The South Asian Times

e x c e l l e n c e i n j o u r n a l i s m
Vol.11 No. 48 April 6-12, 2019 80 Cents New York Edition Follow us on TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Indians want Modi to India is now

serve second term: Poll
New Delhi: Narendra Modi con‑
tinues to be the popular choice to
be the next Prime Minister across
military space
a wide section of society, but the
gap between him and Rahul
Gandhi is thinnest among house‑
wives.
superpower
An overwhelming 63.6 per cent 8By shooting down a satellite with a missile,
of unemployed respondents in
the latest CVOTER‑IANS poll
India has become the 4th country in world
tracker survey preferred with that capability, announced PM Modi.
Narendra Modi as the next Prime
Minister. In the same category,
8 NASA slams the test while New Delhi
only 26 per cent made Rahul
On PM preference, almost twice the number clarifies that debris will dissipate soon
Continued on page 4
in a C Voter‐IANS survey plumped for New Delhi: India last Wednesday The mission was an important
SEE MORE ELECTION STORIES became "a space superpower" as step in securing India's safety, eco‑
ON PG 12‑14. Narendra Modi compared to Rahul Gandhi. its anti‑satellite missile successful‑ nomic growth and technological
ly targeted a live satellite in just advancement, he added.
three minutes, Prime Minister "I assure the international com‑
IAPC inducts 2019 team, honors Kanchana Narendra Modi announced.
"India achieved a historic feat. It
munity that our capability won't
be used against anyone but is

Poola with Lifetime Achievement Award has entered its name as a space
superpower. An Anti‑Satellite A‑
purely India's defense initiative for
its security. We are against an
SAT missile successfully targeted a arms race in space. This test won't
live satellite in space 300 km away
Continued on page 4
in a low earth
orbit," he said in
a nationally tele‑
vised speech.
Till now, only
the US, Russia
and China had
this capability, he
said.
T he Prime
Minister said
"Mission Shakti"
See detailed coverage on page 16-17. was "a hig hly
Described as ʻUnassuming Powerhouse of the Indian community, Kanchana Poola was presented complex" opera‑
Lifetime Achievement Award by Indo American Press Club (IAPC) on Sunday in the presence of tion, conducted
Japanese Deputy Ambassador to UN, H.E. Dr Toshiyo Hosino, as well as officers from the Indian at extremely high
mission to UN and Indian Consulate. The oversold event in Hicksville was graced by over 250 creme de speed w ith
la creme of Indian community and media to celebrate IAPCʼs six years of growth and expansion. remarkable pre‑
cision. "It shows
By SATimes Team "If we don't make a deal with the remarkable
Trump, McConnell Washington: President Donald
Congress, the border's going to be
closed," he told reporters in the
dexterity
India's outstand‑
of

clash on closing Trump said Tuesday that he is

"100 percent" prepared to shut
Oval Office. He wants Democrats
in Congress to accede to his long‑
ing scientists and
the success of

the border down the US border with Mexico

to block an influx of migrants.
held goals of rewriting the visa
Continued on page 4
our space pro‑
gram."

TOURISM 15 MEDIA 16 HEALTH 26 SPIRITUAL AWARENESS 30 excellence in journalism

TheSouthAsianTimes.info April 6-12, 2019

Kohl, kajal, and surma can

contain lead, which can
cause learning and behavior
problems in children,
miscarriage in pregnant
women, and infertility.
„ Wash your hands after
handling.
„ Keep away from children.
„ If you use kohl, kajal,
or surma, ask your doctor
for a blood lead test.

WARNING: MAY CONTAIN LEAD

Call 311 or visit nyc.gov/leadfree

for more information.
Bill de Blasio
Mayor
Oxiris Barbot, MD
Commissioner
TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRISTATE COMMUNITY April 6-12, 2019 3

Lawmakers reiterate US and India are natural allies

By Surekha Vijh
The South Asian Times
Washington: More than half a
dozen US lawmakers from both
sides of the aisle mingled with
prominent Indian Americans at the
Russell Building on Capitol Hill
and promised strong congression‑
al support for the bilateral ties
with India while commending mul‑
tifarious contributions by the
Indian American community to the
country at large.
The event was hosted by the US‑
India Friendship Council (USIFC)
chairman Swadesh Chatterjee, Dr.
Bharat Barai, Raymond Vickery
and Armeane Choksi, among oth‑
ers. They also welcomed Jason
Isaacson of the American Jewish
Committee for promoting strong
ties between India and Israel.
At the program on March 27,
Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, who
was Mrs Clintonʼs running mate in
2016, said that US‑India t ies
remain very strong, adding, “We
are connected because the Indian
American community in the US
Senator Tim Kaine with Swadesh Chatterjee; and Rep. Raja
Krishnamoorthi at the USIFC congressional reception.
and in Virginia is so very strong.”
Rep. Brad Sherman of California,
Chairman of the powerful House
Foreign Affairs Committee, assert‑
ed that for 22 years in Congress he
has “been a proponent of the US‑
India alliance.”
The new Democratic Co‑Chair of
the House India Caucus said,
“Given the challenges that India
faces both to the north (China) and
to the west (Pakistan), it is not sur‑
prising that India has decided to
acquire our most advanced
weaponry and has been only one
of the non‑NATO countries to buy
the most advanced weaponry from
the US.”
While condoling the 40 Indian
paramilitary victims of terror in
Kashmir, Sherman said, “India and
the US share so many things.
Unfortunately, we share being the
victims of international terror.”
He praised Indian Americans as
an ethnic group with the highest
income and the highest level of
educ ation.
Ambassador Shringla praised US
Congress and Indian American
community for enhancing
bilateral ties.
Rep Don Bacon from Nebraska
said the US India were doing many
successful de fense‑exercises
together and were partners in
many other areas. Because “coun‑
tries that embrace freedom and
human rights have to work togeth‑
er.” The event was supported by
the Indian Embassy. Ambassador
Harsh Vardhan Shringla said that
all the people he has met across
the board, whether they were in
the administration, in Congress,
media or academia, they all want
strong India‑US relationship.
Amb Shringla added that India
today was one of the fastest‑grow‑
ing economies in the world,
“accounting for 17 percent of GDP
growth all over the world.” He
added that the US was Indiaʼs
largest trading partner. “India is
buying much more from the US”
now than in previous years.”
He called the support of the suc‑
cessful Indian American communi‑
ty “vital to us in forging a much
stronger relationship with the US.”
He congratulated USIFC chair‑
man Chatterjee for a productive
event.
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi from
Illinois who sits on the House
Intelligence and Oversight and
Reform committees, stressed that
“India is vital for our (US) security”
and that commercial and people‑
to‑people ties help to sustain the
two key democracies.
He wants more Indian Americans
to run for office, “If you dream it,
you can do it.”

Congestion pricing, ban India has huge potential, real question

on plastic bags in the is speed of growth: Indra Nooyi
state budget New York: India has a huge potential
and the real question is the speed of
New York: The first fully Democratic‑controlled State
growth and how many roadblocks it is
Legislature in years passed $175 billion budget
willing to remove, former PepsiCo chair‑
Sunday, making the 2% property tax cap permanent,
person Indra Nooyi has said.
banning single‑use plastic bags and establishing a
Nooyi was the guest speaker at the
congest ion pricing system for driving into
New India Lecture series organized by
Manhattan.
the Consulate under the aegis of Consul
The plan calls for imposing tolls on drivers for
General Sandeep Chakravorty and in
entering Manhattan south of 61st Street as much as
partnership with the US‑India Strategic
$11 for cars. The idea is to reduce gridlock, encour‑
Partnership Forum (USISPF) last
age the use of mass transit and generate money to
Thursday.
repair the crumbling subway system, as well as to
“India has got to do what is right for
help LIRR and Metro North commuter rail.
India. I am not the person to opine on
Beginning in March 2020, the state will ban single‑
that,” she said. On the various geo‑politi‑
use plastic bags such as the ones used at grocery and Indra Nooyiʼs talk moderated by Prof. Saikat Chaudhuri on March 28 at the Indian
cal uncertainties around the world and
convenience stores. Consulate was part of New India Lecture Series (Season‑II).
their impact on the global economic and
Counties and cities also will have the option of
social sphere, she said there have been ernance aspect, everything else is local. they just focus on doing their business,
imposing a five‑cent fee on paper bags.
many times in the past where there has “As long as you go into a country and they will be successful.
Lawmakers renewed for five years the surcharge
been geopolitical uncertainty. “Itʼs been develop a local model and execute it On where does she see a balance
applied to individuals who earn more than $1 million
in different forms but itʼs always been locally, you live within the rules of that between online retail and brick and
annually and couples earning $2 million or more.
there. Big companies just learn to power country. Donʼt compromise your corpo‑ mortar business, she said, “If there is a
How School Tax Relief program (STAR) works for
through.” rate governance principles. shake‑out in retail, I wonʼt blame it on
homeowners with incomes between $250,000 and
Nooyi said she has always said that “You have got to be aware of politics, Amazon. Thatʼs just retail getting ef fi‑
$500,000 will change.
“when you go into any country, you be sensitive to all the minefields, but cient. Amazon is just improving the cus‑
Instead of seeing their STAR exemption applied up
have got to act as though you are the donʼt play in them, donʼt take a voice in tomer experience. Traditional retailer
front to reduce their school tax bill, they would have
citizen of that country. You canʼt go in them because that is a losing proposi‑ created a lot of friction in the system,
to pay the full bill first, then later receive a refund
there and say everything is going to be tion,” she said, adding that if companies and where there is friction, there is
for the equivalent savings.
done my way. Except the ethics and gov‑ have knowledge of whatʼs going on but Amazon to take out the friction.” PTI
 4 April 6-12, 2019 TURN PAGE TheSouthAsianTimes.info

CELEBRATING 6 YEARS OF country of India.
GROWTH & EXPANSION Neeta Jain, Democratic District
IAPC receives full‑throated sup‑ Leader of NYʼs 25th assembly district
port of Indian community (Part B) and Civic Community Leader,
Continued from page 17 in her acceptance speech said that
USA, Canada and Europe. It is com‑ the mediaʼs role is important because
mitted to enhance the working condi‑ “your pen and words can make a big
tions of journalists, of fering educa‑ change in the world.”
tional and training opportunities to Devadasan Nair, Consul ‑
its members. Community Af fairs with the Indian
The incoming General Secretary Consulate in New York gave this
Mathewkutty Easow in his welcome advice to IAPC: "Media shall always
speech said: "Like any other success‑ bring the truthful and right news to
ful organization, IAPC is forging the public. IAPC should attract and
ahead with 7 "P's" ‑ Purpose, include media persons hailing from
Pathway, Passion, Perseverance, all regions of India and it shall grow
Positivity, Patience and Principles to to be an internationally renowned
become a source of pride to its mem‑ organization."
bers and envy to other organiza‑ From the dignitaries, Deepak
tions.” Misra, Minister, Permanent Mission
Kamlesh Mehta, IAPC Board of India to the UN, graciously attend‑
Member and Publisher of The South ed the entire proceeding and pre‑
Asian Times, called IAPC a strong sented plaques to the honorees who
platform for Indian ethnic journalists included BCB Bank (plaque accepted
who are not well paid and do not by Bank Manager Roopam Maini),
enjoy benefits like a pension plan. He and Mohan Nannapaneni, Co‑founder
asserted that IAPC is working toward of nonprofit TEAM Aid.
providing some security to them Congressman Tom Suozzi and
with support from the community. Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor
Dr. Toshiya Hoshino, Japanʼs Joseph Saladino, who could not
Deputy Permanent Representative to attend, sent messages of good wishes
the UN, in his address highlighted to IAPC. Kevin Thomas, New York
the strong ties between Japan and State Senator, was held up with the
the US and Japan being a partner state budget work.
To celebrate 550th Birth Anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the Indian Consulate in New York
organized an evening of Gurbani on March 27 with young artists: Prachi Makkar (middle),
Gurleen Kaur and Surya Makkar.
Padma Shri Dr. Sudhir Parikh,
Chairman of Parikh Worldwide
Media, in his message congratulated
Sujeet Rajan, his Executive Editor,
and Ashok Vyas, ITV Gold Program
Director, for being honored by IAPC.
He complimented IAPC for going
from strength to strength over 6
years. Air Indiaʼs Regional Manager –
Americas Bhuvana Rao giving a
byte to ITV Gold said that the Indian
ethnic media here plays a construc‑
tive role as it contributes to bringing
the community together as well as
India and US closer.
A cof fee table book titled ʻGlobal
Religionsʼ compiling seven issues of
the interfaith journal, One World
Under God, was released at the event.
It is published by Global Interfaith
Foundation, which was started last
year by Darshan Singh Bagga, a real
estate developer, and is edited by
Parveen Chopra, Managing Editor of
The South Asian times.
Vineetha Nair, Director IAPC Board,
kicked of f the meeting and handed
the mike to young emcees Jinu Ann
Mathew and Andrew G Zacharia. The
vote of thanks was given by Biju
Chacko, National Secretary.
IAPC Chairman Babu Stephen
Could not attend because of family
emergency.
India now military space power
Continued from page 1
breach any international law or treaties."
Cong ratulat ing scient ists at the De fence Research and
Development Organisation (DRDO) for achieving this "unparalleled
feat", Modi said the entire effort was indigenous.
NASA on Monday slammed India's A‑SAT test, which may launch
a race among countries to repeat the feat and that deliberately
destroying a satellite and creating space debris was "wrong".
The Indian foreign ministry has clarified that the test was con‑
ducted in "the lower atmosphere to ensure that there is no space
debris" and "whatever debris that is generated will decay and fall
back onto the Earth within weeks".
Indians want Modi to serve second term: Poll
Continued from page 1
Gandhi as their choice. But among housewives, 43.3 per cent said
they would like to see Modi as the PM against 37 per cent prefer‑
ring Rahul.
On the other hand, government servants gave big thumbs up to
Modi with 61 percent respondents in this section preferring him to
be the PM and only 26 percent wanting Rahul to take up the top
job.
Apart from housewives, landless agriculture labor and general
labor are the sections where Rahul Gandhi's popularity is high but
he is still no match to Modi here as well.
Among the voters from landless agricultural labor section, 35 per‑
cent preferred Rahul Gandhi and 48 percent saw Modi as their
leader. Around 35 per cent of general labor saw Rahul as PM as
against 49 percent going for Modi.
Trump, McConnell clash on closing the border
Continued from page 1
lottery system and preference for family members in immigration.
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell while
agreeing with the President on a border crisis, said "closing down
the border would have potentially catastrophic economic impact
on our country, and I would hope we would not be doing that sort
of thing." Significantly, goods worth more than $1.5 billion cross
the border on a daily basis. But Trump said, "Security is more
important to me than trade."
Trump also addressed his recent decision to cut off aid to three
Central American countries ̶ Guatemala, El Salvador and
Honduras ̶ from which many of the migrants have traveled to
the U.S. border.
Critics say that decision will likely create more, not fewer,
refugees from those countries.
Trump framed it as a natural response to what he views as the
failure of the recipients of U.S. aid to give reciprocal value.
On Monday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristjen Nielsen asked
for an additional 750 border agents to assist with a policy
designed to keep asylum‑seekers in Mexico while they await adju‑
dication of their cases.

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TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRISTATE April 6-12, 2019 5

NASA selects Indian American‑ Hotstar is the official Digital

led Yale team to build miniature Streaming Partner for IPL 2019
satellite for space launches New York: Hotstar, the preferred streaming
service for the best of South Asian entertain‑
New York: An undergradu‑ ongoing search for the ori‑ ment & cricket, is once again bringing the
ate team of scientists in gins and nature of these signature VIVO IPL experience to cricket
Yale led by an Indian‑ rays, which will provide fans in North America. As the official digital
American is designing a insight into the origins of streaming partner for the VIVO IPL 2019,
miniature satellite which the universe.” Hotstar is live‑streaming all the matches
has been chosen by NASA To date, the Cube Sat starting March 23. VIVO IPL is among
for launch on future space Launch Initiative has select‑ Indiaʼs most successful cultural exports and
missions. ed 176 CubeSat missions Hotstar has successfully enabled fans across
The Yale Undergraduate from 39 states and launched the world to immerse themselves in the
Aerospace Asso ciat ion 85 CubeSat missions as part worldʼs greatest cricket spectacle.
( YUAA), which is led by of the Educational Launch of With Hotstar, cricket lovers in North
Keshav Raghavan, is cur‑ Nanosate llites (ELaNa) America can stream the action‑packed VIVO and relive key moments during any game.
w Ambient cricket content that provides a
rently working at the throug h NASAʼs Launch IPL drama LIVE, in HD quality and on any
window into the behind‑the‑scenes action of
Wrig ht Lab to build a Services Program, NASA device. Hotstar is available on the web
the IPL and showcases riveting stories about
CubeSat research satellite Yale Undergraduate Aerospace said in its press release. (us.hotstar.com and ca.hotstar.com), Google the teams and big heroes of the game.
to detect cosmic rays. It is Association team is led by Raghavan and his team play store, app store, as well as on Roku TV, “VIVO IPL has captured the hearts and
among 16 undergraduate Keshav Raghavan. mates have already done Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV Stick and Android minds of millions of cricket fans all over the
teams across the country R&D on the miniature TV. world. We are proud to recreate the signa‑
whose CubeSats will be flown into space as satellite, and this summer they begin on For those who miss the LIVE stream, ture cricket experience in the homes of pas‑
auxiliary payloads on space missions prototyping and final construction work on Hotstarʼs video‑on‑demand feature allows sionate fans in North America, bringing
planned to launch in 2020, 2021 and the satellite. In January 2019, the team subscribers to replay the match at their con‑ them closer to the g ame,” said Ipsita
2022. began using one of Wright Labʼs clean venience or just catch‑up with customized Dasgupta, President – Strateg y and
“It will be the first ever Yale undergradu‑ rooms to conduct tests on launch‑ready highlights of the best moments. Incubation, and Hotstar International at Star
ate endeavor to launch a spacecraft, forg‑ components, such as the altitude control The VIVO IPL experience on Hotstar has India. “By leveraging our technology, deep
ing the path for even more ambitious systems. Wright Lab will be the teamʼs site truly revolutionized the annual sporting consumer insight, and expertise in cricket
space‑based projects by Yale undergradu‑ for final assembly of the satellite. spectacle with unique content offerings that coverage, Hotstar presents the VIVO IPL and
ates in the future,” the University According to the YUAA website, these recreate the frenzied energy of the game in all the stories surrounding the famed tourna‑
announced in a March 22 press release. miniature satellites were first developed by North America. The platform provides: ment and its heroes in an immersive and
According to a March 14 announcement the California Polytechnic State University w Regional and expert commentary in six
languages (English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, engaging style.”
from NASA, the YUAA project, called and Stanford University in 1999.
Kannada and Bengali). In 2018, Hotstar set a new world record
Bouchet Low‑Earth Alpha/Beta Space “Intended as a standard, inexpensive
w Exclusive pre‑match and post‑match with more than 10 million concurrent view‑
Telescope (BLAST), “is a scientific investi‑ design that can easily fit alongside larger analysis from the best cricketing minds. ers logging on to the platform from across
gation mission to map the distribution of satellites aboard launch vehicles, the w An Exclusive Dugout commentary feed the globe to watch the final match of the
galactic cosmic radiation across the night CubeSat model has given student groups, that provides in‑depth analysis and clairvoy‑ VIVO IPL 2018 tournament. Hotstar expects
sky. The satellite will identify and count hobbyist organizations, and research teams ant in‑game predictions by cricketʼs biggest
to exceed that record this year, as the tour‑
alpha particles and beta particles in the operating with limited funding or experi‑ legends.
w Innovative Fan Graph that viewers can nament increases in popularity, grabbing
rays, and measure the radiation energy ence unprecedented access to space,” the
use to scroll to high points of the match, eye‑balls and capturing the imagination of
around Earth. BLAST will contribute to the YUAA site says.
track the number of simultaneous viewers millions.

SAAWA holds 4th Science Fair Competition

By Shaker Nelanuthala

Merrick, NY: SAAWA (South Asian

American Womenʼs Alliance) com‑
pleted another successful year of
Science Fair Competitions at the
Merrick Golf Course Club House.
The venue was offered this year by
the Supervisor of the Town of
Hempstead, Hon. Laura Gillen, who
was the chief guest of the event on
March 31.
It all started as an idea in 2012,
the brain child of audacious Dr.
Anila Midha and Prof Subhash
Midha who are President and
Chairperson of SAAWA respectively.
The non‑profit organization seeks
to mentor, encourage, promote
leadership and innovation among
South Asian American women and it
also of fers science talent search
competition to high school students
along the lines of Regeneron STS.
The science competition of fers
students an opportunity to articu‑
late knowledge and present projects
in all STEM fields. The current five
major categories where the awards
(above) SAAWA team Subash Midha, Bharathi Nelanuthala and
Anila Midha with Town of Hempstead Supervisor Laura Gillen
at the science competition.(right) Some of the 200 students
who participated in the competition.
are of fered include Physics, and were a diverse group of many STEM and Community Service Based in Long Island, Shaker
Chemistry, Biology, Environmental ethnicities and demographics. All Award. Nelanuthala (sn1961@yahoo.com)
Engineering and Behavioral sci‑ applicants are screened by experts The event sponsors included HAB is an IT & Property Management
ences. For the year 2020, SAAWA is before they are allowed to present Bank, BCB Bank, and Netrovert (PM) con‑
looking to add categories like their projects. Judges evaluating the Software. SAAWA board members sultant
Artificial Inte lligence, Marine talent included academics, physi‑ Bharathi Nelanuthala, VP of HR at and an
Biology, Genetics (including Cancer cians and executives. Results are Netrovert Software, Dr. Bhavani editorial
research) etc. The competition is announced a week after the contest. Srinivasan, Mrs. Aruna Saxena and contribu‑
open to all boys and girls from The awards ceremony this year will Dr. Sunita Saini contributed to the tor to the
Nassau and Suffolk high schools. take place on May 19 where around success of the event. SA Times.
This time around 200 students 30 plus awards will be given out, The South Asian Times congratu‑
participated in the Science competi‑ including a special Science Teacher lates SAAWA (SAAWA.org) on
tion. They came from 23 schools of the Year award and a SAAWA another successful science fair.
 6 April 6-12, 2019
U.S.-India host counter terrorism joint
working group and designations dialogue
Washington DC: Indian and U.S.
officials met in Washington, DC on
March 29 for the sixteenth meet‑
ing of the U.S.‑India
Counterterrorism Joint Working
Group and the second session of
the U.S.‑India Designat ions
Dialogue. State Department
Coordinator for Counterterrorism
Ambassador Nathan A. Sales and
Ministry of External Af fairs Joint
Secretary Shri Mahaveer Singhvi
led respective inter‑Agency/inter‑
Departmental delegations to dis‑
cuss counterterrorism cooperation
between the two countries, resolv‑
ing to continue close coordination
on this important element of the
bilateral relationship.
T he Counterterrorism Joint
Working Group exchanged views
on threats posed by international
terrorist organizations as well as
ongoing concerns over cross‑bor‑
der terrorism in the South Asia
region. Ambassador Sales empha‑
Community celebrates success of
Indian American exhibit and Holi
Moorhead, Minn.: Beyond
Bollywood: Indian Americans
Shape the Nation is an exhibit
thatʼs been at the Hjemkomst
Center for the past six months.
The exhibit was collaboration
between the Smithsonian
Institute and Historical and
Cultural Society of Clay County.
The community is celebrating
its success, as well as Holi, a fes‑
tival of colors.
Organizers say 10,000 people
have come to see it, even school
groups from hours away.
“I think itʼs been educational
for the community and for us. I
would say I learned a lot about
Indian Americans in America
than I knew before,” Anu Gaba,
an organizer, said.
There have been all sorts of
Ambassador Harsh V Shringla hosted CEOs from select US corporates and addressed them on the
attractiveness of India as an investment destination and the growth potential the
Indian market offered to US industry.
Ministry of External Affairs Joint
Secretary Mahaveer Singhvi and
State Department Coordinator
for Counterterrorism
Ambassador Nathan A. Sales.
sized U.S. support for the people
and government of India in the
fight against terrorism. Both sides
underlined the urgent need for
Pakistan to take meaningful, irre‑
versible, and verifiable action
against terrorists and terrorist
events over the past half year,
including lectures, performanc‑
es, and the most popular, a fash‑
ion show.
“Indian Americans are shap‑
ing the nation in so many spe‑
cialties. In health, in computer
science, in professor, in school,”
Vijay Gaba, a board member at
the Historical and Cultural
Society of Clay County, said.
The community celebrated
with dancing and the Holi festi‑
val, where people throw color‑
ful powder at each other to cel‑
ebrate the arrival of spring and
good over evil.
Organizers want people to
learn that the Indian American
story is one thatʼs
multi–faceted, and thereʼs a lot
more to it than you might read
TRISTATE
groups. There was discussion of
strengthening cooperation on
information sharing and other
steps to disrupt the ability of ter‑
rorists to travel, consistent with
the important provisions and obli‑
gations outlined in United Nations
Security Council Resolution 2396.
Participants also highlighted
their e f forts on some of the
world's most pressing counterter‑
rorism challenges, including coun‑
tering the financing and opera‑
tions of terrorist organizations,
terrorist use of the internet, and
prosecuting, rehabilitating, and
reintegrating returning Foreign
Terrorist Fighters. T he United
States welcomed India's participa‑
tion in international ef forts to
counter terrorism finance, and the
two sides also shared information
about their priorities and proce‑
dures for pursuing sanctions des‑
ignations against terrorist groups
and individuals.
in a textbook.
“Every immigrant group ini‑
tially struggles to be accepted.
Then they have to fight for it
and ultimately they become
part of the American fabric.
That has repeated again and
again,” Anu said.
While this chapter may be
over for organizers, the Indian
American story will continue to
go to on.
“I feel this is a microcosm of
immigration thatʼs been hap‑
pening. For us itʼs happening
now, it started 200 years ago,
but itʼs still happening and
there are other groups where
itʼs all happened and for some
groups itʼs going to start in the
future. I feel part of a story,”
Anu said. (Source: kvrr.com)
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Teaching Hindi in the
U.S. has expanded
under the federal
STARTALK program
New York: STARTALK, a federal
program to promote teaching of
critical languages during the sum‑
mer vacation, which enters the
12th year of operation has been a
major force behind expanding the
formal teaching of Hindi in the
United States.
Conducted by the National
Foreign Language Center at the
University of Maryland, STARTALK‑
supported Hindi programs have
become popular in a number of
states, such as, New York, New
Jersey, Illinois and Texas.
The Sangam‑Franklin STARTALK
Hindi Language and Cultural
Program is among the half a dozen
programs that New Jersey will host
this summer. It will be held from
July 22 to August 8, at Franklin
High School in Somerset, New
Jersey.
Currently in its fourth year
Sangam‑Franklin STARTALK is con‑
ducted by Hindi Sangam
Foundation, a non‑profit education‑
al and cultural organization sup‑
ported by the Franklin Township
School District. John Ravally, super‑
intendent, Franklin Township
Board of Education, agreed to col‑
laborate with the HSF in 2016 to
host this program. He invited sen‑
ior educators of the district to help
this program succeed. As a result
Franklin High School in Somerset,
NJ was designated as the host insti‑
tution and extended its resources,
such as classrooms, auditorium,
mirrored dance room, art room,
cafeteria and state‑of‑the‑art tech‑
nology facilities for the success of
the program.
“Rich resources of a school is
necessary for conducting cultural
and technological activities at
STARTALK programs,” Sanjyot
Tatke, senior instructor and profes‑
sional development coordinator of
the program, is quoted saying in a
press release. “Our instructors dili‑
gently select varieties of topics
under the theme of ʻStorytellingʼ
with rich cultural content appropri‑
ate for our students who are study‑
ing in Middle and High Schools of
neighboring district,” Tatke said,
adding, “We aim at improving stu‑
dents proficiency in speaking, read‑
ing and writing aspects of Hindi
and follow the guidelines of the
American Council on Teaching
Foreign Languages.”
She said that STARTALK guide‑
lines ensures that language teach‑
ers prepare students to face the
challenges of 21st centuryʼs global
and local realities that require criti‑
cal thinking, intercultural sensitivi‑
ties, multi model communication
skills and innovativeness.
Language education and cultural
understanding are at the heart of
developing global awareness for
students, said Tatke who is also
coordinating a similar program in
Lansdale, PA, where Yuva Hindi
Sansthan, YHS, a sister organiza‑
tion, is conducting STARTALK sum‑
mer program for the seventh year
in a row.
“North Penn School District, our
local collaborator and the heritage
community members are very
impressed by the outcome of our
program,” Tatke said in the press
release. “This year we are recruit‑
ing forty students from
Elementary, Middle and High
Schools in the area. We will use
varieties of topics under the theme
of ʻA Virtual Trip To Indiaʼ and
engage students in interactive cul‑
tural, artistic, theatrical and tech‑
nological activities during the pro‑
gram.”
“STARTALK functions under two
tracks‑one for teaching students
and other for training instructors”,
said Vijay Gambhir, Ph.D., a retired
Hindi lecturer of the University of
Pennsylvania, where she taught
Hindi for more than three decades
and now serves as a trainer for
instructors of YHS STARTALK
Hindi Program. She said,
“STARTALK trained teachers follow
the same guidelines that prevail in
the teaching of world languages in
public schools, colleges and univer‑
sities in the US. T hey teach
Primary, Middle and High School
students in short‑term programs
using authentic material produced
in the native culture. These authen‑
tic materials reflect the products,
practices and perspectives of the
native culture. The goal of this for‑
mal language teaching is to pre‑
pare learners as future ʻworld citi‑
zensʼ who could communicate in a
language other than English. Hindi
is a foreign language for USA, how‑
ever, it remains a native language
for students of Indian origin. This
program is a meaningful effort to
transform the USA into a multilin‑
gual society.”
According to the press release,
the STARTALK program has
reached its maturity as more teach‑
ers from heritage background
enter the field of education.
Organizers believe that with its cat‑
egorization as a critical language
for the United States from business,
commerce and national security
points of view, millennial kids have
better opportunities to become
bilingual as they grow up to pursue
their careers of choice.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Rajat Gupta's tell‑all: The rise and
fall of Wall Streetʼs poster boy
New Delhi: Rajat Gupta was once
the toast of Wall Street, a real
Indian‑American icon admired
around the world. He became the
first Indian‑born CEO of a multina‑
tional corporation when he was
chosen Manag ing Director of
McKinsey, the global consulting
firm, in 1994. He held that presti‑
gious position for nine years. Then
came a stunning fall from grace in
2012 when he was sentenced to
two years in prison by a New York
Court on charges of insider‑trad‑
ing. Out of jail since 2016, Gupta
now tells his side of the story in
his memoirs.
In an interview to NDTV, he has
blamed prosecutor Preet Bharara
for going after him.
"Prosecutors are all about win‑
ning. They are not necessarily
searching for the truth," Gupta told
NDTV, claiming he was a scape‑
goat.
"We had this dramatic financial
crisis. It is very clear now if you
look at it as to who the primary
people who were responsible for
that financial crisis. It was a mort‑
gage lending‑led crisis, financial
inst itut ions, banks, housing
finance companies, were very
Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge is Walt Disney TV names Ravi Ahuja CFO
now most expensive toll in US and President Business Operations
New York: T he Verrazzano–
Narrows Bridge is now the
nationʼs most expensive bridge to
cross after an MTA toll hike ratch‑
eting up the rate to $19 went into
effect Sunday. The one‑way non‑E‑
ZPass toll now tops the $18 it
takes to cross Virginiaʼs
Chesapeake Bay Bridge‑Tunnel ̶
which is 23 miles long. The full
Verrazzano runs 2¹/₂ miles.
It previously cost $17 to take
the Verrazzano from Brooklyn to
Staten Island.
Under the new toll, drivers with
E‑ZPasses will be charged $12.24
̶ up from $11.52. But Staten
Island residents were spared the
hike and will still pay only $5.50
under a rebate program.
That cost was slated to jump to
nearly $6, but Gov. Cuomo and the
state Legislature decided at the
NATIONAL COMMUNITY
Rajat Gupta
involved in leveraging themselves,
making loans that they should
have never made, so on and so
forth and practices that were quite
not right. Not one of those people
has been held accountable. Not a
single bank CEO, senior manage‑
ment, has been convicted. They
have been fined heavily which
obviously, the shareholders of the
banks pay," he said.
He said the "the real perpetra‑
tors" of that financial meltdown
were never brought to justice or
held accountable."
"I think the prosecutors were
looking for a 'we have to find
something, let's go after hedge
last minute to pony up $6 million
a year to keep the tolls low for
folks living on Staten Island.
The crossingʼs toll also had law‑
makers feeling a little cross, too.
“Last time I checked, a bridge
has two sides. It is RIDICULOUS
that the discounts of fered to
Staten Island residents have
NEVER been offered to Brooklyn
residents,” Councilman Justin
Brannan, a Democrat from Bay
Ridge, tweeted on Sunday.
But Assemblywoman Nicole
Malliotakis, a Republican repre‑
senting both sides of the bridge,
defended the Forgotten Boroughʼs
special treatment.
“That bridge is our only way to
connect. Staten Island is absolute‑
ly deserving of the credit. Itʼs part
of what government should be
doing,” she said.
April 6-12, 2019 7
Harris, 2020 US presidential
aspirants push for donations
Los Angeles: W hen Senator It measured her campaign's
fund managers', things like that
Kamala Harris spoke on Saturday strength, viability and interest,
when they did not contribute to
at the Human Rights Campaigns and Harris is likely to lead other
the financial crisis at all in anyway.
dinner here, she sandwiched it candidates in the money primary
So part of that was 'let's find this
into a prolific schedule of when it comes to the amount she
scapegoat'," Rajat Gupta said.
fundraising past weekend as has raised from showbiz sources.
In his book, Rajat Gupta has
Sunday night at midnight was Other candidates ‑‑ Pete
alluded to his immigrant status as
the first deadline of the 2020 US Buttigieg, the mayor of South
possibly playing a role in his con‑
presidential race. Bend, Indiana, who is enjoying a
viction.
A number of showbiz donors publicity surge as the 2020
But NDTV asked him why he
say that they want to meet the favorite longshot, was Friday
thought so, given that Bharara was
candidates and see who emerges attending private meet ings
also of Indian origin. "I don't know,
from the st ill‑g row ing fie ld, before appearing on HBO's "Real
you have to ask him what his moti‑
including former Vice President Time with Bill Maher."
vations were but I can see that he
Joseph Biden, who has yet to Earlier in March, he was at
would say that I am tough against
announce whether he will run Hillcrest Country Club, as part of
anybody and I am tough against
but who would likely be a top a series of meet‑and‑greets with
even my own people of my own
draw among Hollywood's veteran a group of L.A. donors.
origin. It could be. I don't know if
political players. Senator Cory Booker also last
that's true or not. I would say also
Harris has been the most pro‑ week did a swing through Los
that he was very, he is known to be
lific in court ing hig h‑dollar Angeles and raised money at
very media‑savvy. I write in the
donors at traditional fundraising four different fundraisers.
book, I don't know exactly how
receptions. On Saturday, she was Senators Elizabeth Warren,
much but he certainly increased
scheduled to attend a reception Bernie Sanders have focused
the media presence and the media
at the Pacific Palisades home of almost solely on raising huge
staf f in his own organization,"
writer‑producer‑director Jenni sums online.
Gupta said
Konner and writer‑director But Harris has a head start in
"He was reprimanded by the
Richard Shepard, with tickets the money primary. She's bypass‑
judges for trying the case in media
starting at $1,000‑per‑person. ing the introductory meet‑and‑
before actually trying it in the
Co‑hosts included Ali Adler, greets that have been common in
court. T his is not about Preet
Jessica Alba, Mindy Kaling, Kelly the past few months in favor of
Bharara versus me or anything like
Sawyer Patricof and Shauna events where attendees are sure
that," he said.
Weiss. to write checks. (IANS)
(Source: www.ndtv.com)
Los Angeles: The Walt advertising sales and con‑ tions and development. His group
Disney Company has tent distribution, accord‑ contributed to investments and
announced that Ravi ing to Disney. acquisitions, including the National
Ahuja will join the sen‑ Ahuja currently serves Geographic Partners, YES Network
ior leadership team of as chief financial of ficer and Sports Time Ohio RSN transac‑
Walt Disney Television for the Fox Networks tions and in the planning and for‑
upon the close of the Group. In this position, the mulation of Fox Networksʼ new
21st Century Fox acqui‑ company said, he has channe l strategy, said Disney.
sition as president of direct management of Ahujaʼs group was also active in
business operations and finance and accounting new technology initiatives, includ‑
chief financial officer. while also overseeing ing Hulu and Roku.
Ravi Ahuja
In this role, Ahuja will business development for Before joining Fox, Ahuja spent
oversee finance, strategic planning, all FNG business units: Fox eight years at Virgin Entertainment
business development, af filiate Broadcasting Company; Fox Cable Group, Inc. in executive roles, ulti‑
sales and distribution, technology, Networks, including FX Networks; mately becoming chief financial
music af fairs, consumer insights Fox Sports Media Group and of ficer. Prior to joining Virgin, he
and labor relations for the division. National Geographic Partners; and was in the consulting practice at
In addition, he will work closely Fox Networks Group Europe and McKinsey and Company and began
with business units to optimize and Africa and Latin America. his career in investment banking.
grow revenues and operating Ahuja became a part of Fox in Ahuja holds both a bachelorʼs
income and will liaise with Disneyʼs 2007. Prior to his appointment as degree and an MBA from the
Direct‑to‑Consumer and CFO at Fox, Ahuja was executive Wharton School at the University of
International segment in regards to vice president of business opera‑ Pennsylvania.
 8 April 6-12, 2019 NATIONAL TheSouthAsianTimes.info

AIRLINES APOLOGIZE Indian‑American to feature

FOR REMOVING
INDIAN‑AMERICAN TEENS
FROM PLANE
New York: Delta Air Lines and Korean Air
have apologized to the family of two unac‑
companied Indian‑American minors who
were kicked off a flight on their way to
visit family in the Philippines.
The 15 and 16 year old sons of Prajakta
and Rakesh Patel were removed from the
Korean Air flight after they told the airline
about a peanut allergy and asked that
peanuts not be served around them on the
Seoul – Manila leg of the flight. Korean Air
is Deltaʼs partner for that segment.
According to news reports in Good
Morning America and USA Today, both
Delta and Korean Air apologized for
deplaning the kids at Seoul. The unaccom‑
panied minors had to wait many hours to
catch a flight back to their parents in
Atlanta, Georgia.
Korean Air spokesperson InSun Lee is
quoted saying in a statement sent to USA
Today and Good Morning America,
“Korean Air sincerely apologizes to Mr.
and Mrs. Patel and their sons. … Customer
service is a mainstay of the Delta and
Korean Air partnership and we regret that
the Patelsʼ experience did not reflect our
common values.
We are examining this incident and will
work out to create a better customer expe‑
rience.”
According to news reports, the kids
repeatedly tried to explain the dangers of
the peanut allergy but Korean Air officials
did not accommodate them and told them
peanuts would be served and it was up to
them to board or get off. But InSun Lee
told USA Today the airline was aware of
peanut allergies, saying, “Korean Air is
aware that peanut and food allergies are
in Morgan Freemanʼs
ʻThe Story of Godʼ
an industry issue and no airline can guar‑
antee a food allergy‑free environment. But
we are reviewing ways to deal with this
issue in a safe and feasible way. We totally
understand the risks faced by passengers
with nut and food allergies and will cer‑
tainly try to accommodate them better in
the future.”
Delta spokesperson Susannah Thurston,
told USA TODAY in a statement, “Weʼre
sorry for this familyʼs ordeal, and we are
working with our partner Korean Air to
examine the processes surrounding this
incident,” adding, “We will use our find‑
ings to create a consistent experience for
customers flying delta and our partner air‑
lines.”
The parents of the kids appeared on
Good Morning America March 27 where Prof Pankaj Jain with Morgan Freeman
they spoke of their ordeal.
Houston: An Indian‑American professor India and has worked as a software engi‑
A report by the ABC affiliate WSB‑TV
will share his views on religion on Oscar‑ neer in India and New Jersey.
said that the Patels had informed Delta
winning actor Morgan Freemanʼs ʻThe The professor is an active member of
about the peanut allergy of their eldest
Story of God.ʼ several academic and community organi‑
son and were assured by the airline that
The National Geographic documentary zations and has published poems in Hindi.
no peanuts would be served on the first
series, now in its third season, explores Jain has been consulted widely by the
leg from Atlanta to Seoul, Good Morning
how religions around the world have media around the world for his expertise
America reported.
shaped society. in ancient religions such as Jainism and
The problem arose when the children
Pankaj Jain, an associate professor at Hinduism and their connections to con‑
were told peanuts would be served and
the University of North Texas traveled to temporary issues.
they had the choice of not boarding.
Nepal last year where he joined Freeman He also created University of North
Mother Prajakta Patel told Good
to participate in rituals at a Jain temple in Texasʼs first course on Jainism and has
Morning America, “I was very shocked and
Kathmandu. helped organize Jain education events at
almost in tears,” adding, “It was the most,
Originally from Rajasthan, Jain is a pro‑ the university.
most stressed out Iʼve ever been.”
fessor with universityʼs department of phi‑ Jain recently published B Science and
Father Rakesh Patel told Good Morning
losophy and religion. So cio‑Re lig ious Revolut ion in India:
America, “When youʼre sitting halfway
Their trip and discussion about Jainism Moving the Mountains,B and is also the
around the world and your children are
will feature in the seriesʼ April 9 episode. author of B Dharma and Ecology of Hindu
stranded at an airport because they got
Jain holds a PhD from the University of Communit ies: Sustenance and
kicked off a plane because of a food aller‑
Iowa and an MA from Columbia Sustainability,” which has won two
gy, itʼs a punch in the gut.”
University. He studied computer science in awards. (Agencies)

United for Peace rally to say ʻno to hateʼ

Naperville, Ill: United for Peace, a
grassroots organization working
on unity and peace across the
world, he ld a peace rally at
Riverwalk Grand Pavilion in
Naperville on Sunday, March 17.
Speakers included Naperville
Mayor Chirico and 2 council mem‑
bers, State Senator Ellman and
State Rep. Villa, Representatives
from the DuPage and Will county
boards, an aide from U.S. Rep. Bill
Foster's office and the president of
Naperville's Congregation Beth
Shalom.
A couple hundred community
members from different religions ‑
Christians, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs,
Jews and those of other diverse
backgrounds showed up on a cold
day for an outdoor event just so
they could say “NO to hate” and
join with each other in a collective
chorus for “peace.”
They spoke against a backdrop
world will be as one.”
Imtiaz Uddin read the statement
from United for Peace on the hor‑
rific killing of 50 people in 2
mosques in New Zealand and led
the group into a moment of silence
for the victims and their families.
Other speakers also expressed
their sorrow and angst that such
incidents were becoming all too
common.
Shalini Gupta, one of the found‑
ing members of United for Peace
introduced the mission of the
organization, to promote respect
and unity in communities and to
A couple hundred community members from different religions be a collective voice for non‑vio‑
took part in the rally lence and peace in the world. She
also ment ioned the Building
of famous quotes on peace and event singing the lyrics from John Bridges program, which would
non‑violence by Gandhi, MLK, Lennonʼs song Imagine – “Imagine focus on finding common ground
Mother Teresa, Einstein, Victor all the people, living life in peace, and improving understanding
Hugo, and Malala Yousofzai among you may say that I'm a dreamer, between two communities with a
others. A young high schooler, but I'm not the only one, I hope history of conflict and polarization.
Preetish Chakravorty, opened the someday you'll join us, and the “The Indo‑Pak unit of Building
Bridges is our first unit, with more
to come over time,” she said.
Porus Dadabhoy from India and
Farhan Ahmed from Pakistan
talked about the joint resolution
for peace that had been signed by
Americans from Indian and
Pakistani communities and pre‑
sented to both consulates on
March 5 against the backdrop of
escalat ing military tension
between the two nuclear armed
countries.
Attendees were encouraged to
post st icky notes on a poster
board, answering the question
"What action are you personally
going to take to promote unity and
peace?” All agreed that this was
one of the most pressing causes
for all humans to take forward and
attendees left feeling personally
energized to join and continue the
march toward peace throug h
brotherhood and compassion.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
5 Indian expats feature in Forbes'
billionaires' list from UAE
Dubai: The combined worth of the five expats,
including three from Kerala, is a whopping
$15.1 billion, the Khaleej Times reported.
Prominent retail business tycoon MA
Yusuff Ali, who ranks at 394 on the list, is the
richest Indian expat in UAE with assets esti‑
mated over $4.7 billion.
MA Yusuff Ali, a Padma Shri winner, is from
Nattika in Kerala's Thrissur district. He is the
Chairman and Managing Director of LuLu
Group International that owns the Lulu
Hypermarket chain worldwide and LuLu
International Shopping Mall.
Next in the list is Micky Jagtiani, owner of
the Dubai‑based Landmark retail stores
group, who went from being a London cabbie
to an Emirati billionaire businessman.
The retail magnate is worth nearly $ 4 bil‑
lion. His overall rank is 478.
Born in Kuwait, Micky Jagtiani did his
schooling in Chennai, Mumbai, and Beirut,
before moving to London.
BR Shetty, founder, and chairman of Abu
Dhabi‑based NMC Healthcare, is third in the
list with assets worth $2.8 billion. His overall
rank is 804. The billionaire, who is from
Udupi in Karnataka, is famously known for
owning two floors in the world's tallest struc‑
ture, Dubai's Burj Khalifa.
NUMBER OF INDIAN WORKERS
IN KUWAIT SHOOTS UP TO
MORE THAN 8 LAKH
Kuwait City: The number of Indian workers
in Kuwait has soared over 8,89,000, the
highest amongst all other expat workers in
this Arab country, media reports said. The
figure was revealed on Sunday by the
Central Administration of Statistics, the
Arab Times reported citing the Al‑Qabas
daily.
The Indians were followed by Egyptians
at 4,84,000 and Bangladeshis at 2,71,000.
The statistics confirmed that the total
household employment at the end of the
third quarter of last year was 6,89,000, an
increase of about 9,000 compared to the
end of 2017.
Meanwhile, the Director of the Public
Relations and Information Department and
Kuwait, India agree on
exemption of entry visas
Kuwait City: An agreement signed by the
governments of Kuwait and India on mutual
exemption of entry visa for diplomatic, offi‑
cial and "special" passports has been imple‑
mented from February 19, diplomatic
sources at the Ministry of Foreign Af fairs
said here.
The Al‑Anba daily quoted the sources as
saying on Wednesday that the agreement
was signed between the governments on
October 31, 2018.
Citizens of both countries who hold the
passports will be allowed to enter, exit or
transit through the international ports with‑
out a visa and enter the territory of the
DIASPORA April 6-12, 2019 9
Retail business tycoon MA Yusuff Ali is the
richest Indian expat in UAE
Sunny Varkey, education entrepreneur and
philanthropist from Kerala, is the fourth rich‑
est UAE expat with assets worth $ 2.4 billion.
He ranks 962 on the list.
Sunny Varkey is the founder and chairman
of the global advisory and educational man‑
agement firm GEMS Education, which has a
network of over 130 schools in over a dozen
countries. PNC Menon, an Omani property
developer from Thrissur in Kerala, also made
it to the list with assets worth USD 1.1 billion.
He ranks at 1,941 in the overall list.
of ficial spokesperson of the Public
Authority for Manpower (PAM), Aseel Al‑
Mazyad, said that "Kuwait is keen to pro‑
tect the labor rights of all, citizens and
expatriates."
She pointed out that many expat workers
were af fected by their lack of familiarity
with the provisions of the law and their
rights, especially with respect to pregnant
women and the leave they can obtain,
stressing that the PAM is committed to
applying the law immediately upon receiv‑
ing a complaint from the worker.
Four nationalities ‑ Indian, Filipino,
Bangladeshi and Sri Lankan ‑ account for
89 percent of total domestic or private sec‑
tor employment in Kuwait.
other party without obtaining a visa and res‑
idence for up to 60 days, the Arab Times
reports.
It also authorizes the holders of such pass‑
ports to extend their stay after the expiry of
the period after the approval of the compe‑
tent authorities in accordance with the legal
provisions in force, provided that the pass‑
ports are valid for a period not less than six
months from the date of entry into the terri‑
tory of either party.
According to of ficial figures, Indians at
nearly 700,000 make up for the largest
expat community in Kuwait.
(IANS)
 10 April 6-12, 2019 US AFFAIRS TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Mueller probe report: A puzzle in

search of solution from US Congress
How can the principal subject (Donald Trump) of the probe be innocent when his
campaign associates have been punished for lying to the federal investigators
and committing crimes. Does one ever lie if not to mask the truth?
Op Ed by Chandra and committing crimes. Does one election of 2016 Republican majori‑
K. Mittal, Ph.D. ever lie if not to mask the truth? ty in both House and Senate and
Hence, Americans in overwhelming control of Presidency led the coun‑

W
hile President Donald
Trump, in his hyperbolic
demeanor, might have
declared Robert Mue ller
Investigation Report on his purport‑
ed involvement with Russian
Interference in 2016 Presidential
Election as a “total and complete”
exoneration, in really it is anything
but. When your close advisers and
associates in an enterprise (i.e.
2016 campaign) are indicted and
imprisoned for lying to a federal
agency like the FBI, you canʼt
declare yourself innocent and exon‑
erated.
It is true that Mueller did not or
could not indict the President of
collusion with the Russians, he did
not “exonerate” the President of his
involvement in the “obstruction of
justice”. T his charge has been
indeed dismissed by the Attorney
General William Barr, a political
appointee, who was already
opposed to the Muellerʼs Russian
probe and who (predictably) did not
find enough legal grounds to charge
President Trump of “obstruction of
justice”.
Fact also remains that President
Trump, the principal subject of the
Russian probe, could not be person‑
ally interviewed by prosecutor
Robert Mueller due to noncoopera‑
tion and reluctance of the Attorney
General who is member of the
Executive branch of the government
and had authority over Robert
Mueller actions. In essence this con‑
flict of interest by the AG and inabil‑
ity of Mue ller to interview the
President might have impacted the
whole complexion of the probe and
the conclusions derived from it.
Under these circumstance Trump
can hardly claim exoneration in
public opinion when many of his
close campaign associates are
either indicted of crimes or are
headed to serve the jail time for
their criminal conduct.
The Mueller Report Summary as
conveyed by Attorney General
William Barr to the US Congress is
as murky as it is evasive. It does not
answer with clarity (perhaps pur‑
posely) whether President Trump
indeed committed obstruction of
justice. The report lacks final prose‑
cutorial judgment by Special
Counsel Mueller. He instead left it
to the Attorney General or the
Congress to make the final determi‑
nation on the Presidentʼs culpabili‑
ty.
T he quotation from Muellerʼs
Report “while this report does not
conclude that the President com‑
mitted a crime, it also does not
exonerate him” as conveyed by AG
Barr to the US Congress, is indeed a
lightning rod and intriguing as it
creates serious doubts and casts
aspersions on Muellerʼs independ‑
ence in carrying out the investiga‑
tion, which might have prevented
him from issuing a definitive con‑
clusion on the criminality.
It could also be that Robert
Mueller was inductively influenced
by the Attorney General or felt his
hands tied due to Department of
Justice rules that a sitting President
could not be indicted of a crime. In
either case, Muellerʼs Reports does
not look objective.
All this has created a national cri‑
sis of public confidence in the gov‑
ernment and its custodians.
It is hard for many Americans to
believe how the principal subject
(Donald Trump) of the probe could
be innocent when his campaign
associates have been punished for
lying to the federal investigators
numbers are asking for full disclo‑
sure of Mueller report in the inter‑
est of complete transparency.
It is only for reasons of trans‑
parency as well as the oversight
functions of the US Congress over
the Executive branch that Congress
unanimously passed a bill for public
release of the Mueller Report even
before the report came out. But now
Muellerʼs decision not to exonerate
Trump has complicated the matter
and has given further impetus and
rationale to US Congress to resolve
the puzzle of “obstruction of justice”
by the President. So, now Congress
is demanding the US Attorney
General to provide supporting doc‑
uments and investigative data used
by him or Robert Mueller to reach
the conclusions on the whole inves‑
tigation.
On his part President Trump, his
supporters and the conservative
media continue to claim complete
and total exoneration on both the
collusion and obstruction of justice
charges, which is not compatible
with the view of majority
Democrats in the Congress. Such
divergent stands by the two sides is
likely to result in a long‑drawn bat‑
tle for the Mueller investigation
documents that are all controlled by
the Executive branch, and are not
likely to be shared without the
Courtʼs intervention.
Fact also remains that since the
try by alienating the Democrats.
Now that Democrats have a majori‑
ty in the House, they are trying to
settle some old scores. However,
both behaviors are destructive and
unacceptable.
It is not since 1974, when
President Nixon resigned in dis‑
grace due to obstruction of justice,
that America has witnessed such a
chaotic and unruly political envi‑
ronment which President Gerald
Ford later called “national night‑
mare”. America canʼt afford another
“nightmare” in current times when
the world looks up to it for both
moral and political leadership.
It is, therefore, perhaps time for
both the Democrats and
Republicans to shed the politics of
revenge and retribution, and rise
above the partisanship in national
interest.
Both parties need to come togeth‑
er to create an independent com‑
mission to look at all the oddities in
the Mueller investigation and set‑
tle/resolve them in a bipartisan
manner. Only such constructive and
positive approach and bipartisan
spirit can bring political peace in
America.
Dr. Chandra Mittal is Professor at
Houston Community College, Op‑Ed
Columnist, and Co‑Founder of Indo‑
American Association (IAA)‑
Houston.

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

AG Barr to give Mueller report to Congress, public

Washington: The US Justice Department
w ill re lease Special Counse l Robert
Mueller's report on the Russia investiga‑
tion to Congress and the public by "mid‑
April, if not sooner", Attorney General Bill
Barr has said.
In a letter to the chairmen of the House
and Senate judiciary committees on
Friday, Barr said his department is "well
along" making redactions, with Mueller's
assistance and "there are no plans to sub‑
mit the report to the White House for a
privilege review", CNN reported.
The exact length of the report has been
shrouded in secrecy, but Barr said on
Friday that it was "nearly 400 pages long",
not including appendices and tables, and
"sets forth the Special Counsel's findings,
his analysis, and the reasons for his con‑
clusions". Barr also of fered to testify
Attorney General Bill Barr
shortly after the report is released, sug‑
gesting May 1 for the Senate committee
and May 2 for the House committee.
On March 24, Barr released a four‑page
summary of Mueller's principal conclu‑
sions, which he made clear that it was not
meant to be an "exhaustive recounting of
the Special Counsel's investigation or
report". In that summary, Barr said that
the Russia investigation "did not establish"
that President Donald Trump's campaign
conspired with the Russian government
before the 2016 election, but Mueller did
not draw a conclusion about whether
Trump obstructed justice.
Barr further confirmed that the Justice
Department and Muller's team were work‑
ing to redact four types of information
from the report: grand jury material, sen‑
sitive intelligence material, information
that involves ongoing investigations, and
"information that would unduly infringe
on the personal privacy and reputational
interests of peripheral third parties".
House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler
of New York issued a statement on Friday
responding to Barr's letter by insisting
that Democrats want the full Mueller
report without redactions, CNN reported.
"As I informed the Attorney General ear‑
lier this week, Congress requires the full
and complete Mueller report, without
redactions, as well as access to the under‑
lying evidence, by April 2. That deadline
still stands," Nadler said.
But Georg ia Representat ive Doug
Collins, the top Republican on the House
Judiciary Committee, accused Nadler of
setting arbitrary deadlines for Barr to
release the report, and said Nadler's
demand for Barr not to redact grand jury
and other information amounted to call‑
ing for "the attorney general to break the
law by releasing the report without redac‑
tions". ‑IANS
TheSouthAsianTimes.info US AFFAIRS April 6-12, 2019 11

Trump says census 'meaningless' White House reversed

without citizenship question security clearance denials:
Washington: President Trump blasted "radi‑
cal" Democrats who have pushed back
against his administration's bid to include a
citizenship question on the 2020 census.
“Can you believe that the Radical Left
Democrats want to do our new and very
important Census Report without the all
important Citizenship Question. Report
would be meaningless and a waste of the
$Billions (ridiculous) that it costs to put
together!” the president tweeted Monday.
The Trump administration moved to add
the question to the 2020 census. But it's
faced opposition from Democrats who
argue it would make immigrants less likely
to respond to the constitutionally mandated
tally and therefore render it less accurate.
The question has been caught up in litiga‑
tion in federal courts, where lower courts
have ruled the administration's haste to
include the question violated federal law
and the Constitution.
To Republicans, the additional census
question is perfectly logical. But Democrats
are up in arms, saying the inclusion of such
a question amounts to an effort to intimi‑
date immigrant communities and siphon
money and electoral power away from
them.
Census counts are taken by mail and by
workers going door to door. The Census
Bureau said that the 2010 census drew a
massive response, with about 74 percent of
households mailing in forms, and the
remaining households counted by workers
in neighborhoods.
Whistleblower
Washington: A White House whistleblower
has told Congress that dozens of rejected
security clearance applications were over‑
turned by the Trump administration.
Tricia Newbold claimed applications that
were denied for "serious disqualifying
issues" were later reversed with little expla‑
nation, the BBC reported on Monday.
Newbold, who works as an adjudications
manager in the White House Personnel
Security Office, testified to the Democratic‑
led House Oversig ht and Re form
Committee.
"I would not be doing a service to myself,
my country, or my children if I sat back
knowing that the issues that we have could

2nd woman accuses Biden of impact national security," she said.

She added that rejections occurred due to
a variety of reasons, including "foreign Tricia Newbold works in the White House
inappropriate touching influence, conflicts of interest, concerning
personal conduct, financial problems, drug
Personnel Security Office

use, and criminal conduct". John Kelly to grant a clearance to his son‑
Washington: A second woman has come for‑
The committee added that it is investigat‑ in‑law Kushner, who until then had been
ward alleging that former US Vice President
ing the background checks of the presi‑ operating under an interim clearance.
Joe Biden touched her inappropriately, the
dent's daughter, Ivanka Trump, her hus‑ In her testimony, Newbold also criticized
media reported on Tuesday.
band Jared Kushner and National Security the White House for "getting out of control"
Biden now faces those two accusations as
Advisor John Bolton. with the number of interim clearance
he considers a bid for president in 2020. He
Last year, it was widely reported that issued, which allowed staf f and aides to
is expected to announce his decision as soon
President Trump forced then‑chief of staff access classified information.
as this month, reports CNN.
T he woman, Amy Lappos, told the
Connecticut newspaper Hartford Courant on
Monday that Biden pulled her in to rub
noses with her at a 2009 fundraiser in
Greenwich, CT. Biden was Vice President at
Former Vice President Joe Biden who is
the time.
mulling 2020 run for President.
"It wasn't sexual, but he did grab me by
(Photo courtesy Bloomberg)
the head," Lappos, who was then an aide to
Rep Himes, told The Courant. response to Flores' accusation.
Lappos' allegation comes after Lucy "Referring to this type of behavior as 'sim‑
Flores, a former Democratic politician in ply affection' or 'grandpa‑like' or 'friendly' is
Nevada, on March 29 said that she felt Biden ridiculously dismissive and part of the prob‑
touched her in an inappropriate manner. lem. Saying 'but Trump ...' is dangerous and
Flores said that Biden made her feel sets the bar for Democratic men far below
"uneasy, gross, and confused" in 2014 when, where it should be," Lappos said.
at a campaign rally, she said he kissed her "If Biden truly supports women and gen‑
on the back of the head. Lappos later said in der equality he would step aside and sup‑
a statement that she decided to speak out port one of the many talented and qualified
due to her disappointment over Biden's women running," Lappos said.

Trump cutting off aid to 3

Central American countries
Washington: After months of threats,
President Donald Trump has of ficially
taken steps to cut of f aid to Guatemala,
Honduras, and El Salvador ̶ the three
countries in the “Northern Triangle” of
Central America that are the origin point
for the current unprecedented wave of
family migration to the United States.
Last Saturday, the State Department
acknowledged in a statement that it had
notified Congress it was cutting of f aid
from past years (fiscal years 2017 and
2018) to the three countries. An estimated
$700 million in aid will be affected by the
cutoff.
Trump and Of fice of Management and
Budget director Mick Mulvaney believes
that migrants are continuing to come to
the US without papers is evidence on its
face that aid isnʼt working and should be
cut off. Other officials and experts, howev‑
er ̶ including fellow members of the
Trump administration ̶ have emphasized
that economic development and improving
security are the only ways to address the
“root causes” of migration. Date: Friday, April 5  8:00 pm - 9:00 pm 
And in the meantime, stopping people Location: Science of Spirituality Meditation Center, 79 County Line Rd, AMITYVILLE, NY, 11701
from reaching US soil to claim asylum ̶ Contact info: 631-822-7979 ext. 3 | InfoTristate@sos.org |  nyfytp.eventbrite.com
President Trumpʼs main objective ̶ is For more info. please visit www.sos.org
Facilitator: John Bednarik, OHST
going to rely on the continued cooperation
of Central American countries and Mexico,
the very governments Trump is now antag‑
onizing with the Northern Triangle aid cut‑
off.
 12 April 6-12, 2019
MAHA KUMBH
OF DEMOCRACY
Wayanad (Kerala): T he pictur‑
esque district, sitting high on the
Western Ghats, is popularly known
for its tourism potent ial on
account of it being located at alti‑
tudes ranging from 700 to 2100
meters.
Wayanad also became the battle‑
ground for political ascendancy,
becoming the second constituency
after Amethi from where Congress
President Rahul Gandhi will con‑
test the Lok Sabha elections.
Clearly, the race is for bagging
the minority Muslim and Christian
votes. With the Indian Union
Muslim League being part of the
Congress‑led UDF, the seat is con‑
sidered "safest" for the Congress.
Senior Cong ress leader M.I.
Shanawaz, who be longs to
Ernakulam, contested quite a few
elections, both to the Lok Sabha
and Kerala Assembly. He finally
tasted victory in 2009, the first
time the Wayanad Lok Sabha con‑
My family ended princely
privileges: Priyanka
Ayodhya: Congress General
Secretary Priyanka Gandhi has
slammed the BJP for equating the
Gandhi family with royalty and
pointed out that it was her grand‑
mother Indira Gandhi who abol‑
ished the privileges of princely fam‑
ilies. Interacting with the students
of Sunbeam Public School here,
Gandhi also said that her "emotion‑
al dream" was to see an India where
no one was questioned over his reli‑
gion.
Referring to then Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi's decision in 1972 to
do away with the privileges given to
Maharajas after India's independ‑
ence, Gandhi sought to underline
that this would not have happened
if the Gandhi family viewed itself as
royalty.
A Congress leader who attended
the interactive session in a large
hall told IANS on Saturday that a
girl student questioned Gandhi's
dreams about a future India.
"Priyanka Gandhi said she has an
emotional dream for India. She
wants to see an India where no
one's re ligion, be it Hinduism,
Why Wayanad is safest seat for Rahul Gandhi
Congress President Rahul Gandhi with JD(S) Supremo HD
Devegowda in Bengaluru. (Photo: IANS)
stituency was formed.
Though an outsider, Shanawaz
defeated his nearest CPI rival by
over 1.5 lakh votes, the highest in
Kerala in that year. But in the
2014 Lok Sabha polls, his victory
margin dropped to 20,870.
Last year he passed away and
since then the seat was ly ing
vacant.
The Wayanad Lok Sabha con‑
stituency consists of seven assem‑
bly constituencies, spread over
three districts, Wayanad (Sultan
Battery, Manathavady and
Congress General Secretary (Uttar Pradesh East) Priyanka Gandhi
during the election campaign in Ayodhya. (Photo: IANS)
Christianity, Islam or any other, is
not questioned."
The Congress leader said she also
wants to see an India where
"women are equal to men and are
not treated the way they are treated
today".
On a three‑day trip, Priyanka
Gandhi visited his brother and
Congress President Rahul Gandhi's
constituency Amethi and her moth‑
er and UPA Chairperson Sonia
Gandhi's constituency of Rae Bareli
before reaching Ayodhya.
At Ayodhya, she visited a mazaar
and prayed at the Hanumangarhi
INDIA NEWS
Kalpetta), Malappuram (Wandoor,
Nilambur and Eranadu) and
Kozhikode (Thiruvampady).
In the 2016 assembly elections
while the Congress‑led UDF won
from Sultan Battery, Wandoor and
Eranadu, the CPI‑M‑led LDF won in
Manathavady, Kalpetta, Nilambur
and Thiruvampady.
"The master stroke has come
now with Gandhi deciding to con‑
test from Wayanad and that's
going to give a massive boost to
the UDF in Kerala," senior Indian
Union Muslim League leader
temple. The Congress leader react‑
ed sharply to a question on Romeo
squads in Uttar Pradesh which crit‑
ics say have become a tool to harass
young couples.
She also attacked BJP for its criti‑
cal views on NYAY (Nyuntam Aay
Yojana) promised by Rahul Gandhi.
BJP leaders have said that Rahul
Gandhi's promise cannot be imple‑
mented due to fund crunch.
Priyanka Gandhi said in response:
"The BJP should answer where the
government got the money to
waive of f debts of the business
community."
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Will defeat Modi,
form coalition: Rahul
Bengaluru: Congress President Rahul Gandhi said his party would
form a coalition government in the Center with Janata Dal‑Secular
(JD‑S) and other allies by defeating Prime Minister Narendra Modi
in the 2019 general elections.
"Just as we formed a coalition government with the JD‑S in
Karnataka in May 2018 and kept the BJP out of power, we will do
the same in the Center with it (JD‑S) and other parties after defeat‑
ing the NDA government," he said at a massive public meeting
with the ruling coalition partner.
He did not name the other parties and if they would be from out‑
side the United Progressive Alliance.
Polling across the southern state is in two phases on April 18
and April 23 for 28 parliamentary seats. Vote count is on May 23.
Abdureham Randathani told IANS. districts, and it's more evident dur‑
"This is because with this deci‑ ing the time of local bodies elec‑
sion, the ties between the IUML tion. The net beneficiary is the
and the Congress are definitely Le ft. For the IUML, Gand hi is
going to be much stronger," he someone special and with this
said. decision to contest in our place,
"This particular constituency has not a single vote is going to go
around 54 per cent Muslims and if anywhere," said Randathani.
one includes the Christian commu‑ P.P. Suneer, the CPI candidate,
nity, then the total number of who will take on Rahul Gandhi,
minority community votes would told the media that he is not
be more than 67 per cent," said alarmed by the stature of the
Randathani, a two‑time legislator opposing candidate.
who lost in the 2016 assembly "The candidate does not matter,
polls. as elections are fought on issues.
"Its common knowledge that in By now I have already completed
the past there has been friction three rounds of my campaign and I
between the Congress and the am on a strong foot ing," said
IUML, especially in the northern Suneer.
Priyanka insulted Hindus in
Ayodhya: Adityanath
Gautam Buddha Nagar: Uttar
Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath accused Congress
General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi
of insulting Hindus by not going to
the makeshift Ram Temple during
her visit to Ayodhya.
Addressing a rally at the Bisadah
village in Dadri area, he said:
"Priyanka Gandhi Vadra insulted
Hindus by saying that she did not
visit Ram Janmabhoomi as the mat‑ UP Chief Minister Yogi
ter was in court. Adityanath addressing a rally in
"Three members of her family are Gautam Buddha Nagar (Noida).
on bail. I want to ask Srimati Vadra (Photo: IANS)
does she meet them or not?" sive road show in the city before
Adityanath was referring to her offering prayers at Hanumangarhi
mother and UPA Chairperson Sonia temple there.
Gandhi, and her brother and Adityanath also slammed
Congress President Rahul Gandhi Congress President Rahul Gandhi
being out on bail in the National for calling the Jaish‑e‑Mohammed
Herald case and her husband terror outfit chief "Masood Azharji",
Robert Vadra out on bail in a money saying: "Rahul gives respect to ter‑
laundering case. rorists by calling them Masood
T he senior Bharatiya Janata Azharji, while on the other hand
Party's remarks came two days Prime Minister Narendra Modi gifts
after Priyanka Gandhi, during her terrorists with bullets and bombs."
visit to the temple town of Ayodhya, He said when India conducted
said she won't be visiting the Ram strikes on Pakistan, each and every
Janmabhoomi site as the matter citizen bowed down to the brave
was subjudice. The Congress leader soldiers but the Opposition
had taken out a 15‑km‑long mas‑ demanded proof.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info INDIA NEWS April 6-12, 2019 13

Jobs, farmer distress top Congress election manifesto

New Delhi: T he Cong ress on
Tuesday released a 53‑page mani‑
festo for the Lok Sabha elections
promising good governance, free‑
dom from indebtedness to farmers,
protecting existing jobs while cre‑
ating new ones and implementing
anti‑corruption laws without bias.
Divided into 'Kaam' ‑ employ‑
ment and growth, 'Daam' ‑ econo‑
my that works for all, 'Shaan' ‑
pride in India's hard and soft
power, 'Sushashan' ‑ good gover‑
nance, 'Swabhimaan' ‑ self‑esteem
for the deprived and 'Samman' ‑
life of dignity for all, the manifesto
was re leased by Cong ress
President Rahul Gand hi, UPA
Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and for‑
mer Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh in the presence of senior
party leaders.
T he Cong ress promised to
launch MGNREGA 3.0 to address
issues of water security, soil quali‑
ty and similar issues that aggra‑
remunerative prices, lower input
costs and assured access to institu‑
tional credit, we will set our (farm‑
ers) on the path to 'Karz Mukti' or
freedom from indebtedness."
T he Congress will provide a
Minimum Income Support
Programme (MISP) or Nyuntam
Aay Yojana (NYAY) under which Rs
72,000 a year will be transferred
to the poorest 20 per cent families
in India.
The party promised anti‑corrup‑
tion laws "without discrimination".
It said a Congress government
Senior Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi,
w ill invest ig ate several deals
Manmohan Singh and AK Antony releasing the party's
entered into by the Modi govern‑
manifesto in New Delhi. (Photo: IANS)
ment, in particular the Rafale deal.
vate farmers' distress. Wasteland Regeneration Mission," It w ill also probe the circum‑
"To this end, we will increase the the manifesto said. stances under which scamsters
guaranteed days of employment It pledged to give the highest pri‑ were allowed to leave the country.
up to 150 days in cases where 100 ority to protecting existing jobs T he party promised a new
days have been achieved in a and creating new ones. Ministry of Industry, Services and
block/district; and use MGNREGA The party promised a loan waiv‑ Employment.
labour in the Waterbo dies er across the country for farmers. It said that it w ill work to
Restorat ion Mission and the "T hroug h a combinat ion of improve the situation in Jammu
and Kashmir, including reviewing
the Armed Forces (Special Powers)
Act and the Disturbed Areas Act in
J&K.
The manifesto promised safety
and a right to study or do business
anywhere in the country to the
students, traders and others from
Jammu and Kashmir, saying the
party is "deeply concerned about
the cases of discrimination and
harassment" faced by these people.
"We will adopt a two‑pronged
approach: firstly, uncompromising
firmness on the border and ending
infiltration; and secondly, absolute
fairness in dealing w ith the
demands of the people and win‑
ning their hearts and minds," the
manifesto read.
For North East states, the party
promised to restore the special cat‑
egory status and industrial policy.
The Lok Sabha elections will be
held in seven phases between April
11 and May 19.

BJP can best deal Kamal Sachetee takes over as

with joblessness: President of global Jain Social Group
Jaipur: Jain Social Group

Survey ( JSG) Internat ional

Federation, the largest
umbre lla org anizat ion
New Delhi:
with over 65,000 mem‑
Unemployment
bers spread over 20 coun‑
is the biggest
tries in 470 chapters, had
issue for the
the installation of the new
voters across
executive board for 2019‑
the board but
21 on March 31 at glitter‑
the Bharat iya
ing function here.
Janata Party
Kamal Sachetee of
(BJP) is seen as
Jaipur is the new presi‑
the best bet to
dent for 2 years. The oath
deal w ith the
taking ceremony was
issue.
attended by over 3,000
T he latest
guests with many digni‑
CVOTER‑IANS Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (From left): Rajasthan Health Minister Dr. Raghu Sharma, Guest of Honor
taries, Rajasthan ministers,
poll tracker sur‑ businessman Yogendra Raj Singhvi, new JSG President Kamal Sachetee and
Only 0.4 per cent of the unem‑ JSG members from across
vey showed that Prime Minister his wife Mrs. Saroj Sachetee at the installation event with the new board
India and who is who of
Narendra Modi is most preferred ployed said that national security members standing in the back.
was the main problem. In fact, Jaipur.
among the unemployed.
esides working for the unity among various sects of arranged 86 bodies for medical schoolsʼ anatomy
Most significantly, the job crisis national security gets less than
Jain religious groups, JSG is actively involved in studies, over 3,200 Corina collection, 20,000 units of
has come back as the biggest one per cent traction across vari‑
social service. Among other activities, they have blood d several skin donations.
issue as most voters had identi‑ ous segments of society.
fied national security as their But terror attacks continue to
major concern in the surveys just be a concern for 10.4 per cent
after the air strike on Balakot in among unemployed, 13.6 per
Pakistan. cent land owning farmers saw it
Nirav Modi's bail plea rejected
London/New Delhi: T he authorities, argued against Nirav
T he survey was carried out as major issue and 14.3 per cent
Westminster Magistrates' Court has Modi's bail. "There is a real risk that
across a wide cross section of government servants saw it as
rejected the bail plea of fugitive dia‑ he could flee, interfere with wit‑
society from the unemployed to the main problem.
mantaire Nirav Modi suspecting he nesses, interfere with evidence," the
housewives, land owning farm‑ Apart from unemployment,
could "flee" Britain and "interfere prosecution said.
ers, landless agricultural labour, family income and poverty are
with witnesses", said sources. Nirav Modi was arrested on
government servants, private major issues for the jobless,
Judge Emma Arbuthnot has behalf of the Indian authorities
employees and self employed. housewives and landless labour‑
granted the Metropolitan Police from Holborn in London on March
For obvious reasons, 34.8 per ers.
custody of the 48‑year‑old busi‑ 19 in connection with the Rs
cent of jobless respondents iden‑ The survey found that a majori‑
nessman till the next hearing on 13,500‑crore Punjab National Bank
tified unemployment as the most ty of the unemployed youth who
April 26. Arbuthnot is the same (PNB) fraud case.
important problem. But 27.4 per mention employment as their
judge who ordered the extradition Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul
cent of private employees, 25.5 biggest concern identify the BJP
of former Kingfisher Airlines boss Choksi are being investigated by
per cent of self employed and as the party that can best man‑
Vijay Mallya last December. the Enforcement Directorate and
20.5 per cent of housewives also age the issue. 42.1 per cent of the Fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi.
The court order came after the the Central Bureau of Investigation
said that unemployment was the unemployed said they prefer the
Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), after the PNB alleged that they the involvement of a few bank
main problem. BJP.
appearing on behalf of the Indian cheated it of Rs 13,500 crore with employees.
 14 April 6-12, 2019
The Congress’s NYAY plan
is just a palliative
By Ila Patnaik
R
ahul Gandhiʼs promise of a
minimum basic income,
the biggest income trans‑
fer program to be announced, is
fraught with challenges.
There is a fundamental problem
in the proposition that only the
bottom 20% poorest households
can be targeted. T he average
income of the bottom 40% of the
population is below Rs 1.44 lakh
per year. A scheme in which half of
them will be given income trans‑
fers, assumes that people do not
change behavior in response to
government policies.
The Lucas critique, a popular
argument in economics in the con‑
text of macroeconomics, argues
that it is naïve to assume that peo‑
ple do not respond to policy
changes in a rational way. If we
predict behavior based on histori‑
cal data, the predictions can often
go wrong. The NYAY (Nyuntam
Aay Yojana) scheme is likely to suf‑
fer from a similar critique. We
illustrate this below.
Household income distribution
in 2017 (population weighted dis‑
CONGRESS PLAN NEEDS TO
GO BEYOND ONE‑LINERS
By Harinder Baweja
C
an slogans and clever one‑
liners help win you an elec‑
tion? If that were the case,
Congress president Rahul Gandhi is
definitely ahead of the curve with
ʻsuit boot ki sarkarʼ and ʻchowkidar
chor hai. Elections, however, are
serious business that need vision,
political stamina, a process of give
and take that culminates in
alliances stitched up on time. The
first phase of the grand battle for
the next Lok Sabha is less than a
fortnight away and the Congress
looks like a party in disarray.
Gandhi announced what he called
the ʻfinal assault on povertyʼ, while
outlining a pledge to roll out a
monthly income guarantee scheme
for Indiaʼs poor, but are sops and
populist schemes the Congressʼs
answer to the Bharatiya Janata
Partyʼs (BJP) election juggernaut?
The party stayed focused on the
Rafale defense deal alone – after its
wins in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh
and Chhattisgarh in December last
The Nyuntam Aay Yojana or Nyay announced by Rahul Gandhi
promises that every family among the poorest 20 per cent will get
an income support of Rs 6,000 a month.
tribution based on the latest avail‑
able CMIE survey Consumer
Pyramids) shows the following:
(i) The average income of the
bottom 20% of the households is
approximately Rs 77,000. This is
the targeted group for the cash
transfer. Households are to be
given an additional Rs 72,000 so
year – and believed the Narendra
Modi governmentʼs end was near.
The attack on a Central Reserve
Police Force convoy on February
14 and the governmentʼs air strikes
in Balakot – that hit Jaish‑e‑
Mohammed assets deep within
Pakistan – sent the Congress on the
back foot. It took weeks for it to
come out of the deep freeze.
The silence exposed the chinks in
the Congressʼs armor. It simply
lacked a ʻChanakyaʼ that could
keep the focus on the Modi govern‑
mentʼs chinks. A government that
was left red‑faced after most of the
demonetized money came back to
the banks and a government that
had questions over why it sat on
jobs data, seized the Balakot narra‑
tive and went for the jugular. It
went beyond, by blaming
(Jawaharlal) Nehru for everything
that went wrong, and hammering
the outrageous and untrue point
that most of what India has
achieved has been achieved in the
last five years.
Politics is hard work, made for
The views expressed in Op Eds are not necessarily those of The South Asian Times.
OP-ED
that their income becomes around
Rs 1,44,000 to g ive them Rs
12,000 per month, the minimum
income guarantee. (ii) The average
income of the next 30% of house‑
holds, those above the 20% poor
households being targeted and up
to half the households in India, is
Rs 1.25 lakh. After the income
those who are willing to sweat.
How is the Congress – which was
reduced to 44 MPs in 2014 – going
to take on the formidable Modi‑
Amit Shah duo? We do not know.
What is their vision for the prob‑
lems facing the country? We have
not been told.
The arithmetic of alliances is the
only way to counter Modiʼs chem‑
istry we were told, but even in that
department, the Congress has not
been able to tick the right boxes.
An alliance with the Aam Aadmi
Party in Delhi still awaits Gandhiʼs
decision. Itʼs not happening in West
Bengal and the wrangling in Bihar
has made more headlines than the
deal itself.
Is the criticism of the Congress
unfair? Is the party banking on a
constituency‑wise strategy that
includes fielding upper castes in
Uttar Pradesh, so it doesnʼt play
spoiler in a state where the
Bahujan Samaj Party and the
Samajwadi Party hope to keep their
vote banks intact? The list of candi‑
dates is still to be announced and if
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
transfer to the poorest 20%, those
with income levels up to Rs 1.25
lakh will be poorer than those
receiving income transfers. These
households will be better of f by
not earning the Rs 1.25 lakh per
year that they are currently earn‑
ing and dropping below the pover‑
ty line to avail of the income trans‑
fer. That way they will be able to
get incomes of Rs 1.44 lakh per
year. In fact, households do not
need to even earn less. They sim‑
ply do not have to report how
much they are earning. After all,
how will income be measured?
Given informal, ag ricultural
income and daily wage employ‑
ment among the poor, it is not as if
their income is credited to their
bank accounts. Income earned
from growing crops and livestock
is particularly difficult to measure.
If income is based on surveys,
such as National Sample Survey,
which have been used to measure
household incomes and consump‑
tion, the rational response to a
cash transfer scheme for families
below Rs 72,000 will be for all
families near that level or some‑
what above it to report that their
Congress hopes that real issues of joblessness & rural distress triumph
over the nationalism narrative that the BJP has so arduously built.
that is indeed the partyʼs strategy,
it must be hoping that 2019 does‑
nʼt play out as a Presidential‑style
contest where Modiʼs personality
towers over the rest.
It must be hoping for more: that
incomes are lower than they actu‑
ally are. In any case, lines between
Rs 6,000 per month and Rs 8,000
per month, especially when
incomes are uncertain and season‑
al and constantly fluctuating, are
too thin and too difficult to identi‑
fy. The interim budget 2019 bare‑
ly managed to meet fiscal targets:
fiscal deficit numbers were kept in
control by showing disinvestment
targets met by sale of one public
sector unit (PSU) to another, bonds
sold by PSUs and by postponing
expenditures. Meeting deficit tar‑
gets will be an equally tough chal‑
lenge next year.
In an economy in which the
biggest problem is employment,
poverty reduct ion by income
transfers is a palliative, but not a
solution. Transfer payments need
to be accompanied by a reform
program for increasing invest‑
ment, growth and jobs. While cash
transfers are the least distor‑
tionary way of poverty alleviation,
they are not a long‑term sustain‑
able solution for income growth.
(Ila Patnaik is an economist. The
write‑up appared in The Hindustan
Times)
the real issues of joblessness and
rural distress triumph over the
nationalism narrative that the BJP
has so arduously built.
(The write‑up appeared in The
Hindustan Times)
TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRAVEL April 6-12, 2019 15

New sights to see in NYC

"Vessel," a 150‐foot‐tall structure of climbable interlocking staircases with 2500
steps , is the center point of the $25B Hudson Yards Redevelopment in New York.
WALK AMONG CHERRY BLOSSOMS IN BROOKLYN

B
rooklyn
might just
rival
Washington, D.C.
when it comes to
cherry blossoms.
The Brooklyn
Botanic Garden
has 52 acres of
flowers and trees,
including a Cherry
Esplanade.
A walkway bor‑
dered by cherry
blossom trees and
the Japanese Hill‑
and‑Pond Garden,
the Cherry
2,500 STEPS TO CLIMB Esplanade is a wonderland of pink in the spring. There are free tours around the gar‑

A
colossal sculpture that will give people more than 150 interconnected stair‑ dens daily.
ways to climb has opened to the public as part of Cityʼs Hudson Yards develop‑ These magnificent trees are part of the setting for the Sakura Matsuri Festival held
ment. Vessel is a metal structure shaped like the bowl of a wine glass and is on the last weekend of April. A celebration of Japanese culture, the ticketed annual fes‑
part of the first phase of the project on Manhattan's west side. tival will be held on the weekend of April 27.
Vessel was created by British designer Thomas Heatherwick. The latticed network of
stairs
The $25 billion Hudson Yards development is in progress and includes a hotel, a
school, a retail mall, restaurants, public plazas and a skyscraper taller than the Empire
State Building.

INTERACTIVE ART THEME PARK

A
New York‑based
design studio is set
to unveil an inter‑
active art 'theme park' in
the city that will host
three playful installations
a year. The exhibition
titled "Snark Park", will be
displayed at a space in the
city's Hudson Yard area,
CNN reported.
Previous interactive
installations by the design
studio, Snarkitecture,
which was established in
2008 by Daniel Arsham and Snark Park in Hudson Yards area will host three playful
installations a year.
Alex Mustonen, took over
galleries, shopping malls and public spaces around the world.
One of Snarkitecture's most popular travelling works, "The Beach", transforms indoor
locations (from a museum in Paris to a mall in Bangkok) into holiday resorts complete
with "water" made from over a million recyclable, antimicrobial plastic balls.
"(Snark Park) was an opportunity (for us to) literally control and curate everything,
the full experience," Arsham said during a preview tour of the space. "It's a whole new
level of design."
The naturally lit space of over 6,000 square feet is completely monochromatic.
For the space's first installation, "Lost and Found", Snarkitecture created a grid‑like
forest of columns that emerge from the ground at varying levels like stalagmites. The
floor, which is made with thick foam, is just one of the design features used to encour‑
age visitors to thoughtfully interact with the space.
Running your hands along the rough white totems (some with cutouts for visitors to
climb into) one will discover surprising materials, including white ping pong balls and
faux fur lining the interiors.Subtler details, like the scent that fills the room and an
ambient soundtrack by Polish electro‑acoustic composer Michal Jacaszek, further
enhance the sensory experience.
16 April 6-12, 2019 MEDIA TheSouthAsianTimes.info

CELEBRATING 6 YEARS OF GROWTH & EXPANSION

IAPC receives full‑throated support of Indian community
In its mission to offer a platform for media professionals of Indian origin and improve their working conditions,
Indo‐American Press Club received encouragement from over 250 community leaders and
dignitaries at the induction ceremony for its 2019 team on March 31.

Sunil J. Koozhampala took over as IAPC

Dignitaries including Japanese Ambassador Dr. Toshiya Hoshino, Deepak Misra from the PMI, and Devadasan Nair from the
President and praised Ginsmon Zacharia,
Indian Consulate and IAPC officials at the lamp lighting ceremony.
Founding Chairman, as a visionary.

Lifetime Achievement Award for Mrs Kanchana Poola

Pleased with the IAPC award for Mrs Kanchana Poola, New York Tamil Sangam members felicitated her The Poola couple with their son Anand and daughter
and Jagadeesan Poola by presenting scarves and garlanding them. Amudha posing at the IAPC event.
Kanchana Poola was President of New York Tamil Sangam and is currently one of its advisors. She is also associated with FeTNA and American Tamil Entrepreneurs
Association. Kanchana and Jagadeesan Poola have contributed to the Harvard Tamil Chair fund. They are Co-Chairs of The Asian Era and Aksharam magazines. In her
acceptance speech, Kanchana Poola said her father instilled in her the value of giving, for education, for the poor and the needy.

Scintillating
entertainment
was provided by
a group display‑
ing Chenda
Melam drum art
of Kerala, and
Soormay
bhangra group.
Dance perform‑
ance was given
by Sowparnika
Dance Academy
headed by Ms.
Malini Nair.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
With new inductees, the
IAPC Board of Directors
now includes Babu
Stephen (Chairman),
Onkar Sharma (Vice
Chairman), Ginsmon
Zacharia (Founder
Chairman), and directors
Kamlesh Mehta, Mathew
Joys, Ajay Ghosh, Vineetha
Nair, Korason Varghese,
Parveen Chopra, Anil
Mathew, Cyriac Scaria, PV
Baiju and Renee Mehrra.
By Parveen Chopra
Hicksville, NY: Indo‑American
Press Club (IAPC) celebrated on
Sunday six years of growth &
expansion and proudly inaugu‑
rated their 2019 teams. But the
g rand, overbooked event at
Antunʼs by Minar here also
turned out to be a strong show
of support from the Indian com‑
munity.
Leaders, past and present, of
various community organiza‑
tions as well as many accom‑
plished people in their fields, not
to speak of the media profes‑
sionals, were in attendance.
IAPC, which was founded by a
group of Kerala origin group of
media persons, felt overwhelmed
by the presence of crème de la
creme from other communities
as we ll–Tamil, Gujarat i,
Rajasthani, Telugu, Punjabi….
you name it.
The official business of induc‑
t ion ceremonies was inter‑
spersed with presenting plaques
Devadasan Nair, Consul ‑ Community Affairs, Indian Consulate,
New York, was felicitated as Guest of Honor.
Ashok Vyas, ITV Gold Host/Program Director,
being honored amid some mirth.
MEDIA April 6-12, 2019 17
to the eveningʼs honorees (the
most excitement was caused by
Lifetime Achievement Award
presentation to Mrs Kanchana
Poola), speeches by the Guests of
Honor and entertainment.
Sunil J. Koozhampala took the
oath of office as IAPC President
along w ith his Execut ive
Committee for 2019. New Board
members were also inducted
and executive committees for
New York Chapter &
Philadelphia Chapter installed.
Sunil is publisher and MD of Ven Parameswaran, prominent writer Business entrepreneur Varkey Abraham
Rashtra Deepika Ltd and and critic, is honored. is presented a plaque.
Deepika, a reputed Malayalam
newspaper from Kerala. He also
has hospitality interests in the
US and Costa Rica. He called
IAPC founder chairman Ginsmon
Zacharia a visionary leader.
Indeed, IAPC already has 12
chapters and has become the
fast growing syndicate of print IAPC honored Neeta Jain,
and electronic media profession‑ Democratic party and civic com‑
als of Indian origin working in munity leader, with a plaque.
Continued on page 4
'Global Religions', a book published by Darshan Singh Bagga, was released.
Just some of the prominent attendees
Bobby Kumar, Bhuvana Rao, Dr. Raj Bhayani, Jagdish Sewhani, Nagendra Gupta, Shaker
Nelanuthala, Sunil Hali, Sharanjit Singh, Dr Raj Uppal, Lalit Aery, Arvind Vora, Rajesh Shah, Sunil
Modi, Rizwan Qureshi, Gunjan Rastogi, Beena Kothari, Bina Sabapathi, Nilima Madan, Pinki
Jaggi, Dilip Chauhan, Ravi Bhooplapur, Andy Bhatia, Shiv Dass, Arjen Bathija, Dave Sharma, Indu
Gajwani, Rashmi Sinha, Roopam Maini, Davendra Vora, Anand Ahuja, Dr M.N. Krishnan &
Sashikala, Vijayakumar, Ranga Purushothaman, Ram Mohan, Dr Bala Swaminathan, Dr & Mrs
Kasinathan, Gobind Munjal, Dr Syed Yousuf.
 18 April 6-12, 2019
Indian cinema is incredible:
Oscar‑winning directors
C country: Kangana
ulture of cinema in India
is incredible, and the
way it has become part
of the global language of cinema
is also very cool," Chai told IANS
over phone. "Jimmy and I are
both interested in safely repre‑
senting the voices of other
places in the world, both of us
grew up as children of immi‑
grants, and that global experi‑
ence is something that's very
important to us," added Chai, the
documentary filmmaker with
Hungarian roots.
The star couple's documentary
'Free Solo' won an Oscar for Best
Documentary Feature at the
2019 Academy Awards.
The movie is all set to release
in India, and the couple is look‑
ing forward to it.
"We are big admirers of Indian
cinema. We are very excited
about the release. We can't wait
to hear how Indian audiences
receive the film," Chai said.
"Free Solo" is a documentary
which captures the life of rock
climber Alex Honnold, who
climbed Yosemite's 3,000‑foot‑
tall El Capitan mountain peak
without any safety gears.
'Junglee': Poor tale
lavishly mounted
A
ction‑thrillers like "Junglee"
are God‑sent to skilled
actors looking for a chance
to cut loose and have fun. From the
looks of it, Vidyut Jammwal as Raj
has a grand time playing the pro‑
tagonist in the film.
He is a veterinary doctor practis‑
ing in Mumbai, who returns to his
roots after ten long years. Once
home, he realizes that everything is
not hunky‑dory as it appears to be.
Elephants are poached for their
tusks and that he must stay back
home to be their savior.
Helmed by Hollywood filmmaker
Chuck Russell, obviously the expec‑
tations are high. But unfortunately,
this tale of a man and his elephants
which shares a message about fami‑
ly, friendship and conservation of
(L‑R) Filmmakers Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin and
producers Evan Hayes, Shannon Dill with their 2019 Oscar award.
On the Oscar win, Chai said:
"We are very honored. It was
very much a surprise for us. I
mean, we are humbled that
Alex's story has seemed to cap‑
ture the hearts and minds of
audiences and that they find
courage in his courage and are
inspired by his dream to, kind of,
make the impossible possible."
The film starring
Vidyut Jammwal
will appeal
animal lovers.
elephants is dumbed down to the
audience.
The story is simple and straight‑
forward. There are nuggets of beau‑
tifully‑created moments which are
layered on a lazily crafted plot and
careless direction. Also, the director
seems to focus more on exhibiting
Vidyut's skills in Kalaripayattu than
the story itself.
Visually, the film appears to be
mounted on a lavish scale. Mark
Irwin's cinematography keeps you
hooked to the screen. The lush
green jungles and the serene tamed
elephants are a balm to the eye.
Some shots are picture perfect and
seem straight out of "The Jungle
Book".
This film a below mediocre fare
that will appeal to animal lovers.
BOLLYWOOD
What's next?
"We have been concurrently
developing a film about Kristine
Tompkins (conservationist) and
the late Doug Tompkins, Yvon
Chouinard and Tompkins
Conservation. It is basically the
story of some of the greatest
conservationists of our time,"
Chai said.
Sense of nationalism
making patriotic movies hit
By Radhika Bhirani
T
he current national mood
‑‑ the sense of nationalism
‑‑ stirred by events in
Kashmir in the recent past, has
driven the success of films with
patriotic themes.
Industry experts say this
heightened appreciation towards
films such as "Uri: The Surgical
Strike", "Manikarnika: The Queen
of Jhansi" and the most recent
case in point, "Kesari", can be
partly credited to the country's
current political scenario.
"Presently, the political sce‑
nario is such that these films ring
a bell with the audience. It's also
right before election time and
everyone is involved and pulled
into anything to do with national
interest," film and trade expert
Girish Johar told IANS.
The Akshay Kumar‑starrer
"Kesari", on the historic battle of
Saragarhi, has made it to the Rs
100 crore club. It minted Rs
86.32 crore in five days since its
release on March 21, and the
audience has lapped it up for
Akshay's awe‑inspiring, action‑
packed performance as Havildar
Ishar Singh.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Star kids will discuss
sex lives but not their
I
n a no‑holds‑barred
interview, actor
Kangana Ranaut has
again taken on filmmak‑
er Karan Johar and
actors Alia Bhatt and
Ranbir Kapoor, saying
they are the people who
feel absolutely
exclusive and
believe they have
nothing to do
with the rest of
the country.
Questioning
the tag of
ʻyoung starsʼ
accorded to
Alia and
Ranbir, the
actor told
Mid‑Day,
“And
Actor Kangana Ranaut slammed
what is this
love birds and actors Ranbir
thing of calling
Kapoor and Alia Bhatt.
them young,
Ranbir Kapoor is what 37 years
old, young kid of the generation
and Alia Bhatt just turned 27.
My mother had three children at
27. This is absolutely unfair…
A still from the movie ʻKesariʼ
"Uri: The Surgical Strike" and
"Manikarnika: The Queen of
Jhansi" already gave the year a
good start, and had the audience
cheering on for real life‑inspired
stories of national heroes.
According to industry expert
Vinod Mirani, the wave of nation‑
alism has been on a high ever
since Narendra Modi became the
Prime Minister. And the rise of
movies on patriotic themes is
also owing to the fact that we
have more real life heroes and
success stories to tell.
Both Mirani and Johar have
their hopes pinned high on John
bacche hai ki dumb hai ki
kya hai.”
She went on to say, “If
we are asking about your
sex life, that you are okay
to discuss, put the pic‑
tures on Instagram, who I
am f***ing, who I am
not f***ing, that
is fine but
about the
country, itʼs
my personal
choice.”
She also
spoke about
singling out
Ranbir in an
earlier
interview
for not com‑
menting on
issues of
national impor‑
tance. “These
are people who
feel absolutely exclusive, saying
one has nothing to do with the
rest of India. This is the kind of
attitude that Karan Johar and
gang thrive on…”
Abraham‑starrer "Romeo Akbar
Walter", in which the actor plays
a RAW agent.
The streak of patriotic films
will continue with "Bhuj: The
Pride of India", a story which
aims to celebrate the courage of
women in the face of war;
"Major", on late NSG commando
Sandeep Unnikrishnan; "Batla
House" on the infamous
shootout; a biopic on Captain
Vikram Batra who died in the
1999 Kargil War; and a film on
an Indian diplomat's efforts to
repatriate an Indian woman,
Uzma Ahmed, from Pakistan.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info BOLLYWOOD April 6-12, 2019 19

Biopic trend a result of mob

behavior: Vikram Bhatt
“The Least Of These”
Filmmaker
'Staines' on the human heart
Vikram Bhatt
By Subhash K Jha
was speaking at
REVIEW
F
a book launch.
rom the outset of this pro‑
foundly moving though
flawed recreation of the
ghastly Graham Staines murder, the
director and his writer Andrew
Matthews, make it very clear to us
whose side they are on.
And that's perfectly fine. A work
of art is most welcome to take sides
if it knows the truth. And truth in

F
ilmmaker Vikram Bhatt
feels the trend of biopics in
the Hindi film industry is a
result of mob behavior and that if
some biopics fail at the box office,
then this phase will end too.
Vikram interacted with the
media at the launch of author
Archana Dhurandhar's book titled
"The Soul Charger" in Mumbai.
Asked about his views on the
trend of making biopics, Vikram
said: "See... while making a biopic,
you get a readymade story. It
could have been written by some‑
one or discussed in public
domain.
"There are some stories which
people even don't know about but
still they watch it. I have been
directing films in Bollywood since
the last 26, 27 years and before
that I was assistant director for
10 years. So in my journey, I have
witnessed many mob behavior
like this and (the) trend of biopic
is a result of mob behavior."
Vikram added: "If a biopic
works, people start making
biopics. If comedy films work,
then people start making comedy
films and then if action films start
working, they make action films.
So it's a phase and we have to see
till how long this phase lasts. If 3,
4 films will fail, then this phase
will come to an end."
Will he ever make a biopic him‑
self?
"I can't answer it in yes or no
because it depends on whom it is
being made, how it is being made
and how close that story is to my
heart," he said.
this case was this: Odisha‑based
Australian missionary Graham
Staines did not indulge in conver‑
sion of the locals. He was cleared of
all malafide intentions by an inves‑
tigative committee after Staines and
his two little sons were burnt to
death by goons with suspicious
political affiliation. Nobody is sug‑
gesting saffron in the blood. This
has gone far beyond mere sugges‑
tion. It is interesting how the direc‑
tor has chosen Sharman Joshi's
character of the out‑of‑luck desper‑
ate journalist with a pregnant wife
to support, to create an arc from
cynicism about Staines' work of
faith to a resounding ratification of
his intentions. Sharman is as usual,
a portrait of earnest brilliance.
“The Least Of These” takes a very
dangerous stand on the issue of
A still from the movie ʻThe Least of Theseʼ.
conversion by whittling down the
religious issue to a far deeper spiri‑
tual crisis. At the end of the film the
journalist speaks to us and draws a
contrast between religious conver‑
sion and conversion from "nothing‑
ness to significance". There is a
moment that can easily be seen as
an attempt to glorify Christian
evangelism and manipulate our
emotions into submission, when
Staines' wife is informed of the
ghastly tragedy.
"I forgive those who have done
this," Gladys Staines says when
informed she has just lost her hus‑
band and two children.
Shooting the film in rural Odisha
is just about the best way the direc‑
tor could have chosen to not allow
the wild improbabilities of the plot
(a newspaper editor hell‑bent on
proving Staines' conversion scheme
turns out to be a leper's son). The
characters and their environment
exude the stifling air of a social con‑
dition that breeds inequality and
disharmony. Taking way from the
authenticity are the rural character
conversing in English with the jour‑
nalist‑hero. Since elsewhere the film
does use the Oriya dialect why not
let the grassroot speak in their
actual tongue all the way? That
apart “The Least of These” has
many virtues to vitiate the vice.

Lucky to be famous T‑SERIES BAGS NO 1

for Harry Potter, YOUTUBE CHANNEL SPOT
A
fter a close battle

says Radcliffe with Swedish

YouTuber

H
arry Potter" fame
actor Daniel Radcliffe
says he feels honored
to see himself a part of peo‑
ple's childhood. In an inter‑
view to Efe News, Radcliffe,
who started his acting jour‑
ney with magnum opus
"Harry Potter", spoke about
the popular franchise and
why he considered it as gift to
him.
He said: "I think people
expect me to find it oppres‑
sive that people are still talk‑
ing about it, but there is a
generation of people who
grew up with us and that's a
real honor.
"When someone comes up
Actor Daniel Radcliffe currently stars in American
to me and says like 'you were
comedy series ʻMiracle Workersʼ.
a huge part of my child‑
hood'...The idea that I could occupy that
space for someone is, just, you
know...amazing." The 29‑year‑old finds
himself fortunate to be a part of J. K.
Rowling's project. "My friends, they were
showing the first Potter film to their
young child the other day. And it's an
amazing thing to see that sort of continu‑
PewDiePie's channel,
Indian film production
house and music label T‑
Series has finally man‑
aged to become the
worlds No.1 YouTube
channel.
T‑Series is leading by
more than 60,000 sub‑
scribers now as currently
it has garnered over
91,774,917 subscribers
while PewDiePie has sub‑
scribers with a count of
91,705,546.
The battle between the
two channels was going
on for long. Even T‑Series
head honcho Bhushan
Kumar started the
#BharatWins campaign
on social media, urging
ity...I'm very lucky to be famous for some‑ people to help in making
thing that a lot of people love," he added. T‑Series the world's most
T‑Series head honcho Bhushan Kumar.
Radcliffe is currently starring in subscribed YouTube
American comedy series "Miracle channel. Salman Khan, Varun Dhawan, Arjun
Workers". Though he does not like doing The T‑Series YouTube channel began Kapoor and John Abraham joined the
same role for several years, he does not on March 13, 2006. It has 29 sub‑chan‑ online battle between PewDiePie and
mind having second season of "Miracle nels and features songs and film trailers. YouTube, to plead with netizens to sub‑
Workers". Many Bollywood celebrities such as scribe to T‑Series' channel on YouTube.
 20 April 6-12, 2019 SUBCONTINENT TheSouthAsianTimes.info

US initiates new move at UN EU endorses Afghan

to impose sanctions on Azhar role in peace talks
United Nations: After several
attempts to impose sanctions on
Jaish‑e‑Mohammad (JeM) chief
Masood Azhar were blocked by
China, the US has initiated a new
ef fort for UN action against the
terrorist leader that would force
Beijing to take a public stand in
the Security Council.
The US is circulating a draft
resolution with the backing of
Britain and France for the
Security Council to condemn the
February terrorist suicide‑bomb‑
ing in Pulwama and designate
Azhar as an international terror‑
ist who would be under the UN
sanctions against Al Qaeda and
related people.
While the resolution faces a
Chinese veto, it would bring
transparency to the sanctions
process and force Beijing to pub‑
licly vote against it and, possibly,
explain its stand. So far, the
moves to impose sanct ions
against Azhar were initiated in
the UN Security Council Al Qaeda
sanctions committee, where the
proceedings are held in secret.
China has announced its oppo‑
sition to the US ef fort, which it
said bypasses the Sanct ions
Committee and goes directly to
the Council.
A date has not been set for tak‑
ing up the resolution by the
Pakistan‑based
Jaish‑e‑Mohammadʼs
chief Masood Azhar.
Council. France is the President
of the Council this month and
Germany will take over next
month.
The latest attempt to impose
sanctions on Azhar that would
have banned his international
travel and frozen his assets were
vetoed this month by China in
the sanctions committee ‑ the
fourth such action.
With global revulsion against
terrorism rising after the
Pulwama attack in February, the
Security Council adopted a press
statement condemning it in
"strongest" terms.
It was a statement arrived at by
consensus in the 15‑member
Council and did not have the
force of resolution, and Beijing
went along avoiding having to
vote for it or veto it.
Wrong to say
we shelter
terrorists: China
Beijing: China said it was wrong to
accuse it of sheltering terrorists
because it put a technical hold on
the resolution to blacklist Pakistan‑
based Jaish‑e‑Mohammad (JeM)
terror group chief Masood Azhar
as its decision was in line with the
rules of an anti‑terrorism panel at
the UN. "If certain country accuses
China of sheltering (terrorists) by
putting such technical hold, does
that mean that all countries that
put hold are sheltering terrorists?
If this makes sense, shall we say
that the country that puts the most
holds is the biggest protectors of
terrorists?" asked Chinese Foreign
Ministry spokesperson Geng
Shuang. "At the UN Security
Council sanctions committee, the
practice of putting technical holds
is in line with the stipulations of
the committee. It is not China that
has put the most hold at the com‑
mittee," Geng said. "China put a
technical hold with a purpose to
conduct a comprehensive and in‑
depth assessment so as to give
enough time and space to dialog
and consultation between the par‑
ties,” the spokesperson said.
with Taliban
Kabul: The
European Union's
top diplomat said
the bloc was
ready to stand a
guarantor of
peace efforts to
end the 18‑year
war in
Afghanistan, and
added the
process should be
led by the Afghan
government.
Federica
Mogherini, EU's EUʼs High Representative for Foreign Affairs
foreign affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini.
and security poli‑
be made part of the process to
cy chief, said at a joint press
ensure the success. "Afghans
conference with Afghan
have to stay owners of the
President Ashraf Ghani she
(peace) process," she said after
appreciated the efforts of the
meeting Ghani during her first
international community,
visit to Afghanistan since tak‑
including the US, to resolve the
ing over as the EU's high repre‑
protracted conflict.
sentative. Mogherini said the
Mogherini, whose trip to
EU was ready to serve, if
Kabul was unannounced,
expressed Europe's full support required, as a guarantor of the
peace process for a possible
for an Afghan‑owned and
deal with the Taliban that con‑
Afghan‑led peace process,
trols large swathes of the coun‑
emphasizing the Afghans must
try. The Taliban have refused to
have the right to decide their
hold direct talks with the
future. She also insisted that
Afghan government.
women representatives should

Maldivian High Court orders Musharraf summoned in high

release of ex-President
Male: The Maldivian
High Court has
ordered the release
of former President
Abdulla Yameen
from detention cit‑
ing lack of evidence
to hold him on alle‑
gations of witness
tampering, the
media reported.
Yameen was
detained in
February after a
criminal court
ordered authorities
to take him into cus‑
Former President Abdulla Yameen faces
tody until a money‑
allegations of money laundering
laundering case
against him was concluded in
court, Xinhua news agency report‑
ed. The prosecution asked the
court to take Yameen into custody
to prevent him from influencing
the evidence against him.
However, the Maldivian High
Court said Yameen could not be
held in detention for over a month
and the prosecution had not pro‑
vided any reason to extend his
treason case on May 2
Islamabad: A special court summoned
former Pakistan President Pervez
Musharraf on May 2 in a case pertaining
to charges of high treason against him.
Musharraf's lawyer, Salman Safdar, said
that the former President wishes to
appear before the court on May 13.
However, the three‑member bench head‑
ed by Justice Tahira Safdar directed
Musharraf to appear in court before
Ramzan, the Dawn reported.
"If he can come to court on May 13,
Musharraf can also appear before the
court on May 2. If he doesn't, the court
will pass an appropriate order regarding
recording his statement," Justice Safdar
said. T he special court had indicted
Musharraf for high treason in March
2014.
remand in custody.
Musharraf left for Dubai in 2016 to
Yameen was being held under
"seek medical treatment" and has not
house arrest and not in jail due to
returned since. Earlier in March, he was
ill health, the report said. The for‑
admitted to a hospital in Dubai after suf‑
mer President is facing allegations
fering a reaction from a rare disease for
of money laundering and the crim‑
which he is already under treatment.
inal court has already frozen his
Earlier in the hearing, Salman Safdar
local bank account holding nearly
had submitted an application in court
$6.5 million. He has denied any
asking for the case to be quashed on the
wrongdoing and appealed against
basis of CrPC's Section 265 (language of
the allegations.
record and judgment). Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
May considers fourth bid
to pass withdrawal deal
London: British Prime Minister
Theresa May and her cabinet are
looking for ways to bring her
European Union (EU) withdrawal
agreement back to the House of
Commons for a fourth attempt at
winning MPs' backing.
After MPs rejected May's agree‑
ment for the third time by 344
votes to 286, the Prime Minister
said that the UK would need "an
alternative way forward" to carry
on with the Brexit process, the BBC
reported.
The agreement is the part of
Brexit deal May struck w ith
Brussels that sets out how much
money the UK must pay to the EU
as a settlement, details of the tran‑
sition period and arrangements for
the Irish backstop ‑‑ the insurance
policy designed to avoid a hard
border between the Irish Republic
and the UK province of Northern
Ireland.
MPs from all parties will now
test support for other options dur‑
ing a second round of "indicative
votes" on April.
The government has so far failed
to w in over 34 Conservat ive
rebels, including both Remainers
and Brexiteers who say the deal
still leaves the UK too closely
aligned to Europe.
However, a Downing Street
source indicated that the Prime
Minister would continue to seek
support in the Commons, adding
Brunei to punish adultery
with death by stoning
London: Brunei will punish homo‑
sexual sex and adultery with death
by stoning under a new law, which
comes into effect from April 3. Any
individual found guilty of the
offences will be stoned to death in
the small southeast Asian nation,
according to a new penal code. The
punishment will be "witnessed by a
group of Muslims," the BBC report‑
ed.
The country's strict new laws
were announced in 2014, and have
been rolled out gradually. The bru‑
tal new provisions were quietly
announced on the Brunei attorney
general's website on December 29,
2018.
Human rights groups were quick
to express horror at the penal code,
which also provides for amputation
as a punishment for theft.
"Brunei must immediately halt its
plans to implement these vicious
punishments and revise its penal
code in compliance with its human
rights obligations. The internation‑
al community must urgently con‑
British PM Theresa May speaks during a debate
in the House of Commons.
'Fully prepared' for
no-deal Brexit: EU
Brussels: In wake of defeat of the
Brexit deal in the British House of
Commons, the European
Commission has said the EU is
now "fully prepared" for a no‑deal
Brexit.
The European Union "regrets
the negative vote in the House of
Commons", the European
Commission was quoted as saying
by Xinhua news agency.
that ef forts were "going in the
right direction".
May has until April 12 to seek a
longer extension to the negotiation
The new penal code has been
announced by Hassanal
Bolkiah, the Sultan of Brunei.
demn Brunei's move to put these
cruel penalties into practice,"
Rachel Chhoa‑Howard, Brunei
Researcher at Amnesty
International, said in a statement.
There was an international out‑
cry when Brunei became the first
country in the region to adopt
sharia law in 2014, an Islamic legal
system that outlines strict corporal
punishments.
The new penal code was
announced by the Sultan of Brunei,
Hassanal Bolkiah, who also acts as
the country's Prime Minister.
INTERNATIONAL
"It will be for the UK to indicate
the way forward before that date,
for consideration by the European
Council," it said in a statement,
adding, "a no‑deal scenario on
April 12 is now a likely scenario".
"EU has been preparing for this
since December 2017 and is now
fully prepared for a "no‑deal" sce‑
nario at midnight on April 12," it
said.
process to avoid the UK leaving
without a deal, which most MPs
believe could harm business and
create disruption at ports.
VENEZUELA BARS GUAIDO
FROM OFFICE FOR 15 YEARS
Caracas: Venezuelan opposition
leader Juan Guaido will be barred
from holding public office for 15
years, the maximum allowed by
law, follow ing a probe that
showed irregularities in his finan‑
cial records, the state Financial
Controller has announced.
"Disqualify from holding any
public of fice the citizen Juan
Gerardo Antonio Guaido
Marquez," Comptroller Elvis
Amoroso said, follow ing the
investigation into his declaration
of assets.
Guaido, head of the opposition‑
controlled National Assembly,
declared himse lf interim
President in January and has the
support of more than 50 coun‑
tries, including the US.
The decision will be "for the
maximum period established in
the decree w ith the scope,
courage and strength of the law
against corruption", Amoroso
said. According to the BBC, the
decision to stop Guaido from
April 6-12, 2019 21
Khashoggi killers received
training in US: Report
Washington: Members
of the Saudi team that
killed journalist Jamal
Khashoggi received
training in the United
States, the Washington
Post has reported,
revealing other new
elements in the death
of the newspaperʼs for‑
mer contributor.
Khashoggi was killed
and dismembered
October 2 in the Saudi
consulate in Istanbul by
a team of 15 agents Journalist Jamal Khashoggi was
sent from Riyadh. His killed on October 2 in the Saudi
body has not been
consulate, Istanbul.
recovered.
After having denied the mur‑
der, Saudi Arabia said the oper‑
and interrogation.
According to Ignatius, who
said he interviewed more than a
ation was carried out by agents
who were out of control. A trial
dozen American and Saudi
sources who spoke on condi‑
of 11 suspects opened earlier tion of anonymity, some mem‑
this year in Saudi Arabia. bers of the Saudi Rapid
But much of the case remains Intervention Group received
shrouded, beginning with the training in the United States.
role of Saudi Arabiaʼs powerful “The CIA has cautioned other
crown prince and de facto ruler, government agencies that some
Mohammed bin Salman. of this special‑operations train‑
According to Washington ing might have been conducted
Post columnist David Ignatius, a by Tier 1 Group, an Arkansas‑
Saudi who closely read the based company, under a State
transcript of a recording from a Department license,” he said.
bug placed in the consulate by “The training occurred before
Turkish intelligence said it indi‑ the Khashoggi incident, as part
cates the plan was to kidnap of ongoing liaison with the
Khashoggi and bring him back Saudis, and it hasnʼt been
to Saudi Arabia for detention resumed.”
Juan Guaido is head of the opposition‑controlled National Assembly.
holding of fice will come into accused of planning "acts of sabo‑
force if he decides to put himself tage" against officials after being
up for re‑election at the end of his arrested.
current term in the Nat ional Guaido said the security forces
Assembly. Guaido re jected had committed an "illegal and
Amoroso's announcement, saying unconstitutional" act, adding that
that he was "not auditor general". he believed the items allegedly
Last week, Guaido's Chief of Staff found at Marrero's home had
Roberto Marrero, 49, was been planted there.
 22 April 6-12, 2019
Maruti Suzuki re‑appoints Kenichi Musk explains Tesla
Ayukawa as MD, CEO for 3 years
New Delhi: Maruti Suzuki India,
the country's largest carmaker, on
Wednesday re‑appointed Kenichi
Ayukawa as Managing Director
and CEO of the company for a
period of three years.
"T he company's board re‑
appointed Kenichi Ayukawa as
Managing Director and CEO of the
company for a period of 3 years
with effect from April 1, 2019, on
the existing terms and conditions
including remuneration," Maruti
Suzuki India said in a filing to the
Bombay Stock Exchange.
T his would be Kenichi
Ayukawa's third three‑year terms
as MD and CEO of Marut i.
Ayukawa, who earlier served in
the US, Japan and Pakistan, was
appointed as MD and CEO of
Maruti on March 15, 2013. He
played a major role in expanding
the company's market share
beyond 50 percent.
During his regime, the auto
major introduced many new mod‑
els, including the sedan Ciaz, pre‑
Microsoft donates 500
patents to start‑ups
San Francisco: Expanding its
"Azure IP Advantage" program,
Microsoft is donating 500 patents
to start‑ups that are part of a non‑
profit organization called License
On Transfer (LOT) Network.
Launched in 2018, the "Azure IP
Advantage" prog ram protects
users of Microsoft's cloud comput‑
ing service ‑‑ Azure ‑‑ against
patent trolls.
Keeping in line with the inten‑
tion of the program, LOT Network
protects companies against patent
trolls by giving them access to a
wide library of patents from its
nearly 400 member companies
including Amazon, Face book,
Google, Microsoft, Netflix and Uber
among others.
"We want to he lp the LOT
Network grow its network of start‑
ups and to provide an incentive we
are going to provide these patents
to them," TechCrunch quoted Erich
Andersen, Corporate Vice
President (CVP) and Deputy
General Counsel at Microsoft, as
store closures
This would be Kenichi Ayukawa's third
three‑year term as MD and CEO of Maruti
mium hatchback Baleno and SUV
Vitara Brezza. The company is
also gearing up to launch its first
electric car in India by 2020,
besides working on hybrid and
premium category vehicles.
Japanese auto majors Suzuki
Motor Corp and Toyota Motor
Corp had signed agreement for
The donation is part
of expansion of
Microsoft's 'Azure IP
Advantage' program
saying on Thursday.
However, for any start‑up to
qualify for getting a patent grant‑
ed to LOT Network, the company is
required to meet a $1,000 per
month Azure spend and Microsoft
would check the start‑up's last
three monthly Azure bills.
"Qualified start‑ups who join the
LOT Network can acquire
Microsoft patents as part of their
free membership and as Andersen
stressed, the start‑ups will own
them outright," the report said.
The LOT network will be able to
provide its start‑up members with
up to three patents from this col‑
lection.
"The idea is that these start‑ups
come from a diverse set of indus‑
try sectors. The hope we have is
that when they approach LOT,
they'll find patents among those
500 that are going to be interest‑
ing to basically almost any compa‑
ny that might want a foundational
set of patents for their business,"
Andersen added.
BUSINESS
supply of hybrid and other vehi‑
cles to each other, which would
see Toyota sell Suzuki's India sub‑
sidiary Maruti's premium hatch‑
back Baleno and compact SUV
Vitara Brezza through its own
subsidiary in India, while Maruti
would get Toyota's global best‑
selling model Corolla.
Trump signs permit for oil
pipeline from Canada
Washington: US President Donald
Trump has signed a permit for the
construction of TransCanada Corp.'s
Keystone XL oil pipeline, allowing
the long‑delayed project to move
forward despite environmental con‑
cerns. In November 2018, US
District Court Judge Brian Morris in
Montana ruled to halt the construc‑
tion of the disputed oil pipeline,
demanding the energy company
complete a supplemental environ‑
mental review before advancing the
project, reports Xinhua news
SONY TO CUT SMARTPHONE
WORKFORCE TO HALF BY 2020
Tokyo: Once an iconic brand,
Sony is now going to slash its
mobile division workforce by
half by 2020 in the wake of
stif f competition and poor
sales. The move could result in
roughly 2,000 staf fers either
losing their jobs or getting
shifted to a new department at
Sony.
"Sony's share of the smart‑
phone market has fallen sharply in
recent years ‑ from more than three
percent in 2010, according to the
research portal Statistica, to less
than one percent currently.
"It has strugg led to compete
against leaders Apple, Samsung, and
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
to employees
San Francisco: Electric Vehicle
(EV) maker Tesla's CEO Elon
Musk emailed staf fers to
explain the situation at the
company in the wake of his
announcement of closing sev‑
eral of its retail stores and go
all‑in with online car sales.
"In a new email to employ‑
ees, Tesla CEO Elon Musk
acknowledged some 'uncer‑
tainty' among the company's
salespeople regarding the
sales strategy transition as he
tries to reassure them with
more details about his plans
and expectations," the Electrek
reported on Thursday.
"Stores with a high visitation
rate and that lead to signifi‑
cant sales will absolutely not
be closed down. It would not
make any sense to do so,
except in rare cases where the
rent is absurdly high.
agency. Trump's new permit super‑
sedes a March 2017 order, which
was invalidated by the Montana
judge a few months ago.
The President's new order on
Friday is seen as a way to circum‑
vent the Montana judge's ruling.
The Keystone XL project, first
proposed in 2008, was to run from
Canada's Alberta oil sands through
the states of Montana and South
Dakota to Nebraska, where it would
connect with existing pipelines to
carry more than 800,000 barrels of
Huawei, all of which are racing to
develop new 5G devices," the Nikkei
Asian Review reported late on
Friday.
The Tokyo‑headquartered compa‑
ny would cut smartphone sales in
Southeast Asia and other areas to
focus on markets like Europe and
Moreover, Tesla will continue
to open stores throughout the
world that meet the above cri‑
teria," Musk wrote in an email
to his employees.
Meanwhile, stores that are in
a location with low visitation
rates (i.e. empty most of their
opening hours) and lead to low
sales would be gradually shut
down.
When the EV maker
launched its long‑promised
$35,000 version of the Model
3 earlier in March, Musk said
they plan to make that price
viable by moving all sales
online only, thus, closing
stores and reducing retail
headcount.
The announcement was fol‑
lowed by a slashing of retail
employees compensation and
closure of the first set of
stores.
crude oil a day to refineries along
the US Gulf Coast.
The project was rejected by for‑
mer President Barack Obama's
administration in November 2015,
because Democrats and environ‑
mental groups said it could worsen
climate change.
T he Trump administration
reversed the decision and granted a
presidential permit to TransCanada
for building the pipeline in March
2017, claiming it would create a lot
of jobs.
East Asia. "T he company's
smartphone sales for fiscal
2018 are projected to come in
at a dismal 6.5 million units,
half the previous year's figure
and just one‑sixth that of five
years ago. "In fiscal 2014,
Sony pulled 1,000 employees
from its smartphone opera‑
tions but sales have plunged
faster than expected, necessi‑
tating a further round of cuts," the
report added. Some of the Japanese
employees hit by the decision
would be transferred to other divi‑
sions in the company, but the firm
would offer voluntary retirement in
its Europe and China operations.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info SPORTS April 6-12, 2019 23

One of our worst defeats in IPL: Kohli

Hyderabad: Royal Challengers
Bangalore captain Virat Kohli
termed their 118‑run defeat to
Sunrisers Hyderabad as one of
their worst losses ever in the
Indian Premier League.
"One of our worst losses ever.
Literally nothing I can explain.
Nothing went right for us from ball
one until our last wicket fell in the
second innings," Kohli said after
the match.
Kohli's decision to field first
backfired as Jonny Bairstow and
David Warner struck whirlwind
centuries to take Sunrisers to 231.
In reply, RCB gave a poor account
of themselves, being bowled out
for 113 in 19.5 overs, with the
likes of Kohli (3) and AB De Villiers
(1) failing to make a mark.
RCB are still to win a game after
three matches and lie bottom of
the table.
"We were outplayed in all
departments by a quality side.
They showed that they are a cham‑
pion side ‑ they were finalists last
time and beat us in the final (in
2016). Credit to them (Warner and
Bairstow) ‑ we could have tried a
few different things, like pace off
the ball," Kohli rued.
Royal Challengers Bangalore's skipper Virat Kohli walks back to the
pavilion during the match with Sunrisers Hyderabad in Hyderabad.
(Photo: IANS)
"But once those guys got in, they
just kept going ‑ you need a few
things to go your way, and a few
catches fell in between fielders.
"They were world‑class today
and they deserve to be on the win‑
ning side."
Asked why he did not open the
batting, Kohli said: "We thought
about that initially as well ‑ I have
done well opening the batting but
myself at 3 brings that balance in
Chennai clinches thriller
vs Rajasthan
Chennai: Chennai Super Kings
rode a valiant innings by skip‑
per Mahendra Singh Dhoni and
dominated with both bat and
ball to defeat Rajasthan Royals
by eight runs in their Indian
Premier League (IPL) match
here. Batting first, Chennai
posted a challenging 175/5,
powered by Dhoni's undefeated
75 which rescued the hosts
from a difficult situation.
The Chennai bowlers then
put in a disciplined ef fort to
restrict Rajasthan Royals to
167/8.
the side, given that I can bat with
AB and put the opposition under
pressure." RCB next take on
Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur, and
Kohli hoped their fortunes would
change from that match onwards.
"We just need our players to put
up a better challenge up front.
There are still 11 games to go. The
pitch will be nice in Jaipur against
Deepak Chahar, Shardul
T hakur, Imran Tahir and
Dwayne Bravo claimed two
wickets each.
Earlier, despite some early
blows, Dhoni's fighting knock
(75) of f 46 balls he lped
Chennai reach a respectable
total while Suresh Raina and
Dwayne Bravo also chipped in
with 36 and 27 runs respec‑
tive ly. For Rajasthan, Jofra
Archer was the pick of the
bowlers with two wickets while
Jaydev Unadkat and Ben Stokes
picked up a wicket each.
the Royals.
"We need to bring our A‑game,
like we did against Mumbai and
play with that kind of intensity. If
we go through the motions, we
need to do the regular basic stuff,
and get results our way and start
winning games in the tournament ‑
the next game should be that game
for us."

Praful set to be first Pandya, Rahul to depose

Indian in FIFA Council before ombudsman Jain New Delhi: With the Board of Control for
New Delhi: The All India Football Cricket in India (BCCI) ombudsman D.K. Jain
Federation (AIFF) might be fight‑ sending out notices to India all‑rounder
ing a legal battle in the Supreme Hardik Pandya and opening batsman KL
Court over the validity of its con‑ Rahul to depose before him as an enquiry is
stitution vis‑a‑vis the National pending after they appeared in a TV chat
Sports Code (NSC) but President show, the duo will meet Jain around the
Praful Patel is set to don the big‑ Mumbai Indians (MI) and Kings XI Punjab
ger role on the world stage this (KXIP) Indian Premier League (IPL) match at
week. the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on April
According to AIFF sources, 10.
Pate l, in all like lihoo d, w ill Speaking to IANS, a senior BCCI executive
become the first Indian to be said that the ombudsman would meet the two
e lected a member of FIFA cricketers separately and then take things
Opening batsman KL Rahul.
Executive Council for a four‑year Praful Patel. forward from there.
period when elections are held in "Jain will come down to Mumbai during the asking them to appear for deposition. As per
Monday. As per new FIFA statutes adopt‑
the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) MI‑KXIP game and he will also meet the two the principles of natural justice, I need to
ed in 2016, the executive council is a 37‑
headquarters in Kuala Lumpur on cricketers separately and take into account hear their side. It's up to them now to decide
member body with AFC having the rights
Saturday. what they have to say. After that, he will sub‑ when they want to appear."
to send one Vice President and six mem‑
The executive council is FIFA's highest mit his report after taking all sides into con‑ Revoking the suspension, the CoA had
bers, which include one female member.
decision making body and it has never sideration," the executive said. issued a statement which read: "T he
Led by the FIFA President, the council has
had an Indian member in the past. Former Pandya and Rahul came under fire for cer‑ Committee of Administrators had, by emails
now a wide range of powers and the
AIFF president Priyaranjan Dasmunsi was tain comments they made during the televi‑ dated 11.01.2019, and in exercise of Rule
Secretary General will have to report to it
once elected to the technical committee of sion chat show "Kof fee with Karan" in 41(6) of the Constitution of BCCI, suspended
regularly.
FIFA. January. They were suspended for an indefi‑ Mr. Hardik Pandya and Mr. K.L. Rahul in view
Apart from Patel, the seven other candi‑
Pate l, who is currently the Vice nite period for their comments, but the of the allegations of misconduct against
dates are from China, Iran, Japan, South
President of AFC, has decided not to run Supreme Court‑appointed Committee of them, pending adjudication of the allegations
Korea, the Philippines, Qatar and Saudi
for a re‑election and instead opted to fight Administrators (CoA) later removed the ban under Rule 46 of the approved BCCI
Arabia.
for the FIFA body. His place in AFC could after discussing the matter with Amicus Constitution.
Sources in the AIFF revealed that even
be taken by the Pakistan representative. Curiae, P.S. Narasimha. "Since the adjudication of all allegations of
as I‑League clubs were openly declaring a
"It is an eight‑corner contest for five Asked if things needed to be finished at the misconduct against any cricketer registered
kind of war on AIFF for its alleged partiali‑
spots from Asia in FIFA, but we are confi‑ earliest, given that the World Cup is round with, inter alia, the BCCI is required to be
ty towards the Indian Super League fran‑
dent of Patel's victory. He is being sup‑ the corner, the official said: "Absolutely, we undertaken by the BCCI Ombudsman, whose
chises, Patel travelled to Kyrgyzstan to
ported by AFC President Shaikh Salman need to end this at the earliest. We wouldn't appointment is pending directions of the
campaign for his election with the Central
and all other member countries will sure‑ wish for this to be a distraction of any sort Hon'ble Supreme Court of India, the CoA is
Asian Football Association nation. Before
ly back him in the elections," AIFF senior with the World Cup coming up." the of the view that the interim suspension
leaving for Kyrgyzstan, he assured the I‑
Vice President Subroto Dutta said on Jain on his part said: "I have issued notices orders dated 11.01.2019 should be presently
League club of meeting them in mid‑April.
last week to Hardik Pandya and K.L. Rahul lifted with immediate effect.
 24 April 6-12, 2019 LIFESTYLE TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Sherpa widows in Nepal break Simple yet stylish travel

down taboos and eye Everest tips for frequent flyers
M
ake your life

F
or generations climbing has
been firmly the realm of
men among the legendary
Sherpas of Nepal, tradition dictat‑
ing women care for the home
while their husbands conquer the
Himalayan peaks. But that conven‑
tion is being challenged by two
Sherpa women attempting to sum‑
mit Everest and force a rethink
about the role of widows in their
conservative community, after
their husbands died on the world's
highest mountain.
Furdiki Sherpa and Nima Doma
Sherpa hail from the Himalayan
people revered for their skill at
high altitudes as climbing guides.
Neither woman ever dreamed of
making an expedition to the roof
of the world themselves. But that
is exactly what they are preparing
to do when the short spring climb‑
ing season gets underway in April.
"The men climb. We had other
things to do. I was running a tea
house and taking care of my fami‑
ly. I didn't think about climbing the
mountains," Furdiki told AFP.
That changed in 2013 when she
lost her husband to the mountain
as he fixed ropes along the route
that aid climbers to the summit.
Like many Sherpa women before
her, Furdiki was suddenly alone
without a breadwinner to help
raise their three children, bearing
the stigma of misfortune that can
stalk widows in Nepal.
A year later, another tragedy
brought her into contact with
Nima Doma, whose husband was
Furdiki Sherpa and Nima Doma Sherpa. (Photo courtesy AFP)
swept to his death with 15 other
Nepali guides in a deadly Everest
avalanche. "After our husbands
passed away, we spent months just
crying at home over their memo‑
ries. But we had to take care of our
family and ourselves. It was not
easy to do this as a widow," said
Nima Doma. In need of work, the
pair sought jobs as trekking guides
in the capital Kathmandu, and
often crossed paths as they lit
lamps at a local Buddhist stupa for
their deceased husbands. "We
started sharing our stories, our
grief, and what we should do in
life," Furdiki said. After helping
guide some amateur treks the
women embarked on serious
mountaineering training and soon
plans to summit Everest took
shape. In November, they success‑
fully climbed Island Peak and
Chulu Far East Peak, both difficult
ascents over 6,000 metres. "They
grew up in the mountains," said
Ang Tshering Lama, whose Angs
Himalayan Adventure company is
org anising their 'Two Widow
Expedition' to Everest. As climbers
they are very strong and deter‑
mined." T heir Everest dream
comes as attitudes toward women
and climbing are slowly changing
in the overwhelmingly male‑domi‑
nated industry. Last season 18
women reached the top of Everest ‑
‑ towering over the world at 8,848‑
metre ‑‑ a record number, accord‑
ing to Nepal's department of
tourism. Women trekking guides
are more popular than ever but
they are still vastly outnumbered
on Everest ‑‑ and Sherpa women
even more so. Close to 4,000
Sherpa men have ascended the
peak, according to the reputable
Himalayan Database, compared to
just 34 women from the legendary
ethnic group. Professional climber
Lhakpa Sherpa, 44, is the best
known having topped Everest nine
times, but she remains very much
an anomaly.
easier while
travelling by
rolling your clothes
while packing and car‑
rying a tote handbag
for utility, suggest
experts.
Shivani Malik
Director, Da Milano and
Tushar Ved, President
Major Brands India Pvt
Ltd, for Charles & Keith
have shared simple tips
for travelling.
8 Packing style: It is
always advisable to roll
your clothes. When it comes to
packing toiletries, always carry
smaller bottles. If you can
arrange for sachets, nothing like
that.
8 Choose a proper handbag:
You will come across multiple
shapes and sizes of luggage.
Always remember to keep one
small bag handy for your emer‑
gency essentials. To keep it light,
it is always advisable to carry a
duffle bag or small cabin trolley
with maximum compartments to
divvy up all your emergency
essentials.
8 Keep it stylish: Bright color
luggage bags give a youthful and
free‑spirited look. When every‑
thing else is on point, your lug‑
gage bag too needs to be on
point for a perfect airport look.
Go for colors like red, green, blue
for your next vacation. You can
also experiment with textures in
leather bags in bright colors like
snake or croc texture.
8 Tote bag: For women, tote
bag is a great pick for travelling.
The bag has a single spacious
with double handle that makes it
easy for any travel occasion. This
summer opt for sleek styles pas‑
tel colors for tote bags.
8 Sling bags: Sling bags are
perfect for a party or a dinner
with a fashionable dress or a
gown. You can complete your
evening look by styling your
favorite sling bag with pumps
styled in vibrant prints,
embossed textures and embel‑
lished mesh details.
8 Crossbody bag: This cross‑
body sling backpack is made of
ultra‑durable canvas with rein‑
forced stitching to hold up to all
the wear and tear that comes
from travelling. While it is made
to be worn across your body, it
also features a smaller handle
and can be carried at your side if
needed.

Shoemaker reinvents Under Imran,

Peshawari chappals As Pakistanis happier
'Imran Sandals' Pakistan jumped 7 positions on the World
Happiness report 2019 in one year while India's
L
uxury French shoemaker,
Christian Louboutin, has rein‑ rankings declined seven positions.

I
vented the famous Peshawari
t looks like Imran Khan is ensuring countries, was re leased by the
chappals and has named his latest cre‑
more happiness for his citizens in Sustainable Deve lopment Solutions
ation the "Imran sandals"..
Pakistan than Indian Prime Minister Network for the United Nations.
The Dawn report said on Sunday that
Narendra Modi has been able to, accord‑ T he World Happiness report is an
it was not immediately clear if the latest
ing to the findings of a UN World annual study of year‑to‑year changes in
creation was named after Pakistan
Happiness report 2019. happiness, which considers six key fac‑
Prime Minister Imran Khan because of
Within a year of Imran Khan's tenure tors of life ‑‑ income, healthy life
his fondness for Peshawari chappals or
as the Prime Minister of Pakistan, the expectancy, social support, freedom,
whether they were a homage to
country jumped seven positions on the trust and generosity‑‑ along with other
Louboutin's Pakistani friend, artist
World Happiness report 2019‑‑ from important elements like GDP per capita
Imran Qureshi.
75th in 2018 to 67th in 2019. and absence of corruption in an econo‑
Besides the trademark red soles, the
On the contrary, India's rankings my. T he report 2019 does not only
sandals have studs and the Louboutin
declined seven positions, from 133rd to determine rankings of countries by hap‑
logo. In 2014, British menswear design‑
140th, which is also its lowest since piness but also shows “how happiness
er Paul Smith found himself in hot
2012. According to previous World has been affected by changes in the qual‑
waters when he replicated the
As a result, the brand changed the Happiness reports, India has gradually ity of government”, it says.
Peshwari chappals as his own and sold
shoe's description on its website to lost its position in the past five years and For the second consecut ive year,
them in the market for a whopping 300
"inspired by Peshawari Chappal". plunged 23 positions. Finland topped the rankings, followed by
pounds.
The report, based on data from 156 Denmark and Norway.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Raghu Karnad wins
$1,65,000 Windham-
Campbell Prize
I
ndian journalist and author
Rag hu Karnad has been
announced as one of the win‑
ners of the prestigious Windham‑
Campbe ll Prize of the Yale
University. T he award, estab‑
lished in 2013, is one of the rich‑
est and most lucrative literary
prizes for English language writ‑
ers and each winner receives
$1,65,000.
He won from the non‑fiction
category for his debut 2015 book
'Farthest Field: An Indian Story Of
The Second World War'. In 2016,
the book won the Sahitya
Akademi Yuva Puraskar for a
writer in English and was also
shortlisted for the Hessell‑Tiltman
Prize.
Son of noted Indian actor‑direc‑
tor Girish Karnad, who is also a
Kannada writer, Karnad studied at
Oxford and has written for sever‑
al national and international pub‑
lications.
Karnad, a former Outlook
employee, currently works as the
chief of bureau of Delhi‑based
news website TheWire.
"When I was writing this book,
the idea of a South Indian family –
from Calicut, Kodagu, Madras –
Now, Hindi innings for French bestseller Asterix comics
By Sidhi Jain
L
aunched in 1959, the
French comic classic
'Asterix' boasts having sold
an unmatched 370 million copies
in more than 100 languages.
After capturing the global comics
market, the series is now avail‑
able for Hindi readers ‑ after five
years of painstaking translation.
The Hindi translation of the first
four albums of the 'Asterix' series
was released here last Thursday
by French Ambassador
Alexandre Ziegler, who called the
comics' total of 33 albums "a
monument of French pop cul‑
ture" and "opportunity to learn
not French, but about the French
(people)."
The series follows the adven‑
tures of a group of Gallic vil‑
lagers as they resist Roman occu‑
pation in 50 BCE. It was original‑
ly written by Rene Goscinny and
illustrated by Albert Uderzo.
Published by Om Books
International, the "albums", as
they are called, were co‑translat‑
ed by Dipa Chaudhuri and
Puneet Gupta beginning from
2014. Sharing that translating
each album took at least 6‑8
months, the task was "not merely
Journalist‑author Raghu Karnad
has won the prestigious prize of
Yale University for his book
'Farthest Field: An Indian Story of
the Second World War'
drawn into WW2 seemed like it
might be too remote for readers
in Delhi, let alone in the United
States," Karnad told Outlook.
"I guess that was wrong.
Actually, the subject of Farthest
Field isn't just the war, and it isn't
just the polit ics of that half‑
decade – which both seemed
unbelievably dramatic and excit‑
ing to me – it's the puzzle of mem‑
ory and forgetting, how it hap‑
pens at the personal and the
national scale," he added.
a word‑to‑word translation".
"There are so many cultural
references. You have to find
equivalent Hindi words, terminol‑
ogy, proverbs, jokes, songs.
There is Latin used as well,"
Gupta, who also translated 'The
Adventures of Tintin', said.
Explained his French‑speaking
co‑translator Chaudhuri: "There
was a huge translator's block
when we started. It wasn't just
any translation. These were
graphic novels and the graphic
form imposes a lot of restrictions
as to how you can translate.
"Besides finding the right word,
we had to find the right length,
because there were speech bub‑
bles. The Hindi script practically
is much longer than the French.
There are matras on the top, side
and bottom, whereas in French
they are only on top. We couldn't
be waffling with the translation,"
Chaudhuri added.
What the translators also has
to be mindful of is that each lan‑
guage has its own aural space
and one size does not fit all.
"While you'd hit a person with
a 'Paff' in French, it'll be 'Bang' in
English and 'Thak' in Hindi,"
Gupta explained, adding that
they identified a 100 sounds in
BOOKS April 6-12, 2019 25
Chetan Bhagat announces new
non‑fiction "India Positive"
B
est‑selling author Chetan
Bhag at last Wednesday
announced the launch of his
new non‑fict ion book "India
Positive", which comprises essays
examining a gamut of subjects
such as education, employment,
Goods and Services Tax (GST), cor‑
ruption and casteism.
Published by Westland
Publicat ions, Bhag at's latest
English title will be released in
May. The new book also consists of
tweets that highlight and touch
upon the current issues that need
focus today.
In the book's blurb, the "2 States"
author has asked questions such as
"does it make any difference to the
ordinary citizen which party is in
power? Whether it's a majority or a must‑read for anyone invested in simple take on the political issues
coalition?" the present and future of India," and arguments in the country.
Bhagat further said: "What can read the blurb. "T his book covers each and
we do to better job prospects for The Mumbai‑based author's last everything that has happened in
India's youth? How can we create a book, "The Girl in Room 105", was the past year, be it employment,
more equal society? What can we re leased in 2018. It was also corruption or the systems of the
do about social media warriors and announced in a Facebook LIVE on economy. The aim is, by reading
trolls?" Bhagat's official page. this book, one will never be ill‑
Bhagat also argued that if the Sharing his viewpoints on "India informed about India's issues."
country was to shine, we needed to Positive", Bhagat said: "I believe my He also shared the book's cover
stand up and be "India Positive country has more good things than on social media, which shows a
Citizens." bad. I have to focus on what is group of smiling children with the
"In a world ridden with negativi‑ more important, i.e., capturing the tricolor.
ty, these simply written, perceptive diminishing interest of the youth in "India Posit ive" can be pre‑
and solution‑driven essays are a politics by attempting to provide a ordered online from Amazon.
four of the 33 albums.
The French equivalent of the
India's iconic 'Chacha Chaudhary'
comics or 'Amar Chitra Katha',
'Asterix' is a journey into French
mindsets and is widely translated
and adapted into animated films,
video games, live action films,
and even theme parks.
The translation rights were
acquired by publisher Ajay Mago
from the French Hachette Livre
after over 5 years of negotia‑
tions.
The first four albums are
priced at Rs 295 and are avail‑ French Ambassador Alexandre Ziegler (second from left at the Hindi comics
able online at Amazon and release) called Asterix "a monument of French pop culture" and "opportuni‑
Flipkart, as also offline. ty to learn not French, but about the French (people)." (Photo IANS)
 26 April 6-12, 2019
Measles emergency declared Many urinal trips
in Rockland county in NY in night hints at
White Plains, N.Y. Rockland
County Execut ive Ed Day
declared a state of emergency
March 27 in Ro ckland's six‑
month‑long measles outbreak,
barring unvaccinated youngsters
under 18 from public places for
30 days. Public places include
schools, places of worship, shop‑
ping centers and restaurants.
Parks and outdoor areas are not
included.
T he declarat ion quickly
became an international story,
sparking a debate that blends
religion, public health and gov‑
ernment action.
Day said he saw the declaration
as the only tool he had to reverse
the measles outbreakʼs troubling
trajectory, one that could ratchet
up considerably with the upcom‑
ing Passover and Easter holidays.
In pushing parents to have
their children get the MMR vac‑
cine to combat measles, mumps
and rubella – and holding them
accountable if they donʼt – Day
succeeded in achieving a dif fer‑
ent sort of MMR: massive media
response as well as “vile, disgust‑
Apple watch with ECG App
now in Europe, Hong Kong
A M
pple Watch Series 4
with industry‑first fea‑
tures like ECG reading
app and irregular rhythm noti‑
fication will now be available
in Europe and Hong Kong.
With watchOS 5.2, customers
in 19 European countries
including Germany can take an
ECG reading with Apple Watch
Series 4 at any time. "All
recordings, their associated
classifications and any noted
symptoms are stored securely
in the Health app on iPhone,"
Apple said in a statement late
Wednesday.
The ECG app enables cus‑
tomers to take an electrocar‑
diogram right from their wrist.
It can capture heart rhythm on
demand in a moment when
users experience symptoms
such as a rapid or skipped
heart beat and help provide
clinically important data to
physicians. The irregular
rhythm notification feature on
Apple Watch occasionally
checks heart rhythm in the
background and sends a notifi‑
cation if an irregular heart
rhythm that appears to be atri‑
al fibrillation (AFib) is identi‑
fied.
The ECG app and irregular
rhythm notification feature
A viral infection that's serious for small children
but is easily preventable by a vaccine.
ing" comments from critics in the
anti‑vaccine movement.
According to Centers for
Disease and Prevention, "measles
is a highly contagious virus that
lives in the nose and throat
mucus of an infected person."
The virus can spread through
the air or through contact with
surfaces touched by those who
are infected. It can live for up to
two hours in an airspace where
the infected person coughed or
sneezed and on surfaces they
can alert users to signs of AFib.
"We've seen the ECG app and
irregular rhythm notifications
on Apple Watch have meaning‑
ful impact on our customers
across the US," said Jeff
Williams, Apple's Chief
Operating Officer.
A recent clinical trial of
around 600 participants found
that the ECG app on Apple
Watch demonstrated 98.3 per
cent sensitivity in classifying
AFib and 99.6 per cent speci‑
ficity in classifying sinus
rhythm in classifiable record‑
ings, when compared to an
ECG administered by a cardiol‑
ogist. The irregular rhythm
notification feature was recent‑
ly studied in the Apple Heart
Study which found "only 0.5
per cent of participants
received irregular pulse notifi‑
cations, an important finding
given concerns about potential
over‑notification."
HEALTH
touched. The virus is so conta‑
gious, the CDC says, that "if one
person has it, up to 90 percent of
the people close to that person
who are not immune will also
become infected."
Critics have called the emer‑
gency declaration draconian. Day
continued to call it "moderate."
"Draconian would have been
banning everybody," he said.
"Draconian would have been
quarantining people. We're not
doing that."
More Americans think e‑cigarettes
are harmful, study says
ore American adults
perceive electronic cig‑
arettes to be as harmful
as or more harmful than regular
cigarettes, according to a new
analysis.
The researchers examined data
from the Tobacco Products and
Risk Perceptions Survey, admin‑
istered by the Georgia State
University Tobacco Center of
Regulatory Science, and the
Health Information National
Trends Survey, administered
by the National Cancer
Institute; both are nationally
representative surveys
administered to US adults
every year.
When the results of both
surveys were combined, the
percentage of people who
believed that e‑cigarettes were
less harmful than regular ciga‑
rettes decreased from 45% in
2012 to 35% in 2017. The num‑
ber of people who thought e‑cig‑
arettes were as harmful as ciga‑
rettes increased to 45% in that
time, and the percentage who
believed that e‑cigarettes were
more harmful remained low, at
less than 10%, according to the
results, published last Friday in
JAMA. The findings "underscore
the urgent need to accurately
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
high BP: Study
I
f you need to visit urinal
frequently in the night, get
your blood pressure
checked as researchers say it
may be a sign of hypertension.
"Our study indicates if you
need to urinate in the night ‑‑
called nocturia ‑‑ you may
have elevated blood pressure
and/or excess fluid in your
body. If you continue to have
nocturia, ask your doctor to
check your blood pressure and
salt intake," said study author
Satoshi Konno of Tohoku Rosai
Hospital in Sendai, Japan.
The study examined the link
between nocturia and hyper‑
tension in the general
Japanese population.
The researchers enrolled
3,749 people who had an
annual health check in 2017.
Blood pressure was measured
and information on nocturia
was obtained through ques‑
tionnaire. Nocturia (one or
more nocturia events per
communicate the risks of e‑ciga‑
rettes to the public," the authors
note, expressing concern that as
greater numbers of people view
e‑cigarettes as more harmful
than cigarettes, they will be less
willing to make the transition
from one to the other.
Electronic cigarettes work by
heating a pure liquid called e‑
juice ‑‑ composed of flavorings,
propylene glycol, glycerin and
often nicotine ‑‑ until it vapor‑
izes. The resulting vapor is much
less offensive to both smokers
and non‑smokers.
In 2017, the National Academy
of Science, Engineering, and
Medicine concluded that "e‑ciga‑
rettes pose less risk to an indi‑
vidual than combustible tobacco
products." Since then, however,
studies have linked the use of e‑
cigarettes with an increased risk
of heart attack, stroke, chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease
and other respiratory diseases at
night) was significantly associ‑
ated with hypertension,
showed the findings presented
at the 83rd Annual Scientific
Meeting of the Japanese
Circulation Society (JCS 2019).
The risk of hypertension
rose significantly as the num‑
ber of nocturia events per
night increased.
"We found that getting up in
the night to urinate was linked
to a 40 per cent greater
chance of having hypertension.
And the more visits to the toi‑
let, the greater the risk of
hypertension,"
rates similar to those of tradi‑
tional cigarettes in some cases,
explained Stanton A. Glantz, a
professor at the University of
California, San Francisco Center
for Tobacco Control Research
and Education, in an editorial
published alongside the study in
JAMA. The vision of those whom
Glantz describes as "e‑cigarette
optimists" is for smokers to
switch completely from ciga‑
rettes to e‑cigarettes, he said. But
contrary to their hopes,
about two‑thirds of adult e‑
cigarette users continue to
use both. "The risks of e‑
cigarette use are in addi‑
tion to any risks from com‑
bustible cigarettes," he
added, meaning that people
who use both have higher
risks of heart disease and lung
disease than those who smoke
only regular cigarettes. As the
long‑term effects of e‑cigarette
use continue to be understood,
the changing public perception
of risk may benefit one group of
people the most: teens and
young adults.
Youth who have negative views
of e‑cigarettes are less likely to
use them, which is important for
curbing use in this group, Glantz
said.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
The B-1 Visa -
for the Business Traveler
By Dev Banad Viswanath, Esq.
& Michael Phulwani, Esq.
I TALK
f a foreign individual would like
to come to the U.S. for some sort
of short business activity they
will most likely have to apply for a
B‑1 visa. A B‑1 visa is a temporary
non‑immigrant business visa. This
visa is for foreign individuals who
are coming to the U.S for business
purposes. BUT NOT TO WORK.
Some qualifying business purposes
include:
* Settling an estate,
* Negotiating a contract,
* Taking part in short‑term
training, or
* Consulting with business
associates
Foreign individuals entering the
U.S. under a B‑1 visa may not do
any productive work or accept
paid or unpaid work. The B‑1 visa
status does not give an individual
permission to manage a business
Internet rules must be
updated: Zuckerberg
F H
acebook CEO Mark
Zuckerberg has said
that governments and
regulators need to play a more
active role in updating rules
for the Internet to preserve
the freedom of expression, for
entrepreneurs to build new
things, and to protect society
from broader harm.
In an editorial in The
Washington Post on Saturday,
Zuckerberg said though
Facebook continually reviews
policies with experts on ter‑
rorist propaganda and hate
speech, it "always make mis‑
takes and decisions that people
disagree with".
But, it is time for "new regulation
in four areas: harmful content, elec‑ ful content and to measure compa‑
tion integrity, privacy and data
portability", the Facebook Founder
said, noting that it will help "define
clear responsibilities for people,
companies and governments going
forward".
Stating that the company is work‑ deciding whether an ad is political
ing with governments, including
French officials, on ensuring the
effectiveness of content review sys‑ lation created common standards
tems, Zuckerberg suggested for
VISA
or start a new business. When
planning to travel to the U.S. with a
B‑1 visa, the foreign individual
must make sure they have a valid
passport as well. If their passport is
expired and it contains a valid visa
in it a U.S. Embassy will not trans‑
fer a valid visa in an expired pass‑
port to a new passport. The foreign
individual will need to carry both
their old passport with the valid
visa and their new passport or
apply for a new visa to be included
in the new passport.
Under a B‑1 visa a foreign indi‑
vidual may stay in the U.S. between
one and six months, six months
being the maximum. However,
most B1 visa applicants will get 3
Facebook founding CEO Mark Zuckerberg
third‑party bodies to set standards
governing the distribution of harm‑
nies against those standards.
He asserted the need for holding
Internet companies accountable for
enforcing standards on harmful
content.
On political ads, Zuckerberg said
is not always straightforward, thus
it "could be more effective if regu‑
for verifying political actors".
IMMIGRATION
months of authorized entry. The
rationale is that there is really no
need for a person to be in the US
for more than months on a non‑
working business trip. After the
initial period of stay ends, an
extension of stay may be granted
for up to an additional six months.
The maximum total amount of time
permitted in B‑1 status on a single
trip is one year. An individual is not
required to have a return ticket
when they come to the U.S. but
they should have evidence with
them to show that they have a rea‑
son to leave go back home at the
end of their stay. One of the
requirements needed for an indi‑
vidual to be granted a B‑1 visa is to
show that they will be here for a
specific amount of time and they
plan on returning to their foreign
home. A B‑1 visa is a temporary
visa and therefore an individual
cannot stay in the U.S. for an infi‑
nite amount of time.
SCI-TECH
"We believe legislation should
be updated to reflect the reality
of the threats and set standards
for the whole industry," he said.
Endorsing the European
Union's General Data Protection
Regulation (GDPR) for effective
privacy and data protection,
Zuckerberg said it would be
good for the Internet if more
countries adopted GDPR and
build new privacy regulation on
the given framework.
He also emphasised on the
need for clear rules on when
information can be used to serve
the public interest and how it
should apply to new technologies
such as Artificial Intelligence.
Moreover, new regulation should
guarantee the principle of data
portability
Clear rules are required, however,
about who is responsible for pro‑
tecting information when it moves
between services, Zuckerberg
noted.
"I believe Facebook has a respon‑
sibility to help address these issues,
and I'm looking forward to dis‑
cussing them with lawmakers
around the world," he added.
April 6-12, 2019 27
From the year 2014 there has may be connected to the stricter
been decrease in the number of B‑1 compliance with immigration rules
visas that were granted. According and regulations under the Trump
to the Department of State (DOS) in Administration.
2014 there were 44,880 B‑1 visas Any dependents of B‑1 nonimmi‑
granted and in 2018 there were grants, spouse and children under
only 38,705 B‑1 visas granted; the age of 21, are not allowed to
those numbers include boarder obtain a dependent visa. Each
crossing cards. From the year dependent who will join the B‑1
2014 to 2018 there has been a visa holder to the U.S. must apply
steady decrease in the number of separately for a B‑2 visitor visa and
B‑1 visas that are granted. This must follow the rules of that visa.
Dev Banad Viswanath is the Principal Attorney of
The Banad Law Offices PC in the United States,
and Banad Immigration in India for which
Attorney Michael Phulwani is also affiliated as Of
Counsel. With Offices in Manhattan, Queens,
Bangalore, and Mumbai, the firm is able to assist
clients with all facets of the immigration process,
including Employment Visas, Consular Visa
Assistance, Student Visas, Removal &
Deportation, US Citizenship and Green Card
Applications based on Family or Employment.
Dev B. Viswanath can be reached at
Dev@Banadlaw.com and 718‑361‑5999.
Mysterious mummy
to be opened live on
Discovery TV April 8
istory enthusiasts can trove of antiquities ‑ all lying
watch the inner chambers undisturbed for thousands of
of an ancient Egyptian years. Several chambers, however,
sarcophagus (a box‑like stone cof‑ are yet to be explored ‑ and many
fin) of a mysterious mummy being more discoveries to be revealed,
opened LIVE on television in a including a mysterious limestone
two‑hour special Discovery sarcophagus found buried deep
Channel program on April 8. The within the complex. "The identity
ancient artefacts of Egypt can be of the mummy inside has been a
viewed from close quarters in the mystery for 3,000 years..possibly
upcoming program, "Expedition until now."
Unknown: Egypt LIVE". "This is Discovery at its best, as
As per Discovery, the multiplat‑ we seek to uncover history that
form event will be hosted by has been buried in the sands of
adventurer and avid explorer Josh Egypt for millennia," Discovery &
Gates, who will be joined by Factual, Chief Brand Officer,
world‑renowned Egyptologist Zahi Nancy Daniels said in a statement.
Hawass, and Mostafa Waziri, the The live broadcast can be
secretary‑general of the Supreme viewed at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m.
Council of Antiquities of Egypt. (India time) on April 8 on
Viewers will have the rare Discovery Channel and Discovery
opportunity to see the inner HD World.
chambers of an excavation site, It is produced by Discovery
where archaeologists recently Studios and Ping Pong
uncovered a network of vertical Productions in association with
shafts leading to an underground Big Dreams Entertainment.
network of tunnels and tombs The channels will also premiere
with 40 mummies believed to be special Egypt‑based series on
part of the noble elite, the widely‑ great women of ancient Egypt and
viewed platform added. Egypt's lost queens surviving the
The massive underground com‑ exodus on April 7 from 12 p.m. to
plex of chambers is a treasure 3 p.m.
28 April 6-12, 2019 HUMOR TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Humor with Melvin Durai

Money‑ Saving tips that

really work!
E
veryoneʼs offering money‑saving tips
these days, trying to help people sur‑
vive the economic downturn. It doesnʼt
take much to save a few bucks here and there,
even if youʼre already scrimping, even if you
order the “short” cappuccino at Starbucks and
have reduced your cable TV package to only
380 channels.
Anyone whoʼs really serious about saving
money needs to follow Melvinʼs canʼt‑miss
tips: 1. Be more religious. Yes, going to the

BEST temple, gurudwara, mosque or church can

save you money. How? Well, many of these

RATE religious institutions offer you something you

canʼt usually find anywhere else: FREE FOOD!

FOR Entire meals are served at many temples,

gurudwaras and mosques, while snacks are security? Thankfully, thereʼs an easy solution.

INDIA commonplace at churches.

Iʼm not suggesting, of course, that you go
Just travel anywhere in the world – Tahiti,
Jamaica, Hawaii – by gazing at your Facebook

AND there just to eat. You can also get something

to drink. But if the minister asks if you want
PAKISTAN to be “filled with the spirit,” itʼs probably not a
good idea to say, “No, thanks. Iʼm driving.”
2. Donʼt pay interest on your credit card. If
youʼre buried in credit card debt, it might be
New York Head Quarter time to look in the mirror and accept that
thereʼs only one person to blame for the mess
422‑S Broadway
youʼre in: your spouse. (Or significant other.)
HICKSVILLE He or she buys all sorts of luxury items with
the credit card, whereas you use it only for
NY 11801
essential items, such as wool pajamas for the
516‑827‑1010 dog. It might be time to get a divorce – from
your credit card.
3. Find vacations on the Internet. Letʼs face
it: itʼs expensive to travel abroad and, even if
you can afford it, do you really want to spend
half your vacation going through airport
friendsʼ vacation pics. Put your face right
against the computer screen and youʼll almost
feel yourself there.
4. Cancel your gym membership. Does it
really make sense for you to spend two hours
lifting weights, sweating profusely and not
getting paid for it? Instead, head to the air‑
port or train station and get yourself a job as
a porter. Many companies, including UPS,
Wal‑Mart and Sears, offer “lifting opportuni‑
ties,” though it might be a good idea to stay
away from shoplifting.
5. Take the bus or train to work and do
some reading. The first step is to buy a
monthly bus/train pass. The second step is to
cancel your newspaper subscription. Why
subscribe to the newspaper when you can
read it for free over someoneʼs shoulder?
6. Take advantage of telemarketers. If you
get lots of calls from telemarketers, you need

Laughter is the Best Medicine to do what I do: sell them stuff. Itʼs amazing
how much you can sell if youʼre a little force‑
ful. Just ask Satwinder, the guy in New Delhi
who just bought 100 copies of my novel “Bala
Takes the Plunge.”
By 7. Do your own recycling. Donʼt throw out
Mahendra that fashion magazine – pull out the glossy
Shah pages and use them to wrap small gifts. Donʼt
throw out that worn boot – fill it with soil and
Mahendra Shah grow a plant in it. Donʼt throw out that old
is an architect pair of underwear – cut it into a fancy shape
by education, and use it as a doily.
entrepreneur by 8. Donʼt play the lottery. Itʼs okay to buy a
profession, ticket now and then, but if youʼre plunking
artist and down 10 bucks a week, youʼre throwing your
humorist, hard‑earned money away. Yes, people do win
cartoonist and the lottery, but you have a better chance of
writer by hobby. getting Justin Bieber to share nail polishing
He has been tips with you.
recording the 9. Think big. Donʼt buy a small bag of rice
plight of the when a big bag is more economical in the
immigrant long run. The best part is, once the bag is
Indians for the empty, you can recycle it. Just write “Gucci”
past many year on the side of it and use it for shopping.
in his cartoons. 10. Get to know your neighbors. Neighbors
Hailing from can save you a lot of money. In fact, if youʼre
Gujarat, he trying to buy a house, make sure you find one
lives in with a plumber living on one side, an electri‑
cian on the other and a carpenter across the
Pittsburgh,
street. Donʼt forget to show them your appre‑
Pennsylvania.
ciation with a special gift, such as a nicely
wrapped doily.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info ASTROLOGY April 6-12, 2019 29

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

By Dr Prem Kumar Sharma Delhi, India: +91-11- 2644 9898, 2648 9899
psharma@premastrologer.com; w.premastrologer.com

APRIL 6‑12, 2019

Aries: Judicious spending will find
your bank balance in a healthy state.
If there are any dif ferences with
spouse over some issue, this is the time to
resolve them. You will manage to impress
one and all by your gift of the gab on the
work front. Good eating habits will keep
you fit and healthy. A vacation will give you
ample opportunity to enjoy the new locale
and let your hair down.
Taurus: Your expertise is likely to get
you some good breaks on the profes‑
sional front. Financial betterment is
just round the corner for some. A family
function is on the anvil and will give you an
opportunity to showcase your talents. Your
efforts on the romantic front will be richly
rewarded.
Those wanting to reduce weight can taste
success the coming week.
Gemini: A deliberate attempt at sav‑
ing is the only way you can repay
your loans. Higher studies can beck‑
on some. Domestic harmony is assured for
those wanting to spend time by themselves
at home. Newlyweds are likely to enjoy an
extended togetherness on a short vacation.
There will be nothing to complain on the
health front. New drivers need to be careful
on the road.
Cancer: Shooting your mouth off at
an inappropriate time can harm
your image, so keep a low profile at
work. You can count on the total support of
family members in domestic matters.
Regular routine will keep you in the prime
of health. Your initiative on the romantic
front can get you a lukewarm response.
Adopt a wait and watch policy regarding
buying or selling of property.
Leo: You manage to ward off a finan‑
cial crunch by thinking ahead. A fam‑
ily member can hold an imaginary
grudge against you. You are likely to be
happily involved in your profession and
take the best decisions. It may be difficult to
find extra energy for lending a helping
hand on the domestic front. Those opting
for higher studies will be able to gather
their focus and energy.
Virgo: All your attempts at a fresh
beginning or turning over a new leaf
are likely to face unanticipated hur‑
dles. Profits are likely to dip for retailers as
footfalls refuse to increase despite best
efforts. Romance at this juncture may not
rock. Those ill are likely to make good
prog ress. Changes at workplace are
inevitable, but will not af fect you in any
way.
Libra: Some of you can suf fer the
after ef fects of love gone sour. A
real estate transaction is likely to
prove profitable. Your leadership qualities
will be much appreciated in a particular sit‑
uation that you may find yourself in this
period. A social event promises to up your
popularity and put you on the centre stage.
T hose in a long‑term relationship can
expect happy week ahead.
Scorpio: Some delay is foreseen in
completion of a project or task. You
are likely to consolidate your gains
on the professional front. Those in the hos‑
pitality and service sector will find things
looking favourable.
Your romantic endeavours are likely to
meet a dead end, but donʼt lose hope. Those
planning to buy property would do well to
wait a little more.
Sagittarius: Feeling positive about a
situation will set things right for
you, even if they are going wrong.
Financial worries can make some restless,
but the situat ion w ill not be beyond
redemption. Finger in every pie will keep
you abreast at work and make you fully
prepared for any eventuality. Academic per‑
formance is likely to place you amongst the
leaders.
Capricorn: A windfall can be expect‑
ed for those disposing of property,
but they will have to be careful
while investing this money. It may seem dif‑
ficult to get rid of an ailment permanently.
Conserve money by keeping a check on
spending. You will succeed in raising the
spirits of a depressed family member. Your
skills and expertise will help you in estab‑
lishing yourself at the workplace.
Aquarius: Your fondest wishes are
likely to come true this week as you
steal the show in a family function.
A change of portfolio is in the offing for
some at work. You will find your relation‑
ship going from strength to strength.
Starting an exercise regime is on the cards
for some. Homemakers will find this phase
fruitful, when they manage to make the
changes on the home front.
Pisces: Hard work and sleepless
nights are in store for some organis‑
ing a family function, but it will be
worth the effort. It is best to consult knowl‑
edgeable people before going in for invest‑
ments. A compatible match is likely for the
eligible. Treating partner to a movie or din‑
ner will go a long way in enriching relation‑
ship. Donʼt overstrain yourself by becoming
too figure conscious.

April 6, 2019 Frequent travel will be undertak‑

Influenced by number 6 and
the planet Venus. You are smart,
active, independent, ambitious,
charming and love peace and
harmony. You possess a remark‑
able personality and you can eas‑
ily make friends with your help‑
ful nature, but you need to check
your tendency to behave moody,
spendthrift and careless at times.
This year gains and rewards
are certain but will require you
to be completely focused on your
goals. Your inability to gather
proper and accurate information
will put you in to the losses or lot
of embarrassment. Period in the
second half of the year will be
much better for financial dealing,
though partnership and joint
ventures should be completely
avoided. Romance will flourish
and some lovebirds will even go
in for a matrimonial alliance.
Friends and close relatives will
appreciate your sensitive and
helpful nature. Despite tensions
and stress your health will be
fine. The month of December,
February and July will be event‑
ful.
April 7, 2019
Governed by number 7 and the
planet Neptune. You are active,
energetic, brilliant, confident,
vigilant and a shrewd individual.
You are blessed with remarkable
imagination and can easily win
over your rivals, but you need to
check your tendency to behave
vindictive, reckless and stubborn
at times.
T he coming year promises
physical and financial gains.
ANNUAL PREDICTIONS: FOR THOSE BORN IN THIS WEEK
Recognition and rewards for
your efforts will be plenty. There
will be a rise in your confidence
and determination enabling you
to handle difficult tasks with
ease. Stronger relationship will
develop with people you associ‑
ate at parties and clubs. During
this perio d there w ill be an
increase in expenses on enter‑
tainment, and you will also make
valuable purchases for the house.
Health will be fine in spite of hec‑
tic work schedule that you might
need to follow for initial few
months. The months of January,
April, May and August will be
highly significant and productive.
April 8, 2019
Influenced by number 8 and
the planet Saturn, you are ener‑
getic, disciplined, systematic,
original and an authoritative
individual. You are a conserva‑
tive person who believes very
strongly in old values and cus‑
toms. You are helpful and trust‑
worthy but you need to control
your tendency to behave pes‑
simist, stubborn and nervous at
times.
This year the stars will shine
brightly bringing success and
prosperity on every venture you
undertake. Wonderful period to
seek favours and establish new
contacts. Your imaginative pow‑
ers will stretch beyond what they
generally do and bring you addi‑
tion gains and rewards. Taking
part in debates and interesting
conversations will help improve
your inte llectual mind.
Matrimonial alliances for some,
while others will find romance to
keep them going. Children will
bring happy news later in the
year. T he month of October,
December, February and May
will be eventful months.
April 9, 2019
Ruled by number 9 and the
planet Mars, you are act ive,
courageous, dashing, enthusias‑
tic and highly diplomatic person.
You achieve a lot w ith your
impressive personality and com‑
mand over your work, but you
need to check your tendency to
behave erratic and impatient at
times.
This coming year will require
you to improve upon your
knowledge and skills. You will
have to deal with government
agencies and people at higher
places, who will be slow in pro‑
viding results, which will prove
frustrating at times. But impor‑
tant contacts that you establish
during this phase will be helpful
in the long run. Foreign educa‑
tion or travel for some seems
later in the year. New romance
will shine for some, but unfortu‑
nately it will be short lived. The
months of January, April, August
and September will be very sig‑
nificant.
April 10, 2019
Ruled by number one and the
Sun. You are independent, intelli‑
gent, sensitive, honest, imagina‑
tive and highly simple person.
You are highly diplomatic and
your strong asset is your speech,
which put to proper use brings
you immense g ains. You are
hardworking, talented, but you
need to check your tendencies to
behave extravagant and jealous
at times.
This year you will slowly but
gradually climb the ladder of
success. Businessmen will invest
in more profitable ventures.
Promising contacts will build
through social get‑togethers and
traveling. Your spouse will be
quite cooperative and shower
her full love and affection upon
you despite your erratic behavior
at times. An infatuation within
the group will keep you in high
spirits for some time but it will
not be long lasting. The months
of October, December, March and
August will prove to be highly
significant.
April 11, 2019
Ruled by number 2 and the
Moon, you are highly imagina‑
tive, warm‑hearted, friendly and
hard working person. You like to
fantasize and you generally
assign difficult targets for your‑
self, but you find it difficult to
achieve them because of your
casual and lazy behavior at
times.
Remarkable gains are in store
for you in the first half of the
year, provided you take advan‑
tage of the given opportunities.
Improvement in your work envi‑
ronment and monetary position
also seem high on your cards.
en which w ill prove hig hly
rewarding. Donʼt rely on people
who make false promises. New
job opportunities and promo‑
tions for some. The latter half of
the year brings gains for those
who dabble in speculation. You
could also click a real estate deal
at a throwaway price. T he
months of February, May, July
and September will be highly
eventful.
April 12, 2019
Ruled by number 3, and the
planet Jupiter, you are practical,
dignified, philosophical, methodi‑
cal and systematic person. You
are a very social person who
likes to make new friends and
visit new and interesting places.
You are a born leader and you
love to stay ahead of others, but
you loose out on many good
opportunities due to your ten‑
dency to behave stubborn and
moody at times.
This year gains seem likely for
you through investment as well
as speculation. Although your
opinions w ill be faced w ith
strong resistance and criticism,
but your ability to convince peo‑
ple will make you push through
your plans. Your confidence and
morale will be high as you gain
favours from various people,
both in govt. and private offices.
New construction or major reno‑
vat ion like ly towards the
yearend. Health problems related
to eyes, mouth cannot be ruled
out. Take necessary medication
w ithout fail. T he months of
November, January, April and
August will be highly significant.
30 April 6-12, 2019 SPIRITUAL AWARENESS TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Empower your true self

places of worship. Some go separateness as individuals is
beyond their own religion to find connectedness and oneness to all
answers offered in other faith. life. Awaiting us inside is bliss
Whichever method one adopts, and joy so fulfilling that we need
the direction one follows to find no other intoxicants to make us
answers to lifeʼs questions is happy. All these gifts lie within us
known as the spiritual path. It is in the empowered soul.
the spiritual path that leads to the The soul is a source of tremen‑
realization of the inner self, to the dous wisdom, love, and power,
By Sant Rajinder Singh soul. yet we remain ignorant of its
There are two ways to view our‑ treasures when we allow it to be
Ji Maharaj
selves with regards to the soul. overpowered by the mind, the

M
The first is to view ourselves pri‑ senses, and the physical body.
any people live and die
marily as a body and mind that When the mind and body assert
without ever realizing
“have a soul.ʼ The second is to see power over the soul, the soul for‑
the full power and
ourselves primarily as a soul who gets itself. But the empowered
potential of their soul. At some
“ has or wears a mind and body.” soul is our true nature, and it is
time in their life, they may won‑
If we think that we are a mind time we reclaim the soul so that
der about the soul, about God,
and body, then ours is a journey
The soul is a source of tremendous its gifts can enrich our life. There
and about the purpose of their
existence. Many people pass
to find the soul. If we realize that wisdom, love, and power, yet we are simple techniques for access‑
we are the soul, which has been ing the riches of our soul. We
through life never realizing who
given the mind and body to
remain ignorant of its treasures need not search the four corners
they are and never certain about
the purpose of their existence. In
maneuver through the physical when we allow it to be overpowered of the earth. We need not travel
world, then our goal is to further into outer space. These tech‑
times of trouble or in the face of
empower the soul. By empower‑ by the mind, the senses, and the niques can be practiced in the
death, they may raise these ques‑
tions, but may not follow them
ing the soul we recover its natu‑ physical body. When the mind and comfort of our home. Through
ral control over the mind and meditation, a whole new world
through to a fulfilling conclusion
senses. body assert power over the soul, the opens for us. By learning medita‑
or else may abandon the process
when the bad times pass. But
The mind, the senses, the body, soul forgets itself. But the empow- tion, we can gain entry to worlds
and the pulls of the physical of bliss, light, and love within.
those who have a burning desire
world have placed the soul in a ered soul is our true nature, and it is Tapping into the soul and its
to find the answers to the myster‑
ies of life can find them.
state of forgetfulness from which
we must awaken. Within us are
time we reclaim the soul so that its powers can enrich and transform
our life. When we empower our
This search for meaning and
purpose‑ the spiritual quest‑ is
the riches greater than any we gifts can enrich our life. soul, its wisdom, immortality,
can ever accumulate on earth. We love, fearlessness, connectedness,
one that people pursue in differ‑ fulfilling than any we can know in in. At our core is a strength and
have inside us a source of knowl‑ and bliss add a new dimension to
ent ways. Some seek answers in the outer world is waiting to power that can enable us to over‑
edge from which all other knowl‑ our life.
scripture while others search in embrace us with open arms with‑ come any fear. Underlying our
edge flows. A love far greater and (For more visit www.sos.org)

Meditation ‑ find, the calmer YOU

By Sant Rajinder Singh Ji know to put aside other distractions when
Maharaj we are in other places in our home. When
we sit in that place, we naturally will gravi‑
editation is a simple process where tate toward meditating.

M we sit still and concentrate within

to experience inner treasures. Two
meditation techniques we use in Sawan
Kirpal Ruhani Mission/ Science of
Spirituality are simple to do and can be
practiced by anyone of any age in their
homes or wherever they like. It does not
require dif ficult postures or asanas, and
can be performed anywhere at any time.
One is the Shabd Meditation, or Meditation
on the Light and Sound. This provides us an
inner connection to a source of happiness,
peace, and bliss within us. It is like having
an internal retreat that we can visit any‑
time we want to recharge and refresh. The
second is an introductory technique called
Jyoti Meditation, which involves sitting qui‑
etly, focusing our attention within, and
experiencing the peace and calm within us.
The common question I am often asked
is, “How can I keep my attention in medita‑
tion without being distracted by thoughts?”
T his is a typical problem that people
throughout the world have while trying to
meditate.
Why does this happen? Our minds are
active and restless and do not like to be still
to focus on the wonders within. We have
within us a gateway to peace, joy, and hap‑
piness. However, to access these treasures
we need to mediate, by sitting in silence
and staying focused within to enjoy them.
Here are three tips to help us meditate:
1) Set priorities.
When we want to study for an exam we
set time and focus only on that. Similarly,
when we set a time for meditation, we
focus only on that for that period. We then
allot time throughout the rest of the day for
other activities. This helps us preserve our
meditation time only for that purpose.
2) Have a special place for meditation.
By getting into the habit of concentrating
on meditating when in that spot, we can
3) Be committed to achieving our goals
through meditation.
When we have a goal we really want to
attain, nothing can stop us from achieving
it. Whether we want to win at sports, reach
our financial goals, lose weight, or improve
our relationships, we spend time working
to achieve success. We put in time and
ef fort. It is the same with meditation.
People meditate for dif ferent reasons,
whether for physical, mental, or emotional
health and wellness, spiritual growth, or
other reasons. When we commit to that
goal, then we are more dedicated to spend‑
ing the time to achieve it. This determina‑
tion will help us concentrate and focus bet‑
ter when we meditate without being side‑
tracked by distractions in our mind.
Those who practice meditation on the
inner Light and Sound as taught in Science
of Spirituality learn techniques to keep
their mind from distracting them from
thoughts. In this way, their meditation time
is fruitful, and they avoid distractions that
keep them from attaining success.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info April 6-12, 2019
TheSouthAsianTimes.info April 6-12, 2019