Bollywood 16

Diaspora 19

Op Ed 25

Spiritual Awareness 30

The South Asian Times

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Vol. 3 | No. 38 | January 8-14, 2011 | 60 Cents

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Cuomo appoints Andy Shenoy as UNDC director

Tristate Community, Page 5

Panel softpedals separate Telengana issue

India, page 13

Shocking killing of Pakistan Punjab Governor

Subcontinent, Page 20

India draw Test series 1-1 with S. Africa

Sports, Page 24

India asks diaspora to invest in land of new opportunities

The South Asian Times is covering Pravasi Bharaitya Divas in New Delhi. Look for extensive coverage in our next issue.

India off to a flying start at UNSC

On assuming rotational membership of the UN Security Council, India elected to chair counter-terrorism committee.
Washington: India couldnt have asked for a better start to its stint at the United Nations Security Council. On its first day on the council on Jan 5, India was elected to chair the important committee on counter terrorism, which gives it a significant voice and clout in the ongoing effort against the worst security threat facing the world. A little later, the UN mission in Nepal in support of the peace process was officially wound down, something India had been working towards for a while. Basically getting UN out of Indias backyard, said a diplomat. Not a bad day for India, which returned to the Security Council after 19 years to begin a twoyear non-permanent stint, widely seen as a dress rehearsal for a larger role -- a permanent seat -- in not too distant a future. An excellent first day for India, the countrys Permanent Representative to UN Hardeep S. Puri said. While India took its position in the council officially on January 1, it attended the full and open meeting of the body for the first time on Wednesday, making its first appearance in the elite grouping. India has been preparing for the day for a long time. Its Permanent Mission in New York launched press and public outreach weeks ago, getting out its message on where it stands on major issues. The Security Councils Counter-Terrorism Committee was set up in 2001 within weeks of the September 11 attacks to monitor implementation of UN resolution asking member Indias Permanent nations to deny terrorist outfits Representative to the UN Hardeep Puri waves from his access to funds and havens. UNSC Continued on page 4 seat at the Security Council.

The Union Minister for HRD, Science & Technology, etc, Kapil Sibal addressing the inaugural session at the 9th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in New Delhi Jan 7. The Union Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs, Vayalar Ravi is to his right. New Delhi: The 9th edition of Indias annual convention to connect with its 25-million-strong diaspora in 130 countries kicked off here Friday with a fervent appeal to them to return to their roots, a land of new opportunities, and share the fruits together. Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi led the Indian government in welcoming professionals and entrepreneurs in virtually every field- from healthcare and education to research and commerce - to participate in and benefit from Indias progress. PBD continued on page 4 More PBD stories on page 9

Cuomo to reinvent, reorganize and redesign New York

Albany, NY: Andrew Cuomo (KWOH-moh) was sworn into office as New Yorks 56th governor in a private ceremony on New Year Eve. Son of former state Governor Mario Cuomo, Andrew, earlier attorney general, replaced David Paterson, who took the governors office in 2008 after Eliot Spitzer resigned in a call girl scandal. In his State of the State address January 5, Cuomo a stark analysis of New Yorks dismal plight. Assisted by huge video screens at Albanys downtown auditorium, he offered detailed proposals to reinvent, reorganize and redesign New York government at almost every level. He promised to make New York a business-friendly state and to bring down state spending. He will also pursue progressive causes, from marriage equality and reorganization of juvenile detention centers to new consumer protections and fresher food in urban centers. Cuomo Continued on page 4

New York state Governor Andrew Cuomo takes an oath of office at the Executive Mansion in Albany Dec. 31, 2010 as his girlfriend Sandra Lee, Food Network star, holds the Bible and his daughter Michaela looks on.

Jaipur: The American Association of awearness about the cervical cancer Physician of Indian Origin (AAPI) held its and education to the general public for 4th Indo-US Healthcare Summit in Jaipur prevention of communicable diseases. from January 3-5 with much fanfare. ForAAPI Continued on page 4 mer President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam inaugurated it and state governor Shivraj Patil spoke at the concluding session. AAPI President Dr Ajeet R Singhvi in his address said that more than one lakh doctors are associated with AAPI and the organization is working as a bridge between the USA and India. He charted Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot the road map of AAPI for India in the flanked by AAPI President Dr Ajeet coming years, which included preven- Singhvi and Dr Ajay Lodha, Chair of tion of blindness, increasing public AAPI Convention 2011 in New York.

AAPI concludes health summit in India

Sonia Gandhi

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January 8-14, 2010 December 25-31, 2011

Delay prone Minister Apple 2,500 to attend AAPI Convention in Bigurges

New York: For its 29th annual convention, womens forum and several continuing medDr J. Ganesh Bhat, newly appointed to the the American Association of Physicians of ical education seminars, Dr. Lodha said. Public Health and Health Planning Council Indian Origin (AAPI) has again chosen New Dr Lodha also gave a power point presen- (PHHPC) in New York State, highlighted the York. The convention of the nations premier tation on the convention, unveiling the mar- rising profile of Indian physicians in the medical association will be held June 22-26, keting prospectus. Sponsorships range from country by mentioning the appointment of Dr The embassy in Washington is pledged to raise the issue with In2011 at Hilton New York, and is expected to Super Platinum ($500,000) to Silver Nirav Shah as Health Commissioner of the urging them to suggest ideas for scheduled to begin outsourcing the dian authorities to resolve pending be attended by over 2,500. ($100,000). He detailed the floor plan of the state by incoming Governor Andrew care serthe betterment of health Cuomo. processing of passport surrender cer- issues in this context. The convention kick-off meeting, coordiconvention on two floors of the hotel, where Dr Shashi Shah, President of the Host Orvices and its delivery in villages. tificates as well as PIO and OCI card Ambassador Dayal, however, nated by Convention Chair Dr Ajay Lodha, a large chunk of rooms have also been ganization and Chair of the AAPI Charitable It is estimated that there are services starting Jan. 11, the Hous- countered that emergency requests was held on December 19 at the convention booked at a negotiated rate. A hotel official Foundation, said AAPI can rise as much as its 1.2 million physicians of Indian ton consulate will begin Feb. 1, and at the New York consulate are being venue-- the imposing hotel Hilton in Man- New York consulate will start gave a guided tour of the convention floors members want it to rise. origin working in many counthe dealt with on a regular basis. Not hattans historic Avenue of the Americas. Feb. 15; other consulates will follow. only do we give emergencybanquet hall that can seat 2,500 The with a huge visas He emphasized the importance of increastries around the world. meetingConsul General in New York, and a Saturdays, ing AAPI membership, at the occasion, numSpeaking considering the MinIndias to begin planning and logistics for is not coming a day too soon. daily, we also open onspacious exhibition area. This Prabhu Dayal the convention was well-attended by nearly The two past presidents, Dr Dayan Naik berState istry of of Indian origin number New Delhi: Minister of of physicians Overseas Indian Affairs Applications of thousands of Indian- he told the media. While asserting 150 people, including AAPI of pro- Americans wishing to travel to India that procedures (2000-01) and Dr Hemant PatelDinesh Trivedi Fri- Secretary A.country Singh urged New York: After months President Dr for surrendering for Health (2007-8) about one lakh in the Didar and another Ajeet Singhvi, two past presidents, regional awaiting clearance at the five Indian passports are clearly full cooperation. Welcome to diaspora the diaspora to partner with govpromised their ex- day urged the Indian 20,000 are students. (In the past six months tests from naturalized citizens of are chapter heads andthe processing of ofconsulates in the country, according plained on the consulates websites, Dr Patel said, should be since Dr Singhvi took office, AAPI has inthe Big Apple! That, to partner with the government ernment agencies. Indian origin, other leading lights the Overseas Indians worldwide organisation. the convention slogan as making health care creased passport surrender certificates as to community organizations. he agreed that the new regulations in it will attract people. facilities its membership by 1,000). In a generate an economic output AAPI had chosen the Big Applebeing for in 2010 Some have been unable to travel have led to a huge rush in applica- more accessible. He recalled that during his term the inaugural democracy, he said, numbers are crucial to well as PIO and OCI cards is health of about $400 clout, which is its annual meet. And in year 2007, the venue was held, of has outsourced by Indian consulates to to India even during emergencies tions coming in.Indo-US Health the To cope with SummitDelivery and itqualitydraw full benefits. To addbillion members was neighboring Philadelphia. The to because of the lengthy procedures rush and backlogs, he said, since bycare services to every nook and equivalent to about 30 percent of Tristate been growing We leaps and bounds. The should route their political donations through streamline operations, according The 29th AAPI convention will be held area is where AAPI hasin large concentration the lack of manpower at consul- hired some staff temporarily, being held in Jaipur early Jan- is a big Indias GDP, Singh said. Origin fourth summit, but corner of the country Association of Physicians of Indian the Consul General a New York, and under the presidentship of There are various in Washof its membership and the 2007 and 2010 Representatives of the commu- new, untrained staff is not so ef- by former President Dr Political Action Committee formedmedia by uary, will be graced challenge for government agenAmbassador Prabhu Dayal. ates. Dr Ajeet R. Singhvi. cies, of Overseas In-at ington, Dr Shah said. On the practice side, he Trivedi said the 9th which Indian diaspora can conconventions were a success. As the new rules regarding renun- nity like GOPIO leaders attending fective. And we APJ Abdul enough Minister dont have Kalam, nect with India doing its best at Those who addressed the were ex- most 7-9 Pravasi Bharatiya space. But he promised that Vayalar Ravi, andBharatiya Divas emphasized that AAPI waslike Overseas Indian Affairs things Pravasi the Rajasthan here. ciation of Indian citizenshipmeeting the January successful to date. Indeed, said Delhi have are going the governor and The doctors of Indian origin level and since state Global Inpressed confidence that the 2011 convention meet in New Dr Lodha confidently, to get better soon. chief minister. He said AAPI the federaldia Facilitation Centre, laws vary, causing most confusion, delaying Divas are a critical mass, which con- dian Network of Knowledge, and would be a tremendous success, and expect- 2011 convention will prove to be a new mile- has planned a blindness prevention program AAPI local chapters have to become more the issuance of surrender certificates stitutes with 25 percent of the India Development Foundation of ed it to attract thefor naturalized citimade mandatory largest turnout to date of stone in the history of AAPI. He pointed to in Rajasthan in collaboration aboutthe state active. the cooperation and advice from leaders of government. global doctors pool, he saidtheOverseas Indians, he said. was zens, members. Some are promising AAPI Indian officials of them gave tips on After meeting, a sumptuous lunch the organization, including current and past an improved scenario and faster turnholding a successful conference. They elaboDr Naik said the success of a convention is served at Mint restaurant. Dr. Sunita Kanuaround time early start, detailed planning, members of AAPI Board of Trustees present always a matter of pride for the local chapterpaper, The South Asian ,Times is in. rated that an as they outsource more Your favorite mury, President-elect, AAPI also joined services relating to new regulations. immaculate hospitality and perfect execution at the meeting. organizing it. Fundraising and shared respon- Lunch ended with a surprise element--it was At the convention, Indian American physi- sibility are the key, he added. covering the PravasiAjeet Singhvis birthday and he cut a cake. were the key. Dr Bharatiya Divas in New Delhi cians, who form a notable chunk of the medDr Singhvi, in his brief address, inspired all Dr Sudhir Parikh, an allergist and Padma 7-9,AAPI isLook for ethnicexclusive from January 2011. the largest our medical organipresent to collectively work for a great con- ical profession in this country, hope to con- Shri and Ellis Island medal honoree, extend- zation in the US. It is an umbrella organizacoverage in our next issue, dated local chapters, vention. He recalled that the 2000 conference tribute ideas and solutions to health-care de- ed full cooperation of his publishing group tion which has nearly 130january 15. spelivery problems in India and the US.We will (Desi Talk and News India Times) to the con- cialty societies and alumni organizations and under Dr Dayan Naik was a success, and the 2007 one (25th AAPI anniversary) under Dr discuss how to improve the health system, in- vention. He also offered his good office for over 40,000 members. It has a legislative ofHemant Patel in Philadelphia was financially crease residency slots, hold a very big getting sponsorships. fice in Washington DC. Kolkata: A Kolkata-born doctor, Known in the medical fraternity The liver research and treatment who is part of the medical team that as Pat Basu, he left for London in center is expected to come up by the treats US President Barack Obama, 1982 and from there shifted to the side of the arterial Eastern Metropolhas decided to do his bit for his native US in 1987. He is currently associ- itan Bypass in the city by next year. place by setting up a super-specialty ated with the American Liver The initial budget for the project liver research and treatment center. will be Rs.100 crore (over $20 milWashington: Indian-origin first ever Indian American GovI am planning to set up one of lion). It will have various sub-centers Louisiana leader Bobby Jindal ernor of an American State. the best liver research and treatment in districts surrounding the metropo- is the most popular serving govSince then he has been ranked centers York (SATimes):be an an-a lis. Each sub-centre will be inter- ernor in the US. Jindal has an as one of the most popular govciously expressing his confidence New in Kolkata. It will Within swer to all kinds of liver ailments, connectedme to continue the vital role of ernors of the country and a rising month of legal luminary Ravi Bain and also linked to the main approval rating of 58%, Prithijit Patrik Basu said. centre IOLA tosatellite technology. needthrough provide additional along with 34% disapproving star of the Republican Party. tra being appointed to the Judicial Basu, one of the three Indian They will have both treatment of his job, shows a survey by Screening Committee, 2nd dept, ed funding to not-for-profit civil doctors in the medical team that and research facilities for medical Public Policy Polling. One of the that Obama,judges for many counselects was born in the Ballegal service the best liver the treats students. It will be providers acrosstop ranking Republican leaders state for the Asia. ties, Ravi BatraSouth Kolkata. He has been given anlygunge area of research institute inpoor. The in- of the country, Jindal is seeking other important position N.R.S Batra thanked the Senate re-election next year. completed his MBBS from by the Native place beckons Prithijit stitute will cater to patients from majorMedical College here in the late Patrik Basu, one of three doctors various neighboring states listed referJindal was closely followed outgoing Governor Paterson. ity as well as my such The Salvation Army helps people across 1970s and worked has appointed Ba- of Indian origin in the team as a resident docas Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa and byJodi Rell, the outgoingand has been doing so since The Governor ences for this position: the legthe World, govertor with SSKM in the (Interest on that treats the President early 80s. Assam. The institute willAttorney Bobof Connecticut, who has an cater to nor tra to New York IOLA endary District 1865. It is noted that 89 cents of every dolAsked what prompted him to set Morgenthau, Congressman approval rating of 55%. CaliforEd Lawyer Account Fund) Board of Foundation. Since 2008 he has poor patients, said Basu. lar governor is used for assistance proup a liver research and treatment also been serving as the leading The proposed institute is also nias outgoing donatedArnold Trustees, for a 2-year doctor said: Towns, Rabbi Waldman and Schwarzenegger was the least grams, not salaries, making The Salvation centre in Kolkata, the term, accept- liver surgeon in the medical team planning to have a helipad and he- Ambassador to airlift patients popular in the country of the best economically run ing the Senate to do something Actually I wantedmajority's recom- that looks after Obamas health. licopter facilities Prabhu Dayal, Indian Army one with an Consul General. mendation made in June has for Bengal, for my Kolkata. It2010. Asked whether he ever had an from remote areas. Basu said the approval rating of just in the world. Donate online to: charities 25%. The eminent New York attorney been more than 25 years since I left opportunity to treat Obama, a smil- centre in Kolkata will have a docAt 36, Jindal in 2007 became www.onlineredkettle.org, or TEXT to NYSA Bengal. But the Governor as its gra- ing Basu said: Thank god, till date tor exchange program with medi- the first elected non-white Govthanked Bengal as well for culEminent attorney Ravi Batra 52000 to make the Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal ture is still alive in my heart. I havent had that opportunity. cal establishments in the US. ernor of Louisiana and also a $10 Donation.

consular work diaspora to assist being outsourced in health care

Obamas doctor to set up hospital in Kolkata Ravi Batra gets another key position

Jindal most popular guv in US

Community TheSouthAsianTimes.info
overseas Indians to participate with enthusiasm, Ravi told the estimated 1,500 delegates from 51 countries here for the event. Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal also called for collaboration from the Indian diaspora, especially in building the education sector that was so crucial to ensure the country reaches its true potential. Sibal said the government has opened up the entire higher education sector, adding that the Foreign Universities Bill to allow institutions from overseas to set up their hubs in India was also pending in parliament. We hope to get it passed soon. Formally called the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, the three-day event will also be addressed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday and President Pratibha Patil will honor some dozen eminent people of Indian origin for their contributions in various field Sunday. The focus this year is on the eight northeastern states - Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim. The speakers include several ministers and chief ministers. New Zealand Governor-General Anand Satyanand is the chief guest. Tech evangelist Sam Pitroda in his address asked overseas Indians to invest in broadband since a huge opportunity existed in the country given the governments goal of reaching it to each of its 626,000 villages with other applications for inclusive growth. Cuomo story from page 1 He announced the creation of three commissions to recommend within weeks how to trim state government agencies and authorities by 20 percent, how to remove the costliest state demands on local governments, and how to cut Medicaid costs, probably by at least $2 billion. To encourage good government practices, another $250 million for local governments to consolidate their services and $250 million for school districts that educate their students more successfully. To clean up Albany politics, the governors wish list includes public financing for elections, an independent redistricting commission, full disclosure of outside income by legislators and other reforms. Governor Cuomo will present his first balanced budget, which is due Feb 1. Cuomo cut his own salary by 5 percent, and asked for a wage freeze for most state workers for a year. That would make more budgetary sense if he did not seem so inclined to eliminate the income tax surcharge on people making more than $200,000 a year. AAPI story from page 1 Highlighting their social responsibility efforts, Dr Hemant Patel, former AAPI President, gave details of the Sevak project run in all districts of Gujarat and said that it will be extended to Rajasthan. AAPI also committed itself to promoting medical tourism in India, for which there is a huge potential. AAPI President-elect Dr Sunita Kanumury thanked the warm hospitality by the people of Rajasthan and hoped that the 5th Indo-US health summit may be held in Jaipur again.

October 8-14, 2011 January 23- 29, 2010

UNSC story from page 1 That gives India, long a victim of terrorism, a chance to use all available forums now to increase the pitch against terrorism, said an Indian diplomat. Specifically, this position will give India additional ammunition against state-backed terrorism across its border in Pakistan, whose ambivalent fight against terrorism had frustrated the world and its ally the US. The UN mission in Nepal was the first briefing India received as part of the Security Council, and happily for it, Representative Karin Landgrens recommendation to wind down her mission was accepted. Its extended term was lapsing on January 15. PBD story from page 1 I urge all of you to participate and discover areas of common interest and engagement. I especially call on our young

AAPI Health Summit coverage on pages 10-12.

US House takes first step toward health care repeal

Washington: House Republicans cleared a hurdle Friday in their first attempt to scrap President Barack Obamas landmark health care overhaul, yet it was little more than a symbolic swipe at the law. The real action is in states, where Republicans are using federal courts and governors offices to lead the assault against Obamas signature domestic achievement, a law aimed at covering nearly all Americans. Republicans prevailed Friday in a 236-181 procedural vote, largely along party lines, that sets the stage for the House to vote next week on the repeal. Shortly before the House vote, Republican governors representing 30 states opened up a new line of attack, potentially more successful. In a letter to Obama and congressional leaders, the governors complained that provisions of the health care law are restricting their ability to control Medicaid spending, raising the threat of devastating cuts to other critical programs, from education to law enforcement in a weak economy. Its ammunition for critics trying to dismantle the overhaul piece by piece. Moreover, a federal judge in Florida is expected to rule shortly in a lawsuit brought by 20 states that challenges the laws central requirement that most Americans carry health insurance. A judge in Virginia ruled it unconstitutional last month, while in courts in two other cases have upheld it. Its expected that the Supreme Court will ultimately have to resolve the issue. Obama made history last year when Congress finally passed the law after months of contentious debate, closing in on a goal that Democrats had pursued for generations. Republicans say they changed history by taking back the House in the midterm elections, partly on the strength of their pledge to tea party supporters and other conservatives to undo the divisive law, whose complexities, costs and consequences remain largely unknown.

Big fat Indian wedding spices up Auckland

Auckland: A three-day Indian wedding taking place in Auckland is possibly the biggest, fattest wedding party this city has seen. This week a multimillionaire groom Vikram Aditya Kumar arrived at the venue of his wedding ceremony in one of nine helicopters with 53 close friends to a red-carpet welcome and seven dressed-up horses. A fireworks display erupted at the close of the ceremony at the Formosa Golf Resort in Beachlands, where Mr Kumar professed his love to beauty queen-turned-doctor Pooja Chitgopeker exactly a year to the day after they set eyes on each other. Earlier, traffic in parts of Auckland was brought to a standstill as streets were partially closed for two wedding processions, one led by the groom and his father, Shalabh Kumar, on horses to a temple seeking blessings for the marriage, and the other for the brides party. The invitation promised lions and cheetahs to lead the main baraat, or traditional wedding party, but organisers said logistics had made it impossible, and they were replaced by horses. The change had little impact on the grandness of the party, however.

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NY Governor appoints Andy Shenoy as UNDC director

New York: New York Governor David Paterson has appointed Indian-American business leader of tri-state area Andy Keshav Shenoy as board of director on the United Nations Development Corporation (UNDC). The appointment was made in consultation with United Nations Secretary- General and United States Ambassador to the United Nations. United Nations Development Corporation is a public benefit corporation created by the State and City of New York to assist the UN with real estate requirements that include planning, development and financing. Andy Keshav Shenoy, President of Trivision Group Inc in New York has been politically active for over two decades, and he is credited for arranging several important meetings for Indian and South Asian community leaders with several New York Governors, New York City Mayors as well as State Legislative Leaders. Andy Shenoy has served all previous three administrations on a bi-partisan basis. In September of 2003, he was responsible for facilitating the meeting between the then Prime Minister of India Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the then New York Governor George E. Pataki to discuss bilateral trade arrangements and economic developments between New York State and India. He is also the President of Indo-American Promotion - a not-for-profit organization and he has been instrumental in the development of economic ties between India and the State of New York. In 2005, Shenoy was a recipient of Governors award of excellence for his significant contribution to the social, economic and cultural development of New York State and the nation. Shenoy holds several important appointments, including Special Advisor for South-Asian affairs to the then Governor George Pataki and he continues to serve on the Board of Directors of The Hugh L. Carey Battery Park City Authority and the State Advisory Board of Tourism. He currently serves on

Andy Keshav Shenoy, President of Trivision Group Inc New Yorks Governor-elect Andrew Cuomos Transition Team.

NY Tamil Sangam elects new president

New York: Dr Prakash M Swamy, a senior Indian-American journalist of New York was elected unanimously as president of New York Tamil Sangam (association), one of the oldest of its kind in the US.The executive committee of the association that met earlier this week decided to elect Dr. Swamy who served as its secretary between 2008 and 2010. The current president Albert Chelladurais term ends on Dec 31, 2010. Dr. Swamy who will assume charge in January 2011 will hold the post till end of 2013.Dr. Swamy, a native of Chennai, is an accredited diplomatic correspondent at the United Nations and also serves as only Indian-American judge of Emmy Awards in New York. He had worked in senior editotered not-for-profit organization that promotes Tamil language, literature, culture, music, dance and heritage in the region for the past 40 years. It is also a charitable organization and helped construct a building for Tsunami affected children in Tamil Nadu; rendered assistance to victims and families of Gujarat earthquake and also World Trade Center terrorist attack. The association feed over 100 homeless and destitute in Staten Island, New York, every year during Tamil New Years Day (April 14).D. Vijayakumar was elected secretary, S Chidambaranathan as executive vice president, Dr Arul Veerappan as vice president, Edgar Rosario as joint secretary, Gayathri Murali Rajan as treasurer.

Brahman Samaj of North American to promote Vedic knowledge

Dr Prakash M Swamy will hold the post till 2013 rial positions in various IndianAmerican publications such as India Abroad, News India Times and The Urban Indian. In India, he was with The Hindu, India Today and Ananda Vikatan group of publications.The New York Tamil Sangam is a regis-

Dr. M.G. Prasad delivering his keynote speech. Others in the pic: K.J. Sharma, Convention Director, Mahendra Misra, Chairman of the BSNA BOT, Dr. Om Sharma, BSNA President Edison, NJ: The New Jersey branch of Brahman Samaj of North America, an organization dedicated to promote Vedic Knowledge in the Indian Diaspora, recently held its regional convention in Edison, NJ. It was inaugurated with chanting of Vedic mantras by noted Vedic scholar Dr. M. G. Prasad. New Jersey Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula was the chief guest of the event. Dr. Prasad eloquently spoke about the meaning and role of Brahmans as defined in the Sanatam Dharma. Dr. Om Sharma, president of BSNA explained that it was necessary to spread the Vedic knowledge in order to bring peace and unity among the members of Indian heritage. It is important to communicate with the main stream America about the importance of Vedic knowledge, he said, BSNA is actively promoting our cultural values. It is our responsibility to preserve and promote Vedic knowledge among communities aligned with the mission of BSNA. Dr. Akkaraju Sarma emphasized that Hinduism didnt believe in converting people through coercive means. Hinduism is characterized by the philosophy of live and let live. Ms. Anju Bhargava informed the audience about Hindu American Seva Charities, an organization working to gain the rightful place for Hindus in the mainstream America. HASC is a progressive American organization advancing the cause of community service and promoting interfaith collaboration, pluralism, social justice and sustainable civic engagement, she said. Dr. Om Sharma, offered to collaborate with HASC in advancing its goals. Others who spoke on the occasion included Dr. Bhudev Sharma, Nikunj Trivedi, Chetan Bhatt, Girish Shelat, and Dr. Ranjana Pathak. K.J. Sharma, convention director of BSNA spoke on the Western Perception of Hinduism. The day long program ended with a lively poetry recitation, music and dance performances. For further details on BSNA please visit: WWW.BSNA.Org

Yuva Hindi Sansthan organizes social do

New Jersey: A wide spectrum of professionals and academicians gathered Dec 15, to celebrate the unity and diversity of the Indian American community in New Jersey. The fun filled event was organized by Yuva Hindi Sansthan, a New Jersey based educational and cultural organization dedicated to promote Hindi and Indian culture and hosted by Raagini restaurant in central New Jersey. Sangeet Sarita, a musical group dedicated to entertain and promote Hindi songs and Indian music provided non-stop entertainment with performance of semi classical and folk songs of India. It is a great occasion to celebrate our rich culture, said Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula, who attended the function along with his Cuban-born wife Daisy. We should feel proud of our heritage that is well respected all over the world. It is a matter of great satisfaction for us that the national language of India, Hindi is widely taught in USA, he told the gathering. Chivukula complimented the dedication of Yuva Hindi Sansthan for promoting Hindi in schools and universities around the country. YHS was inaugurated in the presence of Chivukula in Edison, NJ in September 2009. Dr. Harmesh Mittal, owner of Raagini said that more young Indian Americans opted to learn Hindi thanks to the efforts of community organizers and educationists who value teaching of Hindi as a second language in American schools. Mittal expressed his full support to the cause of promoting Hindi and Indian culture. Ashok Ojha, president of Yuva Hindi Sansthan, reinforced YHS mission to create a favorable atmosphere for teaching Hindi in educational institutions in the US. He said that his organization was planning to expand its operation to other parts of the country in 2011. Extending his gratitude to the Indian American community at large for supporting the efforts to promote Hindi, Ojha read out a message from YHS chairman Dr. Surendra Gambhir who called for jointly working to promote and protect Hindi.

Tristate Community TheSouthAsianTimes.info

January 8-14, 2011

Jay Sean rings NASDAQ bell, ends first business day of 2011
New York, NY: Jay Sean, the popular British-Indian singing sensation began 2011 by ringing the closing bell at NASDAQ on Jan. 3 at 4 p.m., ending the first day of busi ness for the stock exchange this year, according to a press release. With hits like "Down", "Do You Remember", and "2012 (It Ain't The End)", Sean has made his mark topping charts in his own country and in the United States and Australia. Jay Sean, the popular British-Indian singing sensation began 2011 by ringing the closing bell at NASDAQ on Jan. 3 at 4 p.m., ending the first day of busi- ness for the stock exchange this year, according to a press release. With hits like "Down", "Do You Remember", and "2012 (It Ain't The End)", Sean has made his mark topping charts in his own country and in the United States and Australia. He plans to release his fourth album "Freeze Time" sometime this Spring, the release said. Some of Jay Seans family and friends had gathered at Times Squares Nasdaq to share this New York moment with the popular artist and before taking the stage Jay hung out with his entourage. The singer, who is set to release his fourth studio album Freeze Time in the

PAKPAC condemns assassination of Punjab Governor

Washington, DC: Pakistan American Public Affairs Committee (PAKPAC) has strongly condemned the assassination of Salman Taseer, the twenty sixth Governor of Punjab. Our deepest sympathies are with Governor Taseer's wife and children, it said in a press release. The 66-year-old, one of the country's most moderate voices against radical Islam and the encroaching menace of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, was shot dead by a member of his own security detail outside an upscale market cafe in Islamabad on Tuesday.Lately Taseer had become an outspoken champion of tolerance and women rights. He supported the rights of all minorities in Pakistan, opposed extremism and Talibanization, and was against misuse of laws to marginalize minorities under the guise of religious beliefs and the current blasphemy law. Taseer was a brave man who along with a handful of other politicians like Sherry Rahman had ignorance extremism. Mr. Taseer s murder must be condemned and repudiated, not extolled. Otherwise, Pakistan will be in a downward spiral in which intolerance and extremism may triumph, the press release read. Pakistan American Public Affairs Committee President Dr. Suleman asked the people of Pakistan to stand up peacefully yet firmly against the voices of intolerance and hate in any shape or form. "This type of indoctrination is the single biggest threat to the humanity at this time. Only the larger society can get rid of this menace from all levels within the society. This is the time to unite and join forces and recover the faith of Peace and Love" he said. Dr. Suleman asked the Pakistani authorities to investigate thoroughly and share their full findings with the Pakistani people. He appealed to the law enforcement agencies and citizens of Punjab to maintain law and order in Lahore and other cities in Punjab.

spring, was excited and honored to walk in the footsteps of famous personalities like Elizabeth Hurley, Preity Zinta and Shahrukh Khan Its an absolute dream to be here and to be requested for such an event. Jays upcoming album Freeze Time is rumored to feature names like Lil Wayne, Rihanna, Akon, Nicole Scherzinger, Nicki Minaj, Mary J. Blige and Pitbull.

Salman Taseer was shot dead in Islamabad called for the repeal of Pakistan's blasphemy law, the press release said. Governor Taseer's murder is simply a sign of the lack of understanding of the peaceful Islamic faith by a violent, vocal and misguided minority of people in Pakistan. This murder and many others are the result of a minority of religious clergy who continue to instill intolerance, violence and create an environment of a mob type justice without due process. Anyone who kills outside the framework of laws has not only committed a crime but a grave sin. These are signs of not only religious extremism but also

Rhythm of Rajasthan returns to NYC with concert on Jan 14

New York: The Rhythm of Rajasthan ensemble with its enthralling music and dance, hails from the windswept Great Thar Desert in Rajasthan ("the land of kings") in northwestern India. The musicians, from the Langa (song giver) and Manghaniyar hereditary groups of itinerant entertainers, return to New York with their program of vibrant and joyous folk music, encompassing driving percussion, ecstatic Sufi songs, and hypnotic sarangi (bowed lute) and algoza (doubleflute). They are joined by two dancers, including the famed Suva Devi (from the film Latcho Drom), who perform the Kalbeliya Sapera snake-charming dance

Famous Kalbeliya dancer Suva Devi is part of the ensemble and the spectacular Bhavai folk dance. More details can be obtained from www.worldmusicinstitute.org

ICC to celebrate Indias Republic Day in Houston

Houston: The Indian Cultural Center of Houston will be hosting the India Fair 2011 celebrating India's 62nd Republic Day on January 29. The center will be hosting the event along with the Office of the Indian Consulate and other major Indo-American organizations. The theme for this year's celebration is "India- Peace, Progress, Prosperity." A cultural parade portraying the North, South, East and West zones of India. Consul General Sanjiv Arora would be the Chief Guest, who will take part in a formal flag honoring ceremony. The New ICC Executive Board, Directors and Trustees will be administered the oath of office for year 2011 on this day. A cultural competition named ICC Idol is also planned. The ICC Idol will be selected from various categories which are not limited to dance, music, singing and acting.

IAMC announces new executive team

Washington, DC: The new executive team of Indian American Muslim Council (formerly Indian Muslim Council-USA) took office on Jan 1. The National Executive Team that was selected unanimously by the IAMC Board of Directors includes: Shaheen Khatib, President (Teaneck, NJ); Khalid Azam, Vice President (San Jose, CA); Jawad Khan, Treasurer (Chicago, IL); and Zafar Haq, General Secretary (San Jose, CA).

National community TheSouthAsianTimes.info

January 8-14, 2011

Capital charges against two in Texas student murder case

Houston: US authorities have filed capital murder charges against two men in the fatal shooting of a 22year-old Indian student during a 20-second robbery 'blitz' at a Pasadena convenience store in Texas on Christmas day. Daniel Jacob Stiner, 22, and Michael Ray Morris, 29, both from Pasadena, were charged in the death of Jayachandra Elaprolu, a computer engineer, who worked as a convenience store clerk. Elaprolu was living in the Seabrook area, working on a master's degree in computer engineering at the University of HoustonClear Lake, a relative said. His remains will be sent home, with the help of the Indian Consulate in Houston. Police yesterday said Stiner surrendered and took investigators to the Conroe area, where he told them that he would recover the mask he used in the violent 'blitz' robbery, so-called for its lightning-fast execution. He also promised to get the USD 400 he stole from the register.

Michigan school bans 'kirpan', Sikh community concerned

Washington, DC: A school in Michigan's Canton township has barred students from bringing a 'kirpan' to the premises after a fourth grader was found carrying the religious symbol and parents of other students objected to it. The move has troubled the small Sikh community in the township near Detroit, prompting them to launch a public awareness campaign to make people realize that 'kirpan' is only a religious symbol that is completely non-threatening. The school authorities decided to ban the carrying of kirpan within the school premises late last month after the fourth grader Sikh student was found with a three-to-five inch kirpan. Following a legal review, the PlymouthCanton Community Schools district decided to ban it as it violated local, state and federal policies against carrying weapons or items that look like weapons to school, the Detroit Free Press reported. Similar disputes have cropped up in other parts of the US as well and the incident has concerned Sikh parents and other community leaders, who argue that kirpan symbolises their commitment to fighting evils, such as greed, and has no assault value. "It's not an assault weapon," Tejkiran Singh, 47, of Canton, a Sikh community leader was quoted as saying by the newspaper. "It's so small, so blunt... The whole purpose of wearing it is that it's a reminder of our spirituality," he said. Sikhs of the area have organized a public forum today to address concerns the city people may have about the growing Sikh community, the daily said. There are now three Sikh gurdwaras in Plymouth and Canton. "It's to inform people about this great world religion, which many don't know anything about," said Steve Spreader, director of programs for the Michigan Roundtable for Diversity and Inclusion, which is co-sponsoring the forum with other groups. It all started early December when the young Sikh student, whose identity has not been revealed, and another student at Bentley Elementary were roughhousing on the playground, said Frank Ruggirello, PlymouthCanton spokesman. According to the daily, the second student felt the kirpan and asked what it was. The student who was wearing the 3 to 5 inch item around his neck explained he received it when he was baptized. School officials examined the item, saw it did not have any sharp edges and gave it back to the student, said Kenneth Jacobs, deputy superintendent of the district. "It does not have sharp edges. It is a religious artifact," the spokesman said. At the request of the school authorities and parents, the student's family agreed to remove the kirpan until Plymouth-Canton Community Schools officials figure out the best way -legally and otherwise -- to handle it. But the school after following a legal review, decided to bar it.

Jayachandra Elaprolu, 22 had moved to US from India just 4 months ago Stiner claimed that fear drove his aggression, Houston Chronicle quoted police as saying. Morris has maintained he was strictly a customer in the store during the 2:30am shooting, in the wrong place at the wrong time, police said. He further complained to police and a local TV station that he had been wrongly implicated in the incident, much of which was captured on surveillance video. But police believe Morris acted as a scout, who twice went inside the store to scope out the scene, said Bud Corbett, assistant police chief in Pasadena. According to officials, Morris, who police said is a friend of Stiner's, went into the store the first time and

Daniel Jacob Stiner and Michael Ray Morris have been charged made a purchase. He returned, obtained change from Elaprolu and exited the business again. Police said Stiner, wearing a mask and carrying a semiautomatic pistol, then entered the store and immediately opened fire, striking Elaprolu at least five times as he tried to retreat to a back room. Stiner fled, carrying the lightweight register, police said. Elaprolu was wounded in the stomach, liver, upper torso, intestine and heart. A tip from Crime Stoppers helped in the arrests, Corbett said. Neither of the men has criminal convictions in Harris County, according to county records. Elaprolu had moved to the US four months ago from Andhra Pradesh.

Congress passes bill extending H-1B, L1 visa fee hike

Washington, DC: Congress has hiked fees for H-1B visas and L1 visas as part of a bill passed that creates a $4.3 billion fund to provide free medical treatment to those suffering from illnesses contracted while clearing the debris at the Ground Zero site in the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attack. The lawmakers in Congress agreed on a scaled down version of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act under which the fund will remain open for five years, against the ten year time that was stipulated in the original document. The money for the fund will be raised, among other sources, from a new two percent excise on goods and services purchased from contractors from countries like India, China and Thailand which are outside the purview of WTO's Agreement on Government Procurement. Besides the procurement fee, the bill that will require an estimated budget of $4.3 billion over a five-year period for health coverage will also be funded by continuation of a increased fee on certain categories of H-1B and L1 visas that would mainly impact Indian IT companies and the continuation of a fee on some travelers to this country. However, all details of the final version of the Act that was passed by the House are not yet known. While the Senate passed the bill with unanimous consent, the House voted earlier on the bill 206 to 60. The bill now moves to the White House for President Barack Obama to sign into law. The Hill reported that a number of business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, opposed the bill due to the offset provisions. The U.S. India Political Action Committee regretted the Senate vote to extend the H-1B visa fee hike by another year (until 2015), and urged the president to reconsider the provision, according to a press release issued Dec. 25. At the same time, it welcomed the decision to not extend the visa fee hike for six years as proposed in the Zadroga Act. USINPAC had requested Congress and the president to reconsider the H-1B and L1 visa fee hike as it would permanently move jobs offshore. USINPAC chairman Sanjay Puri stated in the press release that it is unfortunate that the H-1B visa fee hike has been extended by another year, in spite of the impact it can have on perceptions in India towards the U.S. Doubling U.S. exports is one of President Obamas key trade goals and it would be difficult to achieve that without a growth in U.S.-India trade, as India is one of the fastest growing economies, he added. We need a strong export policy during this crucial period of economic recovery, whereas the visa fee hike works against it. We will continue to talk to the Congress and urge the president to reconsider the provision. USINPAC empathizes with the pain of the workers and hold them in high regard for their service to the country. We hope the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act will bring them some respite, the organization said.

National Community TheSouthAsianTimes.info

January 8-14, 2011

Four South Asians named TED 2011 Fellows

Washington DC: TED, the nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading, announced Dec. 15 that four of the 19 members of the class of 2011 TED Fellows and five of this years 12 Senior Fellows are South Asian. Founded in January 2009, the TED Fellows program handpicks world-changing innovators from around the globe, and brings them to the TED stage literally and figuratively to raise international awareness of their remarkable work. The four 2011 TED Fellows are Kaustuv De Biswas, a US and India-based entrepreneur whose experimental design firm, dplay, is building open-source toolboxes for design; and Sumit Dagar, an Indian interaction designer and filmmaker working on the Braille Phone, a mobile phone for the blind. Also named were Sanjana Hattotuwa, a Sri Lankan human rights activist and founder of Groundviews, a citizen-journalism initiative; and Nina Tandon, an American electrical engineer and research scientist who explores how electrical stimulation encourages tissue growth. "Our incoming Fellows and rising Senior Fellows are extraordi-

5 of 12 Senior Fellows are of South Asian origin

TED South Asian Fellows: Robert Gupta, Awab Alvi, Manu Prakash and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy nary people drawn from the widest spectrum of disciplines," Tom Rielly, TED Fellows director, stated in a press release. "And while each has already achieved so much in his or her respective fields from music to science to the arts all are now poised to spread their ideas on a global level. The Fellows program helps amplify the impact of each Fellow's eye-opening ideas, and we're thrilled to welcome these innovators to the TED community." All TED Fellows participate as full members of 2011's annual TED Conference in Long Beach, Calif., as well as a two-day preconference event where they collaborate with their peers and deliver their own TEDTalks. The Fellows will also participate actively in the TED community throughout 2011, telling their ongoing stories on the TED Fellows blog, contributing to TEDx events, being featured in the online Fellows directory and participating in a private TED social network. TED also announced Dec. 15 that its 2011 Senior Fellows, who were chosen from last year's TED, TEDGlobal, and TEDIndia Fellows classes, have been invited to participate in the TED community for another two years. The 2011 Senior Fellows are Robert Gupta, an Indian American violinist and musical activist, and the youngest member of Los Angeles Philharmonic; Awab Alvi, a Pakistani dentist, orthodontist and author of Teeth Maestro, a prominent Pakistani political blog; and Aparna Rao, a part of the Bangalore-based artist duo Pors & Rao who works with electromechanical systems and interactive installations. Also named Senior Fellows were Manu Prakash, a Junior Fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows, a physicist and inventor pursuing research in the field of physical biology; and Sharmeen ObaidChinoy, a documentary filmmaker and founder of The Citizens Archive of Pakistan, an educational institution and heritage center established to preserve Pakistan's history. On Jan. 17, TED will begin accepting submissions for the next round of TED Fellows. The Fellows program seeks individuals of age 21-50 (though anyone over age 18 is eligible) who demonstrate remarkable achievement in their field of endeavor. The program focuses on candidates from five regions: Asia/Pacific, Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America and the Middle East, though candidates from all regions are welcome.

Harry Sidhu re-appointed Akash Krishnan shares top team prize Mayor Pro Tem in 2010 Siemens Competition
office include initiating Anaheim, CA: By a unanimous vote on a free annual health fair in the City, supDecember 14, the Anaheim City Council porting a charter amendment which was re-appointed Council placed on the Member Harry Sidhu to serve as Mayor Pro Tem November 2006 ballot to forever prohibit emifor the 2011 calendar year. Pursuant to the nent domain abuse in Harry Sidhu the City of Anaheim, Anaheim City Charter, the Mayor Pro Tem performs the duties and implementing an annual of the Mayor during the Mayors Anaheim/OC Job Fair and Expo. Sidhu says he is honored to have absence or disability. Harry Sidhu was elected to the Anaheim City been elected to serve as an Anaheim Council in November 2004, and was City Council Member the first first appointed as Mayor Pro Tem in person of Indian heritage to have December 2009. Prior to serving on achieved this position. Born and the Anaheim City Council, Sidhu raised in India, Sidhu immigrated to was Chairman of the City of the United States in 1974 with his Anaheim Budget Advisory parents as a permanent resident, setCommission. He is also an Orange tling in Philadelphia, Pa., where he County Sanitation District Director completed his education and and serves on the City of Anaheim received a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering Audit Committee. Sidhus achievements while in from Drexel University. Washington, DC: Akash Krishnan will share the $100,000 grand prize in the team category, and Nevin Daniel won a $50,000 scholarship for being a national finalist in the individual category, in the recent 2010 Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology, Americas premier science research competition for high school students. Krishnan and Matthew Fernandez, juniors at Oregon Episcopal School in Portland, Ore., will share the $100,000 grand prize in the team category for developing a computer algorithm to more accurately detect emotion in the human voice. A junior, Krishnan plans to pursue computer science and electrical and mechanical engineering in college. He speaks Telugu, plays the piano and clarinet, and has a black belt in Okinawan-style karate. As the $100,000 winners, Krishnan and Matthew Fernandez cancer patients. Daniels many roles at his school include serving as president of the Science Bowl, editor of the school newspaper and literary magazine, and member of the cross country team. He plays the violin and viola and has performed at Carnegie Hall with the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of New York. Daniel hopes to study biomedical engineering or pre-med and to become a biomedical research scientist leading his own laboratory. Also, Santhosh Narayan, of Munster, Ind. with Nikhil Mehandru, Roslyn, NY and Sonya Prasad, of Roslyn Heights, NY, received a $30,000 scholarship as team finalists (materials science/nanoscience category). The Siemens Competition, a signature program of the Siemens Foundation, is administered by the College Board.

Anand Krishnan (2nd from left) has developed a computer algorithm to detect emotion in human voice more accurately will ring the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange in January. Daniel, a Ward Melville High School student from Port Jefferson Station, New York, received his $50,000 scholarship in the category of chemistry. Daniels research goal is to develop a new method for anti-cancer drug delivery, leading to more effective, specific and biocompatible chemotherapeutic treatments for

9th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2011 TheSouthAsianTimes.info

January 8-14, 2011

Sibal invites Indian diaspora back home

New Delhi: Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal on January 7 called for "collaboration" from the Indian diaspora in building the education sector and invited them back to the land of "new opportunities". Speaking at the inaugural session of the ninth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) in the capital, Sibal said collaboration from the Indian diaspora in the Indian education sector was important so that the country reaches its true potential. India has a 25 million strong diaspora in 130 countries. "The most important collaboration will be from the Indian diaspora who had gone away from India to look for opportunities and can come back now to this land of new opportunities," he said. According to Sibal, the government plans to increase the gross enrollment ratio of children reaching college from 12 to 30 percent by 2020. To cater to the increasing number of children reaching higher educational institutes, 1,000 more universities and 45,000 more colleges

Union Minister of HRD and Telecommunication Kapil Sibal, Union Minister of Overaseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi and P. Rajendran, Chairman of CII Higher Education Committee, during a seminar on the first day of the 9th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2011 in New Delhi on January 7.

were needed, he said. "This is a mind boggling challenge," the minister said. Sibal added that the government has opened up the entire higher education sector. About the Foreign Universities Bill, which is pend-

S. Samy Vellu, left, Malaysia's special envoy with ministerial rank and special envoy to South Asia, attends a seminar on the first day of the PBD-2011 in New Delhi.

ing in the parliament, he said: "We hope to get it passed soon". Taking a dig at the opposition, Sibal said that there was only one way to defeat the government and that is by bringing in a no confidence motion. "If you cannot do that you cannot have the leisure of stopping the work of the government," he said. Nealry 1,500 delegates were scheduled to participate in the three-day annual convention for overseas Indians, the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD). The ninth edition will have a special focus on India's northeastern region and the younger generation of the diaspora. "Without much effort, we already have 1,300 confirmed delegates, but we are expecting at least 1,500 delegates to participate," Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi told reporters during a press confer-

ence. With a special focus on the northeast in 2011, the event is being held in partnership with the ministry for development of the northeastern region and the state governments of the eight northeastern states - Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh. "We have great hopes from PBD," Minister of Development of North Eastern Region B.K. Handique said. The participating delegates will also have an opportunity to interact with three senior members of the Indian cabinet Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna and Roads and Highways Minister Kamal Nath. There was scheduled to be a plenary session to look at ways

to engage with the younger generation of the Indian diaspora and involve them in the evolving India story. Ravi had also stressed the need to improve the "connectivity of young overseas Indians" with the mother country. "These young people are born and brought up outside, but there is always a bit of India in all Indians. I want to arouse that feeling," said Ravi. The annual C.K. Prahalad memorial lecture was to be delivered on the subject of inclusive growth by Gautam Ahuja, chairperson, Corporate Strategy and International Business group, University of Michigan Business School. President Pratibha Patil was to deliver the valedictory address on January 9 and confer the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman awards at the closing session.

Voting rights for NRIs not yet

New Delhi: Over 10 million Indians settled abroad would shortly get voting rights in the country. But, this is not likely to happen during ninth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas as Election Commission is yet to frame guidelines for the same. Two rounds of discussions have been completed with the Election Commission and now we are going on to the final stage. The Election Commission is in the process of finalizing modalities for enrollment of names of Indian-passport holders living abroad. However, Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is only few days from now and I dont think we will be able to do it so soon, Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi. The Parliament has already passed the Representation of People (Amendment) Bill, 2010 to allow the NRIs exercise their franchise in Indian elections. We are looking at emotional and monetary investment in the northeast and this event will help in the process of integrating the Indians living abroad. Further, we are also seeking employment opportunities and skill development of the young population of northeast through Indians settled overseas, Jayati Chandra, secretary, Ministry for Development of Northeast Region, added.

Union Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi addressing the gathering on first day of 9th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas-2011, in New Delhi.

10

AAPI Indo-US Healthcare Summit TheSouthAsianTimes.info

January 8-14, 2011

Straight from the Summit: SATimes Special

AAPI holds successful health summit in Jaipur

Jaipur: The 4th AAPI Healthcare Summit started with much fanfare as former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam inaugurated it on Jaunary 3. Rajasthan Chief Minster Ashok Gehlot and state Health Minister AA Khan Duru Mian could not attend the session as the state mourning was declared due to the demise of former Rajasthan governor Bali Ram Bhagat. It was a chilly morning at the beautiful Birla Auditorium just opposite to the spot with a marble statue of Sawai Jai Singh, the founder of Jaipur city. More than a hundred delegates of American Association of Physician of Indian Origin (AAPI) and over a hundred doctors from Jaipur and across India attended the inaugural ceremony of the three day summit January 3-5. Dr Kalam unveiled the souvenir for the summit presented to him by the local event coordinator Suresh Singhvi, even as Dr Veena Singhvi welcomed him with a bouquet. The event was attended by Dr Spencer B King, Dr Robert Bono and Dr William A Zogbi from USA. Dr Ajeet R Singhvi, the president of AAPI, welcomed the guests and delegates and charted the road map of AAPI in coming years, which included prevention of blindness, increasing public awareness about the cervical cancer and education to the general public for prevention of communicable diseases. He welcomed Dr Kalam, the chief guest at the summit inauguration. In his address Dr Ajeet Singhvi said that more than one lakh doctors are associated with AAPI and patient centric approach. Championing preventive healthcare can make a doctor great. He can achieve the same feat by creating a cost effective vaccine affecting millions of lives, fighting against communicable disease, nutritional deficiencies and water borne diseases. Finding a cure for disease like diabetes, cancer and Aids can also make a doctor great. Kalam said. He rejected the theory of brain drain from India. Brain drain from India is a myth as the number of people going out are not even 5% of total. Then with the Indian culture and values those going out can help us bring the latest technology and knowledge in the country. The need is to create excellence centres for research in various fields in the country, Kalam said. Former AAPI president Dr Vinod Shah, AAPI vice president Dr Narendra Kumar, Secretary Dr Jayesh Shah, AAPI MSRF (Medical Student, Resident and Fellows Section) president Dr Mamta Singhvi and Treasurer Dr Ravi Jahagirdar were also present on the occasion. Concluding the inaugural function, AAPI President-elect Dr Sunita Kanumury thanked the gathering. She is scheduled to take over the charge of AAPI president in June 2011. Later in the evening the doctors enjoyed a cultural night as the famous Kalbelia dancer Gulabo enthralled the august gathering. Various technical and brain storming sessions were organized in eight different halls at the Birla Auditorium and the SMS convention hall at the sprawling Rambagh Palace hotel in Jaipur during three days of the summit. In the technical session Dr Brahmanand Sharma highlighted the increasing trend of heart diseases in India. Stressing the need for cost effective and easy approach for the heart ailment treatment Dr Sharma called India as the next capital of heart diseases in the world. Dr Ashok Fulambarker presented his paper on lung cancer and increasing effect of smoking on health. Dr Pawan Ratan highlighted Rajasthan as the major hub of potential medical tourism activity in future. Dr Kishor Sehgal informed about the latest development in the field of cancer treatment and prevention techniques. Dr Sundar Mudaliyar presented his paper on diabetes and stressed upon further need of research on the subject world over. Dr Ajay Khanna explained the importance of guidelines in organ transplantation. Dr. Anand K Khakhar and Dr Samin Sharma also presented their papers at the summit. Dr Sunita Kanumury, the president elect of AAPI, presided over the technical session on Asthma and allergy. She stressed the effective role of doctors in management of asthma. For proper asthma management following a proper clinical guideline is necessary. Environmental pollution is also an important factor in aggravation of the diseases, Dr Kanumury said. Dr Rajkumar, Dr VK Vijayan, Dr Bahera and Dr SK Luhadia participated in the session. Dr Gautam Samadar presided over the session which discussed obstructive sleep-apnia health risk and its treatment. In his presentation he explained how death is caused during sleep due to obstruction in wind pipe in this disease. The probability of heart attack, high blood pressure and other problem also increases due to sleep-apnia. Dr Samadar explained that 24% men and 9% middle aged women are suffering from the disease. But all those who snore may not be suffering from the disease, he explained. Dr PK Raju gave his presentation on blindness prevention. He also explained the activities of Charak Club of NewYork-1988 and informed that many of the research papers of this club have got appreciation and awards at international level. Dr Raju who is doing commendable work in blindness prevention also explained the relation of Arabian medical therapy and medicine with the Indian traditional system of medicine. Continued on page 12...

Rajasthan Governor Shivraj Patel lighting the ceremonial lamp, with Rajasthan Health Minister AA Khan, AAPI President Dr Ajeet Singhvi (extreme right), and Dr Hemant Patel (extreme left) who is summit adviser and past president AAPI, at the 4th Indo-US Healthcare Summit. the organization is working as a bridge between the USA and India. AAPI is running a clinic in Rozda village near Jaipur while 18 charitable clinics, 3 cancer clinics and three trauma clinics are also being run by AAPI in India. The doctors of Indian origin form only 6% of physicians community in USA. But every fifth medical student in USA is of Indian origin which means that we would not only increase in numbers in the coming years but in our influencing power as the strongest ethnic community in USA, Dr Singhvi said. Speaking at the inauguration session, Dr Hemant Patel, former president of AAPI, highlighted the contribution of AAPI in USA and other countries. We are the strongest ethnic group in USA and it was an achievement when President Barack Obama addressed AAPI summit last year. The American Medical Association took 150 years to achieve the same feat when an American president addressed them. Dr Patel said. Highlighting the social responsibility efforts by AAPI, Dr Patel informed the audience about the Sevak project run in all districts of Gujarat by AAPI. We have trained one person in one village in each district as Sevak. The project has been highly appreciated by all quarters as it is highly beneficial to society. We are also planning to implement this achievement in Rajasthan, he said. Dr Kalam called upon doctors from all over the world to have a

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and AAPI President Dr Ajeet Singhvi (middle) with AAPI delegates to the health summit and guests.

AAPI Indo-US Healthcare Summit January 8-14, 2011

11

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Make medicine affordable: Kalam to doctors

Former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam arriving with Dr Singhvi (on his right) to inaugurate the health summit and (right) Dr Kalam and AAPI functionaries on the dais at the inauguration. Jaipur: Former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam called upon the doctors to give less diagnostic pain by prescribing minimum testing before treatment. He insisted that treatment should cost minimum and with no side effect to the patients. He was inaugurating the 4th Indo-US Healthcare Summit organized by American Association of Physician of Indian Origin (AAPI). Dr Kalam busted the myth of brain drain from India. Brain drain from India is a myth as the number of people going out are not even 5% of the total. Then, with the Indian culture and values, those going out can help us bring the latest technology and knowledge in the country. The need is to create excellence centre for research in various fields in the country, he said. The former President and acclaimed scientist called upon the Indian doctors living in every part of the world to participate in the sustainable development of rural areas in India. Citing a few examples of community medicine centers in Karnataka and health centers run by cooperative efforts in Maharashtra, Kalam said that treatment should reach the tribal and poor in the country. Doctors can participate in rural development by setting up centers to help villages and to participate in developing an action plan to strengthen the local knowledge with latest techniques and methods, Dr Kalam said. Physicians in organizations like AAPI are our goodwill ambassadors, he added. Kalam called upon doctors from all over the world to have a patient centric approach. Championing preventive healthcare can make a doctor great. He can achieve the same feat by creating a cost effective vaccine affecting millions of lives, fighting against communicable disease, nutritional deficiencies and water borne diseases. Finding a cure for disease like diabetes, cancer and Aids can also make a doctor great, he elaborated.

Patil calls Indian doctors abroad 'goodwill ambassadors'

AAPIs Sevak program to extend to Rajasthan

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot meeting AAPI President Dr Singhvi and other delegates at his residence in Jaipur after the summit. Jaipur: Doctors of Indian origin are planning to replicate the Gujarat model of the Sevak project in Rajasthan. AAPI announced here on the occasion of 4th IndoUS Healthcare Summit that their flagship community service effort Sevak program will be implemented in Rajasthan also. Our aim is to train non-physicians in the villages to identify potential patients of every kind. The Sevaks once identified also provide preventive education to the villagers, said Dr Hemant Patel, who had envisioned Indo-US health summits during his term as AAPI Presdient four years ago. He was addressing the gathering of doctors present at the summit at Birla Auditorium. AAPI is running the project in Gujarat since March 2010 in which one volunteer in one village in each district is trained by AAPI in association with other institutes who screen the residents for diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and monitor those with chronic diseases. The project will involve coordinating with the villages and identifying bright individuals with medical and or non-medical backgrounds, one person per village of 1000-1500 population. We had a talk with Rajasthan health minister A.A. Khan when he came to USA in 2010. He was excited about the project and we are in talks with the government to implement the Sevak Project in Rajasthan also. The nitty-gritty of the project is yet to be finalized, Dr Ajay Lodha, Convener of AAPI convention in 2011 said. The project was conceived after a study done by AAPI in four villages in India and determined that access to care and preventive care was a huge problem along with high prevalence of diabetes and hypertension. Sevak is preferably a graduate or youth educated up to 12th standard who lives in the village and is willing to do community service. After being trained by AAPI, Sevaks will screen the villagers for diabetes, hypertension, monitor high risk population for various diseases and patients with chronic disease who are on treatment, in addition to providing healthy lifestyle education and preventive care to the villagers.

Shivraj Patil, Governor of Rajasthan and Punjab, addressing the summit. Jaipur: Rajasthan Governor Shivraj Patil called upon doctors to educate the public for preventive measures against disease. He was addressing the closing ceremony of 4th Indo-US healthcare summit at SMS convention centre in Jaipur. Our doctors working in other countries are our individual ambassadors who are earning respect and goodwill for themselves and for the country. We are proud of their work and they can bring their expertise and share their knowledge for the uplift of the needy back in this country. Patil said. The Governor called upon Indian doctors in the US to share their knowledge and expertise at their convenience with health institutions and universities in India. The doctors associated with AAPI can use e-lectures to contribute in training of new doctors in India, he said. Rajasthan Health Minister AA Khan was also present at the occasion. Dr Sunita Kanumury, the president-elect of AAPI, said that they enjoyed the warm hospitality of Rajasthan and may come back next year to hold the 5th Indo-US healthcare summit in Jaipur again. In his concluding speech, President of AAPI Dr Ajeet Singhvi said that doctors of Indian origin will closely work with the health departments and doctors in India for promoting preventive knowledge. We would be increasingly working to increase awareness about Diabetes, cervical cancer, prevention of blindness and other issues. The success of Sevak project in Gujarat will also be repeated in Rajasthan with the help of state government, Dr Singhvi said.

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AAPI Indo-US Healthcare Summit TheSouthAsianTimes.info

January 8-14, 2011

AAPI commits itself to promote medical tourism in India

The summit was attended by Dr Spencer B King, Dr Robert Bono and Dr William A Zogbi from USA Health tourism is developing around 35% per annum world over. The patients are coming to the developing nations like India as these countries present a unique combination of medical expertise and leisure. By strengthening the basic infrastructure we can promote India as the most favored destination for medical tourism, Pawan K Stan, the convener of health tourism cell of AAPI said. Focusing on the issue of sleep apnea Dr Gautam Samadar said session on diabetes attended by Dr Anuj Bhargava, Dr Jayesh Shah, Dr Mohan, Dr Murlidhar Acharya, Dr Anoop Mishra and Dr Shashank Joshi. Dr Arun Pramanik Chaired the session on mother and child health attended by Dr Ajay Jain, Dr Kishan Kumar, Dr Ashok Gupta of SMS medical college. The special session on surgery was chaired by Dr Shashi Shah in which Dr Ravi Jahagirdar, Dr Ajay Khanna, Dr Nick Shroff, Dr Dilip Patel, Dr Navin Mehta and Dr Suwas Desai presented their papers. Dr Ram Upadhyay, a native of Sikar and living in Boston, reiterated his commitment to serve the motherland with the health services. While Dr Sanjay Jain and Dr Subha Jain insisted on the need of pain management to be made part of curriculum in the medical studies in India and extended their support for the cause. that the disease increases the risk of heart attack, stroke and high blood pressure in the patients. 24% middle aged men and 9% women suffer from sleep apnea. According to the studies 80% of those suffering from sleep apnea also develop cardio-vascular disease. People avoid the test for the disease due to non information and its cost but the disease is spreading fast in the new generation and many times can be fatal, Dr Samadar said. key health care issues affecting the Indian subcontinent such as diabetes, lung diseases, asthma & allergies, cardiovascular diseases, womens & childrens health and cancer. Dr Singhvi also highlighted the summits task to create a prototype program of implementation for various disease categories specifically designed to improve outcomes while maintaining costeffectiveness. When successful, the program can be deployed nationally and internationally. The summit Adviser is Dr. Hemant Patel (Past President AAPI), and Summit Coordinator is Dr. Ajay Lodha, who is also Chair for AAPIs 29th Convention in New York in June 2011. Though AAPI was founded in 1982 to protect the interests of its members (which it also pursues through legislative advocacy in Washington DC), in recent years it has added the role of raising awareness for prevention, treatment, and management of critical diseases of interest to the Indian public health. Jaipur, the location for the fourth summit, is the first city AAPI has accredited as center for medical tourism. AAPI is committed to provide logistic support for health tourism development in India, a choice destination as it provides state-of-the-art amenities for treatments like hip or knee replacements and cardiac surgery, high qualities of healthcare infrastructure and low costs.

AAPI delegates and other attendees at the 4th Indo-US Healthcare Summit in Jaipur. Jaipur: Doctor of Indian origin in America have offered to help in developing basic infrastructure of medical facilities in Rajasthan for promoting medical tourism. The issue was discussed at the technical session on the second day of the 4th Indo-US health summit at SMS convention hall. Dr Ajeet R. Singhvi, AAPI president, announced that they have been making a blue-print to provide technical and financial help to the health sector in Rajasthan. We assure Rajasthan of full support of AAPI for developing medical tourism in the state. The organ donation and transplantation can also save many lives if implemented properly, he said. Other experts like Dr Ajay Lodha, Dr Hemant Dhingra and Dr Vijay Agrawal also participated in the session to offer their views. Continued fron page 10 The technical session on breast cancer was chaired by Dr Kishor Sehgal and attended by Dr Kirti Jain, Dr Sumita Jain, Dr Raj Bhandari, Dr Rajesh Grover and Dr Amita Maheshwari. Expert Dr GK Rath from All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) New Delhi explained the Indian context of breast cancer as a disease and its social effect on the patients. Every year more than 2000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer in India. But cancer is not figuring among the first 10 diseases people die from in India while in USA it is one of the three major diseases causing death, he said. The convener of health tourism cell of AAPI Dr Pawan Rattan chaired the session on health tourism. Health tourism in India is growing by 35% every year world over. There is a lot of potential in Rajasthan to become a hot destination for medical tourism. Dr Rattan said. Dr Ajay Lodha, Chair of AAPI Convention 2011, Dr Archana Sharma, Dr Hemant Dhingra, Dr Vijay Agrawal, Dr Laxman Agrawal and Dr Ramesh Roop Rai were among others who attended the session. Dr Prakash Didwania chaired the session on cardiovascular disease in which Dr Brahma Sharma, Dr Vibhuti Singh, Dr Krish Vijay and Dr Rajiv Gupta participated actively. Dr Sunder Mudliar chaired the

Doctors enjoy light and sound show at Amber Fort

AAPI president-elect said 5th summit too may be held in Jaipur
Jaipur: The closing ceremony of the health summit on January 5 was held at SMS convention hall. It was attended by Governor of Rajasthan Shivraj Patil, state Health Minister AA Khan and Maharaja Jai Singh of Jaipur. Governor Patil called upon the doctor to educate common man about preventive measures against disease, he said in his address at the closing ceremony of the summit. Dr Sunita Kanumury, president-elect of AAPI, said that they enjoyed the warm hospitality of Rajasthan and may come back next year to hold the 5th Indo-US healthcare summit in Jaipur again.

Summit objectives
Following the previous three AAPI health summits all held in New Delhi, the fourth one was supported by Indias Health Ministry, Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs and the Government of Rajasthan. Apex Indian medical bodies--Indian Medical Association (IMA) and Medical Council of India (MCI) -- and other organizations also teamed up again. . The primary goal of the summit, said AAPI President Ajeet R. Singhvi, is to raise awareness of

India Newswire TheSouthAsianTimes.info

13

January 8-14, 2011

Panel backs united Andhra Pradesh

New Delhi/Hyderabad: The much-awaited Srikrishna Committee report has said the demand for a separate Telangana was "not entirely unjustified" and ruled that the best options in the present circumstances were giving the region that includes Hyderabad an autonomous council or breaking up Andhra Pradesh for good. The committee's findings were made public by Home Minister P. Chidambaram in New Delhi at a meeting of political parties from the state that was boycotted by the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP). While Chidambaram urged political parties to consider the 461page report "with an open mind" and said a second all-party meeting would be held soon, TRS chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao declared that people would not agree to anything short of a Telangana state with Hyderabad as its capital. "I am requesting the prime minister to abide by the statement he made in parliament and the assurance given by the government" promising a separate Telangana, he said in Hyderabad. The BJP also pressed for formation of the new state. "The state should be formed at the earliest... Delay is not in the interest of the country," party spokesman Shahnawaz Hussain told reporters in New Delhi. The Congress had a varying response at the meeting. While party legislator from Telangana region Uttam Kumar Reddy favoured option five in the summary of the report which talks of carving out a separate state of Telangana with its capital as Hyderabad, the other party representative, MP K.S. Rao said the panel had gone into a number of issues including river sharing, education and development and all parties should consider the report before giving their opinion. Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy did not speak during the meeting. Andhra Pradesh, where emotions were running high in the run up to the unveiling of the A foreign student walks past a burning government bus set alight by students of Osmania University in Hyderabad on January 6.

report, received the suggestions of the Srikrishna panel more or less with calm barring some violence on Osmania University campus in Hyderabad and sporadic protests in some other parts of Telangana. The issue of a Telangana state, raised many times in the past too, has divided Andhra Pradesh. Even leaders of TDP and Congress from the backward region of 10 districts have come out in its support. The report has given six options but laid thrust on the last two. The most favored way out, listed sixth in the report, talks about keeping the state united and taking constitutional and statutory measures for the socio-economic development and political empowerment of Telangana region. This, it said, could be done by setting up a statutory and empowered Telangana Regional Council with adequate transfer of funds, functions and functionaries. It said the "second best option" listed fifth in the report - was to bifurcate the state into Telangana and Seemandhra with existing boundaries with Hyderabad as the former's capital. Seemandhra would have a new capital. This option, the committee feels, had to be given considera-

tion. In a major fillip to the advocates of Telangana, it said the demand for a separate state was "not entirely unjustified". The committee "least favored" the option of maintaining status quo. It, however, said that the option of breaking up the state into Seemandhra and Telangana with Hyderabad as a union territory may not be "practicable". The choice of splitting the state into Rayala-Telangana and coastal Andhra regions with Hyderabad as an integral part of RayalaTelangana may not be acceptable to all three regions, it said. It said its fourth option of creating a Seemandhra and Telangana with an enlarged Hyderabad as union territory by including Nalgonda district in the southeast to Guntur in coastal Andhra and via Mahabubnagar in the south was likely to be stiffly opposed by Telangana protagonists. Telangana was part of the erstwhile princely state of Hyderabad. It was merged with Andhra state in 1956 to form Andhra Pradesh. Telangana leaders say the region is discriminated in comparison to the rest of the state. The report of the Srikrishna Committee, constituted in

February last year, comprises two volumes and nine chapters. Chidambaram urged political parties to consider the report "with an open mind". He said the committee had given six options but "rejected the first three choices as not practical". He asked parties, groups and individuals to "show adequate respect to the labor of the committee" and told them not to reach

"instant conclusions". Chidambaram said another meeting of political parties from Andhra Pradesh would be held by the end of this month. Among the eight parties invited, only five -the Congress, Communist Party of India-Marxist, Communist Party of India, Majilis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen and Praja Rajyam Party -- attended Thursday's meeting.

Andhra remains peaceful

ndhra Pradesh remained peaceful barring violent incidents on Osmania University campus in Hyderabad and sporadic protests in some other parts of Telangana over the Srikrishna committee's report on the Telangana issue. With the committee suggesting a set of solutions to the Telangana tangle, the day largely passed off peacefully amid tight security involving deployment of central paramilitary forces.

Osmania University, which was the nerve center of the Telangana agitation last year, was on the boil again after the report of the committee was made public. Students demanding separate state of Telangana tried to take out a rally to the state secretariat but were prevented by police. The sloganshouting students denouncing the report pelted stones on policemen, injuring two including a deputy commissioner of police.

Union territory status for Hyderabad

Hyderabad: With brand Hyderabad taking a beating due to the agitation for and against separate statehood to Telangana for over one year, the Srikrishna committee has mooted the idea of union territory status to an enlarged Hyderabad metropolis. The idea comes keeping in view the unique social base of the 400-year-old city, its image of a growth engine for the regional and the national economy, social linkages with all three regions of Andhra Pradesh, unique location, strategic importance and cosmopolitan identity. The panel has proposed a union territory of about 12,430 sq km area, comprising 67 mandals and 1,330 villages of the present five districts of Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy, Medak, Mahabubnagar and Nalgonda. The data obtained from Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (CEPT), Ahmedabad, put the population of Hyderabad metropolitan region in 2001 at 75,86,813 and in 2011 it is projected to be 1,03,18,302. All the three regions (Telangana, Andhra and Rayalaseema) will have geographical contiguity and physical access to Hyderabad metropolis. It may also house the capitals of both Telangana and Seemandhra as in the Chandigarh model with a separate Union Territory administrative set up. "Since this would be a reasonably larger area with a population of well over 10 million people, the model could be a mix of Chandigarh and Delhi union territories i.e. it may have its own legislative assembly," said the five-member panel.

The world famous Charminar Mosque in Hyderabad.

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India Newswire TheSouthAsianTimes.info

January 8-14, 2011

BJP seeks apology from PM over 'Q'

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sought an apology from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for giving a "clean chit" to Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi in the Bofors kickback case, and said government agencies were involved in saving Quattrocchi because of his "proximity to the Gandhi family". BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad said the media had reported the prime minister's remarks in 2009 that the Quattrocchi case was an embarrassment to the government and "it is not a good reflection on the Indian legal system that we harass people while the world says we have no case". Prasad said the statement of the prime minister was "completely contrary" to findings of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) were contrary. "Prime minister, you tried to give him (Quattrocchi) a clean chit. The closure report of CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) is still pending in court. The big question is that first spoil the case and then say no case is made out... The tribunal has named Quattrocchi as one of the

Swami confesses to Samjhauta blast

New Delhi: In a dramatic development, top sources revealed to Hindustan Times that Swami Aseemanand had confessed before a magistrate to his involvement in the Samjhauta train blast of February 2007. Aseemanand, who heads the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram in Gujarat's Dangs district, was arrested on November 19 last yearvfor his alleged involvement in the Ajmer, Hyderabad and Samjhauta Express blasts, all of them in 2007. Aseemanand has also confessed that his alleged right hand man Sunil Joshi, who was murdered in mysterious circumstances in Dewas in Madhya Pradesh on December 29, 2007, was behind the Malegaon bombing of September 2006, sources said. What makes Aseemanand's confession valuable as evidence is that it has been made before a magistrate under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code and is thus admissible as evidence and cannot be retracted. Other witnesses, who have also recorded confessions under the same sections, fur-

Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi. main beneficiaries of kickbacks in the Bofors gun deal. When the appellate tribunal has completely expressed that his exoneration was wrong, would you apologize to the nation?" Prasad said. Referring to the prime minister's remarks at the Congress plenary last month that Caesar's wife must be above suspicion, Prasad said: "We are trying to judge you upon the benchmark you have set for yourself." He alleged that the government agencies were involved in saving Quattrocchi because of his "proximity to the Gandhi family".

Swami Aseemanand (second from right). ther strengthen the case against Aseemanand and his accomplices. On the night of bomb blast in the Dargah Ajmer Sharif on October 11, 2007, for instance Sunil Joshi had claimed before at least two persons that it was 'his work'. Both these people now form part of a group of 11 very important witnesses in the Ajmer blast case, who have all given statements before a magistrate under Section164. All these witnesses in the case, at some point, have been associated with the RSS or its affiliate organisations. Their deposition completes the chain of evidence in the matter, which is why Sec 164 was used by Rajasthan ATS. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has followed suit in its probe into the Samjhauta blasts case. NIA investigators have also recorded the statement of a witness, Bharat Bhai, under section 164 of the CrPC.

Gujjars end quota agitation

Digvijay presents Karkare call records

New Delhi: Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh has released records of his phone call to Hemant Karkare and demanded a public apology from those doubting he had made the call to the slain anti-terror squad chief a few hours before the 26/11 attacks. He also demanded an apology from Maharashtra Home Minsiter R.R. Patil for his remarks in the state assembly that records of the conversation were not available with state police. In a letter to Patil, copies of which were released to the media here, the Congress leader said that statements similar to those made by the minister had been made by Mumbai Police. He said the statements led to the media trying to prove his statement about the conversation with Karkare as wrong. "If you and Mumbai police had sought details about the ATS number (022-23087366), which is available on its website, then probably you would not have made the statement," Singh said, and

Hemant Karkare was killed in the Mumbai terror attack. appended records from the mobile phone number belonging to Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee on which he had talked. "Your and Mumbai Police statements have caused me deep hurt. I call upon you to make a public apology or regret," Singh said in the letter. Addressing mediapersons, the Congress general secretary also sought an apology from all those who "termed him a liar and questioned his integrity". The Congress leader had last month triggered a controversy when said he had spoken to Karkare on Nov 26, 2008, hours before he was killed in the Mumbai terror attack. According to Singh, Karkare said he had been receiving threat calls because he had implicated some activists of right-wing Hindu groups in the Malegaon blast case. "I never met Karkare, but I congratulated him when the Malegaon blast accused were held because they were the people I had known to be involved in such activities as Madhya Pradesh chief minister," Digvijay Singh added.

The Gujjars had staged violent protests between 2006 and 2008 for reservation in government jobs. Jaipur: The Gujjar community in Rajasthan called off their 17-day-old agitation for reservation in government jobs and said they had reached an agreement with the state government after several rounds of talks. "We have called off the agitation. We have reached an agreement," said Roop Singh, spokesperson of the Gujjar Aarakshan Sangarsh Samiti that has been spearheading the agitation for five percent reservation in government jobs since Dec 20. A 36-member Gujjar team held another round of talks Wednesday with the Rajasthan government even as the community continued to block rail tracks for the 17th day as part of their protests. The delegation led by retired army colonel K.S. Bainsla held negotiations with a three-member ministerial committee to end the dragging row. The Rajasthan government in 2009 announced five percent reservation for Gujjars and 14 percent for the economically backward classes, taking the total reservation in the state to 68 percent -- more than the 50 percent cap set by the Supreme Court. In a ruling Dec 22, 2010, the high court struck down the job quota for Gujjars. The Gujjars had staged violent protests between 2006 and 2008 in which many lives were lost.

Community Events TheSouthAsianTimes.info

15

January 8-14, 2011

Desis across New Jersey took part in New Years eve festivities with gusto. SATimes captures the mood..

Bringing in the New Year in style!

(Events: ICS Christmas celebration, NYE bash at TV Asia, Royal Alberts Palace, Akbar restaurant and Holiday Inn)

Photos by: Gunjesh Desai/Masalajunction.com

16

Ultimate Bollywood TheSouthAsianTimes.info

January 8-14, 2011

Reliving Jessica Lalls murder

"

No One Killed Jessica" is the first release of the year. It's inspired by the high-profile murder of model Jessica Lall, a crime that rocked the nation 11 years ago. Filmmaker Rajkumar Gupta brings the tragic story on celluloid in his second directorial venture that was released on January 7. Produced by UTV Spotboy, the film features Vidya Balan as Jessica's sister Sabrina while Rani Mukerji plays a journalist named Meera Gaiety who feels passionately about the case. The story will encapsulate incidents related to the murder and Sabrina and Meera's relentless struggle in their pursuit for justice for Jessica. The film also stars Randeep Hooda.

A still from 'No One Killed Jessica.' Jessica, a model who also Sharma, son of former union worked as a bartender, was shot minister Venod Sharma, after she dead April 29, 1999, by Manu refused to serve him a drink at a

party organized at designersocialite Bina Ramani's night bar Tamarind Court in the capital. However, due to lack of evidence the nine accused were acquitted by the trial court in February 2006. In March 2006, Delhi Police filed appeal in the high court and in December Manu, Vikas Yadav and Amardeep were convicted. In April 2010, the Supreme Court upheld the conviction and life term of Manu. For 11 years, Sabrina stood her ground and fought for justice for her sister despite many personal and other problems. She never gave up. Gupta clarified the film is neither a biography of any person nor a documentary. It is his "own interpretation" of the case,

but it is not "judgmental". He describes it as a mix of fact and fiction. In fact, he sat with Sabrina for hours to get the facts right and she feels that the director has done justice with the film and handled the subject sensitively. In fact, former cop Amod Kanth, who was Joint Commissioner of Police (Southern Range) at the time the ramp model was shot dead, wrote a letter to the Censor Board urging it to ensure all the facts are presented correctly. The Censor Board awarded an A-certificate to "No One Killed Jessica" without any cuts and its makers hailed the decision saying they were happy to be able to take the story to the audience.

Priyanka tops SRK

Ra.One ready to rock

he next level of Bollywood cinema: That is what Shah Rukh Khan's home production Ra.One, promises to be. The science-fiction superhero film stars Shah Rukh Khan and Kareena Kapoor in the lead roles. Shah Rukh recently tweeted about the film's action sequence "Huge blue screen...100 cars... cranes wires... gawd I am making a film beyond my means. Will be dancing on the streets to pay for all this. (sic)" Ra.One may hit the screens in the second half of 2011.

The first look of Shah Rukh Khan and Kareena Kapoor-starrer 'Ra.One.'

Imran wants all his leading ladies

Priyanka Chopra and Shah Rukh Khan. riyanka Chopra and Shah of the website is that it is not a Rukh Khan have made it to random survey but it is sole functhe list from an internation- tion of the website to track al survey that ranks global celeb popularity. The list has been celebrities on the basis of their brought out after constant live fans on different social network- monitoring of the social networking sites, says the friend of the ing and video-sharing sites. Priyanka leads the pack from actor. Priyanka doesnt want to India as she is ranked number eight, while Shah Rukh follows increase or decrease her activity her in the number nine position. on the Internet. I am an Internet The top slot in the survey has junkie. I like tweeting and voice gone to US actor Selena Gomez, blogging. Its kind of a chill-out, while actor Jackie Chan is at num- unwind zone for me. But you ber two. Priyanka told a friend of know something, it all depends on hers that she was very happy after my mood. I have my moody days hearing the news of the survey. too when I dont like doing any of It was her Twitter fans who these. I just like to switch myself informed her first about the off on those days, said Priyanka. results of the survey. The best part

ollywood heartthrob Imran Khan is making sure all his female co-stars from Genelia D'Souza to Kareena Kapoor are present at his pre-wedding party on January 8 in Mumbai. Imran, who is tying the knot with his childhood sweetheart Avantika Malik on January 10, was poised to host a mehendi-cum-reception before his D-day and has invited all his friends from the industry to join the celebration. The 27-year-old has especially wished the presence of his co-stars Genelia, Sonam Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Katrina Kaif and

and 'Short Term Shaadi' respectively. 'Imran wanted to invite all the actresses who starred with him to join in on the most important day of his life. And the actresses are making extra efforts to be part of his big day. The women are really going out of their way to be a part of it,' said a statement by his publicist. Kareena, who is currently on a vacation with beau Saif Ali Khan, Imran Khan and Avantika Malik. will cut short her trip to attend the bash. So will Deepika, who is on a Kareena from the movies 'Jaane backpacking tour in Britain but will Tu... Ya Jaane Na', 'I Hate Luv cut short her vacation to attend the Storys', 'Break Ke Baad', and the gala. Genelia is in the city and is upcoming 'Mere Brother Ki Dulhan' going to grace the event.

Big B wants dance lessons

ollywood's angry young man Amitabh Bachchan danced his way into the New Year in Goa, but feels he needs to take some serious dancing lessons soon. "Moving on the dance floor after ages has shown how rusty I have become. This has to change. Dancing lessons, I presume, during the gym hours I would imagine is the nearest course of action that could be taken. But yes, I was surprised at the fact that a few parts of my body still move in rhythm," Amitabh posted on his blog www.bigb.bigadda.com. The 68-year-old, who has always maintained a distinct dancing style in Bollywood, attended a beachside party on New Year's eve in picturesque Goa. "Great ambiance, fantastic music and gorgeous food. And we have danced and eaten our way through the past year amongst friends and well wishers and an incredible burst of fireworks all along the entire stretch of the beach that starts from the Fort Aguada, north," he added.

Amitabh Bachchan.

Ultimate Bollywood Thesouthasiantimes.info

17

January 8-14, 2011

After SRK, Sallu to go solo on Koffee

hough his life is already an open book, Salman Khan is expected to spill some more 'coffee beans' at Karan Johar's controversial show. The actor has finally given his nod to appear on Koffee with Karan. It's surprising that the actor who generally refrains from appearing on such shows, has given his consent to the filmmaker-host. It seems, their budding friendship might be the reason behind Sallu's nod. According to sources, Karan has been spotted at Salman's residence on several occasions and even the bratty actor put a picture of Karan on his Twitter page. If grapevine is to be believed, Karan was keen to invite Salman with Aamir, but that didn't work

Yana gets panties for New Year!

t seems Yana Gupta's fans will never forgive her for her 'no panty' act. Yana, who is busy rehearsing and performing for a dance reality show informs that she got some boxes of panties from her friends and fans as her Christmas and New Year gift. Last year, the item girl shocked everyone when a tabloid carried her pictures sans panty. Apparently her 'no panty' act hasn't gone too well with her fans. But our item girl has taken the gift sportingly too. Not being bothered by such a weird gift, she wrote on her microblogging site, "Thanks for all the boxes of panties I've got for Christmas. Now my new year can start safely." We hope the panties prevent

Salman Khan. out! Now with Aamir coming with Kiran on the show, Salman will apparently have to come solo. We wonder if KJo's best friend Shah Rukh is ok with this new bonding.

Yana Gupta. Yana from getting into such a terrible fashion faux pas again.

When Shahid flew to Goa for Priyanka

Priyanka Chopra and Shahid Kapoor.

he buzz till now was that Priyanka Chopra and Shahid Kapoor were not going to spend New Year's eve together as Priyanka was spending the holiday with family. Well, look who's become family now! It seems that Shahid took two days off from his shooting schedule in his dad's film Mausam to spend time with Priyanka's family. A source from the Mausam crew said, "Priyanka has come to Chandigarh twice. On December 30, Shahid flew to Goa to bring in the New Year with Priyanka and her family. He actually missed his flight to Goa via Mumbai, so he caught another one from Chandigarh via Delhi to Goa." In fact, the crew joked about how the mausam (weather) in Goa would be so romantic. Well, Shahid sure wants to spend quality time with family, so what if it's Priyanka's and not his own! While the couple has been in denial about their relationship, the two lovebirds have been virtually inseparable, whether it's on television shows or movie theatres. Incidentally, the two have even signed a film together with Kunal Kohli.

A still from Dev Anand's 1961 classic Hum Dono in a digitally re-mastered colored version.

Dev Anand's 'Hum Dono' coming in 3D?

lans are already afoot to bring out Dev Anand's classic hit "Hum Dono" (1961) in color. Now, the evergreen star just might literally pop out of the screen and stroll in the theatre, a cigarette dangling from the corner of his lips, when it is converted into 3D. "The 3D process is currently being considered for the conversion of 'Hum Dono Rangeen', which will further enhance the value of this invaluable Bollywood classic, giving it new life for future generations of audiences," said Barry Sandrew, the founder of Legend Films that specializes in coloring Hollywood black and white classics, in a statement. Retitled as "Hum Dono Rangeen", the hit that saw Dev Anand in a double role opposite Nanda and Sadhana 50 years ago, will first release overseas Jan 28 in its digitally re-mastered colored version before hitting the Indian screens Feb 4.

Aamir can't have enough of Salman

t seems Aamir Khan is quite fascinated with the idea of using fellow actor Salman Khan's style statements in his productions. Keeping up the trend, the Bollywood perfectionist has made visible references to the star in his upcoming movie "Dhobi Ghat". It's believed that the hit song "Pappu can't dance saala" in Aamir's 2008 hit production "Jaane Tu...Ya Jaane Na" was a dig at Salman and his lifestyle. Then Aamir's small-budget satirical hit "Peepli Live" last year had an actor sporting the star's trademark bracelet with blue stone. Now in his wife Kiran Rao's directorial debut "Dhobi Ghat", releasing Jan 14, Aamir strikes a hat-trick. "Prateik Babbar's character in 'Dhobi Ghat' is shown to be a Salman Khan fan. Prateik is seen wearing the famous Salman Khan bracelet. He loves working out to build a body like Salman's and he wants to become an actor like him," read a statement from the film's publicist. "Prateik's character hails from a different city and is a part-time dhobi, and a wannabe actor. He is into body-building and thinks Salman is a cool dude."

Prateik Babbar in "Dhobi Ghat" sporting Salman's trademark bracelet. Also starring Aamir, Monica Dogra, Kriti Malhotra, Kitu Gidwani and Nafisa Khan, the movie revolves around four characters from different classes of society and how their lives are intertwined with each other.

The outing, also remembered for its musical lighter and often hummed songs like "Mai zindagi ka saath nibhata chala gaya" and "Abhi na jaao chhodkar", has been colored using 65,000 shades. It will release with Dolby Digital Ex surround sound. Sandrew has colored the movie with state of the art advanced technology in the US. Impressed by Dev Anand and the movie's "spectacular" new look, Sandrew is now contemplating converting it into 3D. Dev Anand, 87, is happy with the fact that the young generation will get to see the film. "It's nostalgic to even think about 'Hum Dono'. I still remember the kind of response we had got when it was released way back in 1961. I am happy that people would be able to relive the experience in a better way and hope the younger generation who has not seen the film would also love it the way the film was loved 50 years back," said Dev Anand.

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Marketing TheSouthAsianTimes.info

January 8-14, 2011

Marketing and Communications target multiethnic consumers

White non-Hispanics today make up only 64 percent of the U.S. population. Growth rate in populations of Asians, African Americans and other ethnicities such as Pacific Islanders is growing fast as per the projections for the 2010 Census. These non-white and ethnic communities represent billions of dollars in buying power.

Since starting in 1995, Object Design & Communications Inc. (ObjectDC) has been customizing advertising, marketing and PR campaigns to target ethnic minority groups in the country. by Heather Mueller t should come as no surprise to most people residing in the United States that Hispanics are the fastest growing ethnicity in America. Since 2000, this segment of the population has grown by a whopping 42 percent. But what about immigrants from countries like Russia and Vietnam? How about all the U.S. residents who are speaking Arabic, Tagalog, Korean, Hindi, Mandarin, Greek, Russian and dozens of other languages daily? According to a recent report from Advertising Age, these minorities are the new majority. And they hold some sizeable purse strings when it comes to buying in the United States. Over the past decade alone, growth among the multiethnic consumer pool has translated into billions of dollars in buying power. Yet many corporations and businesses are still in the dark about how to reach if theyre even trying to reach these markets. Marketing and communications campaigns are still established largely based on the average American consumer, with slight tweaks here and there for multicultural audiences. The problem with this approach is that the concept of an average American is gone, probably forever, according to demographics expert Peter Francese, who wrote the Ad Age white paper, 2010 America: What the 2010 Census Means for Marketing and Advertising. The average American has been replaced by a complex, multidimensional society that defies simplistic labeling. Its a sentiment that one local advertising and marketing agency has been expressing for more than 15 years. Since opening its doors in 1995, Object Design & Communications Inc. (ObjectDC) has been customizing advertising, marketing and public relations campaigns to target ethnic minority groups throughout the United States. Each [community] has its own cultural sensitivities, and people want to feel that whoever s approaching them understands their culture and needs, said founder and Chief Executive Officer Nawaf Soliman. It takes a lot of research and a lot of creative strategy to reach out to those specific audiences. ObjectDC is similar to many of its larger counterparts in the Washington area in that it works with mainstream clients like British Midland International, DIRECTV, the National Institutes of Health, Startec Global Communications, Deloitte and others. The firms one differentiator is a big one: Solimans team specializes in marketing to multicultural audiences throughout the United States and Canada a segment that Soliman says holds a lot of untapped potential. Many agencies, especially in New York and California, are serving the Hispanic market, Soliman pointed out. But most arent looking at specific markets like Filipinos, Koreans and Farsi. Of course, it helps to have a team that knows what its like to be part of a minority group in America. Solimans seven-person team speaks four languages (Hindi, Arabic, Greek, Russian) in addition to English. An established network of contractors provides translation services for another 30 or so languages. ing ethnicities, corporations face the challenge of reaching audiences that are no longer mass or mainstream. We have become a multicultural nation, Francese said, and are on our way to becoming a minority-majority nation, probably within the next 40 to 50 years. The message to marketers is fairly clear: Multimillion-dollar campaigns that once touched the majority of Americans will now miss a hefty part of the consumer spending pool. White non-Hispanics once the bread and butter of the advertising industry today make up 64 percent of the U.S. population. The rate of growth among this demographic has slowed to just 2 percent over the past 10 years lower than that of Asians, African Americans and other ethnicities such as Pacific Islanders, according to recent analyses by the U.S. Census Bureau projections for the 2010 Census. These non-white and ethnic communities which constitute nearly a third of the American market represents billions of dollars in buying power, a fact that will be crucial to U.S. marketing and advertising efforts in the coming decades. home. Armed with information on cultural nuances, clients are then able to create advertisements, marketing collateral and even grassroots campaigns that appeal to specific markets and in turn boost sales. For instance, at Subway, one of the nations largest fast food franchise chains, all it took was some careful repositioning. Over the years, the chain has benefited from large-scale campaigns. The phrase five-dollar footlong has become synonymous with the brand, as have sub sandwiches containing less than six grams of fat. But in Washington, D.C., the nations most diverse city, those advertisements werent resonating with large segments of the population. So Soliman and his team created a series of ads, coupons and inserts with coupons targeting specific ethnic communities such as Hispanics, South Asians, Arabs and Koreans. The ads appealed to specific needs within each population, focusing, for instance, on promoting vegetarian sandwiches to South Asians and tuna sandwiches to Koreans. Most of our clients dont know where to start in approaching ethnic markets, so we lay out whole solutions from research to strategy to creative concepts to implementation to monitoring, he said. firm to help them communicate in-language public diplomacy and health messages. DIRECTV, a client of six years, reached specific ethnic markets with large-scale PR events targeting South Asian communities in New York and San Francisco. In 2009, the satellite broadcast service was rolling out a new package featuring broadcasts of cricket, a sport thats extremely popular among Australians, British, South Africans and those from the Indian subcontinent. The company turned to ObjectDC, which helped them launch this service to South Asian cricket fans through sizzle video (previews that are lengthier than typical trailers) that played on several large outdoor screens in Times Square, while street teams handed out cricket-themed giveaways. The campaign was a success. Media outlets covered the event, word spread among enthusiastic fans, and subscriptions increased. DIRECTV continues to work with ObjectDC to promote its South Asian packages through various efforts, from grassroots efforts to print and online advertising. In the tough times, the worst thing you can do is to reduce budget. Soliman said. If you enhance your approach youll see results, especially because so many others are reducing. The key in todays changing landscape, Soliman says, is continually watching and talking to each cultural ethnicity, staying up to date on their wants, needs and interests. All of those emerging communities are growing and growing and growing, and we just have to keep watching and watching and watching. Heather Mueller is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat.

Sandwiching Research Into Digestible Bites

At ObjectDC, reaching the vast pool of ethnic markets starts with a lot of research. Most available research is too general, Soliman said. You can get demographical data like population and income, but to really reach a particular ethnic market you need to know answers to specific questions, like what type of cars people like, what kind of headlines will grab them, what TV shows they watch, and what travel companies they use to get

Creative Campaigns
The agency has designed fullscale strategies for clients ranging from British Midland Airways to Mercedes-Benz, all of them eager to find ways to reach growing, affluent multicultural markets. ObjectDCs expertise is also being sought by the U.S. government. The National Institutes of Health and USAID rely on the

The New American Consumer

In an era where Joe Consumer is being replaced by scads of micro markets of vary-

Diaspora TheSouthAsianTimes.info

19

January 8-14, 2011

Work with diaspora, PM urges scientists

Chennai: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has stressed on attracting the young Indian diaspora through joint research projects while urging Indian scientists to "think big" and "out of the box" for scientific advancement and innovations in the country. "I would like to see more joint research projects between Indians in India and those abroad so that we can draw on this global talent pool and strengthen our own teaching and research base. The high speed National Knowledge Network will greatly facilitate such collaborations," Manmohan Singh said in his inaugural address at the 98th Indian Science Congress here on January 3. To Indian scientists, he said: "The time has come for Indian scientists to once again think big; think out of the box; and think ahead of the times. The time has come for India to produce the Ramans and Ramanujans of the 21st Century," the prime minister said. He was referring to eminent physicist C.V. Raman and renowned mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan - both from Tamil Nadu. He, however, said that the application of scientific knowledge to human and social Citing modern developments in bio-sciences, Manmohan Singh said: "We are now acquiring the capacity to manipulate the human genome. But we have not yet developed an ethical framework that defines red lines that we must not cross as we do this." The prime minister said that ethics for science needed further discussion. He urged the scientific community to discuss and deliberate on questions like whether scientists should step beyond their discipline and guide the social discourse on the use of scientific knowledge. Another question to be deliberated is whether a code of conduct should define the limits within which scientists will work on the application of their discoveries. The biggest conclave of Indian science has some 7,500 scientists, including six Nobel laureates, from across the world attending. The congress at SRM University in Kattankulathur near here is the 98th held in India uninterrupted since 1914. The congress is always inaugurated Jan 3 by the prime minister and chaired by the chief minister of the host state. However, Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister M.K. Stalin chaired the event.

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh addressing the 98th Indian Science Congress in Chennai on January 03. development must be value-based. climate change." "How science is used depends on the valReferring to the development of synthetic ues and priorities of the time in society. chemistry finding use in developing poison Thus splitting of the atom led on the one gas used in wars and of agro chemicals and had to the bomb and on the other to nuclear pharmaceuticals, he said: "The application energy. of scientific knowledge to human and One kills; the other has extended the social development must be value-based bounds of developmental possibilities on a even though science may itself be value planet worried about carbon emissions and neutral."

Top medical award for Indian physician

LONDON: A Tuticorinbased Indian physician taking a Master's program offered by the Woolf Institute in conjunction with the University of Cambridge has won the 2010 JCI (TOYP) Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World Award for Medical Innovation. Dr Gifty Immanuel, who lives and works in India, is pursuing the Master of Studies in the Study of JewishChristian Relations program via e-learning. He was among recipients of the 2010 Junior Chamber International (JCI) Award. Each year the awards are presented to ten people in various categories around the world under the age of 40 who provide extraordinary service to their communities, a university release said. The JCI, which works in

NRI black list needs review

Chandigarh: The "black list" of Non-Resident Indians (NRI) needs to be reviewed to help people of Indian origin settled abroad come to India freely, a senior Punjab minister said recently. Finance Minister Upinderjit Kaur supported the North American Punjabi Association (NAPA), which has asked the central government to review the black-list, which bars certain individuals from entering India for their involvement with terror elements or for anti-national activities. Kaur told an NAPA delegation: "The time has come that union government should review the blacklist because after the restoration of peace in the state, these citizens should be given opportunity to return home and become partners in the state's progress." NAPA president Satnam Singh Chahal urged the Punjab government to take up the issues of NRIs with central government, including the Indian missions and embassies abroad. Chahal said that NRIs are generally subjected to humiliation at the hands of the Indian embassy staff. He alleged that the family members of those who got US citizenship on the basis of political asylum are being discriminated by refusal of visa. "Those born and brought up in the US are also being denied visa for various reasons," he added. "Over one lakh PIOs (persons of Indian origin) were deprived of the opportunity to visit India

Dr Gifty Immanuel.

partnership with the UN, awarded Dr Immanuel with the prestigious international prize in recognition of his contribution to public health and the use of innovative medical knowledge to serve global communities. Dr Immanuel was brought up in India, Africa and Arabia and is qualified in dentistry, medicine and public health.

Punjab Finance Minister Upinderjit Kaur.

through flimsy excuses," Chahal observed. The minister assured the delegation that the Punjab government will soon constitute a board for NRIs to provide fast relief to their disputes, especially in the matter of property, marital and immigration.

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Subcontinent TheSouthAsianTimes.info

January 8-14, 2011

Pakistani police guards carry the coffin of late Punjab governor Salman Taseer during the funeral in Lahore on January 5.

Salman Taseer.

A policeman surveys the blood-spattered road where Salman Taseer was shot dead in a crowded street in Islamabad on January 4.

Activists of ruling Pakistani Peoples Party follow the funeral procession of late Punjab governor Salman Taseer.

World shocked over Taseers assassination

ISLAMABAD: The outspoken Governor of Pakistan's Punjab province, Salman Taseer, was gunned down, allegedly by one of his own security guards here on January 4. The guard, who surrendered to the police soon after, is said to have been upset with Taseer for his support to a Christian woman charged with blasphemy. The police said assailant Malik Mumtaz Husain Qadri from the elite force of the Punjab Police shot Taseer several times from close range as the Governor was getting into his car on a side lane of Kohsar Market, a favorite with the foreigners based here. The Governor was rushed to a nearby polyclinic, but eyewitnesses said he was already dead. Doctors said he suffered nine bullet wounds. His body was later removed to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences as the polyclinic did not have a morgue. As condemnation poured in from across the political spectrum and civil society, the government declared a three-day mourning. The Pakistan People's Party (PPP), to which Taseer belonged, has called for a fortnight-long mourning, with its spokesperson Fauzia Wahab underscoring the point that yet another party stalwart had made the ultimate sacrifice. Taseer angered the religious' right wing after he visited Aasia Bibi who was sentenced to death by a sessions court in November last for allegedly committing blasphemy in the Sheikhupura jail. He also forwarded her mercy petition to President Asif Ali Zardari and stuck to his guns despite threats from hardliners. Soon after the assassination, a high-level investigation team, comprising members from the Inter Services Intelligence, the Federal Investigation Agency and the Intelligence Bureau, was set up to oversee the probe. Taseer was laid to rest with official protocol in Lahore on January 5 after his funeral prayers were offered amid tight security in the Governor House. His coffin, wrapped in the national flag, was flown from the governor house by helicopter to the Cavalry Graveyard in the military cantonment in Lahore and was lowered to the ground by uniformed personnel. Thousands of people attended the funeral prayers. Several PPP leaders including Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Interior Minister Rehman Malik gathered at the Governor House to participate in the funeral prayers.

Death threat for Sheikh Hasina

Chittagong (Bangladesh): Islamist militants have threatened to kill Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina if their associates are not freed from prison within a month. In a letter to a jailor, they also threatened to bomb the jail in Chittagong where their 27 associates, including the chief of the banned Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) are lodged. The jailor of the Chittagong Central Jail, Rafiqul Quader, received the letter around 1 p.m. On January 5. Chittagong is about 260 km from the capital Dhaka. The letter reads Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina survived "this year's Aug 15, but she will not be alive in future as she will also be blown to smithereens". Quader told The Daily Star that a person called Abdul Mannan has sent the letter with the return address as West Ghoramara, Pakka Mashjid, Kumira, Sitakunda, Chittagong. They also threatened to bomb police stations, the official added. The group that issued the threat claimed themselves to be members of the JMB's suicide squad.

Pak bans export via border

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Lanka considers mini-skirt ban

COLOMBO : Sri Lanka is considering banning miniskirts following complaints about women wearing skimpy clothing in the conservative island nation. Nimal Rubasinghe, secretary of the Cultural Affairs Ministry, said the government had received representations calling for a ban on wearing revealing clothing in public, though he declined to name the groups involved. "There have been complaints from various quarters about mini-skirts, but we are only considering them and no final decision has been taken," Rubasinghe said. Rubasinghe was responding to a media report that said the government had asked a committee to prepare a dress code for public places to ensure that mini-skirts were outlawed. The Lakbima News newspaper said mini-skirts could be banned if the Cultural Affairs Ministry had its way under a "new era of moral purity." President Mahinda Rajapakse's government has recently ordered the removal of billboards featuring scantily-clad women and also launched a campaign to discourage the use of alcohol and tobacco.

With onion prices touching Rs.100 a kg in some parts of the country last month, Indian traders started buying it from Pakistan at Rs.300-350 a quintal. Amritsar: Onion woes are likely to continue in India with Pakistan deciding to stop sending the commodity through the Attari-Wagah border check-post and also cutting down on the quantity due to a shortage in that country, an official said. According to a communication received from Pakistan's Commerce Ministry, onions will not come through the land route but instead the rail route. "We got the news that Pakistan has decided to stop sending onions through land route and will opt for goods train," trader Rajdeep Uppal, who is Amritsar Exports and Imports Chamber vice president, said. "They have also decided to cut down the exports. The decision can be attributed to the shortage of onions in their own market," he added.Uppal said every day around 50 onion-laden trucks were coming to India since Dec 21, except on holidays. Each truck carried 10 to 12 tonnes of onions. R.K. Duggal, deputy commissioner (customs), Attari, confirmed the ban on exports through the border. "Yes, we have received this communication but they (Pakistan) have not cited any reason behind this move," he said. Traders were apprehensive whether Pakistan would also stop exporting through the rail route. "We came to know that they have also stopped exporting through rail route. But we are not sure about it and are trying to confirm it from the authorities concerned," Uppal said.

Mini-skirts could be banned in Sri Lanka if the country's Cultural Affairs Ministry has its way under a "new era of moral purity.

Subcontinent TheSouthAsianTimes.info

21

January 8-14, 2011

'Pak in drone negotiations with US'

Islamabad: Pakistan, which wants American drones for taking on militants, is still working on a deal with the US to acquire its own fleet of the surveillance aircraft, a media report said. The drone system, for which negotiations are on between the two countries, is known as Shadow-200 and is currently used by the US Navy and the Marine Corps, Dawn News reported. It is equipped with an infrared camera, which relays real time videos to a ground control station. It is a surveillance aircraft and is not equipped with weapons attached to the drones the Americans use to target militants in northwestern Pakistan. Pakistan originally wanted weaponequipped drones but the US turned down the request, saying that so far they had not shared this technology with any other nation. Pakistan was still demanding "regular lion. It takes about 36 to 48 months to deliver a system. The sources said that Pakistan had reservations about both the quoted price and the time it took to deliver a system. "By the time we receive them, it will be too late to use them against the militants we need to subdue," said one such source. Pakistani negotiators, while complaining about the long delivery wait, said they realized that the procedures involved did not allow speedy delivery. "There's need for congressional approvals, then there is a cumbersome contracting system and legal wrangles involved in the approval of funds," said one diplomatic source. "We are still working out the details for purchasing about half a dozen Shadow-200 systems," the source said. The offer to sell Shadow-200 drones was made by US Defense Secretary Robert Gates during a trip to Islamabad in January 2010.

Pakistan originally wanted weapon-equipped drones but the US turned down the request. drones with on board weapons and longer surveillance range", diplomatic sources were quoted as saying by the daily. The Shadow-200 system includes a ground station and four "birds" commonly known as drones and costs about $40 mil-

Dabur Nepal pays NRS 50 mn

Tamil rebels operating ships abroad: Lanka

Colombo: Defeated Tamil separatist rebels of Sri Lanka were running illegal operations overseas, using ships that escaped the conflict, a senior cabinet minister said. Rebels associated with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) still had at least eight vessels and were using them for illegal activities, including human trafficking, said Dinesh Gunawardena, the chief government whip and water supply and drainage minister. The Tamil rebels were defeated by the government in 2009, ending a 26-year civil war, during which government forces destroyed 11 of the rebels' 20 ships. But "their international network is still active", said Gunawardena, leader of the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (People's United Front), a member of the ruling coalition. The opposition has asked the gov-

Dabur Nepal is one of the largest Indian investors in Nepal and the biggest exporter. Kathmandu: Embroiled in a manufacturing row since last month and now also under probe for revenue discrepancies, Indian multinational Dabur India's independent group company Dabur Nepal has paid an NRS50 million security deposit and admitted to packaging errors, Nepal's official watchdog said. Sameer Silwal, joint attorneygeneral at the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), who led a raid on Dabur Nepal's storehouse in southern Bara district last month, told IANS the company's chief executive officer Udayan Ganguly and production chief Indranil Gupta, were released from surveillance after being questioned for three days and, finally, posting a security deposit of NRS50 million. They have also agreed to appear before the watchdog for further questioning, if required, Silwal said. This is the first time in Nepal's corporate history that such a measure was been taken against an Indian company. Silwal said during the questioning since Sunday, the two Dabur Nepal officials had admitted to an "error". Last month, acting on a complaint by a consumers' group, the CIAA raided Dabur Nepal's storehouse in Rampur Tokhani in Bara district along the Indo-Nepal border and found nearly 74,000 packed cartons of the Real and Real Activ brands of fruit juices, which carried the manufacturing date of Jan 11, 2011. Media reports added that under questioning, the two Dabur Nepal officials said the advanced manufacturing date was a printing error and the cartons had been packed with fruit juice due to a communication lapse. When the mistake was detected, the company was ready to withdraw the lot. Dabur Nepal faces a second ordeal in Nepal's apex court as a resident from southern Nepal, Bhushan Giri, has filed a writ against the multinational, seeking the firm's licence cancelled. The factory in Nepal is the main production unit for the Real brands which are then exported to India, Bangladesh and other countries. Dabur Nepal is one of the largest Indian investors in Nepal and the biggest exporter.

The Tamil rebels were defeated by the government in 2009, ending a 26-year civil war. ernment what it is doing to recover the rebels' overseas assets. Gunawardena told parliament that the intelligence authorities were taking appropriate action against the remaining ships but declined to give details. LTTE leader Kumaran Pathmanathan, who was captured in August 2009 in an unspecified Asian country, was reported to have provided the government information on the rebels' operations.

'Afghan neighbors to ensure its independence'

New Delhi: In a veiled reference to Pakistan, India said Afghanistan's neighbors should "guarantee its independence rather than subvert it" and called for dismantling of the infrastructure of terrorism in the region. "Afghanistan's neighbors should guarantee its independence and sovereignty rather than subvert it. We must make Afghan security sustainable," Jayant Prasad, special secretary (public diplomacy) in the external affairs ministry, said here. Although he did not name Pakistan, India has often voiced its apprehensions about Islamabad's meddling in the internal affairs of Kabul. Speaking at the seminar, Savita Pande, an Afghanistan expert at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), pointed out that Pakistan's politics of strategic depth has complicated the quest for stability in Afghanistan. "Pakistan's prime concern in Afghanistan is seeking strategic depth against India," said Pande. They were speaking at a two-day international seminar entitled "Rethinking International Intervention in Afghanistan," at Sapru House organized by the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA). Several scholars and experts from India, Afghanistan and Russia are participating in the seminar, which has been organized by the ICWA in association with the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies, Kolkata. Calling for dismantling the infrastructure of terrorism in the region, Prasad, a former Indian ambassador to Kabul, underlined that a peaceful and stable Afghanistan could emerge as "a trade, transportation and mineral hub" Contending that a regional approach could help in stabilizing Afghanistan, Prasad pointed out that many pitfalls remained on the way. "All regional countries have a stake in peace and stability in Afghanistan," said Prasad. The unraveling of Afghanistan will be a security nightmare, he warned. Alluding to India's massive aid for reconstruction of Afghanistan, Prasad said India has focused on building institutions and developing human resources in that country. India has launched scores of quick-gestation grassroot development projects that has generated employment for locals and won New Delhi much goodwill and admiration from ordinary Afghans.

22

International TheSouthAsianTimes.info

January 8-14, 2011

Currency, human rights on table with China

Washington: The demand for China to revalue its currency and the issue of human rights will be on the US agenda when Chinese President Hu Jintao makes a State Visit to Washington later this month, the White House has said. Also on the discussion table will be the situation in the Korea peninsula, given China's close association with North Korea, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters at his daily news conference. "Those two issues (currency and human rights)... will be on the agenda and will be tremendously important," Gibbs said when asked if these two issues were still on the agenda with China. He said the issues were taken up in a White House meeting with the visiting Chinese Foreign Minister in which US President Barack Obama also stopped by. "China plays an enormously important role in our global economy and China has to take steps to rebalance its currency, and the President will continue to make that point when President Hu is work together so that our relationship will bring more benefits to both our two people and to the people of the world," Yang told reporters before meeting Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department.

Clinton meets China's foreign minister

Washington: US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi to prepare for this month's visit by President Hu Jintao. President Barack Obama will host Hu at the White House on January 19 for a prestigious state visit, but important issues will be lingering in the discussions between the two leaders. Those will include the global economy and US concerns that China artificially devalues the yuan. Also on the agenda will be global warming and North Korea's nuclear activities. The US has urged Beijng to use its influence to rein in Pyongyang. "We are preparing diligently for the upcoming state visit by President Hu Jintao. Its very much anticipated and looked forward to," Clinton said before sitting down with Yang. "And both the minister and I feel a great sense of responsibility to ensure that it continues the positive, cooperative, comprehensive relationship between our two countries." "It is in the best interests of China and the United States and the world for us to continue to work better so that our relationship will bring more benefits to both our two peoples and to the people of the world," Yang said of the two economic powerhouses.

US President Barack Obama with Chinese President Hu Jintao. here, as he did with the Foreign Minister," Gibbs said. "Understand that human rights, the global economy, and currency are certainly on the list. I won't go through all the topics, but of course the situation in North Korea I anticipate will also take up some amount of that time," he said. Gibbs sought to refute reports that the Obama Administration is soft peddling on the human rights issue. "I think if you speak directly to the President of China about your concerns about their record on human rights, I don't think that's soft-pedalling," he said. Earlier in the day, visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said the US-China ties are on the right track. "It is in the best interest of China, the United States and the world for us to continue to

London: The public will have ample opportunity to catch a glimpse of Prince William and Kate Middleton during a royal carriage procession through central London on their wedding day, April 29. Buckingham Palace confirmed the couple would be married by Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, at a Westminster Abbey service, which will be followed by a reception given by Queen Elizabeth II at the palace. In the evening, there would be a dinner-dance for family and friends, also at Buckingham Palace, which will be hosted by Prince Charles, William's father and current heir to the throne. Unconfirmed reports said the newly-weds were also likely to make an appearance on the balcony of Buckingham Palace after the ceremony. Buckingham Palace

Flood-hit William-Kate wedding plans Queensland braced revealed for fresh storms

Prince William and Kate Middleton. was, however, keen to stress that, in a break with tradition, William and Kate would travel to Westminster Abbey by car, and take the royal carriage only on their return journey as newlyweds, along Horse Guards Parade and The Mall. They were "keen to strike an appropriate level" and avoid the appearance of lavishness by making only one part of the journey in the carriage, commentators said. The sermon during the Abbey service, for which up to 2,000 guests are expected, will be held by the Bishop of London, Richard Chartres, who counseled William when his mother, the late Princess Diana, died in 1997. Rockhampton Mayor Brad Carter said it could take a year for the city to recover from floods. Sydney: More heavy rain is forecast for eastern Australia, threatening flash floods for communities where hundreds of homes are already under water. Forecasters predict central and southern Queensland will be worst hit by the latest deluge which will last into the weekend. In the city of Rockhampton about 500 homes were evacuated as the Fitzroy river. About 1,200 homes across Queensland have been inundated since heavy rains set in last month, with another 10,700 suffering some damage, officials say. Meteorologist Bryan Rolstone, quoted by Australian broadcaster ABC, said the latest rain would fall in the Wide Bay-Burnett region, affecting Rockhampton and the city of Bundaberg, which has also already suffered severe flooding. Rockhampton Mayor Brad Carter has said it could take a year for the city to recover. "Seventy-five percent of our mines are currently not operating because of this flood, so that's a massive impact on the international markets and the international manufacture of steel," she told the Seven network TV station.

Business TheSouthAsianTimes.info

23

January 8-14, 2011

US clears sophisticated missiles for India

New Delhi: The US administration has cleared two more missiles - the anti-tank Hellfire air-to-surface missile and the air-to-air Stinger anti-aircraft missile - and a highly sophisticated combat radar for the Indian Air Force (IAF). The missiles, and the Longbow Fire Control Radar (FCR) which operates them, are part of the weapons package on board the Apache 64D Block III attack helicopter that is under consideration for acquisition by India. The Apache helicopter is built by Boeing, the Hellfire by Lockheed Martin, the Longbow FCR by Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, and the Stinger by Raytheon, all of them global majors in military industrial technology. Apache is one of the two combat helicopters that have competed last year for IAF's global tender

Hellfire air-to-surface missile and the air-to-air Stinger missile. for 22 combat helicopters to replace and update its inventory of old, Soviet-vintage Mi-35 (basically Mi-24) helicopters. The other helicopter in competition is the Russian Mi-28. Russia exports all weapons and combat platforms through its state-run Rosoboronexport, while the US government allows certain military and non-military systems to be acquired from various companies under what is called Direct Commercial Sales (DCS) and sensitive technology items either after clearance or through what is known as the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme. The IAF proposes to buy the helicopter platforms under DCS from Boeing, and missiles and weapons from the US government and the army, which operates them, under FMS. Although the Indian Ministry of Defense (MoD) is yet to announce the selection, the US government notified the Congress on Dec 22, 2010, of the "possible" sale of these helicopters and combat systems as per the mandatory procedural approval. The idea is that in case India does make its choice in favor of the Apache, then the sale can be progressed without any time delay.

CitiBank Pandit named in FIR

Gurgaon: A businessman has filed a cheating complaint against Citibank and 11 others, including Citigroup's chief executive officer Vikram Pandit and manager Shivraj Puri, and sought the recovery of Rs.32 crore invested by him, police said. Citigroup chairman William R. Rhodes, chief financial officer John Gerspach and chief operating officer Douglas Peterson were also named in the first information report (FIR) filed by Sanjeev Agrawal. In his complaint given to DLF-II police station, Agrawal accused Puri and others of falsification of accounts, breach of trust and criminal conspiracy. It is the first such police complaint filed in the estimated Rs.300 crore fraud allegedly

ArcelorMittal back in takeover bid

Toronto: Backing ArcelorMittal once again, Toronto-based Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation has asked its shareholders to reject the higher offer by rival Nunavat Iron Ore Acquisition Inc and opt for the world's biggest steel company. Nunavat made its offer of $1.45 a share at the weakend against ArcelorMittal's $1.40 a share for the Toronto company. ArcelorMittal made the new hiked offer to $1.40 after the expiry of its previous offer of $1.25 or $492 million passed last Thursday night. Its new offer amounts to $550.7 million. On the other hand, since Nunavat already owns 10 percent stake in Baffinland and is seeking additional 50 percent of its shares, its offer amounts to $570 million. With both the rivals setting the deadline of Jan 10 for acceptance of their offers, Baffinland's board of directors here said that it reviewed Nunavat's new offer Monday and "determined that the offer by ArcelorMittal being made for 100 percent of Baffinland's common shares for $1.40 in cash per share ...remains in the best interests of Baffinland,

Citigroup's chief executive officer Vikram Pandit. masterminded by Shivraj Puri. Working as a relationship manager, Shivraj allegedly cheated investors by asking them to deposit money into accounts managed by him, promising to invest it in schemes that offer very high interest within a short span of time. Puri reportedly managed to con companies and high net worth individuals after forging Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) documents backing his claims.

ArcelorMittal made the new hiked offer to $1.40 to buy Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation after the expiry of its previous offer of $1.25. (and) its shareholders.'' The battle for Baffinland began in September with Nunavat mounting its hostile bid with an offer of 80 cents a share and then ArcelorMittal entering the fray with its offer of $1.10 a share.

Now, wear Chinese Banarasi saris!

New Delhi: For centuries, the stunning silk saris woven by hand in Varanasi have been prized by women, but an influx of cheap Chinesemade copies is destroying the local industry. Badruddin Ansari, one of the few weavers still in business, says that most of his former colleagues now struggle to eke out a living as vegetable sellers, tea stall operators or rickshaw drivers. "When a person loses his home and his livelihood, where can he go?" he asked angrily. "I hope the art of making Banarasi saris will survive. The government must ban these imported saris or put a heavier duty on them to save the domestic industry." Banarasi silk saris are famed for their embroidery and still sought after by brides for their big day, even though the dresses are now normally made in China. Rajni Kant, director of the Human Welfare Association, a non-profit group working with weavers in Varanasi since 1993, has seen the damaging effect of Chinese imports. "To give just one example, a 55-year-old man I know started weaving at the age of 15," he said. "He quit the handloom three years ago and now works as a manual laborer. There are hundreds of thousands of people like him." More than 60 per cent of the handloom industry has collapsed in Varanasi since 2003, according to Kant. In 2007 reports emerged of weavers in Varanasi selling their blood to make ends meet as Chinese imitation saris flooded the market, costing about Rs 2,500 ($55) compared with at least Rs 4,000 for an original. Official import figures for saris from China are low, but textile experts say much of the material is imported as fabric, not as tailored saris, and a lot makes its way into India as contraband via Nepal.

Economy to grow at 8.4 pc: Crisil

Mumbai: Contrary to the governments projection of double-digit GDP growth over the next few years, rating agency Crisil has projected a growth rate of 8.4% as it sees supply constraints hindering ambitious growth projections. While domestic demand, robust consumption and investment rates are likely to support 8.4% growth over the next five years, there are five supply side issues that need to be addressed, the rating agency said. If that is done, India can be on a sustained 10% growth trajectory. The five key issues that need to be addressed to unleash India's growth potential include the quantity and quality of physical infrastructure, skill shortages in its bulging population, faltering agriculture and consequent high food inflation, fiscal inflexibility to spend on health, education and physical infrastructure, and governance deficit, said Roopa Kudva, managing director and CEO, Crisil.

Chinese imitation saris cost about Rs 2,500 ($55) compared with at least Rs 4,000 for an original Banarasi sari.

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Sports TheSouthAsianTimes.info

January 8-14, 2011

India secure 1-1 draw with Proteas

Cape Town: Set a daunting target of 340 for a win, India opted to play safe and bat their way to a draw in the third and final cricket Test against South Africa to end the high profile series 11 here on January 6. The Indians never made an effort to chase down the stiff target and the batsmen played out time to crawl to 166 for three in their second innings before play was called off to mark the end of a fascinating threematch series. Although the Indians could not achieve their dream of a maiden away series win over South Africa, it was a creditable achievement for the visitors as they drew a Test series for the first time on the African soil. The result also meant that India maintained their number one ranking. The visitors lost the first Test in Centurion by an innings and 25 runs but showed great character to bounce back and win the second Test in Durban by 87 runs. Test century and the batting heroics of Jacques Kallis who scored three centuries. Faced with the stiff target, the two Indian openers Gambhir and Sehwag adopted a cautious approach and were more content in playing out the new ball without taking too many risks. Dravid, who joined the action after Sehwags dismissal, was quite content in defending following which Indias run rate fell sharply. Gambhir fell shortly after the tea break with Dale Steyn taking the wicket. Gambhir tried to get his bat out of he way to a bouncer from Steyn but the ball brushed his gloves and Boucher took a nice diving catch. "It was a very interesting series, said India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. "The batsmen did their job and the bowlers did really well in Durban. At the end of the day we will be happy with our performance."

Gautam Gambhir cracked his 16th halfcentury on the final day of the third Test against South Africa on January 6. The Indians could have entertained hopes of going for the target had Virender Sehwag (11) fired but the dashing opener fell cheaply to end the series without too many runs to his credit. Gautam Gambhir defied an elbow injury and played a resolute knock of 64 to be the

South Africa's Jacques Kallis plays a shot during the fourth day of their third test match against India in Cape Town, January 5, 2011. highest scorer in the second innings. Sachin Tendulkar (14) and VVS Laxman (32) were at the crease when play was called off after 82 overs. The engrossing series between the the two top ranked teams in the world will be remembered for Tendulkars historic 50th

3 Indians in ICC 'dream team'

IPL IV to have 10 teams, 74 matches

MUMBAI: With Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab being cleared to take part in the January 8-9 Indian Premier League players' auction in Bangalore by the Bombay High Court, the fourth season of the cashrich Twenty20 league in April-May will be a 10-team event. "The court has given a verdict. How can we stop them?" said Cricket Board sources when contacted after the IPL's Governing Council meeting on January 5. This means IPL IV would comprise 10 teams, including the two new franchises, Kochi and Pune. Sources also said that the format would be the same as was announced in September before the Board decided to terminate the contracts of RR and KXIP for non-compliance of terms which was challenged in the court by the two franchises. As per the decisions taken by the IPL Governing Council on September 5, the forthcoming season will have 70 league matches plus four play-off matches with each team having the same number of ties (14 of which seven home and seven away) as in the previous IPL editions.

Sachin Tendulkar, along with Virender Sehwag and Kapil Dev, has been named in ICCs all-time greatest ODI team. New Delhi: Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag won a massive endorsement from fans on January 5 when they were effectively declared the finest one-day international (ODI) opening pair ever. On a day when the 50-over game celebrated its 40th anniversary, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the results of its online poll - in which 600,000 fans from 97 countries took part - conducted to select an all time 'dream ODI team'. Only one other Indian found a place in this dream XI - all rounder Kapil Dev who led India to its sole ODI World Cup victory in 1983. Like India, Australia too have three members in the dream team: Ricky Ponting as middle order batsman, Adam Gilchrist as wicket keeper and Glenn McGrath as one of the pacers. The West Indies have two: Viv Richards and Brian Lara, both in the middle order. South Africa, Sri Lanka and Pakistan have Alan Donald (pacer), Muthiah Muralitharan (spinner) and Wasim Akram (pacer) respectively. No one from England or New Zealand made it to the dream team. The team: Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Viv Richards, Brian Lara, Ricky Ponting, Kapil Dev, Adam Gilchrist, Alan Donald, Wasim Akram, Glenn McGrath, Muthiah Muralitharan. Suresh Kalmadi.

The fourth season of the Indian Premier League, to be held in April-May, will be a 10-team and 74-match affair.

Somdev gets Australian Open wildcard

MELBOURNE: Indian tennis star Somdev Devvarman will not have to go through the qualifiers to play in the singles main draw of the Australian Open as Tennis Australia (TA) awarded him a wildcard entry into the first Grand Slam of the season. It will be Somdev's first appearance in the main draw of Australian Open, starting from January 17, as he had failed in his earlier two attempts to clear the qualifying round.

Somdev Devvarman.

CBI questions Kalmadi on CWG

New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on January 5 questioned for more than five hours Commonwealth Games Organizing Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi in connection with alleged financial irregularities in the preparations for the October Games. A CBI source said the questioning began on January 5 morning and was continuing even after five hours. The CBI is probing irregularities in the award of contracts during the Queen's Baton Relay ceremony in London in October 2009 as also wrongdoing in awarding a contract of Rs.107 crore for procuring timing equipment for the athletics event of the Games. The Delhi and Pune homes of Kalmadi including the Organizing Committee's office were raided by the CBI Dec 24 and stacks of documents, laptops and computer discs were seized in the eight-hour-long search. Three of Kalmadi's aides - Organizing Committee joint director T.S. Darbari, Deputy Director General Sanjay Mohindroo and former treasurer M. Jayachandran - are already in jail.

Op Ed TheSouthAsianTimes.info

25

January 8-14, 2011

The prime minister India never had

By Pankaj Vohra

fresh controversy over the role of Indira Gandhi and her favorite son, Sanjay Gandhi, has arisen after the publication of a two-volume book, Congress and the Making of the Indian Nation, edited by senior leader and nance minister Pranab Mukherjee. The book was released by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and party chief Sonia Gandhi at the recent AICC plenary in Burari. The Congress has since ofcially tried to play down the remarks against Sanjay and has tried to explain how goody goody things could not have been written under the supervision of top historians. A number of leaders believe that there are mistakes in the book and that these could have been corrected had senior partymen been consulted. The controversy has not died down since it is felt that justice has not been done to Indira Gandhi, whos considered the greatest mass leader of the last century. It is felt that if the party is in power today, it is because most Indians continue to have the highest regard for the late prime minister. They vote for the Congress because they see in it her legacy. The present party leadership is certainly the beneciary of that. Sanjay has been portrayed as a villain and his role in the Congress comeback in 1980 has not been adequately recognized. For many par-

Sanjay Gandhi was an extremely political person who was seen as the natural heir to Indira Gandhi. He played a crucial role in restoring the party to power in 1980 after its humiliating defeat in 1977. tymen, Sanjay was far ahead of his time. He spoke of small family norms, ecology, environment, adult literacy and anti-dowry measures when no one else did. If things had gone wrong, it was because of poor implementation by government agencies. Sanjay was an extremely political person who was seen as the natural heir to Indira Gandhi. He played a crucial role in restoring the party to power in 1980 after its humiliating defeat in 1977. Without him, Indira Gandhi could not have achieved much of what she did in the 1980 polls. He would surely have been the prime minister had he not died under mysterious circumstances in the Pitts-2 plane crash on June 23, 1980. While the party has tried to show him in a negative light, most of the leaders who constitute the backbone of the Congress today got their big break because of him. They are all his people from Ghulam Nabi Azad, Kamal Nath, Ambika Soni, Digvijaya Singh, P Chidambaram, AK Antony, Ahmed Patel, Vilasrao Deshmukh, Thangabalu, the late YS Rajasekhara Reddy, Ashok Gehlot, Anand Sharma, Jagdish Tytler and many others. Even Pranab Mukherjee was his beneciary since it was at Sanjays instance that the nance ministry during the Emergency was bifurcated and the banking and revenue departments were taken away from C Subramanium and given to him. Indira Gandhi was grooming him to be someone who could assist Sanjay.

The book rightly praises Rajiv Gandhi for his vision and desire to take India into the next century but fails to point out that most people close to him when he entered politics not only stabbed him in the back but left for other parties. The book does not sufciently bring out how Indira Gandhis brutal assassination contributed to the overwhelming victory of the Congress in the 1984 polls and how her legacy continues to dominate national politics. There are a number of Congress leaders who feel that the attempt to downplay both Indira Gandhi and Sanjay in Congress history could be either deliberate or because no one cared to go through the nal contents before the volumes were released. No one doubts that excesses were committed during the Emergency but the Congress paid for them in the 1977 defeat. The BJP recognizes it very well since many leaders accused of those excesses were welcomed into that party directly or indirectly including Bansi Lal, Jagmohan and Vidya Charan Shukla. Even Sanjays widow, Maneka who was barely 24 years old when he died and son, Varun are also in the saffron party since Indira Gandhis legacy was denied to them. Accuracy and correct interpretation are central to history. It cannot be colored by emotion, sycophancy or subjectivity. Time will tell us what history was all about.

PM must explain silence on 2G

By Khushwant Singh or the rst time in seven years, the UPA government headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has gone down in the estimation of the aam aadmi. If a public opinion poll were held today, the verdict may well go against it. The decline of its popularity began with the reckless waste of money in the Commonwealth Games. It was followed by the sale of telecommunication licenses for a fraction of their market price. It is estimated that the loss incurred is upwards of 39 billion US dollars. Convert that into rupees and you will get a nasty shock. The Supreme Court asked the Prime Minister to explain the reasons for his doing nothing to stop minister A. Raja for causing heavy losses to the exchequer. The Opposition parties joined hands with the BJP to demand a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to look into the matter. It spurned other alternatives suggested by the government and stalled Parliament functioning for three weeks. The chief target of this demand is to question the integrity of the Prime Minister, bring him down in public esteem, have mid-term elections in the hope of

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

reducing the number of Congress Party members in the Lok Sabha. I watched the proceedings of the Congress Party meeting held in a village on the periphery of Delhi on TV to nd out what its leaders had to say in defense of the Prime Minister. They paid handsome tributes. I go along with them. They also criticized the BJP and the Communists by taking them head on. I also share their opinion on the negative role they have been playing all along. I agree with Digvijay Singh describing the RSS as fascistoriented. Ever since its inception it has been exploiting the latent Islamophobia of the Hindu masses. Uma Bharati celebrated the destruction of the Babri Masjid by embracing Murli Manohar Joshi. Hindutva, its principal spokesman L.K. Advani says is a noble concept It is for the aam Hindu to decide whether he wants India to be Hindu Rashtra or a Secular state, as envisaged by Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Maulana Azad. However, what still needs to be explained is why the Prime Minister did not intervene in time to stop those scamsters from getting away with their nefarious designs?

The views expressed in Op Eds are not necessarily those of The South Asian Times.

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Lifestyle TheSouthAsianTimes.info

January 8-14, 2011

How to stick to New Year's resolutions

study has found that most people who make New Year's resolutions fail to keep them within one week of starting. Now tips have been offered to help them reach their goals. Professor Wiseman, author of '59 Seconds: Think A Little, Change A Lot', insists we can all achieve our goals by making some quick, simple changes. And the top 10 tips to help us see our resolutions through are: 1. One Thing At A Time: Many of us make the mistake of trying to achieve too much instead of deciding on what is important to us and making just one resolution. The chance of success is greater when we channel our energy into changing a single aspect of our behavior at a time. 2. Plot Your Success: Find a way of charting your achievements. Keep a journal, or cover your fridge or notice board with graphs or pictures. 3. Try Something New: Repeating resolutions you have failed to keep before is a recipe for

Always try to focus on achieving just one New Year's resolution at a time. disappointment. Set a new goal, or approach an old aim in a new way. 4. Be Specific: Think about exactly what you are going to do, where and when. ague plans fail. For example, instead of saying that you will go running on two days each week, decide you will run on Tuesdays and Thursdays straight after work. 5. Set S.M.A.R.T Goals: Make sure your goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-based (SMART). Map out small steps that will slowly but surely take you to where you want to be, write them down and stick to the plan.

6. Carrot, Not Stick: Motivate yourself by focusing on the positive, rather than beating yourself up about your failings. Think how much better life will be for you, and those around you, when you achieve your aims. 7. Go Public: Many of us prefer to keep our New Year's resolutions to ourselves. Unfortunately, this makes it all too easy to simply forget about them. Instead, go public. Tell your friends, family and workmates and ask them to support you. 8. Be Persistent: New habits take time to learn, and once in a while you will slip up and revert to the old you. 9. Get Image Conscious: Visualize yourself doing whatever you need to do to achieve your resolution. Focusing on this image will help you believe in your ability to succeed. 10. Be Positive: You will get better results from thinking about the good things that will come from your new lifestyle rather than the negative aspects of your old habits.

Bags get roomier this season

he perfect accomplice to a fabulous outfit is a great bag. Bag trends come in all shapes and sizes and the one you would want to add to your collection this season, is the bucket bag or drawstring bag. These drawstring wonders are the handbag style that kept international designers such as Alexander Wang, Mulberry and Tila March busy and fashionistas Kate Bosworth, Alexa Chung, Sarah Jessica Parker and Sonam Kapoor have been spotted carrying one in the recent past. While it is important to have the classics in your closet, some trendy bags are worth the buy. Handbags are accessories, and they must complement the look you are wearing. Bucket bags are a perfect substitute for the clutch, when going Bucket bags offer great utility as they can be stuffed clubbing. Its an 80s inspired with a lot of things and still look fabulous when neatly tied up. trend and are available in leather, printed faux leather, gold hardware and gleaming dome studs, says bag designer Gulnaz Sheikh. These bags usually have a single strap and a soft round bottom that curves up when picked up. It suits the look of a hipster, goes well with jeans and even casual outfits like tunics and leggings. These bags can work over fusion South-Asian urban wear, but dont gel with traditional dupatta suits and saris, adds Sheikh. The potli bags with studs and zari available in most stores and street markets are similar in look and go well with the Indian ensembles. A great utility bag, bucket bags can be stuffed with a lot of things and still looks great when neatly tied up. Bucket bags with long strings can be used for casual wear and the ones with small handles and shapes can be teamed really well with party wear. But, ultimately, it is the way you carry yourself that counts. You carry anything with confidence and it will look good, says bag designer Shivani Sood.

Employees who can be assertive before their bosses are more likely to get a pay raise.

Want a pay raise? Be assertive!

study has shown that out of people looking for a pay raise, those who pursue it aggressively are the ones who get it. The study found that those who dont take no for an answer are far more likelier to get what they want. Employees who had done their homework in advance of negotiations also earned themselves more holidays and perks such as mobile phones and company cars. Researchers from Temple Universitys Fox School of Business, Philadelphia and George Mason University, near Washington DC, discovered that workers who avoided salary discussions at appraisals or in interviews, almost never got a raise. Those who actively sought out a rise earned an average 5,000 dollars more every year than those who didnt. More assertive workers then ended up

earning up to 600,000 dollars more over a 40-year career. They also found that careerdriven women were just as competitive during salary negotiations. Our results suggest (workers) who were more prepared for the negotiation process were able to use more assertive strategies, the Telegraph quoted Professor Crystal Harold as saying. By prepared, I mean those who learned more about the market value of their position, did their homework on the organization and perhaps inquired about previous offers made about the organization. These individuals were empowered and were generally more assertive. Furthermore (workers) who use a more competitive strategy, such as not taking no for an answer, threatening to withdraw from the process if the offer was unacceptable, were most successful in raising their salary, she added.

Health & Science TheSouthAsianTimes.info

27

January 8-14, 2011

Be careful of the Vitamin pills you take

London: People could be jeopardizing their well-being as well as wasting their money by popping vitamin pills, according to the consumer watchdog. Researchers who visited supermarkets, chemists and smaller health shops in London in October found numerous examples of unsubstantiated claims on supplements. Peter Vicary-Smith, Chief Executive of Company which goes by the name of Which? - said the worst culprits were those that claimed to maintain healthy bones and joints. Claims about key ingredients including glucosamine and long chain omega-3 fatty acids have all been turned down by the European Food Safety Authority. However, until the regulations have been fully implemented they will still appear on bottles. Researchers also found high-strength supplement products containing vitamin B6 and beta-carotene on sale, without the recommended warnings that taking too much of them could be harmful, VicarySmith added. A third didn't realize that taking too much of some supplements could damage your health, Smith said.

Now, laptop and tablet all in one

Las Vegas: Chinese computer colossus Lenovo on Tuesday unveiled an IdeaPad computer that serves as a laptop for work tasks then converts to a touch-screen tablet for play time. The IdeaPad U1 hybrid, with a "LePad" slate that serves as a laptop screen but unplugs to become a tablet computer, made its debut on the cusp of the Thursday opening of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. "It is one device to balance life and work," Lenovo product manager Leo Li told AFP. "A keyboard is more important and Windows software more powerful for a lot of things you need to work, especially productivity and creating content," he continued. "At the same time, people want to enjoy music, see videos, go to websites, read e-books, and play you're mobile, and then simply slide it into the U1 base when you need to create and edit content," Lenovo Idea Product Group vice president Liu Jun said. LePad has a 10.1-inch (26 centimeter) color screen, weighs less than two pounds (one kilogram) and connects to the Internet using 3G telecom service. It has a front-facing camera for video chat and promises as many as eight hours of battery life. IdeaPad U1 with LePad will be available in China by the end of March but won't be available in the United States until next-generation Android mobile software is available for use in the tablets. IdeaPad U1 with LePad will be priced at 8,888 Chinese yuan (1,340 dollars) and the tablet will be sold separately for 3,499 Chinese yuan (528 dollars).

games in their personal lives." The LePad tablet is powered by Android software backed by California Internet giant Google and a Snapdragon chip from Qualcomm. Once plugged into the keyboard base, the computer switches to Windows 7 operating software by Microsoft and a beefier Intel processor. Lenovo is targeting consumers who embrace today's mobile lifestyle. "Use the light-weight slate when

Chocolate - key to persistent cough? Six foods to eat for a

London: Have you caught a chill and are coughing your lungs out? Well, get into bed with a bar of chocolate and munch on it and you might just be cured! Really. Here's why. Researchers have claimed that chocolate could provide the key to tackling a persistent cough. They are carrying out the final stages of clinical trials on a drug that contains Theo bromine, an ingredient naturally present in cocoa and chocolate. If the trials are successful, the drug could be on the market within two years. A research project set to begin next year will be the final privately-owned drug discovery group. Persistent cough is a very common condition, often lasting for weeks after a viral infection. It can be difficult to treat, especially since it is not possible to give large doses of opiate-based medication to patients due to side-effect issues, the Daily Mail quoted Manfred Scheske, CEO of consumer health at SEEK, as saying. This drug has the potential to dramatically impact the treatment of persistent cough and could greatly benefit the quality of life of persistent cough sufferers, Scheske added.

better brain

phase of clinical trials of a drug called BC1036. The drug is being developed by SEEK, a leading UK

Think young to stave off ailments of old age

London: Want to stay away from the ailments of old age? Then try thinking young. According to a research, those who think and dress in a youthful way are healthier than those who act their age. It seems mind over matter can improve everything from blood pressure to arthritis and eyesight. Even the development of heart disease and cancer may, at least to a degree, be staved off by refusing to grow old gracefully. The intriguing claims come from researchers at Harvard University, who reviewed a series of studies into how the mind influences the body. In one experiment, elderly men were transported back to 1959 for a week. They lived in accommodation fitted out in the decor of the Fifties, were played TV shows and music of the time and told to talk and act as if they were living then. By the end of the week, the men younger, but reduced their blood pressure. And when strangers were shown pictures of the woman with their hair hidden, they were rated as looking younger after their trip to the salon despite their new styles not being visible. Research also shows that wearing a uniform to work can slow down ageing perhaps because it prevents more elderly staff from dressing according to their age. Langer suggests that simply thinking young can do the power of good. Dont buy the mind-set in the first place, then you wont be vulnerable to it, the Daily Mail quoted Langer as saying. I think we have far more control over our health and wellbeing than most of us realize, Langer added. The study has been published in the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science.

were perceived to look around three years younger. Their hearing and eyesight improved, arthritic joints were more flexible, muscles were stronger and minds sharper. Researcher Ellen Langer suggests that much of the decline of old age may be driven by negative perceptions about our later years and breaking these down can improve health. A second study revealed that cutting and colouring womens hair not only made them feel

Paris: Feeling a little foggy after all the holiday revelry? On January 3, health news website MyHealthNewsDaily.com reported on six foods that can boost your brain power, just in time to start the New Year mentally focused. According to the article, foods high in compounds such as antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids can improve brain health and memory. 1. Walnuts - They look like little brains and are packed with antioxidants, which researchers claim may combat the damage to brain cells' DNA caused by free radicals in our bodies. A 2009 rat study also found that diets in which nuts made up as little as two percent reversed signs of aging. 2. Carrots - They're not only good for your eyes but good for your brain. They contain high levels of a compound known as luteolin. A recent study published in the journal Nutrition found that luteolin reduces age-related memory deficits and inflammation in the brain. Other good sources: olive oil, peppers, and celery. 3. Berries - In a 2009 report in the Journal of Nutrition, researchers examined a group of studies that showed fruits such as

blueberries and strawberries can decrease a type of stress in cells associated with aging and increase the signaling capabilities in brains. 4. Fish - Some studies have shown that eating fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids could help slow typical cognitive decline that comes with age. The report cites a 2005 study that found that people 65 and older who ate two meals of fish a week for six years had a 13 percent decrease in cognitive decline, compared with people who didn't eat any fish regularly. 5. Coffee and tea - Caffeinated teas and coffees not only perk you up but studies have shown they may prevent Alzheimer's disease and improve cognitive function. In addition, according to a 2010 study, tea drinkers did better on tests on memory and information processing than non-tea drinkers did. 6. Spinach - It's loaded with vitamins C and E that help to improve cognitive abilities, according to the latest research. A 2000 study found that aging rats had some of their age-related memory and motor deficits reversed after eating a diet rich in spinach, strawberries, and blueberries.

28 January 8-14, 2011

Humor TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Humor with Melvin Durai

The New Years Resolution

s New Year's resolutions go, Brenda had a very strange one indeed. Unlike many of her friends, she didn't need to lose weight, not even a few pounds. She didn't need to floss her teeth more often or read more self-help books or make a greater effort to stay awake in church. She didn't have any serious addictions she needed to quit: she didn't smoke, didn't drink, didn't manage a farm on Facebook. But she did want to quit something -- and that's what her resolution was all about. She wanted to quit calling her husband a moron. Brenda and Ron had been married for 20 years, and Brenda couldn't remember a time when Ron hadn't given her a reason to call him a moron -- or at least think he was one. She loved him, of course -- loved him as much as she loved Ben & Jerry's ice cream. But that didn't change the fact that she often wondered if his mother had dropped him on his head when he was a baby. Poor Ron had actually gotten used to it -being called a moron. It started on their wedding night -- at least that's what he thought when he heard her screaming, "More Ron! More Ron!" He immediately stopped what he was doing and tried something else: turning on the TV. And soon they were in a state of bliss, watching an episode of "Baywatch." Two weeks later, Brenda called him a moron for real. It was one of those nights when she returned home late from her job at the pharmacy. He had offered to make dinner for her, but had left the frozen pizza in the oven for too long. "Sorry, I was distracted by the football game," he said. "It's a melt." Brenda didn't want to call him a moron, but as she stared at the plastic stuck to the

always use his brain, but he was a good husband in all the important ways. He didn't cheat on her or hit her or even raise his voice at her -- unless she walked in front of the TV during the football game. Brenda was determined not to call him a moron anymore. It was her only New Year's resolution and it lasted all the way until 9 a.m. on New Year's Day. Brenda awoke to find Ron making breakfast for her. He had already made the eggs, hash browns and

sausages, and was working on the pancakes. There he was, standing in front of the stove, wearing an apron, whistling happily as he tried to flip the pancakes with the fly swatter. "You're such a moron," Brenda said. "How much did you drink last night, anyway?" Then, realizing all the trouble he had gone through, she put her arm around him and added, "Did I call you a moron? I was using the acronym MORON. It stands for 'Man of Remarkably Outstanding Nature.'"

melted cheese, she couldn't think of a more appropriate term. And she soon found herself using it with regularity. There was the time that Ron took her bottle of Pantene Pro-V from the bathroom and used it to shampoo the living room carpet. There was the time he brought the wrong baby home from the daycare and wondered why it kept asking for "Mami" and "Papi." And there was the time he put laundry detergent in the automatic dishwasher, just so he could throw in a few dishcloths. Ron was so used to being called a moron that it hardly even bothered him anymore. She might as well have been saying "honey" or "sweetheart." It had almost become a special thing between them. No one else could call him a moron and get away with it. But Brenda often felt guilty about it. After all, he wasn't really a moron. That's what Brenda's mom said. "He's not a moron," she said. "He's just a man. Men don't always use their brains. They use it for football and fixing the car, but then they shut it off. They give it a break. That's why they need women." It was true: Ron did need Brenda. And she certainly needed him. That's why their marriage had lasted so long. Sure, Ron didn't

Laughter is the Best Medicine

by Mahendra Shah
Mahendra Shah is an architect by education, entrepreneur by profession, artist and humorist, cartoonist and writer by hobby. He has been recording the plight of the immigrant Indians for the past many years in his cartoons. Hailing from Gujarat, he lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Tech Life

Chinese website selling iPad2 cases

BEIJING: Protective cases for the second generation iPad are being sold on Chinese e-commerce website Alibaba -- even before Apple has launched the new device -- and suggest the next model will have a camera. Alibaba spokesman John Spelich said that the company had been asked to remove the listings, which showed brightly coloured silicon cases with a small hole in the back on sale for less than three dollars each. "Shortly after we were made aware, through blog reports, of the presence of these listings, we received a legitimate take down request and we have been doing so since last week," Spelich said, without naming the complainant. An AFP search for iPad2 cases found seven listings on Alibaba -- a trading platform for small businesses -- mostly from suppliers based in southern China who were accepting orders for a minimum 200-500 units. Apple's iPad touchscreen tablet computer allows users to watch video, listen to music, play games, surf the Web and read electronic books, but the next model is also expected to feature a camera and USB port. The company is predicted to launch iPad2 this year after selling more than eight million of the original devices between April, when it went on sale in the United States, and the end of September, Apple's last reporting period. In China -- the world's biggest Internet market with 450 million users, according to the last official count, and the major producer of Apple products -- hundreds queued for the first official iPad when it was launched in the country in September. Goldman Sachs predicts iPad sales could top 37.2 million units in 2011 and technology research firm Gartner forecasts total tablet computer sales of 55 million units this year. Some observers had expected Apple to unveil iPad2 at the US International Consumer Electronics Show, which starts Thursday. But the California-based company is shunning the massive electronics trade show, which attracts tens of thousands of buyers and sellers from around the world to Las Vegas. Apple is notoriously secretive about new products but it's security system has been breached in the past. A prototype of Apple's 4th generation iPhone turned up in Vietnam in May, a month before the gadget's global launch.

Google shows off Motorola tablet with dual-core processor, Honeycomb

SAN FRANCISCO:Google has revealed an upcoming Motorola tablet powered by Android running a version of the mobile operating system Honeycomb. Google VP of Engineering Andy Rubin showed off the prototype at the D: Dive Into Mobile conference in San Francisco. The mobile OS Honeycomb is reported to be optimised for tablets. According to Mashable, the device features a 3D processor from NVIDIA. Rubin said that HoneyComb brings "new APIs that... allow an application to split its functionality to multiple views. Apps will know when they're on a tablet." Rubin also reportedly demonstrated a Gmail app with a two-pane view, which is similar to the Gmail app display on an iPad. On an Android phone, however, users would continue to get the simpler inbox where messages open in the same pane.Reviewers often criticise Android OS on tablets saying that several of its applications are not optimized for tablets, creating an inferior user experience to iPad. Rubin didn't say much about the specs of the Motorola Android tablet, however, the Engadget speculates that the device may be a full 10-inch screen (or 9.7 inches), so that it could match the Apple iPad in the real estate department. Similarly, according to Web reports, the Motorola tablet is also likely to have video-chatting capabilities, as the iPad 2 is almost guaranteed to have FaceTime calling. Honeycomb and Motorola tablet will release some time next year. Similar to the company's strategy with smartphones, Rubin said that the company is not in the business to build one tablet. He, however, declined to provide any further details about the tablet.

Astrology
TheSouthAsianTimes.info

29

January 8-14, 2011

Chandigarh, India: +91-172- 256 2832, 257 2874; Delhi, India: +91-11- 2644 9898, 2648 9899; psharma@premastrologer.com; www.premastrologer.com

By Dr Prem Kumar Sharma

Stars Foretell: January 8-14, 2011

Aries: This week your creativity would flourish and you would be able to achieve outstanding results. Your energetic approach towards your undertakings would fetch you lot of appreciation along with monetary gains. Certain changes made at the last minutes would bring you results you want. You will be in the position of authority and easily surpass rivals that you might encounter. Travel for some proves hectic and stressful. Invest wisely, especially in stocks. Taurus: This week problem with your beloved might arise if you give undue importance to someone else. Try to do things that will win back the confidence of your partner. Financial gains will also not be as expected and minor health problems could also upset your productivity. Good week to embark on a pilgrimage or participate in social work. You should attend a literary program, which will bring new ideas to your mind. Gemini: Your attitude and opinions would not go over too well with those you live with. Try to work on things that would please the whole family. Good period for businessmen, as you can count on getting assistance from those in high positions. Expenditure rises but fresh inflow of funds will make you smile. For those, traveling; it would be a highly pleasurable and educating experience. No matter how generous you might feel, avoid overspending on others. Cancer: Problems would mount if you do not take care of people at home. You could face lots of embarrassment if you promise more than what you can deliver, therefore be extra careful of what you say. You would receive an important information from distant place, which would bring happiness for you and the entire family. Relaxation would be important inbetween work. Leo: This week you should get into activities that would bring you in contact with new friends. Planned investment would bring good rewards. Pressure at work and home could make you short tempered, but hard work and sincere efforts would bring results and rewards that you desire. New friends will benefit you greatly. Guests might crowd the house. Virgo: Get into new moneymaking ventures, but do not gamble with money that does not belong to you. Visiting a place of worship would bring mental peace. Good week for artistic and educational pursuits. Relationship with important people will improve. You are likely to benefit from past investments. Watch your words and hasty decisions, as it would only bring losses. Libra: New love could develop through functions you attend. Business wise it would not be a very good week, as results would fall short of your expectations. For those employed, it would be a hectic and stressful week. Double-check your work before presenting it to your seniors, as you could easily be a victim of your bosss erratic behaviour. Household expenses would rise. Scorpio: This week information that you receive from distant place would bring you immense happiness. Bold steps and decisions would put you in a better position in your organization. Real estate investment should be worthwhile, but lay your money on the table only after consulting the experts. Happiness and excitement would prevail at home. Sagittarius: Your intelligence and quick wit would win you favors. It is time to work on projects and jobs that you need to complete. Someone close might be erratic in its behaviour, which could create tension on your mind. Family members will be helpful and do things to keep you happy. You should spend the weekend in the company of close friends. Capricorn: Present your ideas at work to show your seriousness and prove your capabilities. You should do things that would add to your popularity. You also need to take care of your health. Period when everything you hear should not be believed. Find the truth for yourself before reaching to any conclusions. Overseas news or offers for some cannot be ruled out. Aquarius: Your skills and technical knowledge would be appreciated by others. You would also easily dominate the opinions of people around you, if you turn on your charms and use your intelligence. Health of your spouse may cause worry and need some medical attention. Travel would be pleasurable and highly beneficial. New romance for some, so make the best of it. Pisces: Relatives and children would cost you dearly if you give in to their demands. You would also make new plans, but they would not be easy to implement, especially if you think to complete them alone. Tact would be required to convince your group to follow your directions. Secret affairs will be exciting, but could severely damage your reputation.

Annual Predictions: For those born in this week

Jan 08: Influenced by number 8 and the planet Saturn. You are authoritative, practical, systematic, friendly and sober. You are smart and capable of handling many important activities at one time, but you need to check your tendency to behave, impatient, spendthrift and jealous at times. This year the extra effort that you might have to put in your work would have tremendous positive effect on your career and occupation. New source of income is likely to enhance your prosperity. You should invest in real estate and fixed deposits for long term gains. Frequent and fruitful journeys are likely to keep you on the move. Children would do well in studies and make you feel proud. Later in the year influence of a spiritual person would be a source of inspiration in your life. Health would definitely need more attention, especially for those suffering from asthma, bronchitis and high blood pressure. The months of January, June, August and October will prove to be significant. Jan 09: Ruled by number 9 and the planet Mars. You are energetic, dashing, courageous, enthusiastic and remarkably brilliant. You are highly cultured and have strong likes and dislikes. You are fond of cleanliness and like to devote special time to improve the surrounding where you reside, but you need to control your tendency to behave dictatorial, aggressive and moody at times. Major changes in your career or occupation seem evident. New money making opportunities would be highly alluring. Though sudden gains and losses are foreseen. Your monetary position would improve in the long run. Health, subordinates and legal matters might trouble you off and on, but improved living standard and new and important relationships that you build during this period would be on the brighter side. Children expected to bring in some thrilling news later in the year. Distant journeys, maybe overseas for some would be highly pleasurable and rewarding. The months of March, May, July and October seem to be highly beneficial. Jan 10: Governed by number 1 and the planet Sun, you are original, attractive, warm hearted and philosophical in nature. You are admired by those around you for your ability to take quick and courageous decisions, but you need to check your tendency to behave quarrelsome, impatient and short-tempered at times. This year you will gain from your ability to do smart business and you would also build up excellent rapport with eminent people in public and private sector. Favours from banks and financial institutions would enable you to streamline your present projects. New job opportunities for those in service are quite imminent. Romance and new alliances look likely for the unattached. Elders and children in the family will demand a lot of your attention. Health of your spouse may cause concern and anxiety. Spiritual gains for some later in the year. February, April, June and July will be result oriented. Jan 11: Influenced by number 2 and the Moon, you are active, imaginative, simple, trustworthy and impressive. You are fond of travelling to distant places and learn more about different cultures and people, but you need to check you tendency to behave moody and highly unpredictable at times. This year promises good and unyielding returns. Take extra precautions before making any major investments. Those involved in art, writing and other creative professions should expect recognition and monetary benefits. Sudden help from an influential person will bring a major boost to your career and prosperity. Later in the year you are likely to get involved in construction or designing activities for yourself or for others. Financially you would be in a much better state and you would find your confidence and morale very high. Matrimonial alliances for some around the yearend. Judicial matters might not bring in the desired results; therefore avoid getting involved in legal complications. Children will be supportive and bring in some happy and good news later in the year. April, June, August, November and December will especially prove to be significant. Jan 12: Influenced by number 3 and the planet Jupiter. You are ambitious, dignified, philosophical, and religious. You are self-reliant and possess enormous leadership qualities and you like to take your own decisions, but you need to check your tendency to be jealous, over ambitious and self centered at times. This year improvement in your work atmosphere would be there, giving you lot of job satisfaction. Sudden major monetary gains, either from foreign transactions or a major govt. contract, cannot be ruled out. The later half of the year could bring opportunities to travel overseas for business as well as pleasure. Selective speculation will bring you gains. Some thumping news expected from your children towards the last quarter of the year. Some renovation, construction and pilgrimage should also be carried out this year. Meditation and yoga should be practiced for spiritual as well as physical gains. The months of May, July and November would be highly eventful. Jan 13: Ruled by number 4 and the planet Uranus. You are bright, energetic, active, methodical and systematic. You are fond of good, respectable lifestyle and you specially enjoy building new contacts and relationships, but you need to check you tendency to behave stubborn, destructive and vindictive at times. This year new assignment and plans come your way. Work pressure would increase and specific time schedule would make you work overtime. Financial gains and other rewards would be plenty but working under extreme stress levels would show on your health. Legal matters that have been bothering your mind would be decided in your favour. For those unattached romance would add a zing to their life. Children would be interesting and a major source of your happiness. For those who have been unsuccessful in finding a life partner till now should rejoice, as a matrimonial wedlock seems later in the year. The months of January, June, August and September will prove to be eventful. Jan 14: Influenced by number 5 and the planet Mercury. You are active, smart, confident, original, and highly independent individual. You are loved by your friends and your parents take enormous pride in you, but you need to check your tendency to behave moody, introvert and restless at times. This year new alliances and partnerships would bring in prosperity. Your confidence and determination will be at its peak. Financial gains as delayed payments and bad debts are recovered. Speculation in real estate and stocks will prove to be profitable. Those at service might face hectic period at work, because of the unpredictable behaviour of their boss. Your spouse would be supportive to your concerns and provide you with love and affection. A budding romance is on the horizon for some of you. A distant trip cannot be ruled out for pilgrimage or auspicious ceremonies. The month of March, May, July and September seem to be highly significant.

Be Aware
Astrology, Numerology, Tarot are highly complicated ancient sciences, impossible to understand them completely. Over 99% astrologers are inaccurate in over 80% of their predictions & forecasts. Many of them are con artists taking advantage of blind faith & situation of God fearing people. Now-a-days many of them use all the state of the art, latest tools of marketing & excessive use of media to attract more & more people. Be careful before putting complete faith in the hands of unknown person who could be possibly a fraud. Please check the back ground & testimonials of the Astrologer/Pandit /Swami/Guru/Muni/ Rishi before consulting them. Dont get influenced by their outfit, busy schedule and photographs with celebrities & high profiled personalities. More they spend on their self promotions & advertisements, more the chances of getting robbed by them. Everyone have situations with family, finance, health or love but fearful middle age women are their soft target. Remember, no one can change any-ones future & fortune. Be careful before spending thousands of dollars on remedies. Tantra, Man-tra & Yantra, Havan, Pooja, Tabeez, Prayers should not cost thousands of dollars. The South Asian Times is proud to present Dr. Prem Kumar Sharma, the trustworthy, renowned & expert astrologer who com-bines scientific calculations of your birth chart with planets in transit before mak-ing predictions. He will never suggest any remedy which is very high in cost and not tested for prescribed effects & results. If you have any experience to share with our readers, please write to editor@thesouthasiantimes.info

Before you consult...

i) Accurate Data: Please make sure Date, Time and Place of birth is accurate. ii) Careful: Did you check background of the astrologer before disclosing your secrets. iii) Fee: Discuss the charges before, dont feel shy. Its his business. iv) Expectation: Expect the best, if the outcome is not as desired, never give up. v) Consult: Take second opinion before spending thousands on cure/remedies.

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Spiritual Awareness TheSouthAsianTimes.info

January 8-14, 2011