Mahatma Gandhi once said - The South Asian Times
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Fashion 18 Diaspora 19 Adventure Sports 25 Spiritual Awareness 30<br />
NEW YORK EDITION<br />
Vol.4 No.44 February 25-March 2, 2012 60 Cents Follow us on <strong>The</strong><strong>South</strong><strong>Asian</strong><strong>Times</strong>.info<br />
US airlines sue<br />
EximBank for loan<br />
guarantee to Air<br />
India<br />
IRS filing: Help<br />
on how income<br />
from India is to be<br />
taxed<br />
Taxation,<br />
Page 9<br />
Jeremy Lin: In a<br />
stratosphere above<br />
sports and race<br />
Sports,<br />
Page 14<br />
Afghan protests rage despite Obama<br />
apology for Quran burning<br />
Taliban eggs on protests as 2 NATO soldiers among killed.<br />
Kabul: President Barack Obama<br />
apologized Thursday for the accidental<br />
burning of Qurans by U.S.<br />
forces in Afghanistan as anti-<br />
American demonstrations raged<br />
for a third consecutive day, leaving<br />
two NATO troops and at least<br />
five Afghans dead and 26 wounded<br />
nationwide.<br />
At one such demonstration outside<br />
a U.S. base in Khogyani, in<br />
the eastern province of Nangarhar,<br />
a protester who was wearing an<br />
Afghan army uniform opened fire,<br />
killing the two soldiers with the<br />
Continued on page 4<br />
Afghans shout slogans during an anti-US demonstration in Jalalabad,<br />
Wednesday and carry an effigy depicting President Obama.<br />
Gift of Life India celebrates<br />
10 years of saving children’s lives<br />
Woodbury, NY: Gift of Life (India), a laudable project chaired by Rtn. Ravi Bhooplapur, Past Dist Governor<br />
7250, to perform life saving surgeries on children, raised $1,00,000 at a glittering Valentine Dinner Dance<br />
last Saturday on Long Island in the presence of Rotary International President Elect Sakuji Tanaka. Seen in<br />
the picture from left are Kamlesh C. Mehta, Chair of Host Committee; Rtn Sushil Gupta, Indian hotelier<br />
and Padma Shri, honored for his humanitarian work at the event attended by over 200 people,<br />
Sakuji Tanaka and Ravi Bhooplapur. (Photo: Xitij Joshi.) (More photos and story on pg 16-17)<br />
Bollywood should<br />
connect with West:<br />
Ashok Amritraj<br />
Bollywood,<br />
Page 26<br />
Zardari instructed<br />
Haqqani on memo: Ijaz<br />
Islamabad: Pakistani American<br />
businessman Mansoor Ijaz <strong>said</strong><br />
Thursday that Husain Haqqani,<br />
Islamabad's former envoy to the<br />
US, had "directives" from<br />
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari<br />
on delivering a memo to<br />
Washington appealing for help in<br />
the wake of Al Qaeda leader<br />
Osama bin Laden's killing last<br />
year.<br />
"It was my understanding that<br />
Haqqani had directives from the<br />
Pakistani President," the Geo News<br />
quoted Ijaz as saying while recording<br />
his testimony before a judicial<br />
commission from the Pakistani<br />
High Commission in London.<br />
"Haqqani <strong>said</strong> (in the memo) that<br />
Washington: California Attorney<br />
General, Kamla Harris and<br />
Hollywood actor Kalpen Modi<br />
(better known as Kal Penn) have<br />
been roped in by President<br />
Barack Obama's re-election campaign.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y are among 35<br />
Pakistani President<br />
Asif Ali Zardari<br />
the civilian government needs to be<br />
strengthened against the 'bad<br />
boys'", Ijaz added.<br />
<strong>The</strong> term "bad boys" refers to<br />
army chief (General Ashfaq<br />
Kayani) or ISI chief (Lt. Gen.<br />
Continued on page 4<br />
Kamla Harris, Kal Penn<br />
national co-chairs for<br />
Obama’s re-election campaign<br />
California Attorney General Kamala Harris and<br />
Hollywood actor Kal Penn.<br />
Campaign national co-chairs who<br />
will act as key surrogates and<br />
ambassadors in the run up to the<br />
November presidential elections.<br />
A third Indian American on the<br />
panel is Sai Iyer, who served as a<br />
Continued on page 4
Tristate Community 3<br />
<strong>The</strong><strong>South</strong><strong>Asian</strong><strong>Times</strong>.info February 25-March 2, 2012<br />
Wadhwa receives the Outstanding<br />
American by Choice award<br />
Bay Area, CA: Entrepreneur-turned-academic<br />
Vivek<br />
Wadhwa has been bestowed<br />
the Outstanding American by<br />
Choice award by U.S. Citizenship<br />
and Immigration<br />
Services (USCIS) Wednesday<br />
here. <strong>The</strong> award recognizes<br />
the outstanding<br />
achievements of naturalized<br />
US citizens who “through<br />
civic participation, professional<br />
achievement, and responsible<br />
citizenship, have<br />
demonstrated their commitment<br />
to this country and to<br />
the common civic values that<br />
unite us as Americans”.<br />
Wadhwa is currently the<br />
Vice President of Academics<br />
and Innovation, Singularity<br />
University, a new institution<br />
in Mountain View, CA,<br />
which focuses on the impact<br />
and opportunities presented<br />
Google’s computer<br />
goggles to arrive this year<br />
New York: A number of anonymous<br />
Google employees are reporting<br />
that the company is currently<br />
developing Android-powered<br />
glasses that can provide a<br />
heads-up display to the wearer and<br />
connect over wireless data services.<br />
<strong>The</strong> glasses will purportedly<br />
work like a wearable version of the<br />
Google Goggles app, providing<br />
real time information on a user's location<br />
via GPS and motion sensors.<br />
"Google glasses" could even be<br />
available to the public by the end of<br />
this year.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Google glasses have apparently<br />
been in production for quite<br />
some time at Google's secretive<br />
Project X lab, where the company<br />
designs its more outlandish projects,<br />
such as robots, space elevators,<br />
and the like. Anonymous em-<br />
Vivek Wadhwa<br />
by exponentially advancing<br />
technologies. He has been a<br />
critic of American immigration<br />
system for keeping out<br />
the brains. <strong>The</strong> USCIS recognition,<br />
he says, “literally<br />
brought tears to my eyes. It<br />
also shows greatness of<br />
America: you question the<br />
norms/challenge authority,<br />
and they reward you.” He<br />
added, “My father, a retired<br />
Indian diplomat, called me<br />
ployees have indicated that this is<br />
strictly an experimental program<br />
from Google, though it may look<br />
into future business applications<br />
depending on how successful the<br />
product is.<br />
<strong>The</strong> glasses will feature a lowresolution<br />
camera on the front for<br />
gathering information to relay to a<br />
small screen built into one side of<br />
the lenses. <strong>The</strong> screen will not be<br />
transparent, but will be located to<br />
the side of the frame, so as not to<br />
obscure a person's view but still<br />
give an augmented reality feel. <strong>The</strong><br />
camera will also be able to take pictures,<br />
and have a built-in flash.<br />
New York <strong>Times</strong> speculated that<br />
the new Google glasses are expected<br />
to be priced much like a<br />
current smartphone (in the<br />
US$250 to $600 range).<br />
on several occasions to plead<br />
that I tone down my criticism.<br />
He worried that I<br />
would anger US government<br />
officials and they would find<br />
some way to have me deported.<br />
Indeed, this would have<br />
been the case in many countries,<br />
where I could have ended<br />
up in a Gulag - or worse.”<br />
But what happens in America<br />
is praiseworthy.<br />
Wadhwa is Fellow, Arthur<br />
& Toni Rembe Rock Center<br />
for Corporate Governance,<br />
Stanford University, Director<br />
of Research, Center for Entrepreneurship<br />
and Research<br />
Commercialization and Exec<br />
in Residence, Pratt School of<br />
Engineering, Duke University,<br />
and Distinguished Visiting<br />
Scholar, Halle Institute of<br />
Global Learning, Emory<br />
University.<br />
US cracks down on phantom<br />
debt collectors from India<br />
Washington: US authorities have cracked<br />
down on a new scam in which so-called<br />
phantom debt collectors using call centers in<br />
India harassed Americans into paying bills<br />
running into millions of dollars.<br />
One scheme, which has bilked US consumers<br />
out of some $5 million so far, involved<br />
about eight million phone calls originating<br />
in India to American consumers over<br />
an eight-month period, the Federal Trade<br />
Commission (FTC) <strong>said</strong> Tuesday.<br />
A US district court judge in Chicago ordered<br />
a Villa Park, California operation to<br />
cease and froze the assets of American Credit<br />
Crunchers, an affiliated company called<br />
Ebeeze and their owner, Varang K. Thaker,<br />
according to Chicago Tribune.<br />
FTC alleged Thaker obtained information<br />
- often including Social Security or bank account<br />
numbers - about consumers who had<br />
inquired about or applied for online payday<br />
loans.<br />
Thaker used callers in India, who often<br />
posed as law enforcement officers or other<br />
government officials, to threaten people<br />
with arrest, a lawsuit or the loss of their job<br />
if they didn't repay online payday loans.<br />
Scammers, officials <strong>said</strong>, demanded payments<br />
of about $500, but as high as $2,000.<br />
Some consumers complied even when they<br />
knew they didn't owe money, just to avoid a<br />
potentially embarrassing situation or potential<br />
arrest, authorities <strong>said</strong>.<br />
So far, the FTC has received thousands of<br />
complaints from across the country about<br />
the scam. Said C. Steven Baker, director of<br />
the FTC's Midwest Region, based in Chicago,<br />
"Nobody actually owed them a dime."<br />
Phone calls were placed using Internetbased<br />
phone calling, which made the calls<br />
appear to caller-ID systems as if they were<br />
coming from within the US, he <strong>said</strong>.<br />
<strong>The</strong> scam had been ongoing since at least<br />
January 2010, officials <strong>said</strong>.<br />
<strong>The</strong> FTC has set up an informational Web<br />
page for consumers, called "Who's Calling?<br />
That Debt Collector Could be a Fake". It's at<br />
tinyurl.com/phantomdebt<br />
Schneiderman’s plan to address Rx drug<br />
crisis plaguing Long Island<br />
Mineola, NY: Amid Long Island’s<br />
growing prescription drug epidemic,<br />
a coalition of law enforcement,<br />
elected officials, medical professionals<br />
and community members<br />
joined forces to urge the passage of<br />
Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman’s<br />
Internet System for Tracking<br />
Overprescribing (I-STOP) plan for<br />
an online database that enables doctors<br />
and pharmacists to report and<br />
track certain controlled substances<br />
in real time. <strong>The</strong> endorsement of I-<br />
STOP, announced at a press conference<br />
at the Long Island Council on<br />
Alcoholism & Drug Dependence in<br />
Mineola this week, follows the release<br />
of a recent report by the Attorney<br />
General detailing the growing<br />
prescription drug abuse crisis in<br />
every corner of New York State.<br />
Statewide, the number of prescriptions<br />
for all narcotic painkillers has<br />
increased by six million, from 16.6<br />
million in 2007 to nearly 22.5 million<br />
in 2010.<br />
“Long Island is at the center of the<br />
state’s prescription drug epidemic,<br />
and it’s time to take action before<br />
another tragedy strikes. <strong>The</strong> law enforcement<br />
officials, medical professionals<br />
and community members on<br />
the ground – who see the devastation<br />
of this crisis firsthand – stand<br />
united to protect our communities<br />
Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman<br />
by supporting I-STOP,” <strong>said</strong> Attorney<br />
General Schneiderman. “Inaction<br />
is not an option. <strong>The</strong> time is<br />
now to streamline communication<br />
between health care providers and<br />
pharmacists to better serve patients,<br />
stop prescription drug trafficking,<br />
and provide treatment to those who<br />
need help.”<br />
According to the Attorney General’s<br />
recent report, the prescription<br />
drug crisis is particularly acute on<br />
Long Island where drug-related violent<br />
crimes – including the horrific<br />
pharmacy murders in Seaford and<br />
Medford in 2011, overdoses, and<br />
drug treatment admissions have in-<br />
creased at an alarming rate.<br />
Nassau County Executive Edward<br />
P. Mangano <strong>said</strong>, "Attorney General<br />
Schneiderman’s I-STOP plan gives<br />
stakeholders the tools necessary to<br />
protect the public from the growing<br />
epidemic of prescription drug abuse.<br />
Together, we can and will better coordinate<br />
health care services so that<br />
patients receive the medication they<br />
need and those who profit off of<br />
abuse receive the justice they deserve.<br />
This is the right solution to<br />
Long Island’s prescription drug epidemic,<br />
and Attorney General<br />
Schneiderman deserves credit for<br />
tackling this crisis head on."
4 Turn Page<br />
February 25-March 2, 2012 <strong>The</strong><strong>South</strong><strong>Asian</strong><strong>Times</strong>.info<br />
UN panel indicts Syria for<br />
crimes against humanity<br />
London: A United Nations panel declared on<br />
Thursday that “gross human rights violations”<br />
had been ordered by the Syrian<br />
authorities as state policy at “the highest levels<br />
of the armed forces and the government,”<br />
amounting to crimes against humanity.<br />
<strong>The</strong> panel of three investigators did not<br />
release the names of the officials it had identified<br />
as bearing responsibility. Instead, they<br />
delivered the names in a sealed envelope to<br />
the United Nations’ top human rights official.<br />
<strong>The</strong> 72-page report by the panel <strong>said</strong> that<br />
the insurgent Free Syrian Army, made up of<br />
defectors from forces loyal to President<br />
Bashar al-Assad, had also committed abuses,<br />
but those were “not comparable in scale and<br />
organization to those carried out by the<br />
Afgan protests Story<br />
Continued from page 1<br />
U.S.-led NATO coalition, officials <strong>said</strong>.<br />
Adding to a chorus of profuse apologies<br />
from U.S. officials over the burning incident,<br />
Obama wrote a three-page letter to<br />
Afghan President Hamid Karzai on bilateral<br />
relations that included "an expression of<br />
his regret and apologies for the inappropriate<br />
and inadvertent mishandling of religious<br />
materials," White House spokesman<br />
Jay Carney <strong>said</strong>.<br />
Karzai's office demanded that the coalition<br />
bring to justice as soon as possible<br />
those responsible for burning Qurans and<br />
other Islamic religious materials Monday<br />
at Bagram, a major air base north of Kabul<br />
used by American forces. <strong>The</strong> latest<br />
embarrassing incident to mar U.S. efforts<br />
to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan, it<br />
has led to a series of demonstrations that<br />
could grow Friday, with large crowds<br />
expected to gather after weekly prayers.<br />
While the protests so far have appeared<br />
to be spontaneous outpourings of public<br />
anger, the Taliban ratcheted up their rheto-<br />
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state.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> investigators <strong>said</strong> the report was based<br />
on 369 interviews with victims, witnesses,<br />
defectors and other people with “inside<br />
knowledge” of the situation in Syria. <strong>The</strong>y<br />
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ric Thursday, issuing a statement that<br />
encouraged Afghans to kill foreign troops<br />
and not to rely on "mere protests and<br />
empty slogans."<br />
Some initial reports have suggested that<br />
a coalition commander ordered the Qurans<br />
and other materials destroyed because<br />
inmates at the Bagram detention facility<br />
were placing messages in them to one<br />
another, but coalition officials <strong>said</strong> the<br />
investigators hadn't confirmed that.<br />
Zardari Story<br />
Continued from page 1<br />
Ahmad Shuja Pasha), <strong>said</strong> Ijaz.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Supreme Court-appointed commission<br />
is probing Ijaz's claim to have last<br />
year delivered a secret memo to then US<br />
joint chiefs chairman Admiral Mike<br />
Mullen at the behest of Haqqani and the<br />
Pakistani government.<br />
Kamla Harris, Kal Penn Story<br />
Continued from page 1<br />
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Tristate Community 5<br />
<strong>The</strong><strong>South</strong><strong>Asian</strong><strong>Times</strong>.info February 25-March 2, 2012<br />
India Semester organized at FDU in New Jersey<br />
Ashok Ojha/SA<strong>Times</strong><br />
Morristown, NJ : As athletes<br />
played in the Soccer field and<br />
swimmers enjoyed the warm water<br />
of its indoor swimming pool,<br />
young Indian dancers fascinated a<br />
mixed crowd of students and faculty<br />
members of Fairleigh Dickinson<br />
University with their performance<br />
of Indian classical dances. <strong>The</strong><br />
event was organized at Dryfuss<br />
auditorium of Farleigh Dickinson<br />
University campus in Florham, NJ<br />
as part of a semester long India<br />
focused program.<br />
FDU’s Florham College is currently<br />
celebrating the culture of<br />
India through a host of activities<br />
ranging from discussions on<br />
India’s economy and politics,<br />
music and fashion shows, visits to<br />
local Indian temples and shopping<br />
centers, celebrating Holi and<br />
screening of well known movies<br />
on Indian themes, such as, Mira<br />
Nair’s ‘Mississippi Masala’,<br />
‘Monsoon Wedding’, ‘<strong>The</strong><br />
Namesake’, Deepa Mehta’s<br />
‘Water’, and Gurinder Chadha’s<br />
‘Bent it Like Bekham’. <strong>The</strong> college<br />
launched its ‘India Celebrations’<br />
Indian techies launch<br />
'My Innovation For Indians'<br />
competition<br />
Washington, DC: An organization<br />
of Indian techies in the Silicon<br />
Valley has launched a competition<br />
for IT professionals to encourage<br />
them to come out with a viable and<br />
sustainable technology plan for<br />
India. "My Innovation For Indians<br />
(MIFI)" competition was announced<br />
by the Silicon valley-based Global<br />
Indian Technology Professionals<br />
Association (GITPRO) at a conference<br />
in Palo Alto, California on<br />
Saturday.<br />
During the conference 'Emerging<br />
Technology & Opportunities', IT<br />
professionals also decided to pilot a<br />
project to improve a quality of new<br />
engineering graduates from third<br />
tier colleges.<br />
GITPRO, which now has seven<br />
chapters in the US and three in<br />
India, would also launched a firstever<br />
survey for professional life,<br />
family life and community involvement<br />
of Indian Professionals in the<br />
US, <strong>said</strong> Khanderao Kand, its<br />
Dr. Kenneth Green, Senior Vice Provost, FDU’s College at Florham<br />
with Dr. Kiron Sharma, who coordinated an India Semester during<br />
the spring 2012 at FDU’s Florham campus.<br />
program on February 15, 2012<br />
when its student community was<br />
invited to experience delicious<br />
North Indian cuisine and participate<br />
in Henna painting. A variety<br />
of activities are spread over the<br />
duration of the spring semester.<br />
“We are preparing our students to<br />
become global citizens. <strong>The</strong><br />
semester long activities are focused<br />
to expose our student body to<br />
Indian culture and traditions,” <strong>said</strong><br />
Dr. Kenneth Green, Senior Vice<br />
Provost, Government and<br />
founder and Convener of GITPRO<br />
World 2012.<br />
In his keynote address, Anand<br />
Deshpande, CEO of Persistent<br />
Systems, <strong>said</strong> that India Inc has<br />
evolved from offshore hub to a<br />
global player with global outlook.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re lies a huge opportunity for<br />
innovation and startups in India for<br />
next five years mainly in the market<br />
of education, healthcare, biosciences,<br />
retail and mobile, he<br />
stressed. A legendary entrepreneurship<br />
coach teaching at Stanford and<br />
Berkley Universities, Steve Blank<br />
emphasized that entrepreneurs<br />
should avoid failures by getting out<br />
of offices to talk to customers for<br />
validating hypothesis and pivoting<br />
on idea or customer market as often<br />
and as early as possible.<br />
More than 400 Indian technology<br />
professionals from startups to<br />
prominent companies like Cisco,<br />
IBM, Oracle, ebay, HP and Apple<br />
attended the conference.<br />
Community Affairs, FDU’s<br />
College at Florham. “<strong>The</strong> theme<br />
semester is part of our strategic<br />
planning to expose our students to<br />
verities of global-education activities.”<br />
FDU partnered with<br />
Vidyalaya, a local voluntary organization<br />
which provided support for<br />
the cultural events, music and<br />
dance performances. “Vidyalaya’s<br />
primary objective is to educate students<br />
in Indian languages and culture,”<br />
<strong>said</strong> Dr. Kiron Sharma, one<br />
of the Directors of Vidyalaya and a<br />
Harvard <strong>Asian</strong>-American<br />
discrimination probe ends<br />
New York: According to a Washington Post report,<br />
Federal civil rights investigators have closed an<br />
investigation into whether Harvard and Princeton<br />
universities discriminate against <strong>Asian</strong> Americans in<br />
admissions because the complaint has been withdrawn.<br />
<strong>The</strong> short-lived probe began with a complaint<br />
from an Indian-American student in California who<br />
was rejected at both schools, despite sitting near the<br />
top of his high school class.<br />
<strong>The</strong> story went modestly viral; Harvard and<br />
Princeton have admission rates below 10 percent,<br />
and research suggests <strong>Asian</strong>-Americans must produce<br />
even higher grades and test scores to get in.<br />
professor of Computer Science at<br />
FDU. Sharma was the chief coordinator<br />
of the program.<br />
“India has made phenomenal<br />
growth after 1991 when its economy<br />
was opened for foreign investment<br />
and liberalization,” <strong>said</strong><br />
Professor Ram Kishan of Oakland<br />
University, Rochester, Michigan,<br />
who spoke on the topic of ‘Rise of<br />
India and challenges she faced.’<br />
In his balanced view of Indian<br />
politics and society Kishan highlighted<br />
India’s security problems<br />
Harvard’s Jeff Neal released this statement: “We<br />
are pleased that the complaint against Harvard has<br />
been withdrawn and that OCR has closed the case.<br />
Harvard College welcomes talented students from all<br />
backgrounds, including <strong>Asian</strong> Americans. Our<br />
review of every applicant’s file is highly individualized<br />
and holistic, as we give serious consideration to<br />
all of the information we receive and all of the ways<br />
in which the candidate might contribute to our<br />
vibrant educational environment and community.”<br />
Bloomberg, the source of the original story, was<br />
apparently unable to reach the California family to<br />
discern why the complaint was dropped.<br />
CafePress removes racist products from<br />
website after community protests<br />
New York: In a victory for civil rights, community<br />
uproar has led CafePress to remove racist t-shirt designs<br />
from its website. <strong>The</strong> t-shirts, which <strong>said</strong>, “No More<br />
Ragheads!” and “No More Towelheads!” prompted over<br />
4,000 people to sign a petition created by the Sikh<br />
Coalition calling for their removal.<br />
In addition to removing the t-shirts, CafePress issued<br />
a statement expressing "regret" for "any problems or<br />
c<strong>once</strong>rns caused by the images in question."<br />
Professor Ram Kishan of Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan,<br />
addressing students and faculty members at FDU at an event<br />
organized as a part of ‘India Semester’. (Photos by Ashok Ojha)<br />
and stiff competition it faces from<br />
China, another world power which<br />
dominates the region as well as the<br />
Indian Ocean. “China has established<br />
strategic military bases in<br />
India’s neighborhood bordering its<br />
Western, <strong>South</strong>ern and Eastern<br />
frontiers. China is also threatening<br />
India’s security from its Northern<br />
border. India’s security problems<br />
have been compounded by home<br />
grown violence perpetrated by terrorists<br />
and leftists Maoists,” he<br />
explained.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Sikh Coalition issued an open letter to CafePress<br />
CEO Bob Marino last Thursday, February 17. <strong>The</strong><br />
Coalition's open letter also urged community members<br />
to sign an online petition which garnered 2,000 signatures<br />
in a day. By late Saturday morning, February 19,<br />
the racist images were removed from the CafePress<br />
website. <strong>The</strong> Coalition's open letter also called on<br />
CafePress to improve its internal controls to prevent<br />
hateful material from being sold on its site.
6 Tristate Community<br />
February 25-March 2, 2012 <strong>The</strong><strong>South</strong><strong>Asian</strong><strong>Times</strong>.info<br />
Chivukula participates in Open<br />
World Program<br />
Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula (D-<br />
17) spoke with a group of Armenian<br />
delegates visiting the United States as participants<br />
of Open World, a program designed<br />
to strengthen ties between America<br />
and select Eurasian countries.<br />
<strong>The</strong> delegation, which consisted of six<br />
Armenian Parliamentary staff members,<br />
spoke with the Assemblyman at Civic<br />
Square in New Brunswick for nearly two<br />
hours discussing ethics and public<br />
integrity.<br />
Princes and Painters in Mughal Delhi opens at Asia Society<br />
New York: 'Princes and Painters in Mughal<br />
Delhi, 1707–1857' on view February 7<br />
through May 6, 2012 at Asia Society here<br />
brings together 100 masterpieces created during<br />
an artistically rich period in India’s history.<br />
This major international loan exhibition<br />
provides a new look at an era of significant<br />
change during which the Mughal capital in<br />
Delhi shifted from being the heart of the late<br />
Mughal Empire to becoming the jewel in the<br />
crown of the British Raj.<br />
<strong>The</strong> exhibition includes jewel-like portrait<br />
paintings, striking panoramas, and exquisite<br />
decorative arts crafted for Mughal emperors<br />
and European residents alike, as well as historical<br />
photographs.<br />
Curated by William Dalrymple and Yuthika<br />
Sharma, the exhibition is accompanied by a<br />
264-page illustrated book with essays by<br />
William Dalrymple, Yuthika Sharma, Jean<br />
Marie Lafont, Malini Roy, Sunil Sharma, and<br />
J.P. Losty, published by Asia Society Museum<br />
Through a Russian interpreter, Chivukula<br />
reviewed New Jersey’s strict ethics and<br />
campaign finance laws as well as provided<br />
a brief overview of the election process<br />
in the United States.<br />
Throughout the event, the delegation<br />
asked questions that gave them insight<br />
into the similarities and differences between<br />
the two governments.<br />
Chivukula was the final speaker on the<br />
Armenian’s tour, which lasted for eight<br />
days.<br />
BharatMatrimony to create<br />
the world’s largest wedding<br />
photo album<br />
Kick starting a two month long run-up<br />
to Matrimony Day (April 14th),<br />
BharatMatrimony.com has set the ball<br />
rolling on February 14th in an attempt to<br />
create two world records - Attempt a<br />
Guinness World Record in putting together<br />
the world’s largest wedding photo album;<br />
and Set a world record with 1 million<br />
wedding pictures online at www.millionweddingpics.com<br />
to create the largest<br />
collection of wedding pictures online.<br />
During the event, the ideal celebrity couple<br />
Kapil Dev & Romi Dev uploaded the<br />
first wedding pictures onto the website to<br />
officially launch www.millionwedding-<br />
pics.com. <strong>The</strong> website opens up an opportunity<br />
to all married couples to participate<br />
in this momentous occasion and create<br />
history. Speaking on this occasion, Murugavel<br />
Janakiraman, Founder & CEO,<br />
BharatMatrimony.com <strong>said</strong>, “This is an attempt<br />
to get all Indians to participate and<br />
share their wedding pictures and feature in<br />
a record making photo album. We hope to<br />
clinch the world record on the auspicious<br />
day of Matrimony Day on April 14th<br />
when we will unveil the album for verification.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> participation is free and open to all<br />
married couples.<br />
in association with Yale University Press,<br />
New Haven and London.<br />
“Princes and Painters in Mughal Delhi,<br />
1707–1857 is a reappraisal of a transitional<br />
era in India that provided unprecedented<br />
impetus for artistic innovation and experimentation,”<br />
says Melissa Chiu, Asia Society<br />
Museum Director and Vice President for<br />
Global Art Programs. “We’re pleased to be<br />
taking a new approach to this magnificent and<br />
vibrant work with notable author William<br />
Dalrymple and art historian Yuthika Sharma<br />
as curators.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> exhibition focuses on the reigns of the<br />
last four Mughal emperors: Muhammad Shah<br />
(reigned 1719–1748), Shah Alam II (reigned<br />
1759–1806), Akbar Shah II (reigned<br />
1806–1837) and Bahadur Shah II Zafar<br />
(reigned 1837–1857).<br />
Having lost military, political and economic<br />
power to the newly-arrived British in<br />
Calcutta, Delhi continued to maintain its<br />
IN BRIEF<br />
Cross Island Y launches Strong<br />
Kids Campaign<br />
<strong>The</strong> Cross Island YMCA launched the<br />
Strong Kids Campaign, its annual community<br />
support campaign that works to create<br />
stronger, closer families; healthier, more involved<br />
kids; and enriched and revitalized communities.<br />
According to the U.S. Centers for the<br />
Disease Control and Prevention, while nearly<br />
all kids in the U.S. play computers or handheld<br />
games only 38 percent participate in regular organized<br />
physical activity. Even more sobering,<br />
50 percent of family member meals are eaten<br />
away from home. Sobering statistics like those<br />
can lead one to ask, “What’s happened to our<br />
sense of community and how can we get it<br />
back?”<br />
Every day, the Cross Island Y serves as a vital<br />
gathering place for the community. Kids<br />
pour through our doors after school to play, do<br />
homework, and get involved in their communities.<br />
Seniors meet for coffee, group activities,<br />
and to connect with one another. <strong>The</strong> Strong<br />
Kids Campaign ensures that the Y can contin-<br />
First Veda Sammelanam in North<br />
America on April 14<br />
Sringeri Vidya Bharati Foundation Inc.<br />
USA, is the first overseas affiliate of the<br />
ancient Sri Sharada Peetham, Sringeri, India.<br />
It is situated at the lush green mountains of the<br />
Poconos in Stroudsburg, PA.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Foundation has planned to conduct the<br />
first ever Veda Sammelan in North America at<br />
the Sringeri Sadhana Center in Stroudsburg,<br />
PA on Saturday, April 14. Hundreds of Vedic<br />
Scholars and Agama/Sastra pundits from<br />
extraordinary cultural, literary, and artistic<br />
patronage networks. Artists were supported by<br />
ue to provide Queens with these and other lifeenhancing<br />
services.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Strong Kids Campaign funds given from<br />
individuals in Queens go back to support<br />
Queens. Campaign leadership is made up of a<br />
group of outstanding YMCA volunteers from<br />
throughout Queens. This year, Mel Walker,<br />
Pfizer is working with the Cross Island Y to<br />
meet its Strong Kids Campaign goal of raising<br />
$221,000. “<strong>The</strong> Y is a fixture in Queens and a<br />
beacon of hope to many. <strong>The</strong> Strong Kids<br />
Campaign helps provide families and kids in<br />
our community with the support they need to<br />
overcome adversity and to thrive” <strong>said</strong> Walker.<br />
“Please join us as we work together and support<br />
one another to make our home stronger.”<br />
“With the Strong Kids Campaign, we want<br />
more people to understand that we are more<br />
than where to go to exercise or swim – and that<br />
we rely on their financial support to do our vital<br />
work.” Dana Feinberg, Executive Director<br />
of the Cross Island Y.<br />
USA and Canada will participate in this the<br />
one-day event.<br />
<strong>The</strong> program includes a ceremonious procession<br />
of the scriptures, recitation of all four<br />
Vedas, special Vedic offerings to Sharadamba,<br />
a lecture-cum-demonstration of various<br />
recitation practices. Registration for the Sammelan<br />
is free and all participating scholars are<br />
required to register through the Foundation’s<br />
website at www.svbf.orgon-line or by mail.<br />
the Mughal court in Delhi and the city’s<br />
ascendant European residents, creating an<br />
environment of extraordinary interaction and<br />
influence between them and the new world of<br />
the British East India Company.<br />
Exhibition-related programs include a lecture<br />
with co-curator William Dalrymple on the<br />
artistic and political complexities of art created<br />
for the Indian court and European patrons<br />
in Delhi and an evening of celebrating the era<br />
of India’s last Mughals featuring a reading by<br />
William Dalrymple and a performance by<br />
North Indian vocalist Vidya Shah. In addition,<br />
AsiaStore will feature a series of artisan<br />
demonstrations including: block printing by<br />
Mahesh Jain, Zardozi embroidery by Shyam<br />
Prasad and Kundan Jewelry by Asif Khan.<br />
One of the displays - Bahadur Shah I<br />
with his sons handing a sarpech to<br />
a grandson, ca. 1710. Opaque<br />
watercolor and gold on paper.
National Community 7<br />
<strong>The</strong><strong>South</strong><strong>Asian</strong><strong>Times</strong>.info February 25-March 2, 2012<br />
US airlines sue EximBank<br />
for giving loan guarantee<br />
to AirIndia<br />
Washington, DC: <strong>The</strong> US<br />
airline industry has sued the<br />
Export Import Bank (Exim)<br />
alleging that its financial support<br />
to Indian national carrier<br />
Air India, which itself is in<br />
deep red, will harm the<br />
American airlines.<br />
In a revised complaint filed<br />
before a US court on Friday<br />
last week, the Air Transport<br />
Association of America,<br />
Delta Air Line and Air Line<br />
Pilots Association<br />
International, alleged that<br />
Exim Bank's decision to provide<br />
a loan guarantee of USD<br />
3.4 billion to Air India, to<br />
help it buy 30 aircraft from<br />
Boeing, would badly affect<br />
several US airlines, the Delta<br />
in particular.<br />
Arguing that without the<br />
financial support from Exim<br />
Bank, Air India, which in<br />
itself is in deep red, would<br />
not have purchased these aircraft<br />
and thus would deploy<br />
them on those routes where it<br />
gives a tough competition to<br />
US airlines. "<strong>The</strong> Bank's support<br />
for foreign carriers puts<br />
ATA's operator members,<br />
including Delta, at a competitive<br />
disadvantage because,<br />
among other things, the<br />
Bank's foreign beneficiaries<br />
have access to cheaper capital<br />
to finance their aircraft purchases,"<br />
the complaint <strong>said</strong>.<br />
"Delta's experience is illustrative.<br />
In 2006, Delta offered<br />
nonstop service between New<br />
York and Mumbai. Between<br />
2006 and 2009, the Bank<br />
gave Air India loan guarantees<br />
totalling approximately<br />
USD 3.3 billion.<br />
"Those guarantees allowed<br />
Air India to flood the US-<br />
India market with extra<br />
capacity and crowd out competitors<br />
like Delta. Delta<br />
stopped flying from New<br />
York to Mumbai in October<br />
of 2008 due to the Bank's<br />
loan guarantees to Air India,"<br />
the court affidavit <strong>said</strong>.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Exim Bank's subsidies<br />
to foreign carriers have forced<br />
US airlines to cut between<br />
4,100 and 7,500 jobs. <strong>The</strong><br />
loss of those jobs has led to<br />
USD 372 million to USD 684<br />
million in lost employee<br />
income, it alleged.<br />
Obama ropes in 3 Indian Americans<br />
for presidential campaign<br />
Washington, DC: Three well-known Indianorigin<br />
Americans, actor Kalpen Modi,<br />
California Attorney General, Kamla Harris<br />
and Sai Iyer, who served as a White House<br />
intern in 2011, were appointed Wednesday to<br />
the 35-member national co-chairs of the<br />
Obama Campaign.<br />
In all, the Obama Campaign released a list<br />
of 35 campaign co-chairs who will act as key<br />
surrogates and ambassadors in the run up to<br />
the November presidential elections in which<br />
incumbent Barack Obama is seeking re-election.<br />
"<strong>The</strong> president's national co-chairs will<br />
be tremendous assets on the ground as we<br />
build the biggest grassroots campaign in history,"<br />
Obama's campaign manager, Jim Messina<br />
<strong>said</strong> in a statement.<br />
"<strong>The</strong>y each share the President's vision for a<br />
future where every American can have a fair<br />
shot at success, where hard work pays off and<br />
responsibility is rewarded," Messina <strong>said</strong>.<br />
Sai Iyer is a senior at Virginia<br />
Commonwealth University.<br />
Indian American doctors win<br />
racial discrimination case<br />
Houston: Three Indian-American doctors,<br />
who were derogatorily called "the<br />
Indians" and treated as "second-class citizens"<br />
by the CEO of a medical center,<br />
have won a racial discrimination case in a<br />
Texas court. <strong>The</strong> US Fifth Circuit Court<br />
of Appeals found that Citizens Medical<br />
Center in Victoria had violated the equal<br />
protection rights of the doctors.<br />
<strong>The</strong> court ruled in favour of Ajay<br />
Gaalla, Harish Chandna and Dakshesh<br />
Parikh, the Victoria Advocate reported.<br />
In February 2010, the medical center<br />
filed a resolution that would allow only<br />
cardiologists with contracts at the hospital<br />
to exercise clinical privileges in the<br />
cardiology department or part of the hospital's<br />
heart program.<br />
<strong>The</strong> cardiologists fought back with a<br />
lawsuit stating they were being barred<br />
from practicing not based on their merit<br />
and expertise but because of economical<br />
and racial reasons.<br />
This not only affected them but their<br />
patients who were denied the right to see<br />
the physician of their choice, according<br />
to the court documents.<br />
<strong>The</strong> three doctors <strong>said</strong> they were consistently<br />
treated like second-class citizens,<br />
removed from committees and<br />
pushed out of laboratory posts arbitrarily,<br />
or overlooked in favor of "less-qualified"<br />
cardiologists CMC hired.<br />
For now, the case is in stay, or on hold,<br />
according to Monte James, the lead attorney<br />
for the cardiologists.<br />
He expects the federal court will take it<br />
off hold and it will proceed to trial.<br />
Neha Patel charged with<br />
infant son's murder<br />
Florida: Tampa<br />
International Airport police<br />
captured Indian American<br />
woman Neha Patel suspected<br />
of killing her one-yearold<br />
son.<br />
According to Polk<br />
County Sheriff Grady Judd,<br />
her husband Rashesh Patel,<br />
came home on last<br />
Thursday to discover wife,<br />
Neha Patel, 32, and their<br />
son missing.<br />
He tried to locate her and,<br />
at one point, was contacted<br />
by a credit card company<br />
who told him his card had<br />
been used in the Ocala<br />
area. He drove to Ocala but<br />
was unsuccessful in finding<br />
his wife.<br />
He returned to his Polk<br />
County home and contacted<br />
authorities on Thursday<br />
evening.<br />
Early the next morning,<br />
the woman came home<br />
with the baby, Ishan,<br />
wrapped in a blanket.<br />
Rashesh took the blanket<br />
and saw the child's lifeless<br />
body. Judd <strong>said</strong> she told her<br />
Patel suffered from post partum depression.<br />
(right). Baby Ishan.<br />
husband, "I killed him and<br />
I'll be dead tomorrow."<br />
After Rashesh contacted<br />
Neha's father, she ran out of<br />
the house and drove away.<br />
Judd <strong>said</strong> officers tracked<br />
Neha Patel's vehicle to<br />
Tampa International<br />
Airport. But then she left<br />
and filled up her car at a 7-<br />
Eleven Thursday evening.<br />
Judd <strong>said</strong> the woman suffers<br />
from postpartum<br />
depression and has <strong>said</strong> in<br />
the past that she wanted to<br />
die in the Smoky<br />
Mountains.<br />
Just before 7:30 Friday<br />
morning, Polk County officials<br />
notified airport police<br />
that Neha Patel, 32, had<br />
used her credit card at the<br />
TIA economy parking<br />
garage. Patel's vehicle was<br />
seen driving into the airport's<br />
long-term parking<br />
garage just after 1:00 p.m.<br />
<strong>The</strong> woman was apprehended<br />
and taken to an airport<br />
holding cell.
8 National Community<br />
February 25-March 2, 2012 <strong>The</strong><strong>South</strong><strong>Asian</strong><strong>Times</strong>.info<br />
Kamal Bawa wins award for<br />
sustainability work<br />
Kamal Bawa, an Indian-born<br />
professor of biology at the University<br />
of Massachusetts Boston, is<br />
the 2012 winner of the Gunnerus<br />
Sustainability Award, the world's<br />
first major international award for<br />
work on sustainability.<br />
Bawa will receive the Gunnerus<br />
Gold Medal and the award of 1 million<br />
Norwegian Kronor (about<br />
$190,000) at a ceremony in Trondheim,<br />
Norway, the university <strong>said</strong><br />
citing a Royal Norwegian Society<br />
of Sciences and Letters (DKNVS) announcement.<br />
Bawa, also a faculty fellow at the Centre for<br />
Governance and Sustainability, home of the<br />
Global Environmental Governance Project, is<br />
known for his research on population biology in<br />
Comcast enhances Internet Essentials' program<br />
New York: Almost six months<br />
ago, Comcast launched an ambitious<br />
broadband adoption program,<br />
Internet Essentials, with a focus on<br />
closing the digital divide and getting<br />
more low-income Americans<br />
connected to the Internet. Its<br />
progress report highlights successes<br />
and achievements and shares<br />
some of the lessons learned as well<br />
as the new enhancements it will be<br />
making to the program in the year<br />
ahead.<br />
Internet Essentials grew out of a<br />
multi-year internal project that had<br />
identified low-income broadband<br />
adoption as Comcast’s most<br />
rainforest areas. His span of work includes<br />
biological discoveries made<br />
in Central America, the Western<br />
Ghats, and the Himalayas in India.<br />
He is also noted for founding, and<br />
serving as president, of the Ashoka<br />
Trust for Research in Ecology and<br />
the Environment (ATREE), a nonprofit<br />
conservation and development<br />
research think tank in Bangalore.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Gunnerus award is the first<br />
major international prize for outstanding<br />
scientific work that promotes<br />
sustainable development globally, and<br />
will be awarded every two years.<br />
<strong>The</strong> award is named after DKNVS' founder,<br />
Bishop Johan Ernst Gunnerus (1718-1773), and<br />
is the result of collaboration between DKNVS,<br />
Sparebank1, SMN, and the society Technoport.<br />
Kamala Harris to join likes of Angelina<br />
Jolie, Leymah Gbowee at NYC Summit<br />
Next month, inspiring women leaders and<br />
activists from around the globe—including<br />
Nobel winner Leymah Gbowee, Angelina<br />
Jolie, Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg, Meryl<br />
Streep, Madeleine Albright, IMF chief<br />
Christine Lagarde, California Attorney<br />
General Kamala Harris, Israeli opposition<br />
leader Tzipi Livni, <strong>The</strong> New York <strong>Times</strong>’s Jill<br />
Abramson, president of Kosovo Atifete<br />
Jahjaga, Nancy Pelosi, and many more—will<br />
convene in New York City for Newsweek and<br />
<strong>The</strong> Daily Beast's third annual Women in the<br />
World Summit. Housed at Lincoln Center, the<br />
three-day event will spotlight the urgent chal-<br />
Kamal Bawa<br />
lenges facing women today. From a Pakistani<br />
bride who fled the prospect of a cruel enforced<br />
marriage to crusade for marital rights to soapopera<br />
writers transforming sexist societies;<br />
from female powerhouses in national security<br />
to the Egyptian blogger who’s covered a year<br />
of dashed hopes and turmoil for the women of<br />
Tahrir Square, the summit showcases women<br />
who are battling the status quo, picking up the<br />
pieces in the aftermath of war and shattering<br />
glass ceilings. <strong>The</strong> event will also feature performances<br />
by the star of Broadway’s Evita<br />
revival and a closing presentation by Oscar<br />
nominee Streep.<br />
Teenager wows judges on ‘<strong>The</strong> Voice’<br />
n 18-year-old Indian American<br />
tion of Adam Levine, Cee Lo and<br />
teenager from Dallas stole the<br />
Blake Shelton. All three judges<br />
show at the fourth round of blind<br />
clearly saw star power in the sassy<br />
auditions on the Feb. 20 episode of<br />
and confident youth, and weren’t<br />
NBC’s <strong>The</strong> Voice. Sharon Mathai<br />
about to give her up without a fight.<br />
gave up medical school for a career<br />
She finally settled on Adam. While<br />
in music, so she had a lot riding on<br />
her voice could use some work,<br />
her audition. She capped off the<br />
night with a performance of Sharon Mathai<br />
there’s no denying she has the “it<br />
factor” that could take her all the<br />
Adele‘s “Rumor Has It” that caught the atten- way in this competition!<br />
important community-investment<br />
strategy and priority.<br />
Internet Essentials has achieved<br />
a number of key accomplishments<br />
and met several milestones after<br />
only a few months of the program.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y include: Publicized the program<br />
across more than 4,000<br />
school districts and over 30,000<br />
schools, which have approximately<br />
3.5 million National School Lunch<br />
Program (NSLP) families, of<br />
which 2 million qualify for free<br />
meals under the NSLP and, therefore,<br />
are eligible for Internet<br />
Essentials; Worked with more than<br />
3,000 partners, including governors;<br />
mayors; local, state, and federal<br />
legislators, and communitybased<br />
organizations, including<br />
churches, libraries, and PTAs, to<br />
promote Internet Essentials and<br />
engage eligible families in their<br />
IN BRIEF<br />
communities; By the end of 2011,<br />
over 10,000 individuals and organizations<br />
had registered for the<br />
Partner Portal, the portal had experienced<br />
over 100,000 unique visits,<br />
and partners had requested 11.5<br />
million pieces of promotional col-<br />
lateral – all at no charge to the<br />
partner organizations. Offered<br />
approximately 300 in-person digital<br />
literacy training sessions with<br />
more than 1,250 individual attendees;<br />
Empowered nearly 100,000<br />
Comcast employees to directly<br />
connect eligible families in their<br />
communities; Connected over<br />
41,000 families (an estimated<br />
160,000 Americans) to the power<br />
Student wins top achievers award<br />
An Indian-American Student has won<br />
Siemens Awards For Advanced<br />
Placement, America's top achievers honor<br />
for her achievements in science and mathematics.<br />
Ramya Rangan, along with another student<br />
Albert Wu, two seniors at <strong>The</strong> Harker<br />
School in San Jose, California, became the<br />
nation's top achievers in Advanced<br />
Placement science and mathematics courses<br />
when they were recognized as winners<br />
of the 2011 Siemens Awards for Advanced<br />
Placement.<br />
Each will receive a USD 5,000 college<br />
scholarship. This year, 101 high school<br />
students in 50 states –including 96 seniors,<br />
4 juniors and 1 sophomore – were<br />
recognized.<br />
Established in 1998, the Siemens<br />
Awards for Advanced Placement is a signature<br />
program of the Siemens<br />
Foundation and is administered by the<br />
College Board. Ramya Rangan's interest<br />
in math and science originated over a<br />
decade ago when she began completing<br />
Kumon math problem sets.<br />
In high school, she found that other sci-<br />
of the Internet in their homes,<br />
some for the very first time; and<br />
distributed over 5,500 computers<br />
at less than $150 each.<br />
Also six key enhancements to<br />
Internet Essentials have been<br />
announced : First, it will expand<br />
the eligibility criteria. Previously,<br />
Internet Essentials was available to<br />
families with children eligible to<br />
receive free school lunches as part<br />
of the NSLP. In the second quarter,<br />
it will extend eligibility to families<br />
with children eligible to receive<br />
reduced price school lunches as<br />
well. Second, also during the second<br />
quarter, it will double the<br />
speed of the broadband connection<br />
Ramya Rangan<br />
ences posed similarly intriguing problems.<br />
She took her first AP class – AP<br />
Calculus BC – in the eighth grade.<br />
"AP courses gave me a chance to<br />
acquire more in-depth knowledge of various<br />
fields, and to learn with gifted peers<br />
from incredible teachers", she <strong>said</strong>.<br />
Ramya considers AP Physics C her<br />
favorite AP class to date, because it<br />
exposed her to interesting physics problems<br />
and gave her experience with lab<br />
work.<br />
Akshay Desai appointed to key<br />
Republican post<br />
Indian-American Akshay<br />
Desai has been appointed to<br />
a key Republican post in<br />
Florida, making him responsible<br />
for the party’s finances in<br />
this election year.<br />
“In this election year we<br />
need the resources for victory,<br />
and Dr. Desai’s long history of<br />
work for the state and our party<br />
make him a proven leader,”<br />
Republican Party of Florida (RPOF)<br />
chairman Lenny Curry <strong>said</strong> in a statement.<br />
Bottom of Form<br />
Dr. Desai has been appointed to serve as<br />
the chairman of Finance Committee of the<br />
Republican Party of Florida.<br />
Dr. Desai is currently the Chairman of<br />
the Board, President and CEO of<br />
Meets several milestones in<br />
just six months of its launch<br />
Universal Health Care Group,<br />
Inc and serves the health care<br />
community through several<br />
associations.<br />
“A K Desai is a tireless advocate<br />
for Florida and for our<br />
Republican party.<br />
RPOF will be well served by<br />
his dedication and experience,”<br />
<strong>said</strong> the Florida Governor Rick<br />
Dr Akshay Desai<br />
Scott.<br />
A member of the Florida State Board of<br />
Education since 2007, Dr. Desai previously<br />
served as a Member of Florida State<br />
Board of Governors from 2005-2007 and<br />
as Commissioner and Chairman of the<br />
Health Committee on the White House<br />
Commission on <strong>Asian</strong> Americans &<br />
Pacific Islanders from 2005-2008.<br />
provided with Internet Essentials<br />
to up to 3 Mbps downstream and<br />
up to 768 Kbps upstream, helping<br />
to make the service even more<br />
attractive. Third, during the first<br />
quarter it will give communitybased<br />
organization partners the<br />
ability to purchase Internet<br />
Essentials in bulk to help reach<br />
more eligible households with a<br />
streamlined and more customerfriendly<br />
process.<br />
Fourth, effective immediately it<br />
will further streamline the<br />
approval process by providing an<br />
instant approval process for all students<br />
who attend those schools<br />
with the highest percentage of<br />
NSLP participation, including<br />
Provision 2 schools. Fifth, it will<br />
continue to expand and enrich its<br />
online and in-person digital literacy<br />
training efforts.
Taxation 9<br />
<strong>The</strong><strong>South</strong><strong>Asian</strong><strong>Times</strong>.info February 25-March 2, 2012<br />
IRS filing: Help on how your income in India is taxed<br />
As we approach the last<br />
date - 17th April 2012 -<br />
for filing tax returns for<br />
the year 2011, here's some help<br />
for Indian Americans on how their<br />
income from India – if any - gets<br />
taxed.<br />
Tax on global income<br />
If you are a US resident or US<br />
citizen (NRI, PIO or OCI), you<br />
must pay taxes in the US on your<br />
global income. A person is <strong>said</strong> to<br />
be a US resident if he must have<br />
been physically present in the<br />
country on at least 31 days during<br />
the current year, and 183 days<br />
during the 3 year period that<br />
includes the current year and the<br />
two years immediately before. To<br />
satisfy the 183 days requirement,<br />
count all of the days you were<br />
present in the current year, and<br />
one-third of the days you were<br />
present in the last year and onesixth<br />
of the days you were present<br />
in the year before last.<br />
If you are a green card holder<br />
(or a US citizen), you are considered<br />
a US resident for tax purposes<br />
irrespective of where you actually<br />
live.<br />
How are various incomes<br />
taxed?<br />
Let us look at the various<br />
incomes in India and the tax<br />
implications on your US tax<br />
returns. While we are explaining<br />
the broad contours of the law, we<br />
strongly recommend that you read<br />
the relevant sections in the<br />
income tax act of both countries,<br />
the DTAA and also consult an<br />
expert for your specific case.<br />
Salary<br />
If you are a resident of the US<br />
but earned a part of your salary in<br />
India, then you would have to pay<br />
tax on your India income in the<br />
US. Is the payer in India subject<br />
to deduct tax at source in India?<br />
Not really. Article 16 of the<br />
DTAA states that salaries earned<br />
by a person who resides and<br />
works in another country shall be<br />
taxed 'only' in the country of residence.<br />
However, it might happen that<br />
you earned salary in India before<br />
you became a resident of the US<br />
and tax was deducted at source on<br />
that income in India. In such<br />
cases, you can claim a credit of<br />
the taxes paid in India in the US.<br />
Rajesh Vaidya, who is a member<br />
of the American Institute of<br />
CPAs and works in Florida, says,<br />
"A grey area here is that in India,<br />
various components of the salary<br />
package are taxed differently. For<br />
instance, reimbursements and certain<br />
allowances are tax-free. In<br />
the US however, there is no such<br />
distinction; any payment received<br />
from your employer is taxable.<br />
Now your form 16 reports only<br />
the taxable components of your<br />
salary. Ideally, when you file your<br />
income tax return in the US, you<br />
must disclose all the tax-free components<br />
of your Indian salary and<br />
pay tax in the US on those components<br />
too."<br />
How to report: You must<br />
include your salary income from<br />
India in the tax return Form 1040.<br />
In case of tax credit, also fill up<br />
Form 1116. Remember that the<br />
US follows the calendar year for<br />
tax purposes while India follows<br />
the fiscal year. You must pro-rate<br />
your income according to the relevant<br />
years.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re is an exception to Article<br />
16 which states that in case the<br />
employment is exercised in the<br />
other country, that is, in India, tax<br />
will be deducted at source. But<br />
this exception would apply mainly<br />
to green card holders and US<br />
citizens.<br />
Income from contracts, freelance<br />
If you are a consultant working<br />
in the US but receiving income<br />
from an Indian company, you<br />
would have to pay tax on that<br />
income in the US. This is irrespective<br />
of whether you receive<br />
the income in a bank account in<br />
the US or in India.<br />
Article 15 of the DTAA says<br />
that in such cases, if a person is<br />
resident of one country and earning<br />
income from a source in<br />
another country, then that income<br />
would be taxed 'only' in the country<br />
of his or her residence.<br />
In this case, you would have to<br />
inform your Indian payer not to<br />
deduct taxes at source from your<br />
income by submitting a Tax<br />
Residency Certificate, issued by<br />
the IRS to the payer in India. In<br />
case you do not submit the certificate<br />
and your payer in India<br />
deducted tax at source, you can<br />
claim a credit of that on your US<br />
tax return.<br />
How to report: Report your<br />
income on Schedule C of the<br />
1040. You can claim all expenses<br />
incurred such as office expenses,<br />
depreciation of computer, mileage<br />
etc. In case you have to claim tax<br />
credit in the US for taxes paid or<br />
deducted in India, you must report<br />
the same on form 1116.<br />
Rent<br />
If you own a property in India<br />
and have given it out on rent, the<br />
income from rent will be taxed in<br />
the US. Will you have to pay tax<br />
on this in India or US?<br />
Article 6 of the DTAA provides<br />
that rent from immovable property<br />
'maybe' taxed in the country in<br />
which the property is situated. So<br />
NRIs would first pay tax on rental<br />
income in India. While you would<br />
still have to declare that income<br />
while filing your tax returns in the<br />
US, you would get a credit for<br />
taxes paid in India.<br />
Thus, both countries will have<br />
the right to tax the rent income.<br />
However, the country in which<br />
the property is situated has the<br />
first right. After paying that as per<br />
tax slab, you must declare the<br />
rental income in the US and calculate<br />
tax on total income based<br />
on tax slab in the US. You can<br />
take credit in the US on taxes paid<br />
in India.<br />
How to report: Fill up Schedule<br />
E of the 1040 in your tax return.<br />
While in India, a flat 30% expenses<br />
are allowed as deduction from<br />
rental income, in the US only<br />
actual expenses maybe deducted.<br />
So you would need to deduct<br />
expenses such as repairs, maintenance<br />
etc on Schedule E. In order<br />
to claim tax credit, you would<br />
need to fill up form 1116.<br />
Capital gains<br />
Capital gains are the gains you<br />
make on sale of assets like property,<br />
land, financial assets like<br />
shares, mutual funds etc. In India,<br />
here is how capital gains are<br />
taxed:<br />
Land, property and other physical<br />
assets: Gains on sale after 3<br />
years of purchase are taxed as<br />
long term capital gains at the rate<br />
of 20%. Sale within 3 years is<br />
taxed as short term capital gains<br />
and included in your total income<br />
and taxed at your overall tax slab.<br />
Mutual funds, shares and other<br />
financial assets: Gains from equity<br />
shares and mutual funds sold<br />
after 1 year are tax free. If you<br />
sell within a year, the tax is 15%<br />
of the capital gain.<br />
In case of debt instruments like<br />
debt mutual funds, debentures,<br />
gains on sale after 1 year are<br />
taxed as long term capital gains.<br />
<strong>The</strong> tax rate is 20% with indexation<br />
or 10% without indexation.<br />
Sale within 1 year is taxed as<br />
short term capital gains and<br />
included in your total income and<br />
taxed at your overall tax slab.<br />
According to the US law, the<br />
time period for long term is 1 year<br />
for all assets. Long term capital<br />
gains are generally taxed at the<br />
rate of 15% while short term<br />
gains are added to your total<br />
income.<br />
Here's what the DTAA says in<br />
terms of capital gains: each<br />
Contracting State may tax capital<br />
gain in accordance with the provisions<br />
of its domestic law.<br />
So if you have capital gains in<br />
India, you would first have to pay<br />
tax in India on those gains as per<br />
the rules in India. You would then<br />
have to declare the capital gains<br />
in your US tax return and calculate<br />
taxes as per US law. Credit of<br />
taxes paid in India would be<br />
available in the US.<br />
How to report: Fill up Schedule<br />
D of 1040. Form 1116 will allow<br />
you to claim foreign tax credit<br />
paid, if any.<br />
Interest and dividends<br />
In India, interest income is<br />
added to your total income and<br />
taxed according to your overall<br />
tax slab.<br />
In the US too, interest is added<br />
to your total income and taxed<br />
thereon.<br />
What DTAA says: Interest arising<br />
in a Contracting State and<br />
paid to a resident of the other<br />
Contracting State 'maybe' taxed in<br />
that other State. However, such<br />
interest may also be taxed in the<br />
Contracting State in which it arises<br />
and accordingly to the law of<br />
that State, provided that where the<br />
resident of the other Contracting<br />
State is the beneficial owner of<br />
the interest the tax so charged<br />
shall not exceed 15 per cent of the<br />
gross amount of the interest.<br />
It means that if the interest is<br />
earned by an NRI out of deposits<br />
in India, TDS will be deducted on<br />
the same in India at the lower rate<br />
of 15 per cent (as against TDS<br />
rate of 30 per cent in absence of<br />
any DTAA).<br />
In the US, you would have to<br />
add this interest income in your<br />
total income and calculate tax<br />
thereon. You can claim credit for<br />
any taxes paid in India on this<br />
income.<br />
Dividends in India are tax free<br />
but in the US, dividends are added<br />
to your total income and taxed.<br />
How to report: "\Interest and<br />
dividends are reported on<br />
Schedule B of 1040. Foreign tax<br />
credits are reported on form 1116.<br />
Agricultural income<br />
Agricultural income in India is<br />
tax free but taxed in the US. What<br />
this means is that any agricultural<br />
income, whether revenue income<br />
or capital income such as gains<br />
from sale of agricultural land in<br />
India will have to be added to<br />
your total income in the US and<br />
tax paid thereon.
10 US Affairs<br />
February 25-March 2, 2012 <strong>The</strong><strong>South</strong><strong>Asian</strong><strong>Times</strong>.info<br />
Bloomberg<br />
defends police<br />
monitoring Muslim<br />
student websites<br />
New York: Mayor Michael R.<br />
Bloomberg on Tuesday defended<br />
the New York Police<br />
Department’s monitoring of the<br />
Web sites of Muslim student<br />
groups at more than a dozen universities<br />
across the Northeast,<br />
framing the effort as one way to<br />
guard against the threat of terrorism.<br />
“<strong>The</strong> Police Department goes<br />
where there are allegations, and<br />
they look to see whether those<br />
allegations are true,” Bloomberg<br />
<strong>said</strong> at an appearance at the<br />
Brooklyn Public Library. “That’s<br />
what you would expect them to<br />
do. That’s what you would want<br />
them to.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> mayor’s support of the<br />
department’s intelligence-gathering<br />
came as officials at several<br />
universities expressed deep c<strong>once</strong>rn<br />
over what they called a manner<br />
of police activity that they had<br />
been in the dark about for years.<br />
Yale University’s president,<br />
Richard C. Levin, <strong>said</strong> in an email<br />
on Sunday to students and<br />
faculty and staff members, “I am<br />
writing to state, in the strongest<br />
possible terms, that police surveillance<br />
based on religion, nationality<br />
or peacefully expressed political<br />
opinion is antithetical to the<br />
values of Yale, the academic community<br />
and the United States.”<br />
Levin added: “<strong>The</strong> Yale Muslim<br />
Students Association has been an<br />
important source of support for<br />
Yale students during a period<br />
when Muslims and Islam itself<br />
have too often been the target of<br />
thoughtless stereotyping, misplaced<br />
fear and bigotry.”<br />
According to an internal Police<br />
Department report from Nov. 22,<br />
2006, an officer from the Cyber<br />
Intelligence Unit had the “daily<br />
routine” of monitoring the Web<br />
sites, blogs and forums of Muslim<br />
student groups at 16 universities,<br />
including several in New York<br />
City and across the state, as well<br />
as Ivy League colleges.<br />
Washington: Mitt Romney has<br />
regained the lead in Arizona but is<br />
locked in a tie with rival Rick<br />
Santorum as primary day looms<br />
less than a week away, according<br />
to a pair of new polls released<br />
Wednesday.<br />
<strong>The</strong> polls suggest Romney’s<br />
message is resonating with more<br />
pragmatic voters who are focused<br />
on finding a candidate who can<br />
beat President Obama in a general<br />
election.<br />
An NBC/Marist poll of likely<br />
Republican primary voters in<br />
Arizona shows Romney leading<br />
US worries Iran sanctions will fail,<br />
making military action likely<br />
Washington: Officials in key parts<br />
of the Obama administration are<br />
increasingly convinced that sanctions<br />
will not deter Tehran from pursuing<br />
its nuclear program, and<br />
believe that the US will be left with<br />
no option but to launch an attack on<br />
Iran or watch Israel do so.<br />
<strong>The</strong> president has made clear in<br />
public, and in private to Israel, that<br />
he is determined to give sufficient<br />
time for recent measures, such as<br />
the financial blockade and the looming<br />
European oil embargo, to bite<br />
deeper into Iran's already battered<br />
economy before retreating from its<br />
principal strategy to pressure<br />
Tehran.<br />
But there is a strong current of<br />
opinion within the administration<br />
including in the Pentagon and the<br />
State Department that believes<br />
sanctions are doomed to fail, and<br />
that their principal use now is in<br />
delaying Israeli military action, as<br />
well as reassuring Europe that an<br />
attack will only come after other<br />
Hillary wants US to focus on business<br />
abroad - like India, China<br />
Washington: Suggesting that rising<br />
powers like India, China and Brazil<br />
were putting economics at the centre<br />
of their foreign policies, Secretary<br />
of State Hillary Clinton advocates<br />
Economic Statecraft to champion<br />
US businesses abroad."America's<br />
economic strength and our global<br />
leadership are a package deal.<br />
You're not going to have one without<br />
the other," she <strong>said</strong> in a keynote<br />
at a State Department Global<br />
Business Conference here Tuesday.<br />
"Rising powers like China, India,<br />
and Brazil understand this as well,<br />
and we can't sit on the sidelines<br />
while they put economics at the centre<br />
of their foreign policies," she<br />
<strong>said</strong>."We fundamentally believe that<br />
increasing trade and growing prosperity<br />
will benefit not just our own<br />
people, but people everywhere," she<br />
<strong>said</strong>."Our economies are interdependent<br />
as never before, and so are our<br />
fates. America's economic renewal<br />
depends to a large degree on the<br />
the pack with 43%, a 16 percentage<br />
point lead over Santorum,<br />
who has 27%. Newt Gingrich<br />
ranks third with 16%, followed by<br />
Ron Paul with 11%.<br />
<strong>The</strong> race appears to be tighter in<br />
Michigan, according to an<br />
Any Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear installations would involve crossing<br />
another country's airspace. Its success is unsure, and it is likely to<br />
provoke retribution, maybe a pre-emptive strike by Iran.<br />
means have been tested.<br />
“<strong>The</strong> White House wants to see<br />
sanctions work. This is not the Bush<br />
White House. It does not need<br />
another conflict,” <strong>said</strong> an official.<br />
“Its problem is that the guys in<br />
Tehran are behaving like sanctions<br />
don't matter, like their economy isn't<br />
Hillary Clinton addressing<br />
State Department Global<br />
Business Conference.<br />
strength of the global economy, and<br />
the global economy depends on the<br />
strength of America," Clinton <strong>said</strong>.<br />
Meanwhile, US Commerce<br />
Secretary, John Bryson, plans to<br />
lead an infrastructure focused trade<br />
mission to India next month.<br />
"I will personally be leading an<br />
infrastructure-focused mission to<br />
India next month," Bryson <strong>said</strong> at<br />
the conference. He would be traveling<br />
to New Delhi, Jaipur and<br />
Mumbai, to corner a larger share of<br />
NBC/Marist poll of likely<br />
Republican primary voters there.<br />
Romney, with 37%, and<br />
Santorum, with 35%, are essentially<br />
tied in Michigan, the state<br />
where Romney was born and<br />
where his father, George Romney,<br />
served as governor in the 1960s.<br />
In both states, Romney holds<br />
solid leads among voters who<br />
have already cast their ballots. He<br />
also leads among those who are<br />
not supporters of the "tea party"<br />
movement.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Arizona poll suggests that<br />
electability has been a key factor<br />
collapsing, like Israel isn't going to<br />
do anything.<br />
“Sanctions are all we've got to<br />
throw at the problem. If they fail<br />
then it's hard to see how we don't<br />
move to the 'in extremis' option.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> White House has <strong>said</strong> repeatedly<br />
that all options are on the table,<br />
the estimated $1 trillion investment<br />
that India is seeking in the<br />
infrastructure sector.<br />
Obama seeks corporate<br />
tax rate cut to 28%<br />
Washington: President Obama is<br />
proposing to cut the corporate tax<br />
rate from 35 percent to 28 percent<br />
and wants an even lower effective<br />
rate for manufacturers, a senior<br />
administration official says, as the<br />
White House lays down an electionyear<br />
marker in the debate over tax<br />
policy. In turn, corporations would<br />
have to give up dozens of loopholes<br />
and subsidies that they now enjoy.<br />
Corporations with overseas operations<br />
would also face a minimum tax<br />
on their foreign earnings.Treasury<br />
Secretary Timothy Geithner on<br />
Wednesday was to detail aspects of<br />
Obama's proposed overhaul of the<br />
corporate tax system, a plan the president<br />
outlined in general terms in his<br />
State of the Union speech last month.<br />
Romney leads in Arizona, tied with Santorum in Michigan<br />
for voters there. Sixty-three percent<br />
say it’s more important to<br />
choose a candidate who can beat<br />
President Obama in a general<br />
election, while 29% say they prefer<br />
to choose a candidate who is a<br />
true conservative. Fifty-seven<br />
percent view Romney as the most<br />
electable candidate in the race,<br />
compared with 17% for<br />
Santorum.<br />
In Michigan, a slightly smaller<br />
portion – 51% -- view Romney as<br />
the most electable candidate,<br />
while 24% say Santorum is most<br />
electable.<br />
including the use of force to stop<br />
Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon, but<br />
that for now the emphasis is firmly<br />
on diplomacy and sanctions.<br />
If Obama were to conclude that<br />
there is no choice but to attack Iran,<br />
he is unlikely to order it before the<br />
presidential election in November<br />
unless there is an urgent reason to<br />
do so.<br />
<strong>The</strong> question is whether the<br />
Israelis will hold back that long.<br />
Earlier this month, the US defence<br />
secretary, Leon Panetta, told the<br />
Washington Post that he thought the<br />
window for an Israeli attack on Iran<br />
is between April and June. But other<br />
official analysts working on Iran<br />
have identified what one described<br />
as a “sweet spot“, where the mix of<br />
diplomacy, political timetables and<br />
practical issues come together to<br />
suggest that if Israel launches a unilateral<br />
assault it is more likely in<br />
September or October, although<br />
they describe that as a “best guess“.<br />
India, China boom<br />
led to higher<br />
gas prices:<br />
White House<br />
Washington: <strong>The</strong> White<br />
House has attributed the rising<br />
fuel prices in America partly to<br />
the economic boom in countries<br />
like India and China and<br />
unrest in other parts of the<br />
world.<br />
"<strong>The</strong> rise in gas prices is<br />
clearly the effect of a variety of<br />
factors on the global price of<br />
oil. <strong>The</strong>y include unrest in certain<br />
regions of the world. <strong>The</strong>y<br />
include growth in areas like<br />
China and India," White House<br />
Press Secretary Jay Carney told<br />
reporters Tuesday.<br />
<strong>The</strong> hike in global oil prices<br />
underscores the need to<br />
improve upon the alternate<br />
sources of energy and putting<br />
into place a comprehensive<br />
energy policy, he <strong>said</strong> when<br />
asked about a comment by<br />
Republic presidential candidate<br />
Newt Gingrich that Obama<br />
wants more expensive gas.<br />
"We can reduce our reliance<br />
on foreign sources of energy if<br />
we expand in every direction<br />
… to dramatically reduce our<br />
consumption of oil and save<br />
Americans $1.7 trillion in<br />
costs," he added.<br />
Gas prices are averaging<br />
$3.59 a gallon currently. In<br />
some places, consumers are<br />
already seeing gas prices over<br />
$4. Tuesday’s weekly gas<br />
price average was up 40 cents<br />
from a year ago, and up by<br />
seven cents from last week.
India-State Elections 11<br />
<strong>The</strong><strong>South</strong><strong>Asian</strong><strong>Times</strong>.info February 25-March 2, 2012<br />
Government<br />
denies plans<br />
to curb poll<br />
panel<br />
New Delhi: Stung by attacks<br />
from the opposition, the government<br />
denied it planned to<br />
curb the Election<br />
Commission's powers to<br />
implement the model code of<br />
conduct during elections.<br />
A Group of Ministers (GoM)<br />
on corruption was only considering<br />
"state funding of elections",<br />
an official statement<br />
<strong>said</strong>.<br />
"<strong>The</strong> GoM has not made any<br />
recommendation to make the<br />
model mode of conduct statutory<br />
or to take it outside the<br />
purview of the election commission,"<br />
the statement from<br />
the department of personnel,<br />
public grievances and pensions<br />
<strong>said</strong>.<br />
UP elections: Rahul woos first-time voters<br />
Shamli (Uttar Pradesh):<br />
Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) leader<br />
Jayant Chaudhary and Congress<br />
leader Rahul <strong>Gandhi</strong> joined hands<br />
in this newly-formed district headquarters<br />
to woo first-time voters<br />
and youth ahead of the penultimate<br />
round of the Uttar Pradesh assembly<br />
polls.<br />
<strong>The</strong> young leaders, Chaudhary,<br />
33, grandson of former prime minister<br />
Charan Singh and <strong>Gandhi</strong>, 41,<br />
grandson of late prime minister<br />
Indira <strong>Gandhi</strong> and son of former<br />
prime minister Rajiv <strong>Gandhi</strong>, are<br />
prominent youth leaders of their<br />
parties, which have tied-up for the<br />
state polls.<br />
"All those who are voting for the<br />
first time raise your hands," <strong>said</strong><br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> at the meeting and hundreds<br />
of youngsters, some of them<br />
standing on boundary walls and<br />
roofs, raised their hands in<br />
response.<br />
"You, people have a special<br />
opportunity and responsibility. You<br />
can bring development to Uttar<br />
Pradesh," he <strong>said</strong> to sustained<br />
Phoolan Devi's controversial<br />
legacy alive<br />
Late Phoolan Devi, the bandit queen-turned-MP.<br />
Kanpur: A huge colored photograph of<br />
Phoolan Devi, the bandit queen-turned-MP<br />
who was shot dead 11 years ago in New<br />
Delhi, adorns the wall of the first floor<br />
office of a shoe showroom.<br />
"She was my 'Behenji' (sister). I will<br />
always remember and respect her," <strong>said</strong><br />
Mohammed Asim, 44, owner of the showroom<br />
in Harjinder Nagar locality, who is<br />
also an independent candidate from<br />
Maharajpur constituency of Kanpur district<br />
in the Uttar Pradesh assembly poll.<br />
Asim came into contact with Phoolan<br />
soon after she entered politics and joined<br />
the Samajwadi Party (SP) in the mid-<br />
1990s. "I always felt she was a person from<br />
the lower caste who was severely wronged<br />
and persecuted. Her violent actions may<br />
have been a reaction," <strong>said</strong> Asim.<br />
A number of other politicians and former<br />
colleagues of Phoolan still praise her.<br />
Phoolan's dacoit gang earned notoriety for<br />
shooting dead 22 men, mostly upper caste<br />
Thakurs, in Behmai village, about 60 km<br />
from Kanpur, in 1981. Phoolan, belonging<br />
to the low caste Mallah community - of<br />
fishermen and boatmen - was barely 18<br />
years old then.<br />
Her supporters claim that Phoolan<br />
ordered her gang members to go on the<br />
shooting spree to take revenge on upper<br />
caste members in the village who had<br />
humiliated and gangraped her after being<br />
kidnapped by a rival gang.<br />
Not all agree. Local lawyer Vijay Narain<br />
Singh Sengar has been pleading the cases<br />
for the Behmai widows and victims for<br />
several years.<br />
"<strong>The</strong>re is a halo built around Phoolan by<br />
the media and some politicians. That is not<br />
the truth," Sengar <strong>said</strong>.<br />
Though Phoolan is dead - she was killed<br />
in 2001 at the age of 38 - Sengar <strong>said</strong> he<br />
was still pursuing the cases against her<br />
other gang members. And the Supreme<br />
Court had given him permission to pursue<br />
the cases, he added.<br />
However, in adjoining Mirzapur, from<br />
where Phoolan was elected as a Lok Sabha<br />
member twice in the 1990s, and in other<br />
districts of central Uttar Pradesh, many<br />
politicians still have words of praise for<br />
her. She herself hailed from the Chambal<br />
region close to Kanpur.<br />
Congress leader Rahul <strong>Gandhi</strong> on UP election trail.<br />
applause from thousands of people<br />
who packed the local Vaish<br />
College grounds in this town, 100<br />
km from Delhi.<br />
"Feb 28 is going to be a day<br />
which will mark a new history in a<br />
new direction for the youth and the<br />
people at large," Chuadhary told<br />
the audience, hinting at the polling<br />
day in the western parts of ther<br />
state.<br />
<strong>The</strong> meeting had another youth<br />
icon, former cricketer-turned-MP,<br />
Mohammed Azharuddin, who<br />
hailed <strong>Gandhi</strong>'s consistent work for<br />
development of Uttar Pradesh and<br />
appealed for support.<br />
"I understand there are 135 seats<br />
in western Uttar Pradesh. If not a<br />
century, the Congress-RLD should<br />
at least score 99," <strong>said</strong> the former<br />
Indian team captain.<br />
Pointing out the work done by<br />
Congress governments, Congress<br />
MP Deepender Singh Hooda, son<br />
of Haryana Chief Minister<br />
Bhupinder Hooda, pointed out that<br />
diesel was supplied to farmers in<br />
the neighouring Haryana at lower<br />
rates than Uttar Pradesh and the<br />
old-age pension was nearly double<br />
in the state.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> repeated his popular<br />
campaign theme that a "magic elephant",<br />
referring to the symbol of<br />
the Bahujan Samaj Party, had been<br />
eating the funds provided by the<br />
central government while the people<br />
of the state were engaged in<br />
minor jobs in Mumbai and other<br />
cities. "I told (US President<br />
Barack) Obama that India will<br />
arise when the people of Uttar<br />
Pradesh awake," <strong>Gandhi</strong> <strong>said</strong> about<br />
Obama's observation during his<br />
visit that Indians were overtaking<br />
Amercians in several fields.<br />
Political circles here <strong>said</strong> that the<br />
developmental theme of the duo<br />
with a focus on the youth was well<br />
received in this RLD-stronghold.<br />
Maya stokes Jat fire<br />
in west UP<br />
Bulandshahr: Uttar Pradesh<br />
Chief Minister Mayawati<br />
blamed the Congress-led central<br />
government for dilly-dallying<br />
on the issue of reservation<br />
for Jats.<br />
Addressing a massive rally<br />
in the heart of this Jat dominated<br />
belt, she <strong>said</strong>: "I took<br />
the lead by urging the centre<br />
to include Jats in the OBC list<br />
for providing reservation to<br />
them. But the centre has not<br />
cared to even reply to my letter."<br />
Mayawati's particular reference<br />
to the issue is seen as a<br />
sequel to the sudden focus by<br />
Jat pressure groups in bordering<br />
Haryana, where they took<br />
to streets Monday, for grant<br />
of reservation to the community<br />
in central government<br />
jobs.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Congress-Rashtriya<br />
Panaji: <strong>The</strong> Bharatiya Janata party (BJP)<br />
again highlighted the importance of Goa's<br />
Christian population in the March 3 assembly<br />
polls.<br />
"Ever since I took over as secretary in<br />
charge of Goa, our main focus was to reach<br />
out to the 23 percent vibrant Christian community<br />
here.<br />
It was my endeavor to meet fathers<br />
(Catholic priests) and teachers and members<br />
of the community all over Goa during my<br />
visits here," party secretary Aarti Mehra<br />
Uttar Pradesh Chief MInister Mayawati after casting vote<br />
during the fourth phase of UP elections.<br />
Lok Dak combine is busy trying<br />
to woo the Jats in western<br />
Uttar Pradesh.<br />
"<strong>The</strong> Congress has been<br />
misleading both Jats and<br />
Muslims on the issue of reser-<br />
vation," <strong>said</strong> Mayawati, while<br />
pointing out how some<br />
Congress leaders had gone<br />
about "promising 9 percent<br />
reservation to Muslims out of<br />
the 27 percent OBC quota".<br />
BJP reaching out to<br />
Christian voters in Goa<br />
<strong>said</strong>.<br />
Mehra was quick to add that the effort was<br />
aimed at dispelling the doubts Christians in<br />
Goa had about the BJP.<br />
Mehra <strong>said</strong> that the proof of BJP's commitment<br />
to the minority community was the<br />
direct and in some cases indirect support of<br />
the party to eight Catholic candidates in the<br />
forthcoming assembly polls.<br />
<strong>The</strong> BJP is taking on the combine of the<br />
Congress and Nationalist Congress Party<br />
(NCP) coalition.
12 India<br />
February 25-March 2, 2012 <strong>The</strong><strong>South</strong><strong>Asian</strong><strong>Times</strong>.info<br />
Avalanches kill 11<br />
army personnel in J&K<br />
Srinagar: Eleven army personnel<br />
were killed and eight are<br />
missing in two overnight avalanches<br />
in Jammu and Kashmir,<br />
an army official <strong>said</strong> on<br />
Thursday. While eight were<br />
killed in Bandipora district,<br />
another three were buried under<br />
the avalanche in Ganderbal district,<br />
the official <strong>said</strong>. Both the<br />
areas are in north Kashmir.<br />
Lt. Col. J.S. Brar, spokesman<br />
of the Srinagar-based 15 Corps,<br />
<strong>said</strong>: "Eight army troopers were<br />
killed and eight are still missing<br />
while 13 have been rescued from<br />
the avalanche that struck the<br />
brigade headquarters in Dawar<br />
village of Gurez subdivision of<br />
Bandipora Wednesday night."<br />
"Operations are still on to rescue<br />
the eight buried under the<br />
avalanche," he <strong>said</strong>. Gurez is<br />
located 109 km from here.<br />
"Three soldiers of the<br />
Territorial Army, including a junior<br />
commissioned officer, were<br />
killed in another avalanche that<br />
struck an army camp late<br />
Wednesday night in Sonmarg<br />
resort in Ganderbal," he added.<br />
Ganderbal is 87 km from<br />
Srinagar.<br />
New Delhi: Janata Party chief<br />
Subramanian Swamy has moved the<br />
Supreme Court challenging the trial<br />
court order which had held that<br />
home minister P Chidmbaram did<br />
not indulge in any criminal conspiracy<br />
in the 2G case and refused to<br />
make him an accused in it.<br />
Swamy has alleged that<br />
Chidambaram was equally culpable<br />
like former telecom minister A Raja<br />
as he also had a role in deciding the<br />
spectrum pricing and allowing telecom<br />
companies to off-load shares to<br />
foreign firms.<br />
He had <strong>said</strong> that the evidence<br />
brought before the trial court was<br />
sufficient to show that<br />
Chidambaram, as the then finance<br />
minister, had prima facie committed<br />
Spreading peace and harmony,<br />
via teachers<br />
Athree-day international seminar<br />
on 'Teacher Education for Peace<br />
and Harmony' was organised at<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> Darshan, Raj Ghat, in New Delhi<br />
from February 11-13.<br />
<strong>The</strong> seminar was organised by the<br />
Institute of Advanced Studies in<br />
Education and <strong>Gandhi</strong> Vidya Mandir,<br />
with support of Global Harmony<br />
Association, Russia completed with great<br />
success.<br />
Kanak Mal Dugar, Vice Chancellor,<br />
IASE, addressed the delegates, saying the<br />
media should play an important role in<br />
Gay sex immoral, Centre tells<br />
Supreme Court<br />
New Delhi: <strong>The</strong> Indian government<br />
has opposed dilution of<br />
Section 377 of the Indian Penal<br />
Code (IPC) by Delhi high court,<br />
which decriminalized sexual acts,<br />
in private, between consenting<br />
adults of the same sex and urged<br />
the Supreme Court to reverse the<br />
landmark ruling. <strong>The</strong> UPA government<br />
told the Supreme Court that<br />
the HC had erred because a vast<br />
section of the Indian society still<br />
considered homosexuality<br />
immoral.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Delhi high court on July 2,<br />
2009, had delivered a historic<br />
judgment to amend a 149-year-old<br />
colonial-era law - Section 377 of<br />
the IPC - and decriminalize private<br />
consensual sex between adults of<br />
the same sex. <strong>The</strong> judgment was<br />
seen as the biggest victory yet for<br />
gay rights.<br />
Gay sex "is highly immoral and<br />
against the social order," additional<br />
solicitor general PP Malhotra, who<br />
is representing the Centre, told the<br />
apex court. He added that it was<br />
"against nature and spreads HIV."<br />
<strong>The</strong> Centre <strong>said</strong> it favored the<br />
ban staying in place in order to<br />
offences under the Prevention of<br />
Corruption Act and other criminal<br />
spreading peace and harmony.'<br />
Acharya Dr. Lokesh Muniji, Swami<br />
Chidanand Muniji, Swami Sushilji<br />
Maharaj, Swami Mahamantraji, Md.<br />
Emam Umer Ilayasi, Dr. Charles<br />
Merceica, Dr. Leo Semasco, Dr.<br />
Samdhong Rimpoche etc. addressed various<br />
sessions during the seminar.<br />
Over 600 delegates from America,<br />
Russia, Switzerland, Romania, Spain,<br />
Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Africa<br />
participated in the event. <strong>The</strong> gathering<br />
included educationist, scholars, gurus,<br />
acharyas, critic and media personalities.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Delhi high court on July 2, 2009, had delivered a historic judgment<br />
to decriminalize private consensual sex between adults of the same sex.<br />
prevent child abuse and because<br />
Indian society was largely against<br />
homosexuality according to a survey<br />
by the Law Commission.<br />
"Laws can't run separately from<br />
society and the morals of the<br />
time," Malhotra <strong>said</strong>.<br />
When the Supreme Court asked<br />
who decided what was immoral,<br />
the Union government <strong>said</strong> society<br />
Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy.<br />
laws.<br />
Swamy's plea was, however,<br />
did so and argued that the Indian<br />
laws could not but reflect the<br />
views of its society. <strong>The</strong> government<br />
<strong>said</strong> the HC considered only<br />
judgments of foreign countries<br />
where homosexuality may not be<br />
resented.<br />
"Our moral and social values are<br />
different from other countries and<br />
we cannot be guided by them,' the<br />
rejected on February 4, by the<br />
Special CBI Court, trying the 2G<br />
case, which had <strong>said</strong> Chidambaram<br />
did not indulge in any criminal conspiracy<br />
or derived any pecuniary<br />
advantage in the decisions taken<br />
with Raja.<br />
<strong>The</strong> trail court had <strong>said</strong> that<br />
Chidambaram, the finance minister<br />
at the time of controversial allocation<br />
of 2G spectrum in 2008, was<br />
only party to two decisions--keeping<br />
spectrum prices at 2001 level and<br />
dilution of equity by two companies--which<br />
was "not per se criminal".<br />
<strong>The</strong> Supreme Court had on<br />
February 2 left on the special court<br />
to decide the plea to try<br />
Chidambaram in the case.<br />
From left, Acharya Dr. Lokesh Muniji, Kanak Mal<br />
Dugar and Md. Emam Umer Ilayasi during the seminar.<br />
Centre told the court.<br />
Hence, it appealed that the provision<br />
be retained in full to reflect<br />
the society's views. Though the<br />
Centre had not appealed against<br />
the judgement, the ministry of<br />
Home affairs came out strongly<br />
against the dilution of Section 377.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Union home ministry, however,<br />
denied that it had taken any<br />
position on homosexuality. In a<br />
statement, the ministry <strong>said</strong>: "After<br />
the judgment of the High Court,<br />
Delhi, decriminalizing homosexuality,<br />
was delivered, the matter was<br />
considered by the Cabinet. <strong>The</strong><br />
decision of the Cabinet was that<br />
the Central government may not<br />
file an appeal against the judgment<br />
in the Supreme Court; however, if<br />
any other party to the case prefers<br />
an appeal, the Attorney General<br />
may be requested to assist the<br />
Supreme Court to examine the<br />
matter and to decide the legal<br />
questions involved. Home ministry<br />
conveyed this decision to the AG."<br />
"<strong>The</strong> ministry has also not given<br />
any instruction apart from conveying<br />
the decision of the Cabinet," it<br />
<strong>said</strong>.<br />
2G: Swamy files plea in SC against Chidambaram Rajasthan to<br />
get new<br />
Governor post<br />
elections?<br />
By Prakash Bhandari<br />
Jaipur: <strong>The</strong> inordinate delay<br />
in appointing a state Governor<br />
here has left the ruling party as<br />
well as Opposition amused.<br />
Currently, Punjab Governor<br />
Shivraj Patil is holding an<br />
additional charge as Rajasthan<br />
Governor. <strong>The</strong> post fell vacant<br />
when Prabha Rau died on April<br />
23, 2010 and Patil was<br />
appointed an acting Governor<br />
of the state on April 28, 2010.<br />
Anshuman Singh, former<br />
Governor of Gujarat and<br />
Rajasthan, <strong>said</strong> the continuance<br />
of an acting Governor for<br />
such a long time is unheard of.<br />
It is learnt that important<br />
files and documents are either<br />
being sent through officials to<br />
Chandigarh or being dispatched<br />
through fax for his<br />
approval, hence delaying the<br />
clearance.<br />
Senior BJP leader<br />
Ghanshyam Tiwari <strong>said</strong> its<br />
unfortunate that one of the<br />
country's largest states is without<br />
a Governor.<br />
It is now learnt that <strong>once</strong> the<br />
assembly elections are over,<br />
Rajasthan can expect a fullfledged<br />
Governor.
India 13<br />
<strong>The</strong><strong>South</strong><strong>Asian</strong><strong>Times</strong>.info February 25-March 2, 2012<br />
'Largest' immigration<br />
firm on police radar<br />
Chandigarh: Claiming to be the<br />
"world's largest immigration group",<br />
the multi-billion rupee WorldWide<br />
Immigration Consultancy Services<br />
(WWICS) here is under the police<br />
scanner after it was found the firm<br />
was dealing in work permit visas<br />
without having a license for it.<br />
Chandigarh police, which have a<br />
special investigation team (SIT) to<br />
probe the immigration fraud being<br />
played on youth by immigration firms<br />
in and around this city, have conducted<br />
raids on the sprawling headquarters<br />
of the WWICS in Mohali near here<br />
and other offices of the firm in recent<br />
days.<br />
Police claim to have found that<br />
WWICS had been running its business<br />
'illegally' since it had no licence<br />
from the Protector of Emigrants<br />
(POE) since 2008.<br />
But a WWICS spokesman <strong>said</strong>:<br />
"<strong>The</strong> services provided by WWICS<br />
are not under the ambit and not<br />
amenable to the provisions of <strong>The</strong><br />
Emigration Act, 1983. We are working<br />
in a transparent manner since 1993<br />
and have built the trust and confidence<br />
of the people."<br />
<strong>The</strong> first raid on WWICS was at its<br />
office here in Sector 22 on Feb 2<br />
along with 19 other immigration firms<br />
in the city. <strong>The</strong> offices of all firms<br />
were sealed by police and documents<br />
and records taken away for investigations.<br />
"WWICS is a big name in this field.<br />
We did our complete homework<br />
before raiding their premises. Serious<br />
anomalies in their business were<br />
found during investigations. <strong>The</strong>y<br />
have been fooling people for a long<br />
time. Investigations are still being<br />
made from their records and the people<br />
they have sent abroad without having<br />
the licence to do so," SIT head<br />
Anil Joshi <strong>said</strong> here.<br />
As per the WWICS website, "established<br />
in 1993, the WorldWide<br />
Immigration Consultancy Services is<br />
the world leader in providing Global<br />
Resettlement Solutions, which is<br />
vouched by more than 80,000 people<br />
who have happily settled in their<br />
dream destinations like Canada, USA,<br />
UK, Europe, Australia and New<br />
Zealand".<br />
WWICS is a family-run company,<br />
owned by B.S. Sandhu, a retired army<br />
officer who had himself migrated to<br />
Canada before coming back to India<br />
to start the immigration business here.<br />
His two sons, Devinder Sandhu and<br />
Parvinder Sandhu, are directors in the<br />
company.<br />
Ramlila crackdown: SC raps cops, Baba Ramdev<br />
New Delhi: <strong>The</strong> Supreme Court<br />
slammed Delhi Police for acting in<br />
an arbitrary manner and using excessive<br />
force in disbursing Baba<br />
Ramdev and his followers from the<br />
Ramlila ground here last year. It also<br />
pulled up the yoga guru for not<br />
cooperating with police.<br />
<strong>The</strong> court <strong>said</strong> what happened at<br />
the sprawling ground on the night of<br />
June 4-5, leading to the death of a<br />
woman, was a demonstration of the<br />
might of the state.Judges B.S.<br />
Chauhan and Swatanter Kumar<br />
pulled up Baba Ramdev for not<br />
cooperating with police and asking<br />
his followers to disburse only after<br />
<strong>The</strong> apex court pulled up Baba<br />
Ramdev for not cooperating<br />
with police.<br />
police imposed prohibitory orders<br />
banning the assembly of people. <strong>The</strong><br />
court has awarded an ad hoc compensation<br />
of Rs.5 lakh to the next of<br />
kin of Haryana resident Rajbala who<br />
suffered spinal injuries and died.<br />
<strong>The</strong> court has also awarded compensation<br />
of Rs.50,000 to all those<br />
who suffered grievous injuries and<br />
Rs.25,000 to others injured that<br />
night. <strong>The</strong> court directed Baba<br />
Ramdev's trust to bear 25 percent<br />
cost of the compensation. In a concurring<br />
judgment, Justice Chauhan<br />
<strong>said</strong> the police action amounted to<br />
violation of fundamental and human<br />
rights.He <strong>said</strong> the essence of Section<br />
144 is to prevent breach of peace<br />
and not to breach the peace. He <strong>said</strong><br />
the people at Ramlila ground were<br />
sleeping and they were not a violent<br />
crowd.<br />
Mahashivaratri celebrated across India<br />
Millions of Hindus thronged temples across the<br />
country to celebrate Mahashivaratri, with<br />
some shrines receiving as many as one hundred<br />
thousand devouts. It was the first time after 11<br />
years that the festival fell on a Monday, a day when<br />
devouts normally offer prayers to Lord Shiva.<br />
From the crack of dawn, huge crowds visited temples<br />
big and small all over the country. <strong>The</strong> biggest and better<br />
known Shiv temples naturally attracted more people.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re were mammoth crowds at the 12 Jyotrilinga temples<br />
spread across the country including in Gujarat,<br />
Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya<br />
Pradesh, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.<br />
Over one lakh devotees visited the 11th century ancient<br />
Lingaraj temple at Bhubaneswar.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re were mammoth crowds at the 12 Jyotrilinga<br />
temples spread across the country.
14 Sports<br />
February 25-March 2, 2012 <strong>The</strong><strong>South</strong><strong>Asian</strong><strong>Times</strong>.info<br />
JEREMY LIN<br />
By Vikas Girdhar<br />
Everyone loves a good story. It’s just<br />
human nature. Yet we like to pride<br />
ourselves on being skeptics, not easily<br />
entertained or captivated. However, every<br />
<strong>once</strong> in a while comes a story that we can’t<br />
help but follow. We find ourselves engulfed<br />
in its every development, just like the rest of<br />
the world.<br />
Such is the nature of the story of Jeremy<br />
Lin, satisfying so many different aspects of<br />
captivation that people don’t even have to be<br />
aware of what he does for a living to appreciate<br />
his passion and humility. Of course, we<br />
will discuss what he does. But more importantly,<br />
we will look at the magnitude of what<br />
he is doing right now as he single-handedly<br />
revolutionizes the culture of sports, entertainment,<br />
race and society.<br />
Lin fits the definition of the word “underdog”<br />
to a tee and so we follow his every<br />
move—to see if he continues his steep ascent<br />
or finally comes crashing back to Earth. So<br />
far, the doubts that he is a fluke or “one-hitwonder”<br />
are becoming weaker by the day.<br />
Meanwhile, Lin has already become a<br />
household name. On the surface, he is a professional<br />
basketball player. He is an <strong>Asian</strong>-<br />
American NBA star—not the first but definitely<br />
the most impactful, and that’s just after<br />
three weeks of sustained, amazing basketball<br />
as a testament to his years of hard training.<br />
<strong>Asian</strong>s tend to be overlooked in sports, perhaps<br />
because of the stereotype that they<br />
aren’t as athletic as others. Lin stands 6’3 and<br />
weighs 200 pounds. His figurative force,<br />
however, is almost herculean.<br />
But first, a rundown of key NBA facts: the<br />
NBA is one of the three major American<br />
sports leagues, others being MLB (Major<br />
League Baseball) and NFL (National<br />
Football league). <strong>The</strong> season traditionally<br />
runs from November to June. Playoffs begin<br />
in April and end with the Finals in June-playoffs<br />
consist of three rounds before the<br />
championship round. Out of total 30 teams,<br />
the eight best from each conference (western<br />
and eastern) make the playoffs (16 teams<br />
total—the others qualify for lottery in the<br />
next year’s draft for younger and sought-after<br />
collegiate talent).<br />
Underdog’s breakout game<br />
<strong>The</strong> saga of the New York Knicks’ Jeremy<br />
Lin began ever-unsuspectingly on the night<br />
of Saturday, February 4. <strong>The</strong> setting was<br />
Madison Square Garden in New York, a<br />
venue that the legendary Michael Jordan<br />
himself dubbed “the Mecca of basketball.”<br />
NBA players have acknowledged MSG as the<br />
most special place to play in all of sports, and<br />
with good reason. <strong>The</strong> history of the building<br />
and the shimmering lights of Broadway illuminating<br />
what media moguls, fans, tourists<br />
and residents refer to as the “greatest city in<br />
the world” create an atmosphere unlike any<br />
other.<br />
But on this day, the MSG court was devoid<br />
of any energy as the “boos” rained down<br />
from the rafters in response to yet another<br />
hapless Knick performance against the lowly<br />
crosstown rival New Jersey Nets. <strong>The</strong> Knicks<br />
were mired in a horrible stretch of basketball<br />
in which they had lost 11 of their last 13<br />
games and were searching for an answer—<br />
any answer—to help salvage a season predicated<br />
on high expectations. Those expectations<br />
rested heavily on the shoulders of their<br />
two superstar players, Carmelo Anthony and<br />
Amare Stoudemire. On paper, the Knicks had<br />
looked like a team poised to contend for a<br />
championship but the city’s hopes were looking<br />
bleak and coach Mike D’Antoni would<br />
regularly hear over 19,000 fans chant in favor<br />
of his firing.<br />
It seemed as though the Knicks had hit<br />
rock-bottom. Here was D’Antoni’s system,<br />
known for being an offensive powerhouse,<br />
struggling to put up points against weak competition.<br />
<strong>The</strong> system required an adept pointguard—the<br />
position on the floor responsible<br />
for running the offense, calling plays and distributing<br />
the ball to players in their most<br />
prime scoring positions—and one the Knicks<br />
were sorely lacking. All hope for fulfillment<br />
of that position rested on the notion that veteran<br />
point guard Baron Davis could run the<br />
offense. His timetable for a return from a<br />
back injury, however, was uncertain and the<br />
Knicks were falling fast.<br />
Enter Jeremy Lin. <strong>The</strong> 2010 Harvard graduate<br />
and Economics major, born in California<br />
to Taiwanese parents who emigrated to the<br />
United States in the 1970’s, was often the last<br />
option and dead-last on the Knicks bench.<br />
<strong>The</strong> only time Lin would see playing time<br />
would be if the outcome of the game was<br />
determined and both teams emptied their<br />
benches so their stars could rest and not risk<br />
injury. He was undrafted and, until very<br />
recently, unnoticed.<br />
<strong>The</strong> only reason the Knicks had even decided<br />
to bring him on board was because of their<br />
desperation at the point guard position. Knick<br />
fans had only gotten glimpses of Lin in the<br />
past and none of those glimpses were pretty<br />
or noteworthy. In 23 games, Lin had played a<br />
total of 55 minutes—just seven more than<br />
one full game. Because he didn’t yet have a<br />
guaranteed contract from the Knicks and was<br />
slated to make $800,000 (not all guaranteed<br />
and low by NBA standards), Lin didn’t have<br />
a place of his own and would sleep on his<br />
brother Josh’s couch. Josh is an NYU graduate<br />
student. Even the night before his big<br />
break—he had slept on teammate Landry<br />
Fields’ couch.<br />
Lin had been cut by two teams, the Golden<br />
State Warriors and the Houston Rockets,<br />
prior to his Knicks career and had been sent<br />
to the NBA D-League (Development League)<br />
plenty of times in his first and now second<br />
season. <strong>The</strong> general consensus on Lin was<br />
that, like countless other players, there was<br />
raw talent that needed honing and when it<br />
reached full potential, he would be a decent<br />
player. No one could have predicted what<br />
happened on and after February 4.<br />
With just a couple of minutes left in the<br />
first quarter and the Knicks showing no signs<br />
of life, D’Antoni decided to insert Lin in the<br />
game. That decision would change not only<br />
the dynamic of that game, but it would go on<br />
to jumpstart the career of a player who never<br />
had an opportunity like this, save the coach’s<br />
job, electrify the atmosphere of MSG, and<br />
dominate New York, international and social<br />
media.<br />
With swift passing, uncanny speed and the<br />
ability to penetrate close to the basket and<br />
make snappy decisions, Lin brought the<br />
Knicks back and had the crowd chanting his<br />
name in a thrilling victory matched up<br />
against one of the elite point guards in the<br />
NBA, Deron Williams. Setting career highs<br />
Jeremy Lin is electrifying MSG, Knicks home ground, attracting growing audiences to<br />
Knicks’ games and telecasts, and boosting merchandise sales for NBA.<br />
in points (25), rebounds (5) and assists (7)<br />
that night, he had caught everyone including<br />
the coach off guard and set off rumors that<br />
the Knicks had found a hidden gem in the<br />
position they had yearned for so greatly.<br />
<strong>The</strong> legend of Lin continued to grow as the<br />
perfect storm developed. With the very next<br />
game against the Utah Jazz, Lin was assigned<br />
to start the game and play a significant<br />
amount of minutes—about 40 per game. With<br />
superstar teammates Anthony (groin injury)<br />
and Stoudemire (death in family) out, Lin<br />
was given full freedom and led the Knicks to<br />
seven straight victories. He was making the<br />
players around him play as a cohesive unit—<br />
something the Knicks had lacked all season.<br />
He was building his legend at an amazing<br />
pace. Just six days after the first game against<br />
the Nets, Lin showed a national audience<br />
how legitimate he was as he had his finest<br />
game to date, outscoring Kobe Bryant with<br />
38 masterful points and leading the Knicks to<br />
a win against the favored Lakers. Three days<br />
after that, Lin made a game-winning threepointer<br />
with the clock running down against<br />
the Toronto Raptors to cap what had been<br />
dubbed Va-LIN-tine’s Day.<br />
Icon and role model<br />
Seemingly overnight, Lin became an icon.<br />
He had already scored the most points by an<br />
NBA player in his first starts in 30 years. <strong>The</strong><br />
world was talking about him and he was selling<br />
out merchandise everywhere. “Linsanity”<br />
memorabilia stocked shelves of sporting<br />
goods stores and was being sold out in record<br />
time. Brands have plans to try to capitalize on<br />
his marketability as well--his own brand<br />
value <strong>said</strong> to be a few million already.<br />
<strong>The</strong> one thing that didn’t change about him<br />
through all of this, however, is his humility<br />
and belief in and gratitude for God.<br />
Lin was asked in an interview with Rachel<br />
Continued on page 15<br />
Lincredible Linsanity: <strong>The</strong> name and the<br />
phenomenon has been a headline writers’<br />
delight with puns galore.
Sports 15<br />
<strong>The</strong><strong>South</strong><strong>Asian</strong><strong>Times</strong>.info February 25-March 2, 2012<br />
Continued from page 14<br />
Nichols of ESPN, what difference it can make<br />
to <strong>Asian</strong>-American children to see him succeeding.<br />
“Hopefully, it can be inspirational. I<br />
know what it’s like to just be in awe and want<br />
to follow in somebody’s footsteps. I want to<br />
make sure to use it the right way.”<br />
Lin also went on to say that he realizes “you<br />
can fall as fast as you rise.” He even turned<br />
down being on the cover of GQ so that he can<br />
stay focused on his true passion, the game of<br />
basketball. That has quickly been taken notice<br />
of. On “random-drop.com”, Optimus Cheung<br />
recently posted about the impact she feels Lin<br />
is having on the <strong>Asian</strong> American community.<br />
“Many <strong>Asian</strong>-Americans are deterred from<br />
pursuing athletics as a career and never go<br />
beyond the club, high school or collegiate<br />
ranks. It has been great to see Lin live out his<br />
dream and in essence live out the dreams of<br />
many <strong>Asian</strong>-Americans who want to but for a<br />
multitude of reasons, do not follow through<br />
with athletic careers. It does break the stereotype<br />
that <strong>Asian</strong>-Americans are not willing to<br />
compete in sports.<br />
“It is not a question of ability but of desire<br />
and drive. I hope that through Lin, many<br />
other <strong>Asian</strong>s-Americans can strive to make the<br />
community more visible in athletics. <strong>The</strong>y<br />
may not be able to be the next Michael Jordan,<br />
but they can hope to be the next Jeremy Lin.<br />
His story is still being written, and there’s<br />
no telling how long it will be. But for the<br />
moment, it’s a great one and one that will have<br />
quite a bit of shelf-life for generations of<br />
<strong>Asian</strong>-Americans.”<br />
By Jinal Shah<br />
<strong>The</strong> meteoric rise of Jeremy Lin, the<br />
New York Knicks’ <strong>Asian</strong>-American<br />
point guard phenom, has fuelled<br />
hopes among millions of <strong>Asian</strong> American<br />
athletes--and Indian Americans are no<br />
exception. His is not only a basketball<br />
story, but a story of perseverance and most<br />
importantly, breaking stereotypes.<br />
Even though the internationally reported<br />
fairy tale was played out on America’s<br />
biggest stage, is just three weeks old, it<br />
won’t be wrong to say that Linsanity has<br />
far reaching impact. He is smashing<br />
stereotypes and proving to the world that<br />
<strong>Asian</strong> kids are more than just geeks and<br />
computer wizards. In an incredibly short<br />
period, Lin has come to represent what we<br />
still have to fathom. An <strong>Asian</strong> American, a<br />
Taiwanese, a Harvard graduate, an underdog,<br />
a backup, a point guard, a game winner,<br />
legend-in-the-making, a believer.<br />
Lin’s story resonates deeply with many<br />
south <strong>Asian</strong> kids who are trying to break<br />
free from stereotypes both at home and on<br />
the field. Son of Taiwanese immigrants,<br />
his was not a struggle to make ends meet<br />
but to pursue his dream. <strong>The</strong>re have been<br />
many success stories making it from the<br />
wrong side of life’s track, but Lin’s being<br />
from the right side (Harvard background)<br />
is considered an anomaly. Lin’s story is<br />
particularly appealing because he has<br />
brought together the two polarizing worlds<br />
of nerds and jocks together, which most<br />
<strong>Asian</strong> Americans fail to do.<br />
“Like parents in India, our parents too<br />
Breakout NBA star<br />
Jeremy Lin’s incredible<br />
story is still being written,<br />
and there’s no telling how<br />
long it will be. But for the<br />
moment, it’s deeply<br />
inspiring and one that will<br />
have quite a bit of shelf-life<br />
for generations of<br />
<strong>Asian</strong>-Americans.<br />
Budding Indian American athletes now<br />
have ‘Lin folklore’ to look up to<br />
emphasize more on studies and less on<br />
sports. As first generation Indian parents,<br />
they were not wrong as they didn’t have<br />
Jeremy Lin folklore to share with their<br />
children. But we do,” <strong>said</strong> Bhinish Shah,<br />
28, a real estate developer living in US for<br />
13 years now. Even though he was not an<br />
active player in his college days, he followed<br />
every basketball game passionately.<br />
Shah’s views were echoed in Akshat<br />
Tewary’s, an immigration lawyer who is<br />
also an active director of NY circuit of<br />
Indo Pak Basketball club and also a player.<br />
“As <strong>Asian</strong>s living in the US, we can<br />
relate in more than one way to Lin: being<br />
<strong>Asian</strong> Americans and emphasis on studies.”<br />
Tewary is 6.5 feet tall and a<br />
Columbia graduate, is the director of the<br />
New York circuit of Indo-Pak Basketball,<br />
a self funded amateur club. This club hosts<br />
tournaments every 2-3 months and teams<br />
from all over North America - including<br />
Vancouver, Toronto, parts of California<br />
and New York participate. Each tournament<br />
ends up having 10 to 12 teams, and<br />
300 to 400 players.<br />
Both Shah and Tewary admit to an<br />
unconscious bias by coaches at school and<br />
college level against <strong>Asian</strong>s, often due to<br />
their un-athletic look and hence can relate<br />
to Lin. Not all can emulate Yao Ming, a<br />
gargantuan 7 foot 6, first, now retired,<br />
<strong>Asian</strong> NBA superstar.<br />
Elaborates Tewary, “<strong>The</strong>re is, in a very<br />
small amount, stereotyping even among<br />
coaches, which explains the absence of<br />
Indians in NBA. However times are<br />
changing, there are high profile Indian<br />
With swift passing, uncanny speed and the ability to penetrate close to<br />
the basket and make snappy decisions, Jeremy Lin has turned the<br />
fortunes of his team, the New York Knicks.<br />
American athletes playing top level division<br />
1 and it is only a matter of time that<br />
they will be picked up by NBA.”<br />
He even predicts that the next ‘Lin’ will<br />
come from India. His explanation: “<strong>The</strong>re<br />
are more people to choose from with a<br />
population of over a billion. India also has<br />
the infrastructure and a pool of investment<br />
options. Media hype also plays a big role.”<br />
A prodigy from Punjab<br />
Tewary’s prediction may not be improbable.<br />
Many Indians are now pinning their<br />
hope on a 16-year-old basketball prodigy<br />
from Punjab. Satnam Singh Bharmara, 7<br />
feet tall and weighing 250 pounds, is<br />
already dubbed as India’s Yao Ming. After<br />
its runaway success in many countries,<br />
NBA turned its sight on India with its<br />
emerging middle class, rising disposable<br />
income and media-savvy youngsters. In<br />
Bharmara many Indians and even the<br />
NBA see the next basketball star. His is<br />
also a ‘Linderella story’ in the making.<br />
From a tiny village in Punjab to regional<br />
basketball academy where, over the last<br />
four years, he worked to develop skills to<br />
match his height, Bharamara finally is<br />
being trained at the IMG Basketball<br />
Academy in Florida.<br />
So far, no Indian has ever played in the<br />
NBA yet, although the league is now making<br />
inroads into cricket crazed India where<br />
basketball has a growing television audience.<br />
As part of an NBA-State Department<br />
soft power initiative to ramp up the sport<br />
in India, 14 coaches from India are here<br />
for a 10-day sports visitor program. <strong>The</strong><br />
Hailing from a village in Punjab, Satnam<br />
Singh Bharmara, 7 feet tall and weighing<br />
250 pounds, is receiving training at the<br />
IMG Basketball Academy in Florida, and<br />
is dubbed the next Yao Ming, a retired<br />
Chinese NBA star who stood at 7 ft 6 inch<br />
and played for the Houston Rockets.<br />
group will meet with US basketball coaches<br />
in Washington DC and travel to<br />
Orlando, Florida to attend NBA coaching<br />
clinics and sessions surrounding NBA All-<br />
Star 2012.
16 Gift of Life event<br />
February 25-March 2, 2012 <strong>The</strong><strong>South</strong><strong>Asian</strong><strong>Times</strong>.info<br />
By Parveen Chopra<br />
Woodbury, NY: Gift of Life is a<br />
worldwide Rotary International<br />
Service Program responsible for<br />
saving the lives of over 2,500 children<br />
in some 30 countries through<br />
heart surgeries. In 2001, prompted<br />
by Dr Eileen Gentlecore, his friend<br />
and predecessor at Dist 7250, Rtn.<br />
Ravishankar Bhooplapur, Past Dist<br />
Governor 7250, took up the challenge<br />
to provide free critical heart<br />
surgeries for the children in India.<br />
As Chair of the Gift of Life (India),<br />
an independent project supported<br />
by the Rotary Foundation, Ravi has<br />
had the full support of Past RI<br />
Director Sushil Gupta, Dr Rajan<br />
Deshpande and many other devoted<br />
Rotarians and doctors at Escorts<br />
and National Heart Institute hospitals.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y have saved the lives of<br />
over 1,000 children so far from the<br />
least served parts of India as well as<br />
Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.<br />
Gift of Life India celebrates<br />
10 years of saving children’s lives<br />
Gift of Life (India) project, initiated by Rtn. Ravi Bhooplapur, Past Dist Governor 7250, raised $1,00,000<br />
at Valentine Dinner Dance in the presence of Rotary International President Elect Sakuji Tanaka<br />
Kamal Gupta, Kamlesh C. Mehta, Sushil Gupta, Sakuji Tanaka, Ravi Bhooplapur and Dan Flynn at the<br />
event celebrating 10 years of Gift of Life India project.<br />
“Ordinary Rotarians can do<br />
extraordinary things,” says Ravi<br />
Bhooplapur, adding, “Rotary does<br />
what is needed not what is easy.”<br />
Gift of Life (India) raised<br />
$1,00,000 at the Valentine Dinner<br />
Dance on Feb 18 at Crest Hollow<br />
Country Club, Woodbury, a major<br />
chunk coming through a donor who<br />
wished to remain anonymous.<br />
Bhooplapur feels proud that Rotary<br />
President Elect Sakuji Tanaka could<br />
grace the occasion as Chief Guest.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Rotary International theme for<br />
the year 2012-13 under Tanaka’s<br />
presidentship will be ‘Peace<br />
through Service’. In his address,<br />
Tanaka, who has himself donated<br />
$2.5 M to Rotary, related the acute<br />
problems faced by people after the<br />
tsunami in his country Japan, and<br />
how they were mitigated by voluntary<br />
work and service groups.<br />
Two main honorees at the event<br />
chaired by Kamlesh Mehta, Charter<br />
President of Hicksville <strong>South</strong> Club,<br />
were Sushil Gupta and Kamal<br />
Jaya and Ravi Bhooplapur, honoree Kamal Gupta and his wife, Sakuji<br />
Tanaka and Mike McGowan.<br />
Gupta.<br />
Sushil Gupta, honored at the<br />
event for his humanitarian work, is<br />
a Padma Shri recipient in India and<br />
CMD of <strong>Asian</strong> Hotels (West)<br />
Limited, which owns Hyatt<br />
Regency in Mumbai and developing<br />
JW Marriott, Delhi. A Past<br />
Director of Rotary International, he<br />
is chair of Gift of Life (India) Trust.<br />
Syosset, NY based Kamal Gupta,<br />
and his Rotarian wife Bina Gupta,<br />
own large wine stores in Long<br />
Island as well as Denny’s franchise<br />
restaurants. <strong>The</strong>y have supported<br />
Gift of Life and other Rotary projects<br />
for some years.<br />
Besides helming Gift of Life<br />
(India), Ravi Bhooplapur, Past Dist<br />
Governor 7250, is deeply involved<br />
in Rotary activities—he is currently<br />
Chairman of Future of Rotary<br />
Leaders Zone 32, and Member<br />
Bangkok Convention Promotion<br />
Committee 2012. He is also<br />
President of Xavier University<br />
School of Medicine (Aruba).<br />
(from left) Past District Governors Ed Monroe, Anthony Messineo,<br />
Dr Eileen Gentilcore, Rotary President Elect Sakuji Tanaka,<br />
Gift of Life Chairman Ravishankar Bhooplapur, Sammy Hsiao,<br />
Mario Moran.<br />
Photos: Xitij Joshi/xitijphoto.com<br />
Rotary President Elect Sakuji Tanaka honored Sushil Gupta, past RI<br />
Director who is steering Gift of Life project in India, for his<br />
Humanitarian work. Others in the picture: Ravishankar Bhooplapur,<br />
Kamal Gupta, and RI Trustee elect Mike McGowan.<br />
<strong>The</strong> event was hosted by Rotary<br />
Clubs of Gold Coast, Jericho<br />
Sunrise and Hicksville <strong>South</strong>.<br />
Major Supporters for the event<br />
included Mrs & Mr. Jagadeesan<br />
Poola, Mrs & Mr. Kamlesh Mehta,<br />
Mrs & Mr. Kamal Gupta, Atlantic<br />
Dialysis, Xavier University School<br />
of Medicine (Aruba), Mrs & Mr.<br />
Raja Amar, Mrs & Mr Jerry Kohli.<br />
Guests included: filmmaker<br />
Tirlok Malik, Haridas Kotahwala<br />
(RANA President), Dr. Bhupi Patel,<br />
Sher Singh Madra (Chairman<br />
Nargis Dutt Foundation), Harendra<br />
Singh (Chairman Raj Rajeshwari<br />
Foundation), Shudh Jasuja (Jasuja<br />
Foundation), Kanwal Sra CPA<br />
(Crystal Foundation), Naveen Shah<br />
of Navika Capital, and Jerry Kohli<br />
of AW Mobile.<br />
Event manager was Sunita<br />
Sadhnani of Bolly Arts and the souvenir<br />
was printed by Malak Design.<br />
Ladies of the Jericho Surnise Rotary Club, with their President Jaya Bhooplapur in the middle.
Gift of Life event 17<br />
<strong>The</strong><strong>South</strong><strong>Asian</strong><strong>Times</strong>.info February 25-March 2, 2012<br />
Gift of Life India raises $1,00,000 at<br />
Valentine dance event on Long Island<br />
John Ryan<br />
(Emcee)<br />
Kamlesh C. Mehta<br />
(Chair, Host Committee)<br />
Ravi Bhooplapur<br />
(Chair Gift of Life,<br />
India Project)<br />
Taromi Music Group of young violin players giving a performance<br />
Event<br />
management<br />
and<br />
entertainment<br />
was<br />
provided by<br />
Sunita<br />
Sadhnani of<br />
Bolly Arts.<br />
A sterling example of ordinary Rotarians doing extraordinary things<br />
Touch of feminine, not mannequin: A lovely welcome awaited the<br />
attendees like Kamlesh and Nimmi Mehta.<br />
Kamal Gupta<br />
(Honoree for Major<br />
Support)<br />
Agroup of young students<br />
in Long Island have<br />
shown a way to use techtrash<br />
to bring change in the<br />
world. Karan Sikka and Sagar<br />
Rambhia started Project Milo last<br />
year. To impact health care, they<br />
would organize students to repair<br />
old computers as a service, and<br />
donate the proceeds to Gift of<br />
Life India, which supports lifesaving<br />
surgeries for children in<br />
India. <strong>The</strong>y accept old computers<br />
as donations, and fix them for use<br />
in public schools that can't afford<br />
to purchase computers.<br />
By now a group of students<br />
from Syosset and Jericho High<br />
School have contributed over<br />
$1000 towards performing surgeries<br />
with the help of the Rotary<br />
Foundation. <strong>The</strong>y have collected<br />
Sushil Gupta<br />
(Honoree for<br />
Humanitarian Service)<br />
Sakuji Tanaka (Chief<br />
Guest, President Elect<br />
Rotary International)<br />
more than 20 functional computers<br />
that will be used in underfunded<br />
public schools in New<br />
York.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y plan to establish a computing<br />
center in Queens in<br />
March.<br />
Dan Flynn<br />
(President, Rotary Club<br />
Hicksville <strong>South</strong>)<br />
Gift of Life’s Valentine Day dance and dinner event was hosted at Crest Hollow Country Club, Woodbury, NY<br />
Project Milo honored<br />
Project Milo was honored by<br />
the Gift of Life India and Rotary<br />
International’s incoming president,<br />
Sakuji Tanaka. <strong>The</strong> young<br />
men seen in the picture are Karan<br />
Sikka, Sagar Rambhia and<br />
Hunter Rosenblume.
18 Fashion<br />
February 25-March 2, 2012 <strong>The</strong><strong>South</strong><strong>Asian</strong><strong>Times</strong>.info<br />
Actor Nargis Fakhri in a creation<br />
by designer Sakshee Pradhan.<br />
New Delhi: <strong>The</strong> Wills Lifestyle India<br />
Fashion Week (WIFW) has been c<strong>once</strong>ptualised<br />
as a business-to-business event, but<br />
the just-concluded autumn/winter edition<br />
focused more on exploring design, creativity<br />
and brand-building.<br />
Designer Kartikeya, who works with Isha<br />
for the label Dozakh, says the scenario has<br />
changed in last six years and there are other<br />
platforms to make profits.<br />
"Fashion weeks are more about brandbuilding<br />
and being creative rather then<br />
focusing on business as most of the designers<br />
today have their retail spaces from where<br />
they make profits," he <strong>said</strong>.<br />
"Six years back, designers were completely<br />
dependent on platforms like he fashion<br />
week to get orders, but things have changed<br />
now. Yes, fashion week is an ideal platform<br />
where everyone comes together and share<br />
their experiences," he added.<br />
<strong>The</strong> scale of the fashion event could be<br />
imagined from the fact that as many as 138<br />
designers showcased their collections on the<br />
ramp and the racks.<br />
Some of the established names who dazzled<br />
the ramp with their creations include<br />
Abraham and Thakore, Anand Kabra, Anju<br />
Modi, Gaurav Gupta, Meera and Muzaffar<br />
Ali, Manish Malhotra, Rahul Mishra, Rocky<br />
S, Rohit Bal, Shantanu and Nikhil, Tarun<br />
Tahiliani, Abdul Halder and James Ferreira.<br />
Fashion is also about glitz and glamour and<br />
Bollywood stars added extra zing to the fest.<br />
If R. Madhavan, Bipasha Basu, Kangana<br />
Ranaut, Govinda and Nargis Fakhri scorched<br />
the ramp, the guest<br />
gallery glittered with<br />
the presence of Dia<br />
Mirza, Sameera<br />
Reddy, Mahima<br />
Chaudhary, and<br />
Urmila Matondkar,<br />
among others.<br />
Designer Rahul<br />
Mishra says that this<br />
time it was all about<br />
discovering new<br />
options in design aesthetics.<br />
"My collection had<br />
received rave reviews<br />
from the delegates of<br />
different countries and<br />
I also believe that it<br />
was one of the best<br />
collection I ever showcased,"<br />
<strong>said</strong> Mishra,<br />
known for his fascination<br />
for hand-woven<br />
technique.<br />
Tennis star Leander Peas at the WLIFW 2012 in New Delhi.<br />
WLIFW 2012:<br />
Creativiy succeeds<br />
business this time<br />
Actors Bipasha Basu and Madhavan with designer Rocky S. at the<br />
Wills Lifestyle India Fashion week 2012 in New Delhi..<br />
A model in a creation by designer<br />
Ravi Bajaj during a special<br />
show at WLIFW 2012..<br />
He showcased an<br />
interesting tone of<br />
sportswear style<br />
mixed with handloom<br />
fabrics at the five-day<br />
event that concluded<br />
Sunday.<br />
"Business has<br />
always been there but<br />
it's the responsibility<br />
of designer to create<br />
new things with every<br />
season and I tried to<br />
set new benchmarks<br />
with this edition,"<br />
<strong>said</strong> the designer also<br />
launched his accessory<br />
line at WIFW.<br />
Apart from established<br />
names, the season<br />
also witnessed 14<br />
new runway and stall<br />
designers.<br />
Accessory designer<br />
Pallavi Foley from<br />
Actor Kangana Ranaut in a<br />
creation by designer JJ Valaya<br />
at the Grand Finale.<br />
Bangalore, a first time participant, <strong>said</strong>:<br />
"This is the first time I am participating and<br />
the response is just amazing. My stall has<br />
been full of people and buyers loved my 3D<br />
c<strong>once</strong>pt in jewellery design."<br />
Lauding the creativity quotient at the<br />
event, Hibaal Ateeqi, a buyer from Kuwait,<br />
<strong>said</strong>: "Though I have been part of FDCI for<br />
long, this edition is good when it comes to<br />
creativity. Vineet Bahl and Tarun Tahiliani<br />
are some of the designers who took my<br />
breath away."<br />
Japanese designers, as a group, were invited<br />
for the first time to showcase their collections<br />
at the event. However, Japanese buyer<br />
Tomoko is a regular and <strong>said</strong> that this time,<br />
the event was high on creativity.<br />
"I thought that some of the shows showed<br />
great progress in terms of creativity. Anand<br />
Kabra's show was excellent. His prints and<br />
use of lotus motifs in an innovative technique<br />
were impressive," Tomoko <strong>said</strong>.<br />
Having <strong>said</strong> that, business was ripe with<br />
buyers from Kuwait and other Middle East<br />
nations, Australia, China and Singapore participating<br />
at the event and showing interest in<br />
the designs.<br />
"WIFW has always been known for creating<br />
landmarks in the fashion world. All the<br />
participating designers received accolades<br />
for their collections and they are taking<br />
orders from buyers from across the world.<br />
We have added buyers from different regions<br />
like Pakistan and Japan," <strong>said</strong> Sunil Sethi,<br />
president of event-organizer Fashion Design<br />
Council of India (FDCI).<br />
Actor Irrfan Khan in a creation by designer Meera Ali.
Op Ed 19<br />
<strong>The</strong><strong>South</strong><strong>Asian</strong><strong>Times</strong>.info February 25-March 2, 2012<br />
Obama not abandoning<br />
Afghanistan to Taliban<br />
Whatever the US equation with Pakistan or the<br />
dialogue with Taliban, things will increasingly be<br />
settled on US terms rather than on Pakistan or<br />
Taliban terms.<br />
By Subhash Chopra<br />
As peace talks with Taliban and other players in<br />
the Afghan war gather pace, the US/NATO<br />
end-game on the warfront appears to be moving<br />
fast towards its core as peel after peel comes off<br />
the big onion.<br />
To some, it may look like a policy shift from battle<br />
surge to exit in haste; to others, it looks a continuation<br />
of the long-declared exit policy without abandoning<br />
the country to Taliban for a 1996-style re-takeover.<br />
Those who have predicted a Vietnam-style US flight<br />
from the Afghan battlefront may find it difficult to<br />
reconcile two new surprise strategies to achieve the<br />
same end. <strong>The</strong> first has come with the signal that the<br />
US forces could stay in the country beyond 2014,<br />
seemingly abandoning the earlier deadline agreed<br />
with allies, especially the United Kingdom, the second<br />
biggest contributor in the field.<br />
<strong>The</strong> second surprise has come in the shape of a plan<br />
to start part-exiting Afghanistan in 2013, well before<br />
the 2014 deadline. <strong>The</strong> double surprise, according to<br />
widely leaked Pentagon sources, dovetails into a credible<br />
single action plan that retains US presence in<br />
Afghanistan for a long enough period while the<br />
Afghan security forces increasingly take charge<br />
province by province with the US forces doing back<br />
seat driving. One such operation has already been<br />
launched (in February this year) in Helmand province,<br />
the hardcore Taliban country.<br />
<strong>The</strong> new double strategy envisages the deployment<br />
of the US Special operations forces, also known as<br />
Green Berets, who will focus on commando operations<br />
against insurgents whenever required, besides<br />
training Afghan national security forces. <strong>The</strong> US<br />
commandos would c<strong>once</strong>ntrate on engaging and<br />
flushing out residual terrorists lurking behind the lines<br />
while leaving the day to day responsibility for defense<br />
and law and order to the Afghan national forces.<br />
<strong>The</strong> strategy suits president Obama as the plan to<br />
retain US footprint in Afghanistan beyond 2014 would<br />
blunt the Republican hawks in the run-up to presiden-<br />
tial elections at home. At the same time, it would reassure<br />
the Afghan women’s rights and human rights<br />
activists in general that the US won’t be putting their<br />
in hopes and interests in jeopardy with a cynical withdrawal<br />
abrogating all moral considerations.<br />
Any betrayal of Afghan women’s rights could cost<br />
Obama a fair few votes in his own presidential race.<br />
Any departure in unfavorable conditions could also<br />
give a wrong signal to the non-Pashtun minority<br />
groups like the Hazaras, Tajiks and Uzbeks who have<br />
successfully defied the Taliban regime even during its<br />
1996-2001 rule. After all the northern and western<br />
provinces of Afghanistan maintained their independence<br />
even during the worst period when Taliban,<br />
helped by Pakistan, held the sway.<br />
Obama’s Afghanistan exit plan is not similar to the<br />
departure from Iraq where his administration exited,<br />
rather completely and prematurely, as demanded by<br />
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, without resolving the<br />
central (Shia-Sunni) problem.<br />
In Afghanistan, President Karzai and others have<br />
other ideas that favor the US presence for a much<br />
longer period till the situation is stabilized or at least<br />
able to resist a takeover by the Taliban old guard.<br />
Unlike in the past, the US has a much clearer idea of<br />
its friends and foes, especially since its elimination of<br />
bin Laden in Abbotabad in May 2011. It’s no longer<br />
tied to the apron strings of Pakistan either in the conduct<br />
of war or dialogue with Taliban. In the talks with<br />
Taliban in Qatar, the US is making its own judgment<br />
about real Taliban capable of delivering any pact and<br />
fake Taliban, and even about good Taliban and not-sogood<br />
Taliban. Whatever and whenever a deal is struck<br />
with Taliban, it won’t be on surrender terms.<br />
Pakistan is no longer able to call the shots in<br />
Afghanistan. Elements in Pakistan establishment who<br />
used to consider, perhaps still do, Afghanistan almost<br />
as the fifth province of Pakistan - for strategic depth<br />
or otherwise - have to face the new reality.<br />
Faced with the new reality of its Pakistani ally’s<br />
capabilities to block transhipment of NATO’s supply<br />
of men and materials through its territory to<br />
Afghanistan, the US has already fortified its ‘northern’<br />
route to meet more than 50 per cent of its requirement,<br />
albeit at much higher financial cost.<br />
Simultaneously, it continues to promise enough aid to<br />
Pakistan to meet its civil and security (military) needs.<br />
Chances of a fresh $2.3 billion aid package for 2013<br />
for Pakistan remain bright amid the worst of mutual<br />
suspicions, even recriminations.<br />
Whatever the US equation with Pakistan or the dialogue<br />
with Taliban, things will increasingly be settled<br />
on US terms rather than on Pakistan or Taliban terms.<br />
President Obama’s increasing confidence since the<br />
elimination of bin Laden and improving economy at<br />
home have emboldened him to take new initiatives<br />
without fear of annoying Pakistan or exploring the<br />
uncharted mindscape of Taliban.<br />
(Subhash Chopra is a freelance journalist and<br />
author of ‘Partition, Jihad & Peace – <strong>South</strong> Asia after<br />
bin Laden.’)<br />
Skipper Dhoni mirrors<br />
the crisis in cricket<br />
By Pradeep Magazine<br />
MS Dhoni, the quintessential<br />
one-day cricketer and<br />
its supreme leader, is also<br />
in many ways symptomatic of the<br />
crisis the game is facing today.<br />
It is a crisis which threatens Test<br />
cricket's appeal and popularity in the<br />
face of a massive invasion by the<br />
shorter version of the game. It may<br />
be no coincidence that the player,<br />
who possesses all the outstanding<br />
qualities that stand out in the shorter<br />
version of the game, lacks the skills<br />
and perhaps even motivation, to<br />
leave a lasting imprint on its fiveday<br />
format.<br />
It is not my case here to belittle or<br />
deride the man, whose intuitive<br />
mastery of the shorter format allows<br />
him to balance perfectly the staid<br />
and explosive spurts in his batting<br />
for the team's good.<br />
Nor am I in any way detracting<br />
anything from his assertive, firm yet<br />
calm leadership skills that speaks of<br />
a man in complete control of himself<br />
and his surroundings. It is a<br />
phenomenal achievement, something<br />
Dhoni, his admirers and the<br />
country should be proud of. Take the<br />
same man away from the one-day<br />
context and visualise him in the Test<br />
format and one finds a personality<br />
transformation beyond recognition.<br />
Gone are those sure steps, those<br />
subtle movements on the field and<br />
gestures that command respect of<br />
the opposition and loyalty from his<br />
own men.<br />
<strong>The</strong> views expressed in Op Eds are not necessarily those of <strong>The</strong> <strong>South</strong> <strong>Asian</strong> <strong>Times</strong>.<br />
Do we need Dhoni, the bumbling, unsure Test cricketer or the Man who<br />
is the undisputed king of one-day cricket?<br />
<strong>The</strong> "captain cool" for his legion<br />
of admirers, is a man lost in a desert<br />
storm, not sure of where he stands<br />
and in which direction to move. One<br />
could put this loss of control to the<br />
collective and abject failure of his<br />
team, but what is a leader worth if<br />
he can't inspire his men when in<br />
retreat. In similar situations in a<br />
one-day game, Dhoni is a matchwinner,<br />
single-handedly fashioning<br />
a victory, where a defeat looks<br />
impending.<br />
What could be the reason? Are the<br />
skills required for the longer version<br />
of the game so different and<br />
demanding that they are difficult to<br />
surmount even for a man like<br />
Dhoni, who epitomises a superhuman<br />
fighting spirit and self-confidence<br />
when the time-span of the<br />
contest gets shrunk?<br />
Or is it that the man has no<br />
appetite for a long-drawn battle,<br />
where the final duel is won or lost<br />
on the strength of your staying<br />
power, sound technique and the<br />
ability to think ahead, not in terms<br />
of an hour but even days.<br />
Whatever the reasons may be, and<br />
there are better experts to dwell on<br />
that, the moot point is that Dhoni,<br />
the Test cricketer is not even a<br />
wounded shadow of the tiger he is<br />
of one-day cricket. Do we need<br />
Dhoni, the bumbling, unsure Test<br />
cricketer or the Man who is the<br />
undisputed king of one-day cricket?<br />
<strong>The</strong> answer I guess is simple, without<br />
letting emotions, semantics and<br />
sentimentality creep into this debate.
20 Diaspora<br />
February 25- March 2, 2012 <strong>The</strong><strong>South</strong><strong>Asian</strong><strong>Times</strong>.info<br />
'Ban Gita' court battle<br />
restarts in Russia<br />
Moscow/New Delhi: Hindus in<br />
Russia are bracing for a fresh court<br />
battle against attempts in the<br />
Siberian city of Tomsk to get their<br />
sacred 'Bhagavad Gita' branded as<br />
"extremist literature" and banned,<br />
after the state prosecutors filed an<br />
appeal against an earlier judgment<br />
in December last year throwing out<br />
their case.<br />
<strong>The</strong> state prosecutors have<br />
already filed their appeal in the<br />
Russian court, which has set March<br />
6 as the date of first hearing of the<br />
appeal, according to Krishna followers<br />
in Russia.<br />
Tomsk region prosecutor general<br />
Vasily Voikin, in his appeal, has<br />
demanded that a Russian comment<br />
included in 'Bhagavad Gita As It<br />
Is', the treatise on the Hindu sacred<br />
scripture by Iskcon founder A.C.<br />
Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami<br />
Prabhupada be banned, RIA<br />
Novosti quoted his deputy as saying.<br />
"<strong>The</strong> prosecutor has demanded<br />
that a Russian translation of a comment<br />
in this book, earlier published<br />
in English, be banned as extremist,<br />
not the canonical text of the scripture,"<br />
Tomsk region deputy prosecutor<br />
general Ivan Semchishin<br />
<strong>said</strong>. "<strong>The</strong> bid to ban the Russian<br />
translation of the Bhagavad Gita<br />
has been misunderstood," Tomsk<br />
region prosecutor general<br />
Alexander Buksman <strong>said</strong>.<br />
Indian investors keen to<br />
revive Ghana’s sugar, fertil-<br />
Accra (Ghana): Indian investors<br />
are keen to invest as much as $36<br />
million in Ghana’s ailing sugar<br />
industry, Indian High Commissioner<br />
Rajinder Bhagat has <strong>said</strong>. Indian<br />
investors intend to revive Ghana’s<br />
sugar industry by investing in the<br />
establishment of a sugar processing<br />
plant. In addition, other Indian<br />
investors are also waiting to invest<br />
in a potato plantation,” <strong>said</strong> Bhagat<br />
here. He hoped that ties between<br />
Ghana and India would be strengthened<br />
with the investment and participation<br />
of Indian investors in the<br />
country’s economy.<br />
Speaking at a meeting with<br />
Ghana’s Vice-President John<br />
Dramani Mahama, the envoy <strong>said</strong><br />
India was ready to set up a $1.3 billion<br />
fertilizer processing plant in<br />
Ghana.<br />
“India is ready with the technical<br />
plan and funds to start the project<br />
and is only waiting for the green<br />
light from the Ghanaian government.”<br />
Gas, a key component of the<br />
project, is yet to be processed in the<br />
country. <strong>The</strong> Ghanaian government<br />
izer industry<br />
Trinidad and Tobago observes<br />
Mahashivaratri<br />
Port of Spain: Hindus in the Caribbean<br />
island nation of Trinidad and Tobago led by<br />
Indian-origin Prime Minister Kamla<br />
Persad-Bissessar joined the rest of the<br />
Indian diaspora across the world to celebrate<br />
Mahashivaratri Monday.<br />
<strong>The</strong> festivities began from midnight of<br />
Feb 19. Mahashivaratri this year coincided<br />
with the annual Carnival that was celebrated<br />
here Feb 20-21.<br />
While non-Hindus opted to hit the fetes<br />
and parties, and danced to the gyrating<br />
music and songs of the steelpan, soca trucks<br />
and calypsoes, Hindus gathered in the more<br />
than 400 temples across the island to worship<br />
and conduct services to Lord Shiva.<br />
has secured a Chinese Development<br />
Bank loan to be used to finance a<br />
gas processing plant in the western<br />
region where oil production is taking<br />
place. Bhagat appealed to the<br />
Ghanaian government to beat down<br />
the gas price to facilitate the running<br />
of the project, adding that the Indian<br />
investors were ready to construct<br />
pipelines for drawing gas to support<br />
the fertilizer project.<br />
Vice-President Mahama <strong>said</strong> the<br />
Ghana National Gas Company<br />
(GNGC) was working to ensure the<br />
facility to process gas onshore was<br />
completed by the first quarter of<br />
next year. On completion, the gas<br />
would be used to power the country’s<br />
industries.<br />
He <strong>said</strong> the fertilizer project was<br />
very important to the government<br />
because it was expected to improve<br />
fertilizer supply in the country,<br />
Mahama <strong>said</strong> the government<br />
would make a case for the GNGC to<br />
fix favorable price for gas to enable<br />
the feasibility studies to start for the<br />
facility to be established by the<br />
Indian investors.<br />
For the past few weeks, Hindus have been<br />
abstaining from all forms of merriment,<br />
alcohol and other forms of worldly pleasures<br />
in preparation for the festival.<br />
<strong>The</strong> prime minister, who recently returned<br />
from her trip to India, observed<br />
Mahashivaratri in her constituency Siparia.<br />
Minister of Legal Affairs Prakash<br />
Ramadhar <strong>said</strong> the festival was an opportunity<br />
to rejuvenate oneself in an effort to<br />
enhance national development.<br />
Minister of Finance Winston Dookeran<br />
<strong>said</strong> Mahashivaratri was observed by<br />
Hindus with an overwhelming aura of spirituality,<br />
a feature which the world<br />
urgently needs.<br />
"It's important to discern gems<br />
from the chatter in this very case;<br />
the society's perception of this<br />
issue is that prosecutors are standing<br />
against the c<strong>once</strong>pts of this religion<br />
(Hinduism). However, the<br />
problem is that the Russian translation<br />
has paragraphs that could be<br />
seen as promoting extremism;<br />
prosecutors started the case for that<br />
reason," Buksman <strong>said</strong>.<br />
"<strong>The</strong> prosecutor (Voikin) is now<br />
maintaining his claims in an appeal<br />
court for that very reason,"<br />
Semchishin added.<br />
<strong>The</strong> initial court plea was filed in<br />
June 2011 and the trial prompted a<br />
flurry of highly critical publications<br />
in the international media.<br />
Maldives Museum reopens<br />
minus smashed Hindu images<br />
Male: <strong>The</strong> Maldives' national<br />
museum reopened Feb 14 without<br />
some of its most valuable exhibits<br />
a week after a mob of suspected<br />
religious extremists smashed<br />
images from the pre-Islamic era,<br />
the Associated Press reported.<br />
About 35 exhibits — mostly<br />
images of Buddha and Hindu<br />
gods — were destroyed. Some of<br />
the artifacts dated to the sixth<br />
century, museum director Ali<br />
Waheed <strong>said</strong>.<br />
Waheed says 99 percent of the<br />
Maldives' pre-Islamic artifacts<br />
from before the 12th century,<br />
when most inhabitants were<br />
Buddhists or Hindus, were<br />
destroyed.<br />
"Some of the pieces can be put<br />
together but mostly they are made<br />
of sandstone, coral and limestone<br />
and they are reduced to powder,"<br />
he <strong>said</strong>.<br />
<strong>The</strong> mob of suspected Muslim<br />
extremists attacked the museum<br />
during the Maldives' political<br />
crisis.<br />
<strong>The</strong> attack was the latest blow<br />
Norway case: After three<br />
months, parents finally<br />
meet children<br />
Stavanger: After a three-month<br />
long wait, a non-resident Indian<br />
couple – Anurup and Sagarika<br />
Bhattacharya – finally met their<br />
children.<br />
According to media reports,<br />
the meeting lasted for approximately<br />
two hours. <strong>The</strong> parents,<br />
along with uncle Arunabhash<br />
met the children.<br />
<strong>The</strong> three-year-old Abhigyan<br />
and the one-year-old<br />
Aishwarya, children of the NRI<br />
couple living in Stavanger,<br />
Norway, were taken under protective<br />
care by Barnevarne<br />
(Norwegian Child Welfare<br />
Services) in May last year on<br />
to the island nation that is best<br />
known as a high-end tourist destination.<br />
"We are very sad. This is the<br />
physical and archaeological evidence<br />
of the country, we have<br />
nothing to show (of the pre-<br />
grounds that they were not<br />
looked after properly by their<br />
parents.<br />
Barnevarne had placed them<br />
in foster parental care as per the<br />
directive of the local<br />
Norwegian court, mandated<br />
under Norwegian laws.<br />
An agreement was struck<br />
recently between India and<br />
Norway under which the parents<br />
named Anurup’s brother<br />
Arunabhash Bhattacharya as the<br />
primary caretaker of the two<br />
children. Arunabhash is currently<br />
in Norway and is being<br />
looked after the Norwegian<br />
authorities.<br />
Islamic history)," Waheed <strong>said</strong>.<br />
<strong>The</strong> items had been preserved<br />
since the museum opened in<br />
1952. Police spokesman Ahmed<br />
Shyam <strong>said</strong> investigations are<br />
ongoing into the museum attack,<br />
but no one has been arrested.<br />
Indian in UK jailed for driving<br />
test offence<br />
London: An Indian citizen has been jailed for<br />
six months after pleading guilty to charges of<br />
getting someone else to appear for him in his<br />
driving theory test because he could not speak<br />
English. Sarbjit Singh, 35, who came to the UK<br />
a year ago and speaks only Punjabi, was also<br />
ordered to do 100 hours of unpaid work and<br />
pay 85 pounds court fees.<br />
His six-month jail sentence has been suspended<br />
for 12 months by the Leicester<br />
Magistrates Court.<br />
Passing the theory test is one of the prerequisites<br />
of getting a driving licence in the UK.<br />
Singh, a machine operator, wanted to work<br />
for his brother’s courier company but had no<br />
driving licence, reports from Leicester <strong>said</strong>.<br />
He booked his driving theory test for June 16<br />
last year at a centre in the city centre.<br />
An entire collection of 12th century Buddhist and<br />
Hindu statues have been destroyed<br />
A man turned up claiming to be Sarbjit Singh,<br />
but staff became suspicious and asked for identification.<br />
He went to Singh’s home to get the<br />
identification but Singh’s brother then discovered<br />
what was happening and stopped the man<br />
from taking the test.<br />
Singh later discovered he could take the test<br />
in Punjabi but was arrested when he applied<br />
again. Bally Paul, lawyer defending Singh, <strong>said</strong><br />
her client did not understand how seriously<br />
fraud was taken in the UK. She <strong>said</strong>: “His<br />
brother has been in this country for 10 years<br />
and runs a courier business. It was not until<br />
after this unknown person had returned to ask<br />
for identification that Singh’s brother intervened<br />
and told him not to go through with it,<br />
that it is very serious and you can’t get away<br />
with it like you perhaps could in India.”
Subcontinent 21<br />
<strong>The</strong><strong>South</strong><strong>Asian</strong><strong>Times</strong>.info February 25-March 2, 2012<br />
Quran burning: US apology<br />
Kabul: Four people were shot<br />
dead and dozens wounded in<br />
protests in Afghanistan in several<br />
cities over the burning of copies<br />
of the Quran, Islam's holy book, at<br />
NATO's main base in the country.<br />
<strong>The</strong> American Embassy <strong>said</strong> its<br />
staff were in "lockdown" and travel<br />
had been suspended as thousands<br />
of people expressed fury<br />
over the burning, a public relations<br />
disaster for US-led NATO<br />
forces fighting Taliban militants<br />
ahead of the withdrawal of foreign<br />
combat troops by the end of 2014.<br />
<strong>The</strong> US government and the<br />
American commander of NATOled<br />
forces in Afghanistan apologized<br />
after Afghan laborers found<br />
charred copies of the Quran while<br />
collecting rubbish at the sprawling<br />
Bagram Airbase about an hour's<br />
drive north of Kabul.<br />
It failed to contain the fury.<br />
Thousands of Afghans took to the<br />
Memogate:<br />
Mansoor Ijaz<br />
submits proof<br />
Islamabad: Controversial Pakistani-<br />
American businessman Mansoor Ijaz<br />
submitted his BlackBerry phone and<br />
"other evidences" to a Pakistan judicial<br />
commission probing the memo<br />
scandal that shook the country's<br />
powerful military as well as political<br />
establishments.<br />
Ijaz, who had refused to travel to<br />
Pakistan to appear before the<br />
Supreme Court appointed panel citing<br />
security reasons, deposed via<br />
video link from London. <strong>The</strong> memo,<br />
that had sought US help to stave off a<br />
possible coup, had put the Pakistani<br />
government into a whirlpool and had<br />
led to speculation of a possible coup.<br />
<strong>The</strong> memo triggered a tense standoff<br />
and PM Yousaf Raza Gilani had<br />
criticized the handling of the memo<br />
issue by the army and ISI chiefs. Ijaz<br />
came to the Pakistan High<br />
Commission in London to record his<br />
statement through video conferencing<br />
while the three-judge commission<br />
conducted the proceedings from<br />
Islamabad. Ijaz submitted his<br />
BlackBerry phone and other evidences<br />
to the secretary of the judicial<br />
commission investigating the affair,<br />
the Dawn news network reported. He<br />
also provided details of his contacts<br />
with Pakistani leaders and ISI officials.<br />
Recounting his contacts with<br />
Pakistani leaders, Ijaz <strong>said</strong> he had<br />
met then ISI chief Gen Ehsan-ul-Haq<br />
in Brussels in 2003. He <strong>said</strong> he had<br />
met former military ruler Pervez<br />
Musharraf in London in 2005 and<br />
that he had last met president Asif<br />
Ali Zardari in 2009. Ijaz <strong>said</strong> he met<br />
current ISI chief Lt Gen Ahmed<br />
Shuja Pasha in a London hotel<br />
last year.<br />
fails to ease anger<br />
Afghan laborers found charred copies of the Quran while collecting<br />
rubbish at the sprawling Bagram Airbase.<br />
streets again, chanting anti-<br />
American slogans.<br />
Winning the hearts and minds of<br />
Afghans is critical to efforts to<br />
defeat the Taliban. Similar inci-<br />
Gilani seeks result-oriented talks with India<br />
Islamabad: Seeking "sustainable<br />
and result- oriented" talks with<br />
India, Pakistan Premier Yousuf<br />
Raza Gilani <strong>said</strong> he had "great<br />
regard" for his counterpart<br />
Manmohan Singh who is a "sincere<br />
person" desirous of friendly<br />
and cooperative bilateral ties.<br />
Gilani made the remarks at a<br />
reception he hosted for visiting<br />
Indian parliamentary delegation<br />
led by Lok Sabha Speaker Meira<br />
Kumar. Pakistan is a peace loving<br />
country that wants good relations<br />
with all its neighbors, including<br />
India, he <strong>said</strong>.<br />
<strong>The</strong> premier <strong>said</strong> it was his cherished<br />
desire to have a construc-<br />
dents in the past have caused deep<br />
divisions and resentment among<br />
Afghans towards the tens of thousands<br />
of foreign troops in<br />
Afghanistan.<br />
Pakistan Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani.<br />
tive? sustainable and result-oriented<br />
dialogue with India, state-run<br />
Nepal celebrates<br />
Mahashivaratri festival<br />
Kathmandu:<br />
Hindu devotees<br />
across Nepal cele<br />
b r a t e d<br />
Mahashivaratri<br />
festival with fervor<br />
by worshipping<br />
Lord Shiva<br />
at various temples,<br />
rivers and<br />
ponds.<br />
T h e<br />
Pashupatinath<br />
temple, situated<br />
in the heart of<br />
Hindu devotees at the Pashupatinath temple<br />
in Kathmandu.<br />
capital Kathmandu and regarded as one of the most revered and famous<br />
Shiva temples in the world, witnessed a high number of devotees, Xinhua<br />
reported. People thronged the temples since early morning for the<br />
Mahashivaratri that is celebrated on the 14th day of the lunar month of<br />
Falgun. In Nepal, the festival is regarded as a national festival. <strong>The</strong> occasion<br />
consists of "warming" Lord Shiva in the belief that the Lord also feels cold<br />
on this day and people organise bonfires at public squares, houses, temples<br />
and shrines and perform prayers to please Lord Shiva.<br />
Seven foreign UN workers were<br />
killed during protests that raged<br />
across Afghanistan for three days<br />
in April 2011 after a US pastor<br />
burned a Quran in Florida.<br />
In Parwan province, home to the<br />
sprawling Bagram airbase where<br />
the Quran burning incident<br />
occurred, two people were shot<br />
dead by Afghan police and 13<br />
wounded while attacking offices,<br />
provincial spokesman Roshan<br />
Khalid <strong>said</strong>.<br />
A protester was shot dead by<br />
police in Logar province, east of<br />
the capital, the governor's<br />
spokesman, Deen Mohammad<br />
Darwish, <strong>said</strong>.<br />
Afghan health ministry<br />
spokesman Ghulam Sakhi Kargar<br />
<strong>said</strong> one person also died in hospital<br />
in Kabul from gunshot wounds<br />
received during one of two shooting<br />
incidents at protests in at least<br />
four areas of the capital.<br />
Radio Pakistan reported on its<br />
website.<br />
Islamabad: After a six-year gap, a<br />
group of pilgrims from India celebrated<br />
Mahashivratri in a Hindu<br />
temple <strong>said</strong> to have been built<br />
more than 900 years ago.<br />
Fifty Hindus from India marked<br />
the festival at Katasraj in Punjab<br />
province, reported the Daily<br />
<strong>Times</strong>.<br />
<strong>The</strong> place is considered sacred<br />
due to a pond, which according to<br />
Hindu mythology was formed<br />
from Lord Shiva's tears. It is also<br />
<strong>said</strong> that the Pandava brothers<br />
stayed in the temple region for<br />
four out of the 14 years they spent<br />
in exile.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Indian delegation, which<br />
reached Lahore through the Wagah<br />
border, was met by Evacuee Trust<br />
Property Board Pakistan chairman<br />
Asif Hashmi. <strong>The</strong> delegation has<br />
Maldives sets up probe<br />
panel on power transfer<br />
Colombo: <strong>The</strong> Maldives government<br />
has appointed a commission to<br />
inquire into the controversial transfer<br />
of power which former president<br />
Mohamed Nasheed has termed a<br />
coup orchestrated by military and<br />
politicians who were then in the<br />
opposition, a Maldivian diplomat<br />
<strong>said</strong>.President Mohamed Waheed<br />
Hassan Manik has formed the<br />
Commission of National Inquiry,<br />
Xinhua quoted Maldivian High<br />
Commissioner to Sri Lanka Hussain<br />
Shihab as saying. <strong>The</strong> three-member<br />
commission is headed by former<br />
minister for defence and national<br />
security Ismail Shafeeu and<br />
includes the president of the first<br />
Human Rights Commission of<br />
Maldives, Ahmed Mujthaba.<br />
<strong>The</strong> US and the UN that rushed to<br />
the Maldives immediately after the<br />
power transfer had called for a<br />
national inquiry, claiming international<br />
interference would worsen<br />
the ongoing crisis.Waheed has<br />
asked the commission to carry out<br />
an independent and impartial investigation<br />
into events in the Maldives<br />
between Jan 14 and Feb 8, the<br />
Maldivian diplomat added.<br />
Such a dialogue will usher in<br />
development and prosperity in the<br />
region, he added.<br />
Gilani noted that the first round<br />
of the resumed dialogue between<br />
India and Pakistan was held last<br />
year and expressed the hope that<br />
the second round of talks this year<br />
would "bear fruits".<br />
He <strong>said</strong> he had "great regard"<br />
for his Indian counterpart<br />
Manmohan Singh, who accepted<br />
his initiative for dialogue.<br />
Kumar, who is the first Speaker<br />
of Indian Parliament to visit<br />
Pakistan, <strong>said</strong> India wished to see<br />
a stable, peaceful and prosperous<br />
Pakistan.<br />
Indians celebrate<br />
Mahashivratri in Pakistan<br />
<strong>The</strong> last delegation of Hindu<br />
pilgrims visited Pakistan in 2006.<br />
returned to India.<br />
<strong>The</strong> report <strong>said</strong> the last delegation<br />
of Hindus visited Pakistan in<br />
2006. In 2006-07, Pakistan decided<br />
to place idols of Hindu gods in<br />
the temples and restore them to<br />
their original state to attract Hindu<br />
visitors.<br />
"Minorities present here in<br />
Pakistan are given full freedom to<br />
celebrate their holy events," Hindu<br />
Welfare Council Chairman Shiv<br />
Pratap Raj was quoted as saying.
22 International<br />
February 25-March 2, 2012 <strong>The</strong><strong>South</strong><strong>Asian</strong><strong>Times</strong>.info<br />
Oz foreign minister<br />
resigns amid dispute<br />
Vienna: Yukiya Amano,<br />
Sydney: Australia's foreign<br />
minister resigned amid an<br />
ongoing leadership squabble,<br />
saying he could not<br />
continue in his role without<br />
the support of Prime<br />
Minister Julia Gillard.<br />
Foreign minister Kevin<br />
Rudd announced his resignation<br />
during an early<br />
morning news conference<br />
in Washington, where he is<br />
visiting on official business.<br />
<strong>The</strong> announcement comes<br />
amid relentless speculation<br />
that he planned to seize<br />
power from Gillard.<br />
Gillard came to power in<br />
an internal coup within her<br />
Labor Party that ousted<br />
Rudd in June 2010.<br />
She became only the third<br />
prime minister since World<br />
War II to gain power in this<br />
way.<br />
"I can only serve as foreign<br />
minister if I have the<br />
confidence of Prime<br />
Minister Gillard and her<br />
senior ministers," Rudd<br />
<strong>said</strong>. "I therefore believe<br />
the only honorable thing,<br />
Australian Foreign minister Kevin Rudd.<br />
and the only honorable<br />
course of action, is for me<br />
to resign."<br />
In recent days, speculation<br />
had been mounting that<br />
Rudd supporters were planning<br />
an attempt to restore<br />
him to power soon. That<br />
had become a distraction,<br />
Rudd <strong>said</strong>.<br />
"<strong>The</strong> truth is the<br />
Australian people regard<br />
this whole affair as little<br />
better than a soap opera and<br />
they are right," he <strong>said</strong>.<br />
"And under current circumstances,<br />
I won't be part of<br />
it."<br />
It was not immediately<br />
clear what Rudd's next<br />
move would be.<br />
He <strong>said</strong> he planned to fly<br />
back to Australia on<br />
Thursday to sort out his<br />
future. But in his resignation<br />
speech, he was highly<br />
critical of the Labor Party's<br />
decision to oust him.<br />
No agreement with Iran<br />
over N-issue: IAEA chief<br />
director of the International<br />
Atomic Energy Agency<br />
(IAEA), <strong>said</strong> no agreement<br />
was reached with Iran over<br />
its nuclear issue during the<br />
recent visit of the agency's<br />
team to Tehran.<br />
Amano made the remarks<br />
as an IAEA experts team<br />
returns from Iran after the<br />
two-day second round of<br />
talks with Iranian officials.<br />
<strong>The</strong> meeting followed previous<br />
talks held in late<br />
January, reported Xinhua.<br />
"Intensive efforts were<br />
made to reach agreement on<br />
a document facilitating the<br />
clarification of unresolved<br />
issues in connection with<br />
Iran's nuclear program, particularly<br />
those relating to<br />
possible military dimensions,"<br />
Amano <strong>said</strong> in a<br />
statement Wednesday.<br />
"Unfortunately, agreement<br />
was not reached on this document,"<br />
he added.<br />
"During both the first and<br />
second meetings, the<br />
agency team requested<br />
Rio<br />
dazzles<br />
in<br />
Carnival<br />
finale<br />
Yukiya Amano, director of the International Atomic<br />
Energy Agency.<br />
access to the military site at<br />
Parchin, but Iran did not<br />
grant the permission,"<br />
according to the statement.<br />
Amano called Iran's<br />
refusal to permit the visit to<br />
Parchin as "disappointing."<br />
Box with above story<br />
Russia warns against 'catastrophic'<br />
attack on Iran<br />
Moscow: Russia warned<br />
against the use of force to<br />
solve the crisis over the<br />
Iranian nuclear program,<br />
saying an attack would have<br />
catastrophic consequences<br />
both for the region and<br />
global diplomacy.<br />
"<strong>The</strong> scenario of military<br />
action against Iran would be<br />
catastrophic for the region<br />
and possibily the whole system<br />
of international relations,"<br />
Deputy Foreign<br />
Minister Gennady Gatilov<br />
told a news conference.<br />
With bursts of fireworks, high-decibel music and a kaleidoscope of colors, the city's top 13 samba<br />
schools treated a capacity crowd of 72,500 at the newly renovated Temple of Samba to stunning<br />
processions of exquisitely decorated floats. <strong>The</strong> night parades, which went on into the small hours<br />
of the morning, had it all: captivating samba beats, superb percussionists, imaginative choreography,<br />
masterful execution and the beguiling sex appeal of gorgeous samba queens wearing colorful<br />
feathers and little else. It is a holiday that provides a rare moment of national communion and<br />
over-the-top merry-making in this huge and racially diverse country of 191 million people.
Business 23<br />
<strong>The</strong><strong>South</strong><strong>Asian</strong><strong>Times</strong>.info February 25-March 2, 2012<br />
State Bank of India to bail out Kingfisher: report<br />
Mumbai: <strong>The</strong> State Bank of India<br />
has decided on a Rs 16.5 billion<br />
loan package to help troubled<br />
Kingfisher Airlines overcome a<br />
cash crunch, the Hindustan <strong>Times</strong><br />
newspaper reported.<br />
<strong>The</strong> newspaper quoted an<br />
unidentified source as saying the<br />
state-controlled bank had decided<br />
to extend a new line of credit, that<br />
included 7 billion rupees in shortterm<br />
working capital and 5 billion<br />
rupees in bank guarantees.<br />
It has also decided to extend the<br />
tenure of current loans to the airline<br />
worth about 2.5-3 billion<br />
rupees that would have been due<br />
next year, the newspaper <strong>said</strong>.<br />
State Bank or another government<br />
bank, Punjab National Bank<br />
(PNBK.NS), could offer bank<br />
guarantees of 1.6-2 billion rupees<br />
to tax authorities, it <strong>said</strong>.<br />
State Bank and Kingfisher offi-<br />
US pushing India to<br />
'wean' from Iran oil<br />
Washington: <strong>The</strong> United States<br />
continues to talk with India to<br />
encourage it to reduce its dependence<br />
on Iranian crude, but would<br />
not say what progress it has made<br />
so far.<br />
"We're talking to India, we're<br />
talking to China, we're talking to<br />
countries in Europe, we're talking<br />
to countries in Asia and Africa, et<br />
cetera," State Department<br />
spokesperson Victoria Nuland<br />
told reporters.<br />
"We are having talks with countries<br />
around the world about the<br />
implications of the legislation<br />
with regard to our expectation<br />
that countries will increasingly<br />
wean themselves of dependence<br />
on Iranian oil," she <strong>said</strong>.<br />
cials were not immediately available<br />
for comment.<br />
<strong>The</strong> airline has become one of<br />
Dow touches 13,000<br />
but can it hold on?<br />
New York: <strong>The</strong> Dow Jones<br />
Industrial Average climbed above<br />
13000 for the first time in almost<br />
four years, though it failed to<br />
hang onto the gains through the<br />
day's end.<strong>The</strong> Dow Jones<br />
Industrial Average pierced the<br />
13000 level for the first time in<br />
almost four years, but traded<br />
largely below the mark and ended<br />
the day in positive territory.<br />
Jonathan Cheng has details on<br />
<strong>The</strong> News Hub. Photo: Getty<br />
Images<br />
<strong>The</strong> Dow passed above 13000 a<br />
few times Tuesday, rising as high<br />
as 13005. It ended the day at<br />
12965.69, up 15.82 points, or<br />
0.1%. <strong>The</strong> Standard & Poor's 500stock<br />
index toyed with a milestone<br />
of its own, briefly surpassing<br />
its high reached last April<br />
before closing up 0.98 point, or<br />
0.1%, at 1362.21. <strong>The</strong> advance<br />
came after a long weekend that<br />
<strong>The</strong> airline has become one of the main casualties of high fuel costs.<br />
Mumbai: Nariman Point fell to<br />
the 15th place from its previous<br />
eighth position as the most expensive<br />
central business district<br />
(CBD) in the world, according to<br />
the annual report 'Office Space<br />
Across the World 2012' by<br />
Cushman & Wakefield.<br />
<strong>The</strong> report <strong>said</strong> this is also the<br />
first time in over six years that<br />
Mumbai has fallen out of the Top<br />
10 rent rankings. Hong Kong,<br />
London and Tokyo maintained<br />
their position as the top three on<br />
the annual chart; Beijing (5) and<br />
Sydney (7) entered the top ten list<br />
for the first time.<br />
<strong>The</strong> report <strong>said</strong> that Nariman<br />
Point saw a rental decline of<br />
approximately 8% in 2011, allowing<br />
it to slip in global ranking,<br />
largely due to diminishing interest<br />
saw progress on two worries that<br />
have dogged investors for<br />
months.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Dow's inability to finish<br />
above 13000 echoes the market's<br />
previous stalls at certain levels.<br />
While the vast majority of professional<br />
money managers and<br />
exchange-traded funds track the<br />
S&P 500, rather than the Dow, the<br />
long history of the blue-chip<br />
index makes it a key benchmark.<br />
Potential hurdles loom on the<br />
horizon. On Tuesday, crude-oil<br />
prices surged $2.60, or 2.5%, to<br />
$105.84, their highest level in<br />
more than nine months. Prices<br />
have surged 7.5% this month.<br />
While that has benefited oil companies—Chevron<br />
rose 1.6% and<br />
Exxon Mobil gained 1.1% on<br />
Tuesday—it has raised c<strong>once</strong>rns<br />
about the impact of high gasoline<br />
prices on retail spending and<br />
stoked broader inflationary fears.<br />
the main casualties of high fuel<br />
costs and a fierce price war<br />
between a handful of budget carri-<br />
on account of higher prices, lower<br />
quality and age of construction<br />
and growing distances from resi-<br />
ers which, between them, have<br />
ordered hundreds of aircraft for<br />
delivery over the next decade in an<br />
ambitious bet on the future.<br />
Kingfisher shares plunged nearly<br />
20 percent in intra-day trade but<br />
dential hubs. In contrast to this,<br />
locations such as Bandra-Kurla<br />
Complex (BKC), Worli-Lower<br />
recovered to close 0.4 percent up<br />
as rumors of the bank bailout<br />
spread. India's aviation regulator<br />
<strong>said</strong> the airline had given an assurance<br />
that bank funding was on the<br />
way.<br />
Rentals: Nariman Point drops 7 places to 15th spot<br />
Hong Kong, London and Tokyo maintained their position as the top<br />
three on the annual chart.<br />
Metro to start international<br />
flight check-ins<br />
New Delhi: <strong>The</strong> high-speed<br />
Airport Metro will start international<br />
check-in facility at two<br />
Metro stations, an official <strong>said</strong>.<br />
"International fliers will be able<br />
to check in their baggage at the<br />
New Delhi and Shivaji Stadium<br />
stations from Thursday," <strong>said</strong> a<br />
spokesperson of Reliance<br />
Infrastructure, which operates the<br />
line.<br />
"Air India will begin check-in<br />
of passengers baggage from<br />
Thursday at the two stations<br />
while Jet and Kingfisher will follow,"<br />
the spokesperson <strong>said</strong>. <strong>The</strong><br />
spokesperson <strong>said</strong> talks were on<br />
with other airlines.<br />
"International flyers can collect<br />
boarding passes at the metro station<br />
and go for security check at<br />
the airport, totally hassle free,"<br />
<strong>said</strong> Anil P. Gupta, president of<br />
Reliance Infrastructure.<br />
Parel and Andheri-Kurla Road<br />
offer larger floor plate and higher<br />
quality of construction whilst<br />
being closer to residential hubs.<br />
BKC has been inching up in terms<br />
of rental values (6%) owing to a<br />
steady demand. While locations<br />
such as Andheri-Kurla and western<br />
suburbs cater to back offices.<br />
Asia-Pacific recorded the steepest<br />
regional prime office rental<br />
increases in 2011 according to the<br />
report.<br />
"Overall, rents across the region<br />
increased by an average of 8%,<br />
with Beijing recording the highest<br />
jump in rents globally (75%).<br />
Hong Kong maintained its position<br />
as the most expensive office<br />
location in the world for the second<br />
year running, with Tokyo in<br />
the third," it <strong>said</strong>.<br />
Eurozone reaches Greek<br />
bailout deal<br />
Brussels: Finance ministers from<br />
the eurozone reached a Greek<br />
bailout plan, agreeing on measures<br />
to reduce the country's debt level<br />
to 120.5 percent of its gross<br />
domestic product (GDP) by 2020.<br />
Under the rescue package, which<br />
was clinched after lengthy 12<br />
hours of talks, Greece will receive<br />
extra bailout loans of 130 billion<br />
euros ($170 billion) to avoid a debt<br />
default on a bond repayment in<br />
March, eurozone officials here<br />
<strong>said</strong>. Earlier, eurozone officials had<br />
indicated that they would approve<br />
a second bailout program for<br />
Greece after Athens had agreed to<br />
all the terms demanded by international<br />
creditors, reported Xinhua.<br />
"I would like to assume that we<br />
can reach final and concluding<br />
negotiations today (Monday),"<br />
Eurogroup head Jean-Claude<br />
Greece will receive extra bailout loans of 130 billion euros ($170 billion).<br />
Juncker <strong>said</strong> as he arrived for a<br />
meeting of eurozone finance ministers<br />
Monday.<br />
"<strong>The</strong> Greek side has fulfilled<br />
many preparatory efforts we had<br />
demanded. We have to conclude<br />
today, there's no more time to<br />
waste," Juncker, who is also<br />
Luxembourg's prime minister, told<br />
reporters. Nevertheless, the meeting<br />
was prolonged into the early<br />
hours of Tuesday.
24 Sports<br />
February 25-March 2, 2012 <strong>The</strong><strong>South</strong><strong>Asian</strong><strong>Times</strong>.info<br />
India fall 51 short of target<br />
set by Sri Lanka<br />
India ended up scoring 238 in 45.1 overs in response<br />
to Sri Lanka's 289 for six.<br />
Brisbane: India fell 51 runs short<br />
chasing 290, losing wickets at<br />
inopportune moments, against Sri<br />
Lanka in the eighth match of the<br />
cricket tri-series here.<br />
India ended up scoring 238 in<br />
45.1 overs in response to Sri<br />
Lanka's 289 for six as the efforts<br />
of Virat Kohli (66) and Irfan<br />
Pathan (47) failed to get the team<br />
past the line. Though Thisara<br />
Perera bagged four wickets,<br />
Nuwan Kulasekara (3-40)was the<br />
most impressive of Sri Lanka's<br />
bowlers after skipper Mahela<br />
Jayawardene (51) and Liharu<br />
Thiramanne (62) starred in an allround<br />
batting display.<br />
<strong>The</strong> second loss in a row has<br />
pushed India (10 points) to third<br />
place in the standings behind Sri<br />
Lanka (11) and leaders Australia<br />
(14). India lost both the matches at<br />
the Gabba, having been beaten by<br />
Australia Sunday.<br />
<strong>The</strong> first of the Indian wickets<br />
that fell at regular intervals was<br />
that of stand-in skipper Virender<br />
Sehwag (0) in the second ball of<br />
the innings. Predictably, he cut<br />
chasing a wide rising Lasith<br />
Malinga (2-55) delivery that flew<br />
straight to Kulasekara at third<br />
man.<br />
Tendulkar (22), who has not<br />
been amongst the runs in the<br />
series, looked in good touch before<br />
Kulasekara made him attempt a<br />
half-hearted heave, getting him<br />
bowled off an inside edge.<br />
Gautam Gambhir (29), Suresh<br />
Raina (32) were also dismissed<br />
after getting their eye in, leaving<br />
India at 146 for four in the 31st<br />
over, needing another 144 off 117<br />
balls.<br />
Olympic hockey qualifiers:<br />
India thrash France 6-2<br />
New Delhi: <strong>The</strong> Indian men's hockey team thrashed<br />
France 6-2 while the women got the better of Poland 3-0<br />
in the 2012 London Olympics qualifiers at the Major<br />
Dhyan Chand National Stadium.<br />
<strong>The</strong> men's team continued their dominating performance<br />
and lived up to the reputation of being the highestranked<br />
team in the tournament at World No.10.<br />
Ace drag-flicker Sandeep Singh was again the star of<br />
the night slamming in three goals (9th, 30th and 37th),<br />
two from penalty corners. Sandeep is also the leading<br />
goal scorer in the tournament with seven goals from<br />
three matches. Shivendra Singh (4th), S.V.Sunil (39th)<br />
and Tushar Khandekar (62nd) also added to their tally.<br />
France managed two consolation goals from penalty<br />
corners with Lucas Sevestre and Fabien Magner converting<br />
in the 35th and 56th minute.<br />
<strong>The</strong> French, however, were no match for the eighttime<br />
Olympic champions' pace and aggression and their<br />
defense caved in under relentless attack from the Indian<br />
forwards.<br />
Sydney: Former Australian captain<br />
Ricky Ponting retired from<br />
ODIs, a day after he was dropped<br />
from the squad for the rest of the<br />
Commonwealth Bank Series, but<br />
will continue to play Test matches.<br />
<strong>The</strong> 37-year-old, who led<br />
Australia to two World Cup titles<br />
in 2003 and 2007, <strong>said</strong> he took the<br />
decision after national selector<br />
John Inverarity indicated to him<br />
that he doesn't figure in their<br />
plans.<br />
Ace drag-flicker Sandeep Singh was again the<br />
star of the night slamming in three goals.<br />
Earlier, the women hockey team's unbeaten run continued<br />
with a 3-0 win over Poland.<br />
Ponting retires from ODIs<br />
Former Australian captain<br />
Ricky Ponting.<br />
"It's a little bit hard to come here<br />
today and say I'm retiring when<br />
I've already been left out of the<br />
side.<br />
I don't expect to play one-day<br />
international cricket for Australia<br />
any more and I'm pretty sure the<br />
selectors don't expect to pick me<br />
either.<br />
"John made it very clear to me<br />
yesterday the direction that they're<br />
heading with the one-day team<br />
and that I'm not part of their<br />
plans," he <strong>said</strong>.
Adventure Sports 25<br />
<strong>The</strong><strong>South</strong><strong>Asian</strong><strong>Times</strong>.info February 25-March 2, 2012<br />
Indian army creates world record<br />
in harness hang gliding<br />
NAIB SUBEDAR PARAMJEET SINGH OF INDIAN ARMY, WHO HAS CREATED A WORLD<br />
RECORD IN HANG GLIDING AT SANDERAV NEAR JODHPUR IN RAJASTHAN.<br />
By Prakash Bhandari/<br />
SA<strong>Times</strong><br />
Jaipur: <strong>The</strong> ace trainer Naib<br />
Subedar Paramjeet Singh, who<br />
belongs to the village Sangatpura<br />
near Jagraon in Ludhiana, in<br />
Punjab had no words to express his<br />
feelings when he broke the 33<br />
years old British world record in<br />
powered hang gliding by covering a<br />
distance of 380 km between<br />
Sriganganagar and Sanderav in<br />
Pali district near Jodhpur in<br />
Rajasthan.<br />
Paramjeet broke the invalidated<br />
distance record of 325 km by<br />
British pilot Gerry Breen set in<br />
By Santosh Rao<br />
Manali: Winter sports is no longer<br />
confined to the breathtaking locales<br />
of Jammu and Kashmir. Solang<br />
Valley in Himachal Pradesh is fast<br />
turning into a popular destination for<br />
skiers and comes alive when much of<br />
northern India retreats into the<br />
warmth of well-heated homes.<br />
Foreigners and locals throng the<br />
snow-capped slopes of the picturesque<br />
valley snuggled between the<br />
Beas Kund and Solang village for<br />
skiing, snowboarding and sliding. It<br />
is located 13 km northwest of the hill<br />
resort of Manali at an altitude of<br />
8,000 ft.<br />
<strong>The</strong> valley played host to a first-ofits-kind<br />
skiing event, the Alpine<br />
Premier League, this month. Over<br />
350 participants showcased their<br />
skills in a bid to be anointed the king<br />
of mountains.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Feb 5-9 competition also saw<br />
state teams from Uttarakhand and<br />
Jammu and Kashmir, besides Indian<br />
army skiers who dominated both the<br />
men's and women's fields. Twentyfour<br />
competitors from overseas came<br />
to slide down the slopes of Solang.<br />
<strong>The</strong> daunting Himalayas and the<br />
fresh powdery snow provide the perfect<br />
setting for an adventure sport<br />
1979 (London-Paris). He told the<br />
<strong>South</strong> <strong>Asian</strong> <strong>Times</strong>, “I have no<br />
words to describe my feelings for<br />
the achievement for which I was<br />
preparing for a long time.”<br />
He broke the world record on the<br />
second day of the expedition. <strong>The</strong><br />
expedition was 700 km long from<br />
Sriganganagar to Udaipur.<br />
Paramjeet Singh, who actually<br />
belongs to the 76 Field Regiment,<br />
was posted as an instructor in the<br />
aeronautical wing in the Deolali<br />
based School of Artillery. He has an<br />
experience of 836 hours and 35<br />
minutes of hang gliding during his<br />
21 years stint there.<br />
Col. SD Goswami, spokesman of<br />
the defense ministry, <strong>said</strong> that he<br />
enthusiast to freak out.<br />
Still regarded as an elitist sport<br />
because of the expensive equipment,<br />
the locals are getting adequate help<br />
from the Directorate of<br />
Mountaineering and Allied Sports in<br />
Manali and private companies like<br />
Ski Himalayas to provide skiing<br />
equipment free for training.<br />
Shiva Kesavan, who created history<br />
by winning India's first gold in an<br />
international winter sports event at<br />
the Asia Cup in Nagano, Japan, in<br />
December, sees Solang as a huge<br />
step forward for the sport.<br />
Kesavan, born in Vashist near<br />
Manali, is a four-time winter sport<br />
Olympian. Highly respected and<br />
admired among the winter sport<br />
community, Kesavan feels Himachal<br />
has a lot to offer to adventure sports.<br />
"Conditions here are perfect for<br />
winter sports; Himachal is fast<br />
becoming the hub for adventure sport<br />
in the country. However, the work is<br />
still in progress. <strong>The</strong>re needs to be<br />
dedicated space for different events,<br />
the slopes are still a little bumpy but<br />
the standards will improve gradually,"<br />
he <strong>said</strong>.<br />
Youngsters in Solang seem to be<br />
taking to skiing like duck to water.<br />
Enthusiastic boys keenly wait for<br />
their turn to enter the Gondola, a sort<br />
of cable car, to take them to the high-<br />
was proud that the Indian army has<br />
broken the world record in hang<br />
gliding. A British pilot Gerry Breen<br />
had on May 7, 1979 created the<br />
world record by gliding 325 km<br />
from Wales to Norwich.<br />
<strong>The</strong> three-day, first of its kind<br />
expedition has been organized by<br />
the Indian Army Adventure Nodal<br />
Centre (AANC) and 10 soldiers<br />
were flying with powered harness<br />
hang gliders. Paramjeet flew gliders<br />
powered with 120 cc 15 HP<br />
motor and a carbon-graphite propeller<br />
attached to it.<br />
<strong>The</strong> harness gives the glider pilot<br />
the ability to take off from any<br />
small clear patch of ground and<br />
cruise at a speed of up to 70 kmph<br />
est point of the slope so that they can<br />
blaze a trail down.<br />
Kesavan feels these are encouraging<br />
signs and the government should<br />
take notice and provide support.<br />
"Youngsters here are taking to the<br />
sport in a big way - this is great<br />
news. <strong>The</strong> Indian government needs<br />
for several hours depending on the<br />
wind direction, <strong>said</strong> Goswami.<br />
Soaring high in the skies is every<br />
person's dream. But one needs an<br />
Eagle's heart to scale new highs,<br />
ride on the air current and most<br />
importantly, stay there for long<br />
hours. <strong>The</strong>re's only one kind of<br />
people that are able to achieve such<br />
feats professionally and with great<br />
ease, they are the Gunner Dare<br />
Devils.Led by Colonel Sanjeev<br />
to start a comprehensive training program<br />
so that these guys can make it<br />
to the international stage," he <strong>said</strong>.<br />
Peter Tobler, a snowboard instructor<br />
in Switzerland, first came to<br />
Manali 16 years ago. Since then the<br />
Durham-born Englishman has been a<br />
regular here and feels it is one of the<br />
Jarial, the expedition took off from<br />
Sri Ganganagar to Bikaner<br />
and the fliers created a history<br />
when they landed at Sanderav<br />
(Pali) from Bikaner. “<strong>The</strong> aim of<br />
this expedition is publicizing the<br />
adventurous lifestyle in the Army,<br />
connecting with youth and children<br />
to inspire them to join the Armed<br />
Forces and giving a wide exposure<br />
to the distinctive sport of Hang-<br />
Gliding” <strong>said</strong> Col Goswami.<br />
Solang Valley,<br />
new adventure<br />
sports hub<br />
India's popular adventure sports destination at Solang Valley near Manali in Himachal Pradesh.<br />
best places in the world to snowboard.<br />
"Snow conditions here are fantastic;<br />
the slope is a great challenge.<br />
Solang is a paradise for winter sport.<br />
<strong>The</strong> valley has great potential and is<br />
as good a place as any in the world,"<br />
Peter <strong>said</strong>.
26 Ultimate Bollywood<br />
February 25-March 2, 2012 <strong>The</strong><strong>South</strong><strong>Asian</strong><strong>Times</strong>.info<br />
Indira <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
biopic on Vidya's<br />
wish list<br />
Vidya Balan came out<br />
of her comfort zone<br />
and delivered a<br />
blockbuster like "<strong>The</strong> Dirty<br />
Picture". And now the actress<br />
is keen to do a film on extra<br />
marital affairs or a biopic on<br />
late prime minister Indira<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>.<br />
Talking about her choice of<br />
scripts, she <strong>said</strong>: "Action is<br />
not something I would want<br />
to do. I want to do a nice<br />
'Arth' kind of a film on extra<br />
marital affair which these<br />
days we often get to hear or<br />
maybe a biopic on Indira<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>."<br />
Post the success of "<strong>The</strong><br />
Dirty Picture", every director<br />
is keen to work with Vidya,<br />
but when asked which director<br />
she would want to work<br />
with, she <strong>said</strong>: "I want to<br />
work with Gulzar."<br />
For Indian films to break out<br />
internationally, what was<br />
needed were original stories<br />
with an Indian feel that Western<br />
viewers can connect, says<br />
Hollywood producer Ashok<br />
Amritraj.<br />
"For me it's all about stories and<br />
starting stories. <strong>The</strong> question is<br />
what the ideas are?" Amritraj, who<br />
is bringing his 3D venture ‘Ghost<br />
TV, movies,<br />
website - Madhuri<br />
has lots to do<br />
<strong>The</strong>re's a lot happening<br />
on dancing<br />
diva Madhuri<br />
Dixit's career front -and<br />
she is making special<br />
efforts to keep her<br />
fans informed. <strong>The</strong><br />
actor, who is excited to<br />
go to London for the<br />
unveiling of her wax<br />
statue, has brought<br />
together a team of people<br />
who will manage her<br />
online social networking.<br />
"Hey Peeps, wazzup?<br />
Lots shaking on my<br />
side... Website coming<br />
together... should have<br />
almost live coverage<br />
blogzine online soon.<br />
Will link with my twitter<br />
and Facebook feeds,"<br />
Madhuri posted on her<br />
Twitter page.<br />
"My Facebook site<br />
will be managed by my<br />
website team with close<br />
inputs from me and<br />
hopefully all of you. So<br />
let's get together.<br />
"Goal is to get tight with my<br />
peeps. Thank you for all the love<br />
and appreciation! Great things<br />
coming," added the actress, who<br />
has been confirmed as one of the<br />
judges for the fifth season of<br />
dance reality show "Jhalak<br />
Connect with the West, Ashok Amritraj<br />
tells Indian film makers<br />
A scene from the 3D film ‘Ghost Rider Spirit Of Vengeance.<br />
(Inset) Producer Ashok Amritraj.<br />
Madhuri Dixit.<br />
Dikhhla Jaa".<br />
Madhuri is known for hits like<br />
"Tezaab", "Ram Lakhan",<br />
"Sajan", "Beta", "Dil", "Hum<br />
Aapke Hain Koun!", "Dil Toh<br />
Pagal Hai" and "Devdas". <strong>The</strong><br />
actress had shifted to the US after<br />
her marriage 12 years ago.<br />
Rider Spirit Of Vengeance’ to<br />
India, <strong>said</strong>.<br />
"It always has to be something<br />
that could break out internationally.<br />
So far, there have been two movies<br />
that have broken out internationally<br />
- "<strong>Gandhi</strong>" and "Slumdog<br />
Millionaire"...I would look for stories<br />
that our Western viewers get<br />
connected to," he <strong>said</strong>.<br />
"<strong>The</strong>re are movies made around<br />
the world and the audiences connect<br />
to it. It doesn't matter where it<br />
is made and what language, people<br />
connect to the story. So the question<br />
is to find screenplays or stories<br />
that have an Indian feel to it but<br />
can move across the Western<br />
world. I'm not making it just for<br />
India," he added.<br />
In his 31-year-long stint in<br />
Hollywood, he has produced more<br />
than 100 films under his banner<br />
Hyde Park Entertainment and collaborated<br />
with big names like<br />
Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone,<br />
Angelina Jolie and Robert DeNiro.<br />
He is open to co-production with<br />
Indian studios, but <strong>said</strong>: "It's a<br />
question of finding interesting stories.<br />
In India, we have so many, but<br />
working it in a way that can give it<br />
a larger market."<br />
Indian filmmakers recently got<br />
into experimenting mode, but<br />
Hollywood has been focusing on it<br />
for years, Amritraj points out.<br />
"<strong>The</strong> great thing about<br />
Hollywood is that they always<br />
made different kinds of movies -<br />
Vidya Balan's baby<br />
bump?<br />
you had 'Lawrence of Arabia', '<strong>The</strong><br />
Sound of Music', and also have<br />
'Chariots of Fire', '<strong>Gandhi</strong>' and<br />
'Forrest Gump' - it's one of the<br />
things that has always excited me.<br />
In the last two years, we had 'Black<br />
Swan', '<strong>The</strong> King's Speech' and this<br />
year you had '<strong>The</strong> Descendants'.<br />
"It's nice to see that Indian filmmakers<br />
are making different kinds<br />
of movies which means that the<br />
audience is growing and they are<br />
getting used to the changes."<br />
Asked why Indian moviemakers<br />
fail to make a mark in the Western<br />
world, he <strong>said</strong>: "I think a lot of it is<br />
an original story...something that<br />
needs to be worked on. <strong>The</strong> most<br />
important person should be the<br />
writer.<br />
His "Ghost Rider Spirit Of<br />
Vengeance" is releasing in India on<br />
March 17 and talking about Indian<br />
market, he <strong>said</strong>: "India is not the<br />
biggest market for Hollywood<br />
films. India is clearly dominated by<br />
Indian films...but on the other hand<br />
it has grown significantly in last 10<br />
years."<br />
Big B shows satisfactory<br />
progress<br />
Amitabh Bachchan's health has shown considerable<br />
improvement after abdominal surgeries<br />
earlier this month. <strong>The</strong> megastar's<br />
post-surgery pain has reduced and doctors, satisfied<br />
with his progress, have allowed him to take a bath<br />
and have a better intake of food.<br />
"<strong>The</strong> meetings of the morning with the team of<br />
doctors can be the most trying for the patient... But<br />
happy to note that they seemed satisfied with the<br />
progress and after a few closed-door discussions,<br />
came back with a few points that would bring relief<br />
to any sufferer," Amitabh posted on his blog<br />
bigb.bigadda.com.<br />
<strong>The</strong> 69-year-old veteran is admitted to the Seven<br />
Hills Hospital here since on Feb 11. He underwent<br />
two abdominal surgeries, following which he com-<br />
If you spot Vidya Balan with a<br />
baby bump at any market or<br />
local place, don't be surprised<br />
by the sudden change. <strong>The</strong> actress<br />
is sporting this new look for the<br />
promotions of her forthcoming<br />
film.<br />
Vidya Balan is on a mission and<br />
her mission is now to promote her<br />
next film Kahaani. After bagging<br />
awards and compliments for <strong>The</strong><br />
Dirty Picture, Vidya is all set for<br />
Sujoy Ghosh's forthcoming film<br />
Kahaani.<br />
We heard the actress will be<br />
seen in her character avatar of a<br />
plained of acute<br />
pain, forcing<br />
doctors to keep<br />
him under<br />
observation<br />
ever since.<br />
pregnant woman everywhere during<br />
the promotions. Makers of<br />
Kahaani have come up with this<br />
new promotional tactic where the<br />
actress will visit cities in her<br />
Kahaani avatar. Vidya will be<br />
seen at local places of different<br />
cities.<br />
Apart from that she is making<br />
cameos in tele-soaps and shows<br />
where she flaunts her baby bump.<br />
It can be recalled that before this<br />
Vidya sported her onscreen look<br />
of Ishqiya, Paa and <strong>The</strong> Dirty<br />
Pictures to promote her respective<br />
films.<br />
Amitabh Bachchan.<br />
Vidya Balan’s mission is now to<br />
promote her next film Kahaani.
Ultimate Bollywood 27<br />
<strong>The</strong><strong>South</strong><strong>Asian</strong><strong>Times</strong>.info February 25-March 2, 2012<br />
Showbiz beckons children of politicos<br />
Politics could be a predictable<br />
career option for<br />
the progeny of politicians,<br />
but showbiz seems to be the new<br />
choice. Defence Minister A.K.<br />
Antony's son Ajith's entry into<br />
Malayalam films just goes to<br />
strengthen this trend in the flourishing<br />
$2 billion Indian movie<br />
industry.<br />
Showbiz has lured many<br />
youngsters from political families<br />
- Riteish Deshmukh, Arunoday<br />
Singh, Chirag Paswan and Rahul<br />
Mahajan to name some - and they<br />
are trying to carve a niche for<br />
themselves in a world very different<br />
from the one they grew up in.<br />
Now Ajith Antony is reportedly<br />
set for his silver screen debut<br />
with director Aji John's "Oberoi",<br />
for which the 22-year-old has<br />
also penned the screenplay.<br />
Riteish, the son of former<br />
Maharashtra chief minister<br />
Vilasrao Deshmukh, is so far the<br />
most popular among the lot. He<br />
embarked on his showbiz journey<br />
in 2003 with "Tujhe Meri<br />
Kasam" and has gradually grown<br />
to be one of the most sought after<br />
actors in tinsel town today. A<br />
variety of films like "Heyy<br />
Babyy", "Dhamaal", "Rann" and<br />
"Housefull", have cemented his<br />
position in the film industry.<br />
Arunoday, the grandson of late<br />
Congress veteran Arjun Singh,<br />
has always chosen to be unconventional.<br />
Despite his political<br />
lineage, he delved into cinema<br />
and his films - "Sikandar",<br />
"Aisha", "Mirch" and "Yeh Saali<br />
Zindagi" - also reflect his distinct<br />
choices.<br />
His family was perhaps as supportive<br />
of his decision to enter<br />
the film world, as was the case<br />
Julia amazed at the<br />
way time flies!<br />
Julia Roberts.<br />
If God lies in the details then<br />
"Ek Deewana Tha", Tamil-<br />
Telugu director Gautham<br />
Menon's first Hindi film in 11<br />
years, makes it all the way to the<br />
church.<br />
But hang on with those bells.<br />
Indeed courtship is treated as a religion<br />
in this intense take on that<br />
thing called love. <strong>The</strong> romantic situations<br />
though weather-beaten and<br />
seen in scores of films, exudes a<br />
sincerity and a freshness, thanks to<br />
the locations. And we don't mean<br />
just the mesmeric backwaters of<br />
Kerala and the leafy bylanes of<br />
suburban Mumbai.<br />
A master storyteller, Gautham<br />
Menon locates his story right in his<br />
leading man Prateik's heart. <strong>The</strong><br />
gentle actor carries off the role of<br />
the love-struck adamant Romeo<br />
Actor Julia Roberts says she cannot<br />
believe that time has gone by so<br />
quickly - she is amazed to see that<br />
the remake of her 1990 movie "Flatliners"<br />
is already in the pipeline.<br />
"I heard there is going to be a remake of<br />
'Flatliners'.<br />
I was shocked. Already? It seems really<br />
quick! Didn't we just make that movie?<br />
That does seem quick," showbizspy.com<br />
quoted Roberts as saying.<br />
Directed by Joel Schumacher, the movie<br />
featured Roberts along with Kiefer<br />
Sutherland and Kevin Bacon.<br />
"<strong>The</strong> passage of time is something that is<br />
just so mysterious though. It just goes<br />
faster and faster, I just wish it would all<br />
slow down so I can take it all in, it is all<br />
going so fast," <strong>said</strong> the 44-year-old, a<br />
mother of three children.<br />
Ajith Antony, son of Indian Defense Minister AK Antony, is reportedly<br />
set for his silver screen debut.<br />
with Chirag, son of Lok Janshakti<br />
Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan.<br />
<strong>The</strong> entry into the electoral battlefield<br />
could have been a cake-<br />
with a more than a fair amount of<br />
earnest passion, bringing to his<br />
character a landscape of longing<br />
desire bitterness and finally satisfaction<br />
in love.<br />
<strong>The</strong> initial scenes where the modern-day<br />
Romeo Sachin (Prateik)<br />
tails his landlord's daughter (stilted<br />
newcomer Amy Jackson) radiate an<br />
ambrosial amour. <strong>The</strong> mo'bike, the<br />
furtive glances, the movie sneaked<br />
together…it's all done with a warm<br />
splendor that covers a range from<br />
the sly to the tender.<br />
A.R. Rahman's music is used for<br />
a number of dance pieces where<br />
Prateik uses his newly-enhanced<br />
body language to show us what<br />
love can do to an ordinary regular<br />
guy aspiring to be a filmmaker<br />
walk for the young boy, but<br />
Chirag, who feels he would eventually<br />
enter politics, decided to<br />
challenge himself in showbiz<br />
first.<br />
Another name one can't miss is<br />
Rahul Mahajan. <strong>The</strong> son of late<br />
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)<br />
leader Pramod Mahajan, Rahul<br />
may have made news for all the<br />
wrong reasons, but his entertainer<br />
streak hasn't gone unnoticed.<br />
His brush with controversial<br />
reality show "Bigg Boss 2" in<br />
2008 won him more popularity in<br />
households than his chequered<br />
past, which included allegations<br />
of beating his ex-wife, a drug<br />
abuse case in 2006, and an<br />
alleged affair with actress Payal<br />
Rohatgi.<br />
In "Bigg Boss", he came into<br />
the limelight for flirting with coparticipant<br />
Monica Bedi.<br />
Prateik shines in 'Ekk Deewana Tha'<br />
Prateik with Amy in a scene from ‘Ekk Deewana Tha.’<br />
Douglas to present<br />
award at Oscars<br />
London: Veteran actor<br />
Michael Douglas, who is<br />
recovering from throat<br />
cancer, has been added to<br />
the list of presenters at the<br />
Oscar ceremony.<br />
<strong>The</strong> 67-year-old is tipped<br />
to announce the best picture<br />
award at the Sunday<br />
ceremony.<br />
He will join the likes of<br />
Halle Berry, Rose Byrne,<br />
Bradley Cooper, Tom<br />
Cruise, Penelope Cruz,<br />
Cameron Diaz, Tom Hanks<br />
and Angelina Jolie who<br />
will present awards to the<br />
winners.<br />
Douglas is no stranger to<br />
the Academy Awards. He<br />
won best actor for his per-<br />
formance in "Wall Street"<br />
in 1987 and his production<br />
venture "One Flew Over<br />
REVIEW<br />
Michael Douglas.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Cuckoo's Nest" won<br />
the best picture award in<br />
1975.<br />
under the tutelage of, ahem,<br />
Ramesh Sippy who at some point<br />
spews this wisdom on the lovelorn<br />
Sachin: "First solve your heart<br />
problem then get back to work."<br />
<strong>The</strong> trouble with this elegantlypackaged<br />
but somewhat selfidulgently-edited<br />
love story is that it<br />
takes a very long to get to the point.<br />
Like many notable love stories<br />
directed by <strong>South</strong> Indian directors<br />
the aaj ka Romeo must prove his<br />
love by traveling through various<br />
cities and emotional levels<br />
before…well, getting there.<br />
<strong>The</strong> journey in "Ek Deewana<br />
Tha" is not as bracing as in K.<br />
Balachander's "Ek Duuje Ke Liye"<br />
or Mani Ratnam's "Saathiya". But<br />
there are many nerve-points in the<br />
storytelling that pinches the pulse<br />
of the core emotion.
28 Humor<br />
February 25-March 2, 2012 <strong>The</strong><strong>South</strong><strong>Asian</strong><strong>Times</strong>.info<br />
Queen Elizabeth II is celebrating her<br />
Diamond Jubilee, receiving congratulatory<br />
messages from all over the world<br />
for her great achievement of spending 60<br />
years on the throne. It's a tough job -- living in<br />
that cramped old palace with a staff of only 250<br />
to take care of your needs, sometimes having to<br />
butter your crumpets all by yourself.<br />
Most people would have quit by now. It's no<br />
wonder that the Diamond Jubilee is being celebrated<br />
throughout the British Commonwealth,<br />
particularly in Australia, Canada, New Zealand,<br />
Jamaica and a dozen other sovereign states<br />
where the Queen is still considered Head of<br />
State, with the constitutional authority to make<br />
important decisions, such as whether to allow<br />
Justin Bieber to sing within 1,000 miles of her.<br />
In just four years, when she's 89, she'll pass<br />
Queen Victoria for the longest reign of a British<br />
monarch -- and if she lives to be 108, she'll pass<br />
King Sobhuza II of Swaziland for the longest<br />
verifiable reign in history. And her eldest son,<br />
Prince Charles, will set a record for the longest<br />
wait in history. <strong>The</strong> current record of 75 years<br />
is held by David Neevadock, who's been waiting<br />
to see a doctor at Toronto General Hospital.<br />
If you haven't followed the Queen's reign<br />
closely, here are some facts that may surprise<br />
you:<br />
---She married Prince Philip on Nov. 20,<br />
Humor with Melvin Durai<br />
Sixty years and counting for the Queen<br />
1947 -- not long after<br />
World War II. She had fallen<br />
in love with him when<br />
she was 13 and he was 18.<br />
<strong>The</strong> tabloids promptly<br />
dubbed them "Philizabeth."<br />
---She took her vows as<br />
Queen on June 2, 1953. A<br />
televised recording of her<br />
coronation was watched by<br />
100 million people in North<br />
America. Soon after that,<br />
the remote control was<br />
invented.<br />
---In 1945, she received<br />
training as a driver and mechanic after joining<br />
the Women's Auxiliary Territorial Service. Her<br />
knowledge came in handy in 1949 when her<br />
car broke down and poor Philip looked in the<br />
trunk for the carburetor.<br />
---In 2010, Forbes magazine estimated her<br />
net worth to be $450 million. But that was<br />
before she invested heavily in the website<br />
MarryPrinceHarry.com.<br />
---It's customary to address her initially as<br />
"Your Majesty" and thereafter as "Ma'am."<br />
Calling her "girl" or "babe" is acceptable only<br />
if you don't mind having a handbag print on<br />
your forehead.<br />
---<strong>The</strong> Queen travels freely around the world<br />
without a passport. Only one airport security<br />
officer has ever tried to frisk her. God rest his<br />
soul.<br />
---She has bestowed almost 400,000 titles<br />
and awards during her reign. She has conferred<br />
a knighthood on acclaimed author Salman<br />
Rushdie, appointed singer Kylie Minogue as an<br />
officer in the Order of the British Empire<br />
(OBE), and honored President Robert Mugabe<br />
of Zimbabwe with an IBE: "Idiot of the British<br />
Empire."<br />
---<strong>The</strong> Queen has donned more than 5,000<br />
hats over the decades. Her hat closet is so large,<br />
by Mahendra Shah<br />
Tech Life<br />
someone <strong>once</strong> got lost in there. Thankfully, a<br />
crack squad from London Police Service, using<br />
GPS devices and a pair of sniffer dogs, was<br />
able to locate Prince Philip.<br />
---After completing 250 official visits to 129<br />
countries, the Queen gained a spot in the<br />
Guinness World Records for the "Most<br />
Traveled Monarch" -- the only human in<br />
Guinness history to ever displace a butterfly.<br />
---<strong>The</strong> Queen speaks both English and<br />
French fluently. Her knowledge of Hindi is limited<br />
to the phrase "topi mere saiz ka milegaa?"<br />
(Do you have this hat in my size?)<br />
Laughter is the Best Medicine<br />
Mahendra Shah is an architect by education, entrepreneur by profession, artist and humorist,<br />
cartoonist and writer by hobby. He has been recording the plight of the immigrant Indians for<br />
the past many years in his cartoons. Hailing from Gujarat, he lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.<br />
National Geographic to develop<br />
talking dictionaries<br />
Washington, DC: To save the more than<br />
7,000 languages spoken on our planet today<br />
from going in to oblivion by the end of this<br />
century, Linguists from the National<br />
Geographic's 'Enduring voices' have come<br />
up with the idea of 'walking dictionaries'.<br />
National Geographic Fellows K. David<br />
Harrison and Gregory Anderson, the linguists<br />
who are creating them, say that in<br />
some cases it is for the first time that the language<br />
has been recorded or written anywhere,<br />
according to a National Geographic<br />
statement.<br />
Harrison, associate professor of linguistics<br />
at Swarthmore College, and Anderson, president<br />
of the Living Tongues Institute for<br />
Endangered Languages, have travelled to<br />
some of earth's remotest corners, visiting<br />
language hotspots and seeking out the last<br />
speakers of vanishing languages.<br />
Harrison unveiled eight new talking dictionaries.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y contain more than 32,000<br />
word entries in eight endangered languages,<br />
more than 24,000 audio recordings of native<br />
speakers pronouncing words and sentences,<br />
and photographs of cultural objects.<br />
"Endangered language communities are<br />
adopting digital technology to aid their survival<br />
and to make their voices heard around<br />
the world," Harrison <strong>said</strong>. "This is a positive<br />
effect of globalization."<br />
<strong>The</strong>se findings were presented at the annual<br />
meeting of the American Association for<br />
the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in<br />
Vancouver, British Columbia on Friday.<br />
<strong>The</strong> AAAS meeting featured a panel on<br />
using digital tools to save languages that<br />
included Alfred "Bud" Lane, among the last<br />
known fluent speakers of the Native<br />
American language known as 'Siletz Dee-ni',<br />
spoken in Oregon.
Aries: Stabilization in your relationship<br />
with your family members seems certain<br />
if you are willing to compromise on certain<br />
fronts. Professional gains for some bring gains<br />
and prosperity. Your new ideas and technical<br />
knowledge will make a good impression on others.<br />
Residential moves and renovation during<br />
this period will prove auspicious. Outdoor sports<br />
events and entertainment programme will help<br />
you keep relaxed.<br />
Taurus: This is a period to invest with<br />
extreme precaution and care. Past investments<br />
need another reexamination. If you're<br />
planning on investing in a new venture then you<br />
better take small factors into consideration. Your<br />
ability to charm others will put you in the limelight.<br />
Property or vehicle transactions seem quite<br />
likely. Children will cause some dissatisfaction<br />
but spouse remains quite cooperative.<br />
Gemini: Your optimism will push your<br />
career to new heights. Put some of your<br />
innovative ideas into your work to reap longterm<br />
benefits. <strong>The</strong> next few days will see pressure<br />
on your work front arise giving you little<br />
time for recreational and other activities. Gifts<br />
and presents will be plenty from visiting guests.<br />
Avoid standing for surety of any one to avoid<br />
unnecessary complications in the coming period.<br />
Family members will be supportive and caring.<br />
Cancer: This is an excellent time for<br />
professional advancements, promotions<br />
and recognition. At work you will be in the good<br />
books of your seniors and you will also benefit<br />
monetarily. Romance is in the air, so make the<br />
best of it and avoid any arguments with your<br />
lover. Opportunities to go out with friends will<br />
be informative and pleasurable. You need to do<br />
more things that you enjoy in order to relax.<br />
Foreign transaction or overseas journey will<br />
prove to be highly beneficial.<br />
Leo: You will be in a commanding position<br />
as your confidence and enthusiasm<br />
will be high. Important messages should be<br />
attended to immediately. You will make financial<br />
gains if you get involved in speculation. A spiritual<br />
person’s blessings give comfort and relief.<br />
New relations and attachments will develop as a<br />
result of vacation and other recreational activities.<br />
Get involved in activities that will help you<br />
keep in perfect shape.<br />
Virgo: Financial matters demand more<br />
attention. You should cut down your<br />
expenses on entertainment and shopping.<br />
Financial difficulty will even effect your health.<br />
Stay focused on your goals, but take necessary<br />
precautions. For some, a change of residence or<br />
a new construction will prove highly auspicious.<br />
Your erratic behaviour will raise emotions at<br />
home. Don’t take criticism too seriously. Travel<br />
will be highly exciting but expensive.<br />
Libra: Some challenging project will see<br />
you express your skills in a very different<br />
way. New approach will give you new confidence<br />
on which you will build future hopes and<br />
dreams. Businessmen and investors will see past<br />
investments reaping profits. Relations with<br />
somebody close might get strained over petty<br />
issues. Good week to call important people over<br />
to your place. Spouse will be highly supportive<br />
and shower you with love and affection. Legal<br />
affairs will create a state of nervousness.<br />
Scorpio: Your present health condition<br />
will be primarily because of the work<br />
pressure that you carry on your mind. You need<br />
to take time out with your friends will help you<br />
relax and regain your energy. Relationships with<br />
your clients will strengthen and you can accomplish<br />
a lot through smart negotiation and diplomacy.<br />
This week you should meet people who<br />
can further improve your career goals. Take care<br />
while driving, especially during the nights.<br />
Sagittarius: This week you will focus on<br />
domestic issues and should think about<br />
the immediate needs of your family members.<br />
Spouse and children will be a source of immense<br />
happiness. Guests and visitors bring you gifts in<br />
cash and kind. Going out with friends will be<br />
exciting and you will learn new and different<br />
skills. A good diet, coupled with fitness program<br />
will make you feel better.<br />
Capricorn: Work will suffer this week as<br />
romance clouds your mind. You will find<br />
it difficult in c<strong>once</strong>ntrating on your jobs and getting<br />
favours from others. Keep your focus clear<br />
on your goals to reap professional benefits.<br />
Pleasure trips for some will be educating. Little<br />
time for meditation and yoga will be important<br />
for mental as well as physical gains. Group<br />
involvement will entertertaining, but expensive<br />
if you don’t learn to say no.<br />
Aquarius: You will meet interesting people<br />
at social functions that you attend this<br />
week. Your ability to stand out in the crowd will<br />
bring you popularity and recognition. Your creative<br />
ability will surface, bringing you good<br />
ideas to make extra money. Great period to go<br />
out shopping for expensive items and jewelry.<br />
Spend some time with the one you love. Travel<br />
will be highly educating.<br />
Pisces: Money making efforts will be<br />
profitable provided you work on new<br />
ideas and plans. This seems to be an excellent<br />
time for you to do things that will keep you<br />
relaxed and entertained. This period seems<br />
exceptionally good to take time out for hobbies,<br />
or take an adventure trip or go out on a short<br />
vacation.<br />
Friends and family members will seek your<br />
advice. Wonderful week to look into new courses<br />
that interest you.<br />
February: 25<br />
Your Ruling Influences : No 7 and the planets<br />
Neptune and Mercury<br />
Your Traits : You are honest faithful and good-natured.<br />
You have the ability of taking charge over a<br />
difficult situation. You have the ability to control<br />
your emotions. You can hide your thoughts and feelings<br />
no matter how upset you are.<br />
You Should Guard Against : Your fickle-minded<br />
nature and inconsistency<br />
Profession and Finances : Those of you in the field<br />
of writing and oratory can expect to achieve success,<br />
in their professional field, in the year ahead of<br />
you. You should use your extensive memory, to<br />
your advantage<br />
Travel : <strong>The</strong> coming year will see you travel a lot.<br />
Visits to foreign countries is also possible<br />
Domestic Front : In love matters, you will be careful,<br />
and will not take the first step, if you are not<br />
sure of a positive response.<br />
Significant months : June and September<br />
February: 26<br />
Your Ruling Influences : No. 8 and the planet Saturn.<br />
You are also dominated by the planet Mercury<br />
Your Traits: Neatness is a passion for you. <strong>The</strong> opposite<br />
sex will be attracted to your neat and perfect<br />
sense of dressing.<br />
You Should Guard Against: Your restless nature<br />
and expecting things to happen in the shortest possible<br />
time. Indiscretion in matters relating to love.<br />
Proceed only when you are sure of a positive response<br />
Profession and Finances : <strong>The</strong> coming year will<br />
see you executing big projects into action. This will<br />
not only bring you success, but will also give you a<br />
sense of satisfaction. You will also be lucky in financial<br />
matters, in the year ahead of you<br />
Travel : Most of you will travel a lot in the coming<br />
year. Pleasure trips with friends are foreseen<br />
Significant months : May, October and November<br />
February: 27<br />
Your Ruling Influences : No. 9 and the planet<br />
Mars. You are also influenced by the planet Mercury<br />
Your Traits : Sacrifice and care for the needy, is<br />
what gives you ultimate satisfaction. You will be involved<br />
in voluntary work, which will help the handicapped<br />
and you will be appreciated for your good<br />
deeds, in the year ahead of you. Your personality<br />
will attract the opposite sex. You do not like many<br />
people around you. But you will be able to make<br />
few but good friends, in the coming year. You will<br />
be prepared to do your best for your friends and<br />
loved ones.<br />
You Should Guard Against : Your dogmatic views<br />
and ideas and losing sleep over trivial issues. Learn<br />
to relax and let small matters sort themselves out on<br />
their own. This will keep you away from stress and<br />
strain<br />
Significant months : July, September and November<br />
February: 28<br />
Your Ruling Influences : No. 1 and the Sun. You<br />
are also dominated by the planet Mercury<br />
Your Traits : By nature you are serious and are very<br />
protective about your privacy You enjoy being alone<br />
Astrology 29<br />
<strong>The</strong><strong>South</strong><strong>Asian</strong><strong>Times</strong>.info February 25-March 2, 2012<br />
By Dr Prem Kumar Sharma<br />
Chandigarh, India: +91-172- 256 2832, 257 2874<br />
Delhi, India: +91-11- 2644 9898, 2648 9899<br />
psharma@premastrologer.com; www.premastrologer.com<br />
Stars Foretell: February 25-March 2, 2012 Annual Predictions: For those born in this week<br />
Before you consult...<br />
i) Accurate Data: Please make sure Date,<br />
Time and Place of birth is accurate.<br />
ii) Careful: Did you check background of the<br />
astrologer before disclosing your secrets.<br />
iii) Fee: Discuss the charges before, don’t feel<br />
shy. It’s his business.<br />
iv) Expectation: Expect the best, if the outcome<br />
is not as desired, never give up.<br />
v) Consult: Take second opinion before<br />
spending thousands on cure/remedies.<br />
and like to keep busy, in your own work. You cannot<br />
tolerate to see the miseries of those who are<br />
physically handicapped. In the coming year, you<br />
will be spending a lot of your time in doing social<br />
work for hospitals and charitable institutions. This<br />
will not only, give you a sense of satisfaction, but<br />
also bring you fame and recognition.<br />
You Should Guard Against : Lending money if<br />
you are not sure about getting it back<br />
Profession and Finances: You can expect to see,<br />
changes both professionally and at the domestic<br />
front, in the year ahead of you. Some of you might<br />
lose money through speculation. Your independent<br />
nature, will allow you to take your own decisions in<br />
the year ahead of you..<br />
Significant months : February, June and October<br />
March: 1<br />
Number 1 and the Sun will eclipse you and the effect<br />
will be increased by the collaboration of the<br />
planet Moon. <strong>The</strong> upcoming time have good fortune<br />
plus achievable task for you. Fine judgment and focused<br />
vision will help you to tackle the difficult assignments<br />
easily eventually bestow you with loads<br />
of celebrity and identification. <strong>The</strong> big bucks will<br />
accumulate in your bank account removing all your<br />
succeeding worries and tensions. Customs and irrational<br />
beliefs will never entice you on the contrary<br />
the diversion is towards spiritual phase. Lovely<br />
merchandise attracts you and you will be forced by<br />
your inner instinct to buy them for your bedroom<br />
decoration. This will finally increase the quality of<br />
products around you. Fresh talents will undoubtedly<br />
upgrade your grade in front of your bosses and<br />
will spellbound each and everyone be them in your<br />
office or at abode. <strong>The</strong> following piles of month will<br />
bring new contacts, fun and frolic in your life. July,<br />
October and January will support you by all means.<br />
March: 2<br />
Planet Moon will supersede you and number 2 will<br />
guide you. Smashing progress is your motto of life<br />
all the time. You always usher with full vigor to get<br />
the desired name and fame. Your trust is their confidence<br />
that puts you in unmanageable task. <strong>The</strong>y<br />
bank upon you from the core of their heart. You always<br />
tend to be among the first off the block which<br />
you created by yourself and it will brings fireworks<br />
to your life also. You also need to set off your tyrannic<br />
trait. <strong>The</strong> celebration has already begun for<br />
shedding off your bossy attribute. Time zone has<br />
changed and now each and every minute will make<br />
everyone to dance on your tone. You have leadership<br />
qualities too. But at times this may warn you of<br />
taking away other’s freedom. <strong>The</strong> God creativity<br />
will make you unrest and will tempt you. <strong>The</strong> energy<br />
and drive would be at its peak and the necessary<br />
thrust will be provided by the scenic beauty which<br />
surrounds you. June, September and December will<br />
be fruitful and creates associations.<br />
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30 Spiritual Awareness<br />
February 25-March 2, 2012 <strong>The</strong><strong>South</strong><strong>Asian</strong><strong>Times</strong>.info<br />
By Sant Rajinder Singh<br />
Ji Maharaj<br />
Sharing the divine honey<br />
<strong>The</strong>re is a story of a beautiful<br />
queen who loved to sit under<br />
the trees and enjoy the beauty<br />
of nature. One day, as she looked<br />
up, she noticed a bee flying around<br />
a honeycomb. As she sat there,<br />
some liquid dripped onto her face.<br />
When some dripped onto her lips,<br />
she accidentally licked them and<br />
was surprised by its sweetness.<br />
She thought, “This liquid dripping<br />
out is sweet. This would be<br />
great to add to tea and give it a<br />
sweeter flavor.”<br />
She asked her attendants to collect<br />
some of this liquid and bring it<br />
to the palace. She took this sweet<br />
substance and experimented by flavoring<br />
different foods with it. She<br />
had discovered honey for the first<br />
time and learned how the bees<br />
made it. She continued to experiment<br />
with it to learn how it could<br />
improve the taste of food and beverages.<br />
Over time, she taught the people<br />
in her kingdom how to cook with<br />
honey. This new type of flavoring<br />
became popular throughout her<br />
kingdom. No other country had<br />
ever seen it or heard of it before.<br />
Over the years, word spread about<br />
this special flavoring that was<br />
being made in her kingdom. <strong>The</strong><br />
queen told the people of her kingdom<br />
to keep the information on<br />
how honey was made a secret.<br />
Although people heard of the<br />
honey, no one from her kingdom<br />
would divulge the method of how<br />
it was made.<br />
Years later, the queen’s daughter,<br />
the princess, was invited to visit<br />
another country to visit the emperor.<br />
It was traditional to bring a gift<br />
when visiting the emperor of<br />
another country. She thought<br />
deeply about what would be special<br />
to bring to him. She asked her<br />
father, the king, what to bring.<br />
Whenever one had a problem, one<br />
would ask the wise men for a solution.<br />
<strong>The</strong> king sent for the wisest<br />
men in the land to find out what<br />
would be the most special gift that<br />
the princess could bring with her<br />
for theemperor.<br />
<strong>The</strong> princess asked, “What do<br />
you think would be the most valuable<br />
gift that I could bring the<br />
emperor?”<br />
<strong>The</strong> wise men thought about it<br />
for a while and told her, “<strong>The</strong><br />
secret of making honey is the most<br />
valuable gift you could bring him.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> princess did not know what<br />
to do. It was forbidden to share the<br />
secret of making honey with anyone<br />
outside of her kingdom. How<br />
could she bring the gift without her<br />
mother, the queen, finding out?<br />
She decided the best way to bring<br />
this gift was to bring to the emperor<br />
some of the bees that made the<br />
honey. <strong>The</strong> princess asked one of<br />
her attendants to put her hair up<br />
into an elaborate hair style. She hid<br />
the eggs of the bees in the folds of<br />
her hair. <strong>The</strong>n she set off for the<br />
other country. Since no one could<br />
see the eggs in her hair she was<br />
able to transport them from her<br />
kingdom.<br />
When she reached the distant<br />
kingdom, she took care of the eggs<br />
until they hatched. She then let<br />
them grow into bees that produced<br />
the honey. She presented the honey<br />
to the emperor. He greatly appreciated<br />
the valuable gift she had<br />
brought. She then taught the<br />
emperor the secret of how bees<br />
make honey.<br />
<strong>The</strong> emperor took care of the<br />
bees which laid more eggs. Over<br />
time they multiplied. <strong>The</strong>y continued<br />
to thrive in his country. Soon<br />
there were thousands of bees. <strong>The</strong><br />
honey they produced was used by<br />
the people of his land. Unlike the<br />
queen who discovered the honey,<br />
the emperor did not keep the information<br />
on how honey was made a<br />
secret. As a result, not only people<br />
of his country, but people throughout<br />
the world were taught the<br />
secret of honey. Before long,<br />
everyone around the world knew<br />
the secret of honey.<br />
This imaginary tale is a beautiful<br />
analogy to describe the role of the<br />
Masters and saints. <strong>The</strong> secret they<br />
share with the whole world is not<br />
physical honey, but the sweet nec-<br />
tar of the Divine. <strong>The</strong>y share with<br />
suffering humanity the secret of<br />
how to find the sweet nectar of the<br />
Divine that leads the soul back to<br />
God.<br />
Throughout the ages, saints and<br />
Masters have blessed this earth<br />
with their spiritual teachings.<br />
Through their grace, suffering<br />
souls are able to find a way to<br />
reunite with God.<br />
Just like the queen who wanted<br />
to keep knowledge of honey a<br />
secret, so does Kal, the sustaining<br />
power, want to keep it secret that<br />
God exists and that we can reunite<br />
with God. We are kept in ignorance<br />
of the most valuable gift of all,<br />
experiencing our soul and God. We<br />
are in the dark about the fact that<br />
there is God, the soul is a part of<br />
God, and we can reunite the soul<br />
with God. <strong>The</strong> honeyed divine nectar<br />
that connects us with God is<br />
called the holy Naam, Shabd, or<br />
the Light and Sound of God. We<br />
have forgotten who we are as soul<br />
and are ignorant of reuniting our<br />
soul with the Creator.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Masters are like the princess<br />
who was able to bring the honey<br />
out of the kingdom to impart it to<br />
the whole world. Just as the<br />
princess was able to find a way to<br />
bring the honey out of her country<br />
even though the queen tried to keep<br />
it there, so do Masters find a way<br />
to bring us knowledge of the divine<br />
honey. <strong>The</strong>y are able to put people<br />
How can we be a model to others? <strong>Mahatma</strong> <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
<strong>once</strong> <strong>said</strong>, “Be the change that you want to see<br />
in others.” This profound statement holds the key to<br />
how we can inspire others to taste of the divine<br />
Nectar that has transformed our lives.<br />
“<br />
”<br />
in touch with the divine nectar that<br />
reconnects our soul with God.<br />
How do they do it? <strong>The</strong>y teach<br />
people through the process of initiation<br />
how to find the spiritual<br />
honey within. At the time of holy<br />
initiation, they open our third or<br />
single eye so we can contact the<br />
holy Naam within. <strong>The</strong>y open our<br />
inner eye to see the Light of God,<br />
and they open our inner ear to hear<br />
the Celestial Music, or Sound of<br />
God. <strong>The</strong>y teach us a method of<br />
meditation by which we can<br />
become absorbed into the inner<br />
Light and inner Sound within.<br />
Once we connect with the inner<br />
Light, we see inner vistas unfold<br />
for us. We think that honey is delicious.<br />
But tastier than outer honey<br />
is the honey within. This inner nectar<br />
also radiates with divine Light<br />
and sings with divine Music. We<br />
see Light of various colors and<br />
radiant inner stars, moon, and sun.<br />
We come to the most beautiful<br />
manifestation of all, the ethereal or<br />
radiant form of the Master. This<br />
form serves as our inner guide on<br />
the further journey within.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Master takes us to even more<br />
beautiful realms, from the astral to<br />
the causal and supracausal realms<br />
until we reach the soul’s eternal<br />
Home, Sach Khand. <strong>The</strong>re, our<br />
soul merges back in God.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re is no more valuable gift<br />
that can be brought to humanity<br />
than contact with the inner Light<br />
and Sound. Just as the princess<br />
brought the most valuable gift her<br />
kingdom had to offer, which was<br />
the secret of making honey, the<br />
Masters bring from God to humanity<br />
the most valuable gift, the secret<br />
of contacting the inner nectar of the<br />
Light and Sound within us.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Masters are selfless and<br />
sharing. Unlike the queen who<br />
wanted to keep the secret for herself,<br />
the Masters want to share their<br />
gift with all humanity. <strong>The</strong>y are<br />
generous and want to make sure<br />
the whole world avails itself of this<br />
blessing. <strong>The</strong>y make their gift<br />
known to all sincere seekers after<br />
truth. <strong>The</strong>y bring this gift to people<br />
of all countries.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y share the gift with people<br />
of all religions. <strong>The</strong>y share it with<br />
people of all walks of life, from the<br />
rich to the poor, from those who<br />
are highly literate to those who are<br />
illiterate. <strong>The</strong>y share it with people<br />
of all cultures. Just as the princess<br />
gave the honey to the emperor<br />
freely, and he, in turn, freely shared<br />
the knowledge of it with the rest of<br />
the world, so do the Masters share<br />
the gift of Naam with the world.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y do not hold back the secret<br />
from anyone.<br />
How can we share the divine<br />
honey within? How can we be like<br />
the princess who shared the secrets<br />
so the whole world can benefit?<br />
<strong>The</strong> best way we can share the<br />
gift of what we receive with others<br />
is to be a model to inspire others to<br />
want to partake of this divine<br />
honey.<br />
How can we be a model to others?<br />
<strong>Mahatma</strong> <strong>Gandhi</strong> <strong>once</strong> <strong>said</strong>,<br />
“Be the change that you want to<br />
see in others.” This profound statement<br />
holds the key to how we can<br />
inspire others to taste of the divine<br />
Nectar that has transformed our<br />
lives.<br />
Rather than telling other people<br />
what they should and should not<br />
do, we can become an example of<br />
what we want others to try. When<br />
they see us living up to that example,<br />
they, on their own, will be<br />
inspired to undergo the same transformation.<br />
To be continued...