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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 journalismBOLLYWOOD 18 SUBCONTINENT 20
Vol.7 No. 34 December 20-26, 2014 60 Cents New York Edition Follow us on TheSouthAsianTimes.info
RELIGION 26
New Delhi/Peshawar: World leaders from
UN chief to President Obama, from Russian
President Putin to Indian Prime Minister
Narendra Modi have strongly condemned the
barbaric and senseless massacre of over 140
students and teachers at the army school in
Peshawar by Pakistan Taliban on Tuesday.
For Pakistan it is a national tragedy and
signs are seen of a new resolve and consen-
sus emerging to finally take terrorism head-
on. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said nomore distinguishing between good Taliban
(used tactically to counter Indian influence in
Afghanistan) and bad Taliban. The coun-
trys army chief, Gen Raheel Sharif tweeted
on Wednesday, "Asked PM Nawaz Sharif to
hang all terrorists. More than 3,000 terrorists
should be hanged in next 48 hours." The
army said they have killed many militants in
fresh strikes since Peshawar attack.
Unfortunately, a day later, Lashkar-e-Taiba's
commander Zaki-ur Rahman Lakhvi, master-
mind of the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, was
let out on bail. Inevitably, a shocked India
shot back: Bail to Lakhvi is a mockery of
Pakistan's commitment to fight terror.
However, a Pakistani government prosecutor
said on Friday that the court order granting
bail to Lakhvi will be challenged.
General Raheel Sharif and the head of ISI
agency, Rizwan Akhtar flew to Afghanistanon Wednesday to seek help in battling the ter-
rorists behind the Peshawar carnage. "The
time has arrived for Afghanistan and Pakistan
to act together against terrorism and extrem-
ism with honesty
The heartbreaking scene of thefuneral of one of the victimsof the carnage in Peshawar.
Continued on page 4
SPIRITUAL AWARENESS 30
Washington: Dr Vivek HallegereMurthy has made history as the
youngest US Surgeon General
and the first of Indian descent
with his Senate confirmation in
the teeth of strong opposition of
powerful gun lobby.
The Democratic controlled
Senate voted Monday 51-43 to
confirm Murthy, 37, as
'America's doctor' more than a
year after his nomination with the
Republicans dead set against him
because of his support for gun
control and President Obama's
signature healthcare law.
Born in England, Murthy
moved with his Indian parents to
Miami when he was three.
He would become the leading
US spokesperson on matters of
public health.
He will also be the operational
head of the 6,500-strong US
Public Health Service
Commissioned Corps, one of the
seven uniformed services includ-
ing army, navy, air force and
marines.
Murthy, a bachelor, has said he
Obamas pick for US SurgeonGeneral, Dr Vivek H. Murthy
has been confirmed bythe US Senate.
Dr Murthy makes history as first IndianAmerican to become Surgeon General
Continued on page 4
Sant Chatwal is
spared jail term in
straw donors caseNew York: Indian-American hotelier Sant SinghChatwal on Thursday avoided jail time and was
sentenced to three
years probation and a
$500,000 fine on
charges of illegally
donating thousands
of dollars to political
campaigns. Chatwal,
70, awarded Padma
Bhushan in India,
and a major fundrais-
er for Hillary
Clinton, had pleaded
guilty in April this
year to violating the
Federal ElectionCampaign Act by
making more than $180,000 in campaign dona-
tions to three candidates through straw donors and
to witness tampering. He was sentenced on
Thursday by US District Judge I Leo Glasser in
the Eastern District of
Hotelier Sant Chatwalhas been closelyassociated with
the Clintons
Continued on page 4
Four honored atAAPI-QLI gala
Dr J. Ganesh Bhat (left, seen with his wifeand Dr Ajay Lodha, AAPI-QLI President), was
one of the four prominent physicians recog-nized for their achievements and contribu-tions at the 19th annual convention ofAmerican Association of Physicians ofIndian Origin (AAPI)s Queens and LongIsland chapter in Melville last Saturday.
Detailed story on page >> 3.
World condemns Peshawar school carnage,looks to Pak to combat terror
Related stories onpage >> 20-21
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TheSouthAsianTimes.info December 20-26, 2014
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8/10/2019 Vol 7 Issue 34 - Dec 20-26, 2014
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By SATimes Team
New Jersey: Residents of Old Bridge, Edison
and Plainfield townships in New Jersey are
still living in fear despite the arrests in con-nection with five home invasions of Indian
families.
All four suspects - Chaka Castro, 39, Juan
Olaya, 34, Octavius Scott, 22, and Johnisha
Williams, 19 - were arrested by Texas police.
They (two of them being women) were taken
into custody Dec. 7-Dec. 11 according to law
enforcement in two of the Dallas suburbs
where too similar crimes allegedly occurred.
The Middlesex County home invasions date
from Oct. 20 to Nov. 29: 3 in Old Bridge, one
each in Edison and South Plainfield.
Despite the arrests, the residents of these
townships fear more robberies. Said Old
Bridge resident Smita Shah (name changed,
We are still vulnerable as South Asians are
believed to have large amounts of cash and
jewelry at home. I have small children and Iam constantly worried about their safety.
Since the burglary in her area she has installed
additional doors for added safety, removed all
Indian decorations in front of her townhouse.
There is a big sigh of relief, said Satish
Poondi, the legal adviser for the Iselin-based
Indian Business Association (IBA). He how-
ever added, This is not the end. We need to be
more vigilant. Last month, the IBA organized
a seminar titled Securing Your Neighbor-
hoods and Homes in light of the burglaries
featuring Middlesex County Prosecutor An-
drew Carey and police chiefs from Edison,Old Bridge and Plainfield. There were two
panels - Law enforcement panel that discussed
the investigation and future course of action
and an experts panel of officials from bank,
security and home insurance companies who
discussed safe deposit boxes, security meas-
ures and liability issues and claims, said
Poondi.
The seminar laid out five point agenda --
support the victims, support crime stoppers
program, organize continued education semi-
nars and encourage neighborhood watch pro-
gram, push for more South Asians in law and
order, he added.
Peter Kothari, a community activist based in
Woodbridge, said he's grateful for law en-
forcement, but wants the prosecutor's office to
release more information about the case. "Idon't think the case is closed," Kothari said.
"It's just the beginning." Among the most
pressing questions: In which state will the sus-
pects be tried? Should they be tried on hate
crimes charges? And will an additional suspect
be charged in connection with the incidents in
New Jersey? Those are all questions that even
the authorities are not prepared to answer.
Hicksville, NY: The Annual Gener-
al Body Meeting of IALI (India As-
sociation of Long Island) has en-
dorsed the decision of the Execu-
tive Council to buy a property for
IALI Home / India Community
Center. The contract to buy the
property has been signed and clos-
ing is set to take place next week,
according to a press release.
As the elections were avoided
this year, most of the executive
council members remain the same
going into 2015. President remains
Satnam Singh Parhar; Vice Presi-
dent: Bina Sabapathy; Secretary:
Rekha Valliappan; and Treasurer:
Gunjan Rastogi. They all took the
oath of office at the meeting attend-
ed by about 200 members at Cotillion
restaurant in Jericho on Dec 14.
Mr Parhar in his speech stated that 2014
turned out to be a good year for IALI, de-
spite the tragedy in his family of untimely
death of his son Dr. Romeo. He thanked hisexecutive council for their hard work for the
success of IALI programs such as Holi,
Asian American Festival, Gala Fundraiser
Lunch, and Diwali.
Parhar justified the idea of buying a small
property for IALI Home to start with to fit
our budget in terms of price and its mainte-
nance. he said. Gobind Munjal, past presi-
dent IALI and Chairperson of IALI Home /
India Community Center, gave a detailed
presentation about the property (92 East Old
Country Road), along with Prasad Kamb-
hampathy (finance chair). Besides office,
the place can also be used to host small pro-grams like Senior Forum, Sangeet Forum.
Youth Forum, Yoga classes, Hindi classes
for children, English and computer classes.
Mr. Munjal appealed to IALI members to
give generously towards the IALI Home.
The Treasurer, Ms. Gunjan Rastogi an-
nounced that IALI has $350,000 as of
Nov 2014.
Melville, NY: Nearly 700 people
from across the country came
together Dec 13 to celebrate the
contributions, achievements and
growth of the AmericanAssociation of Physicians of
Indian Origin (AAPI) of Queens
and Long Island at the 19th annual
convention here at the Hilton
Huntington. Entertainment, CME
lectures, Singles Speed Dating
event, Exhibition, Business
Forums, recognition of four distin-
guished physicians, etc made theconvention successful.
In his address, Dr. Ajay Lodha,
President of AAPI-QLI and Vice
President of national AAPI, gave
an overview of AAPIQLI and its
growth over the past 19 years to
become one of the most powerful
ethnic physicians organizations in
the country. AAPIQLI represents
more than 750 physicians serving
the community of New York and
its Counties. Dr. Lodha added that
these practicing physicians providehighest quality of care to their
patients and many are serving in
prominent posi tions at medica l
institutions they work for. As lead-
ers, they make decisions about
medical and pharma products,
devices and equipment and prac-
tice related services at multiple
levels in hospitals, medical
schools, etc.
AAPI-QLI has been actively
involved in many charitable activi-
ties, Dr. Lodha said. With thecooperation of Nassau County, we
are in the process of opening a
Charitable Health Clinic, he
announced to loud applause. This
year AAPI-QLI participated in the
Childhood Obesity Awareness
Program - generated by national
AAPI. We visited local schools to
educate the children directly about
obesity and its long-term effects,
Lodha said.
From the four honored by AAPI-
QLI at the gala, Dr. Ganesh Bhat iscurrently serving as director on
Kidney Care Council, a
Washington D.C. based industry
3December 20-26, 2014TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRISTATE COMMUNITY
Satnam Singh Parhar, IALI President forsecond term, speaking at the AGM.
(L to R) Judy Bosworth - Hempstead Town Supervisor; Mrs. LindaMangano, Dr Ravi Jahagirdar - President National AAPI; NassauCounty Executive Ed Mangano, Amb. Dnyaneshwar M. Mulay; Dr
Ajay Lodha - President AAPI-QLI; Dr Shashi Shah, Chair, AAPIBoard of Trustees, Dr Madhu Korrapati - President Elect AAPIQLI.
NJ residents fear morerobberies despite the arrests
IALI Home becoming a reality soon
AAPI-QLI honors 4 distinguished physicians at annual convention
Honorees (from left): Dr Samin K. Sharma, Dr Ashok Shaha, and Dr Uma Mysorekar.
Continued on page 4
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4 December 20-26, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.infoTURN PAGE
World condemns Peshawar..
Continued from page 1
and effectiveness," Afghan
President Ashraf Ghani said in a
statement. Pakistan said it had
shared intelligence with Ghani.
Pakistan-Afghanistan relations
have been tense for years, each
accusing the other of backing anti-
government militants.
Meanwhile, experts now assertthat America will have to get more
embroiled in Pakistans war on ter-
ror, a country which, ironically, has
been supporting Americas war on
terror. Meanwhile, Islamic militancy
keeps heaping horror over horror on
the world.
In Iraq, the Islamic State (also
known as ISIS) group conducted a
mass execution of women in
Fallujah, according to a statement
issued by the Iraqi government. A
man identified as Abu Anas al-Libi
killed more than 150 women and
girls, some of whom were pregnant,
because they refused to accept the
jiha d al-n ikah [sexual jihad] thatISIS is enforcing in Fallujah." Some
reports said these women were of
Yezdi tribe who have been the ISIS
target. On Thursday reports came
that armed men suspected to be
members of the deadly Boko Haram
group have killed 32 people and
abducted 185 others in Gumsuri vil-
lage in northeast Nigeria's Borno
state. Among those abducted were
married women, girls and boys.
Sant Chatwal is spared jail..
Continued from page 1
Ne w York fe de ra l cour t he re .
Chatwal was accompanied by his
wife and son Vikram along with
several friends and family members.
He repeatedly apologized to the
judge for his mistakes and said he
had been humbled by the experi-
ence. The judge said Chatwal should
also continue doing the community
service that his friends and family
have detailed in nearly 300 letters of
support to the court (those who
wrote the letters of support included
former Indian Prime Minister Dr
Manmohan Singh, Deepak Chopra,
former Csul Feneral in New York,
Prabhu Dayal). After the sentencing
Chatwal told PTI that he is very
happy with the verdict. "The judicial
system in this country is very fair,"
he said adding that he has worked to
strengthen India-US relations and
peop le-to-peop le contact and willcontinue to do so. Ahead of the sen-
tencing, Chatwal's lawyers had sub-
mitted a memorandum seeking
leniency, urging the court to weigh
Chatwal's age and "lifetime of con-
tribution" to others and the impact
imprisonment would have on his
family and community in sentencing
him. They asked the court to recog-
nize that he is a "good man, albeit
one who erred, whose life has been
distinguished by a devotion to this
country his adopted home and
a commitment to protecting and
uplifting others".
Prosecutors however asked the
court to reject Chatwal's plea forleniency saying that he should be
sentenced to 46-57 months as set
forth in the plea agreement he
entered with the government, saying
that he knowingly sought to "under-
mine" the American government's
transparent electoral system and the
criminal justice system.
While the charges carried a maxi-
mum prison sentence of 25 years, a
pl ea de al wi th th e go ve rnme nt
ensured Chatwal's prison term
would be less than five years. He
had also agreed to forfeit US $1 mil-
lion to the US government.
According to court filings, from
2007 to 2011, Chatwal used his
employees, business associates and
contractors who performed work on
his hotels to solicit campaign contri-
butions on Chatwal's behalf in sup-
port of various candidates for feder-
al office and political action com-
mittees, collect these contributions,
and pay reimbursements for these
contributions.
Dr Murthy makes history as...
Continued from page 1
will focus on preventing chronic
diseases, efforts to curb smoking,
and programs to improve diets and
combat obesity.
Applauding the Senate for con-
firming Murthy, Obama said "as
'America's Doctor,' Vivek will hit
the ground running to make sure
every American has the informationthey need to keep themselves and
their families safe."
"He'll bring his lifetime of experi-
ence promoting public health to bear
on priorities ranging from stopping
new diseases to helping our kids
grow up healthy and strong,"
Obama said in a statement.
"Vivek will also help us build on
the progress we've made combating
Ebola, both in our country and at its
source," Obama said.
A physician with the Brigham and
Women's Hospital in Boston and an
instructor at Harvard Medical
School, Dr Murthy co-founded an
advocacy group in 2008 calledDoctors for Obama, a national
organization of 16,000 doctors and
medical students. It later became
Doctors for America and promoted
the Affordable Care Act nicknamed
Obamacare.
Murthy has also founded two
other organizations. Visions
Worldwide focuses on rural health
in India and on HIV/AIDS educa-
tion in India and the US, while
TrialNetworks is a software compa-
ny focused on making drug develop-
ment and clinical trials more effi-
cient.
Joseph Crowley, Democratic Co-
Chair of Congressional Caucus on
India and Indian-Americans, said
"the confirmation of the first sur-
geon general of Indian descent is a
victory for the entire Indian-
American community, whose young
children will grow up knowing that
anything is within their reach."
Dr Ravi Batra, eminent New York
attorney, said in a statement, That
he is an Indian-American doctor,
while ethnically satisfying to some,
is really irrelevant except for one
issue: proof positive of America's
merit-based generous soul that is at
its core color-blind even as every-
one's blood is red. Vivek will be
jud ged not for his tan , hei ght or
ple nt ifu l hai r - but can he make
America healthier and drive down
systemic health care costs driven bybad behavior and bad food; as health
care costs are crippling our econo-
my and we need to get in shape to
compete with the three mandate-rich
countries: China, India and now
Japan."
AAPI-QLI honors 4...
Continued from page 3
group working with the government
to improve quality of care for dialy-
sis patients. He is also Chancellor of
Xavier University School of
Medicine, Aruba and has served on
the prestigious New York State
Public Health Council.
Dr. Uma Mysorekar, a retiredobstetrician/gynecologist serving as
the President of the Hindu Temple
Society of North America in
Flushing, NY, was honored for her
dedication to the Indian American
community.
Dr. Samin K. Sharma, who per-
forms over 1,500 complex coronary
interventions annually with minimal
complication rate, was honored for
his excellence in the medical field.
Dr. Ashok Shaha, an attending
surgeon on the Head and Neck
Service at Memorial Sloan-
Kettering Cancer Center, is current-
ly serving as the Jatin P. Shah Chair
in Head and Neck Surgery, and
Professor of Surgery at Cornell
University.
Dr. Ravi Jahagirdar, President ofnational AAPI, in his address high-
lighted AAPIs role in shaping legis-
lation in complex challenges con-
fronting the healthcare system and
the initiatives AAPI leadership took
with key Senators to have Dr. Vivek
Murthys confirmation as the next
US Surgeon General.
Amb Dnyaneshwar M. Mulay,
Indian Consul General in New York,
lauded the contributions of AAPI,
urging it to have an upgraded
role. Nassau County Executive,
Edward P. Mangano, in his felicita-
tion address, said, Indian American
physicians have earned the admira-
tion and respect of those in theircommunity, working diligently to
provide vital programs and services
that contribute to the quality of life
in Queens, Nassau and S uffolk
counties in New York.
The event came to a close with
sumptuous dinner and a live musical
perfo rmance by Bapp i Lahir i and
his team.
Dalai Lama concedes he may be the lastRome: Exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has said he real-
izes that he may be the last to hold the title. But he told the BBC it
would be better that the centuries-old tradition ceased "at the time of a
popular Dalai Lama".Appearing on the BBC's Newsnight program dur-
ing a visit to Rome for the 14th World Summit of Nobel Laureates, the
79-year-old spiritual leader conceded that he may not have a successor.
Whether another Dalai Lama came after him would depend on the
circumstances after his death and was "up to the Tibetan people", he
said. He pointed out that the role no longer included political responsi-
bilities; in 2011 the Dalai Lama handed these to an elected leader of the
Tibetan government in exile, Lobsang Sangay. The move was seen by
many as a way the Dalai Lama could ensure the Tibetan community
would have an elected leader in place outside the control of China.
China has said repeatedly that it will choose the next Dalai Lama.
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5December 20-26, 2014TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRISTATE COMMUNITY
By Jinal Shah
New York: Eager to see if they
qualify for deportation relief, un-
documented immigrants are flock-
ing to amnesty workshops held bycommunity organizations, reli-
gious centers and legal associa-
tions. The Presidents recent an-
nouncement promising work per-
mits and protection from deporta-
tion made a splash but lawyers and
immigration advocates say the ses-
sions are crucial to dispel rumors
about eligibility, ward off fraud and
help immigrants determine what
they might need to apply.
Fahd Ahmad, executive director
of Desis Rising Up and Moving
(DRUM) told The South Asian
Times that they have been distrib-
uting flyers on streets and holding
information sessions to inform un-
documented immigrants. We have
two components to our outreach
program information sessionsand community defence, he said
adding, The flyers were given to
cab drivers, women working in sa-
ree shops, restaurant workers and
other South Asian dominated pock-
ets in Jackson Heights, Queens
area. The flyers simply state the
historical context of the informa-
tion, status of the executive order,
information on who qualifies and
who doesnt, and where people can
get legal advice.
So far DRUM has organized two
such information sessions attended
by 25-30 people each time. The
numbers are low compared to the
number of undocumented immi-
grants in the area. However, Fahd
said it will rise once the full plan is
rolled out.The other component to our pro-
gram is community defense; it is
for those among seven million ille-
gal immigrants who will not quali-
fy for Obamas executive amnesty
and may run a high risk of deporta-
tion. We are encouraging them to
register with us so that we can raise
a collective voice.
Religious organizations such as
the Islamic Center in New York
and business associations such as
Indian Business Association in
New Jersey are holding informa-
tion sessions and expert panels to
discuss implications of the new
policy.
The expert panel will look at the
policy debate, the history of South
Asian immigration, and the legalimplication of the Presidents exec-
utive action, said Dhiren Amin,
president of IBA. The discussion
is about its implications for the
community, he added. Mahesh
Shah, an IBA trustee pointed out
that the Presidents announcement
will also impact many students.
Many have come here for ad-
vanced studies and entered into
various graduate programs.
Immigration advocates are also
warning the undocumented to
avoid various fraudulent schemes
floating around now, like people
charging exorbitant fees to fill out
applications for deportation relief.
As we see this plan come into
action, we want to make sure that
all consumers know their rightsand give people ability to find qual-
ified lawyers to help with their le-
gitimate claims. Sometimes these
folks are intimidated by the thought
of going to a lawyer or fear great
expense but there are certainly af-
fordable legal services which are
safe and secure and we will be
working round the clock to make
sure people know these are avail-
able, said Neena Dutta, chair of
the New York Chapter of American
Immigration Lawyers Association
(AILA).
New York, NY: Roshni Media
Group, a multi-media platform
known for its award-winning cof-
fee table books profiling accom-
plished global leaders from various
fields and industries, announced
this week that the organization will
be hosting its first-ever "Roshni
Media Awards Gala" in May of
2015 at the iconic Taj Pierre Hotelin New York City.
Dr. Rashmee Sharma, founder of
Roshni Media, along with Part-
ner/President Mani Kamboj, made
the announcement at a curtain rais-
er event hosted by New York Con-
sul General Dnyaneshwar Mulay at
the Indian Consulate on December
5. "Over the past 10 years, we've
honored and interviewed so many
incredible and inspirational people
who serve as role models to the
younger generation. We want to
recognize them publicly for their
achievements and contributions, as
part of our mission to create global
diversity awareness," said Sharma.
Some elite New Yorkers who at-tended the cocktail reception in-
cluded: Bibhu Mohapatra, Nandita
Bakhshi, H.R. Shah, Kamesh Na-
garajan, Aroon Shivdasani, Farooq
Kathwari, Dr. Chitranjan Ranawat,
Martin Jeiven, Pooja Kumar Math-
ur, Poorva Bedi and Sheetal Sheth,
to name a few.
The undocumented flock to workshops for deportation relief
Roshni Media Group announcesLeadership Awards Gala
(L to R): New York Consul General Dnyaneshwar Mulay wel-comes the guests; Shalley Pathak, Dr. Rashmee Sharma,
designer Bibhu Mohapatra and Mani Kamboj.
New York: Ratna Bhalla had set
aside her annual vacation from her
job at Nassau County, NY, where she
serves as Deputy Director of Emer-
gency Housing, for a family trip to
Disney World in Florida. Instead,
she ended up in Sajanpura, a remote
tribal village in Gujarat.
A few weeks prior to that, her hus-
band, Varinder Bhalla, a mechanical
engineer, came across a news report
about children from several tribal
villages in the Chhota Udepur dis-
trict swimming across the Hiran Riv-
er to reach school in Utavadi village;
some of them holding a big brass pot
to stay afloat. Contacting the vil-
lagers and the school authorities he
discussed possible solutions to the
students daily travail, finally settling
for transporting the students across
by an inflatable motor boat, we car-
ried from New York with life jackets
and accessories, says Mr. Bhalla.
The Bhallas trained the village eld-
ers to safely navigate the boat. The
day the boat was launched, the kids
excitement knew no bounds. The vil-
lagers too heaved a sigh of relief as
they welcomed the Bhalla couple
with garlands. For me and my wife,
it was one of the most fulfilling days
of our lives, says Mr. Bhalla. Itwas as good as going to Disney
World, chips in Ratna Bhalla.
The kids are dedicated to their
studies and determined to succeed.
They consider the gift of boat from
the Bhallas AWB Food Bank chari-
ty as a loan and are committed to re-
turn this debt when successful in life
by similarly helping others in need.
Crossing the river with the help of
a brass pot was fearful and it would
take almost 45 minutes and then
many of us sat in class in drenched
clothes, Piyush Kumar Kanubhai
recounts the experience of over 100
teens from 16 tribal villages such as
Sajanpura, Chamarwada, Angadi,
Kukreli, Nandpur, Sitaphali and
Dharmapura. Now with the motor
boat, we cross the river easily in a
couple of minutes. We reach the
school on time and can better con-
centrate on our studies.
Narpat Singh Chauhan, an elder
from the Sewada village, is grateful
to the Bhallas for helping our
teenage kids who for years were go-
ing through a life threatening ordeal
to reach school.Besides the motor boat, the Bhal-
las also gifted life jackets and rain-
coats for the boat journey and bicy-
cles for those who had to walk to
school after crossing the river.
Thanks to the boat donation by
the NRIs, kids are now reaching
school in time, in dry clothes, having
done their homework, says Kantib-
hai Baria, Principal of the Sri Mas-
tram Vinay Vidya Mandir, the school
attended by the village kids.
In this project, the Bhallas were
joined by volunteers of Bhagwan
Shree Lakshmi Narayan Dham, a
charitable and spiritual organization,
which donated a battery for the mo-
tor boat as it could not be carried
from New York on the aircraft. Then,
Inphynyt, Indias leading manufac-
turer of automotive and industrial
batteries, donated a costly marine
battery.
On why the Gujarat government
could not remedy the situation, Mr.
Bhalla says, No government in the
world should be expected to solve all
problems of the society. We need to
inculcate the spirit of volunteerismin India so that people blessed with
success and financial resources
come forward and solve such
problems.
The Bhallas are back in New York
but keep in touch with the villagers
and the children they helped in
Gujarat.
How the kids who swam to school in Gujarat were helped
The Bhallas (left) carried a motor boat from New York to giveand help the students.
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6 December 20-26, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.infoNATIONAL COMMUNITY
IN BRIEF
Hindus are upset over inappropri-ate portrayal of Hindu goddess
Kali in a mural at Brooklyn Mu-
seum. This 60-foot mixed-media goddess
Kali wall mural is part of recently opened
Eyes of Time exhibition at Brooklyn
Museum which is scheduled till July 12.
It shows Kali with three legs, three breasts
and six arms. Its face is a clock with no
actual time.
Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a press
statement said that goddess Kali was
highly revered in Hinduism and was
meant to worshiped in temples or home
shrines and not to be thrown around
loosely in reimagined versions for dra-
matic effects on museum walls. Such ab-
surd depiction of goddess Kali with noscriptural backing was hurtful to the devo-
tees.
Such trivialization of goddess Kali was
disturbing to the devotees world over,
Zed, who is President of Universal Socie-
ty of Hinduism, stated and urged Brook-
lyn Museum to withdraw it. Zed also
asked Museums Director Arnold L.
Lehman to tender a formal public apolo-
gy. Rajan Zed stressed that Hindus were
for free speech as much as anybody else ifnot more. But faith was something sacred
and attempts at belittling it hurt the devo-
tees. Museums should be more sensitive
while handling faith related subjects, Zed
added. Goddess Kali, who personifies
Shakti or divine energy and considered
the goddess of time and change, is widely
worshiped in Hinduism.
Upset Hindus urge withdrawal ofKali mural from Brooklyn Museum
In a glittering function organized on
December 14 at the Royal Alberts
Palace, Fords, New Jersey, Pranathy
Gangaraju of Georgia was crowned Miss
India USA 2014. Miss India USA is the
oldest running Indian pageant outside of
India.
The thirty third annual pageant was or-
ganized by the New York-based IFC,
headed by Dharmatma Saran, Founder
and the Chief Organizer of the Pageant.
Riya Kaur from New Jersey was
crowned Miss Teen India USA and Na-
mita Dodwadkar of Massachuseets was
also crowned the First Ever Mrs. India
USA in the same pageant.
Pranathy, 19, is a student majoring in
Film Acting and Production. She will rep-
resent USA in the Twenty Fourth Annual
Miss India Worldwide Pageant, also or-
ganized by IFC, to be held in Goa, India
in June of 2016.
The First Ever Mrs. India USA Namita
Dodwadkar, 28, is a Senior Scientist at
Novartis and holds a Ph. D. in Pharma-
ceutical Sciences.
Twenty years af-ter the genocide
there claimed
more than 800,000
lives, Suprita Datta, a
City College of New
York undergraduate
travels to Rwanda De-
cember 26 to study how
post-conflict societies
develop.
A junior in the
Macaulay Honors Col-
lege at CCNY majoring
in international studies,
Datta is one of five stu-
dents and professionals
from the United States selected by Glob-al Youth Connect (GYC) for the two-
week trip. This gives me a chance to do
what I want to do outside the classroom,
said Ms. Datta, whose concentration is
conflict stabilization. This is really rele-
vant to what I want todo.
Through workshops,
site visits, advocacy
meetings and volunteer
service with
grassroots NGOs, the
GYC delegation will
learn and act on numer-
ous key human rights is-
sues in Rwanda.
In addition, Datta, a
Colin Powell Fellow, will
also examine the roots of
the 1994 Rwandan geno-
cide, and see how its
legacy has impacted the
country and its people, particularlyRwandan youth. Last spring, Datta re-
ceived a William R. Kenan Scholarship
from the Macaulay Honors College for
demonstrated commitment to service and
civic engagement.
Former Times of India Executive Edi-
tor Gautam Adhikari will join Center
for American Progresss National Se-
curity and International Policy team as a
Senior Fellow. He will work with other re-
searchers and policy experts to provide ex-
pert insight into U.S.-India relations and
CAPs work with progressives around the
world.
Gautam has been a strong voice for pro-
gressive policies and values and a strong ad-
vocate of the U.S.-India relationship sincethe 1990s, said CAP Vice President for Na-
tional Security and International Policy
Vikram Singh. We could not be more
pleased to have Gautam contributing to our
India: 2020 program and our Global
Progress initiative.
Adhikari joins CAPs India: 2020 project,
an initiative focused on elevating the foreign
policy debates in South Asia by looking at
the short- and long-term U.S. policy priori-
ties and analyzing the gap that exists be-
tween the current realities and hopes for the
U.S.-India relationship. He is the founding
editor of Mumbais Daily News & Analysis,
or DNA, and has held several academic and
public policy fellowships, including serving
as a resident fellow and adjunct lecturer in
public policy at the Shorenstein Center onMedia, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard
University, a J.B. and Maurice C. Shapiro
fellow at George Washington University and
senior resident fellow at the International
Forum for Democratic Studies at the Na-
tional Endowment for Democracy.
Four Pakistani citizens were among
the 10 travel agents indicted for run-
ning a fraudulent business and steal-
ing over a million dollar from nearly 200
India-bound travelers, who were left
stranded in the US.
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus
Vance announced the indictment of the 10
individuals connected to a commercial
travel scam in which the agents, using
credit card information obtained illegally,
were able to steal more than a million dol-
lars from the 200 victims.
The defendants placed advertisements in
Indian-American publications throughout
the US that offered competitively priced
tickets to and from popular destinations in
India.
The fraudulent activity disrupted many
victims' long- planned international travel
and prosecutors said victims of the travel
scam included a woman who was seven-
months-pregnant and was unable to com-
plete a leg of her scheduled trip, family
members who were not able to attend a
relative's wedding and an individual who
was prevented from visiting a sick father
in India. The defendants, four of whom
live in Pakistan, are each charged in an in-
dictment in New York State Supreme
Court on varying counts of grand larceny,
identity theft and scheme to defraud.
The agents indicted are Sadaqat Ali of
Bronx, Sumit Chawla, Shah Nawaz Kiani,
Muhammad Asif and Rana Muhammad
Tariq of Pakistan, Zubair Dar, Sarfraz
Khan and Manjeet Singh of Queens and
Muhammad Arif of Brooklyn.
According to the indictment, between
June 2012 and November 2014, the agents
operated a business involving multiple in-
corporated travel agencies--including
Bombay Travel and Tours, Raj Travel,
Gandhi Travel, Patel Travel and Maha
Guru Travel--and several bank accounts
that were fraudulently opened in the name
of the travel agencies, using falsified pass-
ports and licenses.
Former TOI editor Gautam Adhikarijoins CAP as Senior Fellow
10 indicted in $1 M India travel scam
Pranathy Gangaraju crownedMiss India USA 2014
Chairman and founder of IFC Dharmatma Saran with the winners
Suprita Datta
Honors student Rwanda-boundto study genocide aftermath
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Washington, DC: On Tuesday,
Vivek Murthy was confirmed as
the Surgeon General of Americaby US Senate. Feeling proud in
this victory is the American
Association of Physicians of
Indian Origin (AAPI). The
Senate confirmation of Vivek
Murthy as Surgeon General is a
"huge victory" for the Indian-
American doctors as it reaffirmed
that a man of impeccable creden-
tials cannot be kept down for too
long, community members and
US lawmakers have said.
"It is a huge victory for the citi-
zens of USA, physicians and as
Indian Americans" an elated
pr es id en t of Amer ic an
Association of Physicians ofIndian Origin (AAPI) Ravi
Jahagirdar said on Monday.
He said for the past several
months AAPI leadership had
taken it as a challenge to seek
justice denied for over a year to a
doctor with impeccable creden-
tials. Jahagirdar said AAPI mem-
bers got act ive from the gra ss
roots level all the way to the top
leadership. They not only called
their local Senators, sent letters
and emails, but the entire AAPI
Executive Committee was on theCapitol Hill repeatedly in the
pas t severa l mont hs educat ing
Senators of the need to appoint a
"top doc" to lead the nation, and
to confirm the nomination of
Murthy, he said. "Our role was
educational and advocacy.
During the Ebola crisis you could
see that the health department
had no direction and was a sorry
spectacle." Jahagirdar said. Even
on Monday, the day of voting,
AAPI ran television ads urging
Indian Americans to call their
Senators to support Murthy.
The appointment only reaf-
firmed the old American adage"you cannot keep a good man
down"! he said. Senator Dianne
Feinstein said the Senate put
public health over special inter-
ests by voting to confirm Vivek
Murthy to be the next surgeon
general. "The United States faces
serious public health challenges
and we need a top doctor on the
jo b to he lp ad dr es s th em ,"
she said.
7December 20-26, 2014TheSouthAsianTimes.info NATIONAL COMMUNITY
Washington, DC: Ami Bera,
the lone Indian-American US
House member, a Democrat,
and Republican George
Holding will serve as the new
co-chairs of the Congressional
Caucus on India and Indian
Americans in the new
Congress.
Their appointment was
announced Thursday by the
outgoing co-chairs Democrat
Joseph Crowley and
Republican Peter Roskam,
ahead of the first session of
the Congress starting January
6. Bera's "passion for the
issues is impressive, and there
is no question the Caucus willbe in excellent hands," Crowley
said.
"The Indian-American com-
munity has a wonderful partner
in Ami Bera, and I look forward
to working with him, and the
entire India Caucus, as we con-
tinue our efforts to strengthen
relations between the US and
India," he said. "As the only
Indian American serving in
Congress," Bera said he was"excited to take on this new role
at a critical time for the partner-
ship between the US and India."
Building on Prime Minister
Narendra Modi's visit to the US
in September and President
Barack Obama's upcoming trip
to India, he looked forward to
working with the Caucus mem-
bers "to cont inue to grow the
economic and strategic rela-
tionship between our coun-
tries and to advocate for the
Indian American community."
"As Republican Chair of the
India Caucus, George will
focus in on growing the rela-
tionship between our two
democracies, emphasizing our
nations' shared interests from
global security to trade and
international prosperity," said
Roskam.
The US-India bilateral rela-
tionship "can be one of the
defining partnerships of this
century," Holding said.
He too looked to advancing
the efforts of the Caucus as"With a shifting geopolitical sit-
uation in Asia, unwavering
cooperation between the US and
India is essential to promoting
peace and stability."
Formed in 1993, the 180
member India Caucus is a bipar-
tisan group of members dedicat-
ed to championing strong ties
between the US and India and
supporting the Indian-American
Washington, DC: Indian-
American Rajiv Shah, a trained
medical doctor and health econo-
mist, Wednesday announced his
decision to step down as
Administrator of the United States
Agency for International
Development (USAID) in mid-
February 2015 after serving in the
high-profile assignment for a little
over five years.
US President Barack Obama
had appointed Dr Shah to the
position on November 10, 2009.
Dr Shah was serving as UnderSecretary for Research, Education
and Economics and Chief Scientist at the US
Department of Agriculture (USDA).
"I want to thank President Obama for the
honor of serving our country these past five
years as Administrator of the U.S. Agency for
International Development. Thanks to his
leadership and the extraordinary commitment
of our nations development experts, America
is the unquestioned leader in eliminating the
scourges of extreme poverty, hunger, and
child death worldwide," he said.
Dr Shah said that it was with mixed emo-
tions that he had informed Mr Obama and
Secretary of State John Kerry today that he
would step down as Administrator in mid-
February 2015.
He dwelt at length on the achievements ofthe agency across the world in the past five
years and said it was today better positioned
than at any other time in its 53-year history to
solve the greatest challenges facing humanity.
"Raj has been an outstanding
Administrator, a creative innova-
tor, and a dynamic leader. After
five years, he absolutely deserves
this transition, and he leaves
USAID after making a dramatic
mark transforming this insti-
tution into one that's more entre-
preneurial, more modern, and
more nimble, while promoting
resilient democracies and bat-
tling extreme poverty across the
globe," Mr Kerry said in a state-
ment. "... for these last two years
as Secretary of State, Iveenjoyed the chance to work with
Raj daily, and Ive been impressed by his
fresh thinking and his ability to come inside
government and remain a change agent, par-
ticularly in driving a paradigm shift towards a
new model of innovation, investment, and
partnerships," he said.
"Raj will be known not just as USAIDs
16th Administrator, but as the Administrator
who reached up, and reached out, bringing a
whole new set of stakeholders to the table,
enlisting the help of non-governmental differ-
ence makers including corporations, founda-
tions, advocacy groups, and faith-based com-
munities.
"Those partnerships are essential to creating
the kind of sustainable change that builds
from generation to generation, ending cyclesof poverty and bringing societies to new lev-
els of social and economic development. And
those are the partnerships that Raj built. What
a legacy," he added.
Dr Ami Bera
Rajiv Shah to stepdown after servingin the high-profileassignment for a
little over five years
Ami Bera, George Holding are newco-chairs of India caucus
Vivek Murthys appointmentis a huge victory for us: AAPI
Rajiv Shah to step down as USAID
Administrator in Feb 2015
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8 December 20-26, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.infoNATIONAL COMMUNITY
Washington, DC: An information
technology services company is us-
ing a program developed in India to
create jobs worldwide and train and
place minority women in high-
quality IT jobs in ten cities across
America.
After its "impressive work" in In-
dia and Mexico, the Aliso Viejo,
Calif.-based UST Global is plan-
ning to launch additional programs
in Africa in 2015, according to its
Indian American CEO Sajan Pillai.
"UST Global has successfully
trained over 20,000 college gradu-
ates throughout the world, includ-
ing approximately 15,000 in India
alone," and is currently deploying
in Spain, Malaysia and the Philip-
pines, among others, says Pillai.
For over 14 years, UST Global
has refined its training program to
equip associates with the necessary
skills required to be successful inproviding technology services, he
said.
"We aim for this to be a global oc-
currence where we continue to cre-
ate jobs for people and countries in
need," said Pillai, a computer sci-
ence and engineering graduate
from the College of Engineering at
Thiruvananthapuram in India."In large part due to our reputa-
tion and success in India, the gov-
ernment of Mexico invited UST
Global to establish a Center of Ex-
cellence, in partnership with former
president Vicente Fox, to train
30,000 students," he said. Ten thou-
sand of these will be employed by
UST Global, Pillai said. As of Oc-tober this year over 900 Mexican
university graduates have complet-
ed the training program and about
600 are now working for UST
Global.
In the U.S., UST Global's Step IT
Up America program has already
graduated over 200 women in six
different cities and all are currently
employed by UST Global, said Pil-
lai, co-founder of Softek Systems
in India. New York was the latest
city to join the program. The grand
vision of the program is to create
5000 new jobs for minority women
to enter tech careers by 2020, Pillai
said. Asked how the model has
been adapted for the U.S., he said:
"After seeing the success and how
societies transformed in Mexico,
India, and other parts of the world,
there was no doubt we would be
able to do the same thing in the
US."
To refine the material for the Step
IT Up America students, UST
Global is working in conjunction
with Mentor Global, an internation-
al technology training company.
"These formulas are different, butthe end goal is always the same. We
aim to transform lives through
technology," Pillai said. Informa-
tion technology and other Science,
Technology, Engineering, and
Mathematics (STEM) occupations
are the largest and fastest-growing
career sectors worldwide, especial-
ly in the US, he said.
Yet the number of trained people
required to fill technology jobs al-
ways falls short.
Along with this talent gap, the
technology industry's biggest chal-
lenge is severe under-representa-
tion of women and minorities in the
fields of STEM.
Some 27 percent of the U.S.
workforce is made up of minorities
and women; yet only three percent
of STEM jobs are held by minori-
ties, Pillai noted.
"We aim to move the needle of
this issue through our nationwide
initiative, Step IT Up America," he
said, "as we continue our launches
in other cities in the U.S."
So far, the majority of SIUA's
students have been of African
American and Latina ethnicities,said Pillai, who was recently cho-
sen as one of the elite 100 CEO
leaders in STEM by STEMConnec-
tor. But the program remains open
to all minority women residing in
ten cities across the U.S., he said.
Washington, DC: Three Indian-American entrepreneurs
have been felicitated by The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) with
its annual legend awards in recognition of their risk-taking,mentoring of young entrepreneurs, philanthropy and years of
dedication to the local community. The awards were present-
ed to Ken Bajaj, Frank Islam and Sharad Tak at the annual
gala of TiE DC attended by top Indian-American entrepre-
neurs from Maryland, Virgina and Washington DC.
Bajaj founded AppNet, a Web design and e-commerce inte-
gration firm, which grew to be the fourth largest interactive
media services company in the US.
AppNet was sold to Commerce One in 2000 for $2 billion.
Islam founded IT company, the QSS Group in 1994, and
built it to 2,000 employees before selling it to Perot Systems
in 2007. He is known for his philanthropist activities.
Tak is an entrepreneur in the fields of computer systems,
telecommunications, broadcasting, and power plant develop-
ment.
In his remarks, Islam urged young entrepreneurs not to
waste time in trying to emulate someone else's business."Don't be a 'me too business'. Don't be a clone. Find your
inner entrepreneur. Create a mission, vision and set of values
that are unique to your enterprise. Be the best you can be.
Make it your journey. Stay true to you," Islam said.
Addressing young Indian-Americans, Tak told them that
entrepreneurship is in their genes.
Sikh Float to make historywith Rose Parade debut
California: In celebration of its 125-
year history, the Sikh American com-
munity will have its own float in the
2015 Rose Parade in Pasadena, Calif.
on New Years Day, marking the firsttime the Indian American community
will be represented in the annual parade
of flowers, music and sports.
With the theme A Sikh American
Journey, the historic float will focus on
the values of Sikh Americans and their
contributions to American society. The
float, which is currently under construc-
tion, will chronicle the history of Sikhs
in America, from their early pioneering
days in the late 1800s to the present day,
where they hold important roles in all
walks of life. The Rose Parade float is
the brainchild of United Sikh Mission
president and chairman Rashpal Singh
Dhindsa. He began spearheading the
movement for participation in the
parade in early 2010 and after a seriesof meetings and presentations, secured
the float for the 2015 parade. Funds for
the float have been raised within the
Sikh American community. Visit
sikhfloat.com for more information.
The Indus Entrepreneurshonors three Indian-Americans
Milpitas, CA: Akshaya Patra,
the worlds largest NGO serving
daily midday meals to childrenin India, raised over $247,000 at
their annual Food for Education
Benefit Gala on Dec. 6 at the
India Community Center, India
West reported.
A crowd of more than 250 phi-
lanthropists, business, and gov-
ernment leaders was welcomed
by the foundation.
Barbara Kinney, award-win-
ning photojournalist and White
House photographer to President
Bill Clinton, was the evenings
keynote speaker. She spoke
about her travels and showed
pi ct ur es of th e Bi ll Cl in to n
Foundations trip to AkshayaPatra schools and kitchens last
July in Jaipur and Lucknow.
Visiting the kitchens was a
very eye-opening experience,
Kinney told India-West. I loved
seeing the smiling kids and
was amazed at how much of an
impact a meal can make in help-
ing kids pursue their dreams.Gururaj Desh Deshpande,
Indian American philanthropist,
entrepreneur, and chairman of
Akshaya Patra USA, noted the
organizations goals to feed five
million children daily by 2020
and welcomed all event atten-
dees.
The event also featured
Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka as the
guest of honor, who spoke about
the importance of meeting the
primal need for food to prepare
for the world of tomorrow.
The CEO of Akshaya Patra
USA, Emily Rosenbaum, told
per son al anecdotes abo ut hertravels to India, and talked about
Akshaya Patras impact on erad-
icating poverty and malnourish-
ment in ten states, 24 kitchens,
and 10,601 schools throughout
India.
Akshaya Patra raises $247,000at SF Bay Area Gala
UST Global CEO Sajan Pillai welcomes Vice President Joe Bidenat its STEM Initiative Step IT Up in Detroit
US firm replicates India model to create IT jobs for women
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Washington: The Federal Reserve on
Wednesday offered a strong signal that it
was on track to raise interest rates some-
time next year, altering a pledge to keep
rates near zero for a "considerable time" in
a show of confidence in the U.S. economy.
Closing out a two-day meeting against a
backdrop of solid domestic growth but
trouble overseas, the U.S. central bank said
it would take a "patient" approach in de-
ciding when to bump borrowing costs
higher.
Fed Chair Janet Yellen told a news con-ference that "patient" meant the policy-set-
ting Federal Open Market Committee was
unlikely to hike rates for "at least a couple
of meetings," meaning April of next year at
the earliest.
U.S. stock markets and bond yields rose
as investors digested a statement that
evinced faith in the economy while still
projecting a slow-going approach to rate
hikes. The dollar rallied broadly against
major currencies.
After some initial volatility, futures mar-
kets continued to point to a rate rise in Sep-
tember, while 13 of 19 big Wall Street
firms polled by Reuters said they expected
an increase by June, in line with resultsfrom a November survey.
The Fed has held benchmark overnight
rates near zero since December 2008.
New York: Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Wednesday
he will block drilling for natural gas using a technique
called horizontal hydraulic fracturing, or fracking,
which environmentalists have warned is a threat to
public health, but upstate New York residents saw as
a much-needed boost to the economy.
State officials concluded that fracking, as the
method is known, could contaminate the air and wa-
ter and pose inestimable dangers to public health.
That conclusion was delivered during a year-end
cabinet meeting convened by Cuomo in Albany. It
came amid increased calls by environmentalists to banfracking, which uses water and chemicals to release
natural gas trapped in deeply buried shale deposits.
Washington: President and
Michelle Obama personally
identify with everyday experi-
ences of racial bias in America
that have underpinned recent
protests across the country, they
told People magazine in an in-
terview released this week.
Barack Obama was a blackman that lived on the South Side
of Chicago, who had his share of
troubles catching cabs,"
Michelle Obama told the maga-
zine. On one occasion, she said,
her husband was wearing a
tuxedo at a black-tie dinner, and
somebody asked him to get cof-
fee. President Obama said he's
even been mistakenly treated as
a valet.
Theres no black male my
age, whos a professional, whohasnt come out of a restaurant
and is waiting for their car and
somebody didnt hand them
their car keys," he said.
The first lady also described
being mistreated at a Target
store in suburban Washington,
during a shopping trip she took
in 2011.
"Even as the first lady," she
told the magazine, "during the
wonderfully publicized trip I
took to Target, not highly dis-guised, the only person who
came up to me in the store was a
woman who asked me to help
her take something off a shelf."
Washington: Jeb Bushs announcementTuesday that he is actively exploring a 2016
presidential run scrambles the large Republi-
can field, thrusting him to the front of the pack
and locking up a huge swath of longtime par-
ty fundraisers being wooed by other candi-
dates, reports Washington Post.
Bush, the 61-year-old son of one president
and the brother of another, declared in a Face-
book post Tuesday that he intends to set up a
leadership PAC in January to discuss the
most critical challenges facing our exception-
al nation.
His potential candidacy raises the prospect
that the upcoming White House race will be a
dynastic match between Bush and former
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton,
who is the heavy favorite for the Democraticnomination if she chooses to run.
But first, Bush would have to get through
the GOP primaries, where his conservative
credentials are likely to be challenged by ac-
tivists on the right who scorn his support for
immigration and education reform.
For now, the early move by the former
Florida governor is expected to severely un-
dercut the financial backing for other possible
2016 contenders especially New Jersey
Gov. Chris Christie, Texas Gov. Rick Perry
and Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.).
Bushs declared interest also punctures the
rationale for a candidacy by Mitt Romney, the
2012 GOP nominee who occupies a similar
space within the party establishment.
A Washington Post-ABC News poll re-
leased Tuesday found Bush with a narrow
edge over a crowded field of potential GOP
contenders if Romney were not in the race.
Bush garners 15 percent support among Re-
publicans and GOP-leaning independents,
with Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) and Rep. Paul Ryan
(Wis.) each netting 11 percent.
Jeb Bush, who favors immigrationreform and common core, is seen as a
centrist in the GOP.
Even the Obamas have faced racism
Fed confident on growth, opensdoor wider to rate hike Cuomo to ban fracking
in upstate NY
MichelleObama wasmistreatedat a Targetstore insuburban
Washingtonin 2011.
Third Bush getting ready to runWashington: The effort
to draft MassachusettsDemocratic Sen. Eliza-
beth Warren into the 2016
presidential race official-
ly kicked off Wednesday
evening in a Des Moines,
Iowa coffee shop, and the
campaign is at least a
quarter-million dollarsricher than it was just a
few hours earlier. Three
liberal groups involved in
the effort to push Warren
to run joined together for
the launch event in the
key presidential state, in-
cluding MoveOn.org,
which threw its supportbehind the effort last
week; the super PAC
Ready for Warren; andDemocracy for America
(DFA), which grew out of
Howard Deans 2004
presidential campaign, reports NPR.
DFA said last week that it intended to join
the pro-Warren campaign, but wanted ap-
proval from its members first. The members
have now spoken, and a whopping 87.6% said
the group should move ahead with the plan to
draft Warren, presumably
to run against likely Dem-ocratic frontrunner
Hillary Clinton. The
group said it is is going
all in on the Warren ef-
fort, and committed
$250,000 to the campaign
Wednesday.
Move On pledged $1million last week. Our
job is to make the grass-
roots Run Warren Run
movement so loud
thatshe feels the need
to answer her nations call
to serve. And thats exact-
ly what were going to do
together, said AnnieWeinberg, Democracy for
Americas electoral direc-
tor. The groups will worktogether to open offices in
key states like Iowa and
New Hampshire, recruit
volunteers, find small-dollar donors and create
ads to promote the draft campaign. Dean is
supporting Clinton in the 2016 race, even
though the organization built from his cam-
paign and run by his brother supports
Warren.
Left leaning Dems are salivatingat the prospect of a presidentialrun by Senator Elizabeth Warren,which will, at the minimum, shake
up the inevitable candidateHillary Clinton.
Effort to draft Warrenfor 2016 kicks off
9December 20-26, 2014TheSouthAsianTimes.info US AFFAIRS
Race to 2016
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10 December 20-26, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.infoINDIA
New Delhi: The uproar over reported reli-
gious conversion and comments by members
from the ruling BJP continued to rock the
Rajya Sabha this week, forcing several
adjournments and stalling proceedings.The government, however, managed to
introduce in the house a bill to make stringent
laws on hijacking, even as opposition mem-
bers raised slogans.
The upper house, where the government is
in minority, earlier lost nearly five days of
government business over a row on minister
Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti's comments, and is lag-
ging far behind the Lok Sabha in transacting
government business.
The session had just four working days left.
Congress leader Anand Sharma made it
clear that the party will not let the house func-
tion unless Prime Minister Narendra Modi
comes.
The opposition was also upset that the prime
minister made a comment on the issue at ameeting of the BJP's parliamentary board, but
did not come to the house.
"Does the prime minister need a visa to
come to this house?" asked Trinamool
Congress member Derek O'Brien.
Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi called the comment
"unacceptable".
Congress leader Digvijaya Singh said:
"When the prime minister is in parliament,why not accept the opposition's demand and
come to the house?"
The house saw repeated adjournments and
angry exchanges, as both the ruling and the
opposition parties blamed each other for the
disruptions.
Chairman Hamid Ansari suspended
Congress member V. Hanumantha Rao for the
day as he went up to his podium and raised
slogans.
Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M)
leader Sitaram Yechury also raised the issue,
saying he wanted to raise a "point of disor-
der". Anand Sharma complained that the
opposition members were not being allowed
to speak.
As opposition members raised the pitchdemanding Modi's presence, treasury benches
members too added to the din.
Outside the house as well, the government
and the opposition blamed each other for the
disruptions.
New Delhi: Prime Minister
Nar endra Mod i aga in war ned
BJP MPs against crossing the
"Lakshman Rekha" (limits) by
making controversial statements,
party sources said.
In his speech at the BJP parlia-
mentary party meeting, Modi
said that the party will not allow
any deviation from government's
development and good gover-
nance agenda.
On party membership, he said
that every booth in the country should have at
least 10 primary members and party activities
should be given utmost priority.
According to sources, Modi also said that
development work undertaken by the party's
MPs must be "visible and not just on paper"
and the government's work and performance
in parliament should reach peo-
ple. "Our party agenda is devel-
opment and good governance
and we should not dither from it.
We will not allow dilution or
deviation from our commit-
ment," he said.
The sources said that the ruling
par ty fee ls tha t con tro ver sia l
comments were "derailing the
development agenda" of the gov-
ernment and is uniting the oppo-
sition against it. This is the sec-
ond time the prime minister has warned MPs
against making communal remarks in the
meeting of parliamentary party, held every
Tuesday.
Earlier, following controversial comments
by minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Modi had
cautioned MPs to avoid such comments.
Lucknow: The Vishwa Hindu Parishad
(VHP) announced its plan to organize a 'Ghar
Wapasi' (home coming) program in Rae
Bareli, Congress president Sonia Gandhi's
parliamentary constituency.
VHP's Rae Bareli district unit chief Harish
Chandra Sharma said the saffron group has
identified 60 families who were ready for
'home coming'. There was no allurement orcoercion in the process, Sharma added.
He also said some "pseudo-secular" parties
and politicians were trying to give "ghar
wapasi" a communal colour though it was a
simple and consistent work done by the VHP
and its affiliates.
The VHP leader said the group plans to con-
duct "ghar wapasi" of about 100 families and
as soon as this target is met, a date would be
announced for the re-conversion to Hinduism.
The district administration, however, said
the state government has made it clear that
such events cannot be allowed. "So far, we are
not aware of any such move, in case some-thing comes to our notice, we will act," a dis-
trict official told IANS.Saffron organizations
in the past few days have intensified their the
"home coming" program, specially after a suc-
cessful mass conversion in Agra.
Lucknow: India'a most authentic,
biggest, trusted and sustained con-
nect for the Hindu devout with its
rich past of religious literature is
faced with a strike and indefinite
closure. Headquartered in easternUttar Pradesh and publishing reli-
gious works since 1923, the Gita
Press has shut down indefinitely
owing to labor unrest.
The indefinite closure comes at a
time when Prime Minister
Narendra Modi has been gift ing
the Gita to foreign leaders and
External Affairs Minister Sushma
Swaraj has pitched for declaring it
a "national scripture".
Gita Press, a unit of Gobind
Bhawan Karyalaya registered
under the Societies Registration
Act of 1860 (presently governed
by the West Bengal Societies Act,
1960) began as an initiative to"promote and spread the principles
of Sanatana Dharma, the Hindu
religion among the general public
by publishing the Gita, Ramayana,
Upanishads, Puranas, discourses
of eminent Saints and other char-
acter-building books and maga-
zines and marketing them at high-ly subsidized prices," a member of
the management told IANS,
speaking on condition of
anonymity.
Ruing the decision to close
down the press, located in
Gorakhpur district, the official
said three employees - VirendraSingh, Ram Jeevan Sharma and
Munivar Mishra - have also been
dismissed for instigating fellow
employees.
"Information about the dismissal
of these employees and of the
indefinite closure has been com-
municated to the district adminis-
tration, the police and the state's
labour department" the officialfurther informed.
Over the years, the institution
has made available more than 370
million copies of the Gita,
Ramayan, Bhagvat, Durga
Saptashati, Puranas, Upanishads,
Bhakta-Gathas and other charac-
ter-building books in Sanskrit,
Hindi, English, Gujarati, Tamil,
Marathi, Bangla, Oriya, Telugu,
Kannada, and other Indian region-
al languages at low cost.
"Kalyan" in Hindi, with 300,000
subscribers and "Kalyana-
Kalpataru" in English, the monthly
publications of the institution, are
counted among the country's mostsubscribed religious magazines
and are preserved for their rich
content.
Shrimad Bhagvad Gita in differ-
ent editions has sold nearly 115
million copies, Shri
Ramcharitamanas and other works
by Goswami Tuls idas 92.2 mil-
lion, Puranas, Upanishads and
ancient scriptures 22.7 million,small books especially for women
and children 105.5 million and
books on Bhakta-Gathas (biogra-
ph ie s of sa in ts ) an d Bhaj an s
(devotional songs) 124.4 million.
Overall, 582.5 million copies of
Gita Press publications have so far
come out.
An employee leader, while
point ing out that to go on strike
was a painful decision, accused
the management of being autocrat-
ic and indifferent to their
demands.
"We demanded a 10 percent hike
in our wages every year, 30 days
of paid leave and 20 percent houserent allowance," the leader said,
adding that the workers had struck
work in 1982 and the standoff con-
tinued for 44 days.
Conversion row stalls Upper House Don't cross 'Lakshman rekha',Modi tells party MPs
VHP to organise 'ghar wapasi' inSonia Gandhi's constituency
The oldest press printing Hindu religious books shuts shop
The Gita Press has shut down indefinitely owing to labor unrest.
Minister SadhviNiranjan Jyoti
Saffron organizations in the past few days have intensified their the home comingprogram in states after Agra, Uttar Pradesh.
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11December 20-26, 2014TheSouthAsianTimes.info INDIA
Government pushing bills without following norms: CongressNew Delhi: The Congress accused the government of pushing through bills without follow-
ing established norms.
Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said the government was
bringing in bills without discussing them in the business advisory committee.
The committee is headed by the speaker. "We have no issues with their passage but they
should have been discussed," he said. He said the government is bulldozing the bills on the
strength of its majority in the Lok Sabha it but should be respectful of procedures.
Kharge was supported by Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav and
Trinamool Congress' Saugata Roy. This prompted Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to assure the
leaders that she would look into the issue.
Chandigarh: The famous Sukhna Lake was
cordoned off after a sample from a dead duck
tested positive for the H5N1 (avian or bird flu)
virus.
Police and paramilitary personnel with
masks on their faces were stationed at the lake
complex since early Thursday to cordon off
the entire area.
Scores of morning walkers who throng to
the lake every day and other visitors were kept
away from the lake complex.
Police officials at the lake told IANS that
the complex would remain out of bounds for
all visitors for at least two to three days.
Wildlife and animal husbandry department
officials are likely to start culling of the ducks
and geese at the lake to curb an outbreak of
bird flu in the city.
Over 30 ducks and geese at the lake had
died under mysterious circumstances in recent
days. The Sukhna lake has nearly 250 ducks
and geese which are a star attraction for visi-
tors. The presence of the H5N1 virus was con-
firmed in a sample from one dead duck by the
Bhopal-based National Institute of High
Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD)
Wednesday.
Ducks and geese have been dying for thepast 10 days and officials initially thought the
deaths could be due to food poisoning or over-
feeding. "At present, there is no assessment
regarding any outbreak of bird flu in
Chandigarh. The situation is, however, being
very closely monitored," a spokesman of the
Chandigarh Administration said.
While claiming that there was "no alarm or
alert issued for the general public", the author-
ities ordered the lake area where the ducks and
geese reside to be fenced.
"The movement of the ducks and geese has
been restricted," the spokesman said.
"The public are requested not to panic and
cooperate with the administration," the
spokesman added.
The Sukhna Lake is in an upscale, high-
security area of Chandigarh - the joint capital
of Punjab and Haryana and a union territory.The residences of the Haryana and Punjab
Governors, senior officers and other influen-
tial people are located close to the lake
complex.
Chandigarh's Sukhna Lake cordoned off
Islamabad: India is
working with its mis-sion in Pakistan to pre-
pare a strong response
against granting of bail
to LeT commander
Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi,
one of the masterminds
of the 2008 terror
attack.
Within hours of an
Anti-Terrorism Court in
Rawalpindi granting
bail to Lakhvi, one the
seven Pakistani nation-
als accused of planning
and abetting the
Mumbai terror attacks,
sources said the govern-ment here started work-
ing along with its mis-
sion in Islamabad on a
strong response against the court verdict.
Lakhvi and six others had filed bail
applications even as lawyers were
observing a strike to condemn the terror-
ist attack on an army-run school in
Peshawar that left 148 people, mostly
children, dead.
The FIA (Federal Investigation
Agency) prosecutor
disagreed with the bailrequest, however,
advocate Rizwan
Abbasi, the lawyer rep-
resenting Lakhvi stood
before the court as the
bail was approved, the
Dawn reported.
The seven accused
Lakh vi , Ab du l
Wajid, Mazhar Iqbal,
Hamad Amin Sadiq,
Shahid Jameel Riaz,
Jamil Ahmed and
Younis Anjum are
facing trial at the
Adiala Jail in
Rawalpindi.Lakhvi, who was the
operational head of the
bann ed La sk ha r- e-
Taiba, was one of the key planners of the
Mumbai attack that killed 166 people.
His release from jail comes a day after
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
pledged to announce a "national plan" to
tackle terrorism within a week, saying
"this entire region" should be cleansed
of terrorism.
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Pak court grants bail toIndia's most wanted
New Delhi: The Supreme Court extended
the bail of former Tamil Nadu chief minister
J. Jayalalithaa by another four months as it
asked the Karnataka high court to decide on
her appeal challenging her conviction in dis-
pr op or ti on at e as se ts ca se wi th in th re e
months.
Noting that Jayalalithaa had complied with
its Oct 17 order of filing her appeal in the
high court along with all the documents, an
apex court bench headed by Chief Justice
H.L. Dattu asked the chief justice of the
Karnataka high court to constitute a special
bench that will hear the appeal on a day-to-
day basis and complete the hearing within
three months from Thursday.
Jayalalithaa has challenged her conviction
in the case along with three others by a
Bangalore court.
The apex court had granted bail toJayalalithaa and the three others Oct 17 on
the condition that she file her appeal along-
with all other accompanying documents
before the high court on or before Dec 18.
Appearing for Jayalalithaa, senior counsel
K.T.S. Tulsi told the court that all the papersrunning into 177 volumes have alrady been
filed before the high court.
Supreme Court extendsJayalalithaa's bail
LeT commander Zakiur
Rehman Lakhvi is one of themasterminds of the26/11 terror attack.
Former Tamil Nadu chief ministerJ. Jayalalithaa
Chandigarh's Sukhna Lake
Bird flu:
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12 December 20-26, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.infoINDIA
President, PM
congratulateISRO scientistsNew Delhi: President Pranab Mukherjee
and Prime Minister Narendra Modi con-
gratulated ISRO on the successful launch
of its heaviest rocket, GSLV-Mark III.
In a message to K. Radhakrishnan, chair-
man, Indian Space Research Organization
(ISRO), Mukherjee said: "Please accept
my heartiest congratulations to your team
and you at the Indian Space Research
Organization for the successful launch of
India's latest generation rocket-
Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle
(GSLV-Mark III), carrying the 'CrewModule Atmospheric Re-entry Experiment
(CARE)'."
He said the launch of GSLV-Mark III is
an "important landmark in our space pro-
gram and demonstrates, yet again, India's
growing capabilities in space launch tech-
nology".
"Kindly convey my greetings to the
members of your team of scientists, engi-
neers, technologists and all others
involved in this mission. I wish your
future endeavors continued success," he
added.
Congratulating the scientists, Modi in a
statement said: "Successful launch of
GSLV Mk-III is yet another triumph of
brilliance and hardwork of our scientists.Congrats to them for the efforts."
By Prakash Bhandari
Jaipur: Two sites in Rajasthan
have been selected by the
Ministry of Defences research
arm Defence Research and
Design Organisation (DRDO)
for installing radars to track
enemy missiles and storing
counter-attack projectiles.
The two locations will have
adequate stealth feature and pro-
tection against enemy sabotage.
Mumbai is one of the vital
metros in the country apart
from New Delhi that has been
chosen by the DRDO Ballistic
Missile Defence (BMD) System
that can be put in place at short
notice.
To ensure maximum protection
against air-borne threats, the
DRDO will put up a mix of
counter-attack missiles to shoot
down enemy missiles both with-in the earths atmosphere (endo-
atmospheric) and outside (exo-
atmospheric). The shield, devel-
oped by DRDO, has undergone a
series of successful tests. It can
destroy an incoming ballistic
missile with the range of up to
2,000 km.
The DRDO has chosen Khoa
in Alwar district and Roopnagar
in Pali district of Rajasthan for
installing radars that will protect
the two metros -Mumbai and
Delhi.
The BMD system will require
minimum human intervention
due to the complete automation
of tracking devices and counter-
measures. Human intervention
will be required only to abort the
mission, the sources said.
Two Rajasthan siteschosen to counter enemy
missiles
India, US experts meet onoperationalization civil n-deal
New Delhi: An India-US contact group on civil
nuclear cooperation that met here held detailed talks
on a range of issues towards implementation of the
civil nuclear accord, including on liability, technical
issues and licensing to facilitate setting up of US-
designed nuclear power plants in India.
The meeting of the contact group comes ahead of
the visit to India next month of US President Barack
Obama to attend the Republic Day parade.
The India-US nuclear deal of 2008 has been stuck
due to India's liability laws.
"The contact group was established pursuant to the
decision of the Indian prime minister and the US
president as articulated in the joint statement of Sep
30, 2014 during Prime Minister Modi's visit to the
US, with a view to advance the implementation of
the India-US civil nuclear cooperation," said a state-
ment.
"As mandated by the two leaders, the contact
group, which comprised relevant experts from both
sides, held detailed discussions on a range of imple-
mentation issues, including administrative issues,
liability, technical issues and licensing to facilitate
the establishment of US-designed nuclear powerplants in India.
"The discussions were positive and forward-look-
ing and included representatives of nuclear indus-
tries from both sides - the Nuclear Power
Corporation of India (NPCIL) from the Indian side
and Westinghouse and GE-Hitachi from the US
side," it said..
Sriharikota (Andhra Prade
