INDIA POST SURVEY [email protected]This week’s question Top Stories VOICE OF INDIANS WORLDWIDE www.indiapost.com NEW YORK • WASHINGTON D.C. • CHICAGO • ATLANTA • CALIFORNIA VOL 17, No. 918 April 20, 2012 50¢ Periodical Postage India Post CONTENTS Bollywood ---------------------- 38-39 Classifieds ------------------------- 47 Community Post --------------- 9-17 Date Book -------------------------- 46 Edit Page --------------------------- 49 HealthScience Post --------- 40-43 Horoscope ------------------------- 28 Immigration Post ------------- 34-36 Life Style ----------------------- 24-27 Philosophy ------------------------- 48 Publisherís Diary ------------------ 4 Real Estate -------------------- 44-45 TechBiz Post -------------------18-23 Travel & Hospitality Post ---- 29-31 Will India win visa case in WTO? Details on page 6 Details on page 34 Last week’s result YES 37% NO 63% 7 officers posted abroad over black money Can the community influence a judge? Certified by “CIRCULATION VERIFICATION COUNCIL Readership 117,765” • Conventional Loans & SBA Loans • Working Line of Capital up to $250,000 • Refinancing of Existing Properties & Cash out Possible • Loans up to$5 Million for Owner Occupied Properties • Under 5% Interest Loans • Doctor's Office, Dental Office, Podiatrist Office, Pharmacy Dunkin Donuts and many others WE OFFER MANY COMMERICAL FINANCING AND RFINANCING OPTIONS BAISAKHI IN L.A.: Crowds in large numbers participated in the Grand Parade during Baisakhi celebrations which were held at the Los Angeles Convention Center with piety and enthusiasm. -Report on page 16 Details on page 5 BOMB THREAT AT INDIAN EMBASSY India Post News Service NEW YORK: The Indian Embassy in Washington D.C. received a bomb threat through an anonymous telephone call on the morning of April 10. The call indicating that there was a bomb on the Embassy premises came at 10:30 am, the Embassy said, following which they immediately notified the local security authorities for necessary in- spection of the Embassy. The security authorities arrived promptly and con- ducted a thorough on-site inspection of the building and concluded that there were no findings to suggest any bomb threat, the Embassy said. The Embassy has since resumed its normal functioning. Indian Ambassador Nirupama Rao was not present on the premises at the time as she was on her way to Indiana. US, India health initiative strengthened Details on page 40 India drags US to WTO on visa fee hike Details on page 19 Art from NGMA, National museum goes online Details on page 5 Details on page 24 Tantalizing show at Varli’s Indian Food Festival Details on page 18 Details on page 22 Details on page 6 USIBC warns India on rules for procurement India seeks details from foreign entities Kirit Patel charged with fake collection Philanthropic leaders pledge $1m to AAPI
Top Stories V O I C E O F I N D I A N S W O R L D W I D E
www.indiapost.com
NEW YORK • WASHINGTON D.C. • CHICAGO • ATLANTA • CALIFORNIA VOL 17, No. 918 April 20, 2012 50¢ Periodical Postage
India Post
CONTENTSBollywood ---------------------- 38-39
Classifieds ------------------------- 47
Community Post --------------- 9-17
Date Book -------------------------- 46
Edit Page --------------------------- 49
HealthScience Post --------- 40-43
Horoscope ------------------------- 28
Immigration Post ------------- 34-36
Life Style ----------------------- 24-27
Philosophy ------------------------- 48
Publisherís Diary ------------------ 4
Real Estate -------------------- 44-45
TechBiz Post ------------------- 18-23
Travel & Hospitality Post ---- 29-31
Will India win visa casein WTO?
Details on page 6
Details on page 34
Last week’s result
YES 37% NO 63%
7 officers postedabroad overblack money
Can the community influencea judge?
Certified by “CIRCULATION VERIFICATION COUNCIL Readership 117,765”
• Conventional Loans & SBA Loans
• Working Line of Capital up to $250,000
• Refinancing of Existing Properties & Cash out Possible
• Loans up to$5 Million for Owner Occupied Properties
• Under 5% Interest Loans
• Doctor's Office, Dental Office, Podiatrist Office, Pharmacy Dunkin Donuts and many others
WE OFFER MANY COMMERICAL FINANCING AND RFINANCING OPTIONS
BAISAKHI IN L.A.: Crowds in large numbers participated in the Grand Parade during Baisakhi celebrations which were
held at the Los Angeles Convention Center with piety and enthusiasm. -Report on page 16
Details on page 5
BOMB THREAT ATINDIAN EMBASSY
India Post News Service
NEW YORK: The Indian Embassy in Washington D.C.received a bomb threat through an anonymous telephonecall on the morning of April 10. The call indicating thatthere was a bomb on the Embassy premises came at 10:30am, the Embassy said, following which they immediatelynotified the local security authorities for necessary in-spection of the Embassy.
The security authorities arrived promptly and con-ducted a thorough on-site inspection of the building andconcluded that there were no findings to suggest anybomb threat, the Embassy said. The Embassy has sinceresumed its normal functioning. Indian AmbassadorNirupama Rao was not present on the premises at thetime as she was on her way to Indiana.
US, Indiahealth initiativestrengthened
Details on page 40
India drags USto WTO on visafee hike
Details on page 19
Art from NGMA,National museumgoes online
Details on page 5
Details on page 24
Tantalizing showat Varli’s IndianFood Festival
Details on page 18
Details on page 22
Details on page 6
USIBC warnsIndia on rules forprocurement
India seeksdetails fromforeign entities
Kirit Patelcharged withfake collection
Philanthropicleaders pledge$1m to AAPI
India Postwww.indiapost.com
April 20, 20122
April 20, 2012 India Post 3www.indiapost.com
BIGGER is how you will feel as youexperience our agenda of outstanding speakers and timely educational seminars, highlighted by the Keynote Address on Friday, May 4:
Visit the AAHOA website www.aahoa.com/convention for complete Convention information, especially the Early Registration Discount
What are you waiting for? Make your reservations today!
BOLDER is how you will feel as you see the latest products and services during our two-day Trade Show – and as you network with industry leaders, friends, and colleagues.
BETTER is how you will feel asyou enjoy exceptional Indian cuisine andthree nights of exciting entertainers directfrom India, including:
Unforgettable Yaadon ki Baarat on Thursday night
Legendary Pankaj Udhas on Friday night
Dynamic Javed Ali plusAnup Shankar and his band
of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa fame, together in North America for the first time
Single Occupancy: $165Double Occupancy: $165Triple Occupancy: $185Quadruple Occupancy: $185
The Omni Hotelat CNN Center
100 CNN CenterAtlanta, GA 30303 1-800-524-0500
www.aahoa.com/omni
Howard DeanFormer Chair Democratic
National Committee
Michael SteeleFormer Chair Republican
National CommitteeVS.
Moderated by Jonathan KarlABC News
Senior Congressional Correspondent
Also experience a passionate political debate:
Join Us For HisInformative
Insight, Unique Perspective& Powerful
Recollections
George W. Bush43rd President of the United States
AAHOA ANNUALCONVENTION &
TRADE SHOWMAY 2-5, 2012 ◆ ATLANTA
Omni Hotel At CNN Center& Georgia World Congress Center
38
Mission Statement
To empower the Indian Diaspora and make their voice strong and effective in countries of their adoption. RJ Media conglomerateoffers a credible, professional and complete package of news, opinion, entertainment, networking and information.
and responsible for all liability for their claimers
What do Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, George Soros and MichaelBloomberg have in common? Money, right? Yeah, they are all bil-lionaires. But there's something else that's common among them.
They want to pay more taxes. If it sounds ironic, it is indeed ironic, becauserallying behind what has now come to be called the 'Buffett Rule', billionaireCEOs stood with President Obama last week when he asked Americans to pushtheir lawmakers to pass the new tax policy in Congress.
At the staged White House event with a few of the country's richest menrepresenting the top 1%, and their secretaries - representing the rest of the 99%Americans - in attendance, President Obama explained for the umpteenth timethe Buffett Rule. So we have all heard that America's second richest man WarrenBuffett pays taxes at a lesser rate than his secretary. And if you have heardPresident Obama once, you have heard him a hundred times harping on this todrill his point about everybody getting a fair shot, and everybody doing their fairshare, and everybody playing by the same set of rules.
"It's simple," he explained. "If you make more than $1 million a year, youshould pay at least the same percentage of your income in taxes as middle-classfamilies do. If you make less than $250,000 a year - like 98% of families do -your taxes shouldn't go up. That's all there is to it. That's pretty sensible. MostAmericans agree with me, so do most millionaires." And to good measure, thePresident added that one survey found that two-thirds of millionaires supportthis idea; so do nearly half of all Republicans across America.
Simple, really. But somehow the opposition rhetoric that Obama is raisingtaxes invariably is heard louder than the truth that he has in fact cut taxes forsmall business owners not once or twice, but 17 times! What's not to understandin that?
Happily posing millionaires are hardly convincing, Mr. President. What youneed is political rhetoric if you want to beat special interests. That's the onlylanguage spoken and understood in Washington DC.
India PostApril 20, 2012 5
www.indiapost.com
Cover/Top Stories
Bomb threat at Indian Embassy in DCIndia Post News Service
NEW YORK: The Indian Em-bassy in Washington D.C. re-ceived a bomb threat through ananonymous telephone call on themorning of April 10. The call indi-cating that there was a bomb onthe Embassy premises came at10:30 am, the Embassy said, fol-lowing which they immediatelynotified the local security authori-ties for necessary inspection ofthe Embassy.
The security authorities ar-rived promptly and conducted athorough on-site inspection ofthe building and concluded thatthere were no findings to suggestany bomb threat, the Embassysaid. The Embassy has since re-sumed its normal functioning.Indian Ambassador NirupamaRao was not present on the pre-mises at the time as she was onher way to Indiana.
At a US State Department brief-ing the same day, spokespersonVictoria Nuland said appropriate
threat was a hoax while statingthat there would be an investiga-tion into the incident.
Agency reports quoted Em-bassy sources saying that prelimi-
nary investigations revealed thethreat call was made from Utah andthat the person who spoke ap-peared to have been of SouthAsian descent since he spoke'Hinglish'.
The US Secret Service as wellas the local Metropolitan PoliceDepartment of Washington D.C.are investigating the case.
law enforcement personnel re-sponded immediately and that allthree of the Indian official loca-
tions - the chancery, theAmbassador's residence and thevisa office - were cleared, mean-
ing no explosive device was lo-cated.
Nuland could not say if the
Art from NGMA, National museum goes onlineNEW DELHI: Artworks from
the National Musuem and theNational Gallery of Modern Artwould now be accessible at thetouch of a keystroke with CultureMinistry announcing a partner-ship with Google, that allowspeople to view art and strollthrough museums across theworld, online.
The two art institutions havejoined Google's Art Project that fea-tures over 30,000 artworks ingigapixel super high resolution withstreet view images from 151 part-ners in 41 countries, including theart collection of the White Houseand Palace of Versailles in France.
"The partnership is not justabout bringing people to the mu-seums but taking the NationalMuseum and the NGMA to peopleacross the globe. From a child ac-cessing the web from an internetcafe in Mumbai to a student in NewYork looking for inspiration for athesis, the project will connect across section of art enthusiasts,"Culture Minister Kumari Seljasaid after inaugurating the projectat NGMA here.
She pointed out that it wasunfortunate that in recent timesart has become inaccessible for avariety of reasons.
"A substantial body of artworkis locked up in private collectionsthat are not easily accessible. Inpublic museums a vast majority iskept away from public view in re-serve collections and even what
is on display is subject visitingtime limitations and traveling tothese museums can be expensiveand time consuming," she said.
The project uses street viewtechnology to enable people tomove around the gallery virtuallyto view high quality digitized im-ages and accessing information
about the artworks.Some iconic artworks such as
M F Husain's landmark 1955 work"Zameen" or Bhupen Kakkar's"Man with Plastic Flowers (1975)along with works by artists likeJamini Roy and Amrita Shergillwould be available for viewing. .
Rajan Anandan, Managing Di-rector and VP- Sales and Opera-tions, Google India said, "Thereare 120 million Indians on theinternet everyday and with the ArtProject they can go around muse-ums worldwide at the touch of a
keystroke. The project illustratesGoogle's commitment to bringingculture online and making it ac-cessible to widest possible audi-ence."
While the first stage of the Artproject's Indian chapter has putonline digitized images of 250 art-works NGMA and National
Musuem, the Minister said shehas asked the two institutions toput up at least 10,000 works each.
"We have a rich heritage of arti-facts and art and we need to sharethem with the world. We are con-sidering along with the Google teama number of other projects and weare confident of quick progress. Wewill be able to dedicate them to thepublic within months if not weeks,"said the minister.
"It should also inspire and en-courage people to come and visitmuseums," said Selja.
Currently, the National Mu-seum has more than 200,000 arti-facts and the NGMA has over17,000 works and in the first stageof the partnership.
Commenting on the partnershipPavin Srivastave, Director GeneralNational Musuem said, "The as-sociation allows us to give world-
wide virtual access to moments inIndia's history.
We are extremely happy to bepart of this endeavor that enablesuniversal access to Indian art andculture."
Rajiv Lochan, Director, NationalGallery of Modern Art said, "TheNGMA houses and showcasesmasterpieces of the changing artforms spanning over 150 years. Itendeavors to create sensitivity,awareness and understandingamong national and internationalaudiences towards Indian idiom
and art expression, and the GoogleArt project uses sophisticatedtechnology to help us."
For those who are not clued inabout art the project can be animmersive experience.
"People can view all the 32,000artworks available ranging fromminiature paintings of Mughal erato contemporary art in a magazineformat and discover artists andalso the space inside museums,"said Amit Sood, head of theGoogle Art Project.
For the project, a special streetview trolley took 360 degree im-ages of the interior of selectedgalleries that were then stitchedtogether enabling smooth naviga-tion of over 385 rooms within themuseums.
The art project is not linked tothe internet search giant's ad rev-enue and does not allow permitusers to download or print images.
"We license the works directlyfrom the museum and the projectis purely educational and there isno monetization of revenuesthrough ads," said Sood, whodeclined to give the total cost in-volved in the project.
Other collections in Google'sArt Project includes the Metro-politan Museum of Art in NewYork, the National Gallery in Lon-don, the Palace of Versailles inFrance, the White House in Wash-ington DC, and the collection ofthe Museum of Islamic Art inQatar among others. -PTI
Amrita Shergill creation (right) and self portrat (left) at the NGMA
The security authori-ties arrived promptlyand conducted athorough on-site in-spection of the build-ing and concludedthat there were nofindings to suggestany bomb threat
India Post April 20, 20126
www.indiapost.com
Top Stories
Indian-American charged with making fake debt collector calls
"The callers threatened me and claimed theywould arrest me if I didn't pay them the al-leged debt. One of the callers even con-tacted my neighbors and told me he waswatching my house" Minister says India not
'under-prepared'NEW DELHI: Noting that
China has more resources to dedi-cate for modernization of its de-fense forces, the government hasasserted that India is not "under-prepared" in anyway and is alsoacquiring capabilities to build itsinfrastructure along the borderfor security needs.
"China's budget is four timesthat of India so they will defi-nitely have larger resources dedi-cated to that (for modernisationpurposes)," Minister of State forDefense M M Pallam Raju toldreporters here.
He was replying to a questionon rapid modernization of militaryinfrastructure by Chinese Armyalong its border with India whichwas mentioned in the recently re-leased Annual Report of DefenseMinistry for the year 2011-12.
Raju emphasized that all effortsare being made by the Indiangovernment to improve militaryinfrastructure in the borderingareas.
Stressing that India is not"under-prepared" in anyway, hesaid "we are also gathering mo-mentum in the way we are acquir-ing capabilities and the way weare building our infrastructure."
In the Annual Report-2011-12,the Defense Ministry has high-lighted the way China is increas-ing its footprints in India's imme-
diate neighborhood."Rapid infrastructure develop-
ment in Tibet Autonomous Re-gion (TAR) and Xinjiang prov-ince has considerably upgradedChina's military force projectionand application capabilityagainst India and improved theiroverall strategic and operationalflexibility," the report had said.
Underlining that India desires
a peaceful and cordial relationwith China, the report had said,"Chinese footprints in India's im-mediate neighborhood are in-creasing progressively due to itsproactive diplomacy through po-litical, military and economic co-operation and engagement." -PTI
"Rapid infrastructuredevelopment in TibetAutonomous Region(TAR) and Xinjiangprovince has consid-erably upgradedChina's military forceprojection and appli-cation capabilityagainst India”
WASHINGTON: An Indian-American and his two compa-nies have been charged withmaking threatening fake debtcollection calls to tens of thou-sands of Americans from Indiaand fraudulently collecting morethan USD 5.2 million in the pasttwo years.
Following complaints from theFederal Trade Commission (FTC),a US district court halted an op-eration of the California-basedRan Phantom Debt CollectionScheme, which collected phan-tom payday loan debts that con-sumers either didn't owe to thedefendants or didn't owe at all.
The FTC has charged Califor-nia-based Kirit Patel and two com-panies he controls with violatingthe FTC Act and the Fair DebtCollection Practices Act.
According to FTC, Patel andhis two companies scheme in-volved more than 2.7 million callsto at least 600,000 different phonenumbers nationwide.
In less than two years, theyfraudulently collected more thanUSD 5.2 million from consumers,many of whom were strapped forcash and thought the moneythey were paying would be ap-plied to loans they owed, ac-cording to FTC documents filedwith the court.
The court order temporarilystops the illegal conduct and
freezes the operation's assetswhile the FTC moves ahead withthe court proceedings and seeksrefunds for consumers.
Often pretending to be Ameri-can law enforcement agents suchas "Officer Mike Johnson" or rep-resentatives of fake governmentagencies like the "Federal CrimeUnit of the Department of Jus-tice," callers from India who wereworking with the defendantswould harass consumers withback-to-back calls, according tothe FTC. .
One consumer reported thatthe caller threatened to have herchildren taken away if she did notpay, according to court docu-ments.
Another consumer told theFTC, "The callers threatened meand claimed they would arrestme if I didn't pay them the al-leged debt. One of the callerseven contacted my neighborsand told me he was watching myhouse."
Another caller said there were55 warrants out for my arrest."Sometimes my caller ID wouldindicate that the call was from the
FBI. Because the callers knew somuch about me, I believed theywere police officers or FBIagents. The calls scared me and Iwas often shaking when I hungup the phone."
In difficult economic times,consumers may turn to high-in-terest, short-term payday loansbetween paychecks.
The FTC alleges that informa-tion submitted by consumers whoapplied for these loans onlinefound its way into the defendants'hands.
Because the callers had thisinformation - which often includedSocial Security or bank accountnumbers - and because many ofthe victims already were in a tenu-ous financial situation, they oftenbelieved that they owed the de-fendants the money, according tothe FTC.
The FTC alleged that of theUSD 5.2 million the defendantscollected, almost USD 1 millionwas returned or charged back bytheir merchant processor, result-ing in consumer injury totalingmore than USD 4.2 million.
The defendants typically de-manded several hundred dollarsand, in violation of federal law,
routinely used obscene languageand threatened to sue or haveconsumers arrested, according tothe FTC's complaint.
They also threatened to tellthe victims' employers, relativesand neighbors about the bogusdebt, and sometimes followedthrough on these threats, theFTC alleged. -PTI
7 officers for I-T units abroadover black money
The Income Tax officials, having tenure ofthree years, will function from the IndianMissions in Washington DC (the US), London(the UK), Berlin (Germany), Paris (France), TheHague (Netherlands), Abu Dhabi (the UAE)and Cyprus (Nicosia)
NEW DELHI: The governmenthas deputed seven senior IRS of-ficers to officiate as First Secre-taries at the newly created IncomeTax overseas units in countrieslike the US, the UK and Germany,as part of its efforts to curb theproblem of black money and ille-gal funds stashed abroad.
The Income Tax officials, hav-ing tenure of three years, will func-tion from the Indian Missions inWashington DC (the US), London(the UK), Berlin (Germany), Paris(France), The Hague (Nether-lands), Abu Dhabi (the UAE) andCyprus (Nicosia).
The deputation of an IndianRevenue Service (IRS) to theeighth country -- Japan -- will also
take place soon, official sourcessaid.
Finance Minister PranabMukherjee during his Budgetspeech had made a big allocationfor setting up these I-T overseasoffices.
While the initial budgetary al-location for these units was Rs
2.41 crore in the last fiscal, it hasbeen raised to Rs 18.20 crore inthe current year.
"The officials deputed areadept at handling tax evasioncases and international tax trea-ties and will also help the depart-ment liaise with authorities ofthese countries in tax cases in-cluding various high-profile caseswhich the I-T is currently investi-
gating," a senior I-T official said.The officials at these units will
also help investors from abroadunderstand Indian tax laws andprocedures so that they can makeinformed decisions, the officialsaid.
The units would also obtaininformation on tax and financialdata of investments made by in-dividuals and institutions in thesecountries and facilitate any dataon investment or routing ofmoney in the country and vice-versa.
"This information helps duringinvestigations in cases of tax eva-sion and ensuring tax complianceunder the provisions of theDouble Taxation AvoidanceAgreement (DTAA) and other taxtreaties," the official said.
As a number of I-T probes arelinked to these countries, the Fi-nance Ministry expects that byhaving an office in these nations,it would help expedite the investi-gation process.
Two such units in Singaporeand Mauritius are already opera-tional since 2010. -PTI
CLB refers Unitech, Uninordispute to arbitration
NEW DELHI: In a set back toNorwegian firm Telenor, the Com-pany Law Board has allowed itsestranged partner Unitech's pleafor settling dispute over controland transfer of assets of their jointventure Uninor through arbitra-tion at Singapore.
Observing that Telenor hadgone "berserk" in filing its peti-tion seeking ouster of its partnerUnitech after Supreme Court can-celled telecom licenses of their JV,CLB Chairman D R Deshmukh
held that an arbitrator alone candecide if 'Share SubscriptionAgreement' and 'Share HoldersAgreement' had been vitiated ornot due to fraud. The SupremeCourt had in February held thatthe process of allocating 122 2Glicenses including those to Uninorwas 'arbitrary and unconstitu-tional' and cancelled all of them.
Telenor, which bought stake inUninor that was allocated 16 ofthose licenses, sued Unitech forbreach of warranties. -PTI
India PostApril 20, 2012 7
www.indiapost.com
Top Stories
No differences between govtand armed forces: Raju
NEW DELHI: Notwithstandingthe various controversies, thegovernment has said that there areno differences between it and thearmed forces and it is working inharmony with the three services.
"There are no differences at allbetween the establishment andthe armed forces and we are work-ing in harmony," Minister of Statefor Defense M M Pallam Raju toldreporters here.
He was responding to a queryon whether there was any role ofan insider in the leakage of ArmyChief Gen V K Singh's letter toPrime Minister Manmohan Singh.
"I do not want to speculate onspeculative reports," Raju toldreporters after inaugurating anNCC seminar.
Gen Singh's letter on the stateof preparedness of the armedforces to the Prime Minister wasleaked to the media sometimeback.
The letter was leaked at the timewhen Gen Singh had alleged thathe was offered a bribe of Rs 14crore by a defense lobbyist to cleara proposal for purchase of atranche of trucks for the Army.
The Defense Minister has or-dered a CBI inquiry into the bribeissue, even as another contro-versy erupted last week with amedia report claiming unusualtroop movement towards Delhi inJanuary. The government hasrubbished the report saying thatit was part of a regular drill.
Earlier, Defense Minister A KAntony had also stated that thegovernment and the forces wereworking in a very cordial environ-ment.
The Defense Ministry has alsoasked the Intelligence Bureau (IB)to investigate the leakage of Gen
Singh's confidential letter.On the outcome of the inquiry,
Raju said, "I do not know anything
Raju exhorted the gathering of NCCtrainers, officers and cadets to un-derstand the need for enhancingits curriculum to suit the presentrequirements of the country.
"The aim must not be to pro-vide the youth of the country withmilitary skills only, but rather toteach them basic life skills that arerequired in a work environmentwith the military environment usedas a platform to instill discipline,routine and work ethics," he said.
Raju said the NCC cadets muststretch beyond their current rangeof knowledge and skills and haveopportunities to test and mastertheir skills in the real world. -PTI
Minister of State for Defense M M Pallam Raju
about it. I have just come backfrom a tour."
While addressing the seminar,
India, Pak new visa regimefor businessmen soon
NEW DELHI: India and Paki-stan are expected to formally an-nounce by next month finalizationof a new visa regime to facilitatemovement of businessmen fromboth the countries, visiting Com-merce Secretary Zafar Mahmoodsaid here.
"In principle, the visa thingsare finalized. But it needs to beformally announced and ap-proved. This would be done bythe Interior Ministry of Pakistanand the Home Ministry of India,"
Mahmood said.He was speaking to reporters
after the inaugural function ofthe four-day 'Lifestyle Pakistan'exhibition here.
Mahmood said there are pos-sibilities, under the new agree-ment, that a businessman fromeither country would get visa formore than one year and that toofor more number of cities.
"We expect that the meeting(between the Interior Ministry ofPakistan and the Home Ministryof India) would take place inApril or May and this would beformally announced," he added.
India and Pakistan are work-ing towards revising the exist-ing bilateral visa agreement thatwas signed in 1974 to facilitatetravel by bona fide businessmenfrom both the countries.
Mahmood said now themovement of people is restric-tive wherein "a (Pakistani) busi-nessman coming to Delhi can-not even go to Gurgaon (inHaryana)."
He also said that there is needto improve the infrastructure atborders to boost the movementof goods like cement. Whenasked about prospects of invest-ments from Pakistan, Mahmoodsaid Indian businessmen are al-
ways welcome to do investmentin Pakistan, but "for us there arerestrictions in India".
Meanwhile, inaugurating theexhibition, Commerce and Indus-try Minister Anand Sharma saidhe would discuss all the issues,including allowing trade ofpower and petroleum products,with his Pakistani counterpartMakhdoom Amin Fahim.
"We are talking about tradein petroleum products. We arealso working towards opening
up of bank branches of both thecountries. The central banks ofboth the countries are in dia-logue to finalize the modalities.We will be discussing all these
Indian woman look at Pakistani-made ready made clothes and textiles on a
stall during the inaugural day of 'Lifestyle Pakistan' in New Delhi on April 12.
Pakistan's first ever premium exhibition, Lifestyle Pakistan has been inaugu-
rated in the Indian capital with over a hundred exhibitors from Pakistan
showcasing products in fashion apparel, home textiles, leather goods,
furniture and marble handicrafts
issues," Sharma said.The minister also said that the
informal trade between the coun-tries exceeds the official tradeand there is a need to addressthe issue.
Bilateral trade between thetwo countries at present isaround USD 2.8 billion, althoughthe informal trade, mainly viacountries l ike Dubai andSingapore, is estimated to beUSD 10 billion. -PTI
Gen Singh's letter onthe state of pre-paredness of thearmed forces to thePrime Minister wasleaked to the mediasometime back
"We expect that themeeting (betweenthe Interior Ministry ofPakistan and theHome Ministry ofIndia) would takeplace in April orMay and this wouldbe formally an-nounced," he added
India Post April 20, 20128
www.indiapost.com
Top Stories
India willing to talk Kashmir with Pak: Mathai
The President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari meeting Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on April 8
WASHINGTON: India is will-ing to advance its peace talks withPakistan and discuss the Kash-mir issue, but the main stumblingblock is Islamabad's failure toclamp down on militant groups,Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathaihas said.
In an interview to 'The WallStreet Journal,' Mathai said thatPakistan's recent moves, includ-ing an agreement to open its mar-kets to Indian goods, was a sig-nal that it was serious about im-proving ties with India.
Asserting that Pakistan needsto take serious action against mili-tants using its soil to attack India,he said that it was deeply trou-bling to India that LeT founderHafiz Saeed, mastermind of the2008 Mumbai attacks, was able toaddress public gatherings andappear on television in Pakistan.
"If the (Pakistani) army didn'twant Hafiz on TV issuing threatsto one and all, they'd be able todo something," Mathai said.
He said Pakistan's failure toclamp down on militant groupsthat have attacked India is the
major roadblock to peace talks.Mathai said the US decision to
put a USD 10 million bounty onSaeed shows that Washingtonhas come round to India's viewabout the high level of threat fromPakistan-based militant groups.
"It does demonstrate that muchof what concerns us is a broaderinternational concern," he said.
At the same time, Mathai re-ferred to Pakistan's recent movesindicating its willingness to im-prove bilateral ties, including
those on trade."I wouldn't have been as opti-
mistic six months ago," he said,speaking about prospects for thelatest round of peace talks, whichbegan a year ago.
"The fact the (Pakistan) gov-ernment is able to move on thetrade track shows there's a greaterwillingness to take things forward
by all the players," Mathai said.As the talks with Pakistan de-
velop, India would consider re-opening a serious discussion onKashmir, he said.
India, he said, "would behappy" to start talks toward a dealto keep Kashmir's borders as theyare but allow greater trade andmovement of people across the
Line of Control.The paper quoted Pakistan
Foreign Office spokesman AbdulBasit as saying that while therehad been progress in the "toneand tenor" of the discussions,Pakistan believed that "unless theJammu and Kashmir issue is re-solved, we cannot expect lastingpeace in South Asia."
Mathai also spoke about theback-channel talks between Indiaand Pakistan on the Kashmir is-sue during the Musharraf regime.
"It was a very useful channelof discussions," he said. "Theymade progress."
Basit, however, was quoted assaying that he had no knowledgeof the 2007 back-channel diplomacy.
Mathai said India believes it isnow "up to the Pakistanis to decidehow to proceed" on peace talks.
The Foreign Secretary said In-dia is looking for "something solid"to announce before Prime MinisterManmohan Singh visits Pakistan.
Singh accepted the invitationof President Asif Ali Zardari tovisit Pakistan when the latter vis-ited New Delhi and Ajmer. -PTI
He said that it wasdeeply troubling toIndia that LeT founderHafiz Saeed, master-mind of the 2008Mumbai attacks, wasable to address pub-lic gatherings andappear on televisionin Pakistan
Looking forward to solvingissues with India: Pak
ISLAMABAD: Building uponthe recent talks between PresidentAsif Ali Zardari and Prime Minis-ter Manmohan Singh, Pakistan hassaid it was looking forward to re-solving all issues, including Kash-mir, through dialogue with India.
"Both President Zardari andPrime Minister Singh, followingtheir meeting (on April 8), reiter-ated their mutual desire to have apragmatic and practical dialogueprocess and move forward to-wards resolving all the core issueswhich continue to bedevil our re-lations," Foreign Office spokes-man Abdul Basit said during aweekly news briefing.
He said this reiteration of thecommitment by the two leaderswould "help push the peace anddialogue process forward becauseat the end of the day, the effec-tiveness, importance or credibil-ity of any dialogue process hingeson its results".
Pakistan is looking forward toachieving results through the dia-logue, he said adding Islamabadis hopeful that as the dialogue pro-cess moves forward, the two coun-tries will be able to move beyondconfidence-building measures asit is important for them to "settleissues and move forward".
Zardari had made a day-longprivate visit to India, where hemet Prime Minister Singh over
lunch and offered prayers at a Sufishrine in Ajmer.
The two leaders reviewed theongoing peace process duringtheir meeting.
Zardari was the first Pakistanihead of state to visit India since2005.
Basit noted that Foreign Min-ister Hina Rabbani Khar had ex-pressed the hope that the India-
Pakistan dialogue would be "un-interrupted and result-oriented".Responding to a question onwhether an avalanche on Siachenthat buried 138 people, most ofthem Pakistani soldiers, wouldspur efforts to end the militarystandoff on the glacier, Basit saidthe Siachen issue was alreadypart of the dialogue with India butthe two sides were not discuss-ing anything "specific" at themoment. -PTI
Abdul Basit said thisreiteration of thecommitment by thetwo leaders would"help push the peaceand dialogue pro-cess forward”
Press Council to challenge orderon reporting army
NEW DELHI: Terming as "notcorrect" the Allahabad High Courtorder which prohibited all mediareports related to troop move-ments, Press Council of India(PCI) chairman Justice MarkandeyKatju has said that the Councilwould soon challenge it in theSupreme Court.
"The Press Council of India willbe challenging the order of theAllahabad High Court in the Su-preme Court of India veryshortly," the PCI chief, who is aformer Supreme Court judge, saidin a statement.
Katju said that "with great re-spect to the High Court, I am of
the opinion that the order of theHigh Court is not correct."
He said that the Indian Armywas not a colonial army, but thearmy of the Indian people who paythe taxes for the entire defensebudget. Hence, the people of In-dia have a right to know aboutArmy affairs, except where theycompromise national security.
Katju noted that the media hasdone an excellent job in exposingthe Adarsh and Sukhna scams inwhich senior army officers wereinvolved and they were well withintheir fundamental right of freedomof the media under Article 19(1)(A)of the Constitution to do so.
The court had directed Secre-taries in the Home Affairs and I &B ministries along with PrincipalSecretary (Home) of the UP Gov-ernment to ensure that there is noreporting or release of any newsitem related to movement oftroops.
He said that reporting troopmovement near the Indian borderor during war time should be pro-hibited as that may aid the enemyand cause harm to the armedforces by compromising nationalsecurity. "However, in my opin-ion there can be no general prohi-bition of reporting of all troopmovements," he said. -PTI
Turner shuts down Imagine TV in IndiaNEW DELHI: US-based media
giant Turner Broadcasting Systemhas said it has decided to shutdown its general entertainmentchannel Imagine TV.
The company said, however,that it is committed to future in-vestment in India.
Imagine TV (in India) togetherwith its international feed 'Imag-ine Dil Se' has ceased to operatefrom April 12.
"Imagine TV has not performedand grown as per expectations.While some programs delivered
satisfactory ratings, overall thechannel was unable to achieve theratings consistency needed tosustain the business and supportcontinued investment," TurnerInternational Managing DirectorSouth Asia Siddharth Jain said ina statement.
As a result, Turner made the care-fully considered decision to ceaseoperations of the channel, it said.
NDTV Network, which earlierowned majority stake Imagine TV,exited the general entertainmentspace by selling its part in the chan-
nel to Turner International in 2010."The company remains commit-
ted to future investments andlong-term participation in India,"Turner said.
Turner International currentlyoperates popular channels likeHBO, CNN, Cartoon Network,POGO, WB, TCM and Boomerangin India.
"We will continue to be lead-ers in the media and entertainmentindustry and to explore expansionopportunities in this importantmarket," it said. -PTI
www.indiapost.com April 20, 2012
COMMUNITYACROSS AMERICA
Details on page 16
9 India Post
Baisakhi celebratedwith piety &enthusiasm
Desi News
Indian Embassy, Consulatesoutsource passport services
India Post News Service
NEW YORK: As part of the ef-forts for the convenience of Indiancitizens in the US, the Embassy ofIndia in Washington DC has en-gaged VFS Global as anoutsourcing agency for availingpassport related services.
VFS Global will handle the ini-tial receipt and processing of ap-plications on behalf of the Em-bassy in Washington, DC and itsConsulates General in other partsof the country.
The Outsourcing Agencywould begin its operations with
effect from April 16 in Washing-ton DC, and for the ConsulatesGeneral in Chicago and New York.For the Consulates General atHouston and San Francisco, theoperations would begin from April30, 2012.
The address of VFS Global inWashington, DC is Suite 103, 1625
K Street NW Washington DC20036. Its website http://www.vfsglobal.com/india/usa anda Call Centre number 202-800-7412would be functional from April 9,2012 for providing assistance topassport services seekers. Appli-cations would be accepted by VFS
Global in person or delivered bymail. Addresses of VFS Global atother locations in support of theConsulates General would be avail-able on their respective websites.
The Visa/OCI/PIO services willcontinue to be handled by TravisaOutsourcing company as before.
Miscellaneous Services like
Attestation of Power of Attorneywould continue to be extended bythe Embassy and Consulates Gen-eral of India directly, for which noprior appointment is required. Anyinformation on these services canbe accessed from the websites ofthe Embassy and Consulates Gen-eral.
Miscellaneous Services like Attestation ofPower of Attorney would continue to be ex-tended by the Embassy and Consulates Gen-eral of India directly, for which no prior ap-pointment is required
GOPIO to honor five for contribution to societyIndia Post News Service
NEW YORK: Five IndianAmericans will be honored at thesixth anniversary celebration ofthe Global Organization of Peopleof Indian Origin ConnecticutChapter (GOPIO-CT), for theirachievements and contributionsto the community. The honoreesare Vivek Maru, Dr. Faquir Jain,Chandra Prasad, Neena Singh andMalika Bhandarkar. Dr. William"Vijay" Pinch will be honored witha Friend of India award.
"The award selection is a rigor-ous process conducted by an in-dependent committee whichevaluates all nominations and weare glad we select the best pos-sible candidates every year," saidGOPIO-CT President ShaileshNaik.
"Every year we gather togetherto celebrate the achievements ofsome fine, distinguished individu-als from our community, to con-gratulate them and let them knowthat we are proud of their achieve-
ments in their careers and day to-day life and we would love to emu-late and show them as role modelsto our next generation," Naik
addedVivek Maru is Chief Executive
officer of Namati, an internationalorganization that tests the poten-tial of legal empowerment through
innovative interventions and re-search. Namatis' work seeks a bet-ter understanding of the impactsof legal empowerment and to cre-
ate the most effective mechanismsfor achieving them. Maru gradu-ated from Harvard College, magnacum laude, and Yale Law School.He has served as senior counsel
in the Justice Reform Group of theWorld Bank and clerked for JudgeMarsha Berzon on the ninth Cir-cuit of the US Court of Appeals,
among his many accomplish-ments. Maru is being recognizedin the category of Social Entrepre-neur.
"The award selectionis a rigorous processconducted by anindependent com-mittee which evalu-ates all nominationsand we are glad weselect the best pos-sible candidatesevery year," saidGOPIO-CT PresidentShailesh Naik
Dr. Faquir JainDr. William Pinch
Cont’d on page 11
Spring festivalcelebrated inSt Louis
ASHWIN PATEL
ST LOUIS: India Association ofSt. Louis hosted the Spring Festi-val 2012 on March 17 which wasattended by over 200 members andguests representing different re-gions of India.
The event started with aRangoli competition held in twoseparate categories for adults andchildren. The winners of the com-petition were awarded certificates.The event also featured a varietyof stalls including food delicaciesand merchandise.
Later in the evening, a magnifi-cent and colorful entertainmentprogram highlighting the spirit andmood of Holi was organized, inwhich several participants fromdifferent age groups participated.
Details on page 11
Details on page 13
Details on page 15
Ram Navmicelebrated atRama Temple
SURI SWAMI
CHICAGO: The Hindu Templeof Greater Chicago celebrated RamNavmi, the three-day Lord RamJanmotsav festival, with lot of de-votion and enthusiasm.
The celebrations marked theculmination of nine day-long-aus-picious Chaitra Navaratra festivalwith Ram Katha discourse byPandit Ram Parsad Sastri andSundara Kanda paarayanam byPriest Narasimhacharyulu.
Sundara Kandam comprising2885 shlokas or verses is signifi-cant in Ramayana. Sage Valmikispeaks about the achievements ofHanuman.
Tarble Arts Centerexhibiting Hindugods & goddesses
NAND KAPUR
CHICAGO: Tarble Arts Centerof Eastern Illinois University inCharleston is holding an exhibitioncontaining paintings of variousHindu gods and goddessesthrough May 27.
The exhibition, titled "ThreeFolk Art Traditions of NortheastIndia", depicts folk paintings ofHindu deities Vishnu, Shiva,Brahma, Jagannath, Durga,Ganesh, Krishna, Rama, Hanuman,Kali, etc.
These folk Madhubani paint-ings, Noya village patas and Puripatachitras from Bihar.
April 20, 2012India Post10 Community Across Americawww.indiapost.com
New IAC board installed with dignified oath ceremonyRAMESH SOPARAWALA
India Post News Service
CHICAGO: A no profit body ofIndian Americans in Chicago, theIndo-American Center (IAC), in-stalled its new executive team onSunday April 1 in quite a dignifiedmanner with a good number ofcommunity members flocking tothe Center's facility to show theirsupport.
The first female Indian-Ameri-can judge in the United States,Rena Van Tine, conducted the oathceremony for the Executive Com-mittee which now comprises Dr.Basanti Banerji, President; Dr.
rating with other like-minded com-munity efforts: the Citizenshipand Immigration Program, beingBoard of Immigration Appeals ac-credited, has recently establishedan MOU with Apna Ghar, allow-ing IAC to continue outreach ofserving our community and pro-viding attainable assistance tolow-income individuals.
In her address as the newly in-ducted IAC President, Dr. Banerjiobserved that no organizationcan accomplish its goals withoutthe commitment and support ofthe people working there and paidrich tribute to the staff, programcoordinators, volunteers, Board ofDirectors, and L21 Board alike.Equally important, IAC recognized
Rajendran Raja, Vice-President;Prof. Ralph Nicholas, Secretary;and Ravi Shankar, Treasurer.
"The installation of officers anddirectors is an opportunity for ourentire organization to reaffirm ourfull commitment to the communityand to deliver the most meaningfulservices and programs," statedIAC Executive Director, Jay Luthra.
He briefly recounted number ofcommunity oriented projects andservices being offered by theCenter. One such activity isthe Civics Education Programthat has a 96 percent passingrate on the U.S. NaturalizationTest, higher than the 93 per-cent USCIS national average.Another success story showedthat the Youth Program was not
only operating at maximum capac-ity, but was also doing so with in-creasing success, demonstratedby students' high performance inschool.
Similarly, the Computer Educa-tion Program has grown by about45 new students in the past year,learning computer skills that allowthem to engage in various web-related activities ranging from ap-plying for jobs to communicatingwith family overseas.
In the coming days, the Centerplans a new Workforce Develop-ment Program that will prioritize thedevelopment of English languageliteracy skills and employabilityskills, such as with resume writ-ing, interviewing techniques, andfinding sustainable employment
options. In addition, the upcom-ing summer will mark the begin-ning of the new Family SummerLiteracy Program to encouragemulti-generational learning andprovide an opportunity for par-ents and children to come to-gether to improve their readingand literacy.
Moreover, IAC will continu-ously strive to make a diligent ef-fort in reaching out and collabo-
those who helped raised funds asalso the life-time donors withoutwhose generosity IAC endeavorswould not be possible.
Finally, before those in atten-dance enjoyed a buffet-style mealof Indian food cooked on-premiseby those who cook for the Seniors'Golden Diners Program, Dr. Banerjiwelcomed the new Board of Direc-
tors to the challenges and oppor-tunities that lie ahead in doing theirpart for IAC.
IAC serves the South Asianimmigrants through services thatfacilitate their adjustment, integra-tion, and friendship with the widersociety, nurture their sense ofcommunity, and foster apprecia-tion for their heritage and culture.
In her address as the newly inducted IACPresident, Dr. Banerji observed that no orga-nization can accomplish its goals without thecommitment and support of the peopleworking there and paid rich tribute to thestaff, program coordinators, volunteers,Board of Directors, and L21 Board alike
IAC Executive Director Jay Luthra
addressing the gatheringIAC Staff members: (L to R) Tanvi Shah, Rachael Bruketta, Loknath Agarwal, Kemel Huric, Chirayu Patel
IAC Office Bearers Dr Basanti Banerji, Ralph Nicholas and Ravi Shankar
Indo Family Club to launche-commerce website
SURENDRA ULLAL
Have SomethingTo Report?
share your story and news item! Submityour request online
http://www.indiapost.com/submitfor more information call
CHICAGO: The Indo FamilyClub will soon be launching a spe-cially designed website that seeksto target the Indian community forproviding unique services.
Among the services to be of-fered, Indofamilyclub will majorlyproduce fresh farm vegetables andfruits grown under the surveil-lance of experts at its own greenhouses, according to Girish Ray,CEO of the Club. "Our focus is togrow vegetables and fruits that arerare in the Indian ethnic market like,suran, mogri, red tuvar, surati-kand,etc.," he said.
Besides, fresh vegetable plans
are also to have homemade snacksand sweets hitting the marketsoon (prepared the day before
added.In order to serve the Indian
American and even the broaderimmigrant community, the Clubplans offering immigration attor-ney services on its website."Apart from these services to beprovided on our e-commercewebsite we are in the process ofadding more services that are notalready available to the Indiancommunity across Chicago. Allthese services will be available toour members just at the "click of abutton" and delivered "right to thehomes of our members," saidGirish Ray
delivery) "We will also make avail-able Pita Inn sandwiches, groceryitems, exclusive cookware," Ray
Indofamilyclub willmajorly produce freshfarm vegetables andfruits grown under thesurveillance of expertsat its own green houses
Dr. Faquir Jain, professor in the Electri-cal and Computer Engineering Departmentat the University of Connecticut is beingrecognized in the category Applied Scienceand Research. He is involved with designand fabrication of microelectronic/optoelec-tronic devices and ICs. He has collaboratedto form Biorasis Inc. to commercialize a mini-mally invasive glucose sensor for real time,continuous glucose monitoring.
Chandra Prasad is a multi-talented writerwhose work has received praise in Booklistand USA Today. She created the popularcareer guide "Outwitting the Job Market"and has written scores of articles on diver-sity and the workplace. She has publishedseveral books and is currently developinga novel for young adult readers. Prasad isbeing recognized in the category of Artsand Letters.
GOPIO to honor five for contribution to society
Vivek Maru
Neena Singh is being recognized for hercommunity service here and in India. Shehas volunteered in many non-profit activi-ties - helping visually impaired senior citi-zens; tutoring under-privileged teens; cook-
ing and serving in soup kitchens; and rais-ing funds for local charities and for project- Pingalwara in Amritsar, a home for the un-derprivileged and mentally challenged.Singh is co-President of the PTA of theGreens Farms Academy and co-Leader ofthe Girls' Scout Troop and is active in com-
munity building activities in Wilton andStamford.
President's Young Person Award is be-ing given to Malika Bhandarkar, an account-ability expert who influences decision mak-
ers at all levels to amplify the message"Women Count for Peace". With a Mastersin International and Development Econom-ics from Yale in 2005, Bhandarkar joinedPresident Clinton's Tsunami Recovery Of-fice at the United Nations in New York. Sheand her team work in post-conflict coun-
tries, at the invitation of governments, withnational Ministries and civil society orga-nizations, to build responsive accountabil-ity systems that monitor and enhance gen-der equality and women's empowerment.She is about to embark on a 10-country pi-lot initiative to further set and implementnew standards and practice.
Friend of India Award is being given toDr. William "Vijay" Pinch, professor of His-tory and Chair of the History Department atWesleyan University. Dr. Pinch's principalareas of research and teaching are SouthAsian history, religion and history, and mari-time world history. Dr. Pinch was born inIndia. He is author of numerous book chap-ters, essays and reviews as well as articles.He has published three books: WarriorAscetics and Indian Empires, Peasants andMonks in British India and Speaking ofPeasants; Essays in Indian History and Poli-tics in Honor of Walter Hauser.
Malika Bhandarkar Neena Singh Chandra Prasad
Chandra Prasad is a multi-talented writer whose workhas received praise in Booklist and USA Today. Shecreated the popular career guide "Outwitting the JobMarket" and has written scores of articles on diversityand the workplace
Cont’d from page 9
Tarble Arts Center exhibiting Hindu gods & goddessesNAND KAPUR
CHICAGO: Tarble Arts Centerof Eastern Illinois University inCharleston is holding an exhibitioncontaining paintings of variousHindu gods and goddessesthrough May 27.
The exhibition, titled "ThreeFolk Art Traditions of NortheastIndia", depicts folk paintings ofHindu deities Vishnu, Shiva,Brahma, Jagannath, Durga,Ganesh, Krishna, Rama, Hanuman,Kali, etc.
These folk Madhubani paint-ings, Noya village patas and Puripatachitras from Bihar, West Ben-gal and Orissa respectively por-tray Krishna lifting MountGovardhana; Ganesh and consort;Rama releases Ahalya from thecurse; Ferryman takes Rama, Sita,and Lakshmana across the river;Radha and Krishna; Vishnu's 10incarnations; Yashoda and babyKrishna; Krishna subduing Ser-pent Kaliya; Krishna rides in a
chariot made of the cowherd girls'bodies; Vishnu appears to Arjunaas a Composite Animal; Ramachases the deer; Durga slaying thebuffalo demon Mahisha; etc. Aportable Jagannath shrine is also
on display.This exhibition is the subject of
the 2012 Fifth Grade Enrichmentprogram open to area schools.
The Tarble Arts Center claimsto be "a major cultural arts re-source serving east-central Illi-nois" and its founding purpose is
"to take the arts to the people."Michael Watts is the Directorwhile Bernard Cesarone is theguest curator of this exhibition.
Consistently ranked in the topthree of Midwest universities inits class, Eastern Illinois Univer-sity on a 320-acre campus offers atextbook rental system and its stu-dent graduation and retentionrates are said to be well above na-tional averages. William L. Perryis the President.
Presented in conjunction withCelebration: A Festival of the Artsand EIU's observance of AsianHeritage Month, curator BernardCesarone will make a brief presen-tation about the exhibition fol-lowed by a dance performance bySharbari Ganguly. Based on Indianfolk songs, a narrator will providecontext for each dance performed.
This presentation is co-spon-sored with EIU's Office of Minor-ity Affairs Sharbari Ganguly presenting classical Indian dance
The exhibition, titled"Three Folk Art Tradi-tions of NortheastIndia", depicts folkpaintings of Hindudeities
India Post 11April 20, 2012 Community Across Americawww.indiapost.com
April 20, 2012India Post12 Community Across Americawww.indiapost.com
Ram Navmi celebrated at Rama TempleSURI SWAMI
CHICAGO: The Hindu Templeof Greater Chicago celebrated RamNavmi, the three-day Lord RamJanmotsav festival, with lot of de-votion and enthusiasm.
The celebrations marked theculmination of nine day-long-aus-picious Chaitra Navaratra festivalwith Ram Katha discourse by
Pandit Ram Parsad Sastri andSundara Kanda paarayanam byPriest Narasimhacharyulu.
Sundara Kandam comprising2885 shlokas or verses is signifi-cant in Ramayana. Sage Valmikispeaks about the achievements ofHanuman (also known asSundara), whose attitude always
reminds us of self-confidence, faithand devotion to Rama, fearless-ness and trustworthiness. Read-ing one chapter or sargam ofSundara Kandam is equal to chant-ing Gayatri japam 1000 times.
The power of Rama Nama Japais well known. Priest SriKrishnarajan narrated, "In the epi-
logue to the great Vishnu SahasraNama, Parvathi asks Lord Shiva:How do the wise chant the thou-sand names in brief? And LordShiva responds with the well-known couplet "Sri Rama RamaRameti, Rame Raame Manorame"Rama Nama, he says, is singularlyequal to the thousand names.
In Ashtaakshari "Om namoNaaRaarayanaaya 'Raa' is theBeejaakasharam. Similarly Ma isBeejasksharam in Shadaskshari"Om NaMashivaaya.
The two Beejaaksharaas to-gether is "Raama". Letter 'Raa' hasa value of 2 and letter Ma has avalue of 5. Multiplied togethermakes it 10. Singing Raama,
Raama, Raamethi would make it1000 {(2x5) x (2x5) x (2x5) =1000}
Ram Navami was celebratedwith great pomp as devotees pre-sented offerings to Lord Ram atdawn and continued throughoutthe day. At noon, when Lord Ramis said to have been born, devo-tional songs were sung in hispraise.
The festival is celebrated byperforming Sita and Rama'sKalyanam. Bridal ceremony bySumangalis preparing bride Sri SitaDevi on the 30th March andKalyanotsavam on March 31st byover 800 devotees under the guid-ance of Priest Narasimhacharyuluwith chanting and support bySayekrishna, Murali Kidambi alsowas a celebration for one and all.
Such celebrations have been aneducation to youngsters and lo-cal communities to learn other cul-
tures and significance. Floweralankaram of 2012 Ram Navmi gavea moment of bliss and memoriesto last long. Kalyanotsavam cameto conclusion with a delicious
kalyana bhojanam made possibleby many Annadanam devotees.Celebrations concluded with SriRama Pattabhishekam on April 1
Sundara Kandam comprising 2885 shlokasor verses is significant in Ramayana. SageValmiki speaks about the achievements ofHanuman (also known as Sundara)
followed by Sri Rama's ardentdevotee Sri Hanuman carrying SriSita Rama parivaara on his shoul-der around the temple prakaaram.
Devotees presentedofferings to Lord Ramat dawn and contin-ued throughout theday. At noon, whenLord Ram is said tohave been born,devotional songswere sung
Abhishek
Women devotees conducting celebrations
Devotees flock to Lemont temple
Grant to study heart life style interventionHARISH RAO
Hindi essay competition on motherGURBACHAN KAUR NEELAM
CHICAGO: Hindi Lovers Clubof Illinois has announced its firstHindi essay competition for kidsfrom grade to high school.
The subject is: The Signifi-cance of Mother in Your Life(aapki jindagi men maa kamahatva).The essay should be
between 150 to 200 words in Hindi.There are three prizes of $200, $100and $50 respectively. The winnerswill be notified by phone or email.
The last date of entry is FridayMay 18. The award ceremony willbe held on Friday May 25 at De-von Bank 6445 N.Western Ave.,
Chicago 60645 from 7 p.m. Thewinners will have to be present atthe award ceremony and write afew lines in Hindi.
Send your entry by email:[email protected], fax: 773 5085999 or mail: 2723 W.Devon Ave,Chicago IL 60659.
CHICAGO: MetropolitanAsian Family Services (MAFS)has been given a Grant fromNorth Western University tostudy South Asian Heart LifestyleIntervention.
"We encourage friends and
family to participate in this im-portant study for ourselves andour future generation - to re-duce the risk of heart disease,blood pressure, blood sugar &cholesterol ," said HimaliBharucha, a spokesperson of
MAFS.Men and women between ages
18 to 59 are welcome for the study.For further information, pleasecall MAFS at (773) 465-3105 or Dr.Swapna Dave at (312) 503-6995(312) 503-6995
India Post 13April 20, 2012 Community Across Americawww.indiapost.com
Indian students put up great ethnic showAsian Media USA
CHICAGO: Indian StudentsAssociation (ISA) at the Univer-sity of Illinois in Chicago pre-sented a beautiful cultural showof dance styles prevailing allacross India and featured othertalents such as singing and com-edy skits.
This dance and music programwas held at the UIC auditorium onSaturday, March 31. The themethis year was "The Beginning ofthe End. It all ends on 3.31.12, areyou ready?" Along withBollywood music, the show wasfused with mainstream hits byAmerican artists that helped todefine this growing generation ofIndian students.
Family and friends of perform-ers packed the UIC Forum on cam-pus for the show. The auditoriumwas hustling with excited parentsand friends of the performers andinvitees. The show featured actssuch as the Jungli Jawanis, M6Crew, Brownwashed, Pyaar MeinTwist 2, Dhalumni, Sandburg Fu-sion, UIC Nazaara, ChicagoDhamaal, Dilinois, UIC Dangeraasand UIC Bhangra. Many werefrom other Chicago universitieslike DePaul also.
Mr and Mrs Sunil Shah with group of students at University of Illinois (Pic Asian Media USA)
The show had twelve main acts.Most of the teams were not exclu-sively UIC students and so manyof the acts had students fromDePaul University. Along with themain events, the emcees did a re-markable job entertaining thecrowd with hilarious sketches inbetween. There was also wide-spread use of videos each of theteams created to introduce theirmembers before they performed,making the show very multi-mode.
Sunil Shah, Founder Presidentof F.I.A, Chicago, was recognized
and applauded for his moral sup-port, sponsorship and communitywork.
Avi Verma the associate deanat Aureus University was alsoSponsor and Speaker at the event.With the show and the after partyat Bar Louie's was a great success,the Board and the dancers can fi-nally return to their books andfriends knowing that the end ofthe world might not be so bad af-ter all.
One noteworthy thing that wasmentioned about Sunil Shah re-
lated to his unswerving supportto anyone and anywhere for anynoble cause. He has sponsoredseveral events and functions notonly in Chicago but in differentstates too. He has supported vol-leyball and cricket tournaments allover USA. He has helped andserved with several temples andreligious institutions, whether it isJain temple, Swami Narayantemple, Manav Sewa Mandir,Gurudwara, Hindu temple ormosque He has sponsored severalGujarati dramas, Hindi plays cul-tural programs and musical showsalso.
ISA Board Members: KaranThakkar (Co-President), DhruvKavi (Co-President), Lisa Patel(Secretary), Krishna Patel (Trea-surer), Shivam Thakkar(Webmaster), Shani Chibber (Pub-licity Chair), Alex Oommen (Pub-licity Chair), Trupti Patel (Commu-nity Outreach), Ami Shishodia (So-cial Chair), Anish Shah (SocialChair), Bansri Thakkar (CulturalChair), Harsh Joshi (CulturalChair), Ritika Kapoor (Lead Cul-tural Chair), Janesh Rahlan(Fundraising Chair),SelwynVarghese (Freshman Rep), ShivaniPatel (Freshman Rep) and KrishnaModi (Freshman Rep.)
Sunil Shah has sup-ported volleyball andcricket tournamentsall over USA. He hashelped and servedwith several templesand religiousinstitutions
New York Telugus celebrate UgadiIndia Post News Service
NEW YORK: The Telugu Liter-ary and Cultural Association(TLCA) celebrated the 2012Nandana Naama SamvatsaraUgadi (Telugu New Year) programat the Hindu temple Auditorium,in Flushing recently.
More than 1000 people from theTri-State area flooded the audito-rium to watch local talent as wellas performances by celebrities in-vited from India including moviestars. Entertainment included atalent contest and a choreo-graphed medley of songs from 80years of Telugu cinema.
The sumptuous Ugadi feast in-
cluded traditional sweets likebobbatlu, poota-rekulu, and thetraditional Ugadi Pachadi.
Later, priests conducted theauspicious reading of the Telugupanchangam (calendar)
Veloor Nagendra Gupta, Presi-dent of TLCA said the organiza-tion has always been the torch
bearer for the promotion and nur-turing of the Telugu community.Talking about TLCA's welfare pro-grams he said this year TLCA willconduct two medical camps for thebenefit of the community. TLCAwill also conduct a program called'Effective Speaking in Telugu forYouth'.
The event also featured a
unique fusion of music, drama anddance depicting the lives of theTelugu Sankeertanacharyulu(composures). The drama,Vaageyakarulu, was brilliantly pre-sented on stage by directorSrinivas Guduru. It was a uniqueblend of drama with dance superbly
The event also featured a unique fusion ofmusic, drama and dance depicting the livesof the Telugu Sankeertanacharyulu (compo-sures). The drama, Vaageyakarulu, wasbrilliantly presented on stage by directorSrinivas Guduru
choreographed by the well knownclassical dance teachers of NewYork and New Jersey, Guru SadhanaParanji, Guru Satya Pradeep andGuru Indira Dixith. The play por-trayed the most important eventsof the lives of the three renownedVaggeyakaras of Telugu Bhakti
Movement time, Annamayya,Thyagayya and Ramadasu.
On the occasion, businessman,philanthropist Babu RaoMandava was honored on his be-ing selected by the US Govern-ment for the prestigious Ellis Is-land Medal of Honor for 2011.
Telugus celebrate Ugadi & Ram NavmiHARISH RAO
CHICAGO: Ugaadi and Sri RamNavmi cultural event was orga-nized by the Tri State Telugu As-sociation (TTA), Chicago, onApril 7 at Hindu Temple of GreaterChicago in Lemont, a north side
suburb of Chicago, presenting amulti-talented, multi-faceted cul-tural program of dances and in-spiring music.
The Samarathi Auditorium waspacked with over 500 art lovers.Amazing performances by the lo-cal talents ranging from classicalto semi-classical dances, themebased productions on"Vasanthotsavalu & Sri RamaCharithalu" as well as moviedances kept the crowds mesmer-ized.
The 2012 Tri-State TeluguAssociation's Board of Directorswere introduced to the membersand guests along with a brief fi-nancial report of the organization.The emcee for the evening,Anantha Sonti, did a marvelousjob compeering the entire showand kept the interest of the audi-ence sustained throughout with
his knowledge of Ugaadi and SriRam Navmi significance, culturalreferences and his knowledge ofcurrent day music trends.
Event sponsors wereSulekha.com and Liberty MutualInsurance. Stage props with origi-nal creations by Mrs. Saroja Ravi,Mrs. Prasuna Gollakota and Ms.Aashmita Chitturi with set up help
by Bhaskar Reddy Karri and Mrs.Usha Pariti added a nice touch tothe stage décor. Stage manage-ment by Bhaskar Reddy and eventcoordinator Mrs. Padmaja Sontialong with CCTV coverage byRaghu Angara and slide showmanagement by Mrs. Usha Paritikept the flow of the program un-hindered.
Video coverage was providedby Dr. Nag Rao and photographycoverage was provided by SaiVadlamani of PlanetinPixels.com.The relentless efforts of the TTACultural committee, Food, Regis-tration and Volunteers committees,were appreciated in the vote ofthanks delivered by the event cul-tural coordinator, Mrs. PadmajaSonti. The volunteers who serveddinner to guests that evening in ashort time of around one hour dida great job. The event ended withthe rendition of 'Indian NationalAnthem'.
The 2012 Tri-StateTelugu Association'sBoard of Directorswere introduced tothe members andguests along with abrief financial reportof the organization
April 20, 2012India Post14 Community Across Americawww.indiapost.com
Spring festival celebrated in St LouisASHWIN PATEL
Cultural program in progress Two artists Rangoli participant
ST LOUIS: India Association ofSt. Louis hosted the Spring Festi-val 2012 on March 17 which wasattended by over 200 members andguests representing different re-gions of India.
The event started with aRangoli competition held in twoseparate categories for adults and
children. The winners of the com-petition were awarded certificates.The event also featured a varietyof stalls including food delicaciesand merchandise.
Later in the evening, a magnifi-cent and colorful entertainmentprogram highlighting the spirit andmood of Holi was organized, in
which several participants fromdifferent age groups participated.
The diverse cultural programhad 24 items, ranging from classi-cal devotional music to fast beatBollywood remixes.
A young student performed acomedic routine, and enthralledthe audience with his charisma and
sense of humor. Many solo songswere performed through theevening, and there was a signifi-cant amount of youth participa-tion, which is always welcome inour community.
The performances werecomplimented by the two MCs,who did a great job of informing
and engaging the audiencethroughout the function.
The evening ended with a fewgroups performing on folk dancesfrom different parts of India. Theevent was a big success and theperformances kept the audienceenthralled and spellbound for overtwo hours.
Hindu temple celebrates Ugadi& Ram Navmi
ASHWIN PATEL
ST LOUIS: Hindu Temple of St.Louis celebrated ChandramanaUgadi with Ganesh Pooja onMarch 23. Panchanga Sravanamwas recited by Priest JanardhanaCharylalu.
More than 700 devotees at-tended the pooja. Security andsurplus parking was arranged toaccommodate the devotees.Annadanam was served at the endof the pooja. Additional parking
Ram Navmi and Ugadi celebrations at St Louis Hindu Temple
was arranged in the nearbyChurch.
Sri Ramanavami was celebratedon Saturday, March 31. In themorning, Ramabhishekam wasperformed. In the evening, SitaRama Kalynanam was witnessedby all the devotees. Temple re-ceived many devotees on both ofthese festivals.
Sri Ramanavami wascelebrated on Satur-day, March 31. Inthe morning,Ramabhishekamwas performed. Inthe evening, SitaRama Kalynanamwas witnessed by allthe devotees.Temple receivedmany devotees onboth of thesefestivals
Sri Dakshinamurthy UtsavaVigraha is currently in DhanyaDhivasam. The Prana Prathishtais scheduled for three days (April24, 25 and 26). Two lectures areplanned on April 27 and April 29.
Hindu Temple will be hostingHealth Fair at Mahatma Gandhi Cen-ter on May 5 from 9 am to 2 pm withsupport of Mahatma Gandhi Center
Hindu Baccalaureate Serviceat Reno enters fifth year
India Post News Service
NEW YORK: The one-of-its-kind in the world Hindu Baccalau-reate Service (Dikshant Utsav) hasentered its fifth year this month atUniversity of Nevada-Reno(UNR).
Organized by Universal Soci-ety of Hinduism in collaborationwith Indian Student Organizationof UNR, the event April 15 willbless graduating class in the tra-ditional Hindu style, complete withapplying tilak (religious mark) onthe foreheads of graduates.
Besides keynote address by adistinguished Hindu monk fromCalifornia, it will also include bless-ing prayers by Christian, Muslim,Buddhist, Jewish, and NativeAmerican religious leaders. Wellknown musician Jim Eaglesmith isexpected to chant a kirtan numberin Sanskrit with audience follow-ing him in the chant.
Starting with 'Gayatri Mantra'recitation by Rajan Zed, Presidentof Universal Society of Hinduism,and traditional lamp lighting be-fore the statue of goddessSaraswati, patron of learning andthe arts, the service will includeblessing the upcoming graduateswith wisdom from Vedas,Upanishads and Bhagavad-Gita.
Washoe County issued a spe-cial Resolution to mark the signifi-cance of First Annual Hindu Bac-calaureate Service of UNR.
Education in Hindu traditionhas been deep rooted, Rajan Zedsays and adds that after many im-portant universities in ancient In-dia, like Taxila, Nalanda, Sarnath,Amaravati, Banaras, Kanchi andUjjain; great Indian universitiesalso flourished in medieval period,like Odantapura (745 CE),Vikramasila (810 CE), Somapura(480 CE), Jagaddala (1090 CE). Thepurpose of this Baccalaureate Ser-vice is to root the graduating classin divine spiritual and cultural tra-dition so that they have a spiritu-ally meaningful life in addition tomaterial success, Zed stresses.
The flagship institution of thestate established in 1874, UNR isone of the top 120 universities inAmerica for funded research hav-ing internationally known re-searchers in renewable energy,earthquake engineering, environ-ment, etc. It is helping to createthe world's most accurate atomicclock and is home to one of thelargest earthquake-simulationlabs. Various Hollywood movieshave been shot at UNR, which hasabout 18,000 students with MarcJohnson as interim President.
India Post 15April 20, 2012 Community Across Americawww.indiapost.com
Baisakhi celebrated with piety & enthusiasm
JS BEDI
India Post News Service
LOS ANGELES: Baisakhi wascelebrated with piety and enthu-siasm here at the Los AngelesConvention Center April 8.
The day began early at 3.40 am
with the recital of Japji Sahib atthe Sri Guru Ram Das Ashram.This was followed by Asa Di Vaar.
Festivities at the ConventionCenter began with the Prakash ofSri Guru Granth Sahib at about 7.30
The main float The Majestic Diwan of Sri Guru Granth Sahib
am, followed by Jaap Sahib by theAshram Jatha.
Shabad Kirtan began shortlythereafter. Melodious Kirtan wasprovided by kids' jathas and localSo Cal Raagi Jathas from So Calgurdwaras. It was by the best ofthe best.
The highlight of the day wasKirtan by Bhai Kultar Singh, HazooriRaagi and a joint performance byall the leading So Cal jathas.
After the speeches, local poli-ticians were presented Siropas.
Bhai Sahiba Bibi Inderjeet Kaurwas also presented a Siropa andshe and Siri Sikdar Sahiba GuruAmrit Kaur Khalsa congratulatedthe sangat on the occasion.
Siropas and certificates werepresented to community membersfor their service to the community.
Throughout the day there wasLangar serving meals snacks and
beverages.The event also featured a Ba-
zaar where vendors set up boothsto sell a variety of items.
The scriptures
ProtestersBibi Ji and Bhai Kirtan Singh Khalsa
Cont’d on page 17
April 20, 2012India Post16 Community/Californiawww.indiapost.com
Shabad Kirtan began shortly thereafter. Melo-dious Kirtan was provided by kids' jathas andlocal So Cal Raagi Jathas from So Calgurdwaras. It was by the best of the best.The highlight of the day was Kirtan by BhaiKultar Singh, Hazoori Raagi and a joint per-formance by all the leading So Cal jathas
Voting co-ordinator atBaisakhi celebrations
Hinduism Summit atFremont Temple
Baisakhi celebrated with piety & enthusiasm
India Post News Service
LOS ANGELES: Los Angeles County Registrar-RecorderCommunity and Voter Education Outreach Coordinator, HumaraAhmed attended the Baisakhi Celebration at the Los AngelesConvention Center Sunday April 8. She presented informationabout the upcoming Presidential Primary Election June 5, 2012and the Presidential Election November 6, 2012. Los AngelesCounty currently provides election materials in Hindi language.
To request election materials translated in Hindi orother languages, please call (800) 481-8683. If an orga-nization needs information about the upcoming elec-tions, please contact Humara Ahmed via email [email protected]
This year there was a localtravel company advertising a pil-grimage to the Five Takhts sched-uled October this year. Based onCentury Boulevard in the WestinHotel, Laxpress Travels is promot-ing a two week pilgrimage to theFive Takhts. Taking to India Post,Tours Director Roshie Dhillonsaid their aim is to do at least twopilgrimages every year to Sikh,Hindu and Muslim holy shrines.Log on to www.laxpress.com formore details. It does appear to bean exciting proposal and manypeople are expected to sign up forthis trip.
Prior to the Grand Parade therewas exhibition Gatka, the Sikhmartial art, performed by studentsof the various gurdwara schools.
Dozens of protesters carryingplacards and banners in supportof Bhai Balwant Singh Rajoana.Support for Rajoana is snowball-ing internationally as is the op-position to capital punishment.It may be recalled that recentlyleaders and members of Cana-dian Parliament crossing theparty lines joined Sikhs in de-manding India to abolish the
death penalty. More than fivethousand Sikhs from all overCanada gathered at ParliamentHill in solidarity with BhaiBalwant Singh Rajoana who is ondeath row in India. CanadianMPs who attended the rally in-cluded Liberal leader Bob Rae,Jim Karygiannis, Dr. KirstyDuncan, Justin Pierre JamesTrudeau and Irwin Cotler of Lib-eral Party; Parm Gill from Con-
servative Party and from NDPJasbir Singh Sandhu, Jinny Sims,Rathika Sitsabaiesan, DonDavies and Wayne Marston, theHuman Rights Critics of theparty.
The day ended with a GrandParade and Nagar Keertan fea-turing floats, each representinga gurdwara or an organization.Each float was meticulously
Led by the Panj Pyaras the parade wound itsway around to the beating of the Dhol andchants of Bole So Nihal. This year it is esti-mated that at least 12 to 15 thousand devo-tees attended the festivities. Each year it'sgetting bigger
Cont’d from page 16
Air India's Neelaj Sharma and Laxpress Travel's Roshi Dhillon with other visitors to the bazaar.
India Post 17April 20, 2012 Community/Californiawww.indiapost.com
Shabad Kirtan
Humara Ahmed
India Post News Service
FREMONT: A Hinduism Sum-mit will be held on Saturday, May12 from 2:30 to 4:45 pm at theVedic Dharma Samaj, FremontHindu Temple, Fremont, Califor-nia. This free event, held by theFremont Temple and Forum forHindu Awakening, will commencewith conch blowing, Vedic recita-tions and lamp lighting.
It will feature presentations by
Hindu leaders, videos and exhi-bitions on topics ranging from thetenets of Hinduism, maintainingHindu identity in USA, to Hinduspiritual healing remedies onhealth, relationship or financialproblems.
The Summit welcomes every-one interested in understandingHinduism. Visitwww.hinduawakening .org /events or call 877 303 3342 to reg-ister.
decorated with pictures of sacredshrines and verses from the scrip-tures.
The floats also carried appealsfor world peace and universalbrotherhood and equality of man-kind. Led by the Panj Pyaras theparade wound its way around tothe beating of the Dhol andchants of Bole So Nihal.
This year it is estimated thatat least 12 to 15 thousand devo-
tees attended the festivities. Eachyear it's getting bigger.
Vaisakhi is an ancient harvestfestival in Punjab. It also marksbeginning of a new solar yearand new harvest season.Baisakhi is a Sikh religious festi-val. It falls on the first day of theBaisakh month in the solarNanakshahi calendar, which cor-responds to April 14 in the
Gregorian calendar.In Sikhism, it is one of the most
significant holidays in the Sikhcalendar commemorating the es-tablishment of the Khalsa atAnandpur Sahib in 1699, by the
10th Sikh Guru, Sri Guru GobindSingh. It also marks the begin-ning of the Sikh New Year. Thisyear was the 313th anniversaryof that historic day and eventsthat took place in 1699.
18 India Post April 20, 2012www.indiapost.com
TechBizTech News
New procurement rules may harmIndian economy: USIBC
India Post News Service
NEW YORK: Global technol-ogy and business groups arewarning India that its new restric-tive regulations on government-purchased technology could havespillover effects on the country'sbroader economy and, dependingon their application, would be atodds with the nation's WorldTrade Organization (WTO) obliga-tions.
In a letter to Prime MinisterManmohan Singh, the groupsurged the Indian government toreconsider its new preferential mar-ket access (PMA) rules that wouldtip the scales strongly in favor ofdomestically manufactured elec-tronic goods for government pur-chase. The groups also noted thepotential application of these rulesto private entities, including"telecom licensee" and "managedservice provider," which wouldcontravene the WTO.
"India has exemplified the ben-efits of competition and regulatoryreform as demonstrated by the tre-mendous growth in the telecom-munications and IT services sec-tor over the past fifteen years. Weurge India to remain, and push for-ward, on this path. India's eco-nomic growth and ability to con-tinue to be competitive in the glo-bal ICT sector depend on it," theletter said.
"Indian industry has demon-strated its capacity to compete ona global scale through its growingparticipation and influence in glo-bal markets. India should avoidpolicies that would unnecessarilyrestrict competition at home whichcould also spark reciprocation byother countries that enact similarregulations.
“Such a result could negativelyaffect the ability of Indian ICTcompanies to export their prod-ucts and services. It would beironic if the rule intended to helpIndian industry ultimately hurt itsexports abroad," the letter stated.
The Information TechnologyIndustry Council (ITI), Telecom-munications Industry Association(TIA), U.S.-India Business Coun-
cil (USIBC), and 32 other associa-tions from the United States, Eu-rope, Japan, Canada, Australia,Hong Kong, and Korea sent theletter to PM Singh.
The PMA rules culminate a se-ries of similar Indian policy pro-posals during the past year thathave proposed discriminatorygovernment procurement policiesas a means to stimulate domesticmanufacturing of electronics andtelecommunications equipment atthe expense of foreign companies.
The groups urge India to re-scind the PMA and initiate a con-sultation process with the privatesector and other stakeholders todevelop policy approaches thatwill promote ICT sector growthwithout creating market-distortingpolicies.
"India's discriminatory prefer-ence policies work to underminewhat has been a mutually benefi-
cial relationship between India andthe global tech sector. Thatcountry's economic strength andtechnical sophistication have ledall of the world's major tech com-panies to invest there and deliverproducts and services that posi-tively impact how its citizens work,play and participate in its democ-racy," Dean Garfield, ITI Presidentand CEO stated. "There is no de-bating the importance of the In-dian market, but India's indigenousinnovation policies are off courseand cannot be accepted. Left un-checked, these policies carry withthem the very real potential for a
contagion effect, encouraging theIndian government to issue simi-lar policies affecting other sectorsand providing rationale for othercountries to mirror this unfortu-nate behavior."
TIA President Grant Seiffertnoted, "In recent years, India's tele-communications market has ex-ploded, connecting hundreds ofmillions of Indian citizens who pre-viously never had access to tele-communications and spawning aworld class Indian IT services in-dustry.
“India's PMA threatens the abil-ity of India's telecommunicationsservice providers to cost effec-tively build out their networks andserve India's enterprise and indi-vidual consumers in a cost com-petitive basis." Seiffert furtherwarned that "India's PMA threat-ens to kill the proverbial goosethat laid the golden egg of India'ssuccessful ICT services industry."
US-India Business CouncilPresident Ron Somers said, "If thediscriminatory mandate applies toprivate sector procurement it willnot only restrain direct foreign in-vestment in India but violate thenation's WTO obligations. A morerealistic approach to create a do-mestic manufacturing base forelectronic goods would promoteinfrastructure improvements, in-centives for capital formation, andappropriate worker training."
Joining ITI, TIA, and USIBC insigning the letter to Prime Minis-ter Singh are: AMCHAM India;Australian Services Roundtable;Australian Services Roundtable;Business Software Alliance; Busi-ness Europe; Canada-India Busi-ness Council; Canadian ServicesCoalition; Consumer ElectronicsAssociation; Communicationsand Information Network Asso-ciation of Japan; Computing Tech-nology Industry Association;Coalition of Service Industries;Digital Europe; European-Ameri-can Business Council; EmergencyCommittee for American Trade;European Services Forum; TheFederation of Korean InformationIndustries; Global VSAT Forum;Hong Kong Coalition of Service
Industries; Information Technol-ogy Association of Canada; Ko-rea Information Technology Ser-vice Industry Association; KoreaSoftware Enterprise Association;Japan Business Machine and In-formation System Industries As-sociation; Japan Electronics andInformation Technology Indus-tries Association; Japan Informa-tion Technology Service IndustryAssociation; Korean Software In-dustry Association; National For-eign Trade Council; Semiconduc-tor Equipment and Materials In-ternational; Semiconductor Indus-try Association; Software and In-formation Industry Association;Taipei Computer Association;TechAmerica; and the UnitedStates Council for InternationalBusiness.
The Information TechnologyIndustry Council (ITI) is the pre-mier voice, advocate, and thought
leader for the information and com-munications technology (ICT) in-dustry. ITI is widely recognized asthe tech industry's most effectiveadvocacy organization in Wash-ington D.C., and in capitals aroundthe world.
The Telecommunications In-dustry Association (TIA) repre-sents the manufacturers and sup-pliers of global information andcommunications technology (ICT)networks through standards de-velopment, policy and advocacy,business opportunities, marketintelligence, and events and net-working.
"India has exempli-fied the benefits ofcompetition andregulatory reform asdemonstrated by thetremendous growth inthe telecommunica-tions and IT servicessector over the pastfifteen years”
The Telecommunica-tions Industry Asso-ciation (TIA) repre-sents the manufactur-ers and suppliers ofglobal informationand communicationstechnology (ICT)networks throughstandardsdevelopment
Now watchvideos in 3Don YouTube
Viewers can now watch theirfavourite videos on
YouTube in 3D. The online videostreaming service from Google Inchas added automatic 3D conver-sion for short-form videos up-loaded in 1080p.
According to a report inrapidtvnews.com, the addition isavailable for all users. Users nowhave to simply select the 3D view-ing option in the quality settingson their YouTube player.
To get the 3D effect, YouTubeuses a combination of video char-acteristics such as color, spatiallayout and motion to estimate adepth map for each frame of amonoscopic video sequence. Ma-chine learning then helps the sys-tem to learn video depth charac-teristics and apply them in depthestimation.
Govt plans $30 bninvestment todevelop airports
NEW DELHI: Buoyed by thesuccess of implementation of Pub-lic Private Partnership (PPP) modelin airport development, the Indiangovernment plans to invest USD30 billion in next 10 years with moreexisting airports being opened upfor modernization, a top officialsaid.
"In 10th and 11th five-yearplans, the government has in-vested USD 10 billion. The airportsdeveloped under the public-pri-vate-partnership model are pres-ently handling 60 per cent of thepassenger traffic in the country.The government has planned toinvest USD 30 billion in next 10years," Civil Aviation Secretary SN A Zaidi said while addressingthe 3rd International Aviation Eco-nomics Conference here. -PTI
No plan to endCoal Indiamonopoly: Jaiswal
NEW DELHI: Coal India Ltd(CIL) may have been given a gov-ernment direction to commit a mini-mum fuel supply to the power pro-ducers, but the government hasput on hold its plan to end CILmonopoly in the wake of stiff op-position from the trade unions andpolitical parties.
"Opening up of coal sector forcommercial mining is not possiblenow in the wake of stiff opposi-tion by trade unions and lack ofconsensus among political par-ties," Coal Minister SriprakashJaiswal told PTI. -PTI
Datawind blames IIT-Rajasthanfor Aakash delay
The blame game has finally started and just before the Aakash tablets have reached the hands of the students,
Datawind has stated that IIT-Rajasthan should beblamed for delay and exaggerating the concerns overthe tablet quality and functionality to favor other firms.
The over enthusiastic students have not yet receivedAakash 1. Only 100 lucky students could run their handson it and to make more buzz about the tab the govt.announced its interest to come up with the upgradedversion of the Aakash tablet.
India drags US to WTOon visa fee hike
Indian Commerce Minister Anand Sharma discussed the visa issue with his
US counterpart John Bryson when he visited New Delhi last month.
NEW DELHI: India hasdragged the US to World TradeOrganization (WTO) challengingthe visa fee hike which discrimi-nates against the Indian softwarecompanies sending professionalsto the US on short-term contracts.
"Yes, we have sought consul-tations with the US on the issue,"
a senior Commerce Ministry offi-cial said.
As per the procedure of theWTO, consultation is the firststage of a complaint launched inthe global trade body.
The US had raised visa fee in2010 to fund its enhanced costson its securing its border withMexico under the Border SecurityAct. India has been protestingagainst the measure and raising itsconcern for the last 18 months.
The law substantially in-creased the fees for H1B and L1
categories of visas for applicantswhich employ more than 50 per-sons in the US or have more than50 per cent their employees admit-ted on non-immigrant visas (the50:50 rule).
Before India's complaint goesto the Dispute Settlement Body(DSB) of the Geneva-based WTO,
the parties to the dispute are re-quired to engage into bilateralconsultations. The process takesabout two months.
"The date and place (of theseconsultations) have not been fi-nalized," the official said addingthe US measure is violating of theWTO rules.
Some of the top Indian compa-nies - TCS, Infosys, Wipro andMahindra Satyam - were affectedby the US action on visa fee. TheUS is the largest market for theIndian software exports. -PTI
Some of the top Indian companies - TCS,Infosys, Wipro and Mahindra Satyam - wereaffected by the US action on visa fee. The USis the largest market for the Indiansoftware exports
ICC, BIAC write to Pranab onretrospective tax
NEW DELHI: Concerned overthe impact of the Indiangovernment's decision to amendthe Income Tax Act with retrospec-tive affect, International Chamberof Commerce (ICC) and anotherindustry body BIAC want to en-gage with the Finance Ministry toworkout a solution to the issue.
"Dialogue is the best forum tosolve differences of view.
Let us work together to find asolution which raises necessaryrevenues while maintaining India'sgood climate for investments," theyhave said in a letter to Indian Fi-nance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
While ICC represents about1,00,000 companies spread over130 countries, BIAC representsOECD's business community.
They have raised the concernsabout the impact of Mukherjee'sBudget proposal to amend the ITAct with retrospective effect tobring into tax net Vodafone-type
merger and acquisition deals in-volving domestic assets.
UK-based Vodafone, which in2007 bought Hong Kong-basedHutchison's telecom business that
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee
included India assets for aroundUSD 11 billion, has attracted taxof Rs 11,000 crore.
"Our organizations are ready todiscuss with you and your staffhow best to approach the balance
between the financial needs ofyour country, as exemplified by theunexpected retroactivity of taxrules, and the optimal position ofyour country in attracting new in-
Let us work together to find a solution whichraises necessary revenues while maintainingIndia's good climate for investments," theyhave said in a letter to Indian Finance Minis-ter Pranab Mukherjee
vestments not only by foreign in-vestors (FDI) but also by inves-tors resident in your country," theletter said.
They have also urged the min-ister to include a representative ofICC as member of the advisorygroup of international taxation andtransfer pricing.
Recently, several global busi-ness associations have alsosought reconsideration of the ret-rospective amendment of the Act.The issue was also raised by UKChancellor of Exchequer GeorgeOsborne with Mukherjee.
However, the Finance Ministryhas maintained that India is nei-ther a zero tax country nor a taxhaven. -PTI
Another US-based body writes to PMon Voda case
NEW DELHI: Batting forVodafone, another US-based orga-nization TEI has written to PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh object-ing to the government decision toamend the I-T Act retrospectivelyto bring into tax netoverseas M&As in-volving domestic as-sets.
"...a government isfree to change its taxpolicies, but fairnessdemands that thechange should be pro-spective where thechanges will have a sig-nificant negative effecton taxpayers," said theWashington-based Tax Execu-tives Institute (TEI) which claimsthat it represents the interest of3,000 largest companies aroundthe world.
Stating that the power to amendtax laws retrospectively should be
exercised with restraint, the TEI inits letter to Singh and other minis-ters said, "Regrettably, the appro-priate restraint is missing from theFinance Bill 2012, some provisionsof which would retroactively
change the tax law of India as backas 1962."
The letter is in reference to aproposal in the Budget to amendthe I-T Act to tax Vodafone-typeoverseas deals involving domes-tic assets with retrospective effect.
The amend seeks to reverse theSupreme Court ruling in the Rs11,000-crore tax case in favor ofUK-based telecom giantVodafone.
Recently, several other globalorganizations, includ-ing International Cham-ber of Commerce (ICC),BIAC (which repre-sents OECD's businesscommunity) have alsowritten to Singh, Fi-nance Minister PranabMukherjee and others,expressing concernover the government'sproposed move.
The issue was alsoraised by UK Chancellor of Exche-quer George Osborne withMukherjee earlier in the month.
The Finance Ministry, how-ever, has been maintaining thatIndia is neither a zero tax countrynor a tax haven. -PTI
19India PostTechBiz PostApril 20, 2012
www.indiapost.com
Infinity Cars appointed MINI dealers in IndiaIndia Post News Service
MUMBAI: After a successfulassociation with the BMW Groupover the last five years, InfinityCars, one of India's leading BMWdealers, was appointed the firstdealership for MINI in India. In-finity Cars introduced the iconicMINI cars in style - MINI, MINIConvertible and MINI Country-man - at their showroom offSantacruz Linking Road,Mumbai's fashion high street.
Car enthusiasts also had theopportunity to experience theiconic brand first hand. The 12,000square foot, two-storey facility inMumbai is the home to Mini's en-tire line-up for India. The show-room with its uber cool vibe willsoon have an international cuisineall day dining restaurant, giving ita contemporary lifestyle experi-ence for its patrons. With this dis-tinctive concept, Infinity Carshope to bring life's great passionsfor cars, food and music togetherin a unique environment unseenin Mumbai.
The dealership is run by the
dynamic and versatile entrepre-neur Mrs. Pooja Choudary, Man-aging Director, Infinity Cars. She
is the wife of Mr. Lalit Choudary,MD, Performance Cars, the exclu-
sive Aston Martin dealership inIndia.
Speaking about the launch,Pooja Choudary commented: "It
Mrs. Pooja Choudary and Dr. Andreas Schaaf with Mini Cooper
brings me great pleasure to an-nounce the arrival of MINI intoMumbai, opening its first dealer-ship in India." She further adds"When we think Mumbai we think'Unstoppable', 'Iconic', 'Standout'.When we think MINI, we think'Unstoppable', 'Iconic', 'Standout'.MINI is meant for Mumbai."
Dr. Andreas Schaaf, President,BMW Group India has broughtthe world's most premium small carbrand to India. According to him,
no other brand exhibits the at-tributes and essence of a modernurban lifestyle like MINI and thereis no doubt that it is one of theworld's most emotional autobrands.
Infinity Cars sets a benchmarkin quality with its cutting edge ef-ficiency and vouches to deliveruncompromising service to its cli-entele in India. Service centers forthe Mini will be situated in Worliand Chembur
Facebook plays offense & defense in single dealSAN FRANCISCO: Is it crazy for
Facebook, a startup that has not yet evengone public, to be throwing $1 billion atInstagram, an even younger startup?
To some, the rich price tag on the dealwas yet more evidence of a bubble in thetechnology industry, especially becauseInstagram, a mobile app that allows peopleto share their smartphone snapshots withfriends, has not made any revenue.
But the history of Silicon Valley sug-gests that expensive purchases of startupsby startups may not always be so crazy.
In 2002, the hot startup turned jugger-naut was eBay, then an online auction ser-vice. It bought a small online paymentscompany, PayPal, for $1.5 billion. ThePayPal division of eBay now brings in al-most as much revenue as eBay's merchan-dise.
In October 2006, a year after it went pub-lic, Google paid $1.65 billion for YouTube,a video uploading site that had no revenueand little prospect of profit. At the time,the price raised eyebrows. But YouTube
dominated the competition and became asignificant online advertising platform forGoogle.
Reid Hoffman, a co-founder of PayPalwho went on to found LinkedIn, the socialnetworking site, said in an interview thatacquisitions were made partly to gain some-thing valuable, but also to stave off the
competition. "History shows they fail mostof the time, but when they win it's veryvaluable," he said. "There's always theblended question of opportunity andthreat."
Young hot technology companies arenothing if not aware of their mortality. Be-cause so many started out by wounding
an older tech giant, they know they can bekilled, or at least severely injured, by thatwhich lurks in the rented office space ofSilicon Valley - an even hotter, youngertechnology company.
In part, that anxiety feeds the guidinglogic here: Eat the new startup before iteats you, or before a competitor grabs it.
And be sure to keep extending your reachif you want to stay relevant.
"Anything they can do they will do tokeep customers coming back - that's ex-tremely valuable to these companies," saidLen Lodish, a marketing professor at theWharton School at the University of Penn-sylvania.
In this way, Facebook's purchase ofInstagram was an effort to push into a newarea before its rivals. As YouTube andPayPal did for Google and eBay, Instagramoffers something that Facebook desper-ately needs. The Instagram app offers aseamless way to upload photos on mobiledevices, a task that is unwieldy on theFacebook mobile application.
Never mind that Instagram has no im-mediate promise of making money.Facebook had to make another calculationbefore going public, which is expected tohappen in the coming months, and con-fronting new pressures from impatientshareholders, said David Charron, whoteaches entrepreneurship at the Haas Busi-ness School at the University of Califor-nia, Berkeley.
That calculation was whether it wasworth a billion dollars to be sure thatInstagram would not lure away Facebookusers. But in the unpredictable world ofSilicon Valley, sometimes buying the new-comer does not work.
In 2002, the hot startup turned juggernaut was eBay, thenan online auction service. It bought a small online pay-ments company, PayPal, for $1.5 billion. The PayPaldivision of eBay now brings in almost as much revenueas eBay's merchandise
"When we think Mumbai we think 'Unstop-pable', 'Iconic', 'Standout'. When we thinkMINI, we think 'Unstoppable', 'Iconic','Standout'. MINI is meant for Mumbai"
Xpress Money's flat fee for remittances to IndiaDUBAI: A money remittance
service provider Xpress Moneyhas introduced a flat fee of Rs 208for remittances of any denomina-tions to India.
The revised fee comes on theheels of the company's decisionto discontinue its earlier slab sys-tem of differential pricing based onthe amount being transferred.
Working with a network ofbanks and non banking financialinstitutions, Xpress Money has acountry-wide network in Indiacomprising more than 35,000 agentlocations. It has presence in morethan 125 countries.
the world, India is also the largest'receive' market in the remittanceindustry having received upwardsof USD 58 billion in 2011."
Similarly, he said, UAE is oneof the largest 'send' markets in theworld, having a sizeable Indianpopulation with a clear need tosend money back home.
The company offers remittance
through 'Cash-to-Cash', 'Cash toBank Account', 'Cash-to-Mobile',and 'Online Money Transfer' modes.
"Introduction of a flat fee forall transactions to India is an en-deavor to further strengthen ourpresence in these regions and of-fer our customers a unique advan-tage in terms of affordability,"Giriyan said. -PTI
UAE is one of the larg-est 'send' markets inthe world, having asizeable Indian popu-lation with a clearneed to send moneyback home
20 India Post TechBiz Post April 20, 2012
www.indiapost.com
Twitter launches legal assault on tweet spammersNEW YORK: Twitter is crack-
ing down on spammers.The company has filed a law-
suit in federal court in San Fran-cisco against five of its most ag-gressive spam enablers.
The defendants include JL4Web Solutions, based in the Phil-ippines and referred to in the suitas "TweetAttacks." Other defen-dants include Tennessee-basedSkootle Corporation, referred to as"TweetAdder"; "TweetBuddy";and the individuals James Luceroand Garland Harris.
The lawsuit takes aim at thepeople building spamming tools,such as software that latches onto trending topics and starts in-jecting irrelevant marketing mes-sages into the mix.
"With this suit, we're goingstraight to the source. By shuttingdown tool providers, we will pre-vent other spammers from having
these services at their disposal,"Twitter said in a blog post. "Fur-ther, we hope the suit acts as a
deterrent to other spammers, dem-onstrating the strength of our com-mitment to keep them off Twitter."
By afternoon, several of thewebsites named in Twitter's suit -
TweetAttacks, TweetBuddy, anda site operated by Lucero - wereoffline. TweetAdder's site was still
running, as were several of Harris'sites. The site operators could notimmediately be reached for com-ment.
Twitter says it has spent around
$700,000 in anti-spam efforts tocombat the defendants' marketingblitzkrieg. It is seeking injunctionsagainst each defendant as well asmonetary damages.
Twitter is starting to take itsspam problem - a longtime annoy-ance - more seriously. In January,the company acquired Internetsecurity company Dasient, a dealaimed at bringing in new technol-ogy to fight off spammers.
Performics, a company thatmonitors its clients' brands on so-cial platforms, says it sees signifi-cantly more spam on Twitter thanon Google and Facebook.
"You have to eliminate all theirrelevant content to see whatpeople are really saying," saidspokesman Dan Malachowski."On Twitter, a lot of it is irrelevantspam."
Twitter said on its blog that itsengineers have recently launched
new anti-spam measures "to moreaggressively suspend a new typeof @ mention spam." The com-pany is also using its t.co linkshortener as a defense: It trackswhat's tweeted and tries to shutdown links to malware or maliciouscontent.
According to PeekYou, asearch company that monitorsTwitter's spam levels, the effortsare noticeable.
"Twitter has gotten a lot betterover the last six months," CEOMichael Hussey said. "I thinkthey're more quickly detecting anddeleting lots of spam."
But it's still pretty far from per-fect.
"You can go on eBay today andtype 'twitter followers' or 'buy twit-ter followers,' and you can pumpup your number," Hussey said."Those are great examples of com-pletely spam accounts."
Performics, acompany thatmonitors its cli-ents' brands onsocial platforms,says it sees sig-nificantly morespam on Twitterthan on Googleand Facebook
FII investment up to 23% allowedin commodity exchanges
NEW DELHI: Streamlining the procedureto boost foreign investment into the coun-try, the Indian government has allowed For-eign Institutional Investors (FIIs) to investup to 23 per cent in commodity exchangeswithout seeking its prior approval.
Besides, to discourage import of sub-standard machinery, the government de-cided to withdraw the facility of giving eq-uity in lieu of import of second hand equip-ment, according to the new edition of theconsolidated FDI policy.
The policy document has been producedby the Department of Industrial Policy andPromotion (DIPP).
The government has also made certainother procedural changes in the circular andincorporated announcements made withregard to 100 per cent Foreign Direct In-vestment (FDI) in single brand and relax-ation of guidelines for pharmaceutical sec-tor.
As regard the commodity exchanges, atpresent, foreign investment, within a com-posite (FDI and FII) cap of 49 per cent, un-der the government approval route is per-mitted in commodity exchanges.
"Such investment (up to 23 per cent) byFIIs, in commodity exchanges, will, there-fore, no longer require Government ap-proval," it said. However, FDI will continueto need the approval of the FIPB.
"It has now been decided to liberalizethe policy and to mandate the requirementof government approval only for FDI com-ponent of the investment," it said.
DIPP has also decided that the consoli-dated FDI circular will be announced everyyear instead of six-monthly basis. The nextpolicy would be on March 29, 2013.
Experts said that there were no majorchanges in the circular. "DIPP has done onlyprocedural changes," PwC executive direc-tor Akash Gupt said.
The policy has clarified that subject to
the sectoral foreign holding cap, companieswill now need prior permission from ReserveBank of India (RBI) for an overall FII hold-ing of beyond 24 per cent.
After RBI permission, the companies canallow FIIs to hold more than 24 per centafter the approval for the same by theirboards and shareholders.
In order to discourage import of sub-stan-dard machinery, the government has decidedto withdraw the facility of giving equity inlieu of import of second hand equipment.
"With a view to incentivise machineryembodying state-of -the-art technology,
compliant with international standards, interms of being green, clean and energy effi-cient, second- hand machinery has nowbeen excluded from the purview of this pro-vision," it said.
In March last year, relaxing the rules forFDI in the country, the government had al-lowed issuance of equity to overseas firmsagainst imported capital goods and machin-ery including second-hand machinery.
Industry has raised concerns with thegovernment that the Indian capital goodssector, including the machine tools indus-try, construction and textile machinery, hasbeen suffering because of import of cheapersecond hand machinery, which is often sub-standard. -PTI
The government has alsomade certain other proce-dural changes in the circu-lar and incorporated an-nouncements made withregard to 100 per centForeign Direct Investment(FDI) in single brand
MassMutual offers $150,000in scholarships
India Post News Service
SPRINGFIELD, Mass.: MassachusettsMutual Life Insurance Company(MassMutual) has announced that itsMassMutual Scholars program is now a na-tional scholarship program for high achiev-ing African-American, Asian/Pacific Islanderand Hispanic students interested in careers inthe insurance and financial services industry.
This year, the program, which was previ-ously only available in nine metropolitanareas in the United States, will offer thirty$5,000 college scholarships to high-achiev-ing students across the country.
"Education is key to developing a suc-cessful career path," said Nick Fyntrilakis,Assistant Vice President, of CommunityResponsibility at MassMutual. "By takingour MassMutual Scholars program to a na-tional level, we are able to reach more stu-dents of diverse backgrounds and providethem with the financial support they needto achieve their dreams."
Now in its fourth year, the MassMutualScholars program began as a pilot programin four metropolitan areas across the coun-try and later expanded to nine. This yearthe scholarship is open to students of allmajors, who are of African-American, Asian/Pacific Islander or Hispanic decent and at-tending college in the United States. How-ever, applicants must meet certain academiccriteria, such as maintaining a 3.0 or betterGPA, express an interest in careers in theinsurance and financial services industry,and demonstrate financial need.
"MassMutual is making great headwayin making our company and agencies morerepresentative of the communities we workin," said Chris Mendoza, Assistant VicePresident of Multicultural Market Develop-ment for MassMutual. "As a national pro-gram, these scholarships will not only help
college students obtain their degrees, butalso help MassMutual continue to build astrong network of potential financial pro-fessionals and clients from diverse back-grounds, while reinforcing our commitmentto serving diverse communities."
The application deadline is May 4, 2012,and winners will be notified in late summer.
To be eligible, applicants must:• Be of African-American, Asian/Pacific
Islander or Hispanic descent;• Be a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resi-
dent with a permanent resident card or pass-port stamped I-551 (not expired);
• Have a minimum cumulative grade pointaverage (GPA) of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale;
• Have plans to attend full-time a degree-seeking program at a U.S. accredited insti-tution in the U.S., Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin
Islands, or Guam during the 2012-2013 aca-demic year;
• Be entering sophomore, junior, senioror fifth-year-senior at a four-year universityor be a community college student;
• Demonstrate leadership and extra-cur-ricular activities; and
• Apply for federal financial aid by com-pleting the Free Application for Federal Stu-dent Aid (FAFSA).
• Students of all majors will be considered.• Preference will be given to students
whose essays demonstrate their interest inpursuing a career in the insurance and fi-nancial services industry.
Now in its fourth year, theMassMutual Scholars pro-gram began as a pilot pro-gram in four metropolitanareas across the countryand later expanded to nine
21India PostTechBiz PostApril 20, 2012
www.indiapost.com
Nokia leads dual-SIM phone marketOne June afternoon last
year, as the summer sunbeat down mercilessly on
scores of shoppers, a group of 200bikers in blue colored uniformswaving blue flags descended onthe narrow main market street ofAzamgarh in Uttar Pradesh.
The deafening sound of crack-ers and dhols (drums), along witha group of bhangra dancers, mademany believe that yet another po-litical rally was afoot. This was nopolitical procession though, but a'Nokia Blue Brigade Rally' to an-nounce the launch of the Finnishgiant's dual-SIM handsets, a po-tent weapon conspicuous by itsabsence in the handset major'sIndia arsenal.
Such systematic carpet bomb-ing across the country has helpedNokia pull off something that wasinconceivable a few years ago, tocome from nowhere and claim aleadership position in the dual-SIM handset market. In the pro-cess, the iconic brand is fightingto regain ground it lost to multina-tional rivals as well as domesticJohnnie-Come-Latelys.
"We may have been late, butwe have redefined the game,"boasts Viral Oza, marketing direc-tor at Nokia India, who lets on thatin the first month of launch, thecompany covered some 1.7 lakhNokia outlets.
Nokia launched its first dual-SIM handset last June, two-and-a-half years after the likes ofMicromax and Gfive made asplash. But in less than a year ithas dethroned the first movers.According to Gfk, a market re-search firm, Nokia led with a 23%share in the dual-SIM segment inJanuary 2012.
Samsung, GFive and Micromaxfollowed with shares of 12.7%,9.8% and 8.7%, respectively. Gfkpegs the market for dual-SIMhandsets at 7.5 million in Januaryof a total handset pie of 13.4 mil-lion units.
In 2010, shipments of multi-SIMhandsets stood at close to 50 mil-lion, constituting a little over 30%of overall handset shipments, ac-cording to research and consult-ing firm Frost & Sullivan. That fig-
ure almost doubled last year, withthe contribution of multi-SIM ac-counting for half of overall ship-ments.
Various research houses haveslightly different estimates of thesize of the Indian handset market.IDC places it at 183 million unitsfor 2011, and Strategy Analyticsat 176.1 million units. Both thesefirms don't have break-ups for thedual-SIM segment. CybermediaResearch says the dual-SIM mar-ket size is 57% of 183 million units.
According to Cybermedia, in2011, in the overall India mobilehandsets market, Nokia retained
leadership position with a 31%share of sales, followed bySamsung with 15% and Micromaxat No 3 with 5%.
It's been a make or break periodfor Nokia in the world's secondlargest handset market, when itsshare slipped by over half in 2011.This was from a position of domi-nation with a 70% chunk in 2005.The beleaguered handset makerhas been losing traction globallydue to the onslaught of Android-based handsets led by Samsungand the falling popularity of itsSymbian operating system.
And in markets like India it hasbeen facing stiff competition fromlow-cost local and Chinese hand-
set makers. The almost suicidaldelay in launching dual-SIM hand-sets only compounded the prob-lems. But when the dual-SIM foraydid happen it not only helpedNokia in stemming the slide in In-dia but also in its global turn-around efforts.
Nokia CEO Stephen Elop hadreportedly said during his secondvisit to India last September thatthe dual-SIM success in India hasrubbed off on other products. "Weget those dual-SIM devices andwhat do we see? Not only dual-SIM (sales) rocketing, but alsoother parts taking off as well," said
Elop. "So you get the halo backinto the positive direction."
Back home, Nokia has gone allout to prove it still has the market-ing chops to create a big impact.Even as its bikers generated buzzin the small towns of Punjab,Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh andUttarakhand, it relied on streetplays and torch rallies at night forconsumer engagement. For in-stance, the company undertook amassive Nukkad Natak (street play)activity in 575 towns and villagesacross six North Indian states.
A group of stage artists wouldenter a crowded market area andenact a comedy play, whichsmartly weaved the benefits of
dual-SIM handsets into the script.This was followed by demonstra-tions of the device and also prizesfor those who purchased on thespot. "The activity had a massiveresponse; we reached out to morethan three lakh people," says Oza,adding that the firm was able tosell over 5,300 dual-SIM handsetson the spot.
The handset major had ropedin local artists of Chhattisgarh,from the Lok Kala Sanstha, to per-form more than 36 Nukkad Nataksin local languages for the brand-ing of dual-SIM handsets. In ruralMaharashtra, it spread awareness
using torch rallies, with 75-100people participating.
For cities like Delhi, Jaipur,Lucknow and Bhopal, the Finnishcompany had a different strategy.It ran digital and radio campaigns,inviting twins to launch C2-00 andX1-01 dual SIM phones, and be-come Nokia's brand ambassadorfor a day. In Delhi, the 'Nokia'sTwins Day Out' festival saw 63pairs of twins come together onJune 4. In fact, Nokia claims tohave entered the Limca Book ofRecords for organizing the largestgathering of twins in India at asingle venue.
JWT Delhi: "Our biggest chal-lenge was to position Nokia as athought leader, especially afterbeing late in the launch of dual-SIM. So, we created a campaignaround the 'No Compromise'tagline." That positioning was re-flected in all Nokia dual-SIM TVcommercials that talked about allthe features that Nokia's rivalsdidn't have, adds Baruah.
Nokia soon realized that givenits late-mover disadvantage, itneeded to come up with some-thing beyond what the existingplayers had on offer. It roped in aconsumer research agency to con-duct a country-wide market sur-vey about consumer expectationsfrom dual-SIM handsets. Thestudy threw up some startlingfacts. While some handsets lackedquality, others were found want-ing in features such as music andstyle.
"Users compromised whilebuying a dual-SIM handset," saysOza. "This gave us a golden op-portunity to come up with a differ-entiated offering." Being relativelylate in the day also helped Nokiathrow in features that no otherhandset maker had provided. Forinstance, its Easy Swap featureplaced the second SIM slot on theside of the phone rather than un-der the battery. This allows usersto change SIMs without havingto take out the battery.
Also, its handsets remembersettings of up to five SIMs;Micromax and GFive handsets canstore settings of just one SIM.What is more, Nokia threw in itsOvi services, Nokia maps and'touch-and-type' feature as value-additions. "Brand Nokia enjoyshigh credibility, especially at thelow end," says AbhishekChauhan, senior consultant, ICTPractice, Frost & Sullivan, SouthAsia & Middle East.
An extensive distribution net-work of over 200,000 outlets gavethe entire portfolio enough visibil-ity and reach, he adds. AgreesRahul Gupta, senior manager(emerging markets) at StrategyAnalytics: "Nokia has always beena very strong player in low-costhandsets."
Govt seeks details from foreign entities in IndiaNEW DELHI: Amid allegations
of suspicious dealings by someforeign entities having their of-fices in India, the Government hasinitiated moves to get from all theforeign entities details of their in-teraction during the course of theirduties in the country.
The Union Home Ministry hasasked the entities to furnish de-tails about their interaction with
Government departments, publicsector undertakings and also civilsociety.
A circular from the Internal Se-curity division of the Ministrymakes it mandatory for the enti-ties to furnish all the details ofthose employed for carrying outliaison work in the country.
The circular came against thebackdrop of allegations that some
of the foreign entities engaged incorrupt practices to get tenderswhile some were suspected tohave funded civil societies for fan-ning agitations like at Kudankulamnuclear project in Tamil Nadu.
The circular has been sent tovarious ministries including Min-istry of Communication askingthem to ensure security clearancebefore foreign entities set up liai-
son, branches or project offices inIndia. The Ministry has alsohanded over a fresh two-page formwhich all foreign entities are re-quired to fill.
The form seeks details of theemployees working with the In-dian office besides asking them toprovide details about the foreignnationals who had visited Indiafrom that company.
The new circular seeks detailsfrom the companies about theircontacts with government depart-ments and public sector undertak-ings which also includes provid-ing names of the officials.
It also seeks details from theforeign entities whether they hadany contact with civil society,trusts or non-governmental orga-nizations. -PTI
In Delhi, the 'Nokia'sTwins Day Out' festi-val saw 63 pairs oftwins come togetheron June 4. In fact,Nokia claims to haveentered the LimcaBook of Records fororganizing the largestgathering of twins inIndia at a singlevenue
22 India Post TechBiz Post April 20, 2012
www.indiapost.com
Anonymous to continue attackson Chinese websites
Anonymous has an-nounced that it willlaunch more attacks on
Chinese government websites soas to uncover corruption andlobby for human rights.
Earlier last week the group hadattacked and defaced several Chi-nese government websites. Thegroup is also known for its earlierattacks on several financial and gov-ernment websites around the world.
According to a report inReuters, the group used a Twitteraccount "Anonymous China" tomake the attacks public. It postedlinks to data files that containedpasswords and other personal in-
formation from the hackedwebsites. (twitter.com/#!/AnonymousChina)
Anonymous hacker "f0ws3r"told Reuters that the group willcontinue its attacks on Chinesewebsites and added that the planwas to take down the "GreatFirewall of China."
Several social networking siteslike Twitter, Facebook andYouTube are blocked in China asthe country claims that it helps inmaintaining social stability.
The hacker did not provide anyfurther details about the next at-tacks but hinted that the groupwould target bigger targets.
'Pak industry facing visaproblems for India visits'
NEW DELHI: Pakistan indus-try has complained of non-tariffbarriers including difficulty in get-ting visa, while doing businesswith Indian counterparts.
"Both the countries have thepotential to take the bilateral tradeto a higher level. But there are fewissues hindering the trade be-tween the two nations and Indianeeds to address them," Leader ofPakistan delegation to India,Abdul Qayyum, said at a functionorganized by PHD Chamber herein national capital.
These issues include delay incustoms clearance of goods anddifficulties in issuance of visa tobusinessmen, he added.
Qayyum is heading a 30-mem-ber business delegation fromFaisalabad, which is the textileshub of Pakistan.
Pakistan High Commissioner toIndia, Shahid Malik, said to boostthe two-way trade, both the na-tions are expected to finalize a newvisa agreement.
This is aimed at making it easierfor certified businessmen fromboth sides to get one-year multiple-entry, non-reporting visas.
Talking about the informal trade
via third countries like the UnitedArab Emirates (mainly Dubai),Qayyum said: "The informal tradeis higher than the direct bilateraltrade between the two countries.
Therefore, we need to address thisissue to give a fillip to our traderelations".
Currently, the bilateral tradebetween the neighbors is peggedat USD 2.7 billion, which is largelyin favor of India. However, thetwo-way trade through third coun-try is estimated to be USD 10 bil-
lion.Besides, Pakistan is expected to
grant India the Most Favored Na-tion (MFN) status by this year-end,paving the way for a direct, com-
prehensive and broad-based eco-nomic engagement. It has recentlynotified its negative list for India,which means barring 1,209 items,New Delhi can now export allproducts to the neighboringcountry. The negative list con-tains products like automobilesand textiles. -PTI
Currently, the bilat-eral trade betweenthe neighbors ispegged at USD 2.7billion, which islargely in favor ofIndia. However, thetwo-way tradethrough third countryis estimated to beUSD 10 billion
Pakistan High Commissioner to
India Shahid Malik
India, Qatar to boost cooperationin oil & gas sector
NEW DELHI: A pact to enhancecooperation in the key sector ofoil and gas exploration is amongthe six agreements inked betweenIndia and Qatar, which has theworld's third-largest natural gasreserves after Russia and Iran.
Prime Minister ManmohanSingh and Emir of Qatar SheikhHamad bin Khalifa al-Thani heldcomprehensive talks on a wholegamut of bilateral ties, includingboosting trade as well as energycooperation and welfare of Indianworkers. There are around 500,000Indians in the Gulf country.
After the talks, Petroleum Min-ister S Jaipal Reddy and Qatar'sEnergy Minister Mohammed BinSaleh al-Sada signed an MoU toestablish a cooperative frameworkto facilitate and to enhance bilat-eral cooperation in the oil and gassector for mutual benefit.
It envisages cooperation in theareas of upstream and downstreamoil and gas activities. It is ex-pected to encourage and promoteinvestment and cooperation be-tween two ministries of oil and gasand through affiliated companies.
Qatar is the largest supplier of
LNG to India, which buys 7.5 mil-lion tonnes/per year of LNG fromit.
India wants to have huge addi-tional supply of oil and LNG fromQatar but pricing is an issue.
Other pacts are in the areas ofeducational exchanges, culturalcontacts, promoting tourism andcooperation in legal affairs. AnMoU was also signed between theReserve Bank of India and QatarCentral Bank for sharing of super-visory information and enhancingcooperation in the area of bank-ing supervision. -PTI
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with Qatarís Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani
during signing of agreements in New Delhi.
23India PostTechBiz PostApril 20, 2012
www.indiapost.com
www.indiapost.com24 India Post April 20, 2012
SRIREKHA CHAKRAVARTY
India Post News Service
NEW YORK: The humble yet cheeky andquintessentially Indian Chicken TikkaMasala may have achieved the status ofUK's most favorite dish, but its rightful rec-ognition has been long overdue in the US,
which is only recently waking up to thespicy flavors of Indian cuisine.
For those with a gourmet palate or eventhe mildly adventurous foodies wanting toventure into the overwhelming expanse of"curryland", the fault has mostly been withthe smattering of mediocre desi restaurantsfor not popularizing Indian food in America.
So finally here's a platform, right in theheart of food lovers mecca, New York City,that lays to rest any stereotyped apprehen-
in Manhattan on April 5 to get a samplingof a variety of Indian savories, sweets, maincourse dishes and spirits being served outfrom booths of over 60 fine Indian restau-rants, with at least 20 award winning celeb-rity chefs from the US, Canada, UK and In-dia in attendance.
Among the big draws were Master ChefSanjeev Kapoor and Celebrity Chef VikasKhanna who titillated fans with their cook-ing demonstrations. Personally manning andserving food from their respective stalls werewell known chefs Hemant Mathur, JehangirMehta, Maneet Chauhan, Hari Nayak, AliyaLeekong, Prasad Chirnomula and Vikram Vij.
Television personality Padma Lakshmi,
although publicized as the host of the event,managed a breezy VIP appearance andstayed long enough to taste some of the food.
The ambience was one of an Indian melaand the mood very festive as attendeeswent tizzy between the food and desserttastings, full open bar, wine kiosks, andcooking demonstrations where the fea-tured chefs showed off their skills at craft-
sions one might have and proves that In-dian food can not only be wildly exotic, butsophisticated and wholesomely nutritiousall at the same time.
The said platform, the Varli Food Festi-val, pulled off a sold out show for the sec-ond year in a row, proclaiming in all its spicysplendor, that Indian food has arrivedamong the connoisseurs of food.
More than 2,000 people with tickets $100and up thronged the Metropolitan Pavilion
ing signature dishes, displaying theunique art of Indian cooking.
Festival attendees got a chance to tryexotic foods such as seared, wine marinatedKangaroo loin with fenugreek cream curryon celeriac purée and Butter Pepper Mainelobster with Himalayan Pink salt and microcilantro and sipped on a Varlitini createdexclusively by Chef Prasad Chirnomula forthe festival.
Cont’d on page 25
The ambience was one ofan Indian mela and themood very festive as at-tendees went tizzy be-tween the food and des-sert tastings, full open bar,wine kiosks, and cookingdemonstrations where thefeatured chefs showed offtheir skills at craftingsignature dishes,displaying the unique artof Indian cooking
April 20, 2012 India Post
www.indiapost.com
25
Even the humble dosa got a so-phisticated makeover as did thegajar ka halwa that was dressedup, fancy cupcake style. Alsomemorable were the fusion des-serts from Sweet Silk Confectionsand AMR catering.
Guests got to take home an ar-ray of gifts including, a celebritycook book, a free Gift CertificateBooklet ($500 value) and a bag ofgoodies from the Varli Spice Mar-ket. They also got to enjoy a YelpPhoto booth, participate in a si-lent auction and watch a live cook-ing demonstration by Master ChefSanjeev Kapoor.
A new introduction to the FoodFestival this year is the Varli CookOff, which took place the follow-ing day, at the Hilton in Melville,New York. Eight aspiring chefscompeted in a live cooking com-petition to win the prize of VarliStar Chef and various other prizeswith over 700 attendees cheeringon. Esteemed Chefs Kunal Kapur,Prasad Chirnomula, and restaura-teur Rajesh Bhardwaj, were joinedby Chef Sanjeev Kapoor, as theofficial judges of the Varli Cook Off.
Niru Kumria was a runner up,
Indian fizz & flavors of her new fame as Varli Star Chef.The brainchild of Varli Singh,
founder of Varli magazine, the VarliFood Festival aims to showcasethe vibrancy and diversity of In-dian cuisine.
"We are very thankful for thesupport we receive from the chefs,restaurants and community eachyear. Our aim is to bring Indiancuisine to the forefront and we areproud to be making strides inreaching those goals," says VarliSingh.
Varli magazine partnered withthe Food Bank For New York Cityfor the second year and will bedonating 100 percent of the netproceeds from the silent auction,10 percent of proceeds from VIPticket sales, plus a donation of$5000 personally from the Varlimanagement.
The Varli Brand includes Varlimagazine, the first publicationdedicated to news and reviews onIndian cuisine, the Varli Card, acard providing dining discountsand exclusive deals at participat-ing Indian restaurants, and VarliOnline, an interactive website withrestaurant reviews, e-magazine,restaurant links and much more.
while New York based SairaMalhotra took home the grandprize. "It was humbling to com-
pete with fellow cooks in the pres-ence of some of the world's mostrenowned chefs. The platform Varli
has provided chefs, restaurateursand upcoming chefs is pivotal forthe culinary scene," said Malhotra
Cont’d from page 24
It's a role you haven't seen them in. Awayfrom the limelight, life is all about changing diapers and nurturing their little ones
for Bollywood's glamour girls likeAishwarya Rai-Bachchan, Lara Dutta andCelina Jaitley who have just stepped intomotherhood.
Jaitley gave birth to twin boys in Dubai,and the mother and children are doing wellhealth wise, according to the actor's hus-band, hotelier Peter Haag. They have namedtheir twins Winston and Viraaj.
Dutta delivered a baby girl Sara in Janu-ary and she has been spending time withher bundle of joy. However, she is alreadyback to reading scripts.
"Back to hearing scripts and making de-cisions. Exciting things to look forward to.On another note, nothing smells better thana Johnson's Baby," Dutta wrote on Twitterlast month.
The actor-producer, married to tennis aceMahesh Bhupathi, was extremely excitedabout her pregnancy; her face had a glowevery time she stepped out confidently withher baby bump.
Mom's the word
Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan
Lara Dutta
Actor Aishwarya Rai, who chose to keepaway from the shutterbugs during her preg-nancy, is busy doting upon her daughter,born in November 2011.
The four-month-old daughter, said tohave been named Aaradhya, is keepingRai occupied and work has taken abackseat for the actor. The former beautyqueen has visibly put on post-pregnancyweight and would have to shed it beforeshe gets back in front of the cameras.Her husband, Abhishek Bachchan, saysshe is happy playing mom for now andwould only return to work when she feelslike it.
"When she wants to come back iscompletely her decision, as and whenshe decides, when she sees a script sheis inspired by - the decision is entirelyhers. Currently she is very happy doingwhat she is doing," Bachchan said re-cently.
Shilpa Shetty, married to London-basedRaj Kundra, is preparing for her D-day. Sheannounced her pregnancy on Twitter in De-cember 2011, calling it the "most beautifulphase" of her life. Celina Jaitley
The four-month-old daughter, said to have been namedAaradhya, is keeping Rai occupied and work has taken abackseat for the actor. The former beauty queen has visiblyput on post-pregnancy weight and would have to shed itbefore she gets back in front of the cameras. Her husband,Abhishek Bachchan, says she is happy playing mom fornow and would only return to work when she feels like it
April 20, 2012India Post
www.indiapost.com
26
IPL gets lowest TRPin 5 years
MUMBAI: Public response tothe Indian Premier League (IPL)seems to be going on a downwardspiral. The latest ratings show amarked slump in the televisionviewership for the Twenty20 ex-travaganza. The TRPs for the firstweek of IPL-5 in different parts ofthe country is at an all-time low.
The latest Tam Sports ratings,widely accepted figures for televi-sion viewership, indicate a dropin about 19% in the first week ofthe tournament. The first sixmatches of IPL-5 have recorded anaverage rating of 3.76. In the cor-responding period last year, theaverage TRP or TVR (TelevisionViewership Ratings) was 4.63.
The 18.7% fall from last year'srating is galling considering thatIPL-4 started less than a week af-ter an emotionally draining WorldCup, won by India. Last year's lowratings were attributed to the fa-tigue caused by the World Cup.In such a backdrop, there is littleexplanation for this year's fall inTVRs other than diminishingviewer interest in the IPL.
"The IPL viewership figureshave been going downward forsome time. The development is not
surprising," said Ajit Verghese,managing director, Maxus. "It istoo early to come to a conclusion,but there could be various rea-sons. Nowadays, people arewatching matches in differentplaces and using different plat-forms such as hotels, theatres andmobile phones. If there are somegood matches in the future, theratings might improve. But over-all, the viewership for Indian
cricket has been going down."The cumulative viewership of
the league has also suffered a con-siderable drop. Compared to1,01,774 last year - maximum in IPLhistory - the first week of IPL-5 hasrecorded a cumulative viewershipof 90,130. What's more, the open-ing ceremony of IPL-5 had a pa-thetically low rating of 1.16. Lastyear, it was a healthy 3.03. Pro-grams of that genre like film awardswith Bollywood flavor generallyattract a much higher rating.
April 20, 2012 India Post
www.indiapost.com
27
A NEW PARADIGM:Veda, Consciousness,
the Ramayana, and the SelfPioneering research reveals the profound relationship between the
sounds of the Veda and the health and vitality of our mind and body
FEATURED SPECIAL EVENT Video Broadcast of 1,000 Maharishi Vedic Pandits Chanting Veda
Join us for an evening of brilliant mindspresenting cutting-edge knowledge that can
enrich your life and change the world.A new wave of enlightening knowledge—presented by leading scientists,
artists and business leaders—in an 8-city North American tour this Spring, 2012
Continuing the Legacy of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
T H E E V E N I N G ’ S T H E M E S
The Individual is Cosmic
LEARN how the sounds of the Veda become our physiology—our brain, our heart—our whole physiology is a replica of Veda … and hear how you can use this discovery to enliven brain coherence, intelligence, and promote health at the deepest level.
The World Is Our Family:Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam
LEARN how the cutting-edge of physics meets the fi eld of spirituality at the level of
Vedic technologies of consciousness from this level, see how thousands of peace-creating Vedic Pandits are changing the destiny of mankind.
The Blossoming of Totality—The Ramayana
LEARN about how Dr. Tony Nader’s breakthrough discovery reveals a stunning correlation between the characters, details, and happenings of the Ramayana and every part of our own physiology.
Keynote Speaker
Tony Nader,M.D., Ph.D. Mind/Matter Scientist,
“Embodying Totality”
Special Guests by Video
| | Dinner to follow
WWW.NEWPARADIGMTOUR.ORG
Media S
The Family of theLate Ramanand Sagar Creators of theRamayana Series
David Lynch Acclaimed Film Director
Dr. Nader’s newest book—Ramayan inHuman Physiology—released on this tour.To order: 800-831-6523
Ramani Ayer
“Enlightened Leadership and World Peace”
John Hagelin, Ph.D. RenownedQuantum Physicist“Consciousnessand the Unifi ed Field”
MAHARISHI FOUNDATION AND THE GLOBAL PEACE INITIATIVE PRESENT
CO-SPONSORED BY ARYA SAMAJ MANDIR, HARI OM MANDIR, SHIRDI SAIBABA MANDIR,MANAV SEVA MANDIR AND VAISHNAV SAMAJ MANDIR
'Stupid' burglars strike at Pu La's house
PUNE: This gang of burglars had its plan chalked out,operating on the simple assumption that someone whoowned a flat in the city's posh Bhandarkar Road areamust be wealthy enough to have a fair bit of cash andjewellery at home.
In the end, however, the burglars were hoodwinked bytheir own ignorance, not knowing that the house, an emptyone, belonged to the late Pu La Deshpande, one of the bestMarathi writers of all time and a model of austerity.
Pu La Deshpande died in 2000 and his writer wife,Sunitabai, passed away in 2009. The flat has been emptyever since.
A close relative of Deshpande, Ashwin Lokare, believedthat the failed robbery attempt also had something to dowith the burglars' "non-Maharashtrian sensibilities."
"Chor nakkich Maharashtrian nasanaar. Konata Marathimanus Pu Lanchyaa ghari chori karel? Aani jari keli asati tartyanni pustake tari chorli asti. (The thieves must not beMaharashtrians. Which Marathi manus would think of bur-gling Pu La's house? And even if somebody thinks of it, hewould have stolen the books)," said Lokare.
But the burglars, it seems, were keener to lay their handson cash and jewellery, and not on the precious documents,books and collections belonging to the great writer, all ofwhich they left untouched.
The "inch-perfect" plan to rob Pu La's house at Malti-MadhavApartments came to light after the society's secretary, RamchandraJoshi, spotted the lock of the flat opened. Joshi promptly alertedLokare, who has a flat directly opposite Deshpande's. Lokaresaid, "The burglars may have struck in the wee hours. They had
locked three adjacent flats from outside before breaking into PuLa's flat. They rummaged through the two bedrooms and thekitchen." The burglars tried their luck by opening the cupboards,but again, were left disappointed.
The 3 BHK flat comprises cupboards, beds, chairs, re-frigerator, sofa and a microwave.
"The burglars did not show any interest in the house-hold items either. It seems they wanted only cash orjewellery," Lokare added.
Pu La Deshpande
Now that Karisma Kapoor is all set to make acomeback in her upcoming flick DangerousIshq, the actress is busy with her Bollywood
duties, attending events, film promotions, etc.At an event she replied to her sister Kareena's
comment about Raj Kapoor being partial towards her.Karisma said, "I think she meant it a nice way! But Iguess I was the first grandchild and then I had mygrandfather's eyes…and then there was a bit of agap and then Kareena, Ranbir, Riddhima happenedin quick succession so I was the special one for awhile."
Also at Sachin Tendulkar's 100th 100 celebration,Karisma said, shewould want to giftSalman Khan withalmonds being brandambassador for Cali-fornia almonds.When she was askedby the media if sheever sent almonds toSally (Salman'stweet, somedaysback, - 'Pass wordbhool gaya tha ,badam khaya tohyaad ah gaya'),Karisma replied:"Ok, I will send himCalifornia almonds."
Favorite child
(March 21 to April 20)
Things can start going backward instead of moving forward in ca-
reer this week. Your plans could backfire so be careful with what
you discuss with boss. this does not mean that you are wrong or there
is something wrong with your plans, its just the planets. Financially
you will continue to do well and may make money through stocks.
Your Weekly FutureAPRIL 20TH - APRIL 26TH
by Pandit Parashar
April 20, 2012India Post28 Horoscopewww.indiapost.com
Pandit Parashar, CEO & COO Astro Scan USA is also available for individualconsultations. He can be reached at: [email protected]
925-833-7170website: www.parashar.com
(November 23 to December 22)
Planets are in right mood to help you out with almost every thing.
You will be excited the way things will go in your favor this week.
Gamble will pay off and you will lay your hands on large chunk of
money. A child will be the source of your happiness. You may travel
to a nice area with family this week to see a friend.
(December 22 to January 19)
You will be working extra hours in order to finish the project on
time. Hard work will not go waste and the rewards will come
soon. You may buy some fine quality item for the house or replace
some furniture. Money wise you will continue to do well. People in
business will experience better sales this week.
(January 20 to February 18)
You will sign a big contract this week. Things will continue to
move in right direction in career and people applying for new jobs
will be called for second interview. Final offer is also on its way. It will
be another fruitful week for brokers. Spouse may join a health club to
get in better shape. bank balance will grow.
(February 19 to March 20)
You should be careful with money and do not put everything at
stake in one deal. Avoid taking any chance with law and drive
within limits. You will make some interesting plans with family for the
weekend and may travel to a nice place. An old friend may call to
seek your advice on an important career related matter.
(May 21 to June 20)
You will start to enjoy company of a new friend and find lot of
compatibility immediately. Things will be more relaxing at work
this week and you will be close to finishing the assignment on hand.
Meetings will go well and business trips will be instant success.
Just be little extra careful when handling and machinery or tools.
(July 23 to August 22)
You will get encouraging news from every where. Legal matters can
be settled to your satisfaction. People in business will see and
upward trend. A new client will give you big business. You may be able
to shed few pounds with the help of little exercises. New colleague or
subordinate will impress you with his efficiency.
(September 23 to October 22)
Hard work will not go waste. Business will pick up and new part-
ners will be economical and efficient. You will also gain friendship
of an influential person this week. Any attempt made half heartedly will
fail so think positive and use all you got before trying. A big property
deal can also close this week.
(April 21 to May 20)
You will continue to gain edge over your opponents and may be
selected out of number of applicants for the prestigious job. Mind
will stay cheerful as you will get help and support from every one you
call. You may buy some new furniture or decorative items for the
house. A big deal can also take the final shape.
(June 21 to July 22)
Loan application will be approved and you will sign the final docu-
ments. You may also receive a big refund in mail or see the
deposit in your account. Financially it looks like a promising week
and you will be just lucky in all money matters. Your search for a
better job will continue and changes are just around the corner.
(August 23 to September 22)
Financial relief will come in a dramatic way and from totally unex
pected place. You will benefit from advice given by some one lot
younger in age. It will take some more time for bachelors to find the
right soul mate. Some one will call from overseas to deliver a good
news. Big refund will also show up in your bank account.
(October 23 to November 22)
With the help of an exalted Sun in sixth, you will overcome some
hurdles at work. Time very favorable to appear for any com-
petitive exam. You will also overcome minor health issues with the
help of over the counter medication. Outcome from legal matters will
be favorable and you will be offered the right kind of deal.
Chitrangada's charismawill be at an all time high
Seductive looks, superb acting skillsand oodles of talent are how youdefine one of the most gorgeous
actresses of Bollywood, ChitrangadaSingh. This dusky Arian is one actress whopacks a punch in both looks as well as heracting skills. Having bowled over one andall with a brilliant performance in SudhirMishra's Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi,Chitrangada announced her arrival inBollywood with an impressive debut.
Born on March 28, 1976, she is an Arieswith ruling number 1. This number is gov-erned by the Sun and having born underit, she is highly original, active, energetic,motivated, artistic and brilliant. She is at-tracted towards the intellectual types. Sheis not likely to let her heart rule her head.She has an unyielding will power and car-ries out projects through to her logicalconclusion. She is also fiercely self-reliantand self-sufficient.
The future of this dusky damsel in 2012,too, seems pretty promising with upcom-ing projects like Sudhir Mishra's Dhruvwith Kareena Kapoor and Farhan Akhtar.With a director like Sudhir Mishra and co-stars like Kareena Kapoor and FarhanAkhtar, Chitrangada has only bright thingsto look forward to in 2012.
In 2012, all her qualities come to the forepost March. Her charisma will be at an alltime high. She will make it to the top easilyas she is innovative and enterprising. Byconstantly being active she can tire her-self out and may have to deal with stress-related issues. April and May will be luckymonths for her.
April 20, 2012www.indiapost.com29 India post
Cont’d from page 30
The famous RathYatra or the Car Festi-val is held every yearas a part of the festi-
val of the greatJagannath temple. Itdraws good number
of pilgrims from allover the world. Theyatra forms an inte-
gral part of theIndia images
Puri, situated in the eastern part of thestate of Orissa, is one of the four holydhams of Hinduism and the hallowed
seat of Lord Jagannath. Washed by thewaters of the Bay of Bengal and embracedby causarina-fringed beaches, it is locatedat a distance of 60 km from the state capitalBhubaneshwar. It is a famous beach on theeastern coastline of peninsular India.
The famous Rath Yatra or the Car Festi-val is held every year as a part of the festi-
val of the great Jagannath temple. Itdraws good number of pilgrims from
all over the world. The yatraforms an integral part of the In-
dia images. India images since times imme-morial have depicted devotees.
Puri was once part of the kingdom ofKalinga, formed by Emperor Ashoka of theMauryan Empire in 260 BC. The Sabaras, atribe belonging to pre-Aryan and pre-Dravidian Austric linguistic group, inhab-ited the region. The region came under Brit-ish rule in 1803. The Raja of Khurda rebelledin 1804, and there was a peasant uprising in1817-18. The Orissa famine of 1866 claimedmany lives in Puri.
India Post April 20, 201230 Travel & Hospitality Postwww.indiapost.com
Location: Puri has the Bay ofBengal and the rice-growing allu-vial plain on its east, Khurda dis-trict on its west, Sambalpur on itssouth and the state capitalBhubaneshwar on its northernside. The forest area lying to thewest of Puri provides bamboo andsal. The district of Puri encom-passes most of the Chilika Lake,Asia's largest freshwater lake.Bhubaneshwar is also located inPuri district.
Tourist attractionsThe fine white sands of Puri
beach and the roar of the breakersrolling in from the Bay of Bengalhave fascinated visitors through-out the years. The local fishermen,with their catamarans and wide-brimmed cane hats, are also expertmasseurs. With excellent hotelsand guesthouses, the Puri beachis an ideal holiday spot.
However, what attracts mosttourists to this place is the majes-tic temple of Jagannath. Even be-fore one enters Puri, this 65-meter-high structure makes its presencefelt. The 12th-century temple builtby Chodaganga, to commemoratethe shifting of his capital fromsouth to central Orissa, stands ina compound on the Nilgiri Hill, andis surrounded by a 20-foot-highwall, within which lie severalsmaller shrines. A traditional porch,shrine, hall of offerings and apillared hall of dance form the restof this temple. Unfortunately,Jagannath is not open for non-Hindus, who must contend them-selves viewing it from a vantagepoint, outside its precincts.
Another place worth visiting isAnanda Bazar, the largest foodmarket in the world.
Gundicha Mandir is one of thetemples closely related to the fes-tivity of the Rath Yatra of Puri. It isa holy place where "God" residesfor seven days during the festival.This garden is regarded as theplace of lord Jagannath's aunt.
Balighai Beach, 8 km from Puri,is at the mouth of the river Nuanai.It is a popular picnic spot, fringedby lovely causarina trees.
Sakshi Gopal (literal meaning,the witness lord) is a place 20 kmaway from Puri where a life-sizeimage of the child Krishna is be-ing built. This was to commemo-rate the incident when LordKrishna came to this place as awitness to clear out a dispute oftwo Brahmans. Later it is said thatLord liked this place so much thathe decided to stay there for a while.
Besides the places of the city,there are a number of tourist sitesoutside the city boundary.
Balighai, also known for its seaturtle research center, is locatedjust 8 km away from the templetown.
Chilika Lake, the largest brack-
ish water lake in Asia (65 km long,8-20 km wide, about 2 m deep), issituated just a few kilometers awayfrom Puri and is a place worth vis-iting. It has been affectionatelycalled as the "honeymooners'paradise" and "breakfast island."The simmering blue water makes itan excellent site to have a breakfrom the monotonous daily rou-tine.
For someone interested in localhandicrafts, a visit to the small vil-lage of Pipli near Puri is a must.
This place is famous for theappliqué work of the traditionalOrissa style.
Another craftsmen's village isRaghurajpur. This small village issituated just few kilometers fromPuri. This place is famous for thePatta Chitra art of Orissa.
Besides these, Brahmagiri, aholy shrine; Satyabadi, anothershrine and temple; andBaliharachandi are some of thesites to visit near Puri.
Fairs & festivals: The RathYatra and Nava Kalebara are thefamous festivals of Puri. Boththese events are related to thereigning deity, Lord Jagannath.Commemorating the journey ofLord Krishna from Gokul toMathura, the Rath Yatra is cel-ebrated on the second day of thebright fortnight of Asadha (June-July). The image is placed in aheavy chariot and the efforts ofhundreds of devotees are requiredto move it. The journey takes sev-eral days, and thousands of pil-grims participate. Perhaps manypeople will be surprised to knowthat the English word juggernaut,with its connotation of a forcecrushing whatever is in its path, is
derived from name Jagannath,meaning "lord of the world."
The Nava Kalebara festival isan immensely significant religiousritual, wherein the idols of the threedeities - Jagannath, Balabhadraand Subhadra - change their exter-nal forms. New idols are carved outof specially sanctified chandan/neem trees, following certain regu-lations. The 'daru' (wood) is thentransported to the temple in fullregalia.
Puri Beach Festival is celebratedannually in early November.Orissan craft, cuisine and culturalevenings are the highlights of theevent.
Best Time to Visit: October toMarch (June and July to witnessthe Rath Yatra)
How to reach:Air - The nearest airport is at
Bhubaneshwar (60 km), the statecapital.
Road - Puri is connected withBhubaneshwar, Konark,Berhampur, Taptapani, Sambalpurand Kolkata by road.
Rail - Puri is also linked to othercities in Orissa and the country bytrain.
Puri: Famous for Rath Yatra & white sand beachesCont’d from page 29
Kashmir Mughal Gardens thrown openSRINAGAR: The famed Mughal Gardens
of Kashmir have been thrown open to pub-lic a week earlier than the scheduled datedue to heavy rush of tourists.
Authorities expect that the number oftourists visiting Kashmir would surpass 20lakh this year.
Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Gardenwitnessed the maximum footfall as the flow-ers in this garden, popularly known as"Chotta Holland" here are in full bloom, andthe weather was also pleasant, an official ofthe Gardens and Parks department said.
"The life of Tulips is not more than amonth. So everyone - tourists as well aslocals - wants to visit this garden beforethey die out," he said. More than 3,000 tick-ets were sold by noon at the Tulip gardenand hundreds more were waiting in queue.Although on a smaller scale, the scenes wereno different at other Mughal gardens likeChashmashahi, Nishat and Shalimar.
"I don't think there is a place on earth
more beautiful than Kashmir. It is amazinghow much it has to offer in such a small areaaround Dal lake," Amit Kumar, a resident ofPunjab, said.
Kumar, who got married last month and
has come here for honeymoon, said it washis first visit to Kashmir but asserted that itwould not be his last. "I am surely comingback to this place whenever I can," he added.
Among the thousands of tourists who
have visited the Valley this year have beenhigh profile personalities like Anil Ambaniand Aamir Khan.
The Tourism Department is organizingcultural events at some of the gardens forentertaining the tourists while acquaintingthem with local culture and traditions.
A musical - 'Jashne Aamad-e-bahaar' - wasorganized at the 'Badam Waer' (Almond Al-cove) in the foothills of Hariparbat fort in oldcity where renowned Kashmiri singers AbdulRashid Hafiz, Mohammad Abdullah Shaksaazand Gulzar Ahmad Ganaie performed.
Stalls showcasing Kashmiri arts andcrafts and foods were also set up for thevisitors.Authorities here are expecting that20 lakh tourists will visit Kashmir this year,in comparison to last year's tally of 13 lakh.
"Last year was the best for tourism tradein more than two decades and this year isgoing to be better. Let us hope that peaceprevails in Kashmir," Mohammad Umar, atravel agent, said. -PTI
India PostApril 20, 2012 31Travel & Hospitality Postwww.indiapost.com
Publicly Acclaimed Top Vegetarian Restaurant Serving
If You are looking For the BEST & the MOST AUTHENTIC VEGETARIANRESTAURANT IN TOWNCome to One and Only One Place
CATERING IS OUR SPECIALITY
TASTE OUR 30 PLUSE MOUTH WATERING DISHES ONCE YOU COMETO US YOU WILL NOT ELSEWHERE THAT IS OUR GUARANTEE
NORTH INDIAN • SOUTH INDIAN • GUJARATI • JAIN DISHES
Tel:(773) 274-58002508 W. Devon Ave.Chicago, IL 60659
NEW DELHI: Jammu and Kash-mir tourism department and indus-try are angry at "high" air fares onKashmir circuit, fearing that thiswould destroy the state's tourismseason and are seeking the inter-vention by Prime MinisterManmohan Singh in the interestof the nation.
The state tourism departmentand the industry say the priceshave been increased just when thepeak season for visiting the valleywas approaching.
"It is unfortunate that airlinesare increasing air fares to and froKashmir valley. As a result of this,the tourism industry will suffer,"Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Di-rector Farooq Shah said here.
He said the air fares were "sub-stantially high" and continuing torise, even touching Rs 17,000 oneway between Delhi and Srinagarwhich was more than that betweenDelhi and Malaysia or Singapore.
"The rates cannot be fixed arbi-trarily. There should be some ceil-ing on the fares," he said, addingthat the high rates would badlyaffect tourist flow to the valley
during the peak summer season.President of Travel Agents So-
ciety of Kashmir Abdul KhaliqWangnoo alleged that the airlineswere taking "undue advantage" of
the situation since there is no raillink to Kashmir and the only alter-nate mode of travel is by bus.
"We have only two-threemonths of peak tourist season butsuch high rates would badly af-
fect the inflow," he said.He said he had requested state
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah totake up the issue with the PrimeMinister and threatened agitationif some remedial steps were nottaken.
Nazir Bakshi, chairman of travelbodies of Kashmir, said thereshould be intervention by thePrime Minister as Kashmir was re-turning to normal tourism after twodecades of turmoil and the highair fares could not be allowed tosabotage that process.
"The issue needs sensitive han-dling. It is in the interest of thenation to keep air fares low so thatmore people can visit the valley,"he said, adding good tourismwould highlight the normalcy inthe valley. "Making Kashmirunaffordable for travel wouldhave a huge impact," he said.
Bakshi suggested that if theairlines wanted to ensure thatthey do not make losses, theycould fix single fares for the wholeyear instead of making these "ex-orbitant" during the peak touristseason. -PTI
Nazir Bakshi, chair-man of travel bodiesof Kashmir, said thereshould be interven-tion by the PrimeMinister as Kashmirwas returning to nor-mal tourism after twodecades of turmoiland the high air farescould not be allowedto sabotage thatprocess
29 per cent surge in Oztourists to India
MELBOURNE: India is fastemerging as a favorite travel des-tination for Australians with a 29per cent surge in tourists fromAustralia to the country, accord-ing to official figures.
According to 'Herald Sun' re-port, the latest radical reshapingof Australian tourist and businesstravel has put India at 10th mostvisited destination with 17,400 vis-its a month which was mere 4,000tourists ten years ago.
Country's Bureau of Statisticsfigures have disclosed that in Feb-ruary this year more Australiansvisited China or India than theconventional UK.
"India, Thailand and China areby far our fastest growing desti-nations with annual growth ratesof 15, 14 and 13 per cent respec-tively," it said.
Australia has 47,000 visitors amonth from China (and a further15,000 from Hong Kong), well inexcess of the 40,000 that come fromthe US and close to the 49,000 whocome from Britain. China was ontrack to replace the UK as the big-gest source of visitors to Austra-lia after New Zealand.
According to Tourism ministerMartin Ferguson, "New aviationagreements mean there are now900,000 seats per year between
China and Australia, and we arefunding businesses to becomeChina-ready through the 'Welcom-ing Chinese Visitors Project'.
"The number of Australians vis-
iting India surged by 29 per centwhile the Philippines increased by26 per cent.
Tourism and Transport Forumchief executive John Lee said,Asian destinations like Indonesia,
Thailand, Vietnam and the Philip-pines have been investing in newaccommodation and are able toprovide high levels of service tovisitors.
"We need support for invest-ment in accommodation and othertourism products in Australia tohelp us remain competitive or werisk being left behind by our re-gional rivals," he said.
"New hotels and attractions canhelp to attract international visi-tors and encourage more Austra-lians to holiday at home.
"When it came to overseas tour-ists coming to Australia, growth inarrivals from New Zealand, Japanand South Korea helped to offset afall in Chinese visitors. Down Un-der also saw more tourists fromKorea, India and Italy.
"This clearly demonstrates theneed to continue to promote Aus-tralia in a variety of markets andthat a ramping up of activities inChina must be supported by addi-tional funding, not by shifting re-sources from other areas," Lee saidadding, "Many countries haverecognized the potential of Chinaas a source market and while Aus-tralia undoubtedly needs a strongpresence there that should notcome at the expense of campaignsin other countries." -PTI
"When it came tooverseas touristscoming to Australia,growth in arrivalsfrom New Zealand,Japan and SouthKorea helped tooffset a fall in Chi-nese visitors. DownUnder also saw moretourists from Korea,India and Italy."This clearly demon-strates the need tocontinue to promoteAustralia in a varietyof markets
DENVER: Senate Democratsapproved legislation that wouldallow illegal immigrants in Colo-rado attend college at a discountedtuition rate.
The bill passed on a party-linevote with Republican opposition.The bill heads to the Republican-controlled House.
The proposal would let illegalimmigrants who graduate fromColorado high schools attend col-lege at a rate lower than the out-of-state price, but slightly higherthan the in-state rate. The studentsmust sign an affidavit saying theyare seeking legal status.
It would be up to collegeswhether to participate in the tu-ition program.
Supporters say illegal immi-grants who grew up attendingstate schools deserve a chance toattend college at an affordable rate.But opponents say the bill rewardsillegal behavior. -AP
India Post News Service
NEW YORK: With newly releasedfigures from the US Census Bu-reau indicating that the AsianAmerican population experienceda 43 percent increase and that ofNative Hawaiians and Pacific Is-landers experienced a 30 percentincrease from 2000 to 2010, on April2, the nation's top foundationspledged an initial $1 million andthe White House Initiative onAsian Americans and Pacific Is-landers convened its first NationalPhilanthropic Briefing to draw at-tention to this fastest growing ra-cial group in the country.
Co-chair of the White HouseInitiative on AAPIs and Assistantto the President Chris Lu ad-dressed the over 200 participants,including philanthropic leadersfrom more than 50 foundations.
"This effort is historic in that itis the first time the White Houseis bringing together foundationleaders, federal officials and com-munity experts to discuss the
needs of this often-overlookedgroup." He remarked, "We mustwork together to make sure thatno community is invisible to itsgovernment."
Embracing the collaborativespirit, the Ford Foundation, theW.K. Kellogg Foundation and theKresge Foundation together com-mitted $1 million "to support fol-low up program planning for some
of the outstanding ideas thatemerged from the White Houseevent that will improve the qualityof life of AAPI communities," saidFord Foundation President, LuisUbiñas.
US Department of EducationSecretary and Co-chair of theWhite House Initiative on AAPIs
Arne Duncan spoke about mod-els of partnerships between foun-dations and federal agencies."You and your organizations canhelp make the smart, strategic in-vestments that will drive the trans-formational change we are talkingabout today."
Participants learned about theWhite House Initiative's unprec-edented engagement with over
25,000 AAPI community membersacross the country. Theybrainstormed with Administrationofficials and foundation leaders onideas for partnerships - from build-ing community capacity to improv-ing language access, to tacklingsignificant disparities among Na-tive Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders
and Southeast Asian Americans, tocombating discrimination and bul-lying and harassment of SouthAsian and Muslim communities.
Moving forward, as W.K.Kellogg Foundation Vice President- Program Strategy Dr. Gail Christo-pher underscored "will require bothphilanthropic and governmentalorganizations to evaluate their stra-tegic plans to ensure that the criti-cal needs of these marginalizedcommunities are addressed."
Reflecting on this important ef-fort, Kresge Foundation PresidentRip Rapson observed that this"momentous conversation be-tween federal and philanthropicleaders addressing the criticalneeds of the AAPI communitymarks the beginning of what wehope is a long and productive part-nership."
President Obama signed an ex-ecutive order in October 2009 re-establishing the White House Ini-tiative to improve the lives of AsianAmericans and Pacific Islandersunderserved by federal resources.
FY 2013 H-1B filing season beginsCYRUS D. MEHTA
Employers can now file cap-subject H-1B petitions forfiscal year (FY) 2013, for
employment starting October 1,2012, or later.
On November 22, 2011, U.S. Citi-zenship and Immigration Services(USCIS) received a sufficient num-ber of petitions to reach the statu-tory cap for FY 2012. USCIS alsoreceived more than 20,000 H-1B pe-titions on behalf of persons exemptfrom the cap under the advanceddegree exemption as of October 19,2011. With the improving economy,H-1B numbers could run out fasterthis year. CDMA recommends thatemployers file early and allow timefor the labor condition applicationprocess. Contact our firm now forguidance and help with the process.
Department of State AmendsFees for Consular Services
The Department of State hasissued an interim final rule amend-ing the schedule of fees for con-sular services for nonimmigrant
visa applications, border crossingcard applications, and immigrantvisa applications.
The rule increases from $140 to$160 the fee for processing mostnon-petition-based nonimmigrantvisas (machine-readable visas, or
MRVs) and border crossing cards(BCCs) for Mexican citizens 15years of age and above. The rulealso amends application process-ing fees for certain categories ofpetition-based nonimmigrant vi-sas and treaty trader and investorvisas (all of which are also MRVs),and amends tiered application pro-cessing fees for immigrant visas.Finally, the rule increases from $14to $15 the BCC fee charged to
Mexican citizen minors who applyin Mexico, and whose parent orguardian already has a BCC or isapplying for one, based on a con-gressionally mandated surcharge.
The interim final rule is effec-tive April 13, 2012. Written com-
ments must be received on or be-fore May 29, 2012.
Visa Interview Waiver PilotProgram Expanded to NewDelhi, India
The U.S. Embassy in NewDelhi, India, announced that theVisa Interview Waiver Pilot Pro-gram has been expanded to thatpost, effective immediately. Underthe program, certain qualified for-eign visitors who were interviewed
and screened in conjunction witha previous visa application may beeligible to renew their visas with-out undergoing another interview.
The embassy explained that thepilot program permits consular offic-ers to waive interviews for qualifiednonimmigrant applicants worldwidewho are renewing their B-1/B-2 visaswithin 48 months of the expiration oftheir previously held visa, and withinthe same classification as the previ-ous visa. The pilot does not entitleany applicant to a waiver of personalappearance. Consular officers retainthe authority to interview any appli-cant whom they determine requiresa personal appearance.
India, China EB-2 CategoryExpected To Retrogress Soon
The State Department's VisaBulletin for April did not continuethe dramatic forward movement ofIndia and China EB-2 prioritydates that has been observed forthe past several months.
Cont’d on page 36
Nebraska City preparesfor immigrationordinance
OMAHA, Neb.: Fremont offi-cials continue to work out how toimplement an ordinance requiringbusinesses to double-check thecitizenship of new employees.
Details on page 35
Lied aboutillegal-immigrantworker
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa: A 30-year-old eastern Iowa man facesup to five years in federal prisonfor lying to an immigration agent.
Federal prosecutors say RichardWeber, of Dubuque, has pleadedguilty. Weber admitted lying to anagent of the Department of Home-land Security, Immigration and Cus-toms Enforcement. The agent wasinquiring about an illegal immigrantwho worked for Weber's concretebusiness.
Officials say Weber told theagent in February 2010 that theworker had been laid off about twomonths earlier and that Weber hadnot talked to the worker since. -AP
Protest setover Arizona'simmigration law
PHOENIX: Immigrant rightsadvocates plan to hold a protestin downtown Phoenix on the daythat the U.S. Supreme Court hearsarguments over Arizona's 2010immigration enforcement law.
Organizers of the April 25 rallysay they will protest the state'simmigration law and other stateand federal policies that they con-tend erode civil rights.
On that same day, the U.S. Su-preme Court will hear argumentsin Gov. Jan Brewer's appeal of aruling that blocked police fromenforcing the law's most contro-versial elements.
Participants learned about the White HouseInitiative's unprecedented engagement withover 25,000 AAPI community membersacross the country. They brainstormed withAdministration officials
With the improving economy, H-1B numberscould run out faster this year. CDMA recom-mends that employers file early and allow timefor the labor condition application process
India Post 35April 20, 2012 Immigration Postwww.indiapost.com
MONTGOMERY, Ala.: Legisla-tion being pushed by the gover-nor and other Republican leadersto revise Alabama's immigrationlaw addresses some of the con-cerns raised by religious leaders,but it doesn't go far enough toerase their belief that the state istrying to keep them from follow-ing the biblical commandment tolook after ``the least of these.''
Republican Rep. MickyHammon of Decatur introducedthe bill in the House with the sup-port of Gov. Robert Bentley, HouseSpeaker Mike Hubbard, SenatePresident Pro Tem Del Marsh andother key leaders. It came after thelaw, signed by the governor in June2011, drew criticism from religiousleaders, law enforcement and busi-ness groups for being unclear andunworkable.
The governor's legal adviser,Cooper Shattuck, said thechanges should alleviate manyconcerns about religious organi-zations getting into trouble forministering, providing food or of-fering other services to illegal im-migrants. He said the changesclarify that religious organiza-tions don't have to verify the le-gal residency of people theyserve, and that they won't get intotrouble for having an illegal im-migrant in ministry or missionwork, as long as the person is notpaid as an employee.
Shattuck said another changeclarifies language on when a vio-lation occurs. The new languagesays someone must conceal, har-bor or shield a person from de-tection while knowing the per-son is in the country illegally orwith reckless disregard to theperson's status.
``These changes go a long wayto address their legitimate con-cerns,'' Shattuck said.
The Rev. Angie Wright from theBeloved Community UnitedChurch of Christ in Birminghamsaid the changes don't go farenough and in some cases makethe law harsher. That includeslevying a felony punishment foraiding five illegal immigrants,when the current law provides foraiding 10 or more.
``It is deeply disturbing to me,especially during Holy Week, that
legislators have shown no re-morse for the massive sufferingcaused by HB56,'' she said, refer-ring to the bill number for the law.
Wright is an organizer of FaithLeaders for a Welcoming Alabama,which is running TV ads criticiz-ing the law. She said the proposedchanges won't stop criticism be-cause even if the changes are en-acted, the law will still interfere withthe role of churches by creatingfear in immigrant communities.
``This is the work of the Lord _looking after the least of these,''she said.
Kitty Rogers Brown, an attor-ney for Episcopal Bishop HenryParsley Jr. of the Diocese of Ala-bama, said the revision legislationis a sign that state officials are lis-tening to religious leaders' con-cerns. ``But it does not go farenough,'' she said.
Brown said some of thechanges appear to offer protectionto church leaders, but the word-ing of the bill makes her concernedthe protection is not extended tochurch members.
Brown represents Parsley in hissuit where he joined Roman Catho-lic and Methodist church leadersin challenging the law. The 11thU.S. Circuit Court of Appeals inAtlanta is waiting on a U.S SupremeCourt ruling on Arizona's immigra-tion law before ruling on the chal-lenges to Alabama's law. -AP
Nebraska City prepares for immigration ordinanceOMAHA, Neb.: Fremont offi-
cials continue to work out how toimplement an ordinance requiringbusinesses to double-check thecitizenship of new employees.
City Attorney Paul Payne toldthe City Council that he's obli-gated to begin enforcing the re-quirement May 4, but he's still try-ing to determine what resourcesare needed and what the enforce-ment process should entail.
``We don't have a lot of guidesout there to take a look at this andto look at other communities, be-cause I've looked and I don't see awhole lot of them actually enforc-ing,'' Payne said.
The requirement that employ-ers use the E-Verify system toscreen for illegal immigrants is partof an ordinance approved by Fre-mont voters in June 2010 but puton hold until now so that lawsuitschallenging it could be heard.
A federal judge approved mostof the ordinance in February, butrejected one part of the rules re-quiring potential renters to swearthey are legal residents and pay$5 to obtain a renting permit. So,those housing rules remain on
hold while the city and AmericanCivil Liberties Union appeal.
City officials have estimated itwill cost about $450,000 in the firstyear to put the new regulations inplace because new forms will haveto be developed and new employ-ees will be needed to make sure
businesses are using the citizen-ship checks.
Payne told the City Council thathe anticipates starting enforce-ment by sending letters to Fremontbusinesses asking them to com-ply with the ordinance and pro-vide proof of E-Verify registration,according to the Fremont Tribune(http://bit.ly/HeJjpX ). Stronger-worded letters or face-to-face meet-ings could follow for businesses
that don't comply, with prosecu-tion for employers who refuse toconform to the new law.
City Administrator Dale Shotkoskicautioned that Payne has other du-ties as city attorney and shouldn't tieup all his time with the ordinance.
``This is one ordinance,'' hesaid. ̀ `There are a whole bunch ofthem out there. There are also con-tracts he reviews and a lot of otherthings he's doing for us, so wecan't have him spending 90 per-cent of his time on the ordinance,then we aren't getting the benefitof having a city attorney.''
Census figures show that theHispanic population in Fremonthas grown tremendously over thepast two decades, but it's not clearhow many illegal immigrants mightlive in the city of 26,000 about 35miles northwest of Omaha.
Fremont's Hispanic populationgrew from 165 in 1990 to 1,085 in2000 and 3,149 in 2010. Census fig-ures show that 1,259 noncitizenslive there, but that figure includesillegal immigrants as well as lawfulpermanent residents, foreign stu-dents and refugees in the U.S. le-gally. -AP
Some of the changesappear to offer pro-tection to churchleaders, but thewording of the billmakes her con-cerned the protectionis not extended tochurch members
Census figures showthat the Hispanicpopulation inFremont has growntremendously overthe past twodecades
India Post36 April 20, 2012Immigration Postwww.indiapost.com
Dem Senate hopeful seeksimmigration law fix
BOSTON: A federal immigra-tion law mandating that finger-prints taken from crime suspectsby local law enforcement officialsbe turned over to the FBI createsbarriers between police and im-migrant communities and shouldbe improved before being fullyimplemented next year, Demo-cratic U.S. Senate candidate Eliza-beth Warren said.
Warren, a Harvard law profes-sor and consumer advocate, wasasked about the Secure Commu-nities law after appearing at aStatehouse event sponsored bythe Massachusetts Immigrantand Refugee Advocacy Coalition,or MIRA, which calls itself NewEngland's largest organizationpromoting the rights of immi-grants and refugees.
Under the Secure Communitiesprogram, the FBI would share acrime suspect's fingerprint infor-mation with the Department ofHomeland Security. If it appearedthat the crime suspect was in theUnited States illegally, Immigra-tion and Customs Enforcement,or ICE, could initiate deportationproceedings.
U.S. Sen. Scott Brown and otherstate Republicans have targetedWarren's positions on immigrationissues in recent days. Brown isseeking re-election after winningthe seat in a 2010 special electionto succeed the late DemocraticSen. Edward Kennedy.
Brown has stated that Warrenopposes Secure Communities. Butthe Democrat has crafted a morenuanced position, saying she be-lieve the FBI and ICE should beallowed to share information thatwould help remove dangerouscriminals from the streets. But shealso has said that many commu-nity leaders and some law enforce-ment officials have expressed res-ervations about the program ascurrently designed.
``There are many who are wor-ried that the way it is directedright now ... it doesn't focus onviolent offenders and it buildswalls between communities andthose who police them,'' Warrentold reporters. ̀ `And it's very im-portant in order to have truly safecommunities that the police andthe communities are workingclosely and have ongoing rela-tionships that are deep and last-ing and based on trust.''
Critics of Secure Communities,including some police officials,worry that it will lead to greatermistrust of law enforcement anddiscourage some immigrants fromreporting crime or assisting incriminal investigations.
``What Secure Communitiesdoes is actually make communi-
ties less secure,'' said MarisaDeFranco, an immigration attor-ney from Middleton who also isseeking the Democratic nomina-tion for U.S. Senate and appearedat the advocacy event.
Immigrants, even if legal, ̀ `arenot going to come forward as wit-nesses in crime or help police if acrime has been committed be-cause even if they are docu-mented, someone in their familyisn't,'' she said.
DeFranco accused Brown ofbeing ̀ `uninformed'' on immigra-tion issues but also criticized War-ren for not taking stronger standson Secure Communities and otherissues.
Brown met last week with threeRepublican Massachusetts sher-
The Alliance of Business Immi-gration Lawyers has also learnedthat the Visa Office is predicting aretrogression of priority dates inthe India and China EB-2 categoryto a 2007 priority date, effective inthe May or June Visa Bulletin.
For the month of April, the In-dia and China EB-2 category re-mains steady at May 1, 2010. ForMay, the Visa Office recently an-nounced that the priority date willretrogress, or be set earlier, possi-bly as early as August 2007. Prior-ity dates are not expected to ad-vance again until October 1, 2012,at the earliest, when the new fiscalyear begins.
If an I-485 Application for Adjust-ment of Status is filed while theperson's priority date is current, it willremain pending until the priority dateis current again. Because the I-485will remain pending, the applicant cancontinue to apply for interim benefits,such as work authorization and ad-vance parole, while the priority dateis retrogressed.
CDMA recommends that any-one with a priority date beforeMarch 2010 who is eligible to ap-ply for adjustment of status do soimmediately, because the oppor-tunity to file such applications willlikely end by May 1, 2012, and willnot return until at least October 1,2012 (and possibly much later).Contact our firm for assistance.
Business Organizations SendLetter on L-1 Issues to ObamaAdministration
Sixty-four business organiza-tions signed a letter on L-1 legaland policy issues sent on March22, 2012, to President Obama andthe Secretaries of Commerce,Homeland Security, and State.New proposed L-1 guidance isanticipated from U.S. Citizenshipand Immigration Services.
Among other things, the letternotes that it has become increas-ingly difficult for companies toprocure visas to transfer existingemployees in the United States tocontinue work. A significant con-cern, the letter notes, is that an"inconsistent and improperly nar-rowed" definition of specializedknowledge is being used to deter-mine which employees qualify forL-1B status.
FY 2013 H-1B filing season beginsWhen visas for key staff already
employed in an organization areinexplicably delayed or denied,such delays or denials do not en-hance compliance or enforcementand "do nothing except disruptcarefully laid business plans andcreate significant costs to the com-pany and the American economy,"the letter states.
USCIS Releases Guidance onMaximum Period of Stay for Non-immigrant Religious Workers
U.S. Citizenship and Immigra-tion Services released a policymemorandum on March 8, 2012, forImmigration Service Officers whoadjudicate religious worker (R-1)nonimmigrant petitions for thosecoming to the United States tem-porarily to perform religious work,and their dependents.
The memo outlines the proce-dure to be used for "recapturing"
time spent outside the UnitedStates by R-1 nonimmigrantswhen seeking an extension of theirR nonimmigrant status. The guid-ance applies to all R-1 petitionsseeking to recapture time that arecurrently pending with USCIS orto new petitions filed on or afterMarch 8, 2012.
"Recapturing" is used in thememo as "short-hand" for the pe-riod of time spent outside theUnited States that the workerseeks to have subtracted from hisor her maximum period of stay inR-1 status, to have that period oftime added back ("recaptured")when he or she requests an exten-sion of R-1 status.
USCIS explained that the R-1nonimmigrant classification is forthose seeking to enter the UnitedStates for a period not to exceedfive years solely to work as a min-ister or in a qualifying religiousoccupation or vocation. In calcu-
lating the five-year maximum pe-riod of stay, USCIS has not sub-tracted time in which the R-1 reli-gious worker was traveling or re-siding outside of the United Statesfollowing his or her initial admis-sion in R-1 status.
USCIS noted that certainnonimmigrants who have spent themaximum period of stay authorizedby their nonimmigrant classifica-tion are prohibited from having anew petition in the same status filedon their behalf until they have re-mained outside of the United Statesfor a specific period of time (alsoknown as a "limitation on admis-sion" or "limitation on total stay").
Currently, USCIS policy guid-ance provides that H-1B and L-1nonimmigrants and their depen-dents may recapture time spentoutside of the United States whencalculating their maximum periodof authorized stay.
USCIS said the policy of allow-ing recapture is intended to per-mit a qualifying nonimmigrant tospend the maximum permitted pe-riod of time allowed by his or herclassification in the United Statesbefore he or she must spend aspecific period outside of theUnited States to file a new peti-tion for the same status.
USCIS said it has determinedthat extending the recapture policyto the R-1 nonimmigrant classifi-cation is "appropriate, and thatsuch a policy is consistent withR-1 statutory and regulatory lan-guage and the purpose and intentof the R-1 visa classification."
USCIS has further determinedthat the spouse or minor child of aprincipal who recaptures periods oftime spent outside the United Statestoward an extension of R-1 statusmay receive periods of R-2 stay co-extensive with that of the principal.
The USCIS memo may be aneffort to settle or moot a class ac-tion lawsuit filed earlier this yearthat challenged the agency's priorrefusal to allow R-1 religious work-ers to recapture time spent out ofthe United States. See Society ofthe Divine Word v. Napolitano(N.D. Ill. filed Jan. 3, 2012).
* Cyrus D Mehta, may be contactedat 212-425-0555 or
iffs who have called on the stateto adopt Secure Communities im-mediately. Proponents havepointed to several incidents theysay could have been preventedhad the law been in place, includ-ing the death in Milford last Au-gust of a motorcyclist who policesaid was struck and dragged by apickup truck driven by an illegalimmigrant who was drunk and didnot have a license.
The Massachusetts Republi-can Party also released an onlinevideo targeting Warren's opposi-tion to a border fence, her sup-port for in-state tuition for illegalimmigrants and her support of theDREAM Act, a proposal to offeryoung illegal immigrants paths tocitizenship through college edu-cation or military service.
Warren responded: ``I believepeople who are in the UnitedStates who do not have legal sta-tus through no fault of their own,who were brought here as chil-dren, and they want either toserve in the military or better them-selves through higher educationand help make this a more pros-perous country should be encour-aged to do that.'' -AP
USCIS explained thatthe R-1 nonimmigrantclassification is forthose seeking toenter the UnitedStates for a periodnot to exceedfive years
U.S. Sen. Scott Brownand other state Re-publicans have tar-geted Warren's posi-tions on immigrationissues in recent days.Brown is seeking re-election after winningthe seat in a 2010special election tosucceed the lateDemocratic Sen.Edward Kennedy
April 20, 2012 India Post 37www.indiapost.com
April 20, 2012India Post www.indiapost.com38
1 Chikni Chameli: Agneepath2 Hosanna: Ek Deewana Tha3 Jhoom Jhoomta Hun Main
: Players4 O Saiyyan: Agneepath5 Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu
: Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu6 Aromale: Ek Deewana Tha7 Kal Chalna Shuru Tu
: Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu8 Zara Dil Ko Thaam Lo: Don 29 Dil Yeh Bekarar Kyu Hai
: Players10 Sharminda Hoon
: Ek Deewana Tha
Now that Saif Ali Khan and his ladylove Kareena Kapoor havepostponed their wedding to 2013 (according to rumors), it isheard that Saif's younger sis Soha Ali Khan is planning a 2012
wedding.If buzz is to be believed, Soha might enter matrimonial bliss with her
longtime beau Kunal Khemu, in November. Both Kunal andSoha's families have approved the match and are keen on
taking things forward.Post Tiger Pataudi's death (Saif's father Mansoor AliKhan), it's Saif who will take up the responsibilities of
his sister's wedding.If the news is true, we will get to witness two
back-to-back weddings, very soon.
Kangana Ranaut is con-sidered one amongst B-Town's most known fash-
ion icons. Always making a state-ment, she has often been noticedto dress up in diverse andunique styles of her own. Thisfashion diva also has two tat-toos inked on her. She has fond-ness for tattoos from the timeshe was in her teens which haspersuaded her to have two ofthem inked on her body.
The first one is a cross withangels, sword, crown andwings and is engraved on thenape of her neck. The other isa more recent one, on her ankle.This one is an angel withwings. She got the new onedone recently and it is a testa-ment to Kangana's fetish forangels and wings!
"Yes, I have the second tat-too as an angel with wings. I lovethe concept of having wings, soI got this done and this angel isthe one with curly hair" she addswith a wink. Curly hair bears re-semblance to Kangana.
Meanwhile she is busy pro-moting her upcoming actionthriller 'Tezz' where she plays ladylove interest to Bollywood'sSingham and the biggest prank-ster, Ajay Devgan.
FETISHFORTATTOOS
Post the break-up, Bipasha is go-ing to do an item number in JohnAbraham's film. Yes, you have
heard it right.The exes are all set to work together
in Ekta Kapoor's film 'Shootout atWadala'. Bollywood is filled with manyexamples where the exes share a goodprofessional bond such as we have seenShahid Kapoor-Priyanka Chopra, SalmanKhan-Katrina Kaif, Ranveer Singh-Anushka Sharma and Ranbir Kapoor-Deepika Padukone working together infilms after the split.
Ekta Kapoor's film is presently onfloors and the filming is on high heels.
Kangana Ranaut plays the main leadopposite John. Bipasha has been ropedin to do one scene that leads to an itemsong. But sources claim that Bipashahas some more scenes in the film andshe is scheduled to enact face to facewith Abraham.
ITEMBIPASHA
TOP TENHINDI FILM SONGS
India Post 39April 20, 2012
www.indiapost.com
Bollywood
Sonam Kapoor, besides being a fashionista, is also a vora-cious reader. And she is keen on penning down her autobiography some day.
So what would Sonam want to include in her book? Clothes,fashion???
Well, NO.The actress said, "Clothes and style is just my personal choice.
It is not something I am obsessed with. May be romance,"Reading has always been a part in Sonam's life, right from her
childhood days. "I was being read to at a very young age by mymother. She would always read fables that had a meaning. Shewould always ask me what was the point behind the story," saidSonam.
"In the meantime, I was little annoyed with my mom… thenshe tried to make me more of a voracious reader… she would notfinish the story and I used to get anxious to know the rest of it.So, I had no choice but to read it myself. So that's how I startedreading so much," she added.
BUDDINGAUTHOR
Anushka Sharma will be joining Shahrukh Khan andKatrina Kaif in Yash Chopra's next untitled film.This will be Anushka's second film with SRK. The
actress is all kicked up about it and can't wait for the shootto begin.
'Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi' was Anushka Sharma's first flickwith SRK. "I didn't think I will get a chance to work withShah Rukh again after my first film, but I did. So, I am thelucky one. I look forward to it. Mr. Yash Chopra is aninstitution in himself. I guess I would get to learn a lotfrom that film," Anushka unveiled in India Today's womenhealth magazine.
"I have not started the shooting yet. I will be joiningthe crew from May onwards right after my birthday, whichis on May 1. So I will start shooting from May 2. I am veryexcited. I think it is any actor's dream to work with YashChopra," she added.
A recent survey declared Priyanka Chopra as the top most influen-tial Indian in social media. While Priyanka Chopra tops the list,Shashi Tharoor is second while legendary actor Amitabh
Bachchan comes in third reports Pinstorm India.The list consists of 100 people ranging from Aamir Khan to Salman
Khan to film critic Taran Adarsh and may more. What sets Priyanka apartis that she has one of the highest number of followers 2228363 on
twitter which is more than Sachin Tendulkar.However, this hasn't stopped the leggy damsel who has beenworking round the clock shooting for Krissh 3, Kunal Kohli's
Teri Meri Kahaani and giving time for her endorsementcommitments.
MOSTINFLUENTIAL
SECONDSTINT
www.indiapost.com40 India Post April 20, 2012
Health ScienceHealth LinePossible bacterialmeningitis case atNY College
WHITE PLAINS, NY: Healthofficials are investigating a pos-sible case of bacterial meningi-tis at a suburban New York col-lege after a student was hospi-talized with possible symptomsof the severe disease.
Westchester County HealthDepartment spokeswomanHeather McGill told the JournalNews that they won't be able toconfirm whether the BerkeleyCollege student has bacterialmeningitis for several days.
The college that has a campusin Westchester County issued astatement saying it was workingto identify any ``close contacts''of the person who was potentiallyinfected with the disease. -AP
3 new rabiescases in westernArkansas
HOT SPRINGS, Ark.: Newcases of rabies have GarlandCounty officials warning residentsto beware of wildlife.
According to the ArkansasState Department of Health, morethan 50 animals have tested posi-tive for rabies so far this year, just10 less than last year's total of 60cases.
KTHV-TV reports that themost recent cases were found inGarland County. Hot SpringsAnimal Services director DanBugg says his agency submittedtwo bats and a skunk for rabiestesting and the results came backpositive.
Officials found the infected ani-mals outside of Hot Springs citylimits. -AP
US, India health initiative ensuredsmooth implementation
India Post News Service
NEW YORK: The Secretary ofUS Health and Human ServicesKathleen Sebelius and Indian Am-bassador Nirupama Rao agreed tostrengthen the India-US HealthInitiative mechanism to share in-formation, identify and addresspolicy concerns, establish newtechnologies, and share interna-tional best practices.
Ambassador Rao and SecretarySebelius met April 9 at the HHSoffice to discuss and ensuresmooth implementation of issuesfor bilateral cooperation.
Extending a warm welcome toAmbassador Rao, SecretarySebelius recalled her visit to Indiain January this year, which shementioned had helped her to un-derstand the complexities of In-dian health system and its chal-lenges.
She lauded the Indian effort foreradication of Polio over the lastone year, which resulted in removalof India from the polio affected na-tions by World Health Organization(WHO). She also expressed her sat-isfaction in progress of the GlobalDisease Detection (GDD) - IndiaCenter, which has been establishedin collaboration with the US Centerfor Disease Control & Prevention(CDC).
Ambassador Rao highlightedthe importance of vibrant India-UShealth cooperation in strengthen-ing the strategic dialogue and ad-dressing the challenges of global
health such as Rotavirus vaccinedevelopment, solution for HIV/AIDS, non-communicable diseasescontainment. In order to furtherbroaden and deepen the bilateral
Ambassador Nirupama Rao with US Secretary for Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius on April 9
health cooperation and to ensurebetter health at affordable costs forthe people, she mentioned aboutemerging collaboration opportuni-ties in areas of Cancer research, spe-cifically cooperation in developmentof the Indian National Cancer Insti-tute; Low Cost Biomedical Tech-nologies and Health Informatics.Ambassador underscored the op-portunity for development of coop-eration in the field of traditionalmedicine, which has immense mar-ket potential in the US.
Study says health care law would raise deficitWASHINGTON: Reigniting a
debate about the bottom line forPresident Barack Obama's healthcare law, a leading conservativeeconomist estimates in a studythat the overhaul will add at least$340 billion to the deficit, not re-duce it.
Charles Blahous, who serves aspublic trustee overseeing Medi-care and Social Security finances,also suggested that federal ac-counting practices have obscuredthe true fiscal impact of the con-troversial legislation, the fate ofwhich is now in the hands of theSupreme Court.
Officially, the health care law isstill projected to help reduce gov-ernment red ink. The Congres-
sional Budget Office, thegovernment's non-partisan fiscalumpire, said in an estimate last yearthat repealing the law actuallywould increase deficits by $210billion from 2012-2021.
The CBO, however, has not up-dated that projection. If $210 bil-lion sounds like a big cushion, it'snot. The government has recentlybeen running annual deficits in the$1 trillion range.
The White house dismissedthe study in a statement. Presiden-tial assistant Jeanne Lambrewcalled the study ̀ `new math (that)fits the old pattern ofmischaracterizations'' about thehealth care law.
Blahous, in his 52-page analy-President Barack Obama
Details on page 42
Autism may belinked to obesityduring pregnancy
CHICAGO: Obesity duringpregnancy may increasechances for having a child withautism, provocative new re-search suggests.
Ambassador Rao highlighted the importanceof vibrant India-US health cooperation instrengthening the strategic dialogue andaddressing the challenges of global healthsuch as Rotavirus vaccine development
sis released by George MasonUniversity's Mercatus Center,said, ``Taken as a whole, the en-actment of the (health care law) hassubstantially worsened a dire fed-eral fiscal outlook.
``The (law) both increases afederal commitment to health carespending that was already unsus-tainable under prior law and wouldexacerbate projected federal defi-cits relative to prior law,'' Blahoussaid.
The law expands health in-surance coverage to more than30 million people now unin-sured, paying for it with a mix ofMedicare cuts and new taxesand fees.
Cont'd on page 43
India PostHealth Science Post 41
www.indiapost.com
April 20, 2012
Azad calls for regional coop in health
Warmth 'gives babies pain relief' during vaccination
Keeping a baby nice and warm whilegiving injections may offer betterpain relief than the techniques doc-
tors currently use.Research, published in the journal Pain,
showed warmer infants cried and grimacedless than babies given sugar pills or adummy before vaccination.
The small trial was in 47 healthy new-borns. The authors said warming was"natural, easy and performed better" thanother treatments.
Doctors try to ease the pain to babiesduring routine procedures such as bloodtests and vaccinations.
There are concerns about using drugswhile the brain is still developing so other
techniques such giving a sugar pill, suck-ling on a dummy, or breast-feeding are used.
Sugar is one of the most common treat-ments used, however, there have been con-cerns about its effectiveness.
In this trial at the University of ChicagoComer Children's Hospital, 47 healthy in-fants were split into three groups - warm-ing, sugar and suckling for their hepatitis Bvaccination.
Those in the warming group were placedunder a medical "infant warmer system"before the injection. The other babies wereeither given sugar drops or a dummy.
The babies responses to the injection -crying, grimacing and heart rate -were re-corded.
The babies who were warmed stopped cry-ing and grimacing earlier than babies in theother groups. Nearly a quarter did not cry atall whereas all the babies given sugar cried.
In all the groups the heart rate rapidly roseafter the injection and then decreased atbroadly the same speed for each treatment.
The authors concluded that: "Providingnatural warmth to newborn infants during apainful procedure decreases the crying andgrimacing that normally accompanies a pain-ful vaccination.
"We have shown that exposure to natu-ral external warmth is as effective, if notmore effective, as the analgesic and calm-ing properties of sucrose taste and pacifiersuckling."
MALE: Seeking collaboration amongSAARC countries in health care sector, In-dia has said that a strong and vibrant pub-lic health care system can cope with theenormous challenges emanating from de-mographic and epidemiological transitionin the region. "We should collaborateamongst ourselves to find our own con-crete solutions which are feasible, costeffective and suitable for our region,"Health and Family Welfare MinisterGhulam Nabi Azad said addressing the4th Health Ministers' conference at theMaldivian capital here.
The Minister added that full advantageshould be taken of the strength and vi-brancy of SAARC in addressing the com-mon health problems of the region. ThePresident of Maldives Mohammed Waheedinaugurated the Health Ministers' Confer-ence. Taking note of the large burden ofcommunicable diseases and unacceptablyhigh levels of maternal and child mortalityparticularly India and Pakistan, Azad statedthat adopting a comprehensive strategy forDiseases Surveillance for Prevention andControl of Communicable Diseases is theneed of the hour. It is of paramount impor-
tance to develop and put in place a com-prehensive strategy for surveillance, earlydetection and response to such diseasesand infections, he emphasized.
Among the strategies discussed duringthe Health Ministers' Conference includecapacity-building, effective response, labo-ratory support, information sharing, crossborder collaboration, monitoring and re-search. Azad suggested that Health Minis-ters of the region meet more often to delib-erate upon a selected theme or subject ofcommon interest and agree on an actionplan. -PTI
Up to 80 percent of women willstruggle with premenstrual syn-drome and its uncomfortable symp-
toms, report Yale researchers. The reason:Their nervous systems are sensitive to theups and downs in estrogen and progester-one that occur naturally every month. Butsnacking on 2 cups of yogurt a day canslash these symptoms by 48 percent, sayresearchers at New York 's Columbia Uni-versity. "Yogurt is rich in calcium, a mineralthat naturally calms the nervous system,preventing painful symptoms even whenhormones are in flux," explains Mary JaneMinkin, M.D., a professor of gynecologyat Yale University.
Prevent PMSwith yogurt
TIP OF THE WEEK
India Post Health Science Post42
www.indiapost.com
April 20, 2012
Autism may be linked to obesity during pregnancyCHICAGO: Obesity during
pregnancy may increase chancesfor having a child with autism,provocative new research sug-gests.
It's among the first studies link-ing the two, and though it doesn'tprove obesity causes autism, theauthors say their results raise publichealth concerns because of the highlevel of obesity in this country.
Study women who were obeseduring pregnancy were about 67percent more likely than normal-weight women to have autisticchildren. They also faced doublethe risk of having children withother developmental delays.
On average, women face a 1 in88 chance of having a child withautism; the results suggest thatobesity during pregnancy wouldincrease that to a 1 in 53 chance,the authors said.
The study was released onlinein Pediatrics.
Since more than one-third ofU.S. women of child-bearing ageare obese, the results are poten-tially worrisome and add yet an-
other incentive for maintaining anormal weight, said researcherPaula Krakowiak, a study co-au-thor and scientist at the Univer-sity of California, Davis.
Previous research has linked
obesity during pregnancy withstillbirths, preterm births andsome birth defects.
Dr. Daniel Coury, chief of devel-opmental and behavioral pediatricsat Nationwide Children's Hospital
in Columbus, Ohio, said the results``raise quite a concern.''
He noted that U.S. autism rateshave increased along with obesityrates and said the research sug-gests that may be more than a
coincidence.More research is needed to
confirm the results. But if moth-ers' obesity is truly related to au-tism, it would be only one of manycontributing factors, said Coury,who was not involved in thestudy.
Genetics has been linked toautism, and scientists are examin-ing whether mothers' illnesses anduse of certain medicines duringpregnancy might also play a role.
The study involved about1,000 California children, ages 2to 5. Nearly 700 had autism orother developmental delays, and315 did not have those problems.
Mothers were asked about theirhealth. Medical records wereavailable for more than half thewomen and confirmed their con-ditions. It's not clear how moth-ers' obesity might affect fetal de-
velopment, but the authors offersome theories.
Obesity, generally about 35pounds overweight, is linked withinflammation and sometimes el-evated levels of blood sugar. Ex-cess blood sugar and inflamma-tion-related substances in amother's blood may reach the fe-tus and damage the developingbrain, Krakowiak said.
The study lacks information onblood tests during pregnancy.There's also no information onwomen's diets and other habitsduring pregnancy that might haveinfluenced fetal development.
There were no racial, ethnic,education or health insurance dif-ferences among mothers of autis-tic kids and those with unaffectedchildren that might have influ-enced the results, the researcherssaid. -AP
Mo. Senate panel backschanges to blind benefits
Spartanburg teen wins meet7 months after surgery
SPARTANBURG, SC: JaquanJackson's outlook on life changeddramatically last summer.
He doesn't take things forgranted any more. He listens moreintently to his mother. And, bothmentally and physically, he'sstronger than ever.
Earlier this year, theSpartanburg High School juniorfound out just how strong he'sbecome. He won the Region III-4A strength meet - just sevenmonths after heart surgery.
``I thought he was done whenI heard heart surgery,' ' saidSpartanburg High strength andconditioning coach Jimmy Ander-son. ``He kept saying that he wasgoing to be back. He's got someheart because he hasn't batted aneye, backed down or whimpered.''
Jackson had just wrapped up amorning football practice on June28 when he decided to go see hisfather at work. Jackson, 16, rodehis father's motorcycle downHighway 29 to drop it off at anearby gas station where heworked.
As Jackson was attempting tomake a turn in front of a BurgerKing location when a van pulledout in front of him.
``I didn't realize it couldn't turnthere until it was too late becausethere was an island blocking it,''Jackson said. ̀ `When I got (withina foot) of it, I blacked out.''
Jackson said upon impact hewas thrown 20 feet over the vanand landed on the pavement. Hesuffered a ``badly bruised chestand hip'' and ``road rash every-
where.''He said he has no recollection
of what happened.``I woke up in an ambulance
and was hurting and didn't wantto believe it,'' he said. ̀ `I had tearsin my eyes, and they were tellingme to just be still and try to relax.I can remember just wanting to goback to sleep after that.''
Jackson was transported toSpartanburg Regional MedicalCenter, where he spent five daysin the intensive care unit. He spenta total of nine days in the hospital
and did not attempt to walk untilsix days after the wreck.
``I was traumatized and gainedabout 20 pounds in the hospital,''Jackson said. ̀ `The Fourth of Julywas the first time I got up out ofthe bed. I looked out the windowat the fireworks. After that, I triedto move around as much as Icould.''
Jackson said a few days afterthe holiday that an
echocardiogram was performedon his heart. He was subse-quently released, but his stay athome did not last long.
``The doctor tried to get me tocome back for another(echocardiogram),'' Jackson said.``He said he wanted to run anotherafter looking at the first one. Itshowed that a right valve was tornin my heart due to the impact ofthe accident and that I neededheart surgery. The first Wednes-day in September, I went to (theMedical University of South Caro-lina) in Charleston and had thesurgery. After three days there, Icame back home.''
Jackson said his doctor toldhim to initially get as much rest aspossible. After an amount of timewent by, he was allowed to begindoing five push-ups at a time tobegin getting back into shape. Atthe end of October and into No-vember, he began getting back inthe weight room at school on alight schedule. In November andDecember, Jackson said he wasfully recovered and back on aregular schedule with his team-mates.
Jackson then began prepara-tions for the Region III-4Astrength meet, which took placelast month. The previous strengthmeets that he participated in re-sulted in third- and second-placefinishes, respectively. This year,however, was different.
After participating in fourevents, Jackson totaled enoughpoints to win the 170-poundweight class. -AP
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.: BlindMissouri residents could have tostart paying premiums of morethan $100 monthly to remain eli-gible for state health care cover-age, under a budget-cutting planput forth by a Senate committee.
The plan embraced by the Sen-ate Appropriations Committeecould represent a middle groundwith the House, which had soughtto eliminate the blind health carebenefits and replace them with anew, substantially slimmed downprogram. But the new plan doesnot appear to be backed by theadministration of Gov. Jay Nixon,who has been outspoken againstany cuts to blind benefits.
For more than 50 years, Mis-souri has paid for the health careof blind residents who earn toomuch to qualify for the Medicaidhealth care program for low-in-come residents - a cutoff of about$755 a month, according to theDepartment of Social Services.The state also provides a sepa-rate, roughly $700 payment to theblind. More than 2,800 blind resi-dents currently are covered by thespecial health care program.
The Republican-led Housevoted last month to eliminate theroughly $30 million blind health careprogram, arguing that the moneywas needed to help balance thebudget and noting that no compa-rable benefit was available to peoplewith other types of disabilities. TheHouse instead voted to fund a new$6 million blind health care plan,funded largely by a tax increase onnewspaper publishers.
Nixon, a Democrat, called the
House budget cut ``dead wrong.''The Senate Appropriations
Committee scrapped the Houseplan, deciding that it seemed un-likely that the newspaper tax in-crease could pass. Instead, theSenate version would provideabout $18 million for the blindhealth care benefits while assum-ing that nearly $10 million of addi-tional funding could be generatedby charging deductibles, premi-
ums and insurance co-payments.Senate appropriations staff said
the estimate was based on a $600deductible and a monthly premiumof $111 the same amounts currentlypaid by many state employees forhealth, vision and dental coverage.
The plan was put forth by Sen-ate Appropriations CommitteeChairman Kurt Schaefer, R-Colum-bia, who said it was his understand-ing that some blind people cur-rently receiving the state-fundedhealth care plan could be eligiblefor Medicaid, which receives morethan 60 percent of its funding fromthe federal government. -AP
Obesity, generally about 35 pounds over-weight, is linked with inflammation andsometimes elevated levels of blood sugar.Excess blood sugar and inflammation-re-lated substances in a mother's blood mayreach the fetus and damage the developingbrain, Krakowiak said
Jackson said hisdoctor told him toinitially get as muchrest as possible. Afteran amount of timewent by, he wasallowed to begindoing five push-upsat a time to begingetting back intoshape
Senate appropria-tions staff said theestimate was basedon a $600 deduct-ible and a monthlypremium of $111 thesame amounts cur-rently paid by manystate employees
India PostHealth Science Post 43
www.indiapost.com
April 20, 2012
UNC health changes narrowly OK'd by House panelRALEIGH, NC: A divided legislative
committee has recommended placing moreoversight and restrictions on the Univer-sity of North Carolina Health Care Systemafter legislators and a privately-held rivalhospital questioned a series of expansionsby the state-owned hospital chain.
The proposal approved by a House studypanel would prevent the public system fromusing available funds to enlarge the geo-graphic area where it does business withoutthe approval of the full General Assembly.The panel also voted to back legislation toscale back the size and inherent power ofthe health care system's board of directorsand shift more control to the University ofNorth Carolina Board of Governors.
Rep. Harold Brubaker, R-Randolph, saidit was reasonable to consider whether thesystem's current governance structure wasappropriate. He chairs the committee thatbegan meeting last fall to study whether itmade sense to sell state-owned assets.Brubaker said the panel voted 8-7 in favorof the legislation, which also directs UNCHealth Care System to operate ``withoutunduly competing'' with health care sys-tems not owned by the state.
A handful of House members didn't feelcomfortable supporting the bill and a pow-erful state senator made clear the bill in itscurrent form was dead on arrival should itpass the full House when the Legislaturereconvenes next month.
``I am concerned that additional govern-
ment intrusion into the state health caremarket will create even more uncertainty,making it more difficult for health care pro-viders to treat patients, search for cures,and train doctors,'' Senate Rules Commit-tee Chairman Tom Apodaca, R-Henderson,said in a news release.
The chief of staff to UNC Health CareSystem chief executive Dr. Bill Roper saidafter the meeting the system would vigor-ously fight the bill, which he said would
``gut our system.'' Kevin FitzGerald said theflexibility the UNC Health Care System re-ceived in 1998 from the Legislature to ex-pand and be more fiscally nimble would begone if the bill became law.
``UNC is a health care system that is work-ing and it's working well,'' FitzGerald said.``We have demonstrated tremendous healthcare to citizens across the state ... this isgoing to limit our ability to do basic busi-ness as hospitals. It's going to add unnec-essary layers of bureaucracy to the system.''
The panel was created by House Republi-can leaders after WakeMed Health & Hospi-tals made a $750 million cash bid for Raleigh
rival Rex Healthcare, which was acquired byUNC Health Care a dozen years ago. UNCHealth Care rejected the unsolicited bid lastAugust. WakeMed has complained UNCHealth Care has an unfair financial advan-tage by being an arm of state government.
UNC Health Care also operates UNCHospitals in Chapel Hill - the UNC medicalschool's primary teaching hospital - but
it's also expanded its reach into other com-munities by owning Chatham Hospital inSiler City and managing Pardee Hospitalin Hendersonville, where Apodaca lives.He said in an interview he's been thrilledwith the operating agreement Pardeereached with UNC.
``I haven't seen any signs of abuse,''Apodaca said.
The bill would limit the health caresystem's board of directors to no more than12. There can be as many as 29 membersunder the current rules. The number of ex-officio members would be reduced and in-clude the state treasurer. The 32-member
UNC Board of Governors, the policy-mak-ing body for the university's system 17university campuses, would have the op-tion to keep or delegate power now held bythe health care board.
Rep. Tim Moffitt, R-Buncombe, who pro-moted cutting the board's membership, saidthe more board members, ̀ `the less flexiblethey are, the more balkanized they are (and)the more cumbersome they are.''
The health care system also would berequired to provide ̀ `a proportional share''of indigent care to patients compared toother hospitals in the counties where it pro-vides medical services. FitzGerald said thelegislation could actually lead to less un-compensated care.
UNC Hospitals is receiving $18 millionfrom the state this fiscal year.
The House debate didn't fall upon partylines, as both Republicans and Democratsraised questions about moving forward ona bill they said they barely had time to read.
Rep. Marilyn Avila, R-Wake, said that al-though she wanted to vote on the measurelater, she was concerned about whether theUNC Health Care System should be directlycompeting with private entities.
``I don't know if the state needs to be inthe statewide health care business,'' Avilasaid. ̀ `We're looking at competition in areaswhere there are existing facilities.'' The votehappened after the committee rejected a re-quest by Rep. Bill Owens, D-Pasqoutank, totable a motion recommending the bill. -AP
'UNC is a health care system that is working and it'sworking well,'' FitzGerald said. ̀ `We have demonstratedtremendous health care to citizens across the state ...this is going to limit our ability to do basic businessas hospitals"
Study says health carelaw would raise deficit
Blahous cited a number of factors forhis conclusion:
* The health care's law deficit cushionhas been reduced by more than $80 bil-lion because of the administration's deci-sion not to move forward with a new long-term care insurance program that was partof the legislation. The Community LivingAssistance Services and Supports pro-gram raised money in the short turn, butwould have turned into a fiscal drain overthe years.
* The cost of health insurance subsi-dies for millions of low-income and middle-class uninsured people could turn out tobe higher than forecast, particularly if em-ployers scale back their own coverage.
* Various cost control measures, in-cluding a tax on high-end insurance plansthat doesn't kick in until 2018, could de-liver less than expected.
The decision to use Medicare cuts tofinance the expansion of coverage for theuninsured will only make matters worse,Blahous said. The money from the Medi-care savings will have been spent, andlawmakers will have to find additional cutsor revenues to forestall that program's in-solvency.
Under federal accounting rules, theMedicare cuts are also credited as sav-
ings to that program's trust fund. But theCBO and Medicare's own economic esti-mators already said the government can'tspend the same money twice.
Blahous served in the George W. Bush
White House from 2001-2009, rising todeputy director of the National EconomicCouncil. He currently is a senior researchfellow at the Mercatus Center.
His study was first reported by TheWashington Post. -AP
Officially, the health carelaw is still projected to helpreduce government redink. The CongressionalBudget Office, thegovernment's non-partisanfiscal umpire, said in anestimate last year that re-pealing the law actuallywould increase deficits by$210 billion from2012-2021
Cont'd from page 40
India Post April 20, 2012www.indiapost.com
Real Estate44
Realty Tidbits
Yamuna Expressway to becomeoperational this month
Yamuna Expressway, therapid transit corridor be-tween Delhi and Agra, will
be operational soon, as the newgovernment in Uttar Pradesh hasshown it the green flag. It wasoriginally scheduled to be opera-tional by December 2011.
Once Yamuna Expressway isopen, the drive from Greater Noidato Agra will take just 90 minutes. Oneof the key infrastructure projects ofMayawati government in the pub-lic-private partnership, the YamunaExpressway, besides connectingDelhi to Agra through Noida-GreaterNoida Expressway, will touch 1,182villages of Gautam Budh Nagar,Bulandshahar, Aligarh, Hathras(Mahamaya Nagar) and Mathuradistrict. The 165kmlong Yamuna Ex-pressway is one of the longest ac-cess-controlled six-lane rigid pave-ments in India.
The expressway can be ex-tended to 8 lanes in future andwould provide direct access to theforthcoming Yamuna EconomicZone and the international airportand aviation hub at Jewar, whichare slated to be constructed alongthe Yamuna Expressway.
The expressway will also easetraffic on Delhi-Agra NH-2, whichis already congested and runs
through the heart of cities likeFaridabad, Ballabgarh and Palwalin Haryana. It will reduce the traveltime between two cities, New Delhiand Agra. Both these places havean enormous potential to gener-ate traffic and economic develop-ment.
The world-famous heritagemonument, Taj Mahal, will be amere 100 minutes from the pro-posed Yamuna International Air-
port near Jewar through this ex-pressway. The expressway willprovide a safe and an uninter-rupted movement of passengerand freight traffic between the na-tional capital Delhi and Agra. Oncethe expressway is opened for traf-fic, it is expected to boost thesocio-economic development ofdistricts like Gautam Budh Nagar,Aligarh, Mathura and Agra alongthe expressway.
Agra is already well connectedto Kolkata, Mumbai, and Jaipur,
etc, by a network of national high-ways. This, along with the express-way, will provide high-level con-nectivity to all these destinationsfrom Delhi, especially when theproposed ring road around Agratown comes into being.
To promote residential andcommercial developments alongthe Yamuna Expressway, five landparcels (500 hectares each) havebeen given to the JP Group in the
jurisdiction of Gautam BudhNagar, Aligarh, Mathura and Agra.JP will use these land parcels fortownship projects.
Rama Raman, former CEO ofYamuna Industrial DevelopmentAuthority, said: "The developingurban conglomerates at Noida andGreater Noida, which are in closeproximity to the NCT of Delhi, arein need of an uninterrupted directroute to Agra.
"This will boost the economicdevelopment of Uttar Pradesh.
The Yamuna Expressway providesthis opportunity. Opening ofYamuna Expressway will bring ina lot of benefits to the people interms of good connectivity andfaster transit, and give a leg up totourism."
With the expressway alignedwith the proposed Taj EconomicZone and the Taj International HubAirport, and all these within easyreach of Delhi, Noida and GreaterNoida, the Yamuna Expresswayproject will accelerate the overalldevelopment of the region.
The Yamuna Expressway liesbetween the high density vital traf-fic corridors of the national high-way connecting Delhi and Agraand the old Sher Shah Suri Road(NH-91) connecting Kanpur-Aligarh-Khurja-Bulandshahar-Ghaziabad and Delhi. The express-way has a great potential of at-tracting traffic from all theseroutes."
The Yamuna Expressway alongwith the existing NH-2 and NH-91and interconnectivity between allthree of them will form a good net-work of roads which, in turn,would open up a vast area to all-round development in places likethe urban conglomerates in Noidaand Greater Noida.
CREDAI writes to PM seeking reformsNEW DELHI: The realty body
CREDAI has written a letter to PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh listingout concerns of the industry suchas delay in project sanctions, liquid-ity crunch and high input cost andhas sought various reforms toboost growth in the sector.
The Confederation of Real Es-tate Developers' Associations ofIndia (CREDAI) has submitted aletter to the Prime Minister detail-ing the roadblocks, the solutionsand the way forward for the growthof the housing industry, the asso-ciation said in a statement.
The letter pointed out that is-sue like delay in approvals of re-alty projects that escalates hous-ing costs substantially and com-pulsory reservation of 20 per centland/floor-area ratio (FAR) for eco-nomically weaker sections and
lower income group in every pri-vate sector development project.
It has also brought to notice thenarrow approach of Real EstateRegulatory bill and artificial esca-
lation of cement prices.Through the letter, CREDAI has
suggested reforms that can bringlasting solutions to the real estatesector.
CREDAI has pitched for e-
based standardized single windowapproval process, removal of FARand bringing land reform mea-sures, rationalization of taxes,clearing of restrictive banking pro-visions along with grant of infra-structure status to realty sector toboost growth.
"This representation to thePrime Minister is an effort by thedeveloper community to bringforth the impediments and theroadblocks in front of the es-teemed leader of the country,"CREDAI President Lalit KumarJain said, adding that letter alsocontain suggestions.
Jain said that CREDAI wouldfollow up with the Prime Minister'sOffice (PMO) to intervene.
"...In case of failure, we will goon one day strike and then indefi-nite strike," he added. -PTI
Lemon Tree plans to open100 hotels by 2020
NEW DELHI: Hospitality chainLemon Tree Hotels has said itplans to open 100 hotels in Indiaby 2020, with a total room capac-ity of 10,000.
The company that currentlyowns and manages 18 hotels un-der Lemon Tree Premier, LemonTree and Red Fox brands also saidit has put on hold plans to forayinto real estate in partnership withUS-based investment firmWarburg Pincus.
"By 2020 we plan to open 100hotels in India with an inventoryof around 10,000 rooms," LemonTree Hotels Chairman and Man-aging Director Patu Keswani toldPTI on the sidelines of the HeroMindmine Summit 2012.
This year the company is open-ing two more hotels, he said with-out sharing details on the invest-ment that would be required forthe expansion.
Keswani, however, said thecompany plans to raise moneyfrom financial institutions or mayeven go public in the next two-three years.
"In the next 2-3 years, we mightlook at public listing," Keswanisaid.
At present, the company's to-tal room capacity is around 2,000.
On the company's proposedreal estate foray, he said: "We haveput that housing project in coldstorage. It is not the good time tostart a project like that." -PTI
Foundation laid forfinancial city nearBangalore
BANGALORE: Finance Minis-ter Pranab Mukherjee laid thefoundation stone for the country'sfirst financial city, being built bythe state-run IFCI InfrastructureDevelopment Ltd (IIDL) at theHardware Park near the interna-tional airport at Bagalur, about 30km from Bangalore.
"We are developing India's firstfinancial city as a premium urbaninfrastructure in association withleading banks and institutions on50 acres of land, provided by theKarnataka government," IFCIchief executive and IIDL chairmanAtul Kumar Rai said on the occa-sion.
The ambitious project is sched-uled to be completed in threeyears.
Ecnon to investon three projectsin NCR
NEW DELHI: Real estate com-pany Ecnon says it will invest Rs350 crore to develop three projectsin national capital region over thenext 3-4 years.
"We will invest Rs 350 crore todevelop three projects. Out of these,a group housing and an officeproject will be developed in Noida,while another office complex will bebuilt in South Delhi," Ecnon CEOKushal Dev Rathi told PTI here.
The company will construct850 housing units in the residen-tial complex, proposed to be builtin Noida, he added.
Rathi said the company is intalks with Noida Authorities toacquire land for the said twoprojects in the area.-PTI
OTS for members of HaryanaCooperative Housing
CHANDIGARH: Haryana Cooperation MinisterSatpal Sangwan has announced One Time SettlementScheme (OTS) for the loanee members of the HaryanaState Cooperative Housing Federation Limited.
While stating this, a spokesman of the federationsaid that as per the scheme, the loan amount of theloanee members would be calculated as on November 1,2011.-PTI
The expressway can be extended to 8 lanesin future and would provide direct access tothe forthcoming Yamuna Economic Zoneand the international airport and aviation hub
Jain said that CREDAIwould follow up withthe Prime Minister'sOffice (PMO) to inter-vene. "...In case offailure, we will go onone day strike”
45India PostReal Estate PostApril 20, 2012
www.indiapost.com
Master Plan of Delhi to offer options to homebuyersThe Master Plan of Delhi 2021 has
been in force since 2007. Once thisis reimplemented with the new land
development policy, Delhi will also offeroptions to thousands of homebuyers. Thecapital city has still 27,628.9 hectares of landto fulfill the dreams of thousand ofhomebuyers.
According to the projections in the mas-ter plan, nearly 24 lakh residential units arerequired for an estimated 23 million peopleby 2021.
According to the master plan, Delhi willbe slum-free in the next 10 years by provid-
ing rehabilitation packages (built-up houseswith all civic facilities) to slum dwellers. Forthis DDA has identified 23 sites (slum ar-eas) for rehabilitation.
The master plan of Delhi includes chap-ters like regional and sub-regional frame,population and employment, Delhi urbanarea 2021, social and physical infrastructure,mixed land-use regulations, developmentcode and plan review and monitoring.
The master plan 2021 has allocated 277sq km for future urbanization by 2021. Inthe last fifty years, DDA has acquired75,609.84 hectares and developed it for resi-dential, recreational, commercial and insti-tutional purposes. Now, with better and
holistic planning, DDA intends to set newrecords and provide more amenities topeople.
Ram Gopal Gupta, a policy maker and cityplanner, says: "In the last 40 years, DDAconstructed only 3.5 lakh flats. However,these did not suffice even for 1% of Delhi'spopulation. Due to lack of housing facili-ties in Delhi, 10 lakh people are dependenton nearby sates and metro cities in the NCRbelt. According to records, DDA was con-structing 10,000 flats every year 15 yearsago, while in the last 10 years it managed tobuild 54,000 flats.
Today, DDA is not in a position to con-struct even 5,000 flats a year. The dramaticgrowth in Delhi's population has led to con-gestions and shortages of civic amenities.One of the main causes for this spurt inpopulation is the migration of people intothe city from Bihar, UP, Punjab, J&K, WestBengal, Orissa, etc."
Today, the NCR cities are best suited totake the burden of housing from the nationalcapital. The NCR has a total area of 33,578sq km and includes parts of three states,Haryana, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh,with Delhi as a full state.
The NCR is also characterized by thepresence of ecologically sensitive areas like
the extension of the Aravali ridge, forests,wild life and bird sanctuaries; the river sys-tems of Yamuna and Hindon, and is a dy-namic rural urban admixture.
In recent times, there has been a tremen-dous growth of Delhi and the NCR in termsof infrastructural developments and with theadvent of major realty players like DLF,Ansal API, Ansal Housing, Unitech, BPTP,Amrapali, Supertech, Gaursons, Assotech,Parsvnath, Ashiana, TDI, Anantraj Group,Omaxe, JP, Antriksh, etc, the areas have beenmuch in news.
Areas like Gurgaon, Noida, Greater Noida,Manesar, Faridabad, East Delhi Extension,etc, have been the areas fulfilling the hous-
DB Realty seeks vacation of attachmentNEW DELHI: Real estate firm
DB Realty, embroiled in the 2Gspectrum allocation case, hasmoved the Delhi High Court forvacation of a Rs 223 crore attach-ment order of the Enforcement Di-rectorate against it under moneylaundering laws.
The Delhi HC has now issued anotice to the ED on the Writ peti-tion filed by the firm and their as-sociates.
The agency had attached immov-able properties and bank accountsof the firm in January this year underthe stringent provisions of the Pre-vention of Money Laundering Act(PMLA) in connection with its probeinto the alleged bribe of Rs 200 crorespaid to Kalaignar TV.
The ED, according to sources,is now considering legal opinionon the issue. A Writ Petition hasbeen filed in the Delhi High Courtby Dynamix Realty and others pray-ing that orders be issued directingthe Enforcement Directorate to ac-cept and issue acknowledgementfor FDRs issued in favor of ReserveBank of India by them for Rs 223crores against their properties in the2G case, a spokesperson for DBRealty told PTI.
It also pleaded that the proper-
ties which are subject to the at-tachment order dated January 10,2012 be released, the spokesper-son added.
"The firms have asked for thisrelief on their accounts and prop-erties so that they can operate
these assets and carry on theirbusinesses," a source privy to thedevelopment said.
The value of properties at-tached of these companies areDynamix Realty (Rs 134 crore),Conwood Construction and De-velopers (Rs 22 crore), Nihar Con-
structions (Rs 1.10 crore), DB Re-alty (Rs 52 crore) and EversmileConstruction Company (Rs 13crore).
Sources said there has beenone precedent in the recent pastwhere the ED has taken off its at-tachment orders allowing a similarplea in a case related to Kidneyscam kingpin Amit Kumar.
The agency had made the CBIcharge sheets in this regard as thebasis for their order.
"As per the charge sheets ofCBI, a bribe of Rs 200 crore wasgiven by Swan Telecom Pvt. Ltd.(now M/s Etisalat DB Telecom Pvt.Ltd.) to Kalaignar TV through anumber of intermediary compa-nies in the garb of loan or shareapplication money.
"However, the same was re-turned to Dynamix Realty (a com-pany of Shahid Usman Balwa andVinod Goenka)," the ED had ear-lier said in its order.
"The details of the charge sheetsshow disclosures made by the in-termediary companies in the move-ment of the bribe money under thegarb of loan or share applicationmoney do not substantiate genu-ine and bonafide financial transac-tions," the order had said. -PTI
ing needs of millions of people who live inand around Delhi. With the pressure of in-creasing population, unavailability of land,and lowering of water table, etc, developersare migrating to new places in the NCR toraise residential and commercial projects.
A novel project proposed by DDA, the"in situ" rehabilitation scheme, moves awayfrom the agency's previous model of shift-ing slum dwellers to the city's fringes aspart of rehabilitation package. For this, DDAhas identified 23 sites (slum areas). Con-sultants have already been appointed for13 sites. The Kathputli colony near ShadipurDepot of North Delhi has been taken up infirst phase.
"As per the chargesheets of CBI, a bribeof Rs 200 crore wasgiven by SwanTelecom Pvt. Ltd.(now M/s Etisalat DBTelecom Pvt. Ltd.) toKalaignar TV througha number of interme-diary companies inthe garb of loan orshare applicationmoney
“Today, DDA is not in a position to construct even 5,000flats a year. The dramatic growth in Delhi's populationhas led to congestions and shortages of civic amenities.One of the main causes for this spurt in population is themigration of people into the city from Bihar, UP, Punjab,J&K, West Bengal, Orissa, etc"
April 20, 2012India Post46
www.indiapost.com
DatebookNEW YORK
UpcomingILLINOIS
UpcomingNORTHERN CALIFORNIA
U p c o m i n g
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIAU p c o m i n g
Fri April 20• Tadasana FestivalVenue: The Tadasana Village 2600 Barnard Way,Santa Monica, CATime: 8amContact: 415-533-4052
Sat April 28• Javed Ali in ConcertVenue: Palace Theater, 61 Atlantic St. Stam-ford, CT 06901Time: 8pmContact: 203-325-4466
Sat April 28
• Kailash Kher Live in ConcertVenue: Chabot College performing Art Cen-ter, 25555 Hesperian Blvd., Hayward, CAContact: 510-453-1521Highlights: Winner to winn Greet and Din-ner with Kailash Kher
Sat May 5
• Vaisakhi 2012 CelebrationVenue: Birminghuam Charter High School,17000, Haynes Street, Van Nuys, CATime: 3pmContact: 818-835-3374
Sun June 10
• Songs & Dances from Vibrant
GujaratVenue: Palace Theater, StamfordTime: 8pmContact: 203-322-9862Highlights: Gujarat, the Land the Legends:Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel,Vikram Sarabhai, Jamshedji Tata and visionaryDhirubhi Ambani go down in history.But, Gujarat also stands for its literary traditionin the form of folk songs, narratives and theater.
Thurs Sept 27
• Ballet Folklorico De MexicoVenue: Palace Theater, 61 Atlantic St. Stam-ford, CT 06901Time: 8pmContact: 203-325-4466
Sun April 21• India Fair 2012Venue: NJ Convention & Expo Center, 97Sunfield Ave, Raritan Center, Edison, NJTime: 11amContact: 609-240-2350
Fri April 27• Maharaniís NightVenue: Fire n Ice Restaurant Lounge, 583 FordAve, Fords, NJ 08863Time: 7pmContact: 347-724-5202
Sat April 28• Vishu Festival 2012Venue: Crossroads North Middle School Au-ditorium, 635 Georges Road, MonmouthJuction New JerseyTime: 3pmContact: 732-333-3952
Sun April 22• Vedika Sangha: Open Partici-
pation Ayurveda ForumVenue: Vedika Global, Inc. 5950 Doyle St, Stu-dio 2, Emeryville, CA 94608Time: 2pm to 5pmContact: 877-708-3342
Sat April 21ï Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan Live
In ConcertVenue: SJSU Event Center, 290 South 7thStreet, San Jose, CA95192Time: 8pmContact: 209-604-2543
Sat April 28ï Kailash Kher KailasaVenue: Chabot College Performing Arts Cen-ter, 25555 Hesperian Blvd, Hayward,CA94545Time: 8pmContact: 510-509-1990
Mon May 14ï Amjad Sabriís Qawwali Pro-
gram
Venue: India Community Center, ICC, 525 LosCoches St. Milpitas, CATime: 9pmContact: 510-754-0129
Sat July 14ï Summer Picnic
Venue: Lake Elizabeth Park, 4000 Paseo Pa-dre Pkwy, Fremont, CATime: 10amContact: 510-713-2686
Annual Taste for life GalaVenue: River East Art Center, 435 E. IllinoisStreet, Chicago, ILTime: 6pm to 10pmContact: 773-334-0173 X 226Highlights: A Live Chooking challenge withthree Chicago Chefs: Hiran Patel, MartinCabrera and Suzy Singh.
Fri April 27• Pankaj Udhas A Live Ghazal
ConcertVenue: The Meadows Club, 2950,W.Golf Road,Rolling Meadows, IL 60008Time: 8:30pmContact: 815-404-3473
Sat April 28• Vaisakhi 2012Venue: TAFT High School, 6530 West BrynMawr Avenue, Chicago, IlTime: 7pmContact: 224-388-9393
WASHINGTON DC
Upcoming
Sat April 21• Yamandu Costa, Classical GuitaristVenue: 8000 York Road, Towson MD, Balti-more, WDCTime: 8pmContact: 443-296-2247
You Insure all your Valuables, all are replaceable except YOU! So Insure yourself FIRST. Call Sahanis, (Arish, Priya or Shiv) for your Insurance needs 718- 271- 0453. Serving for last 35 yrs
Philosophy
NISARGADATTA MAHARAJ
Questioner: Maharaj, youare sitting in front of meand I am here at your feet.
What is the basic difference be-tween us?
Maharaj: There is no basic dif-ference.
Q: Still there must be somereal difference, I come to you, youdo not come to me.
M: Because you imagine dif-ferences, you go here and therein search of superior people.
Q: You too are a superior per-son. You claim to know the real,while I do not.
M: Did I ever tell you that youdo not know and, therefore, youare inferior? Let those who in-vented such distinctions provethem. I do not claim to know whatyou do not. In fact, I know muchless than you do.
Q: Your words are wise, yourbehavior noble, your grace all-powerful.
M: I know nothing about it alland see no difference betweenyou and me. My life is a succes-sion of events, just like yours.Only I am detached and see thepassing show as a passing show,while you stick to things andmove along with them.
Q: What made you so dispas-sionate?
M: Nothing in particular. It sohappened that I trusted my Guru.
SWAMI RAMDAS
A schoolmaster came for adiscussion. He belongedto the Arya Samaj started
by that great Saint, SwamiDayananda Saraswati. Thisfriend, in the course of a talk, be-came very hot and excited. Thepoint was about the Shuddhimovement set on foot by SwamiShraddhanandji.
Ramdas was clearly opposed tothis movement as he is, in fact, op-posed to every effort on the partof anybody to create differencesin religious faiths. That all faithslead to the same goal is a mostbeautiful and convincing truth.
At the close of the discussion,the friend exceeded the limits ofdecent talk. However, Ramdaswas cool and collected by thegrace of Ram.
At parting, he assured thefriend that he loved him mostdearly in spite of any objection-able words used by him. Next day,about the same time, this friendcame again in a great hurry. Hecould scarcely talk. He could onlywhisper; his throat was choked up.
His condition was pitiable. "OMaharaj," he exclaimed falling atthe feet of Ramdas: "God has pun-ished your slave for having used
rough words to you yesterday.See how my throat is choked andI can't speak out properly".
"O friend, Ramdas is really sorryto hear this, but be assured of this- God never punishes. God is loveand is always kind. Our owndoubts are our enemies and cre-ate a lot of mischief. The so-calledevil is of our own making."
At once, pulling out Ramdas'right hand, the friend rubbed thepalm on his throat and, strange tosay, his throat cleared and he be-gan to talk more clearly and in afew minutes he was all right!
"Behold! Maharaj, how power-ful you are!" he cried exultantly."You make a mistake, dear friend,"replied Ramdas. "Ramdas is a poorslave of Ram, possessing no pow-ers at all. Your faith alone hascured you and nothing else."
From this time onwards thefriend became very much at-tached to him and was very kind.O Ram, Thy ways are so wonder-ful that Ramdas gets utterly be-wildered at times.
The friends at Jhansi, whom hemet daily in that city, were all verycharitable in disposition - espe-cially were they kind and hospi-
table to Sadhus. When he was living with
Mahadev Prasad, he found thisfriend a pattern of charity andhumility. Mahadev would neversend away a hungry man from hisdoor without feeding him. Hewould forego his own meal to sat-isfy a hungry man.
His heart was so soft and so ten-der. Mahadev's humility was exem-plary. Ram certainly gave Ramdasthe society of this friend so that he
might know what true charity andhumility meant in actual practice.
Ramkinker - the young friendwho accompanied him on hispilgrimage to the Himalayas -made it a rule to utilize about 10per cent of his salary for char-ity. This is really a beautiful hintfor all. While speaking of char-ity, the ideal of charity followed
by the householder of northernIndia is indeed very noble andlofty, the ideal of the ancients,viz. that the householder has noright to exist as such if he doesnot share his food everydaywith a hungry man of no means,such as a beggar or a Sadhu.
Excerpted from In Quest ofGod.
The 128th birth anniversaryof Swami Ramdas was ob-served on April 10
He told me I am nothing but myself and I believed him. Trustinghim, I behaved accordingly andceased caring for what was not me,nor mine.
Q: Why were you lucky to trustyour teacher fully, while our trustis nominal and verbal?
M: Who can say? It happenedso. Things happen without causeand reason and, after all, whatdoes it matter, who is who? Your
high opinion of me is your opin-ion only. Any moment you maychange it. Why attach importanceto opinions, even your own?
Q: Still, you are different. Yourmind seems to be always quiet andhappy. And miracles happen roundyou.
M: I know nothing aboutmiracles, and I wonder whethernature admits exceptions to herlaws, unless we agree that every-thing is a miracle. As to my mind,there is no such thing. There is
consciousness in which every-thing happens. It is quite obvi-ous and within the experience ofeverybody. You just do not lookcarefully enough. Look well, andsee what I see.
Q: What do you see?M: I see what you too could see,
here and now, but for the wrongfocus of your attention. You giveno attention to your self. Yourmind is all with things, people and
ideas, never with your self. Bringyour self into focus, become awareof your own existence. See howyou function, watch the motivesand the results of your actions.Study the prison you have builtaround yourself by inadvertence.By knowing what you are not, youcome to know your self.
The way back to your self isthrough refusal and rejection. Onething is certain: the real is notimaginary, it is not a product ofthe mind. Even the sense I am is
not continuous, though it is a use-ful pointer; it shows where toseek, but not what to seek.
Just have a good look at it.Once you are convinced that youcannot say truthfully about yourself anything except I am, and thatnothing that can be pointed at,can be your self, the need for theI am is over - you are no longerintent on verbalizing what you are.All you need is to get rid of the
tendency to define your self. Alldefinitions apply to your bodyonly and to its expressions.
Once this obsession with thebody goes, you will revert to yournatural state, spontaneously andeffortlessly. We discover it bybeing earnest, by searching, en-quiring, questioning daily andhourly, by giving one's life to thisdiscovery.
The 115th birth anniversaryof Nisargadatta Maharaj wasobserved on April 9
Swami Ramdas
Nothing that can be pointedat, can be your self
Nisargadatta Maharaj
Once this obsession with the body goes, you willrevert to your natural state, spontaneously andeffortlessly. We discover it by being earnest
Ramkinker - the young friend who accompaniedhim on his pilgrimage to the Himalayas - made it arule to utilize about 10 per cent of his salary forcharity. This is really a beautiful hint for all
God never punishes; Heis always kind
49Edit Pagewww.indiapost.com
April 20, 2012 India Post
India's offer of electricity toPak will build goodwill
ALOK BANSAL
The recent decision of theGovernment of India to offer 5000 MW of electricity
to Pakistan to meet its urgent re-quirements on the sidelines of theSecond Nuclear Security Summitin Seoul is a step in the right direc-tion. It will go a long way in bring-ing the two embittered neighborstogether, while ameliorating thehardships faced by Pakistani citi-zens due to long hours of loadshedding as the temperatures arerising in Punjab.
India let go a wonderful oppor-tunity to build goodwill amongstthe Pakistani masses when it re-fused to lease locomotives to haulthe Pakistani Railways (PR) out ofthe woods. Even if the Indian Rail-ways had no spare locomotives, itmade tremendous sense to offersome to Pakistan at a time whenthe PR had come to a grinding halton account of serious malfunction-ing of Chinese locomotives. Afterall, the two railway systems werepart of a common network andstrong complementarities existbetween the two.
Since March 24, when the gapbetween the demand and the sup-ply of electricity in Pakistan ex-ceeded 50 per cent, there havebeen riots across Pakistan, espe-cially in Punjab, the most popu-lous province of Pakistan.
Throughout opposition-ruledPunjab, citizens fed up with longhours of power cuts (which extendup to 16 hours in urban areas andup to 20 hours in rural areas) havebeen burning tires on the roads andblocking traffic in protest for thepast one week. On 24 March thedemand shot up to 14000 MW asagainst a power supply of 8000 MW.
The tripping of two thermalpower plants and low productionby various Independent PowerProducers (IPP), accentuated theproblem. Lahore city was withoutpower for five hours at a stretchand traders joined demonstratorsleading to a closure of most of themarkets. Most of the industrialunits came to a standstill render-ing thousands of daily wage work-ers jobless.
Absence of power led to acutewater shortages as pumps could notbe operated. Power cuts coupledwith a shortage of piped gas haveforced many households in urbanPunjab to resort to firewood to keepthe kitchen fires burning.
Although generation capacityin Pakistan has risen since 2007,the actual power generated hascome down, primarily on accountof circular debt. Most IPPs gener-ate electricity using Furnace Fuel
Oil (FFO) and supply it to Paki-stan Electric Power Company(PEPCO), which distributes powerto other downstream users.
Over the years PEPCO has notbeen able to pay the IPPs for thepower supplied, because, firstly,it has not been able to receive itsdues from consumers and sec-ondly, the tariffs were not suffi-cient to make good the cost ofpower purchased. As a result,IPPs have not been able to pay oilmarketing companies for the oil
consumed; consequently, oilcompanies which have liquiditycrunch of their own, with inad-equate cash reserves to import oil,have curtailed supplies to them.
As on March 15, the circulardebt had risen to INR 396.7 billion.
This has resulted in most IPPsoperating at almost a quarter oftheir capacities; this coupled withrising demands has created anacute power shortage. To aggra-vate matters, both Tarbela andMangla, the two major reservoirsof water in Pakistan, have virtu-ally reached dead levels and hy-dro power generation has dimin-
ished considerably. There is a needto fill up the reservoirs as waterwill be required for Rabi crops; asa result the discharge from thedams and consequently the powergenerated is of a bare minimum.
The severe power shortage isnot only crippling industry in Pa-kistan, but is also affecting nor-mal life. This provides India agood opportunity to provide suc-cor. Indian electricity can easily betransmitted across the border inPunjab, without much additional
infrastructure and consequentdelays. The advantages will beclearly visible on the ground andwill lead to enormous goodwill forIndia amongst the masses and willdeflate the campaign beinglaunched by Difa-e-Pakistanagainst trade with India.
The goodwill generated shouldbe used to push in closer traderelations. The common man shouldbe able to derive benefit from theincreased trade. Power supply canbe followed by supply of railwaylocomotives and other such items,which will make a visible impacton the masses of Pakistan, so thatthe massive campaign beinglaunched against trade with Indiacan be defeated.
As the movement of petroleumproducts, food stuff and pharma-ceutical products start, the massesin Pakistan will reap the benefitsof cheaper fuel, food and medi-cines, thereby turning them intoproponents of a liberal trade re-gime.
India on its part must do all ittakes to allay the apprehensionsPakistan that its non-tariff barri-ers restrict Pakistani exports toIndia. Better trade relations be-tween India and Pakistan wouldnot only usher in peace and pros-perity, but could usher in SouthAsian economic union in times tocome.
The writer is a Security Ana-lyst. Courtesy IPCS
India Post
The goodwill gener-ated should be usedto push in closertrade relations. Thecommon man shouldbe able to derivebenefit from the in-creased trade. Powersupply can be fol-lowed by supply ofrailway locomotivesand other such items,which will make avisible impact on themasses of Pakistan
Chinese stake
The short trip of Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari to Indiarecently has been wholeheartedly welcomed not only bythe United States but even by Pakistan's "all-weather" friend
China. This is intriguing. So far China has been known to createproblems for India vis-à-vis Pakistan by such acts as sending troopsto Pakistan occupied Kashmir, supplying stapled visa to Kashmirisand generally not supporting in international fora India's campaignagainst terrorism emanating from Pakistan. The Chinese foreign af-fairs ministry's refrain has been that it "appreciates Pakistan's ef-forts in the war against terrorism," whenever the issue of Pakistanorigin terrorism in India is raised. However, ever since Pakistan ori-gin terrorists started creating trouble in China's Xinjiang region andthe lukewarm response of Pakistan to demands for controlling theseelements, the attitude of China has begun to change.
It has blamed militants of the East Turkistan Islamic Movement(ETIM) trained in Pakistan based terror camps for creating unrest inMuslim Uygur majority state of Xinjiang.
Beijing has also signaled its dissatisfaction over the Pakistangovernment's reluctance to curb militancy along the Chinese bor-der. And top Chinese leaders seem to have decided that internalsecurity is more important than diplomacy.
Analysts are pointing out that the new found enthusiasm in Pa-kistan for trade with India owes its origin to some prodding byChina. Concerned at the situation that might develop in the Af-Pakregion with the imminent withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan,China has developed stakes in stability in the area. And an Indo-Pakistan entante could be a precursor to such a security scenario,which would help in managing the mischief by Islamic militants inareas bordering Pakistan. China has put up to Pakistan its ownmodel of relationship with India. Although there are many majordifferences between India and China including those relating tocontentious borders, the two countries have decided to move aheadin a big way in their trade relationships, without compromising withtheir stated views or differences. Pakistan Prime Minister YousafRaza Gilani openly admitted that, "Our best friend China, whoseown trade volume with India has touched $ 75 billion, has advisedus to promote trade relations with India."
America, despite its decades long munificence of delivering dol-lars to Pakistan and its overlooking the jihadi growth to the detri-ment of India, has not been able to change its mindset of hatred forIndia. Indebted to America for much of its economy, Pakistan haseven then politically taken a confrontationist attitude to that coun-try. But it is happily working on Chinese advice for improving rela-tions with India through trade links. This change in Chinese atti-tude is bringing a change in Pakistani attitude.
The visit of President Zardari has to be viewed in this light. Al-though powerful forces like the army and the dozens of Jihadi orga-nizations and even the country's Supreme Court are ranged againstthe present civilian government, it is to the credit of its top leadersthat they are persisting with improving trade relations with India.
Much is being made of the meeting of the scions of ruling dynas-ties of India and Pakistan, Rahul Gandhi and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari,during the Pakistani leader's visit. The youthful Bilawal seemed morerhetoric prone, like his mother, and Rahul, much older, had reason tokeep his peace, soon after some rebuffs in elections. But it would betoo much to expect that they are the future leaders in the volatileIndia-Pakistan region. The two countries are changing rapidly andthe two young men, caught in their ancestors' views, could be harp-ing back to old, failed remedies.
Policemen walk across a petrol station gutted in power
