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NEW YORK • WASHINGTON D.C. • CHICAGO • ATLANTA • CALIFORNIA VOL 16, No. 872 May 27, 2011 50¢ Periodical Postage

India Post

CONTENTS

YES 78%

Last week’s result

NO 22%

This week’s question

INDIA POST [email protected]

Bollywood ---------------------- 24-25

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

Community Post --------------- 9-23

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

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

HealthScience Post --------- 36-39

Horoscope ------------------------- 28

Immigration Post ------------- 42-44

Life Style ----------------------- 26-27

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

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

Real Estate -------------------- 40-41

TechBiz Post ------------------- 34-35

Travel & Hospitality Post ---- 29-31

Details on page 34

Details on page 36

Geeta Menonappointed Deanof NYU school

Are women as jurors morereliable?

Details on page 6

Details on page 6

Sridhar namedDistinguishedProf of NY varsity

Details on page 15

NEW DADA OF BENGAL: Trinamool Congress Chief Mamata Banerjee, who wiped out 34 years

of Communist rule in the state with an overwhelming victory in the Assembly elections in alliance

with the Congress, greets Congress President Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi when

she called on her on May 16.Details on page 5

8 WOMEN IN RANATRIAL JURY OF 12CHICAGO: Twelve

Jurors have been se-lected as the Chicagohearings in the 26/11case began with sus-pect TahawwurHussain Rana goingon trial after being in-dicted, media reportssaid.

US District CourtJudge Harry DLeinenweber ques-tioned 100 jurors ontheir views on Islamand terrorism and se-lected 12 as the finaljury.

The 12-memberjury, with six alter-nates, consists of fourmen and eight women.They were sworn in atthe Dirksen FederalCourthouse.

"We are pleasedwith the compositionand proceedings ofthe jury selection be-cause of the detailedquestionnaire and thegreat selection pro-cess," Rana's attorneyPatrick Blegen told re-porters.

"We got a jury wemost believe will givehim a fair trial," Blegensaid.

Details on page 19

Ricky Gill torun for USCongress

India announces18th Know Indiaprogram

Shikaripur N. Sridhar

Details on page 10

Details on page 9

Indian Americansto join Ramdev'sSatyagraha

Sinha killers’messagesas evidence

Bill Gates praisesNitish Kumar atHealth Assembly

15 Indians inoutstandingstudents’ list

India harasses Indians,welcomes foreigners

India Postwww.indiapost.com

May 27, 20112

May 27, 2011 India Post 3www.indiapost.com

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Bollywood:Send the guyPopular actress Priyanka Chopra says"I am ready to get married tomorrow, pro-vided I find a nice guy!"

1Cover Story:Jurors selected

9Community:Support for Baba

36Health:Poor healthcareAn abysmally low government spend-ing at USD 32 per capita - characterizesthe poor state of healthcare in India.

26Life Style:

CRY America raised over $215,000 at twobenefit dinners in New York and Seattlerecently for the cause of poor kids.

34Techbiz:

Geeta Menon has been appointed as thedean of the undergraduate college of theLeonard N. Stern School of Business.

29Travel:ChambaThe small town of Chamba is located ina picturesque valley, amidst the Shivalikranges and is famous for its temples.

Dean of School

Indian Americans have declared their sup-port to Baba Ramdev's movement againstcorruption in India.

Twelve Jurors have been selected as theChicago hearings began against 26/11 sus-pect Tahawwur Hussain Rana.

Sharmila in US

Hardly have possible Obama challengers in the 2012 general electionscome into focus, and already Republican Presidential contenders arefalling off the wagon even before the race began.

Last week, former governor Mike Huckabee (who would have gotten halfway through the primaries at least), and celebrity business tycoon Donald Trump,(who didn't have a crying chance even to go as far as the primaries), announcedtheir intention to quit - their decision not necessarily leaving a void on the GOPplatform, but rather leaving much fodder for comedy show hosts.

The first of the season's GOP debates that took place early this month hadonly some of the lesser known hopefuls on the grill, while the Party's star attrac-tions like Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmannstayed away, as if waiting for more of their colleagues to fall by the waysidebefore they joined the fray.

Not all Republican hopefuls are without merit. While the token - if not glam-orous - female representation of Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann would bebetter off saving campaign funds, time and effort, some others like former gov-ernors Tim Pawlenty and Mitt Romney do stand the chance of giving PresidentObama a hearty run. Newt Gingrich, well, as a comedy show host said, lacksthat 'Presidential' charisma.

Personalities apart, on issues, there is nothing specific the various Republi-can contenders are hinging their campaign on. Almost all of them oppose, acrossthe board, whatever Obama does, be it the economy, healthcare, immigration oreducation.

Their problem is not that they oppose Obama policies because they havealternative ideas that will work better for the country; their problem is that theysimply do not like Obama. Whether such a strong sentiment is enough to swayvotes in their favor is doubtful.

But then, if any of these odd contenders want to be taken seriously, they hadbetter come up with some solutions and not issues. The job of President of UnitedStates of America is not the most enviable anymore.

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Cover/Top Stories

8 women in Rana trial jury of 12CHICAGO: Twelve Jurors have

been selected as the Chicago hear-ings in the 26/11 case began withsuspect Tahawwur Hussain Ranagoing on trial after being indicted,media reports said.

US District Court Judge HarryD Leinenweber questioned 100jurors on their views on Islam andterrorism and selected 12 as thefinal jury.

The 12-member jury, with sixalternates, consists of four menand eight women. They weresworn in at the Dirksen FederalCourthouse.

"We are pleased with the com-position and proceedings of thejury selection because of the de-tailed questionnaire and the greatselection process," Rana's attor-ney Patrick Blegen told reporters.

"We got a jury we most believewill give him a fair trial," Blegensaid.

Rana's other attorney CharlieSwift said they are ready for thetrial.

"We are preparing openingstatements. It is a good case witha fair process. Rana's only crimeis to be friends with DavidHeadley," said Swift.

About 100 jurors had filed ex-tensive questionnaires about theirbackgrounds and topics sur-rounding the Rana's trial, wherehe faces the charge of providingsupport to former classmate carryout recon for the 26/11 Mumbai

attacks that killed over 160 peopleincluding six Americans.

The trial is likely to exposelinks of the Pakistan spy agencyInter-Services Intelligence (ISI)with the Mumbai attacks, puttingfurther pressure on the countryto expedite its actions against the26/11 accused currently runningfree in the south Asian nation.

"We have asked the PakistaniGovernment to address those al-legations in the past," said StateDepartment spokesman MarkToner, saying that the US had for-mally demanded Pakistan's re-sponse on its alleged involvementin the Mumbai terror attacks.

Without giving further details,Toner said: "There's a legal pro-cess underway, and anything Isay from here can obviously... Ithink we have been clear, again,

that this is an ongoing legal pro-cess, trial, and so I can't say a lotabout it."

"But speaking globally aboutthe Mumbai attacks, we haveasked that all parties answer ques-tions that have been raised by theMumbai attacks," Toner said.

According to reports, Rana islikely to state that he and co-ac-

cused David Headley were re-cruited on behalf of Pakistani spyservices, even though his lawyerslast month rubbished the reportsand denied any 'knowing involve-ment' in the 26/11.

A report in The Globe and Mailnewspaper had first claimed thatboth Rana and his friend Headleywill say that they believed them-selves to be working for both theLashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a terroristgroup, and the Inter-Services In-

telligence (ISI), Pakistan's spyagency.

The US government on May 9filed a second chargesheet in a Chi-cago court in the 26/11 terror strikein Mumbai naming five people asaccused in the case of "conspiracyto maim, murder and bomb placesof public use in India".

The chargesheet filed in the US

court named the five accused as:Sajid Majeed, Abu Qahafa,Mazhar Iqbal, Major Iqbal and aLashkar-e-Toiba member knownas D.

The accused were named inthe Tahawwur Rana case. Rana isa Pakistani Canadian and like Pa-kistani American David ColemanHeadley is involved in theMumbai attack who was indictedalong with several other suspects.

All accused were charged in

the district court in Chicagothough none of them is in cus-tody of the US government.

US paper Chicago Tribune saidTahawwur Hussain Rana is al-leged to have provided a coverfor the scout (Headley) "whochecked out locations for thedeadly rampage and acted as amessenger for the Pakistani ter-rorist group allegedly behind the2008 attack."

In the worst terrorist attacks inIndia, Pakistani-trained gunmenlaid siege on Mumbai since No-vember 26, 2008, killing over 160people, including foreigners, inattacks on a railway station, luxuryhotels and a Jewish centre, amongother targets.

Rana, who was arrested alongwith Headley by the US' FederalBureau of Investigation (FBI) inIllinois, is accused of providingterrorists with the false credentialsthey used to pick targets inMumbai.

LeT is blamed for the attack,though Pakistani government'shand is also suspected - a chargerefuted by the country where 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Ladenwas found in a garrison town, just60 km north of capital Islamabad.The chargesheet filed in the UScourt named the five accused as:Sajid Majeed, Abu Qahafa,Mazhar Iqbal, Major Iqbal and aLashkar-e-Toiba member knownas D.-Agencies

Tahawwur Hussain Rana

India Studies at Univ of Houston

India Post News Service

NEW YORK: As the preemi-nent public university in Houston,the University of Houston islaunching an India Studies Pro-gram, in keeping with its commit-ment to the study of world cul-tures, the promotion of globalcommerce, and the enhancementof international understanding.

The proposed India StudiesProgram will promote teaching

and scholarship focused on thehistory, politics, economics, lan-guages, and culture of India.

Courses offered and futurecourses include Elementary Hindiand Language Lab; IntermediateHindi; Hindu Diaspora; Hinduism& Jainism; Asian Religions; An-thropology and Archeology ofIndia; Art of India; History of In-dia; Indian History, Arts and Ar-chitecture; Religions of India; andIndian Politics.

Asia Society urges policyshifts in Pakistan


NEW YORK: Preventing Paki-stan from further deterioration willrequire a long-term commitmentfrom the government of Pakistan,the United States, and other in-ternational stakeholders to pro-mote genuine reform in the com-ing decade, according to a reportreleased May 18 by the Asia So-ciety Pakistan 2020 Study Group.

The Study Group says this com-mitment must be enshrined in a com-prehensive package of policiesaimed at promoting sustainable con-stitutional democracy, credible andeffective rule of law and law en-forcement, a significant expansionand improvement of the educationand health sectors, and a peacefulresolution of the conflict with In-dia. Economic growth and foreigninvestment in Pakistan arguably willfollow such progress, it says.

The Group's report, Pakistan2020: A Vision for Building a Better

Future, emphasizes that withoutthe urgent adoption of both reme-dial and revolutionary measures inall of these areas, the challengesfacing Pakistan - including terror-ism, religious extremism, underde-velopment, and chronic political

instability - will become more seri-ous over time. While Pakistan'spath will be defined and driven byinternal and regional factors, theinternational community, especially

the United States and its allies,must continue to play a support-ive role, the report says.

The Pakistan 2020 StudyGroup is the first group of its kindin recent years to include a sig-nificant number of leading expertsfrom Pakistan and the UnitedStates - 30 in all - representing arange of sectors.

Members include former diplo-mats, military leaders, and intelli-gence officials, journalists andmedia personalities, economistsand development specialists, sci-entists, and experts in the fieldsof health, education, governanceand law, and natural resources andthe environment.

The report was written by theAsia Society's Bernard SchwartzFellow, Hassan Abbas who servedin the administrations of PrimeMinister Benazir Bhutto (1994-1995) and President PervezMusharraf (1999-2000).

Cont’d on page 7

The US government on May 9filed a second chargesheet in aChicago court in the 26/11 ter-ror strike in Mumbai naming fivepeople as accused in the caseof ‘conspiracy to maim, murderand bomb places of publicuse in India’

The report was writtenby the Asia Society'sBernard Schwartz Fel-low, Hassan Abbas whoserved in the adminis-trations of Prime MinisterBenazir BhuttoandPresident PervezMusharraf


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Sridhar appointed as SUNYDistinguished Professor


NEW YORK: The Board ofTrustees of the State Universityof New York, the largest publicuniversity system in the US, onMay 11 appointed Shikaripur N.Sridhar, Professor of Linguisticsand India Studies at Stony BrookUniversity, to the rank of Distin-guished Service Professor.

This rank is above that of theFull Professor and is the highestfaculty honor conferred by theuniversity. In conferring thishonor, said SUNY ChancellorNancy L. Zimpher said, "Weproudly recognize the extraordi-nary achievements of our teach-ers, scholars, and mentors, all ofwhom serve as stellar examples ofSUNY's commitment to excel-lence."

"It is with great pride that werecognize the brilliant scholarsand teachers whose service mer-its one of the SUNY distinguishedranks," said Board Chairman CarlT. Hayden.

The Distinguished Service Pro-fessorship is conferred upon in-structional faculty at SUNY's col-leges who have achieved a no-table reputation for extraordinary

service not only to the campusand to SUNY, but also to the com-munity, the State of New York and/or even the nation, by sustainedeffort in the application of intel-lectual skills drawing from thecandidate's scholarly and re-search interests to issues of pub-

lic concern.Professor Sridhar has been a

member of the faculty at StonyBrook University since 1980.Born in Shimoga, Karnataka, In-dia, Professor Sridhar received aMaster's degree in English Litera-ture and Linguistics from BangaloreUniversity; he did his Ph.D. in Lin-

guistics at the University of Illinoisat Champaign-Urbana. He has con-ducted extensive research in de-scriptive, theoretical and applied lin-guistics, including bilingualism,sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics,second language acquisition, andWorld English.

Sridhar is recognized as theworld's leading authority on thelinguistics of his native language,Kannada and has been influentialin several areas of Indian and ap-plied linguistics. He has authoredthree books, Kannada Grammar,Cognition and Sentence Produc-tion, and Indina Kannada ("Con-temporary Kannada,").

Prof. Sridhar co-founded theCenter for India Studies at theStony Brook University, servingas its Director from 1997-2002 andagain 2008 to the present.

He also spearheaded the fac-ulty effort for establishment of anew Department of Asian andAsian American Studies at StonyBrook, and served as its Found-ing Chair from 2002-8. The depart-ment teaches some 100 coursesper year.

Prof. Sridhar also founded theIndia Society at Stony Brook in1989.

India announces 18thKnow India program


NEW YORK: The 18th KnowIndia Program (KIP) conducted bythe Ministry of Overseas Indians'Affairs for Diaspora youth is pro-posed to be held August 20-Sept11 this year, with Goa as a PartnerState.

The 19th KIP is scheduled fromDec 21, 2011 to Jan 10, 2012 withRajasthan as the Partner State,and will coincide with PravasiBharatiya Divas 2012 tobe held at Jaipur.

Similarly, the four-week Study India Pro-gram (SIP), also con-ducted by the Ministryof Overseas Indians'Affairs, is proposed tobe held twice this year -the first time from July18 to Aug 17, and thesecond from Dec 14,2011 to Jan 13, 2012. The IndianInstitute of Public Administration(IIPA) will be the Program Coordi-nator Partner Institute for SIP.

Know India Program and StudyIndia Program are orientation pro-grams for Diaspora youth, with aview to promote awareness on dif-ferent facets of life in India andthe progress made by the coun-try in various fields e.g. economic,industrial, education, Science &Technology, Communication &Information Technology, culture.These are conducted in partner-

ship with one or two State Gov-ernments.

The participants, PIOs in theage group of 18-26 years, are se-lected based on recommendationsreceived from Heads of IndianMissions/Posts abroad. Selectedparticipants are provided with fullhospitality in India during theduration of the program. 90%(ninety percent) of the total costof air ticket (at lowest economyexcursion fare) is refundable to

the participants on successfulcompletion of the program bythem.

The content of the programbroadly includes presentations onthe country, political process, de-velopments in various sectors;visits to some industries and vil-lages; exposure to Indian media,visits to historical places, and callon high dignitaries such as thePresident of India and the ChiefElection Commissioner.

For more information check outhttp://knowindiaprogram.com/

Publish list of NRI 'proclaimedoffenders,' Kangura demands


CHANDIGARH: Qila RaipurMLA Jassi Khangura has chal-lenged Chief Minister ParkashSingh Badal to reveal the true ex-tent of the number of NRIsbranded as proclaimed offenders.

Khangura stated that as theCentre had now removed manySikh NRIs from the entry black-list, it is now the turn of thePunjab Government to removethe injustice of false FIRs thathas rendered so many NRIs asproclaimed offenders.

Khangura stressed that on 6January 2008, Badal had at thePunjab government NRI samellanat Jalandhar declared that a listof all NRIs declared as pro-claimed offenders would be pub-lished on the Internet, yet some40 months later this has still nothappened. Khangura dared Badalto publish the list in full immedi-ately.

Khangura regretted that inspite of having both a departmentfor NRI affairs headed by a Min-ister, S. Balbir Singh Bath, andnow an NRI cell within the Chief

Minister's Office, there was stillprecious little remedy availablefor NRIs.

The sad fact, stated the MLA,is that "Badal and his stooges

have over the term of this admin-istration perfected the art of ha-rassing the NRI with falsecharges and FIRs, resulting in theNRI having to flee India in fearof arrest, only to be declared as aproclaimed offenders basis no-tices that were never served onthe NRI."

As the only NRI origin MLAin Punjab, Khangura regrettedthat this Akali administration hadnever been sincere to NRIs, as ithad presided over the loot ofthousands of crores of NRI as-sets. That is the reason why theBadals are unable to face NRIsoutside India. They cannot stepfoot in Canada. In the USA theyhave to hire private security, per-haps the first Punjab CM ever tofeel the need.

Khangura stressed, "I under-stand from reliable sources thatthis Akali administration has filedmore than 13,000 false casesagainst NRIs, resulting in an ad-ditional 2,600 NRIs being de-clared as proclaimed offenders.

Khangura continued "ManyNRIs are now languishing in pris-ons in India as they were un-aware of their status as pro-claimed offenders and were ar-rested on arrival in India".

Khangura said, "Daily I receivecalls and emails from distressedNRIs seeking help and assistance.The Badals will soon face the fullwrath of the NRI community in theforthcoming assembly elections."

Jassi Khangura

Compete with kids in Beijingand Mumbai: Obama

WASHINGTON: Seeing it assigns of emergence of new world,US President Barack Obama haswarned American students tostrive hard to stay ahead as theyface tough competition fromyoungsters in India and China.

"You're competing againstyoung people in Beijing andMumbai. That's some tough com-petition. Those kids are hungry.

They're working hard. Andyou'll need to be prepared for it,"Obama said in his remarks to stu-dents at Memphis, Tennessee.

"We live in a new world now.Used to be that you didn't haveto have an education. If you werewilling to work hard, you couldgo to a factory somewhere andget a job. Those times are passed.Believe it or not, when you goout there looking for a job, you'renot just competing againstpeople in Nashville or Atlanta,"he said.

"And as a country, we need

all of our young people to beready. We can't just have someyoung people successful.

We've got to have everyyoung person contributing; earn-ing those high school diplomasand then earning those collegediplomas, or getting certified in atrade or profession. We can'tsucceed without it," he said inhis speech.

Through education, he said,one can also better oneself inother ways.

"You learn how to think criti-cally and find solutions to unex-pected challenges. I remember weused to ask our teachers, 'Whyam I going to need algebra?' Well,you may not have to solve for xto get a good job or to be a goodparent.

But you will need to thinkthrough tough problems. You'llneed to think on your feet. You'llneed to know how to gather factsand evaluate information.-PTI

Know India Program andStudy India Program areorientation programs forDiaspora youth, with a view topromote awareness on differ-ent facets of life in India

Sridhar is recognizedas the world's leadingauthority on the lin-guistics of his nativelanguage, Kannadaand has been influen-tial in several areas ofIndian and appliedlinguistics

India PostMay 27, 2011 7

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NJ couple pleads guilty to selling counterfeit drugsIndia Post News Service

NEW JERSEY: An IndianAmerican couple from Closter,New Jersey pleaded guilty onMay 16, to selling counterfeitdrugs manufactured in India tocustomers in the US

Nita Patel, 47, and her husbandHarshad Patel, 53, an Indian na-tional admitted to selling the coun-terfeit drugs manufactured in In-dia to customers in the UnitedStates, and pleaded guilty beforeUS District Judge Joseph E. Irenasto one count of unlicensed distri-bution of pharmaceuticals.

A third individual, MoloyGhosh, 31, of India, pleaded guiltybefore Judge Irenas on December15, 2010, and was sentenced bythe Judge on March 22, 2011, toeight months in prison.

Nita Patel, Harshad Patel, and

Ghosh were all previously arrestedand charged by Complaint onApril 2, 2010, US Attorney Paul J.Fishman announced.

According to documents filedin this case and statements madein Camden federal court

Nita Patel offered "generic"forms of patented pharmaceuticalproducts for sale over the Internet,the source of which was an In-dian company. When contactedby an undercover law enforce-ment officer, Nita Patel provided aprice list of products offering forsale "Generic Viagra," "GenericCialis," and "Generic Levitra,"each of which is a patent-pro-tected erectile dysfunction drugmanufactured in the UntiedStates.

Over the course of severalmonths, Nita Patel and her hus-band negotiated with the under-

cover officer for the sale of morethan 300,000 tablets of counter-feit drugs, including the erectile

dysfunction drugs, as well ascounterfeit versions of Abilify (adrug used for the treatment of

schizophrenia and bipolar disor-der), Lexapro (a drug used for thetreatment of depression), andPlavix (a drug used as an anti-co-agulant).

All of the counterfeit drugswere shipped from Ghosh's busi-ness in India, where Ghosh livedand worked before traveling to theUnited States on a business visaon April 2, 2010 - the day beforehe was arrested. Ghosh and NitaPatel used fictitious names onCustoms Declaration forms in or-der to avoid detection.

Had the drugs the defendantssold to the undercover law en-forcement officer been authentic,they would have had a WholesaleAcquisition Cost of more than$2.5 million. The tablets, which insome cases were designed tomimic the appearance of the legiti-mate drugs, were not tested or

approved by the FDA for distri-bution in the United States, andhad labels that did not containrequired safety warnings.

Under Federal law, it is illegalto distribute wholesale quantitiesof pharmaceuticals without a li-cense to do so. Neither the Patelsnor Ghosh had such a license inthe State of New Jersey.

The charge to which Nita andHarshad Patel pleaded guilty car-ries a maximum potential penaltyof 10 years in prison and a$250,000 fine, or twice the grossgain or loss from the offense. Sen-tencing is currently scheduled forAugust 23.

US Attorney Fishman creditedspecial agents of the FBI, underthe direction of Special Agent inCharge Michael B. Ward in New-ark, with the investigation lead-ing to the guilty pleas.

15 Indian American students amongPresidential Scholars


NEW YORK: At least 15 IndianAmerican students are among the2011 US Presidential Scholars thisyear. These students are among the141 outstanding high school se-niors who have been selected bythe White House Commission onPresidential Scholars appointedby the President, for demonstrat-ing outstanding academicachievement, artistic excellence,leadership, citizenship, serviceand contribution to school andcommunity.

The Presidential Scholars willbe honored for their accomplish-ments in Washington D.C., fromJune 18-21.

"The US Presidential Scholarsexemplify what dedication toachievement and setting highstandards can symbolize for allyouth," said US Secretary of Edu-cation Arne Duncan. "The De-partment of Education congratu-lates these students on their ar-tistic and academic accomplish-ments."

The 141 US Presidential Schol-ars include one young man andone young woman from eachstate, the District of Columbia andPuerto Rico, and from US familiesliving abroad, as well as 15 cho-sen at-large and 20 PresidentialScholars in the Arts.

For the past 47 years, this pres-tigious program has honored morethan 6,000 of the nation's top-per-forming students. Of the three mil-lion students expected to gradu-ate from high school this year,more than 3,000 candidates quali-fied on the basis of outstanding

performance on the College BoardSAT and ACT exams, or by nomi-nation through the nationwideYoungArts competition con-ducted by the National Founda-tion for Advancement in the Arts.

The US Presidential ScholarsProgram was created in 1964 to

honor academic achievement. Itwas expanded in 1979 to recognizestudents who demonstrate excep-tional talent in the visual, literaryand performing arts.

Since 1983, each PresidentialScholar has invited his or her mostinspiring and challenging teacherto travel to Washington, D.C., toreceive a Teacher RecognitionAward from the US Department of

Education and to participate inthe recognition events.

Among the selected 15 IndianAmerican students are:

Teja R. Alapati of RandolphSchool from Huntsville, Alabama;Keshav Amla of Phoenic CountryDay School from Chandler, Ari-zona and Amita Gupta of Univer-sity High School, Tucson, Ari-zona; Neha Kumar of Saint Mary'sEpiscopal School in Forrest City,Arkansas; Lara Mitra of SidwellFriends School, Washington DC;Akshay V. Save of Lake MaryHigh School in Longwood,Florida; Rohit Agrawal of WayzataHigh School from Plymouth, Min-nesota; Samantha S. Nanayakkaraof Mississippi School for Math-ematics & Science, Oxford, Mis-sissippi; Sanchay Gupta of TheMeadows School, Las Vegas, Ne-vada; Divya V. Shah of ClarkstownHigh School South in West Nyack,New York; Anjali R. Sawh ofEdmond North High School,Edmond, Oklahoma; Joya A.Ahmad of William Penn CharterSchool in Philadelphia, Pennsylva-nia; Karthik Sethuraman of WilliamP. Clements High School in SugarLand, Texas; and Arjun S. Dhillonof Fort Atkinson High School inFort Atkinson, Wisconsin.

"Pakistan faces enormous chal-lenges in the years ahead," saidAbbas. "But the people of Paki-stan have shown a remarkable re-silience in addressing some ofthese challenges, and there is a

Asia Society urges policy shifts in Pakistanhigh potential for reform and de-velopment in the country. Pro-gressive and constructive policyshifts in Pakistan, as suggestedthroughout the Study Group's re-port, are what truly matter in thelong term."

"As facts about the killing ofOsama bin Laden by US forces inPakistan come to light, relationsbetween Islamabad and Washing-ton and its allies will be severelytested. The United States and thebroader international community

have an extremely important stakein helping to set Pakistan on asteady path. Ultimately, a stablePakistan is the only effective wayto tackle militant sanctuaries in thecountry and bring a durable peaceto South Asia," says Abbas.

Cont’d from page 5

China to give Pak 50 Thunderjets; talks for stealth on

ISLAMABAD: China hasagreed to immediately providePakistan 50 new JF-17 Thundermulti-role jets under a co-produc-tion agreement even as talks areon for more fighter aircraft includ-ing those with stealth technology.

China will immediately provide50 JF-17 Thunder aircraft to Paki-stan, an unnamed official wasquoted as saying by the Dawndaily.

"We will get theseplanes in weeks," hesaid, adding that a for-mal agreement to thateffect was being signed.

The official said Pa-kistan and China werealready jointly produc-ing the JF-17 aircraft,but these 50 planeswould be equipped with more so-phisticated avionics.

He said the war planes to befully funded by China would helpbolster Pakistan's defense and addto tactical capability of its airforce.

The News daily reported thatit is likely that these planes will besupplied by June next year.

It added that the two countriesare also discussing the supply ofChinese J-20 stealth jets andXiaolong/FC-1 multi-purpose

light fighter aircraft to Pakistan.They are discussing the mode

of payment and the number ofplanes to be provided to Pakistan,the report said.

With the supply of the newfighters, Pakistan Air Force willnow have a total of 260 Chinesejets, making them the mainstay ofthe force.

Meanwhile, in a sign of greater

cooperation between the twocountries, China will also launcha satellite for Pakistan on August14.

The satellite will supply "mul-tifarious data" to Pakistan, the re-port said.

Prime Minister Yousuf RazaGilani, who was on a visit to China,said both sides had agreed to in-crease defense cooperation andChina had assured Pakistan ofhelp in enhancing the capacity ofits armed forces. -PTI

The official said Pakistan andChina were already jointlyproducing the JF-17 aircraft,but these 50 planes would beequipped with moresophisticated avionics

The 141 US PresidentialScholars include oneyoung man and oneyoung woman fromeach state, the Districtof Columbia andPuerto Rico, and fromUS families livingabroad, as well as 15chosen at-large

Under Federal law, it isillegal to distributewholesale quantities ofpharmaceuticalswithout a license to doso. Neither the Patelsnor Ghosh had such alicense in the State ofNew Jersey


www.indiapost.com

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NY celebrates 150th Rabindranath Tagore anniversaryIndia Post News Service

NEW YORK: Manhattan Bor-ough President Scott Stringerjoined in Times Square on May 7,with a diverse and eclectic groupof actors, musicians, and writersto celebrate the 150th birthday ofthe Bengali poet RabindranathTagore.

The celebration of Tagore'sbirthday has become a traditionfor New York City. On May 7, 1961,Times Square was renamed"Tagore Square" in recognition ofthe poet's 100th birthday. In addi-tion to declaring May 7 "TagoreDay" in the Borough of Manhat-tan, Borough President Stringer

presented the first-ever key to theBorough to award-winning filmactress and director Aparna Sen.She is the recipient of three Na-tional Film Awards and eight in-ternational film festival awards.

The Borough President co-hosted the event with USIN Cel-ebrations, a community organi-zation which was co-founded byNew York City District LeaderUma Sengupta and Roger SenGupta. USIN Celebrations pro-vides educational services, sup-ports the arts and creates aware-ness for and about the SouthAsian American community andsurrounding communities.

"It is only fitting that we cel-ebrate Tagore's 150th birthday in

a city defined by its diversity,where 170 different languagesare spoken and an array of differ-ent races and ethnicities live to-gether in harmony," said Stringer."As a poet, Tagore captured thebeauty in tolerance and truth. Ihope a few more New Yorkerswalk away from today's eventwith an appreciation for this ar-tistic legend."

The presentation also in-cluded the World Premiere of aScottish song that Tagore trans-lated into Bengali and has beenin production for the past year.Two American-born singers, KatGang and Sumona Roy, per-formed the Scottish song fol-

lowed by a Bengali rendition andchorus led by Anima Chaudhuriand the Indian Cultural Center ofNew York. While the Bengali ver-sion was being sung there was asimultaneous dance interpreta-tion led by Rimli Roy and hertroupe from Surati for the Per-forming Arts. The project wasconceived and sponsored byRoger Sengupta.

On the occasion, SenatorMalcolm A. Smith said: "It is anhonor to be here to celebrate thegreat Rabindranath Tagore'swork in literature, music, philoso-phy and the arts. I have had theprivilege to travel twice toCalcutta, the land that Tagorewas born in and see first-hand

the contributions that he madeto India and Bangladesh. Today,as we stand here in Times Square,as some call it the 'financial capi-tal of the world,' we are able tohonor, preserve and share thecontributions that Tagore madeto the world."

Roger Sengupta, Co-founderof Celebrations said: "Today wehave been able to share the rich-ness of Tagore with the mosaicand mixture of New York Cityresidents. It is also very fittingthat on Tagore's 150th Anniver-sary, Times Square was namedTagore Square, and we hope thaton his 200th birthday there willbe a street in New York Citynamed Tagore Way. So I invitethe next generation to take onthis task."

Uma Sengupta, District leaderand Co-founder of Celebrationssaid: "Tagore is renowned as aworldwide poet, writer and re-former. His vision of creating di-versity during British India wasrevolutionary. His vision of inter-racial communities was revolu-tionary in the early 1900s and herewe are today, in the most diversecity in the entire world, celebrat-ing and honoring this great mis-sionary guru."

Tagore was a multi-talentedfigure who influenced genera-tions of Indians with his contri-butions to literature, music, phi-losophy and the arts. In 1913, hewas awarded the Nobel Prize forLiterature, the first South Asianto win such an award. Tagore'sworks were widely translated into

English, Dutch, German, Spanish,and Czech, and is regarded as the

greatest poet in India's history.Born in Calcutta, Rabindrinath

Tagore began writing poetry ateight years old. Some of his mostfamous collections of poetry areGitanjali, Manasi, Sonar Tori,Balaka and Purobi. Tagore's ca-reer was defined by his broadand profound versatility; in ad-dition to poetry, he publishedover 2,300 songs, eight novels,dozens of short-form and non-fiction works, and the nationalanthems of two countries - Indiaand Bangladesh.

Several of India andBangladesh's top cultural andpolitical figures were in atten-dance to celebrate Tagore's im-pact on their native country, in-cluding Professor MomtazuddinAhmed, Cultural Minister ofBangladesh as well as Indian andBengali community leaders, mu-sicians and performers.Tagore celebrations at NY Con-sulate

Among other prominent cel-ebrations of the Tagore anniver-sary was the cultural evening atthe Consulate General of India inNew York, organized in collabo-ration with the Tagore Society ofNew York, which was attendedby more than 100 people.

Dr. Anju Kumar, Consul, in-formed the gathering about theyear-long celebrations in India tocommemorate the anniversary;about the institution of a presti-

Raja in Time ignominious club of top scandalsNEW YORK: Former

Telecom Minister A Raja, at thecentre of the 2G spectrum allo-cation scam, has earned the du-bious distinction of figuring inthe list of Time Magazine's "anignominious club of privilegedleaders who stepped too far".

The 2G scam is ranked No 2 inthe list of scandals and scams inthe all-time Top 10 Abuses of

Power, only next to ex-AmericanPresident Richard Nixon's 'Plumb-ers', a secret unit tasked with dig-ging up dirt on Pentagon Papersleaker Daniel Ellsberg.

Raja, who is cooling his heelsin New Delhi's Tihar jail, has beatensome tough contenders to beranked second and be ahead ofLibyan strongman MuammarGaddafi, North Korean autocratic

leader Kim Jong-II and skirt-chas-ing Italian premier SilvioBerlusconi. Raja's lawyer whencontacted said he did not want tocomment on the report.

The Time write-up on the India'sTelecoms Scandal says, "In recentmonths, India's ruling coalitiongovernment has been rocked byan epic corruption scandal that haschallenged its once unbreakable

grip on power."The Time report while includ-

ing the DMK leader in its list alsodid not have any kind words forIndian democracy or the judiciary.

It said that following 2008 elec-tions, the country's telecommuni-cations ministry was awarded toAndimithu Raja, "a relativelygreen lawmaker from a regionalparty who won his post as a result

of India's usual parliamentarypolitical horse-trading."

The magazine further said,"But, according to allegations thatled to Raja resigning late last year,he presided over the underpric-ing of bandwidth to mobile com-panies - apparently in return forbribes - which some estimate mayhave cost the Indian governmentaround USD 7 billion.-PTI

The presentation alsoincluded the WorldPremiere of a Scottishsong that Tagore trans-lated into Bengali andhas been in productionfor the past year

gious International Award worthRs. 1 crore, in the name ofRabindranath Tagore, to recog-nize very distinguished contribu-tions towards the promotion ofinternational brotherhood andfraternity; and also about the al-lotment of Rs. 95 crores by theGovernment of India towards res-toration of Viswa Bharti.

Professor Sugata Bose,Gardiner Professor of OceanicHistory and Affairs at HarvardUniversity and author of severalbooks including translations ofsome of the finest poetry ofTagore, was the keynote speaker.He spoke about life and creationsof Tagore, influence of interna-tional travel on his works and hisideas about nationalism and uni-versalism. He ended his speechwith a beautiful Tagore song,'Amar bela je jaye…'

A beautiful rendition ofRabindranritya by Ritam Acad-emy of Princeton was followedby a very innovative performanceby Surati for Performing Arts.

Isheeta Ganguly, who had flownin from Mumbai for the special oc-casion, enthralled the audiencewith her melodious interpretationof Rabindrasangeet. Dr. AmiyaBanerjee offered a couple of moresongs and drew loud applausefrom the delighted audience.

The program ended with a spir-ited Rabindranritya performanceby New York Dance Company.

Holding up the NYS Resolution

Jay Sarkar, Borough President Scott Stringer, Aparna Sen, Uma Sengupta,

NY State Senator Malcolm Smith

India Post www.indiapost.com May 27, 2011

COMMUNITYACROSS AMERICA

Desi News

9

Details on page 11

Details on page 15

Details on page 19

Details on page 18

Indian Americans across US to joinBaba Ramdev's Satyagraha

SRIREKHA CHAKRAVARTY


NEW JERSEY: Members ofthe Friends of India Society In-ternational (FISI) along with theBharat Swabhiman Overseas(BSO) as well as the OverseasFriends of BJP (OFBJP) havedeclared their support to BabaRamdev's movement against cor-ruption in India and his indefi-nite fast (Bhrashtachar MitaoSatyagrah) beginning June 4 inNew Delhi.

At a meeting held at the Ma-hatma Gandhi Center in Wayne,New Jersey, Dr. BhishmaAgnihotri, president of FISI andformer Ambassador-at-Large forNRIs, said groups of supporterswill also be observing a tokenhunger fast in support of BabaRamdev's movement, in citiesacross the US on June 4.

The OFBJP national executivecommittee resolved to organizemass protests on that day. TheOFBJP-led protests will be orga-nized in New York City, UpstateNY, New Jersey, Pennsylvania,Delaware, Washington DC, Rich-mond-VA, Tampa-FL, Houston-TX, Dallas-TX, St. Louis-MO,Atlanta-GA, Chicago-IL, Bos-ton-MA, and California.

At the FISI meet, Agnihotrisaid Baba Ramdev had launchedhis anti-corruption movement -the Bharat Swabhiman move-ment - five years ago, and whathe was tackling was muchbroader in scope than the move-ment against corruptionlaunched by social activist AnnaHazare a couple of months ago.

"India is in trouble," saidAgnihotri referring to the ram-pant corruption in the country."I am a soldier in the fight againstcorruption. I told Ramdevji thatI will dedicate the rest of my lifeto this cause."

Agnihotri said one needed to-tal commitment to fight such anissue as corruption and "be-cause the issue is so huge, if wedon't do anything all progressIndia has achieved will go downthe drain."

FISI, Agnihotri said, was cre-ated to support the anti-govern-

Dr. Bhishma Agnihotri announcing support to Baba Ramdev's anti-corruption movement in India

ment movement launched byJayaprakash Narain againstPrime Minister Indira Gandhi'srule in the 1970s. "But now thefight is not against any one gov-ernment," Agnihotri pointed out."It is against the very systemthat needs to be changed. Ourpurpose is to bring about a sys-tem change."

NJ-based businessman

Mridul Pathak, in his observa-tions, said it was important toroot out corruption from one'smind first especially in a coun-try like India which has a paralleleconomy running. "We all knowthe power of fasting as a form ofprotest. We saw it of AnnaHazare recently. Hope June 4brings a new era in the country,"he said about the proposedSatyagraha.

Pathak added that peopleshould now think inward. "Weshould cleanse ourselves firstand then take on the world."

Another speaker, JyontindraPatel said leaders like BabaRamdev and Anna Hazare shouldwork together. Corruption, hesaid, was cancerous and theonly cure for it in a democracywas the elections where people

have the right to decide.Baba Ramdev, who is known

for his healing techniquesthrough yoga and herbal medi-cine, as also for his politicalviews, has said that he wouldbreak his fast only if the govern-ment drafts a strong anti-corrup-tion Bill that includes a deathsentence for the corrupt.

Ramdev's three major de-mands are: Take initiative to get

back the black money stashed inforeign banks; take strong actionagainst the corrupt; and makestrong legislation like Lokpal Billagainst corruption.

OFBJP President, Dr. AdapaPrasad gave a call to the IndianAmerican community to comeout and join the protest. Refer-ring to the recent multi-crorescandals involving central min-isters, Prasad that India wasnever looted in such a fashioneither by the Turk-Afghan/Arab-Mongol invaders or Europeanintruders.

The OFBJP says that the cor-rupt were finding new and inno-vative ways to loot and stashaway illegal monies in far offcountries.

There is a published reportfrom Caribbean islands abouthow some Indian investors havebeen buying up small islands inrecent times and the suspicionpoints to the involvement ofhigh profile politicians from In-dia.

"Now, we learn that these poli-ticians and bureaucrats havebeen channeling their moniesthrough middle men like HasanAli," the OFBJP officials said.

4th season of SouthAsian Spelling BeeannouncedIndia Post News Service

NEW YORK: The fourth sea-son of the MetLife South AsianSpelling Bee was announced byTouchdown Media, the leadingmulticultural advertising firm atan event held in Manhattan lastweek. MetLife, the global pro-vider of life insurance and otherfinancial services, returns as thetitle sponsor of the contest.

The event is open to childrenof South Asian descent up to 14years of age and gives them achance to test their spellingskills in their core peer group. In-terested spellers need their par-ent or guardian to register themonline at www.southasian-spellingbee.com.

Hindu Templeplans grandexpansionIndia Post News Service

ST. LOUIS: The Hindu Templeof St. Louis is undertaking a grandexpansion of its facility in BallwinMO.

Temple plans to expand itssouth side with Lord AyyappaMahasannidanam and its northside with Sri Vasavi KanyakaParameshwari Alayam shrine.Ground-breaking (Bhoomi-Pooja)ceremony for north and south ex-pansion was conducted on May5. Kanyaka Parameshwari idol hasalready arrived in the temple.

The Hindu temple of St. Louiswas formally registered as a not-for-profit organization in Missouriin 1988.

Trinity Collegeteaches fromVedas & GitaIndia Post News Service

HARTFORD: Prestigious Trin-ity College in Hartford (Connecti-cut, USA), whose earliest heritagewas Episcopalian, now teachesfrom Vedas, Bhagvad Gita andUpanishads in some of its courses.

Courses offered by it also teachclassical Sanskrit, traditional Hin-duism, Hare Krishna, Hindu viewson war and peace, etc.

Founded in 1823, Trinity claimsto be a highly selective liberal artsand sciences college spread over100 green acres.

Baba Ramdev had launched his anti-corruptionmovement - the Bharat Swabhiman movement- five years ago, and what he was tackling wasmuch broader in scope than the movementagainst corruption launched by social activistAnna Hazare a couple of months ago

Ricky Gill announcescandidacy forUS Congress

from 11th District

Sinha murder case

Facebook/text messages of accused allowed as evidenceIndia Post News Service

NEW JERSEY: In a significant ruling, aSuperior Court Judge in New Jersey allowedFacebook conversations and text messagesbetween the teenagers facing trial in themurder of Dr. Divyendu Sinha in Old Bridgein June last year, and said these could beused against the accused during their trial.

Judge Bradley Ferencz ruled during thehearing on May 16 that 29 of the 34 textmessages were admissible, but excludedfive other messages as they were too in-flammatory as they related to bragging byseveral of the boys about their actions inthe attack on Dr. Sinha.

The text messages were between JulianDaley, 16, Christopher Conway, 17, and CashJohnson, 17, the night of June 25, shortlyafter Sinha and his two sons were attackedin front of their home on Fela Drive in OldBridge.

Star Ledger reported that in the text mes-sages that were admitted, Conway andDaley allegedly plan to beat someone elseup the night of June 26 and discuss what

they should say if questioned by police. Inthe messages not admitted, the two alleg-edly discuss how much they enjoyed beat-ing up Sinha.

The Facebook entries that were admit-ted were between Daley and Johnson andanother series between Daley and another

friend in which Daley relates what he,Johnson, Conway, Christian Tinli, 18, andSteven Contreras, 17, had just done. Thetwo also discuss how Daley could hide hisidentity from police.

Judge Ferencz said the text messages andFacebook entries are evidence MiddlesexCounty Assistant Prosecutor Christopher

Kuberiet could use to show the five con-spired to attack Sinha and planned to at-tack someone else the next night.

On June 25 last year, Sinha was taking awalk outside his home along with his wifeand two sons when the accused who camein a car, got out and attacked Sinha and his

sons. The wife was unharmed, the sonssuffered minor injuries but Sinha suc-cumbed to his injuries.

Many of the text messages were madewithin 10 minutes of the assault and dis-cussed the attack, according to Kuberiet,who sought to use them in the boys' up-coming trial, the New Jersey daily reported.

Authorities said the juveniles, who willbe tried as adults on charges of murderingSinha, had been drinking before the attackand decided to go "wilding," and look forpeople to attack.

When they saw the Sinhas, authoritiessaid, the car carrying the five teens pulledup near the family. Three teens got out andattacked Sinha, beating him to the groundwith their hands and feet, authorities said.Sinha was rushed to Robert Wood JohnsonUniversity Hospital in New Brunswick,where he died four days later.

Judge Ferencz plans to set a trial date ineither August or September.

Four of the five teenagers are free on bail.Daley, who has twice violated conditionsof his bail, is in the Middlesex County jail inlieu of $1 million bail.

The Indian American community mem-bers have been supportive of the bereavedfamily, and organizations like the VHPAmerica have been urging members to showup in large numbers at the hearings and laterat the trial to not only show support to thefamily but also solidarity as a community.

Telugu community holds memorialservice for Dyapa


NEW JERSEY: The Telugucommunity in New Jersey held amemorial service May 14 for ArjunReddy Dyapa, the pharmacist whowas shot dead by an unidentified

gunman at his Brunswick Phar-macy in Trenton on April 29.

Rich tributes were paid toDyapa, who was very popular notonly among his community but

also among the locals where heconducted his business. The ser-vice, which began with a'Shantipath' by a Hindu priest andconcluded with a candle lightvigil, was attended by Dyapa'swife, daughter, brother and other

family members and friends.Speaking to India Post, Dyapa's

younger brother Krishna Reddy,reflected on his older brother'sgenerosity and helpful nature. On

the day of the tragedy, Dyapa infact took the bullet while shield-ing a female assistant who wasinitially targeted by the killer,Krishna Reddy said.

He also said his brother hadnever turned a customer away ifhe could not afford some prescrip-tion medicine at his pharmacy.

All major Telugu associationsin the US, including ATA, NATA,TANA, NATS and local Telugu or-ganizations in the Tri-state areaparticipated in the memorial ser-vice. Friends of Arjun, a group ofclose friends and colleagues ofArjun Dyapa announced the for-mation of a memorial trust in hisname to continue his legacy. Over100 people pledged support to thetrust activities.

Meanwhile, in view of thecommunity's shock and outrageover Dyapa's murder, the Indepen-dent Pharmacy Alliance (IPA) of-fered a $2,500 reward to anyonewith information leading to thekiller.

IPA CEO John Giampolo notedthis is in addition to other rewardsbeing offered for the capture ofDyapa's killer. "No urban phar-macy owner can rest easy until theperpetrator of this crime iscaught," said Giampolo.

IPA's reward offer is in additionto the rewards already offered bytwo local store owners and PurduePharma, all totaling over $10,000.

The IPA has asked anyonewishing to contribute to increasethis reward, to call IPA at 800-575-2667.

Candlelight vigil was held at Albert Palace in New Jersey for Arjun Reddy

Dyapa, an Indian American who was shot dead at his pharmacy on April 29 by

an unidentified gunman. Family and friends organized the memorial on May 14.

(Pic:Mohammed Jaffer/SnapsIndia)

Fundraiser announced forDemocratic campaign

SURI SWAMY

CHICAGO: A group of IndianAmericans in Chicagoland headedby Balwinder Singh and a newlyappointed member of NancyPelosi Democratic CongressionalCampaign Committee (DCCC) cabi-net, Vinesh Virani, have announcedhosting a fund raiser for DCCC in

Chicago on July 15.In a talk to this paper, a DCCC

Cabinet member Balwinder Singhsaid that the fundraiser was theoutcome of a talk with Rep NancyPelosi who was in Chicago on May16 on her way to Milwaukee WI.

She is credited with the view thata fundraiser event in Chicagolandnext month would be a welcomeidea as Democrats are determinedto wrest the control of the Houseas soon as possible and this wouldnecessitate huge campaign funds.She inducted Vinesh Virani, a com-

munity activist, into DCCC Cabi-net to strengthen the Chicagobase and both these membersagreed to collect funds for theDemocratic Party at the nationallevel.

Balwinder Singh (left) and Vinesh Virani (right) with

Nancy Pelosi (C) in Chicago

Contíd on page 13

IPA CEO John Giampolo noted "No urban phar-macy owner can rest easy until the perpetratorof this crime is caught"

She is credited with the view that a fundraiserevent in Chicagoland next month would be awelcome idea as Democrats are determined towrest the control of the House as soon as possible

When they saw the Sinhas, authorities said, the car carryingthe five teens pulled up near the family. Three teens got outand attacked Sinha, beating him to the ground with theirhands and feet, authorities said. Sinha was rushed to RobertWood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick,where he died four days later

May 27, 2011India Post10 Community Across Americawww.indiapost.com

NY Consulate celebratesBaisakhi

Former Ambassador Kanwar Sibal addressing the gathering

(Pics: Mohammed Jaffer-SnapsIndia)

Consulate General of India celebrating Baisakhi festival on May 11


NEW YORK: More than 200people gathered to celebrateBaisakhi on May 11, at an eventorganized by the Indian Consu-late in New York in associationwith the Sikh Art and Film Foun-dation.

Consul General Prabhu Dayalsaid on the occasion that the Con-sulate has been celebrating all fes-tivals such as Diwali, Dussehra,

Eid, Christmas, Baisakhi with theinvolvement of Indian communityorganizations. He said thatBaisakhi was celebrated all overIndia, but it was particularly sig-nificant for the Sikh community asit was on this day that GuruGobind Singh had founded theSikh Khalsa. The Consul Generalthanked community members forturning up in such a large numberfor celebrating the festival at theConsulate.

Kanwar Sibal, former ForeignSecretary of India, who was theChief Guest at the function, saidhe appreciated the role of the In-dian-American community forstrengthening India's relationswith the United States. He saidthat in the past there had beensome hurdles which impeded thefull growth of bilateral relations butthese were being slowly removed.He said the potential for thegrowth of Indo-US relations was

very high and exhorted the Indian-American community to continueworking for bringing the two coun-tries closer.

Teji Bindra, President of theSikh Art & Film Foundation alsoaddressed the gathering and ex-plained the significance ofBaisakhi. He said there was a highlevel of interest in America in Sikhreligion and a Chair on Sikh Stud-ies had been set up at HofstraUniversity.

4th season of South Asian SpellingBee announced

(L to R) Laurel Daring, Assistant Vice President of Diverse Markets at MetLife; Rahul Walia, CEO of Touchdown Media

Inc. and founder of the South Asian Spelling Bee; Ambassador Prabhu Dayal Consul General of India-NY and Jaideep

Janakiram, Head - North America, Sony Entertainment Networks at the Season 4 Launch & Anniversary Party of

The 2011 MetLife South Asian Spelling Bee.


NEW YORK: The fourth sea-son of the MetLife South AsianSpelling Bee was announced byTouchdown Media, the leadingmulticultural advertising firm atan event held in Manhattan lastweek. MetLife, the global pro-vider of life insurance and otherfinancial services, returns as thetitle sponsor of the contest.

The event is open to childrenof South Asian descent up to 14years of age and gives them achance to test their spellingskills in their core peer group. In-terested spellers need their par-ent or guardian to register themonline atwww.southasianspellingbee.com.

Organized by TouchdownMedia Inc., the 2011 MetLifeSouth Asian Spelling Bee will beconducted in 10 locations acrossthe United States starting June18. Regional level events will beheld in Los Angeles, the BayArea, Dallas, Houston, Chicago,Atlanta, New Jersey, DC Metro,New York and Boston. All eventswill be free to attend and opento the public.

"It's great to be celebratingthe 4th year of the South Asian

Spelling Bee. With the help of oursponsors and media partners, agreat platform has been built forthe community where spellerscan test their skill and have thethrill of being on television. Wehave expanded to 10 cities acrossthe US, adding Atlanta to theroster and look forward to an-other great season in 2011." saidRahul Walia, CEO of TouchdownMedia Inc. and founder of the

South Asian Spelling Bee.Each competition will begin

with a written test of 25 words.The participants must spell 15 ormore words correctly to advanceto the afternoon oral round,which will be conducted by ex-perienced pronouncers andjudges. The top three in the oralround will receive prize money.

The top two spellers of each

regional competition will ad-vance to the finals to be held inNew Jersey in August. Like lastyear, MetLife has inducted the$10,000 champion's scholarshipthat will be awarded to the win-ner at the finals.

"MetLife is proud to onceagain sponsor the South AsianSpelling Bee, and to help childrenenjoy a fun, educational event,"said Laurel Daring, assistant vice

president of Diverse Markets atMetLife. "We're also pleased tocontinue helping families de-velop financial strategies toachieve important goals, like at-taining the best education fortheir children."

As always, The 2011 MetLifeSouth Asian Spelling Bee will betelecast on Sony EntertainmentTelevision, Asia in over 120countries. Sony EntertainmentTelevision Asia has the broad-cast rights and will be showingthe contest worldwide (exceptIndia and Pakistan) on theirchannel.

Jaideep Janakiram, Head -North America, Sony Entertain-ment Networks said, "We are de-lighted to see the South AsianSpelling Bee in its 4th season onSony Entertainment Television,Asia. SET Asia plans to consid-erably enhance internationalviewer participation in its pre-mium programs."

Organized by Touchdown Media Inc., the 2011MetLife South Asian Spelling Bee will be con-ducted in 10 locations across the United Statesstarting June 18. Regional level events will beheld in Los Angeles, the Bay Area, Dallas, Hous-ton, Chicago, Atlanta, New Jersey, DC Metro,New York and Boston

May 27, 2011 India PostCommunity Across Americawww.indiapost.com

11


Gujarati Samaj celebrates Spring festivalASHWIN PATEL

ST LOUIS: A two and half de-cade old community organizationset up to preserve Gujarati cultureand heritage, the Gujarati Samaj ofSt. Louis, Missouri, celebrated theSpring Festival 2011 with greatbonhomie at St. Ann CommunityCenter.

The program started with lightGujarati food provided by boardmembers, the Senior CitizensGroup and the Youth Club mem-bers. More than 400 people at-tended the celebration.

The cultural program started at7 pm, with the singing of Ameri-can and Indian national anthems.It was followed by a prayer offeredby local Bal Vihar students.Rakesh Bhakta president ofGujarati Samaj, welcomed the gath-ering.

The four-hour program con-sisted of over 27 different itemsperformed by members, small chil-dren, juniors and seniors, who

Raas-Garba and entertainment program by youth, kids and adults at St Louis Gujarati Samaj Spring Festival celebrations

Brahmrishi at NY Senate

Spiritual leader from India,Brahmrishi Kumar Swamidelivered an invocation in

the Chamber of the New York StateSenate at its opening session inAlbany, recently.

Senate members honored himwith a unanimous Resolution rec-ognizing him as "one of the mostscholarly figures of world reli-gions, dedicated to the welfare ofpeople of all faiths with an out-standing and inspiring record ofcommunity service."

Subsequently, a large numberof senators lined up to meet andgreet the Swami individually.

Senators Dean Skelos and JackMartins welcomed the Swami withgarlands. Amongst others greetingthe spiritual leader were NassauCounty Executive Ed Mangano,Senator Charles Fuschillo, SenatorKemp Hannon and AssemblymanMichael Montesano. TheBrahmrishi was also given a guidedtour of the Governor's office andthe state capital.

dressed up in different costumespertaining to spring. They repre-sented the culture of all parts ofGujarat. The program was filled

with folk dances, Gujarati Raas,Bollywood songs, classicalsongs, Bollywood remix songsand comic skits by the youthgroup. The Master of Ceremonyfor Cultural Program wereMadhukar Bhakta were SnehalVyas.

The purpose of the programwas to encourage a large partici-pation, celebrate the spring festi-val and to provide a platform forGujaratis to mingle with each otherand also with those from other eth-nic communities.

The Gujarati Samaj is a lead or-ganization in St. Louis for the In-dian community. It will host an In-dia kite festival on May 21 atSportPort Park, Maryland Heights,and a picnic in July 23 atMcDonald Park.

The 2011 Board of directors are- President: Rakesh Bhakta, vicepresident: Sanjay Patel, Secretary:Mahendra R. Patel, Treasurer:Jitendra Prabhu, Members:Manhar Bhakta, MahendraZ.Patel, Jayesh Desai, Ricky Pateland Tejas Bhakta.


13

Balwinder Singh has been very active inthe political scene. He was one of the fore-most Indian Americans who supportedBarack Obama a decade ago when he waslittle known outside Chicago and was seek-ing Senate seat vacated by Carol MosleyBraun. He said it was in the interest of In-dian Americans and also that of India thatDemocrats gain control of the House. It wasin this context that both Virani and Singhtook initiative to host a fundraiser nextmonth.

Virani said that the venue for thefundraiser event is not decided as yet butwould be somewhere in the north side. Hesaid he would work hard with Singh to cre-ate awareness among Indian Americans toelect as many Democrats to the House ofRepresentatives and Senate so that "ourviews are heard and concerns addressed."

Traditionally it is Democrats who havebeen helping minority communities, includ-ing Indians and it was after the initiative ofJohn F Kennedy who commenced IndianPeace Crops that more and more Indiansstarted coming to USA for settlement. Hesaid that Nancy Pelosi has agreed to cometo the fundraiser event in July.

The DCCC is the official campaign armof the Democrats in the House of Repre-sentatives. DCCC had at least $17 million ofdebt heading into 2011, having tapped a big

Fundraiser announced forDemocratic campaign

bank credit line in a failed bid to retain theHouse majority on Election Day. It still facesa challenge overcoming that debt while stillhaving the resources to back challengersand incumbents.

Rep. Steve Israel will head the Democratic

Congressional Campaign Committee for the2012 election cycle, a move that will vaultthe 52-year-old New Yorker into his party'sleadership ranks during what promises tobe a political season for House Democrats.Israel was tapped by Speaker Nancy Pelosi(D-Calif.) for the DCCC.

Contíd from page 10

Art of Living Meditation Center in SchaumburgRAMESH SOPARAWALA & SURENDRA ULLAL

CHICAGO: The first of its typeMeditation and Yoga center by theArt of Living Foundation is slatedto open in burgeoningSchaumburg area of Chicagolandnext month.

Announcing this at a pressmeet of ethnic Indian media hereat Udupi Restaurant, Vinesh Virani,a spokesman, said that this cen-ter was the outcome of a consis-tent demand from yoga and me-diation lovers in and around Chi-

cago, and it will be conductingclasses for its members besideshosting many other activities."There will be a nominal member-ship fee of $50 but there will be afree access to practice yoga exer-cises in the meditation hall as pre-scribed from time to time," he said.

The Center to be located on1251 N. Plum Grove Road, SuiteNo.110, Schaumburg, will be for-

mally laid open by the SchaumburgMayor, Al Larson in the presenceof a number of prominent commu-nity activists and dignitaries. TheRibbon Cutting Ceremony is ex-pected to be attended among oth-ers by Congressmen Joe Walsh,Danny Davis and Congress-woman Jan Schakowsky besidesIllinois Treasurer Dan Rutherfordand Hoffman Estate Mayor Will-iam D. McLeod.

Replying to a question, why

Schaumburg was selected as theCenter, Vinesh explained thatSchaumburg is one of the mostpopulous villages in Illinois andalso is the home for a large num-ber of Indian Americans. So theCenter is going to serve both theAmerican and Indian Americancitizens, who are Yoga enthusiastsand supporters of the teachingsand activities of Guru Sri Sri

Ravishankar.The Center will further expand

the base of Kriya Yoga, especiallypropounded by Guruji. "We con-tinuously are seeking participa-tion of local people and schoolstudents to learn yoga as a physi-cal discipline to open up the pos-sibility for development of char-acter among the students as thefoundation to promote Americanvalues of courage, leadership,charity and pride in our heritage,"he emphasized.

The foundation has alreadyapproached the local school dis-trict and will continue to dissemi-nate in other neighborhoodschools. He said the goal of Yogais controlling the wandering mindand developing focus to be ableto make use of the enormous po-tential of our brain-power to bringout the best within every person.

The Art of Living Foundationis an educational and humani-tarian foundation working onthe basic spiritual principles oflove, kindness and uncondi-tional service to the world as perthe teachings of Guru Sri SriRavishankar.

File photo of Vinesh Virani, Art of Living spokesman, with

Guruji Sri Sri Ravishankar. Contíd on page 16

Vinesh explained that Schaumburg is one ofthe most populous villages in Illinois andalso is the home for a large number of IndianAmericans

Traditionally it is Demo-crats who have beenhelping minority commu-nities, including Indiansand it was after the initia-tive of John F Kennedywho commenced IndianPeace Crops that moreand more Indians startedcoming to USA forsettlement

Prabhu receives 10 DiamondMJF Award

HARISH RAO

CHICAGO: Lions of Illinois heldtheir Multiple District 1 Conventionat the Hilton Garden Inn in Effinghamabout 250 miles from Chicago.

Lions, Lionesses and Leos from12 Districts from MD1 attendedthis gala event which started onFriday May 13 and ended on May15th with Lions of Illinois Foun-

dation breakfast. Past Interna-tional President Judge BiranStevenson from Calgary, Alberta,Canada was the InternationalGuest for the weekend.

On May 14, during Lions of Illi-nois Banquet, five districtsawarded their outstanding lions

with International President'sawards. Past District Governor(2004-05) and current First ViceDistrict Governor Elect Dr. AustinPrabhu received 10 DiamondMelvin Jones Fellowship fromPast International President JudgeBrian Stevenson. Council Chair-man Rick McHale praised Dr. Aus-

tin for his dedication and hardwork in promoting lionism in theUS. There was a standing ova-tion for the gathering for Dr.Prabhu's achievement. He is thefirst lion to receive 10 DiamondMelvin Jones Progressive Fellow-ship in the State of Illinois.

Past International President Judge Brian Stevenson from Canada greeting

Dr. Austin Prabhu after presenting him the award

Austin with his wife Terry

Adult Literacy Program Night at IACNAND KAPOOR

Jesse White delivering a certificate to one of the learnersAld Debra Silverstein addressing

the meet

CHICAGO: Indo-AmericanCenter (IAC) and the North SideLiteracy Coalition (NSLC) membersorganized Adult Literacy ProgramNight of 1000 Stars recently at theIAC facility on Californian/DevonAvenue in Chicago. The main pur-pose is to give adult literacy learn-ers the opportunity to showcasetheir growing literacy skills throughartistic performances, includingsinging songs, reciting poems, andperforming dances with the broaderadult literacy community.

NSLC members included Al-bany Park Community Center, Chi-nese Mutual Aid Association,Howard Area Community Center,Jane Addams Resource Corpora-tion, Midwest Asian American Cen-ter, Mercy Housing Lakefront, and

World Relief, and most prominentlySecretary of State Literacy Office.

"I am communicating confi-dently [in English]… I can be in-dependent now," said SarojaReddy, an IAC Literacy student

from India, who began takingclasses in May 2010 and is cur-rently a Level II student. Sheproudly introduced herself andwelcomed the attendees. Withthem, she shared, "There is one

thing I have learned about my timespent at IAC. It provided me withopportunities to interact withpeople of different nationalities."

The keynote speaker Secretaryof State and Chief Librarian for the

State of IL, Jesse White, appreci-ated the efforts of IAC and otherorganizations for promoting lit-eracy among immigrants, seniors,and others.

Contíd on page 15

"I am communicating confidently [in English]… Ican be independent now," said Saroja Reddy,an IAC Literacy student from India, who begantaking classes in May 2010 and is currentlya Level II student


Hindu Temple plans grand expansion

Guru Transit to Aries celebratedDevotees throng at the Bhoomi Pujan ritual for expansion project.

Health Fair conducted by Hindu TempleKanyaka Parameshwari Pooja (Motherís Day)


ST. LOUIS: The Hindu Templeof St. Louis is undertaking a grandexpansion of its facility in BallwinMO.

Temple plans to expand itssouth side with Lord AyyappaMahasannidanam and its northside with Sri Vasavi KanyakaParameshwari Alayam shrine.Ground-breaking (Bhoomi-Pooja)ceremony for north and south ex-pansion was conducted on May5. Kanyaka Parameshwari idol hasalready arrived in the temple.

The Hindu temple of St. Louiswas formally registered as a not-for-profit organization in Missouriin 1988. Its ground-breaking was

formed on Sunday May 8. Agood number of devotees at-tended the pooja .The poojaprasadam was served for the devo-tees at the end.

Guru Peyarchi (Jupiter Transit)was also observed on Sunday

May 8 with special worship andpooja for Lord Dakshinamurthy.Jupiter is transiting from Meenamto Mesham and it is expected tostay in this position for a year.

held 1990, formal inauguration in1991, while Maha-Kumbhabhishekam celebrationswere conducted in 2009. Elevenshilpis (artisans) were broughtfrom India in 1997 to work on thetemple project. VijayakumarBuddhiraju, G.V. Naidu, and SatishNayak are Chair, Vice Chair andSecretary respectively of TempleBoard of Trustees while PuranLuthra, Malathi Reddy and

Prasanna Ayer are President, VicePresident, and Secretary of its Ex-ecutive Committee. Satish BabuPatibandla is the Manager.

Among the Temple's purposesis: "To promote Hindu Dharma(Religion and Traditions) and cul-ture". It also houses a library ofreligious publications and othermedia.

Besides fulfilling the religiousand social needs of the commu-

nity, this Temple also undertakesvarious humanitarian activities,including distributing sandwichesto homeless, hosting annualhealth fair, collecting and donat-ing canned food, holding freemonthly legal and health clinics,etc.

Named as "One of America'sBest Places to Live" by MoneyMagazine, Ballwin in West St.Louis County is close to

Castlewood State Park andMeramec River. Tim Pogue is theMayor.

Hindu Temple of St. Louis con-ducted its annual Health Fair onSaturday, May 7. Blood drive, freehealth, vision, blood check ups arepart of this event. As a commu-nity service, this event takes placeevery year in May.

Kanyaka Parameshwari Pooja(Mother's Day pooja) was per-

He assured all possible help."Tell me how I can be of help," hequeried

Jesse white then handed outCertificates of Participation to thelearners who performed at theNight of 1,000 Stars. The new 50thward Alderman, Ms. DebraSilverstein also addressed thegathering.

The event was served with re-freshments donated by TahooraSweets and Bakery and Uru-Swatirestaurants on Devon Ave. Theevent was efficiently and ably con-ducted by Renuka Sharma, JaiRamos, Susan Chaudhri, andChirag Shah of the Center. Sharmasees a future for the students at-

tending the event: "It is importantto know the students will one daysucceed as productive citizens intheir own community, whether it'sjob acquisition, communicatingwith teachers, making friends, andespecially feeling comfortable intheir newly imbibed 'American'skin."

Sher Rajput, Trustee of theIndo-American Center, appreci-ated the efforts made by partici-pants and organizers for a suc-cessful completion of the pro-gram. Special guests were Ms.Dorothy Whitney and Ms. SarojaReddy. Zahra Somani representedCongresswoman JanSchakowsky.

Adult Literacy Program Night at IAC

Jesse White, Ald Silverstein, guests and NSLC members


Hindu Temple of St.Louis conducted itsannual Health Fair onSaturday, May 7. Blooddrive, free health,vision, blood checkups are part of thisevent. As a commu-nity service, this eventtakes place every yearin May. KanyakaParameshwari Pooja(Mother's Day pooja)was performed onSunday May 8


15

It also works in special consul-tative status with the Economicand Social Council (ECOSOC) ofthe UN, and as such it has accred-ited representatives at the UN inNew York, Geneva and Vienna. Italso works in formal consultationswith the World Health Organiza-tion (WHO).

Its Dollar-a-Day service pro-gram for rural children is pursuedunder Care for Children programwhere children learn the fine art ofliving, making friends, handlingnegative emotions and the valueof serving the fellow beings. Chil-dren learn to take up enjoyablechallenges, hygienic living, skill ofcommunity living and a sense ofbelonging to each one of it.

Its 5H program focuses onHome, Health, Hygiene, Harmonyin Diversity and Human Values. ItsArt Excel program, which offerscourses for all round development

Art of LivingMeditation Centerin Schaumburg

of children and youth (8 to 21 yearsold), is currently offered in manyIndian cities like Mumbai, Delhiand Calcutta, and in countries likeCanada and USA.

The Art of Living program pro-vides training on stress manage-ment and rehabilitation for juve-nile and adult prisoners, prison-ers on parole and probation, vic-tims of crime, at-risk youths, andeven the law enforcement officersand probation staff.

The Youth Training Program(YTP) in India focuses on the edu-cation of rural youth and encour-ages them to work for the better-ment of their community throughmedical camps, distributingclothes to the poor, creating sani-tation facilities. In addition, theyteach a wide variety of courses likeSahaja Samadhi, the SudarshanKriya and related exercises basedon the ancient yoga science ofbreathing. The Art of Living tran-scends all barriers and anomaliespreventing people to connect witheach other through love.


ICF creating awareness for India-Japan summitSURESH SHAH

The Local Team behind India Japan summit next year in Japan - Kesha Parikh. President of NetIP Chicago,

Ashwin Janakiram President of NetIP USA, Jitendra Diganvker of IADO, Vibhav Kant Upadhayay Chairman

of India Center Foundation, Ashwini Srinivasan Vice President of NetIP Strategic Development, Sai Narayan

Board of Director with India Center Foundation

Vinaykan Upadhyay addressing the meet

at Water Ford

Sam Pitroda with community activist J Digvenker

CHICAGO: India Japan GlobalPartnership Summit to be held inTokyo, from September 5 to 7 isan initiative of India CenterFoundation (ICF)

The summit will be jointlychaired by Yukio Hatoyama,Shinzo Abe and Sam Pitroda.This summit aims to evolve aroadmap for the Macro Vision forthe India Japan Global Partner-ship besides defining what In-dia can do for Japan, what Japancan do for India and what Indiaand Japan together with its glo-bal partners can do for Asia andrest of the world.

The ICF leadership headed by

Vinaykant Upadhyay felt that itwould be important to take thissignificant message of the newsocio-economic framework to fel-low Indians and others friendsliving across the globe.

And it was in this context thatUpadhyay had come to Chicagoand J Diganvker, a communityactivist in Chicagoland, alongwith others took initiative andhelped organize a meeting ofbusiness interests at WaterfordBanquet Hall on Friday May 13.The presence of Sam Pitroda lentadded importance to the meet-ing.

Contíd on page 23

The Art of Living pro-gram provides train-ing on stress manage-ment and rehabilita-tion for juvenile andadult prisoners, prison-ers on parole andprobation, victims ofcrime, at-risk youths,and even the lawenforcement officersand probation staff


PCS participates in children's India Festival NAND KAPUR

CHICAGO: The Punjabi Cul-tural Society of Chicago (PCS)collaborated with ChicagoChildren's Museum (CCM) atNavy Pier to organize the 'Pass-port to the World: India FestivalCelebrations' on Sunday May 15.More than 300 community mem-bers participated.

"This is the eleventh year in a

row that PCS has organized thisevent. PCS was on CCM's originalplanning committee when theycreated this event eleven yearsago, and has participated in it eversince," said Rajinder Singh Magoof PCS who compeered the pro-gram inside the museum.

The PCS performances de-picted a mosaic of diverse tradi-tions from the Indian state ofPunjab including ethnic dresses,Dhol music, and the Punjabi folkdances Bhangra and Gidha per-

formed by the local Punjabi youthgroups. Attendees also partici-pated in turban tying, Bhangradance lessons, and other Indianperforming arts.

An outdoor processionplanned for more than 200 partici-pants with Dhol drums and streetdancing at South deck of NavyPier had to be moved inside due

to an off-season drizzle and windyconditions, but failed to dampenthe spirits of the participants.

As the Punjabi procession en-tered into the Chicago Children'sMuseum, the whole placedrowned in the echo of the melo-dious sound beats of Punjabi Dholdrum played by Dilraj Sekhon andPardeep Deol. It seemed as if a"Baraat" had arrived.

The visitors to the museumwatched dance performances ofchildren's groups arranged by PCS

Chicago. Bhangra 101 dance les-sons to young children and par-ents, and a turban tying demon-stration and workshop for all visi-tors were also conducted by PCSvolunteers. Many other perfor-mances by other groups were alsoheld during the week long celebra-

tions.PCS Chicago and the Chicago

Children's Museum had arrangedfour buses, three from Palatine, ILand one bus from Devon & West-ern Streets Chicago to usher com-munity members to Navy Pier, atno cost to the community mem-

bers. The Chicago Children's Mu-seum provided a complimentary$12 value admission to the com-munity members brought in byPCS.

"Passport to the World is de-signed to expose children to a va-riety of cultures from different

parts of the world. This programwas about India. This provides aunique opportunity to the visitorsto learn directly from the commu-nities rather than us. This impartsauthenticity and meaning to theprograms. It would not be possiblewithout the close partnership of

communities and organizationslike PCS Chicago. The museumvalues this partnership and thevisitors love it," said KeithMcCormick, CCM's Director ofCultural Programs who has di-rected this program for the lastnine years.

"Children's Museum providesus such a cordial and welcomingenvironment, that it's a wonderfulexperience for our children, theirmoms, dads, and grandparents.They look forward to it everyyear," said Balwinder Singh Girn,President of the Punjabi CulturalSociety of Chicago.

The next PCS Chicago programis to award $ 1000 scholarships at"PCS Youth Graduation & Schol-arship Awards Night," on SundayJune 12 starting at 5 pm, at Viceroyof India Banquets in Lombard, IL.The participants of "Rangla Punjab2011" will also be honored and the"Rangla Punjab 2011" program

DVDs will be available for sale.The "PCS Basketball Tourna-

ment" is on Saturday August 6and the "PCS Sports Festival" ison Sunday August 7. Both are all-day events at Centennial Park inAddison IL, and are free and opento public.

PCS group that participated in Navy Pier Passport to India Celebration Turban tying at Passport to India Festival

Punjabi girls presenting Kuriaya

Punjabi girls presenting a skit

Sikh Coalition testifies on school bullyingIndia Post News Service

WASHINGTON: Recently theSikh Coalition testified before theUS Commission on Civil Rightson the issue of bias-based bul-lying against Sikh children in thepost-9/11 environment. TheCommission is composed of con-gressional and presidential ap-

pointees. It is responsible formaking recommendations to ournation's leaders about uphold-ing our most cherished civilrights laws. This is the first timethat a Sikh organization has beeninvited to testify in front of thefull Commission.

The Sikh Coalition's Directorof Law and Policy appeared be-

fore the Commission. His testi-mony discussed the challengesthat Sikh students face in publicschools in the United States. Inparticular, the testimony beforethe Commission highlighted theCoalition 2007 report titled Ha-tred in the Hallways (whichfound that 62% of turbaned Sikhstudents in Queens, New York

suffer bullying) and the 2010Sikh Coalition report titled BayArea Civil Rights Report 2010(which found that 74% of tur-baned Sikh boys in the San Fran-cisco Bay Area suffer similar bul-lying in school).

The Coalition's testimonyalso highlighted the case ofGurwinder Singh of Queens,

New York. Gurwinder had beenbullied for almost his entireschool career, including havinghis turban pulled off and beingphysically attacked by school-mates. The Coalition's writtentestimony provides detailed rec-ommendations to the federalgovernment on how to addressbias-based bullying in schools.

The PCS performancesdepicted a mosaic ofdiverse traditions fromthe Indian state ofPunjab includingethnic dresses, Dholmusic, and thePunjabi folk dancesBhangra and Gidhaperformed by thelocal Punjabi youthgroups. Attendees alsoparticipated in turbantying, Bhangra dancelessons, and otherIndian performing arts


17

Trinity College teaches from Vedas & Gita

Muslim tourists need to visit JerusalemA.Q. SIDDIQUI

Trinity College in Hartford


HARTFORD: Prestigious Trin-ity College in Hartford (Connecti-cut, USA), whose earliest heritagewas Episcopalian, now teachesfrom Vedas, Bhagvad Gita andUpanishads in some of its courses.

Courses offered by it also teachclassical Sanskrit, traditional Hin-duism, Hare Krishna, Hindu viewson war and peace, etc.

Founded in 1823, Trinity claimsto be a highly selective liberal artsand sciences college spread over

100 green acres. Besides from all overUSA, its students come from 49 coun-tries and it offers over 900 courses in38 majors. Its Raether Library has1,000,000 books and its student/fac-ulty ratio is 10:1. James F. Jones, Jr. isthe President while Paul E. Raether isthe Chairman of Trustees of Trinity,

whose mission "…is to foster criticalthinking, free the mind of parochial-ism and prejudice…" Parts of theTrinity seal, on which the motto reads"For Church and Country", reflectthe college's Episcopal roots.

Christianity, of which Episco-

palians are a denomination, is thelargest religion in the world; whileHinduism is the third largest withabout a billion adherents.

Welcoming this move on the

part of Trinity College, Rajan Zed,president of Universal Society ofHinduism, in a statement said thatreligion is a complex element of ourlives and it comprised much more

than one's own individual experi-ence or specific tradition. God, as asign of God's munificence and be-nevolence, constructively wishedpresence of different faiths.

CHICAGO: Muslims all overthe world have a reason to visitJerusalem. The Holy land has beenthe native land for all the Proph-ets Muslims believe in. There isAl-Aqsa Mosque the first direc-tion (Qibla) to which Muslimsprayed in early days. The HolyRock where Prophet Abrahambrought his son Ismael for sacri-fice and from where the ProphetMuhammad ascended to Heavento meet his Lord.

But there is yet a strong rea-son for Muslims to visit Jerusa-lem and Al-Aqsa mosque. It is theannouncement of Allah Himselfin Holy Quran that declares it aplace, "the neighborhoodwhereof We have blessed" (thevery first line of Surah The Chil-dren of Israel, in Quran). So any-one who wants to enter the"blessing of Allah" shall enter theAl-Aqsa mosque. This is an openannouncement for those whoread Quran and understand it. Thesmallest verses in Holy Quranhave great meanings. For example,for Holy Kaaba (the House ofGod), Allah says in Quran, "whoso ever enters it, is safe!"(Verse97 surah Al Imran). Now it is upto believers to understand whatsafety they get when they enterthe House of God. Of course, theywill be safe from the fire of Hell,from the evils of world and youkeep counting.

This was my second visit toJerusalem and the very firstthought that crept to my mindwhen I visited the deserted Al-Aqsa mosque was; this is theplace where all American Muslims

must visit and donate generouslyto make it a great place of wor-ship. There were only 2-3 Pales-tinian women praying inside.

The Dome of the Rock needsrepairs. It was built in year 691 byCaliph Abd-el Malik on the holyrock upon which ProphetAbraham is believed to have

brought his son for sacrifice. Atright hand side, the Turk rulershave built a small enclosure con-taining the footprint of ProphetMuhammad as he ascended upon

the Buraq for his journey toHeaven. Also there is a visiblemark believed to be the handprintof the Archangel Gabriel who helddown the rock during ProphetMuhammad's ascent.

Just within short walking dis-tance is the Church of Holy Sep-ulcher. According to Christian tra-

dition, Adam's bones are buriedhere and there is the grave ofJesus. This was the place whereProphet Jesus was crucified. TheRomans have prepared a grave for

him. Christians believe the Jesuswas buried there. The believingChristians touch the grave andpray for healing. Muslims believeit is an empty grave, becauseProphet Issa (Jesus) was as-cended to Heaven. On the otherside of Al-Aqsa mosque andwithin walking distance is the

Western Wall, the remaining ofTemple Mount Jews world overface to pray and believe the HolyPresence never left the WesternWall.

Dead Sea ...float n enjoyPalestinians living on mountains... the same mountain where Moses was seen last

Jerusalem, the Holy land forworld's three monotheistic reli-gions is very easy to visit byAmerican Muslims. U.S. Passportholders need no visa to enter itfrom Tel Aviv airport. Many Mus-lims travel to Jerusalem viaAmman. But it takes only 40 min-utes and USD60 from Tel Aviv air-port to your hotel in Jerusalem.All the 5 star hotels were full withChristian tourist from across theworld.

As I visited the city of Tel Avivand Jerusalem, I wondered whatthe Muslim countries achievedsince the boycott of Israel for last43 years. Israel has built beautifultwin cities of Tel Aviv and Jerusa-lem within a short time. I saw thelongest barbed wired wall, perhapsnext to the China Wall, dividingthe Jews and Muslims. On theother side of the wall, Palestinianslive in ghettoes. Many Palestin-ian families live on open Moun-tain land in heat and desert.

The longest wall in Jerusalem dividing Palestinian colonies

Contíd on page 22

Welcoming this move on the part of Trinity Col-lege, Rajan Zed, president of Universal Society ofHinduism, in a statement said that religion is acomplex element of our lives and it comprisedmuch more than one's own individual experi-ence or specific tradition

As I visited the city ofTel Aviv and Jerusa-lem, I wondered whatthe Muslim countriesachieved since theboycott of Israel forlast 43 years


Ricky Gill announces candidacy forUS Congress from 11th District


LODI, CA: Surrounded by friends, fam-ily, and supporters, Ricky Gill, 24, an-nounced here his candidacy as a Republi-can running in what is currently California’s11th Congressional District.

Gill, a first-generation American born andraised in Lodi, made his announcement inthe shadow of Lodi Memorial Hospital. Thespeech occurred after nearly 10 weeks in anexploratory committee process that gar-nered counsel from several of the region’smost respected business owners, educators,public servants, and farmers. He describedhis decision to seek office as an opportu-nity to “ensure that San Joaquin Countygains a seat at the table and a voice in Ameri-can politics,” and evidenced the extent ofunder-representation with a reminder thatno current state or federal legislators callthe county home.

“It has been far too long since an elec-tion revolved around the livelihood ofpeople in this community,” he emphasized.“Competing candidates parachute into thiscounty at the eleventh hour; they ask youonly for your vote, not your opinion. Theyoffer you sound bites, not the substanceyou deserve.”

His comments focused on economic re-juvenation by blocking restrictive regula-tions that drive up costs for local farmersand small businesses, spurring job creationvia incentives for entrepreneurship, andencouraging start-up companies to hang ashingle in the county, as well as advocatingfor a vigorous partnership linking neighbor-ing San Joaquin and Silicon Valleys. Hechampioned the interests of farmers with a

pledge to cultivate foreign markets for theirworld-class products and to prevent theirshare of water from being used elsewhere,essentially “restoring agriculture to its fulland respected place in the economy of ourcountry.”

The son of respected physicians, Gilladded that “our vitality as a nation is tiednot only to our ideals, but also our ownhealth and that of our loved ones, neigh-

bors, and fellow citizens.” His agenda in-cludes a vow to protect the relationship be-tween patient and physician by enacting tortreform as a tool to curb malpractice insur-ance costs. He added: “I will safeguard therights of consumers to make their own deci-sions that drive down premiums while im-proving the quality of care.”

BAPS Charities helps victims of tornadoes

Gill’s remarks also touted public educa-tion as a keynote issue in his campaign, call-ing it “the great equalizer of any free soci-ety and a compact between this generationand the next – a promise that American chil-dren will be limited only by the extent oftheir ambition.” He promised to continuefighting for higher quality education anddefending standards-based reforms—be-liefs he launched into action as a former

member of the California State Board of Edu-cation.

Ricky Gill provided the following answersto questions e-mailed to him by India Post:

IP: Is job growth in agriculture depen-dent on Federal initiatives?

Ricky Gill: Job growth is primarily afunction of private investment,

especially the creation and expansion ofsmall businesses. Whether it is the siphon-ing of water away from rural counties or theimposition of unnecessary regulations, thefederal government has at times impededjob growth in local agriculture. However,there is also a positive role for the federalgovernment to play. Through the federallyapproved Farm Bill and trade agreementsnegotiated with other nations, Congress andthe federal government can help ensure thatinvestment in agriculture increases and thatour agriculture products find markets over-seas.

IP: You seem to relate economic recov-ery to improving schools. How is that?

RG: I believe that public education is thesingle best investment we can make to en-sure that America remains a competitiveforce in the global economy. Unfortunately,fiscal imbalance and irresponsibility haveproduced steep budgets cuts in public edu-cation, which has resulted in students notreceiving the high-quality education theydeserve.

IP: What do you have in mind forschools reform?

RG: As a former member of the Califor-nia State Board of Education, I representednearly seven million public school studentsin this state. I witnessed the problems thatresult when students are shuffled throughthe system without achieving at acceptablelevels. I believe parents have an importantrole to play in education reform and deservea choice in the schools their children at-tend. I would like to see greater account-ability at the local and school-site level.

Contíd on page 22


On April 27, multiple devastating tornadoes hit theSoutheastern United

States with Alabama being thehardest hit. In the Alabaman cit-ies of Tuscaloosa and Birming-ham, multiple lives were lost and

hundreds of families were af-fected. Since electrical gridswere damaged and potable wa-ter was difficult to find, reliefefforts were hampered. It was inthis time of need that the volun-teers of BAPS Charities pro-vided help to the victims of

these powerful and deadly tor-nadoes.

Based on the relief and reha-bilitation experience of previousdisasters, Hurricane Ike (2008),Hurricane Katrina (2005), SouthAsian Tsunami (2004-5) and theGujarat, India earthquake (2001),volunteers from Birmingham,

Atlanta and surrounding cen-ters marshaled into action toprovide food, fresh drinkingwater and shelter to the affectedpeople.

BAPS Chari t ies servedfreshly prepared hot meals fromMonday, May 2 through Friday,

May 6. In this time frame of fivedays, BAPS Charities' was ableto reach out and serve over2,500 people. Meals were beingserved at four relief centersaround the City of Tuscaloosa.

In recognition and apprecia-tion of the effort, hard work,kindness, and compassionshown by the volunteers ofBAPS Charities, the Mayor of

the city of Tuscaloosa, Mr. WaltMaddox, commented, "I wouldlike to acknowledge BAPS Chari-ties for their remarkable effortshere in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.They have given so much timeand energy to the communitiesin need in the aftermath of thetornadoes of April 27. I cannotthank this organization enoughfor its support and generosity."

Most recently, BAPS Chari-ties raised funds for the JapanEarthquake and Disaster. In 2010,BAPS Charities raised and do-nated $63,000 to the United Na-tions Children's Fund (UNICEF)in support of the Haiti EarthquakeRelief Fund. BAPS Charities hasengaged in natural disaster re-lief work in the US, parts of Af-rica, Europe, and South Asia.

‘It has been far too longsince an election revolvedaround the livelihood ofpeople in this community,”he emphasized. “Compet-ing candidates parachuteinto this county at the elev-enth hour; they ask you onlyfor your vote, not your opin-ion. They offer you soundbites, not the substanceyou deserve’

BAPS Charities served freshly prepared hotmeals from Monday, May 2 through Friday, May6. In this time frame of five days, BAPS Charities'was able to reach out and serve over2,500 people

May 27, 2011 India PostCommunity/Californiawww.indiapost.com

19

Mata Ki Chowki at Fremont TempleMay 27, 2011India Post20 Community/California

www.indiapost.com

The Jagran was attended by 300-400 people and Preeti Bhoj

was served by Fremont Temple.

Mata Ki Chowki was held at Fremont Temple on May 14 by Vijay Thapar and

Anita Thapar for their daughters Vinita Thapar, Dr Garima Kohli and

son-in- law Dr Jatinder Kohli.

Jagran was done by Vandana Paul (from Vallejo),

Bhupinder Bhinda and group from Yuba City.

(Pics by Raja, Rakesh Kapoor & Neelam Kapoor.)

Osama Bin Laden:an icon no more

IMAM SHAMSHAD A. NASIR

The death of the mosthunted terrorist in modernhistory marks not just the

death of a man, but the end of aniconic symbol of anti-Western andspecifically anti-American senti-ment in the hearts and minds ofJihadist Muslims. It is certainlybankable that Al-Qaida and theTaliban (in all their forms) won'tbe dissuaded or prevented by thedeath of Osama Bin Laden fromcommitting future acts of terror-ism. In fact, just the opposite willinevitably occur. We are bound tosee revenge attacks frequentlyand soon.

What has been dealt a death-blow is the extremist Muslims' fer-vent belief that Bin Laden was andalways would be protected by Godfrom the wrath and retribution ofthe "infidel" West. On May 1st inthe dead of night, in Bin Laden'shigh-security compound in Paki-stan, justice was decisively servedby U.S. Navy Seals.

Some say Bin Laden has beendead for years now, based on thefact that the most recent photo ofhim dates from 2000, while somedon't believe he was killed May

1st because his body was buriedat sea, so there's no way to provethat it was, in fact, Bin Laden.

In answer to these two "sce-narios," if the first were true, thenthe Al-Qaida leadership would beguilty of a massive fraud to bol-ster recruitment and their follow-ers' morale by not telling the faith-ful that Bin Laden was alreadydead. And since "Uncle OsamaWants You!" doesn't work verywell without the Uncle, it wouldserve Al-Qaida to keep him alive.

In answer to the question "IsOsama really dead?" there are onlythree plausible possibilities re-garding the fate of Osama BinLaden: 1. He died years ago andan imposter look-alike was killedMay 1st in Pakistan; 2. the realOsama was killed May 1st andburied at sea to prevent his land-based grave from becoming ashrine for future Jihadists; or 3. thereal Osama was captured alive onMay 1st and is being secretly in-terrogated by the CIA for usefulintelligence data, in which case hewill never see the light of day or

publicity anyway, so he's still"dead" as far as his followers areconcerned. And whichever sce-nario is true, in the end, Bin Ladenis out of the picture.

And what is equally undeniableis that these misguided extremistshave lost their celebrity PosterBoy for violent Jihad and no onewill ever be able to replace him.No Taliban or Al-Qaida membercan ignore the fact that God didnot protect Osama Bin Laden fromthe "infidels." He is no longer lead-ing the faithful in a Jihad againstthe West to restore the lost gloryand worldly empire of Islamthrough war and political caliph-ate. That dream is dead and willnever be a reality anyway. Why?Because Islam forbids everythingthat Osama Bin Laden represents.

In the Holy Quran, God saysthat those who are the aggressorsin a war are the wrongdoers, andthat those who kill the innocentor create disorder - terrorism - inthe land deserve capital punish-ment; that the murder of one in-nocent person is akin to the mur-der of all mankind.

Muslims are even commanded

to be the first to police their ownlaw-breakers, and should theyfear or fail to do so, as is defi-nitely the case in Pakistan whereterrorism and the protection ofterrorists goes hand-in-hand un-checked, that duty will fall to oth-ers.

In the Quran, God repeatedlywarns Muslims to be righteous,humble, compassionate, forgiving,peaceful and tolerant; to not know-ingly commit evil and immoralityor else they will suffer the evil con-sequences of their actions.

The Prophet Muhammad alsowarned the Muslims similarly,promising that if they forget Godand reject righteousness and turninstead to Satan and choose a lifeof selfish pleasures and evils,they will be given the punish-ments of ignorance, poverty, de-basement and the tyranny of evil,corrupt spiritual and worldly lead-ers. Is this not the sad conditionof the majority of Muslims today?What then is the solution?

Bhaktididi's orphanage girlswonderstruck by computer

RAJ GADHE

Located just outside ofRajkot, in the rural area ofWestern India, is an or-

phanage called Ratanpur Ashram.Ashram means a house that pro-vides accommodation for desti-tute people. This orphanage ishome to about 55 girls. Their agesrange from as young as 2 up toage 17. This orphanage is man-aged by a woman namedBhaktididi ("didi" means oldersister in Hindi). She has dedi-cated her life to providing careand assistance to those in socialand financial crisis.

Bhaktididi also runs a shelterfor battered and abused womenin Rajkot, which has been ac-tively serving the community formany years. While overseeingthis battered woman's shelter,Bhaktididi realized that there wasa need for housing for less for-tunate children, especially girls.She started with housing someof the young children in herAshram in Rajkot. When thenumbers grew fairly rapidly, shedecided to open a separateAshram for young children. Sheinvested a lot of her own moneyto establish the Ashram andeventually was helped out bysome generous donors in mak-ing this project, a reality.

Ratanpur Ashram is made upof four buildings: a dining room/kitchen, meeting hall, and livingquarters. Outside, there is a play-ground with swings and a slide.There is an abundance of openspace for the children to run andplay games in the open countryair. In each room, there are 5rooms with about 15 beds each.The beds are lined up side byside all the way across the room,with the girls' few scant belong-ings stashed away underneaththe beds. Girls live there and goto school in a nearby town; girlsfrom ages six and above aretransported daily to a localschool by a bus.

The Ashram becomes theirhome since they are basicallyhomeless people! The youngergirls that don't go to schoolspend their childhood at the or-phanage doing little chores andplaying around. The girls' agesten and older help cook themeals for the rest of the orphan-age once they get home fromschool. The girls begin to learnEnglish in fifth grade.

When we arrived at theAshram, the girls greeted us withsongs and dances (the onesthey have learnt as part of theirAshram experience). The oldest

girl in the Ashram, who seemedto be the informal leader, gave aspeech. They seemed very ex-cited and thrilled to see us, thevisitors from USA. All of thegirls looked clean, well dressedand well-fed. The girls may behere for various reasons. Whilemost of these girls are withoutparents, some are economic or-phans - though they have livingparents, their families do nothave sufficient funds to providethem with clothing, food, and abasic education.

A few of the girls may stillhave one living parent who hasabandoned them in order to getremarried. It is much easier forthe widow to get remarried if shedoesn't have a child, because thehusband typically doesn't want

any interaction with the step-child. This heart breaking socialdilemma is created when themother has to choose betweenher child or her husband whowould provide her with food andmoney to support her. Thisforces her to take the horribleoption of abandoning her child.

In rural India, a girl is limitedin the opportunities afforded toher. Parents do not see the impor-tance of an education beyond ba-sic third grade reading and writ-ing skills. The families wouldrather have the girl work in the farmas a laborer, in order to earn somemoney and help the family out.

To further their education, girlsmust find a way out of small vil-lages to an urbanized and devel-oped city where they have better

chances of getting some educa-tion.

With some education, theyhave some hope of landing an of-fice job to support her in future.Almost all jobs available in the cityrequire some computer knowl-edge. With many computer liter-ate young people in India creat-ing a huge competitive market, agirl with basic computer knowl-edge, gets an edge over others insecuring a job in the city; whichcan mean living a reasonably com-fortable life versus doing manuallabor.

In rural India, even today, theparents try to find appropriate part-ner for their daughter at a fairlyyoung age; by our standards. Asuitable husband for their daugh-ters is seen as one step towards a

secure future. The parents of theboys on the other hand, are look-ing for a girl who can earn somemoney to support their family.

A girl with a job has much betterprospects of finding a better hus-band than if she was uneducatedand did not have a job. Since thegirls in this ashram may or may nothave parents to help them in look-ing for an appropriate suitor, aneducational background is all themore vital for their happy future.

According to Nielsen's Na-tional TV panel, around 80.6%homes in US possess a computerand around 91.6% of these house-holds have Internet connection.Computers are used for countlessreasons.

Contíd on page 23

These misguided extremists have lost their ce-lebrity Poster Boy for violent Jihad and no onewill ever be able to replace him. No Taliban orAl-Qaida member can ignore the fact thatGod did not protect Osama Bin Ladenfrom the "infidels”

Contíd on page 23


21

In rural India, a girl is limited in the opportunitiesafforded to her. Parents do not see the importanceof an education beyond basic third grade readingand writing skills. The families would rather havethe girl work in the farm as a laborer, in order toearn some money and help the family out.

On my way to Dead Sea, I sawa road sign that read, "the Moun-tain where Prophet Moses wasseen last", in the same mountaindesert, I saw a Palestinian familyliving in a makeshift tent under thehot sun. If Muslim world makestruce with Israel and developsMuslim tourism, Jerusalem will bethe next most visited place in theworld after Makkah and Medinah.The untapped Muslim tourism in-dustry will yield to share the pros-perity by Palestinians. Muslimsworld over yearn to visit Jerusa-lem. However, a security concerndeters Muslims all over the worldfrom visiting Jerusalem. At the sametime thousands of Christians fromall over the world visit Jerusalem.

The 5-star hotel where I stayed

Muslim tourists need to visit Jerusalemwas full of Christian tourists fromEuropean countries. And ours wasthe only Muslim family in the en-tire hotel. Busloads of tourists leftthe hotel in early morning. The re-ceptionist informed me the tour-ists keep pouring in throughout

the year.If there occurs a truce between

Israel and Muslim world, the Mus-lim tourists will flock to the Holyland perhaps more than the Chris-tian tourists. The Muslim coun-tries can invest in tourism projectsin Jerusalem that will ultimately

benefit the local Palestinians. TheIsrael boycott has not benefitedMuslim world in the least. It hasonly kept away the Muslims fromMuslim countries visiting theHoly land. The hotel I stayed wasa Jewish management and I en-

joyed my stay and the kosher foodin the hotel. When I entered theWestern wall security managed byIsraeli soldiers, they respectfullyinspected my family and allowedus to visit the Western Wall. APalestinian from a distance yelledat us why we Muslims are visiting

Empty grave of Jesus

the Jewish place of worship?American Muslims can travel

via Tel Aviv. Israeli immigrationofficer only asked us if we havehotel booking for our stay. Turk-ish airlines offer most convenient

connections to U.S. Muslims fromChicago, New York or Washing-ton to visit Israel and proceed toSaudi Arab for Umrah.

For comments, please [email protected]


If Muslim world makes truce with Israel anddevelops Muslim tourism, Jerusalem will be thenext most visited place in the world afterMakkah and Medinah

IP: How do you relate to the Indiancommunity? What can they hope fromyour candidature?

RG: I am proud to be an Indian-Ameri-can. The values of family, hard work andeducation, although universal, have par-ticular resonance in our culture. They havebeen indispensable in my journey thus far,and will continue to be so.

IP: Are you critical of Obama’shealthcare plans?

RG: My family has been deeply in-volved in the American healthcare systemfor several decades. We must do more toreform this system. We can reducehealthcare premiums by fostering compe-tition in the insurance industry, enactingmedical malpractice tort reform and en-couraging the creation of an easily acces-sible market for generic drugs.

IP: On immigration, what do you haveto say on the Tri Valley University scan-


Pioneer Blvd workers awarded$95,000 in back pay

Ricky Gill announces candidacyfor US Congress from 11th District

dal, which led to the suffering of so manyIndian students?

RG: Indian immigrants have enjoyedsuccess in the United States, playing animportant role in society and adding valueto our economy. I support legal immigra-tion to the United States. I also believe thatCongress needs to retool our skilled immi-gration policy by providing opportunitiesfor law-abiding foreign students to remainin the US to work after earning graduatedegrees in important fields like engineer-ing and mathematics.

IP: You don’t seem to see any role forIndia in the Afghan conflict. Does Indiamatter in your region?

RG: India is the world’s largest democ-racy and has a substantial role to play inAfghanistan and around the globe. Indiashould leverage its democratic experienceto aid the Afghan transition to democracy.Instability in the region is a national secu-rity issue for both the United States andIndia, and we should work together to buildthe foundations for a stable Afghanistan.


ARTESIA, CA: Employees of two Indianrestaurants, Jay Bharat and StandardSweets and Snacks, located in Artesia areset to recover almost $95,000 in back wagesdenied by their employer, Chandrakant Patel.Federal Department of Labor investigatorsdetermined that 22 employees at Jay BharatFoods, Inc, and Standard Sweets LLC weredenied minimum wage and overtime pay inaccordance with federal and state laws.

Artesia's "Little India" on Pioneer Bou-levard is home to over 100 South Asian busi-nesses, including many popular grocerystores and restaurants like Jay Bharat andStandard Sweets and Snacks. While thou-sands of customers come to Pioneer Boule-vard to enjoy South Asian products, theyare largely unaware of the over 300 SouthAsian, Latino and other immigrant workerswho provide an invisible service to the com-munity by stocking stores, cooking ethnicfoods and creating a cultural ambiance. Asin Jay Bharat's cases, these workers are of-ten denied basic legal protections by theiremployers.

In August 2009, South Asian Network(SAN) launched a workers' rights campaignfor Pioneer Boulevard employees to be in-formed of their rights, take action againstabuses, and help business owners complywith California labor laws as a way to builda strong Artesia business and residentialcommunity. SAN is a community-based or-ganization located on Pioneer Boulevarddedicated to advancing the health, empow-erment and solidarity of persons of SouthAsian descent since 1990.

At Patel's two stores, employees worked55 hours a week while being denied mini-mum wage and overtime hours. Accordingto the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA),employees working in excess of 40 hoursper week should get paid an overtime rateof time-and-a-half of their regular pay rate.Minimum wage in California is currently

$8.00 an hour.Investigators also determined that Patel

violated the FLSA record-keeping require-ments by failing to keep accurate and thor-ough records of employee work hours,wages and deductions. Patel agreed to paythe entire sum owed to his employees andhas committed to maintaining future com-pliance with federal minimum wage, over-time and record-keeping requirements.

Investigators interviewed employees andreviewed payroll records at Jay Bharat Food

Inc. to find twelve employees were owed$41,428 in minimum wage and overtime backwages, and Standard Foods L.L.C. employedten employees who are owed $53,442 in mini-mum wages and overtime back wages.

In Summer 2011, SAN will launch the firstever Pioneer Boulevard workers' rights re-port, documenting the experiences and as-pirations of low-income South Asian andLatino workers in the Artesia area. SANencourages owners to treat workers withdignity and respect and comply with lawsin order to strengthen the "Little India" busi-ness community.

May 27, 2011India Post22 Community/Californiawww.indiapost.com

While thousands of custom-ers come to Pioneer Boule-vard to enjoy South Asianproducts, they are largelyunaware of the over 300South Asian, Latino andother immigrant workerswho provide an invisibleservice to the community bystocking stores, cookingethnic foods and creatinga cultural ambiance


23

Americans rely on the com-puter for many things includingthe news, connecting with peopleall over the world via Facebook,homework help, research, enter-tainment (YouTube), email, bank-ing, as well as Microsoft Office:Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.

In small villages in India,people do not own computers formany reasons - the high cost ofowning a computer, lack of con-tinuous electricity supply and thelack of basic computer knowl-edge. This keeps them from get-ting in touch with the rest of theworld and the enormous powerand limitless capabilities of com-puter technology, to better theirlives!

I wanted to expose theseyoung minds to the power of tech-nology by donating a computerto the ashram. If these girls hadbasic computer skills and coulduse them in their lives, they wouldhave a clear advantage over thosethat don't know much about com-puters. As we had anticipated,most of the girls were unfamiliarwith the uses of a computer. Ithought it would be beneficial toteach some of the older girls, thebasic fundamentals about com-puters like Microsoft Word,PowerPoint, and Excel. Two ofthe oldest girls, Naina andJigisha, eighth and ninth gradersrespectively, knew how to turn onthe computer as well as how touse and retrieve saved docu-ments in Notepad and Paint. Tothe rest of the girls, it was simplya fascinating and mysterious ma-chine but did not know its func-tions or capabilities. They werelooking at it like an alien object tobe feared rather than revered. Allthe girls were engrossed as I

showed them various programsand their features. I showed themhow to open and save documentson Word.

None of them were familiar withPowerPoint, so I demonstratedhow to create a presentation andexplained its purpose. I also cre-ated an Excel spreadsheet to dis-play the different types of graphsand charts. I could see that theyfelt connection on this topic,

since it was being done by me, astudent of their age, rather thanan adult! It was fun showing themsome of the games on the com-puter along with its other capa-bilities!

During this entire process, thegirls were all fascinated by the factthat I could type so fast withoutlooking at the keyboard. Thisamused me because I do not ac-

tually think that I type thatquickly. Almost all of the girlsknew very little English, whichmakes it difficult for them to type.While the girls were completelyengrossed in this little lesson,most of them seemed over-whelmed and intimidated by thecomputer because it is so foreignto them and they were afraid thatthey might break it by pressingwrong key.

This is when I realized that thegirls would need basic Englishknowledge to feel comfortablewith the use of computer. Weasked the older girls to teach theyounger girls the English alpha-bets and small words. They likedthe "paint" feature where they didnot need English knowledge touse colors to paint beautiful pic-tures!

About two weeks after our ini-tial visit and introduction of com-puter to these girls, I returned fora short visit. I was pleasantlysurprised to find that some of thegirls had created a painting on"Paint" along with a couple ofsentences about themselves on"Word". This enthusiasm wasso encouraging, that I began tothink of our short term goal ofkeeping them engaged and un-afraid of using the computer ontheir own. Since this is a shortterm goal, I was thinking of hir-ing a teacher that would be ableto teach the girls more computerskills.

We had asked all of the girlswhat career path they wanted topursue in the future. Manychose some fields related to com-puters in some way or another. Iwas really encouraged by theireagerness to better their futureand felt an inner desire to helpthem in whatever way I could helpthem.

Bhaktididi's orphanage girls wonderstruck by computer

Osama Bin Laden:an icon no more

The solution lies in the adop-tion of an Islam that is enlightened,peaceful, tolerant, non-violent, ra-tional and committed to love ofGod and humanity, education, hu-man rights, justice and the free-dom of religious expression for all,whether they are Muslim or not.The Quran clearly states thereshall be no compulsion to acceptthe faith of Islam, nor shall therebe any worldly punishment forleaving it.

The Islam that proclaims andstrives to live by these truths doesexist in the world today, and hasexisted for over 120 years. That Is-lam is the Ahmadiyya MuslimCommunity, established in 1889with 40 members, now has tens ofmillions of "Muslims for Peace" innearly 200 countries who believein the Messiah, Mirza Ghulam

Ahmad of Qadian. Their motto is"Love for All - Hatred for None."This is the Islam that will defeatthe "Islam" of Al-Qaida and theTaliban. Ahmadiyya Islam is the

only Islam that can rescue the reli-gion from its Jihadist abductors.

The writer is Ahmadiyya Mus-lim Community SW regional mis-sionary, USA.



The Chicago visit of Upadhyayis part of his tour across NorthAmerica as he appreciates thatIndians in this part of the worldhave been actively contributing tovarious societies and havenotched a number of accomplish-ments.

Upadhyay is also seeking to in-teract with fellow Indians andAmerican friends who have con-tributed to the economy of NorthAmerica and other parts of theworld, to discuss their participa-tion, their possible contributionand inviting them to become a part

of this new framework. The sum-mit is a platform through whichmany socio-economic models willbe initiated, keeping in mind theenvironment, energy efficiencyand sustainability.

The India Center Foundationwas born in 1996 with the visionto play the role of a catalyst in thedevelopment of India.

The foundation has activelydeveloped its mission by partici-pating in creating platforms likethe India Japan Global partner-ship, played a leading role inarchitecting the Delhi Mumbai In-dustrial Corridor (DMIC) and vari-ous other new economic models


My short term goal was tohave the older girls teach basicEnglish to younger girls. The longterm plan was to train the oldergirls at a local computer schoolsin Rajkot and also employ a com-puter teacher. The older girlswould in turn teach and train theyounger girls to use the differentMicrosoft and Internet programs.Continuous, reliable broadband

internet service is not availableat this time in this village. Thelong term goal once they get reli-able internet connection is to com-municate with the girls via

webcam from USA.My goal is to get a few high

school students from USA to dovideo chat using technologieslike "Skype", on weekly basis toconnect and educate the kids inthis Ashram for future. We willthen be able to converse with theadministrator to check up on thegirls' ongoing activities. Email willalso enable us to send links thatwill direct them to educationalwebsites, which can help developtheir English vocabulary.

We will assign little projectsthat make them use Microsoft Of-fice. This is all dependent on wheninternet comes to Ratanpur. In themeantime, we intend to sendJigisha and Naina to a nearbycomputer learning center and iffinancially possible, hire a com-puter teacher.

My hope for the girls atAshram is twofold: that oncethey learn computer skills it willbenefit them in their career, andthey can pass their knowledge onto the younger girls. My goal forkids in USA is to involve moreinterested peers and friends tohelp these less fortunate childrenin rural India.

This is a work in progress thatis going to require time andmoney. I need time commitmentfrom my peers to educate thesechildren in India. I also need helpto raise money for the tuition ofthese computer classes and fu-ture projects.

Anyone interested in helpingthis noble cause can reach me [email protected].

in healthcare and agriculture.In his address here, Sam Pitroda

talked about his experience on In-dia Japan relations and futureprospects as to how India andJapan bureaucrats gradually haverealized the importance of coop-eration and are supporting Sum-mit and bilateral relations betweenthe two countries.

Sam Pitroda is the chairman ofthe summit taking place in Japanin September where over 4000business leaders will be comingtogether. Upadhyay and othersare traveling world for global In-dian initiative awareness over thisevent they, said Diganvker.

ICF creating awareness forIndia-Japan summit

To the rest of the girls, itwas simply a fascinat-ing and mysteriousmachine but did notknow its functions orcapabilities. Theywere looking at it likean alien object to befeared rather thanrevered. All the girlswere engrossed as Ishowed them variousprograms and theirfeatures. I showedthem how to openand save documentson Word

My short term goal wasto have the older girlsteach basic English toyounger girls. The longterm plan was to trainthe older girls at alocal computerschools in Rajkot andalso employ a com-puter teacher. Theolder girls would inturn teach and trainthe younger girls to usethe different Microsoftand Internet programs

The Islam that pro-claims and strives tolive by these truthsdoes exist in theworld today, andhas existed for over120 years

May 27, 2011India Post24 www.indiapost.com

1 Mit Jaaye Ghum:Dum Maaro Dum

2 Teri Justaju (Saaware):Shor In The City

3 Awaaz: F.A.L.T.UShor In The City

4 Saibo: Shor In The City5 Jiyein Kyun: Dum Maaro Dum6 Bhojhal Se: I AM7 Sau Baras: Haunted8 Maine Yeh Kab Socha Tha: Game9 Tum Bin Yeh Dil Ghabraye:

Zokkomon10 Wundoo Yeredoo: I AM

TOP TENHINDI FILM SONGS

Priyanka Chopra is ready for marriage. Despitemany speculations about her link up with ac-tor Shahid Kapoor, she still maintains that she

is single.The 28-year-old says, "I am ready to get married

tomorrow, provided I find a nice guy!"

Priyanka rubbishes all rumors about her not doinga stage show just because she had to share spacewith Shahid Kapoor. "I get many offers for stageshows, and my doing it or not doing it depends on mydates. Not wanting to work with Shahid will be a stu-pid reason."

Priyanka is popular on the social networking siteTwitter. "The fact that I have more than a millionfollowers on Twitter makes me feel loved," she says,"I have always been the queen… no, the princess ofBollywood."

The actor will next be seen in films such as Don2, Agneepath, Barfee and Kunal Kohli's untitled film."The shooting for Barfee, in which I play a men-tally-challenged girl, has just begun. It's my tough-est role so far."

Saif Ali Khan found his role of a Dalit in"Aarakshan" most challenging because it didn'tcome naturally to him and admits that the film

has changed his perspective about reservation poli-cies and he now feels they should exist.

"When I got this movie, I was completely againstreservations. I felt that things should be done on merit.That was my first thought, but after having done themovie, I realized that there is another side toit, which is that most people in our countryare very underprivileged and they have nochance in life," Saif said.

Set for an August 12 release, directorPrakash Jha's "Aarakshan" is a high voltagedrama centering on caste-based reservationsin government jobs and educational insti-tutions. The film also stars AmitabhBachchan, Deepika Padukone, ManojBajpayee and Prateik Babbar.

Saif played a rustic guy in "Omkara"and a terrorist in "Kurbaan", but found hisrole of a Dalit in "Aarakshan" the mostchallenging.

"It was very challenging to get intothe character for this film becausethis is a role where more than act-ing, it's about looking and feelingthe part from inside and havinga certain expression in youreyes," said the 40-year-old.

India Post 25May 27, 2011

www.indiapost.com

Bollywood

Every newbie in Bollywood has to be in the news due to relationship rumors. Somethingsimilar happened to Zarine Khan too. Debuting opposite Salman Khan in Veer, linked herup to the actor. But she has no qualms admitting that when she is in trouble, she falls back

on him."I don't know about camp, but, yes, I believe in being loyal to the person (Salman) who brought

me to the industry. He doesn't have any block in his head. In professional life, I am free to dowhatever I like. I do not have a Bollywood background and do not know a lot of people here; sowherever I am in a fix, I fall back on him (Salman)," Zarine said in an interview.

"I was a struggling model and was looking for some kind of work to take care of my family. I wasdoing small print ads now and then for saris. One day I got a call from Mukta Arts. They called meon the sets of Yuvvraaj. There I met Salman. When I asked for his autograph, he said, 'Nosweetheart you will sign autograph for the world'. Later I got to know that he has selected me forthe film," she added.

Zarine has been roped in for Housefull 2 and says it will help her in breaking her image. "I reallywanted to do this film because I wanted to break the perception of people who thought thatbecause I am from the UK, I can't speak Hindi and I am not fit for a particular look. I wanted to breakthe image I had during Veer. I think Housefull 2 will help me in proving my point," she said.

But the positive response to her item song Character Dhila with Salman in Ready has raised herhopes.

Proving a point

Anushka Sharma is one ac-tress who is currently "inhuge demand". Now that

the actress is quite aware about herstar status, we hear that she toohas become a tantrum queen.

It has been reported thatAnushka's behavior on the setsof Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl is thatof some big star. In the flick sheis paired opposite Ranveer

Singh.Well, if buzz is to be be-lieved, Anushka asks herassistant, who is of herheight, to stand in placeof her while cinematogra-pher is setting up thelight. Generally, ac-tresses have to face the

harsh light in order tolook beautiful in front ofcamera for the film. And asa lot depends on the lightand how it's falling on theface, actresses go throughthe testing before the

shooting starts. Even beautieslike Katrina Kaif and KareenaKapoor can't shy from it.

But Anushka, says the insider,sends one of her assistants tostand in light. Her co-stars are mak-ing fun of her ignorant ways. Ormay be the girl is being extra-pro-tective about her skin!

StarryTANTRUMS

Expecting?

Shilpa Shetty tied the knotwith Raj Kundra, a Londonbased businessman, in

2009. She and her hubby havelately been busy cheering fortheir IPL team Rajasthan Royals.

The latest buzz that we hear isthat Shilpa is pregnant. Off late,the sexy actress has been noticedgoing up and down, visiting sev-eral clinics. If the buzz is true, thenit seems both Shilpa and Raj haveplanned to keep this good pieceof news a secret, until Shilpa is afew months into her pregnancy.However, their close friends andfamily members have been ex-posed to the news.

Raj already has a daughterfrom his first marriage. However,this is Shilpa's first baby.

Going back to their datingsdays, Shilpa had a big wish tohave two babies with Raj.

Well, we only hope the buzzis true.

www.indiapost.com26 India Post May 27, 2011

SRIREKHA CHAKRAVARTY


NEW YORK: Child Right and YouAmerica (CRY America) raised over$215,000 at two benefit dinners it hostedin New York and Seattle recently, for thecause of underprivileged children in In-dia. 'Pledge 2011' was held on May 13 atthe Taj, The Pierre Hotel in New York and'Uphaar 2011' on May 14 at the Four Sea-sons Hotel in Seattle.

Legendary actress Sharmila Tagoreand her daughter, Soha Ali Khan - also awell known actress - were the specialguests at both events.

The NY event was attended by 150people from New York-New Jersey andUphaar 2011 was attended by 175 mem-bers from the western Washington com-munity, who came together to partner CRYAmerica's work to benefit underprivilegedchildren. Over $215,000 was raised acrossboth Dinner events, resources that willbe directed towards funding severalprojects that ensure lasting change in thelives of children.

The evenings included talks by PujaMarwaha, CEO of CRY India, ShefaliSunderlal, President of CRY America andkeynote addresses by Sharmila Tagoreand Soha Ali Khan. Paintings by famousartists Ram Kumar, Murali Nagapuzha,Nitin Dadrawala and private lunches withSharmila and Soha sponsored by Vermil-lion restaurant were auctioned bySotheby's at the New York Dinner whichraised $43,000.

Soha Ali Khan, popular Indian actor,also present at the dinners shared, "Istrongly believe that all girl childrenshould be given the opportunity to qual-ity education and encouraged to have acareer of their choice, just like I did."

"Poverty, hunger, child labor and lackof education among the youth continueto be prevalent in India. As a leader in theSouth Asian Entertainment space, Zeehas the responsibility to help raise aware-ness about these issues among the SouthAsian Diaspora through offering supportto CRY America and helping their eventsgain visibility," said Suresh Bala, CEO AsiaTV USA Ltd.

Legendary Bollywood actress

Sharmila Tagore at a CRY America

Press Conference in New York on

May 14. Shafali Sunderlal, President

CRY America, is also seen

-Pic Mohammed Jaffer-SnapsIndia

Cont’d on page 27

Soha Ali Khan, popularIndian actor, also presentat the dinners shared, ‘Istrongly believe that allgirl children should begiven the opportunity toquality education andencouraged to have acareer of their choice,just like I did’

largely remains only on paper." "In-dia is a paradox where 300 millionof its population is extremely wellto do while 700 million live in pov-erty. There is an entire "invisibleIndia", she said, but it is not nec-essarily in some remote villages,but also in slums right in the middleof big cities.

Tagore further said that in a coun-try like India the more you do, themore needs to be done. "Still, weare better off today than we wereyesterday," she commented.

Specifically talking about therights of the girl child in India,Tagore said that girls first need toescape death by sex selection rightin the womb; and if they survivethat, then they have to survive ill-health, discrimination and exploita-tion. She also talked of underagemarriages of girls, maternal deathsdue to underage pregnancies, andthe vicious cycle of unhealthy chil-dren born of unhealthy underagemothers, which in turn leads to aweaker society as a whole.

Elucidating the difference be-tween CRY and other organizations,Tagore said, "The basic differenceis that they involve the parents andentire community towards impact-ing the child. Children are organi-cally linked to their parents and the

society around them. So, if a child isforced into labor because the familydoes not have a regular source ofincome, CRY and its projects addressthat issue first.

CRY's approach of ensuring childrights is a holistic concept, which en-sures change that lasts for genera-tions to come."

Shefali Sunderlal, President of CRYAmerica said Indians living abroadwere increasingly concerned with de-velopment in India; their voices areheard by policy makers and they havethe resources to enable biggerchanges. "Our hope is that this com-munity will join CRY America's effortsto ensure the rights of underprivi-leged children and help make this is-sue of national and international pri-ority," she said.

Citing statistics, Sunderlal said40% of the world's children (334 mil-lion) are in India, of which 53% aremalnourished; and over 12 millionchildren are engaged in child labor.75% of girls are underage when theyget married. Thousands do not go toschool because there is none acces-sible where they live. "The story of'hope and growth' in today's Indiadoes not reflect the country's chil-dren," Sunderlal said. "As a countrywe are failing our children."

NY press conferenceHours before the NY fundraiser, Sharmila Tagore joined

CRY America at a press conference to appeal for support tothe cause of underprivileged children in India.

Tagore, who has been involved with CRY for over 20 years,said she obviously believed in the cause or she wouldn't behere, coming all the way from Delhi to New York.

Tagore pointed out that in 1991, India became a signa-tory to UNICEF's 1989 Convention of Child Rights, but "it

May 27, 2011 India Post

www.indiapost.com

27

Cry for girl childCont’d from page 26

Krishan vs. Kanhaiya another phenomenal success

KAVITA ARORA


HAYWARD, CA: SB Entertainmentbrought back to the Bay Area by popular de-mand Paresh Rawal's play, "Krishan vs.

professional and a superb actor. He waspersonally feeling the effect of a hectic tourschedule of 41 performances in 45 nightswith a hoarse throat but he didn't let hisaudience suffer a bit. A social-reform ideawith an unusually tight script (for Indiantheatre) was executed brilliantly by the en-tire cast led by Paresh Rawal. It was a truethought-provoking comedy - a rare breed,"noted Rajiv Nema.

"It was an absolutely great Paresh Rawalshow again. It was nice to see a full house,a superb performance, and a great audience.Thanks everyone for your support," saidpromoter, Subhankar Bhattacharya.

Kavita Arora is Anchor and Co-Producer of Sitaarre TV

Kanhaiya." Last summer the Hindi play"Krishan Vs Kanhaiya" performed 51 times in53 days throughout USA and Canada and this

year it is touring 41 shows in 45 cities. A morespiced up version entertained audiences onApril 24 at the Chabot College Performing ArtsAuditorium in Hayward in California.

SB Entertainment presented one ofBollywood's best actors and top comedi-ans, Paresh Rawal in the play directed byUmesh Shukla. This Hindi play is based on

the super-hit Gujarati comedy "KanjiVirrudh Kanji." "It was an amazing perfor-mance. We laughed and laughed our gutsout. Acting, direction and stage manage-ment was superb. The message was wellconveyed without hitting below the belt.We all got value for our money spent," saidRavi Chopra.

Paresh Rawal has been in Bollywood bigscreen and stage since 1980s with hundredsof hit movies and scores of awards underhis belt. Some of his well known movies areHera Pheri, Phir Hera Pheri, Golmaal, ChupChup Ke, Bhool Bhulaiya, Paa, 36 ChinaTown, Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge among others.

"Paresh Rawal was absolutely phenom-enal. He proved once again that he is a true

Akshay lends voice for 'Khatronke' title track


Akshay Kumar has once again turnedsinger for the latest series of India'sdeadliest adventure show Khatron

Ke Khiladi Torchar, expected to go on air inJune. Through his sturdy voice, Akshay isall set to be the harbinger of the Khatron KeKhiladi Torchar.

Akshay Kumar has lent his voice earlierto Shabad Nirgun Raakh Liya, KhattaMeetha, Chandni Chowk to China with Ca-nadian rap artist Bohemia and the title trackfor the blockbuster film Singh Is Kinng withSnoop Dogg.

Khatron Ke Khiladi Torchar is the pulseriveting Indian version of the internation-ally hit show Fear Factor shown on ColorsTV. The show involves a true test of gritand stamina, along with a spurt of ultimateadrenaline rush to overcome the variousdeadly tasks set out for the contestants.

Akshay Kumar will be seen making 13gorgeous Indian beauties dance to his tunesand push them outside their comfort zone

witnessing their greatest fears becoming areality, in the fourth series of action packedKhatron Ke Khiladi Torchar, being shot inSouth Africa. Akshay Kumar lives up to hisreputation as a 'Khiladi Kumar' demonstrat-ing his nonchalant attitude by fearlessly sun-bathing with a deadly scorpion during theshooting for Khatron Ke Khiladi Torchar.

This year's celebrity participants includeformer Indian women's cricket captainAnjum Chopra, models Diandra Soares,Alesia Raut and Poonam Pandey, actressAarti Chabria, Smita Bansal and AashkaGoradia, item girls Sambhavana Seth andKashmera Shah, two VJs- Bani & Mia Uyeda,singer Mauli Dave and Dina Singh who isactor Vindu Dara Singh's wife. Also for thisseason, each female celebrity participant willbe teamed up with male partners.

Apart from winning a host of prizes, thewinner will win the exclusive opportunityto feature with the Thums Up brand ambas-sador and the most popular youth iconAkshay Kumar in Thums Up new commer-cial campaign.

‘It was an amazingperformance. We laughedand laughed our guts out.Acting, direction and stagemanagement was superb’

Also addressing the media was PujaMarwaha, CEO, CRY India. "Millions of chil-dren across India are excluded from educa-tion, healthcare, protection from exploita-tion and abuse," she said. Specific to thegirl child, she added, "The first requirementis the girl child's right to life, then the rightto survive, right to health, nutrition, educa-tion and identity." These children also needprotection from being trafficked, exploitedin enforced labor, she said.

Elaborating on the CRY working model,Sunderlal said the CRY model includes work-ing with civil society, government and themedia which brings about social change.

Since its founding 8 years ago, CRY

America has launched 52 projects that haveimpacted the lives of 358,000 children in 1916villages and slums in India. 276 child mar-riages have been stopped and 372 villageshave been made child labor free. 334 publichealthcare centers, the only available medi-cal help in some of India's remotest areashave been activated through sustained cam-paigns with local governments, and 886 gov-ernment schools have also been activated.

CRY America has annual revenue ofabout $1 million to $1.3 million, a major por-tion of which comes from its 15,000 indi-vidual donors. CRY America raises fundsthrough annual dinners, walks and cricketmatches. It has 500 volunteers working in25 action centers across the US.

May 27, 2011India Post28 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 FutureMAY 27TH - JUNE 02ND

There is a strong chance of some kind of Jackpot. In

vestment made in the past will get you tons of money

and have no fear about new partners in business, they will

play on your tune later on. People earlier suffering from

ailments will cured with help of new medications. There will

be some dramatic positive change in career.

It will be a hectic week, Limited time and so many

important places to visit. You will buy some expen-

sive but useful item for the house. Things will be more

relaxed at work and even of of your colleague will of-

fer his help. Transiting Sun in second can get you

some money through stocks also. Do not hesitate to

try your hands at lottery.

You may be sending some money overseas for

a very good reason. Drive within speed limits

when on freeway and traveling long distance.

Some one who was too close long ago will once

again try to flirt with you. Legal matters will start

moving in the right direction and a comfortable

settlement is almost within your reach in a few days.

GEMINI (MAY 21 TO JUNE 20)

LEO (JULY 23 TO AUGUST 22) VIRGO (AUGUST 23 TO SEPTEMBER 22)

LIBRA (SEPTEMBER 23 TO OCTOBER 22) SCORPIO (OCTOBER 23 TO NOVEMBER 22)

CAPRICORN (DECEMBER 22 TO JANUARY 19)SAGITTARIUS (NOVEMBER 23 TO DECEMBER 22)

AQUARIUS (JANUARY 20 TO FEBRUARY 18) PISCES (FEBRUARY 19 TO MARCH 20)

by Pandit Parashar

www.indiapost.com

CANCER (JUNE 21 TO JULY 22)

TAURUS (APRIL 21 TO MAY 20)ARIES (MARCH 21 TO APRIL 20)

Money may pour in from totally unexpected places.

Old payments will finally show up and the business

should also pick up suddenly. You will be making fre-

quent phone calls to a sibling and exchange few good

news. Your past actions will pay off now and you will be

admired by everyone at the party. Let the past go and

think positive only.

Property deal will also close this week. Just watch out

for a shady character trying to flirt and come too close.

People in business will be cheerful to see their sales al-

most double up in short period. You are very close to

getting some money out of a pending litigation. You may

travel to a real nice and warm area with family.

There will be lots of activities in career. You may finally

receive more than one contract in your hands. Seems

like a female will be instrumental on the other side for these.

It will be better to ignore the immature comment from a sib-

ling. You will be going on a short trip with children to attend a

social event this week.

There will be lots of excitement about an upcoming

trip. People in business will see a sudden surge in

sales with new first time clients. An old appeal will get

accepted and you will receive the confirmation letter. Your

car will need minor repairs. Boss will be happy with your

performance and make necessary recommendations.

Chances of making money through stocks are very

strong. You will become very ambitious and try your

hands in different directions and will get some results too.

Some of you may join a short term course to improve your

changes in this challenging world. Children will keep you

involved and plan more than one trip.

You will put some assets in market to reduce ongoing

financial pressure. Mind will be inclined towards spiri-

tually and it will help restore peace in mind. You will be

invited to couple of upcoming social events. There are

strong chances of money through legal procedure. You

will call someone for direction and advice.

Health issues will come under controls with right pro-

cedure and medication. You may win some money in

lottery too. Spouse will get emotional quick so have pa-

tience with her. You will be working on several brilliant ideas

and one of them will click soon.Business meetings will go

well but results will come next week.

Some of you will get a lucky break in career. Position

you always wanted will be offered with better benefits.

You may spend an evening with people from political back-

ground. Kids will be excited about an upcoming long dis-

tance trip. Money wise you will continue to do well and meet

all commitments on time.

Idea of legal action to prove your point will cross your

mind. Strategy will silence people who have been taking

undue advantage of your generosity. You may be assigned

a lighter project by the boss. You will visit an old friend

with family this week. There are strong chance of a sec-

ond source of income opening this week.

www.indiapost.com May 27, 201129 India Post

The small town of Chamba is located in a pictur-esque valley, amidst the Shivalik ranges and isfamous for its medieval temples. The architec-

ture of the temples of Chamba reflects the glory of itserstwhile rulers. It is also known for its local festivals.

Chamba is located in the northwestern part of thestate of Himachal Pradesh in the northern region ofIndia. The town lies on River Ravi, in a valley betweentwo mountain ridges. Chamba is 56 km from Dalhousievia Khajjiar. The weather in Chamba is alpine. Sum-mers (April-June) are mild and winters are cold (No-vember-February). It experiences southwestern mon-soon rains in July-September.

Best time to visit: The best time to visit Chamba isbetween March and June

History: The local Rajput rulers ruled Chamba val-ley in the 6th century AD and made it their capital city.Raja Sahil Verman founded the town in 10th centuryand named it after his daughter Champavati. It was apart of the Mughal Empire in the medieval period and

later became the part of various Sikh kingdoms. It was finallytaken over by the British and became a part of the state ofHimachal Pradesh, when India became independent in 1947.

Tourist attractionsThe Laxmi Narayan Temple is the main tourist attraction

of the town. The architecture of the six temples in this complexis an example of the Hindu shikhara style of architecture. How-ever, the local flavor is distinct and makes the carvings onthese temples unique. Three temples are dedicated to LordVishnu, and another three to Lord Shiva. The temple was builtin the 10th century AD and was renovated in the 16th century.This Laxmi Narayan Temple complex also some fine sculp-tures of residing deities, which include figures of Lord Vishnu(of the Hindu trilogy), Goddess Laxmi (Goddess of wealth),Narasimha (Lion form of Lord Vishnu) and Lord Krishna.

Chowgan, the grassy promenade at the heart of the town,is the focus for local festivals.

Chamba is located in the

northwestern part of the

state of Himachal Pradesh in

the northern region of India.

The town lies on River Ravi, in

a valley between two

mountain ridges

Cont’d on page 30

India Post May 27, 201130 Travel & Hospitality Postwww.indiapost.com

Chamba: Picturesque valley between two mountainsTo the northeast of the Laxmi

Narayan temple lies the smallSurara temples. Nearby is theBrajreshwari Devi temple, dedi-cated to Goddess Durga. Thistemple is constructed in the of tra-ditional shikhara style and isknown for intricate carvings on itssurface.

The Chamunda Devi Temple islocated on a hill overlooking thetown of Chamba and one has toclimb for about 30 minutes to reachit. This temple is dedicated toChamunda, the wrathful form ofGoddess Durga. The entirewooden ceiling of this temple isembellished with intricate carv-ings depicting floral motifs anddifferent deities. This templehas a number of brass bells, of-fered by the devotees, and foot-prints of the Goddess on a smallpillar.

The Sui Mata Temple is lo-cated between the ChamundaDevi temple and BrajreshwariDevi temple, and is dedicated toSui Mata (a local princess, whogave her life for the people inChamba). Colorful paintingswithin the temple depict the lifeof Sui.

The 11th-century HariraiTemple dedicated to LordVishnu is also made in theShikhara style and has a triple-headed statue of Lord Vishnumade from eight different materi-als.

Other temples to visit inChamba are the Radha KrishnaTemple, the Sitaram Temple and theChampavati Temple.

The Rangmahal or the Old Pal-ace is another important place to

visit and houses the HimachalEmporium, from where the travel-ers can buy handicraft items. TheBhuri Singh Museum has a good

collection of artifacts belonging tothis region. Of particular impor-tance is the collection of tradi-tional miniature paintings. StAndrew's Church and Gandhi Gate

are also worth visiting.Places around: The pictur-

esque Chamba valley is the homeof a number of important places

like Dalhousie, Khajjiar andBharmaur. Dalhousie is 43 km fromChamba and is an important sta-tion. Khajjiar is 24 km from Chambaand is a grassy meadow, amongst

the pine trees with a pond in themiddle. Sixty-five kilometerssoutheast of Chamba is Bharmaurand is famous for its trekking trails

and temples.Fairs & festivalsChamba is known for its festi-

vals. The Sui Mata festival is heldfor four days in March/April ev-

ery year in memory of princess Sui,who gave her life to protect thepeople of Chamba. Women inChamba revere her and her imageis carried from the Old Palace(Rangmahal) to her small shrineaccompanied by singing and danc-ing.

The Minjar festival is celebratedin late July/early August everyyear. The origin of this festivalgoes back to the 10th century AD.This festival marks the harvestingof the annual maize crop. It culmi-nates with a procession to RiverRavi and throwing of the silk tas-sels or Minjars (representingsheaves of maize), worn by menand women into the river.

How to reachRoad - There is neither an air-

port nor a railway station inChamba. The bus station inChamba is located near theChowgan. The bus service fromChamba to Bharmaur (3½ hours),Dharamshala (10 hours), Khajjiar(1½ hours), Dalhousie (3 hours),and to Pathankot (6 hours) is verygood.


Travel industry looks to China, India boomLAS VEGAS: China, India and Brazil are

poised to fuel an explosion in internationaltourism in the coming years, showeringmoney and jobs on countries ready for it,and trouble for those that aren't, industryleaders say.

With an estimated two billion new middleclass consumers expected to come into themarkets from those emerging powerhousesover the next two decades, the travel indus-try sees a potential gold rush ahead.

"The growth of China outbound travelis moving at a huge pace -- it is about 20 percent increase every year. And the numberof outbound Chinese travelers hit 58 millionlast year," said David Scowsill, CEO of theWorld Travel and Tourism Council, an in-dustry promotion group.

"And if you look ahead, (with about) 1.6billion coming out of China and India, theyare a huge amount of people coming in withmoney to burn," he told reporters.

The impact of that coming wave is a toptopic at a three-day global travel and tour-ism summit that opened, drawing CEOs frommany of the world's largest travel compa-nies and top tourism officials.

The US sent Homeland Security Secre-

tary Janet Napolitano, Transportation Sec-retary Ray LaHood and Valerie Jarret, a topadvisor to President Barack Obama.Mexico's President Fernando Calderon isthe guest of honour.

Barriers to travel, technological innova-tion and change, body blows to tourism inquake-struck Japan and the turbulentMiddle East also are on the agenda here.

But organisers say they want to get gov-ernment officials and industry leaders think-

ing about what the arrival of the Chinese,Brazilians, Indians and others from newlyaffluent countries will mean for their nationaleconomies and the international travel busi-ness.

"We'll ask the attendees whether theyare ready to absorb that level of growth,"said Scowsill.

"Are governments ready with infrastruc-ture build? Are private investors ready toput the investment in, and generally speak-ing are we ready to absorb that level ofgrowth?"

Roger Dow, of the US Travel Associa-tion, calls the conflict between the projectedsurge in demand and lagging infrastructure"a real chicken and egg."

"As we build this travel, which will hap-pen, we'll also have to take a real hard lookat our infrastructure, our next generationsystems for airports, and adding airport ca-pacity," he said.

Countries that haven't caught up in timeare likely to be cursed with fun-killing bottle-necks and overcrowding as millions of newtourists pour through the global travel sys-tem.-AFP

Roger Dow, of the US Travel Association, calls the conflictbetween the projected surge in demand and lagging infra-structure "a real chicken and egg." "As we build this travel,which will happen, we'll also have to take a real hard look atour infrastructure, our next generation systems for airports, andadding airport capacity," he said

Khajjiar is 24 km fromChamba and is agrassy meadow,amongst the pine treeswith a pond in themiddle. Sixty-fivekilometers southeast ofChamba is Bharmaurand is famous for itstrekking trails andtemples

India PostMay 27, 2011 31Travel & Hospitality Postwww.indiapost.com

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JK plans issuing NOCs tohotels in Valley

India may open tourism office in Uzbekistan

JK open to global trade, tourism: OmarSRINAGAR: Expressing hope

that buyers from national and in-ternational market would outnum-ber the sellers at the trade fair inKashmir, Chief Minister OmarAbdullah has said Jammu andKashmir is open to business fortrade, tourism and handicrafts.

"I am looking for the day whenbuyers from national and interna-

tional market outnumber the sell-ers in such meets," Abdullah saidwhile inaugurating the third Inter-national Buyer-Seller meet here.

The three-day event has beenorganised by Kashmir Chamber ofCommerce and Industries (KCCI)in collaboration with Jammu Kash-mir Bank.

Appreciating the artisans, the

Chief Minister said their work"mesmerises the lovers of handi-crafts all across the world".

"The artisans here possess akind of magic in their hands andcreate handicrafts of surprisingart," he said. The chief Ministerassured all possible help to thehandicraft industry for its growthand development. -PTI

SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kash-mir government will consider issu-ing no objection certificate to ho-tels in the civil lines area of theValley for four years if the Hous-ing and Urban Development De-partment assures it to connect allthe building for this purpose withsewerage treatment plant.

"The government would con-sider issuance of no objection cer-tificate (NOC) for four years by thePollution Control Board (PCB) forrenewal of registration of hotels,with an assurance by the Housingand Urban Development Depart-ment for connecting hotels of civillines area with sewerage treatmentplant," an official spokesman saidafter a joint meeting of Environ-

ment and Tourism Ministries here.The meeting was jointly chaired

by Minister for Forest and Envi-ronment Mian Altaf Ahmad andMinister for Tourism and CultureNawang Rigzin Jora.

Senior officials of the two min-istries, besides officials of thePCB, attended the meeting.

The spokesman said hotelshaving six to 19 rooms do not re-quire NOC from PCB for their reg-istration.

"However, in order to ease theregistration process of the hotelshaving accommodation of morethan 19 rooms, it was decided thatthe hotel owners would upgradethe existing septic tank facilities oftheir hotels for ensuring requisite

formalities for registration," hesaid. The spokesman said themeeting also discussed problemsof houseboat owners which in-cluded setting up of timber depotsin the vicinity of Dockyard atDalgate.

Altaf assured that setting up oftimber sale depot in the area wouldbe examined on priority and nec-essary orders issued at the earli-est. Jora asserted that promotionof hotel industry for facilitatingtourists in the state is the priorityof the government, saying focusedattention is being given to mitigatetheir problems.

He called upon the hoteliers toensure better hospitality to thetourists on genuine rates. -PTI

NEW DELHI: To promote In-dian tourist destinations inUzbekistan, the Tourism Ministryis planning to open an office in thatcountry and hold road shows.

"Road shows and visit by thedelegation of Indian tour operatorsto Uzbekistan will be explored,"Tourism Minister Subodh KantSahai said here.

Sahai also gave an assurancethat his Ministry will explore thepossibility of opening a tourismoffice in Uzbekistan.

An action plan on tourism co-operation between India andUzbekistan was signed in the pres-ence of the First Deputy PrimeMinister of Uzbekistan RustomAzimov and Sahai.

The action plan was signed byLalit Panwar, CMD, Indian Tour-ism Development Cooperation andRustam Mirzaev, Chairman ofUzbek Tourism.

Welcoming the visiting digni-tary, Sahai said that India andUzbekistan have age-old ties andeven in the past people used tovisit each other's country. "Thereis huge potential for developingcooperation in the tourism sector,"he said.

Sahai also stressed the need for

cooperation in developing tourisminfrastructure in both the coun-tries.

The Institutes of Hotel Man-agement and Food Craft Instituteunder the can be utilised byUzbekistan for human resourcedevelopment of their tourism re-quirements.

Inviting Sahai to visit

Uzbekistan, Azimov said that hiscountry looks forward for morecooperation with India in tourismsector. He said India is a very popu-lar country amongst Uzbeks andthey look towards India as a grow-ing global power.

Seeking more flight connec-tions between India and

Uzbekistan, Azimov said touristlocations such as Tashkent,Samarkand and Bukhara are someof the well known destinations inhis country which can be of attrac-tion and interest to Indian tourists.

According to the Tourism Min-istry data, around 2562, 2756 and3642 tourists arrived in India fromUzbekistan during 2007, 2008 and2009 respectively.

The action plan envisages Ex-change of tourists/media whowould highlight the tourism poten-tial of each other’s country, set-ting up of joint ventures in an ef-fort to promote the business oftourism and travel and establish-ing of representative offices ineach other's country for easy andconvenient accessibility of infor-mation and updates.

It also includes constructionand/or utilization of each othertourist facilities, creation of tour-ism infrastructure to promote tour-ist friendly destinations, educa-tion and re-training of personnel,production of goods, souvenirs,equipment and stock for promo-tion of tourism wherever the viabil-ity exists and organization of ad-vertising and other promotionalactivity. -PTI

India showcases med-tourism at Dubai showDUBAI: India Tourism Dubai is

showcasing its multitude of attrac-tions within India highlighting thecountry's Medical Tourism poten-tial at the Arabian Travel Market(ATM) 2011 held here recently.

As part of its participation un-der the banner Incredible India, theentire gamut of tourism potential -both business and leisure travel -are on show during the exhibition.

At the show, India TourismDubai is providing a glimpse of thenewer destinations as also thecountless cultural, spiritual andtravel experiences that India of-fers.

Foreign tourist arrivals into In-dia have witnessed a steady in-crease over the years, touching5.58 million in 2010, a spurt of awhopping 9.3 per cent over 5.1million tourist arrivals in 2009.

One of the highlights at thisyear's Incredible India showcaseat ATM 2011 would be the focuson the Medical Tourism potentialin the country.

Within the scope of this, India'svast potential as a health andwellness tourism destination,backed by its medical facilities andworld-class doctors and hospitals,ancient healing systems such asAyurveda and other rejuvenating

programs coupled with modernmedical amenities as also the di-verse tourism products such asrural tourism and culture, will beshowcased.

Talking about the scope formedical and health tourism in In-dia, Vikas Rustagi, Regional Direc-tor (West Asia and Africa) at IndiaTourism Dubai, said, "India is aperfect destination for medical

tourism that combines health treat-ment with visits to some of themost alluring and awe-inspiringplaces of the world".

A growing number of touristsare flocking in large numbers be-cause of the superlative medicalcare, equipments and facilities thatIndia offers, Rustagi said. -PTI

The action plan envis-ages Exchange oftourists/media whowould highlight thetourism potential ofeach other’s country

Foreign tourist arrivalsinto India have wit-nessed a steady in-crease over the years,touching 5.58 millionin 2010, a spurt of awhopping 9.3 per cent

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TechBizTech News

Geeta Menon appointed Dean ofNYU's business school


NEW YORK: Geeta Menon, theAbraham Krasnoff Professor ofGlobal Business and Professor ofMarketing, has been appointed asthe dean of the undergraduatecollege of the Leonard N. SternSchool of Business. Her appoint-ment is effective July 15, 2011.

The announcement was madeearlier this month by NYU Presi-dent John Sexton and ProvostDavid McLaughlin.

Dean Menon - whose researchinterests include the study of con-sumer memory, information pro-cessing and emotions in the con-texts of survey methodology, ad-vertising of health information,and risk perception - has been amember of the faculty of NYU'sStern School of Business since1990.

John Sexton said, "In manyways, when Albert Gallatinfounded NYU, he had a school likeStern very much in mind - an edu-cation that would serve those pur-suing business interests well. But,as far-sighted a person as he was,I doubt he could imagine the busi-ness environment for which wenow prepare our students - fast-

moving, high-tech, and global. Inselecting a dean for Stern's under-graduate college, the search com-mittee had a challenging task: findsomeone committed to under-graduate education, someone whobelieved Stern's graduates shouldbe well educated, not just well-pre-pared for business; someone who

understood the modern businessenvironment; and someone whowould imaginatively make use ofthe distinctive advantages NYUoffers - its home in New York City

and its connection to a global net-work of academic centers - to sus-tain the undergraduate college'smomentum.

"And the search committee -headed by Bruce Buchanan - de-livered us just such a candidate:the superb Geeta Menon. Shecomes to us not only with all these

attributes, not only with an out-standing record as a scholar, notonly with a commitment to educa-tion, but also with a thoroughknowledge and proven record of

dedication to the Stern School.David McLaughlin said, "I am

very pleased by the appointmentof Geeta Menon. A strong scholar,an intellectual leader, an excellentacademic administrator, an inno-vative thinker with a genuine in-terest in undergraduate educationand a clear understanding of theneed to prepare students for a glo-balized world: she will be an out-standing dean of Stern's under-graduate college. I congratulateher on her selection, thank thesearch committee for their hardwork and discernment, and thankFred Choi for his great work asacting dean."

Before joining the faculty ofNYU's Stern School in 1990, GeetaMenon was a research executive atthe Indian Market Research Bureauin Delhi. After joining NYU, she hasalso held appointments as a Visit-ing Scholar at the Indian Institute ofManagement, a Visiting Scholar atStanford Business School, a Visit-ing Professor at the Indian Schoolof Business in Hyderabad, and theLaura and John J. Pomerantz Pro-fessor of Marketing at the Univer-sity of Pennsylvania's WhartonSchool.

Contíd on page 35

Kotak Group launches first US mutual fundIndia Post News Service

NEW YORK: Kotak Group,one of India's leading diversifiedfinancial services providers, isbuilding on its US presence withthe launch of the first US mutualfund from an India-based firm.

The ALPS Kotak IndiaGrowth Fund seeks to achievelong-term capital appreciation byinvesting in large-cap, mid-capand small-cap Indian companieswith high growth potential, andis intended to provide US retailand institutional investors withan opportunity to gain broadexposure across all key sectorsof India's large and growingeconomy.

ALPS Advisors Inc. will serve

as the Fund's investment advisorwhile Kotak will act as sub-advi-sor and will manage the Fund'sinvestment portfolio.

"The launch of the ALPS KotakIndia Growth Fund is a natural nextstep in the expansion of Kotak

Group's business and presence inNorth America," said RavilochanPola, CEO and President of KotakMahindra Inc., the Group's NorthAmerican arm based in New York."Launching our first US fund le-

verages the Group's strong assetmanagement and India equitiesresearch capabilities to provide USinvestors with an opportunity topotentially benefit from the in-sights and perspective providedby an Indian financial institution

with vast fund management expe-rience, deep roots and nationwidepresence in India."

Kotak Mahindra (UK) Ltd.'sNitin Jain will serve as principalPortfolio Manager for the Fund

and will oversee a team of fundmanagers and analysts seekingto identify the most attractivegrowth companies amongIndia's top listed companies rep-resenting all levels of marketcapitalization and across all sec-tors.

"The India growth story is amulti-faceted one, driven by anumber of key, sometimes inter-related themes and trends, in-cluding demographic led growthin consumption, expansion ofthe financial sector, massive in-vestment in infrastructure, con-tinued growth in India's role asan outsourcing center and thecyclical impact of commodities,"explained Jain.

Contíd on page 35

Geeta Menon

Air India faces July31 deadline to joinStar Alliance

SAN FRANCISCO: Lufthansa,a founding member of the Star Al-liance, has said Air India needs tocomplete all formalities to join theglobal airline grouping before thefinal deadline of July 31.

"The Star Alliance has set thetime limit for Air India to become afull-fledged member. So, it is timefor Air India to prepare by July 31and meet all criteria. All the solu-tions need to be worked out bythat day", Carsten Spohr, CEO ofLufthansa German Airlines, saidhere.

Lufthansa has been Air India'smentor, helping and guiding it com-plete all formalities for joining thealliance.-PTI

Tatas greatestbeneficiaries,Balwa tells court

NEW DELHI: Tatas are beingportrayed by Central Bureau ofInvestigation (CBI), India's pre-mier investigation agency, as the"victim" in 2G spectrum scam butthey are the greatest beneficiaryin the allocation of the radio wavesduring the tenure of A Raja asTelecom Minister, a Delhi Courtwas told.

Shahid Usman Balwa, promoterof Swan Telecom and accused inthe case, alleged CBI was tryingto shield Tatas by giving them aclean chit and portraying thatBalwa's company benefited themost in the 2G spectrum allocation.

Seeking to buttress the allega-tions, Balwa's counsel VijayAgarwal, said how Tatas could bea victim when they were in goodterms with Raja and Ratan Tata hadpraised the former Telecom Minis-ter on the entire episode of 2G.-PTI

Basu sees Montekas best candidatefor IMF top job

NEW DELHI: Indian PlanningCommission Deputy ChairmanMontek Singh Ahluwalia is thebest candidate for the top job atthe International Monetary Fund(IMF), Chief Economic Advisor tothe Ministry of Finance, Govern-ment of India Kaushik Basu said.

"In my view, Montek is the bestname... not only from India's pointof view, but from the world's pointof view also," Basu told reportershere at a function to mark thegolden jubilee celebrations of theInstitute of Applied ManpowerResearch (IAMR).-PTI

Spain's Gamesa wins Indianwind turbine deal

MADRID: Spanish wind turbine giant Gamesa said here it had won abig contract to supply turbines in India, touting it as one of the largestcontracts of its kind in the world.

Gamesa signed an outline agreement with power company CaparoEnergy India Ltd. to deliver wind turbines with a combined capacity of2,000 MW over the next five years, it said in a statement.

The agreement was one of the largest wind turbine contracts signedin India and among the biggest in the world, Gamesa said.

Gamesa would produce the turbines at its factories in India, supply-ing 150 MW of turbine capacity in 2012 alone, the firm said. -PTI

‘The superb GeetaMenon comes to us notonly with all theseattributes, not only withan outstanding recordas a scholar, not onlywith a commitment toeducation, but also witha thorough knowledgeand proven record ofdedication to theStern School’

The ALPS Kotak India Growth Fund seeks toachieve long-term capital appreciation byinvesting in large-cap, mid-cap and small-capIndian companies with high growth potential

35India PostTechBiz PostMay 27, 2011

www.indiapost.com

The author of numerous schol-arly publications, her work in-cludes key articles published inthe Journal of Consumer Researchsuch as "Behavioral FrequencyJudgments: An Accessibility-Diagnosticity Framework" (1995),"AIDS and Me, Never the TwainShall Meet" (1998), "We're at asMuch Risk as We're Led to Be-lieve" (2002), and "A Sound Idea:Phonetic Effects on ConsumerJudgments" (2004), as well as inthe Journal of Marketing Researchsuch as "How Well do you KnowYour Partner?" (1995), "Are theParts Better than the Whole?"(1997), and "Getting Emotionalabout Health" (2007). Her work has

been funded by the National In-stitutes of Health and the Ameri-can Diabetes Association.

She has served in numerous lead-ership roles in her field and receivedmany honors and awards, includ-ing being elected president of theAssociation of Consumer Re-search; being named a HaroldMacDowell Faculty Fellow; and re-ceiving the Citibank Award for Ex-cellence in Teaching, among others.

Professor Menon received aBA in economics from Stella MarisCollege in 1981 and a MA in eco-nomics from Madras ChristianCollege (both affiliated with Ma-dras University), and a Ph.D. inbusiness administration from theUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1991.

Geeta Menon appointed Deanof NYU's business school


"The Fund's investment strat-egy reflects this dynamic macro-economic environment and ourflexible multi-cap, cross-sector

Kotak Group launches first US mutual fundapproach is intended to maximizereturns and lower volatility on be-half of our investors."

The ALPS Kotak India GrowthFund is distributed by ALPS Dis-

tributors, Inc. and is currentlyavailable through Oppenheimer &Co., Commonwealth, Credit Suisse,Fidelity, JP Morgan, Pershing,Schwab and TD Ameritrade.


$25m for US-India Clean EnergyResearch Center


NEW YORK: As part of the Part-nership to Advance Clean Energyannounced by President Obamaand Prime Minister Singh of Indialast November, the Department ofEnergy has committed $25 millionover the next five years to sup-port the US-India Joint Clean En-ergy Research and DevelopmentCenter (JCERDC).

Funding from the Departmentof Energy will be matched by USgrantees to support $50 million inUS research. The Indian Ministryof Science and Technology willprovide an additional $50 millionin Indian public and private fund-ing to support research in India.

This first-of-a-kind effort is akey component of the US andIndia's commitment to improveenergy access and promote low-carbon growth by facilitating jointresearch and development of clean

energy technologies, according toa White House release.

Teams of scientists and engi-neers from the US and India willinitially focus on research in threepriority areas - building energy

efficiency, second-generationbiofuels and solar energy.

"Developing and investing innew technologies is a key compo-

nent to meeting the goals of a cleanenergy future," said Secretary ofEnergy Steven Chu. "This inno-vative approach to collaborativeresearch is a testament to the spe-cial relationship shared by the twocountries. By working with ourpartners in India and sharing astrong commitment to building aclean energy economy, we can getfurther, faster, than by workingalone."

The Department of Energy willprovide awards under each of theJCERDC's three initial priority ar-eas. Universities, national labs,private companies and others areeligible to apply. Applications aredue by August 16, 2011, with se-lections expected later this fall.

The JCERDC will be located inexisting facilities in both countriesand funding from the US govern-ment will only be used to supportwork conducted by U.S. institu-tions and individuals.

Frost & Sullivan Award for Netmagic SolutionsIndia Post News Service

MUMBAI: Netmagic Solu-tions, India's leading managed IThosting services provider, hasbeen conferred with the 'Data Cen-ter Service Provider of the Year'award at the 9th edition of Frost &Sullivan 2011 India IT & TelecomExcellence Awards ceremony heldin Delhi (NCR). Netmagic was fe-licitated with this award in recogni-tion of their growth and perfor-mance achieved in the fast grow-ing and competitive datacentermarket in India.

Netmagic provides managed IThosting services to support mis-sion critical IT environments ofenterprises across the globethrough their 7 state-of-the-artdatacenters in India. Netmagic isone of the few datacenter serviceplayers who have a comprehensiveportfolio of products and servicesto fulfill the IT Infrastructure host-ing requirements of enterprises.

Netmagic is also the first moverin the Indian cloud computing ser-vices space and has over 150 cus-tomers currently hosted on theirthird generation enterprise grade

and highly scalable public cloud(infrastructure-as-a-service) plat-form. This award also reaffirms thecompany's ability to plan, design,operate and maintain world-class

datacenters."It is a great honor to receive

such a prestigious award and is atestimony to our efforts in provid-ing the complete range ofdatacenter solutions" said SharadSanghi, MD & CEO, Netmagic So-lutions "I would like to especiallythank all our customers and part-

ners for their trust and support. Oneof the reasons for our success hasbeen our constant endeavor to in-novate and our story in the cloudcomputing space is testament.

With datacenter adoption gainingmomentum in India as a result ofreducing bandwidth costs and the3G roll-out, we are committed toretaining this leadership positionby embracing the latest in technol-ogy and developing innovativeproducts and business models thatenable our customer's businesses."

According to AnandRangachary, Managing Director,Frost & Sullivan, South Asia,Middle East and North Africa,"There has been a significant shiftin the CIO mindset driven by fac-tors such as cautious IT budgets,rising energy costs and lack ofskilled man power. The Data Cen-ter services market is witnessing anincreasing traction with respect tonew technologies deployed, inno-vative products offered and busi-ness models incorporated.Netmagic has been a pioneer in theincorporation of green IT measuresfor data centers. They are the firstin India to have LEED's Gold cer-tified Data Center facility inChennai and also one of the firstproviders of IaaS services in In-dia. Their innovative solutions forthe BFSI industry include a co-located data center at the BSE, in

strategic partnership withThomson Reuters. Market sharegrowth, customer satisfactionand product innovation havebeen the key criteria for bestow-ing Netmagic with the '2011 Frost& Sullivan Datacenter ServiceProvider of the Year' award."

A rigorous process was fol-lowed in selecting a company forthis award, which involved de-tailed research done by analystson market performance of eachcompany in the fray. An indepen-dent panel of judges finally de-liberated on the findings of theanalyst team before they decidedon the deserving award recipient.The evaluation parameters for theaward comprised revenue growth,innovation and breadth of portfo-lio offered, geographical reach,customer base and key wins in2010 achieved by the provider.

Mr. Anand Rangachary (Left) Managing Director of Frost & Sullivan, South

Asia, Middle East and North Africa,† handing over the Frost & Sullivan 2011

India IT & Telecom Excellence Award for ëData Center Service Provider of the

Yearí to Mr. Sharad Sanghi, MD & CEO, Netmagic Solutions.

Funding from theDepartment of Energywill be matched byUS grantees to support$50 million in US re-search. The IndianMinistry of Scienceand Technology willprovide an additional$50 million

www.indiapost.com36 India Post May 27, 2011

Health ScienceHealth LineUnusual processsaves Kan.abortion plan

TOPEKA, Kan.: Tactics usedby Kansas lawmakers to imposenew restrictions on private healthinsurance coverage for abortionsare prompting threats of a legalchallenge and talk of rewriting theLegislature's rules.

Even legislators defendingthose tactics acknowledge theystretched or bent their rules to getthe bill passed. They took a mea-sure that had died without pass-ing either chamber, folded it intoanother bill and overcame resis-tance to a questionable move withlegislative trading.

The resulting bill will ban insur-ance companies from automati-cally covering abortions in theirhealth plans, except when awoman's life is at risk.

The prohibition also will applyto insurance exchanges set upunder last year's federal health carelaw. -AP

Georgia concernover leaf-eatingcaterpillars

ATHENS, Ga.: University ofGeorgia researchers are trackingan outbreak of caterpillars thatpose a threat to the health of oaktrees in the state.

The black-dotted brown mothhas been found in counties nearAthens, but researchers are wor-ried the pests are spreading acrossGeorgia.

Kamal Gandhi, an assistantprofessor of forest entomology atthe UGA, identified the leaf-eat-ing caterpillars with the help ofUniversity of Connecticut re-searcher David Wagner.

The caterpillars are dark gray-ish-brown caterpillars with thinwhite lines on both sides. -AP

UNMC launchesmobile nursingclinic for rural Neb.

OMAHA, Neb.: A mobile nurs-ing clinic established by the Uni-versity of Nebraska Medical Cen-ter will help serve older Nebras-kans in rural areas.

UNMC officials say the 38-foot,custom-built clinic will be staffedby three geriatric nurse practitio-ners. It begins operation thismonth and will be open six to eightdays a month in the communitiesof Norfolk, Neligh and Red Cloud.

The clinic is equipped with twoexam rooms, a wheelchair lift andmedical equipment.

The facility will also be used totrain students in UNMC's geriat-ric nurse practitioner program. -AP

India needs to increase spendingon healthcare: WHO

GENEVA: An abysmally lowgovernment spending on health -at USD 32 per capita - character-izes the poor state of healthcare inIndia which is facing a "doubleburden" of diseases afflicting boththe poor and rich classes, a newWHO report has warned.

While India's life expectancyhas gone up to 65 years in 2009,up from 61 years in 2000, globallife expectancy was still higher at68 years in 2009 as compared to 64in 1990.

While per capita health expen-diture is about USD 32 in poorcountries, including in India, it isaround USD 4590 in rich countries(more than 140 times).

The high income countriesconsequently have 10 times moredoctors, 12 times more nurses andmidwifes and 30 times more den-tists, the report said.

With steep income disparities,India is also struggling to tackle a"double-burden" of diseaseswhich include infectious diseasesaffecting the poor on the one handand chronic lifestyle ailments typi-cal of fast urbanization on theother.

The average life expectancy ofa male in India is now 63 as com-pared to 60 a decade ago, while afemale lives 66 years, in India,says the report released by theWorld Health Organization aheadof the 64th World Health Assem-bly here.

"Life expectancy and overall

health of Indians has been im-pressive notwithstanding highlevels maternal and child mortal-ity, high income disparities, andincreasing infectious and non-communicable (heart diseases,stroke, diabetes and cancer) dis-eases," says Colin Mathers, Co-ordinator of Mortality and Bur-den of Disease at WHO.

China, on the other hand, hasimproved the same to 74 years

during the last 10 years. Besides,China's targeted health expendi-ture and growing coverage ofhealth insurance has made a re-markable dent since 2003, the re-port said.

India faces high levels of ma-ternal and child mortality, increas-ing burden of infectious diseasesparticularly among the poor, andgrowing incidence of non-commu-nicable diseases in the well-to-dosections of the middle classes, thereport says.

WHO's latest "World HealthStatistics 2011" offers a graphic

account of how nations arespending their funds on healthsector and how they are ad-dressing major diseases. It callson governments to spend morein a focused-manner to avoid therising mortalities from the infec-tious diseases that plague thepoor in the society and the so-called non-communicable dis-eases of the growing middleclasses".

A big part of the problem is dueto vast disparities in health spend-ing between low and high incomecountries.

The report warns governmentsgrimly, including India, that theyare facing a "double burden ofdisease".

It involves a sudden spike ininfectious diseases that causemaximum child and maternal mor-tality coupled with chronic non-communicable diseases - such asdiabetes, heart diseases, and can-cers - caused by globalization andurbanization.

Despite high economic growthin the last decade, India contin-ues to be one of the highest dis-ease-burdened countries in theworld in absolute terms.

While the infant mortality is 50per 1000 lives, the mortality of chil-dren below 5 years is 66 per 1000lives.

Though the infant and childmortality has dropped steeplyover the 10 years, it remains stillhigh as compared to China whichhas seen spectacular improve-ments in this area.

The infant mortality in China isabout 17 per 1000 and 22 per 1000for children below 5 years.

"Since 2003, China has rapidlyincreased health insurance whichcontributed to significant im-provements in the health sector,"Ties Boerma, director of WHO'sDepartment of Health Statisticsand Informatics.

India also faces the specter ofnon-communicable diseases -heart diseases, stroke, diabetesand cancer - which currently makeup two-thirds of all deaths glo-bally.

The report says the increase inthe non-communicable diseasesin India and elsewhere is due toageing population and spread ofrisk factors associated with glo-balization and urbanization andcoupled with increasing use oftobacco, sedentary life styles, un-healthy diet and excessive use ofalcohol. -PTI

FDA panel mayrevoke key use ofAbbott drug

WASHINGTON: A panel ofadvisers to the Food and DrugAdministration will consider thisweek whether to revoke a key in-dication from Abbott's block-buster cholesterol drug Trilipix.

Bill Gates praises Nitish Kumar at World Health AssemblyGENEVA: Bill Gates has show-

ered praise on Bihar chief minis-ter Nitish Kumar at the WorldHealth Assembly for his impres-sive performance of rapid vacci-nation for the children in thestate, saying "people are hungryfor visionary leaders" who de-liver upon their promises.

"Inter-state jealousies" oversocial performance are contrib-uting to increased focus onhealth, Gates told reporters here.

"I was struck by the chiefminister's popularity," he said inhis address to the 64th World

Health Assembly (WHA), whichis the governing body of theWorld Health Organization(WHO).

"Nitish Kumar and MuhammadPate (head of Nigeria's polio eradi-cation program) have demon-strated that the best leaders can

overcome the worst circum-stances," said Gates, adding"People are hungry for visionaryleaders who not only promise a

better future, but deliver upon thatpromise."

He urged health ministers toembark on rapid vaccination pro-

gram to reduce child mortality."Let us rededicate ourselves

to the idea that no district will bebelow 80 per cent coverage,"Gates emphasized at the annualmeeting of WHA to set the pri-orities for the coming year.

India has one of the highestchild and infant mortality ratesin the world.

Despite a robust pharmaceuti-cal industry and growing eco-nomic prosperity, India is yet tomake a significant dent on its dis-ease-burden, said health analysts.

Details on page 38

Cont’d on page 37

Though the infant andchild mortality hasdropped steeply overthe 10 years, it remainsstill high as compared toChina which has seenspectacular improve-ments in this area

'Let us rededicate ourselves to the idea that nodistrict will be below 80 per cent coverage,' Gatesemphasized at the annual meeting of WHA to setthe priorities for the coming year

India PostMay 27, 2011 Health Science Post 37

www.indiapost.com

Maine Senate sends healthcare overhaul to gov

AUGUSTA, Maine: TheMaine Senate has passed ahealth insurance overhaul billthat allows more interstate pur-chases and subsidies to helpprovide coverage to people con-sidered uninsurable because oftheir health problems, setting thestage for Gov. Paul LePage's ex-pected signature.

The 24-10 vote followed aweekend "cooling off" periodbetween majority Republicanswho support the bill and Demo-crats who say it's being rushedthrough.

But in the end, Republicanspicked up three votes by Demo-crats who were persuaded to goalong by amendments aimed atkeeping rates from rising dispro-portionately in rural areas and notforcing people to travel long dis-tances for care.

"Will this do as we hoped? Idon't know," said Sen. Bill Dia-mond, D-Windham, sponsor ofone of the amendments. But hesaid the present system "is notworking" and that people of thestate "asked us to do something... We have to move forward andnow is the time."

Republicans said the bill en-

courages more choice andcompet i t ion to ho ld downcosts. It includes subsidies forthe chronically ill and thosewith pre-existing conditions,funded by a tax on premiumsof up to $4 per person permonth for nearly all Mainepolicyholders.

No one could be denied healthinsurance or kicked off a plan forgetting sick or having pre-exist-ing conditions. Starting in 2014,Mainers buying individual insur-ance, not through employers,could buy policies from compa-nies based in New Hampshire,Massachusetts, Rhode Islandand Connecticut.

Companies with fewer than 50employees would be allowed toband together to create larger in-surance pools to obtain betterrates. For companies with 20 orfewer employees, the plan alsoprovides a tax credit if they main-tain wellness programs.

Senate Majority Leader JonCourtney, R-Springvale, agreedchange is needed, saying, "Thegood intentions of the past haveled us to some of the highesthealth insurance rates in thecountry." -AP

East Carolina University, churchesaddress obesity

GREENVILLE, NC: During theweek, personal trainer HaywoodParker preaches physical fitness.In Sunday sermons, BishopHaywood Parker doesn't changethat message.

"Obesity is plaguing Americalike never before," said Parker,senior pastor of Truth TabernacleMinistries in Rocky Mount. "Thisis a cultural issue, and the churchhas an obligation to respond tothe issue."

One way Parker's church hassought to respond is through par-ticipating in the Prosper Project, athree-county initiative conductedby the Department of PublicHealth at East CarolinaUniversity's Brody School ofMedicine. The project, launchedin the summer of 2010, aims towage a spiritual as well as a physi-cal battle against diabetes andcardiovascular disease.

More than 500 members of adozen primarily black churches inEdgecombe, Duplin and Lenoircounties have been involved inProsper, an acronym for "Prepar-ing Ourselves for Spiritual andPhysical Enrichment and Re-newal."

"To make a connection withpeople, it's effective to workthrough their churches withpeople they know," said Dr. LloydNovick, chairman of Brody's de-partment of public health and co-principal investigator of theproject. "We believe that we're

going to be able to demonstratethat a faith-based project like this,working from churches, actuallycan be successful in impacting onthese individuals' health."

Participants in the six-monthproject attend three sessions eachmonth during which they weighin and have their blood pressureand blood sugar levels checked.Groups meet at the church notonly to learn about nutrition,

physical activity and overallwellness but to study Scripture per-taining to health. (The project'smotto comes from 3 John 1:2 "Be-loved, I pray that in all respects youmay prosper and be in good health,just as your soul prospers.")

"Eastern North Carolina isknown as the stroke belt but alsothe Bible belt," said Nancy Little,a clinical associate professor in theDepartment of Public Health andco-principal investigator of theproject. "We go to where thepeople are.

"The church is more than justa place to come on Sunday andon Wednesday night," she said."In the minority community, thechurch is really a consistent placewhere you spend a lot of time andan integral part of your life."

Theodore Thomas was practi-cally raised in the church. Grow-ing up with a father as a pastor,Thomas remembers being atchurch not just for worship onSundays, but for meals as well.

"Growing up we used to eat atthe church all the time," said Tho-mas, now a dentist in Clinton andpastor of First Baptist Church inWarsaw. -AP

'In the minoritycommunity, thechurch is really aconsistent placewhere you spend a lotof time and an inte-gral part of your life'

India Post May 20, 2011Health Science Post38

www.indiapost.com

Indiana family alters plansafter kidney transplants

New regimen drastically shortens TB treatmentATLANTA: Health officials cel-

ebrated a faster treatment forpeople who have tuberculosis butaren't infectious, after investigatorsfound a new combination of pillsknocks out the disease in threemonths instead of nine.

That means more people arelikely to finish their treatment forlatent tuberculosis, Centers forDisease Control and Preventionofficials said.

``New, simpler ways to preventTB disease are urgently needed,and this breakthrough representsone of the biggest developmentsin TB treatment in decades,'' CDCDirector Dr. Tom Frieden said, in aprepared statement.

For decades, people infectedwith TB bacteria but not ill havebeen treated with a special TB pill,isoniazid, taken once a day fornine months. It's been the stan-dard regimen despite problemsgetting people to take the pill ev-ery day.

But in one of the largest federaltrials to examine preventive tuber-

culosis therapy, investigatorsfound that another regimen wasjust as effective. Just once a weekand for just three months, patientstook a larger dose of isoniazid andalso a dose of another antibiotic,rifapentine.

About 82 percent of the peoplein the three-month regimen com-pleted the full treatment, while just69 percent on the nine-month regi-men did.

Only seven cases of TB diseasedeveloped in people on the newtreatment, compared with 15 in thestandard group.

``It was quite effective,'' said Dr.Wafaa El-Sadr, a Columbia Univer-sity professor of medicine andepidemiology who was involvedin the study.

The study was led by Dr.Timothy Sterling of VanderbiltUniversity and was presentedat the American Thoracic Soci-ety International Conference inDenver.

Tuberculosis is caused bybacteria spread from person to

person through the air. TB usu-ally affects the lungs, and canlead to symptoms such as chestpain and coughing up blood. Glo-bally, it kills about 1.7 millionpeople each year.

Thanks to antibiotics and othermeasures, the TB rate in theUnited States has been falling foryears. Last year, it hit an all-timelow a total of 11,181 reported cases

of TB illness.But more than 11 million Ameri-

cans have latent TB, meaning theyare infected with the TB bacteriabut have not had symptoms andare not infectious.

About 5 percent to 10 percentof people with latent TB developthe disease if not treated, mean-ing they are a major obstacle toeliminating TB in the UnitedStates.

``The 11 million persons withlatent TB represent a tickingbomb. They're the source of fu-ture TB cases,'' said Dr. KennethCastro, director of the CDC's Divi-sion of Tuberculosis Elimination.

Most Americans with latent TBdon't know they are infected, buttesting has been targeted atgroups of people who tend tohave higher rates of TB infectionor who are more susceptible to TBinfection progressing into illness.About 200,000 to 300,000 Ameri-cans with latent TB start treatmenteach year.

But many don't stick with it,

sometimes because they feel welland don't see the need to keeptaking a pill against an illnessthey haven't developed. Somedon't like that they cannot drinkalcohol while taking isoniazid.

The study looked at about8,000 people with latent TB in theUnited States, Canada, Brazil andSpain. They were followed fornearly three years from the timethey started the study. Most of thetop TB research centers in theUnited States were involved.

About half were given the stan-dard treatment, a daily 300 milli-grams dose of isoniazid for ninemonths, and they took it on theirown. The other half were put on a900-milligram dose of isoniazid anda 900 milligram dose of rifapentine,but did it in front of a doctor orother health-care worker.

The researchers acknowledgedthat follow-up studies are neededto see if patients on the three-month regimen are as faithful attaking their medicine when theyaren't being monitored. -AP

FORT WAYNE, Ind.: How muchof what you do is tied up in whoyou are?

Sue Sell's midlife career shift tonursing directly relates to her ex-periences as a mother, particularlyto her middle child.

She's coming off her shift atLutheran Hospital, where she is aregistered nurse. A noisy espressomachine in a coffee kiosk next toher hisses and sputters as Sell,still dressed in scrubs, sits downat a hospital café table.

The reason she wears thescrubs sits next to her. It's herdaughter Marissa Brunson, whothough not a nurse is nearly asfamiliar with nurses as her mother.

Sue Sell married at age 18, andthe couple soon had a daughter,Brittany. Next came Marissa, now28, and a son, Levi.

Together, they ran the family'sagricultural business in Hunting-ton County, and Sell ran a clean-ing business on the side.

The Sell family had a stereo-typical Midwestern existence inthe 1980s and early 1990s. UntilMarissa got sick.

Marissa Brunson dresses styl-ishly and has long, eye-catchingred hair.

Her slender hands and hollowcheeks give her a look of fragility,and in some ways, that's appro-priate they're outward signs of herillness.

The symptoms began in thirdgrade. She began losing fat in herupper body and face and a schoolphysical showed her kidneys werefailing.

Trips to Cincinnati, to theMayo Clinic in Minnesota and toIndiana University inBloomington followed. Marissawas diagnosed with

membranoproliferative glomerulo-nephritis, Type II MPGN Type IIfor short a condition as seriousas the weighty name suggests.

The rare autoimmune kidneydisease would eventually result inher needing a kidney transplant,the family was told.

Life for Marissa went on, if notquite as normal. In part becauseshe had to avoid contact sports,she played varsity softball all fouryears of high school.

Most spectators didn't knowshe'd gone on dialysis in eighthgrade, treatments that continuedthrough high school until her dis-ease progressed so far that she

finally was added to a transplantwaiting list.

The summer before her senioryear of high school, in 2000, shehad a kidney transplant.

Her mother remembers feelingguilt through those years for acouple of reasons.

"As a parent, first off, you gothrough a lot of guilt that you'vedone something, or missed some-thing," Sell said.

Family members weren'tmatches, and Marissa's kidneycame from a donor who had justdied. That, too, caused guilty feel-ings, Sell said.

But for her daughter, it meant afresh start.

"It was nerve-racking, but ex-citing at the same time," Brunsonsaid.

That kidney functioned into herfirst year of college at Indiana Uni-versity, when she began havingcomplications. Her doctors askedher to quit school, saying the fullcourse load was causing too muchstress on her body, and she did.

Brunson went back on dialy-sis in December 2004. In July 2005,she got a call saying a new kid-ney was waiting.

Brunson said she didn't expe-rience as much stress during thesecond transplant because sheknew what to expect.

FDA panel may revokekey use of Abbott drug

WASHINGTON: A panel ofadvisers to the Food and DrugAdministration will consider thisweek whether to revoke a key in-dication from Abbott's block-buster cholesterol drug Trilipix.

Trilipix is a fibrate, a drug thatlowers blood fats called triglycer-ides while boosting ``good'' cho-lesterol. The drug is approved forcombination use with statins likeLipitor and Zocor, which lower

``bad'' cholesterol and are themost widely-used class of choles-terol drugs.

But a 5,000-patient governmentstudy released in March showedthat diabetic patients takingTrilipix plus a statin had just asmany heart attacks as patients tak-ing a statin alone. The study wasdesigned to show that the combi-nation reduced heart attack,stroke and other deadly events inpatients with Type 2 diabetes.

The FDA will ask an outside

panel to consider several optionsfor Trilipix. Those options includerevoking the drug's approval foruse with statins, updating its la-bel with information about thestudy, or simply leaving it on themarket as is. The panel's recom-mendation is not binding.

The group will also discussdata from the study that showeda higher rate of heart attacksamong women who took Trilipixin combination with a statin.

In its scientific review postedonline, the FDA said drugs likeTrilipix have shown ̀ `potential'' toreduce heart attacks for over 40years.

``However, data from large clini-cal outcomes trials have producedmixed results,'' the agency con-cludes.

Drugmaker Abbott Laborato-ries said it supports adding in-formation to the label from thegovernment study. But companyexecutives say two-thirds of thepatients enrolled in the studywould not be eligible for Trilipixbased on physician prescribingguidelines.

``The patients who benefit fromthis drug are very easy to iden-tify: they have high triglyceridesand low HDL (high-density lipo-protein) cholesterol and that is re-flected in the current labeling,''said Dr. James Stolzenbach, anAbbott vice president who over-sees cholesterol medications. -AP

About 5 percent to 10percent of people withlatent TB develop thedisease if not treated,meaning they are amajor obstacle toeliminating TB in theUnited States. 'The 11million persons withlatent TB represent aticking bomb'

Cont’d on page 39

Family membersweren't matches, andMarissa's kidney camefrom a donor who hadjust died. That, too,caused guiltyfeelings, Sell said

The group will alsodiscuss data from thestudy that showed ahigher rate of heartattacks amongwomen who tookTrilipix in combinationwith a statin

India PostMay 27, 2011 Health Science Post 39

www.indiapost.com

She waves her thin hand in a dismissivegesture.

"It was nothing," she said.Her mother smiles and disagrees. Sue

Sell said her guilt compounded a bit on theoccasion of her daughter's second trans-plant.

In November 2005, Dow Sell - Sell'sbrother-in-law and Brunson's uncle - diedof bacterial meningitis.

His organs were donated, and Sell saidthat finally, her guilt was gone. She recallsher mother-in-law being told by a gratefulorgan recipient, "I get to be a father again;I get to be a grandfather."

"You're on the other end, and it's the onlything that makes sense," she said. "Out oftheir death, something good has to happen."

She gestures toward her daughter."We know what that's like, because she

gets to have a life," Sell said.That life for Brunson has included go-

ing back to college and her wedding in 2009to a high school classmate she didn't knowat school but met online years later.

Meanwhile, her mother was undergoinga transformation of her own, influenced inlarge part by the nurses she met during herdaughter's many hospital stays. They toldher she'd make a good nurse herself.

As Brunson's first transplanted kidneywas failing, Sell, now 48, began to thinkseriously about a career change.

"I decided, 'I've put up with all this,' "she said."All the puking, the cleaning up,the emotions and thought I could do it."

In the fall of 2005, after Brunson's sec-ond transplant, both mother and daugh-ter began classes at Ivy Tech CommunityCollege.

The daughter graduated in 2007 as acertified medical assistant, and hermother has been a licensed nurse fornearly three years.

After a short time at St. Joseph Hospi-

Indiana family alters plansafter kidney transplants



Gates said nations must strive to "makethis the decade of vaccines," underscoringthe need for donor countries not to turn adeaf ear for making generous contributionstowards "vaccines and immunization."

The founder of Microsoft said pharma-ceutical companies must manufacture af-fordable vaccines for poor countries, whileWHO's 193 members must "make vaccinesa central focus of your health systems, toensure that all your children have access toexisting vaccines now - and to new ones asthey become available.

He asked vaccine companies in the worldto emulate "the Serum Institute of India, ledby Dr Cyrus Poonawalla," for manufactur-ing the low-cost meningitis vaccine.

He said the Serum institute has becomeworld's largest producer of the measles vac-

cines, and the pentavalent vaccine, suggest-ing that the Indian company is now manu-facturing inexpensive "diarrhea and pneu-monia vaccines."

The Gates foundation has become the sec-ond largest donor to the WHO after the US.

The WHO, which is facing unprec-edented financial deficit to the tune of USD300 million, is now seeking funds from pri-vate and philanthropic outfits committed toimproving global health, Dr Margaret Chan,WHO's director general, told reporters.

She told PTI that there is no conflict ofinterests or lack of accountability for thefunds received from private sources.

"WHO is a multilateral organization andwe have clear rules," she said, suggest-ing that it doesn't allow the companies tohave any influence in its day-to-day de-cisions. -PTI

Bill Gates praises Nitish Kumarat World Health Assembly

AIA to raise funds for HIVpatients in India


NEW YORK: The Project India team ofthe Association of Indians in America(AIA) is organizing a fundraising event forthe benefit of HIV/AIDS patients in India.

Partnering with Gold Coast Film Festi-val in its inaugural festival in Long IslandJune 1-5, AIA will be screening the roman-tic comedy film "Harry Tries to Marry" theproceeds from which will go to the HIV/AIDS care in India.

The Festival is sponsored by the Townof North Hempstead and will showcase di-verse films and documentaries selectedfrom many countries.

Harry Tries to Marry, starring Rahul Rai,Stephanie Estes and Freisha Bemanbehram,

is produced by New Jersey-based filmmakerNayan Padrai, and is winner of LondonAsian Film Festival. Lead actor Rahul Raiis based in Long Island, New York. Part ofthe film has been shot in Gujarat, India.

AIA's Project India has channeled morethan $15 million worth of medical equip-ment to India through its partnership withan NGO group, Gujarat AIDS PreventionUnit (GAP), based in Ahmedabad. To thisend, AIA has helped over 1000 patients inover 60 villages so far.

Since 2007, AIA, in partnership with theBrooklyn Hospital's team of doctors, hassuccessfully conducted medical camps,seminars, patient care and provided vitalcounseling to patients who have little orno access to medical assistance.

tal working in various departments, Selltook a job at Lutheran Hospital in the car-diovascular intensive care and transplantunits.

Occasionally, Sell will tell a transplantpatient about her daughter, and when pa-tients hear Brunson's had two transplants,they're encouraged.

Once in a while, she gets emotional be-ing around transplant patients, such as ayoung girl who reminded her of herdaughter.

"I know what the mother goes through,"she said. "People don't mind if you get alittle emotional."

Mother and daughter are close in manyaspects of their lives, such as their weeklyengagement tutoring Burmese studentsand their work on the family farm.

But the transplants have brought themtogether in other ways. Both volunteer forthe Indiana Organ Procurement Council andhope to participate in the National KidneyFoundation's Kidney Walk fundraiser thissummer.

Dealing with Brunson's illness necessi-tated a change of perspective for her entirefamily.

"It's hard to watch your kid be sick, andit's hard on their siblings," Sell said. "Thatkind of illness affects the whole family." -AP

NV hospitals back Dem taxplan over Medicaid cuts

CARSON CITY, Nev.: Some Nevada hos-pitals are backing a Democratic plan for anew business tax as a way to avoid re-peated cuts to Medicaid.

Sunrise Health System President SylviaYoung told the Senate Revenue Committeethe Sunrise hospitals in Las Vegas absorbtens of millions of dollars in losses providing

care for uninsured people or Medicaid recipi-ents. Such deep losses could prompt moreproviders to turn away Medicaid patients.

Gov. Brian Sandoval has proposed low-ering the rate at which hospitals are reim-bursed for serving Medicaid patients, al-though a legislative committee reversedsome of those cuts. -AP

'You're on the other end, andit's the only thing that makessense,' she said. 'Out of theirdeath, something good hasto happen.' She gesturestoward her daughter.'We know what that's like,because she gets to havea life,' Sell said

India Post May 27, 2011www.indiapost.com

Real Estate40

Realty Tidbits

Dubai hotspot for Indian buyerswith sharp drop in prices

If you're fretting over the increasing property rates in yourcity, how about buying a

house in a place where the aver-age prices are 60% cheaper thanthose in Mumbai? And no, we'renot talking about a tin shack in theboondocks. Actually, we aren't talk-ing of India at all.

It's in the heart of a country, wherewater, sanitation and transport fa-cilities are better than in any Indiancity. Yes, Dubai is back on the radarof Indian buyers after a sharp dropin realty prices in the past couple ofyears. However, before you rush tobuy land, you need to know the pur-chase process and the charges youwill incur to own a house in Dubai.

Till May 2002, foreigners werepermitted to only rent property orown it on a 99-year leasehold ba-sis. However, they can now buyand own freehold property, butonly in the New Dubai region.However, unlike in India, the coun-try offers protection of theinvestor's capital during the pur-

chase process through the Escrowlaw. Another regulation to moni-tor the ownership and manage-ment of a jointly owned propertyis the Strata law. If, however, youthink buying property in Dubai willautomatically get you a job, thinkagain. Owning a house doesn't

entitle you to a permanent residentvisa or the right to work in Dubai.

If you're still keen to buy one,you can begin your search onwebsites such ashomesdubai.com, dubaiprop-ertygroup.com and househunter-sdubai.com. You can also ap-proach a broker, who can arrange

a 2-3-day realty tour, wherein hewill take you around the city toshow you various options. A tourthat includes return air fare, accom-modation, meals and visa chargescosts approximately Rs 50,000. Butdon't pick up a realty agent blindly."Only those brokers who are reg-

istered with RERA (Real EstateRegulatory Agency) are permittedto sell property on behalf of in-vestors and developers.

Individual agents should havea broker ID number that certifiesthey have passed the Brokers'Certified Training Course," saysMatthew Green, head of research

& consultancy, CB Richard Ellis,UAE. You can check the websiteof the regulator, rpdubai.ae, to seethe list of approved brokers. Tobuy property, you need four docu-ments-a copy of your passport,proof of income for six months,bank statement for six months andcredit history for 36 months. Thedeveloper will assist you in hav-ing the property registered withthe Dubai Land Department.

"The buyer will have to pay 1%of the property price as registra-tion charge to the department. Theseller too has to pay 1%. Once thisis done, the buyer gets the titledeed from the department," saysDarshan Hiranandani, director andCEO, Hircon International. If youwant to finance your purchase,you can avail of a loan from aDubai bank or a branch of an In-dian bank, but it's only availablefor properties that are already con-structed. The loan-to-value ratiois 40-75% for Dubai banks, whileit is 60-85% for the Indian ones.

How an underwater homeowner got a refinanceNEW JERSEY: A HARP refi

isn't always fast and easy. AskJoseph DeLucia, who got a mort-gage refinance under the HomeAffordable Refinance Program.From application to closing, theprocess took six months.

His refinance rate is a lot lowerthan the rate on his original mort-gage, and the payment is $300 permonth less. DeLucia says the sav-ings make the months of frustra-tion and lost sleep worthwhile.

"My advice to anyone would be:Don't give up," he says. "Just hangin there if you really want it."

The HARP refi enableshomeowners to refinance, even ifplummeting property values haveleft them owing more than theirhomes are currently worth. A ho-meowner can get a HARP refi forup to 125 percent of appraisedvalue.

DeLucia bought his house onthe bay side of the New Jerseyshore in 2006. Property values al-ready were declining. In early 2009,DeLucia read on Bankrate.com

that rates had fallen. He owed morethan the house was worth, so aHARP refi was his only option.

He applied with his currentservicer May 1, 2009. He closedNov. 5. In those six months, hespent dozens of hours on thephone, sent scores of emails andengaged in at least two screaming

matches.Here are some tips gleaned from

DeLucia's experience.Expect nothing to go smoothly

DeLucia, an architect who isabout to become fully licensed,was ensnared in a mistake from thebeginning. He applied over thephone, and the loan officer mis-

spelled his name as "Delusia." Itwas his servicer's error, but it wasup to DeLucia to spend time andeffort to fix it. He even sent a pho-tocopy of his driver's license.

He was assigned to a loan of-ficer. Later, he was switchedabruptly to another loan officer,who needed documentation to be

re-sent. DeLucia faxed documents,and when they were misplaced, hefaxed them again. At the end, hewas stood up at the closing tablethree times; the fourth time wasthe charm.If possible, email documents in-stead of faxing them

After a few lost faxes, DeLucia

began scanning documents andsending them as attachments toemails.

"That way, they couldn't say,'We didn't get the fax,'" he says. "Ididn't get as much runaround."Email's electronic trail provedhandy.

"There were occasions wherethey said, 'We didn't get this,' andI said, 'Yeah, you did,' and I for-warded the original message," hesays.

"At some points where I wouldtalk on the phone and I felt thatwe covered some importantground, I would follow up thatconversation with an email restat-ing what we said," DeLucia says.

He especially followed up onrate-lock extensions. On May 1, helocked a rate of 4.75 percent, andhe didn't want to lose it. So everymonth he called the loan officer toget the rate lock extended. Then,he sent emails to confirm the con-versations that had just takenplace.

Cont’d on page 41

CBI grills NRI, CAfor Chennailand deal

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) quizzed Malay-

sia-based NRI Sarvanan and char-tered accountant Ratnam, who areconsidered close to former TamilNadu chief minister MKarunanidhi's kin, in the 2G case.The questioning took place beforeDMK leader Kanimozhi's bail pleacomes up for hearing.

The duo was questioned fornearly six hours about a land deal inChennai, which was estimated to beworth Rs 200 crore, but was sold atRs 25 crore to a businessman fromMalaysia, CBI sources said. CBIsaid Sarvanan was a key player inthe deal for 53,000-sq ft plot on AnnaMalai Road in Chennai, which wastaken on lease by an industrial housefor nearly 30 years till 2005. The in-dustrial house has filed a suit in theMadras High Court for renewingthe lease.

Sarvanan allegedly got thepower of attorney for the plot fromthe owners, and sold it to a pri-vate firm at Rs 25 crore in 2009,days before parliamentary polls.CBI is probing whether the landdeal at one-eighth the estimatedmarket price through Sarvanan,who has interests in real estate,was a way to camouflage the al-leged bribe money accrued fromspectrum allocation to telecomfirms, sources said.

25% rise in homeloan rates; SBI'snow at 10.25%

A large number of home loancustomers with floating rates

are in for some tough times ahead,with major banks and housing fi-nance companies (HFCs) raisingmortgage rates. Over the last twoyears, interest on home loans hasgone up by at least 200 basispoints (100 basis points = 1%),from about 8% to above 10% foreven the best-rated customers.That is a hike of about 25%. Insome cases, industry experts said,such hikes could well have takenthe tenure of home loans to be-yond 20 years. This in turn raisesthe possibility of banks and HFCsnow asking some customers topartpay the principal amount ofhome loans.

State Bank of India, the country'slargest bank, raised both its depositand lending rates, taking its effec-tive home loan rate to 10.25%. ICICIBank, the second largest bank, alsoraised its rates. HDFC Bank andHDFC are both expected to followsoon. After the latest round of ratehikes, SBI's home loan customerswould pay 100 basis points (bps)above its base rate of 9.25%; thusthe effective rate becomes 10.25%.

Details on page 41

Tata launchingluxury project in

Gurgaon

Till May 2002, foreigners were permitted to onlyrent property or own it on a 99-year leaseholdbasis. However, they can now buy and ownfreehold property, but only in the New Dubairegion

‘At some points where I would talk on the phoneand I felt that we covered some importantground, I would follow up that conversation withan email restating what we said,’ DeLucia says

May 27, 2011 India PostReal Estatewww.indiapost.com

41

Stay in touchFor the first couple of months,

DeLucia called every week or so."But as soon as summer hit and

it was starting to get into early fall,I was calling these people everyday, sending emails all the time,"he says. "I guess they were incred-ibly busy. A lot of times, I couldn'teven leave a message because theperson who I was appointed to,their voicemail box was full."

He's lucky to have a desk jobwhere he could dial his servicer,put the phone on speakerphonemode and wait (sometimes morethan an hour) for a human being

to pick up. He made a point to re-turn emails immediately.

DeLucia realizes that not every-one has this kind of job flexibility.Anticipate stupidity

From the beginning, DeLuciastressed he would pay closingcosts in cash -- instead of rollingthose fees into the new loan -- sohe would stay within the allowableloan-to-value ratio.

"I made this point to them onmore than one occasion," he says.

Still, DeLucia's servicer rejectedhis refi application because theclosing costs, if rolled into theloan, would put him over the loan-to-value limit.

DeLucia straightened that out,and the loan went back into under-writing for another four or five weeks.

"That was a huge hurdle -- itwas a big screaming match on myend," he says.Outlast the lender

DeLucia persevered -- throughthe late revelation that he wouldneed a second appraisal (scream-ing match No. 2), through theblown appointments for closingsand through all the lost documentsand full voicemail boxes.

"I bet there's a ton of people inmy position who just give up," hesays. "Don't let them win."

-Courtesy Bankrate.com

How an underwater homeowner got a refinanceCont’d from page 40

Tata launching luxury project in GurgaonTata Housing Development

Company Ltd has said itwill invest Rs 2,000 crore in

the next three years to build aluxury housing project in Gurgaonand also announced its plans toforay into the overseas market thisfiscal. The Mumbai-based realtyfirm, a subsidiary of Tata Sons, saidit is exploring the option of enter-ing into two new businesses re-lated to the real estate sector, whichthe company did not specify.

Tata Housing will invest Rs1,000 crore this fiscal to acquirenew projects and is targeting theaddition of 20-25 million squarefeet of area over-and-above the 40million square feet in its posses-sion at the end of the last fiscal.

"We are launching a luxuryhousing project, 'Primanti', inGurgaon, comprising 1,100 units.The investment to develop thisproject will be Rs 2,000 crore," thecompany's Managing Directorand Chief Executive Officer, BrotinBanerjee, told reporters.

He said the company hasbought 36 acres of land fromgroup company Tata Realty andInfrastructure for about Rs 800crore. The proposed investmentwill be met through internal accru-als. The company is offering

homes at a price starting from Rs1.5 crore. On the company's expan-sion plans for this fiscal, Banerjeesaid: "We will launch 8-10 newprojects this year. Besides that, weare looking at two new lines ofbusiness related to land develop-

ment. It will be smaller in size thanthe realty business."

Moreover, he said the companyis planning to expand operationsinto overseas markets this fiscal."We are looking for partners toenter into two countries in theSAARC region," he said.

Banerjee said the plan to forayinto the international market is in

advance stages, while the pro-posal for expanding into two newlines of business is still at a pre-liminary stage. He refused to di-vulge further details on these newinitiatives.

Asked about acquisition of aland bank, he said the companyhad 40 million square feet of de-velopable area at the end of thelast fiscal and is looking to add 20-25 million square feet this fiscal."We will invest Rs 1,000 crore onacquisition of new projects, whichwill be outright buy of land andjoint development agreement withland owners. Some of it would gotoward our overseas foray," headded. Elaborating on the Gurgaonproject, Banerjee said this is thecompany's second project in thecity and the company is in ad-vanced stages of launching twomore projects in the Delhi-NCR thisfiscal in a joint venture.

"We have signed term sheetsfor a couple of projects in Delhi-NCR. One project would be afford-able housing," he added. Askedabout the company's turnover, hesaid Tata Housing is growing atan over 100 per cent CAGR (Com-pound Annual Growth Rate) sincethe 2007-08 fiscal, but did not givean exact number.

Fire Capital to raise $ 100mnfor India housing

Sahara may pay Rs 70crore annual rentThe residential property market may

be stagnant, but the demand for office space is still strong if a lease

transaction in Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC)is any indication. The deal, touted as thehighest ever for a commercial property interms of annual rent, will fetch the owner,Parinee Developers, almost Rs 70 crore ayear from the Sahara Group.

According to real estate sources, the UP-based Sahara Group will take over 2.5 lakhsq ft space in Parinee Cresenzo, a 20-storeycommercial project by Parinee Developers,co-owners of the Kochi Tuskers IPL team.The two parties reportedly negotiated thedeal for a lease amount of Rs 225 a sq ft,which works out to an annual rent of close

to Rs 70 crore. "A few buildings in BKCcommand over Rs 375/sq ft. However, theParinee-Sahara deal is the highest in termsof the total annual rent," said a propertytracker. "Given a scenario in which the leaserental rates for ready-to-occupy premisesin BKC are between Rs 300 and Rs 350 persq ft, it looks like a good transaction."

Parth Mehta, business developmenthead of Parinee Developers, refused to com-ment on the deal. Industry sources said BKCwas currently the "hotspot" for mostcorporates, MNCs and banks as comparedto the rival commercial business districts ofLower Parel and Nariman Point-in the latter,lease rentals are currently between Rs 225and Rs 250/sq ft on an average. "Nariman

Point buildings can only offer offices rang-ing between 500 sq ft and 3,000 sq ft butclients who want a floor space in excess ofone lakh sq ft find it readily available inBKC," they said.

The Cresenzo building stands on a 2.2acre plot which Parinee acquired fromMMRDA (Mumbai Metropolitan RegionDevelopment Authority) on an 80-yearleasehold basis in July 2006 for Rs 536 crore.In 2008, the builder sold 2.2 lakh sq ft toStandard Chartered, for Rs 720 crore. Aboutfour months ago, BNP Paribas paid aboutRs 375 per sq ft for 1.10 lakh sq ft space inBKC's Maker Maxcity Tower One, a clusterof high-end commercial buildings built bythe Maker Group and Reliance Industries.

lease 50,000 sq ft space in Maker Maxcity atRs 500 a sq ft. In 2007, the Gemological In-stitute of America signed a nine-year leaseagreement with the Wadhwa group when itrented 1.06 lakh sq ft in the Trade Centrebuilding in BKC for over Rs 40 crore annu-ally.

A month ago, Citibank India is believedto have bought for over Rs 1,000 crore (Rs33,000/sq ft) a 3-lakh sq ft office space in aBKC building constructed by the PurnenduChatterjee promoted-TCG Urban Infrastruc-ture and New York-based realty firm VornadoRealty Trust.

In 2007, the London-headquarteredBarclays Bank paid a record-breaking rentof Rs 725 a sq ft per month for a 15,000-sq-ft office space in Worli's Cee-Jay House,whose landlord is aviation minister PrafulPatel. It was the highest commercial rentaldeal in terms of per-square-foot in the coun-

The annual lease rentworks out to almost Rs50 crore. Automobile gi-ant Volkswagan took on

Fire Capital, the first privateequity fund focused on theIndian real estate sector,

plans to raise $100 million to investin housing projects, as banks turnaway from the debt-ridden sectorleaving builders to fall back on PEs.The firm will raise the capital prima-rily from its existing investors in theUS to invest in tier-II and -III citiesin states like Haryana, Punjab,Rajasthan, its chief executive officerOm Chaudhry said.

"There is an acute shortage ofresidential units, as India wouldrequire at least 30 million homesby 2012 to meet the existing hous-ing need. We want to reduce somebit of the demand and supply gapin small towns and cater to themiddle income segment," he said.

A majority of the homes neededare in the mid and lower incomegroup. Fire Capital, established in2004, raised its first fund worth$121 million in 2006, with an abil-ity to invest around $250 millionthrough the co-investment com-mitments of its investor base.

The fund is almost exhausted. Itis raising the additional amount tobuilt 25-50 acres with each builder

in small towns this fiscal year.The PE fund typically works

with local developers rather thanlarge realty firms in tier-II and -IIIcities and takes majority equityholdings in residential projects. Itselects builders to primarily get the

land and then forms joint ventureswhere it acquires majority stake.

The fund receives its return oninvestment once the project issold. So far, it has invested in cit-ies like Indore, Nagpur and Jaipur,besides outskirts of Bangalore.

Elaborating on theGurgaon project,Banerjee said this isthe company's sec-ond project in the cityand the company is inadvanced stages oflaunching two moreprojects in the Delhi-NCR this fiscal in ajoint venture

The firm will raise thecapital primarily fromits existing investors inthe US to invest in tier-IIand -III cities in stateslike Haryana, Punjab,Rajasthan, its chiefexecutive officer OmChaudhry said

42 India Post May 27, 2011www.indiapost.com

In Brief ImmigrationOklahoma Housepanel approvesimmigration bill

OKLAHOMA CITY: A Housepanel has approved a bill on ille-gal immigration that focuses pri-marily on human traffickers,prompting criticism from membersof both parties that the bill doeslittle to address the problem.

The measure by Rep. GeorgeFaught was signed out of a Houseconference committee. TheMuskogee Republican says it isthe result of input from law en-forcement and mostly targets hu-man smugglers and others whoprey on illegal immigrants. It alsoauthorizes police to recommendimmigrants for certain types of vi-sas if the immigrants report and aidin reporting illegal criminal activity.

Some Democrats and hard-line Re-publicans complain the bill does littlemore than placate voters who wantedaction on illegal immigration. -AP

Will immigration policies changeafter Osama bin Laden?

CYRUS D. MEHTA

One cannot help reflect onhow Osama bin Laden soradically changed immi-

gration policy for the worse. Afterthe 9/11 attacks, masterminded bybin Laden, everything concerningimmigration was viewed throughthe prism of national security.

Even a garden variety bona fidemarriage case between a US citi-zen and foreign national spousewill only be approved after everyaspect of the spouse's informationis extensively checked againsthumongous and error-prone na-tional data bases.

While Bin Laden may have hadhis footprints on terrorist attackseven before 9/11, the paradigmshift occurred only after that daywhen planes spectacularly andtragically crashed into the twintowers, the Pentagon and in a fieldin Pennsylvania while on its wayto a more sinister mission. Just afew days before, on September 6,2001, a compromise was reachedbetween the Senate and the House(the Senate had earlier passed itsversion) to extend the Section

245(i) provision to April 30, 2002,which would have allowed thoseunlawfully in the US to adjust sta-tus, albeit under more limited terms.

After the Bin Laden inspiredterrorist attacks of September 11,the Section 245(i) extension neversaw the light of day. To come tothink of it, we may have had Com-prehensive Immigration Reform along time ago if Bin Laden never

inspired the attacks on 9/11.Instead, the Executive under

Attorney General Ashcrofttweaked the rules to make it easierto detain immigrants. The ex-panded regulation, which took ef-fect on September 20, 2001, autho-rized the then INS to hold any non-citizen in custody for 48 hours or

an unspecified "additional reason-able time" before charging the per-son with an offense.

In the post 9/11 sweep, immi-grants from mainly Muslim coun-tries were detained and deportedin secret. Although they were de-tained because of immigrationviolations, it was under the pre-text of investigating them for sus-pected links to terrorism. In the

end, the 1000+ immigrants whowere detained and deported insecret were not charged or con-victed of terrorism.

The Bush Administration thenimplemented Special Registration,which applied to males from 26 coun-tries, 25 of which had significant Is-lamic populations. Dutifully, 85,000

people lined up to register, thinkingthat they should cooperate with thegovernment. 13,000 men who werefound to have immigration viola-tions, many of whom may have beenon the path to getting green cards,were placed in deportation proceed-ings. Those who failed to registerduring the filing window continueto be affected even today, and maybe unable to apply for an immigra-tion benefit even through marriageto a US citizen.

The INS was dismantled andfolded into the Department ofHomeland Security bureaucracy. Anew agency within DHS, Immigra-tion and Customs Enforcement(ICE) came into being, which con-tinues to expand and deport immi-grants with even greater zeal un-der the Obama administration, dis-regarding its inherent power tofavorably exercise discretion(which it had no compunctions inexercising unfavorably to arrestand deport immigrants after 9/11).Several efforts to achieve CIR inCongress have failed.

Santana scoldsGeorgia for newimmigration law

ATLANTA: Carlos Santanahas used baseball's annual CivilRights Game as a platform to ad-monish Georgia and Arizona fortheir new immigration laws.

Santana received the Beacon ofChange Award before the Braves-Phillies game.

The Grammy-winning musiciansaid he was representing immi-grants before adding: ̀ `The peopleof Arizona, and the people of At-lanta, Georgia, you should beashamed of yourselves.''

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal hadsigned a bill that cracks down onillegal immigration in the state. Thebill requires many employers tocheck the immigration status of newhires and authorizes law enforce-ment officers to check the immigra-tion status of some suspects. -AP

Cont’d on page 44

Sheriff questionsillegal immigrantcivil rights

LOS ANGELES: Los AngelesCounty Sheriff Lee Baca has ques-tioned the civil rights of illegal im-migrants in radio remarks that haveriled immigrant advocates.

Baca said in an interview onKCRW radio that illegal immigrantsbasically are not subject to thekinds of civil rights protectionsAmericans are in his defense of afederal program that checks theimmigration status of arrestees.

He says federal policy shoulddecide whether someone shouldbe deported if they haven't beenconvicted of a crime. -AP

Georgia Gov. signs immigration bill into lawATLANTA: Georgia Gov.

Nathan Deal, calling it ``a ratherhistoric moment,'' has signed abill that cracks down on illegal im-migration in the state by increas-ing some enforcement powersand requiring many employers tocheck the immigration status ofnew hires.

``While I believe immigration isan issue that can ideally be identi-fied and addressed and should beaddressed at the federal level, thislegislation I believe is a respon-sible step forward in the absenceof federal action,'' Deal told report-ers who crowded elbow-to-elbowinto his office for the signing.

The new law the subject ofheated debate in the Legislatureshares some similarities to a con-troversial law enacted last year inArizona and another enacted thisyear in Utah. Part or all of thosetwo laws have been blocked byfederal judges, and opponents

have said they'll sue to try to blockGeorgia's law.

It authorizes law enforcementofficers to check the immigrationstatus of certain suspects and todetain them if they are in the coun-try illegally. It penalizes peoplewho knowingly transport or har-

bor illegal immigrants and makesit a felony to present false docu-ments or information when apply-ing for a job.

A group of about 20 protest-ers, their arms linked to form a hu-man chain, stood outside thegovernor's office after the sign-ing chanting ``Shame on you''and ``We won't leave'' before

moving outside to join anotherseveral dozen on the sidewalkoutside the Capitol for an im-promptu rally. They are planninga town hall meeting and are alsopulling together plans for a sum-mer of action, including a workstoppage on July 1, the day most

parts of the law are set to takeeffect, and a march in Atlanta thefollowing day.

``HB 87 has been signed, butour work continues,'' Lisa Adlerof Amnesty International toldthe crowd gathered outside theCapitol.

A requirement for private em-ployers to use a federal database

called E-Verify to check the im-migration status of new hires isset to be phased in, with all em-ployers with more than 10 em-ployees required to comply byJuly 2013.

Opponents of the measure sayit could lead to racial profiling andcould harm the state's economy,while supporters say it's neces-sary because illegal immigrants area drain on Georgia's resources.

Rep. Matt Ramsey, R-PeachtreeCity, who joined the governor atthe signing, said getting the billthrough the Legislature was ̀ `oneof the longest, toughest debatesthat I've ever been a part of.''

``This is a good day for Geor-gia taxpayers and that is exactlywho we're standing here on behalfof today,'' he said.

Deal said he doesn't believeconvention organizers and indi-viduals will boycott the state as aresult of the law. -AP

Immigrantlicenses issue inspecial session

SANTA FE, N.M.: Gov. SusanaMartinez plans to ask a specialsession of the Legislature to stopNew Mexico from issuing driver'slicenses to illegal immigrants.

Details on page 44

Even a garden variety bona fide marriage casebetween a US citizen and foreign nationalspouse will only be approved after every aspectof the spouse's information is extensivelychecked against humongous anderror-prone national data bases

Opponents of the measure say it could lead toracial profiling and could harm the state'seconomy, while supporters say it's necessarybecause illegal immigrants are a drain onGeorgia's resources

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India Post 43May 27, 2011 Immigration Postwww.indiapost.com

ICE announces expanded listof degree programs


NEW YORK: The US Immigra-tion and Customs Enforcement(ICE) last week published an ex-panded list of science, technology,engineering and math (STEM) de-gree programs that qualify eligiblegraduates on student visas for anOptional Practical Training (OPT)extension -an important step for-ward in the Obama administration'scontinued commitment to fixingthe country's broken immigrationsystem and expanding access tothe pool of talented high skilledgraduates in the science and tech-nology fields.

Under the OPT program, for-eign students who graduate fromUS colleges and universities areable to remain in the US and re-ceive training through work ex-

perience for up to 12 months.Students who graduate with oneof the newly-expanded STEMdegrees can remain for an addi-tional 17 months on an OPTSTEM extension.

The announcement followsPresident Obama's recent remarksin El Paso, Texas, where he reiter-

ated his strong support for newpolicies that embrace talented stu-dents from other countries, whoenrich the nation by working inscience and technology jobs andfueling innovation in their chosenfields here in the United States, asa part of comprehensive reform.

By expanding the list of STEMdegrees to include such fields asNeuroscience, MedicalInformatics, Pharmaceutics andDrug Design, Mathematics andComputer Science, the Obama ad-ministration is helping to addressshortages in certain high tech sec-tors of talented scientists and tech-nology experts-permitting highlyskilled foreign graduates whowish to work in their field of studyupon graduation and extend theirpost-graduate training in theUnited States.

SC lawmakers advance anti-illegalimmigration bill

COLUMBIA, SC: A bill requir-ing officers in South Carolina tocheck the legal status of some-one they suspect is in the coun-try illegally advanced over argu-ments that it would encourageracial profiling and invite crimi-nals to prey on people too afraidto contact authorities.

A House Judiciary panelvoted 3-2 to advance the bill tothe full committee.

The subcommittee also addedpenalties of up to $50,000 forbusinesses that are repeatedlycaught not checking their newhires' status or knowingly hiringillegal immigrants, and thenrefuse to comply with a tempo-rary shut-down order. The direc-tor of the state's labor agencyrequested the changes tostrengthen the state's 2008 anti-illegal immigration law, whichbegan applying to all businesseslast year.

"It gives me the ability to ac-tually do something to them," di-rector Catherine Templeton said.

With just three weeks left inthe legislative session, HouseRepublicans are on a t ightschedule to get the bill into lawthis year. As the meeting began,House Judiciary Chairman JimHarrison asked supporters tolimit their testimony so thepanel could get to a vote, theoutcome of which was alreadyknown.

The measure requires that thestatus check follow a traffic stopor arrest for something else. Un-

like a law passed in Arizona lastyear, South Carolina's proposalwould not hold someone basedon suspicion. The bill says theofficer must call Immigration andCustoms Enforcement, and ifthere's no response, process thesuspect normally.

It also creates a new policeunit to enforce the state's immi-gration laws.

Linda Rouvet of Charlestontestified that her only son waskilled by an illegal immigrant in a

June 2008 hit-and-run. Anotherwoman from North Charlestontestified that an illegal immigranttried to rape her in April 2010, andcould get out on parole as earlyas this summer. She was in-censed that he was allowed toplea to a lower charge and be la-beled as non-violent.

"We already have criminals,"said Roan Garcia-Quintana, whoheads an organization calledAmericans Have Had Enough."We don't need to import them."

Amanda Elias Vargas, a citi-zen, countered that suggestingall illegal immigrants are violentcriminals is akin to blaming allSouth Carolinians for Susan

Smith killing her two boys in1994.

"These kinds of conclusionsare illogical," she said.

Victims' advocates said theyfear the law will make immigrantstoo scared to report crimesagainst themselves or others, orto serve as a witness.

Rep. James Smith, D-Colum-bia, called it the "rapist, wife-beater protection act" that willcriminalize people who aren'tcriminals. Supporters of the billwant to stop people from cross-ing the border into the U.S., andthat's not something South Caro-lina can do, he said.

"It's open season on undocu-mented immigrants," he said.

But Sheri Irwin of Charlestonargued that's a good reason topass the bill, so immigrants don'tcome here illegally.

"I'm tired of these excuses,"she said. "It's about the sover-eignty of our country."

Supporters point out the billspecifically bars racial profiling,but opponents say that's a joke.

Gregory Torrales, a Columbiainsurance agent, said police carsrecently surrounded his vehicleoutside a Greenwood restaurantand demanded to see his identi-fication.

"I had never been that humili-ated in my life," said the nativeof Puerto Rico. "Once the officerrecognized I was an Americancitizen, he apologized profusely.But those are the situations thisbill creates." -AP

The announcementfollows PresidentObama's recent re-marks in El Paso,Texas, where he reiter-ated his strong supportfor new policies thatembrace talentedstudents from othercountries

Rep. James Smith,D-Columbia, calledit the ‘rapist,wife-beater protec-tion act’ that willcriminalize people

India Post44 May 27, 2011Immigration Postwww.indiapost.com

The last effort to pass theDREAM Act in December 2010also failed. Even business immi-gration, which can spur growthand more jobs, has gotten boggeddown because of national secu-rity concerns. An entrepreneurfinds it next to impossible to ob-tain a visa for the purpose of es-tablishing a branch of his foreignbusiness in the US. This branchcan potentially create more em-

Will immigration policies changeafter Osama bin Laden?

ployment for US workers, but na-tional security concerns trump jobcreation when we most need it.Various states are competing witheach other to pass laws that willpunish suspected immigrants whoare not in lawful status.

There are admittedly otherforces also at work. The sluggisheconomy, along with joblessness,can also serve as a disincentivefor immigration reform, along withnativist backlash.

But the main bogeyman hasbeen national security, largely asa result of the trauma caused bythe 9/11 attacks. Surely, the dan-ger is not over. New members ofAl Qaida can rise and retaliateagainst the US.

But there is no one with the samemythical status as Osama bin Laden,who was able to perpetuate it byevading capture or death. His death,if it makes the world more safe,should lessen the trauma in the days,months and years to come.

Cont’d from page 42 Can we hope for more sensiblebi-partisan immigration reform,that will lead to economic growthand more prosperity as MichaelBloomberg suggested in the WallStreet Journal on May 1, 2011? Canwe revert to our old values of notbeing fearful and embrace immi-grants because of all the wonderfulbenefits they bring to the US?

Can we restore due process be-cause the erosion of the rights ofimmigrants ultimately result in theloss of rights for all? Can we over-come the fear mongering of rabidlynativist anti-immigration organiza-tions through a more positive mes-sage that believes in the dignity ofall persons including the immigrant?

There may be a sliver of achance for all this to happen es-pecially since Osama bin Laden isno more.

* Cyrus D Mehta, may be contactedat 212-425-0555 or

[email protected]

Immigrant licenses issuein special session

SANTA FE, N.M.: Gov. SusanaMartinez plans to ask a specialsession of the Legislature to stopNew Mexico from issuing driver'slicenses to illegal immigrants.

The Republican governorsaid she will put the politicallycharged issue on the agenda ofa special session this fall whenlawmakers are to consider redis-tricting plans.

The governor pushed unsuc-cessfully to end the immigrant li-censing policy during theLegislature's 60-day session,

which ended in March. The Houseapproved her proposal but it failedin the Senate.

A 2003 law enacted duringformer Democratic Gov. BillRichardson's administration al-lows driver's licenses to be issuedto foreign nationals, including il-legal immigrants.

Martinez also said her adminis-tration wants charges broughtagainst an Albuquerque notary forallegedly forging documents forimmigrants to obtain driver's li-censes. -AP

Scholarship bill raises bigimmigration questions

SPRINGFIELD, Ill.: Many Illi-nois legislators say offering pri-vate college scholarships to immi-grants would make a bad situationbetter when it comes to illegal im-migration.

The bill would let children ofimmigrants get scholarships andinvest in the state college savingsprogram. It would be open to legaland illegal immigrants.

The Senate approved the Illi-

nois Dream Act 45-11. The bill nowheads to the House.

Critics say it encourages illegalimmigration and takes spots instate universities from legal resi-dents.

But lawmakers, includingsome Republicans, say educa-tional opportunities help Illinois.They say illegal immigrants are afact of life and should have ac-cess to college.-AP

Hispanic senators brace forimmigration bill talks

AUSTIN, Texas: Hispanic law-makers in the Texas Senate arebracing for a bitter fight over oneof the session's flashpoint immi-gration issues: the so-called sanc-tuary cities bill that one legislatorcalled a "hate-mongering" andracist measure.

The bill would give most policeofficers the right to question de-tained people about their immigra-tion status, and prohibit cities fromadopting policies that ban the prac-tice. None of Texas' major citiesclaim to be sanctuary cities, butmany police departments discour-age their officers from askingabout immigration status.

Supporters, including Republi-can Gov. Rick Perry, say the bill isneeded to stop crime committedby illegal immigrants. Critics say itwould lead to racial profiling andallow police to harass Latinos.

A Senate hearing on the bill isscheduled in the Committee onTransportation and HomelandSecurity.

Hispanic lawmakers in the Sen-ate, all of them Democrats, predictthat a floor vote sometime in thenext few days could be one of thechamber's most divisive and emo-tional in recent memory.

"Why don't they just have a lawto bring out the German Shep-herds, bring out the fire hose,"said Sen. Mario Gallegos of Hous-

ton. "Let's go back to the Jim Crowdays. Why don't they just put thatin there? Let's go. Let's get it on.That sanctuary cities bill is themost hate-mongering, racial billthat I've ever seen out there."

Perry spokeswoman KatherineCesinger said the bill only givespolice the option to ask about im-migration status.

"Without that discretion, theydon't have the tools to do theirjobs effectively and to keep ourcommunities safe from those whowould do us harm," Cesinger said.

Sen. Leticia Van de Putte of SanAntonio, leader of the SenateDemocrats, says several Hispaniclawmakers have family historiesthat stir up strong emotions aboutthe bill:

Van de Putte's grandmother fled

a revolution in Mexico as a childand never became a U.S. citizen.

U.S.-born Sen. Juan "Chuy"Hinojosa was 5 when he and hismother, an illegal immigrant fromMexico, were picked up by theborder patrol in a tomato field,driven across the border and leftthere. They lived in a small roomoff the back of a bar for a year inReynosa, Mexico.

"It's something I'll never forget,being placed in the paddy wagon,"Hinojosa said.

Sen. Jose Rodriguez of El Paso,worked alongside illegal immigrantfarm workers while growing up andused to shout warnings when bor-der patrol agents were spotted.

Rep. Ana Hernandez Luna ofHouston gave an emotionalspeech on the House floor thismonth about how she and herfamily lived in fear they wouldbe found out and deported be-fore she became a U.S. citizen atage 18.

Hinojosa said he could be a tar-get for an immigration check ifstopped by police.

"I was born and raised in thiscountry. I pledge allegiance to thiscountry. I graduated from school,law school, volunteered for theMarine Corps and fought in Viet-nam," Hinojosa said. "This is suchan insult to Hispanics, not only inthis state but this country." -AP

Sen. Jose Rodriguezof El Paso, workedalongside illegalimmigrant farmworkers while grow-ing up and used toshout warnings whenborder patrol agentswere spotted

May 27, 2011India Post46

www.indiapost.com

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Fri June 10• Pune HighwayVenue: Roy Arias Studios and Theatres, 300W 43rd St # 506, New YorkTime: 8pm to 5pmContact: 212-594-3685

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Mon July 4• Rathyatra, Festival of IndiaVenue: National Mall (in front of Air & SpaceMuseum), Washington, DCTime: 10:30am to 9pmContact: 301-299-2100

Sun May 29• Baltimore Rathyatra, Festival of IndiaVenue: Baltimore Inner Harbor, Pratt Street andLight Street, Baltimore, Maryland, WDCTime: 12:15pm to 17pmContact: 443-762-2524

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can Talent ContestVenue: Yuba Sutter Fairgrounds, Yuba City, CATime: 9:30amContact: 707-290-5700Highlights: This is a talent contest and topromote understanding of Punjabi AmericanHeritage. It is not a beauty contest. Winnerwill get $500 scholarship and runners-up$250 in both male and female category.

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Venue: Zellerbach Hall, 4800, 101 ZellerbachHall, Berkeley, CaliforniaContact: 415-474-3914

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Satsriakal MastiVenue: Chandni Restaurant, 5748 MowrySchool Rd, Balentine Plaza, across HiltonHotel, Newark, CA 94560Time: 7pmContact: 510-299-1138

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48 India Post May 27, 2011

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I am only acting as a

mirror to your life, in

which you can see your-

self as you are; then

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-J. Krishnamurti

Self is the opaque veil

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The ultimate Truth is be-

yond words. Doctrines

are words. They're not the

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Philosophy

Spring out of 'time' to breakthe chain of bondage

Bring the runaway mindback to meditation

RAMESH S BALSEKAR

The essential understandingis that we are all objects,perceived, conceived and

interpreted by one another. Theperceiver considers himself thesubject of all 'others' as objects.But as a matter of fact, we are mereappearances in the conscious-ness of the one who perceives us.If it is a single source of perceiv-ing, it is God or Universal Con-sciousness perceiving throughmultiple mind-body organisms,which are merely shadows.

We are not real entities. If we canunderstand this situation and con-tinue to live our double lives in du-ality, then we will not make the mis-take of identifying ourselves withthe body-mind organisms. Theselatter are mere computerised robots:there is no substantial essence inthem. We can live in duality, but notindulge in dualism.

If we spring out of the conceptof "time', then we break the chainof bondage. We are now in InfiniteTime all together with the Sourceas "I": Subjective Presence, objec-tive absence. We are all part of soleSubjectivity with not the slightestevidence of any objects. In thisflash of wisdom, we realise thatthere has never been a seeker.

There has never been a doer.This is the breakthrough into non-duality! We have now dis-identi-fied ourselves with an entity,which was supposed to possessvolition. Now for the remainingyears of our life spans we still haveto identity ourselves with themind-body organisms withoutvolition in order to live and func-tion in the world. This is accord-

ing to Ramana Maharshi "like theremnants of a burnt rope."

What is the difference be-tween the sage and the ordinaryperson? Enlightenment is disas-sociating the entity from dualismbut not from duality, for dualityis where he lives. The sage looksat what arises in the mind as areaction of the brain to any hap-pening in life as an event withwhich he is not concerned.

Whatever arises (anger or fearetc) is not identified by the sage,as he has already realised that thereis no individual doer in his body. Itis only the body-mind that is con-cerned with the happening. Thesage merely witnesses every hap-pening without feeling responsibleas he is not a doer, and thereforehe is not obliged to do anythingabout it. The sage knows that

whatever-is in the moment is ex-actly what is supposed to be ac-cording to Cosmic Law.

The ordinary person is con-vinced that he is responsible forwhatever situation he is in. If heis successful, it is because he hasalways done whatever was nec-essary in the existing situation.If he failed it is because othershave conspired against him. Theordinary person is a created ob-

ject in the totality of manifesta-tion. He has no volition and hasno capacity to know the CosmicLaw. In order for him to self-realise, he has to totally surren-der himself and all his attributesto God or the Universal Con-sciousness: 'they will be done'.

How does a sage live his life?He doesn't. Life happens to him.He goes through his routine

chores as a witness. He witnesseshis reactions when reading thenewspapers and watching thetelevision. He witnesses life hap-pening through his particularbody-mind organism and wit-nesses the various emotions aris-ing when coming in contact withother body-mind organisms.

The 94th birth anniversary ofRamesh Baleskar was celebratedon May 25

SWAMI BRAHMANANDA

Practice a little Japa and medi-tation every day. Never stopfor a single day. The mind is

like a restless child, it wants to run-away. You must bring it back againand again and apply it to the medi-tation on the Lord. Go on this wayfor two or three years, and then aninexpressible joy will fill your mind.

Meditation and Japa appear dryin the beginning. But still you mustengage the mind in the contempla-tion of the Deity, like swallowing abitter medicine. Slowly spiritual joywill grow in you. People work sohard to pass an examination! Torealize God is even easier than that.Only let them call on Him with acalm, cheerful heart.

Initiation into a Mantra helpsconcentration of mind, otherwiseyour mind will change and fluc-tuate; today you will like Kali-form, tomorrow the Hari-form,and the next day perhaps theformless aspect of God. And thusyour mind will not be concen-trated on any one.

Pranayama and other Yogicpractices are not suitable to thepresent times and conditions. Onemust observe completeBrahmacharya in order to practicethem. One's food must be abso-lutely pure, Sattvika, and one mustbe guided by an expert teacher.

Practice is the means of concen-trating the mind. Pranayama,

breath-control, is also one of themeans. But it is not safe for ahouseholder; if one is not conti-nent, one falls ill.

Moreover, one must have nu-tritious food, a fine place, and pureair. In order to have meditation andconcentration, you must practicein solitude. The more you will try,the more you will achieve. Wher-ever you find condition favorable,say if there is a fine serenity, sit

down and meditate.God is with form and is also

formless and He is also above formand formlessness. What doesVedanta mean by saying that"Brahman is true and the world isfalse"? That the world as we see itnow is false. The world vanishesin Samadhi, but you feel that youare experiencing a great joy.

There is a spiritual eye of wis-dom between the two eyebrows.When its vision opens, a fountainof joy is released. The whole uni-verse is seen to be merged in bliss.

This apparent universe, whichyou see, is within the domain ofthe mind. The mind is the author,the mind has conjured it up. It can-not go beyond its own domain.Behind the mind, of which we areaware, is a subtle spiritual mind,existing in a seed form. Throughcontemplation, prayer, and Japathis mind develops, and with itsunfoldment a new vision opens.

This subtle mind also cannot

reach God, the supreme Atman. Butit leads you near to Him. At thisstage, the world loses all its charmfor the aspirant. He remains ab-sorbed n the consciousness ofGod. Next comes Samadhi. The ex-perience of Samadhi is indescrib-able - beyond is and is not. In thisblessed experience there is neitherhappiness nor misery, neither lightnor darkness. All is infinite Being,inexpressible.

The mind is susceptible to sug-gestions. It learns whatever youteach it. If through discrimination

you can impress upon it the joyand fullness of life in the spirit andthe folly of worldly attachments,then your mind will devotee itselfmore and more to God.

Everyone must have an idealfirmly established in his life. Thisideal must never be lowered. Thesupreme ideal of human life is toknow God.

The Guru leads the disciplethrough different stages until he

leaves him with the Lord. But thereis no greater Guru than your ownmind. When the mind has beenpurified through prayer and con-templation, it will direct you fromwithin. Even in your daily dutiesthis Guru will guide you.

The way of steadying and pu-rifying the mind is to retire intosolitude, control all cravings, andengage yourself in contemplationand meditation. The more youoccupy the mind with holythoughts, the greater will be yourspiritual unfoldment.

Ramesh S Balsekar

Swami Brahmananda

The sage merely witnesses every happeningwithout feeling responsible as he is not adoer, and therefore he is not obligedto do anything about it

Meditation and Japa appear dry in thebeginning. But still you must engage themind in the contemplation of the Deity, likeswallowing a bitter medicine

49Edit Pagewww.indiapost.com

May 27, 2011 India Post

India Post

Anna Hazare & his timesPR CHARI

Oscar Wilde has one hischaracters declare in LadyWindermere's Fan, "I can

resist anything but temptation."The temptation to enter the debateon the Anna Hazare controversyis too great to resist despite sev-eral weeks having elapsed since itstarted. In the meantime, thechasm between the protagonistsof Anna Hazare's anti-corruptioncampaign and those holding it tobe unconstitutional and undemo-cratic has widened.

The latter argue that the correctforum for debating the Lokpal Billis Parliament. Yielding to publicagitations, however laudable theirobjectives, will establish an un-healthy precedent. On the otherhand, the protagonists point outthat Parliament is dysfunctional andwill not act until it is compelled.

The rapid enlargement of thisagitation to acquire an all-Indiacharacter reveals that public cor-ruption has become so pervasivein India as to evoke national exas-peration. Anna Hazare is a beaconof hope now.

All this has been reported adnauseum in different forums. Thedirty tricks department has beenunleashed against Anna Hazare'ssupporters, which is par for thecourse. The corrupt are unlikelyto yield their hard-earned ill-got-ten gains. So, what remains to besaid at this juncture that is eithernew or worth saying? Three is-sues need, additionally, to be illu-mined.

First, what do Anna Hazare'scampaign for the Lokpal Bill andthe huge support received for hisanti-corruption campaign informus about the Indian polity? Trans-parency International accords In-dia a high rank on its corruptionindex, which is based on publicperceptions. Clearly, there is wide-spread disgust in the people withpublic corruption in India. But,there are many who are uncon-cerned and unaffected.

Who are they? They are identi-fiable as the growing minority withthe 'influence' or 'clout' to wieldpower and patronage, which insu-lates them from the tentacles of thecorruption network. The silentmajority, however, suffers its ex-actions whenever the citizen hasto deal with public authority. And,public authority is both insidiousand all-encompassing in Indiawith its unique system of over-leg-islation but under-regulation ofevery conceivable human activity.

Clearly, public corruption is notunknown in settled democracieslike Japan and the US. But, theirdifference with India arises be-cause corruption in these coun-tries occurs at the higher levels of

political patronage and dispensa-tions of large commercial favors.Exactions at lower levels are prac-tically unknown, which is a pecu-liarly Third World phenomenon -

China and Russia are no excep-tions. But, this is especially trueof India. Willy-nilly the citizen isforced to interface with authorityin district and subordinate offices,police stations, civic facilities, reg-istration offices, educational orhealth institutions and so on.

And, as a prominent politicalleader keeps saying, "Every timea citizen enters an office, he willonly come out after being 'stung'."The limited point being made hereis that Anna Hazare has lit a sparkthat has grown into a prairie fire.But, that prairie fire would not havestarted and spread unless thegrass was dry and combustible.

Second, is Anna Hazare's cru-sade unique? Or, has all this hap-pened before with varying degreesof success? Protagonists have

given his campaign a grand remitby comparing it to the Quit Indiamovement, an obvious exaggera-tion. It has also been comparedmore routinely with the JP move-ment against misgovernment andcorruption in the early seventies;it gave Indira Gandhi the excuseto impose her infamous Emer-gency when the Allahabad HighCourt set aside her election.

It has also been compared to theVP Singh-blessed Mandal agita-tion in favor of greater reservations,which led to the tragic self-immola-tion of many young persons. Whatdid these major agitations achieve?One can argue that the JP move-ment catalyzed the break-up of theCongress party and the emergenceof regional parties that are nowcompeting for power at the Centreand in the States.

The Mandal agitation led to afurther splintering of political par-ties, with the politics of caste get-ting firmly embedded in the na-

tional polity. In other words, thesepublic agitations severely chal-lenged the basic structure of theIndian democracy. Whether thiswas good or bad for India wouldbe demanding a value judgmentregarding an essentially politicalphenomenon.

Third, can it be said that AnnaHazare's movement is unconstitu-tional and undemocratic? After all,the UPA government at the Cen-tre and those ruled by differentpolitical parties in the States wereduly elected. No doubt, the elec-tions lack total credibility.

They are visibly vitiated bymoney and muscle power, liquorand cash are used to buy votes;and, once in office, the elected rep-resentatives are too busy withother activities to care about theirconstituencies.

All this is true. But, does it jus-tify forcing a duly elected govern-ment to act in a pre-determinedway by exercising 'people'spower'? Here, one might recollectthe Congress-led agitation in 1959against the Namboodiripad gov-ernment in Kerala. It was directedby one Mannath Padmanabhanagainst its agrarian and educa-tional policies. Indira Gandhi, thenCongress President, had activelyinspired this agitation.

After it reached suitable pro-portions, Nehru decided to dis-miss the State government; an ac-tion which his biographerSarvepalli Gopal holds "tarnishedNehru's reputation for ethical be-havior." Now, the Congress partyfinds Anna Hazare's public agita-tion to be unconstitutional andundemocratic!

What is the greatest dangerconfronting the Anna Hazare'revolution' in the light of theseexamples? Undoubtedly, it arisesfrom his supporters getting em-broiled in the minor skirmishes thatwill be launched by the counter-revolutionaries to deflect their at-tention from the main issue of pub-lic corruption.

But, an equal danger arises fromtheir getting too deeply embroiledin the minutiae - the phrases andpunctuation marks of the Lokpal Bill.

Hopefully, the revolutionarieswill fight the dragon of public cor-ruption with appropriate strate-gies. Like launching public cam-paigns giving details of malfea-sance against specific offices andofficers. And, holding dharnasbefore these offices and officersto highlight their misdoings.

A functioning anarchy with amillion mutinies is the best pre-scription for reforming a dysfunc-tional democracy.

The writer is Visiting Profes-sor, IPCS

Sharif demands

It has been sometime since a sane voice came out of Pakistan.Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif who was not allowed to com-plete either of his two stints in office, being ousted by the military

in the second instance, has taken on the same military in his latestremarks. He sought to puncture Pakistan's biggest myth by sayingIslamabad must stop treating New Delhi as its "biggest enemy".

In support of his assessment that India poses no threat to Paki-stan he revealed that he was stunned by then Indian Prime MinisterAtal Bihari Vajpayee's remarks in 1999 that the Kashmir issue couldbe resolved.

Vajpayee had proposed back channel diplomacy to resolve long-standing issues and the process was about to start when the "Kargilmisadventure dealt a severe blow to our efforts", he said.

This myth of existential threat from India sustains Pakistan military'swar machine which keeps going from strength to strength in spite ofthe country's poor economy. Even the civilian government is notaware how the nuclear stockpile keeps growing. If the bugbear ofIndia is taken away, how will the military siphon off the money?

Sharif made a few more relevant points which are not often dis-cussed in Pakistan. He demanded that the budgets of the military andthe spy agency ISI be placed before Parliament for scrutiny in linewith the practice in other democracies. He pressed for a plan forindependent commission to investigate the killing of al-Qaida leaderOsama bin Laden in a US raid on May 2 as the first step towardsmaking Parliament a sovereign body. Whether it will be institutedsoon or whether it will be allowed to function or never submit itsfindings are different questions altogether. Sharif was scathing in hiscomments on the intelligence agency which, he said, should have norole in politics. "The intelligences agencies should not divide andstrengthen political parties. They should not make new alliances.The agencies should not run a parallel system," he said.

These facts have never been so boldly stated before. News col-umnists have been making such comments but it is for the first timethat such views have been aired by a powerful political personality.Will it make for a difference in the state of Pakistan? The de facto rulerof Pakistan, General Ashfaq Parvaz Kayani has promptly declaredthat the army has no intention of giving up either control of intelli-gence agencies or the country's foreign policy, especially with re-gard to India, the US and Afghanistan. But he has also sought ameeting with Sharif to explain to him the details about the military'sbudget. Sharif has declined the offer stating that Parliament was theappropriate forum for a comprehensive briefing on defense spend-ing.

Sharif also said one of his biggest regrets was not taming thepowerful military when he was Prime Minister in the 1990s. It is be-cause he was no bold enough at that time. He sought to trick GeneralMusharraf by sacking him while he was on the plane to Sri Lanka. Ifhe had openly confronted the then Army Chief telling him he wasbeing replaced, perhaps Musharraf would not have been able toorganize a coup against him. Instead it was Musharraf who deposedhim and for nine years practiced the subterfuge that is the hallmark ofthe Pakistani army.

Even now Sharif might have to pay for his views. As a bloggerfrom Kolkata remarked: "This guy is inviting trouble... he'll be killedvery soon by Pak army outsourced militants... Good luck sweetheart... u've touched the wrong chord in a wrong place..."

The limited pointbeing made here isthat Anna Hazarehas lit a spark thathas grown into aprairie fire. But, thatprairie fire would nothave started andspread unless thegrass was dry andcombustible


May 27, 201150


May 27, 201152

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