vol.8 issue 9 - july 4-july 10, 2015

8/20/2019 Vol.8 Issue 9 - July 4-July 10, 2015

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OP ED 13 BOLLYWOOD 18 SPORTS 24

Greece needs €50bn bailout andmassive debt relief to survive: IMF

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis speaking to American industry executives at a meeting called by the US-India

Business Council on Monday in New York.

The Chief Minister also addressed the Indiancommunity at a reception organized by the

Friends of Maharashtra at The Pierre

Make inMaharashtra,

Fadnavis tells

US businesses

New York: Maharashtra’s youthful

Chief Minister, Devendra

Fadnavis, who is gaining reputa-

tion as a visionary leader, arrived

here Monday on a 5-day visit to theUS aimed at attracting investment

to his state.

On the first day of his trip, the

chief minister was accorded a

warm reception at Pierre Hotel in

mid-town Manhattan by a newly

formed ‘Friends of Maharashtra’

and the Consulate General of India

in New York, where he addressed a

gathering of over 700 prominentIndian Americans.

The same afternoon, addressing a

meeting of the US-India Business

Council (USIBC), also at The

Washington: Financing needs for

Greece could add up to over

$55.42 billion (50 billion euros)

over the period from October 2015

to end 2018 in order to keep the

country afloat, the International

Monetary Fund (IMF) said in a

staff report.The IMF's warning on Thursday

came before Greece's upcoming

referendum on July 5. Although the

Continued on page 4

Continued on page 4

Detailed stories on pages 16-17.

Markets rattled as Athens defaults on IMF loan payment

Greeks rushed to banks to withdraw their money

The Director of Business & Economic Development in Nassau County as well as Chairman of The South Asian Times, Mehta

was sworn in as RI District Governor by Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano. Looking on are Past District Governors

of Rotary Ravi Bhooplapur and Anthony J. Civitano.

New Delhi: Indian companies have

pl ed ge d $7 0b n to th e "D ig it al

India" initiative launched by

Prime Minister Narendra Modi to

empower citizens by deploying IT

and associated tools.

Among key investors are the

Ambani brothers, Tata group chief

Cyrus Mistry and Wipro head

Azim Premji. At the Wednesday

Continued on page 4Azim Premji, Mukesh Ambani, and other top Indian business

leaders at the Digital India launch.

Business leaders pledge $70bn for Modi’s Digital India

Kamlesh Mehta installed as Rotary District Governor

Detailed story on pg 11.

Detailed story and morepictures on page 2.

Eminent Indian-AmericanKamlesh Mehta was sworn in asGovernor of Rotary District7255 - that comprises Brooklyn,Queens and Long island – on June28 at a grand ceremony in thepresence of over 300 Rotarians,prominent members of the Indiancommunity, and many electedofficials of Long Island.


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2 July 4-10, 2015 TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRISTATE COMMUNITY

With wife Nimmi by his side, Kamlesh Mehta addressed theaudience as RI District 7255 Governor.

Kamlesh Mehta sworn in as

Rotary District Governor

By Parveen Chopra

New York: A prominent IndianAmerican entrepreneur, communi-

ty supporter and government offi-

cial in Long Island, Kamlesh Mehta

was installed as Rotary

International District 7255

Governor at a grand ceremony on

Long Island on June 28.Mehta,

Director of Business & Economic

Development in Nassau County, a

prominent diamond merchant as

well as Publisher of The South

Asian Times newspaper and Asian

Era magazine, was administered the

oath of office by Nassau County

Executive Edward P. Mangano in

the presence of a large number of

Rotary officials, veteran Rotariansand prominent members of the

Indian community.

Mehta, who will serve as RI

District 7255 Governor in the year

2015-16, was ceremoniously pre-

sented the gavel and official regalia

by the outgoing district governor

Anthony J. Civitano in the presence

of over 300 guests at the Antun’s

by Minar banquet hall in Hicksville,

NY. In hi s ac cept ance spee ch,

Mehta said he has learnt a lot form

working with CE Mangano, someof which will come handy in his

role as Governor of the Rotary dis-

trict which encompasses Brooklyn,

Queens and Long Island in New

York. He also thanked Ravishankar

Bhooplapur, past Governor of RI

District 7255, under whose inspira-

tion he founded the Hicksville

South Rotary Club in 2009.

Bhooplapur introduced Mangano.

In his keynote address, Mangano

harked back to his years as a promi-

nent Rotarian in Long Island in the

early 80s. Among the dignitaries

who sent congratulatory letters to

Kamlesh Mehta included Rotary

International President K.R.Ravindran, New York City Mayor

Bill de Blasio, Indian Consul

General in New York,

Dnyaneshwar Mulay,

Congresswoman Grace Meng and

New York City Public Advocate.

Kamlesh Mehta is known for his

long-standing leadership role in the

Indian American community in

Long Island. To mention a few: He

is a founder of Rajasthan

Association of North America

(RANA) and India Day Parade onLong Island. He is also the director

of Vision Long Island, Xavier

Medical University and iTuror.com.

He is the first Indian to serve in the

prestigious office of Nassau County

Office of Business & Economic

Development as its Director.

Rotary is over a century old glob-

al network of business, profession-

al, and community leaders who

work voluntarily to provide human-

itarian service, encourage high ethi-

cal standards, and help build good-

will peace in the world.

Headquartered in Chicago,

Rotary International boasts over 1.2

million members serving in 32,000Rotary clubs spread over more than

200 countries and geographical

areas as it initiates service projects

to address today’s challenges,

including illiteracy, disease, hunger,

poverty, lack of clean water, and

environmental concerns. Near-erad-

ication of polio from the world is

Rotary’s a stupendous and well-

documented success.

CE Ed Mangano was presented Lifetime Achievement plaque for his distinguished leadership and humanitarian services by

Kamlesh Mehta, Hicksville South President Chitty and Jericho Sunrise President Sangeeta Bahl. The county executive was also

bestowed honorary membership of Hicksville South Rotary.

Citations of appreciation for stellar community service: Salil Zaveri (Asstt Dist 7255 Governor), Sangeeta Bahl (incoming

President, Jericho Sunrise Rotary), CE Mangano, Kamlesh Mehta,Sangeeta Sethi (outgoing President, Jericho Sunrise Rotary) and

Lionel Chitty (incoming President, Hicksville Rotary South).

(From left), Town of Hempstead Councilman Ed Ambrosino,prominent businessman ShanShanmugam, Rotary Club Hicksville South Past President Vikas Dhall, eminent jeweler Haridas Kotahwala, KamleshMehta Town of Hempstead Clerk Nasrin Ahmed, and Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano.

Eminent Indian-American Kamlesh Mehta was installed as Governor of Rotary District 7255 - that

comprises Brooklyn, Queens and Long island - at a grand ceremony in the presence of over 300

Rotarians, prominent members of the Indian community, and many elected officials of Long Island.

After his swearing in, RI District 7255 Governor Kamlesh Mehta with the outgoing governor Anthony J. Civitano , other PDGs and senior Rotarians of the district.


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4 Indian Americans among Carnegie immigrant honoreesNew York: Four highly accomplished Indian Americans are in the

Carnegie Corporation of New York’s annual “Great Immigrants: The Pride

of America” list. Among the 39 honorees for 2015 include are: Abraham

Verghese, the author/physician from Ethiopia of Indian descent who write

Cutting for Stone; Rakesh Khurana, Dean of Harvard College; Preet

Bharara, U.S. Attorney, Southern District of New York; and Madhulika

Sikka,VP & Executive Editor of .Mic. There is also one Pakistani hon-

oree—Rabia Chaudry featured in the hit podcast Serial. Sofía Vergara,

actress and director (Colombia native) is one of the honorees. Now in its

10th year, the event reflects Andrew Carnegie’s support of immigrant inte-

gration and civic engagement. Carnegie Corporation of New York was

established by him in 1911 to promote the advancement and diffusion of

knowledge and understanding.

3July 4-10, 2015TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRISTATE COMMUNITY

Washington, DC: Stung by

media criticism that he is dis-

tancing himself from his Indian

heritage, Bobby Jindal's presi-

dential campaign is hitting hard

on his 'hyphenated Americans'

theme with T-shirts touting him

as "tanned, rested, ready". The

$20 official T-shirt which is sup-

pose d to be a nod to Ji ndal 's

Indian heritage and his dislike of

"hyphenated American" modi-

fiers as well as a play on a

famous Richard Nixon line, is

apparently his way of getting

back at the "liberal media."

Way back in 1988, a T-shirt

sold at the Young Republican

convention in Seattle depicted "a

smiling Richard M. Nixon" with

the slogan "He's tan, rested and

ready," according to the New

York Times.

"The liberal media said,'There's not much Indian left in

Bobby Jindal,' so we made shirts

to mock them," Jindal, the first

Indian-American governor andthe 13th Republican candidate in

the 2016 White House race,

tweeted Tuesday.

The line is an apparent refer-ence to a quote from Pearson

Cross, a political science profes-

sor at the University of Louisiana

at Lafayette who is writing a

book on him, in a Washington

Post profile of Jindal.

"The liberal narrative that

developed this week was disgust-

ing: apparently Bobby isn't

brown enough for them," said

Jindal campaign manager Timmy

Teepell as cited by The Advocate

newspaper.

Jindal's presidential super PAC

- a supposedly independent polit-

ical action committee that may

raise unlimited sums of money

and engage in unlimited political

spending independently of a

campaign-also criticised

"hyphenated Americans."

Jindal is returning to Iowa this

week to hold various events

through Saturday, including par-

ticipating in at least two July 4

parades and tours of local facto-

ries. Meanwhile, Twitter wentwild Tuesday asking Bobby

Jindal questions with the

#AskBobby hashtag after his

po li ti ca l ac ti on co mm it te e

encouraged people to ask the

presidential candidate questions.

The hashtag, which is used to

track trending topics, quickly

became among the top 10-most

used topics on the service by

Tuesday afternoon, according to

NOLA.com.

But going by a sampling,

apparently this was not what the

Jindal campaign was hoping for.

NonProphetess @nonprophetess

- Is the cognitive dissonance of

having a biology degree and

be in g vi ci ou sl y an ti -s ci en ce

overwhelming?

Brent Rogers @BrntRgrs -

Who is your favorite Supreme

Court justice? I'm guessing

Scalia. Did I get it right?

#AskBobby.

Scalia was one of the judges

who gave a dissenting opinion inthe Supreme Court ruling allow-

ing same-sex marriages across

the US.

Bellerose, NY: A long time com-

munity supporter, Satnam Singh

Parhar has announced his candi-

dacy for New York City Council

to represent District 23, which

includes many diverse communi-

ties across North-Eastern Queens.

The seat fell vacant as former

Councilman Mark Weprin (D) jo in ed th e st af f of Go ve rn or

Andrew Cuomo as deputy secre-

tary of legislative affairs.

In the September 10 special

election, Parhar is presenting him-

self as a fresh face with a bold

new outlook - in keeping with

principles of honesty and trans-

parency. He supports small clas

size and bette pay for teachers.

He envisages economic growth

through the promotion of small

businesses.

Parhar knows that he will need

the help of the Indian Community

so he has made a special appeal to

them to vote and support him and be a part of his campaign for the

good of the united community.

He reminds all about how he has

always stood for the welfare of the

Indian community.

Born in a village in Punjab,

Parhar came to the US in 1976

with a BCom degree and experi-

ence as a student activist. He

brought the spirit of activism to

his local community, where he has

since involved himself in adiverse commercial, community,

and philanthropic ventures. Along

the way he had major successes in

fashion industry and later con-

struction and development.

Having served India Association

of Long Island (IALI) for many

years, he is its President since

2014. As President, Parhar has

worked to establish a permanent

headquarters for IALI, lovingly

called IALI Home. He spends

hours every weekend at the IALI

Home to meet people from the

community and address their con-

cerns. An avid runner and sports-

man, he has completed manyraces including the TCS New

York City Marathon.

Mr. Parhar is the founder of

Sant Baba Nidhan Singh Ji

Cultural Society, and the founder

and chairman of Rajput Cultural

Society. Parhar has made routine

visits to various airports, schools,

and precincts to bring awareness

to these institutions and the public

about Sikhism.

In 2011, Parhar had the honor

of participating in the introduction

of the New York City Workplace

Religious Freedom Act in co-

operation with former mayor

Michael Bloomberg andCouncilman Weprin. He has

organized fundraisers and election

rallies in support of New York

State Senator Anthony Avella,

Assemblyman David Weprin, and

Councilman Mark Weprin.

Mr. Parhar’s website is:

VoteParhar.com

The $20 official T-shirt is supposed to be a nod to Jindal's Indian heritage.

"Tanned, rested, ready" Jindal swings at 'hyphenated Americans'

Parhar in race for NYC Council

Satnam Singh Parhar wants to represent District 23 of New

York City Council, the seat that Mark Weprin occupied.

Roopam Maini, manager of the Hicksville branch of Indus American Bank, & her husband Raman Maini pose with Nassau

County Executive Ed Mangano at the installation of KamleshMehta as Governor of Rotary Distirct 7255 on Sunday. Roopam

Maini is Vice President of Hicksville South Rotary Club.


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Chairman and Co-Founder

Kamlesh C. Mehta

Co-Founder: Saroosh Gull

([email protected])

President: Arjit Mehta

Chief Operating Officer:

Ginsmon P. Zacharia

P: 516 776 7061

[email protected]

Board Advisors (Honorary)

Ajay Lodha, MD,

Lakhpat B. Mehta, Esq.

Rajasthan High Court & Supreme Court

Managing Editor: Parveen Chopra

P : 516.710.0508

[email protected]

Associate Editors Jinal Shah,

Hiral Dholakia-Dave, Meenakshi Iyer

Contributing Editors: Ni lima Madan,

Melvin Durai, Dr Prem Kumar Sharma,

Harry Aurora, Ashok Vyas,

Dr Akshat Jain, Nupur Joshi

Contributing Editors (Youth):

Rhea Gupta, Shweta Lodha, Sidharth Goyal

West Coast Correspondent

Pooja Jain,

[email protected]

New Delhi Bureau

Meenakshi Iyer

[email protected]

Strategy and Marketing

Jinal Shah

P: 315-436-1142

[email protected]

Marketing & PR (Washington DC)

Chander Gambhir, P: 703.717.1667

Jaipur (India) Bureau

Prakash Bhandari

[email protected]

Photographs: Gunjesh Desai/

masalajunction.com.

Xitij Joshi/xitijphoto.com

Photo Journalist: Sandeep Ganatra

Cartoonist: Mahendra Shah

Art and Design: Vladimir Tomovski

Bhagwati Creations,

Dhiraj Kumar

Web Editor: B.B.Chopra

News Service: HT Media Ltd.

IANS Newswire Services

IANS Washington Bureau

Arun Kumar

arun.kumar@ians,in

Printing: Five Star Printing, NY

Contacts

[email protected]

[email protected]

Advertisements

[email protected]

P : 516.390.7847, F : 516.465.1343

Website:

www.TheSouthAsianTimes.info

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and cannot be held responsible for the content of the advertisements placed in the publication and/or inaccurate claims, if any, made by the advertisers. Advertisements of business or facilities included in this

publication do not imply connection or endorsement of these businesses. All rights reserved.

4 July 4-10, 2015 TheSouthAsianTimes.info TURN PAGE

Make in Maharashtra, Fadnavis tells US businesses...

Continued from page 1

Pierre, Fadnavis said: "My government has taken a vari-

ety of measures to promote ease of doing business in the

state and we want to be viewed as a top destination for

both domestic as well as international investments."

"Our government", Fadnavis said, "is committed to

providing a boost to both 'Make in India' and 'Make in

Maharashtra' campaigns, provide business to both medi-

um and small enterprises and create much-needed jobs."

Greece needs €50bn bailout and massive debt...


Greek government stressed the referendum was on its

creditors' offer for a reforms-for-cash debt deal, skepti-

cism and strong reactions that the referendum could lead

to Grexit (exit from EU) was also widespread in Greece.

The report said Greece is unlikely to close its financing

gaps from the markets on terms consistent with debt sus-

tainability.

It slashed Greece's economic growth forecast in 2015

to zero percent, compared to a growth of 0.8 percent in

2014.

The estimate of the additional 50 billion euros in fund-

ing, including 36 billion euros from EU lenders, was

based on the assumption that existing support from the

EU and IMF would continue through this summer.

The report was prepared before the Greek authoritieshave closed the banking sector, imposed capital con-

trols, and incurred arrears to the IMF and did not reflect

these developments, which the IMF believe are likely to

have a significant adverse economic and financial

impact.

In May 2010, the IMF approved 30 billion euros in

financial assistance for Greece under a Stand-By

arrangement, and then in March 2012, the lender

approved 28 billion euros for Greece under an extended

arrangement to support its economic reform program.

To date, Greece has 21.2 billion euros in outstanding

obligations to the IMF. A repayment of about 1.5 billion

euros was due to the IMF on June 30. Greece did not

make the repayment when due and is now in arrears to

the Washington-based lender, which makes Greece the

first advanced economy default on IMF debt.

Business leaders pledge $70bn...


event held at a sports stadium, companies also pledged

to manufacture in India, estimated to add 1.8 million

jobs to the economy.

"Why can't we make quality electronic goods that are

globally competitive?" Mr Modi said, highlighting his

goal of ending net technology and electronics imports

by 2020.

Printed Every Saturday by: Forsythe Media Group, LLC, ISSN 1941-9333, 76 N Broadway, Suite 2004, Hicksville, NY 11801 P: 516.390.7847

Website: TheSouthAsianTimes.info Updated Daily

Jaipur: Film star and BJP MP Hema

Malini was injured on Thursday in a road

accident which killed a five year old child

and severely injured two others at Dausa

in Rajasthan.

Hema Malini, who was sitting in the

front seat, sustained injuries on her fore-

head, cheek, and legs. She was rushed to

the Fortis Hospital in Jaipur where doc-

tors conducted a CT scan and then admin-

istered stitches on her wounds, a source in

the hospital said.

A neurosurgeon and plastic surgeon are

treating the injury on her face and she

will be kept in the hospital overnight

under observation.

USINPAC wants Ann Coulter firedby Fox over Nikki Haley remarks

New York: Taking serious

note of the derogatoryremarks made last week

by An n Co ul te r agai ns t

South Carolina Governor

Ni kk i Ha ley and immi -

grants in America in a pro-

gram on Fox News, USIN-

PAC has launched an

online petition urging Fox

News to immediately sack

Ms. Coulter as a commen-

tator on its network.

The full account of

Coulter’s remarks and

USINPAC stand on the issue has been explained in

the online petition (https://www.change.org/p/fox-

news-network-immediately-remove-ms-ann-coul-

ter-from-the-fox-platform). Sanjay Puri,

Chairman, USINPAC, said “This is an issue that isof deep concern to the Indian American communi-

ty evidenced by the large number of calls and

emails that USINPAC is receiving on this issue.”

The US India Political Action Committee

(USINPAC) is a bipartisan nonprofit organization

that works on issues and policies of concern to the

Indian American community of over 3.2 million in

the United States.

Hema Malini injured in road accident in Rajasthan

ConservativecommentatorAnn Coulter

Following the recent events of the shooting at a historic African American church in Charleston, South Carolina, and arson at other churches, Public Advocate Letitia James and

South Asian 4 Right Choice founder Pam Kwatra (second fromright), along with South Asian community members, hosted a

Candlelight Vigil at the Calvary Baptist Church in Jamaica, NY.

Leading TMobilestores operator inLong Island & Queens, Jerry Kohli'a daughter

Priyanka tied thewedding knot withAman Nagpal inChicago on July 2,2015. The SouthAsian Timesfamily wishes a very happy married lifeto the new couple.


5/32

5July 4-10, 2015TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRISTATE COMMUNITY

New York: A lot of Hollywood

actors were already doing it but

when closer home Bollywood icon

Aamir Khan recently announced

his plans of turning vegan, many

became curious. While some may

express doubts, a doctors’ group

from the US has initiated an India

tour to propagate the benefits of a

vegan life.

In a country which is all too

familiar with vegetarianism, pro-

moting this seems an easy task but

is actually tricky. Because, apart

from not eating any meat product,going vegan means avoiding

meat-based products too, like milk

and eggs. So there goes your

paneer and curd!

Zeeshan Ali of the Physicians

Committee for Responsible

Medicine (PCRM), a non-profit

health organization in the US, a

body of 12,000 physicians, both of

Indian origin and from around the

world but working in the US that

was established in 1985 and which

promotes veganism, however says

that a plant-based diet has been

clinically proven to reduce the risk

of chronic diseases and reduces

your metabolic risks.“A low-fat vegan diet, combined

with a nutrition education pro-

gramme, is clinically proven to

boost weight loss, lower blood

pressure, impr ove tota l choles-

terol, restore insulin function, alle-

viate chronic pain, particularly

headaches, migraines, and joint

pain,” says Ali.

“It also boosts your mood and

combats chronic fatigue. Plant-

based dietary patterns are associat-

ed with a reduced risk for certain

forms of cancer and Alzheimer’s

disease, he added.

But what about adequate nutri-

tion? Meat, we know, is a good

source of protein. Also when it

comes to iron, all that we under-

stand are brilliant sources – meat,

eggs, poultry, fish, dairy products

– which are missing from a vegan

diet.Ali however chalks out alterna-

tives. “A plant-based vegan diet

pr ov id es an ab un da nc e of

micronutrients we often fall short

on while ensuring adequate intake

of the three macronutrients: carbo-

hydrates, protein, and fat. We rec-

ommend 80 percent of calories

come from carbohydrates, 10 per-

cent from fat and 10 percent from

protein.”

“Choosing colorful, low-fat,

plant -based foods often ensures

this ratio, or a comparable one that

will leave you feeling great.

Especially good protein sources

include whole-wheat pasta,ancient grains, beans, peas and

lentils, and even leafy greens like

spinach and broccoli,” he added.

Where milk consumption is con-

sidered essential for children’s

development, Ali says that kids

should also be encouraged to take

up veganism and thereby a health-

ier lifestyle.

“A public school in New York

City recently re-modelled its lunch

room to offer students daily access

to vegetarian foods, salad bars and

plant -base d prote ins like chick-

peas and tofu . Th e result s are

astounding. The students lost

weight, attendance and energy

levels in classrooms soared and

test scores rose to an all-time high.

This is just one anecdote to sup-

port a large body of research that

shows a vegetarian diet is a

healthful choice at every stage of life, especially for children and

teens.”

A diet centring on vegetables,

fruits, whole grains and legumes

provides one with stable energy

throughout the day and boosts the

immune system. “This is why

many Hollywood stars like

Beyonce and Natalie Portman,

professional athletes, global lead-

ers and now even Bollywood

actors are going vegan. A colour-

ful diet ensures they can perform

their best, whether it’s filming for

20 hours or embarking on a world

tour.”

The six-city Building a HealthyIndia tour began in Bhopal June

25 and is travelling to Hyderabad,

Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai and

finally Delhi July 6. The event

also has the support of non-profit

organisations like SHARAN and

India’s Freedom from Diabetes

Clinic.

New York: An exhibition ‘Sultans

of Deccan India - Opulence and

fantasy’ is on at the Metropolitan

Museum of Art in New York till

July 26. The exhibition features art

of India's Deccan courts during the

rule of its sultans in the sixteenth

and seventeenth centuries. The dia-

mond-rich region attracted artists,

poets, writers, and traders from all

over the world—including Iran,

Turkey, Africa, and Europe—who

were drawn to the Shi’a culture

and material splendor of the courts.

Under their mixed influence, capti-

vating art styles of otherworldly

charm evolved.

At its zenith, the Deccan became

home to Indian and Persian artists,

the abode of African elites, and the

place where European discoverers

embraced new tastes in textiles and

gems. By the end of the seven-

teenth century, the Deccan courts

gave way to Mughal domination

from the north, but their preceding

efflorescence offers a glimpse of

the imaginative heights reached in

the arts of painting.This exhibition brings together

some two hundred of the finest

works from major international,

pr iv at e, an d ro ya l co ll ec ti ons.

Featuring many remarkable loans

from India, the exhibition—which

is the most comprehensive muse-

um presentation on this subject to

date—explores the unmistakable

character of classical Deccani art

in various media: poetic lyricism in

painting, lively creations in metal-

work, and a distinguished tradition

of textile production.

The exhibition is made possible

by the Gail and Par ker Gil bert

Fund, the Placido Arango Fund,

the E. Rhodes and Leona B.

Carpenter Foundation, the National

Endowment for the Arts, and

Cynthia Hazen Polsky and Leon B.

Polsky. It is supported by an

indemnity from the Federal

Council on the Arts and theHumanities.

The catalogue is made possible

by Th e Andr ew W. Mell on

Foundation, the E. Rhodes and

Leona B. Carpenter Foundation,

the Doris Duke Fund for

Publications, and Shubha and

Prahlad Bubbar.

Washington, DC: Democratic frontrun-

ner Hillary Clinton continues to lead all

2016 presidential candidates includingthose in the crowded Republican field

where Indian-American Bobby Jindal

languishes at the 13th place, according to

a new poll.

While the former first lady now holds a

slightly slimmer lead among Democrats,

former Florida governor Jeb Bush and

real estate mogul Donald Trump are the

only two Republican candidates holding

double-digit support among Republicans,

a new CNN/ORC national poll finds.

Louisiana's Indian-American governor,

Jindal, figures 13th in a field of 14

declared and two undeclared Republican

candidates with just 2 percent support,

though his backing has gone up from one

percent last month.

Bush stands at 19 percent, up from 13 percent in May -- and his best showing in

CNN/ORC polling since December.

Trump follows at 12 percent, up from 3

percent before his announcement.

Former Arkansas governor Mike

Huckabee (8 percent), neurosurgeon Ben

Carson (7 percent) and Kentucky Senator

Rand Paul (7 percent) round out the top

five. Nationally, Clinton leads all other

Democratic candidates by more than 40

points, with 57 percent of Democrats and

Democratic-leaning independents behind

her and 16 percent backing Vice

President Joe Biden and 14 percent

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.

New Delhi: The ministry of external

affairs (MEA) has sought to make

Devyani Khobragade’s situation bet-

ter by reinstating her and making her

director of the important States divi-

sion, according to a Times of India

report. With a US arrest warrant still pendin g aga ins t her, the 1999 IFS

officer has not been able to travel

abroad.

Khobragade had been stripped of

her responsibilities with the ministry

last year in December and put on "compulsory

wait" after she gave interviews to the media in

which she said the vigilance inquiry against her

was unfair. The inquiry sought to know how her

two daughters were in possession of both Indian

and US passports. According to The Times of

India report the decision to reinstate Khobragade

was taken by foreign secretary S Jaishankar who

felt Khobragade was being unnecessarily vic-

timized. That has not fully ended her

ordeal though as she is still unable to

travel and the passports of her kids

remain confiscated.

Khobragade met senior officials in

the PMO last week to discuss her case.

Her children's passports have not beenrestored yet despite the Delhi high

court staying the revocation of the

travel documents. The kids are

spending their summer vacation

with their father in the US but will

require Indian visas to return.

The government, however, has decided not to

contest the case legally in the US and instead

focus on a political settlement says the report.

Khobragade has not traveled abroad since she

returned to India after her arrest and humiliating

strip-search for underpaying her nanny. The

ministry is unable to post her to any country

with which the US has an extradition treaty.

Hillary leads 2016 US presidentialrace, Jindal way behind: Poll

MEA reinstates Devyani Khobragade

Devyani Khobragade

Shah Jahan Diamond which is on display at the exhibition

US- based doctors’ group promotes vegan life in IndiaMET exhibition on DeccanSultans’ jewelry on till July 26


6/32

6 July 4-10, 2015 TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRISTATE COMMUNITY

M. Venkaiah Naidu addresses top business leadersWashington, DC: U.S. industry executives

from the U.S.-India Business Council (USI-

BC) met with India's Minister of Urban De-

velopment, M. Venkaiah Naidu, to discuss

opportunities in the recently launched

schemes of the Government of India that will

have a significant impact on India's urban

development for the next few years.

Minister Naidu engaged with members on

a range of topics, including the Smart Cities

Program, reforms undertaken by the Gov-

ernment of India to improve the Ease of Do-

ing Business, prospective passage of the

Goods & Services Tax (GST) and Land Ac-

quisition Bill.

Speaking about the resurgence of India un-

der the leadership of Prime Minister Naren-

dra Modi, Minister Naidu said that "India is

fast transforming itself in every sphere of

public life. The economy is back on rails, in-

flation is under control, and growth rate is at

7.3% and likely to cross 8% in the coming

years." He noted that the Indian Parliament

had passed a record number of 47 legisla-tions in the past year, including some that

had been pending for a long time, like the in-

crease in FDI cap in insurance sector.

Minister Naidu outlined various initiatives

of the government including the Make in In-

dia, Skill India, Digital India and Clean India

programmes. He also highlighted efforts to

build a partnership between the Centre and

the States to move forward on reforms like

the GST. He noted that the Government is

linking bank accounts with the unique ID

and mobile telephones to stop leakage in

subsidies. It is focusing on greater trans-

parency and accountability. He emphasized

the human face of reforms, including social

security schemes and affordable housing.

Noting that India has prioritized the cre-

ation of 100 smart cities, which will incor-

porate the use of solar energy, rain water har-vesting, good sanitation, drinking water and

smart public transportation, Minister Naidu

explained the recent guidelines for selection

of smart cities, financing infrastructure de-

velopment and incentives for private sector

participation.

Expressing appreciation for the U.S. sup-

port for smart city development of Ajmer,

Allahabad and Vishakhapatnam, he urged

the U.S. businessmen to take advantage of

the business friendly atmosphere and the

great investment opportunities in India, and

invited them to invest in smart cities and

AMRUT projects.

"American enterprise is eager to partici-

pate and deepen its commercial dialogue

through the 100 Smart Cities initiative," said

Purna Saggurti, Chairman of Global Corpo-

rate and Investment Banking at Bank of

America, Merrill Lynch, and a member of

USIBC's Board of Directors.

Expressing hope and optimism in Minister

Naidu's vision, USIBC President, Mukesh

Aghi said, "Flagship programs such as Smart

Cities, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and

Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and Hous-

ing for All reflect the Indian government's

dedication to innovation and technology,

while not overlooking the urgent need to pro-

vide all citizens with access to basic necessi-

ties. Reforms in taxation and land acquisition

remain central to the success of these

schemes." Minister Naidu interacted with

USIBC members and answered their queries.

Representatives of many top US based busi-

ness houses, who were present in the round

table discussions, expressed keen interest in

India. Prominent among them were, iTECH,

IBM, Honeywell, Genworth, UTC, AE-

COM, Tyco, Systems Soft, Apple, AT&T,

Dell, Qualcom, Cognizant, Capital Novus,

Moody's, Bank of America, McLarty Asso-

ciates, etc.

Urban Development Minister of India, M. Venkaiah Naidu at the roundtable dis- cussion in Washington DC

This March two lucky 11th

grade students, Ruby Joy

Nagaraj and Rahul Balakr-

ishnan, were sponsored by Tufaan

Entertainment to visit Chicago

for Tufaan 2015. Tufaan Enter-

tainment is a student-run non-

profit that hosts a collegiate

South Asian dance competition at

Northwestern University each

year, where 10 dance teams from

universities across the U.S. come

to compete.

While in Chicago, Ruby and

Rahul went on the NPR radio

show Worldview, visited Navy Pier,

danced, ate ice cream and more. They

also had the opportunity to visit San

Francisco where they toured Khan Acad-

emy and met the founder, Salman Khan.

"Getting a global perspective allows

them to be global citizens," explains Ajit

George, Director of Operations for Shan-

ti Bhavan, an NGO. "The opportunity to

visit other countries broadens their vi-

sion." Shanti Bhavan is thankful for the

partnership with Tufaan Entertainment,

and all of the proceeds from the dance

competition are donated to the school.

IN BRIEF

Shanti Bhavan kids share their stories in US

1000 Lights for Peace in Houston

M

ahatma Gandhi Library will be celebrating 146th birth anniversary of

Mahatma Gandhi on Sunday, October 4 at The Miller Outdoor The-

ater, 6000 HermannPark Drive, Houston in the

beautiful Hermann Park. The

event will take place from 5

PM to 8 PM. The program

will start with "Walk For

Peace" from 5 PM to 6 PM. It

is a 5 K walk which will take

place in the lovely Hermann

park starting at Mahatma

Gandhi Statue in Hermann

and ending at The Miller Outdoor theater.

1000 Lights For Peace, an international dance and music show will start at 6

PM and end at 8 PM. The winners of various contests of Mahatma Gandhi Week

2015 will be awarded their prizes during this program. Also hear the young win-

ners of Speech Contests deliver their inspiring speeches.

The international dance and music show consists of various ethnic communi-

ties of Houston such as African American, Hispanic, Oriental, Indo-Americanand others show cashing practice of truth and non-violence in their culture.

The finale of the program will be a lighting of a candle by all present as a

pledge to practice peace in their own lives.

Ruby and Rahul on NPR radio show


7/32

Washington, DC: R. Paul Singh, a

distinguished professor emeritus at

the University of California, Davis,

has been named as the 2015 Global

Confederation for Higher Education

Associations for Agriculture and

Life Sciences World Agriculture

Prize laureate.

Singh, an agricultural engineering

graduate from India's Punjab

Agricultural University, has been

recognized for a body of research in

areas such as energy conservation,

freezing preservation, post harvesttechnology and mass transfer in food

processing. He has helped establish

and evaluate food-engineering pro-

grams at institutions throughout the

world, including in Brazil, India,

Peru, Portugal and Thailand. As of

June 2015, his 115 video tutorials

have been viewed more than

150,000 times by individuals from

193 countries. "I'm deeply humbled

and honored, upon receiving news

of this award," said Singh.

"I'm also indebted to my UC Davis

colleagues for their consistent sup-

port, which has allowed me to pur-

sue my research and teaching activi-

ties in food engineering," he said.

The award was announced at the

annual GCHERA conference, held

June 24-26 at the Holy Spirit

University of Kaslik, Jounieh,

Lebanon, according to a post on UC

Davis website. Formal presentation

of the award will take place Sep 20,

during a ceremony at Nanjing

Agricultural University, JiangsuProvince, China. Singh earned a

master 's degree and PhD at the

University of Wisconsin-Madison

and Michigan State University,

respectively. He joined the UC

Davis faculty one year later, in 1975.

San Leandro, CA: After almost

four years as the executive vice

president of Unive rsal Televisio n,

former Miss India USA Bela

Bajaria Bajaria was promoted to

president of the studio in early June.

Bajaria began searching for an

assistant job anywhere in the enter-

tainment industry, landing her first

job at CBS in 1996. Once she had

her foot in the door, Bajaria said she

wanted to learn everything she

could about the business.

“I worked really late, and I really

wanted to learn a lot in my time

there,” she told India-West publica-

tion. “So I ended up staying at CBS,

and then I got promoted and ended

up running the department in

2001.”

After almost 16 years at CBS,

Bajaria decided to head to

NBC Uni versa l to ree stabli sh the

Universal Television studio as a

stand-alone entity after its creative

programmin g divis ion was folded

into the NBC network in 2008.

Bajaria oversees creative pro-

gramming for the studio, which has

be en re sp on si bl e fo r nu me ro us

primetime hits such as “Parks and

Recreation,” “The Mindy Project,”

“Law & Order: Special Victims

Unit” and “Unbreakable Kimmy

Schmidt,” to name a few.

7July 4-10, 2015TheSouthAsianTimes.info NATIONAL COMMUNITY

Orlando, FL: At a glittering gala on the

concluding night of the 33rd annual conven-

tion of the American Association of

Physicians of Indian Origin here, Dr. Seema

Jain became only the third Indian American

woman president of the organization.In her remarks to the more than 2,500 dele-

gates in attendance, she vowed to make

AAPI a key advocate for women’s issues.

AAPI past president Dr. Jayesh Shah

administered the oath of office to Jain and

the other incoming officers — president-

elect Dr. Ajay Lodha, vice president Dr.

Gautam Samadder, secretary Dr. Naresh

Parikh and treasurer Dr. Suresh Reddy.

Aravind Pillai was also sworn in as chair-

man of the AAPI Board of Trustees by out-

going chairman Dr. Ajeet Singhvi.

Jain said she wants AAPI to focus on

“excellence in education, empowerment,

enlightenment and evolution” to face the

challenges of the 21st Century.

“Now, it’s time for us to make AAPI main-

stream,” the Indian American psychiatrist

said. “From being an ethnic organization, we

need to be the predominant organization that

is committed to the cause of ethnic IndianAmerican physicians” and the issues they

are fighting for, she added.

“Today I ask you to set aside your differ-

ences and join me in this noble journey to

make our mission possible,” she empha-

sized.

“We will have a special, brand-new aca-

demic journal with articles on current med-

ical issues,” Jain revealed, adding that there

will be a special health channel on TV Asia

providing medical information to the public.

Jain, who joined AAPI in 1987, said she

wants her presidency to be judged partly on

her commitment to women’s issues.

“My role as a woman leader (of) AAPI is

to (take) up women’s health issues in society

and healthcare issues that affect them. We as

women leaders in AAPI have a mission and

goal to endeavor in creating new programs

for women’s health issues focusing on heart

disease, osteoporosis, breast and ovariancancer, post-partum depression, pre- and

post-menopausal syndrome.”

A graduate of Medical College of Nagpur,

Jain did her U.S. residency at Columbia-

Presbyterian Hospital in New York and then

worked at the New York State Hospital as

assistant residency director.

After serving as an assistant professor of

psychiat ry at Universi ty of Medicine and

Dentistry of New Jersey, she started private

practice and joined Newton Hospital as med-

ical director and chief of psychiatry. Jain

later joined former Highland Psychiatric

Associates, where she is president and med-

ical director.

Seema Jain takes charge as AAPI’s third woman president

Washington, DC: The Gates

Millennium Scholars Program,

the flagship scholarship program

of the United Negro College

Fund, recently announced that

over 20 Indian American youth

were among its class of 2015

high school student recipients.

According to an UNCF press

release, each of the students will be awarded a scho larsh ip that

can be used to pursue a degree

in any undergraduate major and

selected graduate programs at

accredited colleges or universi-

ties. The Indian American recip-

ients include: Tika Acharya of

Emmett J. Conrad High School

in Dallas, Texas; Navreet

Bhangu of Wayne Memorial

High School in Wayne, Mich.;

Chandra and Lila Chamlagai,

both of Springfield Central High

in Springfield, Mass.; Kirandeep

Chhokar of Mission Vista High

in Vista, Calif,; and Nahiyan

Chowdhury of Niles North High

School in Skokie, Ill.

Others named included

Ahmed Gedi of Franklin High

School in Portland, Ore.; Priya

Kainth of Savanna High in

Anaheim, Calif.; Ashish Kharel

of Concord High School in

Concord, New Hampshire;

Pramila Nepal of Kentucky

Country Day School in

Louisville, Kentucky; Anika

Nishat of Lawrence North High

School in Indianapolis, Ind.; and

Alishan Noorani of Clements

High School in Sugar Land,

Texas.

Also named were Jay Patel of

the Academy Of InternationalStudies in Woodburn, Ore.;

Sahil Patel of Robert L. Patton

High School in Hickory, No.

Carolina; Anisha Pednekar of

Oasis Charter High School in

Cape Coral, Fla.; Yasmeen

Pelayo of Willamette High

School in Eugene, Ore.; Ash Rai

of NE Central High School in

Omaha, Neb.; and Cindy

Rajkumar of Ocoee High on

Ocoee, Fla.

The list also includes Sarai

Ramnani of Mohave High

School in Bullhead City, Ariz.;

Vinith Sharma of NE Omaha

North Magne t High School in

Omaha, Neb.; Sabreena Singh

of Luther Burbank High in

Sacramento, Calif.; Roshan

Siwakoti of Aurora Central High

School in Aurora, Col.; and

Kiran Zindani of Creekview

High School in Carrollton,

Texas.

R Paul Singh named World Agriculture Prize laureate

Bela Bajaria promoted as president of Universal Television

Over 20 Indian Americans named

Gates Millennium Scholars

Dr Seema Jain giving her inaugural address

Bela Bajaria

R Paul Singh is professor emeritus at UC Davis


8/32

8 July 4-10, 2015 TheSouthAsianTimes.info NATIONAL COMMUNITY

Washington, DC: Darshan Jain, an

Indian American teacher is one of

the 108 teachers named by President

Barack Obama as recipients of the

prestigious Presidential Award for

Excellence in Mathematics and

Science Teaching.

Jain, who has taught mathematics

at Adlai E. Stevenson High School

in Lincolnshire, Illinois for eight

years where he currently serves as

the director of mathematics, and

other winners will receive a $10,000

award each from the National

Science Foundation.

The educators will receive their

awards at a Washington, DC, event

later this summer.

"These teachers are shaping

America's success through their pas-

sion for math and science," Obama

said of the winners.

"Their leadership and commit-

ment empower our children to think critically and creatively about sci-

ence, technology, engineering, and

math. "The work these teachers are

doing in our classrooms today will

help ensure that America stays on

the cutting edge tomorrow," he said.

The Presidential Award for

Excellence in Mathematics and

Science Teaching is awarded annu-

ally to outstanding K-12 (kinder-

garten through 12th grades) science

and mathematics teachers from

across the country.

"The Presidential Award validates

my core belief that all students can

learn mathematics in authentic, rig-

orous, and impactful ways," Jainsaid. "It is grounded in my experi-

ence that collaborative teachers can

help all students achieve excel-

lence." "This award provides oppor-

tunities to have discussions around

improving math education at local

and national levels," he said.

Jain's industry experience

includes time spent as a project

engineer and a machine designer.

Jain's love for teaching was

inspired by his work at the Hispanic

Math and Science Initiative and his

students' success in learning. As

adjunct professor for mathematics

education, Jain supported novice

teachers. He now leads exceptionalcolleagues as curriculum director

for his district.

Jain has also contributed to the

education community by speaking

on research-based pedagogy at

local, state and national confer-

ences. Jain has a BA in mechanical

engineering and a MS in secondary

mathematics education from the

University of Illinois at Chicago. He

is pursing further graduate work.

New York: A top-level Indian

American executive has quit micro-

blogging site Twitter to pursue someexciting new projects, the latest in a

string of high-profile departures.

The exit of Rishi Garg, Twitter's

head of mergers and acquisitions,

comes weeks after Twitter said it is

replacing its CEO Dick Costolo

with co-founder Jack Dorsey as an

interim CEO, USA Today reported.

"After an amazing ride as Twitter's

VP Corporate Development and

Strategy, I'm saying farewell today

(Saturday)," Garg tweeted.

"I am off to pursue some exciting

new projects; more soon! #stay-

tuned," Garg added

He joined Twitter in May 2014

from the firm Square where he washead of corporate development.

Before that, Garg was an entrepre-

neur in General Catalyst Partners,

Google and MTV Networks.

"Our team has built a stronger

Twitter with a dozen acquisitions in

the last year including

@periscopeco,@zipdial,@tellapart,

@joinniche," Garg's post read.

"It's been a privilege to bring

incredible entrepreneurs into the

#flock like @kayvz, @crazyfoo,

@valwagoner, @jeffma, @dlach5,

@gabor."

"I can't wait to witness the compa-

ny's next chapter under @jack, a

truly gifted leader and human

being," he added.

Sonepat, Haryana: Indian-origin US

envoy Richard Verma on Saturday

expressed gratitude to the values of edu-

cation and service that his India-educated

parents instilled in him, including ones of

his parents spending days reviewing why

their son got an 'A minus' in his report

card when the other five were As.

Addressing the convocation at Ashoka

University here, Verma said: "For me, I

am extremely humbled that my path has

led me from a modest upbringing in

Western Pennsylvania to become ambas-

sador -- the first Indian American ambas-

sador -- to the country my parents called

home."

Verma said his father graduated fromDAV College in Jalandhar, Punjab, over

60 years ago, before migrating to the US

to teach.

"My mother was also a teacher. I am

certain I don't need to tell you all what it's

like to be the son of two Indian teachers! I

remember coming home in the 9th grade

with a report card of five As and one A

minus. Yes, you guessed it, we spent the

next days reviewing what happened, and

what could have caused this A minus!" he

said.

"But as an adult, I am ever grateful for

the important values of education and

service that they instilled in me. I also

know that from the alley-way of the

Basti-Sheikh neighborhood of Jalandhar

where my family grew up to the road

leading to the US embassy is not a likely

path or one easily traversed - not without

a lot of help, a lot of friends, teachers and

mentors and a dedicated family.

"I am also very mindful of the extra

obligation we all have to help others who

today may be living down that path or

alleyway like we did, but who also dream

of what the future holds.

"So, leadership is also not forgetting

where you come from and not forgetting

about those who may have been left

behind," he said.Touching on India-US ties, Verma said

the relations were "soaring forward" fol-

lowing two very successful meetings

between Prime Minister Narendra Modi

and US President Barack Obama.

He said both sides were working togeth-

er on over 80 initiatives and addressing

all sorts of challenges.

Verma said both sides were working on

challenges like exploring the solar system

and improving the quality of the air.

"I think it is fair to say that progress on

our agenda may in many cases define and

enrich the lives of generations to come,"

he said.

He said the bilateral relationship was

"about more than just programs and ini-

tiatives. It is about looking closely at the

full expanse of our people-to-people,

strategic, and economic ties and asking

essentially, 'where do we go next?'

"It is a relationship where, as PM Modi

has recognized, the US and India should

not be looking only at what we can do

together, but also reaching further andaiming higher, looking at what we can do

for the world.

"And as we define what those next steps

can be, we are finding many areas where

it is possible for both of our countries to

be co me st ro nger to ge th er, " he sa id ,

according to a text of his speech provided

by the US embassy.

Richard Verma recalls troubles of 'A minus' in school report card

Darshan Jain, director of mathematics, Adlai E Stevenson HighSchool, Lincolnshire, Illinois (Photo: Dailyherald.com)

Rishi Garg's is latest in a string of high-profile depar-

tures from Twitter

Richard Verma

Obama to honor an Indian-American math teacher Top Indian Americanexecutive quits Twitter


9/32

9July 4-10, 2015TheSouthAsianTimes.info US AFFAIRS

Washington, DC: The Supreme Court

handed opponents of affirmative action

pol icies a pot ent ial vic tory Monday by

agreeing to hear another challenge to the

University of Texas' use of racial prefer-

ences in admissions.

The one-line order represents a new chap-

ter in a seven-year dispute initiated when

Abigail Fisher, a white applicant, was

denied admission to the state university's

flagship campus in Austin.

Her case first reached the court in 2012,

after she had graduated from an out-of-state

school. Rather than ruling for or against the

affirmative action plan at the time, the jus-

tices sent the case back to a federal appeals

court with instructions that it more closely

scrutinize the Texas university's admissions

policies.

The appeals court – one of the most con-

servative in the country – again sided with

the school, prompting Fisher's attorneys to

seek the high court's review a second time.

By agreeing to reconsider the policies, the

justices served notice that they might over-

rule the appeals court and rule against the

school's limited use of race in admissions.

Their decision had been pending for more

than a month, leading some to predict that

they would deny the case, with one or more

conservative justices dissenting.

The Texas school's policy is two-tiered: It

fills 75% of its incoming class with the top

students from nearly every high school in

the state; to make the cut in recent years,

students had to be in the top 7% to 8% of

their high school class. That guarantees

some racial diversity because of the pattern

of housing segregation.

Then, to fill out each year's freshman

class, the school looks at a range of other

factors – including race

Supreme Court will hear new challenge to affirmative action

Washington DC:

Liberals are pros when it

comes to getting peopleout to vote, but a new sur-

vey shows Hillary Clinton

will have major trouble

turning out Democrats in

2016.

The Democratic Party’s

strategy to retain control

of the White House and

win congressional seats

next year relies on

America’s shifting demo-

graphics and on voter

turnout. But “if the dispar-

ity in enthusiasm is not

addressed, that strategy is at risk,” Democracy

Corps wrote in a synopsis of the findings that

began, “Democrats need to give voters a rea-son to participate.”

The threat comes down to an enthusiasm

gap of 19 points between the Democrats who

say they are “extremely interested” in the con-

gressional and local races in 2016, and the

much more energized GOP voters.

Meanwhile, while Democratic voters aren't

necessarily interested or confident in Hillary

Clinton, progressive candidate Bernie Sanders

is catching up and leftist darling Elizabeth

Warren could end up on the campaign trail to

back him.

Warren has so far refrained from endorsing

any Democratic presidential candidate, but

she sure sounded enthusiastic about Berniewhen speaking with the Herald. "These are

people who care about these issues, and that’s

who Bernie’s reaching," she told the paper. "I

love what Bernie is talking about. I think all

the presidential candidates should be out talk-

ing about the big issues."

Clinton's enthusiasm gap with voters

explains her visits to places like Ferguson and

her race-baiting language on the campaign

trail. It's an effort and strategy to get the same

voters who put Barack Obama in the Oval

Office twice to do the same for her.

Charleston, SC: In the two weeks after a

racially motivated massacre claimed lives of

nine African-Americans, at least six pre-dominantly African-American churches in

south US had been burnt down.

The latest fire occurred on Tuesday night

in the Mount Zion Church in Greeleyville,

South Carolina, 20 years after it was set

ablaze by the white supremacist group Ku

Klux Klan. The fire left the church roofless

and given lightning and storms were report-

ed overnight in the region, authorities said it

was still too early to determine the cause of

the fire.

Tuesday night's fire came as authorities in

Georgia, the Carolina, and Tennessee were

investigating a string of fires at other pre-

dominantly black churches.

Though the authorities said three of the

five fires were arson, investigators did not

describe any of the incidents as hate crimes.

Just hours before the fire at the Mount

Zion Church, some 100 km north of the

Charleston church, where a white gunman

shot down nine African-American church-

goers on June 17, civil rights group National

Association for the Advance of Colored

People (NAACP) had warned black church-

es around the country to beef up security.

All the six fires happened after Dylann

Roof, 21, started a shooting spree on June

17 night at the Emanuel African Methodist

Episcopal Church in Charleston, South

Carolina. After his arrest, Roof reportedly

told police that he wanted to start a

"race war".

Corporate Office: 385 Seneca Avenue, Ridgewood NY 11385

718.821.3182, www.AtlanticDialysis.com

Washington, DC: In what President Barack

Obama called “a historic step forward”, the

US and Cuba have re-established diplomatic

relations snapped “at the height of the Cold

War” 54 years ago.

“When the US shuttered our embassy in

1961, I don’t think anyone thought it would

be mo re th an ha lf a cent ury be fo re it

reopened,” he said from the White House

Rose Garden announcing the historic move.

“This is a historic step forward in our

efforts to normalize relations with the Cuban

government and people, and begin a new

chapter with our neighbors in the Americas,”

Obama said.

The US and Cuba would reopen their

embassies in Havana and Washington,

respectively, on July 20.Earlier on Wednesday in Havana, a US

diplomat delivered a note from Obama to

Cuban President Raul Castro restoring diplo-

matic ties snapped during the Dwight

Eisenhower administration.

Castro also sent a letter to Obama. “We

want to develop a friendship between our two

nations that is based on the equality of rights

and the people’s free will,” Castro said in the

letter, read on state-run TV.

He went on to say that Cuba hopes to

resolve differences with the US through

peaceful means, that each nation must respect

the territorial integrity of the other and they

should not interfere in each other’s political

affairs.

Obama has relaxed several of the prohibi-

tions on trade and travel that existed between

the two countries, but many remain in place

and can only be removed by legislation.

Obama also called on Wednesday for the

Congress to lift the embargo that prevents

Americans from travelling to or doing busi-

ness in Cuba.

But the Congress, controlled by

Republicans, has shown little sign that it

intends to end the embargo.

In his Rose Garden appearance, Obamanoted that many Cubans have called for

increased US engagement with their country,

and said it was time to look toward the

future.

Secretary of State John Kerry announced

from Vienna on Wednesday that he will trav-

el to Cuba to take part in the formal reopen-

ing of the US embassy on July 20. It will be

the first visit by a Secretary of State since

1945.

In historic move, US, Cuba restore diplomatic relations

Hillary faces enthusiasm gapamong Democratic voters

Hillary Clinton at her campaign kick off rally inNew York last month.

Six black churches burnt after Charleston church massacre

The burning Mount Zion Church inGreeleyville, SC


10/32

10 July 4-10, 2015 TheSouthAsianTimes.info INDIA

New Delhi: The Prime Minister's Office has

sought a report from the civil aviation ministry

over delay in Air India flights on account of VIP travels in the recent past, an official said.

Earlier in the day, the civil aviation ministry

has also asked for reports from Air India on the

recent incidents involving Maharashtra chief

minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union minister

Kiren Rijiju which allegedly led to delay of

flights.

"We are awaiting reports on the (two) inci-

dents from Air India," civil aviation secretary R

N Choubey said.

The ministry has asked Air India to submit the

reports soon and "would take a call after receiv-

ing them", he said.

An Air India flight to Newark from Mumbai

was delayed by nearly an hour on June 29 after

it was reported that an aide of Fadnavis travel-

ling with him had not carried his passport with

valid US visa.Principal secretary Pravin Pardeshi was

cleared at the check-in but was held back before

boarding as the passport he was carrying did not

have the valid visa.

On June 24, a flight from Leh to Delhi carry-

ing Rijiju was delayed for about an hour and

three passengers, including a child, were

allegedly offloaded to accommodate him and

his PA.

Rijuju had claimed it was not a "delay" as the

departure of the flight was "preponed" due to

technical reasons.

New Delhi:External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj remained at the center

of a political storm as new documents

released allegedly showed that former

IPL chief Lalit Modi offered a job to

her husband Swaraj Kaushal.

The Congress promptly asked

Prime Minister Narendra Modi to

break his "deafening" silence on the

issue.

"Lalit Modi made an offer (of job)

to a family member of a minister.

Why did he do so? We want the prime

minister to inquire," Congress

spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said

here at a press conference.

"We have demanded that all docu-

ments available in the case must be

placed in public domain. We shouldall know how Lalit Modi was being

helped and why was he being helped

even as a fugitive," he added.

Documents released allegedly show

that Lalit Modi offered a job to

Swaraj Kaushal months after the

External Affairs Minister helped the

tainted businessman obtain travel

documents in the United Kingdom.

After the controversy erupted,

Swaraj Kaushal accepted that he was

offered a position by Lalit Modi.

"I am a lawyer for Lalit Modi for

over 20 years. I was offered to be

alternate director on Indofil Board,

bu t I did no t gi ve my cons en t, "

Swaraj Kaushal told the media.Continuing its attack on the NDA

government, the Congress took a dig

at Prime Minister Narendra Modi too.

"The Prime Minister owes it to the

nation to break his silence on the

issue," senior Congress leader

Abhishek Manu Singhvi said at

another press conference.

"You (PM) are maintaining a deaf-

ening silence. They (BJP) are trying

to brazen it out. We demand that the

silence should be broken. It is a situa-

tion wherein more you try to hide, the

more the truth comes out," Singhvi

said.

Singhvi said the fact that Swaraj

Kaushal did not take up the offered

job was not relevant. "To have a fugi-

tive, to have the foreign minister's

husband being offered a job isenough," he said.

"Does this justify the prime minis-

ter's silence? Different ministers are

saying there is no stigma. There is no

guilt. Who is giving this certificate of

innocence? The BJP ministers," the

Congress leader said.

The BJP, however, continued to

defend Sushma Swaraj.

"An email is sent in a personal

capacity to a professional appointee

who is a lawyer in this case, which is

Swaraj Kaushal, and he has not even

accepted it. If this is the Congress'

idea of impropriety, then they need to

reflect on all cases that happen every

day in the country," BJP spokesperson

Nalin Kohli told IANS.

"The Congress has run out of ideas

and is desperately clutching atstraws," he added.

Earlier, Surjewala asked Sushma

Swaraj to come clean on the Lalit

Modi issue.

New Delhi: In a bid to insulate farmers

from the vagaries of monsoon, the gov-

ernment announced a new national irri-

gation scheme with an outlay of

Rs.50,000 crore that will not only

ensure supply of water to the agricultur-

al sector, but also promote its efficient

use and prevent wastage.

The government also allocated Rs.200

crore for three years to set up an online

national agriculture market by integrat-

ing 585 wholesale markets across India.

The irrigation scheme will have an

outlay of Rs.50,000 crore over a period

of five years beginning the current fis-

cal, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told a

press conference here. The allocat ion

for the current financial year is

Rs.5,300 crore.

The approval to the "Pradhan Mantri

Krishi Sinchayee Yojana" (PMKSY)was given by the Cabinet Committee on

Economic Affairs (CCEA) at a meeting

chaired by Prime Minister Narendra

Modi.

Jaitley said the scheme aims to

expand cultivable area under assured

irrigation, improve on-farm water use

efficiency to reduce wastage of water

and enhance the adoption of precision-

irrigation and other water saving tech-

nologies.

He said the programme aims at a

decentralized state-level planning and

execution structure, in order to allow

states to draw up a District Irrigation

Plan (DIP) and a State Irrigation Plan

(SIP).

The programme will be supervised

and monitored at the national level by

an Inter-Ministerial National Steering

Committee (NSC) under the chairman-

ship of the prime minister.

The CCEA also gave its approval to a

central scheme for promotion of

National Agricultural Market throughAgri-Tech Infrastructure Fund (ATIF).

An amount of Rs.200 crore has been

earmarked for the scheme from 2015-

16 to 2017-18.

India gets new irrigationscheme, online farm market

New Delhi: Finance

minister Arun Jaitley br ushed as ide con-

cerns of Parliament's

upcoming monsoon

session being dis-

rupted over the Lalit

Modi controversy,

saying some people

may be relevant to

TV channels but not

to governance.

Jaitley said the

bi ll s to am en d th e

Land Acquisition Act

and bring in a uni-

form pan-India

goods and services

tax (GST) are very

crucial for development and

hoped no political party takes

anti-growth and anti-develop-

ment position.

"Some people may be of rel-

evance to television channels,

(but) they have no relevance

to governance as far as the

government of India is con-

cerned," he told reporters

here.

He was replying to a ques-

tion on the possibility of the

monsoon session of

Parliament getting washed out

over Congress' demand for

resignation of external affairs

minister Sushma Swaraj andRajasthan chief minister

Vasundhara Raje over alleged

links with former IPL com-

missioner Lalit Modi.

Jaitley, however, evaded a

direct response to the contro-

versy in which Lalit Modi has

been dragging various politi-

cians, including him.

The finance minister was

hopeful that no political party

will take anti-growth and anti-

development stand to block

the crucial Bills, which he

termed as "extremely neces-

sary".

"There is a lot of importance

of these bills to the country's

economy... the government is

hopeful that no political party

will adopt a negativeapproach on the issue of

development of the country,"

he said.

Lalitgate: Jaitley shrugsoff Congress's threat

Lalit Modi issue:Congress tells PM to speak up

The Congress promptly asked Prime Minister Narendra Modito break his "deafening" silence on the issue.

Union minister Kiren Rijiju.

VIPs delaying Air India flights:PMO seeks report

Finance minister Arun Jaitley.


11/32

11July 4-10, 2015TheSouthAsianTimes.info INDIA

New Delhi: Opposition parties attacked the

AAP government for reportedly hiking alloca-tion for information and publicity, saying

spending public money on "self publicity"

amounted to corruption.

According to reports, the Aam Aadmi Party

has reportedly set aside over Rs 500 crore to

fund its radio advertisements over the current

financial year, in which chief minister Arvind

Kejriwal will address the people of Delhi and

share his government's work.

The ads, which will run with the tagline 'Jo

Kaha, So Kiya', will refer to his party's pre-

poll promises and the steps taken by the gov-

ernment to implement them.

"They (Delhi government) have set aside Rs

526 crore just for information and publicity

and last year only Rs 24 crore was spent for

the same," Congress leader Ajay Maken."They have cut budget from various other

infrastructure development works and they are

spending money on their own party workers

and consultants. Is it not a form of corruption

by spending more money on self publicity?"

Ajay Maken asked.

Former AAP leader Prashant Bhushan also

criticized AAP government's move.

He alleged that Arvind Kejriwal govern-

ment's new FM radio ad was a contempt of

court and the issue would soon be brought to

the notice of the Supreme Court.

"The TV advertisement brought in by

Kejriwal government was in complete viola-

tion of the Supreme Court's order and it

amounts to contempt of court. To think that

you can do anything by way of radio advertise-

ments because it doesn't carry a photograph

would be total misunderstanding of court's

order.

"If the radio advertisement is used to publi-

cise and promote a party, government or a

political leader, that would be in violation of

Supreme Court's order and it will be soon

brought to the notice of the court that this is

how political parties are violating the spirit of

court's order," Bhushan said.

According to a senior government official, to

connect with people of Delhi, government has

released a 70-second long advertisement

which is being played on FM radio channels.

In the advertisement, chief minister Arvind

Kejriwal says that his government has doubled

the budget for education and the allocation for

health has gone up by 45 per cent. He says his

government has the intent to spend money on

people's welfare.

The move came close on the heels of the

Supreme Court banning use of pictures of

chief ministers and other political personalities

on advertisements, billboards or hoardings of

government schemes. The Prime Minister and

the President are the only exceptions to the

rule.

New Delhi: As Prime Minister Narendra

Modi launched the "Digital India Week",

India Inc. committed an investment of

Rs.450,000 crore (some $75 billion) for the

initiative that seeks to empower citizens by

deploying IT and associated tools.

Choosing no less than a sports stadium to

launch the initiative where who's who of

India Inc. packed the rows, Prime Minister

Modi said industry captains have commit-

ted investments of Rs.450,000 crore toward

"Digital India" and create 1.8 million new

jobs.

The prime minister also unveiled a logo

for Digital India -- an umbrella program

that seeks to transform India into a digital-

ly-empowered, knowledge economy with a

host of initiatives for a synchronized and

coordinated engagement of the government

and its agencies.

The prime minister said it was not enough

for India to say that it is an ancient civiliza-

tion, and a country of 1.25 billion withfavorable demography. "Modern technolo-

gy needs to be blended with these

strengths," he said.

He laid emphasis on useful technologies

and said at one point India was criticized

for launching satellites but today these

were helping the common people. Farmers,

for instance, are able to access weather

forecasts."Similarly, the Digital India initiative is

aimed at improving the lives of the com-

mon people," Modi said, adding while

India may have missed the industrial revo-

lution, it will not miss the IT revolution that

is transforming peoples' lives.

The Prime Minister assured full support

to young entrepreneurs who wished to

launch start-ups. He called upon the youthto innovate and said "Design in India" is as

important as "Make in India".

The event also saw a host of industrialists

announce millions of dollars of investments

in their own "digital" programs. They

included Reliance Group's Anil Ambani,

Reliance Industries' Mukesh Ambani,

Bharti Group's Sunil Mittal and Aditya

Vikram Birla Group's Kumaramangalam

Birla.

Others at the event included Delta group's

Ping Cheng, Vedanta's Anil Agarwal,

Wipro chairman Azim Premji, Lava's Hari

Om Rai, Airbus' Peter Gutsmeidl, Hero

Group's Pawan Munjal, and Nidec Corp's

Mikio Katayama.

For the "Digital India" scheme, Modi has

already been named the chair of a high-

powered panel to monitor and all existing

and ongoing e-governance initiatives.

These will be revamped and aligned with

the larger principles of "Digital India",

according to an official statement.

The larger goal of Digital India includes

broadband connectivity in all panchayats,

Wi-Fi in all the schools and universities

and public Wi-Fi hotspots in all important

cities by 2019. It will be deployed in deliv-

ering services in areas like health, educa-

tion, agriculture and banking.Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the

"Digital India Week" was part of a series of

programmes intended to give a new direc-

tion to the country in terms of the IT revo-

lution. He also announced that a "Skill

India" educational initiative will be

unveiled next week.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the launching ceremony of Digital India Week,in New Delhi.

AAP govt to splurge over Rs 500 croreon advertisements

Chennai: AIADMK general secretary

and Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa

returned to the Tamil Nadu assembly

crushing the opposition by a by a

record victory margin from the

Radkhakrishnan Nagar constituency

here.

Jayalalithaa polled 160,432 votes

while her nearest rival, Communist

Party of India's (CPI) C. Mahendran,

got just 9,710 votes -- a victory mar-

gin of a whopping 150,722 votes.

The total electorate in the con-

stituency was around 245,000, and the

chief minister bagged 65 percent of all

votes polled.

Going by the votes polled by

Jayalalithaa, it is clear the vote banks

of the opposition parties which boy-cotted the polls fell into her kitty and

did not go to the CPI.

Mahendran was followed by inde-

pendent candidate and social activist

K.R. Ramaswamy, popularly known

as "Traffic Ramaswamy" (4,590

votes) while 2,376 people opted for

`None of the Above' category.

While there were 28 candidates in

the fray, only CPI's Mahendran was

viewed as a serious opponent for

Jayalalithaa.

As noisy celebrations erupted at the

AIADMK headquarters and outside

Jayalalithaa's residence, Tamil Nadu

Governor K. Rosaiah congratulated

her over her landslide win.Central Minister of State for Road

Transport, Highways and Shipping

Pon Radhakrishnan of the Bharatiya

Janata Party conveyed his "heartfelt

greetings" to Jayalalithaa on her mega

victory.

AIADMK activists and leaders gen-

erously distributed sweets to all and

sundry and burst crackers to celebrate.

An elated Jayalalithaa thanked vot-

ers and AIADMK supporters for her

victory and said the result was a fore-

runner for the 2016 assembly election.

This is the seventh by-election vic-

tory for the AIADMK since it came to

power in 2011. The party has won all

the by-elections held since 2011.

In 2006, AIADMK's P.K. Sekarbabu

polled 84,462 votes in Radhakrishnan

Naga r. In 20 11, P. Vetr iv el of AIADMK got 83,777 votes and

defeated Sekarbabu, who by then was

in the DMK. Vetrivel's victory margin

was over 31,000 votes.

Jaya juggernaut rolls downopposition

India Inc. commits Rs.450,000 crore for 'Digital India'

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.AIADMK general secretary and

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa.


12/32

By Preetha Nair

Prime Minister Narendra Modi

hasn't shown any signs of

dictatorship nor is there any

chance of an emergency being

declared again, says veteran jour-

nalist Coomi Kapoor, who has

recently authored a book on the

draconian measure imposed on the

country by Indira Gandhi during

1975-77.

"You can't compare both the lead-

ers. So far Modi hasn't shown any

signs of dictatorship. He has a

majority only in the Lok Sabha.

Emergency is difficult to happenagain. Now, no government can

control the media easily as it has

proliferated," Kapur told IANS in

an interview ahead of the 40th

anniversary of imposition of

national Emergency.

She also debunked the clean chit

given by Indira Gandhi's close aide

R.K. Dhawan that it was not the

former prime minister but senior

Congress leader S.S. Ray who had

crafted the measure, adding that

Indira Gandhi was fully aware of

the excesses committed during the

time.

"Dhawan is talking nonsense.

The emergency was the brainchildof Mrs. Gandhi. Ray only helped

her to implement her plans," said

Kapoor, the author of "The

Emergency: A Personal History

(Penguin/Viking).

Excerpts from the interview:

Q: Your book says that Indira

Gandhi had planned the

Emergency much before June

1975. How did you come to this

conclusion?

A: The general notion about the

Emergency is that Mrs. Gandhi

imposed it immediately after the

court disbarred her as an MP for

election malpractices. However, the

preparations for stifling expressions

of dissent were being planned

much before June 26 (1977). A

handwritten note by her close aide

and the then West Bengal chief

minister Siddhartha Shankar Ray

shows that she had plans to intro-

duce the emergency in January. The

only reason I could think is the

assassination of (then railway

Minister) L.N. Mishra at

Samastipur because she was rattled

by his death. The situation wasn't

volatile in the country as JP's

movement was not at its peak and

Gujarat was calm after the resigna-

tion of the chief minister.

Q: In a recent interview, R.K.

Dhawan gave a clean chit to

Indira Gandhi, saying that it was

Ray who was the architect of the

Emergency and he blamed

Sanjay Gandhi for the mass ster-

ilization campaigns and the

Turkman Gate demolitions in

Delhi.

A: Dhawan is talking nonsense.

The emergency was the brainchild

of Mrs. Gandhi. Ray only helped

her to implement her plans, sterili-zation campaigns and the Turkman

demolitions were done with the full

knowledge of Mrs Gandhi. When

Subhadra Joshi, the local MP, went

to Mrs. Gandhi to protest against

the demolitions, she snapped at

Joshi.

Q: Why a book after 40 years?

A: I felt that the younger genera-

tion knows very little of what had

happened during the emergency.

Unlike other books on the emer-

gency, I had the advantage of

accessing many valuable docu-

ments like the S