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Vol.6 No. 4 May 18-24, 2013 60 Cents New York Edition Follow us on TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Big B clicked at Cannes Obama pushes back

against trifecta of scandals
Washington: Three possible scan-
dals may not have yet dented
President Obama’s popularity, but
his administration’s has taken a hit,
and the Republicans received fresh
ammunition to attack him and try to
derail his second term agenda.
Facing an onslaught of questions on
the Benghazi attack, the IRS scandal
and the Justice Department's seizure
of AP phone records, the White
House has begun damage control to
bring political balance back for the
President.
While claiming that he was out-
raged by IRS targeting of conserva-
Indian mega star Amitabh Bachchan has made his tive groups, the President on
Hollywood debut in The Great Gatsby, which opened the Thursday rejected calls for a special
66th Cannes film festival May 15. Pictured is him in a black counsel to investigate the problem
sequined dinner jacket, acknowledged by Gatsby lead actor and promised he would fix any
Leonardo DiCaprio, director Steven Spielberg and Nicole problems in government. He
Kidman at the film’s premiere. Vidya Balan, a jury member, also named a trusted White
and fellow actress Sonam Kapoor brought a touch of India House budget official, Daniel
to the red carpet. Werfel, to serve as new acting
IRS commissioner, replacing
Steven Miller, while Joseph
Grant, commissioner of
the agency's tax exempt
The White House is in
damage control mode
and issues like
immigration reform
put on the backburner
and government entities division, is
also exiting the agency. The Justice
Department on Tuesday ordered
criminal investigation into
instances of the IRS targeting
conservative political groups.
Earlier, the White House
announced its support for
strengthening protec-
tions of journalists
and confidential
sources even as
Attorney General
Eric Holder
evaded ques-
tions at a con-
gressional hear-
ing about how his
Justice Department
obtained phone records
of The Associated Press
from 2012 as part of an
investigation of classi-
fied leaks.
Continued on page 4

Nawaz Sharif finalizing incoming cabinet Cricket shame: Sreesanth & two RR
and name of next Pakistan President teammates held for spot-fixing in IPL
Lahore: After much deliberation
within his party ranks, prime min- New Delhi: In a sordid scandal to hit cricket,
S. Sreesanth, who has donned
ister-elect Nawaz Sharif has final- three Rajasthan Royals players, including
India cap in 27 Tests and 53
ized names for the incoming cabi- India XI pacer S. Sreesanth, were Thursday
ODIs, and is a star pacer for
net and candidates for the posts of sent to five days police custody here after Rajasthan Royals, has himself
President, and National Assembly being arrested on charges of spot-fixing in the to blame for his downfall.
Speaker, Dawn newspaper report- IPL, triggering widespread shock and anger.
ed Thursday night. More than 12 hours after Sreesanth,
According to Pakistan Muslim who has featured in 27 Tests and
League-Nawaz (PML-N) sources, 53 ODIs, and spinners Ankeet
veteran politician Sartaj Aziz has Chavan and Ajit Chandila were
emerged as a strong presidential taken into custody by Delhi
candidate. Asif Ali Zardari’s term Police after the Rajasthan
in office is due to end this Royals match against Mumbai
September. Sharif's Pakistan Indians got over in Mumbai,
Muslim League (PML-N) has won police here revealed shocking
124 of a total 272 seats in the details of their alleged involve-
National Assembly, with its near- ment with the underworld-linked
est rival, the Pakistan People's Incoming PM Nawaz Sharif likely to replace bookies. Delhi Police Commissioner
Party (PPP), winning 31, and Zardari with veteran politician Sartaj Aziz as the Neeraj Kumar said while Chavan was paid
Continued on page 4 nation’s next President. Rs.60 lakh by the Continued on page 4

Travel 15 Bollywood Centenary 16 Humor 28 Spiritual Awareness 30 excellence in journalism

2 May 18-24, 2013 RELIGION TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Parshwanath Temple, Sahastrafana Temple,

Pavagagh, Gujarat Lodhruva, Rajasthan.

A photographic exhibition in Claremont, CA, of exquisite temples represents but a fraction of diverse
architectural, cultural and geological variations of Jain temples in the world
iberating spaces: Jain temple photo- the dome) and Ghar Jain Temple (a home Gambhara has a prominent

L graphs from the JAINA collection – temple without dome). The latter is a shrine stone carving of the temple’s
an exhibition of stunning photo- within a personal or non-public residence mula nayak, and one is not
graphs of Jain temples from across India and, while not pictured here, they do play a supposed to enter this sacred
taken between 2003 and 2013 by profession- large role in daily Jain worship. space without taking a bath
al photographers hired by the Federation of Every Jain temple is dedicated to at least and without wearing puja
Jain Associations in North America one deity or Tirthankara (“ford-Maker”), an (worship) clothes. Most Jain
(JAINA) for their yearly calendar publica- enlightened human being who helps others temples are used by only
tions is on at Claremont School of Theology achieve liberation. The main deity of a Jain one of Jainism’s two main
Library, Claremont, California till June 14. temple is known as a mula nayak. All sects, the Svetamabara
The exhibit has been made possible by the Shikar-bandhi Jain temples have pillars (“white-clad”) and the
generous donation of Dr. Mahendra and c a r v e d Digambara (“sky-clad”).
Asha Pandya and JAINA and organized by Among other differences,
the Center for Jain Studies at Claremont Sventambara monks wear
Lincoln University. It has been curated by white clothing, while
Rebekah Sinclair and Lidiya Potapenko. Digambara ascetics Parshwanath Temple,
The images in this exhibit represent remain naked, consid- Mirpur, Rajasthan
but a fraction of the diverse architec- ering themselves not
tural, cultural, and geological varia- “nude” but wearing
tions of Jain temples in the world. the environment and
Spanning thousands of years and the space around
thousands of miles, each temple their bodies.
bears the marks of both the shared A d d i t i o n a l l y,
values and guidelines of Jain prac- Sventambaras
tice and philosophy, and the con- also believe
textual situatedness of the builders, women can achieve
followers, and landscapes of each. maksha (liberation
Every temple is constructed using a from rebirth), and
given region’s indigenous rock life and Rock Temple, Gwalior Fort. maintain
intentionally reflects the area’s geology Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh that at
and natural surroundings.
Mirroring the geo-centric architecture,
many Jain temples are famous for their use w i t h
of Vastu Shastra—the ancient doctrine of a n i m a l s ,
precepts born from the perception that the Demi-gods, Nagphani Parshwanath
laws of nature, space, and light affect human holy writ- Temple. Modar,
dwelling and wellness. Comparable to the ings, and Dungarpur, Rajasthan
now famous concept of Chi, and using enactments
mathematical and diagrammatic designs of stories, least one
which symbolically represented the cosmos, usually cen- of their
vastu buildings take into consideration the tered around to one of these two sects. Any Jain temple
five elements (air, water, earth, fire, space), the mula over 100 years old—and almost all of them
and were constructed with special sensitivity nayak. Tirthankaras are—is called a Tirtha/Tirth (“a ford or shal-
to air flow, open spaces (hence the pillars), The main part was female. low, easily crossed section of a body of
the harvesting of natural light, acoustics, etc. of a Jain temple is Jaisalmer Temple. Most temples water”). The Jains believe a Tirtha provides
Formally, there are two kinds of Jain tem- called the Gambhara (or Jaisalmer, Rajasthan serve as pilgrimage the inspiration for souls to cross over from
ples: a Shikar-bandhi Jain temple (one with Garbha Graha). Each and worship destinations this-worldly engagement to liberation.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRISTATE COMMUNITY May 18-24, 2013 3

Smithsonian to showcase visual history of yoga

Washington: Smithsonian, the world's largest museum
and research complex here, is launching a major crowd-
funding campaign May 29 to support what it calls the
world's first exhibition on the visual history of yoga.
"Yoga: The Art of Transformation" opens Oct 19 at its
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and would be on view
through Jan 26, 2014. It will be supported by a crowd-
funding campaign, "Together We're One" running from
May 29 to July 1.
The exhibition explores "yoga's philosophies and its
goals of transforming body and consciousness, its
importance within multiple religious and secular arenas,
and the varied roles that yogis played in society, from
sages to spies," Smithsonian said.
Exhibition curator Debra Diamond worked with an
interdisciplinary team of scholars to compile a remark-
able survey of Indian art, with more than 130 objects
from 25 museums and private collections in India,
Europe and the US.
"These works of art allow us to trace, often for the
first time, yoga's meanings across the diverse social
landscapes of India," said Diamond, curator of South
Asian art at the Sackler.
Renowned masterpieces of painting and sculpture, as
well as popular images, weave parallel stories of yoga as
an individual path and as a cultural force, both in India
and abroad.
The exhibition features 90 stone and bronze sculp-
tures, richly illustrated manuscripts and lavish court
paintings created from the third to the early 19th centu-
ry.
Later 19th- and early 20th-century materials -includ-
ing photographs, missionary postcards, magic posters,
medical illustrations, iconographic manuals and early
films - chart the vilification of yoga in the colonial peri-
od and the subsequent emergence of the modern disci-
pline in India.
The exhibition will later travel to the San Francisco
Asian Art Museum (Feb 21-May 25, 2014) and the
Cleveland Museum of Art (June 22-Sep 7, 2014). One of the exhibits from the exhibition

CRY America celebrates 10 years New, tech age meaning
for ‘Apple picking’
of serving children in India
New York: CRY - Child Rights and
You America Inc, a non-profit that
works to restore the rights of under-
privileged children, especially in
India, celebrates 10 years of ensur-
ing happy childhoods by hosting
two benefit dinners in New York
and Seattle. ‘Uphaar 2013’ was held
on May 4, at Seattle’s Westin,
Bellevue and ‘Pledge 2013’ was
held on May 10, at New York’s Taj,
The Pierre.
Speaking at Pledge 2013, Shefali
Sunderlal, President of CRY
America said, “As we reminisced
about our childhoods at the events,
we also thought of the 422, 878 chil-
dren living across 2,395 villages and
slums in India, whose lives have
been irreversibly transformed
through our collective efforts. We
thank our 18,944 generous donors,
2,000 committed volunteers and 64
dedicated project partners and the
media, without whom this change
would not have been possible.”
$220,000 was raised across both
dinner events attended by prominent
Shefali Sunderlal,
President - CRY
America, keynote
speaker Ruchir
Sharma, and
Monica Kharkar,
also of CRY.
(right) Padma
Desai, other
keynote at the NY
fundraiser.
personalities. Paintings donated by
famous Indian artists such as Ram
Kumar, Seema Kohli and Kiyomi
Talaulicar as well as autographed
items by Rolling Stones, the Beatles
and Pink Floyd were auctioned by
Sotheby’s Priyanka Mathew at the
New York dinner.
Keynote speaker at NY event,
Prof. Padma Desai, from Columbia
University, said girls and women
must be enabled to go beyond their
roles as daughter, mother, sister and
wife to become independent indi-
viduals and realize their potential
and dreams. She stressed that educa-
tion plays a key role in this process.
The other keynote, Ruchir
Sharma, from Morgan Stanley, and
author of the bestselling Breakout
Nations, said, “We should encour-
age children to build on their inter-
ests and talents from an early age,
which at times is stifled by teachers
and parents. My passion for writing
started at the age of 16 and remains
a significant part of my career
today”.
New York: New York
Attorney General Eric
T. Schneiderman has
sent letters to the CEOs
of Apple,
Google/Motorola,
Microsoft, and The most stolen
device.
Samsung seeking infor-
mation about their efforts to protect cus-
tomers from the rise in violent street crimes
known as “Apple Picking.” Recent reports
have demonstrated a spike in the theft of
mobile phones and other electronic devices.
The thieves wipe the devices’ memories
clean and resell them for hundreds of dollars
on the secondary market. Too often, those
crimes turn violent, and even deadly.
In his letters, Schneiderman has asked the
four companies – which account for 90 per-
cent of U.S. smart phones sales – to provide
information related to efforts and represen-
tations they make to consumers regarding
safety. He has also asked them to collabo-
rate with his office to help identify solutions
that could minimize the economic incen-
tives for theft.
“Cracking down on violent and dangerous
cell phone thefts is important for New
Yorkers,” said the Attorney General said.
“The companies that dominate this industry
have a responsibility to their customers to
fulfill their promises to ensure safety and
security.” In New York City, theft of Apple
products has driven much of the increase in
the theft of electronics. Between January 1
and September 23, 2012, 11,447 cases of
stolen “iDevices” (iPhones and other iOS
devices) were reported to the NYPD, a rise
of 3,280 over 2011.
Legislators back Cuomo’s plan
to do away with LIPA
LIPA was disparaged for
its knock-kneed response
when Hurricane Sandy
hit Long Island.
Albany, NY: New York Gov.
Andrew Cuomo received tentative
support from legislative leaders
Monday for his plan to finally
sideline the Long Island Power
Authority (LIPA), which has been
criticized for high rates and ques-
tionable response in disasters —
most infamously including
Superstorm Sandy.
The Cuomo proposal would
replace LIPA’s role in daily opera-
tions by Public Service Electric &
Gas Co. (PSE&G) of New Jersey .
The proposal would freeze Long
Islanders’ rates for power for three
years. State Assembly Speaker
Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan)
would only say Cuomo’s proposal
was a “thoughtful plan” to “a com-
plex challenge” and “certainly an
important step in the right direc-
tion.” Assembly Republican leader
Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre)
called it “still a work in progress”
although the Cuomo administra-
tion worked with key legislators
on its provisions for weeks.
Long Island legislative represen-
tatives, the county executives of
Nassau and Suffolk counties, and
business leaders gave stronger
support for Cuomo’s proposal.
But some customers who are
already paying some of the
nation’s highest utility bills are
still concerned.
“Let’s take the proposal one step
further with a long-term solution
that will give Long Islanders a
stronger voice in the utility regula-
tory process,” said Beth Finkel of
AARP in New York. “A consumer
advocate office with teeth to stand
up to utility companies like PSEG
and LIPA is the missing piece to
Gov. Cuomo’s plan for oversight
of utilities.” Cuomo and legislative
leaders said they will try to turn
the proposal into a bill that could
be voted on by the end of the ses-
sion on June 20.
Cuomo said that even if the tran-
sition from LIPA, and its currently
contracted operator, National Grid,
isn’t done in time for the summer
and fall hurricane season, Long
Islanders will still be better served.
LIPA said it will cooperate.
Cuomo said he envisions a pri-
vatizing of utility operations
through PSE&G while reducing
the number of LIPA’s political
patronage jobs and LIPA’s role in
handling the authority’s $6.7 bil-
lion in debt.
 4 May 18-24, 2013 TURN PAGE TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Obama pushes back against... story May 5, May 9 and May 15 in games

Obama to host Myanmar president at White House Continued from page 1

Washington: President Barack
Obama will meet his Myanmarese
counterpart Thein Sein at the White
House on May 20 and discuss
democracy building in the Southeast
Asian nation.
“The president (Obama) looks for-
ward to discussing with President
Thein Sein the many remaining chal-
lenges to efforts to develop democ-
racy, address communal and ethnic
tensions, and bring economic oppor-
tunity to the people of his country,
and to exploring how the United
States can help,” White House
spokesman Jay Carney said.
Thein Sein’s visit to the US as
president will be the first for a
Myanmarese leader following the
country’s military leader Ne Win’s
visit to Washington in 1966 at the
invitation of then US president
Lyndon Johnson. Obama visited
President Obama met his Myanmarese counterpart Thein Sein
last year in Yangon.
Myanmar in November 2012, while
Thein Sein visited New York where
he addressed the UN General
Assembly in September. Washington
has, among others, restored diplo-
matic relations with Myanmar, eased
a visa ban and ended sanctions on
investment in the country in
response to the advances made in the
country’s reform efforts initiated by
Thein Sein after he took office in
March 2011.
In addition, the White House
released more than 100 pages of e-
mails sought by GOP critics about
the talking points on the September
attack in Benghazi, Libya, that
killed the U.S. ambassador and three
other Americans. CNN also reported
that White House invited top
Democratic strategists for a meeting
Thursday with Chief of Staff Denis
McDonough to discuss ideas for
damage control.
Meanwhile, US Rep. Michele
Bachmann has likened the IRS issue
to the Watergate scandal of the
Nixon presidency. She and other tea
party leaders demanded a thorough
investigation of the IRS and the
Obama administration's possible
role in the controversy, which led
the president to dismiss acting direc-
tor Steven Miller; his resignation is
effective next month.
Nawaz Sharif finalizing... story
Continued from page 1
Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-
against the Pune Warriors, King's
Punjab XI and Mumbai Indians
respectively. 11 bookies from New
Delhi, Mumbai and Ahmedabad
were also arrested.
"The arrests were made after we
listened to taped conversations (run-
ning to) hundreds of hours," Neeraj
Kumar told the media. "More
arrests are expected but those will
be of bookies and no other player
will be arrested," he said.
The Board of Control for Cricket
in India (BCCI) promptly suspended
the three cricketers.
Police said the three players were
told to use codes that bookies based
far away could decipher: such as
tucking a towel in the trouser, rotat-
ing a watch and wearing a wrist
band. In the game against Kings XI,
Sreesanth did tuck a towel in his
trouser before his second over. In
that over, he conceded 13 runs
against the agreed 14 but was still
paid Rs.40 lakh.
Delhi Police made the dramatic

International migration to lead
US population growth
Washington: International migra-
tion is projected to surpass natural
increase as the principal driver of
US population growth by the mid-
dle of this century, the first time in
two centuries, the US Census
Bureau estimates. According to
three latest series of projections,
the shift in what drives US popula-
tion growth is projected to occur
between 2027 and 2038, depending
on the future level of international
migration, reported Xinhua.
This would mark the first time
that natural increase was not the
leading cause of population
increase since at least 1850, when
the census began collecting infor-
mation about residents' country of
birth. "Our nation has had higher
immigration rates in the past, par-
ticularly during the great waves of
the late 19th and early 20th cen-
turies," said Thomas Mesenbourg,
the Census Bureau's senior adviser
Wednesday.
He noted that the latest "project-
ed milestone" reflects the mix of
the nation's declining fertility rates,
the aging of the baby boomer pop-
ulation and continued immigration.
Higher international migration
would mean a faster growing, more
diverse, and younger US popula-
tion, said the agency. Among the
latest projections, the total US pop-
ulation in 2060 ranges from 392.7
million to 442.4 million. The net
international migration in 2012
ranges from 702,000 to 747,000,
while the projected figure for 2060
ranges from 824,000 to 1.6 million.
Soul singer Candice Glover
wins 'American Idol'
Candice Glover, a soul singer
from rural South Carolina,
was named "American Idol" on
Thursday, becoming the first
female singer to win the televi-
sion singing competition since
2007. Glover, 23, defeated
country singer Kree Harrison
in the popular vote with her
powerful voice in what judges
deemed a close contest to take
the title on season 12 of the
Fox network show.
Insaf (PTI) securing 27. To achieve
the required majority, Sharif’s party
needs to wi over some of the 28
independents elected. Besides, there
will be recounts or re-polling in 11
constituencies.
Dawn reported that for the post of
National Assembly Speaker, names
of Mehmood Khan Achakzai and
Riaz Pirzada are under considera-
tion. The federal cabinet is expected
to be sworn-in in two phases.
General (retd) Qadir Baloch is being
named for the post of interior minis-
ter. The new government will have
its hands full with problems ranging
from chronic power shortages, a
near-failed economy, a Taliban
insurgency and building relations
with the United States and arch rival
India.
Sreesanth & two RR... story
Continued from page 1
bookies, Sreesanth and Chandila got
Rs.40 lakh each. The three crick-
eters were involved in spot-fixing
arrests after Wednesday night's
game when Chavan gifted 15 runs
in his second over. He had been
asked by the bookies to give away
14 runs or more.
Mumbai Police sources said the
arrests followed hours of intercepted
telephone calls, two dozens of
which originated from Pakistan,
now home to a section of the
Mumbai underworld.
"This has been a tough day for
me, my team and cricket," said
Rajasthan Royals captain and for-
mer India legend Rahul Dravid. He
said the episode was "extremely sad
and dangerous".
India’s Sports Minister Jitendra
Singh demanded "strict action"
against the guilty cricketers.
Spot-fixing is the manipulation of
individual incidents within a match
which may not affect the outcome of
the contest, most famously exposed
in a London trial and jailing of three
Pakistani cricketers in 2011.

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TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRISTATE COMMUNITY May 18-24, 2013 5

On Gujarat Day Narendra Modi

addresses Indians in 20 US
cities, slams UPA govt
Washington, DC: Community
leaders, entrepreneurs, profession-
als, and varsity students gathered
across the US in small groups to
hear the man being projected as the
great challenger to the UPA gov-
ernment.
Still a persona non grata in the
US, Gujarat Chief Minister Naren-
dra Modi spoke to the Indian com-
munity in 20 cities in North Amer-
ica via satellite from state capital
of Gandhinagar Sunday.
He was the keynote speaker at
Gujarat Day celebrations across
North America, according to the
organizers of the event, Indian/Gu-
jarati Samuday of North America,
an informal grouping of several
community organizations.
Various ethnic Gujarati associa-
tions had decided to celebrate Gu-
jarat Day in America on May 12 to
celebrate the May 1 1960 forma-
tion of the State, the organizers
said. Modi, they said was invited
to share his vision of "Good Gov-
ernance" that is the foundation of
Gujarat's growth story
Modi had more than Gujaratis in
his line of vision with an hour-long
address in Hindi (except for an-
swering a final question in Gu-
jarati) during which he spoke of
Gujarat Chief Minister gave his virtual address to hundreds of Indians across the US (Photo: Yagnesha Shah)
his achievements in Gujarat and
panned the center, calling it weak,
inept, and corrupt. He also took pot
shots at the government's handling
of foreign policy, suggesting it was
weak-kneed before Pakistan and
China. There was no reference to
the US or the revocation of his
American business visa that has
forced him to connect with the In-
dian diaspora here.
''China withdraws its forces from
our territory but why are Indian
forces withdrawing from Indian
territory? Why did we retreat?"
Modi asked rhetorically, referring
to the recent border spat with Chi-
na, before picking on the UPA gov-
ernment's Pakistan policy: ''Our
soldiers are beheaded at the border
but the Prime Minister of the na-
tion that beheads is fed chicken
biryani. That is when questions are
raised.''
The Gujarat chief minister made
no secret of his desire to vault to
the national stage on the strength
of his performance in Gujarat, say-
ing, "This is Gujarat Day. But I am
an Indian first and I am worried
because we are heading towards
troubled times. All because of a
weak government."

NY community leader and philanthropist honored Reshma Saujani Campaign hits $2.18 million
New York: Kanchana Jagadeesan Poola, fondly known as
Kanchana - New York based community leader and philan-
in contributions and expected match funds
thropist was honored in New Jersey by the community or-
ganization Golden Elephants Events group for her dedicat-
First time donors include Facebook COO
ed service to the Indian community in USA, her uncondi- Sheryl Sandberg, John Legend
tional support to educational institutions run for orphanage
children in Tamil Nadu and to other notable charities as well. New York, NY: Reshma Sau- Dorsey, co-founder of
Kanchana was one of the ten women selected in NY/NJ/CT jani, former Deputy Public Twitter and Square
tri-state area to receive the award known as “Woman of Advocate and founder of also headlined a
Achievement Award.” the national non-profit campaign fundrais-
The award was bestowed on her by the Tamil TV Celebri- Girls Who Code, an- er event in April,
ty- Vijay TV’s “Neeya-Naana” fame Mr. Gopinath in a col- nounced that her cam- telling a packed
orful ceremony held on Sunday, May 05, 2013 at Mont- paign has raised a total room that he sup-
gomery High School, Skillman New Jersey in connection of $2,186,401 in con- ported Saujani be-
with Mother’s Day celebrations. Dr. M N Krishnan, the cur- tributions and expected cause, "we need
rent President of New York Tamil Sangam on stage with match funds, and now more strong
Gopinath honored Kanchana with a nicely crafted flower Kanchana Poola with Gopinath of Vijay
TV who presented her the award and Dr M.N. has an expected women lead-
bouquet.
Krishnan, President of NYTS $1,678,423 available to ers in this
Kanchana was honored for her tireless service to the Tamil
Manhattan Centre in New York City. Kanchana was the spend in the Demo- country."
community living in USA especially in the New York area.
Kanchana was the first woman president of New York Tamil longest served Woman President of NYTS proving her able cratic primary. In the last
Sangam (NYTS) - the first ever Tamil Association started in leadership qualities with exemplary service to the commu- “I’m proud of two
North America forty years ago for the cause of Tamils living nity. Kanchana’s accomplishment to get the Woman of the outpouring months
in New York. Her contributions to the Tamil community to- Achievement Award was celebrated by her family and of grassroots Saujani's
wards art, literature, culture and the language are countless. friends who gathered in large numbers inside and outside the support that cam-
has helped Reshma Saujani paign
Kanchana was one of the main driving forces behind the suc- ceremony hall. Mr. Jagadeesan Poola hosted a party in hon-
cessful completion of the three-day celebrations of Federa- or of Kanchana Poola to celebrate the occasion at Mirchi our campaign expand and grow raised $153,975, receiving dona-
tion of Tamil Sangams of North America in July 2006 at Restaurant in New Jersey. over the last two months,” said Sau- tions from more than 700 individu-
jani. “These are people that are join- als, with 77% of those donors con-

ZEE partners with AIF to impact social change in India
New York: In ongoing efforts to support charities dedicated
to fostering socio-economic development around the world,
ZEE Americas sponsored the American India Foundation’s
6th Annual New York Young Professionals Gala this April.
Each year, AIF raises awareness and funds for one major
cause, ranging from neo-natal health and education to
healthcare for HIV positive women and children. This year’s
nominated program was MANSI (Maternal and Newborn
Survival Initiative), which aims to lower the infant mortali-
ty rate and lessen childbirth complications for women in ru-
ral areas of India who have limited access to proper medical
facilities and practitioners. ZEE Americas GM, Sameer
Targe said, “As a leader in South Asian entertainment, we
are an inseparable part of the South Asian community in the
United States. ZEE believes in supporting initiatives that
promote social and economic change, especially when it
comes to empowering the youth and their efforts to make a
difference in the lives of those less fortunate.”
ing me to fight for opportunity for tributing $100 or less this filing pe-
all New Yorkers and are looking for riod. Saujani formally launched her
a Public Advocate that offers some- Public Advocate campaign in April
thing more than the same old with a five-borough "Opportunity
ideas.” for All" tour and has been success-
Notable new contributors to Sau- fully building out her grassroots
jani's campaign include Grammy- movement citywide. The campaign
award winning musician John Leg- continues to build momentum with
end and Facebook Chief Operating a key endorsement earlier this week
Officer and best-selling author of from Alliance of South Asian Amer-
Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg. Jack ican Labor.
 6 May 18-24, 2013
Karnataka will emerge as IT superpower again: Moily
New York: Union Petroleum
Minister Veerappa Moily has
assured the Non-Resident Indians
that the Congress Government
headed by Chief Minister K
Siddaramiah in Karnataka will put
the state back again on the global
map in Information and bio tech-
nology. It will become IT super-
power again and make India
proud.
Moily was addressing Indian-
Americans over live audio confer-
ence by telephone from New
Delhi at a victory celebrations Dr. Dayanand Naik, fourth from right, with George Abraham,
organized by Dr. Dayanand Naik, president and other INOC leaders at the victory
Karnataka chapter president of
Indian National Overseas ous Bharatiya Janata Party gov-
Congress (INOC) here on ernment had done irreparable
Monday night. damage to the image of Karnataka
Moily told NRIs that the previ- abroad which was the most
Paresh Rawal’s play enthralls audiences in NJ
By Yagnesha Shah
aresh Rawal’s play “Dear Father” produced by
P Swaroop Sampat and directed by Dinkar, a
satirical presentation of the interaction between
two generations, received standing ovation and non-
stop applause when staged in New Jersey recently. It’s
difficult to reduce the generation gap in this fast world
and to get each other’s attention and love a lot of ma-
nipulation is required. This meaningful lesson is giv-
en in an hilarious as well as emotional way in the play.
Rawal plays the lead character in double role, one of
an aging father and the other of a suspicious police in-
spector.
Dr Kumar Vishwas
Do you feel strongly about something?
Do you want to overcome the writer’s block?
Dear Reader,
Citizen journalism is an essential compo-
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belong to a community group, association or
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your name and photograph in the online and
Hot Topics you can comment on:
1. President Obama in a corner on three issues:
IRS targeting conservative groups, Benghazi, and
NATIONAL COMMUNITY TheSouthAsianTimes.info
only in India but all over the assembly. He appealed to the
world by providing a stable, cor- Congress High Command to
rupt-free, transparent and account- reserve seats for Non-Resident
able government.” Indian members of the INOC who
Terming the recently-held elec- are Indian citizens to contest
tion as “liberation movement,” the Parliament and State Assembly
Union Minister thanked Dr. Naik elections. “There are some NRIs
and his team from the Indian among MPs now and we need
National Overseas Congress for more to raise the issue of overseas
their support and campaign using Indians in Parliament,” he said.
social media and mass email to Shudh Parkash Singh, INOC
their friends and relatives back Senior Vice President said
home to bring back Congress to Karnataka has proved that stable
power. government is a must for develop-
George Abraham, president of ment. Mohinder Singh Gilzian,
Indian National Overseas vice president, Harbachan Singh,
celebrations in New York. Congress (INOC) in his presiden- general secretary, Zack Thomas,
favored investment destination tial address, said the people of one of the founders of INOC and
when the Congress Party ruled the Karnataka had spoken loud and other leaders offered their con-
State. “We will respond to the clear disproving all negativities gratulations for the victory of
aspirations of Kannadigas not and fake poll predictions of hung Congress in Karnataka.
IN BRIEF
Karsh Kale to perform at the White House
arsh Kale, an Indian Ameri- When contacted, Karsh said, "The
K can musician, producer and
composer has been invited
news just came in.
I will be performing on May 28 at
to perform at the White House in
May end. Karsh tweeted late on
Wednesday evening, "WOW ...have
been invited to DJ at a reception at
the annual Asian American Pacific
Islanders (AAPI) meet. First, Barack
Obama will be giving a speech, after
which I will be performing at the re-
the White House aka Barack's house ception." Karsh has been invited by
later this month.....#djfortheprez" the AAPI.
A still from the play ‘Dear Father’
Photo by: Yagnesha Shah
Poet performer Dr Kumar
Vishwas visits US
By Yagnesha Shah
r Kumar Vishwas, a performing poet, an au-
D thor, a social communicator and a motivator
performed in New Jersey recently. He is cred-
ited with reviving Hindi poetry among young genera-
tion. A professor by profession, Dr Vishwas is also in-
volved in writing scripts, lyrics and stories for Indian
film industry. He was brought to USA audience by The Gujarati Samaj of New York recently held Gujarat Day
Musikwave Entertainment. celebrations at its community center in Fresh Meadows, NY.
Honored guest Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos
seen here with executive committee member Bharati Desai
and Harshad Patel.
print editions of TSAT.
Like us on Facebook and follow us on
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The South Asian Times Managing Editor
e x c e l l e n c e
The South Asian Times
i n j o u r n a l i s m
AP wiretapping.
At the same event Maragos (third from left) posing
2. Nawaz Sharif as Pak PM -- Good or bad for with Maulik Patel, Anil Patel, Harshad Patel, Dilip Chauhan
America and India? and Divyesh Tripathi.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info NATIONAL COMMUNITY May 18-24, 2013 7

Indian wunderkid is youngest Indians lobby hard for a slice of

Ritankar Das
Washington, DC: Kolkata-born
Ritankar Das, a bioengineering
and chemical biology double
major at the University of
California at Berkeley, has
become the youngest student to
receive the University Medal in
more than a century.
The medal is given to the year's
top graduating senior. Das, who
began his freshman term when he
was 15, will be graduating with
more than 200 credits and a GPA
of 3.99, which includes eight A+
marks, in three years, according
to the university news center.
He will receive the medal and
give a speech at Commencement
Convocation on May 18.
Das, 18, is also the first student
Berkley topper in a century
from the College of Chemistry in
58 years - and the first ever
from the Department of
Bioengineering - to
earn the honor,
which includes
a $2,500
scholarship.
After graduation, Das, who is
fluent in Bengali and Hindi, and
conversational in Spanish, will
head to Oxford University to pur-
sue a master's degree in biomed-
ical engineering with a fully fund-
ed Whitaker Fellowship.
He will then continue his studies
at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, where he has been
admitted to the chemistry PhD
program.
Das's academic and community
service achievements have earned
him more than 40 awards totaling
more than $300,000.
These include prestigious
Goldwater, Udall and Pearson
scholarships, as well as a graduate
research fellowship from the
National Science Foundation.
Das credits much of his success
to dedicated parents and teachers
who propelled him forward. "I had
parents and teachers who invested
in my education early on," said
Das.
"Without that help, I don't think
I would have succeeded through
the education system. I think a lot
of students deserve that opportuni-
ty and don't always get it."
Das moved to Waukesha,
Wisconsin, at the age of 7 with his
parents, Sankar and Kakali Das.
Das grew up with limited financial
resources, often walking several
miles with his mother to elemen-
tary school in the freezing cold.
Das and his parents moved to
Fremont, California, a year before
he started college. When it came
time to choose his school, Das
picked Berkeley because this cam-
pus offered an appealing "culture
of mutual appreciation where peo-
ple were genuinely curious across
fields," he said.
immigration pie
Washington, DC: From corporate
America to Indian techies to Indian-
Americans with family ties to their
native land - all are lobbying hard to
influence changes in the proposed
immigration law that has started
moving through the US legislative
labyrinthine.
Concerned that some "aggressive-
ly protectionist" provisions in the
bipartisan legislation proposed by
the so-called Senate gang of eight
would adversely affect US-India
trade ties, a leading association of
over 300 US firms doing business
with India is engaging a lobbying
firm as it once did to push the land-
mark India-US nuclear deal.
The US-India Business Council
(USIBC) argues that the proposed
ban and restrictions on client site
placement of H1B and L1 workers
respectively and a limit on their total
percentage in a company's work-
force in the US would dispropor-
tionally affect Indian-born, highly-
skilled workers.
The proposed caps on H1B visas
will instead put a cap on economic
growth in both the US and India,
USIBC officials argue, and place the
US at a relative disadvantage in the
global marketplace driving away
skilled workers elsewhere, including
to Canada and Europe.
The bill proposes raising the cur-
rent base cap for H-1 B visas from
65,000 to 110,000 and eventually to
180,000 based on a formula that
includes whether the cap is met each
year and the number of unemployed
high-skilled workers.
But it also imposes a hard limit of
50 percent on H-1B and L-1 work-
ers that could make up a company's
workforce in the US from October
2016 onwards and increases the visa
application fee from the current
$2,000 to up to $10,000 for employ-
ers with more than 50 percent and
less than 75 percent such workers.
Concerned about the potential to
apply new rules in a discriminatory
manner against Indian companies,
the National Association of
Software and Services Companies
(Nasscom) too is planning to engage
a lobbying firm to make its case on
the Capitol Hill, the seat of the US
Congress.

Four Indian Americans Ranbaxy to pay $500 mn to settle US fraud charges

charged with healthcare fraud
Chicago: Four Indian
Americans are among 89
people charged with
healthcare fraud running
into about $233 million in
false billing after a
nationwide strike in eight
cities, according to feder-
al authorities.
All the Indian
Americans charged are
from the Chicago area.
Ankur Roy, Akash
Patel, and Dipen Desai,
have been charged with
six counts of health care
fraud each in an indict-
ment that was returned by
a federal grand jury last
Wednesday and unsealed
Tuesday.
The three, who owned
and operated Selectcare
Health Inc, which provid-
ed outpatient physical and
respiratory therapy in
Park Ridge and Skokie,
Washington, DC: A sub-
sidiary of Indian generic
drug-maker Ranbaxy
ed generic form of
isotretinoin, a drug used to
treat severe recalcitrant
were charged with sub-
Laboratories has pleaded nodular acne; gabapentin is a
mitting more than $4 mil-
guilty to federal charges of drug used to treat epilepsy
lion in false billings to
selling adulterated drugs and nerve pain; ciprofloxacin
Medicare between March
with intent to defraud and is a broad-spectrum antibiot-
and July 2011.
agreed to pay $500 million to ic.
Roy, 36, of Miami was
resolve false claim allega- Ranbaxy USA acknowl-
arrested Tuesday in south
tions. edged that FDA's inspection
Florida, while Patel, 33,
The US justice department of the Paonta Sahib facility
of Morton Grove, and
Monday described as "the guilty to three felony counts reflects many years of work in 2006 found incomplete
Desai, 33, of Chicago,
largest drug safety settle- under the federal Food, Drug by FDA agents and federal testing records and an inade-
will be ordered to appear
ment" with a generic drug- and Cosmetic Act (FDCA), prosecutors, holds Ranbaxy quate program to assess the
for arraignment on a later
maker related to manufacture and four felony counts of accountable for a pattern of stability characteristics of
date in US District Court
and distribution of certain knowingly making material violations and should drugs, the justice department
in Chicago.
adulterated drugs made at false statements to the Food improve the reliability of said.
According to the indict-
two of Ranbaxy USA Inc's and Drug Administration generic drugs manufactured The company also admit-
ment, the three allegedly
manufacturing facilities at (FDA), it said. in India by Ranbaxy," he ted to making false, ficti-
submitted $4,009,094 in
Paonta Sahib and Dewas in "This is the largest false said. tious, and fraudulent state-
false billings for services
India. claims case ever prosecuted Ranbaxy USA admitted to ments to the FDA in Annual
that were purportedly pro-
Ranbaxy also agreed to pay in the District of Maryland, introducing into interstate Reports filed in 2006 and
vided between April 2010
a criminal fine and forfeiture and the nation's largest finan- commerce certain batches of 2007 regarding the dates of
and April 2011, resulting
totaling $150 million and to cial penalty paid by a generic adulterated drugs that were stability tests conducted on
in payments totaling
settle civil claims under the pharmaceutical company for produced at Paonta Sahib in certain batches of Cefaclor,
approximately
False Claims Act and related FDCA violations," said US 2005 and 2006, including Cefadroxil, Amoxicillin, and
$2,214,424 from
State laws for $350 million, Attorney for the District of Sotret, gabapentin, and Amoxicillin and Clavulanate
Medicare and $320,881
the department said in a Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein. ciprofloxacin, the justice Potassium, which were man-
from Blue Cross Blue
media release. "The joint criminal and department said. ufactured at the Dewas facil-
Shield.
Ranbaxy USA pleaded civil settlement, which Sotret is Ranbaxy's brand- ity, it said.
 8 May 18-24, 2013 NATIONAL COMMUNITY TheSouthAsianTimes.info

AAPI’s 31st convention to start in Chicago on May 23
Senator Harry Reid to deliver keynote address
Chicago, IL: The 31st annual Convention of the Ameri-
can Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) is
all set to start on Thursday, May 23rd, 2013 at the Sher-
aton Hotel & Towers, Chicago, IL. To be attended over
2,000 talented and dedicated physicians of Indian origin,
the five-day event will provide a forum for the nation’s
talented and compassionate physicians of Indian origin to
deliberate on ways to enhance their own professional
growth while offering opportunities for networking and
staying united. In addition to the entertainment and fun to
the delegates who will be gathering in Chicago, the con-
vention will enable the physicians to express a unified
voice to protect their rights as well as explore possibili-
ties to give back to the society. Senator Harry Reid, Sen-
ate Majority Leader will be the keynote speaker at the
convention. Other speakers who will address the dele-
gates will include Senator Dick Durbin, Assistant Senate
Majority Leader, Congressman Ami Bera, Congress-
woman Tulsi Gabbard, Governor Patrick Quinn, Gover-
nor of Illinois, , India’s Minister of Overseas Indian Af-
fairs, Jeremy Lazarus, MD, AMA president, Christopher
Kaplan, Sr. Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer,
Boehringer Ingelheim, Inc., Eric Peterson, Sr. Vice Pres-
ident & Vice President, Corporate Diversity, GM. The
Women’s Forum, which is being chaired by Dharmi
Kanuga, MD, and Annita John, MD, will have Ambassa-
dor Nirupama Rao, Indian Ambassador to the United
States, Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, Anne Cherian
and Surinder Nand, MD.
“Some of the other major attractions include cutting-
edge CME with renowned speakers, Alumni meetings,
delicious ethnic cuisine, fashion shows, the best of the
Bollywood entertainment with outstanding artists, and a
Friday evening cruise where the City of Chicago will
raise the bridge for AAPI Convention,” said Dr. Naren-
dra R. Kumar, President, AAPI. “Most important of all,
the Convention will give us the chance to meet old
US working with India to streamline
education visa process
Washington, DC: The United Blake said in his remarks.
States is working with the Indian "And through a grant from our
Government to streamline the lat- Embassy in New Delhi, the US-
ter's education visa, which is being India Educational Foundation is
considered as a major hindrance working with Indian institutions of
for American students wanting to higher education to encourage
go to the country for education, a more US students to study there,
top Obama Administration official including by developing better
has said. housing and support offices for for-
Though more than 100,000 eign students," he said.
Indian students come to the US for The Obama Administration has
Senator Harry Reid with AAPI members at study every year, the number of launched 'Passport to India' initia-
AAPI's Legislative Day earlier American students who studied in tive to send more and more
India in 2011-2012 was a mere American students to India for
friends, make new friends, and provide a great opportu-
4,300 and far less than those going studies.
nity for professional networking.” Lauding the hard
to China for studies. The United States is also work-
work, planning and organization of the host committee,
Even as more American students ing with businesses and founda-
Dr. Kumar said, “The convention team is working very
would like to go to India for stud- tions to increase opportunities for
hard to bring an outstanding convention to our mem-
ies, not many are able to travel more Americans to experience
bers.” Dr. Birinder Marwah, Chairman of AAPI 2013
because of the difficulties they face India during their college or uni-
Annual Convention, said, “We have been working for
in getting the education visa. versity years through study abroad,
more than a year in putting together an attractive program
"We recognize that there are internships, and service learning
for our annual get together, educational activity, family
indeed challenges and hindrances opportunities.
enjoyment.
which have prevented more This complements other State
I am fortunate to chair this dedicated team of conven-
American students from choosing Department-sponsored programs
tion committee members from Chicago and surrounding
India as a destination," the for study abroad, including
areas.”
Assistant Secretary of State for Fulbright, Gilman, and Critical
“AAPI was formed in the midst of challenges that
South and Central Asia, Robert Language Scholarships.
physicians of Indian origin have faced due to cultural bar-
Blake, told students at the Boston Passport to India now has 10
riers and bias against international medical graduates.
University. "We are working with partnerships with companies as
Those barriers created obstacles to immigration and li-
the Indian government to stream- diverse as Honeywell, United
censing opportunities,” Dr. Jayesh Shah, President-Elect
line education visa processes, Airlines, Citigroup, which have
of AAPI, explained. “Today, the organization is a dy-
which have been repeatedly identi- created hundreds of new opportu-
namic body, spearheading legislative agendas on health
fied as a key reason for why so few nities for American students in
care and influencing the advancement of ethnic medical
American students go to India," India.
organizations.”

Ten Indian American students Nanubhai Education Foundation raises

named Presidential Scholars
Washington, DC: Ten Indian
American students were named May
6 among 141 Presidential Scholars,
the nation’s highest honor for gradu-
ating high school seniors.
They are: Hema V. Pingali,
Randolph School, Owens Cross
Roads, Ala.; Aneri C. Pattani,
Cheshire High School, Cheshire,
Conn.; Nivedha Ram, Acton-
Boxborough Regional High School,
Boxborough, Mass.; Anish Athalye,
Massachusetts Academy of Math &
Science, Shrewsbury, Mass.; Vineet
Aggarwal, St. Andrew’s Episcopal
School, Ridgeland, Miss.; Maneesh
D. Apte, Davies High School,
Fargo, N.D; Anjali K. Lall, Davies
High School, Fargo; N.D.; Raghav
Tripathi, Westview High School,
Portland, Ore.; Apoorva Dixit,
White Station High School,
Collierville, Tenn.; and Keyur M.
Mehta, Westlake H.S., Austin,
Texas.
“Presidential Scholars demon-
strate the accomplishments that can
be made when students challenge
themselves, set the highest standards
and commit themselves to excel-
lence,” said U.S. Secretary of
Education Arne Duncan in a state-
ment. “I’m honored to celebrate
their creativity, hard work, and com-
munity service, and I encourage
them — and all students — to con-
tinue to showcase the capacity for
greatness in our nation’s young peo-
ple.”
The Commission on Presidential
Scholars makes the final selection of
the nation’s Presidential Scholars.
One male and one female student
are selected from each state, the
District of Columbia, the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and
from families of U.S. citizens living
abroad.
In addition, up to 15 students cho-
sen at large and the Presidential
Scholars Commission selects up to
20 Presidential Scholars in the arts
for a total of 141 Presidential
Scholars.
A ceremony will be held June 16
in Washington, D.C., when each
honoree will receive a Presidential
Scholar Medallion.
There were 48 South Asian
American students among the
approximate 550 high school stu-
dents named Presidential Scholar
semifinalists.
About 3,900 students nationwide
were identified as candidates for the
program based on performances on
ACT or SAT college
admissions tests.
$55,000 at fifth annual gala
New York, NY: Over 350
guests attended the Nanubhai
Education Foundation’s Fifth
Annual Gala on May 10th, 2013
held at Midtown Loft and
Terrance in New York City.
Spokesman for Nanubhai
Education Foundation, actor
Manish Dayal, along with spe-
cial guests; Melanie
Kannokada, Neelu Sodhi, Pooja
Kumar, Nina Manuel, Ami
Sheth, Indrani Pal Chaudhuri,
and Fashion Designer Payal
Singhal came out to support the
charity.
The gala, which sold out in Celebrities with Nita Nehru and Raj Shah
advance, raised a high of Every year our mission of "After two years working on
$55,000 from ticket sales and reforming rural education is Nanubhai's mission in rural
personal donations. Hosted being put to work in a real way. India, I am honored to assume
annually, the gala raises funds Thank you to everyone who has the role of Executive Director. I
to support the Foundation's pro- contributed to our organization's plan to work with our team to
grams which provide scholar- success.” says Manish Dayal expand our flagship programs to
ships for meritorious women to spokesman for the organization. new regions of India.
attend college and provides Former Executive Director Additionally, I will focus on
direct support to improve the Nita Nehru announced her new strengthening our already-
quality of education in rural role for NEF as the Co-Chair of expanding network of donors
public schools in India. the Board along with Kandarp and volunteers. I am excited to
“This year we exceeded our Shah, while Claire Arthurs will lead this organization into the
fundraising goals with the help take responsibility as the incom- next phase of growth.” says
of our long time supporters. ing Executive Director. Claire Arthurs.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info US AFFAIRS May 18-24, 2013 9

New controversies threaten to choke ‘Inappropriate criteria’ stalled IRS approvals

Obama's 2nd term agenda
Washington: A series of recent controversies
have forced the Obama administration onto
the defensive, emboldening Republicans in
Congress and threatening to stymie the presi-
dent’s already-struggling second-term agenda,
comments NBC.
Republicans have already slowed or stopped
several of President Obama’s top priorities,
including his gun-control proposal, tax plan
and a slew of nominations. And the three new
flaps threaten to further embolden conserva-
tives in Congress, who have at times struggled
to unite due to infighting.
Fresh questions about the administration’s
handling of last year’s terrorist attack in
Benghazi and reports that the IRS had singled
out conservative groups for scrutiny have gal-
vanized Republican critics to dig in against
the president. Revelations that the Justice
Department seized phone records from jour-
nalists at AP as part of an investigation into
classified leaks has made matters worse for
the White House.
“The fact of the matter is House and Senate
Republicans have done very little legislating
so far this year. This certainly isn't going to
help things,” said Jim Manley, a former senior
Democratic Senate aide. “Now they're going
to feast on investigation after investigation for
the rest of the year, while throwing red meat to
their base and forgetting about the divisions in
their own caucus.”
Indeed, Republicans have quickly rallied
around this trio of controversies – particularly
the IRS story, and the continued probe into
Benghazi. “If I were in the opposing party,
and the White House were having this kind of
week, I’d be smiling,” said Jamal Simmons, a
Democratic strategist.
Republicans have thwarted many elements
of the president’s second-term agenda over the
past few months, showing little or no interest
in the kind of compromise Obama hoped
might come from his and Democrats’ decisive
electoral victories last fall.
"My thinking was when we beat them in
President Obama, with then Secretary of
State by his side, spoke ing about the
attack on US mission in Benghazi, prom-
ising ‘justice be will be done’. Since then
the Republicans have relentlessly
accused the Obama administration of
concealing facts on the calamitous event.
2012 that might break the fever, and it’s not
quite broken yet," Obama said Monday at a
fundraiser, alluding to that phenomenon. "But
I am persistent. And I am staying at it."
But the continued probe into Benghazi and
the IRS controversy seems to have renewed
Republicans’ focus, making the opposition
party as energized and focused as ever in pur-
suing these issues to their bitter end, so as to
hasten the onset of Obama’s “lame duck” sta-
tus. At Tuesday’s White House press briefing,
press secretary Jay Carney disputed a
reporter’s question about whether recent con-
troversies threatened to knock Obama’s agen-
da off-course.
“The president is focused on what he
believes the American people expect from him
and their elected leaders in Washington,” he
said. And Democrats have begun to punch
back. “It wasn't long ago that the IRS inappro-
priately targeted the NAACP, Greenpeace and
a California church that was really progres-
sive,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry
Reid, D-Nev., on Tuesday. “It was interesting
at that time, we didn't hear a single
Republican grandstand the issue then. Where
was their outrage when groups on the other
side of the political spectrum were under
attack?”
of conservative groups: IG report
Washington: The Internal Revenue Service
developed “inappropriate criteria” focused on
conservative groups that stalled work on most
of the organizations’ applications for nearly 13
months, according to a report issued by the
Treasury Inspector General on Tuesday.
The report said the targeting campaign would
“stay in place for more than 18 months.” Of the
298 total applications the IG report reviewed as
of Dec. 17 last year, “108 had been approved,
28 were withdrawn by the application, none
had been denied, and 160 were open from 206
to 1,138 calendar days (some for more than
three years and crossing two election cycles.)”
The IG report said that the IRS officials had a
range of criteria for potential political cases
that include the terms “tea party,” “patriots”
and “9/12 Project;” issues including govern-
ment spending, government debt or taxes; edu-
cation of the public about how to “make
America a better place to live;” or a statement
in the case file criticizing how the country is
being run.
Applications that met these criteria were
added to a “Be on the Lookout” (BOLO) list-
ing, meaning they required further scrutiny.
IRS officials told the IG that they did not
consult anyone outside the agency about the
screening and that they considered the screen-
ing essentially shorthand.
“Whether the inappropriate criterion was
shorthand for all potential political cases or
not, developing and using criteria that focuses
on organization names and policy positions
US Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.
has announced a criminal investiga-
tion of the IRS’s handling of conserva-
tive groups seeking tax-exempt status.
instead of the activities permitted under the
Treasury Regulations does not promote public
confidence that tax-exempt laws are being
adhered to impartially,” the inspector general
reported. The disclosure of the IG report comes
as Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. on
Tuesday announced a criminal investigation of
the IRS’s handling of conservative groups
seeking tax-exempt status.
Holder said the Justice Department and FBI
would examine whether any laws were violated
at the agency, which has acknowledged that it
selected groups with the words “tea party” and
“patriot” in their names for special audits. The
criminal probe ensures that the IRS will be the
subject of intense attention for the foreseeable
future. The agency’s disclosure Friday of its
actions created a political firestorm and con-
firmed suspicions about the agency long held
by conservatives and Republican lawmakers.

OJ Simpson testifies in bid to get out of jail

Las Vegas: Incarcerated star footballer and
actor O.J. Simpson has started testifying in
court Wednesday in a bid to win freedom from
a sentence that could keep him behind bars
until he dies.
Simpson took the stand to testify about his
‘botched’ legal representation by attorney Yale
Galanter in the case involving a strange hotel
room confrontation with sports memorabilia
dealers that led to a robbery-kidnap conviction.
Under questioning by his co-counsel, Patricia
Palm, Simpson began discussing his back-
ground with Galanter. "Yale had a good rela-
tionship with the media," Simpson said. "I was OJ Simpson
in the media a lot. He was able to refute many attorney Ozzie Fumo.
of the tabloid stories," Simpson said. "He sort When he went to trial in 2008 on charges of
of liked doing it; he told me he did." armed robbery and kidnapping, Simpson did
Simpson, with short graying hair and reced- not testify — a decision that one of his lawyers
ing hairline, dressed in drab prison blue scrubs, said was pushed upon him by another attorney
spoke calmly and looked straight at Palm. In he trusted so completely that he took his bad
2008, he was near tears as he told a judge: "I advice.
didn't mean to steal anything from anybody ... Galanter is now the focus of Simpson's
I'm sorry. I'm sorry for all of it." motion claiming ineffective assistance of coun-
There is no jury in the hearing and his fate sel and conflict of interest. Galanter will take
will be determined by Clark County District the stand Friday. In the celebrated 1995 case,
Judge Linda Marie Bell. Simpson was acquitted by the jury in the mur-
"He's been wanting to tell his story. He's ders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown, and her
excited about telling his story," said Simpson friend Ronald Goldman in Los Angeles.
 10 May 18-24, 2013 US AFFAIRS TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Suspect arrested in Mother's Day Angelina Jolie takes preventive

parade shooting in New Orleans
Washington: US police are look-
ing for a 19-year-old man identi-
fied as a suspect in the Mother's
Day parade shooting in New
Orleans, the largest city in
Louisiana that injured 19 people.
Police are looking for one Akien
Scott who has previous arrests on
charges of possession of firearms,
possession of narcotics and resist-
ing arrest, New Orleans Police
Chief Ronal Serpas announced
Monday.
"I would recommend strongly
that Mr. Scott contact anybody
who he is comfortable with to turn
himself in," Serpas was quoted as
saying by CNN.
When asked if Scott was the lone
shooter, Serpas said it was still
early in the investigation.
Images of the parade, released by
police Monday, show a man stand-
ing at the outskirts of a packed
parade route. A moment later, he
charges toward the crowd.
The dramatic surveillance cam-
era images see the panicked crowd
scrambling for cover. The man runs
A surveillance video shows suspect Akien Scott
shooting into a crowd of people in New Orleans.
(inset) Scott has been arrested since.
away, leaving scattered bicycles
and bodies on the ground behind
him.
Federal investigators said they
have no indication that the shoot-
ing was an act of terrorism.
"It's strictly an act of street vio-
lence in New Orleans," FBI
spokesperson Mary Beth Romig
double mastectomy
New York: Angelina Jolie has
undergone a preventive double mas-
tectomy last month, she has
revealed in an op ed she wrote for
been many advances in this proce-
dure in the last few years, and the
results can be beautiful,” Jolie
wrote. “On a personal note, I do not
the New York Times. feel any less of a woman. I feel
Jolie a carrier of a gene mutation empowered that I made a strong
called BRCA1, who lost her mother choice that in no way diminishes my
to ovarian cancer, wrote, "My femininity.” Jolie’s partner of many
chances of developing breast cancer years, Brad Pitt has issued a state-
have dropped from 87% to under ment “Having witnessed this deci-
5%. I can tell my children that they sion firsthand, I find Angie's choice,
don't need to fear they will lose me as well as many others like her,
to breast cancer.” absolutely heroic. All I want is for
Jolie also addressed aesthetic con- her to have a long and healthy life,
cerns straightforwardly. “There have with myself and our children.”
said.
The shooting, during a festive
New Orleans Mother's Day parade,
renewed concerns about crime in
the city known as the home of jazz.
It's the third holiday this year
when guns have been fired into
crowds, New Orleans Mayor Mitch
Landrieu said. Angelina Jolie had full support from her partner Brad Pitt

Prince Harry enjoying his US visit
Britain's Prince Harry plays a round of sitting volleyball with
British Armed Forces volleyball team members at the United
States Olympic Training Center before the opening ceremonies
at the 2013 Warrior Games on May 11.
Prince Harry and British Prime Minster David Cameron are pre-
sented with dolls of themselves by 'Makielab' company co-founder
Jo Roach (R) during part of a UK business campaign called 'GREAT'
at the Milk Studios on May 14 in Manhattan, New York.
Driving while texting 6 times more
dangerous than driving while drunk
Washington, DC: Driving a vehicle while texting is
six times more dangerous than driving while intoxi-
cated, according to the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration (NHTSA). The federal agency
reports that sending or receiving a text takes a dri-
ver’s eyes from the road for an average of 4.6 sec-
onds, the equivalent -- when traveling at 55 mph --
of driving the length of an entire football field while
blindfolded.
Texting in cars and trucks causes over 3,000 deaths
and 330,000 injuries per year, according to a Harvard
Center for Risk Analysis study.
Texting while driving a vehicle has now replaced
drinking while driving as the leading cause of acci-
dents and deaths of teenage drivers. Texting in traffic
isn’t simply a problem among teens and 47% of
adults admit that they text while driving. Texting
drivers are 23 times more likely to be involved in a
crash than non-texting drivers.
The proportion of alcohol-related traffic crash
deaths has dropped 52% since 1982, and are now at Sending or receiving a text message takes a
historic lows, but the proportion of traffic accident driver’s eyes from the road for an average of
fatalities that are NOT alcohol-related has jumped 4.6 seconds, the equivalent -- when traveling at
78% during the same time. 55 mph -- of driving the length of an entire
A survey conducted by NHTSA found that 90% of football field while blindfolded.
drivers support laws to ban texting while driving. A Teen drivers
survey reported by Nationwide Insurance found that Close to half of US high school students text while
80% of drivers support some type of cell phone driving, a habit that dramatically increases their risk
usage restrictions. The majority of respondents say of getting into a potentially fatal car crash, a new
they are supportive of laws restricting any type of study shows. Teens who reported texting while driv-
cell phone use while driving; 80% support a ban on ing were more likely to engage in other risky driving
text messaging while driving; 80% support a ban on behaviors such as driving under the influence of
e-mailing while driving; and almost 75% believe that alcohol or not wearing a seat belt. The research was
restrictions should apply to all drivers, not just spe- published online May 13 and in the June print issue
cific groups such as teens. of the journal Pediatrics.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info INDIA May 18-24, 2013 11

Varun Gandhi fixed hate BJP wants PM to go, to launch 'jail bharo'
speech case: Tehelka
BJP general secretary Varun Gandhi
New Delhi: BJP general secretary
Varun Gandhi, who was exonerated
of all charges of making hate
speeches before the 2009 Lok Sabha
polls, is now being accused of
"brazenly subverting the entire judi-
cial process to get his name
cleared", a report by news magazine
Tehelka said.
An expose by Tehelka magazine
Wednesday said that its "investiga-
tion proves that not only did Varun
make the venomous speeches he is
accused of, he has compounded the
original wrong by brazenly subvert-
ing the entire judicial process to get
his name cleared".
Varun Gandhi was appointed a
national general secretary of the BJP
in the recasting of the party's his
national team after Rajnath Singh
took over as BJP president.
Varun Gandhi was accused of
making hate speeches while cam-
paigning for his first election to the
Lok Sabhha from Pilibhit con-
stituency, which was earlier repre-
sented by his mother Menaka
Gandhi.
Tehelka said: "He has also
indulged in anti-party activities,
deliberately making his own party
candidate lose an assembly election
in Uttar Pradesh in 2012 so that a
Samajwadi Party (SP) leader sym-
pathetic to him could win and help
him fix the cases against him."
Eighty-eight witnesses that turned
hostile during the trial were caught
on hidden cameras in the sting oper-
ation. They admitted that "they were
coerced or bribed into changing
their testimonies. They speak of
how Pilibhit Superintendent of
Police Amit Verma and other police
officers threatened witnesses."
New Delhi: Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh should also go
following the resignation of two
cabinet ministers, BJP president
Rajnath Singh said and announced
a "jail bharo (filling the jails)"
agitation May 27-June 2 against
the "all-round failure" of UPA
government.
Addressing a press conference
here, Rajnath Singh said there was
no alternative to elections and the
country needed a new govern-
ment.
Terming the United Progressive
Alliance (UPA) government the
"most corrupt" since
Independence "with scams of
more than Rs.550 trillion", he
blamed the Congress-led govern-
ment for near wash-out of the sec-
ond half of budget session.
He said the UPA has developed
a penchant for shielding people
charged with corruption till the
very end.
"The (UPA) government should
go and a new government should
come. There is no alternative
except elections,”"Rajnath Singh
said, adding his party will struggle
and create awareness among peo-
ple against the UPA government.
“There will be jail bharo agita-
tion from May 27 to June 2,” he
said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) chief did not make a direct
demand for prime minister's resig-
nation but said that if Manmohan
Singh introspects, he will have no
option but to resign.
"Two ministers resigned yester-
day. The question is not of one or
two ministers, whatever has been
Rajnath Singh said there was no alternative to elections
and the country needed a new government
going on has put a question mark
on the whole administrative
process. The prime minister
should introspect. If he does, there
will be no option for him but to
resign," he said.
Pawan Kumar Bansal and
Ashwani Kumar Friday resigned
as railway and law ministers fol-
lowing allegations of corruption
and impropriety.
Attacked the prime minister
over the coal block allocation
controversy and the 2G spectrum
allocations, Rajnath Singh
referred to Kumar's remarks
Saturday and said the former min-
ister should tell reason for his res-
ignation.
"Whom he tried to save through
his resignation," he asked.
Targeting the Manmohan Singh
government on corruption, he said
the situation is going from bad to
worse.
"There is coalgate, railgate,
khelgate..." he said.
He said former communications
minister A. Raja had not been
summoned by the chairman of
JPC on 2G spectrum despite
repeated pleas.
Rajnath Singh also accused the
UPA of failures in handling of
internal and external security,
economy and diplomacy.
He referred to Chinese incursion
in Ladakh and said the country
wants to know truth about reports
that India had dismantled defence
infrastructure as part of a deal.
He accused the UPA of failing
to check price rise, fiscal deficit
and current account deficit.
"If the Atal Bihari Vajpayee
government will be known for
laying the foundation of a high
GDP growth, the Manmohan
Singh government will be known
for its tragic end," he claimed.

Congress rains goodies in Karnataka Navy sex scandal:

Bangalore: A victorious Congress rained
goodies in Karnataka within hours after
its state's legislative party leader
Siddaramaiah took oath as the 28th Chief
Minister in front of massive crowds at a
public venue here.
Returning to power in the southern
state after nine years, the Congress
sought to reward the electorate, especial-
ly the weaker sections with cheaper rice,
higher milk subsidy, higher housing cred-
it and loan waivers at a burden of
Rs.4,410 crore to the state's exchequer.
"About 10.4 million people comprising
the poor, farmers, SCs, STs, BCs and
minorities will benefit from some of the
promises we made in our election mani-
festo and implementing as our commit-
ment," Siddaramaiah told reporters after
meeting top officials at the secretariat in
Vidhana Soudha.
Asserting that all the promises, polices
and programs made in the party mani-
festo would be implemented during the
next four years, he announced that 30kg
of rice would be sold at Re.1 per kg to
BPL (below poverty line) families across
the state from June 1.
"The subsidized rice scheme will bene-
fit 9.82 million BPL families in rural and
Antony says guilty won't
be spared
New Delhi: Stressing that
there would be no cover-
up, Defense Minister A.K.
Antony said an inquiry
had been ordered into the
complaint of a naval offi-
cer's wife that her hus-
band had tortured her and
forced her to have sex
with his colleagues.
"The moment I got the
complaint I have ordered
an inquiry. Whenever the
Siddaramaiah took oath as the 28th chief minister of the state complaints have come,
urban areas and will cost the exchequer across the state," Siddaramaiah said. we inquire about that. We
Rs.460 crore per annum," Siddaramaiah Hinting that some more promises will not cover-up so let us
said at his maiden press conference as would be addressed in the budget he wait," Antony told
chief minister. would present in June, the 64-year-old reporters here.
Similarly, a subsidy of Rs.4 per litre of chief minister announced waiver of loans The minister added that
milk will be given to dairy producers, with interest to the tune of Rs.1,225 crore he would not jump to any
which will cost the state Rs.496 crore per that would benefit 1.03 million people conclusions before the
annum. "The milk subsidy is being dou- belonging to the STs (Scheduled Castes), probe is completed.
bled to Rs.4 per litre from Rs.2 with STs (Scheduled Tribes), OBCs, (Other "I don't want to jump to
effect from today (Monday) and will ben- Backward Classes) and minorities across any conclusion. If any-
efit about 7.5 lakh producers or farmers the state. body is found guilty, we
will take strong action. At
this moment, don't expect
me to come to any con-
clusion."
The wife of the naval
officer posted at the
Naval Ship Repair Yard
(NSRY) at Karwar in
Karnataka alleged that her
husband tortured her
mentally and physically
and forced her to sleep
with his colleagues.
According to a source,
the woman's father has
written to the navy and
the defence ministry on
April 25 with the com-
plaints.
The woman has left her
husband's home. They
had married in February
2012 and have filed for
divorce with mutual con-
sent, the source added.
 12 May 18-24, 2013 INDIA TheSouthAsianTimes.info

GoM to frame law on CBI autonomy set up

New Delhi: The government has
constituted a Group of Ministers
(GoM) to prepare a law on the
autonomy and independence of
the CBI in the wake of Supreme
Court's scathing observations on
the investigating agency follow-
ing its affidavit in the case relating
to the allocation of coal blocks.
The GoM will prepare a draft
law and a draft affidavit to be
filed in the Supreme Court within
three weeks.
"The prime minister has
approved constitution of a Group
of Ministers (GoM) to consider
the matter relating to an appropri-
ate law being made to provide for
the independence of the Central
Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and
its functional autonomy," an offi-
cial release said.
The GoM would be headed by
Finance Minister P. Chidambaram
and has Home Minister
Sushilkumar Shinde,
Communications and Information
Technology Minister Kapil Sibal
and External Affairs Minister
Salman Khurshid as members.
The Supreme Court had last week termed the CBI a 'caged parrot'
Minister of State in the Prime
Minister's Office V.
Narayanasamy is also a member
of the committee.
"The GoM will prepare the draft
law and the draft affidavit to be
filed in the Supreme Court in the
context of the Writ Petition (Civil)
No. 120 of 2012, within three
weeks," the release said.
It said that the department of
personnel and training will ensure
that agenda/papers/minutes of the
meetings were expeditiously for-
warded to the Prime Minister's
Sinha's second affidavit which
stated that the then Law Minister
Ashwani Kumar and senior offi-
cials of the Prime Minister's
Office and the coal ministry had
made certain changes in the report
on the allocation of coal blocks.
The Supreme Court had asked
the government whether it was
contemplating a law to make the
working of the CBI independent
and insulate it from extraneous
intrusion and interferences.
Office and the Cabinet Secretariat.
The Supreme Court had last
GoM on CBI autonomy an eyewash: BJP
week termed the CBI a "caged New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) termed "an eyewash"
parrot" that "speaks in its master's
the decision of the central govern-
voice" and asked the government
ment to form a Group of
whether it intended to make the
Ministers (GoM) to look into the
agency's functioning independent.
issue of autonomy of the Central
It had expressed displeasure at
Bureau of Investigation.
the government's interference in
"The Group of Ministers is only
the coal allocation probe report
an eyewash. This has been a key
and said "the heart of the report
point in the debate on Lokpal, and
was changed on the suggestions of
it has already been debated exten-
the government officials".
sively," BJP leader Arun Jaitley
The court's observations had
said.
come on CBI director Ranjit
It also said that if the CBI is not
made independent, it will step in
and noted that CBI must know
how to stand up against all pulls
and pressures by government and
its officials.
The court had said the best
things would be that such a law
was put in place before the next
hearing of the case July 10 so that
there would be an impartial and
non-partisan independent investi-
gating agency.
"Our members in the select
committee of Rajya Sabha for the
Lokpal bill had also suggested as
to how the CBI can be made inde-
pendent of government. The
union cabinet has approved the
Lokpal bill. There is some dis-
agreement on two-three points but
on many issues we are in agree-
ment," he added.
"In such a situation, starting the
debate from zero does not make
sense," Jaitley added.

CBI grills Raja Bhaiyya for UP cops' murder
Former Uttar Pradesh minister Raghuraj Pratap Singh
Lucknow: Former Uttar Pradesh
minister and independent legislator
Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja
Bhaiyya was Wednesday grilled by
the CBI over the murder of Kunda
deputy superintendent of police
Zia-ul-Haq and two others.
Raja Bhaiyya, an independent
legislator from Kunda, was
quizzed for over seven hours by
the CBI on charges levelled by
Haq's widow, Parveen Azad.
Parveen has accused Raja
Bhaiyya of masterminding Haq's
murder. He was questioned about
his whereabouts at the time of the
killing of Haq, Balipur village head
Nanhe Yadav and his brother
Suresh March 2.
He was also asked questions
about certain phone calls that were
made to him in the aftermath of the
triple murder.
Also questioned was Hari Om
Srivastava, Raja Bhaiyya's local
representative, who is also an
accused in the case.
They were questioned about their
proximity to another accused,
Sanjay Pratap Singh aka Guddu
Singh.
Guddu, his brother Rajiv and
Raja Bhaiyya's bodyguard Bullepal
are in jail.
Following the allegations and his
name surfacing in the first informa-
tion report (FIR), Raja Bhaiyya
was asked to resign as Food and
Civil Supplies minister by Uttar
Pradesh Chief Minster Akhilesh
Yadav.
Several close aides of the former
minister, including his legislator
cousin Akshay Pratap Singh, have
already been questioned by the
CBI. However, Raja Bhaiyya has
denied any role in the killings.
Haq was killed in Pratapgarh
after an angry mob went berserk
following the murder of Balipur
village head Nanhe Yadav and his
brother Suresh Yadav.
Congress, BJP trade barbs as CBI books Kataria
New Delhi: The CBI case against
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader
Gulab Chand Kataria in the
Sohrabuddin Sheikh shootout case
led to war of words between the BJP
and the Congress with the former
alleging it as a conspiracy by the
ruling UPA and the latter question-
ing the opposition party's double
standards.
"The booking of Kataria is not
based on facts. It is a political con-
spiracy by the UPA to defame our
leaders," BJP president Rajnath
Singh told reporters at a news con-
ference here.
"We will fight the case both politi-
cally and legally," he said.
Singh said Wednesday that the
party stands behind Kataria and it BJP leader Gulab Chand Kataria
will "expose the attempts" of the conspiracy" and "there is not a shred cries foul when there are questions
CBI and the Congress both "legally of truthful evidence against him". over its leaders.
and politically". Congress leaders hit back at the "Whenever there is question about
Arun Jaitley, BJP's leader of the BJP. them, they do this. You have seen
opposition in the Rajya Sabha, said Home Minister Suhilkumar the Congress does not do misuse the
the case was part of a "well-planned Shinde said that the BJP always CBI," Shinde told reporters here.
CBI image has touched rock bottom: BJP
New Delhi: The image of the CBI has touched "rock "Over the years, the Central Bureau of Investigation
bottom" and the Congress led United Progressive (CBI) has belittled itself. The government has actively
Alliance (UPA) government has contributed to the contributed to this process. The image of the CBI has
process, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Arun touched a rock bottom," Rajya Sabha's Leader of
Jaitley said. Opposition Arun Jaitley said in an article released by
His remarks come a day after Congress general sec- the party.
retary Digvijaya Singh questioned the Supreme Court Digvijaya Singh, in comments to the press Monday
terming the CBI a "caged parrot". The apex court said had said the court's comments "belittled" the institu-
so after the CBI in an affidavit admitted to government tions, and also said that court should give judgment
interference in its report on the allocation of coal and not make observations. Jaitley attacked Digvijaya
blocks. Singh and said he is "known to speak out of turn".
TheSouthAsianTimes.info INDIA May 18-24, 2013 13

Sanjay Dutt surrenders at Tada court

Mumbai: Bollywood
SC on arrest for
posts on social sites
Blackbucks case:
actor Sanjay Dutt has
surrendered before the
designated Tada court
here to serve his three-
New Delhi: The Supreme Court
has said that no person should be
HC rejects plea against Salman
arrested for posting objection-
and-a-half year sen-
able comments on social net-
tence in the 1993
working sites without taking
Mumbai serial bomb
prior permission from senior
blast case.
police officials.
Accompanied by his
The apex court, which refused
wife Manyata and film
to pass an order for a blanket ban
maker Mahesh Bhatt,
on the arrest of a person for mak-
the actor arrived at the
ing objectionable comments on
court sporting a red
websites, said state governments
'tilak' on his forehead. Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt with filmmaker
should ensure strict compliance
As soon as Dutt Mahesh Bhatt at the Tada court in Mumbai
of the Centre's January 9 adviso-
appeared before the Several fans of Dutt waited ry which said that a person
court, formalities began for his sur- patiently outside the court for the
should not be arrested without
render. The court commenced the actor to arrive. Police had main-
taking permission from senior
process for the identification of tained strong bandobast in the court
police officials.
Dutt, whose conviction was upheld premises as well as at the actor's res-
"We direct the state govern- Now the trial court is free to begin the trial pending for years
by the Supreme Court recently. idence in Bandra in the wake of ments to ensure compliance with
Spoting a white kurta and jeans, threat to Dutt's life. Jodhpur: The Rajasthan High 15, 1998 under the Arms Act
the guidelines (issued by Centre)
Dutt waved to the crowd before get- While Dutt had told Tada court Court has rejected a revision peti- claiming that the arms used by
before making any arrest," a
ting into his car outside Imperial earlier that he faced threat to his life tion filed against actor Salman Khan during poaching of the black
bench of justices B S Chauhan
Heights building at Pali Hill in sub- from fundamental groups, Arthur Khan by the state government for bucks at Kankani area on the night
and Dipak Misra said.
urban Bandra. As soon as Dutt's Road Central Jail authorities revision of charges under Arms of October 1, 1998, had their
In view of public outrage over
vehicle arrived near the court, it was received an anonymous letter few Act in the blackbucks poaching licenses expired and hence he had
people being arrested for making
surrounded by people, including days back saying Dutt would be case of 1998. been using those arms illegally.
comments or liking posts on
press photographers. harmed if he was lodged there. Now the trial court is free to Upon this complaint, the Luni
Facebook, Centre had on
Bhatt first emerged out of the car The Supreme Court in its March begin the trial, which has been police registered a case against
January 9 issued advisory to all
and with folded hands requested the 21 verdict awarded five years' pending for years. Khan under sections 3/25 and 27
states and UTs asking them not
media personnel to move away so imprisonment to the 53-year-old Hastimal Saraswat, counsel for of Arms Act", said Saraswat. The
to arrest a person in such cases
that Dutt was able to reach the court. actor for illegal possession of arms. Khan, said that a separate case was trial in this matter continued for
without prior approval of a sen-
After much persuasion, the way was The apex court on May 14 refused registered against Salman Khan by five-and-a-half years and out of
ior police officer.
cleared for Dutt to reach the court. to grant him more time to surrender. the forest department on October 16 witnesses, 15 were examined.
 14 May 18-24, 2013
Axing ministers: Sonia's 'inner voice'' again?
By Amulya Ganguli
n a display of assertive leader-
I ship, Sonia Gandhi seems to
have played a major role in the
sacking of the two Union ministers,
Ashwini Kumar and Pawan Bansal,
whose names had come under a
cloud.
The fact that the dismissals took
place within hours of her "unsched-
uled" meeting with Manmohan
Singh is not without significance.
Aware that any further dithering
might irreparably damage the
Congress's and the government's
image, the Sonia Gandhi saw to it
that it was hers, and the party's,
views which would ultimately
prevail.
In the process, the prime minis-
ter's reputation has taken a hit, for it
was suspected that he was reluctant
to remove the two ministers, and
especially Ashwini Kumar, since the
latter's sacking would have exposed
the prime minister himself to the
direct line of fire in the coal mine
allocation scandal.
Since the dismissal of the railway
minister would have automatically
led to the demand for the axing of
the law minister as well - as it
indeed happened - Manmohan
Singh was evidently unwilling to
take even the first step. The delay,
however, via self-serving explana-
tions, by spokespersons about how
everyone was innocent under the
It's high time that the so-called Muslim leaders stopped
politicizing the issue of Vande Mataram to promote
their mucky politics.
By Firoz Bakht Ahmed
s a law abiding Muslim
A of India, my head hung
deep down in shame as I
had read the news of Shafique-
ur-Rehman Barq, BSP member
parliament, leaving the hall
while Vande Mataram, the
national song, was being played.
On his part, it was the stupidity
of highest order.
I'm sad that while harping on
Sonia Gandhi realized that the party's prospects would be dim if
it approached state assembly elections and general elections
with a tainted image.
law unless proven guilty, and that
investigations were on, was proving
fatally damaging to the party's
credibility.
What was more, it was taking the
sheen of the Congress's victory in
Karnataka. Arguably, if the
Karnataka result had not come out at
this particular time, the government
might have continued to maintain
that there was no need to pre-empt
the findings of the probes against
Bansal and his relatives, and the
Supreme Court's final judgment on
Ashwini Kumar, by dismissing
this communal mindset, he must
pay attention to his constituency,
mostly comprising Muslims, as
there are no proper roads,
potable water, electricity,
sewage system, good schools
and most other basic amenities.
However, for filthy vote bank
publicity and politics, he would
let Indian Muslims down by
shunning Vande Mataram, the
song that is seen as an ode to the
motherland, was penned by
The views expressed in Op Eds are not necessarily those of The South Asian Times.
OP-ED
them. The willingness to let things
drift could be seen in the abrupt
decision to adjourn the Lok Sabha
sine die to stifle the opposition's
demand for the ministerial
resignations.
However, what the government
appears to have overlooked is the
politically damaging consequences
of public opinion, moulded to a con-
siderable extent by an overactive
media, which suspected a cover-up.
This was truer of the law minister
since he was seen to have been
overzealous in changing the "heart"
Stop playing loathsome politics
with Vande Mataram
Bengali novelist Bankim
Chandra Chattopadhyay in the
late 19th century.
It's not the first time as even
earlier Muslim leaders have
played loathsome politics on this
issue and let their community
down by reprimanding Muslim
children who sing Vande
Mataram, a gem of a song, in
times when the global Muslim
community is under scanner.
Unless Muslims come out of the
clutches of these ulema and lip-
serving politicians, they will
keep on suffering.
Muslims must follow the
example of Maulana Abul
Kalam Azad, who though born
in a predominantly Hindu envi-
ronment, was bold enough to
propagate nationalism to
Muslims at variance with the
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
of the Central Bureau of
Investigation's (CBI) report on the
coal scam.
Since the prime minister's name
has come up in this connection, the
surmise was that the law minister
tampered with the portions unfavor-
able to his boss. The presence of
bureaucrats from the Prime
Minister's Office (PMO) by Ashwini
Kumar's side - while he was suppos-
edly correcting grammatical errors
in the CBI report to the Supreme
Court - deepened the suspicion. For
the first time, therefore, since
Manmohan Singh became the "acci-
dental" prime minister, his Teflon
image no longer seemed adequate.
From the vantage point of being
outside the hothouse atmosphere of
the government, Sonia Gandhi had
evidently sensed that any further
dragging of the foot on the two min-
isters was politically untenable.
This is the third time that Sonia
Gandhi has been seen in a proactive
mood. The first occasion was when
she engineered the ouster of the then
party chief, Sitaram Kesri, because
of the belief that he was leading the
Congress downhill. The second was
when her "inner voice" told her that
becoming prime minister herself in
2004, as the party wanted, would
give an unnecessary handle to a
demoralized Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) to dramatize the "foreign
national" issue and claw its way
backs into public reckoning. Hence,
prevalent political consciousness
based on communalised politics
while supporting the same with
Islamic sanction. Maulana Azad
saw in Vande Mataram the
fusion of the endogenic creativi-
ty, the Vedantic vision of many
parts of truth with the Islamic
doctrines of Wahdat-e-Deen
(unity of religion) and Sulah-e-
Kul (universal peace).
While listening to a rendition
of Vande Mataram on January 1,
1952, by a renowned maestro,
Krishna Kumar, in Delhi,
Maulana Azad admired it saying
that it was graceful and inspiring
as great luminaries like
Rabindranath Tagore,
Surendranath Banerjee,
Satyabhushan Gupta, R.N. Bose,
H. Bose and others had sung it.
It's high time that the so-called
her selection of Manmohan Singh.
Her latest act is the third time that
she has taken a decisive step on
what can be deemed an "official"
matter. However, the initiative is in
line with the satisfaction she
expressed when Ashok Chavan and
Shashi Tharoor resigned from their
ministerial positions a few years
ago. (Tharoor has since been reha-
bilitated.) She said at the time that
while the BJP talked, the Congress
acted.
This time, too, she could not but
have noted how the electorate pun-
ished the BJP in Karnataka. It is also
not impossible that she recalled how
the Congress itself lost its massive
majority in the Lok Sabha in 1989
because of the Bofors howitzer
scandal.
She realized, therefore, that the
party's prospects would be dim if it
approached the forthcoming state
assembly elections in Madhya
Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan
and Delhi, and the general election
thereafter, with a tainted image. As
for the Karnataka outcome, it is
obvious that the Congress did not
win so much - after all, its voting
percentages remained virtually static
- as that the BJP lost with a steep 13
per cent drop in its vote share.
If the ministerial dismissals mark
the beginning of an effort to cleanse
the Augean stables of sleaze, it will
be an eagerly awaited initiative by
the people of India.
Muslim leaders stopped politi-
cizing the issue of Vande
Mataram to promote their
mucky politics.
What is of paramount impor-
tance today is that people must
beware of the ugly face of fun-
damentalism commonly consti-
tuted by the so-called champions
of Islam and advocates of
Hindutva who, having lost their
say in the aftermath of the Babri
Masjid controversy, want to
revive that cold and hot war.
So far as Muslims are con-
cerned, true, as per the dictates
of Islam, they can never worship
or bow in front of anything other
than Allah. But that doesn't take
from them the fact that they are
loyal to the nation and that they
do not need a certificate to prove
this.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRAVEL May 18-24, 2013 15

(Left) The Gettysburg battlefield is filled with hundreds of monuments and

historical markers like this. (above) The site where Lincoln delivered his famous
Gettysburg address 150 years ago on Nov 19, 1863.

By Arun Kumar
Gettysburg, PA: This small town
just an hour and a half drive away
from Washington DC has a popu-
lation of a mere 110,000. But
every year three million people
from India and all over the world
come visiting.
And this year, it is preparing to
greet four million visitors as it
marks the 150th anniversary of
Abraham Lincoln's famous
Gettysburg address four months
after a bloody battle that is often
considered a turning point in
America's civil war. It was here
that Lincoln voiced the hope that
his civil war-torn nation "shall
have a new birth of freedom - and
that government of the people, by
the people, for the people, shall
not perish from the earth", the
words that have reverberated
across continents since then.
A "few appropriate remarks" that
Lincoln offered at the dedication
of a cemetery to fallen soldiers
were only 272 words long and
took just two minutes to deliver.
Yet what would make famous
the remarks made "Four score and
seven years" after the birth of "a
new nation, conceived in Liberty,
and dedicated to the proposition
that all men are created equal" was
a look at the new dawn to come.
Articulating the purpose of the
war, Lincoln looked "beyond it to
a time when the nation would be
united again," according to
Michelle A. Krowl, civil war and
reconstruction specialist at the
Library of Congress. The Battle of
Gettysburg on the first three days
of July 1863 was the largest and
most costly in human terms to
occur on the North American con-
tinent claiming as it did 51,000
lives, she said. The civil war that
began April 12, 1861 after rebel
confederate forces began shelling
Fort Sumter, in the harbor of
Charleston, South Carolina, would
go on for another two years and
claim the lives of an estimated
620,000 to 750,000 Union and
Confederate soldiers.
But it lessened the ability of the
11 slavery-favoring southern states
that had begun seceding from the
Union even before Lincoln's
March 4, 1861 inauguration, to
wage war. And this ultimately con-
tributed to the Union's victory on
April 9, 1865. Come July, the
town will witness a series of spe-
cial events including battle re-
enactments with about 500 'Union'
and 'Confederate' infantryman
dressed in their blue and
grey/brown uniforms taking part,
officials told a group of visiting
foreign media.
Among them would be William
Coe, a former army officer, who
would be playing the role of one
of his Confederate ancestors who
died "fighting for the principles he
believed in."
But the re-enactments this year
would not be on the Gettysburg's
sprawling battleground littered
with 1320 monuments and memo-
rials, 410 cannons and 148 historic
buildings as "for us it is hallowed
ground," said Coe dressed for the
part in a single breasted grey
brown jacket.
William Coe, a former army officer,
dressed as a Confederate soldier.

By Azera Parveen Rahman
New Delhi: There are an estimated 25 mil-
lion people of Indian origin settled across the
globe. In perhaps the first such attempt to
document the story of the NRI, two travel
enthusiasts are embarking upon a path find-
ing six-month adventure "to connect with
Indians living abroad" and record their lives
and experiences while staying with them.
Undertaking the 70,000-km journey in a
Mahindra Scorpio SUV are Tushar Agarwal
and Sanjay Madan of the Delhi-based
Adventures Overland, a self-drive expedition
company. They are not new to setting world
records, having entered the Limca Book of
Records six times with their zeal for travel
across tough terrain and to little known
places. The journey they will undertake this
September will cost them Rs.20 million and
will push their limits.
"The Great India World Trip is a journey
that has never been done before and was born
out of our love for travel and adventure. I
have been an NRI for 10 years, living in the
UK, the US and Japan; so I know what that
kind of life is. During this road trip, we will
be traveling across six continents and 50
countries to connect with Indians living
abroad and document their life in the form of
a travel series," Agarwal explained. UTV
Bindaas is in talks to telecast the series. The
duo will mostly be going to those places
where there is a large Indian community.
"Starting from New Delhi, we will first go
to Singapore via Myanmar, Thailand and
Malaysia. Moving on to Australia, we will
then drive through the continent before turn-
ing west towards Africa. Driving south from
Kenya, we will cross Tanzania, Namibia,
Botswana and carry on till we reach Cape
Town in South Africa. Hopping on to South
America, we will drive through Argentina to
Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world,"
Agarwal said.
After that, they plan to take a U-turn and
drive up the Pan American highway - the
longest such in the world - that will take them
through Chile, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia
to Central American countries like Panama,
Guatemala, the Honduras and Mexico, before
entering North America.
"Instead of simply turning east and driving
to New York, we are going to take the
long and lonely road to Deadhorse, the
northernmost point of the American
continent," he added. After experienc-
ing the chill of Alaska, Agarwal and
Madan will then cross Canada, hit
New York and then head east to
London. "The hard part done, we
will then drive through Western
Europe, Eastern Europe and Iran
and finally make the final crossing
to reach Mumbai and back home to Delhi,"
Agarwal said. In between all this will be a
series of sea crossings - Singapore to
Australia, Australia to Africa, Africa to North
America, North America to Europe and final-
ly, Iran to India. All through the journey, the
duo will be staying with NRI families to get a
real feel of their day-to-day life. "We have
been planning this journey and the logistics
for a year now and are still getting our visas
(for all the countries). We
are in talks with the
Ministry of
External Affairs
for support
from
the Indian embassies in the countries that we
will be visiting," said Agarwal, who has pre-
viously driven from London to Delhi with his
wife to raise money for animal welfare. The
duo is also in talks with the tourism ministry
and other government officials.
"We have got sponsors but are still on the
lookout for more companies that could sup-
port us. I am confident all will turn out
well at the end," Agarwal said enthusi-
astically.
Tushar Agarwal
and Sanjay Madan
will start the
journey in
September that will
cost them Rs 5
crore and push
their limits.
16 May 18-24, 2013
ven though Emraan Hashmi's the one
E with serial kisser tag, there have been
several other actors and actresses
who've shared intimate lip locks on-screen.
Here's a look at some of Bollywood's
famous kiss scenes.
Whether it is the Amitabh Bachchan-Kimi
Katkar chartbuster Chumma, chumma de de
in Hum or Emraan Hashmi’s reputation as a
‘serial kisser ’, on-screen kissing in
Bollywood movies has always created a stir,
leaving viewers half-scandalised, half-curi-
ous. But before independent India got its
censor board and decided that a kiss was
‘indecent’, many movies in the 1920s and
'Apna Bombay
Talkies took
four months
to create'
he song 'Apna Bombay
T Talkies' from upcoming
film, 'Bombay Talkies', pays
homage to all the stars who have
ruled Bollywood over the course of
100 years of Indian cinema. The
entire song is eight minutes long,
and only four minutes have been
aired on TV so far.
“The eight-minute version will be
seen only in theatres. It pays tribute
to Kishore Kumar, KL Saigal and
the musical journey of the film
industry. It also features every
superstar over the past decade,”
BOLLYWOOD CENTENARY TheSouthAsianTimes.info
The Hindi film industry is celebrating its 100th birthday. With
a loyal following not only in India but several countries,
Bollywood is evolving from making extravagant, romantic
films to more experimental cinema. But its primary mission
remains entertainment for movie-mad Indians.
30s featured liplocks. The 1929 silent film “Every second movie today
'A Throw of Dice' featured a kiss between
actors Seeta Devi and Charu Roy. But it was
Devika Rani’s four-minute passionate
has a kissing sequence, even
family movies. It’s considered
respectable to see it and show it,”
liplock with her real life husband Himanshu said film critic Shubhra
in the 1933 film 'Karma' which remains Gupta.
Hindi cinema’s longest kiss till date.
Conservative attitudes prevailed in the 40s
and 50s and films became chaste.
The prudishness of this era gave way to
the symbolism and titillation of the 60s and
70s – shaking flowers, crashing waves and
wet saris. Kissing made a comeback in the
80s and 90s, with a much-hyped kissing
sequence in Raja Hindustani.
says producer Ashi Dua.
From Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar,
Dev Anand, Manoj Kumar, Rajesh
have tried to match the
clips to the song in a way
that they look like they are
months
to compile the
whole song,” says Ashi.
Karan
Johar,
A n u r a g
Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan to
Rishi Kapoor, Shatrughan Sinha,
Ashok Kumar, Zeenat Aman and
lip-syncing to it. It looks
beautiful.” The song took composer
Amit Trivedi and choreographer
Celebrating 100 years of cinema,
Bombay Talkies (BT) is a compila-
tion of four short films that pay ode
Kashyap, Dibakar Banerjee and
Zoya Akhtar — want to do some-
thing special for the entire cast and
Sunil Dutt, everyone has been Vaibhavi Merchant four months to
incorporated in the song. “For the
first four minutes, we have taken
their video clips to pay tribute; the
complete. However it wasn’t an
easy job for Amit and Vaibhavi to
pull through the video. “It was very
to the film industry. Close to 500
people, including artistes and crew,
have worked on the project. Now,
crew. A source says, “BT was made
on a tiny budget, but had one of the
highest number of people working
next four minutes are what you see
on the TV promo, which includes
stars like Aamir Khan and Shah
difficult to do the song because we
were capturing every actor over the
decades. It took four
as a token of appreciation, the four
directors —
on it. So, as a goodwill gesture, all
four directors are sending individ-
ual cakes to everyone to say
thank you.”
Rukh Khan,” says Ashi.
Elaborating on the video clips
used in the song, she adds, “We
have captured Madhubala from
Mughal-E-Azam (1960) and Naya
Daur (1957), Bachchan from
Yaarana (1981) and Sholay (1975),
Vinod Khanna from Amar Akbar
Anthony (1977), Feroz Khan from
Qurbaani (1980), Dimple Kapadia
from Saagar (1985), Sharmila
Tagore and Rajesh Khanna from
Daag (1973) and Kishore Kumar
and Sunil Dutt from Padosan
The eight-minute version will be seen only in theaters
(1968). When you see the song, we
TheSouthAsianTimes.info BOLLYWOOD CENTENARY May 18-24, 2013 17

work.” majority of them are voyeuristic changes for the positive as well.
A trip to the cinema can and reduce a woman to a collec- Though unable to entirely
easily be a lesson in how to tion of her body parts,” he said. shrug off their unease of inde-
t’s the classic chicken or the objectify women: skimpy Filmmakers argue that item pendent or ambitious women

I egg debate. When it comes to

portrayal of women on screen,
do commercial films merely
clothes, close-ups of bare midriffs
and of course, ‘item numbers’.
Post the December 16 Delhi
gangrape, the lyrics of
numbers sell. But can films peddle
damaging representations of
women in the name of
paisa-vasool entertain-
(think the climax of Cocktail
or Fashion), recent movies
have given us heroines
who are vocal and free-
reflect prevailing attitudes or do
they shape and contribute to those the Fevicol se song ment? “Child pornog- spirited. Movies such as
attitudes as well? Though the came under fire. raphy sells. Is that a Aiyya frankly depict
debate has gained currency in Producer Ekta justification for female desire. Even
recent times, there are no easy Kapoor defended creating child sexiness is no longer
answers. such dance numbers porn?” asks Anna the preserve of the
For years, heroines twiddled at another discus- MM Vetticad, Sheilas or the
their thumbs playing ‘love inter- sion, saying that a author of 'The Chikni Chamelis.
ests’, while heroes fought the sys- woman dancing in Adventures of an “In Zoya Akhtar’s
tem and beat up the bad guys. Not sexy clothing of Intrepid Film Critic'. Zindagi Na
much has changed if you look at her own free “It’s the job of cin- Milegi Dobara,
films such as Dabangg or Rowdy will is a cele- ema to condemn Katrina Kaif is
Rathore. But films such as bration of inexcusable presented as
Kahaani prove that movies with female sex- social realities beautiful,
female leads can work at the box uality. and portray real- attractive
office. Film critic ity as it ought to but the
“Audiences have always been and blogger Jai be — only a lazy camera
ready for female-centric content if Arjun Singh feels film maker will claim doesn’t
it is a great film,” said Sudhir such songs should be that it’s impossible to letch at
Mishra, director of 'Hazaron judged on a case-to-case do both while remain- her. It’s a
Khwaishein Aisi' and 'Chameli', at basis. “While a song like ing entertaining and product of
a panel discussion on portrayal of Beedi Jalai Le, in the commercially viable,” a different
women in cinema. “It is the value context of the film, could she adds. sensibility, ”
system of the producers and dis- be seen as a celebration However, it is impor- Singh points
tributors that such films won’t of female sexuality, the tant to celebrate some out.

They ran to packed houses,” said filmmaker

Going to the movies, the other kind
ny celebration of 100 years of Indian
Pankaj Butalia, who has made films such as
Moksha. But Mehrotra disagrees. “People pay
not just for content, but for a cinematic experi-
ence. A documentary doesn’t fit that experi-
her) are willing to give a platform to talented
people. We should have a Prithvi Theatre kind of
model for smaller films, where they can be
screened and shown to the pub-
“Most documentaries are anti-establishment,

A
cinema is incomplete without documen-
tary films. Though many have been
screened at the Centenary Film Festival, draw-
ing an interested audience, their presence has
largely been eclipsed by feature films.
“Unfortunately, though cinema began with docu-
mentaries, fiction does a lot better. People want
to escape reality, rather than be confronted with
it,” said Rajiv Mehrotra, a documentary film-
maker and director, Public Service Broadcasting
Trust (PSBT).
For a documentary maker, however, drawing
an audience is not the biggest hurdle — arrang-
ing funds is. PSBT is one of the few organisa-
tions in India which fund independent documen-
taries. In the future, will we see private produc-
tion houses backing these hard-hitting films?
“Unlikely,” said veteran filmmaker Mike
Pandey. “Corporates might give money via CSR,
but only to their own NGOs or films which serve
their own causes.” Mehrotra echoes this view.
anti-status quo. What corporation will back films
which are critical of the culture of con-
sumerism?” he asked.
Documentaries tackle issues which are con-
tentious, uncomfortable or under-represented.
This year’s list of National Award winners are an
example of the variety of stories, treatment and
even languages on offer. Of the two films on
Kashmir, non-feature film winner
Shepherds of Paradise is on the lives of
the nomadic Gujjar-Bakerwal shepherds,
while 'Inshallah, Kashmir' explores the
effect of militancy on ordinary people.
But no matter how engaging or diverse
documentaries are, is the public willing
to pay to watch them? “I think they
might. In the early 1990s, we
organized ticketed screen-
ings of documentary films
at Pragati Maidan’s
Shakuntalam theatre.
ence,” he argued. Globally, documentary films lic,” she says.
such as Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 have
shown that non-feature films can pull in the
crowds. Indian documentaries, too, are upping
the ante, improving production values, exploring
tricky subjects in unorthodox ways — it’s an
exciting time. “People are making films on sub-
jects they feel strongly about as opposed to what
they think they should feel strongly about,” said
Mehrotra. Shonali Bose, director of critical-
ly acclaimed films such as Amu and
Margarita with a Straw is upset with the
way things work in the indus-
try. “We are celebrating 100
years of cinema but there is
just not enough funding for
independent filmmakers.
Only a few gutsy film-
makers such as
Anurag Kashyap
(who co-produced
Chittagong with
18 May 18-24, 2013 ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Scenes from
'Aurangzeb' and
'I don't Luv U'

Scandal, mafia
at box office
this weekend
he box office will see

T two releases this week-

end -- Atul Sabharwal's
mafia thriller "Aurangzeb" and
Sherlyn
Chopra

Amit Kasaria's directorial proj-

ect "I don't Luv U" which is
about an MMS scandal.
ctress Sherlyn Chopra, set incredible experience that will truly
Sabharwal, who directed the
popular crime show "Powder"
for the small screen, will once
again explore the genre on the sil-
A to attend the 66th Cannes
International Film Festival
where the second trailer of her
enrich and enlighten me in more
ways than one," Sherlyn said.
"I can't wait to doll up in various
debut film "Kamasutra 3D" will be Indian avatars to promote the epic
ver screen with "Aurangzeb".
unveiled, will wear different cos- film at the most prestigious film fes-
Actor Arjun Kapoor plays a dou-
tumes from seven parts of India. tival," she added.
ble role in the film.
Sherlyn would be there to unveil The actress is expected to be at
Made with a budget of Rs.25 crore, the
the new trailer along with director Cannes for seven days. On the first
movie talks about Yashvardhan, a real
Rupesh Paul and executive produc- day, she will wear an outfit repre-
estate owner played by Jackie Shroff, and
er Mitesh Kumar Patel. "To be mak- senting Kerala, on the second day a
the chain of his illegal activities. The
ing my debut at Cannes at the time Rajasthani attire, followed by dress-
police decides to crack down his wrong
of the celebration of hundred years es from Gujarat, Tamil Nadu,
doings by replacing his son Ajay with
of Hindi cinema is going to be an Kashmir, Assam and Bengal.
an identical man Vishal.
The title of the movie says a lot about
the bonds shown in the movie.
"As everybody knows that Aurangzeb
was a Mughal emperor and he went to a
great extent to obtain power, even destroy-
ing his own family. This film is titled
'Aurangzeb' because human beings can push
themselves to any extent to obtain power, to
be at the top," Arjun had said in an inter- Chetna
view. The movie also stars Rishi Kapoor, Pande will be
Amrita Singh, Prithviraj Sukumaran and seen opposite Ruslaan, who has worked in
Sashaa Agha. Another release at the box movies like "MP3 - Mera Pehla Pehla
office is actor Ruslaan Mumtaz's "I don't Pyaar", and "Teree Sang". The movie will
Luv U". Kasaria's movie revoves around an have intimate content but the actor does not
MMS scandal and how it affects the rela- feel that it will be the only thing that might
tionship of two youngsters. Debutante attract audiences to theatres.

Can't imagine 'Munnabhai'

without Sanjay: Director
t seems Sanjay Dutt's jail 'yatra' has missed Sanjay's plea seeking review of its Information & Broadcasting Minister

I come in the way of his 'journey' to Delhi.

Director Subhash Kapoor says the third
instalment of the "Munnabhai" movie will
March 21 judgment upholding his convic-
tion under the Arms Act and sentencing him
to five years in jail in the 1993 Mumbai seri-
Manish Tewari presenting Dadasaheb Phalke Award for Lifetime
Achievement to veteran actor Pran Kishan Sikand (Pran)

start only when the actor finishes his jail

stint. "We can't imagine Munnabhai's next
part minus Sanjay
al blasts case. Dutt, 53, was sentenced to
five years in jail by the apex court March 21
for illegal possession of arms
Pran conferred Phalke Award at home
n a rare gesture, union Minister for citation, a shawl and a cash prize of Rs.one
Dutt," said Kapoor,
who was set to
wield the mega-
phone for
during the 1993 Mumbai
blasts. The actor has
already undergone one-
and-half years of
I Information and Broadcasting Manish
Tewari specially flew down to Mumbai
to present the prestigious 44th Dadasaheb
million (Rs.10 lakh) to Pran.
"It is an honor for me to present this
award to Pran saheb in person, in the cente-
"Munnabhai Chale imprisonment and, Phalke Award for Lifetime Achievement to nary year of Indian cinema. Pran saheb is
Dilli". The according to the apex veteran character actor Pran Kishan one of the most deserving persons to get
Supreme court order, he has to Sikand, famous as Pran. the award and this has added luster to the
Court complete the remain- The frail 93-year-old Pran was unable to Dadasaheb Phalke Award," Tewari said,
h a s ing three-and half years travel to New Delhi when the national film paying glorious tributes to Pran.
dis- of the sentence. awards were given away by President India's highest award in cinema, the
Pranab Mukherjee. Dadasaheb Phalke Award, is given annual-
Sanjay Dutt Tewari was accompanied by Information ly since 1969 to recognize the contribution
with Arshad and Broadcasting secretary U.K. Varma, of film personalities towards the develop-
Warsi in officials from the ministry and from the ment of Indian cinema and their distin-
'Lage Raho Directorate of Film Festivals. He presented guished contribution to the growth and pro-
Munnabhai' the award, comprising a Swarn Kamal, a motion of the medium.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info DIASPORA May 18-24, 2013 19

400 Indians in Saudi Arabia to help illegal expatriates

Dubai: Responding to an appeal by
Indian Ambassador Hamid Ali Rao,
400 expatriate Indians have regis-
tered as volunteers to help Indian
workers in that country affected by a
new labor policy.
The ambassador again appealed to
illegal Indian workers to rectify
their residency status or leave the
country following the implementa-
tion of the Nitaqat or Saudisation
policy in that Gulf nation, Arab
News reported Tuesday.
The new policy makes it mandato-
ry for all Saudi companies to reserve
10 percent of jobs for Saudi nation-
als. "Saudi authorities have clearly
told us that after the grace period
that ends on July 3, the ministry of
interior will start search operations
to arrest all those who violate Saudi
Hearing impaired Nehal Bhogaita
residency rules and laws," the report
quoted Rao as saying.
He said that the services of the
crowned Miss India Worldwide
volunteers will be "absolutely free"
and also released a document
'Advisory to Indian Volunteers'.
There are around two million
expatriate Indians in Saudi Arabia,
many of them blue collar workers.

Caribbean island of St. Lucia observes Indian Arrival Day

St.Lucia: St. Lucia, a tiny island nation of 176,000 peo-
ple in the eastern Caribbean, held its first Indian Arrival
Day program to commemorate the arrival of the first
group of Indian indentured workers over a century and a
half ago. It was the first time that a function had been
held to celebrate the arrival of Indians in St Lucia. The
function included a presentation depicting events asso-
ciated with Indian life and a lecture on the Indian immi-
grants in St Lucia. Leonard Surage, one of the founders
of the newly-formed association - The Indian Diaspora
of St. Lucia - described the event as its "inaugural
Arrival Day activity". It was held at the Folk Research
Centre, an NGO mandated for promotion and research
in St Lucian culture. The commemorative function was
attended by historians and people of Indian ancestry,
with many women wearing Indian attire, and a large
number of young people, he added.
"Many St. Lucians of Indian descent know very little
of their origins and roots. The few who do were quickly
passing on. The Indian Diaspora association was formed
by a group of people to keep the Indian heritage and cul-
ture alive," Surage said. The Indian association is con-
sidering plans to ask the St. Lucian government to noti-
fy May 6 as Indian Arrival Day. Other island govern-
ments in the Caribbean such as Trinidad and Tobago, St.
Vincent and the Grenadines and Jamaica hold annual
celebrations to mark Indian Arrival Day.
The first group of 318 Indians arrived in St. Lucia on
the Palmyra on May 6, 1859. They were workers who
had been indentured to work on the St. Lucian sugar
estates for five years. Over the next three decades, 4,354
Indian indentured workers arrived on the island.
London: Britain's Nehal Bhogaita
has won the title of Miss India
Worldwide, making her the first
deaf to win the beauty pageant.
The first deaf contestant in the
pageant's history, Nehal aspires to
be a role model for the deaf and dis-
abled, according to a media state-
ment issued by its organizer
Dharmatma Saran of IFC.
During the beauty pageant held in
Kuala Lumpur last week, Nehal per-
formed a Bollywood dance routine
that highlights her own conviction
of never giving up.
While she is unable to hear the
music, she dances using the vibra-
tions of the beats. The First Runner-
Up was Jasveer Kaur Sandhu of
Malaysia and Second Runner-Up
was Surbhi Sachdev of Oman. The
other two finalists in the top five
were Geetanjali Kelath of UAE and
Ayushi Chhabra of Nigeria.

CANADA DIARY

Indo-Canadians win in Realtor charged Three Indo-Canadian women in

British Columbia elections
wo Indo-Canadians from different
with theft
n Indo-Canadian real es- running for prestigious awards
human resources committee and the vice- A tate agent has been
charged with stealing
T
hree Indo-Canadian
women have been
category, the report said.
The Women of Distinction

T parties were among the winners in

the provincial elections in British
Columbia, Canada, media reported
Wednesday.
While Amrik Virk of the Liberals, who
swept back to power in the province, was
declared elected from Surrey-Tynehead
over the New Democratic Party's (NDP)
Avtar Bains, incumbent Raj Chouhan of
the NDP held on to his seat in Burnaby-
Edmonds in a close fight against Jeff
Kuah of the Liberals, the Vancouver Desi
reported. Virk is an inspector with the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
(RCMP) and had taken leave without pay
to serve Surrey, a city with a large south
Asian population, in a different way.
After having arrived in Williams Lake,
British Columbia, from India at the age
of five, he joined the RCMP in 1987 and
was posted in Surrey in 2001.
Living in Surrey with his wife and
three daughters, Virk has also served in
the board of directors of the Surrey Me-
morial Hospital Foundation.
He is currently is the chairman of the
chairperson of the board of governors of
Kwantlen University.
Virk's opponent Bains is a small busi-
ness owner who has lived in Surrey-
Tynehead for 40 years.
Chouhan, who won the Burnaby-Ed-
monds seat for the NDP, was first elected
in 2005 and then re-elected in 2009.
He was most recently the NDP's critic
for immigration, multiculturalism and
human rights after having served as the
party critic for labor and mental health.
He is also the founding president of the
Canadian Farmworkers’ Union and
served as the director of bargaining for
the Hospital Employees Union for 18
years.
A founding member of the British Co-
lumbia Organization to Fight Racism, he
was also vice-president of the British Co-
lumbia Human Rights Defenders and has
taught courses on human rights.
Chouhan and his wife, who live in
Burnabby-Edmonds in that westernmost
province of Canada, have two grown
children and two granddaughters.
from listed homes he claimed he
was showing to potential clients
in the city of Brampton in the
Canadian province of Ontario.
Shalinder Kapoor, 38, was seen
entering a home at Pringle Av-
enue, Milton, in Brampton April
26 and then leaving unaccompa-
nied, Canadian media reported
Tuesday.
When the owners of the home
returned, they found several
pieces of jewelry missing.
“The agent was observed enter-
ing and leaving the premise unac-
companied,” the reports quoted
police as saying in a statement.
Police later recovered several
pieces of jewelry from a car and
arrested Kapoor of Homelife Di-
amonds Realty.
The accused has been charged
with breaking into a house and
entering and stealing but was re-
leased on a promise of appearing
before court June 17.
nominated for this
year's YWCA Metro Vancou-
ver's Women of Distinction
awards, touted as one of the
most prestigious awards for
women achievers in Canada.
Kamal Dhillon, author of
"Black and Blue Sari", Navi
Gill, co-founder of Global
Girl Power, and Anita Huber-
man, CEO of Surrey Board of
Trade, are three of seven
women from Surrey in the
Canadian province of British
Columbia to be nominated in
various award categories, the
Vancouver Desi reported
Tuesday.
Dhillon is among five nom-
inees in the Community
Building category, Gill is
among seven nominees in the
Young Women of Distinction
category, and Huberman is
among 12 nominees in the
Non-profit and Public Service
awards is YWCA Metro Van-
couver’s premier fund-raising
event.
The awards recognize out-
standing women and work-
places and, since 1984, 247
award recipients and more
than 1,450 nominees have
been honored, according to
YWCA Metro Vancouver's
website.
Dhillon, a victim of domes-
tic violence, came out with
her autobiography, "Black and
Blue Sari", in 2009 and now
works as a counselor for vic-
tims of domestic violence.
Anita Huberman, who start-
ed working for the Surrey
Board of Trade at the young
age of 19, focuses her work on
government advocacy, help-
ing local businesses and
poverty. The award winners
will be announced at a cere-
mony May 28.
 20 May 18-24, 2013
Nawaz for friendly ties with India
Nawaz Sharif is set to be Pakistan's prime minister for a third time
Islamabad: Nawaz Sharif, who is
set to be Pakistan's prime minister
for a third time, said his government
would have friendly relations with
India and said he would invite
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh to his oath-taking ceremony
here.
Terming economy and energy as
top priorities, he said his party will
try to form a strong government to
overcome problems facing the coun-
try.
An upbeat Sharif - whose victory
in the elections saw the Karachi
Stock Exchange-100 index zoom
and breach a record - told foreign
correspondents in his palatial resi-
dence in Raiwind, outside Lahore,
that his government would establish
friendly ties with India. He said all
outstanding issues between the two
should be resolved through dia-
logue.
Riding on hopes of peace and sta-
bility, the KSE based in Pakistan's
commercial hub Karachi gained
some 300 points, breaking the KSE-
100 index record of 20,000 points,
as investors hailed the outcome of
the May 11 polls, reported Geo
The new leader should make the issue of improving
trade relations with India a part of a bigger plan
By Ravi M. Khanna
he fledgling democratic
T process in Pakistan has
churned out a leader, who
now has the rare opportunity to
chart a new positive and peaceful
PAKISTAN HAILS DEMOCRACY
News.
Manmohan Singh had expressed
New Delhi's desire to work with the
new government. He also invited
Sharif to visit India after the PML-
N's win in the historic election,
which saw the transition from one
civilian government to another for
the first time in 65 years.
Unofficial results show that the
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz
(PML-N) has emerged the single
largest party in the National
Assembly with cricketer-turned-
politician Imran Khan's Pakistan
Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) standing sec-
ond and the ruling Pakistan Peoples
Party (PPP) relegated to the third
spot.
The PPP announced that it accepts
the results despite "serious reserva-
tions".
"Although the party has serious
reservations about the fairness of the
polls, it has accepted the results in
the larger interest of political stabili-
ty, democracy and the welfare of the
people of Pakistan," said party pres-
ident Makhdoom Amin Faheem in a
statement.
Meanwhile, President Asif Ali
course, not only for his own coun-
try but for the whole South Asia
region, and leave a legacy that, so
far, no other Pakistani leader has.
Nawaz Sharif must use the
proverbial "third chance" - he was
prime minister twice before but
Zardari felicitated the nation on the
holding of elections to mark the first
democratic transition in the country,
the presidential spokesman said.
Senator Farhatullah Babar said
that the president said that the hold-
ing of elections in accordance with
the Constitutional provisions was
triumph of the people, of democracy
and of the system put in place for
democratic transition.
Meanwhile, Sharif told the
reporters said a national strategy
will also be devised to tackle the
issue of terrorism. He said his gov-
ernment will convince the US to
stop drone attacks in Pakistan's trib-
al areas.
Beginning measures to form the
government, Sharif later chaired a
meeting of party leaders in Lahore
where it was decided to set up com-
mittees to contact different political
parties.
Amid the victory scenes, there
were some complaints of rigging
with protests at various places by
activists of different parties in
protest. The Election Commission
of Pakistan summoned a meeting to
review the complaints.
Sharif must use 'third chance' to break cycle of revenge
never completed his full term - to
break the vicious cycle of revenge
in domestic politics and the unnec-
essary cycle of rivalry with India
in its regional politics. It will not
be easy and will be full of chal-
lenges, but eventually it will make
him rise as a great Pakistani leader
who genuinely wants to bring
peace and prosperity to his country
and the whole region, perhaps
more than even Indian leaders.
He should shun the well traveled
Pakistani road of taking revenge in
politics, known as 'siaasat' (in
Urdu) and take a high road as far
as his ouster from power in 1999
by then military chief Pervez
Musharraf is concerned. He might
be tempted to settle that issue in
Pakistan's traditional way of tak-
ing revenge, but how Sharif deals
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Imran Khan accepts defeat
Islamabad: Former Pakistani
cricketer-turned-politician Imran
Khan accepted defeat in the gener-
al elections, but said the polls were
a "victory for the democratic sys-
tem" in the country.
Imran said his Pakistan Tehreek-
e-Insaf (PTI) party would sit in the
opposition in the National
Assembly, Dawn News reported.
In a video message from his hos-
pital bed in Lahore‚ Imran thanked
the youths, women and the elderly
Obama hails Pakistani polls
An election officer checks a voter's identity card at
a polling station in Rawalpindi, Pakistan
Washington: US President Barack
Obama has hailed the National
Assembly election in Pakistan,
calling it "a significant milestone"
in the country's democracy
building.
"I congratulate the people of
Pakistan on the successful comple-
tion of yesterday's parliamentary
elections," the president said in a
statement Sunday, reported Xinhua.
"The United States stands with all
Pakistanis in welcoming this his-
toric peaceful and transparent
transfer of civilian power, which is
a significant milestone in Pakistan's
democratic progress."
with his old foe will be a measure
of the change he claims to repre-
sent.
Sharif should also try to bring, as
he already said, every other party
to the table and work together for
improving the plight of the aver-
age Pakistani. It is up to him to
bring the country out of the
abysmal chasm of hopelessness
and despair. His victory being
based on his party's popularity in
the Punjab province, Sharif now
will also have to reach out to the
leaders of other provinces.
Sharif must now also deal very
cautiously with President Asif Ali
Zardari and Chief Justice Iftikhar
Chaudhry, both of whom will be
out of their offices by the end of
this year, giving him a chance to
appoint his supporters.
who came out in large numbers to
cast their votes, Radio Pakistan
reported. Imran, however, alleged
that elections in Punjab province
were not held in a fair manner and
were clearly rigged. He said the
announcement of re-polling in
Karachi was proof of rigging there.
The National Assembly has a
total of 342 seats. Elections were
held to 268 seats. Sixty seats are
reserved for women and 10 for
non-Muslims.
"By conducting competitive cam-
paigns, freely exercising your dem-
ocratic rights, and persevering
despite intimidation by violent
extremists, you have affirmed a
commitment to democratic rule that
will be critical to achieving peace
and prosperity for all Pakistanis for
years to come," Obama said.
He vowed to continue coopera-
tion with the upcoming Pakistani
government as "equal partners".
Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan's two-
time prime minister, is set to lead
the country again after unofficial
results placed his party in a com-
fortable position against rivals.
But if there is any issue on
which bitter political rivals agree,
it is on improving trade relations
with India in view of its fast grow-
ing economy and the burgeoning
market. Sharif, in fact, has always
been supportive of granting India
most-favoured-nation (MFN) sta-
tus. His comfortable position in
parliament should allow his party
to push forth with this agenda. But
it will not be easy because of the
forces within Pakistan that have
always succeeded in ratcheting up
the anti-India rhetoric when it suits
them.
So the new leader should make
the issue of improving trade rela-
tions with India a part of a bigger
plan, a plan to develop a flourish-
ing "transit economy" for the
country.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Nawaz Sharif knows what the faults are and he knows whose
faults they are...that have hurt India
New Delhi: India has welcomed
Nawaz Sharif's victory in Pakistan
and his declaring that he would
work for warmer ties with New
Delhi, but experts caution that one
should wait and see how he plans
to deliver on his assurance, given
his past role of playing "consort" to
the Taliban.
According to Rajiv Dogra, for-
mer Indian consul general in
Karachi, Sharif is aware of the
facts that have hurt India in the past
- right from the 1993 Mumbai seri-
al bombings, the 1999 Kargil War
to the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.
"He knows what the faults are
and he knows whose faults they
are...that have hurt India. It is to be
hoped he also knows how to fix the
faults and order the same within his
Seeing Sharif comments with
'cautious optimism': BJP
New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) said it viewed the
friendly approach of Pakistan's
prime minister probable Nawaz
Sharif with a "cautious optimism".
Welcoming the "democratic tran-
sition" in the neighboring country,
BJP president Rajnath Singh
expressed "hope" the agenda for
peace was not hijacked.
"Democratic transition of gov-
ernment in Pakistan is a welcome
development. I want to congratu-
late Nawaz Sharif for this,"
Rajnath Singh said in a statement
released here.
"Keeping in view our past expe-
riences from Pakistan, the BJP
views Mr. Sharif's statements with
cautious optimism," he said.
Sharif's Pakistan Muslim
PAKISTAN HAILS DEMOCRACY
own establishment," Dogra told
IANS.
Questioning Sharif's "sympathy"
with the Taliban, which did not tar-
get PML-N cadres during the cam-
paigning but staged murderous
attacks on other parties like the
PPP, the Awami National Party and
the Muttahida Qaumi Movement
(MQM), Dogra said it was a cause
of worry for India.
"The question we have to ask
ourselves is how much sympathy
does he has for them? Getting sym-
pathy from the Taliban is bad
enough and having sympathy for
the Taliban is even worse. It should
be a point of worry for India, for
then all his good words will not
mean much," said the former
envoy.
League-Nawaz (PML-N) emerged
winner in the general elections of
Pakistan, securing the largest num-
ber of seats in the National
Assembly.
"Mr. Sharif's statement on
rebuilding relations with India is a
positive one. Since Mr. Sharif has
publically started to pick up the
peices of 1999 peace process, we
hope that the agenda for peace and
stability of the region is not
hijacked by the vested interest
operating from Pakistan," said
Rajnath Singh.
"We hope Mr. Nawaz Sharif is
able to walk the talk." The BJP had
earlier criticised when Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh went
ahead to invite Sharif to India, say-
ing it was a hasty response.
'Will Sharif be able to deliver on India?'
"How can he actually deliver on
his words if he has friends like the
Taliban to consort with? Promises
are one thing; whether he has the
intent and practical ability to deliv-
er on those assurances would have
to be seen," Dogra added.
Former diplomat Rajiv Bhatia
said the elections in Pakistan, the
first democratic transition of power
in the country's 66-year history, is a
"highly positive development for
Pakistan and shows the strength
and resilience of its democracy. It
is a positive development for the
region too."
Bhatia, who now heads the
Indian Council of World Affairs
(ICWA), said Sharif has had a good
history of relationships with India.
But, there was need for "some cau-
tion before we start drawing con-
clusions as the Pakistan and South
Asia of 1999 and of now are quite
different".
He said Sharif should first be
allowed to settle down, form his
government, announce his policies
and get support from parliament
"and then we will see how he plans
to approach India. To imagine he
will immediately start working on
the India dossier would be a little
unrealistic," Bhatia told IANS,
adding that given Sharif's approach
and the past record "we should
'Silent voters catapulted
PML-N to power'
Islamabad: The Pakistan Muslim
League-Nawaz (PML-N) was nearly
reaching the majority mark in the
National Assembly all thanks to
"silent voters who turned out in
droves to catapult the party to power
once again", said a leading daily.
An editorial in the Dawn
described the poll verdict as "stun-
ning".
"This was supposed to be the era
of coalitions, of parties and voters
too divided to allow any one voice
to rise above all others. And this
was the election and campaign in
which Imran Khan and his PTI
(Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf) threat-
ened to turn electoral logic on its
head and make unprecedented
gains...
"Extraordinarily, none of that
materialised and it is the PML-N
that has produced a wave of its own
on the back of silent voters who
turned out in droves to catapult the
party to power once again," it said.
The daily wondered why the pre-
dictions were so far off, "with no
one, barring the most partisan of
PML-N supporters, predicting the
scale of Saturday's success?"
Three reasons seem to be respon-
sible.
remain optimistic of the relation-
ship".
A.N. Ram, former secretary in
external affairs ministry, said the
atmospherics for bilateral relations
were good after Sharif's re-ascen-
dancy, but it was early to comment
on the overall shape of bilateral
ties.
He said Pakistan's civilian lead-
ers in the past have not been able to
fully translate into reality their
intentions of improving relations
with India.
"He (Sharif) is a sober gentle-
man, has a wonderful track record
(of fostering bilateral relations).
(But we should) test him a little
No proposal of PM visiting Pak: MEA
New Delhi: There is no specific
proposal of Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh visting
Pakistan as no formal invite has
been received, the external
affairs ministry said.
"There is no specific proposal
to visit Pakistan. No formal
invite has been received,"
external affairs ministry
spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin
told reporters adding "India
and Pakistan have well-func-
tioning diplomatic channels."
Once the dust settles, both winner and loser - the PML-N
and PTI - will have much to be proud of
"First, the media, dominated by
and representative of urban, middle-
class Pakistan, drank a bit too much
of the PTI Kool-Aid, warming to a
message that resonated with a large
section of the media and overlook-
ing, or perhaps just cut off from,
other important sections of the
Pakistani electorate.
"Second, Imran Khan himself
helped build the hype with his soar-
ing promises of unprecedented suc-
cess delivered in a brazenly confi-
May 18-24, 2013 21
more...We should take a more
measured position. The proof of
the pudding lies in the eating,"
Ram told IANS.
Senior journalist S. Nihal Singh,.
who has covered South Asia exten-
sively, said Sharif had business
instincts and will push for
improved trade ties with India. He
however said Sharif's immediate
priorities will be domestic.
"It is to be seen how he defines
his relationship with the Pakistani
Taliban.
He also has to redefine the rela-
tionship with the army, which is a
major factor in Pakistan," Nihal
Singh told IANS.
He, however, said the prime
minister did call up Pakistan's
prime minister-designate
Nawaz Sharif on his victory in
the May 11 general elections
and congratulated him.
According to the spokesper-
son, the prime minister asked
Sharif to visit India at a mutu-
ally convenient date.
During the same conversation
Sharif extended an invite to
Manmohan Singh to visit
Pakistan, Akbaruddin said.
dent manner and backed by impres-
sive turnouts at his many rallies in
the last days of the campaign.
"Third, the PML-N's solid cam-
paign both protected its base and
appears to have achieved an impor-
tant breakthrough for the party - the
less well-to-do and poorer sections
of the electorate."
Once the dust settles, both winner
and loser - the PML-N and PTI -
will have much to be proud of, it
said.
 22 May 18-24, 2013
Gayatri Pariwar set to clean
Nepal river, temple
The Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu
Haridwar: Having worked for
three years to clean rivers within
the country, the All-World Gayatri
Pariwar (AWGP) will launch a
program on May 18 for cleaning
the Bagmati river and the
Pashupatinath temple in
Kathmandu.
Gayatri Pariwar, a religious and
cultural organization based in
Shantikunj, Haridwar, with
branches across the world, started
the Teerth Shudhhi Abhiyan (pil-
grim spots purification process)
from Rameshwaram Temple in
Tamil Nadu three years back.
It has since taken up the clean-
ing of about 10 Hindu pilgrimage
centres and nine rivers across
India. Among the rivers it has
been involved in cleaning are
Narmada and Tapti in Madhya
Pradesh and Gujarat, and the
Banas in Rajasthan.
The Gayatri Pariwar has also
started the "Nirmal Ganga
Abhiyan" (Clean Ganga
Campaign) to clean the entire
length of River Ganga, of about
2,525 km.
SUBCONTINENT
Sri Lanka to
probe war video
Colombo: Sri Lanka will
probe a controversial video on
the final stages of the war
between the Tamil rebels and
the military, an official said.
The video, titled "Killing
Fields" and released by a
British TV station, showed sol-
diers allegedly killing unarmed
rebels.
Sri Lanka will celebrate four
years since the end of the civil
war and the defeat of the
rebels but the government
remains haunted by allegations
of having committed human
rights abuses during the final
battle.
A Sri Lankan government
statement quoted the Head of
Mission of Sri Lanka to the
European Union, P.M. Amza
as requesting the British chan-
nel to provide original materi-
als available with them to help
the probe process.
He also refuted allegations
on the killing of a 12-year-old
boy identified as the son of
slain Tamil Tiger leader
Velupillai Prabhakaran.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Sherry Rehman quits
as Pak envoy to US
Islamabad: Sherry Rehman has
quit as Pakistan's ambassador to
the US, it was reported here.
Rehman, a Pakistan Peoples Party
(PPP) leader, has resigned as
Pakistani ambassador to
Washington with immediate effect
owing to the fact that her appoint-
ment was a political one, Geo
News reported from Washington.
She sent her resignation to care-
taker Prime Minister Mir Hazar
Khan Khoso.
Rehman, a former information
and broadcasting minister, was
appointed as envoy to the US on
Nov 23, 2011.
Sherry Rehman
Known for her outspoken views,
she was made the envoy after Mullen.
Husain Haqqani quit over a secret Ijaz alleged that Zardari feared a
memo that claimed President Asif military takeover following the US
Ali Zardari feared a military coup. raid that killed Osama bin Laden
Pakistani businessman Mansoor in his hideout in Pakistan town of
Ijaz had alleged that a senior Abbottabad May 2, 2011.
Pakistani diplomat asked for help Rehman had resigned as infor-
in getting a message from Zardari mation and broadcasting minister
to then chairman of the US Joint in 2009 due to differences over the
Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike government's media policy.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info INTERNATIONAL May 18-24, 2013 23

Putin to continue efforts to US tight-lipped on Russia ‘spy’ arrest

resolve Syria crisis
Russian President Vladimir Putin with Israel's
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Sochi (Russia): Russia and Israel
will continue cooperation in an
effort to resolve the situation in
Syria, Russian President Vladimir
Putin said following talks with
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu. "We agreed to continue
contacts - both on the personal level
and between our organizations, spe-
cial services," Putin said.
The talks also involved Russian
Foreign Intelligence Service chief
Mikhail Fradkov and defense min-
istry representatives.
The Russian president said he and
Netanyahu agreed that continuation
of the armed conflict in Syria is
fraught with pernicious conse-
quences both for that country and
the entire region. Putin urged all the
parties concerned to try not to
aggravate the situation in Syria.
"A negative scenario may only be
prevented by the earliest termination
of the armed conflict and transition
to a political settlement," Putin said.
"It is particularly important to
avoid any actions that may sway the
situation," he added.
It was not immediately clear
whether the two leaders discussed
arms deliveries to Damascus.
Washington: US officials were
tight-lipped over the arrest of US
diplomat Ryan Fogle in Moscow
who has been accused of trying to
recruit an agent for the CIA.
"We can confirm that an officer
at the US embassy in Moscow was
detained briefly and was released.
We've ... no further comment,"
State Department spokesperson
Patrick Ventrell said.
Fogle, a third secretary in the
political department at the US
embassy, was detained May 13
night as he allegedly attempted to US diplomat Ryan Fogle
recruit an officer from one of "We have a very broad and deep released by FSB.
Russia's special services, said relationship with the Russians Fogle was taken to FSB and,
Russia's Federal Security Service across a whole host of issues and after "necessary procedures" were
(FSB). we will continue to work on our completed, handed over to US
Russia quickly declared Fogle diplomacy with them directly," he embassy officials.
persona non grata and called for said. Relations between Moscow and
him to be deported. According to FSB, the diplomat Washington have been strained
Asked if the arrested man was was found to be in possession of during US ambassador Michael
still in Russia and if he was a spy, "special technical devices, written McFaul's tenure, with bones of
Ventrell said: "I really have no fur- instructions for the Russian citizen contention including US criticism
ther information for you." being recruited, a large sum of cash of Russia's human rights record.
The spokesperson played down and means of changing his appear- The FSB released photographs of
speculation that the diplomat's ance". the diplomat's detention, including
arrest could put a damper on recent Fogle purportedly offered the pictures of the man identified as
joint efforts by the US and Russia Russian officer up to $1 million a Fogle, his IDs, two floppy wigs,
to organise an international confer- year for his cooperation, according three pairs of glasses, a map of
ence on Syria. to a letter he was carrying that was Moscow and a folding knife.

France slides into recession, Germany ekes out growth

Paris: Germany's economy crept
back into growth in the first quarter
of the year after a sharp contraction
at the end of 2012, while France
slipped into recession, data
showed.
Italy, the euro zone's third largest
economy, reported its seventh con-
secutive quarter of decline.
Germany grew by a weaker than
expected 0.1% on the quarter, just
skirting recession itself as a harsh
winter prevented a stronger
rebound and also hampered by the
ills of its euro zone peers.
"The German economy is only
slowly picking up steam," the
Statistics Office said in a statement.
"The extreme winter weather
played a role in this weak growth.
France entered a shallow down-
turn - its first in four years - after
contracting by 0.2% in the first
three months of the year, as it did
in the last quarter of 2012.
The euro fell to a six-week low
against a buoyant dollar, hurt by
the anemic figures which traders
said kept alive chances of more
monetary easing by the European
Central Bank.
The ECB cut rates to a record
low earlier this month and its head,
Mario Draghi, said it was ready to
act again if the economy worsened.
Punish Berlusconi hard:
For Italy, the euro zone's third
biggest economy, the situation is
far worse.
Italian prosecutors
It shrank by more than expected
in the first quarter, by 0.5%,
extending the country's recession to
seven straight quarters and making
it the longest since quarterly
records began in 1970.
Elsewhere in the currency area,
the Dutch reported a 0.1% contrac-
tion in GDP, remaining in reces-
sion, Austria's economy flatlined in
the first quarter and Finland shrank
by 0.1%, entering a technical reces-
sion in the process.

'Ahmadinejad will not be flogged'

Tehran: An Iranian government spokesman has dis-
Former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi
Rome: Prosecutors have urged a
Milan court to hand a six-year
between February and May 2010
when he was prime minister.
missed a media report that claimed President prison sentence and life ban from "He knew the girl was under
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad could face 74 lashes for office to former prime minister 18," said Boccassini.
breaking the country's election rules. Silvio Berlusconi for having sex "Several witnesses in the case
A British daily reported that Iran's Guardian with a minor and for abuse of were forced to lie," she told the
Council, a constitutional watchdog run by senior power. court, a claim that Berlusconi's
clerics, would seek possible charges against the pres- Prosecutor Ilda Boccassini lawyer Piero Longo disputed.
ident, after he accompanied his chief of staff asked the court to give Berlusconi Berlusconi is also charged with
Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei when Mashaei registered five years in jail for corruption abuse of office for getting el-
as a candidate for Iran's June 14 presidential elec- and one year for paying an under- Mahroug released from police
tion. age prostitute for sex. custody for an unrelated petty
The Council claims that by doing so, Ahmadinejad Moroccan belly dancer Karima theft offence in order to cover up
tried to promote his protégé Mashaei as his succes- el-Mahroug, nicknamed "Ruby their liaison.
sor. Iran's constitution bans the incumbent president the Heart Stealer", was 17 at the Berlusconi faces up to three
from supporting a successor. time she allegedly slept with years in prison for the sex charge
Footage of the two men together during Mashaei's Berlusconi. and up to 12 years for allegedly
registration was broadcast by Iranian state television. Berlusconi and Ruby deny they pressuring police to release el-
If convicted, Ahmadinejad could face 74 lashes or Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had sex, although Boccassini Mahroug. The defence will start
six months behind bars, the British daily said. president did not break election rules as he attended claims the Moroccan teenager arguing its case June 3 and a sen-
However, according to the official IRNA news the registration of candidates as an individual and stayed overnight at Berlusconi's tence is expected June 24, judicial
agency, spokesman Gholam-Hossein Elham said the not as the country's leader. mansion near Milan 10 times sources said.
 24 May 18-24, 2013 BUSINESS TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Same-day U.K. visa for India to grow at 6 pc in current fiscal: S&P New Delhi: Standard & Poor's has said that India is pro-

Indian business travelers

New Delhi: Britain has launched a
new “super priority” same-day
visa service for Indian business
travelers and cash-rich frequent
flyers.
Described as the “first of its
kind”, the service will be initially
available only in Delhi and
Mumbai, but there are plans to
extend it to Chennai over the next
few weeks.
A visa will cost £600 (Rs.
51,000). The Home Office said the
service would be available only to
those applying for a six month or
two- year multiple entry visitor
visa excluding student visit visas;
those who have traveled without
difficulty in the last five years to
one of the following countries:
UK, USA, Australia, New
Zealand, Canada or a Schengen
country; and employees of compa-
nies which are members of the
Business Express Programme
jected to grow by 6 per cent in the current fiscal while
growth is expected to be steady in most of the Asia
Pacific economies.
"For India, a downside scenario featuring a combina-
tion of weaker global risk appetite and a poor monsoon
managed by UK Trade and
seasons would pull growth down to around 5 per cent in
Investment in India and are travel-
2013 ... Upside growth would reach 6.5 per cent in
ing on official business.
2013," S&P said in its report. It also said that there is
The visa, announced by Prime
softer traction in some Asia Pacific economies but
Minister David Cameron during
growth expected to hold steady.
his visit to India, was “designed
The global rating agency, however, cautioned that a
with frequent and valued business
weaker global risk appetite and a poor monsoon would
travelers in mind.” Using the serv- S&P's growth projection is lower than the
pull down growth to around 5 per cent in 2013-14 fiscal.
ice, however, did not guarantee a government's estimate of 6.1-6.7 per cent
S&P's growth projection is lower than the govern-
visa, officials said.
ment's estimate of 6.1-6.7 per cent. It is, however, high- Citing positive economic trends in the Asia Pacific in
Immigration Minister Mark
er than RBI's projection of 5.7 per cent. the second half of 2012, the rating agency said that how-
Harper said the British
For 2014-15 and 2015-16 fiscal, S&P projected the ever India was an "outlier" as the country saw falling
Government was “committed to
economic growth to pick up at 6.7 per cent and 7 per growth during that period.
encouraging international business
cent respectively. "... growth and exports generally picked up in the sec-
to invest in Britain.”
"India's growth forecast has been lowered to 6 per ond half of 2012 on the back of more positive global
“India and Britain have a long
cent in 2013 and 6.7 per cent in 2014 on weaker con- developments, especially in the US.
history of trade and we run our
sumption and exports," it said. S&P also said the euro zone's debt crisis continues to
largest visa operation in the world
"S&P's base case outlook for Asia Pacific is that be a key risk for global credit conditions in 2013 and
there. We are delighted to be able
growth in most of the region will hold steady or pick up 2014 as the European economic engine continues to fal-
to launch our first same day visa
slightly in 2013 and 2014, after having slowed sharply ter.
service in Delhi and Mumbai, and
in 2012. The upside potential for the region is character- "We now forecast that the euro zone stays in recession
make our world class visa service
ized by a stronger than expected global recovery, boost- this year followed by anaemic recovery in 2014, instead
even better,” he said.
ing trade and growth in Asia," the report said. of in the second half of this year," the report added.

Boeing 787 Dreamliners to fly now Nasscom targets $10 bn from
International flights will start from next week
New Delhi: Grounded since mid-
January, the Boeing 787
Dreamliners of Air India was set
to again take to the skies from
May 15. The US aircraft major
has carried out changes in two of
the six Dreamliners and AI will
deploy them on domestic flights
between the hub Delhi to
Bangalore and Kolkata.
software products by 2020
International flights will start
from next Wednesday.
Making this announcement, avi-
ation minister Ajit Singh said
Boeing will rectify all the six
Dreamliners in AI fleet by the
month-end and the airline will get
eight more B-787s by this
December on which new flights
will be launched.
"AI will start flights on the
Dreamliner to Birmingham,
Sydney and Melbourne in August.
In October, it will start flights to
Italy (Rome and Milan). And,
early next year will see flights to
Moscow. These flights will be to In 2012-13, Indian software products notched up
and from Delhi," Singh said. around $2.2 billion (Rs 12,000 crore) in revenue
Bangalore: India's information In 2012-13, Indian software
technology industry body products notched up around $2.2

L&T in race for Rs 2,000 crore howitzer tender Nasscom has created a separate
unit to drive its newfound enthusi-
asm for software products, and has
billion (Rs 12,000 crore) in rev-
enue, of which 30% came from the
domestic market. The aim is for
New Delhi: An Indian private company is for
set a target of increasing by nearly $10 billion (Rs 55,000 crore) in
the first time in direct competition with a for-
five-fold revenues from products sales by 2020.
eign vendor to supply 100 self-propelled
by 2020. "Product companies and startups
howitzers to the Indian Army in a deal expect-
The product council of the are the next growth engines for the
ed to be worth over Rs 2,000 crore.
National Association of Software industry," said Krishnakumar
Indian L&T and Russian Rosobornexport
and Services Companies will be Natarajan, Nasscom chariman and
are in a straight contest to supply the 100 self-
chaired by Ravi Gururaj, a serial CEO of software firm Mindtree.
propelled tracked howitzers to the Army and
entrepreneur who is the cofounder Nasscom, which represents India's
the trials of the two guns are slated to begin in
of a seed-stage angel fund $108 billion (Rs 5.9 lakh crore)
June-July time-frame this year, defense min-
Frictionless Ventures. The forma- software services sector, has been
istry sources said.
tion of a product council is one of facing criticism from smaller and
The guns are being procured by the Army as
the measures proposed by a com- newer members for its inability to
part of its more than Rs 20,000-crore artillery
mittee headed by NR Narayana adequately address the aspirations
modernization program, which has been stuck
on its "K9 Thunder" self- propelled howitzer. Murthy, the chief mentor of of software product companies. In
after the bofors gun deal scandal, they said.
Under the contract between the two firms, the Infosys. February, around 30 product com-
The gun being offered by the Indian firm is learnt
Korean firm will provide key technologies to L&T The panel was established to panies formed a separate grouping
to have been built and developed in collaboration
for local production of the howitzer. bring Nasscom up to date with the called Indian Software Product
with South Korean Samsung Techwin and is based
current needs of the industry. Round Table (iSpirt).
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
IPL: Sreesanth, two others held for spot fixing
New Delhi: India fast bowler
Sreesanth as well as his Rajasthan
Royals colleagues Ankeet Chavan
and Ajit Chandila were arrested in
Mumbai for alleged spot fixing in
the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Besides the three players, Delhi
Police also arrested seven bookies
from Delhi, Mumbai and
Ahmedabad in connection with
spot fixing, which includes bowl-
ing no-balls at pre-determined
times.
"The arrests were made on the
basis of phone tapping," a Delhi
Police source said. While
Rajasthan Royals didn't name the
players, Delhi Police sources con-
firmed that Sreesanth, Chavan and
Chandila were the three players.
"We have been informed that
Status quo for IOA, until fair
elections are held
Lausanne: It's status quo for the
Indian Olympic Association
(IOA) as the International
Olympic Committee (IOC)
refused to lift its suspension until
free and fair elections are held.
The IOC held a meeting with
the Indian delegation headed by
the Minister of State for Sports
Jitendra Singh and representatives
from the National Sports
Federations (NSF), who are also
members of the suspended IOA. A
representative of the Olympic
Council of Asia (OCA) was also
in attendance.
It was agreed that the election
process would be closely moni-
tored and supervised by the IOC,
which will issue a roadmap for the
suspended IOA and all its mem-
bers to follow.
Dalai Lama's abode chock-a-block with IPL fans
Dharamsala: The Himachal
Pradesh hospitality industry is gear-
ing up to welcome IPL fans at
Kings XI Punjab's last two home
matches at a stadium in
Dharamsala, the abode of Dalai
Lama, plus a galaxy of stars in the
extended cricket season.
The Himachal Pradesh Cricket
Association (HPCA) stadium, one
of the newest venues in the country,
is situated nearly 4,000 feet above
sea level and surrounded by majes-
tic Dhauladhar ranges that make it
one of the most beautiful grounds in
the world.
Over 20,000 tourists, mainly from
the plains of north India are expect-
ed to visit Dharamsala during the
five-day cricket bonanza that starts
Besides the three players, Delhi Police also arrested seven bookies
from Delhi, Mumbai and Ahmedabad
three of our players have been
called in for investigation on spot
fixing in matches. We are com-
The IOC Executive Board sus-
pended the IOA Dec 4 last year
due to its failure to comply with
the Olympic Charter and as a pro-
tective measure against govern-
ment interference in IOA's elec-
tion process.
"The main purpose of meetings
was to explore the possibility for
the suspended IOA to hold free,
fair, democratic and transparent
elections on the basis of a revised
IOA constitution and the Olympic
Charter, with no outside interfer-
ence, that could pave the way for
the IOC to consider lifting its sus-
pension of the IOA," said an IOC
statement.
The IOC added that it was con-
sidering necessary measures to be
taken by IOA for getting the sus-
pension removed.
with the season's first IPL match
here May 16 and ends with a T-20
charity match between MPs' XI and
Mumbai Heroes May 20, tourism
industry experts said.
"Almost all our hotels are full
from Wednesday to next Monday.
Of course, the cricket craze is
always a holiday hit," Himachal
Pradesh Tourism Development
Corporation (HPTDC) general
manager Yogesh Behl said.
He said even the nearby tourist
destinations are packed to capacity.
Match organizers said the HPCA
stadium's popularity soared with the
success of seven IPL matches in the
past three seasons.
"This time we have got matches
allocated in such a way that a crick-
SPORTS
pletely taken by surprise. We do
not have the full facts at this point
and are unable to confirm any-
No pullout from
Champions
Trophy: BCCI
New Delhi: The Indian cricket
board refuted charges of flexing
its muscles in the International
Cricket Council (ICC) to get
Laxman Sivaramakrishnan
elected in the cricket committee
and ruled out pulling out of next
month's Champions Trophy in
England. Board of Control for
Cricket in India (BCCI)
spokesperson Rajeev Shukla,
who is also chairman of the
Indian Premier League (IPL),
refuted rumors of India pulling
out of the Champions Trophy
being held on June 6-23.
"We are not going to pull out of
Champions Trophy. India will be
participating in the Champions
Trophy and BCCI is always there
to support cricket," said Shukla.
et fan can mix game with the leisure
and pleasure in the hills," Anurag
Thakur, HPCA president and Lok
Sabha member, told IANS.
He said the added attraction to the
IPL season is the charity match
being organized by the Constitution
Club of India between parliamen-
tarians and stars here May 20.
Others who want to mix cricket
with spiritualism can visit Kangra,
Baijnath and Jwalaji, known for
prominent Hindu shrines.
Most of these towns are within a
40 km radius of the stadium.
McLeodganj, the uphill quaint town
where the Dalai Lama resides, is
known for its Tibetan artifacts and
traditional recipes like Tibetan
dumplings.
May 18-24, 2013 25
on this matter. We will fully coop-
erate with the authorities to ensure
a thorough investigation. The man-
agement at Rajasthan Royals has a
zero-tolerance approach to any-
thing that is against the spirit of the
game," the statement added.
Last year, the Board of Control
for Cricket in India (BCCI) had
suspended Shalabh Srivastava,
Mohnish Mishra, T.P. Sudhindra,
Amit Yadav and Abhinav Bali for
spot-fixing in the IPL that was
revealed in a sting operation by a
TV channel.
Spot fixing came to light in 2010
when three Pakistani cricketers
Mohammad Asif, Mohammed
thing," said Rajasthan Royals in a Aamir and then skipper Salman
statement. Butt were arrested during the Test
"We are in touch with the BCCI series in England.
Mumbai Indians beat Rajasthan Royals
Mumbai: Mumbai
Indians consolidated
their position at the
top of the table with a
14-run win over 2008
champions Rajasthan
Royals in the Indian
Premier League (IPL)
at the Wankhede
Stadium.
Rajasthan Royals
skipper Rahul Mumbai Indians consolidated their
Dravid's decision to position at the top of the table
bowl backfired as Aditya Tare starred order they managed 152 for seven in
with a 37-ball 59 and Glenn Maxwell 20 overs.
struck 23 off 17 balls as Mumbai With both the teams assured of their
Indians posted a competitive 166 for places in the IPL play-offs, the battle
eight in 20 overs. was for the top-two position since
With Sachin Tendulkar dropped Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super
due to an injury in his left palm, Kings and Rajasthan Royals were
Mumbai Indians included Tare while tied on 20 points each before the
giving Maxwell another chance. starts of the match. But with the win,
Rajasthan Royals failed to recover Mumbai Indians consolidated their
from the poor start 58/5 and despite position at top with 22 points fol-
valiant knocks from Stuart Binny (37) lowed by Super Kings (22) at second
and Brad Hodge (39) lower down the and Rajasthan Royals (20) at third.
Over 20,000 tourists are expected to visit Dharamsala
during the five-day cricket bonanza
 26 May 18-24, 2013
t’s not as easy to hide under lay-
I ers of clothing during the sum-
mer. You’ll want to look your
best in those shorts, t-shirts and
bathing suits; as such, staying in
shape is key.
Many lifestyle experts say you
have more than enough space for a
makeshift gym inside your home or
T
here may be some credence
to the old saying that “beauty
comes from within.”
Scientific research shows that the
appearance of your largest, most
visible organ -- your skin -- can be
directly affected by the vitamins,
nutrients and minerals you feed
your body.
Do you crave a healthy glow?
Before you cough up cash for that
pricey spa treatment, try improving
your skin woes from the inside out.
Best of all, you’ll benefit your over-
all health and wellness at the same
time.
Here are three ingredients for
healthy skin:
Vitamin E
Vitamin E works as an antioxidant
and is important for healthy skin.
Luckily, it’s found naturally in some
of the tastiest foods, such as kiwi,
eggs, nuts, and green leafy vegeta-
bles. Cooking with olive oil is
another easy way to get a dose of
vitamin E. So in lieu of French fries,
try sautéing some spinach in olive
oil for a healthful complexion-
friendly side dish.
You may also consider taking a
vitamin E supplement.
Astaxanthin
What is astaxanthin? Astaxanthin
is a powerful antioxidant that pro-
tects cells, organs and body tissues
from oxidative damage more pow-
erfully than many other members of
its carotenoid chemical family,
including beta-carotene, lycopene
and lutein.
“Astaxanthin supports healthy
skin, especially during sun expo-
sure, acting as a force field to pre-
vent toxic, unstable free radical
molecules from attacking your skin
and causing premature aging,” says
Dr. Gerald R. Cysewski, Ph.D,
apartment, no matter how small it
is. And during the warmer months
of the year, you can also make great
use of your home’s outdoor spaces.
“Not everyone can designate an
entire room of their apartment,
condo or home to exercise; but as
long as you have some floor space,
you can get a great full-body work-
Better diet can S
improve your looks
Chief Scientific Officer of Nutrex
Hawaii, a nutritional supplement
manufacturer.
Unfortunately, you can’t find
astaxanthin by taking a simple trip
down the produce aisle in your gro-
cery store. There are only two main
natural sources -- the microalgae
that produce it, and the sea creatures
that consume the algae (such as
salmon, shellfish, and krill).
Whether you dislike fish, or you
simply need a break occasionally,
look into incorporating astaxanthin
into your diet through supplements,
such as BioAstin, which is available
in different doses. Beyond support-
ing healthy skin, a daily dose of 4
mg may also improve cardiovascu-
lar health, boost immunity, and pro-
HEALTH
This summer, stay in shape without
a gym membership
out,” says Wendy Froehlich of
Homes.com, one of the nation’s top
online real estate listing and
lifestyle resources.
Whether you live in a mansion
or efficiency, you can stay fit with
these great moves:
• Get Zen with yoga: All you
need is a yoga mat and a little floor
space to practice yoga; a quiet and
relaxing way to wind down, stay
flexible and gain strength. Try the
poses on your back deck, balcony
porch or even your living room.
Likewise, Pilates moves can be
done on a yoga mat as well.
• Easy Equipment: Get toned
with free weights, exercise bands,
ankle weights and stability balls.
You can do your reps right in front
of the television. And the beauty of
this inexpensive equipment is that it
doesn’t take up much space inside
your home or apartment when you
mote a healthy inflammation bal-
ance.
More information about the bene-
fits of astaxanthin can be found at
http://www.nutrex-
hawaii.com/bioastin.
Vitamin B Complex
For a thorough beauty treatment,
be sure to get plenty of vitamin B.
Biotin, which is found in vitamin B
complex, is necessary for healthy
skin, hair and nails. You can source
it naturally by including liver, Swiss
chard, whole grains and soybeans in
your diet.
With a few tweaks to your diet,
you can finally put down the beauty
magazine and start dishing out your
own advice.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
aren’t using it.
• Flat Abs: For minimal move-
ment with maximum impact, try
bicycle crunches. You’ll target your
core -- specifically your obliques --
without disturbing the neighbors.
• Push it with a plank: Simply
push off your mat as though you’re
doing a push up and rest on your
elbows and toes. Keep your back
flat and maintain the pose for two
sets of two minutes. It’s a challeng-
ing but rewarding fitness move that
provides a full body workout and
especially targets your core.
• Classic moves: Some of the
best moves require no equipment
whatsoever. Pushups, crunches,
squats and floor lunges are all clas-
sic fitness moves that will help you
tone and tighten in your very own
home.
• Pull ups: A pull-up bar is sim-
ple to install in any doorway, so
Workplace stress heightens diabetes risk
cientists in Israel have linked
development of diabetes to
stress at the workplace, made
worse by low social support.
Cases of type 2 diabetes continue to
rise in the US. And while the develop-
ment of the disease is more commonly
associated with risk factors such as
obesity, high blood pressure, and
physical inactivity, research has
shown that stress can also have a sig-
nificant impact.
Now, Sharon Toker of Tel Aviv
University's Faculty of Management
has found that low levels of social
support and high levels of stress in the
workplace can accurately predict the
development of diabetes over the long
Indian American surgeon to discuss
'Obamacare' impact on India
oted Indian American sur-
N
geon Mukesh Hariawala
will discuss the business
implications of President Obama's
second term on the Indian health-
care system at a leadership conclave
in Mumbai in June.
A Harvard trained cardiac sur-
geon, who is also a healthcare econ-
omist, Hariawala will deliver the
keynote address at the 4th annual
India leadership Conclave & Indian
Affairs Business Leadership Awards
2013 on June 21.
More than 300 businessmen,
diplomats, politicians, social
reformers and delegates from
Middle East and Europe are expect-
ed to attend the conclave with the
theme of "New India, Agenda for
Change" organized by Network 7
Media Group.
Hariawala's lecture on "Barack
even those in temporary home
rentals can target their biceps and
back muscles with a few sets each
day.
• Every day activity: Make sim-
ple lifestyle changes to burn extra
calories throughout the day. If you
live in a multi-story building,
become a more active apartment
dweller and take the stairs. Did you
know that you can burn about 300
calories per hour of housework?
Get a great workout while vigor-
ously cleaning your apartment once
a week.
More lifestyle tips for maximiz-
ing life in small apartments and
homes can be found at
www.Homes.com.
Drop the excuses! No matter your
budget or space limitations, you can
look great this summer by design-
ing a workout routine for your
home.
term -- even in employees who appear
to be healthy otherwise.
Published in the Journal of
Occupational Health Psychology, the
study contributes to an ongoing body
of research linking work conditions to
physical and mental health, reports
Science Daily. Toker says these find-
ings paint a grim picture, with a wor-
rying rise in the rate of diabetes in the
researchers' middle-aged study cohort,
which had a mean age of 48.
"You don't want to see working pop-
ulations have an increasing rate of
diabetes. It's costly to both employees
and employers, resulting in absen-
teeism and triggering expensive med-
ical insurance," she explained
Obama's 2nd Term, Business
Implications on Indian Healthcare
System" will focus on opportunities
offered to Indian healthcare profes-
sionals by Obama's signature
Affordable Care Act, also known as
"Obamacare".
Hariawala has stressed how
friendly retail FDI policies could
help India get a larger share in med-
ical tourism
revenues,
increased IT
contracts,
generic drug
company rev-
enues and
overseas
insurance
company
investments in
Indian health- Dr Mukesh
care. Hariawala
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Sachin Tendulkar now embossed on gold coins
he heart throb of millions,
T master blaster Sachin
Tendulkar is
embossed in gold on the auspi-
now
cious occasion of Akshaya Trittiya
Monday.
A leading gold retail chain
Valuemart Gold & Jewels Ltd.
unveiled a limited edition 'Sachin
Tendulkar Gold Coin' of 10 gm
with his image embossed on it.
"I have always enjoyed the time
spent on the cricket field which
has given me some of the most
precious memories of my life.
However, this occasion is a differ-
ent golden moment of my life,"
Tendulkar said, launching the gold
Cartoon by
Mahendra Shah
Kitesurfing to be unveiled in India
n exciting pulse-racing event,
A kitesurfing, awaits adventure
lovers in the coastal district
of Raigad next weekend.
It is for the first time in India that
as many as 70 Indian kite-surfers will
take part in the showpiece event,
which will be guided by 20-year old
Ines Correia, the 2011 Women's
World Kitesurf champion and current
top-ranked in Kite Surf Pro World
Ranking and Wave Riding World
Ranking. Next Thursday-Friday, she
will take to the sea at Mandwa, in
Raigad and judge the participants
based on speed, manoeuverability
and attitude, before eliminating 20
kitesurfers on both days.
The remaining shall travel to the
famous Murud-Janjira Fort for the
final round Saturday (May 25), in the
event organized by Maharashtra
Tourism Development Corporation,
Red Bull and Quest Adventures Pvt
Ltd.
"This is a one of its kind kitesurfing
event which is hardly known in India
and will enable the kitesurfers to cir-
cle the skies above the Murud-Janjira
Fort, situated nearly a kilometer in
the Arabian Sea off Raigad," said a
spokesperson. The final lot of partici-
pants selected after the Murud-Janjira
coin bearing his visage.
He has also entered into an asso-
ciation with Valuemart to promote
a unique range of commemorative
products involving use of his
image, photos and logo.
"Valuemart is celebrating the
many golden moments that Sachin
has given us to cherish with these
gold coins and is in many ways, a
real tribute to the true legend of
the game," said Valuemart manag-
ing director C.K. Vasudevan.
Each Tendulkar gold coin is
made from the finest 24-karat
gold and manufactured at a Swiss
Mint by Messrs. Valcambi s.a., a
leading international gold refiner
To Mom
with love
Fort event, entitled "Red Bull Quila
Surf", will travel to Tuticorin Port for
an exclusive two-day training with
Ines Correia. There, Correia will
teach them how to enhance their kite
surfing techniques, details on cross-
shore and on-shore winds, safety, fit-
ness regimen and other aspects of the
tough adventure sport.
Situated around 170 kms south of
Mumbai on Konkan coast, the
Murud-Janjira Fort was built around
1490 by the Siddis of Abyssinia.
It remained unconquered during its
heydays and till India's Independence
despite efforts by the Portuguese,
Marathas and British.
The marine fort, standing tall and
imposing even today with 19 bas-
tions, is in a relatively good condition
even after five centuries of battering
by natural and human forces.
According to the organisers of Red
Bull Quila Surf, the ancient fort is
ideal for kitesurfing as it allows the
wind to curve off the fort walls and
enhances the windsurfing experience.
Presently, lovers of windsurfing in
India have to spend huge amounts
and travel to certain countries like the
US, Australia, South Africa where
there are strong winds, for the enjoy-
able experience.
LIFESTYLE May 18-24, 2013 27
and manufacturer of gold bullion,
bars and coins.
The coins are packed in a tamp-
er-proof, blister packs with a cer-
tificate and carry the assayer's sig-
nature and purity certificate guar-
anteeing its weight and purity.
The 100,000 limited coins shall
be available at Rs.34,000 per
piece, online or through leading
retailers in the country.
A part of the proceeds from the
sale of Sachin Tendulkar Gold
Coins will be contributed to
Valuemart's new foundation,
Golden Dreams, supporting
underprivileged children across
the country. Sachin Tendulkar at the event
Over the weekend, the social media was abuzz with posts,
photos and tweets dedicated to all the moms around
the world. Here are some cartoon picks....
Vidya Balan stuns in Sabyasachi's Vidya Balan
lehenga-choli at Cannes
ooking gorgeous in a maroon-black combi-
L nation lehenga-choli and dupatta, Bollywood
actress Vidya Balan wowed with her desi
look at a cocktail at the 66th Cannes International
Film Festival that kickstarted Wednesday.
Sabyasachi Mukherjee seems to have done a great
job in styling Vidya, who looked prettier then ever
in the outfit. She accessorized it with a bindi,
jhumkis and a watch. Not to forget, the "Kahaani"
actress' center-parting hairstyle suited the costume.
She chose to wear full-sleeves and looked elegant
in the Indian attire.
This is Vidya's first stint at Cannes. She has been
invited as a jury member at the fest, where India is
the guest country. Apart from other films and
screenings, the prestigious event will see screenings
of three Indian films - "Bombay Talkies",
"Monsoon Shootout" and "Lunch Box" - in differ-
ent sections.
 28 May 18-24, 2013
Your essential cut-out-and-keep guide to modern laughter
oday, we're going to answer the
T much-asked question: How can
adults communicate with young
people? The answer is: They can't. So
we'll move right along to another question
of global importance, received from a
reader named Suchin: "My dad said he
once ate a curry so hot it burned through
his body and set his chair on fire. Could
this really happen?"
Answer: This is scientifically impossible
unless the curry was from Bangladesh, in
which case I totally believe it.
Wait. I see a hand going up. You REAL-
LY want an answer to the first question?
So does a friend of mine, a guy whose
attempts at humor triggered only two baf-
fling responses: "555" and "jejeje."
Being an expert in modern international
communications ("gibberish"), it was easy
for me to translate. The number five is
"ha" in Thai, so people from that country
write 555 for "ha ha ha."
In the Philippines, jejeje is pronounced
he-he-he. "They WERE laughing at your
jokes," I said, explaining that Asians rarely
use LOL, as many of our languages lack
an "L" sound.
HUMOR
Funny Bone by Nury Vittachi
Mainland Chinese netizens respond to
jokes by writing da xiao, which means Big
Laugh.
Tweets from the premier of China almost
definitely go like this: "The glorious
dialectics of Marxist-Leninist
Communism will triumph over imperialist
dogs of capitalism. Big laugh."
To help the questioner, I asked readers of
various backgrounds to laugh in print.
Many used "ha ha ha" but the cleverclogs
Malaysian used Ha3.
The Japanese said that when he reads
something funny, he thinks LOL, but he
writes "W", which is short for wara, the
English transliteration of the kanji charac-
ter for the Japanese word for "Laughter".
Wow: he does more thinking for a one-
letter response than I did in my entire
school career.
Other countries think people laughing
make a "k" sound. Koreans write kkkkk
for LOL while Brazilians do the same but
laugh much longer, writing
kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk.
Bizarrely, a British guy said he writes
"titter-titter" or "chortle". (The damp
weather rots their minds, it's very sad.)
Laughter is the Best Medicine
आज की
ताजा खबर
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
Probably the least snappy way of saying
LOL is in Afghanistan, where Taliban
insurrectionists write "Ma khanda
mikonom" ("I emit laughter") after their
one-liners.
Also vital is getting the CORRECT
laugh for each joke. Here's a guide. 1)"Ha
ha ha": Regular laugh. 2) "Bwahaha":
Bigger, somewhat explosive laugh. 3)
"Mwahahah": Bad guy laugh. 4) "Har
har": Ironic laugh. 5) "Heh-heh-heh":
Naughty laugh. 6) "Ho ho ho": Bearded
man in red suit laugh. 7) "Tee hee": child-
ish giggle, usually with hand over mouth.
8) "Yuck yuck yuck": Stupid person laugh-
ing. Note: If there is only a single "yuck"
as in "Eww, yuck!" this means "disgust-
ing" as in: "I tasted what I thought was
soup but were the underpants you were
boiling, ewww, yuck."
Also worth noting is "badump-tish"
which represents a drum flourish identify-
ing a punchline.
Wikipedia says the first written digital
laugh took place more than 100 years ago,
when the people who invented Morse code
included a word for laughter: "di-di-di-dit
di-dit, di-di-di-dit di-dit". (Not a joke.)
Anyway, whenever I say something
funny, my daughter now says "LoL,"
instead of actually laughing.
When this generation grows up, nobody
will laugh at comedians. They'll sit grim-
faced, waiting for him to say "badump-
tish", so they can all chant: "LoL" I can
hardly wait.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
By Dr Prem Kumar Sharma
Stars Foretell: May 18-24, 2013
ARIES: Your creativity will amaze people
around you besides enhancing career prospects.
Take your parents into confidence regarding your new
projects and plans. Romance will be exciting provided
you contact partner to make it the best week. A week
when smile will perpetually be on your face and
strangers will seem familiar. Minor preparations before
you travel overseas will make your trip a lot smoother.
Ready to purchase a plot consider your priorities first,
don’t be too fast. Traveling fails to bring immediate
results but will lay a good foundation for future benefits.
TAURUS: Professional success depends on
how well you can negotiate. Good advice from
family members will help in reducing mental
tension/pressure. You succeed in making some extra
cash on playing your cards well. Romantic partner
would try innovative methods to catch your attention. It
is time for you to enjoy a short pleasure trip to recharge
body Traveling with kids can be a challenge, try to
reduce the stress and nerves. Your plan to own a house
is ought to be in the right way. You get a good opportu-
nity to get involved in some interesting conversation.
GEMINI: Handling subordinates might be a
little tough during this week. Domestic affairs
clouding the mind could affect your enjoyment. This
week there will be an uncertainty in financial matters.
Infatuation fails to buy real love. Losing temper would
affect health. Therefore control yourself to save health.
Pack your bags and some eatables and go out for a pic-
nic. Reduce your property loans otherwise you will be
in great trouble. The going gets tough on suffering from
certain inferiority complexes in friend circle.
CANCER: New job opportunities for some
will be better than expected. Sudden good
news in the evening will bring cheers for the entire fam-
ily. An auspicious week to invest money on items that
would grow in value. Initiatives in love bring positive
results as you catch the desired attention. Your energy
level will be high. Better to channelise it in a positive
direction. Many people want to fly international and
you are one of them. Lending a plot to an unknown per-
son might create a problem in future. You will be
attracted to the materialistic needs, but do not let this
ruin happiness.
LEO: At work you are likely to win apprecia-
tion and awards for past efforts. Good time to
get involved into activities that include children.
Investment on long-term plans would pave the way for
earning financial gains. You will be in a loving mood,
therefore make special plans for romantic partner.
Knowing your calories would enable to keep yourself
fit. By traveling you’ll learn about new places and cul-
tures, which is ultimately a great deal about yourself.
Go through all the legal papers before you purchase a
plot. Postponing group activities for a while would be
in your interest.
VIRGO: Timely and swift action would give
an edge over others at professional front.
Looking after the needs of children would be essential.
Make sure you do not overspend on household luxuries.
Those engaged will find their fiancée a source of great
happiness. Positive outlook impresses those around you
besides keeping you fit & fine. You and your loved
one’s been busy for quite sometimes and have finally
decided to go on a vacation. Plan to invest in cafeteria
or a bakery shop; it might create new opportunities for
you. Controlling and channelising hidden powers
would make life comfortable.
LIBRA: Colleagues and subordinates will lend
a helping hand enabling to complete the work
on time. Your efforts bring success & happiness
at family front. Improvement in finances makes it con-
venient in clearing long pending dues & bills. Your gen-
erous attitude would contribute much in your love life
in this week. Time to understand body and at the same
time avoid the food that does not go well with it to keep
ailments a bay. Your next journey is to a place which is
ASTROLOGY
full of natural beauty and ravishing. You might apply
for bank loan as to get back the possession of your
mortgaged property. A week of great achievements
when no obstacles are in your way.
SCORPIO: You are likely to face some tense
moments at professional front. You achieve
success in personal work with the timely help & sup-
port provided by family members. Successful execution
of brilliant ideas would help in earning financial profits.
Highly demanding behaviour of romantic partner will
force romance to take a backseat. Health will be fine
despite some mental pressures. Stressful trip is part of
your traveling. Your plan to buy a plot, may lead to
bankruptcy. You might fail to assess & understand the
situation as what it is really demanding from you.
SAGITTARIUS: To bring a bloom in profes-
sional life you will have to formulate new
strategies. You must restraint yourself from nagging the
child to save him/her. Crucial decisions regarding
investment should be put off for another week. You
need courageous efforts to turn love-at-first-sight into a
strong romantic bond. Channelising energy for self-
improvement would immensely benefit you. Time for a
vacation, sit back and relax. Making investment in real
estate is not a good deal to focus on. Shared activities in
friend circle will bring immense pleasure.
CAPRICORN: Success in completing diffi-
cult assignments brings a lot of laurels at work.
A week when you should not force your opinion on oth-
ers in the family. Avoid investing money in speculations
based on rumours. You need to make a proper planning
before embarking on love journey. Charity work under-
taken will bring mental peace & comfort. If you are
thinking of escaping from the hectic daily routine- plan
a trip. There are chances of getting good amount from
an older property of yours. A surprise gift especially
later in the week could come your way.
AQUARIUS: Self-confident would enable to
convey your point of view with ease a work-
place. To avoid conflicts give an ear to family
members. Be prepared to say no to people who expect
too much in financial matters. Avoid raising controver-
sial issues in love rather enjoy the company. Meditation
and self-realization prove beneficial. Your travel experi-
ence is going to be an extent of sharing your knowledge
and communication. The plot you were looking for can
be profitable from investment point of view.
Interactions with youngsters will be an enriching expe-
rience.
PISCES: Mental clarity gives a decisive edge
over all competitors at professional front.
Misunderstandings with near ones in the fami-
ly will get cleared. A very successful week as far as
monetary position is concerned. Extremely supportive
& loving partner would help in withering away your
troubles. You might face tensions and difference of
opinions that could make you feel irritated & uneasy.
It’s time for a vacation after a long and hard year at
work.
It is better to try for your office accommodation as soon
as possible. You can expect friends to support you
through an ordeal.
Before you consult...
i) Accurate Data: Please make sure Date,
Time and Place of birth is accurate.
ii) Careful: Did you check background of the
astrologer before disclosing your secrets.
iii) Fee: Discuss the charges before, don’t feel
shy. It’s his business.
iv) Expectation: Expect the best, if the out-
come is not as desired, never give up.
v) Consult: Take second opinion before
spending thousands on cure/remedies.
Chandigarh, India: +91-172- 256 2832, 257 2874
Delhi, India: +91-11- 2644 9898, 2648 9899
psharma@premastrologer.com; www.premastrologer.com
Annual Predictions: For those born in this week
May 18 :
You are governed by the number 9 and dominated
by the planet Mars. You are also influenced by the
Moon. You are born with an aggressive personali-
ty. Courage and alertness, will allow you to face
any obstacle without much difficulty, in the year
ahead of you. You will be enterprising and will un-
dertake new ventures, in your professional field.
From the start to the finish of a project, you will be
sincere and dedicated. Travel will be an important
part of your life, in the coming year. This will bring
more opportunities for you and also help you to
broaden your outlook. You are fond of children and
enjoy spending time with them. But, you are short
tempered and get irritated over small matters. You
will have to learn to control your temper, otherwise
you will find your friends drifting away from you.
The months of June, September, December and
March would be significant.
May 19:
You are dominated by the number 1 and the Sun.
The planet Moon, also has a strong influence on
you. Happiness, prosperity and fame, is what most
of you can expect in the coming year. Your me-
thodical approach to work, coupled with your sin-
cerity, will take you to newer heights in your pro-
fessional career. You will be able to go to the depth
of any project that you undertake. Your quest for
knowledge and research, will help you immensely
in your field of work. But, sometimes you tend to
get a little restless and this results in your taking
hasty decisions. Weigh the pros and cons, before
taking any important decision. Hasty actions, will
not only result in wrong decisions, but will also
lead to unpleasantness with colleagues and friends.
Your warmth nature, will make friends around you,
confide in you, and look towards you for help,
when they are in distress. July, September and Jan-
uary will be significant.
May 20:
You are dominated by the planet Moon. You are
also governed by the number 2. Your warm nature
and your helpful attitude, draws people towards
you. You will have a large circle of friends around
you, in the coming year. For those of you, who are
going to be married, can expect to achieve success
and prosperity in their married life. Those of you,
who are in the field of journalism or teaching, can
expect to reach newer heights of excellence, in the
year ahead of you. For most of you, proximity to a
water body, will bring you prosperity. You should,
therefore opt for a posting near a river or a seaside.
Most of you will be associated with charitable in-
stitutions, and you will be spending a lot of your
spare time, in doing social work. July, November
and February will prove highly significant.
May 21:
You are governed by the number 3 and by the plan-
et Jupiter. You are also influenced by the Moon.
You are courageous by nature and are not afraid to
overcome any obstacle which may come your way.
The coming year, will see you achieve honour and
fame, in your professional front. You will have to
do a lot of traveling, both for work and for pleasure.
Self respect and happiness, is what you can achieve
from the year, ahead of you. Your kind hearted na-
ture, and your generosity, will draw friends towards
you. You will always have a circle of friends who
will find solace and peace in your company. But
you will not tolerate too much interference in your
May 18-24, 2013 29
life. You like privacy and will go all out to maintain
it at any cost. You tend to become suspicious at
times. This may result in a rift with your friends and
loved ones. June, September, December and March
will be eventful.
May 22:
You are governed by the number 4 and the planet
Uranus. You are also influenced by the Moon.
Those of you in your 40th year and above, should
expect to reach the height of your professional ca-
reer, in the year ahead of you. Most of you will be
lucky in money as well as love matters. You will
benefit by your friendship with the opposite sex.
Some of you may get into a special relationship
which may turn out to be everlasting. Your domes-
tic front, will be peaceful and full of harmony. You
like to avoid disputes and keep those around you
happy. Your introvert nature will not allow you to
express your sentiments and because of this, you
will have limited friends around you. You do not
like to mingle easily with all persons. The months
of June, July, October and January to be highly
eventful.
May 23:
You re governed by the number 5 and the planet
Mercury. You are also dominated by the Moon. You
have a fascination for anything that moves fast. You
like your projects and plans to move in double
quick time. You will be able to achieve success and
that too in a short time, in the year ahead of you.
Honour, fame and recognition, will be yours in the
coming year. Financially too, it will be a good year.
Some of you can expect to inherit property from
your ancestors. Those of you in the field of writing,
or teaching, can expect it to be an exceptionally
good year. Your extensive vocabulary and commu-
nication skills, will take you to greater heights of
success. Because of your devotion and loyalty, you
will be able to gather many admirers and friends
around you. You will be the centre of attraction at
social gatherings. The months of May, July, Sep-
tember and December will be important.
May 24:
You are governed by the planet Venus and domi-
nated by the Moon. You are also influenced by the
number 6. You are full of confidence and do not un-
derestimate you capabilities. In the coming year,
you will try to impose your ideas on others. This
may not be liked by your colleagues, who tend to
drift away. You will achieve success in your pursuit
of knowledge. Gaining an imparting knowledge to
others, is what you enjoy doing. You will spend a
lot of time in collecting donations for charitable in-
stitutions. Your warmth nature draws you to those
who need help. This gives you ultimate satisfaction.
A word of advice for the coming year – keep away
from speculation and gambling. Overindulgence in
these may lead to losses. The months of June,
August, January and February to be important and
significant.
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The South Asian Times
30 May 18-24, 2013
By Sant Rajinder Singh
Ji Maharaj
ithin us are riches
W
greater than any we can
ever accumulate on
earth. We have inside us a source
of knowledge from which all other
knowledge flows.
A love far greater and fulfilling
than any we can know in the outer
world is waiting to embrace us
with open arms within. At our core
is a strength and power that can
enable us to overcome any fear.
Underlying our separateness as
individuals is a connectedness and
oneness to all life. Awaiting us
inside is a bliss and joy so fulfilling
that we need no other outer intoxi-
cants to make us happy. All these
gifts lie within us in the empow-
ered soul.
The soul is a source of tremen-
dous wisdom, love, and power, yet
we remain ignorant of its treasures
when we allow it to be overpow-
ered by the mind, the senses, and
the physical body. When the mind
and body assert power over the
soul, the soul forgets itself. But the
empowered soul is our true nature,
and it is time we reclaim the soul
so that its gifts can enrich our life.
Meditation makes us more alive
Concluding part of the discourse 'Inner peace through meditation'
ll religions teach us that
A we are children of God and
that we should have love
in our hearts for each person we
treat. If we realize the Light of
God within us, if we experience it
for ourselves, then we will see the
same Light of God shining in oth-
ers. When peace fills our heart, it
radiates from us. If each person
has this realization, there will be
true peace on this planet.
By gaining inner peace, we can
also achieve outer peace. Some
people mistakenly think that the
path of meditation is one of
escapism. They feel that it requires
one to sit in a cave or on a moun-
tain top like a recluse. But medita-
tion does not lead to escapism;
rather, it makes us more alive. It is
one of the most effective ways to
actively work towards outer peace.
The teachers of Science of
Spirituality encourage us to main-
SPIRITUAL AWARENESS
The empowered soul
Chapter excerpt from the book: Empowering Your Soul through Meditation
There are two ways through
which to view ourselves with
regard to the soul.
The first is to view ourselves pri-
marily as a body and mind. When
we see ourselves in this manner,
we say that we are a mind and body
that “have a soul.”
The second is to see ourselves
primarily as a soul. When we
change perspective and identify
with the soul, we say that we are a
soul who “has or wears a mind and
body.” To assess how we look at
ourselves is one of our goals. If we
think we are a mind and body, then
ours is a journey to find the soul. If
we realize that we are the soul,
which has been given a mind and
body to maneuver through the
physical world, then our goal is to
further empower the soul. By
empowering the soul we recover its
natural control over the mind and
senses.
The aim of Empowering Your
Soul through Meditation is to help
reacquaint us with the qualities of
the soul and provide direction for
its empowerment.
The soul’s power has been for-
gotten. The mind, the senses, the
body, and the pulls of the physical
world have placed the soul in a
state of forgetfulness from which
we must awaken. When we
empower our soul, its wisdom,
immortality, love, fearlessness,
connectedness, and bliss add a new
dimension to our life.
Many people live and die without
tain a balanced life in the world.
While attending to our spiritual
progress, we lead a productive life,
fulfilling all our responsibilities.
We need to earn an honest living.
We must care for our family. We
should contribute to the needs of
our neighbors, our community, our
society, the nation, and the world.
Whatever task we undertake, we
perform it to the best of our capa-
bilities, The spiritual path is
twofold. We achieve inner enlight-
enment and peace for ourselves.
Then, we use our talents and skills
and the gift of our human life to
make the world a better place, a
more peaceful place. If we are a
doctor, we should be the best pos-
sible doctor. If we are a carpenter,
we should be the best carpenter. If
we are a musician, we should be
the best musician that we can be.
In this way, we make improve-
ments in our society and make life
ever realizing the full power and
potential of their soul. At some
time in their life, they may begin to
wonder about the soul, about God,
and about the purpose of their exis-
tence. This search for meaning and
purpose—the spiritual quest—is
one that people pursue in individ-
ual ways. Some seek answers in
scripture while others search in
places of worship. Some go beyond
their own religion to find the
answers offered in other faiths.
Whichever method one adopts, the
direction one follows to find the
answers to life’s questions is
known as the spiritual path. It is the
spiritual path that leads us to the
realization of our inner self, to the
soul.
better far all around us. By devel-
oping our inner and outer life, we
will become complete human
beings. We will find fulfillment
and peace for ourselves and help
others achieve it as well.
We may not be able to eliminate
all the problems of the world, but
through meditation we can attain
peace and happiness. We can make
our family life more peaceful, lov-
ing, and caring, We can help
change the society in which we
live. We can be a source of peace
to all those around us. By leading a
life in which we are caring and
loving to others, we will develop
into ideal human beings. Sant
Kirpal Singh Ji Maharaj used to
say that it is difficult to become a
human being in the true sense of
the word, but once we do so, it is
not so difficult to find God. And
that is the highest goal of human
existence.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Many people pass through life
never realizing who they are and
never certain about the purpose of
their existence. In times of trouble
or in the face of death, they may
raise these questions but may not
follow them through to a fulfilling
conclusion or else may abandon
the process when the bad times
pass. But those who have a burning
desire to find the answers to the
mysteries of life can find them.
Fortunately, there are people in
the world who have found spiritual
fulfillment and can guide us. If we
look through history we find that in
every generation there have been
people who have realized them-
selves as soul and have realized
God. Some of their wisdom and
'Tap into source of eternal
happiness within'
I
n his most recent Sunday talks,
His Holiness Sant Rajinder
Singh Ji Maharaj spoke of the
perpetual state of happiness and
bliss we all seek. He said if we are
to achieve permanent happiness, it
is essential that we tap into the
Source of eternal happiness within.
This can happen only when we
learn to experience God’s love
within us and all around us.
If we can comprehend this truth,
we will realize the presence of the
Lord in our lives and know that the
hand of the Lord is always guiding
us. Just as an author is aware and in
control of all the minute details of
a book they have written, so too is
God aware of all of God’s creation.
As we learn to commune with God,
through the technique of medita-
tion, we will learn to see God all
around us, in every soul, in every
blade of grass. If we can but firmly
anchor ourselves in God, we will
experiences have been recorded in
history and, in some cases, a reli-
gion has been created from their
teachings. Other realized souls
have come and gone but have left
behind no records because they did
not found a religion or leave
behind any scriptures.
Some of them we know of
through references by other people
who wrote about them. One thing
is clear: these realized souls have
the ability to teach us how to real-
ize ourselves. If we find such a
being, we can learn how we, too,
can discover our soul and its attrib-
utes. True knowledge comes from
seeing and experiencing on our
own. We may read what others
write or listen to what others say,
but we cannot be fully satisfied
until we experience it for our-
selves.
This book touches on the two
aspects of spiritual knowledge that
can help us realize our soul: the
theoretical knowledge, and the per-
sonal or practical knowledge. The
theoretical side consists of what
other realized people have said
about the soul (such as what are
some of the qualities—wisdom,
immortality, fearlessness, love,
connectedness, and bliss). The per-
sonal or practical side consists of a
technique that I learned from a
fully realized being. I wish to share
this technique to help others realize
their soul on their own.
(To be continued...)
find the stability we need to weath-
er all storms of life and remain in a
state of bliss and happiness, for all
times to come.
Explaining how the physical
world, which we take to be real, is
several reflections away from true
reality, he said we must strive to
transcend its myriad distractions if
we are to experience the reality of
our existence. Just as the waves
and the froth of the ocean are no
different from the ocean, when we
realize that we too, as souls, are no
different from God, the Oversoul,
it helps us begin to recognize God
in everyone. We see the world as a
play of God, where we each have a
role. This higher angle of vision
helps us detach from the attractions
and illusions that bring pain and
suffering in the physical world, so
we may take steps steadily toward
our life’s supreme goal of becom-
ing one with God.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info May 18-24, 2013
TheSouthAsianTimes.info May 18-24, 2013