the

film and the trailer shows Ranveer and Deepika in an intimate posi-tion. The trailer also shows them sharing a passionate lip-lock.

Ranveer who is rumored to be dating the 'Cocktail' actress saidthat his chemistry with Deepika in 'Ram Leela' is mainstay of thestory.

"We were destined to be cast opposite each other. It's a chemis-try between Romeo and Juliet. I hope it works as our chemistry isthe driving force of the story," Ranveer told reporters.

When the long legged actress was asked about the much talkedabout lip-lock scene, shesaid: "I find it amusingwhen people ask me aboutlip-lock scenes. As an ac-tor there is no differencebetween any scene. Butwhen you are working withSanjay sir, he makes eventhe simplest scene mostdifficult. He tweaks thescene in his mind."

www.indiapost.com30 India Post September 27, 2013

WW1 IndianWW1 IndianWW1 IndianWW1 IndianWW1 Indianmartyrs in Belgiummartyrs in Belgiummartyrs in Belgiummartyrs in Belgiummartyrs in Belgium

PREETI VERMA LAL

Names etched in black ona buff marble plaque.Names without faces.

Names without an address. With-out the date on which the soldierfell to a cruel bullet. There is noepitaph. Not even a flower in thememory. Names stoically listedunder designations: Havildar.Sepoy. Naik. Lance Naik. Bugler,Rifleman… A few with their mili-

Cont’d on page 32

tary identification number. Namesof First World War Indian soldiersin Flanders Fields who have 'noknown graves'. Names - justnames - etched on the Menin GateMemorial to the Missing, in Ieper,Belgium.

During World War 1, Ieper wasthe theatre of war; the Germansmenacingly heading to the townthat sits close to Brussels, the

capital of Belgium. The year 2014is the centenary of WW1 inwhich thousands of Indian sol-diers were killed. It has been 100years but Ieper has not forgottenits dead.

On the walls of Menin Gate,55,000 names have been imprinted;names of Commonwealth soldiersfrom Australia, United Kingdom,New Zealand, Africa and India

who went missing during the warwith 'no known graves' as the etch-ing on the Menin Gate reads.Among them were Indian soldierswho fell to the enemy during theBattles of Ypres.

Walk up the stone steps of thegate designed by Sir ReginaldBloomfield and in the middle of amanicured park there is a four-lionstatue, specially dedicated to theIndian martyrs. On the lion statuethat has Satyamev Jayate engravedare heart-wrenching statistics:"Over 130,000 soldiers of the In-

dian corps comprising two cavalryand two infantry divisions foughtin the Flanders Fields. Over 9,000were killed. India lost 160,000 inthe two World Wars".

The Menin Gate, however, isnot the sole memorial to soldierswho went missing during the1914-1918 war. In the IeperBedford Cemetry where nearly5,000 graves are neatly arranged,there are 21 tombstones dedi-cated to Indians: 14 known and 7unknown soldiers.

Menin GateA photograph of Sikhs at the Menin Gate exhibited in Flanders Fields Museum, Ieper, Belgium.

Graves of Indian soldiers in Bedford Cemetery in Ieper, Belgium

PREETI VERMA LAL

List of Indian soldiers etched at the Menin Gate

Menin Gate Memorial of the Missing in Ieper, Belgium

September 27, 2013 India Post 31

www.indiapost.com

Neeta Lulla designs for Rajinikanth's KochadaiiyaanIndia Post News Service

Fashion Designer Neeta Lullahas conceptualized for each of

the characters in India's firstPhotorealistic Performance Cap-ture Film, Kochadaiiyaan - The Leg-end. The highlight however remainsdesigning the look of Rajinikanthwho stars as a legendary mytho-

logical character in the film. Talking about his look in the

movie, director SoundaryaRajnikanth Ashwin said, "Neetahas done an outstanding job. Thedetails in the amour and theweaponized look of the costumesreally creates an impact. Thephotorealistic performance cap-ture technology used in the film is

extremely advanced andthe work done on thecostumes really shinesthrough."

A gargantuan 150costumes per characterwas designed on paper,of which 20-25 costumesfor each character wereselected and detailed.Due to the intricacy ofthe designs for the cos-tumes, each embroiderypattern was photo-graphed and expertlyplaced on the garment, todeliver a flawless finish.Neeta also created arange of 20 to 30 looksespecially for the amoursuit as well as the sup-porting cast of

Kochadaiiyaan. The amour suitincluded predetermined detailingthat was achieved through care-ful understanding of its movementand appeal, in keeping with the au-thenticity and credibility of the era.

Neeta Lulla says, "We createdthe looks not in fabric form but adetailed overview in sketch form.My creative team and I worked for

almost 8 months on the variouscharacterizations of Rajni sir andthe other supporting cast. It was adifferent kind of design experiencealtogether."

To create the costumes, thecharacters were created by Neetaon a sketch format - first in colorthen a croqui developed by the CGtechnicians. Detailed research was

also conducted to achieve theright ornate look for the fine-look-ing jewellery, its use on the sketchand eventually on the form. Tak-ing into account the script and theaccurate look for the characters thedetailing was embellished whichtook almost 6-8 months of sketch-ing and re-sketching in order toarrive at the final result.

Kochadaiiyaan - The Legend Rana armour Rana warrior Rana wedding

September 27, 2013India Post

www.indiapost.com

32

Aloo Jeera, Dahi ka raita served up Russian style!ELABUGA, Russia: Aloo Jeera,

Dahi ka Raita and Aloo ke Paranthemight be common dishes in Indiabut when served in a small townof Tatarstan, a state under theRussian Federation, it can leaveanyone surprised.

That is exactly what happenedto a group of Indian journalistswho visited Elabuga and wereserved these dishes by their tour-ism centre hosts at a lunch insidea museum.

Tatarstan's cuisine involves athree-course meal in which firstsalad is served, then soup and fi-nally the main course which in-volves meat with bread. And of

course if you happen to be a 'veg-etarian' you will be given fish.

In a surprise, the Russian hostsin Elabuga laid out a lunch tablewhich included dishes like AlooJeera, Dahi ka Raita and Aloo keParathe.

On being asked how they hadmanaged to prepare such a menu,Svetlana Andarzyanova, a Minis-try of Culture official, said "the

cooks downloaded the recipesfrom the internet which were inEnglish, then they translated it toRussian and perfected the dishesto make the guests happy."

"Russian hospitality might notbe fabled but certainly it is a cutabove the rest as unlike their me-dia image of being stiff they are aset of warm and friendly people,"an official said.

The journalists were also leftsurprised, when they were takento a popular 'Indian' restaurant"Malabar" in Kazan which servedeverything but 'Indian' food.

Probably, the 'Indianess' of therestaurant was limited to the dress-

ing of the waiters and waitresses,who were wearing Kurta Pyjamasand Salwar Suits respectively.Also, foot-tapping Bollywoodnumbers were playing aloud.

Though Tatarstan in entirety isa tourist's delight, but Elabuga,with its warm hospitality and richcultural heritage is a special placeto visit.

"We just want to make our

Elabuga

hosts smile, and we are satisfied ifwe manage to do that," TanzilyaAgishina, the Deputy DirectorGeneral for Development,Tatarstan, said.

Elabuga, often referred to as 'a

city of museums', is located over200 kilometers to the east ofTatarstan's capital Kazan. It liesat the confluence of the Toina andKama rivers.

Elabuga's museums, including

the well-preserved house of firstRussian female soldier NadezhdaDurova and Russian landscapeartist Ivan Shishkin's House mu-seum, leave a lasting impressionon the mind of the visitor. -PTI

Tatarstan

Ileana D'Cruz

Glamour first for Ileana D'CruzShe wowed everyone with her

understated performance in herBollywood debut "Barfi", butIleana D'Cruz says she is morecomfortable doing hardcore com-mercial roles.

The 25-year-old actress's sec-ond film is Rajkumar Santoshi's ac-tion-comedy "Phata Poster NikhlaHero", which is a departure fromher first Hindi film.

Ileana feels Bollywood andglamour go hand-in-hand and sheis no Vidya Balan to pull off roleslike "Barfi" on regular basis.

"I must admit that if you wantto survive in Bollywood, you haveto have a certain amount of glam-our attached to you other wise itis difficult may be. I can't talkabout other actresses but I haverelied on glamour in films in thesouth. It works.

"If you look glamorous, dresswell, it works in the film. You canpass off in a film by just lookinggood. I am not Vidya (Balan). Sheis great and does not need glam-

our. I cannot even compare my-self to her," Ileana told in an inter-view.

The actress says she decidedto be part of "Phata Poster..." asshe felt people had started takingher too seriously after her por-trayal of Shruti in Anurag Basu's

"Barfi" and feared getting type-cast.

"I think before 'Barfi' released,I had a feeling that people won'tbe able to accept me in such aserious role because they havenever seen me do something likethis before. After the film theystarted taking me too seriouslyand I didn't like it.

"I wanted them to understandthat I am a commercial heroine. Ihave done hard core commercialfilms down south. I think I wantedto get into that space again," saidIleana, who has starred in Telegusuperhits like "Devadasu","Pokiri" "Jalsa", "Kick" amongothers.

In "Phata Poster..." the actresshas been paired opposite ShahidKapoor. The film follows the storyof Vishwas Rao, an aspiring actormistaken as a super cop. It comesfrom the director, who has earliermade hit comedies like "AndazApna Apna" and "Ajab Prem KiGhazab Kahani".

September 27, 2013 India Post 33

WW1 Indian martyrs in BelgiumIn the Flanders Field Musuem is the pic-

ture of Sikhs who laid flowers at the MeninGate during the Armistice Daycommomeration.

Ieper pays homage to the soldiers ev-

List of Indian soldiers ethced at the Menin Gate

A lion statue in memory of Indian soldiers who

died in Flanders Fields between 1914 and

1918

Cont’d from page 30 eryday. Each night at 8 pm, the traffic isstopped at the Menin Gate and members ofthe local Fire Brigade sound the Last Postin the roadway under the Memorial's arches.The Last Post started in 1927 and contin-ues until today with a brief interruption dur-ing the Word War II German occupation.

The Menin Gate is one of four memorials tothe missing in Belgian Flanders which coverthe area known as the Ypres Salient.

It is almost 100 years since the Indiansoldiers left their homeland - and all thatthey held dear to ther heart - to fight for the

British army. War silenced the beat of theirhearts. Some went missing and were noteven honoured with tombstone. The MeninGate in Ieper, Belgium, is a memory. Of awar. Of the soldiers who laid their lives. Ofthose who'd never return. Of those whohave seen the end. As Plato said: Only thedead have seen the end of war.

A miniature statue of Menin Gate Memorial of the Missing


The youth group then per-formed a drama enacting GovardhanLila where Lord Krishna manifestedhis supreme power and Indra wasreminded of his role as his order-carrier. It was followed by a unique

opportunity to personally bathe thedeities and invoke their blessingsfor one's own spiritual advancementthrough the Kalash Abhiseka pro-gram.

It was then time for a discourseby Romapada Swami who nicelydescribed pastimes of Krishna'sreturn to Mathura (assisted with

Krishna Janmashtamicelebrated in St Louis

beautiful pictures) ultimately end-ing in Kamsa's death. The adultgroup performed a drama reveal-ing the most confidential secret toovercoming life's miseries, whichis to chant the holy name withhumility and proper conscious-ness. The celebrations concluded

with Aarti and the whole place wasimmersed in transcendental vibra-tion of the Holy Name.

Delicious and sumptuous veg-etarian prasadam was served freeto all the attendees. Volunteers'flawless conduct during this an-nual Janmashtami celebrationsneeds to be commended by all.


A skit by young local artists

Sandip debut in Chicago a runaway successSURENDRA ULLAL


CHICAGO: A budding musicianfrom India, Sandip Bhattacharyahad his maiden musical programin the US at the residence ofMadhu Patel, Desplaines on Sun-day September 15 in the presenceof connoisseurs of music inChicagoland.

He was captivating in his de-but performance here and so en-thralled the audience that they satthrough the entire three-hour per-formance. Many yarned for a re-peat performance and all felt that

a new star was born in the musicworld. Each and every momentwas an absolutely "scintillatingand of mesmerizing joy," asSitaram Patel from among thepeople told this reporter.

Some among the audience ex-pressed their desire to organize simi-lar functions, and the highly grate-ful Sandip assured them of more ex-posure depending on his schedule.

Sandip belongs to a family witha deep rooted musical back-ground. He was initiated into mu-sic by his mother KrishnaBhattacharjee at the age of fourand he continued his training un-

der Amita Dasgupta later. Whenin his teens, Sandip became a resi-dential scholar at the ITC SangeetResearch Academy under theguidance of Ustad Mashkoor AliKhan and Ustad Mubarak AliKhan, sons and disciples of thelegendary Sarangi maestro latePadmashree Ustad Shakoor Khan.

It was essentially here thatSandip was nurtured in the trueguru shishya parampara systemof training of the Kirana Gharana.Now he is a senior musicianscholar at the ITC Sangeet Re-search Academy, Tollygunge,Kolkata. Sandip also holds a First

Class degree in Graduation fromRabindra Bharati University(Kolkata), in classical music.

Other than pure classical mu-sic he is competent in singingsemi classical forms like bhajans,ghazals and Nazrulgeeti as well.Sandip also has to his credit threecommercial releases - a CD onkhayal by Sonic Octaves,Mumbai, a CD of Bengali songsby R.P Techvision, Kolkata and aCD on Bhajans by Sonic Octaves,Mumbai.

Gifted with a robust voice,

Sandip is today one of the mostpromising young classical artistsof the country, which is borne outby his regular performancesacross India and abroad (UnitedStates, Europe and Bangladesh).A recipient of the title Surmanifrom Sur Singar Sansad Mumbai,Sandip also broadcasts regularlyover All India Radio as an "A"Grade artist. His scintillatingtaiyari in the Taans and Sargamshave been spontaneously appre-ciated by listeners and musiciansalike everywhere.

Sandip Bhattacharya

Monthly Hindi Kavi Manch launchedRAMESH SOPARAWALA


CHICAGO: A burgeoning In-dian American social organization,Hindi Lovers Club, has taken onemore step in its bid to popularizethe Indian national language -Hindi - in this part of the world byannouncing to host once a monthHindi Kavi Manch.

Vinita Gulbani, president of theClub said that the Manch will meetevery third Tuesday of the monthat different libraries in Chicagoland from 6-30 p.m. to 8-30 pm andwill encourage hidden talentsamong Hindi lovers in the commu-nity to come forward and recite

Newly elect President Vinita Gulbani (left) and founder President Gurbachan

Kaur (right) with Treasurer Rami and committee member Jodhsingh Rawat

their poetry or poems of renownedHindi poets at the Manch meet.

She said that former presidentof the Club Gurbachan KaurNeelam saw a big love for Hindipoetry in Hindi Diwas celebrationon Sept.15 in Ashyana Banquetand "collectively we felt that whynot have a monthly gathering torecite poetry to each other andenjoy the same along with facili-tating social interaction."

"As being a poetess myself, Ilove to write and read Hindi po-etry, and I thought that we need

to provide a platformto many like me toexpress their innerthoughts and feel-ings through poems.Gurbachan Kaur andothers instantly fellfor the idea andhence, Manch and ameeting once amonth," she said

Besides this is yetanother way, sheadded, to promote Hindi literature,one of the objectives for which

Hindi Diwas Celebrations in Downers Grove L to R Acharya Rohit Joshi, Dr Virendra Bisla incoming President Vinita

Gulbani Indian Consul General Dr. Dr Ausaf Sayeed and Mrs Sayeed , CEO MedStar Naren Patel and Gurbachan Kaur

the Club had been started threeyears ago.

Young artists presenting Vivekananda Skit


State Treasurer visits Palatine GurugharTHAKAR BASATI

PALATINE: State of Illinois Trea-surer Dan Rutherford accompaniedby members of his staff visited Pa-latine Gurdwara Sahib located inPalatine, a Chicago suburb.

Rutherford is the first electedTreasurer to visit Gurughar and isalso the first elected official whosponsored an exhibition of SikhSoldiers' contribution in WorldWars. The exhibition stayed openfor a whole week in State of Illi-nois building. He was greeted byPresident Sikh Religious Society(SRS) S Sokhi Singh, Board mem-bers and Sangat members with aflower bouquet and was presenteda Community Service Awardplaque for his support of Sikhs

He had a private meeting withsome eminent members of societyafterwards. A candidate for Gov-ernor from Republican Party, hehas announced picking up anAsian as his running mate as Lieu-tenant Governor, Steve Kim.

Sikhs sometimes face identitycrisis as a good number of Ameri-cans mistake them for beingTalibanis in the light of their wear-ing turban. People asked him,"How to fight identity crisis?"

Sikhs, even senior citizens havebeen attacked. SometimeGurdwaras have been attacked,even though Gurdwaras welcome

people from any religion any raceany time, but Americans aren'taware of that.

State Treasurer Rutherfordsuggested that Sikhs need to beoutgoing. It is their responsibilityto educate people. They have toinvite elected officials to theirGurdwaras. They need to invite

school principals, teachers, police,fire chiefs. They need to host semi-nars, open houses. Sikhs needs toshow up during local celebrations

like Memorial Day, 4th of July andother local festivities. They needto leave their comfort zone and bepart of society.

Rutherford expressed his grati-tude to SRS for inviting him tothe Gurdwara and to Sarwan Singhfor presenting him the poster ofSikh Soldiers in World wars.

State Treasurer Dan Rutherford at Sikh Gurdwara in Palatine

IAC to hold annual galabanquet on Sept 29

S RAMESH

CHICAGO: A front rankingsecular service organization inChicagoland, the Indo-AmericanCenter (IAC) serving the commu-nity for the past 23 years, hasslated its annual fund-raising galaon Sunday, September 29 at 6 pm,at the Marriott Hotel in Oak Brook.

The keynote speaker for theevent is Dr Vishakha Desai, Spe-cial Advisor for Global Affairs tothe President of Columbia Univer-sity and Professor of Professional

Practice at the School of Interna-tional and Public Affairs.

What started with a handful ofvisionaries to help out just a fewneedy people is currently provid-ing nine programs to the commu-nity. Its regular services includeYouth After-School, Help for K-

Grade 8, English as SecondLanguage (ESL) classes,free hot lunch for SeniorCitizens, health awarenessand workforce develop-ment workshops, assis-tance with immigration andgovernment benefits docu-mentation, and ComputerLiteracy program. Addition-ally, several youth activitiesare held during summer.

The IAC is run by aBoard of Directors who arevolunteers and committedto the mission of IAC. "Thisis what attracted me to theCenter as we extend ourservices to the needy. Wedo not ask where they arefrom or what faith they ob-

serve," says Board President DrBasanti Sen Banerji. The InterimExecutive Director, JamesLemonides, directs the programsand is responsible for day-to-day

operations of the IAC.The Board represents 18 dedi-

cated directors who are from vari-ous professions. Current officebearers are: Basanti Sen Banerji(President), Dr Ralph Nicholas(Vice President), Nitin Bajaj (Sec-retary), Ravi Shankar (Treasurer),Dr Bapu Arekapudi, Rajeev Bahri,Sujata Banerjee, Dr Netta D'Souza,Ranjit Ganguly, Dr MadhuvantiGhose, Kamal Hans, AshrefHashim, Dr Deepak Kapoor, RamKelkar, Mafat Patel, Radha Patel,Sher Rajput, and ShobhanaSanghvi.

Dr Vishakha Desai

Dr Basanti Sen Banerji

Spate of robberies inNaperville cause concern

Readers Write...www.indiapost.com

A street in Naperville suburb of Chicago

Members of IndianAmerican and evenother Asian commu-

nities are greatly concerned andperturbed at the spate of robber-ies in Naperville area in recentweeks. The concern sparks fromthe fact that a good number ofcommunity members feel tar-geted by the robbers and anti-social elements for their moneyand jewelry.

The Naperville Indians live inbig houses and during their fes-tivals or marriage flaunt jewelryand drive in fancy cars sugges-tive of theirwealth. Therobbers arebelieved tobe targetingmany immi-g r a n t s 'homes andbusinessesbut morespecificallyh o m e s /shops of South Asians/Indians.

Sometimes they wonder if theemployees of a given hotel, saybig name franchise ones, watchcuriously and carefully the wed-dings taking place in their pre-mises. The events organized orattended by immigrants are quitefrequent. It is believed that theywatch the expensive & attractiveclothing plus real jewelry. Thesubsequent talk among thoseworking there gets percolatedoutside too.

The same thing could be hap-pening with realtors and autodealers and the repair shops.The word likely has spread to

criminal elements. When thathappens over and over again,the criminals would devise theirplan of action carefully doingtheir homework.

Obviously, the thieves/crimi-nals would care two hoots aboutother things - the huge impor-tance that these immigrants at-tach to rainy day savings, theirhard work in making money orhard work ethics, controlledlifestyle, priorities etc. Theywould just see that the immi-grants have money and are quitewealthy - that's all.

The happenings inNaperville may be catching eyeof late in the wake of spate ofrobbery and thefts. But this, infact, is happening all overChicagoland and may be in oth-ers parts of the country. The im-migrants, especially those whohave sweated to raise their stan-dard of living by hard work, edu-cation and family values needto learn their lessons and spreadthe news. If we don't help our-selves, nobody else will.

Ajit Gandhi &Concerned Residents

Naperville Illinois Area

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September 27, 2013

India Post40 www.indiapost.com September 27, 2013

From atop the Matanga Hill at daybreak, Hampi is every inch thecapital city of a golden empire. Though what lies before are butthe bones of an enchantress, who once had the whole world in hersway, Hampi is far from what one would call ruins. Once visited by

the Portuguese, Arabs, Persians and Orientals, the capital city ofVijayanagara, has only grown in popularity across the centuries. And nosurprise that!

Every bend in the road is punctuated by a 14th century, if not older,temple; perched on nearly every hillock is a four-pillared canopy-like monu-ment and its entire horizon, pixilated by huge gestalt-ish boulders. Theregal 9-storey tall gopura of the Virupaksha Temple, where Siva is believedto have married Parvati, watches over the city like a specially-appointedgod - its memory of magnificence and grandeur forever etched in stone.

Hampi gives an impression of preserving itself for the past to resume.The wedding ceremony of Shiva and Parvati is celebrated every year at

the Virupaksha Temple, as it has been for centuries. Thelong bazaar avenues stand in expectant silence, as

if waiting for that kind of commerce to resume,where diamonds and precious stones were

used as currency.In the evenings, like a zillions dusks

before, the dying rays of the sun turn theentire Vijaya Vittala Temple to gold; a sight

which is as much a wonder as the temple's56 musical pillars that produce the sounds of 56

different musical instruments. The Royal Enclo-sure waits in readiness for its sandalwood halls to

be returned, the massive elephant stables, theLotus Mahal - shaped like a lotus blossom-ing in the sun, the Hazararama Palace templewith intricate stories carved over its every

side and the Mahanavmi Dibba or theVictory Platform still majesticand proud await to fall backinto routine.

Cont’d on page 41

India PostSeptember 27, 2013 41Travel & Hospitality Postwww.indiapost.com

HAMPI

The sheer detail of the carvingsand the number of sculpturesspeak of a race of artisans thatweren't quite done in their busi-ness of outdoing each other incraftsmanship. Monolithic struc-tures carved out of a single rock

the imposing Lakshmi Narasimha,the majestic Stone Chariot, themassive Ganesha statues, theBadavilinga are proof of the bril-liance that was once envied. Cross

the Tungabadra River over to theancient capital of Anegundi andthere are leisurely roads totraverse, myths to chase and boul-ders to scale and dive off, into the

waiting arms of the Sanapur Lake.Hampi has challenged time, sur-

vived the centuries and lived totell the tale. And, they say, if youlisten carefully enough, you mightlearn a thing or two on how to dothe same.

Tourist attractions in Hampi liein its boulder-laden landscapeand rocky out-crop hemmed in alush green sur-rounding. The ru-ins remind you ofa mighty empire,which dominatedlarge part of southIndia after theMughals.

PLACES TOSEE

Hampi Ba-zaar: Located near the VirupakshaTemple, the Hampi Bazaar is alsoknown as Virupaksha Bazaar. Oneither sides of this one kilometerlong street near the temple, are

pavilions whichwere once a partof the markets ofthe nobles.Most of thesepavilions, par-ticularly towardsthe west ofV i r u p a k s h aTemple haveshops and res-taurants. Thestreet is con-gested and there-fore, most of thevehicles are re-

stricted in the bazaar except for twowheelers.

Every inch the capitalcity of a golden empire

Hampi Bazaar

Lakshmi Narasimha Temple

Cont’d on page 42


Elephant Stables

India Post September 27, 201342 Travel & Hospitality Postwww.indiapost.com

Matanga Hill: Matanga hill is awell known tourist destination inHampi. Its main attraction beingthe breathtaking aerial view of theHampi landscape during sunset orsunrise. When on top, you canappreciate the sheer wisdom of theVijaynagara rulers for selectingHampi as their capital. The besttrack for trekking enthusiasts is theone that begins from Hampi bazaarto the Achyutaraya temple.

The picturesque sight from thetop comprises the TungabhadraRiver, the Kodanda Rama temple,the Veerbhadra temple and theTurthu canal. Matanga hill is his-torically connected to the epicRamayana as it was the hiding

HAMPIEvery inch the capitalcity of a golden empire

place for Sugriva, the ruler ofKishkinda.

Vithala Temple Complex: Aunique architectural masterpiece,Vithala temple in Hampi is situatedopposite the village of Anegondi.The temple is named after Vithala,an avatar of Vishnu worshipped bythe Marathas. Vithala temple isbuilt in the form of a complex withcompound wall and gateway tow-ers. The one thing that immediatelycatches attention is the stonechariot which has assumed iconicheights over the years forKarnataka tourism. The pillaredhalls are intrinsically carved withsculptures that speak volumesabout the glorious past of Hampi.Another feature that is worth men-

tioning here is the musical pillarsthat emanates the seven noteswhen tapped.

Hazara Rama Temple: TheHazara Rama temple complex inHampi is located in the middle ofthe Royal Centre and was onceused as a place of worship by theroyal family members. Inscriptionsinside the temple indicate that itwas built by Devaraya I in early

fifteenth century. This temple isrenowned for its elaborate frescosextensively portraying scenesfrom Hindu mythology. There areabout one thousand fantasticallycarved bas relief and inscriptionsthat illustrate the mighty epicRamayana and the Mahanavamifestival. Depiction of processionsof elephants, horses with atten-dants, dancing girls and armoredsoldiers testify the expertise of theVijayanagara artists.

Lakshmi Narasimha Temple:The Lakshmi Narasimha temple inHampi attracts tourists specificallydue to its monolithic structure andthe sheer enormity of its size. It isthe single largest statue in Hampiwith a height of 6.7 meters.Narasimha, the fourth incarnationof Lord Vishnu is depicted as sit-ting on the giant coil of the celes-tial snake Adisesha. The sevenheads of the giant snake shieldingNarasimha, arched by a Kirtimukha

Torana in the front, is an architec-tural masterpiece in itself. How-ever, several features of the mono-lithic structure are missing and themost prominent among these dam-aged and missing structures is theseated figurine of Narasimha's con-sort Lakshmi on his left lap. By en-tering inside the enclosure, onecan see the land of Lakshmi onNarasimha's back with her fingers,nails and rings, all beautifullysculptured.

Virupaksha Temple: Amidstthe ruins of the ancient cityVijaynagar the Virupaksha templestands tall with all its earlier struc-tures still intact. The temple per-sonifies Lord Shiva and is stillused for worship. The inside of the

temple consists of a sanctum witha mandapam in front, three antechambers, a pillared hall and anopen pillared hall. Among the threetowers the eastern tower is the tall-est standing at a height of 160 feetand is nine tiered. Virupaksha por-trays Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnuin their various avatars. Thechariot festival is celebrated in thepremises of this temple during themonth of February.

Elephant Stables: A large domeshaped building was used as El-ephant Stables to house the cer-emonial elephants of the royalhousehold. The architectural styleof the building has a strong Indo-Islamic influence that gets re-flected in its domes and archedgateways. The building consistsof eleven chambers amongstwhich ten of these are crownedwith domes. These chambers wereused as elephant stables. Themetal hooks that were probably

used to chain the elephants are stillvisible in the ceiling of some of therooms. Special manholes wereconstructed for the mahouts tofacilitate their easy entrance to theelephant compartments.HOW TO REACH

By AirBellary is the nearest domestic

airport, which is about 60 km awayand Bangalore is the nearest inter-national Airport, which is 350 kmaway. By Bus

Hampi is well connected byKSRTC bus services with allnearby cities.

By TrainNearest railhead is Hospet,

which is nearly 13 km from Hampi.


Virupaksha Temple

India PostSeptember 27, 2013 43Travel & Hospitality Postwww.indiapost.com

Shortage of one lakh hotel rooms in India: ChiranjeeviKOCHI: With foreign tourist arrivals ex-

pected to witness an eight per cent growthby 2020, there is a need to fill up the short-age of about one lakh hotel rooms in thecountry, Union Tourism Minister KChiranjeevi said here.

"India has over two lakh rooms in hoteland guest house category and there is short-age of about one lakh rooms, especially inthe budget and mid market segment," theminister said in his inaugural address at the48th Annual convention of the Federationof Hotel and Restaurant Association here.

There is a need for more hotels in non-metro cities in India, he said. "The tourismindustry has been witnessing an upswingin the last few years and revenues are ex-pected to touch USD 431.7 billion by 2020

end. Foreign tourist arrivals will registerover eight per cent growth by 2020," he said.

The tourism ministry has currently initi-ated 29 mega projects in 22 states,Chiranjeevi said.

The government is focusing beyond tra-ditional tourism avenues like medical tour-ism, wild life, wellness tourism, and villagetourism, he said.

Referring to Kerala, he said his ministryhad sanctioned Rs 126 crore for variousprojects in the 10th plan, which had gone

up to Rs 152 crore in the 11th plan. Sixprojects worth Rs 78 crore had been sanc-tioned for the state last year. This year, threeprojects worth Rs 5.76 crore had been sanc-tioned, he said.

The Tourism ministry has prioritized 14projects for grant of central financial assis-tance, he said adding the pace of utilizationof central funds had increased in the state.

With emphasis shifting to off beat desti-nations, Indian travelers were seeking toexplore more exquisite travel options, hesaid.

Minister of State for Civil Aviation K CVenugopal said the ministry is working onupgrading airports in Tier III cities and thework in this regard has already begun.

Thirty-five non-metro airports have been

identified for upgradation and new airportswould come up in at least 15 locations, in-cluding two in Kerala, he said

Venugopal said a new international ter-minal would be set up at Kozhikode airportat a cost of Rs 110 crore.

A GPS-aided geo augmented navigationsystem 'Gagan', which is awaiting clearance,is expected to be launched soon, the minis-ter added.

Sitaram Yechuri, MP, Chairman Parlia-mentary Standing Committee on Transport,

Tourism and Culture, said though there isvast tourism potential in India; it is "underutilized".

He said there is a needto arouse visitors' curios-ity to go to tourist spots inthe country.

"Tourism is not a prod-uct that we have to sell. Butyou have to create that cu-riosity to tell people what itis all about," he said.

Yechuri said there is alsoa need for trained man-power in the tourism indus-try, especially trainedguides.

Pointing out thatUttarakhand, where Junefloods claimed severallives, was an example of "ir-responsible" religious tour-ism, he said there is a need to regulate pil-grims to the shrines in the hill state as it isbeing done at Amarnath.

Kerala Tourism minister A P Anil Kumarsaid the state government had in the lasttwo years spent Rs 500 crore for infrastruc-ture development in the tourism sector.

Kerala's Sea plane project has been in-augurated and regular operations wouldcommence after the monsoon, he said.

Karnataka Tourism Minister R VDeshpande said there is a need to concen-trate more on infrastructure and human re-

sources in the tourism sector.The state government had taken some

steps in the last three months, he said.Stressing the need to utilize the poten-

tial of coastal tourism, he said proposalshave already been submitted to the Tour-ism ministry and urged Chiranjeevi to takeit up on a priority basis with the environ-ment ministry. This would help boost tour-ism in a big way, he said.

Coastal tourism was yet to gain momen-tum in Karnataka.

Issues relating to CRZ and opening ofresorts in the Western Ghats have to betaken up. -PTI

Union Tourism Minister K Chiranjeevi

GTDC green lights sea plane servicePANAJI: Goa Tourism Development Cor-

poration (GTDC) has approved a proposalby a Mumbai-based firm to launch a maidensea plane service in the coastal state fromcoming touring season, a seniorofficial said.

"These planes can also beused for sky diving and otheradventure sports that may betaken on at a later stage depend-ing on viability," GTDC Chair-man Nilesh Cabral told PTI.

Mumbai-based MEHAIRcompany had submitted the pro-posal in this regard, which isapproved by the corporation.

"Initially, MEHAIR will de-ploy one single engine Cessnaplane with nine-passenger ca-pacity, and depending upon theresponse additional planes willbe brought in," Cabral said.

Cabral also informed that an agreementwith MEHAIR will be executed shortly andthe initial tie-up will be for a period of fiveyears and MEHAIR will share revenue with

GTDC through online and offline bookings.Sea plane services are expected to give a

big boost to tourism in the state which willbe one of few states in the country to oper-

ate such service for tourists, thereby pro-moting high-end adventure tourism, headded.

Cabral said the GTDC has reported a netprofit of Rs 40 lakh this year.-PTI

44 India Post September 27, 2013www.indiapost.com

In Brief ImmigrationDetails on page 45

Republicansdepart House

immigrationgroup

Indian-American physicians want asay in immigration reform

WASHINGTON: An influentialgroup of Indian American doctorshas sought a say in the immigra-tion reform bill, arguing that thepending legislation does not takeinto account the huge shortage ofphysicians in the US.

During their day-long meetingsand hearings at the Capitol Hillwherein they met lawmakers andthe Congressional aides, AmericanAssociation of Physicians of In-dian-origin (AAPI) leadership saidgiven that Indian-American doc-tors see every 7th patient in theUS, their views on this crucial is-sue could no longer be ignored.

"Our statistics of seeing one inevery seven patients demand aseat at the table of immigration re-form. We are uniquely poised, ofhaving unique experience of deal-ing of patients and areas where allresources are not available," AAPIpresident Dr Jayesh Shah saidduring the Capitol Hill Day that fo-cused on immigration reform andhealth care reform.

Supporting the move to cleargreen card backlogs, Dr SampatShivangi, the AAPI LegislativeCommittee co-chairman, urged thelawmakers to include physicians

in the list of Science, Technology,Engineering and Mathematics(STEM) for given preference or pri-ority in green card.

As part of comprehensive im-migration reform, foreign students

graduating with degrees in STEMare eligible for green cards. Thisproposal enables highly-skilledworkers to remain in the US afterreceiving their higher education inAmerica, Shivangi said.

"Physicians graduating fromaccredited US residency programsshould also receive similar treat-

ment. Such a proposal would en-able more physicians to be eligiblefor Green Cards and address theongoing physician shortage," hesaid.

"These physicians would still

be required to meet all US licens-ing standards before they couldofficially practice medicine. Hos-pitals and physician practiceswould be able to quickly hire quali-fied physicians who can make animmediate impact in local commu-nities," Dr Shivangi said.

Such a move, officials said

would benefit Indian physicians."Once the STEM bill includesphysicians category, that wouldclear the process of Indian Ameri-can physicians," Dr Shivangi said.

The AAPI meeting was ad-dressed by several top AmericanCongressmen including Ed Royce,Joe Crowley, Joe Wilson, Ami Beraand Frank Pallone.

Speaking on the occasion, thelawmakers assured the Indian-American physicians to introducenecessary amendments in the cur-rent legislation to address theirconcerns.

Congressman Ed Royce, Chair-man of the House Foreign AffairsCommittee, said he is in favor ofskilled and education-based immi-gration.

"I am a big fan for immigrationwhich is education and skill based.Move towards unskilled based innot good for the country. Youneed to focus on skilled immigra-tion of the United States," he said.

Royce along with his otherCongressional colleague Joe Wil-son spoke to bringing down thehealth care cost and favored pro-moting doctor-patient relation-ship. -PTI

Ed Royce

Cont'd on Page 46

Can an undocumented lawyer practice law?CYRUS D. MEHTA

All eyes are focused onwhether the CaliforniaSupreme Court will

grant an undocumented lawyera law license in the case ofSergio Garcia. If an undocu-mented lawyer like Garcia isgranted a license, what wouldhappen if he chooses to prac-tice immigration law?

In the past, undocumentedlawyers who practiced immigra-tion law have been disciplinedby bar counsel within the immi-gration agencies. The same fateshould not befall future undocu-mented lawyers if they chooseto practice immigration law after

the state has granted them a li-cense to practice law.

The first question is whether an

undocumented lawyer can begranted a law license by the rel-evant state. The Department of Jus-tice has argued that 8 USC §1621prohibits a state from granting apublic benefit to an undocumentedalien, which also includes a profes-sional license.

At the oral argument onWednesday, September 4, 2013, thejudges seemed to agree with theDOJ's position. However, 8 USC§1621 also allows a state to bypass§1621 by enacting specific legisla-tion that could grant a benefit to anundocumented alien.

Thus, even if the California Su-preme Court rules against Garcia,

the California legislature haspassed specific legislation, AB1024 that would authorize thegranting of law licenses to un-documented aliens.

This legislation, if signed bythe governor, will moot the casein the California Supreme Court,but the DOJ is likely to make thesame argument in other states.

The DOJ's hypertechnical ar-gument clearly goes against thespirit of the ObamaAdministration's deferred actionfor childhood arrivals (DACA)policy, although Garcia was tooold to take advantage of it.

Pakistani sentencedin bribery forgreen card

BALTIMORE: A Connecticutman has been sentenced to 15months in prison in a plot to bribean immigration officer to get agreen card.

Forty-six-year-old Amjad Israrof Cheshire, a citizen of Pakistan,was sentenced in federal court inBaltimore.

Israr operated several conve-nience stores in Connecticut,called Krauszer's. According to hisplea agreement, he entered the U.S.in 1994 using another person'sPakistani passport.

Prosecutors say in 2011, Israrand a Maryland attorney con-tacted a person whom the attor-ney said would provide immigra-tion documents for money. Au-thorities say neither Israr nor hislawyer knew the person was, infact, an undercover agent.

Officials say Israr agreed to paythe attorney $30,000 for the immi-gration documents. Prosecutorssay Israr received a green card is-sued by the agent. -AP

Okla. collegepresidents wantimmigration reform

OKLAHOMA CITY: The presi-dents of 13 Oklahoma colleges anduniversities have sent a letter tothe state's five U.S. representa-tives, calling for them to work forpassage of immigration reform thisyear.

The letter sent to the five Re-publican congressmen - Tom Cole,Frank Lucas, Markwayne Mullin,Jim Bridenstine and JamesLankford - asks them and the otherU.S. House members to ̀ `work to-gether to develop a comprehensive,bipartisan solution'' for immigration.

Oklahoma City University Presi-dent Robert Henry told The Okla-homan that there are students frommore than 50 countries at his uni-versity and many want to stay inthe U.S. after graduation but can'tbecause of visa issues. Those stu-dents would economically benefitthe state if they had the chance tostay, he said.

``This is not a partisan issue, byany means,'' Henry said.

The letter cites the number offoreign-born graduate studentswho are working toward degreesin fields related to science, tech-nology, engineering and math, orSTEM, areas that the presidentssay Gov. Mary Fallin has identifiedas a critical need for the state.-AP

It boggles the mindas to why the DOJwould read §1621 sobroadly so as tooppose the grantingof a license to alawyer who hasbeen authorized toremain in the US

India Post 45September 27, 2013 Immigration Postwww.indiapost.com

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House chairman pledges action on immigrationWASHINGTON: The chairman

of the House Judiciary Committeehas pledged action on immigrationoverhaul legislation even as mostof the attention on Capitol Hill isfocused on fights over the bud-get and debt. Rep. Bob Goodlattesaid the immigration issue needsto be solved and work is happen-ing behind the scenes toward thatgoal.

Goodlatte, R-Va., said membersof his committee are working onfour bills to address various as-pects of the immigration system,in addition to four that the com-mittee already has approved.

He didn't elaborate on the billsin the works, but he and othershave previously discussed legis-lation to grant work visas to lower-skilled workers, as well as a bill togive immigrants brought illegallyto the U.S. as kids an ̀ èarned pathto citizenship,'' as he described it.

Goodlatte also has raised theneed for changes to the asylumand refugee program, and, mostcontroversially, to resolve the sta-tus of the 11 million people alreadyin the country illegally.

His committee already has ap-proved a bill on agricultural work-ers, one on high-skilled visas, athird to strengthen immigrationlaws and empower state and local

governments to enforce them, anda fourth to require employers toverify their workers' legal status.

The approach stands in con-trast to the Democratic-led Sen-ate, which passed a single, far-reaching bill in June including bil-lions for border security, new le-gal work visa programs and a path

to citizenship for the immigrantsalready in the country illegally.

``We are taking what we call astep-by-step approach. We haveobjections to the Senate bill, but

we don't say wewant to kill theSenate bill,' 'Goodlatte said at agathering orga-nized by HouseRepublicans withHispanic Republi-can leaders to rec-ognize HispanicHeritage Month.``We say we wantto do immigrationreform right.''

Goodlatte saidhe'd like to see thefull House begin

voting on the committee-passedbills next month. Although it's notclear that will happen, such an ap-proach could result in House ap-proval of a package of bills thatcould lead to negotiations with theSenate on a compromise immigra-tion bill. The issue is one of Presi-dent Barack Obama's top second-

term priorities.But the fall House agenda is

crowded with fiscal fights thathave commanded lawmakers'agenda and crowded aside immi-gration - an issue that many rank-and-file Republicans have little ap-petite for anyway.

Goodlatte pledged that theHouse approach would addressthe major problems of the immigra-tion system - enforcement and se-curity; legal immigration; and thestatus of the millions living in thecountry illegally.

As he has in the past,Goodlatte rejected the ``specialpath to citizenship'' he said was inthe Senate bill, instead saying thatimmigrants here illegally - asidefrom those brought as kids -should be allowed to obtain legal

status, then use the existing av-enues of work or family sponsor-ship to attain citizenship. Immigra-tion advocates see the possibilityfor compromise in this approach.

``That will not result in everysingle person who came here un-lawfully getting all the way to citi-zenship, but I feel very strongly inmy conversations with people itwould be a major solution to theproblem,'' Goodlatte said.

For people brought illegally askids - often called DREAMers af-ter Dream Act legislation thatfailed in an earlier Congress -Goodlatte endorsed what hecalled an ̀ èarned path'' to citizen-ship that would give people legalstatus and allow them to get citi-zenship through education, mili-tary or other routes. -AP

Rep. Bob Goodlatte

Republicans depart Houseimmigration group

WASHINGTON: A bipartisanHouse group that's been workingin secret to write a comprehensiveimmigration bill splintered with thedeparture of two Republicans, thelatest sign of difficulty in solvingthe contentious issue.

Texas Reps. John Carter andSam Johnson said they can nolonger be part of the effort becausethey don't trust President BarackObama to enforce any legislationthey write.

Their move may amount to theend of the group, which even be-fore the development had failed toproduce a final product aftermonths of delay. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida is now the sole Re-

publican with four Democrats in-volved in the effort. Another Repub-lican, Rep. Raul Labrador of Idaho,

departed the group several monthsago.

A joint statement from Johnsonand Carter underscored how thethorny immigration issue is made

even tougher by partisan politics onCapitol Hill and the distrust manyHouse Republicans have for Obama.

``The administration's practice ofhand-picking what parts of lawsthey wish to enforce has irrevoca-bly damaged our efforts of fixing ourbroken immigration system,'' theirstatement said.

`Ìf past actions are the best indi-cators of future behavior, we knowthat any measure depending on thepresident's enforcement will not befaithfully executed. It would begravely irresponsible to further em-power this administration by grant-ing them additional authority ordiscretion with a new immigrationsystem,'' they said.-AP

A joint statementfrom Johnson andCarter underscoredhow the thorny immi-gration issue is madeeven tougher bypartisan politics onCapitol Hill

India Post46 September 27, 2013Immigration Postwww.indiapost.com

The DOJ has also argued in asimilar case in Florida that §1621precludes a state from grantinga law licenses to a person whohas since received work authoriza-tion under DACA.

It boggles the mind as to whythe DOJ would read §1621 sobroadly so as to oppose the grant-ing of a license to a lawyer who hasbeen authorized to remain in the US

and work under DACA.There are compelling arguments

why an undocumented lawyershould be granted a law license. Alaw license should be separatedfrom the ability to work in the US.There are many foreign lawyerswho get law licenses in this coun-try even though they may not beeligible to work in the US. Theyhave entered the US on student ortourist visas, and take the state barexam.

While they may not be able toremain in the US longer than theirvisa and plan to return to theircountries, they are neverthelessgranted a license based on theircompetence and fitness to be law-yers. Such lawyers can practice USlaw in their own countries, andeven apply their knowledge of suchlaw, when they legitimately visit theUS for business purposes.

With respect to an undocu-mented lawyer who may remain inthe US, he or she need not be em-ployed by an employer in violationof federal immigration law. Such alawyer could potentially work as anindependent contractor or performpro bono work as a volunteer with-out potentially violating the em-ployer sanction laws.

The DOJ in its brief cites Matterof Tong, 16 I&N Dec. 593 (BIA1978) to argue that self-employmentqualifies as working without autho-rization. But Matter of Tong wasdecided long before the Immigra-tion Reform and Control Act of1986, which made it unlawful for anemployer to hire a person who isnot authorized to work in the US.

Matter of Tong only held thatan alien who engages in self-em-

ployment, when otherwise not au-thorized to work, cannot adjust sta-tus under INA §245. It does notprohibit self-employment, and inany event, an undocumented per-son is ineligible to adjust status.

So, what would happen if anundocumented lawyer is granted alicense, which is about to happenin California, and then decides topractice immigration law? TheDOJ's brief in the Sergio Garcia casecites instances of disciplinary ac-

tion taken against licensed attor-neys who were not authorized towork in the United States by disci-plinary counsel within the USCISand the EOIR. See Matter ofRavindra Singh Kanwal, D2009-053(OCIJ July 8, 2009) and Matter ofNoel Peter Mpaka Canute,D2020_124 (OCIJ March 16, 2001).

In both the cases, the attorneyshad work authorization and thenfell out of status, but never con-tested the charges and consentedto the order of discipline. Theywere indefinitely suspended, butcould apply for reinstatement ifthey could demonstrate that theyhad lawful immigration status orwere granted employment autho-rization.

Both of these attorneys werethen reciprocally disciplined bytheir state bars in New York andColorado and other states wherethey were admitted as attorneys.

Despite the groundswell ofsupport for granting licenses toundocumented attorneys, barcounsel within the immigrationagencies could potentially startdisciplinary actions against themif they practice immigration lawbased on the prior precedents.

When a state has granted a lawlicense to an undocumented law-yer, knowing fully well that thelawyer is undocumented, one ishard pressed to think about theethical basis to discipline a lawyerwho decides to practice immigra-tion law.

Under 8 CFR 1.1 and 1001.1,both the DHS and EOIR must rec-ognize an attorney "who is eligibleto practice law in and is a memberin good standing of the bar of the

highest court of any State, pos-session, territory, or Common-wealth of the United States, or theDistrict of Columbia, and is notunder any order suspending, en-joining, restraining, disbarring, orotherwise restricting him in thepractice of law."

An undocumented attorneywho falls under this definition isrecognized under federal law toengage in the practice of immigra-tion law.

Although the two publisheddecisions are devoid of details asthe immigration attorneys con-ceded to the disciplinary charges,it is hard to find a disciplinaryground under the federal immigra-tion rules in 8 CFR 1003.102 thatwould sanction an undocumentedattorney who chooses to practiceimmigration law, especially if suchan attorney is not employed in vio-lation of the employer sanctionprovisions, practices as an inde-pendent contractor and otherwiseengages in ethical conduct.

Moreover, in the unfortunateevent that such an attorney doesget disciplined by the immigrationagencies for merely being undocu-mented, it would be equally hardfor a state disciplinary authorityto find a reciprocal disciplinaryground under the various staterules of professional responsibil-ity, which have largely adopted theABA Model rules.

Even ABA Model Rule 8.4(c),which can sanction attorneys who"engage in conduct involving dis-honesty, fraud, deceit or misrep-resentation" or Rule 8.4(d), whichsanctions attorneys who" engagein conduct that is prejudicial to theadministration of justice" canhardly apply to an undocumentedlawyer who has been granted a li-cense by his or her state bar, andwho otherwise does not engagein unethical conduct.

Even from a public policystandpoint, a foreign national law-yer, who is otherwise in H-1B visastatus, can fall out of status unbe-knownst to him or her if the em-ployer forgets to timely file an ex-tension of the H-1B status.

This lawyer may have also mis-takenly received an I-94 authoriz-ing him or her to remain in the USup to a date earlier than the dateon the H-1B approval notice, andthe lawyer only finds out after it istoo late.

A lawyer may have also appliedfor adjustment of status based onmarriage to a US citizen, and timelyapplies for a renewal of the em-

ployment authorization document,but may not receive such a docu-ment from the USCIS in a timelymanner.

Lawyers who find themselvesin such situations, and while wait-ing for the government to extricatethemselves from this mess, maystill wish to engage in a pro bonocase for a foreign national client.Should such a lawyer be disci-plined for unethical conduct?

The disciplining of an undocu-

mented lawyer also goes againstthe grain of prevailing policiesand attitudes towards undocu-mented immigrants.

There are millions of undocu-mented people who are waiting forimmigration reform, and the Sen-ate has already passed S. 744,which will give them RegisteredProvisional Status, and then putthem along the pathway to perma-nent residency and eventually citi-zenship.

Indeed, being documented orundocumented is part of the samecontinuum. A thoroughly undocu-mented person, when placed in re-moval proceedings, can seek can-cellation of removal under strin-gent criteria pursuant to INA§240A(b), such as by being physi-cally present in the U.S. on a con-tinuous basis for not less than 10years, by demonstrating goodmoral character during this period,by not being convicted of certainoffenses and by demonstrating"exceptional and extremely unusualhardship to the alien's spouse, par-ent, or child," who is a citizen or apermanent resident.

Such a person whose visa haslong since expired could also pos-sibly get wrapped up in a romanticencounter with a U.S. citizen, marry,and dramatically convert from un-documented to permanent residentwithin a few months.

Until the recent fall of DOMA, alawyer in a same sex marriage witha US citizen could not even applyfor an immigration benefit throughthat marriage. At times, Congressbestows such permanent resi-dency, as we have already seen,through section 245(i) or the LIFE

Act, or a person can obtain Tem-porary Protected Status (TPS), if acalamity were to befall his or hercountry such as the recent TPSprogram and its extension for Hai-tians after the devastating earth-quake on January 12, 2010. Con-versely, a documented person,such as one in H-1B status can ac-cord the government also techni-cally be considered not in status,during the pendency of an exten-sion request, although this posi-

tion has been successfully chal-lenged.

The following extract from theU.S. Supreme Court's decision inPlyer v. Doe, 457 U.S. 202 (1982),which held that undocumentedchildren could not be deprived of apublic education, is worth noting:

"To be sure, like all personswho have entered the UnitedStates unlawfully, these childrenare subject to deportation. Butthere is no assurance that a childsubject to deportation will ever bedeported. An illegal entrant mightbe granted federal permission tocontinue to reside in the country,or even become a citizen."

As undocumented immigrantsbecome attorneys, many may wantto get involved in some way in thepractice of immigration law. Manyof them were brought to the US aschildren and are without status forno fault of their own.

They may engage in advocat-ing for the rights of immigrants, forimmigration reform and may alsoperform pro bono work in the immi-gration field.

They can hardly be accused ofengaging in unethical conduct bybar counsel within the immigrationagencies, especially when theirstates have granted them licensesafter being fully aware of their un-documented status.

(The views expressed in thisarticle are the author's personaland do not necessarily representthe views of any organization thathe is a part of)

With respect to an undocumented lawyerwho may remain in the US, he or she neednot be employed by an employer in violationof federal immigration law. Such a lawyercould potentially work as an independentcontractor or perform pro bono work as avolunteer without potentially violating theemployer sanction laws.

Even ABA Model Rule 8.4(c), which cansanction attorneys who "engage in conductinvolving dishonesty, fraud, deceit ormisrepresentation" or Rule 8.4(d), whichsanctions attorneys who" engage in conductthat is prejudicial to the administration ofjustice" can hardly apply to anundocumented lawyer

* Cyrus D Mehta, may becontacted at 212-425-0555or [email protected]

Can an undocumented lawyer practice law?Cont'd from Page 44

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DatebookNORTHERN CALIFORNIA

Upcoming

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Upcoming

Fri, Sep 27

• Lata's Voice Klose To My Soul

- A Musical Evening

Venue: Haveli Indian Cuisine, 17221

Pioneer Blvd, Artesia, CA 90701

Time: 7:30 pm

Contact: 562-869-9009

Sat, Sep 28

• Planet Bollywood

Venue: Ultraseude Hollywood, N Robertson

Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90069

Time: 10:00 pm

Contact: 858-610-7388

Sat, Sep 28

• Invitation for Dharma &

Yoga Fest

Venue: Granada Hills high school , 10535

Zelzah Ave, Los Angeles, CA 91344

Time: 4:00 pm

Contact: 805-203-0726

Fri, Oct 4

• The International Gem and

Jewelry Show

Venue: Los Angeles Convention Center,

1201 Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90744

Time: 12:00 pm

Sat, Oct 5

• Raas-Garba With Jayshree

Gohil & Group

Venue: Anaheim Convention Center,

800 W Katella Ave, Anaheim,

CA 92802

Time: 4:00 pm

Contact: 951-318-7375

ATLANTA

Upcoming

Fri, Oct 11

• Durgostav 2013

Venue: Berkmar High School, 405 Pleas-

ant Hill Rd, Lilburn, GA 30047

Time: 9:00 pm

Contact: 678-764-5179

Sun, Oct 20

• Dussehra Mela 2013

Venue: Atlanta Event Hall, 3750 Venture

Dr, Duluth, GA 30096

Time: 3:00 pm

Contact: 404-934-9991

Sat, Sep 28• Sef Dandia 2013

Venue: Kellogg Gym, 3801 W Temple Ave,Pomona, CA 91768Time: 8:00 pmContact:714-587-7466

Sat, Oct 12• HTHF Navratri Raas-Garba &

Dandiya 2013

Venue: Arcadia Masonic Center, 50 WDuarte Rd, Arcadia, CA 91007Time: 7:00 pmContact: 626-991-4789

Sat, Oct 12• "Bharathanatyam

Fund Raiser"

Venue: Madrid Theatre, 21622 Sherman Way,Canoga Park, CA 91605Time: 4:00 pmTime: 8183575313

• J K Yog Satsang and Bal

Mukund Hindi Classes are held

every 2nd and 4rth Sunday of

Month

Chicago Satsang Information:

J K Yog, Chicago - Swami Mukundananda

Venue: Clarion Inn/Waterford Banquets,

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Time: 3:30pm-5:30pm

Contact: Ajay & Arti Chandhok

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1st and 3rd Sunday of Month• Chicago Children's

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and Hindi Literacy Classes

Venue: Vogelei Center, 650 W. Higgins

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Contact: Ajay & Arti Chandhok @

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Website: www.jkyog.org/bal-mukund

Sat, Oct 5• Grand Musical Concert By

Abhishek Raghuram

Venue: The Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago,10915 Lemont Rd, Lemont, IL 60439Time: 4:00 pmContact: 630-403-8342

Fri, Oct 18• Shree Jalaram Mandir :

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Venue: Shree Jalaram Mandir, 425 IllinoisBlvd, Hoffman Estates, IL 60169Time: 5:30 pmContact: 847-596-0363

ILLINOIS

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Thu, Oct 3• DJ Rekha Presents BasementBhangraVenue: Le Poisson Rouge, 158 BleeckerStreet, New York, NY 10012Time: 7:00 pmContact: 718-207-0058

Sat, Oct 5• Raas Garba BenefitVenue: Van Wyck Junior High School, 10Hillside Lake Rd, Wappingers Falls, NY12590Time: 6:00 pmContact: 845-245-6047

Sat, Oct 5• Navratri Rass-GarbaVenue: Navratri Rass Garba 2013 St.Anthony’s High School 275 Wolf Hill Rd,Melville, NY 11747Time: 5:00 pmContact: 347-455-8515

Sat, Sep 28• 15th Grand DushahraFestivalVenue: Lake Papaianni Park at 100 Munici-pal Boulevard, Edison NJ 08817Time: 1:00 pmContact: 732-234-6682

Fri, Oct 4• Bollywood Legend, FarooqSheikhVenue: Edison Hotel, 3050 Woodbridge Ave,Edison, NJ 08837Time: 8:00 pmContact: 732-277-6687

Sat, Oct 5• ICS Presents Navratri 2013Venue: Dunn Sports Center-NJ, 600 Pearl St,Elizabeth, NJ 07202Time: 9:00 pmContact: 908-656-2020

49

www.indiapost.com50 India Post September 27, 2013

Health ScienceHealth Line

Details on Page 52

Cost of elderly leftout of Pa. Medicaid

debate

US House vote triggers showdownover government shutdown

WASHINGTON: House Re-publicans turned up the politicalheat by passing a spending planthat defunds President BarackObama's health care law, a ploythat pushes government towardshutdown and possible default.

Congress now has just fewdays to breach a bitter ideologi-cal divide and approve a short-term federal budget before severalgovernment agencies and pro-grams shutter at the beginning offiscal year 2014 on October 1.

Lawmakers voted along partylines 230-189 to fund governmentoperations at current levelsthrough December 15, setting upa showdown with the Democratic-led Senate, which will consider -and almost certainly reject - themeasure next week.

The Republican bill includes aprovision that strips funding forthe health care law, which its crit-ics have nicknamed "Obamacare"and which the GOP has fought torepeal since its passage more thanthree years ago.

Speaker John Boehner, whomDemocrats accuse of caving in to

extremists in his caucus, insisted thevote reflected Americans' frustrationwith ill effects of the health law.

"Our message to the UnitedStates Senate is real simple: theAmerican people don't want thegovernment shut down, and theydon't want Obamacare," Boehnersaid, to loud cheers from his Re-publican members.

But with both sides insistingthey will not blink in the face-off,the nation careened into fiscal

whitewater."We really have no idea - no

idea - how this is going to playout yet," a Republican congres-sional aide told AFP.

Obama looked beyond theshutdown threat to a more por-

tentous battle next month - theneed to raise the US borrowinglimit, which Republicans have alsovowed to try and block unless thehealth care law can be delayed bya year.

The President, visiting a carplant in Missouri, accused Repub-licans of risking a "tailspin" forthe still recovering US economyby putting partisan zeal ahead ofthe good of the nation.

"If we don't raise the debt ceil-ing - we are deadbeats," Obamawarned in a fiery speech, sayingit was "the height of irresponsi-bility" for House Republicans tothreaten a government defaultunless they get their way.

Later, he telephoned Boehnerto urge the House leader to fulfillCongress's role in paying thenation's bills, but Obama also saidhe "wouldn't negotiate with himon the debt limit," according to aBoehner aide.

"The Speaker was disap-pointed but told the president thatthe two chambers of Congresswill chart the path ahead," the aideadded. "It was a brief call." -AFP

Health law separates potential GOP 2016 contendersMACKINAC ISLAND,

Mich.: A clear divide over thehealth care law separates theemerging field of potential GOPcandidates for the 2016 presi-dential race, previewing thebattles ahead as they try to re-build their party and seize theWhite House.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz says hewill fight ̀ `with every breath'' tostop President Barack Obama'ssignature domestic achieve-ment, even if that means shut-ting down parts of the federalgovernment. It's an approachthat former Florida Gov. Jeb Bushcalls ̀ `quite dicey'' politically forRepublicans. Sen. Rand Paul ofKentucky says flatly that a shut-down is ̀ `a dumb idea.''

``I'm acknowledging we prob-ably can't defeat or get rid ofObamacare,'' Paul told reporterswhile attending a Republican

conference in Michigan. ̀ `But bystarting with our position of notfunding it maybe we get to a posi-

tion where we make it less bad.''Allied on the other side with

Cruz are U.S. Sen. Marco Rubioof Florida and others who say

they are making a principled stand,willing to oppose the law at allcosts.

Then there are those takingwhat they call a pragmatic ap-proach by accepting the law, ifgrudgingly, and moving on. This

group includes Govs. ChrisChristie of New Jersey andScott Walker of Wisconsin,who say a shutdown wouldviolate the public trust.

``The government we haveshould work, so that's why Idon't believe we should shutthe government down,'' Walkertold reporters at the Michiganconference.

The Republican-controlledHouse has passed a short-termspending plan that would con-tinue funding government op-erations through mid-Decem-ber while withholding moneyfor the health law.

Some GOP lawmakers alsoadvocate holding back on in-creasing the nation's borrow-ing limit, which could result ina first-ever default, unless thelaw is brought down.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz

Cont'd on Page 52

Ravalli Countyrejects familyplanning money

HAMILTON, Mont.: RavalliCounty commissioners have de-clined to reconsider a decision toreject $50,000 in federal money topay for a family planning clinic inthe county's public health de-partment.

The Ravalli Republic reportsthat none of the three commis-sioners who previously voted toreject the money made a motionto reconsider the decision.

Commissioners earlier thismonth voted 3-2 to turn downfederal Title X money.

That means the county's pub-lic health department startingOct. 1 will not operate a familyplanning clinic for the first timein more than 40 years.

The clinic provides health ser-vices ranging from birth controlto cancer screenings for morethan 400 mostly low-incomewomen. -AP

Binge eating morelikely to lead tohealth risks in men

WASHINGTON: Obese menwho binge eats are more likely tohave elevated cholesterol andhigh blood pressure than their fe-male counterparts, a new studyhas found.

Binge eating disorder is de-fined as the repeated consump-tion of large quantities of food ina short period of time withoutsome other compensatory activ-ity, such as the vomiting seen inbulimia.

People with binge eating dis-order also report feeling of a lossof control over their eating.

Men have generally been un-der-represented in studies ofobesity and of binge eating dis-order, said Tomoko Udo, associ-ate research scientist in psychia-try at Yale University and leadauthor of the study.

"People used to think bingeeating was less common in menthan women," she said.

The study examined 190people (141 women and 49 men)who were seeking treatment forobesity and binge eating disor-der in a primary care setting.

Even after adjusting for raceand body mass index, men werethree times as likely to meet thecriteria for metabolic syndrome,a condition that increases the riskof cardiovascular disease.

The study group consisted ofpeople who sought help with theirweight, which may have a bear-ing on the higher incidence ofmetabolic syndrome seen in men,Udo said.-PTI

US House Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor speaks as Speaker of the House

Rep. John Boehner and other House Republicans look on during a rally after

a vote September 20

India PostHealth Science Post 51

www.indiapost.com

September 27, 2013

FDA alert puts Ranbaxy underscanner of other regulators

NEW DELHI: With the US health watch-dog finding serious lapses at Ranbaxy'sMohali plant in Punjab, regulators in Aus-tralia and Europe are assessing if any drugsexported by the Indian firm to their regionsare affected.

Regulators in Australia and Europe, in-cluding the UK, have sought informationfrom the Food and Drug Administration(FDA) about the lapses, which last weekled to a US ban on imports of productsmade at the Mohali facility.

The regulators said action will be takenafter assessing the FDA's reply.

Ranbaxy Laboratories, which was ac-quired by Japanese drug maker DaiichiSankyo in 2008, commissioned the Mohaliplant in 2011 and started exports from therein 2012. It is the third Ranbaxy facility inIndia to face FDA action, after the Dewasand Paonta Sahib plants.

The US FDA banned import of drugsmade at the Mohali unit after it foundlapses, including tablets embedded with'black fiber' suspected to be hair from anemployee's arm and 'black spots' of oil frommachines in tablets.

The drug maker, which has 16 manufac-turing units in eight countries and groundoperations in 43 nations, said it will con-tinue to fully cooperate with the FDA and

take steps to resolve the concerns at theearliest.

A spokesperson for Australia's Thera-peutic Goods Administration (TGA) toldPTI it will determine whether any action isrequired when the FDA information is as-sessed.

"The TGA is in communication with theUS FDA and is awaiting details to deter-mine whether any Australian medicines maybe affected by the FDA findings," thespokesperson said.

The UK's Medicines andHealthcare Products Regula-tory Agency (MHRA) said animpact assessment is inprogress.

"We are currently workingwith the FDA and other Euro-pean regulators to assess theimpact the FDA's action has onthe medicines from the Mohalisite that are destined for the UKand European market.

"There is currently no evidence thatmedicines on the UK and EU market manu-factured at this site are defective so peopleshould continue to take their medicines,"MHRA said.

The World Health Organization did notcomment on its action plan, saying onlythat it had taken note of the US FDA's pastactions against Ranbaxy.

Ranbaxy said in May it signed a con-sent decree with the US FDA and agreed topay USD 500 million to settle charges aftera US Department of Justice probe of dataintegrity and manufacturing processes atcertain company units in India.

Ranbaxy clocked over USD 1 billion salesin the Americas in 2012, while it garneredover USD 420 million in Europe and overUSD 270 million from Asia and Africa. -PTI

Nike co-founder gives $500Mfor cancer research

PORTLAND, Ore.: Nike Inc. founder PhilKnight pledged $500 million to OregonHealth and Science University in the formof a challenge he hopes will launch a $1billion cancer research initiative.

The gift is contingent on OHSU raisingat least $500 million for cancer within twoyears.

The gift by the hospital is the third onefrom Knight and his wife, Penny, to OHSU.A 2008 gift of $100 million went to thehospital's Knight Cancer Institute.

The Knights announced the gift at a galafor the cancer institute.

`Ìt is incumbent on every one of us todo what he or she can to keep the miraclescoming,'' Knight said, in comments distrib-uted by the hospital.

Knight Cancer Institute Director Dr.Brian Druker, who helped develop a drugthat targets genetic defects in a particularcancer while leaving healthy cells un-harmed, said the pledge will help kick-startsolutions to the next major challenges in

cancer research.``This is a transformative moment,'' said

OHSU President Joe Robertson in com-ments distributed by the hospital, ̀ `not justfor OHSU and for Oregon, but for the

people who matter most.``This is about changing the lives of can-

cer patients around the world.''In September 2012, Knight pledged $125

million to establish a cardiovascular insti-tute at the hospital that is expected to helpin recruiting doctors and bridging the so-called translational gap between the datafound in research and its application in aclinical setting. -AP

`Ìt is incumbent on everyone of us to do what he orshe can to keep themiracles coming,'' Knightsaid,

Matheson bucks Dems, votesvs. health care law

SALT LAKE CITY: Rep. Jim Mathesonof Utah was one of only two Democratswho crossed party lines to vote for legisla-tion to eliminate funding for the 3-year-oldhealth care law and simultaneously preventa partial government shutdown.

Matheson said he voted for the bill eventhough he thinks the GOP legislative strat-egy of trying to scuttle President BarackObama's health care law by threatening agovernment shutdown is irresponsible.

The Republican-controlled House ap-proved the measure by a 230-189 vote.

Matheson, the lone Democrat in Utah'scongressional delegation, noted he op-poses the Affordable Care Act and his maingoal is keeping the government operating.He assumed the Senate would restore thefunding, forcing the House to take up theissue again.

He preferred a bill that extends govern-ment funding at current levels, while theparties continue negotiating a broaderspending deal.

``This (vote) reflects my position on bothof those issues,'' Matheson told The SaltLake Tribune. ``We should avoid shuttingdown the government. I think we ought tokeep our eye on that prize.''

Utah's three Republican House members

- Rob Bishop, Jason Chaffetz and ChrisStewart - issued a joint statement sayingthe bill not only keeps government work-ing but eliminates funding from `òne ofthe most destructive and expensive lawsever passed.''

They urged their colleagues in the Sen-ate to pass the bill as is and send it to thepresident.

The Obama administration opposes theHouse measure, saying it would deny mil-lions of hard-working middle-class familiesaffordable health care coverage.

`Ì think fighting Obamacare in its ex-treme form is a losing cause for Republi-cans because they've lost so many timeson it, including in the Supreme Court,'' KirkJowers, head of the University of Utah'sHinckley Institute of Politics, told theDeseret News.

The GOP should attack the deficit andspecific aspects of the health care law thatneed reform rather than resort tobrinksmanship, he added.

`Ìt seems, at this point, taking a sledge-hammer to Obamacare is not going to work,''Jowers said. ``Taking a scalpel could verywell work because even President Obamahas acknowledged there are some signifi-cant difficulties with this law.'' -AP

India Post Health Science Postwww.indiapost.com

September 27, 2013 52

Cost of elderly left out of Pa. Medicaid debate

Gov. Tom Corbett

HARRISBURG, Pa.: Gov. Tom Corbett'splan to extend taxpayer-paid health insur-ance to hundreds of thousands of the work-ing poor came with his repeated warningsthat it is not an expansion of Medicaid andthat he would not expand an entitlementprogram that he views as already too costly,bloated and ineffective.

What went without mention by Corbett,however, is the driving force behind thecost of Pennsylvania's Medicaid program:the elderly who need nursing home care orsomething like it on a long-term basis.

``When you talk about the escalatingcost of the (Medicaid) system, you can'tget around it without attacking the long-term care problem that we have,'' saidMichael Rosenstein, who represents thearms of private insurers and hospitals thatare paid by Pennsylvania to manage thecare of 1.6 million Medicaid enrollees.

Nearly half of the state's 2.2 million Med-icaid enrollees are children. More than900,000 elderly and disabled receive Med-icaid services, whether for health care, tostay in a nursing home or get help in theirhomes with tasks they have difficulty do-ing.

Then there's the cost.Statistics from the Medicaid and CHIP

Payment Access Commission in Washing-ton, D.C., or MACPAC for short, show Penn-sylvania spent more than $23,000 in 2009for each elderly person on Medicaid _among the costliest in the nation _ and

$15,700 per year for each disabled personon Medicaid. The 2009 data was the latestavailable. The price tag for someone to stayin a nursing home is around $60,000 a year.

Those figures dwarf the cost of cover-ing the kind of working-age, able-bodiedadult who would primarily benefit from the

use of Medicaid expansion money that be-comes available Jan. 1 under PresidentBarack Obama's signature health care law.For example, each able-bodied adult who isalready on Medicaid because they are des-titute or are a low-income parent cost $4,600

in 2009 to insure, according MACPAC'sinformation.

Meanwhile, the elderly continue to bethe fastest growing group of Medicaid re-cipients in Pennsylvania, which is amongthe nation's oldest states.

The question of what to do about thecost to care for the growing numberof elderly on Medicaid is not a newone.

The Medicaid managed care com-panies in Rosenstein's group are lob-bying to extend their services to alsoinclude nursing care for the elderlyand disabled, a move they say wouldsave money and improve quality oflife.

The AARP is pressing for Penn-sylvania to catch up to other statesin expanding the role of attendantswho take care of the elderly in pri-vate or community homes.

Meanwhile, some nursing homeoperators insist the Medicaid enroll-ees in their care cannot get the 24-hour care that they need anywhereelse. Rather, they say the growth ofthe elderly on Medicaid is due to theexpansion of in-home services that

has displaced the role once filled by familyand friends.

Ronald Barth, whose organization rep-resents not-for-profit businesses that pro-vide various services to the elderly, saidthe state needs to update its Medicaid re-imbursement system so that the elderly getbetter access to a wider range of servicesthat often cost less than a nursing home.The reimbursement system is rooted in the1960s, when people didn't live as long andwere more likely to have able-bodied familymembers nearby, Barth said.

``We have the old-old to care for now,''Barth said. ̀ `Medicaid and Medicare werecreated when the lifespans of people werenot reaching the mid-80s and the 90s andmid-90s the way they are today.''

Tucked into Corbett's plan to use thefederal Medicaid dollars to extend healthinsurance to an estimated 520,000 low-in-come adults is a pledge to create a ̀ `Long-Term Care Commission to recommend bestpractices that improve the coordination ofcare for all Pennsylvanians in need of long-term care services and support.''

There were few details beyond that.``We don't know what the results of that

could be, as far as policy changes,'' saidRay Landis of the AARP of Pennsylvania.`Ì'm hoping that, since that was in there,it's a recognition that that is a big cost driverin Medicaid.'' -AP

Obama used his weekly radio andInternet address to scold `à faction on thefar right'' of the Republican Party, and hesaid he would not allow `ànyone to harmthis country's reputation or threaten to in-flict economic pain on millions of our ownpeople, just to make an ideological point.''

While attending the Michigan confer-ence, Paul said Republicans could force avote in both houses of Congress, then ne-gotiate changes to legislation in a joint con-ference committee. But, he added, time isrunning out.

Less than one-quarter of Americans ap-prove of the job Congress is doing, aboutthe same as approve of Republicans in Con-gress, according to recent national polls.Democrats poll slightly higher, and large ma-jorities disapprove of the work of both.

Yet, only about a third of Americans saythey approve of the health care act.

Christie has accepted for his state keyprovisions of the law, yet campaigned onbehalf of candidates who support disman-tling it. He has taken no public position onwhether to fight the law to the point of gov-ernment shutdown.

``He is either unwilling or unable to speakup against these guys,'' Democratic NationalCommittee spokesman Mike Czin said.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, hosting theconference where Paul, Walker and Louisi-ana Gov. Bobby Jindal spoke, said a shut-down ``reflects poorly on the national po-litical culture.''

Bush was more pointed. He said Repub-

licans would be guilty of overplaying theirhand if they passed a spending measure thatdid not include money for the health carelaw.

Noting that Republicans control only theU.S. House in Washington, or `òne-half ofone-third of the leverage'' in the capital, Bush

said in Washington there ``needs to be anunderstanding of that, or, politically, it getsquite dicey'' for the GOP.

Cruz said concerns that voters wouldblame Republicans for a shutdown are un-founded.

`Ìf history is a guide, the fear of deeppolitical repercussions - I don't think thedata bear that out,'' he said.

Republican lawmakers and DemocraticPresident Bill Clinton failed to agree onspending in 1995, which resulted in two par-tial government shutdowns.

Clinton was re-elected the following year,but Cruz noted that Republicans held themajorities in both the House and Senate in1996 and 1998, and collaborated withClinton on spending cuts and other changesthat preceded economic expansion.-AP

Cont'd from Page 50

Health law separates potentialGOP 2016 contenders

Less than one-quarter ofAmericans approve of thejob Congress is doing,about the same as ap-prove of Republicans inCongress, according torecent national polls.

India Post 53September 27, 2013

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Philosophy

Without the center of love,there won't be fulfillment

Don't seek love, but barriersto it within you

Mata Amritanandmayee

Nothing, to my way of

thinking, is a better

proof of a well ordered

mind than a man's abil-

ity to stop just where he

is and pass some time

in his own company.

-Seneca

When traveling is made

too easy and comfort-

able, its spiritual mean-

ing is lost.

-D.T. Suzuki

Knowing others is intel-

ligence; knowing your-

self is true wisdom.

Mastering others is

strength, mastering

yourself is true power.

-Lao Tzu

Do not worry if you

have built your castles

in the air. They are

where they should be.

Now put the founda-

tions under them.

-Henry David

Thoreau

Who is the happiest of

men? He who values

the merits of others, and

in their pleasure takes

joy, even as though

'twere his own.

-Johann Wolfgang

von Goethe

The higher we soar, the

smaller we appear to

those who cannot fly.

-Friedrich Nietzsche

Knock, And He'll open the door. Vanish, AndHe'll make you shine like the sun. Fall, AndHe'll raise you to the heavens. Becomenothing, And He'll turn you into everything.

MATA AMRITANANDMAYEE

We should have aware-ness in all that we do.Only then does karma

become karma yoga.Discipline helps good thoughts

and qualities to develop, which inturn leads to Shraddha or awarenessin action. For one who has Shraddha,everything becomes Puja (worship).Nothing will be wasted, every-thing will be practical.

To control the mind, disciplineis needed. We need to meditate,do japa, do seva. Only one whohas a strong grounding in theShastras (scriptures) can survivewithout this.

Meditate in the morning. Go foryour seva after that. Read booksand make notes. What is the useof showing light to a blind per-son! You have to awaken your-self. Only then will you have thatyearning.

We had that sort of disciplineduring childhood - at dusk wewould wash our hands and feet,light the lamp and pray. We wouldalso place a pot of water in frontof the lamp for God, so that Godcould wash his feet if he comesto our house! People had suchinnocent faith then.

During prayers and bhajans,we would have to sit with foldedhands as a mark of devotion andrespect. Even now if I am not ableto come for bhajans I sit with thetambura and sing bhajans in the

room itself. Even when I hadthroat problems, I do still sing.

Irrespective of the situation,you will be able to pursue yourpractice if you had an early disci-pline.

During Archana, you can ei-ther chant or keep silence andimagine that you are doing anabhisheka with flowers to God,flowing from head to feet - thatway you will be able to visualizethe whole form. Archana can be

chanted together but should bein synchrony, with the samespeed and shruthi.

You can chant wherever youare. You can look at the sky asyou travel and look into the skiesand perceive the 'Ishta devata' ismoving with you. While travel-ing by road, you can imagineDevi driving in a chariot/carahead of you. While cooking youcan see Devi's face in the fire asyou blow. So you can do any-

thing and everything anywherewith the remembrance of God.

I am very sad when I do notsee such an attitude in my chil-dren. You should have that in-tensity, but many of you seem tolack it. Most of you are like anordinary bus. That goes so slow,stopping here and there againand again.

Moreover, you keep on load-ing the bus with each and every-thing you see at every stop till

the bus breaks down and youlose everything. Then you waitfor the next bus.

Make a resolve; That weshould reach a particular placeby a particular time. It is only thenthat we will have the urgency toreach our destination. We shouldhave the yearning and the Jijnasa- the desire to know."

You know the story of Kaikeyiand Manthara from Ramayana. Ifwithin the mind, some gossip and

slander finds root, God leaves,Devil will rule the mind.

Center of LoveWithout a center you cannot

draw a circle. Without that cen-ter of love, there won't be fulfill-ment to life. That is what makeslife full. Doing actions as an of-fering to God is karma yoga.Here, in the ashram you can dothis very easily - you can thinkthat you are doing it for Amma.

Remember that Amma has of-fered herself to the world. Ammais always in Atma-bhava, in thestate of Self. She is your Atma;She is not different from you. Soif you do actions with that atti-tude, then it is the Self offeringit to the Self.

Excerpted from an address toAshramites on 23 May, 2011.The60th birth anniversary of MataAmritanandmayee is being ob-served on September 27

JALAL AD-DIN MUHAMMAD

RUMI

Jalal ad-din Muhammad Rumi'swords have rung out for morethan 800 years, resonating

with readers around the world andtranscending all religions with hiscommon themes of unity and faithin God's will.

Here are some beautiful andwise Rumi quotes to share:

• I want to see you. Know yourvoice. Recognize you when youfirst come 'round the corner. Senseyour scent when I come into aroom you've just left. Know thelift of your heel, the glide of yourfoot. Become familiar with the wayyou purse your lips, then let thempart, just the slightest bit, when Ilean in to your space and kiss you.I want to know the joy of how youwhisper "more."

• Your task is not to seek forlove, but merely to seek and findall the barriers within yourself thatyou have built against it.

• Out beyond ideas of wrong-doing, and rightdoing there is afield. I'll meet you there. When thesoul lies down in that grass theworld is too full to talk about.

• If you are irritated by everyrub, how will your mirror be pol-ished?

• The minute I heard my firstlove story, I started looking foryou, not knowing how blind thatwas. Lovers don't finally meetsomewhere. They're in each otherall along.

• The wound is the place wherethe Light enters you.

• What you seek is seeking you.

• Don't grieve. Anything youlose comes round in another form.

• You were born with wings,why prefer to crawl through life?

• Dance, when you're brokenopen. Dance, if you've torn thebandage off. Dance in the middleof the fighting. Dance in yourblood. Dance when you're per-fectly free.

• Sell your cleverness and buybewilderment.

• When you do things fromyour soul, you feel a river movingin you, a joy.

• When I am with you, we stayup all night. When you're nothere, I can't go to sleep. PraiseGod for those two insomnias! Andthe difference between them.

• Knock, And He'll open the

door. Vanish, And He'll make youshine like the sun. Fall, And He'llraise you to the heavens. Becomenothing, And He'll turn you intoeverything.

• Forget safety. Live where youfear to live. Destroy your reputa-tion. Be notorious.

• And still, after all this time,the Sun has never said to theEarth, " You owe me." Look whathappens with love like that.It

Jalal ad-din Muhammad Rumi

You know the story of Kaikeyi andManthara from Ramayana. If within themind, some gossip and slander finds root,God leaves, Devil will rule the mind.

lights up the sky.• Ignore those that make you

fearful and sad, that degrade youback towards disease and death.

• My soul is from elsewhere, I'msure of that, and I intend to endup there.

• Don't be satisfied with stories,how things have gone with oth-

ers. Unfold your own myth.• In your light I learn how to

love. In your beauty, how to makepoems. You dance inside my chestwhere no-one sees you, but some-times I do, and that sight becomesthis art.

• Silence is the language ofgod, all else is poor translation.

The 806th birth anniversary ofMaulana Rumi will be observedon Sept 30

•

54 Edit Pagewww.indiapost.com

September 27, 2013India Post

India PostPresidential style

Indian democracy is quite different from American democracy.A future leader of the country may not be known till such aselection is made by a successful party (or parties) after the

elections. Whereas in the Presidential form of democracy prac-ticed in the US, the two contestants for the leader of the countryare known much in advance and these two contestants put intoshade rest of the political battles taking place simultaneously. InIndia this time, the BJP has taken a cue from American electionsand is trying to turn the 2014 general elections into a presidentialform of contest. They have named their prime ministerial candidatein Narendra Modi almost eight months before the elections and arechallenging the ruling Congress party to name their candidate.

Spurred by the popularity of Narendra Modi, the BJP has alsocaught on to the American practice of charging for attendance atpolitical meetings. Beginning modestly, it charged Rs 5 for entryto Modi's meeting in Hyderabad. It was announced that the moneythus collected will be used for relief for the Uttarakhand floodvictims. The move turned out to a big success. There are meetingscoming up for Modi and for the one in Bangalore later this month,the BJP has upped the charges to Rs 10. However, unlike in theAmerican system, this money is not said to be for the party but forsome noble purpose like relief for disaster victims.

The very fact that they can charge for a Modi meeting andpeople are not dissuaded by this novel practice shows the changein the approach of the Indian people. So far, under Congress cul-ture, people are believed to wait for free doles viz free electricity,free water, free bus rides. These may still find prevalence duringelection campaigns but it is doubtful if freebies can turn people tovote for the party doling out these benefits.

These are becoming old style politics. Taking people to be gull-ible who would be taken in by the few gifts handed out beforeelections. The practice has been that just before elections, theroads are repaired, power shedding is stopped and water is avail-able aplenty. After reaping the benefits of votes, the administrat-ing politicians go back to their old ways of rewarding their rela-tives and friends and forgetting about the common people foranother five years.

In another departure, BJP's Opposition leader in the Rajya SabhaArun Jaitley described Narendra Modi's anointment as the primeministerial candidate as the outcome of "primary" which is a vo-cabulary taken straight from the American electoral system.

There are other parallels with American style primaries. Candi-dates pitch themselves by getting the grassroots to come andvote for them, and then conquer the party by winning state afterstate. Modi did the same. R Jagannathan writing in First Post de-scribes it thus: "He lit a fire under the BJP's central leadership bydemonstrating his clout with mid and lower level party workers anddemonstrated his popularity. Then he went after the states, startingwith his own. In fact, Modi has effectively won the BJP primariesfair and square without getting the party to actually hold one."

Earlier, on August 15, Modi did something which has neverbeen done before - challenge the Independence Day speech ofthe Prime Minister in the American debate style. He pitched for adebate in the manner similar to which discussions were held be-tween Barack Obama and Mitt Romney for Presidential electionsin the US.

Speaking a little after the Prime Minister, he took him on pointby point to demolish the repetitive arguments of the PM aboutachievements of the UPA. Modi was severely criticized for con-fronting the Prime minister of the country, but his interventionwas also welcomed because here was someone asking the ques-tions that the people on the street were asking and who had novoice to counter the PM.

Tweaking deterrence to thepeculiarities of South Asia

RUHEE NEOG

In 'Nuclear Weapons, Costsand Myths', an article thatappeared in The Indian Ex-press on 27 August,

Chinmaya Gharekhan, India'sformer permanent representativeto the UN, asked whether 'nuclearweapons have made us more se-cure against potential adversaries'.This article will pick up from whereAmb Gharekhan left off, and fill inperceived gaps.

Referring to India's adoption ofCold War vintage nuclear strategy,the article points out that India andPakistan have no parallels with theCold War US-USSR equation. TheCuban Missile Crisis is forwardedas an interesting case of the 'fail-ure of deterrence'. Admittedly, thisargument has its mer-its. Moments from theCold War period suchthe Falklands Wardemonstrate thatcountries were not infact deterred fromwaging war againstnuclear-capable ad-versaries.

However, and withparticular reference tothe Cuban MissileCrisis, it must also berecognized that de-spite thebrinkmanship, peacewas ultimately main-tained. As Ward Wil-son says, this wasachieved if not withthe effectiveness of deterrencethen at least through the practiceof caution because of the dangersposed by nuclear weapons. Thisis more than what can be said forthe level of violence witnessedduring the two World Wars.

Cold War nuclear strategy maynot be 'reproducible in our region'but this should not be the basis ofthe denunciation of the 'useful-ness' of nuclear weapons and theapplicability of deterrence theoryto South Asia. The primary func-tion of nuclear weapons rests onthe applicability of deterrence. Itcould therefore be more construc-tive to debate how deterrence canbe adapted to the present scenarioinstead.

The concept of the 'survivabil-ity' of the deterrent, which origi-nated during the Cold War, is alsotaken issue with. It is preciselybecause of a first strike's potentialability to damage a state's nuclearcommand and control structurethat a nuclear deterrent demandsthat the latter be maintained com-prehensively and at all times,thereby ensuring 'survivability',threatening massive retaliation

and preventing a first strike alto-gether.

The South Asian nuclear deter-rence situation is best explainedby the stability-instability para-dox: a state in possession ofnuclear weapons might be encour-aged to conventionally vex its ad-versary and take greater risks inthe knowledge that said adversarywould not respond via nuclearmeans. The 1999 Kargil War hasbeen cited as a significant exampleof the failure of deterrence.

However, Kargil did not esca-late to a nuclear level. This exampleis of course notwithstanding thepresence of sub/non-state actorsin South Asia, who can derail de-terrence - which in any case makes

a point not for the failure of deter-rence but rather its adaptation tothe peculiarities of South Asia.However, this point is not raised.

In addition, it is also said thatduring Kargil, 'it is Pakistani nukesthat restrained us from using ourconventional superiority to driveaway the invaders. We were de-terred by Pakistan's nukes'.

The problem therefore seems tobe with India conceding its con-ventional advantage by adoptinga nuclear stand, and not deter-rence in general.

However, it must also be ac-knowledged that while nuclearweapons may have allowed Paki-stan to foray into Indian territory,it also deterred them from comingto the rescue of their troops whenthey were targeted by Indianground and aerial attacks. Re-straint was visible on both sides.

Should India 'consider a freeze'on its stockpile 'even if it is onlywith reference to Pakistan'? Here,the foregone conclusion is thatnuclear war with China is unlikelygiven their level of advancementand concomitant refusal to ac-knowledge India as a nuclear ad-

versary, but given the potentialescalation in case of conflict withPakistan, time has perhaps cometo agree to a limit on their respec-tive arsenals.

How is this scenario envisagedif China keeps its options open?Second, as also stated by BharatKarnad in his critique of AmbGharekhan's article, a move suchas this amounts to voluntary rec-ognition of Pakistan's strategicparity with India, which the Indiangovernment would surely be ab-solutely unwilling to do.

Third, there has been wide-spread discussion on how China'srise is not 'peaceful', and its en-titled behavior has not gone un-noticed. This definitely asks to be

factored into the discussion.Since Hiroshima and Nagasaki,

which have been referenced at dif-ferent points in the article, thereexists a state of nuclear taboo. Itis unlikely that either Indian orPakistani establishments would bewilling to risk breaking this tabooand consciously invite universalindictment. This calculation how-ever of course does not includethe role of non-state actors.

Nuclear deterrence holds aslong as nuclear weapons are notused - this paradox is central tothe problems posed by nuclearweapons. To question this in thespecific context of India and Paki-stan, and to then suggest a freezeon stockpiles so as avoid nuclearusage does not answer the ques-tion.

A freeze on stockpiles, giventhe presence of variables such asnon-state actors, does not makeus anymore secure against poten-tial adversaries. Closer to the markwould be a debate on how deter-rence can be tweaked so as to be agood fit for South Asia.

The writer is Senior ResearchOfficer, NSP, IPCS

Agni II ballistic missile

indiapost 09 27 2013

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