The South Asian Times

e x c e l l e n c e

Vol.8 No. 49 April 16-22, 2016 80 Cents

i n

j o u r n a l i s m

New York Edition

India, US deepen
defense ties

New Delhi: India and the United

States have agreed in principle to
share military logistics, the coun
tries' defense ministers said on
Tuesday, as both sides seek to
counter the growing maritime
assertiveness of China.
Washington has for years urged
New Delhi to sign a Logistics
Support Agreement that allows
the two militaries to use each
other's land, air and naval bases
for resupplies, repair and rest.
India has had concerns that a
logistics agreement would com
mit it to hosting US troops at its
bases, or draw it into a military
alliance with the US and under
mine its traditional autonomy.
But after years of delays, the

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Hillary, Trump
lead big in New
York: Polls
Democrat and Republican
primaries on April 19 in the state.

US Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter with his Indian counterpart,

Manohar Parrikar in New Delhi. (Photo: IANS)
two sides said an agreement was
in hand, although not yet ready
for signing. "We have agreed in
principle that all the issues are

Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton looks unconvinced by her

husband Prince William's attempts to fire his bow and arrow on
their visit to the Bhutan National Stadium on April 14. The young
royal couple have been on a weeklong tour of India and Bhutan
and given a warm reception everywhere. (Photo: SplashNews)
See page >>1617 for more pix and stories.

FASHION 15

SPORTS 24

resolved," De fense Secretary

Ashton Carter told reporters in

Continued on page 4
More coverage on page 23.

China will not allow

India into NSG:
former Pak diplomat

A ROYAL TREAT

LENS EYE 14

Follow us on

Islamabad/United
Nations:
Pakistan is banking on good friend
China to block
I n d i a ' s
chances of
making it to
the coveted
N u c l e a r
Suppliers
Group (NSG),
India slams
a
former
China's 'hidden
Pakistani
veto' on Masood
diplomat has
Azhar at UN
said, adding
that "chances of India gaining
entry into NSG are virtually nil".
Zamir Akram, Pakistan's former
permanent representative at the
UN in Geneva and envoy at the
Conference on Disarmament, said
on Wednesday that China would
not allow India to enter the NSG
because this would af fect its
nuclear cooperation with Pakistan,

Continued on page 4

SPIRITUAL AWARENESS 30

On a visit to Jackson Diner, Hillary Clinton posed with Karamjit Singh

Dhaliwal, President of Malwa Brothers. Dhaliwal said that President Bill
Clinton had opened doors for India and was always helpful to Indians.
Now time has come for Indians in America to help get Mrs Hillary
Clinton elected President of the country. Queens Democratic
leader Gurdip Singh Narula is also seen in the photo
taken by Congressman Joseph Crowley.
Washington: Democratic front
runner Hillary Clinton leads her
primary opponent, Vermont
Senator Bernie Sanders, by double
dig its in New York and
Pennsylvania, according to the
polls released last Sunday by Fox
News.
Presidential candidate Donald
Trump is also leading his rivals for
the Republican nomination by
over 20 points in the primary con
tests in the two blue states. The
New York primaries are scheduled
for April 19 and Pennsylvania on
April 26. Nationally, Trump still

has a double digit lead over his

nearest competitor Ted Cruz, but
his marg in over Cruz has
decreased. Now, 42 percent of
Republican primary voters nation
ally would like to see Donald
Trump as the Republican Party's
nominee, while 29 percent support
Ted Cruz, and 18 percent back
John Kasich. Last month, Trump's
lead over Cruz was 20 points, but
now it's dropped to 13 points.
While both Clinton and Trump
are playing up their home state
t ies ahead of the New York

Continued on page 4

excellence in journalism

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April 16-22, 2016

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TRISTATE COMMUNITY

April 16-22, 2016

Obama praises Indian whiz kids at science fair

Washington: US President Barack
Obama has profusely praised two
IndianAmerican science whiz kids
for their innovative ideas and
groundbreaking thinking, which
he said would help serve the glob
al community.
Maya Varma from California
and Anurud h Ganesan from
Maryland won various science
competitions, thus qualifying for
the sixth White House Science
Fair. "All of you are showing the
rest of us that it's never too early
in life to make a dif ference,"
Obama said in his remarks after
interacting with the students who
had come from across the coun
try.
"You teach us about the power
of reason and logic, and trying
things and guring out whether
they work, and if they don't, learn
ing from that and trying some

Maya Varma has designed a tool

that allows people with asthma
and other lung diseases to diag
nose and monitor their own
symptoms.

Anurudh Ganeshan has

developed what he calls the
VAXXWAGON, which is like a
refrigerator on wheels that trans
ports vaccines to remote destina
tions so they dont go bad.

thing new. And you remind us

that, together, through science, we
can tackle some of the biggest
challenges that we face," said the
US President as he singled several

of these whiz kids, two of them

were IndianAmerican. "We've got
Maya Varma, who is a senior from
San Jose, California."
Maya's (literally) breathtaking

Jaitley raises issue of hike in

US visa fee for Indian techies
Washington: Finance
World Bank and other
Minister Arun Jaitley has
associated meetings.
raised the issue of hike in
Jaitley is accompanied
the US visa fee for Indian
by
RBI
Governor
technology professionals,
Raghuram
Rajan,
which he said was target
Secretary Economic
ed largely at the Indian
Affairs Shaktikanta Das,
IT (information technolo
and Chief Economic
gy) companies.
Adviser
Arvind
The nance minister
Subramanian.
Finance Minister
held a bilateral meeting
Jaitley also empha
Arun Jaitley is in
with United States Trade
sized
upon Indias keen
the US to attend
Representative
ness
for early conclu
the Spring
Ambassador Michael Meetings of IMF & sion of a Totalization
Froman expressing
Agreement with the US,
World Bank.
Indias concern over the
to avoid double taxa
hike in the H1B and L1 visa fee tion of incomes with respect to
which is discriminatory and in social security taxes. As per indus
effect, largely targeted at Indian IT try estimates, Indian professionals
companies, the union nance min have contributed more than $25
istry said in a statement. Jaitley is billion to the US social security
currently on a 7day ofcial tour to during the last decade, without
Washington DC to attend the being able to retrieve their contri
Spring Meetings of IMF and the butions, the statement said. (IANS)

KNOW INDIA PROGRAM IN MAY

The 35th Know India Programme (KIP) is scheduled from 5th May to
29th May, 2016 to familiarize Indian Diaspora youth with India's cul
ture, heritage and also with contemporary India. Guidelines and appli
cation form for K.I.P may be accessed through Ministry of External
Af fairs website: http://www.mea.gov.in/knowindiaprogramme.htm.
The New York Consulate is currently accepting application. For more
info, contact: press@indiacgny.org

invention earned her a slot as a

2016 Intel STS nalist, where her
spirometer was selected as one of
the top 40 projects in the nation.
"Maya is using a lowcost micro
controller, software freely avail
able on the Internet, and a smart
phone, and she designed a tool
that allows people with asthma
and other lung diseases to diag
nose and monitor their own symp
toms," he said.
Obama also narrated the story
of Anurud h Ganesan, 16. "So
when Anarud h was little, his
g randparents walked him 10
miles to a remote clinic in his
native India for vaccinations, only
to nd out that the vaccines had
spoiled in the heat," he told the
audience. "Though he eventually
got the shots that he needed, he
thought, well, this is a problem,
and wanted to prevent other chil

dren from facing the same risk.

"So he developed what he calls
the VAXXWAGON, and it's a
refrigerator on wheels that trans
ports vaccines to remote destina
tions. That's the kind of innova
tion and compassion that we're
seeing from so many of these
young people," Obama said.
Anarudh's project made him a
nalist in the 2015 Goog le
Science Fair.
Obama also had a presentation
from Sanjana Rane, 18, from
Kentucky, who helped discover
how a particular protein could be
used to detect and treat renal
brosis. "This is just a small sam
ple of the incredible talent that is
on display at this science fair. We
couldn't be prouder. To all the stu
dents, to all the young people, we
could not be prouder of you,"
(PTI)
Obama said.

3rd NRI of the Year Awards

held in Mumbai
Mumbai: TIMES NOW, Indias No. 1
news channel, and ICICI Bank,
India's largest private sector bank,
hosted the third edition of NRI of
the Year Awards on April 11 here to
recognize and salute the spirit of the
Global Indian.
Tennis star Sania Mirza was con
ferred Indias Global Icon award and
Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai
Bachchan was honored as Global
Indian of the Year in the presence of
Indian Minister Piyush Goyal, and
Chanda Kochhar, MD and CEO, ICICI
Bank.
Also awarded were 17 individuals
under
categories
including
Entrepreneur,
Professional,
Academics, Arts & Culture,
Philanthropy, and Special Jury
Award. Powered by Global Indian
International School (GIIS), these
awards recognize the outstanding
achievements of the Indian diaspora
globally. The awards this year were
open to any NRI, OCI and PIO living
in USA, Canada, UK, Middle East,
Singapore, Australia and New
Zealand. From the US, Virendra
Chopra was honored in the category
of Entrepreneur, and Riju Agarwal
as (Profressional). Nikesh Arora,
President and COO of SoftBank Corp,
bagged Special Jury Award. The jury

MK Anand MD and CEO, TIMES Network, Indian Minister Piyush Goyal,

actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan with her award, and Chanda Kochhar,
MD and CEO, ICICI Bank, at the event. (Photos: IANS)
comprised of eminent leaders such
as Suhel Seth, Partha Sinha, Anurag
Batra, P.R. Chakravarty and Sudhir
Dhar. Said Naveen Chandra, Head
International Business, TIMES
Network, T he NRI of the Year
awards is the most distinctive
awards for Indians globally and we
have received an overwhelming
25,000 registrations online and the
multiple Jury rounds have ensured
that the winners are of high quality.
Among the winners this year are
accomplished
Neurologists,
Oncologists, CEOs of global busi
nesses and a former white house
intern. T he awards will air on
TIMES NOW on 23rd April, 2016.

Sania Mirza was conferred Global

Icon award

April 16-22, 2016

Sanders tops TIME 100 poll

of most influential person
Washington: Democratic presiden
tial candidate Bernie Sanders has
won the TIME 100 reader poll, top
ping not just rival Hillary Clinton
but also a host of world leaders that
include President Barack Obama
and Myanmar democracy icon
Aung San Suu Kyi.
Sanders finished with 3.3 percent
of the total 'yes' votes when the poll
closed at midnight on Thursday,
bagging more than three times as
many votes as former US Secretary
of State Clinton.
South Korean boy band Big Bang
came at second spot with 2.9 per
cent votes, while Suu Kyi was third
with 2.2 percent, and Obama fourth
with 2 percent.
Pakistani rights activist Malala
Yousafzai, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift,
US First Lady Michelle Obama,
Pope Francis and Leonardo

Bernie Sanders (Photo: AP)

DiCaprio round out the top 10.
Clinton, who is leading the
Democrat race and is Sanders
opponent for the Democratic Party
nomination, finished with one per
cent of the 'yes' votes.
The list comprises names that
"TIME readers think should appear
on our annual list of the most influ
ential people in the world".

Sanders, who has long benefited

from digitally active supporters, led
the reader poll from the start.
While he badly lags Clinton in win
ning the delegates needed to cap
ture the presidential nomination,
his populist rhetoric and emphasis
on income inequality has allowed
him to sustain a strongerthan
expected challenge to Clinton while
also helping frame the debate in
the Democratic contest, says TIME.
BollywoodHollywood actress
Priyanka Chopra garnered more
votes than Prime Minister Narendra
Modi in the poll. She got 0.8 per
cent of yes votes compared to 0.7
per cent for Modi. She was also
ahead of Russian President
Vladimir Putin, French President
Francoise Hollande and David
Cameron in popularity among read
ers and online vote casters.

Hillary, Bernie spar in Brooklyn debate Islamic countries urged

New York: Democrat frontrunner

Hillary Clinton and her rival Bernie
Sanders aggressively challenged
each other on Thursday night's
Democratic debate in Brooklyn, NY,
sparring over issues like how high
to raise the minimum wage and
gun control.
The debate was hosted by CNN
and NY1 News and comes only a
few days before New York's critical
primary on April 19.
In his opening statement, Sanders
said he started in the race 70 per
centage points behind Clinton and
referred to two recent polls that
had him slig htly ahead in the
Democratic race. He noted that of
the last nine caucuses and primar
ies, he won eight of them by land
slides. Clinton touted her eight
years as a US senator representing
New York from 2001 until 2009.

She praised the state's recovery

after 911 attacks and took a swipe
at Texas Senator and Republican
candidate Ted Cruz who has
mocked "New York values".
When asked Clinton if she was
seriously blaming Vermont for New
York's gun violence in a recent
statement, she said "no" and
Sanders started to laugh.
She said this is "not a laughing
matter" and said 90 people a day
are killed as a result of gun vio
lence as well as 33,000 people per
year. "We need a president who will
stand up against the gun lobby,"
Clinton said. The candidates also
sparred over raising the federal
minimum wage, w ith Sanders
expressing surprise as Clinton
voiced support for efforts to set the
hourly pay rate at $15, the level he
has long backed.

to unite against terror

Istanbul: Turkish President Recep

Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday called
on Islamic countries to stand unit
ed against terrorism and violence,
the most fundamental problems
facing the Muslim world.
"We should be unifying and not a
divider. We should strengthen
alliances and not the controver
sies," Erdogan said in his opening
speech at the 13th summit of the
Org anizat ion
of
Islamic
Cooperation (OIC) that groups 57
member states, reports Xinhua
news agency.
He announced that an Islamic
cooperation and police coordina
tion centre would be established in
Istanbul to conduct an ef fective
struggle against terrorism.
(Source: IANS)

Chairman and Co-Founder

Kamlesh C. Mehta

Associate Editors:
Hiral Dholakia-Dave

Co-Founder: Saroosh Gull

Contributing Editors: Meenakshi Iyer,

Nilima Madan, Melvin Durai,
Dr Prem Kumar Sharma, Ashok Vyas,
Dr Akshat Jain, Ashok Ojha

President: Arjit Mehta

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TURN PAGE

Hillary, Trump lead big in

New York: Polls
Continued from page 1
primary, the former New York
senator would trounce the real
estate developer by 16 points in
a general e lection matchup,
according to the poll.
On Monday, Hillary Clinton
took t ime of f of her battle
against Sen. Bernie Sanders to
blast the third hometown candi
date for president Donald
Trump for his degrading com
ments about women and minori
ties.
She bashed the brash Donald
for what she called his danger
ous and divisive behavior
while on a visit to Jackson Diner
in Queens, where the real estate
mogul was born and raised.
People around the world, as
well as our country are hearing
this, and theyre wondering,
whats happening in America?
Clinton said at a campaign stop
at a Jackson Heights diner.

India, US deepen
defense ties
Continued from page 1
New Delhi after talks with his
Indian counterpart, Manohar
Parrikar.
The two sides would finalize
the text of an agreement in com
ing weeks, Carter said.
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi's administration, faced with
an assertive China expanding its
influence in the South China Sea
and into the Indian Ocean, has
signaled its desire to draw closer
to the United States. China is also
a close ally of India's arch rival,
Pakistan.
Modi is also keen to access US
technolog y for his "Make in
India" plans to build a domestic
industrial base and cut expensive
arms imports.
T he U.S. military has made
clear it wants to do more with
India, especially in countering

China. Carter is on his second

visit to India in less than a year,
aimed at cement ing de fense
cooperation in the final months
of Barack Obama's presidency.

China will not allow India

into NSG: former Pak
diplomat
Continued from page 1
according to Dawn online. Akram
said China is committed to ensur
ing that both India and Pakistan
g ain membership to the 48
nation NSG at the same time.
Besides China, there are some
countries that are upset by the
"double standards" being shown
in India's case, and are calling for
an approach based on criteria, he
added.
Akram was speaking at a con
ference on the International
Nuclear Order, organized by the
Strategic Vision Institute (SVI)
and Konrad Adenauer Stiftung.
Discussing the global nuclear
order, Akram said it had been
destabilized by factors including
the world powers' double stan
dards and discriminatory exemp
tions granted to India.
Meanwhile, days after China
blocked its bid at the UN to ban
JeM chief Masood Azhar, India
on T hursday slammed use of
"hidden veto" and demanded
accountability, saying the world
bo dy's general members are
never informed of the reason for
not acceding to requests for
sanctioning terrorists.
"The procedures of unanimity
and anonymity of the al Qaeda,
Taliban and ISIS Sanct ions
Committees need to be revisited.
The procedures of unanimity and
anonymity result in a lack of
accountability,"
India's
Permanent Representative to the
UN, Amb. Syed Akbaruddin told
the UN Security Council in an
open de bate on 'T hreats to
International Peace and Security
Caused by Terrorist Acts'.

Jaipur (India) Bureau

Prakash Bhandari
Prakash@TheSouthAsianTimes.info

IANS Washington Bureau

Arun Kumar
arun.kumar@ians,in

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TRISTATE COMMUNITY

April 16-22, 2016

Columbia researcher Shree Nayar led

team creates novel exible camera
New York: A team led by an
Indianorig in professor at
Columbia University has created
a novel sheet camera that can be
wrapped around everyday
objects to capture images that
cannot be taken with one or more
conventional cameras.
"Cameras today capture the
world from essentially a single
point in space. While the camera
industry has made remarkable
progress in shrinking the camera
to a tiny device with ever increas
ing imag ing quality, we are
exploring a radically dif ferent
approach to imaging," said Shree
K Nayar, computer science pro
fessor at Columbia University.
"We believe there are numer
ous applications for cameras that

are large in format but very thin

and highly flexible," added Nayar
who graduated from the Birla
Institute of Technology, Ranchi,
in 1984.
Nayar's team designed and fab
ricated a flexible lens array that
adapts its opt ical propert ies
when the sheet camera is bent.
This optical adaptation enables
the device to produce high quali
ty images over a wide range of
sheet deformations. If such an
imaging system could be manu
factured cheaply like a roll of
plastic or fabric it could be
wrapped around all kinds of
things, from street poles to furni
ture, cars, and even people's
clothing, to capture wide, seam
less images with unusual fields of

Rutgers student
Shani Patel killed in
shooting incident
New York: A 21yearold
Indianorig in student at
Rutgers University was killed
and his roommate seriously
injured in a shooting incident at
their apartment near the
school's campus in New Jersey.
Shani Patel, a junior econom
ics major at the university, was
shot and killed on Sunday at an
offcampus apartment building
in Newark, a spokeswoman for
the Essex County Prosecutor's
Office as saying.
Pate l's roommate, whose
identity was not released, was
seriously injured in the shoot
ing, authorities said.
T he
Rutgers
Police
Department said the shooting
was not random and that the
downtown campus, which
serves about 12,000 students,
was not under threat, The New
York
Times
reported.
Authorities are investigating
the incident.
Essex County Prosecutor's
of fice and Newark Public
Safety Director said in a state

ment that no suspects have

been identified so far and no
arrests have been made. The
investigation "is active and
ongoing", they said.
In a letter to the Rutgers
University's Newark communi
ty, Chancellor Nancy Cantor
expressed shock and sadness at
Patel's death.
"While law enforcement is
st ill invest ig at ing and we
understand that it was not a
random act that led to Shani's
death, it is a shock to lose a
member of our community
under any circumstances," Ms
Cantor said.
"Our deepest condolences go
out to Shani's family and to all
who knew him as a student, col
league, or friend," she added.
The Rutgers police said in a
statement issued to the Newark
campus that the shoot ing
occurred inside a private resi
dence. Two assailants, both
believed to be in their early to
mid20s, fled the scene.
(PTI)

view. "The adaptive lens array we

have developed is an important
step towards making the concept
of flexible sheet cameras viable,"
Nayar noted.
"The next step will be to devel
op largeformat detector arrays
to go with the deformable lens
array. The amalgamation of the
two technologies will lay the
foundation for a new class of
cameras that expand the range of
applications that benefit from
imaging," he said.
The novel technology is set to
be presented at the international
conference on computational
photog raphy
(ICCP)
at
Northwestern University, in
Illinois from May 13 to 15.
(IANS)

The novel sheet camera that can be wrapped

around everyday objects to capture images
that cannot be taken with one or more con
ventional cameras. (inset) Prof Shree Nayar.
(Credit: Columbia Computer Vision Laboratory,
2016/Columbia Engineering).

Battery Dance unveils world premiere of

The Durga Project' on 40th anniversary
New York, NY: Battery Dance, New
York City's dance ambassador to
the world, announced its 40th
anniversary season lineup, featur
ing the world premiere of "The
Durga Project," an original work
created by founder and artistic
director Jonathan Hollander that
weaves together the movement
vocabularies, sonorities and aes
thetics of the U.S. and India into a
choreographic fantasy of 30 min
utes in length.
The program will be complement
ed by works commissioned by
European and African choreogra
phers: Inter/Ago, created in 2015
by Tadej Brdnik, the recently
retired Martha Graham principal
dancer and choreographer, who has
danced with Battery Dance since
1998; and Observatory, created in
2014 by Theo Ndindwa, founder of
South Africas iKapa Dance Theatre,
and since performed in tours of
South America, Europe, Asia and at
the first Cape Town International
Dance Festival in December, 2015.
Founded in New Yorks financial
district in 1976, Battery Dance has
had signature performances in 65
countries across six continents.
This year, the Company celebrates
its 40th anniversary season with a
diverse array of performances in

"The Durga Project," by artistic director Jonathan Hollander. (L to R): Sean

Scantelbury, Bethany Mitchell, Clement Mensah, Mira Cook, Robin
Cantrell and Unnath H.R. (Photo Credit: Darial Sneed)
New York, Texas, South Korea,
Germany, India and e lsewhere
around the globe.
"With its beautiful images and
soulful music, The Durga Project
evokes the sentiment of Bhakti
(devotional love of the Goddess),"
said Indian dance historian and crit
ic Sunil Kothari. "The choreography
is excellent, drawing inspiration
from Indian classical dances and
music. The human chain performed
in
the
beginning
with
Bharatanatyam dancer Unnath H.R.
gradually gathers momentum,
resolving into the pas de deux
which of fer imaginatively sugges
tive and iconic poses of Goddess

Durga in motion. Hollander and his

dancers from the U.S. and India
have captured the essence of
Shakti, the female principle of
divine energy, in a meaningful man
ner." The Battery Dance Company
will have two events in lower
Manhattan: NY Season performanc
es at The Schimmel Center for the
Arts at Pace University on May
11th at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. and May
12th at 7 p.m., followed by a VIP
gala reception; 35th annual Battery
Dance Festival in Battery Park City
from August 14th to the 19th, with
a grand finale at Schimmel Center
on the 20th (performances at 6:30
pm schedule to be released soon).

April 16-22, 2016

TRISTATE COMMUNITY

PMI hosts event marking

Dr. Ambedkars 125th
birth anniversary at UN
United Nations: A special event
to commemorate the 125th
Birth Anniversary of Dr. B.R.
Ambedkar was organized by the
Permanent Mission of India in
New York at the United Nations
headquarter here April 13th.
This was the first such com
memoration of Dr. Ambedkar at
the UNHQ.
Foundation for Human Hori
zon (USbased NGO with
ECOSOC consultative status) and
Kalpana Saroj Foundation (In
diabased NGO by Kalpana Saroj,
a Padmashree) were cohosts of
the event.
Helen Clark, Administrator of
UNDP in the keynote address
spoke on the legacy of Dr. B.R
Ambedkar. She said that Dr.
Ambedkar understood that in
equalities pose fundamental
challenges to wellbeing.
Speaker of Punjab Legislative
Assembly, Charanjit Singh Atwal
(Chief Patron of Forum for SC

and ST Legislators and Parlia

mentarians) delivered special re
marks. Deelip Mhaske of Foun
dation for Human Horizon and
Kalpana Saroj also addressed
the gathering. The event also
featured a Panel Discussion on
the theme Combating inequali
ties for the achievement of Sus
tainable Development Goals.
The Panelist included Profes
sor Stan Kachnowsky, Colombia
University and Chair, HITLAB;
Anupama Rao, Associate Profes
sor, Colombia University and;
Christopher Queen, lecturer
Harvard University.
Prof Stan Kanchowsky spoke
on influence of Dr.Ambedkars
vision on healthcare equity and
the resulting rise of mobile
health in India.
Christopher Queen drew par
allels between the lives of
Ambedkar and Martin L. King,
Jr. in their attempt to create so
cieties based on equality, free

dom and brotherhood and to

overcome barriers of class,
caste, race, and religion to forge
alliances for peace and justice.
Rao spoke about the impedi
ments of inequalities including
caste and the need for social jus
tice to achieve sustainable de
velopment through the imple
mentation of 2030 Agenda. She
also highlighted Dr. Ambedkar
as an important thinker relevant
to both 20th and 21st century.
A movie clip (a short version of
the Films Divisions documen
tary edited by PMI) was
screened on the occasion.
There was on overwhelming
response with over 550 people,
many from India and various
parts of the world attended the
event. Diplomats, UN senior offi
cials, state government officials
from India, students, civil socie
ty, private sector representatives
and academia were also present
at the special event.

NJ regional of MoneyGram Cricket Bee announced (L to R): Lael Daniel, Manager

Sales, MoneyGram; Debi Prasad Mohapatra of Stamford, CT First Runner up; Indrajit
Sanyal of Piscataway NJRegional Champ; Sandeep Shrivastava of Somerset, NJ
Second Runner Up along with Rahul Walia, Founder of the Cricket Bee.

Rajat Guptas memoirs promised in candid, compelling book

New York: The meteoric rise and an
equally dramatic fall of Rajat Gupta
the former head of McKinsey who was
charged in the largest insider trading
case in the U.S. will be captured in a
memoir to be published by Juggernaut
Books.
Candid,
compelling
and
poignant, Guptas book promises to be
an extraordinary human story of a
man who had it all before he lost every
thing, the publishing house said in a
statement about the top corporate advi
sor, who was released last month after
serving 19 months in U.S. prisons.
His memoir tells the story of his me
teoric rise, and an equally dramatic fall
and the lessons he learned from this
journey from the hardships of his
childhood to his unprecedented success

in corporate America and his years in

prison, the statement said.
Gupta, now living in his Manhattan
home, himself recollected what he went
through.
My life has had many ups and downs
and in this book I want to talk about my
struggles and how Ive found solace,
strength. How do you act without at
tachment.
Help others without expectation. And
forgive without bitterness, he was quot
ed as saying in the statement.
How do you maintain peace and dig
nity in the most dif ficult circumstances.
These questions permeate all of our
lives. I hope the youth in particular will
benefit from the learning in my jour
ney, he said rather candidly.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Data hints at Indian

Americans growing
support for Trump
Warren, NJ: Based on analytics
performed by IndianAmericans
for Trump 2016 on the data sup
plied by TV Asia, IndianAmeri
cans are converging on Donald J
Trump for the US president. The
results are based on 212 random
callsin from March 9 to April 6,
2016 at a TV Asia show Race for
the Presidency: Your Perspec
tive hosted by Rohit Vyas.
Voters in this survey came from
Arizona, California, Connecticut,
Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Mas
sachusetts, Michigan, New Jer
sey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylva
nia, Texas, Virginia, Washington,
D.C., among others.
Trump voters, 42% of the total,
took over Clinton voters, which
were 28%, on April 6, 2016.
While there had been a steady
decline in support for Clinton,
the gain, since the last three
weeks, has been mainly for
Trump. Based on this, if election
were held today, Trump would
get 42% of the IndianAmerican
votes, a pressrelease from Indi

Trumps TV Asia vote data

indicates that trump has
brought in 26 percentage
points of new Indian-Americans
to the Republican Party.
an Americans for Trump 2016
said. If we take Clinton and
Sanders together as IndianAmer
ican Democrat vote, Trump has
stolen 26% IndianAmericans
from the Democratic Party since
Obamas election to White House,
who had gotten 84% of the Indi
anAmerican votes, Trump sup
porters said in the press release.
According to a 2012 study by
Pew Research Center, only 18%
IndianAmericans were Republi
can, in fact, the smallest percent
age of all AsianAmerican ethnic
groups. Trumps TV Asia vote
data indicates that trump has
brought in 26 percentage points
of new IndianAmericans to the
Republican Party.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

NATIONAL COMMUNITY

US to take action against

300 Indian students for
extending stay
Washington, DC: The US will take
action against over 300 Indian stu
dents caught in a sting operation
for allegedly trying to extend their
stay in the country illegitimately, a
top State Department ofcial said
today.
"For the most part, they all came
on legitimate student visas. It was
actually when they were in country
that some of them sought to extend
their stay in the United States is my
understanding," Mark Toner, State
Department Deputy Spokesman,
said.
These students numbering 306
were caught in a sting operation
conducted by Department of
Home land
Security
and
Immigration
and
Customs
Enforcement.
As many as 21 brokers and mid
dle men including 11 people of
Indianorigin were arrested last
week as a result of the sting opera
tion.
Toner said only those Indian stu

dents who tried to extend their stay

in the US illegitimately will be taken
to task and no genuine student will
be harassed.
"These individuals who came here
on a student visa did come either to
work or to study legitimately. They
did qualify for student visas. They
met the qualications. They were
issued student visas," Toner said.
"It was only after living here,
attending university or whatever,
that they then decided to again
allegedly seek out the assistance of
this criminal organisation to extend
their stay in the United States.
That's an important clarication,"
he said.
Responding to a question, Toner
said these Indian students were
issued visas by US diplomatic mis
sions in India to study in well recog
nised American educational institu
tions and not the fake university
created by Department of
Homeland Security as part of the
sting operation. (PTI)

April 16-22, 2016

US RECEIVED 236K H-1B APPLICATIONS,

COMPLETES LOTTERY
Washington, DC: The
US received over
2,36,000 H1B peti
tions in just ve days of
opening up the process
early this month for the
most soughtafter work
visa for IT profession
als, including from
India, and has complet
ed the computerized
draw of lots.
T his is more than
thrice the Congressionallyman
dated cap of 65,000 in the gener
al category for the work visas for
highlyskilled workers in the gen
eral category for Financial Year
2017. The US Citizenship and
Immigration Services (USCIS) yes
terday announced it also received
more than the limit of 20,000 H
1B petitions by those foreign stu
dents who completed their higher
studies from a US academic insti
tute in subjects if science, technol
ogy, engineering and mathemat

ics (STEM). USCIS received over

2,36,000 H1B petitions during
the ling period, which began
April 1, including petitions led
for the advanced degree exemp
tion, a media statement said.
It said it has completed the
computerized draw of lots that
would determine the successful
applicants. On April 9, USCIS used
a computergenerated random
selection process, or lottery, to
select enough petitions to meet
the 65,000 generalcategory cap

and the 20,000 cap

under the advanced
degree exemption,
also known as the
master's cap.
T he agency con
ducted the selection
pro cess for the
advanced deg ree
exemption rst. All
unselected advanced
deg ree pet it ions
then became part of
the random selection process for
the 65,000 limit, it added.
USCIS will reject and return all
unselected petitions with their l
ing fees, unless the petition is
found to be a duplicate ling, it
said. As announced on March 16
this year, USCIS will begin premi
um processing for H1B cap cases
no later than May 16.
It would continue to accept and
process petitions that are other
wise exempt from the cap.
(PTI)

IndianAmerican teen invents lowcost hearing aid

Houston: A 16yearold Indian
American boy has created a low
cost hearing aid to help those
who cannot af ford expensive
devices. The aid costs $60.
Mukund Venkatakrishnan of
Kentucky worked on the device
for two years and presented it at
the Je f ferson County Public
Schools Idea Fest. He also won
rst place at the Kentucky State
Science and Engineering Fair.
The device, which can be used
with even the cheapest set of
headphones, rst tests the per
son's hearing by playing several
different sounds at seven differ
ent frequencies through head
phones. It then programs itself to
be a hearing aid, amplifying vol
ume based on the test results.
"It eliminates the need for a
doctor altogether. It is really, in
essence, just ampliers, just
increase the volume based on
how much hearing loss you have
and it is crazy that they cost US
$1,500 each, when you can do it
for $60," said Mukund, a student

Mukund was inspired to invent the

aid during a visit to his grandparents in India two years ago. He
was tasked with helping his grandfather get tested and fitted for a
hearing aid. He saw that it was a
costly and difficult process and
resolved to find an alternative.His
hearing aid costs $60.

(Image courtesy:
money.cnn.com)
of DuPont Manual High School.
He said the processor responsi
ble for amplication by increas
ing the volume of an incoming
signal, was the most expensive
part about $45. Other parts cost
about $15. Mukund was inspired
to invent the aid during a visit to
his grandparents in India two
years ago. He was tasked with
getting his grandfather tested
and tted for a hearing aid. He
saw that it was a costly and dif

cult process and resolved to nd

an alternative. "Since audiologists
are specialists, even nding and
getting an appointment with one
in India was really hard. And then
we got ripped off," he said.
He said they spent about $400
$500 on doctor's appointments
and about $1,900 on the hearing
aid itself. He realized that hearing
is a luxury many people in devel
oping countries cannot af ford.
"In India, the median household

income is $616 a year. If some

one in India saves all year with
out spending a penny, they still
cannot af ford a hearing aid," he
said
Talking about his invention, he
said that if the ear piece of the
aid gets damaged, it is not costly
to replaceit only requires buying
another set of ear buds. In its cur
rent form, the device is about two
inches long and looks like a com
puter processor.

He envisions the device, which

has a standard headphone port,
tting into someone's pocket. His
goal is to distribute the device to
people with hearing loss who can
not afford a $1,000 hearing aid.
Various foundations are reaching
out to Mukund to help mass pro
duce and distribute it.
Mukund said that he hopes to
visit his grandfather in Bangalore
this summer to deliver the hear
ing aid. (PTI)

April 16-22, 2016

NATIONAL COMMUNITY

Indianorigin scientist selected

for NASA's pioneering program
New York: An Indianorigin scientist's pro
posal has been se lected for NASA's
Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) pro
gram an initiative that invests in trans
formative architectures through the devel
opment of pioneering technologies.
Ratnakumar Bugga from NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena,
California, is among 13 other researchers
who will be awarded nearly $100,000 for
nine months to support the initial defini
tion and analysis of their concepts, the US
space agency said in a statement on
Saturday.
If the basic feasibility studies are suc
cessful, awardees can apply for phasetwo
awards, valued up to $500,000 for two
additional years of concept development.
Bugga's concept is titled "Venus Interior
Probe Using Insitu Power and
Propulsion."
The Indiaborn scientist who has PhD in
electrochemistry from the Indian Institute
of Science, Beng aluru, is currently
involved in the development of low tem
perature lithiumion rechargeable batter
ies and in the ultralow temperature Li pri
mary batteries for Mars probes.

Ratnakumar Bugga
(Image courtesy: mars.nasa.gov)
He leads a task force responsible for
demonstrating the technology readiness
of lithiumion batteries for Mars missions.
Bugga was the task manager for the
Mars Exploration Rover Thermal, Rover
and Lander batteries.
Other selected concepts include a pro
posal for reprogramming microorganisms
that could use the Martian environment to
recycle and print electronics and a two
dimensional spacecraft with ultrathin
subsystems that may wrap around space
debris to enable deorbiting. (IANS)

Six Indian Americans named

Soros Fellows for 2016
New York: The 18th annual Paul and
Daisy Soros Fe llowships for New
Americans were announced April 12 and
included six Indian Americans and two
South Asians among the 30 recipients.
Jambulapati is the daughter of Indian
immigrants who came to the U.S. in search
of educational opportunities for their chil
dren. While at Stanford University, she
mentored high school youth with their
college applications, created awareness on
campus about immigrant human rights
and researched the civil rights abuses of
immigration enforcement programs.Now,
Jambulapati is pursuing a juris doctorate
at U.C. Berkeley School of Law.
Patel and his family moved to the U.S. in
the early 1990s for better opportunities.
Though he was not even 2 when they
arrived, he didn't earn his citizenship until
he was 23.
Patel founded Aspiring Americans in
Oklahoma City as part of his honors
research project at OU to assist other
undocumented students in Oklahoma,
which has raised over $200,000 in grants,
scholarships and inkind resources.
Rao was born in Massachusetts. With
both his parents chemists turned software

engineers, Rao grew up immersed in sci

ence. He is currently pursuing his medical
and do ctorate deg rees at Stanford
University's School of Medicine.
Shakir, a native of Oklahoma City, Okla.,
is a first year medical student at Harvard.
He hopes to improve health systems at the
city, state and national level, bringing a
more equitable health system and just
society, the Soros bio said.
Sridharan, born and raised in southern
India, moved to New Jersey at the age of
nine. He is pursuing his medical degree in
the HarvardMIT Health Sciences and
Technology program, as well as his M.B.A.
at Harvard Business School. His goal is to
develop translational therapeutics in the
lab, bring them to market and make a dif
ference in cancer care among under
served communities, the bio added.
Thakral was born in Illinois. Currently,
Thakral is a medical and doctorate stu
dent in the laboratory of Richard Lifton in
genetics at Yale.
She hopes to take advantage of the vast
and growing power of molecular medicine
in her work to improve the human condi
tion and empower others to pursue their
dreams.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Four Indian Americans named

Guggenheim Fellows for 2016
New York: Four Indian Americans Anjan
Chakravartty, Neil Garg, Amitava Kumar
and Rajesh Rao are among a group of
178 who have been named John Simon
Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellows
in the prestigious program.
The foundation's board of trustees made
the announcement for the 92nd annual
Fellowship program, which includes schol
ars, artists and scientists, April 5.
The candidates were chosen from a group
of roughly 3,000 applicants based on prior
achievement and exceptional promise,
according to a foundation news release, and
include three joint Fellowships.
Chakravartty was named a Fellow in the
discipline of philosophy. He is a professor
and director at the John J. Reilly Center for
Science, Technology and Values at the
University of Notre Dame. Additionally, he
serves as the editor in chief of the journal,
Studies in History and Philosophy of
Science.
Chakravartty intends to use the fellow
ship grant to pursue a project that he has
called The Epistemology of Scientific
Disagreement.
Garg was chosen as a Fellow in the chem
istry discipline. Born to parents who emi

grated to the U.S. from India in the 1970s,

Garg earned his bachelors degree in chem
istry from New York University and his doc
torate from the California Institute of
Technology.
Garg is a professor in the department of
chemistry and biochemistry at UCLA. He
previously spent two years as an NIH
Pathway to Independence Fellow with U.C.
Irvine professor Larry Overman before
beginning his independent career at UCLA
in 2007.
Kumar was named a Fellow in the general
nonfiction discipline. He is the Helen D.
Lockwood professor of English at Vassar
College. During his Guggenheim Fellowship
term, Kumar will be working on a project on
writing and academic style, Every Day I
Write the Book.
Rao received the Guggenheim Fellowship
for his work in neuroscience. He is the
director of the Center for Sensorimotor
Neural Engineering and professor of com
puter science and engineering at the
University of Washington in Seattle. He
received his Ph.D. from the University of
Rochester and was a postdoctoral Fellow at
the Salk Institute for Biological Studies
before joining UW.

Mahila mobilizes Dallas community

to raise $85K for needy women in India
Dallas, TX: With the
beautifullylit Dallas sky
line as the backdrop,
more than 300 of Dallas
cremedelacrme, from
businessmen to finan
ciers to fashionistas,
packed the d.e.c. on
Dragon in downtown
Thursday evening and
raised more than
$85,000 for Mahila, an
organization comprised
of powerful female com
From L to R: Bina Palnitkar Patel, Ami Doshi, LeeAnne Locken,
munity leaders: attorney
Satnam Singh, Priya Bhola Rathod, Preeta Monga and Purva Jain
Bina Palnitkar Patel,
(Photo: Shana Anderson)
architect Purva Jain,
media guru Priya Bhola Rathod, cultural advo to empower them to live dignified, selfsuffi
cate Preeta Monga and social entrepreneur cient and healthy lives. We are so humbled
Ami Doshi. This was our very first fundraiser, and honored that Mahila picked us as their
and Im quite pleased at the turnout, said charity of choice for their inaugural fundrais
er, said Paulomi "Polo" Patel, Executive
founding member Monga.
All the proceeds raised will directly benefit Director of Milaap USA.
To support the cause, Real Housewives of
struggling, lowincome village women in India
who have a dream of starting their own busi Dallas star LeeAnne Locken and Satnam Singh,
ness through Milaap USA, the beneficiary of the first player from India to be drafted into the
the fundraiser. The nonprofit strives to pro NBA by the Dallas Mavericks, also attended the
vide lowcost microloans to the working poor event and walked the red carpet.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Cruz to block Trump on second

ballot at GOP convention
Washington: Republican presiden
tial candidate Ted Cruz is close to
ensuring that Donald Trump can
not win the GOP nomination on a
second ballot at the party's July
convention in Cleveland, scooping
up scores of delegates who have
pledged to vote for him instead of
the frontrunner if g iven the
chance.
The push by Cruz means that it
is more essential than ever for
Trump to clinch the nomination by
winning a majority of delegates to
avoid a contested and drawnout
convention fight, which Trump
seems almost certain to lose, The
Washington Post reported.
The GOP race now rests on two
clif f hangers: Can Trump lock up
the nomination before Cleveland?
And if not, can Cruz cobble togeth
er enough delegates to win a sec
ond convention vote if Trump fails
in the first?
Trump's path to amassing the
1,237 delegates he needs to win
outright has only gotten narrower
after losing to Cruz in Wisconsin
and other recent contests, and
would require him to perform bet
ter in the remaining states than he
has to this point. In addition, based
on the delegate selections made by
states and territories, Cruz is
poised to pick up at least 130
more votes on a second ballot,

Donald Trump. Photo courtesy: Scott Bixby/Mic

according to a Washington Post
analysis. That is why the race cen
ters on the fevered hunt for dele
gates across the country.
Cruz's chances rest on exploiting
a wrinkle in the GOP rule book:
that delegates assigned to vote for
Trump at the convention do not
actually have to be Trump support
ers. Cruz is particularly focused on
getting loyalists elected to dele
gate positions even in states that
the senator from Texas lost.
Cruz said this wee k that he
thinks the odds of a contested con
vention are "very high".
"In Cleveland, I believe we will
have an enormous advantage," he
told radio talkshow host Glenn

RNC Chairman to Trump:

'Give us all a break'
Washington: T he Republican
National Committee's (RNC) chair
man fired back at Donald Trump
late Tuesday after the billionaire
White House hopeful claimed the
party's process for selecting a
presidential candidate was
"stacked against me."
Trump has been outmaneuvered
by rival Ted Cruz in a series of
recent state meetings to select
national convention delegates,
and says the process was set up to
protect party insiders and shut
out insurgent candidates.
At a CNN town hall on Tuesday
night, Trump launched yet anoth
er attack on the RNC.
"I know the rules very well, but I
know it's stacked against me by
the establishment," the GOP fron
trunner said. But RNC chairman
Reince Priebus battled back
against Trump's criticism.
"Nomination process known for
a year + beyond. It's the responsi
bility of the campaigns to under
stand it. Complaints now? Give us
all a break," he tweeted.
Earlier, Trump alleged the GOP's
selection process was "absolutely
rigged ... a phony deal" after Cruz

April 16-22, 2016

US AFFAIRS

swept Colorado's 34 delegates

over the weekend.
"T he Republican National
Committee, they should be
ashamed of themselves for allow
ing this to kind of crap to happen.
The rules are no good when they
don't count your vote ... like in
Colorado," he said on Tuesday at a
rally in Rome, New York. "The
rules are no good when you have
to play dirty tricks to pick up dele
gates." And on Sunday, Trump
tweeted: "I win a state in votes and
then get nonrepresentative dele
gates because they are offered all
sorts of goodies by Cruz cam
paign. Bad system!"
Cruz's campaign won each of
Colorado's GOP delegates at its
state and congressional district
conventions after a similarly
strong outcome in North Dakota
the week prior. In states that have
already held their primaries or
caucuses like Tennessee,
Arizona and Iowa the Cruz cam
paign has ef fectively positioned
its own supporters as Trump dele
gates in preparation for a second
or third ballot that would allow
them to vote for Cruz.

Beck. Trump has a commanding

lead in total delegates and the
overall vote total, but has com
plained that Republican leaders
are conspiring against him in a bid
to silence his supporters.
When the presidential nomina
tion vote is held at the convention,
95 percent of the delegates will be
bound to the results in their states
for the first vote, giving Trump his
best shot at securing a majority.
But if Trump falls short, the con
vention will cast a second ballot in
which more than 1,800 delegates
from 31 states nearly 60 percent
of the total will be unbound and
allowed to vote however they
want.

NJ court declares
Cruz eligible for
White House
New York: A New Jersey
judge has declared Sen. Ted
Cruz is constitutionally eli
gible to be president of the
United States.
After considering the
arguments of various schol
ars, Judge Jef f S. Masin
wrote in his opinion
Tuesday that while there
can be no certainty as to
what the founders meant by
natural born citizen, he
concluded that the more
persuasive legal analysis is A child, born of a citizenfather, citizen
that such a child, born of a mother, or both, is indeed a natural
citizenfather, citizenmoth born Citizen within the contemplation
of the Constitution, the court ruled.
er, or both, is indeed a nat
Ted Cruz was born in Canada to a
ural born Citizen within the
Cuban father and an American mother.
contemplat ion of the
Constitution.
Canadian birth certificate on
Cruz was born in Canada to a public record incontrovertibly
Cuban father and an American proves, that he was, and is, a
mother.
naturalborn Canadian.
New Jersey Republican Lt.
It is simply a physical impos
Gov. Kim Guadagno, the secre sibility for him to be both a nat
tary of state, can accept, reject uralborn Canadian and a natu
or modify Masins ruling.
ralborn American, he asserted.
A Washingtonarea law profes
But the GOP candidates
sor, Victor Williams, challenged lawyers argued its inconceiv
Cruzs candidacy, claiming Cruz able that the Framers intended
filed a false certificate of eligibil to exclude a U.S. citizen at birth
ity to put his name on the New from holding the office of presi
Jersey ballot.
dent, simply because of where
Williams charged Cruzs he or she happened to be born.

Speaker Paul Ryan rules out

presidential bid
Washington: US House Speaker
Paul Ryan on Tuesday definitively
ruled out a bid for president this
year, insisting that the Republican
Party's choice should emerge from
the group of candidates who pur
sued the nomination.
"Count me out," the 2012 vice
president ial candidate told
reporters.
In a statement at the Republican
National Committee headquarters,
the Wisconsin Republican sought
to calm rampant speculation that
he would emerge as the nominee
from a potentially contested con
vention. Many in the party are
worried that frontrunner Donald
Trump becoming the nominee
could mean losing the general
e lect ion in November to the
Democrats.
"We have too much work to do in
the House to allow this speculation
to swirl or have my motivations
questioned," said Ryan. "Let me be
clear: I do not want, nor will I
accept the Republican nomina
tion." Ryan's comments come as a
contested convention looks more
likely by the day. Ryan and his

House Speaker Paul Ryan,

Photo courtesy: WTMJ.
aides have continually denied the
speaker has presidential ambitions
this year.
Ryan also denied he wanted to
be House speaker last year after
thenspeaker John Boehner
announced his resignation, but
ended up with the job anyway.
Tuesday's appearance may not
be enough to quiet the talk about
Ryan, given the unpredictable
twists of the Republican presiden

tial primary. "So let me speak

directly to the delegates on this: If
no candidate has a majority on the
first ballot, I believe you should
only choose a person who actually
participated in the primary. Count
me out," Ryan said. "I simply
believe that if you want to be the
nominee, to be the president, you
should actually run for it. I chose
not to. Therefore, I should not be
considered. Period."
Trump looks unlikely to accumu
late the necessary delegates to
clinch the nomination ahead of the
July convention. That would allow
his lead challenger, Texas senator
Ted Cruz, to make a play for the
part. Party leaders fear neither
Trump nor Cruz could beat likely
Demo crat ic nominee Hillary
Clinton in November. They also
fear the Republicans won't be able
to hold onto control of the Senate
with Trump or Cruz at the top of
the ticket. If neither candidate can
get the delegate votes necessary as
balloting progresses in the party
convention, chaos could result and
other Republicans who aren't cur
rently running could emerge.

10

April 16-22, 2016

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

COMMENT

Ambedkar, an icon no party can afford to ignore

By Praveen Davar

himrao Ramji Ambedkar,

whose 125th birth anniver
sary falls on April 14, has
emerged as one of India's most
revered leader especially during
the last two decades. No political
party can af ford to ignore him
though the reasons for doing so
are more electoral than emotional.
Independent India's first cabinet
of Prime Minister Jawaharlal
Nehru had only 14 members with
B.R. Ambedkar as law minister list
ed at No.11 in the order of prece
dence, below Jagjivan Ram but
above Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherji
of the Hindu Mahasabha (later the
Jan Sangh founder). Mahatma
Gandhi had prevailed upon Nehru
and Sardar Patel to include non
Congressmen as well because inde
pendence had come for the whole
country and not only for those
who led the freedom movement.
It was only four years later, on
September 27, 1951 after
Ambedkar quit the Nehru cabinet
that it became known that one of
the causes for his doing so was
that he was not given the portfolio
of his choice: ministry of planning.
However, the prime reason for his
resigning was over the govern
ment's failure to pass the Hindu
Code Bill, faulting Nehru with "lack
of determination" to get the meas
ure through.
Suf fering from many ailments,

B.R. Ambedkar was much more than the

architect of India's constitution. He was a
Dalit leader who devoted his life for the uplift
of the weakest and most vulnerable sections
of Indian society. At a Nagpur ceremony,
attended by 500,000 people, Ambedkar and
his followers converted to Buddhism.
including diabetes, rheumatism
and high blood pressure contract
ed in a life full of relentless strug
gles, Ambedkar died in December
1956 after turning 65. Only two
months earlier, he had formally
embraced Buddhism and convert
ed lakhs of his followers to his new
faith. It was a culmination of a long

process spanning nearly 50 years.

But it was really after independ
ence that Ambedkar made up his
mind to adopt Buddhism, a reli
gion he saw as a liberating force
for the entire country.
Even thoug h he had ceased
being a minister, the government
allowed him to retain his bungalow

where he spent the final years of

his life fo cused on study ing
Buddhism. He also began to learn
Pali and translated Buddhist texts
into Gujarati and Marathi. In 1954,
during a trip to Burma, Ambedkar
made a proposal for sponsoring a
campaign for Buddhist conversion
in India, arguing that Buddhism
was a religion for the whole world.
At a dhammadikha ceremony
held in Nagpur, attended by nearly
500,000 people, Ambedkar and his
followers converted to Buddhism.
Besides dedicating them to social
service and eradicat ion of
casteism, Ambedkar adminstered
21 vows to his followers, which
included renunciat ion of all
aspects of 'Brahmanic Hinduism'.
T he neoBuddhists took a vow
against worshipping Hindu gods
and goddesses and not to perform
shraddh ceremonies or worship
the cow.
As Ambedkar will be remem
bered most by posterity for his
monumental contribution to the
making of India's constitution it is
appropriate to quote from his last
speech in the Const ituent
Assembly on November 25, 1949,
the eve of the statute being adopt
ed the following day:
"On January 26, 1950, we are
going to enter into a life of contra
dictions. In politics we will have
equality and in social and econom
ic life we will have inequality. In
politics we will be reorganizing the

principle of one man one vote and

one vote one value. In our social
and economic life, we shall, by rea
son of our social and economic
structure, continue to deny the
principle of one man one value.
How long shall we continue to live
this life of contradictions? How
long shall we continue to deny
equality in our social and econom
ic life? If we continue to deny it for
long, we will do so only by putting
our political democracy in peril.
We must remove this contradiction
at the earliest possible moment or
e lse those who suf fer from
inequality will blow up the struc
ture of political democracy which
this Assembly has so laboriously
built up."
But Ambedkar was much more
than the architect of India's consti
tution and a Dalit leader who
today towers above others of his
ilk. He was an educationist, econo
mist, anthropologist, sociologist,
journalist, jurist and, above all, a
great parliamentarian and social
reformer who devoted his whole
life for the uplift of the weakest
and most vulnerable sections of
Indian society.
This much and, more, will be
remembered, and said, about
Ambedkar during the year of his
125th birth anniversary celebra
tions.
Praveen Davar, an exarmy offi
cer, is a member of the National
Commission for Minorities.

INDIA LEADS WORLD IN ENVIRONMENTAL CONFLICTS

More clashes are over water (27%) than any other cause.
By Manupriya

here are more environmental conflicts

in India than any other country, and
more clashes are over water (27%)
than any other cause, according to the
recently released Global Environmental
Justice Atlas (EJAtlas).
India has 222 listed conflicts in propor
tion to population, there are many more
followed by Colombia and Nigeria with 116
and 71 conflicts, respectively, according to
the EJAtlas, an interactive map of 1,703
global ecological conflicts, categorized by
cause, such as water management, waste
management, fossil fuels and climate justice,
and biodiversity conservation.
With India currently facing the worst cri
sis in a decade and on course to becoming
"waterscarce" w ithin nine years, as
IndiaSpend reported last month, the scale of
the conflicts listed in the Atlas further indi
cate a worsening situation.
The conflicts over water are most evident
in Himachal Pradesh, and most are related
to hydroelectric projects, often planned
without considering the needs and consent
of local communities.
Similar conflicts have been recorded in
J&K, Jharkhand, Manipur, Mizoram, Orissa

and Sikkim.
There are other kinds of watermanage
ment conflicts. In Khandwa, Mad hya
Pradesh, locals objected to a municipal cor
poration partnership with a private compa
ny to build a pipeline and augment water
supply, because prices were to be decided by
the company. Another example involves use
of groundwater by CocaCola, involved in
five conflicts w ith lo cal communit ies
protesting bottling plants (one each in
Jaipur, Dehradun and Plachimada (Kerala),
and two in Mehdiganj, near Varanasi.
Dams are persistent sites of conflicts,
especially when they are being built and
commissioned, said Sailen Routray, an inde
pendent researcher based in Bhubaneswar.
Most Indian conflicts listed in the EJAtlas
appear to be a consequence of the country's
expanding economy. For example, the raging
underground fires in the Jharia coal mines
in Jharkhand an exclusive storehouse of
prime coking coal were first seen a century
ago, started spreading in the 1970s and,
currently, more than 70 mine fires are
underway, polluting the air, water and land
and devastating the health of the locals.
Several conflicts center around garbage
dumping sites, such as Deonar in Mumbai,
Sultanpur and Bandhwari villages near

Delhi, Eloor in Kerala and villages around

Bangalore. Across India, more than three
million truckloads of garbage is dumped
without being treated, a manifestation of
growing urbanization.
Conflicts have also erupted at construction
sites of new airports, seaports and other big
infrastructure projects. The common theme
running through most conflicts is loss of
rig ht to land or live lihoo ds of lo cal
communities.
Although the EJAtlas lists 220 environ
mental conflicts in India, there are many
more.
"You should realize that 220 is in propor
tion to population," said Joan MartinezAlier,
Professor of Economics and Economic
History at the Autonomous University of
Barcelona and director of the EJAtlas proj
ect. "India has more cases than any other
country because good work has been done
on the EJAtlas by our partners at JNU and
also obviously because India is the country
with the largest population in the world."
He attributed conflicts to a growth in
"social metabolism", prompted by economic
expansion. "Materials and energ y are
extracted from new places and transported
far away. Mining expands and reaches new
frontiers. Hydroelectricity expands and

reaches villages in the Himalaya," said

MartinezAlier.
Environmental conflicts are global, but
India dif fers from other developing coun
tries in South America or Africa on one cru
cial point: India does not import or export
too much. Most of the extraction of materi
als here is for internal consumption. But
there are conflicts between states.
Sometimes, about water rights. And, some
times because some states (like Odisha,
Jharkhand) become providers of raw materi
als for the rest of the country at very high
internal social and environmental costs.
In recognition of rising environmental dis
putes, the government established a
National Green Tribunal in 2010 to serve as
a fasttrack court for such disputes, but the
tide of environmental conflicts is not ebbing.
In fact, despite NGT's intervention and rising
participation from affected locals, environ
mental injustice in India is on the rise.
The question, however, is not how to avoid
the conflicts, said MartinezAlier, but how to
profit from the awareness of so many con
flicts"in order to move to an economy which
is more sustainable and also more socially
just".
In arrangement with IndiaSpend.org
(Source: IANS)

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

INDIA

April 16-22, 2016

11

Kerala temple toll 112, court pulls up police

Kollam/Thiruvananthapuram:
Three people injured in the deadly
fireworks show at a temple in
Kollam died, taking the toll to 112,
even as the Kerala High Court
pulled up police for not preventing
the horrific tragedy.
Surendran, 67, who had the con
tract for the fireworks display at
the Putt ing al Devi temple in
Paravur town, succumbed to his
injuries at the Medical College
Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram,
two days after he was admitted
with 90 percent burn injuries.
The first to die was Sathyan, 55,
who too passed away at the same
Thiruvananthapuram hospital. Late
in the evening, a 14yearold boy,
Sabari, also succumbed to his 90
percent burn injuries. The teenager
had been on ventilator support.
An apparently illegal fireworks
display set off huge explosions and
a massive fire at the temple just
be fore dawn be fore dawn on
Sunday, raining death and destruc
tion in the area.
More than 350 people were badly

injured, suffering burns and other

injuries. Doctors said that while
most were responding to treatment,
four
people
in
Thiruvananthapuram and 20 in
Kollam remained serious.
Thirteen bodies were yet to be
identified, of ficials said, while 21
people remained unaccounted for
since Sunday morning.
Surendran had been named an
accused by police. His son Umesh,
who suf fered 50 percent burn
injuries, is undergoing treatment at
the hospital. Temple of ficials
arrested for the tragedy told police
that Surendran was given Rs.7 lakh
to conduct the fireworks display.
Five temple of ficials who fled
after the tragedy surrendered to
police on Monday night. A sixth
was arrested on Tuesday, Deputy
Superintendent
of
Police
Radhakrishnan Pillai said.
Earlier, police had detained five
workers of the now dead contractor
Surendran.
In Kochi, the Kerala High Court
ordered a ban on exploding high

Curfew in tense Kashmir

Security personnel enforce curfew imposed in Handwara, Jammu

and Kashmir's Kupwara district. (Photo: IANS)
Srinagar: Curfew was clamped
again in parts of a tense Kashmir
Valley amid simmering anger over
the death of four civilians, killed
in alleged firing and tear gas
shelling by security forces in the
last two days.
As a precautionary measure and
to prevent troublemongers from
spreading rumors, authorities also
snapped cellphone internet for
the time being.
A senior police told IANS that
restrictions will continue in
parts of old Srinagar city.
Restrictions were also imposed in
the main business hub of Lal
Chowk, amid a valleywide shut
down call by separatist groups in
protest against the civilian deaths.
Curfew was also enforced in the
north Kashmir Handwara town
and parts of the border district of
Kupwara.
Three civilian were killed in
Handwara on Tuesday when
police fired at an angry mob
protesting against the alleged
molestation of a teenage girl by
an army man. The army has, how
ever, dismissed the allegation as a

rumour to malign the force.

A day later, people in Kupwara
took to the streets to protest the
Handwara deaths. A burning tear
gas canister fired by police hit a
25yearold man on his head. The
man later succumbed to the
injury. The police officer said the
authorities had made adequate
security arrangements in other
towns in south and north Kashmir
to ensure that miscreants are
prevented from creating any law
and order problem.
Separatist leaders, including
Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz
Umer Farooq and Yasin Malik,
have been placed under house
arrest as they had appealed to
people to observe a protest shut
down against the killings.
There was a neartotal response
to the shutdown call as shops,
schools, colleges, of fices and
other businesses in areas where
restrictions have not been
imposed remained closed. Public
transport was also off the roads in
the valley.
Separatists have also called for
postprayer protests on Friday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visiting the hospital to meet the victims
of Paravur Puttingal temple accident. (Photo: IANS/PIB)
decibe l firecrackers at nig ht.
Firework shows during the day too
should not exceed the decibel levels
of 125145.
A division bench of Just ice
Thottathil B. Radhakrishnan and
Justice Anu Sivaraman came down
heavily on Kerala Police for not
preventing the Kollam deaths.
The judges asked if the probe by
the Crime Branch into the incident
was enough or whether the Central

Bureau of Investigation should be

roped in. The judges demanded to
know if "antinational forces" were
involved w ith the Sunday
explosions.
Authorities in Kollam on Tuesday
took steps to conduct DNA tests on
unclaimed bodies. Of ficials said
family members of those missing to
reach Kollam on Wednesday with
identity proof of the missing ones.
T he Kerala government has,

meanwhile, called an allparty

meeting on Thursday to see if a
consensus can be reached on total
or partial ban on firecrackers,
Home
Minister
Ramesh
Chennithala said.
There had been suggestions that
fireworks which give more promi
nence to visual treats must be
taken up and sound leve ls be
brought to the minimum, like in the
UAE and Singapore, he said.
Police have been asked to con
duct raids across Kerala to seize
explosive materials possessed
either illegally or in excess of per
mitted quantities, he said.
State BJP president Kummanem
Rajasekheran said a total ban on
firecrackers may not be feasible.
"What Kerala needs is proper mech
anisms," he said.
The temple tragedy has drawn
global sympathy. China became the
latest country to offer condolences.
Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai
Lama on Tuesday announced Rs.10
lakh for relief and rehabilitation
work.

India has 2,500 tigers, global

population is 3,890: Minister
New Delhi: India announced an
increase in its tiger population
with 2,500 tigers in the wild from
2,226 in 2014, while the global
tiger population has risen from
3,200 to 3,890. Environment
Minister Prakash Javadekhar said
this at the Third Asia Ministerial
Conference on Tiger Conservation,
adding that India has zero toler
ance towards wildlife crime.
The census was based on data
fed by 49 tiger reserves across
India. However, the regionwise
hike was not disclosed.
The numbers also did not incor
porate around 90 tiger deaths
since 2015, of which 51 deaths

were due to poaching and seizures.

T he survey was conducted by
Wildlife Protection Society of India.
"It (poaching) has not hiked that
much. If 2,500 is our tiger popula
tion today, then around 810 cases
of poaching are reported in a year.
But we are also controlling that
and arrest ing the of fenders,"
Javadekar told IANS.
He said India was close to achiev
ing the resolution to double the
tiger population by 22, which was
adopted by 13 tiger range coun
tries in 2010 at the "Global Tiger
Summit" at St. Petersburg, Russia.
"I am quite positive that we will
achieve that target. In 2014, the

tiger population was 2,226 while

our today's estimate is 2,500,
which is commendable. It would be
soon proved that we will double
the tiger population," he said.
An of ficial from the National
Tiger Conservation Authority, of
which Javadekar is the chairper
son, said the new census was based
on phase4 estimation conducted
across
India,
especially
Maharashtra, where data was fed
using new camera traps and other
sophisticated equipment.
T hree new t iger reserves in
Assam,
Maharashtra
and
Uttarakhand also improved the
census, the official said.

Amid violence, high polling in Bengal

Kolkata: Braving the sweltering
heat and oppressive humidity, peo
ple turned out in huge numbers on
Monday to exercise their right to
franchise in the West Bengal assem
bly polls in 31 constituencies, amid
reports of sporadic violence and
intimidation. The opposition parties
accused the ruling Trinamool
Congress of resorting to widespread
violence during the day, when the
second part of the first phase of the
assembly election took place cover
ing 13 constituencies in West
Midnapore and nine each in
Bankura and Burdwan districts.
According to Election Commission
of ficials, between 75 and close to
85 percent polling was seen in the
three districts till 5 p.m. However,
till 8 p.m., the of ficials could not

provide the final overall percentage.

"In West Midnapore, the percent
age was 84.71, Bankura recorded
78.87, and Burdwan 75.12," the
of ficials said. A polling of ficial,
Parimal Barui, deputed to a booth in
Pandabeshwar of Burdwan district,
fell ill on Sunday night and died on
Monday, the EC said.
At least 13 people were injured in
a clash between political rivals at
Jamuria of Burdwan district. "Three
four people have been detained,"
said a police officer.
An Election Commission of ficial
said in Delhi that orders have been
given for lodging an FIR against
Trinamool legislator Mohammed
Sohrab Ali, for entering a polling
booth. The presiding of ficer was
also removed.

Ali was not nominated by the

Trinamool as a candidate this time,
as he was given a twoyear jail term
by a court last year in a theft case.
An EC of ficial here said no one
was arrested anywhere for any poll
related offences, and there were no
incidents of booth capturing. "We
have also not received complaints
of any serious offences," the official
said. But the Left Front, Congress
and the Bharatiya Janata Party
alleged that the polls were far from
peaceful and fair.
Several crude bombs kept in a bag
were seized from about 50 metres
from a booth in Jamuria, while a
Communist Party of IndiaMarxist
polling agent had to be hospitalised
after he was attacked at a polling
booth in Chandrakona.

12

April 16-22, 2016

INDIA

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

India poised for big splash in maritime sector: Modi

Mumbai: India, with a 7,500km
long coastline, is set for a gigantic
leap in maritime sector with water
based trade, commercial and trans
port activities, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi said.
Inaugurating the first Maritime
India Summit (MIS) 2016 here,
Modi said it was the government's
endeavour to revive and restore
India's position of eminence in the
global maritime sector with gen
next infrastructure in ports, ship
ping and allied sectors.
"I must mention that our vast
coastline of 7500 km offers a huge
investment opportunity. Apart from
the length of the coastline, India's
maritime potential also lies in its
strategic location on all major ship
ping highways," Modi said.
BesidesIndia has an expansive
and productive hinterland through
which flows a network of mighty
rivers. The country's maritime agen
da will complement this ambitious
infrastructure plan for the hinter
land which is going on in parallel,
he added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the maritime exhibition in

Mumbai. (Photo: IANS)
Accordingly, the country has initi
ated many measures under 'Make
In India' to make the country a
global manufacturing hub, correc
tions in the Ease of Doing Business,
simplifications in crossborder trade
processes, and liberal licensing
regimes including defence sector
and shipbuilding.

The government has also taken

60 percent of defence items out of
licensing process, most FDI sectors
have been put on automatic
approval route and shipyards have
got infrastructure status on par
with ports.
Additionally, rebate of service tax
on coastal shipping has been hiked

to 70 percent and many exemptions

have been granted on customs and
central excise duties on inputs used
in shipbuilding.
Financial assistance has been pro
vided to promote the sector, exemp
tion in customs and central excise
has been given on bunker fuel for
Indian flagged container ships, sea
farers tax issues have been resolved
while the Indian Port Rail Corp will
focus on the lastmile port connec
tivity.
All these have led to FDI inflows
going up by 44 percent in past two
years, with 201516 seeing the
highest ever FDI inflow into India,
Modi said.
The highest ever cargo quantity
handled by major ports was in
2015, he said. Port ef ficiency
parameters had shown very good
improvement and the fastest aver
age turnaround time was notched in
2015.
T he Kandla Port in Gujarat
breached the 100 million traf fic
landmark with 20 percent improved
ef ficiency, the Jawaharlal Nehru

Port Trust clocked a net profit of

Rs.10 billion helped by a 12 percent
increase in ef ficiency, and the
Shipping Corp of India, Dredging
Corp of India and Cochin Shipyard
Ltd had registered higher profits
compared to the previous year, he
said.
In past two years, under the
National Perspective Plan of
Sagarmala Programme, 56 new
projects worth Rs.250 billion were
awarded to create additional port
capacity of 317 million tonnes per
year.
"Our vision is to increase port
capacity from 1,400 million tonnes
to 3,000 million tonnes by 2025.
We want to mobilize an investment
of one lakh crore, or one trillion
rupees, in the Port Sector to enable
this growth," Modi said.
Five new ports were planned to
meet the increasing demand of the
Exim trade which will rise in pro
portion with the fastgrowing
Indian economy, and new ports
were also being developed by sever
al coastal states.

DECLARE AMBEDKAR JAYANTI 'WORLD EQUALITY DAY'

United Nations: As the UN cele
brated B.R. Ambedkar's 125th
birth anniversary by examining
the relevance of his legacy to its
global development goals, the
world bo dy heard a plea to
declare April 14, the birthday of
the crusader against discrimina
tion, as "International Equality
Day".
"I believe Baba Saheb's lifelong
struggle for equality was not only
for the people of India but for
people around the globe," Punjab
Assembly Speaker Charnjit Singh
Atwal said at the Ambedkar
Jayant i ce le brat ion here on
Wednesday. T herefore, as his
"true tribute and honour", he said
that April 14 may be declared the
"International Equality Day" by
the UN.
Former New Zealand prime
minister Helen Clark, the keynote
speaker, said that Ambedkar's
ideals were relevant today as the
UN embarks on its ambitious pro
gramme of sustainable develop
ment goals (SDG).
"Ambedkar understood that
inequalities pose fundamental
challenges to wellbeing" and the
UN had adopted the elimination
of inequality as its goal, she said.
Clark is now the head of the UN
Development Program and a can
didate for Secretary General of
the UN in the upcoming elections.
The theme of the celebrations
organized for the first time by the
Indian Mission to the UN along
w ith
the
Kalpana
Saroj
Foundation and the Foundation
for Human Horizon was
"Combating inequalities for the

President, vice president

pay tributes to Ambedkar

Diplomats during a program organized on the eve of 125th birth

anniversary of Dr. BR Ambedkar at United Nations in New York.
(Photo: Mohammed Jaffer/IANS)
achievement of SDG" and includ
ed a panel discussion on the rele
vance of Ambedkar's message to
these goals.
India's
Permanent
Representative to the UN, Syed
Akbaruddin, said: "Last year,
when the UN adopted the univer
sal and transformative Agenda
2030 with its 17 Sustainable
Development Goals and 169 tar
gets, we, as Indians, not iced
traces of Ambedkar's vision in the
'Sustainable Development Goals'."
These could be seen in the par
allels between the SDG goals of
eliminating inequality and the
Const itut ion that Ambedkar
developed for India, enshrining
the principle of equaity, and the
UN's goal of achieving gender
equality and his commitment to
af firmat ive ly
empowering
women, he said.

More than 550 people diplo

mats, international of ficials, aca
demics, civil society activists and
Indian residents from across the
US filled a UN conference room
for the celebrations.

New Delhi: President Pranab

Mukherjee led the nation in pay
ing tributes to Babasaheb Bhim
Rao Ambedkar, principal archi
tect of the Indian Constitution, on
his 125th birth anniversary.
Mukherjee paid tributes at
Ambedkar's statue in Parliament
House lawns.
Vice President Hamid Ansari,
union ministers, leaders of politi
cal parties and people in large
number also paid floral tributes
to Ambedkar on the occasion.
So cial
Just ice
and
Empowerment Minister Thaawar
Chand Gehlot, among others, was
also present during the function.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
also paid tributes to Ambedkar at

Mhow, his birth place in Madhya

Pradesh.
Functions are being organized
all over the country to remember
the contribution of Ambedkar in
the building of the nation. The
day was observed as "So cial
Harmony Day", an official state
ment said.
"Portraits of Ambedkar are
being g arlanded at village
Panchayats and literature about
his life and work is being distrib
uted. Discussions about his teach
ing and work are also being
held," it added.
Born on April 14, 1891 to
Bhimabai Sakpal and Ramji in
Madhya Pradesh, Ambedkar died
on December 6, 1956.

Sonia pays tribute to Ambedkar

New Delhi: Congress president
Sonia Gandhi greeted citizens on
the occasion of the 125th birth
anniversary of B.R. Ambedkar,
main architect of the Indian
Constitution. She said that one of
the greatest icons of modern
India, Ambedkar's contribution
spread across every fie ld of
national development.
"His faith in democracy, which
he shared with Mahatma Gandhi,
Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel
and other stalwarts of the free

dom movement, is one of his

proud legacies to our country,"
she said, according to a state
ment.
As Ambedkar said in the "last
session of the constituent assem
bly, our Constitution has given
us not just a political democracy,
but also a social democracy,
guaranteeing equality of all and
empowerment of the weak and
the marginalized."
Gandhi said that the Indian
Const itut ion,
drafted
by

Ambedkar, is a unique af firma

t ion of fundamental human
rights and guarantees social
empowerment through constitu
tional means.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

April 16-22, 2016

OP-ED

13

22 envoys join Modi's Swachh

Bharat campaign

By Kavita Bajeli-Datt

New Delhi : Prime Minister

Narendra Modis Swachh Bharat
Abhiyan, a national initiative to
keep Indias cities and towns
clean, is getting a diplomatic
push with 22 ambassadors from
across continents coming togeth
er to raise funds for making one
Indian village opendefecation
free.
The idea to join the initiative
and make contribution for the
community occurred last year
when four ambassadors met over
a routine tennis doubles tourna
ment.
Serbian ambassador Vladimir
Maric took the lead and he was
joined by his tennis mates and
counterpart from Bosnia Sabit
Subasic, Guatemalan envoy
Georges de La Roche Du Ronzet
and Chile's mission head Andrs
Barb Gonzlez.
They came up with the idea to
raise funds by organising a char
ity tennis match for building eco

Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (Photo: IANS)

logical toilet in an Indian village.
The event would have also pro
moted tennis as a sport in India.
Serbian envoy Maric, who initi
ated the project, said, An idea
just came while we were talking
and enjoying tennis. It took us
time, but now we are ready with
Tennis4Toilets. We want the par
ticipants to play tennis and help

pay for ecological toilets.

The aim, he said, was to raise
enoug h money to make one
entire Indian village opendefe
cation free. "We are expecting
good participation both from pri
vate companies and individuals,
Maric told IANS.
Initially there were just the
four of them. The others like

Morocco's ambassador Larbi

Reffouh later became part of the
initiative, given its altruistic
appeal. Re f fouh told IANS:
Prime Minister Modis vision to
give importance to cleanliness
and health, particularly for the
rural population, is a project that
everyone would want to sup
port.
The twoday doubles charity
tennis tournament will be held
on April 1617. The first match
will be at the R K Khanna Tennis
Stadium and the second at the
Serbian
Embassy
in
Chanakyapuri.
For their initiative, they have
got the full backing of the corpo
rate world. From Tata to ITC, cor
porates have come out to sup
port this idea wholeheartedly.
The organizers are expecting
heads of diplomatic missions,
international organizations, cor
porates and staf f members to
join the matches. For the charity
match, they have got support
from the Ministry of External

Af fairs and are partnering with

the All Indian Tennis Association,
while the implementing agency
is Sulabh Sanitation Mission
Foundation.
The winners will play an exhi
bition match with Indian Davis
Cup Team members, Ref fouh
added.
Sulabh was roped in the ven
ture as they are the pioneers in
providing sanitation solutions to
the poor and several ambassa
dors, including US ambassador
to India Richard Verma, has
expressed confidence over the
expertise of the organization in
improving sanitation in India
and several African countries.
The funds generated through
the tennis tournament will also
be used in improving sanitation
facilities in dif ferent places in
near future.
T he organizers are inviting
people to send them mail at ten
nis4toilets@gmail.com by April
13 if they want to be part of the
IANS
matches.

PRESENT ECONOMIC SCENARIO

TO PERSIST AWHILE

By Amit Kapoor

he Reserve Bank of India (RBI), on April

5, released its first bimonthly mone
tary policy statement and with it, the
monetary policy report for April 2016. While
the statement detailed some of the decisions,
the policy report has an indepth assessment
of the current economic scenario and what to
expect in the months ahead.
The primary decision in the statement was
to reduce the repo rate by 25 basis points
from 6.75 percent to 6.5 percent. The move
is seen as following the broad principles of
stabilisation within the economy and the RBI
is accordingly seen as normalizing the policy
rates to banks so that they can lend to push
for growth.
The reverse repo was adjusted to six per
cent, down 25 basis points. Apart from this,
the minimum daily maintenance of cash
reserve ratio (CRR) is also adjusted to 90 per
cent from the present 95 percent. The RBI
has also indicated in the statement that a
fresh discussion paper would be put out on
how large borrowers are meeting a part of
their funding requirements from markets by
April 30, 2016. Apart from this, a draft circu
lar on large exposures framework will also
be issued for public comments in June 2016.
The underlying rationale for the decision has
been the contents of the monetary policy

On the macroeconomic front,

the economy is expected to grow
at 7.6 percent. (File photo: IANS)
report for April, which broadly speaking,
looks at four factors the macroeconomic out
look inflation and prices, aggregate demand
and supply, financial markets and liquidity
conditions and external environment.
On the macroeconomic front, the economy
is expected to grow at 7.6 percent. Inflation
has been in check due to sound fiscal and
monetary policies. Apart from this, two other
developments will have a bearing on target

ing inflation. One of these is the adoption of

the flexible inflation targeting (FIT) frame
work which positions maintaining inflation
between 4 2 percent. The other is the
adoption of the monetary policy committee
for a decision on the monetary policy of the
country which is at present taken by the RBI
governor.
The outlook for growth remains upbeat but
some factors can impinge on growth. These
include lower investment demands due to
corporate debts and tepid global output and
trade growth leading to a fall in exports. On
the positive side, the RBI mentions the gov
ernment's Startp initiative as well as strong
commitment to fiscal targets, and a thrust on
boosting infrastructure which could brighten
the growth prospects going ahead.
On the aggregate demand and supply
front, according to the report, domestic activ
ity seems to have slowed in the second half
of 201516. Agg reg ate demand was
restrained due to a combination of stalling of
fixed investment, weak rural consumption
and ongoing fiscal consolidation. Aggregate
supply seems to have moderated with the
impact of deficient monsoon on agriculture.
Similarly, GVA (gross value added) in indus
try benefited from a decline in input costs
while the services sector remained in an
expansion mode.
Dif ferent markets experienced dif ferent

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

things ranging from insulation to bouts of

volatility. Money, credit and bond markets
were relatively wellinsulated while foreign
exchange and equity markets experienced
bouts of volatility. Liquidity conditions tight
ened in the second half of the year. However,
the flow of resources to the corporate sector
remained buoyant. The overall conditions in
the markets remained robust.
On the external environment front, the
report noted that global economic activity
slackened further, and international trade
remained subdued while downside risks have
increased. Weak demand and low commodity
prices have rekindled fears of deflation in
some advanced economies which have led to
divergence of policy stances. The emerging
markets remain vulnerable to swings in sen
timents and capital outflows going ahead.
What the report seems to be suggesting is
that the present economic situation of weak
global growth with low global commodity
prices and subdued trade growth is going to
persist for some time in the future.
Overall, the statement and the report do
well to explain the global and Indian eco
nomic scenario at present and the monetary
policy response to the overall situation. In
the coming months, all eyes will be on the
global economy and the monetary policy
stances of various central banks across the
world.

14

April 16-22, 2016

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

LENS EYE

Two photographs from William Dalrymples first book of photographs, "The Writer's Eye".

When a famous writer takes to photography

By Mudita Girotra
New Delhi: For William Dalrymple,
the author of books like "City of
Djiins", "In Xanadu" and "White
Mughals", writing is an intellectu
al art while photography is emo
tional. The author, who recently
published his first book of photo
graphs, "The Writer's Eye", says
that it's a medium to express
beauty.
"Photog raphs don't convey
ideas, they express beauty.

Photography is visual not intellec

tual. It comes from a dif ferent
part of the brain," Dalrymple,
whose book is a collection of
black and white photographs
taken during his travels around
the world over the past 18
months, told IANS in an interac
tion. Dalrymple's photographs
have received tremendous appre
ciation, but he described writing
as his first love, saying it is an
intellectual exercise where para
graphs are framed and words are

carefully chosen.
"Writing conveys ideas, every
word reflects an idea. Writing is a
hig hly inte llectual art," said
Dalrymple whose books have won
numerous awards including the
Duf f Cooper Memorial Prize, the
Sunday Times Young Brit ish
Writer of the Year Award and the
Hemingway Award.
Explaining why he took photo
graphs from his cell phone and
not with a professional camera, he
said: "Photography should always

be about the eye, not the equip

ment".
"The Writer's Eye" is a compila
tion of black and white images
Dalrymple took during tre ks
through Ladakh, visits to Yazd,
Pasargardae and the deserts of
western Iran, a journey along the
Ganges and the marshes and
causeways of coastal Northumbria
and the desert fringes of Idaho.
Dalrymple said that he never
planned to publish his photo
g raphs, but writer Sidd harth

Dhanvant Shanghvi, who lends an

introduction to the book, con
vinced him to present the record
of his travels to the people.
Dalrymple's pictures redress the
perception of black and white as
unexciting and unemotional.
He himself challenged this per
ception saying: "Black and white
has the power that color can
never match. I love black and
white as it has an ability to sur
prise. Colored photographs are
everywhere."

Camel Country and (right) Power struggle, Pushkar: two of photographs by Sudhir Kasliwal on the desert state.

RAJASTHAN BEYOND DESERTS

New Delhi: When anybody men
tions Rajasthan, what first comes to
mind is a desert. In an attempt to
dispel this, photographer Sudhir
Kasliwal shows his love for the
state by presenting distinctly dra
matic and alluring shots of a
Rajasthan beyond the desert sands.
A collection of 65 photographs
that ce lebrate the light of
Rajasthan and the visual elements
was put up at Bikaner House from

April 10 to 17.
"Looking at his work in books or
in his portfolio, one walks away
from his art carrying the seductive
innocence of faces loved and left
behind, faces that bring us back to
his beloved Rajasthan, its land
scape and its walls with the patina
of history, states art historian
Aman Nath in a foreword to the
catalogue.
Kasliwal has travelled to the

heart of the desert, recording the

life and journeys of nomads, traced
the remnants of forgotten trade
routes and marveled at the archi
tectural brilliance of ancient edi
fices.
Consequently, this body of work
is at once a visual archive and an
examination of continuity and
change in a way of life that remains
outside the realm of iconography.
Thematically, many of these pho

tographs remain distinctly dramat

ic and full of allure.
Crimson veiled odhinis shine
through as much as sunburnt skin,
women washing at a pond with
waterpots, magnificent forts and
temples are motifs of the visual cul
ture that have been captured.
These images provide a breath
taking view of the stunning, limit
less landscape revealing the
frailty of human enterprise to mas

ter nature.
But Kasliwal does not ignore the
ingenuity of humans to survive the
harsh terrain. His studies that
blend building facades and individ
uals seep through in the haunts of
history and candor.
The titles of his photographs too
have a sense of deepened distinc
tions, while the show traverses
both geography as well as architec
Source: IANS
tural splendor.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

April 16-22, 2016

FASHION

15

Designer Punarvi Patel created Eat This Collection to reflect her passion for cooking.

Bollywood star Parineeti Chopra wearing a PUNARVI.

New York: A taste to quench every appetite.
Launched in August 2015, The Eat This
Collection by PUNARVI has already been
worn by several celebrities in both the US
and India. Stars like Parineeti Chopra, Lucy
Hale, Bhumi Pednekar, Peyton List, and Nina
Dobrev have been seen wearing designs from
this collection. It has also been featured on
many blogs and worn by top fashion direc
tors such as Aya Kanai, Executive Fashion
Director for Cosmopolitan and Seventeen
magazines in the US. Designer Punarvi Patel
created elegant and premium quality tshirts
that reflect her passion for cooking; the col
lection features designs that give women a
sophisticated yet playful alternative to the
basic tee by using colorful embroideries
depicting classic food items that are univer
sally loved by women.
It is so amazing to see the positive feed
back from some of my favorite celebrities.
They have such great taste and personal
style and given all their resources, for them
to wear a new brand like mine speaks vol
umes about our appeal. I could not be more
humbled, said Punarvi when speaking about
her success in dressing Alisters.
PUNARVI will be debuting their next col
lection on their website on April 22, 2016.
Punarvi Patel has a degree in fashion
design from Los Angeless acclaimed Fashion

PUNARVI sported by Aya Kanai, Executive Fashion Director

for Cosmopolitan and Seventeen magazines in the US.

Institute of Design & Merchandising. Upon

graduating she went on to lead design and
production roles at the fashion houses of
Naeem Khan and Oscar De La Renta in New
York City. Armed with that invaluable experi
ence and her innate creativity, she launched
her own clothing line. PUNARVI is designed
to focus on individuality and ingenuity, with
a perfect blend of style, creativity, and inno

Bollywood actress Bhumi Pednekar in a PUNARVI.

vation enriched by superior craftsmanship.

With an emphasis on quality, PUNARVI t
shirts are made from 100% Supima cotton.
PUNARVI has partnered with expert crafts
men who are passionate about their work
and are unrelenting in their desire to make
sure every piece of clothing is impeccable.
PUNARVI lives at the intersection of luxury
and playfulness, allowing the modern

woman to be uninhibited and free. PUNARVI

creates clothes that real women love to wear,
as an expression of themselves, striving to
make getting dressed the most enjoyable
part of their day.
For more information, please contact Arjit
Mehta at +1.844.PUNARVI or email at
press@punarvi.com. Website:
www.punarvi.com.

Stars like Lucy Hale, Peyton List and Nina Dobrev have been seen wearing designs from East this Collection by Punarvi Patel.

16

THE ROYAL VISIT

April 16-22, 2016

Prince William and wife Kate Middleton have been on a weeklong tour of India and Bhutan.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Bollywood superstars Aishwarya Rai Bachchan & Shah Rukh Khan chatting with Duchess of
Cambridge Kate Middleton at a charity event in Mumbai on April 10 as Madhuri Dixit looks on.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

THE ROYAL VISIT

Prince William along with wife Kate Middleton scattered flower petals at Banganga Water
Tank in Mumbai on April 10. The royal couple was welcomed with garlands
and a traditional Lavani dance.

India important to Queen: British royals go on

William & Kate
Kaziranga park safari

New Delhi/Mumbai: The Duke and

Duchess of Cambridge, Prince
William and Kate Middleton, on Mon
day visited Gandhi Smriti at Tees Jan
uary Marg in New Delhi and paid trib
utes to Mahatma Gandhi who fell to
an assassin's bullets there in 1948.
Prince William later said Queen Eliza
beth II was very fond of India and it
was "enormously important" to her.
The British royals also laid a wreath
at the Amar Jawan Jyoti the eternal
flame memorial dedicated to the 'Un
known Soldier' at India Gate.
The royal couple later attended an
official garden party reception at the
British High Commissioner's official
residence in the capital to celebrate
the Queen's 90th birthday.
Prince William said India's contri
bution to the Commonwealth was
"enormously important" to the Queen.
Speaking at the reception to mark the
90th birthday of the Queen, his
grandmother, Prince William said the
queen was very fond of India, the
biggest country in the Common
wealth. He also read out a message
from the Queen in which she sent best
wishes to India.
"I have fond memories of our previ
ous visits to India. This event today is
a wonderful opportunity to celebrate
the enduring friendship between our
two countries, our shared culture and
the business opportunities we can
create together," the Queen was quot
ed as saying in the message. On Sun

Kaziranga (Assam): Prince William

and Kate Middleton, the Duke and
Duchess of Cambridge, toured As
sam's famed Kaziranga National
Park on Wednesday and excitedly
clicked photographs when they spot
ted onehorned rhinos, elephants,
swamp deer and other wild animals
during their twohour safari.
The park, home to the rare one
horned rhinos, is a Unesco World
Heritage site.
"The prince and princess clicked
photographs with us inside the
camp. Our officers explained to them
about the geography of the park, its
flora and fauna, ecology and every
thing related to the park. They lis
tened to everything very carefully,"
said a forest guard.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi

hosted a lunch for Prince William
and Kate Middleton at Hyderabad
House in New Delhi on April 12.
day, the royal couple attended a wel
come charity dinner hosted by the
British Deputy High Commission in
Mumbai. The highprofile dinner was
attended by the Who's Who of Bolly
wood, who rolled out the red carpet
for the royal couple. On Tuesday,
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted
lunch for the royal couple at the Hy
derabad House in the capital, which
was once a princely residence and de
signed by British architect Sir Edwin
Lutyens. At the lunch, Rahul Sharma
played the santoor, rounding off his
performance with the Beatles classic
"Let It Be".

17

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William and Kate Middleton paid tribute to the
victims of 26/11 Mumbai terror attack at Hotel Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai on April 10.

Kate Middleton played cricket with sports icon Sachin Tendulkar and
underprivileged children at the Oval Maidan in Mumbai on April 10.

Assam Chief
Minister Tarun
Gogoi and his wife
Dolly Gogoi hosted
the royal couple at
a campfire
celebration of Bihu
festival at Tezur in
Assam on April 12.
"They also enquired about the
methods being adopted to reduce
the mananimal conflict along the
fringe areas of the park, and listened
carefully when officers of the park
told them about the methods em
ployed to reduce such conflict," said
another guard.
They also traveled on Wednesday

to the Kaziranga Discovery Centre

built by Elephant Family, a charity
founded by late Mark Shand, brother
of the Duchess of Cornwall Camilla,
who is the second wife of Charles,
Prince of Wales and father of Prince
William. From there they take a
break for a trip to Bhutan, and return
to Agra to view the Taj Mahal

Kate mixes Brit chic

with desi prints
he Duchess of Cambridge
Kate Middleton wore the cre
ation of Alexander McQueen
(red), Indian designer Anita Don
gre's Mughal prints inspired tunic,
British designer Jenny Packham's
royal blue beaded gown and Emil
ia Wickstea's cream dress too di
verse events during her India visit.
Kate once again proved her fash

Prince William and Kate Middleton, the Duke and Duchess

of Cambridge, at Gandhi Smriti in New Delhi on April 11
to pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi. (Photos: IANS & PTI)

April 16-22, 2016

Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton looks on as Prince William touches the creation of artist Bulbul
Sharma with his brush at Kaziranga Discovery Park campus of Assam on April 13.

ion prowess by propelling a little

known designer to the world stage
in Mumbai.
At the Oval Maidan, where the
royal couple played cricket with
local children and Indian celebrity
cricketers Sachin Tendulkar and
Dilip Vengsarkar, it was the
Duchess outfit, rather than her
batting skills, that caught the

worlds attention. The breezy bo

hemian dress introduced Anita
Dongre, who said her label is a
small brand in India, to the world.
Within hours of the cricket
event, Dongres IT staff called her
in panic to say that the website
had crashed as hundreds of peo
ple, presumably on a hunt for the
dress, logged on.

18

April 16-22, 2016

ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

The Kapil Sharma Show'

kickstarts with SRK
A scene from the The Jungle Book.

'The Jungle
Book' shines
at Indian box
office
Mumbai: Filmmaker Jon Favreau's 3D
liveanimation adventure fantasy film
The Jungle Book has received an
overwhelming response at the box
office in India and raked in over Rs.20
crore in just two days since its release.
The film, which collected Rs.10.09
crore on its opening day in India on
Friday, witnessed good growth on
Saturday by collecting Rs.13.51 crore,
thus taking its cumulative total to
Rs.23.6 crore, read a statement.
Released in India in four different
languages (English, Hindi, Tamil and
Telugu), the film brings a story
straight from the enchanting forest of
India and presents a modern take on
Rudyard Kipling's timeless classic,
originally published in 1894.
The film, with IndianAmerican actor
Neel Sethi as Mowgli, made its way
onto the screens in India a week ahead
of its release in the US.
Along with Neel, the film is support
ed by Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Idris
Elba, Lupita Nyong'o, Scarlett
Johansson and Christopher Walken.
Bollywood stars likes Irrfan Khan,
Priyanka Chopra, Nana Patekar,
Shefali Shah and Om Puri have lent
their voice for the Hindi version of
The Jungle Book.

'Theri' to release in
144 screens in US
Chennai: Tamil superstar Vijay's forthcom
ing actioner "Theri" will release in 144
screens in the US with special premieres.
According to CineGalaxy Inc, the distrib
utor of the film in North America, this is
tipped to be the biggest release for a Vijay
film in recent years.
In an official statement, CineGalaxy Inc
confirmed that the film will be released in
144 screens across USA in places such as
Fremont, San Jose, Los Angeles, Dublin,
Roseville, Manchester and Newark among
other locations.
Directed by Atlee, Vijay will be seen as a
police officer and a doting father in the
film. "Theri", which has music by G.V
Prakash Kumar, also stars Amy Jackson
and Samantha Ruth Prabhu.

New Delhi: Amid a lot of rib tickling humor,

dancing and singing, ace comedian Kapil
Sharma shot the first episode of his upcom
ing comedy show "The Kapil Sharma Show"
here at the Indira Gand hi Stadium on
Monday. Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh
Khan was the first guest on the show.
The special episode, which will be aired on
Sony Entertainment Television on April 23,
took the audience on a laughter ride and
made them recall all the fun and madness
that Kapil and his team Sunil Grover, Ali
Asgar, Kiku Sharda, Sumona Chakravarti and
Chandan Prabhakar used to do earlier on
"Comedy Nights with Kapil".
As expected, the show started with Kapil
making a grand entry through the crowd
singing the popular song "Aankhon Ke
Saagar" while greeting his fans all the way to
the stage.
Kapil, who is making a comeback on TV
with "The Kapil Sharma Show" and his co
stars were cheered by their fans, who came
to see the show and Shah Rukh in large num
bers. While many were chanting names like
"Gutthi", "Palak" and "Dadi" popular char
acters from "Comedy Nights with Kapil"
the audience was in for a surprise when
none of the actors played any of their previ
ous roles and came out with fresh new parts
that made them laugh throughout.
The only thing which did not look changed

at all was former

cricketer and BJP
leader Navjot Singh
Sidhu, who will appear
as a permanent guest
on this show as well.
He was joined at the
venue by BCCI secre
tary Anurag Thakur.
T he
enthusiasm
among the audience
went to a dif ferent
level when Shah Rukh
made his entry and
started pulling Kapil's
leg.
Shah Rukh, who
appeared on the show
for the promotion of his
new film "Fan", even had
a funny chat with the
audience along w ith
Kapil wherein the duo
Standup comedian Kapil Sharma during a press
took a dig at the Odd
conference in New Delhi.
Even rule in Delhi.
t was followed by small acts of other talked about his love life with his wife Gauri
actors. While Ali appeared as a courtesan Khan. The biggest moment of the night was
asking Shah Rukh for a kiss, Kiku came in as when Sunil changed his getup on stage and
the courtesan's husband and a nawab, and appeared as Gaurav, Shah Rukh's character
Sunil was seen as a women Haryanvi police from "Fan". He started dancing on the song
of ficer. During the show, Shah Rukh even "Jabra Fan" and was joined by Shah Rukh
shared some of his childhood memories and and the audience.

MASAAN', 'PARCHED' AWARDED AT

FILM FEST IN LOS ANGELES
Los Angeles: Director Neeraj Ghaywan's
"Masaan" and Leena Yadav's "Parched"
were awarded at the 14th annual Indian
Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA)here.
Actor Sanjay Mishra bagged the award
for Best Actor for his work in "Masaan"
under Grand Jury category and
"Parched" won the award for Best
Feature under Audience Choice Awards
category, read a statement.
This year, the festival showcased near
ly 30 films including features, documen
taries, and shorts at ArcLight Hollywood
here. It also featured the North American
premiere of Anu Menons feature
Waiting starring actress Kalki Koechlin,
who was in attendance at the ceremony.
The film also features actor Naseeruddin
Shah in a lead role.
While director Vetrimaaran's
Visaranai, a Tamil thriller film based on
the novel "Lock Up" by M.
Chandrakumar, received Grand Jury
Prize for Best Feature, the Best Short
award was bagged by Playgrounds.
The Best Actress award honoured
actresses Tannishtha Chatterjee, Radhika
Apte, Surveen Chawla and Lehar Khan
for their work in Parched.
Special jury mentions were made for
both Masaan and Hansal Mehta's
Aligarh. Referring to the decision of
awarding Visaranai, the jury said: This

Actress Richa Chadda and director Neeraj Ghaywan during a

special screening of the film 'Masaan' in New Delhi.
film took us to a very specific time and
place while also shedding light on a uni

versal phenomena of displacement and

vulnerability.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD

April 16-22, 2016

19

Rajini, Priyanka honored with Padma awards

he packed Darbar Hall of
Rashtrapati Bhavan reverber
ated to applause when super
star Rajinikanth walked up to
receive the Padma Vibhushan from
President Pranab Mukherjee who
also conferred Padma awards on
actress Priyanka Chopra and ten
nis player Sania Mirza.
The awards, conferred in three
categories Padma Vibhushan,
Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri,
were given away to prominent per
sonalities from different walks of
life, as the assembled gathering,
including relatives and friends of
the awardees, kept on clapping
and cheering.
Looking dapper in a beige churi
dar kurta teamed with a grey
Nehru jacket, Rajinikanth acknowl
edged the big round of applause
and cheering from those gathered
with a big smile. His wife Latha
Rajinikanth was also among the
invitees.
The southern super star enjoys a
massive fan follow ing and is
endearingly called 'Thalaivar' by
his wellwishers. He has worked
both in Hindi and Southern films

Padma Awards are the most prestigious honors in the country. (Photos: IANS)
over his three decade long journey
as an actor.
Priyanka Chopra, who has gar
nered international acclaim with
her stint in the American TV series
"Quantico", came attired in a lime
green sari to receive her Padma
Shri. She acknowledged the appre

ciation from the crowd but kept

her eyes downwards while return
ing to her seat.
Priyanka, who looked stunning,
was being followed by admirers
after the function was over. In fact
security persons had to escort her
from the main hall to the other

MY LIFE NOT INTERESTING

ENOUGH FOR BIOPIC: SRK
ollywood superstar Shah
Rukh Khan, who has been
entertaining fans for over
25 years now, feels his life is not
so interesting that a biopic can
be made on it.
Asked whether he would like to
see a biopic on his life just like
Indian cricketers Sachin
Tendulkar and Mahendra Singh
Dhoni, Shah Rukh, who was pro
moting his upcoming film 'Fan',
quipped: "I would love Sachin
Tendulkar to play my role". "I
don't know. I'm not good enough
I feel. All the names mentioned
are wonderful, colorful lives. I
really don't know if my life is
interesting like that to be made
into a biopic," added the 50year
old actor. "If you ask me who

The 50yearold superstar is gearing up for the release

of his film Fan. (Photo: IANS)
should play my role, then you
have to ask the director who
wishes to make a film on me. I
can't tell who could be a perfect.
Though I feel AbRam and Aryan

room. The former Miss World has

hit international headlines with
her role of an FBI agent Alex
Parrish in "Quantico". The actress,
who is currently riding high on the
success of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's
"Bajirao Mastani", has even bagged
a Hollywood film, "Baywatch",

Delhibased
Priyadarshini
Chaterjee was
announced as
the winner of
the FBB Femina
Miss India World
2016 this week.
Bangalore
based Sushruthi
Krishna and
Lucknow's
Pankhuri
Gidwani were
named the first
and second run
nersup. (Photo:
Courtesy, life
andtrendz.com)

could be a good choice," he said.

'Fan', directed by Maneesh
Sharma, will feature Shah Rukh
in a double role of a superstar
and his obsessed fan.

'LOVE GAMES': DANGEROUSLY MANIPULATIVE

n erotic thriller, Love Games is about
love, lust and frustrations in extramar
ital affairs, and "survival of the cun
ning". The plot revolves around a nympho
maniac widow, Ramona (Patralekha), her
'toyboy' Sameer Saxena aka Sam (Gaurav
Arora), a businessman's son and his love
interest Alisha Asthana, an abused wife of a
lawyer. High on drugs and to induce some
excitement into her sex life with Sam,
Ramona devises a scheme based on a novel
that she had read, Love Games. The rules

alongside Dwayne Johnson and

Zac Efron.
The President presented five
Padma Vibhushan, 11 Padma
Bhushan and 36 Padma Shri
awards at the function. Three of
the listed Padma Shri awardees
could not make it to the function.

are simple. At any party, they would have to

spot a couple who are in love, then each one
of them must get close to the partner of the
opposite sex and try to bed them. Whoever
seduces their target first, is the winner and
the loser will have to supply the winner
with drugs for one year.
The games, which begin as an experiment
for exhilaration, gradually turn into danger
ous liaisons of terrifying proportions, as the
rules too change in order to boost the
adrenaline rush. While the premise of the

The biggest drawback of the film is its

writing. (Photo: IANS)
film is stimulating, the conniving plot is
complex yet predictable and the direction is
a tad tacky. The narration begins on a staid
erotic note and the first two acts just drag.
Just when you think the film is winding up,

it changes gear entering the thriller zone

and that's what elevates the viewing quo
tient. The performances by the lead cast are
by far good. Patralekha as Ramona nails her
character to perfection. With her poise,
demeanor and defiance, she renders a zesty
performance with oodles of spontaneity and
panache. Portraying his angst and resent
ment, in an understated manner, Gaurav
Arora as Sam, the guy torn between two
women and with suicidal tendencies, is sin
cere. Tara Alisha Berry as Alisha Asthana,
the traumatized doctor wife of a leading
Lawyer, living on painkillers is simply
appealing.

20

April 16-22, 2016

Canadian PM to
apologize for 1914
Komagatu Maru incident
Ottawa: Canadian Prime
Minister Just in Trudeau
announced on Monday that he
will of fer a full apology for a
government decision in 1914
to deny entry of Sikhs in the
country.
"As a nation, we should never
forget the prejudice suf fered
by the Sikh community at the
hands of the Canadian govern
ment of the day. We should not
and we will not," Xinhua quoted
Trudeau as saying.
"That is why, next month, on
May 18, I will stand in the
House of Commons and offer a
full apology for the Komagata
Maru incident," he said.
The chartered Japanese ship
Komagata Maru sailed into the
Vancouver harbor on May 23,

1914, with 376 people from

Punjab. Most of them were
Sikhs.
T he Canadian government
refused to allow the passengers
to disembark and Komagata
Maru sat in the harbor for two
months. On July 23, 1914, the
Komagata Maru was escorted
out to sea by a Canadian naval
cruiser and returned to India,
where 20 people were killed as
they tried to disembark and the
others were jailed.
Canadian Defense Minister
Harjit Sajjan, who was the first
SikhCanadian to command a
Canadian army reserve regi
ment, tweeted on Monday that
he is "truly honoured" by
Trudeau's commitment to a for
(IANS)
mal apology.

Guptas leave South Africa

amid furore over Zuma ties

Johannesburg: Two brothers of South Africa's belea

guered Gupta family have quietly left the country, a
media report said on Sunday, amid growing calls for a
probe into the Indianorigin business barons' alleged
influence over the government through President Jacob
Zuma. With enough luggage for 20 people' Ajay and
Atul Gupta left in their private jet from Lanseria airport,
near here' around 11pm on Thursday, according to a
report in City Press.
They left the country hours after.
It has also been reported that their Saxonwold resi
dence in Johannesburg was deserted. Their third broth
er Rajesh lives in Dubai.
The Dubai connection is linked to department of min
eral resources minister Mosebenzi Zwane and Des van
Rooyen' who was appointed minister of finance after
President Zuma sacked Nhlanhla Nene. The newsspaper
Sunday Times reported that the two made mystery trips
to Dubai late last year while the Guptas were there.
Ajay and Atul were the cochairs of Oakbay
Investments, while Atul was the chair of Oakbay
Resources and Energy.
The three Gupta brothers Ajay, Atul and Rajesh
have been under immense pressure for the past few
months after several highranking members of the rul
ing African National Congress (ANC), including the cur

2 Indian medical students stabbed

to death in Ukraine, 1 injured
New Delhi: Two Indian students at a
medical college in Ukraine were
stabbed to death while another sus
tained injuries in the attack.
Those who died in the Sunday
attack allegedly carried out by three
Ukrainian nationals have been iden
tified as Pranav Shaindilya from
Muzaf farnagar and Ankur Singh
from Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh.
Indrajeet Singh Chauhan,
hailing from Agra, was also stabbed
and was recuperating in a hospital.
"In an unfortunate event, three
Indian students in Uzhgorod
Medical College (Ukraine) were

stabbed by three Ukrainian nation

als at around 3 am in the morning
of Sunday, April 10," said External
Af fairs Ministry Spokesperson
Vikas Swarup.
Shaindilya was a third year stu
dent while Mr Singh was a fourth
year student at the college."Based
on his (Chauhan) statement, the
police apprehended the Ukrainian
nationals who were trying to cross
the
Ukrainian
border.
Passports/documents of the three
Indian students and bloodstained
knife were reportedly recovered
from the Ukrainian nationals," the

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

DIASPORA

MEA spokesman said.

He said Indian Embassy in Kiev
was informed of the incident and it
has been trying to ascertain the
facts from the police, the University
authorities and other local contacts.
"The Embassy has spoken to the
families of the two deceased stu
dents. All necessary actions are
being taken to complete the formal
ities for sending the two bodies to
India. The Embassy is also taking up
the matter re lated to safety of
Indian students strongly with the
Foreign Of fice of Ukraine," said
(PTI)
Swarup.

Embassy of India in
Hanoi, Vietnam
participated in the
cultural function
organized by the
Hanoi Union of
Friendship
Organizations and
the Vietnam
Buddhist Sangha
on April 4.

Brothers Ajay and Atul Gupta (Photo: mg.co.za)

rent deputy minister of finance, claimed that the family
had of fered them government positions, including
appointments as ministers.
The Guptas have denied these allegations, which have
been termed as "state capture."
Zuma's son Duduzane held a directorship in the com
pany after starting there as an intern a few years ago.
He also resigned amid the political storm over the issue.
The Guptas had built up a huge empire with interests
in mining and media among others after settling in
South Africa about two decades ago from their ances
tral home in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, hoping to capi
talize on the economic opportunities presented by the
new democratic government headed by Ne lson
(PTI)
Mandela.

Indian man's throat slit

in London for row over
a few pounds
London: An Indianorigin man has
died after his throat was slit at a
street near his home in west
London as a result of what has been
described by some witnesses as a
"petty row over a few pounds."
Sahil Roy, 28, was pronounced
dead near his housing estate in
Isleworth last evening after emer
gency crew attempted to save his
life for over an hour.
A Metropolitan Police statement
said: "A murder investigation has
been launched following the death
of a man in Isleworth. Police were
called at 4:05 PM (UK time) on
Sunday to Summerwood Road in
Isleworth following reports of man
suffering from a stab injury.
"Officers, the London Ambulance
Service and London's Air
Ambulance attended. T he man,
believed to be aged in his late 20s,
was pronounced dead at the scene
at 5:18 PM.
"A postmortem examination will
be held in due course. Detectives
from the Homicide and Major Crime

Command (HMCC) are investigat

ing."
A 22yearold man has been
arrested on suspicion of murder
and is being held at a south London
police station, the police confirmed.
Roy is said to have been pushed
to the ground and stabbed in the
neck before his attackers fled.
Larissa Maher, a friend of Roy's,
said: "He was an easily approach
able person. He was really lovely.
He wouldn't say boo to a ghost. We
have a lot of bad people on the
estate, but he wasn't one of them
and you wouldn't expect it to be
him.
"A lot of people on the estate are
in tears. It's very hard for people. A
lot of people came out to pay their
respects which shows how much
people loved him.
"His brother came down and saw
it as well, he must be going through
hell. You can't feel safe around here.
People just need to not carry knives
(IANS)
around."

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

SUBCONTINENT

India seeks early repatriation

of prisoner's body from Pak
New Delhi: India sought the "ear
liest possible" repatriation of the
mortal remains of an Indian held
in a Pakistan prison who died this
week.
Our acting high commissioner
met D G South Asia in the
(Pakistan) ministry of foreign
affairs and asked for earliest pos
sible repatriat ion of mortal
remains, external af fairs min
istry spokesman Vikas Swarup
tweeted. He said that, according
to the Pakistan government,
Kirpal Singh died on April 11 at
2.55 p.m. follow ing a heart
attack.
"We await further details,"
Swarup stated.
Kirpal, 54, died at a hospital in
Pakistan's Kot Lakhpat Jail. He
was alleged to have been involved
in a bombing at Faisalabad
Railway Station in 1991 and sen

Kirpal Singh. (File Photo: IANS)

tenced to death for spying and
terrorism in Pakistan.
He was transferred to a hospital
on Monday after his health dete
riorated suddenly, jail ofcials

INDIASRI LANKA
BRIDGE ON CARDS:
NITIN GADKARI
New Delhi: India
T he project was
and Sri Lanka
also discussed by
could soon nalize
Prime Minister
an agreement for
Narendra Mo di
building a bridge
with his counter
connecting both
part during the
the
countries,
latter's
recent
union
Road
visit," Gadkari said
T r a n s p o r t ,
last year.
Hig hways
and
Addressing cor
Shipping Minister
respondents of
Nitin Gadkari said.
foreign media and
Nitin Gadkari
"T he project is
others on Monday,
(File Photo)
under considera
Gadkari said the
tion, it is under discussion. But rst Maritime India Summit
nothing has been nalised," 2016 to be inaugurated by
Gadkari told journalists at the Modi in Mumbai on April 14
Foreign Correspondents Club will be a game changer in the
here.
development of India's coastal
He said discussions have been and port infrastructure.
he ld on the issue w ith Sri
The threeday summit being
Lankan President Maithripala organised in pursuance of the
Sirisena and Prime Minister government's policy of giving
Ranil Wickremasinghe.
prime importance to develop
The Sri Lankan side is also ing infrastructure is aimed at
"interested" in the project, he attracting potential investors to
said, adding that even the Asian the vast opportunities in the
Development Bank has made a maritime sector.
recommendation to that effect.
Representatives and experts
Wickremasing he said in from 40 countries, in addition
Colombo on March 23 that no to India, will participate in the
formal talks between India and summit, where South Korea is
Sri Lanka have started yet on the partner country, he said.
the project.
Gadkari, who had earlier
The issue had gured in Sri favoured the Sethu Samundran
Lankan parliament as well.
project, declined to answer any
"The Asian Development Bank question on the same, saying
is ready to fully nance a the model code of conduct is in
bridge building project connect place in Tamil Nadu in view of
ing Rameshwaram to Sri Lanka. the assembly election.

said. In 2013, an Indian death

row convict Sarabjit Singh was
attacked by two other inmates at
the Kot Lakhpat Jail. He later suc
cumbed to his wounds at the hos
pital. On Tuesday, a sister of
Kirpal protested at the Attari
Wagah integrated checkpost on
the IndiaPakistan border over his
death.
"My brother Kirpal has been
murdered just like Sarabjit was
earlier. The Pakistani jail authori
ties are responsible for his death,"
Jag ir Kaur said during the
protest.
She was accompanied by many
other protestors, among them
Dalbir Kaur, the elder sister of
Sarabjit. The family demanded
that Kirpal Singh's body be hand
ed over to them for cremation at
his native village in Punjab's
Gurdaspur district.

April 16-22, 2016

21

Pak PM leaves for London,

holds meeting with aides
Islamabad: Pakistan Prime
Minister Nawaz Sharif left for
London for a "personal and
medical checkup". Be fore
departing, Sharif held a meeting
with Interior Minister Chaudhry
Nisar Ali and Punjab Chie f
Minister and his brother
Shahbaz Sharif as well as other
senior aides at Lahore's Allama
Iqbal Airport.
Sharif discussed w ith the
aides the implications of the
Panama Papers scandal and the
current political situation in the
country, Dawn online quoted
sources as saying.
"It's just a personal visit and
Sharif will not hold political
meetings during his stay in
London," said Asif Kirmani, the
prime minister's political secre
tary.
Sharif 's daughter Maryam

Pakistan Prime Minister

Nawaz Sharif. (Photo: IANS)
Nawaz, who is tipped to take
over the reins of the party in the
future, posted a photo of the
prime minister before leaving
the country.
"Nawaz will spend one week
in London and would also visit
doctors for medical treatment,"
added Kirmani.
Meanwhile,
President
Mamnoon Hussain has left for
Istanbul on a threeday visit to
attend an Org anisat ion of
Islamic Cooperation conference.

F16 supplied to Pakistan

to fight terror: Carter
New Delhi: US Defense Secretary
Ashton Carter said the US has
given F16 ghter jets to Pakistan
to ght terrorism and it approved
using them in Pakistan's Federally
Administered Tribal Areas where
the Taliban have a strong foothold.
He also said the US takes "terror
ism emanating from Pakistan very
seriously".
India has expressed its concern
over the US decision to sell eight F
16s to Pakistan, with Defense
Minister Manohar Parrikar con
veying the government's concerns
to Carter, who is presently visiting
India.
At a joint press conference with
Parrikar, on being asked if the US
was trying to be a trusted ally of
India while supplying the F16
ghters to Pakistan, Carter said:
"We do try to be trusted partner of
India."
He said the US has given some
unique technologies to India. "We
don't have an agreement like that
with other countries."
Asked about the same issue,
Parrikar said he did express his
concerns to Carter, and the US
defence secretary assured him the
ghter jets would be used against

US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter with Union Defense Minister

Manohar Parrikar in New Delhi. (Photo: IANS/PIB)
terror. Drawing a parallel with
India's re lat ions w ith Russia,
Carter said the US values its rela
tion with Pakistan.
"India also has relation with
other countries like Russia. We
respect that," he said.
"W hat we do in Pakistan is
directed towards counter terror
ism. We too have suf fered from
terrorism emanating from the ter
ritory,
more
specically

Afghanistan," Carter said.

"Pakistan has used F16 in oper
at ions in FATA (Federally
Administered Tribal Areas). We
have approved it. We take terror
ism emanating from Pakistan very
seriously," Carter added.
The US in midFebruary con
rmed about supplying Pakistan
eight F16 ghter aircraft worth
$699.04 million despite protests
from India.

22 April 16-22, 2016

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

INTERNATIONAL

Panama Papers: Mossack

Fonseca headquarters raided
Panama city: Police in Panama
have raided the headquarters of
the law firm Mossack Fonseca at
the centre of a massive data
leaks dubbed as "Panama
Papers".
Prosecutors said the operation
had been carried out at the
of fices of Mossack Fonseca in
Panama city "without incident or
interference", BBC reported.
The leaked "Panama Papers"
show how wealthy people use
of fshore firms to evade tax and
avoid sanctions.
The firm has denied wrongdo
ing. It said it is the victim of a
hack and that the information is
being misrepresented.
Panamanian President Juan
Carlos Varela has promised to
work with other countries to
improve transparency in its of f

Ramon Fonseca Mora, partner of the lawyers office Mossack Fonseca,

in Panama City.(Photo: Xinhua/IANS
shore financial industry.
Police carried out the raid
along w ith of ficials from an
organised crime unit.
Of ficers set up a perimeter
around the headquarters while

prosecutors entered the of fices

to search for documents.
The attorney general's of fice
said the aim had been "to obtain
documentation linked to the
information published in news

EU regulators demand tax

transparency from multinationals

articles that establish the use of

the firm in illicit activities".
T he statement added that
searches would also take place at
subsidiaries of the firm.
Panama government promised
an investigation soon after news
reports emerged more than a
week ago based on more than 11
million documents from the firm.
The firm tweeted [in Spanish]
that it "continues to cooperate
with authorities in investigations
made at our headquarters".
Many other countries were
probing possible financial crimes
by the rich and powerful people
in the aftermath of the leak.
Mossack Fonseca partner
Ramon Fonseca said the compa
ny had been hacked by servers
based abroad and has filed a
complaint with the Panamanian

attorney general's office.

Fonseca served as a minister in
Valera's government but stepped
aside earlier this year after sepa
rate allegations linked the firm to
the corruption scandal engulfing
the Brazilian state oil company
Petrobras.
The leaked documents were
passed to German newspaper
Sueddeutsche Zeitung, which
then shared them w ith the
Internat ional Consort ium of
Investigative Journalists.
The documents show how the
company has helped clients laun
der money, dodge sanctions and
evade tax.
Mossack Fonseca said it has
operated beyond reproach for 40
years and never been accused or
charged with criminal wrongdo
ing.

Pak ready to probe 'Panama

Papers', says minister

Pakistan Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan. (File Photo: IANS)
A protester throws an egg at the parliament building during a protest in
Reykjavik, capital of Iceland. (Photo: Xinhua/IANS)
London: Tax avoidance by multinational cor
porations will be forced into the open under
proposals to be unveiled by European regula
tors following the Panama Papers revela
tions.
The European Commission will put for
ward legislation requiring large multination
als operating in Europe to disclose profits
earned and taxes paid in each of the EUs 28
member states, as well as fiscal havens, The
Guardian reported.
All large companies trading in Europe,
including subsidiaries of nonEuropean busi
nesses, would have to publish how much tax
they pay outside the EU, including detailed
countrybycountry information on their
finances in tax havens. The commission was
already working on measures to force inter
national companies to disclose their earnings
and tax bills in the EU. Following the leak of
11.5 million files exposing the tax secrets of

the global elite, officials have toughened up

their plans to include tax havens.
Lord Hill, the European commissioner in
charge of financial services, confirmed that
the proposals were being extended to tax
havens, in response to the public outcry over
the revelations in the Panama papers.
The massive data leak had shifted the pub
lic mood and it was sensible to reflect that
in the proposals, he said.
The original proposals were drawn up after
public outcry over large corporations, such
as Apple and Starbucks, paying little tax
despite earning healthy profits. The EU loses
up to 70 billion euros a year through corpo
rate tax avoidance, according to the
European parliament.
Under the plans all multinational compa
nies with a turnover greater than 750 mil
lion euros would be obliged to meet tougher
standards on public disclosure.

Islamabad: The Pakistan government was

ready to investigate 'Panama Papers' through
the Federal Investigative Agency (FIA) and
Pakistan TehreekeInsaaf chairman Imran
Khan can name any official to probe the mat
ter, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali
Khan said. 'Panama Papers' are an unprece
dented leak of 11.5 million files from an off
shore law firm Mossack Fonseca, based in
Panama. Nisar Ali Khan made the statement
at a press conference in Islamabad and
offered Imran Khan to name any FIA official
to head the investigation, Geo News reported.
"We should move forward from politics of
objection, threats and rallies and should
rather focus on the resolution of the issue,"
Nisar Ali Khan said.
Imran Khan demanded that Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif should tender his resignation
after "losing moral authority" to keep the
post amid Panama Papers' revelations.
In an "address to the nation" from his Bani
Gala residence, Imran Khan said the govern
ment should form an inquiry commission led

by the chief justice of Pakistan.

"T he commission should also include
whitecollar crime experts and an audit firm
that follows the trail of money to determine
where it leads," he said.
Imran Khan gave the government time till
April 24 to take an appropriate action over
the issue, after which he added he will
announce a future course of action.
Leaked confidential documents, spanning
over nearly 40 years that spell out the exten
sive use of tax havens by politicians, world
leaders and celebrities to launder money and
evade taxes through one of the most secre
tive companies the Panamaian law firm
Mossack Fonseca, have taken the world by
storm. T he documents identify many
Pakistani business tycoons and politicians,
including late twotime Prime Minister
Benazir Bhutto as well certain members of
Sharif family (excluding Nawaz Sharif and his
brother Chief Minister of Punjab Shahbaz
Sharif) to have used tax havens to hide their
wealth.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

INTERNATIONAL

April 16-22, 2016

23

Experts give thumbs up to

IndiaUS logistics pact
New Delhi: The 'in principle' agreement
between India and US to conclude an agree
ment for providing military logistics may
prove beneficial for India as long as it is clear
that Americcan troops will not be stationed
on Indian soil, experts say.
The announcement on a Logistics Exchange
Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) that
came during US Defence Secretary Ashton
Carter's justconcluded India visit is already
facing political skepticism, which was expect
ed for the agreement that has been pending
for 10 years, with the former Congressled
United Progressive Alliance (UPA) govern
ment softpedalling on it.
It also comes at a time when US has been
vocal about the growing Chinese activities in
the South China Sea and has repeatedly on
stressed 'freedom of navigation'.
India on the other hand has been express
ing concerns over terror emanating from
Pakistan, with the proximity between
Pakistan and China being another issue.
The major concern expressed by different
political parties for long remained that India,
which had chosen to remain nonaligned post
independence and through the Cold War peri
od, must not enter the NATO block by sup
porting US troops.
Former defence minister and Congress
leader AK Antony went to the extent of
terming the agreement "disastrous", while the
Left has also opposed it.
However, as both sides Carter and his
Indian counterpart, Manohar Parrikar clari
fied, the renamed agreement LEMOA (it was
previously the Logistics Support Agreement)
would not involve the presence of US troops
in India.
The agreement, according to available
information, will be countryspecific for India
and will focus on providing support that will
primarily include food, fuel and stores.
Former Indian Army chief General V.P.
Malik said the agreement is likely to be bene
ficial for India. "This agreement has been

Congress opposes
logistics support
agreement with US

US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter calls on the Prime Minister

Narendra Modi, in New Delhi. Photo: IANS/PIB)
floating around for ten years, but India had
reservations. Now that the two sides have
agreed, it is possible that the agreement has
been modified," General Malik, who was in
of fice from 1997 to 2000, a period which
included the 1999 Kargil conflict, told IANS.
"The basic opposition was that we do not
want American troops to be stationed in
India, nor do we want to support the process
of the forces striking somewhere else," he
added. "I feel the Indian and US governments
have agreed on a draft that meets these two
requirements. It is a useful agreement as long
as we are not seen to be supporting ameri
cans fighting somewhere else," Gen. Malik
noted.

Obama vows to keep momentum in fight against IS

Washington: US President Barack Obama
pledged to keep up momentum in the ght
against the Islamic State (IS), saying the 66
member coalition of nations is "on the
offensive.
"Today, on the ground in Syria and in
Iraq, IS is on the defensive," Obama told
reporters after meeting with his national
security team at the headquarters of
Central Intelligence Agency. "We have
momentum, and we intend to keep that
momentum."
Though the IS has managed to advance in
some areas of Syria and Iraq, it has not had
a successful major offensive operation on
the ground there since last summer, Obama
said.
On Wednesday, the Pentagon said the US
led military operation against the IS has
entered its second phase with the aim to
dismantle the group, Xinhua news agency
reported. The rst phase focused on stop
ping IS militants from advancing and

squashing its ability to operate as a conven

tional force, said Colonel Steve Warren, the
spokesman for the USled coalition ghting
the IS.
At the CIA headquarters, Obama stressed
the importance of ending the Syrian civil
war, calling it the "only way to truly destroy
ISIL (IS).
"So we continue to work for a diplomatic
end to this awful conict," he said.
The UN special envoy for Syria Staffan de
Mistura said Wednesday that the second
round of proximity talks aimed at broker
ing a political end to the Syrian crisis had
started. To date UNmediated talks have
made little progress to end the veyear
war which has killed over a quarter million
people and displaced millions of others.
On Wednesday, Obama also noted that as
the coalition has made it harder for foreign
terrorists to reach Syria and Iraq there is an
"uptick" in the number of IS ghters head
ing to Libya.

New Delhi: The Congress opposed the gov

ernment's move to sign a military logistics
support agreement with the US, saying the
Narendra Modi government does not have
the mandate to push India into any mili
tary alliance.
"Though America is India's strategic
partner, we have our strong reservations
and concerns against this agreement,"
Deputy Leader of Opposition in the Rajya
Sabha Anand Sharma told reporters here.
Sharma added that India has strategic
relations with America and also with
Russia, China, Japan and Indonesia.
He said that India had maintained bal
ance among its various strategic partners
but had never been part of a power bloc.
Sharma also said the Modi government
has not got the mandate to push India into
any military alliance which could prove
detrimental to its interest in the long term.

24 April 16-22, 2016

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

SPORTS

IPL 2020

Move 13 IPL matches out

of Maharashtra: Court
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court
directed the Board of Control for
Cricket in India (BCCI) to shift all
Indian Premier League (IPL)
matches out of Maharashtra after
April 30 in view of the severe
water shortage in the state.
The matches scheduled until
April 30 can, however, be held in
the state, the court said, adding
that it could not afford to ignore
the plight of people af fected by
severe drought.
T he decision means that the
BCCI will have to relocate 13 IPL
matches, including the final of the
lucrative Twenty20 tournament.
Maharashtra was originally sched
uled to host 20 IPL matches in
Mumbai, Nagpur and Pune. All
three cities are facing a severe
water crisis at present.
Five matches will be played in
Maharashtra this month. The 13
matches that w ill have to be
moved out now include six that
were to be played in Pune, four in
Mumbai and three in Nagpur.
A bench of Justice V.M. Kanade
and Justice M.S. Karnik handed
out the verdict on a PIL by an NGO
named Loksatta Movement, which
challenged the use of large quanti
ties of water in stadiums at a time
when the state was reeling under
severe drought conditions.
"We cannot lose sight of the
plight of millions of poor people,"
the bench said.
The judges added that although
shifting of IPL matches would not
solve the problem, water meant
for preparing cricket pitches

Maharashtra's loss won't

be Kerala's gain

A train with ten wagons carrying 50,000 liters of drinking water each
departs for droughtaffected Latur from Miraj, in Maharashtra. (Photo: IANS)
should be diverted to the affected
regions. "Shifting IPL matches
won't solve the problem but if
water is diverted to droughthit
areas, problem can be solved to
some extent," the bench stated.
Reacting to the high court order,
IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla ques
t ioned the t iming of the P IL,
asserting that concerns over the
possible wastage of water should
have been raised earlier.
"We will decide on the strategy
of shifting the matches only when
we get the order in writ ing.
Shifting of matches will be a huge
problem. Several events take place
which require a lot of water
despite the water crisis. W hy
should only the IPL be made to
suffer?" Shukla told India Today.
"It is not easy to organise the
IPL. The preparations for the IPL
were going on for the last six
months. The concerns should have

been raised earlier, during the

preparation stage," he added.
"We have discussed giving help
to the villages most ef fected by
the drought. Our decision has
been put forward. The BCCI is nei
ther using potable water nor
intends to do so," BCCI secretary
Anurag T hakur told reporters
before the verdict was delivered.
"Cricket is so popular in our
country that people want to create
controversy over it. I want to ask
how many swimming pools in 5
star hotels are being shut down
because of drought. We are not
using potable water and we are
ready to help farmers too," he
added.
The court had allowed the open
ing match of this year's IPL on
April 9 to go ahead as originally
scheduled, ruling that the timing
of the PIL did not allow sufficient
time to the BCCI to arrange for an

Thiruvananthapuram: Cricket
buffs in Kerala have no reason
to celebrate the Bombay High
Court's order to move out of
droughthit Maharashtra the 13
Indian Premier League matches
allotted to the state after April
30. Kerala Cricket Association
president T.C. Mathew told
IANS it was "unfortunate and
sad" that Kerala will not get a
single match because there are
no stadiums which can host the
ties.
"The only stadium now fit to
stage internat ional cricket
matches in Kerala is the
Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in
Kochi, but a refurbishment is
currently on to make it a likely
venue for the 17th edition of
the U17 FIFA World Cup that
India will host next year," he
alternate venue.
Earlier on Wednesday, the BCCI
made a series of ef forts to keep
the remaining 19 IPL matches in
Maharashtra.
The board told the court that it
will not be feasible to shift IPL
matches out of the state as the two
Maharashtra based franchises
Mumbai Indians and Rising Pune
Supergiants had invested a lot of
money and relocating the matches
will also adversely af fect their

said.
"Then there is the brand new,
worldclass Greenfield Stadium
here, but there is no cricket
pitch and laying a new one in a
few weeks' time just cannot
happen."
"So, Kerala will not be able to
stage any IPL matches that are
going to be moved out of
Maharashtra," said Mathew.
T he
Jawaharlal
Nehru
Stadium was the home ground
of the Kochi Tuskers, an IPL
team in 2011, but its franchise
was cancelled by the BCCI.
The Bombay High Court rul
ing came following a public
interest litigation that demand
ed these matches should be
moved out of Maharashtra due
to severe water scarcity in some
parts of the state.
support base.
The BCCI also told the court that
the
Maharashtra
Cricket
Association (MCA) is ready to sup
ply around 64 lakh litres of non
potable water to droughthit areas
of the state, and that the Mumbai
and Pune franchises will donate
Rs.5 crore towards drought relief
efforts.
The Mumbai and Pune franchis
es, however, were not happy with
the court's verdict.

MUMBAI INDIANS CHEER

6WICKET WIN OVER KKR

Rohit Sharma celebrating after

the win. (Photo: IANS)

Kolkata: Rohit Sharma's love af fair with Eden

Gardens continued as he smashed an unbeaten 84
to power Mumbai Indians to a sixwicket victory
over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in an Indian
Premier League (IPL) encounter here.
Jos Buttler with a quickfire 22ball 41 was the
other major contributor.
For KKR, Andre Russell, Piyush Chawla and
Kuldeep Yadav picked up a wicket each.
The defending champions started of f at a brisk
pace chasing KKR's challenging 187/5 with Rohit
and Parthiv Patel picking the gaps at will.
By the end of the powerplay, the score read
53/1. But then Brad Hogg ef fected a brilliant run
out and sent back Parthiv to the dugout much to
the delight of the 35,000odd fans in the stadium.

The wicket also helped KKR bring down the run

rate.
Thereafter, some silly errors from wicketkeeper
Robin Uthappa he lped the visitors. Mumbai
Indians got to 87/1 at the end of 10 overs.
KKR then got rid of Hardik Pandya (9)and
Mitchell McClenaghan (20) in quick succession as
they tried to slowly crawl their way back into the
contest. However, Buttler and Rohit had other
ideas. The England powerhitter did not need a
sighter and tonked the hapless KKR bowlers too
all parts of the park. He also took on Andre
Russell and clubbed him for 18 in an over.
The onslaught brought down the asking rate
rapidly and before long Mumbai were in touching
distance of the KKR total.

SPORTS

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

April 16-22, 2016

25

AZLAN SHAH CUP: India edged

12 by New Zealand
Ipoh (Malaysia): After defeating
Pakistan 51, India's hockey
team lost 12 to New Zealand to
slide to the third spot in the
Sultan Azlan Shah Cup here.
After a slow beginning, Kane
Russel gave the New Zealanders
the lead in the 29th minute from
a penalty corner. Mandeep Singh
equalised for India in the 36th
minute but Nick Wilson (41st)
struck his fourth goal of the
tournament to clinch the
encounter for the defending
champions.
India failed to utilize three
penalty corners two in the
final quarter in the match as
they searched for the equalizer
and went down losing 12.
Reflecting on the match, India
head coach Roelant Oltmans
said: "We played a strong game,
considering the conditions we
must consider ourselves a bit
unlucky. Both the New Zealand
goalkeepers had a great game."
With this win, Colin Batch
coached New Zealand moved to

the second position with 11

points from six matches. Last
year's bronze medalists India are
third with nine points from five
matches.
Reigning world champion
Australia are on top of the pool
w ith four w ins in as many
matches. They play later in the
day ag ainst bottomplaced
Japan. Canada are fourth with
five points from five games.
Malaysia and Pakistan who
play the final game of the day
are fifth and sixth with five and
three points, respectively.
The top two teams will auto
matically qualify for the final,
while the third and fourth
ranked teams play the bronze
medal match after the conclu
sion of the roundrobin competi
tion. India can still play the final,
if they beat hosts Malaysia in
their final pool game on Friday.
We get another opportunity
to get to the final though, and
are focussed on winning our
next game against the hosts

India earlier crushed Pakistan 51. (File Photo: IANS)

Malaysia to get that spot,"
Oltmans said.
The Indian team was expected
to play an aggressive game,
especially after the 51 triumph

Gujarat Lions beat Kings

XI Punjab on IPL debut
Mohali: Debutants Gujarat Lions began their
Indian Premier League (IPL) journey with an
impressive fivewicket win over Kings XI
Punjab at the Punjab Cricket Association's I.S.
Bindra Stadium here.
Set a 162run target, Lions reached the mark
with 14 balls to spare with Australian opener
Aaron Finch (74) scoring the majority of the
runs. Dinesh Karthik (41 not out) was also a
chief contributor.
Their run chase stuttered early on when for
mer New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum
departed for a second ball duck, advancing
down the track to be smartly stumped by
Wriddhiman Saha off the bowling of Sandeep
Sharma in the first over.
But Lions recovered from the loss, spear
headed by skipper Suresh Raina (20) and
Finch.
Raina guided the team past the 50run mark
in the sixth over with a big six over midwicket.
But then he fell off the very next ball, foxed by
a Marcus Stoinis slower delivery to offer a sim
ple catch to mid on.
Finch remained unperturbed by Raina's dis
missal and used all his experience to lead his
team's chase, bringing up his 50 in the eight
over. He forged another 50run partnership
with Karthik to bring up the 100 in the 11th
over. Lions were costing at that point but
Finch's sudden stumping in the 12th over, leav
ing them 117/3, gave Punjab hopes of a turn
around. Lions still needed 41 runs from 42
balls. Ravindra Jadeja's (8) run out made the
game more interesting. But Karthik ensured

they crossed the line without any more hic

cups.
Earlier, Kings XI Punjab posted 161 for six
after Gujarat captain Suresh Raina won the
toss and opted to field, opening batsmen
Murali Vijay (42 off 34) and Manan Vohra (38
in 23) provided a 78run stand in 8.2 overs.
Then Dwayne Bravo (4/22) and leftarm
spinner Ravindra Jadeja (2/30) led Gujarat's
fightback as the hosts lost four wickets for 102
runs in 12 overs.
Australian allrounder Marcus Stoinis (33 in
22 balls) and wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha
(20) did the repair work and took the total to
161/6. It seemed that Punjab will end up get
ting 180, thanks to their sound start. Right
handers Vijay and Vohra scored 53 runs with
out any loss till the powerplay overs (6).
Vijay hit three fours and a six of f leftarm
medium pacer Pradeep Sangwan, while Vohra
also made merry, hitting James Faulkner for
three fours in the fifth over.
The Punjab righthander was dropped at his
personal score of eight by Bravo, who ran from
the deep midwicket in the fifth over.
Captain Raina's third bowler, legspinner
Sarabjit Ladda also went for 21 runs in his two
overs. Then the captain turned to Indian left
arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja, who broke the
partnership in his second over by trapping
Vohra in front of the stumps. Then the hosts'
score reached 78 in 8.2 overs. Jadeja later also
cleaned up Vijay as the righthander opened up
to create some room. He missed the ball and
Punjab were 91/2 in 10.4 overs.

over traditional rivals Pakistan.

But it didn't turn out to be like
that. The match started on a
slow note, with both the teams
trying to gauge each other's

weaknesses while denying an

early goal. The midfielders from
both the side dictated the play
as the first quarter didn't wit
ness any clearcut chances.

SANIA HONORED WITH

PADMA BHUSHAN
New Delhi: Indian tennis star Sania
Mirza was conferred w ith Padma
Bhushan at a glittering investiture at
Rashtrapati Bhavan here for her contri
bution to the game.
Sania and her partner Swiss legend
Martina Hingis took the tennis world
by storm for much of last year with a
41match winning streak which finally
came to an end with a shock loss at the
quarterfinals of the Qatar Open earlier
this year. The IndoSwiss pair won 10
titles together, including nine consecu
tive ones.
Had they managed to win a 10th con
secut ive t itle at Qatar, Sania and
Martina would have tied Jana Novotna
and Helena Sukova for the longest win
ning streak since 1990 at 44 matches.
But they still would have a long way to
go before catching up with Martina
Navratilova and Pam Shriver, who
together put 109 straight wins between
1983 and 1985.
The pair have won three Grand Slam
titles so far the Wimbledon and the
US Open in 2015 and the Australian
Open in January this year.
Sania is the fourth Indian tennis play
er to receive the Padma Bhushan. Vijay
Amritraj, Ramanathan Krishnan and
doubles legend Leander Paes had earli
er been honoured with both Padma Shri
and Padma Bhushan. Sania was con
ferred w ith Padma Shri in 2006.

President Pranab Mukherjee confers

Padma Bhushan to tennis player Sania
Mirza at Rashtrapati Bhawan.
(Photo: IANS)
"Humbled. Honored. And truly thankful
.. #PadmaBhushan," Sania tweeted later.
On Monday night, Sania was also hon
oured at the NRI of the Year Award
2016 where she was conferred with the
Global Indian Icon of the year award.

26

April 16-22, 2016

Monsoon forecast sends

India's equity indices soaring
Mumbai: Forecast of above aver
age monsoon rains, along with
healthy expansion in industrial
production and a decline in retail
inflation, sent the Indian equity
markets soaring.
Further, positive global indices
and a rise in crude oil prices
unleashed fresh buying of equi
ties. Consequently, the key indices
continued to zoom and provision
ally ended the day's trade on a
higher note.
The wider 50scrip Nifty of the
National Stock Exchange (NSE)
closed the day's trade higher by
137.10 points, or 1.78 percent, at
7,846.05 points.
Similarly, the barometer 30
scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of
the BSE , which opened at
25,358.42 points, provisionally
closed at 25,626.75 points (at
3.30 p.m.) up 481.16 points or
1.91 percent from the previous
close at 25,145.59 points.
The Sensex touched a high of
25,671.50 points and a low of
25,358.42 points during the
intraday trade.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

BUSINESS

The IMD said that after two straight years of drought, India is likely to
be showered with above average rains during the upcoming
monsoon season. (Photo: IANS)
The IMD said that after two
straight years of drought, India is
likely to be showered with above
average rains during the upcom
ing monsoon season, with a prob
ability of more than 94 percent
precipitation.
T hen, after the closing bell,
came the twin dose of positive
news from the Central Statistics

Office that India's factory output

for February logged a growth of
two percent after three straight
months of decline, and annual
retail inflation fell to 4.83 percent
in March from 5.26 percent in
February. The equity markets will
be closed on account of
Ambedkar Jayanti on April 14
and Ram Navami on April 15.

Facebook unveils chatbots,

360degree 3D video camera
San Francisco: Bringing chatbots to life,
social networking giant Facebook has
launched an artificial intelligence (AI)
bots right into its popular messaging
app Messenger to allow users to interact
with businesses and get updates from
them. The company also unveiled its
own 360degree stereoscopic 3D video
camera at its annual, twoday F8 devel
oper conference that kicked of f at the
Fort Mason Centre in San Francisco,
California.
With chatbots, an interactive software
powered by AI and with human help,
Messenger users can send messages to
businesses just like they do to their
friends and get things done.
"To order flowers on 1800flowers,
you never have to call 1800flowers
again," Facebook founder Mark
Zuckerburg was quoted as saying.
Messenger users now can try about a
half dozen chatbots on this platform and
more are expected to come soon.
According to Facebook, there have

been more than 50 million businesses

on Messenger, which boasts 900 million
monthly active users. The company said
it is aiming to provide great valuable
experiences for users and added value
for businesses.
T he new 3D video camera called
"Facebook Surround360" produces
sharp, truly spherical footage in 3D.
The system includes stitching technol
ogy that seamlessly marries the video
from 17 cameras, vastly reducing post
production effort and time.
Facebook also launched "Profile
Expression Kit" where people can now
use thirdparty apps to create fun and
personalityinfused profile videos with
just a few taps. The closed beta version
kicked of f with support for six apps
Boomerang by Instagram, Lollicam,
BeautyPlus, Cinemagraph Pro by Flixel,
MSQRD and Vine. Zuckerburg said that
Facebook will focus on connectivity,
artificial intelligence and augmented
reality over the next 10 years.

India to grow at 7.7

percent in current
fiscal: World Bank
Washington: India's economic
growth is expected to rise from
7.5 percent in 201516 to 7.7
percent in the current fiscal on
the back of strong private
investment, more infrastruc
ture spending, better invest
ment climate and improved
corporate balance sheets, pro
pelling South Asia to becoming
the fastestg row ing reg ion
globally, the World Bank said.
In its latest South Asia
Economic
Fo cus
report
released here, the multilateral
lender projected economic
growth of the region to gradu
ally accelerate from 7.1 per
cent in 2016 to 7.3 percent in
2017, and said given India's
weight in the region, it sets the
pace for the whole of South
Asia. "South Asia has been
resilient to global turbulence
due to its limited exposure to
slowdowns in other major
economies coupled with the
tailw inds of favorable oil

prices, capital flows, and remit

tances," said World Bank's
South Asia vice president
Annette Dixon.
The report said, of the region,
that "fiscal and financial vul
nerabilities remain and coun
tries should strive to address
them through generating rev
enue and creating more fiscal
space". India's GDP growth will
be supported by a turnaround
in agriculture rebound in rural
demand and stimulus from gov
ernment pay reforms, it said.
However, delays in imple
mentation of key reforms could
af fect investor sentiment, it
added.
T he World Bank also said
that favorable economic trends
overall mask important under
lying divergences like between
urban and agricultural house
holds, domestic and external
demand and between public
and private capital expenditure,
which should be addressed.

Will file cases against US for

WTO norms violation: Goyal
Pune: Charging Western nations with adopting
double standards in their approach to climate
change, Power Minister Piyush Goyal has said
India will file 16 cases against the US for giving
protection to solar panel producers in violation of
World Trade Organization (WTO) norms.
"The US, which is articulating the inconvenient
truth, while India is doing convenient action, uses
seven times more coal per capita than India. Even
on clean energy finance, the developed world has
spoken a lot and done zilch," Goyal said at a lec
ture here jointly organized by the Mahratta
Chamber of Commerce and Pune International
Centre. "I am going to file 16 cases against the US
for their violation of the WTO norms. Our interna
tional solar alliance rests on this. If a large country
like India is subjected to this, then imagine what
happens to the country in the underdeveloped
world," he said.
Declaring that American obstruction and pres
sures would not be acceptable to India, he said: "It
amazes me that a country which talks of encourag
ing renewable energy goes to the WTO against
India and says why did you put up 400 MW of
domestically produced panels.

Power Minister Piyush Goyal. (Photo: IANS)

"You should have allowed us to compete even in
those 400 MW, which India has domestically made
and put up. They go to the WTO, win a case and
tom tom about it as a contribution to renewable
energy in the world," he said.
In the US, there are 16 programs in dif ferent
states giving protection to solar panel producers,
which are completely in violation of WTO norms,
Goyal added.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

April 16-22, 2016

LIFESTYLE

27

Money can buy happiness if you spend it right

London: Money can buy happi
ness, if those purchases fit your
personality, says a study, adding it
may be strongly linked to greater
life satisfaction than your total
income and total spending.
According to researchers,
spending money on products that
help us express who we are as
individuals could turn out to be as
important to our wellbeing as
finding the right job, the right
neighborhood or even the right
friends and partners.
"Historically, studies had found
a weak re lat ionship between
money and overall wellbeing,"
said Joe Gladstone from the
University of Cambridge in
Britain.
"Our study breaks new ground
by mining actual banktransaction
data and demonstrat ing that

(Image courtesy: laenamine.com)

Smoking may
hamper your job
prospects too

(Image credit: tribune.com.pk)

New York: Young smokers
please take note! Smokers face
more problems in finding a job
and when they do find a job,
they earn considerably less than
their nonsmoker peers, says an
interesting study.
The findings showed that at 12
months, only 27 percent of
smokers had found jobs com
pared with 56 percent of non
smokers. Among those who had
found jobs by 12 months, smok
ers earned on average 5 dollars
less per hour than nonsmokers.
"We found that smokers had a
much harder time finding work
than nonsmokers," said lead
study author Judith Prochaska
from Stanford University
Medical Center.
The team surveyed 131 unem
ployed smokers and 120 unem
ployed nonsmokers at the
beginning of the study and then
at six and 12 months.
"The health harms of smoking
have been established for

decades and our study here pro

vides insight into the financial
harms of smoking both in terms
of lower reemployment success
and lower wages," Prochaska
added in a paper published in
the journal JAMA Internal
Medicine. T hey used survey
questions and a breath test for
carbon monoxide levels to classi
fy job seekers into either daily
smokers or nonsmokers.
Smokers were on average
younger, less educated and in
poorer health than nonsmok
ers."Such dif ferences might
influence job seekers' ability to
find work," Prochaska stated.
After controlling for these vari
ables, smokers still remained at
a big disadvantage. After 12
months, the reemployment rate
of smokers was 24 percent
lower than that of nonsmokers.
Those who successfully quit
smoking will have an easier time
getting hired, the authors sug
gested.

spending can increase our happi

ness when it is spent on goods
and services that fit our personali
ties and so meet our psychological
needs," Gladstone said in the
study that published in the journal
Psychological Science.
T he study was conducted at
Cambridge Judge Business School
and the Psychology Department
of Cambridge University in collab
oration with a Britainbased multi
national bank. It was based on
76,863 transactions of 625 par
ticipants over a sixmonth period.
The study matched spending
categories on the widely recog
nized "Big Five" personality traits
openness to experience (artistic
versus traditional), conscientious
ness (selfcontrolled vs easygo
ing), extraversion (outgoing vs
reserved), agreeableness (compas

sionate vs competitive), and neu

roticism (prone to stress vs sta
ble).
The researchers then compared
the participants' actual purchases
to their personalities using this
scale, and found that people gen
erally spent more money on prod
ucts that match their personality.
For instance, a highly extrovert
person will spent more on "pub
nig hts" than an introvert.
Similarly, a highly conscientious
person will spent more on "health
and fitness" than a person low in
conscientiousness.
The finding showed that those
who bought products that more
closely matched their personali
ties reported higher satisfaction
with their lives, and this ef fect
was stronger than that of their
total income or total spending.

Moms who delay pregnancy get

smarter, healthier kids: Study
London: Turning traditional knowl
edge onto its head when it comes
to late pregnancy and associated
risks, British researchers have
found that kids of older mothers
are actually healthier, taller and
hig hly educated than kids of
younger mothers.
T he team from Max Planck
Inst itute for Demog raphic
Research in Rostock, Germany,
found that mothers who delayed
childbearing to older ages even
as old as 40 or older had chil
dren who were taller, had better
grades in high school and were
more likely to go to university.
The team analyzed over 1.5 mil
lion participants born between
1960 and 1991 to examine the
relationship between maternal age
at the time of birth and height,

physical fitness, grades in high

school and educational attainment
of the children.
T hey compared siblings who
share the same biological mother
and father.
The findings, published in the
journal
Populat ion
and
Development Review, indicate that
due to urbanization of countries
educational opportunities are
increasing and people are getting
healthier and, in other words, it
pays off to be born later.
For instance, a woman born in
1950 who had a child at age 20
would have given birth in 1970. If
that same woman had a child at
40, she would have given birth in
1990. The child born in 1990, had
a much higher probability of going
to a college or university than

somebody born 20 years earlier.

"Those 20 years make a huge dif
ference," said lead study author
Mikko Myrskyla.
Despite the risks associated with
childbearing at older ages, which
are attributable to ageing of the
reproductive system, these risks
are either counterbalanced or out
weighed by the positive changes to
the environment in the period dur
ing which the mother delayed her
childbearing, the authors stated.
"By comparing siblings who
grew up in the same family it was
possible for us to pinpoint the
importance of maternal age at the
time of birth independent of the
influence of other factors that
might bias the results," said co
author Kieron Barclay from
London School of Economics.

Increase life of your silks in

simple ways
New Delhi: Preserve your silk saris by wrapping
them in a cotton cloth and keep changing the fold
of the silk clothing to avoid permanent wrinkles,
for increasing its longevity, suggests an expert.
Here are some tips to preserve your silk as new as
ever, as suggested by Udyan Singh, founder, Banka
Silk, a handloom brand from Bihar that is working
towards the upliftment of the artisans of Banka
district in the state.
* Cotton wrap: Always wrap the sari in a cotton
cloth to keep the charm alive and never hang them
in metal hangers. Keep every sari separately in
separate covers.
* Sunlight: Silk is considered as a piece of art, so
don't let the saris feel left out. Always take those
out at regular intervals and put them in sunlight.
This will preserve the color and shine.
* Changing fold: We should rejoice every single
second of the ef forts that have been taken in
developing each weave by the weaver, so keep

changing the folds of the sari; do not keep heavily

ironed saris hanging in the cupboard.
* Protection: Use neem leaves to keep away the
bugs. It is better than using naphthalene balls.
Always air dry the saris after you wear them to
avoid any kind of smell. Dry cleaning is the safest
way to clean your silk.

28

April 16-22, 2016

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

HUMOR

Humor with Melvin Durai

THE PLANE TRUTH ABOUT YOGA

oga offers a number of benefits, includ

ing stress reduction and improved fit
ness. It may also reduce your risk for
heart disease, high blood pressure and other
conditions. Best of all, it allows you to twist
your body into various impressive positions,
earning you admiration from your friends
and family, and perhaps even a recruitment
letter from the traveling circus.
One of the major advantages of yoga is that
you dont need any equipment to do it. That
means you can do yoga anywhere you go. But
please resist the temptation.
Some places are just not meant for yoga.
You probably shouldnt do yoga in a busy
restaurant, for example, even if youve been
waiting too long for your food. A few breath
ing exercises are fine, but unless youre eager
to get the waiters attention, please keep your
feet on the ground.
The same applies to a crowded bus, even if
putting one foot behind your head allows you
to occupy less room. If the bus makes a sud
den stop, you may hurt yourself or someone
else. The paramedics may have trouble untan
gling you from yourself.
Trains are also not ideal for yoga, unless
you have a compartment to yourself. But even
then, you need to be cautious, in case the
train makes a sudden stop and sends you

rolling, all balled up, into the next life.

Planes are usually too cramped for yoga
and your fellow passengers may look at you
strangely. Before you attempt anything,
please ask the flight attendant if the airline
has a policy about inflight yoga. It may not
seem fair, but the inflight yoga policy is usu
ally quite similar to the inflight golf and in
flight soccer policies.
If youre really eager to do yoga while fly
ing, feel free to start a petition. I know at least
one man whod be willing to sign it. His name

is Hyongtae Pae and he recently tried to do

yoga during a United Airlines flight from
Hawaii to Japan.
Rather than stay in his seat during meal
time, the 72yearold retired farmer from
South Korea decided to go to the back of the
plane to do yoga and meditate. (This is not
too surprising. Most people would rather do
yoga than eat airline food.)
When members of the flight crew told Pae
to return to his seat, he grew violent, accord
ing to an Associated Press report. He alleged
ly pushed his wife and tried to headbutt and
bite some military personnel (U.S. Marines on
the flight) who joined the ef fort to get him
back to his seat.
Yes, he was very determined to do yoga. Not
many people would fight off the Marines to
do yoga, but Pae was ready to take on the
entire U.S. armed forces if need be. I want do
yoga! You no stop me do yoga!

Pae also allegedly threatened to kill his fel

low passengers while yelling that God doesnt
exist. The pilot, concerned about safety, had
no choice but to turn the plane around and
return to Hawaii. Request to land! Request to
land! he radioed the Honolulu airport. We
have a yoga emergency!
Pae soon found himself in jail, with enough
time and space to do as much yoga as his
heart desired.
Prisoners, incidentally, can benefit
immensely from yoga. It calms their minds
and reduces their stress. But more important
ly than that, it greatly enhances their flexibili
ty, allowing them to squeeze through small
openings.
According to his attorney, Pae started doing
yoga recently to help him deal with anxiety.
He was probably feeling a little anxious on
the flight thats why he wanted to do yoga.
But a plane, like a bus, train or car, isnt an
ideal place for yoga. Pae should have perhaps
done his yoga and meditation in the airport,
before boarding the plane.
Airports usually have plenty of space for
yoga. But please be cautious. Even if you have
good balance, you probably should stay of f
the baggage carousel. You never know who
might claim you.
Airports also have travelers taking naps in
all sorts of unusual positions, so its easy to
blend into the crowd. Just close your eyes,
assume a yoga position, and no one will raise
an eyebrow.
But if you happen to be doing yoga with
your limbs bent awkwardly, dont be sur
prised if a rich traveler tosses a few coins at
you.
Its yet another benefit of doing yoga.

Laughter is the Best Medicine

BEST
RATE
FOR
INDIA
AND
PAKISTAN
New York Head Quarter
422S Broadway
HICKSVILLE
NY 11801

5168271010

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

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

ASTROLOGY

April 16-22, 2016

29

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

Delhi, India: +91-11- 2644 9898, 2648 9899
psharma@premastrologer.com; www.premastrologer.com

By Dr Prem Kumar Sharma

APRIL 1622, 2016

ARIES: Your greatest gains will come
through your creative ideas at profes
sional front. Charming nature and pleas
ant personality would make you the attraction
of family function this week. Investment made
this week would enhance prosperity and
financial security. Your generous attitude
would contribute much in your love life this
week. Pleasure trip would help in maintaining
sound health this week. Enjoy your holiday
with love of your life. Your loan procedures
for pursuing a plot will be in process. this
week many good things are likely to happen
to you at a same time.
TAURUS : Success is certain provided
you work as a team. Family members
appreciate the changes made in &
around the house. An improvement in financial
position would enable to make important pur
chases. Extremely supportive & loving partner
would help in withering away your troubles.
Yoga and meditation would help in keeping in
shape and mentally agile. Romantic destina
tions seems appealing to you. Investment in
hotel industry can be the right choice to be
made. You succeed in maintaining a distance
from affairs not concerning you at all.
GEMINI: You will be on the seventh
heaven when you receive recognition
for your achievements at work. Friends
and family members would encourage to work
harder. You are likely to earn monetary profits
through most unexpected sources. Romantic
vibrations from someone unknown would lift
your spirits taking imaginations to scaling
heights. Blessings of a saintly person give
peace of mind. Investment on construction
business might give fruitful results. Wit &
repartee will immensely help in developing
healthy relations with others.

CANCER: Your creativity will amaze

people around you besides enhancing
career prospects. You are likely to
hear a good news from close relatives. A sud
den inflow of funds will take care of your bills
and immediate expenses. Love life brings
immense romantic pleasure. Chances of recov
ering from physical ailment are high. Small
journey with your of fice colleagues will be
interesting. Investing on a ship or a cruise is
an exciting venture to be made. You are likely
to benefit provided pay heed to others guid
ance.
LEO: New job opportunities for some
will be better than expected. An old
friend makes a pleasant visit later in
the week. Monetary position is likely to
improve on recovering of delayed payments.
Traveling proves a blessing in disguise by
bringing a love in your life. Inexhaustible
energy enables to participate in outdoor activ
ities. Your boss may ask you for your company
to a friends party. The best ideas for invest
ment are to on invest on real estate business.
Personal interaction with others will be signif
icant.
VIRGO: At work you are likely to win
appreciation and awards for past
ef forts. Evening enjoyed with family
and close relatives brings immense pleasure.
Investment in antiques & jewelry brings mon
etary gains and improvement in financial posi
tion. You are likely to get a new friendship
opportunity in the evening. You attain a bloom
in health on sharing happiness with others.
Travel plan with a colleague might lead to a
new relationship.
Are you longing to buy a farmhouse, try for it?
Guidance would help youngsters to realise
their dreams.

LIBRA: Timely and swift action would

give an edge over others at profes
sional front. You are likely to plan a
short trip with family. Long pending arrears
and dues will finally be recovered. New
romance that some of you are going to experi
ence would take the worries off mind. A cheer
ful state of mind would allow enjoying the per
fect health. Small picnic organized by your
company is good to change your mood. If you
want to invest on property, then go for resi
dential one. You are likely to realise the
importance of reaching out to people.
SCORPIO: Colleagues and subordinates
will lend a helping hand enabling to
complete the work on time. Unexpected
visit by old friend could give you a pleasant
surprise. this week investment concerning res
idence will be profitable. You enjoy a memo
rable time with partner to cement the lovely
bond. Divine knowledge from a saintly person
provides solace & comfort. Official journeys
prove to be more fruitful for you. Selling your
home privately can be an excellent way of sav
ing on costs. Temptation of any kind will not
be able to allure you.
SAGITTARIUS: Success in completing
dif ficult assignments brings a lot of
laurels at work. Good advice from fam
ily members will help in reducing mental ten
sion/pressure. Financial hassles seem to get
over as someone lends a timely helping hand.
You will be attracted to someone special.
Meditation and yoga prove beneficial for spiri
tual as well as physical gains. Fly away with
your dreams, new business horizons are ready
to explore. Of fplan property investment is
one of the easiest & most profitable methods
to maximize gains in the real estate market.
You are likely to devote time to help others.

CAPRICORN : Selfconfident would

enable to convey your point of view
with ease a workplace. Sudden good
news in the evening will bring cheers for the
entire family. Promising week to invest sur
plus money in real estate. Warm romantic
thoughts occupy mind. A very healthy week
when your cheerfulness gives the desired
tonic and confidence. A fun filled holiday at
an amusement and theme park with your fam
ily is there. Your property prices will boost in
the coming period. Sense of humour will help
in developing healthy relations with others.
AQUARIUS: Mental clarity gives a
decisive edge over all competitors at
professional front. Your efforts bring
success & happiness at family front. A sound
financial health would enable to invest on
lucrative schemes.
Your charm & generosity bring new romantic
opportunities for you. You are likely to main
tain good health that would also give you suc
cess. An interesting cruise ship is next place
for your vacation. Buying property can lead to
gains as property prices continue to increase.
Tough situations will be handled easily with
friends help.
PISCES: Calculated risks would
enables to complete the project on
time. You achieve success in personal
work with the timely help & support provided
by family members. Your brilliant ideas would
help in bringing financial gains. Love life
brightens your week. A continuous positive
thinking gets rewarded as you succeed in
whatever you do this week. Breathtaking
beautiful site scenes are your lovers desire.
You could buy the property that you are look
ing for. You are likely to spellbind others by
wit & repartee.

ANNUAL PREDICTIONS: FOR THOSE BORN IN THIS WEEK

16th April, 2016
Ruled planet: Neptune Ruled by no: 7
Traits in you: Your ruling planet Neptune makes
you full of energy, ambition, and honesty. You like
to enjoy independence in your life to the maximum.
You have a sharp memory to memorize whatever
you study. Being innovative and born talented, you
have all the capabilities to impress others. However,
you need work on your nature of behaving impa
tient and unpredictable.
Health this year: You may need to take extra care of
your health as the movement of your planet may
make you fall sick throughout this year. It is advised
to practice yoga and meditation in a regular basis. It
will not only improve your mental health but also
make you physically fit.
Finance this year: If you are into business, this year
will prove to be very lucky for you as you will
expand your business by launching new and prof
itable ideas. You will gain enough money if you
invest in stocks.
Career this year: You have the best time to take
important decisions for your professional life this
year. It is advisable for you to gather knowledge
and information on various topics. You need to
make new and long lasting contacts to get help in
future. You will try your level best to achieve your
desired goals.
Romance this year:
Your romantic af filiation
with your partner may make your bond more
stronger. You may plan to get married this year.
Lucky month: May, September and November
17th April, 2016
Ruled planet: Saturn Ruled by no: 8
Traits in you: You are bestowed with the character
istics such as energetic, realistic, dependable, hard
working, and highly disciplined. Your duties and
responsibilities bear the most value than anything
else in your life. However, you have to look after
your nature of behaving stubborn and showing jeal
ousy at wrong situations.
Health this year: You will enjoy a sound health.
However, you may suf fer from minor backaches
due to sitting more time in work.
Finance this year: Though there will be an improve
ment in your financial status this year, you will end
up increasing your expenses as well. If your deci
sion of investing comes correct, you may be benefit
ed or else you may lose your money. Many of your
friend and relatives may visit you this year. They

may bring you gifts in form of money.

Career this year: You need to concentrate on proj
ects that would bring long term gains rather than
bothering about small projects. Some of you may
get opportunities to get new employments.
Romance this year: You may find this year romantic
enough to make your year pleasing and happy.
Lucky month: May, July and November
18th April, 2016
Ruled planet: Mars Ruled by no: 9
Traits in you: Being under the influence of Mars,
you are blessed with dignity, sensitiveness, courage,
confidence and diplomacy. You are born simple and
helpful. You need to work on your nature of becom
ing impatient.
Health this year: You will take help of spirituality
later this year for the betterment of your mental
health. However, you will remain healthy physically.
Finance this year: You should not spend too much
money to buy luxury. This may land you in financial
crisis later in the year. The peace at your home may
get ruined to financial crisis and health issues.
Though you may face a difficult time regarding to
money earlier this year, you will find a solution or a
new source of income later, which would solve your
financial problems.
Career this year: You may bring huge changes in
your professional life this year. You may expect a
transfer or promotion in the middle of this year.
Those who are on a foreign trip in the second half
of the year will find the trip enjoyable and exciting.
Romance this year:
You will be enjoying a dis
turbed relationship with your partner as you would
not be able to show required care and concern. If
you are unmarried, you may decide to remain so for
at least two years.
Lucky month: August , September, October
19th April, 2016
Ruled planet: Sun Ruled by no: 1
Traits in you: Your star Sun makes you active,
dynamic, confident, responsible and a talented. You
have the scope to learn new things and create new
ideas. However, you have to take care of your
nature of behaving improvident and dominating.
Health this year: You will remain healthy provided
you get your checkup done regularly.
Finance this year
You will find new money mak
ing opportunities pretty result oriented if you con
centrate on you work and give your best. Your

assumptions on pretty things may not help you gain

anything rather it would make you feel miserable
later. You may invest on land or house for better
returns.
Career this year: You will not take enough time to
complete your pending tasks this year. You will
find your job interesting enough. You may excel in
your domain and get appreciated from your higher
management with a better salary hike.
Romance this year:
You will enjoy a very good
relationship with your spouse this year. Your
romantic relationships will be strengthened this
year.
Lucky month: May , June and September
20th April, 2016
Ruled planet: Moon Ruled by no: 2
Traits in you: As you are ruled by Moon, you are
blessed with characteristics such as imaginative,
smart, trustworthy, generous and authoritative
person.
Health this year: You may go for a pilgrimage to
attain peace and mental comfort. This year you will
suf fer from various minor health issues and this
will keep you disturbed.
Finance this year: This year will bring you job secu
rity and financial stability. You need to deal with
your money carefully to avoid loss. Your assump
tions in taking hasty decisions may cause financial
loss to you. If you are a businessman, you may get
into new contracts to enhance your business. If you
get into any overseas venture, you may be befitted
financially from it.
Career this year: Being an excellent professional,
you will be recognized as a very efficient resource
and people may seek your advice and support.
However, you have to avoid being selfish and
moody.
Romance this year:
This year is the perfect time
for you to be in an emotional relationship or you
may get married.
Lucky month: May, July and September
21st April, 2016
Ruled planet: Jupiter Ruled by no: 3
Traits in you: By your inborn nature, you are intel
lectual, distinguished, cheerful, kind and optimistic.
Health this year: You need to take more care of
your health to avoid future complicacy.
Finance this year: Your business may earn you a lot
of money if you plan your budget intelligently. You

need to have a trustworthy plan in place before you

implement your budget in the business. You should
not go beyond your budget if you do not want to be
in loss. Your past investments will earn you money
this year and make you financially sound. You may
find the property or legal dispute settlement satis
factory.
Career this year: Being good at your work, you get
lot of appreciation and respect from others. Your
good work pays of f with rewards. However, you
should not behave dominating and arrogant. You
may find this year promising enough when growth
is concerned.
Romance this year:
You may plan an overseas
trip with your beloved to spend quality time. Your
relationship will grow more strong with lots of love
and care.
Lucky month: June , August and November
22nd April, 2016
Ruled planet: Uranus Ruled by no: 4
Traits in you: By inborn characteristics, you are
active, disciplined, and efficient. You are the master
of an appealing personality. You are highly social and
helpful. However, you should work on your nature of
being jealous, selfcentered, and destructive.
Health this year: You will be in good health
throughout this year. To maintain your good health,
you need to practice exercise or yoga.
Finance this year: You will be financially benefited
from different sources of income. You will acquire
new projects and that will improve your financial
condition. If you are travelling for business purpose,
it will yield positive results for you and you will be
successful in your business trips this year. You may
invest in buying house or stocks. However, it is rec
ommended to have a good research on the stock
before you invest. You may feel restless due to the
abrupt expenses for the health issues of your family
members. You may end up spending a lot of money
to settle down your legal issues. You might decide
to buy property or vehicles this year.
Career this year: You will be rewarded for your
work this year. You will gain enough professional
recognition for your knowledge, skills, and efficien
cy. The ongoing projects may get a continuation.
Romance this year:
You will enjoy a better
romantic life as compared to the last year. You will
be understood by your partner and get enough sup
port in everything you do.
Lucky month: July , August and December

30

April 16-22, 2016

SPIRITUAL AWARENESS

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Setting Spiritual Goals within the

Context of our Lives

By Sant Rajinder Singh

Ji Maharaj
pirituality is not only devel
oped in one place like a
monastery, or on the banks of
a river, or in the wilderness. If we
want spirituality, it can be devel
oped in any place. We can recog
nize our spirituality in whatever
culture, region, or religion we are
born and in whatever activities we
are involved.
Although in some forms of mysti
cism people try to negate life and
everything else just to concentrate
on their spiritual journey, we need
to become complete human beings.
We need to develop physically,
mentally, emotionally, and spiritu
ally. Actually, on the health of the

By Sant Rajinder Singh

Ji Maharaj

spirit depends the health of the

body, mind, and intellect.
In the East it is said that when
the peacock dances in the jungle or
forest and nobody sees it, what
good is it? Just like a flower that
blooms and gives fragrance to oth
ers, so should we. Hence, we should
remain in our outer societies and
not negate that part of our life.
Once we recognize that we are
soul, we need to spend time in
enhancing our spiritual capabili
ties. To do so, we need to set spiri
tual goals. If, on the other hand, we
spend our time haphazardly, with
out knowing where we are going,
then we will have a hard time
reaching our aspirations. In the
spiritual arena, our goals consist of
spending time in meditation and in
improving our ethical life.
On the spiritual path we need to
realize what is important, set our
goals, and do whatever makes
sense to take us in a direction to
reach those goals. It is essential to
realize that there are certain fac
tors that will help us in our spiritu
al progress.

The key is to still the mind. If we

do not still the mind, we will not be
able to recognize ourselves spiritu
ally. Therefore, leading an ethical
life in which we cultivate the
virtues of truthfulness, nonvio
lence, humility, purity, and selfless
ness will aid us on the spiritual
path. When we lead virtuous lives,
our mind is calmer, and once our
body and mind are stilled, we can
connect with the divinity within.
This is why the mind, which is the
source of all desires, must be
stilled.
Keeping the mind focused on God
helps us in this process. That is
where the principle of simran
comes into play. Simran keeps the
mind occupied by the repetition of
the names of God. If the mind is
empty, thoughts will come in, and
as soon as a thought enters
whether it is a good or bad
thoughtit distracts us in our
meditation. Once we learn how to
still our mind, we automatically get
closer to a state of having no
desires. If we want spirituality, it
can be developed in any place. It

does help when we live in a peace

ful environment where there is lit
tle or no commotion around us. It
definite ly he lps when there is
peace, calm, and quiet. That is why
we find a quiet place to meditate,
but when we reach a certain level
in our spiritual growth, none of
these outer things bother us.
There is a story of Isaac Newton
who was sitting by a roadside, lost
in thought.
He was so absorbed that he did
not notice a band passing by.
Similarly, when someones atten

tion is focused on the divine within,

nothing in the outside surround
ings bothers him or her. It takes a
long time to get to that state, but
we can improve spiritually wherev
er we are and in whatever environ
ment we live.
In order to reach our spiritual
goals, we need to evaluate our pri
orities so that our desires do not
make us attached to the objects or
activities of the world. Instead,
when we are detached, our atten
tion will automatically focus on the
Divine.

THE STRONGEST ENEMY

This article has been selected and reprinted from Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharajs book, Spiritual Pearls for
Enlightened Living (Radiance Publishers) an inspirational collection of stories from the worlds great wisdom traditions.
uring the time of Guru
Gobind Singh, there was a
great rishi who gave up
everything to go to a forest to med
itate. There was also a king who
had already conquered many other
territories and their people. One
day, the king set his ambition on
conquering the rishi to make him
obey his
commands. People thought it
was strange that the king would
focus on conquering a rishi who
had no property, kingdom, or
wealth. But it turned out that the
rishi had previously been a king
before giving up his kingdom for
the spiritual life. This made the
present king have an obsession
with wanting to conquer the rishi.
So the king gathered his entire
army to prepare for battle.
The army marched into the deep
forest. The army finally reached
the rishi, who was sitting in the
woods, deep in meditation.
The king waited for the rishi to
come out of meditation, but he
kept on sitting there. Finally, the
king became restless and shook the
rishi out of meditation. The king
shouted, Prepare for a fight. I have
come to do battle with you.
The rishi surveyed the scene
calmly. He saw the great army and

When we learn to
concentrate fully,
wholly, & solely into
the Light and Sound,
we will experience
bliss, peace, and joy.
We will want to
repeat meditation again & again because
of the wonderful experience we receive.
said, Fight! I ran away from my
worldly life for fear of my one
great enemy. I came here to hide in
the woods from this enemy. My
soul shudders in fear when I hear
the sound of my enemys name.
Just to think of this enemys name
causes my heart to quiver.
The king listened carefully as
the rishi continued to describe his
feared enemy. Finally, the king
became angry and shouted, Is
your enemy stronger than me?
T he rishi replied, Even the
thought of this enemy destroys my
soul. I left everything to escape
from this enemy.
The king said, Tell me the name

of this enemy of yours.

The rishi said, There is no use in
telling you who it is. You will never
be able to conquer him. The king
replied, If I cannot conquer him, I
will consider myself a failure. The
rishi then told him, This great
enemy of whom I am speaking is
the mind.
From that day on, the king tried
everything to overcome the mind.
He tried all kinds of techniques to
gain control over his own mind.
Years passed and still he could not
conquer the mind. Finally, the king
had to admit that he had failed and
that the mind is truly the strongest
enemy. The mind is powerful and

will try every means possible to

gain control over our soul.
Many yogis and rishis have tried
to gain control over their minds
but failed. If such is the fate of
those who have given up the world
to conquer their own mind, then
what is the fate of the rest of us
who are immersed in the world?
The mind is the obstacle our soul
must deal with to return to God.
The mind is like a soccer goalie,
guarding the goal. It will try every
thing to keep the ball from reach
ing the goal. If even devoted rishis
had trouble overcoming the mind,
how can we do it?
The fact is that we cannot con
quer the mind on our own. The
only way to conquer the mind and
still it is through the help of some
one who has conquered the mind.
Such enlightened beings give us a
lift to contact the Light and Sound
within us. The Light and Sound
help uplift our soul beyond the
realm of mind.
The rishi found that doing spiri
tual practices alone in the jungle
did not help him overcome the
mind. The mind still tempted him
with the countless desires of the
world.
The mind knows that contact
with the soul will render it harm

less. Thus, the mind will find all

kinds of excuses to keep us from
meditation. It will make us think of
the past. It will make us think of
the future. It will make us wiggle
around instead of sitting still. It
will make us feel sleepy just when
we sit to meditate.
It will make us feel hungry. It
will make us feel jealous.
It will make us feel depressed. It
will make us feel like doing work
instead of meditating. It will find a
million excuses.
How do we overcome the minds
tendencies to distract us? We must
use the tendency of the mind to
form positive habits. The mind
likes habits. If we tell our mind that
we need to sit for meditation each
day at the same time and place, a
habit will form. Soon we will find
ourselves compelled to sit for med
itation at that time each day. If will
miss meditation, we will start to
feel like something is amiss. Soon
we will find ourselves meditating
regularly.
When we learn to concentrate
fully, wholly, and solely into the
Light and Sound, we will experi
ence bliss, peace, and joy. We will
want to repeat meditation again
and again because of the wonder
ful experience we receive.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

April 16-22, 2016