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8/20/2019 Vol-8-Issue-36 Jan-16 - Jan-22- 2016
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New Delhi: In well‑coordinatedmoves, India and Pakistan have
ensured that the Pathankot terror
attack does not derail their
engagement by mutually agreeing
to a short deferment of Foreign
Secretary‑level talks and India giv‑
ing the go‑ahead to the visit of a
Pakistan Special Investigation
Team (SIT).
The detention of about a dozen
members of Jaish‑e‑ Mohammad
(JeM), said to be behind the attack,
was also welcomed by India as an
"important and positive first step"
even as it emphasized that "empty
statements" alone would not do
because it wanted action on the
ground.
In a break from the past, the two
governments appeared to have
coordinated their strategy with
Islamabad not going into a denial
mode with regard to involvement
of Pakistani elements in the attackand apprehending JeM members.
India on its part, did not call off
the talks.
Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar,
who would have been in Islamabad
today for the talks, and his coun‑
terpart Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhary
spoke to each other when it was
agreed that their parleys would be
rescheduled to the "very near
future".
In a significant decision, India
has decided to allow the visit of a
Pakistani SIT to probe the attack
and offered "all necessary cooper‑
ation" to bring the perpetrators of
the attack to justice.
Ministry of External Affairs
Spokesperson Vikas Swarup told
jo ur na li st s th at th e st at em en t
issued by the Pakistan government
yes terday on the inve sti gat ions
The South Asian Timese x c e l l e n c e i n j o u r n a l i s m
excellence in journalism OP ED 14 FASHION 15
Vol.8 No. 36 January16-22, 2016 80 Cents New York Edition Follow us on TheSouthAsianTimes.info
India welcomesPak probe of
Pathankot attack,
talks deferred
Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar would have been in Islamabadon Thursday for the talks with his counterpart Aizaz Ahmad
Chaudhary, but even after the airbase attack, the talks have notbeen cancelled, only rescheduled to the "very near future".
LIFESTYLE 27
Washington: Nikki Haley's call to
Republican presidential frontrun‑
ner Donald Trump to tamp down
on his anti‑immigrant rhetoric won
praise from Republicans and
Democrats alike, but the real estate
mogul was not amused. Supporters
of Trump were angered that Haley
called him out and many took to
Twitter and mocked her Indian
heritage, making fun of her Indian
given name.
"Some people think that you
have to be the loudest voice in the
room to make a difference," South
Carolina's Indian‑American gover‑
nor said in the GOPʼs response to
President Obama's State of the
Union address Tuesday night.
"That is just not true. Often, the
best thing we can do is turn down
the volume," she said without nam‑
ing Trump, who has rattled the
Republican establishment with his
rhetoric particularly his call to
temporarily bar all Muslims from
entering the US.
Haley acknowledged on
Wednesday morning that she was
referring to Trump when she
Jakarta attack raises fears of ISISʼ spread in
Southeast AsiaJakarta Indonesia:
The Islamic
State claimed responsibility for
a terrorist attack in the
Indonesian capital on Thursday,
raising the specter of an
expanded presence by the
group in Southeast Asia.
“In the last six months, weʼve
seen a spike of planning for vio‑
lence in Indonesia,” said Sidney
Jones , a terrorism exper t and
the director of the Institute for
Policy Analysis of Conflict in
Jakarta . “Itʼs a desire to prove
that jihadi groups are still alive
and well in Indonesia and arecommitted to carrying out the
ISIS agenda.”
In Thursdayʼs attack in the
center of Jakarta, militants tar‑
geted a police traffic post near
Continued on page 4Continued on page 4
Continued on page 4
Nikki Haley caught inTrump's crosshairs
Washington:
President Barack
Obama delivered his final State of
the Union Address on Tuesday in a
speech acknowledging security
threats but urging Americans not to
give in to fear or intolerance. He
stressed need for US leadership in
the world and patience on global
rises. The President stood by his
course of limited military action
against the self‑proclaimed Islamic
State, rejecting calls from some
Republicans for a broader military strategy
involving more boots on the ground in Syria or Iraq.
On economy, the President said "Anyone claiming
that America's economy is in decline is peddling
fiction." But yes, a running theme of his
SPIRITUAL AWARENESS 30
Continued on page 4
See detailed stories on page 16‑17.
The State of the Unionis strong: Obama
Obamadeliveringhis last Stateof theUnion toCongresson CapitolHill.
While delivering the GOPresponse to Obamaʼs State of theUnion, Governor Nikki Haley hadcalled out Trump on immigration
and race relations.
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TheSouthAsianTimes.info January 16-22, 2016
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3January 16-22, 2016TheSouthAsianTimes.info TR I S TATE COMMUNI TY
N e w Y o r k American
business magazine
Fortune has apolo‑
gized for juxtaposing
image of Amazon.com
President Jeff Bezos
as the likeness of Lord
Vishnu over the cover
of its January 1 inter‑
national edition, which
upset the Hindus.
Hindu statesman
Rajan Zed, who spear‑
headed the protest
campaign arguing that
it trivialized their ven‑
erated deity, has
thanked the magazine
and its editor Alan
Murray for showing maturity and responsi‑
bility and understanding the feelings of the
community. Statement from Murray, titled
ʻApology for Fortuneʼs January internation‑
al edition coverʼ and posted January 12 at
Fortune.com, says: “The cover of Fortuneʼs
January 2016 international edit ion fea‑
tured an illustration of Amazon CEO Jeff
Bezos as a Hindu deity. Neither the artist
nor the editors of
Fortune had any
intention of parody‑
ing a particular
deity or of offending
members of the
Hindu faith. It is
clear that we erred
and for that, we
apologize.” In a
statement in
Nevada, Rajan Zed
suggested Fortune
and other media
companies world‑
wide to send their
senior executives
and editors for
training in religious
and cultural sensitivity so that they had an
understanding of the feelings of the cus‑
tomers and communities. Rajan Zed said
that Lord Vishnu was a highly revered
major deity in Hinduism meant to be wor‑
shipped in temples or home shrines and not
to be used indecorously or thrown around
loosely in reimagined versions for dramatic
effects.
New York Sonika Vaid, a 20‑
year old Indian origin girl from
Marthaʼs Vineyard,
Massachusetts, may have anearly lead in the popular
American Idol competition
going by the comments judges
made at her first audition.
Vaid, who said her parents
came to America when she was
little, sang ʻLook At Meʼ by
Carrie Underwood accompanied
only on a piano. This January 6
episode was the first of
American Idolʼs 15th season.
In a powerful voice with a
smoky touch to it, Vaid belted
out the song to universal kudos from the
three judges.
“You sang beautifully. That was a perfect
performance. I was totally engaged. This isthe only time in this season that I saw
somebody who could win this season,” said
singer, musician, and actor Harry Connick
Jr., one of the judges. “With a voice like
that, thatʼs a pure God given voice,” Connick
added.
“How beautiful you just let it go through.
You didnʼt stack it with a bunch of clever
runs. Itʼs just so beautiful,” said Keith
Urban, country music singer, songwriter
and guitarist. “You sang so pretty. It wasgorgeous,” said actress and singer Jennifer
Lopez. “It was from another world,” Lopez
added. A video introducing Sonika showed
her mother encouraging her saying, “It
doesnʼt matter whether you win or lose. Iʼm
really proud of you,” adding, “You were
meant for this.”
By Ashok Ojha
Edison NJ: More than a dozen artists from New York and
Hollywood attended an event to announce the Arts 4
Peace Awards, which will honor socially committed
artists and performers from around the world.
The arts for peace movement will launch in New Delhi
on August 6, 2016, with the lighting of the Arts for Peace
Torch.
The finalists will compete at the culminating event in
New York in November 2016. The winners will receive
cash prizes and scholarships.
At the event held at Edison Hotel, Munni Irone, a
socialite from Beverly Hills and founder & president of
the Awards, said, “We will promote the work of commit‑
ted artists from all shades ranging from performers to
culinary professionals. Art is the way that we can experi‑
ence the oneness between us all."Mukesh Kashiwala, an artist and community organizer
who was presented as the Vice President for the Awards,
expressed his confidence about the support of Indian
Americans and hoped that ʻArts 4 Peaceʼ will emerge as a
world organization. “Through these awards we will
demonstrate the role of art and culture in creating world
peace and harmony,” he said. Upendra Chivukula,
Commissioner, NJ Department of Utilities and Power, Dr.
Sudhanshu Prasad, former council member of Edison
Township, and others highlighted the need for suchorganizations that bring art in the forefront of citizensʼ
lifestyle.
The highlight of the evening was an electrifying per‑
formance by Grammy Nominee Tehrah Taylor who sang,
'Phoenix Rising'. There were more performances.
The event kicked off with a welcome address by Nutan
Kalamdani, the Global Media Ambassador for the
Awards, and Niti Sunder, the Chief Global Coordinator.
Fortune magazine apologizesto Hindus for cover depicting
Bezos as Lord Vishnu
Sonika Vaid is early faveon American Idol
Performing artistes joined Indian American leaders toextend their support for ʻArts 4 Peace'
Sonia Vaid impressed the judges at her audition forthe final season of American Idol.
Global Arts 4 Peace Awards tobe launched from India
US think tank launchesCarnegie India
Washington The Carnegie Endowment for International
Peace, a leading US think tank, has announced the launch of
its sixth international centre to produce high‑quality public
policy research about critical national, regional, and global
issues. Based in New Delhi, Carnegie India will open in April2016 to join Carnegie's centres in Beijing, Beirut, Brussels,
Moscow and Washington.
Carnegie India will be staffed and led by local experts
who will collaborate extensively with colleagues around the
world, the think tank said.
The centre's research and programmatic focus will
include the political economy of reform in India, foreign
and security policy, and the role of innovation and technolo‑
gy in India's internal transformation and international rela‑
tions, it said.
C. Raja Mohan will serve as the founding director of
Carnegie India. Mohan has been a non‑resident senior asso‑
ciate at Carnegie since 2012, as well as a distinguished fel‑
low at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi.
"I look forward to the center contributing to India's rich
intellectual tradition through the in‑depth, nonpartisan
research of our scholars," Mohan said. "I am confident thatCarnegie India will add to Carnegie's global reputation for
quality, integrity, and independence."
Shivnath Thukral, former managing editor of the business
television news channel NDTV Profit, will serve as Carnegie
India's managing director.
Carnegie President Williams J. Burns, said, "We are very
proud to add Carnegie India to Carnegie's network of inter‑
national centers."
8/20/2019 Vol-8-Issue-36 Jan-16 - Jan-22- 2016
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North Charleston S.C. : Before
Thursday nightʼs sixth presidential
debate, Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.) had
ascended to the most dangerous posi‑
tion in the GOP presidential race: sec‑
ond place. And during the contentious
and sometimes surreal debate, Cruz
faced attacks both from below – when
rival Sen. Marco Rubio called him a
flip‑flopper – and from above, when
billionaire front‑runner Donald
Trump questioned his eligibility to
run for president at all.
The result was a night in which
Cruz, a former college debate champi‑
on, found himself repeatedly on the
defensive. Trump managed to turn
around Cruzʼs attack on “New York
values,” giving an eloquent – especial‑
ly for Trump – tribute to New York
Cityʼs recovery from the terrorist
attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. All Cruz
could do was applaud. And in the
debateʼs late going, Cruz reacted to
Rubioʼs list of apparent position
changes by saying that half of it was‑
nʼt true. The implication, which Cruz
surely didnʼt intend, was that the
other half was.
The bright side, for Cruz, was that
he must be doing something right to
be the center of attention, just a few
weeks before the first Republicans
start voting. “Iʼm glad weʼre focusing
on the important topics of the
evening,” he said sarcastically, after
being asked whether he qualified as a
natural‑born citizen, since he was
born in to an American mother.
The downside was that so much of
the debate, broadcast on Fox Business
Network, focused on criticisms of him.
That meant less scrutiny on Trump,
who is still leading Cruz in most
places and has pared back Cruzʼs lead
in Iowa.
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4 January 16-22, 2016 TheSouthAsianTimes.info TURN P AGE
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Website: TheSouthAsianTimes.info Updated Daily
Running second makesCruz everyoneʼs target
at GOP debate
India welcomes Pak probe of...Continued from page
into the Pathankot attack conveyed that "consid‑
erable progress" has been made in the probe
against terrorist elements linked to the strike.
There was some confusion about reports of
detention of JeM Chief Masood Azhar. Finally,
Pakistan's Punjab province law minister Rana
Sanaullah confirmed that the banned JeM chief
Masood Azhar has been taken into "protective
custody" along with his accomplices, but clari‑fied he is not arrested. “However, we will arrest
him if his involvement in the Pathankot attack is
proved," Sanaullah said.
At least seven Indian military personnel were
killed in the first week of January during an
explosion and days long gun battle at India's
Pathankot air base near the border with
Pakistan.
The attack took place a week after Indian
Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a stopover
in Lahore to wish Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
on his birthday and attend the latter's grand‑
daughterʼs wedding at Jati Umra.
The State of the Union is strong ...Continued from page
speech was the discontent that average
Americans feel over their current situation and
uncertain future prospects in a system they see
as rigged in favor of the rich. The one failure of
his presidency he acknowledged was his inabili‑
ty to bridge the Republican‑Democrat divide.
Nikki Haley caught in Trump's ...Continued from page
warned Americans not to follow the angriest
voices in politics. "Mr. Trump has definitely con‑
tributed to what I think is just irresponsible
talk," the daughter of Sikh immigrants from
India told NBC.
The remarks drew praise from many
Republicans and Democrats and even the White
House for "willing to do something that a lot of
other leading Republicans have been unwilling
to do, which is to actually articulate a commit‑
ment to some core American values."
"Look, that doesn't mean that we agree with
Governor Haley on everything; we surely don't,"
Obama's press secretary Josh Earnest told
reporters.
"But her willingness to stand up for some
important principles was noted, and it took
courage. And for that, she deserves credit," he
said. Haley's speech also renewed speculation
that she would be a strong pick as a vice‑presi‑
dential candidate.
Haley told NBC that she hadn't thought about
any of the vice‑presidential rumours, but added:
"If a candidate wanted to sit down and talk, I
would sit down and talk. That's a big decision."
Later she told CNN that she considered Trump
a friend and urged the billionaire not to take her
comments personally and said that she also had
concerns about some of his rivals.
But Trump would have none of it. "She's veryweak on illegal immigration," Trump told Fox
News making it clear that Haley was unlikely to
be his running mate for the Nov 8 presidential
election.
He also suggested that Haley was a hypocrite
saying "Over the years, she's asked me for a hell
of a lot of money in campaign contributions."
The reviews were more mixed among other
Republican presidential candidates. Former
Florida governor Jeb Bush described her speech
as "remarkable" for talking about a "broader
hopeful, optimistic Republican message."
Senator Marco Rubio of Florida also said he
was "impressed" with Haley. But former HP chief
executive Carly Fiorina argued that Americans
have a right to be angry about issues such as
illegal immigration.Ann Coulter, the conservative commentator,
said that Trump should deport Haley even
though she was born in the US.
Jakarta attack raises fears of ISIS ...Continued from page
an affluent shopping area, then set off explo‑
sions in an apparent suicide attack outside a
nearby Starbucks coffee shop. At least seven
people were killed, including five of the
assailants, and 23 people were injured, the
police said.
Gen. Tito Karnavian, chief of the Jakarta
Provincial Police and the former head of the
countryʼs elite national police counterterrorism
unit, said at a news conference on Thursday that
the perpetrators were linked to leaders of theIslamic State in Raqqa, Syria, and warned that
the group was expanding its operations across
the region, including in Indonesia, Malaysia, the
Philippines and Thailand. He identified the
organizer as an Indonesian citizen believed to be
in Syria. The suspect, Bahrun Naim, is a leader of
Katibah Nusantara, a Southeast Asian‑based mili‑
tary unit under the Islamic State, General
Karnavian said. The police appear to have been
aware of Bahrun for some t ime.
Marco Rubio and Donald Trump both attacked Ted Cruz at thelast GOP debate on Jan 14.
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5January 16-22, 2016TheSouthAsianTimes.info TR I S TATE COMMUNI TY
New York
A US court has
acquitted an Alabama police
officer who was arrested for
brutally assaulting an Indian
elderly man in February last
ye ar , me di a re po rt ed on
Thursday.
In an apparent jolt to the
paralyzed Sureshbahi Patel's
bid to seek justice, the court
acquitted Eric Parker on the
grounds of being "presumed
innocent" after two mistrials
could not establish his guilt
beyond doubt, Al.com report‑
ed.
Ju dg e Ma de li ne Hu gh es
Haikala threw out the case
against Parker, who faced up
to 10 years in prison for using
excessive force against Patel.
A team of three federal pros‑
ecutors had twice tried Parker
last year for the takedown of
57‑year‑old Sureshbahi Patel.
Both trials ended with a dead‑
locked jury.
"Mr Patel had‑and has‑just as
much right to be free from
excessive force as every citizen
of this country. He is welcome
here, and it is appropriate to
grieve his injury," Haikala was
quoted as saying.
"However, that injury, stand‑
ing alone, does not provide the
basis for a criminal judgment
against Mr. Parker," the judge
added.
Parker st il l faces a state
charge of misdemeanor assault
in Limestone County.
CongresswomanGrace Meng invites
Muslim NYPD officerto Obama addressNew York Congresswoman Grace Meng, D‑N.Y. invited a
Muslim NYPD officer to President Obamaʼs State of the
Union address on Capitol Hill Jan. 12. Her invitation takes
special significance in the backdrop of the New York
Police Departmentʼs settlement last week, of a slew of law‑
suits over the issue of profiling and surveillance of
Muslims for several years.
Meng characterized the move as an effort to combat ris‑
ing anti‑Muslim sentiment in the United States.
Lieutenant Adeel Rana, president of the NYPD Muslim
Officers Society was third South Asian to be among invit‑
ed guests at the last SOTU by President Obama. The other
two bein gMicrosoft CEO Satya Nadella and U.S. Army vet‑
eran Naveed Shah, a Pakistani‑American who served four years in the armed forces and was deployed in Iraq.
Rana is a naturalized American citizen who immigrated
to the U.S. from Pakistan in the 1980ʼs, is a U.S. Army vet‑
eran and served at Ground Zero after the September 11th
attacks as a member of the New York Army National
Guard. He is presently the commanding officer of the
NYPDʼs Community Affairs Immigrant Outreach Unit.
Veteran journalistArthur Pais
passes awayNew York Veteran New York‑based editor
Arthur J. Pais passed away in New Jersey Jan.
8 after a brief ill‑
ness. Pais was 66,
and is survived by
his wife Betty Pais.
Pais had an illus‑
trious career span‑
ning more than
three decades in
jo ur na li sm in th e
United States, and wrote for many reputable
publications, including in India Abroad where
he was an editor for nearly 15 years. He also
briefly taught journalism at a New York uni‑
versity.
Condolences poured in from friends and
professional acquaintances including author
Salman Rushdie and cookbook‑writer Madhur
Jaffrey.
“This is sad news indeed. My condolences
to his family and to all of you, his colleagues,”
Rushdie was quoted as saying by Rediff.
“ʼVery sad to hear the news,” wrote Jaffrey on
Rediff.
New York Indra Nooyi, the Indian‑
born PepsiCo Chairperson & CEO,
has become the Yale School of
Management's biggest alumnidonor with a 'landmark gift' to
endow the deanship at her alma
mater.
Chennai‑born Nooyi, 60, who
graduated from the school in
1980, has made the gift to also
inaugurate the Fifth Decade
Innovation Fund, the school
announced.
The fund is an ambitious initia‑
tive designed to advance the
school's aim of developing leaders
with the broad global mindset and
multi‑disciplinary approach to
business that is needed to succeed
in 21st‑century capitalism, the
school said.With this gift, Nooyi becomes the
most generous graduate of Yale
School of Management in terms of
lifetime giving to the school. She is
the first woman to endow the
deanship at a top business school.
"My experience at the Yale
School of Management forever
altered the course of my life," said
Nooyi, who has served as chief
executive officer of PepsiCo since
2006, and chairperson since 2007.
"My gift to this wonderful insti‑
tution pales in comparison with
the gift that Yale gave me‑the fun‑
damental understanding that lead‑
ership requires an expansive
worldview and a deep appreciation
of the many points of intersection
between business and society.
"Business issues are never just
business issues, and my most
ardent hope is that this endow‑
ment will teach future generations
of leaders that the most successful
companies of tomorrow will do
more than make money."
"They will make a difference and
create shareholder value by
improving the quality of life in
every market in which they oper‑
ate," said Nooyi.
New York India‑born business‑
man Hanu Karlapalem, is run‑ning to become the mayor of
one of Alabama's fastest grow‑
ing cities, a media report said.
Born in Andhra Pradesh, Hanu
Karlapalem runs a network solu‑
tions business in Madison.
Karlapalem said he'd like to see
Madison become the No.1 small
city in America, al.com reported.
"This city is one of the most
intelligent and best educated
cities yet we are not even
among the top 10 in the nation,"
said Karlapalem.
"Madison has fallen behind on
improving roads, increasing job
growth and internal communi‑cation," he said, adding that he
would use his experience to
"promote a culture of diploma‑
cy."
"If (the voters) decide I am the
right person to lead this city,
that would be a historic election,
not only in Madison, but also in
the state of Alabama,"
Karlapalem was quoted as say‑
ing.
This is Karlapalem's first run
for public office.He was earlier president of the
local Indian association for
Huntsville and Madison.
He had also served on the
board of the international
exchange programs Global Ties
Alabama and International
Services Council of Alabama.
Indra Nooyi becomes Yale'sbiggest alumni donor
India‑born businessmanruns for mayor of
Alabama town
Sureshbhai Patelassault case: Police
officer acquitted
Hanu Karlapalem
PepsiCoCEO &ChairpersonIndra Nooyi
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6 January 16-22, 2016 TheSouthAsianTimes.info TR I S TATE COMMUNI TY
New York Brodie Durazo of
Buena Park, about 30 km from
Los Angeles, has been charged
with one felony count of van‑
dalism of a religious property
and two misdemeanor counts
each of vandalism under $400,
the Los Angeles Times reported
citing prosecutors.
Durazo turned himself in on
Monday and was released on
$20,000 bail , the Orange
County district attorneyʼs office
said.
He is scheduled to be
arraigned on February 8. If convicted, prosecutors said, he
could face a maximum sentence
of three years in state prison.
Gang graffiti was found scrib‑
bled on the exterior of the Sikh
Centre on December 6, while an
expletive and the word “ISIS”
were also found scrawled on a
tractor trailer that was parked
at the temple, according to the
Sikh Coalition. Durazo is
accused of spray‑painting graf‑
fiti throughout a trailer park
where he lives and of then
going into the property of the
Gurdwara Singh Sabha Temple
and spray‑painting graffiti on a
dividing wall between the trail‑
er park and the temple. He is
also accused of spray‑painting
graffiti on the big rig.
The vandalism prompted an
increase in police patrols near
the religious center and
sparked fear among members
of the Sikh community.
“We believe that theGurdwara Singh Sabha was
vandalized because it is a Sikh
house of worship,” the coali‑
tionʼs attorney Gurjot Kaur said
in a statement at the time.
“We call on local and federal
agencies to investigate this van‑
dalism as a hate crime and
request increased law enforce‑
ment security at the gurdwara
immediately.”
Man charged withvandalism at
LA gurdwaraWashington DC: The U.S.‑
India Business Council
(USIBC) Board of Directors
announced that Council
board members Edward
Monser, President of
Emerson and Punit Renjen,
CEO of Deloitte Touche
Tohmatsu Limited (Deloitte
Global), have been selected
as USIBC Vice Chairs.
Renjen and Monser
together represent over
60 years of experience
and expertise in global manufactur‑ing, business strategy, and business
development, reflecting USIBCʼs
directive to maintain a diverse lead‑
ership. The announcement comes at
the heels of former Cisco CEO John
Chamberʼs recent appointment to
USIBC Chairman, opening a new
chapter of leadership as the Council
enters 2016.
“I am honored at the appoint‑
ment, and I believe that there are
tremendous opportunities this yearto build on the U.S.‑India relation‑
ship,” said Edward Monser. “With
Indiaʼs push for advancement
across industries, and initiatives
like Make in India gaining momen‑
tum, I see several channels for col‑
laboration, exchange of ideas, and
exchange of technology between
the two countries.”
“It is a privilege to serve as a
USIBC board member and now as a
Vice Chair. I am optimistic
about the continued trajec‑
tory of U.S.‑India relations
and the positive impact
this will have, not only for
our two countries, but
indeed for the world,” said
Punit Renjen. “In growing
the exchange of talent
between our two countries
and further opening chan‑
nels for increased trade
and investment, we will be
able to deepen innovation,
create high‑quality jobs and fuelour industriesʼ global competitive‑
ness for the 21st century.”
“I congratulate these two great
business leaders that I am certain
will build on USIBCʼs legacy. They
have already made a substantial
impact since becoming involved in
the Council, and I look forward to
working with them in this new
capacity,” said Mukesh Aghi,
President of USIBC.
New York: TANA New England Team in association with TAGB and
American Red cross sponsored a blood drive on October 24th, 2015 at
Nashua High school, Nashua as part of new TANA Service initiative
TANA CARES. The event started at 9:00 a.m and continued till evening
without any break indicating the motivated donors turned out in huge
numbers surpassing the expectations.
Donors were waiting few hours to donate the blood and showed the
commitment of the people for the great cause. Some folks were not eli‑
gible to donate due to their visit to another country in the last one year
period, but worked, before blood drive, in the background, spreading
the word.
TANA New England Regional Coordinator Srinivas Kollipara,
Volunteer Srinivas Dutta, American Redcross volunteers handled the
registration process from start to end. TAGB team Shankar Mogapu,Srinivas Batchu, Chandra Talluri and other EC members were also pres‑
ent and helped to make this event smooth and successful.
New York: The odd‑even restric‑
tions for cars being experimented
with in New Delhi will not work to
improve the national capital's air
quality due to its geographical loca‑
tion and the long‑range airmass
floating in from north and north‑
western India, says an Indian origin
US professor who has been analyz‑
ing satellite data.
The odd/even restriction will be
of great help in reducing the traffic
but wouldn't do much to reduce
concentrations of fine particles says
Ramesh Singh, a professor at
Chapman University in California."My views are supported by data
from NASA's Moderate Resolution
Imaging Spectroradiometer
(MODIS) satellite," said Singh, who
was formerly a professor of civil
engineering at the Indian Institute
of Technology‑Kanpur.
According to Singh, Aerosol
Optical Depth, which is a measure
of air pollution, retrieved from
MODIS satellite data over Delhi dur‑
ing December 1, 2015, to January
10, 2016, shows that the pollution
level remains high and there is no
reduction in PM2.5 fine particles
after the odd‑even restrictions were
put in place.Singh said that Delhi Chief
Minister Arvind Kejriwal has tried
to copy from Beijing, where some
car owners in different areas are
allowed to drive only on specificdays "to cut down the flow of traffic,
not because of pollution."
"Delhi and Beijing have similar
sources of pollutants (coal‑based
power plants, brick kilns, industry
and the like), but we should not
compare whether PM2.5 is higher
in Delhi or Beijing because the geo‑
graphical situation is different,"
Singh said.
"Cities in the Ganges basin have
the lofty Himalayas in the back‑
ground and, again, whereas in
Beijing the emissions get dispersed
in all directions, in Delhi pollutants
come from western parts and occa‑
sionally from eastern parts of thebasin.
"Delhi is located in the Ganga
basin and during winter time,
depending upon the weather condi‑
tions, dense haze, fog and smog are
formed and moves in the Ganga
basin. Therefore, sometimes dense
fog/haze/smog is seen in Delhi,
Kanpur, Lucknow, Banaras and
Amritsar.
"Also, during the winter season
the wind, which is mainly westerly,
brings pollutants from Pakistan,
and from Punjab and Haryana,
northern regions of India. All these
pollutants cannot be stopped due to
the towering Himalaya in the
north," Singh said.
Therefore, there is continuous
flow of airmass from west to eastand Delhi gets affected through the
long range transport of pollutants
from the west and also from the
foothills of the Himalayas where the
burning of wood is prevalent during
the winter season, Singh said.
Emissions from vehicles in Delhi
mix with the fine particles in the
airmass coming from the western
side and the strong mixing of the
two affects the solar radiation
budget and highly impacts Delhi's
atmospheric chemistry, which may
create other atmospheric problems,
Singh said.
"While the effort of the Delhi gov‑
ernment must be welcomed, adetailed feasibility study is needed
to manage plying of vehicles in
Delhi to curb the local pollution," he
added.
Deloitte Global CEO Punit Renjen
Prof Ramesh Singh
USIBC selects Deloitte CEOPunit Renjen as vice chair
Along with Emerson President Edward Monser,Renjen will shape and drive USIBC priorities in 2016
Delhi's car restrictions may not reduce
pollution: Indian‑American expert
TANA New England Team
organizes blood drive withAmerican Red Cross
Hyderabad studentcommits suicide in US
New York: A student from Hyderabad studying in North Carolina
University committed suicide after scoring low marks in exams, accord‑
ing to information reaching his family here.
Shiva Kiran (23) ended his life by hanging from the ceiling fan in his
room in the university hostel last Thursday. The authorities in the US
informed the distraught family next day.
He had taken admission in the university six months ago and was
scheduled to come to Hyderabad. The family lives at Indira Nagar in
Ramanthapur area.
Shiva Kiran, who did mechanical engineering from a college here, was
apparently depressed after he failed to secure better grade in the recent
exam. The family has appealed to the state and central governments to
help bring his body home.
8/20/2019 Vol-8-Issue-36 Jan-16 - Jan-22- 2016
7/32
New York:
Forty five Indians and Indian‑ori‑
gin people have made it to Forbesʼ annual
list of achievers under the age of 30 whoare “changing the rules of the game or cre‑
ating entirely new playbooks” across varied
fields.
The Forbes fifth annual ʻ30 Under 30ʼ list
features 600 women and men, who are
Americaʼs “most important young entrepre‑
neurs, creative leaders and brightest stars”
and are “changing the world” across 20 var‑
ied sectors such as consumer technology,
education, media, manufacturing and
industry, law and policy, social entrepre‑
neurs, science and art and science.
“In the past, youth was a handicap to pro‑
fessional success. Getting older meant more
resources, more knowledge, more money.
No more.
Those who grew up in the tech age haveway bigger ambitions ̶ perfectly suited to
the dynamic, entrepreneurial and impatient
digital world they grew up in. If you want
to change the world, being under 30 is now
an advantage,” Forbes said.
In the consumer tech segment is 22‑year‑
old Ritesh Agarwal, the founder and CEO of
OYO Rooms, billed to be the Airbnb of
India.
“In a country that lacks a steady supply of budget hotel chains, Oyo has developed a
network of 2,200 small hotels in 100 cities
across India,” Forbes said.
Others in the field are 28‑year old Gagan
Biyani and Neeraj Berry who co‑founded
Sprig, a mobile app that lets one find and
order healthy meals and have them deliv‑
ered quickly and 25‑year‑old Karishma
Shah, the youngest hire at Alphabetʼs
Google X so‑called moonshot factory,
where the search giant places “smart peo‑
ple to come up with far‑out technologies
that can be applied to worldʼs big
problems.”
In the Hollywood and entertainment field
is 27‑year‑old Canadian Lily Singh, writer‑
comedian and “part of a new generation of stars that has used YouTube to gain a
following.”
Among the persons of Indian‑origin is
Nila Das, 27, is Vice President at Citigroup
and is a mortgage bond trader running the
bankʼs secondary trading in agency colla‑
toralized mortgage obligations, overseeing
billions of dollars in volume each day.
The others making a mark in finance are
29‑year‑old Divya Nettimi, an investmentanalyst at Viking Global Investors, who co‑
managed Harvard Business Schoolʼs Alpha
Fund while getting her MBA, 29‑year‑old
Vikas Patel, a senior analyst at hedge fund
Millennium Management and 29‑year‑old
Neel Rai an investment analyst at Caxton
Associates where he is part of a three‑per‑
son team managing $600 million portfolio
at pioneering macro hedge fund.
In the venture capital segment, notable
persons of Indian‑origin are 26‑year‑old
Vishal Lugani, a senior associate at
Greycroft Partners, and 27‑year‑old Amit
Mukherjee, senior associate at New
Enterprise Associates.
Media stars include 27‑year‑old Nisha
Chittal, manager of social media and com‑munity at MSNBC and Ashish Patel, 29, sen‑
ior vice president of Social Media at
NowThis Media.
Leading the manufacturing segment is
28‑year‑old Sampriti Bhattacharyya, an
MIT grad student who has developed
underwater drones that are capable of
autonomously communicating and working
together to scan the ocean to look for lost
planes, or measure oil spills or radiationunder the sea and 29‑year‑old Saagar Govil,
CEO of Cemtrex which produces environ‑
mental products and electronics solutions.
Among the social entrepreneurs is 28‑
year‑old Anoop Jain, Founding Director of
Sanitation and Health Rights in India, which
builds toilets, collects human waste and
uses methane coming off that excrement to
create clean water.
In the law and policy field are 26‑year‑old
Ashish Kumbhat, a monetary policy expert
in the Federal Reserve Board, 27‑year‑old
Dipayan Ghosh, privacy and public policy
advisor at Facebook and 28‑year‑old
Anisha Singh, the former lead of the inter‑
national policy division of United Sikhs,
where she founded national anti‑bullyingcampaign and won a historic case against
US Army requiring religious accommoda‑
tion on behalf of a 19‑year‑old Sikh whoʼd
been rejected from ROTC programs.
In the science field is 29‑year old Sanjam
Garg, assistant professor, at University of
California Berkeley.
Washington DC:
South
Carolina's Indian‑
American governor
Nikki Haley's choice to
give the Republican
response to President
Barack Obama's State
of the Union address
has fueled speculation
about her as a poten‑
tial vice presidential
pick.
A day after she gave
Republican response
she spoke to Republican leaders
gathered for the Republican
National Committee's wintermeeting in Charleston at a private
event aboard the USS Yorktown in
Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina,
influential Politico reported citing
sources.
The following day, just before
Republican presidential hopefuls
gather for the debate, Haley is
expected to have a private meet‑
ing with New Jersey Governor
Chris Christie, according to a
source familiar with her plans.
"All this comes on the back of a
strong year that saw her
prospects in the sweepstakes
improve as Haley signed off on
legislation removing the
Confederate flag from Columbia
and oversaw a state battered by a
tragic massacre and a massive
flood," the Politico said.
In August, at the RNC summer
meeting in Cleveland, Haley wasinvited to be its luncheon headlin‑
er, the Politico noted.
In recent months, Haley has fos‑
tered a close relationship with
Christie as well as with two other
Republican White House hope‑
fuls: Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush, it
said. Over the course of the pri‑
mary campaign, she has been
exchanging text messages with all
three candidates.
Haley's selection, the Observer
said, is seen as part of the
Republican Party's attempts to
win over female voters, who will
have a chance to elect the first
female president if Hillary Clintonis the Democratic nominee. But
she called such talk a "waste of
time."
Washington DC: In a blow to Indian IT
firms, the US has notified an additional fee
of up to $4,500 for certain categories of thepopular H‑1B and L‑1 visas.
The US Citizenship and Immigration
Service (USCIS) said applicants for certain
categories of H‑1B visas post December 18,
2015 must submit an additional fee of
$4,000.
In addition, for those applying for certain
L‑1A and L‑1B must submit an additional
$4,500.
Referring to the Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2016 signed into law by
US President Barack Obama on December
18, 2015, USCIS said the additional fees
apply to petitioners who employ 50 or more
employees in the US, with more than 50 per
cent of those employees in H‑1B or L
(including L‑1A and L‑1B) non‑immigrantstatus.
This fee is in addition to the base process‑
ing fee, Fraud Prevention and Detection Fee,
American Competitiveness and Workforce
Improvement Act of 1998 fee (when
required), as well as the premium process‑
ing fee, if applicable.
This wil l remain effective through
September 30, 2025, USCIS said.
In a statement, USCIS warned that it will
begin rejecting H‑1B and L‑1 visa petitions
received on or after February 11, 2016 that
do not carry the information required under
the new law.
USCIS has also revised the necessary
forms in this regard.
During the 30‑day period immediately fol‑lowing this web alert, USCIS may issue a
Request for Evidence (RFE) to determine
whether the additional fee applies to the
petition.
7January 16-22, 2016TheSouthAsianTimes.info NAT I ONAL COMMUNI TY
45 INDIANS IN FORBES ANNUAL'30 UNDER 30' LIST OF ACHIEVERS
US Hikes H1B, L1Visa Fee; To Hit
Indian IT Companies
South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley
Nikki Haley seen aspotential Republicanvice presidential pick United Nations: India's population living abroad is the largestin the world with 16 million people living outside the country
in 2015, according to a latest UN survey on internationalmigrant trends.
The survey conducted by the UN Department of Economic
and Social Affairs (DESA) said the number of international
migrants ‑ persons living in a country other than where they
were born ‑ reached 244 million in 2015 for the world as a
whole, a 41 per cent increase compared to 2000.
The 2015 Revision, nearly two thirds of international
migrants live in Europe (76 million) or Asia (75 million),
according to the Trends in International Migrant Stock.
"The rise in the number of international migrants reflects
the increasing importance of international migration, which
has become an integral part of our economies and societies,"
said Wu Hongbo, UN Under‑Secretary‑General for Economic
and Social Affairs.
"Well‑managed migration brings important benefits to
countries of origin and destination, as well as to migrants and
their families," Mr Hongbo added.India has the largest population of people living abroad in
the world, followed by Mexico and Russia. In 2015, 16 million
people from India were living outside of their country, a
growth from 6.7 million in 1990, the survey stated.
Mexico's population living outside the country stood at 12
million. Other countries with such large population included
Russia, China, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Ukraine.
Of the twenty countries with the largest number of interna‑
tional migrants living abroad, 11 were in Asia, six in Europe,
and one each in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean and
Northern America, the survey said.
This figure includes almost 20 million refugees.
The survey further said that in 2015, two thirds of all inter‑
national migrants were living in only 20 countries, starting
with the US, which hosted 19 per cent of all migrants at 46.6
million, followed by Germany, Russia, Saudi Arabia, the United
Kingdom, and the United Arab Emirates.
India is ranked 12th out of these 20 countries, hosting 5.2
million migrants in 2015, which is a drop from 7.5 million in
1990.
India Has Largest PopulationOf People Living Abroad:
UN Report
8/20/2019 Vol-8-Issue-36 Jan-16 - Jan-22- 2016
8/32
8 January 16-22, 2016 TheSouthAsianTimes.info NAT I ONAL COMMUNI TY
Washington DC: A
senior aide of
President Barack
Obama has
assured the
American Sikh
community that
the Obama admin‑
istration stood by
it in the wake of recent inci‑
dents of violence against Sikhs.
"I want to offer our deepest
condolences for some recent
violence and attacks against
Sikhs and Sikh institutions,"
Melissa Rogers, special assis‑
tant to the President and head
of the Office of Faith Based and
Neighborhood Partnerships
said.
Rogers, the highest ranking
representative of Obama
Administration to attend a Sikh
gathering in a gurdwara, also
expressed empathy with the
Sikh community over reported
vandalism at a Los
Angeles gurdwara.
"These reports
are of tremendous
concern to us as
they are to you,"
she was quoted as
saying at the 349th
birth anniversary
celebrations of the 10th Sikh
Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, in
Rockville, Maryland.
"When these kinds of things
happen there is a feeling of vio‑
lation and anxiety. We want you
to know that we stand by you
during these challenging times,"
she said addressing a gathering
at Guru Gobind Singh
Foundation(GGSF) gurdwara.
Speaking on the issue of Sikhs
in the US Army, Rogers said,
"We will continue to be in touch
with you on the issue of Sikhs
serving in the United States
Armed Forces."
Obama team assuresto stand by Sikh
community Washington DC: Satya Nadella,Indian‑American Chief ExecutiveOfficer of Microsoft, was among
the "many Americans who haveinspired Barack" watching
President Barack Obama's final
State of the Union address
Tuesday from the First Lady's Box.
The 23 special guests attending
Obama's annual address to the
Congress with first lady Michelle
Obama "represent the progress we
have made" over the last seven
years the White House said
"Their stories ‑ of struggle and
success ‑ highlight where we have
been and where America is going
in the future, building on the best
of what our country has to of fer."
"The guests personify President
Obama's time in office and mostimportantly, they represent who
we are as Americans: inclusive and
compassionate, innovative and
courageous," it said.
"Microsoft has been a leader in
expanding access to computer sci‑
ence in K‑12 classrooms, and in
Teach.org, a private public partner‑
ship to increase awareness of andsupport for the teaching profes‑
sion," the White House said.
"In September, the company
announced a new $75 million
effort to expand computer science
education, including opportunities
for engineers from Microsoft and
other companies with teachers to
team‑teach computer science," itsaid.
"In October 2015, under Satya's
leadership, Microsoft increased its
paid leave benefits by eight weeks
and now includes 20 weeks of paid
leave for new mothers and 12
weeks for non‑birth parents," it
said.
Washington DC: The transforma‑
tional role played by the Indian
American community in the devel‑
opment of India‑US relations and its
future potential were underscored
by India's Ambassador to the US
Arun K. Singh.
Opening an event to celebrate the
Pravasi Bharatiya Divas at the
Indian embassy here on Friday, he
also highlighted the importance of
the day. The event was well attend‑
ed with enthusiastic participation
by the Indian American community
members representing various sec‑
tors including the government, busi‑
ness, professionals, artists, journal‑
ists and students.
Swadesh Chatterjee, a Padma
Bhushan awardee from North
Carolina, gave a talk on "Building
Bridges: How Indian Americans
Brought the US and India closer
together." Chatterjee recently pub‑
lished a book highlighting the con‑
tribution of Indian Americans in
various fields including energy
cooperation. Satyam Priyadarshy,
president of The Indus
Entrepreneurs (TiE), which has 61
chapters across 17 countries, spoke
on "India's Flagship Projects and
Indian Americans: Promising
Possibilities." He also underscored
the ways in which the Indian
American community can con‑
tribute to the India's organically
connected flagship projects like
Smart City Mission, Skill India,
Digital India, Make In India and
Swachh Bharat.
W a s h i n g t o n : An Indian‑origin
British national who was a formerpartner at consulting firm
McKinsey & Co has been arrested
in New York on allegations of fraudamounting to nearly $890,000, fed‑
eral prosecutors said onWednesday.
Navdeep Arora, a former partner
in the Chicago office of McKinsey &
Company, was arrested on Sundayat JFK International Airport in New
York. Arora, 51, of London, ischarged with eight counts of wire
fraud in an indictment filed in US
District Court in Chicago.
Arora made an initial appearanceon Tuesday in District Court in New
York and was ordered detained
pending further proceedings, theDepartment of Justice said. The
indictment, which was returned inAugust also charges Matthew
Sorensen, a former internal consult‑
ant for State Farm Mutual
Automobile Insurance Company,with five counts of wire fraud.
Sorensen, 49, of Bloomington,Illinois, is scheduled to appear for
arraignment on January 11 in
Chicago. According to the federal
charges, Arora oversaw variousconsulting services provided by
McKinsey to State Farm. The indict‑
ment contends that Arora andSorensen used two companies ‑
"Gabriel Solutions" and "Andy'sBCB" ‑to defraud their employers
out of phony consulting fees.
Sorensen billed McKinsey for the
bogus work purportedly performedby the companies, and Arora allo‑
cated the fees to the State Farmprojects to which he was assigned,
according to the indictment.
Washington DC: A Sikh
bus driver kept his footon the brakes to keep
people safe even while
being brutally assaultedby a man who called
him a terrorist.
Balwinder Jit Singhcontinues to suffer
from blurred vision andpain, said the Sikh
Coalition Group, which
is fighting his case.Throughout the
attack that left him
badly wounded, Singh kept his footon the brake of his bus to ensure
the safety of the pedestrians andpassengers, the organization said.
The assault left him in the hospital
with a swollen and bruised faceand jaw and an infection in his eye.
Singh, who has been a bus driver
for 17 years, said in a statement: "Iknow that sharing my story sheds
further light on the bigotry andhatred faced by communit ies
across the nation. These crimes
cannot be tolerated." According tothe Los Angeles County Sheriff's
Office, the passenger who attacked
him is currently in police custody
in a different criminal case.The suspect potentially faces
misdemeanor assault charges for
attacking Singh, which, according
to the Sikh organization, is not
enough. "These charges fail to cap‑ture the violent nature of the
attack, and the anti‑Sikh bias thatprecipitated it," the coalition said
in a statement.
The Sikh coalition's legal team isworking with the local sheriff's
department and the FBI to push for
a hate crime investigation andprosecution.
"In the face of hateful rhetoricand the current climate of fear, we
must ensure that all bias‑based
incidents are thoroughly investi‑gated and the perpetrators
brought to justice," said the Sikh
Coalition's senior staff attorney
Gurjot Kaur."We cannot fight hate if law
enforcement agencies ignore or
fail to recognize hate crimes," she
added.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella seen right behindFirst Lady Michelle Obama at SOTU.
Satya Nadella gets covetedseat for Obama address
Indian American communitylauded at PBD in US
Ex-McKinsey partner, a PIO, held for fraud
Sikh bus driver ensuredpassengersʼ safety
while being assaulted
Balwinder Jit Singh still suffers from blurredvision and pain
Interactive Q &A session with
Padma BhushanSwadesh
Chatterjee andDr. Satyam
Priyadarshy,President TiE,DC Chapter.
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9January 16-22, 2016TheSouthAsianTimes.info NAT IONAL
Washington DC: Call it pre‑election rheto‑
ric or post Paris and St Bernardino para‑
noia, Indian students coming to the US
have been caught in a bind, with many
deported or denied entry for no fault of
theirs.
They all came with valid F‑1 student
visas issued by US missions in India with
the requisite I‑20 forms from educational
institutions certifying their admission, but
have been sent packing back home at the
port of entry.
There are no official figures available
but an estimated 60‑70 students have
been turned back so far. The process of
deportation continues despite New Delhi
making a strong plea to Washington to
honor their visas.
It all started from San Francisco about
two weeks after the December 2 terrorist
attack in St Bernardino by a Pakistani cou‑
ple, when Air India asked to fly back 14
Indian students who had come to join two
allegedly "blacklisted" dodgy schools.
Both Silicon Valley University (SVU) in
San Jose and Northwestern Polytechnic
(NPU) in Fremont have denied being
"blacklisted" or "under any sort of govern‑
mental investigation or targeting."
NPU has even blamed the whole mess
"on the actions of Air India" which after
the first deportations declined to seat US‑
bound students claiming it had been
informed by the US Customs and Border
Protection (CBP) about the two schools
being under the scanner. NPU suggested
that Air India was not allowing its students
to board as it has to fly back at its own
cost any individual denied entry to a coun‑
try.
Air India is reported to have now
resumed bringing in Indian students pro‑
vided they commit to pay for their return
in case they were not allowed to enter.
Over the last couple of weeks, several
students coming through Chicago or New
York and on other airlines to join other
schools, some of them well reputed, have
also been turned back.
Yet, according to diplomatic sources, the
US has denied any large‑scale denial of
entry of Indian students and claims that
CBP agents decide each case on its own
merit whether it is genuine or not.
In some cases, the students did not even
know what courses they planned to study,
where they would stay or how they would
meet their living expenses as students are
not allowed to work. Some immigration
officers are even giving spot tests to
incoming students.
A majority of students hail from Andhra
Pradesh but there is apparently no racial
profiling or targeting of Indian students as
students from other countries including
China too have been denied entry.
NPU president Peter Hsieh in a posting
on the school's website also said that sev‑
eral incoming students had informed it
that "as long as students have proper doc‑umentation and are able to answer ques‑
tions, they are being allowed into the US."
"They also report that this is not limited
to NPU or F‑1 students but also to other
foreign travelers on H‑1 visa and the like,"
he wrote.
But whether the system has been gamed
by some unscrupulous elements is beside
the point.
There seems to be a dysfunct ion
between the consulates in India and the
border agents, informed sources said.
The fact that so many students have
been denied entry indicates that the USconsulates in India were not doing due
diligence before issuing visas.
Unless the US authorities can find a
quick fix, Indian students who, according
to the 2015 Open Doors Report, make up
13.6 percent of the total international stu‑
dents in the US, would continue to suffer.
The US too stands to lose as with a
whopping 29.4 percent increase, a record
high of 132,888 Indian students studying
in the US in 2014‑15 academic year con‑
tributed $3.6 billion to the US economy.
The US Borders and Customs officials
have a lot of discretion in determining
the bonafides of those seeking to
enter the country and need to be convinced
that the intentions of the visa holder are
genuine before they permit entry. “The rea‑
sons for denial of entry appear to vary. It is
our understanding that these include the
failure of the students to speak confidently
about what they plan to be studying, where
they plan to live and how they plan to pay
for their tuition and living expenses. Some
of those denied visa were not able to
demonstrate having adequate financial
resources and told the immigration author‑
ities that they planned to get part‑time jobswhich is not allowed by the law. Some stu‑
dents had with them documents like appli‑
cations for Social Security Numbers leading
to questions about their intentions. In some
cases, some of the documents furnished by
the applicants could not be verified and
were suspected to be fraudulent,” said Dr. V
Chowdary Jampala, President of TANA.
He urged the students and their families
to pay attention to the following.
Student visas are given to pursue
studies; they are not for working in USA.
There are limited circumstances in which
an F‑1 visa holder may work with the edu‑
cational institutionʼs approval and supervi‑sion. Any illegal activity may cause deten‑
tion, revocation of visa and deportation.
Ensure that the institution that stu‑
dent is enrolling in is of good reputation.
An institution that does not require strict
attendance or is overly permissive with so
called CPT should be suspect.
Do not depend on so‑called consult‑
ants. In most circumstances, they are
recruiting agents getting a fee from the
educational institution.
Be familiar with all documentation
that the student is required to have and
ensure that it is genuine and verifiable.
Be prepared to talk confidently about
plans for education and the ability to meetthe tuition and living expenses over the
course of studies.
Not be anxious when talking with the
immigration authorities. They are profes‑
sionals and are expected to treat everyone
with appropriate courtesy.
Do not make any false statements to
the immigration authorities.
Be prepared for long screening times
at the port of entry.
Ensure adequate cash for any inciden‑
tal expenses at the airports and in transit
If any students experience any negative
experiences during the screening process,
they are requested to inform TANA by
sending an e‑mail to [email protected].
Guidelines for students issued by
the Telugu Association of North America
Los Angeles: Balbir Atwalʼs 7‑Eleven
convenience store in Chino Hills,California, has experienced sudden
celebrity as the seller of one of thethree Powerball winning lotteries with
a record jackpot of $1.6 billion.
The owner of the winning ticket ̶who gets $528.8 million in a three‑way
split of the biggest jackpot in US histo‑
ry ̶ remains unidentified, but Atwalbecame richer by $1 million for selling
it.“I feel very good, some lucky cus‑
tomer came here and made me
famous,” Atwal , 57, told The
Washington Post.
The eye‑popping and unprecedentedPowerball jackpot whose rise to $1.6
billion became a national fascinationwill be split three ways.
Besides suburban LA. winning tickets
were sold in Florida and Tennessee,California lottery officials said.
The Chino Hills ticket was purchased
for a nurse in Pomona, bought by heremployer, nursing home owner Shlomo
Rechnitz.
The identities of the purchasers of the other two winning tickets isn't
known yet.
Lucky IndianAmerican sold one
of winning Powerball tickets
Why is US turning Indian students back?
8/20/2019 Vol-8-Issue-36 Jan-16 - Jan-22- 2016
10/32
10 January 16-22, 2016 TheSouthAsianTimes.info U S AFFA I RS
Ames Iowa : A newly aggressive
Hillary Clinton emerged here this
week and her campaign took on
fresh urgency as polls suddenly
showed the Democratic presiden‑
tial front‑runner in real danger of losing the first two primary con‑
tests to insurgent rival Bernie
Sanders.
Here in Ames, Clinton launched
her sharpest attacks yet by rip‑
ping into Sanders on issues such
as health care and gun control.
She portrayed the senator from
Vermont as naive and his propos‑
als as unrealistic ̶ and, seeking
to undermine the central argu‑
ment of his candidacy, alleged
that he could not be trusted to
take on entrenched interests.
“If youʼre going to go around
saying youʼll stand up to special
interests, well, stand up to themost powerful special interest ̶
stand up to that gun lobby,”
Clinton said, citing Sandersʼs
2005 vote to grant immunity to
gun manufacturers.
“Donʼt talk to me about standing
up to corporate interests and big
powers,” she added. “Iʼve got the
scars to show for it, and Iʼm proud
of every single one of them.”Later Tuesday, the campaign
released a new ad in which
Clinton doesnʼt mention Sanders
by name but implicitly criticizes
him by saying “itʼs time to pick a
side” ̶ with or against the gun
lobby. “Iʼm with him,” Clinton says
of Obama, suggesting that
Sanders is not.
Although Clinton and Sandershave been tweaking each other
since the fall, the Democratic con‑
test has been a sleepy affair com‑
pared with the roll icking
Republican race. But it is coming
to life ahead of a debate Sunday,
the last before the Feb. 1 caucuses
here.
Clinton has seemed this week to
relish playing the aggressor inwhat she has dubbed the “letʼs get
real” period of the race. Sanders
has been drawing contrasts, too,
ticking off differences with
Clinton on Social Security, energy
and other policies at his rallies.
Clintonʼs combative approach is
part of a broader effort by her
campaign and her allies to blunt
Sandersʼs apparent momentum.
Her campaign has begun flooding
Iowa and New Hampshire with a
wave of surrogates that includes
her husband, former president Bill
Clinton; their daughter, Chelsea;
Lena Dunham, the star of the HBO
series “Girls”; and a troupe of female senators.
Chelsea Clinton Tuesday joined
in on her motherʼs jabs against
Sanders, saying during a cam‑
paign event in New Hampshire
that the Vermont senator wants to
“dismantle Obamacare, dismantle
the CHIP program, dismantle
Medicare and private insurance.”
The Sanders campaign quicklyresponded by saying that Chelsea
Clinton was “wrong.”
“A Medicare‑for‑all plan will
save the average middle class
family $5,000 a year,” a
spokesman for Sandersʼ campaign
said. “The Clinton campaign is
wrong.”
Later in the day, Democratic
strategist David Axelrod criticized
the Clinton campaign for having
Chelsea Clinton take a shot at
Sanders. “It wasnʼt an honest
attack,” he said during an inter‑
view on CNN.
On “Good Morning America”
today, however, Clinton doubleddown on her campaignʼs critique
of Sanders and called for the
Vermont senator to lay out
“specifics” of his health care plan.
New York Indian‑American Bobby
Ji nd al ha s de mi tt ed of fi ce as
Louisiana governor at the end of
his second four‑year term, the
media reported on Tuesday.
He has been replaced by BelEdwards, the only Democratic gov‑
ernor in the deep south.
The 44‑year‑old, in an interview
over the weekend, did not rule out
another bid for the elected post,
and added that as of now, he has
decided to work with America Next,
a think tank.
In 2008, Jindal was sworn in as
the governor of Louisiana, becom‑
ing the first Indian‑American to
hold the top position. He was elect‑
ed as governor for two terms.
Last year, Jindal announced his
bid for the 2016 US presidential
elections, but abruptly dropped out
of the race a few months later say‑
ing: "This is not my time."
Once seen as a rising star in the
Republican Party, Jindal's cam‑
paign failed to gain much tractionas he kept polling less than one
percent in various national surveys.
A Brown University graduate and
Rhodes Scholar, Jindal rose to
prominence at the start of
President Obama's first term when
he was asked to deliver the
Republican Party's rebuttal to the
State of the Union address in 2009.
But his performance was widely
panned.
Newark & LaGuardiaranked worst
airports in AmericaNew York: The Travelmath websitereleased a list ranking the best andworst airports in the country̶ andNewark and LaGuardia were dead last.
Picking the right airport to preserveany amount of sanity and money duringthe holiday season is key̶ soTravelmath crunched the numbers.
They collected data from the Bureauof Transportation Statistics on every‑thing from cancelled flights, to delays,to fares and even TSA claims.
Out of the 322 airports ranked,Laguardia and Newark airports wereranked as the worst in the country̶and if you think JFK is any better, it only
came in at 315. The top 10 overall air‑ports had one thing in common̶theyʼreso tiny that, chances are, youʼve neverflown into, or much less heard of, mostof them.
New York
Al Jazeera America, the American cable newsoutlet owned by Qatar‑based Al Jazeera, plans to shut downless than three years after itsmuch‑ballyhooed launch,unable to overcome low rat‑ings, operational problems anda lack of advertisers.
The cable news network willbe phased out by April 30,according to a memo that wasemailed to staffers Wednesday.
Al Jazeera Media Network(AJMN), which is funded by thegovernment of Qatar, launched the U.S.‑based network inAugust 2013 after buying Current TV, the cable news chan‑nel co‑founded by Al Gore, for about $500 million earlierthat year.
The decision to go out of business was “driven by the factthat our business model is simply not sustainable in light of the economic challenges in the U.S. media marketplace,”AJAM CEO Al Anstey was quoted as saying in an AJAMreport.
Bobby Jindalʼs 8 years in officeas Louisiana Governor come
to an end.
El Chapoʼs meeting with Hollywood actor SeanPenn for a Rolling Stone article was brokered by
Mexican‑American actress Kate del Castillo (inset)
Bernie Sanders surge is making Hillary Clinton campaign nervous.
With first two states in danger, Clinton tak es on Sanders
BOBBY JINDAL DEMITS OFFICE
AS LOUISIANA GOVERNOR
Mexico City Drug lord Joaquin
"El Chapo" Guzman, a two‑time
prison escapee, surely is no
stranger to flirting with danger.
But his admiration for one par‑
ticular actress apparently led to
his capture and imprisonment
with security measures tougher
than a ball‑and‑chain.
The role of Kate del Castillo, a
Mexican and American actress, in
brokering the meeting between
the fugitive drug trafficker and
actor Sean Penn for a magazine
interview has been reported.
But transcripts of text mes‑
sages (Blackberry Messenger, to
be precise) between Guzman, his
associates and del Castillo were
published Wednesday by the
Mexican newspaper Milenio,adding a fresh layer of detail.
Guzman's capture last week in
his native Sinaloa state was huge
news. So was the revelation that
Penn secretly met with Guzman
in the Mexican jungle for a
Rolling Stone magazine article.
Guzman bragged that he had sup‑
plied "more heroin, methamphet‑
amine, cocaine and marijuana
than anybody else in the world."
The Blackberry messages,
which were intercepted by
Mexican authorities, jibe with the
official story: Guzman reached
out to del Castillo, and a visit to
the drug lord's hideout by the
actress and Penn was arranged.
What's new is insight into the
details that Guzman obsessed
about before the visit, and his
willingness to accommodate del
Castillo in any way, including
allowing her to bring Penn.
Guzman's texts are filled withflattery for del Castillo, but also
attention to details that would be
downright boring except for the
man whose thumbs typed them.
The text messagesthat led to 'El Chapo'
Al Jazeera Americato shut down
8/20/2019 Vol-8-Issue-36 Jan-16 - Jan-22- 2016
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11January 16-22, 2016TheSouthAsianTimes.info I ND IA
New Delhi India said it will extend
all help to a special team Pakistan
proposes to send to Pathankot toinvestigate the terror attack on
the IAF base.
External affairs ministry
spokesman Vikas Swarup also
said that India viewed the crack‑
down on the Jaish‑e‑Mohammad
(JeM) terrorist group in Pakistan
as an "important and positive first
step". "We have noted that the
Pakistan government is consider‑
ing to send a Special Investigation
Team (SIT) to investigate the
Pathankot terror attack," he told
the media.
"We look forward to the visit of
the SIT. Our investigative agencies
will extend all cooperation tobring the perpetrators of the
attack to justice."
India says that the six terrorists
who attacked the Indian Air Force
(IAF) station in Pathankot in
Punjab on January 2, killing seven
security personnel , were
Pakistanis and allied to the JeM.
The spokesman welcomed
Pakistan's announcement on
Wednesday that JeM activists hadbeen arrested and its off ices
sealed. India blames the group for
the Pathankot incident.
The crackdown on the JeM was
an "important and positive first
step" in the move to bring to jus‑
tice the Pathankot attack plotters,
he said.
The spokesman noted that con‑
siderable progress had been made
into the investigation into thealleged links of Pakistani terror‑
ists to the attack on the IAF base.
He said India and Pakistan had
agreed to reschedule the talks
between their foreign secretaries
which were to take place in
Islamabad on Friday.
Islamabad Talks between the
foreign secretaries of India and
Pakistan, which were to be held
here on Friday, have been post‑
poned, the Foreign Office said
on Thursday.
"Both countries are in contact
to firm up the dates for the
meeting of the two foreign sec‑
retaries," Foreign Office
spokesman Qazi M. Khalilullah
told the media here. "Mutual
consultations are on regarding
the rescheduling of the talks."
The spokesman didn't give
any reason but it followed
reported Indian demands that
the talks can go ahead only if
Islamabad acts against
Pakistani terrorists who plotted
the terror attack on the IAF
base in Pathankot in Punjab.
Six terrorists who India says
were Pakistanis and allied to
the outlawed Jaish‑e‑
Mohammad (JeM) raided the
base on January 2, killing seven
security personnel. Security
forces killed all the attackers.
India then provided "action‑
able intelligence" to Pakistan
and asked it to crack down
against the attack masterminds.
Khalilullah said terrorism was
a common threat and both
Pakistan and India should work
together to end it.
India views the crackdown on the Jaish‑e‑Mohammad (JeM) terroristgroup in Pakistan as an "important and positive fir st step".
India will help Pakistanprobe Pathankot attack
New De lh i India captain SardarSingh supported Hockey India's
(HI) stand of not allowing Pakistani
players in the cash‑rich Hockey
India League (HIL) until and unless
they apologize for their unruly
behavior during Champions Trophy
in Bhubaneswar in December 2014.
Two Pakistani players ‑‑
Muhammad Tousiq and Ali Amjad ‑‑
were handed a one‑match ban
while Shafqat Rasool was repri‑
manded by the International
Hockey Federation (FIH) for mak‑
ing obscene gestures after their
team's 4‑3 win over hosts India in
the Champions Trophy semi‑final.
Following the final hooter, excit‑ed Pakistani players took off their
shirts and made rude gestures
towards the Indian fans and the
media at the packed 7,000‑capacity
Kalinga Stadium.
Though then Pakistan chief coach
Shahnaz Sheikh apologized for the
incident, HI boss Narinder Batra
has repeatedly demanded an apolo‑
gy from the Pakistan Hockey
Federation (PHF).
Now, as the fourth edition of the
HIL is set to commence on Monday,
once again the debate has begun
whether sportspersons should be
kept above bilateral differences.
The highly talented players fromacross the border were part of the
first edition of HIL in 2013 but had
to leave India before the start of the
tournament following protests
from some political organizations.
Since then, no Pakistani has played
in the six‑team tournament.
Now, Sardar, who will captain
Jaypee Punjab Warriors this year,
also asserted that Pakistan must
tender an apology before its play‑
ers can be allowed to play in HIL.
"What they did during the
Champions Trophy was unaccept‑
able and until and unless they apol‑
ogize for their misbehavior they
should not be allowed," Sardar said
during the trophy unveiling cere‑
mony of HIL 2016.
Though HI remains steadfast on
its contention that misbehaviorduring Champions Trophy was the
reason for its objection, strained
ties between the south Asian neigh‑
bors may have a lot to do with it.
Taking the debate further, Kalinga
Lancers' German captain Moritz
Furste and Ranchi Rays' English
skipper Ashley Jackson felt that, if
possible, the organizers must find a
way out so that all good players
come and play in the league.
"HIL is a great event in the world
of hockey. In my personal view,
players from all over the world
should be allowed to play, if possi‑
ble. I am not much aware of the pol‑
itics and other things. They (both
parties) must find a solution for all
players," said 31‑year‑old Furste,
also a member of the German
Olympic Confederation. Ja ck so n, wh o is pl ay in g fo r
Ranchi‑based teams since the first
edition of HIL, echoed Furste's
opinion.
Islamabad Praising Indian and
Pakistani leaders for not allow‑
ing the Pathankot terror attack
to develop into a full‑blown cri‑
sis, a daily here on Thursday
urged the government to "per‑
manently" dismantle the Jaish‑e‑
Mohammad (JeM) that has been
blamed for the mayhem.
"Past experience suggests that
JeM, li ke som e othe r banned
organizations, has access to
sophisticated legal counsel
which can help protect its opera‑
tions and its leaders' freedom,"
the Dawn said in an editorial.
"This time JeM, and others like
it, must be fully and permanently
dismantled."
The editorial said the "mature
responses" of India and Pakistan
to the January 2 terrorist attack
on the Indian Air Force (IAF)
base in Pathankot "appear to
have thwarted" whatever the
JeM wanted to achieve.
"But why was the group still
able to plan and execute such an
audacious and sophisticated
attack on the air force base?" it
asked.
A Pakistan government state‑
ment on Wednesday said several
JeM activists had been arrested
and its offices sealed as part of a
crackdown on the group follow‑ing the Pathankot attack.
But the Foreign Office said on
Thursday that it was not aware
of the reported arrest of JeM
founder leader Maulana Masood
Azhar, who India says plotted the
Pathankot operation.
"Thirteen years after the group
was banned by the state, why
was it able to still operate offices
that are only now being sealed?"
the Dawn asked about the JeM.
"For too long, militant groups
that have been banned by the
state have simply changed their
names or gone temporarily into
hiding, only for them to reappear
stronger and more resilient.
"In the case of JeM, the stateʼs
failures have been exceptionally
egregious.
"Until yesterday (Wednesday),
when he was reportedly
detained, Masood Azhar was a
free man; other well‑known lead‑
ers of the group apparently rou‑
tinely roam the country preach‑
ing jihad.
"It is fairly obvious that leaders
of banned outfits publicly
exhorting violence is likely to
lead to some kind of disaster or
crisis.
"Pathankot has certainly been
the former, though mature politi‑
cal leadership on both sides of
the border has prevented it from
becoming a full‑blown crisis."
The Dawn said Pakistan must
ensure that the initial actionsagainst JeM were converted into
"sustained and meaningful meas‑
ures that ensure the long‑term
dismantling of militant groups.
Dismantle JeM permanently:Pakistani daily
India captain Sardar Singh.
Apologize for your misbehaviorand play, Sardar tells Pak
India‑Pakistanforeign secretary
talks rescheduled
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12/32
New Delhi:
Cooperation in defense
and counter‑terrorism will be
among the top priorities of External
Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's
visit to Israel next week, Israeli
Ambassador to India Daniel Carmon
said.
"We attach great importance tothis visit," Carmon said at a media
briefing here.
Stating that India and Israel
shared common values and similar
challenges, he said that Sushma
Swaraj's visit on January 17‑18
would include discussions on bilat‑
eral developments between the
business communit
