VOICE OF ASIA 1 FRIDAY, May 17, 2013

The Leading Community Weekly from Texas since 1987Vol. 26 No. 20 Friday, May 17, 2013 Published Weekly from Houston 713-774-5140 20 Pages ( 2 sections) 50 cents E-mail: voiceasia@aol.com

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HOUSTON – Officer Muzaffar Sid-diqi, one of the most decorate police officers in Texas, has been honored yet again for his services to the commu-nity and the Houston Police Depart-ment.

Houston Mayor Annise Parker and HPD Chief Charles McClelland pre-sented Officer Siddiqi with “Officer of the Year” award on May 13 at the Hyatt Regency Downtown, 1200 Lou-isiana, during an awards ceremony organized as part of the Police Week from Friday, May 10, through Friday, May 17.

HPD honors Siddiqi with ‘Officer of the Year’ Award

Officer Siddiqi has been honored several times in the past for excep-tional services. He is the only police officer of South Asian descent to have received so many awards. His dedi-cation to work and high professional standards have distinguished him as one of the best known police officer in the South Asian He is the only police officer of South Asian descent to have received so many awards. His dedi-cation to work and high professional standards have distinguished him as one of the best known police officer in the South Asian community.

Houston Mayor Annise Parker (rt) and HPD Chief Charles McClelland pre-sented Officer Muzaffar Siddiqi (c) with “Officer of the Year” award.

HOUSTON - Indian Consul General P. Harish hosted a breakfast in honor of

Chairman Ed Royce (R), Chair-man of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Congressman Pete Ol-son, Representative (R-TX 22nd District) on 12 May, 2013 at his residence.

During the meeting, Consul Gen-eral Harish and Hon. Chairman Ed Royce discussed issues of mutual concern in the international arena, prospects for bilateral cooperation on energy especially LNG, bilateral trade and investment, and expressed

HOUSTON (May 13, 2013) Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston held its

fifth annual Tapestry Gala on May 9 at the Hilton Americas Houston. The event honored Marie and Vijay Goradia with the Tapestry Award, an honor that recognizes community leaders who have shown remarkable dignity through tangible work for the betterment of Houston and the world. The event raised more than $900,000 for Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston with Shell Oil Company and Motiva Enterprises LLC leading the way as Presenting Sponsor of the event.

The Tapestry Gala was chaired by Shazma and Arshad Matin and Pau-la Sutton and Bill Gross with Hon-orary Chairs Shaista and Shahzad Bashir. During the evening, Re-vered Dr. L. James Bankston, a se-nior board member, was presented with a special tribute by Bill King for his years of service to Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston. Additionally, Marie and Vijay Go-radia and the Indo-American Char-ity Foundation presented Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston with a check for $61,000.

Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston’s 2013 Tapestry Gala A Great Success

Marie and Vijay Goradia Honored

Honorees Marie and Vijay Goradia at the IM 2013 Tapestry Gala. Photo credit: Kim Coffman

Continued on Page 5

Consul General P. Harish hosts breakfast in honor of Chairman Ed Royce and Congressman Pete Olson

L-R: Chairman Ed Royce, Consul General P. Harish and Congressman Pete Olson.

appreciation for the contributions of the Indian American community in promoting India-US relations.

Consul General thanked Hon. Chairman Ed Royce and Hon. Con-gressman Pete Olson for their sup-port for stronger bilateral economic engagement.

Later that afternoon Chairman Royce and Congressman Olson met with members of the Indian American community members at a Meet & Greet event held at the Mayuri Restaurant organized by the Indo-American Political Action Committee (IAPAC).

INSIDESave A Mother Gala Raises $65000

Indian Senior Citi-zens host Mother’s Day and more ....

SECTION 2Life StyleYoung lifeBollywood MasalaHealthy LivingHoroscopeBusiness and more..

VOICE OF ASIA 2 FRIDAY, May 17, 2013

Publisher: Koshy ThomasAssociate Publisher: Sherly PhilipEditor: Shobana MurateeAustin Correspondent: Sherine ThomasMarketing: Jacob DavidProduction: AR VadlamaniOffice Manager Priyan Mathew

Voice of Asia Online

Online Editor: Shobana Muratee All rights reserved. No material herein or portions thereof may be published without the consent of the publisher. Voice of Asia assumes no liability resulting from action taken based on the information included herein. Pub-lished weekly by Free Press LLC, 8303 SW Freeway, Suite # 325, Houston, TX 77074. Tel: 713-774-5140. Fax: 713-774-5143. Email for editorial submissions: voiceasia@aol.com; Email for advertising inquiries and submissions: advertisingvoa@aol.com

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by Muhammad Yunus

For Bangladeshis, the tragedy at the garment factory in

Savar is a symbol of the nation’s failure. The crack that caused the collapse of the building has shown that if Bangladeshis do not face up to the cracks in their own systems, as a na-tion they will be lost in the debris. Today, the souls of those who lost their lives in the Rana Plaza tragedy are watching what the rest of us are doing and listen-ing to what we are saying. The last breath of those souls surrounds us.

Has the nation learnt anything at all from this terrible loss of so many lives? Or will Bangladesh have completed its duty by merely expressing its deep sympathy? What should we do now, even as news of a deadly fire in another factory in Dhaka reaches us?

Important questions have been raised about the future of the garment industry. Pope Francis has said buyers are treat-ing the garment workers like slave labourers. A very large foreign buyer, Disney, has decided to pull out of Bangladesh. Others may follow. If that happens, it will severely damage the nation’s so-cial and economic future. This industry has brought about immense change in the society by transform-ing the lives of women. We cannot allow it to be destroyed. Instead, Ban-gladeshis must be united as a nation to strengthen the garment industry and foreign companies must play their part too.

I propose that foreign buyers jointly fix a mini-mum international wage for the industry. This may be around 50 cents an hour, twice the level typically found in Bangladesh. This minimum wage will be an integral part of reforming the industry, which will in turn help prevent fu-ture tragedies. We have to make international compa-nies understand that while the workers are physically in Bangladesh, they are contributing to the busi-nesses worldwide: They are stakeholders. Physical separation should not be grounds to ignore the well-being of these labourers.

Of course, we have to be prepared for a negative

market reaction. Some will argue that Bangladesh will lose the competitiveness it has gained by offering the cheapest labour. To retain its competitiveness, Ban-gladesh will have to in-crease its attractiveness in other ways, for example, by increasing productiv-ity and specialised labour skills, regaining buyers’ trust and ensuring work-ers’ welfare. However, un-til the nation is able to fix an international minimum wage, it will not be able to pull its workers from the grievous category of “slave labour” that the pope had placed them in.

Gaining support for a minimum wage will not be easy, but through sin-cere discussions with poli-ticians, business leaders, citizens, church groups and the media in con-sumer countries, it can be achieved. In the past, I have tried to convince foreign buyers — but without success. Now, af-ter the Savar tragedy, the issue has gained a new urgency. I want to mobi-lise my international and Bangladeshi friends to make stronger and more persistent efforts this time. It will not be necessary for all the companies to agree to a minimum wage at the same time. If some leading firms take the initiative, it will start the ball rolling.

There is also another practical way to help en-

sure better standards for Bangladeshi garment workers. Let us say a gar-ment factory produces and sells a piece of cloth-ing for $5 (Dh18.39), which is then packaged and shipped to New York. This $5 includes not only the production, packag-ing, shipment, profit and management cost, but also indirectly covers the share that goes to the cot-ton farmers, yarn mills and the cost of dying and weaving.

When US customers buy this item from a shop for $35, they feel happy that they have got it at a bargain. But everyone in-volved in the production collectively received $5. Another $30 was added in the US for taking the prod-uct to the final consumer. Now, with a little effort, we can make a huge im-pact in the lives of work-ers. Will a consumer in a shopping mall be upset if he or she is asked to pay $35.50 instead of $35? My answer is no, they will not even notice that. If we can create a Garment Workers Welfare Trust in Bangladesh, with that ad-ditional 50 cents, we can resolve most of the issues the workers face — safety, work environment, pen-sion, health care, housing, children’s health, educa-tion, child care, retirement, old age and travel. Every-thing can be taken care of through this trust.

Bangladesh exports gar-ments worth $18 billion each year. If all the gar-ment buyers accept this proposal, the trust will receive $1.8 billion each year — that is $500 in the trust for each of the 3.6 million workers. All we have to do is to sell the item of clothing for $35.50 instead of $35 — a barely noticeable change to the price can work wonders.

Of course, international buyers may argue that the extra 50 cents will reduce the demand for the prod-uct and that their profits will shrink. But an ar-rangement can be offered to them whereby their sales will actually go up. The extra 50 cents can be a marketing tool to make the product more attrac-tive to consumers. We can put a special tag on each piece of clothing, saying: “From the happy workers of Bangladesh, with plea-sure. Workers’ well-being guaranteed.” It can be en-dorsed by Grameen, the NGO Brac or some other respected international or-ganisation. There can be a beautiful logo to go with it.

When consumers see that a well-known and trusted institution has taken the responsibility to secure both the present and the future of the work-ers who produced the gar-ment, they will not mind paying that extra 50 cents.

Consumers, in fact, will be proud to support the product and the company, rather than feeling guilty about wearing a product made under harsh working conditions.

I do not expect all com-panies to immediately implement my proposal, but I hope at least a few to come forward to experi-ment. Governments and organisations that work to protect labour rights, citizens groups, church groups and the media will step forward to support it, too. This issue should attract attention more ur-gently now in the light of the Savar deaths.

Pulling the industry out of Bangladesh is not a so-lution. It will be unfortu-nate for Bangladesh and for the foreign buyers. There is no sense in them leaving a country that has benefited a great deal from their business, a country that can have continuing, rapid and visible econom-ic and social progress be-cause of these companies. I believe these companies will remain in Bangladesh and take pride in creating a new society and econ-omy. Changes are taking place in the world of busi-ness. Even if they are tiny changes, they are coming nonetheless. We can ac-celerate that change.

The Savar tragedy has created a huge wound and deep pain in the minds of the people of Bangladesh. I pray that from this deep pain we will find a way to resolve the problems. When we watched the tragedy unfold on televi-sion screens, it made us aware of what Bangla-desh’s dysfunctional sys-tem has led us to. After all this, will we just keep watching as more such incidents keep happening, again and again?

SOURCE: Guardian News & Media Ltd. Pub-lished: May 13, 2013

Muhammad Yunus is a Bangladeshi banker and professor of economics who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his development of microfinance.

After Savar tragedy, it’s time for international minimum wage

Bangladesh’s garment industry must be reformed, not destroyed. Let’s see foreign buyers unite to lift workers out of ‘slave labour’

Image Credit: Luis Vazquez/©Gulf News

Mr. Hasan Asif who passed away on Monday, May 6th, 2013 in Houston, was the founder of globally success-ful Apex Group which is now operated by his older son Lutfi Hassan. His extensive executive experience of fifty years spanned over many countries including India, Middle East (Kuwait, Oman, UAE) and the United States. His legendary personality with a God gifted talent of developing friendship across the globe has accorded him with friends from the cross section of many religions. He will be missed by all his friends & relatives all over the world. Mr. Hasan Asif was born in Hyderabad, India in the jagirdar (estate holder) family and was educated at the exclusive and elite school called the Jagirdars College of Hyderabad.

He is survived by his wife Tahseen Hasan and children Lutfi Hassan, Safder Hasan, Azam Hasan, Adil Hasan, Seema Bilgrami, Sameera Hasan and Sukaina Razvi.

Sad demise of Syed Abul Hasan Asif

Syed Abul Hasan Asif

by Jonathan Fowle

GENEVA — The cost of natural disasters has hit

$2.5 trillion so far this century, far higher than previously estimated, a UN report said Wednes-day, urging companies to face up to the risks.

The study by the UN International Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) said the figure, representing only direct losses, was more accurate than traditional tallies.

Most tallies “just rep-resent the picture from internationally-reported disasters, the big disas-ters which get into the headlines,” said Andrew Maskrey, author of the UNISDR’s latest Global Assessment Report.

“If you add in all the nationally-reported disas-ters, which don’t get into the international media and the international da-tabases, our impression is that losses are about 50 percent higher than is cur-rently being reported, and losses are going up rap-idly,” he said.

As governments strive to limit the economic and human impact of catastro-phes such as hurricanes or floods -- which experts warn will strike increas-ingly amid climate change -- Maskrey said business has been missing from the debate.

Businesses have been outsourcing to disaster-prone locations without taking adequate catastro-phe-proofing precautions, a move which could be potentially costly in case of a disaster, he noted.

In 2011, for example, rains swamped factories located on a flood plain in Thailand, hitting a plant

UN says natural disasters cost $2.5 tn since 2000

that supplied the global auto sector and thereby halting output in countries such as the United States, Britain, China and India.

“Businesses over the last 20 or 30 years have been gradually decentralising their production to areas with cheap labour costs, that offer access to export markets, good infrastruc-ture,” said Maskrey.

“This has obviously en-abled a number of global businesses to become competitive, more profit-able, more productive, but in doing so, this has meant there’s been an awful lot of investment in capital assets in highly hazard-prone locations.”

Unthinking investment in risk regions could be dubbed “toxic assets”, he added.

And any damage could have long-term effects, he added.

“Say your business does stop, you’re out of business for two or three months, your customers are likely to migrate to an alternative business, skilled workers may go elsewhere, your market share may go down and your reputation may suf-fer,” he added.

Maskrey said locating in such regions was not wrongheaded, but that government investment agencies and analysts needed to be frank about risks, while companies needed to make wise de-cisions, for example by using disaster-proof build-ings.

The report showed that even firms with risk-man-agement departments tend to frame the issue in terms of political and market threats, currency fluctua-tions, or litigation.

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VOICE OF ASIA 3 FRIDAY, May 17, 2013

Second Front Page

OMMUNITYCOICE OF SIAV A

Friday, May 17, 2013 Email: voiceasia@aol.com Tel: 713-774-5140

On Saturday, May 11th, devotees from ISKCON Houston and Char Dhama

of the Woodlands participated in the 2013 Houston Art Car Parade over a 2 mile route along Allen Park-way downtown, attended by over 100,000 people, despite heavy rains the day before. On a decorated trailer equipped with amplification, mem-bers of Jiv Jago, the ISKCON youth kirtan group, chanted Sri Krishna kirtan, while volunteers, including devotee children on bicycles, distributed approximately 8,000 packaged pieces of peanut butter fudge prasada to enthusiastic onlookers.

Following the ISKCON float in the parade was an authentic Rath chariot with a murti of Lord Jagannath. The colorful chariot was built in Puri, Orissa, having been commissioned by Mr. Surya Sahoo of the SKAI Foundation and Char Dhama. ISKCON and Char Dhama will collaborate in the Greater Houston Ratha Yatra or Festival of Chariots, to be held at Discovery Green on Saturday, July 13th at 5:30 p.m. The free Discovery Green program will include a Ratha Yatra with three char-iots, for Lord Jagannath, Baladeva & Lady Subhadra, cultural entertainment and a free vegetarian feast. For more information, please contact http://greaterhouston-rathayatra.org or www.iskconhouston.com (Forwarded by David Garvin).

ISKCON and Char Dhama in 2013 Art Car Parade

ISKCON float: The Rath with a murti of Lord Jagannath. Photo credit KTRK.com

Indian Senior Citizens Associ-ation Celebrate Mother’s Day

by Shobana Muratee

HOUSTON – On Saturday, May 11, the Indian Senior Citizens Association (ISCA)

hosted Mother’s Day at the India House in West Belfort. It was a well attended event with over 450 guests mostly members as well as volunteers and supporters. Lalit M. Chinoy Presi-dent, ISCA welcomed the guests and wished all mothers a Happy Mother’s Day. Special Guest Consul Anil Matta of the Indian Consulate, India Cul-ture Center (ICC) President PV Patel, Gujarati Samaj of Houston, Nisha Mirani, and other community leaders were recognized and welcomed. Chi-noy briefly updated ISCA’s members of the previous meetings minutes and gave a report of the activities. Prayers and good wishes for the quick recov-ery of some members who were sick were expressed.

On the occasion, Chinoy spoke of the forthcoming ISCA National Convention to be held in September 2013, 14th & 15th here at Stafford. He mentioned about early registration and urged members to get registered immediately since admission to the Convention was by registration only. All details about the Convention were available on the ISCA website he told the members. A group from Austin is expected and two buses from Dal-las. Guests from Phoenix are also ex-pected for the Convention. So far 220 have registered out of the expected

300 Chinoy said. The ISCA National Convention

2013 has been in the planning for quite some time now and is expect to set a new record from its earlier Mini Convention that the organization held. Chinoy is very confident that the ex-ecutive Board: Ravind Trivedi Vice-President, Arvind Patel Secretary, Su-dhir Mathuria Treasurer, Nitin Vyas Tech. Support , Shailesh Desai Picnic Planner, Devendra Patel Food Chair-Person and Ravi Arora Ex-Officio BOD and Trustees: Nita Mehta, Sudha Trivedi, Raman Parekh, and Praful Gandhi will make it a huge success.

In his message, Consul Matta wished all Mother’s on the occasion, When we talk of mother’s, we talk of an entity greater than God,’’ he said. He went on the say how significant mother’s are in our lives in making us what we are and there are no words to express their greatness. Speaking of the seniors, Matta said, “They are an asset to the community, a source of in-spiration and guardians to the younger generation.’ He also congratulated ICC for assisting the senior citizens in their endeavors.

The ICC organized the entertain-ment segment of the Mother’s Day event. ICC president, PV Patel took the opportunity of seniors gathered and announced ICC’s 40th Anniver-sary celebrations to be held on August 25th 2013 and kicked off the celebra-tions with the lighting of the lamp

India Culture center, Directors, Past Presidents and Trustees joined the ISCA in celebrating Mother’s Day. ICC’s 40th Anniversary was initiated with the light-ing of the lamp with senior citizens.

and the blessings of the seniors. He reinforced ICC’s commitment to supporting ISCA’s Na-tional Convention.

Poems by Vilas Praful Pipalya, Sangita Pasri-cha, Fateh Ali Chatur and songs sung by Manisha Gandhi, Falguni Gandhi and Surender Talwar were very enthralling. A special token of $101 was made by Sagar Sangvi, a young man who saved up his earnings to give to se-nior citizens.

Koshy Thomas, pub-lisher, Voice of Asia an-

Consul Anil Matta speaks on the occasion

nounced that it would be the media sponsors of the Convention and would help in promoting the event in its pub-lication and its website. Chinoy ex-pressed his thanks for his support. He urged other newspapers for their sup-port as well.

Lunch for the guests was sponsored by Banke Bihari Group. They also conducted prayers and bhajans for the seniors. A gift of a thermos mug was given to all the mothers present. ISCA announced that they will celebrate Father’s Day on Saturday, 8th June 2013. The forthcoming picnic on May 19th to the Wonderland was also an-nounced to the members. Visit www.iscahouston for deatils on iSCA Con-vention 2013.

VOICE OF ASIA 4 FRIDAY, May 17, 2013COMMUNITY

Q. I have a debt collector calling me at work. I have told him that my employer prohibits such calls and I could lose my job. His answer was, “then you better pay me because I am not going to stop call-ing you.” How can I stop these calls?

A. Under a federal law, called the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, you have the right to stop all calls from a debt collector, or, to stop just calls at work. Under this law, once you notify a debt collec-tor in writing that you want him to stop all future communication, the collector essentially must stop all calls, letters, emails and any other form of communication. He can contact you just once more to tell you what steps he will take next. If you want to continue communicating with the collector, but not at work, you can tell the collector you are not allowed to receive such calls at work, and the law says he cannot continue to call. If the debt collector violates this law, you have a claim for damages and penalties.

I suggest you let the debt collector know you know about this law and expect he will stop calling. My guess is that will end the calls. If he doesn’t stop you should immediately contact the Federal Trade Commission and a private attorney.

Q. I am a college student and I just moved out of my apartment. I gave proper notice and left it cleaner than when I moved in. I have been told this landlord does not return security deposits. How long do I have to wait to find out if mine is being returned?

A. First, be sure to give your landlord a forwarding address. Assuming that you were current in your rent, gave your landlord proper notice and a forwarding address, the Texas Security Deposit Law offers you substantial protection. Under this law, a landlord must either return your security deposit or send you written notice why it is not being returned, within thirty days after you move out. If the landlord does not act within this time period, the law presumes he is acting in bad faith. If you went to small claims court to collect, you could be entitled to up to three times the deposit plus an ad-ditional $100.

I also should point out that a landlord cannot just arbitrarily withhold money from your deposit. The landlord can withhold only for damages caused by a breach of the terms of the lease, and he cannot withhold for damage caused by ordinary wear and tear. If you don’t hear from your landlord within the thirty days limit, let him know you know your legal rights. My guess is that you will get back your deposit. For more information about this law, check out the landlord-tenant section on my web-site, www.peopleslawyer.net.

Q. I was hired at a company to do their books. I found that in years past a lot of work this company did was not billed for or paid. How far back can I go in order to try to collect on this work performed? Some of the debts are ten years old.

A. If someone owes the company money, the debt continues forever, or until the person who owes the money files bankruptcy. This means you can send them an invoice for obligations that are ten years old. You probably cannot, however, take steps to collect debts more than four years old through the courts. Under a law known as the statute of limitations, obligations arising from a contract cannot be enforced more than four years after they went into default. If you were to sue on these debts, the person you sued could get it dismissed, and probably collect his attorney’s fees and expenses against you.

Q. My husband and I have been separated for several years. We haven’t done anything from a legal standpoint, but are planning on getting a divorce. A friend told me that my husband won a lot of money in the lottery. Do I have any right to that money?

A. Based on what you say, you and your husband are still married. Being “separated” does not change your legal status as married. As a general rule, all money obtained while you are married, unless it is a gift or inheritance to just one spouse, is “community property.” This means that the money he won in the lottery is probably community property. Assuming that is the case, you both have an equal interest in the money. I suggest you promptly speak with a family law attorney about your divorce and the division of this money.

Do you want to know more about your legal rights? Visit my website, www.peopleslawyer.net.

The People’s Lawyer

You can stop a debt collector from calling

Richard M. AldermanInterim Dean of the Law Center

www.peopleslawyer.net

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ServicesProject No. 13-35

Houston Community Col-lege (“HCC”) is soliciting sealed proposals from qualified firms to pro-vide Property and Casu-alty Insurance Program Services. The solicita-tion documents can be obtained in Procurement Operations, 3100 Main Street (11th Floor), Hous-ton, TX 77002, between the hours of 8:00 AM and 4:30 PM (local time), Monday through Friday or by calling Pam Ferreira at (713) 718-5003 or by vis-iting the HCC website at www.hccs.edu (Click on: Business & Community / Doing Business with HCC / Procurement / Current Bids and RFPs). A non-mandatory pre-proposal meeting will be held in Procurement Operations, 3100 Main Street (11th Floor, Conference Room 11A07), on Tuesday, May 28, 2013, at 10:00 a.m. (local time). Sealed pro-posals will be received in Procurement Operations, 3100 Main Street, 11th Floor (Room No. 11A06), until 3:00 p.m. (local time) on Wednesday, June 26, 2013. HCC is an equal opportunity/educa-tional institution, which does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, age or disability.

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CALL Voice of Asia 713-774-5140 and ask for Special Promo Rates Online. Send your ama-teur videos for posting on our website.

VOICE OF ASIA 5 FRIDAY, May 17, 2013COMMUNITYMore than 700 peo-

ple, with notables, Aziz Jamaluddin,

Bimla and Swatantra Jain, Leena and Ash Shah, Ashok & Vijay Dhingra, Murthy Di-vakurina, Ahu Bala and David Raj, attended the gala which celebrated Houston’s great di-versity in cultures, ethnicities and faith traditions.

Guests entered the Americas Ballroom adorned with bright red and orange roses with blue hydrangeas by Darryl & Co. The evening consisted of a fabulous four course dinner and beautiful program cele-brating diversity with a num-ber of musical performances provided by Kenneth Gayle Productions. Lisa Malosky presided over the event as the Master of Ceremonies.

The event benefited Inter-faith Ministries for Greater Houston, a non-profit orga-nization that brings people of diverse faith traditions togeth-er for dialogue, collaboration and service. The organization provides four main services to the Houston area: Meals on Wheels for Greater Houston, Refugee Services, Disaster Preparedness and Interfaith Dialogue.

About Interfaith Minis-tries For Greater Houston

A United Way agency, In-terfaith Ministries for Greater Houston (IM) brings people of diverse faith traditions to-gether for dialogue, collabora-tion and service. IM provides four main services including Meals on Wheels for Great-er Houston which delivers more than one million meals each year to seniors in Har-ris county; Refugee Services which, in conjunction with the U.S. State Department, resettles hundreds of refu-gees in Houston each year; Office of Disaster Prepared-ness and Response (ODPR) which facilitates communica-tion on behalf of Houston’s faith communities during re-lief and recovery efforts and; Interfaith Relations which

Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston’s 2013 Tapestry Gala A Great Success

Continued from Page 1

L-R: IACF president Murthy Divakaruni, Fatima Mawji (IM), Anu Bala (IACF), Shazma Matin, Arshad Matin, Paula Sutton, Bill Gross, (Tapestry Gala Chairs) and David Raj (IACF). Photo credit: Kim Coffman

Dance performances by students of Naach Houston. Photo credit: Mahesh Mahbubani

IM Supporters and members L-R: Sushma Mahajan, Sushma Ma-hajan, Meena Datt

provides a safe harbor for greater Houston through its many interfaith programs and dialogue efforts. More infor-mation can be found at www.imgh.org.

Elliot Gershenson - President and CEO (c) with Surender Talwar IM member (rt) and a guest (lt).

VOICE OF ASIA 7 FRIDAY, May 17, 2013DIASPORAIndian kid Ritankar Das in UC Berkeley leaves academia awestruckWASHINGTON: A

Kolkata-born In-dian teenager has

become the youngest medalist in a century of the famed Uni-versity of California, Berkeley, in the process completing a double major in bioengineer-ing and chemical biology in only three years - all the age of 18.

Adding to the lore of the preternaturally bright Indian students, some 100,000 of who are studying in the US at any given time, Ritankar Das is also the first student from the University’s College of Chem-istry in 58 years - and the first ever from the Department of Bioengineering - to earn the honor, UC Berkeley officials said on Thursday.

Established in 1871, the Uni-versity Medal is awarded each year to an exemplary graduat-ing student with a minimum Grade Point Average of 3.96. Das is graduating with more than 200 credits and a GPA of 3.99, which includes eight A+ marks. Das will receive the medal and give a speech at Commencement Convocation on Saturday, May 18, to be ad-dressed by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.

Among other alumni, UC Berkeley also counts Intel founder Gordon Moore and mouse inventor Doug En-gelbart, besides dozens of Nobel laureates and a score of Academy Award winners. From the subcontinent, the lib-eral bastion has also graduated the socialist icon Jayaprakash Narayan, Pakistan’s Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, and Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Cha-van.

Despite its illustrious alumni and great heritage, the univer-sity was sufficiently chuffed about its brilliant young grad-uate to put out an elaborate

A Kolkata-born Indian teenager has become the youngest medalist in a century of the famed UCLA, Berkeley, in the process completing a double major in bioengineering and chemical biology in only three years

by Robert Stanton (May 8, 2013, Houston Chronicle)

An undercover prosti-tution ring targeting north Harris County

has resulted in the arrests of 12 men, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. Tues-day

The operation focused on suspects soliciting sex online. Female undercover deputies ad-vertised as escorts online and ar-ranged for the alleged “johns” to meet them at a prearranged loca-tion off Interstate 45 North and Beltway 8, according to a press release from the sheriff’s office.

The suspects were arrested Tuesday after they arrived and

statement. “In my 30 years at Berkeley, I cannot think of a single undergraduate student who would match Ritankar’s accomplishments, his range of activities and projects that he initiated and currently leads, and his academic excellence,” it quoted Marcin Majda, pro-fessor and undergraduate dean in the College of Chemistry, as saying in a recommendation letter submitted to the prize committee.

Born in Kolkata, Das moved to Waukesha, Wisconsin, at the age of 7 with his parents, Sankar and Kakali Das, the University statement said, re-vealing that he “grew up with limited financial resources, often walking several miles with his mother to elementary school in the freezing cold.” Despite these challenges, he excelled in school, leapfrog-ging ahead of his peers by do-ing advanced projects outside

of class. At age 12, he would use a blender and other kitch-en supplies to investigate arti-ficial photosynthesis.

Das soon made his mark at UC Berkeley after he moved with his parents to Califor-nia. His early interest in en-ergy continued through the research projects he pursued at the Energy Biosciences In-stitute and the US Department of Energy. He worked to de-velop better solvents to break down cellulose for biofuels and discovered new ways to grow nanowires for use in high-efficiency solar cells. He also formed a campus chap-

ter of the American Chemical Society, creating and teaching a DeCal course on chemistry internships, and founding the Berkeley Chemical Review research journal, the Univer-sity said.

After graduation, Das, who is fluent in Bengali and Hindi, and conversational in Spanish, will head to Oxford University to pursue a master’s degree in biomedical engineering with a fully funded Whitaker Fellow-ship. He will then continue his studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he has been admitted to the chemistry Ph.D. program.

Houston Community College

Notice of Procurement OpportunitiesRequest for Qualifications

Project: RFQ 13-39 – BOND PROGRAM MAN-AGEMENT SERVICES, Responses Due: May 28, 2013, at 3:00 pm. (local time). Pre-Proposal: Not Applicable Submittal: 05/10/2013. Sealed Re-sponses to the above so-licitations will be received in Procurement Opera-tions, 3100 Main Street (11th Floor), Houston, TX 77002, as stated un-der each project above and are due by the sub-mittal date, May 28, 2013 at 3:00 p.m. (local time). To obtain a copy of solicitation documents go to our website at www.hccs.edu (Click on: Business & Community / Doing Business with HCC / Procurement / Current Bids and RFPs). For as-sistance call: 713-718-5014. HCC is an equal opportunity/ educational institution, which does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, re-ligion, national origin, gender, age or disability.

Houston Community College

Notice of Procurement OpportunitiesRequest for Qualifications

Project: RFQ 13-40 – BOND PROJECT MAN-AGEMENT SERVICES, Responses Due: May 28, 2013, at 3:00 pm. (local time). Pre-Proposal: Not Applicable Submittal: 05/10/2013. Sealed Re-sponses to the above so-licitations will be received in Procurement Opera-tions, 3100 Main Street (11th Floor), Houston, TX 77002, as stated un-der each project above and are due by the sub-mittal date, May 28, 2013 at 3:00 p.m. (local time). To obtain a copy of solicitation documents go to our website at www.hccs.edu (Click on: Business & Community / Doing Business with HCC / Procurement / Current Bids and RFPs). For as-sistance call: 713-718-5014. HCC is an equal opportunity/ educational institution, which does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, re-ligion, national origin, gender, age or disability.

Ratilal K. Patel, 73, of Houston

A dozen arrested in north Harris County sex sting

made an agreement with the undercover deputies to receive sexual services in exchange for money.

VOICE OF ASIA 11 FRIDAY, May 17, 2013

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by Abhaya Srivastava

India’s “Red Brigade” is a group of angry young women with a simple message for the

country’s sexual predators: change your ways or be ready to face the consequences.

Dressed in bright red shirts and loose black pants, the brigade’s members are fed up with deeply ingrained patriarchal mindsets and promote a brand of vigilante jus-tice that is testing the law in their home state of Uttar Pradesh.

Their leader is 25-year-old Usha Vishwakarma, who has become an unlikely heroine to poor young girls growing up in the squalid by-lanes of Madiyon, a suburb of state capital Lucknow.

Vishwakarma founded the group two years ago when she saw many of her friends being forced to give up their studies or stop going out for fear of stalking, groping or as-sault.

“We were told to stay at home to avoid sex-starved men. If we went to the police, we were asked to ig-nore the ‘teasing’ and carry on. We were fed up with this moral condi-tioning,” Vishwakarma said.

Initially comprising 15 members, the group has swelled to more than 100 since the fatal gang-rape of a 23-year-old student in New Delhi in December, which sparked a rag-ing debate over the way women are treated in India.

“The attack in Delhi made us so angry. Many young women have approached us saying they wanted to bring about a change so that no one else has to suffer like she did,” said Vishwakarma, her fiery eyes gleaming.

Reported crimes against Indian women stood at 228,650 in 2011, the latest figures available from the National Crime Records Bureau, but these are thought to represent only a fraction of actual offences.

Social stigma attached to sexual abuse often prevents victims from filing complaints to the police, who are largely perceived as cor-

Members of India’s “Red Brigade” take part in a street play in Lucknow. IThe group comprises angry young women challenging deeply ingrained patriarchal mindsets and fighting for vigilante justice. (AFP)

India’s rebels in red take on sexual predators

rupt and insensitive.The experience of Afreen Khan,

a 16-year-old high school student and a Red Brigade member, re-flects the almost daily harassment that women in the country face and which largely goes unaddressed.

A group of boys would regularly make cat-calls and vulgar com-ments about her breasts, until the day one of them stopped her and pulled on her bra strap.

“I turned around, snatched the bat that he was carrying and bashed him up. The next day I ran into him again but he fled away before I could say anything,” said

Khan, giggling.Much of the confidence of the

Red Brigade stems from the self-defence classes they have been taking since the Delhi gang-rape.

During a lesson at a spartan mar-tial arts academy tucked in a nar-row bylane of Lucknow, 17-year-old Preeti Verma told AFP how she was learning to “kick an attacker in the sensitive places”.

She was recently part of an attack on a group of boys in the neigh-bourhood who had been stalking a teenaged girl and sending lewd messages to her mobile phone.

“We just hoisted the boy up in

the air and beat him up with our sandals. He ran away promising never to trouble the girl again,” Verma said.

-- “You can’t take revenge in this fashion” --

While the Red Brigade has so far not faced any legal comeback over their actions, authorities take a dim view.

“We do not encourage such vigilante groups. You can’t take re-venge in this fashion,” R.K. Vish-wakarma, Inspector General (law and order) of Uttar Pradesh state told AFP.

“If somebody is harassing you, you have the right to retaliate in self-defence at that time. But you cannot go and even slap a man the next day because that would amount to crime.

“As far as the spirit and confi-dence of the women is concerned, we appreciate that. But their ways may land them in trouble some day.”

Surprisingly, the rough justice the Red Brigade metes out has

been winning quiet approval from community elders, such as father-of-four Ram Avatar Singh, who said the group was “showing the way” to other girls.

“When we first started out, ev-eryone ridiculed us. Now they look at us with respect and fear,” said Vishwakarma at her cramped two-room house that she shares with her parents, four younger siblings and a white mongrel.

The house serves as a meeting point for the Red Brigade where the “target” is identified, the tac-tics discussed and the final action plan sealed.

The latest attack to anger the group was the rape of a 13-year-old girl belonging to a low-caste community, who now sits among them with the hope that her voice can be heard.

“I had gone out to fetch water when a boy from the neighbour-hood pounced on me. He lifted me up and took me to the nearby fields and raped me,” she recounted tear-fully.

The police did not believe her

account and registered the case as harassment, despite new laws that stipulate authorities must investi-gate rape allegations.

It was only after her family and others from her village protested that the police acted and detained the 19-year-old offender. A medi-cal investigation later confirmed the rape.

The Red Brigade has drawn in-spiration from the “Pink Gang”, another vigilante group that is credited with sowing the seeds of women’s grassroots activism across Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state.

Activist Kavita Krishnan of the Delhi-based All India Progres-sive Women’s Alliance calls such groups a “positive and collective assertion” of women’s rights, but not everyone is a fan.

“If everyone starts taking law into their hands there will be total anarchy. We should not condone mob justice mentality,” warned Mriganka Dadwal, founder of SLAP, another women’s rights group.

Indian protestors shout anti-government and Delhi police slogans during a demonstration against the rape of a five-year old girl, in front of police headquaters in New Delhi on April 20, 2013. (AFP).

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Friday, May 17, 2013 Section 2 Email: voiceasia@aol.com Tel: 713-774-5140

Young Lifeby Joseph E. Stiglitz

A certain drama has be-come familiar in the United States (and

some other advanced indus-trialized countries): Bankers encourage people to borrow beyond their means, preying especially on those who are financially unsophisticated. They use their political influ-ence to get favorable treatment of one form or another. Debts mount. Journalists record the human toll. Then comes bewil-derment: How could we let this happen again? Officials prom-ise to fix things. Something is done about the most egregious abuses.People move on, reas-sured that the crisis has abated, but suspecting that it will recur soon.

The crisis that is about to break out involves student debt and how we finance higher ed-ucation. Like the housing crisis that preceded it, this crisis is intimately connected to Amer-ica’s soaring inequality, and how, as Americans on the bot-tom rungs of the ladder strive to climb up, they are inevitably pulled down — some to a point even lower than where they be-gan.

This new crisis is emerging even before the last one has been resolved, and the two are becoming intertwined. In the decades after World War II, ho-meownership and higher edu-cation became signs of success in America.

Before the housing bubble burst in 2007, banks persuaded low- and moderate-income ho-meowners that they could turn their houses and apartments into piggy banks. They seduced them into taking out home-eq-uity loans — and in the end, millions lost their homes. In other cases, the banks, mort-gage brokers and real-estate agents pushed aspiring home-owners to borrow beyond their means. The wizards of finance, who prided themselves on risk management, sold toxic mort-gages that were designed to explode. They bundled the du-bious loans into complex finan-cial instruments and sold them to unsuspecting investors.

Everyone recognizes that ed-ucation is the only way up, but as a college degree becomes increasingly essential to mak-ing one’s way in a 21st-century economy, education for those not to the manner born is in-creasingly unaffordable. Stu-dent debt for seniors graduat-ing with loans now exceeds $26,000, about a 40 percent increase (not adjusted for infla-tion) in just seven years. But an “average” like this masks huge variations.

According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, almost 13 percent of student-loan borrowers of all ages owe more than $50,000, and nearly 4 percent owe more than

$100,000. These debts are be-yond students’ ability to repay, (especially in our nearly jobless recovery); this is demonstrated by the fact that delinquency and default rates are soaring. Some 17 percent of student-loan borrowers were 90 days or more behind in payments at the end of 2012. When only those in repayment were counted — in other words, not including borrowers who were in loan deferment or forbearance — more than 30 percent were 90 days or more behind. For fed-eral loans taken out in the 2009 fiscal year, three-year default rates exceeded 13 percent.

America is distinctive among advanced industrialized coun-tries in the burden it places on students and their parents for financing higher education. America is also exceptional among comparable countries for the high cost of a college degree, including at public universities. Average tuition, and room and board, at four-year colleges is just short of $22,000 a year, up from under $9,000 (adjusted for inflation) in 1980-81.

Compare this more-than-dou-bling in tuition with the stagna-tion in median family income, which is now about $50,000, compared to $46,000 in 1980 (adjusted for inflation).

Like much else, the problem of student debt worsened dur-ing the Great Recession: tuition costs at public universities in-creased by 27 percent in the past five years — partly because of cutbacks — while median in-come shrank. In California, inflation-adjusted tuition more than doubled in public two-year community colleges (which for poorer Americans are often the key to upward mobility), and by more than 70 percent in four-year public schools, from 2007-8 to 2012-13.

With costs soaring, incomes stagnating and little help from government, it was not sur-prising that total student debt, around $1 trillion, surpassed

total credit-card debt last year. Responsible Americans have learned how to curb their credit-card debt — many have forsaken them for debit cards, or educated themselves about usurious interest rates, fees and penalties charged by card is-suers — but the challenge of controlling student debt is even more unsettling.

Curbing student debt is tan-tamount to curbing social and economic opportunity. College graduates earn $12,000 more per year than those without college degrees; the gap has almost tripled just since 1980. Our economy is increasingly reliant on knowledge-related industries. No matter what happens with currency wars and trade balances, the United States is not going to return to making textiles. Unemploy-ment rates among college graduates are much lower than among those with only a high school diploma.

America — home of the land-grant university, the G.I. Bill and world-class public univer-sities from California to Michi-gan to Texas — has fallen from the top in terms of university education. With strangling stu-dent debt, we are likely to fall further. What economists call “human capital” — investing in people — is a key to long-term growth. To be competitive in the 21st century is to have a highly educated labor force, one with college and advanced degrees. Instead, we are foreclosing on our future as a nation.

Student debt also is a drag on the slow recovery that began in 2009. By dampening con-sumption, it hinders economic growth. It is also holding back recovery in real estate, the sec-tor where the Great Recession started.

It’s true that housing prices seem to be on the upswing, but home construction is far from the levels reached in the years before the bubble burst of 2007.

Those with huge debts are

likely to be cautious before undertaking the additional burdens of a family. But even when they do, they will find it more difficult to get a mort-gage. And if they do, it will be smaller, and the real estate recovery will consequently be weaker. (One study of recent Rutgers University graduates showed that 40 percent had delayed making a major home purchase, and for a quarter, the high level of debt had an effect on household formation or get-ting further education. Another recent study showed that home-ownership among 30-year-olds with a history of student debt fell by more than 10 percentage points during the Great Reces-sion and in its aftermath.)

It’s a vicious cycle: lack of demand for housing contrib-utes to a lack of jobs, which contributes to weak household formation, which contributes to a lack of demand for housing.

As bad as things are, they may get worse. With budgetary pressures mounting — along with demands for cutbacks in “discretionary domestic pro-grams” (read: K-12 education subsidies, Pell Grants for poor kids to attend college, research money) — students and families are left to fend for themselves. College costs will continue to rise far faster than incomes. As has been repeatedly observed, all of the economic gains since the Great Recession have gone to the top 1 percent.

Consider another dubious distinction: student debt is al-most impossible to discharge in bankruptcy proceedings.

We’re a long way from the debtors’ prisons Dickens de-scribed. We don’t send debtors to penal colonies or put them in bonded labor. Although person-al bankruptcy laws have been tightened, the principle that bankrupt individuals should be allowed a fresh start, and a chance to discharge excessive debt, is an established prin-ciple. This helps debt markets work better, and also provides

incentives for creditors to as-sess the creditworthiness of borrowers.

Yet education loans are al-most impossible to write off in bankruptcy court — even when for-profit schools didn’t deliver what they promised and didn’t provide an education that would let the borrower get a job that paid enough to pay back the loan.

We should cut off federal sup-port for these for-profit schools when they fail to graduate stu-dents, who don’t get jobs and then default on their loans.

To its credit, the Obama ad-ministration tried to make it tougher for these predatory schools to lure students with false promises. Under the new rules, schools had to meet one of three tests, or lose their eli-gibility for federal student aid: at least 35 percent of graduates had to be repaying their loans; the typical graduate’s estimated annual loan payments could not exceed 12 percent of earnings; or the payments could not ex-ceed 30 percent of discretionary income. But in 2012, a federal judge struck down the rules as arbitrary; the rules remain in legal limbo.

The combination of predatory for-profit schools and predatory lenders is a leech on America’s poor. These schools have even gone after young veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. There are heart-rending stories of parents who co-signed stu-dent loans — only to see their child killed in an accident or die of cancer or another disease — and, like students, can’t eas-ily discharge these debts.

Interest rates on federal Stafford loans were set to double in July, to 6.8 percent. Good news came on Friday: it appears that there is a tempo-rary reprieve, as Republicans have come around. But the stay would be temporary and would not address a more fun-damental issue: if the Federal Reserve is willing to lend to the banks that caused the crisis at just 0.75 percent, shouldn’t it be willing to lend to students, who will be crucial to our long-term recovery, at an appropri-ately low rate? The government shouldn’t be profiting from our

poorest while subsidizing our richest. A proposal by Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of

Massachusetts, for lower stu-dent-loan interest rates is a step in the right direction.

Along with tougher regula-tion of for-profit schools and the banks they connive with, and more humane bankruptcy laws, we must give more sup-port to middle-class families struggling to send their chil-dren to college, to ensure that they have a standard of living at least equal to that of their parents.

But a real long-term solution requires rethinking how we finance higher education. Aus-tralia has designed a system of publicly provided income-con-tingent loans that all students must take out. Repayments vary according to individual income after graduation. This aligns the incentives of the providers of education and the receivers. Both have an incen-tive to see that students do well. It means that if an unfortunate event happens, like an illness or an accident, the loan obliga-tion is automatically reduced. It means that the burden of the debt is always commensurate with an individual’s ability to repay. The repayments are col-lected through the tax system, minimizing the administrative costs.

Some wonder how the Amer-ican ideal of equality of oppor-tunity has eroded so much. The way we finance higher educa-tion provides part of the answer. Student debt has become an in-tegral part of the story of Amer-ican inequality. Robust higher education, with healthy public support, was once the linchpin in a system that promised op-portunity for dedicated students of any means. We now have a pay-to-play, winner-take-all game where the wealthiest are assured a spot, and the rest are compelled to take a gamble on huge debts, with no guarantee of a payoff.

Even if compassion isn’t a factor — even if we focus just on recovery now and growth and innovation tomorrow — we must do something about student debt. Those concerned about the damage America’s growing divide is doing to our ideals and our moral charac-ter should put student debt at

the top of any reform agenda. (Courtesy: Opinionator, The New York Times)

Student Debt and the Crushing of the American Dream

A general view of the gates of Harvard University on April 25, 2013 in Cambridge, Mass. College tu-ition has skyrocketed in recent years, leaving students with heavy debts. (Paul Marotta/Getty Images)

VOICE OF ASIA 13 FRIDAY, May 17, 2013

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Shah Rukh received the award from the hands of Kamal Haasan, Vijay and members from the fam-ily of Sivaji Ganeshan at the 7th Edition of Vijay awards constituted after veteran Tamil actor Sivaji Ganeshan. Photo: Yogen Shah.

Bollywood celebrities at Rajasthan Fashion Week 2013

The second edition of the 2013 Rajasthan Fashion Week began at the Fair-

mont on Friday with Mumbai based designer Vikram Phadnis showcas-ing Rajasthan’s traditional outfits and accessories for both men and women.

Rajasthan Fashion Week 2013, a 3-day “rich, extravagant lifestyle & royal fashion” experience show-casing designer outfits through top models & celebrities as showstop-pers. This year being the second season will witness a differential scale of creative canvas & new di-mensions to the business of Fash-ion in India as a distinctive brand to reckon with.

Several designers like Ritu Ku-mar, Vikram Phadnis, Pallavi Jaipu-ria, Payal Jain, Charu Parashar and Mandira Wirk put on display the best of Rajasthan’s embroidery and

Sameera Reddy graced the Rajasthan ramp flaunting a Neeta Lulla collection.

NEW DELHI, - Bol-lywood actor Sanjay Dutt was set to go to

jail this week after India’s top court Tuesday dismissed his last-ditch plea for a review of a five-year sentence related to the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts.

The muscular, tattooed 53-year-old was convicted by an anti-terrorism court in 2006 of possessing arms supplied by the plotters of the deadly bomb attacks, but was freed on bail after serving 18 months in prison.

In March this year the Su-preme Court upheld Dutt’s conviction but cut his jail term to five years from six. He now must serve the remaining three-and-a-half-years of his term.

A Supreme Court bench on Tuesday refused to hear the plea of a film producer who sought more time for Dutt to surrender so he can complete two films that are still being shot.

The court’s decision meant Dutt must surrender to authori-ties on Thursday to serve the rest of his sentence.

Analysts estimate about 2.5 billion rupees ($45 million) is riding in Bollywood on Dutt, whose parents were two of In-dia’s biggest stars. He has some five films in the pipeline that cannot be completed before he goes to prison.

The court’s decision came on a day when full-page advertise-ments appeared in Indian news-papers showing a smiling Dutt dressed in a police uniform for one of his soon-to-be-released movies.

The actor shot to fame in the 1980s in a string of action movies in which he performed his own stunts, earning him the nickname “Deadly Dutt”. He is best known for playing a mob-ster with a heart of gold in the “Munnabhai” series.

The actor, whose mother was Muslim and father Hindu, was acquitted in 2007 of more seri-

Sanjay Dutt to go to jail after court rejects plea

ous conspiracy charges in the blasts that killed 257 people.

The attacks were seen as re-taliation for religious riots in which mainly Muslims died af-ter the razing of an old mosque at Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh state.

Dutt’s first wife died of can-

cer while his second marriage, to a model, ended in divorce. He wed for a third time in 2008 and has two young children.

At a news conference follow-ing the March hearing, Dutt declared himself “a shattered man” and some prominent fig-ures have called for the actor to be pardoned.

Indian Bollywood film actor Sanjay Dutt in Mumbai on May 5, 2013 (AFP/File)

Shah Rukh Khan conferred with the Chevalier Sivaji Award

CHENNAI - (May 12, 2013) Bollywood baadshah Shahrukh

Khan was conferred with Che-valier Sivaji Award, constituted after veteran Tamil actor Sivaji Ganeshan, Saturday here at the

7th edition of Vijay awards.Shahrukh received the award

from the hands of Kamal Haasan, Vijay and members from the family of Sivaji Ganeshan.

“I have enjoyed working with

Kamal Haasan and Ajith Kumar in my career. I may be the owner of Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL cricket league, but my favorite team is Chennai Super Kings,” said Shahrukh while receiving his award. (Courtesy: IANS)

prints in their collections.Sameera Reddy, R. Madhavan,

Rohit Roy, Anjana Sukhani, Hrish-itaa Bhatt, Krishika Lulla, Shibani

Kashyap, Tusshar Kapoor, among others walked the ramp at the sec-ond edition of Rajasthan Fashion Week.

Models display top designer’s collections

VOICE OF ASIA 14 FRIDAY, May 17, 2013ENTERTAINMENT

by Udita Jhunjhunwala

MUMBAI, (AFP) - As the Cannes film festival prepares to

join in the celebrations for In-dian cinema’s 100th birthday, one of the biggest names in modern-day Bollywood says the industry is enjoying a new golden age.

Vidya Balan, the star of Bol-lywood hits such “The Dirty Picture”, will be among the jurors deciding this year’s fea-ture film award in Cannes as the traditional movie industry doffs its hat to its younger In-dian cousins.

The 35-year-old Balan is herself a symbol of the chang-ing face of Indian film-making, having garnered a reputation as a risk-taking heroine in an in-dustry where leading roles have traditionally been the preserve of men.

“We are going through a won-derful time in Indian cinema,” Balan told AFP in an exclusive interview ahead of her depar-ture to the French Riviera.

“We are celebrating versatili-ty in every way -- content, treat-ment, presentation, and all of it is unapologetically Indian.”

Balan is one of two Indian ac-tresses who have been invited as a juror, with actress and di-rector Nandita Das returning to Cannes as a part of the Cinefon-dation jury after a debut stint in 1995.

The festival will feature a gala screening of “Bombay Talkies”, a four-part feature by four contemporary Indian directors -- Anurag Kashyap, Dibakar Banerjee, Karan Johar and Zoya Akhtar.

And there will also be screen-ings of Amit Kumar’s “Mon-soon Shootout”, Ritesh Ba-tra’s “Lunch Box”, Anurag Kashyap’s “Ugly” and Manjeet Singh’s “Chenu”.

Balan sees Cannes as “an op-portunity to reach our cinema to a wider world” and showcase

its coming of age in the last de-cade, evidenced by selection at film festivals and growing audi-ences beyond the diaspora.

And Balan believes Indian cinema has the potential to make further inroads with inter-national audiences.

“Indian cinema has a big au-dience within the diaspora, but our cinema has a unique style and grammar and that too dif-fers between the many differ-ent Indian language films,” she said.

“Our films tend to be longer, they have songs and dances, the dramatic quotient is higher and we follow a different rhythm of storytelling.

“This is our cinematic heri-tage and our uniqueness. It’s why our movies are loved by our audiences around the world.

“We should celebrate this, and with the world becoming a smaller place, I am sure more and more people the world over will wake up to the magic of In-dian cinema.”

Balan has defied the “size zero” definition of Bollywood heroines, and fought back against constant criticism for her sartorial choices by embrac-ing the Indian national dress -- the sari.

She is more likely to be seen

Vidya Balan, the star of Bollywood hits such as “The Dirty Pic-ture”, will be among the jurors deciding this year’s feature film award in Cannes. File Photo

Veteran actor Pran honored with Dadasaheb Phalke Award

Pran was honoured with Dadasaheb Phalke Award at his resi-dence in Mumbai on 10th May

Cannes jurist Balan sees golden age for Indian cinema - Interview

in a sari by Indian fashion de-signer Sabyasachi Mukherjee than the showy evening gowns favoured by Hollywood’s lead-ing ladies.

Asked if she felt pressure to look immaculate given the me-dia attention on red carpet cou-ture, Balan told AFP she would stick to the sari.

“If it was an Indian male ac-tor on the Cannes jury, would he have been questioned about what he was going to wear and if he was stressed about it? Something to think about in these times of gender equality,” she said.

With a string of hits such as “Paa”, “No One Killed Jessica” and “Kahaani” to her name, Balan has both broken stereo-types of the kind of roles ac-tresses can play and proved that a woman can deliver at the box office.

“I feel humbled to be thought of as an actor who can shoul-der a movie on her own. I have always responded to the story, role, director and producer, in that order,” she said.

“The intention has never been to make a statement with the roles I have played or to make any larger point, but just to play an interesting role in a great sto-ry directed by a talented film-maker and hopefully backed by a strong studio.

MUMBAI:: Veteran Bollywood actor Pran Krishan Si-

kand, a Hindi cinema villain loved and feared in equal mea-sure by moviegoers, was today chosen for the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke award, the high-est official recognition for film personalities in India.

The announcement about honouring the 93-year-old ac-tor was welcomed by his son Sunil Sikand.

The award, named after the father of Indian cinema Dada Saheb Phalke, will be con-ferred on Pran on May 3, which will also mark the 100 years of cinema this year.

Pran, who has acted in over 400 films in his six-decade-long career, retired from acting in 1998.

Beginning his career as a hero in 1940 with ‘Yamala Jat’, Pran went on to achieve fame as a villain in numerous film including classics like ‘Milan’, ‘Madhumati’ and ‘Kashmir Ki Kali’.

Such was the magic of his unique on-screen villainy, that people stopped naming their children ‘Pran’ at the height of his fame as an actor.

Hindus are pleased at American actress/singer Selena Gomez

not wearing bindi in sexy mu-sic video for her latest single “Come & Get It”, which pre-miered on May seven night, as bindi did not make it to the actual video.

Hindus had termed Selena’s debut performance of “Come & Get It” at MTV Awards cer-emony in California (USA) on April 14 sporting bindi as “insensitive” and asked for an apology.

Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA), said that bindi on fore-

Hindus pleased as Selena dropped bindi in actual “Come & Get It” video

head was an ancient tradition in Hinduism and had religious significance and was not meant to be thrown around loosely for seductive effects as fashion ac-cessory aiming at mercantile greed.

Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hindu-ism, in a statement in Nevada today, thanked Selena Marie Gomez’s, 20, for having a feel for the Hindu sentiments and thus not wearing bindi in the music video.

Rajan Zed suggested that

instead of loosely talking

about Hinduism, Selena Marie Gomez’s, 20, should seriously explore Hinduism. He or other Hindu scholars would gladly assist, if asked, he added.

Zed pointed out that Hol-lywood needed to understand that Hinduism, with about one billion adherents, was oldest and third largest religion of the world with a rich philo-sophical thought. Its concepts and symbols had well-defined meanings and purposes and these were not created just for Hollywood’s usage to add dra-matic affects as some sanctity and spirituality was attached to these, Zed added.

VOICE OF ASIA 15 FRIDAY, May 17, 2013HEALTHHEALTHY LIVING Friday, May 17, 2013 Section 2 Email: voiceasia@aol.com Tel: 713-774-5140

Dr. David Jeyaraj M.D.

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Vitamin D:

Those of you who fol-low “medical news” would have heard that

The United States Preventive Task force in 2012 recom-mended against calcium and Vitamin D supplements. Af-ter reviewing 137 published studies about Vitamin D., they came to the conclusion that low dose Vitamin D ( 400 mg/ day) is ineffective in prevent-ing fractures or cancer. Their recommendation was that people should not take any Vi-tamin D or calcium.

This is a classic case of “right diagnosis, wrong advice”. It’s true that you are wasting your time if you are taking 400 IU of Vitamin D a day. You need something close to 4000-5000 IU per day in order for it to be effective.

The benefits of adequate Vi-tamin D intake are:

• Improves absorption of calcium, magnesium and phosphorous from the intes-tines and prevents excretion by the kidneys.

• Improves bone den-sity, prevents bone fractures in the general population and post menopausal women.

• Reduces cancer risk.

• Controls prostate cancer.

• Reduces blood pres-sure.

• Improves blood sugar in diabetics.

• Prevent cardiovas-cular diseases.

• Improves symptoms of Multiple sclerosis, Rheu-matoid arthriris and inflam-matory bowel disease.

• Treatment of Hyper-parathyroidism.

• Essential for dental health.

• Improves depres-sion and seasonal affective disorder.

• Improves memory. In fact, going

through the abstracts of the articles on the benefits on Vi-tamin D, the only condition I can think of that Vitamin D does not help is an ingrown toe nail, but even that, I’m not sure.

Dr David Jeyaraj is board certified in Internal Medi-cine and has been in practice for 14 years. When he faced a personal health crisis, he at first turned to conventional medicine. He exercised, ate right, took his medications regularly. He transitioned from conventional medicine to full time age management medicine . Dr Jeyaraj is cer-tified in age management by Cengenics Institute, Las Ve-gas and is a member of the Age Management Medicine Group. He can be reached at: 713.271.0705 www.texasami.com

David Jeyaraj, MD

How does pure water actConsuming ordinary water by the

right method purifies human body .It renders the colon more effective by forming new fresh blood, known in medical terms as “Hematopoi-esis.” The mucosal folds of the colon are activated by this method and new fresh blood is produced. The way bathing cleans the exter-nal body; same way water therapy cleans the internal body parts.

Dr.Fereydoon Batmanghelidj pioneer in water therapy in his book “Your body’s many cries for water,” claimed that dehydration was the underlying cause of many diseases including those which the medical profession regarded as incurable. (Disclaimer: This book shall de-liver the basic knowledge on these three methods. I would request the readers’ discretion to use this book more from the perspective of infor-mation. I wish to emphasis that this book in no way a substitute to medi-cal treatment; Medical Professional before starting the procedures.)

The body signals its water short-age by producing pain and many degenerative diseases including asthma, arthritis, hypertension, an-

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by Kerry Sheridan

WA S H I N G T O N , (AFP) - The amount of salt in foods that

are processed or sold at fast food restaurants is still high despite calls by medical experts for people to cut sodium for better health, a US study said Mon-day.

Americans on average eat more than twice the recom-mended daily allowance of salt, and as much as 80 percent of so-dium consumption comes from salt that is added by restaurants or in the making of convenience foods, experts say.

High salt is considered a lead-ing factor in the development of high blood pressure, which affects as many as 90 percent of Americans in their lifetimes and is linked to heart disease and stroke, said the study in the Journal of the American Medi-cal Association.

Some research has suggested that lowering salt intake could save up to 150,000 lives a year in the United States, but contro-versy persists over whether con-sumers can reduce sodium or if the food industry should face tighter regulations.

The study found that little has changed in terms of sodium con-tent in a sample of 480 processed and restaurant foods from 2005 to 2011.

Some products did show de-creases -- including sliced ched-dar cheese, canned tomato soup, canned diced tomatoes, tuna fish and deli turkey slices -- but oth-ers showed increases.

Restaurant french fries and cheese pizza were found to have higher sodium in 2011 than 2005, as did whole wheat bread, Caesar dressing and barbecue sauce.

Some of the products studied showed decreases of at least 30 percent, but a greater number showed increases of at least 30 percent, said the study.

The study’s overarching find-ing was “the absence of any ap-preciable or statistically signifi-cant changes in sodium content during six years,” it said.

“The voluntary approach has failed,” said Stephen Havas, co-author of the paper and a research professor of preven-tive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

“The study demonstrates that the food industry has been drag-ging its feet and making very few changes. This issue will not go away unless the government steps in to protect the public.

EMBARGO Salt in foods is still high: US studyThe amount of sodium in our food supply needs to be regu-lated.”

An Institute of Medicine (IOM) committee concluded in 2010 that voluntary reductions would not be enough, and found that Americans were consuming almost 1,200 milligrams a day more of sodium in 2007-2008 than they had in the 1970s.

The US Department of Agri-culture’s dietary guidelines of 2010 say that about two-thirds of all adults -- including middle-aged or older people, African-Americans, and anyone with high blood pressure, diabetes, or kidney disease -- should limit their sodium intake to 1,500 mil-ligrams per day.

Others are urged to consume

less than 2,300 milligrams per day.

The current per capita sodium consumption in America is about 3,300 milligrams per day, accord-ing to the research in JAMA.

The US Food and Drug Admin-istration declined to comment on the JAMA study.

“FDA has not exercised its regulatory authority to limit the amount of salt added to pro-cessed foods; however, the agen-cy is conducting research in this area,” said the FDA website, on a page last updated in May 2010.

Salt is a substance that is gen-erally recognized as safe and substances that contain it do not need FDA approval prior to use.

However, the FDA does re-

quire sodium content be listed in food labels, and urges consumers to choose options that contain less than five percent of the daily value of sodium per serving.

The National Restaurant As-sociation said the study sampled only a limited number of prod-ucts, and did not include new op-tions available after 2005 so its results “do not accurately reflect all available choices.”

“Restaurants have made sig-nificant progress in developing lower sodium menu options,” said Joy Dubost, director of nu-trition at the National Restaurant Association.

“The industry’s proactive and ongoing efforts will better enable the gradual reduction of sodium in the food supply.”

Angelina Jolie, pictured in London on 11 April, underwent a pre-ventative double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery that was completed on 27 April. Photograph: WPA/Getty Images .

Surgeon details mastectomies, hails ‘bold’ Jolie

BEVERLY HILLS, Califor-nia, May 14, 2013 (AFP) - An-gelina Jolie was up and work-ing with “bountiful energy” on her next film project just four days after having her double mastectomy, her surgeon said Tuesday.

Dr. Kristi Funk hailed the “bold” Oscar-winning actress’s positive attitude as she under-went three operations -- two in February and one in April -- to remove tissue and reconstruct her breasts.

“To a large extent, I believe recovery reflects expectation. Angelina expected to feel well, to be active,” she wrote in a blog posted the Pink Lotus Breast Center in Beverly Hills.

Brad Pitt, with whom she has six children, attended for all three operations, starting on February 2 with a “nipple de-lay” procedure which lessens the risk of losing the nipples.

“Her partner was on hand to greet her as soon as she came around from the anesthetic, as he was during each of the op-erations,” said Funk.

The main surgery was on Saturday, February 16, and “went smoothly,” she wrote. Two days later, good news: “The pathology returned and I called Angelina to confirm our biggest hope: all of the breast tissue was benign.

“On day four after her mas-tectomies, I was pleased to find her not only in good spirits with bountiful energy, but with two walls in her house covered with freshly assembled story-boards for the next project she is directing.

“All the while she spoke, six (surgical) drains dangled from her chest, three on each side, fastened to an elastic belt around her waist,” she said.

The final operation was car-ried out on April 27, ten weeks after the mastectomies, recon-structing the breasts with im-plants, “which went extremely well, bringing an end to her surgical journey,” she said.

The blog gave comprehen-sive details about the various

surgical procedures and drugs involved in the double mas-tectomy, which Jolie revealed in an op ed article in The New York Times.

Speaking outside the Bev-erly Hills clinic earlier, Funk said she hoped Jolie’s decision to have the operation -- and to go public with it -- would lead other at-risk women to take ac-tion.

“We hope that the awareness she is raising around the world will save countless lives,” she said, adding that the clinic “ap-plauds Angelina Jolie’s bold choices regarding her BRCA mutation.”

In the New York Times piece, the actress -- whose mother Marcheline Bertrand died of ovarian cancer at the age of 56 -- encouraged other women to address threats to their health.

She said she was confirmed as having the “faulty” gene, BRCA1, that doctors said gave her a 87 percent risk of devel-oping breast cancer and a 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer.

gina, adult onset diabetes and oth-ers.

Connection between water and some diseases: The brain must be kept hydrated at all times. So the body, when it is lacking water will do everything possible to keep sup-plying adequate water.

Our body tries to prevent re-spiratory water loss by producing histamines, which close off the capillaries in your lungs. Through the constriction of these capillaries, water loss is reduced, but of course breathing is made more difficult. Asthma patients as you see need more water on a regular basis, not histamine linked drugs.

By not drinking water and at-tempting to lose weight for fear it will add water weight, they actu-ally impair their body’s ability to metabolise fat. If you want to lose weight you have to give your body enough water so that it’s no longer in a state of emergency. The chronic dehydration will not let go of fat supplies easily.

Dr. Hiten Patel is a Registered Medical Practitioner (Alternative Medicine) and ACWA.www.drhitenpatel.blogspot.inmind.therapist@gmail.com

VOICE OF ASIA 16 FRIDAY, May 17, 2013

Friday, May 17, 2013 Section 2 Email: voiceasia@aol.com Tel: 713-774-5140

BUSINESS

by Rob Lever

WASHINGTON, (AFP) - The road has gotten bump-ier for electric cars.

Coda Automotive, one of what had been a promising crop of electric car startups, filed for bankruptcy protec-tion this month, and said it would re-organize around the electric storage market.

High-end electric car maker Fisker Automotive, which has had financial woes for months, announced mean-while it was laying off 75 percent of its workforce, raising the prospect of defaulting on US government loans.

Electric cars are still coming to market from luxury maker Tesla, and from major automakers such as Gen-eral Motors, Nissan and others, but the outlook has become murkier.

Analysts are divided on the outlook, but few believe President Barack Obama’s goal of getting one million electric cars on the market by 2015 will be met.

“It’s not like people are clamor-ing for these vehicles,” said Rebecca Lindland, analyst with Rebel Three Media, and member of a committee studying barriers to electric cars for the National Academy of Sciences.

Lindland said her view that Ameri-cans “just don’t see how an electric car can fit into their lifestyle. We continue to be risk-averse in investing in new technology in our cars.”

Mike VanNieuwkuyk of the research

Rocky road for electric car market

firm JD Power & Associates said more people are aware of the electric cars on the market “but there is still a low number of consumers who say they would purchase an electric car.”

A report by JD Power and its partner LMC Automotive found battery-pow-

ered vehicles’ share of US auto sales was just 0.08 percent in 2012, and pre-dicts this will reach only 0.47 percent by 2015.

Only about three percent in the sur-vey said their next vehicle would like-ly have a battery-electric powertrain.

V a n N i e u -wkuyk said consumers are held back by a lack of plug-in charging sta-tions, concerns about the range of the vehicle before it needs recharging, and especially the high cost.

At the same time, the analyst said, gasoline-powered cars “are improving enough to meet the needs of the consumer,” without the price

tag of electric cars.Jason Kavanagh, engineering edi-

tor at the research firm Edmunds.com said recent surveys suggest pure elec-tric vehicles are unlikely to get past one percent of the US market, even by 2040.

The lack of range and long recharg-ing times are key factors.

“Sitting around for eight hours wait-ing for your (Nissan) Leaf to charge up is not exactly a selling point,” he said. “EVs have a sitting-on-your-ass factor that conventional cars do not.”

More important, said Kavanagh, is that the US electric power system can-not support large numbers of electric vehicles which need constant charg-ing.

“The US power grid is not capable of supporting that,” he told AFP. “You would need a multitude of small nu-clear power stations to support that recharging.”

Chevrolet cut production of its Volt last year amid soft demand, and is reported to be working on a less ex-pensive version. Toyota and Honda

also scaled back plans for all-electric vehicles for the US market.

And Chrysler chief executive Sergio Marchionne said recently the com-pany stands to lose $10,000 on every battery-powered Fiat 500 it sells in California.

There are a few bright spots, how-ever.

Tesla Motors posted its first-ever quarterly profit, of $11 million in the first quarter as revenues rose 83 per-cent from the prior quarter.

Tesla is banking on its Model S, which sells for upwards of $60,000, by offering special financing and leas-ing deals with a guaranteed resale price. The car, which has an estimated range of more than 200 miles (320 ki-lometers), was given a top rating by Consumer Reports.

Nissan has boosted sales of its all-electric Leaf to over 5,000 in the first quarter, overtaking the Chevrolet Volt, which has seen sales sputter.

Brett Smith, analyst at the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Michigan, said he is not surprised by the slow progress in the electric car market.

“There was an enormous electric vehicle hype,” he said. “In a way that was good because it helped push the technology.”

Smith said it is clear that battery-powered cars “are not a near-term mainstream product” but still believes in the value of the technology.

“There is a pretty good chance something positive will come out of this,” Smith told AFP.

“Whether or not we get a cost-com-petitive electric vehicle in the next 10 years, the good news is there is lot of development which crosses over to other vehicles.”

Kavanagh of Edmunds.com said beneficiary of the trend will likely be hybrids, which use both gasoline and electric power, and charge during driving.

“We’re going to see a big jump in hybrids, which can take advantage of the infrastructure we have,” he said.

Kavanagh said he expects hybrids may become more attractive in the coming years “because they will be-come more capable in range and more cost-effective.”

A man plugs an electric powered car to a charging station in Sofia on October 17, 2012 (AFP/File, Dimitar Dilkoff)

Asia shares mixed after US data, dollar stumblesBy Anuj ChopraAsian shares were mixed Tuesday,

with the dollar’s rally against the yen stumbling despite better than expected

US retail figures that highlighted a steady recovery in the world’s largest economy.

Tokyo slipped 0.16 percent, or 23.79 points, to 14,758.42, but Seoul rose 1.03 percent, or 20.13 points, to

1,968.83.Sydney rose 0.21 percent, or 10.7

points, to 5,221 but the Australian dol-lar traded just below parity with the greenback before an austere annual budget was unveiled in the evening, projecting an $18 billion deficit for 2013/14.

Hong Kong closed down 0.26 per-cent, or 59.53 points, to 22,930.28 and Shanghai fell 1.11 percent, or 24.91 points, to 2,217.01.

Asian markets were barely stirred by the announcement of a slight im-provement in US consumer spending for last month.

Retail sales in April were $419.0 bil-lion, up from $418.7 billion the previ-ous month, boosting the earnings out-look for Asian exporters.

Analysts had predicted a decline of 0.3 percent as consumers dealt with a January 1 increase in payroll and other taxes.

Consumer spending in the United States drives roughly two-thirds of all US economic activity.

The April jobs report in early May also came in stronger than expected. The US economy added 165,000 new

positions and February and March job growth numbers were revised sharply upwards.

Inflation data, which is due on Thurs-day, will be the next key release.

The dollar was at 101.54 yen in af-ternoon Asian trade, weakening from 101.82 yen in New York late Monday but still much higher than the 99-yen range a week earlier.

The greenback briefly breached the 102-yen level in Monday’s Asian trade on the back of speculation that the US Federal Reserve could be the first among major central banks to roll back its quantitative easing policy.

The dollar’s strength has been a dominant theme in currency trading in recent days as it gained against other currencies due to further signs of US recovery.

The euro fetched $1.3014 and 132.16 yen against $1.2975 and 132.11 yen in US trade.

US stocks traded largely flat Mon-day under the shadow of lower than expected growth in Chinese industrial output for April, which suggested a sluggish recovery in the world’s sec-ond largest economy.

The S&P 500 managed to set a new closing record, but only on the back of an almost negligible 0.07 point gain from the previous mark Friday, ending at 1,633.77.

The narrower blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.18 per-cent to 15,091.68.

Oil rebounded in Asian trade, with New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in June, gaining 19 cents to $95.36 a barrel. Brent North Sea crude for June delivery rose one cent to $102.83 in afternoon trade.

Gold was at $1,428.40 at 1040 GMT compared with $1,428.90 on Monday.

In other markets:-- Taipei was flat, edging up 3.50

points to 8,251.82.Taiwan Semiconductor Manufac-

turing Co was 0.87 percent higher at Tw$115.5 while Hon Hai Precision fell 0.50 percent to Tw$79.2.

-- Wellington fell 0.55 percent, or 25.78 points, to 4,645.86.

Telecom Corp was down 1.11 percent at NZ$2.675 while Fletcher Building was up 0.70 percent to NZ$8.61.

-- Manila rose 0.70 percent, or 51.08

points, to 7,313.46.Bloomberry Resorts gained 2.79

percent to 12.54 pesos while Philip-pine Long Distance Telephone rose 2.62 percent to 3,210 pesos.

-- Jakarta ended up 0.54 percent, or 27.31 points, at 5,081.94.

Car maker Astra International rose 1.44 percent to 7,050 rupiah, while palm oil producer Astra Agro Lestari lost 0.57 percent to 17,300 rupiah.

-- Bangkok added 0.36 percent, or 5.75 points, to 1,623.48.

Skytrain operator BTS Group Hold-ings gained 3.55 percent to 8.75 baht, while Thai Union Frozen Products jumped 4.62 percent to 62.25 baht.

-- Kuala Lumpur was flat, inching up 0.53 points to close at 1,788.43.

CIMB Group added 0.1 percent to end at 8.67 ringgit while Malayan Banking lost 0.8 percent to 10.14 ring-git.

-- Mumbai rose 0.16 percent, or 30.62 points, to 19,722.29.

Reliance Communications jumped 5.77 percent to 111.85 rupees while state-run oil explorer ONGC was up 1.78 percent at 326.5 rupees.

VOICE OF ASIA 17 FRIDAY, May 17, 2013

Your Horoscope(For week beginning Friday, May 17, 2013)

As per Indian Vedic Astrology the Moon sign is considered, in which every Rashi has control over certain letters, which are initials of your name. Whereas in Western system of Sun Sign, all the people born in one month belong to the same sign. For example, every year approximately around 21 of March to 20th April, the Sun is moving in the Aries Constellation. So all the people born in that month belong to the Sign of Aries. If you were born in between those two dates then you are a Aries born.

Hardik Vyas, Astrologer Cell : 832-298-9950

Libra (R,T) 24 Sept. to 23 Oct.

Special people in your life whom will show you their gratitude. Take them up on their offers. Push through the hype and find your perfect fit. Your professional expertise will be recognized where it really counts. Envision your life and continue to immerse yourself in your career. This

is a week of poor cooperation and many needs/requests ‘on your back’. IF you direct, request and address the smallest issues/needs first and then keep ‘moving on to the next’. You stand in error of making assumptions; avoid that one by no ‘assuming’ anything until you ‘check it out’ and get concrete facts, figures. Whatever you do, this is going to be a challenging week and the best game plan is to stick to ‘routine’

Scorpio (N,Y) 24 Oct. to 23 Nov.

Recognizing a change in your positive flow will affect other’s attitude. Some mysteries may be solved if you continue to follow up on your hunches. You will hear some good news that makes you feel more empowered. Friends, neighbors and family will help celebrate

your new venture.A vehicle expense or short range trip expense is highly likely and the big message later that day is ‘don’t push your luck’ press and issue or get too aggressive or speak about issues ‘too far in the future’. Most of the week appears rather cooperative but it is possible that the weekend could contain some ‘uncomfortable’ times or discussions.

Capricorn (KH,J) 22 Dec. to 20 Jan.

Sensitivity to another’s dilemma which will help you to win them over. You cannot please ev-eryone, but you can be very flexible to other’s needs. You need to push your ideas harder. Don’t

allow others to flounder and waste your time. Get yourself equipped for any future possibilities. Pitfalls, per-sonal upset and a variety of ‘complaints and different challenging family dynamics exchanges’ appear very likely throughout the ENTIRE week, peppered here and there, mostly, but that one appears to be either you or another ‘jumping to a conclusion’ of some kind. Prepare for a few communication glitches near.

Aquarius (G,S,SH) 21st Jan. to 18th Feb.

Need to find a better way to pursue your current goals. Strong emotional ties may be threatened if you continue on your current path. Your schedule is full, but you need to find time to please your loved ones. They will appreciate your sentiment much more than you

think. A very uncomfortable week is sadly, likely for many and staring out with a spike in some level of ‘personal stress’ most likely, when issues seem to almost ‘fix on their own’. Cheerful news is likely end of week, especially on employment, sales of big ticket items and extra cash ‘falling into the household’.

Pisces (D,CH,Z) 19th Feb. to 20th March

Need to do more planning in order to attain your goals. Many new aspects of your life will shine brightly if you do. Take more time to imagine all that can be. Your intuition can successfully lead

you to improve areas of your life that are really lacking. Spending may go on the rise but for ‘basic necessities’ and possibly some ‘sport injury repairs’ on some of you, especially IF you ‘play outside sports’. Fun gatherings, long talk but ‘heated tempers’ may take up some. Poor quality cooperation, things falling dead in their tracks, problems with coworkers and power people or bosses, may ‘mar your week.’ Just stay your course.

Sagittarius (BH,F,DH,TH) 23. Nov. to 21 Dec.

Your well thought out ideas which can help deal with a sad situation. Your touch will be no-ticed. Expect much honest appreciation for who you are. Your leadership skills will be required

to organize others. Feel free to express your ideas to back them up. Be yourself in all you do. This may be one of those week where all you want to do is to just SURVIVE the ordeal! Spending spikes, members squabble, problems with lying teens, vehicle expense, breakdown/repair are all viable events this week

Virgo (P) 24 August to - 23 September

Your strong emotional feelings and you may have you second guessing everything. You need to dig deep and be honest about how you feel. Try your best to keep pace with everyone else. You may need to rejuvenate your present physical state. Get yourself on a regime

to keep fit. A ‘rift’ may unfold with you ‘smack in the middle’. Don’t try to appease everyone; back the person who is right but do it low profile. Upgrade domestic life, making others happy and getting everyone ‘on the same page’ is likely to be your chief aim! Being asked to explain or represent is also likely in your career life and while this may not be very significant now, it will be later.

Leo (M) 23 July to 23 August

YTrying not to get lost in your own world; allow other to enjoy your interests. Creative conversations will lead to a better understanding of yourself. Communicate! If you ex-press your viewpoint, you’ll continue bringing others together. Your positive energy will

enable you to reach higher. Your stars show you may have to be one of those ‘Jack of all trades’ this week fixing, solving and serving in a wide range of capacities, especially for youth and elders, Serv-ing in community events is very likely on weekend so watch out for how much commitment they ‘get out of you’. Things may happen FASTER than expected but ONLY beginning and the rest of the week things DRAG to the point of wanting to shoot yourself in the foot!

Cancer (D,H) 21 June to 22 July

This being a good time for a little rest and relaxation, time to re-charge your batteries. Keep your commitments to an absolute minimum. Others may try to reveal themselves in mysterious ways.

You know very well who you are dealing with and will be able to intrigue them. SEVERAL pit falls wait for the Archer this week starting right out with when you are prone to excess, over spending and having issues with ‘clashes over/with other members’. Then your next pit fall is the next week when you may be ‘harassed’ and have your fuse shortened. At last, when you either jump to conclusions or are the target of those who do, you may be too easily misunderstood and prone to simple mistakes escalating into much bigger hassles, especially if you work closely with/for the insurance, banking, investing or land development industries.

Gemini (K,CHH,GH) 22 May to 21 June

Fine tuning and some last minute touches may push you to resist change. Take a deep breath and look at the problem from a different angle. You’ll find yourself involved in interesting topics of conversation. This will allow you to ponder new ways to flow. Try to keep your op-

tions open. This is flat out NOT a good week for you, especially the evening of the weekend. You may get some cooperation from family members but that’s about IT. Your ‘best day’ to get ease and cooperation is the Monday, but it appears to unfold more in your career life than in your domestic arena.

Taurus (B,V,U) 21 April to 21 May Your research opportunities which will open a new perspective. Your interpretation of events should give you some answers. Your sensitive mood will brighten when you realize how much happiness you can spin. Your strength of character will overcome your fears. Ideal conditions

to be ‘heard and understood’ could be undermined by unintentional actions, so be tolerant and forgiving and hold a ‘re do’ or give them a second chance. You may be indispensable to elders or parents due to Long talks. Don’t jump to conclusions; gather hard evidence and facts before allow a discussion to be held.

Aries (A,L,E) 21st. March to 20 April

Need to give yourself a little more personal freedom. Change the atmosphere by put-ting a positive spin on everything you do. Your physical and mental health may need to find new outlets. Break away from seriousness and allow your sense of humor to take over. A challenging week is likely from the jump with only showing a modicum

of cooperation likely from members. Address needs quickly this week and save your ‘most patient efforts’ as they are likely to have multiple challenges. Be leery of any ‘new deals’ and new people is also a good idea.

FEATURE

UMA MANTRAVADIAttorney and Counselor at Law

Experienced, Honest & AggressiveEmail: uma@mantralaw.com

HOUSTON LOCATION: 6200 Savoy Dr., Ste. 414 Houston, TX 77036(713) 787-5297 NON-IMMIGRANT VISAS IMMIGRANT VISAS REMOVAL PROCEEDINGS OTHER CASESE-1 & E-2 Visas Family Petitions Cancellation ExtensionsH-1B Visas Labor Certifications Bond Determination RFEH-1 Extensions Naturalization Voluntary Departure Appear for L-1 Visas Citizenship Interviews BUSINESS CORP LAW REAL ESTATE LAW FAMILY LAWFREE CONSULTATIONS ON FRIDAYS BETWEEN 1PM & 3 PM BY APPOINTMENT ONLY

We speak Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Malayalam & Spanish Not Certified by Texas Board Of Legal Specialization

SAN ANTONIO:6 8 51 C i t i z e n ’ s P k w y , S t e . 2 2 5

S a n A n t o n i o , T X 7 8 2 2 9Te l # ( 2 81 ) 8 2 7 - 3 8 3 6

by Vijai Singh

After Hurricane Sandy made Tanya Aeya evacuate her apartment

in the West Village, she returned to discover that her clothes had been sitting in water for three weeks.

“The embroidery and all the metallic work on it, everything faded and had water marks and water damage,” said Ms. Aeya, 33, a speech pathologist. She frantically searched for a dry cleaner who would try to sal-vage her garments.

But almost no one would touch them because they includ-ed saris.

With temperatures rising and weddings looming, many wom-en will be slipping on ornate sa-ris, putting the delicate garments in the cross hairs of wayward pieces of food. That possibility makes many a dry cleaner shud-der. Forget trying to make red wine stains disappear. Perhaps nothing is more challenging than removing, say, a curry stain from a sari.

“I don’t enjoy doing it,” said Anil Dua, 55, owner of Edison Organic Cleaners in Edison, N.J.

“The color comes out,” he said. “Thread comes out. Beads melt. They are not meant to be dry cleaned even though they have the label ‘dry clean only.’ ”

Still, not all dry cleaners are as leery. Samir Patel came up with his own method after buying an IPURA, a $45,000 Italian dry cleaning machine he discovered at a dry cleaning expo.

“They said,” recalled Mr. Patel, the owner of Dry Clean World in Blackwood, N.J., “as long as you pretreat it right and know what cycle to put it in, you would be able to do anything you want.”

After trimming loose threads, treating stains and removing loose dirt, he sprays the fabric with a hydrocarbon solution to see if the colors run. Then, he puts the sari on the IPURA’S delicate cycle. After the ma-chine finishes, he steams the sari and presses it. The process takes about an hour and he charges $10 to $50 per piece.

Joon Kyu Park, who owns a dry cleaning store in Queens,

A Strip of Cloth That Makes Dry Cleaners Shudder

has mostly Indian customers. He decided to invest in a top-of-the-line machine after too many complaints about damaged sa-ris.

Leafing through a dry clean-ing magazine, Mr. Park came across the Satec B-300, a Ger-man machine that cost $65,000. Now, he said, “the customers are happy.”

Not every piece can be saved.“One woman brought a gar-

ment that had an Indian pickle smell,” Mr. Dua recalled.

“She brought it from India. The pickle container opened up in the suitcase. I cleaned it so many times and it still smelled.”

He put it outside to try to air it out. It was stolen.

A sari, which means “strip of cloth” in Sanskrit, is a traditional Indian garment, about six yards long, that has been worn in a va-riety of ways for centuries. The various colors and patterns of-ten have different meanings — Hindu brides, for example, often wear red.

Some women distrust dry cleaners and prefer to clean their own saris, which can cost $300 or more, washing them in a bucket or bathtub, or gently spot-cleaning them.

“Sometimes what I do, I spread it nicely on the dining table or in a big space and then carefully look at where the spot is,” said Srimathi Bhatt, 51, a confidential assistant who lives in Queens Village and owns several dozen saris. “I use deli-cate soap, such as Ivory soap, to carefully brush these spots,” she said.

Nan Phrsai, 53, who works for the AMC networks and lives

in Levittown, N.Y., has a closet filled with about 50 Indian out-fits. She says she washes her sa-ris one at a time in her washing machine, sticking them in a pil-lowcase that she folds and pins shut.

“If it’s going to be ruined, at least I did it,” Ms. Phrsai said.

Some women go further — waiting until they travel to India to take care of their soiled saris. Assuming that saris are made there, they reason, Indian dry cleaners should know what they are doing.

“I don’t trust anyone here,” Ms. Aeya said.

But Ms. Aeya did not want to carry the 30 or so outfits drenched by Hurricane Sandy all the way to India. She called numerous dry cleaners until she reached Mr. Patel, the owner of Dry Clean World, who said he would try.

“If there was even a 1 per-cent chance to save some of my clothes,” she said, “I would’ve spent anything.” But despite Mr. Patel’s efforts, she wound up throwing everything out.

Mr. Patel says he embraces the challenge. “My goal is to have an Indian-dry-cleaning-only store by next year,” he said. He recently started advertising his business in the sari shops in Iselin, N.J., using a friend’s of-fice there as a drop-off point for customers.

Sejal Patel (no relation to Mr. Patel) lives in Philadelphia and took in four saris after picking up Mr. Patel’s business card in Iselin. “Some clothes are your favorites, like my mom’s 30-year-old sari, so you want to keep them good and wear them again,” she said.

A brocade sari

VOICE OF ASIA 18 FRIDAY, May 17, 2013COMMUNITY EVENTSRELIGIOUS INSTITUTES & ORGANIZATIONS OF HOUSTON - call Voice of Asia 713-774-5140

Hare Krishna Dham (ISKCON) Prog: Everyday, 7 Aratis and bhoga offerings daily. Sunday Festival: 5.30 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. Location: 1320 West 34th St, Houston, TX 77018.Contact:281-433-1635/E-mail harekrishnadham@gmail.com Website: www.iskconhouston.org

BAPSProg: Location: 1150 Brand Rd. Stafford, TX.Contact: 281-765-2277 Web:

Sri Meenakshi Temple Prog: Location: 17130 McLean Road Pearland, TX 77584Contact: (281) 489-0358

Arsha Vidya Bharati

Prog.:Sanskrit classes and spe-cial worship sessions for all agesLocation: 2918 Renoir, Sugar Land, TX 77479Contact: 281-606-5607 or AVB.Houston@gmail.comWeb-site: https://sites.google.com/site/avbtexas/classes

Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Baitus Samee MosqueProg: Friday Prayer - 1:30 PM Children’s Classes | Interfaith meeting | Location: 1333 Spears Rd, Houston, TX 77067Imam - Mohammed Zafarullah Contact : Work: 281-875-3400 | Cell: 713-874-4363 Zafarullah_Hanjra@hotmail.comwww.Alislam.org

Ashirwad - A Blessing TempleProg: Regular prog :Sloka Classes for kids and teens. Location: Katy, Hwy 249 & Sugar Land. Contact: 281.995.0930/ 281.808.2159

Vedanta Society of Greater HoustonProg: Vedanta teachings Sun-days at 10:30 AMLocation: at 14809 Lindita Dr. Houston, TX -77083. Website: www.vedantahouston.org

Sri Saumyakasi Sivalaya Temple Temple Hrs: 9 am to noon and 5 to 9 pm. Sri Astalaksmi puja: 7 pm.Sri Laksmi Archana will be performed on request all day. Location:10353 Synott Road, Sugar Land, TX77498.Phone: 832.541.0059.Website: www.saumyakasi.org;

Chinmaya Mission Prog: Location:10353 Synott Road, Sugar Land, TX77498.Phone: 832.541.0059.Website:www.chinmayahouston.org.

ISSOProg: Darshan daily from 7.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 8.30 p.m.; Aarti daily from 7.45 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Location: 10080 Synott Road, Sugar Land, TX 77478Phone: 281-530-2565 Web:

VPSS HoustonProg: Location VPSS Vallabh Hall, 11715 Belfort Village Dr. Hous-ton 77031. Contact:713-530-2900Website:www.vpsshaveli.org

Shri Satyanarayan Sai Puja DarshanProg: Daily from 10:00 a.m. to 1:p.m. and 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Every Thursday Abhishek Location: 16338 Kensington Dr, Ste 110, Sugar Land 77479. Phone: 713-933-8821 / 9359.

Shri Radha Krishna TempleProg: Location:11625 Beechnut, Houston, TX 77072Phone: 281-933-8100 Website: www.SRKT.org.

Gurdwara Sahib of SW HoustonProg: Sundays Dewan 10:00 - 11:00 a.m. 1:00 p.m. Langar Location:14811 Lindita Drive, Houston, TX 77083Phone: 281-498-5200Website: www.gurdwaraswh.com

Sri Ashtalakshmi TempleProg: Sri Vishnu Sahasranama Stotra Parayanam: daily 6.30 p.m. Location:10098 Synott Road. Sugar Land, TX 77478Phone: 281- 498-2344 Website: www.ashtalakshmi.org

Hindu Worship So-cietyProg: Open all days except Thursdays (by appt). Regular Puja and Prasad. Sunday Service 11:30 AM to 1:30 Location: 2223 Wirtcrest Lane Houston TX 77055.

Barsana Dham Houston ChapterProg: Satsang every Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Location: India House, 8888 West Belfort 77031Phone: (713) 855-9818 for detailsWebsite: www.jkphouston.org Weekly Radio Program-1460 AM Saturdays 10-11 a.m.

Shirdi Sai Jalaram MandirProg: Location:3845 West Bellfort, St., Sugar Land, TX 77498Website: www.babamandir.org

Lakshmi Narayan MandirProg: Every Friday Satsangh from 7:30 pm to 9 pm. Bhajans and Devi Puja, Discourses. Location: 12530 Ann Louise Road, Houston, 77086. Phone: Contact Vishnu at (832) 309- 7181.

Hindu Temple of The WoodlandsLocation: 7601 S. Forest Gate Drive at Woodlands Parkway,

Spring, TX 77382.Contact: info@woodlandshin-dutemple.org, 832-585-0001Website: www.woodlandshin-dutemple.org.

JVB Preksha Meditation CenterProg: Annual Family Camp “Understanding Joy & Sorrow” on March 29 - 31, 2013 (Good Friday Weekend) Bellville, TX. Location: 14102 Schiller Road, Houston TX 77082Phone: 281.596.9642 Website: www.jvbhouston.org

Patanjali Yogpeeth CenterProg: Free Yoga Classes every Sat/Sun from 8 am to 9:30 amLocation: Arya Samaj @Schiller Road. Contact: 281-579-9433. Websites: www.pyptusa.org

Jain Center of HoustonProg: Location: 3905 Arc St. Houston, TX 77063Contact: 281-606-JAIN; Email: ecjsh@jain-houston.orgWebsite:www.jain-houston.org

Durga Bari Society Prog: Sandhya Arati at 6:30 p.m.; Sunday: 9:00 a.m.- 7:00 p.m. Location: 13944 Schiller Road. Contact: 281-597-8100 Website:www.houstondurgabari.org

Gayatri Pariwar of Houston

Prog: Sundays Satsang, Bal-

Sanskar Shala, from 11am to 1pm. Location: 5645 Hillcroft, Suite # 307, Houston, TX 77036. Website: http://www.gayatripari-warhouston.org/ “

Sri Saumyakasi Sivalaya

Prog: Location: Chinmaya Prabha,

10353 Synott Road, Sugar Land -TX 77498. Contact: 281.568.1690 Website: www.saumyakasi.org

Sri Guruvayurap-pan TempleProg: Bhajans: Sat.7:00 -8:00 p.m.; Sundays 9:00 a.m.-1:00 a.m.Location: 1620 Ormandy Street, Houston, TX 77035Contact: 713-729-8994

Govindaji Gaudiya MathProg:Satsang every Sunday evening from 5 - 7 p.m. Vedic heritage classes for kids 5-14. Location: 16628 Kieth Harrow blvd. Houston, TX 77084Contact: 281-499-3347/281-491-4114.

Sathya Sai Baba CentersProg: Sundays from 3:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at two locationsLocations: Contact: (North) 832-418-3842 or (South) 281-788-4786. Website:www.saicenterofhous-ton.org

Telugu Christian FellowshipProg; Every third Saturday 6:30 PM. Worship is in English

Location: The Triumph Church, 10555 West Airport Boulevard, Stafford, TX 77477.Contact:713-301-6444Website:

Brahma Kumaris Meditation CenterProg: Daily classes in Raja Yoga Meditation To register call or email.Contact:832-379-8888/ Email: houston@bktexas.comWebsite: bktexas.com

Bethesda Houston Tamil ChurchProg: Sundays Worship Tamil 5:30 pm-7:00 pm. English 10:30am-12:30pm. Location: 810 Murphy/FM 1092 suite F&G, Stafford, Tx.77477. Contact: 281-317-7331Website:bethesdahoustontamilchurch.org

Our Redeemer Church Prog: Sundays worship at 4:30 pm, Location: All Saints Lutheran Church 1211 West Belfort Avenue, Stafford, TX 77477. Contact: 281-686-4135 /Email: pastorvj@linchouston.org

Houston Tamil ChurchHouston Tamil Church meets every Sunday at 11 a.m. at 1323 Phyllis St., Rosharon, TX 77583 just minutes from FM521 on HWY 6 and HWY 288. Service in Tamil and English. Contact: 281 804 5930. Website www.houstontamilchurch.org

QUICK REFERENCE SERVICES DIRECTORY

VOICE OF ASIA GROUP

Phone: 713-774-5140QR To advertise, call:

E-mail: Adsvoa@yahoo.com

Accountants

M.D. Associates LLPA full service CPA firm

3 Locations to serve you Houston 713-774-6533 Spring 281-251-2205 Dallas 214-722-7545

visit us at : www.mdassociatescpas.com

NARESH SETLUR, CPACertified, Quickbooks Proadvisor

Accounting, Tax Returns, Cost Accounting, Peachtree, Sales Tax, Franchise Tax.Visit our website www.karanika.net

Retail, Manufacturing, Construction, Franchise Accounting(832) 620.4757 - Email: setlurn@gmail.com

BOOK-KEEPING INCOME TAXPersonal and Business Tax Returns, Payroll

Sales Tax, Income Tax Audits and RepresentationsS. Ram and Associates

Tel: 832-877-9625 Free Consultation asu2020.com

Comprehensive Paperless Bookkeeping LLC Home to all your Accounting &

Tax service needsContact: Rimple 713-785-3900 Email: contact@abkcpa.com

Restaurants

Gourmet India - Restaurant & Catering for home and office parties, Dine in Business Lunches,

conferences & parties, On-site dining, corporate lunch packages Ph: 281-493-5435

India’s Restaurant & Catering for special parties and corporate events. Preferred Wine list, Authentic vegetarian & non-vegetarian dishes, finest

Indian cuisine with chef’s special dishes Ph: 713-266-0131/ 0805

Shiva Indian Restaurant & Catering specializing in North Indian cuisine, Office and Corporate catering.

• 2514 Times Blvd. Rice Village, Ph: 713-523-4753

• 2130 Lone Star Dr. Sugar Land, Ph: 281-494-2981

Bakery• BAKERY • CAKE SHOPPE • CAFE

5700A Hillcroft Ave. Houston, TX 77036713-785-1212 www.houstonhotbreads.com

EGGLESS cakes Available

VEEDONE CONSTRUCTION, LLC. - ROOFINGRoofing, Siding, Gutters and Fence

WIND & HAIL INSURANCE CLAIMS SPECIALIST(281) 701-7760 www.VeeDone.com

Indian Restaurant

14025 Southwest Fwy. Sugarland.TX 77478281-242-4242 www.bombaybeijing.com

Taste the difference! Cater your next event with us!

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ConstructionMAK CONSTRUCTION

281-591-8492Call 7 Days a Week 24 hrs

Tile, Hardwood, Laminate, Carpet, Roofing, Siding, Gutters,Brick, Block, Stucco, Paint, Sheetrock, Texture, Wallpaper,

Patio, Cabinets, Doors, Windows, Fence, Formica, Glass, Power Wash

Electrical ServiceSuperior One Electric

Commercial & ResidentialKHOA TRINH, Electrical Technician

Tel: 832-359-5447 Free Estimate TECL# 27099* Repair/ Remodeling * New Installation * Ceiling Fans * Light Fixtures

* Electric Panel * Trouble Shooting * Services Upgrades

Computer Repair & NetworkingHome & Business, Microsoft & A+

certified, low flat rates, free estimates, pickup & delivery.

www.PCNetworkGuru.comCall Amit at 832-971-6807

Medical SchoolBecome a Doctor - High School to Medical School

Starts $45,000 for all 41/2 years INDIA, Europe, Carib, China etc

209-830-8266; 248-419-0284 EasyMedSchool@yahoo.com

www.EasyMedSchool.com

VOICE OF ASIA 19 FRIDAY, May 17, 2013CLASSIFIEDS

Visit us on VoiceofAsiaOnline.com

NCLEX-RN3 Months Intensive Coaching for

NCLEX - RN ExamsFees - $1000/-

Call Mrs. Usha: 281-239-3769 : 281-795-1239Email: nclexhouston@gmail.com

Space For Lease5000 sq.ft available for lease - cheap rent in Stafford Area. For details,

Call: 832-545-0916

Space For Lease

HELP WANTEDOffice in Katy needs female workers in and

around katy area to handle office work. Should be multi tasking with basic Computer and Internet skills, will train. Full time flexible

working mom hours 8am - 4pmPlease email your resume to rajatriti@yahoo.com or

Call us on 832-363-7448

LIQUOR STORE FOR SALE

Liquor Store, Houston area, for salewith Inventory $25+K.

Interested parties may contact:713-680-3570

Start a Rewarding Career With a Great Company165 years of financial stability and strength

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New York Life Insurance Company3200 Southwest Frwy, # 1900 Houston, TX 77027

13135 Dairy Ashford Rd, Ste 550Sugar Land, TX 77478

(281) 295-2726rcherivirala@ft.newyorklife.com

TEMPORARY NEWS REPORTERKTRK-TV, an ABC O&O located in Houston, TX, has an opening for a full time temporary News Reporter. Candidates should have experience in gen-eral assignment reporting, including Live ENG and satellite work. Appli-cants must be able to develop contacts, enterprise good, hard news sto-ries, and respond well to breaking and spot news. Candidates must have outstanding writing skills and the ability to make good use of graphics and production equipment. Must be willing to work evenings and weekends. All interested applicants must apply on-line at www.disneycareers.com by uploading a resume file, cover letter and list of references. Interested ap-plicants should also send video tape samples of your news related work to: Human Resources, KTRK-TV, 3310 Bissonnet, Houston, TX 77005. Please Reference Job ID: 108244BR on all materials submitted. No phone calls please, and no third parties. Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/V/D.

New development rules could affect your community Recent changes to the City’s development rules will allow houses to be built on smaller lots than are typi-cally found in most suburban style neighborhoods. Learn how your neighborhood can preserve the exist-ing lot size character and prevent incompatible devel-opment. To find a community meeting near you, go to: www.HoustonPlanning.com or call 713-837-7701 for more information about Neighborhood Character Preservation tools.

Should Your Neighborhood Participate?

Programming Photographer/ Editor - Temporary

KTRK-TV, the ABC/Disney owned station located in Houston, TX has an im-mediate opening for a Temporary Programming Department Photographer who can do it all. (Shoot, edit, produce) Responsibilities will include working on a variety of innovative station programming projects both long and short form. Qualified candidates must be detail-oriented with the creative knack for compelling storytelling through sound and pictures. Must have a valid driver’s license and be flexible to working any shift assigned. All interested candidates should send a video sample of your best work to be considered. Candidates must apply on-line at www.disneycareers.com by uploading a resume file. Please Reference Job ID: 109295BR on all materials submitted. Send non-returnable DVD or VHS resume tape to the attention of Human Re-sources, KTRK-TV, 3310 Bissonnet; Houston, TX 77005 and include the job reference ID. No phone calls please. Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/V/D.

Temporary Programming Editor/ ProducerKTRK-TV, the ABC/Disney owned station located in Houston, TX has an im-mediate opening for a Temporary Programming Editor/Producer with strong broadcast televlsion editing skills. Responsibilities include working on a variety of innovative station projects. Qualified candidates must be detailed oriented with the creative knack for compelling storytelling and client messag-ing through sound and pictures. Must be able to work under deadline. Experi-ence editing on Final Cut Pro a plus. All interested candidates should send a video sample of your best work to be considered. For consideration, all inter-ested applicants must apply on-line at www.disneycareers.com by uploading a resume file, cover letter and list of references. Please send work samples to: Human Resources, KTRK-TV, 3310 Bissonnet, Houston, TX 77005. Please Ref-erence Job ID: 109090BR on all materials submitted. No phone calls please, and no third parties. Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/V/D.

TEMPORARY NEWS REPORTERKTRK-TV, an ABC O&O located in Houston, TX, has an opening for a full time temporary News Reporter. Candidates should have experience in general assignment reporting, including Live ENG and satellite work. Ap-plicants must be able to develop contacts, enterprise good, hard news sto-ries, and respond well to breaking and spot news. Candidates must have outstanding writing skills and the ability to make good use of graphics and production equipment. Must be willing to work evenings and weekends. All interested applicants must apply on-line at www.disneycareers.com by uploading a resume file, cover letter and list of references. Interested ap-plicants should also send video tape samples of your news related work to: Human Resources, KTRK-TV, 3310 Bissonnet, Houston, TX 77005. Please Reference Job ID: 109030BR on all materials submitted. No phone calls please, and no third parties. Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/V/D.

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