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NEW YORK • WASHINGTON D.C. • CHICAGO • ATLANTA • CALIFORNIA VOL 25, No. 1329 March 20, 2020 50¢ Periodical Postage

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This week’s question

Last week’s result

YES 29% NO 71%

Will SAARC cooperation improvebecause of Coronavirus crisis?

Corona Virus Tollin Chicago andMidwest

INDIA PLEDGES $10M

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CONTENTSBollywood -------------------------- 30Classifieds ------------------------ 28Community Post -------------- 17-22Date Book -------------------------- 27Edit Page --------------------------- 29Horoscope ------------------------- 26Immigration Post ---------------- 23Life Style ------------------------ 14-15Philosophy ------------------------- 25Info/Highlights ---------------------- 2Real Estate -------------------- 10-11TechBiz Post --------------------- 8-9Travel & Hospitality Post -------- 16Wellness Post ---------------- 12-13

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Actor Idris Elbainfected withCOVID

NEW DELHI: SAARC nations vowed to jointly com-bat coronavirus as Prime Minister Narendra Modi pro-posed an emergency fund with an initial offer of USD10 million from India and asserted that the region canbest respond to the pandemic by coming together,and not growing apart.

The underlying message of the video conferencewas unitedly taking on the virus, but Pakistan usedthe occasion to raise Kashmir issue, calling for imme-diate lifting of the "lockdown" there to allow diseasecontainment measures.

Government sources said Pakistan's attempt to"politicise" a humanitarian issue by its "unwarranted"statement on Kashmir during the video conferenceon coronavirus reflected "very poorly" on it.

Pakistan raises Kashmir issue at SAARC

Apart from Modi, Sri Lankan President GotabayaRajapaksa, Maldivian President Ibrahim MohamedSolih, Nepalese Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli,Bhutanese premier Lotay Tshering, Bangladeshi PrimeMinister Sheikh Hasina, Afghan President Ashraf Ghaniand Special Assistant to Pakistani Prime Minister onHealth Zafar Mirza, participated in the video confer-ence.

In his opening remarks, Modi said India's guidingmantra to deal with the virus was "prepare, but don'tpanic".

"We were careful to not underestimate the prob-lem, but also to avoid knee-jerk reactions," he said.

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Have you ever witnessed genderdiscrimination at work?

BAPS Mandirsclose in AmericaEurope, Australia

Prime Minister Narendra Modi at video conference of all SAARC member countries,over COVID-19

7 Indian IT firmsinvest $3 millionin Bahrain

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30HIGHLIGHTS

Bollywood:Disha Patani's glam quotientActress Disha Patani's latest picture hasbecome netizens' favourite. The imagehas been flooded with a lot of com-ments from Disha's followers.

4Cover Story:INDIA PLEDGES $10MSAARC nations vowed to jointly combatcoronavirus as PM Narendra Modi pro-posed an emergency fund with an initialoffer of USD 10 million from India

17Community:Corona Toll Chicago & MidwestBustling India Town in Chicagoland's De-von Avenue presents a deserted lookmistaking it for a ghost town after theimpact of spreading Corona virus.

23Immigration:Cost of UK visa increasesUK Budget tabled by Finance Minister RishiSunak set to make cost of visas to Britainhigher, with hike in compulsory healthfee charged on migrants from India.

14Lifestyle:JBL signs Sara Ali KhanSara Ali Khan is the new brand ambassa-dor of JBL. The actress has featured inJBLs new commercial of the company'scampaign - 'Live it Real, Live it Raw'.

8Techbiz:US Fed interest rate zeroThe US Fed slashes interest rateeffectively to zero in emergency actionto prop up the US facing the risk of arecession.

16Travel:Dudh SagarThe Dudh Sagar waterfall situated in thestate of Goa and connected to otherplaces like Panaji and Margao with aroad and railway network.

12Wellness:Covid-19 pandemic: WHOWHO has declared coronavirus disease apandemic, while its chief expressed his"deep concern" over "alarming levels ofinaction" in combating the virus spread.

India Post 3www.indiapost.com

March 20, 2020

India Post March 20, 20204

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Cover/Top Stories

INDIA PLEDGES $10MPakistan raises Kashmir issue at SAARC

NEW DELHI: SAARC nations vowed tojointly combat coronavirus as PrimeMinister Narendra Modi proposed anemergency fund with an initial offer ofUSD 10 million from India and assertedthat the region can best respond to thepandemic by coming together, and notgrowing apart.

The underlying message of the videoconference was unitedly taking on thevirus, but Pakistan used the occasion toraise Kashmir issue, calling for immedi-ate lifting of the "lockdown" there to al-low disease containment measures.

Government sources said Pakistan'sattempt to "politicise" a humanitarianissue by its "unwarranted" statementon Kashmir during the video confer-ence on coronavirus reflected "verypoorly" on it.

Apart from Modi, Sri Lankan Presi-dent Gotabaya Rajapaksa, MaldivianPresident Ibrahim Mohamed Solih,Nepalese Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli,Bhutanese premier Lotay Tshering,Bangladeshi Prime Minister SheikhHasina, Afghan President Ashraf Ghaniand Special Assistant to Pakistani PrimeMinister on Health Zafar Mirza, partici-pated in the video conference.

In his opening remarks, Modi saidIndia's guiding mantra to deal with thevirus was "prepare, but don't panic".

"We were careful to not underesti-mate the problem, but also to avoidknee-jerk reactions," he said.

In a significant message, Modi as-serted that it was important for theSAARC member countries to work to-gether and said the region can best re-spond to the coronavirus pandemic by"coming together, not growing apart".

Modi said it was important to focuson collaboration, not confusion, andpreparation, not panic.

Mirza, in his remarks, also hailedChina for its efforts to deal withcoronavirus and urged other SAARC na-tions to learn best practices from it.

Raising Kashmir, he said, "Equity inhealth is a fundamental principle ofpublic health. In this regard, let me saythat it is a matter of concern that COVID-19 has been reported" from Jammu andKashmir.

"In view of the health emergency, itis imperative that all lockdown" theremust be lifted immediately, he said.

"Opening up communication andmovement would facilitate dissemina-tion of information, allow distribution ofmedical supplies and allowcontainment...to proceed unimpeded,"

Special Assistant to Pakistani Prime Min-ister on Health Mirza said.

Government sources said Pakistanchose to be "churlish" and used thevideo conference for political point

scoring.After initial remarks by the leaders,

Prime Minister Modi made a series ofsuggestions which were hailed by theSAARC leaders and representatives.

"I propose we create a COVID-19Emergency Fund. This could be basedon voluntary contributions from all ofus. India can start with an initial offer of10 million dollars for this fund. Any of uscan use the fund to meet the cost ofimmediate actions," Modi said.

He said the member nations' foreignsecretaries, through embassies, can co-ordinate quickly to finalise theutilisation of this fund.

Sources later said the funds from In-

dia will be made available immediately.The fund will be coordinated

through embassies and it will be usedfor immediate mitigation of the dis-ease, they said.

"We are assembling a Rapid Re-sponse Team of doctors and specialistsin India, along with testing kits andother equipment. They will be on stand-

by, to be placed at your disposal, if re-quired," Modi told the SAARC leaders.

India had set up an Integrated Dis-ease Surveillance Portal to better tracepossible virus carriers and the people

they contacted and it could share thisdisease surveillance software withSAARC partners, Modi said.

"Looking ahead, we could create acommon research platform, to coordi-nate research on controlling epidemicdiseases within our South Asian region.The Indian Council of Medical Researchcan offer help coordinating such an ex-ercise," he said.

Modi also thanked Oli for participat-ing in the video conference almost im-mediately after his recent surgery andcongratulated President Ghani for hisrecent re-election. The new Secretary-General of SAARC also joined in but didnot speak.

Modi also highlighted the stepstaken by India to combat the virus.

"We started screening people enter-ing India from mid-January itself, whilegradually increasing restrictions ontravel," Modi said.

Step-by-step approach helped avoidpanic and India made special efforts toreach out to vulnerable groups, he said.

India also responded to the call of itspeople abroad and evacuated nearly1,400 Indians from different countries,he said.

Modi also said India helped some citi-zens of neighbouring countries byevacuating them from coronavirus-hitnations.

Maldivian President Solih backed co-ordinated approach to deal withCOVID-19, asserting that no country candeal with the situation alone.

Lankan President Rajapaksa saidSAARC leaders should formulate amechanism to help the economies ofthe region to tide over problems posedby coronavirus.

He also proposed setting up a SAARCministerial-level group to deal with is-sues related to coronavirus.

Hasina hailed PM Modi's suggestionsto deal with the pandemic and calledfor taking the initiative forward by moresuch video conferences, including onewith health ministers of SAARC nationsparticipating.

"Our collective efforts will help usdevise a sound and robust strategy forSAARC region to fight coronavirus,"Nepal PM Oli said.

Bhutanese PM Lotay Tshering saidthat it was important for all countries ofthe region to be on same page to com-bat coronavirus.

Mirza, in his initial remarks, said nonation can afford to be unresponsive tothe situation in the wake of thecoronavirus outbreak.

"We share common regional con-cerns on COVID-19. While hoping forthe best, we have to prepare for theworst," the Pakistan PM's Special As-sistant on Health said.

Modi had proposed formulation ofa joint strategy by the SAARC nationsto fight coronavirus, a suggestionthat was backed by all the memberstates.

Calling on the SAARC nations to setan example for the world, Modi hadreached out to the eight-member re-gional grouping and pitched for avideo conference among its leadersto chalk out a strong strategy to fightcoronavirus, which has killed morethan 6,000 people globally.

His appeal got a prompt responsefrom Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa,Maldivian President Solih, NepalesePrime Minister Oli, Bhutanese premierTshering, Bangladeshi Prime MinisterHasina and the Afghan government, allof whom welcomed the proposal. PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi at video conference of all SAARC member countries

"I propose we create a COVID-19 Emergency Fund.

This could be based on voluntary contributions from all of

us. India can start with an initial offer of 10 million dollars

for this fund. Any of us can use the fund to meet the

cost of immediate actions," Modi said

India PostMarch 20, 2020 5

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No stone beingleft unturned:Modi

NEW DELHI: Prime MinisterNarendra Modi said there has been acoordinated response to thecoronavirus outbreak and assertedthat "no stone is being left unturned"to ensure people are healthy.

Modi also hailed the contribu-tion of doctors, nurses andhealthcare workers in fighting thevirus and said the country will al-ways cherish their contribution.

He also tagged tweets of vari-ous people highlighting the differ-ent aspects of how India is com-bating COVID-19.

In a series of tweets with thehashtag 'India Fights Corona', Modisaid the encouragement frompeople highlighting the steps be-ing taken to combat the virus isboosting the morale of all those

doctors, nurses, municipal work-ers, airport staff and all other re-markable people at the forefrontof the fight.

Responding to a tweet by a mansaying that he has "cancelled allmy meetings and suspended allbusiness travel", the prime minis-ter said, "A wise call. Avoiding non-essential travel and minimising so-cial outings are welcome steps."

"At all levels, various authoritiesare working in sync to ensureCOVID-19 does not spread. Nostone is being left unturned to en-sure people are healthy," Modisaid.

He said responsible citizens canadd great strength to the fightagainst COVID-19.

"I am sure our citizens will notdo anything that puts the lives ofothers in danger. Our doctors,nurses, healthcare workers areputting great efforts. They are outthere, helping people. We will al-ways cherish their contribution,"the prime minister said.

Responding to a Twitter userwho said the government is sys-tematically handling travellers toavoid "corona contagion", Modisaid. PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi

PIO pleads guilty to fraud inNew York subway repairs

NEW YORK: An Indian-origin publictransportation employee here haspleaded guilty to obstructing a federalinvestigation into bid rigging and fraudin connection with contracts awardedby the city's transportation authority forsubway repairs in the aftermath ofSuperstorm Sandy.

Paresh Patel, 59 of New Jersey, aformer manager at the MetropolitanTransportation Authority (MTA) has sur-rendered to federal authorities in Feb-ruary.

He pleaded guilty to one count ofobstruction of justice, which carries amaximum sentence of 20 years inprison, United States Attorney for theSouthern District of New York GeoffreyBerman said.

According to allegations made in theInformation as well as Patel's admissionsin court, in order to manage necessarysubway rehabilitation work followingSuperstorm Sandy in 2013, the MTAawarded construction managementcontracts for managers to oversee post-Sandy subway projects.

With a view to prevent self-dealingand the appearance of corruption, theMTA maintains rules that required thatMTA employees are barred from partici-

pating in the selection, award, or ad-ministration of a contract if the em-ployee, his or her family member, or anorganisation that employs the em-ployee or one of the employee's familymembers has a financial interest in anyof the companies that propose or bidon, or are awarded, such a contract.

Patel was a programme manager atthe MTA and was responsible for award-

ing contracts and exercising oversightof Superstorm Sandy-related subwayrepairs. In June 2014, he and anotherMTA employee set up an engineeringconsulting firm named 'Satkirti Consult-ing Engineering'.

Since MTA rules prohibited themfrom having an interest in such a com-pany, Patel and the other employee reg-istered Satkirti in the names of their chil-dren, and then transferred the owner-

ship to a friend of Patel who played nosubstantive role in the management ofSatkirti.

In February 2015, Satkirti wasawarded a contract as a subcontractoron the Joralemon Tube subway rehabili-tation project, which project Patelwould oversee in his role at the MTA.

Although the technical employees ofSatkirti who sought and carried out the

subcontract were Patel's friend, whohad no background or qualifications inengineering, and a second individualwho Patel recruited from a pizzeriaowned by Patel, he directed the opera-tions of Satkirti and its employees whileconcealing his involvement with thecompany. Among other things, Patelcreated a company email account forSatkirti, and instructed Satkirti's em-ployees about what to write in emails.

In the spring of 2016, federal officialslaunched an investigation into the con-tract that was awarded to Satkirti. Theyserved subpoenas and conducted in-terviews with individuals involved inSatkirti, many of whom made falsestatements about their and Patel's in-volvement in the company.

Patel took numerous steps when helearnt that his conduct was being inves-tigated, including deleting an email ac-count, asking others to destroy evi-dence, and encouraging others to lie toauthorities to obstruct the investiga-tion. Over the course of the federal in-vestigation, at the request of Patel, sev-eral individuals questioned by investi-gators also concealed and lied abouthis involvement in Satkirti.

"In the wake of Superstorm Sandy,Paresh Patel set up a company so thathe and his family could profit from thework that was being done to repair oursubways. When Patel learned he wasunder investigation, he destroyed evi-dence and asked others to lie to federaland local investigators. Efforts to ob-struct investigations into corruption atthe MTA undermine the public's faith inthe nation's largest public transporta-tion system and threaten the ability ofour Government to ensure that justiceis done, Berman said. PTI

Patel took numerous steps when he learnt that his conduct

was being investigated, including deleting an email account,

asking others to destroy evidence, and encouraging others

to lie to authorities to obstruct the investigation

Actor Idris Elba infectedwith COVID

LONDON: Hollywood actor Idris Elbaannounced that he has tested positivefor the novel coronavirus.

Taking to Twitter, the star of "Luther"and "The Wire", said: " I tested positivefor Covid 19. I feel ok, I have no symp-toms so far but have been isolated sinceI found out about my possible exposureto the virus.

The 47-year-old actor said he hasbeen isolated since finding outthat he was exposed to the virus.

Elba, who also posted avideo featuring his wifeSabrina Dhowre, saidshe has not beentested and was"doing OK".

The GoldenGlobe winning ac-tor said he gottested after findingout on Friday (March13) that he had been incontact with someonewho had the virus.

"This is serious. Now is the time toreally think about social distancing,washing your hands," he said in thevideo.

Elba told fans to remain "really vigi-lant".

"Transparency is probably the bestthing for this right now. If you're feelingill, or you feel like you should be tested,

or if you've be en exposed, dosomething about it."

The actor was one of the at-tendees of the Wembley ArenaWe Day event on March 4 along-side Canadian Prime Minister

Justin Trudeau's wife,Sophie Gregoire Trudeau,who was also testedpositive for the viruslast week.

Wendell Pierce,who starred along-side Elba in "TheWire", sent a getwell soon messageon Twitter. IANS

Idris Elba

India Post March 20, 20206


Crisis may stretch upto August: Trump

WASHINGTON: As Americans pre-pared to confine themselves withintheir homes to stop the deadly spreadof coronavirus, US President DonaldTrump has warned that the crisis couldstretch up to August.

At least 85 people have died ofcoronavirus with the confirmed casescrossing 4,500 in the US.

The country has stepped up effortsto contain the virus by placing travel re-strictions, closing schools, restaurantsand bars and cancelling entertainmentevents across the country.

"It seems to me that if we do a reallygood job, we'll not only hold the deathdown to a level that is much lower thanthe other way had we not done a goodjob. But people are talking about July,August, something like that. So, it couldbe right in that period of time where it,I say, washes through," Trump told re-porters at a White House news confer-ence.

Given the experience of other coun-tries, the number is expected to jumpsubstantially in the coming weeks.

The White House on Monday, in anew guidelines for Americans, askedthem to take precautions including so-cial distancing and avoid social gather-ings and groups of more than 10people.

President also asked people to avoidgathering in groups of more than 10people.

"Avoid discretionary travel. Andavoid eating and drinking at bars, res-taurants and public food courts. If ev-eryone makes this change or these criti-

for the next 15 days, the best opportu-nity is to lower the infection rate overthe entire course of the coronavirus.

"Just as the President did by sus-pending travel from China; just as he didwith travel advisories and screeningfrom Italy and South Korea; and just aswe've done with Europe, and at mid-night tonight, with the UK and Ireland,we'll continue to take very decisivesteps to lower the spread of thecoronavirus," he said.

Meanwhile, the US Food and DrugAdministration took two additional sig-nificant diagnostic actions during thecoronavirus outbreak (COVID-19) by is-suing Emergency Use Authorisations(EUAs) to: Hologic for its Panther FusionSARS-COV-2 Assay, and Laboratory Cor-poration of America (LabCorp) for itsCOVID-19 RT-PCR test.

The Pentagon said that it "standsready to provide support wherever it'sasked to do so. The Department of De-fence is ready, willing and able to sup-port civilian authorities to the greatestextent possible with the direction ofthe president," Jonathan Rath Hoffmantold reporters at a Pentagon news con-ference.

At the same time, Hoffman and AirForce Brig. Gen. (Dr) Paul Friedrichs, theJoint Staff surgeon, cautioned againstoverestimating the department's ca-pacity to provide medical capabilitiesto support a contagion like coronavirus.

The number of deaths due tocoronavirus has passed 7,000 world-wide. More than 175,530 cases havebeen recorded in 145 countries. PTI

cal changes and sacrifices now, we willrally together as one nation and we willdefeat the virus. And we're going tohave a big celebration all together.

"Each and every one of us has a criti-cal role to play in stopping the spreadand transmission of the virus. It's impor-tant for the young and healthy peopleto understand that while they may ex-perience milder symptoms, they can

easily spread this virus, and they willspread it indeed, putting countless oth-ers in harm's way. We especially worryabout our senior citizens," Trump said.

In San Francisco and the Silicon Valleyin California, authorities asked nearly sixmillion people to stay indoors. A largenumber of hotels, bars and movie the-aters have closed across the county.

Vice President Mike Pence said that

Donald Trump

7 Indian IT firms invest $3 million in BahrainBENGALURU: Seven Indian IT firms

invested a total of $3.1 million (Rs 210crore) in Bahrain's information, com-munications and technology (ICT )space, an official said.

"The seven Indian firms are IT con-sultants, software and hardware de-velopers, whose combined invest-ment of $3.1 million was approved bythe kingdom's Bahrain Economic De-velopment Board (BEDB) during 2019calendar year," said the official in astatement from Manama.

Noting that India was emerging asa global power in the ICT sector, theofficial said the Gulf country was posi-tioning as a strategic partner in thedisruptive technology domain.

"The Central Bank of Bahrain is cre-ating a favourable environment fordigital businesses ranging from aregulatory sandbox, data privacy andcompetition laws to open banking,robo advisory and insuranceaggregators," said the official.

The 7 Indian firms are Benzy Infotech,a service arm of Akbar Travels, whichprovides back-office services for thetravel industry.

JKT Technosoft, providing softwaresolutions to clients for a digital future.

Zeaway Tech, a consultant firm, offer-ing services from web and mobile appdesign and development to dataanalytics and cloud solutions.

Expressbase, a cloud-based platformto build and run business applications.

Zerek Technologies, which supportsenterprises in the Internet of Things(IoT) to monitor and control their assets,

people and processes.Hacktech Solutions, provider of infor-

mation security, ethical hacking trainingand cyber security services.

Techno Path Soultions, offering busi-ness software solutions andconsultancy services to start-ups, micro,small and medium enterprises.

"India is Bahrain's fifth largest tradingpartner and trade between the twocountries is on the rise. We are seeinggrowing interest from India in themanufacturing sector and the ICTspace," said BEDB's regional directorDharmi Magdani in the statement.

Bahrain's regulatory environmentwith a competitive taxation systemand 100 per cent ownership makesthe kingdom attractive to Indianscaleups, unicorns and technologyfirms seeking access to the growing$1.5-trillion Gulf market.

During his maiden visit to Bahrainin 2019, Prime Minister NarendraModi launched Rupay Card, the Indianpayment system in the kingdom,which has about 4-lakh Indiandiaspora, making it the largest over-seas community in the Gulf country.

Bahrain is the first GCC country toadopt a government-wide cloud-firstpolicy.

"With Amazon Web Services set-ting up a data centre in Bahrain, it iseasier for companies to run their soft-ware on the digital platform, buildbusiness apps in the cloud and sim-plify infrastructure management tolower costs and increase revenue,"added the statement. IANS

"The seven Indian firms are IT consultants,

software and hardware developers, whose combined

investment of $3.1 million was approved by the kingdom's

Bahrain Economic Development Board (BEDB)

during 2019 calendar year,"



India bans passengersfrom Afghanistan,Philippines, Malaysia

NEW DELHI: The government banned the entryof passengers from Afghanistan, Philippines andMalaysia to India with immediate effect, accord-ing to an additional travel advisory.

In continuation of the travel advisory issued onMarch 11 and March 16, the following advisory hasbeen issued.

"Travel of passengers from Afghanistan, Philip-pines and Malaysia to India is prohibited with im-mediate effect," it said.

No flight shall take off from these countries toIndia after 1500 hours Indian Standard Time (IST).The airline shall enforce this at the port of initialdeparture, according to the advisory.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)has also issued a circular in this regard on the linesof the government advisory.

This instruction is a temporary measure andshall be in force till March 31 and will be reviewedsubsequently.

The government has also banned the entry ofpassengers from EU countries, Turkey and the UKfrom March 18 till March 31 on Monday.

India reported its third coronavirus fatality witha 64-year-old man dying in Mumbai, Health Minis-try officials said as the number of positive casesrose to 125. PTI

Indian-origin mancalled "Chinese",beaten up in Israel

JERUSALEM: An Indian-origin Jew was badly beatenby two people who called him a "Chinese" and yelled''Corona! Corona" in Israel's Tiberias city, in an appar-ent racist assault linked to the virus outbreak.

Am-Shalem Singson, 28, from the Bnei Menashecommunity, from Manipur and Mizoram, was admittedto the Poriya hospital with severe chest injuries, Chan-nel 13 reported.

The police continues to search for the two suspectsbased on his description of the incident, the leadingIsraeli TV channel reported.

Mr Singson told the police that he tried very hardto explain to the attackers that he was not Chineseand was not infected by the coronavirus, but it did nothelp.

The incident happened on Saturday.Mr Singson immigrated to Israel from India with his

family three years ago, the report said.There were no witnesses to the incident and the

police search is primarily based on the security foot-age in the area.

"We were shocked to receive the report of the vi-cious and racist attack in Tiberias," Michael Freund,Chairman and Founder of Shavei Israel, theorganisation that has been working on the immigra-tion of Bnei Menashe to Israel, was quoted by theChannel as saying. PTI

Stringent restrictions clampedon Silicon Valley

NEW YORK: "Shelter in Place" orders have beenclamped on Silicon Valley, the home of tech giants likeGoogle and Facebook, imposing one of the most strin-gent restrictions in the country on people's move-ment.

Health authorities in six counties in the centre ofglobal technology innovation issued the orders whichare almost like a lockdown as the threat of Covid-19

loomed across the country.Sara Cody, the health officer of Santa Clara County

where Google is headquartered, said at a news con-ference that the orders requiring people to stay homeand restrict businesses were needed because of "atipping point here in Santa Clara County with expo-nential growth of our cases" of coronavirus.

The Silicon Valley area had 258 confirmed cases andat least three deaths as of last Sunday.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed said that achange in behaviour is needed to protect people

against the coronavirus.US President Donald Trump at his news conference

ruled out a national lockdown or quarantine "at thispoint." But he added, we may look at certain areas,certain hotspots."

About 6.7 million people will be covered by the or-ders that come into force and continue till April 7.

Police and sheriffs have been asked to "ensure com-pliance" with the orders.

Under the orders, employees ofall the businesses that are not con-sidered essential will have to workfrom home, except for those re-quired to maintain them.

Non-essential travel is banned,and those who leave home have tomaintain a social distance of abouttwo metres from others.

However, walks, jogs and hikesare permitted.

Stores, pharmacies, hardwarestores and biotechnology compa-nies will be open.

Breed said that people, who would be allowed toshop for their needs, would find the stores adequatelysupplied and there was no fear of shortages of essen-tial goods.

Restaurants will be allowed to only have takeoutservice.

Essential government services will continue to beopen and public transportation will operate in thearea.

San Mateo County, where Facebook is located, isalso under the restrictions. IANS

Vaisakhi parade cancelledin Canada

OTTAWA: A Vaisakhi parade which was to take placein the Canadian city of Surrey, has been cancelled dueto the novel coronavirus pandemic, it was reported.

In a statement, the Surrey Vaisakhi organisers saidthat the cancellation of the April 25 parade was a "dif-ficult decision" and made after "extensive consulta-tion" with health officials and other authorities, re-ports theVancouver-basedCity News.

"It's disap-pointing in thesense that wefeel bad for all thepeople... youknow, the half amillion peoplethat gather. It's ajoyous celebra-tion," saidMoninder Singh,the lead orga-nizer.

He looked forward to the parade, which is deemedas one of Metro Vancouver's largest public events, re-turning next year.

Surrey is part of the Metro Vancouver area.The Surrey Vaisakhi parade draws in a crowd of

more than 500,000 people every year, City Newsquoted the organizers as saying.

The cancella-tion comes asCanada has re-ported 304coronavirus cases,including SophieGregoire Trudeau,the wife of PrimeMinister JustinTrudeau.

She was testedpositive last month.

The countryhas also reportedone death due tothe disease. IANS

8 India Post March 20, 2020www.indiapost.com

Tech News TechBizUS Fed cuts interest rate to zero

NEW YORK: The US FederalReserve has taken the extraor-dinary action of slashing the in-terest rate effectively to zeroin emergency action to propup the US economy batteredby the coronavirus crisis andfacing the risk of a recession.

Federal Reserve ChairmanJerome Powell said that therate cut and other actionswere taken to help the US"weather this difficult period."

Other measures announcedby the Federal Reserve, thecountry's central bank com-monly referred to as the Fed,include pumping $700 billioninto the US economy by buyinggovernment bonds worth$500 billion and $200 billion ofmortgage-backed securities.

This is expected to lower thecost of long term debt andease pressures on the housingmarket.

US President Donald Trump,who had been criticisingPowell for not cutting the in-terest rate and taking othermeasures to stimulate the

economy, congratulated himafter the Fed action was an-nounced. "That's really goodnews, that's really great for ourcountry," he said.

The benchmark Fed interestrate which was 1 per cent to

1.25 per cent after a 0.5 percent cut on March 3 was cuteffectively on Sunday by an-other 1 per cent to the 0 percent to 0.25 per cent range.

Powell predicted that thecoronavirus pandemic will "have

a significant effect on economicactivity in the near term."

To counteract this, he said,"We are prepared to use our fullrange of tools to support theflow of credit to help house-holds and businesses."

The measures are the big-gest steps taken since the2008 financial crisis thatplunged the nation into a re-cession, which now stares it inthe face as many businessesare being forced to cut back

operations and tens of thou-sands of workers are at risk oflosing their jobs.

The stock markets haveplunged about 20 per centsince the highs in February, de-spite the about 9 per centbounce on Friday, puttingthem in bear market territory.

The latest measures followthe Fed's offer last week to make$1.75 trillion available for thebond market to ensure fundsavailability for its operations.

The House of Representa-tives passed a massive reliefpackage on Saturday morningthat will be taken up by theSenate next week.

The package known as Fami-lies First Coronavirus ResponseAct is backed by Trump andmany Republicans and it pro-vides for paid sick leave, familyleave and free testing forCOVID-19.

The US now joins severalcountries like Japan, Germany,France and the Netherlandsthat have zero or negative in-terest rates. IANS

Yes Bank allots shares to SBI, 7 private banksMUMBAI: Crisis-hit Yes Bank

has allotted 1,000 crore eq-uity shares to seven privatebanks and the state-run StateBank of India for a total con-sideration of Rs 10,000 crore.

IDFC First Bank is the latestto enter the SBI-led rescueteam with an investment of Rs250 crore. Investment by pri-vate banks has so far reachedRs 3,950 crore.

In a regulatory filing, YesBank said: "395,00,00,000 eq-uity shares have been issuedand allotted to the (private)investors for an aggregatesubscription consideration ofRs 39,50,00,00,000, calcu-lated at a share price of Rs 10per equity share comprising

of Rs 2 face value and Rs 8 pre-mium."

Further, SBI which wouldhold 49 per cent stake in thecash-strapped lender has beenallotted 605 crore shares for Rs

6,050 crore. Under the ReserveBank-proposed reconstructionscheme for Yes Bank, SBI shall

not reduce its holding below26 per cent before completionof three years from March 14.

Among the private players,ICICI Bank and Housing Devel-opment Finance Corporation

committed Rs 1,000 croreeach. Axis Bank and KotakMahindra Bank committed to

invest Rs 600 crore and Rs500 crore respectively.

Both Federal Bank andBandhan Bank have been al-lotted shares for Rs 300 croreeach as per their commit-ment and IDFC First Bank hasbeen issued equity shares inthe crisis-ridden bank for aconsideration of Rs 250crore.

The private investors in-cluding the banks will bemandated to have a lock-inperiod for 75 per cent oftheir investment in the bank.The remaining 25 per cent ofthe shareholding allotted toeach investor shall be freelytransferable and shall not besubject to any lock-in. IANS

Vistara bansKamra tillApril 27

NEW DELHI: Full service car-rier Vistara has banned stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra fromavailing its services till April 27for "unacceptable behaviour"onboard an IndiGo's flight inJanuary this year.

"Based on the 'Order' passedby an internal committee con-stituted by InterGlobe AviationLtd. in compliance with the re-spective CAR and following dueprocess, we have placed thepassenger on our no-fly list un-til 27 April 2020," a Vistaraspokesperson said.

Last month, IndiGo hadhalved the six-month flyingban on Kamra. An 'InternalCommittee' had heard bothparties in February and passedan order pursuant to whichKamra has been suspendedfrom flying IndiGo for a periodof three months.

Lately, Kamra had chal-lenged the airline's decision tobar him from its flights in theDelhi High Court. IANS

Self-destructingmessages soon:WhatsApp

SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook-owned WhatsApp after launch-ing the much-awaited 'DarkMode' feature for its users isnow reportedly working on anew feature that will deletemessages automatically after astipulated time as set by users.

In two beta versions 2.20.83as well as 2.20.84 of the app, theoption to set self-destructingmessages in private chats wasbe found and one can choosethe expiry period of the mes-sages between one hour, oneday, one week, one month orone year, GSMArena reported.

However, it is presently un-known when the new featurewill make it to the stable ver-sion, but it is an indication thatthe developers' team is work-ing on the feature.

According to a recent re-port, the feature will be initiallyavailable for group chats onlyand can be enabled by thegroup's administrators. Onceenabled, the feature can betoggled in Contact Info orGroup Settings. IANS

Details on page 9

Malware which steals socialmedia cookies

NEW DELHI: Researchers at cybersecurity firm Kaspersky havediscovered two new Android malware modifications, when com-bined, can steal cookies collected by the browser and app ofpopular social networking sites and then allow the thieves to dis-creetly gain control of the victim's account in order to send vari-ous ill-intentioned content.

Jerome Powell

9India PostTechBiz PostMarch 20, 2020www.indiapost.com

Tech BriefsMS launches COVID-19tracker globally

Malware which steals socialmedia cookies

SAN FRANCISCO: WhileGoogle is still working on acoronavirus screening andtracking website, MicrosoftBing team has alreadylaunched a web portal for

tracking COVID-19 infectionsworldwide.

The website, accessible atbing.com/covid, provides up-to-date infection statistics foreach country.

The COVID-19 Tracker cur-rently lists 168,835 as totalconfirmed cases, 84,558 ac-

tive cases, 77,761 recoveredcases and 6,516 deaths. Thereare at least 3,244 confirmedcases of novel coronavirus inthe US and at least 61 deaths.

"Lots of Bing folks worked

(from home) this past week tocreate a mapping and authori-tative news resource forCOVID19 info," MichaelSchechter, General Managerfor Bing Growth and Distribu-tion at Microsoft, was quotedas saying in a ZDNet report.

An interactive map allows

site visitors to click on thecountry to see the specificnumber of cases and relatedarticles from a variety of pub-lishers.

Data is being aggregatedfrom sources like the WorldHealth Organization ( WHO),the US Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention (CDC),and the European Centre forDisease Prevention and Con-trol (ECDC).

Microsoft announced thewebsite two days after USPresident Donald Trump saidGoogle has begun working onCOVID-19-related portal forUS citizens. "More than 1,700engineers are currently work-ing on the site", Trump saidduring a press briefing lastweek.

Initially there was someconfusion on Google'scoronavirus portal but thecompany later announcedthat it is "partnering with theUS Government in developinga nationwide website that in-cludes information aboutCOVID-19 symptoms, risk, andtesting information." IANS

NEW DELHI: Researchers atcybersecurity firm Kasperskyhave discovered two new An-droid malware modifications,when combined, can stealcookies collected by thebrowser and app of popularsocial networking sites andthen allow the thieves todiscreetly gain control ofthe victim's account in orderto send various ill-inten-tioned content.

Cookies are small piecesof data collected bywebsites to track users' ac-tivity online in an effort tocreate personalized experi-ences in the future. While theyare often perceived as a harm-less nuisance, they can, in thewrong hands, pose a securityrisk. That is because, when

websites store these cookies,they use a unique session IDthat identifies the user in thefuture without requiring apassword or login.

"By combining two attacks,

the cookie thieves have dis-covered a way to gain controlover their victims' account with-out arising suspicions. While thisis a relatively new threat-so far,only about 1000 individuals have

been targeted-that number isgrowing and will most likely con-tinue to do so, particularly sinceit's so hard for websites to de-tect," malware analyst IgorGolovin, Security Researcher at

Kaspersky said in a statement."Even though we typically

don't pay attention to cookieswhen we are surfing the web,they are still another meansof processing our personal in-formation, and anytime dataabout us is collected online,we need to pay attention,"Golovin added.

However one can preventthemselves from becoming avictim of cookie theft by block-ing third-party cookie accesson their phone's web browserand only let your data be saveduntil you quit the browser IANS

Apple's restrictionshamper productivity

SAN JOSE: Apple's securityrestrictions, strict guidelinesand secrecy around its prod-ucts have left several employ-ees in the lurch as they takework home owing to newcoronavirus fears.

Apple workers at homerealise that slow home net-work speeds and confusingsecurity restrictions are im-pacting their ability to workeffectively, re-ports the WallStreet Jour-nal.

S o f t w a r ed e v e l o p e r swho weresent homehave beencomplaining about whatwork they are allowed to per-form remotely. Other em-ployees have been unable toaccess key internal systemsfrom home due to Apple'sstringent security policies.

As Apple adjusts its secu-rity guidelines, some employ-ees still show up to the officeto work as hardware hard-

ware cannot be removedfrom Apple Park. Apple hadsuggested its employees onthe California campuses towork from home as an "extraprecaution" even as newcoronavirus cases spread onthe west coast in the US, es-pecially Seattle area.

In an updated statement,Tim Cook said that all of Appleoffices are moving to flexible

work arrange-ments world-wide outsideof GreaterChina. "Thatmeans teamm e m b e r sshould workremotely if

their job allows, and thosewhose work requires them tobe on site should follow guid-ance to maximize interper-sonal space," he added.

"Extensive, deep cleaningwill continue at all sites. In allour offices, we are rolling outnew health screenings andtemperature checks," saidCook. IANS

Zyfra to introduce AI-basedmining solutions in India

NEW DELHI: Finnish-Rus-sian digital solutions pro-vider Zyfra announced itsplans to introduce artificialintelligence (AI)-based solu-tions for mining in the Indianmarket.

The Odisha-based ThriveniEarthmovers Private Ltd hasawarded it a contract toimplement an 'intelligentmine' solution at the state-run power generator NTPC'sPakri Barwadih coal miningproject in Jharkhand beingoperated by Thriveni.

A Zyfra statement said thatautomatic blasting result as-sessment and excavatorshovel monitoring, based oncomputer vision, help sub-stantially increase productiv-ity and avoid equipmentdowntime.

"We can now classify,

count, and estimate the sizeof moving chunks of ore rockduring mining and transpor-tation. Rock fragments analy-sis makes it possible to ad-just blasting operations. Thissystem leads to an increasein process productivity by 3-4 per cent. We are ready toshare the best practices withour Indian colleagues," ZyfraMD Pavel Rastopshin said.

The statement added thatIndia has become the key for-eign market for Zyfra withmore than 500 Computer-ised Numerical Control (CNC)machines connected to itsMDC plus real-time machinemonitoring and manufactur-ing data collection system in2019. By 2021, the companyexpects to have more than2,000 MDC plus installationsin India. IANS

Realty Tidbits

India Post March 20, 2020www.indiapost.com

Real Estate10

India's First Living CulinaryArts Museum

MANIPAL, Karnataka: TeamWelcomgroup GraduateSchool of Hotel Administration(WGSHA) of Manipal Academyof Higher Education (MAHE),isproud to announce the culi-nary museum in WGSHA hasbeen listed in Limca Book ofRecords as India's First LivingCulinary Arts Museum. LimcaBook of Records (LBR) is a cata-logue of achievements madeby Indians, at home and abroadin diverse fields of human en-deavour.

Chef Thirugnanasambantham,Principal of WGSHA, whilethanking MAHE and ITC Lead-ership for extending all sup-port towards instituting thismuseum in Manipal andWGSHA, also appreciated allthose who have directly or in-directly helped towards set-ting up this museum. Chef

Thiru said, The process forWGSHA's culinary museum tomake an entry into the popularLimca Book of Records startedalmost six months back and af-ter validation by LBR recently,

has been listed in the book ofrecords. We are glad that wecould be the first of its kind insuch endeavor and we alsohope to be in Guinness World

Records soon.On the background of hav-

ing the museum, he said, Weare indeed grateful toMichelin-starred Indian Celeb-rity Chef Vikas Khanna, the

Founder and curator of thisMuseum, who had this idea ofestablishing a culinary mu-seum and donated thousandsof kitchen tools and equip-

ment worth millions of dollarsto this museum for preservinghistory of India's rich traditionof culinary arts and to educatethe future generations. ChefVikas Khanna, DistinguishedAlumnus' of WGSHA, beingvery desirous of making such amuseum in India, what betterplace it would be than in hisown Alma Mater!

Chef Thiru mentionedUdupi, popular for the famousUdupi Cuisine, and a templetown, is adjacent to Interna-tional University Town ofManipal Academy of HigherEducation (MAHE). MAHE ishome to thousands of Interna-tional students and visitors.The great heritage of Udupi,combined with the large num-ber of Indian and Internationalstudents residing in an aroundManipal, it was very apt for thecollege to create a museum fortoday's youth and Internationalvisitors to understand the richculinary heritage of India.

The culinary arts academicblock housing the museumwas opened in April, 2018,spread approximately over25,000 sq. ft., and is shaped inthe form of a giant pot verysimilar to the ones found inHarappa. There are historical aswell as regular householditems such as plates made bythe Portuguese in India, a 100-year-old ladle used to dole outfood at temples and bowls dat-ing to the Harappan era, an oldseed sprinkler, an ancientKashmiri tea brewer known as'samovar', vessels from theKonkan, Udupi and Chettinadregions, apart from a large col-lection of rolling pins, utensilsof all shapes and sizes, teastrainers of different types etc.PTI/NewsVoir

Airbnb $1 M competition for fantasy homesInterested in building a

fantasy home that looks like aboot? Or a UFO? Or someother unusual design? Airbnbis setting aside $1 million andenlisting the help of Billy Por-ter to make it a reality.

The company is launchinga competition to create the``most unconventional andunusual liveable spaces onthe planet,'' it said in astatement.Airbnb has madeheadlines in the past withquirky vacation rentals likeone shaped like a baked po-tato in Idaho, and a mansionin Malibu designed to re-semble the one Barbie madefamous.

Now, it's inviting people tocreate memorable designs of

their own by applying for theprogram and writing an essayabout their wild idea.

The Emmy-winner Porterand the architectural firmMVRDV will be part of a panelthat picks 10 winners, But thewinning designs won't bejudged just on style: They alsohave to demonstrate ``feasibil-

ity, sustainability and socialgood,'' according to Airbnb.

``The only thing betterthan pushing the boundariesof style is empowering oth-ers to do the same,'' said Por-ter in a statement.

The houses are expectedto be built from June to De-cember. AP

New leader ofChicago's housingauthority

CHICAGO: Mayor LoriLightfoot announced her selec-tion of Tracey Scott forChicago's Housing Authority(CHA). Scott comes from work-ing as the interim leader of theMinneapolis Public HousingAuthority. She previously heldadministrative roles with theAtlanta Housing Authority.

Minneapolis' housingagency oversees programsand services for more than26,000 seniors and families.Chicago's Housing Authority isnearly triple that size, servingmore than 63,000 families andhas a budget of $1 billion, theChicago Sun-Times reported.

``Tracey's breadth of experi-ence and dedication for im-proving public housing makeher a perfect fit to lead the Chi-cago Housing Authority as weembark on our ambitiousagenda to transform our city'seconomic landscape,''Lightfoot said in a statement.

Scott's appointment mustbe formally approved by theChicago Housing Authority'sBoard of Commissioners at itsnext meeting on March 17. An-gela Hurlock, chair of theboard, said in a statement thatmembers are ``impressed''with Scott's previous work. AP

University of Virginiapledges affordablehousing units

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.: TheUniversity of Virginia has pledgedto help develop more affordablehousing in central Virginia.

UVA said it will aim to sup-port and develop 1,000 to1,500 affordable housing unitson land owned by the univer-sity or its foundation, The DailyProgress reported.

``As an anchor institution,we feel a responsibility to be agood neighbor. One of themost pressing needs in our re-gion is affordable housing, andwe are looking forward to do-ing our part to help increase thesupply,'' UVA President Jim Ryansaid in a news release. The uni-versity will select housing de-velopment partners through acompetitive process, accordingto the news release.AP

Realty down by 7%in Gurugram, Noida

NEW DELHI: Housing prices in Gurugram andNoida fell 7 per cent and 4 per cent, respectivelyin the last five years on demand slowdown, hugedelays in execution of residential projects andmany big developers turning bankrupt, accordingto News Corp-backed realty portal PropTiger.

Details on page 11

11India PostMarch 20, 2020

www.indiapost.comReal Estate Post

Mumbai's abode ofswashbuckling scions, scoundrels

Akshata (Narayan - Infosys) Murthy,Nandan Nilekani, Vedanta Group headPrateek Agarwal, Motilal Oswal Group'sJoint-MD Raamdeo Agrawal, The XanderGroup founder-chairman Siddharth Yog,Famous Studios chief A.K. Roongta,other top industrialists, bankers and bigbusinessmen.

There are around two dozen corpo-rate flats owned by various companieslike Tatas, L&T, Blue Star, ITC, Sterlite In-dustries, CEAT, etc, housing their tophonchos.

In recent times, locals say that thereare frequent 'visits' by ED, IT, CBI andothers raiding some of the notorious el-ements, though most residents neverpoke their noses into their 'neighboursbusinesses'.

"It was India's first 'corporate residen-tial tower', since all original buyers 'byinvitation' were only top corporatehouses. Gradually, over the years, theysold over to individuals who now makeup around two-thirds of the total occu-pants," a member told IANS, requestinganonymity.

Built in 1974 by Helicopter ServicesPvt. Ltd., a company owned by the lateMadhavrao Scindia, the 28-storiedbuilding is split in two wings A & B, witharound 85 flats, on around two acres ofthe erstwhile 'Samudra Mahal' theGwalior royal family's Mumbai palace.Each of the 4BHK duplex with 3,638 sq.feet and 3BHK flats with 1875 sq. feetareas offer an eyeful of the vast ArabianSea outside.

It was only after the economy boom ofthe 1990s that Worli shot into prominencewith properties commanding staggeringprices, and Samudra Mahal still com-mands around Rs 125,000 PER SQUAREFEET, among the highest in the world.

"Despite the value, there are manytakers, but few willing to sell… Whenone flat comes in the market, its leadsto a rush of super-rich prospective buy-ers, in olden days, some literally landingwith bagsful of ready cash," smiled aprominent realty consultant of southMumbai.

During the heydays of the original'Samudra Mahal', its rich and regalneighbours in the 'Palace Precincts ofSouth Mumbai' included Jay Mahal ofthe Gaekwads, royal family of Baroda,Kolhapur Mahal, Bandsa Mahal,Wankaner Palace, which once housedthe US Consulate of Mumbai, BikanerPalace that now houses the famedWalsingham School that finds a mentionin Salman Rushdie's book, the PatialaPalace, Hyderabad Nizam's Estate andthe Morvi Palace.IANS

Ditto was the case with the ab-sconder liquor and aviation baron, VijayMallya, who simply vanished one dayand the neighbours learnt about it onlythrough media headlines of his business

scams. The spirit of another shady cor-porate raider, Manu R. Chhabria, once aprominent resident here, also roamsfree on the Samudra Mahal complex.

Others in the posh complex include

QUAID NAJMI

MUMBAI: With the Arabian Sea wavesgently kissing its regal foundations, acool salty breeze or gales -- dependingon the season -- enveloping it round theyear, Mumbais famed Samudra Mahal isagain in the headlines.

A veritable playgrounds of the roy-alty, Richie riches, high-and-mighty anda few shady characters, too, the 'Sea Pal-ace' was once owned by the GwaliorKingdom's rulers -- the Scindias, a HinduMaratha family with roots inMaharashtra -- and many of its descen-dents continue to rule the roost in mod-ern political era.

Among the bigwigs ensconced hereinclude a duplex-terrace flat owned bythe Scindia family who often visit thebuilding, and since the past few years,their tenant and Yes Bank founder RanaKapoor, currently under a cloud for hisalleged murky dealings.

A couple of years ago, it was the fugi-tive diamantaire Nirav Modi, who wasanother respectable resident, occasion-ally he and mostly wife Ami Modi, join-ing Diwali and Holi celebrations,withthe other residents until the family qui-etly disappeared one day, according toa current member of the society.

Realty down by 7% inGurugram, Noida

ED raids realestate companyin Jammu

JAMMU: The Enforcement Direc-torate on Monday carried outsearches at six places and seizedfixed deposits and sovereign goldbonds worth over Rs 25 crore in con-nection with a foreign exchange vio-lation case against a real estate firm,a spokesman said.

According to the spokesman, thesearches included residential andcommercial premises in Jammu be-longing to Rajesh Rathore and Mohd.Ashraf Sheikh and their companies inthe case related to illegal acquisitionof land by a non-resident Indian (NRI).

During the searches, fixed de-posit receipts of Rs 25 crore and sov-ereign gold bonds of Rs 16 lakhwere seized, the spokesman said ina statement.

As per prevailing guidelines un-der the Foreign Exchange Manage-ment Act (FEMA), an NRI cannot pur-chase sovereign gold bonds,whereas these seized gold bondswere purchased by the NRI by pos-ing himself as a resident of India.

The searches also led to seizure ofdocuments relating to investmentsin crypto currencies. PTI

NEW DELHI: Housing prices inGurugram and Noida fell 7 per cent and4 per cent, respectively in the last fiveyears on demand slowdown, huge de-lays in execution of residential projectsand many big developers turning bank-rupt, according to News Corp-backedrealty portal PropTiger.

It said the average housing prices in

Gurugram, Haryana fell 7 per cent to Rs5,236 per sq ft from the rates prevail-ing in March 2015. Noida in UttarPradesh witnessed a dip of 4 per centto Rs 3,922 per sq ft.

However, Hyderabad saw the aver-age value of apartments increase by 40per cent to Rs 5,318 per square foot. InMumbai, the average value rose 15 per

cent to Rs 9,446 per sq ft, while inBengaluru the average apartment valueappreciated by 11 per cent to Rs 5,194per sq ft.

Housing price increase inAhmedabad, Chennai, Kolkata and Punewere only marginal by 2-4 percent.PropTiger said property values ina majority of India's prime residential

markets have seen dismalgrowth in the past five years.

"An ongoing demand slow-down in India's real estate mar-ket has kept price growth incheck, as a result of whichhousing rates in most marketshave shown only negligiblegrowth," said Dhruv Agarwala,Group CEO of Housing.com,Makaan & PropTiger.com.

"If Hyderabad stands as anexception here, it has more to

do with the fact that the base price inwhat is referred to as India's pharma-ceutical capital was quite low during2015. The state bifurcation also pushedprices upwards," he added.

Agarwala attributed price correctionin key NCR markets Gurugram andNoida to delays in project completionby many real estate developers. PTI

Health Line


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

Sri Atmananda (1883 - 1959)

WHO declares Covid-19 pandemicGENEVA: The World Health

Organisation (WHO) declaredcoronavirus disease a pan-demic, while its chief ex-pressed his "deep concern"

over "alarming levels of inac-tion" in combating the virusspread.

WHO Director GeneralTedros AdhanomGhebreyesus, at a press con-ference here, said the numberof cases outside China had in-creased 13-fold over the pasttwo weeks, and thus thecoronavirus outbreak quali-fied as a pandemic, or a dis-ease spreading in multiplecountries around the world si-multaneously.

"We have therefore madethe assessment that Covid-19can be characterized as a pan-demic."

"Describing the situation asa pandemic does notchange WHO's assess-ment of the threatposed by thiscoronavirus. It doesn'tchange what WHO is do-ing, and it doesn'tchange what countriesshould do," saidGhebreyesus.

In the press confer-ence, he wondered if theworld have never beforeseen a pandemic

sparked by a coronavirus. "Wehave called every day forcountries to take urgent andaggressive action.We haverung the alarm bell loud andclear," Ghebreyesus said.

He, however, noted thatjust looking at the number ofCOVID19 cases and the num-ber of countries affected didnot tell the full story. Accord-ing to the WHO, of the118,000 Covid-19 cases re-ported in 114 countries, morethan 90 per cent of cases are

in just four countries, and thenumbers of cases have signifi-cantly declined in two - Chinaand South Korea.

The WHO also stated that 81countries have not reportedany COVID19 cases, and 57countries have reported 10cases or less.

"We cannot say this loudlyenough, or clearly enough, or

often enough: all countriescan still change the course ofthis pandemic," saidGhebreyesus.

The WHO said some coun-tries which are dealing withCovid-19 either have lack ofcapacity and resources or lackof resolve. It warned the coun-

tries across the world to beready with hospitals and pro-tect and train health workersto deal with the situation.

"I remind all countries thatwe are calling on you to acti-vate & scale up your emer-gency response mechanismscommunicate with yourpeople about the risks & howthey can protect themselves

find, isolate, test & treat everyCOVID19 case & trace everycontact," said Ghebreyesus.

The WHO also suggestedthat all countries must strike afine balance between protect-ing health, minimizing eco-nomic and social disruption andrespecting human rights. IANS

Indian-origin doctor tests positive for COVID-19

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

LUCKNOW: A 35-year-oldIndian-origin doctor fromCanada, who came to visit herrelatives here, has beentested positive for novelcoronavirus (COVID-19) at theKGMU and her samples havebeen sent to Pune's NationalInstitute of Virology for recon-firmation, a senior doctor said.

She has been kept in anisolation ward while her hus-band, who had accompaniedher, has also been tested buthas been found to be nega-tive in the two tests con-ducted on him, Professor DHimanshu of King George's

Medical University's MedicineDepartment said.

The 35-year-old doctor of In-dian origin is based in Toronto,Canada and had arrived hereon March 8. She was tested

positive and her samples havebeen sent for reconfirmationto NIV, Dr Himanshu said.

Though she did not showany symptoms during screen-

ing at the Lucknow airport, shedeveloped fever and coughlater and contacted the doc-tors at KGMU, he said.

The doctors are also identi-fying those who had interacted

with her between March 8 and11 and they will all be tested,he added.

"Her husband is also underobservation in the hospital but

he will be discharged soon,"Dr Himanshu said.

A total of 20 samples be-longing to suspected casesin Lucknow have beentested and all barring thedoctor have tested nega-tive, Dr Tiwari added.

The number ofcoronavirus patients in In-dia has risen to 73 with 13fresh cases, including ninefrom Maharashtra and oneeach from Delhi, Ladakh,and Uttar Pradesh as well asone foreign national, ac-cording to the Union HealthMinistry. PTI

The 35-year-old doctor of Indian origin is based inToronto, Canada and had arrived here on March 8.

She was tested positive and her samples havebeen sent for reconfirmation to NIV

Amazon restrictsselling handsanitisers, masks

SAN FRANCISCO: In a bid tocurb opportunist marketing ofhigh-priced face masks andhand sanitizers, in view ofgrowing demand due tocoronavirus pandemic, Ama-zon has started putting morerestrictions on sellers of thesegoods on its third-party mar-ketplace platform.

In a note to some sellers ofproducts like face masks andhand sanitizers, Amazon onWednesday said that it was not"accepting applications to sellthese products at this time".

"You are receiving this mes-sage because you are currentlyselling, or have previously sold,products such as disposableface masks, hand sanitizers,disinfecting wipes/sprays, iso-propyl alcohol or related prod-ucts," reads the message, ac-cording to a report in The Vergewhich reviewed the note. IANS

Indianpilgrims strandedin Iran

NEW DELHI: Coronavirus out-break is a matterof "great con-cern" and the government'sinitial focus is to bring back In-dian pilgrims stranded in Iran,said External Affairs Minister SJaishankar.

Speaking on the situationarising out of the spread of thecoronavirus, he said around6,000 Indians are stranded inIran, including 1,100 pilgrimsfrom Maharashtra and Jammuand Kashmir. There are alsoaround 300 students there, headded.

The "initial focus is on bring-ing back pilgrims, mostlystranded in Qom", he said, add-ing 58 citizens from Iran havebeen brought back and thegovernment was working withIranian authorities to operatesome limited commercialflights for facilitating early re-turn of the remaining Indiansafter testing them.

The minister also informedthat there are 1,000 Indian fish-ermen who are stranded inIran, but they are in the regionwhich is not affected by the vi-

India PostWellness Post 13March 20, 2020

www.indiapost.com

Different generations equallylonely: Study

LONDON: People of different genera-tions are equally lonely, but for differ-ent reasons, say researchers, addingthat living alone increases the risk ofloneliness in older age whereas inmidlife feeling isolated is more linkedto personality traits.

The study, pub-lished in the journalPsychological Medi-cine, found emotion-ally-resilient people -- those more able toadapt in stressfulsituations -- are lessat risk of loneliness atany age, and outgo-ing middle-agedpeople are less likely to feel lonely.

"The use of machine learning in thisstudy allows us to identify and replicatedifferences in what risk factors arelinked to loneliness in middle and olderage people," said study researcherDrew Altschul from University ofEdinburgh in the UK.

"Loneliness is a growing publichealth issue, identifying the things that

precede loneliness is difficult, however,contemporary machine learning algo-rithms are positioned to help identifythese predictors," Altschul added.

For the findings, the research teamexamined data from more than 4,000

people older than 45for loneliness, person-ality traits, and livingcircumstances.

According to the re-searchers, peoplewere asked to ratehow lonely they felt.Their personality traitswere also tested usinga framework calledthe Five-Factor Model.

The research team used machinelearning -- which uses data to make pre-dictions -- to examine the data for rela-tionships between personality traitssuch as emotional stability, and socialvariables such as living alone, as causesfor loneliness.

Results were compared betweenpeople in midlife -- from 45 to 69 yearsold -- and those in their 70s. IANS

High heels may affect women's bone healthA balanced share of respondents

across following profiles were include -Homemaker and Working Professional.

"Our survey has shown that a shock-ing 48.5 per cent women wear highheels on a regular basis or on the week-ends for social gatherings. High heelswhen worn on a regular basis, impactsthe back, toes and the joints of ankleand knee," said Dr. S.K.S. Marya, Chair-man and Chief Surgeon, Orthopaedicsand Joint Replacement, Max Hospital inGurugram.

"This puts immense pressure on thespine which can hamper the overallbone structure and posture of womenover a period of time. These heels cre-ate an anomalous and awkward anglefor the ankle which further createspressure and hinders the circulationto the foot," Marya added.

They survey also revealed that 37.5per cent of 20-30 year old womenwear high heels daily and 85.4 per

NEW DELHI: Wearing high heels overa period of time have known to impacta womens bone health and a new sur-vey has revealed that regular use ofhigh heels might also lead to early os-teoporosis and permanent backache.

A survey conducted by MaxHealthcare (MHC) -- 'Women's bonehealth and orthopaedic issues' -- wasdone with over 500 women inGurugram, Delhi/NCR aged between 20to 45 years and above.

cent 20-30 year old women wear highheels daily or on weekends for par-ties. According to the data, 43.7 percent working women wear high heelsdaily.

While only 14.6 per cent 20-30 yearold women do not prefer high heels atall or wear occasionally, 52.9 per cent30-45 year old and 83 per cent above45 year old women feel this way.

"In many cases, the big toe be-comes deformed also known as 'Hal-lux Valgus', and require correction sur-gery. Regular use of high heels mightalso lead to early osteoporosis andpermanent backache," Marya said.

"Therefore, women should onlywear high heels occasionally and gofor flats, ballerinas, loafers, slip ons, ox-fords etc. for daily use," Marya added.

The survey also found that over 50per cent women do not focus on theirdaily posture and are ruining their bonehealth in the process. IANS

Tall, slim girls less likelyto conceive

LONDON: Tall slim girls are atgreater risk of developing en-dometriosis, a debilitating diseasethat affects women's quality of life andability to conceive, say researchers.

Published in the journal Annals ofHuman Biology, the research trackedthe pathways into adulthood ofmore than 170,000 girls, aged tto 13 - is the first to tracelinks between the risk ofendometriosis andchildhood height andbody mass index (BMI).

"A critical time win-dow during whichthe disease developsis often missed, withwomen often experi-encing diagnostic de-lays of several years,"said study lead re-searcher Julie Aarestrupfrom Denmark's Centre forClinical Research and Preven-tion.

"Our findings suggest that in-dicators of risk can be picked upat an earlier age, which mighthelp speed up diagnosis sotreatment can be started toslow the growth of endome-trial tissue," Aarestrup added.

The findings show girlswith a higher childhood BMI

have a lower risk of endometriosis,than girls who are tall and lean - withfactors more likely to be due to bio-logical mechanisms, such as an in-creased level of oestrogen, ratherthan socioeconomic issues.

For the current study, re-searchers examined whetherbirth weight, childhood BMIand childhood height are as-

sociated with endometriosis,as well as with risks of ad-

enomyosis.Birth weight, measured

height and measuredweight were analysedfrom 171,362 girls

aged seven to 13, bornin Denmark between

1930 and 1996.Follow-up started in 1977

or when the girls reached 15,whichever came later, and

ended if endometriosis or ad-enomyosis was diagnosed or in

June 2017, whichever came first.2,149 women were diagnosedwith endometriosis and 1,410with adenomyosis.

The results found that girlswith a higher childhood BMI hada lower risk of endometriosis,while taller girls were diag-

nosed with the disease more of-ten. IANS

March 20, 2020India Post14 www.indiapost.com

NEW DELHI: Bollywood actress SaraAli Khan has been roped in as the newbrand ambassador of audio equipmentmaker JBL. The actress has featured inJBLs new commercial that comes as anextension of the company's campaign -'Live it Real, Live it Raw' which went livewith the first commercial featuringRanveer Singh.

Commenting on her association, Sarasaid: "I'm thrilled, and proud to be partof the JBL team that boasts of a dynamicroster of ambassadors who I personallyadmire. 'Living it raw' and 'living it real' ismy personal mantra, and I'm so glad tosee that in the ethos of the brand JBL.

"I truly believe in saying and beingwho you are- in the most organic andhonest way, and I think JBL is a perfectrepresentation of this philosophy. Withthis association, I'm very excited to takethis message of authenticity to youngconsumers of the iconic audio brand."

Vikram Kher, Vice-President, LifestyleAudio, HARMAN India, said: "The youthof the country is at the core of every-

thing we do at JBL and Sara em-bodies the spirit of the youngand restless. Her no-holds-barredapproach has already made her arole model amongst Gen-Y and theassociation with JBL will take her in-fluence a step further.

"Our campaign 'Live it real, Liveit raw' featuring cultural iconslike Sara Ali Khan and RanveerSingh, is a tribute to the youngspirit of India. We are proud ofthe work we are doing thatspeaks the language of theyouth, challenges normsand peels back conform-ist attitudes."

The brand commer-cial was launched onThursday which fea-tures playful lyrics like- "I'm fab and flawed".The film will be seen onJBL's social media chan-nels along with other platforms.IANSlife

Ms. & Mrs. Gorgeous Worldwideto be held in Bali

NEW DELHI: The first edition of Ms. &Mrs. Gorgeous Worldwide will be heldin Bali in May.

Liza Varma, Founder and Director LizaProductions & Management, will be cel-ebrating the culmination of 70 years offriendship between India and Indone-sia. On this note, Liza has announced thefirst edition of the beauty pageant.

With the theme "An Ode to Women",the event will see contestants compris-ing of single and married ladies from allover India and overseas competing forthe Ms. & Mrs. Gorgeous Worldwide2020 title.

The auditions will be held in severalcities from March 20 to April 10.

The panellists for the beautypageant include Liza Varma, who hasgroomed and trained several winnerslike Sushmita Sen, Neha Dhupia, EshaGupta, Sonali Nagrani, AishwaryaSakhuja and Manushi Chillar.

Other groomers includeBhagyashree, Yogesh Lakhani, TinaChatwal and Hida Siddiqui. Dr VarunKatyal for skin and aesthetics, cosmeticdentist Dr Deepti, image consultant BiaSandhu, pilates expert Vesna Jacob, fit-ness expert Arun Yadav, make up andbeauty expert Aashmeen Munjal andresort wear costume design by RamolaBachchan, gowns by Rakesh Agarwaland ethnic wear by Joy Mitra.

The panellists willbe present at the officialpress launch along withLestyani Yuniarsih, Education andCultural Attache of the Indonesian Em-bassy, on March 18 here.

The orientation programme will beheld on April 21 and 22, which will befollowed with training and grooming byexperts.IANS

Liza Varma

March 20, 2020 India Post 15

www.indiapost.com

TRIPTI PARULEIndia Post News Service

Best known as "Yogacapital of the world"Rishikesh is the Gateway for the Garhwal

Himalaya. It is located in thefoothills of theHimalayas and thespot where theriver Ganga exitsthe mountains andsweeps down intothe plains.

Over the last 4decades, after theBeatles discoveredthe town, Rishikeshwas introduced tothe world as a cen-tre for Meditation& Yoga. Ever sinceit's popularity hasonly been increas-ing. Since the last15 years anothercultural celebra-tion of oneness hasbeen emergingand Rishikesh has establisheditself as one of the best spotsfor an international celebrationof the Holi (festival of colours).

Hinduism is all about - cel-

ebration. It's about Peace,Love, Pranna or, Energy. Whatcould be better, to celebrateall of this together, by thebanks of the Ganga, in the Hi-malayan foothills, surroundedby the Jungles (whatever are

left) of Rishikesh.The festival begins in the

evening after sunset, with thelighting of Holika (bonfire), onthe eve of Holi. A combination

of dancing to Bollywood & folkmusic, dry colour powders andBhang sets the mood andleaves you with an eagernessfor the next morning - the dayof Holi. The day starts withpeople coming out to playwith colours, wet and dry,smearing each other and theintensity increases lasting tilllate afternoon. 1000s ofpeople, including a large num-ber of international visitors, lo-cal villagers dressed in tradi-

tional attire, and participatingvisitors from various parts ofIndia, makes the gatheringeven more interesting.

For the experience of a life-time, of an age-old tradition,adapting into an increasingly

cosmopolitan world experi-ence - a riot of colour, by thebanks of the Ganga, at the foot-

hills of Himalayas, nothing canbe better than Rishikesh (atLaxman Jhula) Holi. The festivalculminates, around 2 pm whenthe dancing and playing isover, Good Samaritans gathervoluntarily to do the cleaningup of the place. The grounds ofthe entire area are cleaned upin no time for a normal evening.

This year, while most of theworld was in lockdown, withthe fear of the Coronavirus(COVID 19) - Here was a smalltown in India, completelydrenched in the celebration oflife - sharing Happiness, Joy,and Love, in a public gatheringof 1000s from all over theworld.

It's the true Holi (Holy) spiritof the festival and Rishikesh.

The Dudh Sagar waterfall issituated in the Indianstate of Goa around 60 km

off Panaji, the capital of thestate. It is connected to theother places in the state likePanaji and Margao with a roadand railway network.

Legend has it that in thedays gone by, there lived apowerful and rich king on thetop of a mountain in the West-ern Ghats along the Goan fron-tier. He lived in a lavish palacemade of pure ivory and embed-ded by precious stones. Andaround this palace, there were

luxuriant gardens abounding ina vast variety of flowers.

At one end of the forest,which fringed the king's palace,there was a picturesque lake. Inthe panoramic setting of thislake, the king's daughter, ac-companied by her ladies-in-waiting, went to bathe and tosip sugared milk which one ofher maids served to her in apure gold jug.

One day, while she was sip-ping at the milk, a prince, whowas passing by, stopped onhearing the sound of peoplenearby. Immediately, the prin-

cess poured the milk in thepond to shield her body fromthe glances of the stranger. It isbelieved that the sugared milkthat was poured by the virtu-ous and modest princess stillcomes flowing down in tor-rents along that side of themountain.

Tourist attractions: Perchedon the lofty peaks of the West-ern Ghats, the Dudh Sagar wa-terfalls offer unrivalled beautyand amazing scenery full of ex-quisite charms when in full fluxafter the monsoon showers.Like an idyllic Eden cradledluxuriously in the mountains,the Dudh Sagar waterfalls,which from a distance appear

like milky streams, gradually cli-max into a gushing cascade asthey come into full view of the

onlookers.Undoubtedly there are other

wonderful waterfalls in the rest

March 20, 2020www.indiapost.comIndia Post16

of this wide world, but the DudhSagar waterfalls with theirstrange, mystical fascination

are a dream come true. Theuneclipsed vision, furnished bythis native waterfall as itplunges over crag-coveredprecipes and stupendoussteeps, belies description.

How to reach: Dudh Sagaris situated around 60 km

off Panaji. Buses andtaxis are available

from Panaji to reachDudh Sagar.

www.indiapost.com March 20, 2020

COMMUNITYACROSS AMERICA

India Post

Desi News

17

Details on page 18

Details on page 21

Details on page 20

Corona Virus Toll in Chicagoand Midwest

SN ULLAL, S BODIWALA AND RAMESH SOPARAWLA

CHICAGO: The bustling IndiaTown in Chicagoland's DevonAvenue presented a desertedlook and one would mistake itfor a ghost town after the slowbut steady impact of spread-ing Corona virus inChicagoland and across thecountry. Shoppers and shop-keepers both are worried andanxious when this unwantedand unexpected calamity willend.

Restaurants, appliancestores, jewelry outlets and allstorefronts seem friendless inabsence of the usually heavyfootfall from Chicagoland andneighboring States. Governor J.B. Pritzker announced Bars andRestaurants Will Close to Pub-lic by end of March 16. AndState Agencies are to Tempo-rarily Reduce Workforce whileMaintaining Core Functionsand Essential Operations

"This is another hard step totake. I know how difficult thiswill be on small businessesaround the state. But we mustdo everything we can to safe-guard the health of the citizensof Illinois, and that requires thisurgent action," said GovernorPritzker. "The time for persua-sion and public appeals is over- the time for action is here.This is not a joke. No one is im-mune to this, and you have anobligation to act in the best in-terests of all the people of thisstate."

"This is a make or break mo-

ment. Clear and bold actionsare needed immediately tostop the spread of COVID-19and strengthen public healthin Chicago and across thestate," said Mayor Lori E.

Lightfoot. "In the days andweeks ahead, we will continueto keep our residents and busi-nesses apprised of developinginformation, ensuring they un-derstand the measures we aretaking and are following the

latest guidance by publichealth officials. The City of Chi-cago is working to safeguardthe health of our communitiesat every level of our opera-tions. We are resilient, and we

are all in this together."The state is working closely

with restaurant owners andfood delivery services to en-sure kitchens can safely remainopen to continue food deliveryand put in place drive-thru and

curbside pickup options forrestaurants to continue toserve the public.

"Public safety is the No.1concern of the Illinois Restau-rant Association," said Sam

Toia, president of the IllinoisRestaurant Association. "Firstand foremost, we want to pro-tect the health of our custom-ers and team members.

Deserted India Town on Devon Avenue in Chicago

Restaurants, appliance stores, jewelry outletsand all storefronts seem friendless in absence of

the usually heavy footfall from Chicagolandand neighboring States. Governor J. B. Pritzkerannounced Bars and Restaurants Will Close to

Public by end of March 16

Cont’d on page 22

BAPS: Closing allMandirs in USA,

Canada,Europe

andAustralia

Details on page 20

InternationalWomen's Daycelebrated in Boston

GEETA PATIL

BOSTON: Every year, March 8is observed as InternationalWomen's Day (IWD) to cel-ebrate the social, economicandpolitical achievements ofwomen. This year's theme ofthe IWD is "EachforEqual", col-lectively each one of us canhelp create a gender equalworld. With this theme, theUnited India Association ofNew England (UIANE) orga-nized a program at BostonPublic Library, in Copley Bos-ton, MA on March 8, 2020, in ahall full of registered partici-pants.

Grand HoliCelebration of AryaSamaj Chicago

JAYANTIOZA

CHICAGO:More then 200devotees and their familiesgathered at Arya Samaj ofChicagoland in West Chicagosuburb to celebrate the auspi-cious festival of Holi.

The festivities began withthe Havan, which was led byAcharya HariPrasadji and con-ducted on three Havankundsto accommodate the largenumber of congregants.

Must stand againstAnti-India andAnti-Hindu

PURNIMA NATH

Although India and Hinduswere attacked for centu-

ries, India maintained a peace-ful environment and communalharmony, to a great extent. In-dia is the second most popu-lated country in the world with1.34 billion people (four timesthe population of the U.S. inless-than-one-third of U.S.land).

March 20, 2020India Post18 Community Across Americawww.indiapost.com

International Women's Day celebrated in BostonGEETA PATIL

BOSTON: Every year, March 8 is ob-served as International Women's Day(IWD) to celebrate the social, economicandpolitical achievements of women.This year's theme of the IWD is"EachforEqual", collectively each one ofus can help create a gender equalworld. With this theme, the United IndiaAssociation of New England (UIANE) or-ganized a program at Boston Public Li-brary, in Copley Boston, MA on March 8,2020, in a hall full of registered partici-pants.

President, of the Association, Ms.Aditi Soni welcomed all speakers,guests, and participants for attendingthe program with much enthusiasm.She applauded the men, who came tocelebrate women and emphasized howmen need to be in the conversation tocreate an equal world.

In her introduction, she said that theUIANE was founded in 1984, with itsmission to preserve, promote and nur-ture the values of Indian Heritage byplanning, developing and executingthe programs which bring our commu-nity together and its motto, as 'Unity isStrength, be United.' She also talkedabout UIANE's membership, sponsor-ship, and upcoming special events re-quested all to visit their website formore details.

The program focused on providinginformation about the available com-munity resources, suggestions, and tipsrequired for the women's empower-ment in the areas of domestic violence,mental health, and how to shine on theLinkedIna social network that focuseson professional networking.

Saheli is an organization dedicatedto supporting South Asian (Bangladesh,Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistanand Sri Lanka) women and families inthe Greater Boston area to lead safeand healthy lives. Ms. Rita Shah fromSaheli talked about the Saheli's re-

sources, where and how the South Asiawomen can contact them. Ms. DivyaChaturvedi spoke elaborately onan ar-ray of interventions that are needed forthese women and families to recoverfrom crises and get back on their feet.

Dr. MaliniPrabhu, from NewtonWellesley Hospital spoke on mentalhealth issues among South Asian com-munity. She said that feeling depressed,anxious or lost are verycommon. Theyare treatable but seeking help beforethey get worst is crucial. She said thatmental health disorders are caused bymultiple and interacting social, psycho-

logical and biological factors which de-termine the prevalence, onset andcourse of mental and behavioral disor-ders. With regard to how to seek help,she said start with your own primaryhealthcare provider first and then go tothe psychiatrist/psychologist for neces-sary therapies/counselling.

Ms. Meeru Kumar from the AmericanAssociation of University Women(AAUW-Massachusetts) talked about itsofficial inception in 1881 as a non-profitorganization that advances equity forwomen and girls through advocacy,education, philanthropy, and research.She also showed statistics on how wagegap is existing among women acrossdifferent races including its long-termconsequences.

Ms. Jesse Ohrenberger conductedasalary negotiation workshop andhelped participants build confidencethrough her facilitated discussion andlearnto negotiate for a new job, raise, orpromotion with a line-managerthroughfacts based dialogues aboutyour qualifications, achievements, prof-its, salary range offered for the same jobin the same state.She said that partici-pants can find more information aboutAAUW at https://salary.aauw.org/.

A section of the audience

Honoring women Aditi Soni, Dr. Jaya Goyal, Heena Purohit and Divya Salhi

Cont’d on page 22

India Post 19March 20, 2020 Community Across Americawww.indiapost.com

Muslims safer in India: Indresh KumarPRAKASH M SWAMY

NEW DELHI: Muslims andother minorities are safer in In-dia compared to other nationsand these protests in Delhi andelsewhere were stage man-aged by the jobless oppositionwho could not find any faultwith the ruling BJP govern-

ment, said Indresh Kumar,president of MuslimRashtriyaManch, a unit ofRashtriyaSwayamsevakSangh(RSS).

The Muslim RashtriyaManch(MRM) is a Muslim organizationin affiliated to the RSS. It was

formed in 2002 at the initiativeof the then RSS chief K. S.Sudarshan to allow theSanghPariwar to reach out toMuslims.

In an interview in NewDelhi, the senior RSS leadersaid a large numbers of Mus-

lims had extended sup-port to abrogation of Ar-ticle 370 and Triple Talakas they had realized howharmful these draconianlaws are in the interest ofthe nation.

None of the CAA, NPRetc is targeted against In-dian Muslims and theGovernment did not in-clude Muslims in thegroup of persecuted mi-norities as they chose tolive in the land of theirown like Pakistan andBangladesh, declared asMuslim nations." No Mus-lim persecutes anotherMuslim and if they do, In-

dia will give asylum on a caseto case basis as this involvednational security. Many Mus-lims like TasleemaNasreen andAdnan Sami were living in Indiapeacefully and were not de-ported," he said.

Illegal immigration has been

an issue since 25 years whenCongress was in power andthis was not something discov-ered new by BJP Government."India has been a home tomany civilizations and faiths. Alarge number of Jews who mi-grated to Gujarat during theSecond World War and equalnumber of Tamils came fromSri Lanka as refugees and Indianever turned them away," hesaid.

Muslim Rashtriya Manch is anon-political organizationworking for the wel-fare of Muslims in In-dia. It is serving Mus-lims through its 2700branches in 350 dis-tricts across Indiabenefitting about 75lakh Muslims. It runsfood grain bank, firstof its kind in the world; centersto redress family disputes; pro-

viding scholarships and assis-tantships to poor Muslim fami-

lies and offer divorce counsel-ing services to name a few.

Indresh Kumar

Illegal immigration has been an

issue since 25 years when

Congress was in power and this

was not something discovered

new by BJP Government


Grand Holi Celebration of Arya Samaj ChicagoJAYANTI OZA

CHICAGO:More then 200 devoteesand their families gathered at Arya

Samaj of Chicagoland in West Chicagosuburb to celebrate the auspicious fes-tival of Holi.

The festivities began with the Havan,which was led by Acharya HariPrasadjiand conducted on three Havankunds toaccommodate the large number ofcongregants. Explaining the ancientVedic roots of this celebration, Acharyajifamiliarized the devotees withVasantiNavsasyeshti, the original nameof this day, which was observed to

thank God and nature for bountifulcrops and prosperity.

Through the recitation ofspecial mantras followed byperforming Havan, those as-sembled enjoyed Bhajanssung by SulakshanaBhagwat,Anil Oroskar, PratibhaJairathand SarojSoni. A special fea-ture of the day was the read-ing of the 10 Principles ofArya Samaj by Arush, Swasti,

Veronica, Luv, Kush and Vani. Acharyaji alsotalked about the ways to prevent thespread of Corona virus though our tradi-tional practices like namaskar, not eatingfrom shared dishes or utensils, etc.

After that attendees moved down-stairs to offer roasted Chanas into theceremonial fire and played holi withflowers and chandantikas before sittingdown to a delicious lunch of traditionalfoods like kachdi and aaloosabzi, gujjhia,etc. Arya Samaj of Chicago land holdsweekly services every Sunday from 11AM to 1 PM.

Arya Samaj of Chicago devotees and volunteers gathered forHoli Celebration

Founder Dr.ShukhdevjiSoni playingHoli withparticipants

Devotees throw Roasted Channas into ceremonial fire

BAPS: Closing all Mandirs in USA, Canada,Europe and Australia

India Post News Service

As concerns around the impact ofthe Coronavirus (COVID-19) pan-

demic grow, BAPS SwaminarayanSanstha, following the guidance of pub-lic health agencies, has decided to closeall mandirs in USA, Canada, Europe andAustralia,as well as suspend all publicsocial and religious activities, includingconferences, until further notice.

Although the drastic steps are neces-sitated by the nature of thepandemic,BAPS will continue to pro-vide spiritual guidance to devoteesand Hindus. At a time when prayer,reflection and family activities canbring calm, solace, and peace ofmind, BAPS will be using novel meansto hold its weekly assemblies and in-structive activities for all age groupsthrough interactive online forums.

Bhavisha Modi, Realtor Associate inPrinceton, New Jersey, said: "I find itvery reassuring that we have found away to continue my children's weeklyreligious instruction in English, as wellas the Gujarati assemblies that I attendon Sunday evenings online. There areeven online webcasts planned to teach

spiritual lessons together as a family. Ifind it amazing that these platformswere created globally in less than aweek. It speaks volumes on theorganization's infrastructure. It alsoshows that we take our spiritual life se-riously."

Devotees will be given daily darshanthrough the websites of each mandir.Dr. Kashyap Patel, a cardiologist in At-lanta, Georgia, said: "Satsang happensin social settings but in exceptionaltimes, we have to find other ways. Werealize that our gurus and seers insistedthat we accompany each other and

serve each other on the spiritual jour-ney but this calamity has changed theworld - for the moment. That doesn'tchange the fact that my spiritual lifegives me the wisdom I need to ap-proach the difficulties my family and Iface. My gurus, His Holiness PramukhSwami Maharaj and His Holiness MahantSwami Maharaj, have always stressedthe importance of family values, com-munication within the family, and usingspirituality as a means to come to-gether and find pragmatic solutions toeveryday issues. Now is the time I applythem."

The organization is working closelywith local authorities in towns and cit-ies within which their mandirs are lo-cated. It will comply with local regula-tions and find ways to support the localcommunity as they have during pastcalamities and disasters.

Dr. Viral Desai,an optometrist inHouston, Texas, said: "The situation isunfortunate, but I find that I will use thistime to come closer with my familythrough spiritual discussions, conversa-tions, and bonding time. We havelearned a lot of important and practicalconcepts through Satsang. Now that wehave more family time due to less trav-elling, I will be able to apply those con-cepts for stronger bonding."

Further information about individualmandir statuses can be found at:www.baps.org/global-network.

The spiritual leader of BAPS, His Holi-ness Mahant Swami Maharaj, has of-fered prayers in India for the well-be-ing of all those affected by the pan-demic. BAPS's response to the pan-demic hopes to show that spiritual con-tinuity is possible in midst of social dis-tancing.BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Los Angeles, CA

India Post 21March 20, 2020 Community Across Americawww.indiapost.com

Must stand against Anti-India and Anti-HinduPURNIMA NATH

Although India and Hindus were attacked forcenturies, India main-

tained a peaceful environmentand communal harmony, to agreat extent. India is the sec-ond most populated country inthe world with 1.34 billionpeople (four times the popula-tion of the U.S. in less-than-one-third of U.S. land). With thecomplexity, issues are usuallymanaged brilliantly and bal-ance is restored quicklyoftentimes. The recent past hasbeen particularly difficult forthe Hindus, Hinduism, and In-dia; as we have witnessed com-munist media's effort to de-fame, divide and weaken India.

These questions have beenbothering me for a while. Haveyou seen mass worldwide pro-tests arranged by Hindus(against blatant lies and bias)?Why are U.S. Democrats, UN &western media propagatingone-sided anti-Hindu anti-Indianarratives? How many IndianMuslims were driven out of In-dia? Why is the Modi govern-ment painted as fascist, geno-cidal, xenophobic and anti-Muslim?

FACTS ABOUT INDIA: TheONLY country with largestMuslim population outsideMuslim-majority countries.

Holds third of world's Muslimpopulation (10.9%), slightly be-hind Indonesia (12.7%) and Pa-kistan (11.1%)Has over 200million Muslims - can oneneighboring Islamic State pro-vide such statistics ofminorities?Remains a secularcountry. Can the neighboringIS nations say the same?51 Is-lamic nations, 0 Hindu, 1 Jew-ish, and the rest are Christianand Buddhist, out of 195 coun-tries in the world. 79% Hindusand 21% minority (retainedmore-or-less constant since1947), when minority numberdropped from ~27% to 2% and

fell from ~23% to 10%, in Paki-stan and Bangladesh, respec-tively. 10,000 years old sophis-ticated ancient Hindu civiliza-tion by the Indus river 'Hinduway of life' is much older thanthe existence of Hinduism

RECENT EVENTS: It is in-creasingly becoming clear therecent protests turned 'Delhiriot' was highly organized,enormously funded, pre-planned and flawlessly ex-ecuted with thousands of out-siders (quickly disappeared),and perfectly aligned withPresident Trump's India visit tomake a strong internationalnews wave against India. Main-stream media omitted gravedetails of the brutality on theHindus - DELIBERATE? For in-stance, a Hindu InvestigativeBureau (IB) officer was stabbed400 times. A Muslim politicalleader was arrested and sus-pended for allegedly startingthe Delhi Riot, IB officer's mur-der, Islamic group PFI moneylaundering charges. A Hindupoliceman was murdered dur-ing a mob lynching and heavystone-pelting. A Muslimshooter with a gun had gonemissing. Images of burqa-cov-ered women stone-pelting inaction were circulated. Muslimrioters bore drill machine into

a 19-year Hindu boy. 49 died;civilians and policemen werebeaten, lynched, shot, stabbedand killed. Public properties,homes, schools were de-stroyed. Were Muslims the onlyones who got impacted? HOWDOES ONE EXPLAIN SUCH VIO-LENCE?

77-day 'Shaheen Bagh anti-CAA' protest ground in Delhi,primarily attended by Muslimwomen and children is leftempty now (soon after Delhielection). WHAT WAS THEIRGOAL? Their real victory wasblocking BJP (Modi). ACCI-DENT?

An Ivy League universitystudent group 'StudentsAgainst Hindutva' has attackeda Hindu festival by celebrating

'Holi Against Hindutva' withCollege Democrats of 20 plusU.S. universities. COINCI-DENCE? Would an organized ef-fort against Eid, Ramadan,Christmas, and Hanukkah everbe tolerated?

U.S. DEMOCRATS, UN, ANDISLAMIC NATIONS' STATE-MENTS:

'Interconnected' talkingpoints propagated by U.S.Democrats and organizationsare highlighted here. 'Commu-nal violence targetingMuslims…anti-Muslim vio-lence'-Rep. RashidaTlaib;'Threats to human rights'-Rep.Alan Lowenthal; 'Religious in-tolerance'-Rep. Pramila Jayapal;'Peaceful protestors'-Sen. Eliza-beth Warren; 'Widespread anti-Muslim mob violence' -Sen.Bernie Sanders; 'Right to pro-test'-House Foreign AffairsCommittee; 'Promote all hu-man rights and to conduct nec-essary advocacy'-U.N. HighCommissioner for HumanRights, Michelle Bachelet. Fur-thermore, Iran and Turkeydidn't leave the opportunityand called to "Confront ex-tremist Hindus; Stop massacreof Muslims" said Iran's supremeleader Ayatollah Khamenei.Liberal media wants you to be-lieve that extremists Christiansand white supremacists existin the west, and extremist Hin-dus exist in the east (India) andtirelessly pushing agenda to

shape such narratives.

RECENT POLICIES:The Modi government has

taken stricter measuresaround border security, illegalimmigration, terrorism, ex-tremism, and corruption. Intel-lectuals, universities, opposi-tion political parties, Muslimgroups, and media challenged;and called these anti-Muslim.Let me give you a few ex-amples:

Kashmir Conflict: A 70-year-old saga has been resolved in asingle stroke to integrateKashmir fully with India, withno special privileges. The en-tire world ignored the 90sKashmiri Hindu genocide. Mid-August last year, as I was pre-paring for the 7th annualIndiaFest in Milwaukee, aleader of local interfaith groupphoned me to hold a 'solidarityprayer for Kashmiri Muslims' atthe fest. I respectfully clarifiedthat "India is the most diverse,peaceful and inclusive countryin the world, even with thebarbaric, tormenting and hei-nous past. Essence and mes-sage of India and IndiaFest willnot change". Unimpressed, hethen informed me that protestagainst IndiaFest and Indiawould occur.

AyodhyaBabri Masjid: Anage-old dispute of BabriMasjid, Mosque of 1st MughalEmperor Babur built by de-stroying a Hindu temple on aholy site (birthplace of Hindudeity Lord Ram) in 1528, wasresolved with a final verdict infavor of Ram Mandir.

Citizenship Amendment Act- CAA: Persecuted religious mi-norities, i.e. Hindu, Sikh, Bud-dhist, Jain, Parsi, Christian who

fled from the three neighbor-ing Muslim majority Islamiccountries (Pakistan,Bangladesh, and Afghanistan)due to "religious persecutionor fear of religious persecu-tion" and entered India beforeDec 2014 are given Indian citi-zenship. Why would anyone beagainst such a 'humanitarianact'?

IN CONCLUSION:Everyone who pushed hu-

man rights, religious persecu-tion and discrimination againstMuslims in India, why didn'tthey issue any statementabout the actual occurrence inPakistan, China or Nigeria?

Does anyone possibly think,these issues are isolated to In-dia? The U.S is immune, per-haps? Remember when Presi-dent Trump was labeled asanti-Muslim and was blamedfor unfairly targeting one reli-gion for issuing a travel ban oncertain countries to protectnational interest?

SEE THE PATTERN?I am not against any religion,

but I am strongly against ex-tremism, terrorism and estab-lishment of superiority. Clearly,U.S. Democrats have sidedwith a biased anti-Hindu anti-India force. I urge the Hindus ofthe world, how long will youkeep mum and let the worldpersecute you?

(PurnimaNath is an Indian-American entrepreneur ran forpublic office in United States.She is the founder of SpindleIndia, Inc., and creator ofIndiaFest Milwaukee inW i s c o n s i n . # P u r n i m a N a t hwww.NathPurnima.com andwww.NathPurnima.com

Purnima Nath

These questions have been bothering me for awhile. Have you seen mass worldwide protests

arranged by Hindus (against blatant lies andbias)? Why are U.S. Democrats, UN & western

media propagating one-sided anti-Hinduanti-India narratives?


We remain vigilant in helping em-ployers to navigate the immediate chal-lenges that come with this rapidlychanging situation. I want to thank Gov-ernor Pritzker and his team, and MayorLightfoot and her team, for leading us."

Gov. Pritzker also announced for atemporary reduction of governmentfunctions and workforce. Select employ-ees will continue to report to work, whilethe remaining workforce will either workremotely or be asked to remain home oncall. All state employees will continue tobe paid during this period.

Over the next several days, thePritzker administration will finalizethese plans and update state employ-ees and the public. The Office of theGovernor will remain fully operationalthroughout this period.

SOCIAL DISTANCING REMAINS CRU-CIAL

Social distancing is the paramountstrategy for minimizing the spread ofCOVID-19 in our communities, and the

Corona Virus Toll in Chicago and MidwestGovernor is committed to using everytool at his disposal to protect publichealth.

Those experiencing symptomsshould call a health care provider whowill help arrange medical treatmentwithout putting others at risk of expo-sure.

The Illinois Department of PublicHealth has a statewide COVID-19hotline and website to answer anyquestions from the public or to report asuspected case: call 1-800-889-3931 orvisit IDPH.illinois.gov.

SWAMINARYAN MANDIRAs communities grapple to make

sense of this viral pandemic and its ef-fects

BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha, a globalHindu organization, has recently sus-pended all gatherings and activitiesacross the world but has quicklyadapted to an online forum that fills thevoid for congregants to find comfortand solace through a sense of spiritualcommunity. This includes many, if notmost, of its 3,850 houses of worship. In

the US alone, there are 100 mandirs(Hindu temples) affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

This is a novel move by a large reli-gious organization to provide spiritualsolace and comfort.

GURDWARASDue to COVID-19 national emer-

gency, many Gurdwaras across the coun-try, including Wheaton and Palatine, arecanceling Kirtan and KathaDivaan pro-grams. The Gurdwaras will remain opento visit at different hours, however pro-grams will be limited.

Practice social distancing for ownsafety and for the safety of others. Lis-ten to kirtan and dopaath at home withyour family

SOORYA DANCE ACADEMY STLOUIS

The Soorya Performing Arts is cancel-ling following events in Spring 2020 outof concern for the safety of patrons,dancers, students, and staff, and to re-duce the spread of COVID-19(coronavirus).

1. March 28th 2020 - Kathak Annualshow - in YMCA auditorium Chesterfield- Cancelled

2. April 11th 2020 - BharathanatyamAnnual Show - in Ladue High School au-ditorium - Cancelled

3. April 24, 25, 26th - 12th AmericanNatya Festival - in Wydown MiddleSchool Auditorium - postponed to a fu-ture date.

4. May 2nd - Columbia Indian DanceFestival - Battle High School Auditorium- Cancelled

All dance lessons in Just Dancing Stu-dios have been cancelled, since March11th 2020. The Academy will update itswebsite for any further change in danceand music lessons.

This is a "generational" danger and itis important to hear directives fromhealth officials from CDC, St LouisCounty. Lets live next couple of monthsin isolation, so we could dance and singmore in future.

Board of Directors Soorya Perform-ing Arts pray and hope everyone to besafe and healthy in this risky outbreakof Covid-19 outbreak.

Cont’d from page 17

International Women'sDay celebrated in Boston

Cont’d from page 18

Ms. Heena Purohit, Ms. Divya Salhi,and Dr. Jaya Goyal, all LinkedIn users of-fered many tips. Ms. Heena said that ithas many features and offers opportu-nities to network every day; peoplewho are hiring are looking for suitablecandidates' profile on LinkedIn for theirjob listings; reach out to the people whoare viewing your profile;LinkedIn enables your peersto endorse your skills andwrite up recommendations,and you can do the same forthem;it also enables you tomake important businessconnections; posting articles on LinkedIncan help to establish your expertise andread news, tips, and updates from yourconnections just to stay current on indus-try trends and timely topics;researchother businesses or opportunities thatinterests you; introduce others to yourbooks, websites, blogs and other onlinecontent, and this drives more readers toyour interests. She walked through herown profile and postings and how she isstaying in touch with peers and activeinteractions and respectful comments.

All participants were encouraged to

think of one woman who inspire themand acknowledge these women bysending a thank you card provided dur-ing the event. One of the participantssaid that I became inspired by the inspi-ration of these women speakers andthrough the years, the Women's day pro-grams are becoming better and better.This salary negotiation workshop taughtme how to articulate my skills, qualifica-

tions and experience, and ask for and getthe pay I deserve."

The event ended with a token of ap-preciation to all speakers. AditiSonithanked her executive team, Board ofdirectors and Board of advisors for theirhard work and unconditional commit-ment to bring together these events forNew England community. More informa-tion about United India Association ofNew England can be found onwww.unitedindia.net or by followingthem on Facebook page or Instagram#uianeboston

The event ended with a token of appre-ciation to all speakers. Aditi Soni thanked

her executive team, Board of directorsand Board of advisors for their hard work


In Brief Immigration

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Sunak, born in the UK to a

general practitioner

father and pharmacist

mother, announced the

Immigration Health

Surcharge (IHS) would be

hiked from 400 pounds to

624 pounds

The agency is following guidance from the

Centers for Disease Control in terms of when

detainees and staff should be tested

Rishi Sunak's budget increasescost of UK visa

Rishi Sunak

LONDON: The UK Budgettabled by Indian-origin FinanceMinister Rishi Sunak is set tomake the cost of long-term vi-sas to Britain higher, with a ma-jor hike in the compulsoryhealth fee charged on mi-grants from countries, includ-ing India.

Sunak, born in the UK to ageneral practitioner father andpharmacist mother, an-nounced the ImmigrationHealth Surcharge (IHS) wouldbe hiked from 400 pounds to624 pounds.

"Migrants benefit from ourNHS. And we all want them todo so but it's right that whatpeople get out, they also putin," the 39-year-old Chancellorof the Exchequer said in hisBudget statement in theHouse of Commons.

"There is a surcharge al-ready, but it doesn't properlyreflect the benefits people re-ceive. So, as we promised in

our manifesto, we are increas-ing the Immigration Health Sur-charge to 624 pounds, with adiscounted rate for children,"

he said. A new discounted rateof 470 pounds has been incor-porated for children aged un-der 18 but the lower rate forinternational students is alsoset for a rise -- from 300pounds to 470 pounds.

The IHS was introduced inApril 2015 and from December2018 it was hiked from 200pounds to 400 pounds per

year. It is imposed on anyone inthe UK on a work, study or fam-ily visa longer than six months,in order to raise additionalfunds for the country's state-funded National Health Service(NHS).

The British Association ofPhysicians of Indian Origin(BAPIO), the UK's largest repre-sentative body for Indian-ori-gin doctors, has been lobbyingthe UK Home Office for a re-think over the charge as itwould have an adverse impacton their attempt to recruitmore healthcare professionalsfrom India to meet staff short-ages in the NHS.

Indian industry warned thatfurther hike would mean anadded burden on already highvisa fees.

"The increase in the healthsurcharge to 620 pounds willadd to the already expensivevisa fees for overseas skilledworkers. This will be an addi-tional burden on Indian busi-nesses operating in the UK,"said Baroness Usha Prashar,Chair of the UK Council of theFederation of Indian Chambersof Commerce and Industry(FICCI). PTI

Immigrant detainees at high coronavirus riskSEATTLE: Immigrant rights

groups want U.S. Immigrationand Customs Enforcement torelease detainees at its Wash-

ington state jail who are at highrisk from the coronavirus.

In a letter sent to ICE lateMonday, the American Civil Lib-erties Union of Washington, theNorthwest Immigrant RightsProject and Columbia Legal Ser-vices said ICE should release onparole any detainees who areolder than 60, pregnant, or whohave underlying conditionssuch as a weakened immunesystem or heart or lung disease.Those in detention are espe-cially vulnerable to contagiousoutbreaks, they said.

The GEO Group, a for-profitcorporation that runs the de-tention facility, said it has nothad any confirmed cases ofCOVID-19 at the jail. The com-pany declined to say how many

detainees or staff had shownsymptoms or been tested.

In an emailed statement, ICEsimilarly said it had no con-firmed cases. The agency is fol-lowing guidance from the Cen-ters for Disease Control in termsof when detainees and staffshould be tested, and that as of

March 3, four detainees hadmet that criteria. Staff are beingprovided protection equip-ment such as masks.

The agency said it is screen-ing new detainees for COVID-19and that its protocols call for

medically isolating those whohave mild symptoms, whilethose with moderate to severesymptoms or who need higherlevels of care are transportedto hospitals. Sixteen of the 20detention centers run by theICE Health Services Corps haveairborne infection isolation

rooms, it said.``ICE is actively working with

state and local health partnersto determine if any detaineerequires additional testing ormonitoring to combat thespread of the virus,'' ICE said. AP

India suspendsmost visas tillApril 15

NEW DELHI: India sus-pended all visas, except a fewcategories such as diplomaticand employment, till April 15 ina bid to contain the spread ofnovel coronavirus, accordingto an official statement. Thegovernment also "strongly ad-vised" Indians to avoid all non-essential travel abroad.

The suspension will come intoeffect from 1200 GMT on March13 at the port of departure.

Visas of all foreigners al-ready in India remain valid.

The decisions were taken ata meeting of a group of minis-ters held here under the chair-manship of Health MinisterHarsh Vardhan. Following themeeting, the Bureau of Immi-gration in a statement said, "Allexisting visas issued to nation-als of any country, except thoseissued to diplomats, officials,U N / I n t e r n a t i o n a lorganisations, employmentand project visas, stand sus-pended till April 15th, 2020.

This will come into effectfrom 1200 GMT on March 13th,2020 at the port of departure ofany foreigner for onward jour-ney to India." Visa-free travel fa-cility granted to Overseas Citi-zenship of India (OCI) card hold-ers is also kept in abeyance tillApril 15, according to a similarofficial statement.

Any foreign national who in-tends to travel to India forcompelling reason may con-tact the nearest Indian Mission,the release said, adding that allincoming travellers, includingIndian nationals, arriving fromor having visited China, Italy,Iran, Republic of Korea, France,Spain and Germany PTI

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India Post24 March 20, 2020www.indiapost.com

Disclaimer: Views expressed are personal to the author

March 20, 2020 India Post 25www.indiapost.com

Philosophy

Available on AMAZON, FLIPKART

50 SPIRITUAL APPETIZERSVinod Dhawan

“It’s a lovely book. It feels en-

ergetically clear and light. It’s

easy to read, dip in and out and

most importantly it offers infor-

mation without fluff! Blessings

on this project.”Jac O’Keeffe

Spirituality teacher based inUSA.

P. D. OUSPENSKY

The state in which we work, talk,imagine ourselves conscious beings

and so forth - we ordinarily call 'wakingconsciousness' or 'clear consciousness' -but really it should be called 'wakingsleep' or 'relative consciousness'. In thestate of sleep we can have glimpses ofrelative consciousness.

In the state of relative conscious-ness we can have glimpses of self-consciousness. But if we want tohave more prolonged periods of self-consciousness and not merelyglimpses, we must understand thatthey cannot come by themselves.They need will action.

This means that frequency and du-ration of moments of self-conscious-ness depend on the command onehas over oneself. So it means too that

consciousness and will are almostone and the same thing, or in anycase, aspects of the same thing.

At this point it must be understoodthat the first obstacle in the way of thedevelopment of self-consciousness inman is his conviction that he alreadypossesses self-consciousness, or at anyrate that he can have it at any time helikes. It is very difficult to persuade aman that he is not conscious, and can-not be conscious, at will.

It is particularly difficult becausehere nature plays a very funny trick. Ifyou ask a man if he is conscious, or if yousay to him that he is not conscious, hewill answer that he is conscious and thatit is absurd to say that he is not, becausehe hears and understands you.

And he will be quite right, al-though at the same time quitewrong. This is nature's trick. He will bequite right because your question oryour remark has made him vaguelyconscious for a moment. Next mo-ment consciousness will disappear.But he will remember what you saidand what he answered, and he willcertainly consider himself conscious.In reality, acquiring self-conscious-ness means long and hard work.

How can a man agree to this workif he thinks he already possesses thevery thing which is promised him as

the result of long and hard work? Natu-rally a man will not begin this work andwill not consider it necessary until hebecomes convinced that he possessesneither self-consciousness nor all thatis connected with it, that is to say,unity or individuality, permanent 'I' andwill.

This is the chief point in work upononeself. If one realizes that all the diffi-culties in the work depend on the factthat one cannot remember oneself,one already knows what one must do.One must try to remember oneself. Inorder to do this one must strugglewith mechanical thoughts and onemust struggle with imagination.

If one does this conscientiously andpersistently one will see results in acomparatively short time. But one mustnot think that it is easy or that one canmaster this practice immediately. Self-

remembering, as it is called, is a verydifficult thing to learn to practice.

We cannot become conscious at will,at the moment when we want to, be-cause we have no command overstates of consciousness. And if we startremembering ourselves by the specialconstruction of our thoughts, that is, bythe realization that we do not remem-ber ourselves; that no one remembershimself, and by realizing what thismeans, this realization will bring us toconsciousness.

Excerpted from the book 'Con-science.' Pyotr DemianovichOuspensky was a Russian esotericistknown for his expositions of the earlywork of the Greek-Armenian teacherof esoteric doctrine George Gurdjieff.Ouspensky's 142nd birth anniversarywas observed on March 5.

We cannot becomeconscious at will

P. D. Ouspensky

Frequency and duration of momentsof self-consciousness depend on thecommand one has over oneself

PerspectiveFighting it withcommon sense

D.C. PATHAK

Perhaps the most meaningful ob-servation about corona virus that a

medical professional made in an inter-view, was that 'the virus has under-stood us better than we have under-stood it' thereby suggesting that weare up against an invisible enemy thatrequired what in security parlancewas called a 'counter intelligence' ef-fort, in this case a competent and com-prehensive analysis of the known factsin order to predict where will the vi-rus attack next. This is essentially afight of 'individuals' who are the tar-gets, more than a combat that it wasfor the large 'collective' representedby the government. This is a challengefor every citizen to handle and, as isknown, the victory in any 'war' de-pends more than anything else on theextent of information one had on thecharacter and ways of the 'enemy'to start with.

Three things are now estab-lished pretty well. First, it has to beaccepted, without getting per-turbed, that the incidence of thisvirus might spread in the comingdays considering the global expo-sure that a large country like Indiahad already had and the 'area ofcontact' that our citizenry as a wholewould have created by now. Secondly,corona is a mutated flu virus andtherefore every symptom of cold andcough would not be a presumption forthe bigger threat unless the pattern ofits natural fading away without medi-cation, did not show up, calling for quicktesting. And thirdly, it is known that thevirus hibernates on 'surface' of lifts,counters and playgrounds or catcheson through droplets from an infectedindividual. This awareness cruciallyhelps to pre-empt an 'attack'. These ba-sic pieces of information, in fact, pro-vide the 'armour' that everyone needsto acquire to deal with this adversary.

. As a democratic country, the Modigovernment has shown remarkablealacrity in planning for the immediateand long range measures. Hundreds ofaffected Indians have been evacuatedfrom Italy and Iran through special AirIndia flights and put in quarantine fa-cility at short notice. Prime MinisterModi has emerged as a global leaderin the fight against the pandemic, thisis a matter of pride for India.

Since the threat emanates from'surfaces' discipline about 'touch' andhand sanitisation are on top of thepreventive steps. Talking from afriendly distance, avoiding a hand-shake or a hug and cleaning up handsbefore lifting a baby or settling downto a meal are things that suggestthemselves for a quiet adoption. If thethreat of corona virus becomes instru-mental in the upgrading of medicaland health infrastructure it will proveto be a blessing in disguise.

The medical fraternity as also thegovernment must sponsor a campaignof education to make the peopleaware of the right kind of cooking andeating -- the world must rememberhow the suspected origin of the virusis traceable to the animalistic consump-tion and sale of meat in certain parts of

China including Wuhan. A major seg-ment of prevention pertains to dietarydiscipline and attention to one's im-mune system. India has a well devel-oped Ayurvedic tradition and the cam-paign should aim at providing the ben-efit of the same to the people at largethrough authentic messaging andbroadcasting.

A lasting impact of this pandemicglobally and on a large populous coun-try like India is something that can beclearly foreseen. Online businesses,including education through theInternet, will expand and the trend ofemployees being allowed to workfrom home will gather momentum.There will be material changes in thepersonal lifestyles as also in the worldof business -- some if not most defi-nitely for the better. India will betested for its competitiveness in aworld left bruised by the corona pan-demic -with the help of people madewise by the experience, it will hope-fully remain on top. IANS

(The writer is a former Director In-telligence Bureau)

India Post March 20, 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 22 FEB 19 to MAR 20

APRIL 21 to MAY 20 JULY 23 to AUG 22 OCT 23 to NOV 22 JAN 20 to FEB 18

MAR 20TH - MAR 26TH 2020

“Felicitated andhonored by then

President of India ShriPranab Mukherjee"

VANEETSHARMA

510-648-4899

The planetary tran- sit in this week isexcellent for your hap-piness and you shallengage yourself in sev-

eral pleasure seeking activities. In the be-ginning of the week most of your timeshall get spent with friends and socialactivities and everything in this week ispositive for you. The planetary transit isexcellent for your children. The last twodays of the week are excellent for travel-ling, merry making etc and your expensesmight remain high throughout the week.

The planetary tran-sit indicates

that your energy levelshall be high and youshall be determined to

accomplish all tasks. From the beginningof the week you shall be enjoying qual-ity time with your children, friends andrelatives. You shall win recognition atwork place. The family atmosphere shallbe full of love, laughter, peace and hap-piness. Everybody would be impressedwith your achievements and status offamily.

This shall be a fulfilling week for

you but you are ad-vised to stay awayfrom arguments and

drive carefully. The week is indicatingdecent financial gains. Family life mightget disturbed because of argumentsand the same energy shall be carriedby you in your social life too thereforebe cautious. On 24th and 25th youwould be concerned about family mem-bers. The day of 26th and 27th shall begiven to friends.

This shall be one ofthe best

weeks of the year butinitial 2 days shall beaverage. Your energy,

enthusiasm, courage, stamina, willpower, confidence, health, happinessand working efficiency shall go on in-creasing. Your leadership qualities shallwin recognition and quick appreciationfor you. You might go on a religious jour-ney too. This week is not auspicious forpartnership venture. You might plan tostart a new business.

This week is notgood for your

health, happiness,state of mind and de-cision making and the

situation might turn worse after the ini-tial two days of the week. The partner-ships shall get affected. Your patiencelevel shall get reduced to minimum on28th and 29th. The expenses shall in-crease and go uncontrolled. The healthshall get affected. Possibility of gettingan injury is also indicated. You are ad-vised to avoid making investments.

Your confidenceshall be at its

maximum in thisweek but don't spoilthe family atmo-

sphere with your tension or arguments.You can activate some channel of hiddenfinancial gains. Your great confidencemight come down because of some ar-gument at home therefore be cautious.28th and 29th are not good for startinga new task. There are indications of yourgoing on a journey too. The last two daysof the week are excellent.

Energy level shall be low in the be-ginning of the weekhowever after 28ththis shall be a wonder-

ful week for you as your work and edu-cation shall get upgraded. Your happi-ness shall increase with the excellent per-formance of your children in spite of theirbeing careless. There shall be tremen-dous excitement in your love life. Specu-lative activities shall also prove fruitful.The latter half of the week shall be thebest for partnership venture.

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 however in the beginning ofthe week you shall succeed in maintain-ing it considerably but it shall be zeroon 26th and 27th so do meditation tofeel better and maintain balance. Spouseshall be helping and there won't remainany frustration as most of the high inten-sity energies shall get channelized.

This shall prove tobe one of the

best weeks for you

and your social influ-

ence shall increase.

Marital bliss shall be at its maximum

after the mid of the week. You shall

be paying due attention to public

welfare activities. In business you can

give shape to your plans of expan-

sion. Love life shall be too good. The

last two days of the week are aver-

age for general happiness.

The support of fam-ily, especially

mother and otherfriends would helpyou to be on top from

the beginning of the week. Profession-ally you shall see the bright side and allodds shall get eradicated gradually andyou will be relieved especially after themid of the week. This shall be a fulfillingweek in all areas but you need to be cau-tious about the of children. There shallbe obstacles in educational mattershowever your patience.

The planetary tran-sit indicates

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

ginning of the week. Whole week is goodfor work area. You can start any new taskon these days. From 26th you shall getsome relief from your tensions andhealth troubles. Although financial ten-sions are indicated however the possi-bilities of sudden financial gains are alsothere as you would be rewarded for yourperformance at work.

This week is not good for you. The initial 2

days of the week shallbe extremely good foryou to get into a new

relationship. The 26th and 27th are badfor happiness. After the mid of the weekthere shall be some relief and you shallbe earning better favor of destiny.Overall this shall be below averageweek for your health and immunity how-ever the favor of destiny and supportof partners shall keep your confidenceand patience intact.

Every Saturday• Hindi Club of Illinois conducts

free Hindi classesBy Anil Yesudas 773 580 6510

Venue: Shree Ganesh Temple of

Chicago, 2545 W. Devon Ave., Chicago

Il 60650

Both kids and adults welcome.

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.www.hindiclub.orgTime: 01:30pm to 2:30pm

CHICAGOUpcoming

ATLANTAUpcoming

Sat, Mar 21• Bollywood Night Music By Dj Ameet

Venue:CHEF DINESH CAFE, 10305

Medlock Bridge Road, Johns Creek,

GA 30097

Time: 09:00 pm

NEW JERSEYUpcoming

NEW YORKUpcoming

Fri, Mar 27• SHAAM-E-GHAZAL

Venue: ANGEL ORENSANZ FOUNDA-

TION, 172 Norfolk St C, New York, NY

10002

Time : 7:00 pm

Thu, Apr 2• The Lift Fashion Show with Bipasha

Basu & Karan Singh Grover

Venue: The Standard at North Shore,

83 Muttontown Eastwoods Road,

Syosset, NY 11791

Time : 8:00 pm

Fri, Mar 20• SIYASI DANGAL

Venue: E Hotel Banquet & Conference

Center, 3050 Woodbridge Ave, Edison,

NJ 08837

Time: 8:00 pm

Fri, Mar 20• Dilli se hun BC Volume

Venue: Adams Athletic & Social Club,

1210 Cozzens Ln, North Brunswick

Township, NJ 08902

Time: 10:00 pm

WASHINGTON DCUpcoming

Fri, Mar 20• Jaspreet Singh Stand-Up ComedyLive - Washington DCVenue: McLean High School, 1633Davidson Rd, McLean, VA 22101Time: 07:30 pm

Sun, Apr 19• Festival Of ColorsVenue: Bull Run Regional Park, 7700Bull Run Dr, Centreville, VA 20121Time: 12:00 pm

India Post 27March 20, 2020 Datebookwww.indiapost.com

Fri, Apr 10• Unheard Concert With Hrithik

Roshan, Amit Tandon Live In Chicago

Venue: SRenaissance Schaumburg

Convention Centre hotel, 1551 Thoreau

Dr N, Schaumburg, IL 60173

Time: 08:30 pm

NORTHERN CALIFORNIAUpcoming

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIAUpcoming

Sat, Mar 28• BLUFFMASTER GUJJUBHAI

Gujarathi Drama

Venue: VALENCIA HIGH SCHOOL,

500 N Bradford Ave, Placentia, CA

92870Time: 06:30 pm

Sat, Mar 28• Ragaspirit OC 2020 - Festival of

Indian Music

Venue: UCI Student Center & Event

Services, 311 W Peltason Dr, Irvine,

CA 92697Time: 11:00 am

Sat, Apr 18• MAHARISHI a Tamil Play

Venue: Chinmaya Mission, 14451

Franklin Ave, Tustin, CA 92780

Time: 5:30 pm

ILLINOISUpcoming

TEXASUpcoming

Sat, Mar 21•Vibha Holi 2020

Venue: VPSS Haveli, 11715 Bellfort

Village Drive, Houston, TX 77031Time: 11:00 am

Sat, Mar 28• Houston Holi Festival of Colors

Venue: West Oaks Mall, 1000 West

Oaks Mall, Sugar Land, TX 77478Time: 11:00 am

Sat, Apr 4•Atlanta music and Entertainment

- Celebrity Rekha Rana

Venue: Houston Durga Bari, 13944

Schiller Road, Houston, TX 77082Time: 6:00 pm

Fri, Apr 11• MOJO Unplugged - Chicago

Venue: Copernicus Center, 5216 West

Lawrence Avenue, Chicago, IL 60630

Time: 08:00 pm

Sat, Mar 21• Bay Area Telugu Association

Ugadi Celebrations

Venue: India Community Center

(ICC), 525 Los Coches St, Milpitas,

CA 95035Time: 09:00 am

Sat, Mar 21• BCBA Rang Barse

Venue: Cardoza Park, Kennedy Dr,

Milpitas, CA 95035Time: 11:00 am

Sat, Mar 21• Saakhi ( A Punjabi Play)

Venue: De Anza High School, 5000

Valley View Road, El Sobrante, CA

94803Time: 05:30 pm

Sat, Mar 28• OSAAT Presents Sangeetha

Sandhya by Raaga - Bay Area Pre-

mier Band

Venue: Spangenberg Theater, 780

Arastradero Road, Palo Alto, CA 94306Time: 05:00 pm

28 March 20, 2020India Postwww.indiapost.com

Classifieds

www.indiapost.com

NEWSon yourdesktop

29Edit Pagewww.indiapost.com

March 20, 2020 India Post

Disclaimer: Views expressed are personal to the author

Markets bottomed off,aftershocks to continue

ARUN KEJRIWAL

Trump's casual approach

As the numbers of infection in US are up by more than3000, including 65 deaths, Trump seems casual about the

ground reality. He is contradicting his top expert on the infec-tion-curve, who has warned unless US takes this matter seri-ously it could affect thousands of Americans across the coun-try. Americans are waiting for White House to release newguidelines on social distancing and emergency steps to betaken.

In the meantime, Republicans and Democrats alike shouldkeep aside their political blame-game and focus on the realissue facing the country. State administrations should alsospeed up the availability of more testing facilities and makekits available to hospitals and health workers. Even New YorkGov. Cuomo has stated, he does not see the curve flatteningbut rather it will race up, if not controlled.

Experts on disease control predict no country will be ableto come out with the vaccine in the immediate future. Scien-tists from several countries are on a war footing to come upwith a vaccine including US. It seems Germany is perhapsclose. But it will take several months with trails and testingbefore it can be officially released for human use.

However, like SARs or H1N1, the coronavirus may taper-offafter few months as the weather changes. In most of the ear-lier viruses, weather didplay a major role as theypeak in colder climateand usually recede withwarmer weather. No-body is sure ifcoronavirus will reoccuror predict how andwhen it will end. Butwhat we Americans or,any country can do is toself-quarantine and fol-low the basic guidelineswhich are beingadopted successfully.

The Indian government on the other hand is in direct con-tact with the WHO and taking all steps needed to curb it'sspread. Several steps have been taken by the government atthe state and central level, to tackle the global pandemic ofCOVID-19.

In Delhi, there have been seven cases with two being curedand one death, since the outbreak of the virus in India. Therehave been a total of two deaths in the country with the otherone from State of Karnataka.

In India, a total of 52 testing sites have been commissionedspanning the country with two in Delhi. Along with these 52labs, 57 laboratories are assisting with sample collection forthe COVID-19.

Many powerful countries like China, the US, Italy and SouthKorea are struggling against the COVID-19 onslaught. India'sefforts on the crises have attracted praise from around theworld. India's premier research institution ICMR's Directorsaid, "We are at Phase 2 of the curve, and once it reachesPhase 3 it will become very difficult for a country like Indiawith its population and density, to control."

Markets went crazy onFriday the 13th andwe had a reversal

which is unparalleled in recenttimes. The benchmark indiceshit the lower circuit of 10 percent and on reopening, theyfell further briefly before theyrecovered not only the lossesof 10 per cent of the morningbut closed in positive territoryby about 4 per cent. Such vola-tility is sure to increase thehealth bills of many a seniorcitizen.

BSESENSEX on Friday the13th, hit a low of 29,389 pointsbefore recovering to hit a highof 34,769 points and closing at34,103 points, a net daily gainof 1,325 points. NIFTY hit a lowof 8,555 points after which it

touched a high of 10,159 andclosed at 9,955 points, a gainof 365 points. The intra-dayswing on the BSE was 5,381points while it was 1,604points on NIFTY. Clearly un-heard of and unparalleled.

The Indian Rupee was vola-tile in league with the marketsand managed to recover lostground. This happened afterAsia and Europe had recov-ered.

Is the bottom established?Yes, and I strongly believe so.Some of the indicators whichsupport my belief are as fol-lows. There was a sell-off onthe day and even the ex-change has liquidated posi-tions on account of margincalls. Two primary market is-sues from Rossari Biotech andBurger King which were to

have their roadshows inMumbai on Friday, decided topostpone the same in view ofthe struggling market. The re-covery which the marketssaw, was accompanied byhuge short covering and sig-nificant volumes. All of thissuggests, that the bottom isin place but after such a mas-sive earthquake, the after-shocks would continue, butcertainly the worst is over.

SBI Card had in the DRHPmentioned that there wouldbe a shareholder's quota inthe issue of SBI Card for exist-ing shareholders of SBI.

The shareholders quotaconsisted of 1.30 crore sharesand there were 4,94,970 validapplications for 30,29,66,153

shares. Of these 4.95 lakh ap-plications more than half or2,59,463 applications were forone lot of 19 shares. Another65,445 applications were for247 shares or 13 lots and1,22,626 applications were for14 lots or 266 shares. Effec-tively this meant that thisshareholders quota waslargely subscribed to by retailshareholders in terms of num-ber of applications. This cer-tainly is a very good thing andshould be encouraged.

Now comes the tragedy.Because of the pro-rata sys-tem of allocation, of the 2.59lakh applicants who appliedfor 19 shares, only 11,179were allotted 19 shares, bal-ance got ZERO. The top 100allottees in the shareholderquota who have applied for 6

lakh shares each or there-abouts, have been allotted 66per cent or 2/3rd of the total1.30 crore shares.

Very clearly this was notwhat the regulator or thecompany intended. Top 200successful applicants weregiven 81 per cent of the allo-cation which is against naturaljustice. There is a HNI bucketand because the regulatorwanted a larger participationhe gave a higher allocation toretail investors in the retailcategory. Creating a backdoorentry for HNIs to borrow andleverage their application andcome through the share-holder category is most unfor-tunate and appears to beagainst the very spirit. Whathas happened has happened,and one hopes that this servesas a fine example to the pro-moters, regulator and mer-chant bankers for future.

Yes Bank reported losses ofover Rs 18,500 crore in thethird quarter of FY20. The gov-ernment has also notified aplan for the resurrection of YesBank which involves 7 banksputting in money into the eq-uity of Yes Bank. The banks in-clude State Bank with Rs 7,250crore, HDFC Bank Rs 1,000crore, ICICI Bank Rs 1,000crore, Axis Bank Rs 600 crore,Kotak Bank Rs 500 crore,Bandhan Bank Rs 300 croreand Federal Bank Rs 300 crore.Further there would be a lock-in of shares of existing andnew shareholders holdingover 100 shares to the extentof 75 per cent of theirshareholding.

The week ahead may havesome aftershocks to the hugemovement one witnessed onFriday, but Covid-19 notwith-standing, the bottom has beenestablished. Use dips to buildpositions and if in doubt, oneneed to stay away not short themarket. IANS

(Arun Kejriwal is the founderof Kejriwal Research and In-vestment Services. The viewsexpressed are personal)

1 Muqabla: Street Dancer 3D2 Malang Title Track: Malang3 Illegal Weapon 2.0:Street Dancer 3D4 Garmi: Street Dancer 3D5 Haan Mai Galat: Love Aaj Kal6 Shayad: Love Aaj Kal7 Sauda Khara Khara:Good Newwz8 Dheeme Dheeme: Pati PatniAur Who9 Pyaar Tenu Karde Gabru: ShubhMangal Zyaada Savdhan10 Don't Be Shy Again: Bala

www.indiapost.com30 India Post March 20, 2020

TOPTOPTOPTOPTOP TENTENTENTENTENHINDI SONGS

Actress Disha Patani's latest picture in ahalter neck outfit has become netizens'favourite. The image has been flooded

with a lot of comments from Disha's followers.A user commented: "You are so hot."Another one wrote: "So gorgeous."Disha posted the picture on her Instgram.

MUMBAI: Actress Kriti Sanon says playing a surrogatemother in the upcoming film "Mimi" was a journey ofself discovery for her as an actor.

"I feel this is one of the most beautiful scripts I have read.Sometimes, it happens that certain scenes of a film lookreally good on paper but you are not able to execute themwhen you are shooting, and vice versa. But in this film thatwasn't the case," said Kriti, at a promotional event.

The actress, who recently wrapped up shooting forthe film, added: "If we shot this film as effectively as it

looked on paper, credit goes tothe whole team and espe-

cially (director) LaxmanUtekar. This is my second

film with him (after'Lukka Chuppi'). Wehaven't explored thetopic of surrogacy inour films. I like thefact that he (Utekar)has the ability tomake an entertain-ing and humorousfilm out of a seri-ous topic."

"Mimi" is di-rected byLaxman Utekarand is a re-make of theN a t i o n a lAward-win-ning 2011Marathi film"Mala AaiVhhaychay!".Kriti stars inthe film in

the lead roleof a surro-

gate motheralongside Pankaj

Tripathi, ManojPahwa, Supriya Pathak and

Sai Tamhankar. IANS

MUMBAI: Actress Vaani Kapoor, who is now gearing up for hernext "Shamshera", had an outstanding 2019 with "War" becom-ing one of the biggest blockbusters in the history of Hindi cin-ema.

"I had a blessed 2019 with War becoming one of the biggestblockbusters in the history of Hindi cinema. I was fortunateenough to be a part of this film that created so many box officerecords and entertained the whole of India," Vaani said.

She added that the film gave her an opportunity to shine."Even though I had a small but very meaningful role in the

scheme of things. I'm glad people really appreciated how Iplayed my character and I'm thankful for all the wishes and com-pliments," Vaani added. IANS

She captioned it with aflower emoticon. A day ago,she also posted a couple ofpictures of her elder sisterKhusbhoo from her Armytraining days.

On the work front, Disha,who was last seen in"Malang", will now feature inSalman Khan's "Radhe". Shewill also feature in "Ek Villain2". IANS

‘I'M GLAD PEOPLEREALLY APPRECIATED

HOW I PLAYED MYCHARACTER AND I'MTHANKFUL FOR ALL

THE WISHE’


www.indiapost.comPunjab Post

Sikh activists protesting for justice

Closure of educational institutions:LPU classes online

JASWANT SINGH GANDAM / RAMAN NEHRAIndia Post News Service

PHAGWARA: Owing to closure ofeducational institutions in the state, aprecautionary measure with the threatof Corona Virus, students of Lovely Pro-fessional University(LPU) Phagwara willhave their classes in their homes!

Suspending the class room activitiestill March 31 due to Punjabgovernment's order of closure ofschools and colleges till then, LPU hasswitched over to onlinemode.University has directed its stu-dents to attend virtual lectures fromtheir homes, hostels, paying guest ac-commodations.

Aman Mittal, Director Public Rela-tions, LPU said, "Trying to beat this pe-riod of non-teaching in classes, we havechosen to take classes online and allteachers will continue teachingthrough online lectures, presentationsand video calls. They will also give as-signments through the system. Stu-

dents can also submit their assign-ments on the university online system".

Sharing details, Mittal said,"We havemade it compulsory for all students todownload our aap-LPU Live- and the uni-versity online system. The university hasdeveloped its own messaging systemin which students will be automaticallyenrolled as they download the app".

"Nobody knows as to how long thisprecaution of social distancing will con-tinue, so we want to ensure the pre-cious time of students is not lost. More-over, many of the final year studentshave to join their placement companiesafter the semester gets over in May",Mittal continued.

When asked if students have left var-sity campus for their homes, Mittal said,"Most of those from North India havegone back. Many of those who are fromas far as South are here. The interna-tional students, too, are here. Many ofthem are staying as PGs and we haveadvised them not to travel".

Undeclared emergency incountry-DCC chief Khullar


PHAGWARA Activists of District YouthCongress, led by its district PresidentSaurav Khullar, accorded a resoundingwelcome to the protest march beingtaken out from Nabha to Amritsar bystate youth congress Vice- PresidentBuny Khaira.

The march is against CAA,NRC, Modigovernment's dictatorial policies, unde-clared emergency, sinister bids to sub-jugate constitutional institutions, in-cluding judiciary and anti-reservationdecisions.

Joined by local MLA BalwinderSingh Dhaliwal, Saurav Khullar, while

addressing the protesters, allegedthat misusing its brute majority in LokSabha, Modi government was sup-pressing the voice of dissent which isthe soul of democracy.He further saidthat the disadvantaged sections ofsociety and minorities were beingmarginalised by BJP government atCentre.

Asserting that a situation like anundeclared emergency prevailed incountry, Khullar alleged that Modigovernment was methodically cor-roding and diluting the authority of allconstitutional institutions, including ju-diciary, with view to making them pup-pets of the government.


PHAGWARA: As part of their secondphase of agitation forjustice regardingBargari sacrilege andBehbal Kalan-Kotkapurashootout incidents,members of a conglom-erate of 35 Sikh bodies'Alliance of Sikh Organi-zations' and Darbar-e-Khalsa held a demon-stration outside theAmritsar residence ofCongress MLA from Patti,Harminder Singh Gill,seeking justice in theBargari sacrilege andBehbal Kalan police firingthat claimed lives of twoSikh protesters in 2015.

Led by SukhdevSingh Khalsa ofPhagwara, Political Af-fairs in-charge of theConglomerate, the Sikhactivists sat in front of the road outsideGill's residence at Ranjit Avenue inAmritsar. They were accompanied by'ragis' (gurbani exponents), who per-formed kirtan of gurbani 'shabads' thattargeted rulers for showing crueltiestowards their subjects.

Interestingly, Gill opened the gate of

his house and listened to the kirtan, andfive questions raised by Khalsa aboutthe role of the state government in al-

legedly sparing those guilty in the case.The S. S. Khalsa said, "It is unfortunate

that the state government has nottaken any action against the master-minds of sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib.Nor any action has been taken againstthose behind firing at protesters atBehbal Kalan and Kotakpura. We are

hoping that Gill, who has been presi-dent of All India Sikh Students Federa-tion (AISSF), would raise the issue with

his government."Issues of pending justice in Maur

Bomb case, blasphemy by Dera Sirsachief Gurmeet Ram Rahim and Nakodarkilling were also raised by the protest-ers.

Replying to them, Gill said, "We areSikh first before anything else. I agreethe justice has not been delivered inthese cases. I have raised these issuesmany times in Punjab Vidhan Sabha. Iwill again convey your demands to chiefminister Captain Amarinder Singh."

Though Gill shifted the blame to Cen-tre and CBI in connection with the inor-dinate delay in taking any actionagainst real culprits and masterminds ofBargari sacrilege, he admitted failure ofhis own government regarding inactionon Behbal Kalan and Kotkapurashootout, claimed S. S. Khalsa.Amongothers, Parampal Singh Sabhra alsospoke on the issues.

S. S. Khalsa declared that similar pro-tests will be held on March 22 , March29 and April 5 outside residences ofCongress MLAs from Faridkot -Kushaldeep Singh Kikky Dhillon;Khadoor Sahib - Ramanjit Singh Sikkyand Bathinda(Urban) - Manpreet SinghBadal, current Finance minister.

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March 20, 202032

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