may 27 pages 27-40

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, MAY 27 , 2011 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

27 Indo American News • Friday, May 27, 2011ONLINE EDITION: www.indoamerican-news.com

STOCKS • FINANCE • SOUTH ASIAN MARKETS • TECHNOLOGY

IndoAmerican News

BusinessFriday, May 27, 2011 www.indoamerican-news.com

India Denies Bail to Executives Implicated in Telecom 2G Fraud

Photo: Jacob David

NEW DELHI (AFP) – An Indian court denied bail Monday to five top executives accused in a massive telecom scandal that has rocked the Congress-led government, saying the charges against them are too serious.

The five face charges of cheating, forgery and abetment to crime in the case involving the allegedly fraudulent sale of telecom licences in 2008, which the national auditor estimates cost the state nearly $40 billion in losses.

The five executives, arrested in April, included Reliance Telecom managing director Gautam Doshi, senior vice presidents Hari Nair and Surender Pipara.

The other two were Swan Telecom director Vinod Goenka and Unitech Wireless director Sanjay Chandra. Goenka is also managing director of top Indian real estate firm DB Realty.

The Delhi High Court ruled in a 34-page decision the five should remain in jail “taking into account

the gravity” of the accusations against them.

The court, upholding a lower court decision, added it feared the accused might interfere “with the process of justice by tampering with the evidence”.

Police have arrested eight other people in the graft case including former telecom minister A. Raja and lawmaker Kanimozhi, who uses one name, daughter of the leader of a key south Indian ally of the ruling national Congress party.

Prosecutors allege Raja sold te lecom licences at give-away prices to favoured companies that paid bribes to secure sought-after second-generation (2G) bandwidth in the

world’s fastest-growing mobile phone market.

Separately, Kanimozhi, arrested last Friday, filed a fresh plea for bail after a lower court rejected her request.

Police have accused her of

Reliance ADA Group Managing Director Gautam Doshi leaves after an appearance in a New Delhi court last month on April 15. An Indian court has denied bail to Doshi and four other top executives accused in a massive telecom scandal that has rocked the Congress-led government.

accepting bribes totalling two billion rupees ($45 million) channelled through a television station she partly owns.

Former Telecom minister A. Raja and lawmaker Kanimozhi, daughter of Karunanidhi, key South Indian leader in Chennai, Tamilnadu State, has been accused of accepting $45 million in bribes and kickbacks to help Raja get elected as Telecom Minister

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2011• ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

28 Indo American News • Friday. May 27, 2011 ONLINE EDITION: www.indoamerican-news.com

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29 Indo American News • Friday, May 27, 2011ONLINE EDITION: www.indoamerican-news.com 29Indo American News • Friday, May 27, 2011ONLINE EDITION: www.indoamerican-news.com

David Headley Takes Stand to Implicate Rana, ISI in Mumbai 26/11 Attacks CHICAGO (Sun Times, Tribune):

Chicago businessman Tahawwur Rana said the nine militants killed in the Mumbai terrorist attacks should be given Pakistan’s highest military award and compared the plot’s mas-termind to a respected Islamic figure, a convicted terrorist testified in federal court Wednesday.

David Coleman Headley said that Rana told him in 2009 that the Lashkar-e-Taiba members who were killed by Indian authorities during the attacks in the South Asian city that claimed 160 lives should receive the award called the Nishan-e-Haider.

The Nishan-e-Haider is the highest posthumous military award given in Pakistan.

Rana, 50, also allegedly told Head-ley that Sajid Mir — the man be-lieved to have orchestrated the at-tacks — should be named “Khalid bin Walid.”

Khalid bin Walid was a general and close companion of the Prophet Muhammad and is highly respected in the Muslim world.

Rana “was complimenting him [Mir] on being brilliant,” Headley said in the third day of Rana’s trial in which he is accused of allowing Headley to use his immigration business to scout targets for Lashkar to attack.

Coleman, 50, has already pleaded guilty for his role in the attacks.

Headley spent most of the morning combing over e-mails and transcripts of phone conversations he had with Rana and others connected to the attacks and a separate plot targeting

a Danish newspaper that published an unflattering, controversial cartoon depicting Muhammad.

Prosecutors Wednesday showed videos Headley shot of the Jyllands-Posten and other sites in Copenha-gen.

Headley testified that he had planned to assist with the destruction of other sites as well, including Bol-lywood, a Shiv Sena temple and the National Defense College in India.

David Coleman Headley returned

to the stand for third day in the trial of his longtime friend Tahawwur Rana, who is accused of providing cover for Headley as he conducted surveil-lance for the attacks where gunmen arrived by boat and stormed the city for three days.

“’Tactically, this was done bril-liantly’,” Rana said, according to Headley’s testimony.

Headley, a Pakistani-American who pleaded guilty in plotting the at-tacks, is the government’s top witness

in a trial that comes at a fragile time in U.S.-Pak-istan relations. So far, Headley’s testimony has detailed how a Pakistani militant group blamed in the attacks and Paki-stani intelligence coor-stani intelligence coor-stani intelligence coordinated in plotting and funding the attacks. The proceedings also come just weeks after Navy SEALs found Osama bin Laden hiding outside Islamabad, raising con-cerns that Pakistan may have been protecting the world’s most wanted ter-world’s most wanted ter-world’s most wanted terrorist.

Attorneys for Rana, who also is accused of helping Headley estab-lish cover in Mumbai and for another potential plot in Denmark, have called Headley manipu-lative and claimed he had other reasons in impli-cating Rana, his long-

time friend.Given their first chance to question

Headley before jurors Wednesday afternoon, Rana’s attorneys delved straight into the men’s friendship, painting Rana as a good guy dragged down by Headley -- and setting up a main theme for the defense.

“He was your friend, but he didn’t do what you were doing?” asked Rana defense attorney Charles Swift.

“Yes,” Headley answered.

Although Rana is on trial, the pro-ceedings have focused on Headley. The men, both 50, met as teenagers at a prestigious boarding school in Pakistan and have stayed in touch. Defense attorneys are expected to scrutinize Headley’s background; af-scrutinize Headley’s background; af-scrutinize Headley’s background; after a drug conviction Headley worked as an informant for the DEA and they claim Headley has changed his story. For three days, prosecutors have questioned Headley -- who speaks in a soft voice and has been wearing a dark windbreaker -- about scores of emails, audio recordings and video clips that show rare insight into the web of international terrorism.

Pakistan has deflected the accusa-tions and repeated what it’s main-tained since 2008: The Inter-Services Intelligence agency, known as ISI, had no links to Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistan-based terrorist group who claimed credit for the Mumbai at-tacks.

But Headley has testified that the ISI knew about and helped fund and direct the Mumbai plot.

Headley, who said he started work-ing with Lashkar in 2000, said the Pakistan-based terror group, and the ISI operate under the same umbrella. As Headley scouted sites for targets in Mumbai, he said he met regularly and received money from someone he said was an ISI major, known only as “Major Iqbal” and his Lashkar han-dler Sajid Mir. Headley said both men were contact with each other.

On Wednesday, prosecutors showed video surveillance that Headley took in Copenhagen for a potential attack in Denmark. Headley admitted to helping plan an attack that never hap-pened on a Danish newspaper that in 2005 printed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.

Headley described for jurors Wednesday how he rode a bike around Copenhagen and conducted surveillance on sites including the French Embassy. All developments were communicated with Rana, Mir and Iqbal, Headley testified.

Headley told Rana that he liked several other sites for future attacks, according to a transcript of a Sep-tember 2009 phone conversation. The conversations, spoken in Urdu, were translated into English and read aloud for court.

Those sites included the Jyllands-Posten newspaper offices, Bolly-wood, the Somnath Temple in India and offices of Shiv Sena, a right-wing Indian political party.

Rana also praised the work of the gunmen, Headley’s regular Lashkar contact, Sajid Mir, and said the nine of 10 who died should be given military honors in Pakistan, Headley testified. Iqbal, Mir and Abdur Reh-man Hashim Syed are identified by prosecutors as a retired Pakistani military with links to Iqbal. All three are charged in absentia.

David Headley is singing like a canary on the stand, implicating his friend Rana and Pakistan’s ISI intelligence agency.



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33 Indo American News • Friday, May 27, 2011ONLINE EDITION: www.indoamerican-news.com P A K I S T A N

Pakistan Railways at 150 — Celebration Dimmed by Obsolete InfrastructureBPakistan Railways at 150 — Celebration Dimmed by Obsolete InfrastructureBPakistan Railways at 150 — Celebration Dimmed by Obsolete Infrastructure

y ZPakistan Railways at 150 — Celebration Dimmed by Obsolete Infrastructure

ZPakistan Railways at 150 — Celebration Dimmed by Obsolete Infrastructure

aheer MPakistan Railways at 150 — Celebration Dimmed by Obsolete Infrastructure

MPakistan Railways at 150 — Celebration Dimmed by Obsolete Infrastructure

ahMood SPakistan Railways at 150 — Celebration Dimmed by Obsolete Infrastructure

SPakistan Railways at 150 — Celebration Dimmed by Obsolete Infrastructure

iddiquiLAHORE (Dawn): The institution of Pakistan Railways is frail enough to be on crutches as it has turned 150. It is bogged down by the excess baggage of obsolete infrastructure, dilapidated assets, resource scarcity, financial and management irregularities.

Although one of the largest

public-sector organisations of the country, it has been running in losses for the last three decades or so despite having an unbelievable share of landholdings and human resources besides being a source of cheap transportation for millions of

people on a daily basis.Pakistan Railways at 150 — Celebration Dimmed by Obsolete Infrastructure

people on a daily basis.Pakistan Railways at 150 — Celebration Dimmed by Obsolete Infrastructure

Less revenue generation and flow of expenses on high side have taken its overdraft to the tune of Rs40 billion ($465M) up to March-end and it is on the rise with every passing day.

It is hard pressed to repair, maintain and overhaul its existing assets including locomotive, rolling

stock, track, bridges, buildings, signalling system etc.

In January this year, the Pakistan Railways found it hard twice in a week to operate all trains for want of fuel. Operation of some 30 passenger trains was suspended

on the grounds of loss-making. Pakistan Railways at 150 — Celebration Dimmed by Obsolete Infrastructure

on the grounds of loss-making. Pakistan Railways at 150 — Celebration Dimmed by Obsolete Infrastructure

Frequent failures of available locomotives have made it difficult to maintain credible operations and punctuality of all passenger and freight trains resulting in daily protests by the commuters.

Prior to 1980’s, the railways was running in profit as sufficient units of rolling stock (locomotives,

coaches and freight wagons) were available. In those days some 136,000 t h o u s a n d passengers were c a r r i e d a n d 931,069 freight wagons were loaded on an average annually, according to the PR Year Book 2009-10.

In the 1990’s, t h e r o l l i n g stock gradually reduced i .e. , l o c o m o t i v e s from 1,026 to 544; passenger coaches from 2,137 to 1,670 a n d f r e i g h t wagons from

37,395 to 19,638 up to 2006-07. The passenger carriage decreased from 145,710 thousand to 83,899 thousand and loading of freight wagons from 1,155,472 to 320,335 in spite of the fact that the growth of population in the country increased

up to 50 per cent.According to the Year Book, the

PR has 7,791 route kilometres and 9,027 running track kilometres the condition of which has not been generally satisfactory due to accumulation of deferred maintenance owing to resource constraint.

During the year 2009-10, a sum of Rs2,500 million ($29.5M)was allocated for procurement of track material against the actual requirement of Rs8,935 million ($103.8M). The existing track needs 729 kilometres of rail renewal, 1,521 km of sleeper renewal, 622 km of ballast screening and 980 km of welding rail joints.

Some 80 per cent of the 14,570 or so bridges have outlived their utility. A total of 159 bridges have been identified being in acute distress requiring immediate attention or rehabilitation while 109 were included in the project located on the main line and 50 others on important branch lines with anticipated cost of Rs412 million.

Out of a fleet of 500 diesel electric locomotives, more than 200 have been out of service and stabled for want of imported spares or repairs.

Out of 400 passenger coaches, the PR still required funds for rehabilitation of 159.

Some 50 per cent of the 11,737 four wheeled wagons needed replacement or conversion for higher capacity or speed.

More than half of the 80,000 or

so residential buildings, stations, schools, hospitals, offices, stores, workshops and rest houses have been in deplorable or unsafe condition. More than 500 stations have obsolete non-interlocking mechanical signalling system of the 18th century.

The infrastructure wrecked during riots in Sindh following Benazir Bhutto’s assassination on Dec 27, 2007, could not be fully restored yet.

Rioters had torched 35 locomotives, 139 coaches and 65 stations, damaged 36 bridges and 27 manned level crossings, uprooted signal and communication system besides tracks, six track machines and cranes in the Karachi and Sukkur divisions of the railways, suspending all kinds of rail traffic to and from the Sindh capital to other parts of the country.

Out of 87 burnt coaches, it could repair only three to date owing to paucity of funds.

In the 1980’s, freight trains were running in profit and transported goods in bulk i.e., wheat, coal, urea and imported consignments at port were cleared through rail. The introduction of the NLC (National Logistic Cell) affected the rail business and its downfall started, particularly in respect of imported goods.

In the recent past, freight business at Quetta dryport was also diverted to NLC dryport and the railways was deprived of its considerable

continued on page 36

Over 200 diesel electric locomotives out of Pakistan’s 500 are out of service and stabled for want of imported spares or repairs. The nation’s railway system is badly in need of upgrades and improvements to help its people travel safely and comfortably

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34 Indo American News • Friday, May 27, 2011 ONLINE EDITION: www.indoamerican-news.com

Time To Act

Naren Patel Sugar Land, Texas

May 22, 2011

Dear Friends,

There is a lot at stake in the upcoming City of Sugar Land run-off election. As you observe in media, people around the world are struggling and sacrificing to secure the privilege to vote. We are fortunate to have that right provided to us by the American democracy. When decent people abdicate the duty to vote, we all lose. More importantly our children and grand children lose because of our lack of action! Indirectly it implies, “I will pay my taxes but, I will let others decide what happens with my tax dollars and to my community and the surroundings.”

True, this great land of opportunity – the USA , is at cross roads. Albeit, this great nation has afford-ed all of us an opportunity of “Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness.” You will agree we are blessed to be here. Now it is our holy duty to secure and extend the same opportunity to our children and grand children! I urge you to act positively by voting in the early voting of the upcoming run-off election.

Harish Jajoo is a qualified candidate for the City of Sugar Land District 4 runoff election. His character, integrity and competence are impeccable and will serve you well. He does not have any subtle or hidden agenda beyond the honorable good governance. He deserves your support - your vote, votes of your family and friends as well as that of your neighbors. By now you may have learned more about Harish Jajoo, candidate for City of Sugar Land District 4 from his campaign mailer; if not, please visit www.harishjajoo.com.www.harishjajoo.com.

This election has a far reaching implication to our neighborhoods and communities. Additionally, each vote for Harish Jajoo will help us ensure the rule of time tested laws of this great nation. Kindly plan to vote in early voting starting Tuesday, May 31 through Saturday, June7, 2011 at First Colony Community Center located on Austin Parkway across from the First Colony middle School in Sugar Land.

Please vote to elect desired candidate Harish Jajoo, for the City Council District 4 position.

Sincerely, Naren Patel

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35 Indo American News • Friday, May 27, 2011ONLINE EDITION: www.indoamerican-news.com W o r l d r e l A T I o N S

This Week, That AgeMay 23, 1922 - Walt Disney incorporates his 1st film company Laugh-O-Gram Films.May 24, 1830 - “Mary Had A Little Lamb,” is writtenMay 24, 1915 - Thomas Edison invents telescribe to record telephone conversations.May 25, 1928 - Amelia Earhart (as a passenger) is 1st woman to fly Atlantic OceanMay 25, 1985 - Cyclone ravages Bangladesh; 11,000 killed.May 26, 1945 - US drop fire bombs on Tokyo.May 27, 1919 - 1st transatlantic flight ends; US Navy flying boat takes 11 daysMay 27, 1921 - Afghanistan gains sovereignty.May 27, 1927 - Japanese military intervention in Chinese civil warMay 27, 1927 - Japanese military intervention in Chinese civil warMay 27, 1927May 27, 1930 - Richard Drew invents masking tapeMay 27, 1930 - The 1,046-foot (319-meter) Chrysler Building in New York City, the tallest man-made structure at the time, opens to the public.May 27, 1931 - 1st full scale wind tunnel for testing airplanes, Langley Field VA.May 27, 1942 - Hitler orders 10,000 Czechs murdered.May 27, 1943 - US forbid racial discrimination in war industryMay 27, 1964 - “From Russia With Love” premieres in USMay 27, 1969 - Walt Disney World construction begins.May 27, 1985 - Britain agrees to return Hong Kong to China in 1997.May 27, 1998 - Oklahoma City bombing: Michael Fortier is sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined $200,000 for failing to warn authorities about the terrorist plot.May 28, 1963 - Cyclone hits Chittagong, Bangladesh; about 1 million houses destroyedMay 28, 1964 - Jawaharlal Nehru cremated in New Dehli

Did you know? 1. 160 cars can drive side by side on the Monumental Axis in Brazil, the world’s widest road.2. An average of 166,875,000,000 pieces of mail are delivered each year in the U.S.3. 315 entries in Webster’s Dictionary will be misspelled.4. 99% of the solar systems mass is concentrated in the sun.5. A cockroach can live several weeks with its head cut off.6. A company in Taiwan makes dinnerware out of wheat, so you can eat your plate.7. A dime has 118 ridges around the edge.8. A dragonfly has a lifespan of 24 hours.9. A giraffe can go without water longer than a camel can.10. A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds.11. A hippo can open its mouth wide enough to fit a 4 foot tall child inside.12. A male emperor moth can smell a female emperor moth up to 7 miles away.13. A mole can dig a tunnel 300 feet long in just one night.

Barack Obama: US ‘Cannot Succeed’ Unless Students Can Compete with China, IndiaTENNESSEE (Dawn): U.S.

President Barack Obama has told graduating high school students that the United States cannot succeed unless they prepare to compete for jobs against people in countries such as China and India.

Obama spoke Monday at a commencement ceremony for about 150 graduates of the Booker T. Washington high school in Memphis, Tennessee. He said the United States needs all of its young people to be ready for “tough” competition from overseas.

The school where he spoke earned the presidential address by winning a White House contest that challenges public high schools to show how they prepare seniors for college and a career. The winning school has reported a major increase in graduation rates – from 55 percent in 2007 to almost 82 percent in 2010. Obama praised the school for creating special academies for students, allowing them to earn college credits and creating a culture that “prizes hard work and discipline.”

Earlier, Obama spent about a half-hour meeting with Memphis residents affected by major flooding along the Mississippi River, which crested last week at near-record levels in the city. The White House says he told flood victims, emergency workers and local officials that his administration is

“grateful for their resilience” and ready to help.

Water levels remain high in Memphis, where some low-lying neighborhoods were inundated last week. Levees largely protected other parts of the city.

As the floodwaters moved downstream, authorities opened floodgates in rural parts of Louisiana for the first time in four decades

President Obama needs US students to compete with students and schools from India and China who have higher standards of education and levels of achievement

to ease the pressure on levees protecting the state’s major cities of Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

The gradual opening of the floodgates threatens to inundate thousands of homes in Louisiana’s Cajun country region, where many residents were evacuating to higher ground, leaving communities deserted. Waters were rising Monday in parts of the lowland.

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Legal Description: A/C # 2615-09-01700BENTWATER 09, BLOCK 02, LOT 8,

ON WICK WILLOW ROADProperty for saleON WICK WILLOW ROADProperty for saleArea: 7000 sq foot plus residual land of 2027 Sq foot. Total area 9027 Sq foot.Area: 7000 sq foot plus residual land of 2027 Sq foot. Total area 9027 Sq foot.

Property for saleArea: 7000 sq foot plus residual land of 2027 Sq foot. Total area 9027 Sq foot.

Property for saleVery big lot, can construct four to five bedroom house on this lot.

See details at MLS#70475034

Legal Description: A/C # 2615-23-02000BENTWATER 23, BLOCK 01, LOT: 20,

ON Cloverdale Court Area: 9635 Sq Foot. For more information about bentwater,

visit at www.bentwater.comSee Details at MLS#29825811

Selling both lots at $4900 each. Closing costs will be paid by the buyer.

NO NEGOTIATION OF ANY KIND.

For more information Contact:

PJ Singh Owner,

Attn: Builders and Investors

E Mail: [email protected]


36 Indo American News • Friday, May 27, 2011 ONLINE EDITION: www.indoamerican-news.comP A K I S T A N

Pakistan Railways at 150 — Not Much to Celebratecontinued from page 33earning.

The railways shifted its attention from freight to passenger trains operation that resulted in decline of rail business. It is a fact that as the ratio of profit in the passenger was less than freight and the former hardly match even the operating expenditure.

At present, only one train Karakoram Express (41-up/42–down) is running in profit while all other trains are in loss.

Unnecessary detention of freight wagons at stations and en-route, particularly in big yards, is due to negligence of operating and mechanical department.

Five years ago, some 30 locomotives and 1,200 high speed wagons were inducted in the existing fleet of the railways but unfortunately the target of earning could not be achieved.

Goods in Transit for Afghanistan (GITA) traffic was also a factor of earning that has decreased up to 50 per cent and the same was diverted to road. The Federal Board of Revenue may be approached in this connection to restrict transport of GITA by road in future.

The demand of wagons was never met at Karachi port area stations. Owing to mismanagement, most wagons were detained unnecessarily at main yards and en-route stations over the system.

In March last year, the Federal Investigation Agency unearthed a scam involving senior officials in the

sale of railways scrap. The tenders Pakistan Railways at 150 — Not Much to Celebrate

sale of railways scrap. The tenders Pakistan Railways at 150 — Not Much to Celebrate

were the biggest in Pakistan Railways’ history as one was for the sale of 21,000 tonnes of scrap while the other was for the sale of 18,000 tonnes of scrap.

Engineer Muhammad Iqbal Khatri, a retired additional general manager of railways and a member of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport Pakistan, said his former organisation’s planning had not been in line with the international policy on account of ever-increasing cost of operation and maintenance.

“Both moveable and immovable assets are kept to bare minimum requirements, addition in assets is preferred over replacement of dilapidated ones and condemned or inactive assets are disposed of while operation and maintenance of assets are outsourced to save expenditure on overhead charges.

“Whatever may be the reasons, it is a fact that PR has not been able to maintain its assets as it required billions of rupees for their repair or replacement. It will be advisable for PR to give priority to the existing assets and to make them effective and efficient to meet the operational requirement.

“If PR is not able to maintain exist ing assets, then i ts administration as well as the Government of Pakistan should not think of any addition in the assets which are also going to face

the same fate of lack of maintenance and ultimate burden on the national exchequer.

“In the past, the expansion of railways infrastructure in the shapes of Mechanized Marshalling Yard Pipri, Locomotive Factory at Risalpur, Carriage Factory at Islamabad, five sleeper factories at various locations, telecommunication system, Railway Academy, Railway Police, doubling of track from Lodhran to Khanewal, conversion of track from meter-gauge to broad-gauge from Mirpurkhas to Khokhrapar etc., did not bring any fruit like increase in revenue earnings, efficiency and/or self-reliance rather these infrastructure have become a burden on national exchequer.

“ W i t h o u t any appreciable productivity, these facilities are being g u a r d e d w i t h heavy expenditure on utility bills, maintenance and non-productive employees.

“ M o r e upcoming projects like increase in the locomotive fleet from 520 to 657 (according to PC-1 for Procurement of 150 Locomotives), Doubling of Track between Khanewal

and Raiwind, between Shahdara and Pakistan Railways at 150 — Not Much to Celebrate

and Raiwind, between Shahdara and Pakistan Railways at 150 — Not Much to Celebrate

Faisalabad, rail link between Gwadar and Quetta, Peshawar and Jalalabad (Afghanistan), establishment of Container Terminal/Dry Port near Sher Shah etc., also need reconsideration in view of lack of back-up maintenance facilities, very little business and revenue generation.

“All such upcoming projects if not examined in the light of international policy of assets management will have the same fate as has been of the existing infrastructure,” maintained

Mr Khatri.Pakistan Railways at 150 — Not Much to Celebrate

Mr Khatri.Pakistan Railways at 150 — Not Much to Celebrate

The Pakistan Railways should ask the government to allocate funds for the maintenance and repair of the existing assets rather than for any expansion of infrastructure or addition to the assets. The government should restrict allocation of development funds for expansion of infrastructure of railways and divert these resources for rehabilitation of existing assets which need billions of rupees for improving the present state of affairs and trains operation.

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37 Indo American News • Friday, May 27, 2011ONLINE EDITION: www.indoamerican-news.com S P o r T S

Mumbai Prevail on Night of Nerves Pakistan: Shaheed Afridi’s Future is All But OverFormer Pakistan one-day

captain Shahid Afridi has pulled out of the two-match series in Ireland this month, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said on Wednesday.

“He is with his father in the United States where his father is under medical care. Doctors have advised Afridi to remain with him for a few more days,” a board spokesman said.

Afridi was sacked as captain this month by the PCB and replaced by batsman Misbah-ul-Haq who has led the test side since last year.

Afridi’s removal came after he led Pakistan to the World Cup semi-finals and a 3-2 win over West Indies in a one-day series last month. The board gave no reason for the decision.

The all-rounder has yet to respond to a notice from the board for violating the players’ code of conduct after he gave a statement on his return from the West Indies in which he highlighted interference in his role as captain.

Shahid Afridi’s chances of regaining Pakistan’s ODI and T20 captaincy is all but over but the flamboyant all-rounder will get a chance to prolong his career as a player in the national team, a PCB source said.

According to sources, PCB chairman Ijaz Butt has decided to revoke the policy of having separate captains for limited overs cricket and Test matches, which means Misbah-

ul-Haq is expected to take over the charge of Pakistan team in all three formats of the game.

“The decision to remove Afridi as the captain of the one-day team and hand over this responsibility to Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq is part of the new thinking in the board,” one source said.

He said the primary reason for the change in the strategy was the fear of groupism within the team.

“The board got concerned with reports filtering in during the World Cup that Afridi had started to take his captaincy for granted. Some players have also complained about

adjustments they need to do with two captains instead of one,” the source said.

“The reason for handing over full captaincy duty to Misbah is simply. He has been in consistent form since last year and has delivered in all formats of the game.

“In contrast, Afridi has retired from Test cricket and has struggled to deliver as a player on consistent basis in the one-day team,” the source stated.

“It is now decided that Misbah will continue to lead the team in all forms of the game over the next few months and in the meantime Mohammad Hafeez will be groomed as his possible successor,” the source added.

The source, however, rebuked speculations that the PCB and selectors were not keen enough on continuing with Afridi as a

player. “No he will be given full

opportunity to perform as a player in the T20 and ODI teams,” he said.

Chief selector, Mohsin Khan on Wednesday gave credence to this argument when he said that Afridi had another two or three years of cricket left in him.

“I don’t think it is such a big issue if he misses the Ireland series but he still has lot of cricket left in him and is a very experienced performer,” Mohsin said.

“When he is available he will get his chance,” he added.

The Pakistan cricket team is having a change of power at the helm with Misbah-ul-Haq being groomed to take captaincy, and Mohammad Hafeez a possible successor after him. The likelihood of Afridi playing long term is likely but after discussions by the Pakistan Cricket board

Sania Mirza Cruises into French Open Round 2PARIS: Sania Mirza

hardly broke sweat during her 6-3, 6-3 first round victory over Germany’s Kristina Barrois in the French Open women’s singles on Monday.

T h e 7 2 n d - r a n k e d Indian, in her four singles appearance in Paris, had only once crossed the first hurdle in 2007.

She was in a sublime touch against her World No.73 opponent. The 24-year-old Indian was strong on both the flanks and her groundstrokes had the punch to leave Barrois scurrying to corners.

Sania also had a better first serve percentage of 77 as compared to

Barrois’ 57. The Indian’s seven double faults were the only blip in her otherwise convincing performance.

She raced away with the first set in 34 minutes, breaking the German in the fourth and the eighth game.

The Indian carried the momentum in the second round and with a superb forehand down the line broke Barrois in the third game. She, however, squandered the advantage in the sixth game but broke back immediately to nose ahead.

A backhand error by Barrois in the ninth game gave Sania two match points and she sealed the set and the match with a

backhand down the line.Sania will next play the winner

of the match between Austria’s Patricia Mayr-Achleitner and 12th seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland.

By Sy Sy idharth Midharth Midharth ongaMUMBAI (Cricinfo): Kolkata

Knight Riders began nervously, Mumbai Indians finished similarly, but it was Mumbai who booked a place in the Champions League T20 and in the semi-final equivalent of IPL 2009. What will irk Kolkata is that they were the better side for 39 overs in the previous match between these sides, but one bad over then set up this rematch in the quarter-final equivalent. Mumbai then did enough to make use on the second chance.

Kolkata’s top order came out try-ing too hard for a big start, losing four wickets for 20, and Ryan ten Doeschate’s 70 was not recovery enough on a good Wankhede track with short boundaries. A blazing start from Aiden Blizzard and Sachin Ten-dulkar seemed to have put to rest Mumbai’s habit of muddled chases, but they choked again. For the second consecutive game, though, James Franklin scuppered Kolkata’s hopes. This time, with much more on the line, he produced a less dramatic, but more assured 29.

Munaf Patel bowled smartly to capitalise on Kolkata’s palpable ner-capitalise on Kolkata’s palpable ner-capitalise on Kolkata’s palpable nervous energy, taking three wickets, including those of Jacques Kallis and Yusuf Pathan. It was a subtle change-up immediately after being driven for four that sent Kallis back. The wicket-taking delivery was pitched in the same area, but was bowled with a scrambled seam and was hence a touch slower. The slice settled with a diving Tendulkar.

Gautam Gambhir, Shreevats Go-swami and Manoj Tiwary concen-trated just on the boundaries, in the process failing to place the good balls for singles. The dot balls mounted, and all three fell to shots they would normally not play. ten Deoschate played sensibly, though, looking for singles and punishing the bad balls. That calm rubbed off on Yusuf, their 60-run stand took the run-rate past six an over, and a big finish could not have been ruled out.

Munaf, though, returned to inter-Munaf, though, returned to inter-Munaf, though, returned to interrupt the comeback with more clever bowling. Convinced that the short ball would trouble Yusuf, he let his Baroda team-mate have some. The first one took a top edge for four, the second went for a single along the ground, and the third one was mistimed over midwicket. Munaf persisted, and with his fourth bouncer of the over, he sent his man back.

Ambati Rayudu, a part-time wick-Ambati Rayudu, a part-time wick-Ambati Rayudu, a part-time wicketkeeper, proceeded to miss ten Doe-schate and Shakib Al Hasan in the next two overs. ten Doeschate went on to score the highest for a No. 6 this IPL and Kolkata got 60 in the last six, yet a blazing start to the chase was always going to knock them out. Blizzard and Tendulkar provided just that. Blizzard relished the pace of Brett Lee, while Tendulkar took care of the spin of Iqbal Abdulla and Yusuf Pathan. A lot of class and a lot of power merged effectively to bring up the fifty in the fifth over. There was a remote sem-blance of redemption for Lee when he came back to remove Blizzard, but not before the batsman had hit him for four and six in that over.

Then Mumbai stumbled. Rohit Sharma ran himself out, Tendulkar fell to a sharp bouncer, and Rayudu seemed to have been sawn off. From 81 for 0 in the eighth over, Mumbai had been reduced to 103 for 4 in the 13th. A mini-partnership ensued, but Shakib trapped Pollard to make it 123 for 5. T Suman couldn’t handle the nerves and holed out to long-off.

The asking-rate crept past run-a-ball for the last two overs, but a top edge off Lee’s first ball brought it back to 11 off 11. L Balaji, who failed to defend 21 in the last match, didn’t get a shot at redemption. The last over went to Shakib - his figures 3-0-17-2 until then - who needed to defend seven. Harbhajan lofted the second ball over midwicket, and let out a roar

Aiden Blizzard’s early blitz allowed Mumbai Indians the cushion to overcome a middle-overs crisis © Associated Press


38 Indo American News • Friday, May 27, 2011 ONLINE EDITION: www.indoamerican-news.come N T e r T A I N m e N T

By rachana SrivaStava Raju srivastava is a well known

name in the world of comedy. He is the king of comedy to many. Everybody loves the way he explains life’s situations in a comic way.

Imran Saeed and 4 Vision brings him here to the USA. I had a chance to sit down and talk with him.

Q: Your actual name is Satya Prakash Srivastava, how did it become Raju Srivastava?

A: My school name is Satya Prakash , but I doubt if people know that name. Raju is my nick name, easier to remember, so I became Raju Srivastava. When I became popular , this name stuck.

Q: You started doing the standup comedy when it was not a well know form.

A: Right, I myself never knew if such a thing existed. Around 30 years back there was no such stream as stand up version in comedy.

I am a huge fan of Bachchan, seen many of his films and started imitating him when ever I had a leisure time with my friends. They liked it a lot.

People used to request me to mimic Bachchan and laugh a lot. Then I thought I better try something new and so I made two characters of my own, Gajodhar and Manohar.

Q: How did Gajodhar and Manohar come about?

A: Today, Gajodhar is more popular, but I had made Manohar first and then thought Manohar

Raju Srivastava: King of Comedy to Many, Explains It Allshould have a sibling. So I made Gajodhar.

There were two barbers at my Nani’s Village, my hair cuts were always done by them , they used to do hair cutting as well as story telling, they always had some story to gossip, related to people in our village. Their names were Gajodhar and Manohar and so these two became my characters.

Q: Were your parents ever opposed to your doing stand up comedy?

A: My father is a poet , his nick name is Balai Kaka, people respect him a lot. He never liked my work and opposed it a lot. He thought me to be good for nothing.

Those days this kind comedy was not accepted by the society and was not seen a reputed profession.

Q: How was your tour with Kalyan ji, Anand ji and Nitin Mukesh?

A: Those days were memorable, and thank God, now I have come up with my own show.

Q: You stayed in the Bigg Boss show for 9 weeks, how did u like it?

A: When I was offered to participate in Bigg Boss I got to know that Amitabh ji is the host of the show and he was the reason I joined the show. The show itself is very good.

It was a thrilling experience, we neither had paper nor a pen.

We were cut off from the outer world, just the Bigg Boss house was our world. I enjoyed my 9 weeks there. It was a special experience.

Q: The syllabus of CBSE Board has an exclusive chapter based on you.

A: Yes. I never knew it, then some children and acquaintances told me about it. I thought they were joking at first, but realized it was true when the school board sent me a letter.

Q: What was the turning point in your life?

A: I have worked in many films, but comedy circus brought me fame.

Q: You are a part of Comedy ka Maha Muqabla, Arshad Wasri asked you not to do a film because you are too good in acting he said “hamara kya hoga ?”

A: Its so nice of him to say so. Shekhar ji too says that what I do, they cannot do even a 10 percent of it, its their greatness and love that they rank me so high in comedy.

Q: How do you define the inanimate things so very well?

A: I believe that laughter is all around you, its just for us to choose and enjoy funny situations.

Laughter is just a different way of how you see things. I act on material from both the animate and inanimate worlds.

In comedy I present things the same way as I perceive them in life.

Q: Who is your favorite comedian?

A: I like Amitabh ji in any and every role he does. Also, I like Kishore Kumar, both his

singing and acting are adorable. I used to sing his songs when I was in college.

Q : D o comedians f a c e

challenges for the sarcasm they use in their act?

A: Yes many times, many of my actor friends have had

faced it . Some were put even behind the bars. But now the

times are changing, people have started taking it sportingly and

moreover some request that we say something funny about

them in our act.Q: While performing in your show do

you take care of specific things?

A: Yes there are many things which I keep in mind and take care of while performing stand

up comedy. Like, if I said a joke about

the Gujaratis, I make sure the next one is about Biharis

and the upcoming one should be about the UP’ites, so that no one feels offended and everyone takes it sportively. My audience should not feel as if one particular state or community is being targeted.

Q: You are less seen in films these days.

A: I thought it better to concentrate on a single thing, be it TV or films and so I am doing more of TV these days.

What I like about television is that your work reaches to the viewers sooner and you get to see the results of your work faster.

Tagore150Fest : Tagore’s 150th Birth Anniversary gg gg A A yyygg A ATagore Society of Houston Invites All to the

Cultural Tributes to Tagore on May 28-29, 2011

General Admission: $10; VIP : $25, $50; Free for kids <18yrs, Active Members, Donors & Patrons!!!

Programs are supported in part by the Consulate General of India, Houston

Cultural Tribute I May 28 (5 pm @ Durgabari 13944 Schiller Rd, Houston, TX 77082)

Creative competitions (Art-Essay-Photo), Tagore Songs & Dance , Sasha Ghoshal & Tutul!! Cultural Tribute II May 29 (5 pm @ Old Stafford Civic Center1415 Constitution Ave. Stafford, TX ) 1. “Prerna”- An Inspirational Journey in search of Tagore from Bollywood, 2. “Glimpses of Tagore”- A Multi-media presentation on Tagore’s Genius, &

3. Dance recital by dance exponent Pandit Chitresh Das

Glimpses of Tagore

Indo AmerIcAn news • FrIdAy, mAy 27, 2011 • Online editiOn: www.indOamerican-news.cOm

3 39Indo American News • Friday, May 27, 2011 Online Edition: www.indoamerican-news.com

Indo AmerIcAn news • FrIdAy, mAy 27 , 2011 • Online editiOn: www.indOamerican-news.cOm

40 Indo American News • Friday, May 27, 2011 Online Edition: www.indoamerican-news.com

may 27 pages 27-40

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