Vol 7 Issue 43 Feb 21-27, 2015

The South Asian Times
e x c e l l e n c e
Vol.7 No. 43 Feb 28-March 6, 2015 60 Cents
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President Obama keeps tapping Indian

Americans for key positions
Washington, DC: President
Obamas early appointees Rajiv
Shah and Neel Kahskari or Aneesh
Chopra have left his administration
down the years, only to make way
for more Indian Americans getting
high profile positions.
President Obama, with the
largest number of Indian
Americans in his administration,
keeps dipping into the expanding

talent pool of the three millionstrong Indian American community, to take care of issues ranging
from combating terrorist propaganda abroad to nation's health at
home.
New Year saw Dr Vivek Murthy
taking over as US Surgeon General
and Richard Verma posted to India
as US ambassador. Last week,

White House named Rashad
Hussain to head Strategic CounterTerrorism Communications and
Dhanurjay 'DJ' Patil as its first
chief data scientist. Now Ravi
Chaudhary has been appointed
Executive Director in Federal
Aviation Administration.
Detailed story on page 8.
Sureshbhai assault case stands

weakened in Alabama
New York: In a filing last Friday,

Sureshbhai Patels attorney Hank
Sherrod amended his earlier lawsuit to exclude claims and parties
that could cause a loss of momentum in the case. As a result, the
lawsuit now focuses on a lone
police officer Eric Parker, who
was arrested and charged with
assaulting 57-year-old Patel on Feb
6 in Madison, Alabama, leaving
him partially paralyzed .
New York attorney Ravi Batra
sees a problem there. The revised
lawsuit has abandoned a claim, as
Consul General
of India in
Atlanta Ajit
Kumar met
Sureshbhai Patel
at the hospital in
Alabama, &
assured
support to the
family. He also
met Patels
family members
and hospital
officials.
Detailed comment by
Ravi Batra on page 3.
Continued on page 4
Indian rail budget: Improved service but no fare hike
Interior of an air-conditioned Chair Car

coach in a Jan Shatabdi Express.
OBAMACARE ACCEPTANCE 9
New Delhi: Sparing a passenger fare hike but raising

freight rates again, Minister Suresh Prabhu presented his
maiden budget for Indian Railways Thursday, with a slew
of measures to improve service quality, safety and reach
and a 52-percent jump in plan outlay for 2015-16 at
Rs.100,011 crore ($16.7 billion).
Raising some passenger train speeds by 50 percent on
nine key routes, wi-fi in 400 stations, easier norms for
unreserved tickets, 17,000 bio-toilets in trains, better connectivity in north-east and cameras for safety of women
travelers are some of the highlights of the budget. "There
will be no hike in passenger fares. We will focus on
Continued on page 4
Details on page 11.
FESTIVAL 15
TRAVEL 18
In 2013, The South Asian Times highlighted the plight of the

spouses of H1B workers. The curse of being an H4 wife
is lifting for some of them.
Spouses of some
skilled H1B visa
holders to get
work permits
By Jinal Shah
New York: The long wait for many
H4 visa holders seeking
Employment
Authorization
Document (EAD) cards to work
legally in the US is finally coming
to an end.
USCIS Director Len Rodrguez
announced earlier this week that
effective
May
26,
2015
Department of Homeland Security
(DHS) will begin receiving appli-
SPIRITUAL AWARENESS 30
cations from qualified spouses of

H1-B visa holders. Allowing the
spouses of these visa holders to
legally work in the United States
makes perfect sense, Rodrguez
said in a statement issued by DHS.
It helps US businesses keep their
highly skilled workers by increasing the chances these workers will
choose to stay in this country during the transition from temporary
workers to permanent residents. It
Continued on page 4
excellence in journalism
Feb 28-March 6, 2015
TRISTATE COMMUNITY
Jindal wants ISIS fighters to be hunted down and killed

Washington: Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal
Thursday criticized President Obama for
failing to properly combat ISIS and said the
United States needs to hunt down and kill
members of the terror organization.
Jindal spoke about the emerging threat of
the so-called Islamic State at the
Conservative Political Action Conference
held outside Washington, D.C. in Maryland.
We dont need a war on international
poverty, we need a war on the evil radical
Islamic terrorism, said Jinaal, hping to
become the first Indian American President
of the US of A.
Jindal criticized President Obama for failing to deliver a comprehensive plan for
degrading and destroying ISIS and
ridiculed State Department spokeswoman
Marie Harf for saying the war against ISIS
can be won with more jobs.
President Obama has disqualified himself
and has shown himself incapable of being

our commander in chief, Jindal said.
Jindal also called on Congress to give the
President the war hes asked for and remove
limitations to allow the country to fight back
against ISIS. They need to tell the political left we want our military leaders to do
whatever it takes, not to degrade, contain or
expel, but to hunt down and kill these radical
Islamic terrorists, he said.
Jindal also said its important for Muslim
leaders around the world to publicly condemn the actions of the radical Islamic terrorists.
Islam has a problem, Jindal said.
Individual Muslim leaders and clerics need
to say specifically by name, These barbarians, these terrorists, theyre not martyrs
going to enjoy a reward in the afterlife.
These individuals are going to go straight to
hell exactly where they belong.
First American Sikh superhero

who fights the Taliban
Wa s h i n g t o n :
million living in
There's a new
the US.
superhero in town
According to
and he doesn't
comicbookrelisport a cape, mask
gion.com, there
or wear embarare already 20 turrassing tights. He
ban-wearing Sikh
wears a turban and
heroes and villains
he fights the
in comic books.
Taliban and is a
The Kickstarter
huge Elvis fan.
campaign says
Deep Singh or
Deep Singh is a
'Super Sikh' is the
"skillful, smart
brainchild
of
and very wellOakland-based
trained British
Introductory issue of
writer
Eileen Super Sikh developed by Special
Air
Alden and Silicon
Service
agent".
a duo in California.
Valley executive,
That sounds a bit
Supreet Singh Manchada, CBS like James Bond. But Deep
reported.
Singh's creators promise a new
The pair launched a Kickstarter kind of hero - "a modern hero in
campaign early this year to "help a turban who loves Elvis and
bring the first turban Sikh super hates bad guys" and "will uphold
hero to life".
his Sikh values even while he is
In just 27 hours they had living in a modern world with all
enough to produce the first issue.
of its complexities". It is hoped
By February, they exceeded that the comic will shed light on
their original goal of $5,000, rais- this 15th-century religion, pering more than $22,000.
haps one of the most misunderAldon and Manchada have stood groups on the planet.
brought in award-winning illusMachanda said he was bullied
trator Amit Tayal, whose work when he was a child, and that
has been published international- was one of the reasons he co-crely. The Kickstarter money ated this comic.
ensures at least three issues of the
SuperSikh will be printed in
series.
English. A digital version in
There are than 28 million Sikhs Punjabi, Spanish and Mandarin
worldwide and about a half will come later.
Sean Hannity of Fox News interviewing Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal during the
Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland.
Comment by Attorney Ravi Batra
Sureshbhai's revised
weaker lawsuit's effect
ureshbhai Patels attorney
Hank Sherrod said as
reported by Hindustan
Times: As of now, the lawsuit
deprives the defendants of any
basis for filing motions to dismiss
and seeking a stay of discovery.
Including too many parties and
claims, Sherrod maintained, at
this point would likely cause a
loss of momentum in our pursuit
of justice for Mr. Patel."
Therein lies the problem: A
lawyer who doesn't want to fight
for his client to get a full measure
of justice is as bad as the warrior
who doesn't want to fight to win
on the battlefield.
Neither litigation nor war is for
the chicken-hearted. The revised
lawsuit has abandoned a claim, as
of right, for supervisory liability
of the Madison Police Department
for its policy and practice of
depriving Federal civil rights of its
citizens, to walk legally on the
sidewalk or do other lawful and
innocuous things that human
beings do.
A lawyer's job in every case is to
be their client's zealous advocate.
That fiduciary burden is enhanced

in cases that catches the imagination of the media and pulls on the
heartstrings of humanity across
the globe. In such a case, to witness a lawyer play out a character
in the Wizard of Oz, the fearful
lion, is quite depressing professionally, but worse, undermines
public respect for, and confidence
in, the third branch of government, the bench and bar, as it
falsely appears to be weak, impotent and incapable to fashion a full
measure of merit-based justice because one lawyer was unwilling
to stand tall and fight hard for
their client. A true warrior, like a
true lawyer, seeks out, not run

away from, the most difficult battles, and is prepared to lose in
order to win that which is nearly
impossible to win.
That is why what has occurred
to Sureshbhai on the sidewalk in
the city of Madison is not as bad
as what is happening, in slow
motion, to Sureshbhai in a court of
law where no compensation or
other equitable relief is sought for
sureshbhai's loss of his federal
civil rights by the apparent policy
and practice for such foul deprivation.
He will be confined to the paltry
pain and suffering of a mere
$100,000 imposed by Alabama for
state law violations. Alabama,
however, is unable to limit the
compensation for federal civil
rights violations. Suing only a
police officer, who is not a billionaire, means you collect nothing
from the police officer. However,
no bad person should assume that
every victim, Indian-American or
not, will be so weekly represented
in court, as we are all witnessing
right now.
TURN PAGE
Business center for New Americans celebrates the

expansion of new Queens office
New York: In recognition of the
growing vibrant role of Queens as
a center for immigrant entrepreneurship and its significance to the
economy of New York City, the
Business Center for New
Americans will be celebrating the
expansion of its new office in
Jackson Heights, Queens, with an
Open House on Friday, March 6th,
from 9:00 -10:30 AM.
Council Member Daniel Dromm,
Assembly Member Daniel
Dendekker, and Mirna Velasquez,
Director of Immigration Affairs for
the Office of Congressman

Crowley, and Eileen Auld, Citis
Community Development Director
for the Tri-State Area, will be in
attendance, as well as other prominent Queens community leaders,
funders, and business owners. Also
attending will be Queens-based
small business owners and entrepreneurs that BCNA has supported.
Based in the Financial District in
downtown Manhattan, BCNA
opened the Jackson Heights office
in 2012. Since then, that office has
Tipped workers in New York

to get a raise
New York: The New York State said Tuesday that it will
hike the minimum wage for tipped restaurant workers to
$7.50 from $5 an hour on Dec.
31. In New York, workers earn
this minimum wage in addition
to any tips left by customers.
This is the first state-mandated
raise they've had since 2011.
They've been without a raise
"for far too long," wrote Acting
Labor Commissioner Mario
Musolino. He issued the policy
change after four months of
study and analysis by the state's
Hospitality Wage Board.
Minimum wage will also go up to $7.50 for tipped hotel
workers, who currently earn $4.90 an hour. Starting in
December, the minimum wage will be the same for all tipped
workers in New York no matter what industry they're in.
The federal tipped wage is $2.13, and is in place in 17
states. Some restaurant owners have said they will have to
change the way they do business, to reduce the number of
servers on the floor, said Melissa Fleischut, president of the
New York State Restaurant Association.
more than doubled in size, and has

served over 250 Queens-based
entrepreneurs and small business
owners.
BCNA is an award-winning
Community
Development
Financial Institution and Small
Business
Administration
Microlender. It has disbursed over
$12.9 million in loans and assisted
over 5,000 NYC immigrant and
refugee entrepreneurs since 1998.
For more information: Meredith
Lee mlee@nybcna.org 212-8987815
Broadcaster Gita Bajaj is no more
ita Bajaj, one of the leading Indian broadcast

journalists in the US, died after a prolonged battle
with breast cancer on
Feb. 25 in New Jersey. She
was 56 and is survived by her
mother, brother, two sisters
and several nieces and
nephews. For the past
decade, Bajaj worked as a
press secretary for the New
Jersey State Legislative
Assembly Majority Office.
She grew up in Mumbai and
moved to the US to pursue
her post-graduation at the University of Georgia. She
interned for Senator Sam Nunn of Georgia and also
worked with CNN and other mainstream broadcast networks. She eventually moved to New York and landed a
job as an on air talent for Bombay Broadcasting Inc. In
1987 her entrepreneurial spirit led her to start her own television show Eye On Asia which focused on South
Asians living in the United States.
Her tenaciousness on behalf of the South Asian community and especially Indian-Americans made Eye on
Asia one of the most watched programs and a leading
voice for the growing Asian population in the tristate area
and nationwide.
Spouses of some skilled H1B...
Continued from page 1
also provides more economic stability and better quality of
life for the affected families.
Eligible individuals include certain H-4 dependent spouses of H-1B non-immigrants who:
Are the principal beneficiaries of an approved Form I140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker; or
Have been granted H-1B status under sections 106(a)
and (b) of the American Competitiveness in the Twenty-first
Century Act of 2000 as amended by the 21st Century
Department of Justice Appropriations Authorization Act.
The Act permits H-1B nonimmigrants seeking lawful permanent residence to work and remain in the United States
beyond the six-year limit on their H-1B status.
Rodrguezs announcement ended months of speculation
as to how long the H4 visa holders have to wait to get the
EAD cards. Once the USCIS begins accepting the applications on May 26, the cards will be issued within 90 days, so
in all likelihood those who qualify will be able to get it by
August 26, 2015.
Under the rule, eligible H-4 dependent spouses must file
Form I-765 (Application for Employment Authorization)
with supporting evidence and the $380 fee in order to obtain
employment authorization and receive a Form I-766 (EAD).
Then he or she may begin working in the United States.
According to USCIS estimates, the number of individuals
eligible to apply for employment authorization under this
rule could be as high as 179,600 in the first year and 55,000
annually in subsequent years.
Sureshbhai assault case stands ...
of right, for supervisory liability of the Madison Police
Department for its policy and practice of depriving Federal
civil rights of its citizens, to walk legally on the sidewalk or
do other lawful and innocuous things that human beings
do.
Batra goes on to contend that what has occurred to
Sureshbhai on the sidewalk in the city of Madison is not as
bad as what is happening, in slow motion, to Sureshbhai in
a court of law where no compensation or other equitable
relief is sought for Sureshbhai's loss of his federal civil
rights by the apparent policy and practice for such foul deprivation. He will be confined to the paltry pain and suffering of a mere $100,000 imposed by Alabama for state
law violations.
Indian rail budget: Improved...
improving passenger amenities, including cleanliness,"
Railway Minister Prabhu said in a 66-minute speech in the
Lok Sabha, watched keenly by Prime Minister Narendra
Modi who had handpicked him for the job.
New Delhi Bureau

Meenakshi Iyer
Delhi@TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Art and Design: Vladimir Tomovski

Bhagwati Creations,
Dhiraj Kumar
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TRISTATE COMMUNITY
Rutgers University holds Hindi sessions, displays love for India

Ashok Ojha/SA Times
New Jersey: Hosting a variety of
literary and academic activities,
Rutgers, United States eighth oldest and New Jerseys largest university, seems eager to establish
close ties with the local IndianAmerican community. New Jersey
is home of a large Indian population concentrated in states Middlesex county where the universitys main campus is located.
Last week the Students Center
of Universitys Piscataway campus was the venue for lively poetry recitals by Gauri Shankar Gupta, High Commissioner of
Trinidad and Tobago. Reciting
well-known verses written by
Hindi poet Ramdhari Singh
Dinkar, Gupta took the audience
of mainly students into a realm of
classical Indian traditions of story
telling in verses as he described a
few scenes of Mahabharata,
wherein Kaurava prince Duryod-
Gauri Shankar Gupta, High Commissioner, Trinidad & Tobago
han rejected the request of Lord

Krishna for kingdom sharing with
the Pandavas. Speaking on Tradition of Indian Poetry, Gupta
demonstrated strong connection
between Hindi and Urdu lyricists,
including the poets of Sufi tradition. Modern days Hindi poetry

carries the legacy of great traditions of ancient scriptures written
in Sanskrit verses, he pointed out.
Poetry reflects the thoughts,
NYU professor receives National

Science Foundation award
New York: Srikanth
lead to easy-to-use
Jagabathula,
an
techniques for a
assistant professor in
wide range of manathe Information,
gerial decisions: the
Operations,
&
right products to
Management
design, the right
Sciences department
products and prices
at the New York
to offer to cusUniversity Stern
tomers, and the right
School of Business
quantity of each
was recently recogproduct to carry.
nized
by
the
Traditional
National Science
approaches have
Foundation (NSF)
focused either on
Srikanth Jagabathula
with its Faculty
selecting an approEarly Career Development Award priate model and fitting it to the data
(CAREER). As part of this award, or on efficiently solving a decision
Jagabathula will receive a total of problem when given the model, leav$500,000 over the next five years to ing the model selection itself to an
further his research in developing expert. Neither approach scales to curdata-driven modeling and learning rent retail applications, which are
techniques with the goal of improving characterized by diverse demand patthe accuracy of operational decision terns, products, and types of data.
making.
Jagabathulas research will instead
We are proud of professor blend techniques from machine learnJagabathulas research and the recog- ing, statistics, and operations to design
nition it has received from the an approach that starts with a type of
National Science Foundation, Peter data (purchase transactions, clickHenry, dean of NYU Stern was quoted streams, marketing studies, choice of
saying in a university press release.
insurance policies, etc.) and ends with
Jagabathulas research is expected to an operational decision.
emotions and imaginations of the

composer.
Rutgers Universitys South
Asian Studies Program, hosts an
ambitious program intended to increase the profile of India at Rutgers and to forge collaborations
with Indian educational and research institutions, as well as business, community and non-profit
organizations in the US, said Dr.
Shaheen Parveen, Hindi lecturer
and coordinator of forthcoming
International Hindi Conference in
April. The conference will be a forum for scholars, educators and
community leaders to share ideas
on education and promotion of
Hindi in the United States.
The poetry session was organized by Asher Ghertner, Director
of South Asian Studies Program
(SASP) at Rutgers and supported
by African Middle Eastern and
South Asian languages and Literatures (AMESALL). Rutgers Uni-
versity students, faculty members

and guests from community and
other academic and community
members attended the program.
SASPs ongoing programs included collaborations with business, community and non-profit
organizations in the US. Aimed at
increasing the profile of India at
Rutgers through the Universitywide India Initiative SASP reaches out to the Indian-American
community as a part of a new program launched by the Centers for
Global Advancement and International Affairs (GAIA).
Rutgers is one of four U.S. institutions to have established the Indian Council for Cultural Relations Chair of Cotemporary Indian
Studies under a grant of approximately $250,000 from President
Barack Obama and former Indian
Prime
Minister
Manmohan
Singhs 21st Century Knowledge
Initiative.
Indian origin researcher: Cyberbullying puts

female students at depression risk
New York: Involvement
in cyberbullying increases risk of depression in
female college students for both bullies and victims, says a study led by
an
Indian-origin
researcher.
What is worse is that
the bullies are also likely
to report problem alcohol
use, the researchers
noted.
"Participants with any
involvement in cyberbullying had increased odds
of depression and those
involved in cyberbullying as bullies had
increased odds of both
depression and problem alcohol
use," said Rajitha Kota from the
University of Wisconsin School
of Medicine.
Cyberbullying and its effects
have been studied largely in middle and high school students, but
less is known about cyberbullying in college students.
This cross-sectional study
investigated the relationship
Rajitha Kota
between involvement in cyberbullying and depression or problem alcohol use among college
females.
For the study, two hundred and
sixty-five female students from
four colleges completed online
surveys assessing involvement in
cyberbullying behaviours.
Participants also completed the
Patient Health Questionnaire-9
(PHQ-9) to assess
depressive symptoms
and the Alcohol Use
Disorder Identification
Test (AUDIT) to assess
problem drinking.
The researchers found
that more than one in
four females experienced cyberbullying in
college, increasing their
risk for depression.
Among the participants who had experienced cyberbullying, the
most common behaviours reported were
hacking into another
person's
account,
receiving unwanted
sexual advances, being harassed
by text message, and posting of
degrading comments.
Those who had experienced
unwanted sexual advances online
or via text message had six-fold
increase in odds of depression,
the findings showed.
The study appeared in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior,
and Social Networking.
NATIONAL COMMUNITY
10 Indian Americans elected to National Academy of Engineering

Washington, D.C. : The National Academy
of Engineering (NAE) has named 10 Indian
Americans among the 67 new elected members announced Feb. 5 by NAE president
C.D. Mote, Jr., who noted that election to the
NAE is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer.
Academy membership honors those who
have made outstanding contributions to "engineering research, practice, or education, including, where appropriate, significant contributions to the engineering literature," and
to the "pioneering of new and developing
fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of engineering, or
developing/implementing innovative approaches to engineering education."
The Indian Americans, and their specific
contributions, include:
Hari Balakrishnan, professor of computer science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, for contributions to wired
and wireless networks and distributed systems.

Sangeeta Bhatia, investigator, Howard
Hughes Medical Institute; John J. and
Dorothy Wilson Professor of Health Sciences
and Technology and Electrical Engineering
and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and director, Laboratory
for Multiscale Regenerative Technologies,
Cambridge, Mass., for tissue engineering and
tissue regeneration technologies, stem cell differentiation, and preclinical drug evaluation.
Anantha Chandrakasan, Joseph F. and
Nancy P. Keithley Professor of Electrical Engineering and head, department of electrical
engineering and computer science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge,
for development of low-power circuit and
system design methods.
Santosh K. Das, retired vice president,
Polymer Technologies Inc., Randolph, N.J.,
for understanding of the composition, struc-
DHF to screen Dukhtar a lm on

forced marriages on March 8th
Westbury, NY: Domestic
Harmony Foundation (DHF)
is a one of a kind community
based not-for-prot organization in Long Island, working
to empower victims of domestic violence through support services such as advocacy, counseling, legal consultations, support groups, crisis
intervention, nancial assistance and leadership development initiatives.
On International Womens
Day, March 8th, DHF will be
screening Dukhtar at Jeanne
Rimsky Theater, 232 Main Street, Port Washington, NY. Film will start at 5:30 pm followed by a Q & A session with the director of
the lm, Aa Nathaniel. Dukhtar is based on
a true story, and has won Best Director and
Best Feature awards at 2014 South Asian
International Film Festival. This lm sheds
light and raises awareness about a very sensitive topic that some communities have been
struggling for a long time. Forced marriage
occurs when their family or other persons in

authority, to marry, without any regard for
their consent, coerce a man or woman. A
forced marriage may involve many forms of
oppression and abuse such as threats, emotional blackmail, fraud, and even bribes.
For more information about Domestic Harmony Foundation (DHF) and the lm screening or to get involved in helping; visit
www.dhfny.org or call (516) 385-8292.
ture, property, and processing interrelationships of rapidly solidified amorphous and microcrystalline alloys.
Deepakraj M. Divan, president, chief
technical officer, and co-founder, Varentec
Inc., San Jose, Calif., for design and commercialization of advanced power conversion
technologies for improved quality and controllability of the power grid.
Supratik Guha, director of physical sciences, Thomas J. Watson Research Center,
IBM Corp., Yorktown Heights, N.Y., for contributions to field effect transistor technology
that allow continued scaling of silicon microelectronics.
Samir Mitragotri, director, Center for
Bioengineering, and professor of chemical
engineering, University of California, Sana
Barbara, for development, clinical translation,
and commercialization of transdermal drug
delivery systems.
Guruswami Ravichandran, John E.
Goode Jr. Professor of Aerospace, professor

of mechanical engineering, and director,
Graduate Aerospace Laboratories, California
Institute of Technology, Pasadena, for contributions to mechanics of dynamic deformation, damage, and failure of engineering materials.
Junuthula N. Reddy, distinguished professor, Regents Professor, and inaugural
holder of the Oscar S. Wyatt Jr. Endowed
Chair in Mechanical Engineering, Texas
A&M University, College Station, for contributions to composite structures and to engineering education and practice.
Ajit P. Yoganathan, Regents Professor,
Wallace H. Coulter Distinguished Faculty
Chair in Biomedical Engineering, and director, Center for Innovative Cardiovascular
Technologies, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, for improvements in the biomechanics of prosthetic heart valves and the development of heart repair devices.
Chicago physician jailed for

health care fraud
Chicago: A Chicago based Indian-American
physician whose medical license was suspended has been sentenced to 18 months in
prison for health care fraud and illegally prescribing controlled substance medications.
Sathish Narayanappa Babu, who owned
Anik Life Sciences Medical Corp., pleaded
guilty in September 2014 to illegally prescribing oxycodone and other controlled
substances, and fraudulently billing
Medicare about $500,000.
Babu, 48, who operated the home-visiting
physician's office, in Darien and, previously,
in Arlington Heights also fraudulently collected about $216,000 for services he did not
provide, according to a Federal Bureau of Investigation release.
US District Court Judge John J. Tharp also
imposed a term of three years of supervised
release and a restitution amount of $221,012.
Babu agreed to forfeit about $126,000,
which was seized at the time of his arrest,
and will be credited towards the restitution
ordered.
Also forfeited were three automobiles - a
2013 BMW, a 2001 BMW, and a 2010
Lexus. Babu was ordered to begin serving
his sentence May 13, 2015.
"This crime wasn't an isolated act, it was a
calculated, systematic effort to milk
Sathish Narayanappa Babu,

who owned Anik Life Sciences
Medical Corp., pleaded guilty
in September 2014 to illegally
prescribing oxycodone and
other controlled substances,
and fraudulently billing
Medicare about $500,000.
Medicare," commented Judge Tharp.
"The defendant was stealing money from
those in need... putting many in need at risk."
Babu admitted that he engaged in a scheme
to defraud Medicare from November 2011
through February 2014.
In addition, Babu admitted that between
November 2012 and December 2013, he issued multiple prescriptions for controlled
substances to a patient, who was actually an
undercover agent, despite never having seen
or examined the patient.
Babu also permitted unlicensed personnel
associated with Anik Life Sciences to issue
prescriptions to the patient.
During the same period, Babu submitted
false claims to Medicare for services provided to the patient that were not rendered by
Babu or another licensed medical professional.
Indian student held in NY on rape charges
New York: An 18-year-old student from India has been arrested on charges of rape after he was accused of entering the room of
another student and sexually assaulting her.
Abhay Pant, who hails from New Delhi, is a
student at The State University of New York
in Oswego.
According to campus newspaper The Oswegonian, Pant was arrested for first-degree
rape last week by the university police. According to a statement from Julie Blissert,
the director of public affairs, Pant allegedly
entered the room of another resident and

sexually assaulted her in the early morning
hours.
Pant was arraigned in Oswego town court
and remanded to Oswego county correctional facilities on $50,000 cash bail or
$100,000 bond and is scheduled to reappear
in court later. According to the 2014-2015
Oswego state student handbook, students
accused of criminal violations, including
sexual assaults, are subject to disciplinary
action by the varsity.
NATIONAL COMMUNITY
Prof Dasgupta conferred

top chemistry award
New York: Purnendu
tion," he added.
Dasgupta, a Jenkins Garrett
As the recipient of the
professor of chemistry at The
award, Dasgupta will receive a
University of Texas at
plaque and cash prize. He will
Arlington, has been awarded
also attend the ACS national
the 2015 American Chemical
conference in August in
Society
Division
of
Boston, where he will address
Analytical Chemistry J.
and participate in an awards
Calvin Giddings Award for
symposium on education in
Excellence in Education.
analytical chemistry.
The national award recogUT Arlington President
nizes a scientist, who has
Vistasp M. Karbhari said
enhanced the professional
Dasgupta's newest honour
development of analytical
demonstrates the high quality
UT Arlington Prof Purnendu
chemistry students, develof university faculty as
Dasgupta
oped and published innovaexceptional models for
tive experiments, designed
advanced research and educaand improved equipment or teaching labs and tional excellence. "Dr. Dasgupta is remarkably
published inuential textbooks or signicant arti- accomplished, and his work in analytical chemcles on teaching analytical chemistry.
istry addresses some of the most critical issues in
"I am especially honored by this award. I have our world," President Karbhari said.
been recognized for some research accomplishDasgupta's research area includes methods for
ments or other in the past but this one recognizes environmentally-friendly analysis of arsenic in
for the rst time my commitment to and love for drinking water, rapid analysis of trace heavy metteaching and that is why it is so gratifying," als in the atmosphere, iodine nutrition in women
Dasgupta said.
and infants and the role of the chemical perchlo"I am a third generation university teacher. So, rate, and the development of a NASA-funded ion
much of this honor I can credit to my father and chromatograph for testing extraterrestrial soil,
grandfather, I am merely carrying on that tradi- such as on a trip to Mars.
Vanya Shivashankar wins

Lifetimes Child Genius
Washington, DC: Indian
American middle schooler
Vanya Shivashankar has won
the Lifetime channels competition series Child Genius.
The 13-year-old from
Olathe, Kansas, claimed
$100,000 grand prize, which
will go toward her college
scholarship.
Vanya celebrates with her friends at
Yeji (11) of Rolling Hills the watch party of the final episode
Estates, California, came
of the show in Olathe. (Photo: The
second and won a $10,000
Kansas City Star)
scholarship. Ten-year-old
Graham Curtsinger, of Verdigris, rst time she won rst place since
Oklahoma, nished third, winning the show began. Daughter of
Indian American couple Sandy
a $5,000 scholarship.
In the second and nal round, and Mirle Shivashankar, both IT
each contestant had to answer a professionals, she is also an
staggering 50 questions in only 10 speller, having been to the nals
minutes. Shivashankar scored an of the Scripps National Spelling
impressive 30 out of 50. Yeji, the Bee three times. Her other
second-place winner, scored 24 Interests include acting, singing,
out of 50. Curtsinger scored 18 in piano, bike riding, swimming,
brain games and playing with her
the nal round.
Shivashankar was the winner of dog, according to the shows
the seventh episode as well, the website.
Ravi Chaudhary appointed Exe Director

in Federal Aviation Administration
Washington, DC: An
Indian American has been
appointed to a key position
in the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA). Ravi
Chaudhary has been made in
charge of oversight and execution of aviation operations
in nine different regions. A
former Air Force ofcer,
Chaudhary in his capacity as
Executive Director for Regions and
Center Operations at FAA is also responsible for executing a $288 million operating budget and leads over 2,100
Federal Employees in nine nationwide
regions. As second in command to the
Deputy Assistant Administrator for ARC,
he is also responsible for providing
Department of Transportation and FAAwide services in the areas of operations,
safety, policy, corporate and congressional outreach, emergency readiness,
facilities management, besides centralized support for the National Aerospace
System, a media release said.
Earlier, Chaudhary completed 21 years
of service at the Air Force District of
Washington, Andrews Air Force Base.
He is a C-17 Pilot and has

completed a variety of command, operational, engineering, and senior staff assignments in the Air Force. He
has also served at the
Pentagon as a Speechwriter
and Strategic Planner in the
Secretary of the Air Force
Executive Action Group and
Deputy Chief of Staff for
Air Force Strategic Plans and
Programs.On May 6, 2014, Chaudhary
was appointed by US President Barack
Obama as a member of the Presidents
Advisory Commission on Asian
Americans and Pacic Islanders. In this
role, he advises the President on executive branch efforts to improve economic
and community development, public and
private sector collaboration, health, education and veterans support for the AAPI
community. Chaudhary holds a BS in
Aeronautical Engineering from the Air
Force Academy, MA in Operational Arts
and Science from Air University, and an
MS in Industrial Engineering from St
Marys University as a NASA graduate
fellow.
Dhanurjay 'DJ' Patil named as rst US chief data scientist

Washington, DC: The White
House has named Dhanurjay 'DJ'
Patil as its rst chief data scientist
to help shape policies and practices
to help the US remain a leader in
technology and innovation.
In a memo to the American people Thursday, Patil, 45, noted that
"the Obama administration has
embraced the use of data to improve
the operation of the US government
and the interactions that people
have with it."
Patil said his role "will be to
responsibly source, process, and
leverage data in a timely fashion to
enable transparency, provide security, and foster innovation for the
benet of the American public, in
order to maximize the nation's
return on its investment in data."
Patil said he planned to focus on
four activities: Providing vision on
how to provide maximum social
return on federal data; Creating
nationwide data policies that enable
shared services and forward-leaning
practices to advance our nation's
leadership in the data age; Working
with agencies to establish best prac-
Dhanurjay 'DJ' Patil

(Photo: fastcompany.com)
tices for data management and

ensure long-term sustainability of
databases; Recruiting and retaining
the best minds in data science for
public service to address these data
science objectives and act as conduits among the government, academia, and industry. President Barack
Obama "has prioritized bringing top
technical talent like DJ into the federal government to harness the
power of technology and innovation
to help government better serve the
American people," said chief technology ofcer Megan Smith.
"DJ joins the White House following an incredible career as a
data scientist - a term he helped
coin - in the public and private sectors, and in academia," she said.
Most recently, Patil served as the
Vice President of Product at
RelateIQ, which was acquired by
Salesforce.
He also previously held positions
at LinkedIn, Greylock Partners,
Skype, PayPal, and eBay.
Prior to his work in the private
sector, Patil worked at the
Department of Defence, where he
directed new efforts to bridge computational and social sciences in
elds like social network analysis to
help anticipate emerging threats to
the United States.
As a doctoral student and faculty
member at the University of
Maryland, DJ used open data sets
published by the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) to make major improvements in numerical weather forecasting. He holds a bachelor's
degree in mathematics from the
University of California, San
Diego, and a PhD in applied mathematics from the University of
Maryland College Park.
NATIONAL COMMUNITY
Obama taps Indian Americans to fix things at home and abroad

Washington, DC: President Barack
Obama, with the largest number of
Indian Americans in his administration, keeps dipping into the expanding talent pool of the three millionstrong Indian American community,
to take care of issues ranging from
combating terrorist propaganda
abroad to nation's health at home.
Last week, after an international
conference on terrorism, Obama
named Rashad Hussain, a Muslim of
Indian heritage, as US Special Envoy
and Coordinator for Strategic Counter-Terrorism Communications. Son
of immigrant parents from India,
Hussain had since 2010 served as US
Special Envoy to the 57-member Organisation for Islamic Cooperation
(OIC), to build partnerships with
Muslim communities around the
world.
Also last week, the White House
named Dhanurjay 'DJ' Patil as its first
chief data scientist to help shape policies and practices to help the US remain a leader in technology and innovation.
Rajiv Shah, another son of immigrant Indian parents, Friday left the
US Agency for International Development (USAID) after five years at
the helm of the agency engaged in a
mission of ending extreme poverty
and promoting resilient, democratic
societies.
At a little over three million, Americans of Indian ancestry make up
about one percent of the US popula-
tion, the country's third largest Asian

ancestry group after Chinese Americans and Filipino Americans. But
they are America's best educated and
the richest lot gaining prominence in
every field from academia to science
and technology.
They run various businesses, own
about 80,000 convenience stores and
manage over 20,000 motels -- or Potels as they have come to be known
as most of these are run by the Patel
community from Gujarat.
Over 100,000 physicians of Indian
origin take care of the nation's health.
Many head America's top educational institutions, including the prestigious Harvard Business School. Now
they are gaining a foothold in government and politics too.
With over a score direct Obama appointees in high places, two governors, a House member, a state attorney general and eight state legislators, Indian Americans have over the
years gained power and influence far
beyond their numbers. And their
power keeps growing.
Among the recent Obama nominees was Arun Majumdar, an Indian
Institute of Technology (Bombay)
alumnus who began serving as one of
four US science envoys Last month.
Earlier in December, Vivek Murthy
created history as the youngest US
Surgeon General and the first of Indian descent after cooling his heels
for more than a year for Senate confirmation as 'America's doctor' in the
face of strong opposition by the powerful gun lobby.

But unlike Murthy, Richard Rahul
Verma sailed through the Senate to
take up his position as Washington's
first Indian American envoy in New
Delhi ahead of Obama's historic visit to become the first US president to
be the guest of honor at India's Republic Day.
With Verma in New Delhi and
Nisha Desai Biswal heading the State
Department's South Asia bureau, Indian Americans are now watching
US interests in both capitals.
Biswal is assisted by Atul Keshap,
another Indian American, while
Puneet Talwar as assistant secretary
for political-military affairs serves as
a bridge between the State and Defence departments. And Arun Madhavan Kumar as assistant secretary
of commerce and director general of
the US and Foreign Commercial
Service is charged with boosting US
trade.
Amid growing protests over the
treatment of blacks, Obama chose
Vanita Gupta to lead the US justice
department's civil rights division
charged with enforcing laws that prevent discrimination.
Another Indian American Anita M.
Singh was picked up for a key job in
the Justice Department's National
Security Division (NSD) to counter
state-sponsored economic espionage
and proliferation, including through
cyberspace. Indira Talwani and Man-
ish Shah became the first Asian

American federal judges in Massachusetts and Obama's home state of
Illinois, respectively.
To clean up the Wall Street, Obama
picked up Preet Bharara as New
York's US attorney. Known in India
for his dogged prosecution of Indian
diplomat Devyani Khobragade,
Bharara tasted his first defeat in July
after winning 85 insider trading cases.
Earlier in his first term, Obama
chose Aneesh Paul Chopra as Amer-
ica's first chief technology officer

and Vivek Kundra as the first US
chief information officer.
Rohit "Ro" Khanna served as
deputy assistant secretary in the US
Commerce department before making an unsuccessful bid for the US
House seat last November.
And Neel Tushar Kashkari, who
made a failed run for California governor in November, earned the nickname of "700 billion-dollar man" for
leading the federal bank bailout plan
from October 2008 to May 2009.
Some from a host of America's

desi power players:
Dr. Vivek Hallegere Murthy, US Surgeon General

Arun Madhavan Kumar, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for
Global Markets and Director General of the US and Foreign Commercial Service
Atul Keshap, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State
Vinai Thummalapally, Executive Director, SelectUSA, International Trade Administration, US Department of Commerce (formerly US ambassador to Belize, first Indian American ambassador in US
history)
Sri Srinivasan, Judge of the US Court of Appeals for the district
of Columbia Circuit
Sunil Sabharwal, nominee Alternate Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund
Indira Talwani, federal judge, Massachusetts
Manish Shah, federal judge, Illinois
Deven J. Parekh, Member Board of Directors, Overseas Private
Investment Corporation
Gargee Ghosh, Member, President's Global Development Council
India-born scientist's team develops blood test for early cancer detection
Washington, DC: Researchers in
the US, led by an India-born physician scientist, have said they have
developed a new blood test that has
the potential to detect cancers in their
earliest stages.
In a proof-of-principle study, researchers from Stanford University,
with Sanjiv Gambhir as the lead author, administered a drug called
DNA minicircles to mice and found
mice with tumors produced a substance that tumor-free mice did not
make and was easily detected 48
hours later in the blood.
The technique "represents an alternative paradigm for improved cancer
detection", said the paper published
in the US journal Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences Monday. "If proven safe and effective, (it)
eventually may have potential as a
powerful cancer-screening tool for
Sanjiv Gambhir, chair of radiology and director of the

Canary Center at Stanford for
Cancer Early Detection
the general population," Xinhua

news agency quoted the paper as
stating. The hunt for cancer "biomarkers" in the blood, or substances
that indicate a probable tumor, is
nothing new, but various tumor types
naturally secrete characteristic substances with each requiring its own
separate test, said Gambhir, chair of
radiology and director of the Canary

Center at Stanford for Cancer Early
Detection.
Complicating matters, these substances are also quite often made in
healthy tissues, so a positive test result did not absolutely mean a person
actually has cancer. In addition, a tumor, especially a small one, simply
may not secrete enough of the trademark substance to be detectable.
Gambhir's team found a way to
force any of numerous tumor types
to produce a biomarker whose presence in the blood of mice unambiguously signifies cancer, because none
of the rodents' tissues would normally be making it.
"This biomarker is a protein called
secreted embryonic alkaline phosphatase (SEAP)," they said in a statement. "SEAP is naturally produced
in human embryos as they form and
develop, but it's not present in

adults." To trick mice's cancer cells
into making SEAP and squirting it
into the bloodstream, Gambhir and
his colleagues used a DNA minicircle, which is a tiny, artificial, singlestranded DNA ring about 4,000 nucleotides in circumference, or roughly one-millionth as long as the DNA
strand that would result from stretching all 23 chromosomes of the human genome end to end.
They engineered the DNA minicircle so that it can be activated by a
particular promoter, a short DNA sequence that only works in cancer
cells. When activated, a reporter
gene on the minicircle will produce
the protein called SEAP, which can
be detected in the bloodstream.
Then the researchers injected the
minicircles intravenously into mice
bearing human melanoma metas-
tases and tumor-free mice and measured SEAP levels in the animals'
blood one, three, seven, 11 and 14
days later.
Within 48 hours, SEAP was present in the blood of mice with tumors,
but not in that of the tumor-free animals. That signal began declining in
strength as early as 72 hours post-injection, fading to insignificance
within the next two weeks or so.
"Its maximum strength varied with
the total tumor volume in a mouse's
lungs, suggesting that the test may be
sensitive not only to the presence of
cancer but also to its extent," they
said. Although the minicircles were
injected intravenously to the mice in
this study, it should eventually prove
possible to deliver them orally via a
pill, Gambhir, born in Ambala, India,
and a recipient of numerous awards
and honors, said.
NATIONAL COMMUNITY
Faith-based approach pushed droves of South Asians

to sign up for Obamacare
As the second enrollment period to get insurance under the Affordable Care Act
came to end last week, a report on the response of the community and changed
strategies by ethnic organizations in health and social services to get the job done.
By Jinal Shah
New York: Last week it was announced that
about 11.4 million people signed up for health
coverage during Obamacares second enrollment period, exceeding its modest enrollment
goal with a nal-day rush.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), commonly
known as Obamacare, was passed by
Congress despite stiff opposition by
Republicans, and signed into law by
President Obama in 2010. Under the ACA,
states can set up a health insurance exchange,
or marketplace, where people can shop and
compare plans. People with existing health
conditions can no longer be denied health care
coverage. All of the insurance plans in the
exchange had to fulll certain requirements.
The US Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS) recognized the coverage gap
among ethnic minorities. According to a
March 2014 press statement issued by HHS,
eight in every 10 Asian Americans are eligible
for health care under Obamacare.
Although the nal tally will come only
after the end of tax season, as that will give
extra time to last minute shoppers - an overall
response from South Asian organizations that
worked tirelessly to enroll mostly documented immigrants was a positive one.
This year in selling Obamacare to those
uninsured in the community, many of whom
were unsure about how to apply for and use
Obamacare, ethnic organizations had to
change their strategies. Last year since it
was the rst round, people were easy to reach
with mass media campaigns detailing benets
of ACA. However, this year in addition to the
media campaign which seemed less effective -- we initiated a huge grassroots movement involving community leaders, small
business leaders and gave talking points to
religious leaders like Imams, priests and other
religious gurus and it paid off as people paid
attention to them, someone they know and
can trust, said Ranjana Paintal, Program
Manager, Asian Health Coalition (AHC).
The Coalition teamed up with the
Compassionate Care Network, Hamdard
Health and Human Services, and
Metropolitan Asian Family Services trained
bilingual Arabic, Hindi, Gujarati and Urduspeaking navigators to conduct education,
outreach and enrollment activities targeting
Muslim immigrant populations from Asia, the
Middle East and Africa in Chicago area.
A 40-year-old cab driver, Jagan Niroula,
from downtown Chicago, was one of the beneciaries of the awareness program. Last
year I heard about Obamacare but was not
quite sure what it did. This year, however, the
Chicagoland Nepali Friendship Society along
with AHC organized a seminar and I learnt
about Obamacare and its benets. They
helped me shop around and I picked a health
insurance plan for me and my wife and four
year old daughter based on my income. I
enrolled with $107 premium and am paying
From an
event
organized
by Chicago
based
Asian
Health
Coalition.
additional $10 because I am a smoker. It was

the rst time Nirula and her family were
insured in the US.
But not all came forward readily to sign up
like Niroula. Paintal pointed out, As we went
deeper into the community we realized that
they needed to be educated about Obamacare.
We made over 100 presentations and reached
over 6,000 people since the start of enrollment. Even though it was the second year,
people needed more details."
Confusing media reports also scared off
prospective health insurance consumers.
News reports on how expensive ACA could
be or ACA could be suspended (GOP is still
pushing against it) could shake a clients condence in the federally designed program.
Some of the propaganda against Obamacare
in the media has led to some unnecessary concerns about the program, said Manjusha
Kulkarni, executive director of South Asian
Network.
But Sudha Acharya, executive director of
South Asian Council of Social Service, an
organization actively working in the New
York region, said the response was better than
last year, Based on the feedback we got from
our navigators, there is a positive response in
the community second time in a row. People
were more accepting, made appointments and
came with all the required documents.
And the experts monitoring the program
attribute the relative acceptance of
Obamacare by Asian Americans to their
familiarity with using government services
and the strategic outreach by ethnic community groups and organizations.
Henry Liem, a philosophy professor at San
Jose City College, told the Contra Costa
Times that Asians in America have learned
to embrace government programs that they
view as nondiscriminatory, low-cost and reliable. The younger generation of Asians -- who
tend to be well-educated, Americanized and
connected online -- "are encouraging and
pressuring other family members to enroll."
Paintal and her team of navigators focused
on these second generation English speakers
to communicate message to their family
members, especially those who may be reluctant to come forward due to mixed immigration status.
A lot of South Asian immigrants are either
self-employed or working in small businesses

that are not likely to offer health benets.
Many of them work in cash based industries
for low pay. These immigrants are reluctant to
buy insurance because it is expensive and do
not see the appeal of the health care law.
Now that the onus is on the individual to
apply and enroll, many decide, for various
reasons, to not enroll for the insurance and be

ready to pay penalty. Many do the cost benet
analysis in terms of money spent on premiums as compared to penalty they have to pay.
Many make the cost benet analysis in terms
of their health. We have had people come to
us and say I am not going to get sick tomorrow or meet with an accident, why should I
buy insurance, said Kulkarni.
If I fall sick, Ill just go to the pharmacy
and get over-the-counter medication, said
30-year-old Sejal Shah who works in a salon
in New York. When asked what would happen
if she were to fall gravely ill, she said I am
generally healthy and I dont see a need to
apply for health insurance at my age.
And those who have already bought insurance are worried about the monthly cost. It is
a great scheme but plans are expensive for us.
It may not seem to be a big amount but every
month keeping aside a certain amount is a big
deal especially with meager wages. I will
reevaluate my plan next year, said Niroula.
Corporate Office: 385 Seneca Avenue, Ridgewood NY 11385

718.821.3182, www.AtlanticDialysis.Com
10
US AFFAIRS
McConnell throws in the towel on DHS Fight, ball in Boehner court

Washington: Senate Majority
Leader Mitch McConnell has
essentially thrown in the towel by
saying he's ready to consider a
"clean" DHS (Department of
Homeland Security) bill -- that is,
without the riders rolling back
President Obama's executive
actions. But Senate Minority
Leader Harry Reid is trying to
make things difficult for
Republicans, explaining that
before they support the clean DHS
bill, House Speaker John Boehner
must promise this same vote on
the House floor.
Meanwhile, House Republicans
are divided on how to proceed. Do
they want to put legislation on the
floor that would certainly pass and
save the agency from a shutdown,
but would surely be carried by
Democrats and likely fall well
short of the so-called 'Hastert
Rule,' where the majority of the
majority party secures a bill's suc-
Obama vetoes Keystone bill. But he

could still approve the pipeline
Washington: President Obama yesterday issued the third veto of his
presidency, stiff-arming the Keystone pipeline legislation that
Congress passed earlier this year. It's unlikely that Congress has the
two-thirds majorities in both chambers to override Obama's veto. Yet
largely lost in yesterday's back-and-forth over Obama's veto is this
important point: In his veto message, the president didn't take issue
with the merits of the Keystone pipeline; instead, he maintained that
the matter is for the executive branch to decide, not the legislative
branch. And it bears repeating: There's the real possibility that the
Obama administration could still approve the Keystone pipeline. After
all, there are supporters inside the administration that believe the U.S.
should throw Canada -- a stalwart ally -- a bone here.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker John

Boehner: divergent stands
cess? Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz.,

said he thinks Boehner could not
survive such a move politically
On the flip side, some House
Republicans are questioning if the

Republican Party as a whole could
weather the political storm of
opposing a "clean" DHS spending
Killer of 'American Sniper' Kyle

sentenced to life in prison
Stephenville, Texas: Eddie Ray

Routh was sentenced to life in
prison without the possibility of
parole on Tuesday after a Texas
jury found him guilty of murdering
Chris Kyle, the former U.S. Navy
SEAL whose autobiography was
turned into the hit movie
"American Sniper."
Routh, 27, a former U.S. Marine, Eddie Ray Routh (left) convicted in
the killing of Chris Kyle
was found guilty of shooting Kyle
and Kyle's friend, Chad Littlefield, any U.S. military sniper, has been
multiple times at a gun range about lionized in his home state of Texas.
70 miles (110 km) southwest of He became entrenched in U.S. popFort Worth in February 2013. ular culture in large part due to his
Prosecutors said he ambushed the best-selling book and the Academy
two from the rear, waiting for Kyle Award nominated movie directed
to completely unload his weapon at by Clint Eastwood and starring
the range before he attacked with a Bradley Cooper.
After leaving military service,
barrage of gunshots.
Kyle, a former SEAL credited Kyle, who battled his own mental
with the most confirmed kills of demons, helped counsel troubled
veterans with trips for shooting

and talks. He had driven Routh to
the range with Kyle's neighbor,
Littlefield. "You took the lives of
two heroes, men that tried to be a
friend to you. You became an
American disgrace," Littlefield's
brother-in-law, Jerry Richardson,
said of Routh at a county court in
the rural Texas city of
Stephenville after the sentence
was handed down.
The jury deliberated for a little
more than two hours before reaching a verdict. Prosecutors chose not
to go for the death penalty and had
been seeking a life sentence without parole.
Defense lawyers argued that
Routh was a paranoid schizophrenic and should be declared
innocent by reason of insanity.
FBI arrests 3 NY residents planning to join IS

New York: The FBI Wednesday
arrested three New York residents
who allegedly were planning to join
the Islamic State (IS) and commit
terrorist acts in the US, officials
with the agency and the Justice
Department said.
Abdurasul Hasanovich Juraboev
and Abror Habibov, both citizens of
Uzbekistan,
and
Akhror
Saidakhmetov, a citizen of
Kazakhstan, were facing charges of
conspiracy for supporting that terrorist group.
The arrests of the three men, all
residents of the New York borough
of Brooklyn and who had been
under observation by law enforcement for several months, were made
in New York and Florida.

The FBI investigation revealed
that
Juraboev,
24,
and
Saidakhmetov, 19, were planning to
travel to Syria via Turkey to join the
IS, while Habibov, 30, helped
finance Saidakhmetov in his efforts
but had no plans to leave the country. Saidakhmetov was arrested
Wednesday morning at JFK airport
as he was getting ready to board a
flight to Istanbul, while Juraboev
had bought a ticket for next month
to travel to the same destination and
was arrested in Brooklyn.
According to local media,
Habibov was arrested in Florida.
In the indictment, prosecutors said
Juraboev first came to the attention
of law enforcement authorities last

August when he posted a message
on an Uzbek-language website that
propagates the IS ideology saying
he and his companions wanted to
"pledge our allegiance" to the IS
"and commit ourselves."
In the same post, he offered to
assassinate President Obama if the
terrorist group ordered him to do so.
He also threatened to plant a bomb
on New York's Coney Island.
Meanwhile, Saidakhmetov intended to carry out an attack on US soil
if he was unable to travel to Syria to
join the IS, and recently he
expressed his intention to buy a pistol to shoot police officers and FBI
agents if they learned of his plans.
bill. I don't see how it's helpful

for us to risk a shutdown of the
Department of Homeland
Security, said Rep. Tom Cole of
Oklahoma."
On his part, President Obama
held an immigration-themed town
hall Wednesday in Miami to exact
a political price from Republicans

for their opposition to his immigration policy and to consolidate
gains he has made with Hispanics
since announcing executive
actions to shield millions of unauthorized immigrants from
deportation.
Rahm Emanuel faces runoff

to stay Chicago mayor
Mayor Rahm Emanuel, left, and the challenger Jesus "Chuy"

Garcia at a debate last month.
Chicago : Chicago Mayor Rahm

Emanuel, for whom Presdint had
canvassed, is headed into a
runoff to hold onto his seat after
failing to snag more than half the
vote in the first round Tuesday.
Emanuel,
a
former
Congressman who served as
President Obama's first chief of
staff, took 45% of the vote as his
four major opponents took
enough votes to keep Emanuel
just five points short of the
threshold to avoid a runoff.
Emanuel will now face Jesus
"Chuy" Garcia, a county commissioner who has come to
embody populist and liberal
Democrats' frustrations with the
Chicago incumbent.
Garcia took just under 34% of
the vote, according to the
Chicago Board of Elections.
Emanuel's defeat came despite
a last-minute campaign stop
from Obama just five days
before voters headed to the
polls. And Obama also voiced a
radio ad for Emanuel that began
airing last month. But Garcia -with the help of the other con-
tenders -- was able to chomp off

enough support to win a one-onone race against Emanuel, which
will come to a head in early
April when Chicago voters again
head to the polls.
Emanuel has faced stiff opposition from the teachers union,
who endorsed Emanuel's opponent. Emanuel had to shutdown
dozens of Chicago schools and
faced off with teachers during a
2012 strike in a manner reminiscent of his days as a pitbull on
Capitol Hill.
And Emanuel's campaign
efforts come against a backdrop
of continued violent crime in
Chicago, which Emanuel has
struggled to stamp out.
"We have come a long way
and we have a little bit further to
go. This is the first step in a real
important journey in our city,"
Emanuel told a crowd of supporters as projections came in
Tuesday night.
"For those who voted for
someone else, I hope to earn
your confidence and your support in the weeks to come."
INDIA
11
Prabhu's budget fails to muster investor confidence

Mumbai: Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu's
maiden budget on Thursday failed to muster
investor condence in the stocks of railwayrelated rms.
A majority of stocks associated with the
railways plunged in the late afternoon trade
session Thursday, after Prabhu outlined in
the Lok Sabha the 2015-16 development and
nancial plans for one of the world's largest
railroad networks.
Stocks of companies like Texmaco Rail
and Engineering, Container Corporation of
India, Kalindee Rail Nirman (Engineers),
Stone India, Titagarh Wagons and Cimmco
were trading in the red.
However, the stocks of Hind Rectiers,
Kernex Microsystems and Transformers and
Rectiers (India) made gains during the period.
At the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE),
shares of wagon-maker Texmaco Rail and
Engineering were trading down 6.03 percent
(2.10 p.m.) at Rs.130.80 from the previous
close of Rs.139.20.
The scrip of Container Corporation of
India slipped by 2.77 percent at Rs.1,530
from the previous close of Rs.1,573.60.
Stocks of Kalindee Rail Nirman
(Engineers) decreased 5.33 percent at
Rs.133.30, moving down from its previous
close of Rs.140.80.
The scrip of another company associated
Porters watch the railway budget 2015-16 at New Delhi Railway Station.
with the railways, Stone India, was trading

lower by 6.48 percent at Rs.79.35 from its
previous day's close of Rs.84.85 per equity
share.
Selling pressure was also observed in
stocks of wagon manufacturer Titagarh
Wagons. The company's scrip declined by
4.06 percent at Rs.555.70 from its previous
Rail budget forward looking,

futuristic: PM Modi
New Delhi: Prime Minister
Narendra Modi has described the
2015 rail budget as a watershed
moment for Indian Railways and
called it "forward looking, futuristic and passenger-centric budget".
Rail budget 2015 is a forward
looking, futuristic and passenger
centric budget, combining a clear
vision and a denite plan to
achieve it, Modi said in a tweet
after Railway Minister Suresh
Prabhu presented his maiden budget here.
Rail budget 2015 is a watershed
moment for Railways, marking a
paradigm shift from discussing
coaches and trains to comprehensive railway reform, he added.
The rail budget promises nine
more high-speed trains, faster
speed of existing trains, Wi-Fi in
400 stations, user-friendly ladders
to mount upper berths, easier

norms for unreserved tickets,
17,000 bio-toilets in trains, better
connectivity in north-east, and
cameras for safety of women travellers. Modi appreciated that the
rail budget focused on the needs of
common man, as Prabhu also kept
passenger fares unchanged.
I am particularly delighted that
for the rst time there is a concrete
vision for technology upgradation
and modernisation of the railways, he said.
It (rail budget) stands out for its
focus on the common man, putting
speed, scale, service and safety, all
on one track, he added.
Modi also said that the rail budget lays out a clear roadmap to make
the railways the key driver of
India's economic growth and playing a key role in India's progress.
Government to go ahead with

2G spectrum auction: SC
New Delhi: The Supreme Court
said the government will go ahead
with the auction of 2G spectrum
scheduled to commence March 4,
but its outcome will not be nalized without the court's permission.
While staying the Feb 12, 2015
interim order of Tripura High
Court, the apex court bench of

Justice Dipak Misra and Justice
Adarsh Kumar Goel said no bidder, if successful, shall claim any
equity in the bidding process.
The apex court order would be
applicable to all the 17 circles for
which Notice Inviting Applications
was issued Jan 9 last.
close of Rs.579.20.
Shares of Cimmco were down 7.19 percent
at Rs.71 from its previous close of Rs.76.50.
However, healthy gains were made by
Hind Rectiers, Kernex Microsystems and
Transformers and Rectiers (India).
The stocks of Hind Rectiers were up 1.73
percent at Rs.79.20 from the previous close
of Rs.77.85. Kernex Microsystems's stocks

fell by 2.26 percent at Rs.47.60 from its previous close of Rs.46.55 per equity share.
The scrip of Transformers and Rectiers
(India) at the BSE was up 2.14 percent at
Rs.190.50 from its previous day's close of
Rs.186.50 per equity share.
Investor sentiments were subdued after
Prabhu outlined various proposals to bring
the public transporter's nances in order and
usher in investments for sustained development. Various proposals related to increase
in investments, erecting new rail infrastructure, rationing of energy consumption and
sprucing of passenger amenities were
announced by the minister.
Indian Railways, one of the largest railroad
networks in the world, is suffering from lack
of investments and upgradation of infrastructure to cater to the ever-growing demand of
passenger and freight movement.
The minister sought to correct the investment decit position of the railways by proposing new initiatives for generating nancial resources like tying-up with pension
funds and other debt-related instruments.
The markets expected the budget to bringin scal stability to the railways and fund
inows for modernisation, in line with the
government's proposal for infrastructure
development through the public-private partnership (PPP) model.
Rail Budget: No fare hike, plan

to infuse Rs 850,000 cr
New Delhi: Keeping passenger
fares unchanged, union Railways
Minister Suresh Prabhu presented
his maiden budget for Indian
Railways on February 26, promising to balance passenger needs and
long-term interests of the organization to benchmark it globally on
quality, safety and reach.
Nine more high-speed trains,
faster speed of existing trains, WiFi in 400 stations, user-friendly
ladders to mount upper berths, easier norms for unreserved tickets,
17,000 bio-toilets in trains, better
connectivity in north-east, and
cameras for safety of women travelers are among the other highlights of the budget.
"There will be no hike in passenger fares. We will focus on improving passenger amenities, including
cleanliness," Railway Minister
Prabhu said in a 66-minute speech
in the Lok Sabha, watched keenly
by Prime Minister Narendra Modi
who had handpicked him for the
job. He made no mention of any
revision in freight tariff, as has
been the norm in the past.
The minister also promised all
this with a vastly improved operating ratio, which spells out how
much money is spent on day-today operations to earn revenues -an indication of the funds left for
safety and expansion. He targeted
to bring this down to

88.5 percent, or the
lowest in nine years,
from an unsustainable level of 93.6
percent in 2013-14
and 91.8 percent for
this scal. This is
better than what the
prime minister had
asked the railways a
few days ago.
Globally, a 75-80 per- Union Railways Minister Suresh Prabhakar
Prabhu and Union Minister of State for
cent or lower is seen
Railways Manoj Sinha arrive at the
as a healthy benchParliament to present Railway Budget.
mark. Prabhu also
seemed to have ruled out the sale Railways in recent decades, the
of surplus land and other assets of minister said adding all this further
Indian Railways. "We will mone- fed into the cycle of poor investtize our resources than sell them ment.
"This must be put to an end,"
for nances," he said, adding:
"Business as usual of asking for said the chartered accountantbudgetary support from nance turned-politician, while presenting
ministry is neither sustainable nor the budget for one of the largest
necessary." The minister began railway network in the world. "We
with what ails Indian Railways. have to make our Indian Railways
"Facilities have not improved sub- a benchmark organization in safety,
stantially for the past few decades security and infrastructure," he said
which is the result of under-invest- in a speech peppered with several
ment that affects capacity, leading Hindi couplets.
Playing with words, he invoked
to poor morale. This fed into
vicious cycle of chronic under- God (Prabhu) and said: "One of the
rst things I asked, 'hey prabhu'
investment for a long time."
Emphasizing that safety, quality how will all this be possible."
of service, standards and efciency Then, he went on to say that he
all suffered due to poor nancial took it upon the mortal 'Prabhu' to
resources available with the Indian accomplish the task ahead.
12
INDIA
Sonia Gandhi may step down

as Congress chief
Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi and Rahul Gandhi seen camping in the hills of Uttarakhand.
(Photo: IANS/Twitter)
New Delhi: Sonia Gandhi is likely

to step down as India's main opposition Congress party chief next
month, local TV channels reported
this week.
Sonia Gandhi, who has been heading the party since 1998, will be
replaced by for her son and NehruGandhi scion Rahul Gandhi at the
next month's meeting of All India
Congress Committee, the " NDTV"
news channel reported, quoting
party sources.
However, there has been no official confirmation from the Congress
party.
Her 44-year-old son Rahul, who is
the party's vice president, is currently facing severe criticism for taking
a sabbatical from politics at a time
when the budget session is going on
in the Indian Parliament.
Rahul Gandhi, the fourth generation of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty
and grandson of India's first woman
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, has
been blamed for a series of electoral
defeats as head of the party's election campaign panel.
A Congress worker has released
pictures of party vice-president
Rahul Gandhi in Uttarakhand, but
the Congress refused to comment.
Jagdish Sharma released the pic-
tures on Twitter showing Gandhi

camping in the hills.
"Rahul Gandhi is in Uttarakhand.
He will stay there for four-five
days," Sharma told Times Now.
The Congress, which has already
defended Gandhi's leave during the
budget session saying he was going
to reflect and chart a course for the
future of the party, refused to comment on the photos.
"These days anyone can post anything on social media. We won't
comment on it. We have already
said earlier that he has gone to introspect," Congress leader Rajeev
Shukla said.
Rahul not being allowed to

function: Digvijay
New
Delhi:
Congress party
vice president
Rahul Gandhi
"feels
very
strongly" that he
is not being
allowed to function independently by "vested
interests" in the
party,
said
Congress party
general secretary Digvijay
Congress party general secretary
Singh.
Digvijay Singh.
In an interview with Headlines Today, him Singh said "the party itself",
Digvijay Singh said Rahul Gandhi adding: "Vested interests in the
was "not running away" and he is party." He discounted any difference between party chief Sonia
"made of sterner stuff".
Digvijay Singh said that Gandhi Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, saying
had held consultations on the they had a good bonding but they
future roadmap of the Congress were different in their thinking due
before going on leave. He to the age gap, a feature which
acknowledged that he was sur- exists in all families.
Digvijay Singh also mentioned
prised when he learnt about the
latter's leave, adding he came to Congress workers in Delhi were
more disillusioned with Rahul
know about it from journalists.
Asked if Gandhi was frustrated Gandhi than their colleagues from
at not being allowed to function other units in the country.
"Time has come for him to
freely within the party, Digvijay
Singh said: "I'm not sure of that, aggressively come out on issues.
only he can answer. One thing I He should be seen more. People
know that he feels very strongly want to know what Rahul Gandhi
that he is not being allowed to stands for. What is Rahul Gandhi's
development strategy for the counfunction independently."
When asked who was stopping try," he added.
Corporate espionage: More skeletons tumble

New Delhi: The corporate espionage case continued to unravel
with a defense ministry employee
arrested for alleged involvement in
the leak of government documents
even as police continued to question
some employees of the coal and
petroleum ministries.
Virender Kumar, a 31-year-old
casual worker employed with the
defense ministry since 2010, was
arrested for providing a forged identity card along with official letterhead to Lalta Prasad, an accused
already arrested in the documents
leak case.
Police, however, said no sensitive
documents were found leaked or
stolen from the defense ministry
and he only provided blank official
letterheads to Prasad that were used
to prepare forged letters.
Police told the court that he was
required for custodial interrogation
to unearth details of the fake identity card issued by him and the use of
the ministry's stamp on it. They also
said the letters were used by
Rajkumar Chaubey, a private driver,
to prepare fake permission for his
vehicle to project that it was hired
by the government.
Lalta Prasad, 36, and Rakesh
Two more arrests in document leak case
Former journalist Santanu Saikia, who runs a web portal and has
been a crime reporter for several years, being taken in custody.
Kumar, 30 - both brothers and residents of Delhi - along with

Chaubey, a 39-year-old resident of
Ghaziabad, were arrested on the
night of Feb 17, leading to the
uncovering of the crime. All three
are in judicial custody.
So far, 14 people have been
arrested including former journalist Santanu Saikia, who runs a web
portal and has been a crime reporter
for several years - and Delhi Police
have registered two FIRs in connec-
tion with the leak of classified documents related to various ministries,

including coal, petroleum and natural gas, and power.
Talking to the media, Delhi Police
Commissioner B.S. Bassi said
police have so far not come across
any evidence that senior officials of
any ministry were involved.
Asked whether police will question senior officials of security
agencies responsible for safekeeping of Shastri Bhawan, which house
New Delhi: Two officials from the

environment ministry and the
Union Public Service Commission
(UPSC) were arrested in connection with the official documents
leak case, police said.
Delhi Police have arrested
Jatinder Nagpal, who is personal
assistant to the joint secretary in
the ministry of environment,
forests and climate change. He
was arrested along with Vipan
Kumar, who is personal assistant
to a member of the UPSC.
Police said both of the accused
were detained and were questhese ministries, as to how can
CCTV cameras be shut down for
the period of theft and those monitoring it did not come to know,
Bassi said: "We have no reason so
far to suspect them or question
them."
Earlier, RIL corporate affairs
manager Shailesh Saxena, Jubilant
Energy senior executive Subash
Chandra, Reliance Anil Dhirubahai
Ambani Group (ADAG) deputy
tioned in connection with the

petroleum and other ministries'
document leakage case.
Police added that Vipan Kumar,
who was earlier working with the
ministry of petroleum and natural
gas, used to get important/secret
documents with his contacts in the
ministry. Informed sources said
that Jatinder Nagpal, a resident of
west Delhi's Hari Nagar area, was
detained two days ago as his name
was revealed during the interrogation of Lokesh Sharma, an
employee of a Noida-based energy
consultancy Infraline Energy.
general manager (DGM) Rishi
Anand, Essar DGM Vinay and
Cairns India general manager K.K.
Naik were also presented in the
court of Chief Metropolitan
Magistrate Sanjay Khanagwal who
sent them to judicial custody till
March 5.
During the hearing, the executives
alleged that they were forced to sign
on blank papers by police during
their custodial interrogation.
OP-ED
13
'Middle East's current problems started from the 1967 war'

By Vikas Datta
racked by insurrection
and terrorism, the
Middle East is going
through a traumatic time but most
of its problems can be traced to one
short war between Arabs and
Israelis nearly half a century ago,
says a Pulitzer Prize-winning
American historian who spent his
formative years in the region.
"The Middle East is going
through a terrible moment, everything is collapsing, the artificial
borders set by the British and the
French... then the American intervention in Iraq in 2003 led to blowback and many unintended consequences," journalist-turned-author
Kai Bird told IANS.
These consequences include a
spell of unbridled violence which
has still not died down while
spawning vicious terror groups like
the Islamic State.
"It is a big tragedy... I feel
responsible as an American. US
must withdraw. Americans do not
know what they are doing in this
part of the world," said Bird, who
was five when his family moved to
East Jerusalem where his father
was American consul, and spent a
considerable part of his early life
Pulitzer-winning author Kai

Bird says, "It is a big
tragedy... I feel responsible as
an American. US must withdraw. Americans do not know
what they are doing in this
part of the world."
The iconic photo of Palestinian

plane hijacker Leila Khaled.
Kair Bird says the Palestinian
militants of the 1970s were
different from the terrorists of
Al Qaeda and now IS.
there as well as in Cairo, Beirut,

Dhahran (Saudi Arabia) as
described
in
"Crossing
Mandelbaum Gate: Coming of Age
Between the Arabs and Israelis,
1956-1978" (2010).
Bird traces the region's problems
to the "Six Day War" or the 1967
Arab-Israeli War, which was unintended but ensued when Arab
"sabre-rattling" led to an Israeli
pre-emptive attack.
"One moment the slide-down
began was the June 1967 War

which planted all seeds of present
troubles... the occupation of the
West Bank and Jerusalem corrupted
the Israeli state and its objectives, it
disgraced and humiliated secular,
nationalist leaders like Gamal
Abdel Nasser and left the field
open for the Islamists," he said.
And the loss of credibility of
existing Arab leaders was, in the
long run, self-defeating for the
Israelis for it created a new crop of
"radical, embittered and uncompromising" enemies, he said, but contended that the Islamists do not
present a viable alternative.
Islamist groups like Hezbollah
and Hamas no doubt reflect the
frustration of people but "priests,
rabbis and mullahs rarely have
solutions to problems of the 21st
century, like education and employment", he said.
Bird however says the Palestinian
militants of the 1970s were different from the contemporary terrorists of Al Qaeda and now IS.
Palestinian hijacker Leila Khaled,
whose photo cradling an AK-47
and wearing a bullet ring, attained
iconic status, had never intended to
kill anyone in both the hijackings
she committed in 1969-1970, he
noted, adding she had condemned
the 9/11 attacks.
"I met Leila Khaled, who now
lives in Amman. She is still
unapologetic about what she did.
But it would not be fair to call her a
terrorist. She was a professional
revolutionary who put on spectacular political theatre," said Bird who
attended the recent Jaipur
Literature Festival. In his latest
book "The Good Spy: The Life and
Death of Robert Ames" (2014),
Bird reveals another less known but
tragically unfulfilled story of the

Middle East - of the CIA agent who
was the first to forge ties with the
PLO and set the process that ultimately led to peace talks.
"Ames was a legend inside the
CIA... fluent enough in Arabic to
read local newspapers and crack
jokes. What made him a good spy
was the fact he was a good listener.
His story is significant because he
created the first channel between
his country and the PLO by
befriending Hasan Salameh, the
bodyguard of Yasser Arafat."
But this link became known to
the Mossad, who sought to disrupt
it by assassinating Salameh and
ultimately succeeding in 1979, he
said, adding Ames was himself
killed in the 1983 suicide bombing
on the US embassy in Beirut.
"So far this story has not been
told...except in a novel ('Agents of
Innocence') by (journalist-author)
David Ignatius who knew the story
but couldn't report it," he said.
Bird, who won the Pulitzer in
2006 for "American Prometheus:
The Triumph and Tragedy of J.
Robert Oppenheimer", said he is
undecided about his next book but
it will not be on the Middle East.
"It is too depressing and I've said
all I have to say..."
The views expressed in Op Eds are not necessarily those of The South Asian Times.
May & Sept 2015
14
OP-ED
Rethinking the global fight against extremism

By Hardeep Singh Puri and
Omar El Okdah
etween February 17-19, a large
conference on 'Countering Violent
Extremism'
convened
in
Washington, bringing together political and
diplomatic representatives from over 60
countries, law enforcement officials, religious leaders and experts.
The meeting constituted a reaffirmation
of the need for an effective multilateral
strategy to counter and prevent violent
extremism in today's increasingly challenging environments. At the same time, it hinted at a very significant change in the international community's approach to these
problems: scope, strategy and semantics
are being duly reconsidered. And yet a
series of contradictions threaten to hamper
the possibility of making credible headway.
A change in scope
9/11 is considered the paradigmatic
moment that transformed definitions of terrorism and the general global security
framework. Today we are experiencing
another paradigm shift. The scope of the
"problem" itself has changed dramatically
and the response to the problem is slowly
following suit.
The crucial distinguishing feature of
today's threat boils down to one word: territory. That violent non-state actors - epitomized by Daesh - are in control of territory
as large as Britain, marking a serious evolution, both tactically and strategically,
from the Al-Qaeda-esque organizations of
the last decade.
They also act as trend-setters for other
non-state actors - Boko Haram, for example - that "territory" is both up for grabs
and attainable. Indeed, "black holes" - to
There is now momentum for a meaningful change in the

global fight against extremism.
borrow a term from John Simpson - are

traceable across the Middle East and North
Africa from Mali to Iraq, from Libya to
Syria. The counter-terrorism and counterinsurgency architecture in place since
2001 and customized to Al Qaeda-style
organizations is therefore out of tune with
the realities on the ground.
Shortsighted military response - while
necessary at times - is no longer adequate
to deal with such deep-rooted entities that
have a persuasive ideological premise.
Getting the strategic

diagnosis right
The statements that came from
Washington indicated that we are slowly
coming to the correct strategic diagnosis of
the problem. In his remarks, President
Barack Obama raised the "undeniable"
nexus between oppression and the socioeconomic exclusion that gives rise to ter-
rorism. This is a clarion call that fighting

extremism is anchored in human rights.
But it is also a reminder that violent
extremism is a symptom of an underlying
cause and a physical manifestation of governance deficits. Member states are thus
faced with asking an important introspective question: what policies are incubating
violent extremism? What are the economic,
social and political circumstances that render certain individuals vulnerable to
recruitment and prone to radicalization?
Elephants in the room

When it comes to the appropriate
response, a number of elephants continue
to crowd the room in which this discussion
is being had at the highest level of international diplomacy. First, the discussion on
human rights and oppression becomes
more complicated when some of the major
players in the fight against extremism are
amongst the least inclusive and undemocratic countries in the world.

This is a paradox that requires overcoming and serves as an example of the real
disconnect between the "national" and
"multilateral" channels of political play.
Second, a similar contradiction exists in
the "global" will to address the scourge of
terrorism versus the tendency by some
members of the international community to
instrumentalize the use of armed groups to
further national interests at the expense of
the sovereignty of other states.
There has yet to be a frank and open conversation about this two-tiered chess game:
the one taking place on the table and the
other taking place directly below. This
geopolitical contradiction will continue to
undermine any concerted international
effort to address violent extremism.
The third and final elephant relates to the
issue of religion. President Obama's deliberate decision to opt for the umbrella term
"violent extremism" rather than the more
specific "Islamist" label has some practical
benefits.
Conclusion
There is now momentum for a meaningful change in the global fight against
extremism. It first manifested itself following an international solidarity rally in Paris
last month and more recently at the
Washington meeting.
But to go beyond the symbolic pageantry
of a street rally and a political summit
requires a serious and frank conversation
that addresses how best to implement and
frame the question within the lens of social
inclusion and effective governance, and
one that acknowledges the troubling disconnect between so-called national interests and global security when it comes to
violent extremism.
Modi's secular pitch can give BJP a new face

By Amulya Ganguli
he saffron brotherhood is
apparently coming to terms
with India's pluralism - and
the constitution. As Prime Minister
Narendra Modi's observation that
his government will act against
any religious group inciting violence shows he has realized, albeit
belatedly, that he cannot afford to
maintain his "dangerous silence",
to quote the New York Times, on
the intimidation of minorities by
Hindu groups affiliated to the
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
(RSS).
During his prolonged silence, he
may have presumed that his backstage counsels of restraint will be
accepted by groups such as the
Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP),
which have a long history of
fomenting communal trouble.
That the VHP has chosen to give
a contrary interpretation to Modi's
speech other than what is generally
Narendra Modi remains virtually the only one among the top
leaders who has recognized the need to shed the fetishes of the
past and enter the present globalized economy.
supposed, by saying that the prime

minister was only cautioning the
Christians, shows that it remains
unrepentant.
However, when the prime minister saw that his quietness was
being interpreted as either weakness or acquiescence, he decided
to speak out in unambiguous

terms. Moreover, by reiterating the
constitutional rights about the
propagation of religions and of
conversions, the prime minister
has turned his back on one of the
most provocative of antics conjured up by the saffronties in the
name of the minorities returning to

their "original" faith of Hinduism
via a contrived 'ghar wapsi' or
home-coming ceremony.
It is not Modi alone who has recognized the norms of personal liberty. The RSS chief, Mohan
Bhagwat, too, has ticked off BJP
MP Sakshi Maharaj for calling
upon Hindu women to bear four
children each. Hindu mothers are
not baby-producing factories,
Bhagwat has said.
However, this advice goes
against the old saffron campaign
cautioning against a demographic
shift in favor of the minorities with
Bhagwat's predecessor, the late
K.S. Sudarshan, asking Hindus to
have more children.
What these deviations from the
standard saffron line suggest is that
the BJP may soon have a new face.
The fact that it will bear a close
resemblance to the "pseudo-secular" demeanours of the Congress
and other non-BJP parties may be
The views expressed in Op Eds are not necessarily those of The South Asian Times.
a cause of worry to the Hindutva

camp, but the rest of the country
cannot but welcome such a
change.
It is not impossible that the latest
electoral drubbing in Delhi has
reminded the BJP that the people
voted for it not to implement the
anti-minority saffron agenda but to
revive the economy which had
ground to a halt under the
Manmohan Singh government.
If Modi persists with his tough
line against the trouble-makers of
his own party and the RSS affiliates, there will be a new beginning
for India in terms of both communal
harmony and economic progress. In
this Utopian, anti-American and
self-serving world in which there is
a curious meeting of minds between
the Left and the Right, Modi
remains virtually the only one
among the top leaders who has recognized the need to shed the fetishes of the past and enter the present
globalized economy.
FESTIVAL
15
With Holi gradually gaining ground in the US, a

large number of people including non-natives of
India have started playing with colors at
community events across America. Unlike a
couple of days playing Holi back home (it is on
March 7 this year), here the celebrations are
spread over at least a month. And if you are still
undecided on where to go and unleash the child
in you, The South Asian Times has compiled a
list of events that will be held in New York and
New Jersey area starting this weekend. Events this year span the family-friendly, where you can
play with colors without having to worry about being clobbered in the face by an over-exuberant
youth, to the free-for-alls and the Festival of Colors party mixed with opportunity to network.
Holi Mela
Where: Akbar, Edison, NJ
When: Saturday March 7, 2015 from 10
am to 4 pm
Celebrate Holi with DJ Music, Dhol,
Live Singing Karaoke, Bollywood Dances,
Veg. & Non-Veg. Appetizers & Lunch and
Organic Dry Colors, Shopping, Corporate
Fair and much more. For tickets: Jayesh
Mehta 732-763-0118
Where: Clarion Inn, 999 U.S. 1, North

Brunswick, NJ 08902
When: Sunday, MAR 08 2015, 11:00AM
Enjoy the festival of colors with thandai,
food, shopping, photos, entertainment and
of with course colors at this family event.
Page3Parties Holi Hai

Where: Dorrians at Jersey City, 555
Washington Blvd, Jersey City, NJ 07310
When: Saturday, March 7, 2015 9:00 PM
In its seventh year, this Holi party is sure
to make you excited. So dress down, party
hard, and play Holi with colors the way its
meant to be. Dance to Bollywood music,
EDM and top 40 all Night long. Music is
by "Fuzion Projekt" and DJ Madhavan.
Entry is on first come first serve basis.
Limited tickets online. For tickets: Call
201-589-6088
Holi In The City

Where: Stage48, 605 W 48th St, New
York, NY 10036
When: Saturday, March 7 2015,
12:00PM
Celebrate Holi with over a 1000 young
professionals at a brunch party at an
unparalleled party destination in New York
City, tucked away at the edge of town
along the Hudson River. Be ready to be
painted in reds, yellows, greens, pinks and
groove on peppy Indian music by DJ
Sharad and Ravi Bindra. Dont forget to
wear white! For Tickets: 1-908-425-1603
Guru Palace Holi

celebration
Where: Guru Palace, 2215 U.S. 1,
North Brunswick, NJ 08902
When: Sunday, MAR 08 2015, 10:00AM
A complete family entertainment along
unlimited buffet food, DJ and dholi music
dance awaits you at Guru Palace.
Rang Barse Holi Dhamaka
IN Group's Rang Barse in

New York City The Holi
cruise
Where: Hornblower New York at Pier
40 353 West Street, at W. Houston Street
and Westside Highway, New York NY
10014
When: Saturday, MAR 14 2015.
12:00PM
Dubbed as Tri state areas biggest Holi
bash, IN groups Rang Barse is back and in
its eighth year. In keeping with the tradition, Rang Barse will once again be held
on a ship that will set sail from Pier 40.
Your ticket gets you a buffet of Indian
food and soft drinks, but you'll have to
shell out for booze from the cash bar.
Dance to the amazing beats of DJ Ashu
Rai and Dholi Mohit Sahni. The blue,
pink, red, orange, yellow and green powders will be laid out on the top deck for
your throwing pleasure. Prior reservations
needed. Phone: 6464503049
Rang Tarang 2015

Where: Deewan Banquet , 560 Stelton
Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854
When: Saturday, March 21 2015.
11:00AM
Central Jersey Expat Indians (CJEI)
presents Rang Tarang 2013. Dance till you
drop with live dhol and DJ, exotic dance
performances, delicious full course menu,
organic Holi colors. Prior reservations
required. Phone: 609 354 8080
Prepare your skin with Aromatherapy before Holi

ome Holi colors
can damage your
skin and hair. But
the damage can be prevented. Here is how use
aromatherapy to prepare
your skin for the big
day. Naresh Arora, aromatherapist and beauty
expert in Delhi, says start skin care a week
before Holi to avoid getting rashes or
swelling. Add two drops each of tea tree
and patchouli oils and half tea spoon Dead
Sea salt in 250 ml water in an aluminium
or glass spray bottle and shake well. Spray
on your face and other body parts at least
twice a day. This will help you immensely
to prevent any skin allergies erupting on
application of Holi colors, Arora said in a

statement.
Jojoba oil is also another option you can try.
One teaspoon of jojoba
oil mixed with one drop
each of lavender or
Neroli aroma oil along
with tea tree oil can make a protective base
before Holi festivities. Jojoba oil has the
properties of the natural oils of our skin
and shields the skin against chemicals and
sunlight, while tea tree oil prevents allergies and lavender acts as soothing agent.
Neroli Oil is a natural nervous soother
and thus calms down the over stretched
and stressed out nervous tissues, he said.
10 Best Holi songs
Hori Khele Raghuveera...Baghban

Mohe Chedo Na...Lamhe
Aayee re aayee re holi Zakhmee
Phagun aayo re Phagun
Arre ja re hat natkhat Navrang
Aaj na chodenge bas humjoli khelenge
hum holi Kati Patang
Holi aaye re kanhayee Mother India
Tan rang lo ji aaj mann Kohinoor
No DJ for your Holi party? No problem.

Here are the more popular Hindi film
songs which youc an play from YoutTube
that will put your guests in the right mood
for rang if not bhang also.
Holi Ke Din... Sholay
Rang Barse...Silsila
Rimli Roys Holi Hai

Where: Exchange place, Jersey City
When: Saturday, March 28 2015 12:00
PM (Rain date: Sun March 29th).
Hosted by Rimli Roy, Surati for performing arts and education, this Holi event
will have live multicultural performance,
color playing (organic colors), fun workshops, Bhangra and dhol, DJ, dancing,
cash bar, food, henna, thandai, family fun
and festivities. So come out and play Holi
by smearing folks with color on the other
side of Hudson. Free event
Holi in the streets of NYC

Where: Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, New
York, New York 10017
When: Saturday May 2. Time (TBA)
This could probably be your last chance
to enjoy Holi for 2014. You dont want to
miss out on this one. Whatever your faith,

enjoying Bhangra music and learning
some Bhangra moves with NYC Bhangra
Dance Company free of charge will make
this occasion a festive one. This sixth
annual family-friendly event by the dance
group NYC Bhangra gives you a chance to
paint your friends without getting involved
in the crazed free-for-all event. Along with
free colors, there are performances of traditional Indian dance and music.
16
ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD
'Birdman' flies high at 87th Academy Awards

irdman", a satirical
tale of an ageing
movie star attempting to reinvent himself via
Broadway, clinched key
honors at the 87th
Academy Awards, where
India had a no show this
time.
"Birdman", which was
nominated in nine categories, picked up four honors - Best Picture, Best
Director
(Alejandro
Gonzalez Inarritu), Best
Writing
(Original
Screenplay) and Best
Cinematography - at the
gala, which saw a mlange
of Hollywood stars come
together to celebrate cinema.
Another big winner was
"The Grand Budapest
Hotel", which tied with
"Birdman" for four
awards.
The
Wes
Anderson-directorial won
Costume Design, Makeup
and Hairstyling, Music
(Original Score) and
Production Design.
One of the season's
favorites - "Boyhood" could manage just one
Oscar
for
Patricia
Arquette. She secured the
Alejandro G. Inarritu with the award for Best Director for Birdman and winners for Best Production Design for the movie The
Grand Budapest Hotel at the 87th Academy Awards.
Best Supporting Actress

award - and delivered a fitting acceptance speech,
demanding equal pay for
women. In response, veteran actress Meryl Streep
stood up and cheered at
Hollywood's
Dolby
Theatre.
"The Imitation Game"
went back home with only
one award for Graham
Moore's adapted screenplay. Even "American
Sniper" managed just one

win - sound editing.
It was Eddie Redmayne's
victory for his performance as Stephen Hawking
in "The Theory Of
Everything" which turned
out to be a highlight at the
Oscars ceremony. Calling
himself "one very very
lucky man", he dedicated
the award to the film crew
and his wife, the Hawking
family and to "everyone
around the world suffering

from ALS".
The best actress title
went to Julianne Moore for
her portrayal of a woman
diagnosed with early onset
dementia in "Still Alice".
J.K. Simmons won best
supporting actor for his
role as a tyrannical music
teacher in "Whiplash",
which also won for editing
and sound mixing at the
event, hosted by Neil
Patrick Harris.
"Selma", which depicts
the US civil rights struggle, won the best original
song for "Glory". John
Legend and Common took
to the stage to perform the
number during the ceremony. While accepting the
award, Legend said voting-right restrictions and
incarceration rates for
black men showed that
there was continuing need
for action.
Among the documentary
features, it was Laura
Poitras's "Citizenfour", on
Edward Snowden, which
received the golden statuette.
Poland's "Ida" walked
away with the accolades in
the foreign language film
category, to which Indian
movie "Liar's Dice" failed
to make a cut even as a
nomination.
B-Town says hello to

'beautiful Oscar mornings'
Lily James read up on Gandhi

for 'Cinderella' role
I
F
or her role as Ella in
and didnt want to just
Disney's forthcomplay that state," said the
ing
movie
actress, known for her
"Cinderella", actress Lily
role as Lady Rose in the
James prepared herself by
show "Downton Abbey".
indulging in yoga as well
The story of Cinderella
as reading on people like
has been told and retold
Indian icon Mahatma
over the years. So what
Gandhi, known for his
makes her movie differnon-violence movement
ent?
against British rule.
"Whats different about
In a promotional interour film is that the charview for "Cinderella",
acters and storylines have
which releases in India
really been beefed up,
March 20, James has
and its not just about
opened up about how she
Cinderella being rescued
Actress Lily James
prepared for her role as
by a prince, but its about
Ella, who, even under the cruelest of cir- two people who are perfect for each other,
cumstances, manages to maintain good- who are going to have courage in being
ness, purity and positivity.
kind together and who are going to be
"I started taking horseriding lessons six very happy together," she said.
weeks before shooting began, and I tried
Also, the idea of playing a "princess"
to start living healthily, doing a lot of yoga seemed "magical" to James.
to try and get the kind of posture and
"Its a dream role because Cinderella is
grace and elegance that Ella would have so special and kind and unique. Plus, we
had. "I also did a lot of research on spiritu- have a great opportunity to create a whole
ality and read up on people like Gandhi life beyond the fairytale, which is already
who have been able to deal with life in a so beautiful as it is, but making it richer
way that I knew I never could. But I want- and giving each character their own speed to make Ella seem as real as possible cific back stories.
t might have been a glum year for Indian

cinema at Oscars 2015 with no movie representation from the country, but that didnt
stop Bollywood celebrities like Amitabh
Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra and Shekhar Kapur
from rooting for their favorite films and lauding
the winners.
Here's what they tweeted:
Amitabh Bachchan: OSCARS...happy for
'Whiplash' and 'Birdman' truly deserving...especially the three for 'Birdman' director,
Alejandro!!
Shekhar
Kapur:
Congratulations
#EddieRedmayne #Oscars2015 So proud to
have been part of your incredible journey
#TheTheoryofEverything.
Priyanka Chopra: How talented people are!
Even if I knew that about her I'm just blown
away!! @ladygaga killed it! Phew!! What a
voice.
Kalki Koechlin: @singh_jp: #FelicityJones
looks so much like @kalkikanmani !!
#Oscars2015 I love this sentence, like I'm the
known one.
Parineeti Chopra: Shuttling between airports!! Relying on twitter for #Oscars2015
updates!!!!!
Prosenjit Chatterjee: Superb...Birdman wins
best picture too in #Oscars2015.
Dia Mirza: #Boyhood all the way.
#Linklaterismyhero #Oscar2015 I am so disappointed.
Alia Bhatt : Beautiful oscar mornings ;)
Best Actor Eddie Redmayne for his

performance as Stephen Hawking in
The Theory Of Everything and Best
Actress Julianne Moore for her role in
Still Alice with their trophies.
#Oscar2015.
Nimrat
Kaur:
BIRRRRRRRDDDDDMAAAAAANNNN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Milap Zaveri : #Birdman was a brilliant film.
#Boyhood was a masterpiece. Enough said.
Time to go make films that win rewards rather
than awards!
Sanjay Gupta: Pak Pak Pakaaod. Oscars
this year.
Soha Ali Khan: What an incredible year at
the #Oscars2015 - three awards so far for my
favourite film of the year #Whiplash.
Kunal Kemmu: But have to say that this
year has been the toughest in terms of best film
and best performances All the films in the category are brilliant.
ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD
17
Censor Board's banned list

of 28 cuss words put on hold
B
Kangana in a new look.
Kangana Ranaut turns

boho for Katti Batti
versatile actress, Kangana
Ranaut is known for playing out of the box characters. After enthralling her fans in
Tanu Weds Manu and Queen,
the actress is gearing up for
another one titled Katti Batti.
The first look of the movie has
been revealed in which Kangana
looks no less than a painter with
colors and a canvas in front of
her. The actress, who will be seen
opposite hearthrob and Aamir
Khans nephew Imran Khan,

looks lovely in a yellow skirt. The
bangs sported by her are an icing
on the cake that give her a perfect
bohemian look.
Reportedly, the actress will be
playing the role of Payal, who is
an arts students hailing from an
affluent family in Delhi. Imran
will be seen as Maddy Sharma
who happens to be Payals batchmate. The movie deals with their
love life and background clashes.
ringing much needed

respite to filmmakers,
the directive to ban 34
cuss words was nixed after a
stormy seven-hour meeting of
the Censor Board in New Delhi
this week. Members of the
Central Board of Film
Certification (CBFC) argued
that chairman Pahlaj Nihalani
had exceeded his brief and the
order was outside the purview
of the board.
Nihalani had recently issued
directions that films with double
meaning words, profanities (34
were listed out), those glorifying bloodshed or violence
against women would not get
certification.
The order, sent to all regional
officers, was met with uproar by
filmmakers and board members
Indian censor board

chairman Pahlaj Nihalani.
themselves who said they had

not been consulted. Sources said
the members pointed out to
Nihalani and board officials that
CBFC only had recommendatory powers. "Legally, the board

has powers to recommend
change in rules or law. But the
recommendations must be put
before the ministry. This was
not done. Neither the board
members nor the ministry was
kept in the loop,'' a member
said.
Another member said the
board's responsibility was to
certify films rather than ban
them and place curbs on the
filmmaking process.
Filmmaker Ashoke Pandit,
who spearheaded the opposition
against the directive, said, "The
unilateral decision was in bad
taste.
After discussions, it was unanimously decided that there
should be a debate on the issue.''
Karan shelves sex comedy after AIB roast row

Karan
Johar
mid accusations and criticism over

the portrayal of adult content,
Karan Johar, who was recently a
victim of the AIB roast controversy, has
apparently decided to shelve the
idea of producing a sex comedy
written by Sonam Nair. Call it an
aftermath of the AIB roast but
Karan Johar s image has
received a severe blow after
the show got criticized by
some due to its crude content.
The jokes which were considered to be too sexual in
nature on the AIB roast resulted in a long

media debate and also a legal battle, as FIR
has been filed against Karan, Ranveer
Singh, Arjun Kapoor and others.
Keeping all of the above in perspective,
news is that Dharma Productions chairperson Karan Johar has decided to shelve
Sonam Nairs next directorial venture
which was supposed to be a sex comedy.
According to a source close to the project, Karan is shaken by the outcry and
harsh criticism received on AIB Roast.
Producing a sex comedy at this point will
further dent his position personally.
'Badlapur' leaves much to be desired

he tree remembers, the axe
forgets," reads a proverb in
the opening credits of a film
that left me feeling like both the
tree and the axe.
While the film's pain-lashed
topography in the first overture is
exceptional -- with every vein on
Varun Dhawan's temples ringing a
bell -- the second overture gets
audacious tongue-in-cheek, subversive and sometimes downright
silly. As if the tree decided to get
even with the axe by cutting off its
own branches.
Cast in the mould of the greatest
redemptive dramas "Badlapur" has
an ambitious ambiance of unmitigated doom irrigating almost every
frame. It's as if director Sriram
Raghavan and his co-writer Arijit
Biswas wants to shut out all light
from his protagonist Raghavan's
life.
Insulated from the outside world,
Raghav's festering pain spreads
itself out in the narrative spanning
REVIEW
Varun Dhawan in a scene from Badlapur.
a seductive facsimile of reality that

jumps off the screen to claim our
attention.
For a large part, "Badlapur" is an
exceptionally engaging drama.
The film opens on a busy road in
Pune with traffic, passersby, hawk-
ers and bystanders loitering in

camera range.
In a corner, we catch a mother
and child heading into their family
car. We don't know yet that they
are our hero Raghavan's universe.
We also don't know that they will
be dead in the next 10 minutes,

and our hero would shed his heroic
skin as the plot progresses from
being a human drama to a heist
caper with a loot that is quite a
hoot. The confrontational drama
between the hero Raghavan and
the villain Laik gets a massive,
near-monumental fillip from the
main actors.
Varun Dhawan, a bit raw around
the edges but nonetheless acutely
effective as the grieving familyman, and Nawazuddin, flawlessly
flamboyant as the sly villain who
has willy-nilly destroyed the hero's
life, together confer an overpowering immediacy to the proceedings.
But then, their collaborative
might as the sinned and the sinner,
begins to be dimmed by a digressive drama that impinges itself
from the sidelines.
The virus of over-ambition

strikes the narrative much in the
same way that tragedy strikes
Raghavan's life.
The problem is with the structure. Raghavan cannot make a film
without incorporating the heist element.
A bag filled with crores of
money shows up in the second half
to claim primacy as protagonist in
the plot. So do two new characters
played with panache by Vinay
Pathak and Radhika Apte. Both are
very effective in their parts. But
they make no real sense out of the
material that the script throws into
their orbit.
Nawaz's performance is flawlessly cunning and diabolic, he
goes from bank robbery to jail
term to chronic escapee with a
deep understanding of the humor
that underlines all anti-social
humor.
Finally "Badlapur" leaves a lot to
be desired.
18
TRAVEL
here was a time, not all that

long ago, when the remote
island of Tasmania off
Australia's southern coast was the
most feared destination in the
British Empire. But that was
before all the sparkling wine and
artisanal cheese.
Once a penal colony, Tasmania
has transformed into a destination
for both foodies and art aficionados, drawn in by a boutique gourmet scene obsessed with fresh,
local produce and the cutting edge
Museum of Old and New Art
(MONA).
The capital, Hobart, has a
small-town feel light years away
from the beachside glamour of
Sydney, 1,000 km to the north, its
sandstone cottages huddling
beneath the imposing figure of
Mt. Wellington. Chef Ross
O'Meara arrived in 2008 after
more than 20 years cooking in
Europe and Asia, opening Bruny
Island Food on a small farm with
his wife.
On a bright Sunday morning,
O'Meara stood hawking his wares
from his stand at Hobart's weekly
Farm Gate Market. "It is not necessarily an easy life here, but
what I consider a good life," he
said. For a crash course in gastronomy, Tasmania style, look no
further than the Taste of Tasmania
festival held from late December
to early January.
More than 60 stalls pack into a
converted hangar on the historic
waterfront, where revelers can
Tourists walk around the historical town of Port Arthur,

located southeast of the capital city of Hobart, in Tasmania,
which is part of Australia.
watch the Sydney to Hobart yacht

race with a bottle of Frank's
Cider. Entrance is free but
between the briny Bruny Island
oysters from Get Shucked, pungent pulled pork tacos from
Mount Gnomon Farm and chocolate-covered raspberries from the
Christmas Hill Raspberry Farm
Cafe, you will go home with a full
belly and an empty wallet.
Happily.
MONA
Tasmania's biggest draw after
its Saturday-only Salamanca
street market is perhaps its most
incongruous: a museum opened in
2011 by an eccentric philanthropist and professional gambler.
Located on the edge of Hobart,
MONA has earned Tasmania a
star in the art world's firmament
through its confronting and vital
exhibitions, and stunning architecture. Owner David Walsh has

transformed a grassy peninsula
above the winding Derwent River
into a multi-purpose attraction
complete with luxury hotel rooms
and restaurants, but the real
attraction is underfoot. The
gallery, 56 feet below the surface
and reachable via a spiral staircase bored into sandstone, houses
more than 2,000 pieces from
Walsh's personal collection,
including works by renowned
artists such as Damien Hirst and
Jean-Michel Basquiat.
Nearly 300,000 people visited
MONA in 2014, not just for exhibitions such as Matthew Barney's
challenging multimedia tribute to
US writer Norman Mailer -- the
River of Fundament, showing
until April 13 -- but also for its
music festivals. If you are not in
Ice,
Ice,
baby...
Htel de Glace, in
the north of
Quebec City,
Canada, boasts
some 40 rooms
with various
themes and decorations and can
host up to 100
overnight guests
who can enjoy an
onsite bar as well
as a cathedral
and reception
area made
exclusively of ice.
These photos
taken on Feb. 6,
2015 show the
entrance to the
ice hotel, a
woman preparing
drinks in a bar,
and a guest room.
This year it was
open from
January 3 to
March 22.
Visitors looking at an exhibit at the cutting edge Museum

of Old and New Art (MONA)
the mood for art, that's fine too.

On sunny days MONA staff put
out bean bag chairs on the lawn,
where you will find Hobart's
hippest denizens reading their
books and soaking up the sun
with nary a swimsuit in sight.
Port Arthur
Still, to truly understand what is
so interesting about Tasmania's
present, one should look into its
past. Port Arthur, a collection of
time-ravaged sandstone buildings
perched above a glistening harbour, was once the most feared
men's prison camp in the British
Empire.
The road to Port Arthur, about
95 km southeast of Hobart, is a
stunning rollercoaster marked by
the towering cliffs over Dunalley
Bay and the mysterious Tasman

National
Park. A A$35 ($29) ticket buys
two days' access, during which
guided tours offer a glimpse into
the lives of the working class men
from Britain's industrial slums
who once toiled to build these farthest flung outposts of the empire.
At the height of the camp's activities in the 1860s, the average life
expectancy in Liverpool was just
25 years, and for many, a life in
their closet-like cells was their
best option.
Luckily, these days a trip to
Tasmania is far from the death
sentence it was in their day, something you can ponder over in
Hobart with a single-malt
whiskey and a scallop pie.
Top travel trends
ffluent travelers will be booking river cruises and

villas in Italy this year, according to a new report.
River cruising has emerged as the most popular travel
trend among 600 advisors from elite, luxury agencies in 25
countries. For emerging destinations, Croatia is generating
growing interest within the luxury market, along with Iceland,
Cuba, Myanmar and Bhutan. Italy remains a favorite -specifically, Rome ( pictured) among the worlds rich and
famous, taking the top spot in categories such as international,
family and honeymoon destination.
FEATURES
19
A cross-border royal wedding

Scion of the royal family in Umerkot in Pakistan married last week a girl from a noble family near Jaipur.
By Prakash Bhandari
he ruling Hindu family of Umerkot
in Sind province of Pakistan are
overjoyed with the wedding of the
ruler Rana Hameer Singh's son Kunwar
Karni Singh Sodha to Padmini Rathore,
from the family of the nobles of Kanota
near Jaipur.
It was more a glorious Rajput wedding
rather than a royal wedding. While
Umerkot (earlier known as Amarkot, the
birth place of Emperor Akbar after Humayun was given refuge there) enjoys the
status of a Hindu kingdom in Pakistan,

Kanota was a fiefdom under the erstwhile
rulers of Jaipur. The Kanotas wisely converted their palatial house in the heart of the
Pink City into a heritage hotel -- Narayan
Niwas where the grand wedding of Padmini was performed with the mustachioed
Karni Singh last week.
Hamir Singhs father Rana Chandra
Singh was a member of Pakistans National Assembly and served as a minister.
Hamir Singh too has served as a member
of the Sindh Assembly. The family was
close to both Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Be-
A different tourism: Voyages to

degradation, exploitation
By Vikas Datta
ourism normally entails travel for relaxation or leisure, to some scenic spot
or a place celebrated for its cultural
heritage - and generates some splendid literature. But there are also contrarians who go
to the other extreme - visiting the world's
most polluted areas, or where fruits of globalization have conspicuously turned sour and present vivid but disturbing accounts of
what unbridled "development" and rapacious
commercial interests seeking to serve the
global consumer society's insatiable demand
are doing to the planet and luckless communities. These unlikely tourists cover a wide
spectrum - from journalists to a stand-up
comic/political satirist.
Mark Thomas, who teamed up his ability to
make people laugh with making them aware
of things sought to be hidden such as loopholes in Western laws which enable rogue
states obtain arms in "As Used on the Famous
Nelson Mandela: Underground Adventures in
the Arms and Torture Trade" (2006), seeks to
investigate stories the world's most wellknown drink doesn't mention in its iconic advertising campaigns in "Belching Out the
Devil: Global Adventures with Coca-Cola"
(2008).
This venture takes him to 8 countries - beginning from Cokes headquarters in Atlanta
to Colombia, Turkey and Ireland to meet
trade union leaders alleging victimization, El
Salvador, to investigate issues of child labor
on sugar plantations which supply the company, India, where the cola faced various
charges including rampant ground water depletion in Rajasthan, exposing workers (and
communities around) to toxic chemicals in
Kerala, and Mexico to probe claims of unfair
trade practices and pollution. And also the
nearly surrealistic experiences in seeking responses from company officials.
Sweatshops in developing countries producing iconic brands and other products for
affluent - mainly western - societies had
evoked quite an outcry and led to "ethical
consumerism". This venture, which includes
such agencies as Fairtrade and Rainforest Alliance, seeks to enable buyers with a social
conscience choose products meeting standards concerning treatment and earnings of
nazir. Umerkot is a district town in Sindh

and only 40 km from Khokrapar, the railway station in Pakistan linking Rajasthans
Munabao railway station in Barmer district.
Both the late Rana Chandra Singh and
Hamir Singh were married among Rajputs
in Jaipur.
The Sodha Rajputs stayed back in Sind
after the partition, else they had to lose their
kingdom. But finding a match for their
sons and daughters within Pakistan is
tough. Rajputs cannot marry within their
own lineage, so they have to look for a
match in other lineages.
"In fact, this wedding has given us an opportunity to look for Rajput brides and
bridegrooms. Some of us have been lucky
in our mission while others are in talks. The
problem is nobody wants to give his daughter to a Rajput in Pakistan.
Indian Rajput brides will travel on a visa
to Pakistan and then qualify for citizenship,
a cumbersome process. Similarly, our
daughters when they marry Indian Rajput
boys find it difficult to get Indian citizenship. We are a conservative society and we
dont like our children marrying boys and
girls in Pakistan," said Sagat Singh of
Sanghar district of Sind province, who was
one of the 300 in the bridegrooms party.
At one of the sweatshops in

China producing the electronics
coveted worldwide.
the workers/raw material producers, environmental impact and so on.

Does this make any difference on the
ground? In "Unfair Trade: The Shocking
Truth Behind 'Ethical' Business" (2011),
Conor Woodman, former financial analyst,
travels to a number of developing countries
and his seven case studies uncompromisingly reveal the inequity of the global market regardless of certification. In Nicaragua's
Miskito coast, lobster hunters who supply to
US market make hazardous deep dives for
their catch instead of trapping them as the US
companies want - and claim - because of lack
of resources.
Woodman also visits China's Pearl River
Delta - the hub for assembling the coveted
electronic gadgets - to see what effect the
mind-numbing, repetitive work has on young
workers, and over the border to Laos, where
a large province has been effectively handed
over to the Chinese for sprawling rubber
plantations and the people moved out. Then
it's to war-torn Congo, which produces minerals needed for mobile phones and computers, to see the primitive way they are mined
and the dodgy way they are exported.
Ethical certification is revealed to be mostly a marketing tool for most big corporations
costing them quite less as commodity prices
set are below global prices. There are also exceptions where companies can be competitive and profitable and yet be fair to the third
world.
American journalist and film-maker Andrew Blackwell's "Visit Sunny Chernobyl:
And Other Adventures in the World's Most
Polluted Place" (2013) is self-obvious.
Media Partner
Kunwar Karni Singh Sodha and Padmini

Rathore: The Sodha Rajputs in Sind
province look to India to find brides and
bridegrooms for their children.
The baraatis were mostly from Umerkot,

largely Sodha Rajputs and some Muslim
family friends. The baaratis were granted
special visa by the Indian consulate in
Karachi.
The men attired in colorful achkans and
churidars holding the sword in their hands
were entertained with the choicest liquor
and were treated to traditional desert music of the Managaniyars and Langas.
20 Feb 28-March 6, 2015
DIASPORA
India launches online grievance redressal for Overseas Indians

New Delhi: The central government Saturday
launched an online consular grievance system
to help the overseas Indians in getting their
problems redressed in a time-bound manner.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj
launched the MADAD -- help or Online
Consular Grievances System - for registering
complaints of overseas Indians facing various
problems.
Such problems would now be addressed by
the India Missions abroad in a time-bound
manner.
A result of the joint efforts of the Ministry
of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) and the
External Affairs Ministry (MEA), Swaraj said,
it will now enable overseas Indians not just to
register their complaints online but also track
its movement among the officials tackling it.

The overseas Indians could send their complaints in writing, which would be put online
by the mission officials.
The online registration of complaints and
their being attended to would considerably
reduce the time usually taken for the same, a
senior MEA official said.
The website has priorities for the complaint
-- complaints concerning mortal remains is of
very high priority, then followed by high priority, priority and likewise. Any complaint
relating to "mortal remains" would be
addressed within two days.
Swaraj said while the grievances of the
overseas Indians came under the domain of
the MOIA but its remedies lie with the MEA.
Gandhi statue to be unveiled in

Britain's Parliament Square
London: A statue of Mahatma Gandhi

will be unveiled in Britain's prestigeous Parliament Square in London
next month, a media report said
Monday.
The memorial will be unveiled
March 14 and will stand alongside
those of Winston Churchill and
Nelson Mandela. The Gandhi Statue
Memorial Trust has given one million
pounds (over $1.5 million) for the
sculpture.
Gandhi will be the first Indian, and
the only person never to have been in
public office, to be honoured with a
statue in the square, BBC reported.
Gandhi earned his law degree in
London before leading India's independence movement against British
rule. This year also marks the 100th
anniversary of Gandhi's return to India
from South Africa to start the country's struggle for self-rule.
The statue has been created by the

award winning sculptor, Philip Jackson.
Indian dead after attack

by Nigerian robbers
Lagos: An Indian national, attacked by suspected robbers in Nigeria's capital city of
Lagos earlier this month, has succumbed to his injuries in hospital, a media report said
Monday. Srivastava Kumar, 45, was attacked while working on an agricultural farm in
Eleko, Ajah, on the Lekki-Epe Expressway, Punch news reported.
Kumar was stabbed in the hand and the chest during the robbery Feb 11. He reportedly
died in hospital Feb 14. Kumar was also the plant manager of a foods processing company. The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Kenneth Nwosu, said the matter
had been transferred to the state's Special Anti-Robbery Squad for further investigation.
This disconnect, the minister said between

the two ministries was coming in the way of
people not getting the desired relief.
Describing the website as something beyond
her expectation, Swaraj said it would also put
the Indian missions abroad on their toes as
any inertia on their part in dealing with the
complaints would reflect on the website.
They would get red-marked on the website a sign of negative rating, she added. Swaraj
said that "MADAD also fixes accountability
and responsibility" as it was said that "it has
booth incentive and disincentive. It is compulsory for the overseas mission to update to
avoid being labelled as 'Red'."
She said that the online system and its regular updating not only places the Indian mis-
sion into competition but a person always

"fears bad name from his own community".
Under the system envisaged, a complaint in
the first instance would go to a consular in a
mission and after a fixed duration of time if he
is unable to address it, the same would escalate to his next higher officer and eventually
reaching the ambassador or the High
Commissioner.
All the complaints that would be made at
the mission-level would be monitored by the
CPU division in MEA and could eventually
land up on the table of the minister, Swaraj
said while inaugurating the website.
She said she received a good response from
people during her Oman-visit when MADAD
was being tried as a pilot project.
British legislators mull creating new Sikh regiment

London: British legislators
are examining proposals to
create a new British Sikh regiment like those which fought
for the country in the two
World Wars, according to
media reports Tuesday.
Former defence minister
Nicholas Soames said in parliament Monday that the government should "do away with
political correctness", and
Sikh soldiers hold a proud history of serving in
praised "the extraordinary galBritish Army (Photo: Bbc.co.uk)
lant and distinguished service
by (the) Sikhs, to this country down the new regiment, arguing that it would be no
generations", according to a Daily Mail different from the Scots, Welsh and Irish
Guards, or the Royal Gurkha Rifles, which
report.
Tory legislator and chairman of the recruits exclusively from Nepal and which
defence select committee, Rory Stewart, is regarded as a model infantry regiment.
The decision to shelve the plans was at
asked armed forces minister Mark Francois
to look at a Sikh company within the the time criticized by politicians, members
of the Sikh community and soldiers, who
reserves "as a starting point".
Francois said he believed the plan, which claimed that the British army had fallen
was dropped by the ministry of defence in victim to political correctness.
"The Sikhs have a long and distinguished
2007 for fear of being branded racist, "may
heritage of serving with the British army,"
well have merit".
Stewart went on to reveal that the sugges- Kuljit Singh Gulati, the general secretary of
tion was being "looked at", saying the pro- the Sikh Temple in Shepherd's Bush, west
posed regiment would inherit many "proud London, said.
"I know there are many, many Sikhs who
traditions of Sikh regiments" from the
would join up and would serve wherever
army's past.
In 2007, defence chiefs abandoned plans required. But if you want to get them in
to create a regiment of British Sikhs after large numbers they need their own regitalks with the Commission for Racial ment, something they would take a huge
amount of pride in," he said.
Equality.
Prince Charles had expressed an interest
Sikh leaders informed recruitment offiin
the creation of dedicated units to boost
cers that they could easily find enough volthe number of people from ethnic minoriunteers to form a 700-strong regiment.
However, Freddie Viggers, who was ties in the services and to harness the miliresponsible for recruitment at the time, is tary tradition of the Sikh faith in particular.
The move comes after the ministry of
understood to have accepted the race comdefence
revealed plans to recruit more
missioners' argument that creating the regiMuslims
and ethnic minorities into the
ment would amount to "segregation."
army
after
the rise of Islamic State (IS) and
Leaders of Britain's 500,000-strong Sikh
community were supportive of the idea of a the terrorist attack in Paris last month.
SUBCONTINENT
21
ISI chief heads to US on Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar

travels to Pak on March 3
first ever official visit
Islamabad: The chief of Pakistan's

premier intelligence 0service,
Rizwan Akhtar, left on his rst ever
visit of the US to hold talks with
top intelligence ofcials there on
regional security, Afghanistan and
counter-terrorism, media reports
here said.
Announcing the visit of Akhtar,
director general of Pakistan's InterServices Intelligence (ISI), the
daily Dawn cited the military's unied public relations system ISPR
as saying that "The DG ISI has proceeded to the US for an ofcial
visit".
"During the visit, he would meet
his counterparts and discuss issues
related to intelligence," a
spokesman for the Inter Services
Public Relations (ISPR) said.
According to sources, Akhtar will
meet senior ofcials at the National
Security Council (NSC) and
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
chief John O. Brennan.
Earlier in November last year,
Pakistan Army Chief Gen. Raheel
Sharif visited the US where he held
talks with senior US military commanders and defence ofcials.
During his visit, Sharif also
called on US Central Command
Rizwan Akhtar
(Centcom) chief Gen. Lloyd J.

Austin who praised the Pakistan
Army for its commitment, professionalism and achievement in the
ght against terror.
Pakistan's ght against terrorism
entered a new phase after the Dec
16 Peshawar school tragedy with
the government categorically stating that the distinction between
"good" and "bad" Taliban has been
given up.
On Dec 16, 2014, Pakistani
Taliban attacked an army-run public school in Peshawar city of
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province,
killing over 140 school children
and staff.
New Delhi/Islamabad:
Indian Foreign Secretary S.
Jaishankar will travel to
Pakistan March 3 as part of
his Saarc Yatra that begins
from Bhutan, authorities
said.
In New Delhi, external
affairs ministry spokesperson
Syed Akbaruddin said that
Foreign Secretary Jaishankar
will, in accordance with
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi's "directives, be undertaking the rst phase of the
Saarc Yatra as per the following schedule: March 1,
Bhutan;
March
2,
Bangladesh; March 3,
Pakistan and Afghanistan
March 4".
"The schedule for the other
Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar
destinations is being worked
out through diplomatic chanBoth sides have started preparations for the
nels and will be indicated separately,"
much anticipated visit. Earlier, during Modi's
Akbaruddin said in a statement.
Pakistani Foreign Ofce spokesperson conversation with Sharif, he said that Jaishankar
Tasneem Aslam said in Islamabad that following would visit South Asian capitals, including
Modi's call to Premier Nawaz Sharif on Feb 13, Islamabad.
The two countries, during Sharif's visit to Delhi
"Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar would
in May last year for Prime Minister Narendra
visit Pakistan March 3-4".
"During his visit, Jaishankar would hold a Modi's swearing in ceremony, agreed on a meetmeeting with his Pakistani counterpart Aizaz ing of their foreign secretaries to discuss the way
forward.
Ahmad Chaudhry," said Aslam.
Modi condoles deaths in Bangladesh ferry accident
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra

Modi condoled the loss of lives in a ferry
accident in Bangladesh.
"My prayers are with the families of
those who lost their lives in the accident in
Bangladesh," the prime minister said in a
statement.
An overloaded ferry, carrying over 100
people, capsized after being hit by a cargo
trawler in Padma river in Bangladesh. The
toll has reached 69.
The ill-fated ferry after it sank into
the Padma River in Manikganj
district, Bangladesh.
Pak to launch fresh offensive against terrorists

Islamabad: Pakistan will launch a
fresh operation against terrorists on
its soil in Khyber tribal region near
Afghanistan border in March, Tariq
Hafeez, a senior military ofcial,
said.
Commandant of the Khyber
Ries, Hafeez said Khyber-2 military operation against Taliban and
other terrorist groups hiding in different parts of the Tirah valley of
this region would begin in March,
Pakistan Today reported.
Hafeez pledged that security
forces would now reclaim all areas
at present under the control of several outlawed militant groups in
Khyber Agency and Federally
Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

"We will not spare anyone and
will go after them no matter where
they are hiding and will smash
their operational structure to reduce
their striking capability," he said.
He added that security forces
were now determined to annihilate
all anti-state elements operating on
Pakistan's soil.
Referring to the escape of some
leaders of Bara-based outlawed
groups to Afghanistan, he said that
those who were not sincere to their
own motherland could not be sincere to anyone.
On June 15, 2014, the Pakistan
Army launched a comprehensive
operation called Zarb-e-Azb

against local and foreign militants
in North Waziristan, sealing the
area off and requested the Afghan
National Army to plug possible
escape routes across the border.
Months into operation Zarb-eAzb, the army also launched
Khyber-1, an operation to clear out
militant strongholds in the tribal
region of Khyber.
The Pakistan government has
taken a tough stand against terrorists after the Dec 16 attack by
Pakistani Taliban on an army-run
public school in Peshawar in which
over 140 schoolchildren and staff
were killed.
Sri Lanka to brief UNHRC

on war probe
Colombo:
Sri
ommended delayLanka's Foreign
ing publication next
Minister Mangala
month until the
Samaraweera will
council's 30th sesleave for Geneva
sion
due
in
next month to attend
September.
a high-level meeting
In his request to
of the UN Human
the council, Zeid
Rights
Council
appended a letter
(UNHRC) during
from Samaraweera,
which he will also
which set out
have talks with UN
reforms that the
Sri Lanka's Foreign
High Commissioner
new government
Minister Mangala
for Human Rights,
planned to impleSamaraweera.
the foreign ministry
ment within 100
said in a statement Friday. Over 65 days, including ensuring justice for
foreign ministers from around the war crimes. After receiving the
world will participate in the High- extension, the Sri Lankan governLevel Segment which is expected ment said it was ready to accept the
to be held March 2, Xinhua news challenge of addressing the counagency reported citing the state- try's human rights concerns by
ment.
September and assured a credible
Sri Lanka recently won a six- domestic probe would be launched
month extension on the submission into the war allegations.
of a report on alleged war crimes to
Deputy Foreign Minister Ajith
the UNHRC, after UN Human Perera said earlier Friday that the
Rights chief Prince Zeid Ra'ad Al council's decision to grant an extenHussein praised the government's sion was the biggest diplomatic vicwillingness to open the country up tory achieved by the new governto scrutiny.
ment and assured that Sri Lanka
In a letter to the president of the would do everything possible to
UNHRC, which set up the investi- conduct a thorough probe into the
gation in March last year, Zeid rec- nal stages of the war.
22
INTERNATIONAL
Fate of abducted Syrian Christians by IS unclear

Beirut: Islamic State group militants have moved a large group of
Christian hostages to a city they
control in northeastern Syria, while
they continue to battle Kurdish and
Christian militiamen for control of a
chain of villages along the Khabur
River, activists and state-run media
said.
Hassakeh province which borders
Turkey and Iraq has become the latest battleground for the fight against
the Islamic State group in Syria. It is
predominantly Kurdish but also has
populations of Arabs and predominantly Christian Assyrians and
Armenians.
In pre-dawn attacks, the group
attacked communities nestled along
the river, seizing at least 70 people,
many of them women and children.
Thousands of others fled to safer
areas.
The fate of those kidnapped,
almost all of them Assyrian
Christians, remained unclear, two
days after they were seized.
However, the state-run SANA
news agency and the Assyrian
Network for Human Rights in Syria
said the hostages have been moved
to the Islamic State-controlled city
of Shaddadeh, south of the city of
Hassakeh. The United States and a
coalition of regional partners are
conducting a campaign of airstrikes
against the group, and have on occasion struck Shaddadeh, a predominantly Arab town.
''In addition to its strategy of terrifying people, taking hostages to use
The mass abduction added to fears among religious minorities in

both Syria and Iraq.
as human shields to protect from

coalition airstrikes is another of
their goals,'' said Osama Edward,
director of the Stockholm-based
Assyrian Network for Human
Rights in Syria.
The mass abduction added to fears
among religious minorities in both
Syria and Iraq, who have been
repeatedly targeted by the Islamic
State group. During the group's
bloody campaign in both countries,
where it has declared a self-styled
caliphate, minorities have been
repeatedly targeted and killed, driven from their homes, had their
women enslaved and places of worship destroyed.
The Assyrians are indigenous
Christian people who trace their
roots back to the ancient
3 Al-Jazeera
journalists arrested
for flying drone
Paris: Three journalists for
TV station Al-Jazeera were
arrested in Paris on
Wednesday after flying a
drone from a park on the
edge of the city, a judicial
source said.
"The first was piloting the
drone, the second was filming and the third was watching," said the source.
The arrests come after
multiple drone sightings over
the capital for the past two
nights, although there was no
immediate suggestion that
the arrested journalists were
linked to the earlier incidents.
The trio were apprehended
in the Bois de Boulogne, a
park on the western edge of
the city.
Flying drones over the
French capital is banned by
law, and the latest sight-
ings come at a time of

heightened vigilance following last month's jihadist
attacks.
The names and nationalities of the three journalists
from Al-Jazeera's international service were not
given. They are aged 34, 52
and 68.
The tiny aircraft were spotted near the US embassy, not
far from the Invalides military museum, the Eiffel
Tower and several major
thoroughfares leading in and
out of the French capital, the
source added.
Authorities have been left
scratching their heads as they
remain unable to catch any
of the operators or determine
whether the flyovers are the
work of pranksters, tourists
or something more malicious.
Mesopotamians.
''We are watching a living history
and all that comprises (it) disappear,'' wrote Mardean Isaac of A
Demand for Action, an activist
group that focuses on religious
minorities in the Middle East.
He called for further airstrikes to
assist those Assyrian and Kurdish
forces fighting the militants in
Syria. The United States and coalition of regional partners are conducting a campaign of airstrikes
against the group.
In its first comments on the subject, SANA said around 90 civilians
had been kidnapped by the extremists. It said that the militants burned
people's homes and stole their properties, adding that those kidnapped
were taken to Shaddadeh.
'Jihadi John' in IS beheading videos

IDed as Londoner
London: Investigators believe

that the "Jihadi John" masked
fighter who fronted Islamic State
beheading videos is a British man
named Mohammed Emwazi, two
US government sources said on
Thursday.
He was born in Kuwait and
comes from a prosperous family
in London, where he grew up and
graduated with a computer programming degree, according to
the Washington Post.
In videos released by IS, the
black-clad militant brandishing a
knife and speaking with an
English accent appears to have
decapitated hostages including
Americans, Britons and Syrians.
The Washington Post said
Emwazi, who used the videos to
threaten the West and taunt leaders such as President Obama and
British Prime Minister David
Cameron, was believed to have
traveled to Syria around 2012 and
to have later joined IS.
In each beheading video, he is
dressed entirely in black, a balaclava covering all but his eyes and
the ridge of his nose. He wears a
holster under his left arm.
Hostages gave him the name
John as he and other IS Britons
had been nicknamed the Beatles.
Another was dubbed George.
British government sources and
the police refused to confirm or

deny the report, citing a live antiterrorism investigation, a position
mirrored by a spokeswoman for
Cameron. Since a video surfaced
in August 2014 showing a masked
man raging against the United
States before apparently beheading U.S. citizen James Foley off
camera, "Jihadi John" has been
one of the world's most hunted
men.
Intelligence services in Britain
and the United States were
ordered to track down the masked
man who became a menacing
symbol of the brutality of IS.
Authorities used a variety of
investigative techniques including
voice and facial recognition as
well as interviews with former
hostages.
The services had chosen not to
disclose his name for operational
reasons.
There was no answer at
addresses in London where
Emwazi was listed as living.
US-Israel spat intensies over Netanyahu speech

Washington: The US and Israel
escalated their increasingly public
spat this week over Benjamin
Netanyahu's Republican-engineered
congressional speech next week,
with the Israeli prime minister
accusing world powers of rolling
over to allow Tehran to develop
nuclear weapons. Secretary of State
John Kerry openly questioned
Netanyahu's judgment on the issue.
The comments injected new tension into an already strained relationship between the close allies
ahead of Netanyahu's address to
Congress next Tuesday. More
Democratic lawmakers announced
they would boycott the speech,
which was orchestrated by
Republican leaders without the
Obama administration's knowledge.
Netanyahu hopes his speech will
strengthen opposition to a potential
nuclear deal with Iran, President
Barack Obama's signature foreign
policy objective. US and Iranian
officials reported progress in negotiations this week on a deal that
would clamp down on Tehran's
nuclear activities for at least 10
years but then slowly ease restrictions. Netanyahu lashed out at the
US and other usual staunch allies of
Israel. It appears that they have
Isreali President Benjamin Netanyahu
given up on that commitment and

are accepting that Iran will gradually, within a few years, will develop
capabilities to produce material for
many nuclear weapons,'' he said in
Israel.
They might accept this but I am
not willing to accept this,'' he said
in remarks delivered in Hebrew and
translated. I respect the White
House, I respect the president of the
United States, but in such a fateful
matter that can determine if we

exist or not, it is my duty to do
everything to prevent this great danger to the state of Israel.''
Kerry, testifying in Congress, dismissed Netanyahu's worries. He
argued that a 2013 interim agreement with Iran that the prime minister also opposed had in fact made
Israel safer by freezing key aspects
of the Islamic republic's nuclear
program.
BUSINESS
23
Allies oppose, government defends land acquisition bill

New Delhi: Under attack from the
opposition, and now its allies, over
the land acquisition bill, the government said it was "open minded"
to suggestions but added that the
measure was "farmer friendly".
After the Shiv Sena, the Lok
Janshakti Party (LJP) said it has
apprehensions over the bill.
"We have objections over some
measures. There are questions
about the need of doing away with
farmers' consent. They also will
have no right to move court," LJP
MP Chirag Paswan told reporters
here after a meeting, attended by
six LJP MPs, where the bill was
discussed.
The Shiv Sena has already made
its opposition clear that it will "not
support any law that is against the
interest of farmers".
Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant
Wednesday questioned government's explanation about the legis-
Activist Anna Hazare, who is spearheading an agitation

against land acquisition bill, is seen with Delhi Chief Minister
Arvind Kejriwal and MDMK general secretary Vaiko.
lation and said: "When there will

be no land left then what is the
point of PM irrigation scheme?
The farmers are scared that the

government will take away their
land. This needs to be addressed.
Delhi halves power tariff, gives 20,000 litres free water

New Delhi: Twelve days after taking over the reigns of power in
Delhi, the Arvind Kejriwal-led
AAP government announced a 50
percent slash in power tariff up to
400 units and 20,000 litres of free
water per household. The rates will
come into effect from March 1,
announced Deputy Chief Minister
Manish Sisodia here after a cabinet
meeting. "The reduction in power
tariff will benefit 36,06,428 families, which is around 90 percent of
the city's population," Sisodia said,
adding that those consuming over
400 units would have to pay the
full bill. Sisodia also said that
around 18 lakh families will be
able to reap the benefits of free
water and informed that the Delhi
Jal Board has been directed to
The rates will come into effect from March 1,

says Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.
speed up the process of setting up

infrastructure to provide water to
colonies which do not have

pipelines.
Triton Solar to set up manufacturing unit in MP

Bhopal: US-based nanotechnology
company, Triton Solar and Madhya
Pradesh Government have signed
an MoU here. As per the MoU,
Triton Solar will invest in Madhya
Pradesh for creating its manufacturing facility. Chief Minister
Shivraj Singh Chouhan and
Himanshu B Patel, founder and
CEO of Triton Solar were present
on the occasion. Triton Solar is

committed towards Indian market
and with this MoU the company is
geared up for a multi-million dollar
investment in Madhya Pradesh.
While expressing his views on
the MoU, Chouhan said,
Renewable energy is a high
potential area for the country.
Triton Solar will establish its man-
ufacturing unit in Madhya Pradesh

in order to produce cutting-edge
nano glass, nano paper and nano
batteries. This is a great moment
for employment generation and
investments in the Madhya
Pradesh.
This MoU will give Indias
solar energy industry a great
boost, added Patel.
We cannot make farmers unhappy."

He made the comment while
participating in the discussion on
motion of thanks to the president's
speech.
Another key BJP ally Shiromani
Akali Dal (SAD) has also
expressed reservations towards the
bill, which is facing a stiff opposition from political parties, farmers
and social groups.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari,
however, defended the law and
blamed the opposition for spreading misinformation on the bill.
Addressing a press conference in
the parliament house here,
Minister for Road Transport and
Highways Nitin Gadkari said the
ordinance had to be brought
before Dec 31.
The minister added that the land
that would be acquired will be
used for rural infrastructure proj-
ects like irrigation and roads,

which will help the rural population.
Gadkari also said the central
government did not intend to
acquire any land for the private
sector or corporates.
"Even the industrial corridor the
ordinance talks about will not be
more than 2 km wide, and will
host agro-processing industries. It
will help farmers," he said.
Activist Anna Hazare, who is
spearheading an agitation against
amendments in the act, rubbished
the government's claim that these
were more "effective" and
"farmer-friendly", saying it was
trying to mislead the people.
"The government is more worried about the industrialists and
not about farmers. The country has
woken up now. These people will
also take irrigated land and give it
to the industrialists," Hazare said.
Pachauri hospitalized, pressure

mounts for his ouster
New Delhi:
admitted to a
Noted enviprivate hospironmentalist
tal here on
R.K. Pachauri,
account of a
who awaits a
heart problem,
bail hearing on
a source in
charges of sexThe Energy
ual harassand Resources
ment,
was
Institute
admitted to a
(TERI) said.
city hospital
Registering
even
as
a
strong
w o m e n
p r o t e s t ,
activists
w o m e n
mounted presactivists quessure demandtioned
the
ing his resigTERI governNoted environmentalist R.K.
nation as TERI
ing council for
Pachauri is facing sexual
director genernot initiating a
harassment charges.
al. Pachauri
"disciplinary"
has denied the allegations but pro- enquiry against him for acts of
ceeded on leave from TERI.
alleged misconduct and demanded
Pachauri, who stepped down as that he must be "suspended pendchairperson of the UN ing the enquiry". The Padma
Intergovernmental Panel on Bhushan awardee is facing a comClimate Change (IPCC), would plaint of alleged harassment by a
not face any inquiry by the world woman research analyst who has
body into the allegations, also lodged a police case.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's Pachauri, as the IPCC chair, was
spokesperson Stephane Dujarric expected to play a prominent role
told reporters in New York.
in all the key negotiations in the
The 75-year old was Feb 21 run up to Paris 2015.
24 Feb 28-March 6, 2015
India break jinx, beat South Africa in World Cup

Melbourne: India finally managed to
break a 23-year-old jinx when they
thrashed favorites South Africa by 130
runs to win their second World Cup Pool B
match at the 90,000-capacity Melbourne
Cricket Ground (MCG) here.
After keeping their unbeaten run against
Pakistan in World Cups, the defending
champions, a week later, straightened
another record when they beat the Proteas
-- their first in the quadrennial event. The
two-time champions had lost all their three
previous meetings in 1992, 1999 and 2011.
It was a crucial toss to win as a marvelous 137 by Shikhar Dhawan guided
India to a healthy total of 307/7 in their 50
overs. In reply, the strong South African
batting unit, comprising of the two-top
batsmen in the world, collapsed for a mere
177 in 40.2 overs.
Dhawan's ton, his seventh and also his
highest One-Day International (ODI)
score, is also the best World Cup score so
far against the Proteas, surpassing former
New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming's
unbeaten 134 in 2003.
At the start, the defending champions got
a huge jolt when opener Rohit Sharma (0)
was run out by a direct hit from South
African skipper AB de Villiers in only the
third over.
However, Man-of-the-Match Dhawan
and vice-captain Virat Kohli (46) combined well to put up a 127-run secondwicket partnership. The duo were extremely cautious after Rohit's wicket which
resulted in a very slow start for India.
Backed by some excellent fielding,
South African pacers restricted India quite
easily in the powerplay because of which
India were only 10/1 at the end of the fifth
over.
But as lethal pacer Dale Steyn (1/55)
By Veturi Srivatsa
President, PM congratulate
Indian cricket team
Team India managed to break a 23-year-old jinx in the World Cup.
steamed in from one end, Dhawan gradually started targeting other bowlers.
Both the Delhi batsmen played the ball
to its merit and kept building the innings.
The left-handed Dhawan took charge and
played the anchor's knock in the presence
of Kohli, which does not happen too often
these days.
A fantastic square cut brought up
Dhawan's half-century. But he was immediately given a reprieve when he was
dropped by a flying Hashim Amla at backward point in the 20th over. Though it was
a difficult chance, Dhawan's wicket could
have turned the match in favour of the
Proteas.
Meanwhile, Kohli got out while trying to
pull a short ball off Imran Tahir (1/48) at
short mid-wicket. The 26-year-old, who
scored a match-winning 107 against

Pakistan last Sunday, was livid with himself.
However, incoming Ajinkya Rahane (79)
ensured that India did not suffer a setback.
His knock of 79 from 60 deliveries was
studded with seven boundaries and three
sixes over the huge MCG boundary.
Both Dhawan and Rahane upped the ante
in the batting powerplay from 36th over to
provide a brilliant platform for India to
post a big total. The duo scored all over the
park and the South African bowlers
appeared hapless. In the process, Dhawan
notched up his century in 122 balls while
Rahane brought up his ninth ODI half-century. The run-flow continued as India
pushed on the pedal after Dhawan's century.
New Delhi: President Pranab Mukherjee

and Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the Indian cricket team for their
second consecutive win of the World Cup.
"Congratulations on your second victory
in ICC World Cup 2015; the first ever win
against S. Africa in World Cup matches
#PresidentMukherjee," Mukherjee said on
Twitter while Modi tweeted: "Great performance. Well played. Congrats Team
India. You make us proud yet again."
Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal
also joined in to laud opener Shikhar
Dhawan for his match-winning knock of
137.
The India team truly deserved the victory. It was a true team effort. The Indians
batted well and their running between the
wickets was exceptionally fast. The
bowlers bowled well from the beginning
and the wickets at regular interval kept the
pressure building and the team also managed to get some crucial run-outs,"
Sonowal said in a statement.
"Overall it was a brilliant team effort
and with these two important wins, the
team would be beaming with confidence.
I once again congratulate M.S. Dhoni for
brilliantly leading the team and I wish
them good luck for their future games.
This was India's first win over South
Africa in World Cups, having lost their
previous three meetings in 1992, 1999 and
2011. India had beaten arch-rivals
Pakistan in their tournament opener at the
Adelaide Oval last Sunday.
India overpower South Africa at the MCG
t is natural to go ga-ga over

India's victory over South
Africa at the MCG - because
this is the first time they have
beaten the Proteas in a World Cup
match after losing at all their three
previous meetings.
Yet, to disprove the critics, India
have done everything they looked
incapable of doing just a month
ago. They batted beautifully,
bowled purposefully and were
amazingly athletic in the field.
Otherwise it is well nigh impossible to beat the Proteas by 130 runs
and that too in a key World Cup
game that may as well decide who
tops the group.
To win back-to-back matches so
convincingly is no joke and the
Indians kept up the momentum so
well. Playing Pakistan drains an
Indian team and then to be taking
on South Africa can be further
demanding.
The big revelation was the
To win back-to-back matches so convincingly is no joke and the

Indians kept up the momentum so well.
way the fast bowlers fielded. First,

Shami took a splendidly welljudged catch on the boundary off
Mohit Sharma who also got topscorer Faf du Plessis to make sure
the South Africans have no pretensions of a late fightback.
Then the turning point in the
match when Mohit's brilliant

throw from the outfield ran AB de
Villiers out. The pick up and
release of the ball was so quick
and precise that MS Dhoni had to
just give the finishing touch.
As if that's not enough, Umesh
Yadav showed the strength of his
throwing arm to get rid of another

dangerous batsman David Miller,
who had bailed the side out along
with JP Duminy against
Zimbabwe -- both scoring hundreds.
The two run-outs effected by the
two pace bowlers shows that the
Indian fielding has gone up by a
notch or two and, as Dhoni said in
his post-match comments, they
made his life easy in implementing team plans and not worry
about hiding slowcoaches. Not
many may have noticed that all 10
Pakistani batsmen were out to
catches at Adelaide.
Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli
continued their rebuilding work
from the Pakistan match after
Rohit Sharma was unlucky to be
run out with de Villiers finding
one stump to aim good enough.
Dhawan, who was struggling to
get into the line to middle the ball,
made some course correction -- as
he himself said after the match -and suddenly he looks in good
nick. Come to think of it, quite a

few thought Murali Vijay should
have been retained sending the
Delhi southpaw back.
The South African crash was
sudden and swift. The dismissal of
de Villers seemed to have
unnerved the batsmen who followed him. After his exit, the
match was over in the next 10
overs or so when the Proteas lost
six wickets for 48 runs.
There was worry that India
would not be able to strike in the
middle overs. This day, however,
Ashwin, Jadeja and Mohit not
only contained the batsmen bowling a perfect line, they also got
wickets. The off-spinner claimed
three and it was coming after his
tight bowling against the
Pakistanis.
The 86,876 spectators who
turned up at the MCG -- a overwhelming majority of them
Indians - partied inside the historical venue and perhaps well into
the wee hours of the new week.
Feb 28-March 6, 2015 25
Gayle storm hits Zimbabwe

Canberra:
Chris
Gayle's whirlwind 215
quite simply handed the
West Indies their second
win of the World Cup
when they defeated
Zimbabwe in a Pool B
encounter at the Manuka
Oval here.
Powered by the first
World Cup double-hundred from Gayle, the
West Indies zoomed to
372/2 in their 50 overs in
reply
to
which
Zimbabwe were bowled
out for 289 in 44.3 overs
while chasing a revised
target of 363 from 48
overs after a rain delay.
Records tumbled as the
Jamaican
southpaw
finally struck form to
score his 22nd One-Day
International (ODI) century and his first double-hundred.
The previous best World Cup
individual score was of South
Africa's Gary Kirsten, who
scored 188 not out against the
United Arab Emirates in 1996.
The Windies started on a poor
note, losing opener Dwayne
Smith (0) on the second ball of
the innings. However, it was a
pure Gayle and Marlon Samuels
(133 not out) show thereon as the
next and last wicket, that of the
former, fell on the last ball of the
innings.
In between those 297 deliveries, the left-and-right hand combination smashed the hapless
Zimbabwe bowlers all over the
park in the Australian capital.
Tendulkar, Gayle choose

same day for ODI double ton!
Chris Gayle's whirlwind 215 quite simply handed the

West Indies their second win.
Both Gayle, who hadn't score a

century since June 2013, and
Samuels were not in the best of
forms initially and started slowly.
The duo stuck it out in the middle to pick up one and twos and
strike a boundary once in a
while.
However, they accelerated in
the middle overs when the tall
and powerful left-hander looked
like the Gayle of old, smashing
10 boundaries in his 147-ball
innings. His record of 16 sixes is
the highest in World Cups and
equals the ODI record of AB de
Villiers and Rohit Sharma, who
is the only individual to have two
double hundreds to his name.
The last 10 overs caused the
maximum
damage
for
Zimbabwe. The African side

were hit for an unbelievable 152
runs, propelling the Windies
from 220/1 in the 40th over to
post a mammoth 373-run target,
the fifth highest in Cup history.
Such was the impact of Gayle's
fastest ODI double ton, which
came off just 138 deliveries, that
the patient 133 not out of
Samuels looked regular. The 34year-old went on to score his
eighth century and highest ODI
total in 156 balls, which included
11 boundaries and three sixes.
Including several other records
that were broken, the most significant was that of the collaboration as Gayle and Samuels put
together the best partnership in
ODI history, 372.
Canberra: While their batting

styles may not be similar, cricket
legend Sachin Tendulkar and
West Indies' devastating opener
Chris Gayle chose the same day -Feb 24 -- to score their respective
One-Day International (ODI)
double-centuries.
If on Feb 24, 2010, Tendulkar
entered the records books by hitting the first ever ODI doublehundred, exactly five years on,
Gayle slammed a 147-ball 215 to
score the World Cup's first and
only double-ton.
The coincidence does not end
only with the day, both batsmen
ended up playing exactly the
same number of deliveries -- 147.
The coincidence has caught the
imagination of cricket buffs with
The previous best ODI partnership of 331 was between former
India greats Sachin Tendulkar
and Rahul Dravid which they
scored in 1999 against New
Zealand. The previous best Cup
partnership, of 318 runs, was
between Sourav Ganguly and
Dravid against Sri Lanka, also in
1999.
The only respectable figures
achieved by a Zimbabwean
bowler was of off-spinner
Sikandar Raza, who gave away
45 runs from 10 overs and managed the lone maiden of the
many of them taking to social networking sites to spread the information -- and quite a few calling
Gayle's effort as a tribute to
Tendulkar.
Gayle's majestic innings against
Zimbabwe in a Pool B clash at the
Manuka Oval here made him the
only non-Indian in the 200-plus
club. The southpaw is now also
the only player to score a 300 in
Tests, 200 in ODIs, and 100 in
Twenty20s.
The others in the ODI doubleton club are swashbuckling opener Virender Sehwag and Rohit
Sharma, who besides achieving
the feat twice also holds the
record for the highest individual
score with an incredible 264
against Sri Lanka last year.
match.
In reply, Zimbabwe batted really well to reach a healthy 289 but
to chase the mammoth total was
too much to ask from the
Africans, whose innings was
halted by rain when they were at
18/1 in 2.3 overs.
Zimbabwe too did not start
well as they were tottering at
46/3 but significant contributions
from the middle-order helped
them resurrect their innings and
put up a fight as they did against
title contenders South Africa in
their tournament opener.
Sri Lanka hammer hapless Bangladesh

Melbourne: Powered by centuries from veterans Tillakaratne
Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara,
Sri Lanka hammered a hapless
Bangladesh by 92 runs in a
World Cup Pool A contest at the
Melbourne Cricket Ground
(MCG) here.
The 1996 edition champions
reached a mammoth total of 332
for the loss of only one wicket.
In reply, Bangladesh were
bowled out for 240 in only 47
overs. With the win, the Lankans
stepped up to second place in the
Pool A standings behind New
Zealand. Incredibly, Sri Lanka
scored the monumental total
with just one six in their innings,
coming from the bat of
Sangakkara (105 not out), who
scored his 22nd hundred and
also his fastest in his 400th OneDay International (ODI). The
left-hander became the fourth
The 1996 edition champions reached a mammoth total of 332

for the loss of only one wicket.
batsman in history to reach 400

ODIs, behind Sachin Tendulkar
(463), Sanath Jayasurya (445)
and Mahela Jayawardene (444).
However, Dilshan, who scored
his 21st century and highest ODI
score, played the anchor's knock
with an unbeaten innings of 161,

which is now also the highest
individual score by a Sri Lankan
in the World Cup, going past the
legendary Aravinda de Silva's
145, which he scored against
Kenya in 1996. This is also the
highest individual score without

a sixer in ODIs.
The Sri Lanka batsmen pulverized the Bangladeshi bowlers
right from the start, who
appeared totally clueless on how
to tackle the experienced Lankan
line-up. To add salt to the
wounds, Bangladesh's slip-shod
fielding also did not help. Their
ground fielding, backing-up and
catching was horrendous and did
not look as if they were a Test
playing nation.
It was a perfect toss to win as
Sri Lanka openers Lahiru
Thirimanne (52) and Dilshan
started strongly to strike a 122run first wicket partnership.
Thirimanne's wicket was the
only success for Bangladesh as it
was a pure Sri Lanka show
thereon as Dilshan and
Sangakkara put together an
unbeaten 210-run partnership
which also turned out to be Sri

Lanka's highest second wicket
ODI partnership, breaking their
own record of 200 against India
in 2012.
Dilshan hammered 22 boundaries in his 146-ball knock while
Sangakkara smashed 13 fours
and the lone six in his 76-ball
innings.
The Bangladeshi bowlers did
not have much to boast about as
they gave away 14 extras to
skipper Mashrafe Mortaza's dismay. The Bangladeshi batsmen
got starts but could not convert
them into big scores, thanks to
some lethal pace from Lasith
Malinga, who rattled the toporder. In fact the highest scorers
came lower down the order from
Sabbir Rahman (53) and allrounder Shakib Al Hasan (46).
But by then it was a little too
late for Bangladesh.
26
LIFESTYLE
New app can prevent

suicidal thoughts
New York: The

Broome HOPE app
shows people how to
recognize warning
signs and start a conversation, according
to media reports.
The app helps users
recognize the warning signs of suicide
and allows them to
immediately connect
to the National Suicide Prevention
Lifeline.
The free app was unveiled
recently by Broome county executive Debbie Preston.
"Sometimes we don't talk about
suicide. There are people who
need someone to talk to and need
help," Preston was quoted as saying.
Suicide was the 10th leading
cause of death for Americans in
2013, according to the Center for
Disease Control and Prevention.
The American Foundation for
Suicide Prevention states that suicide warning signs can include a
person saying he or she has no

reason to live or feels trapped, and
behavioral changes such as isolation from family and friends,
depression, recklessness and giving away prized possessions.
The app's information is categorized by group, including adults,
teens, young adults and veterans.
Broome County's suicide prevention app follows a trend in
municipal agencies turning to
smartphone technology to boost
services and access to resources
for communities.
The app is free to use and is
available on Android and iPhone.
Timely meals, early to bed

can prevent mental illness
Montreal: Living a structured life
with regular meal times and early
bedtimes can lead to a better life
and perhaps even prevent the
onset of mental illness, suggests a
study.
Our daily sleep-wake cycle is
governed by an internal 24-hour
timer the circadian clock.
However, there is evidence that
daily activity is also influenced by
rhythms much shorter than 24
hours which are known as ultradian rhythms and follow a four-hour
cycle, explained Kai-Florian
Storch from the Douglas Mental
Health University Institute and
McGill University in Montreal.
Most prominently observed in
infants before they are able to
sleep through the night, ultradian
rhythms may explain why, on
average, we eat three meals a day
that are relatively evenly spaced
across our daily wake period.
These four-hour ultradian
rhythms are activated by
dopamine, a key chemical substance in the brain.
When dopamine levels are out
of balance, the four-hour rhythms

can stretch as long as 48 hours.
In the new study conducted on
genetically modified mice, Storch
and his team demonstrated that
sleep abnormalities, which in the
past have been associated with
circadian rhythm disruption,
result instead from an imbalance
of an ultradian rhythm generator
(oscillator) that is based on
dopamine.
The new data suggests that
when the ultradian arousal oscilla-
Use your voice to get your dream job

New York: Instead of resorting to a
conventional written resume, sending
your prospective employer a videotape
recording of your professional credentials may increase your chances of getting hired, new research shows.
A resume highlighting your professional credentials and experience could
pique the interest of a prospective
employer, but it is your voice that may
actually help you land the job, the
study said.
"In addition to communicating the
contents of one's mind, like specific
thoughts and beliefs, a person's speech
conveys their fundamental capacity to
think - the capacity for reasoning,
thoughtfulness and intellect," said
Nicholas Epley, professor at University
of Chicago Booth School of Business.
The researchers found that when
hypothetical employers and professional recruiters listened to or read job,

candidate's job qualifications, they
rated the candidates as more competent, thoughtful and intelligent when
they heard the pitch than when they
read it -- even when the words used
were exactly the same.
As a result, they liked the candidate
more and were more interested in hir-
ing them.
"When conveying intelligence, it is
important for one's voice to be heard literally, Epley said.
In a series of experiments, the
researchers asked a group of MBA students to develop a short pitch for the
job candidates to the company for
which they would most like to work.
They created written pitches and spoken pitches (videotaped).
Evaluators who heard the pitch
reported liking the candidate more and
were significantly more likely to hire
that person.
Even professional recruiters were
more likely to hire the candidates
whose pitches they could hear than
those whose pitches they read.
The study is forthcoming in The
Journal of Psychological Science.
Smartphones: Used is the new cool
New York: Ever used a second hand

high-end smartphone? That's a growing trend now, according to a new survey report.
Market research firm Gartner recently released a report projecting the used
smartphone market to roughly double
to 120 million units, or a wholesale
value of $14 billion by 2017, CNET
reported.
"With consumers in mature markets
upgrading their smartphones every 18
to 20 months, the inevitable question
is what happens to the old device?"
Gartner analyst Meike Escherich was

quoted as saying by CNET.
Previously, used cellphones primarily ended up in the hands of consumers
in developing markets. But that's
changing. With consumers increasingly looking to tighten their purse
strings, a year-old smartphone looks
like a cool deal. And for those who
hanker for the latest, selling off the old
high-end phone is an attractive way to
bolster their funds. Many companies
are capitalizing on this trend. One
such player is Gazelle, an e-commerce
company that specializes in enabling

people to sell used electronics. In
October, Gazelle began offering the
option to also buy used smartphones.
"It's a huge market that's growing
fast," Gazelle CEO Chris Sullivan said
in an interview.
Gazelle's own studies found that
within the same household, one member of a family could be constantly
upgrading to the newest smartphone,
with other members either taking the
second hand phone or buying a cheaper used model.
tor goes awry, sleep becomes disturbed and mania will be induced
in bipolar patients.
Oscillator imbalance may likely
also be associated with schizophrenic episodes in schizophrenic
subjects.
The findings have potentially
strong implications for the treatment of bipolar disease and other
mental illnesses linked to
dopamine imbalance, the authors
noted. The study has been published in the online journal eLife.
Parents favor late school

timings for teenagers
About half of the parents in the US
support later school timings for their
teenagers, shows a survey.
New York: The University of Michigan C.S. Mott
Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health
was conducted in November/December 2014, following last year's recommendation from the American
Academy of Paediatrics (AAP) that middle and high
schools start at 8:30 a.m. or later.
Among the national sample of parents with teenagers
aged 13-17, 40 percent parents expect a later start to
allow their teenagers to get more sleep and 22 percent
think it would improve their school performance.
Meanwhile, others worried about how later start
times would affect schedules and logistics, with one in
five parents saying a delayed start would not allow
enough time for after school activities and 1 in 7
expecting the change to negatively affect transportation
issues.
Twenty-seven percent of parents said they would
only support the later time if it didn't impact school
budgets while 24 percent would support the change
regardless.
"Teenagers are chronically sleep-deprived and that
can negatively impact their health and well being," said
Matthew Davis, director of the National Poll on
Children's Health and professor of paediatrics at the
University of Michigan Medical School.
"We know teens are biologically wired to have later
sleep cycles, which has raised the question of whether
school start times that align to adolescent's natural
sleep rhythms could help improve health outcomes,"
Davis said.
SELF HELP
27
10 tips for expectant parents

inding out youre going to be a parent
can be both exciting and stressful. But
preparation makes for a smoother transition. To help, Lindsay Pinchuk, mother of
two, and founder and CEO of Bump Club and
Beyond, a mommy hub, is offering 15 mental and logistical preparation tips:
Get a bouncer. Decide whos invited
into the delivery room and let the nurses and
your loved ones or partner enforce your policy.
Be CEO of your family. When it comes
to parenting decisions, listen to advice, but
dont be pressured into not doing whats best
for your family.
Bump up your social circle. Friends
with kids around the same age as yours can be
a valuable asset for parenting advice and gettogethers. Event companies like Bump Club
and Beyond help connect moms and momsto-be.
Bringing a baby into the world is hard
work. Accept help from friends and family.
Shower yourself. When creating a registry, dont overlook useful items youll need
the most. Include diapers, like Huggies Little
Snugglers, which provide outstanding skin
care for your newborns delicate skin. Wipes
are also essential. Look for ones with Triple
Clean Layers that are tough on messes and

gentle on skin.
Get informed. Take an infant CPR class.
Bring your significant other and anyone who
will be caring for the baby.
Learn basics. Find a class that teaches
basics, such as how to diaper, swaddle and
bathe your baby.
Read the manual. Babies dont come
with a manual, but their gear does. Be sure to
read life-saving information like your car seat
manual.
Hug it out. Skin-to-skin contact with the
baby right after birth helps regulate the babys
breathing and heartbeat, and keeps him or her
warm and prepared to nurse.
Pack Early. Pack your hospital bag a
few weeks beforehand. The hospital is no
hotel, so dont forget shampoo, conditioner,
an extra pillow, flip flops for the shower, a
robe and an extra bag.
Hoard. Many hospitals will send you
home with ice packs, disposable underwear
and other supplies to help aid recovery. Take
what you can!
Still stressed? Take a deep breath and relax
in the knowledge that no matter what happens, the love youll feel for your baby is
indescribable.
Beyond the scale: What you need to

know about diabetes risk factors
W
hen it comes to Type II
diabetes, many only
consider weight when
examining their risk. Diabetes is
complicated however, and risk factors are numerous.
Some of the confusion is potentially reflected in statistics. From
1980 through 2011, the number of
Americans with diagnosed diabetes more than tripled, from 5.6
million to 20.9 million, according
to the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, and millions more
have prediabetes or are undiagnosed. On the bright side, cuttingedge research has uncovered
strategies for avoiding, controlling
and even reversing diabetes.
Its tempting to think that
theres not much you can do
except take medication and hope
for the best, says George L. King,
M.D., Chief Scientific Officer at
Joslin Diabetes Center, Professor
of Medicine at Harvard Medical
School and author of the new
book, The Diabetes Reset.
However, anyone can improve
their bodys response to insulin
and its ability to metabolize glucose in the blood.
Each individuals glucose control problems are unique, which is
why King offers a range of evidence-based, diabetes-fighting
strategies in his book. Here he
shares a few:
Diet : A recent study by Dr. King
and his Joslin colleagues has
shown that insulin sensitivity, glucose metabolism and type 2 dia-
betes risk can all be significantly

improved by switching to a lowfat, high-fiber diet consisting of 70
percent carbohydrates, 15 percent
fat and 15 percent protein, including 15 grams of dietary fiber for
every 1,000 calories consumed.
This dietary approach, known as
the Rural Asian Diet, is easy to
maintain, as it doesnt call for
restricting calories or totally avoiding any particular food group.
While many diabetes experts promote restricting carbohydrates,
this diet distinguishes between
refined carbohydrates and complex
carbohydrates, which are high in
fiber, and will be converted into
blood glucose much more slowly.
Weight Loss : If your BMI is
above 25 and youre able to reduce

your body weight by 5 to 7 percent, you can reduce your insulin
resistance and improve your glucose metabolism. Be advised,
many doctors feel that BMI is of
limited value in determining a diabetes risk because it doesnt distinguish between fat and lean tissue
or between different types of body
fat. Abdominal fat is the most dangerous type of fat in terms of diabetes risk, so many doctors use
waist circumference as an additional measurement.
Exercise : Your muscles can lose
insulin sensitivity due to inactivity.
This can be largely reversed
through a combination of 150 minutes of aerobic activity per week
plus weekly strength training sessions. Together, these activities can
increase your muscles ability to
oxidize fats, glucose and other
fuels, while also helping you lose
weight.
Sleep : There is mounting evidence that lack of sleep can contribute to insulin resistance and
possibly causes damage to the pancreas, putting you at heightened
risk for prediabetes and type 2 diabetes. Attempt to get seven to eight
hours of high-quality sleep every
night to improve insulin sensitivity.
More diabetes-strategies can be
found at www.workman.com.
Whether you have diabetes or
not, understanding this disease and
how it can be controlled can significantly improve your overall
health.
New insights from

expectant parents
here are a lot of items parents dont necessarily know they will need before
their new bundle of joy comes.
Preparing for baby is exciting, but the pregnancy journey also can be overwhelming. Mom is
expected to tackle big to-dos before baby
comes -- including making a baby registry. Its
not always clear what to include on the registry. How many diapers and wipes will baby
need in that first year? Nearly half of moms
dont realize that on average they will change
2,200 diapers in babys first year, according to
a new survey conducted by Huggies Little
Snugglers Diapers, which focus on offering
outstanding skin care with a gentle absorb
liner. Even with countless resources available
online, nearly 80 percent of moms report their
friends are a primary influence on their baby
registry choices. Is there something you wish
you could add to your registry, but simply
cant? Parents can now register their wishes -such as a dream nursery, help with hospital
bills, or a years supply of diapers. If youre
selected as a winner, Huggies will do everything they can to make your wish come true.
Make your home the envy of

the neighborhood
ou shouldnt
judge a book
by its cover,
but you can judge a
home by its exterior.
Making your home
the envy of the
neighborhood starts
with boosting its curb
appeal.
From general maintenance to home
upgrades, here are three ideas to
refresh your homes look:
Update Windows : Replacing
your windows with beautifully
designed products will give your
home a great first impression, not
to mention reduce your energy
bills and increase your homes
value.
After a window replacement,
taking care of your new window is
just as important. Wash windows
every few months so they always
look as good as the day they were
installed.
Avoid scratching the surface of
the glass, or frame, by utilizing
non-abrasive agents. Water and a
soft cloth is usually all you need to
clean windows thoroughly, but a
mild cleaner may also be helpful.
Choose Sleek Siding : If you are
looking to boost your homes energy efficiency and attain a new look
for your exterior, replacing your
siding is a great investment that
can achieve both of these goals.
Just be sure you get a superior
product to avoid maintenance
down the line. For example, vinyl
siding is an ideal product because

of its low maintenance and
longevity. No matter what color
siding you opt for, you can make
your entire homes exterior pop by
choosing a distinct trim color.
Use a complimentary online
design center, like the one on the
Window World website, to help
visualize color options for windows, siding and doors.
A Grand Entry : It is said that the
front door is the focal point of your
homes curb appeal. When creating your entryway, customize a
new front door with smaller side
window panels or glass panels
within the door itself. Look for an
exterior remodeler that can custom
design and install entry doors to
match your exterior dcor. If its
not time for a door replacement,
consider adding a splash of color
to your exterior by painting or
staining your existing door.
To love your home, you must
give it some love. Making the necessary home upgrades and maintaining your homes exterior is a
surefire way to turn heads.
28
HUMOR
Humor with Melvin Durai
Never Too Old to Impress a Young Fan

y 8-year-old son, Rahul, cant
get enough of the Beatles. He
never tires of listening to their
music, much to the dismay of his 11year-old sister, Divya.
She groans whenever he plays Hey
Jude, Let it be or another of their
many hits from the 60s and 70s on our
car stereo or other device. Not the
Beatles again, she says, covering her
ears as though hes playing a recording
of four screeching bugs from England.
Shed rather listen to Taylor Swift,
Katy Perry or just about any artist born
in the cellphone era. Instead, Rahul
keeps taking her to the rotary-phone era,
when the Beatles produced dozens of
songs that are as soothing to Divyas
ears as the sounds she hears whenever
her father, also from the rotary-phone
era, vacuums the carpet.
But try as she might, she cant curb her
brothers enthusiasm for the Beatles. If
he isnt listening to their music, hes
reading about them or playing one of
their tunes on his guitar. He has even
talked to his friends in school about
them.
Rahul: Hey Mike, whats your

favorite Beatles song?
Mike: Beatles? Who are they?
Rahul: Youve never heard of the
Beatles? Theyre the Fab Four from the
1960s.
Mike: 1960s? Is this going to be on
our next test? I hate studying about
ancient history!
Rahul was thrilled to see his favorite
Beatle, 72-year-old Paul McCartney,
among the spectators at the Super Bowl
and even more thrilled to see the legendary musician performing at the
Grammy Awards.
Paul McCartney goes to everything!
he proclaimed.
Not everything, I said, just in case he
was entertaining thoughts of inviting
McCartney to his 9th birthday party. (If
McCartney showed up, we wouldnt
need any other guests. Rahul would be
on cloud nine until his 10th birthday.)
Rahul has been begging us to take him
to a McCartney concert. Theres no
other concert hed rather attend, not
John Legend, not Bruno Mars, not Beck.
McCartney is the only Legend hed trav-
el to Mars and Beck to see.

The 8-year-olds fandom is a testament
not only to the enduring appeal of the
Beatles, but also the staying power of
McCartney. Hes not just a musical
genius hes a musical genius blessed
with the energy and stamina of a 22year-old. Okay, perhaps not a 22-yearold, but definitely a 32-year-old. (His
wife is 53, but thats no big deal. Lots of
guys are marrying older women these
days.)
McCartneys Out There concert tour,
which began in May 2013 in Brazil and
ends this April in Japan, has shown just
how popular he remains out there. He
has performed at 63 sold-out shows in
11 countries during the tour, entertaining

about 2 million people. Thats almost an
entire high-rise building in Mumbai.
While many stars of yesteryear fade
into obscurity as they age, McCartney
has not just remained in the limelight, he
has elevated his lofty stature (if thats
even possible) by continuing to produce
and perform music in his own dignified
manner. Its the same dignity that former
boxing champ Mike Tyson has shown in
his forties, still intent on biting ears, but
moving wisely from Evander Holyfield
to corn on the cob.
Over the last decade, McCartney has
performed at Buckingham Palace, the
White House, and Moscows Red
Square, among many other venues. He
has sung Michelle for Mrs. Obama,
Come Together for Bill and Hillary
Clinton, and Think for Yourself for
George W. Bush.
Just as he did with Stevie Wonder,
Michael Jackson, Johnny Cash and others, McCartney continues to collaborate
with his fellow singers, no matter their
age. At the Grammys, he joined Kanye
West, 37, and Rihanna, 26, to perform
FourFiveSeconds, strumming his guitar with flair, while they did the singing.
Whos that old guy performing with
Rihanna and Kanye? some young fans
tweeted while watching the Grammys.
The greatest musician alive, my 8year-old would have tweeted back if
only he had a Twitter account.
Not him again, my 11-year-old
would have tweeted and thats why she
doesnt have one.
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.
ASTROLOGY
29
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
February 28-March 6, 2015

ARIES: Last thing you should do
this week is to delegate something at
work for which you are responsible.
Money is likely to be earned by some by
opening a side business. An exclusive outing with sweetheart is likely to prove most
fulfilling.
A close relation may try to be one up on
you and may even try to embarrass you.
You will find yourself fit enough to pursue
a sporting pastime.
CANCER: Switching to a healthy

lifestyle can make a positive difference to your health. You are likely
to put lover in the mood by your wit and
charm. Overdoing things on the domestic
front to impress others is not warranted.
Read in between the lines before signing a
deal. A friend is likely to step forward to
finance your dream project. Luck turns for
the better for some.
TAURUS: A change of air will do

wonders for both your physical and
mental being. Those participating in
extracurricular activities will get a chance
to prove their mettle.
Bureaucratic hassles can delay an important project. You may not be able to fulfill
a commitment made to lover. Be sensitive
to the moods of spouse this week. Love is
in the air, but finding time to be with lover
can be difficult.
LEO: An impromptu trip with

friends is likely and will prove highly enjoyable. Those on pilgrimage
may find the trip spiritually uplifting.
Good growth prospects are foreseen for
some. Chartered accountants, architects
and lawyers can find the week hectic.
Things may move at snails pace where
recovery of loan is concerned. Delay is
foreseen in submitting an important report.
You feel at the top of the world on the
health front.
GEMINI: A business partnership

will take you out of financial doldrums. You can wallow in self pity
and can even blame partner for your woes.
Those studying for exams should not let
their focus waver. You can long for love
and crave intimate moments. Homemakers
can have a lot of work on their hands this
week. Speculators and those involved in
the share market may find the week promising.
VIRGO: Chances of hogging the

limelight at work cannot be ruled
out for some. A profit making
scheme will start giving good returns soon.
You can take up a fascinating hobby or
activity. It can become difficult to mend
fences with rivals in a property dispute.
Health remains good. Those separated will
get a chance to visit family soon.
Inappropriate words can put lover off.
Those using the road need to be careful.
LIBRA: More energy will help

you undertake greater workload.
You will succeed in winning over a
rival at work. Diplomacy will be the key to
defuse a domestic situation. Good professional guidance will be required for
achieving the best results. Rich returns
from previous investments can be expected
by some. Moving to a new location will be
like a breath of fresh air. Passions can run
riot for those in love.
CAPRICORN: Avoid stuffing

yourself with junk food as it can
spoil your health. Tough competition is foreseen for students appearing for
an exam or interview. Some of you may
have to strive hard to get into a lucrative
partnership. Shopping can take up a major
part of you this week. Some of you can be
ticked for bad behaviour. New developments are set to boost your romantic life.
SCORPIO: This is a good time to

buy property. Urge to overspend will
need to be curbed. A deadline looming on the horizon can give some sleepless
nights. Mood swings of a family elder can
spoil the domestic atmosphere. You can be
expected to give a helping hand at home. A
gift from someone close is likely to make
you immensely happy. This is the right
time for self promotion.
AQUARIUS: Family members

will abide by your decision in a
domestic matter. You will be able
to clear the air regarding a misunderstanding on the work front. A calculated risk on
the financial front is likely to bring you
into a lot of money. All your attempts at
appeasing partner are likely to fail. You
can find it difficult to convince someone to
travel by air. Recovery for the ailing will
be slow.
SAGITTARIUS: Some of you can

feel trapped in your present job, but
dont consider a job switch yet. You
are set to waste your time by lolling around
aimlessly this week. Take time off to pinpoint the shortcomings afflicting your performance. Eating right will help you attain
perfect health. Some of you may need to
counter negativity in your lives by
focussing on the positive. Those contemplating love marriage need to tread
carefully.
PISCES: Chance of going on a

vacation with family is indicated.
Enjoying the hospitality of someone
close is likely for some. Government
employees may find it difficult to get a
posting of their choice.
You will succeed in getting close to the one
you secretly admire. Partial success is indicated in a business deal. Dont bank too
much on someone in money matters.
Health can cause problems if you are not
careful
Annual Predictions: For those born in this week

28th February, 2015
Ruled planet: Sun Ruled by no: 1
Traits in you: Being number 1, you are a person who
loves originality in whatever work you do. By nature
you are an authoritative person and so you always take
charge of things which also makes you responsible person. If you take some task in hand, you are determined
to finish it. You are very soft spoken and kind hearted
person.
Health this year: This year your health will generally
remain fine but don't take it for granted. Avoid eating exposed food and try not to indulgence in negative thinking, as this might hamper your physical and mental
health.
Finance this year: Loan from bank for short-term investment will prove beneficial. If possible, invest the
money in reputed firms to yield good returns. Carelessness on your part could cost, so go through all the documents carefully before taking a lone.
Career this year: This year be assured that you will go
all out to achieve, what you want to. You will achieve
prosperity in whatever projects you take in hand. You
will be able to complete these projects with full sincerity and dedication.
Romance this year: You are unable to express your
emotions, and keep your feelings to yourself. But this
year don't hesitate in expressing yourself, else someone
else will take your love away from you. Try to mingle
more freely with your special friend.
Lucky month: June, September, December & January
1st March, 2015
Ruled planet :Sun Ruled by no: 1
loves originality in whatever work you do. By nature
you are an authoritative person and so you always take
charge of things which also makes you responsible person. If you take some task in hand, you are determined
to finish it. You are very soft spoken and kind hearted
person.
Health this year: Happiness is a mantra for healthy
body too. Living a great social life and enjoying all
pleasures of life in the coming year will keep you strong
both physically and mentally.
Finance this year: This year you will be able to save
money for the future, which will give you a sense of security and satisfaction. You might also purchase some
artefacts for your home, which will bring beauty and a
sense of well being around you.
Career this year: In career, success and prosperity will
be yours, in the year ahead of you. You will handle challenging projects, with determination and sincerity. This
will bring you fame and recognition. Your ideas will
draw the attention of your seniors. Your work will be appreciated by your colleagues and seniors.
Romance this year: You are a person with strong per-
sonality, so its for you to attract the attention of opposite sex. However it would be in your interest if you
don't make false promises. Better to channelise your efforts to develop friendly relations to bring love in your
life.
Lucky month: July, October and January
2nd March, 2015
Ruled planet: Moon Ruled by no: 2
Traits in you: Being number 2, you are a person who is
highly ambitious and always look upwards towards
progress and prosperity. You need to control your dominating nature, to keep those around you happy. You are
a born leader, and expect your colleagues and friends to
follow whatever you order them to. This sometimes,
leads to misunderstandings.
Health this year: Nature and natural surroundings will
draw your attention in the coming year. You will be able
to enjoy the seas, flowers and on the whole, nature,
which will give you a sense of satisfaction. Being closer to nature gives both mental and physical peace.
Finance this year: Investment related to your house can
be profitable as you will decide to purchase a new plot.
It will improve your financial position by bringing long
term gains for you.
Career this year: In the coming year, your superiors
will notice your sincerity and loyalty, and they will entrust a lot of responsibility on your shoulders. You will
be able to fulfill these duties to the utmost.
Romance this year: If you are in love, then your affair
will have to face some testing times as it might get disclosed this year. However, it will be in your interest to
face it courageously, so that you can enjoy your life with
the person you love.
Lucky month: June, September and December
3rd March, 2015
Ruled planet: Jupiter Ruled by no: 3
Traits in you: Being number 3, you are confident, ambitious and independent person who loves to work with
optimistic attitude. You are a born leader, and you are always appreciated for your work, whether it is at home
or work place. Your efforts are always sincere and thats
why you balance your personal and professional life
very smoothly.
Health this year: This year you will make efforts to enjoy the true happiness. You need to keep in mind that
physical happiness is attained by self-restraint, eating
simple but balanced & nourishing food and daily exercise. You will start participating in any sports or outdoor
activities to keep yourself in good health.
Finance this year: As far as finances are concerned,
you need to invest your hard-earned money wisely.
Look at all the aspects of business before putting your
money, then only it would enable you to fetch good returns.
Career this year: Your ability to express your views

and ideas, will take you to the top of hierarchy, in the
year ahead of you. Your superiors will notice your sincerity and loyalty. They will entrust a lot of responsibility on your shoulders. You will be able to fulfill all these
duties to the utmost, making everyone happy.
Romance this year: This year, you might meet the
sweetest dream of your life, means a person of your
dream, whose thoughts have kept your memory radiant.
It is now upto you to take initiatives to develop friendly
relations with him/her.
Lucky month: May, July, October and January
4th March, 2015
Ruled planet: Uranus Ruled by no: 4
likes to take responsibilty and do your work with full
dedication and honesty.For the coming year, we would
advice that try to take all precautions while signing any
legal documents. If you are planning to sign a partnership, you will have to weigh all the pros and cons, before getting into any legal matters.
Health this year: You can enjoy a sound health only by
keeping yourself stress-free. This is a year for you to realise that even short intense periods of stress may have
long term consequences on the functioning of the brain.
Therefore better to make it a habit to remain tension-free
to enjoy the life to the fullest.
Finance this year: This year your financial position
will improve, as you might get some unexpected monetary gains either from foreign transaction or major government contract. At the same time if you are planning
to go for some investments, invest after a careful thinking.
Career this year: The coming year will bring changes,
which will be beneficial to you. A change in job is likely for some. This year your hard work will bring you
success and recognition. Partnership in business will be
fruitful.
Romance this year: This whole year you will be enjoying your personal life, as you and your partner will
share some most cherishing moments of your life. To
enjoy your romance, understand each other's requirement and try to fulfil them. You can plan to go on a vacation too.
Lucky month: May, October, December and March
5th March, 2015
Ruled planet :Sun Ruled by no: 5
Traits in you: Being number 5, you are very strong
headed person with friendly nature and practical
thoughts. You inspire others to do their work with full
dedication and perfection. You have an ability to make
many friends and the best is that you are known as a
very loyal friend to all your friends. This year keep control over your moody nature, which can put you in trou-
ble. You strongly believe in destiny and have strong concentration power. This year you will feel more inclined
towards religious activities.
Health this year: There is this phrase- 'Donate blood to
reap happiness'. Its true that when we donate our blood,
it brings unlimited happpiness to you. This year make
this a habit to donate blood every two-three months.
Overall your health will be fine.
Finance this year: Travel will bring you both prosperity and pleasure. You will travel to distant lands in the
coming year. This will allow you to make the most of
newer opportunities and will also be a source of good income, relaxation and enjoyment.
Career this year: Your planning and methodical approach to work, will catch the attention of your seniors.
You will be handsomely rewarded for you efficient and
honest approach to your professional career. The ability
to judge the weaknesses of your opponents will be an asset to you, and you will be able to use this to your advantage.
Romance this year: Though it will be short-lived but
this year you will have a happy romance. The relationship would give you sweet memories, which you can
cherish for the whole of your life. Keep in mind that we
should enjoy the life as it comes to us.
Lucky month: April, August, November and February
6th March, 2015
Ruled planet: Venus Ruled by no: 6
Traits in you: Being number 6, you are lover of simplicity and originality. You have the ability to inspire
those around your. Your mere presence, makes people
happy and full of enthusiasm. This year too your attractive personality and helping nature will bring happiness
in other's life.
Health this year: Health will generally remain normal.
You will enjoy a sound physical health on imbibing positive thinking in your life. However, it will be in your interest to continue physical exercises to keep diseases a bay.
Finance this year: You will earn a lot of money in the
coming year, but on the other hand you will also spend
it all on buying expensive clothes, jewelry and luxuries
of life. Remember that you should save some money for
your future too.
Career this year: You have an special attachment towards art and music. Those of you who are in the profession of dance and poetry, will do exceeding well in
your professional career, in the year ahead of you. Others will be able to impress their counterparts in the
workplace.
Romance this year: Your warmth and attractive personality will draw many friends towards you. You will
always be a centre of attraction amongst friends and relatives, but this year you will be bowled by someone special. You might fall in love.
Lucky month: July, November and March
30
SPIRITUAL AWARENESS
How to Improve Spiritually?
By Sant Rajinder Singh

Ji Maharaj
hen we apply for a job
and write a resume, we
usually try to highlight
all the good things about our experience, our background, and ourselves. Many people hide all the
difficulties they have had in their
career and focus on their great
achievements. When employers
read such resumes, they often feel
each is describing the greatest person who ever lived. We try to put
ourselves in the best possible light
to land the job.
When going to a bank for a business loan, we also list our greatest
financial achievements and best
references. We want to appear to be
a safe client and not a credit risk.
We write down all our business and
financial successes in the hope that
the loan officer will grant a loan.
When applying for college or
business school, we collect all the
best references from former teachers so that a college will find us
appealing as a candidate. Few people would request letters from
teachers who would describe them
as slacking off or misbehaving. We
want to show ourselves in our best
light.
When we attempt to gain anything in the world, it is often based

on the concept that we put ourselves forward and hide our weaknesses. This is typical in worldly
affairs.
In this connection, there is a true
story from the sports world. A university football team was conditioning themselves by practicing
running. One of the players had the
position of lineman. This large
player was in a tackle position and
considered the fastest lineman in
the team. One day, he walked up to
his coach and asked if he could run
sprints with the fastest running
backs. The coach gave him permission.
The lineman went out daily to
run, but each day he came in last.
Day after day, he continued to run
with the fastest backs, even though
each day he lost. This was to be
expected because linemen are generally not considered as fast as the
running backs.
The coach, thinking it was
strange, asked himself, Why
would this football player want to
play with the best runners and continually come in last when he could
run with the linemen and be the
fastest?
The coach observed the young
man and finally, after seeing the
lineman lose for many days, decided to ask him: Wouldnt you prefer to be a winner and run with the
other lineman, rather than keep
being a loser running with the
backs?
He was surprised to hear the football players answer.
The young man said, Im not
here to outrun the linemen. I
already know I can do that. Im

here to learn how to run faster, and
if you have noticed, Sir, I lose to
the backs by a little less each day!
This account holds the secret to
our spiritual progress. Whereas in
worldly work, we always want to
appear the best, when it comes to
spiritual work, we cannot hide who
we are from God. Our progress is
an open book to the Lord. The
grace we receive to progress spiritually is based on sincere efforts.
We cannot hide the truth of our
spiritual gains and failures from the
Creator.
The football player learned that
he would not improve by living on
past glories. He knew he could only
improve by challenging himself. By
seeing his weaknesses as a runner,
he could work on them to improve.
By pitting himself against those
who were better than he was in the
area he wanted to master, his shortcomings would become visible and
he could work on overcoming
them. He was after improvement,
not accolades and praise.
A way to improve spiritually is to
take an honest look at our failings
and weaknesses. By doing so, we
can weed them out and work on
improving. Besides noting our positive efforts, we should also analyze
our failings. Through this brutally
honest look at ourselves, we would
see areas for improvement. If we
looked at only our successes, we
might become complacent and
think we have reached the pinnacle
of glory. Then, we would not
change; we would be satisfied with
what we are and take longer to
reach our goal.
The football player could see
A way to improve spiritually is to take an honest

look at our failings and weaknesses. By doing so,
we can weed them out and work on improving.
what the other runners were doing
and could work on developing his
ability. The losses showed him
what he needed to do better the
next time. By doing this, each day
he lost by a little less. When we
look at our failures, we know what
we have to do to do better each day.
Then, by making an effort, we will
have fewer failures than on the previous day. Over time, we would
ultimately reach a stage in which
we have improved and reach zero
failures.
To progress spiritually, we can
honestly analyze the areas in which
we need to improve. We are not
applying for a job with God and are
not writing a spiritual resume to
show ourselves in a good light. We
are not applying for a credit loan
from God where we conceal our
business failures and show only our
successes. Rather, we are applying
for union with God, the abode of all
purity and virtue. To enter into that

union we need to weed out any ethical failures. We cannot hide our
failings from God, who sees all.
God wants our honest efforts in
overcoming the failures.
When the Lord sees us making an
effort to honestly assess our failings, even if we have difficulties,
our sincerity is recognized. God
then responds with compassion and
grace. Thus, if we are still struggling, we will get help. God gives
us a boost to overcome our failings
so we can weed them out and make
progress.
By our effort and Gods grace, we
will improve spiritually more
quickly. If we practice introspection
with complete honesty and sincerity, focusing on areas in which we
need to improve, we will see rapid
spiritual progress. If we put it to the
test, we will be able to see the
results and proof for ourselves.
Life Itself is Restless for Peace in the World

By Sant Rajinder Singh
Ji Maharaj
ystic poetry and literature
is rich in verses addressing the way to a peaceful,
calm life. One of the greatest mystic
poet-saints of the past century, Sant
Darshan Singh Ji Maharaj, has written a verse that captures the way to
lead lives in which we reduce stress
and anger to produce calm and
peace within ourselves and for the
whole world.
The verse by Sant Darshan Singh
Ji says:
Let this world become a temple of
love and peace.
Let love and Truth illumine the
world,
And the adversaries of peace
awaken to its Light.
This sacred land of God has been
trampled with the burden of oppression.
Life is not a dagger stained with
the blood of hatred;
It is a branch filled with the flowers of love and compassion.
Life itself is restless for peace in

the world.
Let its noble dream materialize.
May the garden be illumined with
wave after wave of Light.
May the wealth of love grow
greater and greater and enrich
every heart.
These verses capture the essence
of what I consider the purpose of
life and have been the inspiration of
my life. These penetrating words by
Sant Darshan Singh Ji Maharaj, a
past master of meditation on the
inner Light and Sound, illumine a
way to achieve peace through
uncovering the Divine within. Once
this uplifting peace permeates our
being, it can spread to others,
bathing this planet in peace.
These verses describe the unity at
the heart of all creation. The poet
realizes that the same Light of God
within us is also in all others, making us one human family. Even science points to our ones through the
Genome project. Scientists have
found that more than 99% of the
Scientists have
found that more
than 99% of the
genes
of
all
human beings are
the same, with
only less than 1%
being different,
accounting for
differences in our
hair, skin, and eye
color, or our size
and shape. When
we realize we are
all one family, we
would not cause
pain or suffering
to others.
genes of all human beings are the

same, with only less than 1% being
different, accounting for differences
in our hair, skin, and eye color, or
our size and shape. When we realize
we are all one family, we would not
cause pain or suffering to others. As
we would not want to hurt our parents or children, we would not want
to hurt any other human being. The
walls that divide us through nationality, social status, or appearance
tumble down as we realize that we
are all children of the one Creative
Power.
Through meditation on the inner
Light and Sound within each of us,
we can have a firsthand experience
of our unity. Through absorption
into this Light and Sound current,
we experience consciousness of
higher spiritual realms. This inner
journey leads back to the source of
this current and we experience oneness with the Creator. Saints and
mystics have described within us a
series of realms. Beyond the physical realm, there is the astral, causal,
and supracausal realms, and a purely spiritual realm, called Sach

Khand. Each realm contains greater
and greater light, celestial music,
joy, and love. We ultimately merge
back in the source of all consciousness, love, and light. Then, we recognize that all humans and all forms
of life are created by the Divine and
comprise one family. This nondenominational meditation practice,
called Shabd Meditation, or meditation on the Light and Sound, can be
performed by people of all cultures.
The introductory form of meditation, called Jyoti Meditation can be
practiced by any one at any place.
The more time we spend in meditation, the more we realize the unity
within each. Spiritual progress is
enhanced by an ethical life of nonviolence, truthfulness, humility, love
for all, and selfless service.
As we gaze at the wonders within
through meditation, we can experience the inner light, enjoy its nourishing peace and bliss, and radiate
that loving luminosity to all.

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Vol.7 No. 43 Feb 28-March 6, 2015 60 Cents

New York Edition

President Obama keeps tapping Indian

keeps dipping into the expanding

as US ambassador. Last week,

Sureshbhai assault case stands

New York: In a filing last Friday,

Indian rail budget: Improved service but no fare hike

Interior of an air-conditioned Chair Car

New Delhi: Sparing a passenger fare hike but raising

In 2013, The South Asian Times highlighted the plight of the

cations from qualified spouses of

Feb 28-March 6, 2015

Feb 28-March 6, 2015

Jindal wants ISIS fighters to be hunted down and killed

and has shown himself incapable of being

First American Sikh superhero

Comment by Attorney Ravi Batra

That fiduciary burden is enhanced

true lawyer, seeks out, not run

Feb 28-March 6, 2015

Business center for New Americans celebrates the

the Office of Congressman

Tipped workers in New York

more than doubled in size, and has

Broadcaster Gita Bajaj is no more

ita Bajaj, one of the leading Indian broadcast

New Delhi Bureau

Art and Design: Vladimir Tomovski

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Web Editor: B.B.Chopra

Marketing & PR (Washington DC)

IANS Washington Bureau

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Contributing Editors: Melvin Durai,

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News Service: HT Media Ltd.

Printing: Five Star Printing, NY

Feb 28-March 6, 2015

Rutgers University holds Hindi sessions, displays love for India

Gauri Shankar Gupta, High Commissioner, Trinidad & Tobago

han rejected the request of Lord

including the poets of Sufi tradition. Modern days Hindi poetry

NYU professor receives National

emotions and imaginations of the

versity students, faculty members

Indian origin researcher: Cyberbullying puts

Feb 28-March 6, 2015

10 Indian Americans elected to National Academy of Engineering

and wireless networks and distributed systems.

DHF to screen Dukhtar a lm on

occurs when their family or other persons in

Goode Jr. Professor of Aerospace, professor

Chicago physician jailed for

Sathish Narayanappa Babu,

Indian student held in NY on rape charges

entered the room of another resident and

Prof Dasgupta conferred

Vanya Shivashankar wins