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.12 No. 12 July 20-26, 2019 80 Cents New York Edition Follow us on TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Signs of India-Pak thaw Trump’s ‘Go back’

as Imran to meet Trump comment for 4
New Delhi: Even as Pakistan
Prime Minister Imran Khan is all
set to meet President Trump in
Washington DC on July 22 , there
are signs of reduced tensions
between New De lhi and
Islamabad also.
T he flurry of exchanges
between Islamabad and
Washington seems to have eased
the friction in bilateral ties, which
is good for peace and stability in
the subcontinent.
T he best news to come out
from the subcontinent was when
Pakistani authorities on Tuesday
announced the complete reopen‑
ing of the country's airspace for
civilian flights, nearly five months
4Pakistan opens
Reps incites outcry
airspace 5 months
after military
escalation
4Headway over
Kartarpur corridor;
after the military escalation with
backchannel
India. This will reduce the air
travel time for overseas flights of talks revived
Indian airlines, leading to a con‑
Pakistan closed off its airspace
siderable saving on fuel costs.
on February 27 after the Indian
Pakistan had partially opened
Air Force's February 26 Balakot
its airspace in March but it con‑
strike which was in retaliation to
tinued to remain closed on its
the February 14 suicide bombing
eastern and southern side to pro‑
hibit flights from India. Continued on page 4

US commemorates ‘first man Rotary provides After being targeted by President Trump, Democratic Reps. Rashida
25 shelter Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio‑Cortez (AOC), and Ayanna
on moon’ mission, 50 years on homes in Kerala Pressley held a press conference. (Photo courtesy AP)
Washington: T he House voted
Cape Canaveral: Fifty
years after a mighty Ravi Bhooplapur raises 240‑187 on Tuesday night to offi‑ 4The House passes
cially condemn racist language resolution
Saturn V rocket set off $194,750 through Rotary from President Donald Trump in a
from Florida carrying
for housing for the flood motion that was supported by four condemning
the first humans to the
Moon, a veteran of the
victims in Kerala House Republicans. President’s
Trump on Sunday directed a
Apollo 11 crew
New York: series of tweets at freshmen
‘racist’ remarks
returned to the fabled
launch pad Tuesday to
Long Island Demo crat ic Reps. Alexandria 4The immigration
based eminent Ocasio‑Cortez (AOC), Rashida
commemorate the
Rotarian
raids President
Tlaib, Ilhan Omar and Ayanna
event that defined an
Ravishankar Pressley, saying the four congress‑ threatened have
era.
"We crew fe lt the
Bhooplapur women of color should "go back not materialized yet
has managed and help fix the totally broken and
weight of the world on The Apollo 11 crew: Neil A. Armstrong,
Michael Collins, and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr. to raise crime infested places from which intense. On Monday the 4
our shoulders, we knew
$194,750 for they came." But only one of them Cong resswoman, two of them
that everyone would be looking place in the universe.
funding to provide 25 houses in the Ilhan Omar had come here from Muslim, held a press conference
at us, friend or foe," command T heir commander Neil
Kottayam and Pathanamthitta dis‑ Somalia as a child, others are natu‑ attacking the President, upping
module pilot Michael Collins said Armstrong, the first man on the
tricts of Kerala for victims of floods ral born Americans. the ante. The chain of events also
from the Kennedy Space Centre. Moon, passed away in 2012 aged
there last year. In the second phase, The “go back” remark is consid‑ unified the Demo crat ic Party
He and Buzz Aldrin, who pilot‑ 82. Their spacecraft took four
another 25 houses will be provided ered an old trope that has in the which last week saw a confronta‑
ed the lunar mo dule that days to reach the Moon, before
for. The Rotary Foundation has con‑ past century and half has been tion between Speaker Nancy Pelosi
detached from the spacecraft the module known as "Eagle"
firmed through a letter dated July 15 used ag ainst New Americans and AOC. Ahead of Tuesday's res‑
and landed on the Moon's sur‑ touched the lunar surface on
to Rotary District 3211 (in Kerala) including the Irish, Italians, Polish, olution, dif ferent members of
face, are the two surviving mem‑ July 20, 1969. Armstrong
and District 7255 (Long Island and and Jews. That is why the outcry Cong ress, including some
bers from the mission that would emerged a few hours later.
parts of NYC) about the approval of in the media, in civil society and in Republican lawmakers, criticized
change the way humanity saw its Continued on page 4
Continued on page 4 the Democratic party has been so Continued on page 4

LOCAL GOVERNMENT 6 JAINA CONVENTION 16-17 INDOLOGY 25 SPIRITUAL AWARENESS 30 excellence in journalism
TheSouthAsianTimes.info July 20-26 , 2019
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
NJ Gov Phil Murphy to take Richa Sharma performs
economic mission to India in Sept live in Long Island to
South Plainfield, NJ: Governor Phil
Murphy will become the first gover‑
nor in the history of the Garden
State to visit India on official busi‑
ness when he leads a 7‑day econom‑
ic mission trip there in September.
The delegation will visit six cities ‑
Delhi, Agra, Hyderabad, Mumbai,
Ahmedabad, and Gandhinagar. The
focus of the mission is to strengthen
economic ties with one of New
Jerseyʼs largest trade and invest‑
ment partners, cultivate internation‑
al investment opportunities in the
State, and deepen cultural and edu‑
cational ties between New Jersey
and India. The announcement was
made July 15 at a luncheon hosted
by the Asian Indian Chamber of
Commerce (AICC), which is celebrat‑
ing its 25th anniversary this year.
AICC supports New Jerseyʼs Asian
Indian business community through
business expos, nonprofit cultural
events, business and educational
symposiums, and humanitarian
causes. “As Indiaʼs role as one of our
key partners continues to expand,
we want to make sure we maximize
the potential of our economic rela‑
tionship,” said Murphy. “I am excited
to make the case for New Jersey as a
leading investment choice for Indian
companies, creating lasting partner‑
ships and good jobs for our resi‑
dents. We are proud to be the home
of one of Americaʼs most deeply‑
rooted Indian American communi‑
South Asia floods threaten 6mn, risk of disease rise: Red Cross
United Nations: Nearly six million
people across South Asia are
under threat from rising flood
waters, with more than one mil‑
lion already displaced in Assam
alone, according to the
International Federation of Red
Cross and Crescent Societies
(IFRC).
"The number of people affected
is likely to rise and there are
growing concerns about potential
food shortages and disease out‑
breaks in South Asia," IFRC said in
a statement on Tuesday.
According to some reports, the
floods from monsoon rains have
killed more than 100 people.
IFRCʼs Regional Director for
Asia Pacific, Xavier Castellanos,
TRISTATE COMMUNITY
Governor Murphy made the announcement at an event hosted
by the Asian Indian Chamber of Commerce.
ties, and growing our economic
partnership will only strengthen
those ties.” Murphy will meet key
government and industry leaders,
including representatives of life sci‑
ences, technology, clean energy, film
and media, and manufacturing sec‑
tors, as well as company visits.
Murphyʼs delegation will include
First Lady Tammy Murphy, Choose
New Jersey President and CEO Jose
Lozano, NJ Economic Development
Authority CEO Tim Sullivan. They
will showcase New Jerseyʼs innova‑
tion ecosystem and highlight why it
is the best place for the internation‑
al community to do business.
New Jersey maintains close ties
with India culturally and economi‑
cally, which is its second largest for‑
eign direct investor and Indian‑
Americans represent the largest
group of foreign‑born residents in
the state. Over half of Indiaʼs FDI in
Nepalese army personnel rescue local people after a
heavy rainfall in Kathmandu. (Phtoto IANS)
said: "We are seeing growing
numbers of displaced and increas‑
ing loss of life with each day of
the Northeast comes to New Jersey.
Said Jose Lozano, President & CEO
of Choose New Jersey in a state‑
ment: “New Jersey is a leader in the
life sciences, medical technology,
clean energy and manufacturing,
and we are the best place for inter‑
national companies to do business.”
AICC President Priti Pandya‑Patel
said: “We are so honored that
Governor Phil Murphy has chosen
the AICC to announce his Trade
Mission to India. This administra‑
tion has made extra ef fort to
embrace the value of Indian
Americans for their contributions in
New Jersey as well as recognizing
the strengths of the companies
based in India.” Indiaʼs Consul
General in NY Sandeep Chakravorty
said: “While Indian companies have
made significant investments in
pharmaceutical and information
technology sectors in New Jersey.
rain. Entire communities have
been cut of f by rising waters,
increasing the risk of people
packed audience
By SATimes Team
Hempstead, NY: Bollywood singer
Richa Sharma, known for her Sufi
style and numerous hit numbers
over the past two decades, gave a
power‑packed performance at
Hofstra University here on Saturday.
It is an understatement to say that
she is under‑rated. She has a rich,
booming voice that rises to a
crescendo at a momentʼs notice and
then goes on and on, giving her audi‑
ence a thrilling ecstasy. Big built, she
has a commanding presence. Yet her
face and gestures are expressive like
a dancerʼs to melt your heart.
Those present in the packed audi‑
torium of JC Adams Playhouse in
Hofstra on July 13 were eating out
of her hands. She made them clap,
made them sing and dance.
She sang the well known Richa
Sharma numbers, ʻSajdaʼ, ʻLambi
Judaiʼ, “Mahi Veʼ, ʻJe Tu Akhiyaan De
Saamneʼ, ʻMaulaʼ and many more
captivating songs and ghazals, even
the vigorous ʻBillo Raniʼ (on audience
request). In between she introduced
her able accompanists.
Amit Chodha was one of the con‑
cert promoters. Kamlesh Mehta,
Chairman of The South Asian Times,
had helped with lining up some
sponsors. He thanked them including
Xavier University School of Medicine
going hungry and getting sick.
"All of our ef forts right now are
focused on reaching these people
and ensuring that they have the
supplies and support needed to
withstand coming floods." More
than 1,000 volunteers from the
Bangladesh Red Crescent, and
Nepal and Indian Red Cross have
been working with local aid to
run search and rescue operations,
and to distribute relief, the IFRC
said. Caste llanos said that in
India, Bangladesh and Nepal, the
Red Cross and Red Crescent
teams had gotten relief supplies
ready before the rains so that vol‑
unteers could rush food supplies,
first aid, clean water, temporary
shelters and hygiene kits to flood
July 20-26, 2019 3
Bollywood singer Richa Sharma
posing before the
Hofstra concert
Aruba, Bolla Oil, Food Universe, and
IDP‑USA (hosts of India Day Parade
In Hicksville on Aug 4).
Richa Sharma is currently on a
USA concert tour.
Richa Sharma learnt music under
the tutelage of her father, Pt
Aaskaran Sharma. She struggled in
her early years in Bollywood while
making do with devotional signing.
Her big break came in the form of
Taal where she sang for A.R.
Rahman. Thereafter a spate of hits
followed. The versatile playback
singer has also done quite a few
albums to showcase her talent. Her
Mahi Ve (Kaante) and Sajda (MY
Name Is Khan) won awards for Best
Female Playback Singer.
victims.
Tallying the flood toll, the IFRC
said that a million people have
been displaced in Assam after the
Brahmaputra river burst its banks
swamping more than 749 vil‑
lages.
The worst‑hit districts of south‑
eastern Nepal are under water
and inaccessible to Red Cross
response teams, it said.
One third of Bang ladesh is
under water, displacing 14,000
people and destroy ing over
11,000 homes, it said. In Cox
Bazar, which hosts 900,000
Rohing ya re fugees from
Myanmar, heavy downpour has
caused more than 200 landslides,
it added.
 4 July 20-26, 2019
Karnataka crisis: SC
takes up row over
anti‑defection law
New Delhi: T he 10th
Schedule of the Indian
Constitution, which is pop‑
ularly referred to as the
ʻAnti‑Defection Lawʼ, was
at the center‑stage, as
arguments began in the
Supreme Court on the peti‑
tions in the ongoing politi‑
cal crisis in Karnataka.
Fifteen MLAs from the
ruling JD(S)‑Cong ress
alliance moved the court
seeking courtʼs direction to
the Speaker to accept their
resignat ion from the
Leg islat ive Assembly.
Following this, counter
petitions were filed by the
Karnataka Chief Minister
and the Assembly Speaker.
A bench headed by Chief
Justice Ranjan Gogoi posed
a question: “You (counsel
for the Karnataka Speaker)
say the resignation of the
MLAs is to defeat the anti‑
de fect ion law; and you
(MLAsʼ counsel) say that
10th Schedule was invoked
to curtail my rig ht to
resign.” The court made
this point after hearing
both parties at length.
The 10th Schedule was
inserted in 1985 by the
Amendment to the
Constitution. ʻDefectionʼ
has been defined as “to
abandon a posit ion or
association, often to join
an opposing group.”
Most of the MLAs volun‑
tarily resigned on or
before July 6, therefore
the Speaker should accept
Chairman and Co-Founder
Kamlesh C. Mehta
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TURN PAGE TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Trumpʼs ʻGo backʼ comment rivals. T he dialogue, titled 'Beyond was and to see this complicated mission
for 4 Reps incites outcry
Continued from page 1
Politics and Polemics New Beginning on
a Dif ficult Trail', was convened by the
unfold. "I would enjoy a perfectly enjoy‑
able hot coffee, I had music if I wanted
the President's rhetoric and condemned
it as racist, but Trump has stood by the
Islamabad‑based Regional Peace
Institute (RPI).
to. Good old Command Module Columbia
had every facility that I needed, and it
According to media reports, six dele‑ was plenty big and I really enjoyed my
attacks, saying, “They hate our country
and if they want to leave, they can”.
While Tuesday's vote largely fell along
gates from India participated in the dia‑
logue that concluded on July 13. The
time by myself instead of being terribly
lonely." (Courtesy : AFP)
their resignation, contend‑ second round of the dialogue will be
party lines ‑‑ 235 Democrats voted "Yea"
ed counsel for the MLAs. held in New Delhi in September this Rotary provides 25
and 187 Republicans voted "Nay" ‑‑ four
T he Karnataka Speaker year. shelter homes in Kerala
Republicans and one independent voted
argued that resignation Continued from page 1
in favor of the resolution. Alongside Rep.
was tendered by MLAs, US commemorates ʻfirst man the Rotary Global Grant of $94,750 to
Justin Amash, who left the Republican
through personal appear‑ on moonʼ mission, 50 years on match the $100,000 raised locally.
Party earlier this month, the four GOP
ance, on July 11, a day Continued from page 1 Bhooplapur is thankful of the role of Dr
House members who voted for Tuesday's
after a disqualificat ion Collins remained in lunar orbit in the Thomas Mathew (President of AKMG ‑
resolution are: Will Hurd (TX),. Susan
petition was filed against command module Columbia, their only Association of Kerala Medical Graduates)
Brooks (IN), Brian Fitzpatrick (PA), and
them. Therefore, disqualifi‑ means of returning back to Earth. and Mr Biju Chacko (ECHO charity) for
Fred Upton (MI).
cation comes first, as these "I always think of a flight to the moon the Kerala flood relief fundraiser held last
Meanwhile, the much feared immigra‑
MLAs will defect to the as being a long and fragile daisy chain of year at Cotillion in Jericho, NY.
tion raids across the country Trump had
opposition party. events," the 88‑year‑old said at the first Bhooplapur, past Rotary District
announced did not materialize. The
The scope of the anti‑ of several events planned across the Governor, told The South Asian Times
authorities did launch small‑scale opera‑
defection law was heavily week to mark the anniversary. Collins proudly: “This is one of the biggest grants
tions seeking to arrest undocumented
cited by counsels repre‑ described how the mission was broken in recent years I got approved and raised
immigrants over the weekend. The
sent ing the Karnataka into discrete goals such as going faster full funds for.”
removal operations are meant to deter a
Assembly Speaker and the than the Earth's escape velocity － the He has a penchant for rising to the
surge in Central American families flee‑
Chief Minister. speed needed to break free of the plan‑ occasion and take leadership roles to help
ing poverty and gang violence in their
In this case, the court et's gravitational pull － or slowing when disasters strike like the Gujarat
home countries, with many seeking asy‑
had said the grounds of down for lunar orbit. Earthquake and tsunami in south India.
lum in the United States.
disqualification are speci‑ "The flight was a question of being Commented Kamlesh Mehta, also a past
fied in Paragraph 2 of the under tension worrying about what's Rotary District Governor, “It is an excel‑
Signs of India‑Pak thaw as
Tenth Schedule. The provi‑ coming next. What do I have to do now lent humanitarian service arranged by
Imran to meet Trump
sion provides two cases to keep this daisy chain intact?" Aldrin Ravi as he took the lead in securing such
Continued from page 1
wherein the disqualifica‑ has remained relatively more elusive a big Rotary Grant. Everyone on Long
in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama dis‑
tion is applicable: first, and did not participate at Tuesday's Island should take inspiration from him.”
trict that killed 42 CRPF troopers. On
when there is a voluntarily launchpad event. Ravi Bhooplapur, President of Xavier
Kartarpur corridor also, India and
giving up of a seat by the Aging but active on Twitter, and University School of Medicine, Aruba
Pakistan made significant headway in
member; second, when the always seen in stars‑and‑stripes socks, since 2008, has been a very active mem‑
their talks. Pakistan has agreed to allow
member votes (or abstains the 89‑year‑old has faced health scares ber of Rotary International and has donat‑
visa‑free travel for Indian passport hold‑
from voting) contrary to and family feuds, culminating in a court ed generously to Rotary and raised funds
ers and Overseas Citizens of India (OCI)
the directive issued by the case over finances, which was settled in for its various projects. The Rotary
through the Kartarpur corridor, accord‑
party. March. Foundation has honored him with its
ing to their government statement.
The court held that these He is the second man to have stepped highest award “Service Above Self” for his
Pakistan has agreed to let 5,000 pil‑
provisions are perfectly foot on the Moon. Only four of the 12 commitment to humanitarian work
grims visit the Kartarpur Sahib
valid, and it does not suf‑ men who have done so remain alive. worldwide. He currently serves on the
Gurdwara every day.
fer from the vice of sub‑ Collins, however has been fielding ques‑ Foundationʼs 6‑member Investment
India and Pakistan have also revived
verting democratic rights tions for half a century about whether Committee which manages $1.2 Billion
Track II diplomacy with a meet last
of e lected members of he felt lonely or left out. investment.
Friday in Islamabad, the first one since
Parliament and the "I was always asked wasn't I the loneli‑ During his term as District Governor in
the Pulwama terror attack.
Legislative Assembly. Also, est person in the whole lonely history of 2009, Bhooplapur chartered two Rotary
Improving cross‑border connectivity
it does not violate their the whole lonely solar system when I clubs ‑‑ Hicksville South and Jericho
and trade, people‑to‑people exchanges
freedom of speech, free‑ was by myself in that lonely orbit?" he Sunrise, both in Long Island.
and educational collaboration were
dom of vote and con‑ said. "And the answer was 'No, I felt He is a recipient of the “Ellis Island
among the subjects discussed at the two‑
science. fine!'" "I was very happy to be where I Medal of Honor”.
day dialogue between the nuclear armed
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TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRISTATE COMMUNITY July 20-26, 2019 5

US‑India bilateral trade projected to grow to

$238 billion by 2025: USISPF trade report
Washington, DC: The US‑India Strategic
Partnership Forum (USISPF) estimates that
U.S.‑India bilateral trade is likely to grow
from $143 billion to $238 billion by 2025.
This growth will occur if trade grows by
7.5% each year, as has been the trend for the
last 7 years. The estimate also projects that,
by 2025, bilateral trade could range
between $283 billion to $327 billion, at an
annual average growth rate of 10%‑12.5%
(as witnessed in 2017 and 2018).
The assessment underscores pathways for
growth and economic opportunity in the
bilateral ties by highlighting current trends.
Sectors such as defense trade, commercial
aircrafts, oil and LNG, coal, machinery, and
electronics are areas of potential growth in
U.S. investments and commerce into India.
Similarly, the Indian industry has an oppor‑
tunity to promote the automotive, pharma‑
ceuticals, seafood, IT and travel services to
the U.S. market.
The assessment was launched at USISPFʼs
second annual leadership summit, amid
overwhelming bipartisan support for US‑
India ties. US Cabinet officials in attendance
included: Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the
United States House of Representatives; Rick
Perry, United States Secretary of Energy;
Wilbur Ross, US Commerce Secretary;
Jeffrey Gerrish, Deputy United States Trade
Representative for Asia, Europe, the Middle
East, and Industrial Competitiveness; US
Senator Dan Sullivan (R‑AK); and Indiaʼs
Ambassador to the United States, Harsh
Shringla. During the summit, speakers high‑
lighted areas of bilateral cooperation,
including trade and investment; strategic
energy ties; manufacturing, and the U.S.‑
India innovation partnership.
Speaking at the summit, USISPF Chair,
John Chambers said, “Prime Minister Modiʼs
re‑election is the start of a new era for India
and US‑India relations. It is my honor to be
in Washington, D.C. today to commemorate
the second annual USISPF leadership sum‑
mit, where conversations with political and
business leaders from both countries
focused on Indiaʼs projected growth in the
coming months and years. While Indiaʼs
ambition to become a $5 trillion economy
by 2025 is certainly welcome for business‑
es, government, and individual citizens in
the U.S. and India, it is essential that we level
the playing field and stay away from protec‑
tionism. I am confident that we can achieve
$327 billion in bilateral trade by 2025 if we
grow at 13% every year. I challenge the gov‑
ernment and industry to work together to
advance this objective.”
USISPF President and CEO Mukesh Aghi
said, “In collaboration with government and
industry leaders, we are making tremendous
strides in moving the needle on our com‑
mercial priorities. Next week, the Atlantic
Council and the Forum will release a report
with recommendations to both governments
on how to advance the bilateral trade rela‑
tionship. We will also release recommenda‑
tions on growing U.S‑India cooperation in
high‑technology manufacturing sectors,
such as aerospace and medical devices.”

FIA & BJANA organize Super NY girl Darshi Shah receives

30 special screenings at prestigious Congressional Medal
Times Square & in Edison
FIA and BJANA members at Edison promotional event
Edison, NJ: Federat ion of Indian
Associations (FIA‑NY/NJ/CT), one of the
oldest and the largest nonprofit umbrel‑
la organization of the Indian diaspora
organized the screening of the latest
Hindi Movie inspired by Anand Kumar, a
mathematician and professor from
Bihar, India who was the guest of honor
in 2017 for FIAʼs Annual India Day
Parade in NYC. The role of Anand Kumar
in the latest movie Super30 is played by
Bollywood heartthrob Hrithik Roshan.
T he movie inspired by the story of
Anand Kumar was released in North
America on July 12th.
Super30, the title of the movie is based
on Anand Kumarʼs compilation of 30
underprivileged children from extremely
poor backgrounds whom he coached
through hardship to successfully ace the
tough entrance exams of one of the most
revered Ivy League colleges in India and
renowned in the world, IIT or Indian
Institute of Technology. IITʼs graduates
are heads of todayʼs fortune 500 compa‑
nies in the US as well as prominent posi‑
tion holders in the corporate world.
FIA has garnered a long association
with the genius mathematician and
teacher. Alok Kumar, President, FIA
credited Anand Kumar with his dedica‑
tion and devotion to the underprivileged
and mentioned that he has not just
changed the future of the children for
better but also of their families and of
their future generations to come essen‑
t ially contribut ing to the hon. PM
Modijiʼs dream of abolishing poverty.
The screening held at AMC Lowes in
Edison was a full house attended by fam‑
ilies of Federation of Indian Association
and Bihar & Jharkhand Association of
North America.
After watching the movie FIA
Chairman, Ramesh Patel said, "The film
highlights struggles of a genius mathe‑
matician and we are privileged to honor
and support him in his good cause.”
Patel stated to bring Anand Kumar again
to the India Day Parade in NYC soon.
Vinay Singh, President BJANA also
applauded the film industry for high‑
lighting and showcasing struggles of a
society where much‑needed changes and
efforts such as this one projected in the
movie are needed. He also welcomed a
dif ferent aspect showcased of Bihar,
which is usually stereotyped with gang‑
ster violence and lawlessness. The com‑
munity in attendance applauded the act‑
ing and makeup of Hrithik Roshan in the
movie dubbing it to be potentially
award‑winning.
Prior to the movie release, FIA also
organized the Super 30 publicity event
at Times Square, Manhattan.
New York: Darshi Shah, a graduating senior at the
Boston University was among 538 youth selected
this year for the prestigious Congressional Award
Gold Medal. Spanning 42 US states and territories
and 181 congressional districts, the Gold Medalists
contributed 295,206 volunteer hours to their com‑
munities, an average of 548 hours per medalist.
The Congressional Award is the highest United
States Congressʼ award for young Americans. The
honor requires that each recipient embark on a
two‑year goal‑setting journey, logging a minimum
of 400 hours of Voluntary Public Service, 200
hours of Personal Development and Physical
Fitness, respectively, and a 5 day, 4‑night
Expedition/Exploration.
Shah, who is double majoring in Biomedical
Engineering and Biology completed over 400
hours of Voluntary Public service at the
Emergency Department in the Greater Boston area,
serving patients from a myriad of socio‑economic,
linguistic, cultural, and medical backgrounds. For
personal development, she conducted cancer biol‑
ogy research, both in wet laboratory settings and
using computational tools immensely enhancing
her knowledge in the field in the process In the
physical fitness area, Shah worked on her running
and lifting skills to improve her core strength, to
be able to better serve as an EMT‑B.
Finally, for her Expedition, Shah planned 7 days
and 6 nights trip while she was in India for six
weeks, to explore Vadodara, the city she was born
in, and immersed in the culture by living like
locals. “Working towards Congressional Award
Surati hosts champion boxer
Vijender Singh in Jersey City
Darshi Shah (2nd from left)
helped me enhance my planning and time manage‑
ment skills, become more diligent about my goals,
and helped me realize the power of persistence
and self‑belief,” she says.
The 2019 Congressional Award Gold Medal
Ceremony was held on Thursday, June 20th in the
U.S. Capitol Visitorʼs Center Congressional
Auditorium and Shah was presented with the
award by New Yorkʼs congresswomen Grace Meng.
Following the Gold Medal Ceremony, Shah was
honored with the Congressional Award STEM Stars
Recognition at the second annual STEM Stars
Reception presented by Bayer in the historic
Kennedy Caucus Room of the Russell Senate Office
Building for logging science, technology, engineer‑
ing, and math activities in pursuit of her gold
medal. Shah was one of the only three gold medal‑
ists to earn the People to People International
Global Scholarship which would allow her to
attend People to People International Global Youth
Forum in Albuquerque, NM.
Surati for Performing Arts host‑
ed a meet and greet event July
10th for three‑time Olympian,
top contender & India's most
decorated boxer Vijender
Singh. Singh appeared at
Piggyback Bar in Jersey City to
meet his fans. Guests took
photos, autographs, a ferry ride
with Vijender Singh, and had a
chance to win free tickets to
the fight. Vijender Singh fought
at the Prudential Center on July
13th and won against more
experienced Mike Snider with a
technical knockout marking his
debut in the professional US
circuit.
 6 July 20-26, 2019 LOCAL GOVERNMENT TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Reps Suozzi & Rice, and

CE Curran condemn
Governor Cuomo signs pay equity
immigration raids legislation at US women's soccer parade
C
ongressman Tom Suozzi,

Congresswoman Kathleen Rice, and
Nassau County Executive Curran
issued this statement on raids targeting immi‑
grant families last weekend:
“We strongly condemn the Presidentʼs plan
to target thousands of immigrant families
across the United States. On Long Island,
immigrants are a valued and essential part of
our communities. They are students, veter‑
ans, small businesses owners and taxpayers.
“This needless operation is not only cruel
and inhumane, but it also represents a mas‑
sive misallocation of important federal
resources. Instead of focusing on dangerous
criminals, the administration is once again
targeting hardworking immigrants who are
simply looking for a better life. Make no mis‑
take, this policy will only further drive immi‑
grant communities underground, it will lead
to more family separations, and it will make
us all less safe.
“America was founded on the idea that
every person is entitled to basic human rights
and that no one should have to live in fear.
The Presidentʼs policy flies in that face of that
idea.”
N
ew York Governor Andrew
Cuomo signed pay equity legisla‑
tion for New York state at the
parade last Wednesday celebrating the
US Women's National Team, a symbolic
gesture of support in the soccer players'
own fight for equal pay.
"I just signed new pay equity legislation
at the #USWNTParade," Cuomo tweeted,
along with a picture from the parade that
followed the team's fourth World Cup
title. "The women's soccer team plays the
same game that the men's soccer players
play ‑‑ only better. If anything, the men
should get paid less. Thank you @USWNT
for he lping lead this movement for
change!" Cuomo's bill signing comes in
the midst of the team's longstanding bat‑
tle for equal pay.
New York's bill would expand gender‑
based wage protections by ensuring that composite of skill, e f fort, and gender wage gap. The measure expands
members of legally protected classes, responsibility." beyond state employers and includes
such as women and racial minority Cuomo also signed a second bill companies who do business in New York,
groups, receive the same pay as non‑pro‑ Wednesday that bars businesses from casting a wider net among businesses
tected class employees for equal or "sub‑ asking potential employees about their within the state. New York City passed a
stantially similar work, when viewed as a salary history, which could help stifle the similar bill in 2017.

Sen. Schumer trying to restore NYC Blackout: Cuomo threatens

to strip Con Edʼs license
Long Islandersʼ tax deductions
G
ov. Andrew Cuomo

S
enate Minority Leader Chuck
Schumer is renewing his
push to restore the thou‑
sands of dollars in state and local
property tax deductions that Long
Islanders lost in the Trump tax over‑
haul.
On Monday, in front of a home in
Floral Park, Schumer (D‑N.Y.) laid out
his intention to overturn new IRS
regulations that strictly limit how
much New Yorkers can deduct for
their contributions to a state charita‑
ble fund, which lawmakers in Albany
established as a workaround to
President Tump's signature legisla‑
tion, reports Newsday.
"Taking away a good chunk of the
SALT deduction was brutally unfair
to Long Island homeowners. It hit
them right between the eyes," said
Schumer, standing with Nassau
County's three town supervisors ̶
Laura Gillen of Hempstead, Joseph
Saladino of Oyster Bay and Judi
Bosworth of North Hempstead.
The Trump tax law, the Tax Cuts
and Jobs Act of 2017, put a $10,000
ceiling on the state and local tax
deduction ̶ a big hit for high‑tax
states like New York. In response,
lawmakers in Albany passed a meas‑
ure that let homeowners pay their
property taxes in the form of charita‑
ble contributions and take the feder‑
is threatening to
strip Con Edison of
Senate Majority
Leader Chuck its license to operate and has
Schumer with ordered an independent
Nassau County's probe as the hunt for
3 town supervi‑ answers to the massive
sors Laura Gillen blackout that plunged the
of Hempstead, West Side of Manhattan into
Joseph Saladino darkness continues. Con Ed
of Oyster Bay
workers are conducting rush
and Judi
repairs ahead of an expected Engineers and experts will get to
Bosworth of
upcoming heat wave later this the bottom of it.” NYC Mayor put
North
week. out this statement on the power
Hempstead.
“There is no God‑given right outage: “While I appreciate that
al charitable tax deduction on 95 that says Con Ed must be the utili‑ Con Edison released their prelimi‑
percent of their payments. ty company,” Cuomo told CBS. nary findings so quickly, I am
In June, the IRS issued final regula‑ “They can be replaced.” troubled that one of the few fac‑
tions on state workarounds that will Con Ed says it is still in the dark tors Con Edison initially ruled out,
require taxpayers to reduce their about why the outage happened. the 13,000 volt cable, has been
federal charitable contribution “Weʼre going to get to the bottom determined to be the catalyst of
deduction by the amount of any state of it, but itʼs going to take a little the outage. Thankfully, as a result
or local tax credits they receive. The bit of time to understand how of the quick work of our first
regulations go into ef fect Aug. 27 everything transpired,” said Con responders, no one was injured
and apply retroactively to contribu‑ Ed spokesperson Michae l and there was no spike in crime in
tions made after Aug. 27, 2018. Clendenin. “Patience, resolve. the five hours the incident lasted.”

Now, we are devoting a full page to local government news, initiatives, and other information of significant importance to our readers.
Requesting all government agencies at state, county and town levels to send their press releases to: editor@thesouthasiantimes.info
TheSouthAsianTimes.info NATIONAL July 20-26, 2019 7

Indians to benefit as lawmakers pass

bill to remove cap on Green Cards
Washington, DC: US lawmakers
have passed a bill aimed at lifting
the current seven percent coun‑
try‑cap on issuing Green Cards, a
development which would benefit
thousands of highly‑skilled
Indian IT professionals.
Passed by the US House of
Representatives, the Bill, on being
signed into law, would consider‑
ably reduce the agonizing wait
for talented professionals from
countries like India seeking per‑
manent work and residency per‑
mits in the United States.
Titled the Fairness of High‑
Skilled Immigrants Act, 2019 or
HR 1044, the Bill was passed by
the 435‑member House by an
overwhelming majority of 365‑
65 votes.
As per the present system, out
of the total number of family‑
based immigrant visas to be
given by the US in a particular
year, the people of a country can
be given a maximum of seven
percent of such visas. The new
Bill seeks to increase this seven
percent per‑country limit to 15
percent.
Similarly, it also seeks to elimi‑
nate the seven percent per‑coun‑
try cap on employment‑based
immigrant visas. Additionally, it
removes an offset that reduced
the number of visas for individu‑
als from China.
The bill also establishes transi‑
tion rules for employment‑based
visas from FY 2020‑22 by reserv‑
ing a percentage of EB‑2 (work‑
ers with advanced degrees or
exceptional ability), EB‑3 (skilled
and other workers) and EB‑5
(investors) visas for individuals
from other than the two coun‑
tries that get the largest number
of such visas.
As per another provision of the
Bill, not more than 85 percent of
the unreserved visas, would be
allotted to immigrants from any
single country.
Before it can be signed into law
by the US president, the Bill, how‑
ever, has to be passed by the
Senate, wherein the Republicans
enjoy a majority.
An identical bill sponsored by
Senators Kamala Harris and Mike
Lee are likely to be taken up
soon. The Senate bill S386 cur‑
rently has 34 co‑sponsors.
Congressman John Curtis,
speaking on the floor of the
House, said the Bill will create a
first‑come, first‑served system
providing certainty to workers
and families and enabling the US
companies to flourish and com‑
pete in a global economy as they
hire the brightest people to cre‑
ate products, services, and jobs,
regardless of where they were
born. If President Donald Trump
"is serious about merit‑based
legal immigration, he should help
usher this bill into law," said
Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren.
The Department of Homeland
Security, however, has said it
does not support the Bill. "This
bill would do nothing to move the
current employment‑sponsored
system toward a more merit‑
based system," said Joseph S Joh,
Assistant Director and Senior
Advisor in the Office of
Legislative Affairs, Department of
Homeland Security.
Top American IT companies
welcomed the passage of the bill
and urged the Senate to pass it at
the earliest.
"Today the US House passed
the legislation to ensure people
from all countries are treated
alike in the Green Card process.
This promotes a fair high‑skilled
immigration system that's good
for the business and our econo‑
my," said Microsoft president
Brad Smith.
"This bill will help ensure those
seeking permanent residency
don't have to wait for extraordi‑
narily long periods, ‑‑ projected at
50 years or more for people from
countries like India and China ‑‑
simply because of their country
of origin," said FWD.US president
Todd Schulte, hailing the passage
of the FHSI Act.
FWD.US is an advocacy organi‑
zation representing top Silicon
Valley firms including Facebook,
Google, Microsoft and DropBox.
Hindu American Foundation
too welcomed the passage of the
Bill. "It is now up to the Senate to
ensure that fairness is delivered
to high‑skilled immigrants who
have been stuck in a decades‑
long backlog waiting for their
chance to become full‑fledged
contributors to the American
economy. The time to act is now,"
said Jay Kansara of the Hindu
American Foundation. (PTI)

Bose t‑shirt lands Democrat PM Modi likely to address

aide in 'Nazi' soup
Washington, DC: Alexandria Ocasio‑
Cortez is considered a rising star in US
politics. Cortez, the young Representative
for New York's 14th Congressional dis‑
trict, has been an outspoken opponent of
the domestic and economic policies of
President Donald Trump.
In recent days, however, Cortez has
been facing a backlash from Republican
supporters and Jewish groups after a
video went viral of her chief of staff wear‑
ing a T‑shirt featuring Subhas Chandra
Bose. Saikat Chakrabarti, the son of Indian
migrants, is the chief of staff of Cortez
and has played a key role in developing
her policy proposals.
The video, incidentally, was made in
December and has Chakrabarti, wearing a
T‑shirt with the image of Bose embla‑
zoned on it, describing his work with
Cortez. Like many other videos and
images in the age of social media, the
Chakrabarti video is in the headlines
months later for what some may consider
a minor detail.
The Jewish Telegraphic Agency, a news
organization that caters to Jewish groups
across the world, reported the video on
July 10. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency
ran the story with the headline Alexandria
Ocasio‑Cortezʼs chief of staff wore T‑shirt
featuring Indian nationalist who worked
with Hitler.
The article said, “Bose enlisted tens of
thousands of Indian men to support the
Japanese invasion of British India in 1944
and help fight the British in Europe for
Hitler. The Indian Legion Bose raised for
Germany trained as a regiment of the SS...
Saikat Chakrabarti is the chief of staff of Representative
Alexandria Ocasio‑Cortez
He also broadcast propaganda for Hitler
on a radio network set up by Bose to
encourage Indians to fight for freedom.
Bose met with Hitler in Germany in
1942...” The Jewish Journal quoted an
of fice‑bearer of the Simon Wiesenthal
Center, which fights anti‑Semitism across
the world, who demanded an apology
from Chakrabarti for the Bose T‑shirt.
Associate Dean and Director of Global
Social Action Agenda at the Simon
Wiesenthal Center Rabbi Abraham
Cooper told the Jewish Journal “while
Bose may be considered a folk hero to
some in India, itʼs still inappropriate to
wear such a shirt.”
“Running around with a T‑shirt of a per‑
son who not only sat with Adolf Hitler,
but who worked to keep World War II
going̶aiding and abetting both the Nazis
and Imperial Japan̶thatʼs not something
I would be particularly proud of,” Cooper
said. Cooper said Chakrabarti must apolo‑
gize or should be fired as chief of staff of
Cortez. Pro‑Republican handles on
Twitter, not surprisingly, latched on to the
controversy to level accusations of anti‑
Semitism against Cortez.
Indians on social media, however, took
to defending Bose from accusations of
being a “Nazi collaborator”. Ishaan
Tharoor, son of Congress leader Shashi
Tharoor, was one of them.
Ishaan, who writes for the Washington
Post, tweeted, “Yes, Subhas Chandra Bose
is a complicated figure who received sup‑
port from Axis Powers, particularly Japan.
To reduce his identity to that of a 'Nazi
collaborator' is an insult to history and
everyoneʼs intelligence.”
Indians in Houston
during September visit
Washington: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be
visiting the US in September for the upcoming UN
general assembly meeting and is likely to address
Indian‑Americans in Houston during his trip.
Though the Indian government has not made an
official announcement about the trip informed com‑
munity sources told PTI that the Prime Minister is
likely to travel to New York from Houston to address
a special meeting of the UN on climate change on
September 23.
The PM is likely to visit either Chicago or Houston
to address the Indian diaspora.
Community leaders said that the dates for the
Prime Minister's address are not final yet, but they
have been asked to make preparations in Houston on
September 22. Known as the energy capital of the
world, Houston has the largest concentration of
Indian‑Americans in the US. Energy security is a key
area for the Prime Minister and he voiced his con‑
cerns to President Donald Trump on the sidelines of
the G20 Summit over energy security and peace in
the strategic Persian Gulf region. President Trump
ensured PM Modi that stability in the region is
important and is also in the interest of the United
States and in the interest of the region.
This will be Modiʼs third major address to the
Indian‑American community after he became the
Prime Minister in 2014.
His first address was at the Madison Square Garden
in New York in 2014 and Silicon Valley in 2016. Both
the events were a huge hit with the Indian‑American
diaspora with over 20,000 people attending it.
While the planning for the proposed event in
Houston is yet to be finalized, community leaders are
looking at NRG Stadium, which can accommodate
around 70,000 people. The Texas Governor and
Mayor of Houston had visited India last year and for‑
mer Texas Governor Rick Perry, who is now the
Energy Secretary has close ties with India and
Indian Americans.
8 July 20-26, 2019
Scholar KS Kannan named for Sant
Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj Chair at IIT‑M
IIT‑Madrasʼs distinguished alumnus
Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj
endowed the chair last year
Chennai: IIT‑Madras has appointed emi‑
nent scholar K.S. Kannan as the chair‑pro‑
fessor of its Sant Rajinder Singh Ji
Maharaj endowed chair, set up last year
to study traditional Indian knowledge and
philosophy. Prof Kannan served as the
former director of Karnataka Sanskrit
University and former principal Sanskrit
University (evening). For over 25 years,
he taught Sanskrit and authored around
25 books on Sanskrit grammar, literature,
among others.
"After undergoing a thorough and rigor‑
ous selection process, he was offered the
chair‑professor position," according to
one of the deans. The chair is housed in
the Department of Humanities and Social
Sciences.
The Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj
chair has been funded by one of IITʼs dis‑
tinguished alumnus, Sant Rajinder Singh
Ji Maharaj, who is spiritual Master of an
international non‑profit organization,
Science of Spirituality, with over 3,000
centers world. He is also the author of
many books on meditation, translated
American guy wins the internet
with his flawless Telugu
New York: Isaac Richards, a US national
living in Utah took the web community by
surprise with his Telugu speaking skills.
This man who runs an ice
cream store in Montana
will definitely shock you
with his fluent Telugu. A
video recorded by a few of
his Indian customers while
visiting his ice cream store
has gone viral on social
media.
In the video, Richard is
seen speaking fluent
Isaac Richards picked up the
Telugu to his customers
language during his two
who seem to be enjoying years in Andhra Pradesh
the moment. He further
elaborates how he picked up the South
Indian language while he was residing in
various cities in Andhra Pradesh like
Vishakhapatnam, Vijayawada and
Hyderabad for nearly two years. The
video begins with Richard asking his cus‑
NATIONAL COMMUNITY
IN BRIEF
Prof K S Kannan is a Sanskrit scholar
into over 50 languages, including
Meditation as Medication for the Soul.
Science of Spirituality is dedicated to
helping people transform their lives
through meditation for physical, mental,
emotional, and spiritual development.
When former alumnus of IIT‑Madras,
Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj, was asked
about why he established a chair at IIT‑
Madras, he said, “Ever since receiving my
B.Tech degree in Electrical Engineering,
which led to my Masters of Science
degree at I.I.T. Chicago, I wanted to give
back to my alma mater. I thought the best
way to do this is to establish this chair
supporting scholars to deepen their stud‑
ies and contribute to making the world a
better place.”
News of the appointment of the chair‑
professor of the Sant Rajinder Singh Ji
Maharaj chair has been covered widely
throughout India, including in
Indianexpress.com; business‑
standard.com; TimesNowNews.com;
DevDiscourse.com; NewsTodaynet.com;
and in Dainik Bhaskar, Delhi.
tomers 'How everyone is doing in Andhra
Pradesh and Telangana doing?ʼ He goes
on to explain that he works in an ice‑
cream shop in Montana,
frequented by a lot of for‑
eign tourists every day. I
still donʼt understand why
the customers found it so
unusual seeing me talk in
Telugu, Richard wonders,
adding, I cannot believe
the video has got so many
views and so many people
have watched it. ʻI really
like the Telugu language.
Andhra Pradesh naa gun‑
dello undhi (My heart is
for AP forever).ʼ
A Facebook profile by the name Ganesh
Kesana posted the video on the 9th of
July and it took absolutely no time for the
internet to fall in love with Richard and
his Telugu.
Indian‑American students in PA
complete Hindi summer program
North Wales, PA: When a group of
Elementary and Middle School students
visited India they wanted to do something
to protect the eggs of Ridley turtles on the
beaches of Odisha and help villagers in
Gujarat providing food for Asiatic lions in
the Gir forest. The visiting students want‑
ed to volunteer with local people creating
awareness about protecting the natural
habitat of endangered animals, such as
turtles and lions.
The young learners made virtual trips to
different Indian destinations in order to
gain an understanding of the geography
and the unique culture of India.
These tourists had a specific goal in
mind. They wanted to improve their
speaking, reading, and writing skills in
Hindi while learning about the cultural
products and practices of Indian culture.
They were participants of a three‑week
intensive summer Hindi Language and
Culture Program called STARTALK, conduct‑
ed by Yuva Hindi Sansthan, an NJ based
non‑profit organization, in collaboration
with North Penn School District based in
Lansdale, Pennsylvania.
“On July 12th, the final day of the pro‑
gram, 55 students, ranging from first to
ninth graders from Bucks county, took part
in an hour‑long stage presentation to show‑
case their language and cultural proficien‑
cy,” informed Ashok Ojha, program director
of YHS STARTALK Hindi Language and
Culture Camp. “We have been conducting
STARTALK program for the past seven years
in the area”, he said.
“The success of YHS STARTALK Hindi
Program is a proof that Hindi is increasingly
gaining recognition and popularity in USA,”
said Upendra Chivukula, Chairman of Yuva
Hindi Sansthan, who was the chief guest of
the event. He appealed to the audience, com‑ program.
Indian American hoteliers reach
out to earthquake victims in SoCal
New York: As a powerful 7.1‑magnitude
earthquake rocked buildings across south‑
ern California, an Indian‑American owner
of a motel in Ridgecrest town July 5th said
she thought they were not going to survive
as the whole roof of the building would col‑
lapse on her and the guests.
The earthquake struck 18 kilometers
northeast of Ridgecrest, according to the
US Geological Survey. It was five times big‑
ger than July 4th 6.4 ‑magnitude earth‑
quake, which was also centered near
Ridgecrest, US media reported.
Speaking to CNN, Pinky Panchal and
Niket Aggarwal, who own Super 8 motel in
Ridgecrest city said, "It was the first time I
experienced something like this. As such
the whole building was going to collapse...
people ran out on the road. The sound of
earthquake, the whole building was shak‑
ing and I felt like the whole roof was going
to fall down and it was bad, it was really
bad what we experienced,” she said.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
YHS STARTALK graduation ceremony
attended by Upendra Chivukula, Chairman
of Yuva Hindi Sansthan, guest of honor Dr.
Dayashankar Vedalankar representing
Consulate General of India in NY and Ashok
Ojha, program director of YHS STARTALK
Hindi Language & Culture Camp.
prising of parents of participating students,
to work together for strengthening the
efforts of YHS in promoting Hindi. “The US
administration has designated Hindi as a
critical language for business, commerce,
and national security. It is our duty to pro‑
mote the learning of Hindi among the next
generation of Indian‑Americans,” said
Chivukula, who is currently the
Commissioner of Utilities in NJ.
Highlighting the efforts of the Government
of India in promoting Hindi, guest of honor
Dr. Dayashankar Vedalankar, who represent‑
ed the Consulate General of India in NY, said
that his office was committed to extending
its support for expanding Yoga practices
and Hindi learning in USA. “The program
has been so popular that we exceeded our
enrollment target of 40 students,” said
Sanjyot Tatke, lead coordinator of the
Hundreds were affected and had to be
moved to temporary shelters as a result of
the quake. However, shortly after, a team of
Indian American hoteliers quickly mobi‑
lized to help those most deeply affected by
the largest temblor.
Riverside, Calif., resident Dharmesh ʻDanʼ
Patel, the past president of the Shri
Lakshmi Narayan Mandir sent out mes‑
sages to about 1500 Indian Americans in
Southern California, gathered teams of vol‑
unteers and reached out to Ridgecrest and
Trona, two towns worst affected by the
quake. “There are a lot of people living in
poverty here who did not have a lot of
resources before the earthquakes. Their
lives were only made worse,” Patel told
India West. Along with his friend Sailesh
Shah, Patel particularly reached out to the
seniors and physically disabled people in
that area restoring their mobile homes and
shops where the quake had taken a toll on
their belongings that were strewn around.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info NATIONAL July 20-26, 2019 9

World needs India-US 'mahagathbandan' USA Cricket announces

at every level: Mastercard CEO
Washington, DC: The strategic partner‑
ship between India and US is the 'ma‑
hagathbandhan' (grand alliance) that
the world needs, Mastercard CEO and
president Ajay Banga said, asserting
that strong ties between the "two
greatest democracies" can make a dif‑
ference in the world.
What I want to really see is a time in
the world when the two greatest
democracies are engaging at every
level‑‑ socially, culturally, politically
and economically, Banga said at the
Second leadership Summit of US India
Strategic and Partnership Forum on
Thursday.
I want to see more American stu‑
dents studying in India, not just Indian
students studying in America. I want to
see more American students going
there to serve, Banga said.
On the occasion, the CEO was pre‑
s e n t ed w i t h t h e 2 0 1 9 G l o b a l
Excellence Award in recognition of his
significant contribution to strengthen‑
ing economic ties between the US and
India by Jarred Kushner, senior adviser
and son‑in‑law of US President Donald
Trump.
Banga said he wants to see more doc‑
tors, more bureaucrats, more artists
from both countries, exchanging ideas
and practices freely and caring about
each other's opinions.
"In fact there is an Indian word called
mahagathbandhan, which means the
grand coalition. This is the mahagath‑
bandhan, the India‑US partnership, the
grand coalition.
"The fact is people like us in business
and people like the others here who
come from public service together, we
can make music out of this whole
Ajay Banga was speaking at the US
India Strategic and Partnership
Forum's second leadership summit
orchestra and the kind of music that I
think would be music to everybody's
ears "that can make a dif ference in the
world," he said.
"So, I think we've achieved a lot, but I
just feel like there's a lot more to do
and, and I know that there are chal‑
lenges along the way, but we get paid
to try and find a way through those
challenges, Banga said.
The US‑India Strategic Partnership
Forum (USISPF), he said is committed
to fostering the most powerful part‑
nership possible.
The presence of Kushner at the sum‑
mit, he said, shows that the interest in
what USISPF is doing in trying to build
the right relationship between the US
and India is important to everybody in
the Trump administration.
"In the past 30 years, India's GDP has
increased by more than 900 percent.
In that same timeframe, India has
moved from the world's tenth‑largest
economy, we think this year to the
fifth. And in fact, we're overtaking the
UK and France this year. And just a
couple of months ago, India, in fact,
mobilized more than 600 million peo‑
ple to participate in the largest demo‑
cratic exercise in the world," he said.
"Meanwhile, on the other side of the
world, the United States stands at a
reflection point, one with a long histo‑
ry of leadership as the world's largest
economy and the world's second‑
largest democracy, but also the oldest
democracy," he said.
"The question in my mind right now
is what these two great countries can
achieve together. Hence the strategic
partnership," Banga said.
The two countries were born to be
t o ge t h e r b ec a u s e of t h e i r sh a r ed
beliefs in democracy, inequality in
growth. "But the fact is we share a
belief in the tremendous strength of
the partnership that the totality is
much more interesting because it's
exponentially greater when you add
the sum of the parts," he said, adding
that the two countries could achieve so
much more as partners.
"Our job now is to try to stack that
deck in favor of that partnership and
to do that by ramping up reforms, by
easing legacy regulations," he said.
Frankly in India, it's about land, labor
and capital. T hat's kind of where
India's opportunity is, he asserted.
And here in the United States, things
like immigration reform that help
India assess where it wants to do in
terms of sending the quality of people
and the quality of openness that it
wants from the US economy. There are
things to do on both sides, Banga said.
new national team
coaching structure
New York: With support from its new partner American
Cricket Enterprises (ACE), USA Cricket has announced
the addition of a group of coaching advisors to assist
with the senior menʼs team over the next few months
following the recent departure of head coach Pubudu
Dassanayake. Coach Dassanayake decided to step aside
to allow the new coaching advisors to flourish. After
achieving One Day International (ODI) status for the
first‑ever, the menʼs team is looking to continue its win‑
ning track record with a firm focus on successful tour‑
nament finishes this August and October which will
qualify the team for the 2020 ICC Menʼs T20 World Cup
in Australia. It is hoped that this group of experienced
advisors will provide an enhanced and optimal coaching
environment in which the elite players will have the best
possible opportunity to further develop their skills and
succeed as a team. Central to this restructuring is the
appointment of Kiran More, a former wicket‑keeper,
vice‑captain and selector for the Indian National Team;
and more recently wicket‑keeping coach and cricket
consultant to the Mumbai Indians in a senior cricket
operations consultancy role. In addition to More, Pravin
Amre and Sunil Joshi are among advisors brought on
immediately on a short‑term basis.
Amre played for the Indian National Team from 1991‑
1999. He was the head coach for the World Cup‑win‑
ning India U19 team, India A team, as well as Mumbai
Cricket Team. He has also served in various coaching
capacities with IPL teams such as the Pune Warriors,
Mumbai Indians, and most recently the Delhi Capitals,
where he continues to be their chief talent scout.
Joshi represented the Indian National Team from
1996‑2001 as a spin‑bowling all‑rounder and has
served in various coaching capacities for Oman, Assam,
and Hyderabad. He was also the spin bowling coach for
the Bangladesh National Team in the 2019 World Cup.
Paraag Marathe, Chairman of USA Cricket, said, “Weʼre
very fortunate that so many accomplished coaches want
to work with USA Cricket. The coaching advisors we
have assembled stand among the very best in the world
and we believe that these individuals and the new struc‑
ture, can help to take the USA National Team to the next
level and provide the best chance possible of succeeding
in the upcoming qualification tournaments.”

DIASPORA

Sharjah issues first gold card permanent
residency to Indian expat
Dubai: UAE‑based Indian business
tycoon Lalo Samuel has become the
first expat in Sharjah to get the gold
card permanent residency.
Unlike the long‑term visa of 5‑10
years for businessmen and talented
individuals, the gold card gives per‑
manent residency of the UAE to the
holder.
The Kingston Group chairman was
handed over the gold residence card
by Brigadier Arif Al Shamsi, Director‑
General of residency and foreigners
af fairs in Sharjah, the Gulf News
reported Monday.
Kingston Holdings owns one of the
largest manufacturing companies in
the Middle East that comprises sever‑
al manufacturing units that process
plastic and metal.
Samuel, who was selected as one of
the top 100 Most Influential Indian
Business Leaders in the Arab World
Lalo Samuel receiving his gold card
by the Forbes magazine continuously
for 2013, 2014 and 2015, became
one of the 6,800 investors with total
investment exceeding $27 billion to
receive the gold card under a scheme
announced in May by Sheikh
Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum,
the ruler of Dubai.
In a related development, Kerala‑
born Dr. P A Ibrahim Haji, co‑chair‑
Pakistan agrees for visa‑
free year‑long travel to
Kartarpur Sahib
Amritsar: Pakistan on Sunday
agreed in‑principle to allow
visa‑free, year‑long travel for
Indian passport holders and
OCI card holders to the
Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara.
Every day, 5,000 pilgrims
will be allowed to visit the
Gurdwara on foot, both as
individuals or in g roups,
Home Ministry's Joint
man of jewelry company Malabar
Secretary (Internal Security)
Group and chairman of PACE Group,
S.C.L. Das told reporters here
also received his golden card on
after the second Joint
Monday. "The best thing about the
Secretary‑leve l bilateral
permanent residency initiative is that
meeting at Wagah, across the
it benefits investors and residents
internat ional border in
alike. It is definitely going to bring a
Pakistan.
lot of investors to the UAE as a result,"
Pakistan highlighted the
Haji was quoted as saying by the Gulf
infrastructural constraints on
News.
their side and conveyed that
they may be able to accom‑
modate many of the Indian
proposals in a phased man‑
ner, he said.
Indian raised the demand
of allowing 10,000 addition‑
al pilg rims to visit the
Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara on
special occasions.
T he Kartarpur shrine in
Pakistan''s Narowal district
across the Ravi is where
Guru Nanak Dev, the founder
of Sikhism, spent his final
days and is highly revered by
the Sikh community. It is
about 4 km from the Dera
Baba Nanak shrine in
Gurdaspur.
 10 July 20-26, 2019 US AFFAIRS TheSouthAsianTimes.info

“Trump's go home tweets reunited Trump order to make

Dems, put out Pelosi‑AOC fire” US‑made goods
Washington: Fox News contributor
Ari Fleischer said Monday that
President Trump "went too far" on
Twitter when he went after four
more American
Washington: President Donald states were represented.
freshmen Democratic members of
Trump signed an execut ive President Trump has made it
Congress.
order Monday requiring federal a priority to boost U.S. manu‑
Trump doubled down Monday
agencies to purchase products facturing. Even so, the nationʼs
after taking heavy fire for inflam‑
using more American compo‑ trade deficit has continued to
matory tweets in which he called
nents. grow under his watch, widen‑
on Democratic congresswomen to
The order strengthens the ing to a decade‑long high of
"go back" to where they came from
standards that federal agencies $621 billion in 2018.
‑‑ even though most of his intend‑
must follow under the Buy President Trump said foreign
ed targets were born in America.
American Act, which creates a countries have been allowed to
He called on those same lawmak‑
ers to "apologize," alleged they Fox News contributor Ari Fleischer said that President Trump went too preference for American‑made “steal our jobs and plunder our
far when he went after four freshmen Democratic Reps ‑‑ Alexandria goods. wealth” in previous administra‑
"hate" America and chastised the
Ocasio‑Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, and Ayanna Pressley. . President Trump said his tions. He also used the event to
party for defending them.
Pressley, D‑Mass., on policy issues do not face the same type of media order will gradually boost the highlight tarif fs heʼs imposed
Speaking to reporters outside
and leave personal attacks out of criticism. percentage of U.S. components on China, saying China has paid
the W hite House, Trump also
it. "I just don't think anybody in Fleischer argued Trump appears for qualifying American‑made a big price economically as a
denied that his tweets were racist
American politics should challenge to have made a strategic mistake products from 50 percent to 75 result of the tariffs.
and said: “If someone doesnʼt like
people from the basis of where by taking attention away from the percent. He said the threshold Itʼs unclear though how the
our country, if someone doesnʼt
they are from, which is essentially feud between Ocasio‑Cortez and would increase to 95 percent trade dispute will be resolved.
want to be in our country, they
what the president did," said the her allies and House Speaker for iron and steel products. He also acknowledged that itʼs
should leave.”
former White House press secre‑ Nancy Pelosi. “The philosophy of my admin‑ unclear how a new trade agree‑
He continued: “These are people
istration is simple. If we can ment he negot iated w ith
that hate our country. … they hate tary under George W. Bush. "In this instance, politically,
Fleischer said Trump often "goes these Democrats were at war with build it, grow it or make it in Canada and Mexico will fare in
it, I think, with a passion.”
too far" when he uses Twitter, Nancy Pelosi, there was a fire the United States, we will,” the Demo crat ic‑controlled
Responding on "Outnumbered
adding the "go back" remark was going on between them and Nancy President Trump said. House.
Overtime," Fleischer said Trump
not presidential and "inappropri‑ Pelosi and President Trump, in T he president signed the Democrats want to strength‑
should stick to criticizing Reps.
ate." He said the four House effect, became the fire extinguish‑ order during an annual White en enforcement of the agree‑
Ilhan Omar, D‑Minn., Alexandria
Democrats use "equally inflamma‑ er and reunited the Democratic House “Made in America” show‑ mentʼs labor and environmental
Ocasio‑Cortez, D‑N.Y., Rashida
tory language" against Trump but Party." case. Manufacturers from all 50 obligations.
Tlaib, D‑Mich., and Ayanna

Labor Secretary resigns amid Huawei to lay off hundreds

heat from Epstein case of workers in US
Washington: Labor Secretary Alex Washington: Facing the heat
Acosta said Friday he will resign ow ing to the ongoing US‑
amid controversy over the way he China trade war, telecommu‑
handled a sex crimes case against nicat ions g iant Huawei is
wealthy businessman Je f frey reportedly preparing to lay
Epstein a decade ago when he was of f hundreds of workers in
U.S. attorney for southern Florida. the US. Huawei is planning to
Acosta made the announcement lay off workers at a research
to reporters while standing next to facility called Futurewei
President Trump outside the Technologies that employs
White House. Trump said Acosta 850 people in research labs
had called him Friday morning including in Texas, California
and that it was Acostaʼs decision to Alex Acosta, as a US attorney, had struck and Washington state, The
quit. Acosta told reporters that he a secret plea deal with Jeffrey Epstein allowing Verge reported on Sunday cit‑
him to avoid federal prosecution on The Trump administration is likely to continue to pro‑
did not want his involvement in ing the Wall Street Journal as
similar sex trafficking charges. hibit Huawei from marketing its 5G Internet technology
Epsteinʼs controversy to overshad‑ saying. “Some employees have
in the US, which Washington fears the company might
ow the administrationʼs accomplishments. to give him massages that escalated into apparently already been noti‑
use to spy for the Chinese government.
Acosta said he will officially resign a week sex acts. He is charged in New York with fied that they will be let go,
after his announcement. Deputy Labor one count of sex trafficking of minors and with other layof fs planned in the near enable users to surf the Internet much
Secretary Patrick Pizzella will take his one count of conspiracy to commit sex future,” the report said. more quickly and could facilitate the
place in an acting capacity, Trump said. trafficking of minors. The White House has said that Chinese development of self‑driving vehicles, tech‑
The resignation came two days after Epstein had long been under investiga‑ tech giant will remain banned from devel‑ niques for performing surgery by remote
Acosta gave a news conference in which tion by both federal and local law enforce‑ oping its 5G wireless networks in the US, control and other procedures that it now
he defended a controversial non‑prosecu‑ ment for sex crimes against underage although American firms will be allowed puts within reach.
t ion ag reement he had made w ith girls that took place from 2002 to 2005 to sell small components such as chips to In the face of that, the US is leading a
Epsteinʼs lawyers in 2007, when Acosta in New York and Florida. the Chinese company. global campaign to prevent Huawei from
was the top prosecutor in Miami. Acosta, as a U.S. attorney, struck a secret President Trumpʼs administration will developing 5G technology and has been
The issue resurfaced on July 6, when plea deal with Epstein allowing him to continue to prohibit Huawei from market‑ pressuring the European Union (EU) to
the politically connected Epstein, whose avoid federal prosecution on similar ing its 5G Internet technology in the US, restrict the firmʼs activities.
friends have included Trump and former charges. which Washington fears the company At the G20 summit in Japan last month,
President Bill Clinton, was arrested on sex Epstein was required to register as a sex might use to spy for the Chinese govern‑ Trump said American firms could start
trafficking charges by federal prosecutors offender and ended up serving a custodial ment. selling technology to the Chinese telecom‑
in New York. sentence of 13 months in jail, where he Currently, Huawei is very popular in munications equipment giant as long as
Epstein is accused of luring dozens of was allowed out during the day on work Europe and is leading in the fight for con‑ the sales did not involve equipment that
underage girls to his Manhattan mansion release. trol of 5G wireless networks which will threaten the national security.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Republicans make
U‑turn on health care
Washington: Senate Republicans
are reversing course and now
taking a hard look at health care
legislation to replace the 2010
Af fordable Care Act in case the
courts strike down President
Obamaʼs signature achievement.
T hereʼs a sense of urgency
among GOP lawmakers to come
up with a plan to replace the
most popular components of
ObamaCare after a pane l of
appellate judges last Tuesday
aggressively questioned whether
the law passes legal muster fol‑
lowing Congressʼs repeal of the
tax penalty for not having insur‑
ance.
A nullification in the courts
could leave millions of people
with pre‑existing medical condi‑
tions without insurance and dis‑
rupt coverage for others.
Just the consideration of leg‑
islative action is an about‑face
from a few months ago when
Senate Majority Leader Mitch
McConnell (R‑Ky.) said Senate
Republicans would not move leg‑
islation to replace ObamaCare
before the 2020 election, arguing
it would have no chance of pass‑
ing Congress, particularly with a
Democratic‑controlled House.
Senate Health, Education, Labor
and Pensions Committee
Chairman Lamar Alexander (R‑
Texas) even laid aside the thorny
debate over how to reform health
insurance ̶ a central component
of ObamaCare ̶ to focus instead
on finding ways to reduce health
costs.
But on Tuesday, McConnell
pledged that the Senate would act
swiftly to protect people with
pre‑existing medical conditions if
a GOP‑backed lawsuit is success‑
ful in overturning ObamaCare.
The lawsuit in question, backed
by a group of Republican gover‑
nors and attorneys general,
asserts that the Affordable Care
Actʼs insurance mandate is
unconstitutional and therefore
the entire law should be struck
down.
Senate Republican leaders in
March balked when Trump pres‑
sured them at a private meeting
US AFFAIRS
to advance legislation to replace
ObamaCare. GOP leaders in the
Senate were reluctant to stir up
divisions within their conference
over how to proceed on the divi‑
sive issue. Republicans familiar
with this weekʼs negotiations say
any ObamaCare replacement
plan will be far more narrow than
the Democratic legislation from a
decade ago. Sen. Mitt Romney (R‑
Utah), who as governor of
Massachusetts in 2006 imple‑
mented a health insurance law
that later served as a template for
ObamaCare, is taking the lead in
negot iat ions, according to
Republican senators who have
spoken to him.
Romney is working with Sen.
Rick Scott (R‑Fla.) and consulting
close ly w ith Alexander and
Lindsey Graham (R‑S.C.).
Republican lawmakers say they
need to be more prepared with
ideas to replace ObamaCare than
they were in 2017, when a seven‑
month effort to repeal and place
the law failed on the Senate floor
in spectacular fashion.
July 20-26, 2019 11
Trump scrapped
Iran N-deal to spite
Obama: Report
Washington:
President Donald
Trump scrapped
the Iran nuclear
deal to spite his
predecessor Barack
Obama, British
media on Sunday
quoted a leaked
memo as saying.
The memo, written
The claim was made by the now sacked UK
by Britain's former
ambassador to US in a leaked diplomatic
ambassador to the telegram. (Photo courtesy Reuters)
US Kim Darroch,
said the decision to abandon the to persuade the White House to stick
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with the nuclear deal, the newspaper
(JCPOA) was a "diplomatic vandal‑ said. In the cable, Darroch indicated
ism," according to the Daily Mail there were divisions among Trump's
newspaper. advisors and said the White House
"The administration is set upon an lacked a "day‑after" strategy on what
act of diplomatic vandalism, seem‑ to do after the withdrawal from the
ingly for ideological and personality JCPOA.
reasons ‑‑ it was Obama's deal," Last week, the first batch of leaked
Darroch wrote in a diplomatic memos published by British media
telegram in May 2018, reported showed that Darroch described the
Xinhua news agency. Trump administration as "inept"
The memo was written shortly "dysfunctional" and "faction riven,"
after then British Foreign Secretary prompting the ambassador's resigna‑
Boris Johnson's trip to Washington tion.
 12 July 20-26, 2019 INDIA NEWS TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Chennai: Non‑building of sufficient

pressure in the helium tanks in the
'Bahubali' rocket could be the rea‑
son for calling off the moon landing
mission Chandrayaan‑2 one hour
before the rocket's take of f, said
two retired official of Indian space
organization.
T he rocket Geosynchronous
Satellite Launch Vehicle‑Mark III
(GSLV‑Mk III) was supposed to lift
of f at 2.51 a.m. on Monday with
India's second moon mission space‑
craft Chandrayaan‑2.
"A technical snag was observed in
launch vehicle system one hour
before the launch. As a measure of
abundant precaution,
#Chandrayaan2 launch has been
called off for today. Revised launch
date will be announced later," ISRO
tweeted and didn't elaborate fur‑
ther.According to the retired of fi‑
cials of Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO) there should be
proper pressure in the liquid fuel
tanks so that there is continuous
flow of fue l to the combustion
chamber.
"While the fuel is fed into the
combustion chamber from the bot‑
tom, helium gas is filled from the
top. It seems suf ficient pressure
was not being built up and hence
the launch was called off," a retired
ISRO official told IANS.
According to him, the flow of fuel
to the combustion chamber should
be uniform for the rocket to fly.
In 2006, the GSLV‑F02 (different
variant of GSLV) went out of control
less than a minute after lift‑off and
had to be destroyed in air after it
started breaking up.
The reason for the failure, an
expert committee in its failure
analysis report said, was that a pro‑
pellant regulator in one of the four
strap‑on liquid motors had much
higher discharge coef ficient in its
closed condition.
Technical snag in rocket stopped
Chandrayaan‑2 mission
The launch of Chandrayaan‑2 launch was called off
due to technical snag. (Photo: IANS/ISRO)
"The reason for this could be an
inadvertent error in manufacturing,
which escaped the subsequent
inspection, and acceptance test pro‑
cedures. This regulator has func‑
tioned satisfactorily in all the previ‑
ous 50 engines manufactured and
tested so far," the report said.
"The primary cause for the failure
was the sudden loss of thrust in one
out of the four liquid propellant
strap‑on stages (S4) immediately
after lift‑of f at 0.2 sec. With only
three strap‑on stages working, there
was significant reduction in the con‑
trol capability," the report said.
"However the vehicle attitude
could be controlled till about 50
sec. At the same time the vehicle
reached the transonic regime of
flight and the vehicle attitude errors
built up to large values, resulting in
aerodynamic loads exceeding the
design limits thus leading to break
up of the vehicle," the report added.
According to that report, the
thrust of the liquid engines used in
the strap‑on stages is precisely con‑
trolled by a set of regulators.
"Detailed analyses have indicated
that in S4 engine the thrust control
was not effective. Instead of stabiliz‑
Panel to study
GSLV rocket glitch and
recommend action
Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh):
T he Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO) has constitut‑
ed a multidisciplinary expert
committee to study the technical
glitch in the GSLV‑Mk III rocket
that was to carry India's moon
mission spacecraft Chandrayaan‑
2, said an official.
"A committee with experts from
multi‑disciplines has been consti‑
tuted. The committee will soon
submit its report," the of ficial
said.According to him, the rocket
is fully fueled up; and it has to be
ing at 5.85 MPa (Mega Pascal)
chamber pressure, it reached 7.11
MPa at 2.8 sec. T his was much
beyond the design limits and the
engine failed at 0.2 sec after lift‑off,
that is 5 sec after its ignition," the
report said.
"The larger flow of propellant led
to higher operating pressure in the
gas generator (4.7 MPa against
design specification of 3.6 MPa).
Due to this higher operating pres‑
sure of the gas generator, the water
flow rate into it got reduced. The
combined ef fect of larger flow of
propellants and reduced flow of
water led to a very high gas temper‑
ature of 1,823 K against design
specification of 900 K and pressure
of 4.7 MPa against the design speci‑
brought to normal condition first,
and that there are set procedures
for that to be done.
Of ficials who have been
involved in the launch operations
directly and indirectly have not
got proper sleep for the past cou‑
ple of days.
T he ISRO of ficials to whom
IANS spoke heaved a sigh of relief
that the technical g litch was
detected ahead of the rocket's
launch by saving the Rs 978
crore worth rocket and the space‑
craft Chandrayaan‑2.
fication of 3.6 MPa.
"The very high operating pressure
and temperature resulted in the
structural failure of the gas genera‑
tor. The consequent abrupt stop‑
ping of the turbo pumps that feed
propellants at very high pressures
to the engines led to loss of thrust
of S4 engine.
"The water calibration tests con‑
ducted simulating the malfunction
of the propellant regulator hard‑
ware could closely reproduce the
flight phenomenon thereby con‑
firming the larger flow area," the
report said.
At that time ISRO ruled out any
sabotage theories and said the qual‑
ity checks and inspections has been
strengthened.

Indian Airlines Choosing Dalai Lama's successor

resumes flights involves spiritual process
operations over New Delhi: China may insist that only it can appoint the
next Dalai Lama but it chooses to ignore that it involves
a certain spiritual process. The Dalai Lama, the spiritual

Pakistan leader of Tibetans, is traditionally chosen by senior

New Delhi: Indian airlines on
Tuesday resumed flight opera‑
tions on normal routes to Europe
and other west‑bound destina‑
tions over the Pakistan airspace,
after Islamabad removed access
restrictions.
"After cancellation of NOTAMS
by Pakistan and India in the early
hours of Tuesday, there are no
restrictions on airspaces of both
countries, flights have started
using the closed air routes, bring‑
ing a significant relief for air‑
lines," the Ministry of Civil
Aviation said on Twitter.
On Tuesday morning, Pakistani
authorit ies on Tuesday
announced the complete reopen‑
ing of the country's airspace for
civilian flights, nearly five months
after the military escalation with
India.
"With immediate effect Pakistan
airspace is open for all type of
civil traffic on published ATS (Air
Traffic Service) routes," according
to a notice to airmen (NOTAMS)
published on the CAA's website.
In March, Pakistan had partially
opened its airspace but kept it
closed for Indian flights.
The closure of Pakistan's air‑
space following airstrikes by the
Indian Air Force's February 26
Balakot strike took a heavy finan‑
cial toll on national carrier Air
India.
monastic disciples, based on spiritual signs and visions.
According to the current Dalai Lama, who is 84 years
old, the process to choose his successor will begin only
after he turns 90 in the year 2025. He will then consult
Tibetan Buddhist high Lamas on the need for continu‑
ing the institution of the Dalai Lama.
In his 2011 statement, the 14th Dalai Lama had
clearly said: "Bear in mind, apart from the reincarnation
recognized through such legitimate methods, no recog‑
nition or acceptance should be given to a candidate
chosen for political ends by anyone, including those in
the People's Republic of China." While the Dalai Lama
Tibetan Spiritual leader Dalai Lama during a
program in New Delhi, on Jan 4, 2016.
did not specify the nature of the ceremonies that would
(Photo: Amlan Paliwal/IANS)
be held to choose his successor, scholars say it is likely
to be prayers and tantric rituals in Buddhist monaster‑ boy living in Tibet ‑ Gedhun Choekyi Nyima ‑‑ as the
ies asking for his reincarnation. reincarnation of the Panchen Lama, or the second‑holi‑
There would also be another significant departure ‑ est monk in Tibetan Buddhism. However, the Chinese
the 15th Dalai Lama, unlike the 14 preceding ones, government picked its own choice. Gedhun Choekyi
would be chosen while his predecessor was still alive. Nyima has been missing since 1995 and is regarded as
In 1995, the Dalai Lama had named a six‑year‑old the world's youngest political prisoner.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info INDIA NEWS July 20-26, 2019 13

Modi 2.0 sets targets for ministries

New Delhi: With pressure on the Modi 2.0 gov‑
ernment to deliver on poll promises, all the
ministries have been directed to create dash‑
boards on key target areas so that citizens are
informed of the progress report.
Multiple sources in various ministries told
IANS that a directive in this regard has come
from Cabinet Secretary Pradeep Kumar Sinha.
"There are key target areas which have been
identified. These targets have to be achieved in
the next 100 days of the government," an offi‑
cial said. The 100‑days target started from July
5, the day Union Budget was presented, and
ends on October 15.
Some of the 100‑days targets include filling
up of 300,000 vacancies in institutes of higher
education, efficient grievance redressal system
and launching of national e‑services delivery
assessment.
"There are various targets. There are 100‑
days target, one year target, mid‑year targets
and five‑year targets. The Secretaries are being
called by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) to
give specific target and achievements," another
official in a key ministry said.
The Modi government has identified 167
transformative ideas across various areas
which have to be implemented in a time‑bound
manner. These ideas, if implemented, would
bring visible change and make meaningful dif‑
ference in the life of ordinary citizens. The pro‑
posed dashboards would give real‑time infor‑
mation such as farmers benefitted by PM‑
KISAN scheme, beneficiaries of various central
schemes, length of road constructed in rural
areas among others.
Given the directive from the highest level to
various ministries, even some of the govern‑
ment agencies have readied themselves for
providing data instantly on demand.
"We have not received any directive but are
ready with all the necessary information. As
and when required, a dashboard could be read‑ The 100‑days target started from July 5, the day Union Budget was presented,
ily put up on our website," a senior official said.
and ends on October 15.

Politics 'If Sidhu doesn't want to work, nothing I can do'

new New Delhi: Punjab Chief Minister
Amarinder Singh on Monday said if
tion, the Chief Minister said he had
been informed that the resignation
his Cabinet colleague Navjot Singh was sent to his residence in
arena for Sidhu did not want to do his job,
there was nothing that he could do
Chandigarh but he was yet to see it.
He would have to read it first to

Dhoni about it. The minister should have

accepted his new portfolio instead
be able to comment on it, he added.
The rift between the Punjab Chief
of shunning work in the middle of Minister and Sidhu deepened on
New Delhi: Mahendra Singh
the crucial paddy season, said the Sunday, when the latter resigned as
Dhoni may enter politics after
Chief Minister, reiterating that Minister for Power and New and
retiring from cricket and is
Sidhu was given a job, which he Renewable Energy Sources, the
likely to start his new innings
should have accepted and done. portfolios he had not taken charge
in team Narendra Modi. With
The Chief Minister's assertions of.
speculat ion rife about
came after Sidhu said on Twitter "I hereby resign as Minister from
whether MSD or Mahi will
that he sent his resignation to the the Punjab Cabinet," Sidhu said in a
hang up his boots after the Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh with minister
Chief Minister. Navjot Singh Sidhu in Amritsar. (File Photo: IANS) hand‑written letter posted on
recent World Cup semifinal,
"If Sidhu doesn't want to do the Twitter. "My letter to the Congress
polit ics appears to be
job, there is nothing I can do about attempt at reconciliation, the Chief ister sending his papers to the President Shri Rahul Gandhiji, sub‑
the new frontier for Captain
it," said Amarinder Singh, question‑ Minister said there was no need for Congress President. mitted on June 10, 2019," the MLA
Cool.
ing how a soldier could refuse a job it. "I do not have any issues with The Cabinet was decided in con‑ from Amritsar (East) tweeted. "Will
Former central minister and
assigned by the General. There has him. If Sidhu has any issues with sultation with the Congress high be sending my resignation to the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
to be some discipline in the govern‑ me, you'll have to ask him about command so it was "ok" for Sidhu to Chief Minister, Punjab," Sidhu fur‑
leader Sanjay Paswan told
ment if it is to function effectively, them,a he added, in response to a send his resignation to the party ther tweeted after Chief Minister's
IANS that Dhoni can join the
the Chief Minister, who was away to question by reporters in Delhi. president, said the Chief Minister, in media adviser Raveen Thukral told
party and there has been a
New Delhi, said in a statement. The Chief Minister, however, said response to media queries. IANS the CM office had not received
discussion on the issue for
Asked if Sidhu had made any he did not see any harm in the min‑ On the issue of Sidhu's resigna‑ his resignation.
long.
"On this issue, there has
been a discussion for long,
although this decision will be
taken only after his retire‑
RSS 'angry, upset' over BJP leaders' conduct
ment," he said. Lucknow: T he Rashtriya Dalit youth. "This one episode has working of the BJP", will now take
"Dhoni is my friend, he is a Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is said undone our efforts at establishing up the issue with the party leader‑
player of world fame and to be "very angry and upset" over 'samajik samrasta' social harmony ship and suggest remedial meas‑
there have been discussions the growing tendency of BJP lead‑ and bringing Dalits into the Hindu ures before the situation goes out
on bringing him into the party ers to make uncalled for and con‑ mainstream. of control.
fold," he said. troversial remarks that only serve "The MLA should have accepted "The behavior of some BJP lead‑
Dhoni was one of the to tarnish the party's image. the marriage and not projected an ers is against the philosophy of
celebrities whom BJP chief W hether it is the Akash anti‑Dalit stand. What will he do 'sanskar' (virtues), 'samrasta' (har‑
Amit Shah visited in his Vijayvargiya episode or the now that the High Court has con‑ mony) and 'samuhikta' (oneness)
"Sampark for Samarthan" pro‑ remarks of Sadhvi Pragya or the firmed the validity of the mar‑ which the Sangh practices and
g ram ahead of Lok Sabha Akash Vijayvargiya. (Photo: IANS)
recent controversy over BJP MLA riage?" he asked. The new political preaches," the functionary said.
elections. Rajesh Misra's daughter, the Sangh action against such MPs and MLAs. conspiracy angle to the Bareilly Union Minister Giriraj Singh's "go
T he e lections in Dhoni's is worried that such incidents are "Our government at the Center marriage has further demolished to Pakistan" statement, former
home state Jharkhand are making the BJP lose its USP of and in Uttar Pradesh have a very the BJP's image. Union Minister Mahesh Sharma
scheduled to take place later being a "party with a difference". comfortable majority and a few The RSS feels that if the party referring to Congress leader
this year. "The BJP was always known as a numbers less will not make a dif‑ leadership had taken action on Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as "Pappu
It is be lieved that 'party with a difference' but some ference," said a senior RSS func‑ party leaders who have been mak‑ ki Pappi" and former Minister
Dhoni may even be the chief of the leaders are destroying the tionary. The Sangh Parivar is par‑ ing controversial statements, the Maneka Gandhi's remark that
ministerial face of the BJP party's image. The BJP leadership ticularly upset over the recent con‑ trend would have been checked. development is only for Muslims
in the coming Jharkhand should now go beyond issuing troversy involving BJP MLA Rajesh He said that the RSS, "which nor‑ who vote for her, have upset the
polls. warnings. Time has come to strict Misra's daughter's marriage with a mally does not interfere in the Sangh.
14 July 20-26, 2019
Imran's visit and hopes for end to US‑Pak acrimony
By Shubha Singh
P
akistan Prime Minister
Imran Khans visit to the US
next week is meant to reset
Pakistanʼs often stormy relations
with the US. The first visit by Khan
as Prime Minister of Pakistan had
been under discussion for some
weeks, but Islamabad got a jolt
when the State Department
spokesperson refuted Pakistani
media reports of a meeting
between the Pakistani Prime
Minister and President Donald
Trump, saying that there was no
confirmation of a meeting of the
two leaders by the White House.
T here was much re lief in
Islamabad when the White House
confirmed two days later that a
meeting would take place on July
22 in Washington.
It is a visit that will be watched
carefully by observers in Delhi. US‑
Pakistan bilateral relations have
been in a trough ever since Trump
took over as the US President.
Washington has pushed Islamabad
to crack down on terrorist organi‑
zations operating in the country.
But, for the forthcoming summit,
Afghanistan will top the agenda of
the Trump‑Khan meeting since the
US President is keen to declare
Congress approach needs to fit political realities
By Vinod Sharma
W
hat must the Congress
do to stem mass‑scale
desertions by its legis‑
lators? The simple answer would
be: put its house in order. But the
partyʼs problems arenʼt easily
resolvable. It requires a major
attitudinal change, organization‑
al restructuring, and a workable
devolution of power.
T he purist view is that the
“high command” culture, which
is a euphemism for the hold
exercised by the Nehru‑Gandhi
family, needs to be dismantled;
or, at least, incrementally pushed
towards collective decision‑mak‑
ing. The key first step in that
direction should be the restora‑
t ion of the primacy of the
Congress Working Committee
(CWC). Over the years, the
partyʼs supreme consultative,
decision‑making platform pre‑
dating Indiaʼs Independence
from the British rule, has become
a talking shop.
CWC functions as if it is pro‑
grammed to authorize the high
command to act on its behalf,
and on its discretion, on key
issues. The carte blanche covers
Imran Khan would meet Donald Trump in Washington, DC on July 22.
peace in Afghanistan and bring
back American soldiers.
Within Pakistan there is a gener‑
al expectation that Khan's US visit
would end the recent acrimony in
US‑Pakistan ties and take back
bilateral relations to the warmth
and cordiality they once shared.
Over the decades, Islamabad has
become greatly adept in managing
its re lations with Washington
through all the highs and lows they
The key first step in that direction should be the restoration of the
primacy of the Congress Working Committee (CWC).
the sett ing up of alliances,
anointing chief ministers and
reshuf fling ministers in states
where the party has power. The
regimen has stunted the growth
of the provincial leadership, in
turn impacting the rise of new
faces at the national level.
While it indeed is impractical
to leave decision‑making to
multi‑member forums, vesting
all power in one individual or
family is self‑defeating and anti‑
democratic. The answer lies, per‑
haps, in smaller, issue‑specific
The views expressed in Op Eds are not necessarily those of The South Asian Times.
OP-ED
have traversed.
Trump had strongly castigated
Pakistan when he had formulated
his South Asia and Afghanistan
strategy in 2017. Washington had
suspended the security assistance
it provided Islamabad and put on
hold several military dialogues.
Washington also pressured
Islamabad to take action against
terrorist groups. Khan and Trump
had got into a twitter spat over
sub‑committees of CWC that can
revert to the party president or
CWC itself in the absence of a
consensus.
Thatʼs the kind of collective
decision‑making architecture the
Congress needs to insulate itself
from the charges of being
dynasty‑driven and lacking
inner‑party democracy. To make
the transformation credible, elec‑
tions should be held for CWC
and the presidency.
T his kind of surgery, so to
speak, is an option. But is the
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Trump charging Pakistan of having
done nothing for the US despite the
billions of dollars of assistance
Washington had given Pakistan.
But shortly afterwards, Trump did
one of his famous U‑turns on for‑
eign policy and wrote a letter to
Khan, seeking his help to bring the
Taliban to the negotiating table.
The visit comes at a time when
there are signs of forward move‑
ment on the Afghanistan front. A
meeting in Doha between US offi‑
cials and Taliban representatives
was described as productive. Even
more significant was the first ever
meeting between the Taliban lead‑
ers and representatives of the
Afghan government and other
groups.
Trump has made it clear that he
wants American troops to be out of
Afghanistan soon. He is an impa‑
tient leader and there is already a
steady decrease in the number of
American troops still in the war
torn country over the past few
months. As the peace talks
progress, Islamabad will gain
importance for ensuring the peace‑
ful withdrawal of US troops from
Afghanistan through Pakistani ter‑
ritory. It will also look for a peace‑
ful transfer of power to the Taliban
in Kabul. Pakistan claims to have
party in good enough health to
undergo the procedure, especial‑
ly when itʼs withering away in
states where it is out of power
and is at risk where it has gov‑
ernments with nebulous num‑
bers? To top it all, elections are
due in four state assemblies over
the next few months.
T he idea of organizational
polls is laudable, insisted party
old‑timers with whom I spoke.
But is it doable, or advisable at
the current juncture, wondered
many among them. To flag the
pitfalls, a few recalled the All
India Cong ress Committeeʼs
Tirupati session of 1992, when
e lect ions were he ld to CWC
which then‑president PV
Narasimha Rao quickly dissolved
and replaced with a nominated
body. Past experience informs
that copybook internal democra‑
cy in political parties could be an
unrealistic goal that accentuates
group‑ism and triggers factional‑
ism.
“Why do we want more fac‑
tions in the party? Donʼt we
already have many?” argued a
veteran who is no longer an
active politician. He felt that
Sonia Gandhi should take over as
persuaded the Taliban to partici‑
pate in the talks. It wants the
Taliban to have a prominent role in
any future government in Kabul,
which would maintain its interests
in Afghanistan.
Islamabad has also taken some
action against militant groups just
before Khan travels to Washington.
It filed cases against the Jamaat‑
ud‑Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed
and other senior leaders for financ‑
ing terrorist activities and money
laundering. Washington has been
pressing Pakistan to take action
against the terrorist groups.
Pakistan is also facing scrutiny for
the past year from the internation‑
al watch‑dog, Financial Action Task
Force (FATF). T he FATF had
warned Pakistan in June to imple‑
ment its own action plan to control
terror financing before the October
deadline or be placed on its black
list.
A White House statement said
their talks would strengthen bilat‑
eral cooperation, which would
bring "peace, stability and econom‑
ic prosperity to the entire region".
With the focus on Afghanistan, the
question remains ‑ will the issue of
terrorist organizations operating
from Pakistan recede to the back‑
ground?
interim chief to stabilize the
Congress the way she did after
Sitaram Kesri in the late 1990s.
The déjà vu will reassure par‑
typersonʼs besides checking dis‑
sipat ion of the sort seen in
Telangana, Goa and Karnataka.
“Sonia should return to contin‑
ue the story. Then weʼd see how
to improve,” the ret ired
Congressman said. His view has
takers w ithin the party. For
those in agreement with the
“back to Sonia” formula, the anti‑
dynasty rant is a middle class
obsession spread on the social
media.
“Name me one party thatʼs
democratic in its internal struc‑
ture,” asked a former Union min‑
ister known for his scholarship.
The Congressʼs choices cannot
be confined to the ideal, he said.
The party requires a practical
approach befitting the political
realit ies. Even in the
Mahabharata, the wisest of them
all did not or could not do what
was right while being in full
awareness of it.For now, the
answer to the Congressʼs worries
lie between the pragmatic and
the puritanical. It has to survive
to battle it out later.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info July 20-26, 2019
 16 July 20-26, 2019 JAINA CONVENTION TheSouthAsianTimes.info TheSouthAsianTimes.info JAINA CONVENTION July 20-26, 2019 17

JAINA holds an incredibly successful

Ontario, CA: JAINA, the Federation of
Jain Associations in North America,
with the two host centers of Jain Cen‑
ter of Southern California and Jain
Center of Los Angeles, hosted an in‑
credibly successful biennial conven‑
tion during the July 4 weekend at the
Ontario Convention Center here. With
the theme of “Jain Religion in the 21st
Century”, it attracted 3,450 attendees
including 600 youths and young
adults. The convention was graced by
pre‑recorded speeches from revered
Jain acharyas who live in India – Sri
Namramuniji Maharaj, Acharya Shri
Yashovijayji Maharaj and Acharya
Shri Vijay Ratna Sundar Suriji Ma‑
haraj. It was sanctified by 22 Jain
sadhus, sadhavis, scholars and spiri‑
tual guides such as; Acharya Shri
Chandanaji (Veerayatan International,
biennial convention in SoCal
Audrey Kitagawa (Board Chair of Par‑
liament of the Worldʼs Religions).
Sadhguru pointed out our futile ten‑
dency to look outside to guns, drugs
The 4-day mega event
and other forms of violence to tackle
human conflict. He recommended
comprised Jain spiritual
looking inward like Bhagwan Mahavir
and Jain Tirthankars did to find inner discourses, Interfaith Table,
strength against evil, and to tackle ex‑
istential challenges such as climate
change and intolerance.
colorful procession, on‐site
Shri Rakeshbhai Jhaveri spoke on
why currently self‑realization is elu‑ Jain Temple, Jain Academic
sive and how Seva, Satsang, Samarpan
and Sadhana are the founding pillars
towards achieving Self‑Realization.
Bowl, Jains Got Talent,
Gaur Gopal Das, in his inimitable
style of tongue‑in‑cheek humor, im‑ Cultural and Entertainment The JAINA convention Steering Board Mahesh Wadher, Dr. Jasvant Modi and
parted life lessons on bringing bal‑
ance and purpose in our lives
explaining that spiritual wisdom is
Programs with over 48,000 Dr. Nitin Shah interacting with Sadhguru.

Rajgir), Acharya Dr. Lokesh Muni

(Ahimsa Vishwa Bharti, New Delhi),
Bhattarakji Charukeerthiji (Jain
Digamber Math Moodbidri, Kar‑
nataka), and Gurudev Shri Rakeshb‑
hai Jhaveri (Srimad Rajchandra
Ashram, Dharampur).
Convener Mr. Mahesh Wadher and
Co‑conveners Dr. Nitin Shah and Dr.
Jasvant Modi explained the theme of
the convention, highlighting its five
distinct tracks of enrichment about
Jain principles and practices: Seva,
Satsang, Samarpan, Sadhana, and Self‑
Realization. Other tracks on focus
groups included for Young Jain Pro‑
fessionals, Young Adults, youths, and
Jain Connect.
To illustrate commonalities the
worldʼs great religions have with Jain‑
ismʼs core teachings of Ahimsa (Non‑
Violence), Aparigraha
(Non‑Attachment) and Anekantavada
(Non‑Absolutism) were speakers in‑
cluding Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev (Isha
Foundation), Gaur Gopal Das (Jain‑
born motivational speaker with
ISKCON), Sadhvi Bhagawati (Parmarth
Niketan, Rishikesh), Brahmrishi Guru‑
vanandji (Sri Brahmrishi Ashram,
Tirupati), Rahul Kapoor Jain (motiva‑
tional speaker from Bangalore), and
The on‑site temple also displayed three‑dimensional depiction
of epic Jain stories.
about propagating universal values
and transforming to the better inner
state with religion‑neutral choices by
pursuing our mastery over anger,
greed and deceit.
Australian vegan activist and
founder of Winsome Constance Kind‑
ness Trust Philip Wollen stressed the
need for the world to reduce both our
carbon and karmic footprints by
adopting a vegan diet, while PETA
President Ingrid Newkirk compli‑
mented the Jain community on its rev‑
erence for all life, and their recent
activism campaigns against animal
cruelty in the US and India. Both
Wollen and Newkirk urged the world
to use cosmetic, medicinal and
lifestyle products that donʼt involve
animal sources or suffering.
The BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir of
Los Angeles prepared fresh vegetarian
and vegan meals serving 3,450 atten‑
dees 4‑5 times/day.
A moment of silence recognized the
immense contributions by the late
Jain pioneers to the West: Gurudev
Shri Chitrabhanuji, Acharya Sushil Ku‑
marji Maharaj, and Amrendra Muniji.
The convention begun on July 4 with
a grand procession featuring colorful
floats and banners from Jain Centers
The convention began with a grand procession featuring colorful floats and banners
from Jain Centers from across North America.
from across North America.
A uniquely constructed Jain Temple
was installed on 6,000 square feet of
convention center space. With shikhar
and garabha with chovisi (arrange‑
ment of 24 Tirthankars) it also dis‑
played three‑dimensional depiction of
Entertainment included Garba‑Raas, “One World, One Rhythm”
representing world cultures, and a Bollywood Concert.
The uniquely constructed, on‑site Jain Temple allowed attendees to pray here.
epic Jain stories. Entertainment in‑
cluded Garba‑Raas, Jains Got Talent
competition, “One World, One
Rhythm” of choreographed perform‑
ances representing the countries and
cultures around the world, and a Bol‑
lywood Concert. Jain Academic Bowl
vegetarian/vegan meals
served to 3,450 attendees. The meet was
sanctified by
the presence
of spiritual
masters like
Acharya
Dr. Lokesh
Muni.
Gurudev Shri
Rakeshbhai Jhaveri,
Acharya Shri
(JAB) was also held to encourage
Chandanaji and
youth learning Jain beliefs in a fun
Convener
and entertaining manner. Presented Mahesh Wadher.
for the first time was Shatavdhan,
which tests a personʼs memory
power by performing multiple tasks
simultaneously.
JAINA Ratna Award 2019 went to
Ram Gada of Minnesota, who cred‑
ited his spiritual journey to the
teachings of Mahatma Gandhi.
JAINAʼs next Executive Committee Brahmrishi
includes Mahesh Wadher – Presi‑ Guruvanandji
dent, Haresh Shah – First Vice Presi‑ being
dent, Hemant Shah – Secretary, and welcomed to
Ashok Savla – Treasurer. Founded in the convention.
1981, JAINA (www.jaina.org) is the
umbrella organization of 70 North
American Jain centers / temples and PETA President
is a philanthropic, educational, and Ingrid Newkirk
service‑focused organization. complimented the
Jainism is a religion and a way of
Youth‑oriented activities included Jain Academic Bowl, Jain community on its
life that originated in India. Jains Got Talent, and Jain Connect. reverence for all life.
 18 July 20-26, 2019 ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Entertainment Journalists' Guild boycotts Kangana

M
embers of the Entertainment Journalists'
Guild of India (EJGI) have collectively decided
to boycott Kangana Ranaut and demanded a
Kangana sends legal
public apology following an ugly spat between the
national award‑winning actress and a journalist. The
notice to Entertainment
angry exchange took place during the song launch of Journalistsʼ Guild

A
upcoming film "Judgementall Hai Kya", in the pres‑
ctor Kangana Ranaut has sent a legal
ence of producer Ekta Kapoor and actor Rajkummar
notice to the Entertainment
Rao.
Journalistsʼ Guild, and the Press Club
The members have now sent a letter to Ekta, where
of India, demanding that the ban imposed on
Kangana's behavior has been termed as "un‑called for"
coverage of matters related to her be lifted
The letter reads: "We, the members of Entertainment
within 24 hours.
Journalists' Guild of India, demand a written public
The legal notice, submitted by Kanganaʼs
statement from you, Balaji Films and Ms Ranaut, con‑
lawyer Rizwan Siddiquee, noted: “Now before
demning the incident and in particular Ms Ranaut's
my client is constrained to initiate strict pro‑
behavior. We as a guild, collectively decided to boycott
ceedings and other actions including seeking
Ms Ranaut and give any media coverage.
huge compensatory (monetary) damages
"Rest assured, we will not let this matter af fect
from you Addresses, for the said illegal acts
'Judementall Hai Kya' in any manner and will be sup‑
already committed by you, she is hereby
portive of your film and other cast members, barring
through me, giving you one last and final
Ms Ranaut."
opportunity to rectify all wrongs so commit‑
The Entertainment Journalists' Guild has been
ted by you within 24 hours, failing which all
formed, in the light of the incident that happened with
actions as may he initiated by my client under
the reporter on July 7. It is yet to be registered.
constrain shall be entirely at the risk, costs
and consequences of the board members of
Actress Kangana Ranaut was embroiled
your organization.”
in an ugly spat with a journalist.

SUPER 30 Nawazuddin set for

anything but super an image makeover
F
rom performing a rap song to
playing a bang le‑se ller who
romances a village g irl,
Nawazuddin Siddiqui seems to be in
the moo d for a dramat ic image
makeover in his next film, "Bole
Chudiyan".
The National Award‑winning actor,
who shot to fame playing Faisal in
Anurag Kashyap's "Gangs Of
Wasseypur" saga after a long stint of
Bollywood struggle, perhaps realizes it
is time to give the stock intense image
a break. Despite brilliant performances
in recent films such as "Manto",
"Thackeray" and "Photograph", his
ef forts have hardly generated much
ʻSuper 30ʼ is actor Hrithik Roshan's desperate bid to prove that he can shed stardom.
buzz.

I
t is easy to see why Hrithik Roshan signed
"Super 30". Deemed Bollywood's resident
Adonis and little else for long despite some
credible performances over the years, the super‑
star was out to de‑glam. He needed to nail that
one role which would remain top‑of‑the‑mind
recall every time you spoke of his acting skills.
At a time when Bollywood is rediscovering
heartland stories, and when issue‑driven cinema
has become more saleable than ever, playing a
small town educationist who revolution‑
ized coaching facility for the underprivi‑ REVIEW
leged would seem to fit the bill. Being
Anand Kumar was a smart move for Hrithik.
But, "Super 30" comes across more as Hrithik's
desperate bid to prove that he can shed his star‑
dom, than an honest storytelling ef fort of an
intriguing life.
You realize as much watching the actor go,
struggling to deliver the essential Bihari accent as
Anand Kumar might have done it.
Anand Kumar's life deserved a super film.
However, mainstream Bollywood, bogged down
by innate commercial diktats, rarely creates any‑
thing that is super. Done in by shoddy scripting
(Sanjeev Dutta) and elaborate melodrama, direc‑
tor Vikas Bahl's new film takes too long to finish
its tale. The film should have been a good 40 min‑
utes shorter.
The irony that hits you as the flawed narrative
labors on is that the tale is actually a well‑inten‑
tioned one. The film talks about the caste and
class divide that brazenly continues to thrive in
our society. Most importantly, the film is an ode
to teachers, a community whose significance is
rapidly fading in our society.
Yet, all of the above is done in by
sheer plasticity.
A strictly okay first half has 45‑year‑old Hrithik
traipsing down narrow smalltown lanes in a bid
to pass off as a 20‑something Anand Kumar. He
gets a rare opportunity to go to Cambridge to
pursue higher studies. Anand's family, however,
fails to raise the funds for the trip and it is cur‑
tains for his dream.
In the second half, much footage is wasted in
setting up a hero‑versus‑villain showdown
between Anand and Lallan, with a corrupt educa‑
tion minister (Pankaj Tripathi) thrown in for good
measure.
Interacting with the press recently,
Nawaz seemed more excited about talk‑
ing of his experience as a rapper.
"I am not a singer but I have to say
that rapping a song is a different expe‑
rience, and the credit goes to the music
director. Yes, I learned the lyrics and
practised the song, but somewhere it
was the music director who extracted
the performance from me," he says of
his rap contribution in the film's title
song, 'Swaggy Chudiyan'. The song will
be used in the film in a sequence where
his character is seen singing it to sell
bangles.
He may be changing his image with
"Bole Chudiyan", but Nawaz, ever the
perfectionist, maintains a method
approach even while making you
understand his decision to sing: "I do
not want to be a singer in the near
future, but the specific rap song has
raw elements that go well with my
voice. That is why they decided to fea‑
ture my voice," explains Nawaz, who
National award‑winning actor
Nawazuddin Siddiqui.
adds that he loves listening to the old
Hindi songs.
"Bole Chudiyan", pitched in a com‑
mercial space of the romantic‑drama
genre, is crucial for Nawaz also
because it marks the feature film direc‑
torial debut of his brother Shamas
Nawab Siddiqui, who will also look for
a successful run for the film, to ensure
a smooth launch into the industry.
Set in the Uttar Pradesh, Nawaz said
that the story is close to his heart as it
comes from his native place.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Bollywood discovers the
voice of the marginalized
A still from ʻBareilly Ki Barfiʼ.
F
or sometime now, Bollywood has been
romancing the smalltown. Films rang‑
ing from the simplistic "Bareilly Ki
Barfi" and "Raanjhanaa", to the glamor‑
packed "Badrinath Ki Dulhania" or "Humpty
Sharma Ki Dulhania" have been only a few
examples among numerous that have been
exploring various facets of heartland India.
In 2019, the Hindi film industry seems to
be in the mood to take the game to the next
level. Simple tales of the simple folk won't do
anymore. Whether it is the street rapper of
Gully Boy, or the underprivileged genius
teenagers of "Super 30", or the low caste of
"Article 15" whose right to dignified life is
regularly violated, Bollywood is suddenly
focussing on being the voice of the marginal‑
ized. "Super 30", which opened this week,
may have seen mixed reviews owing to
flawed storytelling, but the film does have its
heart in the right place.
The film has had a decent start at the box
office collecting Rs 11.83 crore on day one,
points out trade analyst Taran Adarsh:
"'Super 30' has a decent day one. Business
picked up at metros and urban centres
(Mumbai and South specifically) towards
evening though mass pockets are ordinary to
dull. (The film) should witness growth on day
two and three."
When Shilpa Shetty turned Stone Cold
A
fter sharing a special video mes‑
sage for Shilpa Shetty Kundra's
son, WWE champion John Cena
has now dedicated a post on his
Instagram for the actress. Cena on Friday
uploaded a photograph where Shilpa's
face had been morphed onto the body of
WWE superstar Stone Cold.
"Stone Cold Shilpa Shetty Kundra", the
image read. After seeing Cena's post, neti‑
zens got curious about his sudden love for
Shilpa and her son.
One user wrote: "How do you know
Shilpa Shetty, John?" Another one com‑
mented: "Wow... it seems John Cena is also
interested in Bollywood."
Shilpa has not said anything about
Cena's post yet. A few days ago, Shilpa's
son Viaan had appeared in a video where
he expressed his love for Cena.
Responding to Viaan's video, Cena sent
him a video message. "Hey Viaan, this is
your buddy John Cena. I saw your video
ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD
Just last month, Anubhav Sinha's film,
"Article 15" made a hard‑hitting case for pro‑
hibiting discrimination on grounds of reli‑
gion, race, caste, sex or place of birth, in
accordance with Article 15 of Indian
Constitution.
"One of the reasons we wanted to make the
film is that we want to reach out to rural
India, to places where discrimination is still
happening based on caste. If we made an art‑
house film and only travelled to international
film festivals, we would reach the audience
who are already aware of such discrimina‑
tion," the film's lead actor Ayushmann
Khurrana told media.
When Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt‑starrer
"Gully Boy" released earlier this year, under‑
ground rappers couldn't stop saying "Apna
time ayega". The hit movie that took the audi‑
ence through the Dharavi slums of Mumbai,
was inspired by the life story of street rap‑
pers Divine and Naved Shaikh ‑‑‑ aka Naezy ‑‑‑
known for their song "Mere gully mein".
Zoya Akhtar's "Gully Boy" managed to rake
in Rs 139.8 crore in the domestic market and
was delcared superhit, primarily riding the
star power of Ranveer and Alia. That proves a
vital truth. If the big stars of Bollywood show
the guts to take up such gritty subjects, the
audience will always respond positively.
WWE superstar Stone Cold.
and your muscles. I had to get back to the
gym and start working on myself. You are
enormous. I can see you singing the song,
"My time is up, your time is now". It's
Viaan boy, you are shining now," Cena
said in his message.
July 20-26, 2019 19
Need nerves of steel to be
in B'wood: Katrina Kaif
A
fter 16 years of surviv‑
ing the Bollywood grind
grinding with more hits
than misses, actress Katrina
Kaif, says one needs to have
nerves of steel to be in the glitzy
world of Hindi cinema.
"It's not always easy. You need
to have nerves of steel to be in
the film industry. It's an unpre‑
dictable place and no one can
guarantee success. I believe in
not taking success to your head,
or failure to your heart," Katrina
told IANS.
She tags her 16‑year run in
Hindi films as a beautiful jour‑
ney. "It's been wonderful, a lot
of hard work but also a lot of
love from the audience," she
said.
Actress Katrina Kaifʼs next
Hong Kong‑born British beau‑
release is ʻSooryavanshiʼ.
ty Katrina, who celebrates her
birthday on July 16, is currently in "Zero" and "Bharat", particularly.
vacationing in Mexico. Over the weekend Considering her next release is
she has been setting social media afire with "Sooryavanshi" opposite Akshay Kumar, it
holiday snapshots and videos on would seem like she has become the staple
Instagram. The break comes after hectic choice primarily of the senior superstars in
months of work when Katrina gave most of the industry.
her time to her last few releases ‑‑‑ "Thugs "I don't really analyze things that much. I
Of Hindostan" with Aamir Khan, "Zero" prefer looking ahead rather than dissecting
with Shah Rukh Khan, and "Bharat" with the past and believe the best is yet to
Salman Khan. Fans loved her performances come," she said.
Akshay only Bollywood star
in Forbesʼ rich celebs list
B
ollywood super‑
star Akshay
Kumar is the only
Indian to find a spot in
the Forbes list of the
world's highest paid
actors, among 99 other
international celebrities.
Securing the 33rd rank
with earnings worth $65
million, Akshay has sur‑
passed popular interna‑
tional figures such as
Rihanna, Jackie Chan,
Scarlett Johansson, Chris
Evans and Katy Perry.
According to Forbes,
the "Kesari" actor pulls in
at least $5 million and up
to $10 million per film.
He also minted millions
from endorsing around
20 brands, including Tata
and Harpic.
After the success of
"Kesari", Akshay has
"Mission Mangal" coming
up on Independence Day, Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar.
besides "Housefull 4" and
"Good News" later this year. Amazon Prime original series, tentatively
In 2020, the 51‑year‑old actor will be titled "The End".
seen in "Laxmmi Bomb" and the cop Superstar Salman Khan, who has been a
drama "Sooryavanshi". He will also make regular on the list in recent years, does
his debut in the digital space with an not find a spot in the top 100 this year.
 20 July 20-26, 2019
India, Pakistan revive
backchannel talks
The second round of talks will be held in New Delhi in September.
Islamabad/New Delhi: India and Pakistan
revived Track II diplomacy with a meet in
Islamabad, the first one since the Pulwama
terror attack on February 14.
Improving cross‑border connectivity and
trade, people‑to‑people exchanges and edu‑
cational collaboration were among the sub‑
jects discussed at the two‑day dialogue
between the nuclear armed rivals.
The dialogue, titled 'Beyond Politics and
Polemics New Beginning on a Dif ficult
Trail', was convened by the Islamabad‑based
Regional Peace Institute (RPI).
According to media reports, six delegates
from India participated in the dialogue that
concluded on July 13.
Raoof Hasan, founder of the Regional
Peace Institute, was quoted as saying:
Former Bangladesh
President HM Ershad dead
Dhaka: Former Bangladesh
President HM Ershad died in a mili‑
tary hospital on July 14 due to age‑
related illnesses. He was 89.
He breathed his last at 7.45 am at
the Combined Military Hospital
(CMH), Inter Service Public
Relation Directorate Assistant
Director Rashedul Alam Khan told
The Daily Star newspaper.
Ershad, also the leader of the
opposition in the Parliament and a
five‑time MP, had long been suffer‑
ing from various ailments including
infection in his lungs and kidneys
and was admitted to CMH on June
26 and was kept at the Intensive
Care Unit (ICU).
His condition later deteriorated
and was kept on oxygen support on
June 30. The military ruler will be
buried at an army graveyard in
Dhaka.
On April 24, 1982, Ershad
usurped state power as the Chief
Martial Law Administrator (CMLA)
by removing the elected govern‑
ment of then President Abdus
Sattar in a bloodless coup, and
three days later he installed Justice
SUBCONTINENT TheSouthAsianTimes.info
British tabloid claims Shahbaz embezzled
UK aid, PML-N denies charges
Islamabad: The Pakistan Muslim League‑
Nawaz (PML‑N) denied reports by British
tabloid 'Daily Mail' that its leader Shahbaz
Sharif embezzled millions given to Pakistan
by the UK in aid.
According to the Pakistani media, PML‑N
spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb
slammed report that accused Shahbaz
Sharif of "embezzling tens of millions of
pounds of public money and laundering it
in Britain".
T he Daily Mail reported: "DFID
(Department for International
Development) admits it is 'well aware' that
Pakistan is a 'corrupt environment'.
However, since 2014, DFID has given more
aid to Pakistan than any other country ‑ up
Pakistan Muslim League‑Nawaz
to £463 million a year."
leader Shahbaz Sharif.
Part of the report featured an interview
with Aftab Mehmood, whom the Daily Mail and HSBC. The report also alleged that
called a key witness. A British citizen, Home Secretary Sajid Javid was discussing
"Track‑II diplomacy is the first step to
Mehmood was arrested during a trip to the possible extradition of members of
improve relations between the governments
Pakistan in April and is being held at a Shahbaz's family who have taken refuge in
of both the countries," and added that the
Lahore jail, according to the report. London.
main objective of the talks was to bring the
"He claims he laundered millions on The report claimed that laundered pay‑
youth of the two countries towards peace.
behalf of Shahbaz's family from a nonde‑ ments were made to Shahbaz's children, his
Pakistan's Parliamentary Secretary for
script of fice in Birmingham ‑ without wife and his son‑in‑law Ali Imran. But it
Foreign Affairs Andleeb Abbasi, addressing
attracting suspicion from Britain's financial added that Shahbaz "was the principal ben‑
the talk, stressed on greater people to peo‑
regulators, who inspected his books regu‑ eficiary of this money‑laundering enter‑
ple contacts between the two neighbors to
larly," said the report. prise.
normalize the bilateral relationship.
Legal documents allege that Shahbaz's Rubbishing the report in a series of
Abbasi said that Prime Minister Imran
son‑in‑law received about £1 million from a Tweets posted via the PML‑N's of ficial
Khan has consistently been giving the mes‑
fund established to rebuild the lives of Twitter account, Aurangzeb said the British
sage of peace to India, adding that war is
earthquake victims ‑ to which DFID gave government conducted an independent
not a solution to any problem and conflicts
£54 million from UK taxpayers, it said, audit of the funds and Punjab government
can only be resolved through peace and
adding that stolen millions were allegedly supported it. "The government of Punjab
negotiations.
transferred to Shahbaz's family's accounts worked with honesty and diligence and
The second round of the dialogue will be
by UK branches of banks including Barclays used the funds for the people," she added.
held in New Delhi in September this year.
Afghan peace talks: Taliban
agrees to reduce violence
Doha: The Taliban has
agreed to reduce violence
by stopping attacks on
"religious centres, schools,
hospitals, educational cen‑
tres, bazaars, water dams
and workplaces" in
Afghanistan, that could
expedite the end of the
18‑year war in the war‑
torn nation, the media
reported.
Former President HM Ershad has The agreement taken at
been a pivotal figure in the Intra‑Afghan Dialogue
Bangladeshʼs political scenario. Conference on Peace in
Doha came in the form of
Abul Fazl Mohammad Ahsanuddin
a resolution prepared by a
Chowdhury as the President.
committee of six members Site of a Taliban attack in Kabul.
Later, Ershad assumed the coun‑
from Kabul and three
try's Presidency in December 1983.
members from the "Islamic framework". understanding between the
Following a nationwide mass move‑
Taliban, reports TOLO News. Meanwhile, Mutlaq bin conflicting parties.
ment, he was finally forced to step
The participants from Kabul Majid Al Qahtani, the Special He hoped that this event
down on December, 6 1990.
included politicians, civil soci‑ Envoy of the Minister of would mark the beginning of a
He was arrested in 1991 and was
ety members, and government Foreign Affairs of Qatar, meaningful process leading to
released on bail in January 1997.
officials. They attended the hailed the success of intra‑ a comprehensive and sustain‑
Ershad was sued in over 26 cases
intra‑Afghan talks within their Afghan dialogue in Doha as able peace in Afghanistan.
on different charges including cor‑
personal capacity. the first step into the "journey The Taliban has refused to
ruption. Ershad has been a pivotal
The resolution also called of a thousand miles", Khaama hold direct negotiations with
figure in the political scenario of
for an end to civilian casual‑ Press reported. the Afghan government until
Bangladesh, especially in forming
ties and the protection of Qahtani said the resolution the US announces a timetable
coalition governments.
women's rights within an might be a first step to find an for the withdrawal.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Iran ready to hold talks with
US if sanctions lifted: Rouhani
Tehran: Iranian President Hassan
Rouhani has said that his country
was ready to hold talks with the
US if Washington lifts sanctions
imposed on Tehran.
"We are always ready for negoti‑
ations. I tell you this hour and this
moment to abandon bullying and
lift the sanctions and return to
logic and wisdom. We are ready,"
the Iranian Mehr News Agency
quoted Rouhani as saying.
Leaders of France, Germany and
Britain, European signatories of
the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement
said that they were "extremely
concerned" about the escalating
tension in the Gulf region, which
they said is like ly to put the
accord at risk unless the con‑
cerned parties join the same table
of talks.
In May 2018, Washington uni‑
laterally abandoned the Iran
nuclear deal and restarted impos‑
ing sanctions on Iran.
On May 8, Iran stopped imple‑
menting some of its commitments
under the deal and set a 60‑day
deadline for the Europeans to help
May grooves to Abba's UN report challenges traditional
'Dancing Queen' at notions of ʻrichʼ and ʻpoorʼ
black‑tie event
London: Outgoing British Prime
Minister Theresa May was caught
on camera dancing to Swedish
pop‑group Abba's iconic single
"Dancing Queen" due a black‑tie
event, UK media reports said.
The outgoing leader showed off
her moves at Henley Festival ‑ a
black‑tie music event where tick‑
ets cost up to 135 pounds a head,
during the weekend, reports the
Independent newspaper.
Besides dancing to the "Dancing
Queen", the song she famously
walked out to at the Conservative
Party conference last year, May
Outgoing British PM Theresa May showed off her moves at Henley Festival.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
Tehran reap the economic benefits
of the deal.
On July 7, as the deadline
expired, Iranian Deputy Foreign
Minister Abbas Arag hchi
announced that Tehran was ready
to beg in enriching uranium
beyond the 3.67 per cent level set
in the Iran nuclear deal, adding
that Tehran would go on gradually
abandoning its nuclear commit‑
also sang along to other Abba hits
including "Mamma Mia", "Take A
Chance" and "Money Money
Money" which were performed by
a tribute band.
May's dance moves became a
subject of media focus after she
twice awkwardly danced in front
of the cameras on a trip to South
Africa and Kenya last summer.
May and her husband Philip
will depart Downing Street on
July 24, after being succeeded as
Prime Minister by either Boris
Johnson or Jeremy Hunt, the BBC
reported.
INTERNATIONAL
ments every 60 days.
On July 8, Iran announced that it
had raised the concentration of its
enriched uranium to 4.5 per cent
from 3.67 purity.
Following Tehran's announce‑
ment, US Vice President Mike
Pence, along with other senior
administration officials, vowed to
continue to pile up economic pres‑
sure on Iran.
New York: The traditional concept
of poverty is outdated, according
to a new report released by the
United Nat ions Deve lopment
Prog ramme (UNDP) and the
Oxford Poverty and Human
Development Initiative (OPHI).
New data demonstrate more clear‑
ly than ever that labeling countries
‑ or even households ‑ as rich and
poor is an oversimplification.
Findings from the 2019 global
Multidimensional Poverty Index
(MPI) sheds light on disparities in
how people experience poverty,
revealing vast inequalities among
countries and among the poor
themselves.
“To fight poverty, one needs to
know where poor people live. They
are not evenly spread across a
country, not even within a house‑
hold,” says Achim Steiner, UNDP
Administrator.
This yearʼs MPI results show that
more than two‑thirds of the multi‑
dimensionally poor̶886 million
people̶live in middle‑income
countries. A further 440 million
live in low‑income countries. In
both groups, data show, simple
national averages can hide enor‑
mous inequality in patterns of
poverty within countries.
For instance, in South Asia,
almost a quarter of children under
five live in households where at
July 20-26, 2019 21
Hong Kong leader
condemns clashes,
calls protesters "thugs"
Hong Kong: Hong Kong
leader Carrie Lam slammed
the "thugs" who attacked
police officers during clash‑
es, saying their violent acts
cannot be tolerated in a soci‑
ety with the rule of law.
At least 22 people were
injured when the violent
clashes broke out in Hong
Kong's northern town of Sha
Tin on Sunday night, reports
the South China Morning
Post.
Commissioner of Police
Stephen Lo Wai‑chung Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam made
described protesters the remarks after visiting injured
involved in pitched battles at
policemen at a hospital.
shopping centres as "thugs", and ple to defend the rule of law.
vowed to track down those respon‑ "The rule of law has been the cor‑
sible and hold them accountable. nerstone of Hong Kong's success...
Lam made the remarks after vis‑ and to defend it, both the Hong
iting injured police of ficers at a Kong people and the government
hospital in Tai Po alongside need to obey the law," she said.
Secretary for Security John Lee Ka‑ Lam added that while she was
chiu. currently facing much dif ficulty,
She said police of ficers had she was still committed to her work
remained restrained while "thugs for the remainder of her term,
attacked them". She also urged peo‑ which ends in June 2022.
According to the report, one in three children is multidimensionally poor.
least one child in the household is “We looked at data for a group of
malnourished and at least one ten middle‑ and low‑income coun‑
child is not. Results also show that tries and we found encouraging
children suf fer poverty more news that the bottom 40 percent
intensely than adults and are more were moving faster than the rest,”
likely to be deprived in all 10 of says Sabina Alkire, OPHI Director.
the MPI indicators, lacking essen‑ “A pro‑poor pattern that reduces
tials such as clean water, sanita‑ inequalities in several Sustainable
tion, adequate nutrition or primary Development Goals.”
education. Even more staggering, Within these ten countries, data
worldwide, one in three children is show that 270 million people
multidimensionally poor, com‑ moved out of multidimensional
pared to one in six adults. That poverty from one survey to the
means that nearly half of the peo‑ next.
ple living in multidimensional This progress was largely driven
poverty̶663 million̶are chil‑ by South Asia: in India there were
dren, with the youngest children 271 million fewer people in pover‑
bearing the greatest burden. ty in 2016 than in 2006, while in
But new data also shows a posi‑ Bangladesh the number dropped
tive trend: those furthest behind by 19 million between 2004 and
are moving up the fastest. 2014.
 22 July 20-26, 2019 BUSINESS TheSouthAsianTimes.info

India, US to continue discussions over trade issues

New Delhi: India and the United
States will continue discussions
over bilateral trade‑related issues,
the government said on Friday.
According to the Central govern‑
ment, both sides have agreed to
continue "their discussions for
achieving mutually beneficial out‑
comes aimed at further growing the
economic relationship and address‑
ing mutual trade concerns".
The development comes after a
delegation led by Assistant United
States Trade Representative
(AUSTR) Christopher Wilson visited
India on July 11‑12 to explore
potential for enhanced bilateral
trade and economic engagement
with India under the new govern‑
ment.
Subsequently, the US delegation
held bilateral talks on Friday with
the Indian delegation led by Sanjay
Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale.
Chadha, Additional Secretary,
Department of Commerce, which
included senior officials from other
ministries.
"The meeting was cordial and
aimed at providing a new impetus
to bilateral trade and commercial
ties, in line with the mandate given
by Prime Minister Narendra Modi
and US President Donald Trump
during their meeting at Osaka,
Japan on 28 June, 2019," the gov‑
ernment said in a statement.
"Both sides discussed the broad
contours of bilateral trade and com‑
mercial ties and agreed to continue
their discussions for achieving
mutually beneficial outcomes aimed
at further growing the economic
relationship and addressing mutual
trade concerns."
Wilson also called on the
Commerce Secretary and
Commerce & Industry Minister dur‑
ing the visit. The meet assumes sig‑
nificance after Trump earlier this
week hit out at India over the issue
of tariffs, less than a fortnight after
he discussed the issue with Prime
Minister Modi in Japan and both
agreed to address the issue.
In the tweet, Trump said, "India
has long had a field day putting tar‑
if fs on American products. No
longer acceptable!" Earlier, before
his meeting with Modi on June 28,
Trump had tweeted: "I look forward
to speaking with Prime Minister
Modi about the fact that India, for
years having put very high tarif fs
against the United States, just
recently increased the tariffs even
further. This is unacceptable and
the tariffs must be withdrawn!"
India has slapped tariffs on 28 US
products including Harley‑Davidson
motorcycles and US‑grown apples,
after Washington withdrew its long‑
standing preferential status on June
1 that exempted billions of dollars
worth of products from US levies.
During their meeting, Modi told
Trump that India had taken some
action after the General System of
Preferences (GSP) was revoked by
the US and "we should now look for‑
ward and we should see how we can
resolve some of these issues,"
according to Foreign Secretary
Vijay Gokhale.

Gangwal 'limited his SBI MD appointed as MD,

financial risks' in IndiGo
New Delhi: InterGlobe
Enterprises (IGE), a pro‑
CFO of World Bank Group
moter of IndiGo, said that Washington/New Delhi: State Bank of India's Managing
Rakesh Gangwal has Director Anshula Kant has been appointed as Managing
always limited his finan‑ Director and Chief Financial Of ficer of the World Bank
cial risk in the airline and Group. The appointment was announced by World Bank
also alleged that he Group President David Malpass on Friday. Kant is currently
pushed for selling the a Managing Director of SBI where she previously also
business at dif ficult served as Chief Financial Officer.
times. "Anshula brings more than 35 years of expertise in
In a bid to counter co‑ Rakesh Gangwal, along with his affiliates, finance, banking, and innovative use of technology through
promoter Gangwal's hold 37 per cent stake in IndiGo while the her work as CFO of the State Bank of India," Malpass said
recent allegations of "col‑ other co‑promoter Rahul Bhatia has in a statement. "She's excelled at a diverse array of leader‑
38 per cent equity stake. ship challenges including risk, treasury, funding, regulatory
lapsing" corporate gover‑
nance in the company, IGE, for acquisition of aircraft was compliance and operations."
which is owned by Rahul Bhatia, underway and Airbus wanted According to the statement, as Managing Director and
has so far issued three state‑ both IGE and Gangwal to give a Chief Financial Officer, Kant will be responsible for finan‑
ments in the past week. joint undertaking of support to cial and risk management of the World Bank Group, report‑
"Rahul Bhatia invited Gangwal, IndiGo, IGE and Gangwal under‑ ing to the President.
an industry professional, to join took to invest in IndiGo an "Among other key management duties, her work will
as an investor as the two had amount of "not less than" $50 include oversight of financial reporting, risk management,
known each other for a long million (which then converted to and working closely with the World Bank CEO on mobiliza‑
time. The understanding with about Rs 200 crore). They fur‑ tion of IDA and other financial resources," the statement
Gangwal was that the IGE Group ther undertook to maintain that said. As CFO of SBI, Kant managed $38 billion of revenues State Bank of India's
and total assets of $500 billion. Managing Director Anshula Kant.
and Gangwal would hold just investment until the delivery of
about equal equity. Gangwal the last aircraft, the statement
wanted to limit his financial risk said.
to no more than Rs 15 crore," The dif ferences had earlier
IGE said in a statement issued been presumed to be minor by
on Sunday. many industry experts, but it
Allahabad Bank defrauded
of Rs 1,775 crore
"The IGE Group would have now transpires that it has snow‑
invested more equity, but given balled into a full‑blown war.
that Gangwal did not have the Airline co‑promoter and for‑
appetite to invest more, IndiGo's mer US Airways Chief Executive
paid up equity capital was and Chairman Rakesh Gangwal, Mumbai: After Punjab National B a n k ' s b o r r o w e r, n a m e l y consortium lender banks. At
pegged at Rs 30 crore, the mini‑ who has so far remained behind Bank, Allahabad Bank said that Bhushan Power & Stee l Ltd present, the case is at the NCLT
mum required by regulations. the scenes, has gone on record i t h a s b ee n d e f r a u d ed b y (BPSL), a fraud of Rs 1,774.82 which is in advance stage and
Rakesh Gangwal Group (the RG to lodge his grievances against Bhushan Power & Stee l Ltd crore has been reported by the the Bank expects good recov‑
Group) ‑‑ described as investor various issues pertaining to ( B P S L ) t o t h e t u n e of R s Bank to the Reserve Bank of ery in the account," the bank
in the shareholders agreement ‑‑ IndiGo. So much so that he has 1,774.82 crore. India". added. T he Allahabad Bank
acquired from IGE 149,950 sought regulatory intervention The bank said in a regulatory The state‑run bank said that fraud has come to light within
equity shares (which represent‑ from market regulator Sebi to f i l i n g t h a t " o n t h e b a s i s of it has already made provisions a week of another public sector
ed about 50 per cent of the resolve the issues. forensic audit investigation amounting to Rs 900.20 crore bank reporting that it has been
equity) at par value in May Gangwal, along with his affili‑ findings and CBI filing FIR, on against the exposure in BPSL. cheated by Bhushan Power.
2016," the statement said. ates, hold 37 per cent stake in suo moto basis, against the "It has been observed that the Last week, Punjab Nation Bank
It further said that during the IndiGo while the other co‑pro‑ Company and its Directors, company has misappropriated reported another fraud worth
initial phase of IndiGo in 2005 moter Rahul Bhatia has 38 per alleg ing diversion of funds bank funds, manipulated books Rs 3,805.15 crore by Bhushan
when conversation with Airbus cent equity stake. from banking system by the of accounts to raise funds from Power & Steel Ltd to the RBI.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
England win maiden World Cup after dramatic Super Over
London: It took them 44 years,
but England have finally done it.
Neither a tied game, nor a spirited
New Zealand could stop England
from bringing the trophy home at
the Lord's on Sunday. It finally
took a Super Over for England to
be crowned winners of the 2019
World Cup.
Eoin Morgan's boys are the new
world champions in the 50‑over
format of the gentleman's game
and the crown couldn't have
come at a better place than the
historic Lord's, the home of crick‑
et. Ben Stokes will go down in his‑
tory as one of England's best all‑
rounders. After all, he managed
what even the great Ian Botham
failed to achieve in Australia in
1992.
England's Mark Wood being
run out of f the last‑ball of the
innings saw the game end in a tie
and a Super Over followed. The
first‑ever Super Over in a World
Cup final saw England score 15
runs before the Kiwis also ended
Luck versus Fate in 2019 World Cup
By Shivaji Sengupta
A
s I write this column, the
2019 Cricket World Cup has
just ended. In an amazingly
tense final, England won the coveted
Cup without beating New Zealand.
The scores were tied after the 50
overs; a "super over" was also tied.
Then the rules of One Day cricket
kicked in, declaring England winners
on the basis of the boundaries hit in
the final by each team including in
the "super over." New Zealand lost
the Cup without losing in the final.
Not surprisingly, their captain,
Kane Williamson was devastated as
were the rest of the team. Luck sim‑
ply wasn't with them. T he tied
match(es) were not the only pieces of
bad luck. In the 49th over, Ben
Stokes, the superlative English all‑
rounder, was caught in the boundary
line, only for the fielder who took the
catch to be judged, a la the
Bollywood film, "Lagaan," having
crossed the boundary line.
Then, in the very next over, the
50th, Martin Guptill's attempt to run
Ben Stokes out, went awry with the
ball hitting Stokes's bat, and speeded
away for four. Having already scored
two runs, Stokes was awarded 6!
New Zealand were unlucky to the
bone!
But then again, maybe not!
What about the semifinal in which
it can be argued that they won
against India only because rain inter‑
vened, pushing the game to be com‑
pleted the next day, presenting India
with a pitch to bat on, nicely spiced
up after the rain? India made heavy
weather of their innings, recovered
amazingly through a stand of over
on 15, but the hosts won due to
more boundaries scored in the
game. Cometh the hour, cometh
the men. First it was Jos Buttler
who rose to the occasion by hit‑
ting a swashbuckling 60‑ball 59
and then all‑rounder Ben Stokes
(84* of f 98 balls) took of f from
where he left to help England win
their maiden World Cup title.
Their 110‑run partnership was
the backbone of a well‑earned
win for the Three Lions.
Chasing New Zealand's score of
241/8, the hosts returned home
victorious in front of the jam‑
packed crowd that would have
sore throats walking into of fice
on Monday.
Sadly for New Zealand, it was
another case of finishing runners‑
up after their loss to Australia in
the 2015 World Cup final. But
this time they competed well and
it was a game that had the fans
on their toes t ill Buttler and
Stokes took the game away with
their calculated power hitting.
The dejected New Zealand
players at the presentation
ceremony at Lord's cricket
ground. (Photo: Surjeet Yadav/IANS)
hundred between Dhoni and Jadeja
only for Dhoni to be run out by an
almost impossible direct hit from a
huge distance by Guptill. Yes, the
same Guptill whose throw from the
boundary hit Stokes' bat and ran
away for four!
Luck? Did anybody say luck?
One may argue that luck is a
perennial element in sport. We
should not complain about it. But
that's not what I am thinking.
I am thinking about, not luck but
fate. The two are not the same. Luck
happens, regardless of those it
affects. Neither the English players,
nor the Kiwis had anything to do
with the catches disallowed, or the
overthrow going for six runs. But
fate is the result of machinations put
into action by human beings with
certain intentions, the consequences
of which they are not able to control.
Shakespeare's tragedies are a good
example. Macbeth kills his king,
Duncan, because he wants to be the
king in his place, but all kinds of
things go wrong as consequences
upon which Macbeth has no control,
and and they end up killing Macbeth
SPORTS July 20-26, 2019 23
England team with the World Cup trophy at Lord's
cricket ground in London. (Photo: Surjeet Yadav/IANS)
Djokovic beats
himself. Fate. He tried to engineer
some conditions which, he thought,
Federer in thriller,
would favor him, but the unforeseen
consequences called Fate intervened
to bring about his end. So fate is luck
wins Wimbledon
engineered by human beings them‑
selves; where is luck is purely neu‑
tral.
I submit that India and New
Zealand have both succumbed to
fate, ie, from the consequences of the
actions of the ICC, which tried to
"diecast" the tournament in such a
way that would fetch the maximum
amount of revenue. They WANTED
England, India, Australia and New
Zealand to be in the semifinals.
Anything else would have hurt their
pockets. In a particularly astute
piece written by the famous
Australian cricket captain, Ian
Chappel of the 1970s, he said:
"money buys happiness." These four
countries have the wealthiest cricket
control boards (with India leading
the pack), and the rules they make
suit themselves the most, financially.
Reducing the 2019 World Cup to ten
teams instead of the fourteen that
Novak Djokovic with the Wimbledon trophy.
participated last time around, giving
the "big four" nine games to prove
London: Novak Djokovic claimed Djokovic has won all of them, in
their superiority (remember 2007?
his fifth Wimbledon men's singles 2014, 2015 and 2019.
Bangladesh knocked India out of the
title here on Sunday, beating Djokovic won the first set via
tournament, and Ireland did the
Swiss veteran Roger Federer 7‑6 tie‑break but Federer raced to vic‑
same to Pakistan in a preliminary 3‑
(5), 1‑6, 7‑6 (4), 4‑6, 13‑12 (3) in tory in the second. The Serb won
match qualifier) go to ensure that the
the final. It is the 16th Grand Slam all three tie‑breaks in the match,
"top four" would compete in the
title for the 32‑year‑old Djokovic, including the last one which was
semifinals. Never mind that teams
who is ranked no.1 on the ATP the first ever tie‑break in singles
like Ireland and Zimbabwe were left
rankings. World No. 3 Federer has history at Wimbledon.
out. They are not box office.
won 21 Grand Slams and was Earlier, seventh seed Simona
Well, the ICC super powers had
chasing a ninth title at Halep crushed eight‑time winner
their way. New Zealand and Indian
Wimbledon. The final was the Serena Williams in straight sets to
cricket control boards played their
pair's third meeting in the title win her maiden Wimbledon title
parts in maximizing their chances to
match at the All England Club. here.
advance to the semis.
 24 July 20-26, 2019 FEATURES TheSouthAsianTimes.info

By Vishnu Makhijani

O
ne is a veteran diplomat‑
turned‑politician ‑ and by
no means writer to boot.
T he other is an award‑winning
author and human rights activist.
Itʼs extremely rare to simultaneously
be presented with two new works by
Pavan K. Varma and Arundhati Roy
and thus one approached the former
with confidence and the latter with,
well, trepidation.
To explain this, one must back‑
track some four decades when I
reported largely on sports for UNI.
The IOA briefings were a sheer
pleasure, conducted by the no‑non‑
sense Air Vice Marshal (retd)
Chaman Lal Mehta. He invariably
spoke extempore, structuring the
briefing in a manner one would
write a news story. He would not be
interrupted and nor would he take
questions ‑ so comprehensive were
his briefings.
Varmaʼs new book, "Chanakya's
View ‑ Understanding India In
Transition" (Westland) is precisely
like that. Like in the case of AVM
Mehta, one can actually imagine the
wheels turning in Varma's head as
he wrote these 79 articles over a
period of six years. Every one of
them is precise and well‑reasoned ‑
which is what made Varma the
respected diplomat and commenta‑
tor that he is.
Roy's book, "My Seditious Heart ‑
Collected Non‑Fiction" (Penguin‑
Hamish Hamilton), is a collection of
46 essays that span the two‑decade
period from her Booker Prize win‑
ning "The God of Small Things" to
"T he Ministry of Utmost
Unhappiness" ‑ but essentially for
lost causes like the Narmada Bachao
Andolan.
Before I proceed further, let me
state unambiguously and proudly
that I am a Sikh by religion and
absolutely apolitical so let it not be
Pavan Varma, Arundhati Roy, a
fascinating study in contrasts
said that I speak for or against the
two principal parties at the opposite
ends of the political spectrum.
"It is my hope," says Varma, "that
this book will ignite discussion and
deliberation in a bipartisan spirit,
keeping the overall good of our
motherland in mind for the interests
of the nation must come first and
last. If it succeeds in promoting
vimarsha and charcha ‑ reflection
and debate ‑ then I would be amply
rewarded. If Chanakya were alive
today, he would, I am sure, have wel‑
comed this reflection and debate
too". Roy will have none of that. Her
essays were "never meant as neutral
commentary, pretending to be
observations of a bystander... They
were written when a certain political
space closed down, when a false
consensus was being broadcast,
The book by Pavan Varma, a diplomat‑turned‑politician,
and by Arundhati Roy, an author and human rights activist,
came out together.
when I could no longer endure the
relentless propaganda and the sheer
vicious bullying of vulnerable peo‑
ple by an increasingly corporatized
media and its increasingly privatized
commentators".
Varma's take?
"I strongly believe that India is
nowhere close to becoming a Fascist
State," he wrote in an article which
first appeared in November 2015
but which is still relevant by virtue
of being included in the book. "But
still, it is important to learn the right
lessons from history. Undoubtedly, a
democracy should have ef fective
economic governance, but it should
also allow the freedom to dissent
and debate. The equation is not
either‑or. To critique the ruling
party or to disagree with its policies
cannot be construed, in a democra‑
cy, as an anti‑national act. Nor
should a subversive and mala fide
motivation be ascribed to every act
of disagreement. Unfortunately, this
is precise ly what is happening
today...This is, to say the least, both
undemocratic and rather silly."
Let me explain this in another
way. There are two ways of writing a
news story. The first is, "Hey, boss,
this is what I have learnt and I want
to pass on this knowledge to you".
The other is, "Listen, this what I
know and thus, this is what you
should know".
In Roy's scheme of things, "the
nuclear bomb is the most anti‑demo‑
cratic, anti‑national, anti‑human,
outright thing that man has ever
made" and that almost 20 years
after the 1998 nuclear tests, "in
February 2019, after a suicide bomb
attack in Kashmir, India and
Pakistan became the first two
nuclear powers in history to bomb
one another".
Isn't that stretching semantics
quite a bit?
"T his time, post‑Pulwama, we
showed the national resolve, in self‑
defence, to move from credible
deterrence to ‑ what is called in mili‑
tary terms ‑ compellance, demon‑
strating to the enemy nation that
when provoked beyond a point, we
were willing to retaliate by entering
its territory and taking out its terror‑
ist bases. It seems almost certain
that Pakistan was taken by sur‑
prise...This, indeed is the principle
takeaway of Balakot," Varma main‑
tains. There is much more, enough
to fill a book of its own, but the bot‑
tom line is, one wonders if Roy is
part of the "Lutyen''s Elite", a term
often referred to in the past one
year.
"...India is changing. The Lutyen's
elite is the only segment that has
not internalized this sufficiently, or
understood that their claim to
effortless social standing, access to
the best educational institutions and
the best jobs is under challenge...
T hey define modernity only in
Western terms; they consider any
talk of the refinements of ancient
India somehow ''unsecular''...
Frankly they are marooned in a
shrinking island, and if they don't
change, they will soon become irrel‑
evant," Varma writes, without point‑
ing a finger at anyone.
Trepidation, did I say? Well, that's
one of the hazards of the profession.

Apollo 11 mission to be projected After art, meteorites on

onto Washington Monument
T A
o mark 50 years of the first lunar
landing, a 363‑feet Saturn V rocket
that took man to the moon, will be
projected on the east face of the
Washington Monument in Washington
from July 16‑20. Towards the end, the
massive projection will be accompanied by
a special 17‑minute show, 'Apollo 50: Go
for the Moon', that recreates the launch of
Apollo 11.
The show combines full‑motion projec‑
t ion mapping artwork and archival
footage to tell the story of the first Moon
landing. It will unfold on the face of the
Washington Monument and supporting
screens, including a 40‑feet wide recre‑
ation of the famous Kennedy Space Centre
countdown clock.
The Apollo 11, which launched on July
16, 1969, with three astronauts ‑‑ Neil
Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin and Michael
Collins ‑‑ touched down on the moon's sur‑
face on July 20. Exactly 50 years on, it is
The Apollo 11 with American astronauts
touched down on the moon's surface on
July 20, 1969. The crew were (from left):
Neil A. Armstrong, commander; Michael
Collins, command module pilot; and
Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., lunar module pilot.
being marked as a historic day worldwide.
This free‑to‑attend presentation is by the
National Air and Space Museum, the US
Department of the Interior and 59
Productions. It is directed by Richard
Slaney, with music by Emmy Award‑win‑
ning composer Jeff Beal.
auction at Christie's
small collection of meteorites and rock
samples from several extraterrestrial
bodies is currently open for online bid‑
ding at Christie's auction house. The 'The
Moon and Beyond:
Meteorites from the
Stifler Collection'
online auction is
offering these objects
from a private collec‑
tion, the majority of
which aew being
donated to the US‑
based Maine Mineral
and Gem Museum. The sale highlights were
one among the many Gibeon Meteorites that
landed on Earth thousands of years ago when
a wandering iron mass slammed exploded and
rained down in the Kalahari Desert in Namibia,
Christie's said.
The "C"‑shaped gunmetal‑hued meteorite is
estimated to sell between $250,000‑350,000.
The auction has some lunar meteorites on sale.
"Most of the craters on the Moon are the result
of asteroid impacts and some of these impacts
are sufficiently powerful to eject Moon rocks
off the lunar surface into space, some of which
land on Earth." A 'Massive Triangular
Specimen of the
Moon' (estimated
between $100,000‑
130,000, as well as a
'Rare Lunar Sphere'
(estimated between
$35,000‑55,000) are
on sale as well. The
former is a triangular‑
ly‑shaped end piece
that reveals both interior and exterior of Moon
rock. "Less than 600 kg of lunar meteorites,
like this one, are known to exist. This lunar
meteorite originated from a large meteorite
shower straddling Mauritania and Algerian
borders, which is the shower responsible for
nearly half of the lunar meteorites that exist
upon the Earth today," Christie's said. Rare
meteorites that originated from Mars are also
being auctioned.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Making India the holiest pilgrimage
place for all humanity
Acceptance Speech by Navin Doshi on receiving the Doctorate
of Peace award at Maharishi University of Management
D
octorate of Peace. What a
hugely prestigious honor
from an institution run by
saintly organizers; saintly because
you have chosen to live a much
simpler life for a cause that helps
humanity towards a peaceful and
blissful mind, a mind with an
ocean of love and feelings of one‑
ness. I am sure that Gurudev
(Swami Brahmananda Saraswati,
former Jyotirmath
Shankaracharya and guru of
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi) up there
is smiling with great satisfaction,
blessing you with brilliantly radi‑
ant and effulgent light. Your
actions educating humanity about
the ancient heritage of
Upanishads and Vedas will bear
fruit, ultimately resulting in an
explosive awareness of oneness of
all life souls similar to that of
undistinguishable, massless, and
formless photons. The process
will be similar to an avalanche
created by few snowflakes to
begin with, where you represent
those few early snowflakes.
I believe you will make India a
holiest pilgrimage place for all
humanity of every tradition. That
is what, I believe, Steve Jobs
(Apple founder) and other suc‑
cessful entrepreneurs advised to
those who were listening. French
philosopher Voltaire had recom‑
mended to acknowledge the roots
of human civilization in India, but
the colonial mindset denied it.
The word, “peace” has a very
broad meaning. External to our‑
selves, it implies the absence of
hostility and violence, not just
physical but also verbal. I had
learnt about it during my younger
years in India during Mahatma
Gandhiʼs Satyagraha movement,
the movement of resistance using
the force of truth and non‑vio‑
lence. I had an opportunity to
walk with Gandhiji along with
about 20 people, including my
family members, in 1946, when I
was ten years old. Peaceful co‑
existence among men and nations
bears fruits of material growth
leading to the growth of creativity
in every human endeavor. The
first Nobel Peace Prize was given
to Henry Dunant, the founder of
the Red Cross. It acknowledged
the attribute of compassion which
he felt and expressed for the
wounded soldiers.
Compassion reminds me of a
Navin Doshi, accompanied by wife Pratima Doshi, receiving the
Doctorate of Peace award last month from John Hagelin, President
of Maharshi University of Management, in Fairfield, Iowa.
mythic story in Vedic literature.
The human species is distin‑
guished through its mind or the
psychological self, the second
layer of the total human self; the
first layer is the somatic self, also
considered the materially perish‑
able garment of the soul. The god
of creation, Brahma, not only cre‑
ated humans, but also demons
and angels. The rules of the Godʼs
game were simple. Ruthless self‑
centered demons could transform
to humans by cultivating compas‑
sion or daya. Humans could trans‑
form to angels by becoming chari‑
table (dana). Obviously the receiv‑
er of dana, who is so desperate to
receive help, would believe the
giver must be an angel.
And having control over all fac‑
ulties (daman) through introspec‑
tion including meditation, even
the angels become capable of
transcending to the highest state
of being, within the realm of divin‑
ity. These three categories ‑‑ daya,
dana, and daman ‑‑ maintain the
separation of the three categories
of life in nature from the divine
creator.
The laws of nature discovered
by humans, like Darwinʼs theory
of evolution, are designed laws, or
rules of the game we are sup‑
posed to play. The interaction of
these rules produces unpre‑
dictable results, introducing the
concept of probability. Vedic liter‑
ature reveals the dynamics of
nature as Godʼs lila, or play. There
is so much to learn from Vedic lit‑
erature. In a society, at a given
time and place, there are people
confined to the somatic realm,
and to the realm of psychology.
There are sub‑layers within these
INDOLOGY
two layers both individually and
in a society. These groups need to
coexist like a patchwork. The
image of a forced bowl of soup
offered as an image of a perfect
society is unnatural and unrealis‑
tic. Mixing of the two will lead to
disharmony, contempt, hatred,
and violence. A due process of
sub‑ration and evolution needs to
be followed for transcendence at
every level of human existence for
the ultimate goal of a peaceful
and blissful mind.
Many of us can relate to the
story of Swami Vivekananda. He
described himself thus: First he
was like a stone, inert and inac‑
tive. Then he was a mischief‑
maker harassing people. The
unconditioned mind of a youth
could lean towards devilishness or
idealism. He was fortunate that he
was influenced by Sri
Ramakrishna Paramahansaʼs
Vedic wisdom. I was fortunate
that I was educated during the
period of Gandhiʼs idealism. In
fact we are all fortunate that we
are influenced by the Vedic wis‑
dom of Gurudev.
Finding psychological truth is
the perpetual process of harmo‑
nizing intellectual and intuitive
truths. The light of philosophy is
brighter than the light of psychol‑
ogy; but the brighter the light, the
greater the need of humility. The
philosophic self is not the realm of
the spiritual self of permanence; it
is evolving and rising towards the
spiritual self. The subject‑object
relationship is natural and
ingrained in the somatic realm.
However, the process of transcen‑
dence helps to comprehend
becoming, through the removal of
Navin Doshi, Exemplary
Philanthropist
N
avin Doshi grew up in
Mumbai and came to the
US in 1958 where he
went on to do his masterʼs
degree in electrical engineering
at the University of Michigan,
Ann Arbor. Subsequently, he
worked as an aerospace engi‑
neer at TRW (now Northrop),
where he was the recipient of
NASA awards and US patents.
He also had success in his busi‑
ness ventures. Navin has since
been an active philanthropist,
promoting value education and
world peace and supporting
fund raising activities and offer‑
ing consultancy for numerous
projects relating to Indic tradi‑
tions and world culture. In 1999,
Navin and his wife Pratima
endowed the Chair of Indian
History at UCLA.
Doshisʼ philanthropy work has
brought them laurels. In 2001,
he received the Hindu Vibhusan
Award from Pravasi Bharati. In
2008, at the LA Festival of
the subject‑object distinction.
Philosophical truth, a sublayer
of psychology that comes close to
the spiritual self, encompasses not
only science and mathematics but
also the fields of humanities,
including morality, rationality,
realism, and idealism. To be in the
realm of the philosophical self,
every human faculty has to be
functioning.
The philosophical self is fully
developed when every human fac‑
ulty, in harmony, is integrated, in
balance with, and complementing
its opposite. That is when the
total human self could be consid‑
ered standing at the doorstep of
the spiritual domain. The problem
arises when one faculty domi‑
nates other faculties. For example,
scientific imperialism arises when
materialistic scientists, proponent
of bottom up causation, believe
that science is capable of answer‑
ing all questions of human inter‑
est. Excessive faith in intellect and
none in other faculties such as
intuition, devotion, and love, is the
major cause of current social
problems.
So I accept this honor with
July 20-26, 2019 25
Sacred Music, he was honored as
Local Heroes. Navin and Pratima
were also honored by the
California Institute of Integral
Studies in 2012. In 2016 they
received the South Asia Studies
Associationʼs Exemplar award
for philanthropy.
Navin Doshi is author of books
such as including
Transcendence, Saving us from
Ourselves, Economics and
Nature, and Light with No
Shadow, a memoir.
He lives in Los Angeles.
humility and gratitude. I have
gone through my life, which has
included going through and over‑
coming events that created men‑
tal anguish and distress. I recall
one such event in late 1960s
when I was studying for my PhD
at UCLA. To me nirvana was to
teach at some university after
receiving the degree. However,
they failed me in the oral exam. In
fact they failed all the six stu‑
dents, since there were a dime a
dozen aerospace PhDs looking for
employment at the time.
I left the PhD program and pro‑
tected my employment to insure
food and shelter for my family of
four. Five years later, the other
five students were still working on
their thesis. Thirty years later,
when we endowed a Chair in India
Studies at UCLA, one of the pro‑
fessors of the PhD committee
remarked in jest that he was glad
that UCLA failed me, otherwise
there would not have been an
India Studies Chair. I believe some
mysterious hand directs human
life. Apparently the same hand is
helping to fulfill my earlier desire
of receiving a doctorate degree.
 26 July 20-26, 2019
Paris may offer 'Actors want to challenge themselves
flying taxis to 2024 with fitness goals': Namrata Purohit
B
Olympic guests
P
aris is planning to have
flying taxis by the year
2024, right in time for
the Olympic Games. The feasi‑
bility of the project is being
studied by an aircraft producer
Airbus along with French trans‑
port operator RATP Group. The
two firms are trying to explore
the possibility of ʻvertical take‑
of f and landing (VTOL) vehi‑
clesʼ and are hoping to intro‑
duce air taxis to the French cap‑
ital by 2024.
In partnership with Groupe
ADP, the entire Paris Ile‑de‑
France region and the French
civil aviation authority (DGAC),
will check the feasibility and
traf fic management. They will
also go through urban integra‑
tion, maintenance, and design
and production before starting
the project.
At present, visitors at the
Charles de Gaulle International
Airport in Paris need to take a
taxi to reach the city center.
There is also a train that takes
How jumping rope can help
you in losing weight
A
s a child, most of us have
skipped ropes. But have
you ever tried it to lose
weight? Turns out, jumping rope is
an excellent form of cardio exer‑
cise and all the world‑class ath‑
letes swear by it. It is great to tone
your calves, tighten your core,
improve your lung capacity and
build stamina. It is a full‑body
workout and quite ef fective to
burn many calories in a short time.
For an average‑sized person, jump‑
ing rope might help to burn more
than 10 calories a minute. But you
cannot just randomly start doing it
assuming that you will attain a
good body shape. One must follow
some guidelines in order to gain
maximum benefits.
First of all, the number of calo‑
ries you will burn by jumping rope
depends on how much you weigh
when you start. If you weigh more,
then it will require more energy to
work against gravity to move your
body. And by doing so, you will
burn more calories while working
out.
However, there are several other
factors like age and metabolism,
which can have a major role to
play.
Like every other thing, even this
form of exercise takes its own time
to show results. So donʼt expect
dramatic results.
Secondly, jumping rope alone is
about 35 minutes and/or buses
that take between 45 and 90
minutes.
Itʼs a project worth $11.4 mil‑
lion. The RATP Group wants to
make sure that "the fly ing
autonomous vehicle is accessi‑
ble to the greatest number of
people."
T he airport manager has
given a timeline, which is by the
end of the year, to select a suit‑
able site to develop a ʻvertiportʼ
(a facility for hosting air taxis).
As per the ADP Execut ive
Director General Edward
Arkwright, the authorities are
aiming at completing the venue
within 18 months.
However, they would need
$11.4 million for infrastructure
investment.
It is to be noticed here that
there isn't just one firm that
plans to launch air taxis in
Paris, but other companies as
well, hinting that the competi‑
tion is going to be tough.
(Source: Times Travel)
not enough to tone your body. You
need to have a healthy and bal‑
anced diet to cut down unwanted
fat from the body.
Jumping rope does not only help
in weight loss but can have numer‑
ous health benefits.
Improves heart health: Jumping
rope e levates your heart rate.
Following this workout every day
will make your heart stronger and
will decrease the risk of stroke and
heart disease.
Decrease belly fat: HIIT exercise
like jump rope is effective in losing
belly fat without dieting. It also
tightens and sculpts your abs.
Improve balance: Practicing this
workout consistently will improve
your balance and coordination.
LIFESTYLE
ollywood actresses, includ‑
ing Kareena Kapoor Khan,
Sara Ali Khan and Sonakshi
Sinha, want to push themselves
beyond good looks, says celebrity
trainer Namrata Purohit.
Purohit, who has a long list of
celebrity clients like Kareena, Sara,
Janhvi Kapoor, Sonakshi and
Malaika Arora, said that actors have
started looking at fitness
holistically. "All of them (actors) are
extremely dedicated. All of them
look at fitness as a whole. They
want to be strong. They want to
challenge themselves further," says
Purohit. "They don't want to limit
themselves that ʻI am looking good
but that's it.' They want to push
themselves beyond that... And it is
extremely aspirational to see how
they push themselves, even after
hectic work schedule... They still try
to make it to work out (sessions) for
a healthy life," added the fitness
#Gogreen: Essential tips for vegan beginners
F
ollowing a vegan diet is gain‑
ing popularity all over the
country as people have now
decided to follow it for ethical rea‑
sons. Begin today, but keep patience
as the transition will take some time
and find tasty substitutes, say
experts Nitin Dixit and Mohit Yadav
Co‑founders of Greenr Cafe and
Surruchi Joshhi, Founder of Nut
Bowls Café have shared essentials
tips to keep in mind for vegan
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Namrata Purohitʼs long list of celebrity clients includes Kareena
Kapoor, Sara Ali Khan, Janhvi Kapoor, Sonakshi and Malaika Arora.
expert, who associated with AXN's
property "Next Top Model" for the
campaign ʻYou Have it in You'.
Purohit feels the definition of fit‑
ness has changed over the years.
"People now look at fitness not just
about the way you look but also
about the way you feel... People
now associate fitness with strength,
balance and stability. "Before, it was
only about the way you look.
beginners.
4Begin today, but keep patience;
it will not happen overnight. This
transition will take some time.
4But being vegan doesn't mean
abandoning your taste buds. With a
little help from the internet, local
resources, and other vegans, you
can find tasty substitutes for all
your old favorites.
4Going vegan is a lifestyle, not
just about eating plant‑based foods.
Usually, people would call someone
who is skinny as fit. T hat has
changed. People have understood
skinny is skinny and fit is fit."
Purohit believes fitness and a
good diet go hand‑in‑hand. "Both
are extremely important to live a
healthy life. Food and fitness are
important in all aspects. Exercise
releases toxins which makes you
feel good," she said.
Laxman Jhula closes down
temporarily after 90 years:
Rishikeshʼs iconic Laxman
Jhula, a 450‑foot‑long iron sus‑
pension bridge constructed
over the river Ganga, has been
finally closed down temporari‑
ly after 90 years on Friday, July
12. The bridge connects the vil‑
lages of Tapovan in Tehri
Garhwal district, on the west
bank of the river, to Jonk in
Pauri Garhwal district, on the
east bank. Open for both
pedestrians and motorbikes,
Laxman Jhula is a British‑era
bridge that was built in 1923.
You will find that you can support
yourself with personal care prod‑
ucts and clothes and homes which
are a lot more conducive for your
health because they are natural and
cruelty‑free.
4Keep your vitamins and miner‑
als in check. Eat more plant‑based
food, more vegetables and fruits,
whole foods and grains. Focus on
iron, calcium, omegas and vitamin D
and vitamin B12.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info SCITECH July 20-26, 2019 27

Trumpʼs hostile view of Bitcoin Elon Musk's Neuralink to reveal

and crypto could chill industry
P N
resident Donald Trump has weighed
in on the cryptocurrency debate, say‑
ing in a series of tweets last Friday
that he's not a fan of Bitcoin or blockchain‑
based digital money in general because it's
highly volatile and "based on thin air."
"Unregulated Crypto Assets can facilitate
unlawful behavior, including drug trade and
other illegal activity," Trump tweeted.
The President's tweets on fly in the face of
comments made just one day earlier by
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who
acknowledged that while Bitcoin may be far
from mass adoption it is "a speculative store
of value, like gold."
Powell's remarks came during testimony to
the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday
about Facebook's recently announced Libra
cryptocurrency project.
Among several tweets, Trump took direct
aim at Facebook, which after months of spec‑
ulation unveiled plans to launch its own fiat‑
backed cryptocurrency and digital wallet
where the currency can be stored.
The President's comments could also spark
debate among Democratic presidential candi‑
dates over the country's regulatory approach
toward cryptocurrencies and the underpin‑
ning technology – blockchain, an electronic
distributed ledger.
Worldwide, blockchain‑derived business
value is forecast to grow from $9 billion this
year to $50 billion in 2022, according to
Gartner. The greatest growth between now
and then is expected to take place in 2020,
when Facebook plans to launch its Libra coin
'Computer‑Brain Interface'
ot many people know
that Tesla Founder and
CEO Elon Musk owns a
startup called Neuralink that is
developing ultra‑high band‑
width brain‑machine interfaces,
existing only in sci‑fi movies at
the moment, to connect humans
and computers.
The least visible Elon Musk
company is set to reveal its
and Calibra digital wallet; that year alone will
progress in developing the tech‑
see a 128% annual increase in business value.
nology to connect computers to
Trump tweeted Facebook Libra's "virtual
human brains on July 16 during the bandwidth, the speed of the connec‑
currency" will have little standing or depend‑
an event in San Francisco that would tion between your brain and the digital
ability. "If Facebook and other companies
also be live‑streamed. "We're having an version of yourself, particularly output."
want to become a bank, they must seek a new
event next Tuesday in San Francisco to Musk believes that humans will have
Banking Charter and become subject to all
share a bit about what we've been work‑ to explore the cyborg‑like technology as
Banking Regulations, just like other Banks,
ing on the last two years, and we've Artificial Intelligence (AI) continues to
both National," Trump wrote. Those com‑
reserved a few seats for the Internet," grow.
ments came one day after he criticized both
Neuralink tweeted. He has also responded to fans on
Facebook and Twitter for what he called bias
Founded as a medical research compa‑ Twitter about his progress on a so‑called
against his supporters.
ny in 2016, Neuralink has hired several "neural lace", which is sci‑fi term for a
Like other cryptocurrencies backed by fiat
high‑profile neuroscientists from vari‑ brain‑computer interface.
currency, Facebook's digital money would be
ous universities. Recent reports claimed Neuralink has
purchased through a typical financial net‑
The company is focused on creating raised $39 million of a planned $51 mil‑
work and then stored in the Calibra digital
devices resembling tiny sewing lion funding round.
wallet application for making purchases via
machines that can be implanted in the Neuralink has previously teased a
ads on the social media platform. A user
human brain ‑ to improve memory or product that would connect human
could also do the same thing through
more direct interfacing with computing brains to computers via an implanted
Facebook's most popular communication
devices. chip.
platforms: WhatsApp and Messenger.
Musk back in 2017 had said: "Over In November last year, Musk told
Facebook did not respond to questions by
time I think we will probably see a clos‑ Axios that the technology would involve
Computerworld about whether the presi‑
er merger of biological intelligence and an "electrode‑to‑neuron interface at a
dent's comments would affect its plans to
digital intelligence. It is mostly about micro level".
issue a cryptocurrency.

IMMIGRATION

I
f an individual applies for a
green card through a relative
who is a Lawful Permanent
Humanitarian Reinstatement: If petitioner
Resident or US Citizen, but the
Petitioner passes away before the
application process is complete,
dies after petition approved
the individual may still receive 4 18 years old or older; and

VISA
If the humanitarian reinstate‑ different way of getting an immi‑
their green card, in some circum‑ 4 Be the beneficiaryʼs spouse, ment request is granted USCIS will grant visa or green card. But, it
stances. The principal beneficiary parent, mother‑in‑law, father‑ notify the beneficiary and send its also does not preclude the benefi‑

may request humanitarian rein‑
statement of a petition only if the
petition had already been
approved before the death of the
petitioner. Humanitarian reinstate‑
ment is a discretionary form of
relief which means the positive
factors for granting the petition
must be significant.
There is no form or fee required
when asking for humanitarian
reinstatement. The primary benefi‑
ciary must make a written request
with supporting evidence to the
USCIS office that had originally
approved the petition. If the bene‑
ficiary had already properly filed
an application for adjustment of
status with USCIS then the request
for reinstatement should be sent to
the USCIS office that has jurisdic‑
tion over the adjustment applica‑
tion. The request would normally
include the following documents
(but this is at a minimum):
4 The name of the primary bene‑
ficiary and the deceased peti‑
TALK
tionerʼs name;
4 The receipt number of the peti‑
tion;
4 Death certificate of the
deceased petitioner;
4 A substitute sponsor;
4 Proof of the substitute spon‑
sorʼs relationship to the benefi‑
ciary; and
4 Any evidence showing that a
favorable exercise of discretion
should be given to the benefici‑
ary.
If the beneficiary was required to
have Form I‑864 and the petition‑
er dies, the beneficiary must either
have a new Form I‑864 from a sub‑
stitute sponsor or Form I‑864W,
for an exemption. The substitute
sponsor must meet the following
requirements:
4 A U.S. citizen, national, or law‑
ful permanent resident;
in‑law, sibling, child, son,
daughter, son‑in‑law, daughter‑
in‑law, sister‑in‑law, brother‑in‑
law, grandparent, grandchild,
or legal guardian.
When deciding on whether or
not to grant request humanitarian
reinstatement USCIS considers
many factors such as:
4 If the beneficiary is elderly or
in poor health;
4 How long the beneficiary had
resided in the U.S.;
4 If the beneficiary has strong
ties to their home country;
4 The impact of revocation on
the family living in the U.S.,
especially on the family who
are U.S. citizens or lawful per‑
manent residents or other rela‑
tives lawfully living in the U.S.;
and
4 If the beneficiary had waited
an unusually long time for the
case to be processed and the
delay is because of the govern‑
ment.
decision to either the Department ciary from filing for reinstatement
of State or to the USCIS officer pro‑ again, if more equities are discov‑
cessing the beneficiaryʼs adjust‑ ered or if they have new legal
ment case, if they are outside the counsel who may have the ability
U.S. If the humanitarian reinstate‑ to present a stronger case than
ment request is not granted USCIS previously submitted.
will notify the beneficiary in writ‑ This is a great form of relief for
ing. USCISʼs decision cannot be people and families when they
appealed and therefore if denied have already suffered the loss of a
the beneficiary will need to find a loved one..
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.
28 July 20-26, 2019 HUMOR TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Humor with Melvin Durai

Help! We've got teens

in the house!
A
bout a decade ago, when my three
children were all under 5, taking
care of them seemed to be a con‑
stant challenge. We had to change dia‑
pers, survive countless tantrums,
and struggle at the dining table to
get them to eat anything healthful.
W hen we complained to
other parents, they
expressed their sympathy
w ith these soothing words:
next post, I'll take that as a 'yes.'" And
Malathi, of course, just kept hitting 'like"
on various posts and we didn't see our
daughter for the next month.
That's why Malathi has been
of f Facebook. And that's why
it's important to prepare for
the teen years – so you
don't get blindsided.
Teenagers are much
smarter than you think.

BEST "Wait until you get to the teen

years! That's when it really
W hile you're reading
books titled "Surviving the

RATE gets hard."

Well, the teen years are
Teen Years" and "How to
Give Your Teenagers a

FOR here and let me tell you, it

hasn't been that bad. I still
Great Foundation for Life,"
they're reading books such

INDIA have a few strands of hair on

my head.
as "Surviving the Parenting
Years" and "How to Give

AND It helps, of course, that I've

been preparing myself for the teen years
Your
Migraines for Life."
Parents Intense

PAKISTAN like a soldier prepares for war. I've been

keeping myself in shape – doing push‑ups
and sit‑ups – because of the advice I heard
from an Army general: "Never let the
New York Head Quarter enemy think you're weak." The enemy is
always looking for any kind of weakness
422‑S Broadway
that they can exploit.
HICKSVILLE For example, my 13‑year‑old daughter,
NY 11801 Divya, knows that the best time to ask my
wife, Malathi, for permission to do some‑
516‑827‑1010 thing is when Malathi is absorbed in
Facebook. So Divya just stood behind
Malathi one evening and said something
like this: "Mommy, I want to go to my
friend's house for a sleepover. I know
you're busy, so if you just hit 'like' on the
Aside from reading books, getting advice
from other parents is a good way to pre‑
pare for the teen years. Just make sure you
find parents who look like they've survived
something awful, such as an earthquake,
hurricane, or visit to the Embassy of India.
Avoid getting advice from parents who
look like they've just returned from a
cruise to Jamaica. Such parents probably
have teenagers who are extremely well‑
behaved and extremely responsible, the
type of kids whom other teens would
describe as "extremely abnormal."
My wife and I have two teenagers in our
household, Divya and her 15‑year‑old sis‑
ter, Lekha, and we are dreading the day
when our son, Rahul, turns into a teenager.
Thankfully, that's almost two years away,

Laughter is the Best Medicine but the thought of having three teens
under the same roof scares the living day‑
lights out of me. I've considered sending
one or two of them away to boarding
school, but it would be easier on my kids'
emotions and considerably less expensive
By if I just moved away.
Mahendra Perhaps I could do something far less
Shah stressful for a few years, such as becoming
a prison guard. At least the inmates will lis‑
Mahendra Shah ten when I tell them to turn the lights out
is an architect by and get in bed.
education, If I seem overly stressed about the teen
entrepreneur by years, just imagine how I'd feel if we were
profession, artist raising teenagers a few decades ago (like
and humorist, my mom did). A recently published study in
cartoonist and the journal "Child Development" shows
writer by hobby. that today's teenagers, compared to teens
He has been in previous generations, are less eager to
recording the turn into adults.
plight of the In other words, they're not growing up as
immigrant quickly as they used to.
Indians for the A 15‑year‑old today acts like a 12‑year‑
past many year old in 1980 (but still frowns when I play
in his cartoons. the Bee Gees).
Hailing from So I need to be thankful that Divya is
Gujarat, he lives more obsessed with her cellphone than
in Pittsburgh, with
Pennsylvania. boys, Lekha hasn't yet asked about driv‑
ing lessons, and both of them are still will‑
ing, now and then, to be seen in public with
me.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info ASTROLOGY July 20-26, 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

JULY 20‑26, 2019

Aries: Doing things you are comfort‑
able with will help you to stay calm
and composed whole week. An excel‑
lent opening will be seized in time. Your
desire to get close to the one you love will
require some planning. Those preparing
for a tough competition will be able to get
ample time and help. Those fond of travel
may find their wish coming true.
Taurus: You are likely to be reward‑
ed with an increment or promotion
for a project well handled. A utility
acquired recently will prove both a time
and money saver.
Those pursuing professional sports can
expect to excel in their field. You cannot
afford to ignore a minor ailment. Some of
you will find it difficult to pay back the
money on the credit card.
Gemini: A workable solution for a
professional problem will get you
the go ahead. You are likely to pip
your closest rival at the post to get a pro‑
motion. Visit to a monument or some other
sightseeing location is foreseen in the
coming week.
Some medicine may not agree with your
system and can get you down. Taking up a
past issue can get you on the wrong side of
spouse.
Cancer: Money donated for a good
cause will help you earn a lot of
goodwill. Support of family mem‑
bers will encourage you to undertake that
which you could only imagine previously.
Those in the scientific field can expect to
make a mark for themselves. A pleasant
surprise awaits those in long‑term rela‑
t ionships. T hose leading sedentary
lifestyles will find the will power to go in
for regular workouts.
Leo: A family get‑together or an out‑
ing with family and friends can
prove immensely exciting. Those
studying for competitions will find their
rhythm and will be able to concentrate
better. Adventurous types are certain to
experience an adrenalin rush in a thrilling
outdoor activity. Saying it with flowers or a
thoug htful g ift may brig hten up the
romantic front.
Virgo: Feeling paranoid about some‑
one you donʼt like may stress your
mind. A good nightʼs sleep will be dif‑
ficult to achieve because of tensed mind.
Although you gain popularity at the work‑
place, your habits can put of f spouse and
other family members on the domestic front.
A new vehicle or a major appliance will ele‑
vate you from the category of have‑nots.
Libra: A superiorʼs bad mood may
catch you unawares. Dilly‑dallying
over a matter can get things com‑
plicated. The problem with hiding the
truth is that it gets discovered sooner or
later. The best course for you will be to
come clean. An opportunity to impress
lover is just round the corner. An outdoor
sport or activity can cause problems, so
remain careful if indulging in it.
Scorpio: Good news is foretold for
those aspiring for a particular pro‑
fession. Your perfect planning will
enhance your success and you will be able
to achieve whatever you are determined to.
A matrimonial match for the eligible is
possible.
Good financial prospects are foreseen in
the coming week. A healthy bank balance
will allow you to buy a major item.
Sagittarius: A financial shock awaits
those who have invested impulsive‑
ly. Parents may seem impossible
and a slanging match with them is possi‑
ble. Impudence of a junior may make you
hit the ceiling. The plan for a fitness pro‑
gramme you had been thinking of taking
up may materialise this week. Students
may find their concentration wavering, but
they will get their focus back.
Capricorn: Driving to enjoy the
weather is very much on the cards
for some youngsters. Partnerʼs excel‑
lent mood is likely to put a smile on your
face and give you ideas! Avoiding impulse
buying is likely to save a substantial amount.
An alternate therapy is likely to give instant
relief. A job that was to be completed on pri‑
ority remains pending because of circum‑
stances beyond your control.
Aquarius: On the professional front
nothing will stop you from tri‑
umphing, as you stoop to conquer
all in the week ahead. Those trying to raise
loans from various sources will succeed.
Some businessmen are likely to take up a
franchise, which may become a turning
point in their search for prosperity. Those
newly in love are likely to experience the
joys of togetherness.
Pisces: A proposal of joint venture
looks promising, but needs to be
studied in detail. Those connected
with the media are likely to travel out of
town or abroad on an assignment. Steady
income from savings may come in handy
for childʼs tuitions. Those involved in buy‑
ing and selling are likely to bag a lucrative
deal. Your will power will make you adhere
to the fitness plan with positive results.

20 July, 2019 will not follow customs and tradi‑

Governed by the number 2, you
are also dominated by the planets
Moon and Mercury. Full of self
confidence and determination,
the year ahead of you, promises
to be a successful one, as far as
your professional career is con‑
cerned. Those of you in the media
or the teaching line can expect to
reach newer heights of excellence
in the coming year. Proximity, to
a water body will be of utmost
important to you. Getting a trans‑
fer to a city or town near and
water body, like a riverside or
seaside, will help you to gain
prosperity and happiness. You
will have a large circle of friends
and can expect to socialize and
have lots of fun, in the year ahead
of you. Some of you w ill be
attracted to the opposite sex, and
may even make a special friend.
Your concern for the oppressed
will make you do a lot of charity
work. The months of August and
January will be very significant.
21 July, 2019
You are governed by the num‑
ber 3 and by the planet Jupiter.
You are also dominated by the
planet Mercury. You are intellec‑
tual and ambitious by nature. In
the coming year, those of you in
the field of education and admin‑
istration can expect to reach
newer heights of excellence. You
will also spend a lot of time in
doing social service for the needy.
You will work selflessly for insti‑
tutes associated with the handi‑
capped. This will not only give
you ultimate satisfaction, but will
ANNUAL PREDICTIONS: FOR THOSE BORN IN THIS WEEK
also bring you fame and recogni‑
tion. A word of advice in the com‑
ing year – you tend to get worried
over trivial matters. Try to relax
and remain calm and gentle.
Getting restless over small mat‑
ters, will only add to your stress.
Most of you are likely to travel a
lot in the coming year. Visit to pil‑
grimages is not ruled out. You
will enjoy a hectic social life. The
months of July, September and
November would prove to be
highly significant.
22 July, 2019
Governed by the number 4, you
are also governed by the planet
Uranus, and dominated by the
planet Mercury. Your ambitious
nature, coupled with your good
luck, w ill take you to newer
heights of success, in the year
ahead of you. Money matters will
be of no worry to you. Financially
it is going to be a good year, for
most of you. You will overcome
obstacles in professional life, very
easily. You will not allow any triv‑
ial matters to upset you or come
in your way of success. Your
strong memory, will also be an
asset for you. You will be able to
impress your seniors with your
determination and a sharp memo‑
ry. You will be moving in an intel‑
lectual crowd, in the year ahead
of you. This will help you both in
your professional career, and also
allow you to enjoy a good social
life. T he months of July,
September and November will be
very eventful.
23 July, 2019
You are governed by the num‑
ber 5 and dominated by the plan‑
et Mercury. You are shrewd in
your day to day dealing in life.
Your sharp mind and shrewd atti‑
tude will bring success to you in
your business field, in the year
ahead of you. You will be able to
impress your clients with your
impressing personality and con‑
versations skills. Coupled with
your intelligent views and ideas,
you can expect to reach newer
heights of excellence, in whatever
new venture you undertake in the
coming year. But you will have to
keep a little control on expressing
your views. Sometimes you are in
a hurry to share your ideas and
thoughts, and this could lead to
your opponents taking away your
new ideas. Social life will be full
of fun and happiness, in the com‑
ing year.
You can expect to have many
friends around you. Philosophy
and religion will interest you.
T he months of May, June,
September and February would
be highly significant and produc‑
tive.
24 July, 2019
You are governed by the num‑
ber 6 and the planet Venus. You
are also dominated by the planet
Mercury. Art and beauty are a
part of your life. Any expression
of art fascinates you. You take it
to an extent of making it your
business as well Music, art, love
and fun – all these will surround
you in the year ahead of you.
Your personality w ill draw
friends towards you. Your confi‑
dence and communication skills
will lead you to the pivotal of suc‑
cess in your professional front.
Your positive outlook to life will
not only bring happiness to you
and your family, but it will also
make your friends around you,
happy in your company. You are
a faithful friend, and those in
need of help, look to you for
advice and solace.
The coming year, will be a good
one financially. You will earn a lot
of money, and will be able to
afford to buy the luxuries of life.
T he month of April, June,
October, February will be event‑
ful months.
25 July, 2019
You are dominated by the plan‑
et Neptune and governed by the
planet Mercury. You are also
dominated by the number 7. High
ideals and lofty ambitions, are
traits of your character. Your in
depth study of subjects and your
vast knowledge, will bring suc‑
cess to you in your professional
field, in the year ahead of you.
You are reserved by nature and
like to spend time alone. You
would rather read books, alone at
home, than socialize with friends.
Your shrewd nature will allow
you to success in business. You
tions, in the coming year. You like
to fly free, and that is just what
you are going to do – be free of
customs and orthodox views.
Your high ideals and enthusiasm
will be an inspiration for your
friends and relatives, around you.
But you will have to keep a check
on your skeptical nature. You
tend to become suspicious about
small matters. The months of
May, September, November and
January will be very significant.
26 July, 2019
You are governed by the num‑
ber 8 and the planet Saturn. You
are also dominated by the planet
Mercury.
You are ambitious by nature,
and w ill go to any length to
achieve what you desire. Your
methodical approach to your
work, coupled with your sense of
duty, w ill take you to newer
heights of excellence, in the year
ahead of you. The ability to study
and judge, both sides of an issue,
will be an added asset to you at
work. You will be full of energy
and new ideas, to successfully
implant new projects and plans,
in the year ahead of you. But you
tend to get a little dominating at
times. You are advised to control
this dominating trait in your
character. This leads to people
misjudging you on many issues.
You will not be able to tolerate
those who are not regular or
punctual in their approach to
work. The months of September,
November and February will be
very significant.
 30 July 20-26, 2019
By Sant Rajinder Singh
Ji Maharaj
M
any people live and die
without ever realizing the
full power and potential of
their soul. At some time in their life,
they may wonder about the soul,
about God, and about the purpose
of their existence. Many people pass
through life never realizing who
they are and never certain about
the purpose of their existence. In
times of trouble or in the face of
death, they may raise these ques‑
tions, but may not follow them
through to a fulfilling conclusion or
else may abandon the process when
the bad times pass. But those who
have a burning desire to find the
answers to the mysteries of life can
find them.
This search for meaning and pur‑
pose‑ the spiritual quest‑ is one that
people pursue in different ways.
By Sant Rajinder Singh
Ji Maharaj
M
editat ion is a simple
pro cess where we sit
st ill and concentrate
within to experience inner treas‑
ures. Two meditation techniques
we use in Sawan Kirpal Ruhani
Mission/ Science of Spirituality
are simple to do and can be prac‑
ticed 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
Meditat ion on the Lig ht and
Sound. This provides us an inner
connection to a source of happi‑
ness, peace, and bliss within us. It
is like having an internal retreat
that we can visit anytime we want
to recharge and refresh. The sec‑
ond is an introductory technique
called Jyoti Meditation, which
involves sitting quietly, focusing
our attention within, and experi‑
encing the peace and calm within
us. The common question I am
often asked is, “How can I keep
my attention in meditation with‑
out being distracted by
thoughts?” This is a typical prob‑
lem that people throughout the
world have while trying to medi‑
tate.
Why does this happen? Our
minds are active and restless and
SPIRITUAL AWARENESS
Empower your true self
Some seek answers in scripture
while others search in places of
worship. Some go beyond their own
religion to find answers offered in
other faith. Whichever method one
adopts, the direction one follows to
find answers to lifeʼs questions is
known as the spiritual path. It is the
spiritual path that leads to the real‑
ization of the inner self, to the soul.
There are two ways to view our‑
selves with regards to the soul. The
first is to view ourselves primarily
as a body and mind that “have a
soul.ʼ The second is to see ourselves
primarily as a soul who “ has or
wears a mind and body.” If we think
that we are a mind and body, then
ours is a journey to find the soul. If
we realize that we are the soul,
which has been given the mind and
body to maneuver through the
physical world, then our goal is to
further empower the soul. By
empowering the soul we recover its
natural control over the mind and
senses.
The mind, the senses, the body,
and the pulls of the physical world
have placed the soul in a state of
forgetfulness from which we must
awaken. Within us are the riches
greater than any we can ever accu‑
mulate on earth. We have inside us
a source of knowledge from which
MEDITATION ‑ FIND THE CALMER YOU
do not like to be still to focus on
the wonders within. We have
within us a gateway to peace, joy,
and happiness. 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:
all other knowledge flows. A love
far greater and fulfilling than any
we can know in the outer world is
waiting to embrace us with open
arms within. At our core is a
strength and power that can enable
us to overcome any fear. Underlying
our separateness as individuals is
connectedness and oneness to all
life. Awaiting us inside is bliss and
joy so fulfilling that we need no
other intoxicants to make us happy.
All these gifts lie within us in the
empowered soul.
The soul is a source of tremen‑
dous wisdom, love, and power, yet
we remain ignorant of its treasures
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
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
when we allow it to be overpowered
by the mind, the senses, and the
physical body. When the mind and
body assert power over the soul, the
soul forgets itself. But the empow‑
ered soul is our true nature, and it is
time we reclaim the soul so that its
gifts can enrich our life. There are
simple techniques for accessing the
riches of our soul. We need not
search the four corners of the earth.
We need not travel into outer space.
These techniques can be practiced
in the comfort of our home.
Through meditation, a whole new
world opens for us. By learning
meditation, we can gain entry to
time only for that purpose.
2) Have a special place
for meditation.
By getting into the habit of con‑
centrating on meditating when in
that spot, we can know to put
aside other distractions when we
are in other places in our home.
When we sit in that place, we nat‑
The soul is a source of
tremendous wisdom,
love, and power, yet
we remain ignorant
of its treasures when
we allow it to be
overpowered by the
mind, the senses, and
the physical body.
When the mind and
body assert power
over the soul, the soul
forgets itself. But the
empowered soul is
our true nature, and it
is time we reclaim the
soul so that its gifts
can enrich our life.
worlds of bliss, light, and love with‑
in. Tapping into the soul and its
powers can enrich and transform
our life. When we empower our
soul, its wisdom, immortality, love,
fearlessness, connectedness, and
bliss add a new dimension to our
life.
(For more visit www.sos.org)
urally will gravitate toward medi‑
tating.
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 t ime and
effort. It is the same with medita‑
tion. People meditate for different
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 spending the time to
achieve it. This determination will
help us concentrate and focus
better when we meditate without
being sidetracked 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 July 20-26, 2019
TheSouthAsianTimes.info July 20-26, 2019