Vol.8 Issue 26 - Oct 31-Nov 6, 2015

The South Asian Times
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Vol.8 No. 26 Oct 31- Nov 6, 2015 60 Cents
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India widens engagement with

Africa, gives $10 bn more credit
The third India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS) was the
largest international gathering of leaders in Delhi
after the Non-Aligned Movement summit in 1983
New Delhi: In its biggest ever engage
ment with Africa, India on T hursday
sought to recharge its ties with all 54
African countries, announcing increased
interaction in areas like energy and agri
culture while offering an additional con
cessional credit of $10 billion.
Prime Minister Narendra Mo di
described as "historic" the summit attend
ed by 41 heads of state and government
including of South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria,
Ghana, Moro cco, Zimbabwe, Kenya,
Ug anda, Tanzania, Mozambique and
Liberia and comprising two kings, 25
presidents and six prime ministers besides
six vice presidents, foreign and trade min

isters and senior officials. The third India
Africa Forum Summit (IAFS) the largest
international gathering of leaders in Delhi
after the NonAligned Movement summit
in 1983 was held at the Indira Gandhi
Indoor Stadium, allowing all the leaders to
sit as equals at a horseshoe shaped table.
According to Indian officials, Africa had
never been present in such strength in any
of their interactions with other world
power or groupings an indicator of their
expectations from India and the country's
growing international stature. Prime
Minister Mo di,
Continued on page 4
PM Narendra Modi with the African leaders during the special dinner hosted, on the
sidelines of the 3rd India Africa Forum Summit, in New Delhi on Oct 28. (Photo: IANS/PIB)
Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz

breakout stars at GOP debate
Boulder, CO: For once, Donald Trump didn't
take center stage at a Republican presiden
t ial de bate. With him subdued on
Wednesday night in the thirdround debate
in Boulder, Colorado, other candidates were
able to swoop in and steal the show: namely,
Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and Sen. Ted
Cruz of Texas.
The other big outcome, as per analysts,
from the CNBC debate that turned on the
moderators was the beginning of the end of
Jeb Bushs campaign. Ben Carson, the other
frontrunner, was his usual self. NJ Governor
Chris Christie held his own, but is not
expected to find much traction in his poll
US AFFAIRS 10
Senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz

at the CNBC debate
numbers. So if you leave aside outsiders
Trump and neurosurgeon Carson, Rubio
and Ted Cruz are sure to be taken more
seriously now. The Continued on page 4
BOLLYWOOD 18
HUMOR 28
Cricket All-Stars
opening match in NY
tipped to be sold out
New York: The sports extravaganza of the
century will kick off in a weeks time. And
tickets for the first of the three matches of
Cricket AllStars in New Yorks Citi Field sta
dium are selling like hot cakes. Fans from all
over Tristate and nearby states are eager to
be part of history, to w itness Indias
favourite sport making a splash in baseball
country.
Indias master blaster Sachin Tendulkar
and Aussie spin wizard Shane Warne are
captaining opposing teams in the three
match Twenty20 exhibit ion tour in
November. The two are expected to arrive in
the Big Apple by Nov 3. The other 28
retired internationals players making up the
teams are from eight major Test playing
countries. The latest name to be added to
the roster is of run machine Virendra
Sehwag. He joins other icons like Sourav
Ganguly, VVS Laxman from India; Ricky
Ponting and Glenn McGrath from Australia;
Jacques Kallis and Shaun Pollock from
South Africa; Michael Vaughan and Graeme
Swann from England; Brian Lara, and Curtly
Ambrose from the West Indies; Daniel
Vettori from New Zealand; Wasim Akram,
Shoaib Akhtar from Pakistan and Muttiah
Muralitharan, and Kumar Sangakkara from

Sri Lanka. One of the first exciting events
be fore the first g ame w ill be a Press
Conference and Live Draw featuring all
players on Nov. 5 at 11 am in Midtown
Manhattan. The threegame series is being
played in Major League Baseball stadiums in
NYC, Houston and Los Angeles.
New York based Leverage Agency is pro
ducing and promoting the series. Ben
Sturner is its Founder, CEO and President.
New Jerseybased Arya Dance Company
will choreograph the Opening Ceremonies
for all three games. A Bollywood star
(Priyanka Chopra of Quantico fame?) is
expected to perform, but the name has not
been announced yet.
The South Asian Times is the Print Media
Partner. Said Kamlesh Mehta, its Chairman,
We are proud to join hands with the his
toric beginning of Cricket AllStars as print
media partner and a member of the Board of
Promoters. Our association with the nation
al sport of India cricket is part of our
commitment to build bridges, and play a
leading role among the Indian diaspora in
USA besides being a family oriented weekly
newspaper.
The South Asian Times implores its readers who are eligible voters to
go out and vote on Tuesday, November 3 in the elections in your area.
This is our duty in a democracy.
SPIRITUAL AWARENESS 30
excellence in journalism
October 31-November 6, 2015
TRISTATE COMMUNITY
October 31- November 6, 2015
$4 M RAISED AT PRATHAM
GALA IN NEW YORK
New York: The New York Chapter of Pratham

USA welcomed more than 550 guests, among
them prominent IndianAmerican philanthro
pists, corporate executives and Wall Street
elite, to its annual gala held on October 16 at
the renowned Waldorf Astoria. This years
gala, which celebrated the 20th anniversary
of Pratham and highlighted the organiza
tions achievements over the years, raised a
huge $4 million for Pratham programs that
bring quality education to underprivileged
children and youth in India.
"I admire Pratham and its ideals one of
those ideals is compassion, that we're all in
this together. The second value I see is this
idea of action don't just sit there!" said
Booker during his keynote speech, where he
spoke passionately on Pratham's legacy.
He also spoke on the work of Dr. Rukmini
Banerji, CEO of Pratham. "To see this great
CEO... put forth this vision, not just for chil
dren, not just for Indian children, but for
human beings something that will af fect
hundreds of thousands that to me is the
audacity of action."
Dr. Banerji shared her appreciation of sup
porters and reminded the audience why they
were there: Our organization has worked
Pratham CEO Rukmini Banerji with US

Senator from New Jersey Cory Booker.
tirelessly for the last 20 years to ensure qual
ity education for all children across India.
Tonight we celebrate not only Pratham, our
executives and supporters, but most impor
tantly the children, for without them we
would have no future.
I am honored and humbled to receive such
unyielding support from our sponsors, said
Chapter President Deepak Raj, who was
IndianAmericans seek
protection of NRI
properties in India
New York: People of Indian origin living
in America have demanded legislation to
protect their properties in India against a
growing number of scams and setting up
of fast track courts to deal with property
disputes.
A growing number of scams against
hereditary, residential and commercial
properties of NRIs/PIOs is greatly dis
couraging them to invest in India, a com
munity meeting in New York over the
weekend noted.
Organized jointly by the Global
Organization of People of Indian Origin
(GOPIO), New York chapter and the
Indian American Kerala Center, it dis
cussed many issues of NRIs buying, sell
ing and owning properties in India.
The meeting chaired by GOPIO founder
president Dr. Thomas Abraham requested
GOPIO to take up the issue of setting up
Ratan Tata, Chairman Tata Trusts, flanked by Steve Denning, Chairman, General Atlantic,
and Dinyar Devitre, Chairman, Pratham USA.
fast track courts with the Indian govern

ment. The meeting also called upon the
Indian government to enact another legis
lation to provide title insurance to ensure
that their ownership in real estate is pro
tected against forged signatures on the
deed and for any such fraudulent transfer
of their properties.
It was also pointed out that NRIs are
subjected to higher TDS (tax deducted at
source) for capital gains while selling
properties.
The meeting passed a resolution cover
ing all these issues and plans to present it
at the Regional Pravasi Bharatiya Divas to
be held in Los Angeles on November 15.
T he speakers included New York
Attorney Anand Ah uja who is also the
president of GOPIONew York and
Pambayan Meyyan, senior vice president
of Forest Hills Financial Group.
recently appointed President of Pratham

USA. Emcee Miss America 2014 Nina
Davuluri welcomed guests after a cocktail
hour featuring a spirited performance by
Nicole Atkins. I am so proud to be a part of
the evening and pleased to connect with
IndianAmerican leaders to mobilize our
community to effect change.
As one of the largest educational move
ments in India, Pratham reaches millions of

children and youth annually through its
operations. Nearly 90% of every dollar raised
by Pratham USA goes to support programs
that include literacy and remedial learning
programs, vocational training and communi
ty libraries.
To learn more about Pratham and its pro
grams, visit http://prathamusa.org
Regional PBD in Los Angeles

slated for Nov 1415
External Af fairs Minister
Los Angeles: Every year since
Sushma Swaraj will inaugurate
2003, Government of India has
it and the Indian Government
been org anizing Pravasi
will host the banquet dinner
Bharatiya Divas (PBD) in India
Nov 15 for all registrants.
to provide opportunity for net
T he object ive of the
working among the NRIs and
Convention is to connect the
PIOs residing in various parts
Indian Diaspora with India, to
of the world and enable them to
provide a platform for the
share their experiences in vari
Indian community and to con
ous fields. Since 2007, Regional
External Affairs Minister
tribute to the re lationship
Pravasi Bharat iya Divas
Sushma Swaraj will
(Overseas Indians Convention) inaugurate the convention. between the two countries,
USA and India. The members
has also been organized annual
ly by the Government of India with the sup of the Indian community will have opportuni
port of overseas Indian community of the ty to convey their concerns and aspirations to
the Government of India and will explore ways
region where the convention is held.
This year, Regional PBD is being held in Los to give back to the mother country.
Seminar topics will range from business
Angeles by the Ministry of Overseas Indians
tobusiness to Clean Ganga and Swachh
Affairs on November 1415, 2015 and
Bharat to Manufacturing and Make in
is the ninth such conference held out
India. The early bird registration
side India. Indias Consul General in
fee is $50.
San Francisco heads the organization
of the regional PBD. It is expected to
For more information, visit
attract over 1,000 attendees.
www.rpbdla.org.
Royals pummel Mets, are

up 20 in World Series
New York: T he Kansas City
Royals defeated the New York
Mets 71 in Game Two of the
World Series, thanks to an out
burst of runs in the sixth and
eighth innings and a complete
game performance from pitcher
Johnny Cueto. Royals shortstop
Alcides Escobar and firstbase

man Eric Hosmer drove in a pair
of runs each, and Cueto gave up
only two hits, safe ly lift ing
Kansas City over the Mets. The
series will head back to New
York for Game Three, scheduled
for Friday at 8:10 p.m. ET.
China to end
onechild policy
Beijing: China has decided to end
its decadeslong onechild policy,
the staterun Xinhua news agency
reports. Couples w ill now be
allowed to have two children, it
said, citing a statement from the
Communist Party.
The controversial policy was
introduced nationally in 1979, to
slow the population growth rate.
It is estimated to have prevented
about 400 million births. However
concerns at China's ageing popula
tion led to pressure for change.
Couples who violated the onechild

policy faced a variety of punish
ments, from fines and the loss of
employment to forced abortions.
TURN PAGE
India widens engagement with...
Continued from page 1
who was dressed in his usual kurta
with a pale blue sleeveless jacket
and churidar, in his closing
remarks, said: "This has been a
truly historic day. We had the
opportunity to listen to the whole
of Africa."
He said closer defense and secu
rity cooperation, especially in
capability development, will be a
key pillar of their partnership,
which was so "natural" as their
"destinies are so closely inter
linked" and "aspirations and chal
lenges are so similar".
Announcing that the next IAFS
will be held after five years, Modi
stressed Africa will remain at the
centre of India's attention and
engagement with it will remain
"intense and regular."
T he summit adopted a Delhi
Declaration seeking a decisive
push for United Nations Security
Council reform and calling on all
countries to ensure that their terri
tories were not used for crossbor
der terrorist activities, while also
adopted was a Framework
Ag reement
on
Strateg ic
Cooperat ion. Commemorat ive
coins and stamps were also
released, and President Pranab
Mukherjee later hosted a banquet
for the visiting leaders.
On the sidelines, Modi also had
bilateral meetings with 10 African
leaders including Eg ypt ian
President Abdel Fattah AlSisi.
Mo di who met 19 leaders on
Wednesday is slated to have more
bilaterals on Friday.
In his opening address as the
summit host, Mo di soug ht to
strengthen the IndiaAfrica part
nership by announcing 50,000
scholarships in the next five years.
"It is a meeting of dreams of one
third of humanity under one roof,"
Mo di said as he outlined a
roadmap for increased Indian
interaction with African countries

in a wide gamut including connec
tivity, infrastructure, power and
agriculture his speech evoking
loud cheers from the leaders in a
bid to enhance Indian influence in
a cont inent where China had
stolen a march with over $200 bil
lion investments in the last 15
years. He also called for a compre
hensive agreement on climate
change at a global conference later
this year. No one, Modi said, had
contributed less to global warming
than India and Africa, adding that
"the excess of few cannot become
the burden of many".
The summit, in which the visit
ing leaders were treated to a cul
tural extravaganza at the start
including African dances, also saw
the dresses and images of Africa
come alive with many of the lead
ers sporting traditional costumes
and headgear, including Liberian
President and Nobel Peace Prize
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and African
Union
Commission
chair
Nkosazana DlaminiZuma and
many speaking in their native lan
guages.
IAFS is a major initiative of the
Modi government to reach out to
the cont inent which has rich
resources, is witnessing faster
growth and has a similar demo
graphic profile. African countries
see large scope of cooperation
with India in diverse areas such as
agriculture and education.
South African President Jacob
Zuma described the re lat ion
between India and the African
countries as an embodiment of
SouthSouth cooperat ion and
dwelt on the roles "played by your
visionary former prime ministers
Jawaharlal Nehru and his daughter
Indira Gandhi".
Zimbabwean President Robert
Mug abe strong ly pitched for
reforms of the Security Council
and said Africa should get at least
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two permanent seats.

Apart from the concessional
credit in addition to the $7.4 bil
lion India has already committed,
Modi said India would also offer a
grant assistance of $600 million,
which would include an India
Africa Development Fund of $100
million and an IndiaAfrica Health
Fund of $10 million.
He said India and Africa would
deepen their partnership on clean
energy, sustainable habitats, pub
lic transport, health care, telecom
munications and climate resilient
agriculture.
Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz...

Continued from page 1
two candidates who thrived at the
debate have been slowly but clear
ly gaining strength over the last
few weeks.
Wrote T he Washington Post:
Rubio was good in the first two
debates. He was outstanding in
this one. The longawaited show
down between Rubio and Bush
wound up being a romp; Jeb tried
to attack on Rubio's Senate atten
dance but got schooled by a very
wellprepared Rubio. "Cruz had the
single most memorable moment of
the debate when, early on, he took
on the CNBC moderators for the
alleged gotcha questions they
were asking. It drew a huge
response in the debate hall and
outside of it and set the stage
for a litany of attacks against the
media from Cruz's rivals as the
night wore on."
Fox News said: "In conventional
terms Senators Cruz and Rubio
won Wedensday night's debate.
They were laser focused, quick,
smart, and passionate. T hey
de fended themse lves, their
records, and went on the offensive
at all the right times, calling out
the moderators on unfair ques
tions that were focused less on
policy than on personality."
Cartoonist: Mahendra Shah

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Dhiraj Kumar
Web Editor: B.B.Chopra
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TRISTATE COMMUNITY
Obama singles out US soccer's IndianAmerican chief

Washington,DC: US President
Barack Obama sing led out US
Soccer Federation's (USSF) Indian
American President Sunil Gulati as
he we lcomed the US women's
World Cupwinning champions
into the White House.
"I want to recognize a lot of peo
ple who made these incredibly tal
ented womenput them in a posi
tion to be able to showcase their
talent so e f fect ive ly," he said
Tuesday welcoming the team that
overcame Japan 52 in a thrilling
Canada 2015 Final in July.
"First of all, US Soccer President
Sunil Gulati. Please give him a big
round of applause," said Obama
amid applause. He also praised the
team's "outstanding coach, Jill
Ellis." Allahabadborn Gulati, 56,
President Obama poses with a jersey he received from the U.S.

Women's National Soccer Team during a ceremony to honor the team
and their victory in the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup. US Soccer
Federation's President Sunil Gulati is int he first row left.
was unanimously reelected to a
record third fouryear term as
USSF president in March 2014. A
Indianorigin banker to plead

guilty in regulatory leak case
New York: In a rare criminal
action on Wall Street, an Indian
origin former Goldman Sachs
banker, suspected of taking confi
dential documents from a source
inside the government, has agreed
to plead guilty, a media report
said on Tuesday.
Rohit Bansal and his source
Jason Gross, who at the time of
the leak was an employee at the
Federal Reserve Bank of New
York, will accept a plea deal from
federal prosecutors under which
they could go to prison for up to a
year, the New York Times report
ed.
Federal prosecutors are prepar
ing to this week announce crimi
nal charges against the banker,
Rohit Bansal, and an employee of
the regulator Gross.
"The outcome partly reflects
their lowleve l rank on Wall
Street. Bansal, who was 29 at the
time, was an associate at
Goldman," the report said.
T he Federal Reserve is also
expected to permanently bar
Bansal from the banking industry,
the report quoted a person briefed
on the matter as saying.
The report said that it is "rare"
for a Wall Street banker to face
criminal charges. Not a single
Wall Street chief executive was
charged after the financial crisis
even as bankers or traders have

faced charged in a few investiga
tions.
Under a tentative deal with New
York State's financial regulator,
Goldman is expected to pay a 50
million dollar fine and face new
restrictions on how it handled del
icate regulatory information.
The settlement would also force
Goldman to take the rare step of
acknowledging that it failed to
adequate ly supervise Bansal
"thrusting the bank back into the
spotlight just as it was beginning
to overcome a popular image as a
firm willing to cut corners to turn
a profit," it said.
In a statement, a Goldman
spokesman said that the banker
worked for the firm for less than
three months, and that the bank
"immediately began an investiga
tion and notified the appropriate
regulators" once it detected the
leak. Bansal had previously spent
seven years as a regulator at the
New York Fed and after he joined
Goldman in July 2014, he was
assigned to advise one of the
banks he previously regulated, a
midsize bank in New York, the
report said. It alleged that soon
Bansal received government infor
mation about that bank from
Gross, a former colleague who was
still working at the New York Fed.
former president of Kraft Soccer

for the New England Revolution in
Major League Soccer, he is also a
senior lecturer in the economics

department
of
Columbia
University.
"These champions deserve all the
attention that they've been getting.
After 16 long years, too many
heartbreaks, they flew north to put
America back on top of the soccer
world and they did it in style,"
Obama said. All 23 players, coach
es and backroom staf f filed in to
the East Room, greeted by a loud
ovation from the invited guests. To
begin the ceremony, a 13yearold
girl, Ayla, from Massachusetts,
shared a letter she wrote to
President and Mrs. Obama towards
the end of Canada 2015.
The letter explained her anger
after her brother told her that
'boys are so much better at soccer
than girls', and that she wanted the

White House's help to prove him
wrong.
Obama hailed young Ayla's
courage and used her letter to
frame his congratulatory remarks
to the recent Women's World Cup
champions. "They've done it with
class. They've done it the right
way. They've done it with excite
ment. They've done with style. We
are very, very proud of them," he
said. "Girls like Ayla [were told]
they weren't somehow supposed to
be as good at sports as boys,"
Obama said. "And Ayla got mad,
and she should be mad with those
attitudes."
"This team taught all America's
children that 'playing like a girl'
means you're a badass."
Prestigious award for

Sulabh movement founder
Dr Bindeshwar Pathak
Washington/New York: Indian
so cial act ivist and founder of
Sulabh sanitation movement Dr.
Bindeshwar Pathak has been
selected for the 2016 prestigious
"New York Global Leaders
Dialogue Humanitarian Award."
Following the visit to witness
examples of Dr Pathak's great
works by New York Global Leaders
Dialogue Chairman Mr Phil
Scanlan and esteemed Advisory
Council members Ms Pam Kwatra
and Mr Ketan Patel, the New York
Global Leaders Dialogue at its
board meeting in New York select
ed Dr. Pathak. He is a g reat
humanist and known as a social
reformer for his 42 years long
campaign against untouchability in
different parts of India.
In making the announcement
from New York, Mr Scanlan said,
"The New York Global Leaders
Dialogue is privileged to honor Dr
Bindeshwar Pathak at the 2016
leadership dinner April 12 at the
Harvard Club, New York. Dr Pathak
is a great humanitarian who for
decades has enhanced the quality
of life for millions of fellow human
beings. He embodies our philoso
phy of leadership, namely, that
leadership is focused on creating
Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak

collaborative new space in the
service of others. We are especially
attracted to leaders who transform
lives for the better, and Dr Pathak
stands tall in embodying these
rarest of qualities."
The New York Global Leaders
Dialogue thought leadership plat
form fosters international under
standing, collaboration, harmony,
inter generational connectivity,
cultural enrichment and human
dignitystanding at the intersec
tion of public, private sectors and
civil society. Leaders worldwide
welcome the opportunity to meet
as equals, exchange ideas, embrace
and contribute ideas to resolve
planetary challenges, and nurture
cohorts of younger leaders.
Advisory Council member Ms.
Pam Kwatra through a press state

ment said: "My colleagues and I
have been motivated by the way an
Indian sanitation activist through
his movement is changing the lives
of millions of Indians. It's highly
commendable that his work is
restoring the dignity of the mar
ginalized and mainstreaming them
in society."
Ms Kwatra lauded, "Dr. Pathak's
belief that providing the simple
things we take for granted such as
toilets can be a tool for social
change and that innovation is inte
gral to improving the lives of those
on the margins of society."
Dr. Pathak established Sulabh
Internat ional a So cial and
Behavior Change Coalition to
promote the adoption of improved
hygiene practices across the coun
try. Sulabh, which engages nearly
50,000 people, has constructed
nearly 1.3 million household toi
lets and 54 million government toi
lets based on an innovative toilet
design.
Nearly 15 million people use
these toilets daily. Apart from the
construction of toilets, the organi
zation is leading a movement to
discourage manual cleaning of
human waste.
TRISTATE COMMUNITY
Filmmaker Tirlok Malik wins

award at New York festival
New York: Emmy Award nomi
nated IndianAmerican lmmak
er Tirlok Malik won the best fea
ture lm award as also a special
Outstanding Achievement in the
Mult icultural Arts at the
Internat ional Film Fest ival
Manhattan.
Malik received the Outstanding
Achievement award in Acting,
Filmmaking, and Immig rant
Advocacy last week at the festi
val which shows lms, which
deal with social issues, according
to a media release.
T he fest ival has the most
diverse selection of world class
lms and a focus on social issues
and advocacy as part of the pro
gramming and goals.
Many of Malik's lms like
"Lone ly
In
America",
"Khushiyaan", "On Golden Years"
deal with the ef fects of migra
tion in America.
"I am happy to be a part of this
festival and I feel honored for
this award," said Malik.
Malik also received the Best
Feature Film (USA) award for
"On Golden Years." Luis Pedron,
Tirlok Malik
cofounder of the festival, said:
"T he lm "On Golden Years"
deals with social issues of retire
ment that millions of rst gener
ation immigrants face in their
lives." Films from many coun
tries such as Israel, Australia,
Philippines, Sweden, Singapore,
USA were shown at IFFM.
Written and directed by Malik,
"On Golden Years" is inspired by
the book "Seeking Roots" by Iggy
Ignatius, who is also the codirec

tor of the lm. The lm starring
Ranjit Chowdhry, Jyoti Singh,
Reeves Lehmann, Shetal Shah,
Noor Naghmi and Tirlok Malik
among others has been shot at
the Indian retirement communi
ty Shant iniketan in Florida.
Malik has recently launched a
website www.nritvlmclub.com
which streams Indian American
movies.
Oxigen launches money

transfer in the US
Cambridge, MA: Oxigen USA,
Inc. has announced the
launch of Money Transfer to
India with the best exchange
rate guaranteed. Indian
Americans can now send
money from New Jersey and
Florida to their loved ones in
India at an ef fective rate of
70 Rupees per Dollar for a
limited time only.
I am excited to be associat
Send money home and win a chance
ed w ith Oxigen services,
to meet Oxigen brand ambassador
which is at the threshold of
Sachin Tendulkar
exponential growth, says
Sachin Tendulkar, Oxigens Brand highest True Exchange Rate (net of
Ambassador. The Cricket Legend fees) guaranteed, enabled by a daily
to
compet itor
Sachin Tendulkar will be in New comparison
York in early November and Oxigen exchange rates. One can pay your
customers can win a chance to familys monthly phone, Internet,
meet Sachin in person. They can TV, and utility bills instantly from
simply register on Oxigen.com, join ones US credit card. Oxigen USAs
Oxigens Inner Circle and initiate a Chie f Happiness Ofcer Amir
money transfer by November 3, Alexander Hasson said, As the
2015. Oxigen.com brings to the US Diwali gifting season approaches
market a new way of transferring and Oxigen Brand Ambassador
funds to India that is far more ef Sachin Tendulkar comes to New
cient and hasslefree. Oxigen.com York for the All Star Cricket Series,
offers several unique features such its hard to think of a better time to
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types of transfers to multiple recipi visit Oxigen.com/theinnercircle
ents in a single check out, and the and Facebook.com/OxigenUSA
South Asian Breast Cancer Survivors video launched

New Jersey: Attended by more than
125 people, the South Asian Breast
Cancer Survivors Video launch
event was held at the TV Asia audi
torium in Edison, NJ on October
22. The video project was funded
by Susan G Komen National ofce
to the "Foundation for Morristown
Medical Center" Atlantic Health.
Several real life breast cancer sur
vivors attended the event to share
the brave stories about their trau
matic and life changing events and
delivered a powerful message of
getting regular screening and
requested all women not to shy or
afraid of coming out and ask for
help. The stories touched peoples'
hearts and it was an eye opener for
many in the audience. The brave
survivors were very ef fective in
conveying the message of early
screening, detection and interven
Real life cancer survivors attended the event.

tion to reduce complications and
emotional and nancial burden on
the family and save lives.
Dr. Aaron Chevinsky, Surgical
Oncologist and Dr. Muhammad
Abbasi, Oncology Specialist were
among the guest speakers who
provided excellent information on
benets of early and regular
screening, most common barriers
and myths about breast cancer.

Both physicians delivered some
facts and statistics about breast
cancer in South Asians and in gen
eral population and what steps
women can take to catch and
detect disease on earlier stages and
get some professional he lp to
reduce disease complications and
overall better outcome and disease
free life.
Breast Cancer is one of the most
common cancers among American
women af fects roughly 230,000
women as well as 2,300 men each
year and is responsible for more
than 40,000 deaths annually in the
United States. It does not discrimi
nate and strikes people of all races,
ages and socioeconomic status.
There are lot of myths and taboo
about cancer in South Asians and
physicians urged all women to
speak to their physicians if they
feel anything abnormal or detect
any abnormalit ies and do not
ignore early symptoms. The earli
er the detection, better the out
come and less complications and
overall chances of higher sur
vival,said Dr. Chevinsky. They also
answered questions from the audi
ence to provide some valuable
informat ion which was easily

understood by everyone.
Several South Asian nonprot
organizations, physicians, other
health care professionals, promi
nent business men/women, and
community volunteers were pres
ent at the video launch, to spread
awareness on early detection of
Breast Cancer in our community.
T he event was org anized by
Jig isha
Kothari,
Execut ive
Committee member of Indian
Health Camp of NJ IHCNJ, a non
prot organization in New Jersey
since 1999 which provides free
health screening and disease pre
vention fairs in South Asian com
munities. She has been afliated
with NJ Cancer screening and early
detection (NJCEED) program at the
Morristown Medical Center for
almost 14 years.
IALI 20th Diwali Food drive in progress

Donations will be given on Nov 14
This year IALIs three projects have been recognized by NY Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and Nassau County
Executive Ed Mangano. Food Drive project founder and convener for past 20 years Suda Sharma is third from right.
New York: T he annual India

Association of Long Island Food
Drive is part of the Diwali holidays
during which its members make a
special effort to help the hungry &
homeless Long Islanders by col
lecting food, medicines and mone
tary funds for The INN (Interfaith
Nutrition Network). The INN oper
ates 14 soup kitchens, 3 emer
gency shelters and a long term
housing program. This year its

three projects have been recog
nized by New York State and by
Nassau County.
For your Monetary & Food dona

tions or to attend the presentation
at the soup kitchen or any other
information call
Suda Sharma 516 541 1239 or
Aruna Saxena 631 683 4143
NATIONAL COMMUNITY
Indianorigin techies log

in to big Oracle event
San Francisco: As Oracle's
OpenWorld 2015 and JavaOne
conferences got underway here
with over 60,000 people from
141 countries exploring the
future of cloud computing, sev
eral people of Indian origin were
busy talking to innovators and
developers at one of the biggest
software networking platforms.
India is home to Oracle's sec
ond largest workforce of devel
opers and eng ineers and
accounts for its largest research
and development investment
outside the US.
"I have been coming to
OpenWorld for seven years and
have always found this the best
place for networking. The indus
try interactions have helped us
grow our business manifold,"
says Jag Bondugula, senior pro
gram manager with Virginia
based Concept Plus company.
Kishore Durvasula from
Fujitsu America, a rm that

of fers an extensive portfolio of
business technology services
and industry solutions, sees this
platform a perfect place to meet
and greet customers under one
roof.
"The presence here leverages
a unique headstart. For start
ups, this is the best arena to
explore new cloud solutions and
adapt to the changing technolo
gies faster," he said.
Pavani Manapragada from
McLane Company, a USbased
supply chain services company,
nds this an opportunity to nd
best solutions for her rm that
provides grocery and food serv
ice supply chain solutions to mil
lions.
"The mood is so upbeat here.
Things work out fast and in an
efcient way. Meeting all stake
holders at one place has made
my job simpler," she says.
Anita Adalja
implement agricultural prac
tices that promote soil health
and
energ y
e fciency,
improve water quality, and
reduce greenhouse gas emis
sions.
Adalja, a manager at the
Arcadia Center for Sustainable
Food and Agriculture, has
Nonprot Kiva wins $500,000

in Google Impact Challenge
San Francisco: T he San
Franciscobased nonprot organ
izat ion, Kiva, cofounded by
Indian American Premal Shah,
was voted as one of the top win
ners of the Goog le Impact
Challenge.
After being named one of the
top 10 nalists in late
September, w inners were
announced Oct. 21.
Being one of the top four (there
was a threeway tie for fourth,
which led to Google giving out
two additional top prize awards),
Kiva was awarded a $500,000
grant. The remaining organiza
tions in the top 10 earned a
$250,000 grant. In addition,
organizations will receive sup
port from Google volunteers, and
access to coworking space at the
Impact Hub Bay Area.
Kiva is a microlender company
that provides 0 percent loans to
small businesses around the
world, in over 80 countries, and
Farm Manager Anita

Adalja honored as
CHAMPION OF CHANGE
New York: Indian
American farmer
manager
Anita
Adalja is among 12
individuals from
across the country
who was recog
nized as W hite
House Champions
of Change for
Sustainable and
ClimateSmart
Agriculture at an
event
in
Washington, D.C.
Oct. 26.
T hese individuals were
selected by the White House
for their achievements and
w ill be honored for their
exemplary leadership and
innovation in agricultural pro
duction and education. The
Champions have he lped
worked to create a
more equitable and
sustainable food sys
tem by increasing
food access, sustain
able farming, farmer
training and farm
toschool education.
Under her manage
ment, Arcadia Farm
grows thousands of
pounds of naturally
grown produce that
is sold in low or no
food access areas in
Washington, D.C.,
through its mobile farmers
market prog ram. A so cial
worker by training, Adalja has
previously farmed at One
Woman Farm in Gibsonia, Pa.,
and was the farm manager for
Common Good City Farm in
Washington, D.C.
Kiva hopes the grant will

lead to generating
$4 million in funding for
about 800 community
entrepreneurs to build
their business and
strengthen Oaklands
economy within three
years time.
Kiva cofounder Premal Shah.

locally in Oakland, Calif., that are
socially impactful but nancially
excluded.
Google Impact Challenge advis
ers, including Google.org director
Jacqueline Fuller, former U.S.
Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice, San Francisco Foundation
CEO Fred Blackwell and former
San Francisco mayor Willie
Brown Jr., among others, looked
for projects w ith innovat ive
approaches, ambitious plans to
improve the lives of local resi
dents, and nimble, adventurous
leadership teams to execute their

vision. They narrowed the list
from 25 to 10 before the compe
tition went into the peoples
hands. Voting took place Sept. 29
through Oct. 20. The $500,000
grant winners were the Peoples
Choice honorees.
Kiva hopes the grant will lead
to generating $4 million in fund
ing for about 800 community
entrepreneurs to build their busi
ness and strengthen Oaklands
economy within three years
time.
Eric Parkers retrial begins for

slamming Sureshbhai Patel
Washington, DC: As the retrial began
of an Alabama police ofcer accused
of slamming an Indian grandfather to
the ground while taking a walk last
February, prosecutors said they have
good evidence on their side.
Former Madison Ofcer Eric Parker
faces up to 10 years in federal prison
for slamming down Sureshbhai Patel
Feb 6 days after he had arrived from
India to take care of his grandson.
Patel who does not speak English was
left partially paralyzed after the inci
dent.
Parker is charged with deprivation
of rights under color of law. His rst
trial ended early last month with a
hung jury as the jury split 102 in
favor of acquittal.
"Civil rights cases are important to
us. We feel like the evidence we have
is good. The jury has video evidence
they can see," Robert Posey, rst
assistant US attorney for the northern
district, was quoted as saying by
Alabama public radio. "We feel that
these cases deserve resolution so

that's why we're going to try it again,"
he said.
After meeting lawyers of both sides
behind closed doors, US District Judge
Madeline Hughes Haikala Monday
ordered that, unlike during the rst
trial, media will not be allowed to
report or blog from the courtroom.
Reporters will be allowed to take
handwritten notes and report after
they leave. The order is intended to
stop witnesses from hearing what
other witnesses have said to discour
age false testimony, inaccuracies or
collusion.
Meanwhile, South Asian Americans
Leading Together (SAALT ), an
umbrella community organization,
demanded justice for Sureshbhai
Patel. It expressed the hope that the
retrial is heard before a jury that truly
represents the population of Madison,
Alabama where one in ten residents
speaks a language other than English
at home.
NATIONAL COMMUNITY
Sikhs excel at the Parliament of Worlds Religions

New York: The American Sikh
Council (ASC) led with other
Sikh organizations the Council
of Parliament of Worlds
Religions (CPWR) participation
at Salt Lake City, Utah from
October 15 19. This event is
held every four years and this
year it was attended by over
9,500 people from over 50 dif
ferent religious/peace organiza
tions and more than 80 coun
tries.
T he
hig hlig ht
of
the
Parliament of Worlds Regions
was the Guru Ka Langar which
was a combined ef fort of the
Sikhs across the US and world
wide. The local sangat of the
Sikh Gurdwara Sahib of Utah
took the lead, providing volun
teers and services in every area
of the Guru Ka Langar. Guru
Nanak Nishkam Sewa Jatha
(GNSSJ) of UK brought in dis
plays and provided volunteers
Turban tying was very popular at the event.

to serve the Guru Ka Langar.
Khalsa Care Foundation of Los
Angeles provided phenomenal
services to cook the Langar.
Sikhs held several seminars,
panel discussions and presenta
tions. The Sikh speakers spoke
about their religion, their histo
INDIANORIGIN
DOCTOR INDICTED
IN GRAFT CASE
New York: An Indianorigin
gynaecologist has been arrest
ed in the US for allegedly
accepting favors from a phar
maceutical company in return
for prescribing its osteoporosis
drugs, a media report said.
Rita Luthra, 64, was arrested
on T hursday for allegedly
accept ing free meals and
speaker fees from Warner
Chilcott, a New Jerseybased
pharmaceutical company, in
return for prescribing its osteo
porosis drugs, wwlp.com news
website reported on Friday.
She is also charged w ith
allowing the company's sales
representat ives to access
patient records and lying to
federal investigators.
Osteoporosis drugs are used
to cure a medical condition in
which the bones become brittle
and fragile from loss of tissue.
According to court do cu
ments, Luthra, based in
Longmeadow
town
in
Massachusetts, was indicted for
violating the AntiKickback
Statute, wrongful disclosure of
individually identifiable health
information and obstructing a
criminal health care investiga
tion by lying to federal agents
and directing an employee to
do the same. The indictment
also seeks $23,500 in criminal
forfeiture. The AntiKickback
Statute is a criminal statute

that prohibits the exchange (or
offer to exchange), of anything
of value, in an effort to induce
(or reward) the referral of fed
eral health care programme
business.
T he court documents said
that from October 2010 to
November 2011, Warner
Chilcott company allegedly
paid Luthra $23,500 to pre
scribe its osteoporosis drugs.
On multiple occasions, the
company
representat ive
allegedly broug ht foo d to
Luthra's medical office for her
and her staff, and paid Luthra
$750 to talk with her for 2530
minutes while she ate.
It was noted that the compa
ny's sale of osteoporosis drugs
increased as it paid Luthra for
prescribing the drugs. T he
sales took a nosedive when the
company stopped pay ing
Luthra.
She was also alleged to give
access to the pharmaceutical
company's sales representative
to protected health information
in her patients' medical files.
She was accused of providing
false information to federal
agents when interviewed about
her relationship with the phar
maceut ical company and
directed one of her employees
to also lie.
ry and their traditions. There

was also a lot of focus on the
issues and problems Sikhs have
had in the past, especially since
9/11/2001. Other speakers
focused on the current issues
such as discrimination, hate
crimes, bullying and harass
ment, in the US and in Punjab.

The speakers emphasized the
teachings of love, humility, uni
versality of all and the oneness
of the Almighty. Some of the
key presenters were Lord
Indarjit Singh of UK, and S.
Gurtej Singh of Chandigarh,
Punjab. The presentations were
very well received.
Other prog rams included
Kirtan by the Nishkam Sevak
Jatha and by Raagi Kultar Singh
and his Jatha. Sikh youth organ
izations had a good display and
presentations in the Sacred
Space room. The visiting guests
were treated with detail infor
mation on the Sikh Faith.
The American Sikh Council
(ASC) had an exhibit where they
handed out educational materi
als on the Sikh Faith while tying
turbans on anyone who wanted
one. Over the next few days ASC
volunteers tied over 500 tur
bans. While tying turbans ASC

members had one on one con
tact with guests and the undi
vided attention for five or so
minutes to explain and discuss
their heritage. The turban tying
became so popular that when
ASC ran out of turban material.
The guests brought their own
scarfs and had ASC members
tied them like dastaars/turbans.
On the final day during the
closing ceremonies in a hall
with over 5000 attendees, the
organizers singled out the Sikhs
for praise. Although there were
only about a hundred Sikhs in
total, there were another 400
people walking around with
turbans! T he chairman of
CPWR said that it was the first
time I have seen so many Sikhs
brown Sikhs, white Sikhs,
black Sikhs, yellow Sikhs and
why not? A thunderous
applause followed.
Bharat Natyam and fireworks at early

Diwali celebrations in City of Aurora
Aurora (Illinois): A local school audi
torium was converted for a few
hours into a mini India for the
Diwali celebration hosted by the
City of Aurora, the second largest in
Illinios, after state capital Chicago,
of which it is a suburb.
Over 4,000 people, mostly Indian
Americans in traditional attire,
attended the event, organized by
the Indian American Community
Outreach Board of the city. The
guests were treated to an eclectic
collection of dances ranging from
vignettes from the Ramayana to
semiclassical and Bollywood
dances expertly performed by ama
teurs, many of them second genera
tion Indian Americans.
The fastpaced cultural extrava
ganza entertained the crowd, while
serving as an introduction to India's
mythological and cultural heritage
for USborn Indians and non

Indians. Cuisines from various
Indian states and traditional Indian
apparel and jewelry provided a
feast for the eyes and palate.
A video presentation projected
glimpses of Indian history and cul
ture. Aurora mayor Tom Weisner lit
the traditional lamp inaugurating
the event, which started with
Ganesh Aaradhana and included a
Bharat Natayam performance
'Rama Ravana' depicting the slaying
of the 10headed demon king.
Weisner, whose unstinted support
led to the city hosting the first
Diwali event last year, appeared vis
ibly pleased at the success of the
event, as well as the contribution of
the Indian American community to
the cultural fabric of the city.
"Indian Americans have enriched
the city with their unique contribu
tion to music, dance and cuisine," he

said. Other e lected of ficials
endorsed him. US Congressman Bill
Foster said that Diwali reminded
Americans of how multiple cultures
have contributed to the American
heritage. Among those attending
were two members of the state leg
islature, Indian consul general
Ausaf Sayeed and several aldermen.
Krishna Bansal, the chairman of
the board, noted that it was fitting
that Diwali, the festival of lights
should be celebrated by Aurora, the
city of lights. (Aurora, named for the
goddess of dawn was the first city
in the United States to get public
electric lights.) "Diwali, which sym
bolizes the victory of light over
darkness, or the triumph of virtue
over evil, has assumed greater rele
vance in a world torn by division
and strife," he said.
Garba enthusiasts swirl at the Sankara Eye Foundation organized fundraiser Dandia event at Santa Clara
Convention Center in California. (Photo: Avni Bid Photography & Sankara Eye Foundation)
10
US AFFAIRS
New York City Council Candidate Joe Concannon
When two opponents are

better than one
ideologically pure liberalism. I believe that

such a sincere, though in my mind misbe
gotten, struggle in the hearts and minds of
liberal Democrats will prove extremely
helpful to me in November.
By Robert Golomb
oe Concannon this Novembers

Republican / Conservative / Reform
Party candidate for the New York City
Councils Central Eastern Queens 23rd CD
seat, previously held by Democrat Mark
Weprin who vacated it last month to take
an appointment to a position in the Cuomo
Administration, told me in a recent inter
view that for him the metaphorical glass of
water has always been half full, never half
empty. It is a philosophy, he said, that he
has always tried to live by.
Concannon, who running solely on the

Reform Party line in 2013 was defeated by
Weprin in that falls general election, has
the right to feel heartened by such strong
support from Republicans, independents
and moderate Democrats and encouraged
by such internal struggles some liberal
Democrats appear to be experiencing.
party af filiations. It doesnt matter what

voters current political ties are, stated
Concannon. Nor, alluding to his loss to
Weprin two years ago, he added, does
2013 matter, when I ran a last minute cam
paign on only the Reform Party line....
People here in Queens and, in fact, through
out the city have seen the quality of their
lives go down under Mayor De Blasio and
many of his rubber stamp pals in the City
Council. And that is what concerns the vot
ers today.
Concannon pointed to the reported rate
That would seem to be the right philoso

phy to have for Concannon who will be fac
ing two opponents in this falls special elec
tion: former New York State Assemblyman
Barry Grodenchik, who won the Democratic
primary last month, defeating 5 opponents
to secure the partys nomination; and
activist Rebecca Lynch, who came in third
against Grodenchik in the primary and is
now running for the seat on the Working
Families Party Line.
The buzz within Queens political circles
is that what before the Democratic primary
had been widely viewed to be an uphill
campaign for Concannon has received a
major boost from having in Lynch and
Gro denchik two tradit ional liberal
Democrats, competing for and, presumably,
dividing the votes of their common base.
It is a buzz that Concannon, 54, an Air
Force Veteran and a retired NYPD Captain,
told me he has heard, not only directly from
political professionals, but also indirectly
from voters. It is funny in a way,
Concannon told me, most Republicans,
many independents and many se lf
described moderate Democrats with whom
I have spoken tell me they cannot separate
the two {Lynch and Grodenchik} because
both are liberals with the exact same failing
liberal philosophy.... These folks from these
3 distinct groups have become my most
natural and most enthusiastic supporters,
Concannon contended.
And I also have spoken, he added, with
many se lfident ified loyal liberal
Democrats. During sometimes lengthy dis
cussions, which sometimes developed into
friendly debates, I would frequently hear
the comment that while they would never
vote for me because I am a Republican,
they were still struggling to make a final
choice between Lynch and Grodenchik,
because they find that the policies of both
these candidates represent their kind of
Joe Concannon (Republican) was joined by someprominent Indian Americans when he

launched his campaign in June this year.
73 percent in the 105th precinct. This is

attributable, I believe, he asserted, to
Mayor De Blasios antipolice policies and
antipolice rhetoric, about which my two
opponents are totally on board.
To attempt to reverse this rise in violent
crime, Concannon said he will use his posi
tion in the City Council to fight for the
return of the type of policing that brought
crime to record lows during the Giuliani
and Bloomberg Administrations. I will use
my voice in the City Council to strongly
advocate for a return once again to the
proactive policing strategies that made
New York City the safest major city in
America during the prior two {mayoral}
administrations, he promised. It worked
in the past and should have never been
reversed by Mayor De Blasio and the City
Council.
Concannon added that, in addition to
public safety, there are other quality of life
issues that voters have voiced to him dur
ing the campaign. In every neighborhood I
have visited, Concannon told me, I have
constantly heard people complain of a bro
ken 311 system {the New York City hot line
number to report nonemergency prob
lems}. They are rightfully outraged that
they often receive no response from city
agencies when they report such problems
as broken sidewalks, hanging tree limbs
and garbage illegally dumped on their
block. If elected I will immediately go to
work with my colleagues on the council to
address the problems with 311 and begin
to move the city back in the right direction
regarding all quality of life issues, from
crime on down.
Should he, in fact, be elected, Concannon,
the married father of three and grandfather
of two, will be only one of four Republicans
compared to 47 Democrats on the 51mem
ber City Council, making his optimism
appear perhaps quixotic. But despite that
obstacle, Concannon remains convinced
that he could still be a positive force on the
council.
Joe Concannon speaking at a Sikh Festival at Martin Van Buren park.

However, he should, perhaps, feel dispirited
by the voter registration numbers in the
23rd District showing registered Democrats
outnumbering Republicans by 4 to one, a
count that has remained in that range for
decades.
This disadvantage in voter registration,
however, doesnt concern Concannon, who
told me he believes the race will be decided
on quality of life issues currently on the
minds of voters rather than by political
of the increase in violent crime as the most

serious sign that the quality of life for New
Yorkers has deteriorated since Bill de Blasio
became Mayor in 2013. Citing available
NYPD reported crime statistics, Concannon
stated, Under Mayor De Blasio whose poli
cies are supported by both of my oppo
nents, the murder rate has gone up by more
than 5% citywide and a frightening 20% in
the 105th precinct which covers the majori
ty of the district, and the rate of rapes has
gone up by 6% citywide and a frightening
I believe, said the former police captain,

My strength has always been my ability to
form cooperative, goal oriented coalitions
with a disparate group of people. I was able
to do that in my career in law enforcement
and will be able to do so on the City
Council, regardless of its {political party}
composition.
Words to be expected from a guy who has
always believed that the glass of water is
half full.
Robert Golomb is a nationally and inter

nationally published columnist. Mail him at
MrBob347@aol.com and follow him on
Twitter@RobertGolomb
US AFFAIRS
11
Budget deal between

Obama encourages limits on
White House and Congress standardized student tests
Washington: The House

voted
266167
Wednesday to approve a
budget deal that raises
the nation's debt ceiling
throug h March 2017,
potentially avoiding a fis
cal crisis that could have
ensued if the nat ion
defaulted on its loans.
The measure amounts
to one final package craft
ed by House Speaker
John Boehner with other
legislative leaders and
President Obama, as
Boehner wraps up a
tumultuous career lead
ing the House. The deal
also clears the plate for
GOP speaker nominee The deal is Speaker Boehners gift to his successor, Paul Ryan,
Paul Ryan, who surprised
in a way clearing the stables.
some
conservat ives
Wednesday when he announced he would get back to normal.
T he focus now turns to the Senate,
support the measure. T he deal was
approved as 79 Republicans joined with where Sen. Rand Paul has promised to fili
187 Democrats to easily clear the number buster the leg islat ion, but Senate
of votes needed to send the measure to the Republican leaders were "confident" they
Senate. House Appropriations Chairman could push the measure to Obama's desk.
Hal Rogers, a Kentucky Republican, said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
the deal accomplishes something almost has also built in enough time to the debate
better than avoiding default: a chance to to overcome Paul's maneuvers.
Washington: Addressing one of educa

tions most divisive issues, President
Obama on Saturday called for capping
standardized testing at 2 percent of class
room time and said the government
shares responsibility for turning tests
into the beall and endall of Americ an
schools.
Students spend about 20 to 25 hours a
school year taking standardized tests,
according to a study of the nations 66
largest school districts that was released
Saturday by the Council of the Great City
Schools. But its not known how much
class time students spend preparing for
tests that became mandatory, starting in
Walgreens, Rite Aid merge to create drugstore giant

New York: Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. agreed to buy Rite Aid Corp. for about $9.4 billion, in
a move that would create a drugstore giant as companies across
the U.S. healthcare industry look for ways to bulk up. Walgreens
agreed to pay $9 a share in cash for Rite Aid, offering a 48% pre
mium to Rite Aids closing price Monday. Rite Aids stock rose 43%
to $8.67 on Tuesday after The Wall Street Journal reported on the
merger talks. Walgreens shares rose 6.4% Tuesday to $95.16. The
deal, which would unite two of the countrys three biggest drugstore owners, would be likely to
draw scrutiny from antitrust regulators, who could demand divestitures in exchange for their
approval. It also adds to a blockbuster year for healthcare mergers and acquisitions, helping
to put 2015 on track to be the busiest year ever for M&A. Including assumed debt, the transac
tion is valued at $17.2 billion. Rite Aids debt totaled $7.4 billion in August.
or most of my life, if someone told me that I
Fwould be running for of fice, beseeching
over 750,000 people for their trust and vote, I

would have laughed. I would have explained
that someone who was born in Africa,
brought up in United Kingdom and who
spent most of her life in the United States as a
housewife is not the type of person who wins
elections. Government of fice is for people
who are higher than me, I would have said.
But here I am now.
Nasrin Ahmad
For Town Clerk
Town of Hempstead
third grade, under the George W. Bush

era No Child Left Behind law and are a
flashpoint in the de bate over the
Common Core academic standards.
Learning is about so much more than
just filling in the right bubble, Obama
said in a video released on Facebook. So
were going to work with states, school
districts, teachers, and parents to make
sure that were not obsessing about test
ing.
To drive the point home, Obama and
Education Secretary Arne Duncan plan an
Oval Of fice meeting with teachers and
school officials working to reduce testing
time.
Here I am, three years in. Here I am, an immi

grant, a mother, a wife, a lifelong fan of Dilip
Kumar and Mohammed Rafi. Here I am,
working with a staf f of professional public
employees leading the charge to deliver first
class services to the people of our Town. Here
I am, working every day with a fantastic team
of Republicans in of fice to continue to
provide efficient, fair, honest and accountable
governance of this Town. Here I am, the first
South Asian elected official in the history of
Long Island, asking for your vote, announcing
to all of you that I am once again running for
the of fice of Town Clerk of the Town of
Hempstead.
We in the Town Clerks office have come a
long way, but the work we do is not a sprint
from one point to another, it is an ongoing
journey to continue to de liver on our
promises to the people of the Town. Taking
Advertisement paid by Friends of Nasrin Ahmad
my 14 years of experience working in various

staf f positions in the Town Clerks of fice, I
have led various initiatives to help better the
lives of all residents of Hempstead: Mobile
services to every school, senior center, library
and community facility. Extended hours of
Thursday so everyone can access our wonder
ful, efficient serivces. Fully bilingual service
across all departments in the Town Clerks
of fice. And in spite of all of these new and
productive services to the public, the Town
Clerks office budget is now 7% lower than it
was when I entered office.
My name is Nasrin Ahmad and I refuse to
waste your tax dollars; I refuse to have my staff
offer anything but the best service to you and
your loved ones; I refuse to slow down just
because of what we have achieved; I refuse,
regardless of what Im doing or where I am, to
ever stop in my Godgiven responsibility to
help people in any way that I can.
I thus respectfully and humbly ask you for
one thing: your vote. With your vote and
those of your families and loved ones, I can
continue working to provide you with the
best services at the lowest possible cost to
taxpayers. Thank you, God bless you, and God
bless the United States of America.
Come out and vote on November 3.
12
INDIA
India, Africa should pitch India to deepen cooperation with

Africa in countering terrorism: Modi
for UNSC reforms,
says Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the inaugural ceremony of the 3rd

India Africa Forum Summit 2015, in New Delhi.
New Delhi: India and Africa must
speak in one voice for reforms in
international institutions like the
UN Security Council, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi said. Addressing the
IndiaAfrica Forum Summit here,
Modi said the international institu
tions cannot be representative of
the world if they do not give place
to India and Africa.
"The world is undergoing politi
cal, economic, technological and
security transition on a scale and
speed rarely seen in recent history.
Yet our global institutions reflect
the circumstances of the century
that we left behind, not the one we

are in today," the prime minister
said.
"This is a world of free nations
and awakened aspirations. Our
institutions cannot be representa
tive of our world, if they do not give
voice to Africa, with more than a
quarter of UN members, or the
world's largest democracy with one
sixth of humanity," he said.
"That is why India and Africa
must speak in one voice for reforms
of the United Nations, including its
Security Council," the prime minis
ter added.
New Delhi: Evincing a shared feel

ing of pain over the killing of
innocents in terror incidents in
Africa, Prime Minister Narendra
Modi sought to deepen coopera
tion with African countries in
maritime security and countering
terrorism.
ddressing the third meeting of
the IndiaAfrica Summit (IAFS)
here, Modi said there were links
that unite India and Africa against
the threat of terrorism. He said
that on the issue of security, coun
tries were no longer insulated by
distance.
"Today, in many parts of the
world, the light of a bright future
flickers in the storm of violence
and instability. W hen terror
snuffs out life on the streets and
beaches, and in malls and schools
of Africa, we feel your pain as our
own. And, we see the links that
unite us against this threat," he
said.
He said that when nations are
caught in conflict within, no one
around remains untouched.
"We also see that when our
oceans are no longer safe for
trade, we all suf fer together. We
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses at the inaugural ceremony of

the 3rd India Africa Forum Summit 2015, in New Delhi.
know that our cyber networks
bring opportunities but also carry
huge risks. So, when it comes to
security, distance no longer insu
lates us from each other," he said.
"That is why we wish to deepen
our cooperation in maritime secu
rity and hydrography, and coun
tering terrorism and extremism...
and, why we must have a UN
Bihar's third election phase ends,

53 percent vote
Patna: The third phase of Bihar's

staggered assembly polls ended
with 53.20 percent of the 14.5
million electorate voting in 50
constituencies across six districts.
Addit ional Chie f Electoral
Of ficer R. Lakshmanan said the
exercise passed of f peacefully,
including in areas where Maoists
are active. There were only minor
clashes between rival political
activists.
According to of ficials, more
than 7.5 million people voted dur
ing the day in a battle that has pit
ted the BJP led by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi against the Grand
Alliance of Chief Minister Nitish
Kumar.
T he voters on Wednesday
included Nitish Kumar, his ally
and RJD leader Lalu Prasad, BJP
leader and former deputy chief
minister Sushil Modi and BJP's
dissident MP Shatrughan Sinha.
After voting in Patna with his
family, Lalu Prasad, a former chief
minister, hit out at Modi.
"Modi is playing the communal
card on reservation. People in the
country never expected such
words from the prime minister,"
he said.
He was re ferring to Mo di's
statement that the Grand Alliance
was trying to put in quotas in jobs
and educational institutions for
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar show his finger marked with
phosphorous ink after casting his vote during the third phase
of Bihar assembly polls in Patna.
Muslims. Sushil Modi also voted in
Patna. And so did Nitish Kumar
and Shatrug han Sinha, a
Bollywoo d veteran who has
embarrassed the Bharatiya Janata
Party by publicly praising Nitish
Kumar.
When journalists asked him
who he thought will win the Bihar
battle, Sinha retorted: "Khamosh"
(silence). The MP has been side
lined by the BJP in the election
campaign. Polling began at 7 a.m.

in the districts of Patna, Saran,
Vaishali, Nalanda, Bhojpur and
Buxar. It got over at 4 p.m. in 10
constituencies located in Maoist
strongholds. Elsewhere it ended
at 5 p.m.
Nalanda is Nitish Kumar's home
turf, and is w ide ly known as
'Kurmistan' due to the dominance
of his Kurmi caste.
As in the first and second
rounds of polling on October 12

and 16, serpentine queues formed
at polling stations since early in
the morning.
Of ficials said voters in over a
dozen villages boycotted the polls
to protest what they said was lack
of development in their areas.
Lalu Prasad's prestige was at
stake on Wednesday as his sons
Tej Pratap Yadav and Tejaswi
Yadav were in the fray. They con
tested from Mahua and Raghopur
respectively in Vaishali district.
The BJP is banking heavily on
Dalits and other backward castes,
including Yadav voters, besides
most upper castes to get the win
ning votes. Its allies include the
Lok Janshakti Party, Hindustani
Awam Morcha and Rashtriya Lok
Samata Party.
The JDU has tied up with the
RJD and Congress.
According to the Association for
Demo crat ic Re forms and the
National Election Watch, 215 of
the candidates in the third round
faced serious criminal charges,
including those of murder.
The staggered elections to pick
a 243member Bihar assembly
will end on November 5. T he
results w ill be known on
November 8. The fourth round of
polling w ill take place on
November 1.
Comprehensive Convention on
International Terrorism," he said.
Modi said India will also provide
support for Africa Union's peace
keeping efforts.
"We will train African peace
keepers here and in Africa. We
must also have a stronger voice in
decisions on UN peacekeeping
missions," he said.
India
announces
$10 bn credit
for Africa
New Delhi: Prime Minister
Minister Narendra Modi has
announced a credit of $10 bil
lion to Africa which will be in
addition to the ongoing credit
program.
"To add strength to our part
nership, India will offer conces
sional credit of $10 billion over
the next five years. This will be
in addition to our ongoing credit
program," said Modi.
He was speaking on the last
day of the IndiaAfrica Summit
Forum here.
Modi also pledged an assis
tance of $600 million to the con
tinent and 50,000 scholarships
for African students in India.
"We will also of fer a grant
assistance of $600 million. This
will include an IndiaAfrica
Development Fund of $100 mil
lion and an IndiaAfrica Health
Fund of $10 million," Modi said.
"It will also include 50,000
scholarships in India over the
next five years. And, it will sup
port the expansion of the Pan
Africa ENetwork and institu
tions of skilling, training and
learning across Africa." he
added.
14
INDIA
India central to connecting next

billion, world: Zuckerberg
New Delhi: The world cannot be connected without India,

so cial media platform Face book's founder Mark
Zuckerberg said.
"It is very important to connect people in India (one of
the largest democracies) as it is central to our plans of
connecting the next billion people and then the whole
world," Zuckerberg said at the townhall meeting held at
the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi.
"India is one of those countries which you cannot over
look if you want to connect the world," he added. The
townhall at IIT Delhi follows the Menlo Park chapter at
Facebook headquarters which was held during Prime
Minister Narendra Modi's second US visit.
Zuckerberg also reiterated his commitment to India by
clarifying his plans of opening schools here.
"We have opened schools in Africa with internet capable
infrastructure to give a boost to education quality and we
are evaluating plans to open such schools in India in the
future," the chief executive said.
Asked about net neutrality and Internet.org, Zuckerberg
said the platform via its free basics program aims to solve
three problems of connecting to the internet availability,
affordability and awareness.
"We are trying to aid availability by streaming the inter
net via satellites. In terms of affordability, free basics is
free to use and also low on data consumption. Users are
not forced to pay for the service," Zuckerberg said reiterat
ing the need of an open internet platform like its propri
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg visited Taj Mahal in

Agra Oct 27 and found it "more stunning than I expected".
etary initiative Internet.org in India while reminding that
Facebook always supported net neutrality and adhered to
regulations.
"We have always adhered to net neutrality regulations
but there are several countries who still do not have
norms in place. We will adapt to them as soon as they are
in place as we are in the favor of being 100 percent net
neutral," Zuckerberg said. Further explaining, he said "Free
basics programme under the Internet.org initiative aims to
connect the next billion people. It does not intend to harm
anyone neither the consumers nor the operators," he
said.
"Any developer who can stream lowdata consuming
139DAY FTII STRIKE ENDS,

PROTESTS TO CONTINUE
Pune: FTII students who went on

strike on June 12 against the
appointment of Gajendra
Chauhan as its chairman
returned to their classes said
protests against the BJP member
will go on. Meanwhile, three FTII
alumni returned their National
Awards to join the agitation.
T he Film and Te levision
Institute of India students said
they will continue to protest in a
"peaceful and democratic man
ner" against Chauhan, who they
say is not fit to head the coun
try's premier film institute.

Ranjit Nair, spokesperson for
the FTII Students Association,
said that the strike was over.
"We have come to realize, after
our longstretched negotiations
with the government, that the
government is a bully," a miffed
Nair said.
He said the students will now
invite people from all over the
country who face similar prob
lems. "The strike will escalate
now... It's time to register our
protest all over again and take it
to different heights," Nair said.

To this end, three prominent
FTII alumni Vikrant Pawar of
Maharashtra, Rakesh Shukla of
Uttar Pradesh and Prateek Vats
of Goa decided to return their
Nat ional Awards in protest
against what they termed "an
atmosphere of intolerance" in the
country in the past few months.
"More will follow," Nair said,
adding that they are looking to
garner increased support from
the country's filmmaking com
munity for their cause.
Akhilesh sacks eight ministers,

strips nine of portfolios
Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief
Minister Akhilesh Yadav sacked
eight cabinet ministers and with
drew portfolios of nine ministers
in a major shakeup of his min
istry. The move is being seen as a
precursor to the cabinet reshuffle
scheduled for October 31 when
some new faces are likely to be
included in the 43monthold
Samajwadi Party government.
T he ministers who have been
removed from the state cabinet
are Shiv Kumar Beria, Bhagwat
Sharan
Gangwar,
Ambika
Chowdhary, Aridaman Singh, Alok

Kumar Shakya, Yogesh Pratap
Singh, Shivakant Ojha and Narad
Rai.
Sources say the ministers have
been removed on action initiated
by the SP high command for their
nonperformance and, in some
cases, on specific complaints. The
nine ministers who have been
stripped of their portfolios
include Raguhraj Pratap Singh
alias Raja Bhaiyya, Avd hesh
Prasad, and Ahmad Hasan, who
held the health and family wel
fare portfolio.
Other ministers to be divested
of their ministries are Paras Nath
Yadav, Ram Govind Chowdhary,
Durga Prasad Yadav, Brahma
Shankar Tripathi, Iqbal Masood
and Mehboob Ali. Their depart
ments, for now, will be with the
chief minister.
Close aides of the chief minister
told IANS that the cabinet expan
sion scheduled for Saturday will
see a "stamp of Akhilesh Yadav
and will be a mix of young energy
and experience".
content can be a part of the platform," the chief executive

told a gathering of 1,100 people expressing his discontent
in some way over the ongoing debate about net neutrality.
"Internet.org is currently live in 24 countries and has 50
million subscribers. India itself has nearly over one million
people subscribed to the platform," Zuckerberg said reiter
ating his favourite example of quoting a research that
claims that every 10 people connected to the internet lifts
one life out of poverty.
Currently, India has no regulations on net neutrality.
Communications and Information Technology Minister
Ravi Shankar Prasad in a reply to the Lok Sabha had said
"the committee of the department of telecommunications
on net neutrality has submitted its report. However, it is
not the final report nor the government has taken any
final view."
"Based on the report, comments, suggestions and recom
mendations of TRAI, the government will take a consid
ered decision on various aspects of net neutrality, in the
best interest of the country," Prasad said.
The chief executive, who is a role model for many
techies, when asked about the entrepreneurs in India said
that Facebook was doing its best to provide low cost tools
to entrepreneurs here. In addition, Zuckerberg also gave a
sneak peak of how the future Facebook should look like by
divulging several new fundamental features that the com
pany was working on including a fix for users getting
'irritating' Candy Crush requests.
President calls
Geeta 'symbol of
IndiaPakistan unity'
Geeta, a deafmute Indian woman who had been stranded in

Pakistan for over a decade, is received in Indian by
foreign minister Sushma Swaraj.
New Delhi: A day after returning
to India from Pakistan where she
was stranded for years, speech
and hearing impaired Geeta met
President Pranab Mukherjee
who called her "a symbol of
IndiaPakistan unity" and Chief
Minister Arvind Kejriwal and
took a ride on Delhi Metro.
"You are the daughter of both
our countries, a symbol of India
Pakistan unity. God has listened
to your prayers," Mukherjee told
the 23yearold when she called
on him at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
A Rashtrapati Bhavan state
ment said Mukherjee blessed
Geeta, a Hindu who strayed into
Pakistan when she was around
11 years old in 2003. Pakistan

Rangers promptly handed her
over to the Edhi Foundation that
took care of her since then.
Unable to explain who she was
and from where she came, Geeta
began living in Pakistan, and
grew from a teenager to a young
adult.
The president also thanked
Bilquis Bano Edhi and the Edhi
Foundation for their good work
in Pakistan.
Before meeting the president,
Geeta met Delhi Chief Minister
and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal,
who asked her about her life in
Pakistan and how she strayed
into that country.
16
SPIRITUALITY
Of that which is at the

tip of your nose
The Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, USA celebrated its
35th anniversary on Oct 18, 2015 in New York
with a conversation between Sadhguru Jaggi
Vasudev and Dr. Deepak Chopra, moderated
by financial adviser and Grammynominated
Chandrika Krishnamurthy Tandon.
The topic was "Ancient Wisdom in Modern
Times". Here are excerpts from the transcript
of the conversation.
Edited by Parveen Chopra
Transcribed by Jinal Shah

Chandrika Krishnamurthy Tandon: We
have two amazing people here who have
come to this topic of wisdom from two dif
ferent perspectives Dr Chopra has come
to it as a doctor, scientist and author, and
Sadhguru has come to it as a mystic, who
has seen the unknowable. Essentially,
theirs are three broad perspectives that
will be the context for this conversation.
First, that you have to look at the world
through a dif ferent prism. The second
broad theme is that if you are able to do
that, you will have unimaginative benefit
for the body and mind. The ripple effect
will make you better people and you can
have better families. The third theme is
that it requires rigorous work, for which
you need science and technologyyoga,
Inner Engineering (as Sadhgurus program
is called), selfinquiry, selfdiscipline.
Since both of you have been talking
about these topics for a long time, has
your thinking changed?
Dr Deepak Chopra: My thinking has
changed. When I started moving out of
mainstream socalled scientific thinking, I
was trying to establish, in my mind, the
connection between my mind and body.
And over the last four decades, I have real
ized that there is no system of thought
that can access truth or reality. Whether it
is scientific system of thought or mathe
matical system of thought or quantum
physics. None of these systems can give us
the experience of reality, because reality is
beyond thought, reality is inconceivable to
the mind. These systems of thought create
models of reality. And we have faith in
them, because once we understand a
model we can create technology. So we
think science gives us access to reality.
But even science is an activity in some
thing that is not mind, that is not matter
and for lack of a better word it is a field
of awareness.
Universe is a modified form of what the
great sages call Brahman. Your mind,
your body and the universe out there is all
conceived, constructed, governed and the

becoming of a nonlocal, inconceivable,
dimensionless reality which is not in space
and time.
Now, this is very difficult for a modern
person to grasp but it is part of ancient
wisdom traditions. If you read the Yoga
Vashistha, it says, that which cannot be
seen but without which there is no seeing,
that which cannot be perceived but with
out which there is no perception cre
ativity, insight, intuition, choice, every
thing we call reality comes from an incon
ceivable, dimensionless, nonlocal domain
which is not in space and time. So when
Lord Krishna talks about it water cannot
wet it, wind cannot dry it, weapons cannot
shatter it, fire cannot burn it, its ancient,
its not subject to death. Now that is incon
ceivable to mind which is experiential.
When you settle into awareness, when you
settle into existence, that is called
Sachitananda or Tatvamasi (That Thou
Are). Thats not an intellectual experience,
thats a transcendent experience.
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev: I cannot say
more about thought, because I dont have
much thought. This may sound like an
oxymoron to people, but the fact is most
of the time I dont have any thought. For
me the phenomenon of life happening
within me always overcomes everything
else. Thought occurs to me only when I
want to physically do something, other
wise days on end will pass without a sin
gle thought. So, maybe I never grew up!
When people ask me what has been my
Sadhana and I say my only Sadhna has
been, right from my childhood I never got
identified with anything, either the family,
the culture or the religion or the society
or the various other things happening
around me. I am involved with them but
never identified with anything.
If human intelligence does not tie itself
down with identity, every human being
will realize the nature of life human intel
ligence is capable of figuring this. When I
Sadhguru: At some point

Arjuna asked, Where is
this truth? It seems,
Krishna laughed and
said, Its at the tip of your
nose. Tip of the nose is a
metaphor for the most
obvious thing in India.
say intelligence, as Deepak pointed out, it
is beyond the thoug ht pro cess.
Fortunately, because of the type of educa
tion systems we have today, we are com
pletely committed to one dimension of
intelligence, which we call as the intellect,
which is just the thought process. Thought
can only happen with the data you have
gathered through five senses, which is
very limited. And this data is only useful
for survival process. If you want to know
life itself, then these instruments of per
ception are no good.
Nature opens up our sense of percep
tion as is necessary for our survival. If sur
vival is all you are seeking, this is good
enough. But once you are born as human
being, survival is not good enough. So the
nature of the human being is such that no
matter what you do, you want to be some
thing more. Somewhere a human being is
seeking a limitless expansion, but trying
to do it with physical needs. The very
nature of physicality is the defined bound
ary. If there is no defined boundary, there
is no possibility of physical happening in
the universe. But now the human being is
longing for the boundless that too in
installments and through physical needs.
The desire is fantastic, the method is
hopeless, because the moment you identi
fy itself with something, whatever that is
nation, family, gender, race, religion your
intellects work is just to protect that iden
tity. It is a certain type of prejudice, the

moment you identify with something. So,
the only thing I did with my life is I never
identified myself with anything, and life
just exploded within me in ways that
thoughts seemed so puny, that I do not
indulge in thought most of the time.
Tandon: In some way, shape or form we
pride ourselves as thinking human beings,
this is a tough thing to follow
Sadhguru: Thinking is just recycling of the
data you have just gathered.
Tandon: What is the leap of faith that you
go from this perspective of thinking and
thoughts to we dont belong to anyone, we
are not identified with any instrument,
with any sort of localness.
Sadhguru: This is not something that peo
ple would not get, they will get this. This is
not some great teaching I am telling you.
If you get it right now in your life, your life
will transform in ways that you cant
imagine possible, otherwise someday you
will get it from the maggots.
Dr Chopra: (to the audience) Just for a
moment turn your attention to who or
what is listening. What you experience is
being, right? Another word for awareness
or existence, its not a thought. A thought
is what creates a subjectobject split. Being
is all there is, and being is not a thought.
Even now if I ask, are you aware? Thats
being, and everything else is just a modu
lation of that. Its a feeling or a thought or
a sensation or a perception. We call that
the mind, body, the universe, but all there
is is being and its modulations.
As Sadguru said, the mistake of the intel
lect is that there is a separation between
the observer and the observed because the
observer and the observed are the single
holistic activity of the total universe.
Tandon: What is the barrier that people
havent seen it yet? It seems obvious at
one level and yet it is very dif ficult to
grasp on the other.
Dr Chopra: For some of us who are
Continued on page 17
brought, educated in a scientific world
view that emphasizes recycled information
as he (Sadhguru) said, it is very difficult to
intellectually get to being because we
identify with our perceptual experience,
with our intellect, with our mind, ego,
identity. So it always seems a struggle till
one day youll stop struggling and you are
there. Once you identify with a thought,
then you are in time as thought is in time
but being is not in time.
Sadhguru: I am completely spiritually une
ducated. I dont know from where I have
quoted. I have not quoted generally except
the grandmother Gita thats around us. I
have to admit that I have neither read the
Gita nor the VedaUpanishads, not even
the Yoga Sutra. The most profound litera
ture I read is Asterix comics! I never found
the need to read any thing spiritual
because I never wanted to clutter my own
clarity with anything outside. And the only
thing I know is this piece of life from its
orig in to its ult imate and thats all.
Because you know this piece of life
through inference, you seem to know
everything else. Right now you believe
that I am sitting here, but the fact is light
is falling upon me, reflecting, going
through your lenses... So if you see me,
you see me only within you. If you hear
me, you only hear within you. Light and
darkness happens within you, pain and
pleasure happens within you. In other
words the entire human experience is hap
pening within you. What happens within
you is the way you want it, then suddenly,
you are able to create what you want to
happen in the world is also tremendously
enhanced. It is realization, not achieve
ment. Realization is that it was always
there, I am stupid enough not to see and
suddenly one day I saw it.
Everybody is quoting Gita, let me also
quote: At some point Arjuna asked, Where
is this truth? It seems, Krishna laughed
and said, Its at the tip of your nose. Now
there are many schools of yoga that are
asking to focus on the tip of the nose and
people are getting a headache. What I am
trying to say is, if you pay attention to
your existence, not to your thought or
your emotion, it is the most obvious thing.
Tip of the nose is a metaphor for the most
obvious thing in India.
Tandon: Dr. Chopra, what is scientific
inquiry with this construct, which is real
ization?
Dr Chopra: I met two people, like
Sadhguru, who said I never read anything,
one was Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and the
other was Jiddu Krishnamurti.
Thats unusual, because he fell into exis
tence. I struggled, I read all the scientific
literature, medical literature, psychology,
Bhagavad Gita, Rig Veda, Vedanta. For me
as a person who had been trained to look
at things scientifically, it was both a strug
gle and a need because reality is not a
map and yet science g ives us maps.
Patanjali gives us a map, Gita gives us a
map. Some of us need maps for psycholog
ical validation.
Sadhguru: Now I get this, I met someone
who is GPS.
Dr Chopra: But GPS is also a map, right?
Tandon: Sadhguru, so GPS is a Guru
Positioning System in your term.
Chopra: For the last ten years, at our cen
ter when we teach people to just sit in
reflection, contemplative selfinquiry or
SPIRITUALITY
transcendence, Vipasana, we have been
able to look at the brain, we have been
able to look at the gene expression, at cell
markers of aging to inflammatory markers
at a biological ce ll leve l. We look at
23,000 genes, 3.3 million bacterial genes
and epigenome (shallow proteins outside
the genome), and how these work togeth
er. What we are finding is remarkable. In
the beginning nobody would believe us,
but now we have collaborated w ith
Harvard, UCSF, Duke University, with
Mount Sinai. We can look at a blood sam
ple and we can tell you just by looking at
it and the gene expression, you are experi
encing Samadhi occasionally or not, if
your mind is quite or not.
Tandon: It is interesting that even though
science opens up the window, it is still
boiling the ocean in a kerosene stove.
Science can go only so far, because there
are so many forms of knowing and so
many forms of seeing as you have said. So
its a challenge.
Sadhguru: Even science is a series of real
izations. Science is not outside of this.
Science evolved because of a series of
realizations but happening in small spurts.
Knowing the physical dimension of how it
functions allows you to do many things
with the physical world which you see in
the form of technology today.
Dr Chopra: Very important thing but sci
ence has now brought us to what we call
the door of the subempirical and the sub
empirical is less than .01 percent of the
unmanifest which is scient ifically
unknown above.
Sadhguru: You obviously cannot access it
with thought process because thought is
an accumulative information which you
recycle according to your convenience.
Right now our ideas of who we are is
determined by this. Your experience of
myself is the boundaries of your sensa
tion. The nature of the boundaries of sen
sation are such, if you allow your life to be
in certain level of exuberance, you will see

the boundaries of your sensation will
expand.
So what is yoga, the word yoga means
union. That means, you experience the
entire universe as yourself. This is hap
pening because you have found a mecha
nism by working with the body, mind,
emotion and energy. You have set up a
stepbystep system within yourself where
your energies are kept at such a level of
exuberance that your sensory body is as
large as the universe. Once you experience
everybody around you as yourself then I
dont have to tell you dont kill this person,
dont rob this person, and be nice. All
morality will be useless for you because
you have experienced everything as
myself. You dont have to try to be good,
your goodness is a consequence, and your
goodness is not an effort.
Dr Chopra: He (Sadhguru) is saying it
experientially but the fact is if you ask sci
entists, are there any boundaries in the
universe, they will tell you there arent. So
boundaries are conceptual ideas.
Tandon: If you had $10 billion to spend,
on scientific exploration or giving experi
ences to people to get their own path of
realization, where would you spend it?
Dr Chopra: The answer is obvious, the
experience. But I would have a problem
with that because I work with scientists.
The answer is experience and experiences
dont cost $10 billion. I would probably go
science just because I am still struggling
with my scientific peers.
Sadhguru: The experience has not become
widespread because there is no infrastruc
ture, neither physical infrastructure nor
human infrastructure for inner experi
ence. The nature of human intelligence is
such that if you dont mess it up with
belief systems every human will find it.
Every human being is capable of knowing
this. It is not a super human thing, the
most important thing to remember is this
17
yoga or spiritual process is not about

becoming super human, it is about know
ing that being human itself is super.
Tandon: Whats your definition of suc
cess?
Dr Chopra: Success is the ability to love
and have compassion, success to some
people is the progressive realization of
worthy goals, and success ultimately is
knowing who you are.
Sadhguru: If you can be blissed out no
matter whats happening around you, if
you can be involved and not be affected by
whats happening around you, not by
removing yourself. I think thats success.
Tandon: What advice would you give
Angela Merkel (German Chancellor deal
ing with the tide of Syrian refugees)
today? Compassion or sovereignty?
Dr Chopra: Its obvious, compassion, there
is no such thing as sovereignty. I think all
nationalism is a sophisticated form of trib
alism. I think your essential being has no
religion, race or gender no assumed iden
tity but pure consciousness.
Sadhguru: Being a very economic force
what she is managing right now, I would
say, do not invest in conflict. We wont
even need the compassion, people will be
fine by themse lves. You should stop
investing in conflict. Stop the supply of
ammunition. If you do not invest in con
flict, we would not need your compassion.
Tandon: If there is a saying or an affirma
tion we could all use in our everyday lives
as we all progress in our quest, what
would that be.
Dr Chopra: It might seem very banal, take
it easy. Easy come easy go, thats my epi
taph.
Sadhguru: There is no need to disbelieve
anything. What you know, you know.
What you do not know, you do not know.
If this one thing comes to every human
being, every thing w ill run smoothly
around us.
Video Courtesy: Isha Foundation
Music genius AR Rahman was honored by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan for his worldwide contribution to music and humanity.
18
ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD
The Punjabi singer achieved fame with

his song Mundiyan toh bach ke rahin.
'London
thumakda'
singer found
dead at Mumbai
residence
ondon thumakda" fame singer
Labh Janjua was found dead at
his residence in Goregaon (West)
recently, police said. He was found
dead in his bedroom when his maid
came for her routine work.
Labh's body was taken to Cooper
Hospital for post mortem and the
police was investigating further as his
sudden death raised several questions.
Labh Janjua sang for numerous
Bollywood films like "Pyaar Ke Side
Ef fects", "Dev.D", "Singh is Kinng",
"Partner", "Queen" and "Garam
Masala".
Labh also crooned for Akshay
Kumar's latest release "Singh is Bliing".
Shah Rukh and Kajol in a still from DDLJ.
Better films than DDLJ

were, will be made: SRK
ear 2015 has marked two decades
since the iconic Bollywood roman
tic entertainer Dilwale Dulhania Le
Jayenge (DDLJ) released. The film is still
being screened at a Mumbai theatre. The
movie's leading man Shah Rukh Khan
holds the film close to his heart, but says
there are better films that were made and
will be made.
"There are better films that were made
and will be made than DDLJ. Yes, realisti
cally and practically speaking, maybe
there won't be any films that will run for

20 years now because of strong digital
world, but it's not that there will be no
films better than DDLJ," the 49yearold
said.
"I am sure there will be 100 films better
because all of us (actors and filmmakers)
would try to give better than the best
with every film," the 'King of Romance'
said on the sidelines of the shooting of
his next film "Dilwale".
Asked if "Dilwale" has the potential to
amous Pakistani singer

Adnan Sami has
been allowed to
stay in India on
humanitarian
grounds till fur
ther orders, media
reports said.
Minister of State
for Home Kiren Rijiju on
Tuesday informed the
Lok Sabha that the singer was
exempted from deportation proceedings under section 3 of the
Foreigners Act.
"...in pursuance of the powers conferred under section 3A
of Foreigners Act, 1946 (31 of 1946), the central
government being of the opinion that it is neces
sary and expedient in public interest to do so,
hereby declared that provisions of clauses (c)
and (e) of subsection (2) of section 3 of the
Foreigners Act 1946 and paragraph 11 of
the Foreigners Order, 1948, shall not
apply to Adnan Sami Khan, son of late
Arshad Sami Khan, and he is
exempted from deportation pro
ceedings. This order shall remain
valid until further orders are
issued on the subject," the home
ministry order said.
The 46yearold singer submitted a
representation to the home ministry on
May 26, 2015, requesting for his stay in
India on humanitarian grounds. Sami, who
came to India on a visitor's visa, had been
staying in India since March 2001.
Adnan Sami
allowed to stay
in India on
humanitarian
grounds
The film will be shot in a threemonth starttofinish

schedule beginning July next year.
arlier this month, we wit
nessed the re lease of
Aishwarya
Rai
Bachchans comeback lm
Jazbaa that was directed by
Sanjay Gupta. While the lm
opened to mixed response, we
hear that Gupta has since
moved on to his next venture.
In fact Guptas untitled next
will apparently feature none
other than the Krrish star
Hrithik Roshan. If all goes as
per plan, Guptas next with

Hrithik will be produced by
the actors father Rakesh
Roshan, and will be shot in a
threemonth starttonish
schedule beginning in July
next year, media reports said.
As for the lm itse lf, a
source close to the project
adds that the lm will be an
intense love story and is writ
ten by a new writer who
brought the concept to Gupta.
repeat the magic of 20year long run of

"Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge", SRK said:
"I dont think (so), as time has changed."
"When we started the film (DDLJ) in
1990S, there was this concept of golden
jubilee, silver jubilee and plat inum
jubilee. Now the function has changed
and that era is over. I think audience is
more accessible now and also the number
of theatres are more. Unfortunately,
nowadays we talk about two weeks only,"
he said.
Sami, who came to India on a visitor's

visa, had been staying in the country
since March 2001.
ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD
19
'Shaandaar': Avantgarde gone awry

reated like a fantasy film with a
backdrop of an ostentatious Indian
wedding, Vikas Bahl's "Shaandaar"
is actually the story of a fatherdaughter
bonding. With a love story being an
essential ingredient for a commercial
Hindi film, that too, is thrown in for good
measure.
Bankrupt and on the verge of penury,
the wedding, is a business deal, pouts the
matriarch of the Arora family, Kamala
(Sushma Seth) during a family confer
ence that consists of her three sons:
Vipin (Pankaj Kapur), Viren and Vinay
(Sagar Arya), daughterinlaw Geetu (Niki
Walia), granddaughter Isha (Sanah
Kapoor) and an orphan girl Alia (Alia
Bhatt) who has been adopted by Vipin.
Jagjinder Joginder (Shahid Kapoor) is
the wedding planner who arrives to
ensure the smooth execution of this big
fatSindhi wedding. Predictably so, he
falls in love with the orphan Alia.
The full length film offers nothing new and in fact disappoints.
Isha, Vipin's daughter, is the sacrificial
goat in the family and is being betrothed
to Robin (Diljit Dosanjh), brother of a rich
Sindhi businessman Harry Fandwani

(Sanjay Kapoor).
If the plot and premise of the film seem
promising, it is the execution of the tale

that is flawed and is the film's undoing.
Humor comes in the form of absurd
dialogues and situational moments with
gags, which make the film appear more
like a theatrical show with disjointed
acts.
In an otherwise convoluted and slow
paced film, where the plot meanders aim
lessly, what keeps you hooked are the
good performances by the ensemble cast.
Shahid plays the exuberant Punjabi wed
dingplanner to perfection and is equally
the Prince Charming to the insomniac
Alia, whether it is keeping her company
at night or taking her horseriding.
Alia, is her usual confident and ener
getic self, of fering nothing new to her
character. She dances with gusto and
performs competently, but her role has
shades of her oftseen characters.
The full length film offers nothing new
and in fact disappoints.
Singh in awe of Deepika's look in 'Bajirao Mastani'.

The star cast of Angry Indian Goddesses.
ctor Ranveer Singh, who stars
alongside his rumored girlfriend
Deepika Padukone in Sanjay
Leela Bhansali's Bajirao Mastani,
says he couldn't get his eyes off her
in the forthcoming historical
romance film's new song Deewani
Mastani. T he song, which was
launched on October 17, features
Mastani (Deepika) in all her beauty and
glory. Ranveer took to Twitter to share
his thoughts about the song, which has
been sung by Shreya Ghoshal and Ganesh
Chandanshive.
I couldn't get my eyes off her in this song either! #BajiraoMastani,
Ranveer tweeted alongside a photograph of Deepika from the song.
Ranveer
couldn't
take his
'eyes o'
Deepika
Angry Indian Goddesses' gets

standing ovation at Rome lm fest
an Nalins film "Angry Indian Goddesses" (AIG)
received an eightminute long standing ovation
by the critics and reviewers at the Rome Film
Festival. The director was overwhelmed by the
response he got for the film.
Italian audience have been very generous to me
and my movies, I have a special connection with this
country as I often choose to come and write here. So
'Baahubali 3' on cards: Rajamouli

ilmmaker S.S. Rajamouli said that the third
part in the "Baahubali" franchise is definitely
on cards. However, it won't be experienced in
a way films are regularly viewed. Baahubali 3' is on
cards. But the story that's written for the two parts
will not be dragged for the sake of it. This story will
conclude with the second part itself (sic)," Rajamouli
posted on his Twitter page.
He added that Baahubali 3 will be done in a way
that audiences have never experienced via films
before. According to an industry source, Rajamouli is

planning a spinoff on "Baahubali". "He's planning to
work on a prequel to 'Baahubali'. It could be a spin
off on the franchise itself," a source close to the film
maker said. Meanwhile, Rajamouli will resume film
ing "Baahubali 2" from midNovember or early
December.
The filming of Baahubali 2 will resume from

midNovember or early December.
tonight's reaction reconfirms how universal 'AIG' is!

It seems all women are connecting to 'AIG' almost all
over the world," Nalin said in a statement,
The film follows the stories of seven girls. It nar
rates the tale of how Frieda, essayed by actress
SarahJane Dias, invites her closest girlfriends to Goa
to announce her wedding, and it all turns into a wild
bachelorette party.
20
OP-ED
STYLE MUST ACCOMPANY SUBSTANCE:

A time for transformational leadership
By Amit Dasgupta
t is extraordinary how quickly

we be lieve smart slogans.
Advertising and marketing are
based precisely on the ability to
win subscribers and getting them
hooked through language and
packaging.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
has understood this all too well.
When he spoke of 'aache din', he
struck an immediate chord of
empathy through the contrast with
the previous four years. Similarly,
his call for Swachh Bharat and
Digital India resonated across
socioeconomic classes. People
were hooked. This was political
marketing at its best. His 'Make in
India' was cast in a similar mould.
But marketing gurus are also
aware that advertising is not a sub
stitute for the product. Consumers
look through gimmickry because
man cannot live by slogans alone.
T he unexpected defeat of the
Vajpayee government in 2004 that
rode on the crest of the 'India
Shining' wave ought to be a sober
After 18 months of Modi's government, for most Indians, barring the

very rich, happy days continue to be illusory.
ing reminder for the government.
After 18 months of Modi's gov
ernment, for most Indians, barring
the very rich, happy days continue
to be illusory. The economy, which
is poised to overtake China, and
notch 7.5 percent GDP growth rate,
owes much to falling oil prices and

to a slowing down of the Chinese
economy than to any economic
reforms that have eased doing
business in India. Taxation policies
remain opaque and unpredictable
and, thus, a clear disincentive for
foreign investors. Even the bizarre

retrospective tax, promulgated by
the previous government, is yet to
be amended.
Furthermore, for the aam aadmi,
food prices whether of onions or
pulses continue to rise. Social sec
tor spending has drastically fallen,
especially in health and education.
At an entirely different level, even
the very social fabric of India
stands threatened with ministers
and political allies making hugely
irresponsible statements and
indulging in acts of gross intoler
ance towards minorities, Dalits and
dissenters. While the central gov
ernment can, most certainly, take
the plea that in a federal polity, it
cannot be held accountable for
everything that happens through
out the country, it ought to stir, if
not shake, the government's con
science, especially when President
Pranab Mukherjee finds it neces
sary to publicly remind the nation
of the idea of India.
Modi's advocacy of transforming
India into a manufacturing hub can
be exciting and most certainly gets
us all hooked. After all, if it could

happen and there is no reason as
to why it cannot jobs would be
created, foreign investment would
flow in and economic growth
would receive a substantial boost.
The 'Make in India' example illus
trates how the government has not
backed its slogans with action, or
vision with strategy. Over the past
18 months, the quality of life has
not improved. Indeed, many would
say that there has been a percep
tive decline, especially in gover
nance. When senior ministers and
party functionaries label dissent as
being 'manufactured' or 'selective'
or 'pseudosecularism', it only
diminishes the government and,
worse, it attacks the very core of
democracy itself.
Mr Prime Minister, a huge man
date was given to you to realize the
aspirations of the Indian people. It
can happen only when you realize
that you are Prime Minister of all
Indians. This lies at the core of
transformational thinking and
thus, leadership. Many call it the
tipping point.
Can a Punjabi ever become the Prime Minister of Canada?

By Gurmukh Singh
t is balleballe time for Punjabis in

Canada after their chak de phatte per
formance in the just concluded parlia
mentary elections.
After all, having 19 MPs five turbaned
and five women in a House of Commons
of 338 is no small deal for a community
which numbers just about half a million in
a population of 35 million. Which means
about 5 percent of new Canadian lawmak
ers will be Punjabi.
As a Sikh cabbie in Mississauga summed
up the communitys moo d in chaste
Punjabi, Maza aa gaya, paaji. Hun bani
gal. Apne lok hun bahut aage badhan gai.
(Hurrah! Thats it. We Punjabis will go far
now).
Indeed, Punjabis have already gone far
within the last two decades from having
just one MP to 19 MPs in the House of
Commons and there is speculation that
the day is not far when one of them will
become the prime minister of Canada.
Of course, a Punjabi will become the
Prime Minister this country in the coming
years. I have no doubt about that, asserts
Nachhttar Singh Chohan who is the presi
dent of the Indian Trucking Association,
based in the Punjabidominated city of
Brampton on the outskirts of Toronto.
Look, we had just one or two Punjabi
MPs from all over Canada till 1997 and
today we have 19.
In our Brampton city where we Indo
Canadians make up more than 35 percent
Ujjal Dosanjh became the first nonwhite

premier (equivalent to chief minister in
India) when he won the top post in British
Columbia province in 2001.
of the population, Sikhs have won all the
five seats. The same thing happened in
Surrey city in British Columbia. If you
have so many MPs from the Punjabi com
munity, I am sure someone among them
w ill shine brig hter and become the
leader, says Chohan who came to Canada
from Punjab in the late 1980s and today
owns a large fleet of trucks.
Ujjal Dosanjh, who created history in
Canada by becoming the first nonwhite
premier (equivalent to chief minister in
India) when he won the top post in British
Columbia province in 2001, doesnt dis
miss the idea.
Theoretically, anything is possible in
Canada. Unlike the US or the UK, anyone

can aspire to the top office in this country.
Yes, a Punjabi can become the prime min
ister of Canada. But that person should be
exceptional and many stars should align
favourably, says Dosanjh.
Radio host Kuldip Deepak, who has run
Canadas first and longestrunning talk
show Punjab Di Goonj since 1978 from
the Toronto suburb of Mississauga, does
nt even blink when he says, Yes, there is
every chance that Canada will a have
Punjabi PM one day.
Back in the early 1990s, we never
thoug ht that an IndoCanadian w ill
become an MP. Then Gurbax Malhi got
elected in 1993, and suddenly everyone
started dreaming of becoming an MP. This
e lection has thrown up encouraging
trends for the Punjabis, adds Deepak.
And the most encouraging trend is that
Punjabi MPs have been elected for the
first time from the areas where there is
hardly any IndoCanadian community.
Till now, Punjabi MPs have got elected
from Brampton, Mississauga and Surrey
where there is a big population of the
community. But this time, Punjabi MPs got
elected from the WaterlooHamiltonarea
where there is hardly any IndoCanadian
population. Young Sikh girl Anju Dhillon
who got elected from the Frenchspeaking
Dorval area where there are few Indo
Canadians, says the radio show host.
Even more importantly, most of the new
Punjabis MPs are Canadianborn. Some
are even bilingual fluent in French and
English which are the two of ficial lan

guages of Canada.
Interestingly, the fastest growing mil
lionstrong Canadian Muslim community
has just 9 MPs in the new House. The rea
son is that unlike Punjabis, the Muslims
are a very diverse and widely spread com
munity, and their numbers dont translate
into more MPs. The Chinese are even big
ger, but they have even fewer MPs.
Why have Punjabis have succeeded dis
proportionately in Canadian politics? This
is the question we often get asked, says
Nachhttar Chohan of the Indian Trucking
Association.
My answer is: Punjabis in Canada have
succeeded disproportionately in business
es and enterprises because they are hard
working and very aggressive. They have
brought the same hard work and aggres
sion to their politics and succeeded,
Chohan explains.
Chips in Punjab Di Goonj radio show
host Kuldip Deepak, who knows the pulse
of Canadas Punjabi community better
than anyone else, The election of many
young Canadianborn Punjabis as MPs
this time will encourage Punjabi young
men and women to take to politics in a big
way. You w ill see many many more
Punjabis as MPs, ministers, mayors and
councillors in the coming years.
Looks like the prime ministership of
Canada is not beyond their grasp.
(The article appeared in News East

West)
The views expressed in Op Eds are not necessarily those of The South Asian Times.
DIASPORA
Seven BritishIndians
listed in 'Influential
Asian people in Britain'
London: Seven BritishIndians have
secured a spot in top 10 of the
'GG2 Power 101 list'.
The GG2 Leadership Awards rec
ognize and reward high achievers
within ethnic minorities and cele
brate the very best of multicultural
Britain.
The awards were presented at
the 17th annual GG2 Leadership
Awards dinner on Wednesday in
London, The Guardian reported.
Pakistanorigin business secre
tary, Sajid Javid, has topped the list
of 101 prominent people with
Indianorigin Hinduja brothers
S.P and G.P.Hinduja of the global
conglomerate Hinduja Group
having jointly secured the second
spot.
Indianorigin employment minis
ter, Priti Patel, becomes the high
estranking woman, taking the
third place slot.
Britainbased Indian steel mag
nate Lakshmi Mittal and wife Usha
have jointly secured the fourth
spot. Mittal is the chairman and
chief of ArcelorMittal the world's
largest steelmaking company.
Fifth in the list is Ameet Gill. He

writes British Prime Minister David
Cameron's speeches and is one of
the premier's most trusted advi
sors.
Indian businessman Rakesh
Kapoor finds seventh spot in the
list. He is Chief Executive of Reckitt
Benckiser a Britainbased multi
national consumer goods compa
ny, a major producer of health,
hygiene and home products.
Venkatraman Ramakrishnan,
Nobel winner for chemistry has
been placed on eighth spot. He is
an Indiaborn American and British
structural biologist.
Anish Kapoor, an Indiaborn
Briton sculptor secures ninth spot.
He is famous for his "Cloud Gate"
sculpture in the US.
The list also includes youngest
ever Nobel Prize laureate Malala
Yousafzai. She is a Pakistani
activist for female education and
placed at tenth spot.
The second youngest catwalk
model, Neelam Gill and sitar player
and composer Anoushka Shankar
also featured in the list.
Mumbaiborn British
'Curry King' Noon dead
Mumbai: Mumbaiborn British
businessman Lord Ghulam
Kaderbhoy Noon, who earned the
moniker 'Curry King' for populariz
ing Indian chicken tikka and curry
in Britain and survived the 26/11
terror attacks in Taj Mahal and
Palace Hotel in Mumbai, has died
in London.
Born in Mumbai on January 24,
1936, the 79yearold Noon
breathed his last in a country he
adopted in 1964 on Tuesday
after a prolonged battle with can
cer.
While on a visit to India and his
birthplace in Mumbai, Noon was
among the thousands of guests
trapped inside the iconic Taj Mahal
and Palace Hote l during the
November 2629, 2008, Mumbai
terror attacks, and was later res
cued by security forces who
stormed and neutralized the
Pakistani terrorists.
Shiv Sena's youth leader Aaditya
Thackeray expressed grief over
the demise of Lord Noon, a promi
nent member of the Dawoo di
Bohra community who started
with a sweetmeat shop in Mumbai
nearly six decades ago.
"One of the most prominent
Lord Ghulam Kaderbhoy Noon

Indians in Britain, and beyond that
all, a very close friend of our fami
ly... Noon uncle was the epitome of
the 'never give up' spirit of entre
preneurship and humanity," said
Aaditya Thackeray.
Migrating to Britain in his teens,
Noon founded and ran a number
of food product companies in
Southall, specializing in Indian cui
sine.
His main business 'Noon
Products' was established in 1987,
manufacturing chilled and frozen
readytoeat Indian and T hai
meals, mostly for British super
markets. In 1994, the factory was
Indianorigin professor wins Chinese

award for boosting ChinaUK ties
London: An Indianorigin professor in the UK
has won China's firstever National Rainbow
Bridge Award for creating strong and mutu
ally beneficial technology partnerships
between China and Britain.
Professor Lord Sushantha Kumar
Bhattacharyya, chairman of Warw ick
Manufacturing Group ( WMG) at the
University of Warwick, was presented with
the award in Beijing yesterday.
The National Rainbow Bridge Award has
been awarded in recognition of the "leading
role that Lord Bhattacharyya has played in
the creation of strong and mutually benefi
cial technology partnerships between China
and the UK".
"To have played a role in this new age of
Chinese innovation has been a stimulating
and exciting part of my life for over 30 years
and I've witnessed the leaps in innovation in
Chinese technology in every field from astro
nautics to exoskeletons.
21
Lord Sushantha Kumar Bhattacharyya

"China's Research and Deve lopment
Budget is now larger than all of Europe's and
soon China will be the world's largest inno
vator. Together, we are creating a greener,
lighter, smarter world economy. Together,
we are building a bridge to a better tomor
row, a true rainbow bridge," Lord
Bhattacharya said.
He founded WMG in 1980 to help reinvig
orate UK manufacturing and improve the

competitiveness of organizations through
the application of value adding innovation,
new technologies and skills deployment.
It is counted among worldleading research
and education groups and one of the largest
organizations dealing in the multidiscipli
nary facets of manufacturing developments.
Xu Bingjin, president of the ChinaEurope
Association for Technical and Economic
Cooperation, said: "He strongly promoted
SinoBritish exchanges in education, science
and technology, especially in the earlier
stages of Chinese modernization construc
tion.
T he award was presented by Zhang
Rongming, the 10th and 11th vicechairper
son of the National Committee of the Chinese
People's Political Consultative Conference, at
a special ceremony as part of the 2015
China Annual Conference for International
Education in Beijing.
reduced to ashes in a blaze, but he

got it working within 10 weeks
and in 2005 it was acquired by
Irish food giant Kerry Group.
In 1996, he was made Member
of Order of British Empire (MBE),
Knight Bachelor in 2002, as Baron
Noon in 2011, and finally entered
the Brit ish House of Lords in
January 2011 as a Labor Party
leader.
Later, Noon became the chancel
lor of University of East London, a
Fellow of Birkbeck and a trustee of
Maimonides Foundation, which
promotes dialogue between the
Jews and Muslims.
Man charged
with mother's
murder in Canada
Toronto: A Gujarati man from
the
Toronto
suburb
of
Mississauga has been charged
with the murder of his mother.
Kunal Bhavan, 20, was arrest
ed and charged with second
degree murder for the death of
his 41yearold mother Vaishali
Patel on Sunday.
When the cops reached the
spot, they found the woman
ly ing w ith lifethreatening
injuries. She was transported to
a hospital where she succumbed
to her injuries on Sunday.
Bhavan was arrested from the
scene of the crime and charged
with murder.
Mississauga is home to a huge
populat ion of Indian and
Pakistan origin.
It is the sixth largest city in
Canada.
22
SUBCONTINENT
Over 300 dead as 7.5 earthquake rocks

Afghanistan, Pak and India
Kabul/Peshawar/New Delhi: A mas
sive earthquake struck remote and
impoverished regions of northern
Afghanistan and Pakistan, killing at
least 300 people as it shook build
ings across South Asia and
knocked out power and communi
cations to alreadyisolated areas.
The 7.5magnitude quake was
centered near Jurm in northeast
Afghanistan, 250 kilometers (160
miles) from the capital Kabul and
at a depth of 213.5 kilometers, the
US Geological Survey said.
According to media reports, at
least 237 people were killed in
Pakistan, with more than 1,000
injured, while Afghan of ficials
reported 74 dead and more than
250 injured, and authorities in the
Indiancontrolled Kashmir region
reported two deaths. Of ficials
expected the casualty toll to rise as
they reached the remote areas.
Initial reports show a big loss of
People stand outside a house damaged from an earthquake in

Peshawar, Pakistan.
life, huge financial losses in
Badakhshan, Takhar, Nangarhar,
Kunar and other regions, including
the
capital
Kabul,
said
Afg hanistans chie f execut ive

Abdullah Abdullah.
Exact numbers are not known
because phone lines are down and
No amnesty for fasting

Lankan Tamil prisoners: Govt
Colombo: There will be no com
mon amnesty for over 200 prison
ers, mostly Tamils, who staged a
hunger strike in jails throughout
the country, the Sri Lankan gov
ernment said. The prisoners went
on a sixday protest hunger strike
demanding swift procedural action
including a common amnesty.
"There was a meeting held with
the patronage of Prime Minister
Ranil Wickremesinghe. A few deci
sions were taken. T he Prime
Minister said it was not possible to
grant a common amnesty," said
Minister of National Dialogue
Mano Ganesan. "But the bail proce
dure could be expedited. Those
who are having their cases and
those under police action could be
ting out of their cars as they waited

for the quake to stop.
Hundreds of people in north
India poured onto the streets from
office blocks, hospitals and homes.
Delhis metro ground to a halt dur
ing the tremor although the airport
continued operating.
In the Kashmir region, panicked
residents evacuated buildings and
children were seen huddling
together outside their school in the
main city of Srinagar.
Pakistan mobilized its troops and
all military hospitals have been put
on high alert, army spokesman
Lieutenant General Asim Bajwa
said, with the air force also offer
ing support.
Afghanistan is frequently hit by
earthquakes, especially in the
Hindu Kush mountain range, which
lies near the junct ion of the
Eurasian and Indian tectonic
plates.
India to send Ramzan home

as a 'return gift' to Pak
Mohammad Ramzan (Centre) at the Childline shelter home in Bhopal.
Family members of Tamil detainees protest in Colombo.

granted bail. The of ficials have
been advised to look at this
process," Ganesan said. The Tamil
prisoners claim that they have

been held for a long time with no
charges being made against them.
Maldives VP arrested over plot

to assassinate president
Male: Police in the Maldives
arrested vice president Ahmed
Adee b in connect ion w ith an
explosion aboard the presidents
boat last month that authorities
have said was an assassination
attempt.
Adeeb was arrested at the air
port when he returned from an
official visit to China on suspicion
of involvement in the boat blast, a
police spokesperson said. He said
Adeeb had been taken to a deten
tion center. Soon after the Sept 28
blast aboard President Yameen
Abdul Gayooms speedboat,
communication has been cut off in

many areas, Abdullah said, adding
that the government has asked aid
agencies for relief.
The quake wreaked huge devas
tation in some districts, said the
governor of Badakhshan province,
Shah Wali Adib. So far 1,500
homes are reported to be damaged
or destroyed.
Horrifying news emerged of at
least 12 schoolgirls being trampled
to death in a northern Afghan
province.
The students rushed to escape
the school building in Taluqan city
(capital of Takhar), triggering a
stampede, Takhar educat ion
department chief Enayat Naweed
told media reports.
The quake, which lasted at least
one minute, shook buildings in
Kabul, Islamabad and New Delhi.
Traffic came to a halt in downtown
Kabul, with frightened people get
Ahmed Adeeb has been taken to

a detention center in Maldives.
rumors began circulating that
Adeeb was behind it, but he has
denied that he was involved. If the

president dies, is incapacitated or
resigns, the vice president suc
ceeds him, according to the
Maldives constitution.
Three soldiers, including a for
mer member of Adeebs security
detail and a member of the armys
bomb squad, were also arrested
Saturday in connection with the
blast, deputy police commissioner
Abdullah Nawaz said.
The explosion took place aboard
Gayooms boat as he and his wife
were returning to Male, the
Maldives capital.
Bhopal: India has decided to send

Karachi's
runaway
boy,
Mohammad Ramzan, as a 'return
gift' to Pakistan for returning
Geeta nearly 15 years after she
accidentally crossed over to their
territory.
Ramzan, the 15yearold
Karachi boy, was separated from
his mother at age of 10 when his
father Mohammad took him to
Bangladesh and remarried. After
being tortured by his stepmother,
the boy crossed the border alone
in 2011 with the hope of coming
back to his mother in Pakistan.
Ramzan had travelled to many
states before landing in Bhopal.
He was spotted at the Bhopal rail
way station by the government
railway police (GRP) on
September 22, 2013, and shifted
to a shelter home run by Childline.
Ramzan remained there since
then.
Archana Sahay, director of
Childline Bhopal chapter, tried
helping the boy but to no avail.
The ministry of external affairs
(MEA) had given up on Ramzan's
case. In an official communication
with Childline, MEA has said that

his is a "closed file" with no docu
mentary evidence to prove his
Pakistani citizenship.
"MEA has given us in writing
that nothing can be done in this
case. They say the case is closed.
W hat are we supposed to do
now?" Sahay had asked.
In September this year, a CA stu
dent from Bhopal traced the boy's
family in Karachi by sharing pic
tures via social media.
Ramzan's mother, Razia Begum,
after learning that her son is in
India, contacted Pakistan human
rights activist Ansar Burney with
a request for his re lease and
return. She also uploaded a video
appealing to the Indian govern
ment to send her son home.
Burney had mailed a copy of the
passports of Ramzan's grandpar
ents to the Indian embassy and
Childline for help. But all efforts
to send him home had failed.
However, after all these develop
ments, to reciprocate the goodwill
gesture of Pakistan, Prime
Minister's of fice (PMO) has
reopened the case file of Ramzan.
INTERNATIONAL
23
Syrias Assad says ready to Tony Blair apologizes for Iraq

hold presidential election
War 'mistakes'
Moscow: Syrian President Bashar alAssad
told Russian lawmakers in Damascus that
he was ready to take part in presidential
elections if the Syrian people support the
idea, news reports said, citing a lawmaker
at the meeting.
The Interfax news agency cited the same
lawmaker as saying Mr. Assad had also
expressed a willingness to discuss amend
ments to Syria's constitution and hold par
liamentary elections.
Moscow is a key foreign ally for Mr.
Assad, and Russia's Foreign Minister said in
comments aired on Russian TV on Saturday
that the Kremlin wanted Syria to prepare
for parliamentary and presidential elec
tions.
Reports said Assad held the meeting with
Russian lawmakers at his residence in
Damascus. Staterun Syrian media reported
that Assad was meeting a Russian delega
tion but made no mention of what he had
told them.
"Assad said that if the Syrian people con
sider it necessary, he would not be against
taking part in presidential elections," news
reports quoted lawmaker Alexander
Yushchenko as saying.
Syrian President Bashar alAssad.

Dmitry Sablin, another lawmaker in the
Russian delegation, told a news agency that
Assad had said the effectiveness of Russia's
military operation in Syria had exceeded
expectations.
London: Former British prime minister

Tony Blair has apologized for "mistakes" in
the planning of the Iraq War, admitting
that "the intelligence we received was
wrong", the media reported.
Blair, during an interview conceded that
there were "elements of truth" in the view
that the 2003 invasion of Iraq was the
"principle cause" of the rise of the Islamic
State (IS), news reports said.
"I apologize for the fact that the intelli
gence we received was wrong," Blair said.
"I also apologize for some of the mis
takes in planning and, certainly, our mis
take in our understanding of what would
happen once you removed the regime."
"I nd it hard to apologize for removing
Saddam. I think, even from today in 2015,
it is better that he's not there than that he
is there," he added. In the interview, Blair
acknowledged the link between the Iraq
war and the rise of the IS.
"Of course, you can't say that those of us
who removed Saddam in 2003 bear no
responsibility for the situation in 2015,"
he said.
In 2009, former premier Gordon Brown
Blair has acknowledged the link between Iraq

war and the rise of the IS.
established an inquiry, led by counselor
John Chilcot, into the Britain's involvement
in the Iraq War, but the nal conclusions
of the inquiry have not been published yet.
Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon
has described Blair's apology as a "spin
operation".
"The Blair spin operation begins but the
country still awaits the truth. The delay to
Chilcot report is a scandal," she tweeted.
Polish opposition party

UN says it mistakenly
sent expired biscuits sweeps parliamentary polls
to Syrians
highenergy biscuits were sent to Zabadani and Madaya in Syria.

Beirut: The United Nations says it
has mistakenly sent hundreds of
boxes of expired biscuits
to besieged civilians near
Damascus.
A total of 320 out of 650 boxes
of high energy biscuits sent to
Zabadani and Madaya on Oct. 18
as part of a relief convoy earlier
this month had expired a month
earlier.
We can conrm that this was
the result of an unfortunate
human error during the loading

process, says Yacoub El Hillo, the
UN Resident and Humanitarian
Coordinator in Syria in a state
ment today. He says the UN Syria
team is taking the issue very
seriously and working to rectify
the situation.
The statement adds that after
checking with medical sources,
the UN can conrm that the con
sumption of the expired biscuits
poses no health threats.
Warsaw: According to the exit

polls, the main opposition party
Law and Just ice has got an
absolute majority in the Polish
parliamentary e lect ions he ld
recently.
T he party headed by former
prime
minister
Jaroslaw
Kaczynski, has managed to get 39
percent of the votes polled and it
has trounced the ruling Civic
Platform which has been ruling
the country since 2007 by a clear
margin of 16 percent.
Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz has
conceded the defeat and said, "The
voters have punished us for our
failures to come up to their stan
dard. But in a democracy defeats
and victories are part and parcel
of the game. We will play our
appropriate role of a main opposi
tion party in the parliament."
Meanwhile, Law and Justice
party has already nominated Beata
Szydlo as its candidate for the
prime minister post. An unknown
gure till recently Szydlo was the
chief campaign manager of the
recentlyelected President Andrzej
Duda.
She fought a great campaign to
come close to the winning post.
Fiftytwoyearold Szydlo has come
up to the top with her hardwork
and dedication to Christian value
system and the blessing of her
party's leader.
For the rst time in the Polish
parliamentary election since 1989
Jarosaw Kaczynski is the leader of Law and Justice party.

women have dominated the elec
t ion. Apart from Kopacz and
Szydlo, the leftist front which
failed to get the required eight per
cent vote, is headed by another
lady, a computer programmer
Barbara Nowacka.
It seems unpopular party barons
have pushed women forward to
capitalise on weariness with a
male dominated political culture
that has been dened by inghting
drinking parties and scandals.
Women with their power, some
how, have gained more sympathy
and humility in an atmosphere of
otherw ise abusive polit ics of
Poland.
If Szydlo becomes the prime
minister, she will be the third
woman to hold the post.
Hanna Sachocka was the rst

Polish woman who became the
prime minister way back in 1992
but she lasted only for fteen
months.
T he present prime minister
Kopacz got the top job in August
2014 when Donald Tusk, then
prime minister got elected as the
president of the European Union.
Apart from two main parties,
three other small parties have
managed to cross the threshold of
ve percent to enter the parlia
ment.
The presence of the small parties
has an added attraction to join the
new government. T here has
always been a coalition govern
ment ever since the fall of commu
nism in 1989.
24
BUSINESS
Oracle ready for India expansion: CEO Hurd

San Francisco: An overall positive mood
under a businessfriendly government in
India has reassured software major and
leading cloud services provider Oracle to
expand its base in the country via its
diverse portfolio of integrated cloud plat
forms and newage Java.
Responding to a question on the second
day of the Oracle's OpenWorld 2015 con
ference on October 26, Oracle CEO Mark
Hurd said that he is committed to expand
ing Oracle's reach in the burgeoning cloud
and software market in India.
"We are seriously working on the expan
sion plans in India. It is really a good time
for this," he said, adding that Loic Le
Guisquet, Oracle's president for the Europe,
Middle East and Africa region and Asia
Pacific, has already initiated the expansion
plan. In a latest media interview, Guisquet
was quoted as saying that Oracle has initi
ated a huge recruitment drive for cloud in
India to expand its base as the demand for
information technology is growing faster in
India than other regions.
India has always been at the forefront for
Oracle and its bouquet of innovations. With
new initiatives like "Digital India" now in
Oracle CEO Mark Hurd at the Oracle's OpenWorld 2015 conference.

place, the thrust is likely to get bigger.
Oracle has 12 development centers in
India, including facilities in many emerging
cit ies
like
Vijayawada,
T hiruvananthapuram,
Noida
and
Ahmedabad. In another quest ion to
India up 4 places in WBs

ease of doing business list
Washington: In among its best
performances in recent years,
India ranked 130 in the new
Doing Business report released
by the World Bank, from 134
(142, based on an old measure)
in 2015.
Though the goal of Top 50
envisaged by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi remains far,
India did crack the Top 10
group for protection of minori
ty investors, ranked 8.
In overall performance, how
ever, this is only the second
highest ranking achieved by
The World Bank report found significant
India in the last 10 years its
improvements in the Indian business scenario.
best, 120, came in 2008. Its
worst was in 2011, 139.
address issues dragging it down even as
Singapore topped the world list, once it sought to attract foreign investments
again, with the US ranked seventh.
and race against China.
W hile briefing reporters, a senior
The Modi government accepted the
World Bank official called India one of challenge and set about working them
the more interesting stories in this years with World Banks by setting up sub
Doing Business report, adding, A great national (statewise) goals and targets.
deal has been started in India in the last
The Doing Business report found two
year from the middle of 2014 to the most significant improvements in India
present.
over the assessment period: cutting time
India never did take the rankings seri to start a business and getting electric
ously before and, thus, did little to connection.
whether Chinese cloud firms can pose any

threat to Oracle's global expansion plans,
Hurd said that we do not view Chinese
firms as competitors at all.
"Some of those Chinese cloud firms can
become our partners though," he added.
"Currently, we want to win the space in

SoftwareAsAService (SaaS) and Platform
AsAService (PaaS) and then the entire
focus will shift to InfrastructureAsA
Service (IaaS) platform," he announced.
India is home to more than 700,000
members of Oracle's online and developer
community.
India software revenue totaled $4 billion
in 2014, an 8.3 percent increase from
2013 revenue of $3.7 billion, according to
a latest Gartner report.
Among the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India,
China and South Africa) nations, the India
software market experienced the highest
growth rate in 2014.
"Government plans around Digital India,
smart cities and increased focus on broad
band internet infrastructure is expected to
drive local consumption of IT software and
associated services," the Gartner report
added.
"After the last election, the mood of the
economy has changed, and we are slowly
seeing a revival in IT spending particularly
in areas of digital and nexus of forces that
combine cloud, mobile, social and big data,"
it added.
India trumps China to

become biggest gold
consumer: Survey
New Delhi: India regained its
top position from China as the
biggest overall consumer of
gold in the first nine months
this year with a total consump
tion of 642 tonnes, a survey
said.
China is trailing by just 63
tonnes though, with total con
sumption of 579 tonnes in the
first nine months, according to
GFMS Gold Survey Q3 2015
Review and Outlook.
In India, jewellery consump
The total official gold imports to India in the third
tion increased by 5% yearon
quarter increased by 23% to 263 tonnes.
year to an estimated 193 tonnes
in Q3 2015, the highest quarterly con to 263 tonnes, which is the highest quarter
sumption since Q1 2011, and the highest ly volume yeartodate.
In China, after a lacklustre second quarter
third quarter demand since 2008, the
report published by Thomson Reuters stat this year, which was the lowest second
ed. The increase in demand in the third quarter recorded since 2011, gold demand
quarter is primarily attributed to the fall in rebounded in the third quarter.
Total gold demand amounted to 196
local gold prices to the lowest since August
2011. The total of ficial gold imports to tonnes for the period, a modest 3% yearon
India in the third quarter increased by 23% year improvement.
26 October 31- November 6, 2015
SPORTS
SaniaMartina
win WTA Finals
opener
Singapore: Top tennis combine of Sania
Mirza and Martina Hingis got of f to a
winning start at the yearending $7 mil
lion WTA Finals, being played on the
hard courts of the Singapore Indoor
Stadium here.
The IndoSwiss pair took just an hour
and 15 minutes to defeat American
sixth seeds Raquel KopsJones and
Abigail Spears 64, 62 in the red group
of the round robin league format on
Monday.
Sania, who won the prestigious tour
nament last year with Zimbabwean
Cara Black, and Martina broke the
American combination once in the rst
set, which was enough for them to take
the lead in the match.
India's Sania Mirza and Switzerland's

Martina Hingis during the WTA Finals at
Singapore Sports Hub.
Cricketer Amit Mishra

arrested in assault
case, freed on bail
Bengaluru: Indian rightarm spinner Amit Mishra was
arrested for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend in a city
hote l recently and was
re leased on bail later,
police said. "Mishra was
formally arrested after a
threehour interrogation in
the assault case by the
investigation ofcer and
re leased on bail as the
of fence is bailable,"
Deputy Commissioner of
Police Sandeep Patil told
Mishra, if found guilty,
reporters. Vandana Jain, a
faces a maximum
Bollywood lm producer
punishment of six
who claimed to know
to seven years.
Mishra since the last four
years, led a complaint against him at a local police sta
tion on September 27, alleging that the bowler had
abused and assaulted at a posh hotel in the city on
September 25. "We have collected details from Mishra,
including his version of the incident. We will complete
the investigation and submit the case report to a local
court soon where he will have to face trial when sum
moned," Patil said. A case was registered against the 32
yearold legspinner under various sections, of the
Indian Penal Code (IPC) for outraging the modesty of
Vandana and assaulting her physically. Patil said that
Mishra, if found guilty, faces a maximum punishment of
six to seven years. According to police sources, Mishra
denied assaulting Vandana and instead accused her of
barging into his hotel room without his consent. "As
entry of outsiders into hotel room of players is against
BCCI norms, I objected to her entering into my room in
my absence," Mishra said during the threehour long
questioning.
The top seeds, who are also individu

ally the two highest ranked players in
the world, not just saved six breakpoint
opportunit ies the Americans had
earned, they also broke Raquel and
Abigail twice to seal the second set and
the tie. The IndoSwiss pair will next
take on Czech seventh seeds Andrea
Hlavckov and Lucie Hradeck in the
second match of the round robin.
The WTA Finals is an annual event
played by the top8 players/pairs of the
year who are divided into two round
robin groups red and white. The top2
of each group progress to the semi
nals and the following winners to the
nals.
The championship is generally consid
ered the fth most prestigious event on
the women's tour after the four Grand
Slam tournaments. It also has the
largest prize money and ranking points
after the Grand Slams.
MOHALI PITCH AWAITS SOUTH

AFRICA IN 1ST TEST VS INDIA
New Delhi: The demoralized Indian side
has some good news ahead of the four
match Test series. With the South Africa
pace bowlers looming as the biggest
threat, the hosts are pinning all their
hopes on turning tracks to overcome the
visitors, the Hindustan Times reported.
South Africa pacers were a handful
even on spinfriendly pitches during the
ODIs, but India are likely to get a turn
ing track at Mohali, the venue for the
rst Test starting on November 5.
While the T20 and ODI series defeats
have put India under huge pressure,
South Africa has an excellent record in
Nagpur and Bengaluru, where the sec
ond and third Tests will be played. This
has forced the BCCI to turn to its tradi
tional weapon, preparing spinnerfriend
ly pitches. Though South Africa will be
Indian captain MS Dhoni with South

Africa counterpart AB de Villiers.
playing a Test in Mohali and Delhi for
the rst time, they had registered huge
victories in Bengaluru and Nagpur the
last time they played at these venues.
South Africa played at Nagpur in 2010
and India lost that Test by an inning and
six runs. Dale Sten captured 10 wickets,
including seven in the rst innings.
Bengaluru had hosted South Africa in

2000 when they inicted Indias rst
home Test series defeat for 14 years
with a 20 rout.
Chief selector Sandeep Patil had given
a hint that everything would be directed
towards making things favorable for the
India spinners. Explaining the recall of
allrounder Ravindra Jadeja, essentially
for his leftarm spin, he said: We do
consider domestic performances, at the
same time we also see whether that par
ticular player will t in the slot, whether
that particular player will be useful to
the team and the kind of wickets (on
which) were supposed to be playing in
the forthcoming Test series. Looking at
all these angles, we picked Jadeja, Patil
was quoted as say ing in the
Hindustan Times.
Deepika Kumari bags silver at Archery World Cup
This is Deepikas fourth World Cup

Final silver.
Mexico City: Indian archer Deepika

Kumari bagged a silver medal in the
women's recurve event at the Archery
World Cup here.
Deepika, who lost out to South
Korea's Misun Choi 62 in the nal on
Sunday night, thus bagged her fourth
medal in ve World Cup Finals.
Misun found the middle when she
needed it, clinching a path through the
brackets in the last sets. The 19year
old reeled off three 29point sets to go

51 up and put Kumari on the back
foot. Both archers had shot 28 in the
rst set. Both then put in a 29 in the
last and split the set points, and Choi
grabbed hold of the gold.
Deepikas only two international
gold medals to date are the famous
Commonwealth Games win in 2010
and, two years later, the Antalya stage
of the Archery World Cup.
28
HUMOR
Funny Side by Nury Vittachi
DO YOU CURSE IN FRONT OF YOUR KIDS?
ave you noticed that a significant per

centage of parenting time is spent
screaming at your children to stop scream
ing?
***
Ironic, that. Researchers say that even
very young children are now learning curse
words, because parents break their own
anticursing rules. Youre 3 years old! Stop
[@#$%ing] swearing!
***
My gently religious family has always
been totally noncursing, with words like
silly being considered highly risqu, and
poopyhead causing people to faint.
***
Not so in the outside world. I was shocked
recently when I did some broadcasting on a
book show and my loosetongued copresen
ter, who wanted to talk about erotica, was
told that almost all curse words were now
allowed after 9pm.
T his is bad for everyone, because
researchers say that Englishspeaking soci
eties are running out of swear words.
They lose their power now we live in a
world where kindergartners greet each
other with: Good (@#$%ing) morning, you
[@#$%ing] stupid [@#$%^].
Scient ists say curses are important

because they evolved to alleviate physical
and emotional pain.
***
Still, I do think some people should NEVER
use bad words because they just sound
wrong in their mouths.
Like weather forecasters.
A @#$%load of rain fell this morning, and
the humidity level will rise to a @#$% of a
lot by noon.
Just doesnt work.
***
One suggestion someone gave me is to use
swear words from other languages. In the
US TV show "Firefly", actors used real swear
words, but only in Mandarin and Cantonese.
Guys, there are a lot of people who speak
Chinese on this planet, or hadnt you
noticed?
***
Still, its true that nonEnglish speakers
have some cool curses. In Hindi, people
insult each other by saying: You are the
hair growing on my flank area.
***
In Mandarin Chinese, people say, You son
of a rabbit. (Sometimes you hear parents
curse lazy children with this phrase without
realizing the irony.)

***
I had an Italian friend who used to say
Maladicta when I trod on his toes. It
sounded very sweary but hes literally just
saying Bad word! Bad word!
***
Some years ago, I had to train a foul
mouthed newspaper reporter for a job on
live radio. We wrote a list of words that
sounded like curses but were safe for broad
casting use and taped them to her micro
phone. The top three most satisfying ones
were Pool, Cow and Follicle. The next time
something bad happens, try shouting Pool
at the top of your voice. It works really well.
***
I think you should stop cursing entirely. If
you want to be really classy, I recommend
making all dramatic announcements in
Latin.
Here are three useful phrases to get you
started.
1) At the bar:
Di! Ecce hora! Uxor mea me necabit!
(Dear God, look at the time! My wife will
kill me!)
2) On the street:
Recedite, plebes! Gero rem imperialem!
(Stand aside plebians! I am on imperial
business.)
3) The most horrible curse in Latin is this
one:
Utinam logica falsa tuam philosophiam
totam suffodiant.
(May faulty logic undermine your entire
philosophy.)
Ooh, now thats nasty, right?
***
One place where you can easily express
things in an impactful way without using
bad words is the Internet.
Or as I sometimes write to my children:
Do not make me use CAPITAL LETTERS.
Laughter is the Best Medicine

BEST
RATE
FOR
INDIA
AND
PAKISTAN
New York Head Quarter
422S Broadway
HICKSVILLE
NY 11801
5168271010
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
OCTOBER 31NOVEMBER 6 2015

ARIES: Time is right to bring your
romantic relationship out in the open.
Family will honour your choice. You
will need to become street smart to win the
game of oneupmanship at work. It will not
be prudent to delegate financial authority
to a subordinate. You can seek medical
advice over some health issue. Those losing
money in speculation may find it hard to
recover. Your romantic stars are on the
ascendent.
TAURUS: Your dedication and loyalty
will be recognised. Getting involved
in whatever is happening around you
will keep you forearmed and forewarned.
An important piece of information can open
up new opportunities for some. You will be
able to kiss and make up with lover not in
talking terms with you. A new house or
apartment is likely to be acquired by some.
Those embroiled in a legal battle will come
out victorious.
GEMINI: Showering love on your
sweetheart will get you what you
seek! Some good bargains are in
store for shopaholics. You are assured of a
relaxing time at home as peace prevails.
Your tact and persuasive powers can be in
full display this week. Those studying out
side can pick up a job for extra income. A
change in diet will do you good. Lover
seems most considerate this week. Driving
gives you the thrills.
CANCER: You can lag behind in a

task at work and be pulled up for it.
Dont trust anyone with your money
as you can burn your fingers. Some of you
can find raising funds a problem. You can
get on the wrong side of spouse and spoil
your week. Small incidents can stress your
mind and keep you tensed. Those contem
plating a long journey can expect a great
time.
LEO: Students will motivate them
selves to give in their best. Financial
uncertainty is likely to dissipate soon
for some. Meeting relatives will keep you in
a buoyant mood. Acquiring new skills is on
the cards for some. A well paying job can be
landed by some. Lovebirds are likely to plan
an outing together someplace exclusive.
Your views and opinions are likely to be
sought by others. Healthwise you will be at
your peak.
VIRGO: You will manage to spend
time with family despite your hectic
schedule. A positive signal from the
opposite gender is likely to delight you. A
smooth ride is indicated for those driving
down for a vacation.
Students wanting scholarships can face dif
ficulties. This is not the week to undertake
anything important on the work front. You
will need to preserve your energy by taking
periodic breaks. Be careful about your
hygiene.
LIBRA: You will need to take your

professional rivals head on. It will
be a good idea to review your finan
cial situation before going in for anything
big. Bodily ills can trouble some, but only
temporarily. You will need to awaken your
spirit of camaraderie if you want to achieve
your goal. A tough time is foreseen for the
automobile and real estate sectors. You may
be expected to volunteer help at home.
SCORPIO: Getting passed over for
promotion is a reality that some of
you may have to face. You are likely
to deplete your savings by irresponsible
spending. A trip with family will be more of
a fatigue than fun. Chances of clearing a
professional competition look dim. You go
getting attitude is likely to impress lover.
Take preventive measures to ward off com
mon ailments. Some of you can buy some
thing expensive.
SAGITTARIUS; You are likely to get
ahead at work as your professional
stars are bright.
An inheritance is likely to enhance your
riches. Selfdiscipline will find you at your
peak physical fitness. A competitive situa
tion will bring out the best in you. Dont let
frustration get the better of you in a domes
tic situation. Getting romantically involved
with a colleague is fraught with danger, so
consider carefully. A pilgrimage can prove
therapeutic.
CAPRICORN: It is certainly a wonder

how you manage to become popular
in any setup. Looking after an elder
ly will give you due recognition and add to
your reputation. Your efforts will bear fruit
both on the personal and professional
fronts. Good looks and gift of the gab is like
ly to charm someone from the opposite
camp. Business persons can expect the prof
its to rise. Figure conscious Geminians
should take up an exercise regimen.
AQUARIUS: You can be in a reflec
tive mood this week. Sad memories
are likely to haunt you and push
you towards negativity. Your attempts to
shine on the professional front will require
some more ef forts. You can sell a prized
possession for a hefty premium. Steer clear
of all controversial issues or you may get
into an awkward situation. Investing in
property appears a profitable option. Curb
excesses to keep fit.
PISCES: You will need to focus on
remaining fit. Familiarize yourself
adequately before adopting a new
workout regimen. Dont succumb to any
getrichquick schemes. You will manage to
win love and sympathy of people you are
working with. It is best to steer clear of any
kind of adversity. A brief journey will prove
most entertaining. Getting a membership of
a prestigious club or forum is likely. You
will expand your friends circle.
ANNUAL PREDICTIONS: FOR THOSE BORN IN THIS WEEK

31st October, 2015
Ruled planet: Uranus Ruled by no: 4
Traits in you: Uranus, being your dominating
planet helps you become dynamic and creative.
You are positive, realistic, responsive, and sincere.
You need to work and overcome the weaknesses
in your personality to attract more people
towards you.
Health this year: Your health would remain very
good this year. However, you need to go for regu
lar yoga exercises. You should not ignore your
healthy diet plan to remain in shape. Go for regu
lar medical checkups to avoid any hiccups fur
ther.
Finance this year: Though you will be able to
improve your financial status, you may end up
spending a lot of money in buying luxury and
comfort for yourself and your family. You may
put your money in real estate for better returns.
Career this year: Your ef forts will bear results
and you will be appreciated with awards and
rewards towards the end of the year. You may
get a promot ion for your smart work and
efficiency.
Romance this year: Your plans to go for holidays
with your partner may not work because of huge
work pressure and this may create disturbance in
your marital life. You need to take care of the
emotional requirements of your partner to lead a
peaceful life this year.
Lucky month: March, June and September.
1st November, 2015
Ruled planet: Sun Ruled by no: 1
Traits in you: Being ruled by the Sun and number
1, you are original, authoritative, dignified, and
determined. As you are sensitive for your rela
tionships, your friends and family may consider
you to be an asset in their lives. However, you
need to take care of your nature of spending
unnecessarily and your dominating character.
Health this year: You w ill remain healthy
throughout the year provided you go for regular
medical checkups.
Finance this year: If you are a professional, you
will be among financial benefits.
Career this year: You may get excellent returns
from your investments in business and it may
improve your standard of living by making you
spend a more luxurious life.
Romance this year: You will find yourself in

romantic peak this year and marriage may hap
pen for few.
Lucky month: February, May, July and November
2nd November, 2015
Ruled planet: Moon Ruled by no: 2
Traits in you: you are blessed with a lively, cre
ative, practical and trustworthy nature. You epito
mize simplicity and leadership. You possess
enough capability to perform your job that
requires huge responsibility and courage. You
have to work on your nature of becoming impa
tient and spending unnecessarily.
Health this year: You might undergo tension and
nervousness as your spouse might fall sick. You
need not bother for a long time as your spouse
would recover soon.
Finance this year: You may find yourself in a
busy schedule as you may have to solve various
matters related to property, business, and new
business initiatives. This may make you earn lot
of money if you succeed. You may concede a
huge amount of money on renovation or con
struction activities during the ending months of
the year.
Career this year: Your efforts are not destined to
go unnoticed and unrewarded this year should
you to concentrate on your goals and put qualita
tive ef fort. Your skills will get recognition and
appreciation from your colleagues.
Romance this year: Your romantic life would be
filled with love and af fection by your partner.
Overall your romantic life would remain blissful
forever.
Lucky month: December, March and October
3rd November, 2015
Ruled planet: Jupiter Ruled by no: 3
Traits in you: You are blessed with positive traits
like confidence and optimism. You are independ
ent as you have high ambitions in your life. You
enjoy your dignity whatever the situation may be.
You are quite religious by nature and you trust
on God.
Health this year: Backache, stif f neck or body
pains will prove to be obstacles for you to spend
a healthy life.
Finance this year: You may help your earning
improve by implementing new plans in your busi
ness. You may start various new and profitable

ventures. You may find your speculations worthy
enough to improve your financial status you may
get a chance to travel foreign countries for busi
ness purpose or you may plan a personal trip
with family to spend your holidays.
Career this year: Being a perfectionist in your
profession, you will get ample recognition.
However, you need to control your emotions of
being extravagant, dominating and fickleminded
to forward your career. You may take frequent
critical decisions in your professional life this
year.
Romance this year: Your partner may expect you
to spend more time at home. However, this may
create disturbances as you will be busy through
out this year.
Lucky month: February, May, July, and October
4th November, 2015
Ruled planet: Uranus Ruled by no: 4
Traits in you: You are the owner of a responsible,
disciplined, sociable, organized and creative per
sonality. You hold religious beliefs and philoso
phy at high esteem. You should avoid being jeal
ous, stubborn and self centered at times to
improve your personal traits.
Health this year: You may undergo stress for your
parents health. However, your health will remain
good.
Finance this year: You will earn a handsome
amount of money from your previous invest
ments. The legal issues will be solved in your
favor to provide you with monetary benefits. You
may plan for a business trip to a distant place to
enhance the territory of your business.
Career this year: If you are a sportsperson or
artist or writer, this year will be fruitful for you.
You would be oozing with confidence to make
tough tasks easy.
Romance this year: You will enjoy a blissful rela
tionship with your partner with ample love, care
and support.
Lucky month: January, April and September
5th November, 2015
Ruled planet: Mercury Ruled by no: 5
Traits in you: As you are guided by Mercury, you
are gifted with strength, intelligence, diplomacy
and practicability. You are physically and mental
ly active with an intelligent business mind.

Health this year: To attain peace of mind, you
should plan a pilgrimage during the end months
of the year.
Finance this year: You may undergo financial cri
sis in the first couple of months this year. You
may get carried away by new ventures. However,
you need to do enough research on the market
before investing. You will find your past invest
ments paying of f in the latter half of the year.
You will be able to solve the property related
matters during the middle months of the year to
receive extra monetary gains.
Career this year: Your effort and commitment in
your professional life is appreciated by your
peers and higher authorities. Your will be criti
cized hugely at times for your nature of being
extravagant and reckless.
Romance this year: Some of you may find your
new love interests and some may tie their knots
this year.
Lucky month: February, April and October
6th November, 2015
Ruled planet: Venus Ruled by no: 6
Traits in you: Being under the guidance of Venus,
you are bestowed with simplicity. You are philo
sophical, cooperative, and a talented. You are
inclined to literature and witty discussions. You
are able to memorize lot of things as you will be
the master of a sharp memory. However, you
need to work on your erratic and careless behav
ior to become a better person.
Health this year: You may remain concerned over
the health of your family members.
Finance this year: You may find new sources to
earn money. However, you will end up spending
lot of money, which would make you unable to
save money. You may travel a lot during this year
to find new opportunities and to enhance your
business relationships.
Career this year: You may find this year to be a
mixture of good and bad experience as far as
your professional life is concerned. You may not
get expected credit for your hard work.
Romance this year: Your partner will be under
standing enough to support you during your
emotional break downs. You will enjoy a mature
relationship with your partner.
Lucky month: March, June and November
30
SPIRITUAL AWARENESS
'Meditation boosts
performance, alleviates pain'
Sant Rajinder Singh
Ji Maharaj
Dr Kunwarjit Singh
Duggal has studied
meditation under the
guidance of Sant Darshan
Singh Ji Maharaj and Sant
Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj
since childhood.
He lectures on the health
benefits of meditation, a
vegetarian lifestyle for
improved functionality
and sports performance,
preventative medicine,
therapeutic lifestyle
changes and overall
wellness. In an interview
he elaborates on
importance of
meditation
Question: As a doctor, what
bene fit do you see for your
patients from meditation?
Dr. Kunwarjit Singh Duggal: In
my practice, I see many patients
who suf fer from chronic pain

from a wide variety of ailments.
While trying to manage chronic
pain, some of the biggest issues
they have are the emotional and
spiritual voids in their lives.
Meditation is a fantastic way to
address both of these aspects. As
a countless number of medical
studies have proven, meditation
significantly helps ease anxiety
and stress, decrease levels of
depression, combat aggression,
increase ones sense of aware
ness, and manage difficult situa
tions that arise in everyday life.
By aiding in pain coping tech
niques, meditat ion he lps
decrease and sometimes com
plete ly erase the emot ional
aspect that occurs with pain,
especially chronic pain. This is
seen clinically by a significant
reduction in the amount of anal
gesic (pain relieving) medica
t ions pat ients are taking.
According to recent studies, a
majority of patients wish that
their physicians would ask more
about and address spirituality in
their encounters with patients.
Those who do not have a spiritu
al sense of where they fit in the
universe tend also to suffer from
a lack of life control. This, in
turn, directly relates to their abil
ity to manage their pain. If we
are to treat people holistically,
we as care providers must
ensure that we do not neglect the
spiritual aspect of ones life and
acknowledge how a void in this

field will have detrimental effect
on their health.
Question: Is there any medical
research to prove that meditation
reduces stress?
Dr. Kunwarjit Singh Duggal:
Absolutely! The number of well
designed studies in the field of
meditation has grown exponen
tially over the past few years,
and the evidence is overwhelm
ing. A study done in the
Department of Surgery at the
Mayo Clinic (perhaps Americas
most famous and wellknown
hospital) proved that a short 4
week meditation program result
ed in significant improvements in
stress and anxiety, while provid
ing subjects with a high level of
satisfaction in the program itself.
Another recent study performed
in the Department of Pediatrics
at the University of Texas
Galveston found that an 8week
meditation course significantly
brought improvement in meas
ures of stress, various measures
of health and wellbeing, scales
of spirituality, and pulse rate
variability with results lasting at
least one year after the medita
tion course had ended. This is
fascinating evidence showing the
long lasting effects of meditation
on the human body. An interest
ing Australian study done at the
Menzies Research Institute at the
University of Tansania looked at
the effects of meditation on med
ical students, a population under
immense amount of stress. In
this group, an 8week meditation
program significantly reduced
the levels of depression, stress
and anxiety. These are just a few
amongst the many studies that
have again and again proved the
benefits of meditation on stress
reduction.
Question: Can you give exam
ples from fields in which medita
tion reduces stress and improves
performance?
This is one of my favorite ques
tions. As an avid basketball fan
growing up in Chicago, USA, I
was always fascinated with the
skill with which Michael Jordan
and the rest of the Chicago Bulls
were blessed with upon the bas
ketball court.
Under the guidance of coach
Phil Jackson, the Chicago Bulls
went on to w in 6 NBA
Championships during the
1990s. Phil Jackson was, and
still is, known as the Zen Master
Dr Kunwarjit Singh Duggal with Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj

in the field of coaching. He made
it well known through the media
and his books Sacred Hoops and
Eleven Rings that he would have
his players meditate be fore
games to enhance their perform
ance. By having his players visu
alize themselves performing at
the highest level, certain changes
were noted: the game slowed
down, shots and passes were
made with an unparalleled preci
sion, mental clarity decreased
the number of mistakes and
turnovers, and team play became
ef fortless and seamless. T he
results were astounding: six NBA
Championships with the Chicago
Bulls and five more with the Los
Angeles Lakers all while manag
ing some of the biggest personal
it ies in sports history like
Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen,
Shaquille ONeal, and Kobe
Bryant, amongst others. By
preparing themselves with silent
meditation, these players were
able to keep their cool on one of
the biggest, and most stressful
stages and succeed in achieving
their goals.
Question: How has meditation
helped you in medical school,
and now as a doctor?
The gift of meditation as taught
by the Great Masters of Science
of SpiritualitySawan Kirpal
Ruhani Mission (www.sos.org),
and currently by His Holiness
Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj
allows us to ascertain our inner
connection with the Divine and
experience its grandiosity in all
its glory. Meditation on the Inner
Lig ht and Sound, or Shabd
Meditation (with its introductory
practice called Jyoti Meditation),
frees our inner consciousness
from all worldly distractions,
which in turn permits us to
receive the Divine in the purest
form. Meditation is the forum

with which we can connect with
God and explore the innate spiri
tual essence of our beings. As a
lifelong meditator, I have been
able to see the benefits of this
pract ice in my own life.
Throughout medical school, resi
dency training program, and
medical practice I have been able
to see the dif ferences between
my colleagues and I when put in
adverse or stressful situations. I
quickly noted that I never pan
icked when in the middle of a
Code Blue, which is an emer
gency situat ion in which a
patient is at risk of losing his or
her physical life. My understand
ing of the life cycle and transmi
gration of the soul, with death
being the sweet end to our physi
cal existence, took away the fear
of death.
This, I believe, led me to a state
in which I was able to provide
patients with a more compas
sionate level of care and under
standing. The level of mental
clarity needed to manage proper
ly these stressful surroundings
has considerably grown with and
is directly attributable to my
meditative practice.
Kunwarjit Singh Duggal, M.D.

currently practices at From Pain
To Wellness, LLC in Oakbrook
Terrace, IL, USA.
For
more
www.sos.org
info
visit
Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj

is an internationally recognized
spiritual leader and Master of
Jyoti Meditation who affirms the
transcendent oneness at the heart
of all religions and mystic traditions, emphasizing ethical living
and meditation as building
blocks for achieving inner and
outer peace. www.sos.org.

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Vol.8 No. 26 Oct 31- Nov 6, 2015 60 Cents

New York Edition

India widens engagement with

six vice presidents, foreign and trade min

Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz

Senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz

Muralitharan, and Kumar Sangakkara from

October 31-November 6, 2015

October 31- November 6, 2015

New York: The New York Chapter of Pratham

Pratham CEO Rukmini Banerji with US

fast track courts with the Indian govern

recently appointed President of Pratham

ments in India, Pratham reaches millions of

Regional PBD in Los Angeles

October 31-November 6, 2015

Royals pummel Mets, are

Alcides Escobar and firstbase

Couples who violated the onechild

interaction with African countries

New Delhi Bureau

Managing Editor: Parveen Chopra

President: Arjit Mehta

Contributing Editors: Meenakshi Iyer,

Strategy and Marketing

two permanent seats.

Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz...

Cartoonist: Mahendra Shah

October 31- November 6, 2015

Obama singles out US soccer's IndianAmerican chief

President Obama poses with a jersey he received from the U.S.

Indianorigin banker to plead

even as bankers or traders have

former president of Kraft Soccer

senior lecturer in the economics

than girls', and that she wanted the

Prestigious award for

Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak

Pam Kwatra through a press state

October 31- November 6, 2015

Filmmaker Tirlok Malik wins

Ignatius, who is also the codirec

Oxigen launches money

South Asian Breast Cancer Survivors video launched

Real life cancer survivors attended the event.

and myths about breast cancer.

informat ion which was easily

IALI 20th Diwali Food drive in progress

New York: T he annual India

housing program. This year its

For your Monetary & Food dona

Indianorigin techies log

Fujitsu America, a rm that

Nonprot Kiva wins $500,000

Farm Manager Anita

October 31- November 6, 2015

Kiva hopes the grant will

Kiva cofounder Premal Shah.

leadership teams to execute their

Eric Parkers retrial begins for

these cases deserve resolution so

October 31- November 6, 2015

Sikhs excel at the Parliament of Worlds Religions