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Vol.9 No. 49 April 8-14, 2017 80 Cents New York Edition Follow us on TheSouthAsianTimes.info

India, Isreal ink $2 billion defense After chemical

deals ahead of PM Modi's visit
New Delhi: India and Israel on
Thursday inked mega defense
deals worth over $2 billion for
advanced surfacetoair missile
The advanced surface-to-air missile systems
India is buying will help in plugging the
existing holes in its air defense coverage.
attack, US hits
(SAM) systems, which are
designed to destroy hostile air
craft, missiles and drones at a
range of 70km, to further tighten
the bilateral strategic partnership
Syria with
ahead of PM Narendra Modi's
impending visit to Tel Aviv in
July.
Defense sources said the major
deal was for the joint project
60 missiles
between the Defence Research
and Development Organization
(DRDO) and Israel Aerospace
Industries (IAI) for the Barak8
mediumrange SAM systems to
initially include one regiment of
16 launchers and 560 missiles for
the Indian Army. tonne indigenous aircraft carrier Cabinet Committee on Security
The second deal to be inked INS Vikrant being built at the (CCS) in February had cleared the
was for a similar SAM system to Cochin Shipyard, reported The MRSAM project for the Army at
be fitted on board the 40,000 Times of India. The Modiled Continued on page 4

Pak regrets India's snub This is the first direct strike by the US military

to US offer on Kashmir against the Assad regime in Syria

Washington: The United States About 60 US Tomahawk missiles,
Islamabad: Pakistan has fired a barrage of cruise mis fired from warships in the
expressed regret on siles into Syria in retaliation for Mediterranean Sea, targeted an air
Thursday at India's snub this week's gruesome chemical base in retaliation for a chemical
Neil Gorsuch will occupy the 9th seat
to the US offer to help weapons attack against civilians, weapons attack that American
on the US Supreme Court vacated
resolve the Kashmir issue US officials said. officials believe Syrian govern
by the death of Antonin Scalia.
between the two neigh It was the first direct American ment aircraft launched with a
bors, saying New Delhi as Senate rules change assault on the Syrian government nerve agent, possibly sarin.
usual "reacted negative
ly" to the proposal.
eases Gorsuch as and Donald Trump's most dramat The president did not announce
ic military order since becoming the attacks in advance, though he
Pakistan always wel Supreme Court judge president. and other national security offi
comed offers of media Washington: By a simple majority The surprise strike that took cials ratcheted up their warnings
India wants to resolve all issues
tion, which has been vote, Majority Leader Mitch place Thursday marked a striking to the Syrian government.
with Pakistan bilaterally in an
made by various coun McConnell, RKy., set a new prece reversal for Trump, who warned as "I think what happened in Syria
atmosphere free of terror.
tries, to resolve the dent in the Senate that will ease the a candidate against the US getting is one of the truly egregious
Kashmir issue, Foreign Office which forms one of the elements
confirmation for President Trump's pulled into the Syrian civil war, crimes and shouldn't have hap
spokesperson Nafess Zakaria told of the comprehensive dialogue Supreme Court nominee Neil now in its seventh year. But the pened and it shouldn't be allowed
reporters. process," he said.
Gorsuch on Friday, after 30 more president appeared moved by the to happen," Trump told reporters
"India as usual reacted nega The US Ambassador to the UN,
hours of debate on the floor. photos of children killed in the traveling on Air Force One to
tively to the US offer. India wants Nikki Haley, had said on Monday
"This will be the first, and last, chemical attack, calling it a "dis Florida, where he was holding a
to speak of terrorism. We also that the US would try and "find its
partisan filibuster of a Supreme grace to humanity" that crossed "a twoday summit with Chinese
insist on speaking of terrorism, Continued on page 4 lot of lines." President Xi Jinping.
Continued on page 4

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TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRISTATE COMMUNITY April 8-14, 2017 3

Dutta named Chancellor of Rutgers New Brunswick

New Brunswick, N.J. Debasish Deba
Dutta a respected academic and an
experienced higher education administra
tor who has spearheaded change at three
top national research universities will
become the next chancellor of Rutgers
UniversityNew Brunswick.
President Robert Barchi announced
Duttas appointment this week at a meet
ing of the Rutgers Board of Governors.
Dutta will begin his term from July 1.
Dutta comes to Rutgers from Purdue
University, where he serves as provost
and executive vice president for academic
affairs and diversity, with a faculty
appointment as a professor of mechanical
engineering.
Previously, he worked at the University
of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign and the
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Dr. Dutta will be an inspiring, collabo
Debasish Dutta rative leader and a powerful voice for
Rutgers at a pivotal time in its history,
said President Barchi. He comes here
with impeccable academic credentials,
solid administrative leadership and deep
experience at three Big Ten institutions.
We also welcome and applaud Debas
commitment to diversity. He has a proven
track record of success in building
diverse, inclusive communities, as he has
shown in his efforts as Purdues chief
diversity officer and at Illinois where he
served as chancellors advisor on diversi
ty.
As chancellor Dutta will oversee the
largest of the three major Rutgers
University campuses with more than
50,000 students, 4,000 faculty, 12
degreegranting schools, nine academic
research centers, four administrative
units, a premier Honors College, Douglass
Residential College and the Zimmerli Art
Museum. Said Dutta, I look forward to
working with the faculty, staff and stu
dents to drive innovation and build a new
era of success that will elevate the flag
ship of Rutgers University to even greater
national prominence.
Dutta is a fellow of the American
Association for the Advancement of
Science and the American Society of
Mechanical Engineers, as well as a schol
ar in residence at the National Academy
of Engineering.
Dutta spent three years at the National
Science Foundation, where he served as
acting director of the Division of
Graduate Education and as IGERT pro
gram director.
He holds a Ph.D. in industrial engineer
ing from Purdue, a masters degree in
engineering management from the
University of Evansville and a bachelors
degree in mechanical engineering from
Jadavpur University in Calcutta, India.

Changed H1B visa Indian American email

Indian prodigy Tiara
Abraham performs on
Steve Harvey Show
New York: Indian American
Tiara Abraham gave an
enthralling performance on the
Steve Harvey Show on NBC.
Abraham, who sings in six differ
ent languages, released her first
music album, Winter
Nightingale, in 2016. She started
reading at age two, and is
already in college at age 11.
Well, I enjoy singing in those
six different languages; and I
enjoy speaking in them; and I
like learning new languages,
Abraham said during the show.
So, I have taken nine semesters
of Spanish, Italian, French and
this semester I am taking
German. I think my favorite out
of all those, like to speak and
also to sing, I think, its Italian
because it is so flowy.
Tiaras family realized her
musical talent when she was five,
after they heard her sing Happy
birthday in vibrato style, an
extremely unusual feat for some
one her age. Her parents immi
grated from Kerala in India. Her
father Bijou Abraham is a soft
ware engineer, and her mother
Dr. Taji Abraham is a veterinari
Tiara Abraham with
Steve Harvey.
(Credit: Steve Harvey Show)
an. Her elder brother Tanishq
Abraham, 13, is also a highly
gifted teen. He already has three
college degrees and aspires to
become a physician.
Steve Harvey Show is a one
hour talkshow hosted by come
dian Steve Harvey.
norms wont affect
inventor runs for US
India: Nasscom
Bengaluru: In an effort to make
India a global hub for cyber securi Senate from Massachusetts
tyrelated requirements, the IT
industry's representative body
Nasscom and the Data Security
Boston: Indian American scientist
and entrepreneur Shiva Ayyadurai
who has laid claim for inventing
Council of India (DSCI) on
email, has entered the race for a
Wednesday launched a detailed
seat in U.S. Senate from
roadmap for the next 10 years.
Massachusetts.
Titled "Growing Cyber Security
If he get the GOP nomination, he
Industry, Roadmap for India," the
will challenge the incumbent,
report identifies Managed Security
Democrat Sen. Elizabeth Warren,
Service (MSS), Security and
for the seat in 2018.
Vulnerability Management (SVM)
Ayyadurai, a Republican, offi
and network security emerging as
cially filed for his candidacy into
attractive opportunities globally.
the race March 17 and has been
MSS emerges the most attractive
publically supported by former
opportunity, with the highest
Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt
growth of (more than 12 per cent)
Schilling, who had intended to run
and largest market size ($18 bil
for the same seat before backing
lion). "For India to become a global Shiva Ayyadurai, a Republican,
away.
cyber security hub, a list of 16 ini will challenge the high profile
I'll always be grateful for the
tiatives has been formulated by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D).
opportunities I've found here. Now
NasscomDSCI. Effective program
I'm committed to preserving, pro Warren a fake fighter, using the
rollout and strategic vision realiza
tecting and expanding those hashtag on Twitter, #FAKEFIGHT
tion will require disciplined man
opportunities for the citizens of ER.
agement of the 16 key initiatives
Massachusetts and for all The high profile Warren earned
suggested by the report," said R
Americans. That's the new a name fighting for consumers
Chandrashekhar, President,
American Revolution, and I hope and the working class since she
Nasscom, during an event here.
you'll join me in this fight, has been in her Senate seat.
According to Nasscom, the Indian
Ayyadurai said on his campaign Ayyadurai, who immigrated
IT industry is set to reach a size of
page. from India at the young age of 7 in
$350$400 billion by 2025.
The native of Mumbai earned 1970 and has emerged as a sys
"The country can build a cyber
four degrees from the MIT and is a tems scientist, inventor and entre
security product and services indus
contributor to Breitbart news. preneur, also calls himself the
try of $35 billion by 2025 and gen
To date, he is the only declared Real Innovator and All
erate a skilled workforce of one mil
candidate in the GOP Party. He American Indian on his campaign
lion in the security sector," it added.
has begun his campaign by calling page.
 4 April 8-14, 2017 TURN PAGE TheSouthAsianTimes.info

India, Isreal ink $2 billion defense
Senate SCOTUS filibuster dies; Sen. deals ahead of PM Modi's visit
Continued from page 1
Robert Byrd seen walking in fury an overall cost of Rs 16,830 crore, which will now
include a first installment of Rs 1,500 crore.
By Ravi Batra (Eminent Attorney) This project follows the two similar DRDOIAI
he late great Senator Robert Byrd programs already underway for the nextgenera
Kashmir issue in accordance with the wishes of
Kashmiri people and UN resolutions is the only
way for durable peace in the region.
Accusing India of "trying to hide the atrocities in
Kashmir", the spokesperson said that the protests
during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Kashmir
visit recently are reflective of the "strong prevail

T from West Virginia, the soul and

spine of the United States Senate,
was seen angrily climbing out of his
grave not because it is Palm Sunday
soon but because the Senate knowing
the ABAWell Qualified Judge Neil
Gorsuch would be confirmed no matter
what they did, decided to destroy a
most noble and critical curb on the
final word from the Supreme Court
aka final word tyranny.
The filibuster rule gifted to our repub
lic a bipartisan birth of every supreme
court justice. This bipartisan birth of a
Supreme Court Justice is critical to the
third branch's ability to honestly act as
a constitutional coequal branch of gov
ernment. After Fridays Gorsuch con
firming vote, absent justices abstaining
from use of excessive power that can do
violence to our cherished and excep
tional "coequal separated powers
regime," we will either have a court that
answers to a political party and its polit
ical platform, or one with a roving 54
majority, per issue, decide every critical
issue across our political landscape
agenda, be it domestic or foreign, and
ignore the collective judgment of the
executive and legislative branches.
Today our political leaders paid great
homage to political benefit for their
respective political parties, while our
cherished exceptional "coequal separat
ed powers" regime lay mortally wound
ed and bleeding. What will our America
look like in 25 or 50 years when the
mature and centerseeking gentility of
the Senate gave way to immediate bene
fits of hyperpartisanship? Is partisan
ship the new altar of American excep
tionalism? No, never; for it encourages
baseness and even devalues enlight
ened self interest The constitutional
predicate for our cherished coequal sep
arated powers regime.
tion SAMs for Indian warships at an initial cost of
Rs 2,606 crore and nine air defense squadrons for
the IAF for Rs 10,076 crore.
These Barak8 systems, with their MFSTARs
(multifunction surveillance and threat alert
radars) as well as weapon control systems with
data links, can detect and track hostile aerial
threats at a range of 100km and destroy them at
70km. Consequently, they will help in plugging
the existing holes in India's air defense coverage.
The naval SAM system, tested for the first time
in November 2014, meanwhile, has been fitted on
the three new Kolkataclass destroyers. Each new
SAM system is projected to cost around Rs 1,200
crore for the 12 underconstruction warships in
Indian shipyards, including NS Vikrant, four guid
edmissile destroyers and seven stealth frigates.
Though the expansive bilateral defense ties are
kept largely under wraps due to international and
domestic political sensitivities, Israel is among the
top three defense suppliers to India. Having
already inked deals and projects worth around
$10 billion over the last 15 years, Israel has
bagged seven Indian arms contracts in the last
two years.
There are also several more bigticket deals in
the pipeline. These include two more Israeli
ing sentiment of the Kashmiri people".
Commenting on a New York Times report about
India may be reinterpreting its nuclear weapons
doctrine of 'NoFirst Use', he said Pakistan has
long maintained that the ambiguous nofirst use
declaration is not verifiable and hence nothing
more than an empty political statement.
"It cannot substitute for verifiable arms control
and restraint measures. In taking appropriate
security measures, Pakistan has to consider capa
bilities and not intentions which can change any
time.
"It goes without saying that the talk about pre
emption in a nuclearized South Asia is highly irre
sponsible and dangerous and will not help the
cause of promoting strategic restraint and stabili
ty in the region," he said.
Senate rules change eases
Gorsuch as Supreme Court judge
Continued from page 1
Court justice," said McConnell in a closing floor
speech. Senate Democrats voted against ending
debate on Gorsuch's nomination on a near party
line vote, leaving Republicans shy of the 60vote
hurdle required by Senate rules to move on to a
final confirmation vote.

Sonia was de facto PM for 10 years Phalcon AWACS (airborne warning and control
systems), which are to be mounted on Russian IL
Democrats opposed Gorsuch for a variety of rea
sons, including his conservative judicial philoso
New Delhi: Sonia Gandhi was the de facto Prime Minster for a decade and in doing so 76 military aircraft, and four more Aerostat phy, dissatisfaction with his answers during his
diminished the role of the incumbent, Manmohan Singh, and ruled the country with radars at a cost upwards of $1.5 billion. confirmation hearings and a simmering resent
out accountability, in the process, overturning the reforms initiated ment towards McConnell's decision to block any
by P.V. Narasimha Rao in the early 1990s, says Tavleen Singh, a well Pak regrets India's snub to consideration of President Obama's nominee
known political columnist. Sonia Gandhi has been de facto prime US offer on Kashmir Merrick Garland last year.
minister of India for ten years and leader of our oldest political party Continued from page 1 "We believe that what Republicans did to
(the Congress) for twenty, Tavleen Singh told IANS in an interview. I place" in efforts to deescalate tensions between Merrick Garland was worse than a filibuster," said
oppose her politics because I think she diminished the role of the India and Pakistan. India on Tuesday said its posi Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, DN.Y.
prime minister and brought in the idea of keeping power in the tion on resolving all issues with Pakistan bilateral So McConnell then, as promised, used the power
Congress chief hands of someone who was not accountable. I believe that this harms of his position and with all of his GOP colleagues
ly in an atmosphere free of terror hasnt changed
Sonia Gandhi lined up behind him, to essentially change the
democracy. If she wanted to keep real power in her hands then she while responding to suggestions that President
should have had the courage to become prime minister. Her inner voice enabled her Trump could mediate in solving the problems rules of the Senate to lower that threshold on
to rule without accountability and I believe that is wrong, she added. She said Sonia between the two neighbors. Supreme Court nominations to end debate from
Gandhi, in her opinion, reversed the economic reforms that Narasimha Rao brought Governments position for bilateral redressal of 60 to 51 votes. The change did not affect the leg
and took the country back to Indira Gandhis economics by spending money on huge all IndiaPakistan issues in an environment free of islative filibuster. That mildsounding parliamen
welfare schemes like MNREGA instead of on rural hospitals, schools and the creation terror and violence hasnt changed, MEA tary maneuver has the most destructive nickname,
of jobs. Her latest book Indias Broken Tryst apart from throwing light on the fail spokesperson Gopal Baglay said. "the nuclear option," because it contains sweeping
ure of the Indian state to provide a reasonable standard of living to its teeming mil Speaking at the weekly press briefing, Pakistan impact on the Senate, President Trump and all of
lions, is driven by both rational and visceral criticism of one person Sonia Gandhi. spokesperson Zakaria said resolution of the his successors and the nation as a whole.

Jaipur (India) Bureau IANS Newswire Services

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TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRISTATE COMMUNITY April 8-14, 2017 5

Nassau Coliseum opens Saroj Khan promoting dance

after $165 million facelift competition in USA
By Ashok
Long Island, NY: On
Ojha/The SATimes
Wednesday night Billy Joel
and the sold out crowd inside
Edison, NJ: Saroj
the Nassau Coliseum lifted
Khan, the wellknown
the curtain on a $165 million
Bollywood dance
renovation.
director of the 1980s,
So much of it was familiar
is currently touring
the expansive parking lot
the US, conducting
overlooking Hempstead
workshops and pro Dance maestro Saroj Khan was honored by 5678
Turnpike in Uniondale, the
moting popular Media and local supporters.
widened walkways that
Indian dances among
struggled to manage 14,000
the youths growing fusion style of dancing.
people. But much more was
up here. At a recent press meet, Saroj 5678 Media Group has collaborated
new: the intricate exterior
recounted how she had a full life with Zee TV to conduct dance competi
facade, composed of 960 alu
directing a range of talented actresses tions in USA. Anjana Kumar,
minum fins designed to
from Vyjayantimala to Madhuri Dixit. Chairwoman of the company, said that
evoke Long Islands coast
The new look Nassau Coliseum She was at the top of her craft when the competition aimed at empowering
line; the decorative ceiling
and (inset) Billy Joel folk forms ruled the Indian movie the youth through dance and provide
beams running along the
industry through talented dancer a bridge for the South Asian communi
concourses; the concessions run by popular and tion, Mangano said in an interview. Having the
actresses, notably Madhuri Dixit who ty to connect with its roots. The com
boutique Long Island eateries that replace the opportunity to be here from the day it closed,
through the construction process, and now, to the popularized many songs such as Ek petition called Dance USA Dance will
oftenbland offerings of the old Coliseum.
do teen. I played with steps and tan hold its finale on April 15 at Ritz
Joel himself had jokingly compared the shiny day it opens. Its a legacy thats going to last for
talizing poses but ensured that actress Theater in Elizabeth, NJ, judged by
new exterior to a Jif fy Pop bag. But as he got decades and decades.
The original Coliseum, which seated 16,700, has es didnt resort to vulgarity, argued Saroj Khan. The top three winners will
deeper into his set Wednesday, he repeatedly com
been downsized to 13,900 fixed seats. The capaci Saroj at the press meet organized by get cash prizes of $6,000, $2,000 and
plimented the arenas look and sound.
5678 Media Group in Edison. $1,000. The event will be telecast on
Brooklyn developer Bruce Ratner removed ty can be increased, officials said, to 14,500 for
She proudly stated that she always Zee TV. According to Raaj Rahi, the
roughly 3,000 seats from the old Coliseums basketball, boxing and mixed martial arts. In addi
ensured that her choreography echoed coordinator of the event, Saroj Khans
capacity, adding an additional perimeter for tion to Joel, upcoming concerts and events include
the ageold traditions of Indian folk tour to California, Florida, Georgia and
patrons to walk without reentering the main con Stevie Nicks, Idina Menzel, Marc Anthony and
culture. Disillusioned by much of New York succeeded in initiating many
course. Down the nearby escalators, Nassau WWE Monday Night Raw.
Barbra Streisand, Barry Manilow, Bruno Mars dancing in some recent Bollywood people into Bollywood dancing. The
County Executive Edward Mangano took a
movies, Saroj Khan felt she had no April 15 event was the final opportuni
moment before the show to reflect on the twoyear and the final performances of the Ringling Bros.
option than to refuse many assign ty for dancers from New Jersey to
process that gave the arena, built in 1972, its and Barnum & Bailey Circus will also appear in the
(News source: Newsday.com) ments where directors asked for showcase their skills.
extreme facelift. Its been an amazing transforma coming months.

US Congress recognizes Vaisakhi as creation of Khalsa

Washington, DC: In a resolution in
the first session of 115th
Congress, the house of represen
tatives on Wednesday recognized
the day of Vaisakhi, a Sikh festival,
as the creation of Khalsa in 1699.
The resolution was submitted
by Congressmen John Garamendi
and Patrick Meehan, who cochair
the American Sikh Congressional
Caucus.
The resolution has come at a
time when incidents of hate crime
against the Sikh community are
on the rise in the United States
and the U.S. administration is
apparently eyeing to create
awareness to control such inci
dents.
The resolution said, "Vaisakhi is
an annual festival celebrating the
spring harvest season and it is
particularly significance to the
Sikh religion and is one of the
most important dates in Sikh his
tory." It adds, "For Sikhs, Vaisakhi
commemorate the creation of the
Khalsa, a fellowship of devout
Sikhs by Guru Gobind Singh in
1699."
It is for the first time that the
re ference to the creat ion of
Khalsa by the Sikh Guru has been
made in the US Congress. Though
the Vaisakhi celebration has been
held in the premises of the White
House but the recognition was
first time endorsed in the House
of Representatives.
Notably, the tenth Sikh spiritual
master of the Sikhs Guru Gobind
Sing h founded Khalsa at
Anandpur Sahib during a congre
g at ion on the o ccasion of
Vaisakhi. T he Sikh Diaspora,
which is concerned over the rising
hate crimes due to the Sikhs' mis
taken identity, hails the Trump
government's move.
John and Patrick in the resolu
tion stipulate the historic, cultur
al, and religious significance of
the festival whereas Vaisakhi is
celebrated in the Punjab region of
South Asia for centuries and now
it is also celebrated in communi
t ies throug hout India, in the
United States and around the
world.
Vaisakhi is an annual festival
celebrating the spring harvest
season and is of particular signifi
cance to the Sikh religion and is
one of the most important dates
in Sikh history, mentioned the res
olution.
Highest temporal seat of the
Sikhs, the Akal Takht welcomed
the move. Akal Takht Jathedar
said that the Sikhs are indebted to
the US Congress for the initiative.
American Gurdwara
Parbandhak Committee (AGPC)
President JS Hothi, Coordinator
Dr. Pritpal Sing h, Shiromani
Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee
chief Kirpal Singh Badungar also
hailed the move.
Badungar said that the US had
given respect to Sikh sentiments
during the time when the commu
nity is facing trouble for which
they are thankful to the US
Congress.
De lhi Sikh Gurdwara
Management Committee
President Manjit Singh GK said
that it is a proud moment for the
entire Sikh community.
JS Hothi and Dr. Pritpal Singh
said that ''it is moment of pride
and celebrations for the whole
Sikh community and they are
thankful to the US Federal govern
ment in general and house of rep
resentatives in particular for the
initiative."
T he AGPC also hailed Sikh
Congressional Caucus which is a
group of US Congressmen that
work for the welfare and protec
tion of the human rights of the
Sikh community and said they
appreciate the ef forts made by
the Caucus to submit the resolu
tion.
The Friends of US Congressional
Caucus head Harpreet Sing h
Sandhu also greeted the whole
community on the upcoming festi
val of Vaisakhi and hailed the US
Administration and US Congress
for the move that has made the
whole Sikh community grateful to
US House and the government.
 6 April 8-14, 2017
Democrat George Maragos
receives more endorsements from
Pakistani & Indian community
Mineola, New York: George Mara
gos, candidate for Nassau County
Executive announced that he has
received the enthusiastic endorse
ment and growing grassroots sup
port of Indian and Pakistani com
munity and business leaders for
the September 12th Democratic
primary.
The supporters of the Maragos
campaign include Dr. Aslam Baig
of East Meadow, Vakil Ansari, Zia
R Qureshi, Talib Hussain, and Fa
zlul Haq Syed of Hicksville, Shafqat
Tanweer and Haron Khawaja of
Old Westbury, Mukesh Amin of
New Hyde Park, and Saadia Taqi a
community activist.
It is an honor to receive the sup
port from so many successful and
concerned civic leaders from
throughout Nassau County. They
understand that handpicked can
didates only serve the special in
terests and never put the people
first. They know that only a Coun
ty Executive who is not beholden
to special interests can root out
Zakir Hussain & Dave Holland to perform
at New Jersey Performing Arts Center
New York: Internationally
renowned musicians Zakir Hus
sain and Dave Holland, will be per
forming in Newark, New Jersey
and the New Jersey Performing
Arts Centers Prudential Hall on
November 5th. Joining the show
with the Tabla maestro and ac
complished bassist will be saxo
phonist Chris Potter, superstar
composer/vocalist Shankar Ma
hadevan, jazz pianist Louiz Banks,
guitarist Sanjay Divecha, and
drummer Gino Banks.
Zakir Hussain, who performed to
a sold out audience at NJPAC last
fall, is widely acknowledged to be
one of the greatest musicians of
our time. A classical tabla virtuoso
of the highest order, his consis
tently brilliant and exciting per
formances have established him as
a national treasure in his own
country, India, and as one of In
dias reigning cultural ambassa
dors. Crosscurrents attempts to
TRISTATE COMMUNITY
Democrat George Maragos with Indian and Pakistani
community members
corruption, lower the unafford
able taxes and create affordable
housing said George Maragos.
George Maragos is a successful
business person and the only qual
ified candidate with proven expe
rience, and unquestionable in
tegrity, who can bring about real
change to improve public safety
and protect us from the fear of
Trumps immigration policies per
vading our communities, said Tal
ib Hussain a businessman from
portray all directions of inspira
tion between the idioms of jazz
and Indian music. Bassist Dave
Holland, a player with one of the
most distinguished careers in jazz,
brings his singular vision to the
quintet. A master of tone and
Hicksville.
Our minority communities ac
count for nearly 40% of the coun
ty residents but they are forgotten
when it comes to government rep
resentation and a voice in policy.
We are confident, that as an immi
grant himself, Mr. Maragos will
give our forgotten communities a
voice in government and a seat at
the table. Nassau County is our
home too. said Miss Saadia Taqi, a
community activist.
rhythm, the bassist, composer, and
bandleader is now in his fifth
decade as a performer and his mu
sic possesses a rich and kaleido
scopic history. This performance
will be a part of the TD James
Moody Jazz Festival.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
CIBC celebrates Vaisakhi with
unique commemorative
gold & silver coins
New York: Just in time for Vaisakhi
, CIBC is exclusively offering Cana
key symbols within the Sikh reli
gion.
dians limited edition unique festive Packaged in a black clamshell
gold and silver coins to commemo CIBC case, the coins are a thought
rate this years celebration. CIBC is ful and timely gift during this time
the only bank in Canada to offer of year.
Vaisakhi coins, which are available CIBC is also to sponsor this years
for purchase online and at select Vaisakhi Parade in Malton, Ontario
branches. They can also be ordered on May 7 and in Surrey, British Co
at any branch in Canada for pickup. lumbia on April 22, which is the
With the popularity of the one largest Vaisakhi parade of its kind
ounce Vaisakhi Silver coins intro in Canada attracting more than
duced a few years ago, this year 200,000 visitors.
CIBC is offering 10 gram gold In celebration of Vaisakhi, from
coins. April 13 to 16, Canadians can also
The coins are offered in both 24 take advantage of the special rate
karat gold and pure silver and are offered by CIBC Global Money
of the highest industry standard pu Transfer service to send money to
rity. India
The one ounce silver coin is avail This no fee money transfer serv
able at $59.95 and the 10 gram ice is now available to more than 45
gold coin is priced at $625. These countries like India, UK, USA, Aus
limited edition Vaisakhi coins have tralia and many European coun
images of Khanda and Ikk Onkar, tries.
Hicksville to play host to Sita Rama Kalyanam
Hicksville: The wedding of Sita and Rama will be performed at the Asa
Mai temple here in New York on April 16. Experienced priests will per
form the event amid Vedic chants reliving the experience of the bygone
millennia. It is believed that the region, where celestial kalyanams (wed
dings) are performed, would be bestowed with peace and prosperity, ac
cording to information from the organizers. Pooja, related to the wed
ding, begins at 10am and prasad/bhojan will be available from 1pm
through 2pm. The event, said to be the first of its kind in Hicksville, is
open to all devotees who are requested to bless the couple on the occa
sion. Sri Ram Navami was held this year on April 5 in India and other
parts of the world. In the US, such events are generally held on a week
end close to the actual day. The occasion which falls, in accordance
with the Hindu calendar, on Chaitra Navami is both the birthday and
marriage day of Lord Sri Rama. For additional information, sponsorship
and puja participation, noted priest Keshav may be contacted at 516
6060357/9175621254. He may also be reached via email srisitara
makalyanam2017@gmail.com
US allows murdered Andhra techie's husband
to attend funeral in India
New York: The husband of the Indianorigin woman from Andhra
Pradesh killed along with her son last week in New Jersey is being al
lowed to go to India for the funeral, according to an official. N Sasikala,
38, and her 7yearold son were found dead in their home in New Jersey
last Thursday. Hanumantha Rao's "movements are not restricted in any
way by the criminal justice system," according to Joel Bewley, the
Burlington County Prosecutor's spokesperson, quoted by a local channel
in the US. "He has not been charged with a crime." Mr Rao had reportedly
told the police that he discovered their bodies when he returned home
from work at night. He had a strong alibi, according to reports. The chan
nel said that the husband is expected to attend the funeral in India of his
wife, Sasikala,38, and son Anish,6, who were found stabbed to death on
March 23 in their Maple Shade home. Postmortems were done on the
bodies of the victims and the remains were sent to a funeral home.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info NATIONAL COMMUNITY April 8-14, 2017 7

Haley says she sounds strong because

that's how her Sikh parents raised her
United Nations: A Punjabi may be out of
Punjab, but Punjab is never out of her.
Nikki Haley, the outspoken US ambassador
to the UN, says if she comes out sounding
strong, it's because that's how she was raised
by her parents, who are Sikhs from Punjab.
She does her "job to the best of my abilities
and if that comes out blunt, comes out
strong, I am one of two brothers and a sister
and my parents raised us all to be strong,"
she said at a news conference on Monday.
Her father Ajit Singh Randhwa, is from
Amritsar district. He is an agriculture science
professor. Her mother is Raj Kaur Randhwa.
One of her brothers, Mitti Randhwa, was
an Army ofcer who saw action in Operation
Desert Storm, 199091, leading a company
tasked with nding chemical weapons.
Just over two months into her ofce as the
rst Indian American to be appointed to a
cabinetlevel position, she has made waves
by calling a spade a spade, if not a shovel, in
an arena where a diplomat may delicately
call it a spoon.
She has called the UN Human Rights
Council "corrupt", the UN of being a partner
of a "corrupt" government, and Syrian
President Bashar alAssad a "war criminal",
and declared she was free to "beat up on
Russia."
And she perceives her job as shaking up
the UN and pulling it by its purse strings,
kicking and screaming, to carry out reforms.
A TV reporter addressed her as "Madam
President" because she presides over the
Security Council this month, and quipped
that's what she may be called in eight years
a hint that she may become the nation's
President.
Haley said that in every job she has held
"people assumed I was looking for some
thing bigger."
But, she said, "In reality I am the daughter
of Indian parents who said to me whatever
you do be great at it and make sure people
remember you for it. That's all I have ever
shown, try to be."
Haley has emerged as the face of American
diplomacy with her outspokenness and
availability to the public and the media she
was on three Sunday morning TV talk shows
speaking out on US foreign policy, in addi
tion to a speech at the Council on Foreign
relations.
Unlike most of President Donald Trump's
cabinet and top ofcials she has a warm rela
tionship with the otherwise belligerent
media.
In contrast, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson
has kept away from the media and min
imised public appearances. Even his
spokesperson, Mark Toner, is a holdover
from President Barack Obama's administra
tion.
This makes Haley the only accessible
authentic voice of Trump foreign policy, rais
ing her public prole.
That in turn has led to media speculation
in recent days that she is likely to succeed
Tillerson.
Answering a question if she was offered
the job of Secretary of State, Haley said that
Trump did not make the offer when she met
him at the Trump Tower barely two weeks
after the election in November.
But she said, "The original call that I got to
go to Trump Tower was to discuss Secretary
of State."
She added, "When we went in that was the
position we were discussing." (IANS)

Houston doctor couple facing 'Broken promises',

deportation gets a breather
Houston: Two prominent Indian
American doctors in Houston facing
deportation as their travel docu
ments had expired have been given
a rare last minutereprieve by the US
administration that granted them a
90day extension on humanitarian
grounds.
Dr Pankaj Satija and his wife Dr
Monika Ummat, both neurologists,
have been working legally in the US
for 15 years. They have a 7yearold
son and 4yearold daughter.
The problem started when they
visited India to see Dr Satija's sick
father in October last year. On their
return they were stopped at the
Bush International airport by
Customs and Border Protection of
cials because their travel documents
had expired, the Houston Chronicle
reported. The Customs and Border
Protection ofcials stamped their
trave l document saying that it
would expire in June this year, when
in fact the US Citizenship and
Immigration Services noted that
their document actually expired in
June, 2016.
Upon returning to the US about a
week later, a Customs and Border
Protection ofcial at the airport
noted the discrepancy. The ofcials,
Dr Pankaj Satija & his wife Dr Monika Ummat (Image : newscrunch.in)
however, allowed them to enter tem
porarily to correct the error.
On Wednesday, Dr Satija and his
wife were abruptly told by immigra
tion ofcials that they had 24 hours
to leave the US. They were told that
under a new policy, they could no
longer extend their temporary per
mission to stay while they waited for
permanent authorisation, local
media reported.
However, as they were about to
board a plane for India, they were
granted a 90day extension on
humanitarian grounds.
The couple had called on their leg
islators and had taken the media
along with their attorneys to plead
lawmaker Ro Khanna on
Trump's Presidency
Washington, DC: IndianAmerican
Congressman Ro Khanna has
lashed out at President Donald
Trump for failing to fulll his cam
paign promises like bringing back
jobs and reviving the country's
manufacturing sector.
"(It is) a Presidency of broken
promises," Congressman Khanna,
40, who served as the Deputy
Assistant Secretary of State in the
Department of Commerce in the
previous Obama administration
told PTI. Khanna, who represents
the hub of Silicon Valley in the US
their case. T hey reported, as
Congress, said that Mr Trump has
ordered, to customs ofcials at Bush
not lived up to the promises he
Intercontinental Airport, where they
made. "He (Trump) promised to
were told the agency had suddenly
help expand coverage in health
reversed course.
care and lower costs. He proposed
"Somebody at a higher level has
a bill that would have cut coverage
made that decision," they were told
and increased premiums. He prom
by an agent. "I understand that you
ised to help working families and
are physicians and a lot of lives are
not Wall Street. He has proposed
at stake."
budgets that would slash funding
The agency of fered the couple
from working families and give tax
three months of humanitarian
breaks for Wall Street," he said.
parole, a rare measure allowing
"He promised to invest in
immigrants, who are otherwise not
American cities and broadband
permitted to enter the US, the
and infrastructure. He has cur
opportunity to do so due to a "com
tailed the expansion of broadband
pelling emergency" to sort out their
and he has not fullled the promise
paperwork.
to invest in infrastructure. So, he
has not lived up to the promises he
made to Americans across this
country,"Khanna said in response
to a question.
Khanna, author of
"Entrepreneurial Nation: Why
Manufacturing is Still Key to
America's Future", in his book laid
out a blue print for reviving the
country's manufacturing sector.
"If he was serious about creating
manufacturing jobs, he would fund
manufacturing, extend partnership,
instead of defunding it," he said.
"He would fund apprenticeship
programs across this country, like
Switzerland does. T he Swiss
apprenticeship program prepares
the workforce for manufacturing.
He would make sure that we were
ending corporate deferral and
require companies to pay tax on
their overseas earnings so that it
would incentivize to bring back
those jobs to the US," he said.
"So, I share the goal of bringing
manufacturing back to the US. I've
written a book on it, but it's not
going to happen through his poli
cies," Khanna said referring to the
book he wrote in 2012. (PTI)
 8 April 8-14, 2017
BAPS womens conference inspires & empowers women
Edison: BAPS Swaminarayan
Sanstha held its annual women's
conference themed Resolutions:
Bonds that Liberate on March 18
at 13 lo cat ions across North
America. The conference centered
on positive resolutions that trans
form lives by transforming habits:
accepting ownership, performing
hard work, and making sacrices.
Distinguished speakers discussed
how one's resolve to take owner
ship, perform hard work, and
make sacrices can strengthen
character and develop grit. The
conference focused on how indi
viduals can cultivate personal
accountability within family, com
munity, and spiritual growth
without feeling burdened.
Bianca Pujara, one of the speak
ers at the event in Robbinsville
said, We think making sacrices
for others w ill weaken us.
Community raises funds for Dr.
Prasad Srinivasan's Gubernatorial
bid in Republican Primary
Organizers and supporters with Dr. Prasad Srinivasan and Ms. Kala
Prasad at the fundraiser in Stamford
Stamford, CT: Indian Americans
come together to raise funds for
Connecticut State Representative
Dr. Prasad Srinivasan's
Gubernatorial bid in Republican
Primary. Fund raisers are being
held across the state by the com
munity. According to Dr.
Srinivasan, the support has been
overwhelming which has enabled
the campaign to show a strong
report for the quarter ending
March 31st. The fund raising
event in Stamford on March 24th,
was hosted by Dr. T homas
Abraham, Ravi Nichani, Anita Bhat
and Viresh Sharma.
Dr. Srinivasan is currently serv
ing his fourth term as the State
Representative from Glastonbury.
He is the Assistant Republican
Leader and is a ranking member of
the Public Health Committee. He
NATIONAL COMMUNITY
The annual event was held at 13 locations across North America
Without compassion, sacrice
becomes a burden, with compas
sion, sacrice become a source of
happiness. When there is some
thing higher to gain and or higher
to achieve, we dont look what we
also serves in the Environment and
Judiciary Committees. He serves
on the Health Information
Technology Council and as Co
Chair of the National Health Policy
Council. A. medical practitioner in
the Greater Hartford area since
1980, Dr. Srinivasan was named
Top Doctor by Connecticut
Magazine, eighth year in a row.
Connecticuts Faireld Medical
County Association established a
Prasad Srinivasan Award for med
ical advocacy. In terms of commu
nity involvement, Dr. Srinivasan
had established the Prasad Family
Foundation in 1999 to promote
education and donates Legislative
Salary for worthy causes. He also
serves as Ambassador of Hartford
Foundation for Public Giving and
as a Corporator for Hartford
Hospital.
have to give up. If sacricing
g ives us a g reater goal and
greater outcome of life, why not
sacrice, why not change our life
for the better?
Dr. Gopi Mukhavalli, Chie f
Norwich City in CT declares
April 14th as National Sikh Day
Sikh community members with city council members at the official event
Norwich,CT: Vaisakhi for Sikhs
which is celebrated all over the
world on April 14th according to
Mool Nanakshai Calender has been
recognized by City of Norwich,
Connecticut USA as "National Sikh
Day."
Vaisakhi also known as Khalsa
Sirjana Diwas ,a day on which Sikh
identity was made and articles of
faith (5 kakkkars) came to exis
tence.
Swaranjit Singh Khalsa, an active
member of East Coast Sikh
Coordinat ion Committee &
Member Commission of City Plan
along with other leaders of com
munity played important role in
preparing this proclamation.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Guest at the event in Robbinsville,
said, Amazing Speeches! We
should stick with resolutions we
take with taking care of ourselves
rst. These are resolutions that
will liberate us, bringing about
real, posit ive changes in our
lives. The Women's Conference
was organized by local youth and
women volunteers of BAPS. The
diversity of speakers invited to
present at the conference
appealed to a wide variety of
interests among audience mem
bers. Their personal experiences
and adherence to cultural values
inspired young women to strive
for success while imbibing spiri
tuality into their daily lives.
Shanti Narra, Middlesex County
Freeholder, a participant at the
event in Edison said, Women
give so much of themselves, and
they have to realize that its not
Khalsa said, "This recognition
(proclamation) will not only open
door ways for other cit ies to
declare but it is also a foundation
stone to declare April 14th as
National Sikh Day at national
level."
Deb Hinchey Mayor of Norwich
and Peter Nystrom Former Mayor
and present City Council members
presented Sikh community the
proclamation.
Other city council members also
supported the proclamation and
stood in solidarity with the Sikh
community.
Sikh Community of American
thanked both Deb Hinchey and
Peter Nystrom for accepting their
an unending well. So resolutions
are really about honoring your
self. Thats what I took away from
the conference.
Satwant Khanalia, First
Secretary at the Embassy of India
in Washington DC, said, I found
the event very insightful. It kind
of embodied the Indian American
experience in the US and the cru
cial role women have played in
that experience.
There were a lot of lessons to
be learned or reminders with
regard to managing work, life,
family, Dimple Shah, Assistant
Secretary at the Dept. of
Homeland security.
Suhag Shukla, Execut ive
Director of Hindu American
Foundation, said, Events like
these allow women to come
together, to share, to inspire one
another and get engaged in seva.
request and declaring this holy day
as National Sikh Day.
On this occasion Sikh leaders
from NewYork, NewJersey and
Connecticut were present in large
numbers.
Sikh Sewak Society International
is also running Vaisakhi campaign
this year in Norwich in which edu
cational billboards and bus shelter
signs will be installed in the city to
create awareness among people
about Sikhism.
Also on April 8th this year East
Coast Coordination Committee is
org anizing Nat ional Sikh Day
Parade in Washington D.C to raise
the issues of hate crime at national
level.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Show your cards on Syria, Russia tells Trump
Moscow: Russia on T hursday
challenged President Donald
Trump to set out his strategy on
Syria after he declared that an
apparent chemical weapons
attack had transformed his views
on the reg ime of President
Bashar alAssad.
On Wednesday, Trump said the
attack on Tuesday against Syrian
civilians that killed over 85 peo
ple "crossed a lot of lines for me"
and now Syria was his "responsi
bility". When asked if Moscow
would reconsider its backing for
Assad, Russia's Foreign Ministry
instead challenged the US to
show its cards.
"Russia's approach to Assad is
clear. He is the legal President of
an independent state. What is the
US approach?" Ministry spokes
woman Maria Zakharova told
CNN. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry
Peskov warned against "snap
judgments".
"It's indeed a very menacing
course of events, dangerous and
horrible crime. However, sticking
labels on everyone, prematurely,
is not a correct thing to do, in our
opinion," Peskov told the media.
Democrats filibuster
Gorsuch, paving way
for Senate rules change
Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch
Washington: Democrats success
fully blocked Judge Neil Gorsuchs
confirmation to the U.S. Supreme
Court from advancing in the U.S.
Senate on Thursday, sparking
what is expected to be a bitter
clash with Republicans over how
the chamber confirms apex court
nominees.
Gorsuch failed to earn the 60
votes needed to end debate on his
nomination. In response, Majority
Leader Mitch McConnell (RKy.)
has vowed he will change Senate
rules in order to confirm Gorsuch
and all future Supreme Court
nominees with a simple majority
vote.
A final confirmation vote on
Gorsuch is not scheduled until
Friday, when 52 Republicans and
A devastated father cradling the bodies of his dead twins after they were
killed during the chemical attack in Syria.
Russia is Syria's most powerful
ally and has provided the military
might behind Assad's grip on the
country, which plunged into civil
war six years ago.
Trump has maintained that the
bloodshed in Syria was the result
of weak policy under former
President Barack Obama's admin
istration, reports CNN. Several
countries, including Britain and
at least three Democrats from
states won by Trump in last years
election are expected to vote to
have him replace the late Antonin
Scalia on the high court.
But the next 24 hours could be
among the most bitter in recent
Senate history.
This will be the first and last
partisan filibuster of a Supreme
Court nomination, McConnell (R
Ky.) vowed Thursday morning.
T he consequences for the
Senate and for the future of the
Supreme Court will be farreach
ing, Senate Minority Leader
Charles E. Schumer (DN.Y.) said
before the vote, adding that the
change weakens the standing of
the Senate and its ability to help
shape federal courts.
US AFFAIRS
Turkey, have now said they
believe the Syrian regime carried
out Tuesday's chemical weapons
attack.
France said it would continue
to push a resolution through the
UN Security Council that would
force the Syrian government to
provide flight logs from the day
of the attack. Russia on
Wednesday claimed that the
Trump accuses Obama NSA
of crime of unmasking
Washington: President Donald
Trump accused an of ficial of the
Obama administration of commit
ting a crime by asking to "unmask"
the names of Trump's associates in
intelligence documents, media
reports said.
Speaking to The New York Times
on Wednesday, Trump said former
White House National Security
Adviser Susan Rice may have com
mitted a crime when requesting to
unmask the names of Trump's
associates,and called this "the
N. Korea fires ballistic missile,
US says clock has now run out
Seoul: North Korea fired an appar
ent ballistic missile into the Sea of
Japan, South Korea's military said
on Wednesday.
The launch came hours after US
President Donald Trump described
North Korea's pursuit of a nuclear
arsenal as a "humanity problem"
and a senior US of ficial told
reporters that the "clock has now
run out" on Pyongyang.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seoul
confirmed that the missile was
launched from Sinpo, south
Hamgyong province in eastern
North Korea.
They added that the launch was
made from land and not from the
sea, ruling out the possibility that
April 8-14, 2017 9
Chemical attack changed
views on Syria: Trump
S President Donald Trump has said the chemical attack against
U Syrian civilians that killed over 70 people "crossed a lot of lines
for me" and changed the way he views Syria and President
Bashar alAssad. "I now have responsibility, and I will have that
responsibility and carry it very proudly," Trump said on Wednesday at
a press briefing responding to a question about a White House state
ment on Tuesday that blamed the attack in part on former President
Barack Obama. "It is now my responsibility. It was a great opportunity
missed," CNN quoted Trump as saying.
The President condemned the attack as "heinous". "Yesterday's
(Tuesday) chemical attack was so horrific in Syria against innocent
people, including women, small children and even beautiful little
babies, their deaths were an affront to humanity," Trump said. "These
heinous actions by the Assad regime cannot be tolerated. The US
stands with our allies across the globe to condemn this horrific
attack." World leaders expressed shock and outrage at reports of the
suspected targeted attack in northwestern Syria.
Activists said the Syrian regime was responsible for killing dozens
of people, including many children, leading the UN to replace a sched
uled Security Council session for Wednesday morning with an emer
gency meeting, reports CNN.
Assad's military denied using chemical weapons and blamed rebels
for the carnage. Russia, Syria's strong ally, said it had no warplanes in
the vicinity.
deaths were caused by a Syrian munitions depot held by a "ter
regime airstrike on a chemical rorist" group.
biggest story".
Trump of fered no evidence to
recently that during her time as
government official, Rice request
back his allegations or any names ed names in intelligence docu
of other Obama administration ments detailing communications of
of ficials he said were also the Trump transition team to be
involved. He did not suggest that "unmasked". These names are usu
his assertions came from new ally redacted or even given vague
intelligence reports but said he descriptors like 'Male 1'. Rice has
would explain himself further "at denied any wrongdoing, saying in
the right time." In response, Erin an interview with MSNBC the alle
Pelton, a spokesperson for Rice, g at ions that somehow Obama
told CNN: "I'm not going to dignify administration of ficials "utilised
the President's ludicrous charge intelligence for political purposes
with a comment." It was revealed are absolutely false".
it was a ballistic missile launched said on Tuesday that "all options
from a submarine (SLBM), as are on the table" for the US, though
Pyongyang has launched before the of ficial would not say what
from the sea off the coast of Sinpo, steps Trump was willing to take to
where its main centre of develop curb dictator Kim Jongun's pur
ment for these projectiles is locat suit of a nuclear weapon.
ed. Wednesday's firing was made Seoul and Washington are cur
as South Korean and US troops rently analysing both the missile
were conducting annual military type and the possible range of the
drills that North Korea views as an missile launched by Pyongyang,
invasion rehearsal. North Korea the Yonhap news agency reported,
often responds to the drills with its adding that it was most likely a
own military training and harsh KN15 medium range ballistic mis
rhetoric. sile. This latest launch comes just
Two weeks ago, the South ahead of US President Donald
Korean and US militaries said they Trump receiving Chinese President
detected what they called a failed Xi Jinping in Florida for a meeting
North Korean ballistic missile which will have North Korea as one
launch. A White House official also of the main topics.
 10 April 8-14, 2017 US AFFAIRS TheSouthAsianTimes.info

No border wall 'from sea to Over 8,000 Uber,

shining sea': Homeland Chief Lyft drivers fail
Washington: Homeland Security
Secretary John Ke lly said
background checks
Boston: More than 8,000 Uber Charlie Baker said Massachusetts
Wednesday it is "unlikely" that the
and Lyft drivers in the has "set a national standard for
Trump administration will build a
Massachusetts have been banned driver safety".
full wall along the entire Southern
from driving under a new, stricter Uber and Lyft typically rely on
border, despite President Donald
background check regulations, a their own background checks,
Trump's consistent promises to
media report said. looking for disqualifying offences
that effect.
In November, the ridesharing in the past seven years.
"It is unlikely that we will build a
companies agreed to let the state Massachusetts checks are dif
wall, a physical barrier, from sea
run its own background checks as ferent in a few key ways, accord
to shining sea," Kelly told the
part of a deal that would let Lyft ing to the state criminal Defence
Senate Homeland Security and
and Uber drivers service Logan Attorney Johanna Griffiths.
Governmental Af fairs Committee
Airport, CNN reported. They look at a drivers entire
Wednesday morning.
More than 70,000 drivers lifetime instead of just the past
Kelly did say it is still "very like
applied for the checks. The results seven years. They also include
ly" that more border barriers will
of the state's first screening were people who had a "continuance
be built, but that they will be
announced on Wednesday, and without a finding" on their record.
strategic. "Physical barriers work,"
back to him and say, 'Wall makes the Southern border on more than 10 per cent of appli Also called a CWOF, it's a type
Kelly said, as reported by CNN.
sense here, hightech fencing Wednesday as evidence that cants did not pass. The most com of plea deal that lets defendants
Committee Chairman Ron
makes sense over here, technology Trump's executive orders are mon reason for rejecting drivers avoid a guilty conviction.
Johnson and top Democrat on the
makes sense over here,' I have no already working. was a previous suspended license. Even thoug h it previously
committee Sen. Claire McCaskill
doubt he'll tell me to go do it," he As CNN first reported Tuesday, More than 1,500 drivers were agreed to the background checks,
both noted that the agents on the
added. McCaskill praised Kelly's the number of apprehensions at re jected for a violent crime Uber is not happy w ith the
border say they would prefer fenc
response and called it "embar the Southwest border dropped by charge. Other reasons for denial results.
ing so that they can see what's
rassing" that Trump won't admit 35% in March from the month included various driving offences, "The new screening includes an
happening on the other side of the
his promise isn't doable. She before, the second month in a row felony convictions, and sex abuse unfair and unjust indefinite look
border. "Is the President OK with
added that members of Congress that apprehensions dropped sub and exploitation, CNN said in its back period that has caused thou
fencing instead of the wall?"
almost uniformly rejects the idea stantially. report. The state also identified sands of people in Massachusetts
McCaskill asked Kelly.
of a 2,000mile concrete wall and In both February and March, the 51 sex of fenders. Not all the to lose access to economic oppor
"T he President has told me,
won't appropriate funds for it and drop in apprehensions defied a rejections were for legal reasons tunities," said Uber in a statement.
'Kelly, go do it. We need to protect
asked Kelly to "speak truth to 17year trend. Going back to though. Many drivers had not Ridehailing companies have
the Southern border in any way
power in that regard." 2000, according to Customs and held a license long enough to until 2018 to comply with the
that makes sense,'" Kelly replied.
Also in the hearing, Kelly touted Border Patrol data, apprehensions qualify under the new rules. law, so there may still be time to
"The President knows that I'm
an "absolutely amazing" drop in have increased every February Others had an inactive license. change the rules. Public hearings
looking at variations on the theme,
the number of apprehensions at and every March. In a statement, Governor are scheduled for May.
and I have no doubt that when I go

After uproar, Pepsi stops OReilly accuser criticizes Trump

for defending Fox News host
protestthemed ad
New York: In Pepsi's
new ad, model Kendall
Jenner joins a protest
march and hands a
soda to a police of fi
cer. Following a wide
spread backlash, the
company announced
on Wednesday that it
would halt a w ider
rollout of the video.
It was about unity,
Pepsi explained. But Bill OReilly interviewing Trump
the company's new ad,
set at a protest march, was quickly called happy protesters holding signs splashed New York: Rebecca Diamond, one of the among five women who have received pay
out for being tonedeaf, offensive, and per with calls for peace, love, and in one odd women who reportedly settled her sexual outs totaling about $13 million from
haps worst of all for the brand: not "woke." instance, to "Join the conversation." harassment allegations against Bill OReilly, OReilly and Fox News after they made
T he ad, which stars mo de l and In the ad's key scene, Jenner hands a can spoke out on Wednesday about President claims of sexual harassment and other inap
Kardashian sister Kendall Jenner, had been of icecold Pepsi to a police of ficer, who Trumps comments defending the Fox News propriate behavior. Diamond agreed not to
slated for a worldwide release. But Pepsi accepts it and takes a sip, to raucous cheers star host. Diamond, a former host on Fox talk about the allegations as part of her set
announced this week that it would halt any from protesters. But on the Internet, the News and Fox Business, wrote on Twitter to tlement, according to the Times.
further rollout of the ad. "Pepsi was trying reaction was fierce. Many saw the ad's cli Trump that she was saddened reading your On Twitter, Diamond addressed Trump
to project a global message of unity, peace mactic handacopaPepsi moment as ref comments. Truly disappointed and vilified directly, saying that the women accusers
and understanding," the company said in a erencing and exploiting an important all over again. Such comments tell women were forced to settle, not the other way
statement received by the Associated Press. image from the Black Lives Matter move they wont be believed. around, because of employment agree
"Clearly we missed the mark, and we apolo ment when a woman calmly, summer On Wednesday, Trump told the New York ments requiring mediation and not a trial.
gize." dress fluttering, stood before heavily Times that he thought that OReilly was a According to a statement that Fox News
The company removed the ad from its equipped police in Baton Rouge, La. good person and that personally, I think parent 21st Century Fox gave to the Times,
YouTube channel on Wednesday afternoon, In general, Pepsi was accused of trying to he shouldnt have settled. Because you OReilly has denied the merits of the claims.
where it had garnered 1.3 million views in sell soda using the setting and symbolism should have taken it all the way; I dont He also has said that, as a public figure, he
two days. of recent protests, such as those against think Bill did anything wrong. On Friday, thinks that he is vulnerable to such accusa
The ad features a diverse cadre of young, police brutality. the Times reported that Diamond was tions.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Panera sold for $7.5 billion
to German group
New York: Sandwich chain
Panera has agreed to sell itself to
JAB, a German conglomerate that
owns Krispy Kreme and the
Einstein and Noah bagel chains,
for $7.5 billion.
Shares of Panera (PNRA)
surged nearly 15% in early trad
ing Wednesday. The stock soared
on Monday as rumors surfaced
that Panera was in merger talks.
JAB was named as a possible
suitor, as were McDonald's
(MCD), Starbucks (SBUX), KFC
parent company Yum! ( YUM)
and Domino's (DPZ). In a state
ment Wednesday, Panera and
JAB said they hope the deal
would close in the third quarter
of this year.
Panera founder and CEO Ron
Shaich said in a statement that
se lling to JAB would allow
Panera to increase its invest
ments in its digital and mobile
ordering technology as well as
increase its focus on using
healthier ingredients.
JAB partner and CEO Olivier
Goudet added that he and the
rest of his team "strongly sup
port Panera's vision for the
future, strategic initiatives, cul
ture of innovation, and balanced
company versus franchise store
mix." So fans of Panera's soup
and sandwiches probably should
n't expect any major menu
changes as a result of the deal.
Panera has been a star of the
socalled fast casual restaurant
industry over the past few years,
reporting strong sales and prof
its. To that end, the company also
said Wednesday that samestore
sales at its restaurants (although
Panera calls them "bakerycafes")
rose a healthy 5.3% in the first
quarter from the same period a
year ago.
Some have argued that Panera,
which now has more than 2,300
restaurants in the United States
and Canada, has even taken over
US AFFAIRS April 8-14, 2017 11
Trump removes
Bannon from National
Security Council
Washington: W hite House chief
strateg ist Stephen Bannon was
removed from his controversial seat
in the National Security Council
(NSC), media reports said.
President Donald Trump on
Wednesday made the adjustment in
a National Security Presidential
Memorandum that outlined the
members and their respective duties
in the NSC, which did not include
Bannon's role.
the title as the leader of the rap
National Security Adviser H.R.
idly growing fast casual segment
McMaster was left in charge of set
from Chipotle (CMG). Chief Strategist Steve Bannon
ting meeting agendas and oversee
The burrito chain stumbled Bannon added.
ing Homeland Security Advisor Tom
due to an outbreak of E. coli at its Multiple US media reports cited
Bossert, Xinhua news agency report
restaurants in 2015. Chipotle's White House officials as saying that
ed.
sales still haven't fully recovered. Bannon's leave was not a demotion
Bannon was given a seat at the
It is interesting that Panera is nor a result of power struggle, but
NSC shortly after Trump ascended
agreeing to be taken over since that his role was no longer needed.
into the White House, a rare respon
it's doing well. But the company Under the new arrangement,
sibility for senior W hite House
has picked a partner that is rap Bannon can still participate in NSC
advisers.
idly emerging as a big player in meetings, but not necessarily all NSC
In a statement to the Wall Street
the U.S. food industry. meetings.
Journal, Bannon said: "Susan Rice
In addition to Krispy Kreme Michae l Flynn was ousted as
operationalized the NSC during the
and the Einstein Noah bage l Nat ional Security Adviser in
last administration. I was put on to
chains, JAB owns Kcup cof fee February amid scandal that involved
ensure that it was deopera
king Keurig Green Mountain, the inappropriate connection between
tionalised."
Gevalia brand of coffee as well as him and Russia, McMaster was
"General McMaster has returned
coffee chains Caribou, Peet's and appointed to succeed Flynn.
the NSC to its proper function,"
Stumptown.
 12 April 8-14, 2017
China furious over Dalai Lama's Arunachal visit
New Delhi/Beijing: China reacted
angrily to the Dalai Lama's visit
to Arunachal Pradesh and said
that by ignoring Beijing's con
cerns over the issue New Delhi
has caused "serious damage" to
bilateral ties. India reiterated
that no political color should be
attributed to the Tibetan spiritual
leader's visit to the northeastern
state.
Diplomatic tensions escalated
w ith Beijing summoning the
Indian envoy Vijay Gokhale to
lodge its protest, even as the 81
yearold Tibetan leader, who
arrived in Arunachal Pradesh on
Tuesday, said in Bomdila that
India has never used him against
China.
In a prelude to China's belliger
ence, the Chinese staterun
media warned that New Delhi's
inviting the Tibetan spiritual
leader to the "sensitive region"
would "gravely damage" India
China relations. China considers
large parts of Arunachal Pradesh
as south Tibet, while India has
said that Arunachal is an insepa
rable part of its territory. Chinese
Was manhandled,
abused by Air India
employee: Gaikwad
New Delhi: Shiv Sena MP Ravindra
Gaikwad said he had been "abused
and manhandled" by an Air India
of ficial during his controversial
flight last month when he had
beaten a flight of ficer with his
footwear, and offered to apologize
for his behavior but not to the 60
yearold Air India official.
Gaikwad, who had confessed to
hitting an Air India duty manager
for not being given a business
class seat, said in the House that
on the day of the incident (March
23) he was made to travel in econ
omy class despite having a busi
ness class ticket.
He said after the PuneDelhi
flight landed in the national capi
tal, he asked for the complaint reg
ister. "Then an officer came, then
two or three more officers came..
When I said that I was a politician,
The Dalai Lama's visit to Arunachal Pradesh has raised eyebrows in China.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman
Hua Chunying, addressing a reg
ular briefing, voiced Beijing's
"firm opposition" to the Dalai
Lama's visit and said her country
would lodge "stern representa
tions with the Indian side".
Hua said that India "in disre
gard" to China's concerns "obsti
nately" went ahead to arrange
one of them said 'But you are not
Narendra Modi. Are you?'" said
the Shiv Sena MP, giving his ver
sion of the incident. He alleged he
was pushed around by the airlines
staff and then one of them held
him "by the collar".
"There is video evidence of the
entire incident, thanks to the air
hostess of the same airlines... I am
staring at a ban across all airlines,"
Gaikwad said and claimed that the
charges against him are "unfound
ed" and should be taken back.
"I have been charged under IPC
308, which is for 'attempt to mur
der'. Was I holding any weapon?..
Is this justice," he added.
Gaikwad had hit R. Sukumar for
not being given a business class
seat on an alleconomy flight, and
was slapped with a flight ban
across all airlines.
INDIA
the Tibetan leader's visit, causing
"serious damage" to China's
interests and ChinaIndia rela
tions.
She said that India should
"immediately cease using the
Dalai Lama's mistaken behaviour
to damage China's interests" and
not "hype up sensitive" bilateral
issues. T he staterun Global
'Entire J&K, including Gilgit
Baltistan, belongs to India'
New Delhi: External Af fairs
Minister Sushma Swaraj slammed
Pakistan's move to declare Gilgit
Baltistan as its fifth province and
said the whole of Jammu and
Kashmir, including areas under
Pakistan's occupation, is an Indian
territory.
The minister's response came in
the Lok Sabha after the issue was
raised by Biju Janata Dal member
Bhartruhari Mahtab during Zero
Hour.
Mahtab questioned the govern
ment response to Pakistan's move,
and said both the Lok Sabha and
the Rajya Sabha should pass a res
olution to condemn the develop
ment.
"The Pakistan government has
unilaterally decided to declare
Gilg itBalt istan as its fifth
province. At the time of Partition,
a British political agent in charge
of Gilgit and Baltistan allowed
Pakistani soldiers to take over the
area, even thoug h Indian
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Times accused the Indian govern
ment of "openly using" the Dalai
Lama "as a diplomatic tool to win
more leverage".
It said India was trying to play
the Tibet card against China as
"New Delhi is dissatisfied with
Beijing's stance over its member
ship bid to the Nuclear Suppliers
Group and its request to name
Masood Azhar, head of Pakistani
militant group, to a UN Security
Council blacklist".
Reacting to Beijing's objection
against his visit to Arunachal
Pradesh, the Nobe l Peace
Laureate said: "There are many
in China who love India, but
there are some narrowminded
politicians because of their cer
tain views..they considered me as
a demon."
Denying Chinese assertions
that India was using him as a
diplomatic leverage to challenge
China, the Tibetan spiritual
leader said: "I am India's longest
standing guest. India has never
used me against China." On the
Tibetan stand, he told journalists,
ahead of proceeding to Tawang
External Affairs Minister
Sushma Swaraj.
Constitution recognises Gilgit
Baltistan as an integral part of our
country," Mahtab said.
He said the British Parliament
had recently passed a resolution
to condemn Islamabad's move,
saying the region is part of Jammu
and Kashmir, and illegally occu
pied by Pakistan since 1947. In
for a major Buddhist event: "We
are not seeking independence.
We are very much willing to
remain with People's Republic of
China. I always used to talk about
the spirit of the European Union,
individual nations, individual
sovereignty but that is not so
important, what is important is
common interest."
"Tibet is materialistically back
ward but spiritually highlydevel
oped. For material development,
we need to remain w ith the
People's Republic China as it is
our interest. The government (of
China) should feel ok for the
mutual benefit," he added.
"China must give us meaningful
selfrule, autonomy, and must
take care of the environment in
Tibet. China has the highest pop
ulation of Tibetan Buddhists.
Many Chinese intellectuals also
fully support our cause," he said.
China had protested former US
envoy Richard Verma's visit to
Tawang last October and warned
Washington against meddling in
the border dispute between New
Delhi and Beijing.
response, Sushma Swaraj said
India rejects Pakistan's move, and
added that the government's stand
on Jammu and Kashmir being an
integral part of India should not
be doubted. "You saw Pakistan's
move, but didn't see what we have
done. Without losing time, we
rejected it, and both the houses of
Parliament have said that the
entire Jammu and Kashmir, includ
ing Pakistanoccupied areas, is
ours," the External Af fairs
Minister said. "This government
has always said that Kashmir,
where (Bharat iya Jana Sang h
founder Syama Prasad) Mookerjee
was martyred, is ours. T here
should be no doubt," she said.
In a separate written reply to a
question in the Lok Sabha on the
issue, Minister of State for
External Af fairs V.K. Singh said
that any attempt to alter the status
of GilgitBaltistan in Pakistan
occupied Kashmir is completely
unacceptable.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info INDIA April 8-14, 2017 13

BJP, Congress using

DEVELOPMENT WILL PUT
JHARKHAND ON WORLD
TRADE MAP: MODI
Sahebganj (Jharkhand): Prime Minister
Narendra Modi laid the foundation
stones of a slew of projects, including a
multimodal terminal on the Ganga
river here, and said the projects will put
Jharkhand on the world trade map.
Besides the terminal, Modi laid the
foundation stones of a fourlane bridge
connecting Jharkhand's Sahebganj with
Manihari in Bihar's Katihar district and
a 311km GovindpurJamtaraDumka
Sahebganj highway in the state.
Speaking on the occasion, Modi reit
erated his commitment to continue the
war on corruption and said the country
was witnessing a "new age of honesty".
"The fourlane bridge in not just the
biggest bridge connecting two states;
rather, it's an avenue that will open up
new opportunities for the state and
take it towards deve lopment and
progress," he said.
The Prime Minister said all the proj
ects will not just create employment for
thousands of youths in the region but
also help develop their skills.
He said corruption has been the bane
of the country as people in power loot
ed money.
"But we have waged this war against
corrupt ion and black money. And
unless and until they return the looted
money, I will not sit quiet," he said
Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Sahibganj in Jharkhand. (Photo: IANS/PIB)
adding that the youth of the country
were determined to lead an honest life.
"The age of honesty has dawned in
the country where people want to work
hard and work with honesty," said
Modi.
Hailing Union Minister for Highways
and Shipping Nitin Gadkari for his
endeavour to develop inland water
ways, Modi said once the Sahebganj
multimodal terminal becomes opera
t ional, it w ill he lp landlo cked
that has accused the AAP government of irregularities and
Jharkhand put itself on the world trade
map.
"T he mult imo dal terminal w ill
change Jharkhand's fortunes. T he
state's produce be it coal, minerals or
agricultural goods all will reach for
eign shores through this terminal. The
terminal and the bridge will not just
improve Jharkhand's connectivity with
Bihar and other eastern states, but also
open up opportunities of trade with the
rest of the world," he said.
Shunglu report to
divert attention: AAP
New Delhi: The AAP has accused the opposition of raking up
the Shunglu Committee report issue to divert attention from
what it called the "EVM fraud" and asked why a similar com
mittee was not set up to probe irregularities in Delhi's
municipal corporations.
Talking to reporters here, Aam Aadmi Party leader Dilip
Pandey also questioned the timing of the report being made
public and said if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)ruled cen
tral government actually had evidence against the AAP, it
should send all its leaders to jail.
Pandey's remarks came after Delhi Congress President
Ajay Maken on Thursday demanded the resignation of Chief
Minister Arvind Kejriwal over the Shunglu Committee report
nepotism in making appointments and abuse of power.
"Every time the elections approach, BJP and Congress
make baseless allegations against us, which are forgotten
immediately after elections are over. This happened in 2015
assembly polls, 2014 Lok Sabha elections as well as in
2013," Pandey said.
Pandey said the ruling BJP was finding it impossible to
respond to the "EVM fraud" being exposed by the AAP,
backed with "solid evidence", and was trying to divert public
attention now.
The AAP had been consistently claiming that the
Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were not tamperproof
and were actually manipulated during the assembly polls in
Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.
The threemember Shunglu Committee, headed by former
Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) V.K. Shunglu, was set
up by then Lt Governor Najeeb Jung after the High Court
order.
The report, which has been accessed by the IANS, ques
tioned the appointment of Health Minister Satyendar Jain's
daughter Soumya Jain to the post of advisor to Mission
Director in the Delhi government's Mohalla Clinic project.

Haryana exCM Hooda booked 'INDIA'S GROWTH TO

in land allotment case
New Delhi: The CBI has registered a case against
former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh
Hooda for alleged reallotment of a plot to
Associated Journals Limited in Panchkula in 2005,
an official said.
The agency took over the case from Haryana
Vig ilance Department and filed an FIR on
Wednesday against the senior Congress leader
under charges of criminal conspiracy, criminal
breach of trust, cheating and misuse of of ficial
position by public servants, violating provisions of
the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of
Corruption Act.
The FIR stated that the agency registered the
case following December 22, 2016, request by the
Haryana government and the notification issued
by the central government on January 27, 2017.
A Central Bureau of Investigation of ficial said:
"We filed the case against the then chief adminis
trator HUDA (Haryana Urban Deve lopment
Authority) Bhupinder Singh Hooda, three other
of ficials of the department, Associated Journals
Limited (AJL) and others."
The FIR has been registered on the basis of a
request made by Haryana's Deputy Secretary
Madan Lal Khurana (Vigilance), the official said.
"The AJL, publisher of now defunct daily The
National Herald, was allotted the plot on August
24, 1982, with two years' limitation to complete
the construction. T he plot was resumed on
October 30, 1992, for no construction."
"The company preferred revision which was dis
Former Haryana Chief Minister
Bhupinder Singh Hooda.
missed on 1996. But, in contravention of all the
policies and also against the advice rendered by
the HUDA officials, the resumed plot was reallot
ted to the company by the then chairman HUDA
B.S. Hooda on August 28, 2005, when his party
came in power," the FIR said.
The Haryana state vigilance bureau had regis
tered a case of cheating and corruption against
Hooda and four officials on May 5, 2016.
The vigilance bureau found in its investigation
that the institutional plot No. C17 in Sector6 of
Panchkula was reallotted by Hooda in an arbi
trary manner and in complete violation and disre
gard to the rules by causing loss to the state.
BOUNCE BACK TO
7.4% IN 201718'
New Delhi: India's growth which was
likely to slow down to 7.1 per cent in
201617 due to demonetization, will
bounce back to 7.4 in the current fis
cal on improved investor confidence
and business environment as a
result of GST tax regime and other
reforms, an ADB report said.
"India's expansion will bounce
back from a temporary liquidity
squeeze. The decision to demonetise
highdenomination banknotes in
November 2016, quelled cashinten
sive economic activity, but the
impact is expected to be shortlived,"
according to an Asian Development
Bank report released here.
"Government deregulation and
reform of taxes on goods and servic
es, among other areas, should
improve confidence and thus busi
ness investment and growth
prospects," ADB's flagship economic
publication Asian Deve lopment
Outlook 2017 noted.
"Growth is expected to edge up to
7.4 per cent in 2017 and 7.6 per
cent in 2018," it said.
India will see growth reaccelerate
despite drag caused by excessive
corporate investment in the past and
bank lending currently constrained
by a heavy load of stressed assets, it
said. According to the earlier esti
mates re leased by the Central
Statistics Office (CSO), the country's
gross domestic product (GDP) was
expected to slow down to 7.1 per
cent in 201617 as compared to 7.6
per cent in 201516.
The ADB report stated that South
Asia's growth dropped by 0.5 per
centage points to 6.7 per cent in
2016 on account of slowing growth
in India.
"Despite stronger government con
sumption and external demand,
growth faltered in India to 7.1 per
cent from 7.9 per cent in 2015 as
fixed investment languished and
demonetisation temporarily stymied
commerce," it said.
Growth in South Asia is forecast to
rebound to seven per cent in 2017
and pick up further to 7.2 per cent
in 2018, it added.
14 April 8-14, 2017 OP-ED TheSouthAsianTimes.info

By Amulya Ganguli

T he continued presence of
insensate prejudice and bru
tal violence in public life has again
been highlighted by the recent
attacks on African students in
Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh, a
township near New Delhi.
With its wellkept and welllit
roads, bustling malls and shopping
arcades and rows of highrise resi
dential complexes, Greater Noida
like Gurugram in Haryana is typi
cal of a booming India whose afflu
ent citizenry have been compared
by Nobel laureate Amartya Sen
with the denizens of California.
But in the midst of the
razzmatazz lurk illbred and illedu
cated louts ready to vent their
spleen on anyone who either rous
es their antipathy, like Africans or
people from India's northeast with
their Mongoloid features, or looks
to the ruffians like an easy prey
like a woman walking alone.
There have been far too many
incidents of mob violence in recent
months to be brushed aside as the
occasional rampages of hooligans
which can be controlled by stricter
policing. Evidently, a deep personal
and societal flaw is at work.
The sprawling metropolises
where these acts of depredations
take place are too large for the vic
tims to feel safe. Hence, the advice
to African students by an associa
Prejudice against Africans
tarnish India's image
The media also has to play a greater role in dispelling myths and false
notions about Africa.
tion of students from the continent
to stay indoors for some time.
But such a precautionary meas
ure is hardly feasible in the long
run considering that there are an
estimated 1,500 African students
in India. They need, therefore, to go
to their academic institutions apart
from visiting friends.
However, they do not feel safe
not only while going about their
daily business but also where they
stay since the landlords are gener
ally wary and disdainful about their
en up by a gang of thugs.
Not only that, the rowdies even
invaded the flat where the
Nigerians stayed to check whether
they had kept human flesh in their
refrigerator.Subsequently, a
Nigerian told a TV interviewer
about the belief among some
Indians that the Africans are canni
bals. If Greater Noida saw the latest
incident of violence against
Africans, Bengaluru, the vaunted
Silicon valley of India, was an earli
er scene of unchecked mob rule
when a 21yearold Tanzanian
woman was assaulted and stripped
presence. when she inadvertently came to an
The incident in October 2015, accident site where a Sudanese
when a Delhi government minister man in a car had run over a local
urged the police in Delhi's Khirki woman.
area to raid a flat without warrant Although the authorities routine
to check whether the Africans liv ly deny any racist sentiments
ing there were taking drugs was an behind the attacks, there is little
example of how biases and precon doubt that the known dislike for
ceived notions drive a section of dark skin among Indians which
Indians. In Greater Noida, for explains the preference for fair
instance, the suspicion that a 16 brides in matrimonial columns and
yearold boy died of an overdose of the marketing of fairness creams
drugs given to him by his Nigerian combined with weird notions about
friends led to the latter being beat the citizens of the 5nation cnti
nent, viz. the use of drugs and
promiscuity, are among the rea
sons for the attacks.
The fact that the whites are very
rarely targeted in a similar fashion
although the women may be sub
jected to indecent attention is evi
dence of the racist factor involving
the Africans.
Even if racist attacks on Indians
are being reported from America
and Australia because of the rise of
the farright xenophobic senti
ments, they are still mercifully on a
relatively smaller scale and at an
individual level.
However, the motivation is large
ly similar animus towards the
people of a different color and cul
ture. It also appears possible that in
India, the people in general have
become a great deal more aggres
sive than before. The attacks on the
doctors in Maharashtra, which led
to a strike by them, were an omi
nous sign of the volatility prevalent
in public life.
The media also has to play a
greater role in dispelling myths
and false notions about Africa.

Triple Muslim Personal Law Board's

Talaq: stand is unIslamic
had built over the years. While the AIMPLB divorce being twice and then the couple Abbas, an aide, to take back his wife, whom
By Syed Ubaidur Rahman said Triple Talaq is sanctioned by Quran should decide if they have to live together. If he had divorced in a way that was not
and Hadith, this is not so. they decide to separate, it orders them to proper.

T he AllIndia Muslim Personal Law Board

(AIMPLB) has told the Supreme Court
that Triple Talaq in a single sitting is not
just Islamic but it has been sanctioned by
the Quran and Hadith.
While serious discussions have been held
on the issue around the world and these are
welldocumented, the AIMPLB is not ready
to take a cue from developments, including
in the Arab world. The Board, whose stand
on many issues seems arbitrary and illogi
cal, has failed to realise that its opaque
reading of Islamic jurisprudence will be
counterproductive and give ammunition to
antiIslamic forces to target Islam and
Muslim personal law.
Read the entire Quran and you wouldn't
find a mention of Triple Talaq, a mindless
action on the part of the husband. Triple
Talaq is mostly uttered by people in extreme
rage, when the person loses the capability to
take a sane decision. To give it a legal teeth
is illogical and antiIslamic.
Wherever Quran talks of talaq or divorce,
it mentions a rather long mechanism and
doesn't give total control over it to the hus
band. It does not allow the husband to take
the decision on his whims and destroy a
family he and his wife and the larger family
In Surah Talaq, Quran mentions how the
mechanism of divorce works. Quran talks
about talaq being a long process with fixed
period and forbids the wife to leave the
house in the entire period to allow the cou
ple to reconcile. In the same surah, Quran
says that at the end of the period the couple
needs to decide if they want to live together
or separate.
At another place, Quran talks about the
Quran nowhere allows the mindless act of Triple Talaq in a single sitting.
separate amicably and not allow the hus
band to usurp the lawful rights a woman
has in such circumstances.
At another place, Quran asks the family to
arbiter if the differences between husband
and wife have become irreconcilable.
Quran nowhere allows the mindless act of
Triple Talaq in a single sitting. On the con
trary, there are clear evidences from the life
of the Prophet, when he asked Abdullah bin
Quran says: "A divorce is only permissible
twice: after that, the parties should either
hold together on equitable terms, or sepa
rate with kindness. It is not lawful for you
(Men), to take back any of your gifts, except
when both parties fear that they would be
unable to keep the limits ordained by Allah.
If ye (judges) do indeed fear that they would
be unable to keep the limits ordained by
Allah, there is no blame on either of them if
she gives something for her freedom.
These are the limits ordained by Allah.
So do not transgress them, if any does
transgress the limits ordained by Allah, such
persons wrong (themselves as well as
others)."
The Muslim Personal Law Board's stand is
arbitrary and illogical not just regarding
Triple Talaq in a single sitting, but also
when it comes to the compensation at the
time of talaq. When a wife of decades is
divorced at the spur of the moment, they
claim the husband will give only Mehr
(bride money) to her committed at the time
of marriage. In the Shah Bano case, the eld
erly woman was given a paltry Rs 3,000 by
her husband more than three decades
after the marriage and thrown out of the
house.

The views expressed in Op Eds are not necessarily those of The South Asian Times.
 Fashion April 8-14, 2017 15

Belt your sari, ditch the

petticoat, change tradition
F
launt your saris in different ways oth- Belt your sari: Using the right belt can make you look
er than the traditional style. Replace classy in a sari. Look for a metal waist belt or an embel-
the blouse with a chic crop top or add lished one in leather or fabric that can be worn a little
a belt for added style, suggest experts. above your waistline. Belts can give the sari a perfect
Bhavya Chawla, Chief Stylist at Voonik structure and hold your pleats in place. The belt can
and Yashodhara Shroff, Director and found- save the pallu from sliding off as well.
er at Styletag.com have given tips on how Ditch the sari petticoat: Team your sari with a pair of
you can stylize your six-yard wonder in in- palazzos, dhoti pants or jeans to sport a modern look.
novative ways: Traditionally, a sari is draped over a petticoat, but play
Ditch traditional blouse for a crop top: it up with these combinations to make a statement.
Pair a funky crop top with your sari. Give away Kancheepuram silk or georgette and go
Choose from polka dotted prints or denim: Instead of going for the regular sari fabrics like
monochrome colors and Aztec prints georgette and kancheepuram silk, try different fabrics
and flaunt your midriff in these hot like denim and make a style statement of your own.
picks. You can also switch to peplums.
Top it with jackets or shirts: Sport
an embroidered, velvet, denim or
collared jacket with sari. Try cover-
all jackets and sheer printed shirts
to look trendy.
Pick a heavily embroidered jacket
and team it with a plain sari or a col-
lared jacket like the Victorian ruffled
high collar style to dazzle in the tra-
ditional attire.

T
he White House released Melania
Trumps first official portrait on Mon-

Melania designer
day, and Italian designer Stefano Gab-
bana is cool with the fact that she is rocking
a Dolce & Gabbana blazer and she wore
a huge diamond ring worth $3 million. The
designer defended FLOTUS and told Insta-
gram trolls who chided him for working
with her to go to hell.
for White House
portrait tells
Gabbana took to his personal Instagram
account to post Melania portrait, taken by
Belgian-born photographer Rgine Mahaux.

trolls to
However, Gabbana got trolled hard by
some of his followers. One follower @_boy-
afraid_ wrote, So you have lost a follower,
and worst, an admirer, only to have Gab-

Go to hell
bana respond, i dont care!! Really.
Gabbana responded in Italian: vai a
cagare, which translates to go to hell.
Regardless, Gabbanas post still managed
to garner more than 10,000 likes. Siriano, Gabbana seems to have no problem putting the first lady in
Although other designers have balked D&G designs. Melanias 25-carat ring, reportedly worth a whopping $3
and outright refused to dress Melania, in- million, was given to her by Trump as a gift on their 10th wedding anni-
cluding Tom Ford, Zac Posen and Christian versary to replace the much more modest 12-carat ring she had before.
 16 April 8-14, 2017 BOLLYwOOD

Punjab Police deny LV Revanth wins

Rakhi Sawants arrest
The actress allegedly made deroga-
Indian Idol 9
T he Punjab Police denied the arrest of
Rakhi Sawant this week following an
arrest warrant issued by a court here. But
a spokesperson for the TV and Bollywood
actress said she has surrendered.
Rakhi is with the police. She has surren-
dered, spokesperson Parul Chawla said on
telephone from Mumbai, claiming she had a
Whatsapp conversation with the controversial
actress. Ludhiana Deputy Commissioner of
Police Dharuman Nimbale said a police team
which had gone to Mumbai to execute the ar-
rest warrant against Rakhi was returning as
they failed to find her at the given address.
He said the Ludhiana police will seek fresh
directions from the court for further action.
The court in Punjab had issued the arrest
warrant after the actress failed to appear be-
fore it on March 9 in a case filed against her
for allegedly making derogatory remarks
against sage Valmiki. The complainant had
accused Rakhi of hurting the religious senti-
LV Revanth and actress Sonakshi Sinha on the sets of Indian Idol.
ments of the Valmiki community. The case

H
tory remarks against sage Valmiki. will be next heard on April 10. yderabad-based L.V. Revanth -- a pop-
ular name in the southern entertain-
ment industry -- overcame the language
Obituary barrier to emerge the winner of popular
singing reality show Indian Idol 9 on Sun-
happy for winning the show. I would say that
my life has just began right now. Its not easy
to win that title being a south Indian singer. I
saw this show as a big opportunity. The four-
month journey in this show has completely

Kishori Amonkar
day in a musical finale filled with various changed my life, Revanth said.
melodious as well as humorous motifs. Ace choreographer - filmmaker Farah
Revanth, who has lent his voice for Khan, renowned singer Sonu Nigam and

An incomparable voice,
around 200 songs in southern films in- music composer Annu Malik, who kick-
cluding Baahubali: The Beginning, be- started the Indian Idol journey as judges
came known for his soulful voice right in the first two editions, returned on the

an eclectic innovator from the start when he auditioned for the

show. Despite not knowing Hindi, he sang
Bollywood songs effortlessly throughout
panel for the ninth season of the Sony Enter-
tainment Television show, which was host-
ed by Karan Wahi and Paritosh Tripathi.

M edicines loss was musics gain. She

had planned to cure ailments of the
body, but fate planned her to instead to
minister to the soul through her incompa-
rable voice -- and innovations. Schooled di-
rectly and indirectly by stellar proponents
of her Jaipur gharana, Kishori Amonkar
never remained bound by its style only to
emerge as one of the foremost exponents
of Indian classical music.
Always eclectic in outlook with her natu-
rally sweet voice, and talent augmented by
a capacity to assimilate, she was well versed
in nuances of Western classical music (she
thought Beethovens Moonlight Sonata was
something akin to the Indian tradition), ap-
preciated light classical music -- with her fa-
vorites including Noor Jehan, Begum Akhtar
and especially Jagjit Singh, whom she admit-
ted to liking watching on TV. But for all her
innovations, Amonkar, who passed away,
Amonkar was revered as
Gaan-Saraswati.
a week before her 85th birthday, never
went down the Bollywood path - regularly.
She had been convinced to do the title song
for V. Shantarams Geet Gaya Pattharon Ne
(1964) but this had angered her mother, who
had taught her Indian classical music was sa-
cred. According to T.J.S. Georges biography
of M.S. Subbalakhmi, Amonkar recalled her
mother telling her that if she wanted to enter
the film industry, the purpose of her teach-
ing would not be served and that she might
gain money and fame but lose much more.
And as her mother was renowned classi-
cist Mogubai Kurdikar, who was a disciple of
Gaan Samrat Alladiya Khan, the founder of
Jaipur gharana himself, including when preg-
nant with Kishori, it left a major impression.
As such, Amonkar imbibed her art from
both her mothers guru and her mother, who
brought all her three children up after her
husbands untimely death. This unfortunate
atmosphere ultimately helped for all banal
distractions were banished from the Kurdi-
kar home, which was forever fragrant with
musical and spiritual pursuits. Apart from
their schoolbooks, the only other books the
youngsters could lay hands upon were spiri-
tual books, and each one was taught to respect
the arts, the shastras and a disciplined way of
life (as per Ashok Rao in Music Makers: The
Living Legends of Indian Classical Music).
Amonkar, who was taught by her ex-
acting mother in the exacting style of the
gharana, characterized by correctness and
purity of grammar and structure and bal-
ance between swar and lay, recalled her cant reveal much about the film,
mother, who had other students too, never
gave her any special treatment, being rath-
er more strict and demanding with her.
the season and defeated Hyderabad-based
PVNS Rohit and Punjabs Khuda Baksh in
Being a known singer in Telugu and
Kannada film industry, Revanth was the
the finale to clinch the Indian Idol tro- judges and audiences favorite. As he said
phy along with a contract with Universal on the premiere episode itself, he joined
Music and Rs 25 lakh. Indian Idol to get recognition nationwide
Right now I am on cloud nine. I am very and debut in Bollywood.
Had a great time working
with Soundarya: KAJOL
A ctress Kajol, who success-
fully completed shooting for
comeback Tamil film VIP 2, says
she had a great time working with
her director Soundarya.
She is great. She is wonderful
person. She has been absolutely
amazing to work with and I have
had great time working with her,
Kajol said at the launch of McVi-
ties Kids Culinaire festival. Last
seen in 1997 Tamil film Minsara
Kanavu, Kajol has returned to
Tamil filmdom after nearly two
decades. VIP 2, a sequel to the
2014 Tamil blockbuster Vela Illa
Pattathari, stars Dhanush in the
lead role while Kajol plays a suave
businesswoman in a pivotal role.
The role is something I am
really very happy about. I really
as I have got strict orders from
my director not to talk about the Kajol is also working on her
film, the Dilwale actress said. home production.

The first look
of Baahubali 2
Baahubali 2 release
biggest movie event ever
F ilmmaker Karan Johar says April will
witness the biggest movie event ever as
the two parts in the Baahubali franchise
will release within a span of two weeks. He
also said Baahubali: The Conclusion is go-
ing to be bigger and grander. parts. Were excited. April will witness the
Ahead of the release of Baahubali: The
Conclusion on April 28, the first part is be-
ing re-released in select theaters on April 7.
When a movie continues to be topical for
two years, you know people love every bit
of it! Both, exhibitors and film lovers, have
approached us to make Baahubali a binge-
Twinkle wants KJo to cast
her in My Name is Khanna
Twinkle was last seen in the show
Koffee With Karan.
Anupam Kher calls Sridevi queen of acting
V eteran actor Anupam Kher has called
Sridevi the queen of acting. The
queen of acting and my favorite actress is
back. Watch and share this Mom teaser
of Sridevi. Jai Ho, Anupam tweeted along
with a link of the teaser. Anupam and
Sridevi have together worked in films like
Karma, ChaalBaaz, Laadla, Lamhe and
Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja. Sridevi, last
seen on screen in 2012 in English Ving-
lish, is gearing up for her next venture
Mom. Directed by Ravi Udyawar, Mom,
a woman-centric film, is produced by her
husband Boney Kapoor. It will release in
Hindi, Tamil and Telugu on July 14.
BOLLYwOOD
KJo
watching experience, Karan, who will be
distributing the Hindi version of the film,
said in a statement. Hence, we are re-re-
leasing the first part on April 7 with a spe-
cial offer that takes care of tickets for both
film which fails to grip you and drags. The
biggest movie event ever, he said.
The franchise has a huge fan following
owing to its larger-than-life content and
fans are eagerly looking forward to watch
Prabhas and the entire cast go a notch
higher than its predecessor in giving the
audience a splendid cinematic experience.
W riter-former actress Twinkle Khan-
na has suggested a sequel titled My
Name is Khanna to filmmaker and friend
Karan Johar, who made Shah Rukh Khan and
Kajol-starrer My Name is Khan in 2010.
Karan took to Twitter to praise her act in
a campaign. So...Mrs Funny Bones (Twinkle)
you nail it with your words and now you are
excelling in front of the camera...you go girl!
To which, Twinkle joked: Since you are
so impressed can I suggest a sequel to My
Name is Khan? Add two alphabets and call
it My Name is Khanna, and cast me.
Karan, who has often said that Twinkle
turned down a role in his debut film Kuch
Kuch Hota Hai, said: Darling you rejected my
first offer ever! Now I am hurt forever... Lodg-
ing my emotional complaint to Google India.
If not the big screen, the two friends
were seen on the small screen in his show
Koffee With Karan earlier this year.
Sridevi will next be seen in Mom.
April 8-14, 2017 17
Review
Naam Shabana
All action sans conviction
Naam Shabana, a spin-off from the 2015
popular film Baby, is purported to be an
action thriller where Shabana Khan (Taap-
and hard work which shines in the action
sequences. Her feisty persona and agility
are praiseworthy.
see Pannu) is a middle-class girl who lives
with her mother and has a devoted boy-
friend, college mate Jai (Taher Shabbir).
An incident one night convinces her to
put her martial arts training to use and she
chooses to follow an uncharted path there-
on. How she joins an intelligence group to
save her country from unwanted elements
beginning with a global arms kingpin,
forms the crux of this two-hour plus film.
This is a film which exudes an aura of
intrigue and being much-anticipated, one
goes in with a lot of expectations. But
alas, the first half which starts with a fair
amount of promise and an emotional quo-
tient, degenerates into a mindless action
weak and far-fetched plot meanders aim-
lessly, hinged on a weak motive both of the
protagonist, Shabana as well as the intel-
ligence group she works for.
The action scenes are expectedly well-
choreographed and executed, but lack fresh-
ness as these offer nothing new. The foreign
locales too dont help in elevating the film.
The characters, perhaps with the exception
of Shabana, whose back story is shared to
make her look complete, are all one-dimen-
The film is Taapsees canvas all the way.
Overall, Naam Shabana tries hard to be
sional and appear out of nowhere. The dia-
logues are trite and lack punch.
The film is Taapsees canvas all the way
an action-packed woman-centric film and
while it lets Shabana deliver the last punch
in the predominantly male bastion in which
and one must laud her martial arts prowess she supposedly shines, it fails to convince.
Bhagyashrees son to
make Bollywood debut
A ctress Bhagyashrees son Abhimanyu
Dassani is all set to make his Bolly-
wood debut in a quirky action comedy
and kickass martial arts film, the likes of
which I have neither read nor seen. Its so
local and so new that you cant help but
Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota by production marvel at it, filmmaker Anurag Kashyap
banner Phantom Films. The film, which said in a statement. Kashyap says he is
will also launch Radhika Madan, is di- glad to produce the film.
rected by Vasan Bala, who wrote and di- We at Phantom hope it becomes a never
rected the 2012 crime-thriller Peddlers. before seen franchise with these madden-
Vasan (Bala) has written a superbly funny ingly crazy characters, he added.
Abhimanyu Dassani
is prepping up for his
big release.
 18 April 8-14, 2017
Virat Kohli has hugely helped popularize
Fashionable,
beards among young Indian men.
masculine,
powerpoint
Out of favor in the 20th century,
beards have returned now, in India too.
By Vikram Doctor
I t isnt just that more men are wearing
beards, but more young men are sport-
ing them and taking pride in styling
their beards in different ways. Beards are
cropping up on menswear runways and in
fashion shoots.
Bollywood is also going bearded. This is
partly due to period pictures which require
the stars to keep beards. But many younger
stars like Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor
seem to like their bearded looks a sharp
contrast with older stars like Salman Khan,
who has almost never been seen in a beard,
and Shah Rukh Khan, who only wears one
reluctantly. But Aamir Khan has happily
gone hirsute, emphasizing again his differ-
ence from the other two Khans.
But Indian cricketers tended to avoid
beards, perhaps as a contrast to Pakistani
cricketers. Virat Kohlis team has abruptly
changed this, with many emulating their
sharply bearded captain. His importance as
a style icon must have hugely helped popu-
Ubiquitous images of bearded sages and warriors
made India a fertile ground for the trend.
Lifestyle
larize beards with young men.
Kohli tends to keep a sharply cut beard,
which requires regular styling. And it was
when young men like him started visiting
a high end salon regularly for styling that
other salons realized that far from being a
problem, beards had real benefits.
Facial hair has arguably greater impact
on how someone looks than scalp hair,
which means appearance conscious men
will be going to the barber far more fre-
quently than just for a haircut. Beard styl-
ing requires trimming, razoring, threading
and cutting hair maybe one-by-one. Beards
also need maintenance which is why now
beard oils and balms have hit the marker.
21st century fad
The current trend for beards, particu-
larly with younger men, is linked to their
increasing popularity in the West after a
relatively long period out of favor.
In the 21st century, facial hair has at-
tained greater social presence than in the
Soccer legend David Beckham now
has almost constant stubble.
previous century, writes Christopher Old-
stone-Moore in Of Beards and Men, his
fascinating new history of facial fashion.
He notes forecasts from Procter & Gamble
about falling sales for razors and about how
style icons like David Beckham now have al-
most constant stubble (which is quite hard
to maintain at precisely that level).
Films and television also worked against
beards by privileging the open, apparently
more trustworthy look of the shaved face.
One notorious moment was the Kennedy-
Nixon debates of 1960, one of the first re-
ally widely watched political fights, and one
which Nixon was widely was widely thought
to have lost because the faint shadow of his
stubble made him appear untrustworthy.
It is still quite rare for leading politi-
cians in the West to have a beard, or even
a moustache.
Rather more persuasively, Oldstone-Moore
suggests that the 19th century beard fash-
ion was linked to the rapid changes being
wrought by industrialization and urbaniza-
tion. This changed the role of men, from the
actual physical labor of centuries, to more
sedentary, intellectual work. But this made
men fear they might be losing their mascu-
line authority, so growing a beard came to be
seen as a uniquely male way of recapturing
and projecting it. Victorian men like Darwin
and Marx all had flowing beards.
The cyclical nature of trends then can
explain the 20th century aversion to
beards, and the 21st century reversion to
them. But just as 19th century men faced a
sense of emasculation due to technological
change, 21st century men might be feeling
the same as they deal with the force of the
digital revolution and a reordering of soci-
ety that is even more profound since this
time, to some extent at least women arent
entirely excluded.
PM Modis grey beard combines common man look
with an invocation of sage-like wisdom.
This explains the hipster passion for
beards, along with its emphasis on self-con-
sciously physical work (beer brewing, coffee
roasting, carpentry), of the kind that would
have been classified as masculine in the past.
India, a fertile ground
India was always likely to provide fertile
ground for facial hair. India didnt escape
the Wests embrace of the razor, but we
were never as rigid about it.
One reason was the accommodation we
have always had to make for religious beards
for Sikhs, Muslims or Hindus (for particular
rituals) the increasingly diverse West is
only dealing with this now. There is also the
influence of ancient images of bearded sages
and warriors, reinforced through mythologi-
cal and historical films, serials and comics.
Beards are also associated with the image
of the common man, which might be why
so many politicians wear them. Chandra
Sekhar, Indias first bearded prime minister,
drew heavily on this image, our current PM
seems to combine some aspect of that appeal
with perhaps an invocation of sage-like wis-
dom. Narendra Modi still stands out at gath-
erings of international leaders for being one
of the few with a beard. Oldstone-Moore is
probably right to be cautious about how long
this current beard trend will last.
There are powerful forces against it, as
was demonstrated recently when an Arab-
American friend arrived here with his beard
shaved off. I just didnt feel this was the
right time to be travelling with a name like
mine and a beard, he said. It is easy to see
the rise of razors once again, for reasons
ranging from the uncomfortably political to
just the inevitable backlash against hipsters.
Abridged from Economic Times feature.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info FEATURES April 8-14, 2017 19
By Sugandha Rawal

H
edonistic parties high on sex
and lingerieclad mode ls
have been intrinsic parts of
'American Playboy...' high on Hugh
Playboy boss Hugh Hefner's life.
But makers of "American Playboy:
The Hugh Hefner Story" have put
Hefner's social work, not sex life
his commitment towards the social
and cultural landscape in the spot
light in the forthcoming docu
series.
Stephen David, coproducer of
"American Playboy...", which will be
out globally on Friday on Amazon
Prime Video, says he wanted to
highlight Hefner's involvement with
several social movements and is
confident that it would surprise
many.
"Hef's impact on the social move
ments through his lifetime was real
ly a focus for us. It's something that
audiences either don't expect or
aren't aware of; so we hope that,
after watching the series, people
will have a better understanding of
Hef's importance within that con
text," David told IANS in an email The docu series focuses on Hefner as an outspoken defender of civil rights, freedom of speech, gay rights and sexual freedom.
interview from New York.
Hefner is an editor, journalist, with a nude shot of the iconic velvet slippers became both a thousands of hours from Hefner's while making the documentary.
illustrator, producer and entrepre Marilyn Monroe. social justice advocate and a target personal archives; interviews with He said: "Going into the project, I
neur, but all of this gets overshad Playboy opened the first chapter of the conservative movement while notable figures including Jesse had a general awareness about
owed by his role in transforming of sex and fantasies for many young becoming an outspoken defender of Jackson, Gene Simmons and Bill Hef 's larger importance to First
the adult entertainment industry in boys, who kept these magazines civil rights, freedom of speech, gay Maher and cinematic reenact Amendment rights and other social
the US with Playboy magazine, fol hidden behind toilet seats or under rights and sexual freedom. ments. issues, but I don't think I completely
lowed by the oneofakind Playboy their beds. With its racy pictures, Bringing this side of his life to It begins in postwar US and takes grasped the extent of his commit
mansion and its "bunnies". Having Playboy brought sex into the open, light is "American Playboy...", pro viewers through the launch of ment and importance. Specifically
pursued his education in psycholo making it an ubiquitous topic. Apart duced by the Emmy Awardwinning Playboy magazine in 1953 and the with regard to desegregating the
gy, Hefner, who will turn 91 on from running the hugely popular Stephen David Entertainment and next six decades of Hefner's life and entertainment issue, Hef and
April 9, came out with the first edi magazine, Hefner known for his Alta Loma Entertainment. It com career. David says he discovered a Playboy were truly ahead of their
tion of Playboy magazine in 1953 signature silk smoking jacket and bines archival footage, pulling from lot of new facets of Hefner's life time."
 20 April 8-14, 2017 DIASPORA TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Indian migrants fuel Oz population boom - & Hinduism

Sydney: India, the largest single source of
migrants to Australia, is being cited as one
of the reasons the population of this Indo
Pacific nation is booming and, expectedly,
Hinduism is likely to remain the country's
fastestgrowing religion.
More than 40,000 Indians were part of
those who arrived in Australia as a part of
the 201516 migration programs. Their
number (40,145 or 21.2 percent) increased
from 34,874 (18.4 per cent) for 201415.
According to figures released by the
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS),
Australia's population rose by almost
350,000 to 24.2 million during the fiscal
ended September 30, 2016.
T he increase, which includes almost
200,000 migrants, translates to a growth
rate of 1.5 per cent.
The rising number of Indians in Australia
also means more attention is being paid to
the community. According to an estimate,
the Indianborn population in Australia
doubled in the five years between the 2006
up from 27,872 (14.7 per cent). The United
Kingdom has shown a drop in the numbers
and was a distant third with 18,950 places
(10.0 per cent).
While the specific figures have not yet
been made available, it is expected that
Hinduism would continue to be the fastest
growing religion in Australia. Hinduism had
emerged in the 2011 Census as the fastest
growing religion in Australia and is expect
ed to have continued in the years since.
Thanks to a large number of Indians
arriving in Australia as migrants, Hindus
are also likely to eclipse Australian Muslims
Victoria, which has Melbourne as its
in numbers. When all 2016 statistics are
state capital, continues to attract the
made available later this year, it is expected
largest number of Indian migrants.
that Hinduism (2.7 per cent of the popula
and 2011 census from nearly 150,000 to t ion) w ill overtake the number of
nearly 300,000 people. The 2016 census is Australians nominating Islam as their reli
likely to provide similar results. gion (from 2.2 per cent to 2.6 per cent).
The second spot in the migrants' list was Besides contributing significantly to the
taken by China as 29,008 places (15.3 per growth in the Australian population, it is
cent) were filled from the most populous expected that Indian migrants would also
country in the world. The 2016 figures are become major drivers of the economy.
According to some news reports based on
the Department of Immigration's figures,
the Indian community is the most highly
educated in Australia.
An analysis of Department of
Immigration and Border Protection data
reveals that 54.6 per cent migrants from
India have a bachelor's degree or higher
level of qualification. This ratio is three
times higher than the national average of
Australia which was pegged at 17.2 per
cent in the 2011 census. Unless the
Australian government decided to curtail
the ongoing migration program size drasti
cally midstream, the number of Indian
migrants is expected to reach a new high
when the figures become available later
this year. Victoria, which has Melbourne as
its state capital, continues to attract the
largest number of Indian migrants. Victoria
also recorded the highest growth rate of all
states and territories at 2.1 per cent. The
Northern Territory recorded the lowest
growth rate at 0.3 per cent.

Indian Imam fined, Indian student Indian doctor wins 10 m

beaten up in
to be deported Poland dirham in lottery in UAE
Warsaw/New Delhi: An Indian Dubai: An Indian woman doctor every draw. My husband is such a

from Singapore student was beaten up on a

tram in Poland in an apparent
has has won a lifechanging lottery
in Abu Dhabi. Nishita Radhakrishna
big fan of the UAE. We ll, we
enjoyed our time working there
racist attack. The Indian gov Pillai, from Kerala, won the Dirham and we do have plans to go back,"
Singapore: A Sing apore
ernment said it is enquiring 10 million lottery in the Big Ticket Pillai was quoted as saying.
court has fined an Indian
into all aspects of the incident. raffle. After 50 numerous attempts Pillai and her husband have not
Imam 4,000 Singapore dol
External Af fairs Minister at striking gold at one of the most decided what to do with the money
lars ($2,860) and he will be
Sushma Swaraj asked Indian anticipated raf fle bonanzas in the yet.
deported to India for mak
ambassador in Poland Ajay UAE, the mother of two finally "It's such a big amount and
ing of fensive remarks
Bisaria for a report after an joined the ranks of highnetworth besides we were awaken by the
against Jews and Christians.
Indian, Amit Agnihotri, tagged individuals. good news in the middle of the
The Straits Times report
her and the ministry to a media Pillai, a medical practitioner who nig ht and we can't even think
ed on Tuesday that Nalla
report that said an Indian stu is currently in the US, is the second straight," she said.
Mohamed Abdul Jameel, 46,
dent was "beaten to death" in person to bring home Dirham 10 "It was my dad who shared the
will have to leave Singapore.
Poznan city of Poland. million, the biggest amount granted news with us since he's the one
A court on Monday fined
Sushma Swaraj tweeted: to a draw participant since the who got the call from the organis
him for making the remarks
"There was an incident of beat inception of the raf fle bonanza, ers, and at first we thought it was a
which he knew were "preju
ing. Fortunately, he has sur Gulf News reported. Pillai, who prank call. We had to check the Big
dicial to the maintenance of
vived. We are inquiring into all used to work as a paediatrician in Ticket website to confirm it," Pillai
harmony between religious
aspects of the incident." the UAE for approximately two said.
groups and was likely to Nalla Mohamed Abdul Jameel Earlier, she tweeted: "I have years, is currently in Houston, The millionaire promotion is the
disturb the public tranquilli (Image courtesy: indiatoday.in) just spoken to the Indian Texas, with her husband and two longestrunning and the biggest
ty" in the island state.
Ambassador in Poland and children, to finish her fellowship in raffle draw hosted at the Abu Dhabi
Nalla admitted to committing the meant and knew that the phrase
asked for a report. genetics. International Airport.
offence on January 6 at the Jamae may also be interpreted as asking
@IndiaPoland" Pillai and her family flew to the So far, the Big Ticket raf fle has
Chulia Mosque on South Bridge Go d to g rant Muslims victory
T he Indian envoy replied: US last July for the scholarship, but declared 178 millionaires, with the
Road where he was the Chie f against the Jews and Christians."
"Prelim enquiry suggests stu distance did not prove to be a hin first few winners taking home
Imam. The Imam issued a public apolo
dent attacked in Poznan tram drance for participating in the Dirham 1 million. Last month, a 33
After the Friday sermon that day, gy and met leaders of various reli
on Wednesday. Thank God, he UAE's popular raffle draw. yearold Indian expatriate in Abu
he recited a prayer on his own in gious groups after the of fensive
survived. Getting details." Since six months ago, her hus Dhabi won over Rs. 12 crores.
Arabic which said: "Grant us help remark went viral in February, trig
Agnihotri then posted: "Racist band has been buy ing t ickets Sreeraj Krishnan Kopparembil,
against the Jews and Christians." gering a police probe.
issue similar to USA, the person online under her name and so far, also from Kerala, won a whopping
The Straits Times quoted the Nalla could have been jailed for
shouted at him and then start 50 coupons have been purchased. Dirham 7 million in the Abu Dhabi
court papers as say ing: "T he up to three years, or fined, or both.
hitting." "He would buy five tickets for Big Ticket Draw. (PTI)
accused knew what the words (IANS)
TheSouthAsianTimes.info SUBCONTINENT April 8-14, 2017 21

Pak willing for US mediation in talks with India

Washington: Even as India rebuf fed the
suggestion, Pakistan has welcomed the US'
offer to help deescalate tensions between
New Delhi and Islamabad.
"Any positive role that the US plays in
bringing peace and stability in South Asia
can serve the region well," Pakistan's
envoy to the US, Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry,
said.
The development came after US ambas
sador to the UN, Nikki Haley, made the
of fer to mediate in facilitating talks
between the two neighbors.
"It's absolutely right that this administra
tion is concerned about the relationship
between India and Pakistan and very much
wants to see how we deescalate any sort
of conflict going forward," Indianorigin
Haley said while addressing a news confer
ence in New York.
Haley also hinted that the Trump admin
istration would participate in the talks
aimed at resolving dif ferences between
the two neighbors. "I would expect that the
[Trump] administration is going to be in
here that Pakistan was interested in such
efforts because it "wants good neighborly
relations with India".
India has ruled out third party mediation
in resolving disputes with Pakistan.
Indian External Affairs spokesman Gopal
Baglay said: "The government's position
for bilateral redressal of all IndiaPakistan
issues in an environment free of terror and
violence hasn't changed."
He also asked the international commu
nity to persuade Pakistan to stop cross
border terrorist attacks in India.
"We, of course, expect the international
community and organizations to enforce
international mechanisms and mandates
concerning terrorism emanating from
Pakistan, which continues to be the single
biggest threat to peace and stability in our
region and beyond," he said.
Pakistan's envoy to the A US State Department spokesperson
US Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry.
also explained Washington's position on
talks and try and find its place to be a part facilitating talks between the two coun
of that because it's concerned about the tries, the Dawn reported. "We believe India
situation," she said. Chaudhry told Dawn and Pakistan stand to benefit from cooper
ation. We encourage India and Pakistan to
engage in direct dialogue aimed at reduc
ing tensions," the spokesperson said.
According to Dawn, the US official also
explained that Washington wanted to pro
mote good relations between India and
Pakistan as the "normalization of relations
is vital to both countries and the region".
"Steps that initiate closer regional eco
nomic ties can also create jobs, lower infla
tion and increase energy supply," the offi
cial said.
He also maintained the US policy that
dif ferences between New De lhi and
Islamabad be resolved bilaterally and the
US could only encourage them to talk.
Tensions have been rising between the
two nations as India accuses Pakistan of
facilitating crossborder terrorism and
unrest in the Kashmir Valley.
Pakistan has denied the claims, saying
Islamabad only provides moral support to
the Kashmir people and accused New
Delhi of "interfering" in Pakistan's internal
matters.

Malala Yousafzai to Former Nepal PM Baburam

address Canadian
parliament
Ottawa: Malala Yousafzai, the
youngest Nobel Prize laureate,
w ill on April 12 address
Canada's parliament and of fi
cially receive the honorary
Canadian citizenship bestowed
upon her in 2014, Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau has
said. Trudeau, in a statement,
said: "I am pleased to announce
Malala Yousafzai's upcoming
visit to Canada. Yousafzai's
courageous response to those
who threatened her life, and her
advocacy for girls' education,
has inspired many millions of
people around the world.
"Her story is one of determina
tion and dignity, and Canada is
proud to call her an honorary
citizen of this great country. I
look forward to attending the
upcoming ceremony and wit
nessing the historic moment
when she becomes the youngest
person to address the
Parliament of Canada."
Trudeau will meet Malala to
discuss girls' empowerment
through education and how
they can actively contribute to
the sustainable development of
their communities and coun
tries.
Malala was targeted by
Taliban militants after she
became an outspoken advocate
for the right of girls to learn and
to attend school. She has since
become an internat ional
spokesperson for girls' educa
tion and the rights of women
Office here, the media reported.
Yousafzai is one of just six
people to receive honorary
Canadian citizenship.
and girls. In recognition of this
work, she was named a corecip
ient of the 2014 Nobel Peace
Prize along with Indian activist
Kailash Satyarthi.
"T he people of Canada are
leading the world in their
response to the refugee crisis. I
am honored by the parliament's
invitation and look forward to
visiting this great nation of
heroes," she said.
T he House of Commons in
October 2014 unanimously sup
ported bestow ing honorary
Canadian cit izenship upon
Yousafzai to recognize her brav
ery in the fight for the rights of
women and girls.
Yousafzai is one of just six
people to receive honorary
Canadian citizenship. The others
are Raoul Wallenberg, Nelson
Mandela, the 14th Dalai Lama,
Aung San Suu Kyi, and the Aga
Khan.
Bhattarai arrested
Kathmandu: Former Nepal Prime
Minister and Chairman of Naya
with the EC, including Naya Shakti
Nepal, staged a sitin outside the
Shakti Nepal party Baburam poll pane l's of fice in protest
Bhattarai was arrested from out ag ainst "the e lect ion holding
side the Election Commission (EC) body's refusal to grant election
symbol".
Bhattarai, his wife Hisila Yami, Prior to this, the agitating parties
and Communist Party of Nepal had submitted a memorandum to
(CPN) Maoist Revolutionary leader Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal
CP Gajurel, among others, were Dahal and Chie f Elect ion
picked up by police while they Commissioner Ayodhee Prasad
were staging a sitin outside the EC Yadav.
office to protest denial of election Bhattarai was staging a While submitting a memoran
symbol to the party, T he sitin outside the EC office dum in this regard to Dahal, Naya
Kathmandu Post reported.
when he was arrested. Shaki Nepal had issued a 48hour
According to Bhattarai's aide hauling them into a truck after ultimatum to him demanding allo
Bishwodeep Pandey, police person their arrest. cation of an election symbol for
nel badly treated the leaders by Five political parties registered their party.
Sri Lanka repatriates 38
Indian fishermen
Colombo: Thirtyeight Indian
fishermen released from Sri
Lankan custody were repatriat
ed at the International Maritime
Boundary Line (IMBL), the Sri
Lanka Navy media unit said in a
statement.
The fishermen were arrested
by the Sri Lanka Navy in March
on the charge of poaching in Sri
Lankan waters and illegally
entering Sri Lankan territory by
violating the international mar
itime law, Xinhua reported.
At the IMBL, the fishermen The fishermen had violated the international maritime law.
were received by the Indian
Coast Guard Ship "Ayush", the released 136 Indian fishermen, the repatriation of 174 Indian
navy said. With the recently the Sri Lanka Navy has assisted poachers within this year alone.
 22 April 8-14, 2017 INTERNATIONAL TheSouthAsianTimes.info

70 killed in gas bomb attack in Syria, world outraged

Damascus: One of the worst chem
ical bombings in Syria that killed
at least 20 innocent children and
50 other persons, sparked an
internat ional outrage on
Wednesday and prompted the
United Nations to call for a probe
into the attack and to view it as a
possible war crime.
The UN Commission of Inquiry
on Syria said in a statement the
use of chemical weapons as well
as any deliberate targeting of
medical facilities "would amount
to war crimes and serious viola
tions of human rights law".
"It is imperative for perpetrators
of such attacks to be identified
and held accountable," said the
independent pane l led by
Brazilian expert Paulo Pinheiro.
World leaders, including
President Trump, blamed the
flight plans and names of com
manders in charge of air opera
tions, including those for Tuesday,
to international investigators.
The draft resolution, negotiated
among diplomats from the three
countries, was later circulated to
all 15 members of the UN Council.
It could come up for a vote later.
Victims died some writhing,
choking, gasping or foaming at
the mouth after breathing in
poison that possibly contained a
nerve agent or other outlawed
Donald Trump termed the attack a "heinous" act chemicals, according to witnesses,
that "cannot be ignored by the civilized world". doctors and rescue workers.
They said the toxic substance
Syrian government of President world". Late on Tuesday, Britain, spread after warplanes dropped
Bashar alAssad for the attack and France and the US were pushing bombs early on Tuesday. Some
called on Russia and Iran to pre the UN Security Council to adopt a rescue workers became ill and
vent a recurrence of what Trump resolution that condemns the collapsed from proximity to the
termed a "heinous" act that "can attack and orders the Syrian gov dead.
not be ignored by the civilized ernment to provide all flight logs, T he opposit ionrun Health
Department in Idlib province,
where the attack took place, said
69 people had died. It provided a
list of their dead. The dead were
still being identified, and some
humanitarian g roups said as
many as 100 had died.
The Assad government, which
renounced chemical weapons
nearly four years ago after a large
chemical attack that American
intelligence agencies concluded
was carried out by his forces,
denied that his military had been
responsible, as he has done every
time such chemical attacks took
place in the impoverished Arab
country.
T he attack would mark the
deadliest chemical attack in Syria
since sarin nerve gas killed some
1,300 civilians in Ghouta near
Damascus in August 2013.

XiTrump meet to better ties: China More than

Beijing: China hopes that the
upcoming meeting between
President Xi Jinping and his
10 dead in Russia peace, stability and prosperi
ty in Asia and the Pacific and
the world at large," Zheng
US counterpart Donald
Trump will set the direction
for the development and bet
Metro blast said. According to Zheng, Xi
will hold talks with Trump,
during which they w ill
terment of bilateral ties, a top exchange indepth views on
official said. ChinaUS t ies and major
"It will be the first meeting international and regional
between the heads of state of af fairs of common concern
China and the US since the with a view to enhancing
new administrat ion took mutual understanding and
office," Chinese Vice Foreign expanding bilateral coopera
Minister Zheng Zeguang told tion. President Xi and his
a press briefing. wife Peng Liyuan will attend
The two leaders will exchange indepth views
From April 6 to 7, Xi will on ChinaUS ties. a welcome banquet hosted
meet Trump at MaraLago, by President Trump and his
Florida, Xinhua news agency cance to charting ChinaUS rela wife Melania, according to Zheng.
reported. "As the international sit tionship in a new era, advancing Zheng said the two leaders have
uation continues undergoing pro the development of bilateral ties in reached important consensus
found and complicated changes, a healthy and stable way from a through phone conversations and Police officers stand guard on the platform of
the meeting will be of great signifi new starting point, and promoting letters over the past months. a metro station in Moscow.

Moscow: An explosion inside a Committee praised the driver of

Brexit a punishment for UK, says EU
London: European Council President Donald Tusk
has said the EU will not punish Britain, because
Brexit is "punishment enough", as he released a set
of draft guidelines for the twoyear Brexit negotia
tions. Tusk spoke at a news conference in Malta after
the guidelines were sent to the heads of the 27
remaining members of the EU, reported the
Independent.
The draft guidelines appeared to of fer a conces
sion to Prime Minister Theresa May, suggesting that
talks on future trade arrangements could begin once
"sufficient progress" was made on the initial Brexit
deal.
Tusk said that the EU will not seek to punish
Britain in the initial stages of the talks. "We will not
be punitive. Brexit itself is punitive enough," he said.
Going into the twoyear negotiation period trig
gered by Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty (of ficial
process to leave the EU), the EU would think of the
people first, Tusk said. The residential rights of EU
citizens living in Britain would be one of the main
focuses. The EU companies in Britain would need to
be safeguarded against losing the protection of the
27member bloc's law and regulation, he said.
Tusk will meet British PM on April 29.
Tusk also said the EU would honor all its commit
ments, and stressed that Britain would have to as
well. He also raised the issue of Britain's financial
bills with the EU, estimated to be as much as 51 bil
lion pounds ($64 billion).
In a sign of the bloc's determination to secure a
"divorce bill" from Britain, he said: "We will need to
make sure that Britain honors all financial commit
ments and liabilities it has taken as a member state."
Tusk will meet May in London ahead of an EU sum
mit on Brexit, which will not include her, on April 29.
Metro train in the Russian city
of St. Petersburg killed over 10
passengers and injured over 20
others. The entire transit system
was shut down as bomb squads
and rescuers responded to the
emergency.
The explosion occurred as the
train was traveling between the
stat ions Te khnolog ichesky
Institut and Sennaya Ploshchad
of the St. Petersburg Metro, the
Nat ional Ant iterrorism
Committee (NAC) confirmed.
"T he pre liminary casualty
report on the St. Petersburg
Metro blast is nine people killed
and over 20 injured, some of
them seriously," the NAC said in
a statement. "All the victims are
receiving the necessary medical
and psychological assistance."
Images posted on social media
show bodies lying next to the
damaged car, with blood appar
ently spilt on a bench.
Russia's Invest ig at ive
the train for not trying to stop in
the tunnel after the explosion.
"He acted right in the circum
stances. T he explosion hap
pened in the tunnel between sta
tions, but the driver took the
right decision and brought it to
the next station, which allowed
evacuat ion and he lp to the
injured to start at once. This
may have prevented casualties,"
the committee said.
Russian President Vladimir
Putin said that "the causes of
this event have not been deter
mined yet, so it's too early to
talk about (possible causes). The
invest ig at ion w ill show.
Certainly, we will consider all
possibilities: common, criminal,
but first of all of a terrorist
nature."
All Metro stations were closed
for passengers. Commuters were
evacuated from the subway
within about an hour of the first
reports of the blast coming in.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info BUSINESS April 8-14, 2017 23

Foreign funds, tax data push key indices to scale new highs
Mumbai: Healthy inflow of for
eign funds, along with positive
tax collection data and global
cues elevated the Indian equity
markets to close at new highs this
week.
Healthy buying was witnessed
in consumer durables, capital
goods and automobile stocks as
the two key indices again made
new 52week intraday highs.
The wider 51scrip Nifty of the
National Stock Exchange (NSE),
after opening at a record high of
9,264.40 points, closed at
9,265.15 points up 27.30
points or 0.30 per cent.
T he NSE Nifty made a new
intraday high of 9,273.90 points.
The barometer 30scrip sensi
tive index (Sensex) of the BSE,
which opened at 29,996.03
points, closed at 29,974.24 points
up 64.02 points or 0.21 per
cent from the previous close at
highs driven by a rally in index
heavyweights, ahead of the RBI's
monetary policy meeting's out
come," Deepak Jasani, Head,
Retail Research, HDFC Securities,
told IANS.
"It was the third consecutive
session of gains for the Nifty. The
Sensex touched the crucial bench
mark of 30,000 points during the
intraday, while the Nifty too hit a
record intraday high of 9,274
points, before closing below that
mark."
The Indian rupee too strength
ened by 15 paise to 64.88 against
a US dollar from its previous
A view of National Stock Exchange (NSE) and close of 65.03 to a greenback.
Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). (File Photo: IANS) In terms of investments, provi
sional data with the exchanges
29,910.22 points. The Sensex low of 29,817.69 points. showed that the foreign institu
touched another new 52week The BSE market breadth was tional investors (FIIs) purchased
high, crossing the 30,000mark bullish with 1,987 advances and scrip worth Rs 340.13 crore,
during intraday trade. It touched 936 declines. while the domestic institutional
a high of 30,007.48 points and a "Markets zoomed higher to new investors (DIIs) divested scrip
worth Rs 194.05 crore.
"Among the sectors, IT sector
stocks faced resistance at higher
due to profit booking and wit
nessed volatile trades," comment
ed Dhruv Desai, Director and
Chie f Operat ing Of ficer of
Tradebulls on sectorspecific
movement.
"PSU banks, realty and metal
remained top performing sectors
on the positive side."
Besides, the S&P BSE consumer
durables index augmented by
369.36 points, followed by the
capital goods index, which surged
by 259.51 points, and the auto
mobile index, which rose by
241.77 points.
On the other hand, the IT index
fell by 81.41 points, the Teck
(technology, media and entertain
ment) index slipped by 12.20
points, and the FMCG index was
lower by 9.11 points.

'SC's liquor ban will cause job US TRADE

losses, hit tourism'
New Delhi: T he Supreme
Court ban on liquor sale with
in 500 metres on either side
of national and state high
ways w ill impact foreign
tourists' arrival and lead to
job losses, Federat ion of
Asso ciat ions in Indian
Tourism and Hospitality
(FAITH) said. In a statement
here, FAITH said establish
ments approved under the
tourism category exist prima
rily for lodging, conferencing,
meetings, banqueting and din
ing out experiences which
include liquor service as part
of this overall experiences.
"None of these establish
ments are licensed for, nor
practice, nor promote, sale of
liquor to be consumed out
side," the statement said.
According to FAITH, most
entrepreneurs who bid as part
of government's publicpri
vatepartnership tourism proj
ects along national and state
roads and highways had mod
eled their cash inflows on
these experiences considering
Bars wear a deserted look after the Supreme Court banned
liquor shops within 500 metres on either side of the national
and state highways. (Photo: Bidesh Manna/IANS)
room conferencing, food, bev
erages revenues over their
concession periods.
With reduced business,
these establishments w ill
result in distressed financial
asset and become nonper
forming assets, the FAITH
added. "Almost nine million
tourists visit India, resulting
in almost 27 million foreign
visitat ions across Indian
states. These along with 1.8
billion domestic visitors fre
quent a significant portion of
these establishments as
guests," it said.
All of this will be put to risk
if the overall food and bever
age experiences is compro
mised at such leg it imate
establishments which pay
direct and indirect taxes and
levies to both the central and
state governments. According
to FAITH, the tourism estab
lishments employ more than
five crore people directly and
indirectly impacting the living
conditions of their almost 20
crore family members.
FAITH also said the ban on
sale of liquor would affect the
MICEmeetings, incentives,
conferences and exhibition
tourism segment. "India has
less than an estimated 0.5 per
cent of the world share of this
subsector of tourism which
will see largescale cancella
tions. That has already started
happening. Tourists who
bring in $20 billion plus forex
earnings will reduce their vis
its to India and a large num
ber of Indians will increasing
ly prefer trave lling out of
India for such events leading
to a major outflow of foreign
exchange," FAITH said. A
major reason for meetings,
conferences, corporate events,
weddings and exhibitions to
be he ld at such establish
ments in India is to combine
them with social get together
which includes food, beverage
and entertainment experi
ences.
DEFICIT FALLS
9.6% IN
FEBRUARY
Washington: The US trade deficit fell 9.6 per
cent in February to $43.6 billion, after reach
ing the highest level in five years in January,
the government said.
The figure came in below economists' esti
mates of a $44.5 billion trade deficit.
Imports decreased by 1.8 per cent to
$236.4 billion in February, while exports
rose 0.20 per cent to $192.9 billion, the
Commerce Department said on Tuesday.
In February, US consumers bought fewer
cellular phones from Asian countries and
fewer automobiles from Europe, but the
trade deficit in the first two months of the
year was still 3.1 per cent higher than a year
earlier. The US trade deficit with China
dropped to $23 billion in February from
$31.3 billion in January.
President Donald Trump, who during last
year's campaign repeatedly accused China of
engaging in unfair trade practices, will meet
on T hursday with Chinese President Xi
Jinping at his residence in Palm Beach,
Florida. Last week, Trump signed two execu
tive orders intended to prevent unfair prac
tices in international trade and identify those
he calls "cheaters" and accuses of causing the
loss of millions of US manufacturing jobs.
 24 April 8-14, 2017 SPORTS TheSouthAsianTimes.info

10th edition of IPL off to perfect start

Hyderabad: The 10th edition of
the Indian Premier League (IPL)
had a perfect start at the Rajiv
Gandhi International Stadium
here with the opening ceremony
providing some real entertain
ment for the holiday crowd.
The nearly twomonth nonstop
action got of f to a flying start
w ith Bollywoo d actress Amy
Jackson setting the stage on fire
with her performance.
The opening ceremony began
with 'Chale Chalo', the famous
song from blockbuster 'Lagaan'.
It was the first in a series of
eight opening ceremonies, one in
each hosting venue. This is the
first time in the IPL's history that
the organisers have decided to
provide some glamour quotient
before the beginning of the first
match in all the venues.
T he opening ceremony also
saw cricketing greats Sachin
Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly,
Virender Sehwag and V.V.S.
Laxman sharing their experience
of the IPL. Tendulkar said he
never thought the IPL would
become such a huge event.
"It's been a long journey," said
Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, V. V. S. Laxman and
Virender Sehwag during the opening ceremony
of IPL 2017 in Hyderabad. (Photo: IANS)
former India captain Ravi Shastri,
about the IPL. The flashback big
moments of the last nine editions
of the IPL were shown on the
screen. The home crowd loudly
cheered Sunrisers Hyderabad as
last year's champions took on
runnersup Royal Challengers
Bangalore (RCB).
There were loud cheers when
RCB captain Virat Kohli, who was
not playing due to injury, led the
Hyderabad beat Bangalore
in IPL opener
Hyderabad: Defending champi
ons Sunrisers Hyderabad rode on
a solid top order contribution
and some disciplined bowling to
de feat Royal Challengers
Bangalore (RCB) by 35 runs in
the opening match of the 2017
Indian Premier League (IPL)
here. Asked to bat first by the vis
itors, Hyderabad posted a com
manding 207/4 in their allotted
20 overs at the Rajiv Gandhi
International Stadium.
In reply, RCB were bowled out
for 172 runs in 19.4 overs.
team on to the field and present
ed a token of truce to SRH skip
per David Warner.
The weather was cloudy and
pleasant. There was a significant
drop in the temperature due to
the change in the weather in the
evening. The unseasonal rain
accompanied by strong winds on
Tuesday had some impact on the
RCB started their chase in
explosive fashion as Chris Gayle
and Mandeep Sing h scored
around 10 runs an over in the
first five overs.
The visitors suffered their first
blow when a Rashid Khan deliv
ery found an inside edge of f
Mandeep's bat before hitting the
stumps.
They suffered a bigger blow in
the next over when Gayle slightly
mist imed a shot of f Deepak
Hooda only to of fer a skier to
David Warner at longoff.
preparations and with the met
of fice forecasting more rain on
Wednesday, the organizers were
keeping their fingers crossed.
They heaved a sigh of relief as
it did not rain and the mercury
dipped to 33 degree Celsius, a
significant drop from 40, the
highest temperature of the sea
son recorded last week.

Kohli is Wisden's Leading Saina,

Cricketer in the World
New Delhi: India skipper Virat
Kohli was named the 'Leading
Cricketer in the World' for 2016
by this year's edition of Wisden
Cricketers' Almanack, which is
published this week.
The 28yearold Indian amassed
1,215 Test runs at a healthy aver
age of 75.93 while producing 739
runs at 92.37 in Oneday
Internationals (ODI) besides scor
ing 641 runs at 106.83 in T20
Internationals.
Under his watch, India complet
ed a clean sweep of trophies in
the Test, ODI and T20 series
against England in 201617, with
his 235 against England in the
fourth Test at Mumbai confirming
him, in Wisden editor Lawrence
Booth's words, as "the spiritual
successor to Sachin Tendulkar".
"Virat Kohli, who features on the
cover of the 2017 edition of the
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, is
also the Leading Cricketer in the World
for 2016, an accolade put in place in
2003 when Ricky Ponting became the
first honouree," Wisden announced.
Kohli had earlier won the prestigious
'Polly Umrigar award' presented to the
'International Cricketer of the Year' at the
Board of Control for Cricket in India
(BCCI) Annual Awards.
Kohli is the third Indian to win an award
that has been running since 2003, and
which covers all formats of the interna
in the opening round of the Malaysia Open
India skipper Virat Kohli.
tional game in the preceding calendar
year. Virender Sehwag won it twice, in
2008 and 2009, and Tendulkar once, in
2010. Besides the Indian, two Pakistan
cricketers MisbahulHaq and Younis
Khan have been named in the list of the
five 'Cricketers of the Year' for the first
time since 1997. The other three in the
list are Ben Duckett, Toby RolandJones
and Chris Woakes.
Australia's Ellyse Perry was named the
leading woman cricketer in the world.
Sindhu
toppled in
Malaysia
Open
Indian star shuttlers P.V. Sindhu.
Kuching (Malaysia): Indian star shuttlers P.V.
Sindhu and Saina Nehwal suffered setbacks
Superseries Premier, while Ajay Jayaram
moved into the men's singles second round
here. Also exiting the tournament were
men's singles shuttler B. Sai Praneeth, the
men's doubles pair of Manu Attri and B.
Sumeeth Reddy and the mixed doubles pair
of Sumeeth and N. Sikki Reddy.
India had high hopes from sixth seed and
2016 Olympic silver medallist Sindhu. The
21yearold, who won the India Open on
Sunday, was toppled by world No.13 Chen
Yufei of China 2118, 1921, 1721 in an
hour and eight minutes.
Sindhu's veteran compatriot, Saina fell to
inform Japanese world No.4 Akane
Yamaguchi, who won 1921, 2113, 2115
in 56 minutes at the Perpaduan Stadium.
Reigning Olympic champion Carolina
Marin of Spain defeated Hong Kong's Yin
Yip Pui 2116, 2111 to advance to the sec
ond round. The men's doubles pair of Manu
Attri and Sumeeth also crashed out of the
competition, losing to Chinese Taipei's Liao
Kuan Hao and Lu Chia Pin 2118, 1821, 17
21.
World No.19 Jayaram, however, crossed
the firstround barrier, brushing aside
Chinese Qiao Bin 2111, 218 in 31 minutes.
Praneeth gave Chinese legend Lin Dan a
run for his money, but the twotime Olympic
champion managed to eke out an 1821, 21
19, 2118 win in an hour and 11 minutes.
The mixed doubles pair of Sumeeth and
Sikki fought hard before losing to Dane pair
of Kim Astrup and Line Kjaersfeldt 1921,
2119, 2123 in 55 minutes.
In the letter, COAI urged the authorities to
mandate an Over The Air (OTA) update
within four weeks' time to fix the issue. "The
devices to be taken off the market in case of
noncompliance," the letter read.
This suggests that the glitch may be soft
warerelated and not a hardware one.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info BOOKS April 8-14, 2017 25

By Amjad Ali Khan

ismillah Khan Sahab

Excerpts from Sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan's book,
B addressed my father as
Chacha Sahab (uncle). He
was friends with my eldest broth
Reminiscing about other icons of classical music.
years later, in 1989, when we hon Legendary tabla maestro Samta
er, Mubarak Ali Khan; they were

Master
ored Bismillah Khan Sahab in Prasad was accompanying me.
the same age. He was always kind
Chennai with the Haafiz Ali Khan When the curtain opened, I was
and affectionate towards me. I had
Award, Khan Sahab lavishly still tuning, and I could see Raviji
been receiving invitations to music
praised my Varanasi concert in his with his sitar on one side and, on

on
festivals from the age of twelve,
acceptance speech. During my con the other side, Ali Akbar Khan
and had the privilege of meeting
cert, he said, he had wanted to go Sahab with his sarod, standing in
all the great musicians of the time,
out for his morning namaaz but he the wings and trying to catch my
including Bismillah Khan Sahab.
was deeply moved by some por attention. I was a bit overwhelmed

Once, I was asked to perform at a
music festival in Varanasi organ
ized by Pandit Ravi Shankar. That
day I was concluding the session.
The first performance was by Birju
Maharaj and Zakir Hussain, fol
lowed by Bhimsen Joshi. To be the
concluding act after so many bril
liant performances by musicians
and dancers was an honor for me,
but, at the same time, immensely
challenging, taxing and risky. At 3
a.m., accompanied by Pandit Samta
Prasad alias Gudai Maharaj on the
tabla, I went on the stage. I could
see several great musicians in the
audience, including Bismillah Khan
Sahab, and as a mark of respect,
took ijaazat (formal permission)
from all of them.
I began the concert with my own
composition, Raga Lalita Dhwani.
The concert ended at 7 a.m. Many
tions of my concert and felt a
strong connect ion w ith Go d.
'Sangeet bhi toh ibadat hai,' he had
told himself and stayed back.
PERFORMANCE
On several occasions, Raviji (Ravi
Shankar) and I performed in the
same music festivals. A particular
ly memorable incident took place
at a festival in 1964 in Calcutta. It
was the last day of the weeklong
Sarba Bhartiya Music Conference
at Shyam Park. I was scheduled to
play and the concluding item was
a duet between Ali Akbar Khan
Sahab and Ravi Shankar. Bhimsen
Joshi was to perform in between.
In the middle of the nig ht, I
received a phone call from the fes
tival secretary Dhiren Mukherjee
saying that Ravi Shankar and Ali
Masters
Akbar Khan wanted to play before
my concert and I should take a taxi
and come quickly.
I was a bit startled as I was
unable to understand the reason
for this. (They told the presenter
that they had to catch a flight.)
They were big stars at that time
and my playing after them was
unthinkable. Dhiren Mukherjee
was my well wisher; he wanted me
to sit on the stage before the sarod
and sitar maestros came. When I
reached the pandal, there were
about 7000 or 8000 people in the
audience. Child artist and actor
Daisy Irani was giving a Kathak
performance.
The moment she finished, Dhiren
Babu pushed me on to the stage.
but I closed my eyes and started
my performance.
When I finished, both the musi
cians came on the stage soon after
and immediately began playing a
duet sitarsarod recital. That con
cert was a turning point of my life.
MEMORABLE
Our family was close to Bhimsen
Joshi. Once, my wife Subhalakshmi
requested Bhimsenji to sing on my
49th birthday at our residence. It
was a memorable concert. He
remained alert till his last days,
watching TV, and having newspa
pers read out to him. His fans and
other artists would visit him now
and then. His face always lit up
when he conversed with fellow
artists and old friends. The record
ings of maestros were his constant
companions in his last years.

A WORLD OF GOOD NEWS:

COUNTRIES THAT OVERCAME MAJOR PROBLEMS
oxic and messianic politics, misgover economic miracle and the stringent and

T nance, corruption, xenophobia, extrem

ism, ethnic strife, poverty and inequali
ty... most of our world doesn't seem a very
positive place, as media reports regularly
tell us. Are there any solutions to these mal
adies? Yes, and they can be seen in some
unexpected places.
There are American, Asian and African
countries, ranging from some of the world's
biggest to a city state, and even a city, that
have successfully dealt with one or more of
these problems and can serve as model to
many others provided we know about
them.
And this is where this book comes in.
"This is a good news book... a collection of
success stories gathered over several years I
spent travelling around the world in search
of solutions to the great problems of our day
and the leaders who figured them out,"
says author Jonathan Tepperman, Managing
Editor of the influential 'Foreign Af fairs'
journal of the New Yorkbased Council on
Foreign Affairs.
But before taking us on his "tour of the
laboratories, which also happen to be some
of the most successful (or at least most
interesting countries) on the planet", he first
draws a succinct but gloomy picture of the
global situation since the 2008 economic
crisis to support one of his basic premises
that while details of the troubles the world
faces may vary "they share an underlying
cause the failure of politicians to lead". Or
rather, more specifically, their failure to ade
quately address 10 big problems, roughly
half political and half economic which "goes
a long way towards explaining the mess we
are in today".
And these problems, which include
inequality, immigration, corruption, energy,
Islamic extremism, growth and political
gridlock, are not unsolvable as certain ana
lysts hold as his examples show, he says.
After discussing these 10 problems in
some detail for "understanding the prob
lems in depth is also the first step towards
understanding their solutions", he begins
The Fix: How Nations
Survive and Thrive in a
World in Decline
by Jonathan Tepperman;
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Pages: 320
Price: Rs. 499
with telling us how Brazil tackled its gaping
inequality in a way that would horrify any
orthodox economist.
Then there is the story of Canada's chang
ing stance on immigration (including the
role of the present Prime Minister's father
on this issue during his stint in power) and
how Mexican leaders achieved a degree of
political concord that can teach a thing or
two to many older/larger/stable democra
cies.
The US wins a spot for its business and
economic system that made possible energy
selfsufficiency, while New York City, victim
of the most infamous terror attack, comes in
to show how cities, under suf ficiently
dynamic leadership, can ensure their own
safety.
Moving over to Asia, Tepperman chroni
cles how the world's most populous Muslim
country overcame the threat of Islamist
extremism, identifies the factors and policies
that propelled South Korea's (continuing)
meticulous ways Singapore tackles corrup
tion its policemen have to declare the cash
they have when they start work and the
amount when they go off.
In Africa, he shows how a landlocked and
impoverished country achieved stability and
growth after independence and even after
discovering mineral riches, didn't fall prey to
the infamous "resource curse" that has
blighted many developing countries.
In another significant lesson, we learn
how Rwanda, which experienced the most
horrify ing geno cide of recent t imes,
achieved a high level of social reconciliation
within two decades of it.
Packed with fascinating facts and person
alities, Tepperman's detailed, accessible and
balanced account, which also examines the
criticisms/shortcomings of the programs
and policies in question, also seeks to be
prescriptive.
To this end, he seeks to "weave in leader
ship lessons and practical advice on prob
lemsolving distilled from their experiences",
exemplified but not limited to five major
lessons he lists in conclusion, as some poli
cies may only be specifically effective due to
historical, social or geographical factors.
Despite this, there is much to learn in this
for concerned citizens and rulers across
the world, and especially in India, where
most of these problems are present and fes
ter, our leaders could find it of some benefit
despite their infallible belief in their own
expertise and capability.
 26 April 8-14, 2017 SELF HELP TheSouthAsianTimes.info

eart disease and stroke cause one in results. For example, Nutrisystem Lean13

H three deaths among women each

year, killing approximately one
woman every 80 seconds. While there are
is a new program designed to help you
lose up to 13 pounds and seven inches in
the first month. For more information visit
many risk factors involved that are beyond nutrisystem.com.
ones control, a healthy lifestyle can make
a big difference. 4Rise, shine, drink water.
Here are five healthy habits that can Youll burn more calories all day : A
reduce your risk for illness. German study found that drinking 48
ounces (about six cups) of cold water
4MOVE ABOUT: Exercise doesnt increased calorie burn at rest by up to 50
have to be daunting! Aim for 10minute calories per day. This alone could melt a
sessions, three times daily. Movement sets pound in a little more than two months.
your metabolism in motion, so make sure And drinking it before meals could give
its a consistent part of your life. you an added bonus, as a Virginia Tech
study found that dieters who drank two,
4 GET SLEEP: eightounce glasses of water before meals
Sleeping fewer than
seven hours a nig ht
can make you gain
5 for 12 weeks lost 36 percent more weight
than those who didnt down the water.

weig ht and have 4PUT YOUR PHONE AWAY:

more trouble taking
it of f, according to
Heart Doesnt get much easier
than that.
Chair in Philadelphia, a movement to help
end heart disease and stroke in women.
Checking your email in the morning will
just stress you out. Many productivity
C o l u m b i a experts recommend waiting at least an
4 EAT
University research.
Another study found
that people who get
healthy AND
SMALL
WELL:
Studies have found that
Research suggests that eating smaller,
balanced meals throughout the day pro
motes greater weight loss and mainte
hour once you get to work before checking
your inbox, so you can tackle your most
important priorities calmly without getting
enough sleep have a
five percent hig her
metabolism than people
habits losing five to 10 percent of
your body weight can lower
the risk of a heart attack, says
nance, and can also be good for your heart.
Schedule meals every two to three hours,
six times a day.
distracted.

Be proactive. Take steps to improve your

who dont. That means more Dawn Zier, CEO of Nutrisystem and Programs designed to help you eat health and reduce your risk for serious ill
calories burned while youre sleeping! the 2017 Go Red for Women Campaign healthy portions can mean seeing quick ness.

Help meet your Fun, festive ideas to sweeten

Easter celebrations
retirement income goals pring is here,

M
ost Americans
care
enjoy ing
about
a
financially comfortable
retirement, yet almost
two in five people
express concerns over
whether they will have
enough money to live the
lifestyle they want,
according to new
research on savers from
Greenwald & Associates
and CANNEX.
Its never too early to
plan, and Nat ional
Ret irement Planning
Week, which takes place from
April 3 to 7, 2017, is a good
time to understand the value
of financial advice and how
such investments as an annu
ity with guaranteed lifetime
income can help to meet your
retirement income needs. In
support of the week, Lincoln
Financial Group is of fering
consumers tips for setting
onese lf up for income in
retirement.
4Diversify your retirement
portfolio to he lp create
income certainty. This may
include transitioning a por
tion of the savings youve built
through an employerspon
sored retirement plan like a
401(k) and other savings
vehicles into a dependable
income stream, such as an
annuity.
Now more than ever, savers
should consider solutions that
of fer guaranteed lifet ime
income to further diversify
their portfolios and help them
reach ret irement income
goals, says Brian Kroll, head
of Annuity Solut ions at
Lincoln Financial Group.
4 T he majority of people
age 65 and older will need
some form of longterm care,
which can amount to a tidy
sum. However, having long
term care insurance can help
guarantee that you will have
the resources to pay for such
medical expenses as they
arise, while protecting the sav
ings and income youve
worked so hard to build.
4Consult with a financial
advisor, who can point you
toward retirement solutions
that may help provide income
certainty and financial protec
tion.
Todays savers face longer
life spans and less access to
pensions, says Kroll. Safety
nets like social security can no
longer be relied on as a sole
source of income in retire
ment.
For more information about
National Retirement Planning
Week, visit retireony
ourterms.org.
Creat ing a we llrounded
retirement income plan and
guarding your savings against
risk can help toward a com
fortable retirement. A quali
fied advisor can he lp you
make these preparat ions
knowledgeably and with con
fidence.
StatePoint
S which means
its t ime for
throwing memo
rable celebrations
for friends and
family. W hether
you are hosting an
Easter brunch or
attending a spring
picnic, you can
make these occa
sions unforget
table with a few
fun and fest ive
additions.
EGG HUNT
No Easter celebration is complete
without an egg decorating station for
children and the young at heart.
Stock up on a variety of paints, glitter,
dye, stencils, and textured fabric, and
let imaginations run wild.
Plan for your Easter egg hunt to
take place outdoors, but have an
indoor backup in case the weather
does not cooperate. Make sure to take
all the ages of participants into
account when deciding where to hide
eggs!
SWEET TREATS
Anyone with a sweet tooth knows
that Easter and delicious treats go
hand in hand, so pay extra attention
to this essential element of your
party. A candy buffet invites guests to
try an assortment of treats. To satisfy
everyones taste buds, offer milk and
dark chocolates, lollypops, springtime
truffles and sour bunnies.
Stick with goto candy makers like
Sees Candies, which uses highquality
ingredients and is one of the few
remaining candy makers that ages its
chocolate a process that imparts a
smoother, mellower flavor and ele
vates the overall taste experience,
making it a great option for Easter
entertaining.
For dcor, gather flowers to create
colorful centerpieces, including tulips
and Easter lilies. Use brightly colored
tablecloths and runners, scattering
confetti and small sweet treats on
tables for a special touch.
EASTER BASKET
Whether crafting Easter baskets or
looking for a gift to take to your host,
candy is always a great choice. No
matter what your basket or gift budg
et is, treats can be found in a variety
of sizes and price ranges from
handdecorated Rocky Road Eggs to
chocolate bunnies and Strawberry
Cream Lollypops.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info LIFESTYLE April 8-14, 2017 27

Big B, Deepika most desirable Your smartphones may

travel buddies for Indians: Survey
Mumbai: Most Indians see their
travel buddy in megastar
Amitabh Bachchan and actresses
Deepika Padukone and Priyanka
Chopra, according to a survey.
On the other hand, actresses
like Bipasha Basu and Vidya
Balan found a spot in the list of
least popular celebrity travel
companions.
In a survey, conducted by
online accommodation booking
website Hotels.com, Indian trav
elers voted for their most desired
celebrity travel buddies.
As many as 8,400 adults from
28 countries took part in the
poll, commissioned in October
2016.
Over 300 Indian users shared
their views on their dream
celebrity companions. The
results of the survey were
released on Thursday, read a
statement from the website.
For the Indian market, the sur
vey dates were from October 21
to 31 last year.
As many as 53 per cent of the
users wanted to go on a vacation
with Deepika, and 40.3 per cent
picked Priyanka. Sunny Leone
and Jacqueline Fernandez came
in at third and fourth place
be secretly talking,
breaching security
Most Indians see their travel buddy in Amitabh Bachchan and
Deepika Padukone (Image courtesy: midday.com)
respectively followed by Alia
Bhatt.
While young Bollywood
actresses dominated the female
celebrity roster, Amitabh topped
the male celebrity list by garner
ing 33.3 per cent of all Indian
votes.
Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar
came in second with 31.7 per
cent votes. Ranbir Kapoor and
Virat Kohli's popularity saw them
being voted the third and fourth
most desired male celebrity trav
el buddies respectively.
As many as 44 per cent voters
don't want to travel with Rakhi
Sawant.
Bipasha and Vidya Balan got
the thumbs down as 28.7 per
cent and 26 per cent of the par
ticipants respectively chose not
to travel with them.
The results also showed that
43.3 per cent of the users want
to dance the night away at a
nightclub with their dream
celebrity travel partners.
New York: Do you use smart
phone apps to organize lunch
dates, make convenient online
purchases or communicate the
most intimate details of your
existence? Beware, these apps
may be secretly talking to each
other and potentially breaching
your security, researchers warn.
A study showed that applica
tions on the android phones are
able to talk to one another and
trade information.
The biggest security risks were
some of the least utilitarian
apps that pertained to personal
ization of ringtones, widgets, and
emojis, the researchers said.
"Researchers were aware that
apps may talk to one another in
some way, shape, or form," said
Gang Wang, assistant professor
at Virginia Polytechnic Institute
and State University, US.
But "this study shows undeni
ably with realworld evidence
over and over again is that app
behavior, whether it is intention
al or not, can pose a security
breach depending on the kinds of
apps you have on your phone",
(Image courtesy:
hindustantimes.com)
Wang added. The types of
threats fall into two major cate
gories, either a malware app that
is specifically designed to launch
a cyberattack or apps that sim
ply allow for collusion and privi
lege escalation.
In the latter category, it is not
possible to quantify the intention
of the developer, so collusion,
while still a security breach, can
in many cases be unintentional,
the researchers said.
The findings were presented at
the Association for Computing
Machinery Asia Computer and
Communications Security
Conference in Dubai.

New Delhi: Go on a cruise or hop

on a train or board a flight and
travel to various destinations like
London or Singapore to indulge
in art, and merge with the pictur
esque places that host museums
and galleries, say experts.
Ratna Chadha, Chief Executive,
TIRUN, India representative for
Celebrity Cruises, and Gursahib
Singh Sethi, CoFounder, travel
app Travkart.com, suggest a few
places:
London, England: The
Victoria and Albert Museum in
London showcases applied arts
from around the world. The Tate
Britain is another art museum
you must visit. The National
Gallery, located in Trafalgar
square, is also a delight as it hosts
over 2,300 works of art.
Florence, Italy: The
Galleria dell'Accademia houses
the renowned 'David' by
Michelangelo. The Uffizi, on the
other hand, is located near the
sparkling Arno River and must be
visited if you wish to behold the
world's most fascinating collec
tion of Italian Renaissance art.
Singapore: The best Asian
contemporary art can be enjoyed
at the Singapore Art Museum,
which was inaugurated in 1996.
Pay a visit to the National Gallery
to indulge in an extensive collec
tion of Singaporean and
Southeast Asian art that dates
from the 19th century, all the
way down to modern times.
Mustvisit travel
spots for art lovers
Another building that houses
priceless pieces of art is the
Peranakan Museum.
Aarhus, Denmark: Aarhus
is Denmark's secondlargest city
and a buzzing cultural hub. A
walk down the city's streets will
lead you to discover a seemingly
endless number of galleries
where you can spend hours
browsing through art.
Paris, France: History and
art are present at every corner of
the city, and vacationers can
begin with a visit to the Musee
Carnavalet, which is a tribute to
the history of Paris. The Musee
Picasso, as the name suggests,
allows one to browse through the
works of Pablo Picasso and the
Maison Europeenne de la
Photographie is dedicated to
The
Louvre,
Paris
modern photographic art. Visitors
also throng the famous Louvre
museum, which has become a
central landmark of the city.
Another art museum, the Musee
d'Orsay, showcases works by
remarkable artists including Van
Gogh, Manet, Cezanne and Renoir.
The block printing art and fres
co paintings on Havelis of
Mandawa, Fatehpur, and Nawal
garh are sure to mesmerize those
exploring Rajasthan.
Those traveling to south, will
get a chance to experience the
awe inspiring paintings with sub
tle colors, detailed refinement
and gesso work depicting the
scenes from Hindu mythology.
The brilliant art skills carried out
on clothes in Mysore will surely
mesmerize the art enthusiast.
WEAK GRIP MAY
INDICATE DIABETES
RISK IN MIDDLE AGE
New York: A simple test to deter
mine grip strength may help
identify adults at risk of develop
ing diabetes in middle age, says a
study that found an association
between weak grip and metabol
ic disease and disability in adults.
Low grip strength was greatly
associated with both cardiometa
bolic diseases and physical dis
abilities in middleage to older
adults, both men and women, the (IMage courtesy:
findings, published in the indianexpress.com)
Journals of Gerontology Series A:
Medical Sciences, showed. study participants 50 years of
"We wanted to examine grip age and older.
strength in particular because it Using weighted logistic regres
is highly associated with overall sion models, the team assessed
body strength," said lead study the association between normal
author Mark Peterson, Assistant ized grip strength and physical
Professor at Michigan Medicine, disability, diabetes and other
University of Michigan in the US. metabolic disorder.
"To asses someone's grip For every 0.05 decrement in
strength using a handgrip normalized grip strength in U.S.
dynamometer takes less than 10 and Chinese adults, respectively,
seconds, which makes it extreme there were 49 per cent and 17
ly attractive to adopt in a clinical per cent increased odds for dia
or community setting at the pop betes, the findings showed.
ulation level," Peterson said. It was also linked to 36 per
The research team analyzed cent and 11 per cent increased
normalized grip strength for odds for disability status, accord
4,544 US and 6,030 Chinese ing to the study.
28 April 8-14, 2017 HUMOR TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Funny Side by Nury Vittachi

A superpowered bug to
inspire us all
y wife and her
M friends were
discussing the topic
"What is the deepest
q u e s t i o n e ve r " , s o I
gave them my choice:
"What superhero
would you be?"
The women
sneered that my
favored issue was
n o t c l e ve r n o r e x i s
BEST tential, but the guys
in the room backed
RATE m e, a g r ee i n g t h a t about this from a writer friend who
choosing a superpower was an impor reads incredibly boring scientific
FOR tant subject deserving serious consid papers as a source of inspiration.
eration. This may be a Guy Thing. A tardigrade is a very small bug with
INDIA I know two lads who have been hav
ing a passionate twoyear debate over
astonishing superpowers.
1) It can survive at minus 272 Kelvin,
AND whether it would be better to be a
Beetleman or a Lizardman.
an unbelievably cold temperature
found only in deep space ice planets
PAKISTAN T hey initially supported Lizardman,
as lizards can move each eye independ
a n d t h e h e a r t c a v i t i e s of n a t i o n a l i s t
politicians.
ently, can detach their tails, and have 2) You can more or less kill a tardi
tongues which strike faster than the grade and dry it out and then bring it
New York Head Quarter e y e c a n s e e. B u t a f t e r m u c h h e a r t back to life, months later, an ability
422S Broadway searching, they switched to Beetleman, hitherto seen only in this writer's hard
as beetles generate their own body drinking greatuncles and a certain
HICKSVILLE
armor, outlived the dinosaurs, and will vintage of journalist.
NY 11801 likely inherit the Earth, possibly some 3) Tardigrades can stay alive on food
5168271010 t i m e t h i s y e a r, j u d g i n g b y t r e n d s i n
global politics.
free diets for up to 30 years, a trait
that reminds me of my w ife and her
Superhero fans of either sex strug friends, many of whom have forsworn
gling with this crucial issue will be food, living for decades only on herbal
interested to hear that there's a new tea and traces of frosted lipstick.
candidate for best new origin concept: Using bugs as a source of powers is a
Tardigrade Man or Woman. I learned classic tradition, although the recent
f a sh i o n i n s u p e r h e r o l i t e r a t u r e i s t o
have regular human characters inside
Laughter is the Best Medicine large machines, as seen in Gundam. It
frankly astonishes me that science
today is focused on useless things like
traveling to the stars instead of making
the world a better place by developing
cool machines which we can climb
inside and use to hit each other.
When I mentioned this, a friend told
me about two machineusing brothers
in the United States who recently had
an argument. Stanley Emanuel was in a
crane and his brother Peter was in a
frontend loader when the row escalat
ed and turned into a battle. Who won?
Peter's frontend loader eventually
tipped the crane over, but Stanley
jumped out and had his brother arrest
ed, according to news reports.
Someone showed me a video from
China of guys fighting from inside con
struction equipment, so I guess this is
a Thing now.
T he abovementioned wives thought
having fisticuf fs from inside machines
was dangerous and irresponsible, but
the mental image prompted one of the
by Mahendra Shah guys to raise a new philosophical ques
tion: "What construction vehicle would
Mahendra Shah is an architect by education, entrepreneur by profession, artist and humorist, cartoonist and writer by hobby. He has been you be?" Oh, that's deep.
recording the plight of the immigrant Indians for the past many years in his cartoons. Hailing from Gujarat,
We'll get back to you in a couple of
he lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
years, maybe.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
By Dr Prem Kumar Sharma
APRIL 814, 2017
ARIES: Success is certain provided you
work as a team. An unexpected mes
sage from a distant relative brings
happy news for the entire family. Monetary
gains are likely to be from more than one
source. Difference of opinion with love com
panion would create some problems. Your
energy level will be high. Better to chan
nelise it in a positive direction. Time to
spend money on not only a vacation but a
luxury vacation. Mortgaging your plot may
lose it forever. Chances of suffering because
of others unfulfilled promises.
TAURUS: You will be on the seventh
heaven when you receive recognition
for your achievements at work.
Relatives are likely to give some valuable
advice regarding personal life. A new finan
cial deal gets finalized paving the way for
fresh money. Time now to strive to bring
back harmony in romantic relations. Make
sure your entertainment includes participa
tion in outdoor activities. Vacations are
meant to be fun filled and relaxing but hec
tic schedules may ruin it. Your plan for a
new house will be in process very soon. A
promising week for engaging yourself in
recreation & entertainment.
GEMINI: Your creativity will amaze
people around you besides enhancing
career prospects. Wasting valuable
time in running after fantasies will disappoint
family. Expected financial gains could get
delayed. Cupids arrows would make your
heart flutter high. Positive outlook impresses
those around you besides keeping you fit &
fine. If adventure is your style of holidaying,
then plan it and move around. Your loan pro
cedures for pursuing a plot will be in process.
Charity and helping those who approach you
for help would benefit you.
CANCER: New job opportunities for
some will be better than expected.
You receive care and affection from
family members. Financial position will
improve later in the week. You are likely to
enjoy a pleasure trip that will rejuvenate
your passions. Charity work undertaken will
bring mental peace & comfort. A beautiful
vacation you awaited for is on your cards.
Investment in hotel industry can be the right
choice to be made. Inviting your close
friends to your party will benefit you in the
long run.
LEO: At work you are likely to win
appreciation and awards for past
efforts. Matrimonial alliance for eligi
ble bachelor in family brings joy to all. Real
estate investment would be lucrat ive.
Romance suffers as mood of partner might
oscillate quickly. An impulsive behavior
might cause health problems during this
week. A systematic approach to plan your
journey w ill bene fit you in future.
Investment on construction business might
give fruitful results. Taking the help of like
minded friends would enable to organize a
scintillating party for your group.
VIRGO: Time ly and sw ift act ion
would give an edge over others at
professional front. Engaging yourself
in praiseworthy things would add to familys
reputation. Dig deep beneath the surface to
find out more about the investment scheme
that seems to be attracting you. However
consult experts before making any commit
ment. Romantic entanglement would add
spice to your happiness. Meditation and self
realization prove beneficial. Destination
with a great deal is on your way, be ready
for traveling. Your investment plans are not
up to date be aware. If possible dont allow
you to be taken for granted in friends
company.
ASTROLOGY
LIBRA: You will be highly benefited
by fitting yourself within a team.
Entertainment will be a real fun pro
vided all the members of the family join you.
Avoid overspending in order to impress oth
ers. Romance will flourish provided you take
care of partner. Hypertension patients, make
sure you take a lowfat & low sodium diet
combined with medication to get rid of the
problem. Some arrangements before you go
on an overseas trip will save your time,
effort and give you peace of mind. Investing
on a ship or a cruise is an exciting venture to
be made. Ef forts to extract the secrets of
close friend fail to bring success.
SCORPIO: Colleagues and subordi
nates w ill lend a he lping hand
enabling to complete the work on
time. A new outlook will be the source of
laug hter at family front this wee k.
Investment in stocks & mutual funds would
help in earning profits. Blindly following the
lover/beloved would cheat you. You need to
take complete rest to regain energy, as a fee
ble body weakens the mind. Going to a busi
ness trip, beware might have some problem.
Mortgaging your plot is not right for you,
crisis may arise. Hidden enemies could try to
conspire to harm personal interests.
SAGITTARIUS: Professional success
depends on how well you can nego
tiate. Have fun in the company of
relatives. Be sure where you put hard
earned money because only wise invest
ments will fetch returns. If possible plan
something interesting with lover/beloved
for future. You will have ample time to do
things to improve your health. Vacations are
at a premium, if you consider them. Need to
sale a house, go through the valuation
process carefully. Involving yourself in a dis
cussion will be very useful at personal front.
CAPRICORN: Success in completing
difficult assignments brings a lot of
laurels at work. Enjoying a picnic
with family will not only bring joy but also
help in clearing misunderstandings. Long
term investment in stocks & mutual funds
will enable to earn profits. Chances of your
love life turning into lifelong bond are high
on the card. Sound physical health will
enable to participate in outdoor activities.
Be ready to travel with a challenge, new con
nections will help you. The best ideas for
investment are to on invest on real estate
business. Perfect time to put innovative
ideas to test.
AQUARIUS: Unilateral decision at
workplace would invite the anger of
colleagues. Avoid raising controver
sial issues at domestic front otherwise it will
only vitiate the peaceful atmosphere. You
would be taken for a ride if you behave too
generous in financial matters. You are likely
to suf fer indif ference in love which might
make you tense. Unnecessary worry about
health would only invite further problems.
Traveling at time is what you dont expect
from yourself. Purchasing home loan is not
the right decision for you. You might find it
difficult to put creative ideas to proper use.
PISCES: Selfconfident would enable
to convey your point of view with
ease a workplace. Charming nature
and pleasant personality would make you
the attract ion of family funct ion.
Improvement in finances is certain. Exciting
week as your long pending wait for affirma
tion is going to materialize. You will be suc
cessful in gett ing rid from tensions.
Traveling abroad can be exciting adventure
that will be remembered forever. Think
twice before you plan a home loan. Time to
clear mind of all past negations.
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
8th April, 2017
Influenced by number 8 and the planet
Saturn. You are active, authoritative, systemat
ic, sober and possess a charming personality.
Your ability and hard work bring excellent
results and is appreciated by others, but you
need to check your tendency to behave nerv
ous, vindictive and lazy at times.
This year as you work towards bright future,
money matters will keep you busy. New ven
tures and associations will prove beneficial.
Middle of the year you will go for technology
upgradation and renovation to improve the
ef ficiency of your work. Home front will be
peaceful with family members extending all
possible help and cooperation. Spouse and chil
dren will be supportive and provide you with
lots of love and care. Wedding bells for some in
the later half of the year while others will find
romance to keep them in the right spirit and
good mood. The months of February, June and
October will be important and eventful.
9th April, 2017
Influenced by number 9 and the planet Mars.
You are active, energetic, trustworthy, system
atic and quick in taking decisions. You have a
good command over your work, which in
return brings you rewards and appreciation,
but you need to check your tendency to behave
vindictive and jealous at time. This year do not
exert yourself beyond what you can handle.
Financially you will benefit from investments,
provided you are sure where you need to put
your lifetime savings. Those wanting to pursue
education abroad will receive admission in
their desired institution and course. Health will
be fine, emotional outburst will lead to losses
both personal and official. A distant journey to
attend an auspicious occasion or for pilgrim
age will materialize towards the end of the
year. The months of April, July and October
will prove to be beneficial.
10th April, 2017
Governed by number 1 and the Sun. You are
active, dynamic, authoritative, brilliant and a
talented person. You always welcome new
ideas and thoughts, but you need to check your
tendency to behave extravagant and stubborn
at times.
Your coming year promises many new sur
prises and rewards for you. Your long desires
are likely to be fulfilled this year. New sources
of income will improve your financial position
and boost your confidence. Journeys undertak
en for work purpose would be beneficial and
highly rewarding. Investment in a house and
selected stocks recommended. Later in the
year a distant trip maybe overseas bring new
opportunities for growth and a chance to meet
old associates. Legal matters are likely to be
extended for much longer than expected and
also prove highly expensive. Children will win
laurels in their respective fields and will be
supportive and understanding towards you.
T he months of January, May, July and
November will bring prosperity.
11th April, 2017
Ruled by number 2 and the Moon. You are
simple, honest, cooperative, love peace and
harmony. You are full of new and innovative
ideas and simply a perfectionist in whatever
work you decide to do, but you need to control
your tendency to be whimsical and jealous at
times. The coming year brings you many
opportunities to fulfill your dreams. A pleasure
trip to an exotic destination would be high on
your agenda. Also during this period you will
April 8-14, 2017 29
establish new contacts and fruitful partner
ships. Long expected monetary benefits will
accrue. Speculation and unexpected gains will
make your financial position much better than
expected. But despite all goodies, minor ten
sions and stress will always bother you espe
cially concerning health of your parents and
increase in household expenditure. Your
spouse would be supportive to your concerns
and provide you with love and affection, but
children might take advantage of your gener
ous behaviour and cause some disappointment.
The months of May, July and December seem
to be significant.
12th April, 2017
Ruled by number 3 and the planet Jupiter.
You are ambitious, dignified, independent and
kind hearted. You enjoy a good position and
respect at your work place, but you need to
check your tendency to behave extravagant
and dominating at times. A very promising and
favourable period starts this year. Investors
who speculate in the stock market will benefit
financially. Those involved in art and other cre
ative profession should expect recognition and
monetary gains. Sudden help from some near
one or a friend will bring a major boost to your
professional career. This is also a good time to
invest in property. Children will be supportive
and bring in some happy news later in the
year. Pilgrimage or a long journey would be
high on your cards. The months of March, June
and November will especially prove to be sig
nificant.
13th April, 2017
Influenced by number 4 and the planet
Uranus. You are active, practical, enthusiastic,
authoritative and energetic person. You are
intelligent and can do wonders in your profes
sion with your ability and proficiency, but you
need to control your tendencies to behave
impatient, whimsical and stubborn at times.
Dont be hesitant in executing your new plans
in the coming year. Fame and fortune will be
at your doorsteps provided you are able to
grab the right opportunities. New relationships
and attachments will develop bringing you
good opportunities through out the year. Gains
from speculation is also quite likely. People
looking for matrimonial alliances will find a
suitable life partner. Health will show
improvement despite the hectic hours that you
might put in office. Foreign transactions or for
eign trips for some. The months of February,
May, August and October will be eventful.
14th April, 2017
Governed by number 5 and the planet
Mercury. You are practical, sharp, dignified,
sensitive, original and dashing individual. You
are friendly and very helpful, but you need to
control your tendency to behave impatient and
shorttempered at times.
New proposals and assignments for you this
year. Business will flourish and financial gains
will lift your confidence. Legal matters that
have been haunting your mind will settle to
your satisfaction. Promotions and increments
are likely for some. Relationship with some
body close might get strained over trivial
issues. Romance and new alliances look likely
for those unattached. Elders and children in the
family will demand a lot of your attention.
Health of your spouse may cause concern and
anxiety. Sportsmen and artists can look for
ward to some fame towards the end of the
year. The months of February, June, October
and November will be significant.
30 April 8-14, 2017
By Sant Rajinder Singh
Ji Maharaj
I
f we were to sum up the mes
sage in all the talks and verses
written by the great poetsaint,
Sant Darshan Singh Ji Maharaj, we
would find one theme permeates
them all. That theme is divine
love.
Just as the atom permeates all
matter, so does divine love perme
ate all life. The purpose of all exis
tence is divine love. Divine love
means the love between the soul
and God. This love moved God to
create all creation, including each
of us, and this love is what draws
each back to the Creator.
If we are to commit our life to
the highest purpose it would be to
illumine ourselves with love. Who
should we love? We should love
God. When we love God, we also
love all Gods creation, including
all humanity and all creatures of
the earth.
There is a beautiful story in the
Bible that tells how Jesus and his
disciples were traveling. They
came to a village where a woman
named Martha opened her home
to him. She had a sister named
Mary, who sat at Jesuss feet lis
tening to what he said. But
Martha was distracted by all the
preparations that had to be made
for his visit.
Martha was annoyed that Mary
was only sitting at Jesuss feet
basking in his love while Martha
had to do all the work. Martha
went to Jesus and asked, "Lord,
dont you care that my sister has
left me to do the work by myself?
Tell her to help me!" Jesus replied,
"Martha, Martha, you are worried
and upset about many things, but
only one thing is needed. Mary
has chosen what is better, and this
will not be taken away from her."
This story has caused many to
wonder about its meaning. But
those who understand the true
meaning of this story realize that
the heart of the story is love. It is
describing that the highest of all
in life is to love. Mary was lost in
love with her Master, Jesus. She
was enraptured by his glance and
by his presence, and she melted
into ecstasy. The true purpose of
his coming was to enjoy the heart
toheart and soultosoul meeting.
This story is not saying that the
SPIRITUAL AWARENESS
Illumine your self with love
service that Martha was doing
was not good, but it is talking
about how worried and upset she
was. She was not lost in love, but
caught up in the trials and trou
bles of life.
Yes, service is there, but Martha
was only focused on the tasks at
hand and criticizing what others
were doing, without being lost in
the love that we need to be lost in
while doing service and while
looking to find God. That is why
Jesus told Martha that Mary had
made the better choice and that
her choice to love was not going
to be taken away from her. It is
talking about Martha who, while
doing service, was not engaged in
love, but instead was distracted,
troubled, upset, and critical of oth
ers. That is not how seva with love
and se lflessness is to be per
formed.
This story points to the fact that
the highest of all pastimes in this
world is love. Love can be having
darshan and enjoying the physical
presence of the Master and it can
be performing seva, but only that
If we are to commit our life to the
highest purpose it would be to illumine
ourselves with love. Who should we
love? We should love God. When we
love God, we also love all Gods
creation, including all humanity and
all creatures of the earth.
seva which keeps love at the fore
front.
Love is the fabric of life. It is the
most important goal and occupa
tion we can have, for it is the only
way back to God. If we wish to
continue in separation from God,
then let us only engage in the mil
lions of tasks this world has to
offer that take us away from God.
If we wish to go back to God, then
let us eng age in the work of
love.Sant Darshan Sing h Ji
Maharaj has beautifully said in a
verse:
I could have rested in the com
forting shade of your tresses,
But there is no time from the
neverending problems of life.
Sant Darshan Singh Ji Maharaj
is emphasizing the sad truth that
we are so caught up in the never
ending problems of life that we
never rest in the comforting shade
of the tresses of the Master. The
Masters have traditionally come
from a culture in which long hair
or tresses was the style. Whether
their hair flows out upon their is saying that if we wait for some
shoulders with their silken, glim
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
mering strands that
capture
the heart of
their disci
ples or
whether
their hair is
t ied up in a
bun under a
turban, when
the turban is
removed the
disciples can
enjoy those love
ly tresses. Those
tresses symbolize
the love and pro
tect ion of a
Master.
In this verse by
Sant Darshan Singh
Ji Maharaj, the lover
wants to be with the
Be loved and have
those tresses flowing
out freely for the lover
to enjoy. T he lover
wants to look at them
and be intoxicated by
them. This symbolizes
loved.
Love is a universal need.
that From being newborn babies to
task, resolve this prob our last dying breath, we seek
lem or that problem,
take care of this per
love. Children want the love of
their parents, family, and friends.
son or that person,
time will pass us by.
As adults we seek the love of our
partner, spouses, family, friends,
We will never get to and children. Listen to most peo
the moments of love ple on their deathbed, and they
that are the most have only three words to say to
important pastimes in
life. Love is the ingre
those around their bedside, and
that is "I love you," and those are
dient that makes this the last three words they want to
the ecstasy the disciple experi
life beautiful and worth living. It hear from others.
ences when in the presence of the
beautifies everything. It fills us We feel our life is filled with
Master. The verse is saying that
with the nectar of bliss to propel beauty, warmth, and happiness
those moments are the most com
us through the trials of life. Once when adorned by love. W hen
forting and blissful times we can
we realize that time and problems bereft of love, we feel life is empty
have in this life.
are keeping us away from those and not worth living.
Unfortunately, the neverending
blissful moments between Master There are dif ferent degrees of
problems, stresses, and tasks of
and disciple without, and the dis love we can experience. Most
life are pulling the disciple away
ciple meeting the radiant form of loves of this world, such as
from these blissful times. The dis
the Master within, then we will between parent and child, lovers
ciple always wants to be in the
attain the goal of love. and beloveds, spouses, family, and
moments of bliss that come from
It is true that we have some friends are reflections of a higher
the presence of the Master. But
responsibilities in life to earn our love. They are love on a miniature
life is pulling the disciple and
livelihood, take care of our family, scale. They are physical reflec
Master apart from each other.
and perform our duties to our tions of a love that exists at the
There is always one excuse after
society. But within positive mysti level of spirit. These loves of this
another that keeps them apart.
cism and performing our duties, world are but reflections of the
One day it may be that the disci
we also need to snatch away as love of God, or divine love.
ple has to watch the World Cup
much time as possible to devote to
competition of a favorite team.
spiritual love. We need to realize (To be continued....)
Another day it may be that we
that divine love is the highest pas
have to shop for this thing or that
time of all. We need to make time Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj
thing. Another day we are grow
for that every day. Masters have is an internationally recognized
ing our business. Another day we
given us the minimum time by spiritual leader and Master of
are tied up with this petty prob
which we can successfully connect Jyoti Meditation who affirms the
lem or another. There is no end to
with love, and that is ten percent transcendent oneness at the heart
the reasons we are pulled away of all religions and mystic tradi-
of our time, or two and a half
from the moments of love. tions, emphasizing ethical living
hours a day minimum. That time
Sant Darshan Singh Ji Maharaj and meditation as building blocks
can be spent in meditation where
for achieving inner and outer
we contact that love within us.
time and we complete this task or peace. www.sos.org.
Everyone seeks to love and be
TheSouthAsianTimes.info April 8-14, 2017