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U.S. SLAPS TERRORTAG ON MML

INDIA POST SURVEYsurvey@ind iapos t .com

This week’s question

Last week’s result

YES 67% NO 33%

Will Hafiz Saeed still be ableto fight elections?

WASHINGTON: In a major setback to Hafiz Saeed'spolitical ambitions, the US has designated the MilliMuslim League (MML), the political front of Pakistan-based Mumbai attack mastermind-led Jamaat-udDawa, as a foreign terrorist organization. In a simulta-neous move, seven members of the MML's centralleadership body have been designated as foreignterrorists.

The US also added Tehreek-e-Azadi-e-Kashmir(TAJK) to the list of terrorist groups. TAJK is said to be

a front of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which accordingto the Trump administration, continues to operatefreely inside Pakistan.

The move comes a day after the Election Commis-sion of Pakistan asked the MML to produce a clear-ance certificate by the interior ministry for its regis-tration as a political party.

General elections are scheduled to be held in Paki-stan in July.

Details on page 5

CONTENTSDetails on page 7

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Bollywood ---------------------- 28-29

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Community Post -------------- 14-24

Date Book -------------------------- 54

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HealthScience Post -------- 32-35

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Immigration Post ------------ 44-47

Life Style ------------------------ 36-39

Philosophy ------------------------- 52

Publisher’s Diary ------------------ 4Real Estate --------------------26-27

TechBiz Post ------------------ 10-13

Travel & Hospitality Post ---- 40-43

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Ind-Am youthurged to beagents of change

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Nationwideendorsements forDr Hiral Tipirneni

CHAK DE INDIA: Indian contingent with officials during the country’s flag-hoisting ceremony of theCommonwealth Games 2018 at Gold Coast in Australia on April 2

Hafiz Saeed's political front exposedBeej Das

China ready toresume sharingBrahmaputra data

US for weightierIndia role inIndo Pacific

Mortal remainsof Indians in Iraqbrought backI&B withdraws

fake news normsafter PM order

Does Pakistan need to bepunished more?

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28HIGHLIGHTS

Bollywood:Fun at 102In '102 Not Out' Bachchan is a 102-year-old fun-loving friendly father whileKapoor as his 75-year-old boring son

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Duty on smartphones

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The US has designated the Milli MuslimLeague, the political front of HafizSaeed, as a foreign terrorist organization

Forbes list

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The US has started accepting applicationsfor H-1B visas amidst unprecedentedscrutiny by the Trump administration

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Terrorist MML

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Cover/Top Stories

US slaps terror tag on MMLHafiz Saeed's political front exposed

WASHINGTON: In a majorsetback to Hafiz Saeed's politi-cal ambitions, the US has des-ignated the Milli MuslimLeague (MML), the politicalfront of Pakistan-basedMumbai attack mastermind-led Jamaat-ud Dawa, as a for-eign terrorist organization. In asimultaneous move, seven

members of the MML's centralleadership body have beendesignated as foreign terror-ists.

The US also added Tehreek-e-Azadi-e-Kashmir (TAJK) to the

India welcomes USmove on Saeed

NEW DELHI: India has wel-comed the US designatingPakistan-based Milli MuslimLeague (MML), an alias ofLashkar-e-Taiba, as a foreignterror organization, sayingthe decision reflects rejec-tion of the attempts beingmade in Pakistan to main-stream terrorist individualsand entities.

Reacting to the US move,the external affairs ministrysaid the designation of theMML also shows Pakistan'sfailure to dismantle terrorsanctuaries in that countryand vindicated India's posi-tion that Islamabad has nottaken effective action againstterrorist groups and individu-als.

"It is also cognizance of thefact that terrorist individualsand entities are allowed to

change names and continueto operate freely from terri-tory under Pakistan's con-trol," the ministry said in astatement.

"India welcomes the ac-tion taken by the US for des-ignating the Milli MuslimLeague as an alias of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT ), a Pakistanbased terrorist group and itsfunctionaries who are actingon behalf of LeT," the MEAsaid.

The ministry said the des-ignation of the MML is a re-jection of the attempts beingmade in Pakistan to main-stream terrorist individualsand entities and highlightsPakistan's failure to fulfill itsinternational obligation todismantle terrorist sanctuar-ies, and disrupt terror financ-ing. PTI

Pak PM flays India on 'brutalJ&K crackdown'

list of terrorist groups. TAJK issaid to be a front of theLashkar-e-Taiba (LeT ), whichaccording to the Trump admin-istration, continues to operatefreely inside Pakistan.

The move comes a day afterthe Election Commission of Pa-kistan asked the MML to pro-duce a clearance certificate by

the interior ministry for its reg-istration as a political party.

General elections are sched-uled to be held in Pakistan inJuly.

Pakistan's election commis-

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan PrimeMinister Shahid Khaqan Abbasihas accused India of launchinga "brutal crackdown" in Kash-mir after terror groups suf-fered a major setback follow-ing killing of 13 terrorists incounter-insurgency opera-tions.

Abbasi's statement came af-ter Indian security forcesgunned down 13 militants inthree counter-insurgency op-erations that also claimed thelives of three Army jawans andfour civilians in Anantnag andShopian districts of Jammu andKashmir.

"The brutal crackdown, in-cluding the despicable use ofpellet guns on civilians whowere protesting against the kill-ing is deplorable," Abbasi said.

He also asked the interna-tional community to urge Indiato allow access to fact findingmissions of the UN to Kashmir.

The operations by the Indiansecurity forces have rendered

a severe blow to terror groupssuch as the Hizbul Mujahideenand the Lashker-e-Taiba.

Pakistan's Army chief Gen-eral Qamar Javed Bajwa in abrief statement said that In-dian security forces cannot

suppress the "indigenous"struggle of Kashmiris for self-determination.

Later, Foreign MinisterKhawaja Asif said that Pakistangovernment will send envoysto different countries to brief

them about the situation inKashmir.

Addressing a press confer-ence after briefing the Cabinetover developments in Kashmir,Asif said that he also held talkswith foreign ministers of Tur-

key and Iran.Earlier, the Cabinet at a spe-

cial meeting with the primeminister in the chair passed aresolution to condemn what itcalled the killing of "innocentpeople" in Kashmir. PTI

Shahid Khaqan Abbasi

Hafiz Saeed

sion had earlier rejected theMML's application for registra-tion as a political party afterthe interior ministry objectedto its ties to banned militantoutfits.

The State Department saidthe move was aimed at deny-ing the LeT resources it needsto plan and carry out furtherterrorist attacks.

"Both MML and TAJK are LeTfronts created to circumventthe sanctions against it(LeT )...Today's amendmentstake aim at LeT's efforts to cir-cumvent sanctions and de-ceive the public about its truecharacter," said Nathan A Sales,Coordinator for

Counterterrorism at the De-partment of State.

"Make no mistake: whateverLeT chooses to call itself, it re-mains a violent terrorist group.The US supports all efforts to

ensure that LeT does not havea political voice until it gives upviolence as a tool of influence,"Sales said.

Among other consequencesof the designations, LeT's

property and interests in prop-erty subject to US jurisdictionare blocked, and US personsare generally prohibited from

engaging in any transactionswith the group.

"LeT continues to operatefreely within Pakistan, holdingpublic rallies, raising funds,and plotting and training for

terrorist attacks," the State De-partment said.

Cont’d on page 9

"Both MML and TAJK are LeT fronts createdto circumvent the sanctions against it

(LeT)...Today's amendments take aim at LeT'sefforts to circumvent sanctions and deceive

the public about its true character"


www.indiapost.comTop Stories

US for weightier Indiarole in Indo Pacific

China to resume sharing Brahmaputra data

WASHINGTON: The US hassaid that India has the "capabil-ity and potential" to play amore weighty role in the Indo-Pacific region.

Briefing reporters on theTrump administration's Indo-Pacific Strategy, the DeputyAssistant Secretary of State forEast Asian and Pacific Affairs,Alex Wong said it is in the US'interest as well as of the entireregion that India plays an in-c r e a s i n g l yweighty role inthe region.

"India as a na-tion has investedin a free and openorder. It is a de-mocracy. It is a na-tion that can an-chor free andopen order in theIndo-Pacific re-gion. And it's ourpolicy to ensurethat India doesplay that role andthat it becomesover time a more influentialplayer in the region, Wang said.

The use of term Indo-Pacific,as against Asia Pacific previ-ously, by the Trump administra-tion, he said "acknowledgesthe historical reality and thecurrent day reality that SouthAsia and in particular, Indiaplays a key role" in the Pacific,in East Asia and Southeast Asia.

"That has been true for thou-sands of years and it's true to-day," he said.

"India for sure has the capa-bility and potential to play amore weighty role, Wang saidin response to a question add-

ing that this role is on all fronts,whether it is security, eco-nomic or diplomatic.

"I think one great examplethat you've seen recently isthat Prime Minister (Narendra)Modi invited the leaders ofASEAN to New Delhi for na-tional (Republic) day, the topState Department official said.

The presence of ASEANleaders at the Republic Daywas a truly significant sign of

the increasing ties that India ispursuing particularly in South-east Asia.

"It is not just India that is pur-suing a greater engagementwith East Asia and SoutheastAsia, there are a number ofcrisscrossing strategiesthroughout the region," he said.

The first year of the TrumpAdministration, he said, was forintroducing the strategic con-cept to the region; which isfree and open Indo-PacificStrategy. The rest of the yearsof the Trump administration isthe implementation of thatstrategy, he said. PTI

Alex Wong

BEIJING: China has said it willresume sharing with India thehydrological data of theBrahmaputra River as top wa-ter resource officials of the twocountries wrapped up two-daytalks, the first after Beijing lastyear stopped providing thedata crucial to predict floods.

"On the basis of humanitar-ian spirit and our shared will todevelop bilateral ties we will

continue with the cooperationon hydrological informationcooperation," Chinese ForeignMinistry spokesman Lu Kangtold a media briefing here.

He was responding to aquestion whether China willresume sharing of the hydro-logical data on BrahmaputraRiver, which Beijing suspendedlast year stating that it couldnot share it with India due toupgradation of data collectionstation in Tibet.

China's announcement tonot to share the data came

soon after the 73-day longstand-off between Indian andChinese troops at Dokalamover Chinese military's plans tobuild a road close to India'sChicken Neck corridor con-necting North-Eastern states.

A team of officials of India'sMinistry of Water Resourcesheld talks with their Chinesecounterparts on the coopera-tion of trans-border rivers in

the last two days at the Chi-nese city of Hangzhou, the firstafter Beijing last year stoppedproviding the data.

Lu said during the talks thetwo sides reviewed theachievements of the previousmeetings as well as bilateralcooperation on emergencyand response and hydrologicalinformation.

"The two sides have agreedto continue with such coopera-tion. On the grounds of hu-manitarian principles and thebasis of bilateral relations

China will continue with thiscooperation with the Indianside on the provision of hydro-logical information and emer-gency response cooperation,"Lu said.

Asked whether China wouldresume the data, Lu said "sinceyou made it quite clear", Chinawill continue with the coopera-tion on hydrological informa-tion cooperation.

The two-day talks of the11th meeting of the India-China Expert Level Mechanism(ELM) on Trans-Border Riverswere held at Hangzhou, astatement from the Indian Em-bassy here said.

The Indian side was led byTeerath Singh Mehra, Commis-sioner (B&B), Ministry of WaterResources and the Chinese sideby Yu Xingjun, Consul, Depart-ment of International Coopera-tion Science and Technology,Ministry of Water Resources.

The meeting which washeld in a "cordial and friendly"atmosphere reviewed theprogress made since the ear-lier meetings of the ELM andtheir continued cooperationon provision of hydrological in-formation and emergencymanagement in respect oftrans-border rivers, the pressrelease said.

The officials also reviewedthe data utilization report uponprovision of hydrological infor-mation provided by China toIndia in flood season onBrahmaputra and Sutlej Rivers.

The institutional mechanismof the ELM was established in2006 to discuss various issuesrelated to trans-border rivers.

Under existing bilateralMemorandums of Understand-ing, China provides to India hy-drological information ofBrahmaputra River ( YarlongZangbo) and Sutlej River(Langqen Zangbo) during theflood seasons.

Under the arrangement,China provides flood seasondata of the Brahmaputra Riverbetween May 15 and October15 every year.

China has been building ma-jor dams on Brahmaputra Riverto generate hydel power. Itoperationalised Zangmu hy-droelectric project in October,2015 and three more are underconstruction. PTI

"On the basis of humanitarian spirit and our

shared will to develop bilateral ties we will

continue with the cooperation on hydrological

information cooperation"

BrahmaputraRiver

Naidu meets oppositionleaders, BJP allies

NEW DELHI: On his first visitto Delhi after the TDP pulledout of the ruling NDA, AndhraPradesh Chief Minister NChandrababu Naidu metleaders of several oppositionparties and allies of the BJP,including Veerappa Moily ofthe Congress, Sharad Pawarof the NCP and HarsimratKaur Badal of the SAD.

The meetings that tookplace at the Central Hall of Par-

liament were aimed at garner-ing support for the no-confi-dence motion against the NDAgovernment moved by theTelugu Desam Party (TDP).

The TDP snapped its tieswith the BJP alleging neglectof the southern state and fail-ure of the Centre to grantspecial category state statusto Andhra Pradesh.

Naidu also met FarooqAbdullah (NC), Sudip

Bandyopadhyay (TMC),D Raja (CPI), V Maitreyan(AIADMK), AnupriyaPatel (Apna Dal) andRam Gopal Yadav(Samajwadi Party)among others, accord-ing to a statement is-sued by the chiefminister's media unit.PTI

NCP chief Sharad Pawar meeting AndhraPradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu in the

central hall of Parliament on April 3



Mortal remains of Indianskilled in Iraq brought back

Army jawans carry a casket containing remains of one of the Indians abductedby the Islamic State group in 2014 in Amritsar on April 2

AMRITSAR/KOLKATA/PATNA:The mortal remains of 38 of the39 Indians killed in war-tornIraq have been brought back ina special aircraft and handedover to their relatives or localauthorities in Amritsar, Kolkataand Patna.

Minister of State for ExternalAffairs V K Singh, who broughtback the bodies from Baghdad,told reporters in Amritsar thatIndian embassy did not haveany record of the 40 Indianscaptured by the terror groupISIS in Iraq in 2014 as they hadgone there through illegaltravel agents.

The minister said that hadthe government had any infor-mation about these peoplebeing in danger, it would haverescued them as it had done inthe case of over 45 Indiannurses in 2014.

Thirty-nine of the 40 Indian

laborers were killed by the ter-ror group, while one of themmanaged to escape posing asa Muslim from Bangladesh.

Out of the 39 killed, 27 hailedfrom Punjab, four from HimachalPradesh, six from Bihar and two

from West Bengal.As the aircraft carrying the

coffins landed in Amritsar, anair of gloom descended as dis-traught families looked at thecaskets.

The remains of the 27 menbelonging to Punjab were re-ceived by their relatives at the

Sri Guru Ram Das Jee Interna-tional Airport in Amritsar.Punjab Cabinet minister NavjotSingh Sidhu was also presentat the airport.

The mortal remains of mostof the deceased from Punjab

were consigned to flames attheir native places, officialssaid.

The bodies of four peoplehailing from Himachal Pradesh- three from Kangra and onefrom Mandi - were received atthe Amritsar airport by stateminister Kishan Kapoor.

The special flight then pro-ceeded to Kolkata, where themortal remains of two menhailing from Nadia district inWest Bengal were handed overto district authorities for trans-portation to their native vil-lages.

West Bengal MinisterPurnendu Basu was present atthe Kolkata airport.

The aircraft then left forPatna for handing over thebodies of five men hailing fromBihar.

At the Patna airport, BiharChief Minister Nitish Kumarand his deputy Sushil KumarModi received the bodies. Thebodies were taken to their na-tive Siwan district for handingover to their families. PTI

The minister said that had thegovernment had any information aboutthese people being in danger, it would

have rescued them as it had done in thecase of over 45 Indian nurses in 2014

I&B withdraws fake news norms after PM orderNEW DELHI: Faced with

widespread criticism and out-cry, Prime Minister NarendraModi ordered the Informationand Broadcasting Ministry tocancel its contentious guide-lines on fake news, seen as"muzzling" the free press.

Soon after, the ministry is-

sued a statement, sayingguideline issued late last nightby it "to regulate fakenews...stands withdrawn."

In a press release, the I&Bministry had announced puni-tive measures like cancellationof accreditation to contain fake

news, a decision which wasdubbed by journalists and op-position parties as an attemptto curb press freedom aheadof the general elections due by2019.

"PM has directed that thepress release regarding thefake news be withdrawn and

the matter should only be ad-dressed by the Press Council ofIndia," a senior PMO officialsaid. The Prime minister wasalso of the view that the gov-ernment should not interferein the matter, the officialadded.

Amending the guidelinesfor accreditation of journalists,the ministry announced normsto contain fake news whichsaid if the publication or tele-cast of fake news was con-firmed, accreditation of thejournalist would be suspendedfor six months in case of firstviolation and for one year incase of a second violation.

In case of a third violation,his or her accreditation wouldbe cancelled permanently, theministry had said in a press re-lease.

The I&B ministry decisiondrew sharp criticism from op-position parties as well as frompress bodies.

The Congress said fascismhas touched its peak as itsought to "muzzle" indepen-dent voices through "falla-cious" rules. The AAP and CPI-M likened the situation to the'emergency'.

"The government has nomandate to control the press.The media were also worriedabout growing incidents offake news but the Press Coun-cil is the right platform to deal

with complaints regarding anyfake news," president of thePress Club of India GautamLahiri said.

The I&B ministry norms hadalso said any complaint of in-stances of fake news would bereferred to the Press Council ofIndia (PCI), if it pertains to printmedia, and to the News Broad-casters Association (NBA), if itrelates to the electronic media,

for determination of the newsitem being fake or not. This de-termination is expected to becompleted within 15 days bythese agencies, the ministrysaid.

Once the complaint is regis-tered for determination of fakenews, the accreditation of thejournalist, whoever createdand/or propagated the fakenews, will be suspended tillthe determination regarding

the fake news is made, theministry had said.

"Fascism reaches its 'nadir'as a shaky Modi Government,caught in its web of lies, seeksto muzzle all independentvoices in media through falla-cious rules!," Congress com-munications in-chargeRandeep Surjewala tweeted.

Senior Congress leaderAhmed Patel also questioned

the government's attempt tocheck fake news askingwhether it is an attempt to pre-vent reporters from reportingnews uncomfortable to the es-tablishment.

West Bengal Chief Ministerand TMC chief MamataBanerjee termed the attemptas a brazen and draconianmove to curb press freedomand said it showed the govern-ment "has lost its way". PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi Union I&B miniser Smriti Irani

"PM has directed that the press releaseregarding the fake news be withdrawn and

the matter should only be addressed bythe Press Council of India"



Govt not diluting the SC/ST Act: Rajnath

Members of Dalit community raise slogans during Bharat Bandh call by Dalitorganizations against the alleged dilution of Scheduled Castes/Scheduled

Tribes Act, in Jaipur on April 2

NEW DELHI: The governmenthas made it clear that it wasnot responsible for the dilutionof the SC/ST (Prevention ofAtrocities) Act and assertedthat it was fully committed toprotect the interest of thebackward communities andappealed to the people tomaintain peace and harmony.

Making a suo motu state-ment in Lok Sabha during theZero Hour on the large scale

violence during Bharat Bandhon April 2, Home MinisterRajnath Singh said there hasbeen widespread angeramongst the people followingthe March 20 order of the Su-preme Court and the people

have taken to the streets."I wish to inform the House

that the Government of Indiawas not party in that case.Through the House, I want toassure the people that therehas been no dilution whatso-ever by my government, ratherafter coming to power and ex-amining the SC/ST preventionAtrocities Act, we have taken adecision to strengthen it," hesaid.

The Supreme Court had onMarch 20 "diluted" the provi-sions of the Scheduled Castesand the Scheduled Tribes (Pre-vention of Atrocities) Act, rulingthat government servantsshould not be arrested without

prior sanction and private citi-zens too, can be arrested onlyafter an inquiry under the law.

Opposing the verdict, sev-eral Dalit organizations hadcalled for a nationwide strike inwhich violent incidents andblockades of roads and railtracks were reported from sev-eral states.

Eight people were killed, in-cluding six in Madhya Pradeshand one each in Uttar Pradeshand Rajasthan, during the bandhwhich witnessed clashes be-tween the police and the protest-ers, arson and incidence of vio-lence, the Home Minister said.

Singh said there have beenwidespread rumors on the is-sue of reservation which were"false and baseless" and thegovernment was fully commit-ted to protect the interests ofthe SC/ST communities.

"I wish to assure you that ourgovernment is fully committedto the welfare of SCs and STs.Our government is fully com-mitted to protect the interestof the SC/ST community," hesaid.

The minister said immedi-ately after the judgment of theSupreme Court, a decision wastaken by the government to filea review petition in the Su-preme Court.

The Attorney General hasmade an appeal in the SupremeCourt for an urgent hearing andthe Supreme Court has agreedto hear the matter.

"This shows the prompt ac-tion by the government anddoes not leave any doubt re-garding the intention of thegovernment to protect the in-terest of the SC/ST," he said.

Singh said after the SupremeCourt order on March 20, withina span of only six working days,without losing any time andacting swiftly, the governmenthas filed a review petition in theapex court.

"We have issued advisory to

all the states to ensure that nobreach of law and order takesplace and safety of the lives ofcitizens and properties are en-sured," he said.

He said the central govern-ment has provided all assis-tance to the states immediatelyon their request and the HomeMinistry is keeping a close vigiland is in constant touch withthe state governments.

"Through this House, I ap-peal to all citizens to maintainpeace and harmony amongstthemselves. I also appeal to allthe political parties to helpmaintain peace and harmony,"he said. PTI

Rajnath Singh

India data breach: Analytica seeks timeNEW DELHI: Cambridge

Analytica, the firm at the cen-tre of Facebook users' databreach scandal, has soughtone more week to respondto government's notice onwhether it was involved inmisuse of data to profile In-

dians and influence their vot-ing behavior.

The notice had gone outto Cambridge Analytica overmedia reports about ques-

tionable practices attributedto the UK-based firm in its ef-forts to allegedly influenceelections by harvesting data ofFacebook users globally.

Sources privy to the devel-opment said that CambridgeAnalytica has now sought an

additional time of one week tosend its response to the noticeissued by the Indian govern-ment.

Cambridge Analytica and

Facebook came under fire afterthe British firm was accused ofharvesting personal informa-tion of over 50 millionFacebook users illegally to in-fluence polls in several coun-tries.

The IT Ministry shot off no-tices to both CambridgeAnalytica and Facebook on thedata breach issue, giving themtime till March 31, and April 7,respectively, to respond.

The government ques-tioned Cambridge Analyticaon whether it had been "en-gaged in any assignment toutilize data of Indians" pertain-ing to the recent breach, andalso the entities that had usedits services. Details were alsosought on the methods used

by the company to acquiresuch data and whether con-sent was taken from users.

An official statement issuedlast month had said: "Ministryof Electronics & InformationTechnology, Government of In-

dia, has issued a notice... toCambridge Analytica, whereinthe serious breach of proprietyand misuse of data intended toprofile and influence voting

behavior has been high-lighted".

"Was there any profilingdone on the basis of suchdata?" the Ministry had askedthe company, following re-ports that political parties

had used thedata analyticsfirm during elec-tions.

T h egovernment's no-tice to Facebooklast week toosought informa-tion on user data

breach and details of themeasures that have been putin place to ensure safety andprevent misuse of personaldata. PTI

Cambridge Analytica and Facebook cameunder fire after the British firm was accused of

harvesting personal information of over 50million Facebook users illegally to influence

polls in several countries



US slaps terror tagon MML

The LeT was designated as aForeign Terrorist Organization(FTO) and Specially DesignatedGlobal Terrorist (SDGT) groupon December 26, 2001. Itsleader, Saeed, is also desig-nated as a SDGT.

To avoid sanctions, the LeThas repeatedly changed itsname over the years, the StateDepartment alleged.

In January 2017, the LeT be-gan operating under the nameTAJK. Under this name, the LeThas engaged in inciting terror-ism, as well as recruiting andfundraising.

In August 2017,Saeed created theMML to serve as a po-litical front for thegroup.

"LeT membersmake up MML's lead-ership and the so-called party openlydisplays Saeed's like-ness in its election banners andliterature," the State Depart-ment said.

This action notifies the USpublic and the internationalcommunity that TAJK and MMLare aliases of the LeT.

Terrorism designations ex-pose and isolate organizationsand individuals, and deny themaccess to the US financial sys-tem. Moreover, designationscan assist the law enforcementactivities of US agencies andother governments.

"Treasury is targeting theMML and a group of seven glo-bal terrorists who arecomplicit in LeT's attempts toundermine Pakistan's politicalprocess," said Treasury UnderSecretary Sigal Mandelker,adding that the MML is not arecognized political party andit relies on the leadership ofthe LeT for guidance and direc-tion.

"We will continue to targetterrorist organizations like LeT,even when they attempt tocloak themselves as politicalparties or hide their extremismbehind other facades,"Mandelker said.

He also cautioned peopleagainst working with the MML,including providing financialdonations, saying they should"think twice" about doing so orrisk exposure to US sanctions.

Seven members of the MMLwho were designated as for-eign terrorists are: SaifullahKhalid (president), MuzammilIqbal Hashimi (vice president),Muhammad Harris Dar (Joint

Secretary), Tabish Qayyuum(Information Secretary), FayyazAhmad (General Secretary),Faisal Nadeem (Broadcast andPublications Secretary), andMuhammad Ehsan (FinanceSecretary).

President of the MML,Khalid is also the head of LeT'sPeshawar headquarters andserved on the JuD's Coordina-tion Committee for CentralPunjab Province. The JuD wasdesignated by the Depart-ment of State as an alias of theLeT pursuant April 2016 andwas added to the United Na-tions Sanctions list as an alias ofthe LeT in December 2008.

The JuD is believed to be thefront organization for the LeTwhich is responsible for carry-ing out the Mumbai attack thatkilled 166 people, including sixAmericans. It was declared asan FTO by the US in June 2014.PTI

"Treasury is targeting theMML and a group of seven

global terrorists who arecomplicit in LeT's attempts to

undermine Pakistan'spolitical process"

Cont’d from page 5

Jaitley-Kejriwal defamation suit closedNEW DELHI: The Delhi High

Court has allowed anotherjoint settlement plea of ArunJaitley, Delhi Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal and four otherAAP leaders in Rs 10 croredefamation suit filed againstthem by the union minister inthe DDCA row.

The plea for settlement was

allowed by Justice Rajiv SahaiEndlaw as Kejriwal and theAAP leaders - Raghav Chadha,Sanjay Singh, Ashutosh andDeepak Bajpai - tendered anapology to Jaitley, who ac-cepted it.

The court, however, said thedefamation suit against AAPleader Kumar Vishwas will con-

tinue as he has not offered tosettle the matter.

It also asked Jaitley's counselManik Dogra to inform Vishwas,who was neither present norrepresented by any counselduring the hearing, about theorder and said that if nobodyappeared for him on April 26(the next date of hearing) thecourt will proceed against him.

Earlier, another single judgebench of the high court hadclosed the second defamationsuit filed by Jaitley againstKejriwal over alleged use ofobjectionable word by thechief minister's former lawyerRam Jethmalani in open courtduring the proceedings of theoriginal defamation suit.

Jaitley had lodged the firstdefamation suit in December2015 against Kejriwal and thefive AAP leaders after they had

alleged financial irregularitiesin the Delhi and District CricketAssociation (DDCA) when the

union minister was its presi-dent. The BJP leader had de-nied all these allegations.PTI

File photo of Arun Jaitley (left) and Arvind Kejriwal

Indo-Canadian winsbronze in wrestling

Amar Dhesi took home abronze medal at the NCAA

Division 1 National Champion-ships in the 285 pound weightclass. 2016 Olympic ChampionKyle Snyder won gold in thatclass.

This competition had about500,000 athletes. While Dhesiwas attending Oregon StateUniversity, he won two PAC-12 Championships and twoAll-American Crowns, whichare awarded to the top eight

wrestlers in the States.He was the first member

from Khalsa Wrestling Clubthat won a full scholarship toan NCAA Division 1 School.

Dheshi hopes to competein the 2020 Olympics to behosted in Tokyo, Japan. Hewill be wrestling for a spoton the Canadian World Teamthis year in July, at theCanada Cup tournament tobe held in Toronto. CourtesyAsian Post

Amar Dhesi

SA Indians paytributes toWinnie Mandela

JOHANNESBURG: ProminentSouth African Indians have paidtributes to Winnie Mandela,the former wife of South Afri-can anti-apartheid icon NelsonMandela and one of thecountry's defining and most di-visive figures.

The woman, who becamethe face of the anti-apartheidstruggle while her husbandwas in prison for 27 years ofapartheid rule, passed away atMilpark Hospital inJohannesburg. She was 81.

Her demise has triggered anoutpouring of tributes from theleading South African Indians.

"News of her passing camejust a few days after the firstdeath anniversary of AhmedKathrada, and a few months af-ter the passing of Laloo Chibaand Eddie Daniels. It deepensthe sense of realization thatwith their passing, we lose notonly liberation activists, butsources of history that cannotbe replaced," said Shan Balton,Executive Director of theAhmed Kathrada Foundation.

"Comrade Winnie andAhmed Kathrada shared astrong sense of camaraderieand friendship” PTI

10 India Post April 6, 2018www.indiapost.com

TechBizTech News

MIT Technology Review

Tariffs on Chinawon't stop itstech rise

Trump is said to be consid-ering new rules to slow

down China's tech progress.Backstory: The administra-

tion worries China is leaning onAmerican intellectual property,via investment in US firms andstrict rules for foreign firms op-erating in the country, to be-come a tech powerhouse in AI,robotics, chips, and more.

First, levies: Trump placedtariffs on imports from China,likely including machinery andelectronics. But, Axios notes,targeting America's trade defi-cit with China may not stop itssuccess. (Plus, China cut taxeson industries Trump seeks topunish.)

Uber told tosuspend driverlesscar tests

It's contra to Arizona's pastenthusiasm, and hints at

broader regulatory confusion.The news: State governor

Doug Ducey says his "expecta-tion is that public safety is ...the top priority for all who op-erate [driverless car] technol-ogy." On issuing the ban toUber, he called last week'scrash a "failure to comply withthis expectation."

Uber says: That it alreadyproactively suspended testingin the city, and elsewhere inthe US, immediately after thecrash. It's unclear when trialsmight resume.

Europe being leftbehind as a techpower

The continent's potentialmight never be fulfilled as

the US and China race ahead.The news: Bloomberg re-

ports that a Joint European Dis-ruption Initiative, made up of117 experts from academiaand industry, thinks Europemay become "irrelevant" in theworld of applied technology ifthe continent doesn't doubledown on R&D.

The most dexterous robot ever built

A new machine uses AI to achieve more human-like dexteritywhen picking objects.

The news: A two-armed robot unveiled at MIT TechnologyReview's EmTech Digital conference can pick up unseen items farfaster than any existing robot does.

How it works: The robot has two arms-a gripper and a suctionsystem-plus a 3D sensor to inspect objects. It's controlled by anAI that is trained to pick up items in a virtual world using trial anderror. That lets it grab new, unseen items in real life.

Why it matters: The new 'bot picks up 200 to 300 objects perhour (most achieve less than 100).


India levies 10 pc import duty onkey smartphone components

NEW DELHI: The governmenthas imposed a 10 per cent dutyon import of key smartphonecomponents like camera moduleand printed circuit board assem-bly, with a view to boost domes-tic manufacturing.

Earlier in the Budget 2018-19,the government had hiked cus-toms duty on mobile phones to20 per cent from 15 per cent.

Minister of State for FinanceShiv Pratap Shukla tabled notifi-cation documents in this regardin the Lok Sabha which seek to"withdraw exemption from ba-sic customs duty (BCD) onprinted circuit board assembly,camera module and connectorsof cellular mobile phones andimpose 10 per cent BCD onthem...".

At present there is zero im-port duty imposed on the three

components.In another notification, the

revenue department has in-creased the basic import dutyon populated, loaded orstuffed printed cir-cuit boards, re-lated tot e l e -phones( i n -

cluding mobile phones) from nilto 10 per cent.

India is now the second larg-

est mobile phone producer inthe world after China, as per in-formation shared by the Indian

CellularA s s o c i a -

tion (ICA)with Telecom

Minister ManojSinha and IT Min-

ister Ravi ShankarPrasad.Gov-ernment's flag-

ship 'Make in India' pro-gram along with specific

incentives are aimed at bolster-ing domestic manufacturing ofIT and electronic products.

According to data shared bythe ICA, India accounted for 11per cent of global mobile pro-duction in 2017 compared to 3per cent in 2014.

India replaced Vietnam to be-come the second largest pro-ducer of mobile phones in 2017.

With the rise in mobile phoneproduction, imports of the de-vices in the country also reducedto less than half in 2017-18.

The government has alreadyimposed 15 per cent importduty on chargers, battery, head-set, speaker, microphone, key-pad etc as per phased manufac-turing program (PMP).

The PMP is aimed at boostingindigenous production of mo-bile phones by providing tax re-lief and other incentives oncomponents and accessoriesused for the devices. PTI

Govt rules out duty cut on petrol pricesNew Delhi : The government

has ruled out any immediatereduction in excise duty tocushion relentless rise in inter-national oil prices that havesent retail diesel rates in Indiato record high and petrol tofour-year high.

The BJP-led governmenthad raised excise duty ninetimes between November2014 and January 2016 toshore up finances as global oilprices fell, but then cut the taxjust once in October last yearby Rs 2 a liter.

Asked if a second round ofexcise duty cut was in offing,Finance Secretary HasmukhAdhia said: "Not as of now.Whenever we review it, we willlet you know".

Earlier in the day, Oil MinisterDharmendra Pradhan said thegovernment is keeping a closeeye on international prices butsaid there is no going back on

free market pricing.He said consumers will benefit

if petrol and diesel are brought

under Goods and Services Tax(GST) regime at the earliest.

Petrol price have hit a four-yearhigh of Rs 73.83 a liter, while die-sel rates touched an all-time high

of Rs 64.69 in the national capitalon rising international oil rates.

"India needs market pricing to

provide oil to all," Pradhan saidat an event organized to markthe launch of Euro-VI gradepetrol and diesel in the nationalcapital.

Fuel pricing is based on atransparent mechanism, hesaid, attributing the spurt inrates to happenings in interna-tional market. "When crude oilprices rise, naturally consumerfeels a pinch," he said.

"We are concerned (aboutthe impact on consumers). Weare keeping a close eye on thedeveloping international oilscenario," he said.

He, however, did not offerany hint of a government inter-vention like cutting excise dutyto give relief to consumers.

Cont’d on page 13

11India PostTechBiz PostApril 6, 2018

www.indiapost.com

Direct tax mop up atRs 9.95 lakh cr

NEW DELHI: The income taxcollections during the 2017-18fiscal has exceeded the Budgettarget at Rs 9.95 lakh crore,helped by addition of one crorenew assessees who have startedfiling income tax returns.

However, the government hasmissed its ambitious target of Rs10.05 lakh crore as per the re-

vised estimates set in the Budgetfor 2018-19.

CBDT Chairman SushilChandra said that as per data col-lected so far, tax collections for2017-18 is Rs 9.95 lakh crore,which is 17.1 per cent higherthan net collection of 2016-17.The Budget estimate for the2017-18 fiscal was Rs 9.80 lakhcrore.

"We have already crossed theBE and we are in process of get-ting the Revised estimates be-cause these are provisional fig-ures as of today and more collec-tions are likely to come," he toldreporters here.

Asked if the revised estimatesof Rs 10.05 lakh crore from directtax collection was too aggressive,

Finance Secretary HasmukhAdhia said, "We should always tryto be more aggressive when itcomes to targets".

"I hope this Rs 9.95 lakh crorewill reach up to more than Rs 10lakh crore. At least next 3-4 days,we will get adjustment of Rs5,000 crore. It will be a landmarkif we achieve Rs 10 lakh figure incurrent year," said Adhia, who is

also the Revenue Secretary.The growth rate for net collec-

tions for corporate income tax is17.1 per cent and the same forpersonal income tax (includingSTT) is 18.9 per cent.

As against 5.43 crore ITRs filedduring FY 2016-17, in 2017-18 asmany as 6.84 crore returns werefiled, a growth of 26 per cent. Ofthis, 6.74 crore returns were e-filed. Between March 30 and 31,the last day of fiscal 2017-18, 56lakh ITRs were filed.

"This was because of continu-ous follow up by our depart-ment. We have issued largenumber of SMS, emails on thebasis of data with us. Because ofwhich new returns have comeand around Rs 13,000 crore ofself assessment tax has come inlast two months because of con-tinuous follow up by the depart-ment. In non-intrusive manner,we have intimated to theassessees about their assets,properties and that's why theyhave filed returns," Chandrasaid.-PTI

"I hope this Rs 9.95 lakh crorewill reach up to more than Rs 10 lakh

crore. At least next 3-4 days, we will getadjustment of Rs 5,000 crore”

'E-way bill rollout verysuccessful; no glitch'

NEW DELHI: The governmenthas said the re-introduction ofthe e-way bill system under GSThas been "very successful" withno technical glitches.

The GST provision, requiringtransporters to carry an elec-tronic waybill or e-waybill when movinggoods between states,was implementedfrom April 1 to checkrampant tax evasionand boost revenues.

"E-way rollout hasbeen very successfuland so far there hasbeen no glitches. Al-though they took twomonths to perfect... Butat this rate I hope verysoon we will be able toroll out intra-state," Fi-nance Secretary Hasmukh Adhiasaid.

On the first day, 2.59 lakh e-way bills were generated andanother 2.89 lakh were gener-ated on second day, GST-NetworkChairman Ajay Bhushan Pandeytold reporters here.

When the e-way bill was firstintroduced in February 1, the sys-tems had collapsed, followingwhich its implementation wasdeferred. The GST Council lastmonth decided on April 1 as theimplementation date.

The system has capacity totake more load and there are

technical teams working on thisto ensure that the e-way billworks smoothly, said Adhia, whois also the Revenue Secretary.

Asked about reports whichstates that officials are not check-ing e-way bill from transporters,

Adhia said, "People will takesome time to adjust but over aperiod the authorities will startchecking the trucks. They willhave to because if people are notcarrying e-way bill, then it's notfair".

Adhia said without e-way bill,there are chances of tax evasionand honest taxpayers feel theyare at a disadvantage comparedto those people who are evadingthe taxes.

"We hope others will fall in lineand generate e-way bill to do this.If they don't do it, there is a pen-alty provision for that," he said.PTI

GST-Network Chairman Ajay Bhushan Pandey

Computers to run 100x fasterTEL AVIV: Researchers have

created technology that will en-able our computers, text mes-sages and phone calls to run 100times faster through terahertzmicrochips.

Until now, the major chal-lenges that stood in the way of

creating the terahertz microchipwere overheating and scalability.However, following three yearsof extensive research, HebrewUniversity of Jerusalem (HU)physicist Uriel Levy and his team

have shown proof of concept us-ing flash memory technology.

"This discovery could help fillthe 'THz gap' and create new andmore powerful wireless devicesthat could transmit data at sig-nificantly higher speeds thancurrently possible," said Levy,

head of HU's Nano-Opto Group."In the world of high-tech ad-

vances, this is game-changingtechnology," he added.

In a paper published in thejournal Laser and Photonics Re-

view, Levy and HU emeritus pro-fessor Joseph Shappir showedproof of concept for an optictechnology that integrates thespeed of optic communicationswith the reliability and manufac-turing scalability of electronics.

Optic communications in-cludes all technologies that uselight to carry informationthrough fiber-optic cables, suchas the Internet, email, text mes-sages, phone calls, the cloud anddata centers, among others.

By using a metal-oxide-ni-tride-oxide-silicon (MONOS)structure, Levy and his teamhave come up with a new inte-grated circuit that uses flashmemory technology - the kindused in flash drives - in micro-chips.

This technology, if successful,will enable standard 8-16 giga-hertz computers to run 100times faster and will bring all op-tical devices closer to theterahertz chip. Israel21c

Reforms can create jobsin India: IMF

WASHINGTON: Acknowledg-ing that unemployment is a ma-jor challenge that India is facingcurrently, the IMF exuded confi-dence that the reforms being car-ried out in India in the last fewyears would end up creating newjobs in the country.

"Clearly, India faces a challengein terms of providing sufficientemployment for a number ofpeople looking for work and par-ticularly young people. But yes,the measures and the reformsthat India is undertaking will overmedium term create jobs," the In-ternational Monetary Fund (IMF)spokesperson, Gerry Rice, told re-

porters at a news conferencehere.

Noting that India has been oneof the fastest growing largeeconomies in recent times, hesaid this has led to improvementin reducing poverty and improve-ments in living standards.

"Our view is that recent re-forms, particularly the implemen-tation of GST, national goods andservices tax, should help boostefficiency and productivity andovertime will contribute to helpthem create jobs in the formalsector," Rice said when asked ifIndia is experiencing joblessgrowth. PTI

12 India Post TechBiz Post April 6, 2018

www.indiapost.com

Private airlines flag concernover 'misreporting'

NEW DELHI: Jet Airways,SpiceJet and Vistara haveflagged serious concerns overthe data on technical snagsfaced by airlines in 2017, whichwas provided by the govern-ment in Parliament.

They maintained that thedata was leading to a "false il-lusion" about safety of the air-lines.

In a letter to Minister ofState for Civil Aviation Jayant

Sinha, the airlines have de-manded an investigation bythe Directorate General of CivilAviation (DGCA) to the matterso that accurate information isprovided to Parliament andpublic at large.

"It seems apparent that thenumber of technical snags be-ing reported by various airlinesis inaccurate. This discrepancyand misreporting of data isleading to false illusion of the

relative safety of someairlines over others,"the airlines said in theirletter here. On March13, Sinha, in a writtenreply in the Rajya Sabhahad said that airlinesreported more than24,700 technical snagslast year. PTI

Uniform GST rates can'tbe done: CEA

BENGALURU: ArvindSubramanian, Chief EconomicAdvisor to Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, has said it is easyto advocate one uniform GST

rates for all goods, but it cannotbe done ignoring political reali-ties.

He also said that no one wantsto tax essentials consumed bypoor.

"My own view is that, we needmore simplicity in India and we

need to go towards at somestage bringing in uniformity inGST rates, but we cannot do thatdivorced from political realities,"he said responding to a PTI query

at interactive event here."No political system can ac-

cept BMW cars or cigarettes be-ing taxed at 18 per cent rate," headded.

He responded when he wasasked to comment on theCongress's stand demanding

capping of GST at 18 per centwhich led to a war of words be-tween Modi and former Union fi-nance minister P Chidambaram.

Chidambaram on March 29had countered Modi for callingit a "grand stupid thought" andasked if the government con-sidered Subramanian also stu-pid for voicing the same argu-ment.

"Why can't the normal GSTrate be 15 per cent and Rev-enue Neutral Rate plus rate onluxury goods be 18 per cent ...,"Chidambaram had said.

He also said that nobodywants to tax essentials whichare consumed by poor.

However, as long as GST ratesare kept relatively clean andsimple, Subramanian said, Indiawill make progress. For instance,the 28 per cent GST rate wasbrought down by GST Councilover the period of time becausemany felt it was high,Subramanian said.

"Going forward more suchthings (reduction in GST rates)will happen," he added. PTI

ICICI board clears redemptionof 350 shares

New Delhi: Private sector ICICIBank board has approved re-demption of 350 unlisted prefer-ence shares of Rs 1 crore eachand decided to reclassify all kindsauthorised share capital into eq-uity.

However, the bank did not sayanything with regard to review ofinsolvency cases which was partof board meeting agenda.

This is the first time ICICI

Bank's board met after the con-troversy over alleged conflict ofinterest involving its CEO ChandaKochhar and Videocon groupbroke out.

Necessary alterations to becarried out in the relevant capitalclause of the Memorandum ofAssociation and Article of Asso-ciation of the bank which wouldcome into effect upon redemp-tion, ICICI Bank said in a filing tostock exchanges.

The alteration will be subjectto approval of the RBI and mem-bers, it said after board meeting.

"In view thereof, the board atits meeting held today approvedthe redemption on the maturity

date along with payment of ap-plicable dividend at the rate of Rs100 per annum per share of Rs 1crore each aggregating to Rs35,000 on the preferenceshares," it said.

Consequently, it said, "Theboard approved reclassificationof authorized share capital whichpresently includes equity, prefer-ence shares and unclassifiedshares into one category equity

shares."T h e

bank said," I C I C IB a n k ' s

board meeting being held todayis a pre-scheduled board meet-ing convened for review ofcases which are before NationalCompany Law Tribunal underInsolvency and BankruptcyCode, and other routine mat-ters."

Last week, media reportsmentioned the alleged involve-ment of Kochhar and her familymembers in a loan provided toVideocon group on quid proquo basis. Concerns were alsoraised about transactions ofVideocon group and NUPowerRenewables, a company oper-ated by her husband DeepakKochhar. PTI

Arvind Subramanian

"Centre and state bank on taxrevenues to meet developmen-tal needs. 42 per cent of collec-tions from excise duty (on petroland diesel) goes to states and outof the remaining 60 per cent isused to fund centre's share indevelopment schemes in states,"he said.

Pradhan said the GST Council -the apex decision making bodyof the new indirect tax regime -should in the "interest of energysecurity and consumers" includepetroleum products in GST.

Petrol, diesel, natural gas,crude oil and jet fuel (ATF) arecurrently not included in GST,which essentially leads to pro-ducers not being able to set-offtax paid on inputs from final taxon product.

Govt rules out duty cuton petrol prices

The government, he said, hadcut excise duty on petrol and die-sel by Rs 2 per liter in October andsome states had followed it upwith a reduction in VAT (valueadded tax).

"When there is a pricing issue,states should respond and cut

VAT," he said.State-owned oil firms, which

have been since June last yearrevising auto fuel prices daily,have raised petrol price by 10paise per liter and diesel by 11paise.

Petrol in the national capitalnow costs Rs 73.83 a liter, thehighest since September 14,2014 when rates had hit Rs 76.06.Diesel price at Rs 64.69 is thehighest ever, with previous highof Rs 64.22 being on February 7,2018.

India has the highest retailprices of petrol and diesel amongSouth Asian nations as taxes ac-count for half of the pump rates.

The government had raisedexcise duty nine times betweenNovember 2014 and January2016.

Subsequent to that exciseduty reduction, the Centre hadasked states to also lower VAT butjust four of them - Maharashtra,Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh andHimachal Pradesh - reducedrates while others including BJP-ruled ones ignored the call. PTI

India has the highestretail prices of petrol

and diesel amongSouth Asian nations astaxes account for half

of the pump rates.


13India PostTechBiz PostApril 6, 2018

www.indiapost.com


Tech Briefs

X Lab says AI cantransform agriculture

The moonshot factory saysmachine learning will

help farmers to feed us bet-ter.

The news: At MIT Technol-ogy Review's EmTech Digitalevent in San Francisco, X labchief Astro Teller said histeam is "making progress" inapplying AI to farming.

Details: Teller hasn't givenspecifics on any project, butsays AI could help farmers

choose when to harvestcrops or apply irrigation, orreimagine planting ap-proaches.

Why it matters: Agricul-ture is relatively tech-free.It's also far from optimized interms of production, andfaces growing stress aspopulations grow and fooddemands increase. An injec-tion of AI could help the in-dustry rise to the challenge.

An 'ugly' memo byFacebook executive

The message, called "TheUgly," suggests internal

worries about the socialnetwork's single-minded focuson "connecting people" havebeen around for a long time.

The news: Buzzfeed un-earthed the memo, whichwas written in June 2016 byAndrew Bosworth, a power-ful company VP at the time.In it, "Boz" said the companywas blind to the conse-quences of its creation,which could include it killingpeople.

Zuck responds: The CEO

said he strongly disagreeswith the memo and "we'venever believed the ends jus-tify the means." Boz himselfsaid on Twitter that thememo was meant to provokedebate, rather than to betaken literally.

Bad timing: It's is nowherenear as bad as the Cam-bridge Analytica revelations,and in many ways it's from adifferent era. But the memois also a reminder that somepeople inside the companyare very concerned aboutthe path it's on.

Crypto-friendly lawscould hurt innovation

Tennessee and Arizonahave recently passed

laws that recognizeblockchain-based "smartcontracts," but they have noidea what they're doing.

What are smart con-tracts? They're the code thatunderpins most initial coinofferings, which have be-come a popular way to raiseventure funding. But whatthey actually are (and aren't)is complex, and still open to

interpretation.Too much, too soon: Legal

experts say states shouldpump the brakes-passing lawsbefore a new technology hasbeen properly established isbound to cause confusion.

The motive: Appearingcrypto-friendly may seem likea good way to attract entre-preneurs and investors. Butsome folks argue theslapdash legislation could, infact, hurt innovation.

'Indian laws inadequateto deal with data theft'

NEW DELHI: At 462.12 million,India has the second highestnumber of internet users in theworld after China but lacks thelegal framework to ensure dataprotection and privacy with cur-rent laws inadequate for the rap-idly-evolving sector, say cyber se-curity experts.

As data theft becomes the po-litical buzzword pitching the rul-ing BJP against the oppositionCongress, recent revelations onthe issue have forced people tore-examine their everyday socialmedia browsing habits, particu-larly on Facebook.

It started mid March with in-ternational media reports claim-

ing that the profiles of 50 millionFacebook users were harvestedby UK-based analytics firm Cam-bridge Analytica (CA) to influ-ence the US presidential electionand the pro-Brexit campaign aswell as polls in other countries.

The resulting storm engulfedIndia too, with former CA em-ployee-turned-whistleblowerChristopher Wylie claiming thefirm extensively operated in thecountry and had served politicalparties, including the Congressand the Janata Dal (United).

Beyond the global impact ofthe biggest-ever data breachesand the social media behemothFacebook, the scandal brought tothe fore the shortcoming ofIndia's laws to deal with ever ad-vancing issues of online privacyand data theft in the country, sayexperts.

"India has the second highestnumber of internet users globally.However India's InformationTechnology Act, 2000 and its

amendments - 2008 and 2011 -are not well suited to deal withsocial media and internet relatedcyber-crimes," said JaspreetSingh, partner, Cyber Security,Ernst & Young.

According to figures byInternet World Stats, a websitefeaturing data on global internetusage, China had highest num-ber of internet users at 738.5 mil-lion till December 31, 2017. Indiawas second and the US third with286.94 million users.

India does not have a dedi-cated law on data protection andprivacy, said Singh.

"Consequently, the third partytransfers and cross border move-

ment of personal data, the entiresharing ecosystem, is not ad-equately dealt with under the In-dian IT Act. If any organisation isdisclosing the personal informa-tion to third parties in India fordata profiling or other such mar-keting and business purposes,there is no effective legal solu-tion that is available," he added.

Supreme Court lawyer PavanDuggal said it would be a mistaketo expect the IT Act to be a holis-tic one-point legal framework forcyber security as it was enacted10 years ago.

"... there have been dramaticadvances in cyber security andalso cyber security breaches, butthe law has stood frozen in pointof time in history," the cyber lawspecialist told PTI.

Going by Indian law, the databreach episode, which has at-tracted a probe by regulators andgovernments in several countriesand also triggered panicamongst millions of internet us-

ers, is at best "immoral or unethi-cal" but not illegal.

"If you take CambridgeAnalytica as an example, whatthey have done is mining of dataand purchase of data with theconsent of users by tricking theminto giving their consent and tak-ing off their data.

"So you may call this entirepractice of data collection anddata harvesting immoral and un-ethical, but according to Indianlaws it is not illegal. It is notagainst the law of the land," saidcyber security expert Jiten Jain.

The Facebook-CA episodethrows up a host of issues, addedRama Vedashree, CEO of the DataSecurity Council of India (DSCI),stressing the need for clarityabout the roles, obligations andresponsibilities of all stakehold-ers towards protecting data andprotecting individual privacy inthe ecosystem.

"I won't call it the way it is be-ing positioned - as a securitybreach or a data breach - but pos-sibly a breach of trust of the userswho have shared their data be-cause the data was used or har-vested for some other purposewhich the user was not not evenaware of. I think that is the funda-mental thing (here)," she said.

Biju Janata Dal MP Baijayant'Jay' Panda has filed a privatemembers bill in Parliament andbeen passionately championingthe cause for "sensible new regu-lations".

"Using data for marketing andpolitical campaigning purposesshould be done legitimately, withthe consent of people whosedata is being used and also in linewith a modern regulatory frame-work that protects privacy andenshrines accountability for mis-use of data," he said.

Panda described the currentIndian regulatory framework asinadequate, especially sincethese challenges are rapidlyevolving in a widely connectedworld.

As debates over online pri-vacy trended globally followingthe data breach expose, therewere acrimonious exchanges inIndia between its two main par-ties. PTI

"So you may call this entire practiceof data collection and data harvesting

immoral and unethical, but according toIndian laws it is not illegal”

www.indiapost.com April 6, 2018

COMMUNITYACROSS AMERICA

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Nationwide endorsementsfor Dr Hiral Tipirneni

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Air India set to fly sky high, whoeverthe owner: Ms Malini

RAMESH SOPARAWALAIndia Post News Service

CHICAGO: Talks are gainingground that Air India is set tochange at the highest levelfrom being a semi-govern-ment entity to a privately heldcompany and many wonder ifthis would have a big impacton the functional set up of theairline.

Air India Chicago in themeantime, has shifted its head-quarters from Downtown areato a distant suburb ofRosemont recently and manyask if this would impact on its

accessibility or the operations.Air India Chicago chief Ms.

Malini Vaidhyanathan standsunperturbed exuding hugeconfidence that Air India at thenational level or at the Mid-west level will continue flyinghigh as over a period of time ithas established its credibilityin all areas of operations - cus-tomer friendly approach, its ef-ficiency, marketing and offer-ing competitive fares.

In a talk to this paper at itsnew smaller but cozy office inRosemont, she said thatprivatization of operations or a

change in the management atthe top should be deemed anormal phase for the company

or for the nation and it mayturn out be a good develop-ment for the company orcountry. Basics for Air India aregood and things would turnout good, she observed.

The shift in the Air India Chi-cago headquarters was on costconsiderations and it wouldnot affect at all the way it oper-ates or functions. One has alsoto understand that things arechanging fast and the trend istowards online. Air India how-ever has a contingent ofagents and they are happywith it and the airline does takecare of their interests andneeds. This policy would notchange wherever the head-quarter shifts. The talks withthe staff also reflected thesame attitude, she revealed.

Ms Malini said that the occu-pancy rate for Chicago Indiaflights is really good and that itwould continue to be so sinceAir India frames its fare policygiving huge consideration offares offered by other airlines."We are fairly competitive andwe have good ,reliable andconsiderate agents across thearea that we cover," sheadded.

Air India Chicago Staff members with Ms Malini at the new Rosemont office

Air India crew & airport staff

Air India Chicago ManagerMs Malini Vaidhyanathan

Cont’d on page 20

FemFest 2018felicitates14 'She Heroes'LAKSHMI IYERIndia Post News Service

MILPITAS, CA: India Commu-nity Center (ICC) in Milpitaswas converted into a hub ofwomen on Sunday, March 25for FemFest 2018, a celebrationof womanhood organized byRadio Zindagi.

The afternoon long eventfeatured both traditional andmodern dance performances,a fashion show and had BayArea stand-up comedian,Dhaya Lakshminarayanan, asone of the hosts.

Another kneecamp in India byUS percussionistRAMESH SOPARAWALAIndia Post News Service

CHICAGO: A US settled In-dian American Perfusionistand ECMO Specialist JyotiDharod has brought laurels forher and for the community atlarge here when she success-fully organized a second KneeCamp in Mumbai that in-volved no invasive surgery andyet brought near hundred per-cent results.

The three-day Knee Camp atDahisar in Mumbai treated 82patients involving 151 in andout procedures. Explaining theprocedures essentially devel-oped by her own efforts andresearch but with the help ofother medical professionals,she mentioned there was asmall additional innovation.

Sri Sri to conductspecial meditationin SacramentoIndia Post News Service

SACRAMENTO, CA: On hismaiden visit to Sacramento, re-nowned humanitarian andspiritual leader, Sri Sri RaviShankar will conduct what willbe the largest meditationevent in Sacramento. The spe-cial program Meditation 2.0 -Beyond Mindfulness, anevening of wisdom, music andrelaxation, will be held onMonday, April 16


April 6, 2018

April 6, 2018India Post16 Community Across Americawww.indiapost.com

FemFest 2018 felicitates 14 'She Heroes'

The honored achievers

LAKSHMI IYERIndia Post News Service

MILPITAS, CA: India Commu-nity Center (ICC) in Milpitaswas converted into a hub ofwomen on Sunday, March 25for FemFest 2018, a celebrationof womanhood organized byRadio Zindagi.

The afternoon long eventfeatured both traditional andmodern dance performances,a fashion show and had BayArea stand-up comedian,Dhaya Lakshminarayanan, asone of the hosts.

Fourteen women entrepre-neurs, activists and pioneers -or 'She heroes', as they werecalled - were felicitated. Thefunction was emceed by MissSilicon Valley, SabinaChaudhuri.

Some had channeled theirpassion for the arts into ve-hicles for social empowermentwhile some had started orga-nizations to specifically helpwomen in dire situations, suchas victims of domestic abuse.

Some held public officewhile others were political ac-tivists or therapists. This was aneclectic group of women -each an achiever in her ownright, from different agegroups, socio-economic, reli-gious and national back-grounds.

Those felicitated were: AnuNatarajan - Former Council-

woman, City of Fremont; RennuDhillon - Founder, Genius KidsFranchise; Sonya Pelia - Presi-dent, Maitri Board of Gover-nance; Shefali Razdan Duggal -Political Activist; Sherry Higgs -Founder, "Drivers for Survi-vors"; Sindu Singh - Founder,Bay Area Drama Company; Dr.Nilima Sabharwal - Founder,"Home for Hope"; UshaSrinivasan - Founder, SangamArts; Vinita Belani - Founder -Enacte Arts; Anitha Chakravarty- President, "Narika"; Shakila

Omar - Lead, ShelterProgram Assistance -SAVE; Shalini Dayal -Co-founder, Basant;Alisha Shaik - Na-tional Co-chair,"March for our fu-ture" and Founder,"Interfaith for Youth"and Diana Rohini

LaVigne, Chief Communica-tions Officer and Public Infor-mation Officer, San MateoCounty Health.

Alisha Shaik, just 17 yearsold, was one of the honorees.She narrated a touching anec-dote from her own life whenshe was visiting India with herparents as a little girl (her par-ents are immigrants from In-

dia); her grandfather sat her onhis knee and said, "Alisha, youare going to be the next Presi-dent of the United States."

She added, "When I see allthese women up here, it notonly gives me hope for thefuture…it also shows we havecome such a long way, and itmakes me more motivated tokeep fighting this battle."

Many of the honorees had toovercome major setbacks anddifficulties in their own lives.Shakila Omar came to theUnited States from Afghani-stan during the Afghan war ata very young age. She alwayshad a passion to help womenand children and that is pre-

cisely what she has done withher work with SAVE for the vic-tims of domestic violence.

Shefali Razdan Duggal, apro-choice political activist forthe Democratic Party, revealedher unusual upbringing. Her fa-ther left her mother whenShefali was very young and shewas able to see firsthand theresilience of a woman as her

mother took up two minimumwage jobs to support both ofthem. Shefali cited her ownself-doubt as an obstacle,which resulted in her making adelayed entry into her field.

Sherry Higgs was diag-nosed with a rare form of can-cer - Inflammatory Breast Can-cer, and doctors gave her onlya few months to live. Shestarted "Drivers for Survivors"to provide transportation ser-vices to cancer patients.

Rennu Dhillon, one of thekeynote speakers, made agreat impact with her wordsand stage presence. Divorcedwith kids at a young age, shefaced feeling left out in an "un-forgiving" Indian immigrantcommunity in the US. Today,she is a successful business-woman - founder and owner ofthe thriving play school/after-

school franchise, Genius Kids.She said that what sets a

woman apart is her confi-dence. In her inspiring speechon her favorite subject, "Howto Dare to Dream and AchieveAnything You Want", Ms. Dhillonoffered a few tips to women:find your personal calling anddo what you love, weed outnegativity from your life, help

to raise other women ratherthan pull them down with gos-sip, enjoy your own company,be your own person and likeyourself the way you are in-stead of comparing oneselfwith others.

Usha Srinivasan was an engi-neer before she started learn-ing Bharatnatyam with herdaughter. She went on to startSangam Arts with the aim toreach non-Indian communitieswith the knowledge of this tra-ditional art. She told the audi-ence not to limit themselves.

Like Shefali, Usha acknowl-edged the greatness ofAmerica and that it is now nolonger a melting pot, but amosaic, and the importance ofrelating to other communitiesbesides one's own Indian one.

Dance performance

Archita fashion show

Fourteen women entrepre-neurs, activists and pioneers -or 'She heroes', as they werecalled - were felicitated. The

function was emceed by MissSilicon Valley, Sabina Chaudhuri

Cont’d on page 23

India Post 17April 6, 2018 Community Across Americawww.indiapost.com

Bollywood event showcases Bay Area talentNILAY GUPTA

Winners of Silicon Valley's Got Bollywood 2018 take the stage

Judges at SVGB 2018

Packed Joan Pisani Community Center, Saratoga at the SVBG 2018

Pics by Perfect Click and Amit MaitraSARATOGA, CA: Tanya Gupta

was holding her breath. Thenames of winners had been an-nounced and they were allstanding on stage waiting toknow who had taken the topspot. Tanya was in deep thought,after all she had gotten rave re-views from everyone.

The 4th Annual 'SiliconValley's got Bollywood' compe-tition was conducted inSaratoga on Saturday March 24at Joan Pisani Community Cen-ter, organized by SaratogaHindu Temple and CommunityCenter. It was a sold out eventwith many sponsors support-ing it. Silicon Valley's gotB o l l y w o o d(www.SiliconValleyBollywood.com)is part of Saratoga's 6th annualHindu New Year celebration -that seeks to integrate all thespring celebrations of India.

Bollywood truly brings ev-eryone under one umbrellaand it is ubiquitous across thecountry as we celebrate ChetiChand/ Gudi Padava/ Holi/Nabo Barsho/ Puthandu/Ugadi/ Vaisakhi. Bollywoodcompetition is organized as anannual fundraiser to run theweekly Sunday programs such

Winner of Silicon Valley's gotBollywood 2018 Solo - First place

Tanya Gupta

BDC Mommies perform at the SVGB 2018

BDC Young pups perform at SVGB 2018

as Entrepreneurshipbootcamp, Robotics, CodersClub, Hindi, Yoga, Bollywood fit-

ness, that are offered for nocharge to the larger Silicon Val-ley community.

Saratoga's charismatic coun-cil member Rishi Kumar hostedthe event with lot of enthusi-asm. Rishi along with the orga-nizing team, the contestantskept the audiences enter-tained. A few local kids weregiven the opportunity to an-chor certain parts of the event.Food was catered by The MyntIndian Restaurant in San Jose,and guests enjoyed deliciousappetizers and dinner.

Tanya's name was an-nounced. Hers was the lastname that was almost forgot-ten. On stage she jumped withjoy when she realized she hadwon the top solo spot. "Winningfirst place was a great surprise,specially since everyone's per-formance always great. I wasdelighted to see the great en-ergy and enthusiasm, and thatgave me a great push to do mybest. And the cash prize wasdefinitely an icing on cake.Thank you to the Saratoga com-munity for providing this plat-form and hosting a fun event!"

said Tanya Gupta a bit flus-tered after this win.

The winners this year werethe following: In the solo cat-egory, first place went to TanyaGupta, who sang "MuskaanJhooti hai", a slow jazz numberfrom the movie Talaash. SecondPlace went to Roma Bedekar,

who sang "Aao Hazoor Tumko"from the Hindi classic Kismat.Third place went to MalaMehrotra, whose dance was soamazing that even the judgesstarted to dance with her, onthe song "Kajrare Kajrare" from

the movie Bunty and Bubli.These winners had

emerged as the contestantsafter audition rounds that un-folded the weeks prior. In thegroup category, first placewent to a dance group namedBDC Pre-teen who danced toBadrinath Ki Dulhania's title

track, and Bareilly Ki Barfi's"Sweety Tera Drama".? Secondplace went to CupertinoKathak who performed a tukdafrom Indian classical danceform Kathak.

Cont’d on page 19


Another knee camp in India by US percussionist

Indian American Perfusionist Ms Jyoti Dharod with Jain Guru

RAMESH SOPARAWALAIndia Post News Service

CHICAGO: A US settled Indian Ameri-can Perfusionist and ECMO SpecialistJyoti Dharod has brought laurels for herand for the community at large herewhen she successfully organized a sec-ond Knee Camp in Mumbai that in-volved no invasive surgery and yetbrought near hundred percent results.

The three-day Knee Camp at Dahisarin Mumbai treated 82 patients involv-ing 151 in and out procedures. Explain-

ing the procedures essentially devel-oped by her own efforts and researchbut with the help of other medical pro-fessionals, she mentioned there was asmall additional innovation. It wasblood plus bone marrow infusions. TheJyoti Dharod team of doctors, anesthe-tists and nurses would take "blood fromhand and bone marrow from Tibia (nearknee). The quantity involved was 50 ccwhich would be processed before be-

ing injected in the knees."The three-day camp beginning Janu-

ary 26 this year was organized byMahavir Jyot and had lot of supportfrom locals - Navneet High Tech, DrShetty, Dr Mrs Mandke, Dr Dixit, Prof.Upen Sawla, Krupali Shah, Sister Moni,

Nemjibhai Gangar, Sunil Singh,Mahendrabhai Sangoi, Bharat Gala,Nitinbhai Satra, Manojbhai Shah,Jitubhai Dedhia, Pratiksha Khona.

The entire camp was done on noprofit basis and private patients werecharged to cover the basic costs. How-ever, Jain gurus were not charged at alland the expenses were met by privatedonations. Medical professionals andvolunteers rendered no cost services.

Machine kit and medicines weretaken from the US to rural areas inIndia.

The youngest patient treatedwas aged 42 while the oldest 88.There were Jain Gurus and Sadhvistoo who were treated successfullyat the Dahisar camp. Interestingly,there was no post treatment, in-fection complaint, nor was therepost treatment complication re-ported by patients.

Last year Jyoti Dharod had orga-nized two such camps in Kutch,Gujarat. These were done with thehelp of qualified Mumbai basedsurgeon Dr. Suresh Shetty and lo-cal physicians. The first one was or-ganized on February 17 and 18,2017 at Bidada, Kutch and atGandhidham, Kutch, Gujarat onFebruary 19, 2017. The host orga-nizations were Shree BidadaSarvodaya Trust (India) and BidadaInternational Foundation.

The full team this time forMumbai comprised Mahavir Jyot

members - Jyoti Dharod, Pankaj Dharod,Harsha Dharod, Jaya Vora, Bharti Sawla,Pradeep Mehta, Minal Shah, Nayna Shah,Mitesh Savla , Chhaya Sawla and profes-sionals Scientist Jyoti Dharod , Dr Shetty,Dr Mrs Mandke, Dr Dixit, Prof. UpenSawla, Krupali Shah and Sister Moni.

The Mahavir Jyot Team

Jyoti Dharod with parents


Sri Sri to conduct specialmeditation in Sacramento

mento to conduct this pro-gram. Finally, the people ofthis city and the neighboringareas will get a chance to ex-perience what millions ofpeople around the world havebeen experiencing," saidDeepak Gilra, one of the orga-nizers of the event.

Deepak is a senior instruc-tor and one of the volunteersof the Art of Living Foundation

(AOLF), which is organizingthe Meditation 2.0 - BeyondMindfulness. The Art of LivingFoundation has been impart-ing Sri Sri's meditation and

India Post News Service

SACRAMENTO, CA: On hismaiden visit to Sacramento, re-nowned humanitarian andspiritual leader, Sri Sri RaviShankar will conduct what willbe the largest meditationevent in Sacramento. The spe-cial program Meditation 2.0 -Beyond Mindfulness, anevening of wisdom, music andrelaxation, will be held onMonday, April 16, 7:30pm atthe Sacramento Memorial Au-ditorium.

Sri Sri has been conductingMeditation 2.0 all over theUnited States to packedhouses. Meditation 2.0 em-

powers people to do more ofthe things they love by goingdeeper into meditation. Sri Sribrings ancient techniques topeople in a way that is mean-ingful in the 21st century. SriSri Ravi Shankar will talk aboutthe greater power of medita-tion, lead the participants intoone of his very popular medi-tations and also answer ques-tions that the audience mayhave. The ease and depth ofthis event resonates as muchwith beginners as with ad-vanced practitioners. Tickets:http://tiny.cc/srsrisacramento

"We feel honored that Sri SriRavi Shankar has chosen Sacra-

breathing techniques in thegreater Sacramento area formore than two decades. "Nowthe people will have a chanceto experience the meditationlive with Sri Sri and also get achance to interact with him,"said Deepak.

All of AOLF's programs areguided by Sri Sri's philosophy:"Unless we have a stress-freemind and a violence-free soci-

ety, we cannot achieve worldpeace."

About Sri Sri Ravi ShankarRenowned meditation

teacher, humanitarian andthought leader Sri Sri RaviShankar has captured thehearts and minds of millionsaround the world through hismeditations, breathing tech-niques and wisdom. He is anicon of non-violence and seeksglobal peace through serviceand fostering human values.

About Art of LivingFoundation

Operating in 154 countries,The Art of Living Foundation(AOLF) is a non-profit, educa-tional and humanitarian orga-nization founded in 1981 bythe world-renowned humani-tarian and spiritual teacher SriSri Ravi Shankar.

One of the world's largestvolunteer-based non-profits,the Art of Living is dedicatedto creating a stress-free, vio-lence-free society.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

The special program Meditation2.0 - Beyond Mindfulness, an evening of

wisdom, music and relaxation, will beheld on Monday, April 16, 7:30pm at the

Sacramento Memorial Auditorium

Third place went to BDCHip-Hop for their performanceto a medley of songs including"Blue Eyes" from Honey Singh.

The event provides a plat-form to people of all ages andrace to showcase their talent.Although the theme wasBollywood, contestants wereallowed to showcase any tal-ents they have, like motiva-tional speeches, live bands amajority being songs anddances. The performances in-cluded English songs, hip hop,Indian classical, and of course,Bollywood. Over years thisevent has gained much popu-larity with participation fromthe larger Bay Area as a total of$1,800 were handed out asprize money amongst the win-ners, along with trophies, med-als and plaques.

Sixteen solo and ten groupperformances took place inthe competition. All the con-testants were selectedthrough pre-screening audi-

Bollywood event showcases Bay Area talent

tion. All the performanceswere extraordinary and it wasa tough call for the judges toselect the best from the best.

Among the judges weremany of the well-known fa-mous faces of Bay area includ-ing AltuFaltu (Radio DeHotties); Shweta Singh Kirti sis-ter of Bollywood star; BhaviniJoshi host of many Bollywoodstars; Dr Ranu Sinha, a recentdirector of the biopic "Doctorby Heart"; Founder of JhankaarBeats, Apeksha Anand andFounder of Geetanjali Musical

group, Minnie & Rama Shukla.Tinny Juneja, Founder/Direc-

tor of Bollywood Dance Connec-tions (BDC) whose team wonthe top place in the group cat-egory for the 2nd year running,was all smiles. "'Silicon Valley'sGot Bollywood' lends healthy,fulfilling, and unique experienceto the individuals who want toprove their talent. It was such anecstatic feeling for our team,when we were called upon thestage and announced as FirstPlace winners. BDC would like tothank Rishiji, for giving us such a

memorable experience, theplatform to showcase our talent.We are also grateful to thejudges, the volunteer team andthe audience who showed loadsof excitement."

The finale of the eveningwas a Bollywood Star Couplesdance that was performed byten rocking couples ofSaratoga that includedCouncilmember Rishi Kumarand his wife Seema. This wasthe segment that had thecrowd going, swaying to thehigh energy music and the

dance moves, judgessportingly awarding it 10points.

Following the awards distri-bution, Rishi kept audiencesdancing as he sang a series ofthe top Bollywood Remix num-bers, popular retro tunes fromthe past that have lately beena feature of the latestBollywood hits. The event wasa fabulous community gather-ing and that was made pos-sible with great efforts frommany community heroes of theSaratoga Community.



Besides fares, Air India hasan edge over its rivals in that ithas direct flights to Delhi fromwhere it has easy connectionsto major cities and now evenrelatively small towns too,thanks to its alliance Airline Al-lied Services Ltd (AASL) whichhappens to be itssubsidiary."We are probablythe only international airlinewhich can claim easy connec-tivity and direct flights," shebeamed

Among AASL objectives areto meet regional aspirations forswift connection to metros andbeyond; provide connectionsto cities so far not air con-nected. This follows the na-tional government policy ofUDAN RCS. The UDA meansUde Desh Ka Aam Naagik andRCA stands for Regional Con-nectivity Scheme. Under this

Air India set to fly sky high, whoeverthe owner: Ms Malini

program, it is aimed to makeair transport infrastructure de-velopment of all regions andStates and to make air travelaffordable plus widespread forcommon citizens. Under RCS,fares for one-hour flight will becapped at Rs.2500 per hour offlying time to and from RCS air-ports.

Alliance Air is the leasingRCS initiative of the Indian gov-ernment. It operates aircraft to48 destinations and providesconnectivity to cities likeShimla, Kullu, Gwalior, Diu, andHubli via hubs like Delhi,Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad,Chennai and Vijayawada. It hascarried close to 1.2 million pas-sengers this year so far.

With these credentials andpositive managerial approach,Air India is confident of doingone better year in and year out,said Ms Malini with confidenceand optimism.


Kids brighten Hanuman Jayanti celebrationGEETHA PATIL

Devotees and Bal Hanuman

Maha Mangal Aarti

CHICAGO: The Hindu Mandirof Lake County celebratedHanuman Janmotsav, the aus-picious birthday of Lord

Hanuman, an ardent devoteeand eternal servitor of Lord SriRamachandra, on Saturday,March 31 with active participa-tion by kids and children.

More than three hundreddevotees of all age-groups andfrom Indian communities par-ticipated with great enthusi-asm and joy to worship andseek his protection and bless-ings. Very young childrendressed as baby Hanuman, en-tered the shrine and were wel-comed by the devotees withfolded hands and salutations.

The celebration mainly indi-cates the balanced co-exist-ence of the whole human fra-

ternity with the nature's in-credible creatures includingthe Vanara community.

It started in the morningwith Sankalpam ofsponsors and GaneshPuja followed by aspecial Abhishekamfor Lord Hanumanand Alankaram. HolyVedic Mantras werechanted with greatdevotion by YogeshPandey andRamachari. MelodicBhajans were sungby Smt. Rita Patelwith instrument ac-companiment byKamalesh Desai andAmbika Singh.Hanuman Chalisa wasrecited100 times bythe devotees with

utmost religiousfervor.

Pt. Anil Joshi inhis discourse ex-plained whyHanuman Chalisawas recited 100times not 108 timesand why LordHanuman waiteduntil KishkindhaKanda to meet LordRam. Pt. Joshi de-scribed the firstmeet betweenLord Ram and LordHanuman and howhe became an ab-solute devotee of

Lord Ramachandra, the incar-nation of truth and virtue.

Hanuman Avatar is consid-Hanuman Homam

ered the 11th Rudra Avatar ofLord Shiva with great devotion,strength, knowledge, divinepower, bravery, intelligence,spirit for selfless service.

Pt. Joshi also expressed hisAshirvachana and conductedHomam, a ceremonial ritualwas offered with great devo-tion by all the sponsors anddevotees to Lord Hanuman.

Shammi Dhall, on behalf ofthe Temple Executive Commit-

tee, thanked all the priests andsponsors for the grand cel-ebration. He also thanked allthe devotees, volunteers, andkitchen team led by NeelanathAnand for making the event anoutstanding one. AnjaneyaPrasad of traditional Churmaand Churi was served with re-spect to all the devotees aftera devotional and worshipfulMaha Mangal Aarti to LordHanuman by Pt. Ganesh.

Hanuman Puja


Boston Shivalaya celebratesHanuman Jayanti

Devotees participating in Lord Hanuman Aarti

Abhishekam, temple priest Pt.Gangadhar performed SatyaNarayana Pooja and recitedKatha in a melodic tune to allthe devotees with brief expla-

nation.It is said that Hanuman

Chalisa is one of the great po-etic works of Goswami Tulsidasthat holds a special place andimportance among Hindus. It isbelieved that recitingHanuman Chalisa is very pow-erful as it helps to reduce theeffects of Sade Sati, and alsobrings good health and pros-perity. On this occasion, Pt.Gangadhar recited HanumanChalisa along with devoteeswith utmost devotion for pros-perity, success, and peace.

Prasad was distributed to allthe devotees after MahaMangalarati. Melodic Aartisongs filled the shrine withspiritual atmosphere. Thepriest thanked all the devo-tees for their active participa-tion and involvement.


BOSTON, MA: ShivalayaTemple of Greater Boston, MAcelebrated HanumanJanmotsav on Saturday, March31 with devotees to com-memorate the birth of LordHanuman, in a cultural and tra-ditional way. On this auspiciousday, devotees worshipped himto obtain his magical strengthsto keep them away from evilpowers and troubles in life.

The celebration started inthe evening with a specialAbhishekam of Lord Ganesh,Ma Gauri, Lord Shiva and LordHanuman. In the temple,Hanuman idol was adornedwith a special Alankaram withnice clothes and attractivejewellery and garlands. Devo-tees offered lots of sweets toLord Hanuman. After the

Lord Hanuman idol at ShivalayaTemple in Boston

Nurture Kids Spelling Bee brings out best in kidsIndia Post News Service

FREMONT, CA: Sunday March11, a sunny day in California af-ter continuous rains, saw stu-dents from across the Baygather at Nurture Kids (Fre-mont Hub) for the AnnualSpelling Bee competition. Thewhispers, the murmur, and theexcitement on the faces ofthese students was telling astory. Weeks of hard work wasfinally going to pay off.

The story takes a differentturn when you are on a differ-ent side of the aisle. Judging acompetition for the first time,the perspective, the surprisethe children throw at you withtheir confidence, is an experi-ence in itself. The heart fluttersas if you were participating in

said that, it is an anxious waitto see children present theirhard work in front of a crowdof familiar and not so familiarfaces.

A well-organized competi-tion, Nurture Kids Spelling Beebrought out the best in thechildren of all age groups. Itstarted with Kindergarten stu-dents and moved upwards un-til the 6th grade.

The children participatedwith vigor, asked questionswhen a word wasn't clear, andgave it their best shot evenwhen they weren't sure. A rareglimpse of true sportsmanlikespirit in kids as young as 6-year-old was a treat to the

eyes.Each round presented an

exemplary competitive spirit,the skill of the participants, andthe hard work they had put in.While the competition broughtout the best in children, the or-ganization and the purposebehind conducting the com-petition is worth a mention.

Mrs. Shalini Dewan, CSO -Nurture Kids, talked to the par-ents before each round. She

talked about the purpose be-hind conducting the competi-tion. According to her, winningis not as important as partici-pation. The idea is to give stu-dents the feel of a competition,kindle the sportsmanlike spiritin them that will not only helpthem with this competitionbut with everything they planto undertake in life.

Skills learnt in childhood goa long way in shaping the fu-ture. But the competitionwasn't all serious. She addedher humorous touch, when shejoked with children that theycould tell her if their parentshad pressurized them for thecompetition.

This Spelling Bee was abeautiful mix of talent, humor,proud moments, and a lot ofwords learnt. Nurture Kidsdoes not stop here. Their questto shape a child's future con-tinues into the summer. Veryinteresting camps/competi-tions are coming up. The sum-mer camp starts on June 18th,while the Debate competitionis on May 20th, 2018 at Fre-mont Hub.

the competition. Unlike mostcompetitions, where one hasto pass a judgement on danc-ing skills, singing, spelling bee

is easier on the judges thanparticipants. It is either right orwrong. There is no debate onhow it is to be judged. Having


Sitaarre wins Best TVShow award


FREMONT, CA: Sitaarre TVteam efforts got noticed andin recognition of their con-tinual services received anaward for Best TV Show bywomen entrepreneurs atIFAB Music Awards on March3 in New Jersey. The eventwas organized by Juhi Jagiasi,CEO of IFAB.

Sitaarre TV was foundedby two women entrepre-neurs Kavita and Poonam (Amother-daughter team) in2007 with the primary mis-sion of connecting the South

Asian Diaspora with its lan-guage, arts, and culturalroots, along with assisting non-profit organizations that edu-cate and provide free meals tounderprivileged children; helpbattered and domestic vio-lence impacted women; finan-cial literacy; and many other dif-ferent life-changing causeswhich bring positive changes inpeople's life.

Sitaarre TV shows air inCalifornia, New Jersey, NewYork, Chicago, Seattle andMinneapolis/St. Paul.

According to Kavita, hermother Poonam is totallypassionate about Sitaarre TVshow. She can be seen oper-

ating a camera, pre/postvideo production, coachingnew hosts and covering acommunity event.About IFAB Award

It is the only award for lo-cal talent in USA. The awardis presented by Jewel of In-dia to recognize achieve-ments in Indian Music, Media,Fashion and Pageant Industryin the USA. Jewel of India rec-ognizes the fact that thereare many people who areleaders in their own field andhave not yet carried a spot inBollywood. This is one such

platform to honor their out-standing achievement.About Sitaarre TV

Sitaarre TV featuresBollywood, Tollywood, Holly-wood and local star profiles,celebrity interviews, show-case local talent, covers andairs community events inmany regional languages i.e.English, Hindi, Bengali,Punjabi, Telugu, and Gujarati.

Sitaarre TV has conductedover 300 celebrity inter-views, covered and pro-moted more than 500 non-profit community events andproduced over 1000 star-profiles and special themedshows.

Sitaarre TV features Bollywood,Tollywood, Hollywood and local star profiles,celebrity interviews, showcase local talent,

covers and airs community events inmany regional languages

Karthik & Friends multi-city concert from June 16India Post News Service

MILPITAS, CA: B&B Entertain-ments, one of the premierevent organizers of Bay Areahas announced the multi-lin-gual, multi-city concert ofKarthik & Friends Live in Con-cert, Layer of Music NorthAmerica Tour. On Friday March30, the organizers had ar-ranged for a virtual interaction

with the performing artists atIndia Community Center,Milpitas. Singer Karthik,Shaktisree, Drummer Sivamaniand Mr. Deepak addressed thepress and community mem-bers. They briefed on the multilingual tour, performers andmusicians who would be a partof this US tour.

The prolific multilin-gual talent is one ofthe many finds of mu-sic composer ARRahman. SingerKarthik, a renownedsinger in Indian musicindustry has sung inmultiple languages in-cluding Tamil (over1000 songs), Telugu(over 500 songs),Kannada (over 300songs), and in other languageslike Malayalam, Odia, Bengaliand Hindi. He is known for hisversatility in the industrywhich gave him opportunity tosing a variety of songs.

Shakthishree Gopalan hascome a long way in her musiccareer, what with giving us hitslike Nenjukkulle, Kadhal KanKattudhe, Vaaya En Veera andAzhagu Kutti Chellam. Talkingabout her musical journey,Shakthishree says, "The journeyhas been pretty awesome andI'm thankful for a lot of amazingthings that happened to me.

Music has been a huge part ofmy life. I never thought I willbecome a playback singer anddidn't really think as a careeroption when I was a child. Ihave had the opportunity towork with some of the bestmusic composers of our timeand I hope that continues."

Lead percussionist of ARRahman band, Sivamani be-longs to the rare breed ofdrummers who can producemusic from anything and ev-erything. On asked how he

manages to pull crowds onlythrough instruments, Sivamanianswered, "I always keep shift-ing from high energy vibe to adivine vibe. I strongly believethat playing from the heartreaches hearts. That is the bestway to keep the energy of thecrowd focused. I believe a per-formance becomes magicalwhen all my instruments -

ranging from the oldest ofdrums to kitchen utensils - putin the same effort to impressthe crowd."

The tour is scheduled fromJune 16 until July end, a not tomiss event during the summer.The musicians and band willperform in Portland, San Jose,

Atlanta, New Jersey, Houston,Chicago and Dallas. Producedby B&B, this tour will featureKarthik, Singer Shakthisree andDrummer Sivamani throughoutthe North American leg.

"I can't wait to kick-start thistour. We have an amazing line-up planned for the audienceand I hope they enjoy theshows," Singer Karthik said in astatement.

The shows promises to bemusical treat for the audiencewith best-in class productionteam from India. Each venueboasts to accommodate over2500 music enthusiasts andworld class acoustics and pro-duction capacity.

B&B Entertainments,Art, Theater and Media ser-vice providing company isbased in Fremont, CA (SanFrancisco Bay Area). Theyare involved in movie re-leases and have organizedconcerts all over USA.


Sindu Singh, who foundedBay Area Drama Company,talked about bringing about amore just and equitable soci-ety through art. She said,"Whether we do that throughour poems, our songs, ourdances, our plays or our novels,as women artists, we are thatvoice of hope that will usher ina brighter future for ourselvesas well as our daughters."

Shalini Dayal, founder of thetherapists' group Basant,talked about the importanceof self-defense skills for

FemFest 2018 felicitates14 'She Heroes'

women. She herself holds ad-vanced belts in martial arts.

The afternoon had a won-derful fashion show presentedby Diva Moms, headed by BayArea filmmaker, Archita MandalFallini. Archita had directed amusic video called "DivaMom", which was released lastyear.

The models sashayed on theramp carrying placards withmessages such as "#MeToo"and "My Body My Choice".

Outside in the lobby, vendorsselling clothing, jewelry and ar-tistic home décor had a livelycrowd of potential buyers.


E-paper lunched by Adbhut Media USAHEMA SHASTRI

'Hard Rock' removes 'HinduPizza' after protest


PUNTA CANA: Hard Rock Ho-tel & Casino in Punta Cana (Do-minican Republic), which hada "Hindu Pizza" on its menucontaining "chicken tikkamasala with yogurt, cilantroand mint", has removedthe pizza and apolo-gized to the protestingHindus.

Anmarí Pérez, Cus-tomer Care Manager ofHard Rock Hotel & Ca-sino Punta Cana, in anemail to Rajan Zed, whospearheaded the pro-test, wrote: "We sin-cerely apologize andaddressed the issue im-mediately."

Rajan maintained that it is atrivialization of the oldest andthird largest religion of theworld with about 1.1 billionadherents and a rich philo-

sophical thought."Hindu Pizza" has now re-

portedly been removed fromboth restaurant and onlinemenus and all other materials.Rajan, president of UniversalSociety of Hinduism, thanked

Orlando (Florida) headquar-tered Hard Rock International((HRI), whose tagline is "LoveAll, Serve All", for understand-ing the concerns of Hindu com-munity which thought it was

highly insensitive."Hindu Pizza" was available

at the Pizzeto restaurant (inHRI's largest property locatedin Punta Cana) which opensdaily from 12pm to next day7am and has a "Dress Code".

HRI, whose historygoes back to 1971;owns-operates restau-rants, hotels, live perfor-mance venues and casi-nos globally and sellscollectible fashion andmusic-related merchan-dise. It claims: "no onedoes hospitality like us"and it recently launched"Rock Om"; "an in-roomyoga experience, energiz-

ing the body and soul throughthe power of music." It delivers"Rock Om yoga kit" to each ho-tel room free of charge. SelectHRI hotels also reportedly offerlive, on-site yoga classes.

CHICAGO: Adbhut USA ex-tended its area of work bycoming up with its own e-newspaper Adbhut MediaUSA on March 25 at ThumkaRestaurant in Hoffman Es-tate, a Chicago suburb.

With a goal to have the lat-est happening around theentire globe brought toreaders, the event startedwith welcome speech byShabana Rahman, AdbhutMedia Bureau Chief followed

by a video on glimpse ofAdbhut Media. Chairman ofAdvisory Board Sunil Shahlaunched website and e-pa-per and introduced theboard of members namelyNeil Khot, Hitesh Gandhi, MdKhaja Moinuddin, AshokLakshmanan, Anil Loomba,Mukesh Shah, Abir Maru andSyed Mahmood.

The auspicious lamp light-ning ceremony was joined bydignitaries Laura Murphy,

State Senator -28th district;Michelle Mussman IllinoisHouse of Representative 56thdistrict; Fred Crespo IllinoisHouse of Representative 44thdistrict; Rodney Craig Mayorof Hanover Park; William D

McLeod Mayor of HoffmannEstates; Nimish Jani Trustee ofSchaumburg Township andBrian McGuire supervisor ofHanover Township.

Gurmeet Singh Dhalwan,CEO and founder of AdbhutMedia USA, expressed histhanks saying "it is an appealto everyone to kindly extendtheir true support and bless-ings to us so that we can ac-complish our goals and makea difference in the society."

Indian Consulate was rep-resented by D B Bhati and Dr

Prerna Arya. Best wishes andgreetings were received byShripad Naik, government of-ficial from India by and AjayBhatt, BJP President ofUttrakhand.

Prachi Jaitly, Editor inChief of Adbhut Media USA,took the opportunity toshare the opinion andthoughts of dignitaries andguests present there. Theevent continued with flavor-ful dinner and drinks. Guestsenjoyed socializing and meet-ing each other.

Adbhut Media Lamp Lighting

Adbhut Media Group at the launch of e-paper


Nationwide endorsementsfor Dr Hiral Tipirneni

NEELA PANDYA

WASHINGTON DC: Dr. HiralTipirneni, an emergency roomphysician, cancer research ad-vocate, and candidate forArizona's 8th CongressionalDistrict, has secured endorse-ments of CongresswomenJudy Chu (CA-27) and GraceMeng (NY-06), as well as AspirePAC, AAA Fund, AAPI VictoryFund, and Indian American Im-pact Fund.

Asian American and PacificIslanders (AAPIs) comprisemore than 6 percent of the U.S.population and are the fastestgrowing minority group in thecountry. AAPIs are leaders inbusiness, medicine, technol-

ogy, science, and academia. Yetfrom city halls to state houses,from courthouses to Congress,AAPIs are traditionallyunderrepresented.

"I am honored and humbledto receive such broad support

so that I might add my voice onbehalf of the West Valley to thegrowing AAPI chorus contribut-ing a missing perspective in

Congress," said Dr. Tipirneni. "Intruth, the issues facing AAPIcommunities, such as quality, af-fordable health care, excellentpublic education, and protectedretirement security, are thesame issues that all Americans

care deeply about," Hiral stated."Dr. Tipirneni would be a

wonderful advocate for thecommunities of Arizona's WestValley and I would be proud toserve in Congress with her,"said Congresswoman Meng."Her professional backgroundand personal experiences as afirst-generation immigrant aresorely needed right now in ournation's capital," added Meng.

Aspire Pacis "Asian Ameri-cans and Pacific Islanders Ris-ing & Empowering Political Ac-tion Committee" is a federalPAC supporting candidates ofAAPI descent and those thatsupport and promote the is-sues of the AAPI community

Founded in 1999, the AsianAmerican Action Fund (AAA)brings together progressiveAAPI leaders from each of themajor AAPI ethnic groups inthe United States, includingChinese, Korean, Indian, Paki-

Dr Hiral Tipirneni

stani, Vietnamese, Hmong, Fili-pino, Japanese, and Pacific Is-landers.

The AAPI Victory Fund, still in itsinaugural year, is focused on mo-bilizing AAPI eligible voters andmoving them to the ballot box.

Indian American ImpactFund known as Impact Fund, anew initiative, is part of an ef-fort to recruit, train, and electtalented and patriotic IndianAmerican candidates at all po-litical levels.

A special election is re-quired to fill the vacancy cre-ated when disgraced formerCongressman Trent Franksabruptly resigned in Decem-ber 2017 in the wake of the#MeToo movement. Dr.

Tipirneni won the special pri-mary election, held February27 by 21 points. The specialgeneral election will be held onApril 24. Ballots have alreadybeen mailed and early votinghas officially begun.

After losing her mother andnephew to cancer, Dr. HiralTipirneni left emergency medi-cine to concentrate on cutting-edge cancer research. At theage of three, Hiral came toAmerica from India with herfamily in pursuit of the Ameri-can dream. Hiral and her hus-band met while in medicalschool in Ohio. They live in thePhoenix area. She is on theboard of directors for theMaricopa Health Foundation.

"I am honored and humbled to receivesuch broad support so that I might add my

voice on behalf of the West Valley to thegrowing AAPI chorus contributing a missingperspective in Congress," said Dr. Tipirneni


April 6, 2018

India Post April 6, 2018www.indiapost.com

Real Estate26

Realty Tidbits Realtor told to preventdamage from high-riseMUMBAI: The Bombay High Court has directed a pri-

vate developer to inform it about the preventive stepsit was going to take to ensure its under-constructionhigh-rise in South Mumbai did not damage adjoiningbuildings, including the bungalow of jurist SoliSorabjee. A bench of Justices A S Oka and R I Chaglaalso asked the developer, Rohan Lifespaces, to ensurethere was no danger to the residents and passersby inthe area due to falling debris or repair material beingused for the high-rise. PTI

PE investment in retail real estaterose 15% in 2017

NEW DELHI: Private equity in-vestment in retail real estate roseby 15 per cent in 2017 to USD 0.8billion because of increased de-mand of retail space, accordingto property consultant CBRE In-dia.

In its latest report India RetailMarketView Report - H2 2017,the consultant said that thesteady capital inflow reflects con-tinued growth of the retail sec-tor.

"Retail assets in the countrywitnessed investments of overUSD 0.8 billion from PE firms andwealth funds in 2017; a 15 percent increase over 2016," CBREsaid in a statement.

While close to 3.4 million sq ftof supply entered the market, 15new brands established theirpresence in the country.

"Notable trend witnessed dur-ing the year was the adoption ofomni-channel strategies by es-tablished players. Several e-com-merce retailers such as UrbanLadder, Craftsvilla, Myntra,Jaypore, Pepperyfry and Nykaaopened their brick-and-mortar

stores; whereas established re-tailers such as Zara launched theironline portals," it said.

During July-December 2017,the demand for retail space re-mained strong, as international

brands such as Tom Tailor, Miniso,Simon Carter, and Jo Maloneopened their first outlets in thecountry.

At the same time, other well-known brands includingStarbucks, H&M, Mango,Westside, Pantaloons, and

Hamleys continued to expandoperations across the country.Madame Tussauds also made itsdebut in the country with its firstmuseum opening in Connaughtplace, Delhi in October 2017.

Well-known Swedish homefurnishing brand IKEA opened anexperience centre, Hej Homes, inHyderabad during H2, 2017.

On the supply side, the CBREsaid that nearly 2 million sq. ft. ofnew supply entered the marketin H2, 2017, a majority of which

was concentrated in Kolkata,Delhi National Capital Region(NCR), Chennai, Pune andBengaluru.

"The governments continuedfocus towards making India a pre-ferred investment destination ishaving a positive impact on thecountry's economy as well as theretail landscape," said AnshumanMagazine, Chairman, India andSouth East Asia, CBRE.

The recent announcement al-lowing 100 per cent FDI in singlebrand retail trading under the au-tomatic route is likely to furtherease the entry of global retailers,he added.

"Competitive rentals, availabil-ity of quality space, and withmore brands coming in driven bya growing consumer base, thesector can expect significantgrowth in times to come," Maga-zine said.

CBRE India Head (Retail Ser-vices) Vivek Kaul said the steadysupply of quality retail develop-ments in key cities is indicative ofthe continued demand for retailspace in the country. PTI

Rose valley ponzi: Rs 2,300cr assets attachedKOLKATA: The Enforcement

Directorate (ED) has attachedassets worth Rs 2,300 crore, in-cluding two dozen hotels andresorts, in connection with itsmoney laundering probe in theRose Valley ponzi scam case.

Officials said the agency is-sued a provisional order, underthe Prevention of Money Laun-dering Act (PMLA), attaching11 resorts, nine hotels and fewother such facilities, a plot ofabout 200 acres and 414 landparcels spread across WestBengal.

This is one of the single larg-

est attachment of properties or-der issued by the central probe

agency under the PMLA.With the latest action, the total

value of assetsseized in this casestands at about Rs4,200 crore.

The ED had reg-istered an FIRagainst the firm, itsChairman GautamKundu and othersin 2014 under thePrevention ofMoney LaunderingAct (PMLA) Kunduwas arrested bythe agency in

Kolkata in 2015.Multiple charge sheets have

been filed in the courts inKolkata and Bhubaneswar bythe ED in this case.

The group had allegedlyfloated a total of 27 companiesfor running the alleged chitfund operations out of whichonly half-a-dozen were active.

The agency has alleged thatthe firm had floated thescheme promising inflated re-turns on investments betweeneight and 27 per cent to gull-ible investors in various states.

Gautam Kundu Cont’d on page 27

Experion toinvest Rs 500 cr inLucknow project

NEW DELHI: FDI-funded realtyfirm Experion Developers will in-vest about Rs 500 crore over thenext five years to develop a hous-ing project in Uttar Pradesh capi-tal Lucknow.

Experion Developers, which iscurrently developing two hous-ing projects, a 100-acre townshipand one commercial project inGurgaon, is in talks with otherbuilders for the development ofprojects in joint venture in citieslike Noida and Greater Noida, itsCEO Rakesh Kaul said.

The Gurgaon-based firm isbacked by Singapore-basedExperion Holdings, which is thereal estate investing arm of theUSD 2.5 billion AT Holdings groupof companies.

"We have started a new hous-ing project in Lucknow where wewill be developing about 360units in phases," Kaul told PTI.

When asked about invest-ment, he said the project costwould be around Rs 500 croreover the next five years and thesame would be funded throughinternal accruals. PTI

US pendinghome salesrise 3.1 percent

WASHINGTON: The pace ofAmericans signing contracts tobuy homes picked up last month,rebounding from a drop in Janu-ary. But a shortage of homes onthe market continues to weighon the housing market.

The National Association ofRealtors said that its pendingsales index rose 3.1 percent inFebruary to 107.5 after tumbling5 percent in January. Despite theuptick, the index is still down 4.1percent from a year earlier.

Lawrence Yun, chief at econo-mist at the association, blamedthe uneven performance on ashortage of houses for sale. ̀ `Theminuscule number of listings onthe market and its adverse effecton affordability are squeezingbuyers and suppressing overallactivity,'' he says.

Pending sales surged 10.3 per-cent in the Northeast, rose 3 per-cent in the South but eked outgains of just 0.7 percent in theMidwest and 0.4 percent in theWest. AP

27India PostApril 6, 2018

www.indiapost.comReal Estate Post

Richmond residents support modular housingDEANNA CHENG

RICHMOND, BC, Canada: Two22-year-old university studentsare pushing back against thenegative responses they haveread in the media regarding amodular housing proposal inRichmond.

Joannie Fu and Vinson Shihcreated an online petition to sup-port the modular housing projectat 7300 Elmbridge Way. Theyboth grew up in Richmond andtheir goal is to see city councilpass the proposal.

Shih said, in an email, "Theneeds of people wanting to exithomelessness outweighs the in-terests of property owners whoare already in positions of privi-lege and power."

While both of them have vol-unteer experience serving foodto vulnerable populations in Rich-mond, they were surprised by theextent of the need.

A BC Housing document ad-dressed to the City of Richmondidentified 70 homeless citizensin Richmond and 80 per cent ofthat have lived in the city formore than a year.

The petition responds to thosewho believe the housing shouldbe built elsewhere.

"The modular supportivehousing initiative seeks to help

the 70 people within Richmondthat lack a home," it said. "To sug-gest housing be built elsewhereis irresponsible not only becauseit minimizes the toll of being dis-

located, but diminishes the hu-man worth of those experienc-ing homelessness."

The two Taiwanese-Canadiansalso draw from their own experi-ence as part of the immigrantcommunity.

Shih said, "The immigrant com-munity has experienced its ownfair share of stigmatization, ste-

reotyping and generalizationsthat resulted in exclusionary poli-cies."

He finds it necessary to bevigilant in recognizing human

worth beyond visibledifferences.

In addition to Shih'ssentiments, Fu said it'simportant to her due toher Christian faith andthe values she wasbrought up with.

She said one of themost important com-mandments is forpeople to "love ourneighbors as our-selves."

The university stu-dent said, "There are noconditions in the loveyou are supposed toshow your neighbors."

Fu added that Jesusdidn't say to love your

neighbors only if they are rich orif they live in houses, but as if yourneighbors were yourselves.

Another position Fu takes is asa woman supporting otherwomen, especially one with a sis-ter currently attending middleschool in Richmond.

"For women to escape thecycle of abuse, they need to be

physically separated from theirabuser and one of the basic waysthis can happen is through pro-viding safe shelter and housingfor them," she said.

A report from RichmondRCMP shows an upward trend ofreported domestic violencecases, including intimate partnerviolence, from 2012 to 2016.

It also said the BC CoronersService reported in 2016 that themajority of the victims in domes-tic violence deaths were womenwith a known history of intimatepartner violence (78 per cent).

The city itself would also ben-efit from the housing initiative.

Having majors in both psychol-ogy, and criminology and socio-legal studies, Shih has learnedhomelessness often results inpeople committing "crimes ofsurvival" such as eating a bag ofchips in a convenience storewithout paying.

"When given the chance, no-body would willingly choose toremain in a state of deprivationand stigmatization," he said. "Itis important to realize that weare human beings first and ev-eryone deserves to have achance to get back up."

He believes the housing ini-tiative is a tiny step in the right

direction.Shih said, "Having a home is

the most basic need that willhelp give people the necessaryresources to reintegrate intothe community and become fi-nancially independent."

A report by Mental HealthCommission of Canada said his-tory has shown that many Cana-dians with mental illness ben-efit from being a communitymember and not trapped in in-stitutions but they require addi-tional support to thrive.

Housing is an important fac-tor that stands out from therest, it said.

When asked about publicfeedback, Fu and Shih said theyhave received mixed responsesbut overall, it has been positive.

Both Fu and Shih plan tomove back to Richmond afterthey graduate from the Univer-sity of Toronto and contributepositive change to their city.Shih heard how students in theMarpole community welcomedresidents to the modular hous-ing units there with welcomecards and care packages. Hewould like to do somethingsimilar with other organiza-tions.

Courtesy Asianpost

Joannie Fu and Vinson Shih

The company had allegedlypledged astronomical returns todepositors on land properties andassets and bookings done in thereal estate sector.

The company has also beenaccused of making "cross invest-ments" in its various sister firmsto suppress its liabilities towardsinvestors.

The Securities and ExchangeBoard of India (SEBI) had probed thecompany before the ED and the CBIregistered cases against the group.

The ED has pegged the totalvolume of the alleged irregulari-ties at Rs 15,000 crore, includinginterest and penalties.

In August last year, angry de-positors of Rose Valley's variousschemes had ransacked a hotelowned by the company at aprime location in the city, de-manding their money back. PTI

CAG slams govt on relocating slum-dwellers Rose valleyponzi: Rs 2,300crassets attached

MUMBAI: The Slum Rehabilita-tion Authority (SRA) and theHousing Department ofMaharashtra failed to shift slum-dwellers from the airport landhere even ten years after a pri-vate builder was given the job ofbuilding alternative tenementsfor them, the CAG has said.

Slums still occupy the airportland, "which continue to pose agrave security threat", the Comp-troller and Auditor General saidin its report, tabled before theMaharashtra legislature.

The Mumbai International Air-port Ltd (MIAL) had entrusted thetask of rehabilitation of some80,000 families living on Airportland to Housing Developmentand Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL) in2007.

"Though (some of ) the tene-ments were ready for rehabilita-tion, SRA had not taken the pos-

session of these tenements fromthe builder due to non-finalisation of the list of eligibleslum dwellers," said the report.

"No slum dwellers could beshifted from the airport landeven ten years after the schemewas taken up, defeating the ob-jective of clearance of slumsfrom airport land which continue

to pose a grave security threat tothe safety, security and opera-tions of the Mumbai airport," itsaid.

The Housing Departmentfailed to co-ordinate with the SRAand the Mumbai MetropolitanRegion Development Authorityfor timely shifting of slum-dwell-ers, it said.

In another case, the CAG said,SRA wrongly approved a schemefor rehabilitation of Project-Af-fected People in easternMumbai, ignoring objections ofthe Bhabha Atomic ResearchCentre (BARC) and granting anundue favour to a private devel-oper.

The Bombay High Court, onOctober 14, 2009, had directedthe government to remove theencroachments along the pipe-lines which supply water toMumbai.

The government decided toprovide alternative tenements to7,500 families who lived alongthe pipelines.

"The SRA sanctioned a slumrehabilitation scheme on a pri-vate land owned by a developerin village Mahul for constructionof 8,582 PAP tenements," theCAG noted. PTI


TOP TENHINDI FILM SONGS

1 Dil Diyan Gallan:Tiger Zinda Hai2 Aaj Se Teri : Padman3 Swag Se Swagat:Tiger Zinda Hai4 Ghoomar Song : Padmavati5 Chhote Chhote Peg: Sonu KeTitu Ki Sweety6 Lae Dooba: Aiyaary7 Subah Subah: Sonu Ke Titu KiSweety8 Ek Dil Ek Jaan : Padmavati9 Dil Chori: Sonu Ke Titu KiSweety10 Aashiq Banaya Apne:Hate Story 4

28 April 6, 2018www.indiapost.comIndia Post

Billed as the most unusual

father-son story,102 Not Out is based onplaywright Saumya Joshi'spopular Gujarati play of thesame name. "When we nar-rated the idea to both of them,they said okay to the script within10 minutes. Once they knew the es-sence is so good, beautiful and play-ful, also with lot of depth and emo-tions, they liked it all," Shukla said.

The upcoming comedy-drama re-unites the powerhouse performers onscreen after 27 years. "Their chemistrywas great. They both were very comfort-able with each other," Shukla said.

In the trailer, Bachchan is seen as a 102-year-old fun-loving friendly father whileKapoor as his 75-year-old boring son. "I wantto tell the audience - live life to the fullestand deal with problems as and when they

come. At the age of 80, you can live like a 20-year-old and viceversa. At any age you

can be a happyp e r s o n , "

S h u k l asaid.

Sonam Kapoor has kicked off the trend of a chick flick in the commercial space with Veere Di Wed-

ding which brings together popular leading ladies -Sonam Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor Khan for the firsttime. Now that the trend is already creating buzz, AliaBhatt too expressed her desire to be a part of it. Andshe wants the company of Katrina Kaif and DeepikaPadukone.

Veere Di Wedding, to be directed by Shashanka Ghosh,will also feature Swara Bhaskar and Shikha Talsania. Thisout-and-out women-centric road trip film is set againstthe backdrop of a big fat Indian wedding. It has garneredimmense attention for its experimentation.

Alia Bhatt revealed about a pact she has made withKatrina Kaif and Deepika Padukone. According to her, itwould be a great feeling to have both these powerful

women in a film and hence she has made a pact withthe two about doing a film together.

Priyanka Chopra was inMumbai city for a short

while before flying out to Ire-land to resume work on herAmerican TV show'Quantico'. While she washere, the actress juggled hertime between script read-ings, family time, catching upwith friends and treating her-self to relaxing sessions at thesalon. According to latest re-

ports, the global icon is nowready to end her two-yearBollywood hiatus and willannounce her next film.

While reports of herstarring oppositeSalman Khan in 'Bharat'have been doing therounds, new reportsnow claim thatPeeCee has showninterest in workingon a film by'Margarita with aStraw' filmmakerShonali Bose. Thereport furtherclaims that theactress likedthe concept ofthe film, whichis based on atrue story.

BACHCHANIS SEEN AS A

102-YEAR-OLD FUN-

LOVINGFRIENDLY

FATHER WHILEKAPOOR AS HIS

75-YEAR-OLDBORING SON

India Post 29

www.indiapost.com

BollywoodApril 6, 2018

With the imminent release of Baaghi 2, buzzaround the rumored couple Tiger Shroffand Disha Patani is only growing. Tiger

and Disha share a great friendship in real life, andthis we know seeing their regular dinner outings,red carpet appearances together and the fact thatDisha is also good friends with Tiger's sisterKrishna.

Asked how it was to work together amid the ex-isting speculations, Tiger, in an exclusive chat withindianexpress.com, said they were comfortablewith each other, so work was quite organic too.

"We share a great relationship. It is easier to workwhen you are comfortable with each other. Doingscenes with each other is quite organic. So it is agood feeling. Regarding the speculations aroundus off-screen, Ithink it is justgoing to ben-efit us on-screen," saidTiger.

Sunny Sunny girl EvelynLakshmi Sharma, who is

known for her comic roles infilms like 'Yeh Jawaani HaiDeewani' (2013) and has playedthe lead in 'Ishqedarriyaan'(2015), has been refusing rolesthat require her to look veryglamorous. Sources close to theactress say, "Evelyn wants to domeaningful cinema. She gets of-fers all the time for films in thehorror, sensual thriller or sex-comedy genre, but it's simplynot what she's looking for."

When asked about thekind of films she would liketo do, Evelyn says, "My fa-vorite genre is comedy.I love to make myfans smile and wantthem to leave on ahappy note when-ever they come tosee my films. I amvery proud of thework I have doneso far and amlooking forward

Varun Dhawan is not open to theidea of being typecast. "Whether

it's going to be a Hindi film, a com-mercial film, an art film, or whatever.Whatever role I do should entertainpeople and that's what I set out todo. As a person, I cannot stay on onemovie for very long and if I do a veryserious film, I need to do a comedyfilm," the 30-year old says.

"So I get into another filmwhich is like 'October', offeringa different tone and talkingabout different kind of love.The actor was in the na-tional capital to shoot hisnew film 'Sui Dhaaga'. Hetook time out of his cur-rent shooting scheduleto launch 'Tab bhi tu' for'October', which is di-rected by Shoojit Sircarand also stars newcomerBanita Sandhu.

Co-produced byRonnie Lahiri and SheelKumar, 'October' cel-ebrates love, natureand the autumn sea-son.

to the release of my upcomingrom-com, 'Jack & Dil', with AmitSadh."

Evelyn, known for her cute ex-pressions onscreen, had movedto India to discover her father'sroots, but ended up signing fivefilms in her very first year

"WE SHARE A GREAT RELATIONSHIP.IT IS EASIER TO WORK WHEN YOU ARECOMFORTABLE WITH EACH OTHER”

30 April 6, 2018India Post

www.indiapost.com

SATYAGRAH SOULS is a monthly politicalseries presented by Silicon Valley's com-

munity leader, Saratoga CouncilmemberRishi Kumar, in highlighting the communityinvolvement and success of Indian Americansin the United States. This series seeks to in-spire us in giving back to our local commu-nity. We Indian Americans are going througha transitional evolution, as we get entrenchedin a new world, embracing new culture, ex-erting zealous work ethics, supporting theAmerican economy as entrepreneurs, hightech geeks, doctors, lawyers and more.

We are definitely imposing the positive

intentions and good citizen values upon thisfantastic country and making a huge impact.But can our involvement run a bit deeperwith issues near and dear to our hearts, per-haps within our local city, or with the localpublic school that our children attend? Do wesometimes hear our conscience imploring,"Am I doing enough?"

Yes we can get involved just a bit more,push our comfort zone and enhance thelearning and impact our involvement. Our in-volvement can simply start with developinga healthy curiosity in our local community,instead of being 'busy' bystanders. Once we

A MONTHLY POLITICAL SERIES- BY RISHI KUMAR

SATYAGRAH SOULSIndian Americans Making A Difference

get involved, we will quickly discover, howeasy it is for us to make progressive changehappen and how receptive everyone aroundis, to leverage our skills for it.

There are leaders waiting to be discovered,why not "me", by taking that first step? Thegive-back experience can be freeing, ener-gizing - personally rewarding and transfor-mative at the same time. There are many whohave made their mark in doing just that. Withthis monthly series, we want to highlightthese SatyAgrah souls who are showing us thepath. Here is a SatyaGrah soul, who has foundthe calling…

Special thanks to Shayra Sethi for this profile coverage

Bringing new Democraticvoice to Washington

Beej Das is not your typical politi-cian. The son of South Asian immi-

grants, a businessowner, and consti-tutional lawyer bytraining, he is run-ning for Congressto bring a newDemocratic voiceto Washington torepresent thepeople of the ThirdCongressional Dis-trict. Growing up,Beej worked in hisfather's small busi-ness in Lawrencewhile his mothertaught classes at UMass Lowell.

His ties to Lowell and the sur-rounding communities of the Third

District led him to opening his own busi-ness in Tyngsborough - the StonehedgeHotel, which employs 75 people in thedistrict. As an outsider to the political es-tablishment, Beej understands that realleadership requires a willingness to dis-cuss issues - issues that keep people up

at night - with thoselike-minded or not tofind the best pathforward; issues likejob growth,healthcare, over-taxation of themiddle class, andd i s c r i m i n a t o r ypractices that Beejhas navigated him-self as an entrepre-neur and first gen-eration American.With your support, hewill tackle these is-

sues with you, and for you, as your Con-gressman.

Beej Das

Strive to be anagent of change

Could you tell us about one

turning moment which de-fined the purpose to serve thecommunity and challenging

objectives?I've been watching what's happening

in DC with a level of shock and disgust.Not just with President Trump, but bothparties in Congress who haven't lived upto the expectations of our citizenry.

Visiting the progressives of Lowell

At every point I kept thinking it hasgot to get better; it hasn't gotten betterfor us in the Merrimack Valley, and inWashington all I'm seeing is more andmore dysfunction. I had this feeling be-fore the election - but I realized thistrend was only getting worse, and with-out a Democrat in the White House, weneeded new, strong representation inCongress to protect the interests of the

American people.That moment was when I felt the

strongest calling, personally, to dosomething to protect the community Ihave grown up in and invested in.

From Big Law to Small Businesses, andnow running for the US Representa-tive from the 3rd District of Massachu-setts. How do you bring in the perspec-tive of an entrepreneurship and con-stitutional lawyer to the district?

I believe in a diverse background andbreadth of experience as a key qualifi-cation for a US Congressman. As a Con-gressman, you are expected to fix somany issues in society and in your dis-trict, including economic and societal

woes, but you must do so by applyingthe framework laid out by our nation'sfounders in the Constitution.

My background as a small businessowner gives me insight into the chal-lenges working families face today. Ulti-mately, what I bring to the Massachu-setts 3rd District is a unique profes-sional background and an understand-ing of the challenges facing residents inthe 3rd today. The district has a long,rich history of innovation and entrepre-neurship - because of its people. I willbe a strong advocate for economic revi-talization in our cities and towns.

Cont’d on page 31

31April 6, 2018 India Post

www.indiapost.com

SATYAGRAH SOULSIndian Americans Making A Difference

What are the top 3 priorities/issuesthat you are seeking to take up foryour district?

The issue I hear voters talking aboutthe most is good jobs and a leveling theplaying field for small businesses. Weneed an advocate in Washington whowill work to ensure the success of ourresidents. We're in a region that wasonce an economic powerhouse - I wantto see the 3rd District take the leadagain.

Economic development encom-passes so much - we have to make surecompanies come to the district, and wehave to equip our residents so they cansucceed when those jobs come. Notonly do we need to improve options forsecondary education and trade schools,but we need to support a strong baseof knowledge through improving thequality of K-12 education across thecountry.

We need to create healthcare solu-tions that are affordable for people, vi-able for small businesses to support,and provide high quality care thatpeople deserve.

My third key issue area is immigra-tion reform. My family came to Americalooking for opportunity in America. Allof us trace our family history back tosomeplace else. An America that turnsits back on immigrants and refugees isbetraying its identity and history.

Your final words on political empow-erment and engagement for the In-dian-American readers reading this

Vote; I know it sounds so simple butwe need people of every backgroundusing their political power so that wecan move the needle, together. Look atCongressman-elect Conor Lamb; he wonby a razor thin margin of 600 votes.

Volunteer; whether it's for a candi-date you believe in, a cause you careabout, or an organization that providesservices to those in need, when you areengaged in your community, you com-mit yourself to its future.

A message for the young Indian-Americans and what involvement/contribution would you like to seefrom them in developing the commu-nity

Part of the reason I entered this racewas that I realized from Maine to Florida,there is hardly anybody that looks likeme, or with my cultural background, inCongress. Congress should be a bodythat is representative of the population,which is very diverse in this country.Adding diverse perspectives to the dis-cussion can only improve the state ofaffairs.

I think that concept applies to any-thing, not just politics. I hope that allyoung Indian-Americans would be ableto look at the world around you, takenote of areas you think you aren't repre-sented in the way you should be, andstrive to be an agent of change in thoseareas.

Strive to be an agentof change

Meeting with the Coalition for a Better Acre in Lowell

We need to create healthcare solutions that are affordable for people, viable forsmall businesses to support, and provide high quality care that people deserve

Friends, this was an interview with BeejDas. We wish him the very best with hisCongressional run and beyond

*****Dear Readers, Do you have a story to

share? We invite you to introduce us tofolks in your community who are mak-ing a difference - we would love to pro-file them. Are there similar stories youare familiar with locally. The ones whohelped address a simple issue in thecommunity to make life a bit better. Per-haps someone you know decided tomake a run for school board, was ap-pointed to the planning commission.Provide us your insights on IndianAmericans locally and nationally who aremaking things happen.

These perspectives will help con-struct roadmaps for our community toempower ourselves, to hopefully ignitea desire in all of us to represent our localcommunities as doers, leaders, establishand entrench ourselves in this gloriouscountry of America and help make it abetter place

ABOUT RISHI: Rishi is an elected city

councilmember in Saratoga, CA and politi-

cally active in the state of California, as a

board member on a few state and national

political organizations. He continues to fol-

low his passion for community service,

seeking to provide services to his constitu-

ents cheaper, faster and better, in his passion

to make a difference. Rishi has diligent ser-

vice, responsiveness, community outreach

and engagement a key focus for his politi-

cal leadership, be that strong independent

voice.

As Silicon Valley's community organizer,

Rishi is host of many social, educational, cul-

tural community events, many of which are

free and always inclusive usually address-

ing a need or a cause. Rishi's day job is as a

Silicon Valley hi-tech executive but his zeal

for service effervescent. Rishi is also the

President of the Bay Area Indian American

Democratic Club (www.baiadc.org) whose

charter is to further the interests and values

of Indian Americans, work towards political

empowerment and advance ethical stan-

dards in the political system. You can reach

him via his website www.RishiKumar.com.Canvassing for Democratic Candidate


www.indiapost.com32 India Post April 6, 2018

Health ScienceHealth Line Apppushes

people totake pills

Details on page 35

Govt plans 5-year jail, 5 lakh fine fordigital healthcare data breach

NEW DELHI: To enforce privacyand security measures for digitalhealth data, the Centre hasdrafted a law that makes anybreach punishable by imprison-ment along with a fine.

According to the proposedDigital Information in HealthcareSecurity Act (DISHA), those mak-ing any breach will face punish-ment up to five years imprison-ment and an Rs 5-lakh fine.

According to the draft, digitalhealth data means an electronicrecord of health-related informa-tion including an individual'sphysical or mental health, healthservice provided to the indi-vidual, information derived fromthe testing or examination of abody part or bodily substance ofthe individual.

It also includes informationconcerning the donation by theindividual of any body part or anybodily substance or informationrelating to details of the clinicalestablishment accessed by theindividual.

It states that an owner has theright to privacy, confidentiality,and security of their digital healthdata and has the right to give or

refuse consent for the genera-tion and collection of digitalhealth data by clinical establish-ments and entities.

The owner also has the rightto give, refuse or withdraw con-sent for the storage and trans-mission of digital health, to refuse

consent to the access or disclo-sure of his or her digital healthdata, and if refused it shall not bedisclosed.

The draft has been put on thewebsite of the Health Ministryand it has invited comments byApril 21.

The draft also calls for estab-lishing a National ElectronicHealth Authority and a State Elec-tronic Health Authority and

Health Information Exchanges.The Heath Information Ex-

change will have a Chief HealthInformation Executive who willaccess, and process the digitalhealth care data transmitted byclinical establishments to furthertransmit the digital health caredata and take appropriate mea-sures to maintain, secure and pro-tect the digital health care dataas prescribed by the NationalDigital Health Authority of India.

He will also notify the databreach to the owner and suchother concerned along with stor-ing the digital health care data inprescribed mode in all situations.

As per the draft, any person whobreaches digital health data is li-able to pay compensation to theperson in case of breach of data.

"Any person who commits aserious breach of healthcare datashall be punished with imprison-ment, which shall extend fromthree years and up to five years;or fine, which shall not be lessthan Rs 5 lakh," it states. PTI

Timeline prepared for NHPM roll outNEW DELHI: The health min-

istry has prepared a detailedtimeline to ensure completionof all steps to enable rolling outof the National Health Protec-tion Mission anytime after July,while allocating around Rs10,000 crore for the project.

Claiming that the project isthe world's largest govern-ment-funded healthcare insur-ance programme, Union Healthminister J P Nadda said his min-istry wants to complete sharingof the latest Socio-EconomicCaste Census (SECC) data withstates by April 30, testing of ITsystems and hospitalempanelment by July 31.

The Cabinet gave its nod forthe launch of Ayushman Bharat -National Health Protection Mis-

sion (AB-NHPM), which will pro-vide coverage of Rs 5 lakh per

family annually and benefit morethan 10 crore families belongingto the poor and vulnerable sec-

tions of the society.The centrally-

sponsored schemewill target poor, de-prived rural familiesand identified oc-cupational cat-egory of urbanworkers families,8.03 crore in ruraland 2.33 crore inurban areas, as perthe latest SECCdata, and will cover

around 50 crore people."The states will be allowed to

implement the scheme throughinsurance companies or Trust/Society or a mixed model,"Nadda said, adding it will be anentitlement based scheme withentitlements decided on thebasis of deprivation criteria inthe SECC database.

Deprivation categories inrural areas include, familieshaving only one roof withkutcha walls and roof, familieshaving no adult member be-tween age 16-59, SC/ST house-holds and landless householdsderiving a major part of theirincome from manual casuallabour.

Gene triggerfor recoveryfrom stroke

Scientists have found a genetic trigger that may helpthe brain to heal from a

range of debilitating conditions,such as strokes, concussions andspinal cord injuries.

Researchers from Universityof Texas Southwestern MedicalCentre, U.S. showed that turn-ing on a gene inside cells calledastrocytes results in a smallerscar and potentially more effec-tive recovery from injury.

The research examined spi-nal injuries in mice but likelyhas implications for treating anumber of brain conditionsthrough gene therapy targetingastrocytes, said Mark Goldberg,from University of Texas South-western.

The study was published inthe journal Cell Reports. PTI

Cont’d on page 35

Health minister J P Nadda

Herbalist pleadsinnocent in deathof diabetic boy

LOS ANGELES: A Los Angelesherbalist who touted naturalcures has pleaded not guilty inthe death of a 13-year-old dia-betic boy he allegedly treatedwith herbal oils instead of insu-lin.

City News Service says 83-year-old Timothy Morrow en-tered pleas to misdemeanourcharges of practicing medicine

without a license and childabuse causing a death.

Morrow began treating theboy in 2014 after his mother at-tended Morrow's seminars.

Prosecutors claim Morrowtold the parents to use herbaloils instead of insulin after theboy became semi-comatose. Hedied the next day. AP

India PostHealth Science Post 33

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April 6, 2018

Fortis approves demerger of hospital bizNEW DELHI: Fortis Healthcare

Ltd. (FHL) board has approveddemerger of its hospitals busi-ness, which will be acquired byManipal Hospitals and TPG Capi-tal, along with the sale of 20 percent stake in diagnostics chainSRL Ltd., in an Rs 3,900 crore deal.

The healthcare chain said itsboard has given nod for thedemerger of its hospital businessinto Manipal Hospital EnterprisesPvt. Ltd.

"The Board has also approvedsale of its 20 per cent stake in SRLLtd. to Manipal Hospitals. The re-sultant entity Manipal Hospitalswill be a publicly traded companylisted on NSE and BSE. The re-maining FHL will be an invest-ment holding company with 36.6per cent stake in SRL," the com-pany said in a statement.

The company further said, "Aspart of the proposed transaction,Dr Ranjan Pai and TPG will investRs 3,900 crore into Manipal Hos-pitals. The funds will be utilisedby Manipal Hospitals to financethe acquisition of 50.9 per cent

stake in SRL (20.0 per cent fromFHL and 30.9 per cent from otherinvestors for which discussionsare currently underway)."

Manipal Hospitals, part ofManipal Education and MedicalGroup (MEMG), is owned by DrRanjan Pai and has been backedby TPG, a leading global alterna-

tive asset firm and experiencedhealthcare investor since 2015.

"In addition, the investmentwill support the proposed acqui-sition of hospital assets owned byRHT Health Trust (RHT) and thegrowth of the hospitals and thediagnostics businesses," it added.

As part of the deal, when thedemerger becomes effective, forevery 100 shares of FHL held by ashareholder, the shareholder willreceive 10.83 shares in ManipalHospitals, the resultant com-bined hospitals business.

Commenting on the develop-ment, Fortis promoters Malvinder

Singh and Shivinder SIngh said ina joint statement, the transaction"will unlock significant value forall stakeholders and will furtheraccelerate and expand access tohigh quality healthcare servicesin India".

"Keeping the interest of the

company and stakeholders fore-most, we continue to support theManagement and the Board tosuccessfully transition to the newjoint entity. We want to thank ev-eryone involved in the deal forreposing faith despite challeng-ing circumstances," they said.

FHL CEO Bhavdeep Singh said,"Much has transpired overthe past 12 -18 months atFortis and in the healthcareindustry at large; it's nowtime to get back to workingwith our doctors and nursesto saving and enrichinglives. We believe Manipalhas built a terrific franchiseand team and the comingtogether of our twoorganisations will be trans-formational for the

healthcare industry.MEMG chairman Pai said the

companies make a compellingstrategic fit in terms of comple-mentary geographies, clinicalstrengths as well as a sharedcommitment to providing out-standing patient care.

"As the largest hospital opera-tor in India, this will be a plat-form benefiting all, from thecommunities we serve, to ourcapable employees and our in-vestors," he added.

FHL said the combination ofManipal Hospitals and Fortis Hos-pitals will "result in the creation ofthe largest provider of healthcareservices in India by revenue with41 hospitals in India and 4 hospi-tals overseas and over 11,000 in-stalled bed capacity, includingteaching hospital beds of ManipalHospitals.

It will have over 4,200 doctors,more than 9,300 nurses and11,400-plus other employeesacross India, the statement added.

The proposed transaction issubject to shareholders' ap-proval, creditor's approval, appli-cable regulatory approvals (in-cluding Competition Commis-sion of India, SEBI, stock ex-changes and National CompanyLaw Tribunal (NCLT) and othercustomary conditions precedent,it added. PTI

India Post Health Science Post34

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April 6, 2018

HGS acquires AxisPointHealth for $14 mn

NEW DELHI: Hinduja GlobalSolutions Limited (HGS) said itssubsidiary in the US will acquireAxisPoint Health for USD 14 mil-lion, a move that will strengthenHGS healthcare portfolio withnew capabilities in clinical ser-vices segment.

HGS Population Health LLC,USA, has entered into a definitiveagreement to acquire CMH Ser-vices Subsidiary LLC, USA (thatoperates under the trade name

of AxisPoint Health, HGS said in aBSE filing.

It added that the cash deal isexpected to close in the next 15days.

AxisPoint Health offers caremanagement, nurse advice lineand analytics services, including

CarePoint, GuidePoint andAnalytix. With around 400 em-ployees, the companys revenuesfor the 12 months ended De-cember 2017 was around USD 60

million.HGS gains access to over 20

new clients across leading com-mercial plans, Blues plans andstate Medicaid programmes, thefiling said.

"The acquisition of AxisPointadds a strategic capability to ourhealthcare portfolio by strength-ening our presence in the clinicalservices segment, and specifi-cally in the population healthmanagement space. Combinedwith our existing services, we seea huge opportunity to cross-sellsolutions to the Payer industry,?HGS CEO Partha DeSarkar said.

The newly-added portfolio ofservices opens up an addressablemarket opportunity of USD 3 bil-lion for HGS. PTI

HGS gains access to over 20 newclients across leading commercial plans,

Blues plans and state Medicaid programmes

FDA delay of e-cigarettereview challenged

WASHINGTON: Several anti-smoking groups are suing theFood and Drug Administrationover a decision by Trump admin-istration officials to delay the re-view of e-cigarettes.

The lawsuit filed in federalcourt argues that the FDA didn'tfollow proper require-ments last year whenit decided to pushback the deadline formakers of e-cigarettesto submit their prod-ucts for review. Thegroups say the delayposes a threat tochildren's health.

"The FDA offeredno meaningful justifi-cation for ripping ahole in the statutoryframework,'' accord-ing to the lawsuit filedby the American HeartAssociation, the American Acad-emy of Paediatrics, the Campaignfor Tobacco-Free Kids and others.

An FDA spokesman declinedto comment.

E-cigarettes are vapour-emit-ting devices that have grown intoa $4-billion dollar industry in theU.S. Despite little research on

their long-term effects, includingwhether they are helpful in help-ing smokers quit cigarettes.

Health advocates have wor-ried about the popularity ofvaping products among kids andthe potential impact on adultsmoking rates in the future. A

government-commissioned re-port in January found "substantialevidence'' that young peoplewho use e-cigarettes are morelikely to try cigarettes. About 10percent of high school studentsreport using vaping products, ac-cording to the latest federal fig-ures.

The FDA gained authority toregulate e-cigarettes in 2016 af-ter years of pushback from theindustry. Under regulations devel-oped by the Obama administra-tion, manufacturers were sup-posed to submit their productsfor review by August. But last year

FDA CommissionerScott Gottlieb said hewould delay the dead-line until 2022. He saidboth the agency andindustry needed moretime to prepare.

The decision wascriticized by anti-smoking groups whohave argued thatsome e-cigarettemakers target kidswith candy and fruitflavours.

Gottlieb told theAssociated Press in an

interview earlier this month thatthe FDA would soon take actionagainst "products that are beingmarketed in kid-appealing ways,''including e-cigarettes.

But he also emphasized thathe doesn't want to eliminate e-cigarettes and other alternativeproducts might have a role in

steering adult smokers awayfrom cigarettes.

"What we don't want to do issnuff out the potential for thatinnovation before we really havethe opportunity to properlyevaluate it,'' Gottlieb said.

The FDA is in the process ofrolling out a sweeping anti-smok-ing designed to make it easier forsmokers to quit by cutting the

nicotine levels in cigarettes. Aspart of that plan, Gottlieb has sug-gested some smokers could bedirected toward alternative prod-ucts that deliver nicotine withoutthe carcinogens of burning to-bacco. To date, the FDA has notgranted any company permissionto market its product as "reduced-risk'' compared to traditional to-bacco. AP

E-cigarettes

National campaign launchedagainst 2nd-hand smoking

New Delhi: The health minis-try has come out with a 30-sec-ond Public Service Announce-ment (PSA), as a part of a nationalcampaign to sensitise peopleabout the harms of exposure tosecond-hand tobacco smoke.

"Clinical", the 30-second PSA,reveals how exposure to second-hand smoke causes stroke andheart disease among non-smokersand encourages smokers to pro-tect others by quitting smoking.

It is the first national tobaccocontrol mass media campaign topromote a "quit smoking"helpline, said Vital Strategieswhich provided technical assis-tance for this campaign. The PSAwill be broadcast in 17 languagesover a period of three weeks onthe channels of public service

broadcasters Doordarshan and AllIndia Radio for pan-India reach.

The campaign will also run onmajor digital media platforms in-cluding YouTube, Facebook,Hotstar and Voot, it said.

According to the Global AdultTobacco Survey (GATS), India,2017, there has been a reductionin exposure to SHS in India since2009-2010 (the time of the lastGATS India report), but a large pro-portion of adults and children arestill exposed to this invisible killer.

Exposure to SHS in publicspaces reduced from 29 per centto 23 per cent and exposure athome reduced from 52 per centto 39 per cent, but exposure inthe workplace rose marginallyfrom 29.9 percent to 30.2 per-cent, the survey said. PTI

Policy to cut back onopioid drugs

CHICAGO: The American Den-tal Association wants dentists todrastically cut back on prescrib-ing opioid painkillers.

The association announced anew policy that "essentially sayseliminate opioids from your arse-nal if at all possible,'' said Dr. Jo-seph Crowley, the group's presi-dent. The Chicago based grouprepresents around 161,000 den-tists.

The group is also pushing forlimiting opioid prescriptions to nomore than a week and mandatoryeducation for dentists that en-courages using other painkillers.

Dentists write fewer than 7percent of U.S. opioid prescrip-tions, but new research showsthat practice has increased in re-cent years, despite evidence thatibuprofen and acetaminophenwork just as well for most dentalpain and are less risky opioids,

which can be addictive.In many dental cases involving

opioids, dentists prescribeVicodin or Percocet for short-term pain from procedures in-cluding removing wisdom teethand other tooth extractions, rootcanal work, or dental implants.

But nonsteroidal anti-inflam-mation drugs including ibuprofen(sold as Motrin and Advil) are aseffective for these conditions; andibuprofen plus acetaminophen(Tylenol) can provide better painrelief in some cases, according toan analysis of five studies pub-lished in the Journal of the Ameri-can Dental Association.

Dentists are the leading pre-scribers of opioids for U.S. teensand the largest increase in dentalprescriptions from 2010 to 2015occurred in 11- to 18-year-olds,according to a study published inthe same journal. AP

India PostHealth Science Post 35

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April 6, 2018

App pushes people to take pills

Also, families without shelter,destitute, those living on alms,manual scavenger families,primitive tribal groups, and le-gally released bonded labour inrural areas will be included.

For urban areas, 11 definedoccupational categories, includ-ing rag-pickers, beggars, domes-tic workers, cobblers, hawkers,construction workers, plumbers,painters and security guards areentitled under the scheme.

To control the cost factor, pay-ment for treatment will be doneon package rate basis and it willbe cashless transaction for thebeneficiaries.

In the first phase of the launch,the packages will cover mostly alllife-saving surgeries except fororgan-transplant.

According to an official, theministry wants to be done withthe preparation of the packagesby April 15.

Nadda thanked Prime MinisterNarendra Modi for his "visionary

SEATTLE: Take two tablets anda selfie? Your doctor's orders mayone day include a Smartphonevideo to make sure you took yourmedicine.

Smartphone apps that monitorpill-taking are now available, andresearchers are testing how wellthey work when medication mat-ters. Experts praise the efficiency,but some say the technologyraises privacy and data securityconcerns.

Selfie medicine works like this:Open an app on your phone,show your pills, put them in yourmouth and swallow. Don't forgetto show your empty mouth tothe camera to prove dose is on itsway. Then upload the video proofto the clinic.

Fans say the technology ad-dresses a big problem: about halfof drugs for chronic conditionsaren't taken as prescribed be-cause of cost, side effects or pa-tient forgetfulness.

With treatment for opioid ad-diction, a skipped dose can meana dangerous relapse. The Na-tional Institute on Drug Abuse isfunding research to tailor aSmartphone app for those pa-tients and see if they'll use it.

"If we can keep patients en-gaged, we can keep them in

treatment longer,'' said lead re-searcher Dr. Judith Tsui of theUniversity of Washington Schoolof Medicine in Seattle.

The next phase of her re-search will compare a group ofpatients who use the monitoringapp called emocha (ee-MOH-kuh) with those who don't to seeif there's a difference.

At one Tennessee treatmentcentre, some patients with up-load addiction are already usingthe app to upload selfies of theirdaily dose and answer questionsabout how they're doing.

"Every time they sign on, it al-lows us to capture data. Are theyhaving cravings? Suicidal tenden-cies?'' said Scott Olson, CEO ofDallas-based PathwayHealthcare, which is trying theapp at its Jackson, Tennessee, site."Maybe a phone call from a coun-sellor might make the differencebetween staying clean and a re-lapse.''

Olson thinks insurers will payfor the service with more evi-dence. For monitoring tuberculo-sis patients, health departmentspay roughly $35 to $50 per pa-tient each month for systems thatinclude encrypted data storage.A small health department mightpay as little as $500 a month.

The idea of watching some-one take their medicine _ calleddirectly observed therapy or DOThas roots in tuberculosis whereone person's forgetfulness canbe serious for everyone. If pa-tients don't take all their antibiot-

ics, their infectious TB germs canget stronger, developing drug re-sistance and endangering thebroader community.

But taking a handful of pillsdaily for up to a year is difficult, sopublic health departments tradi-tionally sent workers to people'shomes and workplaces to watchthem take their doses. Too ManyTB patients prefer remote moni-

toring. Nurses like it too.Nurse Peggy Cooley has used

Skype for years to chat live withpatients taking TB medicine.

"We can accomplish in a two-minute phone call somethingthat might have taken an hour to

do and most of that hour was inthe car,'' said Cooley, who worksfor the Tacoma-Pierce CountyHealth Department in Washing-ton state.

The new uploaded selfiesdon't need an appointment.They are a daily routine formany tuberculosis patients inSeattle, San Francisco, Los An-geles and Houston, where sav-

ings on mileage and workertime amounted to $100,000 ina recent year.

In Boston, Albuquerque andfive other cities, researchers arestudying whether the technol-ogy works for hepatitis C, ablood-borne virus that's surgingamong a new generation of in-jection drug users. New drugsfor hepatitis C can cure, butthey're expensive $75,000 for a

12-week course oftreatment so insurerswant to make surepatients take them.

"I think it holds alot of promise,'' saidresearcher Dr. AlainLitwin of University ofSouth Carolina Schoolof Medicine, who'stesting whether pa-tients do better whensomeone watchesthem take their pills.

What's next? An in-surer in Marylandplans to use the tech-

nology in diabetes and highblood pressure to make sureMedicare and Medicaid pa-tients take their medicine. Start-ups selling the apps say theycould be used by faraway adultchildren monitoring an elderlyparent's daily pill-taking.

Experts worry about privacy,data security and penalties forpoor pill-taking. AP

Public health nurse Peggy Cooley of the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department,seen on the phone screen, uses Skype video to remotely monitor a patient taking

antibiotics for tuberculosis at home in Lakewood, Wash.

Timeline prepared forNHPM roll out

leadership" and constant guid-ance in the scheme, and saidNHPM is a major step towardsuniversal health coverage.

"It will protect around 50 crorepeople from catastrophichealthcare spending. The cover-age of Rs 5 lakh for each familyhas no restriction of family sizeand age. This will give underprivi-leged families the financial sup-port required when faced withillnesses that requirehospitalisation," he said.

The beneficiaries can avail

the benefits of the scheme inboth public and empanelledprivate facilities.

Nadda said AB-NHPM will le-

verage on Comprehensive Pri-mary Healthcare through healthand wellness centres for pre-ventive, promotive and curativecare, and will ensure seamlesscontinuum of care.

He said this will avoid over-crowding and improve qualityof care at secondary and tertiaryfacilities, provide universalhealth coverage and make the

services equitable, affordableand accessible.

Health Ministry officials saidthe government has allocatedRs 10,000 crore for the schemeon initial estimation for the fi-nancial years 2018-19 and2019-20.

According to an official state-ment, AB-NHPM will subsumethe ongoing centrally spon-sored schemes, the RashtriyaSwasthya Bima Yojana and theSenior Citizen Health InsuranceScheme and will take care of al-most all secondary and most oftertiary care procedures.

For giving policy directionsand fostering coordination be-tween the Centre and sates, it isproposed that AyushmanBharat National Health Protec-

tion Mission Council be set upat the top level.

Further, an Ayushman BharatNational Health Protection Mis-sion Governing Board will be setup. Ayushman Bharat - NationalHealth Protection MissionAgency would also be set up,which will be headed by an in-dependent CEO, for the imple-mentation of the scheme.

Nadda said approval has beengiven to the comprehensivehealthcare as part of this, theministry is converting 1.5 lakhhealth sub-centres into wellnesscentres, which will have univer-sal screening for breast, cervixand oral cancers along with carefor diabetes, hypertension andother ailments.

"This will lead to timely treat-ment, improvement in healthoutcome, patient satisfaction,improvement in productivityand efficiency and job creation,and thus leading to an improve-ment in the quality of life," thegovernment had said in a state-ment. PTI

Health Ministry officials said thegovernment has allocated Rs 10,000

crore for the scheme on initial estimation


Indian Bollywood actress-producerAnushka Sharma is featured in theForbes 30 under 30 Asia 2018 list,which includes innovators anddisruptors who are reshaping their

industries and changing Asia for the better.Anushka, one of Indian film industry's high-est paid actresses, is all of 29.

Anushka started out her career as amodel in 2007, making her acting debut in2008 in the hugely successful 'Rab Ne BanaDi Jodi', which won her a Filmfare awardfor Best Actress. She has since acted inmovies like 'Band Baaja Baaraat', 'Jab Tak

singles. That achievement not onlyearned her millions in prize money andendorsements back home (second onlyto famed cricketer Virat Kohli), but alsofueled interest in her as a badmintonicon. Sindhu has since won titles at theKorea Open and India Open, defeatingher Rio gold medal victor, Spain's Caro-lina Marin, at the latter.

According to the Forbes announce-ment, India has the highest number ofhonorees in the list with 65 youngdisruptors, innovators and entrepreneursamong the final 300, Forbes announcedits third annual list of achievers all underthe age of 30, who are challenging con-ventional wisdom and rewriting the rulesfor the next generation.

The Forbes 30 under 30 Asia Class of2018 includes 30 honorees each in 10categories: The Arts (Art & Style, Food &Drink); Entertainment & Sports; Finance &Venture Capital; Media, Marketing & Ad-vertising; Retail & Ecommerce; EnterpriseTechnology; Industry, Manufacturing &Energy; Healthcare & Science; Social En-trepreneurs and Consumer Technology.

The Forbes list highlights 300 youngindividuals driving change in Asia.

Hai Jaan', 'PK', 'Bombay Velvet', 'DilDhadakne Do', 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil' and 'JabHarry Met Sejal'. As a producer, Anushka,who is married to ace cricketer ViratKohli, has made films like 'NH10','Phillauri' and 'Pari' under her bannerClean Slate Films. She starred in allthree films herself.

India's badminton ace P.V.Sindhu also features in the list.No one has made India quiteso proud in the last twoyears as this badmintonstar. The 22-year-oldfrom Hyderabad be-came a national herowhen she wonIndia's firstmedal of theRio Olympics,silver inwomen's

Forbes 30 under 30 Asia2018 list, which includesinnovators anddisruptors who arereshaping theirindustries and changingAsia for the better.Anushka is one of Indianfilm industry's highestpaid actresses

Cont'd on Page 39

April 6, 201836 India Post www.indiapost.com

Anushka Sharma

P.V. Sindhu

April 6, 2018 India Post

www.indiapost.com

37

Actor Neetu Chandrabelieves in lovingeverything abouther culture, so it isno surprise that she

immediately took a liking to 84-year-old Rita Harris, when she dis-covered the latter's strong desireto visit India. The actor cameacross Harris when she was visit-ing some friends in the US, anddecided that she would make it

possible for the elderly lady totravel to and explore the country.

Rita is fascinated with Indianculture, and has read severalbooks and gone through maps toacquaint herself with India's his-tory and geography. And whenNeetu, who starred in the Na-tional Award-winning film Deswa(2011), came to know about this,she decided to sponsor Rita's tripto India. The octogenarian has no

friends or family in the country,and cannot travel alone.

"What could be more gratify-ing than making someone'sdreams come true? I feel glad tohave touched someone's life. Ifeel that it is my success that Icould welcome Rita here. It'soverwhelming to receive herlove and blessings. Her love em-powers me to keep spreadingcheer and happiness in moreways than one. I can't thank all thepositive vibes and this universeenough and I'm very excited andemotional to make this happen,"says Neetu.

"The fact that others value ourculture, history and people issuch an inspiration for all of us torespect and value our countrywhich is loved by people all overthe world," says Neetu, who wel-comed Rita in Mumbai.

Don't 'Shoebite' creativity,says Bachchan

Mumbai: Megastar AmitabhBachchan once again requestedthe makers of "Shoebite" (Disney

and UTV) to not "kill creativity" byshelving a "good film".

The Shoojit Sircar directed

project features Bachchan, DiaMirza, Jimmy Shergill, SanjeedaSheikh among others.

"Please... Please... Please... UTVand Disney, or whoever else has

it Warners, whoever just releasesthis film. Lot of hard labour hasbeen put in. Don't kill creativity,"Bachchan posted on Twitteralongside two posters of the film.

The project was caught in alegal battle between Percept Pic-ture Company and UTV MotionPictures and was put on the backburner.

The post came a fan appealedto Bachchan about his desire towatch the movie and tweeted,"Amitabh Bachchan in 'Shoebite'.We want this movie to be re-

leased. Please do something UTVfilms. I'm sure that with a little ef-fort it can happen."

To this, Bachchan had made animpassioned plea to UTV Filmsand Disney to sort their differ-ences out in order to bring thefilm out of the cold storage.

"Yes, UTV & Disney put asidethe internal debate, issues, or per-sonal view points and give thislabour of love from Shoojit Sircara chance for others to appreciatethis novel story and film. Please,"he had tweeted. PTI

Indian film festival in LA announces juryIndia Post News Service

LOS ANGELES: The Indian FilmFestival of Los Angeles (IFFLA)has announced two exciting ad-ditional programs and has re-vealed the distinguished mem-bers of its features and shorts ju-ries for the 16th annual festival,which will take place on April 11to15 at the Regal L.A. live whichis a Barco Innovation Center cin-emas in downtown Los Angeles.

The Big Bang Theory star KunalNayyar will sit down for a moder-ated discussion about his careerbeginnings, his path to stardomin America's highest rated com-

edy, and to advise the next genera-tion of artists on how to gain a foot-hold in a competitive industry. Bestknown for his role as RajeshKoothrappali on The Big BangTheory, Nayyar's career hasspanned television, features andthe stage.

IFFLA has also added to its2018 lineup the world premiereof rising star director KarthikSubbaraj's new feature Mercury.Karthik Subbaraj in attendance.

An impressive panel of jurors willpreside over IFFLA's features andshorts competitions.The featuresjury includes Director and Film CriticCarlos Aguilar, Movie Maker Maga-

zine Variety Latino and Remezclaand actress Sujata Day.

The shorts jury will include in-ternationally renowned religiousscholar Reza Aslan, directorAneesh Chaganty andGuinevere Turner.

IFFLA previously announced itsfull lineup with Bollywood starManoj Bajpayee in attendance,closing night gala and Interna-tional Festival favorite VillageRockstars, directed by Rima Das,Hansal Mehta's omerta with Mehtain person, Naseeruddin Shah-starrer The Hungry, and a memo-rial tribute screening of the lateicon Sridevi's 1989 hit Chandni.

NeetuChandra

Neetu sponsors AmericanIndophile's trip

April 6, 2018India Post38

www.indiapost.com

I had no friends tillclass nine: Disha

After almost three-and-a-half years, Disha Patanireturned to Greater

Noida recently. The actress waspursuing BTech from one of thecolleges in Greater Noida, but af-ter studying for a few months,she decided to move to Mumbaito try her luck in act-ing. And she wasback in NCR as an ac-tress to promote herupcoming filmBaaghi 2. "It was afteryears that I drove pastmy college.

All I remember about my briefstay in Noida is my outings toConnaught Place with my bestfriend. I loved going to that placeand the Metro was the easiestway to commute. Now, I can see

that there are so many collegesthat have come up in the area,"says Disha, adding that acting wasnever on her agenda while grow-ing up. "Acting just happened bychance to me, an opportunitycame my way and I grabbed it. Iwanted to be an Air Force pilot

because my family backgroundhas been such. My father was anACP and my sister is a captain inthe Army. My family alwaysstressed on education, but sur-prisingly, they were very support-ive when I told them that I

wanted to move to Mumbai, maybe because they knew that I wasmature enough to be on my ownin Mumbai," adds Disha.

The actress, who made herfilm debut with MS Dhoni: TheUntold Story and has worked withJackie Chan in Kung Fu Yoga, says

that people still don'tknow much abouther. "I don't havemany friends inMumbai. I go fordance classes, I do mytraining, I come

home, I go to the gym, I sleepearly and I don't go out to party. Ithink people don't know enoughabout me, but that's how I've al-ways been," says Disha, whogrew up in Bareilly and says thatshe was a shy kid. "I had nofriends till I was in class nine,then I got one friend. I could notspeak to anyone; my sisterwould come and have lunchwith me as I would sit alone dur-ing lunch break. My sister was mybest friend," she recalls, addingthat she loved playing basket-ball. "I was a state-level basket-ball player. Apart from basket-ball, if there was anything elsethat interested me, it was danc-

ing. I didn't learn dance in mychildhood, but since last twoyears I have been learning hip-hop," says Disha.

It was apparently her love fordancing and martial arts thathelped her make at least one'friend' in the industry - TigerShroff. "Since my childhood, Ihave been interested in martial

All I remember about my brief stayin Noida is my outings to

Connaught Place with my best friend

arts and gymnastics, but I nevergot to learn it. When I came toMumbai, I met Tiger and I sawhim and his team doing martialarts and kicking and punchingand I thought I should learn it. It'sbeen two years now that I havebeen learning the basics of gym-nastics and martial arts," saysDisha.

New generation can handlespotlight: Twinkle

A ctress-turned-authorTwinkle Khanna, who ismarried to actor Akshay

Kumar and is a mother of twochildren, says that the currentgeneration of Bollywood is moreequipped to handle the glare ofthe spotlight thanks to social me-dia.

"It has become increasinglymore difficult to keep our chil-dren shielded within our fish-bowl existence but I also consolemyself with the fact that this gen-eration growing up with social

media at the forefront is probablymore equipped to handle theglare of the spotlight than wewere," Twinkle said when askedhow she maintains her kids pri-vacy keeping in mind that somuch of scrutiny nowadays is re-lated to star kids.

Akshay and Twinkle tied theknot in 2001 and together theyhave son Aarav and daughterNitara. She is also a producer andher last venture was 'Padman'that starred Akshay along withSonam Kapoor and Radhika Apte.

The film was based on ashort story from Twinkle'sbook The Legend ofLakshmi Prasad. The bookhas already sold 100,000copies.

Is Twinkle open to writ-ing an autobiography inthe near future?

"I think when you writea book about your ownlife it's very difficult to becompletely honest evenwith yourself. Fiction willparadoxically always havemore honesty than amemoir," she said.

Indian theme painting exhibition in ShanghaiBEIJING: A special exhibition

of 100 paintings on Indianthemes like images of the banksof the river Ganges, Taj Mahal andRed Fort drawn by leading Chi-nese artists after their tour of In-dia has been opened for public inShanghai.

The paintings on Indianthemes drawn by leading Chi-nese artists from Shanghai ArtistsUnion were put ondisplay at the XuhuiArt Gallery.

The exhibit fea-tures nearly 100paintings drawn by agroup of leading art-ists who visited Indiaearlier.

The painters in-cluded ZhangWeiren from Chi-

nese Artists Association, M LuoWeimin, and famous painter, WuGang, Associate Professor and HeWei, Associate Professor at TongjiUniversity from the Eastern ChinaRegion.

They visited India in March2017 at the invitation of IndianCouncil for Cultural Relations(ICCR) and interacted with lead-ing Indian artists at workshops

held in New Delhi, Varanasi,Jaipur and Agra.

Most of the paintings on dis-play featured composite cultureof India, Indian iconic sites, includ-ing images of the banks of theriver Ganges, Taj Mahal and RedFort, the Indian Consulate inShanghai said in a statement.

The exhibition was inaugu-rated by Consul General Anil K

Rai and was attendedby several prominentartists and officials fromcultural department.

Inaugurating the ex-hibition, Rai said it waspart of a joint effort bythe two greatcivilisations to under-stand and appreciateeach other at people topeople level. PTI


www.indiapost.com

39

Kapil Sharma 'haslost interest'

What prompted Kapil toencore his earlier no-show mistake that cost

him his highly successful comedyshow?

According to a very closefriend, Kapil Sharma has no an-swer. "When he didn't turn up forthe shoot we tried calling himfrantically. His phones were off.Finally we got through on his girl-friend Ginny's number to ask kyahua? His reply, "kuch bhi nahin.Jee nahin karta hai." and that's it.

While the channel Sony Enter-tainment is understandably up-set over the losses, the star guestRani Mukerji is more concernedabout Kapil's mental health thananything else.

So the bigger question nowbeing asked by those who are

close to Kapil is, Tera Problem KyaHai, Kapil?

Says a close friend, "The an-swer is only this. 'Jee nahin karta.I don't feel like it. How does onetackle this? We don't know. We'vetried everything."

Kapil Sharma has consulted hisspiritual Guru as well as a re-nowned psychotherapist for an-swers to his depression. But no-body seems to have a solution tohis acute problem.

When I spoke to him recently,Kapil spoke his heart out. Fromwhat I could make out, the prob-lem is that he is unable to handlehis success and he is not emo-tionally equipped to cope withthe pitfalls of stardom. There'salso the very serious problem ofhis relationship with a co-worker

and a colleague who, friends say,has Kapil completely in her thrall.

"He can't get her out of hismind, although she's very harm-ful to his life and career. We'veeven told him to get her back inhis life if that pulls him out of hisdepression. We just want him toget well again at any cost," says avery close friend.

Kapil's words still ring in my ears."Ab bahot gaya. Ab mujhse nahinhota. Jee karta hai sabb chhod doon.(I've had enough. I can't bear it anylonger. I feel like leaving it all)."

While close friends try to solveKapil's acute existential crisis, Ican only pray for him to find theinner strength to get over hiscondition. Because finally theonly person who can help KapilSharma is Kapil Sharma!

Pakistani singer MominaMustehsan, who shot to famewith her version of 'Afreenafreen' through an Indian Televi-sion series, which she sang withRahat Fateh Ali Khan, too finds amention in the list.

Other notable personalities ofIndia in different categories in-clude Bobble Keyboard's 26 yearold co-founder Ankit Prasad whocreated the Bobble Keyboardalong with cofounder MohdWassem. 28 year old RahulGayam, CTO of Gayam MotorWorks, joined brother Raja in cre-ating electric auto-rickshaws andbikes for the Indian market.They've partnered with domestictaxi company Ola and with thegovernment of Andhra Pradeshstate on a fleet of electric ve-hicles.

There's also Bala Sarda, the 26-year-old founder and CEO ofVahdam Teas. While there's noshortage of homegrown teabrands in India, Sarda has raised$2 million in funding to operate adirect-to-consumer business. Hismodel, designed to support do-mestic farmers, emphasizesfreshness as they process, pack,and ship teas directly to the con-sumer within 24-72 hours of pro-

Anushka, Sindhu in Forbes list63 more Indians in 30 under 30 achieversduction.

King of Jaipur and captain ofthe Indian National Polo Team,Padmanabh Singh made thisyear's Forbes 30 under 30 Asia list.He is an avid sportsman, took upits cause. Not only captaining thefirst Indian polo team to head toEngland in 20 years.

Shriyans Bhandari and RameshDhami (23 and 22 respectively),

are also included in the list asthey are championing thecountry's massive footwear short-age by recycling discarded shoesinto wearable footwear for chil-dren in need. Through 50 shoecollection centers in India, theduo's Greensole has refurbishedand given away more than100,000 shoes, sold an estimated4,000 pairs of sandals, and has

partnered with enter-prises including theTata Group and IndiaBulls.

Twenty-five-year-old Ria Sharma ofMake Love Not Scarswas inspired aftermaking a documen-tary about acid attacksurvivors while a stu-dent at the Leeds Col-lege of Art in the UK.Setting up a rehabili-tation center provid-ing medical, legal,education, vocationaland psychological re-habilitation servicesfor Indian acid attack

survivors, the UN GoalkeepersGlobal Goals Award winner for2017 has helped more than 75acid attack survivors throughher center.

With women's issues in-creasingly in the spotlight inIndia, 23-year-old SuhaniJalota founded the MynaManila Foundation alongwith three women fromslum communities inMumbai. Helping provideimpoverished women withmenstrual hygiene productsand employment opportu-nities for young female en-trepreneurs, the Duke-edu-cated social entrepreneurwon the 2017 Queen'sYoung Leader Award for herwork.

Providing schools with healthprograms and education, medi-cal assessments and insuranceservices, 26-year-old PriyaPrakash's Health Set Go is busytraining health professionals andteachers to help students acrossthe country. Operating in 70 cit-ies, they've come to the aid of

more than 85,000 students todate with the CARE flagship pro-gram.

While Health Set Go looks athuman sustainability, the 28-year-old founder of Differniture,Aakriti Kumar, has been workingon design sustainability usingnatural resources to create re-

sponsible, zero-waste, chemical-free home furniture. The Parsonsgraduate and winner of India's In-terior Lifestyle Awards 2016,manufactures her atelier-styledpieces in India. She's expandingher remit to include designingeco-friendly cabins in the Indianhills.-Agencies

King of Jaipur and captain of the Indian NationalPolo Team, Padmanabh Singh

Ria Sharma

Kapil Sharma

Cont'd from Page 36

India Post www.indiapost.com April 6, 201840

The town of Dras is located in arelatively flat and open space,60 km west of Kargil on the roadto Srinagar. It is a small townshiplying in the centre of the valley

of the same name.Dras is an enchanting valley formed by

the Dras River which rises in the Machoiglacier near the famous Zozila Pass. Theriver is joined in its course by many other

rivers and streams flowing in fromsnowfields in the

nearby mountains.It has extensive willow groves along the

river. In summer this town presents a pleas-ant look while in winter it is covered undera thick blanket of snow. Dras experiences

the lowest temperatures in the valleyand with its altitude of 3,300

m, this town is

said to be the second coldest inhabitedplace in Asia. The mercury may drop to aslow as 40 degrees Celcius below freezingpoint. Often the small huts are covered bysnow and communication with the outsideworld is cut off.

The river Shigar flowing in from thenorth drains an adjoining part of the DrasValley. In summer, as the snow in the up-

lands melts, the volume of this

river rises considerably. It meets the SuruRiver near Kharul a short distance awayfrom Kargil. The terrain is characterized byrock and stone with the occasional green-ish patch formed by willow and groves.

There is a short summer season in theDras Valley. It begins in May, when thesnows begin to melt. Crop sowing activi-ties start late, while harvesting is doneearly so that the crops are broughtin before the beginning ofsnowfall.

Dras is an enchanting valley formed by theDras is an enchanting valley formed by theDras is an enchanting valley formed by theDras is an enchanting valley formed by theDras is an enchanting valley formed by the

Dras River which rises in the Machoi glacierDras River which rises in the Machoi glacierDras River which rises in the Machoi glacierDras River which rises in the Machoi glacierDras River which rises in the Machoi glacier

near the famous Zozila Pnear the famous Zozila Pnear the famous Zozila Pnear the famous Zozila Pnear the famous Zozila Pass.ass.ass.ass.ass.

Cont’d on page 41

India PostApril 6, 2018 41Travel & Hospitality Postwww.indiapost.com

Barley and other coarse cereals are themain crops grown in this valley. Agriculturalproduction is hampered due to the poorand unproductive soil and the short grow-ing season. Moreover, there is a lack of irri-gation facilities in many parts of the DrasValley.

As a result, agricultural yields are notenough to meet the needs of the people.Food grains have to be imported from theKashmir Valley. Fuel too is a scarce com-

modity and has to be brought in fromacross the Zozila Pass. Brokpas are thepeople living in the Dras Valley. They prob-ably migrated to this tract from Gilgit sev-eral centuries ago.

Prime AttractionsZoji La: The Dras valley starts from the

base of the Zoji La pass, the Himalayan gate-way to Ladakh. For centuries its inhabitantsare known to have negotiated this formi-dable pass even during the most risky pe-riod in the late autumn or early spring,when the whole sector remains snow-bound and is subject to frequent snow

storms. They still transport traders' mer-chandise across and help stranded travel-ers to traverse it.

By virtue of their mastery over the passthey had established a monopoly over thecarrying trade during the heydays of the

pan-Asian trade. A hardly people enduringwith fortitude and harshness of the valley'swinter, the inhabitants of Dras can be de-scribed as the "Guardian's of Ladakh's Gate-way".

Puga Valley: The Puga Valley is famousfor its hot water springs. Every year hun-dreds of visitors come to this valley for abath in these springs as it is known to helppeople suffering from rheumatism and skindiseases.

TrekkingDras is a convenient base for a 3-day long

trek to Suru valley across the sub-rangeseparating the two valleys. This trek passesthrough some of the most beautiful uplandvillages and flower sprinkled meadows onboth sides of the 4,500m high Umbala pass,which falls en route.

The trekto the holycave ofAmarnath inneighboringK a s h m i r ,which starsf r o mM i n a m a r gbelow Zoji La,

takes 3 days and involves crossing of5,200m high pass. Dras also offers numer-ous shorter treks and hikes to the uplandvillages

How to reachBy Flight: The nearest airport to Dras is

Srinagar airport, which lies 103 km awayfrom Dras. It is well-connected with all themajor airports of the country. From the air-port, you are required to hire a cab to Dras.

Nearest Airport: Srinagar InternationalAirport (SXR) - 103 kms from Dras

By Train: The nearest railway station toDras is Jammu railway station, which is situ-ated 442 km away from Dras. You can catch

a bus from Jammu toSrinagar or else youcan hire a cab di-rectly to Dras.

By Road: Dras iswell-connected withthe major cities ofJammu and Kashmir,from few cities ofHimachal Pradesh.Direct buses are

available from Delhi to Srinagar, fromwhere you can hire a cab or self-drive toDras.

Where to stayThe Tourist Complex here provides fur-

nished rooms and suites. Advance reserva-tion can be done through the tourist officeat Kargil or its branch at Dras. Some privatehotels also provide rooms equipped withbasic necessities.


India Post April 6, 201841 Travel & Hospitality Postwww.indiapost.com

NEW DELHI: A proposal to rollout Google Street View, an appli-cation through which one can ex-plore cities, tourist spots, hills andrivers using 360-degree pan-oramic and street-level imagery,has been rejected by the govern-ment, the Lok Sabha was in-formed here.

Union minister of state forhome Hansraj Gangaram Ahirsaid Google had submitted aproposal on the Google StreetView for the government's per-mission in July 2015 which al-lows users to explore placesaround the world through 360-degree panoramic street levelimagery and view public area.

Govt rejects Google StreetView proposal

'Indian aviation has vastgrowth potential'

SRINAGAR: Indian aviation mar-ket has vast growth potential andcan achieve the target of flying500 million passengers annuallywithin the next decade, Indigo air-lines President Aditya Ghosh saidhere.

Ghosh was speaking at the 64thconvention and exhibition oftravel agents association of India(TAAI) here.

"The goal of national civil avia-tion policy of the Government ofIndia has set a target of ensuringthat there are a half a billion do-mestic air travellers in India innext nine years.

"It would seem like an impos-sible task but if we grow at 25 to30 per cent every year, we may

well get to that half a billion markbefore the next decade is out,"Ghosh said.

He said tourism and travel hasa very symbiotic relation with theGDP of the country.

"9.4 per cent of the country'sGDP is contributed by travel andtourism alone. What that means isthat travel and tourism businessin India supports 41 million jobs in

this country. That isthe third highest inthe world in termsof absolute num-bers," he said.

Ghosh said inthe next 10 years,the travel and tour-ism industry in In-dia is expected tocontribute aboutUS 500 billion dol-lars in revenue ev-ery year.

Citing the ex-ample of AndhraPradesh, Ghosh

said one of the measures theJammu and Kashmir governmentshould take for increasing thefootfall of tourists in the state is toreduce the sales tax on aviationfuel.

"Andhra Pradesh reduced thesales tax on aviation fuel from 26per cent to 1 per cent. In two

'Bumped' passenger gets $10ktravel voucher

A passenger who wasbumped off a full flighthas scored the maximum

prize - a $10,000 travel voucher.A spokesman for United Air-

lines confirmed that the passen-ger got "the big voucher per ourcompany policy.'' He declined toname the person.

In a series of tweets, AllisonPreiss of Washington, D.C., de-scribed how she was rewardedafter being asked to give up herseat on a flight.

Preiss told The AssociatedPress she was waiting to board aflight from Dulles Airport outsideWashington to Austin, Texas, for abachelorette party. A broken seatmeant the airline had one toomany passengers.

Agents announced in the gatearea that the flight was oversold,

and they offered $800 vouchers,and then raised it to $1,000 intravel credit, Preiss said.

"Since nobody volunteered,they then announced that thelowest-fare passenger would bepulled out of the boarding line,''Preiss said.

The agents raised the offer forvolunteers one more time, to a

$2,000 voucher, butwhen no

one re-sponded, Preisswas stopped from boarding theplane.

In her tweets, Preiss said that aUnited employee offered her$2,000 in travel credit but shewanted cash. Then an agent of-fered a $10,000 voucher.

"They really do not want togive me cash. They just offeredme $10,000 in travel credit. TENTHOUSAND,'' she tweeted.

She took it. Along with two$10 meal vouchers. United drewthe line, however, at letting Preissinto one of its airport lounges,she said.

Preiss said she paid $163 forh e r one-way ticket, not

c o u n t i n gt a x e s

and fees.Asked what she will do with

the voucher, Preiss, who managescommunications for a liberal ad-vocacy group, told the AP, "haven'tdecided yet but I'm thinking Ha-waii.'' AP

"The government has notagreed to the proposal," Ahirsaid in a written reply to a ques-tion.

As per Google's plans, usingthe App one could explore In-

dian cities, tourist spots, hills andrivers through 360-degree pan-oramic and street-level imagery.

The internet services giantwanted to cover most parts ofIndia through the Google StreetView. The App explores placesworldwide through 360-degreepanoramic and street-level 3Dimagery. Everything that is cap-

tured is posted online.While it has been extensively

used in the US, Canada andmany European countries, its ap-plication in India was initiallypermitted for a few locations.

Google had on an experimen-tal basis launched street view forsome tourist sites such as the TajMahal, Red Fort, Qutub Minar,Varanasi river bank, Nalanda Uni-versity, Mysore Palace, Thanjavurtemple and Chinnaswamy sta-dium, in partnership with the Ar-chaeological Society of India.

Google Street View is a tech-nology featured in Google Mapsand Google Earth, which pro-vides panoramic views from po-sitions along many streets in theworld.

It was launched in 2007 inseveral cities in the US and hassince expanded to include citiesand rural areas worldwide. PTI

years, thestate saw an

increase of 250per cent in air travellers. I suggestthe state government should re-

duce the sales tax from 26.25 percent to one per cent. If it does notwork as it is expected to, you canalways go back to previous ratesbut give it a try," he said. PTI

Aditya Ghosh

India PostApril 6, 2018 43Travel & Hospitality Postwww.indiapost.com

Jammu cable carmaiden trial in April

JAMMU: The Rs 75 croreJammu cable car project is set becompleted by July this year andthe first trial will be held on April15.

The blue print for this projectwas first prepared in 1995 andinitially the cable car was to takeoff from Mubarak Mandi, but af-ter the declaration of MubarakMandi and Bahu Fort as heritagesites, the project had to be relo-cated.

The foundation stone for theproject was laid on February 24,2014.

"The project would be com-pleted by July 2018. The commit-tee was also informed that thefirst trial on the Bahu Fort toMahamaya stretch will be con-ducted on April 15", Managing Di-rector of J&K Cable Car Corpora-tion Limited, (JKCCCL) ShamimAhmed Wani told PTI.

He said the project will give aboost to the tourism sector inJammu.

The 48-m section-II of thecable car from Bahu Fort toMahamaya Park is scheduled tobe completed by March-end.

However, the 1,184-m section-IIfrom Peerkho to Mahamaya parkis expected to be completed byMay as critical components andimported parts are to be pro-cured from Turkey, Switzerland,Austria and Germany, they said.

The cable car project is aimedat connecting heritage sitesacross the city, Minister of Statefor Tourism Priya Sethi said.

A cable car project is being setup at to connect heritage sites ofBagh-e-Bahu fort-cum-gardenand aquarium, Mubarak Mandiheritage palace, Mahamayatemple, Bawe Temple andPeerkho Temple for pilgrims visit-ing Vaishnodevi and also tourists,she said.

Sethi said the project should bedesigned in such a manner that it

can retain tourists for more timein the City of Temples by develop-ing attraction sites at Manda,Peerkho, Bagh-e-Bahu,Mahamaya Temple and SidhraGolf course.

She said this would improvethe economy of the region by cre-ating varied avenues for peopleassociated with the tourism in-dustry. PTI

JK perception change urged to attract touristsSRINAGAR: Jammu and Kash-

mir Tourism Minister TasaduqMufti said the state needs to cre-ate alternate and positive storiesto change its perception amongtourists.

The minister, who was address-ing a press conference along withpresident, Travel Agents Associa-tion of India (TAAI), Sunil Kumarahead of the 64th convention ofthe apex travel agents body, saidthere should be strategies inplace to attract tourists.

"You have to create alternatestories and a civil society is re-sponsible for that, because unlessyou do not create points of focuselsewhere, this problem will per-sist. We have to create positivestories amongst ourselves andthen talk about those," the tour-ism minister said here.

Terming the TAAI conventionas historic, Mufti said events likethese would help the state cre-ate a positive perception and at-tract tourists.

"This is a historic event and wecould not have hoped for a bet-ter start for the year. I see TAAI'sattention to detail in the way theyorganize things and the observa-tions that they have made so farabout the state, some fine ideashave already started flowing," hesaid.

Asked about thegovernment's plans to attracttourists in view of a negative per-ception and continued violence,the tourism minister said there is

need for creating opportunitiesand to have strategies in place.

"We have to start by creatingopportunities and by talking tothe world outside and also tohave strategies in place because,god willing this will be a verywonderful year, but then thingscould go wrong as they often do.

"So, I think the need is tostrategise and also make thesepartnerships more tangible, andcreate associations that are spe-cific with people," he added.

Also, replying to the questionwhether the state governmentwould write to the Centre to re-duce the footprints of securityforces near the potential touristplaces like near the Line of Con-trol (LoC), Mufti said the depart-ment is working on a compre-hensive tourism policy whichwould cover all those issues.

"When you frame a compre-hensive tourism policy, thesethings are a part of that. That willbe a part of our overall vision, ouroverall policy. I think if we keepour city vibrant, if we keep ourculture vibrant, we have other

stories to talk about, we havewonderful kids who are doingwell, we have events like this, it

will change perception," he said.Speaking on the occasion, the

TAAI president exuded confi-

dence of attracting tourists toKashmir.

"I must mention emphaticallyhere that TAAI convention itselfaddresses the lot of matters thathave come up (about percep-tion).

This convention going suc-cessful will be a message to thewhole world that TAAI has doneits convention here, they got thewhole industry here and that it-self addresses the perception,"Kumar said. PTI

Good read in 32-rooms bookstoreCOLUMBUS: If you are longing

to lose yourself in a good read andhappen to find yourself in Colum-bus, Ohio, you might consider get-ting lost in a 32-room bookstore,The Book Loft of German Village.

The independent bookstore,which opened more than 40 yearsago, is a maze of literature, sellingeverything from the latest re-leases and best-sellers tochildren's and bargain books, frommanga and horror tohistory and memoir.

The Book Loft is lo-cated south of down-town Columbus in theGerman Villagen e i g h b o u r h o o d ,which is listed on theNational Register ofHistoric Places. Theneighbourhood wassettled extensively by

German immigrants in the firsthalf of the 1800s. It was consid-ered a slum in the mid-20th cen-tury but thanks to revitalizationefforts is now one of the mostsought-after real estate zip codesin Ohio.

The store is located in a smallstrip of handsome red brick, pre-Civil War buildings that oncehoused general stores, a saloonand a nickelodeon movie theatre.

Visitors will see a "Willkommen''sign and a garden path lined withpark benches, reminiscent of aEuropean outdoor cafe. Abovethe entrance in a patio filled withlow-priced books hang both U.S.and German flags.

The interior is truly a warren ofinterconnected rooms. The shopprovides a map to guide intrepidreaders on their quest to locateliterary gems among the tomes.

Every inch of the 32rooms are filled withbooks on woodenshelves. Narrow hall-ways, with barelyenough room tosqueeze past otherpatrons, lead to morerooms or to nooks andcul-de-sacs, to stairs,bends and deadends.-AP

44 India Post April 6, 2018www.indiapost.com

In Brief ImmigrationDetails on page 46

Gettingnaked for

US visa, butAadhaar..?

US begins H-1B visa process, multipleapplications to face rejection

WASHINGTON: The US hasstarted accepting applications forH-1B visas, considered as themost sought-after work visaamong highly skilled Indian pro-fessionals, amidst unprec-edented scrutiny by the Trumpadministration.

United States Citizenship andImmigration Services (USCIS),which is the federal agency re-sponsible to process the visas,started accepting applications forH-1B visas from April 2 for the fis-cal year 2019, beginning Octo-ber 1.

The USCIS had earlier indicatedthat there will be zero toleranceby it for even minor errors.

As of now, the USCIS has notindicated if it plans to go for acomputerized draw of lots as hasbeen the case in previous yearsafter receiving several timesmore than the Congressionalmandated cap of H-1B visas.

A leading advocacy grouprepresenting the tech industryincluding Mark Zuckerberg'sFacebook said that it expectsnumber of H-1B petitions to

reach the Congressional man-dated caps in coming days. As aresult of which the USCIS wouldagain resort to a computerizeddraw of lot to determine success-ful applicants, it said.

Multiple H-1B applications willlead to rejection of the petitions, a

federal American agency haswarned foreign workers, daysahead of the initiation of filing pro-cess for the non-immigrant visa,popular among Indian techies.

The USCIS has indicated that itwould intensify scrutiny of such

applications. "After notice, wewill deny or revoke the approvalof all H-1B cap-subject petitionsfiled for one beneficiary by 're-lated entities' unless there is a le-gitimate business need," USCISsaid. H-1B petitioners who submitmultiple cap-subject petitions on

behalf of the same beneficiaryundermine the integrity of thelottery process, it added.

The federal agency issuedpolicy guidance related to H-1Bpetitions, clarifying how the term"related entities" applied to the

bar on multiple H-1B filings. "Re-lated entities" include petition-ers, whether or not relatedthrough corporate ownershipand control, that file cap-subjectH-1B petitions for the same ben-eficiary for substantially the samejob, it said.

"Absent a legitimate businessneed to file multiple cap-subjectpetitions for the same benefi-ciary," USCIS said, adding that itwill deny or revoke the approvalof all H-1B cap-subject petitionsfiled by related entities for thatbeneficiary.

Occasionally an employermay extend the same beneficiarytwo or more job offers for distinctpositions and therefore may havea legitimate business need to filetwo or more separate H-1B peti-tions on behalf of the same alien.USCIS recognized that allowingmultiple filings by one employeron behalf of the same beneficiarycould create a loophole for em-ployers who seek to exploit therandom selection process to thecompetitive disadvantage ofother petitioners.PTI

US wants visa applicants to submit all detailsWASHINGTON: The Trump

administration wants all USvisa applicants to submit de-tails of their previous phonenumbers, email addressesand social media histories aspart of its "vetting" practiceand to prevent entry of indi-viduals who might pose athreat to the country.

In a document posted onthe Federal Register, anyonewho wants to come to the USon a non-immigrant visa willhave to answer a list of ques-tions under new rules.

The State Department esti-mates that the new visa formswould affect 710,000 immi-

grant and 14 million non-immi-grant visa applicants.

It said that in addition to ask-

ing the visa applicants to pro-vide their identifications orhandles of their social mediaplatform, they would also be

asked to give details of theirphone and mobile numbersused in the last five years.

Other questions seek fiveyears of previously used tele-phone numbers, email ad-dresses and international travel

whether the visa applicanthas been deported or re-moved from any country andwhether specified familymembers have been in-volved in terrorist activities,said the document.

The public would have 60days to comment on the pro-posed new visa form.

"One question lists mul-tiple social media platformsand requires the applicant toprovide any identifiers usedby applicants for those plat-forms during the five yearspreceding the date of applica-tion," the document said.

Cont'd on page 47

Ten Mexicoresidents foundin locked trailer

UCSON, Ariz.: U.S. Border Pa-trol agents working at an immi-gration checkpoint in Whetstonehave arrested a Hereford man af-ter finding 10 Mexico residentshidden inside a locked trailer hewas towing.

An agent working the primaryinspection lane referred thedriver of the vehicle for a second-ary inspection.

Agents saw people hiding in-side the trailer's makeshift enclo-sure through gaps in the ply-wood.

They had to remove a largebag of cans at the back of thetrailer to reach the nine men andone woman packed among ap-pliances.

The Mexican immigrantsranged in age from 18 to 38. Theywere taken to the Willcox BorderPatrol Station to be processed forimmigration violations.

The unidentified 49-year-olddriver is a U.S. citizen and he isbeing held on human smugglingcharges. AP

Fed, Floridacity resolveimmigration fight

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.: TheU.S. Justice Department has an-nounced it has reached a settle-ment with a Florida city over itspolicies of sharing informationwith federal immigration au-thorities.

As part of the settlement, WestPalm Beach sent a memorandumto its employees stating theymay share information regardingcitizenship and immigration sta-tus with the U.S. Immigration andCustoms Enforcement.

The Justice Departmentsingled out the South Florida cityand 22 other jurisdictions in Janu-ary when it sent letters demand-ing a review of its practices of in-formation sharing. The city filed acomplaint in February challeng-ing the Justice Department'spower to impose conditions ongrants based on cooperation withimmigration officials.

Earlier this month, the Trumpadministration sued California forstate laws passed last year to limitlocal authorities' collaborationwith federal immigration au-thorities. AP

India Post 45April 6, 2018 Immigration Postwww.indiapost.com

Move for citizenship question in Census criticizedIndia Post News Service

WASHINGTON DC: The Demo-cratic National Committee andthe Center for American Progresshave denounced the U.S. Depart-ment of Commerce decision toadd a citizenship question to the2020 census. Democratic Na-tional Committee (DNC) spokes-person Vedant Patel said in a

statement, "This latest ploy byDonald Trump and his administra-tion is an attempt to silence thevoices of millions of immigrants,including Asian Americans andPacific Islanders (AAPI) - who arethe fastest-growing immigrantgroup in the United States.

"By including this question, theCommerce Department is pav-ing the way for a highly flawed

and inaccurate census count thatcould jeopardize AAPI communi-ties' representation in Congressand the allocation of critical re-sources that many AAPI families -citizens and non-citizens alike -rely on. Democrats will fight thisdecision tooth and nail to ensurethe census remains a fair andneutral means to count all U.S.residents and not a tool for

Donald Trump to push his divisiveagenda."

AAPI Background• Between 2000 - 2015 the U.S.

AAPI population grew 72%This is the fastest growth rate

of any major racial or ethnicgroup

• AAPIs are projected to be-come the largest immigrant

group in the country, surpassingHispanics by 2055

• Over the past decade, immi-grants from AAPI countries havereceived more green cards thanimmigrants from any other re-gion

• Nearly 420,000 AAPIs ob-tained legal permanent residentstatus in 2015

• The number of undocu-mented AAPIs has tripled since2000

• In 2015: Immigrants fromAsian countries received239,000 family-based visa (vs90,000 employment-based vi-sas)

• In 2015, family-related visasaccounted for the overwhelmingmajority of people obtaining per-manent resident status from Viet-nam (96%), Bangladesh (94%),Pakistan (83%), and the Philip-pines (81%)

• Even among Chinese and In-dian immigrants, who have a gen-erally received a significant num-ber of employment-based visas,more than half of the green cardsissued in 2015 to these groups

were issued on the basis of fam-ily-related preferences.

Xenophobic agendaNeera Tanden, president and

CEO of the Center for AmericanProgress, said in a statement that,"The decennial census is meantto ensure that every person isseen, counted, and valued. Theaddition of a citizenship question

to the upcoming census is yetanother means for the Trump ad-ministration to carry out its anti-immigrant, xenophobic agenda.A failure to comply with the U.S.Constitution and gather an accu-rate count of all persons living inthe United States jeopardizes fairrepresentation and adequate re-sources to our communitiesacross the country.

"The census is a collective toolthat ensures that local school dis-tricts know how many childrenwill participate in the publicschool system, that businessowners can make sound data-driven decisions, and that districtmaps are drawn in ways that en-sure fair representation. It's utterlydishonest that an administrationthat has been nothing but hostile

to voting rights protections-in-cluding the creation of a now-dis-banded "voter fraud" commis-sion-is using enforcement of theVoting Rights Act as justificationfor including a citizenship ques-tion. The Trump administrationcontinues to remind the Ameri-can people: Facts don't matter,and politics are more importantthan people," she concluded.

"By including this question, the CommerceDepartment is paving the way for a highlyflawed and inaccurate census count that

could jeopardize AAPI communities”

Over the past decade, immigrantsfrom AAPI countries have receivedmore green cards than immigrants

from any other region

Haley, Sajjan at UN meet mark rise of DiasporaUNITED NATIONS: At a high-

level UN Security Council meet-ing on peacekeeping operations,the world's superpower - the US- and Canada were representedby their top cabinet-level offi-cials, both of whom are of In-dian-descent and belonging tothe Sikh faith, signaling the riseof Indian-origin persons in geo-political leadership positionsacross the world.

US Permanent Representativeto the United Nations NikkiHaley and Canada's Minister forNational Defense Harjit SinghSajjan came together to addressthe Security Council in an opendebate on improving theOrganization's flagship enter-prise - UN peacekeeping.

Haley, born as NimrataRandhawa in South Carolina, isthe daughter of Indian immi-grants from Punjab. Her parentsAjit Singh Randhawa and RajKaur Randhawa emigrated fromAmritsar in Punjab, India. Haleyhad served as the Governor ofSouth Carolina. She became thefirst Indian-American to serve in

a presidential administration at aCabinet level position when shewas confirmed to be inducted in

President Donald Trump's Cabi-net.

Sajjan was born in a village inthe Hoshiarpur district of Punjab,India and had emigrated to

Canada in 1976, when he wasfive years old. He was sworn inas Canada's defense minister in

the government of JustinTrudeau in 2015.

Addressing the Council, Haleycalled for shared responsibilityand shared costs for peacekeep-

ing among Member States. Shesaid the United States has longbeen the largest financial con-

tributor to UN peacekeep-ing by far but added thatpeacekeeping is a sharedresponsibility. She an-nounced that going for-ward, the US will not paymore than 25 per cent ofthe peacekeeping budget.

With shared responsibil-ity comes shared burdensand shared costs. Onecountry should not shoul-der more than one quarterof the UN peacekeepingbudget, and we look for-ward to a more equitabledistribution of the budgetamong Member States.Moving forward, the UnitedStates will not pay morethan 25 percent of thepeacekeeping budget, shesaid, adding that this is a cap

required by US law.All of us have a role to play, and

all of us must step up, she said.Speaking on behalf of the

Group of Friends of Women,

Peace and Security, another dip-lomat Sajjan called for re-doubled efforts and more cre-ative thinking to increase thenumber of women in peace-keeping.

He said more must be doneto mainstream gender consider-ations into peacekeeping, in-cluding the deployment of gen-der advisers and women protec-tion advisers.

Speaking in his national ca-pacity, he said the United Na-tions had repeatedly failed toreach targets for the deploy-ment of women. The time forchange is now and we must bebold, he said, drawing attentionto a Canadian initiative aimed atovercoming barriers to women'sparticipation.

Noting that Canada chairedthe Working Group of the Spe-cial Committee on Peacekeep-ing Operations, he said thatbody had tied the voices oftroop - and police - contributingcountries to efforts to improvethe way peacekeeping was de-livered. PTI

Nikki Haley and Harjit Sajjan At UNSCs Peacekeeping Meeting

India Post46 April 6, 2018Immigration Postwww.indiapost.com

'Barring spouses will makeUS less attractive'

WASHINGTON: The Trumpadministration's proposal to with-draw the provision of giving workpermits to the spouses of the H-1B visa workers, most of them In-dians, will make America less at-tractive for foreign talent, accord-ing to an influential US immigra-tion advocacy body.

Since 2015, the spouses of H-1B workers, who are in the pro-cess for becoming permanentresidents, have been allowed towork.

However, the Trump adminis-tration is considering rescindingthis policy of the previous Obamaadministration, the American Im-

migration Council has said."This policy makes the United

States a more appealing place forforeign professionals consideringH-1Bs because their spouses whocome on H-4 visas can continuetheir careers and contribute tothe family income," it said in anew report.

Arguing against Trumpadministration's reported moveto rescind its policy on H-4 visas,which is issued to the depen-dents of H-1B visa holders, thecouncil said authorizing H-4spouses to work is advantageousas it allows them to work andbrings the US in line with other

countries competing to attracttalented foreign nationals.

The highly-skilled individualsUS employers hope to attract and

employ on an H-1B non immi-grant visa often have a spouse orfamily to consider.

The potential worker mayhave a spouse with an estab-

lished career or a family needingthe support of two working par-ents. "If a spouse retains the op-tion of being employed, the USemployer can provide a moreappealing and competitive joboffer," it said.

According to the council, theUS government has providedwork authorization to 105,000 H-4 applicants since 2015.

Unlike H-1B visa holders, work

authorization for eligible H-4spouses is unrestricted, meaningthat the H-4 dependents canwork for any employer.

Yet their work authorization,like their immigration status, isdependent on the H-1B workermaintaining a valid immigrationstatus.

The H1-B visa is a non-immi-grant visa that allows US compa-nies to employ foreign workersin specialty occupations that re-quire theoretical or technical ex-pertise.

US President Donald Trump is-sued an executive order last yearthat outlined changes to the em-ployment eligibility for H-4spouses.

It announced theadministration's intent to revokethe regulation permitting certainH-4 spouses to apply for workauthorization.

The regulatory agenda pub-lished in Fall 2017 reaffirmed thisintention, though few detailshave been made available. PTI

US President Donald Trump issuedan executive order last year that

outlined changes to the employmenteligibility for H-4 spouses.

Embassy in India to hold US Visa DayNEW DELHI: Announcing the

Visa Day for this year on June 6,US Consul-General George HHogeman has advised studentsto "listen carefully" to the ques-tions asked during the visa inter-view and reply them with "realanswers".

He said the secret to successfor students, who aspire to pur-sue higher education in the US,during the interview is that "thereis no secret".

"All that a student has to do isto listen carefully to questionsasked by officers and reply to

them with real answers insteadof coming up with preparedspeech," he told reporters.

"We know students are ner-vous. That is okay. Many nervousapplicants are issued visas," hesaid.

On the Visa Day, US Embassy inDelhi and its four consulates -Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata andMumbai - are thrown open ex-clusively to adjudicate visa appli-cations from Indian students whoaspire to pursue higher studies inthe US.

One out of six internationalstudents in the US is from India,Hogeman said.

Citing a report from last year,he said 1,86,000 Indian studentsare in the US and "that is the high-est number ever."

"People-to-people relation-ships are the bedrock of the US-India relations and the bedrock ofsuch relationships are student vi-sas. Higher education plays a cen-tral role in the relationship be-tween two countries," the con-sul-general said.

According to an official in the

consular team, the interview pro-cess may happen for 30 minuteson an average and a student islikely to be asked about the rea-sons for choosing the US forhigher education, details aboutthe program chosen and financialplan to fund the course.

"However, the time taken andquestions asked would differ de-pending on each student. If a visagets rejected, a student has to in-trospect and learn from that ex-perience before applying again,"the official said.

The team urged students tonot trust fraudulent agents. "Noone can guarantee you a visa.When applicants receive a mes-sage with fraud indicators, weencourage them to exercise cau-tion and common sense."

Fraud Prevention Managerwith US Embassy Elizabeth

Lawrence said: "Students are ad-vised to use resources availablewith 'EducationUSA' and conductresearch on programs theywould like to prefer. We do notrequire any documents at thetime of visa interview, but if anindividual prefers to bring, theyshould not be fake. Any students

On the Visa Day, US Embassy in Delhiand its four consulates - Chennai,

Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai - arethrown open exclusively to adjudicatevisa applications from Indian students

providing counterfeited certifi-cates may be barred from apply-ing for visa forever."

EducationUSA is a US Depart-ment of State network of over425 international student advis-ing centers in more than 175countries, offering accurate andcurrent information. PTI

Getting naked for US visa,but Aadhaar..?

KOCHI: Taking on those ques-tioning the government'sAadhaar program, Union Minis-ter Alphons Kannanthanam hassaid there were people willingto "get naked before the whiteman" to procure an Americanvisa but cry "privacy" when basicdetails have to be shared withtheir own government.

The minister of state forelectronics and informationtechnology assured that infor-mation collected underAadhaar was safe and secureand claimed that media reportsabout data breaches were in-correct.

Taking a jibe at Aadhaar crit-ics, Kannanthanam said "tenpages of information whichyou have never even con-

fessed to your wife ever, or to yourhusband, have to be passed on toa white man to get an Americanvisa. We have absolutely no prob-lems going and putting our finger-prints and the iris and getting yourwhole body naked before thewhite man at all".

He claimed the attitude ofmany people changed sharplywhen their own governmentsought basic information.

"But when the government ofIndia, which is your government,asks you your name and your ad-dress, nothing more…there's amassive revolution in thecountry...saying it's an intrusioninto the privacy of the individual.I mean, how far can we go? Letthe Supreme Court decide,"Kannanthanam said.

He was delivering a specialaddress at the valedictory ses-sion of the Global Digital Sum-mit #FUTURE organized by theKerala government.

What is the information col-lected by Aadhaar today? Yourname...address; you don't haveto give the e-mail ID which ev-erybody now demands," theminister said.

He said the fingerprint de-tails and the data related to iris,was something which is in theUIDAI repository.

"Not one case has come up inthe past three-and-a-half years...(that) the bio-metric data of anyAadhaar holder has been leakedin India. The Government of Indiahas protected the data,"Kannanthanam said.PTI

India Post 47April 6, 2018 Immigration Postwww.indiapost.com

Gendered Islamophobia taking huge tollMANAAL FAROOQI

One in every five Canadian women is born outside of the country. How-

ever, despite diverse ethnic back-grounds, many communities facediscriminatory hurdles othersmay never witness in their life-times. This notion is only ampli-fied in the case of Muslim immi-grant women, who can experi-ence challenges springing frommultiple biases.

"Gendered Islamophobia" af-fects them in ways that are oftenleft out of the wider conversationabout the immigrant experience.

Whereas Islamophobia is de-fined as an irrational fear of, aver-sion to, or discrimination againstIslam or people who practice Is-lam, gendered Islamophobia dis-sects the issue a step further bydiving into more pointed signs ofinequity. Muslim women may bevictims of both sexism andIslamophobia, disadvantagingthem as they navigate throughschooling, employment andother public spaces.

But, ultimately, it could play ahuge role in their overall sense ofsafety.

Muslim women, specificallythose identifiable through reli-gious headgear or prayer rou-tines practiced in public, can be

more prone to being victims dueto their "visible" status. This hasled to cases of assault as well asblatant displays of anti-Muslimrhetoric.

Aima, a Pakistani CanadianMuslim woman who dons theniqab, has dealt with discrimina-tion in both public spaces and atuniversity as well. She would findherself consistently ignored inclassrooms when she attemptedto answer or ask a question dur-ing lectures; and when she wasable to speak in class she foundher answers were met withgreater scrutiny, even when theywere correct.

Other comments directed to-wards her included unwelcome

discussions on forced marriagealong with the fact that she'sbeen repeatedly told that she"[enjoys] so much freedom" forsomeone wearing a niqab. She

adds that "my body will be po-liced and my choices scrutinized"for the expression of her faith andidentity within today's socio-po-litical climate.

And she's not alone, Shazlin,a Malaysian immigrant who alsowears religious headgear, statesshe has had similar experiences,in addition to street harass-ment.

"Even talking about it now, it

makes me angry that I was vul-nerable and that I was made avictim at that moment when Iknow I have a lot more agency,"she says. She recalls one particu-

lar incident whenon a walk withother visibly Mus-lim women inToronto, a man ver-bally assaultedthem twice on thestreet from a vanand attempted toflick cigarette buttsat them.

Regardless ofwhat Islamophobesthink, the com-ments and ques-tions Muslim

women face on an everyday ba-sis eventually begin to taketheir toll. T.G, who is an Ethio-pian Muslim immigrant, hasfound that people often as-sume she lacks intellect,agency, and knowledge of popculture because of her hijab.

"I'm a walking encyclopediaon all the ethnicities, culturalexpressions, and nuanced faithpractices of the Muslim world,"T.G adds sarcastically. "We areexpected to be the compas-sionate caretaker, teacher, andempathetic listener to all man-ners of ignorance about ourfaith. The brunt of the burden offlag-bearing for Islam falls on us- especially hijab-wearing Mus-lim women."

But Muslim women who aremore visibly ambiguous are notimmune to similar experiences.As in the case of Safia, an Arab-Canadian Muslim who does notwear any religious headgearsuch as the niqab or hijab. Yet,she constantly faces questions

related to terrorist groups suchas ISIS at her workplace.

One of her former coworkerseven emailed her after the Or-lando shooting with footage hehad found of an Imam whoseemed to have made ho-mophobic comments. He wroteto her demanding, "We wantanswers. What is your commu-nity doing about this?"

No action was taken and thecomments continued, despitethe fact that Safia had madecomplaints to her immediatesupervisor multiple times. In theabsence of authoritative inter-vention, she weathers the ha-rassment through therapy.

Sara, a young professional ofNorth African descent whodoesn't wear a hijab, has at-tempted to keep her religiousaffiliation from co-workers, outof fear that repercussions couldaffect future opportunities andher overall comfort at work.

Sara explains that her formeremployer would bring hernews articles about honor kill-ings in an attempt to make acorrelation with her faith thatwould justify its relevance. Thecontroversial articles forced herinto a defensive position on acomplex subject that she didnot even agree with. Now sheavoids questions about religionor her ethnicity to discourageunwelcome conversations.

These experiences only be-gin to highlight some of thesituations Muslim women arefaced with on a daily basis. Thefull impact it may have on theireveryday interactions, ability tonavigate public spaces or even intheir careers remains immeasur-able. Courtesy New CanadianMedia

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US wants visaapplicants tosubmit all details

It said the State Departmentwill collect the information fromvisa applicants for "identity reso-lution and vetting purposes"based on statutory visa eligibilitystandards.

However, it intends not toroutinely ask the question of ap-plicants for specific visa classifi-cations, such as most diplomaticand official visa applicants, itsaid.

The revised visa applicationforms will also include addi-tional information regarding thevisa medical examination thatsome applicants may be re-quired to undergo.

The State Department esti-mates that the new visa formswould affect 710,000 immigrantvisa applicants and 14 millionnon-immigrant visaapplicants.PTI

Maha probes fake UKpassport, visa scam

MUMBAI: Maharashtra govern-ment will set up a Special Investi-gation Team (SIT) to probe thefake passport and visa scam ex-posed by authorities in theUnited Kingdom, Minister ofState for Home (Urban) RanjitPatil said in the Legislative Coun-cil here.

The racket, consideredamong the biggest in central In-dia, was exposed after the Immi-gration Enforcement Interna-tional (IEI), a wing of the BritishHigh Commission, sent a de-tailed report to Nagpur Police inOctober 2017.

The case pertains to 50 per-sons who went to the UK be-tween 2007 and 2015 on touristand business visas and had dis-appeared.

The Nagpur police had, inJanuary, arrested six persons forsending around 50 youths to theUnited Kingdom by fraudulentlyobtaining passports and visas forthem.

According to police, thecouples who were part of thisracket forged documents toshow that the person accompa-nying them to the UK was theirson or daughter.

They then travelled to Britainon business or tourist visas withthat person.

After reaching Britain, whilethis person disappeared, thecouple would return to India.

BJP member GirishchandraVyas called it a huge racket whileBhai Girkar said the entire nexusshould be weeded out. PTI

Cont'd from Page 44

India Post April 6, 2018www.indiapost.comHoroscope48

Kindly read the predictions from your ascendant sign. If you do not know your ascendant sign then read the same from Moon sign. IfMoon sign is also not known then read it from the Zodiac sign. The ascendant sign which is calculated from the birth details viz. date,

month, year, time & place of birth gives 85 % accurate predictions. The accuracy of predictions from Moon sign get limited to only 50 %.The predictions from Zodiac sign are only 25 % accurate. In nutshell the predictions from ascendant sign are most accurate. In getting

personality analysis the traits given by ascendant sign are 100 % accurate and that is the essence of Vedic Astrology.

VANEET SHARMA • 510-648-4899

Your Weekly Futureby VANEET SHARMA

MAR 21 to APRIL 20

The beginning ofthe week is not

auspicious for yourhappiness and state ofmind. You need to

keep your patience intact and work onyour anger management issues. You shallhave to control your anger & aggressionespecially in the first half of it. After the midof the week towards its end you shall seetremendous increase in your domestic hap-piness. In your social circles you shall proveyour mettle with the help of your potentialof resourcefulness at its full swing.

JUN 21 to JULY 22

Beginning of theweek indi-

cates some mentaltensions which shalldisappear completely

after 11th April. You are advised to becautious about your domestic atmo-sphere in this week. In the mid of theweek you might have to go on a jour-ney to meet some influential person. Thelast day of the week indicates enhance-ment of your strength with the help ofa female.

SEP 23 to OCT 22

In the beginning ofthe week you

shall get relief fromyour mental tensions.You would be doing

some experiments in your love life. Ini-tially in the first half of the week there shallbe probability of some arguments with thefamily members and the situation of ten-sions might not get eradicated completelyin the latter half of the week too. It wouldbe a wonderful week for your progress atwork but you need to put a check on yourbeing extra generous in this week.

DEC 22 to JAN 19

MAY 21 to JUN 20

In the first half of theweek you are

likely to face seriousanger and aggressionrelated issues. You

shall start getting some relief in the lat-ter half of the week. You shall be happywith some relief in financial matters withsome sudden gains and betterment andexpansion in work area. You shall shine inyour social circles and you would be ableto solve your issues with your active involve-ment in social activities. These activities shallalso improve your work conditions.

AUG 23 to SEP 22

In the beginning ofthe week

there might remainlittle stress howeverfrom 10th April every-

thing shall be alright. There shall be tre-mendous improvement in your emo-tional relations but stay away from get-ting into arguments with spouse. The12th & 13th are good dates for decisionmaking and it shall be a great period forachieving something special in the areaof work.

NOV 23 to DEC 22

As per planetarytransit you

shall be getting greatresults without anydamages to any area

of life. Domestic atmosphere shall beexcellent. Mid of the week is average foryour happiness and health. You are ad-vised to keep your patience intact and ifyou do that then this week shall bring inexcellent results like tremendous appre-ciation for rendering excellentconsultancy service and giving advice topeople.

FEB 19 to MARCH 20

APRIL 21 to MAY 20

You shall be freefrom all ten-

sions in this week andyou would come outof all types of prob-

lems. Your health shall be good. Youshall be spending money on yourself,your family and also on journeys in thisweek. In the first half of the week youshall enhance your association withfamily members whereas in the latterhalf of the week you would be concen-trating more on your social life andwork area.

JULY 23 to AUG 22

The beginning of the week shall mark lot of

activity in matters re-lated to children. In thefirst half of the week

you shall be getting opportunity totravel but you might not avail it becauseof the attainment of complete favor ofdestiny with lot of pleasure at your place.You shall develop better strategies formaking your business grow. 11th, 12th and13th April are good dates for enhancingunderstanding with spouse whereas thelast two days of the week are not good.

OCT 23 to NOV 22

In the beginning ofthe week you

are likely to spendtime with family mem-bers. You shall be hav-

ing enough funds and you shall extendone or other type of help to all who aredependent on you. Your competitivespirit shall be at its best and you wouldbe increasing your personnel, social andpolitical influence. In your own work youshall keep generating the required gainsand your confidence level, immunity andhappiness shall also be at its peak.

JAN 20 to FEB 18

This week is not aus-picious for

your state of mind,health and happinessand you might suffer

from the problems of mood swings.There is probability of getting injury etctoo therefore you are advised to be cau-tious. Avoid getting into unnecessaryargument with people around you. Youshall be feeling very low and lethargic.The latter half of the week is better forall areas of life except the problem ofarguments and injury.

The planetary tran-sit is highly fa-

vorable in this weekand the beginning isgood for work area

and decision making. From 10th of Aprilyou shall become amazingly active andfocused. You shall be attaining completefavor of destiny. Your spouse shall beplaying key role in shaping your destiny.Your social life, relation with friends andrelatives shall help you do better in allareas of life. The latter part of the weekis excellent for travel, love and finance.

This week shall goexcellent for

all areas of life and youshall see bettermenton professional front

in the first half of the week and you haveto travel in the latter half of the week.The inflow of money shall be good in thefirst half of the week. You can expectgood results in matters related to harmonywith spouse, and inflow of money on thelast three days of the week. If not married,then this is the right time to plan it.

APRIL 6TH - APRIL 12TH 2018

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Man is formed of vibrations& lives in them

April 6, 2018

Page Sponsored by Sahaniswww.indiapost.comPhilosophy

STANISLAV GROF

The leading philosophy ofWestern science has beenmonistic materialism. Vari-

ous scientific disciplines have de-scribed the history of the universeas history of developing matterand accept as real only what canbe measured and weighed. Life,consciousness, and intelligenceare seen as more or less acciden-tal side-products of material pro-cesses.

Physicists, biologists, andchemists recognize the existenceof dimensions of reality that arenot accessible to our senses, butonly those that are physical in na-ture and can be revealed and ex-plored with the use of various ex-tensions of our senses, such as mi-croscopes, telescopes, and spe-cially designed recording devices,or laboratory experiments.

In a universe understood thisway, there is no place for spiritual-ity of any kind. The existence ofGod, the idea that there are invis-ible dimensions of reality inhab-ited by nonmaterial beings, thepossibility of survival of conscious-ness after death, and the conceptof reincarnation and karma havebeen relegated to fairy tales andhandbooks of psychiatry.

From a psychiatric perspectiveto take such things seriously

HAZRAT INAYAT KHAN

The Life Absolute fromwhich has sprung all that isfelt, seen, and perceived,

and into which all again merges intime, is a silent, motionless andeternal life which among the Sufisis called Zat.

Every motion that springs forthfrom this silent life is a vibrationand a creator of vibrations. Withinone vibration are created manyvibrations; as motion causes mo-tion so the silent life becomes ac-tive in a certain part, and createsevery moment more and moreactivity, losing thereby the peaceof the original silent life. It is thegrade of activity of these vibra-tions that accounts for the variousplanes of existence.

These planes are imagined todiffer from one another, but in re-ality they cannot be entirely de-tached and made separate fromone another. The activity of vibra-tions makes them grosser, andthus the earth is born of the heav-ens. The mineral, vegetable, ani-mal and human kingdoms are thegradual changes of vibrations, and

New light on problem ofspirituality & religion

If the belief in God or Goddess occurs inintelligent persons, it is seen as an indica-

tion that they have not come to termswith infantile images of their parents

means to be ignorant, unfamiliarwith the discoveries of science,superstitious, and subject toprimitive magical thinking. If thebelief in God or Goddess occurs inintelligent persons, it is seen as anindication that they have notcome to terms with infantile im-ages of their parents as omnipo-tent beings they had created intheir infancy and childhood.

And direct experiences of spiri-

tual realities are considered mani-festations of serious mental dis-eases - psychoses.

The study of holotropic stateshas thrown new light on the prob-lem of spirituality and religion. Thekey to this new understanding isthe discovery that in these statesit is possible to encounter a richarray of experiences which arevery similar to those that inspiredthe great religions of the world -visions of God and various divineand demonic beings, encounters

with discarnate entities, episodesof psychospiritual death and re-birth, visits to Heaven and Hell,past life experiences, and manyothers.

Modern research has shownbeyond any doubt that these ex-periences are not products ofpathological processes afflictingthe brain, but manifestations ofarchetypal material from the col-lective unconscious, and thus

normal and essential constituentsof the human psyche. Althoughthese mythic elements are ac-cessed intrapsychically, in aprocess of experiential self-ex-ploration and introspection,they are ontologically real,have objective existence. Todistinguish transpersonal expe-riences from imaginary prod-ucts of individual fantasy orpsychopathology, Jungians re-fer to this domain as imaginal.

In view of these observations,

the fierce battle that religion andscience have fought over the lastfew centuries appears ludicrousand completely unnecessary.Genuine science and authentic re-ligion do not compete for the sameterritory; they represent two ap-proaches to existence, which arecomplementary, not competitive.

As Ken Wilber has pointed out,there cannot possibly be a conflictbetween science and religion, if

both of these fields are properlyunderstood and practiced. If thereseems to be a conflict, we arelikely dealing with "bogus science"and "bogus religion." The apparentincompatibility is due to the factthat either side seriously misun-derstands the other's position.

Stanislav "Stan" Grof is a Czechpsychiatrist, one of the foundersof the field of transpersonal psy-chology and a researcher into theuse of non-ordinary states of con-sciousness

the vibrations of each plane differfrom one another in their weight,breadth, length, color, effect,sound and rhythm.

Man is not only formed of vi-brations, but he lives and movesin them; they surround him as thefish is surrounded by water, andhe contains them within him asthe tank contains water. His differ-ent moods, inclinations, affairs,successes and failures, and all con-ditions of life depend upon a cer-

tain activity of vibrations, whetherthese be thoughts, emotions orfeelings. It is the direction of theactivity of vibrations that accountsfor the variety of things and beings.

This vibratory activity is the ba-sis of sensation and the source ofall pleasure and pain; its cessation

is the opposite of sensation. Allsensations are caused by a certaingrade of activity of vibration.There are two aspects of vibra-tions, fine and gross, both contain-ing varied degrees; some are per-ceived by the soul, some by themind, and some by the eyes.

What the soul perceives arethe vibrations of the feelings;what the mind conceives are thevibrations of the thoughts; whatthe eyes see are the vibrations

solidified from their etherealstate and turned into atoms whichappear in the physical world, con-stituting the elements ether, air,fire, water and earth. The finest vi-brations are imperceptible evento the soul. The soul itself isformed of these vibrations; it is

their activity which makes it con-scious.

Creation begins with the activ-ity of consciousness, which maybe called vibration, and every vi-bration starting from its originalsource is the same, differing onlyin its tone and rhythm caused by agreater or lesser degree of forcebehind it. On the plane of sound,vibration causes diversity of tone,and in the world of atoms, diver-sity of color.

It is by massing together thatthe vibrations become audible,but at each step towards the sur-face they multiply. Sound gives tothe consciousness evidence of itsexistence.

Excerpted from The Mysticismof Sound

India Post52

Hazrat Inayat Khan

Stanislav Grof

The mineral, vegetable, animal andhuman kingdoms are the gradual

changes of vibrations, and the vibrationsof each plane differ from one another

I am a little pencil in God'shand. He does the writing.The pencil has nothing to dowith it.

-Mother Teresa

The absolute is a spherewhose center is nowhereand whose circumference iseverywhere.

- St. Bonaventure

Once you have seen the faceof God, you see the sameface on everyone you meet.

-Deng Ming-Dao

You will get to your maturityquickly if you stay in thenothingness.

-Nisargadatta Maharaj

The eye with which I see Godis the same eye that Godsees me.

-Meister Eckhart

This very body is the buddha.This very place is the lotusparadise.

-Buddha

We can see the drop in theocean, but can we see theocean in the drop? Do notattribute duality to God. Allexistence is God and noth-ing is outside of God.

-Rabbi Moses Cordovero

Because the Beloved wantsto know, unseen things be-come manifest. Hiding is thehidden purpose of creation.

-Rumi

53Edit Pagewww.indiapost.com


Kashmir cauldronThe eye for an eye policy in Kashmir has failed to convince

the people there that their lot will be better with India.The latest killing of 13 terrorist/militants there is hardly acause for celebration as the pronouncements of the securityforces there would have us believe. Army officials called theoperation a major success.

They claimed that security personnel have tightened theirhold on the south Kashmir terror bastion over the last fivemonths. Ten of the youth were from Shopian, once consideredthe ground zero of terrorism. Along with the killing of the ter-rorists, injuries were caused to over 50 protestors. As the re-gion observed a strike, sources in the security establishmentexpressed the hope that parents of disappeared youth wouldnow encourage their children to shun violence and surrender.

The killings by terrorists and the killing of terrorists has nowbecome a vicious cycle. An army official claimed that the se-curity forces had "avenged" the killing of Kashmiri officer Lieu-tenant Ummer Fayaz last year, as the two militants who killedhim had been eliminated in the Shopian operation. But theterrorists also claim they have taken to the gun in revenge.The Army has no business to claim revenge when those in-volved are all Indian citizens. Now add to it the exploitation ofthe situation by Pakistan and you have a never ending battle.

The major contributor to the mayhem in Kashmir has beenPakistan's so-called non-state actor Lashkar e Tayeba chiefHafiz Saeed, who chameleon like keeps changing the name ofhis organizations to keep afloat his terror training and pro-moting activities. On the eve of the Pakistani General Elec-tions, he had floated a political organization to fight elections.He may very well succeed as Pakistan has a very weak govern-ment which is constantly being overruled by the military.

Keeping in mind the Pakistani establishment's failure tocurb his violent activities, the US government has done wellto designate his Milli Muslim League (MML), the political frontof Mumbai attack mastermind-led Jamaat-ud Dawa, as a for-eign terrorist organization. Whether this will have any effecton his activities is very doubtful as so many earlier sanctionshe has evaded with success. Unless Pakistan controls its ter-rorist organizations there is very little chance of peace in Kash-mir or between India and Pakistan.

A Kashmir analyst has made a distinction between theproblem "of" Kashmir and the problem "in" Kashmir. He opinesthat if India had tackled the problem "in" Kashmir, there wouldhave been no problem "of" Kashmir which is basically Paki-stan fishing in troubled waters. If India takes care of thetroubled waters, the Pakistani stake will diminish.

Every possible interlocutor has called for talks with theKashmiris and then talks with Pakistan. The separatist leadersare clearly financed by Pakistan as many NIA investigationshave proved. They keep compounding the problem by insist-ing on bringing Pakistan in the picture. Every time there is anattempt at dialogue, the separatists back out fearing theywould be eliminated by hired Pak goons.

Another cause for concern is the stone throwers now ex-tending their practice by targeting tourists. According to areport, two buses carrying tourists from Indonesia werepelted with stones near Dal Lake. Two women tourists fromAbu Dhabi were injured in stone throwing at their cab. Suchactions defeat all the promotion of Kashmir as a tourist desti-nation.

Game-changing tech forfuture naval operations

VIJAY SAKHUJA

Two new weapon tech-nologies - Solid StateLasers (SSLs) and Elec-tromagnetic Railgun

(EMRG) - can augment ship de-fense against incoming mis-siles, high speed projectilesand unmanned vehicles/drones. Experts argue that ifthese are successfully de-ployed, surface warfare couldwitness a 'revolution'.

Further, these technologiescan potentially overcome thelimitations of onboard stowageof surface-to-air missiles(SAMs), and material efficiencyof 'multiple-barrel, rotary rapid-fire cannons' or the Close-inWeapon System (CIWS), thatmay necessitate withdrawalfrom combat for reloading orrepairs.

These technologies are cur-rently at various stages of de-velopment and deployment,and China and the US have ei-ther showcased some of themor made the development sta-tus public.

Early this year, photographsof a Chinese Type 072III-classlanding ship, Haiyang Shan,berthed at the Wuchang Ship-yard in Wuhan and fitted with anEMRG went viral. This was per-haps the first time naval-watch-ers were seeing an EMRG on aChinese warship.

By March, China's official mili-tary website carried a picture ofZhang Xiao, of the PLA Navy'sUniversity of Engineering, re-ceiving a National March 8 RedBanner for her work in electro-magnetic launching technol-ogy.

The Chinese EMRG project isbeing developed under theleadership of Rear Admiral MaWeiming of the Chinese Acad-emy of Sciences, and Zhang Xiaois a core member of the team.She was quoted as saying thatafter "hundreds of failures andmore than 50,000 tests" thetechnology was ready for use.

The associated power sup-ply system also underwent re-peated tests. According toSong Zhongping, a military ex-pert and TV commentator, theChinese EMRG "has a more

stable and [provides] continu-ous power supply" than the US'EMRG. The US began work onthe EMRG earlier than Chinaand has conducted more ex-periments.

The US Navy has an activeEMRG program and the lastknown test was in 2008. Twokey technological challengesassociated with this US$ 500million program involve engi-neering and metal for the bar-rel, and supply of high electro-magnetic charge for the gun,which only new Zumwalt classof mega-destroyers can pro-vide.

However, the US Navy is aleader in the use of directedenergy weapons at sea. USSPonce, while on deployment inWest Asia in 2014, had tested a30-kilowatt first generation SSL,

the Laser Weapon System(LaWS).

This US$ 40 million system isconsidered value-for-moneygiven that the cost of a missileis in millions of dollars whencompared with a single shotfrom a directed energyweapon like the LaWS. It is ca-pable of "frying drones in mid-air and burning out the motorsof helicopters and small water-craft," "without endangeringthe lives of any onboard per-sonnel," which is in accordancewith the US Naval Handbook(2007) that states, "US militaryforces will not employ laserweapons specifically designedto cause permanent blindness."

The US Navy plans to installan advanced version of theLaWS (more powerful and withgreater range) onboard USSPortland, the latest landingplatform dock ship of the San

Antonio-class. The ship is pro-grammed to take part in the2018 Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC)exercises.

The US Navy is also seekingfunding support of US$ 300 mil-lion in the financial year 2019budget for the Navy Laser Fam-ily of Systems (NLFoS). Mean-while, the Department of De-fense has awarded LockheedMartin a US$ 150 million con-tract for two prototypes of"high energy laser with inte-grated optical dazzler and sur-veillance," or HELIOS.

Unlike China and the US whoare competing for technologi-cal superiority in the naval do-main, the Russians have chosento focus on land-based trans-port trailers fitted with lasers,and there are plans for fittinglaser systems on aircraft. Russiais fielding a laser weapon sys-tem called Peresvet, named af-ter the 13th century monk whodied in battle against the Mon-gol army.

According to Russian DeputyDefense Minister Yuri Borisov,Russia is ahead of its competi-tor, the US. President Putin toldRussian lawmakers that Russiahas "achieved significantprogress in laser weapons" andhad gone past the stage of "aconcept or a plan," and that Rus-sian troops have been "armedwith laser weapons."

The battlefield environmentat sea is becoming more 'com-plex and murky' with a varietyof classic munitions such as mis-siles and projectiles in the in-ventory of both medium andsmall-size navies, and "pesky"threats from unmanned aerialvehicles and ships, and armedspeed boats, and now, swarmdrones carrying ordnance.

Naval planners may have todevelop new strategies andfleet architecture that relies onemerging technologies of thekind discussed above. Theseplans are sure to impact bud-gets and shipbuilding expendi-tures.

Dr. Vijay Sakhuja is Director(Research) of the Indian Coun-cil of World Affairs (ICWA), NewDelhi.

The US Navy is also

seeking funding sup-

port of US$ 300 mil-

lion in the financial

year 2019 budget for

the Navy Laser Family

of Systems (NLFoS)

CHICAGOUpcoming

ATLANTAUpcoming

Sat, Apr 14• 5K Walk for Chinmaya Organiza-tion for Rural DevelopmentVenue: Fowler Park, Big CreekGreenway, 4110 Carolene Way,Cumming, GA 30040Time: 08:00 am

Sat, Apr 27• East India Art Company -Dr. DineshSharma Art OpeningVenue: Westside Cultural Arts Cen-ter, 760 10th St NW Georgia, Atlanta,GA 30318Time: 07:00 pm

1st and 3rd Sunday of Month• Chicago Children'sBal MukundCharacter Building Programand Hindi Literacy ClassesVenue: Vogelei Center, 650 W. HigginsRoad, Hoffmann Estates, IL 60192 (Next toNissan Dealership)Contact: Ajay & Arti Chandhok @630-561-4807

Mondays and Fridays• Free ESL - English as SecondLanguage ClassesMetropolitan Asian Family ServicesVenue: 9015 N Milwaukee Ave, Niles, IL,Time: 10:30am to 12:30pmContact: 773-465-3105

Mondays and Fridays• Free ESL - English as SecondLanguage ClassesWhere: Metropolitan Asian FamilyServicesVenue: 9015 N Milwaukee Ave, Niles, IL,Time: 10:30am to 12:30pmContact: 773-465-3105

Swami Ishatmananda• Bhagavad Gita: Philosophyof lifeVenue: Public Library-95th Street 3015Cedar Glade Rd Naperville IL 60564Time: 1st friday of every month 7-8 pmContact: 630-637-0662• India Eternal: From theVedic Age to the PresentVenue: Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago10915 N. Main Street Glendale Heights,IL 60139Time: 10:00 pmContact: 630-655-8822

ILLINOISUpcoming

NEW JERSEYUpcoming

NEW YORKUpcoming

Sat, Apr 07• Turban Day 2018 - Times Square - A Vaisakhi CelebrationeVenue: Times Square, Manhattan,New York, NY 10036Time : 10:00 am

Mon, Apr 16• Free "Yoga for Success" Ages 7+Venue: Summit on the Park: Chestnutroom in Banquet hall, 46000 SummitParkway, Canton, MI 48188Time : 06:00 pm

Sun, Apr 15•BJANA Annual HoliCelebrations 2018Venue: Royal Albert Palace, 1050 KingGeorges Post Rd, Edison, NJ 08837Time: 11:00 am

Sat, Apr 21• Literacy New Jersey, MercerCounty ProgramsVenue: Mercer County, 1 N JohnstonAve, Hamilton Township, NJ 08609Time: 11:00 am

Fri, Apr 13• Tamil New Year SpecialVenue: Mylapore - Folsom, 1760Prairie City Rd California, Folsom,CA 95630Time: 11:00 am

Fri, Apr 13• CRY Chicago - Bollywood Dance& SocialVenue: 737 S Halsted St, 737 S HalstedSt, Chicago, IL 60607Time: 05:30 pm

NORTHERN CALIFORNIAUpcoming

Sat, Apr 07• Bollywood BlastVenue: Club OMG, 43 6th St, San

Francisco, CA 94103

Time: 10:00 am

Sun, Apr 08• Live in ConcertHindiRaag Rang - Colors of Music - byBay Area Shanti ChoirVenue: India Community Center, 525

Los Coches Street, Milpitas, CA 95035

Time: 03:00pm

Sat, Apr 14• Bollywood Meets Bhangra in SFFt Live Dholi!Venue: The Cosmo Bar & Lounge,

440 Broadway California, San Fran-

cisco, CA 94133

Time: 10:00 pm

Sat, Apt 21• Ayyappa Samaaj Vishu UgadiNew Year Cultural ProgramVenue: Jain Center of Northern Cali-

fornia (JCNC), 722 S Main St Califor-

nia, Milpitas, CA 95035

Time: 11:30 am

Sat, Apr 21• Live Concert by Ms. K.S. Chitraand Mr. SharathVenue: Excelsior High Schoool, 15711

Pioneer Boulevard, Norwalk, CA 90650

Time: 06:00 pm

WASHINGTON DCUpcoming

Sun, Apr 22• Golden Mic 2nd Annual MusicCompetitionVenue: Fairfax Marriott at Fairoaks,11787 Lee Jackson Memorial Highway,Fairfax, VA 22033Time: 09:00 am

Sat, Apr 28• Dance USA Dance 2018 -Washington DCVenue: Rockville High School, 2100Baltimore Road, Rockville, MD 20851Time: 03:00 pm

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