The South Asian Times
e x c e l l e n c e
Vol.12 No. 33 December 14-20, 2019
Johnson’s party wins big India’s Citizenship
in polls, to deliver Brexit (Amendment) bill
London: British Prime Minister
Boris Johnson's Conservatives
have won an outright majority in
parliament, according to a tally of
seats given by broadcaster ITV on
T hursday midnig ht, reported
Reuters. The official exit poll pro‑
jected the Conservatives would
win a total of 368 seats. With 595
of parliament's 650 seats declared,
the Conservatives have won 326,
ITV said.
For Johnson, whose 20‑week
tenure in power has been marked Boris Johnson is set to return
by chaotic scenes in parliament as British Prime Minister
and stark division on the streets from the European Union, the vic‑
over Britain's tortuous departure tory in Thursday's contest is vindi‑
Four diplomats honored with Diwali - Power of One Awards
Democrats announce 2 articles of impeachment against Trump
Republicans fail to eliminate abuse of power charge
Washington: The Republican minority on
the House Judiciary Committee has tried ‑
but failed ‑ to eliminate the "abuse of power"
accusation against President Donald Trump
in the debate before the vote on the articles
of impeachment against him for exerting
improper pressure on Ukraine. T he
impeachment charges will probably be easi‑
ly approved by the committee, which has an
overwhelming Democratic majority, and
LOCAL GOVT 6 BOLLYWOOD 16
i n j o u r n a l i s m
80 Cents New York Edition
cation. Educated at the country's
most elite school and recognizable
by his bombastic style, the 55‑
year‑old must not only deliver
Brexit but also convince Britons
that the contentious divorce, which
would lead to lengthy trade talks,
is worth it.
A landslide Conservative marks
the ultimate failure of opponents
of Brexit who plotted to thwart a
2016 referendum vote through
legislative combat in parliament
and prompted some of the biggest
protests in recent British history.
"I think this will turn out to be a
Continued on page 4
Ranju Batra, Diwali
Foundation USA Chair, and
eminent attorney Ravi Batra
posing with awardees
Volodymyr Yelchenko
(Permanent Representative of
Ukraine to the UN), Nicholas
Emiliou, former PR of Cyprus
to the UN (the award
accepted by the current PR
Andreas Mavroyiannis),
Frantisek Ruzicka, State
Secretary of Slovakia, &
Kairat Abdrakhmanov, former
Foreign Minister of
Kazakhstan, on Dec 6
at a ceremony at the UN.
then the impeachment case will be ready for
a vote by the full House, which is also con‑
trolled by the Democrats, Efe news reported.
During the two‑hour debate in committee
on that amendment, GOP legislators, ardent
supporters of Trump, argued vehemently
against including the abuse of power article
in the two‑article impeachment case against
Continued on page 4
See related stories on page 10 and 11
DIPLOMACY 18 SPIRITUAL AWARENESS 30
Follow us on TheSouthAsianTimes.info
becomes law
Now Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and
Christians who have come from neighboring
countries facing religious persecution there
can get Indian citizenship.
New Delhi: President Ram Nath
Kovind on T hursday g ave his
assent to the Cit izenship
(Amendment) Bill, 2019, turning it
into an Act.
According to the Act, members
of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain,
Parsi and Christian communities
who have come from Pakistan,
Bangladesh and Afghanistan till
December 31, 2014 and facing Major wins for Modi 2.0
religious persecution there will not
be treated as illegal immigrants 8 Abrogation of
but given Indian citizenship. Article 370
The Citizenship (Amendment)
Bill was passed by Rajya Sabha on 8 Ayodhya court verdict
Wednesday and by Lok Sabha on
Monday. The Act says the refugees
8 Triple talaq declared
unlawful
of the six communities will be
given Indian citizenship after
found as illeg al mig rants.
residing in India for five years,
According to the legislation, it will
instead of earlier requirement of
not be applicable to the tribal
11 years. The Act also proposes to
Continued on page 4
give immunity to such refugees
facing legal cases after being See detailed story on page 12.
Speaker
Nancy Pelosi,
Democratic
committee chairs
Maxine Waters,
Jerry Nadler,
Carolyn Maloney,
Richard Neal, and
Adam Schiff
announcing the
two articles of
impeachment.
(Photo : AP)
excellence in journalism
TheSouthAsianTimes.info December 14-20, 2019
TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRISTATE COMMUNITY December 14-20, 2019 3

New England Chapter Obituary: Meena Bagga

Helpful to the community,

of IAICC launched she saved 3 lives
Boston, MA: T he New England
States Chapter of the Indian
American International Chamber
by organ donation

of Commerce (IAICC) was launched
at the Northeastern University
campus here on December 6.
Indian Ambassador to the US,
Harsh V Shringla, as Chief Guest
lauded the work of the Chamber
and its President & CEO KV Kumar
for playing a vital role in promot‑
ing India‑US trade relations. He
also thanked all the community
leaders and partners for support‑
ing the launch, where Consul
General of India in New York,
Sandeep Chakravorty was also
present.
At the launch, Kay Khan,
Massachusetts State
Representative presented a procla‑
mation for the chamber to Mr.
Kumar.
Mr. Kumar said that the primary
role of the Chamber is to promote
and foster economic development
of the US and India together with
the rest of the world for the benefit
of all. IAICC Co‑Chairman, New
Eng land States, Mr. Rajat
Bhatnagar, said that he is confi‑
dent that more entrepreneurs will
be able to benefit through the
Chamberʼs expertise and activities.
At the launch, IAICC office bear‑
Ambassador Harsh V Shringla, Consul General Sandeep Chakravorty
and (left) IAICC President & CEO KV Kumar at the launch of the Indian
American International Chamber of Commerceʼs new chapter.
ers, including Mr. Glen Falcao ‑
Nat ional Vice President, Mr.
Kanchan Banerjee ‑ NE Region
Chairman, Mr. Sanjeev Yadav ‑
Vermont Chairman, Mr. Vijay
Konda ‑‑ Massachusetts Co‑Chair,
and Mr. Suresh Sharma ‑
Connecticut Chairman were also
present.
Both Ambassadors Shringla and
Chakravorty later joined a recep‑
t ion org anized by the India
Association of Greater Boston
(IAGB) and others. In a first, IAGB
brought together 20 Indian com‑
munity organizations from the
region to welcome Amb. Shringla
to Boston.
IAICC also launched its CA
Western Reg ional Chapter on
December 10 in San Francisco
where Hon. Lt. Governor, Eleni
Kounalakis was the Honored Guest
and Ms. Robyn Denholm, Chairman
Board of Tesla Inc., Ambassador
Sanjay Panda, Consul General of
India, San Francisco, and IAICCʼs
Mr. KV Kumar were the special
guests.
Last month IAICCʼs NE New York
Regional Chapter was launched in
the presence of Ajit Pai, FCC chair‑
man. IAICC is set to launch its
Arizona Chapter on December 20.
P
rayers and condo‑
lences have been
pouring in for Meena
Bagga, 74, who died tragi‑
cally when hit by a vehicle in
Glen Oaks, Queens. But hav‑
ing committed to org an
donation, and reminding her
family only recently of that
pledge, she became an
instrument in saving the
lives of three people in criti‑
cal condition after she was
taken of f life support last
Tuesday.
Her entire family are regis‑
tered organ donors but they
realized the tangible value of Organ Donation and if we can
that pledge only now. Meena save someone's life, it will be
Bagga, they say, was the most the biggest noble deed we can
he lpful person and always do.”
helped everyone when alive. Meena Bagga is survived by
She kept that up even in her son Eric Kumar and his wife
death. “We are sure those fami‑ Totee Wadhwa Kumar, son
lies which benefited by her Rohit Bagg a and his w ife
org an donat ions are also Shruti, daughter Geetika and
thanking her and praying for her husband Haresh Nainai,
her soul,” her son Deepak Eric and 5 grandchildren. She was a
Kumar writes in a Facebook goo d friend of community
post, adding. “We be lieve leader Pam Kwatra for 30
everyone should register for years

ʻSeva Truckʼ sends out Meera Gandhi’s charity honors 100

free food in DC area change makers of UAE
Washington: A Sikh‑American from has also expanded to feed over Dubai: T he New York ty. The combine will now
Washington D.C. is operating a 20,000 people. based Giving Back work actively at several
ʻSeva Truckʼ, via which he sends out Showing his compassionate side, Foundat ion, Meera projects in the Middle
free meals to local Kakar believed that Gandhi and the ITP Media East as Expo 2020 Dubai
communities in need there was need for Group of Dubai hosted a races to bring the world
including schools and such an initiative key event at The Armani closer.
social work organiza‑ when he started it, Hotel (Burj Khalifa) on The venue overlooking
tions. Washington but “we hope that we December 9 to felicitate the Dubai fountains set
D.C.‑based Sonny are out of business in 100 most influent ial against the backdrop of
Kakar bought an old the future” when hat change makers from the Burj Khalifa was perfect
FedEx truck, painted society reaches a UAE. for the stunning event
it orange and began stage where they do Meera Gand hi spoke teeming with glitterati
operating his ʻSeva not think about serv‑ about the need of alleviat‑ from all over the world
Truckʼ, a media ing themselves but ing basic needs of educa‑
Meera Gandhi with Royal Highnesses Mahmoud, including the family of
report said. serving the broader Jameel and Yaqoob Ali
tion, health, and shelter Meera Gandhi. Celebrity
His initiative spe‑ Sonny Kakar has served purpose.” In one of for all while keeping in mind hap‑ Royal Highnesses Yaqoob Ali, publicist Rohini Iyer from Mumbai,
cially targets kids at
50,000 meals in 3 years the schools where the
piness and mental wellness as Mohammed and Jameel. Anil Bhoyrul from London, Hunter
risk in underserved communities. In truck has been regularly dropping important human necessities that Notably Giving Back Foundation Lee from Monaco, Caroline
just three years since its inception, off meals for the last three years, need to be addressed simultane‑ and ITP group have joined hands Lieberman from NYC and Vimi
the orange truck has not only the attendance has gone up by 30 ously. In attendance were UAEʼs to work towards mental wellness Joshi of Mac Cosmetics UAE were
become the pride of the area but per cent, Kakar said. finest influencers including His and alleviating sickness and pover‑ among attendees.
 4 December 14-20, 2019
World ignores Pakistan's anti-India
propaganda: Indian diplomat at UN
United Nations: The international commu‑
nity has ignored the anti‑India propagan‑
da by Pakistan, the source of "virulent ter‑
ror", an Indian diplomat has said.
React ing to Pakistan's statements
against India during a General Assembly
debate on Culture of Peace on Thursday,
Paulomi Tripathi, a First Secretary in
India's Mission, said: "The international
community has not paid attention to such
deceitful propaganda for coveting territo‑
ry. We are confident that this would be
the case in future as well."
Tripathi did not mention Pakistan by
name, but it was clear that she was refer‑
ring to it coming after its attacks on India
at the meeting. "Virulent terror emanating
from this territory threaten to destabilize
peace globally. Yet, with pathological
SC REJECTS ALL REVIEW PLEAS
AGAINST AYODHYA VERDICT
New Delhi: T he Supreme Court on
Thursday dismissed all the 18 petitions
seeking review of its November 9 Ayodhya
land dispute verdict, all but casting in stone
its 1,045‑page judgement awarding the
Ram Janmabhoomi‑Babri Masjid site for a
Ram Temple and five acres at an alterna‑
tive location to the Sunni Wakf Board for
construction of a mosque. All the petitions
seeking review of the SCʼs unanimous ver‑
dict were placed before a bench of CJI S A
Bobde and Just ices Dhananjaya Y
Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan, S Abdul
Nazeer and Sanjiv Khanna (who filled the
vacant slot in Constitution bench after
retirement of then CJI Ranjan Gogoi). The
bench divided the petitions into two cate‑
gories ̶ those filed by persons who were
parties to any of the four title suits and oth‑
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TURN PAGE
obsession this delegation makes veiled
baseless allegations on internal situations
of other countries," she said.
Moreover, she said, women are
oppressed and minorities are persecuted
there.
Likening Pakistan's concern for human
rights and the culture of peace to a fox
guarding a hen house, Tripathi said that it
"hardly comes as a matter of surprise for
those who have witnessed their many
attempts to masquerade as the champions
of culture of peace. They besmirch the
spirit of cooperation by spinning false
narratives for political gains".
She said that "education and awareness
generation" play a key roles in the process
of moving from a culture of war to a cul‑
ture of peace by transforming individual
ers who were not but yet had sought per‑
mission to file review petitions.
Petitions filed by entities who were par‑
ties to any of the title suits ̶ Gopal Singh
Visharad (1950), Nirmohi Akhara (1959),
Sunni Wakf Board (1961) and Ram Lalla
Virajman (1989) ̶ were discussed in
detail by the five judges in chamber with‑
out the presence of lawyers representing
any party, as is the norm for preliminary
hearing on review petitions.
After deliberating on review petitions
filed by some of the parties to the title
suits, the bench ordered: “Applications for
listing of Review Petitions in open Court
are dismissed. We have carefully gone
through the Review Petitions and connect‑
ed papers filed therewith. We do not find
any ground, whatsoever, to entertain the
Consultants
Shomik Chaudhuri P: 646.498.5122
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Ginsmon P. Zacharia P: 516.776.7061
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Contributing Editors:
Shaker Nelanuthala, Prof. Shivaji Sengupta,
Surekha Vijh (Washington, DC),
Suchitra Srinivas (New Jersey),
Melvin Durai, Dr Prem Kumar Sharma,
Ashok Vyas, and Dr Akshat Jain
Current Affairs Columnist
Swadesh Rana
behavior and institutional practices.
But in Pakistan "children and youth are
given guns instead of books", the First
Secretary added said.
Of the 193 UN members, only three ‑‑
Malaysia, Turkey, China ‑‑ have raised the
Kashmir issue during the high‑level meet‑
ing in September, and Beijing has even
tempered it with a reference to bilateral
agreements in solving the problem ‑‑ a
reference to the Simla Agreement that
makes disputes bilateral according to
India.
Since then, no other country has picked
up Pakistan's line on Kashmir and its alle‑
gations of human right abuses in India,
which its diplomats slip into as many dis‑
cussions as possible regardless of the sub‑
ject.
same. The Review Petitions are, according‑
ly, dismissed.” This leaves litigants, who
were parties to any of the title suits, with a
small window in ʻcurative petitionsʼ for
seeking reversal of the November 9 judge‑
ment. However, given the general trend of
dismissal of curative petitions, there is a
very bleak chance of the SC reopening the
70‑year‑old litigation for a fresh hearing.
On the second category of petitions,
which included petitioners like a “group of
40 intellectuals” who are not party to any
of the title suits, the bench declined per‑
mission to even file a review petition. The
fear expressed by the judges was that per‑
mitting non‑parties would open flood‑gates
of litigation as it would allow any citizen to
file pleas seeking a review of Ayodhya
judgment, and for that matter any order.
New Delhi Bureau
Meenakshi Iyer
Delhi@TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Jaipur Bureau
Prakash Bhandari
Prakash@TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Photographs
Xitij Joshi/xitijphoto.com
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Bharat Bhushan Chopra
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TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Indiaʼs Citizenship (Amendment)
bill becomes law
Continued from page 1
areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and
Tripura as included in the Sixth Schedule of
the Constitution and in the areas covered
under the Inner Line Permit, notified under
the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation,
1873. T he ILP reg ime is applicable in
Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram.
Johnsonʼs party wins big in
polls, to deliver Brexit
Continued from page 1
historic election that gives us now, in this
new government, the chance to respect the
democratic will of the British people,"
Johnson said after winning his seat of
Uxbridge. He said the Conservat ives
appeared to have won "a powerful new man‑
date to get Brexit done".
Labour were forecast to win 191 seats, the
worst result for the party since 1935, after
offering voters a second referendum and the
most radical socialist government in genera‑
tions. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said he
would step down.
Democrats announce 2 articles of
impeachment against Trump
Continued from page 1
the president. However, despite their efforts
‑ which consisted largely of using the com‑
mittee proceedings as a forum to denounce
the impeachment process and to attempt to
erode the Democrats' case against the presi‑
dent ‑ the committee voted 23‑17 along
party lines to reject the amendment that
would have removed the abuse of power
charge.
Republican lawmaker Jim Jordan of Ohio
presented the amendment to remove the
abuse of power charge claiming that it
"ignores the truth."
Lawmakers then launched into a bitter
debate on the matter, which conservatives
on the committee took as an opportunity to
denounce a process that they claim is unfair
to Trump and to try to undermine the
Democrats'' case.
Meanwhile, Democrat Sheila Jackson Lee
insisted that "the president abused his
power and is a continuing threat, not only to
democracy but also to our security."
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TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRISTATE COMMUNITY December 14-20, 2019 5

US commissionʼs comment on citizenship

bill unwarranted, inaccurate: MEA
New Delhi: The Ministry of External Affairs
has said the statement given by the US
Commission on International Religious
Freedom (USCIRF), an American federal
body, on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill
is “neither accurate nor warranted.”
Responding to the commissionʼs state‑
ment that the US should impose sanctions
on Home Minister Amit Shah and other
leaders of the Narendra Modi government if
the bill is passed by both houses of
Parliament, MEA Of ficial Spokesperson
Raveesh Kumar said the USCIRF has “little
knowledge and no locus standi” on the mat‑
ter.
“The Bill provides expedited considera‑
tion for Indian citizenship to persecuted
religious minorities already in India from
certain contiguous countries,” Kumar said,
adding it “seeks to address their current dif‑
ficulties and meet their basic human
rights.”
He said the initiative should be welcomed,
and not criticized, “by those who are gen‑
uinely committed to religious freedom.”
Kumar also said the bill does not af fect
the existing avenues available to all com‑
munities who want to seek citizenship.
“The recent record of granting such citi‑
zenship would bear out the Government of
Indiaʼs objectivity in that regard.”
He clarified that neither the CAB nor the
National Register of Citizens (NRC) process
seeks to strip any Indian citizen of any faith
of citizenship.
“Suggestions to that effect are motivated
and unjustified. Every nation, including the
United States, has the right to enumerate
and validate its citizenry, and to exercise
this prerogative through various policies,”
Kumar said.”
Stating that the USCIRFʼs position is “not
surprising given its past record” the MEA
said it is, however, “regrettable that the
body has chosen to be guided only by its
prejudices and biases on a matter on which
it clearly has little knowledge and no locus
standi.”

Indian‑origin scientist in US finds

dead probiotic to fix leaky gut
New York: A team led by an Indian‑
origin scientist has identified a dead
probiotic that can reduce age‑relat‑
ed leaky gut and control harmful,
ageing‑related inflammation.
Leaky gut, in which microbes and
bacteria in the gut leak into the
blood stream through holes or
cracks in the intestinal lining, caus‑
es an increase in low‑grade inflam‑
mation, and these conditions are
common in older people.
This resulting inflammation is
thought to play a role in the devel‑
opment of many age‑related dis‑
eases, such as diabetes, obesity,
cancer, cardiovascular disease and
a decline in physical and cognitive
functions.
"We know that probiotics are
instrumental in maintaining a
healthy gut and preventing leakage,
but there isn't much data available
to pinpoint which ones work and
which ones don't," said Hariom
Yadav, assistant professor of molec‑
ular biology at Wake Forest School
of Medicine and principal investiga‑
tor of the study published in the
journal GeroScience.
In the study, Yadav's team first
screened eight strains of human‑
origin probiotics in roundworms, a
commonly used model with a short
lifespan of 11 to 20 days.
They discovered that a strain of
Lactobacillus paracasei (D3‑5), even
in the non‑viable or heat‑killed
form, extended the roundworms'
life span.
SoS center brings home Guru Nanakʼs
message through kirtan
By SATimes Team
Amityville, NY: T he Science of
Spirituality Center celebrated Guru
Nanak Dev Jiʼs 550th birth
anniversary in Amityville, Long
Island on November 30.
Dada Lachman Chellaram, a well‑
known Gurbani worshipper and
proponent of Sindhi origin, was the
star of the evening. He was ably
accompanied in a jugalbandi by
Jori Kohli, a local devotee of Sant
Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj. The two
rendered shabads like ʻKal Taaran
Dada Lachman Chellaram was accompanied in shabad singing by
Gur Nanak Aaiaaʼ (Guru Nanak
Jori Kohli and on tabla by Bhai Balbir Singh.
came to this world for the redemp‑
tion of mankind ‑ written by Bhai Balwant Kaur doing kirtan accom‑ India) is a worldwide spiritual
Gurdas Ji) and also explained their panied by her father Bhai Balbir organization dedicated to trans‑
meaning and expanding into the Singh on tabla. forming lives through meditation
core message of the founder of Science of Spirituality (known as under the guidance of Sant
Sikhism. The program began with Sawan Kirpal Ruhani Mission in Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj.

US defends creation of fake school

New York: American agencies have
pushed back against criticism that
they entrapped hundreds of for‑
eigners, mainly Indian students,
who enrolled in a fake school they
opened in an ef fort to fight visa
Ambassador Harsh Vardhan Shringla, accompanied by Consul General
fraud. The Associated Press has
Sandeep Chakravorty, visited BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in New
reported that according to these
Jersey on Dec 7 and greeted the gathering on the auspicious occasion
agencies, those who enrolled knew
of H.H. Pramukh Swami Maharajʼs 98th birth anniversary.
they weren't signing up for a real
school and that they only wanted a
way to stay in the US.
The undercover operation that
targeted students at the University
of Farmington in Farmington Hills
was legal and helped combat visa
fraud, the US attorney for the
Eastern District of Michigan and
head of the US Immigration and
Customs Enforcement's investiga‑
tive division in Detroit said Friday
in statements to the Detroit Free
Economists Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo received the 2019
Press.
Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences with Michael Kremer in Sweden on
“HSI special agents, as part of
Tuesday. Dr.Banerjee and Dr. Duflo, who are married to each other,
this undercover operation, made it
wore Indian attire for the awards ceremony at the Concert Hall in
Stockholm. Dr.Banerjee, 58, turned up in a cream kurta that he abundantly clear in their interac‑
teamed with a white gold‑bordered dhoti and closed neck black tions with potential University of
vest, a nod to his Bengali origins. French‑American Dr.Duflo wore a Farmington enrollees that the
blue saree, red blouse and a red bindi. school did not of fer academic or
vocational programs of any kind.
The individuals who enrolled in
the University of Farmington did
so intent ionally," said Vance
Callender, special agent in charge
of the Detroit of fice of ICE's
Homeland Security Investigations.
The students arrived in the US
legally, primarily from India, and
were on F‑1 student visa programs
when they enrolled at the universi‑
ty that was covertly staf fed by
undercover agents and had a fake
website. Nearly 80 percent of the
250 students who were arrested
have voluntarily left the country,
according to ICE.
Lawyers for the students have
said they believe their clients were
entrapped and did not know the
school was fake when they
enrolled.
In January, federal prosecutors
announced that ICE agents had
secretly set up the fake university,
which enrolled more than 600 for‑
eign students studying science and
technology. The Department of
Justice referred to it as a "pay to
stay" scheme.
T he Free Press reported in
November that the number of stu‑
dents who had been arrested on
immigration infractions in the case
had jumped to 250. T he story
drew widespread attention and
several political leaders criticized
or raised questions about the sting.
Among the critics were several
congressional Democrats, includ‑
ing Rep. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan,
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio‑Cortez of
New York, Sen. Kamala Harris of
California and Sen. Elizabeth
Warren of Massachusetts.
"This is cruel and appalling,"
Warren tweeted about the sting.
"These students simply dreamed of
getting high‑quality higher educa‑
t ion America can of fer. ICE
deceived and entrapped them, just
to deport them."
The case “raises a number of
serious questions, and I'll be fol‑
low ing up to ensure they are
answered,” Slotkin said on
Saturday.
(Source: cnbctv18.com)
 6 December 14-20, 2019
Catch up on your
holiday reading
at CBWCHC
New York: The MTAʼs pick to serve
New York, NY: T he Charles B.
as its boardʼs outside lawyer is mar‑
Wang Community Health Center
ried to the Nassau County Executive
and Fidelis Care welcomes your
who has a rep on the panel ̶ posing
family to the free Holiday Reading
a possible conflict of interest.
Fun event on Sunday, December
15 at 137‑43 45th Avenue, 3rd
$240,000 per year for his legal work
Floor, Flushing, NY 11355, from
on the boardʼs behalf, the MTA said.
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Bring your kids to catch up on
of the most populous county outside
their holiday reading. The whole
of New York City, and has a rep on
family will get a chance to read
the board.
books, keep a book (1 per child,
while supplies last), participate in
educational activities, arts, and
crafts, as we ll as learn about
health insurance information.
The event is free and open to the
public. For more information, call
929‑362‑3020.
For more information, visit
www.cbwchc.org.
New York to ban
aerial use of
pesticide
Albany: New York is prohibiting
the aerial spraying of an agricul‑
tural pesticide that can harm the
nervous systems of infants and
young children.
Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo
says heʼs direct ing the state
Department of Environmental
Conservation to ban nearly all
uses of the pesticide by December
2020. But New York will allow the
spraying of the pesticide on apple
tree trunks until July 2021.
Environmental group Friends of
the Earth says New Yorkʼs ban,
announced Tuesday, follows simi‑
lar steps in Hawaii and California.
The group says the pesticide also
poses the risk of acute poisoning
and neurological damage in farm
workers.
Lawmakers approved a bill this
spring to prohibit the pesticide.
Environmental groups have since
pushed Cuomo to act to ban the
pesticide, chlorpyrifos.
The pesticide is used on golf
courses and crops including corn,
soybeans and broccoli.
Apple farmers have argued that
chlorpyrifos is the only pesticide
available for use against pests
such as the rosy apple aphid.
LOCAL GOVT TheSouthAsianTimes.info
MTA sparks conflict‑of‑interest concerns after
hiring Nassau County Execʼs husband
pendent,” said John Kaehny, director say whose idea it was to retain the conflict and claimed Curranʼs hus‑
of Reinvent Albany. “Couldnʼt they county execʼs husband. band is “totally independent.”
have found a lawyer in New York In 2018, Gov. Andrew Cuomo “Heʼs extraordinarily qualified,”
State whose wife doesnʼt have a refused to advance Curranʼs pick to Foye told host Errol Louis. “There
voice on the MTA board?” rep Nassau on the board ̶ NYPD was no board vote required for this.
John Curran will be paid up to Board members were informed of widow Patti Ann McDonald ̶ in Had there been, the Nassau County
Curranʼs hire in a terse nine‑word favor of David Mack, a deep‑pocket‑ representative would have
email from MTA attorney Monica ed developer with ties to former GOP abstained.”
His wife Laura Curran is the leader Murray, which also included a link to Senator Al DʼAmato. “I have every reason to believe that
his bio on his law firmʼs website, Curranʼs husbandʼs hire was first if thereʼs a conflict and an abstention
according to a copy obtained by The reported by Politico. issue, heʼll do the right thing, what‑
Post. In an interview on NY1 Thursday, ever it is in the circumstance,” he
“[John] Curran is not truly inde‑ MTA rep Abbey Collins would not MTA Chairman Pat Foye denied a said. (source: nypost.com)
Legislation
introduced to
define term ʻnaturalʼ
for personal care
products
New York: Last month, Representatives Sean
Patrick Maloney (NY‑18) and Grace Meng (NY‑6)
introduced the Natural Cosmetics Act that would
define the term “natural” as it relates to personal
care products and give the US Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) authority to enforce the
new requirements.
If enacted, the law would amend the Federal
Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) to require Former President Bill Clinton read "The Wonderful Things You Will Be" to children on
cosmetic products labeled as “natural” to con‑ Tuesday while visiting Laundro Lux in Deer Park, Long Island. The laundromat unveiled
tain at least 70 percent natural substances, a new literacy‑rich play space, thanks to Too Small to Fail, the Clinton Foundationʼs
early childhood education initiative. (Photo courtesy Newsday)
(excluding water and salt) and be made without
certain manufacturing processes like ionizing
radiation and ethylene oxide treatment. For a
cosmetic ingredient to be considered “natural” Governor Cuomo announces completion
the law would require that it be “naturally occur‑
ring” and either (i) unprocessed, (ii) processed of Sheridan Boulevard Project
“only by manual, mechanical, naturally derived
solvent or gravitational means, by dissolution in It provides direct access to Bronx river waterfront and parkland
water or steam, by flotation, or by heating solely
Albany: Governor Andrew M. Cuomo on Dec "For far too long, South Bronx residents
to remove water”; or (iii) “extracted from air by
11 announced that the $75 million transfor‑ have contended with noise, traffic and physi‑
any means.” A cosmetic that is labeled as “natur‑
mation of the Sheridan Expressway from an cal barriers that have limited mobility and
al,” but that fails to meet these standards, would
interstate highway to a pedestrian‑friendly economic growth," said Governor Cuomo.
be deemed “misbranded” under the FDCA.
boulevard is now complete, giving South "Even worse, generations of children had to
The Natural Cosmetics Act would impose new
Bronx residents and visitors a direct connec‑ contend with the pollution and asthma from
recordkeeping requirements on manufacturers
tion to the Bronx River waterfront and truck traffic in the community. The new and
and distributors of natural cosmetics. It would
Starlight Park. This transformational project improved Sheridan Boulevard corrects the
also require ingredient suppliers to conduct
is part of an unprecedented $1.8 billion state planning mistakes of the past by protecting
Carbon‑14 testing and to share those test results
investment in the South Bronx. With the new the health and safety of the South Bronx, by
with the manufacturer of the finished cosmetic
and improved Sheridan project now complete, reconnecting local neighborhoods, and by
product. FDA would also be given some new
the Governor also announced that work is improving access to the nearby Bronx River
authorities to enforce the lawʼs requirements.
now underway on a $598 million design‑ waterfront and parks. The new Hunts Point
Specifically, the FDA would be able to issue so‑
build highway improvement in the South project will build upon that success, further
called cease distribution orders and to request
Bronx, the first phase of a massive, $1.7 bil‑ connecting the neighborhood to parks and
(but not require) the recall of misbranded “nat‑
lion project to transform the neighborhood the waterfront while reducing traffic on local
ural” cosmetics.
by reconstructing the interchange of the streets and making it easier than ever to
Neither the FDA nor the Federal Trade
Bruckner Expressway and new Sheridan access the Hunts Point Market and the signifi‑
Commission (FTC) have formally defined the
Boulevard and improving access to the Hunts cant commerce it generates in the borough
term “natural.”
Point Market. and throughout the entire region."
TheSouthAsianTimes.info NATIONAL COMMUNITY December 14-20, 2019 7

Applications for H‑1B visa to Indian American

be accepted from April 1st
Washington, DC: The US has completed the
implementation of H‑1B electronic registra‑
tion process for the 2021 cap season and the
petitions for the most sought after work visa
among Indian IT professionals will be accept‑
ed from April 1, 2020, the country's immigra‑
tion agency has announced.
The H‑1B visa is a non‑immigrant visa that
allows US companies to employ foreign work‑
ers in specialty occupations that require theo‑
retical or technical expertise.
The technology companies depend on it to
hire tens of thousands of employees each year
from countries like India and China. The US
Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS),
the federal agency mandated with the task of
approving such applications, on Friday
announced that it had completed the process
to implement the H‑1B electronic registration
process for the 2021 cap season. The compa‑
nies applying for H‑1B visas for foreign work‑
ers for the fiscal year 2021 would have to reg‑
ister online and pay a processing fee of USD
10. The USCIS would start accepting the H‑1B
petitions from April 1, 2020, for the next fis‑
cal year. "The electronic registration process
will dramatically streamline processing by
reducing paperwork and data exchange, and
will provide overall cost savings to petitioning
employers," the USCIS said.
Under this new process, employers seeking
H‑1B workers subject to the cap, or their
authorized representatives, will complete a
registration process that requires only basic
information about their company and each
requested worker. The USCIS will open an ini‑
tial registration period from March 1 to March
20, 2020. The H‑1B random selection process,
founded Le Tote
if needed, will then be run on those electronic
registrations. Only those with selected regis‑
acquires Lord & Taylor
trations will be eligible to file H‑1B cap‑sub‑
Washington, DC: An Indian American‑led
ject petitions, according to a media report.
company has acquired department store
"By streamlining the H‑1B cap selection
chain Lord & Taylor for $75 million.
process with a new electronic registration sys‑
Business Insider reports that in the acqui‑
tem, USCIS is creating cost savings and effi‑
sition by San Francisco‑based clothing
ciencies for petitioners and the agency, as
subscription service Le Tote, co‑founded
only those selected will now be required to
by Rakesh Tondon, there is a secured
submit a full petition," said USCIS Deputy
promissory note for $25 million after two
Director Mark Koumans.
years.
"The agency completed a successful pilot
As part of the agreement with Hudson's
testing phase, which included sessions with
Bay Company, Lord & Taylor's parent
industry representatives, and implementation
company, Le Tote will now ef fectively
of the registration system will further the goal
operate all remaining 38 stores and
of modernizing USCIS from a paper‑based to
online businesses.
an online‑filing agency," he said.
"Following an extensive review of
USCIS will post step‑by‑step instructions
strategic alternatives, Le Tote's leader‑
informing registrants how to complete the
ship and innovative approach is the best
registration process on its website along with Rakesh Tondon
path forward for Lord & Taylor, its loyal
key dates and timelines as the initial registra‑
customers, and dedicated associates," and innovation combined with Lord &
tion period nears.
Helena Foules, CEO of Hudson's Bay, said Taylor's traditional store footprint, e‑
The federal agency will also conduct public
in a press statement. "For HBC, this trans‑ commerce presence, and merchandise
engagements and other outreach activities to
action builds upon our previous bold selection will of fer customers a new
ensure registrants and interested parties are
actions, further enabling us to focus on experience in the mid‑market segment."
familiar with the new registration system, it
our greatest opportunities, Saks Fifth "Since founding Le Tote, it's been our
said. The USCIS may determine if it is neces‑
Avenue and Hudson's Bay." mission to push the boundaries of retail,"
sary to continue accepting registrations, or
Founded in San Francisco in 2012, Le Tondon said in a statement. "We've
open an additional registration period, if it
Tote was an early entrant to the subscrip‑ strived to lead the charge in developing
does not receive enough registrations and
tion clothing market, following the debut innovative, intuitive, value‑driven ways
subsequent petitions projected to reach the
of companies like Rent The Runway in for customers to engage and consume.”
numerical allocations, it added.
2009, the report said. The acquisition also mirrors recent
The H1B visa has an annual numerical limit
Similar to models like Stitch Fix, Le Tote efforts by traditional retailers to revital‑
cap of 65,000 visas each fiscal year as man‑
members receive a monthly "Tote" of per‑ ize their flailing brands through partner‑
dated by the Congress. The first 20,000 peti‑
sonalized clothing items, from which they ships with young, buzzy companies in
tions filed on behalf of beneficiaries with a US
can keep what they like and return the emerging areas of retail including sub‑
master's degree or higher are exempt from the
rest, it said. According to a press release, script ion, rental, and consignment,
cap. (PTI)
Le Tote's "proprietary technology, data, according to the report.

Prof. Arvind to head MIT faculty CNN political analyst

of computer science
Cambridge, MA: Arvind, the Charles
W. and Jennifer C. Johnson Professor
in Computer Science and
Engineering at MIT, will step into the
role of head of the faculty of comput‑
er science, according to MIT News.
Prof. Arvindʼs research focuses on
the specification and synthesis of
complex digital systems, including
microprocessors and accelerators,
using a formalism known as guarded
atomic actions. He leads the
Computation Structures Group in the
Computer Science and Artificial
Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), and
is a fellow of the Institute of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers
(IEEE) and the Association for
Computing Machinery. He was elect‑
ed into the National Academy of
Engineering in 2008 and the
Academy for Arts and Sciences in
2012. Prof. Arvindʼs new role is a
result of the restructuring of the MIT
Stephen A. Schwarzman College of
Computing, the Department of
Electrical Engineering and Computer
Science (EECS).
Jointly part of the School of
Engineering and Schwarzman
Prof. Arvind
College of Computing, EECS is now
composed of three overlapping sub‑
units in electrical engineering (EE),
computer science (CS), and artificial
intelligence and decision‑making
(AI+D), which brings together com‑
puter science‑heritage AI and
machine learning with electrical
engineering‑heritage information
and decision systems to exploit their
significant synergies. The depart‑
ment will remain responsible for
Peter Mathews to
Course 6.
The organizational plan for EECS
was developed over the summer
based on the final report of the
run for US Congress
Organizational Structure Working Washington, DC: Indian‑ Reag an and pumped up by
Group of the Computing Task Force. American Peter Mathews, also a Trump," Mathews said.
The plan calls for each of the units, political analyst on CNN televi‑ A CNN television political ana‑
termed a “faculty” to signify its dif‑ sion, w ill be running for lyst, Mathews is a professor of
ferentiation from a traditional aca‑ Congress. Mathews, who was political science and internation‑
demic structure, each managed by a born in India and al re lat ions at
head of the faculty to lead the immigrated to the Cypress College.
respective area and to contribute to US along with his He also makes fre‑
the overall leadership of EECS, under parents at the age of quent appearances
the direction of the department head 10, announced to on Sky News UK and
who will continue to oversee cross‑ enter the race for BBC Radio.
cutting matters, according to MIT US House of According to his
News. Representatives campaign, Mathews,
The three faculty heads and the from 47th if elected, will con‑
EECS head will each report jointly to Congressional tinue his life‑long
Dan Huttenlocher, dean of the MIT District of fight for equal treat‑
Schwarzman College of Computing California. ment w ith human
and to Anantha Chandrakasan, dean His father is from Indian‑ American dignity for all.
of the MIT School of Engineering. Kerala and mother Peter Mathews "Inside and outside
“This restructure will provide more from Tamil Nadu. Cong ress, Peter
autonomy to each unit,” MIT News "We must move away from Mathews will fight against preju‑
quoted Chandrakasan as saying. selfish, short‑sighted policies dice, discrimination, and unequal
“The faculties will focus on faculty that are destroying people's lives treatment based on race/ethnici‑
recruiting, mentoring, promotion, and our climate throug h ty, social class, gender, sexual
academic programs, and community Corporate Deregulation and Tax orientation, national origin, reli‑
building.” Cuts for the Rich started by gion and age," it said.
 8 December 14-20, 2019 NATIONAL TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Pakistani‑American journalist to
moderate US presidential debate
Washington, DC: A Pak istani‑American,
Amna Nawaz, has created history by becom‑
ing the first South Asian American journalist
selected to moderate a US presidential
debate.
Amna Nawaz of PBS NewsHour will co‑
moderate the sixth Democratic primary
debate on Dec 19 at Loyola Marymount
University in Los Angeles, California.
PBS NewsHour anchor and managing edi‑
tor Judy Woodruff will lead the panel which
includes POLITICO chief political correspon‑
dent Tim Alberta and PBS NewsHour White
House correspondent Yamiche Alcindor.
T he Virginia‑born Nawaz joined PBS
NewsHour in April 2018 and is now its sen‑
ior national correspondent and primary sub‑
stitute anchor.
Prior to joining the NewsHour, Nawaz was
an anchor and correspondent at ABC News,
where she covered the 2016 presidential
election. Before that, she was a foreign cor‑
respondent at NBC News, reporting from
Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria, Turkey, and the
broader region. She is also the founder and
former managing editor of NBCʼs Asian
America platform, built to elevate the voices
of Americaʼs fastest‑growing population.
At NewsHour, Nawaz has reported politics,
foreign af fairs, education, climate change,
culture and sports. Sheʼs investigated the
impact of the Trump Administrationʼs immi‑
gration policies, focusing on detention,
refugees and asylum, and migrant children
in the US government custody.
Amna Nawaz has interviewed internation‑
al newsmakers ̶ including Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Scotlandʼs
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, and Brazilian
leader Eduardo Bolsonaro; lawmakers and
Trump Administrationʼs of ficials. She has
visited Brazil to report on climate change
from w ithin the Amazon, and the
Venezuelan refugee crisis.
In 2019, her report ing as part of a
NewsHour series on the global plastic prob‑
lem received a Peabody Award.
(source: dawn.com) Amna Nawaz

First Person Sikh Uber driver allegedly racially abused,

Yes, many South Asians too strangled in Washington Suburb
are stuck in immigration jails Washington, DC: An Indian American Sikh Uber
driver was allegedly racially abused and strangulat‑
arrived, they were able to locate Sayers nearby and
arrested him. Hate crimes against Sikhs in the U.S.

J
ust before T hanksgiving, my
father visited Stewart Detention
Center in Lumpkin, GA. I was
born and raised in Atlanta, but before
my dadʼs visit, no one in our family
had ever been to Lumpkin. El Refugio,
which operates a hospitality house just
1.5 miles from Stewart Detention
Center, and organized the visit for my
dad and other members of his Rotary
Club.
El Refugio was one of the many
organizations that signed on to Project
Southʼs letter demanding an investiga‑
tion into this facility, which was once a
prison, and still operates like one
under the private ownership of the
notorious Core Civic company. The let‑
ter highlights the litany of violations in
this facility from medical neglect to
in English.
He told my dad he left South Asia to
pursue an M.D. in the Caribbean,
moved to the United States without
legal status to find work, and eventual‑
ly became homeless after losing his
few remaining belongings in a scam,
and has been detained for years.
He is one of the lucky ones who has
legal representation, but he is current‑
ly awaiting an appeal on his case.
After their hour was up, the man
asked, “If you know of any South Asian
organizations, could you please share
my story?” My dad assured him that
they would before saying goodbye.
My dad called me when he got home
that day. He found it shocking and
unsettling to see a fellow South Asian
from his generation locked in a deten‑
ed by a passenger Dec. 5, in Be llingham,
Washington.
According to media reports, the driver, who
chose to remain anonymous, picked up Grifin Levi
Sayers. The driver later made a 911 call saying he
had been attacked by his passenger,
The police then arrested and booked 22‑year‑old
Sayers on suspicion of second‑degree assault and a
failure‑to‑appear warrant for fourth‑degree assault.
According to police records, he was released on
$13,000 bail the next day.
The driver told the police that Sayers took the
cab to make some purchases and then returned to
the pick‑up location. It was at this point that the
passenger became abusive and grabbed the driver
by his throat and squeezed it violently.
He also made racial comments about the driver's
ethnicity. The driver somehow managed to get out
of the cab to make a 911 call. When the police
have always been on the radar for civil rights and
minority groups. Anti‑Sikh hate crimes rose by a
whopping 200 percent since 2017, according to an
FBI report.
Even as Sikh groups and minority organizations
continue to make attempts to educate Americans
on Sikhism and the tenets of its faith, Sikhs are
often mistakenly targeted because of their tur‑
bans.A statement from the Sikh Coalition adds:
“This was very clearly a hate crime under the defi‑
nition of the law,” said Amrith Kaur, Sikh Coalition
legal director. “The attacker knew his Uber driver
was Sikh, and he chose to both physically and ver‑
bally attack him because of it. We are thankful that
the Bellingham Police Department are investigat‑
ing bias as a motivator, and we trust that the
Whatcom County Prosecuting Attorneyʼs Of fice
will appropriately charge him with a hate crime
moving forward.” (IANS)

IUDF alleges Hindutva groups

physical abuse to forced labor. In the
past two years alone, four deaths have
occurred in Stewart Detention Center.
The Stewart Immigration Court has
the highest rate of deportation out of
any immigration court in the country.
As my Dad and his group
approached Stewart Detention Center
in their cars, signs forbidding photog‑
raphy welcomed the group into the
prison‑like compound. The staff inside
the center made everyone go through
security and empty all their belong‑
ings into lockers before meeting with
detained immigrants inside. Nothing
was allowed – no phones, no paper, no
money. Nothing. Everyone was limited
to one hour inside and they were
escorted by a guard who my dad
described as threatening and aloof.
My dad and one of his fellow Rotary
Club members were led to a small win‑
dow where they were instructed to
communicate through a phone on the
wall.
An elderly South Asian man wearing
an orange jumpsuit appeared on the
other side of the glass in the visitation
booth. He started speaking to my dad
tion facility with no end in sight.
At SAALT, we have also shared the
story of Ajay, Gurjant, Jasvir and
Rajandeep, who were all released from
detention in the past year after endur‑
ing inhumane conditions in a deten‑
dividing Indian American
tion facility in El Paso. Just like the
man detained in Stewart, they were
among the thousands of South Asians
community
New York: The Indo‑US Democracy Foundation alleges IUDF.
who have been apprehended, many of
(IUDF), a newly formed think tank, has deplored Rep. Khanna's grandfather fought for India's
whom are now stuck in immigration
the attack on elected representatives in the US independence and was jailed. Rep. Khanna says
jails amid terrible conditions rather
by some people belonging to the Hindutva that his grandfather fought for all Indians, and
than having their cases heard and
group, who support ideologies opposed by he cannot support divisive ideologies now. Rep.
processed fairly.
America. Jayapal, too, demanded democratic rights for
It doesn't have to be this way.
“They are virtually threatening Reps like Ro Kashmiris, who are citizens of India, the IUDF
Thankfully, awareness of this issue is
Khanna and Pramila Jayapal for not towing press release continues.
growing. Thanks to your support,
their line of Hindutva politics, which wants to The Indian diaspora in the US is diverse and
SAALT has been able to share their sto‑
reshape India as a Theocracy or Hindu Rashtra. comprises many religions, regions, and lan‑
ries, raise these concerns to Members
They even threatened Rep. Tom Suozzi of New guages. According to a Pew Research poll, 50%
of Congress, demand DOJ investiga‑
York, a good friend of the Indian community, for of them are non‑Hindus. And the majority of the
tions where abuses have been ram‑
demanding the restoration of democracy in Hindus in this country may also want to live in
pant, and alert journalists to the grow‑
Kashmir,” says an IUDF press release. peace with one another. However, it is unfortu‑
ing number of South Asian asylum
“The Hindutva forces in the US follow the ide‑ nate that a small band of radical Hindutva sup‑
seekers.
ology of RSS, who want to make India a Hindu porters in this country is in the process of ruin‑
We just need to keep it up.
Rashtra and keep the Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, ing the peace and harmony for everyone else,
Lakshmi Sridaran
Dalits, and others as second class citizens, deny‑ says IUDF.
Interim Executive Director
ing them equality in their ancestral land. It is IUDFʼs Executive Director is George Abraham,
South Asian Americans Leading
not acceptable. It is un‑American to profess such who is Vice Chairman of Indian National
Together (SAALT)
a fascist ideology in this land of the free,” Overseas Congress ‑ USA.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Feel betrayed, cheated: Indian American community
on Pramila Jayapalʼs resolution on Kashmir
it. In a strong criticism of Jayapal,
Indian‑American attorney Ravi
Batra told PTI that "her resolution
mocks America and interferes in a
bilateral relationship between
India and the US.”
“I look upon as Pramila Jayapal
as completely unprincipled, un‑
New York: Members of the Indian‑ American, anti‑Hindu and pro‑ter‑
American community say they feel ror, who is shamelessly pandering
“betrayed, cheated and saddened” for political advantage,” Batra said.
by Indian‑American Democratic Quot ing the American
Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, Declaration of Independence, Batra
who has intro duced a said the historic document sequen‑
Cong ressional resolut ion on tially talks about the preservation
Kashmir, saying that the lawmaker of life, liberty, and pursuit of hap‑
is "pandering” for political advan‑ piness.
tage through it. “She has introduced this resolu‑
Jayapal on Friday introduced a tion about rights,” Batra said,
Congressional resolution urging adding that Americaʼs Founding
India to end the restrictions on Father Thomas Jefferson wrote in
communications in Jammu and the Declaration of Independence
Kashmir as swiftly as possible and that first comes the preservation
preserve religious freedom for all of lives, then comes liberty and
residents. The Indian‑American only when there is freedom, can
community, which has strongly there be rights.
supported the Democrats in the US “The (Narendra) Modi govern‑
over the decades, are voicing their ment passed the laws based on the
anger and hurt over Jayapal mov‑ Constitution of India. What is her
ing ahead with introducing the leg‑ problem,” he said.
islat ion even thoug h Indian‑ Stressing that security is impor‑
Americans had urged her against tant, Batra added that it is critical
NATIONAL
for a nation to be terror‑free, “then
we need to have public safety. Only
then can freedom and rights mean
anything. I hope she will stop
embarrassing all Americans of
Indian ancestry.”
Seattle‑based Debadutta Dash,
founder and co‑chair of
Washington State India Trade
Relations Action Committee, a non‑
profit advocacy group promoting
trade and cultural re lat ions
between India and Washington
state, also voiced his disagreement
with the resolution brought by
Jayapal and Republican
Congressman Steve Watkins from
Kansas.
Dash, who had voted for Jayapal
when she ran for Washington State
Legislature, Washington State
Senate and Congress, said that
Jayapal appears to have lost track
and has been “misled and totally
influenced” by the negative media
reporting about Kashmir in main‑
stream American news organiza‑
tions.
Dash said it is “very opportunis‑
tic and biased" for Jayapal to bring
this resolution. “It is hard to under‑
stand why she is doing so, repre‑
December 14-20, 2019
senting only a couple of people in
her constituencies, undercutting”
the issues of the Kashmiri Pandits.
T he members of the Indian‑
American community also feel
even though they have traditional‑
ly supported the Democratic Party
throughout, actions such as those
of Jayapal and the extreme left
wing of the Party will make the
community look at the Republican
Party as a protector and promoter
of their interests.
Dash said members of the com‑
munity will “definitely be very
careful about who they vote for
next time” because they will be
watching what steps the lawmak‑
ers are taking in terms of issues
like Kashmir.
Echoing similar sent iment,
Massachusetts‑based Pawan Roy, a
board member of several US‑India
focussed non‑profit organizations,
said that "suddenly we have this
Imran Khan Niazi‑narrative being
played out primarily by the
Democrats in the US. They are
brazenly peddling the Pakistan
narrative and completely ignoring
the plight of Kashmiri Pandits and
Kashmiri Hindus.”
9
Vibhuti Jha, Executive Director
and board member of NGO
Nalanda International USA, said
Jayapal is trying to sermonize the
human rights challenge and sus‑
pension of communications in
Jammu and Kashmir.
“Human life takes precedence
over human rights. When you mis‑
represent a challenge as a human
rights challenge, you ignore the
human life challenge that India
faces in that area, especially when
we have a very na‑pak country as
our neighbor and whose Prime
Minister at the UN General
Assembly called for nuclear war
and blood bath," Jha said.
He added that the Democratic
party has “lost its mooring. It has
tilted so much to the left of center,
to the extreme left that it is almost
difficult to have a discussion with
them because they blame every‑
thing as human rights issue.”
Jha said that Democrats such as
Jayapal have no locus standi to
interfere in Indiaʼs internal affairs.
He said he would appeal to
Jayapal that she should not insult
her “original homeland with a
myopic point of view.” (PTI)
 10 December 14-20, 2019 US AFFAIRS TheSouthAsianTimes.info

IG report finds no political bias behind FBI's probe of Trump

President Trump and Attorney General William Barr disagree with the report’s conclusions.
Washington: The FBI's decision
in 2016 to open an investigation
into suspected Russian meddling
in the elections was not driven
by political bias, but agents made
"fundamental and serious errors"
in surveillance of one of Donald
Trump's advisers, according to a
report re leased by the
Department of Justice.
T he FBI had an "authorized
purpose" in launching the probe,
dubbed Crossfire Hurricane,
department Inspector General
Michael Horowitz said in the
434‑page document, Efe news
reported. Horowitz looked specif‑
ically at mistakes and omissions
in the applications FBI agents
and other DoJ of ficials made to
federal judges in pursuit of a
warrant to monitor the commu‑
nications of Carter Page, who
was advising the Trump cam‑
paign on foreign policy.
That type of warrant is issued
under the terms of the Foreign
Inte lligence Surveillance Act
(FISA), enacted in 1978 following
revelations about widespread
warrantless surveillance of
Americans by US intelligence
agencies.
A FISA court authorized sur‑
veillance of Page in October
2016. The permit was renewed
three t imes in the first six
Inspector General of Justice Department Michael Horowitz and Attorney General William Barr
months of 2017.
"We are deeply concerned that
so many basic and fundamental
errors were made by three sepa‑
rate, hand‑picked investigative
teams; on one of the most sensi‑
tive FBI investigations; after the
matter had been briefed to the
highest levels within the FBI;
even though the information
sought through the use of FISA
authority related so closely to an
ongoing presidential campaign;
and even though those involved
with the investigation knew that
their actions were likely to be
subjected to close scrut iny,"
Horowitz wrote.
Trump, currently battling a
move by Democrats in Congress
to impeach him for putting pres‑
sure on the government of
Ukraine to investigate former
Vice President Joe Biden, had
been saying for months that the
IG's report would show the FBI
probe was politically motivated.
In his first public reaction to
Horowitz's report, Trump said
the findings were "far worse than
I ever thought possible." T he
actions of the FBI and DoJ repre‑
sented "an attempted overthrow"
of the government, the president
said during an event at the White
House. Democrats of fered a far
dif ferent interpretation of the
document.
"The IG's report shows that the
investigation ... was not political‑
ly motivated and that of ficials
acted appropriately in opening
the invest ig at ion," House
Judiciary Committee Chairman
Jerrold Nadler and House
Oversig ht Committee
Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney
said in a joint statement.
"While the IG identified some
problems with the FISA applica‑
tions by lower level individuals,
the IG ''did not find documentary
or testimonial evidence of inten‑
tional misconduct,'' Nadler and
Maloney said. Attorney General
William Barr took issue with
Horowitz's conclusion that bias
played no part in the FBI investi‑
gation. "The Inspector General's
report now makes clear that the
FBI launched an intrusive investi‑
gation of a US presidential cam‑
paign on the thinnest of suspi‑
cions that, in my view, were
insuf ficient to justify the steps
taken," Barr said in a statement.
Also demurring from
Horowitz''s conclusion was John
Durham, the veteran federal
prosecutor named by Barr to
lead a broader investigation of
all aspects of Russiagate.
"Our investigation has included
developing information from
other persons and entities, both
in the US and outside of the US,"
Durham said. "Based on the evi‑
dence collected to date, and
while our investigation is ongo‑
ing, last month we advised the
Inspector General that we do not
agree with some of the report's
conclusions as to predication and
how the FBI case was opened,"
Durham said.

Democrats, Republicans face off Pensacola shooting by

as impeachment nears final phase Saudi being probed as
By Arul Louis ducts.

New York: Republicans and

Democrat faced of f on
Democrats plan to
have the full House
vote on impeachment
a terror attack
Washington: Authorities on
Monday over the allegations next week before its
Monday continued to investigate a
against President Donald Christmas vacation and
shooting at a Florida naval base
Trump at the core of the Republican lawyer
that left three people dead and
impeachment process, which Steve Castor said the
eight wounded as a possible act of
is nearing the final phase, and Democrats are pushing
terrorism.
its legitimacy. Trump is boy‑ without due process.
A Saudi pilot training at
cotting the hearing held by After the opening
Pensacola's Naval Aviation
the House Judiciary statements, lawyers for
After the Judiciary Committee prepares the charges Schools Command was fatally shot
Committee, refusing to send against President Trump, Democrats plan to have the the Democrats and Mohammed Alshamrani was a
by a sherif fʼs deputy during the
his lawyers to participate in full House vote on impeachment before Christmas. Republicans took over Saudi pilot training at Naval
rampage last Friday.
the proceedings, which he the proceedings, mak‑ Aviation Schools Command
Second Lt. Mohammed
has called a "hoax". Opening the Trump will win the 2020 elections ing their cases for and against
Alshamrani, 21, of the Royal Saudi bases in Saudi Arabia. Gov.
hearing, Committee Chair Jerry because the economy is doing well. impeachment.
Air Force was the sole shooter, DeSantis also said federal laws
Nadler said, "The evidence shows Democrat Speaker Nancy Pelosi gave The hearing was a rehash of the
armed with a legally purchased that allow foreign nationals to buy
that Donald J. Trump, the President the OK last week for the Judiciary testimonies and arguments over sev‑
9mm Glock handgun and several guns in the U.S. should be
of the United States, has put himself Committee to prepare the Articles of eral weeks before the Judiciary and
extra magazines, and no arrests reviewed. "T he Second
before his country." He accused Impeachment which is a charge the Intelligence Committees.
have been made in the case. Amendment is so that we the
Trump of endangering national secu‑ sheet against Trump that would be Trump's personal lawyer Rudy
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called American people can keep and
rity, using bribery and seeking for‑ sent to the Senate for a formal trial Giuliani emerged during the hearings
the shooter somebody with "deep‑ bear arms. It does not apply to
eign interference in US elections with Supreme Court Chief Justice as a key figure in seeking Ukrainian
seated hatred for the United Saudis." Law enforcement sources
while dealing with Ukraine. "Integrity John Roberts. investigations. He has continued his
The impeachment is sure to pass controversial role by being in States," who should have been vet‑ say investigators be lieve the
of our elections is at stake," Nadler
the Democrat‑controlled House but Ukraine last week, making inquiries. ted by both the American and shooter returned to Saudi Arabia
declared.
Saudi militaries. Hours before the after starting his U.S. training in
T he Republican leader on the action against Trump will fail at the Trump said over the weekend that
shooting, tweets purportedly writ‑ 2017, and when he returned in
Judiciary Committee, Douglas Senate, where Republicans hold the Giuliani would present his findings
ten by the suspect railed against February, he stopped socializing
Collins, said the Democrats had no majority, making the Democrat to Attorney General
the United States for its support of and going out as much with his
case and were trying to impeach him effort a campaign show highlighting William Barr and the Congress,
Israel and for stationing troops at friends.
only because they are afraid the what they say are Trump's miscon‑ further muddying the waters.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info US AFFAIRS December 14-20, 2019 11

Abuse of Power & Obstruction of Congress

Washington: The House Judiciary
Committee will pursue two articles
of impeachment against President
Trump, a narrower approach than
some Democrats had hoped, as the
Republican‑led Senate outlined
plans for a trial early in the new
year, reports Wall Street Journal.
T he first of the two articles
accuses Mr. Trump of abuse of
power by soliciting election inter‑
ference from Ukraine and also con‑
ditioning U.S. aid to Kyiv and a
White House meeting on those
probes. Democrats also allege Mr.
Trump obstructed Congress by
preventing at least nine of ficials
from testifying and by blocking
records from across the federal
government from being shared
with lawmakers.
“We must be clear: no one, not
even the president, is above the
law,” Judiciary Committee
Chairman Jerrold Nadler said
Tuesday.
Trump dismissed the impeach‑
ment charges against him on
Tuesday night, calling them “flim‑
sy, pathetic, ridiculous.”
“There are no crimes. Theyʼre
impeaching me, and there are no
crimes,” he said during a campaign
rally in Hershey, Pa. “This has to be
a first in history.” Republicans have
defended the presidentʼs conduct
and said Democrats are relying on
secondhand information to pursue
their case.
“Thereʼs nothing that has actual‑
ly come close to an impeachable
offense,” said Rep. Doug Collins of
Georgia, the ranking Republican on
the Judiciary Committee. “Abuse of
power is so amorphous,” he said,
adding, “Theyʼve been telling the
American people heʼs committed a
crime for three months and this is
what we get?”
The filing of impeachment arti‑
cles̶for only the fourth time
against a U.S. president in histo‑
ry̶marked the next step in the
more‑than‑two‑month inquiry, with
the judiciary panel aiming to start
holding votes as early as
Wednesday ahead of a planned
House floor vote next week.
Democrats have said they want to
act before next yearʼs elections
because they say the president is
liable to continue to solicit more
foreign interference, pointing to
his 2016 call for Russia to unearth
negative information on Hillary
Clinton.
Only two presidents have been
impeached; no president has ever
been convicted in the Senate.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
(R., Ky.) told reporters at his week‑
Democrats narrow down to two
ly news conference Tuesday that
“itʼs not possible” to turn to a
articles of impeachment against
Senate trial before Congress
breaks for the holidays.
President Trump

Trump warns Russia against Jersey City shooters

election meddling
Washington: President Donald Trump has
warned Russian Foreign Minister Sergey
Lavrov that Russia should not interfere in
the US 2020 elections, the White House
said, while Moscow has insisted that it never
did so in the 2016 elections, despite the US
intelligence services'' conclusion to the con‑
trary.
Trump welcomed Lavrov to a closed‑door
meeting in the Oval Of fice on Tuesday to
review the state of bilateral relations and
the White House announced afterwards in a
communique the content of their discussion,
Xinhua news agency reported.
"President Trump warned against any
Russian attempts to interfere in the US elec‑
tions and urged Russia to resolve the con‑
flict with Ukraine," White House spokesman
Judd Deere said in a statement after the
Oval Office meeting.
"Just had a very goo d meet ing w ith
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and repre‑
sentatives of Russia. Discussed many items
including Trade, Iran, North Korea, INF
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov
before the latter met President Trump in
the White House on December 10.
Treaty, Nuclear Arms Control, and Election
Meddling," Trump said on Twitter after the
meeting.
Lavrov, however, Lavrov told reporters
that he and Trump had not discussed elec‑
tion interference, suggesting that only
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had
brought up the issue during their separate
meeting at the State Department prior to
the Russian's meeting with the president.
US intelligence agencies three years ago
concluded that Russia interfered in the US
2016 elections to favor Trump, something
that was corroborated by Special Counsel
Robert Mueller in the extensive report he
prepared and presented earlier this year
after a lengthy investigation.
However, Trump has adopted contradicto‑
ry stances regarding Russian interference
and has cast doubt on whether his Russian
counterpart, Vladimir Putin, was behind any
attempt to influence or interfere with the US
election process.
Lavrov insisted on Tuesday during a press
conference with Pompeo before meeting
with Trump that "all speculation about our
alleged interference in domestic processes
in the US are baseless (and) there are no
facts that would support that. We have not
seen these facts. No one has given us this
proof because it simply does not exist."
Lavrov's visit to Washington is his first
since 2017, when he also met with Trump
in the Oval Office.
targeted kosher market
for their deadly attack,
officials say
New York: Tuesday's deadly shooting in
New Jersey was a deliberate attack on
people inside a kosher market, with sur‑
veillance video showing the shooters
calmly exiting a van and firing into the
store with long guns, city officials said
Wednesday.
T he shooters were a male and a
female, and investigators are checking
into writings with anti‑Semitic and anti‑
police sentiments, a law enforcement
source with knowledge of the investiga‑
tion separately told CNN on condition of
anonymity.
The attack, and the lengthy shootout
with police that followed at JC Kosher
Supermarket in Jersey City, left six peo‑
ple dead ‑‑ including three people in the
market, a police of ficer and the two
shooters, authorities said.
The officer killed in Jersey City was in
charge of getting guns off the street.
Officials there and in neighboring New
York City, however, have given different

Greta Thunberg is TIME's answers about whether the attack was a

hate crime.
New Jersey investigators don't yet

2019 Person of the Year
New York: Greta Thunberg, the soft‑spo‑
ken Swedish teenager who became a
global conscience for climate change and
environmental activism, has been named
Time magazineʼs Person of the Year for
2019.
The magazine announced the 16‑year‑
old as its choice Wednesday on the
"TODAY" show.
"She became the biggest voice on the
biggest issue facing the planet this year,
coming from essentially nowhere to lead
a worldwide movement," Time editor‑in‑
chief Edward Felsenthal told the show.
know why the shooters attacked the
store, and therefore aren't labeling the
attack ant i‑Semit ic, Jersey City
Her efforts also earned her a nomina‑
Department of Public Safety Director
tion for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize.
James Shea told reporters.
The other 2019 finalists for Time's
But in New York City, where at least
Person of the Year were Democratic
two of the victims have roots, Mayor Bill
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, President
de Blasio had no such reservations.
Trump, the Hong Kong protesters, and
"What we saw yesterday was a pre‑
the anonymous whistleblower whose
meditated, violent anti‑Semitic hate
memo on Trump's dealings with Ukraine
crime," de Blasio told reporter
triggered the impeachment inquiry.
Wednesday.
Donald Trump Jr. blasted Time on
"In other words, you can say it was an
Twitter for choosing Greta Thunberg,
act of terror because it was premeditat‑
suggesting that the pro‑democracy pro‑
ed, it was violent, and it was directed at
testers in Hong Kong should have been
the Jewish community," the mayor said.
given the title instead.
 12 December 14-20, 2019
India passes historic Citizenship Amendment Bill
The CAB paves the way for citizenship to lakhs of illegal immigrants living in various parts of the country,
even if they lacked any document to prove their residency.
New Delhi: T he Rajya Sabha
passed the Cit izenship
Amendment Bill 2019 (CAB) on
Wednesday with 125 members
voting for and 105 against the
Bill. Earlier the demand for refer‑
ring the Bill to the Se lect
Committee was negated.
The members of Shiv Sena, the
latest Congress ally, were absent
at the time of voting. The Janata
Dal (United) voted for the Bill.
The CAB paves the way for citi‑
zenship to lakhs of illegal immi‑
grants living in various parts of
the country, even if they lacked
any document to prove their resi‑
dency.
The cut‑off date for being eligi‑
ble for the Indian nationality is
December 31, 2014, which means
those applying for citizenship
should have entered India on or
before this date. The citizenship
Citizenship Amendment Bill : Bangladesh
Finance Minister cancels India trip
New Delhi: Bangladesh's Foreign
Minister on Thursday postponed
his trip to India after the passage
of the Citizenship Amendment
Bill, 2019, however, the Ministry
of External Af fairs here said the
two developments are not relat‑
ed.
Speaking to the media, MEA
spokesperson Raveesh Kumar
said Bang ladesh's Foreign
Minister A.K. Abdul Momen had
conveyed that he had changed his
programme on account of domes‑
tic issues pertaining to the com‑
memoration of the Victory Day of
Bangladesh on December 16.
"They have informed us about
would be granted with retrospec‑
tive effect.
The Lok Sabha had passed the
Bill on Monday.
Seeking all members' support to
the legislation, Home Minister
Amit Shah requested opposition
not to use politics to divide the
society.
Replying to the debate, Shah
said 44 members presented their
views, suggestions and objections
in the House. "I want present few
facts. This Bill should have not
been brought. There was no need
to amend the Citizenship Act if
country was not divided. Also, had
some previous government acted,
we would have not brought the
Bill," he said.
Stressing the need of the Bill,
Shah said, "For how long we will
keep on delaying the problems of
the country. The Liaquat‑Nehru
the postponement of the visit.
They have also conveyed that the
minister had changed his pro‑
gramme on account of domestic
issues pertaining to the commem‑
oration of the Victory Day of
Bangladesh on December 16,"
Kumar said.
He added that any speculation
that this development is connect‑
ed with the legislation adopted by
Parliament reg arding the
Citizenship Amendment Bill is
"unwarranted".
He said the current government
of Bangladesh is taking care of
re ligious minorities, quoting
Home Minister Amit Shah's
INDIA
pact (or the Delhi Pact) happened
on April 8, 1950. Both the coun‑
tries agreed to treat minorities
with dignity and allow them to
freely follow their religion. It was
a promise. But eventually the
promise was broken."
He assured the House that the
Bill would allow illegal immi‑
grants to say the truth that they
were immigrants and seek citizen‑
ship. "The cries and tears of these
people were never heard or cared
for for so many years," the
Minister said.
On why minorities from Bhutan,
Myanmar and Sri Lanka had been
left out, Shah said the government
had allowed citizenship to people
coming Sri Lanka and Uganda and
amendments were made accord‑
ingly. "We named three countries
only to help people coming from
these countries. We don't need to
remarks from his speech in
Parliament.
Kumar said both nat ions
believes that this is the golden
age of their relationship.
"We never said there was reli‑
gious persecution in Bangladesh
during the current government's
tenure."
Momen has called off his sched‑
uled two‑day visit to India, just
hours be fore his scheduled
arrival.Assam, bordering
Bangladesh, had witnessed vio‑
lence against the Bill, which was
passed by the Lok Sabha on
Monday night and by the Rajya
Sabha on Wednesday.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
People of Assam need not
worry over CAB: Modi
New Delhi: Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on Thursday
assured the people of Assam
that they there was no need to
worry about the Citizenship
(Amendment) Bill (CAB), 2019
and that he and his government
were committed to constitu‑
tionally safeguard the political,
linguistic, cultural and land
rights of the Assamese people.
"I want to assure my brothers
and sisters of Assam that they
have nothing to worry after the
passing of CAB. I want to
assure them ‑‑ no one can take
away your rights, unique iden‑
tity and beautiful culture. It will
distract the problems now," he
said and added, the Bill was intro‑
duced in 2015 and gone through
parliamentary committees.
"Solving problem is the priority,
keeping citizens in mind, is aim of
our government," Shah said.
Remarking that the Constitution
of Afghanistan, Bangladesh and
Pakistan states that they are
Islamic countries, Shah said, "Are
Muslims minority in these three
countries? When countries' reli‑
gion is Islam then cases of perse‑
cution of Muslims very less."
The Home Minister said we had
provisions for Muslim victims of
persecution and they had been
given citizenship on case to case
basis. He also highlighted how
Chidambaram as the Home
Minister had accorded citizenship
to Hindus and Sikhs in Rajasthan.
Asking the opposition to stop
befooling minorities, Shah said,
"What the Congress is doing is
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar.
continue to flourish and grow,"
Modi said in a tweet.
Assam witnessed widespread
violence on Wednesday, with
protesters, including students,
taking to the streets across the
state, especially Guwahat i
where the state government
has declared an indefinite cur‑
few aimed at maintaining law
and order.
The administration has also
suspended mobile Internet
service in 10 districts of the
state.
At least 10 companies of
paramilitary forces have been
deployed in the state.
secularism. And what we are
doing is against the Constitution."
"I have always said minorities
in India need not be scared of any‑
thing. This CAB will not affect any
Mulish brother and sisters. Why
opposition is creating a divide,"
the Minister said.
"On September 26, 1947,
Gandhi said, Hindu and Sikh living
in Pakistan can fearlessly come to
India. It is duty of India to give
them shelter and job," he substan‑
tiated his arguments by quoting
Mahatma Gandhi.
Opposing the Bill, Kapil Sibal
(Congress) said the CAB had a
legal color of the two‑nation theo‑
ry and added, religion couldn't be
a factor in acquisition of citizen‑
ship. Terming the CAB "blatantly
unconst itut ional", P.
Chidambaram (Congress) said the
government was introducing a
new category called citizenship by
arbitrary executive feat.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info INDIA NEWS December 14-20, 2019 13

Finally, Nanavati report clears air Missing sisters from

on Gujarat riot 'perpetrators'
New Delhi: With the tabling of the
second and final instalment of the
Just ice Nanavat i–Mehta
Commission report in the Gujarat
Assembly, a crucial chapter in the
long saga of the Gujarat riots of
2002 came to an end.
Initially set up to probe the
Godhra train burning incident of
February 27, 2002, the two‑mem‑
ber Commission's scope of enquiry
was later enlarged to include the
invest ig at ion into the 2002
Gujarat riots. It took all of 17
years for the Commission's find‑
ings to make their way into the
public domain.
The state government fulfilled
its assurance, made in September,
to the Gujarat High Court to pres‑
ent the long‑awaited report in the
next Assembly session.
Gujarat Home Minister
Pradipsinh Jade ja tabled the
report in the Assembly –‑ five
years after it was submitted to the
then Chief Minister Anandiben
Patel. The report has given a clean
chit to the then Chief Minister
Narendra Modi and his erstwhile
cabinet colleagues, who were
accused of aiding the communal
riots in Gujarat which killed scores
of people. The Commission also
Nanavati panel gave clean chit to then Gujarat CM Narendra Modi in
post‑Godhra riots.
absolved all political leaders and
police officers in the state of any
involvement in the riots that fol‑
lowed the Go d hra incident in
which 59 kar sevaks lost their
lives. Notable among others who
emerged clean from the enquiry
commission's findings are former
Gujarat Home Minister Haren
Pandya.
The Commission has observed
that there was no pre‑planned
conspiracy behind the post‑
Godhra violence, nor was the vio‑
lence orchestrated in any manner.
It also dismissed allegations of
state authorities deliberately turn‑
ing a blind eye while the rioting
was going on unabated.
While ruling out negligence on
the part of the state police forces
in handling the riots, the report
recommended that a disciplined
police force is required for ensur‑
ing peace and tranquility.
T he Commission, however,
raised questions on the credibility
of three senior police of ficers ‑‑
Sanjiv Bhatt, R.B. Shreekumar and
Rahul Sharma ‑‑ who had cast
aspersions on the state govern‑
ment's objectivity during the riots.
Nithyananda ashram say
they will depose from US
New Delhi: The two sis‑
ters who have gone
missing from the
ashram of absconding
godman Nithyananda in
Ahmedabad told the
Gujarat High Court that
they are ready to
depose before the court
through video confer‑
ence from the Indian
Hig h Commission in
either West Indies or
USA. The court, howev‑
er, has insisted on a per‑
sonal appearance of the
two sisters. T hroug h
Self‑styled godman Nithyananda.
their lawyer, the two
daug hters of Janard hana on their behalf in af fidavit by
Sharma, who filed a habeas cor‑ December 19, and the further
pus after finding them missing hearing w ill take place on
from the ashram here, stated December 20. In an earlier
that they cannot appear in per‑ hearing, the police had told the
son as there is a threat to their court that Lopamudra Sharma
lives from their father. (21) and Nandhitha Sharma
The division bench of Justices (18), daughters of Janardhana
S.R. Brahmbhatt and A.P. Sharma, may have escaped
T haker insisted on their abroad. Janard han, in his
appearing in person in the habeas corpus plea, claimed his
court and assured full protec‑ daughters were being "illegally
tion to them. The court directed confined" in Nithyananda's
the sisters' lawyer to file a reply ashram in Ahmedabad.

SC proposes retired judge to probe

Hyderabad encounter
New Delhi: The Supreme Court
said it proposes to appoint a
retired Supreme Court judge to
conduct an inquiry into the
Hyderabad 'encounter' involving
four persons allegedly accused
in the rape and murder of a vet‑
erinarian.
Chief Justice S.A. Bobde said
the court had initially asked for‑
mer Supreme Court judge P.V.
Reddi but he had declined to be
involved in this inquiry. T he
apex court emphasised on an
independent inquiry into the
matter.
T he Te langana government
said it has complied with an ear‑
lier apex court judgement which
laid down guide lines in
encounter cases.
The apex court also asked the
state to propose the name of a
former judge and said it will
conduct further hearing in the
matter.
A b e n ch h e a d ed b y C h i e f
Justice S.A. Bobde said it will
also examine what is being mon‑
itored by the Telangana High
Court.
T h e p e t i t i o n f i l ed b y t w o
lawyers seeks registration of FIR
Indiaʼs top court has ordered an inquiry panel to
look into Hyderabad ʻencounterʼ.
against cops and an independ‑
ent probe into the matter, where
four accused, in the rape and
murder of the Veterinarian doc‑
tor in Hyderabad, were allegedly
killed in an encounter.
Pe t i t i o n e r s G . S . M a n i a n d
P r a d ee p K u m a r Ya d a v s ee k
directions for the registration of
an FIR against the cops and then
an investigation by CBI, SIT, CID
or team of police of ficials from
other state to conduct the probe
into the encounter.
The petition urged the apex
court that an independent inves‑
tigation agency must be direct‑
ed in accordance with the guide‑
lines laid down in connection
with investigation (the PUCL Vs
State of Maharashtra) in fake
encounter killing.
T he petition alleged that it
was stage‑managed encounter
to shield the alleged lapses com‑
mitted by police, which led to
the commission of the gruesome
of fence of rape and murder.
Hangman from UP sought
for Nirbhaya killers
Lucknow: With December 16
drawing close, the day when
one of the most brutal rapes
ro cked the country's con‑
science, an air of finality has
descended on the Nirbhaya
convicts. The Tihar jail officials
have sought the services of two
hangmen from Uttar Pradesh.
Director General (DG) of UP
Prisons (Administration and
Reform Services), Anand Kumar
has confirmed that the Tihar
jail superintendent had written
a letter to the Uttar Pradesh
prison authorities seeking serv‑
ices of two hangmen.
T he UP Prison authorities
received the request after
Pawan Gupta, one of the con‑
victs in the 2012 gang rape
case, was shifted to Tihar Jail
from Mandoli jail recently.
Three other convicts in the
case ‑‑ Akshay Thakur, Mukesh
Singh and Vinay Sharma ‑‑ are
already in Tihar Jail. The four
men have been on death row
for two years.
"We received a request letter
from the Tihar prison through
fax on December 9 seeking
services of the two hangmen of
UP, as they do not have hang‑
man there. The letter makes no
mention of the convicts to be
hanged," Anand Kumar said.
He said the hangmen would
be provided to the Tihar jail
authorit ies as and when
required. He said the date and
timings were not mentioned by
the Tihar jail authorities so the
two hangmen have been told to
remain prepared in case they
were called for execution of
convicts anytime soon. Prison
of ficials said the UP prison
administration has two hang‑
men on its rolls, one in
Lucknow and another in
Meerut.
 14 December 14-20, 2019
India faces unrestricted warfare, it isnʼt prepared
By Ajai Sahni
T
he nuclear umbrella, we
would like to believe, has
secured India against the
threat of conventional war. We
just have to contend with the irri‑
tants of terrorism and proxy war‑
fare, and the trajectory of these
patterns of violence suggests
improving capacities of contain‑
ment, if not resolution.
A few planes, warships and sub‑
marines, some tanks, artillery and
missiles, and a smattering of
other military hardware ̶ dis‑
carded generations that the great
powers hive of f at exorbitant
prices to what is still substantially
a backward country ̶ will not
only ensure our security, but put
us well on our way to emerging
as a global power. All we need is a
healthy growth rate, and all will
fall into place. Meanwhile, our
internal “enemies” can simply be
crushed by sheer majoritarian
force.
This is the fantasy that fuels the
nationalist juggernaut today.
The world, however, is being
transformed at a pace few in
Indiaʼs policy establishment
appear to comprehend. At the
heart of this transformation are
Diplomats can do with better home connectivity
By DC Pathak
D
iplomacy primarily is an
instrument for advanc‑
ing the cause of the
nation's economic and security
policy ‑‑ foreign policy quite sim‑
ply is the product of the coun‑
try's economic and security con‑
cerns. The government of the
day formulates a policy accord‑
ingly and our envoys implement
it with all the suavity they can
bring to bear in the handling of
foreign entities.
Somet imes a do ctrinaire
approach could override the
national security angle ‑‑ Prime
Minister I.K. Gujral adopted a
Pak policy that ignored the
available Inte lligence to the
ef fect that Pak ISI had planned
to replicate the success of
Afghan Jehad in Kashmir by
pumping in Mujahideen into the
Valley. The 'covert' of fensive of
Pakistan later developed into
the Kargil invasion.
Normally speaking, however,
our foreign policy ‑‑ even though
it has inputs from abroad ‑‑ is
formulated at home taking into
account what is good or adverse
for the nation.
Our diplomats also, therefore,
There has been a persistent neglect, indeed, active erosion,
of scientific and educational institutions across the country.
new ways of warfare that obliter‑
ate the dist inct ion between
domestic and external, between
professional soldiers and non‑
professional “warriors”; battle
spaces overlap with the civilian
realm. We have moved into an era
of what Chinese strateg ists
describe as “unrestricted warfare”
that “transcends all boundaries
Indian diplomats have to remain constantly grounded in
what is happening within the country.
would do well not only to have a
total picture of India's security
threat scenario but also a well
grounded knowledge of domes‑
tic developments that impinged
on India's national integration,
internal security and domestic
stability in a strategic sense.
The course of events in sensi‑
tive areas like Kashmir, North
East and Sikkim ‑‑ apart from
happenings on our borders ‑‑
that could attract international
attention have to be close ly
tracked by them in an ongoing
The views expressed in Op Eds are not necessarily those of The South Asian Times.
OP-ED
and limits”.
India is already a target of and
vulnerable to the strategies of
unrestricted warfare. Terrorism
and proxy war have long pro‑
voked a national obsession with
Pakistan, but it is from China that
our gravest dangers arise.
It is useful to note the carte
blanche Beijing g ives to
fashion. Diplomacy has to fully
grasp the wider bearings of
these domestic episodes to be
able to measure up to the task of
handling the perceptions of the
world community on them ‑‑
wherever it became necessary.
By no stretch of imagination,
can Jammu and Kashmir, which
is a state of India, invite compar‑
ison with Israel and Palestine ‑‑
two countries carved out of a
common land. Even if the Valley
is preponderantly Muslim and
Jammu is dominated by Hindus,
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Islamabad in its “war of a thou‑
sand cuts” against India, despite
loud proclamations of supporting
the war against terrorism every‑
where; and to recall the cycles of
support China has provided to
insurgencies in Indiaʼs Northeast.
But these are identifiable threats,
and the violence they inflict steels
the national will to react, albeit
fitfully. The instrumentalities of
unrestricted warfare, on the other
hand, are often celebrated by the
target so ciety, even as they
destroy the fundamentals of state
power. The flooding of Indian
markets w ith cheap Chinese
goods, and the range of predatory
trade practices designed to evade
Indian strategies of response, is a
case in point. Indian manufactur‑
ers are shutting down, or are
rebranding and selling Chinese
imports. An increasing proportion
of Indian manufacture is on the
spectrum of screwdriver technol‑
ogy. Over time, industrial capaci‑
ties, skills, research and develop‑
ment, entrepreneurship and
human resource profiles are
being eroded.
It is in the military‑industrial
complex that real power has tra‑
ditionally been located. States
that have invested directly in
they are parts of the same inte‑
gral state that belongs to India.
The ouster of Kashmiri Pandits
from the Valley is known to have
been caused by the Pak ISI‑con‑
trolled militants at a time when
Pakistan had called for Jehad in
Kashmir. The democratic leader‑
ship elected to rule the state of
J&K was complicit with the Pak
agents and separatists in permit‑
t ing the atro cit ies on the
Kashmiri Pandits who had to
migrate to another part of the
state for shelter ‑‑ not to another
country across the borders.
They became refugees in their
own state because of the govern‑
ment's failure to give them pro‑
tection ‑‑ they were not like the
Jews ousted by the Palestinian
authority from its country.
In the case of Kashmiri
Pandits, it is now a question of
the government of J&K as well
as the Center correcting a grave
wrong of the past and ensuring ‑
‑ in the post‑370 environment ‑‑
that they felt free to come back
to the Valley and resettle there
in total protection. This, in turn,
is connected with the success of
counter‑terror operations and
elimination of Pak agents from
the state. The sovereign Indian
defense sciences and technology
have accumulated power, even as
they have prospered economical‑
ly with the civilian spin‑of fs of
these technolog ical deve lop‑
ments. Virtually, the entire gamut
of the most powerful civilian tech‑
nological transformations of the
past century have been midwifed
by military research.
Indiaʼs weakness in each of the
e lements in this complex are
manifest. Deficits are gigantic,
and growing. The power of our
principal adversary in the region
is augmenting exponentially. But
even as the gap between the eco‑
nomic and technological capabili‑
ties of the two countries grows,
there has been a regression in
India to irrational ideologies of
religious extremism and ultra‑
nationalism, to all that militates
against the scientific temper, and
ag ainst the stability and
endurance of the system. There
has been a persistent neglect,
indeed, active erosion, of scientif‑
ic and educational institutions
across the country. Our dreams of
emerging as a great power can
only fade on our current trajecto‑
ry.
(The article appeared in The
Hindustan Times)
State has to do this ‑‑ regardless
of whatever it takes to accom‑
plish the task.
The Indian diplomat probably
intended to only convey that
strongest measures will be taken
to resettle the Kashmiri Pandits
in the face of a continuing threat
of terrorism in the Valley. The
unintended parallel with the
Israel‑Palestine scenario that he
drew tended to give an interna‑
tional dimension to Kashmir ‑‑
this is the whole point about
understanding the strategic
import of an issue at home. The
democratic world led by US had
already accepted the integration
of J&K with the rest of the coun‑
try as an internal matter of
India.
J&K is not divided in a Hindu
part and a Muslim territory and
is an integ ral state housing
many faiths. A communally‑
based outcome of the 'Kashmir
issue' as propagated by Pakistan
can never be accepted by demo‑
cratic India.
There is no damage done but
the takeaway from all of this is
that Indian diplomats have to
remain constantly grounded in
what was happening within the
country.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info RELIGION December 14-20, 2019 15

O
ver 60,000 devotees, well‑
w ishers, 750 BAPS
Swamis, and 10,000 volun‑
teers witnessed a spectacular 98th
Pramukh Swami Maharaj's
98th birthday celebrated In Mumbai
birthday celebration of Pramukh
Swami Maharaj, the fifth spiritual
successor of Bhagwan
Swaminarayan at the DY Pat il
Stadium in New Mumbai on
December 4, 2019.
The celebration featured the con‑
temporary challenges society faces
and the solutions provided by
Pramukh Swami Maharaj
(1921–2016). Swamijiʼs life and
Herculean spiritual and philan‑
thropic works guided countless
individuals throughout the globe
away from the vice‑grip of addic‑
tions and depression, acts of vio‑
lence and family disharmony, and
inspired faith in God as the lasting
solution to societal and personal
ills. Mahant Swami Maharaj, Home Minister Amit Shah and former
The spiritual successors of Bhagwan Swaminarayan promote faith Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis taking part
The stage program involved per‑
in God as the lasting solution to societal and personal ills. in the maha aarti at the event.
formances by 3,000 children and
youths, devotional songs, tradition‑ His peaceful and inspiring person‑ in his contact were touched by his addict ion drives by visit ing
al dances and speeches by senior ality touched all. Today, he lives humility. May we live his words and 125,000 homes. Spiritual assem‑
Swamis and dignitaries. through his works like Akshardham become a receptacle of his virtues.” blies in the suburbs of Mumbai
Amit Shah, Home Minister of and the wide spectrum of social T he ce le brat ion w itnessed a were also organized.
India, shared his sentiments on services he initiated.” maha aarti performed in unison by The BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha
Pramukh Swami Maharaj based The current spiritual leader of all in attendance. (BAPS) is a worldwide spiritual
upon his many personal interac‑ BAPS, Mahant Swami Maharaj, Under the auspices of the year‑ organization that is dedicated to
tions with him: “Pramukh Swami blessed those in attendance, long celebration of Pramukh Swami community service, peace, and har‑ The celebration featured the
Maharaj was a spiritual giant who “Pramukh Swami Maharajʼs credo Maharaj in Mumbai, BAPS volun‑ mony. Motivated by Hindu princi‑ contemporary challenges society
spread Indiaʼs glorious spiritual was, ʻIn the joy of others lies our teers of Swaminarayan Mandir, ples, BAPS strives to care for the faces and the solutions provided
and cultural heritage through the own.ʼ Swamiji lived these senti‑ Dadar, conducted various social world by caring for societies, fami‑ by Pramukh Swami Maharaj
1,100 mandirs he built worldwide. ments 24 hours daily. All who came welfare programs included anti‑ lies, and individuals. (1921–2016).
 16 December 14-20, 2019 ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD TheSouthAsianTimes.info

You may see Dwayne Johnson

in a Bollywood movie
D
wayne Johnson loves the
world of Bollywood and
doesnʼt rule out working in
a Bollywood film someday. The
Hollywood star says working on an
Indian action movie would be fun.
In fact, he already has few
friends from India's tinseltown.
Dwayne has worked with Indian
star Priyanka Chopra Jonas in
"Baywatch", and bonded with
Varun Dhawan through social
media when the Indian star appre‑
ciated his movie and one of his pos‑
itive gestures.
So, can we expect you to head to
Bollywood soon? "I wouldn't rule
that out. I have a lot of respect for
Bollywood and the history of
Bollywood," Dwayne told IANS
here, while promoting his upcom‑
ing film "Jumanji: The Next Level","
he replied. Referring to Varun,
Hollywood's biggest action star
said: "He is such a big fan. I've
interacted with him before on
social media. And I know, he is a
big star in India… Yeah, so maybe
one day, you never know, you
could see me in a Bollywood action
movie. That'd be a lot of fun
because I know that we have a lot
of wonderful fans in India, and we
have talked about that. So, maybe
one day (you could see me in a
Bollywood movie)."
The wrestler‑turned‑actor, who is
still popular for his wrestling per‑
sona of 'The Rock', is a box‑office
superstar, an author and a fast
growing entrepreneur. As an actor,
he is attached to projects such as
"The Mummy Returns", "Journey 2:
The Mysterious Island", "Hercules",
"Snitch", "Moana" and "Fast &
Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw".
At the moment, he is looking for‑
ward to the release of the second
part of revamped "Jumanji" fran‑
chise, which is titled "Jumanji: The
Next Level", to which he is attached
as a producer as well.
The world of Chris Van Allsburg's
book "Jumanji", narrating the story
of a young Alan Parrish getting
trapped in a board game, found its
way to the silver screen in 1995.
Late Robin Williams was its main
lead. In 2017, the story came back
on the big screen with a modern
twist. In "Jumanji: Welcome to the
Jungle", a group of high school stu‑
dents gets lost in the jungle after
laying their hands on a video game
console featuring a version of the
game Jumanji. Hollywood actor Dwayne Johnson.

The Bollywood cricket movie 'Pati Patni Aur Woh'

moves to its next level is a fun watch

Ranveer
Singh's first
look as Kapil
Dev from his
upcoming
film ʻ83ʼ.

The poster of the film.

C T
ricket seems to be returning in the
mindspace of Bollywood filmmakers,
with a few high‑profile projects lined
up for release next year. In 2020, Ranveer
Singh plays Kapil Dev in ʻ83ʼ, Kabir Khan's
film about India's historic victory at the crick‑
et World Cup of 1983. Shahid Kapoor, after
"Kabir Singh", seems to have struck gold with
remakes of Telugu hits. His next, "Jersey" is a
Bollywood remake of Gowtham Tinnanuri's
Telugu film of the same name, and it narrates
the story of a failed cricketer who decides to
revive his career against all odds despite
being in his late thirties. Then there is the
Mithali Raj biopic, which stars Taapsee Pannu
as the protagonist. A film titled "God Of
Cricket" has also been announced on cricket‑
ing legend Sachin Tendulkar's birthday this
year. Sure, Bollywood has always been fasci‑
nated by cricket, which remains a religion in
India. In the past, we have had "Lagaan",
"Iqbal", "Patiala House", "Dil Bole Hadippa",
"Jannat", "Chain Kulii Ki Main Kulii", "M.S.
Dhoni: The Untold Story", "Azhar" and "The
Zoya Factor" among others. In the nineties,
too, there was the odd attempt to cash in on
the sport with Aamir Khan starring as a crick‑
eting star in Dev Anand's "Awwal Number".
The upcoming films on cricket and crick‑
eters will also look for formula in the stories
of cricket and cricketers, but in keeping with
contemporary Bollywood trends, aim at doing
so with a context that makes the game rele‑
vant to the plot.
"It's not just a biopic of a personality but a
larger story on how Indian women cricket
team rose to great heights and their battles
against the odds. It's also about the biases in
our society, about the rising Indian women
and their struggle," Ajit Andhare, COO,
Viacom18 Studios, told IANS.
Filmmaker Kabir Khan's ʻ83ʼ will take the
audience back to the time when Kapil Dev led
the underdog Indian cricket team to a famous
victory against the mighty West Indies in the
final of the 1983 World Cup. ʻ83ʼ, which fea‑
tures Ranveer Singh, Tahir Raj Bhasin and
Ammy Virk, among others, is co‑produced by
Reliance Entertainment, Phantom Films and
Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment.
"'83' is not just a film about cricket, it is
about the human spirit and hope. Whether
you are a cricket fan or not, the story will res‑
onate with you. It is about men who won
against all odds ‑‑ a David versus Goliath story
that will give everyone goosebumps,"
Shibasish Sarkar, Group CEO, Reliance
Entertainment, told IANS.
he interesting thing about the
reimagined "Pati Patni Aur Woh"
is its setting. Version 2019 is
based in small‑town Kanpur, and it nar‑
rates the story of a middle‑class couple in
that city. In BR Chopra's 1978 original,
the protagonists belonged to the middle‑
class too, but they lived in Bombay.
At a time when remakes, reboots and
recreations have become the norm,
writer‑director Mudassar Aziz's reorgan‑
ising of a BR Chopra comedy classic to
woo new‑age viewers would seem like an
ambitious idea. His credibility lies in the
fact that his version holds its own.
Like its original, and despite acquiring
a new‑age irreverent edge, "Pati Patni
Aur Woh" 2019 manages to stay funny
without losing out on decency, despite
moving dangerously close to the domain
of political incorrectness.
Kartik Aaryan makes an amusing
Chintu Tyagi, hero of the piece. He has
been papa's boy for most parts and, after
topping his engineering exam, has land‑
ed a cushy government job, just as dad
wanted. Time now to wed, declare his
parents, and soon, he finds a perfect
arranged match in physics teacher
Review
Vedika (Bhumi Pednekar). The marriage
is blissful till Tapasya Singh (Ananya
Panday) from Delhi arrives in Chintu's
life. He won't cheat on his wife, but
Chintu finds the idea of spending a lot of
'fun time' with the gorgeous Tapasya too
tempting to resist. He starts lying to
Vedika, in order to spend more and more
time with Tapasya, and the situation only
gets more complicated for Chintu.
Kartik Aaryan is fast emerging as one
of the most bankable comic heroes of
GenNow Bollywood. Bhumi Pednekar's as
the 'patni' Vedika gets an interesting
twist towards the end, which changes
much of the climax, giving the reworked
story a contemporary edge.
The showstealer here, however, is
Aparshakti Khurana. Essaying Chintu's
buddy and colleague Fahim, Aparshakti
was reimagining Asrani's inimitable
Abdul Karim Durrani from the 1978 orig‑
inal. "Pati Patni Aur Woh" works well as a
one‑time watch. The reboot has its funny
moments, and it works mainly for
its cast.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Usha Uthup: I am a
compulsive optimist
V
eteran singer Usha Uthup,
72, has seen many highs
and lows in her life but
doesn't regret anything. She says
she is a compulsive optimist. She
celebrated her birthday just last
month. Asked if she was happy
with her life, Usha told IANS: "I am
very happy. I don't believe in being
sad or negative. I am a compulsive
optimist. I don't feel bad about
anything. There are many things
that have gone wrong, but hey!
there is some or the other problem
in everybody's life."
"There have been highs and lows
in my life. God has been kind to
me. I don't regret anything really. I
would like to keep on learning
which I am doing all the time. I am
happy to tell people that 'I'll
always be a nightclub singer wear‑
ing a sari'."
The artiste missed out singing a
number of songs, including the hit
"Dum maro dum" in 1971, but she
doesn't get "frustrated about these
things".
"I am happy when they call me to
do playback singing. I am basically
a live artiste. It happens that many
a time my songs are taken away
but it doesn't matter," said the
Do films still influence fashion in real life?
By Vinod Mirani
T
here always used to be a
debate till not long ago
whether films and film‑
stars inspired fashion in society
or do they merely reflect fashion
and trends in general.
Come to think of it, there has
been no noticeable influence of
films and filmstars on creating
trends that the people followed
except in certain phases. Initially
in films, the men mostly followed
western trends. Usually, they
were dressed smartly in suits
when it came to urban stories.
Otherwise, Dhoti was the norm.
And, the majority of the male
urban population, by then, had
adapted western garbs while the
women still stuck to sari. Even the
traditional Punjabi garb of
women ‑ the Shalwar Kameez ‑
was still a long way away. Later, it
came to be known as dress! If a
woman was not wearing a sari,
she was wearing a dress.
So far, there was no debate on
the people following fashion
trends from films.
There was a single trend that
was common to filmstars as well
as youth of the 1950s and ʻ60s.
I cannot say for sure who
picked it from who. There was
ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD
Singer‑composer Usha Uthup.
"Darling" hitmaker, who also gives
motivational talks in the corporate
world and also lends support to
various social causes.
She recently supported 'Meals
for Under Privileged' as a part of
Seagram's 100 Pipers 'Play for A
Cause'. It had brought together
107 bands who played live across
27 cities on a single day, to gener‑
ate awareness about social causes.
this hairstyle that actors like Dev
Anand and Dilip Kumar sported,
as did the men in the real life.
This fashion must have been
timebound since both the actors,
Dilip Kumar and Dev Anand,
changed eventually.
As far as I can recall, Dev Anand
changed it midway through the
filming of his movie, "Guide", and
went on to retain the new hairdo
for the rest of his life. Actually,
female stars inspired more fans to
follow their hairstyles. The one
that became a craze was filmstar
Sadhna's Chinese Cut with the
patch of hair falling on her fore‑
"It is important to give back to
the society. We have taken so
much love, affection and respect. I
think everybody, from time to
time, needs to give back to the
society," said Usha.
As of now, she is looking forward
to doing many more shows and
songs. She is also thrilled about the
release of her book called 'Ullas Ki
Naav' by Vikas Kumar Jha.
Sadhna‑Cut and Rajesh Khanna signature style
head. It came to be known as
Sadhna Cut.
The other female hairstyle was
called bouffant, a fluffy hairstyle,
which was dubbed Chidiya Ka
Ghosla (bird's nest) in Hindi. Most
heroines used it and so did
women in real life, especially on
special occasions.
Another product that drew
attention was the Rajdoot mini
motorbike used in the film
"Bobby". The bike was a hit as
was the film. However, the craze
for the bike did not last long due
to technical reasons, which only
bike riders could define. Having
December 14-20, 2019
India not a country for
women: Anoushka Shankar
S
itar player and composer
Anoushka Shankar has
reacted to the barbaric
gangrape and murder of a vet‑
erinary doctor in Hyderabad
saying India is "no country for
women". Calling rape a global
epidemic, the composer tweet‑
ed: "This is a global epidemic.
And India in particular is no
country for women. And I'm
enraged. And I'm numb. And I
don't know what to keep doing.
I want to scream and yet for
once I feel voiceless. Because
nothing fu**ing changes and
women are being raped every
minute every day."
Anoushka posted a series of
tweets venting her pain and
anger at the brutal incident and
once again pointed a finger at
how such incidents repeatedly
keep happening in our country
and yet nothing changes.
Reminding everyone about
Delhi's Nirbhaya gangrape case
of 2012, Anoushka wrote:
"Nearly seven years ago to the
day, the world mourned togeth‑
er over the horrifically brutal
gang rape and murder of Jyoti
Singh Pandey. Just how the
earth's axis changed after the
experienced a ride many times, I
tend to agree.
Imitating star fashion was back
with superstar Rajesh Khanna.
Rajesh Khanna's costume design‑
er devised a special kind of kurta
for him because tucked‑in shirts
did not look good on him since he
had big backside! The kurta he
wore came to be known as the
Guru kurta and became a rage.
This was one fad that lasted for a
long time.
Khanna fans also tried to imi‑
tate his hairstyle. So much so that
even actor Dharmendra decided
to appoint Khanna's hairstylist for
17
Sadhna‑cut and
Rajesh Khanna style.
2004 tsunami, I felt an emotion‑
al axis bend at this point in
time." She continued: "My own
life changed with her attack.
This to me was the real begin‑
ning of the women's movements
we've seen in recent years. I felt
her attack in my own body and
ended up sharing a video about
my own sexual abuse. This was
part of a wave of women in rage
and pain demanding change."
However, despite introducing
new laws and setting up new
courts, the scene of women's
safety in our country remains
unchanged, feels the sitar
maestro.
himself. The best ambassador to
carry churidar kurtas in those
days was Mumtaz, a huge star in
her own right. The change to sari
was made with a sexier way of
wrapping it just above hips there‑
by making the woman's hips
more prominent. That has stayed.
Besides Mumtaz, Zeenat Aman
and Parveen Babi were consid‑
ered the most fashionable who
could both carry any kind of
dress. Now, there are no barriers
between film fashion and real‑life
dressing. In fact, films reflect real‑
life fashion as that is more identi‑
fiable to the movie buffs.
 18 December14-20, 2019 DIPLOMACY TheSouthAsianTimes.info

4 eminent diplomats honored with

2019 Diwali - Power of One Awards

Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin Ravi Batra, eminent attorney

said that the power of one to
bring about change is exempli‑
fied by the passionate pursuit of
Ranju Batra to secure the Diwali
Forever Stamp
and prominent voice to end
global terrorism,
introduced the awardees
and underlined the role of
diplomacy.
Diwali Foundation USA with
Ambassadors Kaha Imnadze (Georgia), Syed Akbaruddin (India),
Ranju Batra as Chair had
Diwali Foundation USA Chair Ranju Batra,
launched the Power of One
Amb. Valentin Rybakov (Belarus) and Ravi Batra.
awards in 2017.

By SATimes Team In his message, India's Consul Ranju Batra and her associates for in her remarks. She also recalled this year were the Permanent
General in New York Sandeep nearly seven years to get the com‑ how she personally sold over Missions of Belarus, Georgia and
United Nations: Four prominent Chakravorty applauded the efforts of memorative Forever Diwali stamp 170,000 stamps to make the Diwali India to the UN, along with 32 co‑
diplomats have been honored with Ranju Batra and eminent attorney issued by the USPS in 2016. “Among Stamp the #1 Bestseller on Day One sponsors ‑ Permanent Missions of
the ʻDiwali – Power of One' awards in Ravi Batra "for making the unifying those whose support was critical are in USPSʼ history. Albania, Algeria, Armenia,
recognition and celebration of their message of Diwali truly internation‑ Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, Previous honorees of the Power of Azerbaijan, Bhutan, Bulgaria, Cyprus,
work, especially at the United al.” Ravi Batra, in his remarks honor‑ and Shiv Dass, now a Director of One award include former Deputy‑ Dominican Republic, Estonia, Greece,
Nations, for a secure and peaceful ing the four awardees, said that the Diwali Foundation USA, and others Executive Director of UN Women Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Kuwait,
world. world needs diplomacy, and excel‑ who helped by signing petitions for Lakshmi Puri, former Permanent Latvia, Lebanon, Malaysia, Malta,
The four diplomats are: former for‑ lence in diplomacy can, and does, me such as now‑Indian Minister Representative of Greece to the UN Morocco, Oman, Philippines,
eign minister and Permanent enhance peace and security by pre‑ Hardeep Singh Puri, and the media Catherine Boura, former PR of Republic of Korea, Romania,
Representative (PR) of Kazakhstan to venting the start of, or bringing to an which kept the Stamp‑Dream alive to Slovenia to the UN Andrej Logar, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa,
the UN Kairat Abdrakhmanov; for‑ end, our present‑day endless wars. reach reality. I also sought and got Azerbaijan's former envoy to the UN Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine,
mer PR of Cyprus to the UN Nicholas The 'Power of One' award institu‑ support from PM Modi and Agshin Mehdiyev. Uzbekistan, Viet Nam, Permanent
Emiliou; former Chef de Cabinet to tionalizes the awesome ef fort of President Obama,” Ranju Batra said The co‑organizers of the awards Observer of State of Palestine.
the President of the 72nd UN
General Assembly and PR of Slovakia
to the UN Frantisek Ruzicka; and PR
of Ukraine to the UN Volodymyr
Yelchenko. They were presented the
awards at a ceremony at the UN
Headquarters last Friday.
The awards, which have come to
be known as the Oscars of
Diplomacy were established by the
Diwali Foundation USA in 2017 with
Ranju Batra as its Chair. They are
awarded to UN diplomats for their
selfless work to help form a more
perfect, peaceful and secure world
for all.
Ranju Batra said this year's
Awardee Nicholas Emiliou is former Permanent Representative of
awardees have deserved the award Ranju Batra presenting the Power of One award to Kairat Cyprus to the UN. The award accepted on his behalf by the
"by their lifetime of principled Abdrakhmanov, former Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan. current PR Andreas Mavroyiannis.
efforts to help enhance peace and
security by their many victories of
'good' over 'evil' and 'light' over
'darkness'."
"Whatever the UN Charter dreams
of, the Diwali Foundation USA's
Power of One awardees have helped
to make it a reality," she said during
the ceremony at the Economic and
Social Council (ECOSOC) chamber of
the UN.
India's Permanent Representative
to the UN Amb. Syed Akbaruddin
said, “We annually honor those who
have made exemplary contributions
in upholding the values that the UN
stands for,” and congratulated UN
colleagues who have stood up for the 2019 Power of One Awardee Volodymyr Yelchenko (Permanent
Awardee Frantisek Ruzicka is Representative of Ukraine to the UN), Iryna Yelchenko, Ranju Batra,
timeless spirit of Diwali. State Secretary of Slovakia. Neal Batra, Ravi Batra, and 2018 Awardee Amb. Agshin Mehdiyev.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info KASHMIR December 14-20, 2019 19

Steps taken by Jammu & Kashmir Administration

to normalize the situation in the Valley
The Embassy of India, Washington DC shares the
latest situation in Kashmir.
Essential supplies. Including 24x7 ed out of Jammu & Kashmir. parade for which was he ld in
electricity, water supply, healthcare Kashmiri saf fron got Geographic Rangreh (outskirts of Srinagar) on
and sanitation are being ensured. Indication (GI) registration on 07 December 2019.
Damages to electricity lines due to 25.09.2019. Elections to second tier of Local
very heavy snowfall in November Government launched a 'Special Government i.e. 310 Block
2019 were immediately rectified Market Intervention Price Scheme' Development Councils (BDC) were
and electricity supply restored. for price support to apple farmers held on 24 October 2019. Over 98%
Enough stock of all essential under which, government has pro‑ polling was recorded in the indirect
items, food items and baby foods cured 8960 metric tons of apple elections. A total of 307 of BDCs
are available in Jammu & Kashmir directly from apple farmers valued have been elected. Last year, elec‑
and is routinely replenished. There at USD 5.1 Million. Of this, payment tions to the first tier of local bodies
is no shortage of cooking gas. Stocks of more than US 4 Million have i.e. panchayats were held in which
for 3 weeks are made available. As already been directly made to the 3847 sarpanches and 27223 panch‑
in the past, more than 200 winter farmers. On 08 October 2019, es were elected with a voter turnout
stock centres have been established Government increased the support of 73%.
and stocked with essential items. After progressive loosening of restrictions, complete normalcy price for apples to be given to farm‑ Under the flagship "Back to
Hospitals and medical facilities was restored in Kashmir Valley on Nov 18 with shops remaining ers. Special ef fort is also on for Village‑2" (B2V2) programme, to be
are functioning normally. There is open for the entire day and J&K State Roadways buses boosting production of Almond and organized between 25‑30 November
no shortage of medicines. Wholesale plying across districts of the Valley. Walnut production in Jammu & 2019. Governor of J&K said that
and retail pharmacies are open and Kashmir. Action Plan for promoting 5,000 of ficers would reach out to
August, over 36,000 cases have have been fully restored in Jammu.
fully stocked. 6 weeks reserve of all saffron cultivation, storage and pro‑ people in each panchayat to discuss
been filed and over 52,000 cases 280 Internet kiosks (e‑terminals for
medicines available in all cessing at a cost of USD 12 million the various deve lopment pro‑
disposed off by the courts. internet) have been established in all
Government hospitals. No case of was approved on 28 September grammes as well as the issues faced
Under UDAN 4.0 10 districts in Kashmir. In addition,
overpricing of medicines. 2018 under National Saf fron by the people at the grassroots.
(UdeDeshKaAamNagrik), a regional 64 special internet counters have
All health care facilities are oper‑ Mission. There has been no incident of
airport development and air connec‑ been established in prominent
ating and health care professionals To provide employment to the major violence. Not even a single
tivity scheme, Government has put hotels in Kashmir to cater to the
are on duty. 1437 hospitals and youth, government has identified live bullet has been fired. There has
up for bidding 11 unserved airports needs of tourists.
health centres are fully functional in 50,000 job vacancies, which will be been no loss of life in police action.
in Jammu & Kashmir and 2 under‑ No restriction on media/journal‑
Jammu. In Kashmir, 10 district hos‑ filled in the next few months, thus However, terrorists and their prox‑
served airports in Ladakh. The 11 ists in Jammu & Kashmir. All
pitals, 33 sub‑district hospitals, 222 generating employment for the ies are trying to create an atmos‑
Airports in J&K are Akhnur, Chamb, Mainstream Newspapers are being
primary health centres, 604 health youth in Jammu & Kashmir. District phere of fear and intimidation in
Chushal, Fukche, Gurex, Jhangar, printed. 37 English dailies, 53 Urdu
sub‑centres and 158 new type police in Baramulla, Awantipora and Kashmir, to disrupt normalcy in
Miran Sahib, Panzgam, Poonch, dailies and 2 Kashmiri dailies are
Primary Health Centres are open Srinagar has started recruitment of Jammu & Kashmir. These include
Rajouri, and Udhampur, while the published in Kashmir. All major
and providing health service to the youth for Special Police Of ficers hundreds of posters threatening the
two aerodromes in Ladakh are national and regional newspapers
population. To further enhance posts in the respective districts. Lt shopkeepers, fruit growers, govern‑
Kargil and Thoise. published in Jammu. Satellite chan‑
healthcare, recruitment of 800 addi‑ Governor of J&K informed that the ment of ficials, and transporters at
After a review of the situation on nels and Cable TV networks are
tional doctors has been approved. government is working on giving several locations across Kashmir val‑
07.10.2019, Home Department's operational.
Government Medical College jobs to 30,000‑40,000 youth in ley. Dozens of shops and vending
advisory against tourists visiting No restriction during Friday
(GMC) in Kathua was inaugurated police and other forces / in various carts have been set ablaze to stop
Jammu & Kashmir has been lifted. prayers. Eid Milad‑un‑Nabi was cele‑
on 14.09.2019. On the same day, government departments. Border business activities.
34,10,219 tourists, including brated in Jammu and Kashmir with
construction work began for an Security Force and Central Industrial 16 civilians have been killed and
12,934 foreign tourists visited usual splendor. Thousands offered
additional 200‑bed hospital for GMC Security Force (CISF) have begun a over 50 civilians have been injured
Jammu and Kashmir in the last 6 prayers at Dargah Hazratbal.
Kathua. Government has announced recruitment drive for youth in in various terror attacks, with the
months. Economic activity is being given a
a new medical college in Leh. Jammu & Kashmir and over 50,000 most recent one involving a
All schools in Kashmir (around boost. Apples contribute approxi‑
Government announced (on 1 have applied for these posts. grenade attack at a public crowd at
8000) and in Jammu (more than mately USD 1.2 billion to Jammu &
December 2019) establishing a new Recruitment drive for 5,200 posts of a government programme in
15,000 schools) are open and func‑ Kashmir economy. 700,000 farmers
Government Medical College in Special Police Officers (SPO) evoked Anantnag.
tioning normally. Colleges are also in J&K grow 2.2 million metric tons
Handwara in Kashmir. huge response with over 77,000 With the objective of preventing
open. Medical and Dental colleges of apples. This being the harvest
Administration in Budgam released youths applying for it. Over 400 sale of apple, terrorists have so far
are functioning smoothly and stu‑ season, harvest of apple & other
USD 15,000 on 25.09.2019 for youths belonging to different areas killed 3 truck drivers in Shopian,
dents are appearing in examinations fruits and their transportation to
improvement of health infrastruc‑ of J&K have been inducted into the one labourer in Pulwama, and five
without any inconvenience. During market is facilitated. With this facili‑
ture at district hospital Budgam. Army's Jammu and Kashmir Light labourers in Kulgam.
ongoing examinations, 99.7% stu‑ tation, over 1.4 million metric tons
Government has also conveyed that Infantry regiment, the passing out Terrorists are also preventing the
dents attended schools. of apples have been already export‑
All India Institute of Medical normal functioning of schools as
A meeting to identify land for 16
Sciences (AIIMS) Jammu and AIIMS they have started attacking schools
new Degree Colleges in Kashmir was
Kashmir would be completed by since the announcement of the con‑
held on 25.09.2019. In addition,
2023 and 2025 respectively. duct of examination for students.
four professional colleges and one
No movement restriction in There have been 8 attacks by terror‑
Administrative College were
Jammu & Kashmir. Air service to ists on educational institutions, lat‑
approved. Construction of new med‑
Srinagar and Jammu operational. est being the grenade attack oppo‑
ical college in Anantnag is progress‑
Rail service is also operational site entrance of Kashmir University
ing well. District Administration of
throughout Jammu & Kashmir. in Srinagar on 26 November 2019.
Srinagar announced on 20.09.2019
Vehicular movement in Jammu & This also includes setting a school in
modernization of 25 government
Kashmir is normal. Private taxis, Kulgam village on fire, hurling a
schools.
public transport are plying normal‑ petrol bomb towards Model Public
All landline telephones have
ly. Public transport including buses, High School in Baramulla, and firing
been restored and are fully func‑
mini‑buses are functional on all at Drubgam Higher Secondary
tional. Mobile connectivity has been
routes. Government of fices and 98% polling was recorded in elections to 310 Block Development School while class 10 exams were
restored in all districts. Broadband
courts are fully functional. Since 5 Councils (BDC) in J&K held on 24 October 2019. underway.
internet services on landline phones
 20 December 14-20, 2019 SUBCONTINENT TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Senior US officials misled Myanmar's Suu Kyi to face

public on Afghan war: Report
Washington: Senior US of ficials
had misled the American public
about the war in Afghanistan by
consistently painting a rosier pic‑
ture, The Washington Post said in
a report, cit ing exclusive ly
obtained confidential documents.
The documents, which include
over 400 interviews with US offi‑
cials and insiders from the admin‑
istrations of President Donald
Trump and his two predecessors,
revealed how senior of ficials hid
evidence that the 18‑year‑old war
was unwinnable and made rosy
pronouncements they knew to be
false, Xinhua news agency quoted
The Washington Post as saying.
"We were devoid of a fundamen‑
tal understanding of Afghanistan ‑‑
we didn't know what we were
doing," a senior American of ficial
was quoted as saying.
US of ficials acknowledged that
their war‑fighting strategies were
fatally flawed and that Washington
wasted enormous sums of money
trying to remake Afghanistan into
a modern nation, according to the
report.
"What did we get for this $1 tril‑
Security force members inspect a site of attack in Afghanistan.
lion ef fort? Was it worth $1 tril‑
lion?" said a retired Navy SEAL and
White House of ficial under the
George W Bush and Barack Obama
administration, in another inter‑
view.
"Osama (bin Laden) was proba‑
bly laughing in his watery grave
considering how much we have
spent."
A US Army colonel who served as
a counter‑insurgency adviser to
American military commanders,
said: "Every data point was altered
to present the best picture possi‑
ble."
The Washington Post published
the documents two days after the
resumption of the US‑Taliban talks
in Qatar's capital city of Doha.
Nearly 2,300 US servicemen
have been killed and over 20,000
wounded in Afghanistan since
2001.
genocide allegations in court
Yangon: Myanmar's state councilor
Aung San Suu Kyi took off for The
Hague where she will face an accu‑
sation brought to the International
Court of Justice (ICJ) by the Gambia
over alleged genocide carried out
against the Rohingya minority in
her country. Suu Kyi, who is also
Myanmar's foreign minister, is trav‑
eling with a team of experts to the
Netherlands so that she can appear
at ICJ hearings on 10 and 12
December, the State Council said in
Nobel peace laureate and
a statement posted to its official
Myanmar's state councilor
Facebook account, Efe news report‑ Aung San Suu Kyi.
ed. On 11 November, the Gambia
lodged a complaint with the court court in The Hague to mull opening
over alleged genocide and suspect‑ legal action against Myanmar. On
ed ethnic cleansing operations car‑ 14 November, judges from the
ried out by Myanmar's military International Criminal Court
against the Rohingya Muslim authorized a probe into alleged
minority in 2016 and 2017. crimes against humanity against
Gambian authorities, who pre‑ the Rohingya population.
sented the complaint in the name Over 730,000 Rohingya people
of the Organization of Islamic have fled Myanmar to neighboring
Cooperation, also asked for precau‑ Bangladesh since August 2016. Suu
tionary measures to prevent extra‑ Kyi, an international heroine dur‑
judicial killings, abuse and sexual ing her time in peaceful opposition
violence against the Rohingyas, and to the military junta between 1988‑
to prevent the military from 2011, has lost much of her support
destroying evidence or blocking an beyond the country due to an
investigation. apparent inability to protect the
The ICJ will become the second Rohingyas.

Imran party supporters call Imran tells overseas Pakistanis

for Sharif's death in London to learn from Indian diaspora Islamabad: Pakistan Prime
London/Islamabad: A group of sup‑ bombing of the Avenfie ld apart‑ Minister Imran Khan urged the
porters of Pakistan Prime Minister ments and said that casualties in Pakistani diaspora to emulate
Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek‑e‑ such bombings are normal. One overseas Indians and Chinese
Insaf (PTI) party held a protest out‑ speaker used threatening language who have invested heavily in
side the London residence of ailing f o r A s i f S a eed K h o s a , t h e C h i e f their motherland while assur‑
former PM Nawaz Sharif and called Justice of Pakistan, the daily report‑ ing them a corruption‑free
for his death by ed. Video footage environment to boost the cash‑
shooting. According shows at least three strapped countryʼs economy.
to a report in T he protesters banging Addressing a ceremony here
News, a group of PTI the front gate in to mark the Anti‑corruption
supporters held a order to break it Day, Khan said Pakistan was
protest outside down, while two facing an existential threat due
Avenfie ld flats in protesters entered to rampant corruption.”The
London. Sharif, who inside the gate from money that we had to spend
is in the UK for treat‑ a side entrance and on the education of youth,
ment, is living in the were asked by the research and higher education,
third floor of the police to leave.
PM Imran Khan said Pakistan was facing an
has been spent to make palaces existential threat due to rampant corruption.
Avenfield flats. Ahead of Nawaz across the seas and fill hefty
One protester Sharif 's arrival, bank accounts,” he said. Indiaʼs remittances to be the highest in the world,
c a l l ed l o u d l y f o r elected senior of fi‑ He lamented that Pakistani people were standing at USD 79 billion, followed by China and
Sharif 's death by cial of PTI in UK unaware of the dire consequences corruption Mexico at USD 67 billion and USD 36 billion
sh o o t i n g while Soraya Aziz had could have on their lives. “People donʼt under‑ respectively.
another called for issued a similar call stand the relation between corruption and their Khan said the corrupt launder their illegal
Taliban‑style bomb‑ Pakistanʼs ailing former PM for violence on lives‑ corruption badly affects them,” Khan said. wealth outside the country, which in turn leads to
ing of the Avengield Nawaz Sharif. Twitter. Soraya Aziz, “Overseas Chinese invested in China, & overseas devaluation and rise in inflation.
apartment. who is Head of Indians invested in India; their economies “No one wants to invest in the society where
Around 40 protestors, led by Tariq Computing at the Beths Grammar boomed,” Khan was quoted as saying by the offi‑ corruption is widespread,” he said.
Mehmood, who runs a group called School in Bexley, Kent, said: "For his cial Twitter account of the ruling Tehreek‑e‑Insaf Pakistan is facing a serious economic crisis with
'Pakistan Patriotic Front', raised slo‑ own safety, I strongly recommend party. “Overseas Pakistanis are our great asset. I short supplies of foreign currency reserves and
gans in support of PTI and many Nawaz Sharif not leave his Avenfield am connected with them. They are reluctant to stagnating growth in recent years.
were wearing PTI caps. Apartments. If he's seen shopping in invest in Pakistan because of corruption and Khanʼs speech came on a day when Pakistan
However, PTI's elected body issued Knightsbridge, overseas Pakistanis bribery,” the prime minister said. signed an agreement with the Asian Development
a statement distancing itself from will give him response even his few The contributions of the Non‑Resident Indians Bank for a loan worth USD 1.3 billion to support
the protest. remaining plate lets won't know in the growth of the Indian economy has been sig‑ the cash‑strapped countryʼs public finances and
A protestor called for Taliban‑style where to hide!!" nificant. Last year, the World Bank estimated shore up its slowing economy. (Agencies)
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
UK parties make final push
before Dec polls
London: The main British political
party leaders were continuing to
push their election pledges to vot‑
ers, as the campaign for the
December 12 general election has
entered its final few days, it was
reported.
With just few days to go, the can‑
didates were travelling around the
country in a bid to spread their
election messages, the BBC report‑
ed. Among the manifesto pledges
being highlighted by the main UK
parties were a Conservative prom‑
ise to introduce an Australian‑style
points‑based immigration system
to control unskilled migration; the
Labour Party's plan to "head of f
the social care crisis" by of fering
free personal care for older people
and an additional 10 bilion pound
of funds by 2023‑4; and a regional
rebalancing programme from the
Liberal Democrats, which would
see 50 billion pounds invested in
infrastructure outside of London
Meanwhile, Scottish National
Party (SNP) leader Nicola Sturgeon
has warned that "the very future of
Scotland" was at stake in the elec‑
tion.
She appealed to voters to back
her party "to escape Brexit, protect
the NHS (National Health Services)
and to put Scotland's future in
Scotland's hands".
The ruling Conservatives have
N Korea warns Trump
to stop 'abusive
language' against Kim
Pyongyang/Seoul: North Korea
has warned US President Donald
Trump to stop "abusive lan‑
guage" that may offend its leader
Kim Jong‑un, Pyongyang's state
media reported. "T he recent
words and expressions spouted
one after another by Trump
sound like a threat to someone at
a glance but they are a corrobo‑
ration that he feels fear inside,"
Ri Su‑yong, Vice‑Chairman of the
Central Committee of the ruling
Workers' Party of Korea, said in a
statement carried by the North's
Korean Central News Agency
(KCNA).
Last week, Trump hinted that
the US would use military force
against North Korea if necessary,
Yonhap News Agency reported.
In response, North Korea said it
would take "prompt correspon‑
ding actions at any level" if the
US uses force against it.
"Trump might be in great jit‑
ters but he had better accept the
status quo that as he sowed, so
Scottish National Partyʼs Nicola Sturgeon warned
Scotlandʼs future was at stake in the election.
also released some details about
how their points‑based immigra‑
tion system would work.
Writing in the Sunday Express,
Home Secretary Priti Patel said it
would start in January 2021 and
aims to "attract the best talent that
our country and economy needs,
while reducing overall numbers".
Labour has also restated its plan
to help alleviate pressure in social
care through the introduction of
free personal care for older people.
The party said that its new fund‑
North Korean leader
Kim Jong‑un.
he should reap, and think twice if
he does not want to see bigger
catastrophic consequences,"
KCNA quoted Ri as saying.
"Trump would be well advised
to quit abusive language which
may further of fend the
Chairman," he added.
North Korea has set the end of
this year as a deadline for the US
to come up with new acceptable
denuclearization proposals, say‑
ing that it could otherwise take a
"new way."
INTERNATIONAL
ing would help working age adults
and pensioners with care costs.
The Liberal Dems have said their
plans will "address the historic
investment disparities between our
nat ions and reg ions", the BBC
reported.
Its regional rebalancing pro‑
gramme for infrastructure outside
London would boost railway elec‑
trification, increasing the availabili‑
ty of charging points for electric
vehicles and improve broadband
access.
HK varsities struggle to
recover from protest chaos
Hong Kong: Hong Kong universi‑
ties, which turned into anti‑govern‑
ment battlegrounds last month,
were struggling to recover from
the protest chaos, with some hold‑
ing classes in hotels and others
making students video themselves
taking exams at home, a report
said.
At least six universities were
damaged last month, while radical
protesters occupied Chinese and
Polytechnic Universities and sur‑
rounding areas, blocking roads
and attacking officers with petrol
bombs, the South China Morning
Post said in the report.
Police responded with thousands
of rounds of tear gas. The most
intense violence was at PolyU,
where police besieged hardline
protesters trapped on the campus
for nearly two weeks.
Classes at 11 public and private‑
ly funded universities, as well as
most of the higher education insti‑
tutions, were cancelled for the rest
of term.
Bruce Lui Ping‑kuen, a senior
lecturer at Baptist University's
department of journalism, said
December 14-20, 2019
Finnish Minister to
become world's
youngest PM
Helsinki: The 34‑year‑old
Sanna Marin is set to
become the world's
youngest prime minister
as head of a women‑led
coalition government in
Finland, it was reported.
Marin, who is currently
the Minister of Transport
and Communications, nar‑
rowly won over Antti
Lindtman, the 37‑year‑old
chairman of the Social
Democratic Parliamentary
Group, in a vote of 32‑29.
She was picked by her
Social Democratic Party
(SDP) to take charge after
Prime Minister Antti Rinne
quit, the BBC reported.
Rinne stepped down after
losing the confidence of a coali‑ never thought about my age or
tion member over his handling
of a postal strike.
She is expected to be sworn
in this week and will lead a
centre‑left coalition of five par‑
ties all headed by women.
When she takes office, Marin
will be the world's youngest sit‑
ting Prime Minister. New
Zealand Prime Minister
Jacinda Ardern is 39, while
Ukrainian premier Oleksiy
Honcharuk is 35.
Addressing the media, Marin
that it had booked function rooms
at a four‑star hotel for lectures and
provided free buffets for students.
But he said attendance was only
about 50 per cent so far.
While he had uploaded teaching
materials online for his courses,
and met students in small groups
over meals outside campus, he said
internet‑based learning was
flawed.
Meanwhile, students at the Hong
Kong Design Institute (HKDI) have
started a pet it ion demanding
refunds over suspended classes.
At the University of Hong Kong
(HKU), exams were conducted
online and students asked to
21
Currently, Sanna Marin is
Finlandʼs Minister of Transport
and Communications.
said: "We have a lot of work to
do to rebuild trust."
She brushed away questions
about her age, saying: "I have
gender, I think of the reasons I
got into politics and those
things for which we have won
the trust of the electorate."
Marin will be the third‑ever
female Prime Minister in the
Nordic country.
She became nationally
known first in the municipal
political scene in Tampere, the
second largest town in Finland.
She was the chairperson of the
City Council of Tampere from
2013 to 2017.
A rioter
destroys
public
facilities
outside Hong
Kong
Polytechnic
University.
record a video that "clearly shows
the face of the student taking the
exam", as evidence they had not
cheated.
The Chinese University said fac‑
ulties had "started to adopt alter‑
native modes of teaching and
assessment". Dec 9 marked the six‑
month anniversary of the start of
the protests on June 9, when an
estimated 1 million people took to
the streets to oppose the now‑
withdrawn extradition bill. Hong
Kong's anti‑government protests
have transformed from peaceful
demonstrations into outbreaks of
violence, notably in tourist, com‑
mercial and residential districts.
 22 December 14-20, 2019 BUSINESS TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Trump put pressure on Pentagon China tells state

to hurt Bezos: Amazon
Washington: In a Defense (DoD), howev‑
scathing attack against
President Donald Trump,
Amazon has alleged in
its complaint ‑‑ filed
against the US govern‑
ment's decision to award
$10 billion Pentagon
Cloud project to the "less
competitive" Microsoft ‑‑
that Trump abused his
position to put "improp‑
er pressure" on decision‑
makers for personal
g ains and show his
hatred towards Amazon
CEO Je f f Bezos who
owns T he Washington
Post. In a formal protest unsealed at
the US Court of Federal Claims,
Amazon on Monday said the US
President "launched repeated public
and behind‑the‑scenes attacks"
against the company in an ef fort to
undermine its bid and hurt its founder
and CEO Bezos, "his perceived political
enemy".
"The stakes are high. The question is
whether the President of the United
States should be allowed to use the
budget of DoD to pursue his own per‑
sonal and political ends," said the
company which lost the prestigious
JEDI ( Joint Enterprise De fence
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.
Infrastructure) contract to Microsoft
on October 25. T he W hite House
declined to comment. "Basic justice
requires reevaluation of proposals and
a new award decision," Amazon reiter‑
ated.
"President Trump's improper direct
intervention, its upending of the pro‑
curement, and the President's person‑
al goal of preventing AWS from receiv‑
ing the JEDI contract were widely
reported at the time," reports The
Washington Post, citing Amazon's fil‑
ing. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a
$36 billion Cloud business of the
retail g iant. T he Department of
offices to junk foreign
hardware, software
er, said that the pro‑ Beijing: In first such retaliation against the Donald
curement process was Trump government as the two largest economies in
conducted by sea‑ the world are currently locked in a long‑running
soned pro curement trade dispute, China has ordered all state offices to
experts. get rid of foreign hardware and software in the
"The department is next three years ‑‑ a move that would hit top US
confident in the JEDI companies like Microsoft, Dell and HP hard.
award and remains According to a report in the Financial Times on
fo cused on gett ing Monday, China's Communist Party has ordered all
this critical capability state offices to remove foreign hardware and soft‑
into the hands of our ware under a policy called "3‑5‑2" ‑‑ meaning
warfighters as quickly reduce 30 per cent in 2020, 50 per cent in 2021
and efficiently as pos‑ and 20 per cent in 2022.
sible," DoD said in an The orders were forced out from the Chinese
email. The complaint Communist party's Central Office "earlier this
said Pentagon "took year", and while the policy documents are confiden‑
numerous actions to tial, "employees from two cyber security firms have
systematically remove the advantages told the Financial Times that their government
of AWS's technological and experien‑ clients have also described the policy. The employ‑
tial superiority" and changed its inter‑ ees asked to remain anonymous as the information
pretation of certain technical require‑ was politically sensitive".
ments at the 11th hour, including ask‑ Washington has earlier banned US companies
ing to develop new data centers "dedi‑ from doing business with Huawei and expanded its
cated to handle classified Defense blacklist to Chinese surveillance firms like
Department information". Hikvision. China's commerce ministry said last
"President Trump's animosity month that they had reached an agreement with
toward Mr. Bezos, Amazon, and the Washington to phase out the duties that both sides
Washington Post is well known, and it had been imposing during the dispute but US
originates at least in part from his dis‑ President Donald Trump lowered expectations days
satisfaction with the Washington later. It remains to be seen whether on December
Post's coverage of him from before he 15 the same increase of up to 15 per cent will
assumed office," Amazon claims in its apply to all other US imports from China, the total
filing. value of which would reach $300 billion.

Divestment not on the basis of profit or loss: Govt

New Delhi: Amid questions raised
over stake sale in profit‑making
PSUs, the government on Tuesday
said in Rajya Sabha that the criteria
for disinvestment were not profit or
loss.
In oral reply to a question from
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, Minister
of State for Finance, Anurag Thakur
said that the criteria for disinvest‑
ment have been fixed by Niti Aayog
and it is not on the basis of profit or
loss.
The Minister said that the criteria
have been decided on the basis of
national security, sovereign func‑
tions, market imperfections and
public purpose.
"The government follows the poli‑
cy of disinvestment, strategic disin‑
vestment of CPSEs, which are not in
priority sector," Thakur said in the
Upper House. The Modi govern‑
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
ment has given in‑principle
approval for disinvestment of about
28 central public sector enterprises
(CPSEs) which include profit‑mak‑
ing companies like fuel refiner and
retailer BPCL and Container
Corporation of India Ltd (CONCOR).
As per the disinvestment plan, the
government has decided to sell
majority stake along with manage‑
ment control in various companies.
Going whole hog on disinvest‑
ment, the Cabinet Committee on
Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by
Prime Minister Narendra Modi last
month approved sale of govern‑
Sensex falls, Yes Bank
ends 10% lower
Mumbai: The benchmark Sensex closed 248 points lower on
Tuesday while Yes Bank lost over 10 per cent ahead of its crucial
board meeting. There was a broad based sell‑of f witnessed in the
market with Nifty Midcap and Nifty smallcap down 1.3 per cent
and 1.1 per cent respectively. Yes Bank on Tuesday postponed
the decision to approve or decline the binding of fer of $1.2 bil‑
lion ‑‑ 60 per cent of the total capital the bank aims to raise ‑‑
submitted by mysterious investor Erwin Singh Braich.
Yes Bank, however, after its 5‑hour board meet on Tuesday
said that it is willing to "favorably consider the of fer of $500
million of CitaxHoldings and Citax Investment Group and the
final decision regarding allotment to follow in the next board
meeting."
ment's 53.29 per cent stake in control to a strategic buyer was also
BPCL. Strategic disinvestment of cleared with the CCEA approving
Shipping Corporation of India Ltd stake sale of 63.75 per cent in the
along with transfer of management company.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Russia banned for 4 years from all sporting events
Lausanne: Russia has been hand‑
ed a four‑year ban from all major
sporting events by the World
Anti‑Doping Agency ( WADA),
including next year's Tokyo
Olympics and the FIFA World
Cup in 2022.
After the deve lopment, the
Russian flag and anthem will not
be allowed at any major sporting
event. However, athletes who will
be able to prove that they are
untainted by the doping scandal
will be able to compete under a
neutral flag.
T he decision came after
Russia's Anti Doping Agency
(RUSADA) was declared non‑com‑
pliant for manipulating laborato‑
ry data handed over to investiga‑
tors in January this year.
Rusada now have a period of
21 days to appeal against the ban
and if they do, the appeal will be
re ferred to the Court of
Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
WADA Vice‑President Linda
Eye on Olympics but can't
fulfil formalities: Vijender
New Delhi : Boxer Vijender Singh
said that while he is hoping to
make it to his fourth Olympics in
Tokyo next year, he may not be
able to fulfil the requirements of
the Boxing Federation of India
which requires him to spend sig‑
nificant time in the national
camp.
The 34‑year‑old, who became
the first Indian boxer to win an
Olympic medal at the 2008
Beijing Olympics, has expressed
his desire to represent India in
the Olympics again after the
International Boxing
Association's (AIBA) relaxation of
rules pertaining to professionals
competing at the Olympics.
Vijender had turned professional
in June 2015.
"I will try my best to reach the
Tokyo Olympics but there are
many terms and conditions, you
have to stay in the camp for two,
two‑and‑a‑half months and a
number of other formalities are
involved," Vijender told reporters
on the sidelines of the launch of
Russia will miss Tokyo Olympics 2020.
Helleland, however, felt the four‑
year ban was "not enough". "I
wanted sanctions that can not be
watered down. We owe it to the
clean athletes to implement the
sanctions as strongly as possi‑
ble," she was quoted as saying by
Boxer
Vijender
Singh.
badminton ace Jwala Gutta's
academy.
"I have done all that in the past,
now I cannot fulfil all these con‑
ditions. I believe in straight talk, I
do not like beating around the
bush. Have 2‑3 trials, if I go
through, then fine, or else come
back," Vijender said.
The ace pugilist also said that
his team is looking to arrange his
next bout in Dubai next year. He
had extended his professional
record to 12 wins by beating
Ghanaian former Commonwealth
champion Charles Adamu in the
same city on November 22.
Vijender also hailed the World
Anti‑Doping Agency's decision to
ban Russia from international
sporting events for covering up a
widespread doping scandal.
"It's a good thing, penalties
need to be imposed on those who
do wrong by the game. They have
sent a straight forward message
that whoever violates WADA's
rules, will face the conse‑
quences," he said.
SPORTS
the BBC.
Russia have been banned from
competing as a nation in athletics
since 2015.
Despite the ban, Russia will be
able to compete at Euro 2020, in
which St. Petersburg will be a
I welcome Test cricket
back to Pakistan: Shoaib
Rawalpindi: The two‑Test series
between Pakistan and Sri Lanka
which began here on Wednesday
has marked the return of the
longest format of the game to
Pakistan after 10 years. Sri Lanka
were the last team to play Tests
there, in 2009, when their tour
was cut short by an attack on the
team bus. T he first match is
being played at the Rawalpindi
Cricket Stadium while the second
Test will be held at the National
Stadium in Karachi from
December 19.
Former Pakistan speedster
Shoaib Akhtar is elated over the
development and has welcomed
Test cricket to this city, which is
also his hometown. Taking to
Pak propose D/N Test in Karachi
against Bangladesh
Lahore: Pakistan have invited
Bangladesh to play a day‑night
Test during the latter's tour of the
country next month. Bangladesh
will tour Pakistan for two Tests
and three T20Is in January. The
Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB),
however, is still awaiting a security
report and government directive
before making a final call on the
tour itself.
T he Pakistan Cricket Board
(PCB), according to ESPNCricinfo,
has asked the BCB if the team
would be willing to play in a pink
ball Test match in Karachi as part
December 14-20, 2019
WADA ban on Russia may
not impact FIDE chief
Chennai: The four‑year ban on
Russia from all sporting activity
by the World Ant i‑Doping
Agency (WADA) may not have
any impact on former Deputy
Prime Minister of Russia
Arkady Dvorkovich ‑‑ who is
also the current President of
FIDE ‑‑ and also the tourna‑
ments to be held in Russia, said
a FIDE official on Tuesday.
Further he also hoped Russian
chess players will also not be
impacted from participating in
the global events like Chess
Olympiad and others.
"Our President Arkady
Dvorkovich doesn't hold any
host city, as European football's
governing bo dy UEFA is not
Former Pakistan speedster
Shoaib Akhtar.
Twitter, Akhtar wrote: "I welcome
Test Cricket back to Pakistan,
especially, to my city Rawalpindi.
When your players play at home,
they become heroes, this is what
inspires a young generation to
of the tour.
"The idea behind encouraging
day‑night cricket and of fering
Bangladesh is to counter the prob‑
lem of dwindling crowds," PCB
chairman E hsan Mani told
ESPNCricinfo. "We intend to add at
least one day‑night Test in our
home itinerary. The benefit, other
than better crowds, is that we can
have an opportunity to extend our
cricketing season. Like in Pakistan
if the season ends in the mid‑April
or earlier, we can extend it by hav‑
ing day‑night games to fill in an
empty window. "It's really unfair to
23
of ficial position at the Russian
government since May, 2018
(he was elected FIDE President
in October, 2018). So, his posi‑
tion is not being questioned by
this ban," David Llada, FIDE's
Chief Communications Of ficer
told IANS. The FIDE does not
expect any major impact on it
because of the WADA ban on
Russia. "Given our clean records
(no chess player, Russian or oth‑
erwise, has ever tested positive)
we are confident that there will
be no negative consequences
for Russian chess players, and
minimal repercussions for FIDE
itself," Llada said.
defined as a 'major event organi‑
zation'.
take up a sport and idolize great‑
ness."
Sri Lanka visited Pakistan in
September‑October wherein the
two teams competed in three
ODIs and as many T20Is. The
team, led by Dimuth Karunaratne,
has reached Pakistan to take part
in the series, he ld under the
ongoing ICC World Test
Championship.
After more than 10 years, Test
cricket is back to Pakistan where
they are playing their World Test
Championship matches. Major
teams have avoided Pakistan
since that 2009 terror attack on
the Sri Lankan team in Lahore,
which killed eight people and
injured several players.
play Test cricket in front of empty
stadiums and with this idea we
hope crowds will turn up for this
unique experience after their job
in evening. "Now, almost every
Test‑cricket‑playing member has
started playing day‑night cricket
and we think at least one day‑night
Test should be played in a series.
Even India captain Virat Kohli who
was bit cautious about the day‑
night Test, now after the recent
game (against Bang ladesh) at
home turned into an ambassador
of this idea so it's good for the
future,” Mani added.
 24 December14-20, 2019
Appreciation of India’s rich culture
and yoga’s diverse nature
By Zo Newell
B
estselling Indian author,
celebrity, media personality
and self‑styled mythologist
Devdutt Pattanaik has partnered
w ith American yog a teacher
Matthew Rulli to produce his latest
book. T he book opens with an
Authorsʼ Note containing the dis‑
claimers: “This is not a book on the
practice of yoga. This is about the
mythology that nurtured the idea
of yoga” and “This is not a manual
for asanas.” Reading on, we are
told: “This book uses various yoga
postures as inspiration to leap into
the world of Hindu mythology
with occasional detours into Jain
and Buddhist mythology.”
The book is organized in four
sections, dedicated to the Devi,
Brahma, Shiva, and Vishnu, with
64 asanas and related stories dis‑
tributed among them. (The num‑
ber sixty‑four, we are told, indi‑
cates infinity). Stories are drawn
from Buddhist and Jain sources,
though those from Hindu culture,
not surprisingly, predominate.
Clearly, the authors have done
their research. They include some
Leg up for Urdu literature, 90,000 titles digitized
By Vishnu Makhijani
I
tʼs a virtual library where some
90,000 titles in Urdu – including
the Mahabharata and the Quran,
as also autobiographies, fiction,
travelogues, translations, manu‑
scripts and pop magazines – have
been digitized and made available
on an internet portal for academi‑
cians, scholars and researchers to
benefit from. In addition, the
Rekhta.org portal offers a collection
of ʻshersʼ (couplets) and ʻshayarisʼ
and an essential collection of iconic
poets – all this for free!
“Our e‑book project took birth in
2013 after the idea of an Urdu vir‑
tual library was discussed by me
and a few university professors
when the absence of an Urdu
archive was collectively felt by all.
We then embarked on a journey to
overcome the barrier of inaccessi‑
bility and lack of resources in Urdu
learning and reached out to various
sources, both public and private
across India, majorly covering cities
like Delhi, Lucknow, Bhopal,
Allahabad, Hyderabad and Aligarh,”
the portalʼs founder, Noida‑based
entrepreneur Sanjiv Saraf, told IANS
in an interview.
“Without archiving, an ageless
language with its long due recogni‑
tion and respect would have died
long ago, depriving our future gen‑
ʻYoga Mythology: 64 Asanasʼ
By Devdutt Pattanaik and Matthew Rulli;
HarperCollins Publishers.
poses familiar to the average yoga
student, several that are probably
unfamiliar to all but advanced
practitioners, a handful (crocodile,
vajrasana, dandasana) that sound
familiar but are presented in
unusual and challenging versions,
and poses largely named for sages.
A good number in this last catego‑
ry, known as “party poses” in some
yoga circles for their flashy “Look
Rekhta.org is free portal that also
offers a collection of ʻshersʼ (
couplets) and ʻshayarisʼ and an
essential collection of iconic
Urdu poets, some in Roman
script.
erations from cherishing the rich
heritage of Urdu,” Saraf added.
The 90,000 e‑books – a stagger‑
ing 19 million pages – are classified
into categories such as childrenʼs lit‑
erature, banned books, diaries and
translations and can then be
accessed by anybody anytime and
from anywhere around the world.
“We are continuing to scout
libraries and private collections for
more books that can be digitized
and made accessible to readers
across the world. Rare, out of print
books that are totally inaccessible
to the masses as they are stored in
various libraries all across the coun‑
try which are prone to damage and
destruction due to termite, water
and fire damage are being sought,”
Saraf explained.
Most of the books were secured
through camps organized by Rekhta
at which several publications and
BOOKS
at this!” quality, involve bearing
weight through the arms while
doing something complicated with
the legs, such as wrapping one leg
behind the head. As a yoga teacher,
I know that arm balances come
more easily to men than to women,
due to the superior upper‑body
strength and higher center of grav‑
ity of the average male body. I
think of these as definitely “guy
private parties willingly donated
century‑old Urdu scripts. Lucknowʼs
Naval Kishore Press, founded in
1858 and arguably Asiaʼs oldest
printing and publishing concern,
was a major contributor, rendering
some 2,000 books which included
translations of the Mahabharata
and the Quran and rare manu‑
scripts starting from the 17th cen‑
tury.
“Many of the texts received were
tattered and torn due to negligence
and poor handling. Rekhta assem‑
bled all such texts which were then
reprinted, re‑dyed and recreated for
audience consumption,” Saraf said.
“The same kind of archival has
begun for Hindi readers with a dif‑
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
poses” even though they can be
and are also performed by women.
I also know that the majority of
students in most classes are
women. So the inclusion of all
those arm balances made me go
“Hmm,” and I found myself won‑
dering just who the intended audi‑
ence was. Given American yogaʼs
emphasis on asana, and the chal‑
leng ing nature of the “party
poses,” will this selection really
inspire readers to “leap into the
world of Hindu mythology”?
The book has much more going
for it than the poses. Donʼt be put
off by the ones you find obscure or
too challenging. Let the stories and
their values enhance your appreci‑
ation of Indiaʼs rich culture and
yogaʼs diverse nature. The stories
are engaging and the line draw‑
ings are charming, energetic and
plentiful. (In fact, I wished for
drawings to replace the small
black and white photos which
donʼt always show the poses to
best advantage.) The inclusion of
Jain and Buddhist tales expands
our habitual notion of yoga as
“Hindu” while the concluding sec‑
tion, “Metaphors of the Yogini”,
ferent team attending to Hindi texts
and scripts available for digitiza‑
tion. The project has been running
successfully in its attempt to virtu‑
ally reincarnate Urdu literature as
Western scholars and professors
make use of Rekhtaʼs e‑library in
their studies,” Saraf pointed out.
Some of the institutions associat‑
ed with the project are Idara‑E‑
Adabiyat‑E‑Urdu (Hyderabad),
University of Allahabad, Ghalib
Academy, Ghalib Institute, Jamia
Hamdard (all three from New
Delhi), Government Urdu Library
(Patna), Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti
Urdu, Arabi‑Farsi University
(Lucknow), Saulat Public Library
(Rampur), Darul Musannefin Shibli
forces us to confront the image of
the yogi as a male ascetic bent on
controlling or escaping the natural
world. “Yoginis are the food for the
hungry, the power for the fright‑
ened, and the knowledge of the
ignorant…T hey are all things
uncontrollable that we want to
control…The yogi looks within;
hence shut his eyes. The yogini
makes him open his eyes, look at
the sky…” (322‑323)
Iʼve been a fan of Devduttʼs since
I chanced upon his Shiva: An
Introduction (1997) in a Mumbai
bookstore. I was eager to see how
he would handle yoga mythology.
I find that what I like most in this
book is not so much the connec‑
tion of stories with asana, but his
discussions of the feminine,
through the figures of the Devi and
the yogini. Fan or new reader, I am
sure you will find things you like
too.
Zo Newell is a writer and certi‑
fied yoga therapist. Her first book,
Downward Dogs and Warriors:
Wisdom Tales for Modern Yogis
was published in 2007. She holds
a Ph.D. in religious studies from
Vanderbilt University.
Academy (Azamgarh) and Rampur
Raza Library (Rampur).
About the name of the website:
The term Rekhta was in great use
from the late 17th century until the
late 18th century, when it was
largely supplanted by Hindi/Hindwi
(Hindavi) and later by Hindustani
and Urdu, though it continued to be
used sporadically until the late 19th
century. Rekhta‑style poetry (poetry
using a mixed, off‑Urdu language) is
still produced today by Urdu speak‑
ers, and is in fact the most common
linguistic form of writing poetry in
the Urdu language. Rekhta was also
used for forms of poetry like
Masnavi, Marsia, Qaseedah, Thumri,
Geet, Chaupai and Kabit.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info HEALTH December 14-20, 2019 25

Flu season arrives early in US,

driven by an unexpected virus
T
he US winter flu season is
of f to its earliest start in
more than 15 years. An
early barrage of illness in the
South has begun to spread more
broadly, and thereʼs a decent
chance flu season could peak
much earlier than normal, health
officials say. The last flu season to
rev up this early was in 2003‑
2004 ̶ a bad one. Some experts
think the early start may mean a
lot of suffering is in store, but oth‑
ers say itʼs too early to tell.
“It really depends on what virus‑
es are circulating. Thereʼs not a
predictable trend as far as if itʼs
early itʼs going to be more severe,
or later, less severe,” said Scott
Epperson, who tracks flu‑like ill‑
nesses for the US Center for
Disease Control and Prevention.
There are different types of flu
viruses, and the one causing ill‑
nesses in most parts of the coun‑
try is a surprise. Itʼs a version that
normally doesnʼt abound until
March or April.
That virus generally isnʼt as dan‑
gerous to older people ̶ good
news, since most flu hospitaliza‑
tions and deaths each winter
occur in the elderly. However,
such viruses can be hard on chil‑
dren and people younger than 50.
Louisiana was the first state to
really get hit hard, with doctors
there saying they began seeing
large numbers of flu‑like illnesses
in October. Childrenʼs Hospital
New Orleans has already seen
more flu cases this fall than it saw
all of last winter, said Dr. Toni
Gross, the hospitalʼs chief of emer‑
gency medicine. Last month was
the busiest ever at the hospitalʼs
emergency department. Of ficials
had to set up a triage system and
add extra shifts, Gross said.
“It is definitely causing symp‑
toms that will put you in bed for a
week,” including fever, vomiting
and diarrhea. But the hospital has
not had any deaths and is not see‑
ing many serious complications,
she said. Health of ficials tend to
consider a flu season to be of fi‑
cially underway when ̶ for at
least three weeks in a row ̶ a
significant percentage of US doc‑
torʼs of fice visits are due to flu‑
like illnesses. Thatʼs now hap‑
pened, CDC of ficials said this
week. The agency on Friday esti‑
mated that there have already
been 1.7 million flu illnesses,
16,000 hospitalizations, and 900
flu‑related deaths nationally.
The most intense patient traffic
had been occurring in six states
stretching from Texas to Georgia.
But in new numbers re leased
Friday, CDC officials said the num‑
ber of states with intense activity
rose last week to 12. Flu is wide‑
spread in 16 states, though not
necessarily at intense levels in
each, the CDC said.

Head & neck injuries due to cellphone Get cholesterol checked from
use are rising, according to study 20s to calculate heart risk
A A
recent study has found an increase in
cellphone injuries, including facial cuts, study has said that people should
bruises, and fractures. The study, pub‑ get their cholesterol levels checked
lished Thursday, found a spike in US emer‑ from their mid‑20s as the readings
gency room treatment for these mostly minor can be used to calculate lifetime risks of
injuries. The research was led by a facial plastic heart disease and stroke. The study, pub‑
surgeon whose patients include a woman who lished in The Lancet, is the most compre‑
broke her nose when she dropped her phone hensive yet to look at the long‑term health
mation from about 100 hospitals. The
on her face. Dr. Boris Paskhover, of Rutgers risks of having too much “bad” cholesterol
researchers tallied 2,500 patients with cell
New Jersey Medical School, said his experience for decades, the BBC reported.
phone‑related head and neck injuries from
treating patients with cellphone injuries Researchers maintain that earlier the
1998 through 2017. The study was published
prompted him to look into the problem. people take action to reduce cholesterol
in the journal JAMA Otolaryngology.
Paskhover & others analyzed 20 years of through diet changes and medication, the
Nationwide, they estimated there were about
emergency room data and found an increase in better. Cholesterol is a fatty substance – a
76,000 people injured during that time. Annual
cellphone injuries starting after 2006, around lipid – found in some foods and also pro‑
cases totaled fewer than 2,000 until 2006 but
the time when the first smartphones were duced in our liver. It is needed to make der, bad‑cholesterol level, age and risk fac‑
increased steeply after that. About 40% of
introduced. Some injuries were caused by hormones like estrogen and testosterone, tors such as smoking, diabetes, height and
those injured were aged 13 to 29, and many
phones themselves, including people getting Vitamin D and other compounds. weight, and blood pressure.
were hurt while walking, texting or driving.
hit by a thrown phone. But Paskhover said While High‑density lipoprotein (HDL) The BBC quoted the reportʼs co‑author
Cellphone use also has been linked with repeti‑
many were caused by distracted use including cholesterol is “good” as it keeps the body Stefan Blankenberg of the University
tive strain injuries in the hands and neck and
texting while walking, tripping and landing healthy, Low‑density lipoprotein (LDL) is Heart Center in Hamburg: “I strongly rec‑
injuries to other parts of the body caused by
face‑down on the sidewalk. Most patients in “bad” as it can clog arteries. Researchers ommend that young people know their
distracted use. “I love my smartphone,”
the study werenʼt hospitalized, but the analyzed the data obtained from almost cholesterol levels and make an informed
Paskhover said, but he added that itʼs easy to
researchers said the problem should be taken four lakh persons in 19 countries and decision about the result – and that could
get too absorbed and avoiding injury requires
seriously. The study involved cases in a U.S. found a strong link between bad choles‑ include taking a statin.” However, he
common sense. “People wouldnʼt walk around
Consumer Product Safety Commission data‑ terol levels and risk of cardiovascular dis‑ added, there is a danger that people could
reading a magazine,” he said. “Be careful.”
base that collects emergency room visit infor‑ ease from early adulthood over the next rely on statins rather than leading a
(Source: Boston25news.com)
40 years or more. healthy lifestyle and although they were
New Mediterranean diet lets you They were able to estimate the probabil‑
ity of a heart attack or stroke for people
usually well‑tolerated, studies had not
been done on the potential side‑effects of
eat meat without any guilt aged 35 and over, according to their gen‑ taking them over decades.

R
esearchers have developed a new
version of the Mediterranean diet
that includes meat to cater to
Western tastes and also deliver health bene‑
fits. A typical Mediterranean diet includes
extra virgin olive oil, fruits, vegetables, nuts,
seeds, legumes, wholegrain breads, pastas
and cereals, moderate amount of fish and red
wine, and low consumption of red meat,
sweets and processed foods. The new version
of the Mediterranean diet includes 2‑3 serves
(250g) of fresh lean pork each week. The
findings published in the journal Nutrients
showed that the Mediterranean‑Pork (Med‑
Pork) diet delivers cognitive benefits. "The
Mediterranean diet is widely accepted as the
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26 December 14-20, 2019 PHILOSOPHY TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Jain Doctrine of Anekaant

By Sulekh C. Jain, PhD
Literally meaning non‐absoluteness, Anekaantvad
underscores democracy of views and beliefs ‐ a path
to respect and tolerance for all, achieving amity.
This is because our individual concepts of reality
are not just incomplete, they are valid only from
a particular point of view.
lar point of view. universal reality. In addition, the particular subject or topic. view‑points of others. This princi‑
“Absolute truth” cannot be knowledge of reality canʼt be A Jain thinker named ple, therefore, if earnestly put into

T a)
he three most important Aʼs
of Jain Philosophy are;
Ahimsa (nonviolence or
Democracy of existence)
b) Aprigraha (limits on accu‑
mulations, or Democracy of pos‑
sessions)
c) Ankekaant (truth is multi‑
sided or Democracy of views and
beliefs)
A Sanskrit aphorism from the
Rigveda says: Ekam Sat Vipraah
Bahudhaa Vadanti. It means that
truth is one, but different people
understand and speak it different‑
ly.
Sages also say that absolute and
total truth is indescribable. Each
truth, phenomenon and entity is
multidimensional and cannot be
fully understood. Customs, tradi‑
tions and beliefs change with
time, place, geography and cir‑
cumstances. The Ekaantic view i.e.
Absolutist opinion as opposed to
Anekaant is non–acceptance of
othersʼ notions of God and reli‑
gion. It has been and still is one
of the foremost causes of devas‑
tating wars fought in the name of
religion and God.
Acceptance and regard for dif‑
ferent faiths, ways of life and wor‑
ship of the Supreme, is what we
call the doctrine of Anekaant.
Truth is knowledge of reality.
According to Jain philosophy,
truth is a vast and wondrous com‑
plexity. We are each clouded by
an environment that prejudices
us, by past experiences that have
shaped us, and by fixed ideas
about the world that seem to
make sense in our limited minds.
So, our individual concepts of
reality are not just incomplete,
they are valid only from a particu‑
grasped from any one point of
view, by itself, because any view‑
point is dependent on the time,
place, nature and state of both the
viewer and whatever is being
viewed. Hence, we can point to
infinity of partially valid perspec‑
tives. What appears true from
one point of view is open to ques‑
tion from another. Naturally, we
need to benefit from the labors of
seeing things from different per‑
spectives – including ones we
might not prefer initially – in
order to gain any kind of realistic
impression.
This attitude begins a science of
thinking called Anekaantvad,
which is the principle of “Non‑
one‑endedness”. Anekaantvad is
an informed and eng ag ing
method of reason with the cutting
admission that truth is such an
intricate and many‑ended thing
that no single belief system, no
tower of dogma, no grand unify‑
ing theory and no faith or religion
can ever do it justice.
Jainism advocates the theory of
multiplicity and relativity of view‑
points. Knowledge doesnʼt know
any limitation or boundaries.
Religion and philosophy are not
limited to a particular country,
perio d or g roup. As a conse‑
quence of this philosophy, Jainism
has never actively sought con‑
verts and has been able to live in
harmony with Hinduism and all
other religions.
Anekaantvad stresses that dif‑
ferent points of view are mere
additions to human knowledge.
When all these dif ferent view‑
points are viewed together (just
like the six blind men and an ele‑
phant), they present a picture of
obtained through the senses.
Whatever is perceived through
the senses is merely appearance;
it is not the world of reality. If we
wish to attain reality, we must
look beyond the world of senses
and go into that of inner experi‑
ence. This is exactly what Lord
Mahavir did during his 12 years
of meditation in the forests of
Bihar more than 2,500 years ago.
Thus, it is through the combina‑
tion of proper/rational perception
(Samyak Darshan), proper/ratio‑
nal knowledge (Samyak Gnan),
and proper/rat ional conduct
(Samyak Charitra) that one can
attain self‑realization and under‑
stand the nature of reality.
Thus, this fundamental philo‑
sophical base of Jainism stresses
that ultimate reality is complex in
character and in order to compre‑
hend its nature, we must examine
it from various points of view.
There is always the possibility of
many standpoints in relation to
the same object. In Jain text, this
subject has been described in
great details. Truth is seldom
absolute and one‑sided. There is
always plurality and relativity of
viewpoints. We express our opin‑
ions based on our be lie fs,
upbringing, perception, self‑inter‑
est, knowledge, environment, time
and circumstances etc.
T hese philosophies of
Anekaantvad and Syaadavada
(relativity) have a special signifi‑
cance in to dayʼs world. T hey
stress peaceful means of solving
problems and if used correctly,
these ideas can help world leaders
to understand each other by con‑
sidering and integrating the mul‑
tiple viewpoints which surround a
Siddhasena Divakara (5th centu‑
ry) remarked, “All schools of
thought are valid when under‑
stood from their own standpoints.
A knower does not categorize
them as true or false. T hey
become false only when they
deny that the others also express
aspects of the truth.” (Sanmati
Tarka Prakarana 1:28).
Anekaantvad is inte llectual
humility that empowers the user.
It is an essential part of being
nonviolent in our thoughts and
words. It shows us why we
shouldnʼt stick ourselves to rigid
opinions that disconnect us from
reality and stifle the pursuit of
fuller understanding. Non‑one‑
endedness encourages us to
examine and be critical of all
beliefs and claims from many dif‑
ferent angles, helping us recog‑
nize the value of othersʼ views and
opinions as well as the limitations
of our own. This means respect‑
ing a personʼs individuality by dis‑
covering his or her concept of the
world and trying to see things
through that model.
We have differences of opinion
and judgment in dealings in our
daily life. In the highest courts of
most advanced nations, we face
controversial judgments not to
the liking by majority of people.
But we do accept them. The same
attitude should be adopted in mat‑
ters of faith.
Thus, Anekaantavad teaches us
that the kingdom of truth can be
reached through different ways. It
also teaches us that we should not
impose our own thoug hts or
views on others, but should try to
reconcile with the thoughts or
practice shows us how to remove
our shortsighted, selfish and par‑
tial outlook. It shows us how to
remove discord and disharmony
and establish concord and harmo‑
ny in life, by being tolerant in our
outlook and attitude towards oth‑
ers. T he principle of
Anekaantavad can be applied to
every field of life. It shows us how
to respect candid opinions of all
free thinkers of the world, and,
therefore, the roots of modern
democracy could be traced in this
Jain principle. It establishes unity
in diversity. It promises reconcili‑
ation of divergent or conflicting
statements, thoughts, ideologies,
systems, religions etc. The princi‑
ple of Anekaantavad, therefore,
can be a great instrument to
peaceful coexistence and unity in
the world
Note: P art of this article has
been extracted from a much big‑
ger article by Amar Salgia on this
subject.
Dr. Sulekh C. Jain is the Past
President of the Federation
of Jain Associations in North
America (JAINA). Dr. Jain
also authored a book An
Ahimsa Crisis: You Decide,
which can be accessed as an
eBook free of charge at
www.isjs.in. Email:
scjain@earthlink.net

These Jain philosophies of Anekantvad and Syaadavad

(relativity) have a special significance in today’s world.
They stress peaceful means of solving problems and if
used correctly, these ideas can help world leaders to
understand each other by considering and integrating
the multiple viewpoints which surround a particular issue.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info IMMIGRATION December 14-20, 2019 27

The story of immigrants with special needs children

By Suchitra Srinivas There are school buses that Interestingly, the state pays an allowance
pick kids with special needs to eligible parents for maintaining children

C
lassrooms in America are a
new experience for the
immigrants from India. The
start is more of a scare for the par‑
ents. The concept of the child being
labe led as ʻspecialʼ is typically
against the be lief system back
home. Many immigrant families
face initial shocks in accepting
these labels associated with learn‑
ing difficulties and disabilities.
“When we moved from India, our son was
just three and was ready for pre‑school
enrollment. He was very active at home but
with strangers, he would be tight‑lipped and
not even communicate through a nod. Of
course, language was a big hurdle since we
didnʼt speak English at home. In the initial
observation sessions, my son was identified
to have deve lopmental de lays but we
believed that it was only a language problem.
When he was referred to join a special
instruction class, we refused and resisted this
labeling. A couple of years later when he was
medically pronounced to be a special kid, we
felt destroyed,” observed a parent.
However, parents do realize over the years
that labeling is for making the special kid
live the life of inclusion in society.
“My child had dif ficulty in speech ̶ the
labeling initially made us uncomfortable as
many of our friends scared us that this label
will remain in her record forever but the
speech therapy that her school offered dur‑
ing regular class hours is no match,” said
another. The US education system has an
inbuilt mandatory support mechanism that
of fers help to every child under 21 years
with special needs, tailored to their individ‑
ual needs. This is available to one irrespec‑
tive of the immigration status. Once observed
and recommended for testing, a special panel
comprising professional doctors, neurolo‑
gists, psychologists, an occupational thera‑
pist, a speech therapist and counsellors
would advise the parents, devise the goal and
processes for the childʼs education at no cost
to the parents. The child is monitored and
helped by this professional panel in the least
restrictive environment with a yearly review
of the course and evaluation of the kidʼs
progress periodically.
“The inclusive setting in which my child is
being kept in a school environment is a lot
more comfortable for us. Such facilities were
not available even in London,” remarked a
parent who recently moved to the US.
“My child is accepted in public spaces like
parks and beaches. There is more empathy
for my kid and me than sympathy,” felt
another.
up from their homes and the
helpers on board buckle their
seats and look out for their
safety. T he schools have
nurses to aid children using a
catheter or other medical
needs. In certain instances,
the schools are redesigned
for wheelchair accessibility to
accommodate a child.
There are state agencies that offer home
services for training the kids for temporary
behaviors and to counsel the siblings or par‑
ents when in need. The respite care program
that of fers services similar to babysitting
with drop and pick up services gives parents
the much‑required breathing space. For
severely disabled kids who are immobile,
home care services at the stateʼs cost are also
made available under the respite care pro‑
gram.
Upon turning 21, such individuals could be
sent to a group home setting. This would
mean the child then starts to live away from
home. Legal guardianship is established,
which enables parents to make decisions or
actions on behalf of their child. “This support
service is an overwhelming experience. The
first thing during the guardianship establish‑
ment is that the state appoints an attorney
for the child,” shared a parent.
“It makes us feel that the child is equally
the stateʼs responsibility. A lot of checks and
balances for the services are being main‑
tained and implemented ̶ a comfort I never
imagined was possible,” said one.
over 21 years at home, if they are not sent to
group homes. There are food stamps given
for their use. “The feeling that my son is eco‑
nomically productive is thus guaranteed,”
said a parent.
If employable, they are trained for limited
employment and to get jobs as well. In air‑
craft or other public places like theme parks,
children with special needs never have to
wait in line; they are given space and treated
with respect. There is special screening of
movies for such youngsters, where they are
allowed to bring their own food, watch sen‑
sory movies, run around and have fun. When
on cruise ships, trained persons take care of
kids with special needs so that the parents
are free to enjoy their time.
The lives of immigrants are usually caught
up in so many adjustments but states in the
US surely treat children with disabilities and
their families with ʻspecialʼ attention!
Suchitra
Srinivas is a
journalist
based at
New Jersey.
She can
be contacted
at suchitrasrinivas
@hotmail.com.
Column first appeared
in DTNext.

Employment based immigration: The I‑140

petition and adjustment of status
VISA
By Dev Banad Viswanath, Esq. are usually pegged to the first date and when the interview will take dications and it is possible that
& Michael Phulwani, Esq. of filing the labor certification. place. An applicant is allowed to green card applications may take
When visa numbers are avail‑ have their attorney present at the one year or longer to adjudicate.

F TALK
orm I‑140, Immigration
Petition for Alien Worker, is
a form used by U.S. employ‑
ers who would like to sponsor for‑
eign nationals to work in the U.S.
permanently. Before filing an I‑
140 most employers are required
to file a labor certification, which
verifies that there are not enough
workers who are able, willing,
qualified, and available at the time
and place where the foreign
national is to be employed and
that employment of the foreign
national will not negatively affect
the wages and working conditions
of similarly employed U.S. workers.
Form I‑485, Application to
Register Permanent Residence or
Adjust Status, is used when a non‑
immigrant would like to apply for
lawful permanent resident status
while they are in the U.S. An I‑485
can be concurrently filed with an I‑
140 when a visa number is imme‑
diately available and both forms
are filed at the same time. When
deciding on concurrent filings, the
decision on eligibility for the immi‑
grant visa petition is made first.
The Labor Certification Process
is between the Petitioning
Employer and the US Department
of Labor, certifying that there are
no US workers able, willing, and
minimally qualified as per require‑
ments, to perform a job. But, the I‑
140 petition is between the
Petitioning Employer and the
USCIS and is to declare that as cer‑
tified by the Labor Certification,
there are no US workers for the
particular job, and that the
employer has found a foreign
national who is ready, willing and
qualified to handle the job, and
that the employer has the ability to
pay the prevailing wage. The pri‑
ority date which determines when
visa numbers are available and
current, will be finalized upon
approval of the I‑140 petition and
able, filing concurrently can speed
up the process of a nonimmigrant
receiving a green card, but, as of
last year, unlike previous proce‑
dural policy of waiving interviews
for employment based cases,
USCIS announced a new policy
where all employment based green
card applicants will need to under‑
go an in‑person interview before
their green card is approved. This
mandatory interview requirement
is for all employment based appli‑
cants whose I‑485 application was
filed on or after March 6, 2017 in
the EB‑1, EB‑2, and EB‑3 cate‑
gories. Earlier, usually only appli‑
cants with a criminal history or
unlawful presence were called in
for an in‑person interview.
After the I‑140 is approved, the
Service Center will send the appli‑
cantʼs adjustment package to
USCISʼs National Benefits Center
(NBC). There the NBC will review
the application and the applicant
will soon after receive an Interview
Notice from USCIS stating where
interview and if needed an inter‑ Since the adjudication process is
preter. At the interview the officer longer, applicants are encouraged
can ask questions related to the to always update their application
applicantʼs job and job responsibil‑ if there are any material changes
ities, questions related to the appli‑ such as transfer of employment,
cantʼs educational background, change of employer, or change of
questions related to the applicantʼs job titles or duties. Applicants
admissibility, and/or questions should also continue to extend
related to the applicantʼs eligibili‑ their underlying nonimmigrant
ty. The new interview requirement status until the green card is
will cause more delays in all adju‑ approved.
Dev Banad Viswanath is the Principal
Attorney of The Banad Law Offices PC in the
United States, and Banad Immigration in
India for which Attorney Michael Phulwani is
also affiliated as Of Counsel. With Offices in
Manhattan, Queens, Bangalore, and
Mumbai, the firm is able to assist clients
with all facets of the immigration process,
including Employment Visas, Consular Visa
Assistance, Student Visas, Removal &
Deportation, US Citizenship and Green Card
Applications based on Family or
Employment. Dev B. Viswanath can be
reached at Dev@Banadlaw.com
and 718‑361‑5999.
 28 December 14-20, 2019 LIFESTYLE TheSouthAsianTimes.info

South Africa wins Miss Buy a phone, get a kilo of onions

Universe 2019 crown; India's free at this Tamil Nadu shop
Vartika Singh in top 20 T he rising cost of onions in India has led
to some innovative marketing and pub‑
licity stunts. Case in point ‑ a shop in Tamil
iss South Africa was Zozibini Tunzi said on stage Nadu that is offering a kilogram of onions
M crowned Miss before she was crowned free with the purchase of a smartphone.
STR Mobiles, a mobile sales and service
Universe 2019 on Sunday Miss Universe 2019.
in Atlanta in a glitzy cere‑ T he competition was center in Pattukottai, is offering one kg of
mony hosted by popular TV down to a face‑off between onions free with every smartphone pur‑
personality Steve Harvey. Miss South Africa and Miss chased at their store, reports The News
26‑year‑old Zozibini Puerto Rico. T he final Minute.
Tunzi, dressed in a silver announcement was made to The price of the kitchen staple has been
and blue gown, won beating thunderous applause and skyrocketing over the last few days, touch‑ Customers have the option of choosing
ing Rs 180 per kg during the weekend. between small and big onions while
Puerto Rican and Mexican
Miss South Africa Zozibini Tunzi people waving the South availing the offer
finalists. African flag in the audience. The owner of STR Mobiles,
(Image courtesy: thenewsminute.com)
Television personalities Vanessa Lachey T he 26‑year‑old teared up as she was Saravanakumar, thought that the idea of
and Olivia Culpo were backstage commenta‑ crowned Miss Universe. giving out free onions with phone would Customers have the option of choosing
tors, and a panel of seven women determined Ms. Tunzi beat over 90 contestants from boost the popularity of his shop. He claims between small and big onions while avail‑
the winner. around the globe in the 68th installment of that the unusual scheme, which was started ing the offer, the 35‑year‑old said.
In her closing speech, a new segment in the Miss Universe, which was held in Atlanta's last week, has attracted more customers to Traders have blamed the rising price of
competition, the 26‑year‑old spoke of break‑ Tyler Perry Studios. his shop. the vegetable on unseasonal rain. Memes
ing color stereotypes and wanting to empow‑ In videos posted on the of ficial Twitter "The offer has brought in more cus‑ and humorous comments over the rising
er young women. account, Ms. Tunzi is seen celebrating and tomers, indeed," he said to The Hindu. cost of onions have taken over social media.
"I grew up in a world where women who hugging other contestants. "There's work to "Normally I sell only three to four mobile Over the weekend a couple in Tamil Nadu's
look like me with my kind of skin or my kind do," the new Miss Universe said adding that handsets a day. But after the announcement Cuddalore received a 'bouquet' of onions as
of hair are not considered to be beautiful, I this moment is "surreal." sales have increased to 10 handsets or a gift on their wedding. Tamil Nadu Chief
think that it is time that this stops today. I The Philippines' Catriona Gray, who pre‑ more per day during the last two days," he Minister E Palaniswami said the prices will
want children to look at me and see my face, sented Ms. Tunzi the crown, was the Miss added. return to normal levels in two weeks.
then see their faces reflected in mine," Universe winner in 2018.

T his is the season when every‑

one is looking forward to some
plum pudding, Christmas cake and
Christmas baking starts now
mulled wine. If you want to be
the eggs. Place the flour in a large 160C/gas 4. Adjust the oven shelf
everyoneʼs favorite this year, you
bowl and mix with a good pinch of to the right height. Mix together the
can spread the love with some self
salt and make a well in the center. almonds, caster sugar and egg
baked goodies. Sous Chef Vijesh
Add the yeast mixture then the but‑ white for the topping and gently
Modi from T he De ltin, Daman
ter and egg mixture, folding in with brush over the top of the panettone.
shares the secret recipe to a perfect
a large spoon to make soft dough. Place in the oven and bake for 40 –
Panettone.
Knead for 5 mins in the bowl until it 50 mins until golden and risen and
Panettone
all starts to come together. It will be a skewer comes out clean when
Ingredients
pretty sticky dough at this stage. inserted into the middle of the cake.
4 tbsp Warm milk
Turn out the dough onto a floured Leave to cool in the tin for 10 mins
14g Yeast
surface and knead for a further 10 before turning out onto a wire rack.
100g Caster sugar
mins, until everything has come Leave to cool completely before
250g Butter, softened
together and you have a very soft dusting lightly with icing sugar and
5 Medium eggs, lightly beaten
and stretchy dough. Add a light cutting into wedges to serve.
2 tsp Vanilla extract
sprinkling of flour to the surface
Grated zest of 1 lemon
and your hands as you go to stop
Grated zest of 1 orange
500g Strong white bread flour,
plus extra for dusting
the mixture sticking, but try not to
add too much. Place in a lightly Laughter is the Best Medicine
greased bowl and cover with cling
80g Raisins
film. Leave in a warm place for 2
80g Sultanas
hrs until doubled in size. Place the
By Mahendra Shah
3 tbsp Dark rum
raisins and sultanas in a small
100g Good‑quality candied lemon
saucepan with the rum and heat
and orange peel, finely chopped
gently for 5 – 7 mins until the fruit
for topping
has absorbed the liquid and is
30g Whole blanched almonds,
plump and juicy. Set aside to cool.
roughly chopped
When the dough is raised, tip it
1 tbsp Caster sugar
out onto a lightly floured surface
1 tbsp Egg white
and knead for another 5 mins.
1 tbsp Icing sugar
Gradually knead in the soaked
Method
raisins, sultanas and chopped can‑
Grease a panettone tin or a 20cm
died peel. Shape the dough into a
deep cake tin, or use a panettone
ball and pop into the prepared tin.
case. Place the warm milk in a bowl
If using a 20cm cake tin, wrap a
and add the yeast and 1 tsp of
layer of baking parchment around
sugar and leave for a few minutes.
the outside of the tin, to come up
Put the remaining sugar in a large
about 5cm above the rim, and
bowl and beat together with the
secure the paper with string. This
butter and vanilla extract until real‑
will help contain the dough as it
ly light, creamy and pale. Stir in the
rises. Cover lightly with cling film
lemon and orange zest. Add the
and leave to rise for another hour
eggs a little at a time until all are
until it has risen to the top of the tin Mahendra Shah is an architect by education, entrepreneur by profession, artist and humorist, cartoonist
well incorporated. Spoon in a table‑
or paper. and writer by hobby. He has been recording the plight of the immigrant Indians for the past many year in his
spoon of the flour if the mixture
Preheat the oven to 180C/fan cartoons. Hailing from Gujarat, he lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
starts to curdle and beat this in with
TheSouthAsianTimes.info ASTROLOGY December 14-20, 2019 29

Chandigarh, India: +91-172- 256 2832, 257 2874

By Dr Prem Kumar Sharma Delhi, India: +91-11- 2644 9898, 2648 9899
psharma@premastrologer.com; w.premastrologer.com

DECEMBER 14‑20, 2019

Aries: Participating in a social event
will be a welcome change from a
dull routine. An opportunity to
improve your professional skills is on the
cards. Exercise routine is likely to reflect
positively on your body. Some of you are
likely to figure out more ways of enhanc‑
ing your income. Period seems favourable
to take some concrete steps on the roman‑
tic front. Wise investments made in the
past may start giving good returns.
Taurus: A good time with family and
friends is foreseen. Devotion and
concentration will let students pre‑
pare well for a competition or examina‑
tion. A loan given to some relative or
friend will be returned in good faith. Your
personality can impress a lot many on the
professional front. Search for a groom or
bride for the eligible may get underway
soon. Those lagging behind on the fitness
front will be able to catch up well.
Gemini: Professionals looking for a
job can expect to get a good break
this week. Mental tensions will be
countered successfully to achieve peace of
mind.
Those wishing to study overseas are likely
to overcome all financial difficulties. Your
confidence is likely to win some admirers
on the work front.Business persons can
expect full support from your close associ‑
ates in a new venture.
Cancer: Career‑wise a good phase
starts for those looking for prom‑
ising opportunities. Winning the
affections of the one you secretly love can
become your biggest achievement!
Decisions taken about a property invest‑
ment may need your full attention.Unpaid
dues can become an issue, so handle it in
the best possible way.Health needs care,
especially for those who have been ailing
for long.
Leo: There is a possibility of being
invited to a party or function. Some
of you are likely to switch over to a
more promising field.Meeting distant rela‑
tions in a family get‑together will be
fun.An unexpected requirement of money
can prove worrisome, but you will be able
to tide over the situation.Donʼt be too
trusting of an opposite number you had
met recently, as stars foretell caution.
Virgo: Those in the Engineering
fie ld w ill find the wee k quite
favourable. Home remedy can come
to your rescue in getting rid of a minor ail‑
ment.Donʼt buy or sell property as stars
appear unfavourable.Financially, the com‑
ing week may seem worrisome and makes
you focus on increasing your earnings.A
school romance may turn into marriage
for some.Your spiritual endeavours will
help bring peace of mind and content‑
ment.
Libra: Financial gains are indicated
and can bring you on a firm foot‑
ing. An exciting time is foreseen
for those in love.Some of you are likely to
resume your exercise regimen to come
back in shape.
This is a good time to make important
contacts by meeting people on the social
front.You are likely to get all the support
of well‑wishers for succeeding on the aca‑
demic front.
Scorpio: Professional problems are
likely to be resolved efficiently.
Those on a long journey will be able
to make good time.If you are looking for
some lucrative and paying assignments,
this may be your lucky week ahead.You
manage to buy an expensive item that you
had been planning for long. Chances of
winning the heart of the one you love look
bright.You are likely to take some positive
steps to conserve money.
Sagittarius: A job well done at work
is likely to make you most pleased
with yourself.A changed diet plan
suits you well and will keep you in the
best of health and spirits. Those in love
may need to plan out their meetings in
advance.A change of scene, through a
short vacation or local trip, will prove the
best remedy for your tired mind.Students
wanting admission in good institutes will
find the time favourable.
Capricorn: Luck favours you on the
financial front as earnings
increase.Your valuable suggestion
is likely to bring about a positive change
at work. Professional achievement will
open many avenues for some.Your helpful
attitude will come in for praise from all
directions. Do not take your good health
for granted.Good advice may be required
to make a profitable investment.
Comfortable travel is assured.
Aquarius: You will experience a
refreshing change on the professional
front.Your negotiating skills are likely
to swing a lucrative deal in your
favour.Salaried will find the week most
favourable.Your friendsʼ circle is set to expand
as you spread your wings. Overworking may
lead to lower backache/body‑aches. A good
bargain and saving of money is foreseen for
some.Your careless attitude is likely to aggra‑
vate a health problem.
Pisces: You will be able to make
much progress on lagging projects
at work.Some of you may have to
sharpen your communication skills to
make your mark in your field of expert‑
ise.Those adopting yoga or an exercise
regime are likely to discover the benefits
for themselves.Helping out someone from
the opposite camp can blossom into
romance.Good preparation will find some
students faring beyond their expectations.

December 14, 2019 Opportunities to lift your living

Governed by number 5 and the
planet Mercury, you are active,
authoritative, dashing, confident,
helpful, sincere and kind hearted
person. You like to enjoy life to the
fullest. You are not very good in
expressing your emotions to your
lover and your tendency to behave
extravagant and lazy always attracts
criticism from those around you.
This is going to be an extremely
rewarding period for women.
Favorable stars will bring you pros‑
perity and good fortune. A spectacu‑
lar leap in your professional career
is foreseen provided you make use
of the opportunities that arise
before you. Good flow of finances
will improve your living comforts
and savings. An infatuation with the
opposite sex will come as a surprise
and it will take some time before
you start thinking straight again.
The health of your parents will
cause some concern, but donʼt
worry unnecessarily. The months of
October, February, April & August
will be highly important.
December 15, 2019
Influenced by number 6 and the
Planet Venus, you are enthusiastic,
loyal, charming, witty and helpful in
nature. You have a very sharp mem‑
ory, and your grasping power is
really wonderful. You can easily
hold position of leadership and
authority but you loose good oppor‑
tunities due to your tendency to
behave moody, stubborn and vindic‑
tive at times. This year there will be
ANNUAL PREDICTIONS: FOR THOSE BORN IN THIS WEEK
a rise in your expenses making it
difficult for you to save. Although
slow progress of work and disagree‑
ments over small issues will irritate
you and even show on your health,
but towards the yearend, you will be
pleased and satisfied with your
achievements. Investments made
during this period will bring in good
returns, though not immediately but
eventually. Students will perform
well in academics and will be reward‑
ed for their contribution towards
extra curricular activities. Spouse
remains cooperative despite your
erratic behavior. The months of Dec,
Feb, May & June will be important.
December 16, 2019
Governed by Number 7 and the
planet Neptune, you are independ‑
ent, creative, confident, practical
and a systematic person. You are
highly ambitious and want to be
very rich and famous, but at times
you need to check your tendency
towards stubbornness and to ignore
the opinion of others.
This year financial gains will be
from various fronts but uncertainty
regarding your partner is likely to
be one black spot on your chart of
success and achievements. Do not
trust others more than required.
Time management and planning will
be of immense importance.
Socializing, parties and pleasure
jaunts will be quite regular and
pleasurable. Wedding bells will ring
for those eligible and others will
find romance to keep them going.
Your over involvement in work will
bring in some dismay and resent‑
ment among family members. The
months of September, December,
March and June will be highly sig‑
nificant.
December 17, 2019
Ruled by number 8 and the planet
Saturn. You are ambitious, ener‑
getic, confident sober and a simple
person. You possess sharp memory
and are always interested in improv‑
ing your knowledge and skill, but
your progress gets hampered
because of your tendency to behave
erratic and stubborn at times.
T his year a promotion or an
increase in responsibility will bring
you reasons to celebrate. Those pro‑
fessionals looking for a career
abroad will receive favorable
response. New projects will add a
touch of class to your profile. A
healthier and loving atmosphere will
prevail at home, which will bring
good health and prosperity.
Housewives will have to cope with
regular arrival of guests and rela‑
tives. Traveling to a distant place for
spiritual gains cannot be ruled out.
The months of December, January,
May & August will prove to be result
oriented.
December 18, 2019
Influenced by number 9 and the
planet Mars, you are highly ambi‑
tious, dignified, independent, coura‑
geous, outgoing, and an enthusiastic
person. You are a born leader and
you have no trouble in motivating
and leading others, but you need to
check your tendency to behave
erratic, impatient and arrogant at
times. This year you should not be
too generous with your time and
money. Use the opportunities that
come your way to improve your
earnings and living standard. Your
confidence and morale will be high
and you are likely to win favours
during this period. New partnership
will be lucrative and investment will
yield gains. You will strengthen your
position in the social circle. If you
propose any new ideas, you will be
surprised, as many important peo‑
ple will back your thoughts.
Participating in cultural activities
will be educating as well as enter‑
taining. The months of September,
December, March and July will be
important.
December 19, 2019
Dominated by number 1 and the
Sun, you are original, confident,
honest, methodical and a systematic
person. You have deep interest in
spirituality and always search to
find inner peace. You are deeply
admired by people around you, but
you need to check your tendency to
behave impatient, extravagant and
moody at times.
standard will come through new
contacts that you develop this year.
You need to concentrate your maxi‑
mum ef forts into career improve‑
ment, as it will yield desired results.
You will do extremely well socially if
you travel and get involved in clubs
and social events. Distant pilgrimage
is on the cards for some of you.
Spouse and children will be support‑
ive but health of your parents will
be a matter of concern. The months
of January, April, May and August
will bring in the desired result.
December 20, 2019
Ruled by number 2 and the Moon,
you are imaginative, simple, noble,
friendly and highly disciplined per‑
son. You can easily accomplish diffi‑
cult tasks with your dedication and
hard work, but you need to control
your tendency to behave cynical,
stubborn and introvert at times.
Pending problems will get sorted
out. This new phase in your life will
bring you rewards and recognition.
Your financial position will also
improve and you will feel more
secured and satisfied with whatever
you do. Family and friends will be
there for you when you need them.
Legal matters will be complicating
and you should avoid standing guar‑
antee for others, as it will cause
embarrassment and many legal
problems. Matrimonial alliances for
few lovebirds. Pilgrimage and reli‑
gious activities will bring peace of
mind. The months of October, Dec.
April and May will be significant.
 30 December 14-20, 2019 SPIRITUAL AWARENESS TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Healing the body through meditation

few, that are sometimes throughout the day can reduce an idea of the power of protection
stress‑related. the risk of becoming victim to from pain afforded to us when we
Meditation can help us in stress‑related ailments. perfect our meditations.
several ways. First, it can Second, meditation can lift Recent medical studies are draw‑
lessen our stress, and in turn, our attention to a higher level ing a correlation between patients
reduce our chances of devel‑ of consciousness so that we do who pray and meditate before and
oping a stress‑related illness. not feel the pinching effects of after surgery and those who do not.
In this hectic world, our mind any illness we do deve lop. Early studies find that patients heal
is often agitated by stress and Through meditation, we come and recover more quickly from sur‑
pressures. Life has become so in contact with a stream of bliss gery when they pray or meditate
By Sant Rajinder Singh complicated that people seem and joy within that takes our before surgery or after surgery.
that the brain activity in people who
Ji Maharaj to have too much to do and not attention away from the pains of Spending regular, accurate time in
meditate reflects a state of deep

D
enough time to do it. Some people the world. Through mastery of med‑ meditation has been shown to
octors and scientists have relaxation. Their mind becomes
hold jobs that require long hours itation, we have a refuge of bliss reduce stress. Many medical centers
been studying the body‑ calmer. Meditation also calms the
and too much responsibility. Other and peace within, safe from the rav‑ and hospitals offer classes in medi‑
mind connection and its body. If we could spend some time
people work two jobs and raise a ages of physical pain. tation as a way to reduce stress and
relationship to physical health. each day in meditation, we would
family. Too much pressure often Although at times we may get sick eliminate certain illnesses. Many
Medical researchers have linked find our stress levels would be
causes people to seem to snap̶ because we break natural laws, people have requested to learn our
certain illnesses to our state of reduced and our health would reach
they become irritable, of f‑balance, meditation can help us rise above introductory meditation, called
mind and to our emotional condi‑ a more optimum level.
and “stressed‑out.” They begin to the discomfort and find solace and Jyoti meditation, taught at our
tion. They have found that when we Besides reducing stress during
act in ways that are not “them‑ peace above the consciousness of Science of Spirituality centers
undergo mental stress or emotional meditation, there is a carry‑over
selves.” Sometimes they take out bodily pain. We have only to look at throughout the world as a way to
pain or depression, our physical effect. We can maintain more peace
their frustrations on their loved near‑death experiences to see how reduce stress.
resistance to disease drops. We of mind as we continue our activi‑
ones and hurt those they should people who undergo excruciatingly As you continue to meditate, you
become more susceptible to con‑ ties throughout the day. As we per‑
love the most. painful accidents were lifted above will experience the inner peace and
tracting a disease because our abili‑ fect our meditations, we can main‑
Meditation is a way to eliminate their pain when they temporarily bliss. As you do this, you will experi‑
ty to keep our immune system in tain that calm state of mind even in
the lack of balance caused by the left their body. They could see their ence a reduction in stress.
top working order decreases. the midst of turmoil and strife. We
mental stresses of life. By spending body with injuries and trauma lying Meditation is an effective means to
Science has pinpointed certain would be more in control of our
time in meditation, we create a calm below them, but they no longer help us reduce stress and increase a
diseases such as digestive problems, reactions and would maintain an
haven in which we restore equilibri‑ experienced any physical pain until sense of calm and peace, which can
breathing problems, heart disease, even keel in the face of other peo‑
um and peace to our mental func‑ they returned to the body. This is help us heal our physical body.
and migraine headaches, to name a ple's conflicts. Reducing our stress
tioning. Researchers have recorded one analogous situation to give us (www.sos.org)

By Sant Rajinder Singh Ji

Maharaj
T
rue friends are those who stand by you
always. They will sacrifice themselves
for you, and are people on whom you
can always rely. True friends listen to your
problems and share your burdens. Truly, if we
have even one real friend in life, we are lucky.
If we think about our childhood friends, how
many are still with us now? Have we parted
ways already? Perhaps they have moved away,
or we have lost contact with them. Let us con‑
sider our close friends today. Can we imagine
that they, too, will one day be parted from us
just as those friends from our childhood are
gone? Even if we have one close friend, or even
a few, they can only be with us up to our last
breath, or their last breath. They can only
remain with us in this life and cannot help us
in the moment of our greatest need̶the time
of death.
In this connection, there is an interesting
story from the Hindu scriptures. There was a
learned pundit who was the personal minister
of King Prikshat. Each day the minister would
read out the scriptures to the king. The particu‑
lar scripture said that whoever hears the scrip‑
tures will receive spiritual liberation and
enlightenment. Month after month, the king
listened to the scriptures read by the minister.
However, he did not attain liberation.
One day, the king sat down and thought,
FINDING A TRUE FRIEND
“Here I am̶listening to these scriptures every
day, and I am not yet spiritually liberated. The
scriptures say that whoever listens to these
holy writings will receive salvation once and
for all, but I have not.”
Therefore, the king called the minister and
said, “Look here. I have heard these scriptures
so many times and have not attained libera‑
tion. I will give you one more chance to read
these scriptures to me from end to end. If I am
not liberated after that, you will be put to
death.” Trembling in his shoes, the minister
began the task of re‑reading the scriptures to
the king. By the sixth day he was nearing the
end of the scriptures, and the king was not sat‑
isfied. Fearing that on the seventh day he
would be put to death, the minister sat down in
his home and started to cry.
“Why are you so sad?” asked his daughter
when she saw him.
The ministered explained the situation to
her, “The scriptures say that whoever reads
them will be liberated. However, I know that
the king is not liberated, nor am I liberated.
Therefore, tomorrow, I will be put to death.”
The daughter was wise and had an idea. “Do
not worry,” she said. “Tomorrow I will speak to
the king.” On the following day, the ministerʼs
daughter asked for an audience with the king.
“Why have you come?” he questioned her.
She told him, “I have come to reply to the
question that you have asked of my father. But
to do this, you and I must go together to the
wilderness.” The king was perplexed, but
agreed to go along with her plan. The girl then
sent for her father. She brought along two
ropes and when they reached the wilderness
she tied the king to one tree and her father to
another tree. Both were then bound, hand and
foot. The king was wondering what all this
meant when the girl asked, “Father, can you
kindly unbind the king over there?”
The minister replied, “I am already bound!
How can I free him?”
The girl asked, “Your Majesty, will you kindly
unbind my father?”
The king replied, “Foolish girl, donʼt you see
that I am bound? How can a bound man
unbind another?”
That is all she wanted to hear and said, “Then
how can you expect my father, who is not free
himself, to liberate you spiritually?” The king
himself had answered the dilemma in which he
had placed the minister. With that understand‑
ing, the king spared the life of the minister.
At the time of death, we all depart by our‑
selves. No friends of this world can help us.
They can sit by our bedside and hold our hand,
but they can neither protect us from death nor
accompany us. Knowing this, we still put our
reliance on people of this world.
Looking back at the friendships we have had
in our lives, how many of them led us closer to
God, and how many of them have taken us
away from God? What kind of friend should we
look for then? To be truly awakened spiritually,
we should seek the friendship of the Lord.
We have only a set number of breaths to
reunite our soul with God.
Let us do everything possible to attain that
goal. The best way to reach the Lord is through
meditation, sweet remembrance, and selfless
service. These activities safeguard us from
being pulled away by distractions of the world.
If we do these things, then we will be ready at
the time of our death. Having mastered the art
of rising above body‑consciousness (by medi‑
tating daily on the inner Light and Sound of
God) , we will know what awaits us in the
Beyond.
Befriending God makes our spirit soar.
Waves of divine love make our soul rise to the
eye‑focus where we see tremendous Light. Is
there any love or friendship of the world that
can bring us to the eye‑focus and make us rise
above physical body‑consciousness? Only the
love of the Lord can make us wide awake̶not
only in this world, but wide awake into the
Beyond.
(www.sos.org)
TheSouthAsianTimes.info December 14-20, 2019

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TheSouthAsianTimes.info December 14-20, 2019

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