New York: Amid scandal over his

engagement to a much younger

woman and question mark over his
tenure as president, the conserva-
tive author and filmmaker has left
his position at The Kings College
in Manhattan.
The board of trustees of the small
evangelical school announced
Thursday that DSouza will be
replaced by former president and
current chairman Andy Mills for
the interim period.
God has a mighty future for
New York: Tension was brewing
for some months between
Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit and
Michael E. ONeill, who became
Chairman early this year, after a
series of public missteps with regu-
lators and shareholders and con-
cern that Pandit was not moving
fast enough to cut costs, and
ONeill paved the way this week
for the board to ask for Pandits
resignation after five years at the
helm.
Pandit was replaced Tuesday
with a longtime Citi executive,
OBAMA CAME OUT STRONGER
IN HOFSTRA, BUT DEAD HEAT
IN RACE WITH ROMNEY
Pandit was asked to quit:
Citigroup Chairman
Obama baiter DSouza resigns
as Kings College president
The South Asian Times had the proud distinction to be invited to cover the second
presidential debate held Tuesday in Hofstra University on Long Island.
Our team of Vikas Girdhar, Associate Editor, Arjit Mehta, President, and Namit Narain,
Vice President, were witness to a spirited clash between President Obama and
Governor Romney as well as the frenzied scene in the media room.
For our in-depth coverage of the debate and its aftermath, please go to pages 15-17.
Dinesh DSouza, maker of
2016: Obamas America, is
stung by a scandal over an
affair.
As CEO for 5 years,
Vikram Pandit nursed the
bank to recovery through the
financial crisis.
The South Asian Times
e x c e l l e n c e i n j o u r n a l i s m
Vol.5 No. 27 October 20-26, 2012 60 Cents New York Edition Follow us on TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Diaspora 13 Personal Growth 18 Spiritual Awareness 30 Op Ed 12
excellence in journalism
Continued on page 4
Continued on page 4
Michael Venditto
(sitting) is running
for Nassau County
legislature from the
12th district in a
byelection caused
by the death
October 3 of Peter
Schmitt, who was
Presiding Officer in
the county
legislature. Some
prominent Long
Islanders hosted a
fundraiser for the
young Republican
leader Thursday.
October 20-26, 2012 TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Washington: In a surprise move, Citigroup's
Indian-American chief executive Vikram Pandit
has stepped down ending his tumultuous five-
year reign atop the banking giant that he had
nursed to recovery through the financial crisis.
The move that sent shock waves through the
financial world came just one day after
Citigroup wowed Wall Street with solid third-
quarter earnings. Citigroup's President and COO
John Havens also resigned.
The resignation followed a clash with the
board over strategy and performance, accord-
ing to The Wall Street Journal. The Economic
Times of India reported that Citigroup directors
replaced Mr. Pandit because they believed he
had mismanaged operations, which led to
setbacks with regulators and a loss of credibili-
ty with investors.
Citigroup' s board of directors appointed
Michael Corbat, who headed the bank's opera-
tions in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, as
the bank's new CEO.
The Nagpur-born Pandit, who was named the
CEO of Citigroup in December 2007, replacing
interim-CEO Sir Winfried Bischoff, worked for
two years for a salary of $1 a year as he nursed
the ailing bank to recovery.
In January 2011, Pandit's annual base was
raised to $1.75 million for the progress Citi
made under his leadership. After posting five
consecutive quarterly profits, Citigroup in May
2011 announced $23.2 million retention award
to Pandit making him one of the highest paid
CEOs. However, in April 2012, shareholders
voted against increasing his pay to $15 million.
"Thanks to the dedication and sacrifice of
people across Citigroup, we have emerged from
the financial crisis as a strong institution," said
Pandit in a company statement.
"Citigroup is well-positioned for continued
profitability and growth, having refocused the
franchise on the basics of banking."
"Given the progress we have made in the last
few years, I have concluded that now is the right
time for someone else to take the helm at
Citigroup," he said
"Mike is the right person to tackle the difficult
challenges ahead, with a 29-year record of
achievement and leadership at this Company,"
he said.
"We respect Vikram's decision," said Michael
E. O'Neill, chairman of the Citigroup Board of
Directors in a company statement.
"Since his appointment at the start of the
financial crisis until the present time, Vikram
has restructured and recapitalized the company,
strengthened our global franchise and re-
focused the business. The Board and I are grate-
ful to Vikram for his leadership, integrity and
resilience in guiding Citi through the crisis and
positioning it well for the future.
Hempstead, NY: By hosting the
Tuesday nights presidential
debate, Hofstra University and
Nassau County may have incurred
huge costs, but it was a matter of
pride for both and also promised
tangible returns in the short or long
term.
In the hope to elevate Hofstras
reputation as a nationally recog-
nized institution, its leaders have
invested millions in the two presi-
dential debates (the first was in
2008) and a 2010 debate in the
governors race to gain exposure,
attract applicants from outside the
tristate area energize donors and
students.
It was Hofstra President Stuart
Rabinowitzs idea to apply to host
the 2008 debate after the universi-
ty attracted a $3.5 million gift to
found a presidential studies center
in 2006.
Hofstra was chosen both times in
large part because of its facilities:
the debate hall is big enough to
accommodate several different
debate formats, it has room for
large production trucks and media
filing equipment, and there is
enough parking for thousands of
journalists, debate personnel and
attendees, said Janet Brown, the
executive director of the
Commission on Presidential
Debates.
Hofstra spent $4.5 million get-
ting the campus ready for its
national appearance. A donor has
picked up most of the costs
incurred by Hofstra to host the
debate.
Meanwhile, the influx of media
and other observers on Long Island
to watch President Obama take on
Mitt Romney translated to a big
boost for the hospitality industry
near the Hempstead campus. The
Garden City Hotel was booked
solid since Friday.
On the other hand, an estimated
$600,000 was spent for the all-
hands-on-deck police presence.
This time since a sitting president
was taking part in the debate, more
security measures were implement-
ed.
Nassau County Executive Ed
Mangano said the cost of hosting
the debate is worthwhile because
of the work created, the sales tax
revenue collected and the spotlight
the debate puts on Nassau.
Vikram Pandit quits as Citigroup chief after clash with board
Hofstra debate boosts the university and Nassau county
Vikram Pandit
3 October 20-26, 2012 TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRISTATE COMMUNITY
Hofstra President, Stuart Rabinowitz, welcoming President Obama before the debate. (Right) the media center during the debate at
Hofstra University snapped by Vikas Girdhar, The South Asian Times Associate Editor who was there for the prestigious assignment.
Bangladeshi held
in plot to attack
federal reserve
New York: A Bangladeshi
man who came to the United
States to wage jihad was
arrested in an elaborate FBI
sting on Wednesday after
attempting to blow up a fake
car bomb outside the Federal
Reserve building in
Manhattan, authorities said.
Before trying to carry out
the alleged terrorism plot,
Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul
Ahsan Nafis went to a ware-
house to help assemble a
1,000-pound bomb using inert
material, according to a crimi-
nal complaint. He also asked
an undercover agent to video-
tape him saying, "We will not
stop until we attain victory or
martyrdom," the complaint
said.
Agents grabbed the 21-year-
old Nafis - armed with a cell-
phone he believed was rigged
as a detonator - after he made
several attempts to blow up
the bomb inside a vehicle
parked next to the Federal
Reserve, the complaint said.
Authorities emphasized that
the plot never posed an actual
risk. However, they claimed
the case demonstrated the
value of using sting opera-
tions to neutralize young
extremists eager to harm
Americans.
Prosecutors say Nafis trav-
eled to the U.S. on a student
visa in January to carry out an
attack. In July, he contacted a
confidential informant, telling
him he wanted to form a ter-
ror cell, the criminal com-
plaint said. Nafis was living
in Queens.
The bank in New York,
located at 33 Liberty St., is
one of 12 branches around the
country that, along with the
Board of Governors in
Washington, make up the
Federal Reserve System that
serves as the central bank of
the United States. It sets inter-
est rates.
The Federal Reserve is one
of the most fortified buildings
in the city.
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Vikram pandit story
Continued from page 1
Michael L. Corbat.
ONeill, who has a hands-on approach,
said on Wednesday that the progress the
bank made in recovering from the financial
crisis under Mr. Pandit has been enormous.
Five years ago this company was in dire
straits and I dont want to minimize
Vikrams legacy because it is something he
can be proud of.
But there is a British saying about horses
for courses, ONeill added as quoted by
New York Times, and Mike Corbat has a
sort of single-minded data approach that is
right for the job today.
The Nagpur-born Pandit, who was named
the CEO of Citigroup in December 2007,
worked for two years for a symbolic salary
of $1 a year as he nursed the ailing bank to
recovery. In January 2011, Pandit's annual
base was raised to $1.75 million for the
progress Citi made under his leadership.
After posting five consecutive quarterly
profits, Citigroup in May 2011 announced
$23.2 million retention award to Pandit mak-
ing him one of the highest paid CEOs.
However, in April 2012, shareholders voted
against increasing his pay to $15 million.
Obama baiter DSouza story
Continued from page 1
Dinesh, but there are some things he has to
go through first," Mills said after breaking
the news to King's students. "I have to admit,
I got a bit over-enamored with him," a media
story quoted.
Bombay-born DSouza came under fire
Tuesday when World magazine revealed that
he was engaged to a 29-year-old woman
while still married to his wife of 20 years.
DSouza and Denise Odie Joseph allegedly
shared a hotel room at a Christian conference
in September, and DSouza introduced her as
his fiancee. DSouza lashed out against the
magazine report on his relationship, denying
that he had ever shared a hotel room with
Joseph and accusing the magazine of libel.
The board was also said to be dissatisfied
with DSouzas leadership as he spent much
of the past few months promoting his docu-
mentary, 2016: Obamas America
Letter to the Editor Bloomberg floats super PAC to
influence national politics
New York: Seeking to reshape a
national political debate he finds
frustratingly superficial, Mayor
Michael R. Bloomberg is taking a
plunge into the 2012 poll cam-
paign in its final weeks, creating
his own super PAC to direct
$10-15 million of his money to
help elect candidates from both
parties who he believes will focus
on problem solving.
Bloomberg, a billionaire and a
registered independent, will allo-
cate the money in highly competi-
tive state, local and Congressional
races. The money would be used
to pay for advertising on behalf of
the candidates who support three
of his key policy initiatives: legal-
izing same-sex marriage, enacting
tougher gun laws and overhauling
schools.
Among those Bloomberg will
support are former Gov. Angus
King, an independent running for
the US Senate in Maine; State
Senator Gloria Negrete McLeod,
who is challenging a fellow
Democrat, Representative Joe
Baca of California, who the
mayor believes has been weak on
gun-control; and Representative
Bob Dold, a Republican from
Illinois who has backed gun-con-
trol measures, reported New York
Times.
Bloombergs move comes in the
wake of the 2010 Supreme Court
decision that paved the way for a
flood of independent expenditures
through super PACs (political
action committees), which are
playing an outsize role in elec-
tions this fall. Though his spend-
ing is on a much smaller scale, he
is joining other wealthy
Americans by bankrolling outside
groups to influence elections.
These include the Koch brothers,
industrialists who have backed
conservative causes, and George
Soros, the billionaire investor who
has championed liberal ones.
Bloombergs group is called
Independence USA PAC.
I
appreciate your team for doing
a wonderful job in not only
informing but also educating
your readers about relevant topics.
Regarding the article, You vote
for a candidate, but Electoral
College decides the President by
Vikas Girdhar (Oct 13), while I
commend you for covering the
importance of the Electoral
College, I wish there was more
information regarding the process,
more details as to how the system
works and citing some examples
like the difference between popular
president and Electoral College
president (case of Mr. Gore vs.
President Bush). Lastly, the ration-
ale of having Electoral College
could have been given more space.
Id appreciate if we can have a fol-
low-up article.
Akshat Kaul
Branch Manager,
Indus American Bank
Hicksville, NY
Some Sikh organizations from NY-NJ recently organized a fundraiser for the re-election of
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand at the World Fair Marina in Queens. She took over the New York
Senate seat from Hillary Clinton in 2009. President of Richmond Hill gurdwara, Gurdev Singh
Kang, Ex-president of Baba Makhan Shah gurdwara, Raghbir Singh Sobanpur helped in the event
pushed by Kirpal Singh Billing, Jasbir Singh and Jasvir Singh Ubhi.
NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg
4 October 20-26, 2012 TheSouthAsianTimes.info TURN PAGE
Washington, DC:
Sonal Shah, most
recently the first ever
director of the White
House Office of Social
Innovation and Civic
Participation, has been
appointed a senior fel-
low at The Case
Foundation, a
Washington, D.C.-
based organization investing in peo-
ple, nonprofits and social entities
that connect people and promote
civic participation.
The announcement was made
Sept. 20 at the White House Forum
on Philanthropy Innovation by Case
Foundation chief executive officer
Jean Case. Shah, the foundation said
in a press release, will oversee a
multifaceted effort and cross-sector
conversation to explore launching a
targeted, time-limited campaign to
inspire an exponential increase in
impact investors and investments.
As director of the White Houses
innovation and civic participation
office, the Indian American social
planner launched the Social
Innovation Fund and led efforts to
expand national service through the
Edward M. Kennedy Serve America
Act. The concept of impact invest-
ing has begun to gain
momentum as pio-
neering investors and
organizations have
built a bourgeoning
marketplace to finance
a new class of world-
changing enterprises,"
Case said. Were
thrilled to have
(Shahs) expertise and
guidance, along with the partnership
of so many leaders, as we look to
find new and interesting ways to
unleash new capital and build new
on-ramps to engage investors who
are sitting on the sidelines today.
Shah will also coordinate an advi-
sory group led by Case charged with
contributing to a detailed plan of
action. The Case Foundation will
release its findings within six
months.
Were just beginning to scratch
the surface of the opportunities for
deploying capital in more creative
and productive ways to drive social
change," said Shah. "Jean and Steve
Case and the Case Foundation have
long been at the forefront of explor-
ing new models for creating impact
in the social sector, and I'm excited
to join the team to help expand the
potential for impact investing.
Sonal Shah joins The Case Foundation as Senior Fellow
Kolkata: The child welfare serv-
ices in New Jersey, which had
taken over the custody of one-
year-old Indrashish, have agreed
to hand over the child to a "bona
fide guardian", his grandfather
said here Tuesday.
"My son (Debasish Saha) has
told me from New Jersey that the
US authorities have agreed to
hand over the child to a 'bonafide
guardian'. They have urged the
ministry of external affairs
(MEA, India) to suggest the
name of the appropriate person
who can take the custody, "
Nirmal Saha said.
Indrashish was taken into pro-
tective custody by US authorities
after the child suffered a head
injury Aug 9. The access to the
child by his parents -- a US-based
Indian couple from West Bengal -
- has also been limited.
The US authorities have urged
the Indian external affairs min-
istry, to verify through an NGO
or an agency the person most
suitable among the family' s
friends and relatives to be given
custody of the child, he said.
Saha said that his son had sug-
gested names of four relatives
before the Court in New Jersey
where the matter is being heard.
"It appears that after the US
authorities get any response from
MEA then only they would
decide on who is the most suit-
able person to be given the cus-
tody of the child," he said.
Saha is among the people who
can take the child's custody as
suggested before the court in
New Jersey. He had expressed his
willingness to go to the US and
take custody of his grandson.
Saha had met President Pranab
Mukherjee and wrote to Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh and
the external affairs ministry seek-
ing their intervention in the
matter.
Custody row: New Jersey authorities agree to hand over child
New York: US prosecutors
want Rajat Gupta, a former
Indian-American director of
Goldman Sachs Group, jailed
for up to 10 years, but his
lawyers suggest he could repay
for his "shocking" crimes with
community work in rural
Rwanda.
Prosecutors have urged a sen-
tence of 97 to 121 months for
Gupta, 63, who is scheduled to
be sentenced Oct 24 for his
June conviction for insider trading on three
counts of securities fraud and one count of
conspiracy.
"Gupta held positions of extraordinary priv-
ilege and prestige," said Assistant US
Attorney Richard Tarlowe in a court filing
Wednesday, according to the Wall Street
Journal.
"He understood as well as anyone the spe-
cial responsibility that came with being in
such an extraordinary position of trust .....Yet,
time and time again, over the span of nearly
two years, Gupta flouted the law and abused
his position of trust."
Gupta, who allegedly passed corporate
secrets he learned in the boardroom about
Goldman to convicted hedge fund manager
Raj Rajaratnam, should also for-
feit more than $1.1 million, an
estimate of the hedge fund
titan's personal gain from his
tips, prosecutors argued.
They also wanted Gupta to
pay restitution of nearly $6.8
million to Goldman for legal
fees, compensation and inves-
tigative costs.
However, lawyers for Gupta
said he should receive probation
and community service because
he never profited from the alleged illegal trad-
ing, lived an "exemplary" life and had already
suffered serious consequences.
As one option, they suggested Gupta work
on health care and agriculture in rural
Rwanda. "It would be punishment reflecting
the seriousness of the offense of which he was
convicted," Gary Naftalis, a lawyer for Gupta,
said, while "enabling him to give back to soci-
ety and employ his talents in a country, and in
a manner, consistent with US interests."
In handing down a sentence to Gupta, US
District Judge Jed Rakoff, is likely to consider
the defence's arguments about Gupta's "exem-
plary life of uncommon accomplishment" and
dedication as a family man despite a demand-
ing career, the Journal said.
Prosecutors want Rajat Gupta jailed for ten years
Washington: In the run-up to the November 6
polls, Indian-American Congressional candi-
dates, including Democrat Ami Bera and
Republican 'young gun' Ranjit Ricky Gill,
have significantly out-raised their opponents,
according to latest fund-raising figures.
However, it would be known only on the
election day if this fund-raising power of
these candidates gets translated into votes for
any of them, thus sending a third Indian-
American to the US House of Representative.
Apart from Bera and Gill, both of whom are
from California, other Indian-American can-
didates who have out-raised their rivals are
Upendra Chivukula from New Jersey; Manan
Trivedi from Pennsylvania and Syed Taj from
Michigan.
In the third quarter ending September 30,
Bera added more than $731,000 to his cam-
paign funds, dramatically out-raising his
opponent Dan Lungren by more than
$223,000. Bera has now successfully out-
raised Lungren for 12 out of the last 13 quar-
ters and netted almost $2.7 million this cycle.
"With less than one month to go until
Election Day, this strong showing adds to the
momentum our campaign has been building
after successfully receiving the endorsements
of President Clinton and The Sacramento
Bee," said Bera.
Bera is closely followed by the 25-year-old
Republican 'young gun' Gill, who has raised
over $720,000 during the same quarter; con-
tinuing a trend of successful quarters in which
he consistently out-raised incumbent
Democratic Congressman Jerry McNerney.
Gill now has raised more than $2.3 million
over the course of the campaign, almost
exclusively from individual donors. He ended
the third quarter with over $1.1 million cash
on hand. According to a recent poll, Gill is
leading the incumbent among likely voters
and holds a 20-point advantage among inde-
pendents. Contesting for a Congressional seat
for the second consecutive time, Manan
Trivedi has significantly outpaced incumbent
Republican Congressman Jim Gerlach in the
recent third quarter fund-raising reports,
reflecting the tightening of the race in what
has been a traditional Republican stronghold.
In the third quarter ending September 30,
Trivedi, an Iraq War veteran and primary care
physician, raised over $437,000 compared to
Gerlachs's $333,000.
Indian-American Congressional candidates
out-raise opponents
Rajat Gupta
Sonal Shah
Edison Mayor Antonia Toni Ricigliano, Chanchal Gupta,
chairman, Indo American Festival, wife of late Mangal Gupta,
the Founder of Dushahra Festival and Mamta Narula at the
14th Grand Dushahra Festival in New Jersey.
5 October 20-26, 2012 TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRISTATE COMMUNITY
6 October 20-26, 2012 TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRISTATE COMMUNITY
IN BRIEF
Star Network presents Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana
Exclusive media sponsor of South Asian International Film Festival 2012
O
n the run from London gangsters,
ne'er-do-well Omi Khurana returns
to his native village in Punjab to
discover that his forgetful grandfather has
"lost" the family's secret recipe of "Chick-
en Khurana," the signature dish that has
made the family restaurant famous across
Punjab. Even more disheartening, Omi also
finds his childhood sweetheart engaged to
his cousin.
Produced by Anurag Kashyap and
helmed by first-time director Sameer Shar-
ma, this quirky and entertaining comedy-
family film is being presented by Star Net-
work. It is among the varied gamut of films
being showcased this year in the South
Asian International Film Festival to be held
in New York City.
The movie will premiere at the Clearview
Chelsea Cinemas, New York City on Octo-
ber 30th, from 4:00PM-6:30PM and will be
subtitled in English.
SAIFF is the largest film premiere desti-
nation for South Asian/Indian filmmakers
in the United States.
The Festival brings films from South Asia
(i.e. India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka,
Bangladesh, and Nepal) and with a focus
on dynamic, visionary cinema.
Star Network has been associated with
SAIFF for the last three years to encourage
emerging talent and to be partner of the
'Largest' South Asian film festival in North
America.
Share and Care Foundation raises $600,000 at Annual
Gala & Fund Raiser celebrating 30 years of service
S
hare and Care Foundation (SCF)
hosted their annual gala on Sunday,
October 14, 2012 at the State The-
atre, New Brunswick, New Jersey. More
than 1,100 supporters attended the Gala and
$600,000 plus was raised for SCF pro-
grams, said Jayant Shroff, President.
The dance ballet choreographed by
Mythili Prakash, with an ensemble of
skilled dancers and musicians, left the au-
dience spellbound.
The performance skillfully weaved
episodes of Krishnas lives through expres-
sive choreography.
The improvisatory interplay of move-
ment, expressions, sound, and light brought
the stories to life. The dance drama was a
spectacle of graceful energy, beautiful
rhythm and melodious music that aroused
deeply embedded memories of Krishna sto-
ries.
The Annual Gala marked the finale of a
yearlong celebration of Share and Care
Foundations 30th Anniversary. This is not
just a Gala but its about offering an op-
portunity for education, womens empow-
erment and youth development in rural In-
dia. Our aim is to unlock doors and create
opportunities for the disadvantaged, said
Jayant Shroff, member of the Management
committee.
Impacting 20 million people via a net-
work of over 500 NGOs through grants of
$63 million in cash and kind, our focus has
been on Children and Youth Education,
Healthcare, Disaster Relief and Women
Empowerment. Since last 30 years, SCF
has touched and transformed many lives.
Miss India Connecticut Joins AmeriCares
Airlift to Guatemala
T
he recently crowned
Miss India Connecticut,
Ronita Choudhuri, trav-
eled to Guatemala with Ameri-
Cares this week to tour the hu-
manitarian organizations aid
programs. The West Hartford
native was one of 75 supporters
who left the AmeriCares Airlift
Benefit on Saturday night on a
chartered plane destined for
Guatemala. Airlift passengers
were taken on a whirlwind tour
of the hospitals, clinics and
homes for children and the eld-
erly AmeriCares supports with
donated medicines and supplies. The 24-hour
trip gave supporters of the Stamford-based
charity a glimpse into its work in more than 90
countries.
The work AmeriCares is doing in
Guatemala and the impact they
are having is truly amazing,
Choudhuri said. I feel so fortu-
nate to have been able to witness
firsthand just a slice of the great
work the doctors, nurses, volun-
teers and caretakers do every
day.
This was a journey of hope,
and with the resources and aid
provided by AmeriCares, we are
ensuring Guatemalans have a
better and healthier tomorrow.
The 25th annual AmeriCares
Airlift Benefit A Journey of
Hope raised more than $1.2
million for the organizations relief efforts
worldwide. More than 750 supporters attend-
ed the sold-out event in the Panorama hangar
at Westchester County Airport in White
Plains, N.Y. on Sept. 29.
Indian American 'Obama' filmmaker investigated
A
conservative scholar behind a high-
grossing documentary that condemns
President Barack Obama is under in-
vestigation by the evangelical college he leads
over a report he took a woman who is not his
wife to an event on Christian values, the As-
sociated Press reported.
The King's College board announced the re-
view on Tuesday, the day the conservative
Christian news magazine WORLD reported
event organizers had confronted Dinesh
D'Souza about sharing a hotel room with a
woman he introduced as his fiancee. D'Souza
filed for divorce from his wife, Dixie D'Souza,
a few days after the conference, California
court records show.
The event, Truth for a New Generation, was
held the weekend of Sept. 28 in South
Carolina.
In a brief telephone interview with The As-
sociated Press, Dinesh D'Souza, who became
president of The King's College in 2010, said
he and his wife have been "living in a state of
separation for two years." He denied sharing
the hotel room with the other woman.
"Obviously, I wouldn't have introduced her
as my fiancee if I thought we were doing any-
thing improper," D'Souza said, adding they
have called off their engagement.
The college, which was located in the Em-
pire State Building before moving this year to
lower Manhattan, aims to shape young Chris-
tians as future leaders in all sectors of society.
D'Souza is a former policy analyst under Pres-
ident Ronald Reagan and a prolific author
known most recently for his critical works on
Obama. He directed the film "2016: Obama's
America," based on his book "The Roots of
Obama's Rage."
The film was condemned by many critics,
including Newsday's Rafer Guzman, who
called it an "attempt at character assassina-
tion." But it has become one of the most suc-
cessful political documentaries ever released.
Miss India Connecticut
Ronita Choudhuri (left).
Krishnam Vande Jagath Gurum a hypnotizing performance
by Shakti Dance Company
Famous Bollywood
Singer Mika Singh
and his troupe
enthralled the
houseful gathering
at Colden Auditorium
in Flushing. The
concert was
organized by Bharat
Jotwani & Victor
Khubani.
Photo by Vijay Shah
Used American heart
devices for Indian patients
Washington, DC: Used
heart devices of U. S.
patients can be safely fixed
in seriously ill heart disease
patients in the developing
world, researchers say.
The devices, which are
known as implantable car-
dioverter defibrillators
(ICDs), automatically deliv-
er potentially life-saving
electrical shocks to the heart
in people at high risk of car-
diac arrest.
However, in the develop-
ing world few people have
the money to afford the cost
- about 5,000 dollars in the
U.S. for pacemakers, and
four times that for ICDs.
"These devices did work
well. They delivered appro-
priate shocks and saved
lives," Fox News quoted
lead researcher Dr. Behzad
B. Pavri from Thomas
Jefferson University
Hospital in Philadelphia as
saying.
A few studies have already
shown that it is possible to
reuse pacemakers - devices
that use electrical pulses to
the heart to keep a normal
heartbeat.
According to researchers,
one remedy would be for
wealthy nations to donate
used ICDs - taken from
cadavers, or from patients
who have their ICD
removed because of an
infection or to get an
upgraded model.
The new study, reported in
the Annals of Internal
Medicine, is the first to look
at reusing ICDs.
The researchers of the
study found that ICDs
donated from the U.S.
appeared to work safely for
75 impoverished patients in
India. Over more than two
years, there were no infec-
tions, and no evidence that
the devices malfunctioned -
the two biggest concerns
with reused heart devices.
Still, Pavra said, plenty of
questions remain.
This study was small and
reviewed the records of con-
secutive patients who got
the donated ICDs at one
center, Holy Family
Hospital in Mumbai.
It was not a "prospective"
study, where researchers
recruit patients then system-
atically follow them over
time.
"We clearly need more
data. Hopefully, these data
will help in achieving a
prospective trial, " Pavri
said. However, even begin-
ning a trial is far easier said
than done. One of the
biggest obstacles is U.S.reg-
ulation, Pavri noted.
The Food and Drug
Administration (FDA)
allows ICDs and pacemak-
ers to be used only once. For
there to be any large-scale
exportation of the devices
from the U. S. , the FDA
would have to be on board
with it.
The Indian patients in this
study received their ICDs
after Pavri and his col-
leagues flew to Mumbai
themselves, carrying the
devices in their baggage.
In this study, 81 patients
received ICDs, and the
researchers were able to fol-
low up with 75 - which is
actually quite good in this
context, according to
Crawford, who was not
involved in the work.
For 54 percent of the
patients, the ICD delivered
an appropriate shock at
some point over two-plus
years.
This was higher than what
would be seen in U. S.
patients, Pavri noted.
According to Pavri, the
difference is that the patients
in his study were higher-
risk. They all had "class 1
indications" for an ICD.
That includes people who've
already suffered life-threat-
ening heart arrhythmias or
have significant damage to
the heart muscle from a past
heart attack.
Nine patients died, after an
average of two years with
the device.
A limit of the study, Pavri
said, is that there was no
information on how often
the ICDs may have deliv-
ered inappropriate shocks -
where the device mistakenly
detects a dangerous heart
arrhythmia and gives a need-
less and painful shock.
That's a risk with any ICD,
but it's important to find out
whether reused devices
carry a particular risk.
Future studies would need to
look at that, Pavri conclud-
ed. The study has been pub-
lished in the Annals of
Internal Medicine.
US trade mission in India to
explore architectural market
Kolkata: An American
trade mission comprising
20 companies is here
exploring business avenues
in India's expanding infra-
structure sector.
"Like other countries, the
US too has been hit by
recession and, like most
other services, architecture
too has been adversely
affected.
With a view to exploring
new avenues and to tap the
rapidly expanding Indian
market, the mission is
here," US consul general
Dean Thompson said.
The trade mission, organ-
ized by the International
Trade Administration and
the American Institute of
Architects (AIA) in associa-
tion with the Bharat
Chamber of Commerce,
will also visit Chennai and
Bangalore.
"In cities like Kolkata and
Bangalore there is still a lot
of scope for infrastructural
development. That is why
the mission has chosen
these cities. We are hopeful
of forging long-term part-
nerships with our Indian
counterparts," said AIA first
vice president Mickey
Jacob.
"India seeks to invest one
trillion dollars in its infra-
structure in the next five
years and the country
requires significant outside
expertise to meet its goals.
We hope through collabora-
tions we can provide the
required expertise," added
Jacob.
7 October 20-26, 2012 TheSouthAsianTimes.info NATIONAL COMMUNITY
Washington, DC: A
Sikh-American commu-
nity organization has
raised over $250,000 to
fund scholarships for
needy students striving
to acquire higher profes-
sional education in
Punjab and neighboring
Indian states.
The funds were raised
at an event in Vienna,
Virginia, a Washington
suburb in support of
Sikh Human
D e v e l o p m e n t
Foundation (SHDF)' s
mission to provide need-
based scholarships for
higher professional edu-
cation in India.
Noted television talk
show host and producer
Gurmeet Sodhi served
as the emcee.
Welcoming the audi-
ence Foundation chair-
man Amar Jit Singh
Sodhi said in the last 12
years SHDF had award-
ed nearly 2,400 scholar-
ships at a cost of nearly
a million dollars. About
800 of these scholars
have graduated and are
working as profession-
als in some 31 disci-
plines.
"These scholarship
recipients in turn are
changing the lives of
their families by educat-
ing their siblings and
helping their parents
live their golden years
with a smile on their
faces," he said.
Applauding SHDF at
the gala, chief guest and
p h i l a n t h r o p i s t
Harshivinderjit Singh
Bains, an ophthalmolo-
gist from Austin, Texas
said, "We as contribu-
tors to SHDF can extend
a strong helping hand
that not only pulls that
individual out of pover-
ty but potentially a cou-
ple of generations
before and certainly
those that follow."
A highlight of the
evening was a move by
a dozen girls, all around
the age of ten, which
contributed to the out-
pouring of compassion-
ate giving by the guests.
Seeing their parents
and grandparents selling
tickets for the Gala
event, these girls formed
a group called Young
Khalsa Girls (YKG) and
raised $17,500 - enough
to give 35 scholarships.
Before the program
began, guests observed a
moment of silence in
remembrance of the vic-
tims and those affected
by the recent shooting in
a Wisconsin Gurdwara.
Sikh-American body raises
$250,000 for education in Punjab
Jackson: Citing President Barack
Obama's stance on outsourcing of
jobs to India and work visas for IT
firms, a leading Indian-American
Republican has said that Mitt
Romney, not the incumbent, is the
best bet for strong and enduring
Indo-US relations.
Dr Sampat Shivangi, who was one
of the three Indian-American dele-
gates to the Republican National
Convention and a major fund raiser
in Mississippi state, said the
Democrats' India-friendly image is
but just a myth.
Dr Shivangi, the president of
Indian-American Forum for
Political Education (IAFPE), said
that with Obama openly and unhesi-
tatingly criticizing outsourcing to
India, the future of ties between the
two nations will be in safe hands
only if a Republican occupies the
White House. He pointed out that
Romney had publicly declared at the
Republican National Convention
last month that India is the strategic
ally of the USA, indicating the
importance Republicans attach to
India. He pointed out that Romney
had promised to bring out a white
paper on India soon.
Washington, DC: A Sikh temple
and school that was under con-
struction in Vancouver in
Washington state has been
burned to the ground in an early
morning fire, according to a
media report.
The fire sparked just before
2.30 a.m. Friday at the 17,000
square-foot former Landover
Athletic Club in the east
Vancouver Landover-Sharmel
neighborhood, The Columbian
reported.
The Guru Ramdass Sikh
Community, the largest Sikh
group in the Portland metro area
with about 200 member families,
bought the building in 2008 and
planned to move from its small
Rose Village gurdwara to the new
building in December.
"It was devastating," group
president Sarabjeet Teja was
quoted as saying of the fire.
"We've been working on this the
last four years."
The building is a total loss, said
Vancouver Fire Dept. spokesman
Capt. Kevin Murray. According
to county property records, it was
valued at $213,000.
The fire was reported by neigh-
bors at 2.25 a.m. When the first
engine arrived seven minutes
later, the entire building was
engulfed in flames, Murray said.
Two men, believed to be con-
struction contractors, were stay-
ing in the building. They were
awakened by the fire and escaped
without injury, Murray said.
The FBI and US Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
were on the scene Friday morn-
ing and will investigate the fire
along with the city fire marshal.
"We want to think that it is an
accident - a really bad accident,"
Pawneet Sethi, a spokesperson
for the Sikh temple was quoted as
saying. "But if it turns out to be
anything else, it's going to be a
shock."
There were people in the neigh-
borhood who opposed the
temple.
They were worried about traffic
and a lack of fire hydrants,
according to The Columbian.
Obama anti-India, says
Indian-American Republican
New Delhi: American fashion
designer Rachel Roy is making
inroads into the Indian fashion
market through Kitsch, a multi-
designer store which will exclu-
sively retail her clothes.
"This would be the first time that
Roy's collection would be avail-
able to the Indian market, and she
will be retailing exclusively
through Kitsch.
Her collection and designs work
really well for the discerning
Indian palate, and so the choice to
bring her in and add her to our
roster of designers and labels was
an easy one," Charu Sachdev,
founder and CEO of Kitsch said.
The store will encapsulate Roy's
resort 2013 collection.
The designs will have youthful
appeal with geometric shapes,
mixing and matching of bright
pop colors and laser cult embell-
ishments.
"Roy's upcoming collection is a
mix of whimsical prints and
vibrant hues, which creates an
effortless yet exotic escape for the
modern Indian woman," added
Charu.
The designer is a known name
in American fashion world. Her
client list boasts of well-known
names including Michelle Obama,
Diane Sawyer, Kate Hudson,
Jennifer Garner, Sharon Stone,
Tyra Banks and Penelope Cruz.
American designer gets Indian
entry through Kitsch
Seattle: The Washington State India
Trade Relation Action Committee pre-
sented Dr. Chandra Bhanu Satpathy
with the Building Bridges Across the
Nations Award Sept. 27 at the Intiman
Playhouse, Seattle Center, here for his
contributions in connecting the world
though his literary and humanitarian
endeavors. The event was celebrated as
part of the opening reception of the first
Washington state summit on U.S.-India
Trade. Debadutta Dash and H. Habib,
co-chair of WASITRAC, hosted the
event. The city of Seattle recognized
Satpathys contribution in spreading the
message of humanism, purity, love,
compassion and tolerance as taught by
Shri Shirdi Sai Baba.
Lieutenant Governor Brad Owen, the
chief guest, also recognized Satpathy on
behalf of the state of Washington and
invited him to return to Seattle often to
celebrate the Shirdi Sai movement.
Consul General N. Parthasarathi was
the guest of honor who congratulated
Satpathy for the award and wished him
more such awards in the future.
In accepting the award, Satpathy
emphasized the need of involving cul-
tural, educational and need-based initia-
tives among nations to build better
bridges and fill gaps. He also acknowl-
edged the influence of spiritual master
Shri Shirdi Sai in his life.
Washington Committee honors
Dr Chandra Bhanu Satpathy
Fire destroys Sikh temple in Washington state
New York: The patients of KEM hospital in
Parel in Mumbai got a surprise visit by Dr
Sriram Nene, who met with some of patients
who had undergone heart surgeries. Dr Nene,
who shifted base to India in 2011 along with
wife, actress Madhuri Dixit and their two
sons, is soon going to take up the honorary
post at the BMC-run KEM hospital. A cardio-
thoracic surgeon with special expertise in
Mitral Valve repair surgery, Dr Nene was
offered lucrative jobs by some of the leading
five star hospitals in the city.
But Nene seems to have rejected high-flying
jobs and has decided to work for a govern-
ment hospital. Dr Nene met KEM dean Sanjay
Oak to discuss his joining date.
According to a daily, he spent four hours
meeting doctors and patients at KEM`s
Cardio-Vascular Thoracic Surgery (CVTS)
building and was impressed by the services
that the hospital offers to those who cannot
afford an expensive medical treatment.
Dr Nene had offers to head premiere med-
ical institutions like Harkisondas, Kokilaben
and Hiranandani hospital. But Dr Nene wasnt
keen on doing a corporate job and was more
interested to use his skills in a municipal hos-
pital as the cases that come there are lot more
varied.Speaking to the daily, Dr Oak con-
firmed that Dr Nene had indeed met him and
had decided to accept the honorary post. "Yes
he is interested in doing work at KEM hospi-
tal. It`s a perfect match, but we will only
decide once he is registered with the
Maharashtra Medical Council," said Dr Oak.
Dr Nene, who has already applied for registra-
tion with the Maharashtra Medical Council, is
expecting to get a nod from the council in a
few weeks.
Madhuris husband graduated from one of
the top medical schools of US- the
Washington University School of Medicine in
St Louis, Missouri and was practicing at
Rocky Mountain Cardiovascular in Denver,
Colarado before the couple decided to shift to
India. While Madhuri has decided to make a
comeback in films, the couple has also appar-
ently bought space in Mumbai to set up their
own production house. Whether or not he
takes interest in films or television is some-
thing we will have to wait and watch but for
now Dr Nene gets a big thumbs up from us for
rejecting big offers to serve those who are in
need of good medical treatment.
Mr Madhuri Dixit rejects corporate job to serve those in need
Dr.Sriram Nene with
wife Madhuri Dixit
8 October 20-26, 2012 TheSouthAsianTimes.info NATIONAL COMMUNITY
New Delhi: US Deputy Secretary
of State William Burns will meet
Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai
Friday to discuss the East Asia sit-
uation and the flux in
Afghanistan.
Burns, on a five-nation Asia
tour, comes here after visiting
Japan, South Korea, China and
Myanmar. He will also call on
External Affairs Minister S.M.
Krishna.The two sides will review
their bilateral relations, including
the progress in implementing the
India-US civil nuclear deal, ener-
gy security and cooperation in
developmental projects. "He will
discuss regional priorities and
review progress across the
breadth of the strategic partner-
ship, including measures to
strengthen our bilateral economic
engagement, and deepen our secu-
rity and defence cooperation," the
US State Department said in
Washington.Issues relating to the
18-nation East Asia Summit, the
democratic reforms in Myanmar
and ways to stabilise Afghanistan
are expected to figure in the dis-
cussions, said informed sources.
India, US to discuss
East Asia, Myanmar
Rachel Roy
Dr.Chandra Bhanu Satpathy (center) was honored
New Delhi: In a bold step that
opens a new door in bilateral ties,
India and Australia have decided to
start negotiations for a civil nuclear
deal that will enable the sale of ura-
nium by Canberra to New Delhi.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
held talks with Australian Prime
Minister Julia Gillard on a wide
cluster of issues that included civil
nuclear cooperation, intensification
of economic ties and enhanced
counter-terror and security coopera-
tion.
The two sides inked four pacts and
announced a slew of steps that will
imbue their burgeoning ties with
greater depth and diversity. The ini-
tiatives include annual meetings at
the summit level, either bilaterally
or during multilateral events, a min-
isterial-level dialogue on energy
security and setting up of a water
technology partnership.
"The prime ministers announced
that India and Australia would com-
mence negotiations on a bilateral
Civil Nuclear Cooperation
Agreement which, for Australia, is a
prerequisite for uranium sales to
other countries," said a joint state-
ment after the talks.
"We have agreed to begin negotia-
tions for an agreement on civil
nuclear energy cooperation, which
will precede actual cooperation,"
Manmohan Singh said at a joint
media statement with Gillard.
He added: "As you are aware,
under Prime Minister Gillard, the
Australian Labour Party has articu-
lated a new policy on uranium sales
to India. This is recognition of
India's energy needs as well as of
our record and credentials and I
have expressed to Prime Minister
Gillard our India's appreciation of
this development."
At a banquet at Hyderabad House,
Manmohan Singh toasted Gillard
for her pathbreaking initiative to
start nuclear deal negotiations with
India.
The launch of nuclear negotiations
marks a turning point in bilateral
ties that were blossoming in virtual-
ly all areas, but were held back by
Canberra's reservations over selling
uranium to a country which has not
signed the Nuclear Non-
Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Gillard, the prime mover behind
the India-Australia nuclear rap-
prochement, however, has made it
clear that the deal could take a year
or two before uranium exports
begin. In December last year,
Gillard pushed the ruling Labour
Party to reverse an earlier policy of
not selling uranium to countries
which have not signed the NPT and
argued that this was a necessary step
to bolster ties with one of Asia's
biggest economies.
The decision has removed a "point
of tension" in relations between the
nations, Gillard stressed. "Australia
has changed, in determining to
export uranium to India. India is
changing, through important eco-
nomic reforms in areas like energy,
aviation and retail," she added. The
two sides also signed four pacts that
included cooperation in the field of
wool and woollen products, cooper-
ation in student mobility and wel-
fare and cooperation in civil space
science, technology and education.
India, Australia transform ties, to begin N-talks
New Delhi: India Against
Corruption (IAC) has accused BJP
president Nitin Gadkari of grabbing
farmers' land and corruption in col-
lusion with NCP's tainted Ajit Pawar
but the BJP quickly dismissed the
charges as "laughable".
Accusing Gadkari of taking over
land taken away from a farmer in
Maharashtra's Vidarbha region, IAC
chief Arvind Kejriwal said Gadkari
was promoting his business interests
at the cost of farmers.
"Whose interests does Gadkari
represent? He has a very big busi-
ness empire. His interests are clash-
ing with those of Vidarbha's farm-
ers?" the activist-cum-politician
said.
Gadkari called the IAC's claims
"baseless", saying there was no
scam. "My conscience is clean. I am
ready for a probe."
Banking on a string of official
documents translated from Marathi
into English, Kejriwal said under
rules excess land taken from farmers
must be returned or leased to them.
But in this case, he said, the land
was handed over to Gakdari's com-
panies by Nationalist Congress
Party' s Ajit Pawar, who was the
Maharashtra irrigation minister until
recently.
"This was in violation of rules,"
he told a crowded news conference.
"When farmers protested, they were
threatened by Gadkari's henchmen."
Kejriwal added that almost the
entire water from government-spon-
sored irrigation dams were diverted
in Maharashtra to power and sugar
industries in which Gadkari and
other politicians had business inter-
ests.
All this was done in collusion with
Ajit Pawar, who has been accused of
largescale corruption in what has
come to be known as the irrigation
scam, he said.
While Gadkari wrote letters to the
Maharashtra government seeking
early payment of money owed to
contractors, he never raised issues
concerning farmers, Kejriwal said.
"Is Gadkari a businessman or a
politician?" he asked, and went on
to answer that anyone with business
interests could never honestly repre-
sent people's interests.
Both the NCP and BJP denied the
charges. The BJP called it "a politi-
cal stunt" while the NCP said the
matter was an old one and was
already under investigation.
Nitin Gadkari is corrupt: Kejriwal
9
October 20-26, 2012 TheSouthAsianTimes.info INDIA
Rahul denies Chautala's allegations on land
New Delhi: Congress gen-
eral secretary Rahul Gandhi
has dismissed as "entirely
false, utterly baseless and
defamatory" allegations by
former chief minister Om
Prakash Chautala that his
purchase of 6.5 acre land in
Haryana was irregular.
Chautala, of the Indian
National Lok Dal, alleged
wrongdoings in Gandhi's
purchase of 6.5 acre land in
Hassanpur in Palwal district
of Haryana bought March
3, 2008.
Talking to reporters in
Jalandhar in Punjab, he said
while Gandhi bought the
land in Hassanpur, his
brother-in-law Robert Vadra
had purchased land in
Gurgaon from the same
seller. Vadra is embroiled in
a controversy over various
land deals in Haryana.
Gandhi's office here, in a
late evening statement, said
the land in Hassanpur was
bought March 3, 2008 at a
price of Rs.26.47 lakh paid
through a cheque at the rate
of Rs.4.10 lakh an acre.
SC dismisses rape allegation against Rahul
New Delhi: The Supreme Court gave a
clean chit to Congress general secretary
Rahul Gandhi, saying that the 2006 allega-
tion of gang rape against him and his
friends was fake.
An apex court bench of Justice B.S.
Chauhan and Justice Swatanter Kumar said
the allegation was "without substance and
not even an iota of evidence" was there to
support it.
The court imposed a cost of Rs. 5 lakh on
petitioner Kishore Smrite who had moved
the Allahabad High Court seeking produc-
tion of the victim.
Rahul meets PM amid talk of cabinet reshuffle
New Delhi: Congress general
secretary Rahul Gandhi met
Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh for a "routine meeting",
party sources said as specula-
tion gained ground about a
likely cabinet reshuffle.
The meeting with the prime
minister at his 7, Race Course
Road residence comes in the
wake of speculation that
Rahul Gandhi may join the
cabinet. The prime minister
has invited him to join his
team several times in the
past, but the young leader
always declined, choosing
instead to focus on strength-
ening the party.
"Yes, he (Rahul Gandhi)
met the prime minister," a
Congress source said, but
refused to divulge what was
discussed, saying it was a
routine meeting between the
two. Manmohan Singh and
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi
met President Pranab
Mukherjee, sparking off
rumors about a likely cabinet
reshuffle that has been on the
cards for some time.
Speculation about a cabinet
reshuffle has been doing the
rounds since the Mamata
Banerjee-led Trinamool
Congress quit the United
Progressive Alliance (UPA)
last month, leaving six posts
vacant.
India Against Corruption head
Arvind Kejriwal
Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard in New Delhi
Killing me won't help, Kejriwal
tells Khurshid
New Delhi: Alleging that Law
Minister Salman Khurshid had
threatened him, India Against
Corruption (IAC) leader Arvind
Kejriwal said his words did not
behove the minister of a country.
In a tweet, Kejriwal posted that
Khurshid had threatened to kill
him and said it would be better
that the Congress "sensed the
anger of people and took some
concrete steps against
corruption".
Khurshid, it was reported, had
threatened Kejriwal against com-
ing to his constituency
Farrukhabad in Uttar Pradesh.
"Killing me won't help. Kyonki
poora desh jaag gaya hai. Ek
Arvind marega to 100 Arvind
khade honge (The whole nation
has awakened... If one Arvind
dies, 100 other Arvinds will
arise)," Kejriwal tweeted.
10 October 20-26, 2012 TheSouthAsianTimes.info INDIA
Ralegan-Siddhi (Maharashtra):
Veteran social crusader Anna
Hazare will launch an 18 month
nationwide tour for a citizens'
movement against corruption
from January 2013, an aide said.
"It was originally scheduled to
kick off from Diwali. However,
on account of Hazare's cataract
operation last week, it had to be
postponed by a couple of
months," the aide, declining to be
identified, said.
The rescheduled tour will be
taken up from Patna' s Gandhi
Maidan as planned from January.
The exact date will be announced
later.
In the next couple of days,
Hazare, 75, is expected to meet
his core advisers and experts to
review and react on former associ-
ate Arvind Kejriwal' s charges
against Bharatiya Janata Party
chief Nitin Gadkari Wednesday.
"Hazare will discuss the entire
issue with his colleagues and sup-
porters and is likely to come out
with his statement (on the allega-
tions against Gadkari) after a cou-
ple of days," the aide said.
Briefly interacting with the
media after his medical check-up
in Pune Wednesday, Hazare
declared that he would strive for a
nationwide organization, compris-
ing citizens, activists, students and
others working against corruption,
during his one-and-a-half year
tour in the run-up to the 2014 Lok
Sabha elections.
"I shall reach out many crores of
Indians during the nationwide tour
and build up public pressure on
the government to enact the Jan
Lokpal legislation and other simi-
lar laws for good governance. The
organizations of activists will
carry forward the work of creating
that public awareness on these
issues. The time for change has
come," he remarked.
Hazare claimed that thousands
of anti-corruption activists,
including youth, retired govern-
ment servants, ex-servicemen and
others have sent letters expressing
their willingness to join his pro-
posed organization and fight cor-
ruption from the taluka to the
national levels.
Hazare to begin 18 month tour from January
Social crusader Anna Hazare
New Delhi: Senior Haryana government offi-
cer Ashok Khemka, shunted out of his post,
was transferred 43 times in over 21 years in
the state, an unprecedented service record for
an officer anywhere in the country, govern-
ment officials said.
Khemka, who began a probe into the muta-
tion of a 3.53-acre land by Sonia Gandhi's
son-in-law Robert Vadra to realty major DLF,
was transferred last week from the post of spe-
cial collector and director general (consolida-
tion) in the land management and acquisition
department in the state.
He held that post for less than three months,
having joined on July 18. Against this back-
drop, the Indian Administrative Service (IAS)
officer claimed that the state government had
"abruptly" transferred him as a "punishment"
for acting as a whistle-blower in several
"dubious" land transactions.
Officials of the ministry of personnel, which
manages service records of IAS officers, said
they have not heard of any other instance of a
service officer being kicked around in such a
manner in any other state.
The ministry's records on Khemka, a com-
puter engineering doctorate, show that he is a
first class in computer science in both his
B.Tech and Ph.D.
A domicile of West Bengal, he is a 1991 IAS
batch officer, with Haryana as his home cadre.
He got his first posting after joining the serv-
ice as a sub-divisional officer in 1993.
Since then, he has served the Haryana gov-
ernment in departments such as information
technology, housing and urban development,
fisheries, electronics, AIDS control, housing
board, Hartron (a state-run public sector unit),
finance, planning, agriculture, warehousing,
administrative reforms, social justice and
empowerment, and land revenue management
and acquisition.
His executive record sheet, maintained by
the ministry of personnel, notes that he has
had only three postings in his career where he
could stay put for over a year. These were: as
registrar in Rohtak between 1999-2000 when
he was on deputation to the human resources
development ministry; as director of training
in the labour and employment department
between 2000 and 2001 for 14 months; and as
chief administrator in the state housing board
for 17 months, the longest stint in a post for
him, from 2005 to 2007.
Soon after his latest transfer as managing
director of the Haryana Seeds Development
Corporation, a post held by an officer 12 years
his junior as additional charge, Khemka wrote
to state Chief Secretary P.K. Chaudhery.
Khemka's 43 transfers in 21 years unprecedented
Kolkata: After their recent
divorce, the Congress said there
was no possibility of aligning
again with the Mamata Banerjee-
led Trinamool Congress in the
near future.
"With so much of hostility
shown by her (Banerjee) and the
way she has been repeatedly
attacking the prime minister, I do
not think there is any possibility
of Mamataji coming back to the
Congress alliance in the near
future," Congress spokesperson
Shakeel Ahmad said here.
Banerjee' s Trinamool last
month withdrew support from the
Congress-led United Progressive
Alliance (UPA) government after
it initiated economic reforms
including allowing overseas
investment in retail.
Ahmad also exuded confidence
of surviving a parliamentary no-
confidence motion which both the
Trinamool and the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) have been
mulling.
"We have 256 members of our
own and have the support of 50
more from various parties. So, we
are not at all worried because the
magic figure is 275 and we have
at least 306 members," said
Ahmad, party general secretary in
charge of West Bengal.
"In case a no-confidence
motion is brought either by the
Trinamool or the BJP, the other
will have to support. This will
bring to the fore the dual polity of
Mamataji who talks secular but
supports a communal party," said
Ahmad. He also mocked at politi-
cal parties who have been propos-
ing the formation of a third front
as opposed to the ruling Congress
and the opposition BJP.
"A third front cannot be a reali-
ty. Because most of the leaders
who are talking about the front
are too ambitious and anyone
becoming a leader of the ambi-
tious lot is difficult," quipped
Ahmad.
No alliance with Mamata in near future: Congress
Manesar (Haryana): Differing with
former National Security Advisor
(NSA) M.K. Narayanan, Home
Minister Sushilkumar Shinde called for
more NSG hubs in the country, noting
that the move will improve the accessi-
bility of the elite commando force.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines
of a function to mark the 28th raising
day of the National Security Guard
here, Shinde supported the creation of
the four hubs and said more were need-
ed.
"India needs more hubs of NSG
which will increase its accessibility,"
Shinde said.
Narayanan, who is currently governor
of West Bengal, had last week
expressed reservations over the setting
up of the four regional hubs. It was an
issue that created a chasm between him,
in his previous role as NSA, and then
home minister P. Chidambaram follow-
ing the 2008 Mumbai terror attack.
Narayanan had said he was concerned
at the current emphasis on increasing
the size and numbers of the NSG,
adding that the elite special force was
intended to meet a specific situation and
its strength does not lie in its numbers.
The minister also said the government
was looking into demands for modern-
ization of weaponry of the specialised
force.
Answering queries, Shinde said the
government "can think of removing"
Armed Forces Special Powers Act
(AFSPA) from some parts of Jammu
and Kashmir after monitoring the situa-
tion for some more months.
The situation had been relatively
peaceful in the border state for the past
year, he said.
"I visited Kashmir recently. It is
peaceful," Shinde said.
There have been demands from some
political parties in the state for removal
of the act from districts of the state that
are peaceful.
Shinde said his ministry was in touch
with authorities in Haryana over spurt
in rape cases in the state.
Shinde differs with
Narayanan, wants NSG hubs
Senior Haryana government officer
Ashok Khemka
Trinamool leader Mamata Banerjee
New Delhi: India has strengthened
its military power since the 1962
war with China and is now fully
capable of defending itself, Defense
Minister A.K. Antony said but
admitted that infrastructure in the
northeast needs to be upgraded.
"We are now capable of defending
every inch of our country," Antony
told reporters on the sidelines of an
Indian Navy conference here.
He was responding to a question
on India's preparedness to deal with
China 50 years after the 1962 war in
which India had suffered a humiliat-
ing defeat. He, however, admitted
that "infrastructure in the northeast
is not up to our satisfaction", but
stressed that it has improved a lot as
compared to the past."The India of
2012 is not the India of that period,"
he said. "Now we have moved very
fast. Now our infrastructure, assets
and manpower have substantially
improved compared to the past," he
said while alluding to a slew of
steps taken by India to upgrade its
infrastructure in the northeastern
states. The minister underlined that
India will continue to build its infra-
structure and provide the best equip-
ment to its armed forces even as it
continued its dialogue with China
on the border issue.
"On the one side, we are strength-
ening our capability in the border,
on the other side, we have estab-
lished a border management mecha-
nism with China that is now func-
tioning satisfactorily," he said.
India capable of defending against China: Antony
Federal Defense Minister A.K. Antony
Don't get Akshay to inaugurate IFFI: Hindu group
11 October 20-26, 2012 TheSouthAsianTimes.info INDIA
Panaji: Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar should not be
invited to inaugurate the 43rd International Film festi-
val of India (IFFI), because he has denigrated Hindu
deities in his latest film "Oh My God", a right-wing
Hindu group said.
"Akshay Kumar who is acting as an incarnation of
Bhagvan Shri Krishna, is shown in Western attire. In
place of Sudarshan Shakra, Bhagvan Shree Krishna is
shown rotating a key chain in the finger," Hindu
Janajagruti Samiti (HJS) convenor Manoj Solanki has
said in his petition handed over Monday to the chief
minister's office (CMO).
Solanki has also said that the screening of the film
"Oh My God" should be banned in Goa because it hurt
religious sentiments and that inaugurating IFFI at the
hands of the actor would amount to "rubbing salts on
the wounds of Hindus in this secular state".
Rajiv assassination: LTTE leader freed by Sri Lanka
Colombo: The leader of Sri Lanka's defeated Tamil
Tiger rebels, who is wanted by India over the assassina-
tion of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, will not
face criminal charges, Sri Lankan authorities said.
Selvarasah Pathmanathan will be allowed to continue
his work running a non-governmental development
organization in the north of Sri Lanka, they said, despite
being on Interpol's wanted list.
There is no case against him," military spokesman
Ruwan Wanigasuriya told reporters in Colombo.
Lakshman Hulugalle, head of the defence ministry's
media centre, said: "It's a victory for us, because a
Tamil leader who fought against the government is now
working for the country's development. He has got the
freedom to do that."
When asked if Pathmanathan was in detention any
longer, he added: "Practically, there is no detention
now."
However, the media centre later said Pathmanathan
had not been released, but was under special protection.
Neither official gave any details on why Sri Lanka
was apparently ignoring Interpol's arrest warrant, which
was instigated by India.
The warrant required him to be extradited over allega-
tions he helped plan Gandhi's killing by a Tamil Tiger
suicide bomber in southern India in May 1991.
The Indian embassy was not immediately available
for comment. Pathmanathan - also known as KP - suc-
ceeded Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam founder
Vellupillai Prabhakaran, who was killed by Sri Lankan
troops in the final battle of the three-decade war in May
2009. He was arrested in August 2009.
Actor Akshay Kumar in a scene from 'Oh My God'
By Amulya Ganguli
A
s is known, if Narendra
Modi wants to play a
larger role on the national
stage, the Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) will have to record a
thumping victory in the forth-
coming Gujarat elections. What
this means in real terms is that the
party will have to win at least 117
seats, its tally in 2007, out of the
state's 182 assembly seats.
But will this be enough consid-
ering that it had won 127 in
2002? Arguably, if Modi wants to
demonstrate his total command
over the state before moving on
to greener pastures, the party will
have to reach or overtake the
higher figure. Otherwise, any
shortfall will be grist to the mills
of the chief minister' s critics
since it will suggest a decline in
his popularity.
Ironically, the two figures of
117 and 127 seats, which give a
comfortable majority to the rul-
ing party in normal circum-
stances, can no longer seem
enough where Modi's ambitions
are concerned. The disadvantage
of a larger-than-life personality,
who also likes to equate himself
with the state, is that the political
expectations about him are inor-
dinately high. What is enough for
ordinary mortals can no longer
seem sufficient for a poster boy.
However, what may be of some
concern to the BJP is that
between 2002 and 2007, its num-
ber of seats and vote share
dropped from 127 to 117 and
from 49.8 percent to 49. 1.
Although the voting percentage
fell only marginally, it has to be
seen against the fact that the
Congress' s tally of seats rose
from 51 to 59 while its vote share
also rose marginally from 39.2
percent to 39.6.
The scene changed quite a lot in
the 2004 parliamentary elections
in which the Congress won 12
seats (equivalent to covering 90
assembly constituencies), with a
voting percentage of 43.8 percent
against the BJP's 14 seats with a
vote share of 47.3 per cent. In the
2009 parliamentary elections, the
BJP won 15 seats, which is
equivalent to 105 assembly con-
stituencies, with a vote share of
46.5 percent while the Congress
won 11 seats with a vote share of
43.4 percent.
While the Congress has evi-
dently fared better in the parlia-
mentary polls than in the assem-
bly elections, it is worth noting
that the BJP's tally of seats in the
assembly fell from 127 in 2002 to
92 in 2004, if the results in the
assembly segments of the Lok
Sabha elections are taken into
account, then the total went up to
117 in 2007, and finally down to
105 assembly constituencies in
the 2009 parliamentary contest.
It has to be remembered that the
decline has taken place despite
the widespread belief that the
Congress does not exist in
Gujarat, as Prof. J. S.
Bandukwala, who was nearly
killed in the 2002 riots, once said.
In any event, the Congress' s
political weakness in the absence
of a leader to match Modi' s
stature is an accepted fact
although its vote share hovers
around a respectable 40 percent.
Irrespective of whether this
base of support is enough or not,
several other factors can be taken
into consideration. One is the fact
that the BJP's tally in recent years
was the highest in 2002, when the
riots polarised the communities
as never before and led to a surge
of support from the communal-
minded Hindus for Modi. That
kind of polarisation is no longer
there. Besides, Modi's overtures
to the minorities during his sadb-
havna or goodwill fasts may have
confused the more virulent of his
admirers.
Now the focus is more on his
suspected prime ministerial ambi-
tions with the result that it has
caused a rift in the BJP-led
National Democratic Alliance
(NDA) with Bihar Chief Minister
Nitish Kumar of the Janata Dal
(United) openly opposing any
move by the BJP to select Modi
as its prime ministerial candidate.
But it isn't only the JD (U) which
is against Modi in this respect,
the PM wannabes in the BJP
itself may not be too unhappy if
the party fails to win 117 seats,
the benchmark of Modi' s
approval ratings.
Why winning 117 seats in Gujarat crucial for Modi
Ironically, the two figures of 117 and 127 seats, which give a
comfortable majority to the ruling party, can no longer seem
enough where Modi's ambitions are concerned.
12 October 20-26, 2012 TheSouthAsianTimes.info OPED
By Gayathri Sreedharan
I
n the middle of October,
Malala Yousafzai had 70 per-
cent chances of recovery;
amazing, considering she was shot
at point-blank range only a few
days ago. Having successfully
removed a bullet from her spinal
cord, doctors treating her at a mili-
tary hospital in Rawalpindi report-
edly informed her family that her
recovery in the following days
would be critical. So we wait
patiently for news, preferably
good, from her bedside.
While Yousafzai rests, the world
outside is in a nervous tizzy. The
Taliban is now threatening mem-
bers of the Pakistani media for
their coverage, and strong stance,
on this incident. According to a
BBC Urdu report, intelligence
agencies have intercepted conver-
sations between Tehrik-e-Taliban
Pakistan (TTP) leader Hakimullah
Mehsoud and his subordinates, in
which he reportedly directed them
to take action against opponents in
the media. The government is now
offering protection to any media
organisation that seeks it.
Indeed, this erstwhile blogger-
for-the-BBC has been the headline
to beat ever since October 9. That's
when her school bus was stopped
by a Taliban gunman in a town
named Mingora, in Pakistan' s
restive Swat valley in the North
West. He demanded that she identi-
fy herself, then shot her repeatedly.
(Two of her schoolmates, both
girls, were injured as well.)
The unwarranted viciousness of
the attack has spurred Pakistan's
most influential men into speaking
out in protest, using strong words
in turn: "inhuman", "barbaric",
"terrorist". Late night on October
12, The Guardian reported that,
taking an exceptionally critical
stance, the Sunni Ittehad Council
has issued a fatwa denouncing the
Taliban' s attempts to justify
Yousafzai's shooting. October 12
was marked as a day of prayers for
Yousafzai and observed across
Pakistani mosques.
In the last week, public figures,
including Army Chief General
Ashfaq Kayani, Chief Justice
Ifthikar and Prime Minister Raja
Parvez Ashraf, have visited
Yousafzai, while calling on the
nation to stand united against those
who attacked her. President Asif
Ali Zardari reportedly reached out
to Yousafzai' s family. Interior
Minister Rehman Malik termed the
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region a hub
for terrorists, adding that the gov-
ernment is seriously considering
another offensive in the north-
western tribal agencies. Not to be
left out, Imran Khan, viewed off
late as a serious political threat to
Zardari's ruling Pakistan People's
Party (PPP), offered to foot the
costs of her treatment.
However, Khan has been criti-
cized by some sections for turning
the debate back towards the
unmanned drones that have killed
thousands of Pakistanis. Khan isn't
the only one liable to make the
same tenuous link between a bar-
baric act and a foreign attack on
Pakistani sovereignty.
Although his is an important
voice, Maulana Fazlur Rehman,
chief of the Jamiat Ulema Islam-
Fazal, used the opportunity to con-
demn Yousafzai's attackers to also
censure those who do not protest
the bombing of a mosque by
drones as vociferously. It's this
digression of the argument that
Najam Sethi, editor of the weekly
The Friday Times, railed against in
his editorial: "To suggest that
Malala Yousafzai was shot in the
head because of America's drones
is not just lazy deduction; it is
disingenuous, even dangerous
deflection from the real issue."
More importantly, the attackers
have inadvertently glorified
Yousafzai's role as an activist and
articulate critic of the Taliban.
Having found fame (and infamy in
some quarters) through her diaries
for BBC Urdu, Yousafzai had
already won admirers, even
awards, for her outspokenness.
In January 2009 she recorded,
"On my way from school to home I
heard a man saying 'I will kill you'.
I hastened my pace... to my utter
relief he was talking on his mobile
and must have been threatening
someone else over the phone."
The Taliban continues to threaten
Yousafzai. She will need continued
support and protection from
Pakistani society if she is to escape
a repeat attempt.
(Gayathri Sreedharan is a
researcher who worked with the
BBC's South Asia bureau in Delhi
from 2008 to 2011)
Malala's tragedy a test for Pakistani society
The views expressed in Op Eds are not necessarily those of The South Asian Times.
The Taliban continues to threaten Yousafzai. She will need
continued support and protection from Pakistani society
if she is to escape a repeat attempt.
Dubai: Arun Mehra, 53-year-old chairman
of UAE based Link Global Group has
embarked on an ambitious project of mak-
ing a billion-dollar ornate, functioning
replica of the Taj Mahal, three times bigger
than the wonder of the world at Agra.
A romantic at heart Mehra wants to
dedicate this new monument to 'love in the
world.' Love and romance apart, Mehra
says the project is a financial proposition
that will attract customers from across the
world. He plans it to be a Las Vegas where
you could also wear sarees and sherwanis
and get married.
The Taj Arabia, as it is being called, is at
the heart of a mega purpose-built tourist
city called 'Falconcity of Wonders' that will
have a direct link with the Dubai airport.
The city will also have pyramids, Great
Wall of China, Hanging Gardens of
Babylon, Eiffel Tower and the Leaning
Tower of Pisa. It will be part of an area
called 'Land of India' and will house a 300-
key five-star hotel, a 3,000-seater banquet
hall and apartments. This place would be a
one-stop shop for weddings, with a gold
souk and a wedding boutique with clothes
from India, Pakistan and other parts of the
globe.
Mehra plans to invite celebrities, and
hopes to host a few mega award functions
as well. The huge Mughal Gardens, thrice
the size of a football field, could organize
large concerts like, say, the Grammys. His
team has set itself an ambitious target to
finish all of this in two years, by end-2014.
This is the pace at which Dubai works, says
Mehra, who came here in 2004.
Hawaii: Large crowds of Indian
Americans, Christians, Buddhists and
Native Hawaiian groups joined together to
celebrate Gandhijis Birthday.
Many music groups, health and yoga
groups, organic food activists joined the
celebration. Many ethnic groups presented
recitals and dance programs. The event
started with the oldest and the only munici-
pal band in the entire U.S. - The Royal
Hawaiian Band (183 years) playing
Hawaiian, Indian and American National
Anthems. This is the most famous Band in
Hawaii mastered by Mr. Clark Bright &
Susan Ishida. They also played peace
songs.
Lieutenant Governor Brian Schatz pre-
sented the proclamation. The proclamation
reads as follows: In recognition of
International day of Non Violence now I,
Gov. Neil Abercrombie, and Brian Schatz,
Lt Gov of Hawaii do hereby proclaim Oct
2nd, 2012 as International day of
Nonviolence in Hawaii and ask people of
the state to join us in celebrating the Birth
day of Mahatma Gandhi and following his
preaching of love, truth, kindness,
Harmony, Non Violence and promoting
world peace on this day of Sep 2012.
Mr. Peter B. Carlisle, Mayor of Honolulu
proclaimed Oct 2, 2012 to be Mahatma
Gandhi and Non violence Day in honor of
freedom, justice, and human rights and con-
veyed his memorable tributes.
Dr. Raj Kumar, founder and president of
Gandhi International Institute for Peace and
Non Violence and Dr. Krishna Reddy,
Founder of Indian American Friendship
Council met with Governor Neil
Abercrombie at his private office and dis-
cussed various India issues including trade
and tourism partnership. Governor also did
not fail to praise Gandhis principles, he
always carries his teachings in his wallet
for the last 40 years. Gov also presented
spiritual gifts to Dr. Raj Kumar and Dr.
Reddy.
Earlier Dr Raj Kumar spoke about the
UN General Assembly resolution in 2007 to
celebrate Gandhis birthday a day of
International day of Non Violence, Raj
Kumar also said not to give up hope of
peace and praised Gandhis fight against
injustice and violence. Dr. Elaine Valdov,
Director of International Peace
Ambassadors and International Young
Leaders Vision Summit, and Ambassador
Anwarul K. Chowdhury, Former Under-
Secretary-General and High Representative
of the UN, also sent their messages on this
special event.
Dr. Reddy who was also keynote speaker
and Chief Guest said to follow the princi-
ples of Non Violence especially in the wake
of international terrorism and suggested to
the audience present that the terrorism will
not solve the problem. Dr. Reddy did not
fail to call upon the Governor to thank him
for placing Gandhis Birthday in Hawaiian
calendar as a memorable day of peace.
Several prominent political leaders,
Senator Pohai Ryan and Tulsi Gabbard,
Nominee for Congresswoman, also attend-
ed this event. Many Interfaith groups lead-
ers like Rev. Stephen Randolph Sykes, Rev.
Joan Chatfield, Bishop Eric Matsumoto,
and Honpa Hongwanji, Pieper Toyama-
Principal of Pacific Buddhist Academy, and
Chat Dal Santo, District 5000 Governor of
the Rotary Club spoke about Gandhi and
his principles and praised the Lord for
peace on Earth. This entire event was done
in front of life size Gandhi statue in Waikiki
Park facing the beautiful ocean.
Splendid Gandhi Jayanthi celebration in Hawaii
London: Five NRIs have been honored here
for promoting Hindi in the UK on the occa-
sion of ' Hindi Diwas' organized by the
International Hindi Society.
Lord Gulam Noon, chairman of the Noon
Products and chief guest on the occasion, pre-
sented the award to Deepak Dogra, managing
editor of Mayanewspaper, and four others at
the Indian Gymkhana here.
Others are C B Patel, Editor/Publisher of
the bi-lingual English and Gujarati weekly
Asian Voice, Dhruv Gadvi of Zee TV,
Editor/Publisher of Pardes Weekly Jaskaran
Singh and Patron of the International Hindi
Society Rajendra Joshi.
Speaking on the occasion, Lord Noon
described the UK as a "fair country" and wel-
comed its decision to resume contacts with
Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi.
He also lauded the achievements of NRIs in
this country in all walks of life, particularly in
the field of education.
Seema Malhotra, Labour MP, said: "We can
feel proud of our secular identity."
Dr Onkar Sahota, Member of Greater
London Assembly emphasized the need to
promote Hindi in the UK. "In this country
Chinese is taught in primary and secondary
schools. We should see Hindi is also taught
similarly." Dr Jagdish Kaushal, Chairman of
the International Hindi Society said: "very
soon we will have Women's Wing and Youth
Wing of the Society here."
Councillor Ashok Kapoor, Vice Chairman
of the society, said: "the vision of the society
is to promote all Hindustan's culture to unify
under one umbrella no matter what religion,
language and culture."
Pritam Lal, First Secretary (Coordination)
in the Indian High Commission, and Jagdish
Sharma, Leader of the Hounslow Council,
also spoke on the occasion.
Five British-Indians honored for promoting Hindi in UK
NRI building replica of Taj Mahal in Dubai
The replica will be three times bigger than the original
DIASPORA 13 October 20-26, 2012 TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Indian found guilty of rape in Australia
Sydney: An Indian taxi driver in Australia has
been found guilty of raping a woman student
who was in an inebriated state.
The court found Sunveer Jassar, 28, guilty of
raping an intoxicated female student in the
back of his cab after driving her to an isolated
area in Brisbane's city center early last year, the
couriermail.com.au reported.
The incident occurred last April, when Jassar
raped the then 27-year-old Thai national under
the Story Bridge at Kangaroo Park.
The jury heard that the victim student and her
two friends had been drinking at several venues
in Brisbane before deciding to catch a taxi
home.
After two of the girls were dropped off, pros-
ecutors said, the heavily intoxicated woman
became alarmed when Jassar drove his taxi
onto the Story Bridge, opposite to the direction
that she wanted to travel.
She telephoned one of her two friends and
requested to give Jassar instructions on what
address to drop the woman at.
Jassar, who pretended he was unable to
understand the friend, drove off the taxi at the
first available Story Bridge exit, stopped near
an isolated park, raped the inebriated student
and then left her stranded under the bridge, the
court heard.
Prosecutor Ron Swanwick has submitted that
Jassar, who came to Australia from Punjab on a
student visa in 2008, be jailed for in excess of
six years.
Jassar's sentencing was yet to be announced.
I
f, as they say, a picture is
worth more than 1,000 words,
then an effective cartoon is
worth 10,000 words. We scoured
the newspapers and websites to
select the most telling cartoons on
the ongoing presidential race,
which otherwise is very dour as
some analysts have dubbed the
2012 election, with hyperbole of
course, the most important in a
generation as the choice is not
between two candidates but
between two paths for America.
So a bit of levity is in order. Not
to say that some of these cartoons
are not making biting comment at
the same time.
Presidential race as cartoonists see it
At Tuesdays presidential debate at Hofstra, both Mitt Romney
and President Barack Obama were trying to evade some uncom-
fortable questions.
During the GOP primaries, the
Republican hopefuls were
tearing each other apart to the
glee of Democrats.
A laughing-smirking Vice President
Joe Biden treated Paul Ryan like a
schoolboy sometimes during
the vice-presidential debate.
A conserva-
tives parti-
san portrayal
of the two
candidates.
But it is true,
as some
Republicans
pointed out,
that Obama
campaign
was attacking
Bain Capital
as if success
was a crime.
Ordinary folks want their leaders to
get along, but here were two
campaigns satanising the oppositions
candidate.
The Arab world sees an oversized influ-
ence of Israel and the Israel lobby on
US presidential race.
Hofstra was a different story. But at Denver, Obama was
almost apologetic about his record, admitting that it will take
many more years before America fully recovers from its eco-
nomic woes. Analysts wondered whether he was
interested in and ready for a second term at all.
During Denver debate, President
Obama counted Osama bin Laden kill
as an accomplishment, while Governor
Romney threatened to defund PBS and
Sesame Street if elected president.
A cartoonists
take on how
Obama pre-
pared for the
Hofstra
debate after
admitting that
I was too
polite in the
Denver
debate.
14 October 20-26, 2012 TheSouthAsianTimes.info US ELECTIONS
CALL FOR SCHOLARLY ARTICLES ON JAINISM
About a year ago, JAINA, Jain Center of Southern California and ISJS (International School
for Jain Studies) have partnered together to promote Jain studies at CLU (Claremont Lincoln
University) in Claremont, CA. Within the last 12 months, we have made lots of progress
towards creating a robust program leading to graduate degree in Jainism at CLU.
CLU is committed to offering Masters and PhD degree program in Jainism and has many
innovative projects to reinforce teaching and research activities related to Jainism:
In September, the University hosted the first International Jain Scholars conference
Bio Ethics: Religious and spiritual approaches. Planning has already begun for the
2013 Jain Scholars conference on Role of Women in Dharma Traditions.
A very ambitious, India based multi media research project is under way on the role
Jains played (or did not play) in the violent aftermath of the partition of India following
the independence from the Britain.
In cooperation with the Jain Center of Southern California, the University is planning to
offer a national summer youth program for Jain studies on campus.
A campus wide Ahimsa day celebration on October 2nd of every year emphasizing
Forgiveness.
The University is preparing for on line courses on Jainism that will be offered free of cost to
anyone in the world. As companion to these on line courses, we are looking to build a siz-
able library of high quality Jain knowledge such as research papers, articles and discourses
in English, French, German, Hindi, Gujarati and Kannad languages for the CLU website.
Through this announcement, we are requesting you to send us your articles, essays or
videos for the Jain studies pages on CLU web site. The material should be original, not copy-
righted and with permission for its free and unrestricted use by CLU. The material can be
sent to LidyaPotapenko: lpotapenko@claremontlincoln.org. CDs or DVDs can also be
mailed to her at: Center for Jain Studies, 1325 North College Avenue, Clermont, CA
91711.All of the material should be made available to CLU free of cost. Credit to the authors
will be given on the CLU web site. No material weather used or not will be returned to the
author.
We thank you for help in this noble endeavor. If you have any questions, you may contact
any one of the following ISJS volunteers.
Dr, Sulekh C Jain Dilip V Shah Dr. Nitin Shah
scjain@earthlink.net dilipvshah@gmail.com nitinshahmd@gmail.com
APPEAL
US ELECTIONS
Assertion and aggression
at 2nd Presidential debate
as Obama gains edge
15 October 20-26, 2012 TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Vikas Girdhar, Associate Editor of The
South Asian Times, along with Arjit Mehta
& Namit Narain was there to cover the
second presidential debate hosted by
Hofstra University, his alma mater. Here is
his take on the debate watched on
television by 65.6 million Americans.
Hempstead, NY: President
Obama came out swinging, didnt
relent, and was met by an equally
dogged challenger in Governor
Romney. The winner of this sec-
ond debate in New York was the
President, but many would say so
because it was miles above his per-
formance in the first debate in
Denver only a fortnight ago.
This time around, there was no
more Mr. Nice Guy. There was no
room for it; Romney was even
more aggressive than he was previ-
ously. But the main difference is
that the President seemed up to the
challenge and handled every obsta-
cle with passionate grace and
aggression. He was firm, certain,
and did not stumble en route to
highlighting Romneys flaws.
The second Presidential debate
of 2012 at Hofstra University in
Hempstead was held in a town-
hall like setting, wherein 82 unde-
cided voters waited to ask ques-
tions that would give the candi-
dates a chance to win over those
with similar concerns. Each candi-
date was given two minutes to
offer their responses, although that
was rarely abided by.
This particular round of what is
shaping out to be a fierce race for
the most powerful office on earth
featured a much more noticeably
aggressive President Obama and
Mitt Romney who walked a fine
line between required zest and
downright rudeness.
The main differences between
this and the first debate was that
this one allowed near face-to-face
confrontation and an exhibition of
the Presidents preparedness to
offer counter punches and more to
Romney.
There was hardly any stuttering
or uncertainty evinced by Obama
at the beginning of his responses
something that eclipsed his first
debate showing. Moderator Candy
Crowley, from CNNs State of the
Union program, handled the eager
candidates with as much poise as
she could muster but even she was
constantly interrupted by Romney.
Romney grabbed every chance
to take jabs at the President but
defended himself adequately as
well. However, it seemed as
though the challenger became
uneasy and testy anytime the
President defended himself.
I wasnt done talking, chided
Romney during one confrontation
when the two were invading each
others space. Youll get your
chance in just a second. That was-
nt a question, that was a state-
ment. Rude, when said to a sit-
ting President, some will say.
Such a tone came to pass even in
the first debate, yet not so in-
your-face.
20-year old Jeremy Epstein was
given a chance to ask the first
question of the night, which
focused on a reassurance of stabili-
ty for both himself and his parents.
The remnants of the previous
debate seemed to pick up directly
from the outset in the current.
I want you to be able to get a
job, I know what it takes to get this
economy going, said the chal-
lenger. More debt, less jobs. Im
going to change that so you have
the kind of opportunity you
deserve. Im going to create jobs.
The middle class has been crushed
the last four years. When you
come out in 2014, Im going make
sure you get a job.
President Obama responded with
an allusion to the five million jobs
he created in the private sector
alone, saying he wants to build on
that.
The direct references between
the candidates began when the
bailout of the auto industry was
discussed. Romney alleged that the
President allowed Chrysler and
GM to go bankrupt and that the
trend should not be allowed to con-
tinue. President Obama responded
numerous times in denialnot
true, simply not true, Governor.
The Presidents views were
much better arranged and present-
ed this time around. Regarding
energy, he said, The Governor
does not have a five-point-plan,
its a one-point-plan. The last thing
we need to do is to go back to the
same policies that got us here (in
the first place). The most important
thing we can do is to make sure we
can control our own energy.
Natural gas production is the high-
est it has been in decades. We cant
just produce traditional energy.
Governor Romney has the oil and
gas part but not the clean energy
part.
While many are projecting the
Presidents comeback performance
at the second debate to finally be a
momentum changer in the race,
there are others who believe this
will do little to swing undecided
voters his way because it was not
the first impression.
The Vice-Presidential debate last
week made headlines because it
was an impressive display by the
Democrats to attempt to aggres-
sively wrestle momentum away
from the Republicans after
Romney clearly obliterated the
President in the first debate.
President Obama at Hofstra
marked the second straight show-
ing of orderly aggression by
Democrats and a party that looks
set to tackle any and all maneuvers
orchestrated by Republicans who
are on running on Obamas record
on economy in the past four years.
Obama, who had heard all of the
critics and analysts rip him apart
for his performance in the first
debate, seemed up to the task of
tackling a big-talker in Romney.
There was a certain energy on the
stage, the type of fire necessary for
any candidate to be willing to
engage in. Both men seemed to
relish in their respective opportuni-
ties while undermining the other.
As the Democrats rejoiced in the
wake of a much more even-sided
fight, Romney may not have been
as giddy as he was seen on his
plane after the first.
The third and final presidential
debate is right around the corner
and it promises to be just as tense
and fiery as this one. The topic:
foreign policy.
Louisiana Governor Bobby
Jindal, who could not attend
the Republican National
Convention in late August
because Hurricane Isaac hit
his state around the same
time, was there in the spin
room after the Hofstra debate.
Hofstra President, Stuart
Rabinowitz, welcoming
Governor Mitt Romney
to the campus.
The town hall style setting allowed
near face-to-face confrontation.
T
he process en route to cov-
ering the second
Presidential debate at
Hofstra Tuesday night was expect-
edly protracted one. There were
applications, auditing and the
anticipated e-mail for approval.
Once we were in, however, we
took it by the horns and ran with
it. Its not every day that
Presidential candidates debate just
minutes away from the office
which happens to be in
Hicksville on Long Island--and
exclusive entry is available to a
South Asian newspaper. We were
proud just to get the opportunity.
We had submitted our applica-
tions for media attendance some
two months ago, complete with
headshots and social security
numbers. We, as in myself,
Associate Editor of the paper, Arjit
Mehta, President, and Namit
Narain, Vice President. The
Commission on Presidential
Debates (CPD) had replied that
our applications were pending and
our papers weekly issues were
being audited for authenticity and
to ensure adequate coverage of
U.S. affairs leading up to the
debates.
Apparently, we had passed the
test. The three of us had been
approved and we were set to
become maybe the only South
Asian media house at the national-
ly televised, media-frenzied,
event.
We went to the venue, Hofstra
University in Hempstead, the day
before to pick up our press creden-
tials. Although security was pres-
ent then too and television stations
were doing pre-debate coverage, it
paled in comparison to the debate
day. Picking up our press passes
was a breeze. We introduced our-
selves, were found in the system,
signed in and were given a media
kit and pass. All was set for
Tuesday.
We left the office at 7pm, a full
two hours before the debate was
slated to begin because we antici-
pated road blockages and consid-
erable time allotment for security
checks. We were right. After
repeated detours just to park in the
lot from which a shuttle would
take us to the media center for the
debate, we finally made it at 8:30.
At four separate checkpoints, our
media passes were either looked
at, scanned or both. That was just
to get to the building we were sup-
posed to situate ourselves in.
Check in was next.
Upon entrance, we noticed the
walls and ceiling emblazoned with
banners and signs that read
Debate 2012: Pride, Politics &
Policy. This was the designated
Media Centera massive room
full of media teams from all over
the world. Small publications to
huge news corporations filled the
space as hundreds of mediaper-
sons were seen furiously typing
away on laptops, setting up cam-
eras, holding microphones and
conducting interviews and com-
mentating. Every few feet, TV sets
had been mounted to track every
moment of the debate. This whole
scene was unlike anything I had
ever seen before. Every person in
the room was waiting to watch the
debate, scrutinize the action, and
interpret everything in his or her
own way in order to flesh it out to
a waiting audience, whether local,
national or global. It was serious,
large-scale and everything I could
dream of to be witness to.
Arjit, Namit and I found our
assigned seats and settled in. We
were ready and knew what we had
to do. My colleagues were tasked
with uploading the latest updates
to our website, on Twitter and on
Facebook. This included impor-
tant facts and quotes and the
uploading of pictures. I was to
write the story. As part of our
exclusive coverage, I followed
every statement and exchange of
the candidates to ferret out the
more important stuff and con-
texts, and what it meant for each
candidates success in the debate.
By the end of the show, I had an
exclusive story hot off the press
and ready for submission to our
website. The mood in the entire
room throughout the debate was
frenzied. Everyone was in a zone,
it seemed. Anytime there was a
turning point or major moment,
there were audible reactions:
groans, moans, laughter and the
like. We were not able to snap
shots of the candidates because we
were in the media center, which
was separated from the town hall
setting.
What we were able to do upon
completion of the debate was to
look for prominent figures. We
came across Bobby Jindal, John
Kerry, Chuck Schumer and
George Pataki, to name just a few.
The hundreds of members of the
media - their number must have
been in the vicinity of 700were
all looking to collar the political
heavyweights to get exclusive
sound bites about their particular
assessment of the debate and the
candidates performance.
Fieldwork was being conducted
every few feet. I was in the media
capital of the world, it seemed
then. All eyes in the country and to
an extent the world at large were
on the work being carried out
herethe audiences far away
looking to information being pro-
vided from within the confines of
these walls. It was a surreal expe-
rience.
All this surely would not have
been possible without the perse-
verance of Arjit, who worked furi-
ously to stay on top of and meet
the deadlines for all the require-
ments of the CPD. In the end, we
could boast that we were the only
South Asian publication that was
present at the event. We had exclu-
sive coverage, but it was so much
more than that.
The true satisfaction of the line
of work we are in is not so much
that we were in a place millions of
others could only dream of; rather,
it was more so that this night
would be one we would personally
remember for the rest of our lives.
We were in a place millions of others could only dream of. We were the only South Asian
publication accredited by the Commission on Presidential Debates at Hofstra, writes Vikas
Girdhar, Associate Editor of The South Asian Times, who was accompanied by Arjit Mehta,
President, and Namit Narain, Vice President, of the media house.
Yes, SATimes was there!
At the media center, hundreds of mediapersons were seen
furiously typing away on laptops, setting up cameras, holding
microphones and conducting interviews and commentating.
Senators John Kerry and Chuck Schumer, and former NY Governor George Pataki were spotted and snapped.
16 October 20-26, 2012 TheSouthAsianTimes.info US ELECTIONS
(Photos: TheSATimes)
US ELECTIONS
Obama's Round 2 win unlikely to alter tight race
5 South Asians in the fray for US Congress
17 October 20-26, 2012 TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Washington: Giving up his cool
'Mr. Polite' demeanor, a decidedly
more aggressive President Barack
Obama got the better of Mitt
Romney in their second encounter,
but few were willing to say if it
would significantly alter the White
House race.
Most media commentators
judged Obama the winner of
Tuesday night' s tense, lively
debate at Hofstra University in
Long Island, NY, with his
Republican challenger, whose
campaign has been on a roll since
their first encounter in Denver two
weeks ago.
Print as well as national and
local TV reports positively
assessed Obama's "aggressive" or
"feisty" debate stance with the
New York Times saying it "was a
chance for a redo for Mr. Obama".
The Washington Post similarly
described Obama as "far more
engaged and prepared" for this
debate, while Romney "was less
able to unsettle the president".
The Los Angeles Times took
note of a "a newly energetic and
aggressive ... Obama" who "went
directly after his Republican chal-
lenger".
Even the generally pro-
Republican Fox News conceded:
"Obviously we saw a more aggres-
sive, a more assertive President
Obama tonight. He was much
more on his game."
Polls taken after the debate
largely validate the view that
Obama won the bout, with the
president ahead in a CBS survey of
uncommitted voters (37 percent-30
percent) and a CNN poll of regis-
tered voters (46 percent-39 per-
cent).
If the analysts were universally
agreed on the president's much
improved style, few were willing
to predict if it would significantly
alter the dynamics of the White
House race which is a dead heat,
according to the latest opinion
polls, all taken before last night's
debate.
A National Poll Average by Real
Clear Politics, an influential politi-
cal news aggregator, shows
Romney just 0.4 percentage points
ahead with 47. 4 percent to
Obama's 47 percent.
But Obama still enjoys a 201 to
191 vote advantage over Romney
with 146 votes too close to call in
the 538 strong Electoral College. It
takes 270 votes to win the White
House.
Writing in the Washington Post,
commentator Chris Cillizza said
"both sides will be pleased with
how their candidate did". But ulti-
mately, "it's hard to imagine the
debate changing any minds".
During the town hall format
debate, where 82 uncommitted
voters picked by Gallup organisa-
tion got to ask the questions,
Obama mocked Romney's five-
point economic plan saying:
"Governor Romney says he's got a
five-point plan. Governor Romney
doesn't have a five-point plan."
"He has a one-point plan. And
that plan is to make sure that folks
at the top play by a different set of
rules," he said. "That's been his
philosophy in the private sector.
That's been his philosophy as a
governor. And that's been his phi-
losophy as a presidential candi-
date."
Romney shot back that Obama
was "great as a speaker, but his
policies don't work".
"That's what this election is all
about," Romney said. "It's about
how we can get the middle class of
this country a bright and prosper-
ous future."
By Vikas Girdhar
New York: This election season,
the presidential race is occupying
all the mindspace. But the Indian
American community may simulta-
neously be tracking candidates of
their own in the fray. There are five
running for US House of
Representatives (none for US
Senate). Four of them are
Democrat, and one is Republican.
They face heavy odds but are a bea-
con of hope for future generations
of the community, which would be
able to boast many more in posi-
tions of political power.
Dr. Ami Bera: Dr. Bera is a
Democrat running for
the 7th
Congressional dis-
trict of California
against incumbent
Dan Lungren. He
got a boost when
President Clinton endorsed him.
Bera, who has never held elected
office, lost to Lungren by seven
percentage points in 2010. Dr. Bera
is a first-generation Indian
American who took advantage of
Californias public schools, from
KG to medical school. He has
served as Chief Medical Officer for
Sacramento County and became a
Clinical Professor of Medicine and
Associate Dean for Admissions and
Outreach at UC Davis. He lives in
Elk Grove.
Upendra J. Chivukula:
Chivukula is a
Democrat running
for the 7th
Congressional dis-
trict of New Jersey
as a challenger to
incumbent Leonard
Lance in Republican
stronghold. In 2001, Chivukula
became the first Indian American
elected to the New Jersey State
General Assembly and the fourth
Indian American in the US to reach
that high in a public office. He has
been the Assemblys Deputy
Speaker since 2007. He was also
one of New Jerseys presidential
electors on the Electoral College in
2004. He is an electrical engineer
and was born in Nellore, India and
lives in Somerset, NJ.
Ranjit Ricky Gill: Gill is a
Republican running
against incumbent
Jerry McNerney for
the slightly left
leaning 9th
Congressional dis-
trict in California.
Gill was raised on Lodi
and is a native of San Joaquin
County. He is the son of immigrant
parents, a small business owner, a
family farmer and a former member
of the California State Board of
Education. Gill graduated Phi Beta
Kappa from Princeton Universitys
Woodrow Wilson School of Public
and International Affairs and earned
his Juris Doctor from the
University of California at Berkley.
He is a Republican young gun
who was endorsed by California
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Dr Manan Trivedi: Trivedi is a
Democrat running for
the 6th
Co n g r e s s i o n a l
District of
Pennsylvania. He
was also the nomi-
nee in 2010, when he
lost to Republican Jim
Gerlach.
Trivedi was born and raised in
Fleetwood and went to Boston
University for college and medical
school. He completed a Masters in
Public Policy at UCLA. Currently,
he is certified as a doctor of internal
medicine at The Reading Hospital
and Medical Center in West
Reading. He also served as a battal-
ion surgeon with the United States
Marine Corps during the Iraqi War.
Dr Syed Taj: Taj is a Democrat
running for the 11th
C o n g r e s s i o n a l
District of
Michigan. He won
the Democratic
Primary against
William Roberts and
will face Republican
Kerry Bentivolio on November 6 in
a Republican leaning district.
Taj was born in Gaya, India, and
attended Patna University and
Medical School. He worked his
way up from resident to staff physi-
cian and finally, Chief and Chair of
the Department of Medicine at
Oakwood Hospital. He was elected
as the only Democrat on the Canton
Board of Trustees in 2008.
Obama and Romney hit the campaign trail the
day after the Hofstra debate.
Ann Romney and Michelle Obama both showed up
in hot pink at the Hofstra debate.
Final debate in Florida on foreign policy
T
he final presidential
debate is scheduled for
October 22. President
Obama and Governor Romney
will square off for a third time
this month at the debate on for-
eign policy in Boca Raton, Fla.
The event is slated to follow the
same format as the first debate,
with the moderator focusing on
facilitating a more free-wheel-
ing back-and-forth than was on
display during Tuesday night's
more segmented town hall
event. The less-defined format
wasn't without its flaws the first
time around.
As selected by moderator Bob
Schieffer, there will be one 15-
minute segment on each of the
following four topics: 1)
America's role in the world; 2)
Our longest war: Afghanistan
and Pakistan; 3) Red Lines:
Israel and Iran; and 4) the Rise
of China and Tomorrow' s
World.
And two separate 15-minute
segments on: The Changing
Middle East and the new Face
of Terrorism. That means,
Romney and Obama will have
another chance to discuss the
attack on the US consulate in
Benghazi and the White
House's response to it.
By Hiral Dholakia-Dave
A
nita Moorjani has become
a sought after international
speaker/author thanks to
her appearances on Dr. Wayne
Dyers PBS special and sharing the
stage with him at the prestigious I
Can Do It Conferences around the
world organized by the publisher
Hay House. Shell be in New York
for I Can Do It! Ignite on Nov.3-4
with Dyer, to tell her story to thou-
sands of attendees, a story that is
inspiring millions around the
world.
Moorjani was diagnosed with
terminal cancer. It was early 2006
when she ' crossed over' and
returned with a clearer understand-
ing of her life and purpose on
earth. This understanding led to
total recovery of her health. Her
work is now ingrained with the
insights she gained while in the
other realm (near death experience,
or NDE). Her bestselling book is
Dying to be Me: My Journey from
Cancer, to Near Death, to True
Healing
Anita was born in Singapore to
Indian parents, and moved to Hong
Kong at the age of two. Because of
her background, she is multilingual
and grew up speaking English,
Cantonese, and an Indian dialect.
She worked in the corporate world
for many years before her cancer
diagnosis.
SATimes caught up with
Moorjani before her New York trip
Were you a believer in soul
transmigration or started believ-
ing in it after your NDE?
I always believed that the soul
never dies. I believed in karma and
past life. I even thought that cancer
was some kind of retribution of
past karmas. But during my experi-
ence I could see the past, present
and future all of it happening
simultaneously. I realized that one
can change ones future by chang-
ing ones present. So from then on
I no more fear about my future.
What lessons did you learn from
your experience?
I lost the fear of living and dying.
In the past I never loved or valued
myself. Life is a huge gift and I
realized my value in the tapestry of
life. I realized I have a purpose and
that is to be who I am, be true to
myself. Secondly I lost interest in
chasing materialistic ambitions. All
I want to do is live life to the fullest
and appreciate it to the fullest. The
need to compete comes from fear.
When I lost that fear I stopped
competing and started allowing
what comes to me.
I have realized that my inner
world is actually the real world, the
outer world only a reflection of my
internal state.
Therefore, the kinder I am to
myself, the kinder are other people
to me.
What do you enjoy doing the
most now?
I really enjoy writing, never used
to do it before. I got a lot of com-
fort from writing. I love connecting
with people. I wake up every day
and look forward to whatever is in
store for me. I like to live in a quiet
place, by the water. I enjoy medi-
tating, listening to music, going for
walks, hiking, drives, going to
beach and being with people.
Islandia, NY: The stage was
stark. No paraphernalia, not even
a lowly chair, not to speak of the
throne like couch many gurus like
to sit on. Just plain red backdrop.
The 400-strong audience in the
hall of Marriott Islandia hotel on
Long Island was expectant this
balmy afternoon last Sunday, but
having not a clue what to expect
or even what the speaker looks
like.
Then Mahatria walked in, wear-
ing white kurta-pajama, and sport-
ing Sai Baba hairdo. Happy
afternoon! he greeted the audi-
ence. As expected, people did not
know how to respond to this
unusually worded greeting. It was
a ploy. He took off from there,
pointing out that we may be living
our lives by rote and need to snap
out of it.
He came across as more a moti-
vational guru than a spiritual mas-
ter when he hammered home his
prescription for a life of meaning
and fulfillment, which is to bal-
ance these four aspects.
Happiness in the small
things of life
Success in the big things of
life
Meditation on the nothing
of life
God in everything of life.
An engaging and commanding
orator, Mahatria (real name T.T.
Rangarajan) expounded on these
four points for two full hours,
often with the help of anecdotes
and stories. He recounted how his
own transformation started when
a child he was with laughed out of
the blue and when asked, coun-
tered, Do I need a reason to be
happy? Indeed, we should keep
the child in us alive, and not need
reasons to be happy, and instead
bring celebration in everyday
activities of life.
On the second point, Mahatria
said, Each one of you is unique,
son of God, and should live life
with that inheritance. That means
stepping out of our comfort zone,
working towards something larger
than ourselves, walking the extra
mile and putting others ahead of
us. That is how an Agnes Gonxha
Bojaxhiu becomes Mother Teresa.
Need for meditation, he
explained in terms of breaking our
incessant doing and mental traffic
jams with a period of non-doing,
of withdrawal.
On the question of God, he said
skeptics and agnostics do not find
a convincing proof of the exis-
tence of God, but no matter.
Offering gratitude to God (call it
Energy, if you wish) is a sure way
to be happy. Proof of righteous
life is the happiness that mani-
fests.
Outside the hall, material about
Mahatrias teachings was on sale,
and information given on a one-
day retreat he was leading on
October 21 at Woodlands at the
Greens in Melville, NY.
Based in Chennai, Mahatria is
on a lecture tour of the USA and
Canada this month.
According to his promotional
material, he has transformed hun-
dreds of thousands of people by
providing significant break-
throughs in their lives. Realizing
the great hunger in the world for a
new way of life, he has recently
divined the path as infinitheism.
His vision of lifting humanity to
a higher level of consciousness is
carried through his experiential
workshops, residential retreats
and a magazine infinithoughts.
His published books include
Unposted Letter and the recent
Most and More.
For more info go to infinithe-
ism.com.
Life is a huge gift, appreciate it: Anita Moorjani
Anita Moorjani, and the title page of her book
18 October 20-26, 2012 TheSouthAsianTimes.info PERSONAL GROWTH
Secret to finding
happiness
Mahatria gave
an inspiring talk
on Long Island
By Parveen Chopra
Taliban-hit Malala's condition stable
London: Doctors at the hospital in
Britain where Pakistani teenaged
rights activist Malala Yousafzai is
being treated said they were hope-
ful she can recover, even as several
people tried to get to her ward by
falsely claiming they were family
members.
The 14-year-old girl, who
arrived in Birmingham, had a bul-
let removed from her skull last
week.
David Rosser, hospital medical
director at the Queen Elizabeth
Hospital in Birmingham, said
some British colleagues who had
been in Pakistan believed Malala
had "a chance of making a good
recovery". "Clearly it would be
inappropriate on every level, not
least for her, to put her through all
of this if there was no hope of
decent recovery," he said.
Malala was flown from Pakistan,
via the United Arab Emirates in an
air ambulance, a week after she
and two other schoolgirls were
attacked as they returned home
from school in Mingora in the
Swat valley.
She became widely known as a
campaigner for girls' education in
Pakistan after writing a diary for
BBC Urdu about life under the
Taliban, when they banned girls
from attending school.
Rosser said specialists at the
Queen Elizabeth Hospital were "in
a good position to treat her"
because they had 10 years of expe-
rience in treating military casual-
ties. Once Malala recovers suffi-
ciently, she will also need neuro-
logical help as well as treatment to
repair or replace damaged bones in
her skull.
However, many people have
tried to get to the ward housing
Malala by falsely claiming they
were family members, the Daily
Mail reported.
Management at the hospital said
police stopped the people getting
near the 14-year-old Monday
night. "We do not think that there
is a threat to her personal safety.
We believe that it is a case of peo-
ple being curious," Rosser told the
Daily Mail.
British Foreign Secretary
William Hague said Malala's brav-
ery "in standing up for the right of
all young girls in Pakistan to an
education is an example to us all".
Around 50 clerics in Pakistan
issued a "fatwa" (religious edict)
against the attempt on her life, and
declared it "un-Islamic".
"Islam doesn't prohibit women
from getting education. The attack-
ers transgressed the Islamic
Hudood (principles)," said the
clerics from the Sunni Ittehad
Council.
19 October 20-26, 2012 TheSouthAsianTimes.info SUBCONTINENT
UN chief lauds Malala as 'role model'
Islamabad: UN Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon has written a letter to
the parents of Pakistani teenaged
rights activist Malala Yousufzai,
lauding Malala as a "role model
not only for your country, but for
our world".
Ban handed over the letter,
addressed to Malala's parents, to
Pakistan's permanent representa-
tive to the UN, Masood Khan, the
Daily Times reported.
Ban said he had already issued a
strong statement condemning the
Pakistani Taliban's "cowardly act"
of shooting the 14-year-old girl.
"Malala is a role model not only
for your country, but for our
world," the secretary-general wrote
in his letter. He said education was
a fundamental right for everybody,
and that the UN was partnering
with the people of Pakistan in their
struggle to promote education.
Ambassador Masood Khan said
the Pakistani leadership and the
entire nation had condemned the
abominable act against Malala.
"The whole nation is united
against this kind of obscurantism.
Malala has been an icon of educa-
tion for girls and an inspiration for
the international community, "
Khan was quoted as saying.
The Pakistani envoy informed
the UN chief that the Pakistan gov-
ernment was committed to the pro-
motion and protection of human
rights, including the right to educa-
tion.
Compelled to share Malala's
story with kids: Jolie
London: Actress Angelina Jolie has written an essay
sharing how she informed her children about Pakistani
child activist Malala Yousafzai, who was shot early this
month.
In the essay written in Daily Beast, the actress wrote:
"I felt compelled to share Malala's story with my chil-
dren. It was difficult for them to comprehend a world
where men would try to kill a child whose only crime
was the desire that she and others like her be allowed to
go to school."
The 37-year-old raises six kids -- Maddox, 11, Pax,
eight, Zahara, seven, Shiloh, six, and four-year-old
twins Knox and Vivienne -- with fiance Brad Pitt and
the children gave solutions and asked question about the
incident, reports dailymail.co.uk.
"Our 8-year-old (Pax) suggested that the world build a
statue for Malala, and fittingly create a reading nook
near it. Our 6-year-old (Shiloh) asked the practical
question of whether Malala had any pets, and if so, who
would take care of them? She also asked about Malala's
parents and if they were crying," Jolie wrote."Still try-
ing to understand, my children asked, 'Why did those
men think they needed to kill Malala?' I answered,
because education is a powerful thing," she added.
Sethusamudram: DMK trains guns on AIADMK
Chennai: DMK president M. Karunanidhi accused
Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa of having double stan-
dards and betraying Tamil Nadu's interests by submit-
ting to the Supreme Court that the Sethusamudram
ship channel may not be in public interest.
The Sethusamudram project envisages the dredging
of a channel across the Palk Strait to allow ships sail-
ing between the east and west coasts of India, instead
of circumventing Sri Lanka.
In a statement issued here, Karunanidhi said: "Those
in power in the state would strive to secure new proj-
ects for the benefit of the people. But the AIADMK
government is of the view that it is better that the
Sethusamudram project need not be there than other
parties taking credit."
The Tamil Nadu government told the Supreme Court
that the Sethusamudram project would have serious
environmental impact and uneconomical if the channel
is made without cutting Ram Sethu/Adam's Bridge.
However, cutting of Ram Sethu/Adam's Bridge has
invited severe opposition from several quarters as it is
considered sacred by the Hindus.
Recalling AIADMK's 2001 and 2004 election mani-
festos where the party had supported the
Malala Yousafzai is widely known as a campaigner
for girls' education in Pakistan
The Sethusamudram project envisages the
dredging of a channel across the Palk Strait to
allow free ships sailing
Islamabad: Pakistan's interior minister Rehman
Malik has announced a $1 million bounty on
Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Eshan, who
claimed responsibility for the attack on anti-
Taliban child rights activist Malala Yousafzai last
week.
"All our law enforcers, intelligence agencies
are hunting those involved,'' the interior minister
told CNN in an interview on Monday. "I have got
some other names which I would not like to men-
tion on record because it may damage the investi-
gation. But let me assure my Pakistani nation and
the entire world that we will get them very soon."
He said the attack was planned in Afghanistan.
"This...assassination plan was made across the
border in Afghanistan.. four people came from
there (Afghanistan).'' Ehsan had claimed that two
killers from Mullah Fazlullah-led militants
attacked Malala on October 9. He had threatened
to kill the girl's father following the failed bid on
the girl's life.
Malala case: $1m
bounty on Taliban
Casualties as attack hits
Afghan base: Nato
Kabul: A suicide car bomb
attack on a joint Nato-Afghan
army base in eastern
Afghanistan Wednesday caused
several casualties to Afghan
forces, the International
Security Assistance Force said.
"Early reports say the attack
(in Paktiya province) resulted in
several ANSF (Afghan National
Security Forces) casualties, but
there is currently no reporting
on ISAF casualties, " a
spokesman said.
Sethusamudram project and
declared that it would press the
central government to implement
the project, Karunanidhi said the
ruling party has changed stance
just to deny DMK the credit for
being instrumental in initiating the
project.
Sydney: Australian Prime
Minister Julia Gillard, who was
on a three-day trip to India, has
said that uranium sales to India
will not start quickly and a safe-
guard agreement may take one or
two years, it was reported here.
Gillard hosed down any sugges-
tions that uranium sales to India
will start quickly, saying that
negotiating a safeguard agreement
is likely to take one or two years,
rather than months, reported
Sydney Morning Herald from
New Delhi.
She is in the Indian capital to
clear the way for negotiations to
begin on a safeguards agreement.
She said Australia knew how to
negotiate a proper agreement to
ensure uranium was used for
peaceful purposes, the media
report quoted the Australian prime
minister as saying.
The launch of nuclear negotia-
tions will pave the way for the
sealing of a civilian nuclear deal,
and will remove the last stumbling
block in accelerating bilateral ties.
Gillard said that action had been
taken to ensure the welfare of
Indian students and the ban on
uranium exports to India had been
lifted.
She had visited India as deputy
prime minister and education min-
ister to deal with the tensions over
violence towards Indian students
in Melbourne some years ago.
Australia is home to 450,000
Indians. The attacks on Indian stu-
dents in Australia a couple of
years ago have not dimmed the
appeal of that country as an edu-
cation destination with the
Australian government launching
a multi-pronged plan to prevent
such attacks. Currently, there are
about 36,000 Indian students who
are studying in Australia.
During her three-day trip that
began Monday, Gillard will hold
talks with Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh during which
the prospects of civil nuclear
cooperation and intensification of
relations in areas like trade and
investment, science and technolo-
gy and education will figure in the
discussions.
London: British novelist
Hilary Mantel made literary
history by becoming the first
woman and the first British
author to be a two-time win-
ner of the Man Booker Prize
for fiction.
Mantel picked up the prize,
one of the highest profile
awards in English-language
literature, for "Bring up the
Bodies," part two of her
Thomas Cromwell trilogy, at
a ceremony at London's Guildhall.
The 60-year-old first won in 2009
with "Wolf Hall", the first of the his-
torical fiction saga with King Henry
VIII's chief minister as the protago-
nist.
Accepting her prize, the winner
said: "Well, I don't know, you wait
20 years for a Booker Prize and two
come along at once."
She called the award an "act of
faith and a vote of confidence."
"I know how lucky and privileged
I am to be standing here tonight,"
she told the audience.
"Now I have to do something very
difficult, I have to go away and
write the third part of the trilogy,"
she joked.
"I assure you that I have no expec-
tations I will be standing here
again."
She becomes just the third writer
to clinch the award twice since its
inception in 1969, joining Australian
author Peter Carey, who won in
1988 and 2001, and the South
African JM Coetzee in 1983 and
1999.
The 50,000 ($80,000, 62,000
euros) Booker is awarded annually
for the best work of fiction by an
author from Britain, the
Commonwealth or Ireland.
Mantel makes history with
second Booker prize
Washington: After
Vice President Joe
Biden, it's now the turn
of the Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton to
save the president
under attack from his
Republican challenger
Mitt Romney over the
attack on the US con-
sulate in Benghazi, Libya.
The bucks stops with
her when it comes to who is blame for a deadly assault on
the US mission on the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist
attacks, she said in a series of interviews ahead of the sec-
ond presidential debate in New York.
Clinton, who as America's top diplomat has stayed away
from the campaign, insisted Obama and Biden are not
involved in security decisions. "I want to avoid some kind
of political gotcha," she added, noting that it is close to the
election. "I take responsibility" for what happened Sep 11,
Clinton said soon after arriving in Lima, Peru for a visit.
The interview, one of a series given to US television net-
works Monday night, were the first she has given about the
attack on the US consulate in Benghazi. The attack killed
Chris Stevens, the US ambassador to Libya, and three other
Americans at the consulate. The Obama administration has
been heavily criticized after Biden said during last week's
vice presidential debate that the White House did not know
of requests to enhance security at Benghazi, contradicting
testimony by State Department employees that requests had
been made and rejected.
Hillary takes rap for security
lapse in Libya
Uranium sales to India not to start quickly: Gillard
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard
Tripoli: New evidence implicat-
ing militias in executions after
ousted Libyan dictator Muammar
Gaddafi was captured and killed
in Sirte last October 20 raises
fresh questions over his death, a
watchdog said.
"The evidence suggests that
opposition militias summarily
executed at least 66 captured
members of Gaddafi's convoy in
Sirte," his home town, said Peter
Bouckaert, emergencies director
at Human Rights Watch (HRW).
"It also looks as if they took
Mutassim Gaddafi, who had been
wounded, to (the port city of)
Misrata and killed him there," he
said of Gaddafi's son.
"Our findings call into question
the assertion by Libyan authori-
ties that Muammar Gaddafi was
killed in crossfire, and not after
his capture," Bouckaert said of a
Human Rights Watch report doc-
umenting the executions.
The 50-page report, "Death of a
Dictator: Bloody Vengeance in
Sirte," also details the final hours
of Gaddafi's life and the circum-
stances under which he was
killed on the basis of witness tes-
timony and mobile phone
footage.
HRW said its evidence suggests
that Misrata-based militias cap-
tured and disarmed members of
Gaddafi' s convoy and, after
bringing them under control, sub-
jected them to brutal beatings.
'Evidence of mass murder after Gaddafi's death'
Late Libyan dictator
Muammar Gaddafi
British novelist Hilary Mantel
US Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton
20 October 20-26, 2012 TheSouthAsianTimes.info INTERNATIONAL
Melbourne: An Australian politician has questioned
his Prime Minister Julia Gillard's decision to award
an Order of Australia to cricketer Sachin Tendulkar
for his contribution to sport. Federal Independent
MP Rob Oakshott who expressed his love for Little
Master, said the special award should not be used for
diplomatic gain, the ABC news reported.
"I love Sachin Tendulkar, I love cricket. but I just
have a problem with soft diplomacy as you call it,"
he said, adding "Getting in on the act of the
Australian honors."
Oakeshott said the Order should be focused on rec-
ognizing Australians doing community work instead.
"I'm not going to die in a ditch over it...but it's
about the integrity of the honours list which should
be for Australians," he said.
He said that Tendulkar was an "obvious diplomatic
touch point", and further suggested setting up an
inter-nation gong, such as an "Australia-India
award".
Gillard had announced that Tendulkar would
receive the special honor. "This is a very special
honor, very rarely awarded to someone who is not an
Australian citizen or an Australian national," she
said. "He is away playing cricket - surprise, surprise
- but the award will be conferred on him by Minister
[Simon] Crean when [he] visits India," he said.
ABC also quoted Australia India Youth Dialogue
chairman Ruchir Punjabi as saying that approach has
worked with the Indian public.
"I think perhaps the Order of Australia to Sachin
Tendulkar is probably going to be bigger than the
nuclear issue," he said.
MP questions Gillard over
award to Sachin
US visa processing goes online in India
New Delhi: Despite announce-
ments of a series of reforms,
Global ratings agency Standard &
Poors has said that there were
chances that India's credit ratings
might be downgraded. It stated
that the country's external position
and political climate looks shaky
and if that continues it won't be a
good sign.
The rating agency said it had not
released anything new on India's
sovereign rating but only pub-
lished the Asia-Pacific sovereign
report card which has no informa-
tion on India's rating. Still the
news of warning hit the Indian
markets hard and BSE Sensex
came down crashing by more than
100 points and dragged rupee as
well.
India was the only Asia-Pacific
sovereign to see a negative rating
action in the past six months. The
weaker global economic outlook
and domestic policy instability
contributed to deteriorating
growth prospects and investor
confidence in the country, S&P
said in its report titled Asia-
Pacific Sovereign: A Bit of
Stability in the Sea of
Uncertainty.
In our view, there is a signifi-
cant chance that this trend could
eventually affect political, eco-
nomic, fiscal or external factors to
lower the credit rating on India,
the agency said, adding that the
negative outlook signaled at least
a one-in-three likelihood of a
downgrade of the sovereign rating
within next two years.
The rating agency, however,
said that it may revise the outlook
back to stable if the government
carries on with reforms and imple-
ments its announcements along
with making the investment cli-
mate better and attempt for a bet-
ter growth rate.
S&P had revised the outlook on
Indias sovereign rating to nega-
tive from stable citing the high
fiscal deficit, stalled policies,
slowing growth and stubborn
inflation.
Stockholm: American economists
Alvin E. Roth and Lloyd S.
Shapley shared the 2012 Nobel
Prize for Economics, which they
won "for the theory of stable allo-
cations and the practice of market
design".
The award was announced by
Staffan Normark, permanent sec-
retary of the Royal Swedish
Academy of Sciences in
Stockholm.
"This year's prize is awarded for
an outstanding example of eco-
nomic engineering," Xinhua quot-
ed the academy as saying in a
statement.
The two researchers worked
independently, but their empirical
investigations, experiments and
practical design have generated a
flourishing field of research and
improved the performance of
many markets, the academy said.
Roth and Shapley tackled a cen-
tral economic problem -- how to
match different agents as well as
possible.
"The prize rewards the two
scholars who have answered these
questions on a journey from
abstract theory on stable alloca-
tions to practical design of market
institutions," the academy said.
It was Roth who recognized that
Shapley's theoretical results could
clarify the functioning of impor-
tant markets in practice.
Through a series of empirical
studies, Roth and his colleagues
showed that stability is the key to
understanding the success of par-
ticular market institutions. Roth
also substantiated the conclusion
in systematic laboratory experi-
ments.
Later, he also helped redesign
existing institutions for matching
new doctors with hospitals, stu-
dents with schools and organ
donors with patients. All the
Nobel prizes will be presented on
December 10, the day Alfred
Nobel died.
Two Americans share 2012 Nobel Prize for Economics
21 October 20-26, 2012 TheSouthAsianTimes.info BUSINESS
Big data to drive IT spending in 2012: Gartner
Kolkata: Big data will drive $28 billion of
worldwide IT spending in 2012, according to
Gartner. In 2013, big data forecast to drive
$34 billion of IT spending.
Most of the current spending is used in
adapting traditional solutions to the big data
demands machine data, social data, widely
varied data, unpredictable velocity, and so on
and only $4.3 billion in software sales will
be driven directly by demands for new big
data functionality in 2012.
Big data currently has the most significant
impact in social network analysis and con-
tent analytics with 45% of new spending
each year. In traditional IT supplier markets,
application infrastructure and middleware is
most affected (10% of new spending each
year is influenced by big data in some way)
when compared with storage software, data-
base management system, data
integration/quality, business intelligence or
supply chain management (SCM).
"Despite the hype, big data is not a distinct,
stand-alone market, it but represents an
industrywide market force which must be
addressed in products, practices and solution
delivery," said Mark Beyer, research vice
president at Gartner. "In 2011, big data
formed a new driver in almost every catego-
ry of IT spending. However, through 2018,
big data requirements will gradually evolve
from differentiation to 'table stakes' in infor-
mation management practices and technolo-
gy. By 2020, big data features and function-
ality will be non-differentiating and routinely
expected from traditional enterprise vendors
and part of their product offerings."
Big data opportunities emerged when sev-
eral advances in different IT categories
aligned in a short period at the end of the last
decade, creating a dramatic increase in com-
puting technology capacity. This new capaci-
ty, coupled with latent demands for analysis
of "dark data," social networks data and
operational technology (or machine data),
created an environment highly conducive to
rapid innovation. Starting near the end of
2015, Gartner expects leading organizations
to begin to use their big data experience in an
almost embedded form in their architectures
and practices. Beginning in 2018, big data
solutions will offering increasingly less of a
distinct advantage over traditional solutions
that have incorporated new features and
functions to support greater agility when
addressing volume, variety and velocity.
However, the skills, practices and tools
currently viewed as big data solutions will
persist as leading organizations will have
incorporated the design principles and
acquired the skills necessary to address big
data concerns as routine flexibility.
Washington: A new mini-
car could be rolling onto
the US automotive market
within three years, as
Indian automaker Tata has
announced plans to
redesign its Nano no frills
mini-car for release in the
US.
"The US is a very entic-
ing market," said Ratan
Tata, CEO of India's Tata
Group in an interview with
Automotive News. "We
hope that the sub-$10,000
car has appeal."
The current Nano is an
egg-shaped four-seater ini-
tially launched in India as
an alternative to scooters. It
went on sale in 2009 with a
price tag of about $2,500,
making it the world' s
cheapest car.
To compete in the US, the
Nano would have to under-
go redesigns to meet
American standards includ-
ing adding power steering
and traction control.
Even with the updates,
the Nano is estimated to hit
the US market with a price
tag of about $8,000. That
would make it America's
cheapest car beating out the
Mexican-made Nissan
Versa that retails for
$11,750.
The new version of the
Nano will also come with a
bigger engine and "more
bells and whistles", accord-
ing to reports.
Tata says it is also
redesigning the Nano for
Europe as well. The coun-
try' s largest automobile
company, with consolidated
revenues of Rs. 165,654
crore (over $31 billion) in
2011-12, Tata Motors has
subsidiaries and associates
in Britain, South Korea,
Thailand, Spain and South
Africa.
US visa applicants can now pay application fees via electronic
fund transfer or through mobile.
American economists Alvin E. Roth and Lloyd S. Shapley
The Nano is estimated to hit the US market with a
price tag of about $8,000
Tata's Nano to hit US market
22 October 20-26, 2012 TheSouthAsianTimes.info SPORTS
Court upholds BCCI's decision to
terminate Chargers
New Delhi: There was no relief for
the cash-strapped Deccan Chargers
as the Bombay high court quashed
arbitrator's order for status quo on
the BCCI's decision to terminate the
IPL franchise.
Both BCCI and DC had agreed to
take their dispute to an arbitrator
and the Bombay high court had
appointed retired SC judge Justice
CK Thakkar as the sole arbitrator to
go into the dispute.
The arbitrator had on Friday
evening had the first preliminary
meeting with both sides where DC
lawyer made a representation seek-
ing a status quo on the termination
that would kick in as it had failed to
get any further extension of time to
furnish the bank guarantee to the
Board.
The arbitrator granted a status quo
at 7.30 pm which the Bombay high
court stayed on Saturday on an
urgent appeal made by the cricket
board.
The IPL governing council had on
Wednesday discussed various issues
related to the termination.
The committee discussed in-depth
the legal ramifications of the
Deccan Chargers termination and
about the future of nearly 30 crick-
eters (foreign and Indian) who have
been left without a team due to this
decision.
The BCCI is likely to encash the
bank guarantee that is with them
and pay the salaries of the former
Deccan players and support staff.
World Billiards: Advani leads Indian challenge
I'm hit by racism: Jeremy Lin
Leeds: Pankaj Advani spearheads
a strong Indian challenge in the
first ever unified World Billiards
Championship, commencing here
this weekend with as many as 65
players, including defending
champions Mike Russell and
Bangalorean Revanna Umadevi in
the fray.
The tournament is being jointly
organized by two world governing
bodies. The newly-formed World
Billiards Ltd has brought together
the International Billiards and
Snooker Federation (IBSF) and
World Professional Billiards and
Snooker Association (WPBSA).
Advani, who at only 27 is him-
self a multiple World champion, is
currently embroiled in some con-
troversy after qualifying for the
final stages of a professional
snooker event due to start in
China while the World Billiards
Championship is still taking
place.
Advani has taken the decision to
withdraw from the event in China
to concentrate on billiards, some-
thing which has delighted the bil-
liards fraternity but somewhat
angered the snooker aficionados.
For the first time this year both
lady and junior players will be
competing alongside the men.
Junior champions from England,
India and Ireland will also be pit-
ting their skills against the best in
the world. Countries sending
players for the first time include
Guernsey and Canada.
Favorite for the title is current
World Champion and undisputed
king of billiards Russell.
Originally from England but now
based in Qatar, Russell is making
the annual trip to defend the title
he has made his own, having won
a total of 16 world championships
since his first in 1989 at the age of
20.
Other contenders for the title
include former champions Peter
Gilchrist (Singapore) and Geet
Sethi (India) who alongside
Russell are the only players to
have made a competitive 1,000-
break in the modern game.
Also expected to mount a strong
challenge this year is 10-time
Australian champion Matthew
Bolton who last year recorded a
break of 831 on his way to the
final of the timed event.
New York: Jeremy Lin, the NBA
playmaker of Taiwan and Chinese
heritage whose rise last season
sparked "Lin-sanity" worldwide,
told GQ Magazine in a cover story
that he still feels the sting of racist
attitudes.
"I'm going to have to play well
for a longer period of time for cer-
tain people to believe it because
I'm Asian. And that's just the reali-
ty of it," Lin told GQ in a story
from the November issue posted
on the magazine website.
Lin is featured on the cover
wearing a suit and basketball shoes
and holding a basketball in his left
hand with a headline: "Jeremy Lin
will not be denied".
"I don't always pass with my left,
but when I do, its for GQ. . .
thanks," Lin posted Tuesday on his
Twitter page.
Lin, a 24-year-old Harvard grad-
uate, was pulled off the bench for
the New York Knicks last season
when the club had two starters
felled by injury. He shocked every-
one with a star turn that sparked a
win streak and "Lin-sanity".
The starters returned and so did
reality but the Knicks reached the
playoffs and Lin was expected to
play a role for new York in the
upcoming season.
Billiards player Pankaj Advani
NBA player Jeremy Lin
I am close to my Indian roots: Monisha
Hinwil (Switzerland): Monisha
Kaltenborn, the first female team
principal in Formula One, is look-
ing forward to visiting the country
of her birth, thanks to the Indian
Grand Prix. Though she has been
away from India for the major part
of her life, the Sauber chief has
remained close to her roots.
Dehradun-born Kaltenborn
migrated to Austria with her par-
ents when she was eight and has
traveled across the world since
then. An Austrian citizen now, she
still retains her Indian surname,
Narang, on the passport.
"I really like my Indian name.
My Indian heritage and my parents'
family mean a great deal to me,
and that is why I never wanted to
give up Narang. On the other hand,
you have to admit that double-bar-
relled names aren't very practical in
day-to-day business operations.
That's why I only rarely use my
full name," said Kaltenborn, who
took charge of Sauber at last
week's Korean Grand Prix, replac-
ing team owner Peter Sauber.
The 41-year-old says she is proud
of her Indian roots even though her
Hindi-speaking skills have deterio-
rated.
"I don't think you ever lose your
roots, and anyway you can tell
where I am from just by looking at
me. I also think I have a certain
serenity and openness you might
describe as Indian. That includes
shrugging off negative experiences
and focusing positively on the
future - something that is very
important in an environment as
competitive as Formula One.
"As for my Hindi, it's no longer
as good as I'd like it to be. But I do
try to talk Hindi with the children
occasionally. Our son is ten years
old, our daughter seven, and I'd
like them to learn the language.
But my parents are better teachers
than me," she told her team's offi-
cial website.
Kaltenborn's rise in the male-
dominated world of F1 has been
remarkable. She earned a master's
degree in Law from the London
School of Economics in 1996 and
joined Sauber's legal department in
1998. She became the head of the
law department in 2000 and was
part of the Board by 2001. In 2010,
she was made the CEO before
Peter Sauber asked her to fill his
shoes.
"Peter Sauber's withdrawal from
the day-to-day running of the busi-
ness has been on the cards for a
long time, so this latest step was
well prepared. I am acutely aware
of what it means to carry the
responsibility for this company,
which has been around for over 40
years and involved in Formula One
for almost 20 years."
Her team has also had a good
year with four podium-finishes out
of the first 16 rounds. A fifth one
will be welcome at the Buddh
International Circuit, says
Kalterborn.
"The track layout is very similar
to that in Korea. There are slow
and fast turns and quite a long
straight. The circuit is likely to be
neither ideal terrain nor particular-
ly problematic. I am confident that
we will manage another decent
points haul."
Monisha Kaltenborn is the first female team
principal in Formula One
Best face forward
Change the world by changing the way you live and look.
Make a commitment with yourself to seek the best beauty methods
for a seamless glow on your face.
By Ritu Ghai
B
eauty is skin deep, all
right, yet we all must care
for our skin that suffers the
most in meeting deadlines and
finding time for oneself. Splashes
of creams and lotions can help but
ultimately you have to romance
the purest hue of beauty and bring
alive natures bounty to fall in
love with yourself, once again.
The market is replete with
Cleansers, Toners, Day Cream,
Night Cream, sun protective
lotions of SPF 15 & 30 to save
you from the blaze, scrubs, masks,
serums to exotic Jewel Scrubs,
face sculpting lotions, age recov-
ery creams, Indulgent and fla-
vored facials like Chocowine,
Mango Moist or Fresh Fruit or all
skin types.
Dr. Varun Katyal, Internationally
acclaimed consultant
Dermatologist & Cosmetologist,
has a few tips for a beautiful skin:
Cleanse your face and neck
every morning and evening before
you go to bed. Use a gentle, pH-
balanced facial cleanser as per
your skin type and skin concerns
twice daily followed by an appro-
priate toner.
Dont get into the habit of
cleansing too often because
cleansing too often can break
down the skins protective barrier,
causing excessive dryness and irri-
tation, and may also cause break-
outs.
Remember that oil produc-
tion is the body's way of protect-
ing the skin, so never use anything
harsh and never over dry the skin.
People with oily to normal
skins may use a gentle cleansing
wash that makes their skin feel
fresh.
People with excessively dry
or mature skins may use a cleans-
ing milk, oil or balm that provides
a deep clean without over-cleans-
ing.
A good make up remover
should be definitely used to
remove make up properly.
The Compact touch
Make-up, the best and handiest
tool to enhance our best features
and camouflage the not-so-
impressive spots, is galore with a
market range of multiple shades
and never-seen-before effects.
Right from the time Cleopatra
highlighted her own panache for
cosmetics, make-up has been a
powerful mean to make a state-
ment.
The woman of today is sponta-
neous and mischievous. She is
bold, confident, sure of her place
in the society. She loves to experi-
ment and the market caters to her
spirit. Its no longer a red lipstick,
tan face powder, blue eye shadow
and a black liner for her. She is
wooed by an invigorating range of
shades and hues.
Mineral rich cosmetics,
Shimmer Smudgers, powder with
a multi-iridescent light reflective
glitter for the face, age defying
make-up, water proof, suntan
proof and cosmetics with fruit
extracts.
Metallic plums, greens, blues,
bronzes and greys to crazy riot of
light blue, silver mauve or silver
and coppers and old.
It's best to stay within the realm
of your natural skin tone and
enhance it slightly by applying
subtle shades and neutral high-
lights.
A fair skin can wear lots of
nudes to neutral colors. It's best to
avoid garish and bright colors.
For the wheatish skin color a
mix of brown, yellow and beige
pigments look best. Eye color in
green to ocean, green and hazel
can add a certain glamour.
For dusky to dark complexion
deep metal pink or brown or else,
a deeper red with a hint of brown.
Even bronze, gold, copper and
maroon would suit this skin type.
From a plain Jane to a ravishing
beauty, its time to Gloss, Glitter
and Shimmer with a few tips by
Beauty & makeup Expert, Shikha
Taneja.
Set the foundation with oil
absorbing powder to avoid a
cakey look;
Avoid any cream based
make up and use powders or make
up setting spray
It best to stay away from
too much shimmer or glitter as
this would make your face look
more shiny or oily. Matte bronzers
are flattering;
Always use water proof
eyeliner and mascara set these
with black eye shadow on top of
the liner especially in humid
weather.
23 October 20-26, 2012 TheSouthAsianTimes.info SELF-HELP
One Zinger can undo 20 I Love Yous
By Vijai P. Sharma, Ph.D
L
ove and commitment are necessary for
a good marriage but they are not
enough. John Gottman, author of
"Why Marriages Succeed or Fail," his study
of nearly two thousand marriages, says, for a
marriage to be successful, a couple must have
at least five positive moments for every nega-
tive moment. If the five to one ratio drops,
lowering the number of positives, the mar-
riage descends into a state of emotional
poverty. The partners in the marriage suffer
from "positive strokes deprivation." Beware,
the power of the negative is far greater than
the power of the positive. Unkind words echo
in our ears for years while the kind words are
forgotten in days. A "zinger," that is, a cruel
and aggressive quip or retort, can cut wounds
too deep for pacifying words to heal.
Many marriages break up simply because
they can't withstand the crushing pressure of
bitter arguments, insults, and unkind deeds.
When the episodes of yelling at and blaming
each other outnumber the times of laughing
together and enjoying one another, the love,
that juice of relationship, simply dries up.
Once the love dries up, it may be too late to
fix the relationship and mend the differences
because there is nothing left to work with.
Even if the couple comes for counseling at
this stage, there is no real desire in either
partner to change his or her ways, accommo-
date the other, or make sacrifices for each
other. Markman and Notorious, authors of the
book, "We Can Work it Out," say that a mar-
riage is in serious trouble when one or both
partner do the following: 1. Instead of argu-
ing the point or talking it out, begin to with-
draw from the conflict 2. Have a tendency to
escalate conflict. 3. Are unable to stop fights
before they get ugly. 4. Hurl insults at each
other during an argument.
Occasional arguments and angry exchange
of words are resolved much easier in a rela-
tionship in which love and liking for each
other prevails. But once a pattern of insults
and ugly fights is established, all arguments
and even the minor behaviors displayed dur-
ing those arguments become highly "nega-
tively charged." Each partner's body and
nervous system respond with an increased
heart rate, perspiration, and adrenaline pump-
ing into the blood. Thus, minor behaviors and
topics of disagreement are to a couple as the
red cloth is to a bull. Tests carried out in the
laboratory on couples in marital conflict have
shown that when they begin to talk about the
conflict creating issues, even a slight change
in the facial expression or tone of voice, a
raised eyebrow, or curl of the lip will trigger
an increase in the heart rate, perspiration, and
the adrenaline level.
The increase in the heart rate, perspiration,
adrenaline level and other physical stress
responses result in production of more stress-
hormones. The body then goes into a full
blown "fight or flight" gear creating intense
anger and fear. Just consider the impact on
the physical and mental health of partners in
bad marriages who live in this highly charged
condition day after day for hours on end.
They live in a chronic state of "flooding," that
is, the body is being flooded by the stress-
related secretions and hormones, which not
only damages their health but also makes it
extremely difficult for the partners to discuss
the differences of opinion in a calm fashion in
order to find solutions.
Further, in such a state of flooding, it is dif-
ficult for either partner to think of the positive
qualities and characteristics of the other part-
ner, to remember the good times they had, or
recall the things they used to do to please and
make each other happy. The partners have to
first learn to be calm and relaxed in each
other's presence. Until then, they should not
attempt to discuss or resolve their differences
due to the intensity of the negative response
they evoke in each other. Partners need to sit
down, take a deep breath, relax, and learn to
physically and mentally calm themselves
while in each other's presence. Perhaps they
may need a third party or a counselor to help
them achieve this.
To learn to handle a conflict without hurt-
ing, insulting, and engaging in ugly fights is
the single most important skill that partners
can learn in order to save their marriage.
Learn to suppress those facial expressions,
modulate the tone and the pitch of that voice,
avoid raising the eyebrows and curling of
lips, and suppress the words and actions that
provokes the partner. Studies show that con-
flict management and effective communica-
tion cuts down the divorce rate and domestic
violence. The author is a life coach.
Unkind words echo in our ears for years while the kind words are forgotten in days. A zinger, that is, a cruel
and aggressive quip or retort, can cut wounds too deep for pacifying words to heal.
Washington: Adolescents' abuse
of prescription painkillers (anal-
gesics) like vicodin, valium and
oxycontin at a rate 40 percent
higher than previous generations,
is turning into an epidemic in the
US, says a study.
"Prescription drug use is the
next big epidemic," said Richard
Miech, professor of sociology at
the University of Colorado
Denver, who led the study.
"Everyone in this field has
recognised that there is a big
increase in the abuse of non-med-
ical analgesics but our study
shows that it is accelerating
among today's generation of ado-
lescents," said Miech, the Journal
of Adolescent Health reports.
That makes it the second most
common form of illegal drug use
in the US after marijuana, accord-
ing to Miech.
The study drew on data from the
National Survey on Drug Use and
Health, a series of annual, nation-
ally representative, cross-sectional
surveys of US drug use. The
analysis used data from 1985
through 2009, according to a
Colorado statement.
Miech said that the prevalence
of prescription pain medication
abuse among the current genera-
tion of youth was "higher than any
generation ever measured".
"The increasing availability of
analgesics in the general popula-
tion is well documented, as the
total number of hydrocodone and
oxycodone products prescribed
legally in the US increased more
than fourfold from about 40 mil-
lion in 1991 to nearly 180 million
in 2007," the study said.
"Youth who observe their par-
ents taking analgesics as pre-
scribed may come to the conclu-
sion that any use of these drugs is
OK and safe," Meich said. Yet, the
consequences are often severe.
Miech said there were now
more deaths due to accidental
overdoses of these drugs than
deaths due to overdoses of
cocaine and heroin combined.
Most people who abuse prescrip-
tion pain relievers report that they
obtained them from family or
friends.
"While most people recognize
the dangers of leaving a loaded
gun lying around the house," said
Miech, "what few people realize
is that far more people die as a
result of unsecured prescription
medications."
London: While skipping
a few hours of slumber
could be the norm for
many people, even two
hours of missed sleep
could affect our memory
power, scientists have
warned.
Just two hours of missed
slumber is enough to stop
the brain from laying
down and storing memo-
ries, research suggests --
and simply cutting down
from eight hours of sleep
to six could make the dif-
ference, Daily Mail
reported.
What is more, any
memories lost due to not
getting enough shut-eye
may be gone forever, the
Society for
Neuroscience' s annual
conference heard.
Researcher Ted Abel
said: "I think what it real-
ly means for modern life
is that sleep is not a
luxury.
"It is really critically
important for the brain
and for the brain to func-
tion and for you to be able
to really remember and
consolidate what's hap-
pened to you over the day.
Abel and his team from
the University of
Pennsylvania looked at
how mice that were
stopped from sleeping
fared on a memory task.
The creatures were kept
awake for varying
amounts of time, to pin-
point just how little sleep
had to be lost for their
recall to be damaged.
The professor told the
New Orleans conference:
"What we found is that
when we deprived ani-
mals of sleep, that
impaired storage of mem-
ories."
Abel also said that any
information lost due to
lack of sleep is gone for-
ever - meaning that sleep-
ing longer the next night
won't bring it back.
Missed sleeping hours can erase
memories forever
Berlin: The annual death rates of
alcohol-dependent women are 460
percent higher than the non-drinking
general population while male alco-
holics have a 190 percent higher
death rate than the general popula-
tion, German researchers have found.
"Clinical data has revealed a higher
proportion of individuals who have
died than among the general popula-
tion of the same age," explained
Ulrich John, professor of epidemiolo-
gy and social medicine at the
University of Greifswald.
John and colleagues gathered a ran-
dom sample of 4,070 respondents
aged between 18 and 64 years. Of them,
153 were identified as alcohol dependent
(AD). Of these, 149 (119 males, 30
females) were followed for 14 years.
"Gender-specific data is rare, even
among clinical samples. Furthermore, these
studies have two main limitations," adds
John, according to the journal Alcoholism:
Clinical & Experimental Research.
"First, we know that only a minority of
AD individuals receive treatment. We lack
knowledge about how this selection occurs.
Second, we have no evidence about the
potential effects of specialized alcoholism
treatment on mortality among people who
had been diagnosed AD," says John,
according to a University Medicine state-
ment.
"We would like to know whether treat-
ment might enhance survival time. For eth-
ical reasons, no controlled trials are possi-
ble. Thus, longitudinal descriptive data as
in this study are helpful," says John, study
co-author.
John adds that Germany is well-suited for
this kind of research since it is mandatory
for residents to provide vital status data.
"Our data are also of international inter-
est because researchers used the Composite
International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI),
which is an internationally and widely
accepted instrument," he said.
It's a short life for
alcoholic women
Painkiller abuse next big epidemic in US: Study
Prescription drug use is the next big epidemic, says the study
Kochi: More than 1,000 people from
across the world will gather here in
January for the Indo-US Global Health
Summit (GHS) 2013.
The Jan 1-3 summit, to be organized by
the Overseas India Conclave of
Association of American Physicians of
Indian Origin (AAPI) in collaboration with
the Government of India, aims at advanc-
ing the accessibility, affordability and
quality of world-class healthcare by focus-
ing on prevention, diagnosis and treatment
options.
The event, organizers said, would feature
plenary sessions, interactive roundtables,
clinical practice workshops, and meet-the-
expert sessions.
Cancers, diseases of the heart, mental
health and mother and child health would
take centrestage.
The event will also host a first-of-its-
kind CEO forum in which CEOs of hospi-
tals, teaching institutions and heads of
pharma, medical devices and technology
companies will get together to explore
potential opportunities for collaboration.
"Indian doctors have made tremendous
progress in the 21st century and India is
now being touted as a medical tourism
hub. This entails additional investment in
health infrastructure," said R. Narendra
Kumar, who is leading the Overseas India
Conclave.
Amongst those expected to attend are
Jeremy Lazarus, president, American
Medical Association, Chicago,
Chittaranjan Ranawat, clinical professor of
orthopaedic surgery, Cornell University,
New York and Prathap C. Reddy, chair-
man, Apollo Group of Hospitals.
Kochi to host Indo-US Global Health Summit
24 October 20-26, 2012 TheSouthAsianTimes.info HEALTH
Time to turn Navratri fasting into feasting
By Aastha Khurana
New Delhi: Cookies, vegetarian
'mock duck', Parsi 'malai kulfi' and
much more -- chefs have put
together interesting recipes for
those observing the nine-day
Navratri fast.
They have also brought "mouth-
watering twists" to the traditional
menu promising to turn the fast
into a feast. Navratri started on
October 16 and ends on October
24.
Zing GourMET Shop at The
Metropolitan Hotel & Spa has spe-
cial cumin and candy pineapple
cookies.
Made of 'kuttu ka atta', the cook-
ies, prepared for the first time, are
available for Rs.400 for 700 gm.
"During Navratri, it is usual to
have products made of 'kuttu/sing-
hara' flour. But these have a limited
appeal. So these cookies will be
something unique to those fasting,"
Sandeep Panwar, Zing's executive
chef, said.
He said they offered a break from
mundane and less appealing
recipes.
And if you miss having non-veg-
etarian food during the nine-day
festival, Royal China has a solu-
tion. It has come up with vegetari-
an 'mock duck', a dish prepared by
Chinese chef Eric Khoo.
Made with soya bean, mush-
rooms and plum sauce, it tastes like
a duck. "On demand from guests
fascinated with the duck concept,
we decided to create a vegetarian
mock duck for Navratri," Aashita
Relan, director, Royal China, said.
The 'duck' is available during lunch
and dinner for Rs.525 plus taxes.
Without compromising on tradi-
tional fasting norms, several eating
joints are also offering 'vrat (fast)
thalis'.
Ignis Kitchen and Bar has put
together a ' saatvik menu' with
tempting options. It includes
snacks and savouries such as 'kuttu
poori' served with 'kaddu ki sabzi',
'aloo dahiwale', paneer makhani,
'aloo saboodana ki tikki', 'raita',
salad and 'saboodana papad'.
Of course, Ignis has special
offers for those with a sweet tooth.
It serves 'parsi malai kulfi' and
'makhane ki kheer' for dessert.
Available at Rs.269 per thali plus
taxes, there is also an assorted 'pa-
pad' basket and potatoes served
with the main course. Besides,
there are mouth-watering snacks
for those odd hours, when one
doesn't feel like having something
heavy. So you can pick from 'aloo
anardana chaat', 'aloo saboodana ki
tikki' and 'paneer tawe wala', to
name a few.
Mast Kalandar, a north Indian
chain of restaurants, is hosting a
Navratri food festival at all its 32
outlets in Bangalore, Chennai,
Pune and Hyderabad.
25 October 20-26, 2012 TheSouthAsianTimes.info LIFESTYLE
Armstrong steps down from
charity, Nike drops him
Austin, Texas: Lance Armstrong
stepped down as chairman of the
Livestrong cancer support charity
he founded, as Nike Inc dropped
the disgraced cyclist over the
doping scandal that will likely
cost him his seven Tour de
France titles. Armstrong' s
Livestrong foundation is best
known for the more than 70 mil-
lion iconic yellow rubbery wrist
bands that have been distributed
worldwide, but the scandal
threatened to overshadow the
group's wider work with cancer
patients. So far, donations have
actually increased despite the
scandal.
To spare the foundation any
negative effects as a result of
controversy surrounding my
cycling career, I will conclude
my chairmanship, Armstrong said
in a statement on Wednesday. He
will continue to serve on the
board.
At around the same time that
the foundation announced
Armstrong's resignation, Nike
posted a statement to its website
saying the athletic apparel maker
would still back the charity but
could no longer sponsor the man
behind it.
Due to the seemingly insur-
mountable evidence that Lance
Armstrong participated in doping
and misled Nike for more than a
decade, it is with great sadness
that we have terminated our con-
tract with him, the company said.
Beer maker Anheuser-Busch
said it too would end its relation-
ship with Armstrong when his
contract expires at the end of this
year, though it would also contin-
ue to back the foundation and its
athletic events.
Oakley Inc, the sunglasses
brand also associated with
Armstrong, said in a statement it
was reviewing the reports into the
cyclist's conduct and awaiting a
final decision from the sport's
international authorities. A Radio
Shack spokesman said the elec-
tronics retailer remains a sponsor
of Armstrong and Livestrong.
Go pandal hopping in Kolkata this Puja!
By Anurag Dey
Kolkata: Sojourn to an exotic Goan
beach, participate in a Chinese Dragon
Festival, blow vuvuzelas at
Johannesburg's Soccer City Stadium - the
community Durga Puja organizers here
are pulling out all stops to take revellers
on a magical tour during the October 20-
24 festival.
From the abstract to the exotic, innova-
tive marquees have been lined up to usher
in the socio-religious carnival and dazzle
pandal hoppers with their creativity and
imagination during the five-day puja.
South Kolkata's Suruchi Sangha has
created a tiny slice of Goa with its allur-
ing beaches and amazing marine life. The marquee,
resplendent with Portuguese-influenced Goan art and
architecture, also has a message: Save the oceans from
pollution.
"On entering the pandal one will feel as if one is in
Goa. We have tried to blend Bengali and Goan cultures
and apprise the people about the threat that pollution
poses to oceans and the marine life," said Raja Sarkar,
the man behind the idea.
The inside walls have been adorned with sculptures
and the marquee is a fitting tribute to Goan art and
architecture. Aquatic animals and schools of fish would
also be there to provide originality to the concept.
The idols have also been sculpted in tune with the
essence of the thematic content.
With international peace as its theme, North Kolkata's
Ahiritola Sarbojonin will bring in the Chinese Dragon
Festival in the city. Teams of lions, ghosts with huge
white faces, dragons and noisy drummers will create a
mini China as goddess Durga descends on the earth
astride a lion to wipe out evil.
"The Chinese have been living in this city for long and
we plan to make this community a part of our festivity.
The Dragon festival is analogous to our Puja and we
have tried assimilating cultures of both the countries,"
said club secretary Dulal Sil.
Much like Durga Puja, football too has been a symbol
of Bengal. Stimulating the Bengalis' love for the beauti-
ful game is Central Kolkata's Mohammad Ali Park,
where the marquee replicates the Johannesburg stadium,
Africa's biggest.
The feel is accentuated by the use of fountains similar
to those that adorn the stadium. The pandal's interior
would correspond to the look and feel of an ancient
royal palace. South Kolkata offers a huge multitude of
popular Durga Pujas and one of them is Sanghasree,
which is celebrating tales of ancient times through col-
orful designs using paper pulp as the raw material.
The walls of the pandal would provide a glimpse into
the spectacular and abundant cave paintings, early men
and their traditional way of life, their act of preparing
elaborate pictographs and prayers to the supernatural
before and after battles. Durga Puja is not only the cele-
bration of triumph of good over evil but also one that
salutes women's empowerment. Keeping the deity as the
backdrop, the Kalighat Nepal Bhattacharjee Street Puja
would be celebrating women's liberation.
Navratri Cookies at Zing restaurant
Vrat thali at Mast Kalandar restaurant
Mock duck at Royal
China restaurant
Lance Armstrong
From the abstract to the exotic, innovative marquees have
been lined up to usher in the socio-religious carnival
I
nternational socialite Paris
Hilton is set to visit India
again and this time she will
perform as a disc jockey (DJ) at
the India Resort Fashion Week
(IRFW) in Goa, starting Nov 28.
"Yes, Paris Hilton is perform-
ing at IRFW 2012. She has been
brought to India by E-sense
Entertainment and shall be per-
forming on Dec 1, " Aman
Swetta, creative show director,
IRFW said.
The heiress, who visited the
country last year to launch the
Fall-Winter designs of her hand-
bags, made her debut as a DJ this
summer during a music festival
in Brazil.
Before this, Hilton made her
entry into the music world in
2006 as a solo artist with "Stars
Are Blind" and also released a
self-titled album in the same
year. The four-day fashion
extravaganza is scheduled to
take place on Goa' s popular
Candolim Beach
A
ctor Saif Ali Khan and Kareena
Kapoor completed the formalities
of a registered marriage this week
and became husband and wife.
The marriage took place at Saif's Bandra
home. While Kareena's mother Babita and
father Randhir Kapoor signed as witnesses
from the bride's side, Saif's mother and
veteran actress Sharmila Tagore signed as
a witness from the groom's side.
For her D-day Kareena, 32, wore a green
punjabi suit, while 42-year-old Saif chose
to dress up in a grey kurta-pyjama. Also
present at the wedding was Kareena's sis-
ter Karisma and cousin Ranbir Kapoor.
Both were dressed in white.
Saif and Kareena dated each for five
years before getting married, which has
been a very private affair.
The couple featured together in films
like "Tashan", "Kurbaan" and
"Agent Vinod".
SRK wishes Saifeena 'happiest mar-
riage bond'
Superstar Shah Rukh Khan has wished
good health and happiness for his friends
Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor, who
became husband and wife following a reg-
istered marriage.
"Happiest marriage bond to my friends
Saif and Kareena. May Allah keep your
family healthy and happy.
Just saw it is registered, sealed and deliv-
ered," tweeted Shah Rukh, who shared a
roaring chemistry with Saif in "Kal Ho
Naa Ho" and teamed up with Kareena for
"RA.One".
Saif and Kareena -- the couple is also
called Saifeena -- held the marriage cere-
mony at the former's Bandra home in the
presence of their close family members.
Paris Hilton to
perform at Goa
fashion fest
S
peaking fluent English is
not only a big deal for a
Maharashtrian housewife
as shown in Gauri Shinde' s
English Vinglish. The film's mes-
sage of overcoming a linguistic
barrier has gripped Bihar's col-
lege-going Dalit girls who are
rooting for Sridevi in English
Vinglish in the way cricket lovers
cheered Aamir Khan in Lagaan.
Girls en masse from various col-
leges in Patna and neighbouring
towns of Bihar have watched the
film and are motivated into
improving their spoken English.
Suman Sinha a leading Patna
exhibitor says, "It' s not just
housewives.
Young unmarried college-going
girls feel the same sense of inferi-
ority that Sridevi experiences in
English Vinglish because of a
lack of fluency in English. They
are coming forward in huge num-
bers to see the film and going
back with the determination to
join English-improvement class-
es."
Delighted by the turn of events
English Vinglish producer R
Balki said, "That our film has
influenced a section of the audi-
ence to improve its language is
awesome. English Vinglish is not
just about learning English. It's
about the determination that the
lack of a familiarity will not stop
people's aspirations and dreams
from growing."
"I don' t like people dancing
unnecessarily in the film, but it
has become a part of movies
nowadays. We Indians are musi-
cal- and dance-minded people. If
a child is born or on a wedding,
birthday, we dance. But when a
song starts unreasonably, it irri-
tates me," he said.
Adds Sridevi, "To see our film
make such an impact makes me
happier about its success. This is
the real success of English
Vinglish."
L
ast weekend was the most
unsuccessful one for
Bollywood this year. All
three releases Aiyyaa, Bhoot
Returns and Makkhi were
duds at the box-office. And none
are expected to sustain business
through the week.
Trade analyst Komal Nahta
says, Both Aiyyaa and Bhoot
Returns are really bad movies.
And on Monday, they hit rock
bottom. As for Makkhi, though
the film received appreciation,
the absence of a well-known star
in it meant that the film couldnt
connect with the audience.
Though the actor is famous in
the Telugu film industry, people
here dont know him. Also, the
movie title created some confu-
sion. It has been a weekend with
horrendous collections.
Film exhibitor and distributor
Akshaye Rathi agrees. Bhoot
Returns is the one film that
delivered what was expected of
it: a disastrous performance. Its
about time (director) Ram Gopal
Varma realises that he needs to
make films to entertain the audi-
ence rather than pull off gim-
micks that excite only him. Its a
dead duck at the box-office.
He adds, Aiyyaa opened very
badly at the box office. Reviews
suggest that its un-entertaining
and slow. With that, I don't see it
doing well either.
Trade analyst Vinod Mirani
also believes the films that have
released this weekend have a
hopeless week ahead. Makkhi
didnt do well because of the
lack of good promotions. As for
the other two, theyre not going
to last. Some theatres stopped
on the shows on Saturday
itself.
According to trade figures,
English Vinglish and OMG Oh
My God! films that are in
their second and third week
respectively are doing way
better than any of the newly
released movies.
Sridevi's 'English Vinglish'
encourages Dalit girls
Flop show! Bollywood
hit by dud wave
Saif, Kareena husband and wife, finally
Actor Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor being accompanied by Karishma Kapoor
Paris Hilton is set to
visit India again
Sridevi in English Vinglish
A scene from Bhoot Returns
26 October 20-26, 2012 TheSouthAsianTimes.info ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD
Now is the golden era of Indian cinema: Waheeda
W
aheeda Rehman, the
star of ageless classics
such as "Guide" and
"Kaagaz Ke Phool", feels the
golden era of Indian cinema was
not in her day but now when it is
getting global appreciation and
also evolving in terms of subjects,
performances and technology.
Waheeda, as charming as ever at
76, also feels "sorry" for the
younger lot who she says are
burning out because of multi-task-
ing. "People come up to me and
say that when I did films, that was
the golden era, but I don't agree
with that. With our films getting
appreciation abroad, I feel now is
the golden era," Waheeda said.
"I feel actors burn out fast these
days because they do too many
things. Other than movies, they
take up endorsements, stage per-
formances, promotions, and it
takes up so much of their time. I
feel sorry for the fact that they
have to do so much."
Before entering Hindi movies
with the 1956 release "C.I.D",
Waheeda had been a part of suc-
cessful Telugu and Tamil films
like "Jayasimha", "Rojulu
Marayi" and "Kaalam Maari
Pochu".
Then came unforgettables like
"Pyaasa", "12 O'Clock", "Kaagaz
Ke Phool", "Sahib Bibi Aur
Ghulam", "Chaudhvin Ka
Chand", "Teesri Kasam" and
"Mujhe Jeene Do" - all landmarks
in Hindi cinema.
Waheeda, who has spent over
five decades in filmdom, in what
is now commonly known as
Bollywood, feels the industry has
changed for the better since her
time.
"There have been a lot of good
changes - be it technically, or in
terms of subjects and performanc-
es. There are very good movies
made like ' The Dirty Picture' ,
'Kahaani', 'Black', 'Paan Singh
Tomar' and 'Peepli Live'."
"But there is too much of uncer-
tainty too. Movies have become
very expensive and fortunately for
them, within a week they get back
their money. But it is not a ques-
tion of money; it is also about the
quality of movie," she said.
Waheeda also appreciates actors
for playing all kinds of roles,
something that was unheard of
during her heyday.
"In our times, even for a small
negative role, people used to be
like, 'I am a leading lady (so) how
can I say this dialogue, or slap
someone?'," she said.
She never shied away from
unconventional or bold roles.
"Guide" is a case in point. The
1965 film, in which she was
paired with Dev Anand, saw her
playing a dancer who walks out
on her husband to pursue her
dreams to be a dancer.
"I was very different. When a
scene demanded an abuse or a
slap, I used to do it. Actors were
always conscious about their pub-
lic image. They had complexes
those days, but now they don't
have, which is a good thing," she
said. Was she image conscious?
"I was never conscious of this. I
thought an actor should be able to
do any role with conviction and
sincerity. Script is the most impor-
tant thing and if the script is good,
then whatever role you are doing,
it's fine," said the actress, who
also excelled in character roles in
"Mashal" and "Namak Halaal".
After her appearance in
"Lamhe" (1991), she retired from
the film industry only to return
after 11 years with "Om Jai
Jagadish" in 2002 followed by
"Rang De Basanti" in 2006; she
was last seen in 2009 "Delhi 6".
An accomplished, talented
dancer herself, the actress feels
good dancing skills are important
but not vital in current scenario.
"For an actor, one doesn't have
to be a dancer. But because our
Hindi movies have so many song
and dance sequences, it is pre-
ferred if they are good dancers.
It's always advantageous to know
dance. But if you don't, it's okay,"
she said.
With the changing scenario,
Hindi movies lack the element of
classical dances.
"It's not possible to have classi-
cal dances in the movie unless the
subject demands so," she said, cit-
ing "Guide" and "Umrao Jaan".
Yesteryears actor Waheeda Rehman
Skyfall tipped to be
'most successful' Bond film
Priyanka Chopra joins 'Gunday' gang
T
he latest 007 installment Skyfall is
set to be the most successful James
Bond movie in the 50-year history
of the franchise and is predicted to rake in
more than 1 billion dollars at the box
office.
It has been met with universal praise fol-
lowing its preview and is expected to storm
to the top of the box office.
Experts said the stunts were some of the
best ever seen in a Bond film and one critic
wrote that the dramatic opening sequence
should merit an Oscar in itself, the
Telegraph reported.
The early signs of success will be wel-
comed by Skyfalls producers after work
on the film was suspended in 2010 when
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, its studio, fell into
severe financial difficulties.
It was later rescued a deal that put a US
firm, Spyglass Entertainment, at MGMS
helm.
The film, Daniel Craigs third appearance
as 007, received four and five-star reviews
recently in the Daily Telegraph, Times, and
Daily Mail, and in Empire magazine.
A
fter striking gold with "Barfi!",
actress Priyanka Chopra has
bagged a meaty role in Yash Raj
Films' (YRF) "Gunday".
She will share screen space with two
male actors - Ranveer Singh and Arjun
Kapoor - in the movie, which is her sec-
ond project with YRF after "Pyaar
Impossible".
"Gunday" will go on floors in
December with "Mere Brother Ki
Dulhan" director Ali Abbas Zafar behind
the camera.The movie will be set amidst
the most turbulent times in the history of
Kolkata, then Calcutta, from 1971 to
1988. It will narrate the story of Bikram
and Bala, who rose from being small-
time wagon breakers and coal thieves to
becoming the biggest and most powerful
black marketing mafia-men.
Daniel Craig in Skyfall
Priyanka Chopra
27 October 20-26, 2012 TheSouthAsianTimes.info ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD
Interview
T
here was a time, many years
ago, when humans knew lit-
tle about etiquette they
didnt have to follow any social
codes of conduct. They could
cough without covering their
mouths, visit a friends home with-
out calling first, whistle at pretty
women on the street without wear-
ing a tool belt and hardhat.
Fortunately for the human race,
one man started to change it all.
His name was Mongah and he was
a caveman. He had been watching
the other cavemen closely and real-
ized that while everyone did things
differently, some of their habits were more
appealing than others.
Oongah, for example, used the nail of his
little finger to pick his teeth after his
meals, slurping up any morsel of food he
dislodged. Dongah, on the other hand,
seemed much more civilized: he carried a
twig around with him, using it to not only
pick his teeth, but also his nose and ears.
Now and then, he would also scratch his
back with it, not to mention other hard-to-
reach places. As if that wasnt enough,
Dongah would often draw pictures in the
mud with his twig he was a pioneer in
the emerging field of stick art.
How efficient it seemed one twig for
so many tasks. But it wasnt just the twig
that set Dongah apart. Unlike Oongah,
when Dongah dislodged a piece of food
from his teeth, he didnt eat it he flicked
it off the twig, usually in the direction of
whichever cavewoman he desired. Seeing
this, Oongahs lady friend, Bupha, would
give Oongah a glare, as if to say, Why
cant you be so romantic?
Oongah smirked. He didnt care
for such public displays of affec-
tion. His brute strength was enough
to attract women. It was he, after
all, who had pulled Dongah from
the river when the clumsy man had
slipped off a fallen tree branch.
Oongah believed that he hadnt just
saved Dongah from the river he
had saved the river from Dongah.
But Mongah had more respect for
Dongah, who seemed to be more
than just a stick-in-the-mud.
Mongah decided to put together a
set of rules of social behavior. He
borrowed Dongahs twig and started draw-
ing pictures in the mud, while a dozen
cavemen, as well as Bupha, gathered
around to see what he was doing. He first
drew a picture of a man sitting on a rock,
while a woman stood next to him. Then he
drew a picture of the man getting off the
rock and the woman sitting on it. He point-
ed at the second picture, drew a circle
around it and smiled, as if to say, Always
give your rock to a woman.
But the cavemen jeered. They thought he
was saying that men shouldnt sit around
the cave. They should always be hunting
and gathering. Dongah, trying to avert a
riot, erased the second drawing with his
foot, not realizing he had introduced some-
thing he and other artists would forever
detest: censorship.
Undeterred, Mongah moved to another
spot in the mud to illustrate his second
rule. He drew a picture of a man and a
woman inside a cave, and another man
outside, with his mouth wide open. He
used squiggly lines to indicate that some-
thing was coming out of the mans mouth.
He pointed at the picture, circled it and
smiled, as if to say, Always call out
before visiting.
But the cavemen jeered again. They had
misunderstood Mongahs picture and
thought he was telling them that they
should always go outside to belch. To
show his disdain, Oongah belched as loud-
ly as he could. Bupha put her arms around
him, as if to say, Thats my man!
Mongah shook his head. Teaching eti-
quette to cavemen was harder than he had
thought. But he was determined to keep
trying. He drew a picture of a river and a
man standing beside it. Then he drew a
picture of a man in the river. He pointed at
the second picture, drew a circle around it
and smiled, as if to say, Bathing good.
But Mongah had forgotten that Dongah
had fallen into the river a week ago. It had
been very embarrassing for Dongah.
Thankfully only a few cavemen saw him.
But now Mongah appeared to be spreading
the news.
It was then that Dongah, unable to con-
trol his anger, ran toward Mongah,
grabbed the twig from him and poked him
in the eye with it. As Mongah writhed in
pain, all the cavemen cheered: They
believed that Dongah had taught them an
important lesson in social behavior: gos-
siping can hurt.
Dongah raised his arms in exultation. He
had found yet another use for his twig.
Humor with Melvin Durai
Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner celebrated his unprecedented
feat on Monday after becoming the first man to break the sound barri-
er in a record-shattering, death-defying freefall jump from the edge of
space. The 43-year-old leapt from a capsule more than 24 miles (39
kilometers) above the Earth Sunday, reaching a top speed of 833.9
miles (1,342 kilometers) per hour, or 1.24 times the speed of sound,
according to organizers. The veteran skydiver was in freefall for four
minutes and 20 seconds before opening his red and white parachute
and floating down to the desert in the US state of New Mexico.
Photo of the week
28 October 20-26, 2012 TheSouthAsianTimes.info HUMOR
The etiquette of early humans
October 20:
Ruled by number 2 and the moon, you are honest, sim-
ple, imaginative, generous, intuitive and broadminded.
You are fond of intellectual conversation and soothing
music, but you need to control your tendency to be-
have nervous and restless during adverse times. The
upcoming few months will be very important for busi-
nessmen as new opportunities for growth are foreseen.
Investments made during this phase will bring in good
profits in the long run. Distant travel, may be overseas,
brings pleasure and joy along with a possible reunion
with a close relative. Speculations are going to yield
excellent returns this time. Renovation of the house or
construction related activities might be on the anvil
this year. Chronic patients definitely need to be more
careful of their health. Preventive medicines should
not be avoided at any cost. January, March, July and
September months will prove to be highly eventful.
October 21:
Dominated by number 3 and the Planet Jupiter, you are
ambitious, hardworking, talented, dignified and high-
ly methodical. You are independent by nature and
make your own decisions, but you need to curb your
tendencies towards stubbornness, extravagance and
dictatorial nature at times. Remarkable year for man-
agement students and those pursuing career in arts.
Your stars might bring in recognition and monetary
gains for you this year. Children might cause minor
disappointment or dissatisfaction, but spouse would be
caring and highly supportive. A family dispute involv-
ing ancestral property will add to your stress and anx-
iety. Hectic traveling during the yearend will ensure
monetary gains and influential contacts. Matrimonial
alliances for those eligible. All financial transactions
need to be made carefully. Avoid emotional outburst,
as it would only complicate sensitive issues. Novem-
ber, December, March, May and June will be eventful.
October 22:
Influenced by number 4 and the Planet Uranus, you are
energetic, trustworthy, reliable and systematic. Your
objectives are quite high and you tend to dream of the
things, which you cant achieve, but at times you re-
ceive a setback after coming very close to your goals
because of your changeable, inconstant and stubborn
nature. This year a spectacular leap in your profes-
sional career is foreseen provided you make use of the
opportunities that arise before you. Good flow of the
funds should improve your living comforts and sav-
ings. Journeys to the overseas and foreign transactions
May not yield returns immediately but eventually. An
old friend will try to help you out even out of the way.
An infatuation with the opposite sex will come as a
surprise and it might take some time before you start
thinking straight again. Meditation and yoga should be
practiced for physical and spiritual gains. Exhilarating
news from your children will boost up your spirits to-
wards the yearend. The months of December, March,
April and August will be highly important.
October 23:
Governed by number 5 and the planet Mercury, you
are active, smart, dashing, practical, accommodating,
helpful, sincere and kind hearted. Your approach is
business oriented. You are not very good in expressing
your emotions to your spouse or beloved. Your ten-
dencies towards restlessness, over occupation and ex-
travagance need to be curbed at times. Long cherished
dreams seem to be fulfilled. Investments made in this
period will bring in good returns, though not immedi-
ately but eventually. Those looking forward to estab-
lish a business contact overseas will hear some en-
couraging news. Some dispute with government de-
partments would lead to stress and anxiety. Students
will perform well in academics and will be rewarded
for their contribution towards extra curricular activi-
ties. A long awaited marriage will get finalized and
bring about happiness for the entire family. Spouse re-
mains cooperative despite your erratic behaviour. Feb-
ruary, March, June, July and October will be eventful.
October 24:
Influenced by number 6 and the Planet Venus, you are
enthusiastic, loyal, charming, responsible and jovial in
nature. You are self-contained, responsible, accommo-
dating and highly generous. Your memory is really
wonderful. But you need to check your tendencies to-
wards moodiness, timidity and over-interfering nature
in the affairs of others at times. This year begins with
plenty of growth opportunities for you. Your confi-
dence and your communication skills will be at its
peak. Time management will be of immense impor-
tance. New ventures and alliances would be beneficial.
Old differences that have drained your mental energy
would finally subside. Socialising, parties and pleas-
ure jaunts will be quite regular and pleasurable. Wed-
ding bells will ring for those eligible and other may
find romance to keep them going. Avoid lending mon-
ey to casual acquaintances. Period of Judicial and
Govt. favours. Your ignorance in the family affairs
may bring in some dismay and resentment among the
family members. May, June, September and October
will be highly significant.
October 25:
Governed by Number 7 and the planet Neptune, you
are ambitious, independent,
practical and original. You are highly social and help-
ful and enjoy enormous respect in your group, but you
need to check your tendency to behave stubborn and
self-centered at times. Financially it seems to be a bet-
ter year. A promotion or an increase in responsibility
would also improve your monetary position. Those
professionals looking for a career abroad will receive
favorable response to their proposal. Property related
matters will bring in the satisfactory results. A healthi-
er and loving atmosphere prevails at home, which
brings good health and prosperity. Housewife will have
to cope with regular arrival of guests and relatives, al-
though some would bring gifts in cash and kind but
your habit to keep all family members happy would
show on your health. A birth of a child or a grandchild
towards the yearend likely. Distant travel for pilgrim-
age or a vacation seems high on your cards. July, No-
vember and October will prove to be result oriented.
October 26:
Influenced by number 8 and the planet Saturn, you are
practical, disciplined, systematic, original, and author-
itative. You are conscious of every move you make and
your duties and responsibilities take priority over
everything else, but you need to control your tendency
to behave pessimist, adamant and nervous at times.
This year you can expect lot of good and memorable
moments. Real estate and construction activities
would reap good profits. Your desire to travel to an ex-
otic location along with your family would be fulfilled.
Emotional outbursts should be avoided at office and at
home. Servants and subordinates may cause some
worry and unnecessary tensions. Your capability to im-
press others with your good manners and decent be-
haviour would bring you additional popularity. New
contracts and ventures for some. January, February,
June and September and be eventful.
By Dr Prem Kumar Sharma
Chandigarh, India: +91-172- 256 2832, 257 2874
Delhi, India: +91-11- 2644 9898, 2648 9899
psharma@premastrologer.com; www.premastrologer.com
Stars Foretell: October 20-26, 2012 Annual Predictions: For those born in this week
Learn about the fair value of
diamonds & precious stones.
from a Gems Expert
For appointment, please call 516-390-7847
or email consult.gems@gmail.com
A special offer for the readers of
The South Asian Times
Free Consultation
29
Aries: This week travel would pro-
mote new romantic connections.
Important people around you would appreci-
ate your ideas. Relationship with the oppo-
site sex would be highly cordial and pleas-
ant. Spend some exciting time with family
members and relatives. Your ability to con-
verse intelligently would help you seek
favours. You can easily double your financial
gains if you play your cards well.
Taurus: This is an excellent period to
show your knowledge and skills. You
should go ahead with new plans and finalize
important deals. Children would give you
happiness and comfort. This is also the per-
fect time for romance, pilgrimage and even
seeking favors. Financial gains from past
investments would roll in, but not at the rate
you might expect.
Gemini: Travel and learning should
be on your agenda this week. For
some, a change in residence would prove
highly lucky. Your income would rise and
you would spend lavishly on family mem-
bers and friends. Be cautious while handling
sophisticated equipment or entering a new
alliance. Your ideas would bring
you rewards.
Cancer: This week you are likely to
be asked to handle additional respon-
sibilities. Your outgoing nature would work
to your advantage as you gain favours from
others. Business trip might prove unproduc-
tive. Exercise caution while dealing with
colleagues and important clients. Not a
favorable period for romantic alliance.
Speculation will prove highly beneficial.
Spiritual gains
for some.
Leo: This week your partner expects a
lot from you, which seems to add pres-
sure on your mind. Do not sign any legal
documents or any other papers pertaining to
property. You need to take some time off and
go for little recreation towards the weekend.
This period is also not very good for
romance or those seeking a matrimonial
alliance. A close friend will try to do the
unexpected.
Virgo: Discuss your objectives with
experienced people to benefit this
week. Your intellectual charms would win
heart and bring you opportunities that you
least expected. Visiting a place of worship
would bring peace of mind. Businessmen
and those starting a new venture stand to
gain. Residential moves would prove to be
highly hectic and expensive.
Libra: This week money matters
would take high priority and new ven-
tures would be highly alluring. Students need
to concentrate on their career and plan for
the year ahead. Be at your best behaviour
and precise in your communication when
meeting influential and important people.
Take firm decisions regarding office matters.
Be careful not to say anything that will
offend others.
Scorpio: Colleagues would appreciate
you because of your skills and talents.
Good period for materializing real estate and
financial transactions. Unexpected gains on
the money front are quite likely. A long jour-
ney concerning work is on the cards for
some of you. Renovation or purchases made
for your home would pay off in the long run.
Be careful while driving.
Sagittarius: This week support from
friends and family members would
generate new confidence into you. Pending
correspondence should be completed imme-
diately, but be precise and honest when writ-
ing to the one you love. Personal needs and
requirements would increase but gains from
unexpected sources would take care of the
financial obligations. Close relatives might
try to force their opinion on you.
Capricorn: Do not trust others with
important information. Matters relat-
ed to property, partnerships and new ven-
tures would work to your advantage.
Maintain a positive approach to reap maxi-
mum benefits during this period. Children
and youngsters would demand attention. A
new romantic affair is likely for some of
you. Go out with friend, as you need to relax
towards the weekend.
Aquarius: Concentrate on your
efforts and rewards will follow by
themselves. A stable period of growth and
prosperity. This is also the right time for
establishing new contacts, participating in
charity and social work. Affairs of the heart
would be pleasant and highly enjoyable.
Work with people who are creative and
enterprising. Friends will understand your
problems and your needs.
Pisces: This is going to be a highly
rewarding period for women. An
unexpected
achievement or news would bring in happi-
ness for you and the entire family. Also pre-
pare yourself for favourable changes at your
work front. Children would look forward to
some of your time. Some situation might be
blown out of proportion, which might bring
tensions at home.
i) Accurate Data: Please make sure Date,
Time and Place of birth is accurate.
ii) Careful: Did you check background of the
astrologer before disclosing your secrets.
iii) Fee: Discuss the charges before, dont feel
shy. Its his business.
iv) Expectation: Expect the best, if the out-
come is not as desired, never give up.
v) Consult: Take second opinion before
spending thousands on cure/remedies.
Before you consult...
October 20-26, 2012 TheSouthAsianTimes.info ASTROLOGY
W
hat is the value of an ethi-
cal life? Although ethical
life alone does not lead to
drinking the divine Nectar of God, it
is a stepping-stone. Ethical life
includes nonviolence, truthfulness,
chastity, humility, and selfless serv-
ice. It means living on a vegetarian
diet in which we do not eat fish,
fowl, meat, or eggs. It means raising
our consciousness and not lowering
our consciousness by using hallu-
cinogenic or intoxicating drugs or
alcohol. In each religion, the saints,
Masters, prophets, and enlightened
beings who have found God laid out
the prerequisites for entry into Gods
kingdom. Not one of them said we
can find God by being violent. Not
one of them said we could find God
by being thieves, liars, and hyp-
ocrites. Not one of them said we
could find God by being egotistic.
Not one of them said we could find
God by being selfish. It is true that
saints came for the sinners and said
that everyone has an equal opportu-
nity to find God, but they would
need to change their lives and devel-
op ethical virtues.
Sant Kirpal Singh Ji Maharaj has
said, Every saint has a past and
every sinner a future. He explained
that the kingdom of God is open to
saints and sinners alike. Whatever
we did in the past, we still have a
chance to alter our ways by develop-
ing ethical virtues so we can enter
the kingdom of God. The saints
shared their spiritual wealth no mat-
ter what someones past was, but
then they expected them to develop
the ethical virtues if they truly want-
ed admittance to the home of the
Lord.
When people see we are nonvio-
lent, they are inspired to also devel-
op that virtue. For example, if in the
workplace a co-worker calls us
insulting names or even hits us, but
instead of retaliating with violence
we show them compassion and
understanding, our action makes a
statement to others. People will say,
Look how kind they are, even
when people are unkind to them.
When they see that we act with love
and kindness to all people, others
take notice of that. They see there is
something special in the way we are
behaving.
When most people succumb to
their baser nature and want to retali-
ate, violence becomes the norm. But
when someone is responding nonvi-
olently, it is so unusual that others
notice it. They see that we remain
calm, cool, and collected in the face
of the day-to-day quarrels in which
people are engaged and realize we
have some special quality. This
often leads them to ask us how we
can be so calm in the face of other
peoples violence. We can then take
the opportunity to tell them that we
are leading a life of meditation and
ethical living which is resulting in
inner spiritual experiences. We are
able to explain to them the benefits
of a nonviolent way of life in keep-
ing our mind and emotions calm and
explain how it has a beneficial effect
on our health. We can talk about
how we experience less tension
resulting in less stress-related ail-
ments. We can talk about how such a
way of life helps us get along better
with people in our family, in our
neighborhood, and at our jobs. We
can explain that when we do not
take revenge, the person who
attacked us eventually comes around
and befriends us. Such an example is
powerful. One by one, others will
see the benefit of leading a nonvio-
lent way of life.
Similarly, we can be a model of
truthfulness. It has become all too
common for people to be dishonest.
Dishonesty takes many forms. Some
people think their dishonesty is
harmless, such as stealing from their
boss or company at work, borrowing
money from their friends or family
on the pretense of paying it back but
never paying it back, telling a small
lie, or being deceitful. It is rare in
this day and age to find someone
who is truthful and honest.
When people see someone being
honest, it is so rare that others take
notice of it. They say, Wow, look at
that person who admitted to making
a mistake, or who returned money
they found that was not rightfully
theirs. That person has guts! That
person has strong morals and con-
victions! The result is that others
respect the honest person and say, I
wish I could have such bravery to
own up to my mistakes. This alone
may make others ask us how we
have such moral fortitude. At that
point we can explain what is giving
us the strength to be honest. We can
explain how we meditate and see the
Light of God within. We can explain
how we realize that God within
knows whatever we do. If God sees
everything, there is nowhere we can
hide from God. Thus, how can we
fear the judgment of other people,
when God, the Source of all, knows
what we have done and has forgiven
us and requested us to do no more?
Hazur Baba Sawan Singh Ji
Maharaj used to tell people that they
are forgiven if they do no more.
We are all human. We are bound to
make mistakes. The key is that hav-
ing made a mistake and acknowl-
edging it, we make amends so that
we do not repeat that mistake.
If we are honest, we will earn the
respect of others. Then, when we
talk about the value of a spiritual
life, others will see that we are lead-
ing such a life and they will be more
inclined to want to do the same.
Many are egotistical. They think
too much of themselves. They boost
themselves up at the expense of oth-
ers. They brag about how great they
are. They present themselves as
being better than others. It is notice-
able when someone is humble.
When we see others who are realis-
tic about themselves, accepting their
talents as well as their faults in an
honest way, it is noticeable. When
we find that someone treats others
with equality and respect, it is
noticeable. In a world where there is
so much bigotry and prejudice, it is
refreshing to find someone who
loves all people as equals. When we
see someone who gets along with
many people, we, in turn, have great
regard for such a person, and we
want to find out his or her secret. We
ask how is it that that person is
accepted by people of all nationali-
ties, religions, countries, or walks of
life in such a positive way. When
that person explains that through
meditation he or she sees the Light
of God shining in all people and sees
all as one family of God, others are
impressed. Others see that we have a
life with less turmoil and more
friends. They see that we are even-
keeled and calm wherever we go
and are not afraid to be with people
who are different from us. They, too,
want to lead a life with a wider
range of tolerance and friendship,
and they are inspired to be like us.
We find many are selfish.
Selfishness is rampant in all spheres
of life. Why is it sensational when it
is reported in the news that someone
did something giving and selfless? It
is such a rare quality that it often
makes front page news. We hear of
people who do not have a lot of
money but give generously to oth-
ers. We find people donating their
time to help others. We read of peo-
ple who donate a kidney to save
someone elses life. Some people
help the poor, the needy, and the
downtrodden. These selfless acts
have an effect because most people
tend to think first of themselves. If
people see we are giving and caring,
they admire us. They see that we
have a big heart. They see the joy we
get from giving. They too want to
partake of such joy. When they ask
us how we can be so giving, we can
point to our life of meditation in
which we see that we are all part of
one family of God. They will learn
that we treat all as one family, and
that we give because we consider all
as brothers and sisters in the Lord.
They realize that our giving comes
from a place of love, in which we
feel joy in helping others. The joy
that we get from giving is conta-
gious and others want to lead such a
life as well.
People see that by leading a vege-
tarian lifestyle we enjoy better
health. They find that we have more
energy and more stamina. They see
that we are less afflicted with the
diseases caused by eating meat.
They see the vegetarian diet makes
us calmer and more balanced. When
they see the benefits we experience,
they too may be inspired to adopt
such a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle.
Some people drink alcohol and
take drugs. In many places of work,
Friday is a time in which people
meet for Happy Hour. There, they
engage in drinking to feel good.
There are numerous television com-
mercials for beer and wine, depict-
ing the happiness people experience
by drinking. In private circles, peo-
ple speak of how good they feel
when they get high on drugs. There
is a tremendous drug culture in mod-
ern societies. People seem to feel
they cannot be happy without alco-
hol or drugs. But we all know that
that happiness is temporary and
comes at a high price. They may feel
good for a few minutes, but later
they feel sick to their stomach. They
may get addicted and require more
and more to make them maintain
their high. Drugs and alcohol lead to
impaired judgment and poor motor
skills, which in turn can lead to
deadly car accidents. People turn to
crime to get money to buy drugs and
alcohol. This leads to people getting
hurt and those perpetrating the
crimes going to prison. In some
cases drugs and alcohol lead to dis-
ease and death.
When people see that we are
happy and blissful without drugs
and alcohol, they ask us how we can
feel so good. We can then explain
that meditation gives us a natural
state of intoxication. We can explain
how the sweet nectar of the divine
Wine within provides more intoxica-
tion than any intoxication which
outer drugs and alcohol can give us.
We can talk about how we get this
divine bliss within that lasts twenty-
four hours. There is no hang-over.
There are no side effects. We do not
pass out or get sick. We do not have
to steal from anyone to get this bliss.
We do not have to cause car acci-
dents or commit crimes. Rather than
lowering our consciousness through
drugs and alcohol, we are raising our
consciousness to spiritual heights
and even attaining God-conscious-
ness. The joy people see we have in
our lives will inspire them to also
want to partake of that sweet honey
within. When people who see us
meditating notice a change in us,
they are also inspired to experience
the same change. They see that med-
itation makes us calmer and more
balanced. They see that we are able
to deal with the challenges of life in
a much more even manner. They see
that even though everyone goes
through the challenges of financial
problems, health problems, relation-
ship difficulties, and other chal-
lenges, we sail through them much
more easily than most people. This
makes people wonder what secret
we hold that helps us face lifes
struggles with more fortitude.
Finally, when they see how bliss-
ful and intoxicated we are without
the use of unnatural means such as
drugs and alcohol, they too want
such happiness. Just like the
princess who saw the joy that people
had when they tasted the sweetness
of honey and how they wanted to
share that delicious taste with others,
people will see the joy we experi-
ence from meditation and they will
want to enjoy that as well.
Our action makes a statement to others
By Sant Rajinder Singh
Ji Maharaj
I am reminded of a verse by Sant Darshan Singh Ji Maharaj which says:
Who has said that you must drink in secret?
This is divine Wine that you must share with others.
While drinking this Nectar, forget the sorrows of life and the pains of the
world.
And hum songs of beauty and love.
We can appreciate what a blessing it is to have a Master and to receive the
spiritual teachings from him. This is a valuable gift that actually is sent to us by God through
the Masters. God wants each of us to have the gift. If we are lucky enough to receive such a gift
from a Master, we should treasure it and put it to use. We should make the best use of the gift
by spending time in meditation. Let us enjoy the divine honey of the Light and Sound within.
Let us then travel on the divine nectar back to the Lord.
30 October 20-26, 2012 TheSouthAsianTimes.info SPIRITUAL AWARENESS
Concluding part of the discourse
'Sharing the divine honey'



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SOS Childrens Villages is the worlds largest charity dedicated
to the long-term care of orphaned and abandoned children.
Present in 133 countries, SOS has 540 childrens villages.
There are over 40 SOS Childrens villages in India, spanned
between Kashmir and Kanyakumari. We also have over 122
family strengthening projects and programs that beneft the
community.
The Diwali Kit is a campaign we are running to bring in donations
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we are focusing on our Villages in India during this Diwali time
period. For kids in this situation, it really is a miracle to be able to
get help from us, and from you. Thats weve made this campaign:
Give a Miracle. Give a Diwali Kit.
To create a miracle this diwali visit
www.SOS-INDIA.org/Diwali
SOS CHILDREN'S VILLAGES - USA 1001 CONNECTICUT AVENUE NW
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October 20-26, 2012 TheSouthAsianTimes.info
www.briarclife.edu
877.786.4333
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October 20-26, 2012 TheSouthAsianTimes.info