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NEW YORK • WASHINGTON D.C. • CHICAGO • ATLANTA • CALIFORNIA VOL 25, No. 1342 June 26, 2020 50¢ Periodical Postage Details on page 18 This week’s question Last week’s result YES 92% NO 8% Should IND, US, AUS, JAP, VNM and TWN join to stop Chinese adventurism? IFFLA over the years, a new virtual showcase TRUMP BANS H-1B VISA CONTENTS Bollywood --------------------------- 11 Classifieds ------------------------ 28 Community Post -------------- 18-23 Edit Page --------------------------- 29 Horoscope ------------------------- 26 Immigration Post ------------------ 8 Life Style ---------------------------- 24 Philosophy/Perspective ------- 27 Info/Highlights ---------------------- 2 Real Estate ------------------------ 24 TechBiz Post ------------------------ 9 Travel & Hospitality Post -------- 10 Wellness Post -------------------- 12 Top US & Indian companies oppose suspension Cont’d on page 5 Details on page 6 Details on page 6 Should democratic nations counter China's behavior on COVD-19? Picture courtesy-John Moore/Getty Images NEW YORK: US President Donald Trump has sus- pended till the end of the year the H-1B visas prized by Indian professionals and announced a far-reaching reform plan that could deal a blow to Indian compa- nies that place technology workers in US companies. The freeze ordered by Trump will not affect those already in the US on the H-1B and the other work visa categories being put on pause. Making the announcement, the White House said that Trump wants to reform the immigration system to a "merit-based" one. Briefing reporters about the reform plan, a senior official said that one of its features would ban compa- nies from bringing in employees on H-1B visas and outplace them to work in other US companies. Many Indian -- and some US -- companies that act as subcontractors sponsoring workers on H-1B visas and deputing them once they are in the US to work elsewhere could see their business model hit. See on page 13-16 Details on page 6 Five Indian officials return from Pakistan ‘US talking to India and China will help them’ Online booking for Ind passport services in UAE

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Page 1: NEW YORK • WASHINGTON D.C. • CHICAGO • ATLANTA • … · 2020-06-26 · outplace them to work in other US companies. Many Indian -- and some US -- companies that act as subcontractors

NEW YORK • WASHINGTON D.C. • CHICAGO • ATLANTA • CALIFORNIA VOL 25, No. 1342 June 26, 2020 50¢ Periodical Postage

Details on page 18

This week’s question

Last week’s result

YES 92% NO 8%

Should IND, US, AUS, JAP, VNM andTWN join to stop Chinese adventurism?

IFFLA over theyears, a newvirtual showcase

TRUMP BANS H-1B VISA

CONTENTSBollywood --------------------------- 11Classifieds ------------------------ 28Community Post -------------- 18-23Edit Page --------------------------- 29Horoscope ------------------------- 26Immigration Post ------------------ 8Life Style ---------------------------- 24Philosophy/Perspective ------- 27Info/Highlights ---------------------- 2Real Estate ------------------------ 24TechBiz Post ------------------------ 9Travel & Hospitality Post -------- 10Wellness Post -------------------- 12

Top US & Indian companies oppose suspension

Cont’d on page 5

Details on page 6

Details on page 6

Should democratic nations counterChina's behavior on COVD-19?

Picture courtesy-John Moore/Getty Images

NEW YORK: US President Donald Trump has sus-pended till the end of the year the H-1B visas prizedby Indian professionals and announced a far-reachingreform plan that could deal a blow to Indian compa-nies that place technology workers in US companies.

The freeze ordered by Trump will not affect thosealready in the US on the H-1B and the other work visacategories being put on pause.

Making the announcement, the White House saidthat Trump wants to reform the immigration system

to a "merit-based" one.Briefing reporters about the reform plan, a senior

official said that one of its features would ban compa-nies from bringing in employees on H-1B visas andoutplace them to work in other US companies.

Many Indian -- and some US -- companies that actas subcontractors sponsoring workers on H-1B visasand deputing them once they are in the US to workelsewhere could see their business model hit.

See onpage13-16

Details on page 6

Five Indianofficials returnfrom Pakistan

‘US talking toIndia and Chinawill help them’

Online bookingfor Ind passportservices in UAE

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India Postwww.indiapost.com

June 26, 20202

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India Post 3www.indiapost.com

June 26, 2020

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HIGHLIGHTS

India Post

11Bollywood:Natasa&Hardik ForeverNatasa Stankovic was in for a pleasantsurprise from her fiance, Hardik Pandya.He presented her big bouquets of roses,with a mushy note to boot.

5Cover Story:TRUMP BANS H-1B VISAThe freeze ordered by Trump will notaffect those already in the US on theH-1B and the other work visa categoriesbeing put on pause.

18Community:IFFLA over 17 YearsIFFLA- the premiere venue for the bestannual showcase of independentcinema from India and its Diaspora -announced a special virtual showcase.

8Immigration:Businesses, colleges pleadGregory came to U.S. from Jamaica twodecades ago on a student visa and wasable to carve out a career in architecturethanks to temporary work visas.

24Lifestyle:Indians dependent on musicHARMAN in partnership with OnePollInterviewed 2k participants acrossIndia to understand how importantmusic is in our lives.

9Techbiz:Workforce to be digitalOne in four organizations expect thatmore than 80 per cent of theirworkforce to be a digital workforce inthe world after Covid-19.

10Travel:New ZealandNZ is beginning to experience more cul-tural diversity as newcomers arrive fromplaces like Asia and the Pacific islands.Visit NZ and experience a diverse culture.

12Wellness:Coronavirus Lancet studyThe analysis, in Guangzhou in China,found people with Covid-19 were at leastas infectious before they developedsymptoms as during their actual illness.

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India PostJune 26, 2020 5

www.indiapost.com

Cover/Top Stories

TRUMP BANS H-1B VISATop US & Indian companies oppose suspension

NEW YORK: US President DonaldTrump has suspended till the end of theyear the H-1B visas prized by Indian pro-fessionals and announced a far-reach-ing reform plan that could deal a blowto Indian companies that place technol-ogy workers in US companies.

The freeze ordered by Trump will notaffect those already in the US on the H-1B and the other work visa categoriesbeing put on pause.

Making the announcement, theWhite House said that Trump wants toreform the immigration system to a"merit-based" one.

Briefing reporters about the reformplan, a senior official said that one of itsfeatures would ban companies frombringing in employees on H-1B visasand outplace them to work in other UScompanies.

Many Indian -- and some US -- com-panies that act as subcontractors spon-soring workers on H-1B visas and de-puting them once they are in the US towork elsewhere could see their busi-ness model hit.

The official said that another reformwould change the way the 85,000 an-nual H-1B visas are given from the cur-rent lottery system to one where thewages will determine who gets them.

Those offered the most wages willget priority instead of those hitting "alucky number" in the lottery, the officialsaid. Indians are the single largestgroup of H1-B visa-holders accountingfor nearly 74 per cent of the work visas.

The official said that Trump wants thewage structure for H-1B visas to bechanged from the current one set dur-ing the administration of former Presi-dent Bill Clinton, and the new minimumwill be the 50th percentile of the na-tional income.

That is the median income or themiddle of the range and is currently$63,000, according to the Census Bu-reau. The official said that Trump wantsthe changes made as soon as possible"will do so by regulation as soon as wepossibly can."

When Trump imposed a 60-daypause on permanent immigrant visas orgreen cards on April 22, the H-1B andother temporary work visas escapedthe freeze but are now affected.

The green card restrictions, which donot apply to spouses and children of

immigrants, will also now continue untilthe end of the year.

The White House announcement ofthe new freeze said that it would alsoencompass H-2B, H-4, L-1 and J-1 visas.

However, those in the healthcare

field and those considered importantfor national security will be exempt andcontinue to receive visas, as willfarmworkers and nannies.

The White House linked the freeze tothe high unemployment level in the US

because of the COVID-19 blow to theeconomy saying that the pause is to "en-sure we continue putting Americanworkers first during our ongoingcoronavirus recovery."

The official said the pause wouldhelp workers already in the country getaccess to more than 525,000 jobs.

The COVID-19 pandemic has becomea justification for Trump's longtime in-tent to restrict immigration, a demandof a part of his base as well as of some inthe Democratic Party who have reser-vations about the impact of immigra-tion on wages.

The economic disruption caused bythe pandemic has led to a groundswellof opposition among Americans to im-migration and foreign workers withvarious polls showing more than two-thirds supporting restrictions.

On the other hand, US businesses --particularly in the Silicon Valley -- haveopposed restrictions on the visas andasserted that they would, in fact, affectthe nation's economy, where immi-grants and those on work visas have dis-proportionately been founders of com-panies, besides holding up America'sglobal leadership in technology.

The Indian government considers re-strictions on H-1B an important issueand External Affairs Minister SJaishankar said in December that hehad told US officials that the visas"should not be obstructed" or "unrea-sonable legislative provisions shouldnot constrain" them.

H-2B visas are for non-professionalworkers. An exemption is be made foragricultural labor in this category onwhom the US food supply depends, theofficial said.

Similarly, in the J-1 category nanniesor au pairs -- who are employed by theelite across the political spectrum -- areexempt, while it would apply to schol-ars and researchers except those in cer-tain health or specialized fields or areprofessors.

The H-4 visas are for spouses of H-1Bworkers and the restrictions are linked.

Employees transferred by their com-panies to work in the US are given L-1visas. Under new rules announced bythe immigration service, asylum appli-cants cannot apply for work authoriza-tion for a year instead of the current150-days. IANS

Sunder Pichai disappointed by Trump'simmigration proclamation

WASHINGTON: Google CEO SunderPichai has expressed disappointmentover the proclamation issued by USPresident Donald Trump to tempo-rarily suspend foreign work visas, in-cluding the H-1B, andsaid he would standwith immigrants andwork to expand oppor-tunity for all.

Immigration has con-tributed immensely toAmerica's economicsuccess, making it a glo-bal leader in tech, andalso Google the com-pany it is today, Indian-American Pichai said in atweet hours after Trumpissued his proclamation in this regard.

Disappointed by today's proclama-tion - we'll continue to stand with im-migrants and work to expand oppor-tunity for all, Pichai said.

In a separate statement, VanitaGupta, president and CEO of The Lead-

ership Conference on Civil and HumanRights, slammed the latest move ofthe Trump administration.

The latest travel ban is a new sea-son of the same racist, xenophobic

show put on by DonaldTrump and StephenMiller, she said.

But Trump's transpar-ent effort to rally his baseand distract from his in-numerable failures, in-cluding his disastrous re-sponse to COVID-19, willnot work. Indeed, thecourts will stop his un-lawful actions targetingimmigrants, Gupta said.

Like the past versionsof this overused script using a pandemicto justify white nationalist policies, it de-serves to be cancelled, she said.

Alice G Wells, who till a few weeksago was the point person of the Trumpadministration for South and CentralAsia, also opposed the move. PTI

Google CEO Sunder Pichai

US President Donald Trump

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India Post June 26, 20206

www.indiapost.comTop Stories

Five Indian High Commissionofficials return from PakistanATTARI (Amritsar): Five offi-

cials of the Indian High Commis-sion in Pakistan, including thetwo who were arrested andlater released in an alleged hit-and-run case there, returned tothe country through the Attari-Wagah border on Monday (22June), officials said.

According to them, thosewho returned are Air AdviserGroup Capt Manu Midha, Sec-ond Secretary S Shiv Kumarand staff members Pankaj,Selvadhas Paul and DwimuBrahma.

Dwimu and Selvadhas werearrested on June 15 in Pakistanin the alleged hit-and-run inci-dent. Both were later released.

After the incident, India hadsummoned the charge d'

affaires of the Pakistan HighCommission, lodging a protestover the "abduction and tor-ture" of two officials of the In-dian mission in Islamabad.

The five officials travelled to

the Wagah check-post in a car.They underwent thermal

screening and preliminarymedical check-up before pro-ceeding to Delhi, the officialssaid. PTI

US talking to India andChina will help them: Trump

WASHINGTON: The Unitedstates is talking to both Indiaand China to help them resolvetheir ongoing border tensions,President Donald Trumpstated.

It's a very tough situation.We're talking to India. We'retalking to China. They've got abig problem there, Trump toldreporters at theWhite House beforeboarding Marine 1 onhis way to his firstpost-COVID19 elec-tion rally in Okla-homa.

They've come toblows, and we'll seewhat happens. We'll try andhelp them out, Trump saidwhen asked about his assess-ment of the situation betweenIndia and China.

The entire Trump Administra-tion has rallied behind Indiaagainst the illegitimate incur-sions of the Chinese Army intothe Indian side of the Line of Ac-tual Control in Eastern Ladakh.

As many as 20 Indian sol-diers achieved martyrdom infierce clashes against Chinese

intruders into Galwan Valley inLadakh early this week. Indi-ans, according to US intelli-gence sources, killed morethan 35 Chinese soldiers dur-ing the skirmish.

The United States has ac-cused China of escalating bor-der tension with India andother neighbors by trying to

take benefit of these countriesbusy fighting coronavirus pan-demic.

The PLA (People's LiberationArmy) has escalated bordertensions with India, the world'smost populous democracy. It'smilitarizing the South ChinaSea and illegally claiming moreterritory there, threatening vi-tal sea-lanes, US Secretary ofState Mike Pompeo said, in amajor speech on China a dayearlier. PTI

They've come to blows, andwe'll see what happens. We'lltry and help them out, Trump

said when asked about hisassessment of the situation

between India and China

India's COVID-19 cases per lakhpopulation among lowest

NEW DELHI: India's COVID-19cases per lakh people is one ofthe lowest in the world despiteits high population density, andthe recovery rate has nowreached almost 56 per cent, theUnion Health Ministry informed.

For every one lakh population,there are 30.04 coronaviruscases in India, while the globalaverage is over three times at114.67, the ministry said, refer-ring to the WHO Situation Report153, dated June 21.

This low figure is thus a testi-mony to the graded, pre-emptiveand pro-active approach theGovernment of India along withthe states and UTs took for pre-vention, containment and man-agement of COVID-19," the min-

istry said in a statement.Citing the WHO Situation

Report, the ministry said the UShas 671.24 cases per lakhpopulation, while Germany,Spain, Brazil and the UK have583.88, 526.22, 489.42 and448.86 cases per lakh popula-tion, respectively.

It said Russia has 400.82cases per lakh people, whileItaly, Canada, Iran and Turkeyhave 393.52, 268.98, 242.82and 223.53, respectively.

Coming back to India, as onMonday (June 22) morning, thetotal number of coronaviruscases stood at 4,25,282 andthe death toll at 13,699, ac-cording to figures issued bythe ministry. PTI

Online bookingfor Ind passportservices in UAE

DUBAI: The Indian pass-port and visa service centersin the United Arab Emirates(UAE) have introduced anew online appointmentbooking system, a media re-port said.

The website of BLS Inter-national, the outsourcedagency providing Indianvisa and passport applica-tion processing services, hasnow offered a provision tobook appointments online,the Gulf news report con-firmed.

Appointments can nowbe booked at 10 BLS centersacross the UAE apart fromtwo of its premium lounges,which already had theonline booking facility.

A spokesperson of the In-dian Consulate in Dubai con-firmed to Gulf News that thecompany started the onlineappointment booking systemthrough its website on June 15.

"We will make a publicannouncement about thenew appointment bookingsystem soon," he said. IANS

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India PostJune 26, 2020 7

www.indiapost.comTop Stories

Joy of Sharing Foundation continuesto donate grocery and hot meals"If you can't Feed a Hundred people then feed just One." - Mother Teresa

NORWALK, CA: For the past severalSundays, 30 brave souls have beengathering at the Joy of Sharing Commu-nity Center to provide free grocerybags and freshly cooked vegetarianmeals to support the surrounding com-munities during the COVID-19 pan-demic. This food distribution drive, or-ganized by the Joy of Sharing Founda-tion (JOSF) and Gujarati Society ofSouthern California (GSSC), kicked off onMay 10th and will run through everySunday through July. We plan to con-tinue serving cooked meals on Sundayspast that.

The grocery bags contain a combina-tion of essentials such as rice, a varia-tion of beans, pasta, fruits and veg-etables, oil, salt, sugar and oats. SinceMay 10th, the drive has distributed2,616 grocery bags and 2,920 meals

serving 10,506 individuals as part ofCOVID-19 support efforts. In the monthof June, we increased the number ofmeals served from 250 to approxi-mately 1,500 every Sunday and we willcontinue serving cooked meals. Peoplehad come from 37 different cities topick up groceries in the month of May!

The Joy of Sharing Foundation stated:

"We will continue to support our com-munity members in need and aim tofeed as many families as possible. Thenumber of grocery bags and hot mealswill be increased every week as theneed arises." He pledged his support tothe lower income sections of the com-munity till the lockdown ended.

This effort has brought together

communities in several ways. GSSC'svolunteers worked tirelessly from pro-curing, packaging and distributing tomake these grocery distribution eventsa success. Non-profit organizations,Vihar, which donated 400 hot meals(cooked at home) and U Turn Lives,whose volunteers repackaged grocer-ies. Further, Vitco Foods, Big Saver Foods,Nanking Bakery, Rodeway Inn - BuenaPark, Indian restaurants Jay Bharat andRasraj, South Asia Network (SAN), andLeBon Hospitality have donated theirfunds, services and products to thisgrocery drive.

From Sunday, June 7th JOSF ispartnering with U Turn Lives, Vihar andothers to serve 1,500 meals at Joy ofSharing Community Center, Norwalkevery Sunday in June. Vegetarian Mealswill be delivered to all who come topick up groceries. JOSF will appreciatedonations from the community to sup-port this task of feeding underprivi-leged people. For more information andif you want to assist in any way pleasecontact Joy of Sharing Foundation Pro-gram Director Aarti Saluja [email protected]

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8 India Post June 26, 2020www.indiapost.com

In Brief Immigration

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They argue thatcutting off access to

talented foreignworkers will only

further disrupt theeconomy and stifle

innovation at a timewhen it's needed most

For those who have

worked tirelessly to

combat COVID-19, and

who wish for it, the

government should

set out new arrange-

ments to offer them

Businesses, colleges plead withTrump to preserve work visas

BOSTON: Gregory Minottcame to the U.S. from his nativeJamaica more than two de-cades ago on a student visaand was able to carve out a ca-reer in architecture thanks totemporary work visas.

Now a U.S. citizen and co-founder of a real estate devel-opment firm in Boston, the 43-year-old worries that new re-strictions on student and workvisas expected to be an-nounced as early as this weekwill prevent others from follow-ing a similar path to the Ameri-can dream.

``Innovation thrives whenthere is cultural, economic andracial diversity,'' Minott said. ``Tonot have peers from othercountries collaborating side byside with Americans is going tobe a setback for the country. Welearned from Americans, butAmericans also learn from us.''

Minott is among the businessleaders and academic institu-tions large and small pleadingwith President Donald Trump tomove cautiously as he eyes ex-panding the temporary visa re-strictions he imposed in April.

They argue that cutting offaccess to talented foreignworkers will only further disruptthe economy and stifle innova-tion at a time when it's neededmost. But influential immigra-tion hard-liners normallyaligned with Trump have been

calling for stronger action afterhis prior visa restrictions didn'tgo far enough for them.

Trump, who has used thecoronavirus crisis to pushthrough many of his stalled ef-forts to curb both legal and ille-gal immigration, imposed a 60-

day pause on visas for foreign-ers seeking permanent resi-dency on April 22. But the orderincluded a long list of exemp-tions and didn't address thehundreds of thousands of tem-porary work and student visasissued each year.

Republican senators, includ-ing Tom Cotton of Arkansas andTed Cruz of Texas, argue that allnew guest worker visas shouldbe suspended for at least 60days or until unemploymenthas returned to normal levels.

``Given the extreme lack ofavailable jobs,'' the senatorswrote in a letter to Trump lastmonth, ``it defies commonsense to admit additional for-eign guest workers to com-pete for such limited employ-ment.'' AP

Gregory MinottFor detailed story visit

www.indiapost.com

Elise Amendola

UK Parliament panel calls for UK citizenshipfor foreign healthcare workers

LONDON: An influential UKparliamentary panel hascalled on the government tooffer British citizenship to allforeign healthcare workers,including Indians, in recogni-tion of their tireless work onthe COVID-19 frontline of thecountry.

In an inquiry report on thecoronavirus pandemic, thecross-party House of Com-mons Home Affairs Commit-tee also branded as unfair theexclusion of care workers andlower-paid National HealthService (NHS) staff from fee-free visa extensions an-nounced for overseas NHSstaff by UK Home Secretary

Priti Patel recently.For those who have worked

tirelessly to combat COVID-19,and who wish for it, the gov-ernment should set out newarrangements to offer themBritish citizenship or perma-nent residency in recognitionof the huge contribution they

have made to the UK healthand social care system duringthe COVID-19 crisis, the Com-mittee said in its report.

We recommend that allNHS staff regardless of jobrole, pay grade or visa routeand social care workers areoffered the same fee-freeone-year visa extension. Itcannot be right that, at a timewhen they are providing a vi-tal and life-saving service forthe country, non-UK healthand care staff have to worryabout their status and resi-dency in the country, it notes.PTI

For detailed story visitwww.indiapost.com

Some 860,000immigrants may beillegally living in UK

LONDON: Some 860,000 im-migrants may be illegally livingin the UK, the National AuditOffice (NAO) said in an officialreport

"Its (the UK Home Office's)last estimate was around430,000 people in 2005. Morerecent estimates from otherorganizations suggest thepopulation might havedoubled, although the NAOhas not validated these esti-mates," Xinhua news agencyquoted the report released onWednesday as saying.

The Home Office encour-ages people to return volun-tarily, but those returns havereduced, from an average of1,200 a month in 2015 to ap-proximately 460 in 2019, saidthe independent publicspending watchdog.

It has enforced the removalof 7,400 of the 13,100 immigra-tion offenders returned in the12 months to the end of No-vember 2019.

Almost 5,000 of those wereforeign national offenders, theNAO report said.

The report said the HomeOffice is helping to stop morepeople from entering Britainwithout proper documenta-tion or through clandestinemeans.

According to the NAO, theHome Office's vision for Immi-gration Enforcement is to "re-duce the size of the illegalpopulation and the harm itcauses". IANS

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9India PostJune 26, 2020 www.indiapost.com

Tech News TechBiz70% firms see half of their workforce

to be digital post Covid-19BENGALURU: As organiza-

tions move away from physicallocations and remoteworkforce is the new normal,more than 70 per cent organi-zations feel at least half of theirworkforce will be digital work-ers post Covid-19, accordingto a new survey.

One in four organizationsexpect that more than 80 percent of their workforce to be adigital workforce in the worldafter Covid-19, said the surveyby Automation Anywhere, aglobal leader in Robotic Pro-cess Automation (RPA).

"The pandemic has encour-aged a new wave of digitiza-tion that will revolutionize ourlife as we know it. The organi-zations are transforming theirengagements with customers,employees, suppliers andother stakeholders and will le-

verage the current crisis as anopportunity to drive innova-tive digital models to gain in-creased efficiencies," ex-

plained Milan Sheth, ExecutiveVice President of IMEA, Auto-mation Anywhere.

The research surveyed morethan 5,000 senior executives

from mid-sized to large organi-zations in over 20 countriesacross India, the Middle Eastand emerging markets in Af-

rica and Southeast Asia.It found that more than 80

per cent plan to invest in digi-tal technologies to build resil-ience in their future business

plans.The survey indicated that 57

per cent of respondents aim toacquire skills in RPA and AI inthe post COVID-19 world, fol-lowed by 28 per cent beingreskilled in analytics and 15per cent in machine learning.

These trends are seenacross key industries, such asbanking, financial services andinsurance (BFSI), global capa-bility centers (GCCs) andpharma, healthcare and life sci-ences.

"While certain sectors likemanufacturing, travel and re-tail have been hardest hit bythe pandemic, they remain op-timistic and are seeking new,digital technologies to under-stand customer behavior anddrive new models for engag-ing them as the crisis ends,"the findings showed. IANS

Nita Ambani recognized among top philanthropists of 2020NEW DELHI: The summer

issue of Town & Country,America's leading generalinterest magazine, has fea-tured Nita Ambani and the Re-liance Foundation among thetop philanthropists of 2020"who are saving lives and oursense of hope" given the cir-cumstances of Covid-19.

The coverage spotlightsAmbani for leading RelianceFoundation's efforts in feed-ing frontline workers and thepoor, its financial contribu-tions, and for setting upIndia's first Covid-19 hospital.

She is the only Indian inthe list that features promi-nent global individuals, suchas Tim Cook, Oprah Winfrey,

Laurene Powell Jobs, theLauder Family, DonatellaVersace, Michael Bloomberg,Leonardo Di Caprio and more.

Town & Country is the lead-

ing American lifestyle maga-zine and the oldest continuallypublished (since 1846) generalinterest magazine in the US.

It dedicates one full issue an-

nually to the philanthropistswho impress with their com-mitment, ingenuity, and lar-gesse. "This year's list has anadded sense of urgency: Underhistoric circumstances, thesepeople are saving our lives, andour sense of hope, right now,"the magazine noted.

"We've seen it time andagain: In the aftermath of ter-rorism, tragedy, and trauma,the generous and the just re-spond with speed and flex-ibility to help those most af-fected. This agility and re-sponsiveness make philan-thropy unique... and it makesphilanthropy a vital publicgood, in these times and alltimes. IANS

Nita Ambani

Apple to startassembling iPhoneSE in India

SAN FRANCISCO: Apple is re-portedly planning to assembleits new iPhone SE in India.

The iPhone maker has al-ready asked one of its suppli-ers in China to start shippingcomponents for the iPhone SE2020 to its manufacturing part-ner Wistron in India, reportsAppleInsider.

Assembling the iPhone SE2020 under the 'Make in India'initiative will help the companyin avoiding the 20 per cent taxon its imported phones and re-ducing the price of the devicein India.

This news comes at a timewhen the Indian governmenthas also started an initiative toincrease manufacturing in thecountry.

Apple is reportedly seekingto shift roughly a fifth of exist-ing China-based output to In-dia, which could equate to $40billion in local manufacturingrevenues over the next fiveyears. IANS

Reliance Industriesfirst Indian firm to hit$150 bn market cap

NEW DELHI: Reliance Indus-tries became the first Indian firmto hit a market valuation of USD150 billion helped by a continu-ous rally in its share price.

In morning trade, thecompany's market valuationjumped Rs 28,248.97 crore toRs 11,43,667 crore (USD 150billion) on the BSE. The heavy-weight stock surged 2.53 percent to a record high of Rs1,804.10 on the BSE. On theNSE, it rose by 2.54 per cent toan all-time high of Rs 1,804.20.

Reliance Industries on Friday(19 June), became the first In-dian company to cross the Rs11-lakh-crore market valuationmark. Its market valuationcrossed Rs 11-lakh crore in theprevious session as its shareprice rallying over 6 per centafter chairman Mukesh Ambaniannounced that his oil-to-telecom conglomerate had be-come net debt-free. PTI

I see online community being hurtfulto each other: Ratan Tata

NEW DELHI: Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus, Tata Group calledfor an end to online hate mongering and bullying and asked theonline community to be more kind and sensitive.

In a post on Instagram, Tata said the online community is beinghurtful to each other.

"This year has been full of challenges for everyone, on somelevel or the other. I see online community being hurtful to eachother, bringing each other down, harshly and with quick judg-ments," he said. IANS

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June 26, 2020www.indiapost.comIndia Post10

For detailed story visitwww.indiapost.com

New Zealand is on everytraveler's bucket list. Itis a relatively young and

wealthy Pacific agricultural na-tion with breathtaking views.New Zealand language andcustoms still bear the vestigesof British culture. Since its dis-covery by Abel Tasman in 1642,New Zealand's cultural groupshave welcomed travelers totheir beautiful country: the in-digenous Maoris and Europeanimmigrants who arrived on theislands within the last thousandyears.

New Zealand travel is a oncein a lifetime experience. NewZealand is beginning to experi-ence more cultural diversity, asnewcomers arrive from placeslike Asia and the Pacific islands.Visit New Zealand and experi-ence a diverse culture.

You will find lots of Kodakopportunities as you tour thisstriking country's north andsouth islands. The diversity ofthe landscape, not to mentionit's setting for the Lord of theRings and Hobbit movie series,has encouraged tourism. ThisNew Zealand travel guide willhelp you plan your trip.

When to Go to New ZealandJust about any time is good

for travel in New Zealand. SouthIsland can get very cold in win-ter, (June to September), butoffers winter sport activities.Most of New Zealand is coast-line with milder winters andless intense heat in summer.Many people love to visit NewZealand in the fall and winter.

10 BEST PLACES TO VISITIN NEW ZEALAND

Comprised of two main is-lands, North Island and SouthIsland, New Zealand is an in-credible destination to dis-cover. Packed with unforget-table landscapes, breathtakingscenery, and an unparalleledcombination of lakes, moun-tains, and lush greenery, the is-land nation has to be seen to betruly understood.

New Zealand pretty muchneeds to be on your list if you'reat all an adventure sports en-thusiast - or even if you're justinterested in trying them out.Bungee jumping, mountaineer-ing, skydiving, paragliding,mountain biking, kayaking,canyoning, parachuting, caving,

zip lining… Let's just say thatthe list is endless when itcomes to what outdoor activi-ties you can get up to in this far-flung destination.

You can get to grips with ad-venture sports in Queenstown,surrounded by mountain andlake scenery. Then there's thedramatic Fiordland - part of thelandscape that made up PeterJackson's movie interpretationof Middle Earth for Lord of theRings and The Hobbit (you caneven visit The Shire!). Get toknow Maori culture at Rotorua,and if you're missing city life,head to sunny Auckland - thelargest city in New Zealand.Here's a look a the best placesto visit in New Zealand:

1. Fiordland2. Tongariro National Park3. Queenstown4. Auckland5. Paihia6. Rotorua7. Napier8. Glacier Country9. Nelson10. Stewart Island

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1 Haan Mai Galat: Love Aaj Kal

2 Dus Bahane 2.0: Baaghi 3

3 Shayad: Love Aaj Kal

4 llegal Weapon 2.0:Street Dancer 3D

5 Muqabla: Street Dancer 3D

6 Mere Liye Tum Kaafi Ho:Shubh Mangal Zyaada Savdhan

7 Garmi: Street Dancer 3D

8 Shaitan ka Saala: Housefull 4

9 Dheeme Dheeme: Pati Patni

Aur Who

10 Bhankas: Baaghi 3

June 26 2020

TOP TENHINDI SONGS

www.indiapost.com 11India Post

Serbian dancer-actress NatasaStankovic was in for a pleas-

ant surprise from her fiance, In-dian all-rounder Hardik

Pandya.He presented her twobig bouquets of roses, with a

mushy note to boot.Natasa took to Instagram Sto-

ries and re-posted a photo-graph of Pandya holding the

two bouquets."Roses for my rose," he

wrote.Natasa shared the photo-graph and put a sticker that

read: "I'm so thankful for you."Natasa and Hardik are ex-

pecting their first child, and sherecently shared a photograph

flaunting her baby bump.Natasa made her Bollywood

debut with a dance number inthe 2013 film "Satyagraha" and

was later seen in films like "Ac-tion Jackson" (2014) and "Fukrey

Returns" (2017).On January 1, Hardik shared

an image where he is seen pro-

posing to Natasa, andhad captioned it: "Mai

tera, Tu meri, jaane saaraHindustan. 01.01.2020

#engaged." IANS

Former beauty queen andBollywood actress Urvashi Rautela

says that the film industry is kind of un-predictable, and everyone has to gothrough ups and downs.

"Bollywood has always been like acurve. It is not stagnant and it won't gothe way you expect. It is kind of unpre-dictable and everyone has to gothrough ups and downs. That's part oflife," Urvashi said.

"There has been s time when I wasoffered a very beautiful film, which wasa kind of sequel of a superhit and itwas with Mr Amitabh Bachchan, and Icouldn't be part of it.

Without revealing any detailabout the film, she added: "So, yeahthat is something I have regret inmy life of not being able to workwith Mr Amitabh Bachchan sir."

"I would say it was just a sillymistake and I'm blaming myself forthat," she said. IANS

Actress Fatima Sana Shaikh says shelaughed off reports of her dating

her "Dangal" co-star Sanya Malhotra."We simply laughed about it. Just be-

cause we are good friends, they as-sumed the worst," she said, talking aboutthe rumour.

Asked about three things that shelearnt from Sanya, Fatima said: "I havelearnt a lot from her. For one, Sanya likesto keep everything clean. While she is anintrovert and I am an extrovert, I learntto hold myself back at times. I also learnta lot from her dedication to work."

The actress said: "The beauty of ourcountry is that we are so diverse

and all of us are okay withjust being ourselves,

follow our own reli-gion and accept

everybody.""I think the per-

fect scene of aman proposing tohis wife atop theEiffel tower

would be ofShah Rukh

Khan andme," she

a d d e d ,w h i l eo p e n -ing upon theZ e eC a f eshow,"StarryNightsG e nY " .IANS

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Health Line

12 India Post June 26, 2020www.indiapost.com

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

Sri Atmananda (1883 - 1959)

Coronavirus may spread more easilyat home: Lancet study

BEIJING: Novel coronavirusthat causes Covid-19 mayspread more easily amongpeople living together andfamily members than severeacute respiratory syndrome(SARS) or Middle East respira-tory syndrome (MERS), says anew study published in TheLancet Infectious Diseasesjournal.

The analysis, based on con-tact tracing data from 349people with Covid-19 and1,964 of their close contacts inGuangzhou in China, foundpeople with Covid-19 were atleast as infectious before theydeveloped symptoms as dur-ing their actual illness, and thatolder person (aged 60 years ormore) were most susceptibleto household infection withSARS-CoV-2 (coronavirus).

"Our analyses suggest thatthe infectiousness of individu-als with Covid-19 before theyhave symptoms is high andcould substantially increase

the difficulty of curbing theongoing pandemic", said studyresearcher Dr Yang Yang fromthe University of Florida in theUS.

In the study, researchers de-veloped a transmission model

that accounted for individual-level exposure, tertiary trans-mission, potential exposure tountraced infection sources,and asymptomatic infections.Using data gathered by theGuangzhou Center for DiseaseControl and Prevention (CDC)

on 215 primary Covid-19 cases,134 secondary/tertiary cases,and 1,964 of their close con-tacts between January 7 andFebruary 18, the study esti-mated the secondary attackrate among people living to-

gether and family membersand non-household contacts.

Close contacts--unpro-tected individuals who hadbeen within a meter of a per-son with Covid-19 less than 2-days before their symptomsdeveloped--were traced, quar-

antined, and tested for SARS-CoV-2 on days one and 14.

The study also modeled theeffects of age and sex on theinfectivity of Covid-19 casesand susceptibility of theirclose contacts. For the primaryresults, researchers assumedan average incubation periodof 5-days and a maximum in-fectious period of 13-days.

Among the 349 laboratory-confirmed primary and second-ary Covid-19 cases, 19 (five percent) reported no symptomsduring the follow-up period.

The analyses estimated thatthe likelihood of secondarytransmission--spread from an in-fected person to non-householdcontacts--was 2.4 per cent.

The likelihood of passing onthe virus was higher amongpeople living together andfamily members, with an at-tack rate of 17.1 per centamong people living at thesame address, and 12 per centamong family members. IANS

People sawdecrease in sexualbehavior: Study

NEW YORK: One in five adultsin the US have experiencedchange -- mostly a decrease --in their sexual behavior duringthe early months of the Covid-19 pandemic, researchers said.

The study examinedchanges in solo and partneredsexual behaviors from aboutmid-March to mid-April in aneffort to learn more aboutAmericans' sex lives and rela-tionships during the firstmonth of social distancing.

"Our data illustrate the verypersonal ways in which differ-ent pandemic-associated fac-tors may create or inhibit op-portunities for solo andpartnered sex," said study co-author Devon Hensel from theIndiana University in the US.

The study, published in the pre-print repository medRxiv, usedthe US nationally representativeprobability survey of adults tolook at changes in 10 solo andpartnered sexual behavior cat-egories. IANS

Study ties blood typeto COVID-19 risk; Omay help, A hurt

LONDON: A genetic analysisof COVID-19 patients suggeststhat blood type might influ-ence whether someone devel-ops severe disease.

Scientists who comparedthe genes of thousands of pa-tients in Europe found thatthose who had Type A bloodwere more likely to have se-vere disease while those withType O were less likely.

The recent report in theNew England Journal of Medi-cine does not prove a bloodtype connection, but it doesconfirm a previous report fromChina of such a link.

Most of us discounted it be-cause it was a very crude study,Dr Parameswar Hari, a bloodspecialist at the Medical Col-lege of Wisconsin, said of thereport from China. With thenew work, now I believe it, hesaid. It could be very impor-tant. Other scientists urgedcaution. AP/PTI

Poor sleep quality may increase depression risk in teenagersLONDON: Researchers have

found that teenagers who ex-perience very poor sleep maymore likely experience poormental health in later life.

For the findings, published inthe Journal of Child Psychologyand Psychiatry, the researchteam analyzed self-reportedsleep quality and quantity fromteenagers and found that therewas a significant relationshipbetween poor sleep and men-tal health issues.

The study found thatamong the 4,790 partici-pants, those who experi-enced depression reported

from the University of Read-ing in the UK.

This study highlights thatthose young people whohave experienced depres-sion and anxiety had over-whelmingly experiencedpoor sleep during theirteens.

"What's noticeable is thatthe difference in the averageamount of sleep betweenthose who experienced de-pression, which amounts togoing to sleep 30 minuteslater each night comparedto other participants," Or-chard added. IANS

both poor quality and quantityof sleep, while those with anxi-ety had poor quality of sleeponly, compared to those teen-agers who took part who didn'treport anxiety or depression.

"This latest research is an-other piece of evidence toshow that there is a significantlink between sleep and mentalhealth for teenagers," saidstudy researcher Faith Orchard

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JUNE 26, 202013

www.indiapost.com

Three reasons homebuyers areready to purchase this year

LAVANYA DUVVI

A recent survey by LendingTree tapped into behaviors ofover 1,000 prospective buyers. The results indicated 53%

of all homebuyers are more likely to buya home in the next year, even amid thecurrent health crisis. The survey furtherrevealed why, naming several reasonsbuyers are more likely to move this year(see graph below):

Let's break down why these are a fewof the key factors motivating buyers toactively engage in the home searchprocess, and the corresponding winsfor sellers as well.

1. Low Mortgage RatesThe biggest reason potential

homebuyers indicated they're eager topurchase this year is due to currentmortgage rates, which are hoveringnear all-time lows. Today's low rates aremaking it more affordable than ever tobuy a home, which is a huge incentivefor purchasers. In fact, 67% of respon-dents in the Lending Tree survey wantto take advantage of low mortgagerates. This is no surprise when com-paring historic mortgage rates bydecade (see below):

Sam Khater, Chief Economist atFreddie Mac recently said:

"As the economy is slowly re-bounding, all signs continue topoint to a solid recovery in homesales activity heading into thesummer as prospective buyersjump back into the market. Lowmortgage rates are a key factorin this recovery."

Special Feature: 2. Reduced SpendingSome people have also been able to

save a little extra money over the pastfew months while sheltering in place.One of the upsides of staying home re-cently is that many have been able towork remotely and minimize extraspending on things like commuting ex-penses, social events, and more. For

day.3. Re-Evaluating Their Space

Spending time at home has alsogiven buyers a chance to really evalu-ate their living space, whether rentingor as a current homeowner. With timeavailable to craft a wish list of what theyreally need in their next home, from

sellers? With these three factors in play, the

demand for housing will keep growingthis year, especially over the summer asmore communities continue theirphased approach to reopening. Buyerscan take advantage of additional sav-ings and low mortgage rates. And if

those who fall into this category, theymay have a bit more saved up for downpayments and closing costs, makingpurchasing a home more feasible to-

more square footage to a more spa-cious neighborhood, they're ready tomake it happen.

What does this mean for buyers and

you're thinking of selling, know thatyour home may be in high demand asbuyer interest grows and the numberof homes for sale continues to dwindle.This may be your moment to list yourhouse and make a move into a newspace as well.

Bottom LineIf you're ready to buy or sell - or

maybe both - let's connect to put yourplans in motion. With low mortgagerates leading the way, it's a great timeto take advantage of your position intoday's market.

Lavanya DuvviBRE # 01901376

[email protected]

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JUNE 26, 2020INDIA POST

14www.indiapost.com

Housing market shows signs ofrebounding from Coronavirus shutdowns

SEATTLE: The housing mar-ket showed some early signs ofrecovery in May as the addi-tion of homes for sale and con-tracts to buy homes both in-creased dramatically fromApril levels, according to a newreport from Redfin(www.redfin.com), the tech-nology-powered real estatebrokerage.

The market remains overallvery competitive thanks to acontinuing shortage of homesfor sale. U.S. home-sale pricesincreased just 0.5% year overyear in May to a median of$299,400 across the 217metros Redfin tracks. This wasthe smallest annual increasesince home prices bottomedout in February 2012. However,the fact that this increase wasso much smaller than the 4.7%gain in April was largely due tofewer homes being sold in themost expensive metro areas.

Overall home sales in Mayfell 30.8% from a year ago, butthe most expensive metro ar-eas all saw more dramatic de-creases in home sales than thenational drop. The 12 metro ar-eas with median prices above$450,000 (seven of which are

Reports that home prices nearly flattened as pending sales were up 33% and new listingsincreased 36% from April to May- SOURCE Redfin

in California) all saw homesales decline between 38%and 58% from a year earlier. SanFrancisco and San Jose, whichboth have median pricesabove $1 million, each sawhome sales drop more than55%.

"Although the housing mar-ket was still mostly stalled inMay, it's worth noting thathomes under contract to be

sold jumped 33% betweenApril and May after two con-secutive months of decline,"said Redfin lead economist Tay-lor Marr. "This is a key leadingindicator for home sales inJune and July. New listings ofhomes for sale have also likelypassed their bottom, but arestill about 20% belowFebruary's level, so there's stilla ways to go before the hous-ing market has recouped thelost activity of the past fewmonths during the shut-downs."

Home sales fell 11.7% na-tionwide from April on a sea-sonally adjusted basis. That's abig drop, but a marked im-provement from the March toApril drop of 21.5%, which wasthe largest decline on record

(our data for this statistic goesback to January 2012).

The national count of activelistings of homes for sale fell21.2% year over year in May,just shy of the April decline,which was the largest onrecord. This is the ninth straightmonth of declines. The 0.5% in-crease in the nationwide num-ber of homes for sale betweenApril and May represents a

gain of fewer than 9,000homes for sale during themonth. None of the 85 largestmetros tracked by Redfinposted a year-over-year in-crease in the count of season-ally adjusted active listings ofhomes for sale.

The number of new listingsfell 21.5% compared with ayear earlier, but surged 35.6%from the all-time low seen inApril. This is a good sign thatsome balance may be return-ing to the market after the pastfew months of declininghomes for sale and increasinghomebuyer demand led to in-tense competition and biddingwars in some places.

An even more encouragingsign is the bounce back in thenumber of newly-constructed

homes that were listed for salein May, which was down half asmuch as the overall market-just9.9% from a year earlier.

Other measures of competi-tion in the market such as dayson market and the share ofhomes sold above list pricehave remained relativelysteady throughout the shut-downs and stay-at-home or-ders across the nation.

Trends fromthe beginning ofthe year-intensebidding warsand a strongseller's market-have continuedu n a b a t e dthroughout thepandemic.

"Buyers havebeen out indroves, but thenumber ofhomes for sale isstill super low,"explained Pitts-burgh Redfinagent SaraMinshull. "We areseeing morehomes listed forsale recently, but

of course there were just so fewbefore this that the new listingsaren't keeping up. There is justso much competition."

Homes that sold in Mayspent 37 days on market, un-changed from the same montha year earlier.

"The market still feels reallycrazy," said Redfin agent AmberAllin, who serves Tacoma, Wash-ington-the nation's fastest mar-ket with half of all homes goingunder contract in just eightdays. "There are so few homesfor sale right now, and thosethat are in good condition areselling incredibly fast."

The share of homes thatsold above list price decreasedjust slightly, falling 0.6 percent-age points year over year inMay to 25.2%. PRNewswire

‘Tender for 5.6 kmtunnel to Chinesefirm still in process’

NEW DELHI: Almost aweek after the Chinese firmShanghai Tunnel EngineeringCompany Ltd (STEC) becamethe lowest bidder for con-structing the 5.6-km NewAshok Nagar-Sahibabad un-derground tunnel of the 82km Delhi-Meerut RRTSproject, the Union Ministry ofUrban Development onWednesday clarified that thetender is in "process" and"yet to be finalised".

The remarks from theministry came in the wake ofthe tensions between Indiaand China after the killing of20 Indian soldiers by thePeople's Liberation Army(PLA) in an unprecedentedattack on Monday night inLadakh's Galwan valley.

The Urban DevelopmentMinistry said that the 82-kmlong Regional Rapid Rail Tran-sit System (RRTS) being under-taken by the National CapitalRegion Transport Corporation(NCRTC) is an ADB fundedproject for design and con-struction of 5.6 km tunnelthrough TBM & 1 RRTS station.

It said that bids were in-vited on November 9 lastyear and the technical bidwas opened on March 16this year. IANS

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JUNE 26, 2020INDIA POST

15www.indiapost.com

Waverly, brandnew homes inMountain View

Escape the city! Your newhometown is waiting atWaverly, a neighborhood

of brand new move-in readyhomes in Mountain View. Hereyou can settle in and stay for awhile. These spacious move-inready homes offer up to fourbedrooms, epicurean kitchens,

room for a home office, wel-coming outdoor spaces, and asuite of Smart Home features.Here you'll enjoy a small-townvibe with all the best lifestyleamenities like a pedestrian-friendly district centered alongCastro Street, an incrediblefarmer's market, a robust pub-

lic school system, and Shore-line Park with its lake, golfcourse, and amphitheater. Addto this excellent transit andproximity to top employmentcenters, and it's easy to seewhy Waverly in Mountain Viewis perfect for you.

The townhomes and de-tached homes at Waverlyrange in size from approxi-mately 1,245 to 2,002 squarefeet with 2 to 4 bedrooms, upto 3 and one-half baths, and di-

rect access 2-space garages.Four bedroom townhomeshave starting prices from themid-$1.4 millions.

These homes are all are avail-able for move-in this summerand come complete with De-signer Curated Interiors andmany special included featureslike sophisticated Bertazzoni ap-pliances, and private yards. Theopportunity to buy a new homein Mountain View is limited andWaverly offers the only brand

new detached home for sale.Four model homes and the

sales office are located at 240Evandale Avenue in MountainView. Contact Crystal by phoneor text at (650) 209-7415 or [email protected] schedule a private tour. Youalso may tour two of the move-in ready homes at Waverly us-ing the NterNow app anytimebetween 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. AskCrystal or visit WaverlyMV.comfor details.

Special Feature:

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JUNE 26, 2020INDIA POST

16www.indiapost.com

Homebuyer'sRush to BuyAMIT INAMDAR

The economic disruption causedby COVID-19 is truly withoutprecedent. The past twomonths have been very uncer-

tain and it has been difficult to ascer-tain the real estate markets in the BayArea.

Apparently, our area with major techemployment seems to be immune tothe housing crisis. Buyer activity hasbeen strong, not only during the earlypart of the second quarter, but also hav-ing picked up in the month of June. So ifbuyers are buying, where are they rush-ing to buy?

The homebuyer affordability will al-ways drive buyers to the next real es-tate market. Affordability is a combina-tion of home price as well as the mort-gage interest rates. With the recentdrop in interest rates, the affordability

has gone up for many homebuyers. Ad-ditionally, the recent SIP orders havecaused many to feel stuck in a smallplace and they want to own a homeeven more. With many retail outletsclosed, the consumer has added savingsto feel comfortable to invest in theirown homeownership journey.

Even though homebuyers may notfully grasp the concept of affordability,they can direct themselves to theneighborhoods with lower prices. Thefollowing chart shows the available in-ventory in Tri-cities (Fremont, UnionCity, Newark) and Tri-valley cities(Livermore, Dublin, Pleasanton, SanRamon).

Active listings are the homes avail-able for sale in the market, the pendinglistings are listings in contract, and soldlistings shown are the listings sold in

the last 30 days. These inventory levelscan be tied to the size of the city'spopulation, however, it can also showthe cities where there is more homebuying activity. Pending listings indi-cate the demand in the marketplaceand active listings indicate the supplyof homes. One can derive a ratio ofpending homes to the active homes todetermine the market hotness index.Additionally, we can take a ratio of ac-

tive homes to sold homes to under-stand the months of available inventory.

It is interesting to note that the hot-test of the markets today are in the Tri-valley areas with Livermore being themost desirable city, as shown in thegraph by the red bars. The number ofpending listings (demand) are 22%higher than the number of availablehomes for sale (supply). As long as thisratio is above 0.5%, the markets are con-sidered hot. Even though all the marketsin Tri-cities and Tri-Valley cities are hot,there seems to be a rush to move to Tri-Valley cities. The green bars in thegraph show the months of available in-ventory, indicating the market still be-longs to the sellers.

Typically, if the market has more than6 months of inventory, then the buyershave their way and it is a buyer's market.

As the median price of the home in

Livermore is $810,000, it is understand-able for buyers to flock to this afford-able neighborhood. You do get morefor your money in the Tri-Valley cities.

Experience shows that when youmove away from the Silicon Valley, youget bigger homes for a lesser price. Donote that the median home price as ofMay 2020 is shown underneath the cityname in the Hot Market graph. It is in-teresting to note that buyers may com-

promise commutes for an affordablehome buying experience.

This market activity analysis is impor-tant for both buyers and sellers. With-out the activity analysis, a listing agentmay underprice the home and sell it toocheap by leaving money on the table.Such analysis helps buyers make com-petitive offers that may lead to winningbids. Agents who help their clients withdetailed market analysis always helpthem save money.

Just like we found hot cities usingour analysis, we can also find hot neigh-borhoods within the city. This will helpyou invest in the right neighborhood asa buyer. For sellers, it will help sell yourhome for the highest price in the short-est time. You can get your market guid-ance and winning strategies just by call-ing Realtor Amit Inamdar at (510) 3646686. CA DRE 0135522.

Special Feature:

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India Post 17www.indiapost.com

June 26, 2020

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www.indiapost.com June 26, 2020

COMMUNITYACROSS AMERICA

India Post

Desi News

18 Details on page 22

Senior Pariwar Celebrates6th Intl. Yoga Day

Rep Krishnamoorthicondemns ChineseaggressionHARISH RAO

CHICAGO: CongressmanRaja Krishnamoorthi observedin response to the ongoingstandoff along the Indian-China border, which has al-ready left dozens dead orwounded:

"I remain deeply concernedwith the Chinesegovernment's recent danger-ous acts of aggression alongthe Line of Actual Control onthe India-China border and theunnecessary loss of life caused.The Chinese government mustend its bullying and provoca-tions while joining its neigh-bors in working to resolve con-flicts according to interna-tional law. I strongly urge theChinese government to aban-don its reckless path of escala-tion and instead turn to diplo-macy to productively work toresolve its border questionswith India."

IFFLA over the years, a newvirtual showcase

17 days celebrating 17 years of Indian Cinema June 19 - July 5, 2020India Post News Service

LOS ANGELES, CA: The IndianFilm Festival of Los Angeles(IFFLA) - the premiere venuefor the best annual showcase ofindependent cinema from In-dia and its Diaspora - an-nounced today a special virtualshowcase, the first of its kind,IFFLA Over the Years: 17 dayscelebrating 17 years of Indiancinema. Accessible via theIFFLA website(www.indianfilmfestival.org)beginning on June 19 throughJuly 5, 2020, this virtual show-case of over 120 narrative fea-tures, documentaries, andshort films by festival alumniwill be available online eitherfreely or via popular streamingservices. Many of these fasci-nating films have never seen ageneral release in the U.S.

IFFLA Over the Years is thefestival's response to the ongo-ing uncertainty in the film festi-val world. To that end, the pre-

viously announced 2020 lineupwill be moved to 2021 so thatfilmmakers and audiences canjoin together and share the fes-tival experience in person.

"We are beyond thrilled tobe presenting this onlineshowcase of alumni films," saidChristina Marouda, IFFLA's

founder. "Traveling through 17years of programming has al-lowed us to reconnect with somany of our alumni with whomwe share fond memories. Weare excited with this opportu-nity to collaborate with them tooffer new audiences world-

wide the chance to discoversome of the most visionaryvoices of Indian independentcinema in recent years. We alsohope recent IFFLA attendeeshave a chance to catch up withfilms from our first decade, andearly attendees who could notjoin us in recent years are able

to discover some of the newergems we've presented. Thereis literally a film for everyone'sappetite."

IFFLA Over the Years is curatedinto 12 categories highlightingthe diverse viewing experiencesavailable to audiences. "Humor

Me Now" contains lighthearted,comedic stories such as the lateManish Acharya's Loins of Punjab,while "Grit and Thrills" focuses ondarker themes in films likeAnurag Kashyap's career-defin-ing Gangs of Wasseypur, andVikramaditya Motwane'sTrapped.

"A Female Lens" featuresfilms made by and/or center-ing on women such asKarishma Dev Dube's Devi(Goddess), starring PriyankaBose (Lion); "This Is Not Fiction"presents award-winningdocumentaries including FaizaAhmad Khan's hilarious Super-men of Malegaon; "Stories ofYouth" highlights children andadolescence in films such asRima Das' festival favorite Vil-lage Rockstars, which wasIndia's Oscar entry for 2019,and Shubhashish Bhutiani's Os-car-shortlisted short film Kush.

Cont’d on page 23

Yoga a spiritualsystem, a journeyinto ancient India

PURNIMA NATH

Although Yoga has becomea global symbol of physi-

cal exercise and perfect bodyin the mainstream today, it isfar greater than asanas (pos-tures). In today's temporary-body-centric world, yoga lostits original form of deep spiri-tual significance.

Details on page 20

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India Post 19June 26, 2020 Community Across Americawww.indiapost.com

United Sikhs always striving for people's well-beingRHYDHIMA RAJ

Over the span of 11 yearsUnited Sikhs a U.N. affiliatednon-profit organization hasmade news globally, for unre-mittingly helping people intimes of crisis and the ongoing

COVID-19 pandemic has beenno exception.

While people are locked intheir houses, aiming for socialdistancing, the United Sikhs or-ganization is working tirelesslyaround the globe in a bid toensure that no one has tosleep on an empty stomach

and everyone gets access toPPE in times of the virus. Theorganization has stepped upwith emergency responseteams to feed families in needbe it in India, United Kingdom,Malaysia, Australia, UnitedStates, Canada, and more. Sofar, they have provided close to3 million meals to those inneed. Their goal is to empowerthose in need, especially disad-vantaged and minority com-munities across the world.

In the United States they

were tapped by New York's Of-fice of Emergency Manage-ment to serve 30,000 meals toNew Yorkers at the start of theNew York State on Pause Ex-ecutive Order that led to the

eventual New York Citylockdown. They have beenworking diligently in the stateof California as well. Since thelockdown period their emer-gency response teams havedistributed:

Globally over 2.5 millionmeals along with hygiene &

medical sup-plies

Over 1.25million meals tofamilies acrossthe UnitedStates throughtheir foodbanks

O v e r100,000 mealsto over 50 hos-pitals from

New York City to CaliforniaOver 20,000 PPE to frontline

medical workers across theUnited States

With their drive throughpantry service offered food to500 families in California

Within the span of 12 weeksserved 40,000 homeless in thearea of Los Angeles

Over 5,000 home deliveriesconsisting of groceries, masks,gloves and other essentials tostudents, elderly, and needyfamilies in Los Angeles and

New York.Meetan Kaur, Associate Di-

rector of United Sikhs says, "Weare in service for people 24*7,providing help to students,stranded families, elderly, justa call away". 1-855-US-UMEEDis the request number for Na-tional help service. She furthermentioned that they engage

directly with those in the wakeof disaster, whether natural orman-made to ease sufferingfrom strife such as hunger, illit-eracy, disease, or violation ofcivil or human rights.

Speaking of Civil/ humanrights, The United Sikhs organi-zation also actively marchedfor Black Lives Matter, where

Meetan Kaur with a team ofvolunteers stepped up inJuneteenth March alongsidethousands celebrating the endof slavery and seeking justicefor the systemic racism amidstus today. United Sikhs stands insupport of people even in strik-ing events like CoVid-19 andRacism.

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June 26, 2020India Post20 Community Across Americawww.indiapost.com

Pres. Trump urged to reverse suspendingH-1B and other work visas

HARISH RAO

CHICAGO: CongressmanRaja Krishnamoorthi has urgedPresident Trump to reverse hisorder suspending work visasthrough 2020:

"I'm deeply disappointedby President Trump's mis-guided order to suspendthese key work visa programs.I urge him to reverse this deci-sion to help ensure our healthcare system and broadereconomy are ready to combatthe next phase of this pan-demic and to create the jobswe need for our economic re-

covery. The H-1B program inparticular plays a crucial role inaddressing our dangerousshortage of health care pro-fessionals while also providingother key sectors of oureconomy with talent fromaround the world to not onlyfill jobs, but also create newones. Suspending this pro-gram will only weaken oureconomy and our health careworkforce at a time when theneed to strengthen both is asclear as ever." He said in astatement.

New Property Tax Billfor Illinois

SURENDRA ULLAL

CHICAGO: Second Install-ment Cook County property taxbills have been posted toco o k coun t ytr easur er.c om,where property owners can seehow much they owe two weeksbefore the bills are received inthe mail in early July, TreasurerMaria Pappas said here.

The Second Installment isdue August 3, but propertyowners can pay without any in-terest charge through October1, 2020, thanks to an ordinanceurged by Pappas and passedby the Board of Commissionersin May.

"Because of the recession,many homeowners and busi-ness people are worried aboutpaying the Second Install-ment," Pappas said. "By goingto my website, they can read

their bills and make plans."To download a copy of your

tax bill or to make a payment,visit cookcountytreasurer.com:

• Select the blue box labeled"Pay Online for Free"

• Search by property ad-dress or enter your PropertyIndex Number (PIN)

• There is no fee if you payfrom your bank account

Second Installment bills in-clude any property tax reas-sessments and exemptionscalculated by the county asses-sor and tax rates calculated bythe county clerk.

The printed bills, with a duedate of August 3, are to bemailed by the beginning ofJuly. Payments after October 1will be charged 1.5 percentper month, as required by law.

Diwali holiday in Virginia's Fairfax County SchoolsIndia Post News Service

CHICAGO: Indian Americansacross the country have wel-comed the inclusion of Diwaliholiday (November four, 2021)in the Draft Calendars 2021-2022 of Fairfax County PublicSchools (FCPS) in Virginia.

The Fairfax County SchoolBoard is urged to unanimouslyapprove this Diwali holiday, asincluded in the calendar draftspresented to them, when ittakes final action on the calen-dar on July 23; thus respectingthe feelings of Indian Americancommunity.

RajanZed, President of Uni-versal Society of Hinduism,suggested that all other pub-lic-school districts and private-charter-independent schoolsin Virginia should seriouslylook into declaring Diwali asan official holiday, thus recog-nizing the intersection ofspirituality and education. Heobserved that it would be apositive thing to do in view ofpresence of a substantialnumber of Hindu students atschools around the state, as itwas important to meet the re-ligious and spiritual needs of

these pupils.It is also urged that the Vir-

ginia Governor Ralph S.Northam, Superintendent of

Public Instruction Dr. James F.Lane and Board of EducationPresident Daniel A. Gecker; towork towards adding Diwalias an official holiday in all thestate's public schools, andpersuading the private-char-ter-independent schools tofollow. There are about threemillion Hindus in USA.

FCPS, headquartered in

Falls Church and whosetagline is "Engage-Inspire-Thrive"; is 10th largest schooldivision in USA with over188,000 students speakingover 200 languages in 198schools and centers. KarenCorbett Sanders and ScottBrabrand are Board Chair andDivision Superintendent re-spectively.

Yoga a spiritual system, ajourney into ancient India

Yoga is a deep spiritual system of attaining ultimate unionwith the divine, a journey into ancient India's history!

PURNIMA NATH

Although Yoga has become a global symbolof physical exercise

and perfect body in the main-stream today, it is far greater

than asanas (postures). Intoday's temporary-body-cen-tric world, yoga lost its originalform of deep spiritual signifi-cance. Yoga is the union of fi-nite to the infinite, connectionof manifest to hidden, integra-tion and harmony betweenthoughts, feelings, words, anddeeds; and total balance ofmind, body, and spirit; unitingindividual soul to the divinesoul to achieve utmost stabilityand state of enlightenmentthrough physical, mental, intel-lectual, and spiritual awaken-ing. Yoga is pure science and a

sophisticated and comprehen-sive eastern system of devel-oping a person's Chetana (con-sciousness).

But how yoga got launchedin the western world? On thisInternational Yoga Day, we willestablish facts of interrelated-ness of Hinduism to yoga. Wewill further look at some ex-amples of how the westernworld is refusingits origin and dis-missing its con-tribution, andpushing a nega-tive connotationof Hindu affilia-tion and associa-tion with India.Yoga andhinduism:

'Yoga' comesfrom a Sanskritword - 'yuj',meaning 'to join','to yoke', 'to sub-jugate', 'to con-nect', or 'tounite'. To under-stand the origin of yoga, wemust dig into the history ofHinduism.

Hinduism comes from theVedic tradition of Sanatana

Dharma, the eternal truth. Theconcept of 'eternal existence'derives from the soul. Our soulmight leave our body at a cer-tain point in our lifetime (theevent is called death) however;the soul lives on - an extremelyimportant ideology to notehere. Hindu belief system re-volves around the emphasis ofKarma (deeds). The idea of mo-

rality that drives our deeds be-comes even more critical forthe Hindu belief system.

Purnima Nath

For detailed story visitwww.indiapost.com

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India Post 21June 26, 2020 Community Across Americawww.indiapost.com

Going Back To "Normal"?VIDYA SETHURAMANIndia Post News Service

The inadequacy of America’shealth care, economic, andpolicing systems has been

laid bare by a perfect storm of cri-ses that are hitting the country atthe same time. On June 19, EMSorganized a teleconference withfour experts in the fields of racerelations and criminal justice re-form, immigrant integration, thejob sector, and health care whoshared their perspectives on howto reimagine these systems inhopes of building a more equi-table future.

Tung Nguyen, UCSF Health Di-vision of General, Internal Medi-cine gave an update on the pan-demic numbers. As of June 21,over 8.84 million people were di-agnosed with Covid-19 and 465kdeaths worldwide. In the US, thereare over 2.31 million cases withover 122k deaths. Arizona, Florida,California, Nevada and Texas re-

ported record spikes in confirmedCovid-19 cases on Friday (19June) as states continue theirphased reopening and ramp uptesting. Tung explained that Afri-can American population is morevulnerable to the infection due totheir underlying medical condi-tions. States which have man-dated the usage of face masks,have seen a decline in the casescompared to others. Californiansare now required to wear masksin a variety of public settings. Theorder by Gov. Gavin Newsom in-cludes visits to high-risk settingssuch as healthcare facilities andwhile people are waiting orriding public transit.

On the vaccine front, research-ers in the United Kingdom an-nounced preliminary results froma clinical trial that showed a low-cost steroid called dexametha-sone appeared to lower the risk ofdeath in patients with COVID-19.The researchers said the anti-in-

flammatory drug reduced thenumber of deaths in COVID-19patients on ventilators or oxygenalone by one-third. This is greatnews, as the drug is cheap andeasily available, said Dr.Nguyen.

The United States has the mostexpensive health care system inthe world, but its outcomes arepoor because it is focused on thewrong things, he said. "The factorsthat contribute the most are lowlife expectancy or income quality,low levels of education and expo-sure to violence along with otherkey determinants, like jobs, hous-ing and food insecurity and cli-mate change. These are theproper topics for public healthand for health care to work on inthe future," said Nguyen.

Constance L. "Connie" Rice,Civil rights activist and lawyer,and the co-founder and co-direc-tor of Advancement Project Cali-fornia spoke on the changesneeded to be implemented by

the police department. We are stillworking through the machineryand the dynamics and the cultureof white dominance and whitesupremacy. Until you change themission, you're not going to getchanged policing. It aggravates, itaccumulates, and it produces dy-namics that get toxic. The roots ofAmerican policing, she said, areensconced in "slave patrols"meant to keep people "in place,"a mindset that is a "warrior men-tality. It's not about a bad apple.It's about a toxic orchard and theentire culture."

Manuel Pastor, Professor of So-ciology and American Studies &Ethnicity at the University ofSouthern California spoke on in-equality, racism and the otherchallenges faced by the society ofcolor. He noted the United States'wide economic gap; AfricanAmericans earn an average$17,000 per year, the least amountof any ethnic group, while white

Americans earn an average$171,000, according to recent Bu-reau of Labor Statistics data. Ithink what we've seen is a majorshift in U.S. consciousness aroundboth policing and the sort of bru-tality that's often been involvedin contemporary policing and theracist character of it, but evenmore deeply that the policing isreally just a tip of a racist icebergthat has to do with economic in-equality, educational inequalityand environmental inequality,"he added."My advice is for us tonot lose sight of the fact that thisis a moment in which an entiresystem of systemic inequality isbeing revealed, and we need tobegin to tackle it with our heartsand with our heads," he said. Pas-tor added on DACA, "This a majorwin for DACA recipients, theirfamilies, and our communities -and it is a hard-earned victory bythe movement led by bold, youngimmigrant organizers and allieswho fought to keep DACA inplace over the last eight years."

Marina Gorbis, Executive Di-rector of the Institute for the Fu-ture (IFTF), a 50-year old non-profit research and consulting or-ganization based in Silicon Valleyspoke on the future of work. "Thekind of things we're experiencingtoday is actually the result of de-cisions and choices we made de-cades ago. And similarly, the kindsof decisions and choices we maketoday are probably going toshape our post-COVID-19 future."

We have to rebuild the basiccivic infrastructure from culturalnorms, institute to basic ideology,which we will all have to work to-gether.

"I'm really hopeful in this mo-ment that in addition to all the ra-cial inequalities and policing andall these things that are now be-ing revealed, that it's also an op-portunity for us to rethink someeconomic pillars - how we treatworkers about what is deserved inthis economy and who deservesthese things." She challenged thenotion that "hero entrepreneurs" -of the sort who predominate theSilicon Valley - deserve greater as-sets than other workers, and shechampioned the notion of univer-sal basic assets as "a right, notsomething you have to earn."

On June 19, EMS organized a teleconferencewith four experts in the fields of race relations

and criminal justice reform, immigrantintegration, the job sector, and health care

who shared their perspectives

Implementation wouldliberate Mewati Hindus

MADHU PATEL

CHICAGO: The announce-ments made by the HaryanaGovernment to stop the de-cades-long atrocities and terrorof Islamic Jihadists on Hindus inMewat (Haryana) is deemed animportant step in the directionof liberating Mewati minorityHindu society.

Saluting the solidarity of thestruggling Hindu so-ciety, media chan-nels and other alliesfor this, Dr. SurendraJain, VHP's CentralJoint General Secre-tary expressed hopethat these an-n o u n c e m e n t swould be imple-mented at the earliest so thatthe aggrieved victim societycould get relief! The steps suchas prohibiting forced religiousconversions, love-Jihad, slaugh-ter of cow progeny (Gokashi),protection of religious and pub-lic properties of minority and es-tablishment of the IRB battalionetc. should end Jihadi persecu-tion in Mewat, he added.

The decades-long Jihadi per-secution on Hindus in Mewat,Haryana, saw an unprecedentedboost during the COVID-19lockdown. A section of the me-

dia and civilized society acrossglobally appreciated a commit-ment to alleviate the sufferings ofminority here. The Haryana CM SriManohar Lal Khattar paid a visit toNuh (Mewat) last week and ap-preciated the distress and agonyof the minority here. He made fol-lowing proclamations:

1.Anti-conversion Law wouldbe enacted to stopreligious conver-sions and love-J i h a d . 2 . G o k a s h i(slaughter of cows& its progeny) caseswould be heard infast-track-court .Necessary amend-ments would be

made in the current law, if thereis a need to punish cow killersseverely.3.A battalion of the IRBwould be set up at Nuh (Mewat)to assist in re-establishing therule of law in Mewat.4.After re-moving illegal occupation onHindu religious and public prop-erties, a board would be set upfor these real estates and insti-tutions that would ensure theircare and protection.

Dr. Jain of VHP (Vishva HinduParishad) felt that minority wouldnow feel secured & live their liveswith dignity & respect!

Dr Surendra Jain

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June 26, 2020India Post22 Community Across Americawww.indiapost.com

Delhi Government exposed overfalse commitment to COVID patients

HARLEEN KAUR

NEW DELHI: Corona haswide spread all over theworld. In India where govern-ment of almost every statecommits to control the situa-tion, Kejriwal's governmentalso made castles in the air tocure people from corona epi-demic. Gurdeep Singh resi-dent of Delhi who went to al-most every hospital for histreatment faces a great ha-rassment, no hospital wasready to take care of him. In-nocent Gurdeep Singh leftthe world due to no treat-ment received. Kartar Singh,currently residing in USA nar-rated the incident.

It was June 4, 2020 morn-ing. Gurdeep was not fellingwell and family decided togo for corona test becausethey felt it mightbe the reason be-hind Gurddep'sillness. They di-aled 100 onphone and weretold an ambu-lance would bereaching in 15minutes. Whenthe ambulance did not arrivethey again called and weretold to wait for half an hourmore. Almost the whole daywas gone in wait of the am-bulance when at 5 pm theygot an answer the ambu-lance will not be coming be-cause they have no oxygensupply in ambulance.

At six when family felt ex-treme helplessnessGurdeep's uncle AvtarSinghand brother in law took himto Global hospital. Hospitalauthorities refused to admitGurdeep. They rushed toSehgal Hospital where theykept Gurdeep for approxi-mately 1.30 hours andasked them to approachanother hospital , as theyhad no bed available.

At last they took him to aGovernment hospital. Afterfacing so much hardshipGuru Gobind Singh hospitalwas their destination

where they faced more is-sues. It was just not theirday, at the receiving end ofemotional and mental ha-rassment at every step.Now it was mid night, theyhad no choice, the situationhad made them numb butthey gathered themselvesand took Gurdeep to thewell known Ram ManoharLohia Hospital but theywere not much different.

Time was running out forthe family but they werenot shattered and kept onwith their efforts to giveproper treatment toGurdeep and then reachedanother government hospi-tal LPG. Here they were re-fused once again. Tired andhurt they managed to

reachthe Safdarjang Hospi-tal also managed by thegovernment. Here theytook an X-ray of Gurdeep 'schest where family hadsigh of relief but it wasshort-l ived as they wereasked not to keep Gurdeephere.

After that they knockedthe door of Amar hospitalbut to their amazementthey did not even opentolet them in. At this time thefamily, as well as Gurdeep,were on the verge of givingup. One can almost imaginewhat it feels seeing your fam-ily member dying even afteryour continuous efforts.

This raises a big questionon all of us - who we are andwhere we are living and forwhat? At the end we are hav-ing no lifeline to survive.

Almost the whole day

was gone in wait of the am-

bulance when at 5 pm they

got an answer the ambulance

will not be coming

For detailed story visitwww.indiapost.com

155 Indian Cos. account for $22 bnin Investments & 125,000 Jobs in U.S.

India Post News Service

WASHINGTON DC: 155 com-panies with origins in India areinstrumental for generatingover $22 billion in investmentsand nearly 125,000 jobs acrossthe United States, according toa new survey report releasedby the Confederation of IndianIndustry.

The report, "Indian Roots,American Soil 2020," is a state-by-state breakdown of tan-gible investments made andjobs created by 155 surveyedIndian companies doing busi-ness in all 50 states, as well as

Washington, D.C., and PuertoRico. The surveyed companiesalso provided data regardingtheir corporate social responsi-bility (CSR) and research anddevelopment expenditures,which totaled $175 million and$900 million, respectively.

The CII report was launchedvia a webinar by ChandrajitBanerjee, Director General, CIIand Taranjit Sandhu, Ambassa-dor of India to the UnitedStates, along with supportfrom senior US Governmentofficials, including DianeFarrell, Acting Deputy Under

Secretary for the InternationalTrade Administration, US De-partment of Commerce andPeter Haas, Principal DeputyAssistant Secretary, US De-partment of State. Severalmembers of Congress alsojoined the report launch overvideo, including Senators JohnCornyn (R-TX) and MarkWarner (D-VA), co-chairs of theSenate India Caucus; as well asRepresentatives Brad Sherman(CA-30), co-chair of the HouseCaucus of India and IndianAmericans, and Ami Bera (CA-07) who joined live.

Senior Pariwar Celebrates6th Intl. Yoga Day

JAYANTI OZA

CHICAGO: United SeniorPariwar, Chicago celebrate In-ternational Yoga Day with col-laboration of Indian ConsulateChicago at DeePark in DesPlaines a suburb of Chicago

Approx. 50 seniors joinedthe International Yoga Day witha meticulous observation of so-cial distancing and wearingmask on face as per the guide-line for Covid-19.

The Program started at 4 pmand end at 5:30 pm. ShriJignesh Dixit, Heena Dixit, andtheir team with 6 volunteerscame to teach Yoga from HinduSwayank Sevak Sangh (HSS)

Indian Consul P.K. Misra at-tended the event. Secretary ofUnited Senior Pariwar ShriRamesh Chokshi welcomedConsul Misra, all Volunteersfrom HSS and members talkingabout Yoga and activitiesofPariwar.

Rohitbhai Joshi explain thatYoga Day was introduce by In-

dian Prime minster ShriNarendrabhai Modi in the year2014, ConsulP.K. Misra in his ad-dress said about yoga Day andimportance of yoga in daily life.

Ramanbhai Patel USP Presidentgave a speech on yoga day andthanked all members.

Jignesh Dixit talked aboutHSS and its activities pointingout they gather every Sunday inSchaumburg Park District Hallfor Sakha highlighting VedicHindu culture knowledge and

physical fitness by yoga and ex-ercise.

Yoga began with Prarthnaand chanting slokas followedwith then warm up exercise,

neck, hand, legs, butter fly, andstretch Asaans. Heena demon-strated Hand stretch and Legsbalance Asaan, Jignesh demon-strated Surya Namaskar-12steps and every one repeated5-times,

Some Asans were harder forstretching legs and hands.There were Pranayama: Ohmpranayama, Anulom-vilom andKapal Bhati Praanaayam, andBhastrika Praanayam and finallyrelax asaan, end with Chantingsloka " Sarvetra Sukhina Santu"Rohit Joshi demonstrate Medita-tion and every one tried to do it.

L to R Ramesh Chokshi, Consul P. K. Mishra, Rohit Joshi, Raman Patel(President of USC)

United Senior Pariwar members doing Yoga

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India Post 23June 26, 2020 Community Across Americawww.indiapost.com

Unpaid Caregivers in America upby 9.5 M in 5-Years, total 53 M

WASHINGTON: A new studyfrom the National Alliance forCaregiving (NAC) and AARPfinds that the number of familycaregivers caring for an adultor child with special needs inthe United States increased by9.5 million from 2015 to 2020and now encompasses morethan one in five Americans.When looking at caregivers foradults only, Hispanics make upabout 17% of the estimated47.9 million family caregiversof persons age 18 and older.Caregiving in the U.S. 2020 alsoreveals that family caregiversare in worse health comparedto five years ago. As the de-mand for caregiving rises withan aging population, moremust be done to support thisvital work. The report high-

lighting the nearly 48 millioncaregivers caring for someoneover the age of 18 is availablehere.

"This pandemic has high-lighted the hurdles familycaregivers face while trying tokeep themselves and theirloved ones safe," said YvettePeña, Vice President,Multicultural Leadership His-panic/Latino Audience Strat-egy at AARP. "We see thestruggles that Hispaniccaregivers are currently goingthrough while living in multi-generational homes and en-during financial and emotionalhardships during these un-precedented times.

For detailed story visitwww.indiapost.com

"Diaspora Windows" sharesstories of Indian characters liv-ing outside of India with high-lights including Lena Khan'sThe Tiger Hunter and RuthyPribar's The Caregiver.

Over 70 short films are in-cluded in "Keeping it Short"with Neha RT's uproarious sat-ire The Shaila(s) and JenniferRosen's piercing Laksh, makingtheir online premiere with thisvirtual showcase.

Finally, Richie Mehta's India InA Day, Shonali Bose's Amu,Devashish Makhija's Taandav,

IFFLA over the years, anew virtual showcase

Tanuj Chopra's Pia, and ShirleyAbraham and AmitMadheshiya's The Hour ofLynching are new additions toIFFLA's programming by alumni.

IFFLA thanks all the 2020sponsors for their commit-ment and invaluable contribu-tion. IFFLA Over the Years ismade possible in part by thegenerous support of the City ofLos Angeles Department ofCultural Affairs, the Los Ange-les County Arts Commission,and the LA Arts COVID ReliefFund initiated by the J. PaulGetty Trust Foundation and ad-ministered by the California

Community Foundation.About IFFLANow in its 18th year, the In-

dian Film Festival of Los Ange-les (IFFLA) is a nonprofit orga-nization devoted to a greaterappreciation of Indian cinemaand culture by showcasingfilms and promoting the di-verse perspectives of the In-dian diaspora.

The five-day festival is thepremiere platform for the lat-est in cutting-edge global In-dian cinema and bridges thegap between the two largestentertainment industries in theworld - Hollywood and India.

Cont’d from page 18

Voting safer and easierwith Vote-by-mail law - State Sen. Villivalam

HIMANI SANAGARAM

CHICAGO: A recent Illinoislegislation signed in to law ayGovernor Pritzkerwouldensure that all Illinoisanswould be able to safely casttheir ballots in the Novemberelection.

"Given the COVID-19 pan-demic, my colleagues and Iworked to find ways to keeppeople fromcongregatingin enclosedspaces, stand-ing in longlines for hours,or otherwiserisking theirhealth in orderto exercisetheir right tovote," saidState SenatorRam Villivalam(D-Chicago), achief co-sponsor of the mea-sure. "By designating ElectionDay as a state holiday and cre-ating an expansive vote-by-mail program, it will allow agreater number of people theopportunity to vote withouthaving to worry about missingwork or school."

Under the new law, those

who voted within the last twoyears or registered to vote af-ter the 2020 primary electionwill be receiving an applicationfor a vote-by-mail ballot. Addi-tionally, it designates ElectionDay 2020 as a state holiday, al-lows for drive-by voting, ex-tends early voting, and allowsmore people to serve as elec-

tion judges.People who

aren't auto-matically sentan applicationwill still beable to applyfor a vote-by-mail ballotthrough theState Board ofE l e c t i o n s 'website.

" A l l o w i n gpeople to vote

by mail or go in person to voteearly are two great options toallow people to maintain a safephysical distance from eachother," Villivalam said. "Partici-pation in the election processshouldn't be a life or death de-cision."

The law, Senate Bill 1863,takes effect immediately.

State Sen. Villivalam

US Rep Danny Davishosts drive thrusalute to fathersSURENDRA ULLAL

CHICAGO: US Congress-man Danny Davis honoredover 200 Fathers fromWestside of Chicago in adrive thru Salute in a paradeof cars on June 20, 2020 Hepresented each a certificateand Gift bag.

Multi Ethnic AdvisoryTaskforce (MEATF) Women'sChair Dr Zenobia Sowell

represented AmericanMulti Ethnic Coalition(AMEC) & MEATF at this his-toric Salute. News Channel 7& Channel 5 covered thisunique and historic event.Both the channels aired thenews in their 10pm Newsbulletin on Saturday June20, 2020.

Congressman Davisstood for two long hours inthe sun from 10.30 am to12.30 pm on the day.

Drive Thru salute ofCong. Danny Davis

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June 26 2020India Post24 www.indiapost.com

PUJA GUPTA

NEW DELHI: Ninety two per cent Indi-ans said they have depended on musicto get through a difficult phase in theirlives while 87 per cent of respondentsbelieve they are more productive whilelistening to their favorite tunes, says asurvey.

To mark World Music Day on June 21,HARMAN in partnership with OnePollconducted the survey interviewing2,000 participants across India to un-derstand just how important music is inour lives, especially during the prevail-ing times.

The survey shows respondents im-

pacted by music in four key areas:Music improves their mood during

the pandemic90 per cent of all respondents said

that music has helped them cope withself-isolation, during the ongoingCOVID-19 pandemic.

Indians are listening to music for anextra 45 minutes, on an average, perday in the current times.

71.7 per cent Indians have createdspecific 'self-isolation' playlists that in-clude tracks that helps them meditateor have a soothing, calming effect ontheir mind.

84.73 per cent of Indian women and80 per cent of men say that music is abig stress buster.

64 per cent of all surveyed Indiansbelieved that music helps them sleepbetter, while 71 per cent says it's thebest motivator during a workout.

And when the chips are down, 79.70per cent of Indians turn to music to up-lift their mood versus 47 per cent ofthem talking to a friend.

Music helps increase productivityIn India, on an average 87 per cent of

respondents believed that they canwork better while listening to their fa-vorite music.

The results are similar in other re-gions of the world. 75 per cent of

French and 65 per cent of German re-spondents believed to have a positiveimpact on their productivity, when lis-tening to their favorite music whileworking.

Music builds connections75 per cent of Indians believe that

they have connected with someonebecause they happen to share the sametaste in music.

Friends are the number oneinfluencers when it comes to choosingthe genre of your music at 72 per cent,followed by parents at 42.9 per centand siblings at 40 per cent. IANSlife

For detailed story visitwww.indiapost.com

Yoga life's purposeSIDDHI JAIN

NEW DELHI: One of yoga's mostprominent contemporary voices,Sarvesh Shashi, is not just a yoga en-trepreneur, but in his own words,yoga is his life's purpose. A nation-wide network of yoga studios, startedwhen this 17-year-old attended ayoga class "by chance and not out ofwillingness".

With actor Malaika Arora onboardas a partner and celebrity clientele,the modern yogi's mission is asstrong as ever - 'connecting seven bil-lion breaths'. Ahead of the Interna-tional Yoga Day on June 21, thefounder of SARVA and Diva Yogaspeaks to IANSlife about his journey.

It started at 17 with a yoga class thatyou didn't even enroll in yourself. Musthave been some class?

Shashi: That's quite right. Istarted doing yoga at the age of6 and practicing mindfulnessat the age of 17, that too bychance and not out of will-ingness. I lovedcricket andmy primaryreason toconsider yoga

was to get better at cricket and play forour country someday.

My first class was with a manwho looked very much like

a yogi. During my class, Iasked him if he can en-lighten me, to which his

answer was, "Sarvesh, ifyou think I can enlighten

you then youare a fooland I'm an

even bigger

one." That marked the onset of myjourney into yoga.

How did your relationship withyoga evolve over time?

Shashi: I think it's safe to say thatyoga became my life's purpose. I'msure this is not something you'd ex-pect from a then 17-year old to say butit quite did. What started out as a prac-tice that helped me change as a per-son, went on to become a missionthat's now my life's purpose - tochange as many lives as possible withthe help of yoga, mindfulness and be-yond. IANSlife

For detailed story visitwww.indiapost.com

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India Post June 26, 2020www.indiapost.comHoroscope26

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

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

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

Your Weekly Futureby VANEET SHARMA

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

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

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

JUNE 26TH to JULY 2ND 2020

“Felicitated andhonored by then

President of India ShriPranab Mukherjee"

VANEETSHARMA

510-648-4899

This shall prove tobe one of the

best weeks for you.Avoid getting into ar-gument with spouse

and partner. You shall be paying due at-tention to your children in this week andapart from that if you are a student or re-search associate betterment can be ex-pected. In business you can give shape toyour plans of expansion. Love life shall betoo good. The last two days of the weekare wonderful for marital compatibility.

The beginning ofthe week is in-

dicating decent finan-cial gains. On 24th and25th you might remain

slightly disturbed however you shall feelbetter if you happen to go out on a jour-ney. The day of 28th and 29th are goodfor the restoration of your destiny andharmony with family members. The plan-etary transit is wonderful for your per-sonality development. Finally the last twodays of the week are excellent for thehappiness of the family.

The planetary tran-sit indicates

that health problemsshall get aggravated.From 28th January you

shall get some relief from your mentaltensions and health troubles. Althoughhealth related troubles and stress in-creasing causes are indicated howeverthe possibilities of sudden financial gainsin the latter half of the week are alsoequally strong. The financial problemsshall get rectified. From children pointof view this week shall be good for you.

Your energy level shall be low in the

beginning of the week.However, from 24ththere shall be better-

ment in all areas and the confidencelevel shall also come up and you mightplan to go on a journey probably to atourist place of religious significance.This week is best for matrimonial plan-ning if you are unmarried. The busi-ness, work and income area shall im-prove especially on 26th, 27th and28th of June.

The beginning ofthe week is

excellent for takingimportant decisions.The support of family,

especially mother and other friendswould help you to be on top. Profession-ally you shall see the bright side and allodds shall get eradicated with the passageof time. This shall be a fulfilling week in allareas. Your mission shall be to get resultsin love life and work area. You might gettempted to involve in speculative activi-ties on last two days of the week.

The planetary tran- sit on first day ofthe keep shall keepyou disturbed how-ever from next day

there is very strong indication that youshall be putting in lot of efforts to do wellat work place so that you succeed ingetting a solution for the problems thatare following you from a long time. Youshall succeed in doing so the only hitchis lack of focus therefore if you shall workwith a focused approach the success.

This shall be a wonderful week

for you as your workand education shallget upgraded. Your

children shall do very well. There shallbe tremendous improvement in yourlove life. Speculative activities shall alsoprove fruitful. 24th and 25th of this weekshall be the best days of the week notonly for married life, partnership venture& work area but also for getting associ-ated with new people.

In the beginning ofthe week you

shall be worried re-garding education,love relationship, chil-

dren and speculative activities etc. In themid of the week the family atmosphereshall be quite good and you shall havegood time with your spouse. Specially27th and 28th June is too good for yourmarried life. Health conditions shall notremain very good on 28th and 29th June.The last two days are indicating somepossibility of travel to your native place.

You shall be gettinggood results

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

tience and tolerance level shall be go-ing down. Your expenses might go un-controlled but you shall be doing lot ofplanning to consolidate your resourcesof financial arrangement and manage-ment of funds. You shall be able to im-prove your bonding with potential part-ners and apart from that your organiz-ing capacities shall also be at its best.

The first day of theweek is good

but 24th & 25th Juneis not good day fordecision making and

your personnel happiness. Later on timeperiod is good but skip the decision ofmaking big investment where risk is in-volved. The inflow of money shall remainintact and it shall go on increasing. If youwish to get rid of your mental tensionsthen don't keep anything pending. Ac-complish all tasks at right time and donot postpone any work.

The planetary tran-sit indicates

that your energy levelshall be high and youshall be determined to

accomplish all tasks and from the begin-ning of the week you shall be givingquality time to your family, friends, rela-tives and home. There shall be an atmo-sphere of celebration everywhere. Thefamily atmosphere shall be full of love,laughter, peace and happiness. Every-body would be impressed with yourachievements and status of family.

The initial 5 days ofthe week shall

be extremely goodfor you but 28th and29th can go very bad

for you. In the mid of the week your worksituation shall improve and you shall beearning more gains with increase in in-come. There won't be ups and downs infinancial matters but you are advised inthe latter part of the week and it wouldbe better not to get into any type of ar-gument with people.

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June 26, 2020 India Post 27www.indiapost.com

MOOJI

Many years ago in my schooldays, a boy showed me a small

picture, a very simple black-and-white image just a bit larger than apostcard. He asked me, "What doyou see?" I thought he was joking be-cause it was so clearly a white vaseon a black background. I asked,"What is this, a trick question?"

But he insisted, "Really look at it.What do you see?" "It's a white vaseon a black background, plain andsimple. No decoration, just theshape! Is there something more?""Yes, you are missing something be-cause you are only looking in oneway." By now he was getting impa-tient, so he said, "Can you see the twofaces? Look from the white to theblack." Ah! Suddenly I could see that

there were two identical faces look-ing at each other.

Then he asked, "And the vase? Canyou still see the vase?" I hadn't both-ered about trying to see the vaseagain because I was still so excited tobe seeing the faces. "No, I can't seethe vase! What happened to thevase?" He tried to help me see, "Lookat the picture. See the vase again!"

I looked and looked, until again it wasthe vase. Then, all of a sudden, I could seeboth the vase and the faces simulta-neously through just a slight shift of per-spective and focus. Obviously no changehad occurred to the picture itself - theshift was only in my perception.

We all start out looking at life fromthe particular perspective of our up-bringing, which provides us with as-sumptions about who we are. For mostof us, this culturally imparted point ofview simply remains our perspectiveas we move through life. There areseven billion people living on the faceof the earth, but rare is that being whogoes through life seeing more than theconditioned body-mind - only the vase- as who we essentially are.

Very few question their belief in

their identity or personality, and thusthey miss the opportunity to realizetheir true nature. Although the meta-phor of the vase and the faces is a goodillustration of how we perceive a limitedreality based on our conditioning, it alsofalls short. The Truth that I am pointingto is beyond just being able to visualizefrom a new point of view and then frommultiple perspectives. It is about dis-covering that there is a deeper realityto what we see and that reality is alwayshere - we must simply come to recog-nize it as our very own Self.

Spirituality is the search for perfectunderstanding, for Self-discovery, forTruth, and it must take place rightwhere you are. The Truth that you aresearching for must already be righthere. Truth can never be merely a holycluster of concepts, conditioning, or be-liefs. It is not an event, nor is it an object

apart from you in some sacred vault.For Truth to be Truth, it must be un-

changing, immutable, ever present -yet it is beyond characteristics andconditions. It cannot be anything thatcomes and goes, for everythingchangeful arises from it and comes andgoes in it. Truth is what we are. It is ouressential nature and Being. It is thepure Self, the limitless one, the ultimatereality - it is awareness itself

The search for Truth is not aboutrunning away from the things of thisworld but about understanding theirephemeral nature.

Excerpted from 'Vaster Than Sky,Greater Than Space'. Mooji is a Jamai-can spiritual teacher

Is what you seeall there is?

Mooji

The search for Truth is not about running

away from the things of this world but about

understanding their ephemeral nature.

Philosophy

Available on AMAZON, FLIPKART

50 SPIRITUAL APPETIZERSVinod Dhawan

“It’s a lovely book. It feels en-

ergetically clear and light. It’s

easy to read, dip in and out and

most importantly it offers infor-

mation without fluff! Blessings

on this project.”Jac O’Keeffe

Spirituality teacher based inUSA.

Perspective

Disclaimer: Views expressed are personal to the author

For detailed story visitwww.indiapost.com

US is facing a cumulativesocio-political discontent

D.C. PATHAK

For the first time in his tenure,President Donald Trump's personal image as the leader of the

only superpower of the world and asthe head of the world's oldest democ-racy is taking a hit -- all because of hisresponses to the 'killing' in full publicview of George Floyd, an Afro-Ameri-can suspected of some small time 'of-fence', by a white police officer at Min-neapolis.

The way the rogue policeman withan unconcealed arrogance kept press-ing on the neck of the grounded vic-tim with full force of his knee -- report-edly for nearly nine minutes in full pub-lic view amidst faint pleadings of thelatter that he was not able to breath --was perhaps the worst case of 'thirddegree' violence witnessed in recenttimes anywhere in the world. It wasdifferent from an 'illegal' shooting bythe police in the open pursuit of an of-fender or something done by police-men to a suspect in the secrecy of alockup -- it was a demonstrative 'in-stant justice' dished out to an appre-hended person in front of the people -- the body language of the police of-ficer with one hand in his pocket show-ing his antipathy towards a coloredman.

The first and the only reaction of theAmerican President should have beenone of feeling aghast over the inci-dent, sending the lawless policemanand his teammates on the spot pack-ing home and declaring that they didnot represent the police force of thenation. This did not happen, either be-cause temperamentally Trump alwaystended to side with the power of en-forcement or allowed his racial in-stincts to get the better of him. Hisgrudging words of condolence to thefamily of the Afro-American killedcame late in the day and that too with-out any fitting rebuke for the police-men concerned.

The protest against the police bru-tality was instantaneous in Minnesotabut soon escalated into a widespreadpublic agitation in which the whitesalso joined in across several states --the rallying point being the resur-rected 'black lives matter' movementas well as the mounting opposition to

the policies and ways of PresidentDonald Trump. Acts of violence in theinitial phase of the protests werepromptly used by Trump to denouncethe agitators as 'Thugs' and 'Terrorists'and call for use of full force againstthem. The agitators demanded'defunding' of the local police, whichwas meant to suggest its completereorganization.

The protests rapidly became a na-tional marker of public discontent inwhich there was convergence of po-litical opposition, economic dissatis-faction accentuated by the coronapandemic and a strong undercurrentof disapproval of what was perceivedas a racial outlook of President Trump.The President stridently called fordeployment of National Guards, thereserve component of US Army, in dif-ferent states to quell the protestsand even threatened to use the Armyagainst the agitators -- this was some-thing that did not go well with thetop brass of the defense forces them-selves. The agitation has no doubt be-come defiant against the authority atsome centers but on the whole it hastaken the form of a political campaignagainst President Trump goaded bythe forces of the opposition. The po-litical cost of the mishandling of theGeorge Floyd case will become evi-dent as the Presidential election inthe US draws to a close. It is signifi-cant that the rival camps of Trump andJoe Biden have started openly accus-ing each other of attempts to take tofraudulent methods of gaining votesin the impending polls.

Coming back to the case ofGeorge Floyd, it has to be mentionedthat the police is the only coercivearm of the state in a democracy thatis meant to deal with crime and dis-order under the corresponding legalconditionality -- that no confessionwould be obtained under duress andthat minimum force would be usedfor dispersing an unlawful crowd. Inhandling a crime suspect under ar-rest there was just no question of any'third degree' force being permittedagainst the latter. IANS

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28 June 26, 2020India Postwww.indiapost.com

Classifieds

www.indiapost.com

NEWSon yourdesktop

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29Edit Pagewww.indiapost.com

June 26, 2020 India Post

Disclaimer: Views expressed are personal to the author

‘...in China, deception is accorded a value

more significant than in other cultures" and

that "there is a subtlety to the Chinese use of

deception which escapes most Indians’

For detailed story visitwww.indiapost.com

India and China: Twain cannever meet

TARUN BASU

The Chinese are by andlarge disdainful of Indi-ans. They admire Indians

for their brains, their IT powerwhich gave them global re-nown, and for their culture,particularly the soft power ofBollywood films which are ea-gerly sought after in China.Many of them like "Dangal","PK" and "Three Idiots" havebecome household names inChina, so much so that theywere brought up by PresidentXi Jinping during one of hismany summits with Prime Min-ister Narendra Modi.

However, they do not con-sider India a 'rival' power forglobal dominance. In my manyvisits to China, including withthree different Indian primeministers as part of their in-vited media delegation, theimpression one gained wasthat the Chinese think Indian

democracy is too chaotic - andthe country too ungovernable- to be able to achieve the sta-tus of 'great power' in the nearfuture. Besides its military is afifth of China and its economy -though growing second-fast-est after China - is still a sixth ofChina. Gaggles of Chinesetourists, seen in most globaltourist destinations, so faravoided India as Chinese con-sidered it a 'rape-country' - animage fostered by Chinesemedia - and hence too danger-ous for travel.

Their border standoffs, likethe current one which eruptedinto a low-intensity but dan-gerous conflict with non-lethalweapons, are and likely to re-main a recurrent phenomenonfor the foreseeable future, con-sidering the number of issues

on which the two countrieshave potential friction points.

The two countries are sofundamentally different in po-litical models, world views, in-stitutional governance, culturaloutlook, even social systems,that their ways of looking atthe same issues are often an-tipodal despite occasional in-vocation to their centuries-oldhistorical ties and multilayeredcommercial links.

When the Chinese smile andreserve comment on an issueunder discussion, Indians inter-pret it as tacit agreement,when it can be just the oppo-site. One such recorded in-stance was the grave misinter-pretation of Chinese silence bythen Indian Ambassador toChina, K. M. Pannikar, in 1952.After his conversation with thenPremier Zhou Enlai, Pannikarread in the latter's silence on

the Tibet-India frontier as "ac-quiescence in, if not an accep-tance of India's position" thatthe "Frontier had been definedand there was nothing to bediscussed".

Jawaharlal Nehru, in fact,overruled advice from G. S.Bajpai, then secretary-generalof the Ministry of External Af-fairs, that the border issueshould be part of the overallsettlement and should be re-solved at the earliest.

"Thus, the border issue wasnot raised, nor was it linked tothe settlement of India's rightsin Tibet which was unilaterallygiven up, one at a time, salamistyle, to China's great advan-tage," says R. S. Kalha, formerIndian diplomat and a negotia-tor with the Chinese in his book"India-China Boundary Issues:

Quest for Settlement" (2014)."This was a grave error of

judgment. It showed what apoor reading Pannikar had ofthe Chinese mind, But Nehru,too, cannot be absolved of allblame."

Many Indian analysts, whohave closely studied Chinesehistory and culture, talk abouthow Chinese attitudes and re-sponses are shaped by their in-terpretation of history and theirplace in it. Shyam Saran, formerIndian foreign secretary whohas long experiences in servingin China, learning both spokenand written Mandarin, says inhis book "How India Sees TheWorld" (2017) that "China'sworld view is inherently hierar-chical. It is a legacy of its historyof relative pre-eminence in aneighborhood populated bysmaller and, in Chinese eyes,less civilized countries".

In a highly insightful chapteron China, Saran states, "...inChina, deception is accorded avalue more significant than inother cultures" and that "thereis a subtlety to the Chinese useof deception which escapesmost Indians." The Chinesedon't see war as a necessarily abad thing - Chairman Mao saidas much to Prime MinisterJawaharlal Nehru when thetwo met in 1956 in Beijing - andsee no room for sentiment ormoral principles in interstaterelations where only power isthe decisive factor.

Chinese strategy and Indiannaivete

The current border tensionwould appear to many observ-ers not only as inevitable butcertainly not the last. One, be-cause of a gross misreading ofthe Chinese mind and their in-tentions - Kalha says Nehru hadan "excessively simplistic andnaive faith in Chinese motives"South Asia Monitor

Right action by TrumpPresident Trump's action of signing the bill that will allow

him to impose sanctions on Chinese officials involved inthe mass incarceration of more than one million Uighur mem-bers of the minority Muslims, in the Xinjiang province in China,will be considered as one of the boldest taken by the Trumpadministration. This will go down in history like Ronald Reagan'spolicy on Russia. The way China has been behaving with rest ofthe world with regards to Corona virus, South China Sea andlately with attacks on peace loving nation like India, they de-serve to be isolated by the US and the rest of the developedcountries.

It will not be good enough just to enforce economic sanc-tions against China. They have achieved tremendous economicadvantage and the world has become hugely dependent onChina. In the short term, sanctions could only hurt developingcountries and consumers at large. What will really make Chinacome to its knee is to take the steps as President Trump has.The next area of real concern is Hong Kong, where the situationis reaching a boiling point. The democratic countries need tosupport the freedom loving residents of Hong Kong with con-tinuing their struggle and prevail over the evil designs of main-land China. World leaders, especially US, need to support stu-dent activists like Joshua Wong before it is too late. Beijing'snew law will try to crush Joshua and others like him, who areamongst the young heroes for future generations of Chinesepeople. It is high time we take Taiwan into confidence and al-low them to integrate with the international agencies, and rec-ognize their state.

Pakistan has already become a failed state under Imran Khan.It will not be long before the army fills the vacuum of its corri-dors of power. Pakistan's debt with China leaves it no alterna-tive but to submit its self to the dragon. This is exactly whatChina has done to Myanmar under the military dictatorshipover the last 50 years. Most of Myanmar's national resourcesare taken over by Chinese companies including oil and gas.China does not realize that with its Economic Corridor (CPEC)plan to connect through Pakistan, will eventually bleed Chinawhen they come face to face with terrorist organizations oper-ating inside Pakistan. This is exactly what happened to Russiaagainst Taliban. It will eventually all connect to China's dealingwith its own Muslim minority population in the south.

What is happening in Hong Kong has definitely spilled overto the mainland and China is constantly monitoring the entirescenario. With the advent of mass communication and technol-ogy, people of China are restless to be free and awaiting theright moment to take on their suppressive government. It willnot be easy for China to repeat the 1989 type of scenario. Any-body that speaks against the state disappears overnight andpeople are scared to come out and speak freely. Such was thecase with Dr Li Wenliang, who disappeared after he raised analarm about the corona virus in the early days of the outbreak.The Galwan Valley skirmishes are nothing but China's arm-twist-ing tactics, as India takes over the chair of several world bodies.India should not fall into the trap of China's nefarious designs.Instead Modi should play the role of the snake charmer, subdu-ing the poisonous snake (Dragon). As an old Indian saying goes,'The snake is killed while the staff remains unbroken'.

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June 26, 2020

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