vol.7 issue 46 march 21-27, 2015
TRANSCRIPT
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8/9/2019 Vol.7 Issue 46 March 21-27, 2015
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The South Asian Timese x c e l l e n c e i n j o u r n a l i s m
excellence in journalism ICCWORLD CUP 24-25 SPIRITUAL AWARENESS 30
Vol.7 No. 46 March 21-27, 2015 60 Cents New York Edition Follow us on TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Tunis, Tunisia: Police in Tunisia moved to
arrest nine people in connection with the ter-
rorist attack even as Islamic State claimed
responsibility for Thursday’s attack, in
which two gunmen armed with assault rifles
fired indiscriminately at tourists inside the
National Bardo Museum here killing at least
20 and wounding dozens.
The raid shocked Tunisia, regarded as a
bastion of moderate Islam and the only suc-
cess story to emerge from the so-called Arab
Bangalore/Delhi: The controversy sur-rounding the mysterious death of IAS officer
D.K. Ravi took on a stronger political color
on Thursday with the BJP-led central gov-
ernment saying it was ready for a CBI probe
if Congress-ruled Karnataka agreed to this.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh said in the
Lok Sabha that the central government was
ready to order a probe by the CBI into Ravi's
death. Ravi was found dead on March 16 in
his official apartment by his wife Kusuma.
Police prime facie termed the death as
Xavier medical school is growing in global repute
ISIS claims responsibilityfor Tunisia attack
IAS officer's death: Centreready for CBI probeif Karnataka agrees
US AFFAIRS 9 OP ED 13
A member of the Tunisian security forces stands guard at the visitors
entrance of the Bardo Museum in Tunis.
D.K. Ravi was an upright officer knownfor taking on land and sand mafia.
Jordan’s Minister of Higher Education Dr Amin Mahmoud visited the Xavier University School of Medicine campus in Aruba as well as Wyckoff Heights
Medical Center in New York, where Xavier students go for clinical rotations.Seen in the picture are (front row, from left) Xavier President Ravishankar
Bhooplapur, Dr Mahmoud, Chancellor Dr J.G Bhat (second from right),Wyckoff CEO Ramon Rodriguez (back row left) and other dignitaries.
By Jinal Shah
New York: Ever since he took charge as
Consul General of India in New York,
Amb. Dnyaneshwar Mulay has introduced
many programs to bridge the gap between
the Consulate and the ever growing Indian
community. One initiative he recently
rolled out is ‘Consulate at your doorstep’,an outreach program to not only improve
relationship between the Consulate and the
community, but also to further the pro-
grams introduced by Prime Minister
Na re nd ra Modi in In di a. Amba ss ad or
Mulay shared his vision behind this pro-
gram with The South Asian Times.
Excerpts from the exclusive interview:
The South Asian Times: Can you share
a little bit about your outreach program
that you are currently undertaking?
Ambassador Mulay: Our approach has
been to build partnerships with the commu-
nity and that partnership should be based
on mutual trust and something that will
help in the empowerment of the communityhere in America, their improved role in
building relat ions between India and US
and helping out in their desire to contribute
towards India’s development in whatever
field they desire. But to do this, we needed
to improve relationship and increase inter-
actions between Continued on page 4
Continued on page 4
Continued on page 4
'Consulate At
Your Doorstep'
Amb. Mulay launchesnew outreach program:
Detailed story on pg 22
Detailed story on page 2.
Exclusive Interview
During the New York consulate’s Community Outreach program in Boston earlier this month, Amb. Dnyaneshwar Mulay presenting a plaque to Mayor Marty Walshwith Rishikant Singh, Regional Manager-Americas, Air India, in the background.
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XUSOM: MED SCHOOL WITH GROWING GLOBAL REPUTE
Xavier University School of Medicine (XUSOM) is locatedon the beautiful Caribbean island of Aruba. Located in thecapital, Oranjestad, the school has over a hundred thousand sq
ft of space offering cutting edge facilities for classroom teach-
ing, small group learning, auditoriums, etc. A library equipped
with online access to a number of books, journals and online
databases, a canteen providing nutritious food and a National
Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) certied test center are
located on the campus. The school with students from over 17
countries has the mission of preparing leaders in primary health
care. XUSOM is committed to providing affordable quality
medical education to students and in addressing the physician
shortage noted in the US, Canada and other countries. A recent
article published in the journal ‘Annals of Family Medicine’
states that over 44,000 primary care physicians will be needed
in the next 20 years to meet demand in the US alone.
XUSOM has been accredited by different agencies provid-
ing external certication of the quality of teaching-learning
offered. It has been provisionally accredited by the Carib-
bean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and
other Health Professions (CAAM-HP). The school has been
recently recognized by the Ministry of Higher Education and
Scientic Research, Jordan, for the undergraduate medical
(MD) course as a non-Jordanian University, outside Jordan.
His Excellency, the honorable minister of Higher Education
and Scientic Research and Deputy Prime Minister of Jor -
dan, Dr Amin Mahmoud visited the XUSOM campus in Aru-
ba and the cl inical facilit ies in New York Sta te three weeks
ago. During his visit he interacted with the school manage-
ment, faculty, students and also visited the Horacio Oduber
hospital, the main tertiary care hospital in Aruba.
In Aruba, Dr Mahmoud interacted with students of Middle
Eastern descent and with representatives of various student
organizations including the Student Government Association.
Both His Excellency and the students enjoyed the encoun-
ters. He interacted with XUSOM President, Mr. Ravishankar
Bhooplapur, the Dean Dr Arun Kumar Dubey and curriculumcommittee members regarding teaching-learning activities in
the institution. He evinced keen interest in the new state of
the art campus in Aruba, the ground breaking ceremony for
which is scheduled in mid 2015. Bhooplapur introduced His
Excellency to the faculty members at a brief function.
Problem-based learning, active small group learning, the
medical humanities, behavioral and ethical aspects of medi-
cine and early clinical exposure are emphasized. Students
are trained in critical appraisal of scientic literature. Pre -
scribing skills, personal (P) drug selection, and counseling
is being emphasized and standardized patients are being in-
creasingly used for both education and assessment.
“We are confident that the students learning under the
integrated curriculum will have improved knowledge
and skills which will confer a significant advantage in
their licensing exams and future medical practice,” com-
ments Dr P Ravi Shankar, Chair of XUSOM’s Curricu -
lum Committee. He explains that in the US and Canada,
most medical schools follow an integrated basic sciences
curriculum during the first two years of the undergradu-
ate medical (MD) course. Integrated learning provides a
powerful impe tus to learn the basi c sciences as studentsare able to understand the importance of these subjects
to clinical practice. The United States Medical Licensing
Exam (USMLE) step 1 is increasingly using integrated
questions for assessment. And learning under an inte-
grated curriculum is expected to improve student perfor-
mance in this critical exam. Xavier offers standardized
examinations coordinated by the National Board of Medi-
cal Examiners, which prepares students for success in the
USMLE step 1 and provides them information on how
their performance compares to students in other medical
schools including those in the US and Canada.
Students who entered XUSOM under the new cur riculum
have begun to sit for the exam in the last few months, and
the results have shown that XUSOM’s curricular strategy is
working. Students are passing the exam at an even higherrate, and are doing so with higher scores. USMLE scores
are important in helping students get good residencies.
To offer high quality clinical education, XUSOM has en-
tered into afliation agreements with over 31 hospitals in the
US and Canada, which have been accredited by the Accredita-
tion Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) for
residencies in the respective disciplines. XUSOM has a single
curriculum committee which oversees teaching-learning and
the clinical dean and the clinical chairs of various disciplines
are members of the committee which meets frequently.
With a dynamic and inspired leadership, committed fac-
ulty and other human resources and state of the art infra-
structure, Xavier University will condently march ahead
in its mission of producing leaders in primary health care
and will continue to produce physicians wi th sound techni-cal knowledge and good human and emotional skills!
In New York Dr Mahmoud interacted with the school
management including the President Bhooplapur, Chairman
Edwin Casey and Chancellor Dr J.G. Bhat. During his visit
to Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in New York, he met the
hospital CEO, Mr. Ramon Rodriguez and the CMO, Dr Gus-
tavo Del Toro. Wyckoff is a key hospital for clinical rota-
tions for Xavier University students and students undergo a
hospital observership at the Oduber hospital during the basic
science years. Dr Amin Mahmoud is a Jordanian politician,
educator and author. He has served three times as a minister,
and has been President of 4 Jordanian universities. He has
written widely on education and public health issues.
XUSOM attracts students from a variety of countries
and ethnic backgrounds including a large percentagefrom Canada. Starting with 2015, it has been approved for
student nancial assistance in the Canadian provinces of
Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario. This will cut the
nancial burden for Canadian students. Xavier is proud of
its expanding place in medical education.
Xavier is offering affordable student loans to qualied stu-
dents from Richland Savings Bank with attractive terms of re -
payment. US citizens and permanent residents can avail of this
loan program. Also offered are scholarships - up to $ 20,000 -
based on GPA and on USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 performance.
From January 2013 the school has shifted to an inte-grated curriculum during the basic science years of the
program. XUSOM is one of the few Caribbean schools
offering a state-of-the-art integrated MD curriculum.
Jordan’s Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Dr Amin Mahmoud touring XUSOM.
VISIT BY JORDAN’S DEPUTY PM
APPROVAL FOR
CANADIAN LOANS
PRIVATE LOAN PROGRAMS
AND SCHOLARSHIPS
THE INTEGRATED CURRICULUM
RISING USMLE STEP 1 PERFORMANCE
HIGH QUALITY CLINICAL ROTATIONS
Xavier University at Aruba has recently been recognized by Jordan, and starting this year has been approved for student loans in Canada.
MEDICAL EDUCATION2 March 21-27, 2015
The Honorable Minister being introducedto the faculty by President Bhooplapur.
Dr Amin Mahmoud with Xavier President Mr RaviBhooplapur and Chairperson Mr Edwin Casey.
His Excellency Dr Mahmoud interacting withstudents of Middle Eastern descent at Xavier.
Contact: XUSOM New York office: Ph. 516-333-2224; email admissions@xusom. com
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3March 21-27, 2015TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRISTATE COMMUNITY
Los Angeles: TNT’s “Cold
Justice” true crime series aired
on Mar. 6 an episode that delved
into the 2007 case of Rupinder
Kaur Goraya, who went missing
from her home in Bradenton,
Fla. Her body has never been
found.
Working with local law
enforcement in Ft. Myers, Fla.,
the team from “Cold Justice” has
made dramatic progress on the
case: her husband, Kultar Singh
Goraya, 40, has been charged
with second-degree murder
stemming from her disappear-
ance and is now in jail, India
West reported.
The “Cold Justice” team dig
into still-unsolved and largely
forgotten small-town murder
cases..
Rupinder, 34, was a registered
nurse who worked at a hospital
near Ft. Myers, Fla. Originallyfrom Amritsar, she married d
Kultar Singh in 2006 and came
to the US. According to news
reports, she told relatives she
was not happy with her mar-
riage; in May 2007 Kultar was
arrested on domestic violence
charges. He claims she was hav-
ing extramarital affairs, but no
evidence has been found to sup-
po rt hi s cl ai m. Sh or tl y af te r
Kultar reported Rupinder miss-
ing Oct. 2, 2007, he flew with
his two-year-old special-needs
son Devyn to India, returning to
the US several months later andsurrendering Devyn to a social
services agency.
“Cold Justice” team told the
Collier County Reporter that
Goraya probably stuffed
Rupinder’s body into a trash
compactor in their apartment
complex.
Cerritos, CA: Recognizing thegrowing influence of Indian-
Americans in public life, several
top politicians, including three
women members of the US
Congress, attended the 18th bien-
nial convention of the National
Federation of Indian American
Associations (NFIA).
The March 6-8 meeting of the
largest umbrella organization in
the US, representing over 3.5 mil-
lion Americans of Indian origin,
in Cerritos, California was inau-
gurated by Indian Consul General
Venkatesan Ashok and California
State Treasurer John Chiang.
Besides US House membersJudy Chu, Loretta Sanchez, Linda
Sanchez, the convention was
attended by the Mayor of Cerritos, Mark Pulido, according
to a media release.
The opening session on the con-
vention theme "Indian Americans
Making an Impact in America"
was chaired by NFIA Founder
President Dr Thomas Abraham.
Three more sessions followed:
Indian Americans Contributing to
India, chaired by Inder Singh,
pa st NF IA ch ai rm an ; In di an
American Impact in Technology
& Medicine, chaired by Boeing
Company Technical Fellow Paul
Sikand; and Impact in US-India
Trade & Business, chaired by
Amritt Inc MD Gunjan Bagla.Speakers included Long Beach
Vice Mayor Suja Lowenthal, for-
mer Anaheim Councilman Harry
Sidhu, Stem cell therapy practi-
tioner Dr Gaurav Goswami, and
Attorney Sunny Kalara.
New NFIA office bearers were
elected. Ashok Madan of
Southern California was elected
as president unopposed. SudipGorakshakar from Washington
State was elected as Executive
Vice President. The three vice
pres iden ts are Ajoy Dube from
California, Babu K Patel and
Satheesan Nair both from Illinois.
The position of the NFIA secre-
tary went to Dr Yogendra Gupta
from Maryland and Joint
Secretary to Vasu Pawar fromSouthern California. Makam
Subbarao from Southern
California was elected as the
Treasurer.
The new Board appointed
Chandu Patel from Southern
California as Chairman of the
NFIA Foun dation, Dr Hari Har
Singh from NCR as Executive
Director (Administration) and Dr Joydeb Roy from NCR as
Executive Director .
Missing since 2007,Rupinder Kaur Goraya’s body was never found .
TNT’s ‘Cold Justice’lands
Indian American killer in Jail
NFIA meet draws USpoliticians
Honorees inclueded physician Bharat Barai and Aparna Hande for community service, TV Asia chairman H.R. Shah, musician Rita Sahai, Kathak dancer Amrapali Ambegaokar, RangaeshGadasalli for medicine, management consultant K.V. Kumar and attorney Navneet S. Chugh.
B.N. Viswanath, founder of ITV, was honored posthumously.
By Jinal Shah
New York: In celebration of
International Women’s Day,Women’s Education Project (WEP)
on Monday honored Kaycee
Jennings of the Documentary
Group and producer of the film
‘Girl Rising’ with WEP’s first ever
Red Bangle Award at the Indian
Consulate here. The award goes to
‘exceptional women who by their
life and accomplishment demon-
strate the indomitable eloquence of
the human spirit and inspire others
to higher goals’.
The film, from Oscar-nominated
director Richard E. Robbins, pres-
ents the stories of nine courageous
young girls/women from develop-
ing countries and the challenges
they overcame to pursue their
dreams. Jennings is the first to be
honored with the Red Bangle. She
accepted the award on behalf of the
nine young girls/women featured
in the film.
“It could be depressing --
extreme poverty, child marriage,
gender violence, child trafficking,
HIV/AIDS -- except that there is a
solution: education. Let them go to
school, let them stay in school, let
them thrive, let them contribute to
our world,” said Jennings adding,
“These nine girls are the faces of
Girl Rising, they are also faces of
change - Sokha from Cambodia,
Wadly from Haiti, Suma from
Nepa l, Yasmin fr om Eg yp t,
Asmera from Ethiopia, Ruksana
from India, Senna from Peru,
Mariama from Sierra Leone and
Amina from Afghanistan. I am
pr ou d to be he re re pr es en ti ng
them. The circumstances these
girls come from were tough and
the barriers they face are truly
daunting, but these girls’ spirits are
indomitable. They are strong,
courageous and determined and
given an opportunity they can
change our world.”
Take Ruksana, daughter of a
pa ve ment dw el le r in Ko lk at a.
“Ruksana is a dreamer. She sleeps
in the colorful world of her imagi-
In the next phase, the global campaign to change the lives of girls through education goes to India.
Jennings of ‘Girl Rising’ receives firstRed Bangle Award at Consulate
Mythili Rao of SAAJA, Zoe Timms, WEP project director,and Kaycee Jennings, prroducer of ‘Girl Rising’.
(Photo: Parash Chettri)
Continued on page 4
Honorees included physician Bharat Barai and Aparna Hande for community service, TV Asia chairman H.R. Shah, musician Rita Sahai, Kathak dancer Amrapali Ambegaokar, RangaeshGadasalli for medicine, management consultant K.V. Kumar and attorney Navneet S. Chugh.
B.N. Viswanath, founder of ITV, was honored posthumously.
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4 March 21-27, 2015 TheSouthAsianTimes.info TURN PAGE
Continued from page 1
the community and the consulate. So
we have started many activities in the
consulate that include improved con-
sular services, monthly lecture series,
and India state by state where we
focus on the states and events which
are specific to Indian films, fashion,
cuisine and sports -- because theseare the areas which are not been real-
ly highlighted by the consulate in the
past. Along with improving the serv-
ices and arranging special events we
are now bringing into focus new pro-
grams that Prime Minister Modi’s
government is emphasizing as part of
our outreach program.
What are these programs?
Amb. Mulay: They are Digital
India, Make in India, building smart
cities, Swachch Bharat and several
other programs which are energy
related, climate change related etc.
We have been doing outreach work
for past one and half years where my
officers and I are individually speak-ing to the people in the community in
different states, but from January
onwards we are doing it in systematic
manner. We call this outreach ‘con-
sulate at your doorstep’.
How different is this outreach
program than the previous ones?
Amb. Mulay: ‘Consulate at your
doorstep’ is a brainchild of this con-
sulate to bridge the gap between peo-
ple and the consulate. So what do we
do in this? We contact business com-
munity, chambers of commerce,
other major organizations of that state
(we have 10 states in our jurisdic-
tion), including the governor, mayor,
US Congress members, senate mem-
bers and the Indian community. We
generally go for a two day program:
on the first day we have meetings
with political officials - mayor, con-
gressmen and other government offi-
cials and also prominent business
community, who need not be Indian
Americans. I apprise them of India’s
development, India’s place in the
world including ties with the US and
request them to participate in this
relationship in an active manner. First
by talking more about India-US rela-
tionship, then proactively help
empowering our community and
finally lead a delegation to India.
US secretary of State John Kerry
said that trade between the two coun-
tries should grow from $100 billion
to $500 billion. It will happen only if there is a groundswell and we are try-
ing to create that groundswell. To the
business community we give the lat-
est overview of the business opportu-
nities in India, government policies,
liberalization, reforms and this cre-
ates a healthy environment. Day 2 is
devoted to the community of which
Indian community forms a prominent
part. We had a huge response both in
New Jersey and Boston.
You take a delegation of people
with you, can you share who are in
the team?
Amb. Mulay: We generally take
15-30 people including our visa serv-
ice providers CKGS, CEOs of theIndian banks in New York, Air India
CEO, Indian Tourism officers, travel
agents specializing in India, represen-
tatives of CII and FICCI and from
Washington US-India Business
Council. On the second day we set
up a visa camp for those who want to
submit their long term visa applica-
tion, OCI, PIO application forms
physically so that they don’t have to
line up in New York. The camp is fol-
lowed by a huge direct interface pro-
gram with the people where I first
give an overview of our relationship
and various programs. There are indi-
vidual presentations from the mem-
bers of the delegation.
What has been the response
from the community?
Amb. Mulay: For the visa camp
150-200 people applied which was a
very good turnout. Generally people
still tend to focus on passport-visa
issues. I don’t blame them because
we have not tried to tell them that the
relationship is bigger and they need
to take interest. But passport and visa
is a bread and butter issue. So, slowly
they are taking interest in India’s
development from philanthropic
activities to going back to India, they
are opening up to discuss issues in
doing business with states to law and
order situation prevailing in India.
Is New York the only consulate
doing outreach program of this
kind?Amb. Mulay: Absolutely, but oth-
ers might follow. We keep our
embassy in Washington and Ministry
of External Affairs informed.
Can you talk a little bit about
Make in India campaign promo-
tion?
Amb. Mulay: For my outreach
program I also take my officers with
me. They make presentations on vari-
ous things like visa-passport issues,
commercial economic relations and
in that we cover Make in India cam-
paign. We distribute special Make in
India pen drives and hard copies that
detail various programs currently
underway in India.What is the follow-up to these
outreach programs?
Amb. Mulay: For the other pro-
grams, the idea of outreach is not
really to generate any concrete busi-
ness. It is supposed to generate long
term sustainable interest in and sup-
port to India, which in turn will give
rise to a lot of activities in terms of
participation with the consulate but
yes the moment we came back there
was much positive feedback we
received.
How do you intend to grow the
outreach program?
Amb. Mulay: We are going to all
10 states: Connecticut on April 10,
Ohio on May 15, Philadelphia on
June 12. And so on.
After the success of MP Conclave
are there any other state represen-
tatives coming to the US?
Amb. Mulay: Chief ministers of
both Rajasthan and Maharashtra have
expressed their interest to come in
June and July respectively.
Continued from page 3
nation - world of flowers and birds and bright blue skies. It’s a stark contrast
from her real world pavement of Kolkata where she lives. Ruksana’s parents
are committed to their children’s education and despite their hardships they
moved to the city just so that their daughters could be educated. Ruksana is
now going to school, and learning dance and karate and when she grows upshe says she wants to teach art,” said Jennings. Ruksana represents the next
phase of the Girl Rising’s global campaign - Girl Rising India. "The trans-
formative power of education is overwhelming, so we’re incredibly excited
to have the opportunity to bring the Girl Rising campaign to India.
With the support and guidance of a group of local partners, we look for-
ward to using all the persuasiveness of Girl Rising storytelling to focus
attention on the critical goals of raising secondary school completion rates
for girls and reducing gender-based discrimination,” said Jennings.
Jennings of ‘Girl Rising’ receives first Red Bangle Award at Consulate
ISIS claims responsibility for...
Continued from page 1
Spring, and raised fears that it could
cripple the country’s vital tourism
sector. ISIS praised the two gunmen,
both reportedly Tunisian, who were
shot dead by police, in an audio
recording in Arabic, calling them
“knights of the Islamic State”. The
authorities said that four of the peo-
ple arres ted had direc t links to the
assault, while the other five had an
indirect connection. Hundreds of
people gathered outside the locked
gates of the Bardo Museum,
renowned for its collection of Roman
mosaics, to protest against the attack,
voicing sympathy for the victims and
concern for their country’s future.
IAS officer's death: Centre ready..
Continued from page 1
suicide as there were no external
injuries on the body, which was
found hanging from a ceiling fan in
the officer's bedroom. Ravi was a
2009 batch officer, who was work-
ing as additional commissioner of
the state commercial tax department
in Bangalore and was investigating
real estate majors and big jewelers
for alleged tax evasion and had con-
ducted several raids. He had also
taken on the sand mafia during his
tenure as district collector in Kolar
and was reportedly still getting
threats.
As part of giving back to community, Indus American Bank,Hicksville branch, held March 19 an educational seminar oncredit scores – personal and business, by Tracy A Becker, of North Shore Advisory, who is an authority on the subject.
Tracy is flanked in the picture by Jasbir Chopra, the bank’s President and CEO (on her right) and Akshat Kaul, Loan
Officer, and Manager Roopam Maini on the left.
Amb. Mulay on his new outreach program
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5March 21-27, 2015TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRISTATE COMMUNITY
New York: The spirit of giving back contin-
ued in the inspirational presence of Kiran
Bedi, founder of India Vision Foundation
(IVF), at a gala Sunday in Richmond Hill, NY
under the overall motivational leadership of
Pam Kwatra, National Chairperson of G30for India Vision Foundation.
IVF focuses on educating children of pris-
oners to make them self-reliant and become
bread earner for their parents.
“We should lessen the gap between have's
and have-nots,” said Kiran Bedi, India’s first
woman IPS officer who was in the news re-
cently as BJP’s CM candidate in Delhi and
was in the US to raise funds for her charity.
“We must stay connected and keep a watch on
what is happening around us, which will em-
power us with greater responsibility for a bet-
ter world.”
“G30 for India Vision Foundation provides
an overseas platform and opportunity to con-
nect generous hearts and donors with these
needy children,” said Eric Kumar, co-founder
& co-chair G30 for IVF which was started 4
years ago.
The gala was held in the presence of
Chamunda Swamiji and CongresswomanGrace Meng and generously sponsored by
Gurdev ‘DP’ Singh, H.K. Shah-Vegetarian
Vision, Flora & Paresh Parekh, Manny Sethi,
and Jarnail Singh of Richie Rich restaurant.
Emotions permeated the air when over 67
children were adopted by the community
thereby laying an example of “Giving Back to
the Community.”
“Practice what you preach, our action
should be an example,” said Pam Kwatra.
Presentation by Monica Dhawan, the Di-
rector of IVF, educated the audience on thei r
various projects and activities.
Contact: www.TEAMIVFUSA.org.
By Ashok Ojha/The SATimes
Edison, NJ : When Kamal Arora,
head of Arora Hospitality Group,
decided to establish his business in
USA, he chose street food of India,
also called finger food, as a brand
and promoted it through fast food
outlets named, ‘Mithaas’, meaning
sweetness in Hindi. Spread over
three locations in New Jersey, this
fast food restaurant has popular-ized down to earth spicy dishes
sold by street vendors in Indian
towns and cities, from Dahi Bhel
of Delhi to Raj Kachouri of Jaipur
and Tokri Chaat of Lucknow.
‘Mithaas’ now also offers fusion
dishes - improvisation of tradition-
al ethnic dishes enjoyed for gener-
ations.
Arora group partnered with Mas-
ter Chef Pankaj Bhadouria to bring
some of her signature dishes onto
their menu at Mithaas. These new
items were unveiled at a press meet
at Mithaas, Edison on March 16 by
Bhadouria herself. She showcased
‘Lucknow Tokri Chaat.’ She beganwith cooking ‘Ghughuni’, a stir-
fried spicy snack made out of
green peas or Hara Chana, but
eventually turned it into a purée,
paste mixed with heavy cream. The
fusion dish was served in small
eatable cups made from potato
peel. Many customers enjoyed the
paste but others wished they had
been offered the original ‘Ghughu-
ni.’ The audience applauded
Bhadouria for her demonstration.
She will continue to present her
dishes at sister locations, such as,
Urban Spice in Iselin, NJ on March22.
Bhadouria transformed from a
schoolteacher into TV celebrity in
2011 after she launched her cook-
ery reality show on Star Plus and
became India’s first ‘Master Chef.’
She currently hosts ‘Kifayati
Kitchen.’
(Front row): Kiran Bedi with Chamunda Swami and Pam Kwatra
New York: A woman who pushed
an Indian man to his death from a
subway train platform two years ago
in what the authorities said was a
hate crime faces 22 to 25 years in
pr is on . The wo ma n, Er ik a
Menendez, 33, who pleaded guilty
on Friday to first-degree manslaugh-
ter will be sentenced on April 29 for
push ing Sunando Sen, 46, to the
tracks in New York on December
27, 2012, CNN reported.Menendez told authorities she
"pushed a Muslim off the train
tracks" because she had hated
Hindus and Muslims ever since the
9/11 terrorist attacks, according to
Queens District Attorney Richard
Brown.
The woman, who was originally
charged with second-degree murder
as a hate crime was allowed on
Friday to plead guilty to first-degree
manslaughter, Brown said in a state-
ment. The judge indicated he would
sentence her to 22 to 25 years in
prison on April 29.
Conviction on the original charge
would have resulted in a tougher sentence -- 25 years to life imprison-
ment, CNN cited Meris Campbell, a
spokesperson for the district attor-
ney's office, as saying.
The district attorney's office
accepted the plea because Menendez
promised not to appeal and because
of Menendez's "substantial psychi-
atric history and serious drug prob-
lem", Campbell said.
"We are assured she'll serve a sub-
stantial amount of time behind
bar s." The inc ide nt hap pen ed at
night at the 40 Street-Lowery Street
station in Sunnyside, Queens.
Witnesses told police a woman
paced the plat form and talked to
herself before pushing Sen as the
11-car train entered the station.
Security video showed a woman
running from the scene.
Menendez was recognized on a
street in Brooklyn by a passerby
who had seen the video and called
911, police said. "The defendant isaccused of committing what is every
subway commuter's worst night-
mare -- being suddenly and sense-
lessly pushed into the path of an
oncoming train," Brown said on
Friday. "The victim was allegedly
shoved from behind and had no
chance to defend himself."
Master Chef Pankaj Bhadouria at a presentation
at Mithaas, Edison.
A Master Chef celebrates thetaste of India’s street food
Kiran Bedi attends NY fundraiser for her charity
S. Mitra Kalita appointedmanaging editor of Los
Angeles TimesNew York: Indian American S.
Mitra Kalita has joined the Los
A n g e l e s
Times as its
m a n a g i n g
editor. Kalita,
whose par-
ents come
from Assam
in India, has
been hired for
editorial strat-
egy for the
paper. She has previously worked
for the Wall Street Journal, the
Washington Post, AP and Quartz
where she was the ideas editor.
In an announcement circulated
among the staff, LA Times publish-
er Austin Beutner and editor Davan
Maharaj said Mitra will work to
develop and refine new styles of
journalism simil ar to those she
helped pioneer at Quartz which
was launched in 2012. Mitra will
also lead newsroom efforts as part
of an enhanced effort at audience
acquisition – bringing more people
to see our terrific journalism and
finding new communities of read-ers.
Mitra has a notable record in
high-quality journalism. At the
Wall Street Journal, she oversaw
coverage of the Great Recession,
launched a local news section for
New York City and reported on the
housing crisis as a senior writer.
US woman faces 25 years in jailfor pushing Indian to death
Sunando Sen was pushed into path of oncoming
train by Erika (right)
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6 March 21-27, 2015 TheSouthAsianTimes.info NATIONAL COMMUNITY
IN BRIEF
The Asian American Le-
gal Defense Fund hon-
ored partner Neal
Katyal Feb. 23 with a 2015
Justice in Action Award, which
was presented to him at
AALDEF's Annual Lunar
New Year Gala in New York
City. AALDEF honored
Katyal in recognition of his
professional and personal ac-
complishments as one of the
nation’s most influential Indi-
an American lawyers and his
longtime commitment to so-
cial justice.
Katyal has argued 24 cases before the United States
Supreme Court, most recently
securing a landmark victory in
a whistleblower case before
the court for former federal air
marshal Robert J. MacLean, a
pro bono client.
The AALDEF Justice in Ac-
tion Awards recognizes excep-
tional individuals for their out-
standing achievements and ef-
forts in advancing social jus-
tice. “I am humbled and hon-
ored by this award, which
means a great deal to me,”
Katyal said in a press release.
“Lawyers play a crucial role in
driving this country toward an
even fairer and more humane
land, and I've been fortunate towork with so many who are in-
volved in this important
work."
Neal Katyal receives AALDEF 2015Justice in Action Award
The Metropolitan Museumof Art (Met) in New York
will organize “Encounter-
ing Vishnu: The Lion Avatar in In-
dian Temple Drama” exhibition
from December 19, 2015 to June
5, 2016. “Dramas presented dur-
ing religious festivals in southern
India are an important aspect of
popular Hindu celebration. This
exhibition highlights five rare
wooden sculptural masks that rep-resent a largely unrecorded cate-
gory of late medieval Indian devo-
tional art. The masks depict the
protagonists in a deadly battle be-
tween Vishnu in his man-lion
avatar, Narasimha, and an evil
king whose destruction was essen-
tial for the restoration of order in
the universe,” a Met announce-
ment says.
Metropolitan Museum announcesLord Vishnu exhibition
India Association of Long Island(IALI)celebrated Holi at Antun’s Hicksville,
Long Island on March 8th. The event,
which had an overwhelming turnout of
more than 200 guests was celebrated in
style, with lots of fun and Holi spirit. As
guests arrived, they were welcomed with
Gulal Teeka and served Thandai which is
traditional drink of Holi. They were also
served delicious snacks and sumptuous
lunch by Antun’s.The program was commenced by the
IALI President, Satnam Singh Parhar’s
welcome speech, in which he requested all
members to donate generously to IALI to
help pay for renovation and maintenance of
IALI Home(India Center) purchased this
year. Padam Shri awardee Dr. Dattatreyudu
Nori was the guest of honor and was recog-
nized for his accomplishments in the field
of medicine. He was presented a plaque byMr.Parhar and honored with a citation by
Mrs.Nasrin Ahmad, Town Clerk of Town of
Hempstead. Mr. Parhar acknowledged and
presented Certificate Of Appreciation to
Bronze donors who donated up to $2000 for
the purchase of IALI Home(India Center).
A wonderful entertainment program fol-
lowed, with lovely performances by stu-
dents of Shilpa Jhurani, presentation by Ms.
Teen USA, dances by Arya academy, Holisong by Parth Merai and an energetic folk
dance performance by Preya Patel. Holi at-
mosphere was captured by elegant and en-
chanting dance performance by Gunjan
Rastogi & Garima Bhatia to the melodious
singing of Holi songs by Jyoti Gupta.
IALI’s next program will be “Vaisakhi
Mela Cruise”, cruise for a nobel cause on
May 2nd .
India Association of Long Island celebrates Holi
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA is hold-
ing nationwide “Muhammad - Messenger of
Peace” conference to respond to allegations
against Prophet Muhammad. This campaign is a re-
buke to terrorists and anti-Islam personalities alike,
and is designed to build bridges of education.
This event is an opportunity for people of all back-
grounds to learn about Prophet Muhammad from prac-
ticing American Muslims. Over the past several years
Prophet Muhammad’s character has been maligned on
numerous occasions, including a hateful video. This
event provides an educational and civil response,
demonstrates why over 1 billion Muslims revere
Prophet Muhammad, and serves to build bridges of
understanding. Speakers include Imam Azhar Haneef,
National Vice President of Ahmadiyya Muslim Com-
munity USA and Harris Zafar, National Spokesperson
for Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA and author of “Demystifying Islam.”
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community New Jersey is
holding this conference on March 24th from 6:30 pm
to 9 pm at Rutgers University, Student Center Multi-
purpose Room, New Brunswick. The event is free and
open to the public. The worldwide Ahmadiyya Mus-
lim Community was established in Qadian, India in
1889. Ahmadi Muslims believe Mirza Ghulam Ahmad
is the awaited Messiah and Mahdi foretold in the
Qur’an and the hadith of Prophet Muhammad. The In-
dia chapter of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is
the oldest chapter, which is especially significant be-
cause the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is now es-
tablished in 206 nations worldwide with tens of mil-
lions of members. Ahmadi Muslims enjoy religious
freedom in India. On the contrary, Pakistan has enact-
ed state sanction persecution of millions of Ahmadi
Muslims residing in Pakistan. In 1974 the Pakistani
government passed the second amendment to its con-
stitution, which declared Ahmadis as “non-Muslim for
purposes of law.” A decade later Dictator General Zia
ul Haqq instituted Ordinance XX, which criminalized
any Ahmadi posing as a Muslim or using Muslim ter-
minology. Dictator Zia likewise implemented deathfor apostasy and death for blasphemy laws to further
target Ahmadi Muslims. Despite the ongoing persecu-
tion, violence, and terrorism against Ahmadi Muslims,
the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Pakistan has
refused to engage in a single act of terrorism or
retaliation.
International Women's Day cele-
brations were held in major met-
ropolitan areas like New Jer-
sey/New York, Washington DC
Metro Region, Dallas/Ft Worth, At-
lanta, Chicago, Maryland, Rich-
mond, Delaware Valley and many
more areas across the U.S. in March2015. Sudhakar Perkari, President
of American Telugu Association
said, "ATA is the first Telugu Asso-
ciation in USA which has been cele-
brating International Women’s Day"
every year since 2013. Women's
Day celebration with ATA became a
major social networking event to in-
teract with successful stalwart ladies
in our society. Many distinguished
guests spoke on the occasion, on
how to achieve balance betweenwork and life, personal life, climb-
ing up the corporate ladder, health,
raising kids in the USA, entrepre-
neurship, empowerment, economic
independence, stress management,
violence against women. Over 2000
women attended this event across
various cities, and guests included
from various walks of life including,
including, politicians, doctors,
lawyers, entrepreneurs, IT profes-
sionals, and community leaders at-tended these events and shared their
experiences and achievements,
which inspired the audience to face
challenges with courage.
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community launches nationwide“Muhammad Messenger of Peace” campaign
ATA celebrates International Women's Day on a grand note
Donors were recognized for their noble gesture of donating towards IALI Home (right) IALI members performing on Holi song.
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7March 21-27, 2015TheSouthAsianTimes.info NATIONAL COMMUNITY
Washington, DC: Indian-
American Renu Khator has been electe d cha ir of the
Board of Directors of the
American Council on
Education (ACE), the major
coordinating body for US
colleges and universities.
Uttar Pradesh born
Khator, University of
Houston President and
System Chancellor since
2008 became board chair
during ACE's 97th Annual
Meeting in Washington, DC
Monday.
Earning a bachelor's
degree at the University of
Kanpur, she received her master's and PhD in politi-
cal science from Purdue University, Indiana.
She succeeds James H. Mullen, Jr., president
of Allegheny College, Pennsylvania and will
serve for one year. Before becoming ACE
Board chair, Khator served as vice chair.
"It will be a privilege to serve as chair of the
American Council on Education during a
period of major chal lenges and enormous
opportunities for higher education," Khator
said.
"I look forward to working with my col-
leagues on key issues such as college comple-
tion, global competitiveness and innovation."
The UH System's first
woman chancellor and thefirst Indian immigrant to
head a comprehensive
research university in the
US, Khator assumed her
pos t in January 2008. As
chancellor, Khator oversees
a system that serves nearly
70,000 students, has an
annual budget that exceeds
$1.5 billion and has a $3.8
bi ll ion-pl us econom ic
impact on the Greater
Houston area each year.
As president, she is the
chief executive officer of
the largest and oldest of the
four UH System universi-ties.
During her tenure, UH has experienced
record-breaking research funding, enrollment
and private support. In 2011, UH became a
Tier One university, with the Carnegie
Foundation elevating it into the top category
of research universities.
A noted scholar in the field of global envi-
ronmental policy, Khator has published
numerous books and articles on the subject.
Prior to her appointment, she was provost
and senior vice president at the University of
South Florida, capping a 22-year career at
that institution.
Washington, DC: Coffee retail
giant Starbucks is teaming up with
long-time Indian-American journal-
ist Rajiv Chandrasekaran to produce
"constructive" films and TV shows
around issues "that matter."
The new media start-up "will cre-
ate and produce non- fiction, social
impact content," according to the
company's founder Rajiv
Chandrasekaran, who bid adieu to
The Washington Post for this ven-
ture on March 2.
The company will start with pro-
ducing television and film projects
around Chandrasekaran's 2014 book 'For Love of Country: What Our
Veterans Can Teach Us About
Citizenship, Heroism and Sacrifice.'
"I am not doing this so they can
sell more cups of coffee. What we
are doing is trying to play a positive
and constructive role -— and broad-
en understanding across the country
around issues that matter to our
nation," he said in an interview.
His new venture is an outgrowth
of a collaboration last year with
Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz on
the book about US veterans.
Schultz has made social causes an
important part of the company's
mission since he rejoined it full-
time in 2008.
Chandrasekaran has had several
jobs at The Post, including national
editor, assistant managing editor and
Baghdad bureau chief.
He is also the author of Imperial
Life in the Emerald City, a book about the post-invasion reconstruc-
tion of Iraq, which won the
Overseas Press Club book award
and was a finalist for the National
Book Award.
Chandrasekaran also covered the
David Petraeus affair for The
Washington Post, chronicling the
scandal's affect on other military
officials, the lifestyle perks afforded
a top general and the embattled offi-
cial's consultation of civilian mili-
tary analysts. Chandrasekaran said
his departure from The Post is "not a
reflection of how I feel about the
newspaper business," but rather the
uniqueness of the opportunity that
grew out of his work with Schultz.
"I think the Post is a remarkable
place today," he said, describing it
as brimming with energy and
dynamism.
Rajiv Chandrasekaranbid adieu to The
Washington Post for thisventure on March 2. The
company will start withproducing television andfilm projects around
Chandrasekaran's 2014book 'For Love of
Country: What OurVeterans Can Teach Us
About Citizenship,Heroism and Sacrifice'which he co-authored
with Starbucks CEOHoward Schultz.
(Photo:
Seattletimes.com)
Renu Khator elected head of
American Council on Education
Starbucks teams up with journalist Rajiv Chandrasekaran to produce films
Washington, DC: Indian-
American Aneesh Chopra, who
was named by President
Barack Obama as the first
White House chief technologyofficer, is now working to
make government data accessi-
ble for tackling unemployment.
During his tenure, Chopra's
role involved making govern-
ment data more accessible. It's
a mission he has continued
after his departure, according
to the Washington Post.
After leaving the White
House, he has founded Arlington-based
start-up Hunch Analytics, assembling a
band of public officials, tech entrepreneurs
and think-tank analysts whose focus is firm-
ly on the labor market. "With today's tech-
nologies, we can do a lot more to build open
data sets for skills," Chopra was quoted assaying.
One of Chopra's pilot efforts using data to
tackle unemployment was a job portal for
veterans called Veterans Talent, created last
autumn. The site scraped data from Monster
and LinkedIn and mapped the locations of
unemployed veterans to geographic regions
that had veteran-friendly job openings.
The project was intended as a proof-of-
concept, but it taught the group about the
importance of open data, said Leighanne
Levensaler, senior vice president of prod-
ucts at Workday, a human resources soft-
ware company that was involved in the
project. The closest thing to a
standard national database is
the Labor Department's
Occupational Information
Network Web site, known asO*Net.
Built in the 1990s, the site
compiles data on more than
900 occupations, with details
about job skills, average com-
pensation and a search tool to
find jobs by state.
But although the site is con-
tinually updated, it has been
slow to keep pace with the
changing job market, according to Chopra
and Levensaler.
Chopra convened a roundtable of govern-
ment officials, academics and private-sector
executives last month to discuss measures
to improve O*Net, according to the Post.
Workday and LinkedIn are among thecompanies interested in the effort - which is
still at a conceptual stage, Chopra said.
Last year, LinkedIn worked with the City
of New York on a program led by the
mayor's office to train and hire New Yorkers
for technology jobs. The plan served as a
model for the president's initiative.
"No one company, no matter how amaz-
ing they are, has the capacity to get every
employer in America to open up their skills
data for every job posting," Chopra was
quoted as saying.
"The government has the capacity to con-
vene stakeholders to open up the data."
Aneesh Chopra's new role: Tackling USunemployment with government data
Aneesh Chopra was the White House’s first
Chief Technology Officer
Renu Khator is University of Houston President and
System Chancellor
since 2008
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8 March 21-27, 2015 TheSouthAsianTimes.info NATIONAL COMMUNITY
IN BRIEF
R hishav Choudhury, an Indian stu-dent from Guwahati, India, study-
ing at a private liberal arts college
in Ohio, fell to his death while on a spring
hiking trip in Arizona.
The College of Wooster is mourning
the death of Choudhury, 22, College
Dean Kurt Holmes said in a Thursday
message to the campus community.
He fell to his death on Wednesday
"while hiking a canyon in the Coconino
National Forest in Arizona during a
spring break camping trip with WOODS,
the College's outdoors club."
"We are heartbroken by the news of this
terrible accident, and our thoughts and
prayers go out to Rhishav's family and
friends," Holmes said.According to the Yavapai County Sher-
iff's Office, as reported on azcentral.com,
Choudhury was hiking West Clear Creek
near Camp Verde with members of his
group, but wandered away and fell about
100 feet in a rocky area near the trail.
Despite sparse cell phone reception, the
group summoned help.
The report said Choudhury was already
dead when a paramedic was able to reach
him by hiking through the canyon.
The incident is being investigated and
no foul play is suspected, according to the
sheriff's Office.
The Asian American Coalition of
Chicago honored Indian Americans
Dr. Amarjit Singh, and Anukool Va-
sudevan, at their 32nd Conference on Busi-
ness And Networking and Annual Lunar
New Year Celebration on February 28 at the
Hyatt Regency O'Hare Hotel in Rosemont
Illinois. This year's gala event themed "Uni-
ty in Diversity" was hosted by the Indone-
sian American community of Chicago, with
Martino Tangkar serving as the event chair-
person. More than 1300 attended the black-
tie event. Amarjit Singh M.D, past president
of Indian American medical Association of
Illinois and also Past Chairman of Punjabi
Cultural Society of Chicago, with a stellar
record of community service won the Indian
American Exemplary Community Service
Award. Anukool Vasudevan a senior at Loy-
ola University won the Indian American
Youth Who Excel Award.
Indian student falls to death whilehiking in Arizona
Rhishav Choudhury
Facebook has acquired ‘The Find’ – an e-commerce firm co-founded in
2006 by Indian American CEO
Siva Kumar and CTO Shashikant Khan-
delwal. In its webpost, TheFind said
many of its employees would be joining
Facebook and work on improving the
relevance of the social network’s adver-
tising. TheFind added that its search en-
gine will go offline “in the next few
weeks.”
Facebook has been testing a “buy” but-
ton since July 2014 that lets users pur-
chase goods directly. Now, withTheFind, it would be able to add addi-
tional shopping tools to its service.
Facebook and TheFind cast the acqui-
sition as a way to lift the digital advertis-
ing business of Facebook, which with
$12.6 billion in annual ad sales last year,
is unquestionably a dominant player in
the industry. “Together, we believe we
can make the Facebook ads’ experience
even more relevant and better for con-
sumers,” Facebook said in a statement
about the deal.
Asian American Coalition of Chicago honorsDr. Amarjit Singh and Anukool Vasudevan
More than 300 members gathered
at the Peacock Party Hall in
Bay Area on March 13 to lend
their support to TANA (Telugu Associa-
tion of North America) as the organiza-
tion kicked off its elections for the new
executive team. For the first time in
TANA there should be elections between
two internal groups. Ballots will be
mailed on March 30th. Chandra Guntu-
palli who is contesting for California Re-
gional Representative requested everyone
to cast their valuable vote without wast-
ing it by not selecting anybody.
Facebook acquires Indian American ownede-commerce startup
A25-year-old Indian student at
George Washington University
has been found guilty of murder-
ing his friend in 2013 over suspicion that
his girlfriend was cheating on him with
his high school buddy and faces life in
prison when sentenced.
Rahul Gupta was found guilty on Mon-
day of first-degree murder by a jury in
Maryland after an 11-day trial. He had
initially told the police that he killed his
friend 23-year-old Mark Waugh as he
suspected that his girlfriend was cheating
on him with Waugh.
Gupta later sought to put the blame on
his girlfriend Taylor Gould, saying that he
had lied to protect her. Gupta will be sen-
tenced on April 16 and faces life in
prison.
George Washington Univ student foundguilty of friend’s murder
TANA elections kickoff in Bay AreaRahul Gupta
TANA members at the elections kick-off dinner on March 13 atPeacock Party Hall in Bay Area
Dr Amarjit Singh (second from left) among the awardees
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9March 21-27, 2015TheSouthAsianTimes.info US AFFAIRS
Washington: House
Republicans on Tuesday pro- posed higher defense spending
and deep cuts to social services
including healthcare for the poor
in an aggressive new budget plan
that seeks to eliminate deficits by
2024.
The blueprint from House
Budget Committee Chairman
Tom Price, which has almost no
chance of becoming law, pre-
scribes $5.468 trillion in spend-
ing cuts and interest savings
over 10 years compared to cur-
rent policies.
Like the budgets of Price's
predecessor, Paul Ryan, the doc-
ument assumes $2 trillion in 10-
year savings from full repeal of
the Affordable Care Act, the sig-
nature healthcare reform law that
President Barack Obama has
vowed to defend.
Price's plan also recycles Ryan's
pr es cr ip ti on fo r co nt ro ve rs ia l
changes to the Medicare health
program for seniors, turning it into
a system of subsidies for private
insurance, affecting those born in
1959 or later.
The non-binding resolutionreasserts the Republican Party's
long-standing vision of a smaller
federal government, less national
debt, lower taxes and a stronger
economy, all likely themes in the
2016 presidential campaign.
Senate Budget Chairman Mike
Enzi plans to unveil his version of
the Republican budget on
Wednesday but it is expected to be
more cautious, excluding the
Ryan-style Medicare reforms in
favor of savings similar to those
proposed by Obama.Price's plan could struggle to
gain the support of deeply divid-
ed House Republicans. It seeks
to skirt "sequester" spending
caps, nominally keeping them in
place to pleas e defici t hawks
while boosting military spending
by adding nearly $40 billion to
an off-budget war funding
account.
Pro-military Republicans
greeted the plan with skepti-
cism. "I'm not convinced this
bu dg et do es it ," sa id
Representative Ryan Zinke, a
former Navy Seal commander.
The plan contrasts with
Obama's 2016 budget request,
which would raise taxes on the
wealthy by about $1 trillion
through 2025 to help pay for infra-
structure and education spending
while running annual deficits from
$400 billion to $800 billion.
Democrats said the House
Republican budget was full of
"gimmicks" and would shred pro-
grams that aid the poor, the elderly
and working families.
Washington: Rep.
Aaron Schock willresign from
Congress following
weeks of scan-
dalous stories about
how the Illinois
Republican and his
office spent taxpay-
ers’ money on
everything from a
Downton Abbey-
themed office reno-
vation to mileage
reimbursements.
A couple of
months ago, anoth-
er GOP Rep,
Michael Grimm of
State Island, NY, resigned from
Congress after pleading guilty to
a felony tax evasion charge.
Politico reports that Schock
expensed 170,000 miles on his
personal vehicle but then sold it
with only 80,000 miles on it.
That means Schock was billing
taxpayers for 90,000 miles that
were never driven. “Today, I am
announcing my resignation as a
member of the US House of
Representatives, effective March
31,” Schock said in a statement
Wednesday. “The constant ques-
tions over the last six weeks
have proven a great distraction
that has made it too difficult for
me to serve the people of the
18th District with the high stan-
dards that they deserve and
which I have set for myself.”
Republican budget cuts socialspending, boosts military
Corporate Office: 385 Seneca Avenue, Ridgewood NY 11385
718.821.3182, www.AtlanticDialysis.Com
The budget presented by Chairmanof the House Budget Committee Tom
Price has almost no chance ofbecoming law.
Rep. Aaron Schock from Illinois
Albany, NY: Ne w York Go v. An drew
Cuomo and the new Assembly Speaker Carl
Heastie say they have agreed on new ethics
reforms that would include more detailed
disclosures of lawmakers' outside income.
Cuomo says the state Senate has notsigned off on the reforms, which he has pro-
posed as part of a state budget for the com-
ing fiscal year. Details were to be available
Wednesday. Heastie says the Assembly
majority's Democratic Conference has been
briefed and is in agreement.
Cuomo says there will be more public dis-
closure than before, plus restrictions on
whom officials can do outside business with
if there are connections with their govern-ment actions. He says that it's a part-time
Legislature and they wanted to make sure
people could do their private sector jobs and
serve in government.
Cuomo, assembly speaker agreeon ethics reform plan
Washington: Workplace suicide cases are onthe rise and people belonging to specific occu-
pations like law enfo rcement, agri cult ure,
medicine and the armed forces are at higher
suicide risk than others, finds a US-based
study.
The highest workplace suicide rate is in pro-
tective services occupations (5.3 per 1 mil-
lion), the study published in the American
Journal of Preventive Medicine said.
The increased suicide risk among specific
occupations is the availability and access to
lethal means, such as drugs for medical doc-
tors and firearms for law enforcement officers.
Workplace stressors and economic factors
have also been found to be linked with suicide
in these occupations.
"Occupation can largely define a person'sidentity, and psychological risk factors for sui-
cide, such as depression and stress, can be
affected by the workplace," said lead investi-
gator Hope M. Tiesman, epidemiologist with
the US National Institute for OccupationalSafety and Health.
"The workplace should be considered a
potential site to implement suicide-prevention
programs and train managers in the detection
of suicidal behavior, especially among the
high-risk occupations identified in this paper,"
he added.
This study compared workplace versus non-
workplace suicides in the US between 2003
and 2010, using data from the Bureau of
Labor Statistics' Census of Fatal Occupational
Injury database.
Besides firefighters and the police, people
working in farming, fishing, and forestry
occupations had the second highest suicide
rate (5.1 per one million).
Those in installation, maintenance, andrepair occupations also had high workplace
suicide rates (3.3 per one million).
Suicides within the military was excluded
from this analysis.
Second GOP Rep resignsunder a cloud
Workplace suicides on the rise in USA
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10 March 21-27, 2015 TheSouthAsianTimes.info INDIA
New Delhi: The Supreme Court,
refusing to accept the central gov-
ernment's view that Jats are a back-
ward community, has quashed the
March 4, 2014, notification by the
then UPA government extending
reservations to the community's
members in nine states.
Jat community leaders expressed
shock at the verdict and some said
they will seek a review.
A bench of Justice Ranjan Gogoi
and Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman
said: "We cannot agree with the
view taken by the union govern-
ment that Jats in the nine states in
question are a backward communi-
ty so as to be entitled to inclusion in
the Central List of Other Backward
Classes."
"We must hold that inclusion of
the politically organized classes
(such as Jats) in the list of back-ward classes mainly, if not solely,
on the basis that on same parame-
ters, other groups who have fared
better have been so included, can-
not be affirmed", said Justice Gogoi
pronouncing the judgment.
While the UPA government
extended reservation benefits in
education and government employ-
ment to the Jat community, ignor-
ing the recommendation of the Na ti on al Co mmis si on fo r
Backward Classes (NCBC) to the
contrary, the decision was also
endorsed by the Narendra Modi
government, which brushed aside
the suggestion that it was rooted in
electoral exigencies of the previous
government.
On determination of backward-
ness, the court said that "the gates
would be opened only to permitentry of the most distressed. Any
other inclusion would be a serious
abdication of the constitutional
duty of the state".
It held backwardness "a manifes-
tation caused by the presence of
several independent circumstances
which may be social, cultural, eco-
nomic, educational or even politi-
cal" and that due to "historical con-
ditions, particularly in Hindu socie-
ty, recognition of backwardness has
been associated with caste".
It is the identification of "new
emerging groups" that "must
engage the attention of the state"
and the "constitutional power and
duty must be concentrated" to dis-
cover such groups rather than to
enable groups recover "lost
ground" in claiming preference and
benefits on the basis of historical
prejudice.
Holding the March 4, 2014 notifi-
cation as not justified, the court
said: "The view taken by the NCBC
to the contrary is adequately sup-
ported by good and acceptable rea-
sons which furnished a sound and
reasonable basis for further conse-
quential action" by the government.
"Accordingly... the aforesaid noti-
fication... including the Jats in theCentral List of Other Backward
Classes for the states of Bihar,
Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal
Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, NCT of
Delhi, Bharatpur and Dholpur dis-
tricts of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh
and Uttarakhand is set aside and
quashed," it said, ruling on a batch
of petitions challenging the notifi-
cation. Pointing out that the date on
which the exercise of extending
reservation is undertaken "has to be
contemporaneous", the court said
that most of the data, except in the
case of Haryana, was at least a
decade old and hauled up the gov-
ernment for "negative governance".
Jat community leaders and other
political figures reacted immediate-
ly given the high political stakes
involved with the Jat community
votes in various states.
Leaders in Haryana, where Jats
are the politically dominant com-
munity and account for nearly 25
percent of the opulation, treaded
cautiously, saying they would first
examine the apex court judgment
before making any observation.
"Our government will examine
the Supreme Court decision. Only
then we will be able to say some-
thing," said Finance Minister Captain Abhimanyu.
He said the ruling Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) believed in
allowing reservation for those who
were socially and economically
lagging.
Jat leaders in Rajasthan, where
the community accounts for 14-15
percent of the stat e's population,
expressed shock.
New Delhi: A united opposition has
sounded its battle cry over the land
acquisition bill as leaders of 14 political
parties, led by Congress president Sonia
Gandhi, marched to Rashtrapati Bhavan
to urge President Pranab Mukherjee not
to let the government go ahead with the
"anti-farmer bill".
"Yeh aar paar ki ladai hai (this is a
fight to the finish)," declared Janata Dal-United chief Sharad Yadav.
"This is the beginning of a major battle
that will be waged in every nook and
corner of the country," he said at
Rashtrapati Bhavan where the MPs
assembled.
The march saw an energized Congress
take on the Narendra Modi government
over the bill, which they allege would
allow corporates to gobble up agricultur-
al land.
Sonia Gandhi, with former prime min-
ister Manmohan Singh standing next to
her, declared that the opposition was
determined to defeat the land acquisition
bill. Gandhi said "democra tic, secular
and forward-looking forces are deter-mined to defeat the Modi government's
designs" to promote corporate interests
at the cost of farmers by taking away
their land. Around 20 of them went in to
submit the memorandum -- signed by 28
leaders -- to the president.
The two-page memorandum said "all
the progressive, secular, democratic for-
ward-looking forces are determined to
defeat the Modi Sarkar's design to pro-
mote division and social disharmony.
"We request Rashtrapatiji to intervene
to protect the interests of the kisans(farmers), and impress upon the Modi
sarkar, not to go ahead with the amend-
ment in the Rajya Sabha."
The ruling BJP-led National
Democratic Alliance which is in majori-
ty in the Lok Sabha passed the Right to
Fair Compensation and Transparency in
Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and
Resettlement (Amendment) bill, 2015,
with nine amendments.
However, it looks destined for tough
times in the Rajya Sabha where the
opposition holds the upper hand.The united opposition is demanding
that the amendments should have been
considered by a standing committee
before being taken up in parliament.
Budget session's
first phase maybe extended
New Delhi: The first phase of the parliament's
budget session may be extended by two days to
pass bills on coal, mines and minerals on which
the government has issued ordinances, sources
said. The coal bill, the mines and minerals bill
and the land bill are required to be passed in par-
liament to replace the ordinances promulgated
by the government. The ordinances lapse on
April 5.
Under the rules, the government cannot re-
issue the ordinances during the session.
Parliament is scheduled to take a break on
March 20 and reconvene on April 20. The budg-et session is expected to end on May 8.
According to official sources, the issue of
extending the first phase of the budget session
was discussed in a meeting of the Cabinet
Committee on Parliamentary Affairs on
Wednesday.
Sources said a final decision will be taken by
the government on Thursday.
The government is hopeful to get the coal allo-
cation bill and mines and minerals bill passed in
the upper house but if the bills are passed with
some changes, they will have to come back to
the Lok Sabha.
However, the government does not appear to
have hope about passage of land acquisition bill
which is strongly opposed by most opposition
parties.
Sources said the government was looking at
the possibility of proroguing one of the houses
of parliament after the first half of budget ses-
sion to re-promulgate ordinance on land bill.
Jat community leaders expressed shock at the verdictand some said they will seek a review.
SC quashes Jat reservation, community shocked
Congress president Sonia Gandhi leads a march of leaders andMPs of 10 political parties from the Parliament House to protest
against the land acquisition bill in New Delhi.
Lok Sabha passed the Right to
Fair Compensation and
Transparency in Land
Acquisition, Rehabilitation and
Resettlement (Amendment) bill,
2015, with nine amendments.
It's a fight to the finish over land bill: Opposition
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11March 21-27, 2015TheSouthAsianTimes.info INDIA
Nun's gang rape: Mamata orders CBI probe
May & Sept 2015
New Delhi: The central govern-
ment is ready for a CBI inquiry
into the death of Karnataka IAS
officer D.K. Ravi if the state gov-
ernment wants, Home Minister
Rajnath Singh said.
Making an intervention during
zero hour in the Lok Sabha,
Rajnath Singh said a delegation of
parliament members met him and
demanded that a CBI inquiry be
initiated into the incident.
"Some senior IAS officers have
also raised this demand," he said.
The home minister said: "I have
spoken with the Karnataka chief
minister and he has said he will
send a detailed report within a cou-
ple of days".
"If the state government wants
(CBI probe), then as soon as I get arepresentation from them, we will
be ready for a CBI inquiry".
D.K. Ravi, a 36-year-old addi-
tional commissioner in the state
commercial tax department, was
found dead on March 16 at his
official apartment. His wife found
him hanging from a ceiling fan.
The issue was raised in the Lok
Sabha on Thursday by BJP mem-
ber Pra hlad Jos hi, who is from
Karnataka.
Joshi said: "We met Rajnath
Singh to apprise him of the situa-
tion and how people are been treat-ed there (Karnataka)".
"I demand a CBI inquiry," he
said, adding that the parents of the
officer are also demanding it.
"The CID works under home
minister of Karnataka against
whom fingers are being raised,"
Joshi said.
Joshi's comments led to a protest
by Co ngre ss me mb er s in th e
house. Amid the uproar, Speaker
Sumitra Mahajan adjourned the
house briefly for 15 minutes.
Kolkata: In the face of massive
protests over the brutal gang-rape
of a septuagenarian nun inside a
convent, West Bengal Chief
Minister Mamata Banerjee has
announced she would "entrust the
investigation" to the CBI, hours
after a high-level Catholic delega-
tion visited the spot and demand-
ed "visible" action including
arrest of the culprits.
Banerjee's announcement on
Twitter and Facebook came over
five days after the gruesome inci-
dent, that has caused revulsion
across the country and beyond.
Despite releasing images from
CCTV footage of four of the pur-
ported criminals, police detained
10 people but were unable to
arrest even one of the culprits,
who raided the Convent of Jesus
and Mary in Nadia district 's
Ranaghat, some 80 km fromKolkata, on March 14 and gang-
raped the 71-year-old Sister
Superior.
Earlier in the day, the National
Human Rights Commission took
suo motu cognizance of the inci-
dent and shot off separate notice
to the state chief secretary and
director general of police, calling
for reports within two weeks.
Banerjee said she decided to
hand over the case to the Central
Bureau of Investigation consider-
ing its "seriousness and sensitivi-
ty". "The Ranaghat incident of
March 14, 2015 is a very seriousmatter. The police administration
was instructed to take swift action
to nab the culprits. They are mak-
ing their best efforts.
"Considering the seriousness
and sensitivity of the case and
also the fact that the place of inci-
dence is very close to the border
area, I have decided to entrust
investigation of the case to CBI,"
Banerjee said, and promised that
her government will provide all
"necessary cooperation and assis-
tance" to the federal agency.
Interestingly, Banerjee had con-
demned protesters in Ranaghat,
who had blocked her convoy
seeking a CBI probe and express-
ing anger over police failure to
arrest any of the culprits.
"Those who are shouting 'CBI,
CBI' and trying to play politics
over rape, I condemn you," the
chief minister had said after her
convoy was stranded for over an
hour when she came out of the
hospital where the victim was
under treatment.
The Banerjee government has
also over the past months spewed
venom on the CBI and organised
road protests against it after the
pr ob e ag en cy ar re st ed an d
quizzed several Trinamool
Congress leaders in connection
with the Saradha chit fund scam.
Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim said the decision to
hand over the case to the CBI was
taken as the police had "some lim-
itations".
Throughout this week, Kolkata
continued to be rocked by protests
over the Ranaghat crime. The
Bharatiya Janata Party Mahila
Morcha took out a march to the
secretariat, while the Left Front's
women activists organised a silent
protest rally from College Square
to Esplanade.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh
CBI probe into Karnataka IASofficer's death
OSAP Loans NOW available to Ontario applicants !!!
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12 March 21-27, 2015 TheSouthAsianTimes.info INDIA
Ghaziabad: A month after it took power
in Delhi after crushing the BJP and the
Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)
has announced that it has decided to go
national.
"After our spectacular victory in Delhi
and seeing the love of the people, we
have decided to expand at the national
level," party leader Sanjay Singh told
the media here.
He added that the crisis in the party
would soon end, and party leaders
would reach out to Prashant Bhushan,
who, along with Yogendra Yadav, was
ousted from the PAC this month.
The AAP's Political Affairs
Committee (PAC), its highest decision-
making body, also decided to enrol
"active volunteers" and to form a com-
mittee to decide their role in different
states. Five of the PAC's seven members
met at the residence of Delhi Chief
Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who returned
to the capital after 10 days of naturopa-thy treatment in Bengaluru for his nag-
ging cough and high blood sugar.
The AAP, India's youngest political
party, would also decide in which states
it should contest elections, Sanjay Singh
said. Those who took part in the meeting
included Kejriwal, his deputy Manish
Sisodia, Delhi minister Gopal Rai,
Sanjay Singh and Ashutosh. Ashish
Khetan and Dilip Pandey also attended.
Two PAC members were not in town.
The announcement marks the most
significant decisions taken by the AAP
following the return to Delhi of
Kejriwal, who had earlier expressed his
reservations about fighting elections in
other parts of the country.
Yadav has time and again insisted that
party spreads itself.
AAP leaders have in the past stated
that the party was determined to contest
the next assembly election in Punjab,
where it scored a quarter of all votes in
the Lok Sabha polls. Of over 400 Lok
Sabha seats it contested, the party won
only four seats in Punjab.
The AAP is also said to be keen to
fight municipal elections in Mumbai and
Bengaluru, two cities where it enjoys a
wide network of volunteers.
Kejriwal loyalists had a late Monday
night meeting with Yadav.
"We met and discussed the issues. We
will definitely let you know if some-thing constructive happens," Sanjay
Singh told the media on Tuesday.
Later in the day, Kejriwal reportedly
sent a text message to Bhushan saying
"will meet soon". Bhushan had sought
time with Kejriwal.
New Delhi: The Delhi High
Court has ordered the civil
aviation regulator to de-regis-
ter six aircraft of SpiceJet for
non-payment of dues to some
of its lessors -- an issue which
the budget carrier said is
being resolved.
Justice Rajiv Shakdher also
asked the Directorate General
for Civil Aviation to decide in
two weeks' time a plea by two
Irish firms to export the
planes. The court's directives
came on the pleas of leading
global aircraft lessors AWAS
Ireland and Wilmington Trust
SP Services (Dublin). The
firms sought directions to de-
register the aircraft leased by
them to SpiceJet, on grounds
of alleged non-payment of
dues. "We are studying theorder and if so advised, we
will take the matter to higher
judicial forum. Dialogues are
on with the lessors and
expecting to resolve the issue
very soon," a spokesperson
for SpiceJet told IANS.
The move comes even as
co-founder Ajay Singh, now
bac k at the air lin e's hel m,
intervened and paid $10