indiapost_01-28-2011

Certified by “CIRCULATION VERIFICATION COUNCIL Readership 117,765”

Top Stories V O I C E O F I N D I A N S W O R L D W I D E

www.indiapost.com

NEW YORK • WASHINGTON D.C. • CHICAGO • ATLANTA • CALIFORNIA VOL 16, No. 855 January 28, 2011 50¢ Periodical Postage

India Post

CONTENTS

YES 62%

Last week’s result

NO 38%

This week’s question

INDIA POST [email protected]

Bollywood ---------------------- 22-23

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

Community Post -------------- 12-19

Date Book -------------------------- 46

Edit Page --------------------------- 49

HealthScience Post --------- 43-45

Horoscope ------------------------- 34

Immigration Post ------------- 40-42

Life Style ----------------------- 24-25

Philosophy ------------------------- 48

Publisherís Diary ------------------ 4

Real Estate ------------------------ 33

TechBiz Post ------------------- 20-21

Travel & Hospitality Post ---- 35-37

Should NRIs disclose theirblack money?

Details on page 5

Details on page 12

Details on page 43

Details on page 14

Details on page 7

Details on page 12

Vijay Sazawalon key US nuketrade panel

Indian Americanto be judgein New Jersey

Details on page 33

Details on page 7

NRIs ALSO HOLDBLACK MONEY

PM: Information can't be revealedNEW DELHI: The Indian finance ministry has told the

Supreme Court that among those holding accounts in theSwiss and German banks in Liechtenstein are 12 trustsowned by 26 tax assesses, which even include non-resi-dent Indians.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh raised the issue ofblack money during a cabinet meeting here, a day after the

Supreme Court queried why the government cannot namethose involved in this $1.5-trillion "national plunder".

The discussion came against the backdrop of the apexcourt coming down heavily on the government's reluc-tance to provide full information on ill-gotten moneystashed away by Indians in foreign banks.

Details on page 5

PROUD OF NIKKI: Representatives of Indian American Republicans pose with the new Governor of South Carolina. (L-R)

Sanket Dalal (RIC-SC Secretary), Dr. Bindu Kansupada (RIC-PA Chairman), Dr. Kuchipudi Bapineedu (RIC-NJ Chairman), Sita

Kapoor, Arthur Kapoor (RIC-NJ President), Tracey Paliath, Dilip Paliath (RIC President), Governor Nikki Haley, Michael Haley, Dr.

Mukesh Roy (RIC-NJ Executive Director), Anoop Kansupada (RIC Youth Director) and Jody Venkatesan (RIC Treasurer)

Indian Americans celebrate Haley's inaugurationIndia Post News Service

NEW YORK: As Nikki Haley, the newly-elected Gov-ernor of South Carolina walked down the steps of theState Capitol in Columbia, on Jan 12, to be sworn in asSouth Carolina's 116th Governor, representatives of In-dian American Republicans celebrated the event as ashining moment for the Indian American community -especially for those closely involved with her electoralcampaign.

That included the President of the South Carolina

Chapter of the Republican Indian Committee (RICPAC),Bhavna Vasudeva. "This is a moment of intense - andquiet - pride," said Vasudeva. "We believed in the prom-ise of Nikki Haley's campaign and her potential to be atruly effective Governor for our State. My husband, Dr.Raj Vasudeva, and I have been working with Nikki formany years ever since her early days as state represen-tative. It has been a slow and steady fight to the top andwe have found that grassroots support is what is neces-sary for success."

Details on page 6

Kalam favorsuniting Indian,US med systems

Two FIAs, twoRepublic Daycelebrations

Details on page 12

Communityleaders atQuinn's function

Details on page 7

UIF honorsAshok Magoin Delhi

Sohail Mohammed

NRIs stunned atlack of healthcare in India

Hindus upsetover Ganeshadenigration

Foreclosures hithard AsianAmericans

Indian Muslimscondemn Taseermurder

Will merger of OCI, PIO cardssolve visa issues?

See pages 26-32

India Postwww.indiapost.com

January 28, 20112

January 28, 2011 India Post 3www.indiapost.com

22

Mission Statement

To empower the Indian Diaspora and make their voice strong and effective in countries of their adoption. RJ Media conglomerateoffers a credible, professional and complete package of news, opinion, entertainment, networking and information.

NewsweeklyIndia Post

India Post January 28, 20114

Romesh K [email protected]

For editorial, contact: [email protected] or call 510-797-7799

Classifieds: Tel: 510-938-8668; E-mail:[email protected] Inquiry: Tel: 510-936-9490; E-mail: [email protected]

CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS1900 Mowry Ave # 201 Fremont, CA 94538

Tel: 510-797-7799, Fax: 510-790-2806; E-mail: [email protected]

E-SUBSCRIPTION: Vikram PaulTel: 510-789-7520 Extn: 208; E-mail: [email protected]

For Editorial: Sonia SidhuTel: 510-797-7799; E-mail: [email protected]

SAN FRANCISCO & SILICONVALLEY1900 Mowry Ave # 201 Fremont, CA 94538Tel: 510-938-8667e-mail: [email protected]

LOS ANGELES12908 Indian Lane Norwalk,CA 90650Fax: 562-947-0632Tel: 562-441-5511, [email protected]: 562-929-4213, [email protected]

CHICAGO2740 W Devon Ave Chicago IL 60659Tel: 773-973-7394; Fax: 773-973-7396;Email: [email protected]

NEW YORKTel: 212-944-1931, Fax: 732-969-3735Tel: 908-338-3752 (Marketing)Tel: 732-283-4939 (Editorial)E-mail: [email protected]

NEW JERSEY21 Longfellow st., Carteret, NJ 07008Tel: 732-969-1114; Fax: 732-969-3735E-mail: [email protected]

BOSTONTel: 617-298-9200; Fax: 617-298-1104GOPE; E-mail: [email protected]

ATLANTA67 Peach Tree Dr., Ste. 102, BuckheadAtlanta, GA 30309Tel: 404-425-3021E-mail: [email protected]

FLORIDA8401 West Sample Road30, Coral Springs, Florida - 33065

TORONTO, CANADATel/Fax: 416-744-8610

DELHIJin Kushal Suri Complex, 3rd Floor,230-A, Masjid Moth, (NDSE Part-II)New Delhi - 110049Tel: 11-46142940, 26257769Fax: 11-46142969E-mail:[email protected]

MUMBAI• Shivam, 3rd FloorOpp Raj Kumar HotelAndheri (W) MumbaiTel: (22) 2677 7782Email: [email protected]• Fernandes MansionTam Taloa, Bassien (W) Mumbai09619 330159

NASHIK6 Amrit DharaDeolali, Near Nashik-422 10194 23 138 700

Romesh & Sunita Japra PublishersSubhash C Japra Co-PublisherVikram Paul PresidentKrishan Sharma Mg Director & Joint EditorRanjana Sodhi Managing EditorVinod Dhawan Senior EditorNaresh Sodhi General ManagerGhanshyam Bisht Supervisor Graphics

SAN FRANCISCO & SILICON VALLEYVijay Thapar CPRO & AdvertisingSonia Sidhu Management AnalystRadhika Jhamb CorrespondentSudesh Kumari CorrespondentDeepa Japra Youth Post CorrespondentRama Mehra AdvertisingBhumi Bhutani Health Science CorrespondentJaya Gautam CorrespondentSujata Singh CorrespondentSirisha Chandraraju CorrespondentIsha Patnaik CorrespondentRaaj D. Photo Journalist

Los AngelesMrs Shashi Trivedi Bureau ChiefJ S Bedi PR & MarketingMrs Prem Kishore Sr CorrespondentGreg Heffernan CorrespondentMs Bobby Sharma CorrespondentBabeeta Kaur Dhillon CorrespondentPavan Kaur Bhatia Correspondent

CHICAGORamesh Soparawala Resident EditorA Q Siddiqui Correspondent

ST. LOUISAshwin Patel Correspondent

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

ATLANTASanjay Saggere Bureau Chief

FLORIDAB K Madnani

CANADAFirdaus Ali Correspondent

BOSTONGope Gidwani Bureau Chief

DETROITAshok B Jain, M D Bureau ChiefGurminder Singh

SAN DIEGONeelu Bhardwaj Bureau ChiefSACRAMENTOMadan Sharma Bureau ChiefJanak Sidhra CorrespondentUpen Shukla Correspondent

CENTRAL VALLEY (CA)Dr Ram Saini Bureau ChiefSheila Rogers Correspondent

YUBA CITY (CA)Satnam Tatla Correspondent

CAROLINASNalini Raja Patel Correspondent

INDIAVinod Dhawan Senior Editor &Bureau Chief

NEW DELHIVinod Kumar Khatana GraphicsMadan Bangari Graphics

PUNJABShiv Japra Bureau ChiefAnil Kanwar Senior Correspondent/Marketing

CHANDIGARHRaj Kumar Bali Correspondent

DOABA, PUNJABRomesh Kaura Correspondent

HYDERABADM Sagar Kumar Bureau Chief

MUMBAIMayank Thakkar CorrespondentNidhi Soparawala CorrespondentFrank Fernandes CorrespondentVaidehi Patel Correspondent

NASHIKMahendra Thakkar Correspondent

The Weekly NewspaperServing Indians Worldwide

www.indiapost.comIndia Post

HIGHLIGHTSPublisher’s Diary

INFO-CENTER

For advertisement rates call the office nearest to you:

Bollywood:Ash snubs SRKAsh snubbed King Khan at an awardsfunction arguing that she will dance to'Kajra Re' with no one but Bachchans.

1Cover Story:Black money

12Community:Rival R-Days

43Health:Indo-US SummitFormer President Abdul Kalam inaugu-rated the Indo-US Healthcare Summit or-ganized by AAPI in Jaipur.

24Life Style:

A new book 'Mumbai Fables' by GyanPrakash examines Mumbai's role as asymbol of opportunity and reinvention.

20Techbiz:

The Center for Architecture is present-ing an exhibition in the US on Indianurbanism called Jugaad Urbanism.

35Travel:PachmarhiPachmarhi's appeal is low key. Peace,seclusion and a quiet unobtrusivebeauty are its prime attractions.

Jugaad Urbanism

Two groups claiming to represent FIAhave announced hosting of Indian Repub-lic Day celebrations on the same day.

Among those holding accounts in the Swissand German banks in Liechtenstein are non-resident Indians too.

Story of Mumbai

Last week, watching the official welcome ceremony accorded to ChinesePresident Hu Jintao on the White House south lawn by President Obamacomplete with the pomp and bands, I couldn't help feel a twinge of loss

recalling how a similar ceremony had been cancelled when Prime MinisterManmohan Singh visited the White House in 2009 because of bad weather.

Nevertheless, the fact that not only have India and China been accorded Statewelcome by the US but that the US President has officially visited both thesecounties underscores the critical importance these two Asian giants hold for theUS now and in the future.

Now, remember the gatecrashers at Singh's White House dinner at the time?A freak incident perhaps, but somehow, I feel it is symbolic of how the Americansview their own handling of democratic India, while bracing themselves morestrongly against communist China.

China is indeed a bigger deal for the US than India. After all, the US may wellbe a wholly-owned subsidiary of China as it holds over $900 billion in UStreasury bonds. China is a tricky partner to bond with for the US, but I don'twant to get into the big China story here.

As I continued watching those images, I wondered if President Obama's mindwasn't preoccupied by what was happening in the US Senate, even as he posed for'happy' pictures with Jintao. The Republican-majority Senate that morning was debat-ing over the repeal of the President's healthcare reform law. I totally understandpolitics. But this move by the Republicans goes to a whole new level of partisanship.

It boggles me to think how much politics has become a self-serving enterprisefor our elected leaders. Consider how earlier they spent two days debating on theappropriateness of the repeal bill's title - 'The repeal of the job-killing healthcarelaw'. Democrats argued 'job-killing' was inappropriate in view of the Arizonashootings! It didn't seem to matter that 'job-killing' or whatever, the bill essen-tially will be 'killing' healthcare accessibility for millions. Hello Americans! Doyou really care where your leaders are leading you?

India Post (ISSN-1064-3868) is published weekly for

$30 for 52 issues yearly by India Post, 1900 Mowry Ave

# 201 Fremont, CA 94538. Periodicals postage paid

at Norwalk, CA and additional mailing office.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the

corporate headquarters: 1900 Mowry Ave # 201

Fremont, CA 94538

Copyright © 1994 Indamec, Inc.

DISCLAIMER

India Post assumes all advertisers to be reliable

and responsible for all liability for their claimers

India PostJanuary 28, 2011 5

www.indiapost.com

Cover/Top Stories

NRIs also hold black moneyPM: Information can't be revealed

NEW DELHI: The Indian fi-nance ministry has told the Su-preme Court that among thoseholding accounts in the Swissand German banks inLiechtenstein are 12 trusts ownedby 26 tax assesses, which eveninclude non-resident Indians.

Prime Minister ManmohanSingh raised the issue of blackmoney during a cabinet meetinghere, a day after the SupremeCourt queried why the govern-ment cannot name those involvedin this $1.5-trillion "national plun-der".

The discussion came againstthe backdrop of the apex courtcoming down heavily on thegovernment's reluctance to pro-vide full information on ill-gottenmoney stashed away by Indiansin foreign banks.

Finance Minister PranabMukherjee, officials said, will holda detailed briefing on the discus-sion soon.

The prime minister made it

clear that information on blackmoney stashed in tax havensabroad cannot be made public asit would entail violation of India'streaty obligations with othercountries and jurisdictions.

"The information will not bemade public. It will be a violationof treaties," Manmohan Singhtold reporters after initiating a cabi-net reshuffle when asked about

his stand on black money abroad."There is no instant solution

to bring back what is called blackmoney. We have got some infor-mation and that has been providedto us for use in the collection oftaxes."

The matter had come up beforethe apex court after noted lawyerRam Jethamalani sought direc-tions to the union government toact upon a report that Germanywas willing to share details of In-dians having accounts in banksbased in Liechtenstein.

Jethamalani wanted the direc-tions to be given to the govern-ment to bring back such ill-gottenmoney, estimated at a whopping$1.5 trillion - nearly one-and-a-halftimes India's gross domestic prod-uct - put away in foreign banksby Indians.

"It is not a case of tax. The is-sue involved is of serious nature.Keep aside all the things. Let usconsider the persons named,"said the apex court bench of Jus-

tice B. Sudarshan Reddy and Jus-tice S.S.Nijjar.

There are 15 banks inLiechtenstein, of which seven areSwiss-owned. The principality,with an area of about 160 sq km, is

surrounded by Switzerland andAustria and has a total popula-tion of 67,000 people.

Mukherjee had maintained inthe past that India has followed

the guidelines laid down by theOrganization of Economic Coop-eration and Development (OECD)and signed independent treatieswith a host of countries and terri-tories.

He has also said these treatieswere meant to share informationon illegal transfers, often referredto as black money, but cannot bedisclosed even to parliament, letalone the Directorate of Enforce-ment because of the secrecy code.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)president Nitin Gadkari has saidthe union government's reluc-tance to disclose the names ofIndians with ill-gotten moneyparked abroad raised suspicionsabout it and the governmentshould make the names public.

A report by Global FinancialIntegrity (GFI), a US-based thinktank, states that illicit financialflows from India between 2000-2008 were approximately $104 bil-lion (approx Rs. 4.8 lakh crore). -Agencies

Vijay Sazawal on key US nuketrade committee

India Post News Service

NEW YORK: Atomic industryexpert and well-known activist forKashmiri Pundits Vijay Sazawal, hasbeen appointed by US commercesecretary Gary Locke to the presti-gious Civil Nuclear Trade AdvisoryCommittee (CINTAC) as adviser ontrade issues facing the key sector.

In the appointment letter to 64-year-old Srinagar-born Sazawal,Locke said that as a CINTAC mem-ber he will advise him "on trade is-sues facing the US civil nuclear in-dustry for use by me and other de-partment of commerce officials in ourroles as members of the civil nucleartrade working group of the trade pro-motion coordinating committee."

"CINTAC will provide consen-sus advice on the development andadministration of programs and poli-cies to expand US civil nuclear ex-ports and strengthen the competi-tiveness of the industry," he said.

Sazawal, currently director ofGovernment Programs of US En-richment Corporation (USEC) Inc,was involved in Track-2 discus-sions preceding the completion ofthe 123 agreement between Indiaand the US.

Since the passing of the 123Agreement, Sazawal has partici-pated in the promotion of USnuclear export trade and given tech-

nical lectures to the legal commu-nity advising companies onnuclear export controls.

For over three decades Sazawalhas participated in the US civilianand defense nuclear programs cov-ering the entire nuclear fuel cycleand an array of reactor designs, in-cluding conventional and space-based reactors, and black programs.

Sazawal was born and raised in

He is a member of the manage-ment team involved in the Ameri-can Centrifuge Project (ACP), theleading initiative by USEC Inc., tobuild a state-of-the-art centrifugenuclear enrichment plant based onAmerican technology.

He is also a member of the SigmaXi, the American Academy of Me-chanics, the American Society ofMechanical Engineers and theAmerican Nuclear Society. He hasauthored nine published technicalpapers and articles.

Sazawal, who was appointed toCINTAC for a two-year term, is along time advocate of Kashmiri Pun-dits. He is a policy analyst and acommentator who specializes in lo-cal governance and intra-commu-nity issues affecting political dy-namics within the Kashmir valley.

Sazawal has been invited by theUS administration, Congress andmajor policy think tanks to addressvarious aspects of the Kashmirproblem. He is also a member of anon-governmental organizationaccredited to the United NationsHuman Rights Council (UNHRC)and frequently speaks in Genevaon changing political and humanrights situation in Kashmir.

Sazawal, a founding member ofthe Indo-American Kashmir Forum(IAKF), is currently its internationalcoordinator.

Srinagar and came to the US in 1970for doing his PhD.

As Director of programs fundedor supported by US federal govern-ment, he provides corporate pro-gram oversight and coordination ofvarious government projects withinthe company. He analyses the im-pact of federal budgets, policies andregulations on various USEC activi-ties and interfaces with federal offi-cials and members of the Congress,as necessary.

Aamir Khan's 'PeepliLive' out of Oscar raceLOS ANGELES: Aamir Khan's

'Peepli Live', India's official entryto the Oscars in the Best ForeignLanguage Film this year, is out ofthe race with the movie failing tomake it to the final nine.

Produced by Aamir Khan, thefilm was selected from 27 moviesincluding 'Raajneeti' and 'Udaan'to represent India at the Oscars.Aamir hadwon an Os-car nomina-tion for his2001 film'Lagaan'. His' T a a r eZameen Par(2007) alsor e t u r n e de m p t yhanded fromthe Oscars.

Directedby debu-t a n t eAnusha Rizvi, 'Peepli Live' is asatire on media's trivialization offarmers' suicide and stars a hostof theatre actors.

The nine films were selectedout of 66 films that had originallyqualified in the category. The listwill be winnowed down to the fivenominees by the Academy votersfor January 25 Oscar nominations.

The films that are still in theOscars race are -- AlejandroGonzalez Inarritu's Mexican film'Biutiful', starring Javier Bardem,Algeria's 'Hors la Loi' (Outside theLaw) by director RachidBouchareb, Canada's 'Incendies'by Denis Villeneuve, Denmark's 'Ina Better World by Susanne Bier,Greece's 'Dogtooth' by Yorgos

Lanthimos, Japan's 'Confessions'by Tetsuya Nakashima, SouthAfrica 'Life, above All' by OliverSchmitz, Spain 'Tambien la Lluvia'by Iciar Bollain and Sweden's'Simple Simon' by Andreas Ohman.

The 83rd Academy Awards willtake place on Sunday, February27 at the Kodak Theatre at Holly-wood. -PTI

The prime ministermade it clear thatinformation on blackmoney stashed in taxhavens abroad cannotbe made public as itwould entail violation ofIndia's treaty obliga-tions with other coun-tries and jurisdictions

Jethamalani wantedthe directions to begiven to the govern-ment to bring backsuch ill-gotten money,estimated at a whop-ping $1.5 trillion -nearly one-and-a-halftimes India's grossdomestic product

He is a policy analystand a commentatorwho specializes inlocal governance andintra-community issuesaffecting politicaldynamics within theKashmir valley


www.indiapost.com

Top Stories

Indian Americans celebrate Haley's inauguration

Supporters from Dallas, Chicagoland at swearing-in


NEW YORK: As Nikki Haley,the newly-elected Governor ofSouth Carolina walked down thesteps of the State Capitol in Co-lumbia, on Jan 12, to be sworn inas South Carolina's 116th Gover-nor, representatives of IndianAmerican Republicans celebratedthe event as a shining moment forthe Indian American community -especially for those closely in-volved with her electoral cam-paign.

That included the President ofthe South Carolina Chapter of theRepublican Indian Committee(RICPAC), Bhavna Vasudeva."This is a moment of intense - andquiet - pride," said Vasudeva. "Webelieved in the promise of NikkiHaley's campaign and her poten-tial to be a truly effective Gover-nor for our State. My husband,Dr. Raj Vasudeva, and I have beenworking with Nikki for many yearsever since her early days as staterepresentative. It has been a slowand steady fight to the top andwe have found that grassroots

support is what is necessary forsuccess."

The South Carolina Chapterhosted an event as part of the cel-ebrations. "We are just gettingstarted," noted Vasudeva, "andworking with our Chapter leaders- Madhu Shrivastava, Seema

Shrivastava Patel, Dr. Nick Patel,and Rick Patel - we intend to cap-ture the momentum we have to-day to grow the importance of ourorganization in our State's IndianAmerican community as well as

our State's Republican Party."The many Inaugural celebra-

tions continued throughout theday, despite icy and snowyweather. Haley has clearly strucka chord with the rapidly growingmembership of the RepublicanIndian Committee PAC (RICPAC),with members from Maryland, Vir-ginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania,and Washington DC, attendingthe festivities.

RICPAC Finance Director SueGhosh observed: "What madethis Inauguration speech remark-able, and unique, is that the newGovernor of South Carolina an-nounced herself as the prouddaughter of Indian Immigrants."

Ghosh added: "The RICPACand its South Carolina Chapterwas the only organization with anonline fundraising presence onHaley's campaign website - gra-cious support that was extendedto two other PACs: RomneyPACand PalinPAC. We owe a specialthank you to Nikki's husband,Michael Haley, and to MarisaCrawford, her campaign financedirector, for their very welcoming

and warmly inclusive approach toIndian American supporters."

RICPAC President, DilipPaliath, who traveled from Mary-land to attend Haley's inaugura-tion, pointed out: "GovernorHaley's electoral success leadingup to the moment of her swearing

in as the Governor of South Caro-lina is a measure of the impact thatthe Republican Indian CommitteePAC has had in just under a yearof operation as an organization.We wish her every success and

look forward to celebrating heraccomplishments. RICPAC'splans in the immediate future in-clude broadening our outreach tothe Indian American community,growing our membership base,and supporting candidates dedi-cated to supporting fiscal conser-vatism, low taxes, small govern-ment, a strong national defense,free trade, and open markets."

Paliath and RICPAC officialswere invited to a special break-fast at the Governor's mansionthe day after the inauguration,an event hosted by GovernorHaley on her first full day in of-fice. The other out-of-state Re-publican Indian Committee PACofficials present for this specialevent included JodyVenkatesan (National Trea-surer), Anoop Kansupada (Na-tional Youth Director), Dr.Kuchipudi Bapineedu (Chair-man, NJ Chapter) , ArthurKapoor (President, NJ Chapter),Dr. Mukesh Roy (Executive Di-rector, NJ Chapter), and Dr.Bindu Kansupada (Chairman,PA Chapter).


COLUMBIA, SC: Indian Ameri-cans across USA supported NikkiHaley cutting across party linesto get her elected as Governor ofSouth Carolina. Prasad Thotakura,General Secretary of the IndianAmerican Friendship Council(IAFC), had arranged twofundraisers for Nikki Haley in Dal-las where she got an overwhelm-ing support. In Chicagoland,Jayshree Patel, Bhailal Patel andShalli Kumar took initiative andorganized a successful fund raiser

in September last.Nikki had invited her support-

ers from Dallas and Chicago toattend the inaugural ceremonieson Jan 12 and also at a special lun-cheon at Governor's mansion onJan 13. Prasad Thotakura fromDallas led a team of 25 memberdelegation to attend these ceremo-nies. Governor Haley along withher husband Michael, parents RajKaur and Ajit Singh received allguests personally at Governor'smansion and spent more than twohours with the guests.

On behalf of IAFC, Ramki

Chebrolu presented cowboy hatsto Governor Haley and her hus-band Michael. Haley thanked allher supporters individually fortheir unwavering support whichhelped her to get elected as Gov-ernor of South Carolina.Thotakura extended an invitationto Governor Haley to visit Dallasagain which she has accepted andassured to visit later part of thisyear. Nikki Haley has also beeninvited to come to Chicago andher supporters would await hersecond visit eagerly and withbaited breath, said Bhailal Patel.

One of the strongest fiscal con-servatives in the State govern-ment, Nikki was first elected asState Representative in 2004. In2008, Haley was reelected as aState Representative with 83% ofthe votes the highest percentageearned by any law maker of SouthCarolina in that year. She hasfought wasteful spending at ev-ery turn, pushed for smaller,more efficient government, andled the fight for accountabilityand transparency that, beforeher arrival, was sorely lacking inthe legislature.

Born in Bamberg, South Caro-lina, the daughter of Indian immi-grants, Nikki's fist job was keep-ing books for her family cloth-ing store at the age of 13. Aftergraduating from Clemson Uni-versity with B.S degree in ac-counting she worked as Ac-counting Supervisor for FCR,Inc. Nikki and her husbandMichael, an officer in the armyNational Guard, attend Mt.Horeb United Methodist Churchin Lexington, South Carolina.Nikki and Michael have two chil-dren Rena, 12 and Nalin, 9.

Indian Americans from Dallas TX at Nikki Haley swearing in ceremony. Gov Nikki and her husband

Michael Haley are sporting cowboy hats

Nikiki Haley supporters in Chicagoland (L-R) Shalli Kumar, Bhailal Patel

and Jayshree Patel

‘This is a moment ofintense - and quiet -pride," saidVasudeva. "We be-lieved in the promiseof Nikki Haley'scampaign and herpotential to be a trulyeffective Governor’

‘What made thisInauguration speechremarkable, andunique, is that thenew Governor ofSouth Carolina an-nounced herself asthe proud daughterof Indian Immigrants’


www.indiapost.com

Top Stories

UIF honors AshokMago in Delhi


NEW DELHI: Unity Interna-tional Foundation presented its"Excellence in Global FriendshipAward" to Ashok Mago, a Dallasbusinessman, at a function heldin New Delhi on January 7. Theaward was presented in recogni-tion of his outstanding contribu-tion in promoting Indian culturein US and US-India relations.

The award was given away bythe Governor of Sikkim, Mr. B.PSingh in the presence of the formerIndian Ambassador to USA, LalitMansingh, Vice President of In-dian Council for Cultural Rela-tions, Prof. Shahid Madi and theambassadors of Bhutan,Bangladesh, Bahrain, Bulgaria,Burundi, Tajikistan and ArabLeague. Former Union Ministerand Governor, Dr. Bhishma NarainSingh presided the function.

Speaking on the occasion, theSecretary-General of Unity Inter-national Foundation, R.N. Anilshowed happiness on the over-whelming response the function

had evoked. He said the presenceof a galaxy of ambassadors andthe elite of the capital subscribedto the decision of Unity Interna-tional Foundation to honor sucha distinguished Indian-Americanwho has vigorously pursued thecause of India in the US.

Anil said, "History is repletewith names of great men andwomen who have worked relent-lessly to espouse the cause of

unity and universal brotherhood.They didn't belong to any onenation but were the true embodi-ments of global friendship."Ashok Mago belonged to thatselect group, he added.

A citation was read on the oc-casion which highlighted theachievements of Mago.

Governor of Sikkim B.P. Singhlauded the role played by AshokMago in bringing India and UScloser and hoped that others willfollow his lead and be involvedin the communities they live inand bring the country of theirbirth and their adopted homelandcloser.

Indian American to bejudge in NJ


NEW JERSEY: New JerseyGovernor Chris Christie has an-nounced his intention to nominateIndian American SohailMohammed, an attorney fromClifton, for the position of SuperiorCourt Judge in Passaic County.Mohammed is a native ofHyderabad in Andhra Pradesh insouthern India.

Gov Christie's office Jan 17 an-nounced that the governor has filednominations for judgeships andother state and county positions heoriginally nominated in 2010 butwere not confirmed by the Senateduring the year-long session.

The notice of intent to nominatethe Superior Court judge is subjectto the consent of the state Senate.

Significant to Mohammed's ca-reer background is that he was coun-sel to many detainees picked up byfederal authorities in the aftermathof 9/11 terrorist attacks. Mohammedgained the respect of authorities fortrying to improve communicationsbetween them and the Muslim com-munity after Sept. 11, 2001, NJ.comnotes.

Gov Christie, who was himself aformer federal prosecutor who over-saw several terrorism-related casesafter the Sept. 11 attacks, said thatone of his nominations for a Supe-rior Court judgeship will be a law-yer who represented many detain-ees swept up by the government inthe post-9/11 dragnet.

Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman forthe Council on American-IslamicRelations in Washington, DC,praised Christie's move.

"It's just more evidence of thegrowth and maturity of the Ameri-can Muslim community and ourcontributions to American society,"he was quoted as saying. "We have

a large number of young Muslimattorneys coming up through thelegal system, which is a fairly re-cent trend. It used to be that Mus-lim parents wanted their children tobecome doctors or engineers."

Mohammed awaits a formal nomi-nation now as his candidacy wouldbe reviewed by the Senate JudiciaryCommittee before a vote by the full

Senate.Mohammed was on former Gov.

Jon Corzine's short list of potentialjudicial appointees in the last twoyears of the Democrat's lone termin office, but he was not nominated.

A board member of the Ameri-can Muslim Union, Mohammedworked hard in the aftermath of the2001 attacks to try to foster trustbetween American Muslims and lawenforcement, particularly federalofficials. As US attorney for NewJersey, Christie was a regular guestat the group's annual Ramadan din-ner and spoke highly ofMohammed's interaction with au-thorities, Nj.com reported.

Mohammed helped arrange alaw enforcement job fair at a Pater-son mosque in which young Mus-lims were encouraged to apply forjobs with law enforcement agencies.The session also featured a frankquestion-and-answer session be-tween police and prosecutors andmosque members, after which bothsides said they came away with abetter understanding of the other.

He was also asked to give nu-merous training sessions to FBIagents on Islam and Muslim cul-ture, to enable agents to better un-derstand the religion and the prac-tices of Muslims.

Mohammed would become thesecond Muslim Superior Courtjudge in New Jersey if confirmed.Last year, Hani Mawla was con-firmed to the state bench inSomerset County.

Indian Muslims condemn Taseer's killingIndia Post News Service

NEW YORK: Moderate andprogressive groups of Muslimsliving in India and abroad havecondemned the recent brutal kill-ing of Governor of Punjab in Paki-stan Salman Taseer by his ownguard.

Gov Taseer was gunned downby Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri,one of his elite security forceguards, allegedly because of hisvocal opposition to blasphemylaws.

In an open letter to MaulanaIlyas Qadri, whose spiritual fol-lower the alleged killer is, theMuslim groups expressed theirshock at the brutal and inhumanaction.

"We are even more shockedthat you have not condemned hisaction," they said in the letter tothe Maulana. "Anyone who ex-ecutes another person withoutrecourse to the due process of lawis a murderer. By not condemning

Mumtaz Qadri you are in fact sup-porting and creating a situationwhere anyone can kill with impu-nity, for any personal vendettaunder the guise of action takenagainst blasphemy."

The Muslims groups furthersaid there was no room in shariah

phemy law especially since itcould be used against minoritiesto settle personal grievances. Thisis not blasphemy. The questionof whether capital punishment isthe appropriate punishment forblasphemy is a separate issue.There is a total disconnect be-tween what you preach to attractspiritual followers and what yourgroup teaches them to do."

Urging the Maulana to de-nounce the action of the killer, theIndian Muslims asked him to fol-low the percepts and actions ofthe prophet and teach his spiri-tual followers the right way to liveand act in the way of the prophetwhich "you sing in your meetingsand broadcast on your radio andTV shows."

The letter written by New DelhiCivil Society, has been signed byThe Progressive Group of Mus-lims, The Moderate Group ofMuslims, Muslims for SecularDemocracy and at least a dozenother individuals.

for executions carried out withoutdue process of law. "If you trulysupport an Islamic society, youwould have to oppose such acts,"they said to the Maulana."Salmaan Taseer was trying toprevent the misuse of the blas-

India extends aid toflood affected Benin


NEW YORK: In the wake ofdevastating floods in the Repub-lic of Benin in West Africa, theGovernment of India has extendeda cash donation of $500,000 inresponse to a request for aidfrom that country.

The check to that amount to-wards assistance of the floodaffected people was handedover by the Permanent Repre-sentative of India to the United

Nations, Ambassador HardeepSingh Puri in New York to thePermanent Representative of theRepublic of Benin to the UnitedNations, Ambassador Jean-Francis R. Zinsou.

India expressed deep sorrowand sadness over the heavy dev-astation caused by the floods inthe 'friendly' nation of Benin sincelate last year and condoled the lossof lives and property suffered andexpressed solidarity with thepeople of Benin.

Significant toMohammed's careerbackground is that hewas counsel to manydetainees picked up byfederal authorities in theaftermath of 9/11 terror-ist attacks. Mohammedgained the respect ofauthorities for trying toimprove communica-tions between them andthe Muslim community

Urging the Maulana todenounce the actionof the killer, the IndianMuslims asked him tofollow the perceptsand actions of theprophet


www.indiapost.com

Reshuffle & After

Uttar Pradesh, Kerala gain inreshuffle of Union Ministry

Sriprakash Jaiswal assumes the charge as the Union Minister for Coal

in New Delhi on January 20

NEW DELHI: Uttar Pradeshstole the limelight while severalstates including poll-bound TamilNadu and West Bengal remainedout of focus in the just carried outreshuffle of the Union Ministry.

As the Congress focus is on'Mission 2012' in UP where assem-bly polls are due next year, it wentthe extra mile for elevating SalmanKhurshid and Shriprakash Jaiswalto the Cabinet rank.

Besides, it brought in backwardleader Beni Prasad Verma as aMinister of State with Indepen-dent charge of the Steel Ministryand retained three junior ministersJitin Prasad, Pradip Jain Adityaand R P N Singh.

The number of representativesfrom Uttar Pradesh in the ministryhas increased from five to six.Congress has 22 members in theLok Sabha from UP.

As against this, Tamil Naduand West Bengal drew a blankdespite the fact that A Raja ofDMK had lost his job as theTelecom Minister ahead of thewinter session of Parliament sometwo months back.

Congress appeared to be in nomood to accommodate anyone fromDMK in place of Raja with sourcesin the ruling party indicating thatChief Minister M Karunanidhi wasalso in no position to press the is-sue against the backdrop of the 2Gspectrum scam and its effect on poll-bound Tamil Nadu.

Mamata Banerjee of theTrinamool Congress might havehad her reasons for not having anadditional representative in theUnion Ministry in spite of the fact

that the name of SudipBandhoyapdhay was doing therounds for long.

There has not been a represen-tative of Chhattisgarh, Goa,Manipur and Bihar in the ministry.

Union Minister S Jaipal Reddy,who hails from Telangana regionof Andhra Pradesh, got the keyministry of Petroleum and Natural

gas but Minister of state for Envi-ronment and Forests JairamRamesh also elected from the samestate to the Rajya Sabha failed toget elevation despite being themost talked about minister.

Andhra Pradesh, which has 32Congress members of the LokSabha, the largest from any state,had to remain content with onecabinet ministership in JaipalReddy.

Poll-bound Kerala, where Con-gress-led UDF is making a deter-mined bid to come to power, waswell looked after in the reshuffleexercise.

A new face K C Venugopal,belonging to the powerful Naircommunity, was inducted as MoSwhile Overseas Affairs MinisterVayalar Ravi got additional charge

of the key Civil Aviation portfo-lio.

K V Thomas, also from Kerala,has been elevated to MoS (Inde-pendent charge) and given thekey ministry of Consumer Affairs,Food and Public Distribution, at atime when the government as wellCongress appear keen to rein infoodgrain prices as spiralingprices could hit the party in elec-tion-bound states. -PTI

Allies not touched becauseof Assembly polls

NEW DELHI: The Governmenthas said the UPA allies were notcovered in the reshuffle of theUnion Council of Ministers inview of the upcoming Assemblyelections in various states and anexpansion can take place after theBudget session of Parliament.

"It was not that big a reshuffle.Only the portfolios were shuffled,"Information and BroadcastingMinister Ambika Soni said herewhile briefing media on the Cabi-net meeting.

She noted that UPA allies werenot covered in the reshuffle as itwas not apt to do so in view of theupcoming Assembly elections.

Assembly elections are due totake place in a few months in WestBengal, Kerala, Assam, Tamil

Nadu and Puducherry.Soni said an expansion could

take place after the Budget ses-sion of Parliament as she referredto Prime Minister ManmohanSingh's statement in this regard.

Singh had said that an "expan-sive" reshuffle would be under-taken after the Budget session.

The Budget session will beginon February 21 and is expected togo on till May.

To questions on the reshuffle,Soni said it would help bring newthinking and experience on thebasis of specific capabilities ofvarious Ministers.

"Every reshuffle has a ben-efit," she said, adding the exercisewould give a new chance to vari-ous Ministers.-PTI

Delhi Metro will be made bigger thanLondon Metro: Kamal Nath

NEW DELHI: Kamal Nath hastaken over as Urban DevelopmentMinister with an ambitious planof giving a boost to urban trans-portation for which he intends toexpand Delhi Metro network tomake it bigger than its Londoncounterpart by 2017.

"Urban transport is a big chal-lenge today. It needs priority,"said Nath, who moved to the Ur-ban Development Ministry fromRoads and Highways where hehad made an endeavor the fast-track construction of highways.

In this context, he talked aboutDelhi Metro and said his aimwould be to ensure that its net-work goes up to 415 kms by 2017to make it bigger than LondonMetro.

Delhi Metro has so far covered190 kms, including the airportroute. London Metro has a net-work of 402 kms and is planned tobe expanded to 414 kms.

When pointed out that theDelhi Metro was facing a finan-cial crunch, Nath said he woulddiscuss the issue with Delhi ChiefMinister Sheila Dikshit shortly.

Talking about the challengesbeing faced on account of urban-ization, he said he would focus ontransportation aspect consideringthe fact that the auto sector hasgrown up to 34 per cent.

In the housing sector, he noteda "huge gap" in demand and sup-ply and said steps would be takento involve private sector in theconstruction of affordable

houses.On the Real Estate Regulator

Bill, he said it was one of the is-sues requiring priority handling.

"The land prices are going upin cities. There is a need for theexpansion of NCR zone, expan-sion of cities with all facilities sothat people feel proud for livingin those cities," he said.

He said a "new outlook and newvision" was needed to tackle otherchallenges related to urbanizationlike sewage system and water sup-plies, in view of the progress be-ing made by the country.

Nath pointed out that urbandevelopment is one of the key ar-eas contributing to GDP growthup to 60 per cent and expected togo up to 70 per cent.-PTI

Dr. C.P. Joshi addressing the media after assuming the charge as the Union

Minister for Road Transport and Highways in New Delhi on January 20

Top priority to transparencyin roads sector

NEW DELHI: Improving qual-ity of roads and bringing in trans-parency in the functioning ofRoad Transport Ministry wouldtop the agenda of C P Joshi, whojoined as the new Highways Min-ister today.

"Improving quality of roads,bringing accountability and trans-parency and living up to the ex-pectations of people...

These are my priorities," Joshi

said after assuming charge of hisnew portfolio.

He, however, added thatprojects related to developingroads in the North-eastern Indiaand Left-wing extremism affectedareas, announced by the UPAgovernment earlier, would be ex-pedited.

"The ministry is concentratingon development of roads in North-East, in left-wing extremist areas.We will see that work on them is

expedited and the targets areachieved."

While refusing to get into thedetails of existing policies, pre-pared under the regime of outgo-ing minister Kamal Nath, Joshisaid, "I will answer all your que-ries after a fortnight as I am tryingto understand the issues beforethe ministry now".

Asked whether building 20km of roads a day, as an-

nounced earlier would be met,he said the challenge before hisMinistry would be to acceler-ate development of the sectorat present.

Earlier, Joshi's predecessorKamal Nath who has beenshifted to Urban Development,soon after taking charge in May2009 had announced that theMinistry will build 35,000 km ofroads by March 2012, which trans-lates into 20 km a day.-PTI


www.indiapost.com

Reshuffle & After

Ravi seeks support of AI employeesin restoring its glory

Vayalar Ravi assuing the charge as Union Minister for Civil Aviation

in New Delhi

NEW DELHI: New Civil Avia-tion Minister Vayalar Ravi hassought the support of all employ-ees of ailing Air India in restoringits lost glory and said the staff andthe management should work incoordination to achieve this.

"I am taking over from one ofmy best friends and colleaguesPraful Patel who is responsible formaking the aviation sector growvery fast. Thanks to him that thereare many more private players andbudget airlines," he said after tak-ing over his new assignment atthe Ministry headquarters here inthe presence of Patel.

He said he would carry forwardthe policies and implement theprogrammes initiated by his pre-decessor and strive to bring aboutimprovement in the financial po-sition of Air India as well as theoverall aviation sector.

Being a former trade unionist,Ravi said in this endeavour, "Isolicit the cooperation of all tradeunions. I am here to hear them andseek their cooperation. Among mypriorities would be to improve AirIndia's services, make it a profit-able institution and restore its lostglory."

He said he would also be meet-ing the corporate leaders andother stakeholders in the civil avia-tion sector shortly, listen to theirissues and seek their cooperation."The employees and thecorporates are like my two hands".

Asked about the problem ofalleged cartelisation by airlines onairfares, Ravi said Patel had taken"very strong step when there werecomplaints (of high fares). I will

follow his footsteps and not al-low such things to happen".

"Earlier, I used to watch things(in the sector) as a passenger.That experience will help me now(as a Minister)," he said.

The veteran Congress leaderfrom Kerala said he would meetthe officials, the corporates in thesector and the employees repre-sentatives before deciding onpolicy issues. -PTI

Reddy on his toes totackle oil min issues

NEW DELHI: For S JaipalReddy, who replaced Murli Deoraas Oil Minister, the immediate taskat the nation's highest economicturnover ministry is clearly cut out-- avoiding fuel price hikes and de-ciding on the sector's biggest ac-quisition.

Reddy, who moved from urbandevelopment to the oil ministry, gotdown to tackling the task straight-away with a brainstorming sessionwith senior ministry officials.

"This is not a newgovernment...I am a new ministerin the old government. I am mor-ally and politically accountable forall the policies and decisions of mypredecessor. They were collectivedecisions of the Cabinet," he saidlast evening.

With rumors doing the roundsthat Congress party brass were nothappy with Deora and his juniorJitin Prasada over the last week'sRs 2.50 per liter hike in petrol prices,Reddy said spiraling internationaloil prices "was a challenge."

Oil PSUs, who face Rs 73,600crore of revenue loss this fiscal,are pressing for a hike in diesel andLPG prices, but Reddy says "a bal-ance" will have to be struck be-tween how much consumers canpay and the fiscal needs of oil com-panies.

"The task confronting the pe-troleum ministry and the countryare common. We cannot allow oilcompanies to bleed.

They cannot afford it. Nor canwe allow huge hikes in dieselprices, as they have cascading ef-fect (on inflation). The burden hasto be shared by all," he said.

Despite last week's price hike -the seventh since June, oil firmslose Rs 1.22 a liter on petrol. Be-sides, they lose Rs 7 a liter on die-sel, Rs 366.28 on LPG and Rs 19.60a liter on kerosene.

The Congress heavyweightsaid decisions on such issueswould be taken at the Cabinet-level.

He will also have to quickly de-

cide on giving approval to billion-aire Anil Agarwal-run Vedanta Re-sources' the USD 9.6 billion acqui-sition of Cairn India.

The Prime Minister's Office(PMO) had set month end as thedeadline for deciding on the issuewhich has been hanging sinceAugust last year.

Reddy takes over as PetroleumMinister at a time when almost allthe public sector companies underthe ministry are seeing a change atthe top.

Acting Chairman B M Bansalwill retire from Indian Oil Corp, thenation's largest oil firm, by month-end while R K Singh is barely fewmonths old at the helms of BPCL.

The nation's highest profit mak-ing firm Oil and Natural Gas Corp(ONGC) too will be headless withcurrent Chairman and ManagingDirector R S Sharma superannuat-ing at month-end.

Replacements for Bansal andSharma are unlikely to be in placeby February 1, as their files are

struck in red tape.Also, Reddy will have a new

deputy in RPN Singh after the cabi-net reshuffle also moved Prasadato Ministry of Road Transport andHighways.

Hours before his departure,Deora said he has demanded abo-lition of customs duty on crude oiland cut in excise duty on diesel toavoid more fuel price hikes thathave become necessary becauseof spiraling global oil rates.

Now it will be Reddy's task toconvince Finance Minister PranabMukherjee to rollback the 5 percent customs duty imposed oncrude oil in last Budget.

Also, the Re one per liter in-crease in excise duty on petrol anddiesel (also done in Budget for2010-11) needs to be reversed.

Mukherjee had on February26, 2010, imposed 5 per cent im-port duty on crude oil and hikedthe same on petrol and diesel from2.5 per cent to 7.5 per cent.-PTI

S. Jaipal Reddy assumes the charge as Union Minister for Petroleum and

Natural Gas in New Delhi

Venugopal says his appointment notlinked to Kerala polls

K.C. Venugopal assumes the charge as Minister of State for Power

in New Delhi

NEW DELHI: The new ministerof state for power, K C Venugopalhas denied any political motivesbehind his appointment by theCongress led UPA governmentahead of Kerala elections andtermed it as a 'routine exercise',

"I don't think so. This is a rou-tine exercise," Venugopal repliedwhen asked whether he sees anylink of his appointment to theforthcoming Kerala election, aftertaking charge as minister.

The induction of Venugopal, apost graduate in Mathematics, isseen as a move to woo the influ-ential Nair community ahead of theAssembly elections in Kerala duearound May.

The Nair community, to whichVenugopal belongs, has been de-manding his induction in the Min-istry, according to reports.

After assuming charge,Venugopal, in the presence of hissenior minister Sushil KumarShinde, said "I will discuss theentire matter with him (Shinde).

"I will seek advice of my seniorminister who is senior in the partyand Cabinet," he said adding thatpower is a major sector and theentire country, including "our"industry was dependent on it.

He said power generation is a

major challenge before the gov-ernment.

Venugopal, a first time LokSabha MP from Kerala, is anotheryoung face in the Union govern-ment. With Venugopal becominga minister, Alapuzha district nowhas three ministers in the Centre,the other two being Defense Min-ister A K Antony and OverseasAffairs Minister Vayalar Ravi.

He is a three-time MLA and a

former minister, who resigned fromthe post of MLA to contest the LokSabha elections in 2009 and wonthe elections with a huge margin.

Venugopal was a minister look-ing after temple affairs and tour-ism in the state for two years.

Initiated into politics in his stu-dent days, he rose to become thepresident of the Kerala unit of theNSUI and later the chief of YouthCongress. -PTI


www.indiapost.com

Top Stories

Hindus upset over Ganeshadenigration on NBC


NEW YORK: Hindus in the USare disturbed over the portrayalof Lord Ganesh as a sex act onNBC's Saturday Night Live (SNL)and want apologies from all thoseresponsible for it, including actorJim Carrey and NBC.

Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, ina statement in Nevada (USA), saidthat Lord Ganesh was highly re-vered in Hinduism and was meantto worshipped in temples or homeshrines and not to be thrownaround loosely in re-imagined ver-sions for dramatic effects in TVseries for mercantile greed. Suchabsurd depiction of Lord Ganeshwith no scriptural backing washurtful to the devotees.

In a skit on NBC's SNL (Janu-ary eight) titled "The Wrath ofGanesh", Jim Carrey (as eroticshaman Lee Licious) and KenanThomson (as Grady Wilson) dem-onstrate a sexual technique, mock-ing elephant-headed Lord Ganeshand his trunk in the process.Grady has traveled the world tofind new sexual techniques tospice up the bedroom, the taglineof the episode (1587) "GradyWilson's Tantric N'Tasty" says.

Such trivialization of LordGanesh was disturbing and offen-sive to the one billion Hindusworld over, Zed, who is Presidentof Universal Society of Hinduism,said and requested NBC to imme-diately remove it from all itswebsites and other links.

Zed also asked Golden Globewinner actor-comedian Jim Carrey(Eternal Sunshine of the SpotlessMind) , actor-comedian KenanThomson, NBC Universal Presi-dent and Chief Executive OfficerJeff Zucker, and SNL ExecutiveProducer Lorne Michaels to ten-der a public apology for it andurged them not to inappropriately

drag Hindu deities to advance thecommercial or other agenda in thefuture.

Hindus welcomed Hollywoodand other entertainment indus-tries to immerse in Hinduism buttaking it seriously and respect-fully and not just for indecorousshowing of Hindu symbols andconcepts to advance their selfishagenda. Casual flirting sometimes

resulted in pillaging serious spiri-tual doctrines and revered sym-bols and hurting the devotees,Zed pointed out.

Zed said no faith, larger orsmaller, should be ridiculed at andadded if Hollywood or other en-tertainment executives neededany assistance about Hinduism,he or other Hindu scholars wouldbe glad to help.

Meanwhile, Forum for HinduAwakening has called it a "gravedenigration" and "vulgar mockeryof Sri Ganesh", appealing devoutHindus worldwide to protestagainst it.

Emmy winning late-night com-edy show SNL, which entertainsmillions each week, entered 36thseason on September 25. Head-quartered in New York (USA),founded in 1926, and available inabout 112 million households;NBC Universal claims to be oneof the world's leading media andentertainment companies in thedevelopment, production, andmarketing of entertainment, news,and information to a global audi-ence.

Lord Ganesh, however, is a fa-vorite of many Hollywood celeb-rities. According to reports, ac-tress-director Goldie Hawn re-veres Lord Ganesh, actress OliviaHussey possesses an extensivecollection of his statues, actressKelli Williams considers him as herfavorite, while writer-directorTracey Jackson wears LordGanesh necklace.

Australia not moved by India'srepeated pleas on Uranium

Australian company to sue CWGorganizers over unpaid bills

MELBOURNE: At least four ofAustralia's biggest event firmsplan to slap a multi-million-dollarlawsuit against CommonwealthGames organizers in New Delhi forthe recovery of their dues.

Events organizer Ric Birch hascommissioned law firm Slater andGordon to draw up the multi-milliondollar lawsuit that would involve atleast four of Australia's biggestevent firms - including his firmSpectak Productions and fireworksgroup Howard & Sons - against theDelhi Games organizers, 'The Aus-tralian' newspaper reported.

Birch, who was the mastermindbehind the successful opening andclosing ceremonies of the mega-event, which took place from Octo-ber 3 to 14 last year, said that his em-ployers have still not paid their bill.

"I supplied the services of 12people over the course of the year

leading up to the Games, which in-cluded choreographers, producersand myself as executive producer,"ABC.net.au. quoted him as saying.

"They're all production peoplewho were intimately involved inthe creation, production and direc-tion of the opening and closingceremonies."

The issue also figured promi-nently during External Affairs Minis-ter S M Krishna's bilateral meetingwith his Australian counterpart KevinRudd, giving the visiting Indianleader some embarrassing moments.

Rudd raised the issue of non-payment of dues to Australiancompanies for CommonwealthGames-related work with Krishna,who is here on a three-day visit.

Krishna assured the Australiangovernment that he would take up thematter of non-payment of dues backhome with the Ministry of Sports.

"It has been brought to my no-tice and I would go back to Indiaand take it up with the Ministry ofSports," Krishna told a joint pressconference after the meeting.

Krishna could not give a timeframe on how soon the matterwould be resolved, but said it willbe dealt with as soon as possibleafter his return to India.

Rudd said his government wassatisfied with the Indiangovernment's response to the is-sue, which he described as a "com-plicated one".

"We did discuss these matters.We in Australia are comfortableabout Indian government's re-sponses about the process wehave in hand which is a compli-cated one on the domestic mat-ters in India itself. But these mat-ters are well in hand," he told re-porters.-PTI

MELBOURNE: Australia hasrefused to concede to India's re-peated requests for revoking a banon Uranium sale to it, sayingCanberra remains steadfast on itspolicy of not selling yellowcaketo NPT non-signatories.

External Affairs Minister S MKrishna raised the issue of Ura-nium sale with Australia for a sec-ond day during his meeting withhis Australian counterpart KevinRudd but the latter said hiscountry's stand remains un-changed.

He had also taken up the issuewith Australia's Resource, Energyand Tourism Minister MartinFerguson.

Rudd acknowledged India'sclean record on nuclear prolifera-tion, but maintained it wasAustralia's national policy to notsell Uranium to NPT non-signa-tories.

Rudd said "Australia funda-mentally respects India's longstanding credentials on the non-proliferation question".

Addressing a jointpress conference herealong with the visitingKrishna, Rudd ac-knowledged that Indiahas not been respon-sible for a single act ofnuclear weapons prolif-eration anywhere in theworld.

"Something whichwe place on recordagain as being ourviews of India's publicpolicy posture and op-erational behavior for avery long period oftime," he said.

Australia is unwill-ing to sell uranium toIndia because it has notsigned the Nuclear Non-Prolifera-tion Treaty.

"However, Australia's standson NPT remains. We continue todiscuss these matters as friendsdo," he said emphasizing on thestrategic partnership that the twocountries shared.

"There is a huge amount un-derway in the Australia- India re-lationship at the political, securityand economic levels... There'ssufficient ballast in this relation-ship to deal with areas of periodicdisagreement as there are in allrelationships," he said.

Commenting on the issue,Krishna said he has pleaded withthe Australian government tochange the policy, stressing thatnuclear energy as a clean energysource was crucial to the risingenergy demands of India.

"If you have to have clean en-ergy, then according to India the

only option is to have nuclearenergy, and if you have to havenuclear energy, then you certainlyneed uranium," he said.

On the question of the secu-rity of Indian students in Austra-lia, Rudd gave his full assuranceto his counterpart.

He said as the Foreign Minis-ter he takes the issue of securityof any guest including interna-tional students 'fundamentallyand seriously'.

"I take the responsibility andthat is our job," he said after hold-ing the seventh ministerial dia-logue with Krishna at a joint pressconference.

"Any student from any part ofthe world who runs into any se-curity issue is one two many,"Rudd said.

Appreciating the steps takenby the Australian government,Krishna said Indian students werenow feeling confident and securedespite the fact that the numberof enrolments had dropped by al-most half.

Krishna said when he visitedthe country in 2009 he was carry-ing an "anguish and worry" in thebackdrop of a series of racial at-tacks on students in the country.

"But on this visit that worry ismissing, that anguish has disap-peared," Krishna said.

"Indian students feel quite se-cure and feel quite confident, andthey feel they can pursue their stud-ies without any anxiety," he said.

He said though the drop in en-rolment of Indian students hasbeen given as 80 per cent, how-ever according to his understand-ing the drop was by 40 per cent.

On the economic ties betweenthe two countries, Krishna said aFree Trade Agreement joint feasi-bility study was already completeand the trade imbalance with Aus-tralia was the second largest thatIndia had with any of its tradingpartners. -PTI

Zed said no faith,larger or smaller,should be ridiculedat and added if Hol-lywood or other en-tertainment execu-tives needed anyassistance aboutHinduism, he or otherHindu scholars wouldbe glad to help

Rudd acknowledged India'sclean record on nuclearproliferation, but maintained itwas Australia's national policyto not sell Uranium to NPT non-signatories. Krishna said hehas pleaded with the Austra-lian government to changethe policy, stressing thatnuclear energy as a cleanenergy source was crucial tothe rising energy demands of India


www.indiapost.com

Top Stories

THUMBS UP: Canadian Member of Parliament Ruby Dhalla (C), with actress Satinder Satti (L), and Principal

Neelam Kamra (2L) greets students as they arrive at the BBK DAV College for women in Amritsar on January

18. Dhalla visited the city to pay her respects at the Golden Temple and also delivered a lecture on ëParliamen-

tary Democracy in Canadaí at the Guru Nanak Dev University in Amritsar

'By 2020, world to be 2.4Cwarmer, India to be hardest hit'

WASHINGTON: The Earth willbe 2.4 degree Celsius warmer by2020 if the world continues withthe business-as-usual approachto climate change and India wouldbe one of the hardest hit coun-tries witnessing up to 30 per centreduction in crop yields, a newstudy has claimed.

The rising temperatures willadversely affect the world's foodproduction and India would be thehardest hit, according to theanalysis by the Universal Ecologi-cal Fund (FEU-US), the US sub-sidiary of FEU founded in Argen-tina in 1990.

The report titled 'The Food Gap-- The Impacts of Climate Changeon Food Production: A 2020 Per-spective' predicted that crop yieldin India, the second largest worldproducer of rice and wheat, wouldfall up to 30 per cent by the end ofthis decade.

The report, however, noted thatthe impacts of climate changewould vary from region to region.While central and southern regionwould witness adverse impacts,the impacts could be beneficial for

East and South-East Asia, the re-port predicted.

The two most populated coun-tries in the world, India andChina, would experience differ-ent impacts. While India couldsee a fall in its crop yield, China -- the largest producer of rice andwheat in the world -- is expectedto increase its crop yields up to20 per cent, said the report.

However, the overall impact ofa warmer planet on global foodproduction would be massive,said the report, adding that themost significant impacts would beon the top 20 producers of eachof the four crops: wheat, rice,maize and soybean, respectively.

It has predicted that globalwheat production during thattime would experience a 14 percent deficit between productionand demand; while there will bean 11 per cent deficit in rice pro-duction and 9 per cent in maize(corn) production. Soybean isthe only crop showing an in-crease in global production, withan estimated 5 per cent surplus,the report said.-PTI

First Vocational EducationUniversity in Gujarat


BANGALORE: TeamLease Ser-vices, India's largest staffing com-pany, has signed an agreementwith the Gujarat Government to setup India's first Vocational Educa-tion University. TeamLease Uni-versity (TLU) will set up 22 com-munity colleges across the Stateof Gujarat that will offer two yearassociate degree programs in col-laboration with employers. The 22community colleges are likely tocome up over 36 months, while thefirst 10 will be set up over the next18 months.

TLU will be India's first Univer-sity focused on vocational edu-cation. Employers will be at theheart of academics and technol-ogy will be at the heart of opera-tions. It will offer quality educa-tion via four classrooms (physi-cal, satellite, e-learning and on-the-job). The two year associate de-gree programs will fill an impor-tant gap by creating a mezzaninelayer between shorter certificate/diploma courses (provided byTeamLease subsidiary IIJT) andtraditional degree colleges.

These associate degree pro-grams are an important part of so-lution to the skill and vocationaleducation crisis because of theirhigher duration (many childrenneed more time for repair after hav-ing been badly served in their

school year, higher employability(strong linkages with employersand mandatory apprenticeships)and vertical mobility (these pro-grams can be used for lateral entryinto traditional degree colleges).

Commenting on the agreement,Hasmukh Adhia, Principal Secre-tary, Education, Government ofGujarat, said, "Youth unemploy-ability is a bigger problem thanyouth unemployment. The gov-ernment of Gujarat has made hu-man capital an important priorityin all our actions and we believethat community colleges offeringprograms with strong employmentlinkages are an important part ofthe solution. We are happy thatTeamLease is partnering withGujarat to set up India's first vo-cational education university."

The TLU model of 22 commu-nity colleges across the State rec-ognizes that taking students totraining substantially increasecosts and it is important to taketraining to students. TLU will usea multi-modal delivery model thatwill include satellite delivery (fromstudios in Ahmedabad, Delhi andBangalore), classroom instruc-tion, e-learning and on-the-jobtraining. Each community collegewill have technology at the heartof operations with online commu-nities/portals for students andfaculty, biometric attendance sys-tems, and satellite classrooms.

Jaya Bachchan in Bangla-Pak love storyNEW DELHI: Debutante

Bangladeshi director RubaiyatHossain is ready with her featurefilm "Meherjaan" starring versa-tile actors Jaya Bachchan and Vic-tor Banerjee and based on aBangaladesh-Pakistan love story.

The Rs one crore film fundedby Era Productions is a story ofMeherjaan (played by JayaBachchan), a Bangladeshi girl whofalls in love with a young Pakistaniarmy officer who refuses to join thewar and saves her from being rapedby other Pakistani troops who donot however spare her cousinNeela and kill her father.

"The young Pakistani officerand Meherjaan create a world oflove and fantasy in the midst ofwar. However, this world collapsesand Meherjaan loses most of her

family in the devastation of theWar", says Rubaiyat.

The director says"Meherjaan", which also featuresleading Bangladeshi actors likeHumayun Faridi and Khairul AlamSabuj, "looks at war from thewomen's point of view. It is looksat history through women's rec-ollection of war.

"It talks about national politicsalso speaks about the very per-sonal intimate emotions ofwomen. It is also a film that triesto look at the canvas of war andfind a flicker of hope in love andcompassion that can reach acrossman made boundaries", accord-ing to Rubaiyat who has done herMA in South Asia Studies fromthe University of Pennsylvania.

"Meherjaan", which is slatedto hit cinema halls acrossBangladesh on January 21, al-ready boasts of a cast spanningacross the subcontinent includ-ing Pakistani actor Omar Karim.

For a debutante director, torope in actors like Banerjee, whoplays grandfather to Meherjaanand Neela and Jaya Bachchan is acasting coup of sorts.

India Post www.indiapost.com January 28, 2011

COMMUNITYACROSS AMERICA

Details on page 18

Desi News

Details on page 14

Details on page 17

12

Usha Kamaria of Niles Township Iftekhar Shareef, the FIA TrusteeSunil Shah, the new FIA President

Two FIAs, two Republic Daycelebrations the same day

SURESH SHAH & SURENDRA ULLAL

Sunny Gabhawala

ex FIA President

CHICAGO: With three threat-ened "separations" in the pastthree decades, the Federation ofIndian Associations (FIA) inChicagoland still managed tomaintain its façade of unity andsurvived intense intra-family (or-ganization) bickering. But nolonger now. A formal split is quitein evidence and it is the talk ofthe town.

Two groups claiming to repre-sent FIA have announced host-ing of Indian Republic Day cel-ebrations on the same day and atthe same time - Friday January 28at 6-30 pm - but at two difference

places in Chicagoland. Both havepromised a gala banquet andgrand celebration with galaxy of

celebrities and live entertainmentprogram with talented local art-ists, and both have lined up

prominent community stalwartsbehind them.

The FIA led by Sunil Shah has

announced holding the event atIndian House Banquet Hall inSchaumburg, a northwest Chi-

cago suburb, while the other FIAthat had a rebuke from the Courtand is virtually "headless" buthas still managed to survive thelegal battle, is having its programat Holiday Inn on Touhy Ave inSkokie, a north side suburb ofChicago.

Interestingly, both the FIAgroups profess the ideal of"United we stand" or "united weprosper" but both have seeminglyproved the old adage false with apublic display of "Divided westand" and "United we fall.

Interestingly, both the FIA groups profess theideal of "United we stand" or "united we prosper"but both have seemingly proved the old adagefalse with a public display of "Divided westand" and "United we fall

Indian Americans attend Governor Quinn'sswearing-in ceremony

HARISH RAO

Cont’d on page 13

Governor Pat Quinn with IADO officers [L-R] Dr. Ram Gajjela, former President

and Jitender Digvanker along with Vir Doshi, Ketan Shah and Shailesh Shah

CHICAGO: Several leading In-dian Americans attended the Stateof Illinois Inaugural Ceremoniesthat marked the swearing-in of

Governor Patrick Quinn along withfive Illinois constitutional officers:Secretary of State Jesse White, Il-linois Attorney General LisaMadigan, Lieutenant Governor

Sheila Simon, Illinois ComptrollerJudy Baar Topinka and IllinoisTreasurer Dan Rutherford.

All of them took oath of office

on January 10 at the Prairie Capi-tol Convention Center in Spring-field, IL.

Gajjela said Governor Pat Quinn consistentlydemonstrated his enthusiastic friendship with theIADO by supporting the causes and issuesof the Indian community

Cont’d on page 13

Acknowledgment

The India Post issue datedJanuary 14 carried a news

item of refund of Property Taxby Maria Pappas. The pictureof Maria Pappas in the newsitem was provided by AsianMedia Service.

-Editor

Details on page 15

Indians join Mayorin celebratingKing's birthday

CHICAGO: Under the Leader-ship of Mayor Richard M. Daley,the city of Chicago held celebra-tion of 82nd birth anniversary ofReverend Dr. Martin Luther KingJr on January 14 at Hilton Hotel ofChicago.

It was a breakfast event and wasattended by a large number ofChicago elite, including membersof the Indian community.

NRI youth stunned atlack of health carefacilities in IndiaRAMESH SOPARAWALA


CHICAGO: Two second genera-tion Indian youth from NorthAmerica and UK were in India re-cently volunteering at a medicalcamp organized by Manorama DeviBirla Charitable Trust inMussoorie, in India. The partici-pants were aghast to see wide-spread prevalence of diseases ofall types - tropical and non tropical- and woefully inadequate medicalfacilities available in the region.

Silverstein pledgeto improveinfrastructure

SURENDRA ULLAL

CHICAGO: A front ranking can-didate for the 50th ward in ChicagoDebra Silverstein asserted herethat she would turn her ward intoa truly international market placewith a total face over, redoingroads, planting of trees and ensur-ing fullest security to shoppersand visitors, if elected in the forth-coming February 22 elections.

Addressing a gathering of hersupporters and ethnic media onDevon Avenue, she said the 50thWard had been getting a stepmotherly treatment over the yearsand it was high time the needs ofthe residents.

Punjabis in YubaCity welcome New

Year by helpingthe needy

January 28, 2011 India PostCommunity Across Americawww.indiapost.com

13

" While Indian Americans inChicagoland would not doubt thedeep affiliation and undying re-spect for Indian culture by boththe groups, they are still wary atthis sort of public display of fac-tionalism or divergent pulls withina small community. They feel that

wiser counsels should have pre-vailed and should prevail evennow, and that both the groupsshould pull their resources to cel-ebrate Indian Republic Day unit-edly with grace and dignity befit-ting the occasion.

The substance of this unfortu-nate occurrence just proves onceagain the legendary Indian apathytoward each other, as profoundly

proven through our history.This can be traced to as back

as the age of Pandavas andKauravas, and repeated time andagain from the time of the inva-sion of Ghori Mohammad and thenMohammad of Ghajni, and to thewake of consolidation of Britishimperial rule.

Indian Community of Niles

Township in collaboration andcooperation of United SeniorPariwar and ethnic Indian mediahas also organized its celebrationbut, for a change, on SaturdayJanuary 29 between 3 pm and 6pm at Niles West High SchoolAuditorium in Niles. The event alsopromises a top of the line culturalprogram with award winningdance academics.

Two FIAs, two Republic Daycelebrations the same day

Indian Community of Niles Township incollaboration and cooperation of United SeniorPariwar and ethnic Indian media has alsoorganized its celebration

Cont’d from page 12

Following the swearing-in, the41st Illinois Governor Pat Quinnsaid "We must be united as onepeople to address the challengesahead" and reminded the peoplethat he was a humble servant ofthe people of Illinois. He empha-sized that it was important to main-

tain openness, honesty and integ-rity in the government.

Dr. Ram Gajjela, a former presi-dent of the Indo American Demo-cratic Organization [IADO] whoattended the Inaugural ceremoniescommended Governor Pat Quinnfor his inspiring remarks and saidthat his words have deeplytouched the hearts of the peopleas he laid out his vision to steerthe state of Illinois in a new direc-

tion filled with promise and hope.Gajjela said Governor Pat Quinnconsistently demonstrated hisenthusiastic friendship with theIADO by supporting the causesand issues of the Indian commu-nity.

Keerthi Kumar Ravoori, Direc-tor of Federation of Indian Asso-ciations -Chicago hailed Governor

Pat Quinn as a true champion ofthe people. Ravoori who hadserved in the Asian American Ad-visory Councils of Pat Quinn whenhe was elected first as Illinois Trea-surer and later as the LieutenantGovernor, said Governor PatQuinn is widely admired and re-spected by Indian American com-munity as he had shown abidingfondness by his presence at theIndian festivals, parades, cultural

Indian Americans attend Governor Quinn's swearing-in ceremonyevents, forums and receptions.

The day began with an Inter-faith Service at the First Presbyte-rian Church, followed by the for-mal swearing-in ceremonies at thePrairie Capital Convention Center.There was an Open House whereGovernor Quinn and Lt. GovernorSheila Simon warmly greeted eachguest at the Governor's Executive

Mansion in Illinois capital Spring-field, Illinois.

The festivities culminated witha grand Inaugural Evening Ballwhere many an eminent guestsfrom both political parties reveledlate into the night.

Some of the other prominentIndian Americans who attendedthe inaugural festivities include Dr.

Ram Gajjela of IADO, KeerthiKumar Ravoori of FIA, Dr Ashish& Coleen Sen of IADO, Smita Shahof Chicago's Sister-City Relations,Vir Doshi of Maharasthra Mandal,Jitender Digvanker of IADO,Ashref Hashim of the Indo Ameri-can Center, Gladson of IADO,Mohini Ahluwalia, Ketan Shahand Shailesh Shah.

Governor Pat Quinn with Keerthi Kumar Ravoori at the Inaugural Ball


January 28, 2011India Post14 Community Across Americawww.indiapost.com

NRI youth stunned at lack of health care facilities in India

RAMESH SOPARAWALA


CHICAGO: Two second genera-tion Indian youth from NorthAmerica and UK were in India re-cently volunteering at a medicalcamp organized by Manorama DeviBirla Charitable Trust inMussoorie, in India. The partici-pants were aghast to see wide-spread prevalence of diseases ofall types - tropical and non tropical- and woefully inadequate medicalfacilities available in the region.

Parth Mangrola from USA andDevraj Kathwadia from UK at-tended a medical camp in Novem-ber last and were dumbstruck atthe apathy of not only the authori-ties but also of the public in gen-eral to the sad state of affairs. Therural area population in particularsuffered all sort of ailments andhad nobody but God and consci-entious medical practioners like Dr.Sunil Sanon and his wife Dr VenuSannon to look for help and re-dressing their grievances.

Mangrola and Kathwadia madeobservations of the patients'health habits through personaltalks and filling out questionnaire.The data they collected revealed

that a staggering 88 % of thepeople came in suffered one orother kind of dental disease. Theyfound that chronic obstructivepulmonary disease (COPD), pul-monary cardiovascular and gas-trointestinal diseases were verycommon among rural folks. Den-tal tarter has been causing coro-nary thrombosis. Similarly, miss-ing teeth, tartar, and toothachesled to poorly chewed food whichin turn led to poor digestion.

They also found that a goodnumber of patients coming in suf-fered from anxiety disorder. Theanxiety causes dryness of mouthand this in its turn caused bacte-ria accumulation in the oral cavityalong with food particles for lackof saliva. Smoking and tobaccochewing made matters worse.

In a talk to this paper, they saidthat part of the problem is lack ofawareness among rural folksabout the basics of healthcare andthis is compounded by lack of anyworthwhile facilities in remote ar-eas. "We found that staggering 88per cent of the population includ-ing children suffered from gum dis-eases -cavities, swollen gums, bro-ken teeth, bad breath, pyorrhea,etc. If they cannot chew their food

properly, it would affect the ab-sorption of the food they eat cre-ating more problems in turn. Be-sides, lack of dental hygiene, thepeople suffered from lung disease(TB included), hypertension, car-diovascular problems, stomachailments and you name a disease

and will find it there," he said witha bit of dismay.

He was full of praise for Dr.Sannon who has been renderingvoluntary free services in the re-gions for the past three decades.The only MD in the area, Dr.

Sannon has lately received big helpfrom Manorama Devi Birla Trustfounded by KK Birla. Mangrolasaid he has decided that he woulddevote his summer time attendinghealth care camps and would pitchfor support from other like-mindedsecond generation Indian medical

personnel to give their mite for al-leviating the misery of the needyin India.

Dr Sannon in a telephonic talkwith this paper said that ManormaDevi Trust has donated a 30 ft longmobile van complete with state of

art medical equipment, includingECG machine, lab testing facility,pharmacy cabinet with 160 typesof medicines, computer and print-ers etc. This van is manned by Dr.Sannon, his Pathologist wife Dr.Venu Sannon, a pharmacist, com-puter tech help, and other volun-

teers. It goes from place to placeand offers diagnostic help and attimes medicine too. Complicatedcases like valve replacement, di-alysis or kidney transplant are re-ferred to nearby hospitals. Pa-tients were also found sufferingfrom joint pains, bronchitis, heartand lung diseases.

In his career spanning threedecades, Dr Sannon has seen30,000 patients free of cost. Dur-ing his visit to remote villages inmobile van, "we see 80 to 100 pa-tients a day," he said. Besides,Manorama Devi Birla Trust, yetanother social organization, Di-vine Light Trust, has also beenhelping Dr. Sannon and his groupin offering medical help to theneedy in rural areas.

Dr Sannon can be reached at98 370 542 11 or at (91) 135 2632499

Volunteers and Dr Sanon before the mobile van (L-R) Parth Mangrola, Dr Sunil Sanon,

Rajender Pandey, Mahaveer, Pratap Singh, and driver.Dr. Sanon diagnosing a patient

Devraj Kathwadia and Parth Mangrola examining a patient Dr. Sannon with patient

Dr Venu Sannon in mobile van lab.

They said that part ofthe problem is lack ofawareness amongrural folks about thebasics of healthcareand this is com-pounded by lack ofany worthwhile facili-ties in remote areas


15

Silverstein promises to improve infrastructureSURENDRA ULLAL

Debra Silverstein flanked by two of her supporters Balwinder Singh

and Salman Aftab.

Debra Silverstein addressing the gathering of Indians,

Pakistanis and media at A-One Carpet on Devon Avenue

CHICAGO: A front ranking candidate forthe 50th ward in Chicago Debra Silversteinasserted here that she would turn her wardinto a truly international market place with atotal face over, redoing roads, planting oftrees and ensuring fullest security to shop-pers and visitors, if elected in the forthcom-ing February 22 elections.

Addressing a gathering of her support-ers and ethnic media on Devon Avenue, shesaid the 50th Ward had been getting a stepmotherly treatment over the years and it washigh time the needs of the residents andshoppers in this area were given top prior-ity. "What we see now are broken roads, lotof potholes, inadequate parking space, pileof garbage and dirt, and the last but not theleast, lack of adequate security. The areathat has huge potential to become an inter-national marketing place because of its hugeethnic diversity is slowly being shunnedby outside visitors and shoppers becauseof lack of basic infrastructure and poor plan-ning," she said.

She also insisted on transparency andaccountability in the working of her officebesides staffing it with members speakingmultiple languages. "I will have an opendoor policy and will welcome any one whowould have any concern about this neigh-borhood," she said.

When told repeatedly about the parkingproblem and high cost of parking, she ob-served that she would have the South Sidesof the streets on Devon Avenue, which havebeen reserved for residential parking, to beopened up for others in a limited way dur-

ing day time when Residents are not usingthe available space. Also, she would see ifsome of the Alleys could be used for pro-viding parking space. She would also pickup the issue of Parking Privatization whichhas resulted in sky rocketing of parkingcost. "I will work to correct the present un-just system with regard to parking metersand zone parking," she said.

The meet was organized by a group ofIndians, Pakistanis and other ethnic groups

on and around Devon Avenue area led byBalwinder Singh and Salman Aftab to givea boost to her candidacy. She was intro-duced to the audience by Salman Aftab witha vote of thanks at the end by BalwinderSingh. Earlier, State Senator Ira I. Silversteinspoke on the need of supporting and elect-

ing her for the office of Alderman 50th Ward.The main challenge to her candidacy comesfrom incumbent Ald Bernard Stone.

A graduate in accounting from Univer-sity of Illinois, Debra was immersed in herown business but was urged by 50th Wardresidents to use her accounting and otherexperience for the betterment of the resi-dents in this ward. Besides here businesscareer, she was also engaged in communitywork and activities as she successfully or-

ganized "Movies in the Park", "Winter-fest", and the 50th Ward's participation inBreast Cancer's "Network of Strength - Walkto Empower" on Mother's Day. She men-

tioned that she is co-founder of the LibenuFoundation, an organization creating super-vised housing for adults with developmen-tal disabilities in the 50th ward.

Software engineer passesaway in Texas


DALLAS, TX: Srinivas Tulluri, 38, a soft-ware engineer, passed away in Tampa, FLon January 17.

Srinivas was suffering from severe coldand cough and was admitted to ZephyrhillsHospital, Florida where he was diagnosedwith pneumonia.

Srinivas Tulluri who hails fromArandalpeta village, Guntur District cameto USA eight years ago after completing hisMCA. Currently, he was working for Charles

Schwab, a financial company in Austin. Heis survived by his wife Prasanna Tulluri, 32yrs, daughter Sneha 9 yrs and son Teja, 12yrs old.

TANA Team Square volunteers andfriends of Srinivas - Chandu Talla, SrinivasJarugula, Raju Mantena, Hari Thota, RaviKarthaka, Kishore, Viswanath Tatavarthi,and Sundar Lingareddy are helping the fam-ily and children with the situation.

Jayaram Komati, TANA president, ex-pressed his deepest condolences to theTulluri family.

She also insisted on transparency and accountability in theworking of her office besides staffing it with members speak-ing multiple languages. "I will have an open door policyand will welcome any one who would have any concernabout this neighborhood," she said

January 28, 2011India Post16 Community Across Americawww.indiapost.com

Indians join Mayor in celebrating King's birthday

King Memorial Service opens with Gayatri Mantra

CHICAGO: Under the Leader-ship of Mayor Richard M. Daley,the city of Chicago held celebra-tion of 82nd birth anniversary ofReverend Dr. Martin Luther KingJr on January 14 at Hilton Hotel ofChicago. It was a breakfast event

and was attended by a large num-ber of Chicago elite, includingmembers of the Indian community.

Mayer Daley extended warmwelcome and greetings for attend-ing 25th annual interfaith break-fast honoring life of Dr. MartinLuther King Jr. The keynotespeaker Dr. Freeman A.

Hrabowski, President of the Uni-versity of Maryland at Baltimore,highlighted Dr King's legacy ofnon-violent struggle for humanrights. Dr. King learnt the phi-losophy and practice of non- vio-lence from great Mahatma Gandhi

of India. He outlined the practiceof civil liberty and defending hu-man rights for the poor and theoppressed. He did not fear tospeak out against any issues thathe believed in. He believed inspeaking the truth regardless offear of backlash from the main-stream of society or threat to his


NEVADA: The 25th Annual Dr. MartinLuther King Junior Interfaith CommunityMemorial Service in Nevada opened Janu-ary 16 with Gayatri Mantra, one of the mostsacred mantras in Hinduism.

Rajan Zed, President of Universal Soci-ety of Hinduism, recited besides GayatriMantra and also read from Bhagavad-Gita,Upanishads and Rig-Veda (oldest existingscripture of mankind) during his invoca-tion on the occasion. Reciting fromBrahadaranyakopanishad, he said: Asatoma sad gamaya, Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya,Mrityor mamrtam gamaya; which he thentranslated as: Lead me from the unreal tothe real, Lead me from darkness to light,Lead me from death to immortality.

Rajan Zed pointed out that both Ma-

hatma Gandhi and Martin Luther Kingshared a common vision on peaceful resis-tance and held the belief that truth and lovealways won. Reading from Bhagavad-Gita,

Zed urged the gathered to "act selflessly".Held at First United Methodist Church

of Reno (FUMCR) with the theme "Remem-bering the dream, Fulfilling the mandate",this Service also included musical selec-

tions "People Get Ready" (performed byThe Power of Love and directed by LeonW. Smith) and another by Reno SecondBaptist Church (RSBC) Choir (directed by

Dr. Jesse Hall); congregational hymns "LiftEvery Voice and Sing" and "We Shall Over-come"; and video tribute to King (pre-sented by Reverend William Lyons ofRSBC).

At Martin Luther King Memorial Service (L-R) citizen activist Paula McDonough, Pastor Jon Vincent Shelton, Bishop Gene Savoy Junior, Rajan Zed, Pastor Emeritus John Emerson,

and Trustee of Northern Nevada Muslim Community Center Dr. Rafik Beekun

Reverend John Emerson, FUMCR Pas-tor Emeritus, delivered the keynote ad-dress; while Reverend Judith Bither,FUMCR Pastor; Reverend Michael Randle,RSBC Pastor; Right Reverend Gene SavoyJunior, International Community of ChristBishop; Susan Lisagor from Senator HarryReid's office; Paula McDonough, citizenactivist; and Rita Weisshaar of Retiree'sClub; also spoke on the occasion. Rever-end Jon Vincent Shelton, Sparks FreedomBaptist Church Pastor, gave the benedic-tion.

Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval'sproclamation and message from US Sen-ate Majority Leader Harry Reid were alsoread on the occasion. Service was jointlyorganized by Northern Nevada MartinLuther King Junior Holiday Committee andNevada Clergy Association.

Cook County Board President Tony Preckwinkle at Martin Luther King birthday celebration (L-R) FIA President Sunil

Shah, Tony Preckwinkle and Nand Kapur

He did not fear to speak out against any issuesthat he believed in. He believed in speaking thetruth regardless of fear of backlash from themainstream of society or threat to his life

life.J. Edgar Hoover, director of FBI

had labeled him the worst blackperson who was a threat to thenation, Hrabowski said that Kingsacrificed his life for peace and

unity of the nation. He pitchedfor carrying King's message inday-to-day practice and learning.

At the conclusion of the event,Benediction was given by Dr.Mildred C. Harris, CEO of God First

Ministries. Among members ofIndian attending the event wereprominent businessman NiranjanShah, President of newly formedFIA Sunil Shah and former AIApresident Nand Kapur.

Rajan Zed, President of Universal Society of Hinduism, recitedbesides Gayatri Mantra and also read from Bhagavad-Gita,Upanishads and Rig-Veda (oldest existing scripture of man-kind) during his invocation on the occasion. He pointed outthat both Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King shared acommon vision on peaceful resistance


17

Ohmkaram celebratesannual day in St Louis

ASHWIN PATEL

Readers Write...www.indiapost.com

Disclaimer :- India Post does not endorse opinions expressed in the letters.

Theatre of the absurd

Gujarat sets an exampleI was recently in Ahmedabad.

We witnessed here a spec-tacular show with all the big

corporate CEOs including RatanTata, Mukesh Ambani, AnilAmbani (both brothers, first timeon the same dais since theyseparated), Mahindra, Godrej,Ruia, Goenka, Adani, Naik ofLarsen-Toubro and so on. Theypledged and signed MOUsworth Rs 15 lakh crores. Theevent was held at the excellentMahatma Mandir new conven-tion center. Built within 182 days,there was nothing but dust onMay 1, 2010 when I was therefor Swarnim Gujarat celebra-tions.

There is no race or religionproblem in Gujarat. Many Mus-

lim countries sent their delega-tions. The Vibrant Gujarat summitwas co-sponsored by the Govern-ments of Canada and Japan andtheir ambassadors were presentand spoke glowingly. The Chair-man of US India Business councilRon Sommers was there and an-nounced that US did not want tobe left out and will cosponsor in2013. Chief Trade Rep of EuropeanUnion and Prime Minister ofRwanda came, representing Africa.There were delegates from 60countries. Nineteen States of In-dia sent their Chief Ministers orCommerce Ministers to participateand take advantage of the unpar-alleled opportunity of meeting somany top notch business peoplefrom around the world.

What happened in 2002 wasunfortunate. But CBI and Su-preme Court appointed SIT hascleared Modi. Let us not beat upon a man in an unfair way. Preju-dices die hard.

Time is the greatest healer. So,it is good to see people of Gujaratas a whole are joining NarendraModi and are marching ahead ina spectacular way towardsprogress.

Along with prosperity, com-munal harmony will spreadpeace and set an example to thewhole country to revert to thegreat tradition of mutual respectfor each others' belief, for whichIndia is known.

Bharat Barai MDIndiana USA

Pakistan is the ideological,financial and trainingcentre of global Jihadi

terrorism. Carried on the wingsof Saudi, Libyan, and Americanlarg.ess, Pakistan has estab-lished thousands of Jihadi train-ing schools in occupied Kash-mir and remote areas of Paki-stan. America, under Obama ad-ministration has transferred bil-lions of dollars to Pakistan since2010. Recently America trans-ferred $633 million to Pakistanunder the Coalition Support

Fund (CSF). Pakistan has now re-ceived approximately 8.76 billiondollars since 2001. Americantaxpayer's dollars are at workagainst India, and the West.

The Pakistan administration isutilizing American taxpayers'money for training and deployingJihadi terrorists around the worldfor suicide bombing, planting ex-plosives, burning passengertrains, buses, hijacking and bomb-ing. Pakistan secret service (ISI)is recruiting, training and armingIslamic terrorists from Pakistan,

Bangladesh and Kashmir in se-cret terrorist camps in remoteareas of Pakistan. The theatreof the absurd is being playedwith American taxpayer dollars.

One wonders why Americangovernment should divert fundsto Pakistan to train terroristswhen American schools arestarving for taxpayer money foreducation!

Dr. Babu SuseelanMechanicsburg,

Pennsylvania

CHICAGO: Cook County

Treasurer Maria Pappas

stands with Indian

visitors before a Hindu

display in her office.

The Hindu display was

one of 90 holiday

displays of tree and

other religious and

cultural presentations

shown in Pappas'

downtown Chicago

office to recognize the

diverse cultures of Cook

County. From left: Smt.

Pankaj Patel, of the

Metropolitan Asian

American Family

Services, Treasurer

Pappas and Smt.

Hasmukhben Patel.

From Suresh Shah

Hindu holiday season displayin Pappas' office

President Raj Unni and Sudhir Kozhilal cutting anniversary cake.

Dr Susy Alias releasing "Geetanjali"

Looking on is Vinod

ST LOUIS: Ohmkaram, a non-profit voluntary organization ofMalayalees in Greater St. Louis,Missouri celebrated its fifth Anni-versary on January 8.

Many activities for adults and

kids were organized during theevent including Jeopardy, Quiz,One minute talk, Musical chairs,Bingo and Chance pe dance.

Dr. Suzy Alias released theorganization's annual souvenir,Gitanjali, during the event. Theorganization also conducted its

annual general body meeting priorto the program.

Ohmkaram organizes a varietyof programs every year including

Vishu, Picnic, Onam and Anniver-sary. The next program is Vishu tobe celebrated on April 16, Satur-day at Mahatma Gandhi Center inSt Louis. Vishu will be celebratedwith much fanfare includingVishukani, Vishukaineettam, cul-tural programs, and traditionalKerala Sandhya.

Malayalam School of St Louisis a voluntary organization run byOhmkaram to teach and promoteMalayalam language to interestedstudents in the St Louis area. 2010-11 is the fourth year of operationof the school.

Ohmkaram is sponsoring the

superhit Malayalam movie'Pranchiyettan and the Saint' on Feb-ruary 5, Saturday 3 pm at Wehrenbergtheater in St Charles, MO.

Vishu celebration.

Many activities foradults and kids wereorganized during theevent including Jeop-ardy, Quiz, Oneminute talk

January 28, 2011India Post18 Community/Californiawww.indiapost.com

Punjabis in Yuba City welcome New Yearby helping the needy


YUBA CITY: While people were sleep-ing after celebrating the advent of 2011 onthe morning of the January 1, members ofthe Punjabi American Heritage Society weredistributing jackets to needy people to pro-tect them from cold winter. 40 jackets andsocks pairs were distributed to the home-less people on behalf of the Punjabi com-munity of Yuba City.

This generous effort was dedicated tohonor the memory of Mata Gujri.

Gujar Kaur known as Mata (Mother) Gujriwas imprisoned at age 81 and left to die onthe cold days of December in a freezing jailcell. Sikhs called her mother of the Sikh Na-tion because she sacrificed her husband,only son and four grandsons for the sakeof freedom of speech and people's right topractice the religion of their choice.

Mata Gujri (1624 -1705) (whose formalname was 'Mata Gujar Kaur') was the wife

of the ninth Sikh Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur;the mother of the tenth Sikh Guru, GuruGobind Singh, and the grandmother of thefour Sahibzade. She was born in 1624 andwas the daughter of Bhai lal ChandSubulikka and Bishan Kaur, a pious couple

of Kartarpur, in present-day Kapurthala dis-trict of Punjab.

Her role in the development of the Sikhfaith has been crucial. She was the wife of asupreme martyr; mother of a brave saint-soldier and the grand-mother of four amaz-ing children who all attained martyrdom at

the ages of 6, 9, 14 and 18 years. She hadbeen close to the two younger sahibzadeand took up their guardianship in the flightfrom Anandpur under a promise of safe pas-sage to Punjab. Imprisoned in the ThandaBurj (Cold Tower) of Sirhind with her young-

est grandsons Zorawar and Fateh Singh,she attained martyrdom, at the age of 81years, when she was told of their execution.

Her role was pivotal during the difficultperiod from about 1650 to 1705 for the peopleof India when Aurangzeb ruled this coun-try from 1658 until 1707 and spread his tyr-

anny and barbaric practices to the subcon-tinent. She was the "iron-lady" who wasresponsible for giving birth to and raisingthe last human Guru, Guru Gobind Singh.She endowed in him the best qualities ofthe Sikh faith.

Mata ji gave birth to Gobind Rai at Patnain 1666, when she was 42 and alone as herhusband, Guru Tegh Bahadar was on touracross Bengal and Assam spreading theword of the Lord. She made sure that theyoung Gobind had the qualities of braveryand acute awareness and a highly discern-ing consciousness.

When she was 51 year old, her hus-band attained martyrdom and she had toguide the Panth and protect and guideyoung Gobind to become the magnificentleader that he was. Again, her role duringthese years of widowhood are a clear ex-ample of how to accept the Hukam of theLord and live a life of righteousness andchardikala.

Mayor Villaraigosa inaugurates ‘Little Bangladesh’M ZAFAR ULLAH

LOS ANGELES, CA: On abright and crisp afternoon of Janu-ary 15, the much awaited unveil-ing ceremony of "LittleBangladesh" was held amidstgreat pomp and splendor.

The Los Angeles City Councilunanimously approved, recog-nized and voted for the establish-ment of Little Bangladesh on Au-gust 20 in Los Angeles.

"Little Bangladesh" stretches ashort corridor between "NewHampshire and Alexandria"streets in Los Angeles downtownarea on 3rd street.

The birth of "LittleBangladesh" dates back to 2001in which the Mayor of Los Ange-les, Mr. Antonio Villaraigosa was

approached by a group ofBangladeshis to declare a part ofLos Angeles downtown as "LittleDhaka" which was later changedand renamed to be called as "LittleBangladesh" instead.

The area around the 1st thruthe 3rd street where a good num-ber of Bangladeshis live and haveseveral businesses was chosen tobe called as "Little Bangladesh".It took nearly 18 months to for-mally establish "LittleBangladesh". After long and ex-tensive negotiations between theBangladeshis and the Koreancommunity leaders, it was formallypetitioned in 2008 to the LA CityCouncil members for formal ap-proval.

So on January 15th, the Mayorof Los Angeles Antonio

Villaraigosa along with a group ofLA City officials and dignitaries

formally came to inaugurate 'LittleBangladesh" which included theBangladesh Consul General in LosAngeles, Enayet Hossain, ViceCouncil, Shamim Hasan, L A CityCouncilman, 4th District TomLaBong, President, Los AngelesCity Council, 13th District, EricGarcetti, Los Angeles CountySherriff, Lee Baca, Deputy Chief,LAPD , Mike Downing, Chan Lee,Chair, Korean community leader,KAFLA, Nikki Ezhari, Deputy Dis-trict Director, Fourth District of LosAngeles.

Mayor Villaraigosa formallyinaugurated an unveiled the"Little Bangladesh" sign whichwas put up on the corner street of"New Hampshire" on the one end

and on the other end at the cornerof "Alexandria" on 3rd street.

The Mayor congratulated andpraised the Bangladeshi Ameri-cans for realizing their long cher-ished dream of having "LittleBangladesh" outside Bangladeshcome true. While speaking to onelocal Bangladeshi, he said withemotion and tears in his eyes say-ing, "This is the most momentousday of his life" to see the estab-lishment of "Little Bangladesh."Later after the unveiling ceremonyit was rounded off with a patrioticmusical evening consisting ofsongs and dances performed byBangladeshi local artists whichwas enjoyed by a couple of hun-dred people.

‘Little Bangladesh’stretches a shortcorridor between"New Hampshireand Alexandria"streets in Los Ange-les downtown areaon 3rd street

Sikhs called her mother of the Sikh Nation because shesacrificed her husband, only son and four grandsons forthe sake of freedom of speech and people's right topractice the religion of their choice

January 28, 2011 India PostCommunity/Californiawww.indiapost.com

19

Dr King is an example to American Muslims NIHAD AWAD

Search still on for bonemarrow donation


LOS ANGELES: There has been greatresponse to the appeal for bone marrowdonation to save the life of Sonia, 24, whois suffering from Acute Myelogenous Leu-kemia (AML), which is a cancer of the blood.

Sonia is undergoing intense chemo-therapy at Massachusetts General Hospi-tal in Boston but requires a bone marrowtransplant quickly to survive.

In the last three weeks over 100 driveswere hosted and registered between 3000and 3500 South Asians. Simultaneousdrives were held in Austin, TX, Los Ange-les, CA, and Boston, MA registering over260 people. Over 50 more drives have beenscheduled. Her brother Sumit said, "Whilethe momentum is impressive, we unfortu-nately have not yet been able to find a bonemarrow match or donor for Sonia."

He added, "This is a game of numbersand the more drives we can do quickly, thegreater we can optimize the chances of hersurvival."

Sonia has completed her induction che-motherapy. She will be discharged from thehospital in roughly two weeks. She will beallowed to rest for four weeks during whichtime a treatment (type of transplant) deci-sion will be made (so a total of six weeksfrom now). There is need to find her thebest possible transplant option before thatdeadline. Given that even on an expeditedbasis, it takes about 3-4 weeks from swab-

bing to getting into the registry, only drivesheld within the next 2-3 weeks can actuallyhelp Sonia.

Sonia

As American Muslims facethe challenge of risinganti-Islam sentiment in

American society, we can benefitfrom the example of Dr. MartinLuther King Jr., who used thepower of truth and justice topeacefully overcome those whopromoted fear and its resultingprejudice and intolerance.

Like African-Americans whofaced far more severe challengesin the 50s and 60s, American Mus-lims are now the easy targets ofunreasoned hate and suspicion.Like Dr. King, American Muslimsmust respond to hate with love andunderstanding.

Dr. King accurately noted that,"Hatred paralyzes life; love releasesit. Hatred confuses life; love harmo-nizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illu-minates it." He also said, "Let no manpull you low enough to hate him."

This refusal to let the hatred ofothers impact one's principles oractions is reflected in the Quran,Islam's revealed text, which states:"Be steadfast in your devotion toGod, bearing witness to the truthin all equity, and never let the ha-tred of others make you swerve towrong and depart from justice. Bejust: (for) that is closest to piety."

(Quran, 5:8)In his letter from a Birmingham

jail cell, Dr. King wrote that, "In-justice anywhere is a threat to jus-tice everywhere." This statementclearly indicated that the quest forjustice is universal and not limitedto a particular time or movement,and that everyone must rise toconfront the injustices of his orher own time and place.

As Dr. King wrote: "The ulti-mate measure of a man is not wherehe stands in moments of comfortand convenience, but where hestands at times of challenge andcontroversy."

These words strengthen Ameri-

can Muslims as we face the twintests brought on by those fewwho would falsely claim to com-mit violence in the name of my faithand by those who seek to exploitfear and mistrust to marginalize anentire minority community.

In his most famous speech, Dr.King said:

"I say to you today, my friends,that in spite of the difficulties andfrustrations of the moment, I stillhave a dream. It is a dream deeplyrooted in the American dream.

"I have a dream that one day thisnation will rise up and live out thetrue meaning of its creed: 'We holdthese truths to be self-evident: thatall men are created equal.'...

"I have a dream that my fourchildren will one day live in a na-tion where they will not be judgedby the color of their skin but bythe content of their character."

This hope for equality was alsoexpressed by Islam's ProphetMuhammad, who said in his finalsermon: "All mankind is fromAdam and Eve...a white (person)has no superiority over a black(person), nor does a black haveany superiority over a white - ex-cept by piety and good action."

American Muslims dream the

same dream as Dr. King and all thosewho struggled during the civilrights movement - that the promiseof justice and equality may be ful-filled for all our nation's children.

Dr. King said it best when he noted,"The good neighbor looks beyondthe external accidents and discernsthose inner qualities that make all men

Dr. King wrote: ‘Theultimate measure of aman is not where hestands in moments ofcomfort and conve-nience, but where hestands at times ofchallenge andcontroversy’

human and, therefore, brothers."His legacy of civility, hope, per-

severance, and optimism is besthonored through actions that con-tinue to make his dream our reality.

Nihad Awad is national execu-tive director for the Washington-based Council on American-Is-lamic Relations (CAIR).

20 India Post January 28, 2011www.indiapost.com

TechBizTech News

Jugaad Urbanism: an exhibition ofIndian resourcefulness in NY


NEW YORK: The Center forArchitecture is presenting its firstexhibition in the US on contempo-rary Indian urbanism. The first showof its kind, Jugaad Urbanism: Re-sourceful Strategies for Indian Cit-ies explores how the energy of citi-zens “making do” can be an inspira-tion and a catalyst for the world-wide community of architects, de-signers, and urban planners.

With so much emphasis on highdesign and high-tech in typical ar-chitecture shows, an exhibition fo-cusing on design by the people,for the people, of Delhi, Mumbai,Ahmedabad and Pune brings anew perspective to the interna-tional conversation about design-ing for life in contemporary cities.

The exhibition, which will be onview from February 10- May 21 inNew York, is organized in partner-ship with the India China Instituteat The New School, the Indo-American Arts Council and the So-ciety of Indo-American Engineersand Architects.

Related programs will include aday-long symposium on informalsettlements and low income hous-

ing in India, organized in partner-ship with the United Nations Hu-man Settlements (UN-HABITAT)program, and a weekly film seriesof documentaries and Bollywoodfeatures that focus on life in con-temporary India.

“Together, the exhibition andprograms aim to educate both localand international audiences aboutthe critical issues of growing cities,”explains Margaret Castillo, AIA,

LEED AP, the president of the Ameri-can Institute of Architects New YorkChapter. “While Mumbai may seema world away from New York City,the lessons learned from its empow-ered citizens and designers can beapplied to rapidly expanding citieswith similar issues, such as Rio orGuangzhou. Object-based, small-scale urbanism proves that gooddesign has the power to make the

world a better place.”

Jugaad: a definitionThere is no one definition of the

Hindi term “jugaad,” but in a broadsense, the term refers to a certainresourcefulness and innovationfound in Indian cities. Jerry-riggedcars, homemade stoves, and do-it-yourself water filtration are allexamples of citizens “making do”with what they have on hand. That

resourcefulness has proven to bean inspiration for local nongovern-mental organizations and interna-tional designers alike. The exhibi-tion juxtaposes these homemadesolutions and the “designed”ones, showing how the two canbuild off of one another to improvecity life. As curator Kanu Agrawaldescribes, “Jugaad strategies al-low designers to work with maxi-mum adaptability and imagination.

Inspired by the skill and ingenu-ity of grassroots tactics as well asa careful use of meager resources,designers can be thoughtful con-tributors for healthier, safer, andmore equitable cities. With their or-ganizational skills and expertisethey can provide examined waysof improving living conditions.”

The exhibition is organized by“resource:” land, water, energy andtransportation. In total, the exhibi-tion features products/prototypes,models, videos, photography, anddrawings created by Indian artists,designers and NGOs, but also thedesigns of practitioners working inIndia that are based in Sweden,Germany, and New York.

“In place of the master planand tabula rasa urbanism, Jugaadurbanism takes the improvised,actually existing urban conditionsof the Indian metropolis as a pointof departure to consider the scaleand scope of new design inter-ventions,” says Vyjayanthi Rao ofthe New School for Social Re-search. “This exhibition raisesquestions about the nature of in-novation itself and the systemsthat support intervention.”

Contíd on page 21

Social media may just save EmailTOM GIBSON

Is Email sexy again? In August,Google introduced Gmail Priority Inbox, a new feature that

learns to identify your importantemail for you. Imagine, just theemail you need right now, right infront of you.

Then in November Facebookannounced a major messaging re-think. Facebook Messages will bea "modern messaging system"that unifies email, Facebook mes-sages, chat and SMS in a singleapplication. Like Google,Facebook also recognizes thatsome emails are more importantthan others. What's important forFacebook? Email from Friends ofcourse. Non-Friend emails willside-step the Inbox and land in the"Other" folder.

Two new but very differenttakes on an old email effectiveness

challenge: how to bring your im-portant email forward.

Gmail, Facebook? … but I useOutlook!! Yes, at work we all do,and like most other business emailusers you too might be wonder-ing how these and other social de-

velopments affect you.As for highlighting important

email, don't expect help fromMicrosoft anytime soon. WhileOutlook excels as an email program,it's the Outlook add-in market we

look to for productivity automation.On the social front there is hope.Outlook 2010 includes a SocialConnector feature for passiveawareness. A good start.

What's social got to do withbusiness? Why now? In case

you are inclined to dismiss socialcommunication and its tools asonly for younger generations (orto use when not at work), I chal-lenge you to consider that our in-teractions at work couldn't be more

social. Email is often awkward andtoo formal in our social world ofbusiness. That these emergingsocial tools better handle it out-side of email , and in a complemen-tary way to email, is now a re-de-fining opportunity for email, andfor you. Read on to learn how.

Three indisputable Email truthsTo better understand how socialmedia can help email, let's be upfront about what we all now knowto be true.

Truth #1 - Email doesn't do so-cial. An asynchronous medium,email fails us for communicationsrequiring real-time back and forth,discussions, emotionally sensitiveissues, and urgent matters.

Truth #2 - Email is for the keep-ers. Emails to set meetings andinterim updates are annoying.

Contíd on page 21

CII suggestsmeasures to tamefood inflation

NEW DELHI: Industry body CIIhas said that India and its neigh-boring countries should sign aspecial accord for import and ex-port of perishables to tide over thedemand-supply mismatch.

"A special agreement should besigned between India and theneighboring countries - for import-export of perishables," CII pre-scribed in a 10-point recommen-dation to tackle inflation.

This would be a confidencebuilding measure and would easedemand-supply challenges of simi-lar commodities between Indiaand the neighboring countries, itsaid.

Food inflation, which stood at16.91 per cent as on January 1,continues to be quite high in thecurrent year despite normal mon-soons. This compares oddly withhigh inflation witnessed last yearwhen almost half of the countryhad witnessed drought-like con-ditions that affected prices of ce-reals and pulses.

While stating that recurrence ofinflation is due to "deeper struc-tural problems", CII said that in theshort-term, government shouldlower import duties and tariffs onagri- products, which are now hov-ering around 30-50 per cent. -PTI

IndiGo gets govtnod to gointernational

NEW DELHI: Premier no-frillcarrier IndiGo, which recentlyplaced the world's largest aircraftorder, has received governmentnod to launch international opera-tions and would fly to Singapore,Bangkok, Dubai and Muscat soonafter it completes five years ofdomestic operations in August.

The airline, which bagged thesecond position after Jet Airwaysin terms of the number of passen-gers, got permission for launch-ing international operations fromthe forthcoming summer sched-ule, which begins in April and con-tinues till October-November.

An airline spokesperson saidthat the flights would be operatedfrom several Indian cities toSingapore, Bangkok, Dubai andMuscat.

However, "the schedules anddates for the launch of these in-ternational services will be an-nounced in the coming months",she added.

The criteria for permission tolaunch international operations isthat the airline should completefive years of domestic operationsand have a 20-aircraft fleet. -PTI

Swiss panel okays newtax treaty with India

GENEVA/NEW DELHI: A Swiss Parliamentary Committee has giventhe go-ahead to the revised tax treaty between India and Switzerlandthat would eventually allow Indian government access to secret Swissbank accounts of Indian tax evaders.

The amendments to the treaty will now be placed before the SwissParliament for final approval.

Once the revised treaty gets the approval, Switzerland would pro-vide administrative assistance to India to track cases of tax evasion andtax fraud. -PTI

Says Vyjayanthi Rao of the New School for So-cial Research. “This exhibition raises questionsabout the nature of innovation itself and thesystems that support intervention”

Email is the world's most popular businessinformation system. Surprised? Wheredoes your most important businessinformation reside?

21India PostTechBiz Postwww.indiapost.com

January 28, 2011

Related ProgramsA robust series of related pro-

grams are planned for the threemonth duration of Jugaad Urban-ism.

The Center for Architecture willhost a day-long symposium withUN-HABITAT on informal settle-ments and low income housing(Feb 12); a panel on contempo-rary construction practices in In-dia (March 10); international ar-chitects working on new hous-ing, airports, and commercialspaces in India (March 31); howto create developments with net-zero energy (April 21); and howto design culturally and sociallysensitive communities (April 30).

The Center for ArchitectureFoundation will host a “FamilyDay” at the Center (Feb 19), wherefamilies will explore the exhibitionand participate in hands-on de-

sign activities.The programs of Jugaad Ur-

banism hope to engage both thepublic and professional commu-

nities working in New York. Thisdiverse group includes the Soci-ety of Indo-American Engineersand Architects.

“As many regions in India en-deavor to rebuild and improveinfrastructure, it is imperative thatplanners, architects and engi-neers take note of and build uponthe resourceful ‘making-do’ spiritof the citizens,” says RaviShenoy, President of SIAEA NY.“With this knowledge we can di-rect growth in a sustainable, eco-nomically and environmentallysound manner.

This exhibition is an opportu-nity for scores of architects andengineers, who practice both in USand India, to present their ownexperience and learn from others.SIAEA is excited to sponsor andparticipate in this exhibition whichshowcases a unique approach tourban planning.”

Jugaad Urbanism is supportedin part by grants from the GrahamFoundation for Advanced Studiesin the Fine Arts and the NationalEndowment for the Arts.

Jugaad Urbanism: an exhibitionof Indian resourcefulness in NY

Contíd from page 20

In contrast, we like and want tokeep emails that contain (1) infor-mation to do our jobs with col-leagues and clients, and (2) exter-nal information like e-newslettersthat keep us informed.

Truth #3 - Email is the world'smost popular business informationsystem. Surprised? Where doesyour most important business in-formation reside? Many haven'tnoticed, but with automatic sort-ing and browsing tools, vastlyimproved searching and cheapdisk space all converging, emailnow rocks as a way to manageyour information.

Three ways to up your emailgame

1 - use SMS & chat for throw-away emails

Your first surprise may comewhen you notice people who areunresponsive via email often re-spond quickly to your text (SMS)messages. And you'll find chatsurprisingly effective for clarify-ing things in quick Q&A sessions.It's easy to set up free accounts.

Is it professional? Absolutely,when used appropriately. You'llsee rapid and broad uptake ofthese tools this year. For yourteam, consider Yammer, a socialnetworking product designed spe-cifically for internal communica-tions. Either way, start with thoseyou communicate with most, andyou'll soon enjoy correspondinglyfewer emails.

2 - Separate out your impor-tant email

When helping clients we lookto see how many newsletters theyreceive. If just a handful, Outlook'sRules feature can handle the job.For more, we recommend NelsonEmail Organizer, an Outlook add-

in that separates correspondent(important) mail from bulk mail thatcan be read later.

3 - Keep all the Outlook emailsyou want

People who work hard deletingemail and religiously file to fold-ers may feel efficient, when in factthey're stuck in old ways. Thetrend today is to email less butsave more of it, and find it usingnew browsing & searching tech-nologies instead of filing.

We help shift people into the newways. For many, improving theirworkflow and how they use Outlookis just what's needed. For those man-aging many external relationships,more is needed. Nelson Email Orga-nizer has its own version of "friends"-

Social media mayjust save Email

it puts all email (sent and received)from each person you correspondwith into automatically-created NEOvirtual folders. It makes it easy tobrowse to any email you need.

For those who just want to im-prove on Outlook's search, X1 orNEO Find can be a great fit.

Can social media really saveemail? Not entirely. But increas-ingly it will take over the socialexchanges email is poor at. Thenemail programs can do what theydo best - manage the informationwe all need to better do our jobs.

Tom is principal trainer for Slip-stream Advantage Group. Hecoaches busy professionals andtrains companies in the new waysto manage email.

Contíd from page 20

'India 4th largest in Asia forillicit money flows'

WASHINGTON: India is Asia'sfourth largest exporter of illicitcapital with an estimated outflowof a whopping USD 104 billionbetween 2000 and 2008, accordingto a US-based think tank whichranks China as the number onesource of illegal money.

In its latest report on illicitmoney, Global Financial Integrity(GFI), a Washington-based thinktank, said Asia continues to pro-duce the largest portion ofillicit flows, almost half-trillion dollars in 2008alone.

According to figuresof illicit flow of money re-leased by this think tank,China tops the list and isseveral times that of India.

Between 2000 to 2008,GFI estimated that theoutflow of illicit moneyfrom China was USD 2.2trillion. Malaysia followsa distant second withUSD 291 billion.

Philippines is ranked third withUSD 109 billion, while both Indo-nesia and India are ranked fourthwith USD 104 billion each, says thereport 'Illicit Financial Flows fromDeveloping Countries: 2000-2009.'

On an average these five coun-tries account for 96.5 per cent oftotal illicit flows from Asia and 44.9per cent of flows out of all devel-oping countries.

However, it said that these(Asia region compared to total

developing world) shares havebeen declining; the top five Asiancountries transferred 36.9 per centof illicit flows from all developingcountries in 2008, down from 53.3per cent in 2000.

The report ranks countries ac-cording to magnitude of outflowswith China ranking at the top fol-lowed by Russia (USD 427 billion),Mexico (USD 416 billion), SaudiArabia (USD 302 billion) and Ma-

laysia (USD 291 billion)."India, which was the fifth larg-

est exporter of illicit capital in the2008 IFF Report is now ranked 15thamong developing countries," thereport said.

The think tank says there arethree main reasons why averageillicit flows from India slipped inthe country rankings.

The first reason is -- illicit out-flows from several oil producerssuch as the United Arab Emirates,Kuwait, Venezuela, Qatar, Nigeria,

Kazakhstan, and Indonesia (inthat order) now outpace thosefrom India.

Secondly, there were substan-tial inflows of illicit capital into In-dia (mostly through the balanceof payments but also throughtrade mispricing) that were set tozero under the gross outflowsmethod.

And finally, the United ArabEmirates and Qatar, which have the

sixth and ninth highestaverage illicit outflows re-spectively, were excludedfrom the 2008 IFF Reportbecause of lack of balanceof payments and debtdata, it explained.

According to the re-port, bribery, theft, kick-backs, and tax evasionwere the greatest conduitfor the illicit financialflows from the major ex-porters of oil such as Ku-wait, Nigeria, Qatar, Rus-

sia, Saudi Arabia, the United ArabEmirates, and Venezuela.

Oil exporting countries, likeRussia, the United Arab Emirates,Kuwait, and Nigeria, are becom-ing more important as sources ofillicit capital, it said.

"Every year developing coun-tries are losing ten times theamount of Official DevelopmentAssistance (ODA) remitted forpoverty alleviation and economicdevelopment," said GFI directorRaymond Baker. -PTI

People who work harddeleting email andreligiously file to foldersmay feel efficient,when in fact they'restuck in old ways

‘As many regions inIndia endeavor torebuild and improveinfrastructure, it isimperative that plan-ners, architects andengineers take note ofand build upon theresourceful ‘making-do’ spirit of the citizens’

January 28, 2011India Post22 www.indiapost.com

TOP TENHINDI FILM SONGS1 Sheila Ki Jawani : Tees Maar Khan

2 Yeh Des Hai Mera:

Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey

3 Tarkeebein: Band Baaja Baaraat

4 Shakira : No Problem

5 Chamki Jawani :

Yamla Pagla Deewana

6 Kaare Kaare Badra : Mirch

7 Teri Parchhaiyan :

Tera Kya Hoga Johny

8 Aali Re: No One Killed Jessica

9 Wallah Re Wallah : Tees Maar Khan

10 Isi Umar Mein : Isi Life Mein

Ash snubbed King Khan at anawards function recently, arguingthat she will dance to 'Kajra Re'

with no one but Big B and AB Jr.Says an eyewitness, "Shah Rukh had

planned a gig around Bollywood heroinesover the years and he wanted it to concludewith Aishwarya's performance. He hadplanned to dance with her to "Kajra Re".But Aishwarya refused. Her argument wasthat "Kajra Re" was a family song and thatshe performed the number in "Bunty aur

Babli" only with her father-in-law AmitabhBachchan and husband Abhishek and thatshe will not dance to that song with anyoneelse. No amount of persuasion from the or-ganizers helped her change her mind. Finally,Shah Rukh had to scrap this plan."

In the past Aishwarya has never beenintimidated by any of the three Khans, evenif it meant heavy professional losses forher. When she turned down "MangalPandey", Aamir Khan apparently stoppedall communication with her. Thereafter, the

only time Aishwarya shared screen spacewith Aamir was for a fleeting cameo inDharmesh Darshan's film - "Mela". Her expe-rience with Salman of course was anotherstory. Ash sent out a press release in 2003stating she would never work with him again.

With Shah Rukh, Aishwarya's rapport canat best be described as chequered. During"Devdas" they bonded superbly. But later, shewas ousted from Shah Rukh's "Chalte Chalte"and was replaced by Rani Mukerji after SalmanKhan disrupted the first schedule of the film.

After squabbling with Karan Johar,Rishi Kapoor is not only back in'Agneepath', but has also volun-

teered to do a 'looks test' to see if he fitsthe bill.

It seems that after crossing swordswith KJo over the Deepika-Sonam'bitchgate' on his talk show, a flare-upduring which he even walked out of"Agneepath", Rishi Kapoor is walkingthat extra mile to prove his professional-ism to the director. Rishi Kapoor will bedoing something he has never done inhis 40-year career - he is going to un-

dergo a 'looks test' to see whether he fitsthe part of the villain in the film.

This decision to try out a particularget-up to see if he fits into the meaniemould was taken by Rishi Kapoor him-self. After the 'looks test', if Rishi is notconvinced about looking the part he willsay no to it. Rishi confirms the 'looks test'for "Agneepath".

"Yes, I've voluntarily asked for a lookstest to see whether I will be convincing in amean part. If I look convincing I'd be confi-dent enough to plunge into the baddie'spersona," says Rishi, adding, "This is thefirst time in my entire career that I'm doing alooks test. Earlier for "Lamhe", Yash Choprahad desisted from asking me to do a lookstest thinking I'd feel bad.

United 6, which releases this February, is argu-ably Bollywood's first film without a male lead.The film revolves around the story of six girls

who stay in Bangkok and are on the lookout for a job.Frustrated, they connive with an ousted bank em-

ployee (also female) and plan to rob its safe.Confirms director Vishal Aryan Singh, "It's a first-of-

its-kind film, where there are no male leads. The scripdoesn't warrant it. About 90% of the screen space inthe film is filled with women, which includes the leadactors and a lot of other girls," he says.

Since posters of the film hit billboards, buzz is strongthat the movie looks like a rip-off of Charlie's Angels,but Singh dismisses such talk: "Not even a second ofthe film is Charlie's Angels. There is no resemblance atall. The girls play characters who have to work in largerthan life situations. But they do not perform unbeliev-able action like the girls in Charlie's Angels do."

All-girl movie

India Post 23January 28, 2011

www.indiapost.com

Bollywood

The rage among Bollywood babes tosizzle in raunchy item numbers contin-ues. After the flattering success of

Malaika Arora Khan's 'Munni Badnaam Hui'and Katrina Kaif's 'Sheila Ki Jawaani' it is nowtime for sex kitten Mallika Sherawat to shakeher legs on an item number.

Mallika has already shown her oomph fac-tor in 'Maiya Maiya' and will now be seen in araunchy item song in director Anees Bazmee'snext film Thank You. Like 'Munni BadnaamHui', this song too has a desi folk appeal to itand it titled 'Razia Gundo Mein Phas Gayi'(Razia stuck with the goons).

Composed by Pritam, the song will featureMallika with all the male actors of the film -Akshay Kumar, Bobby Deol and Sunil Shetty.Well, more so, Mallika is doing the number forfree as she shares a good rapport with Bazmeewhich developed when she worked withBazmee in 'Welcome'.

Bazmi, who is currently busy shooting thesong, confirmed the news saying, "Mallikais a very dear friend and suits perfectly forthis song. She is shooting with us for fivedays, as the song will be shot with all theactors in the film."

Next Item

After 50 years of its black and white release, Dev Anand is allset to bring his classic Hum Dono to screens in color thisFebruary. "This time it will be in color - Cinemascope and

Dolby Digital," says the veteran actor."Cinema is a medium that touches emotions irrespective of lan-

guage or culture. I am sure that the film will create a similar magic notjust in India but across the world," says Dev Anand.

Barry Sandrew, the Founder of Legend films, whose company spe-cializes in coloring some of the best Hollywood black and white filmssuch as cult classic Night of The Living Dead, and who took on thetask of coloring this one, says, "I saw the film and was really im-pressed … the colored version has been enhanced a lot in quality andam sure will be a treat for his fans. It is looking spectacular. In fact, a3D version of Hum Dono Rangeen is also being contemplated."

Hum Dono in color

There's sex, drugs and infidelity. Priyanka Chopra gets intimate with her seven onscreenhusbands, including John Abraham. No wonder then, that Vishal Bhardwaj's upcomingflick, 7 Khoon Maaf has been given an 'A' certificate by the Censor Board. But no one is

complaining, as it means the film releases on February 18, without any cuts."Neither Priyanka nor John was awkward during the intimate scenes. They are both very

professional," says a source form the film unit, who did not wish to be named, "This is JohnAbraham's boldest role, ever. Heplays a hedonistic character. He isseen bedding multiple partners, andeven wears noodle strap tops andstain bows in bed," adds the source.

"We knew right from the begin-ning that we are making an adult film.The audience is mature, and it is notabout specific scene in the film,"says Vikas Bahl of UTV, the movie'sproducers.

The film's director, Bhardwaj, too,doesn't mind the A certificate. "I amhappy the 'A' certificate. The film hasalready been chosen for the Pan-orama section of the Berlin Interna-tional film Festival, and that's a mat-ter of pride."

It's now official that Ritesh and Genelia are an item. There have beenspeculations about the duo dating each other right from 2002 but, asusual the couple always kept their affair under wraps.

At Akshay Kumar and Twinkle Khanna's 10th wedding anniversaryparty at their Juhu residence, Ritesh Deshmukh and Genelia D'Souza heldhands and danced passionately with each other. Their body languageclearly showed that they were nothing but a couple.

The khullam khulla attitude Ritesh and Genelia had been something thatwe have never seen before and will go down in history. They have alwaysbeen the shy and reticent types. This was the first time they let their hairdown to publicly acknowledge their feelings for each other."

Another couple

www.indiapost.com24 India Post January 28, 2011Gyan Prakash

BOOK REVIEW

Mumbai's role as a symbol of opportunity and reinvention, he looks atits nineteenth-century development under British rule and its twenti-eth-century emergence as a fabled city on the sea. Who knew that thefoundations of Mumbai's riches were laid on a thriving opium tradecarried on by some of the most iconic Parsi names that are etched in thecity's landmarks even today?

Different layers of urban experience come to light as the authorrecounts the narratives of the Nanavati murder trial and the rise andfall of the tabloid Blitz, and Mumbai's transformation from the red cityof trade unions and communists into the saffron city of Hindu na-tionalist Shiv Sena.

with its name change to Mumbai, I still love that cityand call it home.

Naturally, as an 'insider', I am uncharitably judg-mental about any commentary, essay or book onMumbai, whether written by a Bombayite (nowMumbaikar) or anyone from the rest of the world. So,reading through this new entrant on my book shelves,'Mumbai Fables', by Gyan Prakash (Princeton Univer-

sity Press), I found it in equal parts,surprising and predictable.

Surprising, because of the uniqueangle the author chose to look at the

city from. Starting from the catastrophic floods andterrorist attacks of recent years, Prakash reaches backto the sixteenth-century Portuguese conquest to re-

veal the stories behind Mumbai's historic journey in-cluding the formation of its geographic existence as itstands on the western seafront of India. Examining

SRIREKHA CHAKRAVARTY


Growing up in Bombay - yeah, Bombay, notMumbai - I used to come across only twokinds of visitors in the city from the rest of

the country - those that loved the city at first sight,and those that hated it. And intriguingly, the reasonwas the same for either emotion -awe. Awe over the overarching con-crete and steel skyscrapers; theunidentifiable system in the mad-ness; the myth and fear of the underworld; the glam-our of the film industry; the fast pace of life epito-mized by the local trains; and the purposefulness ofthe teeming millions of people- a fun-loving, resilient, overly-confident, overly-creative, en-terprising and unconvention-ally attractive people with anover-bearing in-your-face atti-tude. It was that uncanny atti-tude that was their identity asBombayites.

I loved the city; it gave memy identity and my attitude. A decade after livingoutside the city, in this country, even after the city'svery soul seems to have been transformed along

Cont’d on page 25

Different layers of urban experience come tolight as the author recounts the narratives of theNanavati murder trial and the rise and fall of thetabloid Blitz, and Mumbai's transformation fromthe red city of trade unions and communists intothe saffron city of Hindu nationalist Shiv Sena

Mumbai today and (right) Apollo Bunder, now Gateway of India, in Bombay of 1930

January 28, 2011 India Post

www.indiapost.com

25

George Mathew to lead benefit concert for Pak-flood aid

Anil Kapoor in Canada


NEW YORK: Singapore-bornIndian conductor George Mathewwill be leading a benefit concert ofBeethoven's monumental NinthSymphony organized by MusicFor Life International Inc. andAmerican Pakistan Foundation.

Beethoven for the Indus Valleyis an urgent call to the global com-munity to move as swiftly as pos-sible to give the resources andsupport that the Pakistani peopleneed to rebuild their lives and com-munities after the devastatingfloods of 2010. The concert will bepresented at Carnegie Hall on Jan31, and the proceeds will benefitAcumen Fund.

George Mathew, founder andArtistic Director of Music For LifeInternational and Ubuntu-Shruti,has emerged as one of the leadingforces in the classical music worldbringing symphonic music to fo-cus on global humanitarian is-sues and crises at the beginningof the 21st Century. In 2010-11 hemakes appearances in the US, In-dia, Panama, Morocco and SouthAfrica as conductor and ambas-sador for transformative actionthrough music.

Beethoven for the Indus Valleywill bring together many of theworld's finest orchestral musi-cians. Principal artists will gatherfrom the New York Philharmonic,

music schools for humanitariancauses while employing the mu-sic itself as their central source ofenergy.

Mathew drew inspiration fromthe success of Beethoven's Ninthfor South Asia, Requiem forDarfur and Mahler for the childrenof AIDS, which were benefits forthe victims of the 2005 earthquakein Pakistan; for the victims of theongoing conflict in Darfur; and forPediatric AIDS worldwide, respec-tively.

The concerts, presented inCarnegie Hall, brought togetherdistinguished musicians from over50 leading international ensemblesincluding the New York Philhar-monic, MET Orchestra, BerlinPhilharmonic, The PhiladelphiaOrchestra, Boston Symphony,Minnesota Orchestra, San Fran-cisco Symphony Orchestra, St.Louis Symphony, the Emerson,American, Mendelssohn andBrentano String Quartets, andstudents, graduates and facultyof the Manhattan School of Mu-sic, Juilliard School, Curtis Insti-tute and others.

The funds raised by Beethovenfor the Indus Valley will go to theAcumen Fund, a non-profit globalventure, for their work in Pakistanto empower affected communitiesto drive their own recovery throughinvestment in civil society re-sources and infrastructure.

MET Orchestra, The PhiladelphiaOrchestra, The Emerson Quartet,Orchestra of St. Luke's, Brook-lyn Philharmonic, Youth Orches-tra of the Americas, OrpheusChamber Orchestra, and otherinternational orchestras and en-sembles; students and faculty ofThe Juilliard School, the Man-hattan School of Music, andother major music schools.

Speaking about the concert,Mathew observed, "Beethovenhimself makes a musical statementin the Finale of the Ninth Sym-phony that goes to the heart ofour mission with this concert. Writ-ing in an earlier era of tension be-tween East and West, Beethovenuses the music of the Turkish mili-tary, music of the Islamic world, toprovide stability and indeed pos-sibility for the German (western)setting of the famous Ode to Joy

tune. In that moment Beethovenseems to become the voice of awhole civilization in that rare mo-ment of embrace of another civili-zation. It seems that Beethoven issuggesting that "embracing thespirit of the other, engaging theculture of the other is probably amore interesting form of interac-tion than rejecting the other, orbeing afraid of it, or declaring waron it or deporting it."

Two hundred years later, it ap-pears we have still much to learnfrom this great wise man of musicand the world," Mathew noted,

"In gathering together as a com-munity of musicians, listeners andsupporters we send a message ofsolidarity and human support toour fellow human beings in Paki-stan who have been so hard hitby these devastating floods inaddition to whatever financial sup-port we muster."

Beethoven for the Indus Valleyis the fourth in a series of globalhumanitarian concerts that GeorgeMathew has conceived and pre-sented at Carnegie Hall, gatheringtogether artists from the world'sfinest orchestras, ensembles and

Singapore-born Indian conductor George Mathew

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty showsBollywood star Anil Kapoor around the

Ontario Legislature on Jan 17. Kapoor, who is anAmbassador to the International Indian Film Acad-emy, was in Toronto to discuss preparations for the

IIFA awards weekend from June 16-19, whichwill be the first time the Bollywood film awardswould be presented in North America.

-Snapsindia/Canada MohammedMoinuddin

Starry-eyed planners and elitevisionaries, cynical leaders andviolent politicians of the street,land sharks and underworld donsjostle with ordinary citizens andpoor immigrants as the city copeswith the dashed dreams ofpostcolonial urban life andlurches into the seductions ofglobalization.

A place of spectacle and ruin,Mumbai exemplifies the cosmo-politan metropolis. It is not just abig city but also a soaring visionof modern urban life. Millions fromIndia and beyond, of differentethnicities, languages, and reli-gions, have washed up on itsshores, bringing with them theirdesires and ambitions. MumbaiFables explores the mythic innerlife of this legendary city as seenby its inhabitants, journalists,planners, writers, artists, film-makers, and political activists.Etching out the cultural historyof one of the world's most im-portant urban centers, Gyan

Prakash views Mumbai throughits turning points and kaleido-scopic ideas, comic book heroes,and famous scandals.

Shedding light on the city's pastand present, Mumbai Fables of-fers an unparalleled look at this ex-traordinary metropolis. But, as Iinferred earlier, the book has thepredictability of the oeuvre of an'outsider'. It does come across asmerely a painstakingly researchedcompilation of historical and an-ecdotal evidence, ideas, opinions,descriptions and analyses of thecity as already expressed by oth-ers. Seen with an almost clinicalview, the book lacks emotion. Per-haps, it was not the author's in-tention to get emotional or givehis own opinion of the city. Andjust as well, for a die-hard Mumbailover like me.

Gyan Prakash is the Dayton-Stockton Professor of History atPrinceton University. He is theauthor of Bonded Histories andAnother Reason (Princeton) andthe editor of Noir Urbanisms.

Fables from Bombayto Mumbai


The funds raised byBeethoven for theIndus Valley will goto the Acumen Fund,a non-profit globalventure, for theirwork in Pakistan toempower affectedcommunities

www.indiapost.com 26India Post


www.indiapost.com

January 28, 2011

How India revivedits economy

M.C. SINGHI

The world real GDP growth averaged3.7 per cent during 1997-2006.Growth further improved to 5.1 per

cent in 2007 with acceleration in growthin emerging Asian economies particularlyIndia and China. However, consequentupon the collapse of the financial sys-tem in US and Europe, growth starteddecelerating in 2008 and became nega-

tive in 2009. Indian economy also felt thetremors of the global slowdown. OverallGDP growth decelerated to 6.7 per cent in2008-09, from a level of 9.5 per cent achievedon an average in the preceding three years.Industrial growth also moderated to 1.5 percent and 1.0 per cent, respectively, in thirdand fourth quarter of 2008-09.

To counter the adverse fall out of theglobal slow down on the Indian economy,as per the policy interventions appropriate

fiscal and monetary policies were initiated.Three stimulus packages were an-nounced by the Finance Minister on De-cember 7, 2008, January 2, 2009 and in theInterim Budget on February 16, 2009 inquick succession. Total size of the fiscalstimulus package was estimated at 3.5 percent of GDP in 2008-09 and amounted toRs. 186,000 crore.

Cont’d on page 32


January 28, 2011

Travel to Mumbai in comfort. (How you get around there is up to you.)Austrian Airlines now offers 5 flights per week to Mumbai. Enjoy the comfort of Austrian Airlines, with Austrian and Indian specialties as well as excellent service on board.

www.austrian.com

India has become a PreferredInvestment Destination

R.P. SINGH

The resource requirement in a developing economy for investment usually exceeds the availability of re-

sources that could be domestically gener-ated. In India, the Gross Domestic Invest-ment have historically been short of theGross Domestic Savings by around 1.2 to1.3 per cent of GDP on an annual basis. Coun-tries, therefore, encouragethe inflow of capital fromabroad to supplement thedomestic savings for ahigher investment and alarger increase in produc-tion capacities.

Foreign Direct Invest-ment is considered as themost preferred route ofsupplementing the do-mestic savings as it bringsalong with the investmentnew management practices and technolo-gies. Besides enlarging the productive ca-pacity they also contribute to enhancementof export potential/earning of the country.

The economic liberalization, which wasinitiated in 1991, therefore, attempted to sig-nificantly liberalize the FDI policy regime.Over the years, India has emerged as a pre-ferred destination for foreign investment.Besides the sustained GDP growth ofeconomy, which has expanded market inIndia, the enabling environment and a trans-

parent open policy regime has significantlycontributed to the emergence of India as apreferred location. India FDI policy regimeoperates in a dynamic setting and has beenundergoing a process of continuous reviewin line with requirement and investors' per-ception. As a part of this process, the FDIpolicy is being liberalized progressively onan ongoing basis in order to allow FDI inmore industries under the automatic route.

In the year 2000, theGovernment allowed FDIup to 100 per cent underautomatic route for mostof the activities and asmall negative list wasnotified where either theautomatic route was notavailable or there werelimits on FDI. Since then,the policy has beengradually simplified andrationalized and more

sectors have been opened up for foreigninvestment.

Recent changes in FDI PolicySignificant changes have been made in

the FDI policy regime in the recent time toensure that India remains increasingly at-tractive and investor-friendly. In February2009, the twin concepts of 'ownership' and'control' as a central principle in India's FDIregime were recognized for calculation ofdirect and indirect foreign investment.

Cont’d on page 30

The FDI policy regimein the recent time toensure that Indiaremains increasinglyattractive andinvestor-friendly


January 28, 2011

Progressive farming- a path to livelihoodSUMAN GAZMER

Dhanpati Sapkota, an awardwinning farmer, won acash prize of Rs. 1.5 lakhs

in a vegetable growing competi-tion during the InternationalFlower Festival at Gangtok.

The Chief Minister gave awaythe cash award and citation to the

progressive farmer from ChotaSingtam, Assam Linzey, EastSikkim for his horticulture cropsof ten different varieties.

Dhanpati Sapkota is also a re-

cipient of Bhaskar Krishi Sammanfrom a non-governmental organi-zation, Sagar Prakashan GrameenPratibha Sanrakshan Samiti,Taksang. Earlier, on the occasionof Independence Day Celebrationat Pakyong, State Horticulture De-partment conferred him a cash in-centive of Rs 1500 along with cita-tion, agricultural equip-ments and package ofseeds of various horti-culture crops.

Deviating from thetraditional cultivationof Dhaan (paddy) andMakai (maize) for do-mestic consumption,Sapkota had intro-duced horticulturecrops on 2 acres of hisindividual land afterundergoing a three daystraining at Marchak.He also took part in an11-days training onorganic farming heldat Uttaranchal which was sup-ported by the State HorticultureDepartment.

The training and self-beliefproduced astounding results forSapkota. He was able to produce19 quintal of cherry pepper worthRs. 1, 52,000 in the same year from1900 seeds. This encouraged himto embrace horticulture seriously.He began to cultivate cauliflower,tomato, cabbage and broccoli.

Sapkota harvested 40 kg toma-toes from one plant under pro-tected cultivation in his holding.This year, the model farmer culti-vated off-season tomatoes ofRomeo variety by obtainingseeds from the State horticulturedepartment under the technologymission.

He sold 97 quintals of tomatoesworth Rs.1, 94,000. He has also

sold eight quintals of cauliflowerworth Rs. 64,000 and 12 quintals ofcherry pepper at Rs. 96,000. "I amearning Rs. 2.5 lakh per year throughhorticulture after paying wages tolaborers and meeting other ancillaryexpenses", said Sapkota.

He is also cultivating mixed veg-etables under the technology mis-

sion as an area expansion of veg-etables of the horticulture depart-ment. He is getting seeds, organicmanure and pesticides and othersupport from the department.

Sapkota claimed that he hasintroduced 'Jukuni Pharsi' (pump-kin of Jukuni variety) which has ashape of a cucumber in Sikkim.Since he is the first farmer to culti-vate 'Jukuni Pharsi', local peoplefrom Assam Lingzey have namedthe pumpkin as 'Sapkota Pharsi'. Ibrought the seed of Jukuni Pharsiin 2004 from Kathmandu, saidSapkota. He added that he hadfirst seen this variety of pumpkinin the Rana's farm at Bhaktapur.Sapkota was richer by Rs. 90,000after cultivating and selling theJukuni Pharsi.

The writer is a FreelanceJournalist

Dhanpati Sapkota


January 28, 2011

Pride of India exhibition showcases India's achievementsThe Indian Science Con

gress serves as a platformtowards inspiring the stu-

dents, academicians and the com-mon man to appreciate and incul-cate the value of science in life andcultivate scientific attitude. Thescience exhibition, organized as apart of the 98th Science Congressat the SRM University, Chennai,turned into a mega show attract-ing large number of students,common man and the delegates. Itespoused the motto that theachievements in science and tech-nology should ultimately benefitthe society at large.

Over the past few years, the"Pride of India Expo" has emergedas a unique platform for Indianorganizations, both public and pri-vate sectors to showcase theirachievements in the area of sci-ence and technology. New ideasand products are on display, theCountry's prominent develop-ments and major achievements inthe field of Science and Technol-ogy and its contributions to thesociety are being showcased here.The Expo focuses on India's re-cent emergence as major globalpower in the areas of science andtechnology.

The "Edu Vision" pavilion ofthe Expo is a unique experience.The pavilion has been conceptu-alized to provide an excellent plat-form to a variety of organizationsoperating in the academic worldto display their innovative mod-els and offerings. It is a uniqueconfluence of International univer-sities, research institutes, statelevel universities, colleges, publicsector organizations and the cor-porate sector working in the sci-entific field.

Another notable feature of thePride of India Expo is that it offersopportunities for various Indianstates to showcase their initia-tives, progress in various fieldsand core competencies. Manystates like Meghalaya, MadhyaPradesh, Tamil Nadu and Keralaare participating in the Expo.

The pavilion with special empha-sis on biotechnology, Nano tech-nology, genetics, Agriculture, hor-ticulture and food processing, oiland mineral exploration, urban infra-structure, health care, handicraftsand rural development displays theworld of innovative technology.

The Expo opens new avenuesfor the corporate world to trans-form their concepts and businessacumen into market opportunities.It paves way for forging new alli-ances with the best of the R & Dlabs. People who are in the field ofscience update themselves on thenew research findings. The bud-ding scientists of the country visitthe venue to assimilate themselvesinto the stream of knowledge.

The event has attracted a largenumber of visitors from the cor-porate sector, scientific commu-nity, academia, R & D institutes,defense, Government organiza-tions and PSUs from across thecountry. To add color to that, thou-sands of children from variouseducational institutions have beenqueuing up to see and feel theachievements of the Nation.

The visitor to the Expo aregreeted by the Vigyan Jyothi(flame of Knowledge) an initiativestarted last year to spread aware-ness on science and technologyand inculcate scientific tempera-ment at the grass root level, pri-marily amongst students and gen-eral public. The second edition ofVigyan Jyothi was flagged off fromDelhi on 22nd December 2010 on

the birth anniversary of the greatmathematician Ramanujan.

Another attraction of the Expois the Hall of Pride which paystribute to Srinivasa Ramanujan,the legendry mathematics wizardand Dr Alagappa Chettiar, a phi-lanthropist par excellence fromTamil Nadu.

The writer is Asst. Director, PIBThiruvananthapuram

Another attraction ofthe Expo is the Hallof Pride which paystribute to SrinivasaRamanujan,the legendrymathematics wizard


January 28, 2011

India has become a Preferred Investment DestinationCont’d from page 27

This ensured application ofsimple, homogeneous and uniformnorms for obtaining Government/FIPB approval (or otherwise) forforeign investment into Indiancompanies and for such Indiancompanies in the eventuality oftheir making downstream invest-ments. In 2009 Government over-sight was increased over the trans-

fer of ownership or control in sen-sitive sectors to non-resident en-tities. The induction of FDI in Mi-cro and Small Enterprises was lib-eralized by clarifying that FDI inMSE was now permitted, subjectonly to the sectoral equity caps,entry routes and other relevantsectoral regulations.

All payments for royalty, lumpsum fee for transfer of technology

and use of trademarks/ brandnames were brought under theautomatic route, without the needfor Government approval.

In 2010, the Government de-cided that recommendations ofFIPB on proposals with total for-eign equity inflow of more thanRs. 1200 crore would be placedfor consideration of CCEA, asagainst the earlier limit of cases

with a total investment of Rs. 600crore. It also exempted a numberof other categories of cases fromthe requirement of obtaining priorapproval of the Government.Other than liberalization of thepolicy, simplification and rational-ization of the FDI policy has alsobeen an important component ofthese reforms.

Consolidation of FDI PolicyOne of the major steps taken

by Government on 31st March,2010 was consolidation and re-lease of all existing regulations onFDI as one consolidated docu-ment. This is expected to ensurethat all information on FDI policyis available at one place. This isfurther expected to result in greaterclarity and understanding of for-eign investment rules among for-eign investors and sectoral regula-tors, as also predictability of policy.The document is updated every sixmonths. The updated second edi-tion of the document was releasedon 30th September, 2010.

Stakeholder Consultations onFDI Policy

The Government has now initi-ated stakeholder consultations, byinviting suggestions on variousaspects of FDI policy, includingsectoral policies. Discussion pa-pers on FDI in the retail and de-fense sectors, as also on approvalof foreign/ technical collabora-tions in case of existing ventures/tie-ups in India, issue of shares forconsiderations other than cashand FDI in Limited Liability Part-nerships (LLPs) have been re-leased for stakeholder comments.

The Department of IndustrialPolicy and Promotion is also imple-menting a Plan Scheme for pro-motion of investment by holdingJoint Commission Meetings, Or-ganization of Business and In-vestment Promotion Events,Project Management, CapacityBuilding, Establishment of G2BPortal/e-Biz Pilot Project, Settingup of Country focus Desks forPromoting Investment, Multi-me-dia-audio-visual Campaign, Cre-ation of a dedicated InvestmentPromotion Agency etc. The dedi-cated Investment PromotionAgency i.e. 'Invest India' waslaunched on 23rd December 2009to promote foreign investments inIndia in a focused, comprehensiveand structured manner.

India's Global PositionThe outcome of the government

initiatives and liberalization mea-sures undertaken have resulted intremendous response and growthin the FDI equity inflows to Indiasince 2003-04, which have in-creased nearly thirteen-fold untilthe last financial year (i.e. 2009-10).

The writer is Secretary, De-partment of Industrial Policy &Promotion

All payments for roy-alty, lump sum fee fortransfer of technologyand use of trade-marks/ brand nameswere brought underthe automatic route


January 28, 2011


January 28, 2011

The stimulus measures wereaimed to moderate both the de-mand and supply side constraintsfacing the economy and in par-ticular the industry. On demandside, the Government reduced ex-cise duty rates by 6 per cent intwo phases and the service tax by2 per cent. The tax cuts reducedthe costs for industry and con-sumers as Government ensuredthat these are passed on to them.An accelerated depreciation of 50per cent was allowed on commer-cial vehicles. States were pro-vided financial assistance underthe Jawaharlal Nehru NationalUrban Renewal Mission(JNNURM) for purchase of busesfor urban transport system.These together with front loadingof the public expenditure onphysical and social infrastructure

How India revived its economystimulated domestic demand.

The Government also tookmeasures on supply side. An in-terest subvention of 2 per cent onpre and post shipment credit onlabor intensive industries at-tempted to reduce cost of theseexport dependant industries. Arefinancing facility of Rs. 7000crore was provided initially, whichwas enhanced by another Rs.4000 crore in 2009-10 to Small In-dustries Development Bank ofIndia for supporting incrementallending to micro and small enter-prises either directly or throughbanks.

The Government also providedback up guarantee to Export CreditGuarantee Corporation (ECGC) toenable it to provide guarantees toexports to difficult markets or prod-ucts. Reserve Bank of India alsoadopted a liberal monitory policy

stand and injected additional li-quidity to the system with theobjective of improving availabil-ity of funds to industries and low-ering the cost of credit.

As a combined impact of vari-ous fiscal stimulus measures andthe supporting monetary policythe industrial sector was able toreverse the declining trend in itsgrowth since June 2009 and the

pace of output expansion gainedstrength from August 2009 withgrowth in the General Index of In-dustrial Production (IIP) goinginto double digits.

Industrial growth reached arecord high of 18 per cent in De-cember 2009 driven by a 19.6 percent growth in manufacturing,highest in last fifteen years. In-dustrial growth was particularlybuoyant in emerging segmentssuch as metal and metal products,machinery and equipment andauto sector.

Manufacturing output growthin 2009-10 has been strong in ev-ery quarter and especially so inthe case of capital goods and du-rable consumer goods. The onlyexception has been non-durableconsumer goods. Recovery wasparticularly significant for metalproducts, machinery and equip-

ments, transport equipments,chemicals and rubber, petroleumand plastic products, all formingpart of the modern industriesdriven by technology and inno-vation.

Quarter on quarter basis, indus-trial growth recovered from under2 per cent in two quarters of Oc-tober-December, 2009 and Janu-ary-March, 2010 to consistentlyincreased to 4.0 per cent, 8.6 percent, 13.2 per cent and 15.8 percent, respectively in the next fourquarters, resulting in an annualgrowth of 10.5 per cent in 2009-10. After maintaining two digitgrowth rates for three quarters,the second quarter of 2010-11 wit-nessed a marginal fall and regis-tered growth of 8.8 per cent.

The writer is Senior EconomicAdviser, Department of IndustrialPolicy & Promotion, Govt of India


Industrial growthreached a record highof 18 per cent in De-cember 2009 drivenby a 19.6 per centgrowth in manufactur-ing, highest in lastfifteen years

India Post January 28, 2011www.indiapost.com

Real Estate33

Realty Tidbits

Asian-Americans suffered bigduring foreclosure crisis


LOS ANGELES: Asian Ameri-can-Pacific Islanders who ownhomes saw their greatest loss ofequity following the national fore-closure crisis, despite their highermedian income, according to a newstudy by the Asian Real EstateAssociation of America (AREAA)and the UCLA Asian AmericanStudies Center.

While Asian Americans madesome improvement in their rate ofhomeownership between 2005 and2007, increasing from 59 percentto 60.3 percent, the study revealedthat the national foreclosure cri-sis wiped out any modest improve-ments by 2008, returning the rateof homeownership by AsianAmericans to 59 percent by 2009.

"The initial gains inhomeownership for Asian Ameri-cans were lost during the currentreal estate downturn and it alsoexposed them to greater financialrisk in terms of equity loss," saidKenneth Li, Chairman of AREAA.

"There is limited research onhow Asian Americans fared dur-ing the subsequent foreclosurecrisis, but preliminary assess-ments and anecdotal evidence in-dicate that they lost considerableground," said Melany De la Cruz-Viesca, assistant director of theUCLA Asian American StudiesCenter.

"Especially troubling is the lossin equity many Asian Americanhomeowners face." The medianproperty value of Asian Americanhomeowners decreased from thestart of the foreclosure crisis in 2007into 2009. The property value lossof Asian Americans between 2007and 2009 was -$42,900 and that fig-ure for Native Hawaiians and PacificIslanders (NHPI) was -$47,000.These figures compare to the na-tional equity loss during that periodat -$9,100. Much of the large differ-ential in equity loss can be explainedby the fact that Asian Americansand NHPIs are highly concentratedin geographic areas where the hous-ing downturn was more severe thanin the rest of the nation.

"This finding again reinforcesAREAA's longstanding concernsthat Asian Americans are dispro-

portionately affected by the hous-ing bubble because of populationconcentrations in markets such asLos Angeles, Chicago and NewYork, where housing costs arehigh," Li said.

Another factor affectinghomeownership for AAPIs is their

significant language barriers.According to the study: "The

lack of English language profi-ciency continues to be a signifi-cant barrier, if not the most signifi-cant barrier, to homeownershipamong Asian Americans." Find-ings showed that 71percent ofAsian Americans speak a lan-guage other than English at home,compared with 20 percent of thetotal population.

Additionally, 2009 data showedthat 32 percent of Asian Americans"speak English less than verywell" compared with nine percentof the total population.

"This is especially evident forAAPIs looking to obtain loanmodification support," Li said."This study reinforces the needfor AREAA, together with our in-dustry partners, to create initia-tives that make a true difference in

addressing the language barrier tosustainable homeownership."

The study sheds light onhomeownership patterns in AsianAmerican communities, and pro-vides a mixed picture of how theforeclosure and economic crisesare affecting Asian Americans.

While the study showed thatAsian Americans had far largermedian household incomes thanthe total population ($73,745 forAsian Americans vs. $61,021 forthe total population), it found thatAsian Americans still lag behindthe total population in terms ofhomeownership (59 percenthomeownership among AsianAmericans vs. 65.9 percent

homeownership in the total popu-lation).

According to the 2008 Census,Asian Americans make up 5 per-cent of the total U.S. population.

Asian American ethnic groupsthat have homeownership rateshigher than the total Asian Ameri-can percentage include Vietnam-ese (64 percent), Filipino (64 per-cent), Laotian (63 percent), Japa-nese (62 percent) and Chinese, in-cluding Taiwanese (62 percent).

Among Asian American ethnicgroups, the highest percentagesof people who speak English lessthan very well include Vietnamese(60 percent), Korean (59 percent),Chinese (56 percent) and Cambo-dian (55 percent). The report's find-ings reinforce how the populationis diverse, with many ethnic, cul-tural, language and religiousgroups, each with a unique his-tory and experience.

The full text of the study, "Fol-lowing the Path to Asian Ameri-can Homeownership Report: AnAnalysis of the United States,California, New York, Texas, andSelect U.S. Metropolitan Areas"by Melany De La Cruz-Viesca andBrian Chiu, can be found onAREAA's website atwww.areaa.org.

Founded in 2003, AREAA is anational professional trade orga-nization dedicated to closing thehomeownership gap facing theAsian Pacific American (APA)community. AREAA advocates forpolicy positions at the nationallevel that will reducehomeownership barriers facingthe APA community, and aims toincrease business opportunitiesfor mortgage and real estate pro-fessionals that serve the growingcommunity.

Trump plans luxuryresidential tower inMumbai

US billionaire real estate devel-oper Donald Trump is enter-

ing the Indian property marketwith a luxury residential tower inMumbai, more than two years af-ter announcing plans to expand inthe south Asian nation.

Trump, who has joined withMumbai developer RohanLifescapes Pvt for his first venturein the country, expects to startmarketing the project by March,quoted Donald Trump Jr., Trump'sson and executive vice presidentat the Trump Organization LLC inthe report.

"We are doing a very luxuryproject with Rohan Lifescapes andwe'll be in India later this quarterto launch it officially," he added.

Adarsh housingcomplex facesdemolition

The Union Ministry of Environ-ment and Forests has ordered

the removal of the scam-taintedAdarsh Cooperative Housing So-ciety building in Mumbai withinthree months. In a press releasethe Ministry said it has decided toremove the entire structure as it is'unauthorized' and as no clearanceunder the Coastal RegulationZone (CRZ) Notification, 1991, wasobtained.

The Ministry had consideredthe other two options of removalof that part of the structure in ex-cess of the floor space index orrecommending that the Govern-ment take over the building for apublic use to be determined later.

Carlson to open100 more hotelsin India

Global hospitality majorCarlson, which runs 5-star

hotel Radisson, plans to open 19more hotels in India by the year-end and 100 by 2015 with a totalexpected headcount of 30,000 bythen, a company official said. TheUS-based hotel chain currentlyemploys around 10,000 peopleacross its 34 hotels (3,234 rooms)in India.

"We plan to open 19 more ho-tels this calender year. These ho-tels will help generate 6,000 em-ployment opportunities," saidHubert Joly, president and CEO,Carlson Hotels. The company hasalready signed management con-tracts for about 54 hotels, of which19, with a total of 2,670 rooms, willopen this year. The total projectcost of these 19 hotels is estimatedat around Rs 2,250 crore.

Prime Gurgaon land tobe auctioned

After Gurgaon One, western part of the city mightsee rise of another multi-storey building in the

same vicinity. Jawala Mills, decades-old defunct textilemill on Old Delhi Road is slated to be sold by mid-February. The 17 acres of land was first purchased byIT major Aricent Technologies in early 2000s as techfirm wanted to re-develop the area into an office space.However, the new Master Plan of Gurgaon has markedthe area as a residential zone. Following this, AricentTechnologies have decided to put the land up for sale.

According to the study: "The lack of Englishlanguage proficiency continues to be a signifi-cant barrier, if not the most significant barrier, tohomeownership among Asian Americans."Findings showed that 71percent of AsianAmericans speak a language other thanEnglish at home, compared with 20 percentof the total population

January 28, 2011India Post34

www.indiapost.com

Horoscope

Pandit Parashar, CEO & COO Astro Scan USA is also avail-able for individual consultations.He can be reached at: [email protected]

925-833-7170website: www.parashar.com

Your Weekly futureby Pandit Parashar

January 28 - February 03

Planets will put you in the hot seat but you

will come out a winner. It may not be

pleasing for everybody around at work. Finan-

cially things will be on the edge for few more

weeks but money will keep trickling in. You

will be looking for right team for your project

and start negotiating with few. Big check can

come next week.

It will not be a good idea to cash out and

take a big loss right now, give it few months

and you will be able to salvage a lot. Project

launched at this point will prove to be the turn-

ing point in your career. You will also hear

some good news from far off places. An old

friend will call to invite you to a get together at

his place.

Value of your assets and stocks will take

a small dip, so don't panic. On the posi-

tive notes lots of uncertainty of the past will

disappear in career and you will be somewhat

relieved. Some of you will be traveling this

week in connection with some official busi-

ness. Efforts you make this week will bear

fruits very soon.

Expenses will not leave you alone and you

will keep charging on cards. Planets in

the third will bring an end to a major head-

ache chewing away most of your precious

time. You will be successful in negotiating a

very good deal. Ongoing legal matters will take

a dramatic and favorable turn. Take all the

negative thoughts out of your mind.

You will be full of energy. Planets in sec-

ond will get you lots of extra money. Take

chance and you can not loose. Business will

start to pick up rapidly. Deal will go through

and new associates will bring in lots of cash.

You will miss some one badly who was too

close in the past. You will take family out for

dinner and movies.

Some money will go towards a future trip

also. You will have several reasons to cel-

ebrate. You will be prone to be drawn towards

people who are not your well wishers, so be

careful. You may need to deal with a govern-

ment agency also to clear some confusion.

You will receive valuable advice from a learned

person as to how to deal with competitors.

You may stretch limits and buy some big

ticket item on hold for a while. Boss may

move you to another place temporarily. You

will be paying more attention to a child and

try to settle an important issue. It will be bet-

ter to stay in touch with an old and trusted

friend. Financially you will stay comfortable

and meet all commitments on time.

There will be many exciting developments

in life. Concentration of planets in house

of gains will throw many good financial oppor-

tunities in your lap and you will have chance

to make fast money. New contract will bring

in rich rewards almost immediately. You will

dispose off some asset for a large profit. Have

patience with a new colleague.

Extra money you make will bring big relief

in mind. Refund may also show up in the

bank account. You will be invited to an impor-

tant event and get the chance to meet and

make new friends. Planets will fill you with

energy and as a result you will get all pend-

ing work out of your way and take family out

to an interesting place on the weekend.

Some one in the family will be going on a

short trip. Financial juggling will bring

down the pressure and you will find quick and

good solutions to al problems big or small.

You will be calling people overseas more fre-

quently this week. There will be stability and

positive changes in career soon. Minor sur-

gery is one of the options for health issue.

You may not get results that fast for the

efforts recently made. Do not loose hope

and have patience as rewards will come in

another few weeks. You will become more

spiritual and may visit a holy place by your-

self. Some very helpful in the past will not be

available for some more time. Little argument

and change in strategy will make you look

for new vendors.

Planets will cause rapid changes in life and

only for betterment this time. Have no re-

grets about things which did not occur and

enjoy these positive changes. You will be

helped by an influential lady. Hard work will

pay off and the project will take off like a bul-

let with right partners. You will gain victory in

all legal matters.

www.indiapost.com January 28, 201135 India Post

Wanting to get away from it all is commonenough but more often than not 'it all'follows one to the very place one seeksrefuge in. This is particularly true of hill

stations where the attraction lies to a large extent in thebeautiful natural surroundings. But more significantlyit is for the silence, serenity and solitude that hill sta-tions offer that they are places of retreat and get awayfrom the crowds and confusion of a city. Today, fewsuch remain. Commercialism and hard sell having erodedall but the natural beauty, at times sparing not eventhat.

Among the few exceptional hill resorts in India isPachmarhi, Madhya Pradesh. It is not on the usual beatof hill station buffs and therefore, not over-developed.Though considered a hill station, it does not offer thepredictable mountain fare of awesome heights and spec-tacular scenery, for the Satpuras are low lying weath-ered hills. Pachmarhi's appeal is low key. Peace, seclu-sion and a quiet unobtrusive beauty are its prime at-tractions.

History: A derelict church and houses with a per-ceptible colonial ambience are vestiges of the BritishRaj. It was in fact Colonel Forsyth, a Bengal Lancer,who discovered Pachmarhi in 1857, and the point wherehe first sighted and fell in love with the area was namedafter him and earlier called Forsyth Point. Today thishas been renamed Priyadarshini Point. This enthrallingfeeling of Forsyth was echoed by other Englishmenwho, finding the town pleasant throughout the year,settled here and developed Pachmarhi into a canton-ment which it still is today. Development has come byway of government aided projects which are gearedmore towards cottage industries.

Tribal life: One can easily encounter the tribals, theGonds and the Korkus, busy gathering firewood. Theseare the native inhabitants of the area who live in smallhuts or in almost primeval rock shelters.

Cont’d on page 36

India Post January 28, 201136 Travel & Hospitality Postwww.indiapost.com

Pachmarhi: Peace, seclusion and unobtrusive beauty They are a happy people con-

tent with a simple lifestyle, fond ofsong, dance and the local brewmahua. Their distinct lifestylemanifests itself in a number ofquaint customs like the memorialblocks they carve for their deadwhich are rather like woodenslates, each with a figure carved inrelief representing the dead personriding a horse. This is surprising

because horses are hardly visiblein the area. Perhaps the horses sig-nify a journey to the other world.

Pachmarhi is a place for walks,along the short or long chakkars,along the predictable way or alonglesser known routes where onecan come across rock shelterssuch as those in the Maradeo hillcovered with paintings depictingwarfare, food gathering and hunt-ing, some dating as far back as

1000 BC. Walks take one throughforests and meadows, to hill topssuch as Dhoopgarh, the highestpoint in the Satpuras where thesunsets are quite spectacular, ordown gorges and valleys wherewater and shade have led to a luxu-riant growth of vegetation in ev-ery conceivable shade of green.Few sounds are heard other thanthe chirping of birds or that ofwater trickling, flowing or thunder-ously cascading into falls that end

in large azure pools.Tourist attractions: The

Apsara Vihar or Fairy Pool, is per-haps the most beautiful of poolsin Pachmarhi. The descent is easy,the location ideal for a picnic andthe pool shallow enough for apaddle. Some distance away theRajat Parbat or the Big Falls, trueto their name gush down from aheight of over three hundred feet.Close to the Ramaya Kund, or

Irene Pool, are the Duchess Falls,ideal for swimming. These are notquite so spectacular but the set-ting makes them one of Pachmarhi'smost beautiful and picturesquewaterfalls.

Perhaps the beauty and seclu-sion led people to believe thatPachmarhi was a preferred placeof the gods, for the area aroundabounds in pilgrim spots. TheChota Mahadev, a narrow point inthe hills; Maradeo, the secondhighest point in the Satpuras,which comes alive during the an-nual Shivratri celebrations;Chauragarh, where a pilgrim path

leads to a sacred summit with sev-eral images of Shiva, and the JataShankar cave where Shiva is be-lieved to have hidden himself fromthe demon king Bhasmasur. Thisis a sacred cave under a mass ofloose boulders which resemble thematted locks of Lord Shiva, hencethe name.

Handi Khoh, today a deep ra-vine, was believed to be a hugelake which was guarded by a snakewho terrorized all who came to visitthe sacred spots in the vicinity.Shiva came to the rescue and suc-ceeded in imprisoning him in solidrock. The flames of wrath ensuing

from this divine battle dried up thewaters of the lake and the emptyspace assumed the saucer-likeshape of a handi or pot.

Priyadarshini Point, the pointfrom where Captain Forsyth firstcaught a glimpse of Pachmarhi, isan oft visited spot. Lanjee Giri isof interest to rock-climbers as itoffers some easy scalings near thesummit. Jalwataran or DuchessFalls is another important site andone can trek to this picturesquewaterfall which falls in three dis-tinct cascades. Pandav Caves arefrequented by tourists. ThePandav brothers are believed tohave spent a part of their exile inthese famous caves from whichPachmarhi takes its name.

Best time to visit: Throughoutthe year

How to reach: The nearest air-port is Bhopal (120 kilometers) con-nected by regular flights withDelhi, Gwalior, Indore, Bombay,Raipur and Jabalpur. Pipariya (47kilometers), on the Bombay-Howrah mainline via Allahabad isthe most convenient railhead.Pachmarhi is connected by regu-lar bus services with Bhopal,Hashangabad, Nagpur, Pipariyaand Chhindwara. Taxis are avail-able at Pipariya.


Goa likely to gettourists from US

PANAJI: Goa now can lookforward to tourists from Americadescending on its beaches withAtlanta-based Asian AmericanHotel Owners Association show-ing keen interest in promotingtourism here.

A delegation of the associa-tion met tourism industry play-ers and policy makers in Goa as-suring their full support in pro-motion of tourism here, a spokes-man for the state governmentsaid. The 34-member delegationalso met Goa chief ministerDigamber Kamat during their twoday visit.

Atlanta-based Lords Inn Ho-tels ' executive directorPushpendra Bansal told report-ers here that there is a huge op-portunity in store to get touristsfrom America to Goa because 90per cent of the chartered flightsarriving in India land in this state.

He said the hospitable natureof the people will also be an ad-dition to get the outbound tour-ists from the US to visit Goa.

Along with tourism, some rep-resentatives also showed inter-est in investing in entertainmentsector of the state.

"I am keen on partnering with

local associates or working on aPPP model to create entertain-ment complexes in Goa. Water ortheme parks, indoor roller skat-ing and ice skating rinks, bowl-ing allays, malls, spas and movietheatres are areas which are ofinterest to me," Shiv Aggarwal,president and CEO of the Ameri-can Management Services, said.

American Management Ser-vices was responsible for settingup the first South Asian mall inthe US. The association, whichpaid visit to various places andheld discussion with the tourismindustry stakeholders, repre-sents 10,000 members owningmore than 20,000 hotels acrossthe US.

The association chairman C KPatel stated that since most oftheir members were Indians, theywere proud to invest back in thecountry.

"Over the last five years, wehave opened dialogues withRajasthan, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu,Delhi and Karnataka. Our mem-bers have set up 14 projects inthese states so far. This year wetraveled to Goa to explore oppor-tunities within the region," hesaid. -PTI

World tourism rose sharplylast year: UN

MADRID: Global tourismbounced back from the world fi-nancial crisis with unexpectedvigor, surging almost 7.0 per centlast year compared to 2009, the UNWorld Tourism Organization said.

"Tourism has once againproved to be a highly resilient sec-tor," UNWTO Secretary-GeneralTaleb Rifai said in announcing theresults.

"Boosted by improved eco-nomic conditions worldwide, inter-national tourism has recoveredfaster than expected from the im-pacts of the global financial crisisand economic recession of late2008 and 2009," the Madrid-basedbody said in a statement.

It said international tourist ar-rivals were up by 6.7 per cent, or58 million, at 935 million comparedto 2009 "with positive growth re-ported in all world regions."

The figure was higher than thepre-crisis level of 913 million in2008.

"While all regions postedgrowth in international tourist ar-rivals, emerging economies remainthe main drivers of this recovery,"it said.

The result "is better than many

experts predicted," Rifai told anews conference.

"The important part of this isthat we are finally above the levelof 2008... The challenge now is toconsolidate this growth, which isnot going to be an easy task."

The UNWTO statement saidstrong performance came "despitepersistent economic uncertainty inmajor markets, the natural disas-

ters suffered in some countries,political and social unrest in oth-ers, the serious disruption of airtravel following a volcanic erup-tion in Iceland last April and theproblematic weather conditions inparts of Europe and the USA inDecember."

But it also noted the "the im-portance of mega events" on theflow of tourism, including theShanghai Expo in China, the WorldCup in South Africa, the WinterOlympics in Canada and the Com-monwealth Games in India.

Asia was the major driver, withtourism up 13 per cent at a newrecord of 204 million arrivals.

"Asia was the first region torecover and the strongest grow-ing region in 2010," the UN bodysaid.

In Africa, the only region toshow positive results in 2009, tour-ist arrivals were up another 6.0 percent in 2010.

Tourism in the Middle East wasup 14 per cent, the Americas 8.0per cent and Europe 3.0 per cent,where the eruption of the volcanoin Iceland and the uncertainty af-fecting the euro zone affected re-sults. (AFP)

‘Boosted by improvedeconomic conditionsworldwide, interna-tional tourism hasrecovered faster thanexpected from theimpacts of the globalfinancial crisis andeconomic recession oflate 2008 and 2009,’the Madrid-basedbody said in astatement

Walks take one through forests and mead-ows, to hill tops such as Dhoopgarh, thehighest point in the Satpuras where thesunsets are quite spectacular

India PostJanuary 28, 2011 37Travel & Hospitality Postwww.indiapost.com

Publicly Acclaimed Top Vegetarian Restaurant Serving

If You are looking For the BEST & the MOST AUTHENTIC VEGETARIANRESTAURANT IN TOWNCome to One and Only One Place

CATERING IS OUR SPECIALITY

TASTE OUR 30 PLUSE MOUTH WATERING DISHES ONCE YOU COMETO US YOU WILL NOT ELSEWHERE THAT IS OUR GUARANTEE

NORTH INDIAN • SOUTH INDIAN • GUJARATI • JAIN DISHES

Tel:(773) 274-58002508 W. Devon Ave.Chicago, IL 60659

E-mail: [email protected] www.aryabhavan.comFax: (773) 262-4465

J&K hopeful of wooing 10 lakh tourists this yearBANGALORE: The Jammu and Kashmir

government hopes tourist inflow wouldtouch the 10 lakh mark this year, up fromnearly 7.36 lakh in 2010.

Speaking during a roadshow to promoteJammu, Kashmir and Ladakh regions as tour-ist destinations at a travel fair, J&K TourismMinister Nawang Rigzin said nearly 7.36 lakhtourists excluding Amarnath yatris, visitedKashmir last year.

However tourist arrivals were abruptlyinterrupted mid-year with the wide mediacoverage on stone pelting incidents, whichcreated fear among the tourist population,he said.

"Tourists have now started coming backto Kashmir and we hope the figure will touchthe million mark," he said.

Terming as not true the perception thatKashmir is not safe, he said the sporadicincidents had occurred in places that arenot the usual tourist destinations.

"The usual tourist spots are safe. Lastyear 23,000 foreigners, mainly those fromSouth East Asia visited Kashmir."

"Tourism is the cutting edge of Jammuand Kashmir economy," he said while cit-ing reasons to revive tourism in the region.Thousands of people depend on tourism.

The government was trying to build in-frastructure and other facilities to boosttourism. There were plans to promote the

golf circuit - including the Royal SpringsGolf Course, Gulmarg and Pahalgam golfcourses-- to woo tourist and encouragetourist attractions like heliskiing, a wintersport.

New tourist destinations like Gurez,Loleb are also being promoted. There were

plans to add more destinations onto thetourist map of the region, he said.

There were also plans to spread out tour-ists to various areas to ensure a balanceddispersal of revenue generation. He saidauthorities had assured film units of fullsecurity and all facilities to complete shoot-

ing and also promoting a one-stop solutionfor film crew to facilitate shooting.

On the Sabarimala stampede in Kerala,he said those in charge of managing pil-grims visiting the shrine could perhapsstudy the practice followed to regulate devo-tees coming to Vaishnodevi, "perhaps one

of the most smoothly managed.""Every aspect of yatra management has

to be taken care of, your infrastructure hasto be taken of, security has to be taken of,the way the yatra is conducted has to betaken of."

On revival of interest by film units in theregion, he said, "Bollywood has been com-ing back to Kashmir. Last year we had threeunits in Gulmarg. These are not big budgetones, but small ones. Big directors and pro-ducers, they are still scared... but the ad-venturous were coming".

On measures to promote film shooting,he said the biggest concern was security,which was being provided. "A one stopsolution is being adopted to grant all re-quired permissions to shoot. Whatever lo-gistic support is required is given."

He said there was keen interest in woo-ing tourists from Karnataka. The IT sectorhad displayed interest in the region. Accord-ing to a hotel owner, an estimated 20000 ITemployees had visited the region in the lastthree months. -PTI

'Nepal Tourism Year' launchedKATHMANDU: President Ram

Baran Yadav here launched 'NepalTourism Year 2011' at a grand func-tion in the capital to attract moreforeign visitors and boost theeconomy, which is still reeling un-der the impact of a decade- longMaoist insurgency that ended in2006.

Top Nepalese leaders, includ-ing Prime Minister Madhav Nepaland chief of main oppositionMaoist party Prachanda attendedthe function in the heart of thecapital.

The launch of the tourism yearalso coincided with a SAARCTourism Ministers Conference.Tourism Ministers fromBangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives,Bhutan along with Tourism Secre-tary from India and representativesfrom other member states also at-tended the function.

Addressing a gathering of over25,000 people at the Dasharath Sta-dium, caretaker Prime MinisterNepal said the campaign will pro-mote Nepal as a peaceful, safe andone of the best tourism destina-tions in the world.

"We are focusing on the devel-opment of tourism to generatemore employment so that our

youths need not go abroad forjobs," he underlined.

He said the government willgive priority to building infrastruc-tures and developing packages soas to attract more investment.

He said the government willspecially focus on the neighbor-ing markets of India and China to

promote tourism during 2011.Tourism Minister Sharad Singh

Bhandari underlined the need for"economic revolution throughtourism".

"After achieving political revo-lution, now we will focus on eco-nomic revolution through tour-ism," said Bhandari.

He said tourism aims to changethe face of the country and en-hance Nepal's international image.

He said boost in the tourismsector will lead economic revolu-tion as the country moves forwardtowards peaceful transition afterthe decade-long insurgency.

Air show, cultural and ethnicpageants along with traditionalmusical bands were part of thegrand function.

The tourism sector is the larg-est foreign exchange earner for thecountry. It was expected that withthe end of the Maoists-led insur-gency in 2006, the country's tour-ism sector would get a boost.

However, the country has beenfaced with political and economicinstability that has impacted thetourism sector.

More than six months after the22-party coalition led by PrimeMinister Nepal collapsed, 16rounds of Parliament vote hasfailed to elect a new leader.

Maoist supremo Prachanda andCPN-UML president JhalanathKhanal vowed to promote tourismas a national priority and refrainfrom launching any cripplingstrikes, agitation and protests dur-ing the year.

A record number of tourists flewto Nepal last year, with most of thegrowth coming from its two giantneighbors India and China, ac-cording to official figures. Nepalaims to bring in some 260,000 tour-ists from India during the year.

Nepal aims to attract one mil-

lion tourists. The Nepal TourismBoard said the arrival of some500,000 foreign visitors at thecountry's only international air-port in 2010, 15 per cent more thanin 2009, showed tourism had re-covered from a decade long insur-gency that ended in 2006. -PTI

Bali facing environmental problemsBALI, Indonesia: Bali is facing

complicated environmental prob-lems as a result of rapid develop-ment of its tourism sector duringthe past few years, an observerhas said.

Among the environmentalproblems were water pollution anda decrease in the quality of natural

resources and the Denpasar city'senvironment, Chief of Guide Studyat Hindu Dharma Negeri Institute(IHDN) I Ketut Sumadi said.

Infrastructure and supportingpublic facilities were also beingdamaged gradually due to rapid de-velopment of the tourism sector inBali, he said.

The negative impact of tourismdevelopment could also be seenin the increasing number of forestareas being turned into touristspots, he said, adding apart fromdisturbing the ecosystem this hadthe potential of triggering naturaldisasters such as floods and land-slides.-PTI

Terming as not true the perception that Kashmir is notsafe, he said the sporadic incidents had occurred inplaces that are not the usual tourist destinations. "Theusual tourist spots are safe

Tourism MinisterSharad SinghBhandari underlinedthe need for "eco-nomic revolutionthrough tourism". "Afterachieving politicalrevolution, now we willfocus on economicrevolution throughtourism"

AIRWING TRAVELS INC.New York(Hicksville)

New Jersey(Iselin)Est. 1991

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

Lowest Fares / Confirmed Seats to INDIA &Other Destinations Worldwide

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

DEVON LOCATIONSTRICTLY VEGETARIAN

ENJOY SPECIAL NON-VEGITEMS AT SCHAUMBURG

SCHAUMBURG EXCLUSIVE

LUNCH BUFFET 7 DAYS AWEEK

SOUTH INDIAN CUISINE

Serving to PServing to PServing to PServing to PServing to Perferferferferfectionectionectionectionection

OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK11:30 AM TO 10:00 PM

SCHAUMBURG:

730 SCHAUMBURG RD.

SCHAUMBURG IL60194

(847) 884 9510

CHICAGO:

2543 W. DEVON AVENUE

CHICAGO IL 60659

(773) 338-2152

WASHINGTON D.C.:

1329 UNIVERSITY BLVD. EAST

TACOMA PARK MD 20783

(301) 434-1531

10635 Page Ave., St. Louis, MO 63132

Tel: (314) 423-9990 or (800) 55 SEEMA Fax: (314) 423-0391

SEEMA WORLD TRAVEL, INC.One of the Oldest Travel Agencies in St. Louis

Competitive Rates & Confirmed Seats

for All Major Airlines

India Post38www.indiapost.com

January 28, 2011

www.indiapost.com

N E W Son your desktop

Tel: 773-728-9071 773-315-8597

SPECIAL LOW FARES TO BOMBAY, DELHI, MADRAS,CALCUTTA, DHAKA, KARACHI, LAHORE etc.

CONSOLIDATORS (INTL. & DOMESTIC)

SKY WORLD TRAVEL 1-888-695-0005

E-mail us at: [email protected]

2240-42 West Devon Chicago IL 60659

Ph# 773-338-4080 Fax# 773-338-4088

FOR ALL YOUR

TRAVEL NEEDS

Sita Ram Patel

INTERNATIONAL DOMESTIC

@ 847-568-0535

AIR INDIA AND ALLOTHER MAJOR

AIRLINES.PACKAGE DEALTAJ TOUR-SOTC

CALL:

2600 W. Peterson Ave.,Suite 105 Chicago IL 60659

Experienced TravelConsultants

Pasport and Visa Servicesavailable

* Confirmed seats(Even in High season)

* Low Airfares* Courteous Service

Call and Contact

MATCHLESSEXPRESS TOURS

Tel. (773) 338 6260

India Post 39January 28, 2011www.indiapost.com

40 India Post January 28, 2011www.indiapost.com

In Brief ImmigrationIllegal immigrant students

grapple with US datingLOS ANGELES: Laura Enriquez

wanted her boyfriend to get a tasteof her Alaska vacation last sum-mer, so she walked on glaciers in apair of his shoes and held up hisphoto when taking snapshots ofthe scenery.

It was the best the 24-year-oldgraduate student could do becauseher boyfriend, who was broughthere from Mexico by his parents asa child, is an illegal immigrant andcan't risk traveling anywhere iden-tification is required.

For the past two years, thecouple have navigated some oflife's rites of passage with this inmind. She does the driving andoften pays because even with acollege degree it's hard for him tofind work.

The death of the Dream Act lastmonth dashed their hopes of apath to citizenship. While illegalimmigrant students pushed for thebill to improve their access to edu-cation and jobs after graduation,the legislation also would haveeased the often overlooked chal-lenges of making friends and dat-ing without papers.

On college campuses, illegal im-

migrant students face a social bar-rier anywhere photo identificationlike a driver's license is required:from taking a road trip with friendsto bar hopping to catching a flight.

That can make it difficult todeepen friendships or relation-ships - or to date at all.

Nancy Guarneros, a 23-year-oldgraduate student, remembers howshe was primping for a special

night out with her boyfriend whenhe told her they were going to aclub. She panicked.

``It's like, oh my gosh, how canyou take me somewhere that re-quires government ID? What wereyou thinking?'' Guarneros recalledat a recent meeting students heldin Los Angeles to talk about so-called ``cross-status'' dating.

It isn't clear how many youngcouples are in similar relation-ships. Researchers say it would betough to find out, but the number

has likely grown since childrenbrought here as illegal immigrantsafter the country's 1986 legaliza-tion program have come of age andit has become tougher to get agreen card through marriage.

Illegal immigration peaked dur-ing the 1990s, with 4.5 millionpeople arriving during the decade,according to a 2010 report by thePew Hispanic Center. Those who

arrived as small children are nowteenagers or in their mid-20s.

U.S. citizens and green cardholders date illegal immigrants atall ages, but researchers say it'sprobably more frequent on collegecampuses, which foster diversityand create a space where studentsfeel safer revealing their status.

It's especially likely for thosestudents and 20-somethings whowere brought here as toddlers andgrew up on American cartoons,speak flawless English and have

Going for a visa stamp can be dauntingMYRIAM JAIDI

Illegal immigrantshot by MCSOdeputy dies

PHOENIX: An illegal immigrantshot after allegedly pointing anassault rifle at a Maricopa Countysheriff's deputy has died. Authori-ties say 43-year-old Felipe RamirezCastellanos died at MaricopaMedical Center in Phoenix. -AP

Chancellor linksTucson shootingsto immigration

BERKELEY, Calif.: The chancel-lor at University of California, Ber-keley, has sent a campus-wide e-mail linking the Tucson shootingswith Arizona's crackdown on ille-gal immigrants and the failure ofthe DREAM Act.

In his e-mail, Chancellor RobertBirgeneau postulates on factorsthat may have motivated accusedgunman Jared Lee Loughner, say-ing he believes it's no coincidencethat the shooting occurred in a statehe says legislated discriminationagainst illegal immigrants.

He's referring to Senate Bill1070, which empowers police todemand proof of citizenship orlegal residency from criminalsuspects. -AP

Contacting an immigrationattorney prior to leavingthe US for visa stamping

abroad has become more impor-tant than ever. Individuals, es-pecially those traveling to India,must develop a strategy in theevent of a problem at the consu-late. Going for a visa stamp canbe daunting for anyone -whether you have a law degreeor no education whatsoever,whether you work for a Fortune500 company or for a small busi-ness, the process is intimidatingfor one main reason: it is com-pletely unpredictable.

Even if one follows all the in-structions on the consularwebsite, goes prepared withdocumentation in hand, and hasa full understanding of the visa

sought, things may go awry. Twopeople with the same job at thesame company may have com-pletely different experiences. Onemay emerge without issue, visastamp happily in hand. The othermay find himself or herself hold-

ing a letter printed on colored pa-per requesting additional informa-tion or simply stating that "admin-istrative processing" is requiredbefore the visa can be processed.

These colorful pieces of paper,also called 221(g) letters, are actu-

ally visa refusals pursuant to theForeign Affairs Manual (see 9FAM 41.121 PN 1.2-3), althoughthe letters themselves do not stateas much. They indicate that thevisa has been placed in "pending"status or that further processing

has been "suspended." The factthat these letters actually consti-tute refusals is important to ac-knowledge the next time an indi-vidual fills out a DS-160 or appliesfor ESTA. Otherwise, he or shemay be denied a visa or entry for

fraud (for failing to respond"yes" to the question of whetherhe/she has ever been refused/denied a visa).

The name "221(g) letter" de-rives from the section of the Im-migration and Nationality Actproviding the authority to issuethe denial. Section 221(g) of theImmigration and Nationality Actprovides as follows:

No visa or other documenta-tion shall be issued to the alien if

(1) it appears to the consularofficer, from statements in theapplication, or in the papers sub-mitted therewith, that such alienis ineligible to receive a visa orsuch other documentation un-der section 212, or any otherprovision of law,

American friends.Many never knew they were il-

legal immigrants until they learnedat age 16, unlike their peers, theycouldn't get a driver's license.

``They go through Americaniz-ing experiences. They grow upwatching Barney and the PowerRangers. They go to prom. Theydo all these things American kidsare doing,'' said Roberto Gonzales,a sociology professor at the Uni-versity of Washington.

``What happens at 16, 17, 18years old is when everything be-comes real for them, they can'tmove through American rites ofpassage,'' he said.

Over the last year, many ofthese students made nationalheadlines pushing for the DreamAct. The bill would have provideda route to legal status for hun-dreds of thousands of immigrantsunder 30 years old who werebrought to the United States be-fore age 16, lived in the countryfive years, graduated from highschool or gained an equivalencydegree and who joined the mili-tary or attended college.

Cont’d on page 42

Cont’d on page 42

Indiana wantsArizona-styleimmigration law

INDIANAPOLIS: An Indianastate senator is proposing a billthat he says would implement anArizona-style crackdown on ille-gal immigration.

The bill proposed by Sen. MikeDelph, R-Carmel, would requirepolice to ask for proof of citizen-ship or immigration status if theyhad a reasonable suspicion that aperson is illegally in the country.

Delph said the bill is ̀ `tough, butfair,'' but it's unclear whether it hasmuch of a future in the General As-sembly. Republican Gov. MitchDaniels and legislative leadershave said the top priorities for the2011 session are creating a newbudget, passing sweeping educa-tion changes, fixing the state's un-employment fund and creating newpolitical maps for redistricting. -AP

Mississippi billto checkimmigration status

JACKSON, Miss.: A Senatecommittee has cleared a bill - simi-lar to one in Arizona that wouldallow police officers who stoppeople for violations such asspeeding or a broken tail light tocheck their immigration status ifthere's reasonable suspicion theyare here illegally.

But at least one state lawmaker,Sen. Kelvin Butler, a Democrat fromMagnolia, said he's concerned thebill passed by the Judiciary A Com-mittee would pave the way formore racial profiling.

Committee Chairman JoeyFillingane, R-Sumrall, said the billspecifically said the immigrationcheck cannot be based solely onrace or ethnicity. -AP

Many never knew they were illegal immigrantsuntil they learned at age 16, unlike their peers,they couldn't get a driver's license

Even if one follows all the instructions on theconsular website, goes prepared with docu-mentation in hand, and has a full understand-ing of the visa sought, things may go awry

��

��

�� !�"��

��

��

India Post 41January 28, 2011 Immigration Postwww.indiapost.com

Cuba calls immigrationtalks with US 'fruitful'

HAVANA: Senior U.S. and Cu-ban diplomats met to discuss im-migration issues in an encounterdescribed by the Cuban side asfruitful and carried out in a spiritof mutual respect.

The two sides discussedways to combat people-smug-gling across the treacherousStraits of Florida, according to astatement released by the Cubangovernment.

``It was a fruitful exchangeaimed at ... the establishment ofmore effective mechanisms of co-operation to combat illegal migrantsmuggling,'' said Deputy CubanForeign Minister DagobertoRodriguez, who led the Cuban del-egation.

The statement said both sidesrecognized that the number of Cu-bans attempting to get to theUnited States illegally, often in rick-ety rafts or inner tubes, haddropped significantly.

There was no immediate com-ment from the American side, whichwas led by Roberta Jacobsen, theUnited States' principal deputy as-sistant secretary of state for West-ern Hemisphere affairs.

The gathering focused on a17-year-old agreement underwhich the United States issues20,000 visas to Cubans a year. Butdiplomats from both countries

also use the twice-yearly meet-ings to detail a long-standing listof complaints.

Chief among them, as far asWashington is concerned, is thedetention of Alan Gross, an Ameri-can subcontractor jailed by Cubafor more than a year withoutcharge on suspicion of spying.

U.S. diplomats were also likelyto have raised what Washingtonconsiders Cuba's spotty human-rights record overall.

The Cuban delegation neverfails to voice its opposition to the48-year-old U.S. trade embargo,which Havana says has put astranglehold on the island'seconomy.

The Cuban statement said itsofficials also reiterated displea-sure with a U.S. policy that allows

any Cuban reaching American soilto remain, while sending backthose intercepted at sea. The Cu-bans have said in the past theybelieve the policy encouragespeople-smuggling.

Despite the many points ofcontention, the Cuban statementsaid the meeting ̀ `developed in anatmosphere of respect.'' It voicedHavana's willingness to hold an-other round of talks in six months.

U.S. officials have made clearthere is little hope for improvedrelations while Cuba holds Gross.They have also continued to callon Cuban authorities to open upthe island's political system todemocratic reform.

Relations have been sour formore than a half century, sinceshortly after Fidel Castro's revo-lution turned the island into a So-viet ally.

Hopes that President BarackObama would usher in a new erain the relationship are long gone,replaced by the usual recrimina-tions from both sides.

According to U.S. diplomaticcables released by WikiLeaks,Cuban President Raul CastroFidel's brother, who has been run-ning Cuba since 2006 approachedWashington about openingbackdoor talks with the WhiteHouse, but was rebuffed. -AP

Bill on illegal immigrantsadvances to full House

HELENA, Mont.: Montanalawmakers have pushed forwarda bill to ban illegal immigrantsfrom receiving workers' compen-sation insurance benefits andhearing initial debate on a plan toturn to a federal immigration da-tabase before issuing Montanadriver's licenses.

Staunch opponents to illegalimmigration want the state to usethat federal database to verify le-gal immigration status before is-suing a driver's license.

Opponents of House Bill 178argue the state would be subject-ing its residents and control of itsidentification to a database thatwas central to the federal Real IDprogram Montana overwhelm-ingly rejected.

Rep. David Howard, a Park CityRepublican and retired FederalBureau of Investigation agent,said his proposed bill is an extrasafeguard that is needed to makesure only people in the country

legally get a driver's license.Other supporters said illegal

immigrants affect national securityand other issues.

``They are slowly infiltratingthe state of Montana,'' said ArtEllison, who testified with othermembers of the American Legionin support of the bill. ̀ `All of theWestern states are inundatedwith illegal immigrants.''

The Department of Transpor-tation said it favors the bill. Rightnow its agents have to individu-ally analyze complicated immi-gration documents to determinelegality. Those agents couldnow rely on the ̀ `federal system-atic alien verification for entitle-ments program.''

Opponents said it is wrong tospecify the use of the federal da-tabase in state law. They said itcould be inaccurate, pointing topast problems in federal agen-cies, and lead to lengthy delaysfor Montanans legally request-

ing a driver's license.They argued that no illegal im-

migrant who has to cross danger-ous borders and risk everythingto get into the country is goingto be stopped by the threat of notbeing able to get a driver's license.The roads will be more danger-ous because such immigrantswon't have licenses or insuranceunder the plan.

The House TransportationCommittee didn't take an immedi-ate vote on the plan.

A different panel, the HouseJudiciary Committee, endorsed ameasure to ban illegal immigrantsfrom collecting workers' compen-sation benefits.

Backers of the proposal said itis needed to send a message tothose wrongly employing illegalimmigrants. Opponents counteredthat the workers will still get in-jured, and hospitals will be leftpicking up the tab for treating themin emergencies. -AP

Hopes that PresidentBarack Obamawould usher in anew era in the rela-tionship are longgone, replaced bythe usual recrimina-tions from both sides

India Post42 January 28, 2011Immigration Postwww.indiapost.com


* Cyrus D Mehta, may be contactedat 212-425-0555 or

[email protected]

Going for a visa stamp can be daunting

The legislation shot down bythe Senate in December was cham-pioned by immigrant advocates asa first step toward a broader legal-ization of the country's 10 millionto 12 million illegal immigrants andwas reviled by critics who said itwould fuel uncontrolled migration.

Issues like dating and friend-ships may seem trivial but not toteens and college students yearn-ing to fit in.

Illegal immigrant youth oftenbecome angry and depressed whenthey learn they're living in a coun-try not truly their own and can't findwork, said Carola Suarez-Orozco,professor of applied psychologyand co-director of Immigration

Illegal immigrant studentsgrapple with US dating

(2) the application fails to com-ply with the provisions of this Act,or the regulations issued thereun-der, or

(3) the consular officer knowsor has reason to believe that suchalien is ineligible to receive a visaor such other documentation un-der section 212, or any other pro-vision of the law….

Types of 221(g) LettersOne version of the 221(g) letter

we have seen requests the follow-ing with regard to H-1B visa appli-cations (and sometimes with re-gard to H-4 visa applications):

From the petitioner1. A full copy of H-1B petition

as filed with the USCIS2. An original H-1B approval

notice3. Petitioner's income tax return

for the last 2 years and financialstatements

4. A notarized list of all thepetitioner's employees. The listshould show all employees' names,their specific job titles, start and enddates, their individual salaries, theirimmigration status, and whichproject/client they are working with.

5. State Unemployment WageReports showing all wages paid toeach employee in the state, for thepast three quarters as filed to allstates

6. A letter (on letterhead) fromthe personnel department at theUS job site stating that there is avacancy for you.

7. A letter from the client com-pany (if applicable) sponsoringthe project and a copy of the con-tract between the U.S. based peti-tioner and the client company, stat-ing the timing, terms and agree-ment for your project.

8. A detailed and specific de-scription of the internal develop-ment project to which you will beassigned. Include a complete tech-nical description of the project,employer, timeline, current status,number of employees assigned,worksite location, and marketinganalysis for the final product.

From the individual applicant(or spouse of the H-4 applicant)

1. Your license to practice yourprofession in the U.S.

2. Original or certified copiesof your academic credentials

3. Evidence of previous workexperience in the petitioned filed.

4. Evidence of extension of le-gal status in the U.S.

5. Your federal income tax re-turns and W-2 forms for the past 3years

6. Copies of pay stubs for thepast 3 months.

Another version of the 221(g)letter requests the following (and

sometimes indicates a specific for-mat for delivery - PDF, Word docu-ment, Fax, etc.):

• Invitation: An invitation letterfrom the sponsoring organizationin the US. For graduate students,workers, and exchange visitors,the letter should include your su-pervisor or advisor and detailsabout your work.

• Resume: A detailed resume/CV, including your professionaland academic background, and alist of all your publications.

• Research: A complete and de-tailed description of 1) your pastresearch; 2) your current research;and 3) any research you intend to

conduct in the US. You must in-clude a description of the practi-cal applications of your researchor study.

• Position: Your current job titleand a full description of your work.

• Purpose: A detailed statement ofthe purpose of your visit to the US.

• Itinerary: An itinerary of alllocations you will visit in the US,including dates, contact names,organizations, addresses, and tele-phone numbers.

• Funding: Name of the personor organization who is fundingyour trip.

• Travelers: A list of all the trav-elers who will accompany you, in-cluding family members and col-leagues.

• Travel: Dates and locations ofall your international travel for thelast ten years, except for US travel.

In one astonishing case, thespouse of an H-1B visa holderwent to the US consulate inMumbai to obtain an H-4 visastamp. The H-1B spouse hadchanged employers and plannedto re-enter the US using the visastamp from the old employer andthe new I-797 approval notice re-lating to the new employer, as CBPpolicy allows. During the inter-

view, the consular officer asked ifthe H-4 visa applicant had the H-1B spouse's passport. It was pro-duced and the consular officercancelled the H-1B stamp andnoted on the 221(g) letter: "Hus-band must qualify for new visabefore woman can get H4."

As you can see from the samplesabove, producing the documenta-tion required by consulates can betremendously burdensome.

Knowing what may be requiredprior to traveling to attend a visainterview is crucial, as it allows theapplicant and his or her employerto prepare carefully for a visa in-terview, to decide what documen-tation to bring and what documen-tation to leave behind (e.g., arelative's passport), and tostrategize in the event of delay.

The "administrative process-ing" can take as little as two weeksor as much as several months, ormore. As the consulate noted onone version of a 221(g) letter: "Weare unable to provide a more spe-cific completion date."

(To be continued)

Studies at New York University.And while getting an education

and a job top their worries, stu-dents say they also struggle tohave a normal social life.

Dating isn't easy, especiallyfor young men who can't driveand often don't have cash to payfor a date since they can't get asteady job.

The students are also viewedwith suspicion by the families oftheir U.S. boyfriends and girl-friends who think they're after agreen card.

``That's like the biggest el-ephant in the room,'' said ErickHuerta, a 26-year-old college stu-dent from Los Angeles.

``In my last relationship, sheactually told me her mom told her,

'Mija,' be careful because you knowthose people, they only want onething,'' he told the students at themeeting, to a chorus of chuckles.

For those who date illegal im-migrants, there's a constant worrytheir partners will get deported.They find themselves making ex-cuses as to why the couple can'tmeet friends at a bar or travel.

Both are often consumed byguilt: citizens, for the privilegesthey have; illegal immigrants forthe burdens they shoulder.

And that's before they gradu-ate from college. The pressuresonly get harder when they leavethe safety of campus.

Marriage was once seen as asure-fire ticket to a green card. Butmany illegal immigrants now needto return to their birth countries toapply for papers and will be barredfrom returning for a decade unlessthey get a special waiver.

Enriquez said her boyfriend hasmade himself a promise: he won'twed until he's already got hisgreen card so there's no doubt thathe's marrying for love.

That's fine for Enriquez, who isin no rush to get to the altar. But shewishes they could travel togetherlike other young couples. -AP


The ‘administrativeprocessing’ can takeas little as two weeks oras much as severalmonths, or more. Asthe consulate notedon one version ofa letter: ‘We areunable to provide amore specificcompletion date’

Both are oftenconsumed by guilt:citizens, for theprivileges they have;illegal immigrantsfor the burdensthey shoulder

www.indiapost.com43 India Post January 28, 2011

Health ScienceHealth Line

First 3 flu deathsof season inLA County

LOS ANGELES: Los AngelesCounty has seen its first threedeaths of the flu season, includ-ing a 4-year-old boy.

Health officials said in a state-ment that at least three people inthe county have died from flu inthe past two weeks, the first of the2010-2011 flu season.

Along with the boy, the deadincluded a 29-year-old woman anda 48-year-old man.

The adults were both obese,a group which health officialssay are now considered at in-creased risk for flu complicationsalong with the very young, theelderly and people with chronicmedical conditions.

They say all three died from astrain of flu that was preventableby vaccine, but it was not immedi-ately known whether they had re-ceived shots. -AP

Common stomachbug making roundsin Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS: A Minnesotahealth official says a commonstomach bug is once again mak-ing the rounds.

Kris Ehresmann is with the Min-nesota Health Department.Ehresmann says outbreaks ofnorovirus have been reported in anumber of long-term care facilities.

Norovirus is a gastrointestinalbug. It causes symptoms includ-ing abdominal cramping, pain,nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

Ehresmann says the standardadvice applies: Wash your handsoften with soap and water, and avoidpreparing food for others. -AP

Tragedy highlightsstruggling mentalhealth system

WICHITA, Kan.: Wichita men-tal health advocates say the tragicTucson shooting rampage thatkilled six people highlights prob-lems with a struggling mentalhealth system.

People suffering from mentalissues say speculation that sus-pected shooter Jared Loughnerhad mental problems paints a newstigma on them.

The Wichita Eagle reports thatcommunity mental health servicesin that city are overwhelmed bysevere budget cutbacks and asharply rising demand for them.

Sedgwick County's mentalhealth agency has had its fundscut by nearly two-thirds since2006, from $4.9 million to $1.9 mil-lion last year. -AP

Kalam for uniting Indian andAmerican medical systems


NEW YORK: Former Presidentof India APJ Abdul Kalam who in-augurated the Indo-US HealthcareSummit organized by the Associa-tion of American Physicians of In-dian Origin (AAPI) in Jaipur re-cently has urged for the integra-tion of medical systems of both thenations. He said it's not too late tounite the best of both Indian andAmerican systems as they hadfailed to deliver in isolation.

Kalam was delivering the key-note address at the inaugurationof the three-day summit of Asso-ciation of American Physicians ofIndian Origin (AAPI) in associationwith Rajasthan Government."Medicine is inherently borderlessas it attends to human pain wher-ever it is felt. The experience gained

in different settings is to be inte-grated."

He said there is also need forthe benefits of scientific inven-tions and researches reaching thecommon people and the doctorsare the conduit for this reach outprogram. Stressing on the need for

healthcare improvement and deliv-ery system infrastructure in ruralareas as a large section of thepeople are still deprived of basichealthcare in the country, he askeddoctors organizations tostrengthen medical services.

Kalam suggested that AAPIcould take up a healthcare missionsimultaneously in India and the USof three to five-year duration tobenefit the people of both thecountries. For instance he said themission should focus on a vaccinefor malaria for which research is

on in India and the US and is atthe final stage. He suggested doc-tors prescribe only needful treat-ment instead of unnecessary andcostly medicines in order to pro-vide relief to common man andavoid side-effects. "Heart dis-

eases, oral cancer, blindness andchild care should be given atten-tion especially in the rural areas,"he said.

On commercialization of themedical sector Kalam said a 'kindheart' cannot be transplanted buthas to be inculcated from child-hood. He said parents, spiritualleaders and the teachers have amajor role in the character forma-tion of a human being includingdoctors. Replying to a query aboutthe brain drain Kalam said out ofthe three million doctors and onemillion engineers the migration ofthis group from the country is onlyabout 5-7 percent which shouldnot be considered a problem. Hesaid these doctors and engineerscould be the 'goodwill ambassa-dors' of the country.

AAPI leaders with former president APJ Abdul Kalam

Cont’d on page 44

Rare HIV transmission changed transplant practiceCHICAGO: The rare transmis-

sion of HIV through transplantedorgans to four Chicago-area pa-tients made headlines in 2007. Anew study says it also causedsome U.S. transplant surgeons tolimit their use of organs from high-risk donors such as gay men.

That's an ``exaggerated re-sponse'' based more on fear oflawsuits than on science, saidsenior author Dr. Dorry Segev ofJohns Hopkins University Schoolof Medicine in Baltimore.

``The risk of death while wait-ing for an organ transplant is farhigher for many patients than isthe risk associated with these or-gans,'' Segev said.

The study, based on survey re-sponses from 422 transplant sur-

geons, found that about a third madechanges following the 2007 events.Of those, 42 percent decreased theiruse of high-risk donors, 34 percentraised their emphasis on informingpatients of risks and 17 percent in-creased their use of a more precise

test for HIV infection in organ donors.The findings, appearing in Ar-

chives of Surgery, show that a rareevent can have ``a major impacton the way medicine is practicedand is a reminder of the litigiousenvironment we've created in medi-

cine,'' Segev said.Nearly 1 in 10 organ donors is

``high risk'' under a definition setby the U.S. Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention. The cat-egory includes men who've hadsex with men in the past five years,

people who've injected illegaldrugs in the past five years andpeople who've engaged in prosti-tution in the past five years.

High-risk donors help meet thegreat need for organs. More than72,000 Americans are active wait-

ing list candidates for organs. In2009, 14,600 people donated or-gans, and about 6,700 peopledied because they didn't get anorgan in time.

In 2007, it had been two de-cades since a recipient had con-tracted HIV from a donated or-gan and it was a surprise whenthe four Chicago-area patientsgot hepatitis C, as well as HIV,after receiving organs from onedeceased, high-risk donor.

The transplants, done at threeChicago hospitals, resulted in atleast one lawsuit. An unnamed``Jane Doe'' claimed the hospitalhadn't told her the kidney shereceived came from a man whohad sex with men.

Cont’d on page 45

UNMC study linkschronic hives, lackof vitamin D

OMAHA, Neb.: Patients withchronic hives might benefit bysupplementing their diet with vi-tamin D, according to a study bythe University of Nebraska Medi-cal Center. -AP

On commercialization of the medicalsector Kalam said a 'kind heart' cannotbe transplanted but has to beinculcated from childhood

'The risk of death while waiting for anorgan transplant is far higher for manypatients than is the risk associated withthese organs,' Segev said

India Post January 28, 2011Health Science Post44

www.indiapost.com

Kalam for uniting Indian andAmerican medical systems


Dr Ajeet Singhvi presenting a memento to Dr Kalam

AAPI leaders with Maharaja Jai Singh at his palace

In his welcome address, Dr.Ajeet R. Singhvi, AAPI President,said the organization representsover 100,000 physicians and over20,000 medical students, residentsand fellows. Indian-Americans areless than 0.6% of the general Ameri-can population, but we make upclose to 20 percent of graduatingUS Medical classes. This translatesto a staggering one out of everyfive doctors being of Indian origin.This is the fourth Indo-US healthsummit organized in India, he said.

AAPI has distinguished itselfby its proactive and non-partisaninvolvement in the political pro-cess. Indian physicians also haveestablished a bipartisan politicalaction committee which lobbies onbehalf of our interests, he said.

AAPI has launched anexternship program to IndianAmerican medical students andresidents who are granted schol-arships to serve and learn in In-dian hospitals and clinics. Back inthe US, AAPI has a legislative in-ternship for students and resi-dents interested in developingpolicy skills, Dr. Singhvi added.

In India, the AAPI-CharitableFoundation runs 16 clinics includ-ing in Rozda, Rajasthan, whichserve more than a million under-privileged patients annually. AAPIis planning to set up an adminis-trative office in India to continueits educational and professionalexchanges. It has chalked outplans to work with the Medical

Council of India and its Chair Dr.Shiv Sarin to help revise India'smedical curriculum as well as de-velop fellowship programs in ar-eas such as Infectious Disease,Allergy and Immunology.

The Karmabhoomi part of usin fact has its roots in ourJanmabhoomi. It is with this com-mon bond that AAPI has come toIndia to serve and learn, he said.

Dr. Shiv Sarin, chairman of Medi-

cal Council of India (MCI) said inorder to address the issue of short-age of faculty in medical collegesthe MCI propose to increase theretirement age of the doctors to 70years. He said the MCI was bring-ing out a new curriculum by Janend incorporating the latest ad-vancements in medicine.

Maharajah Jai Singh of Jaipur,

who chaired a session on medicaltourism to Rajasthan, said thereshould be effective lobbying todevelop medical tourism both atstate and central governmentlevel. District level hospitals thatlack basic facilities should behanded over to private sector foreffective public-private partner-ship that would also take the pres-sure off the government. Thereshould be uniformity of treatment

W.Va. hospital uses light to combat germs

1 in 3 NH third-gradersis overweight

CONCORD, N.H.: A new re-port finds that one in three NewHampshire third-graders is over-weight or obese.

The report, released by thestate Department of Health andHuman Services, collectedheight, weight and other data onover 3,000 third-graders betweenSeptember 2008 and June 2009.Eighty-one public schools partici-pated in the survey.

The department used BodyMass Index measurements as de-fined by the Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention. An over-weight child would have a BMIin the 85th to less than the 95thpercentile for age and gender. Achild considered to be obesewould have a BMI equal to orgreater than the 95th percentilefor age and gender.

The survey said children liv-ing in the Belknap/Merrimack re-gion and Coos County had thehighest prevalence of obesityamong the third-graders, 23.9percent and 22.2 percent, re-spectively.

The survey also found thatnearly 46 percent of the third-grade boys in Coos County wereoverweight or obese.

The report recommends pay-ing attention to children's envi-ronments encouraging more playand little to no television to sup-port healthy eating and activeliving.

``Changing the environmentwhere children live and learnplays a significant role in help-ing children achieve and maintaina healthy weight throughouttheir lives,'' said Jose Montero,director of the department's Di-

vision of Public Health. ``Manysettings can support childrenand their families working towardthat goal child care, schools,worksites, health care organiza-tions, cities and towns, grocerystores, small food stores andconcession stands.''

In 2009, a state commissionformed to help prevent child-hood obesity made 14 recommen-dations, including that the HealthDepartment develop guidelinesand procedures that ensures allchildren in direct care of the state

receive BMI assessments. An-other recommendation was thatBMIs should be assessed everyyear in school.

Last year, Susan Lynch, NewHampshire's first lady, a pediatri-cian, supported a bill that wouldrequire the state's schools torecord children's BMIs in grades1, 4, 7 and 10.

The bill was voted down in theHouse; opponents said it couldharm children by singling themout. They also said BMI ignoresother important factors of bodycomposition. -AP

SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va.:West Virginia hospital is using anewfangled weapon against an oldmedical nemesis: germs.

Thomas Memorial Hospitalsays it recently started using adevice called the Xenex PX-UV,which uses ultraviolet light to dis-

infect rooms by killing viruses,bacteria and bacterial spores.

The US Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention says in-fections contracted at hospitals,including pneumonia, are thefourth-leading cause of death.

Orthopedic surgeon Dr. David

Soulsby says the hospital isproud of the device because any-thing that protects patients frominfection is a good idea.

Thomas says it's the only WestVirginia hospital using the device inits operating rooms and only abouta dozen US hospitals have one. -AP

at all hospitals - cities and villagesas foreigners visit rural areas too.The role of tour operators and tourpromoters are keys to success.

Rajasthan Governor ShivrajPatil delivered a key note addressand also hosted a reception for thevisiting delegation at Raj Bhavanin Jaipur. Maharajah of Jaipur JaiSingh hosted a lunch for all thephysicians in his sprawling palace.Dr. Hemant Patel, former AAPIPresident and advisor to the Sum-mit outlined the various medicaltopics discussed at the summit. Alarge number of physicians fromthe US had attended the summit.

'The Karmabhoomipart of us in fact hasits roots in ourJanmabhoomi. It iswith this commonbond that AAPI hascome to India toserve and learn'

The survey saidchildren living in theBelknap/Merrimackregion and CoosCounty had thehighest prevalence ofobesity among thethird-graders, 23.9percent and 22.2percent, respectively

India PostJanuary 28, 2011 Health Science Post 45

www.indiapost.com


That lawsuit against University of Chi-cago Medical Center is pending. The othertwo hospitals were Chicago's Rush Univer-sity Medical Center and Northwestern Me-morial Hospital.

It's illegal to transplant an organ fromsomeone known to be infected with HIV. Buttransplants from high-risk donors are allowedas long as the risk is out-weighed by the benefits.

In 2007, standard testsfor HIV and hepatitis anti-bodies showed the donordidn't have the diseases.The donor may have ac-quired the infections a fewweeks before death, toosoon for the tests to detectantibodies.

A nucleic acid test couldhave detected HIV earlier,but wasn't done in the Chicago case.

That's now changed.Gift of Hope Organ & Tissue Donor Net-

work, the federally designated organ procure-ment agency for northern Illinois and north-west Indiana, now uses the more costlynucleic acid test for all high-risk donors be-fore transplants. The agency also uses thetest after transplants on all other donors.

Rare HIV transmission changedtransplant practice

University of Chicago Medical Centerdoesn't rule out high-risk donors becausethe demand for organs outstrips the sup-ply, hospital spokesman John Easton said.High-risk donor organs are used on a case-by-case basis.

Rush University Medical Center has de-creased its use of high-risk donors and en-sures all patients are informed of the poten-tial donor's risk factors when organs from a

high-risk donor are offered.Northwestern Memorial

Hospital in Chicago auto-matically rules out some butnot all high-risk donors.

``Each organ offered isconsidered on a case-by-casebasis, taking into account thedonor's condition at death andmedical history, as well as therecipient's health,'' said North-western spokeswomanMegan McCann.

The 2007 event led to the strengtheningof national policies.

As of Jan. 10 of this year, policies requireorgan procurement organizations to makereasonable attempts to get the medical andbehavioral history of donors. Transplantcenters must tell recipients if the organthey're being offered is from a high-risk do-nor and explain the risks and benefits. -AP

It's illegal to trans-plant an organfrom someoneknown to be in-fected with HIV. Buttransplants fromhigh-risk donorsare allowed

January 28, 2011India Post46

www.indiapost.com

DatebookNEW YORK

UpcomingILLINOIS

UpcomingNEW JERSEY

UpcomingNORTHERN CALIFORNIA

U p c o m i n g

Sat Jan 29• Dheeyan MarjanianVenue: Center For Performing Arts, 255Almaden BLVD, San Jose, CaliforniaTime: 6:30pmContact: 650-771-0933

Sun Jan 30• South Asian Wedding Expo 2011Venue: One Industry Hills Parkway, Indus-try Hills, Bay Area, CaliforniaTime: 11am to 5:30pmContact: 714-493-7900Highlights: The unique expo will feature theleading designers, wedding planners, deco-rators, DJ's, photographers, florist, food ven-dors, videographers hair and make up artistand all sorts of great vendors that can helpyou plan your next big event.

Thurs Feb 24• Art of Living CourseVenue: Belmont Sports Complex, 550 IslandPkwy, Belmont, Bay AreaTime: 6:30am to 4pmContact: 617-922-8234

Sat Nov 12, 2011• Hello Namaste Salaam

Satsriakal MastiVenue: Chandni Restaurant, 5748 MowrySchool Rd, Balentine Plaza, across HiltonHotel, Newark, CA 94560Time: 7pmContact: 510-299-1138Highlights: Bollywood Singers and LollywoodMusic Director Hungama Musical Live BandDance Party Dance Performances Banquet StyleDinner, Single Ladies and Men - Come and Reg-ister with Hamraahi Matrimonial.

Thurs May 5 2011• Fund raising Volleyball tour-

namentVenue: Ponderosa Park, Sunnyvale, CATime: 8am to 5pm

WASHINGTON DC

Upcoming

Fri Jan 28• Hikarinyc Jan 28. Shiva

Chandra Live AtlantisVenue: Rebel, 251 West 30 Street, New YorkTime: 10pm to 5amContact: 888-347-8888

Sat Jan 29• Canvas: Colors of FusionVenue: Eisner & Lubin Auditorium, 60 Wash-ington Square South, 4th Floor, New YorkTime: 6:30pm to 11pmContact: 602-743-1512

Sat March 5• Lo Gujjubhai Ghode ChadayaVenue: Hindu Temple Auditorium, 143 - 09Holly Avenue, Flushing, New YorkTime: 7pm to 11pmContact: 732-763 -0118

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIAU p c o m i n g

Sun, Jan 30• South Asian Wedding Expo 2011Venue: Pacific Palms Hotel & ConferenceCenter, One Industry Hills Parkway, Indus-try Hills, CaliforniaTime: 11am to 5:30pmContact: 714-493-7900

Thurs Feb 3• Leadership Retreat-- an Inner

Engineering IntensiveVenue: Hyatt Regency Century Plaza, 2025Avenue of the Stars, Los AngelesTime: 5pmContact: 248-739-2934

Mon Aug 1, 2011• Yogalicious!Venue: Art of Living Center Los Angeles, 948W Adams Blvd, Los Angeles, CaliforniaTime: 6:30pm to 9pmContact: 310-820-9429Highlights: Its programs teach a blend of an-cient eastern breathing techniques and wis-dom that help eliminate stress, restore thehighest human values and encourage peoplefrom all backgrounds, religions and culturaltraditions.

Sat Jan 29• India's 62nd R-Day CelebrationVenue: Westin Hotel, 479 Washington Boule-vard, Jersey City, New JerseyTime: 6pm to 8pmContact: 631-681-1517

Sat Feb 5• Ladies Night Out!!Venue: Ramada Inn, 999, US Route 1 South,North Brunswick Twp, New jerseyContact: 732-422-6480

Sat Feb 19• Stars of SaReGaMaPa Live in

ConcertVenue: Holiday Inn, 3050,Wood Bridge Ave,Edison, New JerseyTime: 8pmContact: 732-277-6687

Sun Jan 30• South Asian Bridal ExpoVenue: Holiday Inn Rolling Medows, 3405Algonquin Road, Rolling Meadows, IllinoisTime: 11am to 6pm

Sat Feb 20• Ohio South Asian Bridal ShowVenue: Hyatt Regency Columbus, 350 N HighSt, Columbus, OhioTime: 1pm to 5pmContact: 888-677-2726

Fri March 18• Art of Living CourseVenue: Westmont, 127 Whote Birch Lane,Westmont, IllinoisContact: 630-654-0852

Sat Feb 26• Elite 8 Bhangra Invitational 2011Venue: Warner Theater, 1299 PennsylvaniaAvenue Northwest, Washington, DCTime: 6pm to 9pmContact: 800-551-7328

Mon July 4• Rathyatra, Festival of IndiaVenue: National Mall (in front of Air & SpaceMuseum), Washington, DCTime: 10:30am to 9pmContact: 301-299-2100

Mon August 22• Shri Krishna JanamastamiVenue: Hare Krishan Temple, 10310 OaklynDrive, Potomac, MarylandTime: 4:30am to 1amContact: 301-299-2100

India Post 47

www.indiapost.com

ClassifiedsJanuary 28, 2011

LOOKING FOR

ForClassifiedsAds Call

NORTHERN CA

(Sonia)

Tel: 510-938-8668

[email protected]

SOUTHERN CA

(Shashi Trivedi)

Tel: 562-441-5511/

Fax: 562-947-0632

[email protected]

CHICAGO

(Ramesh Soparawala)

Tel: 773-973-7394 /

Fax: 773-973-7396

[email protected]

NEW YORK (Pinky)

Tel: 212-944-1931/

Fax: 212-944-1932

[email protected]

48 India Post January 28, 2011

Page Sponsored by Sahanis

Although you may spend

your life killing, you will

not exhaust all your foes.

But if you quell your own

anger, your real enemy

will be slain.

-Nagarjuna

The degree of freedom

from unwanted thoughts

and the degree of con-

centration on a single

thought are the mea-

sures to gauge spiritual

progress.

-Ramana Maharshi

Spirituality is indeed the

master key of the Indian

mind; the sense of the

infinitive is native to it.

-Sri Aurobindo

Freedom from the de-

sire for an answer is es-

sential to the under-

standing of a problem.

-Jiddu Krishnamurti

A desire arises in the

mind. It is satisfied imme-

diately another comes. In

the interval which sepa-

rates two desires a per-

fect calm reigns in the

mind. It is at this mo-

ment freed from all

thought, love or hate.

-Swami Sivananda

Life finds its purpose

and fulfillment in the ex-

pansion of happiness.

-MaharishiMahesh Yogi

www.indiapost.com

You Insure all your Valuables, all are replaceable except YOU! So Insure yourself FIRST. Call Sahanis, (Arish, Priya or Shiv) for your Insurance needs 718- 271- 0453. Serving for last 35 yrs

Philosophy

Rajchandra, Gandhi's friend,philosopher & guide

Necessity of becoming truespiritual seekers

Swami Krishnananda

Shrimad Rajchandra

On the day when he re-turned to India after com-pleting education in En-

gland, Mahatma Gandhi was intro-duced to Shrimad Rajchandra byDr. Pranjivandas Mehta. Gandhiwrites in his Autobiography, "TheStory of My Experiments withTruth" about his first acquain-tance with Shrimad.

"...Dr. Metha introduced me toseveral friends, one of them beinghis brother Shri Revashankar

Jagjivan, with whom there grew upa lifelong friendship. But the in-troduction that I need particularlytake note of was the one to thepoet Raychand or Rajchandra, theson-in-law of an elder brother ofDr. Metha, and partner of the firmof jewelers conducted in the nameof Revashankar Jagjivan.

“He was not above twenty-fivethen, but my first meeting with himconvinced me that he was a man ofgreat character and learning. He wasalso a Shatavadhani (one having thefaculty of remembering or attendingto a hundred things simultaneously),

and Dr. Metha recommended me tosee some of his memory feats.

"I exhausted my vocabulary ofall the European tongues I knew,and asked the poet to repeat thewords. He did so in the precise or-der in which I had given them. I en-vied his gift without, however, com-ing under its spell.

“The thing that did cast its spellover me I came to know afterwards.This was his wide knowledge of thescriptures, his spotless character,

and his burning passion for self-re-alization. I saw later that this last wasthe only thing for which he lived.The following lines of Muktanandwere always on his lips and en-graved on the tablets of his heart:

'I shall think myself blessed onlywhen I see Him in every one of mydaily acts; Verily He is the thread,which supports Muktanand's life.'

"Raychandbhai's commercialtransactions covered hundreds ofthousands. He was a connoisseur ofpearls and diamonds. No knotty busi-ness problem was too difficult for him.

“But all these things were not the

centre round which his life revolved.That centre was the passion to seeGod face to face. Amongst thethings on his business table therewere invariably to be found somereligious book and his diary.

“The moment he finished hisbusiness he opened the religiousbook or the diary. Much of hispublished writings are a reproduc-tion from his diary. The man who,immediately on finishing his talkabout weighty business transac-

tions, began to write about the hid-den things of the spirit could evi-dently not be a businessman at all,but a real seeker after Truth. And Isaw him thus absorbed in godlypursuits in the midst of business,not once or twice, but very often.

"I never saw him lose his stateof equipoise. There was no busi-ness or other selfish tie that boundhim to me, and yet I enjoyed theclosest association with him. I wasbut a briefless barrister then, andyet whenever I saw him he wouldengage me in conversation of aseriously religious nature.

"Though I was then gropingand could not be said to have anyserious interest in religious discus-sion, still I found his talk of absorb-ing interest. I have since met manya religious leader or teacher.

“I have tried to meet the headsof various faiths, and I must saythat no one else has ever made onme the impression thatRaychandbhai did. His words wentstraight home to me.

"His intellect compelled as great a

regard from me as his moral earnest-ness, and deep down in me was theconviction that he would never will-ingly lead me astray and would alwaysconfide to me his innermost thoughts.In my moments of spiritual crisis,therefore, he was my refuge..."

Gandhiji regarded Shrimadji ashis friend, philosopher and guide.He said that most of his lessonsfor self-improvement and on truthand non-violence, he has learntfrom Shri Raichandbhai.

The 63rd death anniversary ofMahatma Gandhi will be ob-served on January 30

SWAMI KRISHNANANDA

A new value begins to bevisualized in persons andthings outside when the

spirit starts to behold things asspirit. The vision of a sadhaka is aspiritual vision. It is not a visionof the eye merely. We are not look-ing at things with our eyes.

We are looking through theeyes at the objects from the stand-point of the spirit, which alone canbe called spirituality. The stand-point of the spirit is spirituality, notthe standpoint of a person.

The idea of personality is out-grown when the spiritual attitudemanifests itself in outward life. Wefail to smile at each other in ordi-nary human relationships.

Though we may contemplatethis inner secret of the subtle bondthat exists among human beings,we still tumble upon our own sen-timents. We get angry, and we areemotionally attracted and repelled.We are still mortals to the very core.

Yet, it is essential to go on re-interpreting our relationship spiri-tually in our day-to-day practice ofsadhana. There is no use doingsadhana with buried human senti-ments inside one's own self. These

sentiments do not always come tothe surface of consciousness; theycome out only when it is necessary.

A sadhak is one who expectsanything and everything, andtherefore he can stand on his ownlegs spiritually. There is no usedepending on outside factors forour happiness. These outside fac-tors are temporary relationships.

Our real stuff is of a differentnature, and that has to be re-molded and transformed. Our re-lationship with God is not an indi-vidual relationship. It is not a re-lationship of one person with an-other person. Spiritual relation is di-vine relation, the relation of the soulto the infinite background on whichit is sustained. To love God is noteasy, because God is not a person

like a human being. And, therefore,it is also difficult to trust God.

Our understanding of the na-ture of God is humanly condi-tioned, socially limited, personallyinterpreted, and so it falls to theground when we are actually inneed of His support. Even the so-called yogis and seekers of Truthcannot reach God so easily, un-

less there is that strength withinthem by which they can take tothe spiritual point of view, thestandpoint of the Spirit in the judg-ment of things outside and the un-derstanding of life in general.

The real spiritual seeker is aGod-man, and he stands alone,unbefriended, in front of thatMighty Alone, the Great Creatorof the Cosmos. When we face Him

and stand before Him, we do notstand before a human being or ahumanly interpreted personality.Divine values are transempirical.The God whom you are aspiringfor is no doubt in the world, yetHe is different in His character andsubstance.

Thus, to take to the spiritualpath, to lead a spiritual life and to

practice spiritual sadhana would beto die completely to the old preju-dices of our life. To take to spirituallife is a veritable death.

We remain human beings till theend and die like human beings, re-penting for not having utilized ourlife properly as it ought to have been.We are still the old, old persons withthe same desires and the same weak-nesses. May this be shed.

Mahatma Gandhi

‘The thing that did cast its spell over me I came toknow afterwards. This was his wide knowledge ofthe scriptures, his spotless character, and hisburning passion for self-realization’

Our understanding of the nature of God is hu-manly conditioned, socially limited, personallyinterpreted, and so it falls to the ground whenwe are actually in need of His support

49Edit Pagewww.indiapost.com


India Post

Organizational changesimminent in Indian Army

FIRDAUS AHMED

The recent headline in a lea-ding national daily, "IndianArmy set for its most radi-

cal revamp," is entirely believable.The article informs that "propos-als include setting up of a Strate-gic Command, comprising ofArmy's offensive capabilities"which may be implemented asearly as March 2011.

The reorganization involvesthe "creation of a Strategic Com-mand, under which the three StrikeCorps would be brought together"as "part of the 'transformationstudy' done by a high-level teamunder Army chief, General VKSingh, when he was heading theEastern Command."

The article examines this movein relation to India's Pakistanpolicy and the inescapable fact ofSouth Asia's nuclearization.

India will re-engage Pakistanafter a long gap since July last yearwith their Foreign Secretaries meet-ing on the sidelines of a SAARCmeeting in Thimpu next month.This will set the stage for talksbetween their Foreign Ministersduring the first quarter of this year.

The strategic changes in Indiawould occur around this time. Themessage to Pakistan is stark. Howwill Pakistan react? Although thereis no direct link between resump-tion of the peace process and mili-tary restructuring, this exercise haslong-term implications for thepeace process.

The implications for the peaceprocess arise at two levels - overtand less visible. The overt mes-sage is that India is 'upping theante' by establishing a capabilityfor escalation-dominance. Paki-stan, led by its Army, will receivethe message that India now hasan answer to the problem of proxywar. Pakistan would, in response,need to rethink its India strategy.The less visible message is thatIndia has little faith in the peaceprocess. These changes wouldprepare India for the worst casescenario in which it may need tocredibly coerce and possibly com-pel Pakistan.

Bringing the strike corps underone command headquarters wouldbring synergy to India's offensivecapabilities, making them seemmore potent when employed to-gether. The headquarters enablesthis capability, although thesestrike corps can be deployed in thegeographical commands, if re-quired.

This capability harks back tothe 'Sundarji doctrine', in which thestrike corps was designed to slicePakistan at its waist in a counter-offensive. During Operation

Parakram, Pravin Sawhney and VKSood reported that the three strikecorps were deployed for this pur-pose in mid 2002, when they wereco-located in the desert after theKalu Chak incident.

By making this capability more'doable' through the creation of astrategic command headquarters,the Army seems oblivious of thenuclear dimension that is present

since 1998.The implications of the nuclear

dilemma are of equal consequence.Currently, Pakistan has an un-stated nuclear doctrine, that oneobserver interprets as 'asymmet-ric escalation'.

Most believe that its nuclearthreshold is high enough to per-mit limited conventional opera-tions, even at strike corps levelsand up to a limited depth. This canbe triggered by India's strike corps

operating together under a singlecommand headquarters, whichhighlights the limitations in ratio-nale of a single command head-quarters.

The doctrinal trend has movedfrom the Sundarji doctrine to lim-ited Cold Start offensives. Now,with Cold Start in cold storage, it

is to be a 'proactive strategy'. Thismovement was broadly in conso-nance with the imperatives ofnuclearization. The current re-ported moves amount to risking anuclear showdown, which is astrategy that India can do with-out.

It is a strategy that can beadopted in a war situation with oneof the command headquarters,

Central Command, for instance,playing a role. However, to estab-lish a permanent strategic com-mand headquarters will amount tokeeping a sword pointed atPakistan's innards, given the mes-sage that India, with its offensivecapability enhanced, would beable to continue operations evenin case of nuclear first use by Pa-kistan.

Possible Pakistani reactions mayoccur at two levels - one, its peace-time equations with India and sec-ond, in wartime. If the nature of thePakistani regime is any indication,it would first attempt to balanceIndia. Pakistan could increase itsreliance on the nuclear deterrentand its dependence on China. ForPakistan's reliance on the Chinese,the Indian Army has a ready an-swer - 'two front' doctrine.

In conflict, this change indi-cates an expectation that nucleardeterrence will work. In otherwords, the proposed changeswould require rethinking whetherIndia's nuclear doctrine is ad-equate. Since the conventional andnuclear levels are interlinked,changes in one cannot be consid-ered in isolation from the other. Theconsequent changes in the nucleardoctrine are not known. However,could the tail end up wagging thedog?

Mr. AK Antony, who will haveto take the ultimate call, needs tothus ask himself the question:"Does the proposed change meetIndia's security interests?"

Courtesy IPCS

Brazening it out

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which func-tions under orders of the ruling Congress party, hasjust declared that investigation into CommonwealthGames irregularities will take many years, thus gladden-

ing the hearts of those being investigated. The Bombay HighCourt pulled up the same CBI for spending too much time con-ducting preliminary enquiry (PE) and prolonging the filing of anFIR in connection with the Adarsh Housing Society scam. Thecountry's top anti-corruption watchdog body, the Central Vigi-lance Commission is saddled with a commissioner who is himselfunder investigation in the palmolein scam in Kerala. PJ Thomaswas also the telecom secretary during the 2G scam under theinfamous telecom minister A Raja. This was to be a major probefor the CVC. But the Commissioner had to recuse himself from thecase as he was himself involved.

Does it sound like the Congress has noticed the concern ofthe people and is doing something about speeding up probesinto corruption in its ranks? On the contrary, it has decided tobrazen it out and to defend the indefensible. First it persisted inappointing Thomas in spite of evidence of his first hand knowl-edge of the 2G scam and suspicion of his role in the Keralapalmolein scam. There is a case now on in the Supreme Courtagainst the appointment of Thomas. The Manmohan govern-ment is forcefully defending his appointment and telling the courtit has no business in questioning the appointment since it wasdecided by majority. It fails to mention that there was oppositionto this appointment by the third member of the election panel,leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj. And what credibility avigilance commission would enjoy whose head is himself underinvestigation and suspicion?

The Congress seems to think that it has to fight the charges bythe BJP head on and not let it claim victory. In the process it failsto see the majority view of the people who are aghast at the scaleof corruption and the ruling party's attempts to brazen it out.

A sign of this thoughtlessness is enlisting the support of thenew telecom minister Kapil Sibal and planning commission deputychairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia to defend the 2G telecom deal.Their argument is that the CAG figure of loss to the exchequer ishighly exaggerated. And Minister Sibal even ventures the spinthat there was no loss at all!

These transparent attempts at whitewash do not enhance thecredibility of the ruling party. But if the opposition BJP thinks it iswinning the support of the people, it is hugely mistaken. When ittalks of the Congress as a "band of dacoits," the focus turns onits own reaction to the charges of corruption in land deals againstBJP chief minister BS Yeddyurappa, in Karnataka. If it is not will-ing to remove its own corrupt, it loses the high moral ground inaccusing the Congress of not acting against CVC Thomas, theCWG accused and the 2G scamsters.

While the two major parties are embroiled in a battle of egos,the concern among the people has found voice in the recentappeal by a group of leading industrialists, bankers and formerjudges to the government to check the "malaise of corruption."Industry chambers have also joined in asking the government toevolve a transparent system of awarding projects and usher inreforms in electoral funding. Here the industries also need to dosome soul searching about corporate behavior which is not aboveboard. Can corruption thrive without the industry's co-opera-tion?

Indian troops

Pakistan would, inresponse, need torethink its India strat-egy. The less visiblemessage is that Indiahas little faith in thepeace process. Thesechanges would pre-pare India for the worstcase scenario inwhich it may need tocredibly coerce andpossibly compelPakistan


January 28, 201150

January 28, 2011 India Post 51www.indiapost.com


January 28, 201152

indiapost_01-28-2011

Documents

community post

governor nikki haley

healthscience post

immigration post

techbiz post

dilip paliath ric president

weeks questionindia

arthur kapoor ricnj