Vol. 9 - No. 9 June 25 - July 1, 2016

The South Asian Times
j o u r n a l i s m
New York Edition
Prime Minister Narednra Modi headlined a mass yoga session in Chandigarh on June 21
and sought to distance yoga from any religion to enhance its acceptance. (Photo: PIB)
Yoga girds the globe

By SATimes Team
New York: The 2nd International
Day of Yoga was celebrated the
world over on a much bigger
scale than the first IDY held last
year on June 21 after the UN
accepted the proposal of Indian

Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
From Sydney to San Francisco
across the world and in India
from Kashmir to Kanyakumari,
thousands and thousands of yoga
enthusiasts participated in yoga
India in NSG ?
Only China blocking!
Seoul, South Korea: China on
Friday continued to oppose India's
entry to the Nuclear Suppliers
Group, saying the global nonpro
liferation order would collapse if
New Delhi was allowed exception.
"If exceptions are allowed here
or there on the question of NPT,
the international nonproliferation
order then will be collapsed alto
gether," Wang Qun, Director
General of the Department of
Arms Control of China's Foreign
Ministry, said in a statement from
Seoul. "In the absence of NPT as a
political and legal basis, it will be
inconceivable for the JCPOA (Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action, or
the Iran nuclear deal) to be
sessions and events on and

around June 21. At the United
Nations in New York, people of
Continued on page 4
See coverage of Yoga Day,
pages 1517.
US Supreme Court
blocks Obamas
immigration plan
reached," he added. "And more

over, it will add huge difficulty to
implementation of the JCPOA. And
Washington: US Supreme Court on

Thursday delivered a heavy blow
to the White House's immigration
program as the court remained
deadlocked at 44, unable to over
turn a lower court's ruling that
blocked the program.
T he 5th US Circuit Court of
Appeal ruling had gone against
President Barack Obama's contro
versial immigration executive
action in 2014 that would have
provided as many as 5 million ille
gal immigrants with work permit
while shielding the majority of
them from deportation. Obama has
called the Supreme Court's dead
locked decision "frustration to
Continued on page 4
Continued on page 4
PM Modi during his meeting with

Chinese President Xi in Tashkent
on Thursday on the sidelines of
the Shanghai Cooperation
Organisation (SCO) summit urged
China to judge India's NSG appli
cation on its "merit". (Photo: IANS).
Follow us on
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
The clock is ticking for PM David Cameron, who called for the referen
dum and supported staying in the EU, to resign. And Scotland which
voted to stay in EU may hold a fresh referendum on leaving the UK.
UK to divorce EU
Convulsing
the World
London: Britain has voted to leave
the European Union, results from
Thursday's landmark referendum
showed, an outcome that sets the
country on an uncertain path and
deals the largest setback to
European efforts to forge greater
unity since World War II.
World financial markets dived as
nearly complete results showed a
51.7/48.3 percent split for leaving.
Sterling suf fered its biggest one
day fall of more than 9 percent
against the dollar, hitting its low
est level in three decades on mar
ket fears the decision will hit
investment in the world's 5th
largest economy.
The vote will initiate at least two
years of messy divorce proceed
ings with the EU, raise questions
over London's role as a global
financial capital and put huge
pressure on Prime Minister David
Cameron to resign, though he
REFERENDUM VOTE
48.1%
Leave
Vol.9 No. 9 June 25-July 1, 2016 80 Cents
i n
Remain
e x c e l l e n c e
51.9%
pledged during the campaign to

stay on whatever the result.
The euro slumped around 3.5
percent against the dollar on con
cerns a Brexit vote will do wider
economic and political damage to
what will become a 27member
union. Investors poured into safe
haven assets including gold, and
the yen surged.
There was no immediate com
ment from the Bank of England. In
an early mark of international con
cern, Japan's top currency diplo
mat Masatsugu Asakawa said he
would consult w ith Finance
Minister Taro Aso on how to
respond to the market moves,
Continued on page 4
OWN YOUR FUTURE

with a degree from SUNY Old Westbury
x More than 60 undergraduate and graduate degrees

x Small classes with exceptional faculty
x A student-centered approach to learning
x Conveniently located in Nassau County
Contact us at: (516) 876-3200 or www.oldwestbury.edu
US AFFAIRS 9
OP ED 13
YOGA 15
SPIRITUAL AWARENESS 30
excellence in journalism
June 25-July 1, 2016
TRISTATE COMMUNITY
The man behind Tefcon

5 Dems in fray for
at FeTNA convention congressional seat in LI
By Parveen Chopra
By SATimes Team
New York: The Tamil Entrepreneurs Forum

(Tefcon) at FeTNAs annual conference this
July 4 weekend in New Jersey promises to
be very exciting with 25 top executives as
speakers including Arvind Swamy, the actor
entrepreneur, says Ram Nagappan, the man
behind Tefcon.
Speaking to The South Asian Times, the NJ
based Nagappan says that Tefcon has been
part of FeTNAs annual celebration for some
time, but this year the scale is a lot bigger.
There will be keynote addresses, panel dis
cussion and inspiring TEF talks taking the
stage will be at least eight successful
women.
The presenters at the July 2 fullday ses
sion inside Patriots Theatre at the War
Memorial, Trenton, will not be conned to
tech elds. Inspiring speakers include Dosa
Man Thiru Kumar who started with a tiny
food cart in Manhattan and has been fea
tured widely in international media, and
Hemalatha Annamalai, who makes battery
operated motorcycles at low cost and her
rm may turn out to be Indias future Tesla.
At the Tefcon some startups will make a
pitch to investors, who would include Arvind
Swamy, N. Chandra of TCS, and Jet Blues
Eash Sundaram. So Tefcon also acts as an
incubator. Fittingly, the conference theme is
Link Learn Lead. About the stereotypical
image of Tamils being the service class in
Ram Nagappan is Chief Information Officer

with Pershing, BNY Mellon
India, Nagappan says the community had
great entrepreneur zeal before the British
rule. Then, being educated, they got into
government jobs and became complacent.
But after Independence, thing have been
changing again. In Silicon Valley, many
Tamils hold top technology positions today.
FeTNA (Federation of Tamil Sangams of
North America) convention is expecting
about 2,000 attendees. Performers will
include Carnatic singer T.M. Krishna, play
back singer Vijay Prakash, and Super Singer
title winners Hari Priya and Jesica Jude.
Mineola, NY: From the ve

contenders for Democratic
nomination for Rep. Steve
Israels seat, Tom Suozzi and
Jon Kaiman have better name
recognition among the Indian
community on Long Island.
However, even experts are
shying away from predicting
who will get the nomination
after the Tuesdays primary,
reports Newsday. The nomi
nee will then face a formida
Exofficials Tom Suozzi and Jon Kaiman are better
ble foe in Republican state
known from among the five who are seeking the
Sen. Jack Martins, a former
partys nod in Tuesdays primary.
mayor of Mineola in the
November election for the Gold Coast 3rd of the Nassau Interim Financial Authority
District that stretches from Queens to (NIFA), but has resigned both posts to run
for Congress. Earlier he served for 10
Suffolk County.
Suozzi, 53, of Glen Cove, is well known years as North Hempstead Town supervi
after serving eig ht years as Nassau sor. He has the backing of Gary Ackerman,
County Executive. In the last two elections Israels predecessor in Congress.
The other three in the primary race are
for county executive, he lost to Republican
Ed Mangano. He also lost the Democratic Steve Stern, an 11year Suf folk County
primary for New York state governor. This legislator; Anna Kaplan, an Iranian
time, he has the best war chest among his American who is a North Hempstead town
board member; and Jonathan Clarke of
primary rivals.
Kaiman, 53, of Great Neck, served as Jericho, an attorney who backs Bernie
point man for Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo for Sanders for president and on principle is
Superstorm Sandy relief and as chairman spending as little as possible on the race.
PanIIT announces meet in Rhode Island

By Karishma Asoodani
New York: The IIT Association of
Greater New England and PanIIT
(US alumni organization of IIT) will
host their 2016 Leadership
Conference at the Rhode Island
Convention Center, Providence, RI,
from August 1214, 2016. The
meet is open to everyone and not
just IIT alumni, it was announced
last week at the Indian consulate
last Friday.
Since 2013, these IIT confer
ences have enjoyed participation
from senior business executives as
well as academic and technology
decision makers. The theme for
this year is, "Leading transforma
t ion for a better tomorrow :
Technologies that lift the human
spirit."
According to the conference
The organizers of the 2016 Leadership Conference

at the press interaction at the Indian consulate
chair, Raj Laad, "The conference
will bring together a dazzling array
of thought leaders in areas where
New England leads the rest of the

world such as Life sciences and
Healthcare,
Energ y
and
Environment, Big Data and

Education. With over 1,200 atten
dees and 100 speakers expected,
you are sure to nd it a fun, excit
ing and enriching experience."
Key speakers featured at the
conference include Massachusetts
based technology and social entre
preneur Dr. Gururaj Deshpande,
CEO and founder of TripAdvisor
Steve Kaufer, COO of GR Boston
Eric Ge bhardt, FedEx EVP of
Marketing Rajesh Subramaniam,
chair of NASA MARS mission Dr.
Amitabha Ghosh and Dean of
Harvard Business School, Dr. Nitin
Nohria. The wide ranging series of
keynotes, panels and discussions
in the conference would revolve
around topics related to Life sci
ences, Healthcare, Energy and
Environment, Finance, Frontiers of
Technology, Education, Women in
technology. A highlight of the con

ference is the Business Plan com
petition, where emerging entrepre
neurs can pitch their ideas to
potential investors.
The key sponsors of the confer
ence are Virtusa Polaris Corp.,
Goog le, De ll Inc., T he Liberty
Mutual insurance company,
Dassault systems, Clairvoyant,
NASDAQ and Brown University.
Deshpande, a graduate of IIT
Madras, told T he South Asian
Times, "Everything in life is about
benchmark, if people know what's
possible, they will usually achieve
it. What these conferences do is,
they bring IITians, nonIITians to
get to meet and see their ideas
who have done so much and then
suddenly it starts becoming within
the possibility of what can be done.
To me that is very inspiring.
Brexit news shaves

1,000 points off Indias
Sensex, rupee dips
Mumbai: As news spread that Britain has
opted out of the European Union (Brexit)
in a historic referendum, key Indian
indices dived deep into the red and were
trading some 4 per cent down around 90
minutes into the opening bell. The rupee
was also ruling be low the 68 mark
against dollar.
Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta
Das sought to calm the markets.
Government is prepared for all eventual
ities. The stock market is down on initial
spontaneous reaction, he said.
The sensitive index (Sensex) of the BSE,
which had closed on T hursday at
27,002.22 points, opened the next morn
ing at 26,367.48 points.
Some 90 minutes into trading, when
news emerged that Britain has exited the
European Union, it drifted sharply and
was ruling at 26,034.93, down 967.29
points or 3.58 per cent. At one point, it
had lost nearly 1,050 points.
In the preopen trades, the 30scrip
index was down as much as 634.74
points or 2.35 per cent. An indication
came from the SGX Nifty, which trades on
the Singapore exchange and ahead of the
opening bell in India, was down over 2.75
per cent. At the National Stock Exchange
(NSE), where the 51scrip Nifty had
closed at 8,270.45 points, the opening
bell was at 8,029.10 points. Thereafter,
the index was ruling below the 8,000
points mark at 7,962.10 points, down
308.35 points or 3.73 percent.
The rupee dived over 1.4 per cent to
68.21 per dollar, while the British pound
that had rallied to nearly $1.5 in early
trades fell sharply to its lowest level
since 1985 at $1.35.
But Indias finance ministry said there
was no cause for alarm. Rupee deprecia
tion in line with other Asian currencies.
The government and the Reserve Bank of
India have discussed all possible eventu
alities to deal with the situation,
Das said.
Britain votes to leave EU,

convulsing world
Continued from page 1
describing the foreign exchange
moves as very rough. Yet there
was euphoria among Britain's
eurosceptic forces, claiming a
victory they styled as a protest
against British political leaders,
big business and foreign leaders
including Barack Obama who
had urged Britain to stay in the
bloc.
"Dare to dream that the dawn is
breaking on an independent
United Kingdom," said Nige l
Farage, leader of the eurosceptic
UK Independence Party.
"If the predictions are right,
this will be a victory for real peo
ple, a victory for ordinary people,
a victory for decent people...Let
June 23 go down in our history
as our independence day."
He called the EU a "doomed
project". By 5.20 am (0420
GMT), nearly 90 percent of the
vote had been counted, making
Leave's lead virtually impossible
to reverse.
Asked if Cameron, who called
the referendum in 2013 and
campaigned to stay in the bloc,
should resign if Britain voted for
Brexit,
Farage
said:
"Immediately."
The United Kingdom now faces
a threat to its survival, as
Scotland voted 62 percent in
favor of staying in the EU and is
likely to press for a new referen
dum on whether to become inde
pendent after its 2014 vote to
stay in the UK.
Scottish First Minister Nicola
Sturgeon said Thursday's vote
"makes clear that the people of
Scotland see their future as part
of the European Union."
Quitt ing the EU could cost
Britain access to the EU's trade
barrierfree single market and
mean it must seek new trade
accords with countries around
the world. President Barack
Obama says it would be at the

"back of a queue" for a U.S. pact.
The EU for its part will emerge
economically and polit ically
weakened, facing the departure
not only of its most freemarket
proponent but also a member
country that w ie lds a U.N.
Security Council veto and runs a
powerful army. In one go, the
bloc will lose around a sixth of its
total economic output.
Cameron is expected to formal
ly report the result to his
European counterparts within
days and prepare negotiations
for the first exit by a member
state from the EU an exit he
has said would be irreversible.
The British leader called the
referendum in 2013 in a bid to
head of f pressure from local
eurosceptics, including within his
own party. Initially billed as an
easy ride, the vote has now put
his political future on the line.
Party ally Boris Johnson, the for
mer London mayor who became
the most recognizable face of the
"leave" camp, is now w ide ly
tipped to seek his job.
Britain, which joined the then
European Economic Community
(EEC) in 1973, has always been
an ambivalent member. A firm
supporter of free trade, tearing
down internal economic barriers
and expanding the EU to take in
excommunist eastern states, it
opted out of joining the euro sin
gle currency or the Schengen
borderfree zone. World leaders
including Obama, Chinese
President Xi Jinping, German
Chancellor Angela Merkel, NATO
and Commonwealth governments
had all urged a "Remain vote,
saying Britain would be stronger
and more influential in the EU
Reuters
than outside.
Yoga girds the globe

135 nationalities joined the IDY
event, celebrating its universality
Chairman and Co-Founder

Kamlesh C. Mehta
Associate Editors:
Hiral Dholakia-Dave
Co-Founder: Saroosh Gull
Contributing Editors: Meenakshi Iyer,

Nilima Madan, Melvin Durai,
Dr Prem Kumar Sharma, Ashok Vyas,
Dr Akshat Jain, Ashok Ojha
President: Arjit Mehta
TURN PAGE
and re levance to the world

body's mission.
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, who
led the event at the UN, and PM
Modi, who took part in an event
in Chandigarh, made it clear that
yoga is not religious. It originat
ed in India, but is for all humans
everywhere, and is Indias gift to
the world. No wonder, you can
find yoga classes and teachers in
a communist country like China,
and Muslim countries like
Pakistan and Qatar.
India in NSG ?
Only China blocking!
in the absence of NPT as the
political and legal basis, how
could the nuclear issue on the
Korean Peninsular be resolved?
All these merit reflection. While
it's easy to adopt double stan
dards, the consequence can be
enormous," Wang added.
His comments come even as
the 48member NSG is holding
the second day of its plenary ses
sion in the South Korean capital,
where the question of India's
membership is being taken up.
On Thursday, Japan raised the
issue of India's membership, and
it was taken up at a special ses
sion though China has repeatedly
asserted that the membership
question of nonNPT countries
would not be discussed at the
plenary.
US Supreme Court blocks

Obamas immigration
plan
those who seek to grow our econ
omy and bring a rationality to
our immigration system".
Presumptive Democratic presi
dential nominee Hillary Clinton
too called the verdict "unaccept
able" and took a sharp jab at her
general election rival. "This deci
sion is also a stark reminder of
the harm Donald Trump would
do to our families, our communi

ties, and our country," she said
Clinton in a statement.
Trump had proclaimed from
the very beginning of his candi
dacy that he would implement
tougher immigration policies,
pledging to deport millions of
illegal immigrants and to build a
wall along USMexico border. In
2014, Obama resorted to his
executive authority to circum
vent Congress and pushed for
ward immigration reforms by
seeking to provide as many as 5
million illegal immigrants with
work permit while shielding the
majority of them from deporta
tion. This immediately sparked
an outcry among Republicans,
calling the action an illegal exec
utive overreach.
T he first phase of Obama's
executive action on immigration
reform was supposed to start tak
ing effect in February last year.
Young immigrants would have
been protected from deportation
if they were brought to the US
soil illegally as children. The sec
ond phase would have extended
immunity to deportation to par
ents of US citizens and perma
nent residents. However, the new
deportationrelief program never
kicked off after US District Judge
Andrew Hanen in Texas issued a
court injunction against the pro
gram on the eve of its launch.
Besides Democrats, many social
service and ethnic organizations
have expressed disappointment
with the Supreme Court decision.
For instance, the South Asian Bar
Association of North America
(SABA) said,
The Supreme Courts failure to
reach a consensus will leave mil
lions of undocumented individu
als, including several hundred
thousand South Asians, bereft of
any immigration options and will
ensure that they continue to
operate as a part of our shadow
economy.
Jaipur (India) Bureau

Prakash Bhandari
Prakash@TheSouthAsianTimes.info
IANS Washington Bureau

Arun Kumar
arun.kumar@ians,in
Photographs: Gunjesh Desai/

masalajunction.com.
Xitij Joshi/xitijphoto.com
Printing: Five Star Printing, NY
Photo Journalist: Sandeep Girhotra

Cartoonist: Mahendra Shah
Chief Operating Officer:

Ginsmon P. Zacharia
P: 516 776 7061
ginsmon@hotmail.com
West Coast Correspondent

Pooja Jain,
Pooja@TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Art and Design: Vladimir Tomovski

Bhagwati Creations,
Dhiraj Kumar
Managing Editor: Parveen Chopra

P : 516.710.0508
Editor@TheSouthAsianTimes.info
New Delhi Bureau

Meenakshi Iyer
Delhi@TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Web Editor: B.B.Chopra

News Service: HT Media Ltd.
IANS Newswire Services
Contacts
Editor@TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Subscribe@TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Advertisements
Advertise@TheSouthAsianTimes.info
P : 516.390.7847, F : 516.465.1343
Website:
www.TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Printed Every Saturday by: Forsythe Media Group, LLC, ISSN 1941-9333, 76 N Broadway, Suite 2004, Hicksville, NY 11801 P: 516.390.7847
Website: TheSouthAsianTimes.info Updated Daily
Notice: The South Asian Times is published weekly by The Forsythe Media Group, LLC. POSTMASTER: Send all address notices, subscription orders/payments and other inquiries to The South Asian
Times, 76 N Broadway, Suite 2004, Hicksville, NY 11801, USA. Copyright and all other rights reserved. No material herein or portions thereof may be reprinted without the consent of the publisher. The
views expressed on the opinion pages and in the letters to the editor pages are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect those of The South Asian Times. The editor/publisher does not warrant accuracy
and cannot be held responsible for the content of the advertisements placed in the publication and/or inaccurate claims, if any, made by the advertisers. Advertisements of business or facilities included in this
publication do not imply connection or endorsement of these businesses. All rights reserved.
TRISTATE COMMUNITY
Indian culture comes alive at

Indian American Night
New York: On June 13, a gor
geous Sunday Evening, Harry
Chapin Lakeside Theatre was dec
orated beautifully with colors and
decorat ions from India. And
ambience was g low ing w ith
Indian music. Occasion was
Indian American Night presented
by organizers of Indian American
Forum. Prog ram started at
6.00PM with Health Fair organ
ized by Dr Rakesh Dua and mem
bers of AAPIQLI, International
Yoga Day Celebrations for June
21 started with Yoga and medita
tion by Ranju Narang and Perry
Walia. Several members learnt
and participated in Yoga and
Mantra Chanting.
Satbir Singh Bedi (DJ KUCHA)
welcomed everyone and intro
duced emcee of the evening Dr
Bhavani Srinivasan.
Jaya Bahadkar Cultural chair
person presented beautiful cul
tural program reflecting dances
from dif ferent parts of India.
Students from lo cal dance
schools; Aarti Datta, Jyotika Patel,
Satya Pradeep, Archana Dave,
Sangeeta Pandit and Monica
Bajwa, participated. Opening
vocal performances were organ
Honorees with Nassau County Comptroller George

Maragos and other dignitaries at the event.
ized by Nilima Madan of Vedic
Heritage.
Jyoti Gupta, Amita Karwal and T
S Taluja from Tri state area enter
tained the audience with their
memorable songs. Stage decora
t ions provided by Sunita
Sadhnani from Glamorous Event
Planners.
This program is part of 2016
summer concert series sponsored
by Nassau county Department of
Parks, Recreation and Museums.
Indian American Night is a show
case of Classical Indian music and
folk dances from all regions of
India. Nassau county Executive
Honorable Edward P Mangano
Nassau
County
park
Commissioner Brian Nugent,
Legislature Kevin Abrahms,Town
of Hempstead , Councilwoman
Dorothy Goosby and several other

elected of ficials and community
leaders were present on behalf of
Nassau County Executive Edward
P Mang ano, Leg islator Rose
Marie Walker welcomed every
one and commended the Indian
American Community for their
outstanding achievements.
Following members of commu
nity were presented with Nassau
County Awards: Harry Singh,
President Bolla Oil Corp; Kusum
Gupta, Trustee Vedic Heritage in
Hempstead; Anurabh Talwar MD,
Endo crinolog ist North We ll
Health Medical group; Neelam
Modi, Cultural Chairperson IALI;
Sangeeta Bahl, President Rotary
Sunrise Jericho; Nishi Bahl,
President Panache Entertainment;
Beena Kothari, President IALI.
Valvani, charged with insider

trading, commits suicide
Washington, DC: Sanjay Valvani, an
Indianorigin hedge fund manager
charged with insider trading last
week, has been found dead at his
home in an apparent case of sui
cide, a media report said on
Wednesday.
Valvani, 44, who worked as a
portfolio manager with hedgefund
firm Visium Asset Management LP,
was accused of trading on confi
dential information about generic
drug approvals, the Wall Street
Journal reported.
He was found dead on Tuesday
by his wife in the bedroom of their
Brooklyn home with a slash wound
on his neck.
A knife and a suicide note near
his body was discovered by police
of ficers, a New York Police
Department spokesperson was
quoted as saying.
"This is a horrible tragedy that is
dif ficult to comprehend. Valvani
was a loving father, husband, son
and brother and committed friend,
colleague and mentor," Barry
Berke and Eric Tirschwell,
Valvani's attorneys, said in a state
ment.
"We hope for the sake of his fam
ily and his memory that it will not
be forgotten that the charges

against him were only unproven
accusations and he had always
maintained his innocence," they
said.
Valvani is survived by his wife,
Harjot Sandhu, a former teacher
and reading specialist.
Valvani was accused of having
fraudulently made $25 million by
getting advanced information
about the US Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) approvals of
generic drug applications.
He passed on the information to
another portfolio manager who
made his own illegal trades.
Valvani was charged with securi
ties fraud, wire fraud and conspira
cy and was freed on $5 million
bond secured by his home.
"Visium Asset Management put
Valvani on extended leave after
learning he was being investigat
ed," the of ficials were quoted as
saying.
Valvani worked at Visium since
its 2005 inception. He started out
as a sellside associate at Salomon
Smith Barney and joined as an ana
lyst at Balyasny Asset Management
in 2003.
(IANS)
IndianAmerican Peter Jacob

running for Congress seat in NJ
Washington: A 30yearold Indian
American Democratic social worker is run
ning for the US House of Representatives
from New Jersey which is known to be a
strong Republican bastion.
Peter Jacob, a staunch supporter of
Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont, was
elected unopposed in the Democratic pri
mary on June 7.
He is see king to unseat incumbent
Leonard Lance of the Republican party
who has represented Cong ressional
District 7 of New Jersey since 2009.
This is the same Congressional district
from where Upendra Chivukula the first
IndianAmerican to be elected to the New
Jersey State Assembly tried his luck in
2012 and lost to Lance by more than
50,000 votes.
Another IndianAmericans T homas
Abraham ran as an independent in 2008
and got less than one per cent of the votes.
The 7th Congressional District of New
Jersey is said to be a strong Republican
bastion. The party has retained this seat
for the last 100 years, except for six years
between 19751981.
However, Jacobs, hopes to turn the tide
this election cycle given that his rival
incumbent Lance is supporting Donald
Trump.
In a Congressional district having a size
able population of foreign born, extreme
views are unlikely to sail through, he
noted. It is ironic to me that Leonard
Lance has endorsed Donald Trump,
because Trump has preached out against
Peter Jacob seeksto unseat incumbent

Leonard Lance of the Republican party who
has represented Congressional District 7
of New Jersey since 2009
the type of politician that Leonard Lance
is, Jacob told local Daily Record.
When they arrived in 1986, they had
three things with them. Just $20 in their
po ckets, hearts full of hope and six
monthsold me in their arms, he said.
Today his parents own and operate a
thriving business.
I wouldnt say Im a long shot. I think
2016 is a very different year, he told the
media outlet.
During his undergraduate and graduate
years, Peter was a student activist and
leader. He worked with the Coalition
Against Trafficking in Women (CATW), the
YWCA and the International Institute.
Through these and other community
organisations, he helped fight the ongoing
scourges of child abuse, human trafficking,
(PTI)
and disastrous Iraq War.
KNOW WHAT TO DO
Visit NYC.gov/knowyourzone or call 311 to nd
out what to do to prepare for hurricanes in NYC.
#knowyourzone
TRISTATE COMMUNITY
IN BRIEF
JAINA shibir from July 15

ain Adhyatma Academy of North America (JAANA) is organizing
a shibir at the Franklin Temple from July 1 to July 5. The shibir
starts on Friday July 1st in the afternoon around 2 PM and will
end on Tuesday July 5th at lunch time. Arrangements include break
fast, tea, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner along with the study ma
terial for shibir for all registered participants. One can choose to reg
ister for specific day or days or the entire shibir.
Dr. Hukamchandji Bharill, Dr. Sanjeevji Godha and Shashtri Vipin
ji Jain are three renowned speakers who will be leading all the ses
sions during the shibir. The daily program will also include pooja/
vidhaan in the morning.
One can reach Atul Khara (at insty@verizon.net) or visit
http://www.jaana.org/ for additional information. If anyone needs
help financially or otherwise, he/she can reach out to Atulbhai as
well. An anonymous donor is ready to help. Complete privacy will
be maintained.
Rubin Museum showcasing

Hindu deities
ubin Museum of Art in New York is exhibiting various Hindu
deities in it Rain and Ritual exhibition, which will continue
till March 27 next. Deities exhibited reportedly include Lak
shmi (17th century), Krishna (19th century), Durga (12th13th cen
tury), Bhairava (16th century), Kumara (11th century), etc.
This exhibition, curated by Gautama V. Vajracharya with the as
sistance of Elena Pakhoutova, is reportedly partly funded by the
New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with
the City Council.
Since opening in 2004, Rubin Museum has welcomed over 1.4
million visitors and presented over 100 exhibitions.
Girls can achieve in any eld, and

we are going to change the world
New York: Connecticut based attorney
Roopa Modha had the honor of being
nominated and selected to attend the
first ever White House United States of
Women Summit. The event, held during
June 1315, 2016 in DC, was to cele
brate highachieving women in the US
with a goal of inspiring more positive
change. Women selected were all pio
neers and visionaries.
Roopa has always focused on
womens rights whether teaching
girls as a youth, organizing panels as a
lawyer, or helping girls get quality edu
cation as Ambassador of Girl Rising. To
further this cause, she has also written
and illustrated a childrens story avail
able on Amazon whose funds will go to
ward girls education.
About her selection, Roopa said, It
was very humbling to be chosen for this
honor as all attendees had achieved
well beyond the norm. All the women
were incredibly accomplished. It was
amazing to have been included among
such influential women who truly want
to change the world for the better. The
full spectrum of female talent was rep
resented. I will never forget the experi
ence! The event was magical! It cele
brated powerful women and the events
and lineup were one of a kind!
Attorney Roopa Modha was among

invitees to first White House United
States of Women Summit.
The most significant speakers at the
summit were President Obama, VP Joe
Biden, First Lady Michele Obama, and
the first lady of television Oprah Win
frey. Some other notable individuals
were the first female Speaker of the
House Nancy Pelosi, Kerry Washington,
Amy Poehler, and many more. All the
speakers, including male speakers like
CEO Warren Buffet, emphatically stat
ed that although women are succeed
ing and progress has been made, there
are still many other barriers that need
to be broken down. President Obama
discussed the incredible progress his
administration made with regards to in
corporating women in all facets of gov
ernment in key positions (many spoke

at the summit), and said he hopes the
next administration will continue to
make womens rights a priority. VP
Biden focused on the Violence Against
Women Act that he created and gave a
very powerful speech on how each
woman should be respected and val
ued. Undoubtedly, the highlight of the
night was a riveting discussion between
Michele Obama and Oprah about their
journeys and the need for women to
build each other up.
About the experience, Roopa shared,
It truly felt like a dream to see so many
extraordinary personalities on one plat
form. Seeing Michele Obama and Oprah
together was so powerful. Both are role
models of mine as Michele has done so
much for girls education, and Oprah
has proven that any woman can over
come obstacles to succeed. It was a mo
ment that can never be recreated. Leav
ing the conference, one couldnt help
but feel inspired and invigorated to do
more for women and the world. It
makes me hopeful that we will reach a
point where 100% gender equality will
exist. Plus, I made many contacts with
whom to ignite more initiatives! Girls
can achieve in any field, and we are go
ing to change the world!
IALI gala had a dozen honorees Udta Punjab screened in

Melville, NY: IALI celebrated its
37th Annual Awards Gala Din
ner on June 18 at Huntington
Hilton. It was a grand success
and a memorable event with
overwhelming attendance by
guests.
The Grand Ballroom was filled
with VIPs, dignitaries, officials of
the Nassau and Suffolk Counties,
honorees, community leaders,
IALI Executive Council, Past
Presidents, esteemed members,
media and guests.
On this occasion, IALI honored
seven individuals for their out
standing contributions in their
respective fields in serving the
community. The honorees were
Dr. Vaijinath Chakote, Mrs.Usha
and Dr. Parveen Chopra, Dr. Av
tar Josen, Dr. Abhay Malhotra,
Dr. Dev Ratnam, Dr. Gaddam
Reddy, Mr. H K and Malti Shah.
IALI also bestowed two special
NY by Gyan Foundation
By Karishma Asoodani
Honorees with IALI executive committee and past presidents

awards on Peter Bheddah and
Padma Shree Pandita Tripti
Mukherjee. IALI also recognized
two students, Ritwik Rudra and
Akash Wasil. A scholarship was
awarded to both by Mrs. Usha
and Dr. Parveen Chopra.Cultural
performances were provided by
Arya Dance Academy, Kalpita

Chakote and Ronni Yari.
President Beena Kothari in her
address said, The Grand ball
room is filled with more than
nine Ratnas , Jewels of India
all from Indian and American
community
Flushing, NY: The Gyan Foundation,

floated by Edie Malhotra of Long Is
land, last Friday hosted a free screen
ing of one of the most controversial
films of 2016, "Udta Punjab.
The movie has been released after
facing censorship issues for depicting
the harsh reality of drug menace in
Punjab. The plot revolves around
Tommy Singh (Shahid Kapoor), an ac
cidental rockstar loved by youngsters,
but who is a drug addict. He falls for
a Bihari migrant worker (Alia Bhatt)
who has become an unintentional vic
tim of drugs, and tries to help her out.
Sartaj Singh (Diljit Dosanjh) is a cor
rupt cop who turns a blind eye to the
drug traffic till one day it targets his
own brother. His lady love is Dr.
Preeti (Kareena Kapoor) who runs a
drug rehab clinic. The film has ex
posed to the public the drug problem
gripping the youth in Punjab.

The film is having a decent run at
the box office and has been liked by
critics too. Eddie Malhotra, a telecom
businessman, organized the screen
ing at Bombay Theater in Fresh
Meadows, NY for friends and family
in memory of his mother who loved to
watch movies. Around 200 people
showed up. Nishita Bhatt, a political
science student who watched the film,
told The South Asian Times, "I have
loved the film because it has informed
me so much in two hours plus. What
I learnt is that the issue of drugs can
not be resolved by a change in law or
politics. It requires much hard work
with patience over a long duration of
time.
NATIONAL COMMUNITY
Kamala Harris: Trump unt

to hold public ofce
Washington, DC: In a blistering
attack on Donald Trump, Indian
American California Attorney
General Kamala Harris has said
the presumpt ive Republican
presidential nominee has an
unstable temperament and his
dangerous policy positions make
him unt for holding a public
ofce.
Harris, DCalif., who would
become the rst U.S. senator of
Indian orig in if e lected in
November, said in an email to
her supporters, Donald Trump is
doubling down on his outra
geous, dangerous rhetoric.
Harris, being a Democrat and a
close friend of U.S. President
Barack Obama, her victory in the
November general elections is
considered a foregone conclusion
by political pundits.
Most recently, he called for a
ban on all Muslim immigrants
and accused Muslim American
Trump can't see beyond

race, gender and religion
and he doesn't want to not
when it comes to the judiciary,
not when it comes to women's
health, and not when it comes to civil liberties. California Attorney General Kamala
Harris (Image courtesy: howafrica.com)
communities of hiding terror

ists, she added. Just days before
that, he claimed that a federal
judge was biased against him,
because of the judge's Mexican
heritage, she said of the 69year
old real estate tycoon.
The 51yearold Senate hopeful
went on to say, We already
know that Trump's unstable tem
perament and dangerous policy
positions make him unt to hold
any public ofce, but his latest
Indian American family files complaint against

school board amid GeoBee cheating claims
New York: An Indian American
surgeon in Illinois DuPage
County, Dr. Rahul Julka, has
led a civil complaint against
the Board of Educat ion of
District 53 on behalf of his chil
dren regarding an investigation
in the Oak Brook School District
that resulted in the kids being
banned from future academic
competitions, Indiawest report
ed. The school district alleged
that two families, including the
Julkas, intentionally obtained
test questions leading up to the
2016 National Geographic Bee.
The costly investigation led to
sanctions against both families
and will result in a July court
battle.
Julka has asked a DuPage
County judge to provide insight
into the procedure of the Butler
School District 53 and ultimate
ly repeal the sanctions banning
his 9 and 11yearold sons
from competitions within the
district.
Julkas w ife, Komal, was
determined by the investigation
to have registered as a fraudu

lent home school provider, and
her emails showed she paid for
the questions with her credit
card after creating a school
name and address, according to
court records referenced in a
Chicago Tribune report.
Komal Julka is also accused of
providing the account and pass
word to a second family whose
kids participated in the bee.
"This is the worst story I have
heard in 15 years of working at
the bee," an unnamed National
Geographic Bee organizer was
quoted as saying in district
records, the Tribune reported.
In addition to the ban, the
investigation has been included
in the students les and their
parents are prohibited from vol
unteering in future academic
competitions in the school sys
tem. Superintendent Heidi
Wennstrom said the incident is
isolated and the sanctions were
placed to avoid anything simi
lar happening ag ain, the
Tribune reported.
comments make even more

apparent Trump's racism and
incompetence.
Trump can't see beyond race,
gender and religion and he
doesn't want to not when it
comes to the judiciary, not when
it comes to women's health, and
not when it comes to civil liber
ties.
Harris also urged her support
ers to join the antiTrump cam
(PTI)
paign.
June 25- July 1, 2016
IndianAmerican teens
plan social media
campaign for Clinton
Raleigh: Two Indian American
teenagers supporting Hillary
Clinton are planning to reach
out to youths from the commu
nity through social media to give
a boost to the presumptive
Democratic presidential nomi
nees campaign. Saket Singh, who
was earlier a strong supporter of
Donald Trump, now believes
Clinton is his choice to be the
next president of the US.
"This is my nal decision. No
more changes," Saket, 18, said
told PTI in an interview outside
a Clinton rally where he along
with his younger sister, Sneha
Singh, 10, and another friend
Parth Patel were campaigning in
support of the former Secretary
of State.
"Now that Bernie Sanders is
out, she would get the support of
the youths," said Saket, who is
headed to India in a few days.
"I was initially a Donald Trump

supporter. I went to one of his
rallies? those are not the values,
I believe in," said Saket, who
moved to the United States as a
oneyearold along with his par
ents who are IT professionals.
A few weeks ago, Saket and
Parth, a high school student,
along with some other Indian
American friends came together
to lead the youth group of
Hindus for Hillary through
which they said they plan to
launch a nationwide campaign
among IndianAmericans to
come out and vote in support of
Clinton in the November general
elections.
"I was also a Donald Trump
supporter, but Hillary changed
my mind," said Parth, whose
father is a software developer
and mother a dermatologist.
(PTI)
Obama nominates Indianorigin

as ambassador to Malaysia
Washington, DC: US President
Barack Obama has nominated an
Indianorigin diplomat as the next
American ambassador to Malaysia.
If conrmed by the Senate,
Kamala Shirin Lakhdhir would
replace Joseph Y Yun as the next US
ambassador to Malaysia.
Nomination of Lakhdhir, a career
member of the Foreign Service
Class of Counse lor who was
Executive Assistant to the Under
Secretary of State for Political
Af fairs from 2011 to 2015, was
announced by the White House
along with several other key admin
istration appointments.
"I am condent that these experi
enced and hardworking individuals
will help us tackle the important
challenges facing America, and I am
grateful for their service. I look for
ward to working with them," Obama
said. Lakhdhir served as the US
Consul General in Belfast, Northern
Ireland, United Kingdom from 2009
to 2011. She previously worked in
the Bureau of East Asian and Pacic
Affairs as the Director of the Ofce
Kamala Shirin Lakhdhir (Image courtesy: freemalaysiatoday.com)

of Maritime Southeast Asia from
2007 to 2009 and as the Special
Assistant to the Assistant Secretary
of State for East Asian and Pacic
Affairs from 2005 to 2006.
From 2001 to 2005, she was a
Political Ofcer at the US embassy
in Beijing. From 2000 to 2001, she
served as a Pearson Fellow in the
House Foreign Af fairs Committee,
Asia and the Pacic Subcommittee
and the House Financial Services
Committee, Monetary Policy and
Trade Subcommittee. Since joining
the Foreign Service in 1991,

Lakhdhir has also served as a
Political Ofcer in Indonesia and as
a Consular Ofcer in Saudi Arabia.
She received a BA from Harvard
College and an MS from the
National War College. Kamla's
father Noor Lakhdhir was born in
Mumbai in mid 1920s. He received
a scholarship to study at the
University of California, Berkeley
from where he graduated in 1952.
He later moved to New York City.
(PTI)
NATIONAL COMMUNITY
Indian origin exmarine saved several

lives in Orlando massacre
New York: A former US Marine sergeant of
Indian origin, Imran Yousuf, has been hailed
as a hero for saving scores of lives at a
Florida night club when a terrorist went on a
rampage killing 49 people.
W hen Yousuf, who was working as a
bouncer at the Pulse night club catering to
the gay community in Orlando, Florida, heard
the first gunshots his military experience
fighting in Afghanistan kicked in, according
to media reports. As everyone in the packed
night club froze in fear, he jumped up and at
personal risk opened a back door allowing
many people to escape.
He told CBS News television that as pan
icked people streamed to the back of the hall,
"I'm screaming 'Open the door! Open the
door!' And no one is moving because they are
scared."
"There was only one choice," he added in
the interview. "Either we all stay there and
we all die, or I could take the chance, and I
jumped over to open that latch a we got
When Imran Yousuf heard the first gunshots his military experience fighting in
Afghanistan kicked in. As everyone in the
packed night club froze in fear, he jumped
up and at personal risk opened a back
door allowing many people to escape.
(Image courtesy: bustle.com)
everyone that we can out of there."
Yousuf whose mother and grandmother
are Hindus risked his life because he could
have drawn the attention of Omar Mateen,
who had sworn loyalty to the Islamic State
and was carrying out the attack, considered
the worst mass shooting in US history.
Yousuf said his quick action saved 60 to 70
lives.
The network reported that he cried as he
said, "I wish I could have saved more to be
honest. There are a lot of people that are
30,000 expected at the Veggie

Fest in Chicago suburbs
Lisle, IL: Whether you are a vegetarian or
not, the 11th annual Veggie Fest is about
to make your taste buds happy. If you're
a vegetarian, you'll love knowing you can
eat something at every single booth in
the international food court. If you're
new to vegetarian food, you'll find some
thing that makes you say, "Wow, I didn't
know vegetarian food could be so good!"
Not eating dairy? No problem. You'll find
lots of vegan & raw food at Veggie Fest,
too.
The Caribbean Kitchen booth, a Veggie
Fest favorite, will be back to tempt you
with their tasty veggie chicken dishes
that people happily form long lines for
every year, and so will the popular booth
specializing in South Indian dosas crispy
lentil crepes filled with potatoes and
onions.
New dishes added to the food court this
year include Buddha Bowls, featuring
quinoa, brown rice, greens, and flavorful
sauces; Raw Pesto on Zucchini Noodles;
and Vegetarian Chili Dogs.
Fan of authentic ethnic food? You'll
appreciate the variety of vegetarian
entrees from the booths of fering Thai,
Chinese, Japanese, Indian, and Mexican
foods along with plenty of goodies kids
will love, too. For lighter fare, swing by

the organic salad booth or the vendors
blending up fruit smoothies and making
fresh juice to quench your thirst.
Whether you're into salty or sweet,
Veggie Fest has got you covered with
baked goods, iced cappuccinos, fresh
fruits, and young coconuts cracked open
right in front of you, in addition to
nachos, fries, and veggie kabobs straight
off the grill.
With the huge international food court;
health professionals speaking on diet,
lifestyle, and environmental issues;
engaging food demos by restaurant own
ers, chefs, and authors; an incredible chil
dren's tent with face painting, clowns,
and crafts; live music from some of
Chicago's best bands; and over 100 ven
dor booths to explore, it's easy to see why
over 30,000 people from around the
world attended the twoday Veggie Fest
last year.
Held on the grounds of the Science of
Spirituality Meditation Center, 4045 N.
Naperville, Rd., Lisle, IL, 60532 on July
23 and 24 from 11am to 8pm each day,
Veggie Fest is a weekend of family fun
with something for everyone. Admission
and parking are both free.
dead"
And Yousuf has been modest, brushing off
the praises as a hero. Marine Corps Times
newspaper reported on its web site that
Yousuf posted on his Facebook page, "There
are a lot of people naming me a hero and as a
former Marine and Afghan veteran I honestly
believe I reacted by instinct. ... While it might
seem that my actions are heroic I decided
that the others around me needed to be
saved as well and so I just reacted."
The newspaper said that he had left the
Marine Corps just last month.

CBS News identified Yousuf as a Hindu and
his name caused some confusion. California
based newspaper India West, which inter
viewed his uncle, clarified that his mother
and paternal grandmother are Hindus and he
identifies with their religion. His family emi
grated from Guyana, where his ancestors had
gone from India.
The Daily Gazette of Schenectady, New
York, reported that he grew up in the nearby
town of Niskayuna and joined the Marine
Corps soon after he finished high school at
the age of 17 and served in both Afghanistan
and Iraq.
His brother, Ameer Yousuf, told the news
paper, "This was so unexpected but because
of my brother's training in the Marine Corps,
he was prepared and used strategies from
that to do everything he did."
Marine Corps Times said he had been
awarded the Navy and Marine Corps
Achievement Medal during his service.
Dr Raj Shah conferred

prestigious engineering award
ing sector. Tribology
New
York:
T he
which is derived from
International Society of
the Greek word "tribos
Tribology
and
is the study of friction
Lubrication Engineers,
and wear.
(STLE) announced
Dr. Shah, who has been
recently that it has ele
involved with STLE since
vated Dr. Raj Shah, to
when he was in graduate
the coveted grade of
Dr Raj Shah
school at Penn State
Fellow at its Institute.
In its 71 year history, where it has during University, many decades ago, and is current
those years had over 35000 members, ly a Director at the corporate headquarters of
less than 175 members have been given Koehler Instrument company in Holtsville,
this honor, which is less than 0.5 % of its NY. He is very well renowned, in the field of
petroleum testing equipment, tribology and
membership.
STLE only confers the grade of Fellow, laboratory analytical instrumentation for the
rarely, when the candidate's accomplish oil and gas industry and has held various
ments are way beyond those normally leadership positions within various profes
expected of the average scientist or engineer sional organizations over the years.
A previous recipient of the ASTM Award of
in tribology and lubrication engineering. It
also states that the candidate should be rec Excellence thrice in his career so far, and the
ognized as an outstanding authority, as ASTM Eagle award, (a singularly rare honor),
shown by his/her patents, books or articles he is also involved in working closely with sev
published, or papers presented, or because eral Universities and is on the industrial advi
he/she has been responsible for nationally sory board at: The Department of Chemical
known improvements in the field. Society of Engineering at the State University of New
Tribology and Lubrication Engineers (STLE) York, Stony Brook, The School of Engineering,
is the premier international technical society Design, Technology and Professional pro
currently serving the needs of numerous grams (SEDTAPP) at Pennsylvania State
engineers and scientist as well as a number University, and the Samuel Ginn College of
of companies and organizations that com engineering, Tribology and lubrication science
prise the tribology and lubrication engineer minor at the University of Auburn.
US AFFAIRS
Trump & Hillary exchange barbs in speeches

New York: Donald Trump
uncorked a series of blistering
attacks on Demo crat Hillary
Clinton on Wednesday as the
Republican seeks to
regain his footing in
the president ial
race, calling her
the most cor
rupt
person
ever to seek the
presidency.
Speaking soon
after in North
Carolina, Mrs.
Clinton veered
from a planned
speech about the economy
to rebut his volley of attacks and
make a rare defense of the work of
the Clinton Foundation.
She soug ht to explain Mr.
Trumps focus on her character
and career as a tactic meant to
divert attention from what she
described as his own lack of policy
plans. He has no real strategy for
creating jobsjust a string of
empty promises, she said. And
maybe we shouldnt expect better
from someone whose most famous

words are, Youre fired.
Mr. Trump, in one of his first
major addresses of the general
election, accused Mrs.
Clinton of using
her post as
secretary of
State dur
i
n
g
President
B a r a c k
Obamas
first term to
enrich herself.
He also said her
policies destabilized the
Middle East and North Africa,
and he took issue with the speak
ing fees and contributions to their
familys charitable foundation

from Wall Street and foreign gov
ernments that she and her hus
band, former President Bill
Clinton, accepted.
H i l l a r y
Clinton has
perfected the
polit ics of
personal profit
and
even
the ft,
Mr.
Trump told an
audience
of
about 100 people
at a New York
hote l bearing his
name. She ran the
State Department like her own
personal hedge fund, doing favors
In latest polls,
Hillary Clinton is
leading Donald
Trump 42% to 38%.
Trump breaks for Scotland

is campaign is desperately short of cash and Republican
leaders are demanding that he demonstrate he can run a
serious general election campaign. But, Donald J. Trump
left the campaign trail on Thursday to travel to Scotland for two
days to promote a golf course his company purchased there.
Normally when presidential contenders travel abroad, they do so
to burnish their foreign policy credentials, cramming their sched
ules with highlevel meetings with foreign dignitaries and opining
on the pressing international issues of the day. Nothing of that
sort has been planned for Trump who will land there soon after
the Brexit vote.
for oppressive regimes, and many

othersin exchange for cash, pure
and simple.
Asked for response, Glen Caplin,
a Clinton campaign spokesman,
said Mr. Trump was offering lies
and nutty conspiracy theories to
distract from economic policies
that, he said, would cause a reces
sion. Donald Trump continues to
prove that he is unqualified and
unfit to be president, he said. Mrs.
Clinton included several refer
ences to her Methodist faith in her
speech, a day after Mr. Trump told
Ryan adjourns House but Dems

to continue gun control fight
Washington: Democratic law
makers vowed Thursday morn
ing to cont inue their bold
attempt to force votes in the
House of Representatives on
guncontrol
even
after
Republicans formally adjourned
for a longscheduled recess.
Almost 24 hours after it began,
a small band of Democratic law
makers remained in the well of
the House Chamber, some
wrapped in blankets and grip
ping paper cof fee cups, lashing
out at Republicans for rebuffing
calls for a debate on guns by
ending legislative business until
after Independence Day.
Were not taking a break from
this ef fort, House Minority
Leader Nancy Pelosi (DCalif.)
told about a dozen colleagues
after 7 a.m. We will not rest.
Whether Democrats planned
to continue their sitin until the
House formally reconvenes on
Led by civil
rights icon
John Lewis, the
dramatic sitin
of Democratic
members of
Congress on
the House floor
entered second
day Thursday.
July 5 or find a way Thursday to

end the dramatic spectacle was
unclear. Top Democratic leaders
planned to convene later in the
morning to confer about what to
do, aides said.
House Speaker Paul D. Ryan
(RWis.)
dismissed
the
Democratic maneuvers as a
publicity stunt. He brie fly
retook control of the chamber
Wednesday evening and again
early
T hursday.
House
Democrats are seeking votes on

two bills that they say would
prevent suspected terrorists
from buying firearms, similar to
legislation rejected Monday by
the
Senate.
But
House
Republicans have declined to
hold votes on guncontrol meas
ures since retaking control of the
chamber in 2011, only allowing
a vote in 2013 to renew an
expiring ban on plastic firearms.
The Democratic sitin began at
11:29 a.m. Wednesday and

included more than 100 law
makers who squatted on the
floor of the chamber or sat
watching as colleagues recount
ed incidents of gun violence
from their home districts. At sev
eral points they waved signs
with the names of gun violence
victims, or sang protest songs
like, We Shall Overcome.
Television cameras normally
used to broadcast House pro
ceedings went dark for most of
the day, keeping with rules pro
hibiting live broadcasts when the
chamber is in recess. Scrambling
to fulfill its duties as a nonparti
san chronicler of congressional
af fairs, CSPAN and other
broadcasters later in the day
relied instead on video feeds
from the smartphones of several
lawmakers, who used Facebook
and Periscope to beam the
WaPO
speeches to the world.
a group of social conservatives

that we dont know anything
about Hillary in terms of religion.
All he can do is try to distract us.
Thats even why hes attacking my
faith, she said.
Mr. Trumps remarks marked his
campaigns latest attempt to show
that he can unify a Republican
Party that is increasingly worried
about his comportment, his small
campaign organization and an
embryonic finance team that has
lagged far behind Mrs. Clintons
WSJ
fundraising efforts.
Rubio reenters
Senate race
Washington: Florida Senator Marco
Rubio announced Wednesday that he
would in fact
run again for
his Senate
seat
after
months of
continually
dismissing
the idea.
T he news
was univer
sally welcomed by fellow Republicans
worried about maintaining their Senate
majority and who see Rubio as the best
candidate to hold onto that seat as the
incumbent.
Rubio starts his reelection campaign
immediately on the defensive, having
to explain almost an entire year of
statements about his disdain for the
Senate and that he would not seek
reelection while running for president.
He has also been absent at many
Senate votes. His current calculation is
said to be the fact that for his 2020 or
2024 presidential run, he will be better
served as a Senator than as a private
person.
10
COMMENT
Heart and Brain Harken to Times Gone:

2016, AN ELECTORAL TWISTER
By Ravi Batra
e live in such interesting

and excit ing t imes
which timetested Chinese
wisdom says ought be avoided on
penalty of being cursed. Dickens,
however would be in his glory, and
say, "It was the best of times, it was
the worst of times, it was the age of
wisdom, it was the age of foolish
ness, it was the epoch of belief, it
was the epoch of incredulity, it was
the season of Light, it was the sea
son of Darkness, it was the spring
of hope, it was the w inter of
despair, we had everything before
us, we had nothing before us, we
were all going direct to Heaven, we
were all going direct the other way
in short, the period was so far
like the present period, that some
of its noisiest authorities insisted
on its being received, for good or
for evil, in the superlative degree
of comparison only." Wow, reading
that gem of timely wisdom leaves
one breathless!
Two dozen candidates started
out seeking POTUS 45; all are gone
from this wretched and ignoble
2016 race except Trump, Hillary
and Bernie. Just last week, Russia's
president Putin charmingly told
CNN's Fareed Zakaria that the
United States is the sole
Superpower. The world's nations'
geopolitical calculus is in a tizzy
unable to even rely upon Jimmy
the Greek in Vegas, as nobody
knows what will be.
Of them, Hillary has broken the
Final Glass Ceiling as the presump
tive Democratic Nominee. Hillary
of course is beyond experienced in
world and domestic affairs, given
her tenure of public service and
her engaging in same as a happy
cook does in a kitchen: with aban
Hillary Clinton is beyond experienced in world and domestic affairs,

given her long tenure of public service.
(Photo: Mohammed Jaffer/IANS)
don, to whip up an exciting meal.
Of course, the clean up of the "dust
up" is a job for others. Its worth
noting that after Barack Obama
absolved us of our original Sin
slavery by being elected as the
present day lofty Mark Anthony
he met with Bernie in the Oval
Of fice and issued a most moving
video endorsement of Hillary
across the cold digital divide, sans
the glow and warmth of a June Day
in the Rose Garden, standing shoul
der to shoulder, as he did with the
everloveable Joe Biden, the natu
ral champion of the Middle Class.
Undeniable, is that Bernie has lit
the imagination of millions upon
millions of Americans who feel that
their American Dream was defal
cated while Wall Street and other
Power & Money centers in USA got
obese, repeatedly, beyond AIG's
Credit Swaps, with TARP money
trillions of dollars taken from beat
up Main Street and the perpetual
Poor, itself a sin in America, for
Wall Street. The same Wall Street,
Arrested Briton 'wanted

to shoot Trump'
Washington: A Briton who tried to
grab a police officer's gun at pre
sumptive Republican nominee
Donald Trump's rally in Las Vegas
said he wanted to shoot the billion
aire, court papers said.
Michael Steven Sandford, 20,
who is charged with an act of vio
lence "on restricted grounds", did
not enter a plea when he appeared
before a judge in Nevada and was
remanded in custody until a hear
ing on July 5, BBC reported.
Sandford had tried to seize the
gun after saying he was seeking
Trump's autograph at Saturday's
rally.
The man said he was planning
and trying to shoot Trump for
about a year but had decided to act

now because he finally felt confi
dent enough to do so, papers said.
When asked about Sandford's
arrest, a Foreign Office spokesman
said: "We are providing assistance
following an arrest of a British
national in Las Vegas."
T he US presidential election
campaign of 2016 has been
fringed with violence. Trump
attracts protests almost every
where he goes.
For some, the violence has
stirred dark memories of 1968
when Democratic presidential con
tender Robert Kennedy was assas
sinated and riots broke out at the
party's convention in Chicago.
which crashed the world's econo

my in 2007 and did a Harry
Houdini act with every American's
401k and had homeequity go
deep sea diving; conduct unbecom
ing a person with honor, if not out
right criminally of fensive. Bernie
supporters want the 1789 Viva La
France "guillotined heads" from
our institutions of government. Of
Unique to Donald Trump is that he has earned a very lofty status

during this campaign: The Teflon Tongue. (Photo: IANS)
ed to permit deliberation, rather
than mere mobrule that is emo
tiondriven or emotionally excited
to silly heights and depths. Luckily,
we have circuit breakers beyond
the ballot box, as in the Electoral
College. The Two Party system is
another circuit breaker. The media,
when it functions properly, is
another circuit breaker. However,
I WANT AN AMERICAN PRESIDENT

WORTHY OF THE AMERICAN
CITIZENRY: HARDWORKING,
LOYAL, AND HONORABLE.
course, Bernie sits waiting to be
asked to speak in Philadelphia and
be crowned the Hard Working
American's Champ, as well as wait
ing for Straight Arrow FBI Director
James Comey, of AshcroftAlberto
Gonzales fame recorded by Preet
Bharara as Chuck Schumer's Chief
Counsel, and fearlessly Impartial
AG Loretta Lynch who will do
what the law demands and her
Honorbased Oath.
The question everyone wonders,
will lightening actually strike, but
more importantly, will it strike
before July 25th. Law, it should be
known, is at its best when it
ignores human and political calcu
lus of selfgain, and does what it
must, or not at all, if it can't.
Human honor, dif fers from Law's
honor; the former is more compas
sionate by comparison.
I pause to recall with emphasis
that when the late great Socrates
walked the Agora and frustrated
the powerful in the direct democ
racy that was Athens, his reward
for seeking accountability of gov
ernment was a doubleHemlock
death syrup for a frail 70year old
who merely asked, "Why?" Our
democracy has discovered that
representative democracy is need
since the Arab Spring, social media

has done to mainstream media
what the atomic bomb did to
Hiroshima. In case my point is
unclear, let me state it thusly:
social media can take representa
tive democracy and make it act like
direct democracy of Athens.
And then there is Trump; the
OMG candidate for president of
these United States. In a civilian
businessman capacity, he loved
being called The Donald. Now, it is
the distant: Mr. Trump. The Trump
candidacy, if it can be called that,
when it's actually a mudfest, is a
perfect recipe for social media to
love or hate, but never ignore.
Unique to Trump is that he has
earned a very lofty status during
this campaign: The Teflon Tongue.
Ask any politician and they will
give up both legs and arms to be so
blessed by the electorate.
It took Ronald Reagan all the
way past the IranContra affair in
1986 to win the Teflon President
title. Recall as you must, that in the
Carolinas on the same day Donald
Trump called Pope Francis disgust
ing, because the Pope deems a
good Christian to build bridges not
walls of separation, and later the
same evening Trump professed his
love and respect for Pope Francis

while attacking the media for mis
reporting the Pope. All that aside,
is it not amazing that Donald
Trump has electrified a slice of
Americana that yearns for the
America of yesteryears when
political correctness did not hide
the evil that can lurk in a human
heart, but allowed it to flourish in
broad daylight proudly.
The ultimate question each of us
must answer is this: as a citizen of
the most exceptional nation in
human history, which has guaran
teed freedom of speech, press,
association and religion, and an
unending pursuit of happiness,
must such a great nation serve
only the selfish needs of one man
or one woman or one family, or
must it continue to be the beacon
in human history that it is strong,
compassionate, daring, defiant, dis
ruptive, innovative, welcoming,
confident, fearless, and other
attributes of human heroes across
the globe have defined by their
deeds over time for that is what
America is and what every
American can be.
I want an American President
worthy of the American citizenry:
hardworking, loyal, and honor
able.
Oh, there is one ultimate circuit
breaker in our great representative
democracy, a nation of laws: the
law itself. What government does
not know how to do properly or
justly, or refuses to do at all, the
law will make it so.
T h e
writer is
eminent
attorney
a n d
member
o
f
National
Advisory
Council for South Asian Affairs.
India well prepared for

'Brexit': Finance Ministry
New Delhi: The Finance Ministry
was closely watching the develop
ments surrounding the referen
dum in Britain on the country's
continuity in the European Union
and India was well prepared to
handle any eventuality, a top offi
cial said.
"If Brexit happens, India is
ready,"
Economic
Af fairs
Secretary Shaktikanta Das tweet
ed. "Brexit vote today. We are
closely tracking developments in
UK. India we ll prepared," he
added, referring to the crucial
vote.
Industry chambers have been
asking the government to keep a
contingency plan ready for Brexit.
"As a key emerging market and
the one which is being preferred
by the global fund managers,
India could witness wild fluctua
tions or large outflows in sync
with an overall trend," Assocham
said in a statement. "That is some
thing to watch for."T he
Confederation of Indian Industry
(CII) pointed to the fact that India
Britain ranks 12th in terms of India's bilateral trade with individual countries.
invests more in the UK than in the
rest of Europe combined, and has
emerged as the that country's
third largest foreign direct
investor. "Access to European
markets is therefore a key driver
for Indian companies coming to
the UK." Britain ranks 12th in
terms of India's bilateral trade
with individual countries. It is
also among just seven in 25 top
countries with which India enjoys
a trade surplus. According
Commerce Ministry data, India's
INDIA
trade with Britain was worth

$14.02 billion in 201516, of
which $8.83 billion was in
exports and $5.19 was in
imports. The trade balance thus
was a positive $3.64 billion. Ficci
also said Britain's exit from the
European Union would create
considerable uncertainty for
Indian businesses engaged with
the UK and would possibly have
an adverse impact on investment
and movement of professionals to
that country.
11
Maurya quits BSP, Mayawati

says good riddance
Lucknow: In a major blow to the
BSP, senior leader Swamy
Prasad Maurya quit the party. In
no time, BSP leader Mayawati
hit back, saying she was anyway
planning to expel him.
Maurya, leader of the opposi
tion in the Uttar Pradesh assem
bly, said he felt "suffocated" as
Mayawati was "selling" party
tickets and had given up the
principles and ideology of party
founder Kanshi Ram.
Maurya, however, thanked
Mayawati for giving him plum
posts in the party and said he
had discussed issues that were
worry ing him w ith her but
found that she was not interest
ed in course correction.
A national vicepresident of
the Bahujan Samaj Party,
Maurya's resignation is widely
seen as a major blow to the Dalit
party which is aiming to return
to power in the 2017 Uttar
Pradesh assembly polls.
Maurya said he would disclose
his future strategy in some days.
Addressing a hurriedly con
vened press conference, min
Swami Prasad Maurya

utes after Maurya announced
his decision, Mayawati rebutted
his charges and said he had
been trying to get ticket for his
son and daughter.
When she said 'no', Maurya
quit the party, she alleged.
"He has been seeking ticket
for his family for the 2017
assembly polls. I had relented
on the advise of party col
leagues in 2012 but both his
children lost," she said.
Mayawati said the party was
going to expel him very soon
and it was good he had quit on
his own.
Parliament's monsoon Shiv Sena wants Salman to apologize

session likely in third
week of July
New Delhi: The monsoon ses
sion of Parliament is likely to
begin in the third week of July
with the government expected
to press for passage of the cru
cial GST Bill which is pending in
the Rajya Sabha. "The session is
likely to start between July 18
to July 21. The exact date will
be decided by the Cabinet
Committee on Parliamentary
Af fairs, which is expected to
meet on June 29," an of ficial
said.
The BJP is expected to give a
renewed push to the Goods and
Services Tax (GST) Bill after its
numbers have marginally gone
up in the Rajya Sabha during
the biennial elections to the
upper house last month. The
party has also gained political
momentum after its victory in

the Assam assembly polls. Some
political parties have also indi
cated support for the GST.
The Lok Sabha cleared the
GST Bill in May 2015 but it is
stuck in the Rajya Sabha, where
the government does not have
adequate numbers to see it
through.
After a meet ing of the
Empowered Group of Ministers
on GST in Kolkata, Finance
Minister Arun Jaitley had said,
"Virtually every state has sup
ported the idea of a GST. One
state, that is Tamil Nadu, said it
has some reservations... But
they have also said how to
make it implementable." The
session is expected to last for
about a month.
Mumbai: Lambasting Salman Khan for his remark

that he felt like a raped woman after the grueling
shoot of a film, the Shiv Sena urged directors to boy
cott the star till he tenders an unconditional apolo
gy. He has a destructive nature from the beginning.
He shoots endangered animals, kills people living on
footpaths and now this (remark on rape). People still,
ironically, consider him a hero, Sena spokesperson
Manisha Kayande said. Meanwhile, a case was regis
tered in Kanpur and Lucknow courts on Thursday
against Salman Khan for the statement.
Social activist Rafat Jamaal, in a petition filed before
the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) in Lucknow has
asked for legal action against the actor for the state
ment which showed "disrespect to rape victims" and
also "revived the ugly memories of such heinous
crimes".
The CJM has asked the petitioner by the end of the
day to prove why and how is the matter tenable to the
court in Lucknow. In a related development, a lawyer
Manoj Kumar Dixit has filed a petition in the
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM)
IIIrd's court in Kanpur seeking action against the
actor. "Freedom of expression in the country does not
allow sentiments to be hurt in this manner" the
lawyer told IANS while explaining the reason behind
filing the case.
Salman Khan had irked his fans and people across
Salman Khan.
the country by a statement, given in response to a
question by a reporter on how he felt doing the stren
uous shooting of Sultan, where he plays a wrestler.
Khan responded by saying that "he felt like a raped
woman...he could bare ly stand straig ht after
the shoot."
12
INDIA
INDIA LAUNCHES 20 SATELLITES AT ONE GO!

Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh): India
has successfully put into orbit its
own Cartosat earth observation
satellite and 19 other satellites,
including one belonging to the
Google company Terra Bella.
With this, India successfully com
pleted yet another multiple satellite
launch in a single rocket mission.
"The PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch
Vehicle) rocket has done its job. We
have current generation Cartosat
sate llite," A.S. Kiran Kumar,
Chairman, Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO), said soon after
the launch.
Exactly at 9.26 a.m. the PSLV
rocket standing 44.4 metres tall
and weighing 320 tonne tore into
the morning skies with fierce
orange flames at its tail.
Gathering speed every second the
rocket raced towards the heavens
amidst the cheers of the ISRO offi
cials and the media team assembled
at the rocket port here.
Just over 17 minutes into the
flight, the PSLV rocket ejected
Cartosat at an altitude of around
515 km.
It was followed by the two other
With this, India successfully completed yet another multiple satellite

launch in a single rocket mission.
Indian sate llites the 1.5 kg
Sathyabamasat from Sathyabama
University that would collect data
on green house gases and the 1 kg
Swayam satellite from College of
Engineering, Pune, to provide point
topoint messaging services to the
HAM radio community.
Soon the other satellites were put
into orbit.
It was the first time that ISRO
launched 20 satellites with one
Will suspend demand

that Subramanian be
sacked: Swamy
BJP leader Subramanian Swamy.

New Delhi: BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on June 23 said he
will "suspend" his demand that Chief Economic Advisor (CEA)
Arvind Subramanian be sacked and wait for events to bear out
his allegations against the latter.
"If BJP Union government says that we know all about AS
(Arvind Subramanian) but still he is an asset, then I will sus
pend my demand and wait for events to prove truth," Swamy
posted on Twitter.
Earlier, Swamy had launched an attack on Arvind
Subramanian suggesting that the CEA had all along been help
ing the United States in its economic relations with India and
demanded that he be sacked.
Swamy's personalized attack on Arvind Subramanian led the
government to defend the CEA who was appointed in October
2014.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said he and the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) did not share Swamys view.
While "suspending" his demand that the CEA be sacked,
Swamy continued to suggest that Arvind Subramanian was
working against Indian interests.
He tweeted: "AS (Arvind Subramanian) to US Congress: "US
initiatives by discriminating against India companies and
exporters will exert pressure on India to open up" AS
13/3/13!."
rocket.
In 2008, the ISRO had launched
10 satellites with the PSLV rocket.
With the success of Wednesday's
rocket mission, India has success
fully launched 74 satellites for
international customers.
ISRO scientists received a deluge
of congratulatory messages from
different leaders following the suc
cessful launch.
Congratulating the ISRO scien
tists, President Pranab Mukherjee

said: "I understand that images
received from the Cartosat2 satel
lite will be useful in providing
scenespecific spot imagery that can
be used for detailed mapping and
other cartographic applications as
we ll as applications in Land
Information System (LIS) and
Geographical Information System
(GIS)."
"20 satellites in a go! ISRO contin
ues to break new barriers. Hearty
congratulations to our scientists on
the monumental accomplishment,"
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.
"The fact that of the 20, 17 satel
lites belonged to foreign vendors,
including that from the US and
Google, speaks volumes about the
leaps in progression that ISRO has
taken since its inception in 1960s,"
Congress President Sonia Gandhi
said, and extended her good wishes
to ISRO Chairman Kumar.
T he PSLV's main cargo was
India's 725.5 kg Cartosat2 series
satellite for earth observation with
a design life of five years.
This satellite is similar to the ear
lier Cartosat2, 2A and 2B.
The other 19 satellites weighing

totally around 560 kg are from US,
Canada, Germany and Indonesia as
well as one satellite each from
Chennai's Sathyabama University
and College of Engineering, Pune.
The entire mission was over in
around 26 minutes.
According to ISRO, the 110 kg
SkySat Gen21 belonging to Terra
Bella, a Google company, is a small
earth imaging satellite capable of
capturing submetre resolution
imagery and high definition video.
The Planet Lab's Dove Satellites
are also earth imaging satellites. A
total of 12 Dove satellites each
weighing 4.7 kg were carried in this
mission inside three QuadPack dis
pensers, ISRO said.
"We are in discussions with
Planet Labs and other companies
for the launch of their satellites," S.
Rakesh, Director, ISRO Propulsion
Centre and Chairmancum
Managing Director of Antrix
Corporation told reporters here
after the launch.
Antrix Corporation is the com
mercial arm of the Indian Space
Research Organisation (ISRO).
Kamat withdraws resignation

from Congress party
New Delhi: Bowing to persuasion
from the party high command, for
mer union minister and fivetime Lok
Sabha member from Mumbai
Gurudas Kamat on June 23 said he is
withdrawing his resignation from the
Cong ress party. In a statement,
Kamat said he would continue to
serve under the leadership of hon
ourable Congress President Sonia
Gand hi and honourable Vice
President Rahul Gandhi.
Kamat resigned on June 6, but the
party high command did not accept
his resignation and senior party lead
ers tried to persuade him to with
draw the resignation and continue to
work in the party.
I had about two weeks ago sent my
Gurudas Kamat.".
resignation as general secretary of
All India Congress Committee and
from the Congress party purely for
personal reasons, to concentrate on
social service minus any party tag,

Kamat said in a statement.
A senior party leader, who spoke to
IANS on condition of anonymity, had
said that Kamat was unhappy over
the way some issues had been han
dled by Mumbai Cong ress chie f
Sanjay Nirupam and party general
secretary Mohan Prakash, who is in
charge of the Congress af fairs in
Maharashtra.
A former Mumbai Congress presi
dent for two terms, Kamat, 61, has
deep knowledge of the city politics
and his absence could have proved
detrimental for the party which is
hoping to capture the Brihanmumbai
Municipal Corporation in next year's
critical elections.
AAP wants Jung arrested over

NDMC officer's murder
New Delhi: T he AAP on June 23
demanded the sacking and arrest of
Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung and two
BJP leaders in connection with the
murder of an NDMC officer.
Aam Aadmi Party leader Raghav
Chadha said that emerging facts
revealed that Jung and BJP's
Maheish Girri and Kanwar Singh
Tanwar were linked to the May 16
murder of M.M. Khan.
"They should be arrested," Chadha
told the media.
The AAP also sought an impartial

probe into the entire episode, in
which police have arrested a hotelier
for alleged links to the killing of
Khan, who reportedly rejected a
bribe to settle a case in the hotelier's
favour.
Khan, who was with the New Delhi
Municipal Council (NDMC), was shot
dead outside his home by unidenti
fied gunmen.
Chadha said Delhi Police should
immediately stop reporting to Jung
as no impartial probe would be pos

sible as long as the Lt. Governor
remained in charge of the police.
"The Lt. Governor should resign
immediately... Or the central govern
ment should sack him. T he LG
should also be arrested (and) investi
gated," the AAP leader said.
Both Girri, a MP, and Tanwar, a for
mer legislator, have repeatedly
denied any involvement in Khan's
murder and accused the AAP of mak
ing baseless charges.
OP-ED
13
INDIA NEEDS TO RECALIBRATE

NSG STANCE
By C. Uday Bhaskar
hina has just tipped its hand
in relation to India ahead of
the Nuclear Suppliers Group
(NSG) plenary in Seoul on June
24.
An oped in the Global Times
titled 'India mustn't let nuclear
ambitions blind itself ' gravely
noted: "Beijing insists that a pre
requisite of New Delhi's entry is
that must be a signatory to the
NonProliferation Treaty, (NPT)
while India is not. Despite
acknowledging this legal and sys
tematic requirement, the Indian
media called China's stance
obstructionist." This brief com
ment is the first semiof ficial
articulation of China on the NSG
and predictably obfuscates the
issue.
In making this assertion about
the NPT, Beijing is being charac
teristically innovative and artful
in how it first distorts and then
presents various facts specific to
the nuclear domain. Having based
its objection to India's admission
to the NSG on the charge that
India is a nonsignatory to the
NPT , the oped (and by extension
New Delhi will have to review its own approach to the NSG and the
political capital it wishes to expend in the runup to Seoul.
Beijing) glosses over the fact that
there is a precedent which could
be cited to advance the Indian
case.
T he NSG was conceived in
November 1975 as a response to
India's peaceful nuclear explosion
of May 1974 and the original
seven participating governments
(not members) were Britain,
Canada, France, Japan, the Soviet
Union, the United States and West
Germany. At the time, France was
not a signatory to the NPT though
it was a nuclear weapons state
but was part of the NSG. And, for

the record, Paris formally acceded
to the NPT only in August 1992.
The NSG operates as an infor
mal group that has certain guide
lines. The participating govern
ments have identified five factors
for those nations seeking to join
the group.
Being a signatory to the NPT is
one of the factors and may be
desirable but, as the example of
France has demonstrated, it is no
bar to admission.
The oped further avers that
Beijing is convinced that the US

"supply of nuclear technologies to
enhance India's deterrence capa
bility is to put China in check".
This again is counterfactual for
the entire USIndia nuclear coop
eration agreement mooted in
2005 and completed in late 2008
is only about the civilian nuclear
spectrum and is totally nonmili
tary in nature.
China's artfulness and recourse
to embroidered facts is embedded
in the righteous anxiety it seeks
to convey about an IndiaPakistan
nuclear arms race an exigency
that it posits as "a likely outcome"
in the event India is admitted into
the NSG.
The oped continues about the
nuclear race: "This will not only
paralyze regional security, but
also jeopardize China's national
interests." And the coup de grace
that burnishes the Chinese halo of
nuclear chastity is the allegation
that India has little concern for
regional security imperatives and
that "South Asia is still facing the
harsh reality that the region is
mired in nuclear confrontation".
Facts again point to another
narrative. Asia was weaponized in
a nuclear sense when China deto

nated its first atomic weapon in
October 1964 albeit with help
from Moscow. At the t ime,
Chairman Mao was disparaging of
nuclear deterrence and boasted
that even if the US were to use its
weapons against China, there
would still be a million Chinese
citizens who would rebuild the
country.
For India to be admitted at the
Seoul plenary (June 24), consen
sus among the 48member NSG is
required. This may not be forth
coming for Pakistan has also
made a similar application with
strong Chinese support. Many
NSG members are extreme ly
uneasy about the NWETA.Q.
Khan DNA of the Pakistan military
and a decision on enhancing the
group may be deferred.
China is unlikely to alter its cur
rent orientation about the South
Asian nuclear framework which
is to keep India in extended dise
quilibrium. In the face of such
cynical realpolitik, New Delhi will
have to review its own approach
to the NSG and the political capi
tal it wishes to expend in the run
up to Seoul.
Benign origins of ISIS until it rose to

catastrophic heights
By Saeed Naqvi
ince 1991 the West has been
involved in wars, big and small,
almost continuously. W hat
have been our sources of informa
tion on, say, Darfur, or Kunduz,
Helmand, Kosovo, Yemen and the
running battlefields of Iraq, Libya,
Syria or Yemen and scores of other
theatres? Oh, we do not care. Then
why would anyone need us the High
Table? In most instances our
sources have been the same either
the US media or, in a roundabout
way, Western intelligence.
What really happened was what I
saw. And it was quite different.
On April 3, the US troops had
entered Baghdad. The CNN and BBC
coverage of the troops entering
Baghdad was riveting. Obviously,
Vice President Dick Cheney, a mas
termind of the Iraq operation, also
found the TV coverage heady.
He, and his cohorts, must have
realized that this high pitch excite
ment could not be sustained forev
er. An event had to be televised
which signalled American victory.
What could be more telegenic than

the pulling down of Saddam
Hussains statue in Baghdads
Firdous square?
The message would be uplifting.
Freed by the Americans, a people,
groaning under a tyrants yoke have
risen and torn down the iconic stat
ue. But, in implementing the idea,
Americans sensed a problem.
People, it turned out, had not arisen.
How could victory then be choreo
graphed without the peoples partic
ipation? Baathist control over the
people in Baghdad was iron clad.
That was one reason for people not
celebrating Saddams fall.
The other, deeper reason surfaced
when the Americans, without any
long term vision, replaced the
Baathist power structure in
Baghdad with a Shia one. People
who were really freed by
Saddams removal were the Shias in
the South and East 65 percent of
Iraq.
US officials in Iraq did some quick
thinking. Shia clerics like Ayatullah
Baqar al Hakeem and Muqtada Sadr
were urgently contacted. Sadr, scion
of a respected clerical order, had

mesmeric control on the large Shia
ghetto on the outskirts of Baghdad
known as Saddam city. Shia
refugees from the south had been
settled here after an uprising in
1992 which was brutally crushed
by Saddam Hussain. Surely, this lot
would have reasons to celebrate
Saddams fall.
When Baghdad citizens did not
come out to he lp bring down
Saddams statue, requests went out
to the Shia clerics to mobilize
crowds. A twopronged strategy was
devised: a US armoured carrier
would help pull down the statue
with the help of a rope around the
statues neck. Footage, from a low
angle, would make the hotel staff,
journalists, hangers on look like a
burgeoning crowd. But that would
not amount to jeering mobs? Well,
they would have to be driven from
the Shia ghetto.
Overnight, the ghetto was
renamed Sadr city in gratitude to
Muqtada Sadr. That is when Shia
crowds came onto the streets of
Baghdad, beating Saddam Hussains
The cat and mouse that is going on with the ISIS in Fallujah is part of
this sequence on which more later.
photographs with shoes. Tabarrah
or cursing the enemy is a old Shia
tradition.
A Shia Iraq having a 1,500 km
border with Iran, which then was on
the brink of a major breakthrough
with the US, was a source of great
anxiety to two steadfast US allies
Israel and Saudi Arabia.
T homas Friedman of the New
York Times asked President Obama
in in August 2014 why the US Air
Force had not attacked the ISIS
when it first reared its head. By his
response, Obama gave the game
The views expressed in Op Eds are not necessarily those of The South Asian Times.
away: That we did not just start

taking a bunch of air strikes all
across Iraq as soon as ISIL came in
was because we would have taken
the pressure of f Nouri al Maliki.
The ISIS was an asset then.
Nouri al Maliki was shown the
door in September 2014 and a US
handpicked Prime Minister, Haider
al Abadi, was ushered in.
By this time ISIS had acquired a
life of its own.
The cat and mouse that is going
on with the ISIS in Fallujah is part of
this sequence on which more later.
14
OP-ED
PUNJAB DRUG ADDICTION:

16% or as Badal Jr claims 0.06%?
By Charu Bahri
ut of the 2.77 crore popula

tion of the state, only 0.06
per cent was found abusing
drugs, which is the lowest percent
age across the nation," said Punjab
Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir
Singh Badal in February 2016, cit
ing a 2015 study as he criticized
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal
for projecting Punjab as a drug
haven.
But Badal's response misquotes
the 2015 study (conducted by the
Society for Promotion of Youth &
Masses, an NGO, in collaboration
with the National Drug Dependence
Treatment Centre, AIIMS).
The 2015 study "was not about
all drugs, but just one type of drug
opioids, which means products of
the opium plant, such as heroin and
morphine, or synthetic drugs, which
af fect the body like opium", said
lead investigator Atul Ambekar of
the above quoted AIIMS depart
ment. "The WHO describes these
drugs other than opioids (and
tobacco and alcohol) that may cause
dependence: cannabis, sedatives,
hallucinogens, cocaine and amphet
amine type stimulants, and
inhalants." The study interviewed a
sample of 3,620 opioiddependent
people to estimate that Punjab has
232,000 opioiddependents. It also
said there may be up to 860,000
The censorship controversy over Udta Punjab has exposed drugs as

the burning problem in the state today.
opioid users in the state though this
was not a stated aim.
The AIIMS finding translates to
837 opioiddependents per
100,000 people in Punjab, or 0.84
per cent of the state's 28 million
population. This alone is more than
three times as much as the corre
sponding allIndia figure for all
types of drug dependents, based on
a Ministry of Social Justice &
Empowerment estimate.
Drug use in Punjab has been esti
mated through surveys of selected
sample groups, as scientific studies
tend to be. There has never been a
statewide censustype survey.
"Over 16 percent (of Punjab's) pop
ulation is addicted to hard drugs,"
said an affidavit submitted by Harjit
Singh, secretary of the state's
Department of Social Security and
Women and Child Development, in
reply to a petition filed by some
drug rehabilitation centers before

the Punjab and Haryana High Court
in May 2009.
So, is it 0.84 percent or 16 per
cent?
Estimating the extent of the drug
problem in Punjab based on opioid
pharmaceutical drugs or opium
dependency made sense because
that is the flavor of the user market,
although the last such and still
widely quoted report is 12 years
old. Punjab was home to 56 per
cent of Indian opium users, said a
2004 UN Of fice on Drugs and
Crime report, followed at a distance
by Rajasthan (11 per cent) and
Haryana (six per cent). Punjab was
one of only three states reporting
the abuse of propoxyphene, a nar
cotic opiate pain reliever used as an
injectable substance, the others
being Nagaland and Mizoram, as
per a UN report. The affidavit sub
mitted by Harjit Singh appeared to

second this finding. It said: "Opiates,
their derivatives, and synthetic opi
ate drugs are used by 70 percent of
the addicts, followed by a combina
tion of opiate and other sedatives,
including morphine." The affidavit
also quoted a survey from the secre
tary of the social security depart
ment to say that twothirds of rural
households in Punjab have at least
one drug addict.
Lead investigator of the AIIMS
study Ambekar believes one of their
findings validates the decision to
focus on opioids. T he study
involved asking psychiatrists and
agencies offering deaddiction serv
ices in Punjab about their case load;
80 individuals and 80 agencies par
ticipated. "One in four patients seen
by the participating professionals
and agencies was opioiddepend
ent," said Ambekar. "Clearly, opioid
dependency is putting a dispropor
tionate burden on mental health
services."
But the study showed a shift from
opium or pharmaceutical opioids to
heroin, a highly processed, more
addictive form of opium.
One of the biggest findings of the
AIIMS study is that while four in
five patients had tried to kick the
habit, just over one in three had
received any kind of support. One in
six patients had received some kind
of medical treatment and only one
in 10 opioiddependents had
received Opioid Substitution
Therapy (OST), deaddiction treat
ment that involves an opioid med
ication to help patients with long
term withdrawal.
"This is because the existing rules
have been misinterpreted in the
state. OST is being allowed only for
the licensed inpatient centers," said
Ambekar. "Punjab must integrate
OST into outpatient, clinicbased
health services for better results.
Restricting such treatment only to
addicts admitted to deaddiction
centers is severely limiting the
number of patients who can be
helped."
In April 2012, the deputy chief
minister consulted psychiatrists
from the PGI Chandigarh to draw
up a strategy to reduce addiction.
The recommendations of the con
sultation with psychiatrists required
Badal's administration to create five
mode l deaddiction centers (in
Amritsar, Faridkot, Patiala,
Jalandhar, and Bathinda) and 25
intermediatelevel deaddiction cen
ters, train medical professionals and
make available essential drugs for
running the services.
Badal would do better to share an
update on the implementation of
these recommendations.
Courtesy: IndiaSpend.org, a data
driven, nonprofit, public interest
journalism platform.
Secured, hacking-free cloud service is what India needs: Experts

By Nishant Arora
hile the world is witness
ing cloud data breach
incidents more often
microblogging website Twitter
being the latest one and govern
ments the world over are looking
for ways to ensure data security,
India has also joined the chorus for
a safe, secured cloud experience.
T he Te lecom Regulatory
Authority of India ( TRAI) this
month issued a consultation paper
on cloud computing, inviting the
stakeholders to join the debate on
how to implement a secured cloud
service.
The fact is: Practically no work
has been done in India till date on
having an adequate legal frame
work to deal with cyber security
and data security on the Cloud.
Indias concerns on data securi
ty when it comes to cloud services
are distinctly real and topical. A lot
more work needs to be done in
terms of protecting and preserving
security of cloud data for the busi
nesses and companies whose data
is being stored on cloud servers in

foreign shores, says Pavan Duggal,
one of the nations top cyber law
experts.
The TRAI paper, whose deadline
to feed comments online is July 8,
comes after Twitter cofounder
Evan Williamss account
was compromised
and hackers may
have
used
malware to
collect creden
tials of more than
32 million logins of Twitter users.
The current legislations in India
are not able to address the present
and future issues arising in cloud
computing services comprehen
sive ly. T his is because the
Information Technology Act, 2000,
is completely silent on issues of
cloud computing. Further, cloud
securityrelated issues are com
pletely missing in the said legisla
tion, Duggal told IANS.
The Information Technology Act,
2000, has not addressed issues
pertaining to cloud computing.
According to the cloud service
providers, cyber security is now a

boardroom discussion and has
emerged to be a key concern for IT
and business managers alike.
W hile there are concerns
around data security in India, a lot
of the technologists in
the country are quite
skilled and are
aware
of
w h a t
needs to
be done.
By following
practices such as segrega
tion of duties, ondisk encryption,
data redaction and robust identity
management, India can tackle
security constraints well, explains
Shailender Kumar, MD, Oracle
India, one of the global leaders in
providing cloud services.
The real security issue is when
customers take older products that
were not built for the Internet,
rack them and put them on the
Internet.
This makes those products vul
nerable. But sometimes security is
also used as a reason to avoid
change because shifting to the

cloud involves change. Though
worrying, companies that adopt
the cloud can emerge as winners,
Kumar states.
Nearly 46 percent of all spending
on IT infrastructure (servers, stor
age and switches) globally will be
towards cloud infrastructures by
2020, predicts market research
firm IDC.
Cloud computing accounted for
about 33 percent of the total IT
expenditure in 2015 across the
world. In India, the overall cloud
computing market reached $1.08
billion by the end of last year and
IT/ITeS, telecom, manufacturing
and government sectors con
tributed the largest to this.
Cloud service providers need to
ensure secured, hackingfree serv
ices for Indian companies. This can
be done by adopting latest interna
tional standards on cyber security.
Further, all cloud service providers
are intermediaries and are
required to implement and main
tain reasonable security practices
and procedures while dealing with,
The views expressed in Op Eds are not necessarily those of The South Asian Times.
handling or processing sensitive

personal data in the cloud, says
Duggal.
The Indian law has already stipu
lated ISO 27001 as a standard for
intermediaries who are dealing
with, handling or processing sensi
tive personal data.
According to Kumar, Oracle is
focused on security. Security is
essential for all our products. We
give customers the option of decid
ing which part and how much of
their business migrates to the
cloud. This enables us to allay fear
and apprehensions about the secu
rity aspect, states Kumar.
The legal, policy and regulatory
issues pertaining to cloud distinct
ly need to be addressed by appro
priate national legislation, feel
experts.
Internet jurisdiction is one of the
major legal challenges in the con
text of cloud computing as in a
majority of times, the hardware of
the cloud where third party data is
located, is often placed outside the
territorial boundaries of the rele
IANS
vant national laws.
Participants perform yoga atop the Sydney Harbor Bridge in Sydney,

Australia on June 21, 2016. (Photos: Xinhua/IANS)
New Delhi: From several thousand enthusi

asts participating in mass yoga sessions all
through the day at New York's iconic
Times Square, to mass yoga in front of the
Eiffel Tower in Paris, at the European
Union parliament, and even atop Sydney
Harbour Bridge the ancient Indian tradi
tion got a fillip across the world on
Tuesday in the second edition of
International Day of Yoga. Thousands of
yoga enthusiasts assembled in Times
Square in Manhattan a day early to coin
cide with the Summer
Solstice. The theme
there was "Mind
over Madness
Yoga". Over 30
yoga studios
participated in
By Arul Louis
United Nations: People of 135
nat ionalit ies
joined
the
International Day of Yoga festivi
ties on Tuesday at the UN, cele
brating its universality and rele
vance to the world body's mission.
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev led sev
eral hundred people through a
series of simple yoga exercises in
front of the g lassfronted UN
tower.
He demonstrated 'Upayoga,' the
simplified introductory form of the
ancient holistic science, which, he
said, can easily be adapted to prac
tice in everyday settings.
On Yog a Day eve, June 20,
Vasudev spoke at the UN event
"Conversation with Masters: Yoga
for the Achievement of Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs). Yoga
is not Indian", he said because
yoga was "an absolute science and
technology for wellbeing". But yes,
it originated in India, he told a
multinational audience of diplo
mats and international officials.
"As Indians we are proud of it.
June 25- July 1, 2016
YOGA
15
Yoga lovers practise yoga at a glass sightseeing platform in

Shilinxia scenic spot in Pinggu District of Beijing, China on June 20.
including Bangladesh, Sri

Lanka, Pakistan and
Myanmar. External Affairs
Ministry spokesperson
Vikas Swarup posted pic
tures of Yoga Day celebra
tions at Indian missions
from across the world in
UAE, Tunisia, Sudan, Iraq,
Afghanistan and even at the
iconic Angkor Wat temple
in Cambodia.
He tweeted that there was
tremendous response to
Two girls practice Brhamri pranayam at a yoga event
IDY across Malaysia,
at the al Azhar Park in Cairo, Egypt on June 21.
Indonesia, the Philippines
and Vietnam and events
the celebrations held in a threeblock area.
were also held in Africa, mainly in South
There was enthusiastic turnout of yoga
Africa, Tanzania, Kenya and Zimbabwe.
among India's neighboring countries,
A dozen yoga practitioners stood in pos

ture of namastey atop the Sydney Harbour
Bridge with the rising sun forming a beau
tiful backdrop. The Hindu Council of
Australia collaborated in hosting the
world's first yoga event there.
At the European Parliament, spiritual
leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar was the main
guest as he led the IDY celebrations. An
Indian Youth Delegation to China celebrat
ed the occasion in the southern Chinese
city of Guilin. Yoga Day was also celebrat
ed at Wuxi Hollywood Studios in Jiangsu,
as well as in Simatai and Xi'an and at the
Great Wall. South Koreans performed yoga
on board an Indian Navy vessel in Busan,
while reports of yoga celebrations also
came in from Morocco, Guyana and
Honduras.
People of 135 nations join

Yoga Day event at UN
But it does not belong to India. The
very fact that the UN has declared
an International Yoga Day means
India has gifted it to the world. It
does not be long to India any
more," he said.
UN General Assembly President
Mogens Lykketoft said at the June
21 event that yoga can act to
strengthen our unity with nature
and with one another. With the
world facing the challenges of cli
mate change and disorder, he said
he hoped that IDY can spur action
to attain the SDGs.
Secretary General Ban Kimoon
sent a message that the Yoga Day
this year "highlights the important
role healthy living plays in the
realization of the SDGs."
"Practicing yoga can also help
raise awareness of our role as con
sumers of the planet's resources
and as individuals with a duty to
respect and live in peace with our
neighbors.," he said. "All these ele
ments are essential to building a
sustainable future of dignity and
Spiritual guru Sadhguru

Jaggi Vasudev leading the
International Day of Yoga
program at United Nations
in New York on June 21.
Hundreds of people practised yoga at

UN program on June 21.
beg an when the General

Assembly in 2014 declared June
(Photos: Mohammed Jaffer/IANS)
21 International Day of Yoga.
India's
Permanent
opportunity for all."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Representative to the UN Syed
his message relayed at the event Akbaruddin said that the 135
said it was natural that the cele nationalities that were present "at
bration that brings together every the altar of multilateralism" set a
one across the world is held at the record for largest such representa
UN headquarters where it all tion. He invoked the sloka, "Lokah
Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu," and

said that its message, "May all
beings everywhere be happy and
free, and may the thoughts, words,
and actions of my own life con
tribute in some way to that happi
ness and to that freedom for all,"
was apt for the occasion.
The event was emceed by Miss
America 2014 Nina Davuluri.
16
KARISHMA
ASOODANI
hopped from
one yoga
event to
another to
report on
the 2nd
International
Day of
Yoga.
Karishma Asoodani at the Times Square yoga event on June 20.
At Times Square
At Ganesh Mandir, Flushing
he Times Square Alliance hosted a

free all day yoga event on the eve of
International Day of Yoga. June 20
was Summer Solstice, the event at Times
Square now in its 14th year was called Mind
over Madness Yoga. Yoga sessions were
held throughout the day starting from 5:00
am to 8:30 pm.
The Times Square Alliance works to
improve and promote Times Square (called
the Crossroads of the World) cultivating
the creativity, energy and edge that have
made the area an icon of entertainment, cul
ture and urban life for over a century. All
the registered participants who attended
the event received a free yoga mat courtesy
of Gaiam.
"Come stretch, breathe and meditate in
Times Square to find peace within New York
City, the world and ourselves," said Tim
Tompkins, President of Times Square
Alliance and cofounder of the event.
Danialla Asencio, a yoga teacher at the
event, spoke to The South Asian times,
"Today is basically about bringing people
together to practice and live yoga, this is
my first time practicing at Times Square and
I must tell you, it was so amazing, it was
such a great feeling, there is so much diver
sity. I felt so good among everybody."
T he Hindu Temple Society of North
America, New York conducted a yoga event
on 19th June for IDY to project the benefits
of yoga to human body and mind.
YOGA
Larra Shah conducting a session at Royal Alberts

Palace in New Jersey.
Yoga with a mystic touch

Fords, NJ: Larra Shah, a
renowned Natural Life Science
facilitator, celebrity aura expert,
energy healer and practitioner
of Vedic sciences conducted a
seminar on June 16 evening at
Royal Alberts Palace in New
Jersey.
More than 100 people attend
ed this live seminar where she
demonstrated various Mudra
Yoga and Mudra Meditation
techniques as well as stress man
agement. She taught various
techniques to release positive
energy and aura, various types
of breathing and concentration
to remove negative energy and
improve lifestyle by simple
measures. Many attendees said

they felt a sense of peace and
different kind of energy.
Dr. Larra well known in India
as IshvaGuru.
She has
designed a holistic module
Secrets to The Seventh Sense
Seven Steps To Wellness for
those seeking professional and
personal excellence. She has a
natural gift to be able to see
auras and sense energies.
Dr. Larra is now pioneering
Ohmkriyaa, an American
enterprise, a platform for well
ness and humanitarian pro
grams.
Dr. Larras website is
http://larrashah.com.
At JFK airport
(from left) Dr Uma Mysorekar and Consul General

Riva Ganguly Das at the Ganesh temple yoga event.
he Ganesh mandir of Flushing conducted the yoga work

shop from 9:30 am to 2:00pm for over 300 people.
Exercises performed included Wrist bending, Elbow bend
ing, Wrist joint rotation, Palm tree pose, Palming the eyes,
Awareness breathing, Sideways viewing, Shoulder movement. A
board member, Ramaswamy Mohan told The South Asian Times,
"On Sunday our yoga teachers hold classes for regulars, but
todays session is open to all, so they are explaining different
mudras and forms of yoga, as well as giving spiritual meaning
behind the asanas. The day was also special for Ganesh temple
because of the presence of Consul General of India, Riva Ganguly
Das. Said she, "It is a pleasure and honor to be here with all of you
and celebrate the second International day of Yoga. I see besides
the Indian Americans, there are members of different communities
also here. We feel proud to be able to give the world this wonderful
practice of yoga. I am very proud that 25 million of Americans
practices yoga and 80% of them are women."
ahaja Yoga Meditation, found

ed by late Mata Nirmala Devi,
organized yoga events at JFK
and Newark airports on June 21 to
mark IDY. Sahaja Yoga is meant for
anyone who desires to find his or
her true self, which is full of peace,
joy of life and love for others. The
system, they claim, is not merely a
set of exercises but a living science
that will open up to you gradually
Sahaja Yoga session at JFK
as your meditations become deeper
international airport.
and your experience stronger and
(Photos: Karishma Asoodani)
more fulfilling. Sahaja meditation is
said to lead to better overall health, Intercultural integration, commu
nication skills, better focus and attention.
Uttam Bera, organizer of the event, told The South Asian Times, "This
is the first time we are organizing the event here but this meditation
has been taught since 1970s. It is an attempt to help people under
stand what meditation is and how it
helps in one's life." Kavya, who has practiced Sahaja meditation for 11
years, shared her experience, "I believe there is an energy in every
human being, when that energy rises, the subtle nervous system rises,
when this energy passes through it, it kind of reintegrates them and
that way you become more balanced as an individual. You won't be
stressed out, you will be satisfied and prepared for things. "
India's President, Shri Pranab Mukherjee

beats a drum to inaugurate the 2nd IDY at
Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on June 21.
New Delhi: Millions of Indians

stretched and twisted their bodies
and performed breathing exercises
to
celebrate
the
second
International Day of Yoga on June
21, with Prime Minister Narendra
Modi in Chandigarh urging people
to delink the ancient Indian practice
from their religious beliefs.
"Yoga is not a religious activity.
Many people do not understand
yoga completely. It is not what you
will get from yoga, but what is
important is what you will give to
yoga and what all (ailments) will it
rid you off," he said early in nearly
30minute speech before the yoga
session. Yoga, the

prime minister
said, could give
"health assur
ance at zero
budget" and it should be made a
part of everyone's daily life for
peace and harmony. It was at Modis
initiative that the UN declared June
21 as the International Day of Yoga
last year to be celebrated every
year. Mass yoga events were held in
schools, public places, lawns of resi
dential localities and of fice com
plexes across thousands of Indian
villages, cities, and towns from the
deserts of Rajasthan to eastern
Physically challenged students displaying their skills

in New Delhi on June 21.
YOGA
People in large numbers practiced yoga asanas in Ahmedabad

and formed a likeness of the logo of International Day of Yoga.
planes and from the Himalayan

heights to high seas on naval
warships down south. The cele
brations of the day and yoga per
formances even went high up in
the sky at 35,000 feet above Earth
on some morning flights.
Modi, in a white Tshirt and a
pyjama with a stole around his neck,
led from the front in Chandigarh's
Capitol Complex. Stretching on a
mat and staring at the overcast
Chandigarh skies, he himself per
formed the asanas among the crowd
of over 30,000 yoga enthusiasts.
In the runup to the celebrations,
the government had created a huge
hype to popularize the event, asking
people to organize ceremonies for
mass participations.
In Delhi, as the morning sun
broke through the overnight clouds,
tens of thousands of its residents
performed asanas. Over 10,000
people gathered at Central Park in
the heart of Connaught Place and
the circular road around it, making
it one of the largest yoga events in
the city. It rained heavily in Mumbai
but that did not deter lakhs of
school and college students and
men and women of all ages from
doing yoga exercises in many parts
IANS
of the city and suburbs.
17
Baba Ramdev at a program

organized on IDY.
Army soldiers practice yoga asans in Siachen on June 21.
1500 pregnant women practiced yoga together in Rajkot,

Gujarat on June 21.
(Photos: IANS)
18
June 25- July 1, 2016
MEDICAL EDUCATION
Xavier graduates 38 doctors

New York: On June 18, Xavier
University School of Medicine,
Aruba (XUSOM) celebrated its
annual commencement ceremony
at Long Island University/C.W.
Post in the Hillwood Commons
Cinema in Brookville, NY.
In attendance were Chancellor
J.G. Bhat, M.D., Chairman Edwin
Casey, President Ravishankar
Bhooplapur, Trustees P.K.
Prahalad, M.D., Obi Nwasokwa,
M.D., Ph.D., and Mr. Frank Croes,
the clinical chairs of XUSOM, the
Dean of Clinical Sciences, Michael
Gindi, M.D., Dean of Basic
Sciences, Arun Kumar Dubey,
M.D., Chief Academic Of ficer
Brian Little, M.D., Ph.D. Byron
Barton, Ph.D., Dean of the
Premedical program, served as
Salutatorian
Farrah Siddiqui
addressing the
audience.
Valedictorian
Dr Stanley
Lee
XUSOM Chancellor
J.G. Bhat giving
his address.
Chairman Edwin
Casey stressed the
importance of
human touch in
medicine.
the Master of Ceremony. Keynote

speaker Dr. Linda Brady,
President & CEO Kingsbrook
Healthcare System in Brooklyn,
New York, graciously addressed
President
Ravishankar
Bhooplapur
addressing the
graduates.
Dr. Linda Brady,

CEO of Kingsbrook
Healthcare
System, was
keynote speaker.
the eager, young do ctors on

virtues and values of the human
istic approach to medicine. In
keeping with academic tradition,
special recognition was given to
The graduates with Dr. Barton,

President Bhooplapur, Dean Dubey,
Professor Neelam, C.A.O. Dr. Little and Dean Gindi.
Trustee P.K.
Prahalad, who
introduced the
keynote.
valedictorian Stanley Lee, M.D.

and salutatorian Farrah Siddiqui,
M.D. for their outstanding aca
demic performance as medical
students.
Left to Right: Dr. Obi Nwasokwa,

Chairman Casey, President Bhooplapur,
Dr. Brady, Chancellor Bhat, Mr. Cores.
The graduates of the

class of 2016 were:
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
Abdulrahman Aboud
Mahtab Khudadad
Mohammad Ahmad
Stanley Lee with Honors
Abdulmuttaleb Al Soufi
Nejma Louahlia
Jasmine Aulakh
Monica Mallik
Monica Chakravorty
Omar Nawab
Rafay Cheema
Niraj Patel
Natasha Dyal
Pratick Patel
Ahmad Faour
Shivan Patel
Amar Gokli
Durga Pemmaraju
Varun Goswami
Ravi Savajiyani
Julian Ang Keng Hao
Bobak Sharifi
Mohammed Hnoosh
Sasha Sharifi
Dima Hnoosh
Farrah Siddiqui with Honors
Majd Jazaerly
Umar Siddiqui
Jessica Kainth
Ann Melissa Singh
Deepti Kalani
Robert Statz
Kamran Khan with Honors
Mina Thomas
Saba Khan with Honors
Todd Wildey
Svetlana Kharchenko
Phillip Yohannan
Accounting For Your Future

In one year of classes and on a campus just two

can earn a graduate degree in Ac
Accounting
counting
through the high-qu
high-quality
ality instruction and smal
smallll

of Business.
M.S. in Ac
Accounting
counting
x 30-credit program
m for those with an
accounting
counting degree
undergraduate ac
majors
xx 51-credit program
m for other business major
rs
M.S. in TTaxation
axation
a
xx 30-credit
30 credit program
m for specialized ac
accounting
countinng
instruction
All programs meet thee New YYork
ork
o State Education
Department 150-credit
150-credit requirement.
Graduate studies at SUNY
S
Old W
Westbury:
estbury:

convenient location and
a scheduling.
516-876-3200
516-8
76-3200 enroll@oldwestbury.edu
enrolll@oldwestbury.edu www
www.oldwestbury.edu/graduate
w.oldwestbury.edu/graduate
DIASPORA
19
IIFA to promote IndiaSpain ties with cinema in focus

Madrid: The 17th edition of the
International Indian Film Academy
(IIFA) which celebrates the soft
power of Bollywood in taking
India to global audiences is set
to celebrate 60 years of India's
diplomatic relations with Spain
here starting Thursday with close
to 150 ce le brit ies and over
20,000 fans in attendance.
Regarded as the football capital
of the world, Madrid is the fourth
European nation that IIFA is visit
ing after London, Yorkshire and
Amsterdam. And the fourday gala
which will conclude with a colorful
and exuberant awards ceremony
on Sunday, will play host to some
of the most celebrated stars of the
Indian film industry, notable
guests, and dignitaries from India
and the region along with Indian
cinema fans from across the globe.
Not only this, the event also
promises to present an amalgama
tion of two richly diverse countries
and cultures. The aim is to bring
the magic of Indian cinema not
only to Spain, but to Latin America
Hrithik Roshan, Sonakshi Sinha and Anil Kapoor

in Madrid for IIFA promotions (Photo courtesy: emirates247.com)
as we ll, says Andre Timmins,
director, Wizcraft International,
the producers and creator of the
IIFA.
"We treat IIFA as India because
ultimately, through the platform
we are selling India," Timmins told
IANS in an interview.
Some celebrities who will be
walking the 'green carpet' at the
event will be Anil Kapoor, Sanjay
Dutt, Sridevi, Boney Kapoor,
Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Shabana

Azmi, Javed Akhtar, Rakeysh
Omprakash Mehra, Boman Irani,
Kabir Khan, Ranveer Sing h,
Bipasha Basu, Huma Qureshi,
Vive k Oberoi, Dia Mirza and
Riteish Deshmukh.
The event has also been timed to
integrate with the city's Mulafest.
A Movement of Urban Life and
Arts event and exhibition, it is
Madrid's annual culture fest that
brings together music, art and

food all in one place. Adding an
Indian musical touch to that will
be the Raghu Dixit Project, Midival
Pundits, Karsh Kale and Nucleya.
"We are collaborating with them,
and have become the partner
country. We have integrated our
programming with Mulafest,"
Timmins said, adding that the IIFA
celebrations in Madrid will be
about collaborations at every step.
Going ahead with the weekend
celebration, IIFA Rocks, a music
mega event, will take place on
Friday. It will be a melange of
dancers and musicians from India,
as well as from Spain to give the
audience a desi treat with the joy
and highonenergy flamenco.
Some of the performers at IIFA
Ro cks
event
are
Pritam
Chakraborty, Kanika Kapoor, Meet
Bros, Benny Dayal, Neeti Mohan,
Monali Thakur, Papon along with
Shilpa Shetty, Ameesha Pate l,
Mauni Roy, Sooraj Pancholi, Eli
Avram and Daisy Shah.
Pakistani actor Fawad Khan and
Bollywood's celebrated filmmaker

Karan Johar will host the IIFA
Rocks gala, while Farhan Akhtar
and Shahid Kapoor are all geared
up to host the Nexa IIFA Awards
which w ill see six acts by
Bollywood stars including Salman
Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Deepika
Padukone, Hrithik Roshan,
Sonakshi Sinha and Tiger Shroff.
Also, since 2016 marks six
decades of diplomatic relations
between India and Spain, a slew of
activities have been planned as
sidebars to IIFA. Shilpa Shetty will
be hosting a yoga fest on the
streets.
Madrid will also get to experi
ence IIFA Stomp and Rang Jam a
Holi ce le brat ion, w ith Indian
dances, henna art istes and a
plethora of Indian street food on
offer.
"IIFA is not only about the
awards, it's to do with a lot of busi
nesstobusiness activities, we
even have a volunteer program, a
panel discussion on environment,
(IANS)
and more," said Timmins.
Singaporebased Sumir Bhatia Sharbani Basus book on Queen

Victoria to be made into a film
new VP for Lenovo arm
more success with him at
Bengaluru: Chinese technolo
the helm," said Ken Wong,
g y major Lenovo on
Senior Vice President and
Wednesday announced the
President, Lenovo Asia
appointment of Sumir Bhatia
Pacific, in a statement.
as the company's new Vice
Based in Singapore, Bhatia
President of Data Center
will report directly to Wong.
Group (DCG) for Asia Pacific.
Bhatia will take over the
The announcement came
Asia Pacific DCG leadership
after the "Lenovo Tech
responsibilities from Amar
World 2016" event in San
Sumir Bhatia
Francisco on June 9 where (Photo courtesy: arnnet.com.au) Babu.
In his new role, Bhatia
the company announced to
deepen its focus on the data center technology will drive the growth of Lenovo's data center
market. "Sumir is a valuable addition to our business across Asia Pacific and lead sales,
leadership team and we look forward to even product and gotomarket execution.
(IANS)
Last date for conversion of PIO cards extended to December 31

New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Sunday that government has decid
ed to extend the last date, from June 30 to December 31, for applying for conversion of Person
of Indian Origin PIO cards to Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) cards.
"I feel that the coversion will not be completed by June 30. So we have decided to extend the
last date to December 31," she told reporters at her annual press conference.
The government had earlier extended the last date to June 30 from March 31 this year.
"There will be no charge for conversion during this period. So I will suggest those, who are
seeking to convert their PIO cards to OCI cards, use this time line. I want this conversion to be
completed by December 31," she said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that the
PIO and OCI cards will be merged and the Indian diaspora will be given maximum possible bene
fits. Officials said that simultaneous existence of PIO and OCI cards lead to confusion among
People of Indian Origin residing abroad.
London: An Indianorigin author's book

on Queen Victoria's relationship with her
trusted Indian aide in the late 1800s
would soon be made into a film in which
Oscarwinning British actress Judi Dench
will play the protagonist.
'Victoria and Abdul: The True Story of
the Queen's Closest Confidant' by author
Sharbani Basu was released nearly six
years ago. It captures the relationship
between the British monarch and her
trusted In ian aide Abdul Karim in the late
1800s. "I'm absolutely delighted that my
book is in such safe hands. To have Dame
Judi Dench play Victoria is absolutely per
fect. With Stephen Frears directing and
the screenplay by Lee Hall, it's a dream
team," said Basu, the Londonbased jour
nalist and author of books like 'Spy
Princess' and most recently 'For King and
Another Country'.
"As a writer, one spends years sitting in
archives and researching a piece of forgot
ten history. It's a great feeling when the
book goes out into the world and you can
share the story. The film will take it to an
even wider audience," she said.
Karim was just 24 when he arrived in
England from Agra to wait at table during
Queen Victoria's golden jubilee in 1887.
Sharbani Basu (inset). The book explores

Queen Victorias relationship with her
trusted Indian aide Abdul Karim
He grew close to Queen Victoria, becom
ing her teacher or munshi and instruct
ing her in Urdu and Indian affairs. Award
winning British filmmaker Frears, behind
Helen Mirren starrer 'The Queen', will now
transform the tale for celluloid with Oscar
winning Dench.
The film will mark the second time 81
yearold Dench is to play the historical fig
ure after 'Mrs Brown' in 1997, for which
she received an Oscar nomination.
20
Pak successfully lobbying

against India's NSG bid: Aziz
Islamabad: Sartaj Aziz, Pakistan's
top foreign af fairs advisor, said
that Islamabad was "making suc
cessful e f forts" ag ainst New
Delhi's Nuclear Suppliers Group
(NSG) membership bid, ahead of
the bloc important plenary in
Seoul this week.
Aziz's remarks come days after
India's External Af fairs Minister
Sushma Swaraj said that New Delhi
was "not opposed" to Islamabad's
entry to the 48nation bloc.
India and Pakistan have both
applied for the NSG membership
and both countries are lobbying
with member nations to seek sup
port for their bids. Pakistan's all
weather friend China has been
consistently opposing India's bid
for NSG membership.
Aziz was briefing the National
Assembly to counter opposition
criticism that Pakistan lacks a for
eign minister and was losing out in
influencing friendly countries in
the face of India's growing diplo
matic outreach.
Aziz rejected the accusations and
said that Indian Prime Minister
Narender Modi's recent visits to
Pakistan prime ministers advisor

on foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz.
Muslim countries Saudi Arabia,
the UAE, Qatar and Iran haven't
led to "deteriorat ion" in
Islamabad's relation with those
countries. The advisor strongly
denied that Modi's visits to the
Islamic countries were an example
of the "failure of Pakistan's foreign
policy" and added that Islamabad
is "working upon its policy of non
interference" in the affairs of other
states. "The impression was given
that our (Pakistan's) relations with
Muslim countries have deteriorat
ed after Modi paid visit to two
such countries," he said.
SUBCONTINENT
He highlighted Pakistan's "his

toric and religious" relations with
Muslim countries, saying that ties
with Iran are "moving in the right
direction", and that after the lifting
of sanct ions ag ainst Tehran,
PakistanIran relations are getting
strengthened.
He said the ChinaPakistan
Economic Corridor (CPEC), CASA
1000, TAPI and IranPakistan Gas
Pipe line Project are concrete
achievements which w ill he lp
increase connectivity with the
region. He pointed out that with
the SCO membership, Pakistan's
political role in the region will be
enhanced.
Aziz reaffirmed that Pakistan has
not been isolated in the region, but
"after 911 Muslim countries suf
fered host ilit ies" and that
Islamabad's "successful foreign
policies he lped in securing
Pakistan".
The foreign affairs advisor said
that compared to other countries
in the region, Pakistan's foreign
ministry budget is very low. "In the
last three years the budget has
only increased by 14 percent."
Pak qawwali singer

Amjad Sabri shot dead
Islamabad: Renowned Pakistani
qawwali singer Amjad Sabri was
killed here as his vehicle came under
attack in Karachi on June 22. The
attack took place in Liaquatabad
area, Dawn reported.
A top police of ficial Mushtaq
Mehar said that two men riding a
motorcycle fired shots at the car,
terming the incident as "targeted
killing". He said the motive of the
killing was yet unknown.
Sabri, 45, Armed motorcyclists
opened fire on the qawwal's Honda
Civic in Liaquatabad, SP Asghar
Usman confirmed. His driver is said
to be in a critical condition.
Sabri was rushed to the Abbassi
Shaheed Hospital, where he was
pronounced dead on arrival.
"Two riders used 30bore pistols
to shoot Sabri five times, one bullet
in the head took the qawwal's life.
T he attackers took the Hassan
Square route to escape," said Mehar
said.
"We have cordoned of f the area
and will arrest the culprits using all
our resources," he added.
Ghulam Ahmed, an eye witness
told SAMAA TV he saw two motor
cycle riding men fire shots at one
side of the car. "Then they turned
Renowned Pakistani qawwali

singer Amjad Sabri. (File photo)
and fired four shots on the other
side of the car."
FakhreAlam, Chairman of Sindh
Censor Board, has claimed in a tweet
that Sabri had earlier submitted an
application for security, but the
home department did not act on it.
Chief Minister Sindh Syed Qaim
Ali Shah has taken notice of the inci
dent and ordered police to submit a
report over the assassination.
Amjad Sabri was the scion of the
great Sabri brothers, who cemented
a unique identity in Qawwali singing
all around the world. The Sabri fami
ly rose to fame in the 1970s when
the dynamic duo of Ghulam Farid
Sabri and Maqbool Ahmed Sabri
went on to redefining the old genre
of Qawwali singing.
Indiarebuilt Lanka stadium US will not abandon Afghanistan

in Jaffna inaugurated
New Delhi: The Indiareno
vated Duraiappah sports
stadium in the embattled Sri
Lankan city of Jaf fna had
once laid bare the hidden
brutalities of the Tamil civil
war when at least 23 human
skeletons, including those of
some disappeared children
buried secretly in the play
ground, were discovered in
1999.
The stadium, named after
a former Jaf fna mayor, the
late Alfred T hambirajah
Duraiappah, Tamildominat
ed city in northern Sri
Lanka, suf fered huge dam
ages and remained aban
doned during the civil war.
Its renovation was started
in 1999 when the conflict
Sri Lankan President Maithripala
ravaged northern areas saw
Sirisena and Prime Minister
relative bouts of peace and
Narendra Modi.
calm. The moves to renovate
and reopen the playground were psychiatrist in northern Sri
hailed as signs of normalcy in Lanka. The bodies were believed
the Jaf fna peninsula until it to be of those arrested by Sri
exposed what laid buried deep Lanka security forces and later
allegedly killed in what activists
within.
The skeletons, including those say were extrajudicial murders.
Leaving the brutally nightmar
of children, were unearthed
when the stadium was being ish past behind, the Sri Lanka
re furbished, according to a government aided by India got
2002 report on Sri Lanka child the stadium renovated at a cost
soldiers
by
Daya of Rs 7.1 crore all borne by
Somasundaram, a renowned New Delhi.
Washington: The assassination of

Afghan Taliban leader Mullah
Akhtar Mansoor in a drone strike
last month did not indicate a change
in the US strategy of supporting
negotiations with the outfit, Special
Representative for Afghanistan and
Pakistan (SRAP) Richard Olson has
said. Olson said if the Taliban were
planning to wait out for the disen
gagement of the US from
Afghanistan they would be mistak
en. Olson was participating in a dis
cussion at the Atlantic Council.
Afghanistans security is our secu
rity. And the security of all our part
ners, he said, indicating that the US
would be cautious about troops
reductions in Afghanistan. Even as
the Obama administration is
rethinking its earlier plan for troop
reduction from 9800 to 5500 by
US Special Representative for

Afghanistan and
Pakistan Richard Olson.
the end of the year, Olson said the

NATO summit next month in
Warsaw will demonstrate the com
mitment of the US and allies to
secure the strifetorn country.
He said the US would be commit
ting three billion dollars annually
until 2020 for the security and
reconstruction of Afghanistan. "This

is an investment in our own securi
ty," he said. Olson said while the US
recognized that this support could
not be indefinite, an abrupt and
immediate disengagement was not
an option. Taliban should not keep
away from talks hoping that the US
is going to abandon Afghanistan.
They should not suspect the gen
uineness of our support for talks
either. We are for talks with
Taliban, without any preconditions,
Olson said. He admitted that there
was no clarity on what the Taliban
wants, and said the US expected all
members of the four country group
leading the initiative China,
Pakistan, Afghanistan and the US
to use their leverage and influence
over Taliban to bring them to the
table.
UN urges Myanmar to end

discrimination against Rohingyas
Nay Pyi Taw: UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights
Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein urged the
Myanmar government to take con
crete steps to end discrimination
and constant human rights viola
tions against the minority
Rohingyas.
A UN human rights report docu
mented a series of abuses and
harassment of the Rohingyas, a
Muslim minority living in Rakhine
state, Xinhua reported. T he

Rohingyas, according to the
report, are not granted nationality,
face restrictions on freedom of
movement, experience threats to
their security and life, and are
denied the right to health and edu
cation.
They are also subjected to forced
labor, women face sexual violence
and their political rights are
severely limited. The report said
four years after the attacks on the

community, 120,000 Rohingyas
still lived in camps for the dis
placed. Zeid warned that hate
speech and religious intolerance
by certain ultranationalist
Buddhist groups could increase
and violence could break out
again. The pattern of violations the
Rohingyas are subjected to can be
considered crimes against humani
ty, the UN official said.
22
BUSINESS
India eases FDI norms for defense, aviation, retail

New Delhi: Putting its economic
liberalization agenda on the fast
track, India relaxed its foreign
equity norms further, notably in
defense, aviation, pharmaceuti
cals and retailing, with automatic
approval rather than a casebased
route as the preferred model.
In aviat ion, extant policy
allowed up to 49 per cent foreign
equity in scheduled airlines under
the automatic route. Now, while
the cap has been raised to 100
per cent, up to 49 per cent would
be under automatic and beyond
that will be under the government
approval routes, officials said.
Then in pharmaceuticals, both
greenfield and brownfield proj
ects could get 100 per cent for
eign capital, but with an automat
ic route for the former and gov
ernment route for the latter. Now,
brownfie ld projects, too, will
come under automatic route for
Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. (Photo: IANS)

up to 74 per cent. In defense
manufacturing, the 49 per cent
norm under automatic approval
will continue. But while looking at
the proposals that call for invest
ment beyond 49 per cent, a con
dition that they will bring with
BJP distances itself from

Swamy's remark
New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata
Party distanced itself from Rajya
Sabha member Subramanian
Swamy's remark on Chie f
Economic Advisor Arvind
Subramanian, saying it was his
"personal opinion".
"It is his personal opinion and
BJP doesn't have anything to do
with this. We don't agree with
it," BJP's National Secretary
Srikant Sharma told the media.
Earlier, BJP's Rajya Sabha
member Subramanian Swamy
asked the government to "sack"
Arvind Subramanian.
In a series of tweets, Swamy
said: "Who said to US Cong on
13/3/13 the US should act
ag ainst India to de fend US
Pharmaceut icals interests?
Arvind Subramanian MoF
(Ministry of Finance)!! Sack
him!"
Arvind Subramanian took
charge as the Chief Economic
Advisor in October 2014, suc
ceeding Raghuram Rajan.
"Guess who encouraged
Congress to become rigid on
GST clauses? Jaitely's economic
adviser Arvind Subramanian of
Washington DC," Swamy said in
Chief Economic Advisor

Arvind Subramanian.
(Photo: IANS)
another tweet.
The BJP MP also wondered
why the core economic sectors
could not perform in the two
years rule of the Narendra Modi
government.
"Now PTs (Patriotic Tweeples)
can understand why our core
economic sectors could not per
form in last two years. Trojan
horses galore in MoF/ Finance
Institutions," he said.
Swamy also criticized Rajan,
accusing the Reserve Bank of
India Governor of derailing the
Indian economy by keeping the
lending rates high. Rajan has
said that he will not go for sec
ond term as RBI Governor.
them access to "stateoftheart"

technology has been done away
with.
"T he Union Government has
radically liberalized the foreign
direct investment regime today,
with the objective of providing
major impetus to employment

and job creation," an of ficial
statement said.
"The decision was taken at a
highlevel meeting chaired by
Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
This is the second major reform
after the last radical changes
announced in November 2015.
Now most of the sectors would be
under automatic approval route,
except a small negative list," it
said.
"With these changes, India is
now the most open economy in
the world for foreign investment."
Commerce and Industry
Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told
reporters later that the steps
taken on Monday were in line
with the idea of making India a
preferred destination for industry
with a focus on employment. She
said investments shall be encour
aged so that more jobs can be cre
ated.
"We've made sure foreign equi
ty inflows are given a clear direc
tion with the objective of 'Make in
India'. Our focus clearly is on cre
ating jobs and ensuring that India
becomes a manufacturing hub,"
the minister added.
In the past two years the
Narendra Modi Government has
made major policy reforms in the
area of foreign direct investment
in areas such as defence, con
struction, insurance, pension, sin
glebrand retailing, plantations
and aviation.
As a result, of ficial data sug
gests, India attracted $55.46 bil
lion worth of foreign investment
in 201516, against $36.04 bil
lion during the financial year
201314. "This is the highest ever
foreign direct investment inflow
for any particular financial year,"
the statement said.
SoftBank appoints new

executive to Arora's posts
Tokyo: Global technology major
SoftBank Group Corporation said
Ken Miyauchi would be the new
representative director, president
and chief operation of ficer a day
after Indiaborn Nikesh Arora
resigned from the executive posts
to become its advisor from July 1.
"Ken Miyauchi has been elected as
representative director, president
and chief operating officer in pur
suit of enhancement of the manage
ment structure," the Japanese hold
ing firm said in a statement here.
Arora, 48, resigned from the SBG
board after its 36th annual general
meeting of shareholders here on
Tuesday.
Miyauchi Son will continue as
chairman and chief executive of
SBG. Ken, 67, is also a SBG director,
president and CEO of SoftBank
Corporation, the group's multina
tional, with operations in broad
band, fixedline telecom, ecom
merce, internet, technology servic
es, finance, media and marketing.
Arora joined SBG in September
2014 from global search engine
major Google, where he was its
chief business of ficer. During
Arora's tenure, SBG invested in
growth stage firms in India like
SoftBank Group Corporation's Ken Miyauchi with Nikesh Arora.

(Photo: IANS)
Snapdeal, Ola, Oyo, Grofers,
Housing and extended its footprint
in Asia with the mobile ecommerce
firm Coupang in Korea and the ride
share player Grab in Southeast Asia.
With Son, 60, deciding to contin
ue as the group's chief executive for
another five10 years, Arora's
prospects of replacing him soon
dimmed.
"Nikesh is a unique leader with
unparalleled skills around strategy
and execution. He should be the
CEO of a global business. I had
hoped to hand over the reins of SBG
to him on my 60th birthday, but I
feel my work is not done.
"I want to cement SBG 2.0, devel
op Sprint to its true potential and

work on a few more crazy ideas,
which will require me to be CEO for
another five to ten years, not a time
frame for me to keep him waiting
for the top job," Son said in a state
ment on Tuesday.
SoftBank acquired the USbased
telecom major Sprint Corporation in
July 2013. Son, however, lauded
Arora for bringing world class exe
cution skills to the group, as evident
from its investments over the last
year, complex monetisation of its
stake in Alibaba (China's etail behe
moth) and selling its equity stake in
Finnish game developer Supercell
for $7.3 billion.
SPORTS
23
India edge out Zimbabwe to win T20I series

Harare: India overcame the last
minute blues to pip Zimbabwe by
three runs in the third and final
T20 International and pocket the
series 21 at the Harare Sports
Club here.
India's young bowling unit put
on a collective ef fort to restrict
the hosts to 135/8 after wicket
keeperbatsman Kedar Jadhav's
half century pushed the visitors to
138/6 in their stipulated 20 overs.
Despite losing opener Chamu
Chibhabha (5) cheaply, Zimbabwe
got of f to a positive start with
Hamilton Masakadza (15) and
Vusi Sibanda (28) putting on 40
runs for the second wicket to take
Zimbabwe past the 50run mark in
the eighth over.
With the hosts in full flow, left
arm spinner Axar Patel managed
to break the partnership by foxing
Masakadza plumb in front while
medium pacer Dhawal Kulkarni
packed back Sibanda soon after.
Sibanda blasted five fours in his
23ball knock. Wicketkeeperbats
man Peter Moor (26) and Malcolm
Waller (10) then tried to stabilise

the innings with a 26run stand
for the fourth wicket. Moor was at
his attacking best during his 21
ball knock as he hammered leg
spinner Yuzvendra Chahal for
three sixes before falling to the
same bowler.
Moor's dismissal brought in for
mer skipper Elton Chigumbura,
who added 18 runs with Waller to
bring up the 100 in the 17th over
before Kulkarni dismissed Waller.
With Zimbabwe needing 35 off
17 balls, young Timycen Maruma
(23) joined Chigumbura and the
duo almost took the match away
from the Indians with a 31run
seventh wicket stand before left
arm seamer Barinder Sran man
aged to restrict them.
For the visitors, medium pacers
Sran and Kulkarni took two wick
ets each while Patel and Chahal
got one apiece.
Earlier, Jadhav's 42ball 58 pro
pelled India from a tricky situation
after the visitors were sent in to
bat. Under pressure after a batting
Anil Kumble named Team India head coach

Dharamsala: BCCI President
Anurag Thakur on Thursday
named former India skipper
Anil Kumble as the head
coach of the national cricket
team for the next one year.
The decision was taken
after Sourav Ganguly, one of the
members of the BCCI's Cricket
Advisory Committee (CAC) also com
prising
Sachin
Tendulkar and V.V.S.
Laxman, met T hakur
and Secretary Ajay
Shirke at the ongoing
cricket conclave here.
Kumble's first assign
ment with the national team will be
the gruelling fourmatch Test tour to
the West Indies next month.
Humiliated' Anju Bobby George

quits Kerala Sports Council
Thiruvananthapuram: Olympian
Anju Bobby George, who has come
under attack from Kerala Sports
Minister E.P. Jayarajan and his
party colleague, has decided to
step down as president of the
Kerala Sports Council, and the min
ister immediately welcomed the
move. "Good that she has resigned,"
Jayarajan told reporters and added
that no one asked her to step
down.
When it was pointed out that
along with her the entire council
has also resigned, he said: "Good,
very happy to hear that also."
Senior Congress legislator and
rormer
Sports
Minister
Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan,
who had appointed George, said
this is the end result of a conspira
cy by the state government.
"This is a shame for sports loving
Kerala as the council consisted of
top flight international sports per
sonalities. The state government
should say why they are doing
this," Radhakrishnan said.
State Congress President V.M.
Sudheeran said George is a victim
Anju Bobby George.

of the intolerance of the new gov
ernment. "We appointed her look
ing only into her talent and it was
not a political appointment as we
wanted to take sports to a new
level under accomplished sporting
personalities," he said. Former
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy
said George never approached any
one seeking her post and this clear
ly shows the intolerant attitude of
the Left government.
But Chief Minister Pinarayi
Vijayan attempted to play down
the issue. "If one council goes,
another one will come in its place,"
he said.
collapse of sorts, the Maharashtra

wicketkeeperbatsman resurrected
the innings with a defiant knock.
Fresh from a 10wicket mauling
of the hosts in the second match,
India found themselves in a spot
of bother after losing inform
opener Mandeep Singh (4) cheaply
while Lokesh Rahul (22) and
Manish Pandey departed off con
secutive balls.
Rahul's 20ball knock was laced
with three fours and a six before
the righthander was bowled by
Neville Madziva to reduce India to
27/2 while Pandey joined him the
next ball, thanks to a brilliant
throw at the stumps from Elton
Chigumbura.
The failure of the top order pro
vided ample opportunity to the
middle order batsmen comprising
Ambati Rayudu, skipper Mahendra
Singh Dhoni and Jadhav.
Sran was adjudged the manof
theseries for his six wickets in the
series while Jadhav bagged the
manofthematch award for his
defiant half century.
Kedar Jadhav bagged the manofthematch

award for his defiant half century.
LeBron James unanimously

wins NBA Finals MVP
New York: LeBron James is a cham
pion again, and the NBA Finals MVP
again. By unanimous vote, James
was selected as MVP of the title
series, accepting his trophy from
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver
after Cleveland beat Golden State 93
89 in Game 7 last Sunday.
"This is what I came back for,"
James said. James was overcome by
emotion after the final horn. He's the
finals MVP for the third time, also
winning in 2012 and 2013 when he
was a member of the Miami Heat.
"Best player on the planet," Cavs
teammate Kyrie Irving said.
James became the third player to
have a tripledouble in Game 7 of the
NBA Finals, joining Jerry West in
1969 and James Worthy in 1988.
LeBron James.
He had 27 points, 11 rebounds and
11 assists in the clincher, capping a
series where the Cavaliers became
the first team to successfully over
come a 31 deficit in the finals.

James is now 42 alltime in Game
7s, including 20 when those ulti
mate games come in the NBA Finals.
Chile beat Colombia to enter

Copa America final
Chicago: Defending champions Chile rode on a couple of first
half to defeat Mexico 20 in the semifinals of the Copa
America Centenario at the Soldier Field Stadium here. Charles
Aranguiz (7th minute) and Jose Fuenzalida (11th) struck in the
early stages to take Chile into the final for the second time in a
row. The defending champions will battle Argentina for the
title in a repeat of last year's final.
Argentina had thrashed hosts US in the other semifinal on
Wednesday. Colombia will take on US in the playoff for third
place. The stadium was hit a severe storm during the halftime
break and the start of the second half was delayed for over two
hours due to the threat of lightning.
Colombia's Roger Martinez (left) competes during the Copa

America Centenario semifinal against Chile in Chicago, Illinois.
24 June 25-July 1, 2016
INTERNATIONAL
BRITAIN, EU RELATION ON KNIFEEDGE

AS EU REFERENDUM CLOSES
London: Ballot boxes are on the

way to more than 380 count ven
ues after the EU referendum in
Britain closed at 10 p.m. local time.
Millions of Britons went to about
41,000 polling stat ions on
Thursday to cast their ballots in
the EU referendum on whether
their country should remain in or
leave the European bloc.
As the referendum started at 7
a.m., several polling stat ions
opened late on as overnight down
pours hit London and southeast
England, according to Xinhua.
Local media said two polling sta
tions were closed by Kingston
Council because of flooding, and
voters were instructed to cast their
ballots at alternative locations.
Another polling station in Dover
had power outage due to storms.
Figures from dif ferent cam
paigns have been seen cast their
votes on Thursday.
According to the six main polls'
results on Wednesday, only
Opinium and TNS showed the
'Leave' leads in early

returns from Brexit vote
People attend the "YES to Europe" rally in Trafalgar square in London.

(Photo: IANS)
Leave side gained more supports,
while Populus, ComRes, Ipsos
MORI and YouGov had more sup
ports from the Remain side.
While NatCen Social Research's
poll of polls suggested that 52 per
cent would vote stay, and 48 per

cent leave.
Meanwhile, sterling strength
ened against the US dollar, hitting
around 1.48 on Thursday. This is a
rise from the 1.40 point hit on
London: Britons voting to leave

the European Union outnum
bered "Remain" partisans by a
margin of 6,931 in the first
returns from Thursday's refer
endum.
"Leave" carried the day in the
northeastern English city of
Sunderland by 61 per cent to 39
per cent, amid turnout of 65 per
cent. In Newcastle, just 21 km
away, Remain prevailed by 50.7
per cent to 49.3 per cent with
turnout of nearly 68 per cent,
EFE news agency reported.
June 16, and is now not far off the
1.54 rate in May last year when
the decision to have a referendum
was announced.
Results will be declared through
out the night, and the final result
w ill be of ficially declared at
No NSG consensus over India's

membership bid
Seoul/Tashkent: A lack of consen
sus amid strong opposition from
several countries led by China
thwarted India's bid for NSG
membership in Seoul on
Thursday night even as Prime
Minister Narendra Modi urged
Chinese President Xi Jinping in
Tashkent to consider New Delhi's
bid on its merit.
The Indian application for mem
bership to the 48nation Nuclear
Suppliers Group was taken up at
a postdinner special session in
the South Korean capital where
heads of delegation of NSG are
holding a plenary, hig hly
informed sources in Seoul told
IANS.
The sources said several coun
tries led by China opposed the
idea of letting India in on the
grounds that New Delhi was a
nonsignatory to the Nuclear Non
Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Those
siding with China included Brazil,
Austria, New Zealand, Turkey and
Ireland.
Signing the NPT is one of the
main requirements to be part of
the elite club of nations that regu
late global nuclear trade and tech
nology.
China had earlier brought up
Pakistan's NSG application that
virtually stonewalled India's
chances of getting into the bloc
without signing the Nonprolifer
ation Treaty.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi who met President Xi in Tashkent urged

China to judge India's application on its "merit". (Photo: IANS)
China had been insisting that if
any concession is given to India,
the same should apply to Pakistan
which has an alleged bad track
record on nonproliferation after
it was said to have sold atomic
weapons technology to Libya,
Iran and North Korea.
T he sources said Pakistan's
application didn't come up for the
discussion.
The issue of considering appli
cations of nonNPT countries,
including India, was not on the
main agenda of the NSG's closed

door plenary.
But several diplomatic sources
said that Japan raised the issue in
the opening session. It was later
decided that the matter would be
discussed at the special session
convened by Chairperson Rafael
Grossi of Argentina.
Argent ina and South Korea
along with several key member
nations, including the US, Britain,
Italy, Mexico, Switzerland, France
and Russia, have been supportive
of India's NSG aspirations.

Earlier, Prime Minister Modi,
who met President Xi in Tashkent
on the sidelines of the Shanghai
Cooperation Organisation (SCO)
summit in the Uzbekistan capital,
urged China to judge India's
application on its "merit".
"Prime Minister Modi urged
China to make a fair and objective
assessment of India's application
and judge it on its own merit,"
External Af fairs Ministry
spokesperson Vikas Swarup
briefed reporters in Tashkent.
In Beijing, the Chinese Foreign
Ministry said the opposition to
India's membership won't impact
bilateral ties between them.
"We do not believe that it is an
issue concerning the bilateral
relationship between China and
India,"
Foreign
Ministry
spokesperson Hua Chunying told
the media, adding that the two
countries "have agreed that we
would make joint efforts to devel
op closely knit relationship".
Ahead of the Seoul plenary,
India made hectic diplomatic
efforts to secure the membership
in the grouping which works on
the principle of consensus and
allows a new member only if all
existing members agree.
Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar
is in Seoul as part of India's diplo
matic outreach to push through
the NSG.
Voters in Gibraltar were mas

sively in favour of staying in the
EU and the Orkney Islands also
ended up in the Remain column.
The city of Swindon, in the
southwest, voted Leave by 55
per cent to 45 per cent. Voters
in Broxbourne, a suburb of
London, likewise opted for a
British exit Brexit from the
EU.
A YouGov poll released right
after the polls closed showed
the Remain side prevailing by
52 per cent to 48 per cent.
Manchester Town Hall, probably
around breakfast time on Friday.
Figures from the Electoral
Commission showed a record of
46.5 million people are entitled to
take part in a nationwide referen
dum of this country.
Gunman who
opened fire in
German
cinema
complex shot
dead
Berlin: An armed man has
been killed after he opened
fire in a cinema complex in
western
Germany
on
T hursday, according to
German media. Up to 50 peo
ple were wounded in the
shooting.
T he
German
Interior
Ministry confirmed that the
man was shot in the town of
Viernheim, local media said.
T here were also uncon
firmed reports that 40 people
were being held hostage by
the gunman.
The shooter, wearing a mask
and a cartridge belt around
his shoulder, entered the
Kinopolis in Viernheim
around 3 p.m.
The shooter barricaded him
self inside the premises.
Of ficers, including some
from the special task force,
arrived at the scene and cor
doned of f the area, media
reports said.
A spokesman for the local
Darmstadt police spoke only
of a "vague threats,"
Tagesschau daily reported.
26
ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD
'Udta Punjab' gets 'A' certificate

in Pakistan after deep cuts
The actress was last seen in

the film Udta Punjab.
'Veere Di
Wedding' a real
chick flick:
Kareena
ctress Kareena Kapoor Khan,
who is all set to star in an all
girls film "Veere Di Wedding",
says the film will be India's first real
chick flick as she feels nobody has
had the courage to make a film in
that genre yet.
"This is probably India's real chick
flick. It's about four girls, four friends,
who come together for my (charac
ter's) wedding. It's really interesting
and fun. You watch it all the time in
the west, but nobody really has the
courage to really make a chick flick
here," Kareena said..
The actress, who has recently por
trayed a deglam role in "Udta
Punjab", added: "With changing times
and cinema today, I think it's easily
done because people want to see a
film like this (chick flick)."
"Veere Di Wedding" also stars
Sonam Kapoor, Swara Bhaskar and
Shikha Talsania. It is produced by
Rhea Kapoor and Ekta Kapoor.
New Delhi: Bollywood's drug

themed movie "Udta Punjab",
which braved a tough battle for
release in India, will now see
the light of the day in Pakistan,
albeit with cuts and mutes on
expletives and references to the
country.
"All the foul language, includ
ing swearing at and derogatory
words, remarks have been
muted along with certain exci
sions of scenes. The movie has
been granted 'A' rating by the
Full Board of CBFC (Central
Board of Film Censors),"
Mobashir Hasan, chairperson,
CBFC, told IANS from
Islamabad.
He also said that references
to Pakistan "have been excised".
Hasan added: "Scenes which
even subtly refer to Pakistan,
word '786', words 'Maryam kee
seerat' and all the foul language
and such words have been
excised, muted and beeped."
Actors Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Kareena Kapoor and Diljit

Dosanjh during the trailer launch of the film.
A wellplaced source in the
neighbouring country's film dis
tribution market told IANS that
about eight minutes of "basical
ly abusive language" have been
cut. However, a release date is
yet to be fixed. Meanwhile, the
Sind h
Board
of
Film
Certification, which works inde

pendent of the CBFC, is yet to
grant a release certificate to the
movie. "We have asked a local
distributor and importer to
mute all abusive language as
that is a direct violation of the
existing censor code, and a few
cuts. The film will be certified

soon and hopefully released
soon," FakhreAlam, chairper
son of the Sindh censor board,
told IANS from Karachi.
They are now waiting for the
film's Pakistan distributor to do
the needful. "Only after that,
the certificate will be issued,"
Alam said.
A hardhitting but entertain
ing messagebased drama,
"Udta Punjab" features power
packed and convincing per
formances by Shahid Kapoor,
Alia Bhatt, Kareena Kapoor
Khan and Diljit Dosanjh.
"It's powerful cinema," Alam
said, adding: "Alia Bhatt has just
set the bar too high for all the
leading ladies.
The movie got a favorable
response in India for its anti
drug message and also for its
strong performances. It made
Rs 38.30 crore in four days of
its release.
Kriti rubbishes
rumors of dating
Sushant Singh Rajput
Not working towards Hollywood:

A
Anushka Sharma
hat Priyanka Chopra and Deepika
Padukone are doing on foreign shores is
amazing, believes actress Anushka
Sharma, who says she is personally not working
towards Hollywood projects.
Both Priyanka and Deepika have bagged
plum projects in the West.
Asked if she has a similar plan, Anushka
said: "Everything that I am going to do as
an actress doesn't matter where it's com
ing from. It just has to be interesting. I
don't want to go and play a cliched Indian
girl."
"The cliches are there, so if I do some
thing, it has to be interesting. What
Priyanka and Deepika are doing is amaz
ing... More power to them."
alman Khan is busy with the

promotions of his upcoming
film, Sultan. The actor is
known for his tongue
incheek responses
to questions and
his
usual,
streetsmart
comments.
H o w e ve r,
it seems like
this
t ime,
Salman's com
ments have been
taken a tad too seri
ously than he would have
liked it to be. The superstar is
Salman
Khan's 'raped
woman' comment
lands him
in a soup
Salman was asked about his experience of playing a wrestler in Sultan.
"They are repre

senting our country
in a way and they are
making more oppor
tunities for other peo
ple. It's awe
some, but I
am
not
working
towards
it," she
added.
Actress
Anushka
Sharma
not only being trolled on social

media but is also facing a back
lash for his answer.
In an interview, when asked as
to how difficult was it shooting
for his role of a wrestler in the
film, Salman said, "While shoot
ing, during those six hours,
there'd be so much of lifting and
thrust ing on the g round
involved. That was tough for me
because if I was lifting, I'd have
to lift the same 120kilo guy 10
times for 10 dif ferent angles.
And likewise, get thrown that
many times on the ground. This
act is not repeated that many
ctress Kriti Sanon, who is

said to be dating her
"Raabta" co
star Sushant
Singh Rajput,
has termed the
rumors "base
less". A number
of reports sug
gested that Kriti was
in a romantic relationship with
Sushant, who recently broke up
with his longtime lover Ankita
Lokhande. As the news started
getting viral, the "Dilwale"
actress decided to put an end
to the speculations.
Kriti tweeted: "Had enough.
As much as we like and respect
each other as costars, there is
absolutely no truth to these
baseless manufactured stories!
Thanks."
times in the real fights in the

ring. When I used to walk out of
the ring, after the shoot, I used to
feel like a raped woman. I could
n't walk straight. I would eat and
then, head right back to training.
That couldn't stop."
The part where Salman says, "I
used to feel like a raped woman,'
hasn't gone down we ll w ith
many who have taken to social
media to voice their ire against
the actor. On listening to the
audio it seems like Salman had
realized that he had made a poor
choice of words and was heard
saying, "I should not have..."
ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD
27
We dont ght in public:

Mamta Kulkarni
Abhishek on scufe with Aish named accused in
drugs smuggling case
f there is a more devoted hus

band in the lm industry than
Abhishek Bachchan he would
be hard to nd. Almost 10 years
after marriage Abhishek continues
to be unconditionally supportive
of his wife and her career deci
sions.
Recently there were reports of a
public tif f between the couple at
the premiere of Aishwaryas film
Sarbjit.
Abhishek laughs off the rumors.
Sorry to disappoint those who are
looking for juicy gossip. We are
very happy together. So far
sooooo good, touchwood.
Cutting short all talk of a public
tiff with his wife at the premiere,
Abhishek laughs, We Bachchans
dont fight in public. I walked
away from her side so that he
media could interact with her
uninterrupted. After all it was her
evening and her moment of glory.
I was there just to support her.
ormer Bollywood actress Goswami held meetings and dis

Mamta Kulkarni has been cussed business with some
named an accused in the Rs clients.
2,000 crore ephedrine drugs haul
Incidentally, Goswami and
case by police, an of
cial said.
With
this,
police will now
approach the
CBI to get an
Interpol
Red
Corner notice
issued in her
name to facilitate
quick deportation
from
Kenya,
where she is
reported to be liv
ing since the past
few years with her
husband and busi
ness partner Vicky
Goswami, a co
accused in the
case.
"We have includ
ed
Mamta
Kulkarni's name in
the first informa
y
tion report (FIR)
The exactress is reportedl
ya.
and are in the
based in Mombasa, Ken
process of getting a
Red Corner Notice against her. Mamta were detained by Kenyan
Earlier, we have issued a RCN authorities in 2014 on the charge
against her husband Vicky of drug trafficking Goswami, 52,
Goswami,"
Thane
Police was earlier imprisoned for 25
Commissioner Parambir Singh years in the United Arab Emirates
told media persons.
in 1997 for trafficking around
Singh added that Moroccan and 11.50 tonnes of Mandrax but was
Colombian drug dealers are released in November 2012 on
involved in the case and the US grounds of good conduct. In
Drug Enforcement Administration 2013, he married Mamta
has provided pictures of Abdulla, Kulkarni, now 44. The couple is
an international narcotics dealer reportedly based in Mombasa in
from Kenya.
Kenya. During the 1990s, Mamta
The KulkarniGoswami couple Kulkarni was paired with some of
had attended meetings in January the top Bollywood stars like Shah
and April about drug smuggling, Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Aamir
police have learnt.
Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Akshay
Kulkarni's role in the narcotics Kumar, Sanjay Kapoor, Atul
racket was confirmed on the Agnihotri and many more. She
basis of statements of some of the had participated in a TV show
accused in the case that she and and bagged a Femina award too.
Abhishek laughed off at the rumors of scuffle.
eeraj Pandey's M.S. Dhoni The Untold

Story, a biopic on cricket icon Mahendra
Singh Dhoni, will now release on September
30 instead of September 2. The makers took the
decision to present the film in the "best way". It
was a unanimous decision to release the film on
September 30. This would give the team some
more time to present the film to the audiences in
the best way. We in no way wanted to
compromise on the visual experience
that Neeraj Pandey is set to create
with this movie, Vijay Singh,
CEO, Fox Star Studios, said in a
statement.
The film stars actor Sushant
Singh Rajput in the title role. Its
makers are confident that more
time will only help in maximiz
ing the effect of the movie.
The postponement of the release
date by three weeks will only help the
post production team to further augment
the value proposition of the film. This is one of the
mostawaited films of the year and I am sure fans
will understand that the marginal delay will only
help enhance the visual experience of the end
product, Arun Pandey, Chairman of Rhiti Group
owned Inspired Entertainment, said.
Dhoni
biopic
release date
pushed to
Sept 30
yth, folklore and symbols can

be interpreted in myriad ways
that although the actual image
is clear it throws up infinite possi
bilities just like the colourful
rainbow. That's Nagesh
Kukunoor's "Dhanak"
for you a captivating
road film, packed with
ample life's lessons.
Based on a story idea
by Yusuf Shaikh, it is the
tale of a blind boy, Chotu
and his devoted sister Pari.
"Dhanak" is a sweet, unpretentious
story of how to, "see the world not with
your eyes, but with your heart." It also
speaks of how anything is possible if you
The film stars actor

Sushant Singh Rajput
in the title role.
'Dhanak'
a sunshine
lm
Dhanak is a story of two orphaned
siblings set in Rajasthan.
have faith. Orphaned and living with their
uncle and aunt in rural Rajasthan, Pari with
childlike innocence, promises to take care
of her younger brother and help him regain
his eyesight before he turns nine years old.

Just two months before Chotu's ninth
birthday, Pari is reminded about the prom
ise when she notices a poster about eye
donation, endorsed by her idol Shah Rukh
Khan.
Soon she learns that Shah Rukh is shoot
ing in Jaisalmer, which is about 300 kilome
ters from where they live. And knowing
fully well that they won't be supported by
their uncle and aunt, the duo sneak out
from their home and set out to meet him.
They travel across Rajasthan, in the belief
that he is their only savior who could help
Chotu regain his eyesight.
The plot narrated in a straightforward,
linear manner is uncomplicated and simple.
It captures the innocence of the children
and takes you across the state in all its

glory. The characters too are distinct and
well etched.
Their banter is real and full of innocent
wit. There is warmth and understanding in
the depiction of the sibling relationship.
Their little squabbles and dif ferences
Chotu is a Salman Khan fan and Pari likes
Shah Rukh Khan and their inescapable
closeness is depicted lovingly.
The tale becomes doubly endearing due
to the brilliant and uninhibited performanc
es of the cast.
Hetal Gada as Pari and Krrish Chabria as
Chotu steal your heart with their flawless
rendition of their characters. They are natu
ral and completely at ease before the
camera.
28
HUMOR
Funny Side by Nury Vittachi
She faked her pregnancy. For 10 months.

I
just overheard a guy telling his wife to

calm down, look at the facts and think
rationally. Can you believe THERE ARE
STILL MEN who dont understand how
women work?!?!
***
Guys, guys! Women are complex crea
tures w ith intuit ive decisionmaking
processes that far transcend the basic logic
systems used by simple males. Consider
the following true news story.
***
A young woman recently used purpose
made padding to fool her boyfriend into
thinking she was pregnant. It worked per
fectly until things got awkward with her
baby bump going into its 10th month.
The woman eventually revealed that she
had ordered a fakeababy kit off the inter
net, a TV news station in the US state of
Michigan reported.
***
The report was forwarded to me by read
er Anya Srinivas, who said: She probably
realised that she couldnt fool the women
in her social circle, but if her boyfriend was
anything like mine, he wouldnt have
twigged for several more months.
***
When it comes to feminine issues, are
men really so stupid? The guys in my

office responded angrily to the accusation
with cries of: Oh yes we are.
***
I think the woman should have told the
boyfriend that the biggest, strongest ani
mals have longer gestations: 16 months for
a rhino, 23 months for an elephant, etc.,
and then hed have taken it as a compli
ment to himself.
***
Yet my male logic still puts her offense
into the Doomed From The Start catego
ry. Even if she had kept it up for 23
months, what was her exit strategy? Tell
the boyfriend that the baby had slipped out
and escaped into the night?
Wouldnt even a typically unobservant
male have asked questions? Newborns
can climb down drainpipes? Newborns
are masters of disguise?
***
I shared the tale at the of fice and a
female colleague to my surprise produced
a rather unusual example of a similar
"Doomed From The Start" scheme that
turned out fine.
In the summer of this year, zookeepers in
Australia were horrified to find a dead
mother tree kangaroo with a joey inside
which is a semideveloped baby kangaroo.

The zookeepers took it out, sneaked into
the cage of an adult female wallaby and hid
it in her pouch. The wallaby woke up,
found the fetus in her pocket, and assumed
it was hers missing the fact that she had
not been pregnant and failing to notice
that her offspring was a different species.
***
This made me think. I know lots of stupid
people (like attracts like) and wonder if I
could persuade one of them that my three
children are theirs? I could reveal the truth
later, say, after all three have graduated
from university.
I reckon it would all be a matter of plant
ing the idea in the right way.
How are your six children these days?
Six? I have three children.
No, Im sure you have six just look out
of the window and count. See? Six. Well,
gotta go.
***
Worth trying, no? My female colleague
has just pointed out that no woman would
be fooled by this, but added: But if you
know any single male fathers, you might
be in with a chance.
Laughter is the Best Medicine
BEST
RATE
FOR
INDIA
AND
PAKISTAN
New York Head Quarter
422S Broadway
HICKSVILLE
NY 11801
5168271010
by Mahendra Shah
Mahendra Shah is an architect by education, entrepreneur by profession, artist and
humorist, cartoonist and writer by hobby. He has been recording the plight of the
immigrant Indians for the past many years in his cartoons. Hailing from Gujarat,
he lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
ASTROLOGY
29
Chandigarh, India: +91-172- 256 2832, 257 2874

Delhi, India: +91-11- 2644 9898, 2648 9899
psharma@premastrologer.com; www.premastrologer.com
By Dr Prem Kumar Sharma
JUNE 25JULY 1, 2016

ARIES: With your high confidence you
will be able to cross all hurdles at pro
fessional front. Time spent with rela
tives will be to your advantage. Monetary
gains are likely to be from more than one
source. New romance that some of you are
going to experience would take the worries
off mind. Charity work undertaken will bring
mental peace & comfort. Take some time to
travel with your spouse for romance and
seduction. The plot you were looking for can
be profitable from investment point of view. A
secret personal wish will be fulfilled.
TAURUS : Timely help of associates
will not only pass dif ficult times at
work but also help in regaining profes
sional edge. Family members will be very posi
tive & supportive to your plans. A new finan
cial deal gets finalized paving the way for
fresh money. You enjoy a memorable time
with partner to cement the lovely bond.
Meditation and selfrealization prove benefi
cial. You can make your vacation extra special
by planning it with your family and friends. It
is better to try for your office accommodation
as soon as possible. You notice developing an
interest in creative work/literature.
GEMINI: A promising week to start a
new venture in partnership. All are like
ly to be benefited. Relatives will be will
ing to lend a helping hand at the time of need.
Financial position will improve later in the
week. You will be attracted to someone special.
You will have ample time to do things to
improve your health. Spiritual vacation is a
quest for life, plan it and enjoy it with your fam
ily. Time to think about your investment plans,
as investing residentially might be profitable.
Engaging yourself in some creative work would
give some respite from hectic lifestyle.
CANCER: Your technical expertise

gives a decisive edge over competi
tors at work. New relationship at fam
ily front will be long lasting & highly benefi
cial. Real estate investment would be lucrative.
Warm romantic thoughts occupy mind. Sound
physical health will enable to participate in
outdoor activities. Vacation full of beauty and
history as well as exciting is waiting for you.
Your investment can be done on a cheap or
smaller piece of land. Students will be success
ful in realising their dreams.
LEO: Hard work of the past brings rich
dividends. However continue enhanc
ing your skills/adopt techniques for
further development. Guests visit would make
it a pleasant & wonderful week. Investment in
stocks & mutual funds would help in earning
profits. Your charm & generosity bring new
romantic opportunities for you. You will be
successful in getting rid from tensions.
Traveling on your own, with a friend or with
the whole family will be exciting and comfort
able too. Family can be helpful on acquiring
your property or plot. You notice many of
your personal dreams & ambitions being ful
filled this week.
VIRGO: Dedication & loyalty at work
would bring desired results. You will
be in the mood to celebrate with fami
ly and friends this week. Longterm invest
ment in stocks & mutual funds will enable to
earn profits. Love life brightens your week. A
sparkling laughter filled week when most
things proceed, as you desire. Travel in com
fort with kids to an adventurous place might
be possible. Its time to invest in property and
get most profitable method to maximize your
bank balance. Hard work is likely to be sup
plemented by your lucky stars.
LIBRA: New ventures start on a posi

tive note. Good advice from family
members brings gains. Improvement
in finances is certain. Your wit & charm would
help in catching the attention of opposite sex.
Your enormous confidence would help in
enjoying a healthy life. A trip that stimulates
and gives opportunity for work is coming
ahead. Investing overseas can provide you
new business opportunities. Previous days
unsuccessful efforts would prove fruitful this
week.
SCORPIO: You succeed in completing
projects efficiently provided you put in
all your efforts. The company of family
friends will keep you in a happy & relaxed
mood. Speculation coupled with some unex
pected gains improves financial health. Love
partner would be extremely supportive and in
a loving mood. A very healthy week filled with
happiness & vitality. A luxurious getaway type
vacation with your spouse waiting for you.
Selling your plot might increase your bank
balance. You will be highly benefited by mak
ing independent arrangements rather than
depending on others assurances.
SAGITTARIUS: Hard work putin the
past will yield handsome rewards in
business this week. Parental guidance
in your decision would immensely help. A new
source of income will generate through influ
ential contacts. A romantic week as you
receive all praises from partner. Pleasure trip
would help in maintaining sound health this
week.
Thrilling experience is on your way, as your
trip is full of excitement Buyers will get
attracted to your property as your property
value is good. You get enjoyment from music
and creative work.
CAPRICORN: Business partners behave

supportive on executing strategies to sort
out pending problems. A week when mis
understandings at family front are sorted out
with ease. Investment made this week would
enhance prosperity and financial security. You
find pleasure and enjoy ecstasies of love in the
arms of partner. Yoga and meditation would help
in keeping in shape and mentally agile. Pack your
bags as a happy, funfilled holiday is looking for
ward. If you wish to achieve a good deal in prop
erty then try at commercial basis. You find devel
oping an interest in literature as you come in
contact with philosophers/intellectuals.
AQUARIUS: Innovative ideas & techni
cal expertise would enable to win the
confidence of seniors at professional
front. Believe it or not someone in the family is
watching you closely and considers you a role
model. An improvement in financial position
would enable to make important purchases. You
enjoy a lovely time as Cupid is on your side this
week. Blessings of a saintly person give peace of
mind. An enriching vacation full of fun is what
you need. Develop an attitude to be successful
on your property investment plans. this week
you will be successful in increasing your influ
ence & fame.
PISCES: Service people, artists and those
in creative field will get several new
opportunities. An important develop
ment at personal front brings jubilation for
entire family. You are likely to earn monetary
profits through most unexpected sources. A spe
cial message from beloved/lover lifts spirits.
Chances of recovering from physical ailment are
high. Time to make your vacation a dream come
true. If you are looking for a surefine method to
earn on your property, student rental could be
exactly what you need.
ANNUAL PREDICTIONS: FOR THOSE BORN IN THIS WEEK

25th June, 2016
Ruled planet: Neptune
Ruled by no: 7
Traits in you: Your governing planet Neptune helps
you grow as a mature and perfect individual. You
are unique, independent, realistic and optimistic.
You never believe in losing. You are always try to
win with the help of your hardwork and luck
being a social person you are well known in socie
ty and your helpful nature makes you pretty popu
lar in your known circles. Your stubborn behavior
may hurt people without your knowledge so you
better try and eradicate it.
Health this year: You should not ignore minor
health issues to avoid bigger problems later.
Finance this year: You may get involved in many
profitable partnerships, which may help you earn a
lot of money. You may be lucky enough to get your
legal and government work done.
Career this year: You will be able to enhance your
communication skills and your confidence will be
at its best. You can create wonders in your profes
sion as well as business. Your time management
skills will be key to your success this year. If you
can learn new technologies, it will be better for
your financial growth. You may get a chance to
work independently and prove yourself.
Romance this year: You relationship with your
partner will be expectational.
Lucky month: September, November, February,
May
26th June, 2016
Ruled planet: Saturn
Ruled by no: 8
Traits in you: As you are ruled by planet Saturn,
you are selfless, sincere, reliable, realistic, and con
fident. Being the owner of huge intelligence and
talent you are pretty interested in acquiring knowl
edge on trending technology. You should try to
eradicate pessimism and negativity from your
characteristics.
Health this year: You will enjoy an overall good
health though you may suf fer from some minor
diseases.
Finance this year: You may find your trips educa
tive and profitable this year. You should not lend
or borrow money this year as it may put you in
various problems. You will be benefited from the
real estate investments if you have any.
Career this year: The success in your professional
life may depend on your responsibility handling
ability. You may have to work on different places,

which may prove to be a challenge for you to co
ordinate with you colleagues and provide a quali
tative output.
Romance this year: Your charismatic personality
will attract opposite sex. Your relationship with
your partner would be pleasurable.
Lucky month: December, April and May
Career this year: You do not bother about frequent

job changes as you want expertise in a particular
domain. Your honesty and helpful nature wins you
admiration, trust and respect from your colleagues
and seniors. You may take immense interest in
your profession and it would help in your salary
increment.
Romance this year: Your relationship with your
partner and family members may get affected due
to the volume of work you are assigned to.
Lucky month: September, December and April
27th June, 2016

Ruled planet: Mars
Ruled by no: 9
Traits in you: Your ruling planet Mars makes you
daring and intelligent by birth. Your other personal
traits are dignity, independent, enthusiasm, opti
mism, selfconfidence, and discipline. You have
exceptional leadership qualities since birth. So you
can influence anyone to work according your
plans. You should not behave arrogant and impa
tient for the betterment of your personality.
Health this year: You will be in a merdiocre health
condition this year. You have to take regular med
ication to stay fit.
Finance this year: You will be able to improve your
financial condition as money may flow from vari
ous sources. You may go for overseas journeys for
business purpose.
Career this year: You will be posthumously
rewarded for your ef forts throughout the year.
You will make huge leaps as far as your career is
concerned. Professionally, you will be very suc
cessful as you will be able to create a positive
impact on your seniors and higher management.
Romance this year: You along with your partner
will solve every personal issue that has been
proved to be a huge headache for you and your
family. Your romance with your partner will touch
new heights.
Lucky month: November, April and May
29th June, 2016

Ruled planet: Moon
Ruled by no: 2
Traits in you: The calmness of your ruling planet
makes you creative, friendly, disciplined, innova
tive, responsible, reliable, and imaginative.
Health this year: You will be enjoying a very good
health this year despite lot of stress.
Finance this year: You are very careful when
money is concerned. You do not spend money
unnecessarily. You will enjoy a satisfactory finan
cial condition throughout the year. Though you
will have a lot of expenditures, you need not spend
all money alone as your partner will support you
financially.
Career this year: Your dedication towards your
work will bring you lot of name and fame later in
the year. Your introvert nature may make you lag
behind others so you better try to work on it and
act proactively. You deserve a lot than you are get
ting now. This year you may be rewarded as per
your expectations.
Romance this year: You may not find much time to
spend with your partner this year due to huge load
of work or business trips. You should add more life
to every moment you spend with your partner.
Lucky month: October, January and May
28th June, 2016

Ruled planet: Sun
Ruled by no: 1
Traits in you: By the influence of your ruling plan
et Sun, you have become very original, positive,
confident, vivacious and optimistic. You need to
control your mood swings to get more success.
Health this year: You will be enjoying a better
health as compared to last year. However, you
need not neglect your regular medication.
Finance this year: You will get a lot of chances to
earn money and improve your standard of living.
30th June, 2016

Ruled planet: Jupiter
Ruled by no: 3
Traits in you: Being ruled by Jupiter, you are ambi
tious, confident, creative, dignified and optimistic.
People trust you as you are very helpful and you
win their trust with your behavior. You need to
work on your nature of being jealous and arrogant.
Health this year: You may suffer from some minor
health issues and that would not bother you very
much.
Finance this year: Your quick decision making
capability will help you gain enough money. Your

social life would be very pleasant this year as you
may go on developing various profitable contacts
to get help in your business. You may frequently
travel and go for parties in various social events.
Career this year: You will gain respect in your
organization as a hardworking and efficient pro
fessional. Your colleagues would seek your advice
in critical situations. Your value as an employee
would increase in your organization and you will b
e considered as an asset to the organization.
Romance this year: You may not find enough men
tal support from your partner, which may weaken
your relationship with your partner.
Lucky month: December, April and May
1st July, 2016
Ruled planet: Sun
Ruled by no: 1
Traits in you: Being governed by the Sun, you are
endowed with uniqueness and philosophy. You are
courageous, daring, courteous, affectionate, deci
sive, and very determined. You need to work on
your impatience and short tempered nature.
Health this year: You may remain worried for the
health of your spouse. Your health will remain fine
though it needs extra care. You should regularly
visit to your doctor for checkups. Try to secure
your parents health as they may suf fer from
minor ailments throughout this year.
Finance this year: Financial gains are sure for you
this year as you may get into new business ven
tures. However, try to avoid partnerships as much
as you can. You may get benefited from your past
investments or sale of paternal land or property.
You may go for renovation of your house and that
will make you spend enough money. You may go
for business trips later in the year and you will
succeed in bringing new business.
Career this year: The nature of your professional
work will allow you find many new job opportuni
ties with high salaries. You should take up a new
job to flourish in your career. You will gain
required expertise in your profession and perform
better than ever.
Romance this year: You will be in a peaceful rela
tionship with your beloved this year. You should
take care not to get involved in any kind of con
frontation or argument with your partner. You
may get into marital relationship this year if you
are yet to marry.
Lucky month: December, March, April and July
30
SPIRITUAL AWARENESS
NEVER GIVE UP!

speech. The message he gave the
audience that day was one that
applies to each of us. He knew
that he had reached his great
stature in life despite his struggle
in school. He knew that his suc
cess was not a gift but due to
hard work. What he was telling
the graduates was that success
and doing tedious drills day after

day, year after year, to get to
where they are. Few see how
many hours the artist put in to
perfect his or her art. Few see
how many business losses and
failed attempts to make money
the billionaire had to go through
before he was successful. Anyone
yet so far due to the inability of

us to still our mind, quiet our
thoughts, and stay focused long
enough to go within. We are hin
dered by the millions of distrac
t ions in the world that keep
pulling our attention outside
instead of letting us go within.
Meditation provides a way to
By Sant Rajinder Singh

Ji Maharaj
eople look at those who are
successful and marvel at
their talents. We watch the
allstar basketballs players win
championship titles and talk
about how gifted they are. We
watch great golfers win one tour
nament after another and think
they were born with a special
gift. We watch artists turn out
one masterpiece after another
and wish we were born with such
uck. We watch people who are
billionaires top the richest per
son in the world list and wonder
at their gift at business. Little do
we realize that anyone who has
attained anything in life has put
in a tremendous amount of effort
to get where they are.
In this connection, there is an
anecdote from the life of Sir
Winston Churchill, one of the
great prime ministers of England.
It took him three years to pass
the eighth grade because he had
trouble with English. One can
imagine how much difficulty one
would have to take three years to
pass a single grade.
Years later he was invited by
Oxford University to give the
commencement address to its
students. How ironic that the boy
who could not pass eighth grade
was now addressing the gradu
ates of the most prestigious uni
versity in the world.
He arrived at the auditorium
with his usual top hat and cigar
and walking with his cane. He
stood at the podium. With great
pomp he set down the cane, took
off his top hat, and set it on the
lectern. He gazed out at the wait
ing audience, who was hanging
on his every word. He took the
cigar out of his mouth, and with
great authority, boomed into the
microphone, "Never give up." The
audience waited breathlessly for
his next words. He paused a few
seconds and then leaned towards
the mike again and said, "Never
give up."
The audience was dead silent
waiting for his next words. Sir
Winston Churchill then put his
hat back on, took his cane, and
walked of f the stage. That was
his ent ire commencement
Sir Winston Churchill, one of the great prime

ministers of England took three years to
pass the eighth grade because he had
trouble with English. Years later he was
invited by Oxford University to give the
commencement address to its students.
How ironic that the boy who could not pass
eighth grade was now addressing the
graduates of the most prestigious university
in the world. This happened because
he never gave up.
was not a gift with which one is
born; success lies in never giving
up.
Few people see that the basket
ball player who w ins all the
championships is practicing on
the basketball hoop all day and
night, day after day, while others
have to be forced by the coach to
even show up on time for prac
tice. Few see how the champi
onship golfer is practicing hitting
thousands and thousands of balls
who has achieved anything in life

has done so by being persistent
and never giving up.
If we wish to attain our goal in
the spiritual field, we must never
give up. We have a long way to
go from where we are now to
attain
divine
know ledge.
Although spiritual gifts are with
in us, closer to us than the veins
in our body, we have to perfect
the technique of finding them.
Spiritual realization is so close
perfect our ability to stay

fo cused w ithin to find inner
treasures. Through meditation,
we perfect our ability to increase
our concentration.
We learn patience and perse
verance. These two qualities help
us progress spiritually within
and will help us also achieve suc
cess in the outer world. It takes
practice. We will not achieve our
goal if we g ive up. We must
never give up.
Each day, we are one day closer

to achieving our goal. We should
not let our failure cause us to
give up. Sir Winston Churchill
could have given up after failing
eighth grade the first time. But
he stuck with it. He could have
given up after failing eighth
grade the second time. But he did
not give up. It was on the third
try that he finally was promoted.
There is a simple technique
called Jyoti meditation, which
increases the ability to concen
trate and stay focused. To do
this, select a pose that is most
convenient in which you can sit
the longest. Close your eyes.
Your eyes should be relaxed as
they are when you go to sleep.
Focus your attention into the
middle of the field of darkness
lying in front of you. Your eyes
should be focused about ten to
twelve inches in front of you in
the horizontal plane. As you fix
your gaze, mentally repeat any
name of God with which you feel
comfortable. As you continue to
meditate, experience the inner
peace and bliss.
As you do this, you will daily
increase your ability to stay
focused. By practicing this each
day, you will find an increase in
your patience and perseverance,
which will become a habit even
in your endeavors in the world.
Thus, you will find greater ability
to persevere in any worldly or
spiritual goal you have until you
succeed.
Similarly, if we do not succeed
in meditation one day, we should
not give up and stop meditating
altogether. We should sit again
the following time. If we do not
succeed, we should sit again. Day
by day, we will find that we will
begin to improve, until finally we
will achieve success.
In meditation, improvement is
measured in the ability to keep
our body and mind stilled and to
keep our gaze focused in the
field of darkness or light lying in
front of us.
We must continue to keep our
attention focused without any
intervening thoughts. We should
keep trying again and again. We
should never give up. Then we
will find that one day we will
achieve our goal.
Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj

is an internationally recognized
spiritual leader and Master of
Jyoti Meditation who affirms the
transcendent oneness at the heart
of all religions and mystic traditions, emphasizing ethical living
and meditation as building blocks
for achieving inner and outer
peace. www.sos.org.

Vol. 9 - No. 9 June 25 - July 1, 2016

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Vol. 9 - No. 9 June 25 - July 1, 2016

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

The South Asian Times

New York Edition

Yoga girds the globe

accepted the proposal of Indian

sessions and events on and

reached," he added. "And more

Washington: US Supreme Court on

PM Modi during his meeting with

Vol.9 No. 9 June 25-July 1, 2016 80 Cents

pledged during the campaign to

OWN YOUR FUTURE

x More than 60 undergraduate and graduate degrees

June 25-July 1, 2016

June 25-July 1, 2016

The man behind Tefcon

New York: The Tamil Entrepreneurs Forum

Ram Nagappan is Chief Information Officer

Mineola, NY: From the ve

PanIIT announces meet in Rhode Island

The organizers of the 2016 Leadership Conference

New England leads the rest of the

Environment, Big Data and

technology. A highlight of the con

June 25-July 1, 2016

Brexit news shaves

Britain votes to leave EU,

Obama says it would be at the

Yoga girds the globe

Chairman and Co-Founder

Co-Founder: Saroosh Gull

Contributing Editors: Meenakshi Iyer,

President: Arjit Mehta

and re levance to the world

US Supreme Court blocks

do to our families, our communi

Jaipur (India) Bureau

IANS Washington Bureau

Photographs: Gunjesh Desai/

Printing: Five Star Printing, NY

Photo Journalist: Sandeep Girhotra

Chief Operating Officer:

West Coast Correspondent

Art and Design: Vladimir Tomovski

Managing Editor: Parveen Chopra

New Delhi Bureau

Web Editor: B.B.Chopra

Indian culture comes alive at

Honorees with Nassau County Comptroller George

Dorothy Goosby and several other

June 25-July 1, 2016

Valvani, charged with insider

be forgotten that the charges

IndianAmerican Peter Jacob

Peter Jacob seeksto unseat incumbent

June 25-July 1, 2016

JAINA shibir from July 15

Rubin Museum showcasing

Girls can achieve in any eld, and

Attorney Roopa Modha was among

ernment in key positions (many spoke

IALI gala had a dozen honorees Udta Punjab screened in

Honorees with IALI executive committee and past presidents

Arya Dance Academy, Kalpita

Flushing, NY: The Gyan Foundation,