43 Vol4 Epaper

India-State Polls 12
Bollywood 16
Travel 27
Spiritual Awareness 30
NEW YORK EDITION

Vol.4 No.43 February 18-24, 2012 60 Cents
Amartya Sen conferred National Humanities Medal A legend passes on, legacy will live forever US Affairs, Page 11
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South Asian designers wow New York Fashion Week Fashion, Page 15
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Priyanka Gandhi: Insider as Outsider Op Ed, Page 20
An Asian American sports star is born

Jeremy Lins sudden, spectacular rise as he plays lead role in New York Knicks seven wins in a row.
By Parveen Chopra New York: Till a fortnight ago, youd have never heard of Jeremy Lin. Today he is Linsanity sweeping the nation, with an admirer in the occupant of White House, himself a basketball player. And people a world away, in China and Taiwan, waking up early to catch his games. The 23-year-old Harvard graduate and Knicks point guard is the first US-born player of Taiwanese and Chinese heritage to dazzle the NBA. He averaged 23.3 points and 7.4 assists in leading the Knicks to six triumphs in a row, five of them when New York was without top stars Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony. The peak of Lin-mania perhaps came Tuesday night in Toronto, when he drained a dramatic game-winning 3-pointer (shooting a basket from over 20 feet) in the last seconds of the game to stun the Raptors. On Wednesday, in Knicks seventh straight victory he had only 10 points on six shots, but gave a career-high 13 assists Continued on page 4
US, Kabul in three-way talks with Taliban: Karzai

Islamabad: The Afghan president appealed for Pakistan's help Thursday in negotiating a peace deal with Taliban militants ahead of a summit that will also include the leader of Iran. The meetings in Islamabad come at a time when momentum for peace talks with the Taliban seems to be growing. Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai told The Wall Street Journal that talks among his government, the US and the Taliban had taken place in the past month - a significant development because till now the Taliban had said they would only negotiate with the Americans. Karzai insisted the Taliban was committed to reaching a peace settlement. The negotiations follow a recent Taliban decision to open a diplomatic office in Qatar, which paved the way for preliminary talks with the US. The talks also come amid efforts by the Obama administration to wind down the dacade old American war in Afghanistan and begin withdrawing troops. Karzai, who arrived in Pakistan today, indicated Islamabad's cooperation would be crucial in securing a peace deal with the Taliban. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid, however, denied Karzai's comments, saying "the Taliban did not talk with the Kabul government anywhere." The Taliban leadership is widely believed to be based in Pakistan, and under some influence of the Continued on page 4
Iran-Israel covert war a challenge for India

New Delhi: America is pushing India to support international sanctions against Israel and stop buying oil from that country, which India can ill afford. India also had to play a neutral role when an Israeli diplomats car was attacked in the heart of New Delhi. Now again India is in a spot as Israel has asked New Delhi to help sponsor a resolution against Iran in the United Nations Security Council condemning Mondays attack in Delhi, as well as the incidents in Tblisi and Bangkok. Israels ambassador to India Alon Ushpiz raised the UNSC matter with External Affairs
China's Xi Jinping, Obama exchange polite warnings

Washington, DC: President Obama took direct aim at China's trade policies as Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping warned U.S. business leaders Wednesday that the US needs to respect Beijing's core interests and concerns. During a visit with factory workers in Milwaukee, Obama said he won't stand by when competitors, such as China, "don't play by the rules." "It's not fair when foreign manufacturers have a leg up on ours only because they're heavily subsidized," Obama said. "That's why I directed my administration to create a Trade Enforcement Unit with one job: investigating unfair trade practices in countries like China." Continued on page 4
The Israeli embassy car that was attacked in Delhi, injuring a diplomats wife. Minister S.M. Krishna on Thursday after Tel Aviv filed a formal complaint against Iran to the UN Secretary General Ban kiMoon. India, which is also a Continued on page 4
Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping and President Obama at their meeting in Oval Office of the White House.
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February 18-24, 2012
Minister Maken envisions great future for Indian sport

By Ashok Ojha/SATimes New York: Ajay Maken, Indias youthful Minister for Sports, is hopeful of Indian sportsmen winning more medals at the forthcoming London Olympics than they won in Beijing. We are spending millions of dollars in coaching and foreign exposure for our athletes who will definitely make spectacular performances at London Olympics, he said at a reception organized by the Indian ConsulGeneral in New York, Ambassador Prabhu Dayal. Maken projected a big contingent of Indian sportspersons to qualify for the London Olympics. Currently our sportsmen and women are visiting a number of countries on exposure trips, he preparations and we are hopeful of good results. Amb. Dayal, who hosted the reception in the ministers honor, said Maken was a bright, front ranking leader of India who was determined to give a boost to sports in the country. Dayal surprised all by asking Sanjay Sadana, a member of Advisory Board of the Governor of Ohio, a long time friend of Maken, to introduce the minister. Another surprise guest of the evening was Indias former tennis champion Vijay Amritraj, who praised Maken for his downto-earth working style. Amritraj expressed his confidence in the able leadership of Maken for giving a new look to Indias sports arena. In his address, Maken said that he was committed to introduce sports as an essential part of school curriculum in India. I have approached the Education Minister with the proposal to include sports as an essential part of school curriculum in the country. It should be made a part of the right to education for the countrymen, he declared. He said that athletic activities in all middle schools in the country should be made mandatory. Every middle school in India must have a playground attached to it, without which the government shouldnt extend its recognition to that school, he commented. Maken added that Government of India was planning to spend a huge sum on promoting sports activities in rural India.
Sanjay Sadana, advisor to Ohios Governor and a long time friend of Indias Sports Minister Ajay Maken (left), was a surprise guest at a reception hosted by the Consul-General of India in New York. (Photo by Ashok Ojha) said adding that the Government trips indicating that heavy expenswas bearing the expenses for those es were made for the Olympic
Fund-raiser for John Liu indicted

New York: A federal grand jury has indicted a top fund-raiser for the John C. Liu, on charges that he helped illegally direct thousands of dollars into the City Comptrollers campaign account. The indictment against Xing Wu Pan, a New Jersey real estate developer known as Oliver, keeps to the original criminal complaint filed in November. But the indictment did signify that the charges against Mr. Pan one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of attempting to commit wire fraud, which carry a maximum sentence of 20 years had passed the next legal hurdle. It also suggested that, contrary to speculation, no plea deal appeared to be imminent. Mr. Liu is not accused of any wrongdoing. He has also indicated that his office is cooperating with federal authorities. Still, the timing of the indictment was hardly ideal for Liu, a possible candidate for mayor in
NYC Comptroller John Liu

2013. He is scheduled to deliver a State of the City address on Thursday something no city comptroller has ever done in what NY Time quoted some observers as saying is an attempt to project an image of on-the-job focus. Mr. Liu, a popular Democrat from Flushing, Queens, has been on the defensive ever since The New York Times raised questions in an investigation in October about whether he relied on fictitious donors, among other possible violations, as part of his aggressive fund-raising efforts.
Nassau County Film Advisory Board members meet County Executive Ed Mangano at the Ceremonial Chamber at the Theodore Roosevelt Courthouse to discuss ways to increase the motion picture filming presence in Nassau County. Nassau County has had a number of films produced and shot here, which adds greatly to the local economy. (Photo: Michael Tamborrino.)
No more pesky unsolicited calls

Washington: The nuisance value of "Robocalls," those unsolicited, mechanical voice phone calls that are most irritating, may be about to end. Every night at dinnertime, marketers rev up their computers and dial countless numbers, ringing phones all over America. But now, after thousands of complaints, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is making it mandatory for companies to get your expressed, written consent before they "robocall" or text you. "Consumers who don't mind getting these calls can still get them," Julius Genachowski, the chairman of the FCC, said. "Those who don't want them don't have to." However, there are still some loopholes. Nonprofit groups like your kid's school or your local church can still "robocall" you. So can politicians and pollsters. Also, if companies want to go old school, they can still have real human beings call you. The good news is, now anyone who "robocalls" you will have to give you an opportunity to opt-out of all future calls within the first two seconds of the call. "It's like putting up a dam against a huge wave," said Chris Morran of Consumerist.com. The government acknowledges this, but insists that today they struck a big blow against marketers, making dinner time in America much saner.
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Star India Plus contest to win trip to attend Star Parivaar Awards in Mumbai
New York: Star India Plus is holding a contest for the Star Parivaar Awards, happening on March 9th 2012. The popular channel will fly a lucky winner to India to attend the awards show, live. Viewers from the US can vote for their favorite international Jodi (on-screen couple), and the selected winner and a companion will win an all expenses paid trip to India to attend the Star Parivaar Awards 2012. Nominees for Asian American sports star Story Continued from page 1 Here is, staccato style, catching up with the dizzying rise and exploding craze over Lin. * Lin is on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazines Feb 20 issue. Terry McDonell, editor of the Sports Illustrated Group said, Jeremy Lin has done more in these past five games to captivate a fan base than favorite couple are Arnav & Khushi (Is Pyar ko kya Naam Doon), Suraj & Sandhya (Diya Aur Baati), Ahem & Gopi (Saathiya), Virat & Maanvi (Ek Hasaaroon Mein Meri Behna Hai), and Akshara & Naitik (Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai). The contest will run from February 17-26; visit the website for more details: http://www.startv.com/internationaljodi/. any player in NBA history - and not just with his historic statistics," he said. Look at whats going on in this city." * Jeremy Lin will play in NBAs Rising Stars Challenge. He was added Thursday to the roster of players for the Feb. 24 game at AllStar Weekend in Orlando. He has also been invited to play a role in the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest. * Mike Bair, president of MSG (Madison Square Garden ) Media, has seen Knicks viewership jump 70 percent since Lins impact began with a 550 percent increase in website hits. Ticket resale prices at Madison Square Garden have skyrocketed due to Lin. It does not help that a spat between Time Warner cable and Knicks telecasters MSG has kept Knicks games off TV screens in much of New York. * Madison Square Garden Inc., the company that owns the Knicks, the Garden in Manhattan and the namesake sports network, has seen its stock surge 9 percent since Lin began his heroics Feb. 4. * The Knicks have scrambled to
Sahara India back as Team India sponsor

Mumbai: Sahara India was Thursday back as cricket Team India sponsor and the owner of Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Pune Warriors after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) agreed to most of its demands. Sahara, sponsors for last 11 years, had decided to sever all its ties with the BCCI earlier this month citing denial of "natural justice". The last straw that split the relationship was BCCI's refusal to allow ailing cricketer Yuvraj Singh's price to be added to Pune Warriors' auction purse after the southpaw was ruled out of the tournament with a lung tumor. start selling replicas of Lin's No. 17 jerseys and T-shirts, Sporting goods stores are having trouble keeping Lins No. 17 jerseys in stock. * Some of the puns that have sprung around Lin-sanity (pleasing tabloid headline writers), giving many a lesson in Lin-guistics: Linspiring, Lincredible, Lin your face. One girl among the spectators held a placard: Jeremy, Be my VaLintine. If you want to catch the Lin magic, on Friday Knicks are likely to defeat the lowly New Orleans Hornets at home. On Sunday they play Dallas. Taliban talks Story Continued from page 1 country's security establishment. Iran, which also neighbors Afghanistan and Pakistan, is also important to the future stability of Afghanistan. In the past, it supported campaigns against the Taliban, a radical Sunni Muslim group opposed to the Shiites who make up a majority of Iran's population. But some reports have suggested Tehran
Late News
After 12 days of intense negotiations, the two parties issued a joint statement here signed by BCCI president N. Srinivasan and Sahara India managing director Subrata Roy. "Sahara confirms that it will continue sponsorship of the Indian - Washington's archenemy - also has supported the Taliban against US troops. Xi Jinping Obama Story Continued from page 1 The president's comments came as Xi completed the second day of his high-profile U.S. tour. Xi, who is to take over as head of the Communist Party this fall and ascend to the presidency next spring, urged America to reject bids by Taiwan and Tibet for independence, and outlined areas where Beijing and Washington could work together. "We should further use bilateral and multilateral mechanisms to enhance coordination between China and the United States on hotspots, including developments on the Korean peninsula and the Iran nuclear issue," he said. Iran-Israel covert war Story Continued from page 1 UNSC member, has conveyed it will look into the matter. New Delhi is not prepared to be part of any resolution which names Iran
team. Sahara may want to exercise its right to assign the sponsorship as per the agreement," the statement said.The BCCI agreed to extend the trading window, which was due to close Friday, until Feb 29 to give Pune Warriors India the opportunity to have successful negotiations with other franchisees as it looks to strengthen its squad. Sahara bought the IPL franchise Pune Warriors for Rs.1,702 crore, making it the most expensive franchise in the Twenty20 league. In all, the BCCI stood to lose around Rs.2,234 crore as a result of the Sahara pullout decision. without specific evidence corroborating these allegations. An Israeli forensics team joined Indian investigators Thursday to collate material evidence in the car attack. South Block feels that despite the statements from Bangkok, there is no clinching evidence against Iran yet. India does not want to get drawn into what it sees as a fight between Israel and Iran. Israel is rumored to be behind the killing of at least five of Irans nuclear scientists and unleashing the Stuxnet virus to slow Irans nuclear plans. Amid renewed pressure on Iran over its nuclear program and the Israeli allegation about Iran's complicity in the New Delhi attack, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said in Islamabad that trade between New Delhi and Tehran is unlikely to be affected. India is Iran's largest customer of crude oil, so it cannot cut off ties with the Iranian regime quickly. Saudi Arabia is understood to have offered India to hike its export of oil to make up for the shortfall from Iran. India has not responded to the offer.
Jeremy Lin made the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine, Feb 20 issue.
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Saibaba temple to celebrate Shivratri

New York: The Saibaba temple on Robinson Street in the Flushing section of Queens is organizing a special event this weekend on the occasion of Shivratri. The event, a culmination of celebrations that began on February 12, will conclude with the long weekend marking the Presidents Day. There will be a four-phase "abhsishekam" on Shivratri (February 19) and other forms of worship to Lord Shiva, including Panchakshara Mantra Japa, according to information available from the temple. Up to 200 devotees visit the temple on the occasion, many during the night. It is expected that the temple will attract more devotees this year in view of the long weekend. The newly built temple on the current premises was inaugurat-
Dr Neeraj Kohli part of Oscar nominated documentary crew

With two physician colleagues underwrote/produced movie titled Undefeated
New York: Neeraj Kohli is a practicing physician-surgeon affiliated with Brigham and Women's Hospital. Although a well-known physician, he is an entrepreneur at heart. About two years ago, he had the opportunity to invest/produce in a documentary idea about an underprivileged high school football team who never had a winning season. Prior to signing on to do the project, there was some hope that the team would have a positive season. He and two of his physician colleagues underwrote/produced the movie. Little did they know what lay in front of them. The documentary "Undefeated" was filmed and the story turned out beyond their wildest dreams. The documentary was shown at the SXSW Film Festival in March 2011 and immediately picked up by the Weinstein Company. Although it has not yet been released (official release date is February 17-this Fri), the picture made to the critics promote the documentary prior to the release on Feb 17 and the Oscars on Feb 26. Set against the backdrop of an American football season, Undefeated is a coming-of-age vrit film centering on three underprivileged student-athletes from inner-city Memphis and an unexpected volunteer coach who struggles to provide them with the discipline, resources and inspiration they'll need to not only overcome their bleak surroundings, but also to win the first playoff game in the high school's 110-year history. It is directed by Dan Lindsay and TJ Martin And produced by Rich Middlemas, Dan Lindsay, Nigel Sinclair, Seth Gordon, Ed Cunningham, Ralph Zipper, Glen Zipper, Neeraj Kohli, Paolo Coppola Kohli lives in Natick, MA with his wife, 4-year-old daughter, and 2-year-old twins.
ed nearly two years ago. Both in 2010 and 2011, similar programs were held. Annadaanam and bhajans will form part of the event. The temple conducts aarti for Saibaba four times daily at--8.30, 12.30, 6.30 and 8.30--and prasaad is available in the basement dining area. On Saturdays, when a discussion and paaraayan of the Bhagavad-Gita are conducted, prasaad and tea are available throughout the day. During special events like Shivratri, prasaad is available throughout much of the time.
A poster of the documentary. Neeraj Kohli (inset). choice award nomination list and is now one of five final nominees in the Best Documentary category for the Academy Awards. Since then, Sean "Diddy" Combs has signed on as an executive producer appeared on The Ellen Show on Thursday to
IALI celebrates Valentines day with fanfare
L to R: Ashok Kumar, owner of Copper Wok, North Hempstead Supervisor Jon Kaiman, Kamlesh Mehta, Director, Nassau Countys Business & Economic Development department and Sukhwinder Ranu, new President of IALI
IALI members on the stage picture. All the past presidents were invited to the podium for a cake cutting ceremony. Chief Guest Jon Kaiman congratulated president Dr. Ranu and executive council members of India Association of Long Island for organizing a beautiful event and stated that he always love to come to all the events organized by IALI. He further commended the contributions made by Indians in the local area. He asked everyone present to raise the champagne toast for their loved ones. Second part of the entertainment started with an interesting competition arranged by cultural committee team of Indu Gajwani and Gunjan Rastogi with a theme of love among ten chosen couples. Audience enjoyed the couple performances and voted to pick up three best couples. Another round of Las Vegas style extravaganza performance was loved by all. The guests enjoyed the time at the dance floor
L to R: Ashok Kumar, owner of Copper Wok, Kamlesh Mehta, Director, Nassau Countys Business & Economic Development department, North Hempstead Supervisor Jon Kaiman, and Sukhwinder Ranu, new President of IALI and others.
New York: India Association of Long Island celebrated Valentine Dinner and Dance event on February 12, 2012 with great fanfare at Long Island Marriott Hotel, Uniondale, NY. Members of the current executive council, past presidents and other community and business leaders graced the occasion with great enthusiasm. Town of North Hempstead supervisor Jon Kaiman was the chief guest. The whole venue was very nicely decorated. The guests enjoyed wide variety of appetizers during cocktail hour. The main event started with scintillating Bollywood style performance. The president Dr. Sukhvinder Ranu thanked all the dignitaries, past presidents and guests attending the event for showing overwhelming support to make this event a great success. He applauded the role of executive council member for their hard work and introduced them to the audience followed by a group
for extended period of time. Delicious food provided by Copper-Wok made people to have multiple servings. The winners of the competition received nice prizes sponsored by Mr. and Mrs. Kambhapaty. Wide range of raffle prizes included free night stay at Marriott with complimentary breakfast, two American Express gift cards at a value of $100 each, I Pod Touch, a Kindle, DVD/VCR combo, dinner for two sponsored my many local restaurants, gift certificate from Rose Boutique, grocery coupon from APNA bazar and free facials and cosmetic baskets from Mehak and Herbal Destination. Overall Valentine Dinner and Dance event was great success with lots of fun, great food, emcee, games and raffle prizes. In the end president Dr. Ranu thanked all the sponsors and everyone present for their support and congratulated executive council again to make this event a memorable.
Fareed Zakaria honored with 2012 Justice in Action Awards

New York: CNN Host Fareed Zakaria, Yale Law School Professor Jean Koh Peters, and Parkin Lee of The Rockefeller Group were honored with the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund's (AALDEF) 2012 Justice in Action Awards on February 8, 2012. Juju Chang, Emmy Award-winning correspondent for ABC News Nightline, and Sree Sreenivasan, Dean of Student Affairs and digital media professor at Columbia Journalism School, were the coemcees for the banquet, with Daily Show correspondent, actor, and master of satire Aasif Mandvi as the special guest. Chang and Sreenivasan, both long time supporters of AALDEF, began by sharing their highlights of the past year, from Chang's interviews with celebrities like Celine Dion to Sreenivasan's ambush by rightwing activist James O'Keefe. Over 800 leaders in civil rights, law, business, and the arts attended the ceremony at Pier Sixty in New So in the Year of the Dragon, we have our work cut out for us." The power of the immigrant experience in the United States was a theme throughout all three acceptance speeches. "We are creating the first universal nation," said honoree Fareed Zakaria. "Ten years before I became a citizen, I began using the word 'we' to describe the United States. There isn't a country like this where people from all over the world come and are entirely included in the process." The night ended with Aasif Mandvi's hilarious and deeply politically incorrect stand-up. "I thought they were filming this portion of the show for Comedy Central, but really it's for the NYPD," he began. Mandvi added, "AALDEF is at the forefront of fighting for the rights of Muslim Americans. If you believe that all Americans should live in a free and equal society - and I can't imagine why you would - then please support the organization."
Padma Lakshmi to host 2nd Varli Food Festival

New York : After a tremendously successful event in 2011, the Varli Food Festival returns for a second year with Varli magazine brings another gathering of the Masters of Indian Cuisine on April 4-5 at the 2nd annual Varli Food Festival and Varli Cook Off in New York City. Emmynominated television host Padma Lakshmi will host the event. The Metropolitan Pavilion will open its door to the exquisite flavors of India featuring over 60 fine Indian restaurants and 20 Award Winning Celebrity Chefs, from US, Canada, UK and India. A new introduction by the Varli Magazine is a Live Cooking competition between aspiring chefs at the first Varli Cook Off. Chefs Kunal Kapur, Prasad Chirnomula and restaurateur Rajesh Bhardwaj, will be joined by internationally acclaimed Master Chef Sanjeev Kapoor, to be the official judges of the Varli Cook Off.
Fareed Zakaria receives his award from Ayaz Shaikh York City. Among the guests were past Justice in Action Award recipients including actor BD Wong, AB Cruz III, Harold Koh, Sandra Leung, and Don Liu. Elected officials and judges were also part of the crowd, including New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, U.S. Circuit Judge Denny Chin, and Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. AALDEF Executive Director Margaret Fung wished the audience a happy lunar new year and reminded them of the necessity of their support. "There are reports of the NYPD's targeting of Muslims and South Asians under the guise of national security," said Fung. "Just this week, the Superbowl featured a racist political ad by Republican candidate Pete Hoekstra mocking Chinese people.
Shabana Azmi to attend March 22 AmeriCares NY Gallery event

Stamford, Conn. : to bid on artwork by Shabana Azmi will be prominent Indian artists the Special Guest of such as M.F. Husain and Honor at a March 22 Owais Husain donated fundraiser and art aucby Aicon Gallery. tion benefiting Aroon Shivdasani, AmeriCares humanitariexecutive director of the an aid programs in Indo-American Arts India. The famed Council, who participatactress and activist, who ed in the 1993 aid miswas recently honored sion with Shabana with Indias prestigious Azmi, will also attend. Padma Bhushan award, Acclaimed chef Hemant first became involved Mathur of the Michelinwith the global health starred Indian restaurant and disaster relief Tulsi in Midtown is organization nearly 20 catering the event. years ago helping delivThe AmeriCares India er aid to Latur and Foundation responds to Shabana Azmi Osmanabad following emergency medical the 1993 earthquake. needs and supports long-term humanitariThe Daily Show with Jon Stewart an assistance programs in India and correspondent and comedian Aasif throughout the region. Last year, Mandvi will serve as celebrity auctioneer AmeriCares India delivered $1.4 million during the event, A Celebration of Indian worth of free medical assistance in 20 Art & Humanity, at the Aicon Gallery, 35 Indian states, including free health care in Great Jones St., in New York Citys East the Mumbai slums and medical camps for Village. Guests will have the opportunity disaster survivors.
SAB TV to launch primetime fiction, I Love My India
New York : SAB TV joins forces with Tony & Deeya Singh from DJs to present a heartwarming show I Love My India. The show depicts the Sethi family although the family resides in London; their heart is still nostalgic for their motherland. Therefore the family then decides to fulfill the homesick feeling by moving back to India. The show will premiere on February 20th and will be aired every Mon-Friday at 8 pm on SAB TV. Produced & directed by Tony & Deeya Singh I Love My India is a family comedy show; the show is based on the portrayal of a new culture trying to adjust to the way of life in India. The story is about Premnath (Arun Bali) and Deep (Himani Shivpuri) Sethi, an NRI family who are deeply connected to their
roots. The family desires that their children and grandchildren imbibe Indian culture, values, and traditions. Once the family returns to India, the trials and tribulations that the family face to adjust to their home country is brilliantly depicted. I Love My India has some prominent artists like Arun Bali, Himan Shivpuri, Imran Khan, Indresh Malik, Ayaz Ahmed etc. Jaideep Janakiram, SVP International Business-Head of North America stated, I Love My India will touch many NRI hearts with its patriotic flavored comedy. Indians living abroad try very hard to preserve their traditions and cultural values, they can easily relate to these fun-filled experiences that can potentially unveil on a visit to India.
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No UN status for Fai's Kashmir American Council

Washington, DC: A United Nations body has declined to accord special consultative status to the organization of Kashmiri separatist Ghulam Nabi Fai, who has been arrested and charged for illegal lobbying for Pakistan. The Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations, entrusted with the task of granting special consultative status to nongovernmental organizations has removed the more than decade-old accreditation application of Kashmir American Council (KAC) headed by Fai. Currently chaired by Maria Tzotzorkova of Bulgaria, the committee in its meeting held this week at the UN headquarters in New York decided to remove the KAC application seeking consultative status with the United Nations, which dates back to 1999, after Fai's organization failed to respond to its questions and also the three reminders send to it. While UN officials did not say what were the questions asked to the KAC, diplomatic sources familiar with the issue said it was asked about its source of funding. Indian officials had raised objections to the application every time it came up for review. Founded in 1990 by Fai, who was arrested last year on charges of receiving illegal money from the Inter-Services Intelligence of Pakistan and accused by the FBI of illegally working for them, KAC in 1999 applied to the Committee on Non-Governmental
Amartya Sen conferred Humanities Medal

Washington, DC: Amartya Sen, Indian economist and 1998 Nobel Prize winner in economics, has been felicitated with the National Medals of Arts and Humanities award by the US President Barack Obama at a glittering White House function. "We even have an economist, which we don't always get on stage," Obama said referring to 78-year-old Sen, before he presented the 2011 National Medal of Arts and National Humanities. "Sen is being awarded the 2011 National Humanities Medal for his insights into the causes of poverty, famine, and injustice. By applying philosophical thinking to questions of policy, he has changed how standards of living are measured and increased our understanding of how to fight hunger," said the citation, read by a military aid of the US President. Few minutes later, Sen was on the stage to receive
Ghulam Nabi Fai has been charged for illegal lobbying for Pakistan Organizations to get a consultative status with the world body. In its application in 1999, KAC described itself as a US-based national organization whose chief aim is international education and promotion of principles of human rights and human dignity, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, self-determination and fundamental freedoms for all, irrespective of race, religion, language or sexual preference. Officials pointed out that several times in the past, the application of KAC was on the verge of being kicked out of the Committee, for the reason of not responding to questions and repeated reminders. But all these years KAC managed to keep its application alive, by submitting its response only at the last minute.
Economist and Nobel laureate Amartya Sen with President Obama the medal from Obama, the Pacino, Emily Rauh two Nobel Laureate were Pulitzer, Martin Puryear, seen chatting on some Mel Tillis, United Service issues. Nothing was audible Organization and Andr though. Sen also attended Watts. the White House reception And the 2011 National hosted by President Obama Humanities Medal were on this occasion. The First given to Kwame Anthony Lady, Michelle also attend- Appiah, John Ashbery, ed the awards ceremony. Robert Darnton, Andrew The 2011 National Medal Delbanco, National History of Arts were also awarded to Day, Charles Rosen sand Will Barnet, Rita Dove, Al Teofilo Ruiz besides Sen.
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton receiving Indias Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai at a meeting in Washington, DC on February 7, 2012. Also seen present at the meeting is Ambassador Nirupama Rao.
Obama proposes $2.2bn aid to Pakistan in 2013

Washington, DC: Unveiling its annual budget of USD 3.8 trillion that calls for tax hikes on the rich, the Obama administration on Monday proposed USD 2.4 billion in financial aid to Pakistan for the fiscal year 2013. Of this, USD 2.2 billion is in assistance to strengthen democratic and civil institutions that provide a bulwark against extremism and support joint security and counterterrorism efforts, including USD 800 million for the Pakistan Counter-insurgency Capability Fund, the State Department said soon after the White House sent the budgetary proposals to the Congress. In addition to this, the budget also proposes USD 197 million support to the US government's civilian presence, as well as programs for engagement with civil society, it said. In all, the budgetary proposals of President Barack Obama provides USD 8.2 billion for Overseas Contingency Operations to support the extraordinary and temporary costs of civilian- led programs and missions in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. The budgetary proposals are for the fiscal year 2013 beginning October 1, 2012 and this needs to be approved by both the chambers of the US Congress - the House of Representatives and the Senate - before it is implemented. Obama's budgetary proposals also include USD 4.6 billion for Afghanistan. This includes USD 2.5 billion in assistance for counterterrorism-related programs, economic growth, reconciliation and reintegration, and capacity building, as well as to support progress in governance, rule of law, counternarcotic, agriculture, health and education. USD 2.1 billion is proposed for supporting the expansion of the diplomatic and interagency presence, the extraordinary costs of security in a conflict zone, and public diplomacy programs to build long-lasting bridges with civil society.
NYU meet addresses global issues pertaining to South Asia

By Jinal Shah/SATimes New York: The fourth annual global South Asian conference held last week at New York University discussed burning issues on identity and justice pertaining to South Asia. The conference organized under the banner of New York Universitys South Asian Studies Program Initiative (SASPI) by under graduate students was attended by students, scholars, academicians, professionals, NGOs and others interested in the issues of the region. The theme of the conference was Investing in the future: Identity, Justice, and Progress. The morning session on human rights served as an update (from last conference) on the issues of human rights violation in south Asia. The identity part of the theme was addressed by speakers who spoke about the Anglo Indian identity crises and the new UID project that Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Speakers were mainly from academia especially from NYU, CUNY, Columbia, Yale apart from some distinguished speakers like Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asian director, Human Rights Watch. Of the many eminent speakers was history professor from CUNY, Manu Bhagavan, who spoke about his new book THE PEACEMAKERS: INDIA AND THE QUEST FOR ONE WORLD. The Peacemakers is the story of Indias quest to create a common destiny for all people across the world based on the concept of human rights, he said. Any conference about south Asia ends up being India specific, hence we have tried to keep it as diversified as possible. India itself doesnt make sense if you dont think of it in terms of its neighbors and how it fits in the global context of things and thats why it is global South Asia and we try to stick to it, said Neeha Mujib, an organizer of the conference. The daylong conference not only exposed students to issues pertaining to South Asia but also broadened their understanding of them in the global context. I am from India and my views on South Asia are very restricted to the region. The conference addressed so many issues, perspectives, said Sachin Bagvi, student at Stern School of Business. His views were echoed by Pragya Pandey, another student and conference coordinator. She added, The issue of identity is a very personal thing to me as an Indian American. The conference, attended by over 150 people, was concluded by Arun Ramamurthys quartet with a unique fusion of Carnatic and jazz music. The diasporic fusion of styles served as a synecdoche for the conference itself which is a platform to explore the mixing tensions, values and issues around living with a globalised south Asia, said Kasera.
Student organizers of NYU SASPI event. promises to give unique identity to those who are still struggling to get identity. And finally progress was an underlining theme of the entire conference. Every session from human rights to identity crisis discussed how agencies both public and private addressed these pressing issues, said Ashu Kasera, SASPI president. Issues ranging from identity crises post 9/11 terrorist attacks to drone attacks under war on terror to media coverage of suicide bombers and Baluchistanis and issues related to Maoists and LTTE were discussed by the panelists representing Pakistan, India,
San Diego Critics Circle nominates Geeta Citygirl
Akshaya Patra receives $400,000 grant from Caterpillar Foundation

Boston, MA: The Food-for-Education program of Akshaya Patra has received a new boost with a generous $441,264 grant from the Caterpillar Foundation to support Akshaya Patras school feeding program and the centralized kitchens in India. This is the second year Akshaya Patra is receiving a grant from the Caterpillar Foundation. This Caterpillar grant will be used to fund a briquette boiler for the kitchen in Gauwhati, Assam. As part of its efforts to institute environmentally friendly practices in all its operations, Akshaya Patra is replacing its dieselfueled boilers with briquette boilers. The briquettes are made of groundnut husk or rice bran and will not leave a carbon footprint. The funds will also be used for six oil tanks to store more than 2,000 gallons of oil at each of the six centralized kitchens in Bellary, Hubli, Baroda, Gandhinagar, Bangalore and Vrindavan. In addition to the two-ton steam boiler and the six oil tanks, the funds will be used to purchase kitchen equipment for midday meal preparation for 46,000 children in 434 schools at Puri in Orissa. After reaching its initial goal of feeding one million children each school day, Akshaya Patras next milestone is to serve five million children daily by 2020. Caterpillar Foundations vision is a world in which all peoples basic requirements - such as shelter, clean water, sanitation and reliable power - are fulfilled in a way that sustains our environment. Caterpillar plays an active role in many sustainability-focused initiatives and partners with like-minded organizations throughout the world to embrace the challenges and engage in the pursuit of bold business goals. Founded in 1952, the Caterpillar Foundation has contributed more than $500 million to help make sustainable progress possible around the world by providing program support in the areas of environmental sustainability, access to education and basic human needs. Akshaya Patra applauds the efforts of the Caterpillar Foundation to support programs addressing critical human needs, access to education, and economic empowerment in underserved communities. We are delighted to forge this partnership and assume collective responsibility to provide and help those in need, stated Madhu Sridhar, President and CEO of Akshaya Patra USA.
Geeta Citygirl New York: The San Diego Theatre Critics Circle has nominated Geeta Citygirl Chopra in the category of Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play, Female for her performances as Lopa in the Old Globe's production of Ayub Khan-Din's hit comedy play, RAFTA, RAFTA... Awards were presented Monday, February 6, 2012 at the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, CA. This was the only nomination given to anyone (cast/crew) associated with the play, RAFTA, RAFTA... produced in 2011 at The Old Globe in San Diego, CA. This was also the first nod given to someone of South Asian origin by the San Diego Critics Circle.
Sagar Mehta completes 82 km Ultra Marathon

New York: Sagar Pankaj Mehta, a 31-year old diamantaire from Seema Gems Inc in New York, successfully completed the gruelling 51.2 mile North Face Endurance Challenge on December 3, 2011. Sagar is the grandson of Sulochnabhen Mehta and son of Baiju and Pankaj Mehta. The Ultra Marathon trail race began in the Marine Headlands of San Francisco, USA at 5 am and Sagar took 13 hrs and 8 mins to cross the finish line. The trail covers more than 10,000 feet of vertical change. The official website of the event describes the course in this fashion, Situated in the visually stunning Marin Headlands just north of the city, The North Face Endurance Challenge Championship course has surprised runners with both its scenery and amount of elevation underprivileged children. Sagar says, I have always enjoyed running 10ks and like to push the limits. In 2009, I decided I would run a marathon. Long runs allow me to lower my stress levels, and feel better both physically and mentally. They have helped me change my life style into a healthier routine. What prompted him to take up this challenge? After running a few marathons, I wanted to push the limits again and decided to try a 50 km and a 51 mile race on trails. The trail races are what I enjoy most as it is relaxing to spend hours out in nature and the wilderness, he says. As there is no Indian charity affiliation with the Ultra Marathon, Sagar's parents will be making a donation to SPRJ Kanyashala Trust in Mumbai in honour of his achievement.
Sagar Mehta on the trail change. Participants are encouraged to train for repeated uphills and downhills of several hundred feet at a time. Sagar is an avid runner, having completed a 50 km Ultra Marathon race at Bear Mountain (NY) during May 2011. He has also run the ING NYC Marathon for the last three consecutive years. In 2011 he signed up with Lend-a-hand India in order to raise funds for
Don't look for skilled workers in India, China, Obama tells US companies
Washington, DC: President Barack Obama has said that he does not want US companies to look for skilled and educated workers in India and China in fields like engineering, technology and science. To prevent that, Obama said, he wants to give the school and teachers the resources they need to train and educated students in the US. "Employers today are looking for most skilled, educated workers. I don't want them to find them in India or China. I want businesses to find those workers right here in the US," Obama said after sending the annual budgetary proposals for the fiscal 2013 to the Congress. In his State of the Union address last month, Obama had said his administration would offer incentives to those firms which will create jobs in the country. "The skills and training that employers are looking for begins with the men and women who educate our children," he said while addressing at a community college in a suburb here. The president said he wants the Congress to give the schools the resources to keep good teachers on the job and reward the best. "In return, they also need to give schools the flexibility to stop just teaching to the test and replace teachers who aren't helping kids learn. That's something that we can do," he said, adding that the Congress needs to stop the interest rates on student loans from doubling this July. Now is not the time to make school more expensive for young people. And they can act right now to make that change. They also need to take the tuition tax credit that my administration put in the budget over these last few years -- a tax credit that saves families thousands of dollars on tuition -- and we need to make that permanent, he said. "It shouldn't be temporary; it should be permanent," he asserted.
President Barack Obama talks with Anand Srinivasan, 15, in the Blue Room, Feb. 7, 2012, during the second annual White House Science Fair celebrating student winners of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) competitions from across the country. Srinivasan, a sophomore from Roswell High School in Roswell, Ga., was a finalist in the Google Science Fair for his project, which examines the use of electroencephalography (EEG) and prosthetic technology to make a more functional artificial limb. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
SALDEF meets with FBI Director Mueller

Washington DC: Last week, SALDEF met with Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director, Robert S. Mueller III to discuss community concerns and encourage outreach to the Sikh American community. The meeting was convened by the FBI as part of their outreach to communities who have faced post 9/11 challenges. Leaders of prominent civil rights groups including Interfaith Alliance, Muslim Public Affairs Council and the Anti-Arab Discrimination Committee were also in attendance. Jasjit Singh, SALDEF Associate Executive Director, spoke to Director Mueller specifically about the importance of creating a unique category to specifically identify hate crimes against Sikhs, improving training efforts for the FBI and increasing dialogue with the Bureau. Additionally, Singh cited concern over a story from Des Moines, Iowa where a Sikh Immigrant was used as an informant at Muslim mosques for seven years. Our relationship with the Bureau has historically been positive, but it is fragile and tactics like this jeopardize our partnership, Mr. Singh said at the meeting. SALDEF also proposed the adoption and formalization of Sikh American Cultural Awareness and Protocol Training for each of their new recruits at the FBI Academy in Quantico, VA and through local field offices across the country, through SALDEFs Law Enforcement Partnership Program. The benefits of incorporating SALDEFs cultural competency training in the FBIs training program will empower their new recruits and current agents with the appropriate information about Sikh Americans in an effort to better utilize FBI resources, stated SALDEF Chairman and Co-Founder Manjit Singh. Such training will help in
Non-resident Pakistanis allowed to vote

Islamabad: Over 3.7 million Pakistanis living outside the country were Tuesday allowed by the election commission to vote in the next general elections.The landmark decision came at a meeting of the Election Commission of Pakistan, chaired by its secretary Ishtiaq Ahmed Khan, the Online news agency reported. Sources said non-resident Pakistanis above 18 years of age would be tracked by the National Database and Registration Authority and they would be sent ballot papers by post. The next general elections are scheduled for 2013.
FBI Director Robert S Mueller eliminating an incorrect, though, common perception of Sikh Americans as suspicious solely based on misunderstandings of their physical identity as a Sikh. SALDEF will continue to engage with the Directors office regarding the issues raised and encourage increased dialogue with the Bureau.
Yamaha Artist Services signs Jazz Saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa

Alto Sax. While his formal relationship with Yamaha is new, his informal relationship with the Company spans nearly three decades. As a freshman in high school, he had already demonstrated a tremendous talent with the saxophone, prompting his father to buy him his first pro-level horn as a Christmas gift. It was the Yamaha YAS-62 - the very same one hes been playing ever since. It was the top of the line horn of that time period, recalls Mahanthappa. It just resonated in a way that other horns didnt and it was agile enough to let me create sounds in new and excitingly different ways. After nearly three decades together, it still works great! Over the course of his 30-year relationship with the instrument, Mahanthappa explored a great deal of jazz, initially influenced by the music of jazz greats like Charlie Parker and John Coltrane. But along his journey and while studying at the Berklee College of Music, he gradually became more aware of his ancestral background and more interested in cultivating his IndianAmerican culture. He came to the realization that music is an expression of who he is, and subsequently wanted to create music that embraces what it means to be Indian-American. As he pursued a jazz career stateside following his music studies, Mahanthappa traveled several times to India to soak up the music of his ancestors, to learn from it and to develop through it. It became a personal and artistic challenge for him find a way in which he could synthesize the two worlds, East and West, without compromising the classical beauty of either. Mahanthappa proved that he was up to the task through his collaborations with highly notable artists, including Jack DeJohnette, Danilo Perez, Vijay Iyer and Rez Abbasi. He also leads/co-leads seven groups, all of which have received critical acclaim. His most recent release, for ACT Music + Vision, Samdhi, is the direct result of his 2007 Guggenheim Fellowship and has been named one of the top Jazz albums of 2011 by publications in both North America and Europe. The acclaimed CD comes as the follow up to Kinsmen, featuring Carnatic saxophone legend Kadri Gopalnath, which was named one of the Top Jazz CDs of 2008 by over 20 news sources including The New York Times, NPR, BBC, Boston Globe, slate.com, JazzTimes and The Village Voice.
Rudresh Mahanthappa Indianapolis: Yamaha Artist Services Indianapolis has announced the signing of innovative jazz artist Rudresh Mahanthappa. One of the most forward-thinking jazz musicians of our time, Mahanthappa favors the YAS-62
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US Affairs TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Obama presents $4 trillion budget plan

Washington: President Barack Obama presented Monday his budget plan for 2013, which calls for nearly $4 trillion in spending and aims to reduce the deficit from 8.5 percent of US gross domestic product to 5.5 percent. The US economy should concentrate on developing the manufacturing sector, renewable energy and in making education accessible for training qualified workers, he said in a speech at Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale, VA. Obama, who will face the voters in November, said that the budget presented Monday aims to cut future debts by $4 trillion up to 2022. "I'm proposing some difficult cuts that, frankly, I wouldn't normally make if they weren't absolutely necessary. But they are. And the truth is we're going to have to make some tough choices in order to put this country back on a more sustainable fiscal path," he said. About a budget that projects GDP growth of 2.7 percent for this year and 3 percent next year, the president said that we can't repeat the mistakes that brought on the economic crisis and because of which "a few people do really, really well, and everybody else struggles to get by". Before an audience of community college students, Obama said that the budget also contemplates lower interest on student loans. Obama's plan calls for a total expenditure in 2013 of $3.8 million, with a tax increase on the highest incomes and the end of tax cuts approved during the George W. Bush administration on annual income higher than $250,000. The administration hopes to close 2012 with a deficit of $1.3 trillion, equivalent to 8.5 percent of GDP, and hopes to cut the shortfall to $901 billion, or 5.5 percent of GDP, in 2013. The Pentagon's overall spending would drop in 2013 as the military begins an effort to save about $260 billion over the next five years, in part by slashing the number of troops, ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and making limited reductions in weapons systems. Republicans, who oppose tax increases to deal with the deficit, criticized Obama's budget as offering recycled proposals that have been rejected in the past. They also charged that Obama is too timid in his proposals to get control of the growth in government benefit programs such as Medicare.
Chinas VP here to woo the US

Washington: Chinas vice president, Xi Jinping, who is widely seen as the next leader of China, had a busy time here Tuesday. He met President Obama in the Oval Office, lunched with Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the State Department, and will be saluted by an honor guard at the Pentagon, and talk to captains of industry at the Chamber of Commerce. Vice President Biden did not mince words in stressing that he and President Obama had come into office determined to reassert the rightful place of the US in Asia, and that the bilateral relationship with China was central to that. He spoke of tensions that have arisen, particularly in the economic arena such as Chinas currency valuation and forced transfer of foreign techa top priority for both nations. In public comments after meeting Mr. Xi met, President Obama said, We welcome Chinas peaceful rise but cautioned that in trade policy, the United States wanted to make sure, everybody is working by the same rules of the road when it comes to the world economic system. Mr. Xi, sitting next to Mr. Obama, did not mention economic or security issues, noting only that he was in Washington to do some work to move forward the ChinaU.S. relationship along in the right direction. Xi Jinping is expected to take over from President Hu Jintao as leader of Chinas ruling Communist party at the 18th congress in October, and as head of state in March 2013.
President Obama met Chinese Vice President and future leader Xi Jinping Tuesday in the White House in Washington. nology to the Chinas recent siding with Russia on a UNSC veto on rebuking Syria. In his remarks, Mr. Xi treaded cautiously, saying: We should address each others economic and trade concerns through dialogue and conversation, not through protectionism. He said that in the morning meetings, both sides seemed to agree that ensuring economic growth and job creation was
Brace for no mail service on Saturday

Washington: President Obama is backing a plan to cut mail delivery to five days per week, a proposal, that if supported by Congress, would likely end Saturday service. In his annual budget released Monday, Obama said the US Postal Service should be allowed to reduce its delivery schedule in 2013 as part of a wider strategy to save the agency $25 billion over the next 11 years. "Bold action is needed to ensure that USPS can continue to operate in the short-run and achieve viability in the long run," the president's budget plan for fiscal-year 2013 said. The Postal Service is supposed to operate without taxpayer dollars. However, in recent years, the agency has been bleeding cash as correspondence shifted to the Internet, forcing the Postal Service to borrow billions from the Treasury. Last week, the Postal Service said it lost $3.3 billion from October through December 2011, which is typically the agency's most profitable time of year.
Congress nears sweeping payroll tax, jobless benefits deal

Washington: House and Senate leaders are close to hammering out a sweeping compromise that would extend the payroll tax cut and jobless benefits for the rest of the year. The package would also include a key tweak to Medicare known as the "doc fix." The apparent breakthrough came less than a day after House Republicans abandoned efforts to offset the cost of the payroll tax extension with other spending cuts. Under the deal being hashed out by lawmakers on Tuesday, the payroll tax cut would be extended for 10 months at a cost of about $100 billion, which would be added to the deficit. Unemployment benefits would also be extended for the next 10 months, and doctors with Medicare patients would avoid seeing their payments cut as a result of a tweak to Medicare law. Those two programs are expected to cost $30 billion and $20 billion, respectively, and would be paid for with cuts to the budget. House Republican leaders announced this week that they are willing to sign off on a yearlong federal payroll tax holiday extension without demanding offsetting spending cuts, as they had repeatedly fought for during last year's partisan standoff over the extension. The Washington Post reports that Speaker John Boehner and co. are willing to cave because they fear that they would be held responsible for the tax increase on 160 million workers that would result if the tax holiday were to expire, as it is set to do at the end of this month. A 10month extension of the tax holiday is expected to cost about $100 billion. The move would appear to avert a repeat of the congressional fight that dragged on at the end of last year over the tax holiday and how to pay for it.
Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe has called for five-day delivery and other cost-saving overhauls, but has so far failed to gain permission from Congress. Sen. Susan Collins (R., Maine), who is a sponsor of postal-overhaul legislation in the Senate, said "eliminating Saturday delivery should be the last resort, not the first choice." The president's plan would force businesses ranging from newspapers to medicine-delivery services to explore other options. "Once these customers leave the mail system, they won't be coming back," she said. The head of the National Association of Letter Carriers said the postal-workers union would fight the president's push for fiveday delivery.
Fake cancer drug found

Washington: The maker of the widely used Avastin cancer drug said Tuesday that it is warning doctors, hospitals and patient groups that a counterfeit version of the medicine has been found in the US. Tests of counterfeit vials of Avastin showed that they didn't contain the active ingredient in Roche Holding AG's intravenous drug, according to the Swiss company's Genentech unit. It isn't clear how much of the counterfeit product was distributed in the U.S. or whether it has caused any harm. A Genentech spokeswoman said the company doesn't know if any patients were given the fake drug. The Food and Drug Administration is investigating, and has sent letters to 19 medical practices in the U.S. that the agency says buy unapproved cancer medicines and might have bought the counterfeit Avastin. An FDA spokeswoman said it hasn't received any reports of patient side effects that appear to be linked to the counterfeit product. Most Americans don't question the integrity of the drugs they rely on. They view drug counterfeiting, if they are aware of it at all, as a problem for developing countries. But the latest incident, which follows the appearance of other fake drugs in the U.S.including counterfeits of the weight-loss treatment Alli and the influenza treatment Tamiflusuggests it is a growing risk, especially as more medicines and drug ingredients sold in the U.S. are made overseas. In addition to the specter of fake medicines, U.S. drug makers are
confronting their own shortcomings. Companies including Johnson & Johnson have had to shut down manufacturing plants due to quality problems. Earlier this month, Pfizer Inc. said it recalled about a million packs of birth-control pills because improper packaging could raise the risk of unplanned pregnancies.
US Affairs TheSouthAsianTimes.info
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A legend passes on, legacy will live forever

By Vikas Girdhar/SATimes We now interrupt your regularly scheduled programming with a special report, alerted TV channels across the nation. That message, and the shock that followed, spread like a wildfire Saturday afternoon. CNN, MSNBC, VH-1, MTV and others flashed the startling news that one of Americas most celebrated recording artists had passed away, just a day before the 2012 Grammy Awards. Whitney Houston, an icon who popularized and revolutionized the genres of pop, R&B, dance and soul, was found dead in her hotel room at age 48. This was a great shock to those who grew up listening to her soulful voice and her trademark pitches of perfection. YouTube videos of Houstons popular songs began springing up all over on social media sites. Fans of all ages began posting their beloved memories of the legends remarkable singing career and other ways she managed to reach out, entertain and touch the world. There was an ominous feeling eerily similar to the one everyone felt when news of Michael Jacksons death was announced in June 2009. Was this happening all over again? people wondered. Houston was one of those golden voices that come around only once in a generation. Guinness World Records has rightfully honored her as the most awarded female-act of all time. She racked up 415 career awards in her lifetime, which include two Emmys, six Grammys, 30 Billboard Music Awards and 22 American Music Awards. She sold over 170 million
Mormons apologize for posthumous Jewish baptism

Salt Lake City, UT: Mormon church leaders apologized to the family of Holocaust survivor and Jewish rights advocate Simon Wiesenthal after his parents were posthumously baptized, a controversial ritual that Mormons believe allows deceased people a way to the afterlife but offends members of many other religions. Wiesenthal died in 2005 after surviving the Nazi death camps and spending his life documenting Holocaust crimes and hunting down perpetrators who remained at large. Jews are particularly offended by an attempt to alter the religion of Holocaust victims, who were murdered because of their religion, and the baptism of Holocaust survivors was supposed to have been barred by a 1995 agreement. Yet records indicate Wiesenthal's parents, Asher and Rosa Rapp Wiesenthal, were baptized in proxy ceremonies performed by Mormon church members at temples in Arizona and Utah in late January. In a statement, the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center denounced the baptismal rites. "We are outraged that such insensitive actions continue in the Mormon temples," said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean at the center. The church immediately apologized, saying it was the actions of an individual member of church whom they did not name that led to the submission of Wiesenthal's name. Mormons believe posthumous baptism by proxy allows deceased persons to receive the Gospel in the afterlife. The church believes departed souls can then accept or reject the baptismal rites and contends the offerings are not intended to offend anyone. Other religions, including the Catholic church, have also publicly objected to the baptism of its members, and it's been widely reported that Mormon and GOP presidential nominee front-runner Mitt Romney's atheist fatherin-law Edward Davies was posthumously baptized.
albums, singles and videos-- that number only managed to grow rapidly after her untimely death. On each of the seven studio albums and three movie soundtracks she made, either diamond, multi-platinum, platinum or gold certification was reached. She is also the only artist to ever have seven consecutive No. 1 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 list. Popular hits include How Will I Know and Saving All My Love For You. Houstons biggest hit, I Will Always Love You, had gone on to sell more than 195,000 downloads in the week ending last
Sunday while in the week prior to her death only 3,000 downloads had sold. 101,000 albums were sold in just four days since her death -- a 6000% sales increase from the week prior. These are normal trends of postmortem sales, especially for mainstream artists seen in the case of Michael Jackson and Amy Winehouse also. Houston was in the spotlight as more than just an amazing singer. She was also an actress, model and producer. Her first acting role was in the 1992 film The Bodyguard, of which she made the soundtrack also. She also
By Mahendra Shah starred in and made the soundtracks for Waiting to Exhale and The Preachers Wife. Houston began singing in her churchs choir at age 11 and was discovered by record label Aristas Clive Davis shortly after she began performing at nightclubs in New York area with her mom. Houstons death again puts the focus on many of the recent issues the film and music world have had to face with alcohol/drug/substance abuse-related deaths. Michael Jackson and Amy Winehouse were both involved in tragic deaths that could have been prevented if it were not for their reliance on drugs, whether prescribed or illegal. Although no official cause of death has yet been released in Houstons case, law enforcement has confirmed the presence of many pill bottles and prescriptions inside the hotel room where Houston died. Her voice was inspirational to countless people and she broke color barriers for women at a time when music videos were just starting to get off the ground. Houston leaves behind an enormous and endearing fan base, many of whom adored every magical word she sang and each spectacular note she reached.
Prescription drug abuse in the dock

Los Angeles: After the death of Whitney Houston, investigators said Wednesday they have subpoenaed records from the singers doctors and pharmacies who dispensed medication found in her hotel room. But it will be weeks before toxicology results reveal the medications and quantities, if any, that were in Houstons system when she died. The Grammy winners history of substance abuse has added to the speculation that her death may have been caused by prescription drugs. Abuse of prescribed medications has skyrocketed in recent years. In 2008, more than 36,000 people died from drug overdoses triple the number from 1990 with most of these deaths caused by prescription drugs. Drug deaths, fueled by prescription drug overdoses, now surpass motor vehicle deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Investigators have not said what medications they have recovered from Houstons room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. The singer was found underwater in a bathtub by a member of her staff hours before she planned to attend a pre-Grammy gala. Among the scenarios that will likely be explored is whether Houston was drinking before her death, which could compound the effects of any medications she was taking. Even a small amount of prescription drugs combined with alcohol can result in a state of unconsciousness and inability to rescue oneself from drowning in the bathtub, said Bruce Goldberger, a forensic toxicologist at the University of Florida.
Santorum surging on a lean campaign machine

Detroit, MI: Rick Santorum's drive to capture the Republican presidential nomination gained momentum as he surged to the front of the field in national polls and extended his lead over Mitt Romney in his rival's native Michigan. But Romney's supporters were doing massive spending on TV and radio ads -- that drove previous poorly funded challengers from the field in key states like Florida and Iowa. Michigan, where Romney was born and raised, is looming as a crucial, must-win state for the candidate, who has struggled to convince Republicans he is the man to go up against President Obama in November elections. "I am a son of Detroit," Romney proclaimed in an op-ed piece published Tuesday in the Detroit News ahead of the February 28 primary vote. A new television ad also touted him as a hometown boy. But national polls showed Santorum surging ahead of longtime frontrunner Romney and the ground shifting rapidly against the former Massachusetts governor since he lost three CNN/ORC International, had Santorum at 34 to 32 percent for Romney, but found low enthusiasm among Republican voters for any of the candidates. In Michigan, Santorum is now out front at 39 percent to 24 percent for Romney in a survey released Monday by Public Policy Polling. More good news for Rick Santorum came from Ohio. A Quinnipiac University poll out Wednesday has the new GOP front-runner leading rival Mitt Romney by 7 points, 36 percent to 29 percent. The Ohio primaryalong with the rest of the Super Tuesday nominating contestsis still three weeks away, however, so there's still plenty of time for movement. As troubling as Santorum's surge may be for the GOP establishment, the new poll suggests even worse news for Republicans. The survey found that all of the candidates would lose in a head-to-head matchup with President Obama: Obama leads Romney by 2 points (46-44), Santorum by 6 points (47-41) and Gingrich by 12 points (50-38).
Rick Santorum state nominating contests to the former Pennsylvania senator last week. A national CBS/New York Times poll released Tuesday had Santorum at 30 percent among likely Republican primary voters, to 27 percent for Romney. Another poll, by
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India-State Elections TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Tie-up with Congress to keep out BJP: Mulayam

Lucknow: Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav indicated a post-poll tie-up with the Congress in Uttar Pradesh, but only if needed to prevent the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from coming to power. The Congress reacted cautiously, terming it "premature". Addressing mediapersons after addressing a public meeting in Hamirpur, Mulayam Singh said the party would not join hands with the Congress unless the BJP was in a position to come power in the state. "If BJP is coming to power, we will join hands with the Congress. Otherwise not," he said. However, he later said that there was no question of supporting the Congress. Mulayam Singh's statement comes amidst pre-poll surveys that no party may get simple majority in the new 403-member Uttar Pradesh assembly. The seven-phase poll will end on March 3 and the votes will be counted March 6.
UP elections: Round three ends peacefully

Lucknow: The third round of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections ended on a peaceful note with an estimated 57-58 percent of the 1.77 crore electorate in 56 constituencies exercising their franchise, officials said. Chief Electoral Officer Umesh Sinha said the turnout was an estimated 57-58 percent at the end of day, far higher than the 42.6 percent turnout in the last assembly elections in 2007. While the first phase saw a turnout of 62 percent, the second was also high at 59 percent. Elections were held in the highprofile districts of Amethi (rechristened Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Nagar), the parliamentary seat of Congress star campaigner Rahul Gandhi, as well as Sultanpur, the other Gandhi family bastion, and the traditional Nehru-Gandhi home Allahabad. Among the other districts that The voter turnout was, however, stated to be relatively low in some areas like Mirzapur, Chandauli and Sonbhadra, bordering Madhya Pradesh, where Maoists have a considerable presence. Besides Maoists, the presence of a number of candidates with criminal backgrounds had prompted the Election Commission to deploy additional police force in the sensitive areas. Nearly 31 percent of candidates fielded by political parties for the third phase had criminal cases pending against them. According to a report of the National Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms, all political parties were guilty. The seven-phase elections began Feb 8 and end March 3. The votes will be counted March 6.
The seven-phase elections began on February 8 and end on March 3. The votes will be counted on March 6. went to the polls were Varanasi, Jaunpur, Mirzapur, Bhadohi (renamed Sant Ravidas Nagar), Kaushambhi, Sonbhadra and Chandauli - most of which are situated along the banks of the Ganga river. The fate of 1,018 candidates vying for the 56 seats at stake was determined by 1.77 crore voters at 18,374 polling stations, where 31,400 electronic voting machines were in place. Long queues were reported from most of the places, including Amethi, where people were seen making a beeline for polling booths well before 7 a.m.
Rahul attacks Mayawati in maiden Lucknow rally

Lucknow: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi kept up his attack on Chief Minister Mayawati in his maiden rally at the state capital, accusing her of neglecting the common man. Addressing an impressive crowd at the DAV College grounds in the crowded Moti Nagar locality, he made a passionate appeal to them to vote the Congress party to power. "If you want to change Uttar Pradesh and put Uttar Pradesh on the fast track like Congressruled states, rise and vote for Congress," he said amidst cries of "Rahul tum sangharsh karo; hum tumhare saath hain" (Rahul you lead the struggle; we are with you). He hit out at the ruling Bahuijan Samaj Party (BSP), Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for doing "lip service through their false promises". In a melodramatic gesture, he even tore off a sheet of paper with something written on it to convey how poll promises made by those parties were meant to be treated. "Whenever there is an election, these political parties go to town making all kinds of promises, which they never intend to fulfil. That is the reason these promises deserve what I am doing," he said while tearing the sheet of paper and flinging it in the air. He said the Metro in Delhi was constructed by workers from Uttar Pradesh and they also played a vital role in agriculture in Punjab and Haryana.
After his apology, end row over Khurshid: Congress

New Delhi: The Congress said Tuesday that the row between Law Minister Salman Khurshid and Election Commission on minority sub quota should be treated as over as the minister had regretted his remarks to the poll panel. Party spokesperson Manish Tewari said it was better to treat the matter as closed. "Salman Khurshid has presented his viewpoint before the Election Commission. It's better to put a full stop to this incident now," Tewari said. Khurshid said in his letter that it was never been his intention to transgress the law or the model code of conduct. "I have great respect for the commission and the decisions it takes and has taken," he said. Highly placed sources in the poll panel said the case will be decided by the Commission only after word from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The Congress general secretary said people being forced to migrate due to lack of employment opportunities in Uttar Pradesh.
Sonia, Priyanka descend on Rae Bareli

Rae Bareli: Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and her daughter Priyanka made a joint appearance for the first time in the Uttar Pradesh assembly election campaign and accused the Mayawati government of large scale corruption in implementation of central schemes. Sonia Gandhi, who is the MP from here, attacked the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) for the "sorry state of affairs" in the state. In a hard hitting attack on the eve of the third phase of state polls, she said funds of Rs.1 lakh crore (Rs.1 trillion) under central schemes such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojana and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan had been given to the state but the results were nowhere to be seen. and daughter as the two frequently conversed. At one point, Priyanka jovially pinched the cheek of Sonia, triggering a spree of clicks from the lensmen present. Sonia and Priyanka are big crowd pullers for the Congress and their presence together signified the importance being attached by the party to the assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh and the verdict in Rae Bareli. In her speech, Sonia Gandhi also attacked Samajwadi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which ruled the state, apart from the BSP, over the past 22 years. "Today, I feel pained seeing the condition of Uttar Pradesh. Those who ruled it for the past 22 years, what condition they landed the state in. Uttar Pradesh was not like this earlier. When the Congress ruled, it wasn't like this," she said.
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and her daughter Priyanka made a joint appearance for the first time in Uttar Pradesh. "After all, where is that money? Where was it spent? It's clear that scams and corruption have taken place," she said. The joint rally gave a glimpse into bonding shared by the mother
India TheSouthAsianTimes.info
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Abu Salem may escape MCOCA net

New Delhi: The order on whether MCOCA charges would be dropped against underworld don Abu Salem is expected shortly as the Delhi Police agreed to withdraw them. The judgment was reserved by the Delhi High Court on February 9. The Delhi Police had also claimed that if the charges were not dropped against him, it would harm the reputation of the country internationally. "We will spoil our credibility at international fora and this (case) will be cited as an example to show that this country does not follow it own commitments," Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Haren Raval, appearing for the Delhi Police, had told judge V K Shali. Judge Shali had reserved the judgment on February 9 on the plea of the city police seeking withdrawal of stringent charges under the Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act (MCOCA) against Salem. The Delhi Police had sought an urgent hearing of its plea after the Portugese High Court terminated Salem's extradition. The Portugese court had argued that India "violated" the doctrine of speciality by invoking fresh MCOCA charges against him in violation of the extradition terms agreed
ND Tiwari row: Sharma not Sekhars dad

New Delhi: A DNA report, placed before the Delhi high court said Rohit Sekhar, who claimed to be veteran Congress leader ND Tiwari's biological son, was not fathered by the man whom his mother had married. The report of the Hyderabadbased Centre for DNA, Fingerprinting and Diagnostics on DNA profiling of Rohit, his mother Ujjawala Sharma and her husband B P Sharma was placed in a sealed cover before Justice Reva Khetrapal and was read over by a court staff in the packed courtprofile matched with his mother Ujjawala according to the laboratory report. Tiwari, however, did not obey the court's direction and chose to contest the order to undergo the DNA test saying a person cannot be compelled to give evidence against himself in a civil case. During the hearing, Justice Khetrapal asked the counsel for Tiwari to file his response to the contempt plea of Rohit for "deliberate disobedience" of its earlier order asking him to provide his blood sample for the DNA test to decide the paternity suit.
Rohit Sekhar claims he is veteran Congress leader ND Tiwari's biological son. room. B.P. Sharma is not the biological father of Rohit whose DNA
Underworld don Abu Salem.

between two countries. The Portuguese SC also affirmed and upheld the verdict of the HC, leaving the sole legal recourse to CBI, which is authorized to take up extradition cases, to approach the constitutional court in that country. The ASG had apprised judge Shali about the extradition terms, sequence of events and the consequences of not allowing the dropping of MCOCA against Salem in an extortion case lodged by a Delhi-based trader in 2002. India, which had no extradition treaty with Portugal, gave an executive assurance to secure Salem that neither would he be awarded death penalty nor awarded a jail term in excess of 25 years nor fresh charges be invoked against him.
BJP defends Modi, questions timing of SIT report

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) questioned the timing of the special investigation team (SIT) on Gujarat riots, even as senior leaders advocated a clean chit for Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 riots. Speaking to reporters in the national capital, party spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said the BJP was "concerned about the timing" of the report as it could "instigate some tension" in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh. "We are concerned about the timing of releasing the report, specially in the light of Utar Pradesh elections that are ongoing, raises a lot of questions and we are anxious if it is going to lead to any, god forbid, unwarranted tension," Sitharaman said. "But we have not seen the report," she said. "The first probe was by Gujarat Police, then the Geeta Johri enquiry, that was also under Supreme Court, and the third by this SIT of Supreme Court." A day after the Supreme Courtappointed SIT probing the 2002 Gujarat riots filed its final report,
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. petitioner Zakia Jafri threatened to file a protest plea. A statement from Jafri and activist Teesta Setalvad said they have sought a copy of the report. They said if it is a closure report, a protest petition would be filed.
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India TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Terror attack: India assures Israel full support

New Delhi: Amid Israel's charges about Iran's role in the attack on an Israeli embassy car here, India asserted that it has no evidence yet linking any individual or county to the terror attack and assured Tel Aviv of full support in the probe. Indian investigators are currently examining records of 115 phone calls made to Iran, Israel and Lebanon from Delhi for clues in the Monday bomb attack. Iran said it could neither confirm nor deny the Israeli allegation and asked India to verify the charges. "We are not accepting or denying this. We don't know anything. We hope that India will verify the case to know the real position. Till now, their final reaction has not come. We hope it will come," Iranian Ambassador to India Seyed Mehdi Nabizadeh told reporters here. Meanwhile, Iran's tense ties to link any individual, entity or country to Monday's attack. Ushpiz said he has been assured of India's full support in investigating the incident. "The meeting was a very good one. It is just another shining example of support, friendship and intimacy that we have been lucky to be exposed to in the last 48 hours since this very saddening vicious terrorist attack on one of our people took place here in the heart of New Delhi," said Ushpiz after the meeting. The envoy said the health condition of Israeli woman Tal Yehoshua, 40, who was injured in the attack, was improving. "I can say that there is a constant improvement, a gradual but constant improvement in the condition of our friend." Krishna also said that as requested by Israel, extra layers of security will be provided to the Israeli mission and its employees, said official sources. The Delhi Police is understood to have tightened the security of the Israeli embassy staff. Amid renewed pressure on Iran over its nuclear program and the Israeli allegation about Iran's complicity in the New Delhi attack, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said in Islamabad that trade between New Delhi and Tehran is unlikely to be affected by the car attack. An unidentified motorcyclist attached an improvised explosive magnetic device to the Israeli embassy car which exploded into flames. The sources said that the calls were made to these countries in the 15 days before the incident. Delhi Police were still hunting for the motorcyclist who attached the magnetic device to the Israeli embassy vehicle on Aurangzeb Road.
The terror attack on an Israel embassy car happened in a high-security area close to the prime minister's residence in New Delhi. with the West threatened to take a security area close to the prime turn for the worse as a defiant minister's residence, External Tehran displayed its nuclear might Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna met and began loading domestically- Israeli Ambassador Alon Ushpiz made nuclear fuel rods into its and assured him of India's full research reactor amid a national support in probing the incident. TV address by the Iranian presiKrishna is understood to have dent. conveyed that investigations are Two days after the terror attack progressing and stressed that India on an Israel embassy car in a high- does not have any evidence so far
Homosexuality, lesbian love unnatural, SC told

New Delhi: The Supreme Court was told that homosexuality and lesbian relationship were unnatural and against the order of nature as provided under the Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Senior counsel Amarendra Saran told the court during the hearing on a batch of petitions challenging the Delhi High Court's July 2, 2009 verdict holding that Section 377, which criminalizes gay sex among consenting adults, was a violation of fundamental right The apex court bench of Justice G.S. Singhvi and Justice S.J. Mukhopadhaya was told that the order of nature as mentioned in Section 377 of IPC had attained a "particular meaning and a traditional meaning" as understood by society.Section 377 IPC which deals with unnatural offences reads: "Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with...." Saran who appeared for the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) told the court that "right (life or personal liberty) under Article 21 is not absolute and can be controlled by law. The law must provide for reasonable procedure that is the only requirement under the code of criminal procedure". He told the court that when Article 15 provides for no discrimination on ground of sex it means gender and not the sexual orientations.He told the court that public morality was the same as constitutional morality and should not be seen as distinct in the instant case.
Krishna meets UNGA chief, discusses Syria crisis

New Delhi: With violence in Syria worsening, India said there cannot be a "one size fits all" solution and stressed on the resolution of the crisis through dialogue and reconciliation when External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna met the chief of the United Nations General Assembly here. Krishna held talks with Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, the PGA, with discussions dominated by the worsening crisis in Syria. During the discussions, India conveyed that the crisis in the Middle East country should be resolved through dialogue and pushed for a Syrian-led reconciliation process, official sources said. During the talks, Krishna also underlined that India has vital stakes in the peace and stability in West Asia which is home to around 6 million-strong Indian diaspora. As Al-Nasser is also heading the UN inter-governmental negotiations on expansion of the UN Security Council, the progress in the UN reforms was also discussed. Early this month, India voted for a UN resolution backed by the Arab League and the US that condemned the crackdown on protesters in Syria. India has stressed for a Syrian-led democratic transition, but made it clear that it was not in favour of a regime change.
SM Krishna held talks with Abdulaziz Al-Nasser (in the photo) with discussions dominated by the worsening crisis in Syria.
Raj Thackeray hits out at uncle, Shiv Sena

Mumbai: Hitting out at his uncle and Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray's comments about his mimicry, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena Chief Raj Thackeray said he has always fought all his battles like a man. Thackeray while addressing a massive gathering in south Mumbai counter commented on his uncle's remark. "Honorable Bala Saheb says I should stop being a mimic, and that I should fight like a man. I am fighting like a man. I always take things upfront and do not back bite," he said. "It is the Shiv Sena leaders who should learn to fight like a man. They have always taken to gimmicks and not me," he added. Taking a dig at Shiv Sena leaders, Thackeray lashed out by asking as to why the cable networks fail only when his speech is to be telecast live? "Where do bundles and bundles of newspapers that carry my speeches disappear," he asked. Raj Thackeray said that there are several examples where the Shiv Sena leaders have "stooped low". "I want to tell honourable Bala Saheb that I never wanted to dig up these issues in public. But his comments about me left me with no other choice," he said. Bal Thackeray had, during his rally Saturday started off his speech by asking the gathering if he should mimic his nephew Raj Thackeray just like the latter "apes him" and also said that he should not mimic and fight like a man.
The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena Chief Raj Thackeray said he has always fought all his battles like a man.
Fashion TheSouthAsianTimes.info
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South Asian designers wow New York Fashion Week
From Naeem Khan collection showcased at the New York Fashion Week. By Jinal Shah New York: Designer Naeem Khan went back to his native roots in India with his autumn/winter 2012 collection at the New York Fashion Week. With his glittering line up on the runway he wowed the glitterati off the stage at the Lincoln Center of Performing Arts on Valentines Day. Khan took actor Matt Damon (his first at any fashion week), his wife Luciana, Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi, Kristen Chenoweth and others in the audience on a magical journey to his native country with his exotic collection of dresses and gowns embroidered with Mughal paisleys, swirls motifs, Hindu Tilakas and geometric prints. His collection was inspired by the decadence and the dust of India as cited in his note. The designer is known for adorning celebrities like First Lady Michelle Obama. His luxurious collection of impeccably cut dresses, sophisticated gowns, chic separates recently received the title of Mercedes Benz presents designer for Mercedes Benz fashion week fall 2012 collection. First lady wore Khans dresses for two state dinners of which one was hosted in honor of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2010. His designs are also loved by Penelope Cruz, Beyonce, Emily Blunt, Lea Michele, Eva Longoria. Khan was inducted as a member of the prestigious Council of Fashion Designers of America in 2008. Khan and some other South Asian designers continue to play an ever growing role in New York Citys fashion scene. With designers like Falguni and Shane Peacock, Sachin and Babi, Bibhu Mohapatra, Prabal Gurung showcasing their work at the New York Fashion Week. Known for their accent on feath-
A model wears a cape from Prabal Gurung. ers sequence and prints, Falguni and Shane Peacock brought the rock and roll glam to the runway on February 12. New York based Indian fashion designer Bibhu Mohapatras collection was influenced by colonial China. Before his show, he explained his influence on his website: The early 20th-century Chinese opera, The White Haired Girl. This collection revolves around the protagonists strength, passion and courage for love in the imperial China. Nepali American designer Prabal Gurungs autumn/winter collection 2012 had everything from sharp, edgy black outfits to
Sachin + Babi ready to wear collection. flawless white gowns with feathers and gold lame. His repeated use of skull in his designs, he said, made a statement for storytelling purpose. The ready to wear collection by designers Sachin + Babi was successful in bringing couture products to contemporary girls with their global aesthetics. The fashion week that concluded on Thursday saw about 80 designers including Diane von Furstenberg, Carolina Herrera, Vera Wang, Michael Kors, Rebecca Taylor, Reem Acra, Nicole Miller, Charlotte Ronson, Narciso Rodriguez and Betsey Johnson.
Mosaic Buddhas and Ganeshas centerpiece of Amrita Singh collection
NY based Indian designer launches home collection

By Jinal Shah| SATimes New York: New York based designer Amrita Singh recently launched her first home dcor line at the Trump Plaza penthouse in the city. The event showcased her hand-crafted life size to miniature mosaic Buddha and Ganesha statues along with other decorative items. The event cum party sponsored by Wells Fargo and hosted by South Asian Young Women Entrepreneur (SAY WE) attracted whos who of citys finance, fashion and party goers. The new collection, Singh said, is inspired by her recent trip to Bali. More than 90 percent of the homes in Bali have their own private temples. I wanted to bring some of that Eastern spirituality back to the West with my Buddhas and Ganeshas, said Singh. As a woman and a jewelry designer, I understand what it means to adorn a womans body, Singh said after the launch, adding, Now, I am working with a larger canvas - a womans home, and there is no better way to engage a womans soul than to help her adorn her home. The collection was rolled out online last month and Singh received an overwhelming response both from Indians and Americans. It is interesting that not only Buddhas which have universal appeal but even Ganesha pieces are sold out. Since our launch online last month, we have sold
Amrita Singh in a Pucci dress with her home collection.
(From left): Alpa Yagnik, of Wells Fargo Team; Tony Bedi, President of UB Group, USA; designer Amrita Singh in a Robert Rodriguez dress; Rahul Baig, Wells Fargo MD of U.S. Corporate Banking; Reema Rasool, Executive Director of SAY WE; Jitin Hingorani of JINGO Media. (Photos: Nan Melville) more Ganeshas and about 50 percent of Ganesha buyers are Americans, revealed Singh. The statues that are ranged from $ 450 to $ 2000 (for the life-size Buddha idol) are especially hand-crafted in Bali with use of fiber glass as base material. Idea was to keep it light weight and transient. The smaller pieces are about four pounds and the big once are also easy to manage, said Singh. SAY WE hosted the pre-Fashion Week event for Singh. The non-profit trade association provides a much-needed platform for young women entrepreneurs to network, share their successes, and learn from each other, said Reema Rasool, executive director and founder of SAY WE. Amrita Singh is a smart entrepreneur who created a jewelry business, branched out into making
Buddhas and Ganeshs sold out fast. accessories, and is now launching a home line. She is a great role model for other women who want to start their own businesses, and we are proud to welcome her on our board of directors. With over a decade of illustrious career in jewelry designing, Singh is now the most sought after designer in New York for her Indian inspired accessories, especially costume jewelry.
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Ultimate Bollywood TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Adele, Foo Fighters win big at 54th Grammy

ritish singer Adele and alternative rock band Foo Fighters emerged as the big winners at the 54th Grammy Awards. While Adele walked away with six honors, Foo Fighters took home five gongs. Adele, 23, won in all six categories that she was nominated for. Her honors include album of the year, record of the year, song of the year, best pop vocal album, best pop solo performance, and best short form music video at a gala ceremony at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. She tied Beyonce Knowles' six Grammy wins in 2009 -- a record for most awards won by a female artist in one night, according to the official Grammy website. Adele's chart-topping number
"Rolling in the deep" and album "21" helped her shine through the Grammy this year. The track "Rolling in the deep" won her trophies for the record of the year, song of the year and short form music video. The album "21" brought her honours in categories, including album of the year and best pop vocal album; she also won the best pop solo performance for her song "Someone Like You" from the same album. Foo Fighters' won five awards, including best rock album for "Wasting Light", for them. The five-member band of Dave Grohl, Nate Mendel, Taylor Hawkins, Chris Shiflett and Pat Smear also won trophies for best rock song ("Walk"), best long
Grammy: Priyanka at red carpet in GauriNainika gown
Singer Adele, 23, won in all six categories that she was nominated for. form music video ("Back and Forth"), best rock performance ("Walk") and best hard rock/metal performance ("White Limo"). Rapper Kanye West was close on their heels with four awards, including best rap album for "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy", best rap/sung collaboration ("All of the lights"), best rap song ("All of the lights") and best rap performance with Jay-Z for "Otis". Electronica artist Skrillex walked away with three honours -best dance recording ("Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites"), best dance/electronica album for the album of the same name, and best remixed recording, non-classical ("Cinema"). Singer-songwriter Bon Iver was named best new artist, and he also won a Grammy for the best alternative music album "Bon Iver".
Actor Priyanka Chopra in Gauri and Nainika creation.
Celine blames drug culture for Whitney's death
he 'My Heart Will Go On' hitmaker has described Whitney Houston - who was found dead in the bath in her Beverly Hilton hotel room - as an "amazing inspiration" and compared her fate to other late stars such as Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson, both of whom had substance abuse issues, following their shock deaths. In a phone interview with TV show 'Good Morning America', she said: "It's just really unfortunate that drugs, bad people, bad influences took over. It took over her dreams, her love and her motherhood. "When you think about Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe and
Police have confirmed Whitney Houston was under water and unconscious when she was found by members of her staff. Michael Jackson and Amy Winehouse ... time after time we
lose people taking pills to perform, taking pills to wake up and taking pills to go to bed. The 43-year-old singer admits she is "scared" of the drug culture in showbusiness and is too afraid to attend celebrity parties as a result. She added: "I'm scared of show-business, I'm scared of drugs, I'm scared of hanging out, and that's why I don't do parties and hang out." A number of stars have paid tribute to Whitney in the wake of her passing, including Dolly Parton - who wrote her biggest hit 'I Will Always Love You'. Dolly has confessed she is "heartbroken" about Whitney's shock death at the age of 48.
ctor Priyanka Chopra walked down the red carpet at the Grammy Awards in a gown created by designer duo Gauri-Nainika. The 29-year-old flew to Los Angeles from Berlin Sunday night to attend the function where biggest names from the music industry came. "Ok guys!! Grammy time! Just landed into LA.. options of gowns.. Indian designer or western..?Hmmm..I'm biased towards wearing Indian talent..(sic)," Priyanka posted on twitter Monday morning. "A special behind the scenes pic only for you. On my way to the Grammy. In a Gauri and Nainika original! What say guys?," she tweeted.
Spread love always, tweets B-Town

t's Valentine's Day and Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan, Akshay Kumar and Karan Johar among others sent out a whole lot of love to their friends, family and fans. The celebrities took to Twitter to share love on the special day. Here's what they had to say: Shah Rukh Khan: To all of you...a very happy Valentine's Day...hope you all find love that makes you laugh...sing and dance. Big hug to you all..keep loving always. Karan Johar: Happy Valentine's Day!!! To everyone in love...just know you're in the best place ever. Abhishek Bachchan: Celebrate your love everyday! Not just once a year. Madhur Bhandarkar: May this Valentine's Day be filled with love, understanding, and contentment as you journey through life with those you hold dear.
Akshay Kumar: Happy Slavery Day to all devoted men! If we can't appreciate the woman we love on Valentine's Day, then we don't deserve them. So, be a Man and PAMPER your lady just like ME :) Preity Zinta: Happy Valentine's Tweeple! Hope everyone of you has had the priviledge to love and be loved atleast once in this lifetime! Love you all :-) Ting! Bipasha Basu: Today is a Special day to say 'I love you' to all the people who are an important part of your life! But say these three words only if you really mean it! Dia Mirza: Spread the love!!! Everyday! Love, laughter and happiness to you all :) Happy Valentine's Day :) Riteish Deshmukh: Wishing you all a Happy Valentine's Day. Spread love and proudly say 'TERE NAAL LOVE HO GAYA'.
Big B still in pain after surgery

Amitabh Bachchan underwent an abdominal surgery recently. mitabh Bachchan, who underwent an abdominal surgery recently, says he is still in a lot of pain. The 69-year-old was to be discharged from the hospital but the pain seems to have delayed it. 'The morning has been nightmarish. There has ben incredible pain
in the region of the surgery, and the spasms so acute that they brought me to the level of a scream... which is saying a lot, for my resistance to pain has been quite satisfactory in the past,' Bachchan wrote on his blog. He added, 'But the doctors were immediately summoned and after change in the dressings and
pain killers, there seems to be now some semblance of relief. Not entirely, but entire enough.' The actor, who has a history of stomach ailments since his near fatal intestinal injury while filming a fight scene in 1982 movie Coolie was operated at the Seven Hills hospital.
Ultimate Bollywood Thesouthasiantimes.info
17
London premiere for Patel's 'Best Exotic Marigold Hotel'
Soha-Kunal set for wedding bells
ame Judi Dench and Dev Patel brought an Indian adventure to a chilly London with the world premiere of their new film, "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel." The movie, directed by John Madden, sees a group of retirement age Brits move to India to see out their elderly years in colorful Jaipur. Patel, of "Slumdog Millionaire" fame, plays the guy who entices them to take the adventure. Tom Wilkinson, Bill Nighy and Penelope Wilton were also among the cast out on the red carpet for the Tuesday event at the Curzon Mayfair in London. "I had to ride a motorcycle through the streets of Jaipur with Judi Dench on the back, which was very, very freaky because I have never done it before and my whole thing became 'Don't kill Judi Dench," Nighy joked. Despite her character's choice to retire, it appears that's the last thing on Dench's mind. "I am not going to retire hope-
Actor Dev Patel at the premiere of 'Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.' (Photo credit: Jon Furniss) fully, I am just going to hope that work will come. If I don't do this, I will do something else," she said. The movie opens in the U.K. and Ireland on February 24.
ll eyes have been on her brother Saif Ali Khan and his impending marriage to Kareena Kapoor. And while the paparazzi have been busy chasing the big brother, Soha Ali Khan along with mum Sharmila Tagore have been busy sorting out details of her life after marriage. Sharmila has bought a1500 sq feet plush flat in Sunder Villa building, off Linking Road, bang opposite Khar Telephone Exchange along with her daughter Soha. Sharmila even told the society members that Soha and her boyfriend Kunal Khemmu would live in the flat after their wedding. "The property in question is worth approximately Rs 9 crore and has been bought under the joint names of Sharmila and Soha," a society office bearer was quoted as saying. Earlier, Sunder Villa was a three-storey building. Now it is being converted into a nine-
The Soha-Kunal wedding is likely to take place early next year. storey tower. Whether the old name will be retained for the new construction, has not been decided yet. With the compound area of Sunder Villa considerably reduced due to the new floor plan, every level will have it's own parking. In fact, residents will now be able to take up their cars right up to their own flats. With the flat ready, the SohaKunal wedding is likely to take place early next year. "Soha and Kunal are madly in love and unlike last year, now very open about their relationship," said a common friend of the couple.
'Ek Main' a goldmine for Karan
Madonna accused of plagiarism
Brazilian musician claims that pop diva Madonna's song "Give me all your luvin" is a copy of his track. Musician Joao Brasil claims the chorus of the Material Girl's new song, which she performs with Nicki Minaj and M.I.A., is a ripoff of his own tune "L.O.V.E. Banana", reports express.co.uk. "I still don't understand what happened. I'm a huge fan of hers. If it's plagiarism, then even better," Brasil told Brazil's Folha da Sao Paulo newspaper. Brasil's record company bosses
and legal team are now considering whether to take court action over the allegation. However, Brasil is adamant Madonna is his heroine and he doesn't want to sue her. "She is always at the cutting edge of music, so it's a good sign about what I do... It's in their hands, they're looking at how to proceed and what they can do. But personally I don't want to do anything. The last thing I need in my life is a fight with Madonna," he added.
A scene from Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu.
Mumbai: Karan Johar couldn't have asked for more. After hitting the jackpot with his mega-budget "Agneepath", he has found a goldmine with "Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu" (EMAET). The modest-budget romantic comedy not only received good reviews, but earned Rs.12.5 crore in the first two days and wooed overseas box offices as well. The film released Friday and the opening day collection was Rs.5.5 crore. On the second day, the film,
which boasts of the fresh pair of Imran Khan and Kareena Kapoor, garnered Rs.7 crore. "There is a 40 percent jump in the collections from Friday to Saturday and then again from Saturday to Sunday. The word of mouth and reviews are strong and helped the film," said a source. Even lead actor Imran is happy and said: "I am overwhelmed at the response EMAET is generating." Praising the film a critic wrote
that the picture though, smartly written and filmed by debutant Shakun Batra, is mellow yet dramatic, softer and subtler, while other scribe described "Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu" as a movie that comprises a series of elegantly-written, confident but never in-your-face scenes. In the international market, which includes Britain, North America, Gulf and Australia, EKAET did and impressive job by earning Rs3.65 core ($730,000)
A Brazilian musician claims that Madonna's song 'Give me all your luvin' is a copy of his track.
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Features TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Lahore's Hira Mandi: a love affair

Hira Mandi is a fictional account of the life of Iqbal Husain, son of a Hira Mandi prostitute, who is a liberal minded restaurateur and paints courtesans.
ira Mandi, the traditional red light quarter of Lahore, lives in the popular mindscape through its stories of longing, loss and 'mujras' after the Pakistan government clamped down on prostitution in the 1970s, says noted French writer Claudine Le Tourneur d'lson. Her fictional biography, "Hira Mandi", based on the life story of Iqbal Husain, the son of a Hira Mandi courtesan, has connected to the English-speaking world with its first-ever translation by the Delhi-based Roli Books. The novel, originally written in French in
Mandi where he serves traditional Lahori food," Claudine said. Iqbal is a misfit of an artist in Pakistan, where "even talking about prostitutes is a taboo", the writer said. "Iqbal is not very comfortable among people though he has been drawing Lahore and the world to Hira Mandi with his food," Claudine said. Cuckoo's Den is a mandatory stopover for tourists in Lahore. Iqbal uses the dancing girls of Hira Mandi as models for his impressionistic paintings "of figures and landscapes without expressions of
Hira Mandi was known for its "refined courtesans with impeccable manners, accomplished in performing arts, music and traditional gastronomy" before the 1970s when the Pakistan government clamped down on prostitution.
2006, went on sale in India this week after an informal launch at the Alliance Francaise in the capital Monday. It debuted in Pakistan at the Karachi Literature Festival Saturday. Claudine describes the book "as her love affair with the people of Hira Mandi, with whom she had spent weeks in Lahore as if she was a part of them". "The book has been inspired by Iqbal Husain, son of a Hira Mandi prostitute, whom I had met in 1988. Iqbal is an artist - perhaps the only one of his kind - and a restaurateur. He owns an eatery, Cuckoo's Den, in Hira sex", the writer said. "In his leisure, Iqbal spends his time helping the dancing girls. He is very human... Iqbal says, 'I am a man before a Muslim,'" Claudine recalled. Iqbal in Claudine's novel is the hero Shanwaz Nadeem, who narrates his life story in first person. Shanwaz's earliest memories of Hira Mandi are of his beautiful 20-year-old mother Naseem, who lives in her Mughal-style "haveli" with her aunts, cousins and her fiveyear-old son in the narrow crowded bylanes in
the old walled city of Lahore. Naseem's quarters are partitioned and Shanwaz wakes up every night to the "cries, moans and sighs of his mother in the bedroom on the other side". Shanwaz's life charts Pakistan's turbulent history from partition to the Bhutto years, Ziaul Haq's repressive regime, fundamentalist violence and the years of "The Satanic Verses". Hira Mandi gradually disintegrates around Shanwaz, leaving him with memories of its once-forbidden grandeur - and unrequited desires - amid aging courtesans and confused novices. "The residents of Hira Mandi had hoped that the Bhuttos would bring in democracy and free them of repression and blind police atrocities...But Benazir Bhutto had failed to do much for women. I suppose they were disappointed in the end..." the writer said. The Hira Mandi of the courtesans does not exist anymore. "The dancing girls (the prettier ones) have either moved to Dubai where the business is good while the others are spread across hotels in Lahore," Claudine said. Segregated as a red light area during the British Raj for "the benefit of the soldiers" in the old Anarkali Bazar overlooking the Badshahi mosque, Hira Mandi was known for its "refined courtesans with impeccable manners, accomplished in performing arts, music and traditional gastronomy". However, the tradition of dancing girls in the old Lahore city - a walled settlement dates back to the reign of emperor Akbar whose son, prince Salim, once fell in love with Anarkali, a dancing girl from Lahore. The government is trying to remove the "taboos" associated with Hira Mandi with a heritage tourism project, the writer said.
"The government has decided to turn the four streets of Hira Mandi into a touristy place with Mughal facades, restaurants and art galleries. The government is planning to set up a dance school to perpetuate the dancing traditions. I was in Lahore last August. The transformation was yet to be completed...," Claudine said. The writer, who has authored 12 books, is planning to pen a chronicle of her journeys in Pakistan.
Austrian skydiver plans to break sound barrier in free fall from stratosphere
n Austrian skydiver will try to break the sound barrier during a free fall from a balloon high up in the strato-
sphere. Felix Baumgartner, 42, termed it a mission to the "death zone" and said he will be doomed if his world record bid goes wrong, The Sun, London, reported. The Austrian plans to jump unaided by machine from a height of 120,000 feet (or around 36 km) from a giant balloon over New Mexico (US) this August. The Austrian will, however, wear an astronaut-style oxygen suit to protect him from minus 70 degrees Celsius temperatures.
"Once I jump there's no turning back. If the life-support system fails there'll only be one result. Racing drivers can enter the pits if things go wrong. For me, there's no way out," he said. Baumgartner will be plummeting to the ground from 120,000 feet. After 35 seconds, he will break the sound barrier, and finally, at 5,000 feet he will deploy a parachute and -hopefully -- land safely on the ground. During his 10-minute journey to earth, the Austrian will travel at over 1,100 km per hour, the Daily Telegraph reported. Baumgartner in 2003 became the first person to "skydive" across the English Channel. Writing on his blog about being given the
chance to make the jump, Baumgartner said: "I am struggling to find the right words to express my happiness, how relieved and motivated I am." Baumgartner said he hoped his stunt would help provide valuable information about how humans will cope in the future with space tourism and open up new types of extreme sports such as space diving, the Telegraph added. The skydive, which is being sponsored by energy drink manufacturer Red Bull, will attempt to break four world records -- the highest altitude freefall, the highest manned balloon flight, the longest distance travelled in freefall and the speed record for the fastest freefall.
Felix Baumgartner (inset) plans to ascend to the stratosphere in a capsule tethered to a helium balloon-- and then jump out.
Op Ed TheSouthAsianTimes.info
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Islamist politics rages in sun-kissed Maldives
By Amulya Ganguli
Sex, lies and videotape hit BJP
Robert Blake, US assistant secretary of state for South Asian affairs, in Maldives to solve the stalemate. By Manish Chand he dramatic transfer of power in the Maldives has ripped the mask off a placid tourist paradise with sun-drenched beaches and global jetsetters. Behind the veil is brewing a heady mix of Islamization and politics that also has India worried. "The Islamist parties stoked resentment against the Nasheed government and tried to discredit him as anti-Islamic. Islamists ganged up with the disgruntled sections of the police, the military and the opposition to engineer a coup," Ahmed Shaheed, Maldives former foreign minister and a key aide of Nasheed, said. Ahmed Naseem, who succeeded Shaheed and was foreign minister till last week when Nasheed resigned amid a police mutiny, has also blamed the Islamists for the coup in the Maldives, a 100 percent Sunni Muslim nation. Naseem incurred the wrath of hardline opposition last year when he became the first senior Maldivian diplomat to visit Israel. In fact, on the day Nasheed resigned amid a coup, a group of vandals destroyed priceless Buddhist statues and artefacts from the pre-Islamic era, considered idolatrous by hardline Islamic salafists, in the National Museum in the capital Male, an assault that was reminiscent of the the Afghan Taliban's destruction of priceless Buddha statues at Bamiyan in 2001. In the weeks before opposition protests became more strident after the arrest of a judge at the behest of Nasheed, the tussle between the moderate, modernist Islam and the radical hardline version came to the fore when the Nasheed government was forced to order the closure of spas in hundreds of luxury resorts. On Dec 30, a statement from the president's office said: "The government has decided to close massage parlours and spas in the Maldives, following an opposition-led religious protest last week calling for their closure." The order followed concerted protests led by the opposition Adhaalat, or Justice Party, seen as an offshoot of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood movement, and several rag-tag groups that accused the Nasheed government of compromising Islamic principles and wanted a strict adherence to strict Islamic law. The protests are now referred to as the 'Dec 23 revolt'. In fact, the protesters demanded prohibition of the sale of alcohol in the island resorts and shut down of massage parlors which they accused were a front for prostitution. Alcohol is forbidden in the capital Male but is available at the luxury island resorts catering to upmarket tourists. Calling for a return to conservative Islam, the protesters had also demanded demolition of monuments gifted by other South Asian countries at the 17th SAARC summit in Addu island. It's not clear how the new dispensation led by Mohammed Waheed Hassan will shape up and what role the Islamists will get to play in the new power structure or the new national government of unity. For now, it appears that the Islamists will wield considerable clout. Mohamed Jameel, the newly appointed home minister who had gone to a religious high school in Pakistan, is known to have a hardline Islamist posture. Last month, his party issued a pamphlet claiming that empty bottles of alcohol were found in the presidential offices and accused the government of planning to sell land to Israel. Many of seven new cabinet members announced the new president are known to have pro-Islamist sympathies. "Islamist organizations and Islamist media outlets have proliferated in the public sphere. Their influence in the political society and the state has increased," said Azim Zahir, a Maldivian analyst. The trend towards Islamisation in the Maldives, located strategically at the crossroads of vital sea lanes of communication, has India worried as it fears that if it is not checked the island nation could become a staging post for radical extremists. India is closely watching the unfolding situation and is buttressing its intelligence gathering to ensure that the country does not slip into the trap of fundamentalists.
arnataka was supposed to be a stepping stone for the Bharatiya Janata Party's successful political foray in the south. But it is turning out to be a millstone around the party's neck. The scandal involving three Karnataka ministers, two of whom were caught allegedly watching a pornographic clip on a mobile, is the latest to hit the party. This is not the first time that party members in the state have shown a keen interest in subjects outside politics. M.P. Renukacharya's name featured in a sex scandal before he became a minister and another minister, H. Halappa, had to quit when he faced rape charges. It is not easy to decide which of the two acts of misdemeanor - seeing sexually explicit videos inside the state legislature or defrauding the exchequer - is more condemnable. But BJP members have been found crossing the line in both cases. While B.S. Yeddyurappa had to be dragged kicking and screaming from the chief minister's chair following allegations of corruption against him, three ministers - K. Subramanya Naidu, Janardhana Reddy and Krishnaiah Setty - had to resign earlier because of the charges of venality against them. And this in a state where the moral police associated with the party has been criticizing women for going to bars and threatening couples on Valentine's day. In fact, one of the ministers who
was caught watching the blue film had linked rape to the "provocative" dresses worn by women. In addition to their voyeurism, the ministers were also economical with the truth when they claimed they were only educating themselves about life in the decadent West. Although the three have resigned, the BJP's former chief minister of Goa, Manohar Parrikar, has come to their defense by saying they were only watching a film and not "doing it". Considering that Parrikar's name was on the list of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as a possible successor to Rajnath Singh as the BJP president (the RSS finally chose Nitin Gadkari), the paterfamilias of the Sangh parivar will not be amused. The latest revelations will be especially damaging to the BJP not only because it will puncture, perhaps permanently, its sanctimonious air but also because it will expose the fact that virtually all of its politics is based on false pretences. For instance, the movement for "liberating" Ramjanmabhoomi by destroying Babri masjid and building the Ram temple was not so much an expression of deep religious sentiments as a cynical ploy to whip up anti-Muslim feelings to serve its political purpose. Even before the latest incident, the BJP shied away from calling its chief ministers to its anti-sleaze campaigns against the Congress only to keep Yeddyurappa out. Now, it will find it even more difficult to climb the moral high ground and claim to be a votary of Hindutva or "cultural nationalism".
The scandal involving three Karnataka ministers, two of whom were caught allegedly watching a pornographic clip on a mobile, is the latest to hit the party.
The views expressed in Op Eds are not necessarily those of The South Asian Times.
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Op Ed TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Priyanka Gandhi:
Or is it that we just can't accept the fact that there may be someone in India's first political family who sees a life for herself outside politics?
By Rajdeep Sardesai n 1999, we experienced a 'television moment'. We were covering Sonia Gandhi's Amethi campaign when we happened to meet her daughter, Priyanka. For the next several hours, Priyanka took us on a whirlwind tour across the constituency. There were fewer camera crews then, so there wasn't a mad scramble for sound bites. Priyanka was made for television: attractive, charming and spontaneous. She even had lunch with us under a banyan tree, spoke at length on her family legacy, and clearly reveled in the public glare. It was probably her first ever TV interaction, but she didn't miss a beat. We were, well, bowled over. Thirteen years later, little seems to have changed. She still offers an infectious smile, wears colorful designer khadi saris, relates with great warmth to the crowds, and willingly speaks to the camera. The traveling media (now more a circus) still hangs onto her every word, totally enchanted by her striking presence. And the question asked is no different to what we kept asking all those years ago: when is Priyanka joining politics? Her answer too is similar: back then, she said she was only campaigning for her mother, now she says her involvement is limited to helping her brother, Rahul. And yet, we persist, in the hope that maybe, just maybe, one day she will, like the eternally bashful bride, finally say, 'yes!'. What does this Priyanka mania suggest? Firstly, it reveals the desperate shortage of telegenic personalities in public life. Faced with a tired and geriatric political class, many of whom are well past their sell-by date, Priyanka clearly stands out. The fact that she is rarely seen, emerging only at election time perhaps enhances her mystique. She is elusive for much of the year, occasionally being seen at a fashion show or Page 3 event. Elections is when she is catapulted from Page 3 to Page 1 news. There is also, whether we will willingly admit it or not, an abiding interest in home-spun dynasties (or should we say 'royalty'). The fact that Priyanka does have a marked resemblance to her grandmother, both in style and attire, is enough to draw parallels with the past. Indira Gandhi may have been a politically polarizing figure, but is also perhaps the most- recognizable politician of post-Independence India. A survey done on the occasion of the 60th year of Indian Independence only confirmed, especially in rural areas, that the one leader most Indians could readily identify was Indira amma. There is also the brother-sister comparison. While Rahul Gandhi's political style is seen as a mix of NGO activism and corporate management, Priyanka appears the more touchy-feely kind of individ-
Insider as outsider
Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra campaigning in Uttar Pradesh. ual that the aam aadmi can easily relate to. Certainly, Congress workers who seem to find Rahul distant and unapproachable, appear to identify with Priyanka's 'peoplefriendly' approach. The media, too, which finds it difficult to interact with Rahul, draws comforting contrasts with Priyanka's accessibility. And yet, the desire to see Priyanka enter public life fails to recognize certain realities of contemporary politics. Yes, Priyanka is charismatic, but the traditional definitions of charisma are also changing. A Nitish Kumar, for example, may lack a Lalu Prasad's communication skills. But for many Biharis, a soft-spoken Kumar today embodies a new-age role model politician who places diligence above flamboyance. A decade ago, a Sheila Dikshit, with her crumpled saris and bedraggled hair, might have seemed ill-suited to an era of television politics. Yet, she has now become Delhi's favorite 'Dadi amma', a grandmother-like figure we feel affectionate towards. Charisma is now tested at the altar of good governance where commitment to administrative rigor matters more than histrionics. Moreover, the political landscape of Uttar Pradesh, in particular, has changed dramatically in the last two decades. Old-timers may look at Priyanka and wistfully recall the Indira phenomenon, but the fact is that a majority of UP has grown up in a post-Indira, post-Congress generation. The goodwill for an Indira and the Gandhi-Nehru parivar must be measured against the reality of the new social forces that have swept across the state in the last 20 years. Even in the AmethiRae Bareli-Sultanpur belt considered the last family bastion in the state the Congress won only seven of the 15 Vidhan Sabha seats in the 2007 elections. The political zamindari culture of UP is ending, there can be no sense of entitlement any longer simply on surnames. In the hankering for Priyanka, there is also a suggestion that Rahul is not up to it. That Rahul has chosen not to open up to the media perhaps makes him even more vulnerable to critics who see him as a 'Babua' who is still to evolve into political manhood. And yet, the fact is, Rahul Gandhi in the last few months has taken the risk of plunging himself into the akhara of UP politics, addressing more than 130 rallies in the last three months alone. It suggests a certain evolution into a mass politician who is no longer cottonwooled and hiding behind the forbidding gates of power. By contrast, Priyanka has barely dipped her toes into UP's rough political waters: clever soundbites are not enough to offer a realistic challenge to the likes of Mayawati and Mulayam. Maybe that's how Priyanka wants it to be. In all these years, have we ever considered that maybe she doesn't want to be a 24x7 politician? That maybe all she really wants is to be a good mother with interests outside politics? A few months ago, she worked on a fine coffee table book on tigers. Who knows, maybe she wants to be a wildlife photographer instead of a politician. Or is it that we just can't accept the fact that there may be someone in India's first political family who sees a life for herself outside politics?
Rajdeep Sardesai is editor-in-chief, IBN 18 Network. The views expressed by the author are personal.
Priyanka's children remind people in Amethi of Rajiv era

he presence of young Rehan and Miraya, the two children of Priyanka Gandhi in electioneering in Amethi and Rae Bareli last week revived among old Congress supporters here memories of days when late Rajiv Gandhi used to bring his family for campaigning. Senior citizen Baburam remembered Rajiv Gandhi in 1984-89 when the young Rahul and Priyanka often accompanied him. "It was here that the two Gandhi children apparently learned the basics of politics and got to know the reality of real India and today we saw a kind of history being repeated", said Congress district unit president CSM Nagar Prem Narain Tewari. Rahul and Priyanka along with their father had often visited religious and spiritual places like the mazar of Malik Mohammad Jaisi, Tikarmafi ashram and Nand Mahar, Ram Murti Shukla, a former block pramukh of Amethi said. Meanwhile, Priyanka said nothing much should be read into bringing her children along with her during campaigning. "They are always with me. I have brought them to
Priyanka Gandhi with daughter Miraya (left) and son Rehan see the picture of villages of UP and how people live here and spend their lives," she said. On UP Chief Minister Mayawati's remarks that Congress has to seek votes through door-to-door campaign because it had neglected development, Priyanka said, "If someone starts attacking you, it shows that they consider themselves to be losers."
The views expressed in Op Eds are not necessarily those of The South Asian Times.
Diaspora TheSouthAsianTimes.info
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Asians most discriminated against in New Zealand: Study

Wellington: People of Asian origin -- including those from India and China -- are the most discriminated against ethnic group in New Zealand, a survey has found. The survey was carried out by UMR Research with 750 people in November last year, Xinhua reported. Asians were named by 75 percent of respondents as the most discriminated against group in the country. That figure has remain relatively unchanged for the past five years. New Zealand Race Relations Commissioner Joris de Bres said the issue is not new but the country needed to focus on inclusion of Asians in all aspects of New Zealand life to break down discrimination. He said that in the 1970s and 1980s, Pacific islanders were "Asians are now one of our four largest population groups, and one of the fastest growing. There are very few Asians on the boards of district health boards, not enough Asian teachers in our schools, not enough Asian local councillors or community board members and Asian migrants continue to face discrimination in applying for jobs," he said. According to the 2006 census, there were over 354,000 people of Asian origin in New Zealand, of which 23 percent were of Indian origin born in New Zealand and 22 percent were of Chinese ethnicity born in New Zealand. The Indian High Commission in Wellington said that till November 2011, there were 107,000 people of Indian origin.
Hindu trader kidnapped in Pakistan

Islamabad: A Hindu trader has been kidnapped in Pakistan's Balochistan province, police said. Sham Lal, a resident of Khuzdar, was kidnapped Sunday, the Daily Times reported. The trader and his family were on their way from Khuzdar to Karachi in a car when a group of armed men intercepted them. They abducted him at gunpoint but left his family in the car. Khuzdar is around 270 km from provincial capital Quetta. No one has claimed responsibility for the incident. The Hindu community later closed down their businesses in protest and took out a rally to condemn the kidnapping.
There are 107,000 people of Indian origin in New Zealand more discriminated against but this changed as the community became more established. De Bres hoped attitudes toward Asians would also change over time.
Praveen Reddy stabbing: 3 Indians to appear before court on March 2

London: Three Indians charged with the attempted murder of Praveen Reddy, an MBA student here, will appear in custody before a court on March 2. The three Amareshwar Arava, 25, Sai Kishore Balguri, 25, and Nishanth Puttapaka, 23 were produced before the Thames Magistrates Court on Monday, and charged with the attempted murder of Praveen, who was due to return to India this week. Earlier, 11 persons were arrested. The family members of an Indian student critically injured in an attack in Britain have got visas to go and visit him. British visas have been given to the family of Praveen, diplomatic sources said. His family received information from the hospital authorities, who asked them to rush to London. According to reports, Praveen Reddy was stabbed in the neck, chest and abdomen several times and thrown out of the apartment where he lived. A quarrel between two groups of students hailing from Andhra Pradesh is believed to have led to the attack. Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna had spoken to acting Indian High Commissioner in Britain Rajesh Prasad, asking him to extend all possible help to the stabbed student. The condition of Praveen Reddy, who was stabbed in the neck, chest and abdomen several times and thrown out of the apartment where he lived in London in a brawl with his room-mates on Thursday, improved on Monday, according to family sources. Doctors told my father that Praveens condition has improved, victims brother Jaya Shankar Reddy said, was quoted as saying to The Times of India. The 26-year-old has been undergoing treatment at the Royal London Hospital.
Praveen Reddy
NRI children row: India summons Norway envoy

New Delhi: India Wednesday summoned Norwegian ambassador Ann Ollestad and pushed for an expeditious solution to the custody row involving two NRI children, who were taken away by Norwegian Child Welfare Services, on grounds of emotional disconnect.The Norwegian ambassador met Secretary (West) M. Ganapathi, Syed Akbaruddin, the external affairs ministry's spokesperson, told reporters here. The meeting took place a day after Communist Party of IndiaMarxist MP and politburo member Brinda Karat met External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna and sought his government's intervention to enable an early return of two Indian children separated from their parents last year on the grounds of "emotional disconnect". She had conveyed her concern over a statement attributed to a top Norwegian official that the children will not be sent to India before April. In this context, official sources said the ministry asked the envoy to expedite the process so as to end the ordeal of the parents and their two separated children. The three-year-old Abhigyan and the one-year-old Aishwarya, children of Anurup and Sagarika Bhattacharya, an NRI couple living in Stavanger, Norway, were taken under protective care by Barnevarne (Norwegian Child Welfare Services) in May last year on grounds that they were not looked after properly by their parents. Barnevarne had placed them in foster parental care as per the directive of the local Norwegian court, mandated under Norwegian laws. An agreement was struck recently between India and Norway under which the parents named Anurup's brother Arunabhash Bhattacharya as the primary caretaker of the two children. Arunabhash is currently in Norway and is being looked after the Norwegian authorities.
NRI among 4 jailed for major UK scam

London: An Indian-origin man is among four members of a criminal gang to be jailed for their role in one of the biggest alcohol smuggling frauds ever uncovered in the UK. The complex scam was worth an estimated 50 million pounds a year in unpaid duty and VAT and allowed the men to buy fast cars and luxury homes, investigators said. The four men jailed included Davinder Dhaliwal, 32, who had pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to cheat the public revenue and fraudulent evasion of excise duty. The other three are Kevin Burrage, Gary Clarke and Michael Turner. They used their positions and contacts in the alcohol trade to conceal dozens of truckloads of alcohol being moved into Britain without paying tax or duties in a scam known as diversion fraud. Sentencing them, Judge Michael O'Sullivan of the Canterbury Crown Court said: "All four of you were involved in a criminal enterprise to cheat the revenue.
Tourism Minister Subodh Kant Sahai inaugurated the 63rd Sapporo Snow Festival in Tokyo, Japan. A beautiful snow Taj Mahal was highlight of the annual fest which was held from Feb 6-12, 2012.
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Subcontinent TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Pakistan defers MFN status to India

Karachi: Pakistan has deferred its decision to finalize a list of goods it does not want to import from India, an important step towards granting it the most favored nation (MFN) status. Once the MFN status is granted, Pakistan will have to treat India on par with its other favored trading partners. India unilaterally gave MFN status to Pakistan in 1996. Business leaders who are accompanying Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma on a visit to Pakistan expressed disappointment over the decision. "This is of course disappointing," Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) president R.V. Kanoria said. Before the visit, Indian authorities and industry
US favors independent probe in Maldives

Colombo: The US government backs an independent mechanism to investigate the transfer of power in the Maldives, the US State Department has said. US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert Blake told reporters at a media briefing here that the present Maldivian President Mohammed Waheed Hassan has agreed to such an investigation, Xinhua reported. Hassan was appointed president after former president Mohamed Nasheed was forced to step down amidst protests over his decision to sack Chief Judge of the Criminal Court Abdulla Mohamed. Nasheed later claimed that he was forced to resign at gun-point and urged the international community to
India unilaterally gave the most favored nation (MFN) status to Pakistan in 1996. chambers had expressed hope commerce ministry has prothat Pakistan would imple- posed an India-specific negament its promise of granting tive list of 636 items. MFN status to India during Pakistani Commerce Minister Makhdoom Mohammad the trip. The Pakistani cabinet, at a Amin Fahim has approved the meeting chaired by Prime list. However, the cabinet has Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani deferred its decision. Confederation of Indian Nov 2, had decided in principle to grant MFN status to Industry (CII) president B. India. The main hurdle in Muthuraman said the busiimplementation of the deci- ness community of both sion is the finalization of neg- countries was disappointed ative list of goods. Pakistan's over the decision.
Present Maldivian President Mohammed Waheed Hassan. get involved and ensure democracy in the archipelago. Blake, who was in the Maldives last week before travelling to Sri Lanka, said that the US welcomes the setting up of a broad coalition government in the Maldives till the next election can be held. A sense of uncertainty has gripped the Maldives since Nasheed resigned Feb 7. Violence broke out in the Maldives last week before and after Nasheed's resignation. Nasheed's family was sent to Sri Lanka to seek refuge. But Nasheed told a Sri Lankan newspaper that he would remain in the Maldives and fight for democracy.
Jalil Abbas Jilani next Pak foreign secretary

Islamabad: Top Pakistani diplomat Jalil Abbas Jilani, who was expelled by India in 2003 after being accused of funneling funds to Kashmiri separatists, has been named as the next foreign secretary, official sources said. Jilani, currently Pakistan's Ambassador to the European Union, Belgium and Luxembourg, is a cousin of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. The 57-year-old Jilani will replace Salman Bashir, who retires on March 3. Bashir is expected to be posted as the new High Commissioner to India, replacing Shahid Malik, whose contract has been periodically extended for the past few years, the sources said. Over the past year, Jilani has often been tipped as a contender for the post of Foreign Secretary. He joined the Foreign Service in 1979 and is highly regarded by his colleagues as a professional diplomat. Besides serving as Deputy High Commissioner in India, Jilani has served in the US, Britain, Saudi Arabia and Australia and done a stint as the Foreign Office spokesman. He will take over as Foreign Secretary at a time when Pakistan is attempting to reset its relationship with the US.
Gilanis indictment a defining moment

Islamabad: The contempt of court case in which Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has been indicted by the Supreme Court is a defining moment in Pakistan's history, said a Pakistani daily. Gilani was indicted by the Supreme Court for refusing to reopen corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari. An editorial in the News International Tuesday said that Gilani has been defying the Supreme Court's orders for the last two and a half years, but when the seven-member bench appeared Monday to decide the prime minister's fate, it did not waste any time in indicting him for "flouting, disregarding and disobeying" its orders. "Indeed, the prime minister has become the face of the government's brazen refusal to write to authorities in Switzerland asking them to reopen corruption cases against President (Asif Ali) Zardari and the contempt indictment could see him jailed for six months and disqualified from office," it said. The editorial went on to say that it is never too late to do the right thing, and "the right thing would be for the chief executive to set an example of submitting to the rule of law regardless of
Musharraf knew about Osama hideout

Washington: Former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf knew where Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was hiding and said nothing, a former head of Pakistani spy agency ISI has said. Gen. Ziauddin Khawaja -- also known as Ziauddin Butt -- was director-general of the InterServices Intelligence (ISI) from 1997 to 1999. Khawaja was promoted as army chief in October 1999, when then prime minister Nawaz Sharif fired Musharraf from the job. Musharraf launched a coup that overthrew Sharif. Ziauddin had to spend two years in solitary confinement, was discharged from the army, and had his property confiscated and his retirement benefits curtailed, the Daily Beast reported. Khawaja said the house in Abbottabad was specially made for bin Laden by another Pakistani intelligence officer, Brig. Ijaz Shah, who was the ISI bureau head in Lahore. Musharraf later made him head of the country's intelligence bureau. Khawaja said Shah was responsible for setting up bin Laden in Abbottabad and ensuring his safety and keeping him hidden from the outside. Musharraf knew all about it, he said. Bin Laden was killed in a unilateral operation launched by US special forces at his hideout in Abbottabad in May last year.
Pak Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani was indicted by the Supreme Court for refusing to reopen corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.
the adverse political and personal costs involved". It noted that this case is "no longer about President Zardari's immunity or PM Gilani's unflinching loyalty towards him; it is a defining moment in Pakistan's politico-judicial history, one that cannot be sacrificed at the altar of selfish leadership". "Democracy trumps autocracies and the misrule of military juntas primarily because of its
moral authority as exemplified by the rulers. If the verdict of the country's top court is blatantly violated by the country's top elected leaders, we can call this a dark moment not only for one man's political fortunes but for democracy itself." "The prime minister may be hailed as a hero within his own party's ranks, but history will definitely not be as kind to him in its own hour of judgment," the editorial added.
International TheSouthAsianTimes.info
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Go build 4 N-reactors, Ahmadinejad orders Iran

Tehran: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has ordered Iran to "go build" four more nuclear research reactors in addition to the sole one operating in Tehran. "It has been estimated that four nuclear reactors in four different spots in the country are needed. Go build them, to carry out research activities and provide radio-medicine needed by the country," he said in a speech on state television. The order came after Ahmadinejad unveiled a number of advances in Iran's controversial nuclear program that served as a defiant blow to international efforts to rein in its atomic activities. Iran is currently building one other research reactor, a heavywater facility in the central city of Arak designed to be more powerful than the ageing Tehran research facility built in 1967 by America. It also has projects to construct 20 reactors to produce electricity. Iran's nuclear drive has unsettled seeking the means to make atomic bombs. Tehran was driving home its resolve to pursue a nuclear program its hardline Islamic clerical leaders see as a pillar of power, protection and prestige despite Western sanctions that are inflicting increasing damage on its oilbased economy.
Japan urges Israel against Iran strike

Tokyo: Japan's prime minister Yoshihiko Noda urged Israel to refrain from military action against Iran, a report said, after Jerusalem accused Tehran for a series of blasts targeting Israeli diplomats. Tensions between the Middle East arch-foes have risen sharply following bombings in New Delhi, Tbilisi and Bangkok within a span of 24 hours, but Iran angrily rejected accusations that it was behind the "terrorist" acts. In a meeting in Tokyo with Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak, Noda warned that military action could be "extremely dangerous" as it risks "escalating" the current situation, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported, quoting foreign ministry officials. Israel has blamed Iran for two bombs targeting its diplomats in India and Georgia, as well as for a series of botched explosions in Thailand on Tuesday, which Thai intelligence officials said were aimed at embassy staff in Bangkok. Thailand on Wednesday charged two Iranians over the alleged plot, but Tehran has denied all involvement.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad unveiled a number of advances in Iran's controversial nuclear program that served as a defiant blow to global efforts to rein in its atomic activities. the West and Israel, which fear it could include work towards atomic weapons. Tehran has denied its program is anything but peaceful. However the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN's nuclear watchdog, said in November it had evidence of tests and computer simulations that strongly suggested a military dimension to Iran's activities. Iran proclaimed advances in nuclear know-how, including new centrifuges able to enrich uranium much faster, a move that may hasten a drift towards confrontation with the West over suspicions it is
Border issue: China blames India

Beijing: Blaming India and its multi-party political system for the delay in solving the vexed Sino-India border issue, Chinese state media said the two sides were "far away" from reaching a "fair" agreement due to "suspicion and distrust", which is also impeding progress in bilateral ties. Though the 15th round of border talks were concluded last month leaving a "good trend" in the bilateral relations, some contradictions and issues are still severely disturbing the normal development of the China-India relations, a write up in the People's Daily online said. "The first issue is the ChinaIndia border negotiation. China and India have held 15 meetings of special representatives for the border issue. "Although the meetings have made many positive achievements, it is still far away from reaching a fair, just and reasonable agreement," the write up in the opinion page said. The main barrier still comes from the Indian side as Indian media insist that the border line between China and India should be based on the " McMahon Line" left by British colonists, it said also India believes that the border dispute between the two countries covers not only the eastern region of 90,000 square km but also 30,000 sq km in the western region. "This wrong argument, which totally disregards the history, still has supporters in India," it said.
Syria crisis: Obama has few options

Washington: Eleven months into the bloodiest uprising of the " Arab Spring," U.S. President Barack Obama is staking his Syria policy on a fragile and untested international coalition that has few palatable options for ending the violence. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called the new "Friends of Syria" group, which includes U.S. Arab allies as well as Turkey, the best chance to build up Syria's fragile opposition and forge a political solution after Russia and China blocked any U.N. moves to resolve the crisis. But the United States is playing little more than a supporting role in the new group, while some of its key allies are taking more assertive positions that may yet pull Washington into a dangerous civil war in the crossroads of the Middle East. "The rate of impact of our efforts is being outpaced by the rate at which the Syrian regime is willing to kill people," said Steven Heydemann, a Syria expert at the U.S. Institute of Peace. "The U.S. strategy, as it stands now, is simply too little, too late, and that's a growing point of tension within the administration." The U.S. debate over Syria policy comes amid rising fears that the conflict has already tipped out of control, with weapons and material support flowing to rebels from Iraq and elsewhere. Arab League diplomats said a new resolution the group passed Tuesday could allow for arms supplies to Assad's opponents. That could thrust the Obama administration into an uncomfortable position of tacitly backing Arab allies who defy its own public warnings about military involvement in the conflict. "Right now, the opposition can probably obtain arms from raiding Syrian military supplies, adding defectors, and making some black market purchases," said a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The White House on Tuesday reiterated its wariness of an arms race in Syria. "We still believe that a political solution is what's needed in Syria and there is still a chance for it if the international community acts quickly," White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called the new "Friends of Syria" group, which includes U.S. Arab allies as well as Turkey, the best chance to forge a political solution.
More than 300 die in Honduras prison fire

Honduras: Trapped inmates screamed from their cells as a fire swept through a Honduran prison, killing at least 300 inmates, authorities said. Some 475 people escaped from the prison in the town of Comayagua and 356 are missing and presumed dead, said Hector Ivan Mejia, a spokesman for the Honduras Security Ministry. He said 21 people had been injured. Dozens were trapped behind bars as prison authorities tried to find the keys, officials said. Outraged relatives of dead inmates tried to storm the gates of the prison Wednesday morning to recover the remains of their loves ones, witnesses said. The crowds were driven back by police officers firing tear gas. Channel 5 television showed dozens of inmates' relatives hurling rocks at officers. "We want to see the body," said Juan Martinez, whose son was reported dead. "We'll be here until we get to do that." Comayagua fire department spokesman Josue Garcia said he saw "horrific" scenes while trying to put out the fire, saying inmates rioted in attempts to escape. He said "some 100 prisoners were burned to death or suffocated in their cells." "We couldn't get them out because we didn't have the keys and couldn't find the guards who had them," Garcia said.
Dozens were trapped behind bars as prison authorities tried to find the keys, officials said.
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Business TheSouthAsianTimes.info
In Brief
New York: The Empire State Building, the company that runs the Depression-era skyscraper, the tallest building in New York, is planning to go public in a stock offering that could raise $1 billion, according to documents filed with regulators. That means that even if you can't afford to buy a home, you can buy a stake in perhaps the nation's most iconic office building. At least until the government sells shares in the Pentagon. The planned IPO comes about 10 years after real estate investor Peter Malkin bought the 102-story Art Deco landmark from Donald Trump and a business partner for $57.5 million. It's the latest chapter in a saga that dates to 1931, when the building was completed, establishing it as the city's tallest skyscraper. It regained that standing after the col-
The planned IPO comes about 10 years after real estate investor Peter Malkin bought the 102-story Art Deco landmark from Donald Trump and a business partner for $57.5 million. lapse of the World Trade Center twin towers in the Sept. 11 attacks. Millions of tourists visiting New York ascend its heights to gape
over the city from its observation deck, made famous in films such as "Sleepless in Seattle." It was 1933's "King Kong" that showed a giant ape clutching Fay Wray and fending off airplanes atop the tower. The building's star turns in Hollywood blockbusters and TV shows and its dominant presence in the New York landscape have made it among the most beloved structures in the nation. And the opportunity to buy stock in a company that owns such a landmark doesn't come up often. Some of the nation's marquee buildings are owned by publicly traded companies. Boston Properties owns the General Motors building in New York and the Embarcadero Center in San Francisco's financial district. But neither has the history that the Empire State Building has.
New York Life in talks to exit India JV: report

New Delhi : New York Life Insurance Co is in talks to sell its stake in a joint-venture with life insurance company Max India(MAXI.NS), the Economic Times reported, citing an unnamed source. There are no firm developments in the joint venture to report, Max India said in response to the report. The U.S.-headquartered insurer has a close to 26 percent stake in Max New York Life, India's largest non-banking private insurance company, estimated to be worth around 35 billion rupees, the report said.
Moody's cuts ratings of six euro nations

Mumbai: Moody's Investors Service cut the debt ratings of six European countries, including Italy, Spain and Portugal, and said it may strip France and the UK of their top AAA ratings, citing Europe's debt crisis. Spain was downgraded to A3 from A1, Italy to A3 from A2 and Portugal to BA3 from BA2, all with negative outlooks. Slovakia, Slovenia and Malta also had their ratings lowered. "Policy makers have made steps forward but we do not think they have done enough to reassure the market that we are on a stable path," said Alistair Wilson, chief credit officer for Europe at Moody's in London. "What will guide long-term ratings is the clarity and the performance of policy makers and the macro picture." The euro weakened against the dollar as investors shifted funds to safer assets after the rating cuts. Moody's decision highlighted the risk that the European debt crisis will deepen even as the region's finance ministers prepare to meet on Wednesday to discuss a second aid package for Greece, following the country's approval of austerity measures.
Pvt Indian airlines allowed to expand overseas services

New Delhi: The Indian government has allowed domestic private airlines to expand their overseas operations by using the maximum permissible limits of bilateral flying rights. So far, only Air India enjoyed the right to fly on international routes agreed between India and foreign countries through bilateral air service agreements (ASAs). The decision freed up flying rights on the under-utilized routes reserved for the national flag carrier. "Indian scheduled carriers, including Air India, can utilize the allocated bilateral till such time they reach the maximum permissible limit under air service agreements," the civil aviation ministry said. Indian carriers utilized just 20 utilised by foreign carriers. In the Far East markets, the numbers are around 40 percent with domestic carrier and 60 percent with foreign carriers. The ministry, however, said that Air India's interests and operational plan will be given due consideration in allocation of the traffic rights and entitlements. Air India on its part said its international operations or revenue generation would not be affected as it is utilizing most of its slots under the current flight plans. "We cannot fly out to every country. The decision to withdraw the right to first refusal will not affect us so much because we are utilizing most of our slots," a senior Air India official said.
So far, only Air India enjoyed the right to fly on international routes agreed between India and foreign countries. percent of their overseas entitlement, against 39 percent into India by foreign airlines between January to November 2011. The share of passenger market emanating out of and into India varies from sectors to sector. Indian airlines use less than 10 percent of the allowed capacity in Europe, and the rest is being
Apple loses iPad copyright battle in China

Beijing: A move is afoot to block the worldwide distribution of iPads from their manufacturing base in China after its maker, Apple Inc, lost a copyright battle to a Chinese company. The winning company, Proview, said it plans to ask Chinese customs to disallow shipments of iPad. The timing of the move is most significant because Chinese vice president Xi Jinping is in Washington, discussing several trade and political disputes between China and the United States. The US-based Apple outsources nearly half of its products like iPhone, Macbook and iPad from factories based in China. Reports in the Chinese media said that several stores across the country had removed iPads from their shelves as Apple had lost its claim over the iPad brand to the Chinese firm, Proview, in a local court. But this correspondent found Apple stores in Beijing displaying
Retail sales in US rose in January

Washington: US retail sales rose 0.4 percent in January due, mainly, to the activity in department stores, general merchandise stores and bars and restaurants, the Commerce Department announced. In December, despite the traditional holiday buying, retail sales showed little change over November. The majority of analysts had calculated that there would be a 1 percent increase in retail sales last month. In any case, if one leaves to the side vehicle sales, then retail sales increased by 0.7 percent in January. Although the annual automotive vehicle sales rate rose in January at its fastest pace in three years, the total sales volume reflects the fact that dealers and manufacturers were offering substantial price discounts to attract buyers. Sales volume for vehicles fell from an annualized rate of $72.5 billion in December to $71.7 billion in January.
and selling iPads. "We are now working on a request to China customs to ban the imports and exports of the iPads that have violated the trademark." Proview lawyer Xie Xianghui was quoted as saying in the media.
Sports TheSouthAsianTimes.info
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Obama avidly tracking NBA sensation Lin
Positive outcome on Sahara pullout soon: IPL chief

New Delhi: Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman Rajeev Shukla said that talks are going on between the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Sahara India in a cordial manner and hoped a positive outcome by this week. Shukla said that Sahara is still the sponsor of the Indian cricket team and also the owner of Pune Warriors franchise in the IPL. "Talks are going and in a cordial manner. We hope there will be positive outcome from the negotiations by this week," Shukla said. "Sahara is very much a sponsor of the Indian team and also of the owners of the Pune Warriors franchise in the IPL. I am hopeful that they will continue their association with the BCCI. They have been sponsoring the team for the last 11 years and we are like a family. Misunderstandings can take place in a family and they get sorted out as well," he said. Asked what role ex-BCCI president Shashank Manohar is playing in the negotiation process, Shukla said: "He is not playing any main role as reported in the media. We are working as a team. All the issues will be sorted out by this week." During Manohar's tenure as BCCI
US President Barack Obama is avidly following the rise of NBA basketball sensation Jeremy Lin. Washington: US President Barack Obama is avidly following the rise of NBA basketball sensation Jeremy Lin, his spokesman said, amid adulation over the sudden star's latest hardwood heroics. Lin, who plays for the New York Knicks, has overtaken Shaquille O'Neal's league record for the most points in his first five games as a starter by clocking up 136 points. He drained a buzzer-beating three-pointer in the game's final second to lead his team, now on a six-game unbeaten run, to victory over the Toronto Raptors. "The president is an avid sports fan and a particularly avid basketball fan and we were speaking about Jeremy Lin on Marine One," White House spokesman Jay Carney said, referring to Obama's helicopter. "It is just a great story. It's the kind of sports story that transcends the sport itself, it involves people who don't necessarily normally pay attention," Carney said. "It is a great story and yes, (Obama) is very impressed." Lin, a Harvard graduate, was born 23 years ago in the United States to Taiwanese parents and his story has garnered huge interest around the world, especially in Asia.
Sahara bought the IPL franchise Pune Warriors for Rs.1,702 crore, making it the most expensive franchise in the Twenty20 league. president, Sahara bought the Pune franchise for a whopping Rs.1,700 crore, the costliest franchise in the IPL. Sahara, which has been sponsoring the Indian cricket team for 11 years, severed all its ties with the BCCI earlier this month, saying it was denied natural justice and the last straw was the BCCI's refusal to allow Yuvraj Singh's price to be added to Pune Warriors' auction purse after the southpaw was ruled out of the tournament with a lung tumor. Sahara signed a fresh sponsorship contract with the BCCI July 1, 2010, and it runs till Dec 31, 2013. According to the Rs.532-crore contract, Sahara will pay Rs.3.34 crore per Test match, one-day international and Twenty20 international under the new terms. Sahara bought the IPL franchise Pune Warriors for Rs.1,702 crore, making it the most expensive franchise in the Twenty20 league. In all, the BCCI stands to lose around Rs.2,234 crore as a result of the Sahara pullout decision.
India-Lanka ODI: ICC plays down umpiring error

Sydney: A five-ball over during ODI between India and Sri Lanka may have caused a lot of controversy but the ICC and Cricket Australia sought to play down the incident. The ICC dismissed the incident as "a straightforward, honest mistake by the umpiring team." Cricket Australia took a similar stance. "International umpires, like international players, perform to a high level but like players, they are human and make mistakes from time to time. But once a decision is made, it's made and we get on with the game," a CA spokesperson was quoted as saying by The Daily Telegraph. However India's refusal to accept DRS was also seen as a reason for this glaring error. According to newspaper, "...communications between the host broadcaster, the third umpire in the stands and the on-field umpires are greatly reduced when the DRS (decision review system) is not in operation." The match was tied, with both teams finishing on 9-236 after Indian captain MS Dhoni hit three off the final ball. However, in a rare and internationally embarrassing incident, Lasith Malinga bowled only five balls in the 30th over of India's innings. The on-field umpires Simon Fry and Nigel Llong, video umpire Bruce Oxenford, match referee Andy Pycroft and the players on the field, failed to realise that India had been duded as it attempted a third successive victory in the tri-series.
Dawes new India bowling coach

New Delhi: Former Queensland fast bowler Joe Dawes will be the new bowling coach of India, as the Board Of Control For Cricket In India (BCCI) has decided to hire him and not to renew Eric Simons' contract. The decision not to renew Simons' contract was taken at the BCCI working committee meeting in Chennai. Simons' contract expires at the end of the ongoing Australia tour. The former South African all-rounder was part of Gary Kirsten's coaching staff but decided to stay on with the Indian team after Kirsten left to take over the reigns of the South African team. The new bowling coach, Dawes has played 76 firstclass matches for Queensland between 1997 and 2005. However, his career was cut short by a knee injury following which he took up to coaching.
Cancer-hit Yuvi gets Armstrong boost

New Delhi: India's cancer-stricken World Cup star Yuvraj Singh said he was inspired after getting a message from US cycling legend Lance Armstrong wishing him a speedy recovery. "Message from @lancearmstrong makes me feel better! Thank you lance means a lot hope we can meet," tweeted Yuvraj, who is undergoing chemotherapy in the United States for a malignant tumor located between his lungs. The ace all-rounder, named man of the tournament after India's World Cup win in April last year, already said he had been drawing inspiration from Armstrong, who overcame testicular cancer to win the Tour de France seven times. A photo of the message, posted on Yuvraj's twitter account, read: "Yuvi, I want you to know that the entire LIVESTRONG team is here for you. "We say it all the time, and truly believe in it: Knowledge is power, Unity is strength, and Attitude is everything. Please know that we are here to help you and your family in any way possible. Go Yuvi!! Livestrong." Yuvraj had earlier tweeted that he was reading Armstrong's book "It's Not About The Bike", saying: "I'm sure the book will motivate me and pull me through this difficult time." He had a dream run in the World Cup, scoring 362 runs and grabbing 15 wickets in nine matches. He has not played competitive cricket since taking part in two of three home Tests against the West
Yuvraj (in his tweeted picture) is undergoing chemotherapy in the US for a malignant tumor. Indies in November. Yuvraj has so far scored 8,051 runs in 274 one-dayers and 1,775 runs in 37 Tests since making his international debut in 2000.
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Health TheSouthAsianTimes.info
7-hour sleep helps high school students do better

Washington, DC: High school students seem to do better in studies when they have seven hours of sleep, rather than nine recommended by federal guidelines, a study reveals. "We're not talking about sleep deprivation, the data simply says that seven hours is optimal at that age," said study co-author Eric Eide from Brigham Young University (BYU). The new study, led by Eide and BYU economics professor Mark Showalter, is the first in a series where they examine sleep and its impact on our health and education. Surprisingly, the current federal guidelines are based on studies where teens were simply told to keep sleeping until they felt satisfied, said a university statement. "If you used that same approach for a guideline on how much people should eat, you would put them in a well-stocked pantry and just watch how much they ate until they felt satisfied," Showalter said. "Somehow that doesn't seem right," he added. Analyzing data from a representative sample of 1,724 primary and secondary school
Turmeric-based drug being tested against Alzheimer's

Stockholm: Curcumin, a compound of turmeric commonly used in Indian curries, prolongs life and boosts activity of fruit flies with a nervous disorder similar to Alzheimer's disease that afflicts millions of older people across the world. The study led by Ina Caesar of Linkoping University (Sweden), indicates that it is the initial stages of fibril (threadlike fibre or filament, constituent of a cell) formation and fragments of the amyloid fibrils that are most toxic to nerve cells (neurons). For several years, curcumin has been studied as a possible drug candidate to combat Alzheimer's disease, which is characterized by the accumulation of sticky amyloid-beta and Tau protein fibres, the journal Public Library of Science reports. Linkoping researchers wanted to investigate how the substance affected genetically engineered fruit flies, which developed evident Alzheimer's symptoms. The fruit fly is increasingly used as a model for neurodegenerative diseases, according to a Linkoping statement. Five groups of diseased flies with different genetic manipulations were administered curcumin. They lived up to 75 percent longer and maintained their mobility longer than the sick flies that did not receive the substance. However, the scientists saw no decrease of amyloid in the brain or eyes. Curcumin did not dissolve the amyloid plaque (tangles of amyloid protein in nervous tissue); on the contrary it accelerated the formation of fibres by reducing the amount of their precursor forms, known as oligomers. "The results confirm our belief that it is the oligomers that are most harmful to the nerve cells," says study co-author Per Hammarstrom, professor at Linkoping. "We now see that small molecules in an animal model can influence the amyloid form. To our knowledge the encapsulation of oligomers is a new and exciting treatment strategy," he added.
students across the country, they found a strong relationship between the hours of sleep youths got and how they fared on standardized tests. "We don't look at it just from a 'your kid might be sleeping too much' perspective. From the other end, if a kid is only getting 5.5 hours of sleep a night because he's overscheduled, he would perform better if he got 90 minutes more each night," Eide said. The size of the effect on test scores depends on a number of factors but an 80minute shift toward the optimum is comparable to the child's parents completing about one more year of schooling.
Antibiotics of no use in sinus infections

Washington, D C : Antibiotics prescribed for sinus infections are ineffective as they do not reduce symptoms any better than an inactive placebo. "Our results show that antibiotics aren't necessary for a basic sinus infection - most people get better on their own," says study co-author Jay F. Piccirillo, professor of otolaryngology at the Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis. Sinus infection symptoms include sinus headache, facial tenderness, pressure or pain in the sinuses, fever, cloudy drainage and feeling of nasal stuffiness, sore throat and cough. In the US, as many as one in five antibiotic prescriptions are for sinus infections, Journal of the American Medical Association reports. And given the rise of resistant bugs, researchers say it is important to find out whether this treatment is effective, according to a Washington statement. "We feel antibiotics are overused in the primary care setting," says Jane M. Garbutt, research associate professor of medicine at Washington, who led the study. In practice, instead of giving antibiotics, such as the amoxicillin used in this study, researchers suggest treating symptoms such as pain, cough and congestion, along with watchful waiting to see whether further treatment is necessary. The study included 166 adults whose symptoms fit the criteria for acute sinus infection recommended by an expert panel convened by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
For Chinese, business dinners are 'unwelcome banquets'

Beijing: A huge number of Chinese people hate attending banquets, with business dinners at the top of six "most unwelcome" banquets, a study has found. More than 56 percent of people complain about attending banquets too often, the China Youth Daily reported. The Social Research Centre of the China Youth Daily polled a total of 1,704 people to look into their views on dinner gatherings. Business dinners were at the top of most unwelcome banquets at 65 percent. Friends' wedding banquets came in second at 46 percent, colleague gatherings was third with 39 percent, classmate parties was fourth at 33 percent while wedding banquets of relatives were at 24 percent.
Low Vitamin D levels during pregnancy may affect kid's speech

Sydney: Women with low levels of Vitamin D during pregnancy are twice as likely to give birth to children who may face difficulties with speech. The study, the largest of its kind, looked at Vitamin D concentrations during the pregnancies of more than 740 women, whose children were followed up regularly until 17 years. Andrew Whitehouse, associate professor at the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, who led the study, said the finding was significant, as Vitamin D levels among women have decreased steadily over the years, the journal Paediatrics reports. "The developing baby is completely reliant on the mother for its Vitamin D levels and what we have shown is that this might have an impact on the child's brain development," Whitehouse said, according to a Telethon Institute statement. Whitehouse said the findings had significant implications in that it could provide an early intervention to prevent some language difficulties. "We would now like to explore whether Vitamin D supplements in pregnancy could reduce the risk of language problems for children."
Around 73 percent of respondents feel "anxious" about attending banquets. Nine percent were willing to attend, but two percent flatly refused to join in for dinner parties. The survey explained why people
have anxiety about attending banquets. Drinking was first with 84 percent, no common topics to discuss was second at 57 percent, getting gifts was third with 50 percent, and party timings was at 33 percent.
Kremlin creates its own vodka

Moscow: The Kremlin has created its own brand of premium vodka to be served at official events involving the Russian president. The new beverage, titled Kremlin Award, was presented at the ProdExpo 2012 exhibit in Moscow Tuesday. Four companies, including the Moscow-based Cristall distillery and Armenian concern Multi Group, were involved in production. According to spokesman for the presidential administration, Viktor Khrekov, only the best grains and ethanol brands are used for the vodka, which unspecified European and global companies worked on. The vodka is already being served at Kremlin events, Khrekov said. He did not elaborate on whether it would be available outside the presidential administration or not but at least one Russian online store Tuesday offered it for purchase at the modest price of 792 rubles (about $26) for a halflitre bottle. The presidential administration previously launched a line of cognacs, a variety of brandy, which were produced in Armenia and were also titled Kremlin Award. Neither outgoing president Dmitry Medvedev nor his likely successor Vladimir Putin have exhibited any predilection for vodka, mostly drinking champagne at official events. Putin is also known to have a beer at informal public gatherings.
Travel TheSouthAsianTimes.info
27
Maldives crisis triggers fears for tourism
olitical instability and unrest in the Maldives have raised fears for the islands' vital tourism industry which caters to high-end travelers and honeymooning couples. The archipelago nation, made up of 1,192 coral and sand-fringed islands dotted with luxury resorts, depends on tourism for a third of its gross domestic product (GDP) and more than 60 percent of foreign currency earnings. After the dramatic events of Tuesday, when President Mohamed Nasheed resigned following a mutiny by police, some travel agents said they had received calls from holidaymakers wanting to cancel their expensive trips. The Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), an umbrella body, said it was anticipating many clients pulling out ahead of a busy period over Valentine's Day on February 14. "Travelers going to Maldives are looking for total relaxation. Once
the atmosphere gets affected, travellers become anxious," TAAI president Iqbal Mulla told AFP by phone. "The recent developments in Maldives are a major setback." Konica Kapoor, an executive of Flexi Tours travel agency in New Delhi, told AFP several clients of hers had already pulled out. "We had four to five honeymoon couples who made bookings for
Maldives and were due to travel in the coming week," she told AFP. The cancellations came as Britain's government issued a warning against "all but essential travel" to the capital Male, citing an "uncertain" situation. Most travelers to the Maldives are transferred directly from the international airport to their outlying resort destinations without ever setting foot on the crowded and
noisy capital island Male. "The geographical isolation of resorts and inhabited islands leaves tourists away from daily activities of local population centres," the Maldives Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators said. "We would like to assure that the holidays of tourists in Maldives will not be affected in the current scenario. All the resorts and guest houses are operational," it was quoted as saying by the website of Sri Lanka's Sunday Times newspaper. The Indian Ocean country last year drew more than 850,000 tourists to its secluded islands known for their turquoise blue lagoons and coral reefs teeming with tropical marine life. The islands, long popular with Europeans as an idyllic holiday resort, now attract many visitors from Asia, especially India and China. Any major downturn would have an immediate impact on the government's finances.
In 2009, it asked the International Monetary Fund for a $93-million bail-out after its economy was hit hard by the global financial crisis. The recent political unrest, fuelled by Islamic hardliners, is more adverse publicity for a place that sells itself as the ultimate tropical destination specialised in luxury and relaxation. In December, the government of the Sunni Muslim nation briefly closed all hotel spas and health centers in resort hotels after the conservative Adhaalath party claimed they were fronts for prostitution. Four years ago, 12 foreign tourists, including a honeymooning British couple, were wounded in the island's first-ever bomb attack for which three Islamist militants were each sentenced to 15 years in jail. Apart from the island capital Male, foreigners can only make short trips to other islands in an effort to curb the influence of outsiders on the nation's traditional Muslim lifestyle.
Getaway to the French Riviera?
The Valley of Flowers
By Chandni Moudgil ows of palm trees enveloping glittering sandy white beaches with sparkling blue waters , the capital of French Riviera is the winter home to celebrities and tourists alike owing to its breathtaking natural beauty and amazing mild Mediterranean weather. With a range of options to have a relaxed summer to choose from - Plush sea facing hotels, carnivals at the city square and casinos for a royal night out - no wonder this is the second most visited tourist destination in France, next to Paris of course, which made it a must visit on our itinerary during our recent visit to Europe. For a city that's supposed to be one of the oldest settlements in the world, its interesting mix of how the old and rustic meets the new and jazzy is jaw-dropping. While the old nice provides options to the art and culture enthusiasts - with its cobbled streets and vibrantly painted rows of houses with brown windows and old town markets. The newer part of the city has metros running on the roads and buildings flaunting contemporary architecture and rows of designer labels temptingly inviting
from the display windows. Take time out from exploring the cities museums and cathedrals, or gorging on sumptuous food followed by a walk at the scenic Promenade des Anglais ('the Walkway of the English') and drive to Monte Carlo and Monaco to discover luxury in true sense. Now, a stay at these locations is too expensive to be recommended to the faint hearted, but missing a dekko when one is next door in Nice, is absolutely a crime! Stop over en route at the Fragonard (perfume factory) for a personalized tour and demo on how those scintillating perfumes and toiletries are made, while you head to one of the most sought after tourist destinations for the rich and famous - with its spectacular hotels, Monte Carlo Casino , grand prix racing tracks and yatch-dock yards! Since this small little country is home to the royalty, you could take a sneak peak at their cathedral and palace and stop by on your way back at the ancient Eze village that gives all those fairy tale books that you read about a run for their money. Phew...Where else could you find everything that your dream vacation can be about?
At 3500m above sea level, the Valley of Flowers is spread over 87 sq km with 300 species of flowers in Uttarakhand, India. By Jackwinder Singh Uppal he air is intoxicating with the scent of flowers!"said Juan, my new friend whom I met in the valley of flowers National Park! For me, the feeling was overwhelming and the Ipod was of no use when I can hear birds twittering in the bushes! Located in Uttarkhand , close to Hemkunt sahib where Sikh pilgrims from Punjab and around the world visit every year from June-September. In 1931, Frank Smythe wrote, 'I have not seen a more beautiful valley where the human spirit may find repose.' It is a Mecca for everyone ...a botanist, a zoologist, a backpacker, an avid traveler..... Valley has so much to offer. At an elevation of 3500m above sea level, Valley of Flowers is spread in 87-sq-km with almost 300 species of flowers. You might get lucky to have a glimpse of musk deer, Himalayan bear; while butterflies are very easy to spot. Mid July to mid August is the best time to visit as monsoon rain will irrigate the valley, and the flowers will be at full bloom. If one is looking for amazing weather and bit of chill in weather, mid September to end October is the best time. The journey starts from the base camp at Rishikesh, further traversing through Srinagar, Joshimath , Gobind ghat and Ghangaria. Ghangaria has Hotels with Electricity and Mobile towers. Start your trek from Gangharia, early morning (weather is unpredictable in mountains) the office opens at 6 a.m., get the ticket (Indian/foreigner for 3 days Rs.40/350). Further 2 kms trek and you are in the middle of the Valley. Flowers, perfume and butterflies.....what all would you think at that time! For the cobra lillies, the blue poppies and the brahma kamals, you have to trek further up and keep your eyes open as the mosaic of flower beds make u high along with the heavenly perfume in the air! One can trek further 5kms, since no overnight stay is permitted there, you should be back in Ghangaria before Dusk. Carry a Poncho; it will keep your upper half dry. Whatever you carry (water bottles, wafers, etc) please dump all the wrappers, etc in Ghangaria in a dustbin. As no grazing is allowed in the National park, the entire stretch is clean, though elsewhere mule dung can make u bit annoyed! Carry a stick; it will help while trekking as the paths can be slithery. The Nature Interpretation centre at 7 pm shows a film on Valley of Flowers every night.
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Humor TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Humor with Melvin Durai
y wife, Malathi, and I recently bought a new minivan, trading in the 2000 Subaru Legacy Wagon that had served us well for nine years. As we were leaving the Honda dealership in our sparkling white minivan, my 7-year-old daughter, Divya, stuck her head out toward the parked Subaru and waved. Bye, car! Thank you, car! she said. It wasn't the first time one of us had spoken to the Subaru. When we bought it second-hand in 2002, Malathi had trouble learning to drive a stick-shift (manual) car. As she took her foot off the clutch pedal too quickly, the car would jerk forward and stall. Go! Go! Go! Malathi would yell, but the car couldnt seem to grasp this simple instruction. Being a good husband, I tried to be helpful: Its a Japanese car. Whats the Japanese word for go? But after Malathi's initial words to the car, I don't recall any of us talking to it until Divya's parting words. I hate to admit this publicly, but we didn't even give it a name. We just referred to it as the car - as though it didn't have an identity of its own, as though it was exactly like all the other Subarus. Just ask any mechanic and he will tell you that no two cars in the world are exactly alike. Your car is definitely unique, he will say, and it has a unique problem that will take me many hours to fix. And pretty soon you will have a unique bill to pay.
Saying goodbye to a trusted friend

remorse if the warning light came on, saying Feed me, dude. I'm not a model! I may have neglected the car now and then, but I never intentionally abused it in any way, either verbally or physically, even when it was at fault. When its battery died and it wouldn't start one morning, I didn't kick its tires and scream, Stupid car! Why didn't you remind me to turn your lights off? When it almost crashed into a building while Malathi was at the wheel, I didn't punch its headlights out and shout,
You charged me for an exhaust pipe, exhaust gasket and exhaust clamp, you say, looking at the items on the bill. But why did you charge me for exhaust fluid? Sorry, says the mechanic. I was exhausted and needed a drink. Our Subaru certainly had some unique qualities. For example, if I made a sharp U-turn, it would produce a popping sound. I used Google Translate and found out what it was saying: Make up your mind where youre going, you idiot! If I went over a bump too fast, it would make a deep vibrating sound, which Google also translated for me: Time to get your eyes checked, you moron! But despite its occasional complaints, it was a good, reliable car, one that we shamelessly took for granted. Even when it had carried us safely on a 30-hour trip, we didn't have the decency to give it a pat on its bumper. If it was dirty and needed a bath, I waited for a rainy day and tossed it a bar of soap. And when it came to feeding it, I was always slow to do so, waiting until the gauge showed empty, not feeling any
Stupid car! Why didn't you tell her that her foot was on the accelerator, not the brake! I always felt a sense of loyalty to the car and was reluctant to part with it. That's why I was pleasantly surprised to hear Divya's words of gratitude. While the rest of the family was excited about the new minivan, she had taken a moment to appreciate the old car. I should have done the same: Good bye car! Thank you for keeping us safe. Well miss you. I hope your new owner speaks Japanese.
Laughter is the Best Medicine
by Mahendra Shah
Mahendra Shah is an architect by education, entrepreneur by profession, artist and humorist, cartoonist and writer by hobby. He has been recording the plight of the immigrant Indians for the past many years in his cartoons. Hailing from Gujarat, he lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Tech Life
Control a PC with body motions

Las Vegas: Don't trash your keyboard and mouse just yet. But three companies at the International Consumer Electronics Show demonstrated depth-sensing cameras that let you to control your computer by moving your hands or body. Microsoft's Kinect add-on for the Xbox 360 console has already popularized these cameras for gaming. Now, the technology is being set loose for use on other devices. However, like many gadgets shown at the annual Las Vegas-based extravaganza of phones, PCs and TVs, the cameras aren't quite ready for the mass market. The companies showed off their cameras to give software developers and gadget makers a chance to work with the technology and incorporate it in their products. For the rest of us, it's a taste of what the future might hold. Why it's hot: The cameras represent another challenge to the keyboard-and-mouse regime, which is already being eroded by touch screens. If you're in front of a depth-sensing camera, you don't have to touch the screen to control it with your fingers or hands. (This works with non-depth-sensing cameras as well, but they're not as good at figuring out what you're doing.) At the PrimeSense booth, visitors could browse and play the contents of a digital video library with hand gestures basically, anything you'd do with a mouse today. The Israeli company's camera goes into the Kinect and is now sold separately as the Asus Xtion. Behind the lens: The cameras can tell how far away things are in their field of vision. PrimeSense does this by sending out an invisible pattern of light, and registering how it's deformed when it hits objects. SoftKinetics' camera works almost like radar, but with light: it sends out infrared light and measures how fast it comes back. Where it takes longer, it figures out that that part of the image is further away. The downside: If you buy one of these now, there isn't much you can do with it, unless you're a software developer. The Asus Xtion comes with a few simple Kinect-like games for your PC. For all of these cameras, the depthsensing range is limited to about 12 feet, and at the far end of the range, accuracy is reduced. That means finger gestures may not be picked up from across the living room.
Astrology
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Chandigarh, India: +91-172- 256 2832, 257 2874 Delhi, India: +91-11- 2644 9898, 2648 9899 psharma@premastrologer.com; www.premastrologer.com
By Dr Prem Kumar Sharma

Stars Foretell: February 18-24, 2012
Aries: This week social events will lead to new contacts. You will find yourself bubbling with loads of energy. Your intuition will be helpful in making crucial decisions. It will even warn you when you are on the brink of some trouble. Love and romances will dominate your week as you go out of the way to please your beloved. Pending jobs will be completed to your satisfaction. Taurus: Being aggressive will not bring any benefits. A new job with better remuneration or position seems to come your way. Children will seek your guidance to complete school projects. Friends and spouse bring comfort and happiness. Contribute generously to social organizations. Investment needs to be made only after proper guidance. Get involved in sports that are competitive and challenging. Gemini : This week everything you do will be done to absolute perfection, bringing you appreciation and rewards from those around you. However, try not to get too involved with romantic affairs, as it will cloud your mind and will distract you from focusing on your goals. Your creative side will grow, bringing you popularity. Later in the week, a spiritual person gives blessings and good wishes. Cancer: Work will be quite satisfying this week as you accomplish more in less time. Beneficial news, another job offer or a fresh assignment will bring moments of happiness and jubilation for you. Participating in organizational functions will bring growth opportunities. Sudden romantic encounter with someone you have secretly admired will make your head spin. Look for something to do towards the weekend. Leo:Someone will be jealous of you because of your recent success. You need to control your speech and thoughtless actions otherwise it will disturb your peace of mind. Diplomacy and tact will be required to handle emotional situations. Activities with friends and family members will be enjoyable. Children will spend more time on outdoor entertainment rather than look into their books. You will make long lasting relationships during this period. Beware of animals on the road, as they could be rather aggressive. Virgo: You need to take out some time for visiting close friends, since your recent work schedule has prevented you from seeing them for a while. Messages from overseas will lift your spirits. Use your imagination and seek assistance from experienced people to finish pending jobs. Rewards or gifts likely for some. Health related problems might bring discomfort. Your varied interests and vast knowledge will become a major attraction for you at social gatherings. Libra: This week you should get involved in activities that will enhance your technical knowledge. Meditation will make you feel relaxed and yoga will boost additional energy into your body. Business plans might not work as planned. Little tact and patience will be necessary to achieve desired goals. Difficulties concerning financial matters will ease with the help of friends, bringing happiness and peaceful atmosphere at home. Scorpio: Be straight forward and to the point when you deal with your clients. Common sense will be important to click new business deals and pick up fresh assignments. New job opportunities for few professionals. Children will certainly give you a few problems, but nothing that you cannot handle with proper love and tact. You will find members of the opposite sex very appealing, but try not to annoy someone you really care. Sagittarius: Your desire to go out and search for new opportunities will win you appreciation. Your involvement in group events will help you make new contacts. Your creative side will flourish bring you immense popularity. Financial matters however will dampen your work progress. Children will be a major source of happiness. Outing with friends will keep your relaxed. Shopping will be pleasurable and exiting provided you do not exceed your budget. Real estate investment will pay off well in the long run. Capricorn: This week dont overspend, unless absolutely necessary. Your business plans which have been lying low will gather momentum as someone will offer you financial backing as a partner. Elders and family members provide you with necessary love and care. You should follow your instincts when it comes to making personal and important decisions. Avoid spicy and oily food and exercise regularly to stay in perfect shape. Aquarius: This week will require you to relax and not let irresponsible actions of others bother your mind. You need to focus your attention on planning your days ahead and stay away from emotional melodramas. Your communication skill and knowledge will be highly impressive. Spouse will remain cooperative and helpful. Domestic issues need immediate attention. Attending function that attracts important people will help you meet someone who will help you achieve your goals. Be persistent in your approach, but highly diplomatic. Pisces:Your performance at office will be great this week. You will gather valuable information if you are open to new ideas. Unexpected guests will crowd your place later in the week. You should listen carefully to your intuitions as they are more profound this week than normal and will have hidden messages. Meditation and yoga will bring you spiritual as well physical gains. A small pleasure jaunt towards the weekend will be good for lifting your spirits.
Annual Predictions: For those born in this week

February: 18 Your Ruling Influences : No. 9 and the planet Mars. You are also influenced by the planet Mercury. Your Traits : You are by nature generous and courteous Profession and Finances : In the coming year, you will leave no stone unturned, in fulfilling your responsibilities. You will be able to do this to the satisfaction of your loved ones. Your honesty will bring you prestige and recognition in whatever you undertake, in the year ahead of you. You will be able to pursue your quest for knowledge. Reading and research will bring you pleasure and satisfaction. Your communication skills will draw the attention of your bosses and you will be able to impress them with your views and knowledge of various subjects and issues. Your lucky colours are shades of yellow, red and white, and you should keep these in mind, while buying clothes or painting your house Significant months : May, October and November February: 19 Your Ruling Influences : No. 1 and the Sun. You are also dominated by the planet Mercury Your Traits : Research and studies, are your passion. You are intelligent by nature, and like to go deep into the study of any subject You are full of life and energy. Your enthusiasm in anything that you do makes you the centre of attraction at any social gathering. In the ensuing year, you will make many friends and enjoy a life full of activity, fun and laughter. Your lucky colours are gold, yellow and green. Profession and Finances : With your methodical approach to work, coupled with your sincerity, you will be able to achieve success in your professional career Students : Those of you, who are pursuing your studies, you are advised to try and put in your full concentration in whatever you are doing. This will bring out the best in you and you will be rewarded with flying colours. Significant Months : July, September and November February: 20 Your Ruling Influences : No. 2, the Moon and the planet Mercury Your Traits : You have tremendous self-confidence and determination. You will have a large circle of friends and can expect to socialize and have lots of fun, in the year ahead of you Profession and Finances : The year ahead of you, promises to be a successful one, as far as your professional career is concerned. Those of you in the media or the teaching line can expect to reach newer heights of excellence in the coming year.. Your concern for the oppressed will make you do a lot of charity work Travel : Proximity, to a water body will be of utmost important to you. Getting a transfer to a city or town near and water body, like a riverside or seaside will help you to gain prosperity and happiness Domestic Front : Some of you will be attracted to the opposite sex, and may even make a special friend Significant months : January and August February: 21 Your Ruling Influences : No. 3 and the planets Jupiter and Mercury Your Traits : You have a kind hearted and loving nature and have a large circle of friends, both male and female. You like to develop spiritual powers, and you like to use this to bring relieve for the oppressed class. Helping those in need, gives you a feeling of satisfaction.. Friends and relatives will look to you for advice and help Profession and Finances : Your self-confidence will help you to achieve popularity and success, in the year ahead of you. In the coming year, some of you are likely to inherit ancestral property, especially from your fathers side. Your lucky colours are shades of yellow, violet, purple and green Travel : You will undertake a lot of job related travel Domestic Front: You can expect to receive a lot of happiness and love at the domestic front, especially your children. Significant months : March, May and December February: 22 Your Ruling Influences: No. 4, and the planet Uranus. You are also dominated by the planet Mercury. Your Traits : Your dynamic personality makes you the centre of attraction in any social gathering. In the year ahead of you, you will be able to impress the opposite sex with your style of dressing and your conversation skills. In love matters, it will be a good year for you. You Should Guard Against : Respiratory infections Profession and Finances : You will reach newer heights of excellence, and can expect to reach the top hierarchy at the work place. Your lucky jewels are emerald, pearl and diamond and you should wear these to attain happiness and prosperity Domestic Front and Health : Those of you, who are single, can expect to find your life partner. Those of you in your 40th year can expect to attain success. In fact, You will have to be careful about respiratory infections. But care and precaution, will help you to overcome your health ailments, without much difficulty Significant months : January, July and October February: 23 Your Ruling Influences : No. 5 and the planet Mercury Your Traits : Following the law and order, is an obsession with you. You do not tolerate anything, which is not correct, and what is not lawful. Religion and customs attract you, but you do not overdo them. You maintain a perfect balance between religion and practicality. Music and literature will fascinate you, and you will be able to get peace through music. You get a sense of satisfaction in helping the oppressed. In the coming year, you will get many opportunities, to work for the needy. Profession and Finances : You are ambitious by nature and will give it your best shot to achieve your aspirations Travel : Travel will form an important part of your life in the coming year Students : You will be able to study the subject of your choice and will be able to go deep into its study. This will bring you success in your educational field Significant months : May, July and September February: 24 Your Ruling Influences : No. 6 and the planets Venus and Mercury Your Traits : You are independent minded and full of self-confidence. You will move in an intellectual crowd, in the year ahead of you. This will be beneficial to you in all ways. Your personality and positive attitude to life, will allow you to have a vast circle of friends around you Profession and Finances : In the coming year, proximity to a water body will bring you prosperity. New schemes and projects are waiting to be undertaken. All you need to do is push yourself ahead and make the best of opportunities that are waiting for you. Travel : You should try to get a position in a city or town, near a riverside or a seaside Domestic Front : Those of you, who are single, can expect to tie the nuptial knot. You will prosper and achieve success after your marriage. Significant months : July, September and December
Before you consult...

i) Accurate Data: Please make sure Date, Time and Place of birth is accurate. ii) Careful: Did you check background of the astrologer before disclosing your secrets. iii) Fee: Discuss the charges before, dont feel shy. Its his business. iv) Expectation: Expect the best, if the outcome is not as desired, never give up. v) Consult: Take second opinion before spending thousands on cure/remedies.
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30
Spiritual Awareness TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Meditation to know what lies beyond

no death but just a change of vesture. Thus, they could live the rest of their lives without fearing death because they had already experienced what lies beyond this life. Those who have a near-death experience are just visiting the borders between this physical realm and higher spiritual regions. Through meditation we can transcend to higher, more blissful realms. Saints have given detailed accounts of the various regions of existence to which a soul goes after death. There are three lower regions: a physical, an astral, and a causal region made of mixtures of matter and consciousness and which are subject to dissolution; and the higher spiritual regions which are eternal: the supracausal plane and a spiritual plane known as Sach Khand or True Realm from where God emanates. If we can rise above the three lower worlds, the soul enters the purely spiritual regions where it merges back in the Lord and lives etersee darkness, or gray, or Lights of various colors. As we gaze into the middle of whatever we see, our soul will begin to concentrate at a point known as the third or single eye, located between and behind the two eyebrows. As it concentrates there, and we continue to gaze, we will begin to see inner vistas. We may see flashes of Light, Lights of any color, an inner sky, moon, or sun. We may see our inner guide who will take us on an inner journey. At the time of initiation, the Masters impart some of their spiritual attention to us to give us a spiritual boost within so we can see and hear the inner Light and Sound of God. To keep our mind still, they give us five Charged Words to repeat. These have several benefits. They keep our mind occupied so that no thoughts can distract us. We have seen that even yogis who meditate for many years and do physical poses and breathing exercises, still have to grapple with distractions from their mind. Light we may find Lights of various colors, inner vistas, and ultimately we transcend physical consciousness and become conscious of the inner spiritual realms. Our soul soars into these inner states of consciousness, and experiences those places to which we will go when we leave this world for our final time. We find that we exist without our body as soul. Each inner region is alive with beautiful colors, celestial Music more enticing than any in this world, and divine love. All our suffering ends. We are embraced by the love of God that puts us into states of eternal bliss and happiness. We become fearless as we realize that our body is not our true self, but that our soul is our real essence and exists beyond this physical world. This experience fills us with tremendous joy and peace. We are thrilled to know that we can be fully conscious in another realm of existence. We experience a state of all love, all joy, and all consciousness. This inner journey takes us through different levels of inner realms; each higher one has more and more consciousness and less matter. There is an astral realm filled with more Light than this realm and beautiful Music. There we travel in a lighter body known as an astral body. There are beautiful sights and colors in this region unseen on earth. Even more ethereal is the causal region, which is more subtle, more blissful, and more loving. It contains equal parts matter and consciousness. From there, there is the supracausal plane, which is predominantly consciousness with a small amount of illusion. Finally, there is the region of all spirit, with no trace of matter. It is here that our soul merges into God, and becomes one with God. Here we realize that our soul is the same essence of God and is a part of God. This state is one in which we gain immortality, permanent peace, and divine love that knows no end. We can attain each of these states through meditation on the inner Light and Sound, or Shabd Meditation, as taught by Masters of Sant Mat. To reach these heavenly realms, we need to meditate daily. By sitting still and keeping our mind still through mental repetition of the Charged Words given by a saint or Master, we can begin to witness the inner Light and Sound and learn to rise into spiritual consciousness of the Beyond. The benefits of doing so are that we will lose our fear of death. We will be able to journey at any time of day or night, from the comfort of our own homes, into the spiritual realms that await us Beyond. We will not fear death because we will have seen in life what is awaiting us Beyond. People who have had spiritual experiences of the Beyond do not fear death any longer because they know that there is a house waiting for them within. Another benefit is that we will not fear the death of our loved ones. It is true that we will grieve for them and miss them terribly, but we will be comforted in knowing for certain that they are safe, happy, free of pain, and in ecstasy in the realms Beyond. We will know that they have taken up resi-
Concluding part of three part series of Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharajs keynote address at the 26th International Human Unity Conference held in Mexico City, Mexico, in November 2008.
By Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj

he saints tell us that what dies is the physical body, which is made of matter. Being made of matter, the physical body deteriorates, decays and is finally destroyed. But our true self, which is our spirit or soul, is eternal. It lives on and on. By connecting with our soul, we will have access to the answers of what awaits us beyond deaths door and how we can take a peep into the beyond while still alive. Is there any evidence to prove the souls immortality? We have two pieces of evidence to examine. One is the statements and accounts given by saints, prophets and mystics who claimed to pass through the gates of the Beyond in their mystic travels. The second is current statements made by doctors and scientists who, through modern medicine, have brought back to life people who had been declared clinically dead. Millions of people in the past three decades have had neardeath experiences and their reports are all similar. A doctor discovered that those patients who had clinically died but were brought back to life through the wonders of modern medicine all had a similar experience. Many reported having separated from their body. They were able to watch from above their own body as the medical practitioners tried to revive them. Many were able to see relatives in other rooms or other cities and hear what they were saying while their body was on the operating table. Later, the accounts of what they saw and heard were borne out by the relatives. Many of them found themselves going through a tunnel and emerging in a world of Light. There they met a Being of Light who was radiant but whose light was not scorching. They were embraced by the Being of Light who poured out more love than any of them had experienced on earth. They also underwent a life review in which they experienced all the good they had done to others and all the pain they had caused others. This was a lifechanging experience, for those undergoing the NDE realized that what matters most in this world is the love we give others. They came back transformed and vowed to lead their lives giving love and doing good as their main focus. They also lost their fear of death. They gained newfound fearlessness because they realized their soul was immortal. They realized there is
We can experience the souls immortal nature when we go within. We need not experience the trauma of a neardeath experience, nor would we want to, in order to find out what lies Beyond. Rather, we can learn how the saints and mystics from all different religions had their inner experiences. We can learn the techniques they used and begin to practice them ourselves. This technique is meditation. comfort of the soul.
nally in bliss and love. We can experience the souls immortal nature when we go within. We need not experience the trauma of a near-death experience, nor would we want to, in order to find out what lies Beyond. Rather, we can learn how the saints and mystics from all different religions had their inner experiences. We can learn the techniques they used and begin to practice them ourselves. This technique is meditation. In this form of meditation, we sit in a comfortable position, one in which we can sit the longest without moving. We close our eyes, very gently as if we were going to sleep. With our attention, we focus into the middle of whatever lies in front of us. At first we may Stillness of mind is needed to be able to see the inner Light and hear the beautiful inner Music. These are always shining and reverberating within us, but we do not see or hear them because our mind is occupied with external thoughts. The moment we can stop these thoughts and enter the stillness within, we can see and hear the inner Light and Sound. These words are also charged to help our attention withdraw from awareness of the body to become aware of the inner Light within us. As we become more absorbed into the inner Light and Sound, we can transcend physical body-consciousness and cross into spiritual realms beyond. As we gaze into the inner
dence in a far more beautiful and blissful place than where we live on earth. We will know that they are free of suffering and are in a peaceful place. While we still miss them, we are not fearful of what has happened to them. Finally, another benefit of meditation and finding God within is that we see that we are all one. We see the same Light of God that is in us is in everyone else. Then, we love all and serve all. We are able to forgive others because we realize their mistakes were caused by ignorance of our oneness. When we forgive others, we can contribute to a nonviolent world. In this connection, I would like to relate an anecdote about forgiveness. Once there was a warrior who went to a wise monk and asked him, "What is the difference between heaven and hell?" The monk looked at this warrior who was very large and muscular and had a savage look about him. The monk then replied, "You ignorant brute. You are nothing but a savage. Why would I waste time with you teaching you about heaven and hell?" When the monk said that, the warriors blood began to boil and he was filled with anger and hatred. Suddenly, he could not control his temper and he started beating up the monk. After a few moments, the warrior realized what a heinous act he was committing and stopped. The monk smiled, and said, "That fit of anger is hell." The warrior was so ashamed for his violent act and begged the monk to forgive him. The monk again smiled and said, "Your asking for forgiveness is heaven." This story describes in a nutshell the answer to the question about dealing with all the violence, injustice, and evil in the world. We can choose to respond in kind, which creates more of a hell, or we can respond with forgiveness, which creates heaven in our own lives on earth. Meditation can uplift our soul to realms in which we can find the answers to all our spiritual questions. We can journey to the regions that await us when we leave our physical body at the time of death. The burning question of where we go after we die will be answered, because we will have already journeyed there through meditation. Death no longer fills us with fear for we see for ourselves that it holds more bliss, joy, and love than we can ever imagine. Ultimately, we reach the stage of merger with God and become all-conscious. It is at that stage that our spiritual thirst is quenched. If we can spend some time daily in meditation we will gain the fearlessness to overcome all lifes challenges and lose our fear of death. We will contribute to a world of nonviolence and attain lasting happiness, bliss and joy.

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